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Kicks & Hugs, a multi-disciplinary platform established in 2017 to hold space for like-minded creators, now launches its own label showcasing emerging sonic spheres that reach beyond momentary hype and trends alike. Based in Berlin, the foundation of Kicks & Hugs lies at intersectional crossroads of music and art, with their first record establishing a definite attitude towards contemporary artistry. Kicks & Hugs celebrates an immersive spectrum of talent across different mediums and promotes ideas composed of color to challenge a steady current of long exhausted black & white patterns within the realm of electronic music. The debut EP available on black & limited edition colored marble vinyl assorts a kinetic flow of ideas produced by a seemingly divergent roster. Completely ecstatic & exhilarating maze of rhythm by The Lone Flanger, additionally reworked with Varg2TM versus contrasting yet innovative dancefloor mechanics by Bertrand., ending with a hypnotic mix by Dasha Rush, the record is an absorbing material of dynamics that subtly surprise and leave nothing but an ambitious statement for what’s yet to come. KH01 is dedicated to a musical shape-shifter, a paramount figure, ephemeral talent & a dear friend – Andrew Smith. To end in his own words, Keep It Fungki. The Lone Flanger was an audio-visual project from the artist Jasen Loveland also known as Andrew Smith (1980-2021). Dedicated to exploring the intersection of music and visual arts in the expanded dimension, the work of TLF picked up where Loveland’s eponymous acid-based project left off, aspiring for a kind of transcendence that takes the listener beyond the previously known concepts to experiments with the possibility of creating a resonant bridge between frequencies, worlds and dimensions. The work of TLF questions, obfuscates and complexifies notions of rhythm, melody and musical genre… even our ability to rely on our senses for accurate information about the work in question Varg2TM also known as Jonas Rönnberg casts a cryptic shadow from the North over contemporary aesthetics, continuing to create in his largely collaborative and always thrilling approach. Tempering a caustic rhythmic sensibility with a pneumatic palette for high definition synthesis, his unique embrace of risk tests the reliability of the forms he works in as well as the genre borders he surveys. Bertrand.’s work as a producer incorporates a wide spectrum of influences and aims to create beyond the common means of electronic dance music. Bertrand.’s restless nature and desire for technical perfection bleed into his productions of bass-heavy futuristic soundscapes often juxtaposed with playfully intense dancefloor fundamentals. Dasha Rush constructs a rather wide assortment of electronic music and arts projects. She sees the genre as a starting place, not a destination. Rush brings up a mixture of rather rare electronic experimentation more akin to the brief movement of underground music. Credits: Mastering and mastercut by Andreas LUPO Lubich at Loop-O Cover artwork by Fredrik Altinell Graphic Design by Marta Braga Inner label artwork by Tommy Dwane Vocals by Kawala Bravo

4 more quarters, 4 more contrasting expressions of global bass music culture: Barefoot sound originator and G-stone Afrofuturist Stereotyp teams-up powerfully with Malaysian rap legend Arabyrd on 'KEK', delivering a massive dose of Malay shudder trap that does not relent in either its growling bass attack or husky lyrical humour. Next up, the crisp and clean mid-90s DnB vibes of Bristolian producer K-65 ups the energy and tempo with the steadily rolling rinse-out of 'In My Mind', lightening the mood momentarily prior to the first cut on the B-side, with which we descend once more into the increasingly familiar Badman-isms of Low End Activist, who opts for a mutant strain of hardcore UKG on this outing, all scuffed swing and first light maneuvers. Finally though, it's all about the transparency of the groove, with the lush closing tune by Sentinel 793 emanating masses of UK Bruk style and charm, delivering another solid, low-slung workout from this hardworking and charismatic producer. Confined to quarters or not, get these 4 new sound pieces for the meantime, downtime, time being etc... as you like, want or need.

Third studio album by American singer/songwriter/producer. Originally released on September 30th 2016. In a statement Solange described the album as "a project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing." Features the iconic record 'Cranes In The Sky' which won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance. Exploring prejudice and blackness, the record is thankfully the journal we don't get the time to write, the conversations we don’t get to have and the exclamations we’re too tired to repeat.

It's been a while since Local Talk presented a 12" with two artists doing one side each but it's time again.

Italian powerhouse Nico Lahs glides smoothly between labels like Delusions Of Grandeur, Adeen and Rawax, working with house royalty Chez Damier and keeps delivering top quality music.
His contribution to this split 12" is the track 'Everything Is Good', one of those moments when everything (!) works just perfectly.
A straight forward track that embraces loops and repetition with hints of HNNY's golden days.

