quête:no more

Tom James Scott holds a unique position in experimental music. With a soft brush approach Scott, who currently lives on the North-West coast of England, has explored delicacy in music with a variety of sublime releases on a variety of labels. Predominantly known for gentle investigations of guitar and piano, Scott has shifted to incorporating different technology and tactics over time. All of this, either in performance or recording, is embedded with a spirit that is quintessentially his own. Nightshade is the latest in his expanding catalogue, one which ignites an alarmingly new take on his approach to music. Echo on Water initiates proceedings with the unmistakable sound of tape.

Any instrumentation is buried amongst the woozy sway of the medium itself, with its rough dynamics soon morphing into an overwhelmingly swirling mass of emotionally decayed sound. The movement of matter takes on a haunted shape with sounds looping and falling apart as the physicality of the medium holds it all together. The second track Blue Mist furthers this approach with its smeared haze of gorgeous emotion. This is deep exploration of ideas meeting matter. Wasting Stars takes up the entire flip side with the sound of tape recoiling a bit to allow the delicate glow of instruments to come more to the fore, with gentle effects that weave the musical matter. As a skewered take on Scott’s earlier piano explorations the atmosphere here is a subdued soundscape evoking the spiritual sadness found in the piano works of Gurdjieff/De Hartmann, with a modern lo fi angle.

Nightshade is a deeply effective journey and one of the most exquisite examples of Scott’s delicate approach so far. Two sides of form which inhabit contrasting yet complimentary clouds of sound communicating in an stunning emotional flow. As music with only trace elements of melody, Nightshade is a beautiful take on tools being used to explore paths both highly idiosyncratic, deeply moving and discreetly personal.

Chain Of Flowers return with their lofty and long-simmering sophomore full-length, rich with reckonings, reverb, and redemption: Never Ending Space. Despite some of the songs dating back a few years, the record first began materialising in earnest during the pandemic, by which point most of the band had relocated from Cardiff to London.

Reunited and rejuvenated, they picked up where they left off, booking two multi-day sessions at Hackney hub Total Refreshment Centre with producer Jonah Falco. In this time they successfully channelled their kinetic chemistry into 10 full-blooded anthems of torn dreams, poetic delirium, and “hope stretched too far.” Musically, Never Ending Space skews notably more maximal than the group’s previous work, fleshed out with trumpets, saxophone, synth, percussion boxes, and spoken word. (Smith jokingly calls them The Chain Of Flowers Orchestra).

Yet the songs still swing and soar with a charged heart, ripe with hooks, drama and ragged melody. Opener “Fire (In The Heart Of Hearts)” stirs to life on a tide of wiry guitar and defiant horns, facing down the embers of love that still glow in the wake of pain: “Peace came tumbling like a shower of bricks / The mind twists slowly till everything fits.”

A tense energy ripples throughout – from the nocturnal rush of “Serving Purpose” and “Amphetamine Luck” to the bruised battle cries of “Torcalon” and “Old Human Material.” Outliers like “Praying Hands, Turtle Doves” hint at proggy possible futures, while instrumental vignette “Anomia” offers an intriguing glimpse at a lesser heard facet of the band: swaying, shadowy, subdued. The album’s title track is also its closing cut, a stomping, sparkling ode to “the wrong side of the night, where time goes to die.” Smith describes the scene: “Everyone’s talking, screaming, trauma bonding, but no one’s listening. Broken dialogue. Shouting over each other. You want to switch off, but everyone’s too fucked.” The guitars spiral and slide towards the oblivion of dawn, the chance to crash and do it all again.

A little more than two years after the reunion album ‚The Art of Navigating by the Stars‘, which was received fantastically by the press, SIEGES EVEN released the follow-up ‚Paramount‘ in autumn 2007. The songwriting had started directly after concerts in Russia (Moscow), Greece (Larissa and Athens) and a double headlining tour with DEADSOUL TRIBE.

It was clear from the beginning that this album - the second with the new singer Arno Menses - would not be a concept album. Rather, the band put more emphasis on writing autonomous, partly shorter songs, which were not connected by any concept in terms of content.

For the production they decided this time to work with Kristian ‚Kohle‘
Kohlmannslehner, who had rather made his mark in the field of harder music. The production style was quite different from the work of Uwe Lulis on ‚The Art of Navigating by the Stars‘: There, a lot of the material was recorded live and without clicktrack, whereas Kristian Kohlmannslehner focused more on precision and modern editing techniques. Without judging which approach is the better one, one can say that ‚Paramount‘ sounds perhaps a bit punchier, more conducive to the somewhat altered songwriting and extremely transparent.

The lyrical spectrum ranges from experiences on the mountain Corcovado in the urban area of Rio de Janeiro (‚Iconic‘), human hubris (‚Paramount‘), the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima (‚Bridge to the Divine‘) to personal narratives (‚Tidal‘ or ‚Leftovers‘).

‚Paramount‘, like its predecessor, was very well received by the press. The band embarked on a European tour immediately following the release of the album in the fall of 2007 and played at the renowned ‚ProgPowerEurope‘ festival in the Netherlands, among other venues. In 2008 followed a show at the ‚Rock Hard‘-Festival as well as three concerts in the support of the American AOR legend JOURNEY. The live album ‚Playgrounds‘, released in spring 2008, documents the concerts of this tour. The stars were actually aligned favorably for SIEGES EVEN, so it was all the more surprising that the band‘s journey finally came to an end at the last of the three support shows for JOURNEY in Bamberg in the summer of 2008.

„Paramount“ was not available for many years and was only released on CD in 2007.

MIZMOR, is a one-man heavy music exploration that began in 2012 as a
way of dealing with the mental and spiritual anguish mastermind A L N
feels as a person
More specifically, the content behind the project is that of the existential - primal
and innate musings about cause, purpose, self, and god. It is the search for light
and truth, or the fact that there is none. It comes from an embittered, burned,
confused, and broken heart. It is the fight for survival when reason and
foundation has turned to nothingness. It is the crashing down of towers of
falsehood and the freedom that comes through a certain kind of grief. Ultimately,
MIZMOR is the manifestation of my long-felt depression, and neither have an end
in sight.
In A.L.N.'s own words behind the new MIZMOR album "Prosaic":
"The idea behind "Prosaic" was to make an intentionally less conceptual, more
slice- of- life record. I wanted to make an album that was less precious and
obsessed-over, more honest and real; less grandiose and more human. I found it
an interesting challenge to find the line between 'you can do better' and 'you're
beating a dead horse.' I tried to make my process more efficient and even fun at
times. I simply wanted to share, but if that meant exacting all-out perfectionism, I
wasn't going to make a record. Right now I'm interested in making less selfindulgent music. The themes are the absurdity/futility/purpose/meaning of work,
mindfulness/ consciousness/ living in the present moment/ shedding illusions,
depression/ acceptance/ contentment. This is the first MIZMOR album without
any content relating to god/atheism. You also won't hear any shrieks."

Dot Allison returns with a new solo album, Consciousology. After over a decade away, the former One Dove singer and songwriter broke cover in 2021 with Heart-Shaped Scars and this new album follows just two years later, as she hits a purple patch of songwriting. It’s also her first full release for Sonic Cathedral after contributing to Mark Peters’ acclaimed Red Sunset Dreams last year. Consciousology finds multi-instrumentalist Dot joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra, her new labelmate Andy Bell from Ride, who plays guitar on two tracks, and Hannah Peel, who is responsible for some of the string arrangements with both the LCO and a stellar group of Scottish string players. It expands on the styles and themes of the previous album, all while pushing everything just that little bit further – the songs sound bigger, more avant-garde and experimental and, occasionally, properly out-there and psychedelic. “I wanted to make some albums that felt like a set, exploring love, what lies beyond the visible and how all these aspects dovetail together,” explains Dot. “I see Consciousology a more psych Heart-Shaped Scars with a far fuller, more immersive sound and so, in that sense, it’s a more wayward, bolder, rule-breaking partner.” Right from the eye-catching artwork by PJ Harvey collaborator Maria Mochnacz it definitely does not play it safe. It veers from the techno-played-as-folk of opener ‘Shyness Of Crowns’ and ‘220Hz’ and the Linda Perhacs-meets-The Velvet Underground chug of the first single ‘Unchanged’ to the Mercury Rev-style fantasia of ‘Bleached By The Sun’, the Brian Wilson-esque harmonies of ‘Moon Flowers’ and the kaleidoscopic colour trip of ‘Double Rainbow’. Elsewhere there are echoes of Desertshore-era Nico, Jack Nitzsche’s work with Neil Young, Karen Dalton and Anne Briggs before the relative simplicity of the Tim Hardin-inspired closer ‘Weeping Roses’. It’s a brilliant, breathtaking record.

No. is the tenth Soft Riot album by Glasgow-based Canadian synth auteur Jack Duckworth (also known as JJD). With origins from the mid-nineties in the vibrant art-punk/hardcore dominating the West Coast American/ Canadian underground at the time, he has clocked in over twenty five years of musical output in various bands and projects.

No. is the logical follow-up to When Push Comes To Shove, released in November 2019 on the Glasgow UK-based label Possession Records, which saw some critical acclaim in the increasingly diverse synthwave scene — a crystallization of the artist’s signature “SynthLord” sound.

With No. things have been shaken up and pushed into new directions. Many different factors came into play, including the conditions of the pandemic lockdowns and an urge for listening to music favourites from beyond his own scene informed developments on this new record. One key feature of these tracks is that under these conditions they were developed as individual pieces — a contrasting approach from previous albums where tracks were written with an album in mind. An evaluation of all of these individual tracks in the summer of 2022 unveiled a common pattern going through these new compositions.

One can still hear any number of echoes of the spirits of original synth artists in his sound, such as Images in Vogue, The Box, Section 25, Thomas Dolby, Skinny Puppy, Chrome, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, Japan and Bill Nelson. However, some of Jack’s halcyon punk influences surface as well, taking inspiration from legendary punk/hardcore labels such as Dischord and Gravity, as listening habits over pandemic steered back towards more guitar-based styles. The introduction of expanded production techniques, experiments with vocal styles and tones, and stylistic shifts mark a progression of Soft Riot’s sound. The result is a snarkier, urgent and more playful, with a focus on pure synthpop, new wave, art-punk, proto-EBM as well as grittier synth-punk and post-punk tones.

The variation, energy and tone of this collection of tracks illustrates Soft Riot’s ability to transcend the hallmarks of today’s music environment, which increasingly is fragmenting into smaller and smaller micro-genres. Dry wit and dark humour take the lyrics and the tone of this album on a fun ride through music scenes, dark alleys and inside jokes.

"Terra Em Desapego" marks the second longplayer of the Portuguese for LIFEFORCE RECORDS. On the 2019 album "Eterno Rancor", a cover of the Bad Brains was found in the last place. On the EPs released since then, the group from Lisbon has taken on tracks by Only Living Witness, Napalm Death and Devo. This fits conceivably well, because BESTA have proven to be a band that moves between death'n'grindcore, punk and hardcore. The seven tracks of "Terra Em Desapego" are above all uncompromising and oppressive. BESTA appear direct and furious at all times, but do not miss out on variety. More melody and atmosphere than on the new album have never been. The Portuguese surprise with playful, sometimes really catchy heavy songs that still sound familiar rough and pleasingly uncomfortable. The more consciousness and metallic basis as well as the clearer production work fit in very well. BESTA continue to sound impulsive and biting, but "Terra Em Desapego" opens up a different approach to the rigorous approach of the Lisbon band. All this does not change anything about the lyrics in the Portuguese mother tongue of the musicians - of course not. Cover art was done by CVSPE (Arch Enemy, Uniform) and the album was produced by Miguel Tereso (Analepsy, Sinistro).

Bourassa is back and serving us a scorching new summer hit. This time, label boss Smolny doesn't hold back, unleashing a powerful holiday anthem titled "Need Love." If you're truly in dire need of some love, this track is definitely for you!

It starts off slowly and nostalgically, seasoned with a distinct amen break. The growing tension sends shivers down your spine, while a beautiful trance chord intertwines with a long pad in the background. Adding to the flavor is a twisted female vocal that seductively flirts with your senses. It all culminates in a euphoric experience, gradually building up to release the accumulated energy. Finally, everything explodes as a strong and expressive bass line hits you like a ton of bricks.

The following track "Running" takes a more tranquil approach, transporting us to a dreamy realm. Broken drums keep propelling us forward, never allowing us to pause. The melodic chord gracefully emerges, creating a chill atmosphere and setting the mood. After the breakdown, grooving bongos complete the picture.

The B-side features two fantastic remixes of the title track, "Need Love." The first one is a fierce breakbeat roller from Denham Audio. With its powerful bass and mesmerizing droplets cascading in the background, it creates a distinct hypnotic atmosphere. The change in bassline to the typical speed garage sound delivers an even more potent punch at the end.

The second remix is crafted by SLG, who flawlessly captures the sound of the '97s, creating a track in the progressive trance style from that era. A brilliantly composed bass line constantly propels the track forward, building tension alongside the melodic line. A real dance floor killer!

Rare 1986 Funk/Soul From Alabama.

Originally released as a private pressed cassette tape only.

First Time On Vinyl.

Released in collaboration with the Numero Group.

180g BLACK vinyl limited to 500 copies w/obi strip. Non-Returnable.

Armed with little more than his Peavey T-60 guitar and a Jumbo Fuzz pedal, Errol Stubbs and his bar-band cohorts cranked out a self-released tape of funked-up disco soul in 1986. With no label or distribution to speak of, Errol would simply put on his best suit and sell the cassettes by hand. The tape languished into obscurity…until now!

