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Continuing in its series of Yoko Ono reissues, Secretly Canadian has announced that Ono’s seminal 1982 album It’s Alright (I See Rainbows) will be released August 28, 2026, in expanded CD and digital versions, and on vinyl for the first time in more than forty years, with expanded and enhanced artwork. Influenced equally by 1960s girl group vocals and 1980s synthesizer experimentation, It's Alright (I See Rainbows) is an album of “adventurous… lush… committed and convincing avant-gardism” (Rolling Stone). As Ono said in her 1992 Onobox liner notes, “It was ’82 and it seemed as though I was finally in sync with the world.” Vacillating from a widow’s never-truly-over grief, to the necessary uplift for an artist and mother to continue her life’s missions, tracks like “Loneliness” and “Spec of Dust” make way for poptimism via “Let the Tears Dry,” and title track “It’s Alright.” As Ono said of the album in 1983, “It’s like my diary that I went through… and I’m just saying, hey, I’ve got the same kind of emotions that you’ve probably got too, and here I am saying hello… Around December 8th or whatever, I was feeling really heavy and feeling sort of down, you know… and then, side two, it’s all right… It was Sean Lennon who says, ‘Wake up, wake up, mommy.’ Like an angel that came and said, ‘Wake up!’… Wake up and dream love, and let the tears dry and I see rainbows. And sort of I’m saying all that. In result of Sean waking me up, see?” Lennon, speaking of his mother in a more recent interview with NPR in 2025, “She would say that energy is just energy, so you can turn it into anything you like. And she always said that she would take that negative energy and turn it into something productive and creative… It never stopped her from creating and putting herself out there, and I really think that it paid off… You never know how long it'll take for people to appreciate you if you just kind of hang on and don't give up.”

Nicole McCabe und Savannah Harris tun sich für ihre allererste Zusammenarbeit bei "All Together Now" zusammen. Ihr Album im Vollformat ist eine raffinierte, kraftvolle Interpretation des modernen Jazz im Jahr 2026. Das Album wurde über einen Zeitraum von zwei Monaten im Sommer 2025 aufgenommen und entstand sowohl in Los Angeles als auch in Brooklyn beide Orte haben die allgemeine Stimmung und den Sound der Musik geprägt. McCabe und Harris haben sich stetig einen Ruf als zwei der besten Musikerinnen auf ihren jeweiligen Instrumenten erarbeitet. McCabe am Altsaxophon und Harris am Schlagzeug werden in der Jazzwelt gleichermaßen als virtuose Instrumentalistinnen und Komponistinnen gefeiert. All Together Now" bringt diese Elemente besonders gut zur Geltung. Jeder ihrer musikalischen Stimmen ist unverwechselbar individuell und ergänzt dennoch die musikalische Gesamtrichtung des Albums. Beide finden ihre Momente, in denen sie die Führung übernehmen, während sie sich zu anderen Zeiten gegenseitig unterstützen, um einen wirklich bemerkenswerten Einblick in das Schaffen dieser beiden Künstler zu schaffen. Der Eröffnungstrack des Albums, Monstera", entführt den Hörer in eine Welt aus wirbelnden Saxophonmelodien und hellen, akzentuierenden Schlagzeugklängen. McCabe und Harris legen sofort den Grundstein für das, was auf dem Album noch kommen wird. Im Verlauf des ersten Songs offenbart sich immer mehr von jedem der Künstler als würde man in einer Kunstgalerie von Raum zu Raum schlendern. Textur, Farbe und die gesamte Ästhetik der Welt dieses Albums nehmen Gestalt an. Wenn der zweite Song All Together Now" einsetzt, steigt die Energie und der Dialog zwischen den beiden Musikern erreicht seinen Höhepunkt. Lonely People" zeigt McCabes unglaubliches Gespür für Melodien, während Harris den dynamischen Bogen des Stücks prägt und vorantreibt. Jeder Song auf All Together Now" hat seine ganz eigene Persönlichkeit, was insgesamt zu einem wunderschön intimen und ungemein kraftvollen Album führt.

Coloured Vinyl. Harsh Reality - the fourth studio album by Seattle's The Drowns - is an unapologetically political punk record, coming this September from Pirates Press Records. Recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, CO by punk rock legend Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag) and mixed by Jason Livermore (Teenage Bottlerocket), this collection of 13 new songs fuses everything fans have loved about the band's previous sonic experimentation and focuses it into laser-tight melodic songwriting firmly rooted in punk rock, but with the potential to reach listeners from all walks of life. Singer-guitarist Rev Peters, singer-bassist Andy Wylie, and drummer Jake Margolis largely bashed out the tracks themselves, with the exception of additional guitar work on "Vengeance" by Zach Blair (Rise Against, Only Crime, GWAR), and a touch of accordion on "3rd & Pike" courtesy of Matt Hensley (A-100s, Flogging Molly). While the title of lead single "Relentless" could easily refer to The Drowns' infamously non-stop touring regimen, it refers instead to something far more humanitarian: the crushing weight of capitalism on the working poor. The song acknowledges the toll it takes on one's mental health, struggling day in & day out with no breaks only to be left farther & farther behind. "I wish life would just give it a rest", laments Rev. The album contains its fair share of venom, however, like all great political punk in the tradition of The Clash or Stiff Little Fingers, the lyrics prioritize people over polemic, reaching out with compassion in an age where it is in distressingly short supply. "I'm sure that we could change it all if we only had a heart", implores Andy on "Have a Heart". This is life-affirming music for hard times, made for everyone that could sorely use it right now, and a record poised to give the band's hard-earned position as a fan-favorite in the global punk scene an even greater trajectory. For a band that has won over fans around the globe, record by record and show by show, it is a big statement, but simply put: Harsh Reality is The Drowns at the top of their game.

Orangefarbenes Vinyl, limitert auf 200 Exemplare. Wer diese Doris ist, die winzige? Sie weiß Bescheid, sie scheut sich nicht; haut dir Worte um die Ohren, scharfkantig mit einem Lächeln. Beleuchtet auf dem Weg Bilder, von denen du nicht weißt, wie sie dahin gekommen sind; sie wirken so vertraut, weil sie nachts im Fernseher liefen, wenn du ihn vor dem Einschlafen nicht ausgeschaltet hast. Jetzt bist du da gelandet wo es weh tut und sich dennoch gut anfühlt: Im süßen Wasser des Debütalbums der Tiny Doris "In den Dosen". Im Zusammenkommen vieler musikalischer Einflüsse, zelebriert die Tiny Doris ein fragmentiertes Musikerlebnis mit Fokus auf scharfer Artikulation und verführender Melodik, in Bewegung zwischen Dada, Noise, Art-Pop, Garage und dem, was nach Punk kam. Während ihre Texte genauso überzeugen wie verwirren, während das Schlagzeug in stoischer Schlacksigkeit die Basis für schräge Gitarre und einem ausgefeilten Bass liefert und der Gesang mit Überzeugung Gefühle von Nostalgie und Verlangen vermittelt, zementiert sich ein einzigartiger Sound wie ihn dir nur eine winzige Doris liefern kann.