On the flip Local Talk's very own Tooli moves through a series of moods and grooves with the 'That Cowbell Track', a cut which eases you deeper and deeper into the dance, with clever rhythmic programming.
A dub that focuses on the cowbell is also added for your pleasure, because you can't have enough cowbell, can you ?

Giacomo “Mino” di Martino started his musical career in several early 1960s Italian beat bands. By 1968 he had found enormous success with pop superstars I Giganti. After a brief split in 1970 –during which Mino formed Il Supergruppo with Ricky Gianco and other greats of the Italian scene– he came back to I Giganti in 1971. With them and with new advanced ideas that set the band pretty far away from the sophisticated pop and beat sounds they had been so successful with, they would record the amazing Terra in Bocca conceptual LP, an adventurous experimental album that explored the obscure connections between the Italian state and the mafia. A delicate topic full of political criticism which also found them having to fight censorship –it was played only once in the radio. This fact, along with the advanced new sound probably being too far ahead from the mainstream audience’s taste, turned the record into a commercial flop. Nowadays Terra in Bocca is a highly regarded album among critics, afficionados and collectors, and a pretty seminal one for the Italian scene of the seventies, since it can even be seen as a precursor to the works on the Cramps label. Gianni Sassi, producer and photographer who founded Cramps was involved in the release of Terra in Bocca –his is the amazing cover concept.

After the Terra in Bocca experience, Mino’s will was to keep exploring new musical paths and free his mind to experimentation. Along with his wife, actress and singer Edda “Terra” di Benedetto, they formed the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale, just after the brief post-Giganti project Telaio Magnetico (with Franco Batiatto, among others) was over. The Albergo was a venue where artists from diverse disciplines, mainly musica and theatre, could meet and create works together.

On the musical side of the community, Mino and Terra explored the cosmic sonorities that were coming from Germany and mixed them with the Italian experimental scene of names like Franco Battiato, Luciano Berio or Roberto Cacciapaglia. It is from the sessions that took place in the Albergo from 1974 onwards that the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale LP came out. Originally released in 1978 the compositions had been made during those years of exploration, the goal not being the release of an album but the aim to explore new sounds and experiment with music. Eventually it was decided to present a sample of all that work, and a few copies of the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale LP were privately pressed.

The record sleeve and notes on the insert reivindicate the fight against nuclear power. The music is dominated by Mino’s keyboards, creating amazing space sounds reminiscent of those from 1950s and 1960s science fiction B movies brought to the most avantgardist experimentation of the moment, exploring new sounds with the newest keyboards available. This intriguing background sets the athmosphere for Terra’s voice to improvise all over.

Iconic singer Mavis Staples is an alchemist of American music, and during her 70+ year career one of her most beloved musical mo?ments was her riveting performance in Martin Scorsese's film' The Last Waltz,' performing "The Weight" with The Band, a moment that forged a life-long friendship between her and Levon Helm. Staples came to Woodstock, NY to perform as part of Helm's re?nowned Midnight Ramble series, and the ensuing concert-available now for the first time on the rousing new ANTI- Records release Carry Me Home-would mark a personal high watermark for both artists. Captured live in the summer of 2011, Carry Me Home showcases two of the past century's most iconic voices coming together in love and joy, tracing their shared roots and celebrating the enduring power of faith and music. The setlist was righteous that night, mixing vintage gospel and soul with timeless folk and blues, and the performances were loose and playful, fueled by an ecstatic atmosphere that was equal parts family reunion and tent revival. Read between the lines, though, and there's an even more poignant story at play here. Nei?ther Staples nor Helm knew that this would be their last performance together-the collection marks one of Helm's final recordings before his death-and listening back now, a little more than a decade later, tunes like "This May Be The Last Time" and "Farther Along" take on new, bittersweet meaning. The result is an album that's at once a time capsule and a memorial, a blissful homecoming and a fond farewell, a once-in-a-lifetime concert-and friendship-preserved for the ages. Staples and the night's soulful crew of backup singers handle the vast majority of the vocal work here, but it's perhaps album closer "The Weight," which features Helm chiming in with lead vocals for the first time, that stands as the concert's most emotional moment. "It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we'd see each other," says Staples. "He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I'd always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out." "My dad built The Midnight Rambles to restore his spirit, his voice, and his livelihood," says Helm's daughter, Amy, who sang backup vocals with her father and Staples at their performance. "He'd risen back up from all that had laid him down, and to have Mavis come sing and sanctify that stage was the ultimate triumph for him."

