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Ltd. Orange Vinyl Finnish powerhouse Bloodred Hourglass (BRHG) return with their seventh studio album “We Should Be Buried Like This”, a bold and unrelenting statement from a band that has steadily evolved into one of the most commanding forces in modern death metal. Hailing from Mikkeli, BRHG have long stood out for their ability to merge the ferocity of thrash and groove metal with the immersive soundscapes of metalcore, alternative metal, and melodic death. Their music is as dynamic and emotionally resonant as it is heavy and entertaining - a mix that has earned them critical acclaim, a devoted international fanbase, and a reputation for explosive live performances. On “We Should Be Buried Like This”, the band takes their darkest, most unfiltered turn yet. Described as “a work of end-time songs,” this album does not aim to comfort or explain. It’s a raw, confrontational piece built around the slow erosion of hope, the fading of love, the repetition of generational mistakes, and a world defined by self-obsession, disconnection, and indifference. “There’s no pleading, no sugarcoating,” the band explains. “We’re not here to prove anything. This is an album born from an urgent drive to rip things open and say them as they are.” Musically, “We Should Be Buried Like This” is the most aggressive and straightforward album BRHG have ever crafted, yet it never loses sight of the unmistakable melodic power that defines their sound. With searing riffs, explosive energy, and sweeping emotional depth, the album pulses with intensity from start to finish. Guest appearances and fresh sonic elements are woven throughout, yet the band remains firmly rooted in the signature style they’ve spent years perfecting.

Five years after her bossa nova single "Tes petites fesses" and a notable appearance at the Colors studio in 2023, singer LYNN releases her debut album: La vie me va si bien. Comprising eleven tracks, it blends French neo-soul, smooth R&B, and minimalist pop, with a confident and sincere approach. For LYNN, each song explores the fragility of moments when tenderness shifts into doubt, expressing the fatigue of loving, the fear of losing oneself, and the beauty of longing. Her writing, precise and nuanced, focuses on detail and restraint. Accompanied by guitars, pianos, and layered voices, she tells stories between childhood and lucidity, in an organic and harmonious soundscape. The album exudes a controlled sincerity, meant to be listened to in calm, establishing LYNN as a distinctive voice, ready to mix gentleness with truth in a hurried world.

Hazy Runway Indie Rock That Oozes Vibes

Katie Schecter is for fans of Sharon Van Etten, Caroline Rose, and Amy Winehouse. Raised in NYC, it feels as if Katie Schecter time traveled to present day from a chicer and more sonically cool yesteryear of the future. She effortlessly blends the half-cool, half-kitsch of her home in Nashville that is neither new nor timeless. Deeply soulful and introspective indie rock vibes await the listener when you drop the needle on this LP. Produced with love and care by Nick Bockrath of Cage The Elephant with an incredible set of musicians (Homer Stenweiss, Leon Michels to name a few!) this LP is one that reveals more of itself the more you spin it.

Westside Cowboy return with their new EP ‘So Much Country Till’ We Get There”, released January 16th via their new label home Adventure Recordings. With their particular blend of self-titled ‘Britainicana’ the Manchester-based four piece have been heralded as one of the best live bands in the country, winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition, and appearing as a regular fixture on the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist.

These four, rather different tracks have very distinct personalities but all exist ina similar mood. Surviving amidst the chaos and dread. Tribal decay steeped inrebellion. Inciting passion in the face of all of their efforts to thwart it. Trudgingthrough days and dancing through nights, all of one's own accord. Blending inand striking out. Waiting for the right moment. Ceasing to be and then comingback to life again. Ebb and Flow.

a A1 Mutiny 153
b A2 Ebb and Flow 160
c B1 Konstrucht [147]
[127]

The record captures the raw electricity of their live performances while revealing surprising moments of melody and restraint. Tracks like "Bastard," "Reptilian Brain" and "Professionalism Debunked" showcase the band's volatile edge, while "Holy Building Tourist" offers a brief but memorable shift in tone. The result is a cohesive and unpredictable debut that positions Volk Soup as one of the most inventive underground bands emerging from Leeds

Roughly three years after the release of Balts, Schreel Van De Velde’s debut album on Blickwinkel, the guitar and drums improv-centered duo is happy to present their sophomore album A One And A Two.

The Brussels-based musicians sound more decisive than ever: the loud became louder, the quiet became quieter, the weird became weirder and the nostalgic became more nostalgic. The fruit peeled off one of its own shells, getting closer to its heart.

The album came about as a result of 2 separate studio sessions. For a first one, they restricted themself to solely electric guitar and drums, without overdubs, and with most songs ending up as one-takers. A second one took place some months later in a different recording space, using classical guitar with a matching small, cute drum set-up.

On both sessions, the duo played the same compositions, with some additional improvisations. Afterwards they made a blend of both sessions, mixing both energies: A One And A Two. A new language, organic and well-considered, was found.

Throughout the album, touches of minimalism, American primitivism, free-improv, and 90s indie rock can be found, but always within the limits of Schreel Van De Veldes freshly found voice: one that combines sentiment and cerebrality, overview, playfulness and mystery.

Lucas Schreel is a classically trained guitarist based in Brussels. His first solo album We're Never Afraid of Getting Up Every Morning was released through Sentimental Records in 2019 and was well-received both in written-press (Humo, Enola & Indiestyle) and radio (Duyster, Radio 1 & Klara). Besides his solo work, Schreel is also a member of the lo-fi indierockband Kloothommel.
Acclaimed Brussels percussionist Casper Van De Velde made quite a name for himself through his bands like SCHNTZL, Bombataz, Donder among others. His work received prices at International Jazz Contest d’Avignon and Storm! Contest (Jazzlab). Casper is currently also a member of the recently formed An Pierlé Quartet.

Swan Song

The vinyl LP at the heart of this éthiopiques 31 tracks 2 to 11 was one of the very last vinyl records ever released in Ethiopia. But above all it represents, we felt, the absolute masterpiece of the Ethiopian Groove – the Swan Song of Swinging Addis. The album leaves a clear idea for posterity of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had achieved, before being crushed under the Stalino-military heel of the Derg – as the bloody revolution that was unfolding came to be called.

Ethiopia1976.

The Revolution that broke out in February 1974 rolled on in a ruthless march. The whole of Ethiopian society was utterly stunned. The bouquets of flowers handed joyfully to the first tanks of the coup d'état were to wilt very rapidly. From September 1976 to February 1978, 18 months of Red Terror (the name given by the junta itself) spilled blood throughout the country. This fratricidal conflict took its heaviest toll among students and youth. The shift from feudalism to a cruel and primitive Stalinism left the country's citizens deeply traumatised, and snuffed out any pretence of activism, whatever the sector of society. This ice age was to last for seventeen long years.

ሙሉቀን፡መለሰ Mulukèn Mellèssè Muluqän Mälläsä

It was three tracks by Muluken that served as the opener for éthiopiques-1 more than 25 years ago. Seven more tracks appeared on éthiopiques-3 and 13, all accompanied by The Equators, which was soon to become the Dahlak Band.

