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Matthew Halsall unveils new band and announces 'Salute to the Sun'

his new album on Gondwana Records

Limited edition Double Clear vinyl, printed on reverse board with Gold foil artwork plus double printed reverse board inner sleeves including download code. Cover Artwork by Daniel Halsall with design and layout by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic.

Comes packaged in a resealable, re-usable Polypropylene anti-static, acid-free, crystal clear sleeve for maximum protection.

Composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has always worn many hats. But at the heart of everything that he does Halsall is first and foremost an artist and a musician. A trumpeter whose unflashy, soulful playing radiates a thoughtful beauty and a composer and band-leader who has created his own rich sound world. A sound that draws on the heritage of British jazz, the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as world music and electronica influences, and even modern art and architecture, to create something uniquely his own. A music that is rooted in Northern England but draws on global inspirations.

Salute to the Sun is his first album as a leader since Into Forever (2015) and marks the debut of his new band. A hand-picked ensemble featuring some of Manchester's finest young musicians: Matt Cliffe flute & saxophone, Maddie Herbert harp, Liviu Gheorghe piano, Alan Taylor drums and Jack McCarthy percussion as well as long-time Halsall collaborator, bassist, Gavin Barras who has been at the heart of Halsall's bands for over a decade. For Matthew it was important to have a band based locally and able, pre-Covid, to meet and play each week, and who also performed a sold-out monthly basement session at Yes in Manchester. The album draws energy from these sessions and inspiration from themes and ideas that have inspired Halsall through the years (on albums such as Oneness, Fletcher Moss Park and When the World Was One) ideas of ecology, the environment and harmony with nature.

"I feel Salute to the Sun is a positive earthy album. I wanted to create something playful but also quite primitive, earthy and organic that connected to the sounds in nature. I was listening to lush ambient field recordings of tropical environments such as jungles and rainforests and found myself drawn to percussive atmospheric sounds which replicated what I was hearing (bells / shakers / chimes / rain sticks) and I started to experiment with more wooden percussive instruments such as kalimba and marimba".

Salute to the Sun features lush wholly improvised tunes inspired by ambient rainforest and jungle field recordings, deeply soulful tunes built around hypnotic harp and kalimba patterns, deep Strata-East inspired spiritual jazz grooves and some of Halsall's most beautiful playing and inspiring healing melodies yet recorded.

The album was recorded at the band's weekly sessions, using Halsall's own recording set-up, giving the recordings a relaxed vibe and unforced energy that really lets the music breath. The album is also very much a family affair as Halsall's brother Daniel Halsall, artistic director of Gondwana Records, was an important presence at the sessions and co-produced the album. It is also his memorable artwork that adorns the cover of Salute to the Sun, an album beautifully designed by legendary designer Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic, who also created the covers for the recent archival releases Oneness, Sending My Love and Colour Yes and is one of Halsall's favourite designers. Together Daniel Halsall and Ian Anderson have designed all of Matthew's seven albums to date, so it felt extra-special to bring them together for, Salute to the Sun, an album that Halsall was determined to present in the very best way possible. The album was mixed with another long-time collaborator, George Atkins at 80 Hertz in Manchester, who works tirelessly with Halsall to perfect the sound and was mastered by noted engineer Peter Beckmann who brings an added depth to the sound specially around the bass notes as well as Halsall's trumpet. The magnificent double vinyl was cut as a Half Speed master by Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering for the best possible analogue experience.

The result is arguably Halsall's most beautiful and complete recording to date, playful, charming and imbued with the warmth of the sun and the energy of life.

n 2018, unknown artist James Infiltrate dropped an album of smart electro tunes that get everyone talking. It turned out to be an alias of James Burnham aka Burnski aka the Constant Sound boss aka Instinct, who is one of the most visible and prolific artists of recent years. Now some of the cuts from that album get choice remixes - AlexJann flips 'Flash' into a caustic electro banger with bright synths and twisted bass. Stojche goes for a lurching, loopy, scintillating and loopy remix of 'Isolate' that takes you to the stars and the flip offers up an acid laced electro cruiser from Sound Synthesis and Relpek mix of 'Reconnect' that is melodic and mysterious.

John Carroll Kirby brings his talents as a composer
and producer to film scoring. His vivid imagination,
dreamy compositions and knack for storytelling with
instrumental music make for a perfect match with
comic book writer, artist and filmmaker Dash Shaw’s
vibrant, fantastical animated feature.
 Kirby’s score is at once deeply evocative and
mysterious, evoking nostalgia, wide-eyed innocence,
and ethereal otherworldliness. As with all of Kirby’s
music, the score resists easy genre classification,
melding together sounds from new age, exotica, library
music and the sweeter side of electronic music.
 ‘Cryptozoo: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’
features the voice of Kacy Hill.
 Artwork by the film’s director, Dash Shaw.
 ‘Cryptozoo’ won the NEXT Innovator Award at
Sundance, premiered internationally at the 2021
Berlinale, and was bought by Magnolia Pictures.
 The film is currently streaming on MUBI UK and
Ireland as a MUBI Release and will be on the platform
for several months.
 ‘Cryptozoo: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ is
Kirby’s latest album following the release of his
electronic-jazz album ‘Septet’ in June 2021. He will be
touring the UK and Europe in March 2022.
 For fans of Bibio, Tangerine Dream, Susumu Yokota,
Laraaji, Joanna Brouk.
 Support from AV Club, New York Times, The Guardian,
Cinemacy, Collider, The Wire, BBC 6 Music, triple j
and KCRW, among others.

