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Following acclaimed singles from Powell, Blood Music, Shit & Shine and Prostitutes, the next release from Diagonal is a landmark. It marks both the London label's first full-length album release, and the return of abrasive and furiously funky hip-hop deconstructionists Death Comet Crew, one of the most quietly influential underground acts to emerge from the creative melting pot of 1980s New York.

Ghost Among The Crew documents the group's return to studio operations for the first time since the 80s, as well as their first ever full-length studio album. It's a remarkable trip: a consolidation of their early feral disassemblies of hip-hop and electro, but also broader in scope, chewing up and spitting out fragments of soul, jazz fusion, punk and industrial music.
Death Comet Crew were founded in New York City in 1983 by Stuart Argabright, a founder member of post-punk/industrial mavericks Ike Yard and the mind behind Dominatrix and later Black Rain. Their sound, then as now, was a singular proposition: urban in mood, exploratory, often compellingly danceable, yet confrontational. It emerged from the interweaving talents of the group's varied members: guitarist Michael Diekmann (of Ike Yard), bassist Shinichi Shimokawa (later of Black Rain) and Nick Taylor aka DJ High Priest, frequently joined by the late, great hip hop artist and graffiti writer Rammellzee. Having recorded two studio EPs - 1985's At The Marble Bar (featuring Rammellzee) and its follow-up Mystic Eyes - the group disbanded barely a year after forming. They left behind a reputation for their incendiary live performances, several recordings from which were gathered on crucial 2004 compilation This Is Riphop.
The musical climate that first birthed Death Comet Crew was one of fertile cross-pollination of styles. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the seeds of modern day urban musics - hip hop, punk and post-punk, no wave - were taking root in the streets of recession-struck New York City. Argabright recalls dancing at the downtown Mudd Club around 1980 to a bold mixture of styles, with DJs cutting from synth-pop and post-punk to funk, soul and early hip-hop: Bowie and James Brown next to Run DMC, Ultravox and Gary Numan. Indeed, the names of his New York contemporaries operating around the same time - the likes of Liquid Liquid, Run DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Russell, ESG, Swans, Sonic Youth, Bill Laswell and more - have since been inscribed in modern music history.
With previous projects Dominatrix and Ike Yard having recently become inactive, in 1984 Argabright formed Death Comet Crew as a means of exploring new sonic avenues. He'd been experimenting with tape, recording and procesing the sounds of his surrounding environment and dialogue from films and TV. Joined by Shimokawa, Diekmann and Taylor, and using drum machines, turntables, spidery guitar and bass, the group assembled a scrambled collage of rhythms and sampled voices. Their live performances were, in Argabright's words, "aurally violent, sharp-edged, downright lacerating", hacking gleefully away at hip hop and electro's rhythmic frameworks. Rammellzee joined the group to vocal 1985 debut EP At The Marble Bar; his MC turn on highlight 'Exterior Street' is all the more remarkable for having been entirely freestyled in the studio. When Death Comet Crew reformed in 2003 for a string of live shows, he continued as an active member of the group, touring and working with them during the recording of Ghost Among The Crew, until he sadly passed away in 2010.
After reforming, Death Comet Crew began writing and recording new material. Now, following on from their just-released Galacticoast 12" through Citinite, Ghost Among The Crew - its title a homage to Rammellzee - hones the group's abrasive early experimentations while tripping into bold and astrally minded new territory. Alongside the core quartet of Argabright, Diekmann, Shimokawa and Taylor are new voices, including Rapscallion (a friend of Rammellzee's), Jessica 6/Hercules & Love Affair singer Nomi Ruiz, and Carolyn 'Honeychild' Coleman. Its eight tracks are steeped in the impulsive spirit of electric Miles and the deep space romances of Sun Ra, and possessed of an enigmatic yet undeniable pop edge. But equally they're pricked with urban paranoia and dread, traits that have long been hallmarks of Argabright's musical projects.
'Me Czar Of The Magyars' opens the album in a twist of tension like the turning of a ratchet. Its taut electroid shudder is paired with machine gunned cymbal hits and a voice telling of "wormwood and opium dens" - the sound of being teleported from everyday city streets into the astral plane, where every sensory input is heightened and the promise of danger or pleasure lurks unseen around every corner. Later, Coleman's lyrics pay tribute to Rammellzee on the sci-fi funk of 'Deep Space Woman'. 'Let The Clubs Ring' melts lounge bar organs and frazzled guitar into freakishly unstable shapes, while 'Drag Racing' matches its title, rocketing along frantically atop clattering drums. 'Moons On Titan's Seas' is halfway interlude pause for rest, like an exotic cocktail in a bar orbiting some as-yet-undiscovered new world. These varied strands are somehow all summarised in album closer 'Ignition Spark', which sets Ruiz's vocals alongside Taylor's and Argabright's. The zone the trio inhabit in this final track exists in perpetual push-pull between contemplation, memory, intrigue and violence, a decisive opening of a new chapter in Death Comet Crew's history.

