Поиск:only freak

The long-running Kompakt imprint will release an EP by German DJ and producer Sascha Funke in September. Sharing five tracks that traverse quirky house and techno, Treets marks Funke’s monumental return to Kompakt since his Zug um Zug two-tracker in 2014.

Speaking about Treets, Funke says he is "very happy to be back on the mothership Kompakt" after an eight-year break. As one would expect with Funke, the EP fits the cosmic world of Kompakt to a tee. The title track conveys a weird, tripped-out atmosphere as an alien-like vocal burbles between an acid bassline and squeaky percussion. It's a tantalising glimpse of Funke's freaky underworld. E_Plus follows a similar wonked-out vein, only this time, the vibe is ominous. Funke pairs an orchestral vocal with bleepy pads and signature acid-drenched melody — a solid offering oddball of energy. On Alles Paletti, a 2-step drum pattern and string of bright claps create a sunny soundscape, complemented by a robust bassline and ethereal synth notes. It's fairytale house music, the kind only Funke can produce. The penultimate track Haus More is subdued, as chugging drums slither between a wobbly melody. The Other Version feels futuristic, as Funke goes full-force electro. Extra-terrestrial vocals return, but the pace is cranked up by strident sound FX and thudding drums. An eccentric end to an eccentric EP.

Sascha Funke is a Berlin-based producer and DJ with two decades' worth of releases building his back catalogue. BPitch Control, Turbo Recordings, Endless Flight, Running Back, and several more esteemed imprints have released his work. Today, he continues to create sleek sounds that weave various genres from house, techno, disco, Krautrock, wave, electro and unclassified anomalies. As a DJ, Funke is just as free-wheeling as his productions. He's played E1 in London, Caos in São Paulo and Renate in Berlin, amongst others, displaying his sweeping sound to a worldwide audience. Having been exposed to euro-dance pop as a youngster, you can hear flashes from the genre stitched throughout his work but blended in a way that's quintessential to Funke. Never one to change his sound according to the latest trend, Funke stays true to his creative vision — one of the most significant challenges for producers today.

Das traditionsreiche Kompakt-Imprint wird im September eine EP des deutschen DJs und Produzenten Sascha Funke veröffentlichen. Mit fünf Tracks, die sich durch schrulligen House und Techno auszeichnen, ist “Treets” Funkes monumentale Rückkehr zu Kompakt seit “ Zug um Zug” im Jahr 2014.

Im Gespräch über Treets sagt Funke, er sei "sehr glücklich, nach acht Jahren Pause wieder auf dem Mutterschiff Kompakt zu sein". Wie bei Funke nicht anders zu erwarten, passt die EP hervorragend in die kosmische Welt von Kompakt. Der Titeltrack vermittelt eine seltsame, abgedrehte Atmosphäre, wenn eine außerirdisch anmutende Stimme zwischen einer Acid-Bassline und quietschenden Perkussionsinstrumenten dahinplätschert. Es ist ein verlockender Einblick in Funkes freakige Unterwelt. “E-Plus” geht in eine ähnliche Richtung, nur dass dieses Mal die Stimmung bedrohlich ist. Funke paart einen orchestralen Gesang mit bleepigen Pads und seiner typischen Acid-getränkten Melodie - ein solides Angebot voller Energie. Auf “Alles Paletti” schaffen ein 2-Step-Drum-Pattern und eine Reihe heller Claps eine sonnige Klanglandschaft, die durch eine robuste Bassline und ätherische Synthesizernoten ergänzt wird. Das ist märchenhafte House-Musik, wie sie nur Funke produzieren kann. Der vorletzte Track Haus More ist zurückhaltend, da tuckernde Drums zwischen einer wackeligen Melodie schlittern. “Treets (The Other Version)” fühlt sich futuristisch an, weil Funke hier voll auf Elektro setzt. Der außerirdische Gesang kehrt zurück, aber das Tempo wird durch schrille Soundeffekte und stampfende Drums angezogen. Ein exzentrisches Ende für eine exzentrische EP.

Sascha Funke ist ein in Berlin ansässiger Produzent und DJ mit einem Backkatalog von zwei Jahrzehnten an Veröffentlichungen. BPitch Control, Turbo Recordings, Endless Flight, Running Back und einige andere angesehene Labels haben seine Arbeiten veröffentlicht. Heute kreiert er weiterhin geschmeidige Sounds, die verschiedene Genres wie House, Techno, Disco, Krautrock, Wave, Electro und unklassifizierte Anomalien miteinander verweben. Als DJ ist Funke genauso freizügig wie seine Produktionen. Er hat unter anderem im E1 in London, im Caos in São Paulo und im Renate in Berlin aufgelegt und seinen mitreißenden Sound einem weltweiten Publikum vorgestellt. Da er schon als Jugendlicher mit Eurodance in Berührung kam, sind in seiner Arbeit immer wieder Anklänge an dieses Genre zu hören, die aber auf eine Art und Weise vermischt werden, die ganz typisch für Funke ist. Niemals verändert Funke seinen Sound nach dem neuesten Trend, sondern bleibt seiner kreativen Vision treu - eine der größten Herausforderungen für Produzenten heutzutage.

BLACK VINYL REPRESS

ITS 25 YEARS Since the first Heads album was released.. .so.. for 2021..Rooster has decided to get the album back in print on vinyl.. but changing the artwork. With some silver foiling and bordering, the single sleeve has been boosted to a sweet gatefold, Rooster also got the Radio 1 sessions from the time remastered, and re-cut along with the huge b-side to their Television 7” “Jellystoned Park”.
So there you have it, a double vinyl silver jubilee reissue of a fantastic debut album!

From the original reissue sales notes:
“The Heads had self-released a couple of 7"', and then Cargo Uk's inhouse label Headhunter UK got to release a further 7", and then the Debut album in 1996. Amidst a world suffocating in Britpop smarm, the Heads cut a timely swathe with their unkempt rock psychedelique. The album contained 10 tracks of guitar driven, amp destroying rock, with cues taken straight from the US underground, Stooges, MC5, Mudhoney, Pussy Galore, early Monster Magnet too but with a disitinctly British stamp, some of the drone and fuzz from Loop / Spacemen 3, some of the attitude of the Fall, Pink Fairies and Walking Seeds and overlaid with the spaced rock of early Hawkwind. It was obvious that the four members of the Heads were music obsessives. The debut album was recorded at Foel studios (owned by Dave Anderson from Hawkwind) and engineered by Corin Dingley, it was mastered by John Dent at LOUD.”


We’ve asked for some new appraisal of the Heads for the Silver Jubilee edition from good friends....

Stewart Lee February 2021
“The Halley's Comet victory orbits of historic heavy artefacts from Detroit, like The Stooges or The MC5, leave grateful onlookers aghast. But, hidden away in Bristol, The Heads are still with us now, our homegrown acid-garage godfathers, an ongoing thirty-two year old concern with a back catalogue arguably more consistent than the super-dense psyche-rock groups that inspired them. The Heads arrived fully formed and have spent three decades becoming more like themselves, a musical black hole that sucks in all surrounding matter. I love The Heads “

Phil Alexander February 2021
“The Heads make music for freaks in the know. If you were there in 1996, you’ll know just what that means…

Back then, they were gloriously out of step with the pop-cheese of the time and geezerly lumpiness of Britpop. Theirs was an altogether different take on music – a take inspired by the glorious burn-out of the ‘60s, the sonic overdrive of the ‘70s and the axis of joy created by the combination of excess volume and repetition.

We could name-check some inspirations and kindred spirits: The Stooges, Hawkwind, Floyd, Loop, Sabbath, Amon Düül II, Spacemen 3, Walking Seeds, Mudhoney, Monster Magnet among them... But in all honesty, The Heads have always existed in a world of their own, surfacing as and when the mood takes them, before returning to their subterranean rehearsal room to jam their way through yet more mind-altering riffs and mood-altering rhythms.

Relaxing With The Heads is their first defining statement. It is also possibly their most straight-forward release, the sound of a band attempting to find structure in their playing rather than abandoning themselves to their wildest impulses. That would come later…

And yet, 25 years on, this album blasts forth like few records from that time, its slacker charm welded to super-fuzzed riffs that propel its 10 tracks ever onwards. Righteous is probably the only word for it…”

Like meeting an old friend again, Dalmata Daniel welcomes DJ Overdose back to their catalog. Six years ago the infamous Dutchman's '05 Poly 800 Loop' EP was released, which served as a powerful launch to Dalmata Daniel, opening the first chapter in their story. Later in 2019, a split release with Sematic4 was also a highlight in the life of the label; and now, 3 years later, DJ Overdose checks in with the 'Powers of Ten EP' with a J. Mono remix, available both in digital and vinyl format, the latter having 2 bonus tracks.

The distinct, crunchy sound of DJ Overdose, bearing aspects of old school hip-hop-infused sampling and contemporary analog vibes creates the perfect blend of both worlds. 'Garden of Lust' opens up the adventure with a combo of warm basslines and solid drum-programming. This initial track feeds us these cardinal elements as the bread and butter they are: subtle variations and fine spices do appear here and there as the track goes along, but the key, beating pulse in 'Garden of Lust' brings massive hits stable as a sledgehammer in the hands of a blacksmith.

'Feed The Beats' elevates the game to cinematic territories: its majestic string-like central melody makes me alert and ablaze, making me feel like I'm in a late 80s L.A. setting facing malevolent zombie-aliens in my Wayfarer shades. Blasting beats and Carpenterian coolness all over the place, while the spooky bassline just keeps sneaking up on me endlessly.

If you are wondering when's the best time of the year to bring out your boombox at last, then this is your lucky day: with 'BOB', the first bonus track on the vinyl, we can experience some roarin' bassdrums, snappy snares, MCs with the speed of light and all that jazz. The low-bit sampling and vinyl scratching come and kick you right in the face so hard that it becomes pretty obvious you'll can't help but start some serious beatbox battles in your bathtub with your rubber duck.

A feverish groove in the prime time of a funky bash, in the haze of a sensual rave-up: that's all one really wants when going for a Saturday night out. We definitely get this and much more from 'Room 714', another vinyl-only bonus track. A berserk voice and ethereal chords guide us through this mysterious track, but while we are busy trying to impress our crushes on the dance floor, things around us are slowly getting very, very freaky, maybe a bit way too freaky.

