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Limited to 500 copies ww. Independent heavyweights Spearmint return this year to follow-up 2021's highly acclaimed 'Holland Park', with the superb new album 'This Candle Is For You'. Spearmint have been making great records for a couple of decades now: this will be their tenth album proper. Still the same line-up: Shirley Lee (singing, guitar), Simon Calnan (singing, keyboards), James Parsons (guitar, bass) and Ronan Larvor (drums). This album will be the 60th release on their own hitBACK label. Missed out so far? The new album provides the perfect place to start! The dizzying multiverse of an album covers a wide array of themes, including the search for a missing sister, the ways we remember lost loved ones, Prince's encounters with Joni Mitchell, the story of John Gavin, the James Bond star who never got to make a film, late-night drinking in Soho, the joys of B-movies & video nasties, changing attitudes to mental health, the plight and wonder of older cats, the reaction to the death of Sarah Everard, and the afterlife. Re-united with producer Rhodri Marsden (Scritti Politti), the band feel that this record is their best yet. Singer Shirley explains "We started off just wanting to make an album that would stand alongside our last one 'Holland Park', but it ended up surprising us - we love it!"

Blues guitarist JOHNNY LAPORTE (Barrelhouse, Oscar Benton) releases his first solo album.
With twelve bluesy songs on which he proves to be an all-round bluesman. Parallel to this
album, he makes his debut as a writer with an Indian novel.
Johnny makes his debut as an accomplished singer with a slightly weathered voice. He also
presents himself as a multi-instrumentalist. Of course his guitar work is most in the
foreground. But in the quiet 'Storyteller', for example, his piano playing creates a tranquil
atmosphere. In the reggae-like 'We Gotta Tie Her Down' you can even hear a synthesizer.
In the blues ballad 'Forbidden Blues', inspired by the old 'Summertime', you can fully enjoy
his slow-hand guitar playing. Piano and guitar play a leading role in one of the two tracks
not written by Johnny on this album: a wonderful mid-tempo version of Robert Johnson's
traditional 'Ramblin' On My Mind' (from 1936).

Jordsjø ist ein Duo aus Oslo, inspiriert vom französischen Composer Olivier Messiaen über Popol Vuh, Anthony Braxton, skandinavische Folklore und Jazz bis hin zum frühen britischen Prog. Jordsjø steht in der Tradition einiger der besten nordischen Rockmusiker des letzten Jahrhunderts und schafft es, Progressive Rock mit fantastischen Melodien und einem folkigen Touch zu verbinden. 'Salighet' ist das vierte Studioalbum der Band. Die sieben neuen Tracks ergeben eines der wohl besten Prog-Alben des Jahres 2023. Sie erforschen durch Kompositionen und Texte unterschiedliche Formen der Ekstase. Sei es in Form von Tanz, einer Bergwanderung, einem Märchen, religiösen Grübeleien oder anderen inneren Reisen, zu einem farbenfrohen symphonischen Folk-Rock-Sound. Die Musik ist ein Kontrapunkt zum alltäglichen Leben und sehnt sich nach Geheimnissen und alternativen Realitäten - mit großer Dynamik und Dramatik, immer auf der Suche nach einer guten Melodie. Das Album lässt sich von nordischem Jazz und Volksmusik, klassischer Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts und Rock der 60er und 70er Jahre inspirieren und kreiert so eine eigene starkes musikalische Identität.

»Tropic of Capricorn« is the second album by Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker. Based on field recordings made by the prolific Room40 owner that were subtly but decisively altered with electroacoustic techniques through the German improv legend, these two long-form pieces blur the lines between acoustic ecology and aesthetic interventions, concrete local sound worlds and boundary-defying art. They put a focus on our relationship with nature as listeners as much as they call into question where nature ends and human perception begins. They are deeply confusing, disorienting perhaps, in the most beautiful ways.

English recorded the material that form the basis of the duo’s Hallow Ground debut on two different field trips. One led him from the Western coast to the Pilbara region in the North of the country called Australia, the other to the central desert into the lands of the Arrernte people. »These are vast spaces, and in some respects they shun contemporary ideas of civilisation which seek not to listen to the country,« says English. When recording the soundscapes, the artist put a focus on the residues of failed colonial aspirations. »The buildings and objects that remain from the failed cattle pastures and other endeavours create uneasy sound worlds of their own,« he says of the regions that are also places of extraction, especially the heavily mined Pilbara. »There is a distant drone of industry in even the most remote of places; an unsettled sense of heavy breath on the land.« He brought home a document of natural reclamation in time.

The rich source material was then given to Dafeldecker. Spatialising the recordings with transducers applied to different surfaces such as wood, stretched animal skin, glass, or metal surfaces and also re-recording parts of the recordings, he created discrete events that were inserted into, or rather enmeshed with English’s recordings. You’ll hear plenty of birdsong, insect noises and the sound of rain during these 39 minutes; the sounds of a life you can tap into if you tune into your environment. But there are also other things, things that are impossible to categorise even after repeated listens and that call into question whether or not those were really birds, insects, or the sound of rain in the first place. What »Tropic of Capricorn« invites its listeners to listen beyond the preconceived notions of how nature is supposed to be represented in sound and to instead embrace the immediacy of the sensation.

For this special release he provides 8 cuts of advanced techno, from mental and hypnotic to broken and industrial or simply arpeggiated and beatless.

WHEN THE UNCANNY ARISES starts with No Gender Role an elastic mental exercise with metallic and processed components flying over a solid kick and white noise percussive elements add some hypnotic pads and you have a powerful mind and body tool.

Blue follows in a similar approach, clean drum programming, bleepy synth lines and a progressive arrangement constantly evolving and changing Flipping the vinyl, it’s time for the broken rhythms of Feel and understand combining distorted kicks with gummy sequences again administered in a quite wise structure.

Klonger closes the B side with obsessive metallic hits repeating until madness, a powerful industrial beat for the experienced dj’s out there.

The second vinyl slice begins with Negative One, returning to the martial beat combining a precise drum workout with floaty and liquid components, followed by Anonimo coercitivo exploring the deepest side of techno using textures and drones to spice the relentless beat.

Zero opens the C side, providing a solid distorted groove with metallic details and sci fi interstellar bell like sequences, proper futuristic vibes here.

Saying goodbye, the beatless Nothing To fear, an arpeggiated synth solo reminiscent of the old Berlin School of electronics from the seventies.

A touchable proof of his craftsmanship in the studio by one of the key figures in the European techno scene.

Caz Plak İstanbul proudly presents...

ONE OF JAZZ'S ALL-TIME GREATS PLAYING TURKISH RHYTHMS!

Don Cherry delves into Turkish rhythms, accompanied by his long-time Don Cherry Trio members: Turkish drummer Okay Temiz and South African bassist Johnny Dyani.

The vinyl LP is manufactured in Istanbul under the guidance of Mr. Okay Temiz, the only living member of this iteration of the Don Cherry Trio. The LP has been remastered from original material housed in BYG Records' vaults by Okay Temiz & Mert Ucer and licensed from BYG Records, France.

This LP features the recording by the Don Cherry Trio in Paris 1971 for the Sound and Vision program at the legendary ORTF studios in Paris 1971. Serving as the second chapter of our 'Turkish Jazz Trilogy', it follows Okay Temiz's magnum opus, 'Okay Temiz's Oriental Wind at Montreux Jazz Festival 1982' LP. We present one of the paramount Jazz figures of all time interpreting Turkish rhythms in Don Cherry Trio - The ORTF Recordings Paris 1971 LP

This release also stands as one of the most important recordings prior to Don Cherry's legendary "Organic Music Society" album in 1973, in which Okay Temiz also plays drums.

"Don Cherry Trio as an 'Applied Universe of Thought.'
In the spring of 1971, while we were playing as the Don Cherry Trio in Paris, Don (Cherry) seamlessly flowed from the trumpet to the piano, with improvisation as the lighthouse of the melody. This approach opened up a realm of boundless freedom for Johnny and me. It is to be observed as a melody within a melody. From the Organic Music Society album we recorded a year after this concert, up until the ECM album we recorded before Don's final departure from this planet, this principle has been the gravitational force of the Don Cherry universe.
That, indeed, is the true legacy of the Don Cherry Trio."

Excerpt from the liner notes by Okay Temiz and Haluk Damar

*Repress*

An artist as imaginative and unique as Ana Mazzotti doesn’t come around often. Dubbed a “super-musician” by fellow Brazilian virtuoso Hermeto Pascoal, Mazzotti’s short but rich musical career culminated in just two studio albums: Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974), and Ana Mazzotti (1977). Outside circles of Brazilian funk aficionados, these two gems of spellbinding samba-jazz, lysergic funk and trippy bossa have remained relatively obscure. This was partly as a result of Mazzotti’s premature death (she lost her battle with cancer in her mid-thirties), but also due to financial restraints and the prejudice she faced as a female songwriter in a fundamentally sexist society.

