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Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Cambridge’s acclaimed psych-folk quintet Fuzzy Lights return with their fifth album ‘Fen Creatures’. Following on from 2021’s critically lauded ‘Burials’ the band have created their most conceptually focussed work to date – a mediation on environmental crises that uses the folklore and history of East Anglia as a lens to examine humanity’s fractured relationship with the natural world.

The album operates across multiple historical timelines, from Iron Age hill forts to medieval plague houses, from Byron's Romantic-era environmental warnings to the immediate threat of rising sea levels, creating a temporal tapestry that weaves ancient stories with contemporary concerns.

Musically, the quintet, Rachel Watkins (vocals/violin), Xavier Watkins (guitar/electronics), Chris Rogers (guitar), Daniel Carney (bass), and Mark Blay (drums), have pushed deeper into experimental drone territories while maintaining the crystalline folk sensibilities that have become their signature.

Lead track ‘Greenteeth transforms the traditional cautionary tale of Jenny Greenteeth, the water spirit who lures children to their deaths. "When I read this story to my daughter, she was instantly drawn into it," Watkins notes. "There's something timeless about these tales and the way they speak to fundamental fears and connections that span generations."

Elsewhere, 'War Ditches' imagines the Iron Age dead of a Cambridge hill fort keeping watch over the land, their vigil ending as modern people lose connection with the earth. 'The Promise' creates an imaginary encounter with the ghosts of Landbeach village across multiple eras, connecting the 1665 plague with our recent pandemic experience through shared narratives of community resilience and loss.

Critics praised ‘Burials’ as "way beyond folk and folk in essence all at once" (Backseat Mafia) and "folk-rock looking back squarely at the early 1970s" (Financial Times), and 'Fen Creatures' promises to cement Fuzzy Lights' reputation as one of Britain's most vital contemporary folk acts. The album positions them firmly within the lineage of artists like Fairport Convention, Trees, and Comus who understood that engaging with tradition isn't nostalgic escapism, but a way of accessing older wisdoms about how to live in the world.

‘Burials’ press:

“...the musical battle between the fuzzy and the light makes Fuzzy Lights special.” MOJO ★★★★
“...a simmering, sinister undercurrent which often explodes with apocalyptic fervour.” SHINDIG ★★★★
“...subverting genre expectations and folk melodies.” FINANCIAL TIMES ★★★★
“Way beyond folk and folk in essence all at once, it's a record that’ll bring you much reward.” BACKSEATMAFIA - 8.3/10
“a genuine delight....a stirring and unsettling listen, goosebumps adding to the pleasure of timeless music played well, with perfect precision. Don’t leave it another eight years, eh?” FOLK RADIO
“...re-inventing the folk-rock playbook and dragging it screaming through an array of influences...Fuzzy Lights’ most unique, reflective and ambitious record to date” FOR THE RABBITS

Kai Winding (1922 -1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz
composer, particularly remembered for his collaborations and solo
exchanges with fellow trombonist JJ Johnson
Fans of their classic album 'The Great Kai & JJ' (Impulse!) will welcome 'Duo Bones'
with Kai trading solos with renowned Italian valve trombonist Dino Piana (1930 -
2023). The programme includes three original compositions by Kai, 'Duo Bones', 'Lady
H', and 'Stop Following Me', and one by Piana aptly titled, Kai & Dino. The rest of the
programme includes Cole Porter's 'Get Out Of Town', Bronislawl Kaper's 'On Green
Dolphin Street', Gorden Jenkin's 'This Is All I Ask', and an original composition by
producer Enrico Pieranunzi titled 'Soul Dance'.
"A series of pieces played very well, characterised by a marked swing and with solos
that transmit to the ear the joy felt by the musicians in performing them. An album of
pure fun, impeccable in execution, full of dizzying and spectacular phrasing,
impressive in the speed with which Winding and Piana intertwine their sounds in
elaborate counterpoints." - Marco Giorgi, from the liner notes
Kai Winding: trombone
Dino Piana: valve trombone
Enrico Pieranunzi: piano
Giovanni Tommaso: bass
Tullio De Piscopo: drums
Recorded by Francesco Melloni, Giovanni Fornari, Emmequattro Studio, Rome, Nov. 17
& 18, 1979.