As wobbly and jolly as it gets, our Dutch friend ends his session with 'Ðr ¡v€ M€ ¢r@z¥', a vocoder-heavy disco banger, full of merry vocal FX and smart rhythmic glitches as he completes his flight. To close the EP, our local hero, J. Mono delivers an insane remix of 'Ðr ¡v€ M€ ¢r@z¥': one can clearly imagine how he grabs and turns the BPM knob all the way up, fires up some arpeggios on his mighty synths and casts a complete reimagination of the original track.

Continuing the ‘first time on vinyl’ purge of the AMT archives. Here’s the band's classic 2006 album finally available on double vinyl for the first time. Housed in full colour gatefold sleeve.
‘Myth of the Love Electrique’ is another scorcher from these ridiculously prolific psych masters. This album is notable for being the debut of their newest band member: Kitagawa Hao. Kitagawa's presence doesn't dominate the recording by any means, but her contributions nicely complement the swirling chaos the group generates. Acid Mothers Temple always manages to find a breath of fresh air at the most opportune times, and this is no exception. While remaining a tight unit, bringing Kitagawa into the fold adds another dimension to their chaotic sprawl without having to sacrifice any of their strengths on this incendiary album.
“Comprised of four lengthy tracks, the album explodes with a start: "The Man from Giacobinid Meteor Comet." Kawabata Makoto's guitar quickly becomes a tangle of screams, a frenzied surge that drags the band along with it. The rhythm section is ferocious. Bassist Tsuyama Atsushi frequently ventures out to the stratosphere, but he also knows when to hold back or to provide a vaguely melodic foundation. Likewise, the amount of energy drummer Shimura Koji dedicates to his performance is a lesson in endurance. Divided into three movements, this track eventually cools down and then glides to a drone landing, alighting the listener breathlessly upon calmer ground.
Kitagawa's voice makes its first appearance on "Five Dimensional Nightmare," floating over a bouzouki arrangement that sounds like singing glass. This one is divided into three sections like the previous track, but starts airy and then goes into a drone as Tsuyama briefly takes over the vocals. From here, strings are tortured like fingernails on a blackboard before a guitar and Higashi Hiroshi’s water drop electronics restore balance.
As much as I loved the two previous tracks, the band forges ahead into something different on "Love Electrique." Kitagawa's presence is most felt on this track. Her voice streaks across the mix as blistering guitars and freaky electronics blast all over the place. Over the course of 20 minutes, it hits several different moods and textures on a truly transcendent journey.

Of the four tracks, only the live staple "Pink Lady Lemonade (May I Drink You Once Again?)" may seem a little redundant. Kitagawa, however, breathes new life into this standard by bringing her vocals to the fore over the entire track, as if restoring an element that previously had been missing. It's hard to call it a definitive version because so many other excellent versions already exist, but it is a great one in its own right. For fans who may be weary of this song after all of its appearances over the years, it is easy enough to stop the disc after gorging on the first hour of music, and it is still a welcome dessert if the mood should strike”

For Judah & the Lion, the last two years should’ve been the best of their lives as the Nashville band toured behind a powerful single and a genre-upending album, sharing stages with heroes and playing to oceans of fans. But as everything was coming together for them, singer-guitarist Judah Akers’ family was falling apart in a hail of alcoholism and affairs, death and divorce. From that tension comes Pep Talks, the trio’s third LP, and a hard left turn into deeply personal terrain. Knowing they had something new on their hands, Judah, Brian Macdonald (mandolin), and Nate Zuercher (banjo) took their time crafting a set of songs that not only shores up their one-of-a-kind sound—a heart-pounding whirl of folk, bluegrass, rock, hip-hop, and electronic production— but takes the listener on a bracingly candid, surprisingly anthemic journey from the kind of pain that tears your whole world apart to the sort of hard-won hope that can bridge the deepest of rifts.

Third pressing on transparent pink vinyl. At the 2018 edition of Roadburn Festival - a congregation of all things obscure, heavy and experimental in Tilburg, the Netherlands - two generations of Japanese Krautrock genius took to the stage for a live collaboration that was just as hypnotic as it was inevitable. The artists in question were Tokyo's Minami Deutsch and the legendary ex-Can frontman Damo Suzuki. With Minami Deutsch's heady metronomic jams providing the backdrop on which Suzuki was left free to deliver his distinct improvised vocals, the Live At Roadburn LP is challenging, raw and, at times, totally alien. Divided into three parts, from start to finish the LP is consumed by an unrelenting motorik rhythm section that never lets loose for a second. At the flick of a switch, intricate guitars veer from hypnotic and meditative to skewed psychedelic freak-outs drenched in fuzz. Where Minami Deutsch's playing is sharp and meticulous, Suzuki's stream-of-consciousness ramblings steer the music into whatever direction he sees fit. The result is equal parts disorientating, sporadic and totally all-consuming - the only thing keeping you grounded being that distorted and seemingly-endless 4/4 drive. Repetition. Minimalism. Improvisation. Transcendence. That was the ideology of seminal Krautrock pioneers Can, whose 1970-1973 work with Damo Suzuki at the helm unleashed something in music that would change it forever. Some 45 years since Can's final record with Suzuki - the inimitable Future Days - and the spirit of that era still lives on. Not least because ever since then Suzuki has embarked on an endless one-man tour, traveling around the world and taking to the stage backed by countless different bands. Crossing paths at Roadburn, Suzuki's ensuing performance with Tokyo via Berlin-based group Minami Deutsch is now available to relive on wax.

Animal Records – founded by Chris Stein of Blondie fame – only ever released one album in its brief early-80s history, but what an album that was. Wild Style remains the most seminal soundtrack in hip-hop history, a snapshot of the scene as it evolved from the streets to the recording studio. But it’s not just a vital document, it’s also a damn good listen.

The line-up is a who’s who of those who stood out from hip-hop’s nascent block party days. The Double Trouble pairing of Rodney Cee and KK Rockwell, The Chief Rocker himself, Busy Bee, the mighty line-ups of both The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Freaks. The music captures the free-form, roaming nature of the film – it’s rough at the edges, it’s occasionally amateurish, but it’s completely, utterly glorious.

The original Animal tracklisting, of which this is a reissue, is full of recurring sounds and motifs, all of them co-produced by Chris Stein and Fab Five Freddy, stepping away from breakbeats to produce a sound that reminds you of them, while being totally unique. The epic drums are courtesy of Lenny ‘Ferrari’ Ferraro, a Vietnam vet and punk drummer whose career spanned stints backing Aretha Franklin and Lou Reed.

Over time, those sounds – the Charlie Chase and Grand Wizard Theodore scratches, the indelible lyrics - have become hip-hop touchstones, endlessly sampled and referenced, the bedrock of so much music to follow. That’s because the soundtrack perfectly encapsulated the essence of the film, the scene and hip-hop’s emergence from The Bronx to the attention of the wider world. Presented in this reissue with the original artwork, it remains the blueprint.

From deep in the heart of Moomin Valley, frozen in time for many
midwinters passed, comes a genuine treasure chest of never
heard Moomin melodies and instrumental comet songs composed
for the continued animated adventures of our Fuzzy-Felt freak folk
friends who disappeared from UK TV pastures in the mid-1980s.
From the top of the Hobgoblin’s Hat and the bottom of Snufkin’s
satchel, original Moomins composer Graeme Miller (‘The Carrier
Frequency’) kindly shares this patchwork selection of spellbinding
sound poems and percussive peons made using the very same
selection of ocarinas, kalimbas, miniature squeak boxes, Waspy
synths, cornflake box shakers and a seemingly endless array of
talent and lo-fi home studio trickery.

Regarded as one of the most enigmatic, beguiling and haunting
imported children’s programmes to ever grace UK TV screens,
‘The Moomins’ was one of the first-ever commissions by Anne
Wood (‘The Teletubbies’) who ingeniously replaced the original
Polish/Austrian/Finnish soundtrack with homemade music
experiments by unknown post-punk theatre students Graeme
Miller and Steve Shill (aka The Commies From Mars) who, after
the screening of two unforgettable series in 1983 and 1985, were
left in eager anticipation of rescoring further Moomin adventures
with new melodies, arrangements and sound designs, which then
lingered in the ether waiting until the Groke awoke and
Snorkmaiden sang once more.

With future felt adventures screened exclusively in Poland and
Germany for many years (often as feature films) these unheard
recordings are the only genuine musical sequel to the bizarre UK
version of ‘The Moomins’ and stand as important inclusions in
Graeme Miller’s own portfolio of theatrical theme music and sound
installations as part of The Impact Theatre Cooperative, including
collaborations with artists and writers such as Russell Hoban.

Witnessed in fragmented form during a short run of incredible rare
live screenings at The Barbican Theatre and various film festivals,
this record marks the first time this music has been heard in its
original full-length form, free from sound effects, dialogue and
whimpers of euphoric joy and nostalgia from those who have
continued to crave the company of our Moomintrolls and their
mysterious music over the last five decades.

''The acts Mermaid Chunky call to mind here tend to lean on a blithe naivete: Animal Collective, Peaking Lights, youthful Norfolkians Let’s Eat Grandma and fuckwitted freak-folkers Cocorosie. This isn’t a fashionable sound in 2020 – venture your own sociopolitical reasoning – and I reckon I’ve found the one record of its type I want to hear this year.''
Mermaid Chunky are an audiovisual duo made up of artists Freya Tate and Moina Moin. Bathing in milkmaid serenity and improvised chaos, the duo boast of pumping trance rhythms, sad Easter time chicks and seriously arousing sax solos. Much of their cultivation has come out of the mossy club culture of Stroud's SVA and London's Total Refreshment Centre, collaborating with the likes of Alabaster DePlume, Danalogue, Donna Thompson, Grove, Snapped Ankles (UK tour support) and Yama Warashi.

Their debut Faith and Industry album VEST (produced by Capitol K at Total Refreshment Centre), was birthed last year out of a history of improvised cheek and club dexterity forefronting their live shows and audiovisual solstice celebrations, recently captured by British Vogue's 2021 PRIDE series. Championing this action is the Mermaid Chunky Mothership, a gang of fellow artists and performers, often clad in nauseous satin frills, swamping the stage with french mime and slut drops (Roundhouse 2021, End Of the Road 2021, SVA Solstice always.) The MC gang just scoured their PRS Woman Make Music funding so who knows what they will be stirring up in the heat of summer soup 2022 (the most ducks in a year we will ever experience.) The only way for you to find out is to join the chunklett buffet and dip your wicked, webbed fingers into something mega.

