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'Triage' offers a rare look inside of the songwriter. This album finds Rodney Crowell introspectively looking for answers and for healing, resulting in what he has called his most personal record yet. This new collection of songs was written during the great political, environmental and economic upheaval that has marked recent years. The noise of that chaos encouraged Crowell to look inward for solace and answers. The result is this series of songs that contend with these themes, but approaches them from a place of healing, love and solution. That they are being released while we find ourselves walking through a global pandemic, is a gift of perfect timing.

light blue vinyl + CD

Detest returns to PRSPCT with a 10-track album showcasing the wide range of influences that have informed his productions and DJ sets for more than 10 years.

Since signing to the legendary Strike Records in 2005, Detest has been turning in hardcore banger after banger for labels like Deathchant, Rebelscum, Peace off - and PRSPCT, of course!

Paying homage to the past and his roots in tracks like "Oldschool Thrash" and "Sleep Knowledge", Glamorous Cool Kids Stuff is a listening album and party record combined, full of dynamic shifts in moods, tempos and styles.

From teasing industrial beginnings via plenty of signature Detest dancefloor slayers, and even a cinematic synth reprieve in "Movie XXL", this is best experienced from start to finish.

Emerging from an era of intense personal and collective change, Capstan
perfect their patented one-two punch of elite musicianship, battering ram
rhythms, off-kilter fret fireworks, and high-octane chantable choruses.
After amassing over 20 million-plus streams, the Florida five-piece Anthony DeMario vocals, Joe Mabry guitar, Harrison Bormann [guitar], Andrew “Bozz”
Bozymowski [bass, vocals], and Scott Fisher [drums] unleash a focused and furious firestorm of bop-level anthems on their second full-length offering, SEPARATE

Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) team up to present six limited edition 7"s of DISCO REGGAE LOVERS music. Featuring Sugar Minnott, Dambala, One Blood, 101 Band, Red Cloud and here to start, for the first time ever as a single, Ernest Ranglin's, cover of The Dramatics R&B classic, In The Rain.

A defining guitarist and composer in the development of Jamaican music, Ranglin's career spanned mento to reggae, playing on the groundbreaking recording of My Boy Lollipop itself, before going on to work with the likes of the Skatalies, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley.

Moving to Florida in 1982, he teamed up with Noel Williams to mix the bass heavy sound the producer was famous for with Ranglin's unique playing. Featuring a who's who of the Miami scene including Bobby Caldwell, Timmy Thomas, Betty Wright and Williams himself, In The Rain continued the link between R&B and reggae to sweet perfection.

To accompany, for half this series, a modern producer offers their own remix. Here Nik Weston, DJ, promoter and owner of the respected Mukatsuku label, releasing afro, jazz dance and more and with a long standing association with Japan, presents here an instrumental dub - letting the groove roll and Ranglin's ubiquitous playing to shine."

Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) end their DISCO REGGAE LOVERS 7" series with reggae legend Sugar Minott and this utterly unique UK soul-boogie rarity, I Remember Mama.

Reggae star, vocalist, producer and sound system operator, Kingston JA born Minott released over 50 albums and hundreds of singles for the likes of Studio One, Wackies, Suffering Heights and his own Black Roots label.

His distinctive soulful voice pioneered the Dancehall style and following his UK hit "Hard Time Pressure" he moved to London in 1980, adopting the rising Lovers Rock sound. On a visit to Wackies' offices in Soho he met Steve Parr, who had recently opened a studio next door.

Keyboard player for the likes of Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington, Parr moved into composition, mixing, sound engineering and production, before setting up the Sound Design Studio in Dean Street.

Principally a studio, the meeting with Minott hatched the idea to create a label to showcase their capabilities. Produced by Parr, he played all the instruments except the distinctive sax by friend Andy MacDonald.

With Minott's heartfelt lyrics, this marriage created a one-off, a ground-breaking synthesised 4/4 rhythm track with funk groove and soulful vocals. Released on 7" and 12", the versions noticeably differ and is the perfect closing to the DISCO REGGAE LOVERS series.