Beloved for their cinematic songwriting and atmospheric blend of folk, rock, and psychedelia, MIDLAKE returns with their sixth studio album, A Bridge To Far—a sweeping, soul-stirring meditation on resilience and hope. Lead singer Eric Pulido describes the record as a reminder that, regardless of circumstance, there is a place—“not made of stone”—where one can find solace and strength. It’s a call to persevere, to “go bravely arm in arm and climb upon,” inviting listeners to transcend the darkness through connection and belief. This is MIDLAKE at their most inspired and intentional, weaving together mythic storytelling and emotional clarity with the signature textures that have made them a touchstone in modern independent music. Recorded in the band’s hometown of Denton, TX at The Echo Lab with acclaimed producer and mixer Sam Evian, A Bridge To Far captures the warmth and wildness of the band's earliest recordings while pushing into luminous new territory. The first single, “The Ghouls,” arrives as a haunting and propulsive introduction to the record’s themes—equal parts spectral and cathartic.

Das Cover von ,Liquorice", dem dritten Album der australischen Indie-Pop-Künstlerin Hatchie, zeigt ein Nahporträt von Harriette Pilbeam, die lächelt, wobei ihr verschmierter roter Lippenstift auf die glorreiche Folge eines Kusses hindeutet. Das Bild wurde während eines spontanen Fotoshootings im Hinterhof mit einer einfachen Digitalkamera aufgenommen und fängt eine Erinnerung ein, die etwas unvollkommen ist und von Sehnsucht, Begierde und Bedauern geprägt ist Das Bild wurde während eines spontanen Fotoshootings im Hinterhof mit einer kleinen Digitalkamera aufgenommen und verkörpert ein Album, das rau und voller Freude ist und sich mit Themen wie Sehnsucht, Begierde und Reue befasst. Pilbeam begann ernsthaft mit dem Schreiben von ,Liquorice", während sie von 2022 bis 2023 in Brisbane lebte, und später in einem gemeinsamen Haus mit Agius in Melbourne, wo sie die Demos schließlich Mitte 2024 fertigstellte. Als Musikerin, die ihre Einflüsse bisher offen zur Schau gestellt hat, bemühte sich Pilbeam, von Grund auf neu zu schreiben, ohne bestimmte musikalische Einflüsse im Hinterkopf zu haben. Pilbeam begann ernsthaft mit dem Schreiben von ,Liquorice", während sie von 2022 bis 2023 in Brisbane lebte, und später in einem gemeinsamen Haus mit Agius in Melbourne, wo sie die Demos schließlich , und stellte die Demos schließlich Mitte 2024 fertig. Als Musikerin, die ihre Einflüsse bisher offen zur Schau gestellt hatte, bemühte sich Pilbeam, ganz von vorne anzufangen, ohne bestimmte musikalische Einflüsse im Hinterkopf zu haben, und ließ den Songs wochenlang Zeit zum Atmen, anstatt Ideen zu überstürzen. Sie fühlte sich von der melodischen Einfachheit ihrer frühen Songs angezogen und akzeptierte ihre musikalischen Unsicherheiten: ,Ich wollte meine Grenzen als Stärken betrachten, die meinen Stil prägen." Nachdem sie mit den Produzenten Jorge Elbrecht (Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast, Sky Ferreira) und Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan) an ,Giving the World Away" gearbeitet hatte, wollte Pilbeam ,Liquorice" mit einem einzigen Kollaborateur fertigstellen, idealerweise einem nicht-männlichen Produzenten, der auch sein eigenes Musikprojekt vorantreibt. Im September 2024 kehrten Pilbeam und Agius nach Los Angeles zurück, um mit Melina Duterte zusammenzuarbeiten, die unter dem Namen Jay Som Indie-Rock aufnimmt und an einer Reihe von Projekten mitgewirkt hat, darunter das mit einem Grammy ausgezeichnete Album ,The Record" von boygenius. ,Mein letztes Album ist sehr düster und introspektiv geworden, und das ist zwar ein Teil von mir, aber es gab noch eine ganz andere Seite, die ich nicht zum Ausdruck gebracht habe", sagt Pilbeam. ,Ich bin eine hoffnungslose Romantikerin und eine sehr alberne Person, manchmal sogar bis zum Äußersten." Die heute 32-jährige, verheiratete Pilbeam stellte fest, dass ,ewige Gefühle" der Sehnsucht und des Herzschmerzes schnell zurückkehrten, als sie über ihre Erfahrungen als jüngere Frau nachdachte. Gleichzeitig ließ sie ihre Vorliebe für tragische Liebesfilme einfließen, in denen die Figuren nicht unbedingt ein gemeinsames Happy End finden. Liquorice beschäftigt sich mit der Endlichkeit des Ewigen. Diese Songs fangen die überwältigenden, berauschenden und transformierenden Nebenwirkungen der Verliebtheit ein, auch wenn die gesamte Liebesgeschichte nur eine einzige magische Nacht dauert. Wie die reichhaltigen Aromen der gewundenen, titelgebenden Süßigkeit - süß, salzig und bitter in einem Bissen - bestätigt Liquorice, wie Sehnsucht und Besessenheit in der Selbstfindung einer jungen Frau miteinander verflochten sind.

