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3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by hip hop trio De La Soul and was released on March 3, 1989

It marked the first of three full- length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It contains the singles, "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know".

The album title came from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". It is listed on Rolling Stone's 200 Essential Rock Records and The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. When Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked #1. It was also listed on the Rolling Stone's

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Released amid the 1989 boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, De La Soul's uniquely positive style made them an oddity beginning with the first single, "Me, Myself and I". Their positivity meant many observers labeled them a 'hippie' group, based on their declaration of the 'D.A.I.S.Y. Age' (Da. Inner. Soul. Yall).

Sampling artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Steely Dan and The Turtles, 3 Feet High and Rising is often viewed as the stylistic beginning of 1990s alternative hip hop (and especially jazz rap).

LEMON YELLOW VINYL

As mui zyu, Hong Kong British artist Eva Liu navigates the tricky territory of ever-changing identity, merging fantasy and folklore to create a stage for self-acceptance and deliverance. On her debut full-length Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, Liu utilizes chopped-up sound- scapes, delicate industrial ambience and sweet pop melodies to introduce a character--a guide--who can be stretched across worlds to offer the catharsis of patience, perseverance and understanding. This isn't a character formed from a desire to escape or flee the real world, but rather a way to submerge even deeper into ourselves. Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century is a reflection of everyone, and everything, that made us who we are. On her 2021 a wonderful thing vomits, Liu was praised for her seamless integration of darkened, often ominous instrumentation and pillowy-soft vocals. As the front person of UK indie-rock trio Dama Scout, Liu effortlessly navigates a disorientating genre-bending sonic landscape with a playful, gentle dexterity. Now, with the help of Dama Scout bandmate Luciano Rossi as co-producer, Liu's first solo full-length builds upon these previous worlds to form a blossoming, more upbeat patchwork of lo-fi percussion, poignant lyricism and oddly alluring arrangements. The writing process of Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century prompted Liu to explore more of her Hong Kong heritage, allowing a space for acceptance and celebration. "I am Chinese and I am owning it," she explains. "Before, I would resent it. I tried doing things that would make me like less Chinese somehow." As the album began to take shape, Liu read the traditional Chinese folklore writings of Pu Songling and joined local East and Southeast Asian groups. It opened a portal into a new self, where Liu could blend her love of video games and film scores with traditional Chinese instruments.

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Exclusive Bundle LP+7"-
Exclusive lim.Yellow Vinyl + 7” Black Vinyl including exclusive Bonus Track “Slimbo”.

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

TRANSPARENT PURPLE VINYL

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Tape

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Sound Of Smoke sind eine vierköpfige Psychedelic Soul- & Bluesrock Band aus Freiburg mit einem ordentlichen Vintagevibe. Die Bandmitgliedern um Frontfrau Isabelle Bapté schaffen es mit einem Mix aus Blues, Soul und Stonerrock auf eine Reise durch die Zeit mit zu nehmen, als Klänge a la Jefferson Airplane, Black Sabbath und Led Zeppelin in Ihren Bann zogen. Mit "Phases" veröffentlicht das Freiburger Psychedelic-, Soul- & Bluesrock Quartett kaum ein Jahr nach der Platte "Tales" ihre zweites Album über Tonzonen Records. In zahlreichen psychedelischen Jamsessions entstanden elf neue Songs, welche man im legendären Big Snuff Studio in Berlin aufnahm. Das Album wurde in einer 10-tägigen Session komplett analog mit der Technik aus den 60er & 70er Jahren auf Tonband von Szenen-Ikone Richard Behrens (Kadaver, Elder, Odd Couple, All Them Witches uvm.) aufgenommen. "Phases" überzeugt mit eingängigen Bluesrockriffs, orientalische Klängen, bis hin zu schwebenden, sphärischen Klangwelten aber auch Krautrock. Das Leitmotiv bleibt jedoch Isabelle Baptés versiertes Flötenspiel und ihre warme, individuelle Stimme, welche Grace Slick wieder aufleben lässt. Florian Kiefer, welcher den Titel "Reincarnation of Lemmy Kilmister" mit seinem markanten, grollendem Basssound (und Backenbart) für sich beansprucht, bildet mit Johannes Braunstein ein groovendes Fundament im Stile von John Bonham. Getreu dem Motto "Im just tryin to write the best guitar riff in history" wie schon einst Jimmy Page oder Richie Blackmore und einem Faible für Wildwestromantik, trägt Jens Stöver letztlich das gewisse Etwas zum "Sound Of Smoke" bei. Veredelt wurde "PHASES" danach noch mit Orgel- und Synthoverdubs von Isabelle und Florian. Sound Of Smoke freuen sich mit " Phases" ihr anspruchsvollstes Album einem großen Publikum präsentieren zu können.

Blackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit's stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske's project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue.

Now, for CPU's first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LPEnter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he's a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music.Enter Universedoes not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound's greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid's own.

The tone is set from the first frosty chords of opening cut 'Pulsation'. The track traverses the starscape on pitter-patter drums and chirruping synths, a lively and slightly dystopian roller with an adventurous undercurrent reminiscent of classic Rephlex drops. It's a style which Blackploid often draws for throughout the rest ofEnter Universe, albeit with elements added or subtracted at each stage.

Indeed, this album features some of the most unusual production you will hear on any record this year. While the grooves pulse away in a manner reminiscent of Drexciya or Legowelt, Blackploid layers the mixes with a whole cornucopia of synth tones. 'The Mission' boasts a bleep-bloop breakdown that sounds like malfunctioning rotary telephones; 'Silent Room' is a ghoulish jam which harks back to Warp's legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations; 'Automatik' and 'Wormhole' are defined by some brilliantly strange low-ends - you'll be thinking of Mr. Oizo's 'Flat Beat' with the wiggly former, while the gurgling, writhing anti-lead that dictates 'Wormhole' is oddly thrilling and more than befits the track's title.

This inventive approach is also apparent in some of the structural choices onEnter Universe. While the tracks here all keep a steady, dancefloor friendly pulse, several of them surprise you by switching up the approach after a minute or two. 'Pulsation', 'Automatik' and 'The Mission' all feature moments where a new element - extra hi-hats, a synth line entering from leftfield - inject fresh impetus into the tune to keep the listener on their toes.

Blackploid may push the sonic envelope onEnter Universe, but this does not mean there is no room for melody. In particular, the cuts here which most strongly channel 'Computer World'-era Kraftwerk do so by fronting some slyly tuneful work, particularly in the low end of the mix. 'Unidentified' serves up delightfully springy chords, 'Cell Mutation' leads from the bassline, and 'Space Curve' features little cells of melody and counter-melody working together to closeEnter Universeout on a high.

Blackploid's debut LP Enter Universe marries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.

A stalwart of the Leeds music scene for the best part of 3 decades, Tony Burkill has so far maintained a low profile nationally, choosing to favour continued study and development of the instrument over the attainment of success or recognition within the music industry. Working as a sideman for hire on the local circuit, he has impressed audiences with his powerful and gutsy approach to improvisation and has been a well-kept secret amongst both musicians and audiences in the north of England since the 1980s.Recently featuring as a guest soloist on the debut album by The Sorcerers, Tony has been on the radar of ATA Records since the inception of the label. Impressed by his exuberant and earthy performance style they decided to embark on the writing and production of what was to become "Work Money Death", choosing to frame his playing in the context of the performers that have helped to shape his sound, most notably the spiritual jazz of the 60s and 70s.

"Work Money Death"explores the foundations laid by the great Tenor players of the 60s & 70s: Gato Barbieri, Pharoah Sanders, John Klemmer and John Coltrane, taking inspiration from their work and using it as a springboard for Tenor Saxophonist Tony Burkill's improvisation. Co-written with Bassist Neil Innes, the album attempts to frame Tony's playing within the context of that which has been most influential to him over the span of a 20+ year long career. Featuring on the record are Drummer Sam Hobbs (The Electric Doctor M and Producer of Matthew Bourne's Moogmemory), Bassist Neil Innes (The Sorcerers, Eddie Roberts' Roughneck), Pianist George Cooper (Abstract Orchestra), Percussionist Pete Williams (The Sorcerers) and features a guest performance from Pianist Matthew Bourne on the track "Beginning and End".