Clear Vinyl

Freddy Fresh is a legend. Period. From a plethora of 12“es on labels like Nu Groove, Drop Bass Network, Forced Nostalgia, Spaziotempo, Lone Romantic or Toolbox Killers to albums on 90s scene mainstays like Harthouse, Anodyne or Eye Q to countless releases on his own imprints like Howlin Records, Analog Records USA and Electric Music Foundation. From remixes for the likes of GusGus, Heaven 17, Kitachi, Steve Stoll, Frankie Bones and many more to hitting the UK Top 40 with the massive BigBeat smasher „Badder Badder Schwing“
produced alongside Fatboy Slim. The man has done it all. Nearly.
And therefore Intrauterin Recordings is proud to present the first ever Drum'n'Bass release in the more than 30 year spanning career of the one and only Freddy Fresh!
With „333“ Freddy Fresh is going down a twisted, hard stepping and yet positive alley of what the man himself refers to as Modular Drum'n'Bass that is unmistakably cooked up live and direct in his Minneapolis-based studio. Expect a whirlwind of swirls, swooshes, bleeps and FX alongside raw junglistic beats and the most positive Synth bass motif you've heard in a long while.
Yet the singles' main dancefloor smash is to be found on the flip side. „Watch It Go Roun Roun“ is a raw classic, a heavy original JumpUp banger driven by a killer vocal performance by Mike Gates a.k.a. Mikey Dredd. Likely better known to many for his Techno productions on labels like Kanzleramt, Creation Rebel or Howlin Records rather than for his MC skills this is the very first time Mikey Dredd's secret love for taking up the microphone as a proper Jungle / Drum'n'Bass MC is officially recognized and revealed on wax as a late tribute to and
honoration of a large scale talent which passed away way too soon in 2019. Lighter crew!
Initial pressing will be limited to 225 copies on 7“ whitelabel vinyl. Hand-stamped with stickered cover.


b B1: Watch It Go Roun Roun featuring Mikey Dredd

For this 1969 recording Wolfgang Dauner expands beyond his more typical jazz settings, introducing psych and eastern raga touches with the fuzz guitar and sitar of Siegfried Schwab. The trippy ‘Sun Is Rising’, aka ‘Take Off Your Clothes to Feel the Setting Sun’, is perhaps the highpoint of Dauner’s short-lived Oimels band. Side B’s ‘A Day In The Life’ reworks the Beatles cover into a minimalistic masterpiece. Previously released in edited form on an impossibly rare 1970 MPS single, this release now features the full length 3:56 version on the A side.

Fast-rising producer Mr.Diamond makes his debut on Hot Creations this June with the three-track Dance With Me EP. The release continues a standout 2021 for the young talent, which has seen him release on Saved Records already this year.

Dance With Me sets the tone, with jazz-fused horn string samples cosying up next to stripped-back kick-hat combos. It’s a signature peak-time offering that highlights the young talent at his best. Bongomastic takes on a darker edge, as murky drum loops converge on punchy late-night percussion. London Bass rounds off proceedings, a pacey minimal-laced number that you can’t help but move your feet to.

Mr.Diamond has taken the electronic music scene by storm in recent times. His maiden release came in 2019 and he’s since gone on to produce for a selection of contemporary house’s leading labels, including Solid Grooves Raw, Saved Records, Seven Dials and many more besides. Dance With Me EP marks a career milestone, a testament to his keen-ear for production, and sets the tone for a bright future that will see him continue to rise up the global dance ranks.

Muse celebrate the twentieth anniversary of ‘Origin Of Symmetry’ by releasing ‘Origin Of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ on Warner Records. The new edition features remixed and remastered audio plus re-imagined artwork and will be released on digital formats on June 18th before two vinyl packages follow on July 9th.