Anushka Chkheidze + Robert Lippok’s »Uncontrollable Thoughts« on Morr Music is the duo’s debut joint release. The Netherlands-based Georgian composer and the German sound artist from Berlin first met in 2019 in the context of a workshop programme that took place in Tbilisi, and later worked with Eto Gelashvili, Hayk Karoyi, and Lillevan on the massive »Glacier Music II« music and book project, released in 2021. This led them to engage in a less conceptually driven form of musicking and real-time composition that corresponds with their respective environments. They draw on traditions such as minimal music or late 1990s and early 2000s electronica to integrate subtle beats with elegiac organ drones, playful melodies with lush textures. The first document of an ever-shifting intergenerational dialogue, »Uncontrollable Thoughts« is a product of mutual listening outside time.

Though Chkheidze and Lippok had access to professional studios, they chose to rent a simple rehearsal space, equipped with only the bare essentials—bass and guitar amps as well as a small PA—to maintain immediacy in their working process. The music they made together corresponded to and drew on the respective possibilities and shortcomings of this studio, much like their collaboration in general is characterised by the care with which they approach each other's talents and ideas. While both had loosely defined roles—Chkheidze was responsible for the free-flowing beat programming and the evocative distortion came courtesy of Lippok, for example—they individually contributed in different ways to their joint process, which is as free of hierarchies as it is limitless. Hence, the duo’s focus on spontaneity and out-of-the-moment emergence makes them organically move beyond tried and tested conventions, resulting in music that seems to suspend time altogether.

When the first chimes on »Bird Song« announce a piece that sets rattling kickdrums against a backdrop of layered drones and rhizomatically entangled melodic elements, it becomes clear why »Uncontrollable Thoughts« carries this title: The album follows the constant detours of the subconscious of its makers, letting them explore moments of ecstasy such as on »Rainbow,« melancholy with »Field,« and the interplay of suspense and release through the ten-minute-long title track. But the different pieces also tie into one aother in various ways. The dirge-like organ drones on which »Rainbow Road« ends reappear in the beginning of »Uncontrollable Thoughts,« much like Chkheidze’s gentle yet emphatic piano chords on »Field« seem to provide the starting point from which the artist develops the striking motifs of the final piece »Opening«, whose title itself suggests that the record as a whole can and should be enjoyed as a loop. All this creates a unique, idiosyncratic temporal logic.

While there is much that sets Chkheidze and Lippok apart as solo artists, the major shared leitmotif in their respective bodies of work is the sonic engagement with space. »Uncontrollable Thoughts« is hence best understood as an extension of this practice; as an album that maps the geographies of their minds in motion, tracing musical movements as they melt into each other.

For the third time, they had been sent to this forsaken land. It was neither east nor west, neither north nor south. They said it had once been a kingdom, somewhere in the heart of the old continent, something they had pieced together from the ruins scattered across jagged hills sprouting here and there from the ground. Everyone else went islands, dived to the seabed, drilled at the poles, and explored waste in the east, but these two were sent here again, as if someone were trying to get rid of them, just to keep them out of the way.

