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Pioneering British electronic musician Mark Van Hoen is set to release his latest solo album, The Eternal Present, on 23 May 2025 via Dell'Orso, a remarkable collection of tracks spanning nearly three decades of recordings from 1998 to 2024.
The Eternal Present embodies its philosophical title, inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept that "Eternity isn't some later time... Eternity is that dimension of here and now that all thinking in temporal terms cuts off." The album explores music as the ultimate expression of existing in the present moment, transcending time and creating a sonic experience that is simultaneously "spectral, ghostly, melodic, harmonic, and decayed."
An influential contemporary of Aphex Twin, Autechre, LFO and Boards of Canada, Van Hoen is best known for his solo work as Locust in the mid-'90s, which helped push post-rave electronic music into newly challenging realms. His extensive discography spans releases on influential labels including R&S, Touch, and Editions Mego. Van Hoen has worked on numerous collaborations throughout his career, including with Nick Holton and Neil Halstead of Slowdive under the moniker Black Hearted Brother—their album Stars Are Our Home was released in 2013.
The Eternal Present continues the lineage of Van Hoen's most significant works, with artwork by Ian Anderson (Designers Republic) reflecting the album's "eternal present" concept with a mysterious visual approach, allowing listeners to form their own imaginary landscapes. The mastering by Stefan Betke (Pole) enhances this document of the evolution of the artist over the years as he continues to hone his signature sound. Using a host of instruments including analogue synthesisers and employing various recording approaches, Van Hoen's equipment changed dramatically over the years—from early DSP processing used on his first solo record on Apollo ‘Playing With Time’ to various synthesisers, modular systems, tape machines, and digital workstations—contributing to the album's rich sonic diversity.
Throughout The Eternal Present, ideas are woven together through spoken word quotations and abstract vocals featuring notable collaborations from Rachel Goswell on the Slowdive cover "Shine" (from 1998), Megan Mitchell (Cruel Diagonals) on "Somewhere", and session vocalists Clare Dove and Dorothy Takev on "No-One Leave" and "It's Not You (In A Way)" respectively. The use of cleverly assembled vocal samples from an "undisclosed but very famous female vocalist" on "Multiplex" (2016) and the indistinct vocalisations on the Cabaret Voltaire-influenced "Only Me" (2017), constantly challenges and disorientates the listener through fluctuating, ever-changing musical elements.
The album was recorded across multiple locations including Somerset, London, Los Angeles, and New York—even beginning compositions during flights and in airport lounges—reflecting Van Hoen's changing personal circumstances, environments, and situations throughout the years.
Of Indian-Jamaican descent, Van Hoen was born and raised in England, absorbing diverse musical influences from his neighbors—African-Jamaican on one side and Punjabi Indian on the other. "Each family played their own music frequently, and I absorbed it." His musical foundations include Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, OMD, Tangerine Dream, Japan, Cabaret Voltaire, and Cocteau Twins, later finding inspiration in My Bloody Valentine, LFO, and '90s producers Robert Leiner and CJ Bolland.
These eclectic influences are evident on The Eternal Present, which contains snapshots of different periods in his life, with changing circumstances across decades creating a variety of textures and sounds. As Mark explains: "It holds the same sonic signature as many of my solo releases and early Locust albums. It's a natural development that has taken place in the last few decades. It's even related to the earliest music I made as a teenager, although perhaps more sophisticated."
“What a remarkably affecting, majestically broad and captivating work it is..what strikes you most is the album’s myriad diversity. Outstanding” (Electronic Sound)

“Whether channelling mid- 70’s Eno, early Aphex Twin or Neu! his vivid sounds shimmer with emotional weight” (Mojo 4*)

"Musically, Van Hoen belongs to a distinguished family tree. Originally influenced by the likes of Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream, and later presaging both Autechre's glitch and Boards of Canada's pastoral IDM." (Pitchfork)

Krautrock and EBM inspired post-industrial techno. Next-level electronic music made by one of The Hague's most original producers. Must have for fans of Unit Moebius Anonymous and Shitcluster.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Aesthetical Records is honoured to reissue Peau Froide, Léger Soleil, the groundbreaking collaboration between Finnish electronic music luminary Mika Vainio and French experimental music pioneer Franck Vigroux. Originally released in 2015, this new edition revives a work of unparalleled sonic intensity and textural exploration. The album is set to release on double vinyl and CD on May 24, 2025.