As with all Diagonal releases, the initial vinyl pressing will be packaged in unique, specially designed artwork.

In 1959, a family friend went to the home of Paco de Lucía and Pepe de Lucía where he made several recordings with a Grundig TK46 tape recorder. This tape disappeared in 1967 and, after a long search process, was rediscovered in 2022, when a restoration process started using AI tools.

The historical value of this recording is incalculable and it gathers in 21 pieces an anthology of flamenco where most of its variants are represented (tangos, soleá, seguiriyas, bulerías...).

It is, in short, the definitive recording to illustrate the transition from classical flamenco to modern flamenco as we know it today.

Arguably one of the most memorable house music moments, born out of the black LGBT scene in Chicago at the legendary Warehouse and known as one of Frankie Knuckles earliest productions; ‘Your Love’ is a stone cold classic. A record that is up there with the greats, instantly recognisable and a song that only get better with time.

Written by Jamie Principle and originally released in 1986, ‘Your Love’ has become a seminal recording over the past 34 years. Originally an underground club anthem, famously borrowed on the crossover hit ‘You’ve Got The Love’ (The Source feat. Candi Staton), and most recently re-produced by as part of the Director’s Cut project which aimed to update a number of classic cuts for the modern dancefloor, this is a record that endures the test of time. Working alongside The Frankie Knuckles Foundation and Eric Kupper, SoSure Music now releases two new remixes for 2020 from Darrius Syrossian and Alan Dixon.

First up, House music aficionado and legendary Sankey’s resident Darius Syrossian offers his unique blend of beats to the remix package. With releases on the likes of Get Physical, Viva Music and Hot Creations, Darius’ production is heavily influenced by some of the greats – think of the finest spinners from Detroit, New York and Chicago – and is well placed to approach this huge task. Darius introduces a rolling house beat and some old skool breakbeats into his mix, keeping the energy high throughout; bringing a feeling of a euphoria and hitting the peak time moment.

Charting a rapid rise through the ranks in a relatively short time Alan Dixon is already building a name for himself in House and Nu Disco scene and has recently released on labels including Glitterbox, Permanent Vacation, Running Back and True Romance. Alan’s remix aims directly at the centre of the disco dancefloor. A strong beat dominates a unique energy through the mix along with a slightly nostalgic vibe. With a beautiful floaty interlude and a raw emotion this remix updates a classic with respect while also giving a fresh new twist.

For Fans of Robyn, Tirzah, Charli XCX, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, Maurice Fulton. "Don't come closer, because I might hurt you boy / You don't deserve it, I treat you like a toy." So sings 28-year-old South East London musician Tatyana on "It's Over", the sad and squelchy electro-leaning title track to her second album. Primarily written and produced over the summer of `23, It's Over follows the loose trajectory of a not-quite-relationship from the year before. But, more than that, it's an album about modern dating, alienation and the confines of existing online. If you've heard Tatyana's name before, it's probably because she released a debut album back in 2022, Treat Me Right, co-produced with Metronomy's Joe Mount, a record she describes as more of a collaboration. For It's Over, Tatyana took control of every aspect of the album's creation, from the production (she co-produced it alongside Mikko Gordon) to the artwork and the technology she used throughout. "This record made me technically proficient because I really pushed myself," says Tatyana. "I figured out a lot of things that I didn't know before. In the past, I allowed others to lead the charge and I'm not doing that any more." Born in London, before moving to Russia, Holland and Singapore in her teens, before eventually studying music at Berklee College in the USA - which she attained on full scholarship - and then back to London, Tatyana imbues her music with both haywire technical proficiency and encyclopaedic, far-flung tastes. Mostly, though, her sound originates from a pure love of the dancefloor: Robyn, Tirzah, Mica Levi, Jessy Lanza, The Knife. You can hear these dance-pop influences everywhere, from the colourful synth shapes of "Control (ft. Dave Okumu)" to the crackling analogue hiss of "Nothing is True, Everything is Possible". Lean in a little closer, too, and you might catch the shimmer of a harp on every song (she's played harp since she was a little girl, and toured extensively as a professional session harpist). "I write about love, I write about romance, these are the things that interest me," says Tatyana. "That's what this record is. It's about this relationship that broke my brain and I had to write about it."