What were they really supposed to find here? They wandered the land, aimless and bored, like the last bird watching from the sky. Sometimes they landed, took samples for the lab, and then caught a nap by the river bend. They avoided the hot fumes of active volcanoes. Compared to those on other planets, these were more like small, whispered fumaroles, but even so, they had to be careful.

They felt as if they had stepped into a scene from a movie they had once glimpsed. A mad and exhausted conqueror screamed and wildly flailed his arms on a ridiculous wooden raft in the middle of a raging river. It was somewhere in the south of this planet, deep in the jungle. There were many movies made on this planet, but only fragments of the reels survived, and this one quickly became iconic.

When a trumpet sounded in the distance and flooded the land with a booming murmur, when all the fumaroles hissed together, and when wind rolled in, covering the land in heavy fog, both of them knew the third expedition would not be like the previous ones.

At that moment, Kult Masek and Petr Vrba were flying over the land that was once called České středohoří.

The word "amateur" originates from the Latin word "amator," meaning "lover" or "admirer". This Latin term is derived from "amare," which means "to love". The French adopted "amateur" from Latin, and the English then borrowed it from French, initially retaining the sense of someone who loves or is devoted to something. Over time, the English usage of "amateur" also developed a meaning related to a lack of professional skill or experience. How did a word derived from love become a slur? Is love really so defenseless? They say love conquers all, but in reality isn’t love quite ridiculous? It has no intention, no motive, no agenda. How could it possibly prevail? It can’t be bought or sold, or so they say.Its mere existence can't be proven or even measured. What an impossible thing. Trying and failing, time and time again, no wonder cynicism always seems to win. I see “amateurism” as a delighted, even foolish, protest. Protest against everything. Of what’s expected of someone, or expected of someone to desire or strive for. To be elite, to be expert, to be professional, to be a master, to excel and succeed. Where’s the joy in that? I just want to have fun. I want to want. I want to love. And keep doing it, forever. I want to have fun, even when it’s tiring and sometimes even heaven is boring as hell. I want to be bad. I want to do my own thing. “I vant to be alone”. I want to be someone so dedicated to their passion that it starts to seem like there’s something wrong with them. All the way. We can take it all the way, and never get it back. ” - Molly Nilsson Amateur is the 12th studio album by Molly Nilsson. Deep in the teeth of a career that threatens to tip into something resembling a “legacy,” Molly Nilsson celebrates with an album recorded instinctively, quickly and bursting with so many moments of emotional brilliance and clarity it may be her greatest yet. Hers has been a career spent reaching out, perennially powerful in her earnestness, a warrior ridiculously defenceless and armed with a glittering sincerity. Shearing herself of the machinations of the music industry, recording at home, writing direct to the heart. Amateur is a jubilee for losers. A treatise in 13 songs, Amateur states clearly that we should live our life with eternal curiosity, offers us an open hand of comradeship out of the rat race. The songs on the album are both some of the most personal of Nilsson’s career and the most anthemic. First single How Much Is The World asks us to re-evaluate value in the face of a Neo-liberal system squeezing the life out of our loves. Pulsing opener Die Cry Lie satirises the commercialisation of emotion in the form of a shout-along diss-track. With a pounding rhythm track held down by gorgeous chord changes, heartbreaker Valhalla carries the torch for the main themes of the album: never growing up, making mistakes with kindness, moving on. When the drums crash in on the line “It’s going to get better now, you’ll see, going to be much better off without me” there is a world of feeling swirling about in the vocal delivery. One reading of the track might be that it’s a break up song but the subtext is classic Molly Nilsson: by living truthfully, making mistakes, we’re active agents against the myriad oppressions of the world. All The Way takes the theme for a run into the eternal sunset. It’s a manifesto for living fully. “Take it all the way, and never get it back” - it’s the process that’s the important point. The journey not the destination. Big Life, follows on like a part 2: An ode not only to Molly Nilsson’s career of endless gigs, endless connections with people, it’s a massive ode for following your dreams, doing it yourself. Closer The Bitter End is a powerful anthem for friendship, another definition of love infused in Nilsson’s work, A beautifully poignant ode to comradeship til the end, it seems to be the songwriter approaching aging, approaching life’s inevitability with the same vigour and earnestness, the same love of life she enjoyed at the onset of her career. There are moments on Amateur shrouded in reverb, slightly out of focus, forcing the listener to step deeper into the Mollyverse.. Nilsson’s open-armed beseeching to the world permeates every beat, every chord. These are songs exploding with life: the chunky, aggressive bassline on the punker Get A Life can’t hide its massive, catchy chorus. The sweeping Swedish Nightmare might be a tongue-in-cheek self-reference, but at its heart it’s a song about the duality of living life large, what is a dream, what is a nightmare? Molly Nilsson says you can’t have one without the other, and why would you want to? Here’s to making mistakes.