The first track, Hédètch alu, also the very first piece that Muluken ever recorded, left audiences both unsettled and amazed. Reflecting the singer's extremely young age (he was just 17 at the time), this angelic voice mystified many, who thought they were in fact listening to a feminine voice. He was not yet 22 when he released his last vinyl record in 1976 with Kaifa Records (KF 39LP), one of the very last to be issued in Ethiopia, before the cassette tape became the dominant medium for music distribution – and before the new revolutionary regime put a stop to all independent musical life, via an unspeakable barrage of prohibitions and other persecutions.

Mulu qèn, literally, “A well filled day”. This tender maternal intention wasn't enough to ward off the cruelty of fate. His mother's premature death drove Muluken to leave his native Godjam, in northeast Ethiopia, to live with an uncle in Addis Ababa. Born Muluken Tamer, he took his uncle's last name – Mèllèssè.

The spelling Muluken appeared in his administrative records. Transcription of Amharic to the Latin alphabet, both in Ethiopia and for scholars, gives rise to controversies and quibbles that can never be neatly settled. French allows for a closer approximation of the original pronunciation, thanks to its battery of accent marks, confusing as they may be to anglophones.

Between rather accommodating administrative record-keepers and the various versions that pop up in interviews given by the artist, Muluken's year of birth oscillates between 1953 and 1955…

1954? One thing is certain: the artist's talent made itself known very early indeed, because he got his start in 1966-67, at the age of 13 or 14. Photos from the period attest to his extreme youth. It's a strange sort of initiation for a very young teenager to become a sensation in the heart of Addis's nightlife at the time, Woubé Bèrèha – the Wilds of Woubé. And what's more, in the club of the Queen of the Night, the Godjamé Assègèdètch Alamrèw herself, the very same that was portrayed by Sebhat Guèbrè-Egziabhér in his novel-memoir Les Nuits d’Addis Abeba2… The legendary female club owner who is remembered to this day by the capital's ageing boomers.

Muluken first tried his hand at the drums, before he grabbed the microphone. He emigrated briefly to the Zula Club, across the street from the old Addis Post Office, one of the ground-breaking bars of the burgeoning musical scene, before joining the Second Police Band in 1968, for around three years. He spent a few months with the short-lived Blue Nile Band founded by saxophonist Besrat Tammènè. As the musical scene grew increasingly successful, and pulled slowly but decisively away from its institutional ties, Muluken released his first 45rpm single in February 1972 (Amha Records AE 440). It was included in two LP Ethiopian Hit Parade compilation albums in September of the same year. All in all, Muluken released eight two-track 45s and the same number of original cassette tapes between February 1972 and 1984, the year that he departed for permanent exile in the USA. After converting to Pentecostalism in 1980, Muluken gradually abandoned all secular musical activity. In 1985, at the end of a concert in Philadelphia, he decided to quit concerts and recording for good. Mèlakè Gèbré, the historic bass player from the Walias band who was playing with him that night, recalls that everything appeared so irredeemably diabolical in Muluken's eyes, that it was to be the end of his contribution to Ethiopian Groove.

The end of the story, the beginning of a legend.

Dahlak Band, forgotten by History

Aside from his personal history and vocal talents, it must be remembered that Muluken Mèllèssè was one of the biggest names in the musical innovations that marked the end of the imperial period. These éthiopiques aim to convince those who are just discovering this hidden gem... As for Ethiopians themselves, they are to this day captivated by this singular and atypical figure in the Abyssinian pop landscape – even though he withdrew from public life some 40 years ago. Incorrigible devotees of poetic twists, of more or less hidden meanings, Ethiopians appreciate above all the care Muluken took in choosing his lyrics and the writers who penned them, such as Feqerte Haylou, Alemtsehay Wodajo and, here, Shewalul Mengistu (1944-1977). Love songs, written by women, a far cry from the conventional drivel that pleases sappy sentimentalists.

Muluken is equally acclaimed for his perfectionism when it came to music, the opposite of the overly casual approach that is all too common. He remained a faithful partner of musicians who came from a lineage that borrowed from several inventive and pioneering bands (Venus, Equators, Dahlak). Amongst them were certain artists who began their musical lives with Nersès Nalbandian at the Haile Sellassie Theatre and who come of age in around 1973 – at just the wrong time, you might say. Among them were the pillars Shimèlis Bèyènè (trumpet), Dawit Yifru (keyboards) and Tilayé Gèbrè (sax & flute). Most notably Tilayé Gèbrè, certainly one of the most important musicians, composers and arrangers of his generation, of the end of the imperial era, and of the early years of the Derg.

It was only in 1981 that a miraculous opportunity arose for Tilayé to escape the Stalinist paradise of the dictator Menguistou Haylè-Maryam. Once again it was Amha Eshèté (1946-2021) who provided a solution. The spirited and courageous producer, who had been in exile in Washington since 1975, succeeded, thanks to his incredible perseverence, in bringing the Walias Band to the USA. It was, in fact an extended Walias Band comprising ten musicians3, six of whom chose to slip away after a few concerts and the recording of an LP (The Best of Walias, WRS 100). Tilayé Gèbrè was one of these. He has been living in the USA ever since. There he joined the then-nascent Ethiopian diaspora, which lived largely unto itself, and was making only very modest headway in the American musical market. It seems unfair that Tilayé Gèbrè and the Dahlak Band were not able to benefit earlier from the public recognition that they do deserve.

A similar draining away of the top-rate talents would lead to the reorganization of the major groups of the “Derg Time”. The remaining artists spread themselves around between Ibex Band (renamed Roha Band), Ethio Star Band and a remodeled Walias Band. That spelled the end of the Dahlak Band.

With this record, produced by the essential Ali Abdella Kaifa a.k.a. Ali Tango, we can appreciate everything that the Derg not only destroyed, but also prevented from flourishing. This gem of Ethiopian-style afrobeat came out in 1976 (and, by way of a parenthesis, before the FESTAC 1977 in Lagos, which was attended by an impressive delegation of Ethiopian musicians — although Fela was already personna non grata in his own country). Despite everything that might distinguish this ethio-groove from Fela’s music – no colonial axe to grind, no question of political confrontation with the authorities, no claims to negritude or Africanism for the Ethiopian musicians, and less extrovertion! –, this LP fits beautifully into the saga of intense and electrified soul of the new “African” groove that Fela and Manu Dibango embodied so well from that point onwards.

In restoring this record to its place in the afrobeat epic, it can be seen that, if nothing else, the timeline bestows a legitimate pedigree and a historical primacy to works that had no international impact when they were originally released.

Warning! Masterpiece!

Reissue of the 3rd full length by Thomas Bücker aka Bersarin Quartett.