High Roller Records, reissue 2022, black vinyl

High Roller Records, reissue 2022, Silver vinyl

Each LP sleeve is delivered as a bespoke limited edition, hand-printed and customised by the man himself. Features Jehst, Taja, Jaz Kahina, Vandal Savage, Junior Disprol and Cappo. The return of the “Zack de la Rocha of Ashby de la Zouch”, back in tandem with Chicago producer Spectacular Diagnostics World status 2020-21; a write-off, one to be struck from the record, ‘NULL AND VOID’ if you will. This hasn’t stopped Kid Acne kicking on and bringing what he calls “the difficult fifth album” to the Lewis Recordings megaplex. Full of Yorkshire say-so, his inimitable strain of hip-hop delivers the mind-bending with everyman knowhow, fearlessly “taking out pop chart sucker rappers with a blow dart”. Spectacular Diagnostics (Westside Gunn, Vic Spencer, Conway the Machine, Nolan the Ninja) is back on the boards for Kid Acne’s latest magical mystery tour, strengthening regional alliances with UK heavyweights Cappo, Jehst and Vandal Savage as well as introducing one-to-watch Taja. Driven by the wise man’s testament that thou shalt never use the internet again, Acne shakes off screen burn and heads back to the great (socially distanced) outdoors with a fresh batch of wavy, chaos theorising boom-bap.

Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah have announced their debut LP I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me for February 25 via City Slang. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the new single “All Being Fine”. Originally inspired by Smog and noisy, lo-fi 90s bands, the track pulls the listener in immediately with its upbeat on the outside, sinister on the inside atmospherics, coming across like the aural equivalent of the opening of David Lynch’s classic film “Blue Velvet” - the bloody finger lying in the lush green grass. The video’s sun-drenched visual, directed by Whittle, is a perfect pairing, showcasing the band at their best: enigmatic, mysterious, but blackly humorous with it.

Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah have announced their debut LP I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me for February 25 via City Slang. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the new single “All Being Fine”. Originally inspired by Smog and noisy, lo-fi 90s bands, the track pulls the listener in immediately with its upbeat on the outside, sinister on the inside atmospherics, coming across like the aural equivalent of the opening of David Lynch’s classic film “Blue Velvet” - the bloody finger lying in the lush green grass. The video’s sun-drenched visual, directed by Whittle, is a perfect pairing, showcasing the band at their best: enigmatic, mysterious, but blackly humorous with it.

Gang of Youths today announce their biggest tour of the UK, including London’s O2 Academy Brixton to launch their upcoming album ‘angel in realtime’ which is out on February 25th through Warner Records. This week will see them support Sam Fender on his arena tour around the UK and play their own instantly sold-out club shows.

Gang of Youths say, “the album is about the life and legacy of Dave's father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”

Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.

Following their recent singles, ‘the angel of 8th ave.’ , telling of falling in love in a new city and making a home in another, and ‘the man himself’, a song created around a sample recording from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands that is about living without the guiding hand of your own father, today they release ‘tend the garden’.

Although the album is eclectic - influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop -- it’s equally rooted in Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. ‘angel in realtime’ also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

Le’aupepe says, “I hope the record stands as a monument to the man my father was and remains long after I’m gone myself. He deserved it.”

‘angel in realtime’ will be released on digital, double white vinyl and CD and is now available to pre-order. Fans who pre-order the album will receive instant downloads of ‘tend the garden’, ‘the man himself’, ‘unison’ and ‘the angel of 8th ave.’. HMV and select independent stores will offer a special edition of the vinyl which feature an alternate cover.

Fans who pre-order the album will receive access to a pre-sale for the band’s 2022 UK and European tour. The pre-sale will open at 9am local time on Wednesday, November 17th, and remaining live until remaining tickets go on general sale from 9am local time on Friday, November 19th.

Gang of Youths are: Dave Le’aupepe (vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass), Jung Kim (guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums) and Tom Hobden (keyboards, guitar, violin).

Our fascination with Adriaen Willaert's almost infinitely radiant oeuvre led us to
this beautiful, polyphonic monument of a Mass. The combination with the other
works on this LP is no coincidence: it illustrates how the composer was acutely
aware of what was going on musically in Venice, even outside the church walls of
St. Mark's Basilica. He turned folk songs, called Canzone Villanesche, into fourvoice musical gems that to this day leave no one unmoved. It is striking how
Willaert takes different approaches to turning spiritual texts, on the one hand, and
secular songs, on the other, into gripping compositions. For example, the Mass
has a polyphonic structure: one voice begins, the second voice imitates,
embellishes, and passes the torch to a third, fourth, and fifth voice. A braid of
melodies arises; a wall of vocal sounds that seems to never end is erected.
The text is difficult to understand, but here and there you recognize a snippet of
the main melody, the Gregorian melody "Benedicta es," on which all movements
of this Missa Benedicta es are based. It is different with the chansons: they
sound polyphonic, but homorhythmic. Everyone sings the same text at the same
time, so you can hear and understand the lyrics of the different verses very
clearly. Musicologists still debate to this day whether or not it was com- posed by
Willaert. Some say that it could have come from the pen of Nicolle de Celliers de
Hesdin... In any case, the fact that the mystery surrounding this music may never
be solved is no reason for us not to enjoy it to the fullest in the meantime!

Tape
“Stonewalling” offers a collection of electroacoustic pieces taking as input the Mexican vernacular music from the golden age of Mexican cinema of the first part of the 20th century. In those films, music was used as communication due their poor verbal communication-skills. This is an album about communication, about the impossibility to do so to resolve conflicts. In the technical side, some of the sources used as layering in the tracks come from radio frequencies taken from explorations into the software-defined radio universe, mixed with microphone feedbacks, oscillators, and random textures with field-recordings. In the melodic/harmonic structures of the tracks, the main instrument used is a classical guitar with hyper-processed chords using DSP tools. "Stonewalling”, in some way, follows to 444 (Umor Rex, 2019), serving as a Morse's follow-up into the Mexican vernacular music expeditions.