Iconic singer Mavis Staples is an alchemist of American music, and during her 70+ year career one of her most beloved musical mo?ments was her riveting performance in Martin Scorsese's film' The Last Waltz,' performing "The Weight" with The Band, a moment that forged a life-long friendship between her and Levon Helm. Staples came to Woodstock, NY to perform as part of Helm's re?nowned Midnight Ramble series, and the ensuing concert-available now for the first time on the rousing new ANTI- Records release Carry Me Home-would mark a personal high watermark for both artists. Captured live in the summer of 2011, Carry Me Home showcases two of the past century's most iconic voices coming together in love and joy, tracing their shared roots and celebrating the enduring power of faith and music. The setlist was righteous that night, mixing vintage gospel and soul with timeless folk and blues, and the performances were loose and playful, fueled by an ecstatic atmosphere that was equal parts family reunion and tent revival. Read between the lines, though, and there's an even more poignant story at play here. Nei?ther Staples nor Helm knew that this would be their last performance together-the collection marks one of Helm's final recordings before his death-and listening back now, a little more than a decade later, tunes like "This May Be The Last Time" and "Farther Along" take on new, bittersweet meaning. The result is an album that's at once a time capsule and a memorial, a blissful homecoming and a fond farewell, a once-in-a-lifetime concert-and friendship-preserved for the ages. Staples and the night's soulful crew of backup singers handle the vast majority of the vocal work here, but it's perhaps album closer "The Weight," which features Helm chiming in with lead vocals for the first time, that stands as the concert's most emotional moment. "It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we'd see each other," says Staples. "He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I'd always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out." "My dad built The Midnight Rambles to restore his spirit, his voice, and his livelihood," says Helm's daughter, Amy, who sang backup vocals with her father and Staples at their performance. "He'd risen back up from all that had laid him down, and to have Mavis come sing and sanctify that stage was the ultimate triumph for him."

Awe Kid explores ideas of trans-humanism, evolution and digital immortality on Body Logic, a fantastically lush new album for Atomnation. The immersive 10 track record plays with organic, breathing textures punctuated by moments of digital unrealness to result in an album permeated with a dream-like quality. This contrast is mirrored by the artwork from Portugal's acclaimed The Royal Studio.

Awe Kid is an alias of Sine Language Records co-founder Rick Parsons. It is the product of years spent exploring a multitude of different music. From early days in post-hardcore groups and on to a love of 90s Warp, electronic jazz and more experimental niches, the multi-instrumentalist has now settled on his own unique fusion of breaks, ambient and left-field dance music. This deft studio wizard mixes up melodic nostalgia with forward-thinking sound design using whatever he can get his hands on, from analog and modular hardware, to samplers, field recordings to digital techniques.

Says Parsons, “I love working with digital processes because you get these unexpected moments where you dial something in, that somehow takes on a tangible, organic form in the real world. Searching for these sweet spots was the motivation for the album, contrasting natural textures against synthetic elements, and finding ways to create something that feels like it exists outside of the computer.”

While the album pays homage to dance music traditions, such as the broken beat of title track 'Body Logic', and full-throttle breaks of 'Zenith', these are assimilated and repurposed to create something that defies genre categorization. The listener's journey is perfectly paced, with broody but uplifting cuts of electronica giving way to shimmering, celestial melodies, and dusty breakbeats emerging from dense layers of atmosphere, only for the mood to be reset with soothing, suspenseful synths and haunting vocal samples. Elsewhere, devastatingly emotional ambient is followed by punchy grooves and propulsive melodies to make for a real ride.

