The apartheid boycott In the 80s, the world – rightly - stepped up its boycott against South Africa’s apartheid government. But this had unexpected and sometimes adverse consequences for South Africa’s music professionals and consumers. Musicians still needed to work live shows both at home and abroad, and to make and sell records. The youth still aspired to clubbing and partying at the weekend after hard, poorly paid jobs under the thumb of an oppressive government. Music was their sanctuary: specifically, African- American inspired soul, jazz, boogie, disco and funk. Unique diversity Producing musical excellence was nothing new for South Africa, even in the 80s: both traditional and jazz music of various genres had been performed, showcased and recorded for decades with the assistance of some of the most skilled and ingenious sound-engineers and producers in the world, the jazz players rivalling their American peers in many cases. But what makes Mzansi 80s popular music unique is that it had to – and for the most part, did- appeal to a multi-ethnic, multilingual population almost like no other in the world, for its geographical size. There may have been many tribal and political differences between Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Tsonga and others day-to-day, but when it came to the weekend, those differences often melted away for a while on the dancefloor. Paul Ndlovu had kwaZulu fans as well as Shangaan followers; Black Moses and the Soul Brothers had followers and fans with everyone..and so on. And everyone- detractors and lovers alike- were content to settle on the monicker ‘Bubblegum’ as a general description. Mzansi took disco- and slowed it down a bit.. ..exactly as 90s and early 2000s South African DJs and mixers took House- and slowed it down a bit to develop Kwaito, Gqom and – later – Amapiano. The Roland TR-707 sampler came along in 1985- at just the right time for the flowering of Mzansi disco and boogie. And in the artful hands of arrangers, engineers and producers such as Peter “Hitman’ Moticoe, whose work figures on several of the tracks here, it became something unique to South Africa. 'Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid's Dying Years' compiled by John Armstrong is out BBE Music on x3 vinyl set in a gatefold sleeve, CD, and across digital platforms for download and streaming.
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Sarah Connors drittes Studioalbum ”Key To My Soul” wurde bereits bei seiner Erstveröffentlichung im Jahr 2003 ein weiterer Erfolg für die deutsche Sängerin. Das Album eroberte die deutsche Pop-Landschaft
im Sturm und erreichte Platz 8 der Charts, in denen es sich für fast 30 Wochen hielt. Sarah Connors gefühlvoller Gesang und sanften Melodien berührten die Herzen der Zuhörer und weiter zementierten Sarah Connors besonderen Status in der deutschen Musikszene.
MEANTIME das neue Album des kanadischen Songwriters Grant Davidson aka Slow Leaves, handelt vom Warten auf etwas Bedeutsames im Leben und davon, wie all die alltäglichen Dinge, die während des Wartens passieren, das eigentlich Bedeutsame ausmachen. Wenn man blinzelt, verpasst man es; wenn man zu viel nachdenkt, verpasst man es. Wenn man Glück hat, gibt es in der Zwischenzeit die Liebe und den Tod und nicht viel weniger. Das Album ist durchzogen von einer eleganten Erdigkeit, Meantime ist eine Sammlung von Folksongs, die mit paisleyfarbenen 1960er- und 70er-Jahre-Tönen verziert sind. Während die Musik eine Retro-Sensibilität aufweist, wird diese durch eine Unmittelbarkeit in den Texten ausgeglichen, die ihn fest in der heutigen Zeit verankert. Slow Leaves ist ein in sich geschlossenes Soloprojekt, bei dem Davidson jeden Aspekt der Musik und ihrer Präsentation kuratiert, einschließlich der Rolle des Multiinstrumentalisten, Produzenten, Coverdesigners, Fotografen und Videofilmers. Er betrachtet die Gesamtheit dieser verschiedenen Aspekte als wesentliche Teile eines größeren Projekts der Selbsterkenntnis durch künstlerische Methoden. Sein Folk- und Psych-Rock-Stil erinnert an ältere Songwriter wie Mickey Newbury, Nick Drake, Roky Erickson, Gene Clark und Neil Young. Aber sie leben auch in der Welt der modernen Klassiker wie Andy Shauf, Bonny "Prince" Billy, Bedouine, Big Thief und Bill Callahan. Seine seidige Stimme wurde schon mit Roy Orbison oder Bryan Ferry verglichen.
Delroy George Wilson (5 October 1948 – 6 March 1995) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. Wilson is often regarded as Jamaica's first child star, having first found success as a teenager. His youngest son, Karl "Konan" Wilson, has found success as part of British duo Krept and Konan. His voice matured as he left his teens, around the time of ska's transition to rocksteady and this period in the late 1960s produced many hits including one of the first rocksteady records, "Dancing Mood", "Jerk in Time" (with the Wailers), "Feel Good All Over", "I'm Not a King", "True Believer in Love", "Rain From the Skies", "Conquer Me" and "Riding for a Fall". "Won't You Come Home", a duet with Ken Boothe on a rhythm originally cut by The Conquerors for Sonia Pottinger has become one of the most-versioned Jamaican tracks ever. After leaving Studio One he recorded for other labels, with varying degrees of success, and set up his own short-lived W&C label. He enjoyed success with Bunny Lee in the late 1960s and early 1970s with tracks such as "This Old Heart of Mine", "Footsteps of Another Man", and "Better Must Come". His double A-side "It Hurts"/"Put Yourself in My Place" was a skinhead favourite and narrowly missed UK chart success. He recorded a version of "Run Run", a song he had originally recorded for Dodd, for maverick producer Keith Hudson. Wilson toured the UK and recorded for Trojan Records in 1970.
Reissued on vinyl for the very first time. Originally released in 1983, this reggae lovers album was recorded by Scientist, produced by Bunny Lee, with the best of Jamaican musicians like Sly & Robbie, Jackie Mittoo, Winston Wright, Earl Chinna Smith ans more...
Edwards was born in Jamaica in 1938 where he was raised with fourteen siblings. Strongly influenced by Nat King Cole, he began performing at the age of 14. He came to the attention of Chris Blackwell in 1959. Edwards had four number one singles in Jamaica between 1960 and 1961, all self-written ballads with Latin-influenced music.
When Blackwell set up Island Records in London in 1962, Edwards travelled with him. Edwards worked as a singer and songwriter for Island, recording as a solo artist and also duets with Millie Small, as well as performing duties such as delivering records. He wrote both "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me", that became number one singles in the United Kingdom for The Spencer Davis Group. He continued to work as a recording artist himself, with regular album releases through to the mid-1980s. Much of his later work was produced by Bunny Lee, and he also worked with The Aggrovators.
Cassette
Nach dem Erfolg der ersten Version dieses Albums, das die Welt mit der mongolischen Kultur und ihren einzigartigen Grundwerten der Erhaltung der Natur und der spirituellen Verbindung mit der Natur vertraut macht, kehren The Hu mit einer DELUXE-Version zurück, an der William DuVall von Alice in Chains, DL von Bad Wolves & LP und Serj Tankian von System of A Down mitgewirkt haben. Erhältlich als Doppel-Vinyl.
Berlin-based artist Werner Soyeaux under his stage name Black Davil is a core part of the Berlin collective Ick Mach Welle. Schnall Schnall is his debut solo artist EP on Killekill, with own productions accompanied by collaborations with Bettina and DJ Normal 4, alongside remixes by Rhyw and Gesloten Cirkel.
The EP opens with the dark intro Alptraum, which Gesloten Cirkel transforms into an ill-tempered acid-electro monster. The title track Schnall Schnall provides a stark contrast to these, with bright overtones existing alongside deeply rooted sonic bedrock.
Rhyw adds a level of abstraction and futurism with his remix of this track, whilst retaining the dub-influenced vibe of the original.
Following on from this Geldschere is collaboration with Dusseldorf artist DJ Normal 4, with Black Davil contributing his own lyrics and voice, to create a track that could be fittingly described as "Acid Punk Rock"!
The final track on the release is a cheeky ode to the Ick Mach Welle family. Here the Davil's passion for Hardtekk, Gabber and similar rough styles of music become clear.
In the End It Always does marks songwriter and producer Amber Bain’s long awaited second album as The Japanese House. Featuring collaborations with Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975, Katie Gavin of Muna, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Charli XCX, it features some of Bain’s most dynamic work to date. Her forthcoming UK headline tour announcement saw her 1600 cap London show sell out instantly with other dates close behind. The Japanese House has been championed by BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, NME, i-D, Pitchfork, ES Magazine, The FADER, DIY & more. The album is available on Vinyl and CD.
OVERVIEW:
Lip Filler is a project we’ve become so involved in that it’s basically completely taken over our lives. We’ve put every part of ourselves into the music that we write. It’s a projection of our living situation, how we’ve all changed as people over the past few years, and a reflection on the human aspect of us growing up in our flat together. What started out as a bunch of housemates pissing about in their living room getting noise complaints, has turned into something we are all so invested in and excited for.
When Belgian Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the mid-19th century, he could not have imagined what he had set in motion with his invention. Neither in classical music nor in military music did his new woodwind instrument find much appreciation. It was only long after his death that it became the most important instrument in jazz music via swinging big bands. It would probably have amazed Mr. Sax if he had been able to witness a young trio from Germany playing loudly against climate change and the lack of political consequences with two noisy saxophones and a drum set on a stage in front of the Reichstag in Berlin in front of more than 50,000 people jumping up and down during the climate strike in September 2021: BRASS RIOT.
The trio around Constantin von Estorff (Sax), Simon Sasse (Drums) and Carl Weiß (Sax) have been a band since their school days in Lüneburg. What started there as street music became a permanent and sought-after formation through the proximity to political initiatives, above all the Fridays-For-Future movement, and appearances at countless demonstrations. The band's name is slightly misleading, as "brass" in music refers to brass instruments such as the trumpet or tuba, even though most brass bands always include a saxophone. Moreover, the word "brass" means something in the German language, which in turn fits perfectly with this young, energetic trio: Fury.
On the heels of their debut album "Matschsafari" (2018), their second studio album "The Never Acting Story" is now released on Fun In The Church. The album title, in critical allusion to the world-famous fantasy book by Michael Ende, sums up well what the music of BRASS RIOT is about at its core: the possibility to get a noisy outlet for all the fury about the failed politics of the last decades and the frustrations and fears that go with it, and to free oneself from it for a moment. That this path has produced the wildest live music on this crisis-ridden planet is an irony of history - and certainly not the first time it has happened. It's no different in the jazz of Charlie Parker than in the songs of Patti Smith, the raps of Little Simz or the Afro-beat of Fela Kuti.
Musically, BRASS RIOT move more in the area of the melodic ska-pop of Madness, the fake jazz of the Lounge Lizards and contemporary rave brass ensembles like MEUTE between house music and electro beats. The fact that they have managed to politicize their sound so strongly over the years, despite all the party that goes with it, and without any song lyrics at all, is truly phenomenal.
Whether she’s channeling emo, pop or techno, Scott really just makes music the way she wants to hear it—whether that’s making percussion sound bolder, speeding up the tempo or maximizing the best part of the song. And as for songwriting, her dark humor and sharp social critiques are just as much a passionate display of her feelings as her pleas to be loved and understood. Her quips may be ~extremely online~, but the way she condenses complex emotions into playful, meaningful dialogues is universal. Scott released an EP titled Hazards in August of 2021, which strikes a balance between the musical styles she’s explored previously, including distorted pop and scratchy guitar songs. The EP contains three brand new tracks, plus updated versions of songs Scott wrote before Public Void and most of The Junkyard 2. “I hope that fans of my previous albums will each find their tastes represented in Hazards,” Scott says.
The Junkyard 2 came into fruition when it was released in May of last year, as an intimate collection of what she considered her best material. Scott has been taking piano lessons since she was eight years old growing up in California, and that instrumental talent is one of the most striking elements on the record. The songs reckoned with touchy subjects -- emotional labor, insecurity, healthcare -- with razor-sharp wit and care. Even if it was recorded poorly, the brilliance of the writing and performance still resonated. After that, she realized she had to do better, and so she unveiled Public Void in September. She ditched the piano, played with software, and gave her music a texture that was bolder, weirder, and catchier. Together, the two projects and Scott’s other singles have combined to amass 87.8 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to MRC data. The landscape of TikTok is cluttered, and hits are ephemeral, but Scott’s strike a unique chord and her image is constantly growing. When asked if she considers that music will be her full time job, she pauses, reluctant to think too far ahead. “I think, for the near future, yes,” she ultimately answers. “I’m definitely not leaving college for it. But the next couple of years are locked in.” As of April 2022, “Rät” is now a gold single. The album has streamed over 350M times in under 2 years.
The Junkyard 2 came into fruition when it was released in May of last year, as an intimate collection of what she considered her best material. Scott has been taking piano lessons since she was eight years old growing up in California, and that instrumental talent is one of the most striking elements on the record. The songs reckoned with touchy subjects -- emotional labor, insecurity, healthcare -- with razor-sharp wit and care. Even if it was recorded poorly, the brilliance of the writing and performance still resonated. After that, she realized she had to do better, and so she unveiled Public Void in September. She ditched the piano, played with software, and gave her music a texture that was bolder, weirder, and catchier. Together, the two projects and Scott’s other singles have combined to amass 150 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to MRC data. The landscape of TikTok is cluttered, and hits are ephemeral, but Scott’s strike a unique chord and her image is constantly growing. When asked if she considers that music will be her full time job, she pauses, reluctant to think too far ahead. “I think, for the near future, yes,” she ultimately answers. “I’m definitely not leaving college for it. But the next couple of years are locked in.”
- A1: What I'd Say (Parts 1 & 2)
- A2: The Right Time
- A3: Mary Ann
- A4: I Got A Woman
- A5: This Little Girl Of Mine
- A6: I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
- B1: Hit The Road Jack
- B2: Come Rain Or Come Shine
- B3: Let The Good Times Roll
- B4: Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand
- B5: Mess Around
- B6: Swanee River Rock
- B7: I Believe To My Soul
- C1: Georgia On My Mind
- C2: Ain't That Love
- C3: You Are My Sunshine
- C4: It Had To Be You
- C5: Unchain My Heart
- C6: Drown In My Own Tears
- C7: Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)
- D1: Hallelujah, I Love Her So
- D2: I Can't Stop Loving You
- D3: Baby, It's Cold Outside
- D4: Take These Chains From My Heart
- D5: The Sun's Gonna Shine Again
- D6: The Genius After Hours
- 1: Find Yourself (Ft. K.o
- 2: Wake Up (Ft. Chuuweee & Bob Styles)
- 3: Everything (Ft. Derek Minor)
- 4: How Many More (Ft. Lando Chill)
- 5: Aquimibee (Ft. Michael Christmas)
- 6: Eastside With Love (Ft. Kadence / J Rolla / Td Badazz / Marvaluzz Thug / Grand National)
- 7: Moozie (Ft. Psyrotiual)
- 8: Lnb
- 9: Melody Lingers On (Ft. First Verse)
- 10: Duke Lucky (Ft. Krum)
- 11: Trouble (Ft. Runt & Ronni Wit Tha K)
- 12: Whatever Happens, Happens (Ft. Dewey Binns)
- 13: The Burden
- 14: Black Star (Ft. Scoopay)
- 15: Indulgence (Ft. Boldy James)
- 16: Wishing (Ft. Blu)
- 17: Savior
- 18: Key Of Life (Ft. Murs & Yah Ra)
- 19: Angels (Ft. Mistah F.a.b.)
- 20: All We Know (Ft. M1 Platoon)
- 21: Blessings (Ft. Che Noir & John Gives)
- 22: Enough
Jabee's Am I Good Enough is the prolific OKC hip-hop artist’s most ambitious project to date. Several years in the making, Am I Good Enough compiles four EPs of brand-new music (22 tracks total), each recorded entirely with a different producer. The resulting four EPs each could stand alone as powerful individual works, but combine to make one of the most remarkable and compelling artistic statements of Jabee’s career. Am: produced by Derek Minor I: produced by Blu Good: produced by Conductor Williams Enough: produced by Havoc (of Mobb Deep). Am I Good Enough is available on 2xLP, housed in a gatefold jacket with inner sleeves showcasing each of the four EP’s individual covers.
Two of the Bronx’s most skillful emcees have paired up for one of the most promising collaborative albums of 2023. Appropriately titled, Gunz X Bars, the boogie down’s own Cory Gunz and David Bars have joined forces with Respect the Vision (RTV) under the watch of DITC Studios, the label and recording studio akin to one of hip-hop’s most revered crews, comprised of Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Big L, O.C. Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz and A.G. And as you’d expect, the result is top tier lyricism over a soundscape that epitomizes the essence of New York hip-hop. For the past two plus decades, Cory Gunz has made his bones by proving his lyrical prowess time and time again. Son of rapper Peter Gunz (of the famed duo, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz), it didn’t take long for his talents to be recognized by Lil Wayne, where he appears on his single, “6 Foot 7 Foot” off Tha Carter IV. Gunz also starred in his own befittingly-titled reality show, Son of a Gun (MTV) which documented his journey to fulfill his career in music. David Bars’ trajectory also started at a young age, where he made his name at high school talent shows and industry showcases throughout the city. Releasing his debut project Barcode in 2019, the quick-witted spitter found himself rapping alongside the legendary Fat Joe who appears on the single, “A Star is Born.” However the co-signs weren’t limited by Joey Crack, as the inimitable DJ Premier lent his boom-bap magic to the album cuts, “Beat the Odds” and “Just Like That.” Throughout the project’s eight tracks, Gunz and Bars prove themselves to be both lyrically and sonically compatible. Gunz’ staccato-type flow melds seamlessly with Bars’ smooth delivery. To boot, the production value throughout plays to the strengths of both emcees, with beats provided by So Special, Track Pros, Kofi Cooks and more. It’s no surprise that two of the BX’s most raw and uncut talents would eventually unite, and what better way to join forces than under the auspice of DITC Studios.
Brian Jonestown Massacre, Velvet Underground, TOY. “Upon the highways of Freedom, where Evil is like a Ferrari… “ Unbeknownst to its members, Index For Working Musik was born on an evening in late 2019 amidst the discovery of a collection of faded b&w photocopies that had been marinating on the floor of a urine-alley in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. An assortment of sacred and profane imagery were crumpled amongst an essay on early Christian hermits, entitled Men Possessed by God, the meaning of which was enticingly vague. Received together, they planted the seeds for a new endeavour. Though Max Oscarnold and Nathalia Bruno were already engaged in a creative ping-pong of sorts, the results to this point had only totaled a 30 min long ½ inch tape containing one track and four interludes. They needed a page and they needed ink, and they needed a place and it needed energy. Suddenly by chance or divine intervention, their experimental venture had been given form and direction. Back home in London’s cursed smog, they moved themselves and their 8-track studio into a basement in E8, where the project’s gravitational pull gained strength, quickly developing into an unexpected collective with the incorporation of drummer Bobby Voltaire, double bass player E. Smith and guitarist J. Loftus. As the world shifted around them and the Plague Years followed, it became increasingly clear that they were not going to leave that small basement room. The scarcity of light or outer world presence was less a limitation, instead the main tool at hand, allowing the recording to stretch for boundaryless days in architectural isolation, and forcing them to make straight forward free guitar music, adopting a ‘first thought, best thought’ approach. 35 minutes of repeat phrased guitars, slow-clipped drums and dulcet vocals where the recurring landscape is the desert. Reel-to reel-loops of Afghan music compete with the found sound overlays of voices recorded at the queue of the pharmacy and drum machines borrowed from Spanish heroes, channelling both far-off climes and snippets from a closer reality. It’s a strange psychic brew, built of imagined mysticism and domestic realities, of fever dreams and days that stretched into weeks of months. What was sparked by that discovery in the Gothic Quarter was actually a realisation that what they were looking for was with them all the while, buried as it was in piles of voice memos and recorded guitar feedback. Men Possessed By God they may be not: it was self-possession that was to guide their way in the end. “Life, despite all its destructive changes, remains indestructibly powerful and joyful
Debut Album Nottingham post-punks Do Nothing blend jerky, spidery rhythms with surreal, half-spoken vocals that recall the Fall 's Mark E. Smith . Do Nothing was formed in 2017 by four long-time school friends: frontman Chris Bailey, guitarist Kasper Sandstrøm, drummer Andy Harrison, and bassist Charlie Howarth. All had played in various acts around the city; the band got their start at the popular Maze Club. Bailey, whose father was a singer in an a cappella folk group, grew up listening to the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel , and his own biggest influence was Tom Waits . Initially attempting to copy big names like LCD Soundsystem (as heard on their first 7" single, "Gangs," released in 2019), they eventually became more confident about doing their own thing, and Bailey gave his stream-of-consciousness lyrics and outsider stage persona free rein. Associated with, but wary of, the then-popular post-punk revival, they made clear it was their intention to follow their own path. Their debut EP, Zero Dollar Bill, was released in 2020; another, Glueland, arrived the following year, with an album in the works.
New York City's loudest band A Place to Bury Strangers have had their intense live performance captured and immortalized directly to 12” wax. The post-punk legends are the 9th & latest entry in the Live at Levitation archival vinyl series. “Levitation 2021 was our second show as a new band and I felt so psyched to bring the new band members to such an epic festival. It was like a homecoming for me. Bob Mustachio was doing lights and playing with Ringo Deathstarr, Kikagaku Moyo & the Black Angels all on the same bill had me so rev’d up and excited. I knew it had to be an epic show. I remember right when we started I was flailing around so much like a freak on speed that I almost flung my guitar off the stage. By the time we got out into the crowd I thought I was gonna pass out. I remember we rented this PA speaker from Rock N Roll Rentals and for some reason they trusted us with this top of the line like $5000 12” monitor that we rolled around in the crowd while I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I love Levitation and Austin Psych Fest. They are always a UFO of a good time.” - Oliver Ackermann (APTBS)
Brand new EP by fast-rising UK act Bears In Trees, coming on the heels of a huge year for the band that included releasing their debut LP "And Everybody Else Smiled Back", sold-out headline shows across the UK, and their first ever US tour. The band will be releasing a new collection of songs alongside appearances at Slam Dunk and 2000 Trees Festival, their first US headline tour, and many more UK dates to be announced.
American Football (LP3) is the third album from the scene giants - American Football. American Football’s original triumph, on their 1999 self-titled debut, was to reunite two shy siblings: emo and post-rock. It was a pioneering album where lyrical clarity was obscured and complicated by the stealth musical textures surrounding it. Like Slint’s Spiderland, or Codeine’s The White Birch, even Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, American Football asked far more questions than it cared to answer. But there wasn’t a band around anymore to explain it, anyway. The three young men who made the album – Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes, and Steve Lamos – split up pretty much on its release. Fifteen years later, American Football reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella). They played far larger shows than in their original incarnation and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come. ‘I feel like the second album was us figuring it out,’ says Nate. ‘For me, it wasn’t quite done. I knew there was still more.’ Enter American Football (LP3). ‘We put a lot of time and a lot of energy into it,’ says Mike. ‘We were all thoughtful about what we wanted to put out there. Last time, it was figuring out how to use all of our different arms. This time, we were like – Ok we have these arms, let’s use them.’ The band used the same producer, Jason Cupp, and recorded the album at the same studio (Arc Studios in Omaha, Nebraska) as its predecessor – yet they approached it in a markedly different way. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. The final result is a definite, and deliberate, stretching of the band.
First time on vinyl! Formed from the ashes of the psych/sludge band Cruevo, and preceding guitar player Paul Kott’s work in Matt Pike-fronted Bay Area metal "supergroup" Kalas, High Tone Son Of A Bitch is an innovative, psychedellic stoner/doom band that pulls together a number of influential musicians from bands like Noothgrush, Kalas, Hammers of Misfortune, Men of Porn, Melvins, Hawkwind, Neurosis, High on Fire, Sleep, Witch Mountain, Saviours, Necrot, The Skull, Worshipper and more. This limited release is a vinyl version of the compilation that collects the group’s four EPs from 2003-2020 together.
Wolf is a Swedish heavy-/power-/speed metal band from Örebro. Formed in 1995, the band has released nine studio albums and toured with bands such as Saxon, Evile, Tankard and Trivium. Legions Of Bastards is the band's sixth album which was originally released by Century Media in April 2011. Now available on vinyl for the fist time since its release year! "Musically, it carries harder, faster chords and angered anguish from frontman Niklas Olsson. While Wolf have stayed true to the traditional heavy metal template, with "good times" vibes in tow, they have also pushed for a harsher edge to make their own sound. Here, they've gone even further with that direction, concentrating on solos and picking up the pace. The result is not just heavier, but also sleazier and grittier." -Invisible Oranges Legions Of Bastards is available on a limited Svart exclusive turquoise/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl and classic black vinyl.
