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Blackened Blues with Doom and Punk influences, Black Totem’s Deathrock is overflowing with superstition, vice and horror. Up to no good since 2008, Black Totem are notorious road-dogs of the Finnish underground, cutting their teeth and scraping their raw knuckles in a slew of live shows through the years. The band has shown promise since the early days releasing two EP’s and a self-titled debut album, which won an award for Best Rock Album at the Turku Music Awards in 2016. With their new album “Shapeshifting,” Black Totem are downright lycanthropic, breaking out of their enigmatic origins and taking on a much more unadulterated form. Their catchy, raucous Blues songs, with wild, untamed backing vocals and horror-soundtrack keys, give a distinctly Finnish lizard-disco hysteria to their fortified sound, coming across like a blood-bath in a moonshine distillery. Howling at the moon, with lungs of bile, Danzig/Misfits/Samhain influences are fleshed out with the Doom-laden riff-war of Celtic Frost, Venom and Darkthrone. Together with the catchier urban song-craft of the Black Keys, this cauldron of Black Totem’s magic formula makes “Shapeshifting” a familiar, yet heavily enjoyable natural genre-clash of their own.

Built on a foundation of authenticity, passion and innovation, Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band is a spearheading group that has established itself in the world of music. Formedby Archie Lee Hooker, the nephew of John Lee Hooker, Archie and his leading handpicked team arehighly recognised for creating compelling, soul-enriching productions that leave their audienceswanting more.
Archie was born on Christmas Day of 1949 in Lambert, Mississippi, just 20 miles from thecrossroads where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil. He was the son of a sharecropper, and up until age thirteen, that was the life he was accustomed to. That all changed when he headed up north and found himself standing in the big city of Memphis,Tennessee.
The paved roads and city lights felt like a new world to Archie, one that was filled with opportunities. Inspired by the Memphis music scene, it didn’t take long for Archie to begin singing with his first gospel group called The Marvellous Five. However, December of 1989 was when hispassion for Blues started to surface. During this time, Archie lived with his uncle, John Lee (the Boogieman himself) until his death in 2001. Being surrounded by him and other committed, talented, and influencing musicians is what became the catalyst for Archie to crave sharing his own life experiences through music and leave his lasting impression.
Though Archie left for France in 2011 to join Carl Wyatt & The Delta Voodoo Kings to tour Europe, he eventually chose to seek the right musicians to have on his side. He wanted a team that resembled family, chemistry, and a bond unlike any other. Once he found them, Archie founded the Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band, which was specially named after the late John Lee’s Coast to Coast Blues Band. Since then, the crew has done nothing but thrive and impress.
They released their first album called ‘Chilling’ under the French label Dixiefrog in 2018, which received a 5-star review in Rolling Stone Magazine. Fast forward to today, they have recorded a new 12 song CD called ‘Living in a Memory’, and this all-original playlist of storytelling art is set to be released through Dixiefrog worldwide on April 16th, 2021. In the end, every song and performance that Archie Lee Hooker & The Coast to Coast Blues Band creates paints an incredible picture that inevitably provokes uplifting emotional influences and invested attraction.
They are entirely passionate about delivering remarkable music, and continuously provide fully authentic productions that have shaped them to become what they are today. With their immense drive and determination, it is exciting to see what they will launch next.

Bunny Lee's tiptop productions reissued in finest quality by Dub Store Records.

Shapes of Rhythm welcomes Emanative to the label for his first vinyl project following contributions to its Isolation Compilation and an Awkward Corners EP both earlier in 2020. Known for his love of collaboration, Emanative connected remotely with Bex Burch during the global lockdown. Disrupt #4 is the result of a meeting of two percussive minds in the midst of a pandemic, and like all good things it started with a groove. Nick initially provided Bex with a hazy, electrified afrobeat sketch. What followed was a musical dialogue which quickly gained momentum. A punk-esque vocal mantra was added, reflecting the here and now of 2020 to drive the track forward. Bex's trademark Ghanaian Gyil xylophone is the conversation with the groove throughout the track. Hector Plimmer also joins the collaboration, seasoning the mix with synthesizers and fx.