If you’ve been anywhere near the modern dark scene the past few years, then you are no doubt familiar with Vandal Moon. If 2020’s Black Kiss set the scene for their rise, then the 2022 follow-up Queen of the Night cemented their well-deserved status as goth darlings. But Vandal Moon isn’t your typical goth band. Founder Blake Voss has always defied genre expectations. In fact Vandal Moon was originally envisioned as an experimental electronic-psychedelic project. The band has since evolved into equal parts post-punk, synthpop, goth, and synthwave – and 2016’s Teenage Daydream Conspiracy marked the beginning of that evolution. A visceral snapshot into the band’s formative years, the album is exploding with raw energy. It’s fully formed and yet completely unhinged. And until now, it’s never been available on vinyl. Midnight Mannequin Records is proud to present this deluxe reissue of Vandal Moon’s Teenage Daydream Conspiracy, remastered and pressed on colored vinyl, complete with OBI strip and all new artwork by Trina Hines and Eric Adrian Lee. Experience Teenage Daydream Conspiracy like never before…look around and ask yourself – is what I’m seeing real? Or is it a daydream conspiracy?

Second full-length album by Sheffield-based project Randolph & Mortimer. An 8-track 40-minute-long sonic and emotional journey heavily influenced by 80’s propaganda and the parallels we face today involving politics, religion & conspiracy theories. Created half by machines and half by the mind of Sam Evans, “The Incomplete Truth” clings to the same roots that catapulted R&M to the forefront of the techno-EBM-industrial scene with their debut album “Manifesto for A Modern World” (2019) but takes this new work to a higher level in terms of composition and production.

Born in the wake of depression resulting from a terrifying near-death experience in the workplace, Sam conceived this album as a live setlist from some alternate reality free of everyday working. Every track is a potential success and includes collaborations with artists like Andi, Neu-Romancer, Black Dahlia and Dominique Slva. All killer, zero filler.

Sourced from the Original Master Tapes and Presented in Audiophile Sound for the First Time: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g SuperVinyl LP Plays with Riveting Detail
Three decades before he released The Philosophy of Modern Song — an insightful book devoted to 66 tunes that both impacted his career and the music world at large — Bob Dylan issued Good As I Been to You. The under-heralded 1992 album, Dylan’s first solo acoustic album in nearly 30 years and first all-covers effort in nearly 20 years, can be seen as a prophetic prelude to what has become the Nobel Laureate’s celebrated late-career arc. It’s also an absorbing continuation of the custom Dylan has embraced since he first picked up a guitar.


Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at RTI, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g SuperVinyl LP of Good As I Been to You reveals the immediacy, detail, and stripped-down nature of recording sessions that took place in Dylan’s garage studio in California. Simple, raw, and unplugged, the record presents Dylan in peak form — and showcases a diversity of vocal phrasing, soulful chording, harmonica accents, and close-up ambience that on this reissue emerge like never before. As the first-ever audiophile edition of this almost-lost classic, this LP also benefits from SuperVinyl’s extraordinary properties: a nearly inaudible noise floor, superb groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces among them.

Recorded and mixed by Micajah Ryan, and supervised by Debbie Gold, Good As I Been to You took shape at Dylan’s home shortly after the singer-songwriter completed sessions in Chicago with a full band. Unaccompanied, he again gravitated to existing works — in this case, traditional folk music — and, with Gold serving as a trusted advisor, performed the songs in multiple keys and tempos until he arrived at what he desired. That careful, determined albeit loose, organic approach emanates from this reissue, on which each note, movement, and space come across more directly, fully, and immediately than on the original formats. It helps draw a through-line to Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) as well as the similarly themed follow-up, World Gone Wrong (1993) and immersive old-world storytelling of Tempest (2012) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

Well before Dylan made those renowned 21st century LPs, however, he needed to find a way out of a funk that — save for his 1989 collaboration with Daniel Lanois, Oh Mercy — followed him for years. As author Clinton Heylin reported Dylan admitting in 1997: “My influences have not changed — and any time they have done, the music goes off to a wrong place. That’s why I recorded two LPs of old songs, so I could personally get back to the music that’s true for me.”

Truth: Few, if any, concepts better encapsulate Good As I Been to You. It resonates with the same originality, honesty, resolve, and age- and time-defying relevance as the seminal Anthology of American Folk Music that fired Dylan’s imagination as a kid in small-town Minnesota and, later, per Greil Marcus’ That Old Weird America book, informed Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes sessions. This record also contains the type of music Dylan was playing during his acoustic sets at his period Never Ending Tour shows; within a year of the record’s release, Dylan would play half the album’s songs live.

As for those songs: Rife with strange mystery, common circumstance, and epic adventure, the stories appeal to our base instincts. Their themes — jealousy, temptation, sacrifice, love, revenge, identity, opportunity — operate on a fundamentally human level immune to trends, generations, or eras. They’re ancient and modern, serious and comical, open and disguised, simple and multi-layered. They talk of vengeance and justice (“Frankie & Albert”; “Jim Jones”), romance and tenderness (“Tomorrow Night,” “Froggie Went a Courtin’”), the troubled and trouble-free (“Hard Times,” “Sittin’ on Top of the World”). They lend voice to lovers scorned and freed (“Blackjack Davey”), the used and users (“Diamond Joe”), the powerful and powerless (“Arthur McBride,” “Canadee-I-O”), the followed and followers (“Little Maggie”). And akin to much of Dylan’s finest output, things are not always what they appear to be.