Born in Caixas, in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul municipality, Mazzotti began to play the accordion aged five, before moving with prodigious ease onto the piano. By the age of twelve she was already conducting her convent school’s choir, and at twenty-one she led her city’s premier chorus, the Coral Bento Goncalves. When rock and roll hit South America in the sixties, a young Mazzotti was one of the early adopters, fronting various guitar groups including an all female Beatles cover band, and an eclectic, eight-piece psychedelic group Desenvolvemento. Before moving to Sao Paulo to start her career proper, Mazzotti met drummer, producer and fellow music educator Romido Santos, who she would later marry. Romildo introduced Mazzotti to jazz, and music by the likes of Chick Corea and Hermeto Pascoal who she would later befriend and perform with.

In 1974 Mazzotti recorded her first album Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974), enlisting the in-demand arrangement talents of Azymuth’s original keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertrami who co-wrote several of the tracks and plays organ, piano and synthesizers on the album. It also features Azymuth’s bassist Alex Malheiros and percussionist Ariovaldo Contestini, with Romildo Santos who produced the album on drums. Recorded in Estudio Haway around the same time Azymuth recorded their debut album there, it’s no wonder the samba jazz-funk pioneer’s distinctive aesthetic is present throughout, and Mazzotti’s sensational compositions are made even more beautiful for it.
Kicking off with the swirling samba-jazz-dance masterpiece ‘Agora Ou Nunca Mais’, the album hosts several groove-heavy Brazilian cult-classics including ‘Roda Mundo’ and ‘Eu Sou Mais Eu’. Deeper moments come in the form of the alluring future soul synth sounds on ‘Bairro Negro’ and ‘Sou’, and Mazzotti’s tender, hallucinatory version of ‘Feel Like Making Love’ (made famous by Roberta Flack) perfectly reflecting the idiosyncratic genius Mazzotti achieved with Bertrami’s visionary arrangements, and Romildo’s impeccable production approach.

Far Out Recordings is proud to present the official reissue of this cult favourite Brazilian treasure. Remastered and pressed to 180g vinyl, Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974) will be available on vinyl LP, CD and digitally from 13th September.

Artists like Jalen Ngonda come around once in a lifetime, so it is our privilege and distinct pleasure to announce the release of his debut album Come Around and Love Me.


Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm-disarming packed rooms of rowdy concert goers, leaving them silent as they hold fast to every syllable sung. Plans for the album were struck just months before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the world down. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family.

The team skillfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment. Jalen has been writing songs since he was 14, and his compositions are also very much of these times. He explains, "I love music from the 20th century- I listen to it all the time, but I?m in this world and the 21st century. ...to a stranger, I?d describe my music as modern soul and R&B, while trying to fit in the Beach Boys and the Beatles somewhere in between." Come Around and Love Me reveals how he creates a classic approach that is rooted in the sounds of revered pioneers, without falling into imitation-leaving no doubt that Jalen will continue to shine within the superlative, timeless musical tradition that is Daptone?s hallmark.
Now it's your turn to come around and love one of the finest soul albums of the decade.

Behind the alias GO.SOUL.MAP. hides Salvo 'Dub', one of the most authentic and purest talents with a marked sensitivity,
not only artistic, of the current music scene in Catania, of which, under other guises and names, he has been an indispensable pillar for over a decade.

The debut album of this project is anticipated by two preview tracks that will be released not only digitally, but also in physical format on 7" / 45 rpm.

The launch single is 'Pushing', an explosive track in a Nu-disco key, modern but firmly rooted in the past, with a production that enhances the sound of the keyboards; full of 70s/80s Funk and Soul, it also has a Disco-Pop vein that makes it perfect for radio. The track is excellently performed by Derane Obika of Living Sounds. A Londoner of Nigerian origin, as well as an exceptional singer, Derane is also the author of the song's melodic lines and lyrics, which can be interpreted as a dialogue between an imaginary interlocutor and his spiritual guide journeying through the maze of life.

The 'Pushing' 45 will feature as a B-side an exclusive instrumental version (the one sung by Reiwa Pia will be included on the full-length) of 'Back In The Underwater', a track that combines a Hip-Pop groove with cinematic atmospheres.

GO.SOUL.MAP.'s debut album is titled 'Peaceful Sound for Broken Minds' and is scheduled for release February 28th 2024, a little gem in which pop and soul intersect and the clichés between mainstream and underground leap. A SpaceNu-Disco, Soul and R&B journey in which Derane Obika's fundamental contribution to the lyrics and melodies of no less than nine tracks out of twelve stands out! - This is a greatly anticipated album made for the ears of music lovers performed and produced by musicians with same love for the art of music.
Dont miss it!!!!!!

Volume 3 of the TRUST XY recombination series again sees four unique artists channel sonic echoes from the label's past. Stenny is up first, the Italian producer whose name is synonymous with Ilian Tape's much acclaimed crossover of techno and bass music. He complements the deep pads of Versalife's 'Nova Prospekt' with a scorching bass line and rolling breaks programmed in his unmistakable style. Canadian producer and Planet Euphorique label owner D.Tiffany is a champion of complex percussions and an obvious choice to rework Alex Cortex's percussive electro anthem 'We Run Your Life'. Her take chops and warps Cortex's vocals around a twitching techno beat that's both experimental and effective. Side B has UK electro and breakbeat pioneer Clatterbox return to TRUST, reshaping one of the very first Microthol tracks into modern form. At his hands 'Intertronic' turns into a bleeping and hissing, snarling and growling electro bass monster. Lastly Delsin's dub master and TRUST alumni VC-118A takes on 'Tides' by /DL/MS/, replacing the original's sparse funk with a low slung dub techno groove that serves as the foundation for perpetually cascading ebbs and flows of lush and dreamy soundwaves.

Jeigo dropped a thrilling debut album Cerulean back at the end of 2022, worked in a tune with Elkka for her DJ-Kicks mix and also remixed Bicep not long ago.

Now he follows all that up with a firing four-track EP on Tread Records that again collides different club sounds, great samples and hooky melodies. 'Hatchet's Cave' is hands-in-the-air house euphoria with blistering drums and warped pads, then 'Move X' is a gritty tech bouncer and 'Compulsions' is a bubbly one with crisp hits.

Nervous Horizons label boss Anunaku remixes the title track into a bass-heavy banger and four locked grooves feature on this 12" for adventurous DJs to play with.

Back in 1998, legendary Metroplex Records released ''Techno drivers''. It became one of Erik Travis' best known songs. Despite many requests, there hasn't been an updated mix until now... ''Techno drivers 2023â?Â� is styled with the Techno sound that enhances it to the next level. Also included is the original instrumental version and two additional fast paced Electrofunk tracks that have that trademark Erik Travis style we love so much.

Written, Produced, and Mixed by Jai Paul.
RECORDED AT HOME IN RAYNERS LANE, LONDON, ENGLAND.

Published by BMG Music Publishing Ltd. Except:

Str8 Outta Mumbai contains a sample of Bala Main Bairagan - Vani Jairam. Banner: Suchitra International Productions “Meera”. Music: Ravi Shankar. Lyrics: Meerabi. Licensing courtesy of UNIVERSAL MUSIC INDIA PVT. LTD.

Crush Written by Berny Cosgrove, Kevin Clark, Clifford Mueller and Andy Goldmark. P ublished by Warner/Chappell North America Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Ltd. and Shapiro Bertstein & Co. Ltd.

Baby Beat contains a sample of “All My Life” performed by K-Ci & JoJo. Courtesy of Geffen Records, A Division of UMG Recordings Inc., under license from Universal Music Enterprises.


Chix contains a sample from “Adagio For Strings, Op11.” as recorded by Leonard Bernstein and The New York Philharmonic, used courtesy of Sony Masterworks, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

Lacquers cut by Scott Stratton at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood CA.

Miss D used to work as a model in New York. That she ended up in Vienna was sheer coincidence. That she became a recording artist was never planned, either. She moved to the Austrian capital with a well-known commercial producer in the mid-1980s, and soon she found herself recording TV ads for ice cream manufacturers.

One day in the recording studio, someone had the brilliant idea of making a proper record with her. The outcome was the highly sought-after disco oddity "Moving", most copies of which were destroyed due to a lack of commercial success.

Now getting a second chance, "Moving" is as strong as Austrian disco productions from that era come: slow, bouncy, full of personality and consistently surprising. So, three cheers to coincidences and random ideas in recording studios. This is a most memorable 7".

A hard one to put in a box when it comes to genre, floating somewhere between italo and synth pop, originally released in Switzerland in 1985. Written by German pop group Hongkong Syndikat, both tracks with a very distinct and soothing sound that's hard to forget.