Wolf is a Swedish heavy-/power-/speed metal band from Örebro. Formed in 1995, the band has released nine studio albums and toured with bands such as Saxon, Evile, Tankard and Trivium. Legions Of Bastards is the band's sixth album which was originally released by Century Media in April 2011. Now available on vinyl for the fist time since its release year! "Musically, it carries harder, faster chords and angered anguish from frontman Niklas Olsson. While Wolf have stayed true to the traditional heavy metal template, with "good times" vibes in tow, they have also pushed for a harsher edge to make their own sound. Here, they've gone even further with that direction, concentrating on solos and picking up the pace. The result is not just heavier, but also sleazier and grittier." -Invisible Oranges Legions Of Bastards is available on a limited Svart exclusive turquoise/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl and classic black vinyl.
Juli Giuliani is a prolific artist, since 2009 he started at a very young age in the hip-hop scene and since then he has been releasing music non stop. In 2017 he begins a new stage under the name of Juli Giuliani, delivering collaborations with artists such as Toteking, Dano, Jonas Sanche or Big Menu, performances at Sónar, and a tour of Latin America, where he consolidates the respect of the scene at the Ibero-American level. Giuliani is a different artist due to his versatility, warmth and closeness to the listener. His new ways of making rap, maintains the essence that so many yearn for without disconnecting from actuality and building a unique discourse and identity. This profile makes his musical proposal one of the most solid, ambitious and mature on the scene, ready to fill the new spaces that are opening up on the scene. His next LP, in collaboration with Mabreezee and Karmasound, will be released at the beginning of 2023 via Costa Futuro.
Mike Viola is a producer, musician, songwriter and singer. Viola may be best known for his work with Panic! at the Disco, Andrew Bird, Ryan Adams, Jenny Lewis and Mandy Moore, but his solo career stands on its own starting with a number of acclaimed records as the leader of New York based cult favourite Candy Butchers and 7 critically adored Mike Viola records. His original music has been featured on soundtracks for movies such as That Thing You Do!, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to the Greek. Decades into his career his music continues to resonate with and inspire new generations of musicians and music lovers. Viola is cranking out more music than ever including the fan favorites; “The American Egypt” from 2019 and “Godmuffin” from 2021. Paul McCarthy was recorded over the summer of 2022 on 1/2” tape at “Barebones”, Viola’s home studio in Los Angeles. Joined by his friends Jake Sinclair on bass and Brendon Urie on drums. Viola says, “I set out to make a sonic monster using the legs of James Gang Rides Again, the heart of Black Sabbath Paranoid, with my kid brain inside my greying middle aged head on top. I’ve hit a point in my life where instinct has taken the reins fully, logic now waits in the wings to sweep up the stage and pay the taxi fare home. This album is the result of committing to this path fully and laughing all the way.” Viola will support the album release with his first tour in over a decade with dates in Europe and the US in Winter/Spring 2023, and more dates to follow later in 2023.
Based in Basel and Berlin, these three award-winning artists of LILAMORS perform genre-defying electro-acoustic music. Their debut album merges contrasting musical influences and gives space to topics that are often forgotten in modern life. Lead singer Ana Čop creates an intimate atmosphere with her poetic chants, accompanied by snowflake-like piano playing and subtle electronica. Perfect music for deep listening, calming down, slow dance sessions, and museums.
Released on RCA Records - new album from singer/songwriter/actress/US superstar. This collection is Miley’s eighth studio album and the follow up to 2020’s 'Plastic Hearts'. 2023 finds Miley the strongest and most confident she’s ever been, with the music and imagery of 'Endless Summer Vacation' serving as a reflection of that. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced with Kid Harpoon/Greg Kurstin/Mike WiLL Made-It/Tyler Johnson, Miley describes the album as her love letter to LA. The full tracklisting has not yet been revealed, but does of course include the massive #1 single 'Flowers'. Extensive promo/marketing activity across all media outlets. Upcoming UK promo trip plus nationwide TV ad campaign. Formats are standard black vinyl LP and standard CD.
It all begins here.
Alba Gitana, Gipsy dawn, is a commencement, a turning point of particular importance in the career of a guitarist labelled as “manouche”. Because despite the universality within that word, (“manu” meaning “man” in Sanskrit), it is often reduced to the almost mystical musical legacy of the genius Django Reinhardt. Steeve Laffont’s dawn sees his artistry break away from the confines of this tradition.
In his original compositions we find the ingredients for an unexpected recipe. There is a manouche feel to it, but the fragrance of flamenco mixes with Indian spices, the bossa nova breaks and klezmer rhythms are coloured by Spain ; Steeve finds comfort in both the journey and it’s unexpected turns. Such is the very essence of Tzigane culture. This album tells the story of an emancipation and the joy of no longer being held to respect a legacy, a tradition, of finally having so many more roots to grow with.
Freedom is key to this project which never compromises on the essential : sharing the pleasure of playing together. In the company of such virtuosos as Costel Nitescu on violin, Dominique Di Piazza on bass and of course the ever-faithful Rudy Rabuffetti on rhythm guitar, the compositions are never shows of strength, rather finely crafted magic tricks.
With such vivid, liquid playing Alba Gitana is an invitation to let go, to submit to a harmonic wandering as deep as it is wide. A high-wire walk between structures and freedom, here is the spirit of jazz at its most elegant and universal.
Black Vinyl[26,77 €]
Zweieinhalb Jahre nach "Moral Panic" sind die Engländer von Nothing But Thieves mit ihrem vierten Album zurück: "Dead Club City". Darauf zu hören ist u.a. die erste Single "Welcome To The DCC" - ein Rocksong mit einem Hauch von Funk und 80er-Jahre-Einflüssen. Nothing But Thieves hat weltweit 1,2 Millionen Alben verkauft und wurde über 2 Milliarden Mal gestreamt!
Berlin's VOODOOCUTS (RESENSE, WONDERWHEEL) transforms classic soul and boogaloo cuts into club ready monsters on this short run, vinyl only 45. On the A side we kick things off with “BREAKING DOG”. The drums don’t wait, with heavy breaks
right off the bat. Then comes the instant classic, hands in the air, sing along vocals. By the time the bassline drops, everybody in spot is grooving. On the flip, breaks meet Latin soul with “VOODOO’S BOOGALOO”. The dancefloor stomper is elevated with funky drums and cut into all killer no filler. Known for his many cuts on RESENSE, MATASUNA, ROCAFORT, WONDERWHEEL, ADEEN, and FRIDAY’S FUNKY, VOODOOCUTS is at the top of his game.
Tucked in the heart of Koreatown, Los Angeles, lies The Libra Hotel—the titular architecture of Nick Malkin's new album and site of his musical and psychogeographic exploration. Unlike most musical "site-specific" studies, Malkin remains wholly ambivalent to the documentarian approach, instead sharpening an auteur-like focus on the site as a conceptual and highly expressive backdrop. The Libra is musically explored as a space that houses a noir fragmentation of identity—the exhausted trope of a complicated protagonist walking through rain-soaked street corners and fumy neon lights—where an inner monologue is rendered in both miniature and at a cosmic scale. Casting aside stifling tropes around field recording, ambient, and improvised music, Malkin's work finds its own unique fidelity and emotional core through the assembly and reassembly of memory. Nearly every sound on the album—from frayed saxophones, lambent pianos, and dissected jazz drum kits—are multiplied, shattered, and reconstituted into shapes that adorn The Libra in a motion-blurred fog. The narrative of the Hotel suddenly appears as if out of the mist, with intersecting characters interacting within its walls by happenstance. Adminst the languid set pieces, wraith-like sonic grains gravitate around wide subbass beams that give structural form to The Libra, a narrative tension like when a scene is shot from hundreds of different perspectives: an image both luminous and veiled.
Much like Frank Sinatra's own spatial residency immortalized on "Live at The Sands," "At The Libra Hotel" showcases an exuberant view of entertainment, hospitality, and a form of masculinity, one that can quickly detourn into darkness. Knowing this, Malkin extracts a melancholic core out of The Libra locale. The flickering shadows of American decadence are shown in their ephemeral honesty, lines that trace how even in everyday life virtue is tested, sanity is tested, even reality is tested within the confines of desire, within the night. The album is draped in fleeting textures, carefully arranged with a trance-like microtonality, the faint inflections and articulations of a jazz band cascading into dissipated stillness. Voicemails about changed locations and covert eavesdropping on guests' whispered conversations provide an atmosphere of missed connection and voyeurism—a purloined letter of desire receding into a vanishing point. Like the music itself, The Hotel, a chapel perilous at the intersection of desolation row, the center of it all, yet simultaneously at the edge of town, becomes a structure between libidinous virtuality and actuality—our inevitable half-light.
Ultimately, the pensive atmosphere of "At The Libra Hotel," powerfully asserts a plea for the kinds of intimacy only possible in transient spaces. Here, memory cascades into a force that feels like something supernatural, perhaps even religious, yet always subject to the infidelity of our imagination. Here, the album opens into its primary psychodrama, the transient nature of subjectivity itself and how this becomes fractured in the tumult between our commitments and desires. Within this nocturnal space, to quote Louise Bourgeois, "you pile up associations the way you pile up bricks. Memory itself is a form of architecture."
- 01: Introduction / Purple Haze Feat. Zdechly Osa
- 02: Slayaz / Elf Island
- 03: Fifi Feat. Lil B
- 04: House On The Hill
- 05: Pet Cemetery
- 06: The Cheshire Cat
- 07: Wipeout
- 08: Afro Samurai / Quest
- 09: Cat Kingdom
- 10: Magic Carpet
- 11: Pinocchio Feat. Jehst
- 12: The Horsemen
- 13: Ice King Feat. Lealani
- 14: Cat In Oz
- 15: Heaven's Gates
- 16: Outsiders
- 17: Psychosis City
- 18: Age Of Aquarius
Psych-rap enigma Onoe Caponoe returns with his fifth studio album ‘Concrete Fantasia’ on High Focus Records. In crystal clear communication with the mothership; littered with striking references to fantastical realms and uncommon lore, but very much anchored in the inner city blocks and smoggy roadsides that inform his everyday, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a dark fantasy tape that expertly blurs the lines between genres, tones, moods and character profiles.
Of this world and out-of-this-world perfectly poised; Onoe offering up escape portals, before quickly pulling the listener back in with wave-upon-wave of catdelix riptides. ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is something of a tug-of-war; peppering movie samples, vignettes and complex go-betweens tickling the senses, combining with a cacophony of mind-bending lyricism resulting in a singular journey, with Onoe confidently filling the shoes of both author and narrator.
Pinocchio ducking feds in the hood, an Ice King ruling over a frostbitten kingdom, The Cheshire Cat trying to clean up Alice’s act, sweet serenades to off-shore mermaids, the trials and tribulations of life in a haunted trap house, big booty witches, flying carpets and beyond, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a real trip through the imaginative mind of Onoe Caponoe. With an eclectic line-up of featured artists and productional talent propping up the fictional cast, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ has all the makings of an alt-rap odyssey for the ages.
Opening with euphoric keys and soothing birdsong, Jman & The Argonautz’ debut LP ‘Therapy In Session’ feels like a seminal moment. Not just for the band (it’s not everyday you reveal your debut album to the world) but also in the HF canon.
As a label founded on emcees and breaks, the notion of releasing a fully fledged LIVE studio album, crafted by a 6-piece of likeminded and deeply connected musicians makes for a hugely refreshing kink in the arc, at a time when championing true art has never been more important.
The thing we love most about ’Therapy In Session’ is the sense of togetherness that runs through the album. From the aforementioned opening notes to the very last cymbal, every member bringing out the very best in one another as the track list unfolds. Everything poised and perfectly measured, Jman’s lyrical dexterity and Maddy’s accompanying melodies offering up a rich assortment of emotion and mood for the band to blanket in warm arrangements.
Above all else, ‘Therapy In Session’ represents catharsis for both Jman and The Argonautz; each track a deep dive into the highs and the lows, fears, lessons and regrets that life too often throws at us; 16-tracks, each eloquent and razor sharp at every turn.
- 01: Worldwide
- 02: Angel Strike
- 03: Damien Darhk
- 04: Limbo Genki Dama Feat. King Kakarot
- 05: Old Earth
- 06: Intergalaktus
- 07: Fonk Abyss
- 08: 4000 Ad Feat. Renelle 893
- 09: Inside
- 10: Dustman Feat. Jerré
- 11: ?££ For Beats!
- 12: The Essence
- 13: Blue
- 14: House Of Cards
- 15: Hollywood Feat. Fliptrix
- 16: Soul Calibur
- 17: Most Blunted
- 18: Virus World
- 19: Solar Flare Feat. Verb T & Moka Only
- 20: Infinitizm
- 21: Astro Children Feat. Hpblk, Ash The
- Author & Booda French
- 22: North Star Feat. Maddy
- 23: Deepspace Slime
- 24: Old Earth
The adequately titled ‘The Album To End All Alien Abductions’ sees UK stalwart
King Kashmere and producer/rapper extraordinaire Alecs DeLarge unite for a 24-
track ride through an epic space age boom bap odyssey.
“F**k with your boy Judas Ascariot, who came back swinging - whipping the
super chariot” declares a triumphant King Kashmere on the album opener ‘Angel
Strike’, proving he hasn’t lost a step since his last full length rap project,
#LP4080 dropped back in 2017.
Thematically Kash’s lyrics are routed in sci-fi and Jack Kirby era comic lore,
but on cuts such as ‘Old Earth’ (an ode to his Mother and coming of age on a
North London council estate and ‘House of Cards’ (an exploration of mental
health) the Iguana Man shows a rare glimpse into the man behind the freshly
pressed super suit.
Several cuts also see Alecs stepping from behind the boards to join Kashmere
on mic duties, a pairing best displayed on the dusty bubbler ‘Most Blunted’ in
which the duo trade verses in a puff puff pass of lyrical spliff boxing.
[a] 01 - Worldwide [Intro]
[i] 09 - Inside [Skit]
[k] 11 - £££ For Beats! [Skit]
[m] 13 - Blue [Instrumental]
[o] 15 - Hollywood Feat. Fliptrix [Skit]
[r] 18 - Virus World [Instrumental]
[x] 23 - Deepspace Slime [Outro]
[y] 24 - Old Earth [Remix]
- 01: Introduction / Purple Haze Feat. Zdechly Osa
- 02: Slayaz / Elf Island
- 03: Fifi Feat. Lil B
- 04: House On The Hill
- 05: Pet Cemetery
- 06: The Cheshire Cat
- 07: Wipeout
- 08: Afro Samurai / Quest
- 09: Cat Kingdom
- 10: Magic Carpet
- 11: Pinocchio Feat. Jehst
- 12: The Horsemen
- 13: Ice King Feat. Lealani
- 14: Cat In Oz
- 15: Heaven's Gates
- 16: Outsiders
- 17: Psychosis City
- 18: Age Of Aquarius
Psych-rap enigma Onoe Caponoe returns with his fifth studio album ‘Concrete Fantasia’ on High Focus Records. In crystal clear communication with the mothership; littered with striking references to fantastical realms and uncommon lore, but very much anchored in the inner city blocks and smoggy roadsides that inform his everyday, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a dark fantasy tape that expertly blurs the lines between genres, tones, moods and character profiles.
Of this world and out-of-this-world perfectly poised; Onoe offering up escape portals, before quickly pulling the listener back in with wave-upon-wave of catdelix riptides. ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is something of a tug-of-war; peppering movie samples, vignettes and complex go-betweens tickling the senses, combining with a cacophony of mind-bending lyricism resulting in a singular journey, with Onoe confidently filling the shoes of both author and narrator.
Pinocchio ducking feds in the hood, an Ice King ruling over a frostbitten kingdom, The Cheshire Cat trying to clean up Alice’s act, sweet serenades to off-shore mermaids, the trials and tribulations of life in a haunted trap house, big booty witches, flying carpets and beyond, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a real trip through the imaginative mind of Onoe Caponoe. With an eclectic line-up of featured artists and productional talent propping up the fictional cast, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ has all the makings of an alt-rap odyssey for the ages.
- 01: Introduction / Purple Haze Feat. Zdechly Osa
- 02: Slayaz / Elf Island
- 03: Fifi Feat. Lil B
- 04: House On The Hill
- 05: Pet Cemetery
- 06: The Cheshire Cat
- 07: Wipeout
- 08: Afro Samurai / Quest
- 09: Cat Kingdom
- 10: Magic Carpet
- 11: Pinocchio Feat. Jehst
- 12: The Horsemen
- 13: Ice King Feat. Lealani
- 14: Cat In Oz
- 15: Heaven's Gates
- 16: Outsiders
- 17: Psychosis City
- 18: Age Of Aquarius
Psych-rap enigma Onoe Caponoe returns with his fifth studio album ‘Concrete Fantasia’ on High Focus Records. In crystal clear communication with the mothership; littered with striking references to fantastical realms and uncommon lore, but very much anchored in the inner city blocks and smoggy roadsides that inform his everyday, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a dark fantasy tape that expertly blurs the lines between genres, tones, moods and character profiles.
Of this world and out-of-this-world perfectly poised; Onoe offering up escape portals, before quickly pulling the listener back in with wave-upon-wave of catdelix riptides. ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is something of a tug-of-war; peppering movie samples, vignettes and complex go-betweens tickling the senses, combining with a cacophony of mind-bending lyricism resulting in a singular journey, with Onoe confidently filling the shoes of both author and narrator.
Pinocchio ducking feds in the hood, an Ice King ruling over a frostbitten kingdom, The Cheshire Cat trying to clean up Alice’s act, sweet serenades to off-shore mermaids, the trials and tribulations of life in a haunted trap house, big booty witches, flying carpets and beyond, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ is a real trip through the imaginative mind of Onoe Caponoe. With an eclectic line-up of featured artists and productional talent propping up the fictional cast, ‘Concrete Fantasia’ has all the makings of an alt-rap odyssey for the ages.
Reformed Society joins the roster of Brussel's, Belgium's Basic Moves this June with a 2x12'' EP, comprising six original compositions from the New Delhi born now Barcelona based artist. After many years sharing music, Basic Moves boss Walrus welcomes Indian artist Harsh Puri onto the imprint for a special double pack vinyl release. The material was gradually reduced down to the six compositions that make up BM19 after received over a hundred demo tracks from Harsh the past few years.
Much of the release is inspired by UK tech house of the late nineties and the turn of the millennium and embraces a heads down, dance floor focused aesthetic throughout.
Opening the release is 'Constant State Of Hustle', perfectly setting the tone with an amalgamation of bubbling synthesizer tones, a choppy bass groove, sporadic pads and a heavily swung drum groove. 'Touch' then shifts focus over to fluttering stab sequences, bright chords, airy strings and a crunchy rhythm section before 'Hammer The Keys' embraces the core essence of the early Tech House sound, fusing organic percussion with multilayered machine funk melodies, all infused with an underlying acid feel.
Next up is 'Hug Pit' which dives into deep realms via ethereal, cinematic pad textures, wandering resonant synth lines and shuffled drums. The aptly named 'Adrenaline Rush' follows next, picking up the pace again courtesy of a gnarly bass melody, squelchy synth tones and a robust drum machine workout. 'Dream Shuttle' then rounds out the release, employing hazy atmospheric textures and a bumpy bass groove alongside dynamic, crisp drums.
- A1: Renaud Mayeur Dago Theme
- A2: The Nick Leonardo Orchestra Ghost City Blues
- A3: The Nick Leonardo Orchestra The 12 Bastards Of Lucifer
- A4: Jean-Marc Lederman Immaculate
- B1: Moaning Cities Easter
- B2: The Nick Leonardo Orchestra Hellhounds
- B3: Jean-Marc Lederman Man Behind The Curtain
- B4: Jean-Marc Lederman Blackout
- C1: Jack O'roonie Man Alone
- C2: Renaud Mayeur Murder One
- C3: Renaud Mayeur I Wish I Was With You
- C4: Renaud Mayeur Soulless
- C5: Jean Marc Lederman - Raw Deal
- D1: Ashtoreth Threnody V
Director's note : "My encounter with Wild Dee, the main actor in DOUBLEPLUSUNGOOD, was a determining factor in the making of this film. Not only are we strongly influenced by the same literary atmospheres - Among them American authors like Harry Crews, Iceberg Slim, N.Tosches and Belgian horror author Jean Ray - we also share the same cinematic tastes - low budget cinema be it French, Japanese or Spanish. Our main aim was to recreate the spirit, and play with and even subvert, the codes of Exploitation cinema. We also share the same taste for Rock & Roll, as our parallel musical backgrounds show. We were both singers in emblematic Belgian rock bands of the 80's and 90's - Wild Dee in The Wild Ones and me with Marine (79/81 - 3 singles with Les Disques du Crepuscule) and La Muerte (84/94 - 6 albums with Pias). The film's soundtrack, inspired by Francois de Roubaix, John Carpenter, Lalo Shiffrin, is like its second layer of dialogue: the original compositions of Renaud Mayeur (winner of the Magritte 2013 Belgian cinema awards for best soundtrack) and of J-M Lederman (Fat Gadget, TheThe, ... ), Moaning Cities, Ashtoreth, The Nick Leonardo Orchestra, The Manarays, Jack'O'Roonie. " A further thing that brings us together is something that has been with us since childhood and that we Belgians call: Belgitude...
Returning to his home base, Rotterdam based electro-techno mainstay Conforce presents a heavy pack of angular, experimental approaches on his latest offering into the Delsin databank.
Boris Bunnik's accomplished machine language has traversed deep and dubby soundscapes with punchy, club-focused fare alike, since 2010's Grace EP he has found a regular home on Delsin and it's always exciting to see what he comes up with next.
Where Conforce has commonly housed Bunnik's more melancholic, introspective work, the sound palette on Sins Of Synthesis is more tipped towards darker dimensions. The shadow of braindance looms large, guiding the music towards twitchy pattern manipulation, alien textural design and dissonant harmonics.
Bunnik's signature sense of melody can still be detected around the edges, from the distant, hazy pads of 'Charlatan' to the lingering chimes of 'Fragile', but this is a pointed new direction for Conforce and it's leading somewhere very interesting...
- A1: Intro
- A2: Supa Emcees
- A3: The Bizness
- A4: Yunonstop
- A5: Wonce Again Long Island
- B1: Dinnit
- B2: Brakes
- B3: Dog Eat Dog
- B4: Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Ooh Baby
- B5: Long Island Degrees
- C1: Betta Listen
- C2: Itzsoweezee (Hot) (Hot)
- C3: 4 More
- C4: Big Brother Beat
- D1: Down Syndrome
- D2: Pony Ride
- D3: Stakes Is High
- D4: Sunshine
Cassette[18,91 €]
It's hard to think of any other act whose music being added to digital streaming sites would make as many headlines as De La Soul. It has been followed up with a big reissue project that's brought all their many great albums - they made more than just that one iconic one, you know - back to print. Stakes Is High brought the same high levels of wordplay, great beats and overall narrative as any of the band's albums, and all at a time when hip-hop's initial popularity began to wane. Fact fans, take note - Mos Def guested on one tune 'Big Brother Beat' and Common on 'The Bizness' way before anyone knew who either of them was.
Glitching through pop music, cruising around the borders of the avant garde, passing by the edge of coldwave and tumbling into dance and club vibes: after her debut Bad Woman Céline Gillain is back with her second album: 'Mind is Mud'.
On Mind is Mud' Gillain let herself sink in the swamp of emotional confusion, the perpetual brain fog caused by a post Covid-world asking herself: do we have to get used to paradox as a way of life from now on?*
A musical dissection in nine songs of the mudflow, a flow which reveals its rich complexity the more Gillain dived into it: from the demanding intro 'Together' Céline opens up her highly personal and unique vision, shifting between high definition lost dimensions and emotionsthe mud slowly transfers in a crackling and sparkling stream of consciousness.
The mud is well alive in all its weirdness and unclarity. At times, it even glows in the dark.
