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"Queen Of Nowhere" is the result of the photographic works by Kourtney Roy and the musician Dayve Samek (Trance Farmers) initiated by IIKKI, between November 2021 and March 2022.

The man behind the name Trance Farmers is Dayve Samek, a wanderer from Los Angeles to Louisiana, and his music has picked up just about every influence it can along the way. He has recorded his first album in 2014 on Leaving Records (Stones Throw Records). Not sure how to classify his music ranges, but something between sweaty, garage-born ballads brush shoulders with drifter anthems and gasoline drenched doo wop with at some points some beats close from the past Anticon works should make the point.

The Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy was born in Northern Ontario in 1981. Intrigued by the possibility of creating a tragic mythology of the self, she conjures an intimate universe pervaded by both wonder and mystery. Her photographer’s eye is drawn to places and settings whose lyrical qualities underscore the sublime banality of everyday life.

Roy’s studies in photography, at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and later at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, inspired her to develop her finicky aesthetic, which lends itself particularly well to both glossy paper and film. Roy works extensively as an independent photographer/filmmaker in the art world. Instilled with a dark sense of humor, taking their clues as much from the grotesque nature of seemingly placid settings as from the tensions simmering just under the surface, her photographs have garnered many prizes, including the Prix Picto in 2007, The Emily Award in Canada in 2012 and the Prix Carte Blanche PMU/Le Bal in 2013 and the Pernod Ricard Carte Blanche in 2018.

Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (born August 29, 1968), is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning one. She also has been credited for helping to "spark the neo-soul movement”.

Meshell is releasing her 1999 third studio album on vinyl for worldwide release in 2022. The album peaked at #105 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1999. The album also peaked at #13 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart and #40 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart.

Die schwedischen Progressive-Rock-Legenden The Flower Kings und ihr langjähriger Labelpartner InsideOutMusic werden 2022 eine umfangreiche Wiederveröffentlichungskampagne starten, bei der der gesamte Katalog der Band auf CD und Vinyl in remasterten Versionen neu aufgelegt wird, wobei viele der Alben zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein werden. Den Anfang machen 'Back In The World of Adventures' von 1995 und 'Retropolis' von 1996, die beide in der Besetzung Roine Stolt, Tomas Bodin, Michael Stolt, Jaime Salazar, Hasse Fröberg, Ulf Wallander und Hasse Bruniusson erschienen. Sie werden als Ltd. CD Digipak & Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD & LP-Booklet erhältlich sein, beide mit remastertem und teilweise neu abgemischtem Audiomaterial und erweitertem Artwork und Fotomaterial aus dieser Zeit.

Die 26-jährige Ravensburgerin lässt uns mit ihrem mittlerweile dritten Studioalbum hören und spüren: Nicht nur die Welt hat sich drastisch verändert. Auch LOTTE hat künstlerisch sowie persönlich eine grundlegend-extreme Metamorphose durchlaufen.Auf "WORAN HÄLTST DU DICH FEST, WENN ALLES ZERBRICHT?" macht LOTTE ihre Gefühlswelt so greifbar wie nie - und damit auch angreifbar. Es ist eine akustische Reise zu sich selbst, zurück zum Ursprung, zu dem, was bleibt. Eine Geschichte übers Friedenschließen mit dem, was ist. Eine Einladung, sich selbst anzunehmen, mit all seinen Schwächen und sich selbst ein:e gute:r Freund:in zu sein, weil man sich selbst am Ende doch immer mitnimmt, egal wohin man geht.Es ist ein Album, in dem die Geschichte ganz vorne steht. Mit den bereits veröffentlichten Singles "SO WIE ICH", "ANGST (IRGENDWANN WIRD ES BESSER)" und "LASS DIE MUSIK AN", beweist LOTTE bereits, wie mutig Musik sein kann. Sehr stimmlastig produziert, hört man die Interpretin den Text fühlen, atmen und merkt: Hier haben Worte noch Gewicht.

"His music filled me with the urge to connect with the world," Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith says of Emile Mosseri. She first heard his work while watching the 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco; just minutes in, she paused it to look up who did the score and wrote to him immediately. "I love Emile's ability to create melodies that feel magically scenic and familiar like they are reminding you of the innocence of loving life." Those talents saw recognition in 2020 with an Oscar nomination for Mosseri's original score to the film Minari. He was already a fan of Smith's and became increasingly intrigued by her impressionistic process as they started to talk. "The music feels so spiritual and alive and made from the earth," Mosseri says. "I think of her as the great conductor, summoning musical poetry from her orchestra of machines." I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon, their two-part collaborative album, introduces an uncanny fusion of their sonics. Constructed using synthesizer, piano, electronics, and voice, this soft-focus dream world is lush, evocative, and fleeting. It finds two composers tuning their respective styles inward as an ode to mutual inspiration, a celebration of the human spirit and its will to surrender to the currents of life. As a full album set, I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon moves fluidly from track to track, panning through textural vignettes. Two roughly 17-minute halves, the set evokes the bittersweet sense of something too bright or rare to last, a short-lived glimpse into a golden hour. There is a dreamy, elemental intention to this music, which Smith and Mosseri say came naturally, as they both embraced intuitive interplay throughout their creative back-and-forth. The stylistic threads of each composer are recognizable yet become more ambiguous as the album progresses, sewn into a singular vision.