Spanning country, folk, sea shanty, bluegrass, and blues motifs, Good As I Been to You re-confirms Dylan’s position as an elite interpreter and sculptor — not of just structure but emotion. Dylan delivers the tunes as if he’s known them forever. He plays with a subtle sense of mischievousness and retains a largely upbeat demeanour; his eyes seemingly twinkle as he sings and picks. His guitar serves as the guidepost for shuffles, boogies, ballads, and mess-arounds while his innate feel for each specific arrangement and melody helps inform pacing, tone, attack.

Like a great author, he understands the importance of adhering to concision, luring an audience, holding their attention, and maximizing the impact of details, actions, and unexpected turns. Though already coarse and ragged, his voice feels ideal for the subject matter and his phrasing — from the clever ways he stretches syllables to underline meanings on the surprise twists of “Canadee-I-O” to the sheer delight he gets from singing “rowdy-dow-dow” on the protest song “Arthur McBride” — outstanding.

Leo Zero finally gets some of his much sort after edits onto the black wax, with some classic cut-ups that have all been road tested for max dance-floor detonation.

On this first EP a set of classic soul / disco groovers that have been meticulously remastered and extended for the modern floor.

One for the dancers and romancers, ‘Love Affair’ hits you square in the heart - a big spin at the Faith parties. Next up, a classic mid-tempo Soul weekender cut gets a nice chunky re-version.

The flip kicks off with some new live drums and chunkiness added to a huge underground gem, then we head off into more bulletproof dance-floor disco territory with a souped up version that’s been given maximum wallop to compete with house cuts when played out.

“I hope you die by my side, the two of us at the exact same time, I hope we die not long from now, the two of us at the exact same time”
By the time Molly Nilsson released History, she had already established a fledgling cult status built on homemade YouTube videos and home-burnt Cdrs. Writing from a distance, it’s clear that History is the first classic album in her canon and arguably a classic of the 21st Century underground music panorama.While the methodology on History hadn’t changed from Nilsson’s previous 3 albums – it was recorded solo at The Lighthouse, Nilsson’s home studio based on a Berlin crossroads – on this record the songwriting reached a new peak and the emotional scythe cut deeper. Here, Nilsson managed to combine a cosmic, outward looking perspective with an intimate knowledge of the human condition and its place in these turbulent times. In truth, no other songwriter has excavated the modern psyche so clearly and perfectly.
The tracklist to Nilsson’s fourth album reads as an early greatest hits for Molly Nilsson followers and also serves as the perfect entry point to a whole world the artist has been building for the last 10 years. In Real Life crystalises the millenial obsession with relationships built online, with a generation paying for the baby boomer’s excesses with their anxiety towards the harshness of every day life. It’s a call to arms for a generation who fell in love on Skype. On I Hope You Die, one of Molly Nilsson’s most iconic songs, the songwriter flips the song title into a tale of doomed romance, a relationship based on discommunications and the thrill of the other. It’s also one of the most heartfelt songs full of pathos written by anyone, an ode to obsession. Doomed romance, life lived on the flipside of day and the role of the outsider in society are themes that crop up through-out History. On
Bottles Of Tomorrow, the narrator is sweeping up, in love with the night and examining the remains a society leaves behind.
On City Of Atlantis, Nilsson veers from the plaintive balladry she had begun to make her name with, embracing trance-like synth and dance music details to create an unlikely anthem using the mythological city as a means to comment on the patriarchal rendering of history by power. With by now trademark panache, she turns complicated subject matter into a glorious song that transforms into an ecstatic pop moment.
Hotel Home, another Nilsson classic, paints loneliness not as a debilitating anxiety, but as a powerful to that propels the artist forward through her travels. It’s a song that hints at an endearing self-awareness also; the writer is never at home, living life on the road, content that “the world will find me when the time is ripe.”
There’s never been a greater time.

There’s a connection between the musical history of the Mediterranean that can’t be explained through academia alone. It’s an expression of simultaneous grief and celebration that trespasses cultures and generations; and demands to be felt, or even better, danced, to be understood. The same spirit weaves Rebetiko from the ashes of the Ottoman empire to the heavy Hafla soundtracks on the Koliphone label in ‘70s Jaffa, or rebellious Turkish psychedelic music to the first generation of surf guitarist migrants in America. It's an infectious feeling that travelled and evolved wherever it was called, and that passion is embodied in “Back to the Taverna”, the new album by Berlin based bouzouki quintet, Cherry Bandora.