Following his stunning Dislocation Songs LP, the label drafted in Awkward Corners AKA Paradise Bangkok's Chris Menist for a remix on the flip that heads towards the club (remember clubs?). Adding 808s, his own conga recordings, synth lines, a sprinkle of acid and a warped vocal treatment, this is classic Awkward Corners: pumped with feeling and rhythm. If Andrew Weatherall was still with us today he'd be digging this take on the a-side.

Lothian Buses’ is an EP of genre collisions with Proc Fiskal amalgamating his twinkling, caffeinated grime sound with the rhythms and sounds of other genres, without ever overthinking it. To kick off, ‘Thurs Jung Yout’ is a kind of shoegaze drill with strings and gentle tones swelling and dissipating against busy drill beats. ‘Baguettes’ is a more classic Proc sound, a galloping rhythm against a sparse melody that was a quick fix up for a show that turned out well. ‘Choco Frito (Calamari)’ was influenced by the good life, DJing in Portugal in the sunshine and hearing Kuduro played out. The latticing drum patterns nod to the style, dropping into a sunny accordion chorus with a plucked guitar line. ‘Scarab Aloph’ is Proc's style compressed, full of micro-glitches, tight drum fills and incidental drop-outs across a pretty melody, while ‘HopeTak2’ is his percussive, breezy take on funky house with smiley melodic stabs. Finally, ‘Mullit Madollock’ takes the sonics of airy Bukem-style atmospheric jungle, an instantly recognisable inspiration that's not been as foregrounded in Proc’s work before, refitted and updated with grime-inspired melodic bass kicks.

London-based record label Wisdom Teeth kicks off 2021 with something close to home: Blush - the playful, dynamic debut LP by label co-founder, Facta. Recorded unusually quickly over a short stint in early 2020, the record is the product of a period of refreshed and unfussy creativity. It’s an innovative and distinctly contemporary album that moves a good few steps beyond the artist’s work to date - loosely rooted in UK dance music but taking added influence from ambient, modern classical, dreampop, Balearic, folk music and beyond. The result is a lush, ornate record populated by aqueous pads, bleeping arps, wandering melodies and sparse broken rhythms; acoustic instruments that play out alongside FM synths, all processed with a pristine UV sheen inherited from modern pop music. The record opens with ‘Sistine (Plucks)’ - a crystalline synth piece with a stumbling, shifting metre revolving around an odd-ended MIDI harp loop, coloured through with washed-out pads and snatches of found sound. This breezy mood follows through to ‘On Deck’, where an FM vibraphone rings out on top of woozy, warping chords and a subby soca groove. Moving forward the record moves cohesively through a range of shifting moods and hues. The machine jazz of ‘Brushes’ is tense and coiled, with nods towards Burnt Friedman, Photek and Eli Keszler. ‘Iso Stream’ sees a rich, colourful sprawl of arpeggiated synths and dissociated vocal chops unspool slowly to form pooling, lowlit melodies. Title track ‘Blush’ is a forlorn Autonomic love song built from clicks-n-cuts - like dBridge & Instra:mental reduced and reinterpreted by SND. Throughout, bold, broad melodies take centre stage, and the tracks build like compositions rather than loops or club tools. There are echoes of the dancefloor - particularly in the slo-mo bruk of ‘Verge’ and the glacial subs underpinning ‘Diving Birds’ (a collaboration with friend and Trilogy Tapes regular Parris) - however the end results find us somewhere far off. ‘Blush’ is the second long-form release to come from Wisdom Teeth following K-LONE’s 2020 debut album, ‘Cape Cira’, which was widely ranked as one the best LPs of 2020.