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

Behold! The latest 45 from Queens, NY stalwarts - The Frightnrs. With this platter the group pushes past the rocksteady rhythms that have come to define their Daptone releases and deliver a genre-defying, soulful triumph of sound. "Always" the a-side and title track of their forthcoming album drops with a beat that hits like a seven-ton bomb. Heavy, heavy drums...raw guitar and ethereal keys fortify the soulful bedrock for Dan Klein's other-worldly vocal performance. Plucked from stems tracked years prior, the seamless joining of Klein's old vocal track to the Frightnrs new recordings exemplifies how masters of their craft can make something so complex sound effortless. It also serves as a document of musical brothers injecting the undying love and respect they have for each other into the DNA of every note.

Yellow Vinyl
The first volume of Back To Mine was released back in 1999 by Nick Warren, designed to showcase a selection of tracks you’d find and be heard playing at the artist's home. Selectors have come in the form of New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Fatboy Slim, and Faithless who all dug deep to find their essential at-home listening.

The latest compilers in the Back To Mine series are none-other than the renowned four-piece, Horse Meat Disco. The horsemen are known for their incredibly fun, deep-diving selections, and this shines through in their Back To Mine compilation in flamboyant style.

Over the course of 16 years of their nightclub tenure, they have become a global brand as pinnacle players of the queer party scene in London and beyond, holding down residencies in New York, Berlin, and Lisbon. Their flamboyant nature and incredibly fun, deep-diving selections have made them one of Disco’s most beloved acts.

Across 15 eclectically brilliant tracks, Horse Meat Disco, which comprises Jim Stanton, James Hillard, Luke Howard, and Severino Panzetta expertly traverse through classic disco cuts, wonky dancefloor groovers, and silky smooth soul.

After moving to California, he was introduced to the Serge Modular Synthesizer through Eliane Radigue and registered for classes in all the colleges of the Bay where there was an Electronic Music Department so that he could use their various electronic instruments. At first, he often plugged in his electric guitar into these monsters rather than use the rather rigid sequencers, but through tape recorders and the delay techniques used by Terry Riley, he was able to quickly combine these “sound producing devices” to create his own music.

He eventually released his first “official” album named simply Music by Xolotl in 1977. Originally issued only in cassette, Wah Wah offers the chance of listening to these works on vinyl format for the first time ever on an LP + bonus 7" edition to fit all the sounds from the cassette.

A strictly limited edition of only 500 and with new artwork featuring one of Xolotl's cosmic paintings and an insert with photos and liner notes.

A 28 track 2LP release to be released on 20th May longside the 2CD set. This is not the first 10cc Hits collection, but it is definitely the most comprehensive TV Ad package. The CD set has aready been sold in. Promo will feature TV This Morning interview and performance, Radio R2 Johnnie Walker Sound of the 70's, , R4 Front Row, SaturdayLive, Gold, Greatest Hits Radio and a major BBC local radio campaign, plus features in Taboids and Broadsheets (We have already confirmed The Telegraph feature The Story Behind 'I'm Not in Love'). All this will be backed by a National TV campaign.

In the post-pandemic era that we now live in, some artists have used its abnormal reality as an abstract muse or a reason to expand their repertoire into unseen territory or styles. Fortunately, the Charlotte, NC native with the gritty, gospel-flecked croon does neither. Instead, Hamilton returns with familiar collaborators (9th Wonder, Jermaine Dupri, James Poyser) and his signature Southern grit and lyrics, planting those winning elements, ten toes down, into contemporarily-rendered, yet unabashedly-influenced,1970s-era soul. Sometimes those aspects are shimmering and glossy, such as the awe-struck, surrendering ode, "White Hennessy," the buoyant Curtis Mayfield-channeling title track and "Real Love," a boom-bap-heavy groove with a mellow, half-spoken and half-sung tribute to the emotion (with FL's Rick Ross anchoring the bridge). His Generation X roots are also in display on the bass-dropping and ice-flossing "I'm Ready," with ATL's own Lil Jon.
"Back in the black." "Black Power!" "Give me five on the black-hand side." "Always bet on Black." In a literal sense, the color black is created by the complete absence of light or the total absorption of all shades. It represents solemnity, sophistication or literal all-encompassing darkness. But for the people residing within its varying hues, blackness signifies all that is meaningful, fly and pertinent to their culture and way of life. The rich contrasts of black life, and the layers of emotion in-between, are what Anthony Hamilton is exploring throughout his seventh studio album, Love Is the New Black