Sam Gendel and Antonia Cytrynowicz didn't set out to make a record – it just happened. LIVE A LITTLE, a collection of songs resulting from one late summer afternoon in Gendel's Los Angeles home, is less an album and more a moment. The ten tracks here were recorded mostly in one sitting, fully improvised, in the order in which they appear. It was the first and last time the songs have been played – a snapshot of an idea, an artifact of inspiration, at once both a beginning and an end. At the time of recording, Cytrynowicz was only eleven years old. The younger sister of Gendel's significant other and creative partner Marcella, Cytrynowicz is an artist in her own way. She has no formal musical training, but is the product of a creative family and is someone who makes art the way many kids do – in the purest way, simply because they are moved to. On LIVE A LITTLE, she spontaneously crafted all the melodies and lyrics on the spot as Gendel played alongside her. Cytrynowicz's musicality is sophisticated, strange, and other-worldly, and the resulting record is experimental jazz colliding with some sort of fantasy universe. Because of that, LIVE A LITTLE is a stand-out amidst Gendel's extensive and varied catalog. Over the years, the multi-instrumentalist has been known for his prolific musical output as both a sought-after collaborator and as a solo artist. During 2021 alone he collaborated with Vampire Weekend, Maggie Rogers, Moses Sumney, Laurie Anderson, and Mach Hommy, as well as released Notes With Attachments with Blake Mills & legendary bassist Pino Palladino. In the same year he also released the 52-track Fresh Bread, as well as the follow-up to the acclaimed Music for Saxophone & Bass Guitar with Sam Wilkes. Then Mouthfeel / Serene, AE-30, Valley Fever Original Score, and singles "Isfahan" and "Neon Blue." LIVE A LITTLE, though, exists on its own island. For one, the majority of Gendel's work under his own name skews instrumental, but here the playfulness of his saxophone and nylon-string guitar work alongside the twinkle of Cytrynowicz's voice. It’s the sound of unapologetic imagination running amok – and really, more than anything, the sound of having fun. Cytrynowicz is the ideal collaborator for Gendel, who throughout his career has remained largely unconcerned with the pageantry and presentation of the music business, instead focused solely on the music-making itself. Here, he found the purest sort of writing partner – he admires Cytrynowicz' "supreme openness," explaining: "Whatever is happening, she's there with you. We really meet right where we are. She's all ears, I'm all ears. I don't even know how to explain what it is. It just works out somehow." LIVE A LITTLE is a series of "what ifs" cascading into one another, off-kilter and experimental, a kaleidoscope of spontaneity and imagination. It's a sweet distillation of the musical present, of daring to follow through on an impulse – what happens when a project is helmed by someone who doesn't have time for second thoughts or self-doubt. The moment is the thing, and LIVE A LITTLE just happens to capture it.

2022 Repress On Elephantine, Cairo-based Maurice Louca guides a 12-piece ensemble through a 38-minute masterwork that might best be described as panoramic. Elements of free improvisation, Sun Ra's cosmic jazz, gorgeous Arabic melody, trancelike African and Yemeni music and minimalism meet in his wholly unique compositional vision. Louca also makes vital contributions on guitar and piano, and inspires stirring performances from a global lineup.

One of the most gifted, prolific and adventurous figures on Egypt's thriving experimental arts scene, Louca has in recent years garnered a global reputation through two previous solo albums and an expanding, evolving lineup of genre-defying collaborations. The Wire called his 2014 sophomore solo effort, Salute the Parrot, "remarkable music-dense, driven and splashed with colour." In 2017, the self-titled debut by Lekhfa, the trio of Louca and vocalists Maryam Saleh and Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, was praised as an "edgy triumph" in The Guardian and picked by BBC Radio 3's Late Junction as one of the very best 12 albums of 2017.

For Louca, 36, Elephantine serves as both the pinnacle of his wide-ranging experience and a bold next step in his development as a composer, arranger and bandleader. The celebrated Egyptian visual artist Maha Maamoun has created the album cover art, following her contribution to Salute the Parrot. "There was a blessed thing about the process of making this record," Louca says of the sessions, held last year in Stockholm and featuring the leader on guitar and piano. "The dynamic between us musically but also as people ...What these musicians delivered was really more than I could ask for, Everyone played their hearts out on this record."

The music-from its pensive lulls through its stretches of hard-grooving hypnosis and moments of avant-jazz catharsis-testifies to that rapport. Best absorbed as a continuous performance, Elephantine's six individually named tracks nonetheless present striking self-contained landscapes. "The Leper" entrances through a deft use of repetition that Louca gleaned from cosmic jazz, African and Yemeni music and other transcendental modal traditions. (Those who've followed Louca's work might be reminded of the Dwarfs of East Agouza, his mesmeric unit with Shalabi and Sun City Girls' Alan Bishop.)

"Laika" manages to evoke the minimalists, though on the combustible terms of '60s and '70s free jazz; "One More for the Gutter," on which Louca ingeniously pits one half of his ensemble against the other, albeit in a synergistic way, mines similarly fiery terrain. "The Palm of a Ghost" distills the band to a Cairo-rooted core, featuring stirring spontaneous melodies from oud player Natik Awayez, violinist Ayman Asfour and vocalist Nadah El Shazly. The album's title track follows, and it too blurs the border between composition and improvisation with gorgeously atmospheric results. "Al Khawaga," with its colossal ensemble riffs, beautifully dirty swing and impassioned blowing, is an ideal finale.