"JPEGMAFIA, a trailblazing force in experimental hip hop, releases his latest solo project, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. This album, his first since 2021, is a complex and innovative work that showcases his meticulous production skills. Featuring collaborations with Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, and Buzzy Lee, the album explores themes like capitalism, conscription, and propaganda through some of JPEGMAFIA’s most anarchic raps to date. The release is accompanied by an extensive global tour, reinforcing his status as one of the genre’s most incendiary talents. Since his last solo release, JPEGMAFIA has continued to push boundaries in the music industry, most notably with his 2023 collaboration with Danny Brown on Scaring the Hoes, which garnered critical acclaim and chart success. With I Lay Down My Life for You, JPEGMAFIA cements his reputation as a visionary artist, delivering a powerful commentary on the world through his unique lens. The album’s release is set to make a significant impact, both in stores and on stages worldwide."

A recent signee to Chess Club Records, Jo Geller aka jo from school, finds herself among the independent label’s pedigree of homegrown artists who have gone on to attain major success. Alumni such as Billie Marten, an artist long admired by Jo, as well as Wolf Alice, are just a couple of names who found their initial support through Chess Club.

At 22-years-old, jo from school’s graceful, carefully crafted but devastatingly delivered songs hit with an air of maturity that lands far beyond her years. An embrace for spontaneity and imperfection gives her material its character; primarily as an artist focussed on doing things her own way.

Writing on the piano since the tender age of nine, Jo self-taught herself guitar as a teenager during lockdown, joining the illustrious Brit School: “I was the only musician in my world until I went to Brit School, then I was the worst musician there,” she says. “It gave me a kick. I went from thinking that it was cooler to not care about anything, to realising the more you cared, the cooler and more individual it made you.”

Largely produced by Rich Cooper (CMAT, Billie Marten), so far both singles from the EP have been supported by BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 & 6Music. Huw Stephen's has invited Jo to feature in his Huw You Are segment airing on 6Music on 29th July, and Jess Iszatt has already had Jo as her Introducing featured artist on BBC Radio London. Rolling Stone UK featured jo as their Play Next artist last month, along with CLASH who just confirmed a Next Wave feature to run on EP release. Outlets like Line of Best Fit, DORK, DIY and Wonderland have all came to the table to champion jo too. We've also seen impressive audience growth in just 2 months – with jo adding more than 3k new followers across platforms since her debut single 'Chicken' was released on 6th May.

On the live front, jo was invited by Dirty Hit's Skullcrusher to support on her UK + European headline tour in June, with past supports also including TTSSFU, Daffo, Esme Emerson. Jo has been booked for Night Currents festival in Portsmouth and invited to support 1000 Rabbits, both in October, and will be Playing Estrella Soundhood Festival in London in September too.

For years, EYRE LLEW were defined by motion.

Cities blurred into one another. Borders became routine. Airports, night drives, ferry ports, backstage rooms, festival fields, hotel corridors, and long-distance journeys stitched together into a single continuous life of movement. Success, such as it existed, was measured in miles travelled, crowds gathered, and momentum sustained. The band moved because they had to. Because stopping felt like failure. Because “making it” always seemed to live somewhere just ahead.

Then the world stopped.

Lockdown didn’t just interrupt EYRE LLEW’s trajectory; it dismantled it. The relentless forward motion that had shaped their identity for over a decade disappeared overnight. Tours vanished. Plans dissolved. The infrastructure of their lives as musicians collapsed into silence. For a band built on movement, it felt devastating.

Written across lockdown and the years that followed, the album is not a record about absence; it’s a record about presence. About love that feels like home. About stillness as strength. About devotion without spectacle. About grief without melodrama. About healing without performative optimism. About growth that doesn’t announce itself loudly, but happens slowly, privately, and honestly.

After years of movement, it is EYRE LLEW learning how to stand still and discovering that this is where the real growth starts.

For years, EYRE LLEW were defined by motion.

Cities blurred into one another. Borders became routine. Airports, night drives, ferry ports, backstage rooms, festival fields, hotel corridors, and long-distance journeys stitched together into a single continuous life of movement. Success, such as it existed, was measured in miles travelled, crowds gathered, and momentum sustained. The band moved because they had to. Because stopping felt like failure. Because “making it” always seemed to live somewhere just ahead.

Then the world stopped.

Lockdown didn’t just interrupt EYRE LLEW’s trajectory; it dismantled it. The relentless forward motion that had shaped their identity for over a decade disappeared overnight. Tours vanished. Plans dissolved. The infrastructure of their lives as musicians collapsed into silence. For a band built on movement, it felt devastating.

Written across lockdown and the years that followed, the album is not a record about absence; it’s a record about presence. About love that feels like home. About stillness as strength. About devotion without spectacle. About grief without melodrama. About healing without performative optimism. About growth that doesn’t announce itself loudly, but happens slowly, privately, and honestly.

After years of movement, it is EYRE LLEW learning how to stand still and discovering that this is where the real growth starts.

Kyung Wha Chungs Debütalbum, eine Kombination der Violinkonzerte von Sibelius und Tschaikowski, gilt
seit über 50 Jahren weithin als Meilenstein. Bei seiner Veröffentlichung erhielt es eine begeisterte Kritik
vom damaligen Chefkritiker des „Gramophone“, Edward Greenfield, und wurde in der Sendung „Building
a Library“ von BBC Radio 3 zur Top-Empfehlung gekürt. Das London Symphony Orchestra unter André
Previn sind kongeniale Partner der großen koreanischen Violinistin.
Die Serie wurde von Rainer Maillard gemastert und von Sidney C. Meyer in den renommierten EmilBerliner-Studios unter Verwendung ihrer 100 % rein analogen Techniken (AAA) geschnitten. Es werden
ausschließlich analoge Quellen aus den originalen Stereo- und Quadrophonie-Masterbändern verwendet,
darunter auch kürzlich entdeckte analoge Master von frühen Digitalaufnahmen.
Diese in Deutschland bei der Schallplattenfabrik Pallas auf 180 g Virgin-Vinyl gepressten Deluxe-GatefoldVeröffentlichungen in limitierter Auflage enthalten: das Original-Artwork und Liner Notes; Archivfotos und
Faksimiles der Original-Aufnahmeblätter. Jede einzelne Veröffentlichung enthält individuelle Anmerkungen
von Dominic Fyfe, in denen die Geschichte der Aufnahme, der technische Hintergrund und der MasteringProzess detailliert beschrieben werden

Der Soundtrack zum 3. Film von Camp Rock (Disney Channel & Disney+). Macht euch bereit für jede
Menge Rock, denn wir kehren zurück nach Camp Rock! Mit frischer Musik, noch mehr freundschaftlicher
Rivalität und einer ganzen Reihe neuer Camper feiert „Camp Rock 3“ ein fulminantes Comeback. Neben
brandneuen Originalsongs enthält „Camp Rock 3“ auch Titel aus den Originalfilmen und früheren „Connect
3“-Auftritten!

Die unvergesslichen Klassiker der legendären Marlene Dietrich auf einer hochwertigen Vinyl-LP vereint.

Diese Sammlung präsentiert die größten Erfolge einer der bedeutendsten deutschen Künstlerinnen des 20. Jahrhunderts und lässt ihre unverwechselbare Stimme in bester Klangqualität neu aufleben.