Mermaid Chunky will perform Camp Bestival (Shropshire), Kite Festival (Oxford) and at Orbury Common’s PrahEP launch (a collaborative audiovisual May Day celebration) at the Brunel Goods Shed, SVA, Stroud 30th April - 1st May.
They will aslo be collaborating with Percolate Music on a series of London based audiovisual events this year focused on experimental, electronic womxn performers, visual artists and DJs. More special announcements to be revealed in the present future of your past.

A question popular among followers of Thrash Metal is undeniably this, “Which is considered the fastest Thrash Metal album of all time?”. There would be a high percentage of answers supporting “Reign In Blood”, Darkness Descends” or “Pleasure To Kill”. Now here’s a startling reality. Wehrmacht’s debut album makes those albums sound as if they were meant to be listed under progressive Metal. The sheer ferocity of these guys is enough to convince you why they were considered the fastest Heavy Metal band in the underground. So what is it that makes this record worthy of being called an underground classic? Right from production to musicianship, the concoction of several different ideas results into one colossal and inevitably unique style of their own. Many of you would probably wonder that there might just be a natural leaning towards sloppy playing especially considering my description of their astoundingly fast nature earlier. But the major surprise here is that all the musicians are extremely tight and precise with no single riff, solo or beat falling out of place. Tito Matos is one of the most versatile Thrash singers one has ever heard till date. His clarity of words and ability to keep up with the rest of the band with his lightning fast singing is simply commendable. The songs in here are all ridiculously speedy pieces of Thrash Metal with practically little or no remorse for the listener. The title track with that brilliant rendition of the famously eerie “Jaws” theme kicks off the onslaught with a tearing main riff that shreds away with speed and precision. Teutonic, Bay Area and a few east coast Thrash Metal bands have been instrumental in forging the whole genre altogether but taking the intensity a couple of notches higher was undoubtedly achieved by bands like Cryptic Slaughter, Soothsayer and finally Wehrmacht. For a year that was 1987, “Shark Attack” was way ahead of its time and has been highly regarded as the release that influenced many a band in the Grindcore and Black Metal genres. To testify this statement of mine, U.K Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death have covered Wehrmacht on one of their studio compilations, thus proving the exemplary effect this band had in the years to come. Yet the irony still stands out as to why only the most devoted of Thrash Metal/Crossover freaks know about this band. As for some of you guys, quit wasting your time listening to the senseless offshoots of Grindcore and shitty Black Metal and get a hold of this classic instead.

Stone Free was the only album to be released by funk and soul specialist Cecil Lyde in 1980, and its sumptuous body of songs immediately takes hold upon first spin. Originally released with the short-lived Californian label Aladdin Records, Chicago-native Lyde created an album of uncompromising modern soul and boogie that has an urgency to entertain.

This first-ever vinyl reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes, includes a gatefold jacket and inner sleeve with restored, new, and alternate art and photos by Terry and Jo Harvey Allen; an insert with lyrics, original notes, and Terry’s letter to H.C. Westermann about the songs; and a high-res download code. Deluxe CD edition features a trifold jacket and inner sleeve. Recorded exactly two years after acclaimed visual artist and songwriter Terry Allen’s masterpiece Lubbock (on everything), the feral follow-up Smokin the Dummy is less conceptually focused but more sonically and stylistically unified than its predecessor it’s also rougher and rowdier, wilder and more wired, and altogether more menacingly rock and roll. Following the 1973 Whitney Biennial, in which songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen and fellow iconic artist Horace Clifford “Cliff” Westermann both exhibited, Allen maintained a lively long-distance correspondence and exchange of artworks and music with Westermann, whose singular and highly influential art he admired enormously. In a February 1981 letter to his friend and mentor, written shortly after the late 1980 release of his third album Smokin the Dummy, while he and his family were living in Fresno, California, Terry explains the genesis of the album title: Westermann died shortly after receiving this letter, enclosed with a Smokin the Dummy LP, the minimalist black jacket of which Allen suggested that Cliff fold into a jaunty cardboard hat if he didn’t like the music. That response was unlikely, since Westermann loved Terry’s music, calling his debut record Juarez (1975) “the finest, most honest and heartfelt piece of music I ever heard.” The Panhandle Mystery Band had only recently coalesced during those 1978 Lubbock sessions, Lloyd Maines’s first foray into production. Through 1979, they honed their sound and tightened their arrangements with a series of periodic performances beyond Allen’s regular art-world circuit, including memorable record release concerts in Lubbock, Chicago, L.A., and Kansas City. Terry sought to harness the high-octane power of this now well-oiled collective engine to overdrive his songs into rawer and rockier off-road territory. His first album to share top billing with the Panhandle Mystery Band, Dummy documents a ferocious new band in fully telepathic, tornado-fueled flight, refining its caliber, increasing its range, and never looking down. Alongside the stalwart Maines brothers co-producer, guitarist, and all-rounder Lloyd, bassist Kenny, and drummer Donnie and mainstay Richard Bowden (who here contributes not only fiddle but also mandolin, cello, and “truck noise theory,” the big-rig doppler effect of Lloyd’s steel on “Roll Truck Roll”), new addition Jesse Taylor supplies blistering lead guitar, on loan from Joe Ely (who plays harmonica here). Jesse’s kinetic blues lines and penchant for extreme volume were instrumental in pushing these recordings into brisker tempos and tougher attitudes. Terry was feverish for several studio days, suffering from a bad flu and sweating through his clothes, which partially explains the literally febrile edge to his performances, rendered largely in a perma-growl. (By this point, he was regularly breaking piano pedals with his heavy-booted stomp.) Like the album title itself, the songs on Smokin the Dummy ring various demented bells. The tracks rifle through Terry’s assorted Obsessions especially the potential energy and escape of the open road, elevated here to an ecstatic, prayerful pitch and are populated by a cast of crooked characters: truckers, truck-stop waitresses, convicts, cokeheads, speed freaks, greasers, holy rollers, rodeo riders, dancehall cheaters, and sacrificial prairie dogs, sinners seeking some small reprieve, any fugitive moment of grace. A reigning deity of a certain kind of country music since the mid-70s. – The New York Times // The kind of singular American artist who expresses the fundamental weirdness of his country. – The Wire

New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as MWWB. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, MWWB are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album ‘The Harvest’. ‘The Harvest’ is the band’s fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy MWWB sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. To some extent, it shares similarities with Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Not only by having the mix of experimentation and melodicism as that seminal record, but also in the way that it has been engineered and constructed as a seamless piece. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With ‘The Harvest’ MWWB have refined and honed their sound, it’s a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). MWWB have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. MWWB provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. ‘Oblok Magellana’ and its spooky atmospherics set the scene. before things really kick in with the riffs of title track ‘The Harvest’. A grooving Sabbathian chug intro’s Jessica Ball, who at the top of her game throughout. Her voice simultaneously sweet yet dark; almost neofolk; which when put against those riffs, is always a startling juxtaposition, nevertheless it perfectly crystallises MWWB’s distinctive dynamic. ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is a succinctly crafted nugget of John Carpenter-esque drama, you can imagine the thundering mothership forging its way through the universe on some nameless quest before encountering ‘Logic Bomb’ and its fat fuzzed-up ride through light and shade guitar/vocal interplay. Ball’s voice soaring and shimmering throughout. ‘Betrayal’ gives a nod to Pink Floyd’s ‘On The Run’ but with its freaky spoken word and four on the floor kick it’s almost a dance track, yet there’s no incongruity here. ‘Altamira’ is epic MWWB, adding large doses of psych into a melodic concoction of dreampop and metal. Ball’s vocals here are many layered and textured effortlessly gliding through the weight of the backing. ‘Let’s Send The Bastards Whence They Came’ is another little gem. A plaintive repeating synth figure that builds with bass, drums, mellotrons and synths into ‘Strontium’ which rounds off the album’s ‘heavy’ numbers, a blend of monster grooves, and Ball’s swooning vocals. Finally, and outstandingly, Jessica strips things back to a distorted guitar and voice on ‘Moonrise’. Shorn of the layers of fuzz, it is a simple, beautiful and fitting catharsis to an epic voyage. MWWB are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre.

Like a book club - only with albums.A simple, but beautiful concept

MJ McArthy (Zoey Van Goey) asked a small group of his pals to gather at The Laurieston – that mystical voodoo Glasgow boozer…that adored bar that defies all reason and logic – and they would talk about a record, track by track, and see what happens.They didn't know each other. There were theatre people:, Playwrite Douglas Maxwell, Isobel McArthur (actress and writer, the genius behind smash hit Pride and Prejudice Sort Of) and Cathy Forde (acclaimed YA novelist and playwright) and Rhona NicDhughaill who works for Gaelic arts company Theatre Gu Leor, as well as being an old band buddy of MJ's from their student days. Peter Geoghegan, award- winning firebrand political journalist and writer of the wonderful Democracy For Sale was there. And lastly - and slightly freaking them out on that very first night - were two actual Delgados: Emma Pollock and Paul
Savage.

And then…MJ had songs. MJ always has songs. And he started to wonder if this particular group of humans could, as well as talk about an album, make an album? For the musicians I don't suppose that was a particularly weird notion, but for the rest of the band it was quite a leap. However, MJ was adamant…let Album



Club become ALBUM CLUB. The Band!

Stunning debut release from RAFRAM aka Irdial legend Ramjac Corporation and the Toronto legend (& honorary Glaswegian) Raf Reza.
300 copies only, full printed sleeves plus riso insert.

Orphic Apparition is a new label born out of a transatlantic meeting of minds. Facilitated by a long, hedonistic party in one of present-day London’s ‘meanwhile use’ venues Grow Tottenham, Canadian producer Raf Reza and British acid house luminary Paul Chivers spent a precious day in the studio to record a 3 hour straight to DAT session before Reza's return to Canada. The result of this spontaneous yet intuitive collaboration blurs the lines between Chiver’s long-standing Ramjac Corporation alias and Reza’s genre-spanning approach to dub, breaks and house styles. Part of the early 90s rave scene and an important member of the blueprint-setting Irdial label, Ramjac locks heads with the self-professed ‘lazy music guy from Toronto’ to adapt their studio session into five separate mixdowns.