This iconic album is the result of a three year recording process that began after Vainio and Vigroux’s first live performance in Paris in 2012. Their collaboration serves as an intricate balance of minimalist meditations and maximalist energy, pushing electronic music into radical new directions. Peau Froide, Léger Soleil is a journey through psychic resonance and spatial abstraction, constructed through Vainio’s intense, brutalist grooves and Vigroux’s explorations in tonal extremities. Spanning a total of nine tracks, the album unfolds like an odyssey, densely layered yet free from structural limitations, traversing vast emotional landscapes where each sound feels at once intimate and tectonic.

Beginning with the ominous, bass-heavy textures of “Deux,” Vainio and Vigroux establish a dynamic atmosphere, setting the stage for the intense soundscapes to follow. “Mémoire” introduces ghostly voices that weave through thick waves of sub-bass and distorted noise, while “Souffles” explores uncharted sonic territories with its microtonal landscapes and spectral ambiance. Vigroux’s mastery over spatial abstraction comes to life in “Le Souterrain,” adding an atmospheric weight reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s stark loneliness or Neil Young’s Dead Man soundtrack. In contrast, tracks like “Parabole” and “Le crâne tambour” unleash fierce, maximalist grooves, making them some of the most aggressive and memorable moments in Vainio’s discography.

Peau Froide, Léger Soleil represents a landmark in its sonic identity, embodying a vision of uncompromising, avant-garde sound design. This anniversary reissue on Aesthetical honours that legacy while inviting new listeners into Vainio & Vigroux’s collaborative universe—a space where electronic music becomes both weapon and sanctuary.

The 10th-anniversary edition promises a fresh listening experience, preserving the legacy of two artists who have redefined the boundaries of sound.

State Change is the riveting new album from composer and performer Molly Joyce, out July 11, 2025 via FatCat Records’ 130701 imprint. Blending influences ranging from the 20th century modernist lineage to the spectral drones of Andy Stott, Missy Mazzoli, and Nico Muhly, State Change draws unflinchingly from the medical record of a childhood trauma for seven electro-acoustic tone poems — stark and oppressive in its medical aesthetic, yet ultimately cathartic and healing. Joyce crafted the album with Grammy-winning producer William Brittelle largely at Figure 8 Studios with engineer Michael Hammond.

When Joyce was seven years old, she was involved in a car accident that nearly amputated her left hand and required many intensive surgeries; to this day, her hand is still impaired. Joyce pushed through this life change, and over the past eight years, her reputation has swelled as one of her generation’s most daring, conceptually driven composers.

Joyce’s 2020 debut for New Amsterdam Records, Breaking and Entering, ruminated on this seismic shift in pieces for toy organ, voice, and electronic sampling of both sources. The New York Times noted her music’s “serene power”; The Washington Post described her as “one of the most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome.” Pitchfork lauded her 2022 album Perspective — a sonic portrait of disability built from interview recordings, also released on New Amsterdam — as “a powerful work of love and empathy that underscores the poison of ableism in American culture.”

Back to the 80s: A Holy Grail of Italo Disco Returns on Vinyl

Oh, those magical 1980s… an era forever entwined with iconic music that still stirs the soul. For the young, it’s a source of fascination; for those who lived it, a flood of unforgettable memories. And when you combine that nostalgia with a collector’s thrill and the magic words “Italo Disco”, only a handful of legendary labels come to mind. One of them? Sensation Records: the experimental sub-label of the iconic Disco Magic, headquartered at Via Mecenate 78/A in Milan. Known for its distinctive blue label, Sensation was home to less commercial, often bold and boundary-pushing releases – tracks that dared to be different.

Today, Vintage Pleasure Boutique dives deep into the vaults of Sensation Records to revive one of the genre’s most coveted treasures: Marylinlove – “Another Love.”

Produced by none other than Bruno Mosti – a mastermind behind some of the most sought-after Italo tracks of the era. This is more than a reissue. It’s the return of a true cult classic, a holy grail for collectors and genre lovers alike.