Melancholia. Longing. It is difficult to speak about these moods or states of the mind without invoking stereotypes. In ancient medicine, melancholia was considered to be one of the four temperaments, matching the four humours. In fact, melancholia, meaning "black bile" in Ancient Greek, was thought to be caused by an excess of this very body substance. By contrast, in more modern interpretations, literates and Freudians relate many variations of longing to the one primordial longing, the desire to return to one's mother's womb. In this context, the womb is considered to be the place of absolute comfort and cosiness, of total bliss. Thus it should not be surprising that to many of us melancholia is a mood which we like to invoke and to maintain, we like to envelop ourselves in it like in a warm blanket. Our brain and our sensory systems appear to be made for perceiving and emotionally responding to music in a very immediate fashion. Consequently music is the obvious drug for all of us melancholia-addicts. However, there is a thin line between melancholia and sadness, and music which is meant to be melancholic too often crosses this line by far. Only very few artists succeed in avoiding this crossing, and in creating music which is melancholia in its most pure form. It is safe to say that BERSARIN QUARTETT - the electronic music project of Thomas Bücker - is one of them.

After his debut in 2008 and the sophomore "II" in 2012 - album of the month in many magazines and in numerous "Best of the year" lists - Bücker in 2015 returned with his third BERSARIN QUARTETT album "III". Much like his two predecessors, III is a pure paradox. It is the creation of a perfectionist, an adamant control freak. Every element, be it a note, an ambience layer, a string arrangement, a field recording, a baseline, a vocal (Clara Hill on Track 11) or a beat, is meticulously modified and then assigned its place in Bücker's vast but still minimalistic arrangements. Thus, superficially Bücker's pieces seem to radiate a certain mechanical bleakness. However, there is a unique reduced warmth and liveliness emerging from these stainless compositions and transcending them. This transcendence is precisely the point where Bücker ironically looses control over his creations. In contrast to the first two BERSARIN QUARTETT albums, III offers a few darker shades and succeeds even further in narrowing down the arrangements to the absolute essentials without loosing the characteristic grandeur of Bücker's sound. Whereas BERSARIN QUARTETT's debut was merely a description of melancholia in its most pure form, III maybe even goes as far a defining what melancholia really is. It is the only emotion in the vast spectrum of human states of mind which one can bear forever.

NPVR is the avant garde duo made up of the late Peter Rehberg and Nik Void. Editions Mego is proud to present their second and final release. No this is not some kind of Beatles synthetic AI that raises the dead reconstructed recordings but rather a new album made by the humans and their machines.

The initial meeting of Rehberg and Void was in London in 2016 and despite or due to their mutual awkwardness found solace and compatibility in the fact that they both had a similar electronic modular set up, along with matching cases to transport all. The idea to collaborate was an obvious and organic process as a means to connect their individual gear together and observe the outcome. The fruits of these initial experiments, recorded in London, resulted in the playful experimentation of their acclaimed 2017 release 33 33 (eMego 251).

Now in 2024 Editions Mego presents the logically titled follow up, 33 34. These sessions were recorded six months after the initial recordings at Peter’s home in Vienna. This was planned out as a mirror city release to the original London recordings. With Peter having access to his full studio set up this time around we encounter a rich audio landscape which organically folds together a variety of musical genres blurring any distinction between these forms so the resulting music hovers as a new cloud of sound. Any musical form, be it industrial, electro-acoustic, ambient, drone and techno all coexist and melt into the other as the ensuing result unveils a hypnotic swarm of divergent sounds (music). When active there were no lines or contexts with NPVR, either between sound or genre within these recordings or live where NPVR were at home playing at a techno club one night and an avant garde venue the next.

The initial session of these recordings was edited by Rehberg and sent to Void to further develop. Over time the final versions were agreed on and then shelved as other outside projects took over. The awkwardness had been surmounted and the two had become close friends. NPVR performed at a range of venues such as Tresor, Sutton House, Corsica, Blitz, Paris GRM #Focus2, LEV Festival and Rigas Skanumezs Festival. Following Rehberg’s untimely passing Void had difficulty listening back to the sessions but eventually thought it fit to complete and release this album, of which even the artwork (like 33 33, an image from Zurich photographer, Georg Gatsas) had been decided upon prior to Rehberg parting ways.

There is an unmistakable joy to these recordings. One encounters an enthralling exploration of their chosen machines which conveys the excitement of what can be randomly conjured when people speak through such devices. There is no grand statement or argument here, just the sheer thrill of creation and the recorded results of random encounters. The art of collaboration was always a mainstay of Rehberg’s practice from the advent of the MEGO adventure. Rehberg & Bauer was an initial collaboration with former business partner Ramon Bauer. Even at this stage one can hear a relaxed sense of delight in the sheer discovery of sound.

A mix made for the Wire magazine following the release of 33 33 hints at the freedom that comes with endless urge for exploration and discovery. Abstract tracks from Z'EV. Jérôme Noetinger and Jung An Tagen are included alongside British stalwarts The Fall and New Order. There were no lines between pop / academic / underground or mainstream in Rehberg’s world. All of it sat at the same table. It is just matter in the atmosphere, like the diverse exploration found in these recordings that comprise 33 34.

Towards the end of his life Rehberg was obsessing over the immense output of the German ambient musician Pete Namlook. An artist renowned for not only his sprawling catalogue of ambient masterpieces but one who often said his main inspiration was nature. This is apt with regards to the work of NPVR which also aligns with such thought as the intertwining of the two individual artists and their machines results in a natural symbiotic flow, as it happens, just like in the world around us.

Peter Rehberg is known for his pioneering electronic work with computer software which over time evolved into a modular set up alongside running MEGO and then Editions Mego labels.

Rehberg was a prolific collaborator, with other musicians and with contemporary dance and theatre productions, most notably with French artist and choreographer, Gisèle Vienne with whom he created a series of soundtracks from Showroomdummies, released under the name DACM in 2002 (Showroomdummies MEGO 056), to Crowd in 2017. A collection of Rehberg’s solo works for Vienne was released in 2008 (Work for GV 2004-2008 EMEGO 092). The outfit KTL, with Stephen O’Malley, was initiated by Gisèle Vienne for her work Kindertotenlieder and subsequently made a series of soundtracks for Vienne’s works branching off into a prolific series of live shows. The work Rehberg did for theatre and performance teased out aspects of his practice one may not have encountered in his own solo work as PITA or that of collaborations with other musicians.

Editions Mego is proud to present a previously unreleased theatre soundtrack made for Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir, whom Rehberg had a decade long collaboration with until his untimely passing in 2021. The original composition for Liminal States was created by Rehberg for the performance Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli in 2018 and then revisited as a catalyst for the concepts behind Liminal States. This work is based on an ongoing artistic research conducted by the choreographer into altered states of perception through phenomenological embodiment. It is the last in a trilogy dealing with the notion of larger forces that act on us beyond our conscious mind. The trilogy consists of Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli (2018), Boundless Ominous Fields (2024) and now Liminal States (2024).

Rehberg's score for Liminal States is a vast canvas of spectral ambience at once tangible and unfathomable in its constantly shapeshifting lysergic dread. The results are a psychological journey through the mental effects of sound on space and subsequently the mind. The first part presents cascading waves of shimmering electronics laying the groundwork for the second part where the psychological illusion splinters into all manner of sonic effects taking the listener on a deep mental voyage. If references are witnessed the late period long form hallucinatory works of Coil, such as Time Machines and Constant shallowness leads to evil, are amongst a similar mind message delivered here. Unlike any other release in Rehberg’s output Liminal States is a single long form work which, despite the form, retains Rehberg’s idiosyncratic sound vision.