The answer to that question is yes. The story of Mind is Mud by Céline Gillain: "Music is a place where intuiting is a work in itself. For me, it's the one place where I'm in charge, free to think and do what I want. Mind is Mud is the fruit of a collaborative practice with a DAW, a research around the palliative power of rhythm and the dancefloor, music as a space where emotions and ideas merge, storytelling, the comic potential and imaginative nature of sound. I don't really write, I copy paste and then I arrange and rearrange. Every sound I use comes from software, field recording, Instagram, movies and midi scores I collect here and there. In the hierarchy of sounds, you might call them cheap sounds. The lyrics are collages as well, made of pieces of texts from various contradictory sources. In addition to using the voice as a vehicle for ideas, I investigate its percussive and polyphonic potentialities, the possibility to have more than one voice/mouth."
- A1: Daytime Tv (Rainy Miller Remix)
- A2: It’s Hard To Get To Know You (Space Afrika Ambiv)
- B1: Pigeon Flesh (Mobbs' Butcher Mix)
- B2: Love Like An Abscess (Aho Ssan Remix)
- C1: Nervous Energy (Teresa Winter Remix)
- C2: I Was Born By The Sea (Morgane Polanski Remix)
- D1: I Was Born By The Sea (Fila Brazillia Remix)
- D2: Dream About Yourself (Bonus)
Richie Culver had been waiting his whole life to record I was born by the sea. His debut album immediately and messily inscribed the artist into the canon of outsider music and experimental electronics, serving both as an arresting statement of intent and a painful reckoning with the difficult path that lead up to it, stealing one last glance back at a place he always knew he had to escape. Between grim lamentations, faded memories and anxiety attacks, all told with searing honesty and disarming openness, I was born by the sea excavates a space for hope, finding Culver digging through Humberside silt to find a world weary optimism, the raw material from which his visual and sound art is shaped. For this collection of expansions and inversions, Culver invites a collection of kindred spirits, contemporary inspirations and old heroes to wade into the salt water of his formative years spent living for impromptu raves and afterparties, connecting vivid memories of his birth place of Withernsea to artists hailing from as nearby as Preston and Bridlington, further afield, from Manchester and London, Berlin and Paris, before returning back to Hull, to where it all began.
For some, responding to I was born by the sea means diving even deeper into the record’s furthest reaches. Space Afrika clear away the pummelling loops of noise from ‘It’s hard to get to know you,’ revealing a cool and cavernous expanse in its wake. Distant chatter, previously heard as though through thin, plasterboard walls, now echoes from outside the maddening claustrophobia of the original’s Sisyphean sonics, illuminated as a dense storm cloud suspended amidst a more open scene, washed clean by a lighter rain, allowing the tender heart of the track to beat clear. London producer MOBBS stretches out ‘Pigeon Flesh’ into an epic, 10-minute, cold-sweat spiral, strung-out tension wrung from disconnected phone tones twisted in unexpected directions, snatches of Culver’s voice turned inside-out and deep fried bass threatening to tip the track over into oblivion, the build-and-release of a nervous breakdown experienced in real time. In an act of subversive self-reflection, Morgane Polanski switches one kind of ennui for another in her adaption of ‘I was born by the sea,’ swapping the sea for the city, English seaside towns in January for summer evenings in Paris and flashing lighthouses and sparkling oil rigs for the Eiffel Tower and the traffic around L’Arc de Triomphe. Even Culver finds time to revisit ‘Dream About Yourself,’ a track taken from his EP Post Traumatic Fantasy, breathing new words into its glacial drift, the half-remembered testimony of a shut-in: Woke up in the evening / Pray for me / Don’t trust anyone / Pray for algorithm. Reframed in a more melancholy light, the track’s reverberant keys even more clearly evoke a mournful nostalgia, fresh pain felt in old wounds.
Others find a parallel universe in Culver’s visceral world building. Rainy Miller flips the script with a scorched, avant-drill rework of ‘Daytime TV’, threading puncturing hi-hats and queasy low-end surge through the track’s steady ambient cascade, invoking the irresistible Preston beat magic of Miller’s own essential debut album, Desquamation. Aho Ssan melts away the crystalline textures of ‘Love Like an Abscess’ with the ominous crackle of a nascent fire, building through swathes of organic Max/MSP squelch and brittle, nails-down-chalkboard scrape, swelling and metastasising the original to spill over Culver’s desperate hymn to corporeal desire, at once flesh and not. Teresa Winter transports us an hour up the coast from Withernsea to her native Bridlington, replacing the sea wall of synthesis on ‘Nervous Energy’ with muffled ASMR murk and fever dream whispers, transforming Culver’s unflinching observations into a haunting call-and-response, filling in the blanks with her own eerie utterances, a fleeting conversation with a ghost. In a touching victory lap, Fila Brazillia, eccentric stalwarts of beloved ‘90s trip hop imprint Pork Recordings, whose performances at Hull institution The Lamp convinced a young Culver of the necessity to make his mark on club culture, resurface for their first remix in 20 years. Steve Cobby and David McSherry lead a low-slung, heartfelt stroll back through a suite of tracks from I was born by the sea, tracing a full circle saunter from Culver’s origins to his current musical practice, the sounds of his present repurposed by the sound of his youth. In a gesture that reflects the emotional complexity of the project, Fila Brazillia find joy at the end of Culver’s troubled reflection, picking out an undeniable groove in the stasis of feeling trapped in your hometown. Underlining Hull’s vital musical legacy, from Baby Mammoth to Throbbing Gristle, Cobby and McSherry demonstrate that, though there are certainly storms, by the sea there is also sun and through the fog, if you listen, you can hear a singular sound, a sound now carried by Richie Culver.
Participant is a record label and creative studio run by William Markarian-Martin and Richie Culver
Reissue!
The West coast series continues... after the huge Hasbeens release its Sumerian Fleet with a amazing 5 track ep full of big dark wave inspired tracks. The perfect sound track for a movie such as Irreversible. Scary, haunting and dirty! Do we hear some influences of The Cure~ Liaisons Dangereuses~ Adult.~ Front 242~, John Fox~. By far the most inspiring electro release we've have heard in a while with its crazy industrial drive and dirty machine funk and robotic synths. Btw check out that last track Blech Erkrankung... That track alone is worth buying this record! Big. (limited edition!!!)
Repress!
‘Shapes,’ the third album from London-based multi-instrumentalist, Robohands, fuses elements of jazz, krautrock, hip hop and ambient music. For fans of Khruangbin, Yusef Dayes, CAN, Coltrane and 70s library music moods.
Shapes is the solo project of London based composer, instrumentalist and producer Andy Baxter. His debut LP Green was released on Village Live Records in 2018 and was received with much love and acclaim in the UK Jazz, hip hop and surrounding scenes.
His follow up full-length, 'Dusk’, dropped in 2019, combining soul, funk, Latin & experimental moods. It featured vocalists & musicians from around the world including legendary New York French horn player, John Clark, who has worked with Isaac Hayes, Gil Evans Orchestra, McCoy Tyner, Jaco Pastorius, Ornette Coleman and many more greats.
'Shapes' is inspired by 1970s library music and their legendary composers including Piero Umiliani, David Axelrod, Brian Bennett and co. The album builds on these influences and incorporates modern motifs, contemporary jazz/hip hop drumming styles with a nod to 1990s Mo Wax artists such as DJ Shadow. The theme for the record is future/nostalgia, mixing vintage & modern instruments and production techniques.
Much of ‘Shapes’ was recorded with JB Pilon at Buffalo Studios in Limehouse, London. Due to the COVID restrictions that changed everything in 2020, the remaining parts were recorded in Andy’s flat using a collection of old mixing desk preamps and instruments.
For the heads – ‘Shapes’ features an array of vintage snares, including a 1960's Ludwig Pioneer and a mono, overhead ribbon mic on the drum kit provided extra old school points! The kick drum was re-amped through a huge vintage bass amplifier on a couple of tracks to give it some real character: “My favourite guitar sound achieved on this LP project is a Sontronics Sigma ribbon microphone in front of a WEM Dominator amp, which you can hear on the track 'Odysea'. The bass sound for all the tracks is a 1973 Fender Precision into an old Altec valve preamp, the one used on most Motown recordings."
- A1: Over & Over (4 35)
- A2: The Ledge (2 02)
- A3: Think About Me (2 44)
- A4: Save Me A Place (2 40)
- A5: Sara (6 26)
- B1: What Makes You Think You’re The One (3 28)
- B2: Storms (5 28)
- B3: That’s All For Everyone (3 04)
- B4: Not That Funny (3 19)
- B5: Sisters Of The Moon (4 36)
- C1: Angel (4 53)
- C2: That’s Enough For Me (1 48)
- C3: Brown Eyes (4 27)
- C4: Never Make Me Cry (2 14)
- C5: I Know I’m Not Wrong (2 59)
- D1: Honey Hi (2 43)
- D2: Beautiful Child (5 19)
- D3: Walk A Thin Line (3 44)
- D4: Tusk (3 36)
- D5: Never Forget (3 40)
Fleetwood Mac’s legendary album Tusk, originally released in Oct. 1979, went on to sell 4 million copies WW and was certified Gold in Germany and France, Platinum in the UK, Netherlands and New Zealand and 2X Platinum in the US. The band toured this album internationally across a 9 month period visiting; the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. Key tracks include “Sara”, “Tusk” and “Think About Me”.
The genius behind the album can be seen from the epic video for Tusk which was filmed with a full marching band (the University of Southern California's Trojan Marching Band), at Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles on 4 June 1979.
Fleetwood Mac is the tenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 11 July 1970. This was the first Fleetwood Mac album with Lindsey Buckingham as guitarist and Stevie Nicks as vocalist, after Bob Welch departed the band in late 1974.
The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart dated 4 September 1976, 58 weeks after entering the chart, and spawned three top-twenty singles: "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me", the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number 11.
Omena proudly presents 'Ceramics' by Saine, the much awaited follow-up to 'For The Dreamers' released on Omena in 2017.
Manoeuvring between styles and atmospheres comes second nature to Saine, but what's truly highlighted here is emotion - steering away from short-lived trends, the LP offers a non-forced listening experience by an artist exploring the different facets of what his music can be.
Swaying analogue synthesiser arpeggios, playful beat-work and what feels like echoes from an alternate dimension sum up a full-length which pushes and pulls at the fabric of what you've come to expect from Saine.
- A1: Avalon - Linked (Move D Remix)
- A2: Alegria - Danger (It's For Real) (Alien Remake)
- A3: Gemini - 7 15 Pm
- B1: Solar Quest - Acid Nation
- C1: Modulate - Dreams
- C2: Nu Era - Pisces
- C3: Hans G - Anything You Like (B2)
- D1: Q-Burn's Abstract Message - Mess Of Afros (Glenn Underground Remix)
- D2: Hector Zazou & Harold Budd - The Light Gave Us Away (House Mix By Herbert)
Hi Scores is beyond excited to present SSR Records: In Retrospect. This 2LP compilation album presented in a beautiful gatefold sleeve and through all digital platforms, wishes to highlight the immense and hard to grasp legacy of the Brussels based label. SSR Records was founded in 1988 by Marc Hollander as a sub label of his Crammed Discs and spanned the nascent years of house, acid, rave, trance, new beat, hip-hop, future jazz and broken beat, collaborating internationally and racking up close to 200 releases until it was put to sleep in 2002. Far ahead of their time, SSR Records released music of both European and North American artists that hadn’t broken through yet, such as those collected on this compilation: Move D, Nu Era, Gemini, Bjørn Torske, Glenn Underground or Matthew Herbert.
SSR Records was run by Crammed Discs chief Marc Hollander and Minimal Compact singer Samy Birnbach aka DJ Morpheus. SSR Records: In Retrospect comes with extended liner notes, exploring the pivotal milestones in the history of the adventurous label and zooming in on the origins of all records featured on the compilation.
All nine tracks on SSR Records: In Retrospect were selected by Hi Scores’s head honcho Kong DJ and have been remastered. Created between 1990 and 1996 and in the at the time pioneering spheres of house, breakbeat, electro and trance music, these treasures from the vast SSR catalog today stand as a stunning testimony to a truly remarkable and timeless musical legacy. Kong DJ: ‘While collaborating with Crammed Discs on the releases of Aksak Maboul in 2016 and Zazou / Bikaye in 2018 on Ensemble, I began to grasp the impressive catalog of the label and its sub labels, including SSR. Surprised by the tiny footprint SSR had left on the world wide web - often the case for labels ceased before the internet revolution - I wrote an article for British website The Vinyl Factory.
This would later prove to be the first step towards this compilation album, collecting favorites from the label as a kid in a giant candy store.’
- A1: Kuami Eugene & Group Chat - I Feel Nice
- A2: Kizz Daniel - Cough (Odo) (Odo)
- A3: Tolani & Wande Coal - Slow Motion
- A4: Lax - Bank Alert
- A5: Kidi, Bnxn Fka Buju - Dance 4 Me
- A6: Wande Coal - Umbrella
- A7: Bad Boy Timz - Faya
- A8: Navy Kenzo & Fireboy Dml - Hold On
- B1: June Freedom - Thing For You (Feat Lax)
- B2: Olamide - Wound Someone
- B3: Black Sherif - Run
- B4: Leil & Bnxn Fka Buju - In The Middle
- B5: Cheque - Off White
- B6: Yaw Tog - Ring My Phone
- B7: Tiwa Savage & Asake - Loaded
In March 2022, EMPIRE assembled some of Africa's finest singers and songwriters, the musical equivalent of Ocean's Eleven, at a writing camp in San Francisco. The result is Where We Come From, Vol. 1, a 15-track compilation featuring Afrobeats royalty Wande Coal, Tiwa Savage and Olamide as well as Tanzanian duo Navy Kenzo, Cape Verde's June Freedom and a host of other stars across Nigeria and Ghana - KiDi, Fireboy DML, Kizz Daniel, Tolani and more. The sounds traverse East, West and South of the continent, incorporating drill, amapiano, trap and Afrobeats in fashioning an album that at once sandwiches luxury between lust and love while also being a flagpost to hedonism. The cover art, created by Nigerian artist Dricky Stickman, incorporates all 15 songs into the final product, illustrating unity, community and culture. “This project ‘Where We Come From, Vol. 1’ is a perfect example of music having no limitations,” Kareem Mobalaji, Regional Head West Africa said. “Yes we are from Africa, but we are truly determined to reach the entire world with our voice, which is music.”
Up next on Space Dust is Miles, exploring 4 variations on an other-worldly electro vibe with his 'Peeking Through Clouds' EP.
The landslide-worthy bassline of 'Hole in the System' kicks off proceedings, with sharp claps and sizzling rides occupying the space left behind, while squelching stepper 'Light Years Away' presents itself as another wieldy dancefloor weapon on a US-garage tip.
On the flip, bass continues as the dish of the day through 'In Transmission', as moody synth work rides a subdued breakbeat. 'Peeking Through Clouds' boxes off the EP in an ethereal fashion... but this shimmering closer remains a floor-focussed weapon.
JOHN BARERA (2MR/ALLERGY SEASON/DOLLY/SORRY RECORDS) is a DJ, Producer & Label owner based in NYC. His sound is rooted in techno and house’s most classic iterations: sturdy, barreling grooves, shimmering pads, deep liquid dubs and the occasional acid burn. BRIAN ABELSON is the producer of JENNIFER VANILLA’s “CASTLE IN THE SKY” album. Here they team up for 6 mesmerizing tracks of funky disco-tech on the latest 12" from the YOU TOO CAN WOO crew. Intricate rhythms, hypnotic synth arpeggios, lush ambience & seriously funky basslines make "THE ARC" a fantastic showcase of this duo's talent and versatility.
French collectors have been bullish on the boogie for decades now & have spawned some of the best sounds in the genre of recent years with artists like DABEULL, HOLYBRUNE, RUDE JUDE, MOFAK, DOGGMASTER & now FRANKFURT & VOYEAR. 2 cuts here of vintage meets future synth funk with a French touch.
De La Soul is never far away from the conversation about great music but as of late, they have been back in the headlines more than ever as their music finally got added to digital streaming sites. Buhloone Mindstate is a lesser-known but just as good album as the most famous Three Feet High and Rising and was a critical success at the time. The lead single has samples of Michael Jackson's 'I Can't Help It' and Smokey Robinson's 'Quiet Storm', there is a collab with Biz Markie on 'Stone Age' and MC Shortie No Mas appears on many tracks including the particularly standout 'In The Woods'.
The Pina Edits crew return with another smash 7" jam-fest !
An the A side we get the super-funky old school cut-n-paste bump of 'Morrison Hotel' while over on the B, we're treated tro another retro sample-mash with precision engineered dancefloor dynamic
Simple, effective jams on limited edition 7"
Floor food for all moods...TIP !
Originally released in 1993 on DJ Phantasy’s Liquid Wax label, it has now been repressed in conjunction with Vinyl Fanatiks on coloured vinyl – options red/white/blue.
DJ Phantasy co-production alongside his mate Simon aka DJ Kid Twist. This was produced at Jack Smooth’s studio and engineered by a young Alex Reece, who later found fame on Metalheadz.
This record, as with most of the Liquid Wax backcat, is sought after on original press so we are delighted to be able to get this repress out to you in a high quality gloss Liquid Wax housebag and white inner sleeve. Released on either red, white or blue 180g heavyweight vinyl.
The sounds of Cleveland seem to grow increasingly abstract with each passing release and a third Kalahari outing is no exception. Manipulating house and techno templates into newly mutated forms, ‘Lola Ran’ is a testament to a producer always playing fast and loose with concepts of genre. It’s possibly his most probing set of productions thus far.
Where predecessors came bearing remixes, it's strictly originals for the duration here.
‘Rand’ and ‘PrideBRK’ are direct but decidedly off-kilter; at once modern and faintly retro in their approach to breaks and deep-dwelling techno. ‘Lola Ran’, ‘Mano’ and ’Temp Oro’, on the other hand, shift gear into opiated, rhythmelodic territory. There are no doubt traces of Detroit-style sci-fi but the Brussels-based producer terraforms an alien microcosm unto itself.
Chicago legend Boo Williams steps into the Afro House arena on this 4 track 12" feat. Jamiel Patton. Boo's trademark floaty spaced out keys float and dance around Jamiel's outstanding vocoded vocal work. B-side's "Space Mix" pushes the title track further into techy sci-fi territory.
If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GORGUTS, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH.
Japanese folk-rock legend Morio Agata stunned fans with this way-outta-left-field dispatch - a synthesizer-laden, new-wave/post-punk classic. Originally released by Osaka’s Vanity Records in 1980 and back on vinyl for the first time in nearly 40 years, this fully authorized reissue has been remastered from the original analog tapes. In tip-on sleeve, with double-sided insert.
50 years ago, Hokkaido-born singer-songwriter Morio Agata released his debut single, Sekishoku Ereji (Red Elegy), an emotive, shuffling piano ballad that (shockingly) sold half a million copies in Japan. While he would never have another Top-40 hit, Agata would spend the next half century issuing a series of idiosyncratic, experimental pop albums. Today, he’s a beloved cult figure, still actively touring and recording in his seventies.
In his first decade as a recording artist, Agata released a stream of classics right out of the gate — Otome No Roman (1972) melded American-styled folk rock with traditional Japanese melodies, Zipangu Boy (1976) was a sprawling, Haruomi Hosono-produced psychedelic opus, and Kimi No Koto Suki Nan Da (1977) saw Agata tackle slick, lightly funky AOR. While this sort of stylistic schizophrenia might sink your average artist, Agata’s singular voice and magnetic charisma elevates everything he touches, and subsumes it all into Morio Agata World — a joyous, playful and frequently unhinged world.
Arguably the biggest left-turn of Agata’s early career, however, came in 1979, when legendary experimental label Vanity Records’ Yuzuru Agi paired Agata with major players from his label’s roster and the Osaka punk scene for an impromptu recording session. An impressive list of musicians took part (SAB, Yukio Fujimoto (Normal Brain), Masahiro Kitada (INU), Taiqui (Ultra Bide), Jun Shinoda (SS), Chie Mukai (Che-Shizu), and others) and even though they all came from different wings of the underground music scene, together they built an arresting, minimalistic bedrock of synthesized and acoustic sounds for Agata to work his magic over. The recording sesssions were tense and it took a while for the collective to find their footing. But the hard work paid off — Norimono Zukan is a masterpiece of ramshackle new wave and droning dirges, topped off with Agata’s unmistakeable croon, at times delicate, other times twisted. It’s a relatively short album, but a deep one, and Mesh-Key is honored to introduce it to a new generation of music fans.
- A1: Welcome Wav
- A2: Life Is Perfecto
- A3: Nostalgic Body
- A4: Model Castings (Ft No Joy)
- B1: Suburbilude
- B2: Punksong
- B3: Night/Day/Work/Home
- B4: Gravure Idol
- C1: I Regret The Jet-Set
- C2: Self Service 1999
- C3: Slippery Plastic Euphoric
- C4: After The After
- D1: Dirty
- D2: End — Curve Of Forgetting
- D3: Heaven (Ft Sarah Bonito)
- D4: The Ultraviolet Room
Repress!
Montreal’s eclectic producer CFCF (aka Mike Silver) follows 2019’s effusive corporate jungle opus Liquid Colours with a kaleidoscopic capital-E Electronica album that takes a range of styles from his earliest formative listening years (1997-2000) and throws them in a blender. Elements of jungle, house, UK garage, trance, pop and post-grunge are blended to form a glossy picture of restless youth in an
identity crisis: memoryland.
Inspired as much by Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins as the Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx; as much by films like Millennium Mambo, Demonlover, Morvern Callar, Safe and Perfect Blue as late 90’s Prada — CFCF jumps across genres as a means of portraying a breadth of overlapping milieus and identities in this hyperactive Y2K period-piece that both explores and criticizes our own nostalgic impulses. From the opening intro’s announcement of arrival to the final credits, it’s an album as film as RPG, with the listener as its protagonist.
Opener “welcome.WAV” functions as a start-up sound file for the journey ahead: from “Life is Perfecto”, a propulsive breakbeat-dreampop hybrid, to a grotesquely-remixed ultra-French-house version of previously released single “Self Service”, and the recursive, metaphysical garage of “After the After”. Two guest vocalists lend their talents: Montreal neo-shoegaze icons No Joy, fresh off their own genre-defying Y2K exploration Motherhood, laconically lists off advice for aspiring fashion ingenues with bite in the alt-rock-IDM “Model Castings”, while Kero Kero Bonito’s Sarah Bonito sweetly delivers the penultimate “Heaven”, grunge-pop paean to the myth of Icarus.
In CFCF’s words:
“I was feeling fatigued by an overabundance of ‘calming’, productivity-oriented music, and wanted to explore something angsty, messy, and dark, while also applying a pop sheen. I see a loose narrative across the album: your early 20’s, a new city, new people, new temptations and new traps. Losing your sense of self to the whims of your surroundings and trends in music and fashion; the wrong people, and trying to dig yourself out of that hole. There’s a hope of moving forward that glimmers in the last quarter of the album, but it’s out of reach and seems to come at a price. And then the looking back on it later with perspective; or the looking forward to it before with anticipation. As a kid I couldn’t wait to be in my 20’s; in my 30’s it’s bittersweet to look back. That’s the core of memoryland: the gulf between the fantasy, the reality, and the memory, and how we live inside each of those at different points.”
In 2016, After Reissuing Two Bruce Haack Albums, Haackula And Electric Lucifer Book Ii, Telephone Explosion Began Speaking With Ted Pandel (bruce's Lifelong Friend And Business Partner) About Working On The 1970 Masterpiece The Electric Lucifer. It Turned Out There Was Another Matter That He Wanted To Discuss: Finding A Final Resting Place For The Bruce Haack Archive.
We Were Shown Test-pressings Of The Electric Lucifer Board Mixes From His Columbia Studio Sessions, Countless Pieces Of Written Music, A Large Number Of Personal Photos, An Invitation From Raymond Scott Inviting Bruce To Play His Newly Created Electronium
Instrument (now Owned By Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh), Poems, Press Clippings, And, Most Importantly, A Heavyduty Shelf Containing 213 Reel-to-reel Tapes. All Of The Chosen Material On The Preservation Tapes Is Unreleased, Has Only Been Heard By A Handful Of People And Showcases A Relatively Unknown Period In Bruce's
Musical Career Where Bruce Was Recording For Sparrow Records (who Billed Themselves As "america's Best Christian Music Record Label'). Bruce's Signature Farad Vocoder Continues To Feature Prominently, But The Lyrical Content Is Decidedly More Religious.
