quête:my first love

Ramona Córdova is a sound artist — passionate about writing, communicating, linguistics, behavioural & social psychology, observation & investigative research, photography, sound recording, and design. Their artist focus is on project-based sound and visual media, public engagement and live performance — although they are best known for their music and are typical regarded as a singer songwriter. Ramona Córdova intends to speak to the challenges of living under systems of oppression while inspiring introspection and personal growth toward the maturing of our societies. Ramona is Haitian-Filipina, Puerto Rican, born in Kingman, Arizona, USA and is inter-feminine trans non-binary.

"When I first started working on Naïve I was completely consumed by all of the technical details involved in making a 'professional studio recording' on my own - one which could not be refuted or disregarded as subpar. My only other hope was to tell some sort of story with whichever songs i could piece together. The content and message of which were much less important to me.

The story that Naïve ended up telling comes from a cohesion of themes, ceaseless in my personal experiences living day to day in the world. Although the album dares to tread on tact while speaking poetically and lyrically about issues such as systemic oppression, racism, misogyny, policing and patriarchy - I think the album really just wants to reflect - to serve as a reflection - in order to foster healing and healthy growth towards maturing. I feel it commanding a kind of firm kindness as a reminder to love yourself enough to accept others, by way of accepting yourself.

Pressed onto this 180-gram vinyl are 10 songs I wrote while living in many different places around the world. Spontaneous recordings of inspired notions of song, written one rainy evening up high above the vineyards in Banyuls-sur-Mer became Men on the Mountain. A Scrap of paper holding jots about a sudden storm on a hot day in August while helping friends on their farm in Puglia became Mouth of Autumn and Peace Through Violence. As I dressed myself into the fragile reality of the United States, I became flooded by its manipulative social governing systems. As the monuments of slave-owners, colonisers, and white supremacists came crashing down in the name of responsibility and accountability, The Bridge Works was built, a song about crossing bridges towards empathy and equality. Civil rights activist and American-Football quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, taking the knee during the United States national anthem pre-game ceremony, brought about So Long. The incessant murdering of black, brown, and transgender citizens brought Woke, Scared I'll Bite You, and The End. The murder of Eric Garner and the feeling of being choked-out and suffocated under the weight of systemic oppression brought about Still.

From all of this birthed the collection of songs that is Naïve, a title given to the album by French Ghanian artist Eden Tinto Collins. Although written both in Europe and the U.S., most of the songs were performed and recorded at the end of the year 2018 in Philadelphia, during the American-Holidays season. Still, Loving Him, and The End were written in Philadelphia, but produced in Vlorë, Albania. This helped serve as a reminder that the issues these songs speak of are not isolated to the United States of America." - Ramona Córdova

70s Soul perfection, both previously unreleased on 45 so should keep collectors and DJs smiling as we head back into the clubs. We released the crazy rare Rivage LP last year, but felt it was time to drop them on our favourite format for the first time.

'I Need You Baby' was my go to spin on the LP (apart from 'Strung Out' Obviously) A positive 70s floater with a vocal that just holds it together.

On the flip 'Answer' It's Mid-tempo Jam time, kind of has a feel it out as you go vibe which I like, the backing holds it together and love the guitar solo.