The story of Errol Stubbs begins in Birmingham, Alabama in 1959. The youngest of five, he was surrounded by music as a child–his aunt taught piano at Daniel Payne College while his older brother, Avery Beavers, was an accomplished jazz trumpeter. Under the guidance of Avery, Errol started playing trumpet at the age of nine, though he gravitated toward songwriting and quickly picked up the guitar. Inspired by blues greats the likes of Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Little Milton, 12-year-old Errol began mimicking the sounds that filled southern airwaves. As a teenager, he played at barbecues, fish fries, and dive bars across the Magic City. After a brief stint at Jefferson State studying music, Errol’s passion for songwriting beckoned him away from the classroom.

Stubbs bounced around bar bands before settling on a live lineup and saving enough dough to take his vision to the recording studio. Over the course of two days, his well-rehearsed band recorded Turning it Out mostly live to tape at the Sound Of Birmingham Studio. Located on Birmingham’s east side, the state-of-the-art studio kept the lights on by recording commercial jingles but was more than happy to open their doors to local talent.

Taking notes from guitar god Ernie Isley and funk legend Rick James, the resulting recordings are drenched in cosmic phaser-fuzz guitar work, slapping bass lines, and sexual disco innuendos. Big brother Avery lends a hand on Clavinet for “Sweat,” while studio owner/engineer Don Mosley adds a tasteful dose of Moog synthesizer across a handful of cuts.

Soon after the Sound Of Birmingham sessions, Errol released the private pressed EP “Dancin’ Fancy,” b/w “Spaced Out On Your Love,” the latter of which was featured on Numero Group’s 2019 compilation Visible and Invisible Persons Distributed In Space.

The seven-song cassette Turning It Out was sold in local record stores and from night club stages, but only a few copies made their way out of Birmingham.

Groundbreaking early work from drummer Milford Graves and pianist Don Pullen – a set of long, free improvisations that were originally issued on Graves' Self-Reliance Productions label! The music is even more striking than sounds from the time on the ESP label – and also really predates some of the freer work of this type from the European scene – as Graves is a monster on the drum kit and a range of percussion, reaching out with this scope of sound and deft command of his hands that's simply breathtaking – matched by energy from Pullen that really surpasses some of his later work too – almost Cecil Taylor-like vibes at points, mixed with other elements that are in a more familiar mode for the pianist.

Throw on your platform boots and stomp along to the latest 7' double Aside vinyl single and digital release of "Rock N Roller" and "Rock N Roll
Angel" out on Curation Records in May 2023! It's pure bubble glam crunch
rock madness!
Hammered Satin is a glam rock band from Los Angeles California
established in late 2010
Stylistically pulling from what is now known as unkshop Glam from the 1970's. In
other words, they aspire to sound not like David Bowie himself but more like the
hitless wonder wanna- be Bowie's, Bolans, Quatro's, Sweets, Muds ect ad
nauseam. There are also punk or 'Proto Punk" and Bubblegum elements to
Hammered Satin's music that seemingly goes under the radar. The current 2023
lineup includes the three founding members. Noah Wallace lead vocals (formerly
of Teachers's Pet, S'cool Girls), Dan Sandvick Bass, Conor Berhle guitar, and
glampa Don Bolles drums, vocals (formerly of The Germs, Celebrity Skin, 45
Grave among many others). To date Hammered Satin have released two albums,
four two song 7" singles, and four digital-only singles. Their music has made it
onto a few TV shows such as Showtimes 'Dice", and Netflix's cartoon Mr.
Peabody and Sherman. The band has even managed to garner press in Rolling
Stone magazine more than once which is unheard of for an underground band.
Other noteworthy moments were direct support slots for The Ark in Sweden and
The Black Crowes in Las Vegas.

Mary Jane Leach is a composer focussed on the physicality of sound, its acoustic properties and how they interact with space. She has played an instrumental role in NYC’s pioneering Downtown scene alongside Arthur Russell, Ellen Fullman, Peter Zummo, Philip Corner and Arnold Dreyblatt, as well as devoting years to the preservation and reappraisal of Julius Eastman’s work since his death in 1990, compiling the »Unjust Malaise« 3CD set in 2005 and editing the 2015 book »Gay Guerrilla: Julius Eastman and His Music«. »Woodwind Multiples« is her second album for Modern Love, following »(f)lute songs« (2018).

»Woodwind Multiples« features four pieces for multiples of the same instrument: four bass flutes, nine oboes, nine clarinets, and seven bassoons. Each piece works closely with the unique sound of each instrument, combining pitches that create other, sometimes unexpected, tones, primarily combination and interference tones, as well as rhythmic patterns. What you hear is what happens naturally - there is no processing or manipulation.

»8B4 (1985/2022)«, played by Manuel Zurria, is for four bass flutes. It is a revision of 8x4, which was written in 1985 for the DownTown Ensemble and was only performed once, due to its unusual instrumentation: alto flute, English horn (originally bass oboe), clarinet, and voice.

»Xantippe’s Rebuke« (1993) was written for Libby Van Cleve, for eight taped oboes and one live, solo oboe. The eight taped parts are equal and dependent, while the solo part is meant to be a solo with the tape as accompaniment. The piece works with the unique sound of the oboe, starting with unison pitches that create the richest sound, building the piece from there. Pitches and rhythmic patterns that occur naturally are notated and then played later, which in turn create other pitches and rhythmic patterns. So, in effect, the nature of the oboe and its natural sound determine the direction of the piece.

»Charybdis« (2020), played by Sam Dunscombe, is for solo clarinet and eight taped clarinets. It combines a somewhat obscured reference to Weep You No More, a John Dowland piece, which combines with the sound phenomena created from the melody and supporting chords of the Dowland.

»Feu de Joie« (1992) was written for bassoonist Shannon Peet and is an homage to the bassoon and its wonderful sound. It is for seven parts—six taped and one »live.« The taped bassoons combine to create a bed of sound that exploits the unique qualities of the bassoon, creating combination and interference tones, starting off with unison pitches, creating a rich sound that builds from there. Most of the subsequent pitches and phrases occur naturally, and are then notated later on in the piece, which in turn creates other notes and phrases.

This Moment' - Shakti's first new studio album in more than 45 years - is
a work of immense depth and radiant optimism
With John McLaughlin (guitar, guitar synth) and Zakir Hussain (tabla) joined by
vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist
Selvaganesh Vinayakram, the Shakti of now is a powerfully dynamic collective,
defined by deft interplay, dazzling unison passages, extraordinarily dexterous
improvisations, and the ability to draw from a vast well of global traditions and,
miraculously, put them in conversation with one another.
As a cornerstone of what is now called World Music, the vision and virtuosity of
Shakti has inspired generations of musicians from around the world to explore
sonic hybrids once thought impossible. Born of the musical and spiritual
brotherhood shared by the revolutionary British guitarist and bandleader John
McLaughlin and master Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, Shakti's soulful,
organic intermingling of Eastern and Western musical traditions has proven
transformative for both the band's members and its listeners. Fifty years after the
informal conversations and jam sessions that sparked the band into existence,
their music continues to resonate and evolve.
Despite the large gap in their studio discography, Shakti has persisted
intermittently over the years as a live proposition, releasing several concert
recordings. "Shakti is very much a 'live' band, " explains McLaughlin. "A part of the
problem with making a studio recording has always been the fact that we live on
different continents, and we all follow our individual careers – in addition to
working together in Shakti. 'This Moment' is the result of me calling everyone in
the fall of 2021 and persuading them to use today's recording technology to
realise it."
Recorded and mixed in the U.S., Monaco, India, and Great Britain, This Moment is
nevertheless cohesive, bound by the deeply held bond shared by the players - a
bond that is audibly apparent across the album's eight tracks.

Dark Entries has a surprise delivery! Malebox brings us six previously unreleased funk-fueled jams from the archives of the cybernetic disco titan himself, Patrick Cowley. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to uncover the singular artist’s lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for gay pornographic films on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners.

But Malebox gives us more of the Cowley we know and love: churning disco-funk and hi-NRG tracks that are spacey and sleazy, gritty and sublime. Recorded from 1979-1981, these six tracks illuminate what was one of Patrick’s most creatively exciting periods. “If You Feel It” and “Love Me Hot” were both early Paul Parker demos; the former is a peak hour hi-NRG bomb, while the latter dips into Cowley’s zoned-out space disco sound. Jeanie Tracy’s soulful vocals feature on the demo version of “Low Down Dirty Rhythm”, which was later re-recorded by Sarah Dash. The slower, less-varnished rendition here hits with a wild psychedelic edge. Meanwhile, Patrick’s gifts for careful orchestration and infectious melodies shine on “Floating” and “Love and Passion”, which were likely demo tracks for Loverde. The songs on Malebox display the vitality and inventiveness of a brilliant composer taken from us too soon.

Malebox sleeve design was by Gwenaël Rattke, and features a hyper-color retro collage. Also included is an air mail envelope containing a letter from Patrick Cowley to French disco producer Pierre Jaubert as well as liner notes and hand-written lyrics. Malebox will be released on November 12th , which is the 40th anniversary of Patrick’s passing.

Bristol meets Brooklyn! Produzent Claude Cooper und der New Yorker Sänger Brain Fog liefern gemeinsam eine inspirierte Bonusrunde zu Coopers viel beachtetem, unbändigem Debüt 'Myriad Sounds' (2022) ab. Das Duo hat die Originalinstrumentals zu einem rauen transatlantischen Amoklauf mit punkig-psychedelischen Jazz-Breaks gemacht, die mit allem kollidieren, was New Yorks reiches musikalisches Erbe zu bieten hat.

- 'There's no doubt that this psych-funk/jazz/seventies-soundtrack/hip-hop album absolutely scorches. It's vital and vibrant and exactly what we need to kick start the year.' - Louder Than War**** Album of the Week
- 'Raucous rhymes and blistering jazz breaks make for one rebellious reworking.' Backseat Mafia 8.8
- 'Bristol's beat scene backdrops late night jams.' - MOJO****

Die von Tim Burton produzierte Serie zeigt Wednesday Addams, die Tochter der Addams Family, wie sie als Teenager auf ein Internat für außergewöhnliche Menschen kommt (Zauberer, Werwölfe und mehr). Neben den beeindruckten Streamingzahlen auf Netflix, ging die Serie auch auf TikTok und Instagram monatelang viral. Komponiert vom Oscar-nominierten und Emmy-Gewinner Danny Elfman (Men In Black, Good Will Hunting, Desperate Housewives) und Emmy-nommiertem Chris Bacon (Bates Motel, Sherlock Gnomes) erscheint der Score zur Serie auf farbigem Doppelvinyl (purple smoky marbled) und in bedruckten Sleeve mit Gatefold.

Over the past eight years Teenage Wrist have continually evolved their sound, a process that"s peaking with their third full-length, STILL LOVE. Reaching new heights in both scope and execution, the album sees the duo-Marshall Gallagher (vocalist, guitarist, bassist) and Anthony Salazar (drums, vocalist, percussion)-producing the album themselves to handcraft their most expansive collection of songs to date from the ground up. ? e result is a self-realized collection of songs that saw the band borrowing vintage gear, bringing in friends in the form of members from 311 vocalist/turntablist Doug "SA" Martinez and Softcult and incorporating tasteful pop sensibilities to craft a collection of songs that rede? nes the band"s sound while staying true to their guitar-driven roots. From the atmospheric, fuzzed out opener "Sunshine" (which Gallagher says is "the coolest ri? he"s ever written") to the midtempo rocker "Dark Sky"" (the latter of which features the aforementioned cameo from 311 vocalist/turntablist Doug "SA" Martinez), the album will undoubtedly please fans who favor distorted guitars and crunchy chords. However, that"s only one aspect of the album and Teenage Wrist aren"t ashamed to admit that there"s a strong pop sensibility on the album that shows how much they"ve grown as songwriters since 2021"s Earth is a Black Hole. From the brain-invading ballad "Something Good" to the downbeat electronic vibe of "Diorama," the album is teeming with unexpected moments that are reminiscent of Radiohead"s ? air for experimentation. ? e powerful bond between these two collaborators lies at the core of Teenage Wrist"s music and, more than any other factor, that"s evident on every moment of STILL LOVE. "? ere was a certain feeling that music gave me as a kid and this is honestly the ? rst time on any record I feel like we kind of came close to achieving that," Gallagher says of the end result. "We just shot from the gut on this record and tried not to overanalyze things... and I think the record speaks for itself."

Emil Amos (Grails, OM and podcaster plus) decommissions pieces originally bound for the KPM library. A personal interpolation of "music for films (& television)" expounds upon diverse sounds: synthy 80s soundtracks, contemporary hip-hop beatmaking, ambient music, and The Hulk"s "Lonely Man Theme". Emil"s dark visions are full of noirish shadows and eerie neon glow - mood music for drug trips spent dreaming up new soundtracks to take drugs to! Emil Amos" forthcoming Zone Black album is a fully inhabitable world, its episodic narrative divided into an improbable balance between morbid ambient anthems and insouciant hip-hop instrumentals. Emil hadn"t heard it done quite this way before, so he took it upon himself. And it sounds real! Straight out of Madlib"s kitchen sink, and with a sense of brooding dread, "Jealous Gods" features throbbing beats, low synth paired with high vocal melody, layered together into something even more impossibly bizarre than the sum of their parts - like say, monks singing from on high, over a battleground littered with remnants of the old guard. Emil warps evocative tones, taking familiar sounds into new dimensions, reaching for the kind of depth and resonance that defines moments with an almost invisible touch.