Cabaret Voltaire is Richard H. Kirk and ‘Shadow of
Fear’ was the band’s first studio album in 26 years,
released in 2020 to critical acclaim.
‘Dekadrone’ delves deeper into Cabaret Voltaire’s
arsenal of “harsh rhythms and threatening
detonations” (Classic Pop).
A brand-new drone album on CD packaged in a
gatefold card pack and white double vinyl in a
gatefold sleeve with full colour inner bags and high
definition audio download. (‘Dekadrone’ is
presented across the double LP as four ‘Phases’.)
“‘Shadow of Fear’ is a brash and confident
rebirth… Richard H. Kirk has chosen a good time to
revive the Cabs’ ominous industrial funk” - Uncut
(8*)
“Masterclass in shapeshifting disco… clinches these
industrial shadow-dwellers’ influence” - Mojo (4/5)
“Kirk is intent on pushing forward, ensuring that
the hints of familiarity never come with an
accompanying tang of comforting nostalgia.” - The
Guardian (4/5)
“A lot has changed in the past 26 years, but what
hasn’t altered is Cabaret Voltaire’s knack for eerie
but danceable post-punk.” - NME

Good vs. Evil is the third studio album by American rapper KXNG CROOKED (formerly known as Crooked I). The album was released on November 11, 2016 and features cameo appearances from notable rappers such as Eminem, RZA, Xzibit, Tech N9ne among other guests The album was well received by critics, who praised its direction, dark beats and narrative skills.
After the most controversial Presidential election in this country’s history, one that has not only created further divisiveness amongst the people residing in it, but one that now includes handful of cities across our nation protesting in the streets it has become evident we are living in a complicated and dangerous time. The societal divide widens so deeply with every passing day that it seems as if at any moment the pendulum could shift. KXNG CROOKED's Good Vs Evil could not appear at a more needed time.

PRIMAL FEAR's ferocious new record “Metal Commando” has been an undisputed highlight of 2020. The German power metal band's 13th full length detonated in the midst of a raging pandemic, leaving no stone unturned in its path. The whole world got stuck in, achieving the 6 piece some of their highest chart positions in their 20+ year career, which included; a top ten in Switzerland (6), Germany (7), Japan (7), Finland (9) and Sweden (9) next to multiple high entries in countries such as Austria, Spain, France and the USA.

PRIMAL FEAR are Germany’s metal band of the hour, again. Right now however, they want to show us something new, a different side to them - after releasing a string of heavy and hard-hitting singles from “Metal Commando”, mastermind Mat Sinner and vocal force Ralf Scheepers have something extraordinary up their sleeves; a 5-track single, built around an exclusive new rendition of their achingly beautiful ballad ‘I Will Be Gone’, re-recorded with none other than Finnish metal diva extraordinaire, Tarja Turunen.

“There were three famous vocalists on our final wish list,” Mat Sinner comments. “That it was Tarja who got involved in this song is a matter of pure joy for all of us. Working together on the song and video was totally relaxed and professional – a great experience also because Tarja’s and Ralf’s voices go together incredibly well. Now, we can expand the ‘Metal Commando’ saga with a unique chapter. We’re all really proud of this single.”

The Finnish icon can only agree: “I was very happy to receive the invitation to take part in PRIMAL FEAR’s beautiful song ‘I Will Be Gone’. We started our careers nearly at the same time many years ago, and finally got a chance to work together. I love the song and personally it helped me to stay connected and rock again, even if at the studio this time. I really hope that people will like this collaboration and that it will bring them joy especially during these difficult times we are living through at the moment.”
The song, fragile and touching, gets an altogether new and deeply melancholic vibe with Tarja’s unbelievably emotional performance, showcasing a different facet of PRIMAL FEAR. Yet, it’s not the only gift they deliver on this 5-track sensation - just take ‘Vote Of No Confidence’ for example, an all-new, previously unreleased beast of a song. Clocking in at over six minutes, this storming, furious anthem gives a brilliant glimpse of things to come. Previously only available as bonus tracks on the limited “Metal Commando” digipack, three more tracks complete this release; enchanting guitar instrumental ‘Rising Fear’, massive mid-tempo smasher ‘Leave Me Alone’, and heavy metal monument ‘Second To None’, making ‘I Will Be Gone’ so much more than just another off shoot of a successful album.