‘In The Grow’ begins with a bouncy, cut-up sounding Errorsmith-esque rhythm, the recurring fright night melody that distinguishes the record coming in all quick and powerful. The A2 ‘Rotten Mix’ offers a more traditional house approach in its composition, with dub FX and a nice DJ friendly outro. On the final uptempo choice the pair opt for a head-scrambling electro take. Choose your fighter! The ‘Swampy Dub’ on the flip really dismantles everything we’ve heard prior, slo-mo drums allowing a much different DJ experience and altering the freaky synthetic propulsion into an almost modern classical sound. A little like Paul Dresher’s eternal ‘Channels Passing’ (tip). Combined with the other edits this version almost becomes a totally different track. The final ‘Rootless Dub’ gives its clues in the title, removing all the tough drum sounds and allowing for an ambient decompression.

Orphic Apparition will return soon.

Soul Jazz Records are releasing PUNK 45: I’m A Mess, a new collection of punk and D-I-Y rare 45s from the UK, as a one-off pressing limited-edition double album with a bonus 45 exclusive
for Record Store Day 2022.

Soul Jazz Records’ long-lasting Punk 45 series are high-quality editions of early punk 45s. While previous editions have focussed on the early days of punk in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Akron, France, and proto-punk, this new edition focusses on mainly do-it-yourself, or self-released 45s, all made in the UK in the early days of punk.
While only a handful of Punk 45s were released in 1976, the following two years produced an avalanche of them. Aside from the few punk bands who signed to major labels, many of these singles were self-released private press 45s or independent label 45s. With limited distribution and access to the media, many of these sunk without trace and were lost in history. This album features many of these independent punk 45 gems, lost nuggets of gold from the sea of time!
The bands featured here come from all across the United Kingdom. Here you will find The Drive, Scotlands’ answer to the New York Dolls, Dansette Damage from Newcastle, Stormtrooper, from the Isle of Wight and many more - a snapshot of some of the finest private-press 45s ever made.

Other bands include Cybermen, The Exile, Neon as well as the early punk incarnations Johnny and The Self-Abusers (who later became Simple Minds) and The Killjoys (with vocals by Kevin Rowland who later formed Dexy’s Midnight Runners).

These are all one-off and super rare releases from bands that you have probably never heard of! – totally hidden gems from the wastelands of the early days of punk. Totally in keeping with the
spirit of the time, this is high-octane, righteously-independent - DIY or die!

The RSD special edition comes with an exclusive 45 of Stormtrooper ‘I’m A Mess’/’It’s Not Me’.

Repress

Growing Bin burst into 2018 with a bang, crash and symbol splash, uniting a premier pair of per-cussion obsessives for a supernatural mission into the heart of the rhythm.
Dressed in the pitch black of Du¨sseldorf stands Wolf Mu¨ller, master of the tropical drums and seven time Salon Des Amateur breakdance champion. Repping Cologne and Berlin is Niklas Wandt, Germany's funkiest drummer and a mixed musical artist as adept in experimental jazz as demen- ted Euro dance. Standing toe to toe in a no holds barred, no drum unstruck groove contest, these two titans will make you swing your pants like a Crash Bandicoot victory dance...so stretch out and step in to ‚Instrumentalmusik von der Mitte der World'.

Taking to their task with the joyful abandon of two big kids getting creative with the Kindergar- ten music tray, Mu¨ller & Wandt marry dripping electronics, Froesean pads and rubber-limbed basslines with tribal polyrhythms, C2 claps and Indonesian shakers - and that's only on the A1. Comprising of three trance-inducing epics, a handful of medium-sized movers and a couple of freeform interludes, this dynamic double pack could almost pass as a lost Library masterpiece, but our mind guides go Furthur, fusing esoteric funk and free-jazz freak-out a truly transportive experience. Prepare to enter a world of techno totems and neon skulls, shades of Yello and excel- lent birds. Within these grooves lies a transdimensional pathway between the Temple of Doom, the Twilight Zone and De Palma's Paradise, brought to life in a shamanic rite.

Forget the healing frequencies of Growing Bin's ambient outings, this time we're dancing for mental health.

(words by Patrick Ryder)

First vinyl pressing is Limited to 1500 copies in 2 Colour variants. Transparent Aquamarine and green twisted stripe and transparent blue and cherry twisted stripe vinyl (Indies Only). Gatefold sleeve. Full download included as well. CD package is a 4 panel digipack, with a 4 page booklet. New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as MWWB. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, MWWB are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album ‘The Harvest’. ‘The Harvest’ is the band’s fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy MWWB sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. To some extent, it shares similarities with Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Not only by having the mix of experimentation and melodicism as that seminal record, but also in the way that it has been engineered and constructed as a seamless piece. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With ‘The Harvest’ MWWB have refined and honed their sound, it’s a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). MWWB have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. MWWB provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. ‘Oblok Magellana’ and its spooky atmospherics set the scene. before things really kick in with the riffs of title track ‘The Harvest’. A grooving Sabbathian chug intro’s Jessica Ball, who at the top of her game throughout. Her voice simultaneously sweet yet dark; almost neofolk; which when put against those riffs, is always a startling juxtaposition, nevertheless it perfectly crystallises MWWB’s distinctive dynamic. ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is a succinctly crafted nugget of John Carpenter-esque drama, you can imagine the thundering mothership forging its way through the universe on some nameless quest before encountering ‘Logic Bomb’ and its fat fuzzed-up ride through light and shade guitar/vocal interplay. Ball’s voice soaring and shimmering throughout. ‘Betrayal’ gives a nod to Pink Floyd’s ‘On The Run’ but with its freaky spoken word and four on the floor kick it’s almost a dance track, yet there’s no incongruity here. ‘Altamira’ is epic MWWB, adding large doses of psych into a melodic concoction of dreampop and metal. Ball’s vocals here are many layered and textured effortlessly gliding through the weight of the backing. ‘Let’s Send The Bastards Whence They Came’ is another little gem. A plaintive repeating synth figure that builds with bass, drums, mellotrons and synths into ‘Strontium’ which rounds off the album’s ‘heavy’ numbers, a blend of monster grooves, and Ball’s swooning vocals. Finally, and outstandingly, Jessica strips things back to a distorted guitar and voice on ‘Moonrise’. Shorn of the layers of fuzz, it is a simple, beautiful and fitting catharsis to an epic voyage. MWWB are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre. MWWB are Jessica Ball, vocals and synths. Paul Michael Davies, guitar and synths. Stuart Sinclair, bass and Dom McCready, drums.

First vinyl pressing is Limited to 1500 copies in 2 Colour variants. Transparent Aquamarine and green twisted stripe and transparent blue and cherry twisted stripe vinyl (Indies Only). Gatefold sleeve. Full download included as well. CD package is a 4 panel digipack, with a 4 page booklet. New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as MWWB. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, MWWB are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album ‘The Harvest’. ‘The Harvest’ is the band’s fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy MWWB sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. To some extent, it shares similarities with Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Not only by having the mix of experimentation and melodicism as that seminal record, but also in the way that it has been engineered and constructed as a seamless piece. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With ‘The Harvest’ MWWB have refined and honed their sound, it’s a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). MWWB have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. MWWB provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. ‘Oblok Magellana’ and its spooky atmospherics set the scene. before things really kick in with the riffs of title track ‘The Harvest’. A grooving Sabbathian chug intro’s Jessica Ball, who at the top of her game throughout. Her voice simultaneously sweet yet dark; almost neofolk; which when put against those riffs, is always a startling juxtaposition, nevertheless it perfectly crystallises MWWB’s distinctive dynamic. ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is a succinctly crafted nugget of John Carpenter-esque drama, you can imagine the thundering mothership forging its way through the universe on some nameless quest before encountering ‘Logic Bomb’ and its fat fuzzed-up ride through light and shade guitar/vocal interplay. Ball’s voice soaring and shimmering throughout. ‘Betrayal’ gives a nod to Pink Floyd’s ‘On The Run’ but with its freaky spoken word and four on the floor kick it’s almost a dance track, yet there’s no incongruity here. ‘Altamira’ is epic MWWB, adding large doses of psych into a melodic concoction of dreampop and metal. Ball’s vocals here are many layered and textured effortlessly gliding through the weight of the backing. ‘Let’s Send The Bastards Whence They Came’ is another little gem. A plaintive repeating synth figure that builds with bass, drums, mellotrons and synths into ‘Strontium’ which rounds off the album’s ‘heavy’ numbers, a blend of monster grooves, and Ball’s swooning vocals. Finally, and outstandingly, Jessica strips things back to a distorted guitar and voice on ‘Moonrise’. Shorn of the layers of fuzz, it is a simple, beautiful and fitting catharsis to an epic voyage. MWWB are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre. MWWB are Jessica Ball, vocals and synths. Paul Michael Davies, guitar and synths. Stuart Sinclair, bass and Dom McCready, drums.

In the 1990s, Malka Family landed from the planet Kif to convert France to their vibrant and crazy madness made of euphoric riffs and glittering suits. Direct heirs of George Clinton and his cosmic P-Funk, they quickly burned stages around the world with this communicative energy which only large ensembles have the secret to. France, Europe, Japan, Africa, Canada… They will be forced to stop in the early 2000s replaced by DJs and computers.

2021. June 5th. Three years after the reformation of the band, Ground Control received a message from "Major Thom" - the astronaut Thomas Pesquet himself. The post is clear! Le Retour du Kif produced in 2018 is played in space… @Thom_astro and all the crew members of the ISS are totally fans of the Malka Family’s Music!

A new era begins, the Jedi of Funk have swept away the machines and their logarithmic music, groove and heavyweight Funk reign in the galaxy once again. The Malka Family is releasing a new 14 track album, SuperLune, a crazy and heavenly funk combo!

This time, back to Malka Family’s old recipes. They spend hours, nights in the studio, writing songs, arranging horns, recording vocals, slapping the bass guitar… "SuperLune is a more introspective album, we did everything without any restrictions, and our funk is more accomplished than ever…" says Jo Mannix fresh out from mixing the album. French Radio Nova tells: "In their spaceship, the bass is definitely queen. From your head to your feet and (especially) through your buttocks, “Blue Funk” will awaken your senses. Without even realizing it, you've already been swept up in the crazy storm of the Malka Family. All the ingredients are there: the dance, the music and an atmosphere that only they have the secret to…" Last but not least, to accompany the interplanetary release of SuperLune, Malka re-embark in their spaceship for the next cosmic tour. Let’s go to the Moon! The SuperLune!