The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin released her seventh studio album Yeah!!! in 1965. Despite the overdubbed sounds of audience murmurs, the album is not a live album. Instead, the album was recorded live at New York's Columbia Studios and produced by Clyde Otis. Yeah!!! features “Misty”, “If I Had a Hammer” and “There Is No Greater Love” amongst other

David Gedge says: “During the summer of 2006 we were invited to record a session for 'One Music With Huw Stephens' - a show on BBC Radio 1. However, this was the year after the 'return' of The Wedding Present and we'd basically been pretty much continually on tour ever since the release of the 'Take Fountain' album the previous year. Accordingly, we didn't really have any new songs of our own and so I decided that we could pursue that other favourite pastime of The Wedding Present... the recording of cover versions! Arranging covers is fascinating, actually, because you get to explore how other people write songs and I think that can often feed back into your own writing. I thought it would be interesting to pick a song from each of four different decades... the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. No particular reason... if we'd've been asked to record five tracks I would have thrown in the 50s, too. So I chose four classic pop songs for us to look at. They weren't particularly 'favourites' - although I have always loved 'Step Inside Love' and 'Lovin’ You' - they were just songs that I thought the band could successfully 're-imagine'. I have never seen the point of recording faithful copies; I have always felt that any Wedding Present version has to bear the stamp of The Wedding Present. And I think we accomplished that particularly well on this session. I'm pretty proud of this E.P., in fact. I remember Graeme Ramsay, our drummer at the time, initially hating the idea of us doing a 'Take That' song but I think he eventually came round to it, especially after The Guardian said it was an interesting 'post-rock' take on the original, or words to that effect..." Track-listing - Step Inside Love/Lovin’ You/Our Lips Are Sealed/Back For Good/

This second release on Heads High brings an EP from label owner Mike Misiu under the moniker Day Out Of Time. Four diverse tracks forged from a year of studio jams, road tested on airwaves and discerning dancefloors and now honed and available for your delectation.

Opening 4/4 cut 'Rising Tide' builds the atmosphere and tension with synth stabs, morphing arps and a throbbing sub-bass. 'The Urge' struts in on a hybrid electro-funk tip, twisting, chopping and vocoder-ing an 80's rock vocal and sax into a dance-floor detonator.

On the flip side 'Private Ay' chugs along on a mid-tempo Moog bass groove that re-imagines and re-works some infamous guitar licks, before the E.P. climaxes with 'When Love Beckons' - a pulsing electro-discoid ode to love, powered by moody analog bass, acid lines and an impassioned poetic vocal.

All tracks produced by Mike Misiu, mastered by Curved.

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

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

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

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

 Born into a musical family, as a child Charlie Hickey would obsessively
watch videos of his parents on tour in their old band Uma, learning all the
lyrics that he loved but didn’t understand. This introduction to music sowed a
seed and Hickey was soon writing songs of his own, playing on the guitars
that lay around him and singing about the little details of his school days. He
continued throughout his teen years, his songs becoming an outlet for the
growing anxieties that Hickey now understands to be Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder.
 This journey has led to ‘Nervous At Night’, Hickey’s debut album which is
released via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Where 2021’s
‘Count The Stairs’ EP was an attempt to capture the rawness of his
performance, ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive within its production, Hickey
and producer Marshall Vore leaning into their perfectionist tendencies to find
the best version of each track. “He’s always interested in how you can push
things further but also reigns them in when necessary,” Hickey says. “I think
that’s the true hallmark of a good producer.”
 Hickey calls it a pop record but admits that sonically it moves in many
directions, an amalgamation of his love for the folk singers of yesteryear and
more contemporary peers, from Taylor Swift and The 1975 to the Californian
songwriter and producer Blake Mills. This shifting of styles - from the album’s
quiet heavy-hearted ballads to its more gleaming, hook-led tracks - mirrors
its overarching theme: life’s graceless passage between teenage years and
adulthood.
 And so we have ‘Planet With Water’, a plaintive love song that bristles with
nostalgia, Hickey singing of phone calls after school, of hearing a neighbour’s
TV through the wall. Elsewhere, ‘Mid Air’ holds a similar weight, Hickey
singing of “spinning in mid-air, waiting for somewhere to land, or some face
to show up” as the song flourishes around his voice, delicately accompanied
by guest turns from fellow LA musicians Harrison Whitford, Christian Lee
Hutson and Mason Stoops.
 ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive in its juxtapositions, chronicling the constant
push and pull of life, both its stagnancy and motion. Chiefly though, this is an
album about connection, how even through those struggles we rely on the
people around us to keep moving forwards. “I’d like to write songs that are
for everyone, that let people into my inner world while also hopefully making
people feel less alone on their own. I hope that these songs can be there for
somebody the way my favorite songs have been for me.”
 Collaborated with MUNA on track ‘Seeing Things’.
 2022 live shows include The Great Escape and SXSW, as well as shows in
London, NY and LA’s Troubadour. Recent US tour with Samia.
 LP available on opaque yellow vinyl.