On the milestone of their third release, original members Liad Vanounou (Bouzouki) and Lorena Atrakci (Vocals) have bolstered their sound with longtime friends and collaborators Moshe ‘Moosh’ Lahav on Keyboards and flute, Tamir ‘Hassan’ Chen on Bass and Nimrod Lieberman on Drums to create an album celebrating the ecstasy of being able to drink and perform together again, freed from the anathema of the last years. The band has evolved considerably since their beginnings ten years ago as an Agean-influenced part of the local Balkan Swing scene; the most significant addition being the deployment of “The Hardest Working Man in Tropical Music” Alex Figueira as musical director for this album. His scorched fingerprints are unmissable throughout the extended psychedelic breakdowns and percussive overdubs that make “Back to the Taverna” such a dynamic offering.

Cherry Bandora have always been a very personal band; collecting songs from nearby cultures and history and blending them into their own experience by developing new arrangements or lyrics, just as musicians from those times would have. Lorena delights in expressing herself away from her mother tongue or providing modern lyrics for an updated feeling, as she does to the beloved Turkish standard, “Rampi Rampi”. In this interpretation she uses her native Hebrew in a saucy lockdown-delivery-guy romance... This track also features Baris Öner from local Turkish rock band Kara Delik on his signature flanging Saz.

Singing in Greek, English, Turkish and Hebrew was also a natural choice on the album, representing the “multikulti” area of Berlin that the band lives and records in. These languages would all be heard on the street as they walked to record in the analog Studio Wong in Kreuzberg.

“As descendants of Mizrahi Jews (Jewish migrants from non-European countries), growing up listening both to Beatles and Umm Kulthum, playing in jazz music departments in high school, and now living in Kruezkölln, we basically pay tribute and revive this shared heritage in the context of the global music scene of today” says Lorena.

The opening track, The Sound Of Baglama, is an interpretation of the anthemic Tsitsanis homage to the tavernas and sweethearts of Thessaloniki. It lays the ground for what to expect from Cherry Bandora’s exceptional live performances, featuring effortless switch-ups between surf rock choruses and laid-back verses dipping into Persian disco funk. This song will be accompanied by a tour-collage “found footage” style film clip in production at this
time.

Cherry Bandoras show their dedication to the bit with a rousing English version of the canonical rembetiko tune Dimitroula Mou. This amour song, popular with generations of female singers, is accompanied by real studio plate smashing, a ritual which sealed their final session for the album. 2 bonus tracks are included on the digital release, both a little more raw from the band’s home studio: the reeling dervish Rubi Rubi (which will be released as a second single with a video clip) and the emotionally dense and hypnotic slow burner Esý.

The album will be released digitally and on vinyl as a collaboration between Rebel Up Records (Belgium) and Rumi Sounds (Berlin) on Friday 3 november 2023 and is a prime example of what a raunchy, open minded and tireless bouzouki band can do as they hit their prime.

An extensive highlighted review will appear in Songlines magazine #135 December issue and the track ‘Benimde Canim Var’ will be featured on their free compilation. Also radioplay on Radio Campus France playlist (allover) during November and December.

When punk arrived in late 1976, the scene acted as a catalyst for an explosion of independent labels which swiftly sprung up around the UK. Named after a classic track by Manchester’s The Drones, ‘Just Want To Be Myself’ boasts classic sevens on imprints such as Small Wonder, The Label, Rough Trade, Dining Out, Deptford Fun City and Cherry Red (all London), Zoom (Glasgow), Attrix (Brighton), Heartbeat (Bristol), Good Vibrations (Belfast) and Bent (Manchester).

Many of the individuals and bands featured would later enjoy success in various incarnations – for example, The Pack mutated into Theature Of Hate, The Outsiders’ Adrian Borland attracted acclaim with his band The Sound, ‘O’ Level’s Edward Ball made an impact with various acts including The Times and Leyton Buzzards evolved into pop combo Modern Romance!

Pure Hell and The Electric Chairs’ Wayne County were American but eligible here because the tracks were recorded in the UK

Demon Records is proud to present ‘Produced by Tony Visconti’, a new definitive retrospective compilation assembled with the assistance of legendary record producer Tony Visconti.
“This boxset covers five and a half decades of my efforts in the art of making iconic recordings. Some of it is familiar and some will have a eureka moment, ‘I didn’t know Visconti produced that one!’
I am honoured that Demon Records took on this enormous task.”
– Tony Visconti

Often described as one of the most important
producers in rock, Tony Visconti has helped create
countless classic musical moments. His work can be
heard on celebrated albums by artists such as T. Rex,
Procol Harum, The Moody Blues and Thin Lizzy to
name but a few.
• This new collection features 30 tracks personally
curated by Visconti, gathering together some of his
favourite production work from across his career.
• Includes tracks by T. Rex, Sparks, Thin Lizzy, U2,
Dexys Midnight Runners, Gentle Giant, The
Boomtown Rats, Manic Street Preachers, The Good,
The Bad & The Queen, and many more.
• Pressed on 2 x 140g LPs, mastered by Phil Kinrade at
AIR Mastering, approved by Tony Visconti. Artwork
designed by Grammy-winning creative studio
Barnbrook.
• Includes a 12-page booklet with previously unseen
photographs, and extensive track-by-track liner
notes by Mojo writer Mark Paytress based on new
interviews with Tony Visconti.

