Spring Revisited pays us a respectful revisit this autumn as a full double LP on Acid Jazz, Ace Records and Cosmos, pinching the celebrated 12" singles into one power-punchy grab bag. Spring, founded in late 60s New York by Bill Spitalsky with Roy and Julie Rifkind, became a 70s soul powerhouse, home to such dance music pioneers Millie Jackson, Joe Simon and The Fatback Band. Their collegiate creations were of course ripe for modern reinterpretation - a fated intention - and as recently as 2025 saw DJs and producers pull them apart and reappraise them for modern floors: Dimitri From Paris turned Jackson's 'We Got To Hit It Off' into a stout summer anthem, Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell reimagined Fatback's 'Snake', and Kenny Dope, Dave Lee, DJ Spinna, Opolopo, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy and others added their own ensouled spins.

Holy Sons is the largely solo project of Emil Amos (Grails, Om, Lilacs & Champagne). Puritan Themes is his 17th album and his 4th for Thrill Jockey Records and a tentpole album in his wide-ranging output, including myriad private press LPs, collections of oddities, and conceptual series". Puritan Themes" relaxed vibes are influenced by the laid-back west coast rock sound of mid-period Fleetwood Mac, blended with a dose of psych distortion and imbued with the breeziness and ease of yacht rock. Puritan Themes is a record that knowingly, barely fits into the modern world. When mixing the record in Chicago, everyday Amos skated through Douglass Park listening to podcasts about the inner workings of The Band, listened to 70"s AM radio while washing dishes and went to sleep at night to early Bee Gees interviews. The earliest concept of the record was based around the track "Chain Gang" which was an imaginary take on if Cat Stevens had smoked a ton of salvia and taken a much darker route within that world of dense, story-telling/message-based songwriting. The track "Raw & Disfigured" borrows its name from the last Thrill Jockey Holy Sons record, in a referential move that"s stolen from the way Led Zeppelin separated the track "Houses of the Holy" from the record of the same name (once again harkening back to 70"s lore).

The most inspiring bands are the ones that can create a world around themselves that is about far more than just the music. The artwork, lyrics, sounds and ethos all merge together perfectly to create its own universe, a secret club. The Lovely Eggs are one such band. And against all the odds, 2025 sees them celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band! Stubbornly and heroically independent, The Lovely Eggs have forged their own path and have achieved mainstream success without ever compromising their DIY ethics. Released on their own label Egg Records, with eye watering artwork by Casey Raymond and hand packed in a black plastic bin bag on neon toxic slime green vinyl, this is yet another collectible release from a band who care as much about the art and ideas in their records as they do about the sound. "We had all these spare songs after we released our last album Eggsistentialism and we didn't really know what to do with them," explained Holly. "They just didn't seem to fit in with the vibe of Eggsistentialism but we'd recorded them and wanted to get them out there." "They're kind of a sketchbook of songs," added David. "They're not polished or laboured over but we thought it would be interesting to release them. It's why we called the record Bin Juice. These were songs we had thrown away. But hopefully people like going through bins collecting trash."

‘Icon’ is an overused word when it comes to describing singers and musicians, but when it comes to Nina Simone there are few artists that the word describes more accurately. The ‘High Priestess Of Soul’ is surely one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century, and one whose fame and acclaim stretches far beyond conventional black American music circles. 