Support and airplay from Gilles Peterson (BBC6 Music, Worldwide FM), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2). Good reviews have so far been forthcoming from the likes of Jazzman Gerald and Nat Birchall who described it as sounding "like a lost album from the spiritual jazz scene of the 1970s".

Is Cory Okay? Opening on pads that sounds like a warm LA sunrise and bubbling with the characteristic dorky, oddball mawkishness that is Tungz 101, ‘Is Cory Okay?’ blossoms into a sugar-glass 80s pop ballad for the masculine mental health crisis. Quincy Jones guitars chip away at the soft underbelly of synth, shaping and modelling until sleek lines are established and the entire track becomes effortlessly aerodynamic. The lyric explores male anxiety disorder from the point of view of friends looking to alleviate the psychological distress of a protagonist who outwardly rejects the value of the support but internally begs for it to continue as he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s yet another example of Tungz multi-dimensional approach to song writing, asserting theirs as an essential voice in 2023. Album: Dripping with licks so richly sophisticated they ought to have their own Beverly Hills postcode, Tungz debut album ‘A Good Dream’ mixes the emotional downer of chillwave with the rhapsody of disco and hits perfection. Across 11 tracks, Tungz access a dancefloor utopia, where a French house aesthetic lives out an opulent psych-pop fantasy; beautifully simple yet sneakily complex. Brimming with confidence, the collection not only fulfils the promise of Tungz early EPs, but asserts their multidimensional approach to song writing, confirming them as an idiosyncratic prospect within alternative music.

During the 60s and 70s, three distinguished old gentlemen who had built their careers playing "made in France" exotic jazz - Roger Roger, Nino Nardini and Eddie Warner - met every evening in the Ganaro recording studio, playing like kids with their new toys: souped-up keyboards that looked more like prototypes of spaceships to explore the Milky Way. Flying high on whimsical and joyful inspiration, the improbable trio used their strange instruments to sketch out the beginnings of something that, at that time, resembled the future of music. Let's take a trip with them toward a pop, light-hearted and electronic future.

Originally released in May 2006 through the German label Karaoke Kalk, »Osaka Bridge« was an album that captured the joyful amateurism of Tori Kudo's free-spirited Japanese collective Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Bill Wells’ rich, wistful and easy sense of melody. Approaching brass band and jazz music with a knack for making playing imperfectly feel perfectly right, »Osaka Bridge« became nothing short of groundbreaking when it was released to critical acclaim, becoming an instant classic among musicians and fans alike. Coinciding with the release of the second LP of Wells’ on-going collaboration with Danielle Price on tuba, »The Sensory Illusions«, Karaoke Kalk makes this highly sought-after record available again on vinyl for the first time in 16 years.

The pairing of the prolific Scottish pianist and composer and the fluctuating collective active since the mid-1980s was an easy, natural one—a union particularly apt and complementary. But this is not to say that the 15 recordings which made up »Osaka Bridge« were in any way seamless. The horns played by these self-taught musicians strain and struggle with Wells’ luscious arrangements; each note is given all the stiff emphasis that you’d expect of a high school brass band at its first rehearsal. Songs fall in and out of rhythm, and a track like »Poxy« misses its intended swing feel by a country mile. Of course, this is all part of the magic. Maher Shalal Hash Baz take Wells’ melodies and strip them back to their emotional core, disallowing all artifice and revealing a stark, serene beauty.

Particularly affecting are »On The Beach Boys Bus«—described by colleague Jens Lekman as the »the most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard«—and »Time Takes Me So Back«, the two tracks sung by Kudo’s wife Reiko. Inspiration for both pieces came to Wells in dreams. The former was sung by a group of tanned Californians on the way to a Beach Boys convention, the latter by his grandmother shortly before she passed away. Reiko’s voice gives each song a haunting fragility that enhances their phantasmagoric character. »Cowtail Calypso«, on the other hand, was born when Wells asked Tori Kudo to sing Roger Miller’s »King Of The Road« over a syncopated, propulsive melody. Kudo’s ambiguous response (»maybe,« which according to Wells usually translated to »forget it«) resulted in a brief, idiosyncratic track that nevertheless exceeded all of Wells’ expectations.