Chet Baker's Live In Rosenheim is the live recording at the 5th Rosenheimer Jazz Liv(f)e Tage on April 17th, 1988. It is his last recording as a quartet featuring Nicola Stilo on flute, Marc Abrams on bass, and Luca Flores on piano. Chet can be heard on trumpet, vocal and piano with a choice of tunes including Hank Mobley's "Funk In Deep Freeze”, Duke Ellington's "In A Sentimental Mood", Arthur Jobim's "Portrait In Black And White" and more tracks.

Live In Rosenheim is available as a 35th anniversary edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on white coloured vinyl and includes liner notes on the back sleeve.

Carole King is the most successful female songwriter of the 20th century, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting.

The album Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King by Carole King is a collection of brilliant pop music and widely recognized as her best work since Tapestry. The album features 10 songs originally written by Carole King with her ex-husband Gerry Goffin. The album contains new versions of "Locomotion", "Hey Girl", "Snow Queen", "Oh No Not My Baby", "Hi De Ho", "Wasn't Born to Follow", "Goin' Back" and more. “One Fine Day” was a Top 40 hit in charts around the globe.

It’s June 2022. After months of rehearsing, Tim Sanpher decided to take the band into Brighton Road Recording Studio for a weekend.

Having yet to play a gig he was interested to hear how they’d respond to being put on the spot and wanted to give them something to focus on. With the very late addition of a second guitarist they set up and recorded nine songs live in one afternoon. Only the vocals would be replaced the following day.

The recording was purely for posterity and there had been no plans to release it yet...on hearing the roughly mixed playback it was already obvious...they’d captured something special. Something more than just the five members combined. It was a true “lightning in the bottle” moment.

It was clear that Shaw’s Trailer Park had its own individual sound and character.
And here are those recordings captured on album for the first time!

Punchy rocking workouts like Don’t Do That and She’s Alright sit alongside live favourites - psych workouts Sun Device and Rainbow Man.

Lndon Odense Ensemble is a powerhouse quintet that combines forces from the Causa Sui/El Paraiso family tree (Jakob Skott, Jonas Munk, Martin Rude) with the vibrant, experimental London jazz scene (Tamar Osborn, Al MacSween). On two studio full-lengths, released in 2022 and 2023, they have explored the confluence of psychedelia, improvisation and cosmic jazz. On this set, recorded at the 2021 edition of Denmark's Jaiyede Jazz Festival, the energy is cranked up another notch or two. Comprised almost entirely of exclusive material not found on the two studio records these three sonic excursions dive head-on into the fiery side of the group's sound. Taking up the entire A-side "Energy Ascending" starts out as a gently flowing piece of dreamy jazz that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a late 1960s Pharoah Sanders record. As the piece evolves the guitar takes it into rock territory, where it dissolves in a mesmerising breakdown before commencing a build of epic proportions, lead by Tamar Osborn's baritone sax, channelling The Stooges as much as John Coltrane. Heavy. On the B-side things get more electronic and spacy. Here the ensemble uses album track "Sojourner" as a starting point for a new improvisation guided by Al MacSween's virtuoso keyboard work. The rhythm section creates a hypnotic foundation for layers of synths and electric keys to fully blossom and travel into cosmic territory. Limited to 300 copies on transparent ochre vinyl.

Roach is Miya Folick's clearest and most direct work yet, eschewing
some of the lyrical and musical obfuscations she layered onto her 2018 debut album,

Premonitions With ear- worm melodies, heart- wrenching poetry, eclectic production and anchored by Folick's once-in-a-lifetime voice, Roach straddles a line between pop and something more experimental.

She enlisted a team of collaborators who she
trusted to bring out the grittier side of her artistry, including Gabe Wax (War on
Drugs, Fleet Foxes), Mike Malchicoff (King Princess, Bo Burnham), Max
Hershenow (MS MR) and a team of some of LA's best players. The result is an
album that sounds as honest and intimate as the subject matter at hand, a
candid snapshot of where she is now and what it took to get there

"When the call came from WDR Rockpalast, we were thrilled - And the joy
grew from day to day," says Peter Bursch, head of the German Krautrock
legend Broselmaschine, founded in 1968 by "Germany's most famous
guitar teacher".Back in 1968, the Heinrich-Robert coalmine in Hamm was
still in its full bloom
Coal had been mined there since 1901, the year in which the Heinrich and Robert
shafts - as they are called in miners' jargon - were "abgeteuft", followed by the
Franz shaft in 1923. On November 10, 1997, the colliery closed its doors forever.
In the colliery's former wage hall, where the miners used to receive their
envelopes with their weekly wages, Broselmaschine rolled out carpets, plugged in
cables and set up their instruments on April 20, 2021. The high-ceilinged rooms
not only provided a matchless scenery, but also the basis for a unique ambient
sound. The perfect setting for Broselmaschine. But Corona had almost
completely paralyzed public life at this point; the pandemic was taking its toll on
the entire cultural scene. Spectators were not allowed to the events. The artists
and bands gave concerts anyway, sometimes from their flats, rehearsal rooms or
in small, empty clubs, and then came to the fans' homes via live stream. This also
applied for the WDR's Rockpalast with its "Offstage" series. The makers of
Rockpalast organized concerts with performances by artists in special places
that were deserted during the lockdown. That had its own charm and was
something very special.
This was also the case with Broselmaschine. The band played almost exclusively
songs from their latest studio album "Elegy" from 2019, as well as the title track
of the previous album "Indian Camel" and as a finale the Marc Bolan cover of
"Children Of The Revolution". Broselmaschine put on a great performance, no one
missed the audience that was not physically present. But it was there, this
audience. And it was in the hearts of the musicians. You can feel this with every
note this outstanding band was playing. Never were Broselmaschine more
musically valuable than on that special occasion.But judge for yourself.
Unique Rockpalast concert OFFSTAGE from the Corona era, recorded on April 20,
2021 at Heinrich-Robert colliery in Hamm, Germany - also available on vinyl

Codek is the brainchild of Jean-Marie Salaun who grew up in Paris influenced by the folklore of the inner city. In 1978 he joined art rock group SpionS and collaborated with Robin Scott (M 'Pop Music'). He began working as Codek, a play on the brand name Kodak with the 'Me Me Me' single released in 1980. In 1981 the 'Tam Tam'/'Closer' single was released on West African Music, a tiny label from the Ivory Coast, and re-released a year later by Island Records in the UK (where the B-side was re-named 'Tim Toum'). 'Tam Tam' was inspired by Burundi drummers playing in the plaza in front of Beaubourg where the song was recorded. Jean-Marie enlisted one of the drummers from the circle, Georges Atta Dikalo, to lay down percussion for the song. The female singers were from the French Caribbean and added falsetto tribal chants. Claude Arto achieved complex rhythmic patterns using a modular synthesizer and heavy processing. Jean-Marie recorded himself beating his chest for the thump noises. The recording of spanned over two years. They started on 16-track in Studio d'Auteuil, where Jean-Marie blew the woofers, before resuming in Studio Centre Georges Pompidou with an added 8-track recorder.

In 2017 we reissued the 'Tam Tam'/ 'Closer' single and shortly after the 24-track master tapes were discovered in Paris by original engineer Gérard Chiron. We arranged for graphic designer Maycec to pick up the tapes and immediately began to think of remixers for this project. First up is producer and DJ Daniele Baldelli who gave the original single a spiritual home in the Cosmic 80s scene of Italy. Here he's teamed up with Marco Dionigi for two remixes. Remix A goes full on funky disco baseline while Remix B a more balearic affair. We remember Justin sharing a memory of DJing the original Island Records promo at the Mudd Club in 1981 so we had to ask him for remix. He teamed up with his Whatever/Whatever production partner Bryan Mette and delivered an hypnotic pulsing house remix and an extended edit. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is new twist designed by Eloise Leigh on the 1981 edition artwork by Angela Boy, inspired by primitive electronics and African paintings.

Be With present the first ever reissue of the ultra rare double pack DJ promo of Malcolm McLaren & Bootzilla Orchestra's "Call A Wave". Originally slipping out in 1989 to a select few, there were rumoured to be only ever 300 copies pressed. Indeed, the entire package never got a proper release and now goes for a small fortune.

Say what? Bootsy Collins, Jeff Beck and Malcolm McLaren, all in one band, composing over a Barry White sample? And that's just the original. But you can forget about that for now. Here we have the incredibly sought-after "DFC Dance Mix", mixed by Massimino Lippoli of Morenas / Sueño Latino fame for the legendary DFC Italy. It's a throbbing, vital, dramatic slice of dreamy ambient house. A deep, entrancing track that's both blissful and dancefloor dynamite. It features the iconic, disaffected female vocal chopped up over elegant piano snatches, Beck's ace guitar stylings over rolling, heavy drums and a killer, hypnotic bassline with sparkling harp coming and going. It's exotic, otherworldly and brimming with that very special late 80s/early 90s Mediterranean vibe. Yes, it's Balearic, it's House. Above all else, it's a pure uncut slice of halcyon summer days, pressed on wax.

But on side B we also have the mesmeric "Breakdown Mix", again mixed by DFC Italy. For some, *this* is the mix to have - and who are we to argue? This time, the vocals are treated so they're uttered backwards, contributing to the wonderfully disorienting magic of this particular mix.

And how could we forget the equally iconic "Orbital Mix"? Not by the actual group Orbital, but courtesy of S'Express's Mark Moore & William Orbit, no less. A brilliant, beautiful remix that's perhaps more musical. They make more obvious use of the sample from the original Barry White track ("I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby") that Malcolm was inspired by. Flip over to Side D to find the duo's uber-horizontal "Return To The Deep Ambient Mix", a floaty, beatless gem that'll leave you swooning.

To round out this quite astonishing package, the "New Age Mix", again coming from the DFC Italy camp, elegantly sends us off into the cosmos with minimal percussion and maximum vibes.

Every mix on this DJ double pack is truly killer. Simon Francis remastered the original audio for this release and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 2x12" well and truly pumps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after masterpiece finds a home in many more DJ boxes this and every summer. For the artwork, we've recreated the original DJ promo, a plain white gatefold sleeve complete with the iconic burnt orange hype sticker. Hold tight. Roof down, tops off.

These days, singer-songwriter and actor David Blue tends to be remembered only in relation to Bob Dylan. A member of the supporting cast in mid-60s Greenwich Village and The Rolling Thunder Revue. Yet to categorise Blue in this way is reductionist, and does him an injustice. He was something of an archetype of the 60s generation of Greenwich Village singer-songwriters. Yet, esteemed by his peers, he was overlooked. He released seven albums in a decade, and his acting career was shaping up when he died suddenly at the age of just 41. His passing was barely noted in the rock press, and in the subsequent years Blue was all but forgotten. Of late, though, that’s changed. His albums started to reappear on CD on small labels and, in 2020, both Rolling Stone and Mojo magazines published major reappraisals. Blue – at last – was getting the attention denied him in life.



It wasn’t until 1965 that Blue, as Dave Cohen, released his first recordings – three songs on Elektra’s Singer Songwriter Project. All betrayed a debt to pre-electric Dylan. But then again, so did much else coming out of Greenwich Village at the time. Elektra contracted Blue to do his own album, and in 1966 David Blue was released – his first recording to appear under that name. Electric folk rock with a garage band attitude, somewhat in debt to Highway 61, it didn’t sell well. Shortly after the album’s release Blue formed and toured with The American Patrol, a four-piece rock band, recording an album for Elektra that was never released.



Now, for the first time, Hanky Panky and Mapache release those historical abandoned American Patrol recordings, along with the three tracks included on Elektra’s 1965 LP Singer Songwriter Project, as David Blue And The American Patrol The Lost 1967 Elektra Recordings & More and David Blue, his self-titled 1966 debut album, on two exclusive vinyl editions limited to 500 copies

“The Merries” is the fourth studio album by Limerick Indie outfit Anna’s Anchor. Once a solo affair, this ever evolving musical project closer resembles a collaborative, ever changing community with frontman Marty Ryan as the driving force behind it. Since the project’s inception in 2014, Marty has amassed a loyal audience from playing over 350 shows all around the world in a DIY fashion. 2021’s “A Glorious Ruction” showed the creative potential of the band with a concept album that led the band to critical acclaim in Ireland in the U.K
Musically this is the most expansive offering from Anna ’s Anchor to date. Guitars, bass, drums and brash vocals do appear as would be expected from the band but The Merries also features more stripped back songs, synthesizers, found sound and spoken word. This album also features more individuals on it than pr evious releases with Brian Scally on drums, Clare O’Brien on backing vocals as well as lead vocals for the album’s closing song and even a guest appearance from Hermitage Green’s Dermot Sheedy on Bodhrán. All of this shows that Anna’s Anchor is operating with an artistic freedom that has culminated into “The Merries”.

Hot on the heels of his successful first Rubi Records release, Ashley Tindall, AKA Skeptical, comes with another three-track EP showcasing his evolving and expanding sound. The opener, 'Rhubarb', shows clear influences of fatherhood, with sampled sounds of happy childhood leading into what is possibly Skeptical's deepest track to date. While this is no piece of bland 'intelligent' D&B by any stretch, the build up intro of warm pads that leads into a chilled head-nodder stands a good chance of having you listening with eyes closed, smiling as fond memories wash over you. Next up is the deceptive 'Capsize'. Starting with the strings of an old sea shanty, the track sounds like it will follow the more chilled route of 'Rhubarb', before the introduction of some twisted minimal sonics and trademark 'steppy Skeppy' drums quickly change that notion! The swift addition of a fizzing, rubber-band b-line completes the switch up and you're sailing on far from calm waters. The return of the shanty violins amidst this is inspired, showing that breaking from the expected norm is not just something that this producer isn't shy of doing, but something he does exceptionally well. To round off, Skeptical steps back into more typical sonic territory with a slice of intense D&B minimalism titled 'Foiled'. This deceptively simple-sounding track hides a wealth of meticulously-crafted and perfectly-balanced elements that deliver a somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere that will appeal to lovers of the outer-edges of cutting-edge D&B. Skeptical's new EP promises to be just as successful as his first release, showcasing his unique and evolving sound.