Guðjónsdóttir and Rehberg’s collaboration blurs that relationship into a greater force which truly enables the theme of liminal states to unfold in a brave new fashion. Rich in timbre and sonic invention this is powerful work easily holding its own outside of the intended performance whilst still complimenting the missions statement entirely. This profound collaboration has the cumulative effect where the concept and soundtrack are one and may be one of the strongest works in the entire Rehberg canon.

Opeth’s fifth album is widely considered to be not only the Swedish group’s best work but also simultaneously one of the greatest metal albums and one of the best progressive rock albums ever made. Issued in March 2001, it was the first of several collaborations with co-producer Steven Wilson and something of a commercial breakthrough for the band as well as a critical success. This vinyl pressing is based on the definitive 20th anniversary version, which was issued on seven different vinyl colours, but not on ‘classic’ black.

This new chapter marks Gordon’s first solo release as Leaving Laurel - a deeply personal and instinctive body of work born from a period of rediscovery. The record began as an open exploration of whatever music naturally came through, a process that became both freeing and revealing to Gordon. The album is a wordless love story told through sound. An emotional arc that mirrors the stages of falling for someone: the spark, the curiosity, the vulnerability, and the quiet realisation that your heart has opened without you even noticing. The album carries an uplifting, hopeful energy, reflecting both personal growth and newfound love - ‘our lives entwined' is a tribute to Gordon’s journey of finding “the one.” Following the loss that inspired ‘when the quiet comes’, Gordon’s eulogy to his late friend and musical partner Pierce, this album finds light emerging from grief. Where the previous record lingered in somber reflection, this album begins in that same emotional landscape but quickly blooms into something more vibrant and full of life. The opening track transitions from the cold, atmospheric tones of mourning into a more radiant energy - a sonic awakening symbolising the shift that came after meeting someone who changed everything. Sonically, the record expands Leaving Laurel's signature sound while embracing new textures. Gordon moved away from the lo-fi experimentation of earlier works, leaning instead into a more expressive palette driven by synths and fresh instrumentation, while still preserving the nostalgic warmth that defines Leaving Laurel. The result is a collection that feels both renewed and rooted - a reflection of growth, optimism, and the timeless beauty of connection.

Brussels-based accordionist Suzan Peeters releases her debut album Cassotto on the Belgian label blickwinkel. With Cassotto, she opens a door into a hidden chamber of sound. The title refers to the “cassotto” — a small resonating chamber inside the accordion that warms, softens, and deepens its tone. Listening to this record feels as if you’ve stepped into that room yourself, enveloped in a world where intimacy and grandeur collide.

Although this is her first release, Peeters is already recognised as one of the most promising names in Belgium’s experimental music scene. Her distinctive live shows — from leading venues across Belgium to a packed Café Oto in London — have earned her a reputation for combining accordion, electronics and unconventional objects such as a massage board into a compelling whole where contrasts come together in an unexpected way. Cassotto captures this approach in recorded form, giving listeners the same sense of immediacy as her concerts, but framed within the intimate space suggested by the album’s title.

While the cassotto chamber naturally gives the accordion a soft and velvety voice, Peeters harnesses that warmth to explore extremes — from hushed detail to bold, expansive gestures that fill the room. As such, the album moves between the acoustic and the electronic, the tender and the abrasive, the static and the dynamic, the traditional and the experimental.

With Cassotto, Suzan Peeters presents a debut that places the accordion at the centre of an adventurous and contemporary sound world — one that invites to discover how far an accordion can reach when tradition and imagination intertwine.

Suzan Peeters (*1999) is a Belgian accordionist, composer, and experimentalist. She is constantly looking for new timbres and sound textures within the accordion, pushing its acoustic spectrum to its limits by manipulating the interplay between her body and the body of her instrument.
Suzan studied classical accordion at KASK & Conservatorium in Ghent and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. She is currently studying Live Electronics at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

"Ensomheden Vi Deler" ("The Loneliness We Share") is the result of a dialogue between the collages and the music of øjeRum, initiated by IIKKI, between December 2024 and July 2025.

øjeRum is Copenhagen based musician and collage artist Paw Grabowski.

With his collages, the distinctive feature of øjeRum's works is their ability to combine different historical and artistic periods, such as ancient sculpture, medieval frescoes, classical painting and photography, and to make them interact with one another. øjeRum is also renowned for his work as a musician, where he stands out for his surreal, mysterious and poetic universe. His music and art are closely linked. These two sides of the artist's work are constantly intertwined.

In his øjeRum guise, he plucks and strums his treated acoustic instruments, sounding at times like church bells, at times like angelic harp, at time like drones, and suspends the listener in the magic of his melodies. With a deep back-catalogue of releases since 2014 - spanning labels such as eilean rec., Room40, Line, Opal Tapes and many more - he continues exploring his minimal, textural and deeply personal style of ambient music.

The collage and music project "Ensomheden Vi Deler" ("The Loneliness We Share") is an exploration of loneliness, closeness and distance. A meditation on the fragile architectures and hidden shapes of human connection. This is his second release on IIKKI.

Fine Art Book, Ltd. to 500 copies:
Hand numbered & hand stamped / first edition and only edition (no re-print) / hardcover book (15 cm x 21 cm) on Wibalin Natural Cotton White / 80 pages, 35 collages printed on Freelife Vellum 120g/m2 / Swiss Binding / Coloured edges with neon green pantone / Neon Green pantone on front and back cover (logo, slot and circle) / Sticker on front cover.

blickwinkel welcomes composer and multi-instrumentalist Francis Plagne to the label with a reissue of Asleep in a beached boat, an album that was initially released on his own Mould/Mouse Museum label in 2021 on cassette. The album was mostly given away to friends but now gets a wider release through a limited vinyl and digital edition.

Gentle melodies set an airy atmosphere and are intertwined with tensive dialogs between rhythms and textures coming from a wide array of acoustic and electronic instruments. Stylistically somewhere in between his Rural Objects (Black Truffle) and Udge (Horn of Plenty), on the eleven tracks on this album we hear Plagne in his most playful way to date.

Francis Plagne is a musician from Melbourne, Australia whose work swings between songwriting and a variety of other approaches, including group improvisation, instrumental abstraction, and domestic musique concrète. He performed live regularly since 2005 and has released recordings on labels such as Black Truffle, Horn of Plenty, Kye Records, Penultimate Press and his own Mould/Mouse Museum micro-label. In addition to performing his own work either solo or with a band, he has performed and recorded in improvised and other arrangements with Tetuzi Akiyama, Oren Ambarchi, Andrew Chalk, Crys Cole, James Rushford, and Joe Talia, among others.