 Born into a musical family, as a child Charlie Hickey would obsessively
watch videos of his parents on tour in their old band Uma, learning all the
lyrics that he loved but didn’t understand. This introduction to music sowed a
seed and Hickey was soon writing songs of his own, playing on the guitars
that lay around him and singing about the little details of his school days. He
continued throughout his teen years, his songs becoming an outlet for the
growing anxieties that Hickey now understands to be Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder.
 This journey has led to ‘Nervous At Night’, Hickey’s debut album which is
released via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Where 2021’s
‘Count The Stairs’ EP was an attempt to capture the rawness of his
performance, ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive within its production, Hickey
and producer Marshall Vore leaning into their perfectionist tendencies to find
the best version of each track. “He’s always interested in how you can push
things further but also reigns them in when necessary,” Hickey says. “I think
that’s the true hallmark of a good producer.”
 Hickey calls it a pop record but admits that sonically it moves in many
directions, an amalgamation of his love for the folk singers of yesteryear and
more contemporary peers, from Taylor Swift and The 1975 to the Californian
songwriter and producer Blake Mills. This shifting of styles - from the album’s
quiet heavy-hearted ballads to its more gleaming, hook-led tracks - mirrors
its overarching theme: life’s graceless passage between teenage years and
adulthood.
 And so we have ‘Planet With Water’, a plaintive love song that bristles with
nostalgia, Hickey singing of phone calls after school, of hearing a neighbour’s
TV through the wall. Elsewhere, ‘Mid Air’ holds a similar weight, Hickey
singing of “spinning in mid-air, waiting for somewhere to land, or some face
to show up” as the song flourishes around his voice, delicately accompanied
by guest turns from fellow LA musicians Harrison Whitford, Christian Lee
Hutson and Mason Stoops.
 ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive in its juxtapositions, chronicling the constant
push and pull of life, both its stagnancy and motion. Chiefly though, this is an
album about connection, how even through those struggles we rely on the
people around us to keep moving forwards. “I’d like to write songs that are
for everyone, that let people into my inner world while also hopefully making
people feel less alone on their own. I hope that these songs can be there for
somebody the way my favorite songs have been for me.”
 Collaborated with MUNA on track ‘Seeing Things’.
 2022 live shows include The Great Escape and SXSW, as well as shows in
London, NY and LA’s Troubadour. Recent US tour with Samia.
 LP available on opaque yellow vinyl.

 James Cullen and Dan Cobb formed TENDER in
2015, as the bedroom project of two flatmates tired
of the design by committee nature of larger
musical groups.
 TENDER’s ‘Modern Addiction’ provides fresh
perspective to the idea of addiction, through the
lens of love. It is unafraid to admit or to accuse,
eager to confide and to provide, in direct,
shimmering confessionals.
 Original pressing sold out - ‘Modern Addiction’ has
been out of print for several years. Now available
again, on black vinyl.
 “Mysterious duo Tender specialise in marrying
polarising elements that could well soundtrack
parties as well as the loss of love” - DIY
 “An enthralling, minimalist pop gem” - CLASH
 “Gliding over guttural electro swoons, it’s the sort
of glacial pop that’d soundtrack late-night
contemplation no matter where you are in the
world” - Dork

Out of print for almost 30 years. Includes rare never-before-seen vacation photos by Anna Lee Van Cleef who shot the original album cover. 1987's High Priest was the first full length solo record for legendary frontman Alex Chilton (Big Star/ Box Tops) since 1979's ground shaking Like Flies on Sherbert. It shows Chilton in full control of his faculties as both a musician and a musicologist. He leads a solid band of Memphis/ New Orleans studio heavyweights through 4 newly penned originals and a well curated list of covers. What it lacks in polish, it more than makes up in charm, verve and just plain ol’ soul. This could be what rock’n’roll is all about.” Trouser Press

Single includes download. “Virginia Wing are not from the sedate school of dream-pop escapism…a hazy subversion of the traditional monochrome evocations of post-punk, a photo negative of an established form.” - The Quietus // “South London three-piece ally buzz and drone with sweetness and light” Guardian – New Band Of The Week // "A piece of noir-pop majesty that consistently pushes its own boundaries and frequently shatters the listeners’ sense of expectation" Loud and Quiet // "They possess a rare ability to dive deep beneath the skin.. a ghostly mix that flirts hard and fast with the avant garde while retaining a sly pop lustre" Mojo 4* // Following the 2015 release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Measures Of Joy’ on Fire Records, Camberwell based outfit Virginia Wing return with a striking new single. ‘Rhonda’, released for Record Store Day on 12” vinyl with a disco cut sleeve featuring artwork from longtime collaborator Florian Brooks. Recorded at Hackney-based Holy Mountain Studios with Misha Hering, ‘Rhonda’ sees the band expand the deep and varied sonic palette displayed on their debut ‘Measures Of Joy’. Featuring guest musician Koichi Yamanoha of Grimm Grimm, the single unfolds slowly as meditative incantations give way to a sprawling piece of experimental pop for the dance floor. The ambitious A-side flirts with disco beats and draws influence from a variety of schools of contemporary dance music whilst still remaining, at heart, a pop song. This is pop music with texture, depth and nuance; a daring and progressive piece. The B-side includes two new tracks: ‘Sisterly Love’ and ‘Daughter Of The Mind’ which further hint at the deviations we can expect on their second LP. Field recordings, ambient mediations and rhythmic experimentation abound; the new material sees Virginia Wing refining and reworking the sound conjured on their debut, a masterful workout.