Double Ultra Clear LP, Gatefold Jacket, Insert, Printed Inner Sleeves
A graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ashe has been lauded by the likes of The FADER who raved about her ‘effortless voice’; People called her music, ‘deeply emotional yet so fun,’ Consequence of Sound
described her songs as, ‘accessible yet emotional’ and NME declared she’s ‘a
formidable new force in the pop world,’ among other accolades. Ashe’s touring resume includes performances at Coachella with Big Gigantic, and opening
slots for The Chainsmokers, LAUV, Louis The Child, Lewis Capaldi and more.
On TikTok Ashe gained 1 million followers, hitting over 2.5 billion video views
and 2.5 million videos created. On Instagram she has over 950K followers and
growing, approaching 520K followers on Twitter, and over 7.3 million monthly
listeners on Spotify. Her double EP Moral of the Story Chapters 1 & 2 is out now.
In 2020, Ashe also released the single ‘Save Myself,’ which garnered over a
million streams a week last summer, while the official music video saw #SaveMyselfMV trend on Twitter worldwide after its debut, including the U.S. at #5.
She recently contributed an original song, ‘The Same,’ to the new film and
soundtrack, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, her second placement in the
wildly popular Netflix franchise.
Ashe made her stunning late-night TV debut alongside Niall Horan on The Late
Late Show with James Corden, taped at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall and
her daytime debut on Ellen at the top of 2021. ‘Till Forever Falls Apart’ is the
first hint of more exciting new music which Ashe and FINNEAS recently performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ashe’s debut album Ashlyn includes 14 songs
which she describes as ‘...deeply reflective and honest, full of stories of my
experiences with fear and pain and turning those hard things into joy and independence.
I’m an experiential writer and there was no way I was going to make an album
that didn’t address my personal journey, from my brother’s death this last year
to my own experiences with emotional abuse. I think you have to be vulnerable
to create something really great and I believe I did that. Writing this album was
also an opportunity to show that I’m not just a songwriter and a singer but a
producer and a musician with a very clear vision for my art.
Joni Mitchell refers to herself like a bee, gathering stories like pollen and trying
to make honey from it, ‘whether or not the flavor suits people is something
beyond my control.’ I really tried to take that approach to writing this album,
making something I loved above everything else. I couldn’t be more proud of
Ashlyn and I hope many people happen to love it too.”

New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.

“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk

In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.

Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
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sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”

Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.

Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”

Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.

Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.

Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”

“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”

Dynamite Cuts 45s series is proud to release another double-pack; loaded with jazz funk 7” wonders. F.B.I. (Funk Band Inc) was the UK’s original Jazz-funk band. Four tracks from this timeless LP are now on 7” for the first time. Originally released in 1977, this LP is now massive with the collectors, and is in the ‘must-have’ category. The incredible ‘Bad Deal’ (my personal favorite), and, yes, the outstanding, “Talkin about love”, are both on there. This Dynamite Cuts release is a gatefold edition; with some previously unseen photos of the band. Unmissable

Birgit Minichmayr captures the imagination and holds centre-stage on
‘As An Unperfect Actor: Nine Sonnets by William Shakespeare’. This
won’t come as a surprise to people in the German-speaking world,
where the Austrian actor is well-known from countless appearances on
TV and a substantial filmography. Perhaps equally unsurprising is the
deep experience she can bring to Shakespeare: as an ensemble
member of the Burgtheater company in Vienna, she has repeatedly lived
out the searingly dramatic lives of the Bard’s characters, notably the
daemonic anger of Lady Macbeth, the sadness of Ophelia and even the
uncomfortable truths of the Fool in King Lear.
What might be more of a surprise, however, is the exhilarating musicality
she shows on this, her first complete album as a vocalist. One could
have predicted the crystal clarity, meaning and intent in her words - the
desolation in her voice in “the very birds are mute... the leaves look pale”
in Sonnet 97, for example. And yet there is more, much more, not least
Minichmayr’s uncannily instinct to find artful and felicitous ways to shape
musical phrases.
Composer/ pianist Bernd Lhotzky has provided a wonderful array of
musical contexts. As Minichmayr says: “He got so deep into the meaning
of each sonnet, his music made it different every time. And we talked a
lot about the colour, the meaning of each poem.” The opening track, ‘My
Mistress’ Eyes (Sonnet 130)’ is a masterfully deft piece of gender-fluid
irony. In the poem, a man is describing possibly the ugliest woman he
has ever seen - while also declaring that she is the one he loves.
Lhotzky gives us an acerbic version in that most male-led of dances, the
tango, complete with bandoneon, in which the words are sung by... a
woman. Minichmayr then gives a masterclass in how to end a song as
she hits, holds and nails the words “false compare” with triumphant
fearlessness.
Throughout the course of the album, we are magically transported to
new musical and emotional places. As Minichmayr says: “Through
singing, through just doing it, I was able to find deep love, or deep
sadness. I was really touched by it.”
One of the secrets to this album’s success is Lhotzky’s wish to find
melodies which have a certain ease and straightforwardness about
them. He says that he approaches all music - whether he is listening to it
or writing it - with one simple and direct question: “What story is this
telling me?” Lhotzky is known for his work in the field of early jazz, but
the range here is far broader, with allusions to such examples of fine
songwriting as Brassens, Robert Plant and James Taylor.
LP pressed on 140g black vinyl.