Of the instrumental tracks, »Liquorice Tics« stands out for its rolling rhythms and circular melody, while »Family Sighs« creates a brooding atmosphere which perfectly encapsulates the conflicting feelings many people have for their immediate family. For the most part, the instrumentals are concise—a melody stated once and then dispensed with—but their brevity only heightens the impact. Even (or especially) 16 years later, »Osaka Bridge« continues to be an almost accidentally timeless document that captured fleeting moments and personal revelations at their most spontaneous and unaffected. As someone put it so aptly in a Discogs comment a few years back, »this is the album which is able to make aliens understand what humankind is about.« You better turn up the volume so that everyone can hear it everywhere.

It seems fitting that a trilogy of albums celebrating nature should conclude some eight years after its second chapter. Manchester-via-Todmorden based instrumental trio Plank’s first two LPs – 2012’s kosmiche-inspired Animalism and 2014’s more expansive and structurally disruptive follow-up Hivemind – enjoyed relatively quick gestation periods. However, Plank are firm believers in letting nature run its course, and so it is that their third LP Future of the Sea arrives early in 2023. “I always knew I wanted to make three albums inspired by nature” says Plank main-man David Rowe (synths / guitar). “Future of the Sea is another exploration into odd time signatures and traditional rock instruments alongside synths and electronics.”

“Future of the Sea is a celebration of the power and majesty of our oceans and how humankind has been destroying them through industrial scale fishing and global warming” says Rowe. “Rachel Carson put it more eloquently in her book The Sea Around Us: ‘It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.’” A post apocalyptic underwater city scape adorns the cover in an illustration by Jake Blanchard, whose work you'll also see on Richard Dawson's latest album 'The Ruby Cord'.
The synthetic nature of Plank’s sprawling rock odysseys feel at their most pronounced on Future of the Sea which leans to the band’s love of Pink Floyd era Meddle, Camel, film score composers like John Carpenter and Vangelis, 70s experimentalists Harmonia, 1980s King Crimson and 90s post-rock adjacent group Tortoise. In polyrhythmic dexterity if not heaviness, Plank also take some influence from Meshuggah, and it’s in their movement between the 16 minute final album track’s sections that it feels most prominent. They swerve from crunching stoner rock jams to more ambient spatial explorations, crescendoing progressive peaks, 80s synth pop and finally a crushing riff-laden finale.

A collection of improvisational electronic mantras, premiered earlier this year on NTS, where Parisian artist Shelter explores odd meters, Indian-inspired drum cycles and expansive drone harmonics. It's a dreamed folklore, reminiscent of Hariprasad Chaurasia and Charanjit Singh's Eternity, John Hassel's fourth world or Craig Leon's Nommos. The LP blurs the line between organic and synthesis where drum machines melt into surreal harmonium textures and programming is indistinguishable from improvisation.

AMBER ARCADES ist das Pseudonym von Annelotte de Graaf, der niederländischen Singer/Songwriterin, die zwei EPs und einige von der Kritik gefeierte Alben aufgenommen hat, von denen das zweite, "European Heartbreak", durch "hints of Lindi Ortega and early Saint Etienne, breezy, dreamy pop more personal than political" (The Guardian) glänzt. AMBER ARCADES verlor kürzlich für einen Moment den Glauben an die Musik, gewann ihn dann aber wieder zurück und liefert nun ihr bisher atemberaubendstes Album ab: "Barefoot On Diamond Road", das am 10. Februar 2023 erscheinen wird - ihre erste Veröffentlichung auf Fire Records. Die erste Single "Just Like Me" ist ein offenkundig tanzbarer und triumphaler Song, der durch seine Stop/Start-Struktur eine beunruhigende und unvorhersehbare Schärfe in das Geschehen bringt. "There's a clear distinction from my last record ,European Heartbreak', which had a complete narrative. This record is completely the opposite" erklärt die Niederländerin in einem Statement zum neuen Album. Eingetaucht in eine alles verzehrende Wall of Sound ist "Barefoot On Diamond Road" wie MY BLOODY VALENTINE in akustischer Form; es sollte eigentlich nicht funktionieren, aber tut es trotzdem. Es ist eine Gegenüberstellung von Texturen, von sprunghaften, unruhigen Dancefloor-Beats bis hin zu symphonischer Kosmik, ein barocker Pop-Teppich, der mit Celli und Harfen bestückt ist, mit einer klagenden Steelguitar, die in der Ferne widerhallt. Die Schlagzeug- und Perkussions-Arrangements von Matt Chamberlain (PEARL JAM, BOWIE, DYLAN, ADELE, LORDE, SPRINGSTEEN, COHEN...) verleihen dem Ganzen zusätzliche Textur. Es ist ein Album von einnehmender Reife, gefüllt mit Zeitlupen und epischen Steigerungen, die es mit all der Dramatik in schwindelerregende Höhen heben - man denke an THE GUN CLUB, die sich mit PORTISHEAD zurücklehnen, alles könnte passieren, es ist ein imaginärer Film... und PJ HARVEY lauert im Schatten. AMBER ARCADES neues Album "Barefoot On Diamond Road" markiert eindeutig eine neue Phase im Schaffen der hochangesehenen Musikerin. "Wistful, glowing dream pop" The Guardian