Mit dabei sind zeitlose Klassiker wie:
Lili Marleen
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind
sowie viele weitere unvergessene Aufnahmen.

Ob als Sammlerstück oder zum Genießen auf dem Plattenspieler – diese Vinyl-Ausgabe ist eine Hommage an eine außergewöhnliche Künstlerin und ein Muss für Liebhaber klassischer Chansons und deutscher Musikgeschichte.

Spiral code is the second album released on An’archives by the Japanese trio archeus, after 2023’s Kusōzu: Nine Death Stages, and their seventh release altogether. It’s also the most staggering evidence yet of the single-minded pursuit of group-sound explored by Keiko Higuchi (voice, drums, percussion, trombone), Shizuo Uchida (4 strings), and TOMO (hurdy gurdy). For two tracks, “awakening, beyond recurrence” and “where points and lines intersect”, they’re joined by Kiyotaka Moriuchi, an improviser who’s played with the likes of Shoko Numao and Ensemble Shippolly, on percussion and darbuka (a goblet-shaped drum played widely across South East Asia).

Always able to scour magic from both their relationships with their instruments, and their non-idiomatic interplay, on spiral code they’ve widened their net further; the results oscillate from humid and claustrophobic blocks of noise to rivulets of tone coursing across post-volcanic landscapes, and on into simple gestures suspended in arctic space. Spiral code was recorded in a single day, on March 20 th 2025, at a studio in Koenji, Tokyo, the morning session with the original trio, and afternoon and evening session with Moriuchi – the first time archeus have played with a guest musician.

When asked about the music archeus makes together, TOMO is quick to isolate the singular characteristics of their collaboration: “we are trying to explore some new, unknown musical vocabulary every time we play. And what we are trying to achieve from every session is something unique, an interesting chemistry or, I should say, alchemical reaction among the three of us.” You can certainly hear that alchemy in the dynamic arc of their performances, the way they seem to be able to switch on a dime and push the music into unexpected terrain, all while sounding intimately archeus. “We have been playing for many years,” TOMO continues, “so I think that among three of us, we can telepathically sense, feel and understand what each of us is trying to express while we are playing.” It’s telling that guest musician Moriuchi fits so effortlessly into the archeus soundworld, able to hitch a ride on the intimate telepathy of Higuchi, Shizuo and TOMO; “I think he gave us some fresh air to our music,” the latter smiles. But that telepathy extends, even, to the name of the album itself, with all members pointing toward spiral imagery when naming the title track, whether TOMO’s evocation of Kundalini serpent imagery and Caduceus, to the spiral shape of DNA, what TOMO calls “the code of life.” It’s certainly deeply entwined music: spiral code is a helix of sound, a cylindrical coiling of possibility.

Futaishitsu Souzou is the first vinyl album released by Japanese duo la scène 裸身, a duo of Saya on vocals and bass, and Eiji on guitar. They’ve been an understated but deeply impressive presence on the Japanese underground for the best part of a decade now, having self-released a debut album, Ten No Sekido, in 2018, which saw them co-producing by Atsuo of Boris, who also worked with them on the following year’s Corridor EP. The mystery and magic of their songs, which vibrate in a curious space between psychedelic rock, acid folk and slowcore, is at its strongest on Futaishitsu Souzou.

la scène 裸身 have long been interested in art that’s stripped back to its simplest, most elemental form, much as their name represents the Japanese word ‘rashin’, which means naked body. There is something unadorned about the three songs on Futaishitsu Souzou; Saya’s becalmed, unhurried vocal delivery reflects the gentle intensity of the simple, gem-like chord changes strewn through songs like “Futaishitsu Souzou” itself, and the bittersweet, folkish lament of “Reiyou”, a song inspired by the loss of the band’s friend, Gazelle.

Futaishitsu Souzou is steeped in melancholy, but it is not resigned to this emotional state; there are threads of rebirth and transcendence woven through the album’s three lovely, slowly enveloping, and deeply moving songs. Often, you can hear that transcendence in the soaring, sky- burning guitar playing that cleaves these songs in twain, from guest guitarist Hiroshi Kurosawa (of Asylum). At times, the music here recalls the drift-like psych-rock of the Paisley Underground; elsewhere, it explodes with vibrant intensity, swarming with noise and feedback, that runs alongside similarly delirious examples from the Japanese underground.

And yet, la scène 裸身 is entirely its own thing, a unique, singular vibration, a oneiric manifestation of hermetic visionary art.

Crossover deviants IRON REAGAN call upon thee to join the holy order of thrash on their latest full-length, Crossover Ministry! Across 18 tracks and thirty minutes of frantic, punk-metal fury, IRON REAGAN mix a blitzkrieg of relentlessly catchy riffs and irresistible, mosh-ready grooves with punchy, thrash gallops and hardcore punk attitude. Crossover Ministry was recorded byIRON REAGAN guitarist Phil (Landphil) Hall at Blaze of Torment Studios, mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge, High on Fire, Toxic Holocaust) at God City Studios and features stunning artwork by Bonethrower (Mastodon, Young Widows). On Crossover Ministry, IRON REAGAN prove that they are the new leaders of thrash evangelism. Hear their vicious sermon at a circle pit near you!

IRON REAGAN's Relapse debut The Tyranny Of Will is a 24 song wrecking ball of hardcore-punk/thrash fury. Fronted by the venomously lyical Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste), on paper IRON REAGAN is a Richmond, VA supergroup (the band also features Phil Hall of Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse, etc as well as Ryan Parrish of Darkest Hour together with members of Mammoth Grinder). In practice IRON REAGAN are WAY more than just a supergroup project---they have toured the world several times over levelling audiences with their furious live show. This is a fully formed raging band that have delivered one of the heaviest hardcore records of the year that is guaranteed to be on the top of both metalheads' and punk rockers' year end lists.

Liam Hayes is an acclaimed American musical artist known for his songwriting and uncompromising approach to making records. He started cassette multitracking while a preteen and made his first real studio recording at twenty one. This started an obsession that ultimately led to his releasing a 7” single (Found A Little Baby/Three Quarters Blind Eyes) on a small US indie label. Those tracks garnered the attention of the UK music press, and on the strength of those songs a career was launched. The follow up was highly anticipated by critics and listeners alike, but rather than playing to expectations he delivered a highly personal album of solo piano/vocal songs (More You Becomes You). Not one to repeat himself, Hayes started off the millennium by serving up the extravagant pop/soul opus (Fed). Both records are now considered to be masterpieces.

Hayes’ songs are recognised for their exquisite melodies, poetic lyrics and distinctive vocals. He’s released seven albums, two singles and a soundtrack, and applies his craftsmanship to a variety of genres from orchestrated pop to stripped down rock. Comparisons to Brian Wilson, Laura Nyro, Carole King, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger (and even Prince) are numerous. His music takes the best of radio and stellar classic pop records of the 60’s and 70’s and brings it into the present.

Along with making records Hayes has appeared on screen performing his music in High Fidelity (directed by Stephen Frears) and A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III(directed by Roman Coppola) which he also wrote the soundtrack for.