Manny Corchado should be a household name for all boogaloo fans. A true boogaloo gem that blends Manny Corchado's explosive rhythm with the melodic touch of salsa legend Nelson y sus Estrellas. His classic track 'Pow-Wow' is one of the most sought-after singles among collectors and DJs-not just for its A-side, but also for the absolute dance floor bomb hidden on its B-side: 'Chicken and Booze.' This instrumental recording features an irresistible rhythm section that could practically serve as the definition of the boogaloo genre itself. In this case, it plays at a faster tempo than other similar hits, making it even more effective on the dance floor. The horn arrangements create a catchy hook, spiced up with percussion breaks, all while driving its addictive, fast-paced groove. On the B-side of this single, we find another version of the same song-this time re-titled 'Aguardiente y Pollo' in Spanish-performed by Nelson y sus Estrellas. The tropical and salsa orchestra, founded in Venezuela by pianist, composer, and bandleader Nelson González Rojas, keeps the same punch and dance-driven focus as Corchado's version, but adds more melodic and sophisticated arrangements, in the style of the other tracks featured on the band's 1977 album, where this stunning cut was originally included (available here on a 45 for the first time). This Latin vinyl 45er is pure dance floor dynamite!

Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands is an autobiographical record, comprised of four songs that Hoff refers to as ambient media. Each track is composed from sources drawn from his own involuntary aural landscape, specifically musical earworms and tinnitus frequencies.

Neither sound nor a daydream, the earworm (or stuck song) emblematizes music as a commercial form—immediate, ubiquitous, and persistent. Likewise, tinnitus is inaudible and unscrupulous, manifesting across a spectrum of frequencies at will. The cognitive swirling of these phenomena provides an ambivalent, internal soundtrack that scores a person’s movement through the world.

Those suffering from tinnitus or those who have grown accustomed to the “Tinnitus Effect” in movies will likely recognize the buzzing pitches on the record, but will likely not recognize the songs. Distorted and distilled, Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands features altered versions of four commercial pop songs: Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” and Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day.”

Having been haunted by these songs on and off for years, Hoff tweaks the tracks, transposing and recomposing them for orchestral instrumentation. Speaking back to these involuntary echoes, these tracks go to great lengths to obfuscate their sources; to be sure not to simply re-introduce each earworm, as though they were samples. Otherwise, what’s the point? No one needs another stream.

Besides, earworms are not music, although we perceive them as such. They are non-cochlear and exist as an affective force that is neither subjective nor objective, which is to say they are an invasive—and alien—phenomenon. Like tinnitus, they are aggravated by economic, social, and environmental forces as well as emotional states, mental health, and aging. Hoff doesn’t underplay his own struggles with mental health in discussing the record—noting a long history of depression and its acuteness over the last few years, which serve as the backdrop to the composition of this record.

Scratch any pop song hard enough and you’ll find sadness underneath it. Subdermal, the songs on this record evoke a type of ephemeral weariness and despair. By recasting the original songs through their shadowy doubles, Hoff provides a window into the dark core of pop music. At the center of which lies capitalism’s desperate attempt to replicate itself through a cheap high built on echoing refrains. Just below the surface the listener finds a hangover of shadows dancing through the mind.

Repress

The legendary partnership of NYC's Disco godfather Tom Moulton and Philadelphia International Records has long been documented.
A truly explosive collaboration that yielded endless classic tracks for dancers and deep listeners alike, Moulton seemed to be totally in tune with the labels output and the direction it should go in. Luckily we've been enjoying the fruits of this labour for the last 30+ years with a lot of these PIR classics becoming ingrained in the psyche of the modern day music fan as the building blocks of House music.

The names alone hark to the legendary voices of the era, major stars including The O'Jays, The Futures, Jean Carne & The Jones Girls all feature with classic after classic getting the TJM treatment. Moulton's supreme ear on this special PIR reissue 2 x 12" see's some all-time classics from the aforementioned artists in their full, unabridged, unedited Disco glory. The selections on this EP are absolutely top-shelf, flawless in fact. One could argue that these are the 'definitive' versions of these anthems. Pure Disco gold essentials. Anyone with even a passing interest in Disco will most certainly need this record in their possession, the 2012 pressing of this EP is super in demand among those in the know and it can change hands for £100+ second hand, so a repress was desperately needed.

These tracks are fully licensed and reissued in conjunction with Tom Moulton and PIR and all relevant rights holders. Remastered from original source materials to the highest spec and pressed onto top quality vinyl, courtesy of Above Board distribution for 2019.

Gonzen, uminari or retumbos. Perhaps you've heard these sounds? They're known to occur all over the world and, as one might expect, humans have strained to offer various explanations for these unsettling emissions that materialise unbidden from the sky.

We like to say that we've understood what's happening so that we can move on. Tidy up the loose ends and don't scare the horses. Nothing wrong with that in good measure, but there's something to be said for the Haudenosaunee peoples' explanation. They pointed out that the Great Spirit hasn't finished their work of shaping the earth and is making a fair bit of noise while they're at it.

If you accept that many questions never truly get answered, in fact can or should never truly be answered, you may be able to tune your mind to this collection of lingering sonic detonations. If you accept that the work is ongoing, our labours seldom done, that there's not much point talking about the end of anything, you may be ready to join us. It's not our task to finish it, nor are we free to desist.

Possibly one of the best Mental Groove releases to date. Symbols & Sacrifice is raw, beastly, and savage — a cinematic and esoteric journey from the depths of Sindaco’s universe. A masterfully crafted experience across four sides, this release blurs the lines between ritual electronics, hypnotic repetition, and uncompromising raw techno. A powerful and immersive statement, pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl for full heavy sonic impact.

Under the name of Sindaco is hidden a complex yet mysterious project where different styles and cultures live together.Obscure kraut rock, no wave, black metal and Detroit techno collide in what can be considered songs more than simple tracks. All is played by Sindaco with analog equipment without the help of computers. All is driven to create the best soundrack possible. The idea is to avoid all the typical cliches of the contemporary electronic productions and push the boundaries into a new way of tropical futurism. Be involved by the unespected waves of sounds coming from another world!

Das Album ,Scrabbling At The Lock" von 1991 war in vielerlei Hinsicht ein Wendepunkt für The Ex. Es war ihre erste Zusammenarbeit mit dem New Yorker Improvisationskünstler Tom Cora, der fast 100 Konzerte mit der Band spielte. Außerdem erweiterte es ihr Spektrum erheblich und machte sie zu einer Kraft, die ihre Balance zwischen Kreativität und Intensität auf ein neues Level hob. Das Album war nicht nur ein kreativer Meilenstein, sondern brachte ihnen auch ein neues Publikum ein, da sie als eine der ersten ,Punk"-Bands den Sprung in die Welt der improvisierten Musik schafften und regelmäßig als Gäste bei Free-Music-Festivals in ganz Europa auftraten. Das Folgealbum ,And The Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders" setzte 1993 diese Erfolgsserie mit einer weiteren Reihe herausragender Songs fort, die glühende Energie mit grenzenlosem Eklektizismus und selbstbewusster, improvisatorischer Freude verbinden. Kunstvoller Punk, orientalische und europäische Folk-Inspirationen, einfallsreiche und leidenschaftliche Texte und ein Händchen für Echtzeit-Kreationen verschmelzen nahtlos zu einem Cocktail, der hochbrennbar und gelegentlich bedrohlich, aber auch durchweg abenteuerlich und auffallend ansteckend ist. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt waren The Ex zu einer der beständigsten, herausforderndsten und zukunftsweisendsten Bands ihrer Generation geworden. Und jetzt ist ,And The Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders" endlich wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich!