The Bruce Haack Archive Is Now Resting In The Provincial Archives Of Alberta, In Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.
Repress!
**NEW 2018 ALBUM FROM KIKAGAKU MOYO**The shifting dimensions of Masana Temples, fourth album from psychedelic explorers Kikagaku Moyo,are informed by various experiences the band had with traveling through life together, ranging from the months spent on tour to making a pilgrimage to Lisbon to record the album with jazz musician Bruno Pernadas. The band sought out Pernadas both out of admiration for his music and in an intentional move to work with a producer who came from a wildly different background.
With Masana Temples, the band wanted to challenge their own concepts of what psychedelic music could be. Elements of both the attentive folk and wild-¬-eyed rocking sides of the band are still intact throughout, but they're sharper and more defined.
Kikagaku Moyo started in the summer of 2012 busking on the streets of Tokyo. Though the band started as a free music collective, it quickly evolved into a tight group of multi-¬-instrumentalists. Kikagaku Moyo call their sound psychedelic because it encompasses a broad spectrum of influence. Their music incorporates elements of classical Indian music, Krautrock, Traditional Folk, and 70s Rock. Most importantly their music is about freedom of the mind and body and building a bridge between the supernatural and the present. Improvisation is a key element to their sound.
More than the literal interpretation of being on a journey, the album's always changing sonic panorama reflects the spiritual connection of the band moving through this all together. Life for a traveling band is a series of constant metamorphoses, with languages, cultures, climates and vibes changing with each new town. The only constant for Kikagaku Moyo throughout their travels were the five band members always together moving through it all, but each of them taking everything in from very different perspectives. Inspecting the harmonies and disparities between these perspectives, the group reflects the emotional impact of their nomadic paths. The music is the product of time spent in motion and all of the bending mindsets that come with it.
One of the masterworks of 20th century electronic music, "The Electric Lucifer" by Bruce Haack. Originally recorded in 1968 and 1969 (and released in 1970) it is an album both unique in conception and superb in realization. Your your gateway to the profound yet playful universe of Bruce Haack, a "far-out" place where flower-power and inner-space electronics collide!
- A1: 20
- A2: Little Love (Ft Roland Faunte)
- A3: I Looked Into Her Eyes (Ft Ural Thomas & The Pain)
- A4: Bonxair
- B1: Nomadics
- B2: See You Dancing In The Dark
- B3: Emotional
- B4: Don’t Smoke
- C1: Thinking Of
- C2: Memories (Ft Lord Apex)
- C3: Dreams
- C4: Mo1994By
- D1: Cuzratatat
- D2: Aye
- D3: When My Heart In Your Heart
- D4: Outro (End Of The Part 1)
Three years after his last album ‘I Need Space’, Mounika. is back on his favorite playground: electronic music, which arouses his curiosity since his beginnings. He is now ready to unveil ‘Don't Look At Me’, a new opus that takes us, by other paths, to his unique universe. Recorded during the confinement in the intimacy of his home studio, the French artist reveals little by little another facet of his artistic personality, more raw and affirmed, without totally abandoning the cottony sounds already proposed on titles like ‘Cut My Hair’ (diamond single) or ‘Tender Love’ (gold single). We discover sensitive compositions, still inspired by his love for trip-hop, piano and artists who made his musical culture during his youth: Moby, Ratatat, Air or Bonobo. After all, a Mounika. album without a tribute to these figures is not really an album...
But something new was needed to distinguish this opus from the previous ones. From the very first tracks, we can clearly feel this need for exploration that has always guided the French producer. ‘BonXair’ or ‘Nomadics’ take us, for example, in a more straight electronic, more heady than usual. In the same spirit, the rhythms close to the deep house of a track like ‘See You Dancing In The Dark’ offer to the album a new direction, and yet is quite representative of the work undertaken by Mounika. these last years.
In this new record that will also satisfy the fans of the first hour (a sample loop well felt, as on ‘Little Love’ or ‘I Looked Into Her Eyes’, always makes its effect), the French artist has also opened to collaborations of choice. Mounika. works on the heart, and thus wished to welcome those who have particularly marked him during his more or less recent discoveries. The American artist Roland Faunte lends his voice to the effective ‘Little Love’, while Ural Thomas & The Pain (discovered notably on the series ‘It's Bruno’) takes care of the chorus of ‘I Looked Into Her Eyes’. The British rapper Lord Apex delivers a spellbinding performance on ‘Memories’.
Finally, if you listen carefully, you can even hear Mounika. singing on some tracks... like ‘20’ or ‘Don't Smoke’. Put together, these appearances perfectly complement the energy transcribed by Mounika. throughout ‘Don't Look At Me’.
And what could be better than an amazing graphic universe to open the doors of this album like no other? Meet Carl & TJ, two cartoonish characters created in collaboration with Berlin-based artist Joe Taylor, who take care of guiding the listener through this new adventure. One is dreamy and contemplative, the other asks himself a lot of questions... and between them, they form a colorful duet illustrating with tenderness the universal emotions that punctuate this third opus, and that Mounika. will notably defend in the first part of Wax Tailor's French tour starting next April.
The successive pianos composing the productions of ‘When In My Heart In Your Heart’ then ‘Outro’ come, at the end of the record, to conclude the setting in orbit proposed by this ‘Don't Look At Me’. One more step in the sensory journey that Mounika. is committed, from the intimacy of her room to the international success, to build relentlessly.
In the quiet surrounding the pandemic, Madeline Kenney made sonic sketches in the basement studio she shared with her then-partner. She arranged phrases that called her—the sharp knife of a synth cutting a path along a blooming arpeggio, drums stuttering firm and tight. Working this way, she amassed a collection of songs she had no particular aims for. Some formed her 2021 EP Summer Quarter, others languished.
But in 2022, Kenney’s partner left suddenly and without warning, plunging her into the solitary act of untangling what happened. In the wake of her ensuing depression, she revisited these songs and found in them something prescient. She’d already laid the foundation for A New Reality Mind.
That her relationship’s end came without warning is only half true, though. The warnings were in the feelings and fears that inspired Kenney’s critically-acclaimed third album, Sucker’s Lunch (2020), which was co-produced by Jenn Wasner (Flock of Dimes) and centered around the idea of flinging oneself freely into the seemingly-assured destruction of new love, come what may.
If sonically Sucker’s Lunch was letting yourself be pulled into the warm bath of a good story, A New Reality Mind reflects the harsh light of truth coming to break the spell. But as sobering as morning light can be, there’s brilliance to it, too. To see in the clarity of day is a gift. A revolution. Rather than reckoning with love lost, the songs on A New Reality Mind grapple with the self that chose to fall. “I guess I only needed to look twice / Reflected in my attitude, my constant compromise,” Kenney sings on “Red Emotion,” the musical landscape screeching and gasping around her observations of how she made herself small to keep the dream of love alive.
These notions of sight and vision pervade the record as Kenney stands before the infinity mirror of selves she’s been to preserve bonds in her life. On “I Drew a Line,” Kenney contends with the stories she’s told herself to keep plodding along, and the way those stories shape her perceived reality. She invokes John Berger’s Ways of Seeing—“Everything around the image is part of its meaning,” we hear him say. “Everything around it confirms and consolidates its meaning.” Here, Kenney isn’t interested in shaming herself for being carried away by the fantasies of the heart, but rather in investigating the unavoidably human propensity to do so. “I, like everyone else, am muddling through my most ordinary disaster of a life,” she acknowledges, a sentiment which reverberates through album opener “Plain Boring Disaster.” “I don’t need to start again,” she sings at the song’s close. “But I can change when it ends.” We may all be doomed to repetitive, ordinary heartbreaks, Kenney realizes, but at least we can cultivate a capacity to witness our missteps and build new realities for ourselves.
This is Kenney’s most expansive work, while also her most solitary. Produced and recorded alone in her basement, these songs are manifestations of what it feels like to be transformed by pain. Textures collide and collude; sonic ornaments emerge and dissipate capriciously; saxophones soar untamed, as on the 80s pop elegy to self-sacrifice, “Reality Mind”. These songs beg you to dance, then pull the rug out from under you once you’ve caught the beat, leaving you dizzy like the whiplash of love’s end.
But in the propulsive power of A New Reality Mind, there’s also acceptance, self-forgiveness, and a willingness to move forward into life, with all its ways of making a sucker of you. “That way of living, I’m over it,” Kenney declares of the habits that hold her back on “Superficial Conversation”. “I do not need to be reminded of what I did,” she assures, the song opening wide and beaming, like a smile expanding to taste a new breath of air.
The eighth issue of We Jazz Magazine, "Shadow Shapes" for Dorothy Ashby. 128 pages 170 x 240 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.
All articles presented IN ENGLISH.
Dorothy Ashby by David Mittleman, Don Cherry by Magnus Nygren, Peter Evans by Andrey Henkin, The Return Of the Queer Jazz Scene by Tina Edwards, Jimetta Rose & the Voices Of Creation by Samuel Lamontage, Asher Gamedze by Teju Adeleye, Jazz Taphonomy by Seymour Wright, Discaholic column by Mats Gustafsson, Guy Stevens by Lander Lenaerts, reviews, plus more.
Country of printing: Finland
John Tareugram has had his phone on Airplane mode for a while. Procrastination is always around the corner, but he’s now releasing two tracks that combine subtle candid melodies and efficient, old-fashioned disco.
The Clock and Disco Alarm are put together in a MAXI named Deadline, a tribute to all the ones he’s never met. Expect cold sweats, good stress and frenzy on the dancefloor!
On October 24th only Jimmy Bond was still with Chet : Peter littman had returned to America, and his seat was now accupied by Nils-Bertil ‘Bert’ Dahlander, a Swedish drummer who’d accompanied Lars Gullin. At the Keyboard was an almost-unknown pianist named Gérard Gustin who’d just been signed to a contract by Eddie Barclay. Given the context, they were obliged to fall back on standards. Chet knew how to play these better than anyone. He chose eight : ‘These Foolish Things’, wich stayed in his quartet’s répertoire for a while ; five others, wich the trumpeter performs here for the first time – ‘There’s a Small Hotel, Autumn In New York, Summertime, You Go To My Head, Tenderly – and two – I’ll Remember April and Lover Man – that he’d done less than tend ays earlier together with Lars Gullin and Dick Twardzik, whose disappearance was still something Chet refused to accept. Given this state of affairs, the whole session exudes a kind of sadness that’s impossible to put down, whatever the choice of tune or tempo.
Never before had Chet been as totally moving as he is throughout ‘You Go To My Head’.
This second volume of Mangle Rojo is a tribute to the spirit of celebration and diversity that reigns in the festivities of Colombia´s town squares. We created this compilation in vinyl format, in which we continue to explore the traditional sounds of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, which have a rooted Afro tradition.
We begin this journey with field recordings of traditional groups such as Sexteto Tabalá from Palenque de San Basilio, who plays the sextet format heir to the Cuban Son and Los Alegres del Telembí, exponents of the marimba music of the Colombian South Pacific.
We continue this voyage with proposals that fuse traditional rhythms with modern instruments and musical genres: The popular singer Nelda Piña makes a featuring with the afrobeat orchestra La BOA and the marimba band Saborimba, from a small town on the Pacific coast, collaborates with urban musicians.
In addition, we find new protagonists like the big band formats that have been popular in Colombia since the beginning of the 20th century: the Papayera band (Calentanos Brass Band) and the Chirimía format (Chirrimía Balsámica), this last one with the collaboration of the renowned singer Alexis Play.
Finally, we invite artists who use traditional rhythms to develop electronic proposals, such as Ghetto Kumbé and the well-known singer Nidia Góngora.
A growling echo came from deep within the tunnel. There was movement, he was sure of it, but was it living? The wind brushed the darkness, stroking his ears as it passed through the entrance where he stood. Whispers of air danced along the concrete walls and he felt the presence of another. Something stirred down there, but whether it was friend or foe, he could not be sure...
As the name suggests, this EP guides the listener with voices, vocal samples, and choral pads, glueing dub techno soundscapes together. The work brings a dark and brooding, yet warm sonic structure. Distortion provides textured atmospheres, while analogue rhythms build on sturdy 4/4 foundations in meditative cycles.
Guided By Voices: The title track beats with heartthrob kicks, gently arpeggiated melodies, and flecked, illusive vocal samples. Messier808 builds curiosity in the listener, as we try to catch hold of the voices. Each time they remain out of reach. Understated and subtle, the release marks a new outlet - bringing psychedelic, dub, and meditative techno under one roof.
Road to Frederikshavn: Driving, robust and punchy. This track comes with a clarity and forward motion that energises the meditative feel of the previous song. Falling choral pads juxtapose sturdy drums to combine meditation with movement.
Redshift: Bleepy stutters chime like electronic birdsong, looping in with the cyclical soundscapes of the EP, inducing another trance-like state.
This engaging and thoughtful release from the Dutch producer, Messier808, marks the first imprint on The Messier Objects. The tone has been set with breathtaking artwork and intricate soundscapes for what is to become an absolutely intriguing record label and a talented emerging artist.
- A1: Scott Mckenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
- A2: The Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man
- A3: Cher - Blowin' In The Wind
- A4: Tommy James & The Shondells - Crimson And Clover
- A5: Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love
- A6: The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
- B1: Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)
- B2: The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin
- B3: The Troggs - With A Girl Like You
- B4: Free - All Right Now
- B5: The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
- B6: Albert Hammond - It Never Rains In Southern California
- C1: John Lennon - Imagine
- C2: Tim Hardin - If I Were A Carpenter
- C3: The Spencer Davis Group - Gimme Some Lovin
- C4: The Kinks - Lola
- C5: Joan Baez - Love Song To A Stranger
- C6: Cat Stevens - Peace Train
- D1: The Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun
- D2: Melanie - Brand New Key
- D3: Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright
- D4: Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale
- D5: The Who - Pinball Wizard
- D6: Canned Heat - On The Road Again
Die Kopplung „Flower Power – Best Of Love, Peace and Happiness” erinnert an die Zeit von Woodstock, Hippiebewegung und nicht zuletzt an ziemlich gute Musik.
Das Lebensgefühl der damaligen Zeit spiegelt sich in diesen Songs wieder: Freiheit, Liebe, Verbundenheit.
Auf 2LPs bzw. 1CD befinden 24 Songs aus den 60er und frühen 70er-Jahren. Von Künstlern, wie Joe Cocker, Cat Stevens, The Mamas & The Papas, Joan Baez, The Beach Boys, Melanie, The Who und
vielen anderen.
Die 2LP kommt im Gatefold-Cover und in farbigem Vinyl.
Repress.
Barely disco and hardly jazz, Rupa Biswas’ 1982 LP is the halfway point between Bollywood and Balearic. Tracked in Calgary’s Living Room Studios with a crack team of Indian and Canadian studio rats alike, Disco Jazz is a perfect fusion of East and West. Sarod and synthesizer intricately weave around one another for 37 transcendent minutes, culminating in the viral hit “Aaj Shanibar.” Remastered from original analogue source material and issued with permission and blessing of the producers and performers.
DTR Recordings enlist the expertise of the one and only DJ Sneak for a four track of underground house excellence. A true Chicago legend Sneak is responsible for producing a seamless string of seminal house tracks from the ‘90s through the ‘00s to the present date.
For this latest EP, Sneak serves up four brand new original productions, straight up jackin’, groove-laden house bumpers that we’ve come to expect from the mind of a master.
- A1: Where I'm From
- A2: War
- A3: Facetime (Feat G Herbo)
- A4: Don't Play That (Feat 21 Savage)
- A5: Straight To It (Feat Fivio Foreign)
- B1: Trust Nothing (Feat Moneybagg Yo)
- B2: Evil Twins (Feat Lil Durk)
- B3: Too Real
- B4: Let It Bust (Feat Polo G)
- B5: Mad
- C1: My Fault (Feat A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie)
- C2: Change My Life
- C3: Hard To Trust (Feat Dreezy)
- C4: Get Back (Feat Boss Top & D1Frmdao)
- C5: Get It Done (Feat Omb Peezy)
- D1: Chase The Bag
- D2: Go N Get Em (Feat Boss Top)
- D3: Grandson For President
- D4: Family Dedication Outro
“What It Means To Be King'' is the first posthumous album from late Chicago legend, King Von. Known as one of the great storytellers in modern hip-hop, Von’s untimely passing in November 2020 came on the verge of him reaching superstardom, with his album “Welcome To O'Block'' hitting number thirteen on the Billboard 200. Fans can finally expect to hear the finished product of the lead single, “Don’t Play That,” which Von himself teased on social media while still with us. Joining Von, the album features appearances from 21 Savage, G Herbo, Fivio Foreign, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Durk, Polo G, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Dreezy, OMB Peezy, Boss Top & DqFromDaO. Long Live King Von. Pressed on silver & black marble vinyl; widespine sleeve; 12-page booklet.
Debut vinyl by Cruz Perro Maldito, a Tenerife based trio forever imbued in the collective imagination and folklore myths of the magical and misty mountain of Agua García, located in Tacoronte district at the foot of Teide Volcano (Tenerife/Canary Islands). Their music is an explosion of free jazz improv where sophisticated sound textures emerg-ing from modular synths and processed guitar create abstract and random rhythmic patterns with complex saxophone lines guiding the ensemble from quiet to menacing passages of sudden bursts of noise and frenzy.
Entitled Truquetin Resorte, the album takes inspiration from the rich history of mechanical automata, such as Talos, the bronze giant who defended the island of Crete and was eventually defeated by Jason and his Argonauts. Or Apega de Nabis, a replica of King Nabis’ wife whom crossed unsuspecting victims with its iron spikes hidden in the device's lower arms, hands and breasts.
Or even René Descartes and his infamous daughter- like Automaton replica, an eerie creation from the renown philosopher to evoke his dead daughter
These myths and more serve as reminder of a mechanical world’s past, a world of complex automata stories with me-chanic ‘imitating’ beings as its problematic protagonists. An eerie counterpoint to our current uber modern digital world and its rapid advancing A.I.s.
Deepriver is the recently formed intercontinental project of Cape Town-based Jason van Wyk and long time Stockholm-based collaborator Joni Ljungqvist.
Having worked previously in collaboration mining the more introspective side of trance, Deepriver’s inaugural aural statement, “Volume One”, finds the two experimenting with atmosphere and composition to maximal effect. Van Wyk's recent viscerally experimental direction seamlessly coalesces with Ljungqvist's conceptually reflective approach in a way that recalls the sounds and nostalgia of electronic music from decades past.
* Strictly limited-edition 12” vinyl in full colour sleeve
* V Recordings is excited to bring you the latest addition to their 'Legends' series, featuring none other than the legendary Jungle and Drum & Bass producer, Dillinja. You know the drill by now, two tracks, much sought after made available for the very first time.
* Dillinja, aka Karl Francis, has been a staple in the Jungle and Drum & Bass scene since the early days. With his poinerring basslines, intricate rhythms, and futuristic sound design, he's earned a reputation as one of the most innovative producers in the genre. His music continues to be celebrated by fans and DJs alike and remains just as fresh as the day it was created.
* On the hunt through the vaults Bryan Gee, came across these two tracks, 'Lionheart VIP' from 1994 and 'Love 4 You VIP' from 1999/2000, and knew instantly they needed to be part of the collection getting the transf erred to digital and remastered for this release. The result? A taste of Dillinja's unmistakable production style, giving us a glimpse into his creative process during the early days of Jungle and Drum & Bass.
* V Recordings is celebrating 30 Years in the game this year and Dillinja has been a part of the family from the start, with tracks like 'Unexplored Terrain', 'Grimey', and '40Hz' amongst many others that are widely considered as timeless classics that have made a lasting impact on the genre.
* This vinyl release is a must-have for anyone who loves Jungle and Drum & Bass. The 'Legends' series is all about showcasing previously unreleased gems from the archives and taking fans on a journey through the history of the genre. So, don't miss out on this limited edition release and add a piece of Jungle and Drum & Bass history to your collection today!
* Strictly limited-edition 12” vinyl in full colour sleeve
* Lemon D is an iconic name in the world of Jungle and Drum & Bass. He's been at the forefront of the scene since the 90s, producing pioneering tracks that blended breakbeats, hip-hop, and soul into a unique sound that was all his own. Releasing on some the most influential labels in the genre, including V, Metalheadz, Prototype Recordings, and of course his own imprint Valve.
* First releasing on V with the sonic depth charge that is 'I Can't Stop' in 1995, Lemon D has been part of the family since the start and with the release of this Legends 12", his second in the series, that partnership is still going strong! This new release features two previously unreleased tracks from the 90s, which have been carefully sourced and remastered from DAT by head honcho Bryan Gee for the ultimate listening experience. First up is 'Cold Chillin'' from circa 1996, and on the flip 'Get Loaded' from circa 1998/99
* The 'Legends' series is all about celebrating the classic sound that defined Jungle and D&B, and Lemon D is a key part of that. With his innovative productions and undeniable talent, Lemon D has helped shape the sound of a generation. These two tracks are a testament to Lemon D's incredible legacy in the Jungle and D&B world, and still sound as fresh
* We're celebrating 30 Years in the game this year and Lemon D has been a part of the family from the start, with tracks like 'Unexplored Terrain', 'Grimey', and '40Hz' amongst many others that are widely considered as timeless classics that have made a lasting impact on the genre.
* This vinyl release is a must-have for anyone who loves Jungle and Drum & Bass. The 'Legends' series is all about showcasing previously unreleased gems from the archives and taking fans on a journey through the history of the genre. So, don't miss out on this limited edition release and add a piece of Jungle and Drum & Bass history to your collection today!
Ravanelli Disco Club is a disco house label based in Marseille that was established 2019. Over its three short years they have worked with key artists including Ron Basejam, Jimpster, JKriv, Cody Currie, Retromigration, Joe Corti, and Scruscru, with releases in the wings by Prins Thomas and Pete Herbert.
Next up on Ravanelli Disco Club comes slick French duo Palavas who hail from the sun-drenched coast of the South of France, somewhere between Montpellier and Marseille. Named after the Pavalas resort - that was once the splendid queen of Mediterranean sandy beaches - the AZZUR Records founders are the epitome of the French dolce vita! With previous releases on Toucan Sound and Future Disco, their music is an intoxicating blend of nostalgia and cosmic futurism that dazzles discerning dancefloors every weekend with their shimmering solar odyssey.
On ‘Déesse D’été’ – which poetically translates to Summer Goddess - Palavas pay homage to the vibrant and infectious sound of the 80s, blending disco, funk, and new wave with a contemporary twist. This full-length journey provides us with a perfect summer soundtrack for the sunshine season, with upbeat rhythms and warm catchy melodies designed to get sun drenched bodies moving and grooving. Composed and sung in both French and English, the duo show case their tasteful aesthetic, versatility, and artistic flair effortlessly blending their musical influences resulting in a sound that is totally unique.
From the infectious beats of ‘We Are Strong Enough’ to the soulful ballad ‘One Night is Not Enough featuring Ryan Konline' or the new wave tribute ‘You Can't Get Away’, each cut is a beauty in its own right. Guaranteed to make you feel the warmth of the sun on your face and to lift your winter spirits.
Originally released back in 1999 via Mindfood Records, Tiny Elvis ‘Desire’ EP gets a much-needed reissue on Cosmocities, topped off by two incredible remixes from Bushwacka! and Max in the World.
A smoother-than-smooth introduction into Tiny Elvis’ deep and progressive headspace, ‘Desire’ blazes with a modern soul and timeless fire at heart. While there’s no denying the time and era emanating from the grooves, the record prefigures a lot of the mind-expanding house music that’s come to fill the shelves and crates of vinyl shops two decades on. A distinctive blend of pumped-up, 303-brined jazz and abstract-leaning vocal loops ushering us into a pulsating heart of LSD-fuelled visions and climax-seeking energies.
Adding his invariably genius spin to ‘Desire’, UK house maestro Bushwacka! tweaks the original’s trademark wonkiness into that of a floor focused weapon, geared up for deep boogie action down the basement but lacking none of that prominently silken, loungey magnetism either.
On the flip side, ‘Howze The Music’ cuts a path of squelchy, strings-driven hypnosis, beautifully combining the liquid-like essence of acid with a neo-classical sense of evolutive emotion, injecting it with a tang of trancey tribalism for good measure.