In this, their first production for Hayes, are (executive producer) Terrence Washington and (multi-instrumentalist/producer/arranger) Vincent Carlo with additional contributions from Terrence’s father, legendary arranger TOM TOM 2084 (Chi-Lites, Phil Collins, Plush).

His latest album, Dancing Backwards, sees Liam stepping through the shadows in his life and into a new musical day.

„Apples For Isaac“ markiert eine monumentale Rückkehr von Echo & The Bunnymen – ihr erstes Album
mit neuen Songs seit über einem Jahrzehnt. Nachdem sie jahrelang ihren riesigen Katalog an Klassikern
vor Publikum auf der ganzen Welt präsentiert haben, haben die Bunnymen ein Album aufgenommen, das
ebenso mutig wie verletzlich ist und die Essenz dessen, was die Band so großartig macht, perfekt einfängt.
Auf ihrer vorangegangenen Veröffentlichung bei BMG, „The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon“ (2018),
widmeten sie sich erneut Material aus ihren prägenden Jahren – und schon beim Opener „Take Me By The
Hand“ wird deutlich, dass die Band nichts von der Dringlichkeit ihrer frühen Werke eingebüßt hat.
Passend zu einem Song über die Geister der Vergangenheit steht die Lead-Single „Brussels Is Haunted“
exemplarisch für das stolze Vermächtnis der Band; der lebensbejahende Refrain ist eines der Gründerväter
des Post-Punk absolut würdig.
Auf allen bis auf einen der Songs von „Apples for Isaac“ ist zudem der verstorbene Schlagzeuger Clem
Burke zu hören. Er verstarb tragischerweise während der Entstehung des Albums und erhielt von der Band
folgende Widmung:
„Der großartige, legendäre Clem Burke – ein langjähriger Freund von Mac – war maßgeblich an der Entstehung des Albums beteiligt und verstarb auf herzzerreißende Weise während dessen Fertigstellung ... wir
lieben dich, Clem X“

Marc-André Hamelins erstes reines Chopin-Album wurde mit begeisterten Kritiken bedacht und vereinte
und überraschte Kritiker auf der ganzen Welt, da sich Poesie mit Hamelins übermenschlicher Virtuosität
verband. Die „Sunday Times“ schrieb: „Hamelin, ein Poet unter den Virtuosen, bringt gleichermaßen
Sensibilität und brillante Technik in diese oft eingespielte Musik ein. Faszinierend.“ Die „New York Times“
wies auf „eine erstaunliche lyrische Begabung, die immer deutlicher zum Vorschein kommt“, wenn Hamelin
Chopin spielt.
Enthalten sind zwei Eckpfeiler des romantischen Repertoires: Chopins Klaviersonaten Nr. 2 und 3, ergänzt
durch einen musikalischen Appetitanreger in Form der „Berceuse“, Op. 57.
Diese 180-Gramm-LP, gemastert von Sidney Claire Meyer in den Emil-Berliner-Studios, ist Teil der HyperionVinyl-Edition 2026.

Vom Internetphänomen zum außergewöhnlichen Singer-Songwriter: Der 23-jährige Amerikaner aron! präsentiert mit seinem Verve-Album eines der bemerkenswertesten Popdebüts der letzten Jahre. Bekannt wurde er
zunächst über Social Media, wo seine Performance-Videos auf TikTok und Instagram ein Millionenpublikum
erreichten. Mit Singles wie ”Cozy You“ und ”Wonderful Thing“ deutete er bereits sein außergewöhnliches
Gespür für große Melodien, raffnierte Harmonien und zeitloses Songwriting an. Auf ”Too Close For Running“ verbindet aron! jetzt klassischen Feelgood-Pop mit Einflüssen aus Jazz und dem Great American
Songbook mit der Leichtigkeit einer neuen Generation. Musikalisch steht er Künstlerinnen wie Laufey,
dodie und Mei Semones nahe – die beiden Letzteren sind auf seinem Debütalbum sogar als Gäste dabei.

BLUE NOTE ESSENTIALS heißt die neue LP-Serie, die Klassiker des Labels erstmals kompromisslos
preiswert aber ohne Abstriche bei der Fertigung präsentiert (140g-Optimal-Pressung, Hi-res-Master, OriginalCover). Ein ganz besonderes Album erscheint innerhalb der Serie jetzt als limitierte Auflage in blauem Vinyl:
”Blue Train”.
Am 15. September 1957 nahm John Coltrane in Rudy Van Gelders Studio in New Jersey sein erstes
großes Meisterwerk auf. Es blieb das einzige Album des legendären Saxofonisten als Bandleader für Blue
Note. Inspiriert vom bluesigen Titelstück präsentiert das Album auf fünf Stücken ein hochkarätig besetztes
Sextett mit Lee Morgan (Trompete), Curtis Fuller (Posaune), Kenny Drew (Piano), Paul Chambers (Bass)
und Philly Joe Jones (Drums). Ein Meilenstein des Hard Bop.

Julis Erfolgsalbum „Ein neuer Tag“ erscheint erstmalig als hochwertige Colored 1LP Edition und bringt
einen der prägenden Meilensteine der deutschsprachigen Popmusik als besondere Sammlerausgabe auf Vinyl
zurück.
Mit ihrem zweiten Studioalbum knüpften Juli 2006 nahtlos an den Erfolg ihres Debüts an und erreichten
erstmals Platz 1 der deutschen Albumcharts. Songs wie „Dieses Leben“, „Wir beide“, „Zerrissen“ und
der Titelsong vereinen eingängige Melodien, kraftvolle Gitarren und die unverwechselbare Stimme von Eva
Briegel zu einem zeitlosen Sound zwischen Aufbruch, Emotion und Hoffnung.
Die Colored 1LP Edition verleiht diesem modernen Klassiker einen besonderen Sammlerwert und macht
das Album zu einer Bereicherung für jede Plattensammlung. Ob als nostalgische Reise zurück in die 2000er
oder als Wiederentdeckung eines der prägendsten deutschsprachigen Pop-Alben seiner Zeit, „Ein neuer
Tag“ begeistert bis heute mit seiner unverwechselbaren Atmosphäre und musikalischen Qualität.
Sichere dir jetzt die Colored 1LP Edition und erlebe ein Album neu, das eine ganze Generation begleitet
hat.

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum. Anlässlich dieses historischen Meilensteins
wird Chess im Oktober 2025 eine umfassende Jubiläumsreihe mit einer kuratierten Auswahl audiophiler
Vinyl-Neuauflagen starten.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, für die Veröffentlichung zum 18.September sind es die Alben von Chuck Berry
”After School Session” und Koko Taylor ”Koko Taylor”.