PRESSED ON RED SMOKE-COLORED VINYL!

When it comes to authentic, ride-or-die hip-hop, few crews have as much resonance as Mobb Deep. Featuring two double-threat MCs who also produced – Havoc and the sadly-departed Prodigy – the crew changed the hardcore rap game in 1995 with their sophomore classic The Infamous, and went on to rule the dark corners of hip-hop for the second half of the 90s and well into the 2000s. After multiple Mobb Deep platters in the ‘90s, Prodigy entered the 2000s as a solo artist with force, rolling over a stomping, piano-freaked backdrop laced by producer The Alchemist, with “Keep It Thoro.” It has held up over time, proving itself as an anthemic classic that the streets and clubs still respect. Flaunting a smooth-but-menacing flow, Prodigy’s no-nonsense lyricism on “Keep It Thoro” is prototypical modern age brag rap. Countless MCs have followed his flow, from Fabolous to Joey Bada$$. The song is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 3 minutes. There are no wasted verses, just hardcore rhymes that stay with you. But “Thoro” was the tip of the iceberg on what proved to be one of the more coveted rap full-lengths of the era. The album boasted other charting singles, including “Rock Dat Shit” and “Y.B.E.” (featuring B.G.), but it can be argued that the album’s real gems are buried deeper. “Genesis,” “What U Rep” (featuring Noreaga) and “Three” are all sinister yet pensive. “Wanna Be Thugs” and “Delt With The Bullshit” are strong and evocative Mobb Deep cuts, featuring production and vocals by Havoc. And alongside other standouts, perhaps the deepest cut of all – especially in light of Prodigy’s recent and way-too-soon passing due to complica- tions from Sickle Cell Anemia – is “You Can Never Feel My Pain,” which details the health issues and challenges this talented MC and producer had been facing his whole life. H.N.I.C. was Prodigy’s first solo album, but it is perhaps his best. Among fans he will never be forgotten, for his skills, his storytelling and his no-B.S. approach to the art of MCing.

Years in the making – ‘Hillbillies In Hell’ (13) presents 16 timeless tribulations - a Lovecraftian clutch of Ancient Terrors, Sinful Seductions, Grinding Poverty, Debilitating Disfigurement, Hell's Eternal Maze of Hardships and God's Blazing Light of Redemption.

A misty shroud of marginal 45s - some of these sides are impossibly rare and are reissued here for the very first time. All for your cautionary listening pleasure.

SEE Little Richard Miller witness THE FIRE CAME DOWN! HEAR Dee Mullins declare I AM THE GRASS! ATTEST to Eddie Noack's brutal final fate in BARBARA JOY!

The Carter Family - 2001 (Ballad To The Future), Henson Cargill - Skip A Rope, Porter Wagoner - Julie, Eddie Noack - Barbara Joy, Waylon Jennings - The Road, Sammi Smith - Birmingham Mistake, Norma Jean - One's On The Way, Wendy Bagwell And The Sunliters - This Train, Dee Mullins - I Am The Grass, Hank Thompson And The Brazos Valley Boys - I Cast A Lonesome Shadow, Porter Wagoner - Lonely Comin' Down, Henson Cargill - The Pain Will Go Away, The Carter Family - Poison Red Berries, Bobby Bare - When I've Learned, Roger Miller - I Know Who It Is (And I'm Gonna Tell On Him), Little Richard Miller - The Fire Came Down

Released in 1961, My Favorite Things made John Coltrane a star with box-office pulling power previously preserved for the likes of Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, the MJQ, and Miles Davis. The dazzling quartet treatment of the Richard Rodgers hit song, features Coltrane on soprano saxophone for the first time on record, exercised a hypnotic effect on all sorts of music lovers and trend-spotters. The title track was a hit single, and the album became a major commercial success. In 1998, the album received the Grammy Hall of Fame award. It attained gold record status in 2018, having sold 500,000 copies. The mono version of this album, believed lost, was recently found, and is included in this deluxe package, as well as the stereo version, both mastered from the original tapes.