New York's Max in the World gives a further dreamy, cinematic twist to proceedings, taking us on a lush ride across flickering landscapes flush with honey-dipped synth stabs, a-propos sampling and blissful strings stirring all kind of emotional flows with unrelenting verve.
Following up on their acclaimed debut EP Yagana in 2022, the 5-piece band Pigeon return with a brand new offering: Backslider.
As Pigeon develop and hone their sound further, Afro-disco remains at the core while jazz and no-wave make way for new elements of electro, rock and synth pop.
With their debut Yagana EP gaining critical acclaim, each member has found themselves heavily in demand on top of their own individual pursuits – Falle Nioke is releasing his solo work as well as other projects, while Steve Pringle and Graham Godfrey play in various bands (Michael Kiwanuka and SAULT to name a few). Adding to the creative melting pot, Tom Dream pursues filmmaking and bespoke music composition via his own studio, and Josh Ludlow runs his own record label M.A.D. Records.
Lead single 'Backslider', a laid-back, 80s funk-rock bassline is backed by a deliberate, plodding drum kit - frontman Falle Nioke proceeds to sing in English and French - calling someone a 'backslider', for their dishonesty and bad behaviour.
Track 'Ikanabore', is a fast-paced, Afro-disco workout primed for the dancefloor, driven by a catchy chorus, guitar hooks, a heavy rollicking kick drum and plenty of modulated synth - highlighting the band's ability to effortlessly cross between tempos and genres.
Hand the king of re-edits Late Nite Tuff Guy the keys to an unreleased Silk recording from the ‘70s hey days and you’ve got yourself a recipe for greatness. A’s and Bees line up their second heavyweight 12 inch pressing, with two exhilarating edits from LNTG alongside the first ever release of the original recording. As ever 50% of the profits from this release will be donated towards the British Beekeepers Association.
It's rare to crack the vaults on a recording that’s as good as this, that never saw the light of day. Courtesy of ‘70s Philly International wonders Silk, most famed for their soul sensation ‘I Can't Stop (Turning You On)’ that was sampled by LF System for their 8 week strong number 1 release, ‘Somethin' 'Bout The Way’ has all the elements of a smash hit. As catchy as they come, singalong sensibilities and musicianship of the highest order with vocal harmonies to match, it’s genuinely astonishing that this never got released. Who better to tweak this into an all-out disco stomper, than re-edit royalty Late Nite Tuff Guy. His Disco Dub teases in, loops up and adds extra punch to all the elements that make the original such a standout track, before letting loose those joyous vocals. Big room, full body, DJ friendly business this!
On the B side, the original mix gets it’s first ever release, with LNTG providing a shorter edit of his full throttle re-work to round off the package.
Limited edition sampler from Japanese producer CALM. These two tracks have been taken from the Japan only Music Conception release ‘Quiet Music Under The Moon’ that came out early 2023 . Featuring his signature ambient musical meditations. Mukatsuku has worked with Calm several times over the years releasing music on Exceptional Records plus compilations on Fuego (Moshi Moshi) & Kriztal (Sakura Aural Bliss) but this is the first time to release his output on Mukatsuku. Limited to 400 only hand-numbered copies
- A1: Intro
- A2: Chaos Space Marine
- A3: Concorde
- A4: Bread Song
- B1: Good Will Hunting
- B2: Haldern
- B3: Mark's Theme
- C1: The Place Where He Inserted The Blade
- C2: Snow Globes
- D1: Basketball Shoes
- E1: Mark's Theme (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- E2: Instrumental (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- E3: Athens France (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- F1: Science Fair (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- F2: Sunglasses (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- G1: Track X (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- G2: Opus (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- G3: Bread Song (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
- H1: Basketball Shoes (Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall)
One of this year’s breakout success stories from the UK’s current thriving independent music scene,
critically acclaimed seven-piece Black Country, New Road present here their highly anticipated second
album ‘Ants From Up There’ via Ninja Tune.
Debut album ‘For the first time’ was shortlisted for the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize. The band
performed ‘Track X’ live on BBC 4.
‘Ants From Up There’ was written in lockdown in the early part of 2021 when the band were unable to
go on tour as planned to support their album release. The result is a stunning collection of songs and a
move in direction to a more crossover, alternative sound beyond the experimental and ‘post-punk’
nature of their debut.
New album expands on their unique concoction to create a singular sonic middle ground that traverses
classical minimalism, indie-folk, pop, alt rock and a distinct tone that is already unique to the band.
Extensive global touring in 2022, including their biggest London show to date at the Roundhouse, full
UK and European Tour in April/ May. Sold out 2021 shows include Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester,
Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol and Dublin and more.
2021 festival dates include End Of The Road, Latitude, Fusion, Roskilde, Dour, Bol Festival, Pohoda,
Le Guess Who, Dour. In 2022 they’ll play Primavera Sound, Dour, Way Out West, Bad Bonn Kilbi, Bol
Festival.
For fans of IDLES, Black Midi, Squid, Phoebe Bridgers, Jockstrap, Nick Cave, The National,
Radiohead.
Deluxe 4LP 140g vinyl box set with bonus ‘Live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall’ double LP, black paper
inner sleeves, 4 art prints, lyric booklet and sticker.
George Apergis aka EMEX, founder of Modular Expansion, returns after 2 years with a Collection of Classics! George Apergis makes his great return with a retro - italo infused banger techno track “Retrograde”. The release continues with the two first ever tracks of George Apergis, produced back in 2005 but never officially released! “Rave On” the electroclash smash hit and “Sleeping With Headphones”, a techno theme with percussive rhythms, bass synth lines and unique vocals, representing the sound of 00s. The release closes with “Back Forward” a hard kicker track with rave synth lines, percussive rhythms that goes beyond and creates a perfect rave tool.
Following the 2022 release of The Soft Moon's highly praised fifth full-length album Exister, 2023 sees the release of Exister Remixed, a harsh and textured collection of 5 remixes by some of Europe's boldest industrial techno EBM and experimental electronic artists: Phase Fatale, Unhuman, OTHR, Gael and Norbak. Hailed as "The Soft Moon's most expansive statement to date..." (Brooklyn Vegan) and a "meticulously crafted, vividly greyscale industrial post-punk" (The FADER), Exister is a post-punk industrial masterpiece engulfed in a brooding yet thundering atmosphere - and these reworkings offer an even greater layer of intensity. The Soft Moon's 'Exister' tour will continue through spring and summer 2023 across Europe, UK, Asia, and USA.
Exister Remixed is out June 23rd, 2023 on digital and vinyl 12" format. This is a joint-release between Sacred Bones Records and Bite Records (Phase Fatale's imprint).
ZYX Italo Disco : Flemming Dalum Remixes Vol. 2 shines due
to 8 remixes carefully selected by the Italo Disco legend from
Denmark.
The remixes of Flemming are outstanding thanks to a modern
and perfectly produced sound, but are still close enough to the
original to convey the typical 80s Italo Disco feeling.
Ascion's debut solo album "ACIDTRAUM (You Know How It Is)" showcases his years of dedicated music production. It's a psychedelic blend of Underground Resistance, arcade games, 90s electronica, and sci-fi vibes, creating a unique post-modern club experience. The album reimagines the nostalgia of Trance, Acid, Electro, and Italo Disco, resulting in a captivating and innovative sound.
New Copenhagen, Denmark based imprint Inherent Futurism shines a light on an unsung gemstone from the Detroit Electro genre, Autobot-1000's '3 Dimension Of Space'. Inherent Futurism is a new label coming out of Copenhagen, Denmark and headed up by Morten Kamper, a staple in the Danish electronic music scene who's been involved in it for more than 30 years and nowadays is running the 313vinyl_collective record store in the capital.
Inherent Futurism will focus on a blend of unearthed old records and new material with no real boundaries, just a focus on quality electronic music in all forms with an inclination towards Techno and Electro. To inaugurate the label, Morten will release Autobot-1000's debut album on vinyl for the first time, the project was only out on CD and released in 2001 on Hoodwink Records from North Carolina, US. Run by James B. Boggs who also was executive producer on the album.
Across the '3 Dimensions Of Space' LP, Autobot-1000 treats us to an array of classic Detroit Techno and Electro cuts, fusing an amalgamation of crisp analogue drums, intricately intertwined synth strings, squelchy acid licks and arpeggios alongside silky snaking bass grooves, twinkling chimes and vocoder vocal lines. The entire project embraces and encapsulates the futuristic, spaced out aesthetic synonymous with the Electro sound of its it's time and place, namely Detroit at the turn of the millennium.
Welcoming the inimitable DJ and Producer Dan Shake with his forthcoming EP Verde, set for release on May 26 2023.
Renowned for his infectious charm in the booth and an expert ear for funk, soul and disco rarities, the producer who cut teeth making maximum impact dancefloor groovers is now taking an introspective new direction. Dan was inspired after his relocation to Devon from London where a new found feeling of escapism and appreciation for nature allowed him to experiment with his own sound more than before, including using his own vocals at the forefront for the very first time.
Dan Shake (Daniel Rose-Weir) began his notoriety with the Mahogani Music released 3AM Jazz Club / Thinkin’ in 2014, using Moodymann’s seal of approval as a springboard for his ambitions. Even as dancefloor-igniting releases piled up year on year, such as the Ibiza-smashing ‘Claudia’s Trip’, or any number of Shake Tapes white label edits, Shake’s expertise as a DJ began to match his production chops. This makes for two combined sides of what Dan Shake represents: an explosion of colour, variety and flavour, no matter whether he’s jamming on a rotary in the booth, or juicing fresh joy from old samples in the studio. Basements, lofts, tents, festival stages with the production dialled up to 11 – all are welcome opportunities to let loose. But as his sound has evolved and his reputation as a killer DJ has grown, Shake’s love of connecting to the dancers in front of him has remained, well, unshakable.
Skepta and fellow BBK member Jammer launch house label Más Tiempo, with the pair collaborating for the debut EP ‘Mas Murder’
The release sees the Mercury Prize-winning MC, songwriter, and producer showcase his house sounds ahead of the label launch party at London’s KOKO on 30th April 2023.
Skepta, the influential Mercury Prize-winning MC, producer, designer, director, and founding member of seminal British grime collective Boy Better Know, unveils his new label Más Tiempo on 28th April alongside instrumental LOTM founder and BBK mainstay Jammer, as the pair launch the house-centric project with their ‘Mas Murder’ EP.
Featuring London talents J Kolo and Ossie (Club Bad/Madhouse), the debut EP showcases a first glimpse of the musical direction of the label, with the imprint set to provide a platform for producers to ‘expand their current portfolio range’ - with Skepta building on his iconic DC10 debut for Circoloco last summer, plus forthcoming appearances in Milan, Ibiza and more.
“‘This generation rules the nation, with version’... that really resonated with us for the Más Tiempo journey. Musical Youth sampled on ‘Mas Murder’ was perfect to showcase the way we feel about giving people our spin on house production with instrumentals while paying homage to the ones that came before us.” - Jammer.
Collaborating on the lead cut, Skepta and Jammer’s ‘Mas Murder’ is a low-slung, heady house cut shaped for bustling terraces and built for clubs, fusing crisp percussion, a snaking bassline and eerie melodies for a heads-down effort. Handing over to Jammer, who links up with J Kolo and Ossie, ‘Touch Me’ draws from UK house influences for a skippy, slinking production.
Alongside the EP, Más Tiempo will also take over legendary London venue KOKO on 30th April, with the event being the first standalone show for the collective, having collaborated with The Martinez Brothers and Cuttin Headz at The Beams in December. Featuring performances from Benji B and DJ Maximum alongside sets from both label heads, the show will see Skepta return to the venue for the first time since 2016 following the release of his critically acclaimed LP ‘Konnichiwa’.
The first ever release of electronic Jaglara, an obscure dance music being innovated in an area near the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea border called Fashaga.
Among the most raucous, hypnotic, addictive, and celestial dance styles being made anywhere in Africa, this heavy, mysterious sound is being led by one man: Jantra, which translates as "craziness," a moniker bestowed to celebrate both his personality and sound. Jantra is a rather unknown quantity even in Sudan, outside of the circles which have granted him cult status to perform at their humble gatherings or at street parties far from the gaze of the cities.
Jaglara, which roughly translates as improvisation, has no songs. Jantra simply freestyles a combination of his melodies incessantly for hours on end, acting as a live producer and DJ for emphatic crowds, where the energy of his 155 - 168 BPM music is known to inspire the odd gunslinger to raise and fire his pistol in the middle of the dance floor. His music is hopeful in a hopeless world, uplifting in spirit, ancient and new, childish and mature, familiar yet refreshingly obscure, fueled by the hypnotic Sera rhythm. His Yamaha keyboard is specially tweaked to achieve what you're hearing — the perfect, sweet key tone, literally universal in its appeal.
A hybrid reissue-contemporary album, Ostinato combined extracted individual melodic patterns, rhythms, and MIDI data from Jantra's Yamaha keyboard with his older cassette and digital recordings to recreate his lengthy sessions into individual dance tracks for a worldwide audience to reach the enviable frenzy of Sudanese crowds. This promising new dance music emerging from the deepest reaches of Sudan has never made its way outside of Jantra's parties, let alone outside of the country.
This record is confirmation that the many electronic styles being exported from Africa have a worthy sibling and rival—Jantra's signature electronic Jaglara from the Fashaga underground. It is a privilege of the highest order to be exposed to this unheralded, incredibly well kept rural Sudanese secret.
This visionary record, a precursor to the math music of the new millennium, skilfully blends stripped- down, repetitive guitars with angular, minimalist drum patterns. The original 1999 recording was helmed by Bob Weston (he of Shellac fame) Also of note is that Lynx included in its ranks guitarist Dave Konopka who went on to be a founding member of the group Battles.
This deluxe edition is augmented by a second vinyl entitled Human Speech, an EP featuring three unreleased tracks recorded in 2021 but composed more than 20 years ago. The entire collection, LP and 12" is released by Computer Students" in their Expanded Reissues series. It includes a massive double-sided poster and is housed in a sleek, tactile aluminium packaging.
Eaux proudly announces the second full length LP from Rrose, Please Touch, released on vinyl, CD, and digital download. The LP follows 2019's Hymn to Moisture in ways that are both subtle and striking: Please Touch further hones the artist's tensile sound while exploring new aesthetic vistas and basking in an undeniably erotic sense of play. Moving with undulating power, the album's nine tracks drift across tempos from a weightless 0 bpm to a crawling 100 to a lunging 140 and back, with a rich palette of sculpted noise and cross-talking microtones.
Rrose's compositional process, rooted in their studies with West Coast avant garde trailblazers at Mills College, centers on "seed" sounds being fed through elaborate webs of interrelated audio processing. The result is a world where changes in any one element have downstream implications for some or all the others. It's a rich interdependence that lets the tracks breathe, grow and mutate with uncanny organicism. Please Touch addresses in equal measure the perceptual and the corporeal: these are sounds that sink into the body, exhibiting a tactility that pushes, pulls, bends and yields with fearsome vibrancy.
The album splits its time between radical techno iterations and pieces which pare back the percussion, letting the synth textures uncurl in their own time and space. The quivering drone and rolling sub-bass of "Joy of the Worm'' set the tone for the record, while "Rib Cage," Spore" and "Spines " swing with stepping rhythmic underpinnings. Building with finely calibrated tension, they use their few elements to startling, snarling effect. "Pleasure Vessels" is a rare moment of becalmed introspection in Rrose's oeuvre, hinting at a melodic ambiance that is practically unseen in previous works. It glows with a soft, dawn-like light before dissolving into a tidal fizz. "The Illuminating Glass'' brings the tempo down to a languorous chug, nodding its way through a field of glistening chirps and leaden gasps. "Feeding Time," "Disappear" and album closer "Turning Blue'' meanwhile nod to the cerebral psychedelia of Rrose's forebears, with mesmeric, looping textures and long, magisterial tones not dissimilar to the spectral works of James Tenney (whose work Rrose regularly performs) and the deep listening pieces of Pauline Oliveros.
The title of the album refers playfully to the tactile quality of the music while hinting at a forbidden sensuality that is only permitted within the confines of this microcosm. The phrase is also another nod to Marcel Duchamp, who gave this title to a 1947 exhibition of Surrealist art. Across the nine tracks, Rrose follows the lead of the sound(s) rather than trying to impose on the flow of the sonic material. Each move changes the parameters of a track's evolution. Thus, a non-hierarchical, symbiotic relationship forms between the so-called "music-maker" and the music itself. Please Touch acts as a collection of limbs, organs, parasites, and growths which both devour each other and keep each other alive.
Freestyle Records are proud to reissue Ambiance II Fusion's mid-80s fusion rarity "Come Touch Tomorrow" - originally recorded in Hollywood CA October/November 1984 and released in 1985.
Following a yearly run of 4 albums self-released between 1979 and 1982, Nigerian-born saxophonist, flutist, and clarinettist Daoud Abubakar Balewa then took a few years off before returning with 1985's "Come Touch Tomorrow", the first of two albums issued under the updated name of Ambiance II Fusion. Combining the afro-spiritual jazz & be-bop inflected fusion of his earlier work as Ambiance, this record took the project into more modern & distinctly cosmic planes with the introduction of spacey pads and drum machines working alongside somewhat tighter arrangements and solid rhythm sectons. Of particular note here is the B1 track "Boy What a Joy" on which a sublimely funky synth & drum machine throwdown is presented in prophetically lo-fi fashion - recalling recent stylistic approaches from the likes of Dâm-Funk among others.
Participating Musicians:
"AMBIANCE II FUSION"
Stanley Dominguez - Guitars
Dr. Isacc Ford - Drums/Electric Drums
Ralph Rodriguez - Percussion
Juliian Breeton - Bass
Jardin Wilson - Bass
Lee Williams - Keyboards/Syntheziers
Daoud Abubakar Balewa - Alto & Tenor Saxophone/Percussion
Larry Dominguez - Alto Saxophone
Suzanne Daniels - Vocal Sounds
"AMBIANCE II FUSION ENSEMBLE"
James "Kino" Cornwell - Keyboards
Randy Landis - Basses
Rick Smith - Percussion
Jim Lum - Guitars
Arnold Ramsey - Drums
Daoud Abubakar Balewa - Soprano Saxophone/Percussion
Recorded at Sound Images Recording Studios - Sound Images Entertainment Complex - North Hollywood, CA & Classic Sound Studios - Hollywood, CA. October/November 1984.
Miles Away Records are proud to introduce our latest single to land on the label: the cosmic soul gem "Super Star" by Ruth Waters and the State of Mind Show Band.
A Texas native, Ruth "Silky" Waters was best known for her two disco-infused album's "Never Gonna Be The Same" and "Out In The Open"- produced by the late, great John Davis (John Davis Orchestra). It was however some of Ruth's early material that caught our interest when we started the label as far back as 2018. "Super Star", released on the tiny independent KMBA Recordings label in the late 1970s, draws from the wells of modern soul and gospel with a touch of cosmic synthy goodness. An proper ear turner, it was like nothing we'd heard before. Flip it and "Super Star Pt.2" goes deeper into the cosmic essence of the track with extended guitar and synth solos making this a crackin' little 45.
The track has been lovingly remastered by Phil Kinrade at the legendary AIR Studios and the lacquer was cut deep by Jukka at Timmion Records. It's now presented in our custom teal green labels and house bag.
Underground mainstay Guy Gerber is back on his own Rumors label with new EP Leave It On. Across three tracks he showcases his famously emotive and melodic house sounds.
Gerber has been a core part of the underground for years, headlining the world's most revered clubs and festivals, collaborating with P. Diddy, bringing all new party concepts to Ibiza, and serving up serene and synth heavy soundscapes that move people physically and emotionally on labels like Cocoon, Italians Do It Better and Rumors.
This one kicks off with the lush deep house elegance of 'Leave It On' with its languid bass and live sounding drums. Swirling pads and atmospheric vocals bring a romantic feel to this late-night jam. 'Leave Me' then picks up the pace with more percussive but still smooth grooves, this time doused in sweeping chords that bring sunshine and soul. 'Jupiter Blues' closes out with a cosmic exploration, the gently tinkling keys shining like stars as warm, rubbery drums carry you onwards and upwards.
This is another classy EP from Guy Gerber.
For it's 46th outing, Klasse Wrecks recruits the Brooklyn based producer Gee Dee to it's ranks. Gee Dee aka Greg Droggitis turns in a wonderful and fully fledged collection of tracks that burst to the brim with atmosphere and sunny vibrations. True to the label's ethos, the music is as always, hard to pin down under one specific genre but instead slyly calls on various classic House, Electro and Acid tropes. The overall sound is one that is both universal and transcendent, feeling familiar but still surprising. 'Dream In Colour' is indeed an apt title for the EP as it spans the musical spectrum and is a lucid and vivid trip into the imagination of this new and exciting producer.
What’s happening in the streets? This right here, a celebrated engineer Yas Inoue and Dj Takaya Nagase come together in the studio and rework the Voltage Brothers rare groove jam “Happening In the Streets” with a cleverly put together edit with filters, effects and sonically tweaking it to perfection. They've created a perfect dance floor masterpiece already championed by Louie Vega, Joe Claussell, Spinna, Mike Dunn, and Rich Medina. This choon has everyone in anticipation for it’s release.
Japanese sound engineer Yas Inoue, based in New York began his career in the world renowned Maw Studios in the late 90s and has engineered for producers such as Masters At Work, Patrick Adams, Leroy Burgess, and Randy Muller contributing to the creation of various New York house and disco hits.
Takaya Nagase, a New York based Japanese Dj started as an A&R for Japanese record label Soundmen On Wax. He learned and studied under the great David Mancuso of the Loft Party NYC and later held his own Joy parties along with other Loft members. Having had regular gigs at Club Shelter from 2006 to 2007 and at Club Output from 2017 until the closing in 2019, he built his dj chops and now currently djs at New York City's top venues such as Le Bain, Good Room and Nowadays along with monthly shows on the famed Lot Radio in Brooklyn.
Together they are Domo Domo and with their first project on Vega Records they are on their way to becoming New York household names in the dance music industry. Look out for “Happening In The Streets” coming soon at all digital and streaming outlets with vinyl releases on 12” and 7”. Lookout everyone, this one’s a sure HIT!!!
- A1: Drawing Future Life - 1969
- A2: Ruutu Poiss - Ihatsin
- A3: Digital Distortion - Mellow Bug
- B1: French Audacity - The Final One (Feat. Valerie)
- B2: Dj Spike - Gaps In Space
- B3: Interdance - Kurz
- C1: Bad Behaviour - Living On Smoke (Edgware Mx)
- C2: Frequency - Systematic Input
- C3: Diffusion - Lushes
- D1: M.f.a. - Blue To Be Happy
- D2: R.i.p. - E.o.pan
- D3: Mad Professor - Oh Hell
Orpheu the Wizard has a magic touch at finding records that fall between the gaps in music - oddities, curios, the weird, the wonderful. But that's just half the trick. It takes a sensitive and selective ear to construct a coherent, accessible narrative from them. So you get DJs who can play for the crowd and "selectors" adept at mining the black gold. In Orpheu, you've got yourself someone who can do both. On a festival main stage, he can keep it weird enough for the heads. In an audiophile setting, he'll keep the flow.
These skill sets come into play on the fifth The Sound of Love International compilation. Jumping between genres, decades, continents, the truly rare, and many B-side cuts that passed you by. But never eclecticism for its own sake; this collection makes sense. Orpheu never loses sight of the listener - he's a friendly and knowledgeable guide to the cosmic outer reaches.
He opens his account with the warm, psychedelic electronics of Drawing Future Life, with ‘1969’. Tucked away on the B-side of an LP of ambient/trance hailing from Fukuoka, this is a very pretty piece of music on a truly rare piece of wax. Then, leapfrogging a couple of decades and timezones, we have Rutuu Poiss' "IHATSIN." Off-kilter, experimental sounds with an endearing melodic hook, followed up by the with lethargic ambient breakbeat of Digital Distortion's "Mellow Bug".