Originally released in 1971, "Satori" is Flower Travellin' Band's groundbreaking masterpiece and one of the most visionary albums of the early heavy rock era. It fused hard rock, psychedelia, progressive music and Traditional Eastern influences into a sound unlike anything heard before. Originally released in 1971, "Satori" is Flower Travellin' Band's groundbreaking masterpiece and one of the most visionary albums of the early heavy rock era. It fused hard rock, psychedelia, progressive music and traditional Eastern influences into a sound unlike anything heard before. Unlike many rock albums of the era, "Satori" is structured as a continuous musical journey, with its five tracks presented as interconnected movements rather than conventional songs. The band's powerful rhythm section, extended guitar passages, and the commanding vocals of Joe Yamanaka create an atmosphere that feels both intense and hypnotic. Recorded during a period when Japanese rock was developing its own identity, "Satori" drew inspiration from Western hard rock and psychedelia while incorporating a unique sense of space, improvisation, and spiritual exploration. Over the decades, the album has gained international recognition among collectors, musicians, and fans of vintage heavy rock, often cited as an overlooked classic that anticipated elements of later hard rock, stoner rock, and heavy metal. Created for an international audience and revered by generations of musicians and collectors, more than fifty years after its release, "Satori" remains as one of the most influential and forward-thinking records in Japanese rock history. LP includes insert.

Basel-based producer Tim Shatnyy made a welcome return to his home label, Resonance, with a massive and satisfyingly complex body of work.

The media ecosystem of Beyond Dualism combines a game, an Instagram bot, generative radio, and a full-length album at the forefront of the high-concept universe. The rhizomatic blend of web development, sound engineering, and conceptual framework does not diminish the joyous energy of Tim Shatnyy’s sonic adventures. Beyond Dualism’s digi-charms coalesce into a dynamic tension of minimalist electronic music, funky glitch, club-ready heaviness, and a boundless, idiosyncratic approach of disorientating arrangements.

Beyond Dualism is the result of Shatnyy’s deep, ongoing process of inner listening, constant change, and spiritual inquiry. It is a perfectly closed cycle of artistic creation, featuring hyperrealistic sound design and visionary manipulation on meta-levels of composition. Beyond Dualism offers the listener a continuous experience, revealing a nearly tactile and visual experience of a sound. Going beyond dualism is a journey. The way the artist has transformed his perception going through this path is reflected in the album's development and its structures.

After hooking up with Ten’s Gary Hughes for his first three solo albums, and his fellow Hard Rain band-mate Paul Hodson for his fourth, when it came to ‘Spirit of Man’, Bob’s fifth album, the Magnum vocalist worked with the guys from Lost Weekend, along with Vince O’Regan (Escape, Legion, Pulse), who had been Bob’s touring guitarist for many of his solo shows. Vince and Bob also played many acoustic shows, and during this productive period the duo retired to Vince’s studio and recorded acoustic versions of songs covering Bob’s full solo career. The result is 11 songs highlighting the beloved velvet tones of Catley’s vocals and the melodic clarity of O’Regan’s delicate finger picking. No Magnum songs, but then this is purely a record of Bob Catley’s wonderful and highly successful solo career. Artwork and design by award-winning artist Sebastian Kozak (Ten, Crown of Thorns etc).

Formed in New York City in 1993 around singer, guitarist and songwriter Chris Leo, the band emerged from the same fertile underground scene that gave rise to many of the most influential post-hardcore, indie rock and emo acts of the decade. Yet while many of their contemporaries went on to achieve wider recognition, The Van Pelt chose a different path: one built on artistic independence, restless experimentation and a stubborn refusal to fit comfortably into any scene or trend.
Across two landmark albums — Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves (1996) and Sultans Of Sentiment (1997) — The Van Pelt developed a singular language that combined intricate guitar interplay, spoken-word intensity, literary lyrics and emotional depth. Their music occupied a unique space between post-hardcore urgency, indie rock invention and the introspective sensibility that would later become associated with emo, influencing generations of musicians while remaining largely outside the spotlight.
After disbanding in 1997, the band's reputation continued to grow. What began as a well-kept secret among underground music fans gradually became a touchstone for listeners searching beyond the obvious narratives of 1990s alternative rock. Reunions in 2009 and 2014, the release of the long-lost Imaginary Third, and a series of acclaimed live performances introduced their music to a new audience while reaffirming their enduring relevance.
In 2023, The Van Pelt returned with Artisans & Merchants, their first collection of new material in more than twenty-five years. Rather than revisiting old formulas, the album expanded the band's sonic vocabulary while preserving the qualities that made them unique: curiosity, intelligence, vulnerability and an unwavering commitment to following their own instincts.
Now, more than three decades after their formation, The Van Pelt are set to return in 2026 with Remain Obscure, their fifth studio album. Continuing their tradition of defying expectations, the record pushes beyond the familiar boundaries of the band's sound while embracing the same spirit that has defined them from the beginning. A band whose influence has consistently exceeded its visibility, The Van Pelt remain one of independent music's most enduring and rewarding secrets.

Pioneering Ghanaian musician King Ayisobareturns September 4, 2026 with his forthcoming seventh album Pure Confusion, recorded and produced by On-U-Sound’s Adrian Sherwood.

Ayisoba is one of Ghana’s most distinctive musical voices. The world’s foremost player of the kologo - a homemade two-string lute fashioned from a calabash and covered in goatskin - he delivers fiercely political and socially observant songs using three different voices, including the voice of his grandfather that possessed him as a child. Sherwood meanwhile is the pioneering British producer and founder of On-U Sound whose hugely influential career has connected dub, post-punk, industrial, hip hop and experimental music through collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mark Stewart, Horace Andy, Sinéad O’Connor, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.

Ayisoba and Sherwood first collaborated during a BBC Radio 3 Late Junction session at Maida Vale in 2017, organised by Ayisoba’s long-time collaborator Arnold de Boer/Zea of The Ex. The pair immediately connected, and during the pandemic, when Adrian’s long-time African Head Charge collaborator Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah was in Ghana looking for musicians to collaborate with Sherwood suggested Ayisoba, who eventually featured on two tracks on African Head Charge’s 2023 album A Trip To Bolgatanga (Bolgantanga is the region Ayisoba is from). Ayisoba then returned to the UK in late 2024 and travelled to Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio where the pair laid down the songs that would become Pure Confusion: “All the songs were already in my head,” says Ayisoba. “This album is all recorded live, over one afternoon. Adrian only plays live, and I like that. And he works hard - he doesn’t sleep. I woke up in the night and he was still working.”

“In my role producing it, I just let it roll to make a good vibe,” says Sherwood. “We recorded it completely live, did some programming and processing on some tracks, using dub techniques live on the mixing desk and adding some slick touches. We wanted the colours on the album to swing off what Ayisoba was doing, so we invited some friends to participate. Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Gang) arrived from America and lent his services playing bass on a couple of tracks; the wonderful Ivan Hussey (Celloman) played bass, keyboards and cello - cello is not really featured on African recordings so we thought it would be really cool to try it. I'd been working with Alex White (Fat White Family/Primal Scream) on my album (The Collapse of Everything) and so he added sax to a few tracks and I brought Alan Glenn down especially - Alan was in Little Axe but also Nine Below Zero and played in the Yardbirds – to add some mouth organ; Mark Bandola added a bit of flavour with his Juno, Ayisoba’s long-time Ghanian collaborator Ayuune Sule added some percussion and vocals and Matt Smith did some programming.”

“King Ayisoba is quite amazing, so unique,” Sherwood continues. “He’s got his own handmade instrument and three different voices - when you’re listening you think it’s three different people. He’s a breath of fresh air, full of love for the music which he wants to share with everybody. Some tracks we kept very straight and others we experimented with - adding dubby psychedelic little touches to trip you out a bit. The added production we did at On-U has given it a shine while still keeping it vibrant, live and spontaneous. I’m really proud of this record”.