The packaging includes liner notes by award-winning writer Ben Ratliff, as well as photos and Atlantic Records ephemera.

2022 Repress

Third album (1981) by the Belgian band Univers Zero. The title alludes to the short story of the same name
by H.P. Lovecraft; the players read the story in studio, then proceeded to record the piece. A key release
for the band. Ceux du Dehors sometimes suggests a darker and more complex version of the motorik minimalism of classical music contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich.

This album finds the group continuing to evolve and return to the more general and varied chamber music sound of their first release, except with more precision and skill. The tricky charts of percussionist Daniel Denis and new keyboardist Andy Kirk are executed with great panache. The labyrinth-like compositions are typically filled with unexpected twists and turns, and angular repetitions of jagged riffs that accelerate, decelerate and mutate in passages of acute tension or quiet but ominous dread.

Cat.no.: SR403
Format: LP

Tracklisting

Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue Series.
Limited to 1000 copies worldwide. Please check your allocation with your sales rep.
Pressed on Red Vinyl.
Includes postcard and poster. Non-Returnable.
The Monochrome Set were something of the unsung heroes of the post-punk world; they fitted into absolutely no category whatsoever and their puckish take on spaghetti western soundtracks meets lounge jazz via the twisted lyrical imagery of vocalist Bid was as singular as it was unique.
Comprising a couple of ex-Ants in Andy Warren and Lester Square, with singer / guitarist Bid and drummer JD Haney, their filmic, playful material found favour with many, including John Peel although they failed to match this with commercial success.
The Jet Set Junta was originally released on Cherry Red in 1983 with its urgent, ringing guitars surrounding Bid’s lyrics telling of dodgy arms dealings and armoured limos as Lester Square’s Ennio Morriconetwang bends and reverbs as a counterpoint.

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

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

Introducing the 'Saltpond City Band'. A buoyant 8-piece outfit hailing from Ghana, blending soulful highlife and percussive funk in their new album 'Boko A Ko', forthcoming on Meet Me There Records.

The Saltpond City Band was initially formed by the legendary Ghanaian highlife musician Ebo Taylor and is now led by his son, keyboardist and lead vocalist, Henry Taylor.

The album 'Boko A Ko' is a blend of highlife, funk and afrobeat, woven into a refreshing take on traditional Ghanaian highlife. With the core of the band set deep in the highlife experience, Taylor and company deliver a combination of driving horns, fluid percussion and earthy vocals. The album features Ebo Taylor himself on 'Mennbo Wobi', which also showcases Ghanaian flute extraordinaire Dela Botri adding fine elements of melodic escape.

The forthcoming album is set to be released on the brand new label 'Meet Me There Records' (MMTR). MMTR is a community-based project aiming to put the artist first. With profits split 50:50 between artist and label, 25% of the label profits will go directly towards the building of a recording studio in the local community of Dzita in West Ghana, Wornana Studios, which will become one of the first accessible recording studios in the Volta region.

'Boko A Ko' is already receiving praise from highly acclaimed artists and DJ's, but is also an example of what else is to come from MMTR and is paving the way for new and unexplored talent that is coming out of the Ghanaian and West African music scene.

"Turn To See Me" is yet another step forward for The Dining Rooms, an artistic duo that never lacked creativity. This ninth album of theirs is a further confirmation: an intense record, inevitably influenced by the events of the last two years and therefore imbued with dark and melancholy sounds, but at the same time positive and aimed at a hopefully better future. Once again, there are numerous collaborations and blends of various musical genres (hip-hop, folk, jazz, electronic, trip hop) that do not, however, betray the 'cinematic' trademark of the Milanese outfit.

Melody Gardots Traumstimme hat unzählige Fans längst erobert. Ihr neues Album stellt diese Stimme jetzt verführerisch in den Mittelpunkt, nur begleitet von Pianist Philippe Powell. ”Entre eux deux“ ist eine Oase der Ruhe und musikalischen Konzentration. Als würde Gardot einem direkt ins Ohr flüstern, singt sie großartige neue Songs aus eigener Feder, die einem wie halbvergessene Evergreens erscheinen.

Dass bis auf einen Titel aus Feder von Filmmusik-Legende Francis Lai und einem von Philippe Powells berühmtem Vater Baden Powell alle Songs von Gardot und Powell selbst geschrieben wurden, ist eine
weitere Überraschung dieses Albums, das mit Sinnlichkeit und Melancholie gewinnt.

Welcome to Uffie's new album Sunshine Factory - an alternate reality that is only accessible to those yearning for escape. A nod to the ballroom scene, it is a place where you can be your most authentic self. Inside this trippy wonderland, you'll meet Uffie, dancing amongst the lights of your hallucinations. Sunshine Factory is a wonderfully restless record. It's a joyride through the club, hurtling into the forest, and crowd surfing into the arms of a lover... and yet it's also the sound of waking up to a heap of champagne soaked jeans, the bass of your heart still throbbing along to last night's melodies.