The Godfather Of Salsa - HAVANNA & NYC RECORDINGS 1946-1962! Grosso! again presents this compilation from "El Ciego Maravilloso", the authentic godfather of salsa. His early Havana & NYC recordings. The tracks have been remastered and restored and some are available on vinyl after many years. Format and selection designed for DJs, collectors and latin lovers. Ignacio de Loyola Rodríguez Scull aka Arsenio Rodríguez (30 August, 1911, Güira de Macurijes, Matanzas, Cuba - 30 December, 1970, Los Angeles, CA, USA) was a Cuban musician, bandleader and prolific composer who developed the son montuno and other Afro-Cuban-based rhythms. Today he is seen as one of the most important figures in Latin music, with his influence reaching beyond the Spanish speaking world to also include African popular music of the 20th Century, though when he died he was not widely known by the public for his contributions and influence. He is also recognized (along with Israel 'Cachao' López and Dámaso Pérez Prado) as one of the creators of mambo, what Rodríguez himself often referred to as "ritmo diablo". Some of his best-known, and most-often covered recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s are included here, among them "Dame un cachito pa' huele'," "Dundunbanza," "El reloj de pastora," "Cambia El Paso," and "Hay Fuego En El 23."

Marking the return of one of house music’s most revered compilation series, Defected In The House Ibiza 2025 arrives to showcase the label’s sonic identity in full. This definitive 12-track release spans three LPs, shining a spotlight on iconic must-haves, tastemaker originals and Ibiza favourites from Defected Records and its associated imprints.

Reconnecting with the importance of curation, a longstanding cornerstone of the Defected ethos, this expansive collection celebrates the label’s role as a trusted voice in house music. Echoing the spirit of its flagship ITH series, which featured the likes of Gilles Peterson, Louie Vega, and Dimitri From Paris, this special 2025 edition continues its legacy by offering a cohesive snapshot of house music now.

Defected In The House Ibiza 2025 bridges the London label’s impressive catalogue with artists old and new, from new summer club anthems ‘Got The Funk’ by Low Steppa & Capri and Nic Fanciulli’s ‘Hold On’ with Marc E. Bassy, to Tripolism’s transformative reimagining of The Shapeshifter’s ‘Lola’s Theme’ and Dennis Ferrer’s fresh remix of Girls of the Internet’s ‘Affirmations’ featuring Anelisa Lamola.

Capturing the energy and emotional pull of the label’s events; Defected’s brand new residency at Pacha Ibiza in 2025 serves as inspiration for the collection. As such, the three volume collection also contains standout records from definitive artists of today’s Ibiza scene including Keinemusik, The Martinez Brothers, Peggy Gou, Armand Van Helden & A-Track as Duck Sauce, Mau P plus many more.

Our journey through “Música Para Boliche” literally “music for the club” from Argentina’s underground scene doesn’t stop. We dug even deeper, right into the ’90s.
Four tracks plus one, all visionary even at the time of their release. Once again, you can feel the magical touch of the Italian and Argentine DJs who worked on it.
Jack Bulgaro did his part, bringing home an instrumental unreleased version of Podés Seguir Sin Arriesgarte, taken from the album Undermalabia, produced by El Signo, pioneers of electronic music in Latin America.
The version will be officially released for the first time, vinyl only, by Maledetta Discoteca Records.

2LP, 180gm vinyl, “Impex Style” Heavy Duty Outer Sleeve w/Flap, Sealed with Analogue October Records Sticker, Hype Sticker
Abbey Road Half speed master from the original tapes
380 gsm Invercote G Sleeve 300 gsm 12 page insert
4.5/5 RECOMMENDED / Editors Choice in Jazzwise magazine
‘And much as audiophiles will savour the tech achievement of this re-issue, the point is the Kaleidoscope of Rainbows
remains joyous, optimistic music that embraces difference and divergence. It needs celebrating not as a revived fossil but as a timeless artwork. Enjoy. And enjoy again’
RIYL Ian Carr / Nucleus / Weather Report / Clips and Art: https://we.tl/t-PfY9QXSjlt
NEIL ARDLEY – KALEIDOSCOPE OF RAINBOWS The Definitive 2LP Reissue of a Landmark in British Jazz Fusion
Analogue October Records proudly presents the long-awaited reissue of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, Neil Ardley’s 1976 masterpiece, originally released on Gull Records. Produced by Neil Ardley and recorded at London’s famed Morgan Studios, the sessions were engineered and mixed by Martin Levan, capturing one of the most ambitious and beloved works in British jazz. Following the acclaimed reissues of Courtney Pine’s Journey to the Urge Within (AOR-001-ST) and Neil Ardley’s Harmony of the Spheres (AOR-002-ST)—both praised by the audiophile press including The Tracking Angle—this third release confirms Analogue October as one of today’s most meticulous and exciting reissue labels.
A Suite of Sound and Colour
Commissioned for the 1975 Camden Jazz Festival, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows is structured as a seven-part suite, each movement reflecting a colour of the spectrum. Ardley’s composition weaves together jazz improvisation, progressive rock energy, and orchestral elegance in one of the most imaginative British jazz recordings of the era. Featuring Ian Carr, Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Trevor Tomkins, and Geoff Castle, the album is a who’s who of the UK’s vibrant 1970s jazz scene.
Cut at Abbey Road, Pressed at Record Industry
For this definitive edition, Analogue October worked directly from the original Gull master tapes. Mastering was entrusted to Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, using his renowned half-speed process to extract every detail and dynamic from Ardley’s score. To give the music the headroom it deserves, the reissue has been expanded to a deluxe 2LP set, pressed on the highest-quality vinyl at Record Industry in Haarlem, Netherlands. The result is a presentation that finally does justice to the scope and brilliance of Ardley’s vision.
Deluxe Package – Restored from the Source
The artwork has been meticulously restored from the original film elements, ensuring a sleeve of unmatched vibrancy and fidelity. Inside, a 12-page booklet printed on heavyweight card features an in-depth essay on Neil Ardley and the making of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, written by Jazzwise magazine editor Mike Flynn, alongside rare photographs from the period.
Curated and Produced by Craig Crane
As with every Analogue October release, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows has been curated and produced by label founder Craig Crane with a collector’s eye for detail and a deep respect for the music’s legacy. This reissue is not only the definitive vinyl edition of one of the great British jazz fusion albums—it also continues the label’s mission to restore and celebrate the most vital recordings of the era.
Neil Ardley’s Kaleidoscope of Rainbows—vivid, expansive, and timeless—returns as the essential edition for audiophiles and jazz lovers alike.
Retail-ready product description (short form):
Produced by Neil Ardley and recorded in 1976 at London’s Morgan Studios, engineered and mixed by Martin Levan, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows is a cornerstone of British jazz fusion. This definitive 2LP reissue, mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell from the original Gull master tapes and pressed at Record Industry (NL), finally gives the music the dynamic headroom it deserves. The deluxe edition includes restored artwork and a 12-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by Jazzwise editor Mike Flynn.