As the album’s anniversary approached, Muse asked the Grammy-winning producer Rich Costey, who has produced or mixed material on almost every subsequent record, to revisit the original recordings. Whereas most remix albums aim to radically rework the material, or to switch to an entirely different genre, the band and Costey wanted to provide a renewed clarity with a more open, dynamic and less crushed sound. This highlights parts and ideas previously buried or muted on the original mixes, like a harpsichord on ‘Micro Cuts’ and Abbey Road recorded strings on ‘Citizen Erased’, ‘Megalomania’ and ’Space Dementia’.



And that’s precisely what has been achieved. From the visceral opening riff of ‘New Born’ to the cinematic melancholy of the closing ‘Megalomania’ via the staggering scope of fan favourite ‘Citizen Erased’, the remix unveils every facet of the album’s intricate production alongside a new-found warmth. It further benefits from mastering courtesy of Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.



Matt Bellamy said:



"In revisiting the album what we found was the original mixes on the singles, like ‘Plug In Baby’ and ‘Bliss’, were pretty good so they were the hardest ones to improve. It was the deeper album tracks like ‘Micro Cuts’ where we were able to make massive breakthroughs."



The ‘XX Anniversary RemiXX’ also adds ‘Futurism’ to the tracklist. Originally a bonus track on the album’s Japanese edition and subsequently tagged to the end of the album on streaming services, ‘Futurism’ now adds a burst of energy to bridge the gap between ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘Megalomania’. This reflects its placing on the 2019 box set ‘Origin of Muse’.



‘Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ is completed with a modernised reimagination of the album’s cover art courtesy of Sujin Kim. The visual artist has created a hyper-realistic 3D rendering of William Eager’s original cover image.



‘Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX’ is now available to pre-order, with ‘Citizen Erased’ provided as an instant download. A limited edition exclusive 140 gram coloured double-vinyl set is available from the band’s official store. A striking package and a must-have item for collectors, it features LP1 on translucent sun yellow vinyl and LP2 on translucent orange vinyl. It will also be released on double black vinyl and digital formats. Both versions of the vinyl feature an unorthodox detail: the sides are marked M, U, S and E rather than the standard format

Tones 1.0 is a record specifically made for the purpose of melodic scratching, although it is not limited to just that; it can be also used as a production tool.

Think of Tones 1.0 as a synthesized toolkit that blurs the lines between live performance and production.



Side A consists of 16 locked modulating tones (8 bass tones and 8 lead tones) that have been recorded from various analog synthesizers. They were recorded live while manipulating cut-off frequencies, resonance and LFOs to a click track at 133.33 BPM. This gives the tones extra rich sonics and more depth while being scratched. Each bass tone is recorded at middle C (C3) while each lead tone has been recorded an octave higher (C4).



Side B consists of musical phrases, chords, drums, experimental tones and skip-proof atonal scratch sounds, all of which have been recorded at 133.3 BPM.



You’ll find a rich tapestry of ideas to choose from ranging from funk basslines/chords and licks, soul chords and licks, drums, atonal scratch sounds and experimental tones that create futuristic atmospheres. Major and minor 7th chords follow the circle of 5ths so that they are all relative to each other, perfect for creating music quickly. Once you’ve created a beat/sketch you can then jump to the skip-proof atonal scratch sounds and solo over the top. Enjoy.