Gongs have played an integral role in the mythogeography of Asia. This is not music that aligns with national borders or ideas of homogenous populations, let alone racial stereotypes and exotic clichés. What connects all of these tracks is a simultaneous feeling of entrancement and social cohesion. Communal and collaborative, its form is hypnotically repetitious, melodies and rhythms spread out among the players using the technique of hocketing in which a flowing line is distributed among all the musicians. The effect is mesmerising, immediately intoxicating to anybody who loves Chicago footwork, free improvisation, Sun Ra or young hip hop producer Jetsonmade. The music is simple yet mysterious and enveloping, a sound world in which to disappear. A theory exists but this is not explained. - David Toop (extracts from the liner notes)

This project, Massif and Archipelago, is a field recording project initiated by Japanese sound artist Yasuhiro Morinaga, documenting traditional gong music by different Southeast Asian ethnic groups. The project aimed to examine the impact of the natural and social environment on the gong music culture of Southeast Asia. During the project, he visited over 50 different ethnic groups and made hundreds of recordings. This album presents a selection of the unique gong music from different ethnic minorities. The selected music has been divided into two broad sections: one focussing on the music from the Massif, i.e. mainland Southeast Asia (Central Highland of Vietnam and Northeast Cambodia), the other on music from the Archipelago, maritime Southeast Asia (the Luzon Islands of the Philippines, Borneo, Sulawesi, and the Flores Islands of Indonesia).

RIYL: Beach House, Cocteau Twins, Cigarettes After Sex, Slowdive. Isolated from any kind of music scene and enveloped by the cold Brutalism of Preston, White Flowers are a young, enigmatic band developing their own eccentricities away from the influence of big cities. New EP ‘Are You’ is a sonic and aesthetic collage drawing deeply from their environmental and social surroundings. The songs on the EP may at first seem delicate and beautiful, but closer listening reveals dark undertones and dry humour fuelled by the frustration of feeling trapped with no way out. Driven by this sense of claustrophobia, the duo have sought to create a form of escapism outside of their physical and geographical limitations. Recorded late 2021 between Preston and Bristol, ‘Are You’ weaves together a mixture of intuitive home recordings and refined studio production aided by producer Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Portishead, Perfume Genius). The four songs on the EP are an intentional collection of contrasts and paradoxes - beauty and repulsion, calmness and mania, anxiety and stasis - all combined to form a balanced whole. Whilst influenced in part by the writings of the late Mark Fisher and his idea that we are haunted by futures that failed to happen, that what might have been may yet be the dream that saves us, White Flowers have also found inspiration in the Brutalist architecture that adorns their hometown - futuristic yet dated buildings that serve as an appropriate visual metaphor for Fisher’s theories. Bleakly imposing yet comfortingly familiar, the monochromatic starkness of these structures has fed into the imagery for the record, as well as the sounds found within. Not intending to wallow in cynicism, however, White Flowers’ art ultimately aims to provide a way out of these dystopian fever dreams and spiralling thoughts into a forward facing place.

Repressed at last. The classic 1968 Debut Record, this is the Original MONO mix. The first time this has been reissued and its on Limited Green Vinyl. 1968 Debut album from the king of the psychedelic bayou – the hypnotic, mystical and powerful sound of the swamp coming to life. As he became Dr. John (real name Mac Rebennack), it was his LA session work with musicians like Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat, and Zappa that allowed him to start conjuring up his visions of guitar psych-pop to walk alongside his authentic New Orleans upbringing. While “Gris Gris” contains moments that make it a type stamped symbol of its era, it might have well been made in outer space. Recorded in its own psychic and stylistic vacuum, the album borrows as heavily from the New Orleans’ musical culture in which he grew up as it does the looming continuous pulse of war, heavy drugs, and the end of the free love/hippie movement. The album was taken under the wing of a small percentage of the “underground” upon its release in 1968 and did not find a true following for years. // Original 1968 Mono Mix // Sourced From The Original Master Tapes.

hree years after the release of their self-titled debut LP, Shark Toys follow it up with ten more bursts of weirdo punk. Nine originals and cover of the Mekons classic, “Where Were You.” Ever since forming in 2008, the band has developed a reputation for sharp and choppy live sets, developing a loyal following around their home town of Los Angeles and around the US, from playing shows with bands like Ty Segall, Protomartyr, Parquet Courts, Terry Malts, the Urinals and many others. This batch of tunes were taken from the same session as the recent 7” single, a split with Florida’s UV-TV, on Emotional Response, earlier this year, recorded by Dave Fox of the Traditional Fools (who also recorded Fuzz, Scraper, Vial, and Wand). "A treble fueled look at Los Angeles that certain fans of Tyvek will consume lovingly. Usually the word shambolic would be thrown in for effect when describing bands attempting to transmit a Homosexuals/Tronics/Desperate Bicycles air, but this band does not have a shambling manner to these ears. They seem very propulsive and on target, with shards of errant guitar whipped into shape by the savagery of the rhythm. … They have a driving down highways at night nihilism that is hard to conjure … with ear slicing guitar “solos” somewhere between sneaker squeak and door creak. … Super catchy bedroom punk for people that clutch the Astral Glamour box set to their hearts and know all the words to Swell Maps B-sides …"— Maximum Rock N' Roll // “Much love for this synth-punk masterpiece, highly recommended by Strangeworld for members of Ausmuteants fan club.” - Strangeworld Records, Australia