Nina Simone has featured on Ace and Kent CDs before but this is the first time she’s had one all to herself. “Let It All Out” is the first and only Nina Simone collection to draw repertoire from every label she recorded for between the late 1950s to the late 1970s. 

Not a traditional ‘Best Of’ or ‘Greatest Hits’ package (although the performances included here ARE among her very best, and do include most of her Greatest Hits!) it is a singles collection that presents Nina Simone’s soul and R&B-slanted 45s in chronological order. Invariably they are the definitive versions of the songs, whether she recorded the original versions or not. 

As well as almost all of her American pop and R&B chart hits from 1960 onwards, “Let It All Out” also contains all of Simone’s UK chart hits from the same period – several of which were more successful here than they were back home, including both versions of her biggest British hit ‘Ain’t Got No; I Got Life’, a UK #2 that did not chart at all in the US as was the case with the belated UK Top 5 hit ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ which also made no chart impression on its home turf…

Carefully curated and concisely annotated, “Let It All Out” lets the listener in to two dozen of Nina Simone’s most celebrated singles. There have been many compilations of her works since she passed away 20+ years ago, but none that gets to the heart – and soul – of her catalogue in quite so direct a manner as this one does. 

Autodidactic musicologist and sample collagist U turned his archival eye on the melting pot of ‘80s post-punk with his debut ‘Life Isn’t A Fountain?’ EP for Lex. He follows up with an experimental exploration of regional identity with ARCHENFIELD, a deeply personal collection of ambient music and found sound that examines the relationship between geographical space and aural histories.

To construct this record U mined a wealth of recorded material relevant to the area. With a nod to traditional music, he takes samples from these records and creates beautifully atmospheric sound pieces that are often mixed with painstakingly researched snippets to create a stirring reflection on local history and broader themes of how we interact, or even fail to interact, with English folklore today.

Pressed on 180g vinyl, the album comes with a 24-page visual companion that expands on its themes and folk stories through imagery and narrative, echoing the album’s soundscape. : The Caretaker, Oneohtrix Point Never, JG Bie1berkopf, Maxime Denuc, Leon Vynehall

Cindy Lee is the diva alter-ego of singer / guitarist / drag queen Patrick Flegel, the one-time captain of heralded Canadian experimental guitar pop act, Women. In Flegel's working on / as Cindy Lee exclusively over recent years, their songwriting makes a move toward high atmospherics, often achieving a mysterious sweetness rooted equally in beauty and ache.

As Cindy Lee's first long-form statement, Act Of Tenderness makes use of antipodal themes to create a living sound: static with grace, distortion and sugar, all masterfully arranged with crooked nods toward pop classicism. The layered vocal on "Power And Possession" creates a palpable haunt, bringing historical girl-group lament to choir-esque heights. The feedback shriek and industrial grind of "Bonsai Garden" provides near-operatic damage, yet never stumbles into the irrevocably grave. These snowy pieces give the album a decidedly cinematic feel, albeit one bent more towards Eraserhead.

Originally released in a scant private edition in 2015, Superior Viaduct's imprint W.25TH is pleased to give Act Of Tenderness its deserving wide release.

The Dead 60s seminal self-titled album gets a timely Deluxe edition reissue on Vinyl for its 20th Anniversary, on Deltasonic Records



“Back in the day, punk and dub weren’t just sharing space—they were smashing into each other headfirst. Late '70s Britain was a pressure cooker, and for kids like me, growing up between Brixton’s bass bins and the chaos of King’s Road, that collision was everything. Jamaican sound system culture met punk’s raw spirit in a haze of smoke, sweat, and feedback. It wasn’t about genre—it was about energy. Identity. Defiance. so when The Dead 60s came along, post-Britpop and post-bullshit, it felt like someone had dusted off the blueprint and run it through a battered old tape echo. These weren’t just lads with good taste—they understood the assignment. They took the DNA of two rebel cultures and mutated it into something that could stand tall in the 21st century. Dub-soaked, punk-fuelled, dripping with that Liverpool attitude. I remember first hearing them and thinking—yeah, here we go again. Not in a retro way, but in a real way. Guitars that cut like sirens in the night. Basslines fat and warm, straight out the Channel One playbook. Lyrics that painted the grey corners of Britain like CCTV poetry. It was the sound of youth under pressure. The sound of not fitting in—and not wanting to.