For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Chasing Lights, Ida Mae lived on the road, crisscrossing the US from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates with everyone from Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss to Marcus King and Greta Van Fleet. And while those shows were certainly formative for the electrifying British duo, it was what happened in between — the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across rolling plains and snow-capped mountains — that truly laid the groundwork for the band’s transportive new album, Click Click Domino. Written primarily in the backseat of a moving car, the record embodies all the momentum and possibility of the great American unknown, offering up a series of cinematic vignettes full of hope and disappointment, promise and regret, connection and loneliness. The songs on Click Click Domino are raw and direct, fueled by an innovative mix of vintage instruments and modern electronics, and the performances are loose and exhilarating to match, drawing on early rock and roll, classic country, British folk, and 50’s soul to forge a sound that’s equal parts Alan Lomax field recording and 21st century garage band. Turpin and Jean produced the album themselves, recording primarily on their own in their adopted hometown of Nashville during the COVID-19 pandemic, and while the collection is certainly bolstered by appearances from high profile guests like Marcus King, Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka, and Ethan Johns, the heart and soul of the record remains Ida Mae’s intoxicating chemistry, which has never felt more vibrant, ambitious, or self-assured. Now married, Turpin and Jean first met a little over a decade ago while attending university in Bath. The pair bonded immediately over their love for the sounds of bygone eras, and they quickly earned rave reviews everywhere from the BBC to the NME with their raucous first group, Kill It Kid. Starting over fresh as a duo named for Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee’s “Ida Mae,” the first song they ever harmonized on, Turpin and Jean relocated to Nashville in 2019 and released Chasing Lights to similarly widespread critical acclaim. Rolling Stone hailed the album’s “stomping swirl of blues and guitar-heavy Americana,” while The Independent lauded its “retro lustre” and “impressive experimentation,” and NPR’s Heavy Rotation called it “tightly drawn, harmonic and hypnotic.” The music helped the earn the duo a slew of support dates with the likes of Greta Van Fleet, The Marcus King Band, Blackberry Smoke, Josh Ritter, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and The Lone Bellow, as well as performances at Bonnaroo, the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, and Switzerland’s Zermatt Unplugged.

The ethereal harmonies of Eve were ever present, but the psychedelic girl group feel of their previous band, Honey Ltd, was replaced with funky grooves and a stoned country rock vibe that permeated Los Angeles in the early 1970s. In the late 1960s, four teenage girls from Detroit hitch-hiked to Los Angeles to follow their dream. Known as the Mama Cats, their combined voices, created a magical instrument, a holy harmonic vehicle built upon the inspiration and improvisation of four close friends. Their ethereal voices and heavenly harmonies sounded like no one. Upon meeting Lee Hazlewood in Los Angeles, he was bowled over, offering them a recording contract on his label, Lee Hazlewood Industries (LHI), renaming them, Honey Ltd. Their sole 1968 LP never saw the light of day. Out of the ashes of the group, the three remaining members continued on under the name Eve. In the spring of 1970, Eve and producer Tom Thacker went into the studio to record "Take It And Smile". The ethereal harmonies were ever present, but the psychedelic girl group feel of the Honey Ltd album were replaced with funky grooves and a stoned country rock vibe that permeated Los Angeles in the early 1970s (Think John Philips "Wolfking Of L.A.). Backed by another amazing group of musicians, the recording sessions included members of the Wrecking Crew, Elvis' TCB band, Ry Cooder, Sneaky Pete and Glenn Frey from the Eagles. Featuring songs by James Taylor, Fred Neil, The Gibb Brothers, Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan, Mac Davis and a handful of amazing originals including the beautiful "Dusty Roads" and the title track "Take It And Smile," co-written with Glenn Frey. Upon its release, the album failed to find an audience. After recording one last song, "So Tired" for The Vanishing Point soundtrack, the girls went their separate ways, each continuing to sing professionally with artists that include Bob Seger, Neil Young, Tina Turner, Loretta Lynn and countless others. Remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMYr-nominated engineer John Baldwin, the reissue is complimented by a new Q&A interview with Eve members Laura Creamer, Temmer Darigan & Joan Glasser and GRAMMYr-nominated reissue producer Hunter Lea. This record is the first release in a new series of full albums reissues from the LHI (Lee Hazlewood Industries Records) catalogue that Munster will be releasing over the next months. All the releases include liner notes and exclusive interviews with the artists, rare photos, and restored original artwork