OVERVIEW: Ever since they arrived on the Norwegian indie scene at age 17, the Oslo-based four-piece Veps has released a steady stream of jaw droppingly mature, indie pop gems. Now, as they are all in their final teenage year, Veps announces their debut album Oslo Park for July 21st release on Kanine Records. Continuing to dish out indie pop bangers with a carefree, DIY attitude, Oslo Park is Veps at their most dynamic. Produced by fellow Norwegian Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Sondre Lerche), Oslo Park is an emotional, fun ride through adolescence. Feisty rocker “His Brother” evokes the spirit of the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s, before the minor key gem “Crawl” breaks your heart with its honest depiction of teenage heartbreak. The gorgeous ballads “Ballerina (Norah)” and “To the Bedwetters” are both, in their unique way, an instant emotional time capsule to the melancholy and vulnerable aspects of being young and searching for your identity. If their EP, Open the Door, was described by the band as a “love letter to our teenage years,” this album, raw, emotional, beautiful and melodic, is more of a goodbye, perhaps.

*REISSUED ON LIMITED EDITION BLUE VINYL*

London-based electronic songwriter Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles to release his most personal work to date in the form of a mini-album titled ‘Night Melody’ through Erased Tapes on 5th August 2016. During the release of his acclaimed full-length album ‘Howl’ and heavy touring in late 2015, Ryan came out of a 13-year long relationship and found himself making music throughout the winter months. The result of his efforts is a 34-minute, 6-track mini album ‘Night Melody’, born out of and shaped by long hours working into the night. It’s nocturnal in sound; mysterious in the way that the early hours so often are.

“I found myself, in a silent home, with the days getting dark very early. I’ve never before in my life been affected by the lack of light so much. I just remember it always being night time. I would either make music into the night, go out drinking with friends, or go to parties and dance into the early hours, every day, week after week, month after month, until eventually the days became brighter again.” The opening statement ‘Pattern of the North’ starts off with a collage of spliced synth melodies, inspired by anxiety that accompanies going home for Christmas. It’s followed by ‘Johannesburg’, an early sketch gradually filled out during his tour in South Africa.


“After playing it around some of the cities, I got a lot of inspiration to bring it to life and push it into something that really moves me. I think this is one of my most colourful pieces of music, with its driving rhythm and almost a homage to Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ towards the end, with a build of very simple, hypnotic parts. I especially love that for over five minutes the piece is tied to just one note. This makes the ending very dramatic, because all of a sudden there is this harmonic change.” ‘Lone’ started life around the time Ryan was working on his ‘Sonne’ EP in 2014. It’s the result of constant adjustments to find the perfect balance of fragility and assurance. As everything on the album, it’s a carefully considered, emotionally mature piece. “I think, as I get older, I need music to represent something and not just sound interesting, though of course the two are connected.” The closing statement ‘What Sorrow’ is a fitting end to the album, building from gentle melancholia to a joyous crescendo. It’s a sensibility that’s central to the record; joy and sorrow both find their counterpoints.


“This record is very personal to me and I hope it offers something for other people, as it helped me to make it and to listen to it. Almost every synth line was recorded intuitively, without perfection but with a lot of intention and expression. I’m not interested in making something sad or making something happy. I want music to be bittersweet, to be more complex, like life – containing moments of vibrant colour and hope, as much as darkness and sadness.” This summer will see Ryan follow on from his recent North American Tour with the appearance at many festivals including Lovebox, Secret Garden Party, La Route Du Rock, Sea Change and Tale of Us-curated Afterlife party at Space, Ibiza.

The long side is a weird Drum & Bass tune, full of space tricks and quiet unformated : No More Hardcore (by Opiohm). B side starts with "Order" (by Snox) a good Bassline tune that turns into Hard techno after 3 minutes... The Last tune "Museilum" (by Snox) b1iss a space Drum & Break tune bringing the Freebreak into something total space. An excellent record.

An exciting new Record producer, with a sound that blends elements of Electro, Breaks, and Techno, Doppelbanger is quickly making a name for himself in the underground music circuit.
Drawing inspiration from the pulsing rhythms of the latest Electro sound with artists like Locked Club , Re:drum , Dagga, Manao & Hermeth leading the revolution. He infuses his tracks with a gritty energy that sure gets crowds moving on the dancefloor, but he also brings a modern twist to the genre, incorporating lush synths, intricate percussion, and cleverly manipulated samples to create a sound that is both nostalgic and forward-thinking.

Whether you’re a die-hard Electro fan or just looking for some fresh beats to get your groove on, Doppelbanger is sure to deliver the goods. So tune in, turn up, and let the vibes wash over you!

His first EP has just been released across all streaming platforms, along with the 1st press of Vinyl Records, grab a copy soon, before it is sold out!

Write up for EP: 2020 Vision

Welcome to an Electro-infused sonic journey! This EP captures the essence of a unique musical vision, blending captivating melodies, pulsating beats, and intricate soundscapes. With five tracks that span a range of moods and emotions, you are invited to immerse yourself in this electrifying experience.
From the moment the first track kicks in, you’ll find yourself transported to a world where synths come alive and rhythms intertwine with ethereal soundscapes. Each composition has been carefully crafted to take you on a sonic adventure, weaving together elements of Electro, pulsing basslines, and mesmerizing textures that will leave you craving for more.

Throughout this EP, Doppelbanger has pushed the boundaries of the genre, exploring new sonic territories while staying true to its roots.

The five tracks on this EP are meticulously arranged and mixed to ensure a seamless flow, creating an immersive experience that will keep you engaged from start to finish. Whether you’re looking to lose yourself in the infectious grooves or find solace in the introspective moments, this collection of songs has something for everyone.

Carl Finlow keeps on keepin' on. Not only is Finlow one of the most respected names in electro, a producer who boasts a sprawling catalogue that takes in a wide variety of aliases, but he's also spent recent years establishing himself as a mainstay for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label. Soft Robotics, the new EP from Finlow's Silicon Scally project, is the fifth Silicon Scally release in five years to boast one of CPU's instantly-recognisable black-and-white covers.

The reason that Silicon Scally and CPU keep linking up is simple; they're a perfect fit for one another. Central Processing Unit has established itself as a haven for post-Drexciya producers since launching in 2012, and there are few artists better than Finlow at building on the Detroit group's sound. The union bears fruit once more on Soft Robotics, an EP of lithe machine-funk jams that will both do damage in the dance and also reward more concentrated home listening.

Things begin at a steadier speed than one might expect. Rather than barrelling off with the kind of sinewy roller one associates with the CPU name, Soft Robotics' title-track takes things at mid-pace. The groove reveals itself without hurry, Silicon Scally adding or subtracting elements - twitchy modular loops, pensive pads, the occasional blurt of low-end - atop the chugging bass/drums groove. It's a track which wins you over with guile rather than force.

As the name of subsequent cut 'Jitters' intimates, this one picks things up a little after 'Soft Robotics'. The tempo is higher here, the central beat more nervy. At their cores, though, 'Jitters' and 'Soft Robotics' are kindred spirits. Here, another slyly insistent bit of drum programming comes swirled up with all sorts of extraterrestrial tones, from little nuggets of melody supplied by the keys to electrifying synth stabs and percussive squelches.

Things limber up further still on first B-side 'Spin Ratio'. The track's 808 kicks are punchier than those of the A-side jams, and there's a dizziness to the bass tone which gives 'Spin Ratio' an intriguingly off-kilter feel. Atop the booming beat we find ourselves hypnotised by cells of melody and harmony interlocking or moving apart - particularly the staccato module at the track's heart. Sure enough, 'Spin Ratio' is the Soft Robotics joint which cleaves closest to Drexciya, invoking other Detroit disciples like Jensen Interceptor in the process.

After Soft Robotics picks up speed in the middle, closer 'Super Fluid Tones' brings us back to where we started. This track returns to the more measured delivery of the record's opener - there's a steady pulse to the drums, and once again Silicon Scally packs the mix with so many intriguing whizzes, bangs, blips and blurts that it's impossible not be won over by this tune's construction. 'Soft Robotics' and 'Super Fluid Tones' bookend Soft Robotics very nicely, and Silicon Scally's smart pacing gives the EP a lovely ebb and flow.

The ever-excellent Carl Finlow drops a Silicon Scally release via Central Processing Unit for the fifth year running. Like its predecessors, Soft Robotics is an excellent and deftly-crafted collection of modern machine-funk.

RIYL: Drexciya, Jensen Interceptor, Fleck E.S.C., The Advent

THE LEGENDARY 1980 ALBUM REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL TAPES.
• 2LP SET WITH 12” X 12” BOOKLET.
• INLCUDES THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ‘COMS 1-3 RDX SUITE’ (TAKEN FROM THE ‘COMMERCIAL
ALBUM’ MULTITRACK TAPES).
• PRODUCED WITH THE RESIDENTS AND THE CRYPTIC CORPORATION.
• THE SEVENTH IN A SERIES OF VINYL RE-ISSUES OF THE RESIDENTS’ CLASSIC 70S ALBUMS.
Formed in the early 1970s, The Residents have now been charting a unique path through the
musical landscape for 50 years. In celebration of that remarkable and unlikely anniversary, we
present an expanded vinyl edition of the classic 1980 LP ‘Commercial Album’.
Following almost a decade spent attempting to redefine what pop music could be, but with zero
hit singles to show for it, The Residents finally caved and produced their own pop music album as
the 80s dawned. But rather than have each song repeat the same minute of music three times as
per the traditional pop format, The Residents produced no less than 40 one-minute pop
masterpieces, and invited the listener to do the repeating bit themselves if they felt the need.
The resulting ‘Commercial Album’ both showcased the incredible depth of the group’s musical
palette and proved definitively that they could easily be as big as The Beatles if they wanted to.
Probably bigger, actually.
Featuring a breathless collage of toe-tappers, memorable melodies, instrumental experiments
and guest performers (Fred Frith, Chris Cutler and XTC’s Andy Partridge among them), the
record has since acquired legendary status among both fans and confused onlookers alike.
Alongside the original album, this 2LP edition presents the ‘COMS 1-3 RDX Suite’ – a brand new
interpretation of (almost) the entire album, produced by the group using the original multi-track
tapes – and a brand new sleevenote essay shedding new light on the album’s production.
‘Commercial Album’ is the latest in The Residents’ extensive ongoing pREServed series – expect
more throughout 2023 and 2024. Possibly even 2025 too, the way things are going.

There's something intangible about Celeste, the Soundcarriers’ second album, originally released in 2010. It has a light, lucid quality, almost like driving exhausted through a strange city at night. Freeflowing yet tethered, dreamy yet attacking, the band continue the fight to reconcile competing impulses. Various threads just about keep the shimmering tapestry from tearing. Haunting folk melodies underpinned by rhythmic static and the physicality of the totally analogue recording and mixing, baroque keyboard counterpoints and sweeping arrangements. The opener “Last Broadcast” seems to encapsulate this but it's almost as if the album gets the angst out of its system with this track and is free to explore the quieter, less crowded back streets. After the smoke of “Last Broadcast” has cleared, the twisting road takes in the soft introspection of “Hideaway” and “Morning Haze”, both tracks morphing into heavy psyche grooves or the eastern tinged psyche funk of “Signals” and “Rise And Fall”. Or takes another turn with the tightly arranged opening segment of “Long Highway”. Somehow it still manages to fit in ‘60s pop gems like “There Only Once”. An album to really lose yourself in, yet more concise than the sprawling Harmonium and more relaxed and freeflowing than the nervy rush of Entropicalia, Celeste could be arguably their most indispensable album and not to damn it with faint praise, their most listenable.

The electric eels were the first punk band, full stop. They may not have “started” the genre, but they were the first to tick all the boxes. The eels rejected every 1970s rock convention—professionalism, virtuosity, subject matter, image. Dave E.’s caustic vocals, complete with an aggressive lisp and a head full of snot, would become de rigeur a few years after the group disbanded. Meanwhile, the songs’ focus on car crashes, suicide, neuroses, and generally hating people were as far out of the mainstream as possible. The two eels tracks that do approach the subject of romance couch it in terms of not really caring that much about it (“Jaguar Ride”) or placing it in the context of a grisly murder (“Silver Daggers”). Also consider John Morton’s signature guitar sound, a nails-on-chalkboard tone with brutally free soloing inspired more by Albert Ayler than the blues or aspirations to technical facility. Ditto Dave E.’s clarinet playing and affection for lawnmowers and vacuums during live performance. They were notoriously violent not only among themselves, but towards audiences, police, and anyone unfortunate enough to be around them when things went south. Then of course there are the leather jackets, the clothing festooned with rat traps or safety pins. And no bass player, why bother. There is simply no other “proto” band to have had all these pieces in place circa 1973- 1975. Yet it is a mistake to consider the eels exclusively in such a context. Yes, the eels could and did shock anyone who encountered them, but they also had great songs. While both Dave and John were visionary writers, they also had rhythm guitarist Brian McMahon, a melody and riff machine who wrote many of the band’s signature songs. And they were no one-trick pony. Although much of the band’s material is appropriately high-energy, there is also the downer eels—morbid, harmonically risky, and in full existential crisis. Although it’s not a focus of this compilation, the eels also had a penchant for completely free improvisation. Over the last forty plus years, there have been several electric eels compilations. Spin Age Blasters is quite simply the best one ever assembled, every single key track is here in its best version, properly mastered by John Golden, and sequenced with an eye towards both flow between tracks as well as individation between sides. A true monster of an album.