Produced by Alejandro Morse aka Edgar Medina in León, México. Mastered by Edgar Medina. Photos & design by Daniel Castrejón.

Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah have announced their debut LP I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me for February 25 via City Slang. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the new single “All Being Fine”. Originally inspired by Smog and noisy, lo-fi 90s bands, the track pulls the listener in immediately with its upbeat on the outside, sinister on the inside atmospherics, coming across like the aural equivalent of the opening of David Lynch’s classic film “Blue Velvet” - the bloody finger lying in the lush green grass. The video’s sun-drenched visual, directed by Whittle, is a perfect pairing, showcasing the band at their best: enigmatic, mysterious, but blackly humorous with it.

Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah have announced their debut LP I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me for February 25 via City Slang. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the new single “All Being Fine”. Originally inspired by Smog and noisy, lo-fi 90s bands, the track pulls the listener in immediately with its upbeat on the outside, sinister on the inside atmospherics, coming across like the aural equivalent of the opening of David Lynch’s classic film “Blue Velvet” - the bloody finger lying in the lush green grass. The video’s sun-drenched visual, directed by Whittle, is a perfect pairing, showcasing the band at their best: enigmatic, mysterious, but blackly humorous with it.

First Word Records is very proud to present you with 'Peace + Harmony'. The first EP from our most recent signing, K S R .

Hailing from Moss Side, Manchester, this young talent has been steadily building a rep for himself over the past few years as one of the UK's most exciting soul vocalists, with his releases encompassing an eclectic assortment of alternative R&B, future soul, hip hop and D&B. Influenced by an array of neo-soul artists, such as D'Angelo and Anderson .Paak, his own soulful style has already seen him tour and collaborate with a number of UK peers; working on projects with label-mates Children of Zeus & Australia's REMi, and supporting the likes of Etta Bond & The Mouse Outfit, as well as performing sell-out headline solo shows in Manchester and London, and playing various festivals across Europe, including the We Out Here festival very recently.

Since he began developing his music in 2017, K S R has had support from the likes of 1Xtra, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Mixmag, NTS, Reprezent, Unity & Soho Radio, in addition to featuring on a slew of D&B tracks with artists like Lenzman, BCee, Emba & Redeyes. The collab with Emba was recently named a 'Kiss FM Future Selection' courtesy of Hybrid Minds and features have been supported on Spotify's 'New Music Friday' and 'Mandem - Kings' amongst others. His debut release 'Unfiltered' appeared on Polarface Records in 2019, which was followed by single 'Flex With Me' (also produced by Tyler Daley from Children of Zeus) then an independent second EP, 'Take Control', followed in late 2020 (during the pandemic) which amassed over 500k streams. Additionally to the releases, he was recently recruited by Manchester United as part of their 21/22 season kit announcements, as well as working with Nike and Size? on a special MCR-themed Air Force 1 release.

It's now time for a new extended project from Roosevelt Kazaula Sigsbert - better known as K S R . 'Peace + Harmony' is a solid set of alternative R&B, produced by Dom Porter and mixed by Eric Lau. Six tracks in all, including the single, 'Harmless' (which received support from the likes of Mr. Scruff (Worldwide FM), BBC Manchester and Victoria Jane (BBC Radio 1), was 'Track Of The Week' on 1Xtra/BBC Introducing, and saw the video racking up several thousand plays in its first weekend) and follow-up 'CGWY' featuring Children of Zeus on a brand new interpretation of their classic track 'Get What's Yours'. From the intro track 'I Wonder', to the downlow future soul of 'Lily Apart', to the autobiographical vibes of 'Born In '98', to the closing track 'Given Summer', also featuring the vocals of Ayeisha Raquel, each track on the EP is of course laced with Roosevelt's unmistakable silky smooth vocals, and is set to join his already impressive catalogue of underground soul classics such as 'Alien Boo', 'Stylin' and 'New Love'.

K S R says "my third EP, P E A C E + H A R M O N Y is a collection of my thoughts and experiences from my journey throughout the last two years of my life. Lots of aspects of my life changed over 24 months, along with everyone around the globe. When we were thrown into the unknown at the start of 2020, I stepped away from music for a while as I couldn't find any peace in my creativity and needed to evolve. I finally started to feel cohesive with my songwriting and music, and I could feel harmony between myself and my art once again."

'Peace + Harmony' by K S R is released on vinyl & digital on First Word Records, late 2021.

„Seventh Sun“ ist weit mehr als nur eine Single, es ist ein exemplarischer Song, der die SCORPIONS ihre unverwechselbare, legendäre DNA im neuen, harten Sound zelebrieren lässt. Rudolf Schenker gelingt es am Anfang von „Seventh Sun“ perfekt, uns mit seiner Flying V fast mystisch in diesen kraftvollen Song
zu holen, ganz in der Tradition von Scorpions-Klassikern á la „Animal Magnetism“ oder „China White“.

Einmal mehr unterstreichen solche künstlerischen Bausteine die
Absicht der Band, mit ihrem neuen Album „Rock Believer“ die große DNA der Scorpions immer wieder zu bestätigen.

Das spektakuläre Cover der Single stammt von Klaus Voormann, dem Grammy-Gewinner („Bestes Schallplattencover 1966“), der u.a. für das ausgezeichnete Beatles-Album „Revolver“ das Album Cover entworfen hat.