“Metal Commando” is so much more than just another album by a veteran band. The songs are too strong, the hooks too merciless, the refrains too huge, and their trademark phalanx of three guitars too indomitable for any meek kind of listener response. “We’re simply an awesome team,” Sinner laughs. The “we” he’s talking about are of course himself on bass guitar and vocals, fierce vocalist Ralf Scheepers, guitarists Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson as well as that brand-new whirlwind of a drummer, Michael Ehré.

After six albums “abroad”, “Metal Commando” saw the band return to their first home Nuclear Blast. Where some bands would give in under such pressure, changing labels for PRIMAL FEAR has unleashed a huge amount of sublime heavy metal energy. Heck, we bet this seismic shock was visible on the Richter scale! “We wrote and wrote and realised quite early on that we had a lot of good ideas going”. Good ideas? The songs are bangers as only PRIMAL FEAR anthems can be – a sound that’s long become a trademark just got new, shiny alloys.

New track ‘I Will Be Gone’ showcases PRIMAL FEAR’s mellow, bittersweet side – available on multi coloured vinyl, shaped vinyl, CD digipack or digitally. Let’s all take a deep breath now; soon enough it’ll get loud again on stages around the globe.

PRIMAL FEAR's ferocious new record “Metal Commando” has been an undisputed highlight of 2020. The German power metal band's 13th full length detonated in the midst of a raging pandemic, leaving no stone unturned in its path. The whole world got stuck in, achieving the 6 piece some of their highest chart positions in their 20+ year career, which included; a top ten in Switzerland (6), Germany (7), Japan (7), Finland (9) and Sweden (9) next to multiple high entries in countries such as Austria, Spain, France and the USA.

PRIMAL FEAR are Germany’s metal band of the hour, again. Right now however, they want to show us something new, a different side to them - after releasing a string of heavy and hard-hitting singles from “Metal Commando”, mastermind Mat Sinner and vocal force Ralf Scheepers have something extraordinary up their sleeves; a 5-track single, built around an exclusive new rendition of their achingly beautiful ballad ‘I Will Be Gone’, re-recorded with none other than Finnish metal diva extraordinaire, Tarja Turunen.

“There were three famous vocalists on our final wish list,” Mat Sinner comments. “That it was Tarja who got involved in this song is a matter of pure joy for all of us. Working together on the song and video was totally relaxed and professional – a great experience also because Tarja’s and Ralf’s voices go together incredibly well. Now, we can expand the ‘Metal Commando’ saga with a unique chapter. We’re all really proud of this single.”

The Finnish icon can only agree: “I was very happy to receive the invitation to take part in PRIMAL FEAR’s beautiful song ‘I Will Be Gone’. We started our careers nearly at the same time many years ago, and finally got a chance to work together. I love the song and personally it helped me to stay connected and rock again, even if at the studio this time. I really hope that people will like this collaboration and that it will bring them joy especially during these difficult times we are living through at the moment.”
The song, fragile and touching, gets an altogether new and deeply melancholic vibe with Tarja’s unbelievably emotional performance, showcasing a different facet of PRIMAL FEAR. Yet, it’s not the only gift they deliver on this 5-track sensation - just take ‘Vote Of No Confidence’ for example, an all-new, previously unreleased beast of a song. Clocking in at over six minutes, this storming, furious anthem gives a brilliant glimpse of things to come. Previously only available as bonus tracks on the limited “Metal Commando” digipack, three more tracks complete this release; enchanting guitar instrumental ‘Rising Fear’, massive mid-tempo smasher ‘Leave Me Alone’, and heavy metal monument ‘Second To None’, making ‘I Will Be Gone’ so much more than just another off shoot of a successful album.

“Metal Commando” is so much more than just another album by a veteran band. The songs are too strong, the hooks too merciless, the refrains too huge, and their trademark phalanx of three guitars too indomitable for any meek kind of listener response. “We’re simply an awesome team,” Sinner laughs. The “we” he’s talking about are of course himself on bass guitar and vocals, fierce vocalist Ralf Scheepers, guitarists Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson as well as that brand-new whirlwind of a drummer, Michael Ehré.