KEG announce new EP Girders set for release September 2nd on Alcopop! Records/BMG. The band also share the frenzied and whip-smart new single Kids. The band, who have been hotly tipped across the board for 2022, will also play their debut UK headline tour plus festivals which include Green Man, End Of The Road, Latitude and more. Kids strides into the deep lineage of British art-punk songwriting that is both self-referencing and outward-facing - while being consistently innovative. Few singles manage to take aim at both the restaurant chain Itsu and the comedian Michael McIntyre, but KEG somehow pull it off.

Following a widely successful debut single release Heyshaw in the summer of 2021, KEG saw major support from publications such as NME, DIY, Dork, So Young, Clash etc. Leading into their debut EP Assembly, released October 2021, KEG toured with contemporaries such as Squid and Talk Show.

KEG are a seven piece. Albert (vocals), Joel (bass) & Will (synth) grew up together around the seaside Yorkshire town of Bridlington; and like many artists growing up in removed quarters of the country, they shared a yearning to leave. Spreading to different parts of the country after leaving school, they found their bandmates in their respective cities and found one another once again on the southern shores of Brighton.
Frank (guitar), whose background resides mostly in hip-hop, afforded a unique pulse with a guitar sound which is manic, discordant but firm. Jules (guitar) whose songwriting sensibilities come from a love of cadence and craft of beautiful soul ballads, imbued the band with his structured sense of composition. Both Charlie (trombone & shell) and Johnny (drums) come from classically trained Jazz backgrounds.
The announcement will receive digital marketing support and will launch with new tour dates announced (below) with pre-order for presale access available.

Stunning collection of unissued cuts with some as old as the 70s, For me the LJ Johnson and Carolyn Crawford are the winners but every track is solid so dont miss out as limited press of 100 copies , the last one sold out quick. full sound clips take a listen.

Foundation. Rock Steady version of the much covered classic. A total beauty!!
Back with another great one from the amazing Joy Landis.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Great Rock Steady Vocals on this one from the don of Rock Steady, Alton Ellis.

A premium series of limited edition Japanese pressed 7"s - featuring unreleased and impossibly hard to find gems from the Duke Reid archives.

Montreal indie rock trio Plants and Animals announce "The Jungle", their fifth studio album set to be released October 23rd via Secret City Records. Their shortest album yet and certainly their boldest, "The Jungle" is eight acts in a world full of noise. The album is auto-produced and was recorded at Mixart, their studio in Montreal. The band explains : "We started working on this a couple of years ago. Warren was afraid for a friend's health. He thought he was self-medicating too much and not taking care of himself. He couldn't let go of this image of an overworked dude swallowing too many sleeping pills and falling asleep with the stove on. So it began as the place next door, sometime before Greta Thunberg turned the expression into a rallying cry, where Earth is the house and the people are sleeping. It's terrifying, and on the whole we're not unlike this friend, are we?" "The Jungle" starts with electronic drums that sound like insects at night. A whole universe comes alive in the dark. It's beautiful, complex and unsettling. Systematic and chaotic. All instinct, no plan. Voices taunt,"yeah yeah yeah." This tangled time in which we find ourselves is reflected back in shadows. Every song is such a landscape. The first one grinds to a halt and you become a kid looking out a car window at the moon, wondering how it's still on your tail as you speed past a steady blur of trees. You watch a house go up in a yellow strobe that echoes the disco weirdness of Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer and David Bowie. You get pummelled by a rhythm then set free by a sudden change of scenery_the wind stops, clarity returns. You're under a streetlight in Queens, soft-focus, slow motion, falling in love. You speak French now too, in case you didn't already. Bienvenue. These are personal experiences made in a volatile world, and they reflect that world right back at us, even by accident. There's one song Nic sings to his teenage son who was dealing with climate change anxiety and drifting into uncharted independence. The band carries it out slowly together into a sweet blue horizon. Warren wrote the words to another shortly after losing his father. It's about the things we inherit not necessarily being the things we want. In a broader sense, that's where a lot of people find themselves right now.

"I want nothing more than to be a loner," Emily Kempf sings early on Flower of Devotion, the new album by Chicago trio Dehd. It's a startling admission coming from a songwriter who, just a year ago on Dehd's critically acclaimed Water, wrote eloquently about the joys and pains _ more than anything, the necessity _ of love, compassion, and companionship. But then, "admission" isn't really the right word here, given the stridency of Kempf's tone. "Loner" is a declaration. The record ups the ante on Dehd's sound & filters in just enough polish to bring out the shining and melancholy undertones in Jason Balla and Emily Kempf's songwriting, even as it captures them at their most strident. Balla's guitar lines at times flirt with ticklish cosmic country, while at others they reflect the dark marble sounds of Broadcast. Kempf, meanwhile, establishes herself as a singer of incredible expressive range, pinching into a high lonesome wail, letting loose a chirping "ooh!," pushing her voice below its breaking point and letting it swing down there. When she and Balla bounce descending counter-melodies off one another over McGrady's one-two thumps, or skitter off over a programmed drum pad, they sound like The B-52s shaking off heartache. What makes Flower of Devotion so impressive is how its creation seems to have strengthened its creators, both as individuals and as a unit, even as they've stared down their own limitations. It's also striking just how much fun they seem to be having in the process. "It's okay to be lighthearted in the face of despair," Kempf says. It's a theme that runs through the album, from the opening back-and-forth build of "Desire" to the click-clacking chorus of "Haha," which finds them deflating their own history. Flower of Devotion was recorded in April and August of 2019 in Chicago. It will be released on Fire Talk Records on July 17th 2020.

HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY, the 'supergroup' led by former MONSTROSITY and VILE frontman and current artwork artist Mike Hrubovcak and Rogga Johansson from PAGANIZER and RIBSPREADER are releasing their third full-length, "Disturbing The Cenotaph". Since the duo, completed by former THE PROJECT HATE drummer Thomas Ohlsson, originally picked up their moniker as an homage to the 1981 cult horror flick of the same name, it shouldn't come as a surprise they've once again paying tribute to director Lucio Fulci (1927-1996) in one of this album most lethal salvo, 'New York Ripper'. Elsewhere on this third album, other tracks like 'Undead Apocalypse' or 'Burial Disturbance' were inspired by other famous horror classics like "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Hrubovcak has come up in his lyrics with his own tales of terror. Some are totally fictional like, 'Coffin Colony' about a "diseased homeless living in underground coffins who gets infected with rabies after eating sewer rats". Others, like 'Lunatic Butcher' are inspired by real-life events or, in that case, by the antics and vicious killings of Paul John Knowles, dubbed 'the Casanova killer'. Musically speaking, Johansson jokes about "every band saying that their new album is their best but that's actually true here eh eh! This album is HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY on steroids. The sound is broad and impious, the vocals are awesome and the heavy riffing interlaced with occasional melody makes an overall varied, fun and GORY listen!" Completed, like on 2024's "The Mortuary Hauntings", by a gruesome artwork courtesy Felipe Mora (whose nightmarish visions can already be seen on albums by CONSUMPTION, ACHERON or WOMBBATH) and mixed by Håkan Stuvemark from WOMBBATH, Disturbing The Cenotaph is one raw, in-your-face and eight songs packed death-metal-to-the-core album ready to chill you to the bone!