Repress!

The Self Split EP features Kouhei Matsunaga at his chimeric best for Diagonal, delivering two jazzy, freehand concrète collabs with Japanese sound artist and Eartaker noise maker, Masayuki Imianishi, plus two dance-offs with himself as NHK yx koyxen and Speedy K.Gelling Kouhei's many sonic handles for a full spectrum showcase of style and pattern, the set is riddled with a singular mischievous genius at every fold and warp. The Texture Foggy pieces render a more reflective, cosmic aspect of Kouhei's character. Working with Masayuki Imianishi, he terraforms paper, radio, field recordings and synths into vivid alien ecologies of shimmering electronics and spheric melody with a highly visual quality that perhaps betrays Kouhei's talents as an illustrator. For virulent examples of Kouhei at the rave, NHK yx koyxen and Speedy K's Step Move #01 is quite possibly the wonkiest peaktime juggernaut of the year, and the acid wormhole of Early Mellow Darkness sounds like the bald - as in bad - acid offspring of Luke Slater and Ed Rush. Once again Kouhei makes us go mad at the rave, but this time with something to come home and melt into as well.

Bringing his worlds of words and music together, Colin MacIntyre’s (aka Mull Historical Society) brand new album ‘In My Mind There’s A Room’ features an all-star cast of literary giants who have penned words about a special room that plays or has played a significant part in their lives. Using these words as the lyrics, Colin has then written the musical arrangements to create a 14 track album of personal and thoughtful songs. Featured authors include Ian Rankin, Nick Hornby, Jacqueline Wilson and Liz Lochhead plus many more. Recorded, fittingly, in a room that means a lot to Colin – his grandfather’s flat above the bank in Tobermory, Mull which has now been turned into a recording studio. The album is released on CD, vinyl and digital on 21st July 2023 on Xtra Mile Recordings. Mull Historical Society will be performing at this year’s Hay Festival, Borders Festival

Lori McKenna titled her album 1988 after the year she married her husband, Gene, yet the 10 songs within also serve as a love letter to lifelong friendships, people she’s lost, and her family. Recorded with producer Dave Cobb in Savannah, Georgia, 1988 naturally has its nostalgic moments, even if not every ending is a happy one. With more of an electric edge than her past projects, 1988 feels in step with classic ‘90s albums by Sheryl Crow or Gin Blossoms, where the lyrics pulled you in as much as the melody or production. Playing together on acoustic guitars while facing one another in the studio, McKenna and Cobb tracked the album live, giving it a feeling of immediacy and authenticity.

PUBLIC INTEREST can do no wrong in our eyes and they held the door open for you again. This LP is even denser and fuller than their previous Between 12". If you like dark post-punk, you might like this, as much as we do. Synthy post-punk that surprises with every track. ETT is proud to bring the 2nd vinyl from this project out of Oakland featuring (or maybe even consisting entirely of?) a member of Marbled Eye. Marbled Eye’s recent recordings showcased their ability to write catchy post-punk tunes and this 8-song LP from Public Interest is the same level. While you’ll hear plenty of those memorable guitar lines that made the Marbled Eye tracks so great, the songs here feel snappier, more concerned with generating a pop-inspired forward momentum than stretching things out and floating in mid-air. The angular synth lines and mechanical rhythms are a nice counterpoint to those fluid guitar lines, imbuing Between with an irresistible tension. This is utterly brilliant. I don't have a favourite track because this record is just good and coherent in its integrity. Guitars sound ace, drums and bass are on point and the vocals give some pop shades that are never annoying. Really great enjoyable LP.

The Side Eyes are back with the follow up to their 2017 self-titled debut album and are asking the question What’s Your Problem? Anyone suspecting that the Southern California band may have mellowed out in the five years between albums will have those suspicions shattered within the first twenty seconds of the opening track “Get Me Out.” If anything, the band is now harder, faster and angrier than they were the first time around. Vocalist Astrid McDonald is in fiery fine form calling out everything from phonies to shit-talkers to people that simply aren’t nice. Brothers Kevin and Chris Devine on guitar and bass and drummer Sam Mankinen thunder through the twelve tracks here at a breakneck speed that is positively pummeling. While The Side Eyes sound like a throwback to early Southern California hardcore punk rock like Circle Jerks and the Adolescents, the band also sites more recent bands like Ceremony, Glue and Babes In Toyland as influences. Produced by Steve McDonald (Redd Kross / Melvins) and clocking in at under twenty minutes (while spinning at 45 RPM), What’s Your Problem is a modern punk rock gem that blows past the sonic barriers of their past inspirations. This is great stuff!

The classic 1983 hardcore scuzz rock debut from Berkeley, CA’s Fang, Landshark is a unique mix of erratic thrashers and slow Sabbath-oid noise riffs. Its best-known tune is without a doubt the rumbling and stumbling opening track “The Money Will Roll Right In,” which has been covered by Nirvana, Metallica, Mudhoney, The Butthole Surfers and god knows who else. The record also includes cheerful odes to the disabled (“Destroy the Handicapped”), the follicle-y challenged (“Skinheads Smoke Dope”), and assorted werewolves, delinquents and drug users. Fang continues to unload their brand of sludge-punk on audiences to this day, with recent tours taking them around the US, Europe and Brazil. This reissue is remastered and back in print on vinyl for the first time in 20 years, with additional vintage artwork inside. The digital download included with the disc also features their entire Where the Wild Things Are release, plus more.

Swami John Reis celebrates his 100th year in rock ’n’ roll with a brand new band and record! “Ride The Wild Night” is neither completely similar nor dissimilar to his previous bands (Hot Snakes, Night Marchers, The Sultans, Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, etc).

Yet the sound is immediately familiar and assuring (like an old friend you lost touch with that comes back into your life only to ask to borrow money).

The music is an amalgam of ’60s folk-punk, ’70s punk-punk and pre-Vietnam War rock ’n’ roll, filtered through the Reis’ unregistered, trademark sensibilities. “I wanted to celebrate some of my favorite rock n roll in its transitional periods. Flaming Groovies, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kinks, The Saints and others created some of the most exciting recordings while also connecting the musical past to its future. That really appeals to me”.

Although titled a “solo” record it is predominantly in name only. The record is built on stentorian bedrock of savage drumming by J. Sinclair K. of Hot Snakes and the pounding acoustic piano of Joe Guevara. Also adding their expertise to the mix is Chris Prescott (Pinback) Gar Wood (Hot Snakes), Glen Galloway (Truman’s Water), Jacob Turnbloom (Mrs. Magician) and Jordan Clark (PLOSIVS). With this backing, Swami John Reis finalizes it with his throaty basso and weaponizes the files with roaring electric guitars, rapid acoustic guitar strum and bass.

Hear his defiant, croak-howl in what might be his most autobiographical work yet. “All of these stories are real. They just might not be completely true.” Reis adds, ”The words come from what I overhear through my fence, what I see across the street, pictures I see in my head, experiences that I can’t forget or am grateful to remember.” If there is a loose theme throughout the record he offers, “Musically and lyrically there is a motivation to surrender to a restless and impulsive spirit that can only be satisfied by breaking things. Creating rubble for better or worse. “

Music critics and fans alike have long referred to Reis’s signature voice as “The Velvet Yawn” and never has that description been more apt. “Ride The Wild Night” was recorded by Reis at City Of Refuge (Night Marchers, Black Lips, The Spits) and mixed by Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Diamanda Galas) at Singing Serpent.

Formed in 2004 in York, UK, Deitus create sonic terror through the medium of Black Metal with no limits and no compromises. The band have released two highly acclaimed studio albums to date (‘Acta Non Verba’, 2016 and ‘Via Dolorosa’, 2018).

The band recently completed their third full-length album, ‘Irreversible’, released through Candlelight Records, which will only serve to inflict the sinister and vicious art of Deitus to an even wider audience.

‘Irreversible’ will consolidate Deitus as masters of their craft whilst at the same time introducing a much more diverse sound overall, with tracks such as ‘Voyeur’, which features a collaboration with an independent female singer songwriter, along with their first ever music video.

Formed in 2004 in York, UK, Deitus create sonic terror through the medium of Black Metal with no limits and no compromises. The band have released two highly acclaimed studio albums to date (‘Acta Non Verba’, 2016 and ‘Via Dolorosa’, 2018).

The band recently completed their third full-length album, ‘Irreversible’, released through Candlelight Records, which will only serve to inflict the sinister and vicious art of Deitus to an even wider audience.

‘Irreversible’ will consolidate Deitus as masters of their craft whilst at the same time introducing a much more diverse sound overall, with tracks such as ‘Voyeur’, which features a collaboration with an independent female singer songwriter, along with their first ever music video.

‘Mellifluous’... is a word you won’t hear much when conversation turns to early Pooh Sticks records. But ‘noise pollution’, sure: that comes up. I’ve even used it myself. So look away now if you must: ‘Straight Up: Noise Pollution C88-90’ is a selection of some of the most loved/despised/ignored tracks released by The Pooh Sticks on however many records it was before it all went wilfully ‘American’ sometime around dotted-lining for BMG mega-corp in 1991.
The record has highlights and lowlights. You and me, we’d probably agree on most of them. We chose a reasonable cross-section, I think (although there could’ve been more tambourine), including:
- “On Tape” - zeitgeist-nailin’ strum and strangle.
- “I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well” - long title
- “Teenage High” - breathy sweetness sneaked onto the depraved Sympathy For The Record Industry label.
- “Dying For It” - the Vaselines cover which beat Nirvana by a full two years (though theirs sold better).
... and more! It’s like Christmas (no, blocking up the chimney won’t help: we’ve cut spare keys). And all of this in a nice gatefold sleeve, and on Steve McQueen’s- eyes blue vinyl. And there’s even a repro poster for the March ’89 Pastels/Pooh Sticks/Vaselines gig up London way (“I swear I was there”, people say).
On behalf of the group, I hope you enjoy it. No, really. It was all a long time ago but I remember we had fun. Maybe you were even there having fun with us.

In an era defined by futility, isolation, and precarity, it can be difficult to envision a utopia. But on Skeleten’s thrilling, immersive debut album, Under Utopia, the Sydney musician dares to imagine new ways of being that are not characterized by doom or despair. Across eleven tracks of free-flowing, transcendent, and often euphoric electronic music, Skeleten praises the power of comradery and community; while dreaming of a future that is joyously boundless. 



Skeleten, real name Russell Fitzgibbon, has always been fascinated by the ideas of utopias. He’s thought a lot about how the concept has shifted and morphed throughout history, and how the goal post for a utopia is always moving further and further away. “We're more familiar with the idea of a dystopia in the modern world - that's more close to our consciousness. I think on this album I wanted to explore the importance of imaging and embodying a new world.”

Written before and during the pandemic, the album was born out of a desire to connect with others and to shake the mantle of introspection that had been placed on his previous works. From the opening notes of the otherworldly album opener “Generator”, it's clear that this record prioritises immediate pleasures without forgoing intimacy. The lyrics are also more explicit, reaching outward with inviting choruses and mantra-like melodies. “I think the album came out of the experience of feeling this great desire to reconnect and dreaming of the power of community,” says the musician.

This is especially present in lead single ‘Sharing The Fire’, a song that crackles with optimism. A sprawling dance track with pulsating synths and Fitzgibbon’s gentle, warm vocals, the song is about futures that are full of brightness and bliss. As the artist repeats in the song’s chorus: “for all that you know, summer could be around the corner.” The song is about an “almost frustrated desire to connect with more people and feel that sense of community through shared goals.” The accompanying video clip, shot on 35mm, is similarly invested in ideas of companionship and gathering. Shot in a clinical, drab office space, friends and revelers fill the space with warmth and energy.

Elsewhere, this invocation of paradise is infused in the stripped-back, singular title track “Under Utopia”. The song was significant to Fitzgibbon, as it allowed him to gather all his thoughts and ideas about his new music under one message. “It’s something I wrote when I had this collection of songs and wanted to give it a single voice, which was about seeing the world entirely new, full of hope and beauty, and all of us underneath pushing it upwards.” 

An antidote for gloom presented in Under Utopia is the transformative power of love. There’s “Heart Full Of Tenderness”, a woozy, languorous love song, awash with cloudy vocals and glistening synths; the truncated beats and hypnotic pleading of “Territory Day” and “Right Here It’s Only Love” which explores the icier and ambient side of R’n’B.


Another hallmark that characterizes Under Utopia is Fitzgibbon’s airy and spacious mix, which gives his songs room to sprawl out and simmer; as well as allowing his calming baritone to come to the fore. This is notable in the contemplative, synth-laden “Colour Room”, the funk-tinged “Walking On Your Name,” the previously released “No Drones in the Afterlife,” and the beloved early single “Mirrored,” which speaks of finding yourself through a connection to those around you.

Fitzgibbon has been enmeshed in the Sydney music scene for years. Skeleten emerged out of a need to experiment and make music without worrying about the outcome. “It was just me making music that felt right, and very much focusing on this kind of meditative aspect of exploring without any goal,” says Fitzgibbon. But as the project has evolved, the artist has gained clarity on what he hopes his music will achieve: bringing people together, and creating an atmosphere of elation. Or as Fitzgibbon puts it on Under Utopia’s hallucinatory album closer “We’re gonna get everything we need in the world.”