On the B-side, things start to get lively. French Audacity featuring Valerie's "That Fine One" is Gallic garage that has simultaneously got it hugely wrong and massively right. Owing as much to new wave as New York house, this is propulsive and quirky dance music at its finest. Next, we're on a ferry over the channel for DJ Spike and "Gaps In Space." Up-tempo electro with a fondness for sampled vocal cut-ups, like its predecessor.
lnterdance's "Kurz" (another B-side) is the perfect segway - house from 1990 with that sweet, slightly goofy naivete. Things move toward the gnarly with Bad Behaviour and "Living on Smoke," a lesser-known cut on the legendary Atmosphere records. The tempo edges upward on "Systematic Input" by Frequency, hectic hardcore techno that still retains a lightness of touch.
"Lushes" by Diffusion spins us off into space, filigree techno with an emotive trance edge. The chiming intro of "Blue to Be Happy" by MFA lulls us into a sense of false security before massively putting the boot in with a pounding kick drum, bassline, and arpeggiation. From there, it's a sharp left turn into the urban psychedelic dub of R.I.P's "E.O Pan" on cult label Digi Dub.
Sticking with UK sound system music but taking it down a notch, Orpheu closes proceedings with a leftfield reggae excursion from the master of the mixing desk, Mad Professor’s"Oh Hell".
It's a compilation as varied as the many moods and grooves of Love International itself - from sun-dappled olive groves to moments deep in the strobes. This is serious music for party freaks or party music for serious freaks. Tisno is calling.
Egyptian-Australian DJ/producer moktar announces his second boundary-pushing five track EP, ‘Immigrant’. An expressive and considered journey that combines his Middle Eastern heritage and influential club sounds in one.
‘Immigrant’ sees moktar continue to bring traditional Arabic instrumentation into the club by weaving samples like polyrhythmic drumming and the Arabic Oud into experimental club music which has captured the attention of many tastemakers. Giant Swan, Anz, Tash LC, Raji Rags, Jamie XX, Bonobo, Groove Armada, Hudson Mohawke, Mary Anne Hobbs and Jamz Supernova all championed his highly favoured self-titled EP in 2021, which topped the Australian community radio charts as a number #1 most played alongside the global support it received. The release represented re-learning the value of his Egyptian heritage following racism and stereotyping growing up. ‘Immigrant’ expands on the story.
Debut single ‘Immigrant’ was released in September and served as a backdrop for moktar to air the stories of many as well as his own, told through a chopped vocal sample of Arsenal Football Club’s host and hype man, Frimpon. ‘North Africa’ and ‘Al-Duqqi’ are a homage to moktar’s roots. ‘Crossroads’ represents his need to push himself and grow in life and music, and ‘Send it’ (a term in Australia that means you're about to do something wild) also aims to represent Middle Eastern communities in Bankstown, Sydney.
moktar explains - “Through Immigrant I wanted to highlight the struggle many people all over the world go through to be accepted, while representing the community in Egypt, North Africa and Australia. Fusing Middle Eastern sounds into sounds into my music has been a big part of helping me become proud of who I am. I feel passionate about bringing these sounds to a wider audience in the hope it helps others in the identity struggle feel a sense of pride too”
The EP falls just as moktar’s highly anticipated debut EU tour comes to a close, playing b2b with DJ Plead at Phonox for Yung Singh, Adaptations Festival, Repercussions Festival, Werkhaus Festival, b2b with Mr Scruff at Field Day, Lost Village, Amsterdam for ADE with Kode 9, Rex Club in Paris, and Takseer festival Berlin.
- A1: Latino Suite (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 12:03
- A2: Eternally Yours (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1981) 07:32
- B1: Fly With The Wind (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2009) 17:02
- C1: Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1981) 16:26
- C2: Ask Me Now (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 07:04
- D1: African Village (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2009) 10:08
- D2: Ballad For Aisha (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2009) 13:11
A collection of some of McCoy Tyner’s best Montreux Jazz Festival live performances!
The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.
Monkey is the second single by The Rellies since releasing 'Isabella is Annoying/ Brainwaves' in 2020. Ryan, guitarist and dual singer and songwriter for the band describes the making of 'Monkey' during lockdown with his brother Riley. "During covid we got very bored. Originally, we wanted to get our Monkeys and run them over with our dad's car, but we settled for filming them falling down the stairs and writing a song about it. When the other members of band finally heard the song, they liked the Monkey and then we made a clip with our friends and some TV monkeys. Everyone sang 'I like the Monkey' and soon everyone liked the Monkey!" Helicopter is Ryan's sonic representation of "hunks of steel flying through the sky. I'm an aviation nerd." He doesn't disappoint. Helicopter's opening riff is catchy and travels. Ryan's vocal powers through the song and the background vocals from kid brother Riley kicks it up a notch as he improvises his way through the chorus begging for a ride. The Rellies ages range from 13-16 and developed at Kings Cross Conservatorium. The brothers began writing and recording at age 9 and 11 respectively and doing shows as The Rellies in 2018 with Jarlath Kiernan on drums. In 2021, the band replaced guitarist Aiden Burke with Lachlan Knight when Aiden decided rehearsal was too loud. Ryan: "We love the Beatles but lately we've got more of a punk energy in our songs. Also, Riley likes a lot of different stuff like Tyler the Creator... his lyrics are inspiring us to be creative with humour."
Worldwide pressing of 300 copies.
Ursa Major Moving Group, the solo alias of singer and composer Ursula Russell, announces her self-titled debut album, due out June 9th via Faith & Industry Records.
Known for her mesmeric drumming for Snapped Ankles, Alabaster DePlume, Drop Out Venus and Blue House, the album showcases the London-based artist’s stylistic and instrumental virtuosity - she played all instruments herself - on an intense, dynamic and intimate musical journal that shifts between delicate folk, stirring indie rock, flamboyant chamber pop and angular post-punk styles.
Its complex themes reflect a multihued blend of musical styles that recall artists as diverse as The Pixies, Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell, Arthur Russell and Julia Holter. Having built a reputation for her brilliance of musicianship as a band member, Ursa Major Moving Group sees Ursula establishing herself as a solo artist of brilliant, open-hearted originality.
Amongst the album’s many highlights is the driving, emotive opening track, Reverse Invisible, which dives into memories of childhood alienation .The winsome Goodbye George, which finds Ursula’s delicate vocals and acoustic guitars melding with Alabaster DePlume’s Ethio-jazz saxophones, delves back into her childhood.
Ursa Major Moving Group play End of the Road Festival 2023.
Did you know that if we go back 10 generations, we could count for each of us some 2,046 ancestors, going back 20 generations there would be 2.097.150 ancestors and going back 40 generations each of us would have more than a trillion ancestors, which is more than all the people who have ever lived on earth?
This complicated paradox, known as the Pedigree Collapse, however, leads to the simple conclusion that we all share at least one ancestor with each other.
Inspired by this reflection, "How many ancestors do we have?" is the latest EP by Woxow, sound mixologist and mastermind of Little Beat More, translating the concept into a profound journey in search of the roots of music, to find that ancestral vibration that has resonated in every human being since the dawn of time.
Jazz atmospheres, refined hip hop beats, world music overtones, dub rhythms and reggae reminiscences, all enriched by the dense and meaningful voices of London's Reggae RoastMC Natty Campbell, the eclectic and electric Raashan Ahmad and the legendary rapper and
performance poet Azeem, bringing to light the infinite connections that unite all humanity.
The album is further enriched by the precious remixes of underground legend Koralle, electronic shaman Deela, dub master Paolo Baldini Dubfiles, and gifted hip-hop head Luke Beats, who hybridise Woxow's ancestral vision with their skillful artistry, giving a new dimension to the tracks.
The artwork by visual artist and filmmaker Simone Brillarelli captures the essence of the album in a vibrant bloom of colourful flowers sharing the same soil, and ultimately the same planet, reiterating the message of shared family and unity that is celebrated in the music.
The EP is available both as a gatefold with two 7-inch vinyls and as a single 12-inch vinyl, as well as digital. Join the family now.
Repress!
Japanese crustpunk and grindcore icon Eri Fuzz-Kristiansen, aka Gallhammer’s Viviankrist, keeps
the curveballs coming on Diagonal with a bloodied mastication of charred noise and and rhythmic
electronics, following up the label’s acclaimed sides by Sote and Not Waving/Jim O’Rourke
Co-released with the metal-minded Ritual Productions label, ‘Cross-Modulation’ is a brutal
testament to the acridly personalised sound that Viviankrist has explored solo since 1995 in Tokyo,
when she performing vocals, sax and SP-202 sampler in her first industrial/noise unit. 23 years
later her music is still sorely raw, yet riddled with a new found poignance and atmospheric unease
that places her music sometimes as close to Kali Malone’s see-sawing dissonance as the power
electronics of Pan Sonic or the possessed pulses of Conrad Schnitzler and Merzbow.
Since the demise of Eri’s main project Gallhammer at the start of this decade, when she moved
from Tokyo to Oslo (home of her husband and bandmate in Sehnsucht, Maniac - also former
vocalist for BM legends Mayhem), she returned to her early Viviankrist alias from 2017 as a place
to express her primitivist-futurist urges, resulting a trio of CDs including the vicious solo strike
of ‘Morgenrøde’ for Cold Spring. Now on ‘Cross-Modulation’ she intuitively tempers that album’s
phosphorous burn with a deadly incisive application of what Black Metal/Techno pioneer Black
Mecha terms “mentation electronics.”
Alloying avant-metal with rhythmic noise, ambient techno and mind-bending drone to a
metallurgic tang, ‘Cross-Modulation’ serves a dense flux of energies in seven parts, piercing a path
thru maelstrom electronics in ‘Eleventh’ to churn up grizzled Vainio-esque rhythms in ‘Blue Iron’,
while the tenderly bruised ambience of ‘Midnight Sun’ provides a bittersweet palette cleanser for
the tart technoid prang of ‘Insects’, a bout of slow gripping psychedelia in ‘Out of Body’, and the
rugged North European pastoralism of ‘Behind Mirror.’
Did you know that if we go back 10 generations, we could count for each of us some 2,046 ancestors, going back 20 generations there would be 2.097.150 ancestors and going back 40 generations each of us would have more than a trillion ancestors, which is more than all the people who have ever lived on earth?
This complicated paradox, known as the Pedigree Collapse, however, leads to the simple conclusion that we all share at least one ancestor with each other.
Inspired by this reflection, "How many ancestors do we have?" is the latest EP by Woxow, sound mixologist and mastermind of Little Beat More, translating the concept into a profound journey in search of the roots of music, to find that ancestral vibration that has resonated in every human being since the dawn of time.
Jazz atmospheres, refined hip hop beats, world music overtones, dub rhythms and reggae reminiscences, all enriched by the dense and meaningful voices of London's Reggae RoastMC Natty Campbell, the eclectic and electric Raashan Ahmad and the legendary rapper and
performance poet Azeem, bringing to light the infinite connections that unite all humanity.
The album is further enriched by the precious remixes of underground legend Koralle, electronic shaman Deela, dub master Paolo Baldini Dubfiles, and gifted hip-hop head Luke Beats, who hybridise Woxow's ancestral vision with their skillful artistry, giving a new dimension to the tracks.
The artwork by visual artist and filmmaker Simone Brillarelli captures the essence of the album in a vibrant bloom of colourful flowers sharing the same soil, and ultimately the same planet, reiterating the message of shared family and unity that is celebrated in the music.
The EP is available both as a gatefold with two 7-inch vinyls and as a single 12-inch vinyl, as well as digital. Join the family now.
- A1: Solid As A Rock Feat Natty Campbell
- A2: Blueprint Feat Raashan Ahmad
- A3: Enough Is Enough Feat Azeem
- B1: Blueprint Feat Raashan Ahmad (Koralle Remix)
- B2: Enough Is Enough Feat Azeem (Deela Remix)
- B3: Solid As A Rock Feat Natty Campbell (Paolo Baldini Dubfiles Remix)
- B4: Enough Is Enough Feat Azeem (Luke Beats Remix)
Did you know that if we go back 10 generations, we could count for each of us some 2,046 ancestors, going back 20 generations there would be 2.097.150 ancestors and going back 40 generations each of us would have more than a trillion ancestors, which is more than all the people who have ever lived on earth?
This complicated paradox, known as the Pedigree Collapse, however, leads to the simple conclusion that we all share at least one ancestor with each other.
Inspired by this reflection, "How many ancestors do we have?" is the latest EP by Woxow, sound mixologist and mastermind of Little Beat More, translating the concept into a profound journey in search of the roots of music, to find that ancestral vibration that has resonated in every human being since the dawn of time.
Jazz atmospheres, refined hip hop beats, world music overtones, dub rhythms and reggae reminiscences, all enriched by the dense and meaningful voices of London's Reggae RoastMC Natty Campbell, the eclectic and electric Raashan Ahmad and the legendary rapper and
performance poet Azeem, bringing to light the infinite connections that unite all humanity.
The album is further enriched by the precious remixes of underground legend Koralle, electronic shaman Deela, dub master Paolo Baldini Dubfiles, and gifted hip-hop head Luke Beats, who hybridise Woxow's ancestral vision with their skillful artistry, giving a new dimension to the tracks.
The artwork by visual artist and filmmaker Simone Brillarelli captures the essence of the album in a vibrant bloom of colourful flowers sharing the same soil, and ultimately the same planet, reiterating the message of shared family and unity that is celebrated in the music.
The EP is available both as a gatefold with two 7-inch vinyls and as a single 12-inch vinyl, as well as digital. Join the family now.
After their their 1982 masterpiece Under the Big Black Sun, X offered their follow-up More Fun In The New World only a year later. The album was once again produced by Ray Manzarek.
X achieved new rough and rocking heights with the vicious "Devil Doll," "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts", and "Make the Music Go Bang", while returning once again to their retro '50s roots with "Poor Girl".
More Fun In The New World is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl and includes an insert.
The third Mollono.Bass Album is dedicated to what we need most. We as inhabitants of the same planet, we as members of a free society, and we as a culture. We have to stick together more than ever, rather than drifting further and further apart. At the same time, Together brings together everything Mollono.Bass stands for since more than 20 years: Ritualist Afro-influences and acid loops, the sensual physicality of House, the laid-back boost of Dub Techno, analogue depth and digital highs, hope transcribed into groove and utopia set into rhythmic motion. It’s the dynamic novelty and pioneering spirit of the arrangements that reflect the unmistakable signature style of this producer. True to the traditional idea of an album, complete with previously unreleased tracks and special versions, Together is a highly immersive listening experience from start to end and works beautifully on the dancefloor and far beyond it.
BABY BLUE VINYL
"Workin' all day, trying to forget about the old me." Like most of us, Martin Frawley is busy trying to work himself out. He lives alongside the long shadow of his late dad, musician and songwriter Maurice Frawley, a cultural icon of the Australian underground and collaborator of Paul Kelly, Tex Perkins and Mick Thomas. Most of Martin's 20s were spent writing and playing songs in locally beloved Melbourne band Twerps - a collection of pals who were on the forefront of the city's jangle pop renaissance. A few albums, US tours and band rotations under its belt, Twerps split up in 2018 and Martin turned his compass towards a solo project. His first album, Undone at 31 (2019), was a bit of a reckoning; a wild ride through the wreckage of both a band and longterm romantic break up. His new album The Wannabe is a personal, cheeky and, at times, self-depreiciating collection of songs unpacking the reality of finding his way as an adult without his dad around, and ultimately falling back in love with life, music and someone new. Martin and his band - friends Dan Luscombe (The Drones), Steph Hughes (Boomgates, Dick Diver), Nik Imfeld (Tyrannaman) and Dan Kelly - had heaps of fun recording The Wannabe in Melbourne. The title track is a particularly spicy take on an entertainment industry that seems to give more shits about marketing than music. The album is a bit of an emotional tour, from anger and derision, through to comedy, through to deep and honest love. It's positive with a lot of sadness. Not unlike Martin himself. As well as the guitar, Martin had some fun playing the piano on this record. The technical term is `multiinstrumentalist' but Martin's more of a musical explorer of sorts. No one is exactly sure how these things work - if Martin was born into music or if it was born into him, but it doesn't really matter. Music is what he loves. It's what he does. It's not about the industry or about success - not anymore. It's about the freedom of creating songs on his own terms, and trying to let go of the feeling he has something to prove: to his dad, to his critics, and to himself. And while he's not sure he'll ever fully shake that feeling, he's at least relaxing and having a bit of fun doing it. Like his dad, Martin has a reputation as a `musician's musician'. He hosts a pretty sporadic podcast Dive For Your Memory, where he has fast and loose chats with musicians while doing a deep dive into their musical inspirations and canon. He and his fiancé Lauren also make wine under the label El'More Wines, named after the farm and small town where his dad grew up. It's all come a bit full circle, really.
- A1: The Language Of Love Ft Adam Evald, Антоха Мс
- A2: Strong Accent Ft Curly Castro, Sindysman, Lovvlovver
- A3: Forget, Forgive Ft Mishinuki
- A4: Ingen Förstår Ft Adam Evald, Ni!
- A5: The Closing Shift At The Jazz Cafe Ft Jimi Tenor, Starving Yet Full, Ÿorik, Mak Glonti
- A6: Breed Ft Ÿorik
- A7: Praise This Ft Sindysman
- B1: In The Mood For Dub (Memories Of Love) Ft Mishinuki
- B2: Light Ft Fotiniya
- B3: Obey (Reprise) Ft Mishinuki
- B4: Kabwato Ft Budūchi, Ni!, Lipelis
- B5: Magic Mystery Tour Ft Adam Evald
- B6: Track 04 (りんロゴ) Ft Jimi Tenor, Fotiniya, Rich Thair
- B7: The Sun Is Still Up Ft Noteless, Adam Evald, Saya Siiang, Alina Royz, Katya Panterrra
Green Monster, the 4th Kito Jempere studio album is a journey through love, interconnectedness and creative freedom, bound together by musical friendship that breaks through walls, borders, languages and shapes; accumulated over a celebrated twenty year career and ten years of Kito Jempere.
Over fourteen tracks Kito teams up with over 26 artists from all over the world: a range of talented artists including Warp records artist Jimi Tenor, Red Snapper drummer Rich Thair, Azari & III ex-vocalist Starving Yet Full, L.I.E.S. records Lipelis (on bass), Curly Castro and SINDYSMAN. The album blends hip-hop, free-flowing jazz and world-building soundscapes into a piece dedicated to Kito’s musical roots; marrying multiple artforms, cultural influences and international artists into a body of work that feels deeply personal, healing and detailed. The accompanying artwork is a world created by Kito made using Midjourney prompt, connecting the albums audio world with visible objects — both vinyl and CD will contain booklets with lyrics and the visual world of Green Monster.
Kito describes the album ‘like getting Ennio Morricone, Weezer, The Beatles, Oneothrix Point Never, Eduard Artemiev, Jaga Jazzist, Massive Attack, Fugazi, Jimi Tenor, Hans Zimmer, Radiohead, John Cage and Aphex Twin all together, then collaborating with movie-directors Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Dziga Vertov and Andrei Tarkovskiy.’ Used as a metaphor to help create his album.
...And I Mean It is an amalgam of girl group, new wave, blues, pop, and folk-rock by Genya Ravan. To hear her exquisite voice on "Night Owl" soaring above her own backing vocals is intense, imagine Etta James backed by the Sex Pistols doing a rock version of "Earth Angel." Of all Ravan's work, ...And I Mean It is possibly the most concise and picture-perfect statement of what the woman is musically about. A girl group pioneer who worked with Richard Perry prior to his finding the Pointer Sisters groove, there is no doubt Ravan influenced that major producer, and his work did the same for her. "Pedal to the Medal" is high-end treble rock before it came into vogue. This is the other side of Siren, the album Genya produced for Ronnie Spector, with more emphasis on a good-time rocking party. "I'm Wired, Wired, Wired" is a rock & roll anthem for people who burn the candle at both ends, while "I Won't Sleep on the Wet Spot" embodies the unbridled sexuality of this album. The music crunches while Ravan uses her voice, her production skills, and her legacy to create something far removed from her days in Ten Wheel Drive. The horns are replaced by searing guitars and Charlie Giordano's magical piano work. The sound of the keyboard and its erratic splashes really are key to "I Won't Sleep on the Wet Spot," while the guitar and bass battle it out. "Steve...," on the other hand, is Goldie & the Gingerbreads ten years after. This Ravan/Conrad Taylor composition was the 45 from the album, and it has "hit" written all over it. 20th Century just didn't have the right mechanisms in place to get some of the great music they put out on radio, such a pity as Harriet Schock, Randy Edelman, and the fake soundtrack for All This and World War II (a Beatles tribute album) contained songs that should have been big hits. What did hit off this album, on FM radio as an album track, is the brilliant duet by Ian Hunter and Ravan, the subtle and folky "Junkman." Released on Hunter's excellent Once Bitten Twice Shy CD on Legacy in 2000, the song and the performance are timeless. Ravan once said: "I was asleep with the tv on, and was saying to myself...that's my voice...that's my song...that's me! I woke up to find "Junkman" on TV in a film." The song got placed in a cable movie without the producer's knowledge! "Junkman" was a sound not heard on FM radio prior to its release, much like MTV's "unplugged" versions of songs, but it is more unplugged than most of this material -- take the rocked-out version of Motown that is the cover of Marvin Gaye's "Stubborn Kinda Girl," or the Springsteen-style blast that is "It's Me," a tune Springsteen should cover.
...And I Mean It is an amalgam of girl group, new wave, blues, pop, and folk-rock by Genya Ravan. To hear her exquisite voice on "Night Owl" soaring above her own backing vocals is intense, imagine Etta James backed by the Sex Pistols doing a rock version of "Earth Angel." Of all Ravan's work, ...And I Mean It is possibly the most concise and picture-perfect statement of what the woman is musically about. A girl group pioneer who worked with Richard Perry prior to his finding the Pointer Sisters groove, there is no doubt Ravan influenced that major producer, and his work did the same for her. "Pedal to the Medal" is high-end treble rock before it came into vogue. This is the other side of Siren, the album Genya produced for Ronnie Spector, with more emphasis on a good-time rocking party. "I'm Wired, Wired, Wired" is a rock & roll anthem for people who burn the candle at both ends, while "I Won't Sleep on the Wet Spot" embodies the unbridled sexuality of this album. The music crunches while Ravan uses her voice, her production skills, and her legacy to create something far removed from her days in Ten Wheel Drive. The horns are replaced by searing guitars and Charlie Giordano's magical piano work. The sound of the keyboard and its erratic splashes really are key to "I Won't Sleep on the Wet Spot," while the guitar and bass battle it out. "Steve...," on the other hand, is Goldie & the Gingerbreads ten years after. This Ravan/Conrad Taylor composition was the 45 from the album, and it has "hit" written all over it. 20th Century just didn't have the right mechanisms in place to get some of the great music they put out on radio, such a pity as Harriet Schock, Randy Edelman, and the fake soundtrack for All This and World War II (a Beatles tribute album) contained songs that should have been big hits. What did hit off this album, on FM radio as an album track, is the brilliant duet by Ian Hunter and Ravan, the subtle and folky "Junkman." Released on Hunter's excellent Once Bitten Twice Shy CD on Legacy in 2000, the song and the performance are timeless. Ravan once said: "I was asleep with the tv on, and was saying to myself...that's my voice...that's my song...that's me! I woke up to find "Junkman" on TV in a film." The song got placed in a cable movie without the producer's knowledge! "Junkman" was a sound not heard on FM radio prior to its release, much like MTV's "unplugged" versions of songs, but it is more unplugged than most of this material -- take the rocked-out version of Motown that is the cover of Marvin Gaye's "Stubborn Kinda Girl," or the Springsteen-style blast that is "It's Me," a tune Springsteen should cover.
"Another Love Song - The Frames are an Irish indie rock band formed in Dublin in 1990. The band is known for their passionate and emotive sound, which blends elements of rock, folk, and traditional Irish music. Over the years, they have released several critically acclaimed albums, including ""Another Love Song,"" which is widely regarded as one of their most influential works.
""Another Love Song"" was released in 1991 and marked a turning point in the band's career. The album featured a raw, stripped-down sound that was a departure from their earlier, more polished work. The songs on the album were deeply personal and introspective, exploring themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. The album's title track, ""Another Love Song,"" became an instant classic, showcasing the band's signature sound with its driving rhythms and soaring vocals. The song's bittersweet lyrics and haunting melody struck a chord with listeners and quickly became a fan favourite.