The album long sought after by Mountain Goats fans is finally back in print and features new liner notes by John Darnielle. Released on the precipice of the Mountain Goats' breakout albums All Hail West Texas and Tallahassee, The Coroner's Gambit is an introspective epic that stands as one of Darnielle's best outings in any era.Darnielle on The Coroner's Gambit:There are few records in the Mountain Goats catalog that are closer to my heart than The Coroner's Gambit. It bears a sonic thumbprint shared by none of its brethren (Panasonic RX-FT500, Marantz PMD-222, and sessions in Omaha probably recorded to a Tascam Porta-One) and while two of those sources appear on several later releases, none of the other records really sound like it. Although it contains exactly no autobiographical songs, it feels personal to me_intimate, diaristic. I have vivid memories of the songs I wrote and recorded in Colo, and foggy memories of the Greyhound trip to and from Omaha. I was taking Greyhounds across Midwestern state lines to record songs with friends when I made The Coroner's Gambit, is what I'm saying. You can maybe hear the exhaust of the Greyhound in the songs if you listen close.

The Swedish band Bullet got together in autumn 2001, with the aim of playing traditional heavy metal inspired by the late 1970s and early 1980s: solid, authentic and classic, with a contemporary and timeless touch. Seven years after their latest studio album, ‘Dust To Gold’ (2018), the musicians Dag “Hell” Hofer (vocals), Hampus Klang (guitar), Gustav Hector (bass), Gustav Hjortsjö (drums) and latest addition Freddie Johansson (guitar) are now back with a new album: ‘Kickstarter’ is scheduled for release on Steamhammer/SPV on 09 January 2026 and is set to prove that Bullet are determined to continue their almost 25-year career with the very kickstart referenced to by the album title. This of course also includes Bullet’s iconic tour bus, whose engine exploded after one of their most recent shows, forcing the musicians to embark on their return journey without their rolling accommodation. Naturally, this was the end neither of Bullet nor their battered vehicle – to the contrary: The group’s classic heavy metal spirit and their unwavering DIY mindset have proved stronger than ever. Having repaired the ageing bus with unwavering determination, oil-smeared hands and sweaty brows. Bullet are now ready to hit the road again, with ‘Kickstarter’ and the three lead singles/videos ‘Kickstarter’ (17 October 2025), ‘Keep Rolling’ (21 November 2025) and ‘Chained By Metal’ (19 December 2025) on board.

Lillian King's debut album In Your Long Shadow is out October 24th. It is about letting the wind in, Lake Michigan in the winter, and the silence of a long summer evening. And really it's about the grief of losing her dad, Neil King Jr. When her dad died in September 2024, grief permeated every facet of Lillian's life. The loss is felt in everything, but especially when doing the things her dad loved the most -- the simple everyday good things that make life worth living: cooking, walking the longer way to work, swimming in cold water. In the throes of grief it feels impossible to find anything that doesn't just make you sadder, but when Lillian did find those things, she grabbed onto them. Soon it was clear that the best coping mechanisms weren't gin and tonics, but talking to her mom and sister as much as possible, and producing an album. The album arrangement came together in a couple of weeks as Lillian brought bandmates and friends Robert Salazar and Nick DePrey new and old songs to build on. Robert played the drums, while Nick played keys (with a smattering of bass and guitar). The process was collaborative and intimate, and only got better when Jack Henry (producer of albums by Friko and Free Range) joined to record and mix it. Some of the songs on this album are years old, including "Underwater", which Lillian wrote one late night in Montreal a decade ago. However, most came together in the months approaching recording."Dragging Dirt" was written just a week before getting into the studio. Despite the bummer material, the recording process was spontaneous and light hearted. The song "Echo" came together unexpectedly during a break between songs. In the midst of recording In Your Long Shadow, Lillian had concerns about making a "grief album." Her sister Frances, as usual, had the right advice: "Every album from now on is going to be a grief album." In Your Long Shadow is about loss as much as it is about living with it. Take it outside on a walk.

Trouble’s absolute classic: the legendary album from 1990 and the pinnacle of Trouble’s impressive career. Heavy Metal was never better than this! Includes a live bonus CD recorded in Dallas, Taxas (USA)! Trouble’s debut album did great things for Metal and remains one of the darkest, thrashiest Doom albums to date. A lot of things can change in six years, especially when you’re talking Metal and the dates are 1984 and 1990. The decade may have changed them, but not in a way that suggests decay or a decline in the quality of their resolve or their skill as musicians and performers. On the contrary, Trouble’s 1990 self-titled release is arguably their most mature, boasting a fleshed out sound with unparalleled songwriting, a great production, and the time-crafted vocals of Eric Wagner which had improved major in the years since their previous efforts. All of this culminates in what is my mind the most “complete” thing Trouble ever created. From the mid-paced chug of a killer opener in “At the End of My Daze” to the last notes of “All Is Forgiven”, I can’t see filler or anything resembling a weak link. The riffs here are some of the best ever written, by Trouble or anyone else; every song has a manically awesome main riff that demands a display of headbanging. Riffs are undoubtedly the point of focus here; they make the songs, and they’re a timeless variety of great. Also, the interplay between guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell is some of the best lead work you will ever hear in Metal. Trouble basically reinvented themselves with this release, and while I think it was a fantastic rebirth, those who aren’t so keen on the laid back stoner vibe they chose to adopt may not see it as a rejuvenation, but a step back (they did go from doom and gloom to collectively embracing their inner acid dropping free love hippie, after all). But the Metal remained fully intact! And as I’ve said, I think this is Trouble at their best. This is originality and innovation at its best, it is supreme quality. A leader of bands paves the way and then steps aside to create something that will serve as an example of how to improve upon an established formula: that is, by doing it really damn well.

Stephen Murray, for fans of CAAMP, Mt. Joy, and Houndmouth. Stephen Murray is back with another 7" after the success of his first two singles with Soul Step Records. Expanding on those Americana and Folk flavored tracks, Stephen explores R&B and Hazy Indie Rock on these new tunes. ODAAT is where the haze sets in with an introspective indie jam while Darkest Night is a torch ballad that has one of the biggest musical crescendos to wrap up the B-side. Stephen is backed by some of Nashville's best musicians to gather these sounds. Drop the needle on this 45 and soak up this genre-bending artist.