Pressed On Clear Vinyl! 'We are the planters of the weeds or roses in our garden. Take the plunge within yourself to find The Main Ingredient.' So reads CL Smooth's album dedication in the liners to Pete Rock & CL's underrated, soulful and deeply grooving sophomore album. For fans, it was bittersweet, as it would be their last as a duo. By 1994, Pete and CL were darlings of both fans and critics, still on a high after 1992's Mecca & The Soul Brother and the album's emotional smash single 'They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).' Two years later, they had grown even more as men and artists. Gone was some of the righteous striving of their earlier work, replaced by mature - yet still righteous - wisdom. And a lot more love as well, bringing a larger female constituency into their fanbase. They were adults now, reveling in the plateau they had reached. The duo's '90s swan song is a powerful double album that still resonates with Golden Era hip-hop fans: 16 cuts deep and full of intelligence, fire and warmth. Beats-per-minute-wise, the album mostly clocks at a comfortable strutting pace, bolstered by Pete Rock's pioneering use of filtered basslines and a recently-hatched obsession with Rhodes piano. The new tracks filled speakers and headphones with soul, as CL continued to assert his lyrical prowess all throughout. The lead single, 'I Got A Love,' is a perfect example of the group's '94 steez: a super-catchy and respectful, but far-from-soft love track, suitable for any rap fan's romantic needs. 'Take You There' and 'Carmel City' cover similar ground. Considering CL Smooth's top-level brag rapper status, cuts like 'I Get Physical,' 'Get On The Mic' and 'Check It Out' effectively reminded competitors not to test him. Pete also gets in the game on the mic several times on the album, acquitting himself nicely (and solo) on the cloudy day soul of 'Escape,' alongside other cuts. Add more pensive lyrical forays like 'All The Places,' 'Searching,' and - perhaps the album's sleeper cut - 'It's On You' and you have one of the more complete rap full-lengths of the mid-1990s. This isn't surprising, considering the wonder twins-esque skills of Pete and CL. But it does make fans wonder what would have happened if they had stayed together longer.

















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Acclaimed producer, songwriter, and vocalist Shafiq Husayn has been a vital force on the Los Angeles music scene for decades. A member of trendsetting trio Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Shafiq has produced tracks for a staggering spectrum of talent, including Erykah Badu, Ty Dolla $ign, Pharoahe Monch, Robert Glasper, Ice T, Bilal, Jurassic 5, and many more. Over the last few years, the Grammy winner has also become the leader of The Dove Society, an expansive L.A. musical collective. Now, Shafiq Husayn and The Dove Society are debuting the new album So Gold, an eclectic masterpiece emerging from sessions Shafiq describes as “pure love, magic, inspiration!” A worthy follow-up to Shafiq’s acclaimed 2018 opus The Loop, the album features contributions from Anderson .Paak, Syd (of The Internet), Peyton, Thurz, Jimetta Rose, Speed Walton, and many more. Bursting with the kinetic energy of vibrant creative collaboration, the album synthesizes disparate styles into a cohesive tapestry of lush cosmic soul. “It’s new age everything and above,” Shafiq explains. “Focused and direct in the songwriting and production, but still adventurous and refreshing.

Spanish producer Vilchezz debuts on slash with one of KI/KI's longest awaited dancefloor hits to date. The title track Camelo's is doing rounds in her DJ sets for a couple of years and is easily the highlight of many gigs, finally the day is now there to present it on her own slash label.

It all started just with a Soundcloud demo a year ago when Fasta Danza crew member Vilchezz shared some of his new music with KI/KI. Now residing in Budapest, his new EP also marks a significant change in styles for Vilchezz, with his new works leaning more towards energetic, trance tinged hard grooves. And that's exactly the sweet spot where he meets KI/KI and her slash imprint. After playing the Camelo's demo inside-out around the world a full release is now finally formed. A full pack backed with another original Eskorbuto - which feels like a future classic uplifting trance drifter - and three remixes another chapter on slash is there.

For the remixes KI/KI and Vilchezz invited Oslo based trance producer and UTE.REC label co-owner Filip Storsveen aka Oprofessionell. He turns Camelo's into a magnificent introvert eyes closed club weapon. Where Glasgow's Animal Farm resident AISHA comes in fierce with a powerful early 00's twist combined with an impeccable psy drive. And to finalize the pack, fast rising star CAIVA reworked Eskorbuto by adding her own vocals to the original and by doing so she adds an impressive, emotive festival banger to a well rounded set of modern trance gems.

2023 Repress

King Tubby's and Channel One were two of the great studios that produced so many of the great reggae rhythms in Kingston.Jamaica find themselves here for one night only battling for the trophy.
So who would be better placed to compare the Dub Soundclash from the two great studios then Bunny Lee himself.
Throwing rhythms over at Channel One who had enlisted the great DJ Jah Stitch to return the fire.
So sit back and enjoy two great institutions of the Reggae sound ,battling it out for sumpremacy.
The winner...we will leave that decision up to the listener.
But in this Dub Soundclash there is no loser...
All killer..No filler...Enjoy

Soul music originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 50s and 60s. Having its roots in African American gospel music and rhythm & blues, it became popular for dancing and listening with prominent record labels as Motown, Atlantic and Stax.

On this 2LP compilation classic soul songs by Curtis Mayfield, Marlene Shaw, Bill Withers, and Aretha Franklin are paired with funky soul stompers by James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, The Isley Brothers, and poetic soul by Gil Scott-Heron, Marvin Gaye, The Impressions and many more influential artists and groups.

Soul Collected is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on yellow (LP2) and orange (LP2) coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

The Counts formed in Michigan in 1964 as the Fabulous Counts, releasing two singles, ‘Jan Jan’ and ‘Get Down People’ on the Moira label in 1968 and 1969 that became R&B chart hits. This led to the album “Jan Jan”, issued by Cotillion in 1969.

Snapped up by Westbound, the line-up that recorded “What’s Up Front That Counts” included Mose Davis (Organ), Leroy Emmanuel (guitar), Demetrius Cates (sax) and Andrew Gibson (drums). Although tenor player Jim White is on the front cover, he left the band shortly before the album was recorded. Extended, mostly instrumental tracks like ‘Why Not Start All Over Again’ and the title track are now recognized as some of the juiciest funk ever laid down in the studio. Shorter tracks like ‘Rhythm Changes’, ‘Thinking Single’ and ‘Bills’ are equally sweet. What gives the album such powerful musical chemistry was the fact that the Counts were jazz players weaned on the likes of Miles Davis who were also into the funk of James Brown and Sly & The Family Stone so every track features groove-driven interplay. One might argue this is the sound that Miles Davis was trying to find on his early 70s albums.

The Counts were to tour with Funkadelic and record more singles and albums but it is this 1971 offering that is, and remains, an all-time classic. Indeed, the track ‘What’s Up Front That Counts’ has been sampled by artists like Queen Latifah and Eric B & Rakim, keeping the music of the Counts firmly in the minds of a young contemporary audience.

Out of print on vinyl for nearly two decades, Ace is proud to reissue this beauty

Mike Cooper wrote his final songwriter record, a suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio, while living on the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain, an era when he was considering retiring from music altogether. A chance encounter and a last-ditch record deal convinced him to make one last album, which he recorded in 1974 at Pathway Studios in London, with “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World,” featuring the inventive South African jazz rhythm section of Louis Moholo and Harry Miller with UK saxophonist Mike Osborne. This first-ever reissue includes a bonus CD of Milan Live Acoustic 2018, a previously unreleased solo set that represents Cooper’s return, after forty-four years pursuing free improvisation and electronics, to a new, deconstructed approach to singing, steel guitar, and songcraft. The deluxe LP+CD edition also features a six-panel insert with additional artwork and an essay by the artist about both records. The deluxe 2xCD gatefold edition features an eight-panel version of the same insert. In the wake of his magisterial triptych of early 1970s avant-folk-rock records Trout Steel (1970), Places I Know (1971), and The Machine Gun Co. (1972) the British songwriter, guitarist, and fledgling improviser Mike Cooper retreated to the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain. With no prospects for touring or recording again, his fiery band the Machine Gun Co. had disintegrated. Cooper sets the scene in his liner notes of the first-ever reissue of his unjustly forgotten next album Life and Death in Paradise (1974): No one came running with offers of fame and riches, and we fell apart, and I left the country and headed for the beach, disillusioned and a bit disorientated musically. I went to Almuñécar in Andalusia, a place I had been going since 1969, because a painter friend from Reading, Rowland Fade who made the collage in the gatefold of my earlier album Trout Steel had moved there in 1968. It was in this synthetic coastal “paradise,” unmoored and adrift, considering retiring from music altogether, that he began tentatively writing new songs. A chance encounter with producer Tony Hall, who offered Cooper a last-ditch record deal on Hall’s nascent Fresh Air label, convinced him to make one last album with the stipulation that he could assemble what he called “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.” I told Tony that I would do it if I could hire some of my South African jazz musician friends that I had used on my Pye/Dawn albums and some friends from Reading that I still knew and admired. I called up Harry Miller, Louis Moholo, and Mike Osborne, who were in fact a trio at the time … and several local Reading heroes, including the singer-songwriter Terry Clarke. The result, recorded live with minimal overdubbing at Pathway Studios in London, was Life and Death in Paradise, an utterly singular suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio comprising the inventive South African jazz rhythm section of Moholo and Miller with UK saxophonist Osborne. Unlike anything else in Cooper’s extensive catalog. Fresh Air fizzled, and Life and Death became Cooper’s final record as a songwriter, having pushed the form as far as he could. Drifting north from Spain back to the UK, he fell into the scene of the London Musicians Collective (LMC) including Paul Burwell, David Toop, and saxophonist Lol Coxhill, Cooper’s bandmate in the Recedents and fully embraced free improvisation. He was still, however, interested in singing and lyrics, so, influenced by Tom Phillips, William Burroughs, and Brion Gysin, he began experimenting with text collage and cut-up techniques, arriving at his own hybrid compositional strategy for improvisatory songs. The previously unreleased solo set Milan Live Acoustic 2018 represents Cooper’s return, after more than four decades pursuing free improvisation and electronics, to a new, deconstructed approach to singing, lap steel guitar, and songcraft. Presented here together with Life and Death in Paradise, the two records provide fascinating bookends to Mike Cooper’s long, mercurial, and pioneering practice as a songmaker.

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Wildfire was a household name in Tropical Island music circles due to their excellent albums and performances throughout Trinidad, Tobago, the Caribbean & US Virgin Islands and French Guadeloupe. In 1962 they started off as ‘The Sparks’ (a well-respected Calypso outfit who released a bunch of successful singles) but with the release of their hit single ‘Come On Down’ from 1975, they exploded into Wildfire.

Wildfire had a very fruitful career and released four top full-length albums and a vast amount of singles before calling it quits. Led by bandleader Oliver Chapman (bass & guitar player, vocalist, arranger, producer and co-writer for the majority of the bands’ songs) and comprised out of high talented musicians, Wildfire was out there with the big boys in the niche they carved out for themselves.

On the album we are presenting you today (Time Is The Answer from 1980) you’ll find the perfect mix of funk, soul and disco, basically the popular sounds of the day, and all tracks are originals. The album is FUNKY and the production quality can rival with any of their peers and records produced/recorded in the US. The performance of Wildfire on this album is beyond excellent. This release was also the first time the group took control over production and getting their album out in the world. Also included is the hit single ‘Say A Little Prayer For The Children’ which is just one of those songs that will be stuck in your head forever.

Besides virtuoso Oliver Chapman: the talent that was featured on ‘Time Is The Answer’ is exceptional. Anstey Hamilton carries around a rich noticeable tenor voice. Arthur Byron who also did vocals on the album, has a beautiful rasping tone that can knock you out anytime he gets into his act. Fitzroy Isaac on keyboards and Donald Leid on drums are the guys that were responsible for keeping the groove tight. Clifford Wilson like Oliver had been with band since the start. He is calm in his approach, he played the bass guitar and sung background vocals, he also chipped in with Oliver whenever they wrote songs together. Finally we have Cyllan Charles, who was known as the Wildfire voice. Cyllan had been doing most of the lead vocals since he joined the group in 1972, he was the most experienced of all the members, and can really take you to higher heights anytime he gets into doing his thing both on stage and on wax.

“Time is the Answer" by Wildfire is a scarce and increasingly sought-after LP. Filled with hit-bound songs it comes as no surprise that the album has now become a much-wanted item due to its addictive and original-sounding nature. This is a must-have for any self-respecting record digger!

Yasushi Ide, the Japanese Street Music Icon Unleashed "Cosmic Suite 2" in a Revolutionary Blend of Genres.

Yasushi Ide, the revered figure in Japanese street music, has recently unveiled his latest musical opus titled "Cosmic Suite 2," a rebel music masterpiece that pushes the boundaries of musical genres.

This groundbreaking album features collaborations with esteemed pioneers including Afrika Bambaataa, Don Letts, Josh Millan, Jeff Mills, DJ Krush, Tony Allen, and more. By transcending the limitations of time, genre, and even mortality, Ide has crafted a truly unique and eclectic street music experience unlike anything seen before.
Notably, Ide enlisted the expertise of Grammy-winning sound engineer Steven Stanley to embark on the reconstruction of "Cosmic Suite 2" using his renowned dub mix techniques. The outcome of this collaboration is the birth of "Dr. Steven Stanley Meets Yasushi Ide - Cosmic Disco Dub," a mesmerizing rendition that showcases the genius of both artists.