"Behold! Arise! Vast distances from Earth’s dimension, in a galaxy millions of light-years away, the WIZARDTHRONE resurges! Traversing vivid sci-fi multiverses in the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft via comprehensively established technical death- power- and symphonic black metal, Hypercube Necrodimensions (out July 16 via Napalm Records) is a bombastic journey through hyperspace and otherworldly realities. Featuring members of ALESTORM, GLORYHAMMER, AETHER REALM, FORLORN CITADEL, NEKROGOBLIKON and more, the musical brilliance of WIZARDTHRONE is absolutely undeniable. Title track “Hypercube Necrodimensions” is a hard-hitting, astronomically technical trip through portals of the Euclidean reality, entering the fifth dimension with whirlwinding synth and guitar leads. Throughout the runtime of Hypercube Necrodimensions, WIZARDTHRONE effortlessly sear from one fast-paced sonic romp to another, evident with frost-bitten “Frozen Winds Of Thyraxia”’s orchestral blast beats, or “Forbidden Equations Deep Within The Epimethean Wasteland”’s incredibly elaborate, multi-faceted songwriting. Hypercube Necrodimensions finds its grand finale in the extensive 14-minute sci-fi experience “Beyond the Wizardthrone (Cryptopharmalogical Revelations of the Riemann Zeta Function)”, taking you through the prismatic light of the twin stars of Thyraxia into the cathartic revelations of WIZARDTHRONE’s cosmos! Featuring guest appearances from Aleksi Munter (SWALLOW THE SUN/INSOMNIUM), Florian Magnus Maier (DARK FORTRESS/ALKALOID) and Evan Berry (WILDERUN), Hypercube Microdimensions is a spectacular display of WIZARDTHRONE’s musical finesse, constantly pushing the boundaries of heavy metal and thus offering a one-of-a-kind Extreme Wizard Metal listening experience!

Here is the the effortless work of a band entirely confident in their own craft - the consolidation of nearly three decades of peerless songwriting and almost telepathic musicianship amongst the band's three founder members: Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love. Recorded with the band’s soundman David Henderson alongside regular drummer Francis Macdonald and keyboard player Dave McGowan in three distinctly different environments (initially at Vega in rural Provence, then at Raymond’s home in Glasgow before mixing at Clouds Hill in the industrial heart of Hamburg), it’s a record that embraces maturity and experience and hugs them close.

As ever, song-wise the Fanclub present a textbook representation of democracy in action, the record offering four each by Blake, Love and McGinley. From the almighty chime of opener I’m In Love through The First Sight’s ecstatic soul-search and the paean to unerring friendship With You, Here is a a collection of twelve songs about the only things that truly matter - life and love.


Teenage Fanclub will be touring the UK extensively throughout the Autumn, including two London shows – Islington Assembly Hall and Electric Ballroom – both of which sold out within days of going on sale. Glasgow's finest will also be making an exclusive appearance at this year's End Of The Road festival in early September.

Cold crushed electronics and tape noise by iDEAL faithful, Altar of Flies, returning to his native Swedish label with a 3rd album of possessed and unsettling tonal abstraction and psychoacoustic isolationism.

Known to the reaper as Mattias Gustafsson, Alter of Flies is the Mjölby-based sound artist’s most prolific alias, responsible for dozens of tapes and LPs for Chondritic Sound and White centipede Noise beside his trio of turns for iDEAL since the mid ‘00s. ‘Bortom Reven’ sticks closely to what he does best, conjuring bleakly depressive atmospheres ripe for inhabitation by the harder-to-please followers of North European ambient and industrial musicks, with an alchemic application of field recordings, tape loops, and primitive oscillators that vividly brings his thoughts into the dark light.

‘Bottom Reven’ is perhaps reflective of a certain, ascetic and isolated Swedish characteristic, enacting solitary rituals that better connect Altar of Flies with his environment, or simply entertain him during long, cold, dark nights. With hints of CMvH’s EVP and John Duncan’s searching shortwave radio textures to ‘Hur regn uppstår,’ and more ruptured reception of scrambled ether voices in ‘Terapimusik,’ alongside the title track’s worn-out nub of intrigue, and the damp basement clangour of ‘Under vår livstid’; its not one for those who get shook by the sight of their own shadow, but a real treat for listeners of a lonelier disposition who get off on the sound of the house creaking at night.