A unique slice of 60s British art-rock from one of the most intriguing acts of the movement. Contains an unusual reading of Pharoah Sanders’ “Japan,”

[c] A3 . Dawn (feat Sparkz, [K S R] & Doctor Outer)

A key figure in Chicago’s second wave of influential house and techno producers, Mystic Bill returns to Classic Music Company with ‘Body Moves’, a release with serious club credentials and drenched in authentic NYC, New Jersey and Chicago influences. This 12” package is becoming a firm favourite of in-the-know selectors, no doubt thanks to its party-starting qualities that are sure to captivate floors. Featuring four versions of the track, Bill navigates various different analogue moods, kicking off with the vibing house of the original, as euphoric synth arpeggios and a warm, groovy bass blend for dancefloor magic. The Reprise Mix is another juicy club cut, with a full-throttle bassline that rips through the newly looped vocal. On the B-Side the NYC Mix demonstrates Mystic Bill’s trademark deepness, headsy enough for the darkest recesses of the dancefloors but with buckets full of energy for peaktime sets. The NYC Dub closes out, an essential club tool for any discerning selector. A perfect fit for Luke Solomon’s imprint, Mystic Bill’s ‘Body Moves’ is not one to be slept on.

Vinyl Only

Undefined #12 comes from the hand of Dan Piu. Since 1992, Dan has been keeping it versatile by blending different styles of music throughout his career. We are very happy to welcome him to the Undefined family.

His 'Fantasy Juxtaposition' EP resembles exactly what Undefined stands for; versatile and timeless.

On the A side we have a straight up DJ track with a certain techno and bleep flava combined with deep luscious vocals. Aa. gives us an old nu groove kinda beat with naughty 80ies jazz and old school bleepy acid house.

The B side starts with a real old recorded 90ies track, one of Dan's first tracks ever made. A dull love romance evolves from a harmony of batteling synthesizers layered on a break beat groove and fueled with a portion of soul. A mindbending trip. The Bb rounds it off! A track that Dan created back in 1998 together with his friend Gary Rich, Take a walk to a mysterious forest with this uplifting vibe. Gary Rich was a mysterious producer himself - people may know him from his Nightstalker moniker which he was in together with Dan.

The Nonesuch debut of Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra), LIFE ON EARTH, is a departure for the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter. Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others. International tour dates will be announced shortly.

For her eighth full-length album, Segarra (they/she) drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

Life on Earth’s first single, ‘RHODODENDRON’, is about “finding rebellion in plant life. Being called by the natural world and seeing the life that surrounds you in a way you never have. A mind expansion. A psychedelic trip. A spiritual breakthrough. Learning to adapt, and being open to the wisdom of your landscape. Being called to fix things in your own backyard, your own community,” says Segarra.

Of the ‘Rhododendron’ video, which was directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey, Segarra says: “It is really far out and fun. I got this bodysuit that just looks like the inside of the human body. It looks like you’re skinless. It’s in a scene where I’m playing to an audience of plants. Just really absurd, but I put that suit on and I was like man, this feels really good. It feels like, ‘This is who I am. Let’s just take the skin off.’

“It reminds me a little bit of Kids in the Hall,” they continue. “With this ‘Rhododendron’ shoot, something clicked in me where I was like, ‘All I have to do is be myself.’ I had been thinking that I had to be something bigger than myself. I felt like I was just never quite making the mark and then something clicked where I was like, ‘I just gotta be me. I could do that. I could show up and be me. And if people don’t like it, then I don’t know what to fucking tell them.’ It was like a brain shift of, ‘Oh, this can be fun. It doesn’t have to be suffering.’ With so many videos and photo shoots before, it really felt like suffering. I felt so uncomfortable being perceived. I didn’t know who I was.”

Honey adds: “We wanted to create something surreal, playful, and saturated that indulged heavily in the aesthetic of the early ‘90s. Alynda and I had many overlapping visual and philosophical references which sparked the initial collaboration. We wanted to make this video an homage to Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse trilogy but as a nature documentary crossover. I came across Araki’s work as a queer teenager, and he’s always been a big inspiration. Sex, blood, punk rock, camp, etc.

“We live in a moment where the future is bleaker and more unknown than ever, so there becomes a deep comfort in nostalgia and reliving the past. Through our talks, I realised Alynda’s new album touches on many of these same subjects, but perhaps in reverse; running from a past that is always haunting you. Shifting into a more refined self/identity through confronting one’s trauma and baggage. It was easy to reach collaborative synergy for this video project because we’re both interested in tackling similar issues.”

Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at the age of seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make her most recent album, 2016’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

Ninja Gaiden, of the most iconic and beloved 2D action game series ever created, was first released in the arcades in 1988, while making its console debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) later in the same year. At the time of the console release, Ninja Gaiden was renowned not only for its deep storytelling beautifully visualized by TECMO’s unique “cinema scenes,” but also through its legendary chiptune soundtrack, whose unique rock-’n’-roll sound and drum beat instantly became a formative musical experience for players who were only just getting into video games.

Ninja Gaiden: The Definitive Soundtrack is divided into volumes. The first, Ninja Gaiden Vol. 1, features the music of both the NES title and the Arcade game, both titled Ninja Gaiden. These legendary soundtracks have been digitally restored under the supervision of Keiji Yamagishi, one of the original series composers. The booklet includes a comprehensive roundtable discussion among several members of the original development team, including the director, producers, artist and composers; an essay by game historian Ray Barnholt; and original archival artworks.

In 2020 double bassist and composer Lara Rosseel was thé revelation of the Belgian jazz scene. With her album 'De Grote Vrouw' she managed to conquer the hearts of jazz aficionados. Her compositions are firmly rooted in the jazz tradition but spiced up with exotic influences, balancing on that enviable border between mystery and recognisability. Music that didn't rely on boastful gymnastics, but a loud beating heart tailored to a wide audience.

Now Rosseel is continuing this journey of conquest with a young quintet and a new repertoire. Foundation and fantasy are key in her arrangements, intimate digressions and fine sound paintings.

The new album Hert is released on WERF Records on 18 March 2022.

Finally the debut full length LP from Aeon Seven is upon us!

After a production career going back to the year 2000, this French maestro has been a creative force in all areas of production, DJing and animation.