Maisie Peters treated fans to their first taste of ‘You Signed Up For This’ earlier this year with ‘John Hughes Movie’. The track soared to No. 1 on iTunes the weekend of release, was playlisted across BBC Radio 1 and 2, and has been streamed over 11.5 million times globally to date.

Revered for her songwriting, Maisie has spent the past three years honing her craft in sessions across London, LA and Nashville, creating songs for ‘You Signed Up For This’ alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Fred again.., Johnny McDaid, Miranda Cooper, and producers Joe Rubel (Tom Grennan, Benjamin Francis Leftwich), Afterhrs (Niall Horan, GRACEY), Rob Milton (Easy Life, Holly Humberstone) and Brad Ellis (Jorja Smith, Little Mix).

Impressively, ‘You Signed Up For This’ is Maisie’s second full length release in the space of three months, as she recently became one of the youngest musicians in history to write and curate a soundtrack for the second season of Apple TV+ Original Series, ‘Trying’, at only 20 years old. Written in just two months last winter, the stunning body of work includes duets with her friends and favourites, including Griff, James Bay and Bear’s Den.

With her knack for transforming everyday experiences in to vividly written diary-style songs, ‘You Signed Up For This’ is both Maisie’s coming of age story and a love letter to girlhood; penned with the wit, charm and quiet confidence that has seen her ascend from busking on the streets of Brighton, to recently making her US TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Transporting us directly in to her world as she navigates from small town teenager to adulthood, there’s a universal sense of familiarity and nostalgia as she shares memories of blossoming relationships (‘Outdoor Pool’, ‘My Elvis Song’), being played (‘Boys’, ‘Volcano’), heartbreak (‘Tough Act’, ‘Villain’), and first holidays with her twin sister (‘Brooklyn’).

Raised on a healthy diet of The All-American
Rejects and All Time Low, Australian-born With
Confidence have made quite a name for
themselves in the world of pop punk with over 125
million streams across their first two albums and
multiple headline tours throughout the US, UK,
Australia and Europe.
For their upcoming self-titled album, the band will
be shedding a bit of their adolescent “get out of my
hometown” skin, opting in for a more adult, altpopinspired sound that draws influences from
everything from The 1975 to The Strokes.
The new album will be a follow up to the band’s
sophomore entry, ‘Love & Loathing’, which
debuted at #3 on the Independent Record Label
Chart and #4 on the LP Vinyl Albums Chart, selling
over 7,500 copies in the first week.
For fans of Neck Deep, State Champs,
Waterparks.
LP pressed on ‘Bone’ coloured vinyl.