If you know, you know. And if you don’t, this is your moment to own a piece of history. Don’t miss your chance to grab this stunning vinyl reissue, before it disappears again.

BIOGRAPHY BY IRVINE WELSH
I discovered the Beta Band, like I discovered a lot of great music, basically through eventually surrendering to the enthused urgings of a mate who was cooler than me. He continually evangelized about the EP's. I was lost to the concert hall and firmly ensconced on the dancefloor by then and highly resistant, but quite taken by the idea that a band would bring out extended plays rather than singles. When I did check them out, I was instantly smitten by their originality and power.

The band, therefore, were pivotal for me in terms of my own musical journey, in that they represented a gateway back into indie guitar music, which I'd basically given up since becoming obsessed with rave and acid house.

The Beta Band were definitely a band for the cool cognoscenti- like my buddy- the ones you make a bit of a tit of yourself trying to convert quite straight boring people to.

The emotions they induced were a kind of throwback to school days when you were very pompous and prescriptive about what you liked, and derisive towards non believers. It's a testimony to the power of the music that they could take me to the raw state of the younger man.

I took it personally that they didn't hit the mainstream commercial base. At least two of the three albums they made deserved quadruple platinum status. Hot Shots II and Heroes to Zeros are permanently lodged very high in my top one hundred albums of all time.

So, the return of the Beta Band has me moving into the same mode of immature, adolescent anticipation. Everyone should have the Beta Band albums and EP's in their collection. It still kind of annoys me - in fact it bugs the shit out of me - that most of them don't.

And that really is something.

Toy Tonics ITALOMANIA Vol. 3 is a compilation dedicated to NEW ITALIAN DISCO. (Not Italo Disco.) 14 young contemporary Italian producers made new organic disco, indie dance, pop house tracks with Italian vocals. Everything on this compilation has been produced in 2024. Fresh dance music by Italian artists Paul Older, Riva Starr, Valentino Vivace, Sam Ruffillo & Fimiani, Kymono, Mille Punti, Mind Enterprises, Bruno Belissimo and legendary cosmic disco pioneer Daniele Baldelli + french italo hitmakers Dov'e Liana. The ITALOMANIA compilation was initiated by Toy Tonics boss Kapote. Italo-German producer, DJ, keyboarder and head of Toy Tonics and Gomma records. ITALOAMNIA is a MANIFESTO to show the status of Italian Disco of today. Kapote invited the most relevant Italian producers to make new tracks with Italian vocals and show different styles of modern Italian disco with Italian vocals.

Italian Disco is not Italo Disco. The last years the trashy pop music of the 1980’s called Italo Disco (with English lyrics) had a big revival. But this compilation is about something else: It’s about this Italian Disco. Because the popularity of good Italian pop music is rising all over the world. And Toy Tonics want to show a new way to combine Italianity with dance culture. Its funny that also in France, Swiss and Germany there are new artists singing in Italian. Let’s not forget: The culture of party, dancing, show bizness and pop music would be unimaginable without the heritage and creativity that Italians contributed Italy is not just the country of good food, beaches and high fashion, but it’s also the original country of dance music. Since the ancient roman times the Italians have been the kings of entertainment. And if it comes to music; The DISCO wave of the 1970ies and the Pop music of the 1980ies has been co-created by Italians (and Italoamericans in New York).