Their debut album dropped in 2005, and it hit like a flare in the dark. “Riot Radio” was a pirate broadcast from the concrete frontlines. “Control This” swaggered with menace and reverb. It was like someone opened a time capsule from the punky-reggae party and rewired it for a new generation.

Now, with this 20th anniversary vinyl reissue—complete with the full dub companion produced by Central Nervous System—we get to hear the bones and blood of it all. The dub versions pull the tracks apart and let the ghosts speak. Reverb, delay, space—it’s not just production, it’s meditation. Revolution slowed down to a heartbeat. It’s music that makes you move and think. What they’ve done here is more than remix a record—they’ve revealed its soul. That’s what dub does when it’s done right. And The Dead 60s, they got that. They weren’t tourists in the culture—they were students of it, shaped by it, and ultimately, contributors to the legacy. Liverpool’s long had a love affair with Jamaican music—you can hear it in the streets if you’re really listening. The Dead 60s tapped into that lineage, but they brought their own thing to the table. Punk's fire. Dub’s depth. Ska’s bounce. All filtered through a Northern lens and blasted out like protest graffiti. This 20th anniversary reissue ain’t about nostalgia. It’s a reminder. A celebration. A call to arms. Music like this doesn’t belong in a museum—it belongs on a system, shaking walls and waking minds. Crate diggers, completists, young punks, old heads—this one's for all of you.

So put it on and turn it up. Let the punk edge sharpen your thoughts, and the dub shake your bones ‘cos this isn’t just a reissue - it’s resistance on wax.....”

Knucks’ upcoming album 'A Fine African Man' marks his first full-length project since the breakthrough 'Alpha Place', which soared to #3 on the OCC charts. Across 13 tracks, 'A Fine African Man' delves into themes of duality, reflecting his experience as a British‑Nigerian navigating both cultures and identities. The album’s title underscores that bicultural journey. Expect a compelling evolution from the sound that defined 'Alpha Place. Knucks’ acclaimed album Alpha Place marked a major milestone in UK rap, debuting at No. 3 on the Official UK Albums Chart and topping both the UK Hip-Hop & R&B and Independent Albums Charts. The album was certified Silver by the BPI and has amassed over 480 million streams to date, with the deluxe version adding another 490 million. Praised for its sharp lyricism and rich production, Alpha Place received strong editorial backing from outlets like Complex UK and GRM Daily, while fan response on platforms like Reddit cemented its status as one of the year’s standout releases. Tracks like “Three Musketeers” and “Alpha House” became immediate fan favourites. Knucks’ MOBO win for Best Grime Act in 2022 further reflected his cultural impact, and his live shows—bolstered by previous EP runs—have built him a reputation as one of the most compelling voices in the UK scene.

A samba funk essential. This debut album from Jorge Ben's iconic backing band blends Brazilian rhythms, soulful vocals, and American funk energy into one unforgettable groove. Includes the hit single 'Coqueiro Verde' along with standout tracks like 'Meu País,' 'Aleluia, Aleluia,' and 'O Canto da Ema.' A timeless gem for fans of Brazilian soul, vintage funk, or global grooves. Trio Mocotó is best known for being the powerhouse backing band behind Brazilian legend Jorge Ben during the height of his creative explosion in the early 1970s. But their contribution to music goes far beyond the supporting role-they were instrumental in shaping what would become known as samba funk, a vibrant fusion of traditional Brazilian rhythms with the groove and energy of American soul and funk music. Formed in Sao Paulo's iconic Jogral nightclub, Trio Mocotó-featuring Fritz Escovao, Joaozinho Parahyba, and Nereu Gargalo-began their musical journey as resident musicians, providing live accompaniment for a rotating cast of performers. It was here that Jorge Ben first encountered their raw talent and unmistakable chemistry, ultimately inviting them to join his band. The collaboration would go on to define an era. In 1971, Trio Mocotó stepped into the spotlight with their debut solo album, "Muita Zorra! (...Sao Coisas Que Glorificam a Sensibilidade Atual)." The record made an immediate impact, climbing the charts with the infectious single 'Coqueiro Verde' and marking the start of a prolific period in the group's career. "Muita Zorra!" is a dazzling blend of styles-mixing the baroque funk and melodic sophistication of artists like Marcos Valle with the soulful spirit of Jorge Ben. Layered with elements of American funk, the album delivers a dynamic, rhythm-driven sound that still feels fresh today. The trio's vocal harmonies are front and center, weaving through each track with warmth and richness, creating a captivating sonic tapestry that energizes every beat. This album isn't just a snapshot of a musical moment-it's a cornerstone of Brazilian soul. A must-listen for fans of global grooves, vintage funk, and timeless Brazilian music, "Muita Zorra!" is once again available and ready to take its well-deserved place in your collection. First time official reissue.