Jorja Smith returns to announce a new 8-track project. ‘Be Right Back’ is due May 14th and is the first body of work from Jorja since her 2019 critically-acclaimed, Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Lost & Found’, for which she won her second BRIT Award for ‘Best
Female’ and earned herself a nomination for ‘New Artist’ at the GRAMMY Awards.
The project finds Jorja delivering some of the most emotive and imaginative songs of her career. Over string-heavy production, she unveils a collection of songs that are diverse in their range but still extremely cohesive as a body of work - “It’s called be right back because it’s just something I want my fans to have right now, this isn’t an album and these songs wouldn’t have made it. If I needed to make these songs, then someone needs to hear them too.” - Jorja says of the project.
To coincide with the announcement, Jorja is sharing new single ‘Gone.’ Highly anticipated,
Smith states that “There’s something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others. I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening.
This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us.”
‘Gone’ follows in the footsteps of Jorja’s stunning March release ‘Addicted’, which also appears on ‘Be Right Back’, alongside 6 additional unheard tracks including a feature from
rising South London rapper, Shaybo on track 3, ‘Bussdown’.
Over the past three years, Smith has been celebrated unanimously across the world for her evocative song-writing, powerful delivery, pure emotion and unbridled talent as a young woman navigating her way through the world. Smith has graced multiple magazine covers,
performed at awards ceremonies and on late night TV, and sold out shows across the globe, now surpassing over one billion global streams. Her 2019 hit single ‘Be Honest’ featuring Burna Boy has become her biggest song to date at almost 250M streams worldwide. Smith continues to hone her craft and ‘Gone’ serves as a much-anticipated prelude for the release of ‘Be Right Back’ on May 14th.

The magnificent and incomparable Muddy Waters performed 3 legendary concerts at the Montreux Jazz Festival throughout the 1970s. Each of these historic concerts were recorded. Muddy Waters name is synonymous with the authenticity, excellence and individuality of the festival and this collection is a celebration of his unique talent.

The Montreux Years collection will bring together for the first time, some of the finest moments from Muddy Waters’ celebrated performances alongside rare material, unheard since the original recording.

Expertly curated by the Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG, restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital.


Montreux Media Ventures (MMV) in partnership with BMG are working together to produce and release a premium series of albums and activities, curated from the unique Montreux Jazz festival archive; one of the finest music collections in the world.

As part of this exciting new joint venture MMV and BMG have commenced work to establish a new series of deluxe artist collections under the new official Montreux Jazz records imprint. These initial collections; The Montreux Years will bring together the most iconic performances from the most significant artists to perform in the festival’s impressive five decade history.

The collaboration is an unprecedented curation project. The most extensive exploration of the official archive in the festival’s history. Expertly curated by the MJF and BMG teams and overseen by Claude Nobs’ partner and president of the Claude Nobs foundation, Thierry Amsallem, who will act as executive producer across the series.

The Montreux Years series is a celebration of Claude’s love of the artists and passion for the festival and are a fitting tribute to his legacy.

The BMG and Montreux Jazz music festival design teams will work in partnership to produce new and authentic creative, faithful to the festival’s reputation for iconic artwork.

Fractal City, the latest Cubenx album is a collection of terrestrial jams and arachnean ambient ballads that are particularly apt for urban listening. If its predecessors cracked the musical codes in force and shone by the versatility of their references, this new opus offers its listener an intense and symbolic sound environment.


The raw material of Fractal City was first conceived as a series of sound patches, designed to run in parallel with Canadian digital artist Maotik's installation. Broadcasted in real-time by generative patches reacting to various external and non-human data, those musical excerpts have been rendered in hundreds of nuances and extended over infinite durations. This unusual approach confers to the recording of the finished album's outstanding immersive strength.

Recorded live on a single track over a short period of a few weeks, the nine compositions of Fractal City capture the obsessions of its author for postmodern urban landscapes, and the revelation of new perspectives on the city of Paris.

The opening piece `Ssarg´ seems to hide the figure of the Mexican ambient producer Jorge Reyes. Cubenx built a cocoon of energetic layers, a new home of the mystical kind harmoniously integrated in a flourishing rainforest ecosystem.

`Transect ´refers to the urban development model of the same name, which is based on a division of the city into autonomous "fractal" zones. It also echoes the concept of "metro polarities" which considers the city as a mosaic of social groups. "By cycling in the evening with a friend, we could get away from the city centre to the suburbs of Paris. The contrasts are striking. You move from chic districts to bedroom communities, from industrial zones to improvised caravan camps. But there is a kind of energy in this heterogeneity that pushes you to always pedal further."