After six albums “abroad”, “Metal Commando” saw the band return to their first home Nuclear Blast. Where some bands would give in under such pressure, changing labels for PRIMAL FEAR has unleashed a huge amount of sublime heavy metal energy. Heck, we bet this seismic shock was visible on the Richter scale! “We wrote and wrote and realised quite early on that we had a lot of good ideas going”. Good ideas? The songs are bangers as only PRIMAL FEAR anthems can be – a sound that’s long become a trademark just got new, shiny alloys.

New track ‘I Will Be Gone’ showcases PRIMAL FEAR’s mellow, bittersweet side – available on multi coloured vinyl, shaped vinyl, CD digipack or digitally. Let’s all take a deep breath now; soon enough it’ll get loud again on stages around the globe.

Dog Eat Dog is an American band founded in Bergen County, New Jersey. All Boro Kings is their first full-length album, released in 1994. It is the first time they brought their trademark saxophone sound to the foreground on singles like “If These Are Good Times, “Who’s The King” and “No Fronts”, of which the latter two became their biggest hits and received heavy rotation on MTV. The band were even voted Breakthrough Artists of the Year at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Dog Eat Dog became highly popular, especially in Europe, where they played large festivals and arena-sized shows. The songs released from All Boro Kings also charted on Europe’s top forty heavy metal charts.

The album is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl, and contains an insert.

“I wanted to try and showcase as many people as I knew on this mix. My idea of Late Night Tales was to distil a series of relaxing moments; the whole conceptual sonic of relax- ation. So, I was trying to think of all the collaborators and friends that I knew, who’d recorded stuff with this horizontal vibe. Plus, I was also trying to help my friends' stuff get into the world. I know the story of Khruangbin blowing up after appearing on the series (in fact, I think that's how I discovered them). So, the main idea was to create a certain atmosphere, but also to help some of my favourite collaborators and bud- dies to give their songs a little push out into the world. Hope you like it” Jordan Rakei
Due for release on 9th April, Late Night Tales celebrate their 20th anniversary with the release of multi-instru- mentalist, vocalist and producer Jordan Rakei’s majestic compilation. The 28-year-old modern soul icon effortlessly stamps his own jazz and hip-hop driven sound all over this gorgeous array of handpicked tracks. A beautifully layered blend that is mirrored in the music he’s made, itcomes as no surprise that such a supremely gifted songwriter should deliver a mix that is all about the song.
Rakei, born in New Zealand, but raised in Australia, moved to the UK in 2015; he released his debut album, Cloak, with Oz label Soul Has No Tempo, but his two subsequentLPs, Wallflower and Origin, came out on Ninja Tune, the former#2 in Album Of The Year for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide poll, while Origin was nominated for Best Album at the AIM Awards. Jordan had this to say on his upcoming mix:
As Jordan says,there’s so much more to the song selection on Late Night Tales’latest outing than a random collection of artists. Many have some sort of personal connection, so just as Bonobo provided a platform for the breakout of Khruangbin on a previous LNT, this may have the same ef- fect for Rakei’s friends. After a soothing opener from Fink, good friend and big influence Alfa Mist (part of the Are We Live collective) delivers ‘Mulago.’ “I want to champion their sound and show the world how good he is, and I thought it’d be fitting to start the mix with family,” says Jordan.
Next up is Charlotte Day Wilson with ‘Mountains,’ followed by ‘Count A Heart’ from Moreton, an exclusive collab- oration with Jordan, who grew up on the same street in Brisbane, Australia. “She was the first artist I ever collabo- rated with, and one of the first artists to be involved in mycareer,” he explains. Elsewhere we hear Scottish producer and multi-instrumentalist C Duncan’s haunting ‘He Came from the Sun,’ Barcelona collective Oso Leone deliver a dreamy ‘Virtual U’ and Bill Lauren’s ‘Singularity,’ which evokes a striking sense of time and place.
Snowpoet’s ethereal ‘Evitenity’ is a “long mediative nar- rative over a beautiful soundscape,” which at times seems chaotic, nicely juxtaposed with undeniable beauty, and Maro’s kooky songwriting shines on ‘Always And Forever.’ Long-time buddy Armon-Jones contributes ‘Idiom,’ and Jordan’s exclusive cover version is a two-for-one, Radio- head’s ‘Codex’ merging with ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Home’ by Jeff Buckley and another exclusive,original com- position by Jordan, ‘Imagination.’ The latter works as a piece with the spoken (Spanish) word voiced by movie director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman, and The Reve- nant,) who is a big fan of Jordan’s. “He messaged me when I went to L.A and asked to come to my show. I was in such shock and we hung out after. I thought it would be nice to get him to do this in his native tongue, because I don’t think that’s been done yet on the series.” It certainly is a familyaffair. Not theblood is thicker than water kind, but certainly musical kindred spirits.