x 5. U2 – A Sort Of Homecoming Live

Così come sei" is a 1978 film directed by Alberto Lattuada, a sentimental drama starring Marcello Mastroianni and Nastassja Kinski, still very young but already an acclaimed actor
The soundtrack was composed, orchestrated and directed by Ennio Morricone and was infused with romance and ethereal melodies played with wind instruments but set like a symphony. With the contribution of I Cantori Moderni di Alessandro Alessandroni's choir and Oscar Valdambrini's trumpet. Unusually within Morricone's repertoire is the presence of funk-rock and disco songs "Dance
On" and "Space 1999", reflecting the late '70s pop sound.

Originally released in 1978 and subsequently reissued a few times, the
soundtrack of "Così come sei" was not released on vinyl for almost 40 years and is now finally re- released with remastered audio and a new sleeve layout, on 180gr. solid pink vinyl

The last album of Dead Cat In a Bag on vinyl! 180g + downloadcode.

"Do you know it? Ennio Morricone, Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, Tom Waits and Zach Condon walk into the bar, and there are all the seats occupied by the Dead Cat In A Bag musicians. Really." - this is how Jarek Szubrycht started the review of the last album of the Italian group Dead Cat In Bag in Gazeta Wyborcza. And he was right. Really.
Yes! Dead Cat In A Bag is back! They are back with a new album "We've Been Through".

After exploring several so called Neo-Folk regions, flirting with Folk Noir, mostly with Traditional Folk in a modern perspective, for example Americana to Tex-Mex and Balkan Music to Alternative Country, on this third record the ensemble drifts to a cinematic landscape, focusing on the theme of overcoming.

We've Been Through puts together World Music elements incorporating an almost soundtrack experience for a journey into both Day and Night, Hope and Disillusionment and telling stories of broken romances and shipwrecks.

Utilizing banjo and theatrical vocal delivery, together with with classic and odd instruments, the band remap the original charts but still set sail the desired destinations. And if, about the previous records, critics were prone to recall the prowess of Waits, Cave, Lanegan, Cash and Tindersticks, this time it will be harder to name the grandfathers.
Now there is a Morricone (or was it Badalamenti?) guiding spirit and a dreamlike universe full of memories, from the dry electric blues of a stream of consciousness duet in Duet For Nothing to the unexpected crooning vocals provided by Liam McKahey (CousetauX) in Lost Friends (a banjo droven dirge dealing with electronics and a bassoon, with steal percussions and a music saw for a frame), from the rendition of the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, balancing between electric guitars and Bluegrass, to the intimate cover of Leonard Cohen's Hunter's Lullaby, from the rock-(swamp)blues of The Cat Is Dead (enriched by Italian bass hero Gianni Maroccolo, from Litfiba and C.S.I.) to the soft meloncholy of the string quartet in Between Day And Night, from the dark cabaret of Fiddler, The Ship Is Sinking to the soft porch song, between Willard Grant Conspiracy and Kris Kristofferson, of the final title track.
You can hear a shrawn and a blues harp, whispers and choirs, love and dudgeon as the record goes. This is the sound of an orchestra playing on a sinking ship: what else could a fiddler do? And what can we do, in the end?

Baiser Mortel is the soundtrack of a performance commissioned by the Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection, performed in Paris in October 2021. PAN presents Baiser Mortel, the original soundtrack to the acclaimed theatrical performance of the same name. Staged at the Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection over four days last October, the original production - collaboratively realized by composer and director Low Jack, composer and rapper Lala &ce, choreographer Cecilia Bengolea with costumes designed by Marine Serre and Oriana Bekka as creative director and co- director of the performance - merged ballet and urban folklore; sound art and soap opera. A modern-day danse macabre, Baiser Mortel (trans. "The Kiss of Death") cast Lala &ce in the title role. Unfolding over thirteen songs, the musical narrative follows Death as she navigates the realm of the living, and the encounters - desire, romance, spiritual awakening, and adventure - which validate the human experience. "I brought in people who are close to me personally and musically in order to tell a story that speaks to humanity," Lala &ce says in a video uploaded to Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection's YouTube channel. Performers Jäde, Rad Cartier, BabySolo33, and Le Diouck joined Lala &ce on stage and in the booth at La Place - Centre Culturel Hip Hop in Paris, where the official soundtrack was recorded. A sonic representation of the musical's themes, Baiser Mortel the album - produced by Low Jack and written by Lala &ce with artwork by Pierre Debusschere - moves through the distorted strings of its opening track, "Goûter" and gathers sonic and lyrical intensity on each successive song. "Lune," the melancholically autotuned midpoint of the album, marks the beginning of the musical's second act and sets the tone for its tragic resolution. Mechanical sounds mix with sonic influences spanning the Global South throughout the album, honoring both Low Jack and Lala &ce's musical heritage and influences, while developing a new musical lexicon that defies comparison. As a theatrical production, Baiser Mortel represents a departure for both artists. A veteran of Parisian subculture, Low Jack's collaboration with Lala &ce represents a new model of artistic mentorship based not on age but on experience, with each artist leaving a distinct signature on the work.