A few miles away, it would look like Art and urbanism have tried to level the cultural and social discrepancies of the outskirts of Paris. "Architectural sites like the Arcades of Bofill are splendid. There are completely extravagant projects, which seem to emerge from nowhere."
These buildings with ambitious aesthetics off the beaten tourist track, deteriorate over time and often remain far from the expectations of the local population. A feeling of nostalgic beauty is particularly perceptible on the slowest and most introspective ballads of the album as 'Urban Decay', 'Hagel' or 'Axe Majeur'. The producer leaves nonetheless no room for melancholic emptiness. "Every time, I have the impression that urban culture is taking its rights back and that young people appropriate the places in one way or another."

Just like `Transect', ` Quantified' and `Fractal City' present themselves as mirrors of a daily urban life in constant motion. All three are empowered by an overheated factory, which dispatches hypnotic beats and burst of analogue compressors with a clinical precision and direct them straight away to the reptilian areas of their listener's brains.

The sequencing leaves however space and time to take breath and makes way for aerial sonic excursions of spiritual and enlightened nature. On `Human Dilemma', Cubenx shows some concerns to opening the Pandora's box of transhumanist theories. While a long cosmic wave gives the listener a feeling of perfect fullness, a dizzying guitar distortion cast doubts on long term outlooks. `Smash Other' on the other way alternates gentle dissonances over an ocean of white noise and concludes the album on ethereal note.

With ´Fractal City", Cubenx eludes his irreconcilable love for shoegaze pop song and techno to concentrate exclusively on the production of mutant experimental materials. The result is an uncanny musical object, rich in image and sensation. Cubenx give us a guiding framework, enthralling enough to engage the listener to a tour of town. But he leaves it to the sole listeners to design their own projection of the city.

It may be his fifth album, but Saturday Night, Sunday Morning marks the start of chapter two for Jake Bugg. Arguably his most complete and coherent record to date, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning manages to combine a love of ABBA, the Beach Boys, Supertramp and the Bee Gees, with a contemporary pop sound: one that’s already spawned his most ubiquitous song in years via euphoric lead single, All I Need. “I knew what I was looking for this time around,” the 27-year-old says, firmly. “And I feel like I accomplished it.” It’s almost 10 years since a two-fingered Bugg burst onto the scene with his eponymous debut, one that topped the UK album charts and saw the then 18-year-old from Nottingham fêted as the next Bob Dylan. A Rick Rubin-produced follow up, Shangri La, quickly followed. But progress stalled with Bugg’s third, largely self-produced, record, On My One, in 2016. “I was having a hard time on that third record,” Bugg admits, five years removed. “The support from the industry wasn’t what it was. All those people telling you how great you are weren’t there anymore. It does feel like the rug’s been swept from under your feet.” What that record provided, however – along with its comparatively stripped-back follow up, Hearts That Strain (2017) – was a much-needed course corrector: one that set Bugg on the upward trajectory he finds himself on today. “When I came to terms with that was when I left the ego at the door,” he says. “It didn’t work out. But it led here. And this is probably my strongest record." It’s testament to Bugg’s rediscovered confidence that Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – a nod to the debut novel by Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe – sees him working with some of his highest profile collaborators to date, most notably American songwriters Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi, best known for their work with pop heavyweights Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello. “I was looking for how I can incorporate my sound for a more modern era. And I kind of struck gold working with Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi,” Bugg says. Convening in LA, the first track the trio wrote together is the jealousy-inflected About Last Night, a song about the “insecurities you go through as a young person in a relationship with someone.” “It’s got such dark undertones, which I love,” Bugg says, of a song that showcases a newly discovered, Beach Boys-esque falsetto. “But it’s also very, very pop. That’s what I’ve always loved. With ABBA, with Supertramp. I love pop music. But when you can get it to be dark, I love it even more.” It’s a trick the trio repeated again on Scene, Bugg’s personal favourite from the album and a song that best encapsulates the combination of old and new: Watt’s George Harrison-esquire guitar brushing up against contemporary melodic choices by Tamposi. “I love writing with her,” Bugg says of the Havana hitmaker. “She brought that women’s perspective. And I knew that I’d got that balance of what I wanted. That old school chorus with contemporary verses. That to me was my favourite song when I wrote it, and it still is.” Perhaps the biggest example of Bugg’s newfound ego-less approach to writing, however, came in the shape of Downtown, a song that grew from an idea by Jamie Hartman (Celeste, Lewis Capaldi, Rag'n'Bone Man), and sees Bugg deploy the higher range of his voice to ethereal, ’60s Bee Gees effect. “Usually, the initial spark of an idea comes from me. And when it doesn't, it sometimes loses my attention,” Bugg admits. On Downtown, however, he relished his role as arranger: “Because there were a lot of moving parts and chords, it was almost like a puzzle,” he says. “I’d never approached a song like that before. “What I’ve been enjoying on this record is the collaborative process,” he continues. Working with people, writing with people. Because I’ve realised all I really want to achieve is to be the best writer I can possibly be. And I think by working with other people, it allows you to learn a lot as well.” It’s a theory Bugg has put to the test during lockdown, when he was approached by his manager about writing the soundtrack to an upcoming documentary, The Happiest Man In The World, about Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho. “It’s kind of a completely different experimental outlet,” Bugg explains of his first ever score. “I approach my own work quite professionally. But with this I can just switch off and go into a different world. And it’s been brilliant – I’ve had to learn different styles of guitar: bossa nova, samba. It’s a bit Vangelis, who’s probably my favourite artist – which may surprise people.” Possibly. But you get the impression that surprising is what Bugg likes to do. “I don’t like to be stuck doing the same thing,” he admits. “And that’s what this record Saturday Night, Sunday Morning was. I wanted to push myself. I’m always learning new influences. I’m careful not to get stuck on the same thing. “It’s not going to be right every time. It’s not going to be good every time,” he continues. “But if that’s the process it takes to get to this record, where people are loving the songs again, then that’s the journey we have to take.” For Jake Bugg, chapter two starts now. New album ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’ is out August 20th on RCA Records