Featuring Squirrel Flower and Liam O’Neill (SUUNS). Recommended If You Like: Mount Eerie, Low, Richard Swift, the Weather Station, Lomelda, Fleet Foxes, Squirrel Flower, L’Rain. Cedric Noel is a songwriter, bassist, collaborator and producer currently based in Montréal, Québec. The newest longplayer from Tio'tiá:ke/Montreal staple Cedric Noel lands with a stunning sense of surety and self. Hang Time stands as a high water mark for a songwriter who's spent the past decade quietly expanding the borders of his music. Longtime fans will recognize the fluid elements of the album’s open-ended rock formations: reflective strumming, soaring choruses, searing guitar lines, subtle bass grooves; all occasionally dissolving into pools of pure ambience. New listeners will find surprises throughout: threads of folk pop, ambient and sound collage fasten the foundations of this expressive whole. However, what’s most striking on Hang Time is Noel’s newfound sense of voice, both literal and metaphorical. Written primarily in 2017-18 during an intense period of self-reflection, this collection of songs finds Noel wrestling profoundly with his sense of identity, self and place. The album’s material was captured faithfully at The Pines, a beloved downtown Montreal studio whose doors shuttered shortly after amidst the strain of the pandemic. Noel worked closely and patiently with friend and engineer Steve Newton, ensuring the songs had the time and space needed to come fully to fruition. Hang Time features subtle rhythm work from drummer Liam O’Neill (SUUNS) and guest spots from Brigitte Naggar (Common Holly) and Tim Crabtree (Paper Beat Scissors) among others. The album opens in mid-air with ‘Comuu’, a song that implores a becoming-more while hovering triumphantly. Then follows a suite of songs (‘Headspace’, ‘Keep’, ‘Stilling’) that recall the heart-rending power of y2k-era Low, albeit with a more vigorous beat. On ‘Bass Song’, an intimate duet with musician Ella Williams (Squirrel Flower) that explores the depths of interpersonal constriction. At the crux of the album sits ‘Born’, a deceptively pleasant-sounding song that explores the confounding emotionality of adoption before fading into a distended soundfield. Throughout the back half of the album, Noel double’s down on this commitment to his genuine, proud, Black self. The most confrontational track, ‘Allies’ finds him refraining “Are you on my side?” as a trailing guitar solo interweaves a Malcolm X soundbite, eventually engulfing the composition. Glorious lead single ‘Nighttime (Skin)’ traces the artist’s sense of ancestral dissociation through to a triumphant moment of pride in self-acceptance. Throughout Hang Time, Noel finds a way to ask hard questions (both of the listener and himself) in ways that are compassionate, open and honest. The ebb and flow of tension and tenderness that moves within these tracks helps to grow the heart and redefine what Black music can be in 2021.

Clear Vinyl

Bartosz Kruczynski - the sometimes-ambient producer also known by his more club-ready moniker, Earth Trax - returns to the Shall Not Fade catalogue with his third full-length album. The Sensual World LP draws from both the moody, industrial soundscape of the cold wave-inspired LP1; and the warmer, more ethereal undertones of its successor. Whilst lending stylistic aspects from both, his latest release maintains their mercuriality and textural complexity whilst at the same time resembling something distinctly new. This 13-tracker sees the Warsaw producer continue to prove himself as one of the most versatile and consistent producers in the game.

Composed and produced during the 2020 pandemic, The Sensual World contemplates eco/environmental aesthetics and recontextualizes the genres that Kruczynski took as a springboard for the inception of his musical career. The aptly-named "Dream Pop" and "Fireflies" use arpeggiated melodies, vocal chops and luscious pads to capture the transportive allure by which early Earth Trax releases have been recognised; whilst later in the record, "Pearl" and "Splash" pair these tropes with those of industrial techno to create two pulsating dancefloor heaters. Elsewhere, the focus is on sound design and rhythmic complexity, with sharp, crystalline acid melodies ("Metal") and "Dreams Made Flesh's" broken drill beats and epic synths. Whilst other tracks see Kruczynski tap into the "bittersweet dance floor moments" for which he has become renowned over the course of his illustrious career ("Nowhere"), The Sensual World also offers its listeners sonic respite with some stripped-back, down-tempo slow burners "Nowhere" and "Everlong".

A protean producer who nonetheless has succeeded in helming a truly inimitable and idiosyncratic sound, The Sensual World LP sees Kruczynski cater for everyone - from the emotional ravers to the more hard-faced warehouse dwellers.