First gaining some serious attention from the funk/breaks community worldwide with his exceptional Funky Furious EP (2005), he has gone on to produce a clutch of incredible mix tapes that beautifully reveal his deft touch on the turntables and in the studio, he's written a couple of singles for 45 Live Records and produced some slick DJ tools with the Thundercuts series on both 7" and 12".

Throughout all this time Aeon Seven has been honing his craft both musically and visually. His love of the instrumental, and obvious love of soundtracks, psyche and jazz come through in all of his productions. From the downbeat and wonderfully eerie and atmospheric themes of "The Hidden Hand", the cosmic harp led soundscape of the opening track "Outer Space Illusion" to the uptempo and funky blaxploitation vibes of "Mankind Hunt", Aeon Seven's grasp of songwriting is mature and expertly executed.

One of the things that made Elvis Presley a truly great
singer was that he was singing material that he deeply
loved. He’d grown up listening to Country Music and
Gospel, to the Blues, and its near relative Rhythm & Blues.
In fact, Elvis grew up in the very heartland of the Delta
Blues, in Mississippi and Tennessee. All of that music
filtered through Elvis, who added something of his own as
he delivered it to the world. This album collects fourteen of
Presley’s greatest Blues recordings between 1953 and
1960.

"Même Soleil" is the result of a dialog between the French photographer Gaël Bonnefon and the French musician Frédéric D. Oberland initiated by IIKKI, between December 2019 and June 2021.

Self-taught multi-instrumentalist & photographer, Frédéric D. Oberland finds himself at the crossroads of image and sound, favoring a synesthetic approach. He articulates different modes of narration, combining the raw character of the documentary form with the transfigured reality of myth and poetry, allowing him to question notions such as the sacred, the monstrous, the fraternity, while at the same time returning to the political news of the present. Attentive to the pulse of the body, his work is willingly itinerant, modulating between the ripples of dreams, watching the points of incandescence and the bursts of electricity that act as revelations of our presence in the world, here and now. He’s the co-founder of leading bands such as Oiseaux-Tempête, FOUDRE!, Le Réveil des Tropiques, FareWell Poetry and is co-curating the label NAHAL Recordings.

"Fueled by travels and their emanations, Frédéric D. Oberland’s music had to build new horizons this year, outlined by the curves of semi-modular synthesizers, the avalanches of effect pedals and the zigzagging paths of electric circuits. Même Soleil, his third solo album, manages to merge mystical visions of the unconscious and the absurdity of an apocalyptic present in a sensory whirlwind, operating an astonishing mutation with tones still unexplored in his previous releases. A visual as well as a musical journey that takes shape in a book and a record of the same title, Même Soleil is the result of a collaboration with the photographer Gaël Bonnefon. Seeking the tension between the blinding light of day and the glittering visions of saturated night skies, the two pieces in dialogue transcend reality to deliver their own truth, as bright as the first light of the sought-after morning." (Alice Butterlin)

Gaël Bonnefon graduated with highest honours from the Fine Arts School of Toulouse (Isdat) in 2008. He has exhibited at Villa Pérochon, at the Eté photographique in Lectoure, at the 104 in Paris during Jeune Création 2012, at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles and at PhotoEspaña, at the Abattoirs Museum in Toulouse in 2014, at the Château d’Eau Gallery in 2012 and 2019 and in the Vitrine of Frac Île-de-France in 2020. His work is part of the collections of Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Château d'Eau gallery, Kulturamt in Dusseldorf and Kiyosato Museum in Japan ; he participated in Temps Zero projects Berlin, Braga, Rome, Bucarest, Groningen and Thessaloniki. He has also been granted artist’s residencies in Germany, France and Israel. His first book Elegy for the Mundane was published by La Main Donne in 2019. He continues his intimate and dense journey and presents his second publishing, Même Soleil with photographic works from 2009 to 2021.

"At first brutal and declining, the substance of Gaël Bonnefon's photography is just like a gaze that fears being one day extinguished and that is always looking to be born again. In photography as in love, recoil and desire, tension and easement, repetition, wandering and rest, flight and pursuit. Here photography allows itself to be traversed by flashes of life, renewed forces, echoes of far-off kindnesses and lost joys. It sings silently, lover of a thousand faces from which the thread of a single and same image is born, followed without relent, from the snowy peaks of childhood to the lost worlds of the present." (Michaël Soyez)

The discovery continues by exploring mystical areas around the moon. SPT006 contains four galactic tracks by Lucinee, Blue Hour & Alpha Tracks, a_000 as well as co-labelhead Frank Heise.

They are here, all over: sudden, random molecular movements. Invisible and yet extremely effective. Perceptible only to those who turn on things from a peculiar outlook. Now Rio unfolds the second edition of “Risks Issues Opportunities”, bringing interstellar musical developments full of little, yet profound molecule advances. Eight mystical fate spinners, with the muscle to shed some light on unanswered questions, that will stay unanswered after all. Monolithic, yet deeply fragile compositions, made by terrestrials like Leipzig based producer Syncboy, Pannotia from Sydney, Italy based dusty drum machines lovers Twoonky, Charlotte Simon, known as one half of the art duo Le Trucs from Frankfurt, Berlin mystic’s like Airaboi or Nadia D'Alò of the duo INIT, Brooklyn based “The Thing” housekeeper Willie Burns and Vienna’s symbolist sound poet Bocksrucker. They all created electric signs for the above. Murky analogue prophesiers without prophecy, bringing headway music against the greedy frontier spirit. Hypnotic tones out of a hazy musical outer space. Like a dream that forgot to dream, they wave around with veiled frequencies full of ray, processed through analogue machine power. Music, that is able to in sight humans to an Atget photography. Able to transmit flashes to the firmament, to stars that wander darkling in eternal space. And yes: to some who listen a sudden physical movement might transpire, despite the fact that all was made without a particular practical value. Art for art's sake‍. In favor of an alternative to reality. Compellingly haunted by itself. Like stone, that awaits a random molecular movement.