Behind The Dykes is a 2LP compilation presenting the best bands and artists the Dutch had to offer in the period 1964-1972. The Netherlands were the first non-English speaking country to storm the Billboard Hot
100 with a string of hit singles from bands such as Shocking Blue,
Focus, George Baker Selection, Golden Earring and Tee-Set. This
2LP presents the bands that followed closely behind, with singles and albums that internationally have become highly sought-after records. Some bands with a rich discography, others with no more than one or two singles under their belt. Original singles of many of these tracks are currently offered and/or sold for hundreds of Euros on Discogs, and many original pressings were so limited at the original time of release that they are impossible to find.

The album is released under the Decca brand with the classic logos and labels. The full color printed inner sleeves contain liner notes about each individual band with the original single artwork, while the inside of the gatefold sleeve contains photos of the artists featured on this album.

Originally released in 1995, Garbage’s self-titled debut album was met with critical acclaim upon its release. Featuring the band’s most recognizable single “Stupid Girl”, the album has since sold over four million copies and achieving double platinum certification in the UK, US and Australia. Formed in 1993 comprising of members Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, Butch Vig and Shirley Manson, Garbage have gone onto sell over 17 million albums worldwide over a 28 year career.

This 2LP Gatefold & 2CD Digipack release, alongside the repress of their follow up album Version 2.0 (1998), is the first time the newly remastered album has been made available via BMG, ahead of their new studio album No Gods No Masters, to be released on Infectious Records in June 2021.