"Underboard" is very cool paced downtempo number that builds up with layers of subtle percussion lusciously adorned by some heavy saxy reedsmanship and mysterious vocal accents with no real message - 100% chill o'clock served on ice.

Cedar Of Lebanon picks up the tempo a notch, once again setting the scene for the reeds to shine as the catchy melody is presented, beautiful 80's instrumentalism from a golden age, clearly not made in Ableton. B side features a respectful DJ tool style remix by Anatolian Weapons. Remastered at Manmade mastering in Berlin.

Whatever condition your condition is in, Soul4Real have huddled together a team of the finest soul physicians to make you feel good.

We scoured all the shelves in the soul pharmacy and discovered some potions that were only just through the trial stage. Just one listen to the brilliant Aretha, Gladys, Walter Jackson and the Purify’s tracks convinced us not to wait for FDA approval, so we took the plunge and shared them with the world on vinyl for the very first time.
Recorded in 1968, Arthur Alexander‘s magnificent “I Need You Baby” reached legendary status during the tape-swapping epidemic of the late 70s/early 80s. The first traces of Alexanderitus were linked back to a tape dispensed by a north London mod by the name of Randy Cozens, which went viral. Even today, the mere mention of the title to any of those C60-swap-survivors can cause severe heart palpitations.
Down in Memphis, they tend to practice the holistic approach to heartaches. Southern folk understand it’s about the voice and its natural healing powers, especially when it’s being administered by the likes of the Soul Children and Shirley Brown, who instinctively inject the perfect amount of ache, warmth and emotion to hit just the right spot. May we prescribe at least two listens a day, taken with or without food.
Helping with recovery we have included tracks by our care team Maxine, Gil Scott-Heron and the Isleys, whose gentle grooves will help nurse you back onto the dance floor in record time.
And finally, my personal favourite, Dr Johnnie Taylor. Frankly, it beats me how someone who delivers the lines "she don’t break no records when it comes to good looks” and “she burns up the food when she cooks" to his girlfriend manages to avoid a trip to A&E. We decided such foolish bravery should be rewarded by having his picture on the album cover.

12 tracks, all great examples of real soul music, a mix of well known classics, overlooked gems, and 4 original unreleased songs.

Easy Listening Recordings is here, and to kick things off we've got a new three-track EP from Vancouver's Teen Daze.

We begin with the title track, Quiet City, and immediately conjure up images of late night drives through anonymous city streets. Brimming with emotion, and a gentle energy, this one could find itself at home in a warmup set, early in the night, or one of those aforementioned late night drives. No matter where you hear it, this is one of Teen Daze’s most beautiful tunes.

Life Style brings us out of the car, and onto the sidewalks of that once quiet city. Now there’s a bustling energy from crowds of people, steam rising from the sewers below. You’re navigating it all in stride, with Life Style in your headphones. This is City Music.

We start Side B with an ode to Vancouver, BC, aka The Glass City: Night Club. The soft, swung drums, the walking bassline, the dubbed out bongos; this one feels at home across the entire Lower Mainland. Maybe you’re taking a stroll along the Sea Wall, maybe you’re watching the sun set while sipping on something at Juice Bar, maybe you’re walking up to Paradise at 12 am. No matter how you might experience Vancouver, Night Club has got your soundtrack covered.

Finally, we wrap up this first disc for Easy Listening Recordings with a special vinyl-only track, called New Mood. Pulsating percussion lead this dream-like track through 4 ½ minutes of Balearic Bliss. A beautiful way to finish this first release.

Early support from:
Paula Tape, NIKS, Eug (Public Records), Pleasure Voyage, Masha Mar, Massimiliano Pagliara, Loz Goddard

Fire and water collide again: On her latest album "Wandering Through Time", Swiss sorceress ASHTAR opens up a menacing yet ethereal world of opposing forces, fans of emotional yet dirty Blackened Doom Metal should willingly enter. ASHTAR - a duo at first - emerged on the scene in 2015 with their critically acclaimed debut album, "Ilmasaari", voted by Tom G Warrior (Celtic Frost, Triptykon) as one of his favorite albums of the year in Deaf Forever magazine The follow-up, "Kaikuja", released in 2020, took the project's unique blend of black and doom metal to the next level. Since then, ASHTAR has shared the stage with renowned bands such as Inter Arma, Primordial, Bell Witch, Bolzer, and Schammasch.

Now, with "Wandering Through Time", frontwoman Witch N. takes the helm as a one-woman band, pushing the limits of her creative expression to new heights. On her latest offering, she aims to express the darkness, power, and magic of most notably female forces in nature in a saturnine and poetic way. The deeply personal songs take listeners on a journey through the darkest corners of the human soul while embracing the beauty of the natural world. They never fail to showcase Witch N.'s accomplished songwriting and her talents in delivering tortured, gritty screams as well as super- heavy, leaden guitar riffs. Consequently, she names metal masters such as Winter, Darkthrone, and Black Sabbath as her major influences.

From the gloomy and depressive "Into the Gloom" to the tragic tale of the Waterman in "The Submerged Empire", each track is a cathartic work of art. The lyrics transcend metal-cliches of fantasy and lore by telling stories about personal growth, finding soulmates within a cold world, and keeping one's own inner black flame alive. Recording and mixing of the album were handled by V. Noir at Inferno Studio in Switzerland. He also provided additional guitars and jaw harp. The album was mastered by Greg Chandler (Esoteric) at Priory Recording Studios in Birmingham, UK. The front cover photo was captured by Raphael Wolf, while Anti Graphic laid his skilled hands on the new logo design. For Fans of: Oranssi Pazuzu, Wolvserpent, Mizmor, Mantar, Blut aus Nord, Dark Buddha Rising, Eagle Twin, Glorior Belli

This metal treasure has been well kept in our vault Since 2017 we are preparing this release. There's no reason to wait any longer... Launching this sonic bomb is mandatory! Avid vinyl collectors, U.S. Metal enthusiasts and thrash metal devotees know MERSINARY pretty well and how they sound. This is one of the most powerful thrash bands of the late 80's, capable of rivaling classic bands like SLAYER, DARK ANGEL or DESTRUCTOR! Released in 1988, the original vinyl edition of the "Dead Is Dead" album has become a rare collector's item, in addition to a series of EPs and limited edition singles released by the label Iron Works (Azra Records). Available in CD for the first time, this limited edition on 2CD will comprise remastered audio of "Dead Is Dead" album, additional studio recordings and an unreleased live concert in Las Vegas. A 12-page booklet with band biography and rare photos will also be included

We are delighted to announce the release of TRIGGER ZONE, Ohio's cult power thrash band! Many will certainly be familiar with the band ("Heavy Artillery" cassette compilation, anyone?), others maybe not so much ..

Anyway, one thing we can guarantee: fans of bands like MELIAH RAGE, HERETIC and LAAZ ROCKIT will love this release that we have prepared. Power thrash cannot be delivered in a better way! Fast and masterful riffs, combined with overpowering choruses...

The urge to bang your head and raise your fist will be inevitable! It is with great honor that we bring this limited edition on CD. Includes 9 songs remastered from the original reel tapes, together with a 16- page booklet with band biography and rare band photos.

180g limited edition on high-definition premium vinyl for super fidelity the great Nina Simone's style encompassed a broad range of musical genres ncluding jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, pop, and classical music. This collection ompiles some of her best performances of jazz ballads and blues, the album's A ide programmed to feature the ballads, and the B side for the blues. mong the many highlights are her classic readings of the ballads 'I Loves You orgy', 'Little Girl Blue', and 'Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair', as well as lues such as 'Trouble in Mind', Billie Holiday's 'Fine and Mellow', and 'Nobody nows You When You're Down and Out'. s a bonus, one of Simone's biggest hits, 'My Baby Just Cares for Me', has been dded to this essential collection.

180g virgin vinyl pressing, limited edition of 750 copies only - the complete album + 2 bonus tracks A superb performer with a real knack for the blues, Debby Moore (1924-2017) only recorded one LP. She sang with the bands of Earl Hines, Rex Stewart, and Count Basie, and mentored by none other than Louis Armstrong. On 'My Kind of Blues', the pinnacle of Debby Moore's career, she is backed by brilliant jazz soloists, including Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jimmy Jones, Barry Galbraith, and Elvin Jones. "As its title promises, My Kind of Blues captures a distinctly personal interpretation of familiar blues and jazz standards - Debby Moore's uncommonly warm and gentle vocals soften the blow delivered by some lyrics transforming their melancholy into profound compassion and understanding. Nuanced contributions from trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison, pianist Jimmy Jones, guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist George Duvivier, and drummer Elvin Jones further underscore the session's feather- light beauty." - **** Jason Ankeny, AllMusic

Grand River and Sofie Birch are set to unveil their collaborative EP, titled “Our Circadian,” on November 24, through Melantónia.