The Chicago-based, multicultural duo of vocalist Via Rosa and producer Na’el Shehade are pleased to share their inaugural effort, Gallows, on vinyl for the first time.

In early jam sessions the chemistry was clear; Rosa’s soulful delivery interlocked with Shehade’s chic Chicago house-infused production style. A lovesick sound emerged with their debut EP, Gallows in November of 2016. In celebration of its five year anniversary, Gallows will be physically released for the first time exclusively on violet vinyl.

The eight track effort has succeeded in breathing life into the resurgence of ’80s iconic synth, resulting in a sound that blends R&B with dance music that’s sprinkled with funk and bursting with emotion. Named after “Gallows Humor,” the album reflects on the pain of heartbreak, while also giving a nod to the comedy of that same experience. Self-described as “happy-sad music,” DRAMA presents a collection of songs on Gallows that bring you up when you are feeling down.

A new 6-track mini album from a musician with a long list of credits including South African trumpet legend Hugh Masekela, afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen and Ethiopian jazz originator Mulatu Astatke as well as many Brit-jazz and international roots artists. "It's Time" blends spiritual Afro-jazz groove with free improv, spoken poetry and other-worldly atmosphere, with lyrics and titles hinting at unorthodox takes on reality and the times we live in.

Phil Dawson is a top London guitarist who has worked and schooled himself extensively in many different African, Latin and Brazilian music traditions together with styles that more typically cross the radar of someone with a similar British background: roots reggae, punk rock, blues, soul, R'n'B, jazz and funk. As a sideman, he's played with a host of living legends of Afro-fusion music including South African jazz trumpet giant Hugh Masekela, Nigerian afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen, Ethiojazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, the Algerian "king of rai" Khaled, and London based Ghanaian afro-rock dons Osibisa. Heavy company for sure.

Now he's releasing a new mini 6 track album of original compositions under his own name and band - Phil Dawson ٤-tet - and he's joined by a stellar cast of London's finest players who include Rowland Sutherland (flutes - Airto Moreira, David Murray, Carla Bley), Khadijatou Doyneh (spoken word - The Heliocentrics, Danny Keane), Gaspar Sena (drums - Alfa Mist, Maria Chiara Argiro), Marius Rodrigues (drums - Oriole, Hermeto Hermeto Hermeto), Lekan Babalola (percussion - Cassandra Wilson, Ali Farka Toure) and Matheus Nova (bass - Antonio Forcione, Ed Motta, Jazzinho). Phil himself features on guitars, Fender Rhodes and piano.

'This is great' - Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6 (on 'It's Time)

'Beautiful' - Kassin (producer Caetano Veloso, Sonzeira etc) (on 'It's

Time')

'Rapid-fire guitar work with variety and energy' – The Guardian, UK

'A great guitarist' – Tony Allen

'An absolute killer - irresistible' - Snowboy (on 'Gnostic Hilife')

'Phil Dawson and his (quintet) are really smoking at the mo. No wonder the London jazz young guns are ripping it up with bands

like this leading the way. Miss them at your peril' – Russ Jones (Future World Funk)

Jazzwise Review

The British guitarist Phil Dawson is a fixture of a plethora of Brit-jazz bands and international roots outfits; his nuanced stylings have graced the work of A-listers from Ethio-jazz guru Mulatu Astatke to such late African greats as Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela. Like any an in-demand session player worth his chops Dawson also fronts his own trio/quartet/quintet, all of which allow him to stretch out and do his own thing, which – with his quintet - he does to pleasing effect here.

Buoyed by flute, bass and percussion, It's Time is a six-track brew combining free improv and spoken word with Afro-spiritual groove and a far-out esotericism befitting these strangest of times. Opener 'It's Time (Radio Edit)' is a psychedelic romp through a beneficent cosmos where ringing chords and woodwind trills underpin Khaditjatou Doyneh's pathos-laden musings on love and the universe and one of three variations on a theme. Over three minutes longer at 9:34, 'It's Time (aka Ougama)' is a freewheeling instrumental made dazzling by Dawson's silver-fingered guitar work; Doyneh resumes her pronouncing on the more dissonant but equally mind expanding 'It's Time (Fully Spoken)'. Then there's 'Gnostic Hilife', whose three interpretations each juxtapose the structures of this West African lingua franca in ways tight, spacious and inventive