Though they may not have intended to do so, Naptown's trinity, also known as 81355 (pronounced BLESS), rang out as revolutionaries with their 2021 debut record This Time I'll be of Use. When Oreo Jones, Sirius Blvck, and Sedcairn come together, genre evaporates into enthralling poeticism and sonic hypnosis. Their sophomore LP Bad Dogs, releasing July 11th on Joyful Noise Recordings, acts as an expansive continuation of 81355's signature sound: an angelic, gritty, enthralling urban hymnal for the disillusioned mind. The history of 81355 stretches far back into the history of Naptown's creative scene. Jones and Blvck struck a match as one of Indy's most influential hip-hop collectives, Ghost Gun Summer, before they brought on Sedcairn (Moose Adamson) in 2020. Before Adamson infused 81355 with his melodic soundscapes, he produced Grampall Jookabox, an underground indie meets jangle pop project. Though they may be known primarily for their musical notoriety, the members of 81355 are steadfast in their commitment to uplifting their community with collective creative expansion. Sean (Oreo Jones), alongside his partner Jane Sun Kim, produces and curates Chreece, the largest Midwestern Hip-Hop festival hosted in the heart of Naptown. Niq (Sirius Blvck) is pivotal in the empowerment and advancement of Indy Hunger Network, a local non profit that addresses food insecurity across Indianapolis. Moose (Sedcairn) is a key contributor to Joyful Noise, an Indy based independent label cutting records for artists of all genres. For the first time, the project's live band is part of the production, with Sharlene Birdsong on bass guitar, Dimitri Morris on guitar, and Pat Okerson on drums. The Bad Dogs listening experience also seeps into visual realms: a short film titled Sleep Study will be released in tandem. Sleep Study_soundtracked, written, and produced by 81355, who also star in the film alongside friends and fellow artists from the community_features afrofuturistic sci-fi undertones that explore the toxifying implications of algorithmic control, postmodern brain rot, and late-stage capitalism. As the texturally emotive punctum of its cover art (painted by Stockholm based artist Julia de Ruvo) conveys, the heart of Bad Dogs draws its perseverance from the wild reservation dogs pulsing through the rust-hued indigenous lands of New Mexico and beyond. They are untethered in their roaming, sacred in their fierce communal belonging, yet undefined by a physical place. A vital essence mirrored by 81355: boundaryless, primal creative cultivation that defies what some may attempt to categorize as hip hop or progressive rap.

"I Became Birds feels like emo once again flipping the switch on its eternal energy source." - PITCHFORK // "One of the most arresting and interesting rock albums in recent memory." - SPIN // "Composed of self-deprecating wails, crashing guitar riffs, and a flicker of lyrical hope that almost feels naive _ in other words, the perfect foundation for classic emo catharsis." - STEREOGUM //// With I Became Birds, Florida's Home Is Where push their unique blend of whirlwind hardcore aggression and warm, open-hearted folksy melancholy to even further heights. Frontperson Brandon MacDonald's Dylan-esque eccentricities are on full display here, from the occasional blast of harmonica (like on early standout "Long Distance Conjoined Twins" or the disaffected, despondency-soaked closer "The Old Country") to their knack for abstractly evocative neurosis-as-poetry. But far from being a copycat act, Home Is Where's wearily raw-throated aesthetic and dynamically vivid compositions feel idiosyncratic and vital. The bittersweet folk melodies seep deeply into the band's DNA, adding an element of accessibility and immediate nostalgia to otherwise churning and angular song structures and sonic assaults. Vocals range from an intimate, gentle, and disarming croon to a full-bodied expectoration of the soul, oftentimes in the same song (like "Sewn Together from the Membrane of the Great Sea Cucumber," which splits the difference between mournful, gothic post-punk and staccato-heeled screamo with aplomb). A devastating rhythm section and nimble, versatile, yet powerful guitar work assist with the record's genre-bending, which ranges from maniacal chemical mixtures to gymnastic flips, twists, and turns. And yet, even amid the din, Home Is Where find ample time for hooks-- the oddball effervescence of lead single "Scientific Classification of Stingrays" and the shimmering, propulsive, delightfully off-kilter late-album stunner "Assisted Harakiri" are more than proof of that. Ultimately, I Became Birds shows Home Is Where hitting an early high-water mark. A brisk record-- six songs in roughly 17 minutes-- it never takes a dip in enthusiasm and inventiveness. Home Is Where's inexhaustible creativity and restless energy is bound to serve them well, and I Became Birds is all the proof anyone needs.

Come On Come On isn’t just Mary Chapin Carpenter’s most popular album, with sales of 3 million copies. It’s also a contemporary country landmark. No less than seven of its songs became country hits: “I Feel Lucky,” “I Take My Chances,” “Not Too Much to Ask,” “The Hard Way,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” and two inspired covers, of Dire Straits’ “The Bug” and Lucinda Williams’ “Passionate Kisses.” More importantly, though, this 1992 release pointed the way towards what country music would become in the 21st century with its savvy seasoning of pop and soft-rock sounds into a more personal style of country songwriting from a female point of view. If you’re thinking that sounds familiar, you’re not wrong; Come On Come On’s prodigious commercial prowess isn’t the only thing this record has in common with the early work of Taylor Swift. But, it also crossed over into the rock realm in a way that, arguably, Swift’s records have not; the flourishing Americana and alt-country audiences of the early ‘90s ate this album up, and guest stars like Rosanne Cash, The Indigo Girls, and Shawn Colvin just upped its street cred. Somehow, this classic record has never (come on!) made it to vinyl; we’re making up for a whole lot of lost time with a grape vinyl pressing housed inside a color inner sleeve with lyrics. Essential!