The two-track release follows Grand River’s final release under the now-discontinued Editions Mego label earlier this year, and Sofie Birch’s two solo albums from 2022. Our Circadian represents the second collaborative release on Melantónia, a platform founded by Hanna Maria & Mattia Onori in 2021, dedicated to music for non-dance environments, featuring early contributions from artists like Polygonia, Plants Army Revolver, and Melantónia co-founders Hanna Maria & Mattia Onori themselves, amongst others.

“Our Circadian” was conceived remotely in 2021 during the lockdown, with the aim of encapsulating two distinct moments of those days – early morning and late afternoon – along with their subtle emotional nuances. The first track of the release – 7PM – conveys dreamy atmospheres that flow into colorful rhythms, recalling the electroacoustic nature of the label’s melancholic sounds. The gloomier 3AM, on the other side of a 7“ record, offers a timeless introspection of a gently intensifying synth sound’s fling.

Grand River, a composer and sound designer, brings her background in linguistics to her work. She draws inspiration from minimalism and ambient music, resulting in atmospheric and rhythmically intricate compositions. Her artistic pursuits traverse the realms of art and electronic music, exploring forms of communication that transcend language, often influenced by nature, scale, and movement. Grand River’s impressive portfolio includes sound installations at 4DSOUND/Monom and Terraforma’s Il Pianeta, as well as performances at prestigious venues like Barbican, Rewire, MUTEK, Le Guess Who?, CTM, Draaimolen, and Atonal’s Kraftwerk. She has also worked on remixes for notable acts like Tangerine Dream. Since 2016, she has curated the label One Instrument, offering a unique creative challenge to artists: creating music using only a single instrument.

Sofie Birch, a celebrated sound artist and producer, is known for her lush ambient releases, art installations, live performances, DJ sets, and her NTS show “Ambient Abracadabra.” Her sonic creations can manipulate space, infuse it with a profound sense of calm, and invite listeners to engage in meditation and introspection through the healing qualities of sound and vibrations. Her music acts as a conduit for understanding the complexities of the mind and body through artistic expression, characterized by a distinct emphasis on stillness, suspension, and sustain. Sofie’s soundscapes open gateways to dream-like states of perception and heightened presence, providing a transcendental journey into an alchemical biosphere. Her extensive repertoire includes performances at renowned events such as Barbican, Roskilde Festival, MUTEK, Unsound, CTM, Rewire, Monom, and Terraforma, as well as award-winning compositions for VR experiences and animated films, in collaboration with artists like Baum & Leahy and animation director Pernille Kjaer.

As Our Circadian takes its final form, it promises a narrative of resilience, creativity, and the indomitable human spirit guided by the artistic mastery of Grand River and Sofie Birch.

Nick Leon, Swimful, DJ Znobia. One of the first artists from outside of Africa to sign to Hakuna Kulala, WULFFLUW XCIV brings his borderless productions to the label's ongoing Whitelabel series following a slew of dancefloor agitations from T5UMT5UMU, Menzi & Scratchclart, and others. "Toxica EP" builds on the mutant fusion of 2020's acclaimed "Ngoma Injection", stripping back the woozy psychedelia and chromium ambience and replacing it with pure soundsystem pressure. 'Take a Ride' bends acid techno machinery around rubbery East African rhythms, anchoring block party hedonism with a 4/4 bump that wouldn't be out of place in Kreuzberg and vocal shakes straight from São Paulo. But this isn't a mindless mashup of aesthetics, its a conversation with the world's fringe agitators, using stylistic and rhythmic strokes to highlight commonality, not exclusivity. Hakuna Kulala's own Chrisman appears on 'Tetemeka', and the two producers adapt the syrupy tarraxinha inversions the Congolese engineer perfected on last year's "Makila" full-length. Low, resonant gqom atmospheres underpin the entire track, but WULFFLUW XCIV's squeaky toy synths prevent it from slipping into darkness. Elsewhere 'Kluck' distorts the timeline completely, wedging flute-led Latin American tribal sounds into a riddim vs. trap superstructure, and 'Exp' sublimes speed dembow into delirious trance and minimal techno vapors. The boundaries between dance subgenres are slowly dissolving, and WULFFLUW XCIV's digital-era intermixture sounds like the cyberpunk carnival we're all desperately in need of

Singer, songwriter and author Ali Sethi had been entranced by Jaar's music long before they began collaborating. He'd absorbed the sounds over a number of years, listening casually and taking in their subtleties in bars and rooftop parties across Lahore and London. "It felt familiar to me, that sense of adventure you have when you hear his music, like a tale that teases you and plays with your expectations as it unfolds," says Sethi. "In that sense it resembled the leisurely improvised ghazals and qawwalis I grew up hearing in Pakistan." So when the two were finally introduced by Indian visual artist Somnath Bhatt, a regular Jaar collaborator who also handled the album's artwork, Sethi was well prepared. He began to sketch out voice notes using loops snipped from Jaar's acclaimed 2020 album 'Telas', improvising vocalizations and seductive Urdu poems over Jaar's weightless, time-bending productions. Jaar was astonished by the result; "It was what 'Telas' had been missing," he explains.

Improvisation has been important to the Chilean artist for many years. Before he had even started making electronic music, Jaar jammed on accordion with friends on the street in New York City. It's at the core of his practice, "a moment in time," in his own words. 'Intiha', the opening track on the album, is the first they finished together, and positions Sethi's evocative phrases over Jaar's faded, metallic percussion. It's a perfect proof of concept, re- imagining the world of 'Telas' and augmenting it with a sense of ancestral melancholy and giddy euphoria that's truly transformational.
Sethi is best known globally for his attempts to revive the ghazal, an ancient poetic form that was taken by Sufi mystics from the Arab world to Persia and throughout the Indian subcontinent, where it captivated the royal court. It's been unfashionable in the last few decades, a mannered style associated with decadence, and Sethi offers it a new lease of life through his playfully revisionist covers and renditions. (His most popular single 'Pasoori' is a global phenomenon, one of the most Googled songs of 2022, with hundreds of millions of listeners tuning into its timeless message of forbidden love.) Sethi updates the ghazal form by using his years of training in raga music, lifting metaphors that reflect his journey as an out-of- place queer kid in Pakistan who became a US citizen and now lives in New York City.

Rounding up 2023 Emm Gryner releases her version of Bobby Caldwell's classic "What You Won't Do For Love" on 7inch vinyl and digital formats. "A jazzy throwback to Bobby Caldwell's biggest hit," Emm Gryner says. "I've loved so many versions of this song and now, thrilled to release my own version."

The 7inch version is backed by "Valencia", one of the favourites from her latest album "Business & Pleasure". Emm Gryner is an award winning singer, songwriter, actor and best-selling author. "Business & Pleasure" is a celebration of the Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac and Doobie Brothers softrock era, infused with the sunshine soul and stellar playing of the late 70s and early 80s.

‘A Concrete Pasture’ by Coen Oscar Polack is the follow-up to ‘Haarlemmerhout’ (2020), an album named after a park close to his home in Haarlem in the Netherlands. ‘A Concrete Pasture’ brings Polack’s interest in exploring the larger world around him back into his music. Polack is a magician in combining field recordings from all over the world, be it a temple in Bangkok, the Dutch Wadden Islands or a the percussive Gamelan instruments, and electronic processing of these recordings. With all these ingredients he creates a vivid, nostalgic, futuristic but familiar world of sounds and emotions.

At first, the colors of the recordings seem scattered, the sounds unrelated, but there is a deeper train of thought running through the music. It is the persistent impression of a travelogue; of places, family and friends, helping Polack in co-creating his music. In ‘Cuore Nero’, nostalgic powerchords are composed into tapestries of ambient-noise, ‘Unseen Shores’ uses a recomposed recording of Polack’s children on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog and develops into visceral, almost spiritual music, and a field recording of Wat Po in Bangkok in ‘Phra Buddhasaiyas’ becomes a luminous homage that the incorporated guitar sound burns into your skull.

While listening, it becomes evident that Polack is being reflective in auditive images and memory, giving a meaning to a music that is liberated of its formalities and charged with a poignant imagery by transformation, one that is bright and lucid and respects the process from recording until ornamentation.

The longest piece of the album ‘Kraaiennest’, starts with the recording of a Hong Kong traffic light, later to be cut up and transformed into a technoid Musique Concrète piece, with a slow progression into a warm crescendo-decrescendo themed electroacoustic piece, which takes on a life on its own. The finale is Polack on this tenor saxophone putting a stamp on the completion of his work, a performance reminiscing of the raw expressiveness of Albert Ayler.

‘A Concrete Pasture’ points to a landscape, or to a person’s current situation in life. Coen Oscar Polack did himself justice by writing an elegant, vibrant album, a tribute to his reflection of reality, his aesthetics, and with raw authenticity and skill, leaving a great space for the audience’s imagination.