These words by legendary bassist/composer Charles Mingus are a touchstone for Little Big, the quartet led by pianist Aaron Parks. The band’s new recording, Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man, communicates with a clarity and simplicity that belies its ultimate depth. “I want to cast a spell,” explains Parks, “to lull you into a trance where you think you know where you’re going, and then take you somewhere unexpected, almost without realizing how you got there.”

This new music continues the band’s cultivation of a musical language that marries creative improvised music to more groove-centered music—electronica, indie-rock, hip-hop, and psychedelia—but without a trace of mannered “fusion” or a sense that the music is cobbled together from disparate styles. Rather, it feels seamlessly integrated, whole in and of itself.
Dreams of a Mechanical Man is Little Big’s second release on Ropeadope Records, recorded after more than two years of touring for Parks, guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David “DJ” Ginyard, and drummer Tommy Crane. One primary distinction of this new album, according to Parks, is that “today, the band operates as a single organism. The first record was about the tunes and the aesthetic. This album keeps that focus and also captures the chemistry we’ve developed on the road, the way this band feels as it makes music in the moment.”

Green Vinyl

Third times's a charm! Sir - or better - Signore David Jackson is back with his third record for Frank Music. Our Heidelberg posterboy has constructed some of his best work to date. "Guinness Italo" is by far the recipe you need at your party too. Imagine the spice of a perfect Negroni mixed with all the charme of another pint in your favourite pub with all your mates. Nothing but good times indeed. "Guinness Italo" arrives in various forms, shapes & dreams. One for the euphoric Italo moment, one a hundred percent emotional, one going Trance all the way and finally one just for the Drums. What's your choice lad? Slainte!

 With their new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, SOAK has
finally shaken the hangover of their starry debut ‘Before We Forgot How
To Dream’, and the pressures that came with it, hiding in the wings of
their ambitious follow up album, ‘Grim Town’.
 Having come up through BBC Introducing at the tender age of 15, before
signing to Rough Trade Records, as well as winning the RTE Choice
Music Prize and The Northern Irish Music Prize, in addition to being the
youngest ever Mercury Prize nominee, SOAK has again and again been
described as “the voice of a generation.”
 Showing, from a young age, an intensely artistic awareness of the poetry
of memory, Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK, would incessantly
photograph and video everything, documenting and organising the
material so it was always there for them to revisit. “I always want to
remember exactly how I felt at a certain moment.” Now, at 25, SOAK’s
third album, ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again', is naturally made up
of what Bridie intimately calls ‘song-memories’.
 Working closely with Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers), with whom Bridie
has been collaborating with since the age of 15, and armed with
influences from Pavement to Radiohead to Broken Social Scene, they
wrote most of the album together before recording it with the rest of the
band in Attica Studios, Donegal.
 Throughout the album SOAK pushes and pulls at melodies, but never
milks their brilliance. Bridie masterfully glides their vocal melody slightly
off-kilter above excitable compressed high hats and flourishing guitar
lines. With the new direction of a grungier, more lo-fi production, the
swooning guitars are given a contemporary pop edge, reflected in the
rich and robust musicality of songs like ‘Bleach’, ‘Last July’ and ‘Pretzel’.
 There’s a constant pulsating beat at the album’s centre, propelling it
towards a kind of dewy happiness, like the end credits of a 90s comingof-age film. Bridie’s lyrics move through the songs almost as effortlessly
and they sing them, and the songs when read, read like poetry.
 With this album Bridie is, as the title suggests, freezing time in the
pursuit of truth: capturing their life into existence. In the world of ‘If I
Never Know You Like This Again’, a life is lived only because it's
remembered.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.

Just as one can smell a storm swelling on the horizon, the cataclysmic tremor that is IMMOLATION approaches to unleash its latest, immense creation: ACTS OF GOD. Due to be released in winter of 2022, this 11th studio album serves as the next chapter of IMMOLATION’S Death Metal epic. With 5 long years passed since the most recent studio album, ATONEMENT, ACTS OF GOD vigorously showcases IMMOLATION’s ability to consistently create fascinating sounds, while still keeping their feet firmly rooted in the old school, New York Death Metal for which they are renowned.