In addition to ""Another Love Song,"" the album features several other standout tracks, including ""Say It to Me Now,"" ""The Dancer,"" and ""Downhill."" Each song on the album showcases the band's dynamic musicianship and poetic lyricism, earning the album a reputation as a seminal work in the Irish indie rock scene. Over the years, The Frames have continued to evolve and innovate, releasing several more critically acclaimed albums and earning a dedicated following of fans around the world. With their unique blend of raw emotion and musical artistry, The Frames continue to inspire and captivate audiences with their powerful, soulful music.
Fitzcarraldo - ""Fitzcarraldo"" is the sixth studio album by the Irish rock band The Frames, released in 1995. The album marked a significant departure from the band's earlier work, with a more experimental sound that blended rock, folk, and experimental elements.
The album takes its name from the Werner Herzog film of the same name, which tells the story of a man who attempts to build an opera house in the Amazon jungle. This theme of ambition and perseverance in the face of adversity runs throughout the album, as frontman Glen Hansard explores themes of love, loss, and the human experience. The album opens with the hauntingly beautiful track ""Revelate,"" which sets the tone for the rest of the album with its soaring vocals and intricate guitar work. From there, the album takes the listener on a journey through a diverse range of sounds and emotions, from the upbeat rock of ""What Happens When the Heart Just Stops"" to the melancholic balladry of ""Fitzcarraldo.""
One of the standout tracks on the album is ""Lay Me Down,"" a tender and heartfelt ballad that showcases Hansard's powerful vocals and poetic lyricism. The song has become a fan favourite and is often performed live by the band. Another highlight of the album is the epic nine-minute track ""Fitzcarraldo,"" which features lush instrumentation and intricate guitar work. The song is a tribute to the film of the same name and explores themes of ambition and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Overall, ""Fitzcarraldo"" is a powerful and deeply personal album that showcases The Frames at their most ambitious and experimental. With its diverse range of sounds and emotions, the album remains a fan favourite and a landmark in the Irish rock canon.
Dance the Devil
Dance the Devil is the fourth studio album by the Irish rock band, The Frames. Released in 1999, it marked a significant departure from the band's earlier sound and was a critical and commercial success.
The album features 10 tracks, including the hit single ""Pavement Tune,"" which received extensive radio play and helped to propel The Frames to greater prominence in the music industry. Dance the Devil showcases the band's versatility and musical prowess, blending elements of rock, folk, and pop to create a unique and compelling sound. The lyrics are introspective and poetic, exploring themes of love, loss, and self-discovery.
Produced by Steve Albini, the album was recorded in just five days, giving it a raw and unpolished feel that perfectly captures the energy and passion of The Frames' live performances.
Dance the Devil remains a beloved album among fans of Irish music and continues to inspire new generations of musicians. Its enduring popularity is a testament to the artistry and vision of The Frames and their commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in rock music.
"
"Another Love Song - The Frames are an Irish indie rock band formed in Dublin in 1990. The band is known for their passionate and emotive sound, which blends elements of rock, folk, and traditional Irish music. Over the years, they have released several critically acclaimed albums, including ""Another Love Song,"" which is widely regarded as one of their most influential works.
""Another Love Song"" was released in 1991 and marked a turning point in the band's career. The album featured a raw, stripped-down sound that was a departure from their earlier, more polished work. The songs on the album were deeply personal and introspective, exploring themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. The album's title track, ""Another Love Song,"" became an instant classic, showcasing the band's signature sound with its driving rhythms and soaring vocals. The song's bittersweet lyrics and haunting melody struck a chord with listeners and quickly became a fan favourite.
In addition to ""Another Love Song,"" the album features several other standout tracks, including ""Say It to Me Now,"" ""The Dancer,"" and ""Downhill."" Each song on the album showcases the band's dynamic musicianship and poetic lyricism, earning the album a reputation as a seminal work in the Irish indie rock scene. Over the years, The Frames have continued to evolve and innovate, releasing several more critically acclaimed albums and earning a dedicated following of fans around the world. With their unique blend of raw emotion and musical artistry, The Frames continue to inspire and captivate audiences with their powerful, soulful music.
Fitzcarraldo - ""Fitzcarraldo"" is the sixth studio album by the Irish rock band The Frames, released in 1995. The album marked a significant departure from the band's earlier work, with a more experimental sound that blended rock, folk, and experimental elements.
The album takes its name from the Werner Herzog film of the same name, which tells the story of a man who attempts to build an opera house in the Amazon jungle. This theme of ambition and perseverance in the face of adversity runs throughout the album, as frontman Glen Hansard explores themes of love, loss, and the human experience. The album opens with the hauntingly beautiful track ""Revelate,"" which sets the tone for the rest of the album with its soaring vocals and intricate guitar work. From there, the album takes the listener on a journey through a diverse range of sounds and emotions, from the upbeat rock of ""What Happens When the Heart Just Stops"" to the melancholic balladry of ""Fitzcarraldo.""
One of the standout tracks on the album is ""Lay Me Down,"" a tender and heartfelt ballad that showcases Hansard's powerful vocals and poetic lyricism. The song has become a fan favourite and is often performed live by the band. Another highlight of the album is the epic nine-minute track ""Fitzcarraldo,"" which features lush instrumentation and intricate guitar work. The song is a tribute to the film of the same name and explores themes of ambition and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Overall, ""Fitzcarraldo"" is a powerful and deeply personal album that showcases The Frames at their most ambitious and experimental. With its diverse range of sounds and emotions, the album remains a fan favourite and a landmark in the Irish rock canon.
Dance the Devil
Dance the Devil is the fourth studio album by the Irish rock band, The Frames. Released in 1999, it marked a significant departure from the band's earlier sound and was a critical and commercial success.
The album features 10 tracks, including the hit single ""Pavement Tune,"" which received extensive radio play and helped to propel The Frames to greater prominence in the music industry. Dance the Devil showcases the band's versatility and musical prowess, blending elements of rock, folk, and pop to create a unique and compelling sound. The lyrics are introspective and poetic, exploring themes of love, loss, and self-discovery.
Produced by Steve Albini, the album was recorded in just five days, giving it a raw and unpolished feel that perfectly captures the energy and passion of The Frames' live performances.
Dance the Devil remains a beloved album among fans of Irish music and continues to inspire new generations of musicians. Its enduring popularity is a testament to the artistry and vision of The Frames and their commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in rock music.
"
The continuing growth of Maik Krahl as a melodic improviser, bandleader, and composer is distinctly evident in this new release. In-Between Flow, Krahl’s third outing as leader, is a portrait of a young artist who has gone through many years of dedicated hard work, study, experimentation, and refinement in order to achieve this level of instrumental and artistic progress. Krahl belongs to a new generation of improvisers who have acquired a breadth of technical and theoretical facility, while not losing the spontaneity and rawness of this music we call jazz. As a bandleader, he chooses his colleagues wisely and for this date is joined on a few tracks by the visionary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, whose brilliant playing adds a cherry on top of this already delicious line up.
The title In-Between Flow refers to ever evolving progression of our human condition. As in nature, the human spirit can expand and unfold, maturing to a new state where it may settle for a while until some new impulses inspires another transition. These transitions, sometimes subtle, sometimes abrupt; as well as the times of contentedness and serenity are the inspirations for this music.
The record opens up with an ode to the town Krahl calls home. Cologne 4 AM, begins with a haunting melody by Krahl’s soft yet powerful horn before settling into a perfect vehicle to display his command of melodic and motivic story telling. There is something about the time of 4 AM that seems to permeate literature and music, and this track will add to the canon of artistic references to this magical time where the night meets the morning.
Mr. Rosenwinkel joins the band for Slosetta, which is a great example of Krahl’s ability to craft a tune. As is to be expected, Rosenwinkel weaves through the changes with grace and mastery, obviously enjoying the communication with the rhythm section, who are undeniably inspired by his harmonic, rhythmic and melodic ingenuity.
Jakob Kühnemann, a Bandleader and composer is his own right, has been an in demand bassist on the German and European scene for several years, and his contribution to this record is proof of why that is. Although Krahl takes the lead on Drizzle Counter, in a great display of technical virtuosity, it is Kühneman who stands out on this track. It is not only in his improvisation, but more so in his poly rhythmic pulses dancing up from the deep and the harmonic insinuations in his accompaniment of Krahl’s solo that demonstrate his musical mastery.
Rosenwinkel joins again for No Claim Claim, a composition so balanced that I would not be surprised to hear other artists recording or performing it in the future. After Krahl’s melodically inventive statement, Rosenwinkel shifts the band to the next gear building the intensity towards the out head.
Constantin Krahmer has been Krahl´s piano player since his debut record, Decidophobia. His patience, ingenuity, and big ears make him a perfect accomplice to Krahl, and his sensitive yet powerful approach and accompaniment on Reconstruction of a Dream as well as his harmonic and melodic inventiveness on Vinaceous Clouds (where he plays Fender Rhodes) make it clear why he is an integral part of this unit.
Ms Ludgate is a funky composition with angular melody that is another feather in the cap of the band leader. Kurt Rosenwinkel is back, and seems more than willing to engage in some rhythmic dialogue with the spectacular young drummer on the date, Fabian Rösch. Throughout this entire record Rösch is subtly but strongly guiding the band, playing his role as a supportive and interactive proponent to the music. We will surely be hearing much more from this young man with such a refined sound and clear rhythmic conception.
Flawless Sunday, a perfect closing statement for this record. The melody is another great example of Krahl’s growth as a composer. The whole rhythm section really shines on Krahmer’s choruses, where the three colleagues push and dare each other rhythmically as well as harmonically before Krahl enters and brings the record to a close with his beautiful rich tone and melodic playing.
It is a great pleasure to hear the growth of a young artist with such dedication and vision. Hearing how Krahl and his band mates navigate through the vicissitudes of this music is an inspiration that can be mirrored in everyday life. A lesson in accepting the ever changing flow from one state to another. Growing, learning, and evolving into a new state, until the process begins anew. In-Between Flow.
Repress!
One of the gems on the smash hit album 'Soulmatic', Purple Disco Machine & Boris D'Lugosch's, 'Love For Days' gets the remix treatment three ways.
First up the master Kenny Dope - crisping up that shuffling rhythm with some added percussion and synthesiser arps to turn what was already a peak time soulful anthem, into a close to 8 minute extended journey drawing you in more and more with each build up and breakdown. Next up the PDM offers up an extended mix of the original, a welcome sight for those DJs on the club scene who have been rinsing this since the album dropped last year.
Finally, Motez takes you into raunchy, r&b tinged, garage territory, really honing in on Karen Harding's incredible vocals whilst incorporating brooding pads and sweeping fx's to create a special twist on the original.
DJ Support:
Aeroplane (Aeropop / Eskimo Recordings), Klingande / Kungs / Michael Calfan c/o (Unity Group Promo Sorter), Autograf (Counter Records), Treasure Fingers (Psycho Disco! / Fool's Gold), Malente (Southern Fried Records), Satin Jackets c/o (Eskimo Recordings / N.E.W.S.), Eric Sharp (9G Records), Gregor Salto c/o (Spinnin' Records), DJ Blake Jarrell (Armada Music), Jerome Price (Throne Room Records), DJ Licious (Spinnin' Records), Travis Emmons (Weapons Music), Electronic Youth (KMS), Solidisco (Fool's Gold / Ultra) :: Mark Knight c/o (Toolroom Knights), Mike Mago (Boemklatsch), Muzzaik (Spinnin' / Toolroom), The Disco Boys (We Play Music), Trevor Mac (Jalapeno Sound System), Ferdinand Weber (Spinnin' Deep), LCAW (Ultra), Plastic Plates (Sweat it Out), Mark Lower (Nurvous), Don Diablo c/o (Axtone / Spinnin' Records), Eton Messy, Après (Love & Other Records), Spada (Ego Music / Hysterical), Eelke Kleijn (Spinnin' / Suara), Horsemeat Disco (Strut Records / K7! Records), Horsemeat Disco (Strut Records / K7! Records), Adriana Lucia (Get Physical), Broc Roc (Dj B-Roc of The Knocks), Chordashian (Mullet Records), Hector Romero (Saw Recordings), Just Kiddin (Nervous Records)
Idris Elba c/o (Connaisseur Records / 7Wallace), Klingande / Kungs / Michael Calfan c/o (Unity Group Promo Sorter), Shiba San c/o (Suara / CUFF), Malente (Southern Fried Records), Rudimental (Asylum / Big Beat), Sirus Hood (Under No Illusion / Dirtybird), Marc Spence (This Ain't Bristol / Skint), Martin Solveig c/o (Spinnin' Records), Horsemeat Disco (Strut Records / K7! Records), Riva Starr c/o (Hot Creations), Mike Mago (Boemklatsch), Kokiri (Love & Other), Fred Falke (Work It Baby Records), Claptone c/o (Exploited), Roger Sanchez (Stealth Records / Astrx), Don Diablo c/o (Axtone / Spinnin' Records), Icarus (FFRR / SubSoul), Pezzner (Dirtybird), Jourdan Bordes (Phonetic Recordings), Mahalo (Toolroom / Bunny Tiger), AC Slater (Night Bass), Chordashian / Felix Feygin (Mullet Records), Fei-Fei Wang, Kristina Sky (Ultra / Armada), Thee Cool Cats (Toolroom / Bunny Tiger), Solidisco (Fool's Gold / Ultra), Infected Mushroom c/o (HOMmega Productions), DJ Blake Jarrell (Armada Music),Travis Emmons (Weapons Music), Human Life (LIFEX / Exploited), Treasure Fingers (Psycho Disco! / Fool's Gold), Hector Romero (Saw Recordings), and Danny Howard (BBC Radio 1 / Nothing Else Matters)
Über Iris aus dem Raum Stuttgart/Esslingen ist nicht viel bekannt. 1981 hat die siebenköpfige Band ihr einziges Album für das kleine Label PEAK aufgenommen, die natürlich nicht die finanziellen Mittel hatten, Iris zu etablieren. Zudem klang das anspruchsvolle und dennoch teils hart rockende Material nach dem, was man allgemein als Krautrock bezeichnet, oder bezeichnen kann. Somit war ein Drängen in die damals angesagte NDW-Richtung absolut ausgeschlossen.
Der Übergang von den späten Siebzigern zu den frühen Achtzigern war musikalisch auch in Deutschland extrem spannend. Iris hielten stilistisch eher an den Siebzigern fest, was ihnen heute mit dieser Wiederveröffentlichung posthum neue Fans bringen wird. Auch in der Hardrock- und Heavy Metal-Szene gibt es immer mehr junge Bands, die mit der Klangästhetik spielen, die auch auf „Iris“ zu hören ist. Ein
„veralteter Sound“ wird wieder modern.
Die CD und LP kommt mit Liner Notes von Fachmann Michael Lörber. Ausserdem wurden alle Komponenten des Albums, also auch das Textblatt, gescannt und hinzugefügt. Den Audiotransfer hat Patrick Engel (Sony Music, High Roller, etc.) vorgenommen, das Remastering erfolgte durch Neudi.
Ein in Zukunft nicht mehr vergessenes Stück deutscher Rockgeschichte!
Not much is known about Iris from the Stuttgart / Esslingen area.
In 1981, the seven-member band recorded their only album for the small label PEAK, which of course did not have the financial means to mainstream Iris. In addition, the sophisticated yet sometimes hard rocking stuff sounded like what is generally called, or can be called, Krautrock. Thus, a push towards the NDW style that was in vogue at the time was absolutely out of the question.
The transition from the late seventies to the early eighties was musically extremely exciting, even in Germany. Iris stuck stylistically more to the seventies, which will bring them new fans posthumously today with this re-release. Also in the hard rock and heavy metal scene there are more and more young bands playing with the sound aesthetics that can also be heard on „Iris“. An „outdated sound“ is becoming modern again.
The CD and LP comes with liner notes by expert Michael Lörber. In addition, all components of the album, including the lyric sheet, were scanned and added. The audio transfer was done by Patrick Engel (Sony Music, High Roller, etc.), the remastering was done by Neudi.
A piece of German rock history that will not be forgotten in the future!
Wytch Hazel melden sich fulminant mit einem neuen Album zurück!
Ihre musikalische Ausrichtung wird meistens als Hard Rock mit mittelalterlichen Anklängen beschrieben. Als wichtige Einflüsse werden häufig Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash und Jethro Tull genannt. Die drei Vorgänger-Alben erreichten auch bei deutschen Musikkritikern aus der Hardrock- und Metal-Szene gute bis sehr gute Bewertungen, u.a. war das 2020er Album 'III: Pentecost' im renommierten Deaf Forever-Magazin 'Album des Monats'. Mit fieberhafter Kreativität, progressiver Dynamik und beflügelt von charakteristischem Twin Guitar-Salven sucht die englische Band nach dem perfekten Sound - und ihrer ganz eigenen Interpretation von klassischem Hardrock. Und diese glitzernde Schatzkiste von 'IV: Sacrament' erweist sich als überaus würdiger Nachfolger des gefeierten Vorgängers. Ist es nicht nur die beste Produktion des Quartetts aus Lancashire, sondern auch ihre durchgehend stärkste Sammlung von ergreifenden Hooks und zeitlosen Melodien.
ROCK HARD
Soundcheck #3
"…Wer sich vor dem Kauf des Albums ein Bild vom "neuen" Sound der Briten machen möchte, kann sich auf YouTube ´A Thousand Years´ reinziehen. Im Grunde ist das für Kenner der Band aber nicht nötig: Wer WYTCH HAZEL bisher mochte, wird auch an ihrem neuen Album seine helle Freude haben."
ECLIPSED
"... Auf "IV: Sacrament" geht es zwischen Riffs und Gitarrenduellen oft melodisch, aber immer heftig zur Sache, Luft holen kann man nur bei einem anderthalbminütigen Zwischenspiel. Dass die Songs verhältnismäßig kurz sind, ist hierbei allerdings ein kleiner Wehrmutstropfen, da die Band mit dem epischen siebenminütigen Finale 'Digging Deeper' deutlich zeigt, dass sie gerade in der Langform zu bestechender Form aufläuft."
VISIONS
"…In den zehn Songs auf IV: Sacrament operieren Wytch Hazel mit allen Soundcharakteristika ihrer Vorgängeralben. Das bedeutet massig Reverb auf mittig abgemischten, analogen Gitarrenamps und wenige Spitzen in Riffing und Gesang. All das wird durchzogen von träumerischen Gitarrenleads, die Hendras sich gerne mit Alex Haslam teilt und in The Fire's Control oder A Thousand Years auch mal an den Songanfang setzt…"
powermetal.de
"…Dass eine Band auch mit dem dritten Studio-Album noch Weltklasse sein kann in heutigen Zeiten, in denen die meisten wirklich guten Bands ja komplett als Hobby-Truppen agieren kommt kaum vor (Ausnahme ATLANTEAN KODEX?). Auch das vierte Album ist also eine Großtat, eine 43-minütige Traumreise. Vielleicht sehe ich es in ein paar Monaten sogar auch auf Zehner-Niveau. Im Moment muss es sich mit 9,5 Punkten zufrieden geben. Klar gab es dieses Jahr noch keine stärkere Veröffentlichung, aber zur Perfektion fehlt halt das letzte kleine bisschen (noch). Das ist für mich ok."
Wytch Hazel melden sich fulminant mit einem neuen Album zurück!
Ihre musikalische Ausrichtung wird meistens als Hard Rock mit mittelalterlichen Anklängen beschrieben. Als wichtige Einflüsse werden häufig Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash und Jethro Tull genannt. Die drei Vorgänger-Alben erreichten auch bei deutschen Musikkritikern aus der Hardrock- und Metal-Szene gute bis sehr gute Bewertungen, u.a. war das 2020er Album 'III: Pentecost' im renommierten Deaf Forever-Magazin 'Album des Monats'. Mit fieberhafter Kreativität, progressiver Dynamik und beflügelt von charakteristischem Twin Guitar-Salven sucht die englische Band nach dem perfekten Sound - und ihrer ganz eigenen Interpretation von klassischem Hardrock. Und diese glitzernde Schatzkiste von 'IV: Sacrament' erweist sich als überaus würdiger Nachfolger des gefeierten Vorgängers. Ist es nicht nur die beste Produktion des Quartetts aus Lancashire, sondern auch ihre durchgehend stärkste Sammlung von ergreifenden Hooks und zeitlosen Melodien.
ROCK HARD
Soundcheck #3
"…Wer sich vor dem Kauf des Albums ein Bild vom "neuen" Sound der Briten machen möchte, kann sich auf YouTube ´A Thousand Years´ reinziehen. Im Grunde ist das für Kenner der Band aber nicht nötig: Wer WYTCH HAZEL bisher mochte, wird auch an ihrem neuen Album seine helle Freude haben."
ECLIPSED
"... Auf "IV: Sacrament" geht es zwischen Riffs und Gitarrenduellen oft melodisch, aber immer heftig zur Sache, Luft holen kann man nur bei einem anderthalbminütigen Zwischenspiel. Dass die Songs verhältnismäßig kurz sind, ist hierbei allerdings ein kleiner Wehrmutstropfen, da die Band mit dem epischen siebenminütigen Finale 'Digging Deeper' deutlich zeigt, dass sie gerade in der Langform zu bestechender Form aufläuft."
VISIONS
"…In den zehn Songs auf IV: Sacrament operieren Wytch Hazel mit allen Soundcharakteristika ihrer Vorgängeralben. Das bedeutet massig Reverb auf mittig abgemischten, analogen Gitarrenamps und wenige Spitzen in Riffing und Gesang. All das wird durchzogen von träumerischen Gitarrenleads, die Hendras sich gerne mit Alex Haslam teilt und in The Fire's Control oder A Thousand Years auch mal an den Songanfang setzt…"
powermetal.de
"…Dass eine Band auch mit dem dritten Studio-Album noch Weltklasse sein kann in heutigen Zeiten, in denen die meisten wirklich guten Bands ja komplett als Hobby-Truppen agieren kommt kaum vor (Ausnahme ATLANTEAN KODEX?). Auch das vierte Album ist also eine Großtat, eine 43-minütige Traumreise. Vielleicht sehe ich es in ein paar Monaten sogar auch auf Zehner-Niveau. Im Moment muss es sich mit 9,5 Punkten zufrieden geben. Klar gab es dieses Jahr noch keine stärkere Veröffentlichung, aber zur Perfektion fehlt halt das letzte kleine bisschen (noch). Das ist für mich ok."
Für den Podcast Klenk + Reiter, in dem der Chefredakteur des FALTER, Florian Klenk, mit dem Gerichtsmediziner Christian Reiter seit 2022 über Unfassbares aus der Welt der Gewaltverbrechen und der damit verbundenen Sterblichkeit spricht, schrieb Ernst Molden zwölf Lieder. Songs vom Seziertisch, aus der Unterwelt, vom Tatort und aus dem Versteck. Es sind zwölf gesungene Krimis, von der melancholischen Sorte. Denn es hilft nichts: am Ende noch so faszinierender Verbrechen bleiben die Scherben der Gewalt, das Leid, die Klage.Ernst Molden schreibt: vor 35 jahren hat mich eine wiener tageszeitung ausgesandt, um polizeireportagen zu schreiben. heuer hat mich eine wiener wochenzeitung ausgesandt, um mord- und mörderballaden zu schreiben. es war wie eine heimkehr. für den, mein vater hätte gesagt: hochinteressanten podcast KLENK + REITER, in dem der chefredakteur des Falter., Florian Klenk, mit dem gerichtsmediziner CHRISTIAN REITER schon seit dem vorjahr über unfassbares aus der welt der gewaltverbrechen und der damit verbundenen sterblichkeit spricht, durfte ich zwölf lieder schreiben. das sind songs vom seziertisch, aus der unterwelt, vom tatort und aus dem versteck. es sind zwölf gesungene krimis, wobei, eher von der melancholischen sorte. warum? es hilft nichts: am ende noch so faszinierender verbrechen bleiben die scherben der gewalt, das leid, die klage.diese lieder werden, eines nach dem anderen, in den zwölf kommenden folgen der zweiten podcast-staffel KLENK + REITER veröffentlicht. das dazugehörige album mit dem schlüssigen titel MÖADANUMMAN ist nach ende der podcast-staffel.im handel erhältlich.
Schwarz auf weiss' war das vierte Album der Vollgas Rock'n'Roller aus St. Pauli, original erschienen in 2011. Die Fans bekommen wie immer straighten, ehrlichen Rock'N'Roll geliefert. Die Songs rocken gradlinig mit fetten Riffs und treffsicheren Hooks, wie man es sonst nur von den australischen Riff-Göttern von AC/DC erwarten darf.