Maybe We Never Die, Anderson East's third release for Elektra/Low Country Sound takes the Alabama born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s seductively vintage voice in a decidedly fresh direction. The 12 tracks flow together with an overarching sense of ambience but maintain distinct musical boundaries. The energy toggles between a hunger for vulnerability in togetherness and a clinging to solitude as a romantic self-defense. There is consternation with the speed and volume at which the world operates and solace to be found in the simple act of getting up and going. And the beguiling title track, with its woozy strings swirling around East’s celestial falsetto as it curls towards the ceiling like smoke is, as they say, a whole mood; a sense of a single night’s dusk-to-sunrise contemplation. Collaborating once again with Dave Cobb along with longtime bandleader and now co-producer Philip Towns, East has found an enticing new avenue, one that maintains a connection to his past but keeps his eyes on the road ahead.

Maybe We Never Die is East's first new music since 2018's breakthrough album, Encore, which featured the Grammy-nominated #1 AAA radio single, "All On My Mind." Heralded by critics, The New York Times praised Encore as, “…an often lustrous revisiting of raucous Southern soul, rousingly delivered and pinpoint precise. He has a voice full of extremely careful scrape and crunch, but his howls never feel unhinged," while Rolling Stone declared, “On Encore, East’s influences meld seamlessly, stacking the album with Stax-worthy R&B grooves, gospel-blues ooohs and aaahs, surging keys and blasting brass.” Known for his magnetic live performances, East and his band have performed sold-out shows worldwide and have been featured on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "CBS This Morning Saturday," NBC's "TODAY" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers," PBS' "Austin City Limits" and more.

Colin Hay first emerged as songwriter/vocalist for hitmakers Men at Work
before establishing himself as a solo artist.
But his love for music was born in his native Scotland while working at his parents’ record store and hearing the hits of the day.
At home during quarantine in 2021 Hay was moved to record some of his favorites from that period. From the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset” to Faces’ “Ooh La
La” and Dusty Springfield’s “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself”, Hay
delivers a set a lushly reimagined classics that showcase both his talent for
interpreting songs and his iconic vocals.

Motown Collected brings together the biggest names in the rich history of this legendary label. From very early singles to the artists that made Motown a household name for decades to come and the cross-over pop success of the late 70’s and 80’s. Featuring legendary artists like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Jackson Five, Smokey Robinson and The Commodores, as well as gems from the likes of Marv Johnson, Barrett Strong, The Marvelettes and Tom Clay and pop superstars Rick James, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and Debarge: just a selection of the 33 incredible tracks featured on Motown Collected.

The documentary Hitsville: The Making Of Motown’, featuring Motown founder Berry Gordy and many of this artists, will premiere in cinemas across Europe this summer as well.






RELEASE: 23-7-2021

MOV proudly presents new Collected compilation albums in collaboration with Universal Music. Motown Collected is the first one, available as a limited edition of 3000 numbered copies on white vinyl. It includes an insert with photos and credits.

Bjarki’s bbbbbb records welcomes its first-ever non-electronic project as Icelandic rock band Skrattar joins the label to unveil their thirteen-track album, ‘Hellraiser IV’.

Four-piece outfit Skrattar can be described as cigarette rock with an electronic vibe that makes your upper lip sweat. Having already developed a loyal fanbase in Iceland as a powerful live act with an energetic and provocative stage presence, the band now look further afield to global horizons as they reveal their latest album, ‘Hellraiser IV’.

With the release of ‘Hellraiser IV’, bbbbbb broadens its catalogue beyond dance and electronic music. While the label’s primary focus will remain electronic, several other genres will also feature - the connecting factor being that the music is Icelandic, experimental and fresh... the best that grassroots has to offer.

‘Good music should be heard, and this is my take on delivering probably the best music coming from Iceland at the moment. It’s an honest, wild love story of true friendship and creativity coming together in one album’ - Bjarki

‘Hellraiser IV’ contains thirteen tracks written over three years, with the oldest songs composed the year the band was founded, 2016. In 2019, when a good foundation for an LP had been laid as the band gained followers and honed its sound, they locked themselves in the studio until they completed the album. With many of the tracks composed in the dead of night, containing both lyrics written over a long period as well as improvisation, the final product is a record made by them from A to Z, in line with the band’s endearing DIY ethos.