Café Society opened the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Woody Allen became the first and only director to have three opening night films selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

It’s New York in the 1930s. As he has more and more trouble putting up with his bickering parents, his gangster brother and the family jewelry store, Bobby Dorfman feels like he needs a change of scenery. He decides to go and try his luck in Hollywood where his high-powered agent uncle Phil hires him as an errand boy.

In Hollywood he soon falls in love, but unfortunately the girl has a boyfriend. Bobby settles for friendship – up until the day the girl knocks at his door, telling him her boyfriend just broke up with her. All of a sudden Bobby’s life takes a new turn, and a very romantic one at that.

The soundtrack features a great collection of the music from the 1930’s. The music is featured prominently in the movie and has been chosen by Woody Allen himself and features newly recorded jazz standards by Grammy Award winners Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks and classic recordings from Ben Selvin, Benny Goodman and Count Basie.





RELEASE: 9-4-2021

Woody Allen says about the soundtrack: “The soundtrack consists of music from the
1930s since that’s when the picture takes place. Most of the material is Richard Rodgers and [Lorenz] Heart, who was very dominant in those years and Lorenz Heart has that bitter sweet romantic quality that defines the spirit of the movie itself.”

This limited edition contains of 500 individually numbered copies on solid gold coloured vinyl. It includes a 4-page booklet with pictures from the film and credits.

“A good piece of rocking jazz, miles away from an academic approach but with a good shot of euphoric guitar and down-to-earth energy instead.
Here the band “”Tini Thomsen MaxSax”” brings its own nuanced,
powerfully stylistic sophistication.
”Just moving up a gear,” says Tini Thomsen. One woman and one saxophone - a match made in heaven! In the hands of Katharina ”Tini” Thomsen, the baritone saxophone - a rather massive, heavy instrument, after all - attains a sonic beauty definitely worth listening to.
The spectrum ranges from robust, resounding rhythms to versatile melody parts and fast-paced, earthy solos and - occasionally! - on to excursions into the more tender and balladesque. Considering that the instrument is a rarity among male musicians, the combination, Thomsen & ”Bari” holds membership - both nationally and internationally - to a small and exclusive group of such ”duos”.
It is even more fortunate that, in Nigel Hitchcock on alto saxophone, she has found the perfect counterpart not only musically, but privately as well.”

• From the mid-‘50s through to the early ‘70s, Jackie Wilson was a consistent hit-maker and master showman, known as one of the most dynamic singers in American R&B. Jackie Wilson has a dazzling record of 54 US Hot 100 and 49 R&B singles chart entries
• ‘Nobody But You’ is the final studio album by the soul great and is the first vinyl reissue of the 1976 album
• Highlights include ‘Don’t Burn No Bridges’
• Pressed on 140g black vinyl with original artwork and printed inner sleeve

A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean- American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Minari already won several awards at Sundance Film Festival, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Boston Society of Film Critics, Denver Film Festival, Florida Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, North Carolina Film Critics Association and appeared on over 30 critics’ year-end top-ten lists, including first place on two lists and second place on four lists.

Emile Mosseri is an American composer, pianist, singer and producer based in Los Angeles. He has scored films and series including The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Kajillionaire, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and Season 2 of Amazon’s Homecoming. Emile is a member of the indie-rock band The Dig.