Gombloh’s forgotten masterpiece

What if you have Brian Wilson and Bruce Springsteen rolled into one? And what if he came of age as an poor buskers in in Surabaya, Indonesia, but then summoned enough strength to record six albums that flew in the face of everyone in the country’s rock scene back in the early 1980s?

Genius, be they Brian Wilson or Soedjarwoto “Soemarsono” Gombloh, don’t conform to rules written for us mere mortals. They have their own way of doing things and in the case of Gombloh, writing music, conducting recording session and spending cash from his music, must be conducted on his own terms and his terms only. Studio time was expensive back in the early 1980s, yet Gombloh could be three-hour late for his session, and while engineers, session musicians and producers were jittery about the prospect of another botched session, Gombloh took his time for a nap before the recording begun.

Yet, some of his greatest works came into being in the wake of this napping session. Recording session for Sekar Mayang is no exception, despite the fact there’s foreboding sense of doom with Gombloh being unsure about the possibility of selling enough units to help his label break even. This is, after all, this is his last record with his band Lemon Tree’s. No one knew that Gombloh was operating with all his cylinders running and what came out of this Indra Record session, in the waning days of 1980, were some of the best compositions ever committed to magnetic tapes (to wax, if now you’re holding this on vinyl).

This is Gombloh at the peak of his creative genius. You can argue that his debut album Nadia & Atmospheer (what’s with the spelling mistake?) is the most sprawling and complex album (both sonically and thematically), but Sekar Mayang certainly had the best songs and I can make the argument that this album’s 10 songs are strong contenders for biggest hits in blues, country, psychedelic rock charts. “Prahoro & Prahoro” is one of those impossible song which appears to have sprung from a bottomless well of inspiration, encompassing King Crimson’s sprawling epic, Deep Purple’s deepest blues and Genesis’ most progressive tendencies. Or “Sekaring Jagat”, which begins as Lennon-McCartney lullaby before launching a thousand ships traveling to the end of the rainbow with children choir singing heavenly melodies backed by droning harpsichord and synclavier, while a buzzing Hammond B3 tightly locks with Gombloh’s guitar strumming.

For many of his fans, Gombloh is known as generous man of the people. A Robin Hood type if you please. He spent his royalty checks to buy foods for beggars and buskers and dish out some more to buy undergarments for Surabaya’s prostitutes. In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh went full Springsteen mode in “Mitra Becakan,” a social commentary that cut so deep you can end up with tears in your eyes and lump in your throat (even if you don’t understand any of its Javanese language lyrics). This is one the most devastating social commentary ever recorded for a pop song, and even if you discount the greatness of its musical composition, you chalk this up as a great social-realism poetry. His years of hanging out with pedicab drivers, street vendors and street-bound prostitutes certainly gave him enough insight into their (in)human condition.

Yet, a record this stellar was largely forgotten. First, this record was a flop upon its release in 1981. Indra Records reportedly only did one pressing on cassette tape and be done with it. For those who were lucky enough to have come across one of songs from this album on the radio were likely growing up in East Java, where Gombloh had a massive cult following early in the 1980s. Nothing was heard from this record again.

There were only a handful of cassette tapes from the first pressing found on second-hand market and I recently stumbled upon one online with a price tag of Rp 50 million (US$3,500). It’s no longer available now.

In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh harbours an obsession for a long-lost utopia, Java’s distant past, where farmers have their barn full of rice and corn, where blacksmith working around the clock making tools and children singing and dancing in their seminaries. Or the fact that he opens the song with stanza from Serat Weddhatama, arguably the most monumental poem in neo-classic Javanese literature, could be his pledge of allegiance. The question for him is should a modern-day Indonesia, rife with poverty, corruption and environmental degradation not be an anathema to that utopia?

In the end, you don’t need to be someone fluent in Javanese to enjoy this majestic record. And if this record turns out to be the last in Elevation Records catalogue and we shut down this label tomorrow, we will be very happy. Mission accomplished!

tom Ravenscroft at 6music amongst others. And now, in true AMO1 creative fashion they are presenting an off-shoot release of that album, one completely reimagined by the man, the myth: Ricardo Villalobos.
Much has been written and talked about when it comes to producer/DJ Ricardo Villalobos over the years.
The mercurial Chilean-German artist has consistently redefined the boundaries of techno and electronica over the past 30-years as a producer, whilst also traversing the world and expanding minds as a DJ who can equally delight as he does challenge.Like a great jazz drummer (he was a percussionist before discovering mixing records), Villalobos has not so much as broken “the rules” of structure as just created his own unique approach. One that is often surprising, ever open-minded, and clearly lead by whatever happens to be inspiring him at any given moment. Watching him work or hearing him play music always feels live and free. He’s an artist. And that is exactly how this (perhaps unlikely) collaborative album has come to light – but then this is Ricardo, so maybe we should all know by now that anything is possible.
Villalobos explains, “In my scientific search for some electroacoustic musical landscapes, the offer of remixing ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’ was just perfect for me… In general, the song writing is so very good and particular, with all the instruments played into a sequencer, so it was very inspiring to strip down these pop songs into my dubby extensions, taking only the drums, bass, and vocals of the song.” Expanding further, “After delivering the first remix, Mo and myself came up with the idea of reimagining the whole album in a new way, mixed simple with other ears and my inspirations, with a new and different point of view of what instruments are important to hold the song to bare itself.”
It says a lot, and somehow captures the essence of Ricardo’s approach to music (and life), that one remix soon evolved into a whole plethora of reimagined works, driven by a creative slipstream and a clear connection to the songs created by A Mountain of One.
Mo Morris provides more insight into his own connection with Villalobos, “I lived in Berlin back in 2002-04 and used to religiously go to dance to Rici at the after (after) hours parties: little, tiny events. And he just used to blow my mind, I hadn’t heard anything like it before (or since). Ultra-modern and forward thinking.”
Mo continues, “A good friend connected to Ibiza happenings introduced me to Ricardo as it transpired that he was a fan of our early material, so I sent him some demo’s when we were in the studio creating ‘Stars Planets Dust Me’ and he loved ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’. The relationship and collaboration grew from there really, and I hope that this release is still at the start of what we can all create together.”
Focussing in on the album at hand – ‘Ricardo Villalobos reimagines: Stars Planets Dust Me’ – we are treated to a concept listen that guides us from dreamy daytime Balearic pop – staying very true to the original songs – all the way through to completely original deep dubby techno excursions. And to Villalobos fans, it will perhaps surprise (and hopefully delight) how light a touch he has provided to the opening tracks, focussing more on enhancing the sonics, and allowing the originals to shine brighter through remastering and mixing down. It’s in these moments that we see Ricardo as a pure music fan, needing not overly change or alter what’s already been created, but simply doing what he can to maximise what’s already there.
What will certainly delight Ricardo fans are the four full ‘klub’ remixes provided of ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’, ‘Make My Love Grow’, ‘Softlanding’ and ‘Dealer’ that each boldly explore the outer regions of the dancefloor in a way that only Villalobos can.
Mo rounds off, “From an electronic and sonics standpoint he’s kind of out there on his own. It’s such a unique sound. Weatherall also had this, and Harvey has that unique flavour, and also people like Nils Frahm and Max Richter have this gift. It’s not an easy thing to produce. Ricardo has his own personal cosmic trademark.”
Indeed he does. Take a trip with him around the stars and planets and see for yourself.

- Die erste LP-Kollektion der 3 Atlantic-Studioalben von WINGER in einem LP-Set

- Enthält WINGER (1988), WINGER II: IN THE HEART OF THE YOUNG (1990), und PULL (1993)

- Beide LP & CD Sets enthalten als Bonus DEMO ANTHOLOGY - 10 seltene Demo-Versionen von WINGERs größten Hits!

- LP Box Set auf 180g schwarzem Vinyl

- Das LP-Set enthält außerdem ein 16-seitiges Buch im Stil eines Tourbuchs mit Erinnerungen der Bandmitglieder, seltenen Fotos aus WINGERs persönlicher Sammlung, frühen Albumskizzen und vielem mehr!