‘Skrattar’ is Icelandic for a specific type of demon that you can’t control, but in Swedish, it means ‘to laugh’ - with laughter involved across many of the tracks on ‘Hellraiser IV’ as if to mock the dualism of seriousness. Their subject matter is chaos and anarchism - but their humour and satire are never far away. The music is an ode to the eternal void, while at the same time laughing in its face.

In addition, a remix album will be released digitally alongside Hellraiser IV, reimagined and reworked by a host of fellow musicians, producers, and artists. Among them, label regular Kuldaboli, bbbbbb boss Bjarki, DJ Flugvél og Geimskip, russian.girls, KGB and Anton Newcombe - the founder of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Repress!

Limited Coke Bottle Green vinyl, 250 copies only for the UK. Any future pressing will be on black vinyl. Massage feature Alex Naidus from Pains At Being Pure At Heart. Recorded by Lewis Pesacov (Fool’s Gold, Foreign Born, Peel’d). Massage was supposed to be low-stakes, no big deal "anti-ambition," as Andrew Romano, guitarist and vocalist, put it. The L.A.based jangle-pop group's first album, 2018's Oh Boy, was a sweet and simple weekend warrior's affair, or more specifically, an every-other-Monday one, as the band members gathered to bash out songs that offered messy but heartfelt tribute to their chosen heroes: The Feelies, the Go-Betweens, Twerps, Flying Nun. For Romano, not taking things too seriously is a dead-serious affair: “Nothing kills the kind of music we want to make faster than the sense that a band is trying too hard,” he says. The kind of music Massage makes sunny, bittersweet, tender is less a proper genre than a minor zip code nested within guitar pop. Take a little "There She Goes" by the La's, some "If You Need Someone" by the Field Mice; the honey-drizzled guitars from The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love," a Jesus & Mary Chain backbeat, and you're almost all the way there. Indie pop, jangle pop, power pop whatever you call it, pushing too hard scares the spirit right out of this sweet, diffident music, and Massage have a touch so light the songs seem to form spontaneously, like wry smiles. Still, on their sophomore effort, Still Life, they manage to take a quantum leap forward in songwriting, production, and depth, all somehow without seeming to try. These 12 deft songs are full of late-summer sunlight and deep shadows, pained grins and shared jokes, shy declarations of love and quietly nursed heartbreak. Still Life resurrects a brief, romantic moment in the late-'80s, right after post-punk and immediately before alt-rock, when it seemed like any scrappy indie band might stumble across a hit. When Andrew Romano and Alex Naidus first met in 2007, Naidus had just joined a band with his friends Kip Berman and Peggy Wang that was about to stumble into many of them. When Naidus finally left Pains for L.A. in 2013, two hit albums and a few world tours later, he started playing with Romano to recapture the no-stakes, suburban-garage joy of making music for its own sake. It was "friendship incarnate," Naidus remembers. The other members came from within the friend circle Gabrielle Ferrer (keyboard/vocals) is Romano's sister-in-law, Michael Felix (drums) is one of Naidus’ best friends, and David Rager (bass) is a childhood friend of Felix’s. When Felix moved to Mexico City in early 2020, Naidus’ wife, Natalie de Almeida, stepped in. The result is the finest batch of songs they've ever produced. From Naidus' velvet-lined JAMC tribute "Half A Feeling" to Ferrer's Let It Be-era Replacements-tinged lament "The Double" to Romano's "In Gray & Blue," these are gold-standard indie-pop gems from emerging masters of the form. Still Life glows with the sincerity and unfakeable warmth of the era they so lovingly channel. Like the best Gin Blossoms chorus you still remember, the songs on Still Life stir big, pure emotions, but beneath them, uneasy truths about adulthood linger, just below the surface. Maybe the exact mix of ringing guitars and two-part harmonies can chase those feelings away, or redeem them, for at least a minute or three. Massage won't stop trying.