'Pepper Tree Hill' is, spiritually, our 'Abbey Road' both in album and studio name. It is the place where we feel the most creative, safe to try any crazy idea, and write songs that are both personal and extensions of our creative being. 'Pepper Tree Hill' the album explores our love of the sounds and songs of the Sixties, but in a total Boxmasters way. Legendary trumpeter and Grammy Award winner Herb Alpert is featured on the title track.

Pressed to limited edition other-worldly Zoetrope picture disc, Shui is the new album from Sydney based punk rock five-piece, Fangz, out via Impressed Recordings.

Since their 2019 inception, the band have released three EP’s For Nothing (2019), But No Thanks (2020), Falling Is Pretty Normal (2022), and a slew of singles, which received strong support from the likes of triple j, triple j Unearthed, Triple M, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Metal Hammer (UK), Loudwire (USA), Classic Rock (UK), Metal Injection (USA), Louder Sound (UK), NME, Pilerats, The Guardian, MANIACS and many more.

They’ve traversed the country multiple times selling out headline shows, performing at festivals and sharing stages with the likes of FIDLAR (USA), Pennywise (USA), The Bronx (USA), Cancer Bats (CAN), RedHook, Comeback Kid (CAN) and He Is Legend (USA).
The group have also completed an East Coast in 24 hours, launched their very own line of hot sauce Fang us Some Sauce, an annually curated festival ‘FANGZstock’, and hold the Guinness world record for the most hard-boiled eggs eaten in one sitting by front man Josh Cottreau (143 eggs in three minutes and ten seconds).

Coming into 2025, the quintet have released singles ‘Wasting Time’, ‘Nothing To Lose’, ‘Same Old Story’ and ‘Wide Awake’ from their forthcoming debut album ‘Shui’ (due July 2025), plus have taken FANGZstock on the road, launching the Melbourne and Brisbane contingents.

The debut album from Addy Weitzman, ‘Light Months Will Fly Over Us’ explores new-wave, romantic pop and art rock with elegance and ambition, drawing from Weitzman’s scattered network of collaborators, as well as a “frighteningly vast” personal archive of compositions. Sequenced by Seth Troxler and released on his Slacker 85 label, it represents a pivot in musical direction for the imprint, and a showcase for the songwriting craft Weitzman honed as a member of cult electro duo Footprintz, and Montreal synth-pop projects The Beat Escape and Dawn to Dawn.

The title Light Months Will Fly Over Us is derived from a line in a poem by the Russian writer Anna Ahkmatova. Weitzman was immediately struck by its “hopefulness, its mystery… it gives the feeling of being suspended, hanging in a dream-like state”. This interpretation has been translated to the album, rich in memorable songwriting that nonetheless invites the listener to lean in further. Delicately mixed by engineer Pierre Guerineau, known for his work alongside Marie Davidson, each of the eight tracks gently interrogates life’s greater mysteries; fear, love and salvation, each defining and revealing the human soul.

Opener ‘End of The Line’ invites us into an immediately lush space of lounge lizard existentialism, soft brass and piano helping Weitzman introduce “where the journey begins and the fantasy dies”. Across orchestral arrangements arranged by Adam Wilcox, whose sensitive, ambitious compositions are weaved throughout the album, ‘Beyond The Speed of Life’ brings to mind the laments of Scott Walker. Navigating vulnerability via grandeur, Weitzman’s earnest vocals flourish in wide-eyed call-and-response with the object of a transcendent love affair.

Alongside collaborator, Richard Lamb, the next chapter of the LP plunges into contrasting machine-driven moods; the wry, bubbling ‘Entertainment Is All I Wanted (And I Found It)’ is imbued with the playfulness and experimentation of 80s electronic pioneers such as Fad Gadget, while the tougher, icier ‘Stranger To Your Kind’ shifts in a more instrumental direction, recalling Weitzman’s dancefloor experience, as well as contemporaries such as Matthew Dear.