A-side from the recent album “Back In Mono”! B-side a new track, exclusive to this 7”! The A-side 'Misfits & Freaks' is a standout track from the The Courettes' third album, Back In Mono. It comes backed with an exclusive new song 'Killer Eyes'. Cheer up, cheer up! It's the end of the world! “We wrote 'Misfits & Freaks' after a bittersweet concert in France in 2020, on our last tour in the pre-pandemic world. We played on the very evening France went in its first lockdown - our show at 9 pm, lockdown at midnight. Back then, nobody actually knew what was a lockdown, what was a pandemic and what the hell we were getting into, so people that day really partied as if there was no tomorrow. The audience and us, we were really having a party at the end of the world! That's how we felt that day: at the end of the world as we once knew it. And I guess we were right on that. It's also an ode to all the misfits & freaks, a call to our punk rock community. We were worried about the possible consequences of the pandemics, with venues being closed and the economic choking of independent and experimental artists. The fear of a boring new world without places to breathe and drift away from the established mainstream cultural diet, a boring new world without the community feeling that only a rock show can create. A call against the normalisation of Netflix and isolation, a hope that us misfits and freaks would survive. And now, two years later, we can say that we did. Cheer up!”

Vinyl Only

Marshall Applewhite has returned from the red planet with a new discovery in tow, his Lowercase EP! As a musical pioneer he needs little introduction but a few lauds include: the creation of an entire genre of electronic music, starting legendary label YoSucka! featuring his hit release "Go Home", now running a fantastic and creative label project called Junted sharing experimental and strange sounds. For all those in the Detroit techno community, his music has been an inspiration and his devil may care attitude is a welcome refreshment from the often overly serious and judgemental air of the industry. These tracks once again change up his style, leaning a bit more toward a house groove, but with plenty of his signature freakish basslines and trippy vocal samples to ride along. Released via PITS, a Detroit-based electronic music label run by cohort John Joe XO. The project is entering its fifth year of life this summer of 2021, so in celebration this special edition release will also be shared on 12" vinyl. The label has seen support from many artists over the years including Exos, Blazej Malinkowski, Justin Carter, Laurent Garnier, John FM, and more.

Rocksteady Disco returns with a package of officially licensed remixes of Brasilian master percussionist Dudu Tucci. As you’ve come to expect from the Rocksteady Disco family the release is a diverse one, starting with the peak hour acid vibes of “Luana (Pontchartrain Tuluminati Dub)”. Rounding out the A-side is the pensive and moody driving afro house of “Pai Benedeto (Kiko Navarro Remix feat. Carlos Mena)”, complete with a monologue reminding us why we get together in front of soundsystems and dance. On the B-side Blair French puts his foot in “Luana” only the way he can, with tons of drums and a dread bassline for the after hour freaks. Peter Croce closes out the release with his sensual Balearic-meets-Donald-Fagen remix of “Shakehands” featuring a stellar synth solo from Topher Horn. Cut loud to high quality wax, don’t sleep.

Grace Cummings is an actor and musician from Melbourne, Australia. Grace
learned piano as a child and took up the guitar as a young adult, but only
began to write and perform music in 2018. She went from a debut gig at
Melbourne’s Old Bar to a breakthrough performance at Boogie Festival in the
space of six months, picking up support slots with J Mascis and Evan Dando
along the way.
 With buzz building around her powerhouse live show, Grace grabbed the
attention of Flightless Records (King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard), who
released her debut album, ‘Refuge Cove’, in late 2019. Refuge Cove won
praise from publications around the world, including Pitchfork and All Music,
and Grace was tapped for support slots with Weyes Blood, Cash Savage,
Teskey Brothers and Allah-Lahs.
 In 2020, Grace recorded the single ‘Sweet Matilda’ for Mexican Summer’s
‘Through the Looking Glass’ series before landing a worldwide deal with
indie powerhouse ATO Records (Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, King
Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard). Her sophomore album, ‘Storm Queen’, is
now set for release.
 Available on CD and opaque white vinyl. (Once the coloured vinyl format has
sold out, a standard vinyl format - ATO0589LP - will be made available.)
 A graduate of the drama program at the Victorian College of the Arts, Grace
appeared in Elbow Room’s award-winning production ‘Prehistoric’, which
played to packed houses and widespread critical acclaim at the 2018
Edinburgh Fringe. In 2021, she made her debut with the Melbourne Theatre
Company in 2021, in Joanna Murray-Smith’s ‘Berlin’.
 “Cummings isn’t content to merely sing along to her melodies. She tears her
low, surging voice to shreds, braying like she’s beckoning you from the
opposite end of a crowded room. It adds an eerie, intense quality to her
music - a desperation behind the calm of her arrangements.” - Pitchfork
 “One of Melbourne’s hottest new talents... filled with raw power.” - Beat
Magazine
 “Cummings has a voice that demands to be heard, while her lyrics cut
through to the heart, leaving listeners gasping for air.” - Folk Radio UK
 “Like a combination of Sandy Denny, Odetta, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen
and Marianne Faithfull... as the last piano chord ends, you are left wanting
more.” - Your Music Radar
 “There’s a striking androgyny in her tone, it brings the power needed for
these songs to make you stop and listen...Her wit is very sharp and it bites
back with cunning rhetoric.” - Stomp and Stammer
 “Take notice of Cummings as a fresh new Australian talent.” - X-Press Mag

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

Back in 1994, when Lambchop first lurched lackadaisically into public view, they seemed to many people freakish, outlandish, destined at best for the pages of photocopied fanzines and the graveyard hours of specialist radio stations. A sprawling collective of Nashville musicians —eleven were credited on the sleeve of I Hope You’re Sitting Down / Jack’s Tulips, one of them apparently responsible for “open-end wrenches” —they’d named themselves after a sock puppet, inexplicably given their album two titles, and stuck a painting on the cover of a small, barefooted child holding a dog whose cock and balls are on proud display. Perhaps to counteract this bold depiction of canine masculinity, the inner sleeve offered a black-and-white shot of what the more refined sometimes call a “lady garden.” The back cover offered a painting detail of a wedding dress. So far, so weird.

Where Lambchop brought us was somewhere so singular and bewilderingly gripping that — to perhaps no one’s greater surprise than
the band themselves, whose homeland remained baffled for quite some years to come — the album ended up in British music paper NME’s Top 50 Albums of the Year. In case anyone were to consider this an anomaly, France’s similarly influential Les Inrockuptibles placed it at number 25 on their own list. Not bad for a band who had gathered since the mid-1980s, once a week, purely for pleasure, in that smoky, dimly lit basement. Not bad, either, for a record whose sessions were initially only expected to produce enough material for a handful of 7 -inch singles. Disheveled yet tender, anarchic yet intricate, I Hope You’re Sitting Down / Jack’s Tulips instead provided the springboard for a career — still ongoing, despite repeated reinventions, and still compelled by stubbornly freakish, outlandish intentions — during which Lambchop’s ever-changing line-up has continued to confound expectations. Wagner, meanwhile, remains one of our most cryptic but crucial voices, an authentic poet of the magical banal. Sure, it was weird here, but it was wonderful, too. Over a quarter century later, it still is.

NOW Music is delighted to introduce our new sub-brand ‘NOW Presents…’. This new series starts with ‘NOW Presents… The 1970s’, the first-ever NOW vinyl boxset featuring 5 LPs uniquely designed to reflect the era.

The boxset is a musical time capsule of the decade that saw so many different genres find chart success. Across its 74 tracks over 10 sides of vinyl, the massive hits sit alongside enduring classics from each year. The set not only includes 5 beautifully designed front covers on the individual albums (that slot into a rigid slip case), but also features track by track annotations with chart positions and facts about the artists and songs.

Each year, 1970-1979 is presented as 1 side of each LP… Kicking off with the iconic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel from the biggest selling album of the year, and of the decade. 1970 also includes Motown classics from Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and the debut hit ‘I Want You Back’ from the Jackson 5.

1971 includes the seminal ‘What’s Going On’ from Marvin Gaye, alongside Elton John’s breakthrough – the timeless ‘Your Song’, Rod Stewart’s breakthrough ‘Maggie May’, and The Who’s defining rock anthem ‘Baba O’Riley’.

The charts in 1972 began to reflect the popularity of ‘Glam Rock’ – and ‘Virginia Plain’ by Roxy Music, and ‘Metal Guru’ by T. Rex are included, as is the David Bowie-produced ‘Perfect Day’ from Lou Reed.

‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ – one of the most beautiful songs, and vocals ever from Roberta Flack opens 1973’s side – and is joined by, amongst others, Billy Joel’s signature song ‘Piano Man’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.

1974 celebrates Queen having their first Top 5 single with ‘Killer Queen’, and title tracks from two of the decades’ biggest selling albums: Paul McCartney & Wings with ‘Band On The Run’, and ‘Tubular Bells’ from Mike Oldfield.

John Lennon released ‘Imagine’ in 1971 – but it became a UK hit in 1975, and so, starts this side… and finds space for some of the year’s perfect pop from Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, David Essex, 10cc, and the biggest hit ‘Bye Bye Baby’ from Bay City Rollers, at the peak of their popularity.

ABBA enjoyed 7 UK Number 1’s in the 1970s, and their biggest was the enduringly popular ‘Dancing Queen’ which leads into 1976. Electric Light Orchestra had a huge hit with ‘Livin’ Thing’, as did Thin Lizzy with ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ – plus Joan Armatrading emerged with ‘Love And Affection’.

1977 saw Fleetwood Mac release their mega-selling album ‘Rumours’, and from it ‘Don’t Stop’ is here, as is Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ – one of the most influential dance tracks of all time – and one of 1977’s favourite TV stars, David Soul, enjoyed a #1 single with ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’.

With ‘Wuthering Heights’, Kate Bush not only had 4 weeks at number 1 in 1978, but became the first female artist to achieve this with a self-written song. The Jam, The Boomtown Rats and Siouxsie And The Banshees all found consistent success as Punk & New Wave established new chart stars.

1979 concludes the set and opens with the iconic ‘London Calling’ from The Clash, and includes two of the biggest bands of the era, The Police and Blondie. A couple of years later the first video played on MTV would be ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ from The Buggles – and it’s fitting that this is the final track on the collection, a #1 in late 1979 – it signposted the synth-pop wave that would define the early 80s…. (but that’s a different box set).