Tonnon produced the album with longtime collaborator, and The Beths’ guitarist and producer, Jonathan Pearce. Tonnon wrote the bulk of the songs during an extensive period of touring after the release of Successor - a period where Tonnon performed with Nadia Reid in Europe, The Veils in the USA, and The Chills, The Phoenix Foundation and Don McGlashan in New Zealand. The pair workshopped songs between tours, often recording new parts as the live versions developed.

Tonnon and Pearce recorded between 2017 and 2020, and in that time, Tonnon’s practise evolved heavily. He incorporated new technology into his set, including the Wellington-designed Synthstrom Deluge, which allowed him to adapt his set for new performance environments;Art Galleries, Museums, even New Zealand Fashion Week. He took that technology further when he collaborated with the Otago Museum on the immersive show for Planetariums, A Synthesized Universe, which travelled to Arts Festivals around New Zealand in 2019.

Creating a music video for ‘Old Images,’ which explored a lost passenger train network, Tonnon came to the idea for a new experience-based show called Rail Land. It took audiences on railways to reach distant community halls around Aotearoa. The show saw Tonnon combine historical research and spoken word narrative, with the immersive lighting and musical technology he developed for A Synthesized Universe. In March, Rail Land finished a three-night run at Auckland Arts Festival, cementing Tonnon’s move to the concept show.

Over time, Tonnon and Pearce’s production moved further from the traditional rhythm sections that powered songs like Successor’s ‘Water Underground.’ In their place came off kilter electronic rhythms, like the beat in ‘Two Free Hands,’ and textures that blur lines between organic and synthesized sound. Guitars are set against synthesizers, and drums against drum machines in ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Peacetime Orders,’ which Tonnon also used in his soundtrack for RNZ’s 80s spy-themed podcast The Service. In ‘Leave Love Out Of This,’ a ballad starts with a piano and a string quartet, but ends in a wall of electronic sound.

The constant has been Tonnon’s lyrics. Whether singing about evolution and the future of work in ‘Two Free Hands,’ the television industry in ‘Entertainment,’ or environmental disaster and regulatory failure in ‘Mataura Paper Mill,’ Tonnon has followed a distinct approach to subject matter, description and phrasing that have seen him longlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll three times.

Tonnon’s explorations of local government and civic infrastructure in his work - an unusual preoccupation for a songwriter, have taken new meaning in his adopted home of Whanganui, where last year, he was elected by councillors as Whanganui District Council’s representative for public transport.

After Tonnon moved to Whanganui, and Pearce toured almost constantly after the success of The Beths’ first album, the pair conducted their collaboration over distance, but with key sessions at Pearce’s Karangahape Road studio, including drums and bass with long time band members Stuart Harwood and David Flyger, a string quartet led by Charmian Keay and arranged by Matthew Bodman, and additional drums with The Beths’ Tristan Deck.

As Leave Love Out Of This is released, Tonnon and Pearce find themselves in very different places to where they started, working on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, close to the venues like Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar where they regularly performed. Back in New Zealand since Covid, Pearce has had to adjust to being in one of Aotearoa’s best-known bands, while Tonnon, when not working on conceptual shows, wrestles with how to restore civic infrastructure to a post industrial city in the regions.

Created over a life-altering period of, Leave Love Out Of This is the culmination of years of experimentation and development - with new technology, new sounds, and new ways of creating, and performing music.

Old 97s are an American alternative country rock band from Dallas, TX, fronted by lead vocalist and primary songwriter, Rhett Miller. Formed in 1993, they have since released twelve studio albums, two full EPs, and have one live album. Starting out as a popular bar band before being spotted by Bloodshed Records, they are pioneers of the alt-country movement during the mid-to-late 90s. Their Bloodshot debut LP brought them to the attention of Elektra Records, who hoped that alt-country could be a new post-grunge trend.

In 2005, Blender magazine ranked the band’s then most successful single, 1999’s “Murder (Or a Heart Attack),” as the 176th greatest song “since you were born.” Their music has been featured in a number of film and TV series, including The Break Up, Clay Pigeons, Slither, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Ed, Scrubs, Veronica Mars and Scorpion. Old 97s recorded three albums for Elektra, before moving on to New West and ATO Records subsequently.