F.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm have confirmed details of their fourth collaborative album, 2X1=4, which will be released on September 3, 2021, by LEITER, the new label formed by Frahm and his
manager, Felix Grimm. The seven-track album finds the duo unexpectedly exploring a dub influenced universe, though in truth it’s one already familiar to both. F.S.Blumm, for instance, is
co-founder of Quasi Dub Development, whose 2014 album, Little-Twister vs Stiff-Neck, featured Lady Ann and Lee Scratch Perry, while Frahm’s music – not least 2018’s All Melody – has
occasionally betrayed a fondness for the form’s associated studio techniques, though he concedes wryly that his approach has always been “a little bit more German” than his influences.

F.S.Blumm, a revered mainstay of the German underground for over two decades, and Nils Frahm, who’s enjoyed significant success in recent years with his ground-breaking compositions
for piano and synths, first met in the early 2000s. Frahm was a big fan of Blumm’s 2001 album, Mondkuchen – he refers to his fellow Berlin resident admiringly these days as “a vital brick in the
Berlin Wall” – while Blumm was soon dazzled by Frahm’s studio set up. “Compared to mine,” he says, “it was like a space ship!” Soon they were working together on a variety of projects –
including theatre pieces and animated films – and by 2010 they’d released their first collaborative album, Music For Lovers Music Versus Time. A second, Music For Wobbling Music Versus
Gravity, followed in 2013, and a third, Tag Eins Tag Zwei, in 2016.

2X1=4 is very different to its predecessors, but its final track, ‘Neckrub’, first took shape as they wound up work on Tag Eins Tag Zwei. “We had a certain sound in the back of our heads,”
Blumm recalls, “which was influenced by these 80s rhythm machines, and we suddenly discovered a common love for dub.” Most of the new album, therefore, was initially developed in 2016 during improvisation sessions recorded by Frahm to two-track cassette. “It was like we were running a combine harvester,” Blumm laughs, “so we could write our names on a single grain!”

Afterwards, they worked on editing and overdubs in Frahm’s new studio at Berlin’s legendary Funkhaus. “We kept on making new songs out of these sessions and starting over and over again,” Frahm smiles. “It was a process that was time consuming but really fun.” Not that either of them is eager to claim a purist approach. “I love ending up somewhere where I’m surprised by myself or the machine or the person with whom I’m making music,” Blumm concludes, while
Frahm emphasises that, “None of this is too serious. The record is only as much of a dub record as the ones before are jazz records…”

She Drew The Gun are today announcing their return with new album Behave Myself. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Revolution Of Mind, which was named among BBC 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year, is produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, The Kills, Working Men’s Club). The first music from the record is confirmed to arrive next month.

Under the moniker She Drew The Gun, songwriter Louisa Roach began by playing solo gigs around Liverpool, she quickly caught the attention of The Coral’s James Skelly who she began working with at Skeleton Key Records, recruiting band members along the way. At first glance Roach’s fuzzy psych-pop may suggest that the Wirral born songwriter is another ‘Cosmic Scouser’ but then you’re drawn into the spirit of rebellion, songs that rally against injustice and food banks and celebrate outsiderdom.

She Drew The Gun are today announcing their return with new album Behave Myself. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Revolution Of Mind, which was named among BBC 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year, is produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, The Kills, Working Men’s Club). The first music from the record is confirmed to arrive next month.

Under the moniker She Drew The Gun, songwriter Louisa Roach began by playing solo gigs around Liverpool, she quickly caught the attention of The Coral’s James Skelly who she began working with at Skeleton Key Records, recruiting band members along the way. At first glance Roach’s fuzzy psych-pop may suggest that the Wirral born songwriter is another ‘Cosmic Scouser’ but then you’re drawn into the spirit of rebellion, songs that rally against injustice and food banks and celebrate outsiderdom.

Eve Adams offers solace within life's shadows. Un-numbing senses with anthems of surrender and tender-hearted tales that tingle with Californian folk-noir, her album Metal Bird takes flight with the turbulence and romance of Hollywood’s golden age, and meditates on the mysteries of love, death, insecurity and loneliness.
Like a match struck in a cobwebbed attic, Adams voice is a fiery detective, unafraid to explore the unseen; the liminal spaces between mourning and rapture, between the coldness of a corpse and the heat of cremation. Imagery of flight and the denial of gravity floats slyly through the ten songs on Metal Bird by the California-born musician and hints at the experience of being caught in purgatory, like a passenger on a plane ride from Hell to Heaven.
Combining airy folk with haunting soundscapes the album takes listeners on an auditory voyage from sonorous lullabies, to dreamy ambience, skeletal jazz, 1930s torch songs and 1940s film noir. Metal Bird has a distinct, genuine tone, with orchestral arrangements, ambient hallucinations and high fidelity vocals that are unafraid to be heard loud and clear.
For those who are hopelessly enamoured with a by-gone time, there is solace in these songs and sounds.  Flickering back and forth between dread and hope, the unrelenting march towards a spiritual transformation and the realization that each of us are driven by our own dreams and as much as we want to hold it in our hands, often it is intangible. The sublime remains elusive, existing somewhere in the heart, and it sounds like Eve Adams knows this best.