Bis heute sind Songs wie "Heul Den Mond An" oder "Sie hat Ihr Herz An St. Pauli Verloren" aus keine Ohrenfeindt Show wegzudenken und genießen bei den zahlreichen Fans der band absoluten Kultstatus.
OHRENFEINDT überzeugen mit jeder Menge Spielfreude, deutschen Texten, die fast schon überraschend nicht-peinlich sind und einer einwandfreien Produktion. Perfekt in Szene gesetzter Rotzrock, der schlicht und ergreifend Spaß macht.
Neuauflage erscheint mit einer einzigartigen Version des Rose Tattoo Klassikers "Nice Boys" als CD bonus track und als Ltd. White Vinyl Edition.
Take part in the sound of Bogota's eclectic cumbia scene that permeates the ritual sonido of 'Noches de Medialuna', the latest album by Conjunto Medialuna out now on Little Beat More!
Enter the labyrinth that transcends the danceable and psychedelic, guided by the Colombian accordion and ecstatic percussion of their slow-pitched beat. A tribute to the power of guacharaca, and the street parrandas where each song becomes a discovery of new archetypes of what has always been traditional but today makes part of the urban tribes of Latin America and the world.
Collaborations with artists such as N. Hardem, Mismo Perro, Son Rompe Pera, MC Hydro, or the Japanese-Latin connection with percussionist Muupy elevate this musical journey to a universal level that transcends cultural boundaries.
Introducing the freshest entry to our Little Beat More family with the very debut album by Magnetic Tailors out now!
The self-titled 'Magnetic Tailors LP' showcases the diverse influences that have shaped the style of this emerging project straight from Marseille's deepest underground, in a perfect blend of two unique sounds that represent the very soul of the group. Half hip hop and soul, half reggae the album features some of the most talented African artists such as Bhekiwe, Indigo Saint and Adam Raad, as well as leading exponents of underground hip hop such as Blurum13, DJ Vadim's partner in the Oneself project, and Blacc El, protagonist, among others, of an exceptional duet with the amazing voice of Giulietta Passera, from Sweet Life Society and Mangaboo.
A sound that reflects the influences and roots of the Magnetic Tailors and their city, a vibrant place of encounter and contamination for very different cultures and realities that come together in a unique and original artistic expression.
Black Truffle is pleased to announce Symphony No. 107 –The Bard, a previously unheard archival recording of the legendary improvising ensemble MEV (Musica Elettronica Viva), captured in concert at Bard College, New York in 2012. Formed by a group of American expat composers in Rome in 1966, the MEV ensemble played an important role in the development of free improvisation, bridging the live electronics tradition begun by Cage and Tudor and the high-energy squall of free jazz. Early recordings like Spacecraft or The Sound Pool unleash volleys of metal and glass amplified with contact microphones, howling winds, primitive synthesizer bleep and raucous audience participation, the intensity of which puts much later ‘noise’ to shame. In later decades, the ensemble would go through many iterations, often including legendary free players like Steve Lacy and George Lewis. In its final years, MEV settled into the core trio of founding members heard here: Alvin Curran, Frederic Rzewski, and Richard Teitelbaum, using piano, electronics, and small instruments.
Curran, Rzewski, and Teitelbaum were life-long friends blessed, as Curran says, with ‘incompatible personalities’: major figures in the post-Cagean experimental tradition, they explored countless divergent and even contradictory paths as composers and performers, from agitprop songs to brainwave-controlled synthesis. MEV is the sound of these three personalities coming together, their contributions radically individual yet attaining a state of ‘fundamental unity’ that Rzewski, in a text written in the collective’s earliest years, defined as the ‘final goal of improvisation’. Of course, listeners familiar with aspect of the trio’s individual works might hazard some guesses about who is doing what: the crisp piano figures are probably Rzewski’s, the cut-up hip-hop samples most likely Curran’s, the sliding, squelching synth possibly Teitelbaum’s. But often these identities are dissolved in a constantly shifting hall of mirrors, the listener unable to tell which of these pianos is live and which is a sample of a past virtuoso, or whether a horn blast derives from ethnographic documentation or Curran cutting loose on Shofar. The two side-long sets here occupy a similar terrain of constantly shifting texture and instrumentation, unexpected interruptions, and moments of sudden beauty. The first set is sparser, at times almost ominous, as a bell repeatedly sounds across wheezing harmonica, seasick orchestral textures, and creaking wood, making room for episodes of yodelling and delicate prepared piano before exploding into a storm of buzzing synth and piano fragments. The second set is more frenetic, moving rapidly across centuries and continents: cars crash into post-serial piano pointillism, wailing voices collide with chopped and screwed hip-hop samples, Hollywood strings are buried under layers of electronic gurgles. The performance slows in its final moments, making way for a sampled voice repeating the phrase ‘protest and the good of the world’, reminding us that MEV’s idea of freedom was always more than musical. Symphony No. 107 –The Bard is a beautifully recorded example of the endlessly multi-layered later MEV sound, accompanied by new liner notes by Alvin Curran (now the only surviving member of the group) and a selection of previously unseen photographs from across the many decades of the group’s activity. Arriving in an elegant sleeve bearing a beautiful photograph by Francis Zhou of the Olin Hall at Bard College where the concert was recorded, this is an essential document from a major group in the history of experimental music. As Rzewski wrote, this music is ‘like life, unpredictable, sometimes making sense, mostly not’.
Robin Saville - one half of the influential duo ISAN - returns to Morr Music with »Lore«, his fourth solo album to date. After 2020’s »Build A Diorama«, the British musician takes his love for field recordings, whirring pads, hovering bells and subtle electronics further, adding extra depth to both his sonic palette and his storytelling, focussing on biological diversity and its implications for human life.
For many years now, ›look and listen‹ has been Robin Saville's motto on his regular environmental explorations. The avid ambler does not just enjoy being out and about in nature; it is an important inspiration for his creative work as well. Sounds, smells, colours and even soil properties add to the experience. Equipped with a microphone and a recording device, Saville documents his strolls, using these recordings as a base for his compositions. »The field recordings on the album were made very locally this time, for obvious reasons,« he says. Welcome to the sonic landscape of the UK's East Anglia.
»Judith Avenue«, the opening track, is a great example of how Saville evolved his perspective on the sounds of nature: »It is a residential street, fading into a scrubby, wild landscape. There, I made a recording of nightingales at dusk. Such romantic birds! The males fly here from Africa a couple of weeks ahead of the females. They find a good territory, and at dusk, when all the other birds are going quiet, they start to sing to tempt the females down from their migratory flight paths. This has happened for thousands of years. However, the patch of ground where I made the recordings is earmarked for development and I don't suppose it'll happen there again. The recordings therefore become part of the history of that place, the lore.«
Recording the sounds of nature and enriching them with electronic sorcery, Saville is not only a documenting preservationist; he also translates these recordings into meaningful musical miniatures. Building on the soundscapes that marked his previous LP »Build A Diorama«, »Lore« is dominated by both open-hearted melancholy and more upbeat rhythms. But even when the music sounds quirky and loose, there is always deeper meaning. The album is characterised by an ever present melancholy about the threatening loss of living spaces, and a celebration of their beauty. This simultaneity turns the tracks into existential meditations about our human habitat. Saville enriches our lives musically by addressing the very issues we often ignore. At the same time, he becomes an agent of hope and change. Moving between light and dark, »Lore« is a musical allegory of where we stand today.
»The album is a document of places and times and while it is certainly a celebration of those things, it is also a record of things we are losing. That's how interaction with nature feels to me nowadays: something precious and amazing, but with an underlying sadness about the destructive relationship that humanity seems inevitably to have with the world around it.«
Let's not lose any more things.
Cécille has a long-standing history with Leon dating back to 2009 when he released his second career track. His mesmerizing production 'Rain in Rio' claimed the Nr.1 spot on Beatport in 2009 and earned esteemed recognition from Mixmag as one of the best tracks of the season.
Since then Leon has held prestigious residencies at iconic venues like Marco Carola's Music On Ibiza a residency he has maintained since its inception in 2012. Additionally he has captivated audiences at Cocoricò renowned as the most awarded club in Italy. Leon's talent and presence have left an enduring impact on the global music
scene.
Now, he returns to Cécille with some fabolus new club-cuts, accompanied by a remix from the highly acclaimed Manchester trio, Mason Collective. Known for their deep connection to the city's club culture, Mason Collective has been touring the globe with tremendous success, solidifying their position as one of the most dynamic acts
to emerge from Manchester in recent years turn in their interpretation of ‘Sissy’s Track’, extracting the core groove and soul of the original while stamping their own mark on things via intricately intertwined synth work, a murky bass groove and an overall bumpy house feel.
- A1: Ko-Ko (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1989) 05:13
- A2: A Day In Dubrovnik (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1989) 15:56
- B1: Django (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1990) 04:51
- B2: Blues In A Minor (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1993) 07:52
- B3: Bags' Groove (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1985) 04:12
- B4: The Golden Striker (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1993) 04:18
- C1: One Never Knows (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1987) 08:27
- C2: Le Cannet (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1985) 08:38
- D1: Nature Boy (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1985) 05:16
- D2: Rockin' In Rhythm (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1987) 06:53
- D3: True Blues (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1990) 04:50
A showcase of some of The Modern Jazz Quartet’s most iconic Montreux Jazz Festival live performances, recorded between 1985 and 1993!
The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.
- A1: Dixie Chicken (2023 Remaster)
- A2: Two Trains (2023 Remaster)
- A3: Roll Um Easy (2023 Remaster)
- A4: On Your Way Down (2023 Remaster)
- A5: Kiss It Off (2023 Remaster)
- B1: Fool Yourself (2023 Remaster)
- B2: Walkin’ All Night (2023 Remaster)
- B3: Fat Man In The Bathtub (2023 Remaster)
- B4: Juliette (2023 Remaster)
- B5: Lafayette Railroad (2023 Remaster)
- C1: Two Trains (Demo)
- C2: Fat Man In The Bathtub (Demo)
- C3: Walkin’ All Night (Alternate Version)*
- C4: Roll Um Easy (Alternate Version)*
- C5: On Your Way Down (Alternate Version)*
- D1: Eldorado Slim
- D2: Juliette (Alternate Version)*
- D3: Hi Roller (Ace In The Hole)
- D4: Dixie Chicken (Alternate Version)*
- E1: Two Trains (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- E2: Got No Shadow (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- E3: On Your Way Down (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- F1: Walkin’ All Night (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- F2: Fat Man In The Bathtub (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- F3: Willin’ (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
- F4: A Apolitical Blues (Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, Ma 4/1/73)*
Little Feat is the quintessential “cult” band. Started by Lowell George, 1972’s Sailin’ Shoes captures these musical rebels at one of their early peaks. The songs on Sailin’ Shoes are a masterful collage of inventive narrative, resplendent in countercultural irony and romance. Featuring the classic tracks “Willin’” (covered by Linda Rondstadt and many others), “Easy to Slip” (originally written for the Doobie Brothers) and the title track, it’s an album whose status has grown immeasurably, making it one of the most acclaimed releases of its era. With 1973’s Dixie Chicken, Little Feat found its signature sound as a band, producing a seductive, laid-back, funky record made up of what is arguably Lowell George's best-ever set of songs. With tracks that sound easy but are quite sophisticated, fans will enjoy hits like the rolling "Two Trains," the deeply soulful and funny "Fat Man in the Bathtub" and the country-funkified title track (which was covered nearly as frequently as "Willin'"). These deluxe editions include the original albums remastered and recut from the original tapes, alongside previously unreleased studio outtakes and demos, and complete unreleased live shows. It’s a treasure trove of material for their feverish fan base, and the first ever deep dive into one of the most influential bands from the 70’s Warner catalog.
[a] A1. DIXIE CHICKEN (2023 REMASTER) [3:55]
[b] A2. TWO TRAINS (2023 REMASTER) [3:06]
[c] A3. ROLL UM EASY (2023 REMASTER) [2:30]
[d] A4. ON YOUR WAY DOWN (2023 REMASTER) [5:31]
[e] A5. KISS IT OFF (2023 REMASTER) [2:56]
[f] B1. FOOL YOURSELF (2023 REMASTER) [3:10]
[g] B2. WALKIN’ ALL NIGHT (2023 REMASTER) [3:35]
[h] B3. FAT MAN IN THE BATHTUB (2023 REMASTER) [4:29]
[i] B4. JULIETTE (2023 REMASTER) [3:20]
[j] B5. LAFAYETTE RAILROAD (2023 REMASTER) [3:40]
[k] C1. TWO TRAINS (DEMO) [3:19]
[l] C2. FAT MAN IN THE BATHTUB (DEMO) [3:56]
[m] C3. WALKIN’ ALL NIGHT (ALTERNATE VERSION)* [3:40]
[n] C4. ROLL UM EASY (ALTERNATE VERSION)* [2:36]
[o] C5. ON YOUR WAY DOWN (ALTERNATE VERSION)* [5:57]
[p] D1. ELDORADO SLIM [4:42]
[q] D2. JULIETTE (ALTERNATE VERSION)* [3:34]
[r] D3. HI ROLLER (ACE IN THE HOLE) [3:27]
[s] D4. DIXIE CHICKEN (ALTERNATE VERSION)* [4:06]
[t] E1. TWO TRAINS (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [3:23]
[u] E2. GOT NO SHADOW (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [6:35]
[v] E3. ON YOUR WAY DOWN (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [6:26]
[w] F1. WALKIN’ ALL NIGHT (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)*[3:34]
[x] F2. FAT MAN IN THE BATHTUB (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [5:31]
[y] F3. WILLIN’ (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [4:31]
[z] F4. A APOLITICAL BLUES (LIVE AT PAUL’S MALL, BOSTON, MA 4/1/73)* [3:33]
First appearing on TV screens in September 1968, Joe 90 was a unique nine year old boy with the ability to absorb the brain patterns of top experts enabling him to become the most special agent of W.I.N. (World Intelligence Network).
Whilst there are arguably better-known scores amongst Barry Gray's sublime catalogue of work with the Andersons, the composer's work for Joe 90 is in many ways the most consistent and inventive selection he ever wrote.
Developing a theme for the new series was always the musician's starting point, and for Joe 90, the pop charts breezed into Gray's studio, with an opening tune featuring a genuine groove. Mixing Gray's inventive electronics with 60s "surf rock" guitars was an inspired decision. It is no wonder that this piece has gone on to enjoy a second life as a Northern Soul disco floor-filler.
- 1: The Wild Horses Of The Revolution Have Arrived Without A Knight
- 2: Central Crisis Management Cell
- 3: Painful Memories From The Past Need To Be Acknowledged
- 4: Dancing On The Head Of An Eagle
- 5: He Worked With His Eyes Lowered
- 6: Starting Something You’re Not Able To Finish
- 7: Diplomatic Cocktail Circuit
Repress!
N0!zy blighter Russell Haswell returns to Diagonal 5 years after his label debut with a spontaneously combusting follow-up to ’37 Minute Workout’ generated again from a mix of analog/digital synths and modular systems edited on a computer. It was inspired by a visit to CERN, The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Geneva; and dinner with Ted Nelson, whose theories of interwingularity and transclusion chimed with the direction recordings took.There are few artists who can genuinely make music that sounds like your needle and/or record is melting, but Russell Haswell is one of them. His 2nd volume of extremely kinky calisthenics is a potent example of daring to be different in a world where exponentially increasing production options are leading producers of all stripes to the exact same conclusions. But, with thanks to Russell’s iconoclastic intent, restless nature and ascetic aesthetics, he still sounds quite like nobody else, and, even better yet, doesn’t give a shit if you like it or not. For the record (this one in particular), we’re all over it like a hot rash.
Since reincorporating his early love of freestyle electro and Industrial dance music into his patented n0!ze matrices circa the 1st volume of ’37 Minute Workout’, Russell has steered that rhythm-driven style into a string of fizzy bangers for Diagonal and even applied it to his production for Consumer Electronics with typically radical results. Russell’s 2nd volume of ’37 Minute Workout’ is cut from similarly (but never the same) ragged material as the first batch, and spits, kicks and claws with equal amounts of eething, pent energy and rambunctiousness ready to jab the ‘floor in the eye or dissolve a party where needed.
Crowbarring cues ranging from the Latin Rascals to Incapacitants and Jeff Mills into 7 wickedly awkward designs, Haswell keeps his avant aerobics radically irregular as he hops from the tendon-twitching angularity of ‘The Wild Horses of the Revolution have arrived Without Knight’ to steel-hoofed clatter in ‘Central Crisis Management Cell’ and the lacquer-eating dynamics of ‘Painful
Memories From The Past Need To Be Acknowledged’, before toning a proper nasty acid special in the UR inversion ‘Dancing on the Head of an Eagle’, and seemingly sucking your brain out thru a straw with ‘Starting Something You’re Not Able To Finish’, with the dry witted, skeletal jazz-funk squirm of ‘Diplomatic Cocktail Circuit’ closing the party down in style.
repress !
Label boss Coco Bryce aka DJ-Y finally delivers the second volume of Faces Of Bass, the Myor sublabel focussing on 4x4 hardcore in all its shapes and forms.
Speed Fever is one for the Gabber and Acid heads alike. Its mixture of distorted kick drums, ruffneck 303 melodies and rushy rave stabs echoes the late 90s squat party heydays of the Netherlands.
Get On Up sees Coco opting for a slightly more subtle approach, blending acid bleeps with warm chords and a moody Reese bassline over a rolling Jungle Techno framework.
repressed !
Number 060 in our catalogue, and we are keeping it tight and sharp. Oscar Mulero is the mind behind this creature, offering three cuts of merciless techno exercises both physically and digitally.
Opening track is "Tormenta", Storm in spanish, a fast paced groove with almost all elements up from the very beginning. Wisely distorted drums, continuous filtered sequences, a sharp elastic line running and mutating across the structure. Direct and mental at the time.
"Espectro Rojo", Red spectrum translated begins with obsessive distorted evolving lines, shuffled hi hats and precise kicks. The stereo field is constantly worked out augmenting the experience exponentially.
"Gradiente de Voltaje" closes the EP, the overall feel is less distorted and more opaque and lo-fi. The liquid filtered bassline is soon joined by distorted hats, alternating patterns and twisting the sounds wisely. No sudden interruptions, no abrupt changes, just the right dose of hypnosis to use as a powerful tool.
repress !
Striking back the way we like it.
With a primitive approach the duo Fractions initiates this ritualistic 12" with a hyper-disco trance induced big room smasher.
As it follows Lars Huismann burns it with a tune that could be directly extracted from a 2000's mighty label like Primate, danger funk alert.
Heavily influenced by the present music the hit of this record has a name, She Won't Make Me Sad. Jheal Bashta pushes once again the limits of the urban music transforming this trap track into a unique piece of dance floor techno music not easy to forget. Sang by his brother Metal Fence.
Closing the issue Kontain's Paradox, will melt the heart and the shoes of those who can still on the dance floor (one of the tracks that I've been playing in the last parts of my sets lately the most).
Discoteca Neanderthal for disc-jockeys and collectors.
- A1: Girl Who Fell From The Sky
- A2: Morning Of Slag Valley
- A3: Funny Fight
- A4: Memories Of Gondoor
- A5: Passo Of Disappointment
- A6: Robot Army
- A7: Picking Up The Choir
- B1: Theta's Determination
- B2: At The Tiger Moss Issue
- B3: A Sign Of Ruin
- B4: Moonlight Sea Of Clouds
- B5: Castle In The Sky
- B6: Collapse Of Laputa
- B7: Pointing You
2023 Repress
One of the most promising techno producers around right now - Vil presents his '50 Shades Of Grain EP' for the Self Reflektion imprint. The 'Groove Dealer' from Portugal, member of the HAYES collective and known for his recent work on Klockworks (together with Cravo) and Be As One delivers a selection of sexy, groovy yet pounding tracks for our label. Highly essential!
It's always good to have Norbak onboard again with this brand new slice of plastic. Four cuts of precise and gymnastic techno aimed for the most advanced dancefloors energetic and intelligent at the same time, as we like.
A side starts with "Tell me I'm wrong" a fast paced hypnotic exercise with adrenalinic synth lines running over complex rhythms, properly arranged in a constantly changing structure.
"Amongst Them" follow, textured flanged sounds running across the stereo field, shuffled beats and lots of space, the definition of how profound techno should be.
Flipping the vinyl, B1 is "Pure and Faithful", funk infused sequences constantly altered in shape, complex grooves and as always a profound structure full of twists.
Last cut in this exercise is "Unbearable Lightness", continuous and repetitive randomized synth lines spiced with lots of reverb over a well crafted drum workout, intense and spacious at the same time.
Another demonstration of studio skills and sound design from this young Portuguese producer.
Das Album "12" von Komponisten-Legende, Produzent und Pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto ist eine Sammlung von 12 Kompositionen für Synthesizer und Piano. Die Stücke hat der Grammy-, Oscar- und Golden Globe-Gewinner aus musikalischen Skizzen ausgewählt, die er während seines zweieinhalbjährigen Kampfes gegen den Krebs wie ein Tontagebuch aufgenommen hat. Jedes Stück ist eine intime Momentaufnahme aus dieser schweren Periode seines Lebens und trägt als Titel das jeweilige Entstehungsdatum. "12" ist das erste Solo-Album des mit seinen elektronisch-akustischen Genre-Überschreitungen weltweit stilprägenden Komponisten seit dem 2017 erschienenen Album "async".Über das Album sagt Ryuichi Sakamoto:"Nachdem ich nach einer großen Operation endlich in meine neue vorübergehende Unterkunft 'heimgekommen' war, griff ich zum Synthesizer. Ich hatte nicht die Absicht, etwas zu komponieren; ich wollte einfach nur von Klängen überflutet werden. Wahrscheinlich werde ich diese Art von 'Tagebuch' auch weiterhin führen."
The Search for God is a wake-up call for a troubled world that’s still worth saving, animated by a belief in the power of small connections to add up to big changes. At 10 songs delivered in a brief 15 minutes, Jimmy Whispers’ long-awaited sophomore album feels present in a way that feels brand new for the cult auteur. Like many of us, Jimmy has been affected by the pressure of the past few years. After embracing sobriety in 2019, and now as a filmmaker sharing the stories of lesser known Los Angeles community members, he’s brought his dreaming down to earth, while turning its direction even further out.
Recorded with his longtime friend Ziyad Asrar of the band Whitney (and re-recorded after a hard drive incident destroyed the original files), The Search for God was created in the wake of Jimmy’s COVID isolation, and returns to some teen influences that are out of step with the chill/lo-fi LA indie rock scene he’s found himself lumped in with. Created mostly with two vintage synths, a single Roland CR5000 drum machine, and a busted karaoke machine, it channels Midwestern emo, the Beach Boys’ Smile, subtle nods at hyper-pop production, and forgotten jewel-box era college radio of the early aughts into a pure pop sound that transcends easy categorization.
The album’s standout single—and its statement of purpose—is “Hellscape,” which packs more into a minute and 40 seconds than you’d think possible: multiple immediately-unforgettable hooks, kaleidoscopic keyboards, and a bracing reminder that even the most transcendent moments are rooted in a world full of suffering. “This is a fucking hellscape,” Jimmy sings. “This is real life / this is happening.”
That may sound like punk nihilism, but The Search for God is anything but. Every lyrical acknowledgment of how fucked things are right now comes with a promise that we can still make positive changes. Jimmy calls it “God”; you might call it Love or Peace or A Place In the Universe That Makes Some Kind of Sense.
Will The Search for God deliver whatever that is to you? Of course not. At its heart, it’s still just a really good pop album. But maybe that’s enough. For a minute or two at a time, Jimmy’s music cracks open a space where the divine can enter our lives. The utopia we’ve all been dreaming of is already here if we’re just willing to build it. Jimmy Whispers is there, ready to add his voice, whenever we want to reach out.































































































































