Emblazoned with a haunting new masterpiece by artist Eliran Kantor, ACTS OF GOD displays a trifecta of angelic beings desperately trying to prevent one another’s flesh from melting in a blackened light from above. The muted colors and ethereal images will ring familiar to fans of IMMOLATION’s previous album covers. “We wanted this cover to feel much darker; more melancholy and hopeless. The music has always been very dark, and a lot of Kantor’s work had the feeling that we were going for; the semi-surreal colliding with a classic, almost renaissance feel,” explains founder and vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan. “It’s unnerving. It really reflects the music perfectly,” agrees founder and guitarist Robert Vigna.

The album’s third track “The Age Of No Light” is a powerful, hard hitting song with an extreme yet catchy melody. “It’s quick, hits hard, and gets straight to the point” explians Vigna. Consistently changing speeds and patterns throughout, the song is short but remains both dynamic and memorable.

“Blooded” has all the usual IMMOLATION elements: the slow, the fast, the explosive, the big overlaid sections of groovy harmony eventually dropping into evil, ripping guitar work. “It’s a little powerhouse,” describes Vigna, “it’s straightforward, and it has all the elements you would expect from us in a nice, neat package.”

A song like “Immoral Stain” is a slightly mid-paced track with an intense, creepy atmosphere. Equipped with plenty of unusual moments, the beat is catchy, dark, and echoing. Searing guitar starts to recite a story and then quickly begins a conversation with thunderous vocals and a vociferous beat. “That whole section of build up just needed to be done exactly as it is. That’s what makes it sound different and interesting,” describes Vigna. Much like the rest of the album, while the lyrics cover the usual, general topics of genuine evil and the great deception of religion, the specifics are most certainly left to the listener’s interpretation. Fortunately for IMMOLATION fans, there is no shortage of corruption and catastrophe in this world.

Fittingly, the concluding track “Apostle” was the last song written for the album. “Some of those chorus sections have a weird almost dream-like quality,” describes Dolan. Its steadily growing momentum discharges rounds of guitar solos and relentless vocals which eventually lead way to an explosive finale to the album.

The creative journey for ACTS OF GOD began with years of notes, and an abundance of inspiration. With Vigna at the helm of the structural writing as usual, further composing and concepts were tossed back and forth amongst all 4 members. Eventually, they began to skeletonize the beginning of what would become a full length, studio album. While the recording process and entering the studio can be a very sterile experience for some musicians, the ferocity of the demos combined with the expertise of long time friend and recording counterpart Paul Orofino of Millbrook Studios (BLUE OYSTER CULT, BAD CO, GOLDEN EARRING), assured that this would not be an issue for IMMOLATION. “Having such a level of comfort is key,” remarks Dolan. Final touches were brought about on the mixing and mastering by Zack Ohren of Castle Ultimate Studios.

Firmly aligned with Nuclear Blast Records, the often coveted sound of IMMOLATION has reemerged from the depths of a cursed and cruel world to illuminate our minds and ears with exquisite, sonic destruction.

Nachpressung des Albums von 2015. Obwohl er vielleicht nicht so bekannt ist, hat sich die sinnträchtige, deutlich amerikanische Musik von Kenniff zu einem allgegenwärtigen Sound gemausert, der im Radio, in Filmen, im Fernsehen und in Werbung von Apple, Facebook, Google und anderen auftaucht. Aufgenommen über drei Jahre hinweg fungieren die Songs auf seinem neuen Album ,Sometimes" wie ein Tagebuch, das die kurzen Momente am Tag dokumentiert, in denen Kenniff sich für Trost und unendliche kreative Möglichkeiten dem Klavier zuwandte. Kenniff schrieb und nahm alles auf dem Album selbst auf, mit der Ausnahme von ,A Word I Give", das eine Kollaboration mit dem japanischen Pianisten Ryuichi Sakamoto ist, der die Musik von GOLDMUND einst als ,so, so, so wunderschön" beschrieb. In einem Interview mit NPR diskutierte Keith Kenniff seine Vorliebe für Musik aus der Zeit des Bürgerkriegs und ihre Möglichkeit, ,in nur wenigen Noten solche Geschichten" zu erzählen. Auch die Improvisationen auf ,Sometimes" schaffen es, trotz ihrer technischen und kompositionellen Einfachheit, tiefgründig zu sein. Subtile Details und Dynamiken drücken das aus, was sonst nicht zu artikulieren wäre. ENG Though he may not be a household name, Kenniff's evocative, distinctly American music has become quietly ubiquitous in the past few years, often appearing on NPR, in films, on TV, and in ads for Apple, Facebook, and Google among others. Recorded over the course of three years, the material on his new album Sometimes functions as a journal, documenting brief moments in Kenniff's day when he could turn to the piano as a source of solace and unending creative possibilities. Kenniff wrote and recorded everything on the album with the exception of the track "A Word I Give", which is a collaboration with preeminent Japanese pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto, who once described Goldmund's music as "...so, so, so beautiful." In an interview with NPR's Weekend Edition Keith Kenniff discussed his appreciation of Civil War era music, and it's ability to covey "...so much story in so few notes." Similarly, these improvisations manage to be richly evocative despite their technical and compositional simplicity, using subtle details and dynamics to express what might otherwise be inexpressible.