On Pure Confusion, Ayisoba documents the anxieties, contradictions and changing social realities of contemporary Ghana. “Land is a problem for everyone,” says Ayisoba of the opening track “Property”. “If you don’t build on your land they will take it away. Plenty corruption in Ghana, plenty confusion. They sell the land to two, three, four people and then everybody fights.”

Elsewhere Ayisoba explores illness, spirituality and social stigma on “Bemba”, warning against hiding sickness out of shame or fear of “bad juju”: “People hide their sickness and the sickness kills them.” “Tewigiloge” reflects on cultural difference and open-mindedness encountered through world travel: “We will tour the whole world and we will see many things we may not like or understand… your eyes will see, but don’t talk - you have to be open-minded.”

Spirituality runs deeply throughout the album. Ayisoba’s grandfather was a respected spiritual healer whose presence the musician says still guides him today. “The grandparents’ spirits are the ones you can contact,” he explains of the spiritual chant “Nkaase”. “This song talks about the forefathers.” The closing track “Leeda-Mampanga (It’s Not My Strength)” acts as a statement of humility and gratitude: “You have to be humble, even if you have talent. God gives you the power.”

For more than two decades, King Ayisoba has been one of Africa’s most distinctive musical innovators, transforming northern Ghanaian kologo traditions into a bold contemporary sound rooted in hypnotic rhythms, social commentary and spiritual intensity. Since the breakthrough success of 2006’s Modern Ghanaians, Ayisoba has built an international following through acclaimed albums, relentless touring and collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Orlando Julius and African Head Charge. Performances at Roskilde, WOMAD, Le Guess Who? and the Barbican have further cemented his reputation as a singular live performer and cultural force.

“An amazing new project…” Tony Minvielle, Jazz FM

“A lush, heatwave-friendly piece of dancefloor innovation…” Clash Magazine


First Word Records is delighted to bring you the debut EP from Ships of the Pharaohs.


Ships of the Pharaohs are a London-based collective led by producer Last Nubian, who’s had releases in his own right on labels like CoOp Presents, Eglo Records & Touching Bass. Blending jazz, soul, bossa nova, d&b and house-influenced grooves, the band also consists of vocalist Achanté, keys player Goldbar & bassist, Dougan.

The 7-track EP kicks off with the high-energy, vitamin D-saturated lead single ‘Sun is Rising’, featuring the guest vocals of brilliant Berlin-based singer Red Bird, who appears on three tracks on this project (‘For You’ and ‘Seasons’). ‘Can’t Quit’ follows on a smooth soulful house/bruk tempo, and invites in the thought-provoking spoken word prose of AKEEM. ‘Seasons’, ‘For You’ and recent single ‘Joys’ add another element to the band’s eclectic take on fusion, leaning heavily into the bossa side of the quartet’s influences. The latter track sees Achanté’s soulful harmonies gracefully float across a warm bed of keys, percussion, guitar picks & synth strings. We take a short jazzy breather on the ‘Interlude’ cut, featuring the resplendent sax of multi-talented Norwegian artist, Bror Havnes, who also features on the outro cut ‘One’ - this one seeing the crew ride out with a sonic salute to jungle/d&b, closing this first opus from the group with the energy levels remaining high.

Tre Wright (aka Last Nubian) explains “Our debut EP is a reflection of who we are, both individually and as a collective. Drawing inspiration from jazz, jungle, bossa nova, house, r&b and the music that's shaped us, we've explored our own interpretation of these sounds and how they come together in a way that feels true to us. It gave us the space to experiment without boundaries, trust our instincts, and create something that genuinely reflects where we are creatively right now.”


Originally conceived to perform Last Nubian material live for a Touching Bass showcase at We Out Here festival in 2023, the project soon took on a life of its own, as the group effort unleashed a unique chemistry & sound of its own merit. Thereafter followed numerous sessions in a studio-converted bedroom of a Brixton flat, developing this new sound. The finishing touches were taken care of at the infamous Total Refreshment Centre in North London, resulting in the formation of captivating new original material, which appears across this first extended release.

Ships of the Pharaohs have additionally performed live across London at Brick Lane Jazz Festival, House of KOKO, Jazz on Wick Festival, Peckham Levels, 91 Living Room & GROW in Hackney. Developing their powerful stage presence has gone hand in hand with the creation of their own material.

The initial singles from this project received praise & support from a variety of DJs, press outlets & tastemakers from the worlds of jazz, soul and clubland, including Shy One (NTS), Tony Minvielle (Jazz FM), Rohan Rakhit (Worldwide FM), Somewhere Soul & Clash Magazine to name a few.


With sonics somewhat reminiscent of Acid Jazz legends Incognito, merged with the class of Nuyorican Soul, and the dynamic fluidity of 4Hero, the 4-piece have cooked up a set of style & flavours uniquely their own, fresh for modern dances, incorporating organic improvisation with more contemporary club sounds.

The Ships of the Pharaohs are about to set sail for what is sure to be an exciting journey ahead.

‘Part 1’ will be released on 12” vinyl & all digital platforms on September 18th 2026.

Orchestra Mambo International ist ein britisches Orchester für Mambo, Salsa und Afro-Cuban Jazz, 2022 von DJ Lubi und Jonny Enright (Grupo X) gegründet. Inspiriert von Größen wie Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri und den Fania All-Stars, verbindet es klassische Traditionen aus New York und Kuba mit frischer Energie aus dem UK. Die generationsübergreifende, internationale Besetzung vereint Musiker aus Venezuela, Kolumbien, Kuba, Brasilien, Spanien und Großbritannien sowie Altersgruppen von Zwanzigern bis Siebzigern. Das Debütalbum "¡Apúntalo!" enthält Kompositionen von Jonny Enright sowie Beiträge von Carlos 'Pachanga' Peña und Timbales-Spieler Jimmy Le Messurier. Ein besonderes Highlight ist der Gastauftritt des renommierten Musikers Chip Wickham (Gondwana Records). Musikalisch bewegt sich "¡Apúntalo!" zwischen Mambo, Salsa Dura, Pachanga, kubanischem Son Montuno, puerto-ricanischer Bomba und Latin Jazz und verbindet den klassischen afro-karibischen Dancefloor-Spirit mit originellem Songwriting, facettenreichen Arrangements und der Energie einer Big Band.

Desire erschien 1976 zu Beginn von Bob Dylans Rolling Thunder-Tour-Ära, die ihn in den folgenden Jahren buchstäblich mehrfach um den Erdball führte. Die Platte tänzelt virtuos zwischen den Stilen, die von Dylans herausragenden Lyrics zusammen gehalten werden. Die bemerkenswertesten Songs des Nr.1-Albums sind zweifellos die Boxer-Tragödie 'Hurricane', 'Sara', 'Mozambique' und ganz besonders 'Isis', der als Dylans beste Komposition der 70er Jahre gilt.