After the conclusion of the successful “Vampirate” trilogy (2015’s Courting the Widow, 2017’s The Bride Said No, and 2019’s The Regal Bastard), vocalist Nad Sylvan was considering a different approach for his next project. The new album, “Spiritus Mundi”, centers around the poems coming from Nobel Prize winning William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), who Sylvan calls ‘one of the finest poets to come out of Ireland.’ Not having to write the lyrics himself this time gave Nad the opportunity to solely focus on the music. And being off the road due to the pandemic allowed for more time to mix and perfect every aspect. The result is a collection that Sylvan calls his best work. The album marks a shift musically from Sylvan’s previous outing focusing more on the lyrics and vocals in tandem with gorgeous orchestration and timely melodies. Sylvan has always managed to cull together a notable cast of guest musicians for his album and this album follows suit. Tony Levin contributes his unique skills on bass to 4 tracks, while Jonas Reingold is also present on bass for one track. For drums, Sylvan targeted The Flower Kings drummer Mirkko DeMaio. And of course, Steve Hackett makes an appearance on one track titled “To a Child Dancing in the Wind.” Nad himself concludes: “I'm so excited about this release. Anyone whio has heard it just loves it. They think that this is my best album and I tend to agree. It’s a bit different than what I’ve done before and that’s a good thing.”

Orions Belte: «Villa Amorini» Jansen Records 2021 Do you remember the time the doorman ran after some drunken kids around the lake outside the club? As he dives into the lake, he scrapes his stomach on a sharp object in the water, but catches up and returns with one youth under each arm. At the same time the singer from the band playing inside, jumps from the loft hoping that the chandelier he grabs will hold him. It doesn’t. Endless afterparties and constantly trying to avoid visits from the police or the liquor control. Still nothing? This was the 90’s club scene in Bergen, and Villa Amorini was the place where everything happened. Starting as an 80’s fine dining spot, it evolved into an extravagant club with tons of artists and DJ’s in screaming shirts and oversized sunglasses. This sets the scene for Orions Belte’s second album. Still a mix of all the sounds they like, reminiscing eras they haven’t experienced, trying to navigate in their own musical atmosphere. Chaotic and calm at the same time. Villa Amorini is recorded at Norsk Riksstudio by engineer Njål Paulsberg, making sure the sounds were on point while leaving the band alone to play together for hours upon hours, chiseling out the base for the album. Where the debut was summery and a bit brighter, this album tends to lean a bit more towards the big city, night life and leftover food from the fridge. Mixed as always by the magnificent Matias Tellez.

Across The Globe is the new series of releases from Low Key Source which sees established producers team up with vocalists and MC’s from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Volume 1 showcases the beats of Detroit’s Apollo Brown known for his production through Mello Music Group which has seen him work with the likes of Oddisee, Guilty Simpson, Skyzoo, Ras Kass, OC, Sean Price, Boog Brown, Big Pooh and most recently Planet Asia on their new album “Anchoives”.

“Reminiscing” sees the UK’s Jehst team up with Children Of Zeus vocalist Tyler Daley and has them reflecting about back in the day and giving a special mention to the passing of UK Producer Mark B. It’s special boom-bap throwback sound with sweeping strings captures perfectly the message of what life was once like being free from responsibilities.

The English city of Nottingham is represented on the posse cut “Time’s Different” showcasing the lyrical skills of up and comers Juga-Naut and Vandal Savage alongside veteran Cappo. It’s hard hitting snare snaps into a crispy beat which instantly takes you into headnod mode.

Apollo Brown never fails to execute his signature robust Hip Hop production as heard on "World Revolves" where Dialectrix spits fire with a rhythmical flow that resembles the way a sparrow would slice across the air - in short bursts left and right, up and down with ease. Rounding out the EP is Brisbane’s Lazy Grey with “First Come First Served”. Another sharp serving of distinct Apollo Brown production paired with Grey's own verbal dexterity.

With the renowned illustrator and designer Dan Lish holding down the artwork for each volume in this series, “Across The Globe” is a limited edition release every good music lover needs in their collection.