In the early '70s, after relocating from his native Genoa to Rome, young saxophonist Gianni Oddi was beginning to establish himself as a super-cool arranger thanks to a series of cover albums recorded for RCA Italy. They contained funk, soul and easy-listening versions of contemporary pop hits, but Oddi often managed to include one or two original compositions of his own – like the ones contained in this new instalment of Four Flies's 12-inch vinyl series for DJs.

The luscious funk of Dreamin', on side A, shows Oddi as an Italian master of groove. Warm, sexy and nocturnal, the song combines breaky drums with tantalizing vocals (provided by Baba Yaga's Isabella Sodani), adding a romantic, dreamy vibe in the special with strings and piano (the latter played by Oddi himself) that are at once reminiscent of soulful black music and influenced by the melodic tradition of Italy.

Geronimo, on side B, is almost a tribute to Manu Dibango – a favourite of Oddi's at the time. Here, Oddi's signature groove, at once refined and infectious, is driven by Mario Scotti's pulsating bass, Silvano Chimenti's wah-wah guitar, Oddi's own persuasive sax and, in particular, sound engineer (and former drummer) Enzo Martella's 'moose call' sound (made by sliding a thumb across the top of a conga). In a nutshell: Africa reimagined in Via Tiburtina (the street in Rome where RCA Italy's recording studios where located).

Both tracks are perfect examples of Oddi's sound and... Style (yes, his 1974 album for RCA Italy's SP series). The same sound (and style!) characterizes masterpieces like Le Montagne della Luce (co-written with Romolo Grano), La Sbandata (the funky theme from Domenico Modugno's soundtrack, which Oddi arranged and produced) and Mondo di Notte Oggi (co-written with Gianni Dell'Orso). All of these have been released by Four Flies, which continues to celebrate this fantastic groove maker.

The last album of Dead Cat In a Bag on vinyl! 180g + downloadcode.

"Do you know it? Ennio Morricone, Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, Tom Waits and Zach Condon walk into the bar, and there are all the seats occupied by the Dead Cat In A Bag musicians. Really." - this is how Jarek Szubrycht started the review of the last album of the Italian group Dead Cat In Bag in Gazeta Wyborcza. And he was right. Really.
Yes! Dead Cat In A Bag is back! They are back with a new album "We've Been Through".

After exploring several so called Neo-Folk regions, flirting with Folk Noir, mostly with Traditional Folk in a modern perspective, for example Americana to Tex-Mex and Balkan Music to Alternative Country, on this third record the ensemble drifts to a cinematic landscape, focusing on the theme of overcoming.

We've Been Through puts together World Music elements incorporating an almost soundtrack experience for a journey into both Day and Night, Hope and Disillusionment and telling stories of broken romances and shipwrecks.