Hailing from Jamaica, Steven Stanley is a highly regarded sound engineer and producer whose illustrious career spans several decades, primarily in the realms of reggae, dub, and rock music. Having worked with acclaimed acts such as Talking Heads, Black Uhuru, and Tom Tom Club, Stanley has solidified his status as a living legend within the industry. His contributions to Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" and his Grammy-winning work on Black Uhuru's "Anthem" further exemplify his unparalleled expertise. Additionally, Stanley has collaborated with notable artists including Grace Jones and B-52's.

In "Dr. Steven Stanley Meets Yasushi Ide - Cosmic Disco Dub," Stanley expertly integrates elements from the original "Cosmic Suite 2" tracks, employing his unique dubbing techniques to enhance the sonic experience. Through the addition of his signature dubby reverb and other distinctive sound manipulations, Stanley elevates the album to an entirely new dimension.
"The Battle" Transformed into an Enchanting Disco Dub Experience, Infused with Stanley's Horn Section Effects for a smoky ambience.

In the mesmerizing track "Galactic Beats," the legendary Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen's powerful drums take center stage. Skillfully applying his dub effects, Stanley adds vibrant layers and new dimensions to the composition, further enhancing its sonic palette.
Another standout is the dub version of "LAVA," featuring acclaimed Japanese singer UA. The track, which was already a fan favorite in its original form, undergoes a remarkable transformation in this dub rendition, further accentuating its appeal.

"Outer Space" Transcends Time and Genre with a Dream Collaboration Between the Late Legendary Reggae Drummer Style Scott and Japan's Turntablist Extraordinaire, DJ Krush. While the original track exudes a stoic and deep cosmic dub essence, Stanley ingeniously reimagines it as a nostalgic old-school dancehall masterpiece.

"Sumimasen" is a track that exemplifies Stanley's mastery, where the unique Japanese word "Sumimasen" (meaning "I'm sorry") is transformed into a psychedelic and deeply immersive dub journey. The track features captivating echoes on the vocals and twisted synth elements, transporting listeners to a cosmic realm of sonic exploration.
Furthermore, it is crucial to highlight "Hear, There, and Beyond," a collaboration between Yasushi Ide, Kan Takagi, the pioneering figure of Japanese hip-hop, and RECK, the bassist from the legendary punk rock band FRICTION. This reconstructed version takes the original track to unprecedented heights. With a remarkable shift to tribal drums in the midst of the song, the energy intensifies, resulting in a wild and exhilarating musical experience.
The reconstruction of this album evokes memories of Mad Professor's "No Protection," a renowned dub reconstruction of Massive Attack's work that remains an enduring masterpiece in the genre. With its exceptional craftsmanship and artistic vision, "Dr. Steven Stanley Meets Yasushi Ide - Cosmic Disco Dub" has the potential to be regarded as another timeless dub reconstruction masterpiece, solidifying its place in music history.

The year is 1989. Techno’s second generation has begun to permeate the globe leading a young Carl Craig to a tiny village in the countryside of Belgium. It is here, undistracted and determined to break out, that Craig encounters one of the country’s only drum machines, an Alesis controlled midi-808. In a single session he composes and mixes a handful of records that are still to this day regarded as some of his most raw and explosive contributions to the fabric of electronic music history.

Carl revisits this fateful chapter through the lens of a famed cut from his Psyche alias ‘From Beyond’, with a ‘C2 2023 Mix’ and remixes from Seth Troxler, Ataxia and Admn, out July 14 on Planet E Communications.

The Psyche alias, known for early Transmat releases like ‘Crackdown’ and ‘Elements’, embodied a stripped back, less sample based yin attitude to the yang of Carl’s more aggressive 69 and sample-forward BFC and Paperclip People identities. ‘From Beyond’, first released in 1990 via the ‘Crackdown’ 12” on Transmat, offers an eerie glimpse into the simplistic production that came through Carl’s mastery of the 808 and the sonic value of restricting himself to this movement defining tool.

This new ‘From Beyond’ package sees Carl lift and bend the original in his ‘C2 2023 Mix’ alongside a package of remixes from artists near to the hearts of Detroit and the Planet E fold. Seth Troxler brings a subdued acid tinge to the package, while label regular Ataxia pays homage to the source material with a renewed percussive energy, followed by a soulful rework by Admn.

Whether it be through the 30 year repertoire of his seminal Planet E, his Party / After-Party sound and light installation now on display at Los Angeles’ MOCA, or his continuous work as a champion of Black-led creativity, the Carl Craig mission remains the same: to always rep Detroit and be the realest mutha f***a alive.

“All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” (Realia006) is the forthcoming record from LATHE 00, the new moniker under which Umbria-based artist Leonardo Carloni has recently started to operate.

Preceded by several collaborative undertakings, LATHE 00’s debut solo album is akin to an experiment in autotheory, where art-making practice and theoretical inquiry are entwined to the point of being virtually inseparable. Through the combined use of autobiographical and philosophical elements, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” meditates on individuality, technology, and new forms of (post-)human existence.

The record has been conceived as a three-act project, with each act comprising four compositions that correspond to as many recurring themes: birth, love, death, and emptiness. Produced over the course of two years, the album has a total of twelve tracks, the majority of which run for less than two and a half minutes. Upon closer inspection, these tracks feel less like standalone pieces of music and more like outtakes of a single but continuously mutating continuum.

LATHE 00’s first feature is a work of rare beauty. As a one-person debut project, its stylistic variety, compositional maturity, and technical rigor are outstanding. By combining a forward-looking production style with references as varied as ambient, hyper-pop, instrumental post-rock, world-beat, and modern classical and folk music, LATHE 00 develops a mode of expression that transgresses genres and is distinctively his own.

The result is a signature sound that feels equally primordial and hyper-contemporary, fleshly visceral and detached. The inclusion of the artist's own vocals in the music is a notable aspect of this style. Alongside sampled materials, his non-lexical vocalisations appear as both an affirmative and negative act, simultaneously gesturing towards bodiless dissolution and a desire to reclaim one’s all-too-embodied presence in this world.

Despite being a concept album grounded in a profound theoretical substrate, “All in the Golden Afternoon We Glide” surprisingly relies on wordless communication only. As such, in it, song titles become key vectors of information. Appealing primarily to the listener’s sense of sight, they are used in a way that seamlessly blends the aesthetics of the digital (“Loading of Image Aborted!”), nature (the title track), and ritual (Pouring Blood into the Lake).

The album will be released in digital format alongside a limited-edition printed publication conceptualised and designed by Lidia Ginga Cozzupoli and Bernardo Berga.

The Waterboys’ eighth studio album is made available on vinyl for the first time, in ‘Seville’ orange. Originally released in 2003, ‘Universal Hall’ was recorded in the basement studio of the titular hall, a theatre and concert venue in Findhorn, Scotland. It is the most nakedly spiritual of the band's records, all the more so for having been mostly written and entirely made in the spiritual community at Findhorn. At the time of release, band leader Mike Scott described ‘Universal Hall’ as "a record containing eleven spiritual songs that articulate - to the best of my ability - the vision that drives, challenges, sustains and transforms me.” This vision is explored in now-classic Waterboys numbers such as Peace Of Iona, The Christ In You and Universal Hall itself, One track, the celtic-flavoured I've Lived Here Before, was written with Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers. The album also saw the return of the band's fiddler Steve Wickham, his first appearance on a Waterboys’ record since ‘Room To Roam’ in 1990. The vinyl format is 180g Orange vinyl. The CD format is packaged in a jewelcase with 16 page booklet.

smokey vinyl

French label and promoter Much More recordings is proud to present the first vinyl our collection.

This vinyl features 6 tracks ranging from breaks to techno and passing by acid and electronica, designed for soundsystem and anchored in their proper original and analogic techno sound.

We believe that redefining the essence of the genre is now critical. After years of promoting parties in Paris and Europe, Much More has gathered artists considered to be the essence of techno. Artists who know how to turn knobs without screens.

They continue to make the mob sweat on the dance-floor, with a simple at first yet efficient recipe that holds a myriad of subtleties.

On our table lies a lemon slowly withering away, a fruit that once was as much suave than sour. Our artists are as ripe as this yellow sphere lying in the open. They possess the experience and knowledge needed to forcefully broadcast this emergency rebirth that techno desperately needs. Our creations are neither nostalgic nor futuristic, they aim to be atemporal. They are naked to artifices, raw to over-tuning, built and cut upon the very ageless tools that defined and will name what is Techno.

Far from us the desire of claiming to be the only definition of the genre, nor forgetting about its primal cravings. Whereas Amarou, Skudge and Sawlin showcast the narrative scope of our passion, Wrong Assessment, Arnaud le Texier and Falling Echoes will remind us what is raving under the strobe's fire.

It's music from urban centers and countrysides, for big room and inner space.
It's music without tag or time, where every loop stops and unfolds on its own.

We are back to the essence, and yet, much more.

Brazilia Maravilha... A real wonder of selected Brazilian tunes.
You will feel the mood and breeze like you were over there!

28 songs including some great classics as "Lamento" by Nelson Riddle, "Mas Que Nada" by Elza Soares, "Groovy Samba" by Cannonball Adderley and "So Nice (Samba De Verao) by Sérgio Mendes as well as more unique ones.

Kindly remastered tracks from master tapes to keep the dusty roots of the original sound. Double vinyl in a balanced mix of vocals, instrumentals, bossa nova and some jazzy beats tunes.

She may be making her first appearance on NuNorthern Soul, but Zeynep Erbay is no newcomer. A classically trained pianist who took a turn towards the dancefloor while at university, the Turkish DJ/producer earned her first release on Compost Records way back in 2007 after taking part in 2006’s Red Bull Music Academy programme. Since then, her career has been on an upwards trajectory, with releases on Fools Gold and Soul Clap Records confirming Erbay as a genuine rising star of underground electronic music.

On the Healer EP, the Istanbul-based producer showcases the more atmospheric, sun-kissed end of her productions, taking a turn away from synth-powered, disco-leaning club tracks towards something more suitable for al-fresco events, sun-down sets, and sofa-bound listening sessions.

Inspired by a poem inscribed on the back cover of the EP, Erbay’s two original instrumental tracks simply ooze with emotion. The poem tells the story of a whale searching for her family while helping others along the way, which acts as a metaphor for our wider search for belonging and acceptance.

This aural narrative unfolds firstly across ‘Heart of a Healer’, a slowly unfurling stunner in which emotion-rich chords, gentle electronic melodies and Erbay’s poignant and picturesque piano motifs, gently rise above a chunky dub disco bassline and mid-tempo, triple-time drums.

Delving further, the effortlessly emotional, life-affirming composition ‘Healer Whale’, where Erbay’s impeccable piano playing ushers in languid, jazz-flecked drums, dubby bass, sumptuous synth-strings and colourful, slow-moving chords.

On remix dutires, NYC-based Italian Danilo Braca, who also mastered the release, provides a fine club-focused fix of ‘Heart of a Healer’, laced with crunchy machine drums and undulating TB-303 acid lines. NuNorthern Soul regular Marshall Watson handles ‘Healer Whale’, first delivering a fine ‘Remix’ version that effortlessly blurs the boundary between dub disco and Balearic nu-disco, before serving up a shorter, ambient ‘Reprise’ version.

Josh Butler joins Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory imprint with the ‘Piranha’ EP, featuring a collaboration with Josh Daniel and two further original compositions.

Northern England’s Josh Butler has been at the forefront of the contemporary house scene over the past decade, racking up releases for the likes of Defected, Rejected, Solid Grooves, Hot Creations, Crosstown Rebels, MÜSE and many more. Here though we see Josh returning to Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory following 2023’s ‘Sunday Club’ with some fresh, dub house leaning material.

Opening the release is ‘Be There’, a collaboration with Josh Daniel, laid out across five and half minutes with dubbed out piano chords, crisp drums, a bouncy bass line and Daniel’s soulful vocal stylings.

A dub mix is offered up to follow, laying focus solely on the groove. On the flip side we have ‘Piranha’ up first, a hazy journey through dubbed out synth swells, airy vocal chants, skippy low-slung percussion and snaking sub bass tones.

‘Chess’ then rounds out the EP, laying down heavily swung minimalistic percussion, fluttering low end pulsations and ethereal atmospheric textures to create a subtly unfurling, cinematic dance floor groove.

DJ Feedback:

Junior Sanchez – Dope freshness!

Dennis Quin – Nice EP, feel the tracks

Lele Sacchi – All good deep rollers

Alexander Maier – Superb deepness in all

Ruff Stuff – Great EP! Love it!

Danny Howells – Loving this, all four tracks totally worth of support

Milos – Amazing EP, great tracks

Chris Brennan – Supremely smooth tunes, lovely lovely

Mr V – Straight fire

Revered house mainstay Junior Sanchez makes his debut on Carl Craig’s renowned Planet E Communications imprint today with the digital release of his latest EP ‘‘Art O Fact’ out now with a 12” to come this July. Hailing from New Jersey, Sanchez remains a pioneering force in house music for over three decades and a close ally of Craig’s.

‘Art O Fact’ is an exemplar of the energized rhythm and infectious groove that has become synonymous with Sanchez’s work and genre defining productions. The package seamlessly connects scenes and eras, paying homage to the soulful sonic atmosphere of Detroit, Junior Sanchez’s says:

“Art O Fact -- was created purely and simply out of creative inspiration. I walked into the studio one morning not really knowing what to do, so I let my inspiration guide me and my inspiration really was Detroit. I thought about that city, what it meant to me and what techno really meant to my heart. I have loved so many records by Carl Craig, DJ ROLANDO, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins, so the result is something really beautiful and organic, and the fact that it's coming out on Carl Craig's planet E imprint is such an honor.”