Prodigal son of the ESP Institute, Juan Ramos, rises from the cesspool of a world gone mad with 'Agua Del Cenote', his fifth release with the label. Whilst many artists are following their inner light to bring us some much needed joy amidst these rotten times, Juan (being the little shit that he is) follows an inner demon and delivers listeners and dancers a demented clusterfuck of sadistic chaos. The title track opens with what sounds like a butane torch and we metaphorically freebase into oblivion. Our perception of reality unravels, writhing in abrasive textures smeared across a low-slung, mid-tempo erotic thump. Everything feels blurry and distant, as if we’re swimming through an underground aquatic tunnel, in a panic, searching for an invisible band of spirits whose tune summons us into certain annihilation. Following this is a remix from a decorated lord of 20th Century electronics, Harald Grosskopf AKA The Synthesist. Harald wipes away grit and lethargy to reveal elements hidden deep within the mix as well as softens Juan’s sense of terror by building up to an optimistic layer of added synth. We’d love to offer some relief with the balance of the EP, however, the remaining two tracks paint complimentary hues in the same cerebral palette. 'Let It Go (Freaks Only)' veers closely to House in terms of tempo and gestalt, utilizing a vocal sample from Third Generation (Kerri Chandler) and a healthy dose of sub bass, but Juan hardly apologizes for his masochistic tendencies and certainly never relents into an uplifting mood. Closing the EP, Juan serves an antidote of sorts with 'Cuko', as if suggesting a way out of the swamp, but leaves it up to the listener’s intuition to not only see the carrot, but actually follow it into the light, thus completing the quest.

M_SESSIONS - THE PROCESS

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations.

The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm.
The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

M_DOKUMENTE // THE BOOK - THE RECORDS - THE EXHIBITION

The project M_Dokumente focuses on the All Female bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador in the West Berlin music and art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. We celebrate this 40 years retrospetive with a big festival weekend from 21.-24.10.2021 at Silent Green from a explicitly female perspective.
The three bands around their members Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut played concerts in different formations from 1979 on, released records and toured around the world. The self-determined appearance of the musicians was new, raised some eyebrows and was reflected both in the music and the lyrics, but also in their unique style and the genre-crossing approach of "more art in the music, more music in the art". To this day, the bands are considered visionary, they shaped a new image of women in pop culture and are pioneers and role models for the still important and necessary emancipatory movement in the music industry. Far beyond the borders of Berlin.

3Ms

The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers. (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

Das brandneue Studioalbum des brasilianisch-dänischen Garage-Rock-Duos! The Courettes präsentieren stolz ihr drittes Album, Back In Mono. Es ist ein Meilenstein in ihrer bisherigen Karriere. "Spit 'n'Snarl Garage Rumble-meets-Phil Spector Pop", der die Band in Bestform zeigt - großartiges Songwriting, Spector-esque Arrangements, mit weiteren Nuancen, Einflüssen und Produktionsqualitäten, die ihr Garagenrock-Rezept ergänzen. Vierzehn wagnerianische Teenie-Tragödien-Meisterwerke - es ist, als wären The Ronettes und The Ramones zu einer wilden Party in die Echokammer der Gold Star Studios eingeladen worden. Fuzz-Gitarren, laute Drums, trashige Pianos, Jingle Bells, Tamburine und dreiminütige Dancefloor-Garagenkiller, bei denen eine Wall of Sound die Songs aus den Lautsprechern schmettert! Produziert und aufgenommen von Soren Christensen in den Starr Sound Recording Studios in Dänemark und abgemischt vom Top-Produzenten und Wall of Sound-Liebhaber Seiki Sato in Japan.

David Wrench and Evangeline Ling - aka audiobooks - threw
absolutely everything at their 2018 debut album, ‘Now! (in a
minute)’, a hectic, head-spinning blast of freewheeling freak-pop
genius. On its follow-up, ‘Astro Tough’, via Heavenly
Recordings, they’ve somehow found a way to ramp things up
even further, concentrating their chaotic energy and inherent
weirdness into a record that’s bigger, deeper and more powerful
han even its predecessor.
“The first album was a photograph of the beginnings of the
project, recorded without any overall plan,” Wrench explains.
“‘Astro Tough’ is more scripted, but a script that still allowed for
ots of improvised scenes. There was more intention behind the
songs, and a lot more refining. We weren’t precious about
everything being spontaneous and a first take, like on the first
record, even though some of it ended up being that. We made a
ot more material for this record, but chose the tracks that best
worked together as an album.”
Multi-instrumentalist and super-producer Wrench is as
comfortable unleashing monolithic psychedelic wig-outs and
heavy dub-driven monsters as he is crafting irresistible synthpop bangers. Writer, vocalist and visual artist Ling is as
chameleonic as she is charismatic, able to jump from
detachment to rawness to aggression to tenderness to hilarity to
oe-curling awkwardness, sometimes within the same song.
Though the record is a product of increased refinement, the pair
were physically together only in bursts, cramming sessions
around their respectively hectic calendars. “We had much less
time together than on the first record, but every time I did see
David that thirst and the ability to come up with something was
there. I think this record is better than the first record, and I
think we’re dying to make more. We’re going to try and better it
again,” says Ling.
Eco-mix colour vinyl. Black vinyl format (HVNLP183) will be
made available once coloured vinyl is sold out.

Kamarads Records is finally back
and presents its second release made with four European producers from France & Italy,
Jef K, icon of the Parisian house has collaborated on a track with Ilyes from the new generation of electronic producers based in France and you will also find Reda Dare who you already know, an important component of the new landscape of French house.
For Italians: Nicola Brusegan, ambassador and prolific producer of a fresh and romantic vintage deep house, made of analog synths and Mpc grooves and textures from Venice, and Laurent Ci who produced more of a minimalist house tinted with Romanian atmosphere and atmospheres.
The second Kamarads reference will be a Vinyl Only.

Fresh one on Music With Soul - a channel for hot 7"s that always fly out here. TIP!

"Two and a half frenetic minutes that sound like Aphex Twin and The Incredible Bongo Band dancing Capoeira in the early hours of an illegal rave, somewhere in the deep amazon forest. After the success of his first solo 45, Alex Figueira comes back to the aesthetics of the early Fumaça Preta, with an utterly bonkers 45 that can only be described as an “in-your-face acid macumba techno breakbeat funk freakout”.

The flip side contains a haunting Psychedelic ballad, with the sweet vocals of Maddie Ruthless, from NY’s leading Lovers Reggae sensation, The Far East. Equally trippy and beautiful, the soothing sounds of the Wurlitzer piano and the electric sitar will be bouncing in your head for hours after first listen. The kind of song that finds collectors dropping eye-popping sums, decades after the original release. Guarantee your retirement now by getting a few copies! The song “Maracas” is the main theme of the movie “Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” directed by fellow record nerds Matteo Fava and Dave Potsma. They managed to convince Figueira to play the main character, and later on, to do the complete music score. The movie tells the story of a struggling underground musician / part time record store clerk, whose music career is basically going nowhere until an improbable encounter gives his life a dramatic turn. They asked Figueira to give them something with “a fresh tropicalized take on Blacksploitation”. One might argue, after listening to the insanity carved on the grooves of this piece of vinyl, that he certainly did deliver.

The characteristic mix of synthesizers and heavy percussion used by Figueira in almost all his projects, gains here a somewhat freer dimension, embracing the chaos openly, without ever neglecting the groove, nor the ancestry axis. Values that are at the core of the label. Even while laying down all the instruments himself, Figueira has managed to capture the same out of control tropical psychedelic spirit of his former band, Fumaça Preta. Fans of the group’s outfit will certainly be rejoiced by this new release.

The flip carries “Grasping & Wishing”, an evocative Psych ballad that retains the same tripped-out flair of the A side, while slowing down the tempo considerably with a decidedly african 6/8 beat. Sung by New Orleans’ own “Rocksteady Queen”, Maddie Ruthless, stepping out of her classic Reggae background, to grace the track with her beautiful voice, permeating the issues of belonging, doubt and introspective reflection portrayed in the lyrics, with a thin layer of exquisite fragility that will comfort your ears.

The production includes a significant number of sound effects, ranging from different types of percussion performed with liquids to bamboo flutes of different sizes and several layers of multiprocessed electric Sitar tracks. Listen carefully and you will discover new sonic nounces every time you put the record on."

“One of the vital pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of ’90s British rock music.” Pat Gilbert, Mojo magazine While his own name has yet to grace an album front cover, for more than a twenty years Gem Archer has been a key contributor to some of the UK’s highest profile guitar bands, beginning with Oasis in 2000, Beady Eye in 2009 and the touring version of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds since 2015.
Before all that there was Heavy Stereo, caught up in the mid ‘90s music maelstrom where their only album ‘Déjà Voodoo’ took its place alongside Paul Weller’s ‘Stanley Road’, The Charlatans’ ‘Telling Stories’, Super Furry Animals’ ‘Fuzzy Logic’, Supergrass’s ‘I Should Coco’, The Boo Radley’s ‘Giant Steps’, Ride’s ‘Carnival Of Light’ – and, of course, ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ by Oasis. It is easy to understand why any album could get overlooked in such exalted company. ‘Déjà Voodoo’ and the four singles – ‘Sleep Freak’, ‘Smiler’, ‘Chinese Burn’ and ‘Mouse In A Hole’ – all display Gem’s deeply held affection for old-school rock’n’roll values. In 1994/95, the outside world came into sync with his fondness for The Jam, Sly Stone, Hendrix, The Beatles, the Stones, The Small Faces, Motown, Stax, glam rock, punk rock and all other points on the compass of rock’n’roll cool, which coalesced into what became known as Britpop. And while those influences are in ‘Déjà Voodoo’ for all to hear, the album is far from derivative; this is a collection of well-constructed pop songs that still retain their swagger and zest.
Unavailable since it was first released on Creation Records in 1996, this new 25th anniversary 180g clear vinyl edition is a faithful recreation of the original 12-track LP.

The furious double LP "AL AZRAQAYN" documents KARKHANA (with members of KONSTRUKT, THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA, LAND OF KUSH, PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET, "A" TRIO) at their very best and intense: live on stage.