Die Wiener Band feiert 2026 ihr 20-jähriges Bestehen - ein Statement gegen Schnelllebigkeit und für künstlerische Konsequenz. Aus der DIY-Punk- und Hardcore-Szene hervorgegangen, verbindet sie seit zwei Jahrzehnten elektronischen Industrial mit analogem Post Rock und schafft atmosphärische Klanglandschaften zwischen Melancholie, Düsternis und Hoffnung. Das neue Album "Minor Tremors" klingt rauer, direkter und zugleich zugänglicher als seine Vorgänger. Inhaltlich kreist es um Faschismus, politische Ohnmacht, Solidarität und Liebe in einer brennenden Welt. Die Band arbeitete u. a. mit Lustmord, Justin K. Broadrick, Jarboe und Dälek zusammen und teilte Bühnen mit Lydia Lunch, Boris oder Dälek. Produziert wurde das Album von FAZO666FAZO (Baits), gemastert von Alex Vatagin. Marketing Hardfacts:- begleitende Konzerte 2026/27 (bestätigte Daten bis hierhin):- TBA - - eine Vorabsingle inkl. Videorelease- redaktioneller Beitrag im Slam Magazin- intensiv begleitende Social Media Kampagne die über die Kanäle des Labels, der Band und der Protagonisten der Band- Reviews in Outlets wie The Gap, 4NDREAS.Postrock Blog

Apero, das aktuell wahrscheinlich beliebteste (weil einzige) deutsch-franzosische Eggpunk-Trio legt nach! Nach der laut Expert*innen "extrem geilen" Debut-Kassette "Cold Drinks, Cool Snacks" gibt es mit "Dragons & Eels" jetzt endlich Nachschub, diesmal in Form einer 7" EP. Vier neue hektische Garagenpunk Smasher aus der Holle werden auf die nichtsahnende Menschheit losgelassen. Synthie Geballer, schrammelige Riffs, ein uberhitzter Drumcomputer kurz vorm Absturz, saftige Schellen vom Schellenkranz. Und doch gibt es auch ein paar neue Akzente zu horen. Der Song "Tribute To Eel", in dem Apero einer gleichermaßen bedrohten wie coolen Tierart Tribut zollen, ist zum Beispiel fast schon postpunkig. Jemand meinte neulich, das klingt "wie Jay Reatard auf Eggpunk". Lassen wir so mal stehen weil: Namedropping. Mit "The Rent Is Too High (And I'm Too Fucking Sober)" kriegt auch die Immobilienwirtschaft ihr Fett weg. Ein Schrei nach Gerechtigkeit sowie nach alkoholhaltigen Erfrischungsgetranken. Der anti-Ritter Song "Dragon Slayer" und der pro-Rock 'n' Roll Song "Rock 'n' Roll Tonight" vervollstandigen das Paket. 4x aufs Maul fur schmales Geld. Empfehlung des Hauses!

505 Games und Laced Records präsentieren die mitreißende Musik von „WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers“ auf Doppel-Vinyl.

Die gesamte Musik wurde von Joe Caithness speziell für Vinyl gemastert. Das Gatefold-Cover ziert ein Artwork des Entwicklers Leenzee, das den Protagonisten Bai Wuchang darstellt.

Die Handlung spielt im Land Shu während der Ming-Dynastie, und die Filmmusik spiegelt eine Welt wider, die von kriegführenden Fraktionen, einer mysteriösen Krankheit und monströsen Kreaturen heimgesucht wird. Die Musik fängt die feierliche Schönheit der Landschaft und die darunter lauernde Furcht ein und verbindet traditionelle chinesische Instrumente und kraftvolle Gesangsdarbietungen mit grandiosen Orchesterarrangements und unheilvollen Gesangseinlagen.

Zusammen bilden Musik und Artwork ein Werk, das sich zugleich elegant und unheilvoll anfühlt – ein Artefakt, das der untergegangenen Dynastie, die es repräsentiert, würdig ist.

Covering Our Tracks“ ist weit mehr als ein Coveralbum: Satan Takes A Holiday interpretieren Rock- und Popklassiker von Bruce Springsteen bis Charli XCX in ihrem eigenen Mix aus Garage Rock, Punk und Indie neu.
Die schwedische Band gilt als einer der explosivsten Live-Acts Skandinaviens und spielte bereits mit KISS, The Sonics und Backyard Babies. Unterstützung und Lob erhielten sie u. a. von BBC 6 Music, Classic Rock und Iggy Pop.

Die deutsche Black-/Death-Metal-Kultband Ch’ahom opfert ihr zweites Album „Anthropic Rites of Sublimation“ auf dem Opferaltar – ein Konzeptalbum, das in einer fiktiven Welt spielt, die von den Ritualen, der Kunst und der Architektur vorspanischer Kulturen inspiriert ist. Anknüpfend an ihre EP „Ts’ono’ot“ entfaltet sich die Geschichte um eine Cenote von unvorstellbaren Ausmaßen, deren kosmischer Ruf die Verlorenen und Unsicheren zur Selbstaufopferung treibt. Vier Zivilisationen erheben sich an ihrem Rand, wobei jede ihre eigenen Riten, Hierarchien und Monumente entwickelt, um den tödlichen Ruf des Abgrunds in eine Grundlage für kollektives Dasein zu verwandeln.
Ch’ahom verleiht dieser imaginären Welt Gestalt durch höhlenartigen Death Metal, bestialische Ausbrüche und fieberhaft progressive Strukturen. Wilde Riffs winden sich durch erstickende Kammern rhythmischer Beschwörungen, während uralte Instrumentierung aus dem Tumult hervortritt wie Echos in einem verschütteten Tempel. „Anthropic ‚Rites of Sublimation‘“ bewegt sich wie die Cenote selbst und zieht den Hörer durch ein ekstatisches und sich immer weiter vertiefendes Gefühl des Unbekannten nach innen.
Inspiriert von einer bewusst wörtlichen Interpretation des Todestriebs und seiner Sublimierung untersucht Ch’ahom Kultur als Antwort auf ein unwiderstehliches Verlangen nach Selbstauslöschung. Verstümmelung, stellvertretendes Opfer, Versklavung und freiwillige Hingabe werden zu den Grundlagen konkurrierender Gesellschaften, die auf das regelmäßige Öffnen der Cenote warten. Ch’ahom verwandelt diese düstere Fiktion in ein gewaltiges Klangritual und porträtiert die Menschheit durch ihren erschreckenden Einfallsreichtum: Sie schafft Glauben, Schönheit und ganze Zivilisationen am Rande der Vernichtung.

"Originally released in 1979 on Sly & Robbie's Taxi label, this album was Black Uhuru's second LP. Recorded at Channel One it set forth a new sound in recorded music technology. The songs blend into dub versions and the mixing is simply stunning. The track Shine Eye Gal also features guitarist Keith Richards"
(but hey, nobody's perfect).

"Hear the meticulous song writing of Michael Rose, joined by Puma Jones & Duckie Simpson, to complete the vocal line-up.

Sly & Robbie and the Taxi Gang created a sublime sonic masterpiece at Channel One studio in Jamaica. They were at their absolute peak of their powers, before being launched as global superstars with Grace Jones.

Black Uhuru went on to be an extremely popular live outfit, touring endlessly around the world, breaking down barriers and making new inroads to territories previously unknown to Jamaican artists.

This Classic reissue is a must for all reggae collectors."