Wes Andersons neuester Film ”The French Dispatch” erweckt eine Sammlung von Geschichten aus der
letzten Ausgabe einer amerikanischen Zeitschrift zum Leben, die in einer fiktiven französischen Stadt des
20. Jahrhunderts erschien.
In den Hauptrollen spielen Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray
und Owen Wilson. Der Film feierte im Juli bei den Filmfestspielen von Cannes 2021 in Frankreich Premiere
und wird am 21./22. Oktober weltweit in die Kinos kommen.
Der ”The French Dispatch” OST wird zeitgleich mit dem Kinostart des Films veröffentlicht. Auf dem
eklektischen Soundtrack sind Jarvis Cocker, Grace Jones, Ennio Morricone, Charles Aznavour und viele
andere zu hören.
ab 11.02.2022 auch als 2LP erhältlich

"Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads Amorphis have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On “Halo”, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Fins underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes. In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos “Kalevala” into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, Amorphis combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honouring tradition without getting stuck in the past. The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is “Halo” highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by
renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how Amorphis manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s “Under the Red Cloud” followed by 2018’s “Queen of Time.” “It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates. Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerising lullabies, adds, “To me, ‘Halo’ sounds a little more stripped down compared to ‘Queen Of Time’ and ‘Under The Red Cloud.’ However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.” He’s right, of course: By stripping down some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental. That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs Amorphis offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried Amorphis significantly forward.” Indeed. Setting off with the stormy grandeur of opener “Northwards,” Amorphis take us on an epic journey through the lands of the north, their rich cultural and historical heritage and musical traditions. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark. However, no Amorphis album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for Amorphis,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.” Since 2007’s “Silent Waters,” Kainulainen has been navigating the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For “Halo,” he outdid himself once again. “‘Halo’ is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.” Thirty-one years after their inception, with uncounted global tours under their belt and fourteen albums deep in their career, Amorphis still proves to be the musical fountain of youth, an extraordinary band constantly reinventing itself without abandoning its mystical roots. With “Halo”, they deliver an astonishing album that deserves to be played everywhere, transcending the realms of metal and rock by its sheer profoundness and musicality."

"Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads Amorphis have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On “Halo”, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Fins underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes. In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos “Kalevala” into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, Amorphis combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honouring tradition without getting stuck in the past. The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is “Halo” highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by
renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how Amorphis manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s “Under the Red Cloud” followed by 2018’s “Queen of Time.” “It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates. Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerising lullabies, adds, “To me, ‘Halo’ sounds a little more stripped down compared to ‘Queen Of Time’ and ‘Under The Red Cloud.’ However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.” He’s right, of course: By stripping down some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental. That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs Amorphis offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried Amorphis significantly forward.” Indeed. Setting off with the stormy grandeur of opener “Northwards,” Amorphis take us on an epic journey through the lands of the north, their rich cultural and historical heritage and musical traditions. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark. However, no Amorphis album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for Amorphis,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.” Since 2007’s “Silent Waters,” Kainulainen has been navigating the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For “Halo,” he outdid himself once again. “‘Halo’ is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.” Thirty-one years after their inception, with uncounted global tours under their belt and fourteen albums deep in their career, Amorphis still proves to be the musical fountain of youth, an extraordinary band constantly reinventing itself without abandoning its mystical roots. With “Halo”, they deliver an astonishing album that deserves to be played everywhere, transcending the realms of metal and rock by its sheer profoundness and musicality."

With one foot in the real world and the other in a charmed dimension of his own making, Amos Lee creates the rare kind of music that's
emotionally raw yet touched with a certain magical quality.

On his eighth album 'Dreamland', the Philadelphia- born singer/ songwriter intimately documents his real- world struggles (alienation, anxiety, loneliness, despair), an outpouring born from deliberate and often painful self-examination.
"For most of my life I've walked into rooms thinking, 'I don't belong here,'" says Lee. "I've come to the realization that I'm too comfortable as an isolated person, and I want to reach out more. This record came from questioning my connections to other people, to myself, to my past and to the future."

‘The Syd Barrett of the avant-jazz scene’ British jazz composer, pianist, songwriter, Mike Taylor died tragically young, leaving just two albums as well as co-writes with Ginger Baker for Cream’s Wheels Of Fire album to his name. In 1973, under the direction of Neil Ardley, several of the performers who had worked with him recorded an album of Taylor’s surviving orchestral music, jazz tunes and songs as a memorial to him and to preserve his work as a composer and song writer for posterity. Taken from Ardley’s master tapes, this is their critically-acclaimed tribute to a master of his art by friends and colleagues, themselves representing a cross-section of the cream of modern British jazz talent of the day.

Collective Personnel

Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Henry Lowther, Ian Carr (trumpets, flugelhorn) : Chris Pyne, David Horler (trombones) : Ray Premru (bass trombone) : Barbara Thompson (flute, alto flute, soprano sax) : Ray Warleigh (flute, alto sax) : Stan Sulzmann (flute, alto sax, soprano sax) : Bob Efford (oboe, tenor sax, bassoon) : Dave Gelly (bass clarinet, clarinet, tenor sax) : Bunny Gould (bass clarinet, bassoon) : Peter Lemer (piano, electric piano, synthesizer) : Alan Branscombe (vibraphone) : Chris Laurence, Ron Mathewson (bass, bass guitar) : Jon Hiseman (drums, percussion) : Neil Ardley (director) : Norma Winstone (vocal)

Composed by Mike Taylor. Music direction by Neil Ardley. Recorded by Denis Preston at Landsdowne Studios, London, 1973. For publishing credits, contact MCPS London, England.

Mastered by Martin Mitchell at Moorend Studios, February 2007.

He looked like a bank clerk, but acted like a mystic”. Obituary – ‘Melody Maker’, February 15th 1969

“You’ll be returning to this for eons to fully unlock its genius.” Record Collector

“From the eerie opening sounds, like an orchestra tuning up, through a searing chord, and then into the frantic countermelody under long brass on Brown Thursday, and the baleful march-time of Land of Rhyme in Time, Taylor's audacity is plain.” The Guardian

As a young kid I always wanted to be a musician especially with my brothers.
My Dad, Major Williams Sr started it all with my Brother Lil Major Williams and Garland Williams.
They would travel and play music at venues all over Texas and surroundings States.