Limited to 250 copies. Death comes to us all. Emmerhoff & The Melancholy Babies do not shy away from this irrefutable fact. The band, celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2026, may now rightly consider themselves distinguished "elder statesmen" of rock. With such perspectives also comes the recognition of the transience of life. There are now more funerals than weddings lingering on the horizon, and the ranks of both the idols of our youth and contemporaries on the music scene are beginning to thin. "The Dying of The Light", its title taken from Dylan Thomas' iconic poem, contemplates and embraces the twilight of life, but also, in the spirit of the poem, fighting spirit and stubborn resistance to the inevitable. Death will come, but until then we will create music and celebrate life. October 2025 will see the release of the band's seventh studio album, recorded at Duper and Solslottet Studios in Bergen, produced by Iver Sandoy and Jorgen Træen.. The music reflects the sombre thematic while also being vital and vigorous. The range is wide, from delicate contemplation to powerful outbursts, strictly composed in one moment and loosely improvised in the next.

"The Bad Seeds and Zakary Thaks were mid ‘60s Texas garage rock bands formed in the wake of the British Invasion, influenced by The Rolling Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds and others, becoming top local live attractions at a time when the 13th Floor Elevators and Moving Sidewalks were leading the way into psychedelia. In late 1966 Rod Prince on guitar and Roy Cox on bass from Bad Seeds joined up with David Fore from Zakary Thaks on drums to create a new band out of San Antonio featuring two lead guitarists. Todd Potter filled out the quartet on second guitar and they chose the name Bubble Puppy, taken from Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World. Huxley was an early advocate of LSD, appropriately. In 1969 Bubble Puppy scored a top 20 hit single with “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass” which led to their LP “A Gathering Of Promises”. International Artists, the legendary Texas label that previously had unleashed mind expanding classics by the Elevators, Red Crayola, Golden Dawn and others was a perfect fit. After the LP and additional 45s didn’t repeat the success of “Hot Smoke & Sasafrass” the band hooked up with Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf as their new manager and moved to Los Angeles. A new band name was in order, Nick St. Nicholas chose Demian, title of the 1919 novel by Herman Hesse. His books were popular with the counterculture at the time and had provided Steppenwolf with their new name after they changed it from the Sparrow and hit it big. Demian recorded the LP live in the studio at the Record Plant in one midnight to six session. They had their arrangements fully realized, allowing them to combine live show energy and economy with to-the-point delivery suitable for repeated listening. No doubt they were aiming for pop hit success, using proto hard rock skills in a radio friendly way without compromising the heavy guitar moves. The vocals have echoes of the earlier Bubble Puppy style in spots but are more melodic with vibrant harmonies reminiscent of Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield, James Gang… at times flashing on Steve Stills/Richie Furay westcoast without being too sweet about it. It works terrifically when the radio friendly voices top off killer hard guitar ensemble action. Early hard rock that is too bluesy flashy can get tiresome with repeat listening, especially if overdosing on guitar solos with the band relegated to the background… Demian keep it interesting with inventive song structures allowing all four players to integrate constantly into an ever changing but focused whole. This LP is a grower, despite the basic two guitars, bass and drums lineup and no frills production you reach a lot of different places during the ride. Demian is deadly hard rock, a perfectly organized vibe straddling live energy and crafted itinerary, amongst the first obscure major label killers that commanded premium $$ with collectors even way back in the late ‘70s. It gets you there every time, even half a century later!"