Consisting of seven of the most adventurous and innovative artists from the Middle Eastern experimental scene (and a veteran jazz percussionist from Chicago), KARKHANA are surely among the most unique and interesting ensembles around. When MAURICE LOUCA (THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA), SAM SHALABI (LAND OF KUSH, THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA), UMUT ÇAĞLAR (KONSTRUKT), MAZEN KERBAJ ("A" TRIO, JOHNNY KAFTA ANTI-VEGETARIAN ORCHESTRA), MICHAEL ZERANG (PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET), SHARIF SEHNAOUI ("A" TRIO, ORCHESTRA OMAR) and TONY ELIEH (ORCHESTRA OMAR, JOHNNY KAFTA ANTI-VEGETARIAN ORCHESTRA ) come together to perform and / or record, the result is as diverse as their individual musical backgrounds. The septet's sound is neither retro nor avantgarde, not folklore nor jazz or rock – it's an astonishing blend of all these different styles and elements where seductive oriental melodies can intensify and turn into a psychedelic freak-out, fuelled by reeds, guitars and electronics, only to re-start again from quiet sounds till the ensemble seeks catharsis in a collective improv outburst! Defying simple categorization, and in lack of proper terms for the intense experience of KARKHANA's music (as well as the member's other projects mentioned before), someone labelled it "free Middle Eastern music".

And it's not surprising that these skilled musicians are at their best live on stage – as documented on this live recording from a furious, highly energetic concert at Bimhuis / Amsterdam!

Hereby a classic japanese acid folk tale, also credited by the wizard master Julian Cope in his ‘Japrocksampler’ top 50 list. Tokedashita Garasu Bako, or Melting Glass Box, was a studio-only project of Nishiokai Takashi (Itsutsu No Akai Fusen), “Singing Philosopher” Tetsuo Saito and Takasuke Kida (of influential psychedelic freaks Jacks). Guest musicians included Kazuhiko Kato (Folk Crusaders, Sadistic Mika Band), Kazuo Takeda (Blues Creation) and mastermind Haruomi Hosono (Apryl Fool, Happy End, YMO).

Their sole release licensed in 1970 on URC (Japanese independent record label specializing in folk, co-founded in February 1969 by Hayakawa Yoshio, guitarist for the psychedelic band Jacks) became soon after a cult record leading the way for the eastern psychedelic renaissance. An authentic lysergic trip filled with mind-blowing electric guitar leads and many studio tricks thrown in! Get lost, now or never !

Born and bred New Yorker Jean Pierre is stepping out with his own brand new label, Pakate. The vinyl-only outlet kicks off with a fantastic first EP from FLETCH featuring remixes from Pierre himself and Franco Cinelli.

This exciting new label will be an outlet for Jean and other friends to serve up mature and minimal sounds focused around unique designs and powerful grooves. Dealing in heady underground sounds that also work on larger dance floors, the label comes after Pierre has spent 15 years entrenched in the electronic scene. This is his way to carefully curate his own music exactly how he wants to, with three releases already lined up for 2021.

The first one is from FLETCH, a red hot UK talent who has released on the likes of Kaluki and Whippin’ Records. His opening tune 'Actin Up' is a slick and slippery minimal groove with real depth and freaky sound designs that make it pop. 'Want Me' then hits harder, with loopy house drums and squelchy synths all bubbling away beneath soulful female vocal sounds and cosmic synths.

The first fine remix is from France Cinelli who takes 'Actin Up' super deep, with punching kicks and rolling bass that gets you in a state of hypnosis., Closing out the package is a Jean Pierre remix of 'Want Me' that shows off his ability to lay down stripped back but compelling house grooves with deft sound design and a freaky atmosphere.

This is a standout first EP that perfectly sets the scene for what is sure to become a vital new label from this American mainstay.

This album was recorded in 1977 and produced by Status Quo’s FRANCIS ROSSI. Shockingly, this album has never been released on vinyl until now. It originally came out on CD in 1992 and is now long out of print and even that goes for good coin.

Du Cann’s stellar career included freakbeat heroes THE ATTACK (“Magic In The Air”), psych/prog legends ANDROMEDA, and the group he’s best known for, ATOMIC ROOSTER. Du Cann wrote their their #4 hit single “Devil’s Answer”. A couple of years later he was in DAEMON, later renamed BULLET, then HARD STUFF. In 1974 he was even a temporary guitarist for a THIN LIZZY German tour.

In 1977, he was signed to the same management company as STATUS QUO, who paired him with Quo leader, Francis Rossi. The resulting album, “The World’s Not Big Enough” included Rossi on guitar, Andy Bown (The Herd, Judas Jump, Status Quo) on keyboards, Pete Kircher (Honeybus, Status Quo, Liverpool Express) on drums, and John McCoy (Ian Gillian, Tyla Gang, U.K. Subs) on bass. Basically, this is Du Cann backed by Status Quo at their Belt Buckle Boogie peak.

A few songs from this album appeared on killer late 70s Punxploitation singles “Throw Him Jail”, “Don’t Be A Dummy” (a UK Top 40 hit!), and “Where’s The Show”. This album has been described as “Quo mixed with the Sex Pistols”, and we can’t disagree with that assessment.

Roman Flügel is a magician. This statement is far from being a hyperbole. Just put the needle down on any record – I mean any! – of his ( collaborations included) since the early nineties and see for yourself: none of them are without that special effect. The magic works instantly. And as the thing with magic goes: it’s challenging to explain it. But I guess that is what makes it magic.

Eating Darkness is the title of his newest spell. Affected by the fundamental shock that any system got in 2020 – but not the result thereof – it is an album that could absorb it – as its name might suggest. Music and nightlife work hand in hand as escapism and as anchors or as the undercoat of social interactions. They enable people to deal with hardships as well as the burden and the joy of life. That is the starting point and hope of Eating Darkness: the outlook and invitation to enrich each and everyone’s existence.

Bound to the single LP format and reminiscent of a time with format limitations, the nine tracks are testament to Flügel’s weakness for the art of pop music with the use of little and especially short motifs. Furthermore equipped with a clear instrumentation and without any camouflage, Eating Darkness corresponds to his idea of a virtual band.

As it happens, the opener is called The Magic Briefcase. That sits not only well with my first sentence, but pretty much embodies the album and Roman Flügel’s apparatus in an alternative title: Crystal clear sounds and melodies bounce on and off the dance floor, living room and club are pulled together and transcendental moments take turns with the tangibility of reality. After all, that is how a real magician allures you.

Negativland’s mirror image sequel to last year’s True False, The World Will Decide turns the focus away from the very human inability to accurately define reality, and towards the technologies being built to do a better job at it. But if sorting true from false seemed like a full time job back when all one had to keep track of was one’s own mind, life alongside the machines built to connect everyone only seems to multiply the uncertainties. On The World Will Decide, those uncertainties are made almost deliriously danceable: a netweb of densely sampled voices melting speech back down into music and back again, into what everyone can agree are the real questions—did that firefly really land on your finger? Would you like to be arrested? Does this app connect you to people, or replace them? Is this post an example of inauthentic behavior? Do people have to die? Or, as one of the many sampled voices on this work assures the listener: we can really feel like we’re here.

Sun Milk was recorded in two months, a much quicker process than the three years spent on their previous release, Flowers. The band recorded the album at the Pharmacy, Vroom’s home studio in Toronto, located above an actual pharmacy. It was the first album to be recorded after Little Kid solidified their live lineup, with Boothby, Vroom, and Germain having played together for over two years. Every song except “Like a Movie” began as a full-band live take, with overdubs performed democratically, with both Boothby and Germain layering guitars. It was also the first record to feature Lunn’s vocals, who joined the band shortly after the album’s release.

The result is a deeply affecting document of personal crisis, mirroring the dramatic changes in Boothby’s life—a breakup, living alone for the first time, beginning a new career. The lyrics have less Christian content and more personal overtones than other Little Kid records. “It was a relief when these songs came out,” says Boothby, “processing recent changes in my life, trying to take ownership of my identity and choices.” This lends a confessional warmth to the songs, a feeling of reconnecting with an old friend, sharing stories. Highlights include the off-kilter opening track “The Fourth” and the lovely, meandering “Ugly Moon.” The centerpiece of the album is “Slow Death in a Warm Bed.” A meditation on why people stay in flawed relationships, the song builds in calming repetitions until the guitars explode in the last minute, climaxing in a full-fledged distorted freakout. It’s one of the most beautiful and harrowing songs in Little Kid’s catalog.

The drifting, gentle “Dim Light Coming Down” features some of Boothby’s best lyrics. The narrator describes a person seeing “the likeness” of their own dead father “floating high above the road,” a mystical encounter rendered in the most plainspoken of terms. But Boothby quickly undercuts the moment: “But you'd been drinking when you saw him/And your mind was moving slow/Like your ears were full of cotton/So what he said you'll never know.” It’s a thwarted encounter that becomes more powerful for that very fact. Just before the song reaches its slow-building climax, Boothby sings, “Coming down/There’s a bright light/A gentle sound/Opening wide.” The transcendence does finally arrive, but it’s in the coming down, the hangover, the regular life that comes after the big moment. There's little wonder why it's become a live staple for the band.

The record is a high point in a remarkably consistent career. Looking back at Sun Milk, Boothby believes it’s one of the strongest in Little Kid’s oeuvre. “It’s probably my favorite,” says Boothby. “In general, I love slow songs, and this album is full of them. I like the structure of seven long songs—can’t think of too many albums with only seven songs. It gives the album an interesting flow.”

Clear vinyl LP (VIRUS500LPX) is for Indies only and is very limited.

Political punk rock legend returns with a much needed current situation skewering. First release in six years! Features supergroup of members of UK Subs, The Mob, Victims Family, Triclops and more!

Hot on the heels of five viral video singles, Tea Party Revenge Porn, the first full album since 2014 by Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine, is finally here! This is very strong stuff. Hear the inimitable Mr. B skewer the place the country has put itself in like no one else would or could as he and The Guantanamo School Of Medicine capture the full power of their live shows on disc as never
before.

Only so many artists have a track record of lyrics this good, and back it up with music as good or better. It’s usually one of the other, but rarely this fierce, thanks to the wall of sound production of the mysterious Marshall Lawless, with Kurt Schlegel at the board this time. Co-conspirators now feature both string-titans of longtime AT mainstay Victims Family: guitarist Ralph Spight (also Freak Accident) and wonder bassist Larry Boothroyd (also Triclops, Brubaker); plus drummer / metal percussionist Jason Willer (UK Subs, Nik Turner, Charger, The Mob).