I myself stared playing the snare drum in Junior High school and eventually started playing with the Majortones Band which was my dad and brothers group.

I remember the first time I ever sat behind a set of drums it was like a dream come true.
We were playing at this club in Houston, called the Green Parrot.
Garland which was the drummer at the time, I think he got sick or something happened, that's when my dad came to me and said this your time Ray.

I was so scared , keep in my I was only 11years old, anyway I played that night if it had not been for the Bass player (Fox was his name) telling me how to work the foot pedal and high hats snare we wouldn't have made he just kept telling me to stay on the one, at that time I was wondering what was the one Lol.

As time went by I started really getting the hang the thing call music.

Little Major was a big James Brown fan, so we played a lot of Brown's music and if I tell you we were tight and right.

Major wrote Girl Don't Leave in 1978 and I can't remember the real reason for the title of song but it did really good lot's of air play.

As time went on Lil Major, Garland and my Dad passed away.

That's when I started managing The Majortones Band and to this Day it's still going strong.

I re-wrote Girl Don't Leave Me and released it a few years ago which was the best thing I could have ever done.

I feel like it's my time in the music industry, I've been playing for over forty years and I'm still in love with it and still having lots of fun.

Is there a better pairing of kindred spirits than a split seven-inch single featuring Le Butcherettes and Death Valley Girls? We're hard pressed to think of one. Sure, the interaction is fleeting, but damn is it satisfying. We've got Le Butcherettes on side A taking on one of Death Valley Girls' most cosmic numbers, the kaleidoscopic centerpiece off Under the Spell of Joy album, "The Universe." Le Butcherettes' fearless and charismatic mastermind Teri Gender Bender takes the tune into even trippier territories, replicating the original song's sonic tapestry of synth, sax, and guitars with layer upon layer of vocals. Only the sparse accompaniment of acoustic guitar and modest percussion keeps the song from being fully a capella. It's a perfect interpretation of Death Valley Girls' communal and choral aims. On side B, Death Valley Girls offer up a new tune - the deliciously ecstatic "When I'm Free." Like every great Death Valley Girls song, it's a celebration of life bolstered by fiery rock n' roll riffage, spiritual organ, dizzying sax, and Bonnie Bloomgarden's defiant and triumphant vocals. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to offer up this meeting of mystical minds on vinyl and digital platforms on February 11, 2022.

Tripe. It’s what graces the cover of Cassels’ third album, A Gut Feeling. It looks gross. And Cassels are a rock band who’ve often sounded gross. You know the adjectives. ‘Discordant’. ‘Angular’. ‘Cynical’. Shellac quickly mentioned. I’ve done it already, see?Listening to A Gut Feeling, though, Cassels sound different. Not too different – the molten riff of advance single ‘Mr Henderson Coughs’ puts paid to the idea that the London-based duo have taken a hard 180. But instead of writing as quickly as possible, riding the churn forced on DIY bands by an indifferent ecosystem, the Covid-19 pandemic gave the brothers Beck (Jim, guitar/vocals, and Loz, drums/BVs) some time to mull things over. Instead of sticking with the stripped-back recording approach of previous LPs, Jim and Loz spent time at Tom Hill’s Bookhouse Studios in South London, considering tone, layering tracks, and bringing new instruments into the fold. Lyrically, the approach has changed too. Rather than presented as personal experience, Jim notes that his words this time around “are an intentionally muddy mix of experience, opinion, red herrings and fiction,” adding, “I found that setting myself the brief of writing character pieces offered a nice way of sneaking quite personal things into the songs without being explicitly autobiographical.” The result is the most satisfying and unexpected collection of songs in the Cassels catalogue. Instruments at turns razor-sharp and bludgeon-blunt provide the backing track to a savage, hilarious, and tender collection of short stories. Jim notes that “writing can be a great way of unearthing hang-ups and becoming acquainted with your own anxieties”. Hardly new ground for a rock band, but presented in this third person format – unbiased and filled to the brim with human warmth – these songs are more empathetic than anything the band have written before. You might have been Michael on his daily commute. Perhaps you’re Sarah, or have a mum like her. And many of us will recognise ourselves in the heart-breaking ‘Family Visits Relative’. It’s clear that the band still aren’t afraid to tackle weighty subjects too, with A Gut Feeling picking up where their previous album, The Perfect Ending, left off. ‘Charlie Goes Skiing’ pulls a similar trick to Future of the Left’s ‘Goals in Slow Motion’ – setting a screed against consumerism to one of the most propulsive, catchy tracks on the record. It’s followed by ‘Dog Drops Bone’, a rustling loop overlaid with sad, simple chords reminiscent of a Sparklehorse tune, which uses the internal monologue of a beloved canine companion to question the true depth and sincerity of human relationships. This kicks into the breakneck ‘Beth’s Recurring Dream’ – a track exploring a sexual identity crisis which owes as much to early Los Campesinos! as it does Steve Albini. Of ‘Your Humble Narrator’, the album’s punishing, pulsing opener and A Gut Feeling’s thematic frame, Jim explains: “I liked the idea of introducing an unreliable narrator who frames the album as an exercise in manipulation for personal gain. When a person engages with a piece of art they are invariably being manipulated by the artist to some degree – that’s part of the fun. The artist aims to elicit some sort of emotional response, the audience buys into the conceit at the promise of experiencing some form of escape.” as listeners, we experience that manipulation first-hand on A Gut Feeling. But the fact Cassels have packaged it up as offal feels like another bleak wink. This is far from a stinking by-product, salvaged and sold to maximise profit. It’s nothing less than the most complete, relatable, and fully realised piece of art the duo has produced to date. Emotional response elicited. Conceit embraced.