Product Text:

When we go searching for a Black avant-garde, we have to be prepared to look in unexpected places. The route to a Black avant-garde involves walking down – what some might consider – peculiar highways. Where they see strangeness, a road leading them nowhere, we see nothing but beauty. The paths Darren Cunningham went down, the highways he took to make Actress, are a chapter in the story of the Black avant-garde. Cunningham the footballer. Cunningham the Wulfrunian. Cunningham the ex-footballer. Cunningham the DJ. Cunningham the Londoner. Cunningham the producer. Cunningham the painter. Cunningham the writer. Cunningham the composer. This is where the Black avant-garde in Britain is made. This is where you have to go to find it.

Across an expansive discography of more than ten LPs, Actress has created his own arcane language of hermetic references and inter-dimensional electronic composition.

Radical Frame arrives 18 years since debut album Hazyville, and it feels like an apotheosis. The image realised. We get the full gamut of Actress signatures. Short bursts of broken down music. Tiny sketches of zoomed-in sound. Refracted dance floor heat. And we get more.

Perhaps Radical Frame is a container for everything that Cunningham has built so far. A frame he is handing over to the next in line. The next artist to make their own way in the Black British avant-garde.



Wenn wir nach einer schwarzen Avantgarde suchen, müssen wir bereit sein, an unerwarteten Orten zu suchen. Der Weg zu einer schwarzen Avantgarde führt - wie manche finden mögen - über ungewöhnliche Pfade: wo sie Fremdheit sehen, einem Weg, der nirgendwohin führt, sehen wir nichts als Schönheit. Die Wege, die Darren Cunningham beschritt, die Highways, die er befuhr, um Actress zu erschaffen, sind ein Kapitel in der Geschichte der schwarzen Avantgarde. Cunningham, der Fußballer. Cunningham, der Wulfrunianer (Anm.: Einwohner von Wolverhampton). Cunningham, der Ex-Fußballer. Cunningham, der DJ. Cunningham, der Londoner. Cunningham, der Produzent. Cunningham, der Maler. Cunningham, der Schriftsteller. Cunningham, der Komponist. Hier entsteht die schwarze Avantgarde in Großbritannien. Hier muss man hingehen, um sie zu finden.

In einer umfangreichen Diskografie von mehr als zehn Alben hat Actress seine eigene, geheimnisvolle Sprache aus hermetischen Referenzen und interdimensionalen elektronischen Kompositionen geschaffen.

„Radical Frame” erscheint 18 Jahre nach seinem Debütalbum, „Hazyville”, und fühlt sich wie eine Apotheose an: das Bild ist vollendet. Wir bekommen die ganze Bandbreite von Actress' Markenzeichen zu hören: Kurze Ausbrüche reduzierter Musik, winzige Skizzen von vergrößertem Klang.

Vielleicht ist „Radical Frame“ ein Gefäß für all das, was Cunningham bisher geschaffen hat. Ein Rahmen, den er an den Nächsten weitergibt. An die nächsten Künstler:innen, die seinen eigenen Weg in der britischen Avantgarde der Schwarz.

Archimboldos have clawed their way out of the starcaves of their primordial past and into the tranquil light of a coral garden on their third full length album, Crusta Arcana, a gumbo stewpot of transcendent electronica suffused with tribal rhythms and liquid ambience. Across a stereo field smeared with tolling bells, post-industrial folk percussion, and tinkling keys, Archimboldos soundtrack a science fictional journey, not into the depths of space, but deep beneath the waves.

In the past the Chilean duo of Nicolás Carcavilla and Felipe Crocco have described their music as “liminal shrimp folk.” Here they continue this strange exploration when they visit the court of the prawns, producing stately electronic chamber orchestrations. Perhaps these are the frequencies used for ritual dream initiation into the mystery schools of drowned Atlantis. Weaving an ancient sacred science, Archimboldos take listeners on a mystic vovage into their singular crustacean mythology, the crusta of their hidden arcana.

Archimbolodos are masters of conjoining cyclonic and centrifugal lines of electricity into spellbinding incantations. These deep-sea transmissions envelope the listener into aquamarine forcefields that are as hallucinatory as they are hypnotic. Navigating these strange fantasias could lead one to getting lost at sea, but the work is buoyed by the somnolent melodies of lonely harpsichords and swelling synth pads whose sustained tones reach towards distant shores. Sailing across a vast expanse of oceanic harmonies and percolating percussion, these pieces are as precise as the hand of a sailor on the rudder, moving with the tide.

Casting their net wide across eight pieces, Archimboldos have made a big catch. From the emotive electronic counterpoint found on “Bursting Armor” to the blocks of seaweed tangled sonic sculpture trawled up from the ocean floor on “Aphelion IX.” Other songs are like samples of biological ambience collected from luminous tide pools: resplendent tones placed into a Petri dish of sound, swirled, cultured and fermented until it undulates with the rhythmic movement of microscopic lifeforms. Alternating between rippling minimalist sonority and pounding, progressive, synth-heavy entrancement, Crusta Arcana charts its own idiosyncratic itinerary of instrumental invention.

All the while light is down streaming from the heavens to pierce the waters, here calm, there choppy. The intrepid musical captains commanding Archimboldos have laid a course for new archipelagos of the imagination, guided by heavenly constellations.

-Justin Patrick Moore, author of The Radio Phonics Laboratory, Telecommunications, Speech Synthesis and the Birth of Electronic Music

"Psicofásicos" by The Silver Pumpkins is a unique document: an EP that is virtually impossible to find in its original edition, offering an essential glimpse into Bolivia's thrilling 1960s rock scene-raw, wild, and unlike almost anything else. Beyond the ubiquitous covers of Cream and Jimi Hendrix recorded by countless South American bands, this EP features the far less common 'Pushing Too Hard' by The Seeds and, most notably, the dark, powerful 'You're Gonna Miss Me' by the 13th Floor Elevators. Bolivia boasts an extraordinary musical legacy of raw, garage-driven '60s sounds. Alongside Peru, it was one of the South American countries where the greatest number of recordings in this style were released-captured with limited resources but overflowing with spontaneity, energy, and attitude. The difficulty of obtaining the records that were shaping the latest Anglo-American rock trends of the 1960s in many Spanish-speaking Latin American countries led to a proliferation of local bands covering their musical heroes. Well-known artists such as Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Iron Butterfly were reinterpreted by countless groups, making these songs available to local audiences without having to rely on imported records reaching their countries. By doing so, these bands helped spread the cutting-edge rock music already making waves elsewhere in the world. What makes this release particularly unusual is that the band chose to cover second-tier cult acts rather than the obvious classics-groups that only briefly cracked the U.S. Top 50 in the late '60s, such as The Seeds and 13th Floor Elevators. Originally released on the Bolivian Psicofásico label, this exceptionally rare EP pairs The Seeds' garage anthem 'Pushing Too Hard' with the ferocious, immortal 'You're Gonna Miss Me' by Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. The raw power of the original songs is pushed even further here by the rudimentary recording techniques and the limited instrumental skills of the very young members of The Silver Pumpkins. The result is a one-of-a-kind document-virtually impossible to find in its original pressing-that helps complete the picture of Bolivia's fascinating '60s rock scene. First-ever reissue.