Album centerpiece and striking first single ‘Running & Returning’ is the first of a suite of three tracks in collaboration with Weitzman’s The Beat Escape and Dawn to Dawn bandmate, Patrick Boivin. Blending lush saxophones and angular guitars with a wistful melodic touch and lyrics, its irresistible art-rock rhythm provides the foundation for one of Weitzman’s most involving vocal performances.

It’s followed by an anthem for existential absurdity: ‘Ice Cream Candle’ provides a driving acceptance that “the more and more you learn, the less you understand”; Weitzman submits to this uncertainty with equal grace on ‘No Man’s Land’, as baroque invocations of “words swept through the fields” and meeting “where the water lilies grow” give way to a blistering guitar solo, humbly riding hypnotic percussion.

For the compassionate finale of Light Months Will Fly Over Us, Weitzman narrates the experience of ‘Gabrielle’, a woman slipping between rooms between shuttered blinds in the towering city, “where cigarettes and roses fill the air.”

As lyrically delicate as it is musically ambitious, Light Months Will Fly Over Us is a sublime debut album, enriched with care, love and much-needed enchantment.

With her highly anticipated CiCi album, Grammy Award-winning icon Ciara steps fully into her power — reclaiming her narrative with clarity, confidence, and the most dynamic soundscape of her career. A celebration of freedom, femininity, and evolution, CiCi is more than a return — it’s a full-on reinvention. Featuring standout singles like “Ecstasy,” “How We Roll” (with Chris Brown), “Wassup” (featuring Busta Rhymes), and “Run It Up” (with BossMan Dlow), the project seamlessly blends Ciara’s R&B and pop legacy with futuristic production and unfiltered storytelling.

The original Madlib instrumentals to Georgia Anne Muldrow’s critically acclaimed album; “Seeds” which was released in 2012 on SomeOthaShip Connect. Heralded as one of her most captivating and immediate front-to-back statements of purpose, a deeply spiritual collection of songs. It was the first time in her career where she handed over all production duties to someone other than herself, that someone being the legendary Madlib.
The beats on “Seeds” are naturally heavy, funky, soulful, abrupt yet hypnotic. All the characteristics of Madlib’s signature sound we know and love.

On the B Side of the vinyl is a collection of Georgia Anne Muldrow instrumentals from across 3 Dudley Perkins albums, “Young Spirit”, “Self Study”, and “Holy Smokes.” Beats with synths reminiscent of J Dilla’s electronic era but with enough G-Funk influence to melt your Raiders hat. Bass lines that could get The Click back together. Georgia Anne Muldrow is a master of her craft on the beats and the microphone. This record is a testament to that. Rediscover “Seeds”, the magical powers of Madlib, and why beat tapes will never go out of style.

Cluster can be counted among the most important international protagonists of the electronic avant-garde. Some credit them with having invented ambient music, others as pioneers of synthesizer pop, whilst to some they are firmly embedded in the krautrock universe. There is some truth in all of these notions. Cluster (or Kluster as they were in the beginning) were founded in 1970 in Berlin by Conrad Schnitzler, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. A change in direction and musical differences moved Moebius and Roedelius to split from Schnitzler after which the duo recorded 10 regular studio albums between 1971 and 2009. Their debut album ("Cluster 71") was in Wire Magazine"s "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire" list. "Cluster II" is influenced by Berlin and Hamburg; situated somewhere in the middle of artistic happenings, musical outrageousness and drug abuse: an urban mixture.