Utilizing banjo and theatrical vocal delivery, together with with classic and odd instruments, the band remap the original charts but still set sail the desired destinations. And if, about the previous records, critics were prone to recall the prowess of Waits, Cave, Lanegan, Cash and Tindersticks, this time it will be harder to name the grandfathers.
Now there is a Morricone (or was it Badalamenti?) guiding spirit and a dreamlike universe full of memories, from the dry electric blues of a stream of consciousness duet in Duet For Nothing to the unexpected crooning vocals provided by Liam McKahey (CousetauX) in Lost Friends (a banjo droven dirge dealing with electronics and a bassoon, with steal percussions and a music saw for a frame), from the rendition of the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, balancing between electric guitars and Bluegrass, to the intimate cover of Leonard Cohen's Hunter's Lullaby, from the rock-(swamp)blues of The Cat Is Dead (enriched by Italian bass hero Gianni Maroccolo, from Litfiba and C.S.I.) to the soft meloncholy of the string quartet in Between Day And Night, from the dark cabaret of Fiddler, The Ship Is Sinking to the soft porch song, between Willard Grant Conspiracy and Kris Kristofferson, of the final title track.
You can hear a shrawn and a blues harp, whispers and choirs, love and dudgeon as the record goes. This is the sound of an orchestra playing on a sinking ship: what else could a fiddler do? And what can we do, in the end?

Expanded with 2 original single-version tracks. Digitally mastered from original BYG tapes by Nick Robbins. 16-pages booklet with photos & exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre. CD: Original 1969 BYG album. Expanded with 2 original single-version tracks. Digitally mastered from original BYG tapes by Nick Robbins. 16-pages booklet with photos & exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre. *** Having been part of the fabled ‘Canterbury scene’ along with luminaries such as Robert Wyatt and Pip Pyle the irrepressible Australian guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Daevid Allen formed Gong with Welsh vocalist Gilli Smyth in Paris at the end of the ‘60s as France was in state of ferment. Magick Brother introduced Gong as one of the great oddities of the psychedelic and space rock age. The nucleus of Allen, Smyth and Malherbe was able to create a musical vocabulary very much of its own all the while searching for essential metaphysical truths. “The band made strong political statements that comes through loud and clear on this re-mastered version of Gong’s debut album...” Kevin Le Gendre, 2022

1000 black vinyl LPs. London-based ‘indie-supergroup’ SUEP announce their long-awaited debut mini-album Shop, a collection of 6 oddball, car-boot-sale pop songs with a sprinkling of theatrical storytelling. Led by Georgie Stott (of Porridge Radio, Garden Centre) and Josh Harvey, SUEP was born out of a near-decade of playing in sheds and barns with like minded personnel, holding a mutual love for Paul McCartney, Jona Lewie, the B-52s, Devo and other performative freaks enjoying themselves. Following a move to London from Brighton, the pair added George Nicholls (The GN Band, Joanna Gruesome, The Tubs), Will William Deacon (PC World, Garden Centre), and Ollie Chapman (Boil King) to the line-up. The 5 piece take turns writing songs and taking the lead vocal duties in a wonderfully playful but coherent collaboration, with their debut being a kaleidoscopic off kilter pop ride, taking the listener through haunted castles, deprived encounters, days lost to the imagination in bed, and through the integral friendships that give SUEP the energy to keep dancing to their own beat. The album was arranged and recorded in the Red Lion Boys Club, an ex-youth centre in which Georgie and Josh both lived. Using equipment collected by Josh in his travels as a bootsale and market trader, the sports hall was transformed into a makeshift studio for a few days, with sessions conducted by producer Matthew Green (Sniffany & The Nits, The Tubs, etc.) Mark Riley (BBC 6 Music) described SUEP’s debut single and album opener, ‘Domesticated Dream’ (2021) as “perfect pop music.” The joyfully kitsch track brims with a 70s Yamaha disco beat, deep bass, nostalgic drum machines, and hooky melodies. Possibly the most psychedelic and infectious track born out of lockdown, it tackles homelife, drinking too much, and making big plans that never come to fruition, but with a big technicoloured positivity for the future of the human-race, with the chorus’ refrain, “the psychedelic 4000s,” predicting the return of the psychedelic Age of Aquarius in a couple of millennia time. The following single ‘Misery’ (2021) is pure cosmic swing-pop wizardry in part inspired by spy music and The Supremes. Ollie, The track’s baritone vocalist, describes it as “A love song disguised as a song about loss. It's about cherishing the things that matter but it’s also about having the courage to say goodbye,” with each line of the song a small story about a different character. Whilst latest Shop taster ‘In Good Health’ is darkly euphoric like a pleasantly strange meeting of Siouxsie Sioux and Jona Lewie. It’s a playfully discombobulating mix of 80s jangly guitar, chirpy keyboard and moody post-punk tackling mental health, drug addiction, and the power of friendship, written after the song’s vocalist Georgie came out of hospital following a mental health crisis. “I wanted to write a song that encapsulated how important my relationships with my friends and boyfriend were at that time” she explains “…and one that also felt dark like I did at the time. I couldn’t go outside due to anxiety surrounding my health so I stayed inside for weeks. People would visit and watch films with me or let me tattoo them or make music with me. My community helped me recover.” Elsewhere on Shop is ‘Just The Job’ fronted by Harvey and described by him as “About the relief of accepting a menial existence, and allowing life to be boring - but (within that) how the small things are the important ones, how pulling a sicky or extra long lunch break are important things to do for yourself. It’s an anthem for working people who’ve had enough - and a crowd favourite at SUEP gigs. The darker undertones and post-punk angles of the Georgie-fronted ‘Onions’ is inspired by the crapness of cliques, with the band calling the song “A cry of welcome to all;” and finally the hooky ‘Friend of Mine,’ described as “A love letter to all the people that come and go throughout your life no matter how long you know them”. SUEP have received coverage in Independent & Clash, (among many others), with big support from Mark Riley and Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music) for early singles.