- Neu gemastert von Ted Jensen - Remastered unter der Aufsicht von Kip Winger

Unknown Mortal Orchestra came to life in basements and bedrooms, the musical vision of Portlander-via-New Zealand Ruban Nielson that fused guitar-god riffs, choppy percussion, soul and funk. II, the sophomore album from UMO, emerged in an era rampant hedonism and isolationism and became the blueprint for everything Nielson has become renowned for. It was, and is, the solidification of Unknown Mortal Orchestra as an endlessly intriguing, brave and addictive band. Ten years on, it's back with an expanded edition. Written during a punishing, debauched touring schedule during which Nielson feared for both his sanity and health, II illustrates the emotional turmoil of life on the road, painting surrealist, cartoonish portraits of loneliness, love and despair. These conflicting themes are evident immediately; on the album's sleeve is an unnerving image of Janet Farrar, the famous British witch, Wiccan, author and teacher of witchcraft. The chilling refrain of opener "Into The Sun" sees Nielson deliver the line "Isolation can put a gun in your hand," softly, his words starkly intelligible above a warm, slow-burning melody that quickly brands itself onto your brain. His playful imagery ("I'm so lonely I've gotta eat my popcorn all alone") mirrors the melody, before a solo that borders on psychotropic ends II`s introduction. UMO is unafraid to dig deeper than the rest, their intoxicating, opiate groove bringing rock'n'roll's exaggerated myths to life. And as it unfolds, II does find Nielson reenergized. "One At A Time" and "Faded In The Morning" boast dizzying choruses and instrumentals; these crusty hunks could have been excavated from a lost 1960s treasure trove. "Monki" unravels over seven minutes like the yarn from a stoner's cardigan with an eye-frying pattern. "Dawn" is a minute of disconcerting noise that stands out between the nooks and crannies of the choruses, guitar solos, groove-heavy bass and drums that were recorded live by newly-recruited drummer Greg Rogove and Kody Nielson in a move away from the electronic percussion employed on album one. II closes with "Secret Xtians," a tender observational puzzle that fizzes to a satisfied end. In celebration of the album's 10th anniversary Nielson's complete collection from the II era is finally available in one compilation, and features the five acoustic tracks from the Blue EP as well as two additional B-sides. Unknown Mortal Orchestra was once Nielson's closeted concern. With an album that uses his singular musical imagination and extraordinary talent to parade his emotions with unyielding honesty, it is now a fully realized band operating at the peak of its powers ten years on.

This brand new EP from the Cornish improv noise / post-rock / shoegaze trio is their first release since their acclaimed second album Sleepover, which came out at the end of 2021. It features two long tracks and vocals from their Sonic Cathedral bandmate Lorena Quintanilla from Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. “One of our recording sessions resulted in a couple of tracks that had a very different energy to what we’ve recorded to date because there was less of a motif-based approach to them, which made them kind of scenic,” explains Mildred Maude guitarist Matt Ashdown. “We felt like they were the best opportunity we’ve had for doing a collaboration. We’ve played a few shows with Lorelle Meets the Obsolete and really clicked – we love what she does in that band and also as J. Zunz – so we asked her to do both tracks. It feels completely right – a natural pairing.” “I love collaborations and this one was really special,” adds Lorena. “I feel honoured to be part of this EP. I always enjoy seeing Mildred Maude, I feel that one can grasp eternity during their sets. With ‘Half The Sky’, the vocal melody and lyrics came out immediately, I felt like I was in a room jamming with them and everything was slowly flowing and growing. As for ‘Shifting’, it was another story. It is such a beautiful song, and I didn't want to mess it up. They liked one of the takes I sent, so I kept on that track for the first part and for the end I looped vocals on my DL4.” “Vocals change everything and give it a different air of completeness, but Lorena understands our music, so she was able to maintain its looseness,” concludes Matt. “We’re stunned by what Lorena has done; she’s given both tracks a different life

GER "Wir suchen nach Glitzer, nach dem hellsten Geröll und Blitzen. Wer sich heute Nacht verliert, wird sich nicht finden. Ihr sucht in uns die Perfektion der Generation Maximum.." An was noch glauben. Mit ihrem dritten Album Generation Maximum nehmen CULK den Druck von einer Generation, die den Horror der Gegenwart wie durch Magie doch noch zu etwas Positivem wandeln - und richten ihn bewusst auf diejenigen, die ihre Zukunft zerstört haben. "... Ihr sucht in uns die Revolution, bürgt uns auf, was ihr nicht leisten wollt. Wer sich heute nicht mehr wehrt, wird übrigbleiben." Generation Maximum ist sicherlich kein Album, bei dem im SUV laut mitgegrölt wird, weil der Refrain so schön in die Sonnenuntergangsstimmung passt. Niemand klatscht vor Freude über den nächsten Waldbrand die Hände zusammen. Stattdessen beobachtet Sängerin Sophie Löw ihre Umwelt durch ein Brennglas und nimmt die Zuhörer:innen mit auf eine lyrische Rückblende der letzten zwanzig Jahre, in denen sie selbst vom Kind zur Zeugin wurde. Das selbstbetitelte CULK Debut (2019) erschien beim Wiener Label Siluh Records, einer der verlässlichsten Quellen für spannende Indie-Musik in all seinen Facetten. Vom Spiegel-Magazin gab es dazu das Attribut "Suchtsound". Mit ihrem zweiten Album "Zerstreuen über Euch" (2020) schuf die Gruppe ein famoses Konzept-Album. Es wurde von vielen Seiten als eine Kampfansage an tiefverwurzelte patriarchale Strukturen gedeutet und schaffte es u.a. in die TOP 5 der Jahresbestenliste des Spiegel-Magazins. Mit "Generation Maximum" übernimmt Jakob Herber die Rolle des Bassisten von Gründungsmitglied Benjamin Steiger. Herber ist von Anfang an ein wichtiger Wegbegleiter im engen Zirkelder Band, Sängerin/Gitarristin Sophie Löw hat im August 2022 als SOPHIA BLENDA ihr Solo-Debüt-Album "Die neue Heiterkeit" veröffentlicht. "Die neue Heiterkeit" ist eines der stärksten deutschsprachigen Pop-Statements der jüngeren Zeit" - Spiegel. Für ihr neues und nun drittes Album "Generation Maximum" hat sich die Band mit dem Produzenten Wolfgang Lehmann, vormals Wolfgang Möstl, zusammengetan, der unter anderem für seine Arbeit mit Voodoo Jürgens, Clara Luzia, Jungstötter, Dives uvm. bekannt ist. Und bringen es musikalisch nach draußen zu den Menschen, die vor lauter Existenzkämpfen fast vergessen hätten, die Revolution zu starten ("Generation Maximum"). Kein Ausbaden. Generation Maximum ist ein progressiv lauter werdendes "Nein" zur auferlegten Bürde, ein Appell an mehr Verletzlichkeit ("Eisenkleid") "Jede Rüstung erzählt von Verletzlichkeit. Stärke zeigt, wer Narben teilt." und weniger Elend im Privaten wie im Öffentlichen. Letztlich aber auch eine Suche nach einer neuen "Ode an die Freude" und Mut um uns. "Wir erheben Stimmen, auf dass sie für immer klingen. Wo sollen wir heute Zukunft finden?" Wer genau hinhört, findet sie: Lieder über unausgesprochene Träume, die durch epische Gitarrenklänge und Löws entrückten Gesang näher wirken, als sie eigentlich sind. LP klassisch schwarzes Vinyl.


With their third album Generation Maximum, CULK take the pressure off a generation that magically transforms the horror of the present into something positive after all - and deliberately direct it at those who have destroyed their future."... Ihr sucht in uns die Revolution, bürgt uns auf, was ihr nicht leisten wollt. Wer sich heute nicht mehr wehrt, wird übrig bleiben." Generation Maximum is certainly not an album to be bawled along to loudly in the SUV because the chorus fits so nicely into the sunset mood. No one claps their hands together in joy over the next forest fire. Instead, singer Sophie Löw observes her environment through a burning glass and takes the listeners on a lyrical flashback of the last twenty years, during which she herself went from child to witness. The self-titled CULK debut album (2019) was released on the Viennese label Siluh Records, one of the most reliable sources for exciting indie music in all its facets. Spiegel magazine gave it the attribute "addictive sound". With their second album "Zerstreuen über Euch" (2020), the group created a fabulous concept album. It was often viewed as a declaration of war against deeply rooted patriarchal structures and made it to the TOP 5 of the Spiegel magazine's best of the year list and gained the band a following in various scenes and audiences. With "Generation Maximum", Jakob Herber takes over the role of bass player from founding member Benjamin Steiger. Herber has been an important companion from the beginning. Singer/guitarist Sophie Löw released her solo debut album "Die neue Heiterkeit" as SOPHIA BLENDA in August 2022. "Die neue Heiterkeit" is one of the strongest German-language pop statements of recent times" - Spiegel. For their new and now third album "Generation Maximum", the band teamed up with producer Wolfgang Lehmann, formerly Wolfgang Möstl, who is known for his work with Voodoo Jürgens, Clara Luzia, Jungstötter, Dives and many more. And they take it musically outside to the people who almost forgot to start the revolution because of all the struggles for existence ("Generation Maximum"). No payback Generation Maximum is a progressively louder "no" to the burden imposed, an appeal for more vulnerability ("Eisenkleid") "Every armour tells of vulnerability. Strength shows who shares scars" and less misery in private as well as in public. But ultimately also a search for a new "Ode an die Freude" and courage around us. "Wir erheben Stimmen, auf dass sie für immer klingen. Wo sollen wir heute Zukunft finden?" Wer genau hinhört, findet sie: Lieder über unausgesprochene Träume, die durch epische Gitarrenklänge und Löws entrückten Gesang näher wirken, als sie eigentlich sind. RIYL Nu Wave, Independent, Shoegaze