The latest EP from Drab Majesty marks the start of a stirring new chapter in the band's majestic legacy. Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote coastal Oregon town of Yachats, Deb Demure leaned into the neo-psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl-shaped 12-string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. After early morning hikes in the rain, Deb would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into "flow states," letting the sound lead the way. These sessions were then refined or recreated, and later elevated further with key collaborations by Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Meldal-Johnson (Beck, M83, Air), and Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Circular Ruin Studio). An Object In Motion is true to its title, capturing the chrysalis moment of an artist evolving, reborn and untethered, silhouetted against an open horizon."Cape Perpetua" kicks off the collection's divergent palette: sparkling acoustic finger-picking refracted through delay, equal parts raga and reverie. Melodies and moods congeal and dissipate, at the threshold of rustic American primitivism, brooding neo-folk, and pastoral melancholia. "The Skin And The Glove" deploys jangle to different effect - baggy, soaring, grey-skied kaleidoscopic pop in the spirit of Stone Roses, Primal Scream, and The Glove. Rachel Goswell lends her iconic freefall voice to The Cure-esque ballad, "Vanity," infusing poetic gravity to the doomed refrain: "If the valve breaks / then the earth quakes / and history finds a way / to put you in your place.""Yield To Force", the closing track of the EP, may be the most anomalous offering of the set. A 15-minute instrumental odyssey of cyclical strings, ominous slide guitar, and simmering synthesizer, the piece sways and spirals like a long zoom into distant storm clouds. Demure finesses the guitar with a restless but regal grandeur, unfolding a panorama of peaks, shadows, and plateaus. It's music both intuitive and prophetic, tracing the slow swing of pendulums across an endless plain. Taken as a whole, An Object In Motion presents a showcase of potential futures from Drab's evolving domain, their sound poised to bloom at the precipice of transformation.

Matt Duncan is one of the biggest artists you have not heard of yet. This particular album, "Soft Times" has almost 20 MILLION STREAMS on Spotify alone. You might not know Matt Duncan, but you have definitely heard his music. His music has been on "The Vampire Diaries," "Private Practice," and HBO's "Bored To Death." Most recently Matt was a featured performer in the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, "Hedwig and The Angry Inch." The album art was created by Robert Beatty, who has recently done art for Tame Impala, Flaming Lips, and more!Matt Duncan creates music that would have fit in perfectly on your Dad's AM Radio in the 1970's. Touches of Blue Eyed Soul await you on this LP. This album showcases the strength of Matt's arranging. Strings, horns, layered vocals all make this perfect mix of Motown and Bacharach. There is a track for any ear on this LP.

Celia Cruz was the undisputed Queen of Salsa. 23 gold albums and seven Grammy Awards attest to her longevity and popularity, and she was active right up until the year before her death in 2003. Eight years later, the United States Postal Service celebrated her life and legacy with a commemorative postage stamp, one of five honouring Latin music greats. She was the most influential female in the history of Afro-Cuban Music (as the Virgin Encylopedia of `Popular Music termed her) and her music lives on. Enjoy this 180g vinyl release and dance and drink a toast to her memory.

Signing with FatCat Records in 2022, and having released four singles to date, Nottingham-based Midnight Rodeo have now delivered their debut album, “Chaos Era”.

Extensive, relentless touring (sold-out hometown shows,The Great Escape, Dot To Dot, and Kendall Calling) created a tight-knit family, their pleasure in playing as an ensemble is instantly evident on the album. When asked about this they’ll explain, “We want people to tap into why we are always smiling on stage.”

The songs are collaborative efforts. Their different musical backgrounds result in a genre criss-crossing and totally unique creative collisions. Bassist Harry says, “What we do is Dada-istic. The drums play hooks, the bass plays parts usually taken by brass, the guitar’s playing West Coast psyche over disco rhythms.”

Written over a prolonged period of time, the songs on the album can be viewed as a kind of coming-of-age “suite”, as the unit of 20-somethings wrestle with subjects such as relationships, shifting social dynamics, changing hopes and dreams. The LP’s title refers to tumultuous personal events they’ve helped each other through. Reinforcing their bonding. With no pointed political agenda, the album is about “escape”. “We want people to dance”, they say.

The band recorded the album with Samana’s Franklin Mockett. Making full use of the acclaimed duo’s residential studio, located deep in the Welsh countryside, during an Indian summer heatwave. The aim was to remove all distractions, and, with Mockett’s assistance, capture the group as live, and as analogue, as possible. For 10 days, in sometimes 16 hour sessions, music, incense, and whiskey flowed, while vintage amp valves glowed.

Just like the band’s live performances, “Chaos Era” is packed with a palpable joy. The exhilaration of creation in each others company. Its punchy production is most definitely meant to be played loud.