A demon with demands, a demon with demands. Es ist ein Spätsommerabend in der Dortmunder Nordstadt, in die warme Luft sind schon erste kühle Fäden eingewoben, die den Herbst ankündigen. Passanten flanieren durch die Straßen, auf der Suche nach einer Kneipe oder einem Imbiss und achten nicht auf die vier jungen Männer, die auf einer Biertischgarnitur vor einem Kiosk sitzen. Offene Flaschen, Kronkorken mit Ascheresten, Pfützen auf dem Holzlack: Es ist ein guter Abend, ungezwungen und fröhlich. Oder besser: Es könnte ein guter Abend sein. Denn über den vier Köpfen kreisen dunkle Wolken, Gedankenspiralen, aus denen kein Ausweg gefunden wird: Bei einem ist es die Angst vor Konflikten, die immer und immer wieder mit einer Flucht gelöst wird, sein Blick streift das abgestellte Auto, das ihn jederzeit wegbringen könnte. Beim anderen das Wissen, das jetzt eigentlich mal eine Entscheidung her müsste in dieser festgefahrenen Beziehung, in der man es sich zwar schön gemütlich gemacht hat, aber nun der Stillstand Einzug gehalten hat. Lauter kleine böse Gedanken, die man nicht loswird, sich immer wieder mit ihnen schlafen legt, sie füttert, hegt und pflegt, anbetet und verehrt. Heilige Dämonen. "Holy Demon" ist der Name des ersten Studio-Albums der Drens, eben jener jungen Männer, die sich dort vor dem Büdchen getroffen und dabei ihre Dämonen beschworen haben…

…Auf den 10 Songs liegen sie mit ihren eigenen Abgründen im Disput, mit den großen, mit den kleinen, "I know that this won't ever come true/ Felt first like glitter then so bitter couldn't hold on to you/ I just hold on to my holy demon/ And I can't resist this toxic feeling", lauter kleine Teufelchen, die man nur noch schwer loswird, die sich in toxischen Verhaltensweisen, im Kampf mit sich selbst ausdrücken. Nur noch als vage Erinnerung liegen die unbekümmerte Zeit der Bolzplätze und blutigen Knie zurück, zerrissene Hosen, high vom Schrottgras von der Straßenecke, über sich die sengende Sonne, aber im Reinen mit der Welt, "Our dreams were small/ Only needed a ball/ Because time was our highest good". Stattdessen geht es steil nach oben, aber der Abgrund klafft immer schwindelerregender neben dem Weg an die Spitze, "For so long I missed/ To see the hole I fell in love with". Drens wissen, wovon sie reden: Ihre Debüt-EP "Pet Peeves" brachte der Band ausverkaufte Shows und Festivalsommer ein, selbst im Scheissjahr 2020 konnten sie via Stream auf dem Eurosonic in Groningen spielen, die deutsche Netflix-Erfolgsproduktion "How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast)" nutzte einen Song als Soundtrack. Und auch wenn "Holy Demon" die feinen Haarrisse im Privaten behandelt, der Sound der Band klingt groß und wuchtig, dem fuzzy Surf- und Garagesound der ersten Releases wurden eine große Portion Alternative Rock verpasst, so dass das Album nach kämpferischer Aufbruchsstimmung klingt, den Dämonen wird trotzig ins Gesicht gelacht. Für dieses Update ist auch Produzent Sebastian "Zebo" Adams verantwortlich, der bereits für Bilderbuch das ikonische Klangbild von "Schick Schock" entwickelte. Diese Zusammenarbeit entfaltet auf dem Debüt-Album von Drens eine betörende Wirkung zwischen den dunkel schillernden Texten und dem kraftvollen Popappeal der Musik. Und so ist "Holy Demon" ein Augenblick für die Ewigkeit, ein Foto von diesem Abend vor den flackernden Kioskschildern, aus dem spannendsten Moment einer jungen Band: Ein letzter Blick in die Vergangenheit, aber die Füße bereits in einer bewegten, großen Zukunft