In addition to the original mix, the ‘Art O Fact’ EP features a bouncy ‘Luv4Detroit’ Dub, energized edit, and melodic reprise.

Sanchez’s eclectic palette can be credited in part to his time spent in the sonic melting pot of New York City in the 1990s. A pillar of the underground club scene, Junior Sanchez began DJing at iconic New York City institutions such as Limelight and Club USA at the mere age of 13 and released his first track on iconic house imprint Strictly Rhythm at age 15. Sanchez went on to co-found Da Mongaloids collective, composed of the likes of Daft Punk, Armand van Helden, LaidbackLuke, and more which laid the foundation for him to form multi-generational turntablism trio S-Men alongside Roger Sanchez and DJ Sneak.

Sanchez's extensive repertoire of collaborators includes Madonna, Ariana Grande, Good Charlotte, Azealia Banks and more while his own imprints Cube Recordings and Brobot Records have seen releases from the likes of Felix Da Housecat, Sébastien Léger, and Steve Mac.

Led by legendary Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig, Planet E Communications has been an integral force in shaping electronic music for the past thirty years. Standing testament to the timeless spirit of techno, over the past two years alone Carl has released the leftfield ‘Attenuator’ jazz fusion project from himself and Moritz Von Oswald, DJ Holographic’s multi-genre Detroit Love Vol. 5, and the first electronic music album from Mexican-American percussionist Francisco Mora-Catlett. Planet E continues to transcend the dance floor, as it perpetuates the unifying spirit and unwavering creativity of Detroit.

The latest by Canadian composer Tim Hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue.

Whether taken as warning or promise, No Highs delivers – this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined.

Morse code pulse programming flickers like distress signals while a gathering storm of strings, noise, and low-end looms in the distance. Processed electronics shiver and shudder against pitch-shifting assemblages of crackling voltage, mantric horns (including exquisite modal sax by Colin Stetson), and cathedral keys.
Throughout, the pieces both accrue and avoid drama, more attuned to undertow than crescendo. Hecker mentions “negation” as a muse of sorts – the sense of tumult without bombast, tethered ecstasies, an escape from escapism. His is an antagonism both brusque and beguiling, devoid of resolution, beckoning the listener ever deeper into its greyscale alchemies of magisterial disquiet.

Get ready, get set because here comes the latest Try Unity breakbeat hardcore explosion. After 2 years since their last solo album, Try Unity are back with the Galactica EP. Fuelled with powerful breaks and stompy kick drums, this EP fills all the boxes for the true ‘92/93 hardcore rave fanatics. Try Unity have this unique way of creating tracks that sound raw and genuine whilst using modern day production qaulity techniques.

‘Cosmic Warrior’ on the A Side sends a message of breakbeat heaven, mad stabs and hoover noises a plenty with incredible build ups and drops to make you go nuts !

‘Galactica’ on the B side lends it’s self to more of the 4/4 jungle techno inspired breakbeat rave, with sinister drops and bass that gets everyone’s 909 kick drum love pumping proper hardcore.

Buy this EP, you’ll want to mix it again and again and again in your sets that’s for sure. Plus don’t you just LOVE a LOUD 45RPM pressing !

Irish DJ and producer, Ben Prophet, has caught the attention of some of the electronic scene’s most influential names in recent years. Currently residing in the underground music hub of Newcastle, his dark and exhilarating tracks have proven to captivate dancefloors. Now the artist is set to embark on his most monumental release to date, with the four track EP ‘From Dusk’. Staying distinctly true to himself, the EP channels Prophet’s love for bassline, electronica, and techno, whilst placing a key focus on mechanical vocals that add a mind-bending element that listeners can get lost in. ‘From Dusk’ will be released to the world via HAAi and Alice Pelly’s Radical New Theory label, a proven base for projecting emerging talent.

‘From Dusk’ is an EP that serves as a bold declaration. Prophet was determined to take listeners on a journey across the four tracks. Never resting on his laurels, the artist ventured into many corners of the dance world, whilst maintaining a core signature sound. Opener ‘Telepathy’ Sees Prophet build an emphatic, heavy hitting techno track, centring around a manipulated spoken-word vocal. It’s a sound that holds nothing back and is showcased again on ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’. Equally dark in its design, Prophet once more places distorted vocals at the forefront, this time displaying an industrial take on breakbeat. On the flip side, we see ‘Ocarina’ and title track ‘From Dusk’ turn the dark energy on its head with a distinctly melodic approach which adds a touch of psychedelia and high emotion to the EP. What’s clear is there’s something on ‘From Dusk’ for anyone that loves club music.

Speaking on the release, Prophet states:“HAAi has been one of the biggest inspirations for my sound, so to have become friends and to release my music on her label Radical New Theory is a massive moment for me. I’ve taken a different approach on each track, but each has my signature sound and is ready for the dance floor.”

HAAi also offers an insight into why she wanted to release ‘From Dusk’ on Radical New Theory: “Ben Prophet’s tracks have such a driving force and a dark energy to them, which is so powerful in the club. I’m extremely excited to get this record out in the world.”

Prophet’s previous releases ‘Hyper Funk EP’ and ‘King Of Rock’ on Chapeau music and Happy Wax Records respectively reached dancefloors across the world with regular plays from the likes of Mall Grab, Skream and VTSS. His gritty and energetic productions are born for the peak-time dance floor where its power creates intoxicating effects. No longer a hidden gem of the North East, the artist's music has gathered serious momentum and ‘From Dusk’ might well be the record that makes Ben Prophet a household name.

‘From Dusk’ is the third release on Radical New Theory, a label created in 2020 by HAAi and Alice Pelly which aims to shine a light on unique emerging talent, and the inevitable stars of tomorrow. Last year the label released LUXE’s debut ‘Belonging EP’ which was championed by MaryAnn Hobbs on BBC 6Music, and the artist has since gone on to tour across Europe. Whilst Ozzy, who released the labels first record ‘Een’, has since released on Barnt’s Schalen imprint. Radical New Theory was born out of a love for the craft of dance music and the careful consideration of what they release ensures the highest standards. A safe space for emerging talent, be sure to keep your eyes out for what comes next from the label

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is often referred to as "the godmother of rock and roll" for her pioneering guitar technique, use of distortion/reverb, and a 1963 UK tour with Muddy Waters that has been cited as a huge influence by Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Jeff Beck. Though she reached more widespread notoriety across the world in the '50s and '60s thanks to the folk/blues revival and her beloved status among UK blues and rock musicians, it's her early recordings from the late '30s and early-mid '40s that are the most brilliant, visceral, and emotional of her career. This excellent collection compiles 18 of those amazing gospel and R&B sides into one place. Essential.

LP includes Poster.

When Sacred Bones first began their Mort Garson reissue project in 2019 with a proper reissue of Plantasia, the Garson-naissance began in earnest. Soon after, you could hear Mort Garson and his Moogs bubbling up on TV shows, documentaries, podcasts, hip-hop tracks, or anywhere else, the man a cultural phenomenon once more.

Like a perennial that returns with each new spring, the Mort Garson archives have brought to bear yet another awe-inspiring bloom.

Journey to the Moon and Beyond finds even more new facets to the man's sound. There's the soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Black Eye (starring Fred Williamson) alongside some newly unearthed music for advertising. Just as regal is "Zoos of the World," where Garson soundtracks the wild, preening, slumbering animals from a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name.

The mind reels at just what project would have yielded a scintillating title like "Western Dragon," but these three selections were found on tapes in the archive with no further information. The crown jewel of the set is no doubt Garson's soundtrack to the live broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as first heard on CBS News. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for Moogkind. But for decades, this audio was presumed lost, the only trace of it appearing to be from an old YouTube clip. Thankfully, diligent audio archivist Andy Zax came across a copy of the master tape while going through the massive Rod McKuen archive.

So now we get to hear it in all its glory. Across six minutes, Garson conjures broad fantasias, whirring mooncraft sounds, zero-gravity squelches, and twinkling études. It showcases Mort's many moods: sweet, exploratory, whimsical, a little bit corny, weaving it all together in a glorious whole.

Maybe at the time it scanned as crass and opportunistic for Garson to apply his keyboards to subjects like astrological signs, the occult, hippiedom, houseplants, or the moon landing. But more than most other electronic music pioneers of his ilk, Garson foresaw the integration of such electronics into our daily lives, how they would allow us to engage with the world.

LP includes Poster.

When Sacred Bones first began their Mort Garson reissue project in 2019 with a proper reissue of Plantasia, the Garson-naissance began in earnest. Soon after, you could hear Mort Garson and his Moogs bubbling up on TV shows, documentaries, podcasts, hip-hop tracks, or anywhere else, the man a cultural phenomenon once more.

Like a perennial that returns with each new spring, the Mort Garson archives have brought to bear yet another awe-inspiring bloom.

Journey to the Moon and Beyond finds even more new facets to the man's sound. There's the soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Black Eye (starring Fred Williamson) alongside some newly unearthed music for advertising. Just as regal is "Zoos of the World," where Garson soundtracks the wild, preening, slumbering animals from a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name.

The mind reels at just what project would have yielded a scintillating title like "Western Dragon," but these three selections were found on tapes in the archive with no further information. The crown jewel of the set is no doubt Garson's soundtrack to the live broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as first heard on CBS News. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for Moogkind. But for decades, this audio was presumed lost, the only trace of it appearing to be from an old YouTube clip. Thankfully, diligent audio archivist Andy Zax came across a copy of the master tape while going through the massive Rod McKuen archive.

So now we get to hear it in all its glory. Across six minutes, Garson conjures broad fantasias, whirring mooncraft sounds, zero-gravity squelches, and twinkling études. It showcases Mort's many moods: sweet, exploratory, whimsical, a little bit corny, weaving it all together in a glorious whole.

Maybe at the time it scanned as crass and opportunistic for Garson to apply his keyboards to subjects like astrological signs, the occult, hippiedom, houseplants, or the moon landing. But more than most other electronic music pioneers of his ilk, Garson foresaw the integration of such electronics into our daily lives, how they would allow us to engage with the world.

ENG 'Behavioural Sink Delirium' is the new studio album from MADMADMAD. Powered by their wild live parties and rooted in the sounds of mutant disco, post-punk and experimental electronics, the London-based trio's third LP is due out July 21 via Bad Vibrations. Arriving following 2019's 'Proper Music' and 2020's 'More More More', 'Behavioural Sink Delirium' was recorded and produced by Eddie Stevens (Zero7, Moloko, Róisín Murphy) in his Fulham studio. "We locked ourselves away for ten days and recorded 30 hours of music, all played live in one room, and only edited to create arrangements", MADMADMAD recall. The result of those sessions is nine unhinged techno-dystopian freak-outs that mark the trio out as a truly singular group. 'Behavioural Sink Delirium' takes its name and inspiration from the 1968-70 'Universe 25' experiment by American ethologist John B. Calhoun, looking at the behavioural effects of population growth in a 'rodent utopia'. During the studies, a perfect space was built for a colony of 3,000 mice to thrive in, with constant food and water supplies, cosy apartments and no outside threats or predators. Starting with 4 females and 4 males, the population grew rapidly before capping at a number of 2,200. At this point, a living nightmare ensued, filled with antisocial and violent mice as the utopic conditions began to collapse. The mice formed violent cliques and social hierarchies, cannibalism started becoming common practice and the population started plummeting to eventual extinction. Calhoun coined this tipping-point the "behavioural sink" effect, and it's this state of societal breakdown that the trio tap into on the record. "You can easily see the link with our species in terms of overpopulation, but also with the Internet medium or 'metaverse' and its overproduction of data, causing tremendous societal, mental and environmental shifts. What was supposed to cater for most of our needs has also turned on us. Delirium kinda states the air of it all, and the folly of the music." Pressing Info: 180g red vinyl, standard sleeve, printed inner-sleeve, download card included!

As the void stares back at me, I am consumed by the waves of this new sonic transmission. ESP's Goblin Synth reigns supreme, guiding me into the darkest corners of my mind, as the Galaxian remix shatters my being into a thousand pieces. This release is a frenzied piece of IDM, braindance, and DnB, fueled by a chemical fury that leaves my mind in a state of pure ecstasy. The relentless pace and shifting soundscapes of the A-side are the perfect conduit for the raw power of the Galaxian remix, taking me beyond the limits of what I thought was possible.

On the B-side, I am treated to a liquid dnb homage that is no less relentless in its pursuit of sonic intensity. Here, the rhythms are more organic, more fluid, but no less potent in their ability. This is music that demands a total surrender of the self.

The insidious rhythms of ESP's Goblin Synth seize my consciousness like a viral agent, rendering my being porous and open to the twitching, glitching transmissions emanating from the depths of the machine. With each stuttering break and howling, modulated synth line, I am hurled headlong into a world of ravenous, cybernetic abandon - a blackened, dystopian horizon of shattered glass and flickering neon.

As my mind is hijacked by the rushing currents of amphetamine psychosis, I realize that this is no mere exercise in genre or form, but an all-out assault on the very fabric of reality itself. The sonic textures here are hyper-real, beyond the grasp of normal human perception - this is the sound of the post-human, the sound of the inhuman, the sound of a future that is rapidly bearing down upon me, whether I am ready or not.

And yet, amidst the chaos and decay, there is a kind of perverse beauty at work - a beauty that can only be glimpsed through the shattered glass of my own shattered subjectivity. With each burst of static and each crunching bassline, I am hurled deeper into a vortex of metallic, crystalline wonder, a realm of pure, unadulterated sound that is as terrifying as it is sublime.