“I think it’s a mistake to equate ‘perfection’ with flawlessness. To be human is to be perfectly flawed,” Johanna Warren observes while describing the joys of analog recording. Her new LP Lessons for Mutants was tracked live with a band to two inch tape—a revelatory new way of working for Warren. “Tape forces you to commit to a performance, eccentricities and all. The little glitches and anomalies that we’re tempted to ‘correct’ are often what make a thing magical.”

Lessons for Mutants is the prolific songwriter’s sixth solo LP and her second for Wax Nine/Carpark Records. The album’s running theme of metamorphosis (the title of the closing track, “Involvulus,” is Latin for “caterpillar”) reflects major changes in Warren’s personal life: after a decade of relentless touring, as the world was closing its borders, the American multi-instrumentalist unexpectedly found herself quarantining in rural Wales, where she’s now permanently homesteading.

Though tracking for the new album began in New York in 2018 in tandem with the sessions for 2020’s Chaotic Good, the majority of Lessons for Mutants was recorded in the UK surrounded by sheep, cows and a forager’s paradise of wild edible plants—a far cry from the urban jungle of LA that Warren had most recently called home. The body of work that emerged from this dramatic about-face is Warren’s most dynamic to date, shapeshifting seamlessly from searing punk screams to sparkly psych-folk soundscapes, from the bootleg ambivalence of Dylan’s Basement Tapes to cosmic stoner grooves reminiscent of Black Sabbath’s acoustic moments.

“Sometimes I can relate to myself/ I disassociate more than I’d like to, but what can you do?” Warren croons in “Tooth for a Tooth,” a wistful piano ballad that conjures the grainy romance of some smoke-filled 1940s jazz club. This kind of to-the-bone lyrical honesty has always been one of Warren’s strong suits, but these latest reflections are especially unflinching. Being forced to stop touring brought no shortage of self-examination for Warren, who quickly came to view her history on the road as an addiction from which she’s been detoxing. This sentiment dances through opening track “I’d Be Orange,” a drum-driven indie rock number replete with Beatles-esque male backing vocals: “Thirst for power, hunger for fame/ Always was a junkie for pain,” Warren confesses. This exploration of masochistic ambition and artistic martyrdom overflows into grunge anthem “Piscean Lover”: “It’s alright, we’re not ok/ We burn out not to fade away.”

“There’s this unspoken rule in modern music—modern life, really—that everything needs to be Auto-Tuned and ‘on the grid,’” Warren concludes. “This record is an act of resistance against that. There’s beauty and power in our aberrations, if we can embrace them.”

Death. Sex. Doomed Romance. These three simple phrases define the sound and thematic presence of Panic Priest. The musical project of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Armondo (of “dark pop” outfit My Gold Mask), Panic Priest is centered around Armondoʼs deep, crooning vocals while weaving together dreamy guitars and synths. For fans of New Order, Tears for Fears, The Sisters of Mercy, and Clan of Xymox.

Panic Priestʼs long awaited sophomore effort Second Seduction is a significant sonic expansion on the projectʼs signature sound (which was first unveiled by way of the debut self-titled offering in 2018). Co-produced and engineered by Brian Fox (Wingtips, Ganser), the new album intertwines classic genres such as darkwave, post-punk and goth while a richly layered modern synth-pop sensibility elevates the album to something larger than simple nostalgic recreation. Performed and composed almost entirely by Armondo (with key contributions by Twin Tribes, Vincent Segretario of Wingtips and Gretta Rochelle of My Gold Mask), Second Seduction is simultaneously personal yet fantastical. A cathartic account of Armondoʼs real life experiences, stemming from personal heartbreak, life as a non-monogamous individual and even current political anxieties, be prepared to once again be tempted and lured into the world of Panic Priest. Midnight Mannequin Records is proud to present this deluxe reissue of Second Seduction, pressed on limited edition “Kiss Me Dead” ghost white (frosted clear) 140 gram vinyl. Includes OBI strip and insert with lyrics and liner notes.

A return to form after the departure that was 1980's muddled Panorama, the Cars' Shake It Up bursts forth with a rich assembly of synthesizers, drum machines, electronic blips, and catchy melodies that make it an early 80s pop staple. Known the world over, the famous title track proves the band's arrangement skills were in perfect shape and set the stage for a record overflowing with memorable hooks and complementary rock riffs.