GER "Wir suchen nach Glitzer, nach dem hellsten Geröll und Blitzen. Wer sich heute Nacht verliert, wird sich nicht finden. Ihr sucht in uns die Perfektion der Generation Maximum.." An was noch glauben. Mit ihrem dritten Album Generation Maximum nehmen CULK den Druck von einer Generation, die den Horror der Gegenwart wie durch Magie doch noch zu etwas Positivem wandeln - und richten ihn bewusst auf diejenigen, die ihre Zukunft zerstört haben. "... Ihr sucht in uns die Revolution, bürgt uns auf, was ihr nicht leisten wollt. Wer sich heute nicht mehr wehrt, wird übrigbleiben." Generation Maximum ist sicherlich kein Album, bei dem im SUV laut mitgegrölt wird, weil der Refrain so schön in die Sonnenuntergangsstimmung passt. Niemand klatscht vor Freude über den nächsten Waldbrand die Hände zusammen. Stattdessen beobachtet Sängerin Sophie Löw ihre Umwelt durch ein Brennglas und nimmt die Zuhörer:innen mit auf eine lyrische Rückblende der letzten zwanzig Jahre, in denen sie selbst vom Kind zur Zeugin wurde. Das selbstbetitelte CULK Debut (2019) erschien beim Wiener Label Siluh Records, einer der verlässlichsten Quellen für spannende Indie-Musik in all seinen Facetten. Vom Spiegel-Magazin gab es dazu das Attribut "Suchtsound". Mit ihrem zweiten Album "Zerstreuen über Euch" (2020) schuf die Gruppe ein famoses Konzept-Album. Es wurde von vielen Seiten als eine Kampfansage an tiefverwurzelte patriarchale Strukturen gedeutet und schaffte es u.a. in die TOP 5 der Jahresbestenliste des Spiegel-Magazins. Mit "Generation Maximum" übernimmt Jakob Herber die Rolle des Bassisten von Gründungsmitglied Benjamin Steiger. Herber ist von Anfang an ein wichtiger Wegbegleiter im engen Zirkelder Band, Sängerin/Gitarristin Sophie Löw hat im August 2022 als SOPHIA BLENDA ihr Solo-Debüt-Album "Die neue Heiterkeit" veröffentlicht. "Die neue Heiterkeit" ist eines der stärksten deutschsprachigen Pop-Statements der jüngeren Zeit" - Spiegel. Für ihr neues und nun drittes Album "Generation Maximum" hat sich die Band mit dem Produzenten Wolfgang Lehmann, vormals Wolfgang Möstl, zusammengetan, der unter anderem für seine Arbeit mit Voodoo Jürgens, Clara Luzia, Jungstötter, Dives uvm. bekannt ist. Und bringen es musikalisch nach draußen zu den Menschen, die vor lauter Existenzkämpfen fast vergessen hätten, die Revolution zu starten ("Generation Maximum"). Kein Ausbaden. Generation Maximum ist ein progressiv lauter werdendes "Nein" zur auferlegten Bürde, ein Appell an mehr Verletzlichkeit ("Eisenkleid") "Jede Rüstung erzählt von Verletzlichkeit. Stärke zeigt, wer Narben teilt." und weniger Elend im Privaten wie im Öffentlichen. Letztlich aber auch eine Suche nach einer neuen "Ode an die Freude" und Mut um uns. "Wir erheben Stimmen, auf dass sie für immer klingen. Wo sollen wir heute Zukunft finden?" Wer genau hinhört, findet sie: Lieder über unausgesprochene Träume, die durch epische Gitarrenklänge und Löws entrückten Gesang näher wirken, als sie eigentlich sind. LP klassisch schwarzes Vinyl.


With their third album Generation Maximum, CULK take the pressure off a generation that magically transforms the horror of the present into something positive after all - and deliberately direct it at those who have destroyed their future."... Ihr sucht in uns die Revolution, bürgt uns auf, was ihr nicht leisten wollt. Wer sich heute nicht mehr wehrt, wird übrig bleiben." Generation Maximum is certainly not an album to be bawled along to loudly in the SUV because the chorus fits so nicely into the sunset mood. No one claps their hands together in joy over the next forest fire. Instead, singer Sophie Löw observes her environment through a burning glass and takes the listeners on a lyrical flashback of the last twenty years, during which she herself went from child to witness. The self-titled CULK debut album (2019) was released on the Viennese label Siluh Records, one of the most reliable sources for exciting indie music in all its facets. Spiegel magazine gave it the attribute "addictive sound". With their second album "Zerstreuen über Euch" (2020), the group created a fabulous concept album. It was often viewed as a declaration of war against deeply rooted patriarchal structures and made it to the TOP 5 of the Spiegel magazine's best of the year list and gained the band a following in various scenes and audiences. With "Generation Maximum", Jakob Herber takes over the role of bass player from founding member Benjamin Steiger. Herber has been an important companion from the beginning. Singer/guitarist Sophie Löw released her solo debut album "Die neue Heiterkeit" as SOPHIA BLENDA in August 2022. "Die neue Heiterkeit" is one of the strongest German-language pop statements of recent times" - Spiegel. For their new and now third album "Generation Maximum", the band teamed up with producer Wolfgang Lehmann, formerly Wolfgang Möstl, who is known for his work with Voodoo Jürgens, Clara Luzia, Jungstötter, Dives and many more. And they take it musically outside to the people who almost forgot to start the revolution because of all the struggles for existence ("Generation Maximum"). No payback Generation Maximum is a progressively louder "no" to the burden imposed, an appeal for more vulnerability ("Eisenkleid") "Every armour tells of vulnerability. Strength shows who shares scars" and less misery in private as well as in public. But ultimately also a search for a new "Ode an die Freude" and courage around us. "Wir erheben Stimmen, auf dass sie für immer klingen. Wo sollen wir heute Zukunft finden?" Wer genau hinhört, findet sie: Lieder über unausgesprochene Träume, die durch epische Gitarrenklänge und Löws entrückten Gesang näher wirken, als sie eigentlich sind. RIYL Nu Wave, Independent, Shoegaze

2023 Repress
Moon in Earthlight describes the phenomenon one can see in the first few days after a New Moon, when the slim crescent of the moon is completed into a full circle by a faint light that is not lit by sunlight but by the light reflected from Earth. It is also the apt title for the first album from an artist whose first love was astronomy. After 6 EPs over the course of 5 years, Wolfgang Tillmans now releases his first album, Moon in Earthlight, a singularly plural 53-minute piece comprised of 19 tracks.
Opening with more that connects us than divides us, 'Celloloop / More That Connects Us', a looped cello sets out a discursive path for a bright keyed melody to flirt with while the sounds of the organ and synthesizer build their supporting roles, all along a bouncing four-to-the-floor beat punctuated with bright electronic chimes and the rhythmic tempo of a shaker. The invitation is hard to resist as a yearning voice opens up to let us know he's left his "place in security." And, "you're shining … All the way down to this glittering place … you're shining." Where voices and laughter are then overheard in the background of another field recording sounding water dripping from a 'Rain Gutter' later caught by the soft, warm rhythmic bounce between two synth notes on 'Fourth Floor' where chime-like and percussive timbres resonate from the metal tine keys of the kalimba creating a meditative acuity, which Tillmans peppers with arpeggiated synth riffs.
A composition of multiplicities, Tillmans' album debut is a collage of sounds, field recordings, words, studio jam sessions and live recordings, voice, soundscapes, and instrumentation scored with audible space to breathe along the way. Keeping pace, the first 'Kardio Loop' is a vocal callisthenics contemplating 'the possibility of a happy life' and/or the propositional properties of its semantic constructions backed by the recording of a heartbeat from a cardiogram. This movement is gradually accompanied by a set of orchestral synth pads that build to a crescendo before the soft, twirling melody of 'Stonerella' carries us along a carousel-like melodic, pop, instrumental timed in the percussive clapping of pebbles.
Not knowing where one leaves off and the other begins is part of this album's enigma, as we move in and out of these aural spaces choreographed with the slightest, open hand, where we can float through 'Don't Kill It by Naming It' before dancing along 'Insanely Alive' all the while contemplating the inherent, fragile complexities of language and being.
This enigma also stems from the raw vulnerability of Tillmans' voice. Whether lyrically playful or introspective, it is always giving: intimately unfolding as in the surprising take on Simon & Garfunkel's 'El Condor Pasa' or shapeshifting in 'Can't Escape into Space' or fully naked as raw material expression in 'Kantine' and 'Ocean Walk'.
Whether it's Tillmans voice or voices overheard, a field recording or a pop synth melody, these sounds defy track listings, audibly held together as one of many in an aural space that becomes a reflective cycle that develops over the course of the album. The accumulative effect of which (reminiscent of the artist's installations), drives the singularity of each of the album's elements into a complete, unconsolidated whole. Like a phenomenon that marks time, Moon in Earthlight is the shadow and the reflection, fifty-three minutes in time.