Their fourth studio album, Fight Songs was recorded at Kingsway in New Orleans and released on April 27, 1999. The album is more-slick and pop-oriented than their previous efforts. For the release of this deluxe worldwide debut on vinyl, ROG had six-time Grammy® award-winning producer and engineer, Vance Powell, remix the 12-track album as the band originally intended; stripping off the slick 1990s-style production and sheen that helped the album get on the radio in 1999. With the assistance from the band we are also able to offer previously unreleased 1998 pre-production demos on a 3rd LP that helps to round out the complete story of this classic 1990’s alternative country record.

Synth legend Suzanne Ciani, Demdike Stare’s Sean Canty & Finders Keepers’ Andy Votel come together on this killer hour-long 2014 synapse popper of a collaboration pooling the occasional group’s esoteric collage-based approach into a remarkably foreboding session pregnant with a dread that’s never quite resolved. Think Vladimir Ussachevsky, Todd Dockstader, Spectre and Company Flow melted thru the Deutsch-Italo industrial DIY tape era and funneled thru an almost impenetrable fog of Ann Arbor basement noizze.

Hustling some of Neotantrik’s most amorphous gestures, ’241014’ is a four-segment movement of reduced Buchla treatments, destroyed vinyl loops and scraping foley suspense; like a cosmic dream diary layered into a collage of drones and clatters. Little in Ciani’s extensive catalogue has hinted at what’s on display here; the joyful lullaby-pop of “Seven Waves” or metallic alien soundscraping of “Flowers of Evil” are only hinted at. She instead paints new sonic vistas, allowing space for her collaborators to make themselves known; Votel’s chiming toy autoharp and Bubul Tarang (a Punjab string instrument) add a distinctive flavor, while Canty’s grimy drones and noise-soaked textures drizzle pitch-black molasses into the cracks and crevices. Together, the effect is a bit like hearing Philip Jeck improvising over Popol Vuh’s peerless Moog-led debut “Affenstunde” or Demdike Stare knocking out impromptu reworks of Tangerine Dream’s abstrakt early run.

Perhaps unusually, the trio have still never set foot in a studio together, exclusively maintaining their practice in-the-moment and on stage when schedules intersect. So it’s all the more remarkable that their improvisations naturally find a democracy of role and such a heightened level of intuition, beautifully converging their thoughts to mutual, open-ended conclusions that leaves billowing room for interpretation. In a most classic sense, it’s like the sensation of sleep paralysis or dream/nightmare ambiguity, with a level of suggestiveness that’s disorienting from end to end.

For the first time the recordings are now available in high fidelity (there was a tape version a couple of years back) - now remastered by Rashad Becker to better represent the otherworldly scope of their actions on stage, from the NWW-like queues and drone of ‘Scanned Accents’ and keening silhouette of ‘Second Action,’ to new sections of subaquatic Porter Ricks-like murk in ‘Anti-Contraction’ and the levitating webs of synth and tactile, sampled textures in ‘Last Canción.’ Tape music and synth music have long shared a passionate embrace, and here turntablism coolly slides in on the action. Canty and Votel’s background in beat tape assembly and crate digging pays off: they’re keenly experimental creators but bring an unfussy sense of rhythm and performance that’s miles beyond any facile repetition of a nostalgia for vintage glory. Combined with Ciani’s delicate Buchla work - it’s a unique proposition.

Sonor Music Editions is continuing the dive into the glorious Sermi catalogue, a renomated Italian Library label that released, between late 60s and early 70s, some among the most sought-after and insane records of the whole Library/Soundtrack genre. This is the first ever reissue of another Italian Library grail from the catalogue - originally issued in 1972 on Gemelli label. Sandro Brugnolini's masterpiece "UTOPIA", originally pressed on a ridiculous run, and released on a beatiful tip-on sleeve reproducing painter Michel Seuphor's abstract art. The first official release after the recent maestro's passing, conceived with the great arrangements of Giorgio Carnini at the Hammond and piano, and the direction of maestro Franco Tamponi. A brilliant and inspired Jazz-Funk and Lounge Jazz session with just amazing sounds, driven by both dreamy and underground moods, Avant-garde Jazz refined orchestrations and gorgeous grooves.