* 2022 Repress ** Profondo Nero compiled by Cinema Royale

Profondo Nero narrates a storyline that goes beyond the borders of Italy’s musical legacy. Cutting across the face of Italo disco’s leftfield musicians between the early and late ‘80s, Profondo Nero champions a multi-faceted sound that nods to the blueprint of Italo disco but tries to dig deeper. The music is unmistakably Italo disco but moves away from the familiar classic sound. Amsterdam based collector Cinema Royale stitches together eleven tracks from 1983 – 1989, celebrating a sound he fittingly describes as ‘leftfield Italo’.

The compilation connects the dots between soulful disco (Louise Freeman – Mirage), synth-pop (Mark – Dreamland), electro-rap (Loukas Thanos – Jazzburger), breaks (Santoro – Lover Message), 80s dub disco (Jet Set – Love Break), Balearic (Isamar & Compañia ‎- No Estas), boogie (Tom Hooker – Talk With Your Body) and proto-house (International Music System - An English ’93).

Profondo Nero’s title salutes the legendary oeuvre of Italian horror director Dario Argento. His Profondo Rosso (1975) is a classic example of exquisite cinematic storytelling, boasting courageous colors, expressionist camera angles and an unforgettable Goblin score forming the ingredients for an intriguing piece of art. Profondo Rosso’s music, created the spark for a new Dekmantel Records endeavor led by Amsterdam based experimental film score connoisseur, record collector and DJ Cinema Royale.

For those in the know of underground Amsterdam music culture, Arne Visser aka Cinema Royale is among the city’s longest standing record collectors. Born to an Italian mother and Dutch father, Arne was brought up on a diet of Italo disco in the 80s. Cinema Royale explains: ‘For Profondo Nero I took a plunge into the lesser known fringes of Italo disco. From there I tried to connect, among others, San Francisco boogie, Balearic, Japanese late era Italo-electro and synth-pop funk. I hope you can hear what I had in mind: an infectious showcase of my take on traditional Italo disco that will hopefully get a lot of listeners itching for a spin. It’s fair to say that lately this particular sound has seen a reappraisal and renewed interest.

As a party-starting collection for entry-level connoisseurs or suave but lazy types, I hope Profondo Nero can be an education. I’m not claiming I’m the first DJ or collector to do so, but I did try do present something special by digging deep.’ It wasn’t my goal to unearth the most obscure tracks, instead I wanted to compose a compilation that takes you on a journey.
‘In my opinion the best DJs create something extraordinary out of illogical selections by combining music against all odds and showing different kind of moods along the way. There’s a certain amount of arrogance involved: you take the music out of its original context. But by doing so in a very conscious way, you might be able to enhance the power of the individual records. Hopefully each song on Profondo Nero provides an intimate and memorable experience.’