Shake It Up also plays witness to primary songwriter/vocalist Ric Ocasek's increased cynicism and biting wit. While the Cars never took a rosy-eyed view of romance, the songs here impart a newfound sense of sympathy, regret, limbo, and reservation. The beauty of the Cars – and all ten tunes here – is that the music suggests something else entirely. Such subliminal emotions and dynamic contrasts act as a magnet, and the band plays as if it's in on the secret.

Apart from the party vibe of the title cut, the Cars aim for deeper targets and smarter undertones. Shake It Up is defined by an urban edginess and modern feel that comes alive on tunes such as "Cruiser" and circular "I'm Not the One," a pop gem laded with stacked vocals and keyboard lines that double as a horn section. The band's arrangements have never been better – or more involved. Absent the cheesiness that would mar the group's late-period work, the songs ride on the strength of keyboard-heavy lines and layered harmonies. You will not be disappointed.

Recorded at the band's Synchro Sound studios by famed Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, the album takes advantage of electronic textures and varying timbres in immersing the listener in accessible albeit abstract washes of sound. MoFi's engineers made sure to capture every note and nuance; this marks the first time that Shake It Up has been remastered in any way, let alone from the original tapes.

Renowned for their distinctive songwriting, unique sound with beautifully
produced recordings, onstage chemistry and electrifying live shows,
European and British blues award nominees the Starlite Campbell Band
are Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell who fell in love on stage and
married following a whirlwind musical romance
With their fresh taste of original '70s British rock and British blues, the husband
and wife duo have been on an exciting roller-coaster of a musical ride following
the release of their debut album 'Blueberry Pie' to rave reviews worldwide and a
prestigious nomination for Best Album in the European Blues Awards.The band's
exciting and highly anticipated second album 'The Language of Curiosity' is
released on November 5th, 2021 and supported by a European tour.
'The Language of Curiosity' is a collection of stories about different facets of
post- modern real- life experiences from working for the man, attitudes towards
lust, passion and casual sex, space travel, social systems and abuse by power
and money, war and the global refugee crisis, gatekeepers in the music industry,
people giving up and growing old before their time and feel good '70s inspired
British rock and British blues; it's like looking at different sides of a Rubik's cube.
From full-on rock 'n' roll tribal drums, thunderous bass, badass dirty guitar riffs,
drunken echoes of slide and lap steel, melting melodies and vocal harmonies
combined with old school valve guitar amps and analog tape machines, Starlite &
Campbell have a very British sound! With a vibe and feel reminiscent of the mid
'60s to early '70s British rock & British blues; think Peter Green, Faces, Deep
Purple, Led Zeppelin but not like those really... more like Starlite-Campbell!

Naomi Alligator is fed up. She’s sick of trying to make relationships work that have already run their course, and tired of sitting in a wintry apartment waiting for her life to kick into gear. On »Double Knot«, the modern folk singer/songwriter from Virginia attempts to unwind her life from all that is holding her back. In a way, it’s a coming-of-age record about shedding what no longer serves you and, ultimately, finding something like deliverance.

On the opening track, “Seasick,” Naomi Alligator is already in the midst of a sort of awakening. Right off the bat, she sings, “I don’t know what’s happened to me / It’s like I turned 16 / It’s like I grew to be 6-feet tall.” This is the announcement of a wide-eyed artist coming out of hibernation and into their own. Still, Naomi’s vocals ache with guilt and longing, belying the track’s playful catchiness. Longing for what? Maybe attention from a crush, but mostly a sunnier place to call home.

Naomi Alligator began writing Double Knot while living in Philadelphia during the height of the pandemic and the deterioration of a longterm romance. “I scream: How’d the hell I end up here? / I’m 1-inch tall, it’s crystal clear,” she chants on “Neighborhood Freak,” returning to height and size as an emotional barometer. When asked though, Naomi rejects the notion that Double Knot is a breakup album, or autobiographical at all. Moreso, she says, it’s a personal reckoning in which, “the minute before you make a big decision, you tally up the reasons why you don’t want to do what you’re doing anymore.”

That desire to turn the page expands to the production of the album as well. Naomi Alligator generally houses her narratives in beds of minimal, home-tracked instrumentation—influenced by the stripped-down poeticism of Joan Baez and Liz Phair’s Girly-Sound tapes. Double Knot finds Naomi continuing to hone the winning combination of guitar and banjo she established on 2021’s Concession Stand Girl EP. For Double Knot though, Naomi wanted a fuller, more dynamic sound: more instruments, more harmonies, more layering, more, more, more. Inspired by the impressionistic melodies of Animal Collective and MGMT, Naomi peppers in computer-generated synths throughout the album, most notably on the song “Burn Out.” These electronic flourishes augment the more grounding string instruments, arriving somewhere more ethereal than Naomi’s earlier work while still maintaining her warm songwriting.

If anything, Double Knot is a reminder that you can always pack up your bags, try something new, and change your life. As for Naomi Alligator herself? She moved west, to California.