Most of Gen X-ers who grew up in the mid-1980s Indonesia must have seen Soedjarwoto Soemarsono, known with his nom de guerre “Gombloh” performing on a state-run television station, playing some of his biggest hits from that era, pop gems like “Kugadaikan Cintaku (I Pawn Off My Love)”, “Setengah Gila (Half-Crazy).”

But of course, it is not fair to judge Gombloh only from these hits. Dig deeper and you will find buried treasure in his early stuff from Indra Records, and there are many of them.

His album with the band Lemon Tree’s Anno ‘69 (yes, that’s the name of the band) is all remarkable, but what he did for Chandra Records was no less spectacular. How can you go wrong with songs like “Kebyar-Kebyar”, the unofficial national anthem for Indonesia, dan “Berita Cuaca” one of the better epic songs in a catalogue full of epochal songs? These were all long out of print and in our journey to source the original master for these albums we met Bob Djumara of Nirwana Records, the Surabaya, East Java-based label which broke Gombloh into the mainstream in the mid-1980s. Almost all albums Gombloh recorded for his early labels, Indra Records and Chandra Records were critically acclaimed, but commercially they bombed, big time. Nirwana Records came up with an ingenious plan. What if they recorded Gombloh performing live and release it as is. After all, the first song in Gombloh debut record Nadia & Atmospheer is him strumming on his guitar backed by the cheering of a crowd, who could be heard going wild when he hurled that epithet “bastard” at the end of the song

The end result is a brilliant recording which despite being recorded live the sound quality so pristine leading many to doubt the claim of being live. Regardless, Nirwana shipped a decent number of units and Gombloh could buy his first car, a Katana Jeep, with money from the royalty.

One of the best things about Live Gila is its perfect sequencing, beginning with Gombloh’s social commentary on the rich’s debauched lifestyle of preying on young boys and girls, one of the most popular subjects allowed by the censoring machine of the New Order authoritarian government. The second song “Untuk Persada” is a soaring ode to the nation. For this song, Gombloh could be heard drawing his inspiration from The Police, which was undoubtedly popular in the early 1980s, even in a faraway port city like Surabaya.

Listening to this record as a whole (we omitted the last song from the original master tape “Bagimu Negeri” which sounds too jingoistic), we could not help but point to some of similarities it has with Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Not a single composition in this record sound indigenous (the Malay-influenced rock of Panbers or Koes Plus come to mind); they all sound modern and effortlessly catchy, and had it not been for the language, this album could be mistaken for a musical output from someone growing up in Laurel Canyon or Southern France.

There are only limited copies of vinyl records in the second-hand market today available for Gombloh music, if at all. For his ardent fans, they have to scavenge for old cassettes to continue to be able to enjoy his music and have to pay top dollar for that. In Indonesia, where he was a superstar in the early 1980s, Gombloh was largely forgotten. With this project, we can only hope that the time is ripe for Gombloh to reemerge and now, more than ever, his music could speak to a bigger audience.

God knows enough has been written about Workshop. Surely you haven't read it, but this group has been around since 1985, and what they did was this: musically quite limited, they made the music they wanted to hear, but in an ingenious way. Some played the instruments skillfully and others not so much. Something came out of it! One says: that's just the way I like it. The other one boasts: yes, I understood everything how you play here, sometimes you hit it, or sometimes you play so that the parents cry with joy. In fact, seven records were recorded, which, with the exception of the second LP, are still more than worth listening to today. Are they in danger of being forgotten?

Yes and no. What is worth listening to here has often been banned. One must bring it out again. Make attentive. Against the forgetting. These impetuous songs - just let them get close to you again and listen to them in a new context and forget all the smart-ass talk that was said about them. That means to put the self with all its reality entanglements in the pillory. This is of course not only pleasant. Bravo!

A national musical treasure" The Guardian // Steven Adams, formerly of The Broken Family Band releases new album DROPS on Fika Recordings in November 2023. Since calling time on TBFB at the height of their success, Adams has released half a dozen albums under various names (Singing Adams, Steven James Adams, Steven Adams & The French Drops), his witty, incisive lyrics and melodic sensibilities taking in DIY indie rock, folky introspection, and off-kilter pop hooks. Originally from South Wales, Adams now lives in East London. “Every record I’ve made has been in a hurry of some sort” says Adams of his new album, “and with this one I took my time”. DROPS is the first album to be credited to him as a solo artist since 2016’s Old Magick, his first new music since 2020, and his noisiest record to date. Armed with a new batch of material, he began by upping sticks to the Welsh countryside to experiment with drummer Daniel Fordham and bassist David Stewart - both formerly of psych oddballs The Drink. The trio then took the songs to Big Jelly, a converted chapel on the south coast, with co-producer Simon Trought (Comet Gain, Johnny Flynn, The Wave Pictures) to lay down the basic tracks for DROPS. Eschewing a full band set up (“I wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time”), recording sessions in East London followed with Laurie Earle (Absentee) on guitar and Michael Wood (Hayman Kupa Band, Michaelmas) on keyboards. Adams then took the recordings home and to the French countryside, to work alone. “I finally got my head around home recording in 2020, while things were a bit quiet. Once I worked out how to record things I realised I didn’t have to think about time. I could let the songs evolve and change once we had the basic tracks down. After a while I started to think of them as paintings; trying something one morning, painting over it in the afternoon and attempting something completely different… it was about enjoying the process, making some bangers, playing around... and giving Simon the producer a mess to sort out when it came to mixing the record". Whenever Tom from Fika Recordings checked in to see how the album was progressing Adams would reply, “it’s taking ages but it’ll sound like it was recorded in an afternoon”. The result is a dynamic and spirited collection of songs, with Adams's love of 90/00s US underground rock (Pavement's Bob Nastanovich is a fan) to the fore. DROPS is a sonically compelling piece of work: from bleak/exultant opener Out to Sea and the motorik Living in the Local Void to the weirdly funereal Fascists (where Adams imagines the “little skip in our steps” that we’ll have upon outliving some baddies), and Day Trip's psychedelia in miniature. There are also moments of tenderness: the avalanche of empathy on closing track Cheap Wine Sad Face, and I Tried to Keep it Light’s “worse things could happen… I don’t know how, but give me time”. Adams says: “I'm preoccupied by the passing of time and the way it affects how we feel. This record is about time and bewilderment and trying to make sense of things". “…astonishing tenderness in its simplicity … brilliant lyrics.” Q Magazine //“…the tunes are instant and uplifting, but the real wallop comes from the lyrical imagery.” The Guardian // “…barbed modern life chronicles.”

In the wake of Young Marble Giants’ breakup, two acts were created, with Stuart Moxham taking minimalist, geometric play to extremes while Alison Statton added more warmth and feeling to a similar template, creating something stunning yet based in popular forms. Those two opposing means of forging paths away from one of music’s most astonishingly unique debuts both included Stuart’s brother, Phil. More recently, both have reversed course, with Stuart proving himself a master of classic pop form, with Alison’s work again approaching a modern abstraction of quiet folk music - experimental but accessible. But that’s another tale. With no template to guide him, Stuart’s new music - as The Gist - was regarded as wildly uneven. Stuart admits that he didn’t know which way to go, so perversely, he decided to take all directions at once. The Gist’s original discography stood at a scant 18 songs, yet only seven featured Stuart’s own voice, often in heavily processed and oddly-mixed form. The Gist’s label, Rough Trade, dropped the band. Starting with a critical re-evaluation of The Gist’s sole album Embrace The Herd in an issue of Mojo, the tide begin to turn. Ambience in pop has long enjoyed a cult following, and the nonlinear structure of many of The Gist’s songs have parallels with artists such as Aphex Twin and Seefeel. One song from the era was covered by Etienne Daho in France - sounding rather advanced for French pop at the time, it ended up selling over a million copies and was later covered by Lush and sampled by DJ Koze with Lambchop singer / songwriter Kurt Wagner. Recent discovery of a trove of unreleased recordings show that Stuart had held back an array of excellent material, in demo and completed forms, often in different arrangements. Interior Windows adds 13 new performances or alternate versions to the band’s catalogue, and does the service of making both sides of The Gist’s first 7” 45 (recorded at the same session as the final YMG single) available again, along with their contribution to the NME / Rough Trade cassette compilation C81, and in keeping with The Gist’s tradition, at least one song on which Stuart does not appear