Das Phänomen POWERWOLF: Innerhalb der deutschen Heavy-Metal-Szene findet sich wohl kaum eine
andere zeitgenössische Band, deren Erfolgskurve seit vergleichbar langer Zeit derart steil nach oben zeigt,
was mithilfe der im vergangenen Jahr veröffentlichten opulenten Werkschau „Best Of The Blessed“ zum
15-jährigen Bestehen deutlich sicht- und hörbar unter Beweis gestellt wurde. Nun, nur rund 12 Monate
später, steht das achte Studio-Album unter dem Titel „Call Of The Wild“ in den Startlöchern, von dem
mit Fug und Recht behauptet werden darf, dass es neue Maßstäbe setzt!
Zeitsprung ins Jahr 2005. Bereits auf seinem Debüt „Return In Bloodred“ etabliert das Quintett um den
Lead-Gitarristen und Haupt-Songwriter Matthew Greywolf einen in dieser Form nie dagewesenen Stil, der
klassischen Metal melodischer Spielart mit erhabenen Orgelklängen und orchestralem Bombast vereint.
Alles an POWERWOLF, von den elaborierten Texten - die mal augenzwinkernd humorvoll, mal bitterböszynisch von Phantastischem und Historischem handeln - bis zur omnipräsenten sakralen Symbolik, nährt
die mystische Aura des Fünfergespanns, die über die folgenden Jahre mit jedem weiteren Werk an
Bedeutung gewinnen und auf unzähligen Touren in eine einmalige, nicht von ungefähr als
„Metal-Messe“ bezeichnete Liveshow übersetzt werden soll. Die süßen Früchte der eisernen Treue zu den
traditionellen musikalischen Wurzeln, bei gleichzeitiger konsequenter Weiterentwicklung ihres ureigenen Sounds, ernten POWERWOLF aber nicht nur von den Bühnen ausverkaufter Konzertsäle aus, sondern
auch an der hart umkämpften Chart-Front. Dreimal gelang in den letzten Jahren der Sprung aufs
Treppchen der offiziellen deutschen Albencharts - zweimal davon auf die Pole-Position - und im
europäischen Ausland wurden die jüngeren Veröffentlichungen „Blessed & Possessed“ und „The
Sacrament Of Sin“ mit Gold, die Hit-Single „Demons Are A Girl' Best Friend“ gar mit Platin
ausgezeichnet.
Warum außer Frage steht, dass das am 16. Juli 2021 erscheinende Opus „Call of The Wild“ in Sachen
Popularität einen weiteren Quantensprung bedeuten wird, erklärt sich sowohl langjährigen als auch frisch
gewonnenen Fans schon im ersten Hördurchlauf wie von selbst: Gerahmt vom Eröffnungs-Titel ”Faster
Than The Flame”, der sich pointiert als „POWERWOLF in Reinkultur“ beschreiben lässt, und dem
großen Finale ”Reverent Of Rats” verströmen die elf enthaltenen Songs zwar stets Vertrautes, wagen aber
auf jedem Schritt des Wegs Weiterentwicklung in vielerlei Hinsicht. So mutet etwa das
unverschämt-eingängige ”Dancing With The Dead” regelrecht tanzbar an, während ”Alive Or Undead”
als Power-Ballade allererster Güte den Ruf des Frontmanns Attila Dorn als absolutem Ausnahme-Sänger
endgültig zementiert. „Call Of The Wild“, das sich einmal mehr als heißer Anwärter auf den
Chartstürmer-Titel ins Rennen stürzt, ragt anno 2021 als turmhohes Ausrufezeichen aus der
Musiklandschaft hervor und vermittelt wie kein anderes Werk das leidenschaftliche Credo
POWERWOLFs: Metal is religion!