So as germs and police riots rage, there’s no better primal scream therapy than a long-awaited new Jello Biafra album. From Dead Kennedys to Lard to the now-classic albums with the Melvins, DOA, NoMeansNo, Mojo Nixon; and of course, The Guantanamo School Of Medicine, Tea Party Revenge Porn is right up there with all of it.

They Say: “Contemporary scores for visual effect”.

We say: Synth-heavy, low-slung space-funk masterpiece.

The creator of the romping tunes that became the iconic themes to the BBC’s Grandstand programme and their televised Wimbledon Tennis Championship coverage, Keith Mansfield was perhaps KPM’s most prolific artist from the mid 1960s right the way through the 1980s. As well as the sort of pop orchestral sound that is all over these classic library records, he could also turn his hand to raw, edgy rock and funk. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, going as far as including some of Keith’s work on the soundtracks to Kill Bill and Grindhouse.

This is it. This is THE ONE for us: Keith “The Man” Mansfield’s Vivid Underscores from 1977. A sample freak’s wet dream and one of Be With Rob’s favourite ever KPM records. A must for fans of Brian Bennett’s Voyage (yes, THAT good). And no, we’ve no idea either why it took us this long to get round to tackling this monster of a record. But then again some things are worth waiting for.

Attention! Calling all crate diggers, DJs, beat heads, Hip Hop junkies, MF DOOM fans! Behold! Vivid Underscores makes sampling easy. Prepare to be up all night, every night, chopping, looping and splicing these endless grooves and spacey synths. The highlights are too many and too mind-blowing so we’ll pull out a few particular highlights. Trust us, this library LP is just jaw-dropping.

“High Velocity” sets the tone with its aggressive horns, wah-wah guitars, funky baseline and wobbly synth refrain. So good and so hypnotic that Memphis Bleek just had to swipe the ominous, frazzled intro for “What You Think of That” featuring Jay-Z. Also, for real drama, the 1985 Lakers retrospective “Return to Glory” used it to soundtrack the footage from the legendary game five of the NBA finals at the Forum. Heady days. “Crash Course” - Stetsasonic horn refrain? Beautiful - jazzy chase-funk, amazing warm keys, percussion and funky horns - all action.

The more restrained “Matter Of Urgency” is an utterly amazing, brass-heavy underscore. The grandiose, uplifting “Dawn Of Aquarius” still sounds like the future with its tense, thundering drums, killer bassline and swirling synths. Version II loses the drums and percussion but is no less startling. “Staying Power” closes the first side with a relentless, pounding groove which *will* snap your neck. Be warned.

“Trucking Company” is a pacey, synth-and-string masterpiece and its accompanying parts (a–c) mess with the formula to great effect. Part (a) adds echo delay to really dazzle and part (c) plays the breezy, beautiful middle section without the tension. “Hot Cargo” and “Espionage” are both tense spy-funk themes par excellence. “Interplay” is a quiet killer, with flutes over a glistening piano refrain just waiting to be looped. The intro to the menacing “Omen” might’ve been sampled by 7L & Esoteric for their classic “So Glorious” but the entire 5 minute track is a mini-drama masterpiece, one only Mansfield could create.

Even though its a mix of short themes in-and-amongst longer, full-length tracks, Vivid Underscores is still thoroughly listenable from start to finish. That’s not something that can be said of all library records and it still manages to serve as rich resource to keep even the keenest samplers busy for a while.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Vivid Underscores comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand ident

As a rock icon and filmmaker with a unique vision, ROB ZOMBIE has continuously challenged audiences as he stretches the boundaries of both music and film. He has sold more than fifteen million albums worldwide, and is the only artist to experience unprecedented success in both music and film as the writer/director of eight feature films with a worldwide gross totaling more than $150 million.
ROB ZOMBIE has achieved great success in the music industry, first as a member of the multi-platinum band WHITE ZOMBIE and later as a solo artist with even greater results collecting numerous multi-platinum and gold albums along the way including Hellbilly Deluxe, The Sinister Urge and Educated Horses. In 2013, the seven-time GRAMMY® nominee released his fifth solo album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, on his Zodiac Swan label through UMe. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and spawned two Top 10 Active Rock singles, “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Super Town” and Zombie’s spin on GRAND FUNK RAILROAD’s anthemic “We’re An American Band.”
In April 2016, ZOMBIE released his 6th studio album, The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 making it the sixth consecutive release to debut Top Ten. Produced by Zeuss, it was recorded and mixed at Goathouse Studios. A full return to form by the rock icon, The Electric Warlock… features John 5 (Guitar), Piggy D (Bass) and Ginger Fish (Drums).
October 2020 sees the release of the first new ZOMBIE track and video in over four years — “King Freak: A Crypt Of Preservation And Superstition” off of the forthcoming full-length album entitled The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A classic ZOMBIE album through and through with high-energy rages like The Eternal Struggles of the Howling Man and Get Loose to heavy-groove thumpers like Shadow Of The Cemetery Man and Shake Your Ass-Smoke Your Grass. This new slab of ZOMBIE madness hits in early 2021
For the past two decades ROB ZOMBIE has also directed dozens of music videos for himself as well as other artists including Ozzy Osbourne. ZOMBIE was also the first self-directed artist to win an MTV Video Music Award. He’s also directed a special episode of CBS’s CSI: Miami, two Comedy Central specials, and uncharacteristically macabre commercials for various brands.

Credited as one of the best late '60s German psych-rock albums, Bokaj Retsiem's ('meister Jakob' in reverse) Psychedelic Underground is an eccentric, soulful, acidn and fuzzy rockin' essay that clearly prefigures a part of the krautrock movement. Featuring Rainer Deigner, former guitar for the '60s beat German group Former Bonds, as the only credited musician and composer on this album (although other musicians assisted him on bass, keyboards, and that B3 Hammond and Leslie sound), this is basically Rainer's freaked-out tribute to his favorite children's song, 'Meister Jakob,' consisting in trippy instrumental sections, furiously savage E-guitar crescendos, amazing psych-rock improvisation, with just a hint of '60s US psych-garage. A real enthusiastic psych-kraut trip for fans of Vanilla Fudge, Hendrix,and Iron Butterfly.

„Well recommended for the freaks“ the Manchester based independent music specialist Boomkat once finished a review about a release of Düsseldorf based DJ and producer Tolouse Low Trax aka Detlef Weinrich (also known as one fourth of the German avant-band Kreidler). What a freak distinguished we do not really know - we just assume he walks this world on a different path. Tolouse Low Trax surely does!

The latest evidence of this fact are four tracks of whom two are remixes by befriended artists, and two are coming right out of the middle of Tolouse Low Trax’s very own sense for odd and catchy grooves. His friend Miles, also known as one-half of the experimental industrial techno and dark ambient duo Demdike Stare, puts hand on the track “Sussing”, originally released on Tolouse Low Trax’s latest album “Jeidem Fall” in 2012. He covers it with an enigmatic, shadowy veil in terms of sounds, space, and obscure driving arpeggios in order to give the track a “brighter haze” feeling. A subliminal hypnotic transformation that swings with a unique dark and demanding drive. The second remix was done by Wolf Müller, a Düsseldorf based musician that released two highly acclaimed EPs on the German DIY label Themes for Great Cities. His profession as a percussionist calls the tune as he mutates the original track “Jeidem Fall” into a tribal celestial dance tune that jacks with an Afro-Baroque elegance.

Also the two EP contributions of Tolouse Low Trax himself move on very different terrains but seem to come out of the same experimental laboratory. With “Vindeland” he delivers a track full of dark synthlines and drunken shuffled patterns that morphs into a nervous soigné sensation. In contrast his arrangement “Eisenbahnzunge” starts with a celestial arpeggio until a strange alienated voice appears and everything melts layer by layer into an elliptical ambient experiment beyond the usual definition. Both tracks are deeply rooted in Tolouse Low Trax’s very own spontaneous minimal hardware approach of producing bold, hypnotic dance-not-dance music that shall not only illuminate the so called freaks!

This is the 1973 solo album by Ghanaian percussionist Anthony Kwaku Bah, who was given the nickname „Reebop“ by American
jazz legend Dizzie Gillespie. He passed away early at the age of 39 in Stockholm in 1983, but before made himself a name for his
works with UK 70s rock heroes TRAFFIC and German Krautrockers CAN, amongst others. If you might expect here the prototypical
Afro Beat and Afro Rock you mostly know from British bands, you will be surprised that this is only one part of the deal. Yes, there
are African elements to be found, buried somewhere in this boiling cauldron where polyrhythmic grooves are the base for jazz
improvisations by the brass section, that range from naughty swing and bebop, to freaked out free jazz and enchanting soul jazz
the way it was popular in the late 60s. The arrangements are utterly lush with so much going on here in every aspect that you
would get lost if there was no trace of melody to be discovered, but there they are and they tell you fantastic stories of exotic
places that only exist in your wildest dreams. Kwaku Bah’s rhythm patterns grab you by the horns and pull you into a world of
their own. Hypnotical, irresistible, hot and vivid. The tunes combine jazz, soul, funk and each one is constructed like a self –
contained story. One could imagine these tunes being used as library music for 70s movies from action to romance. All pieces
though are characterized by the constantly pulsating rhythm. To avoid drifting into the field of insubstantial disco dance music,
the performances witnessed here were executed with the highest possible emotional intensity and dedication. Lay back, close
your eyes and float away on a raft of sound upon the wild river of grooves and melodies. Some haunting Exotica jazz passages
with a typical „jungle“ feel get thrown in for the good measure. There are even vocals in an African language hard to identify,
which create and even more mysterious atmosphere. This is just an introduction part of another powerful speed funk groover but
the vocals stay and make this a clear standout track. Saxophone and guitars seem to have a duel here. You will not sit still while
having this tune „Iphonohimine“ coming down on you like a thunderstorm. Blues, Afro Beat, Psychedelic Rock, Funk, it can all be
found in here and the band goes wild into an everlasting improvisation that deprives you of your breath. Can this record get even better? Do not ask, just enjoy what comes next. If you think that some melodies by the giant brass section sound a bit too catchy
just reach out beyond these harmony lines and find yourself in a thicket of grooves, pulsations, bits and pieces of melody with a
dense, sultry atmosphere. Some smaller parts might make you think of cruise ship big bands and white suits, but everybody will
soon drop these and dance in their underwear for the hot blooded power funk base of the tune called „Africa“, which will take
over one’s soul and set it on fire. So clean, so nice and so filthy and dangerous at the same time, this album is a masterpiece of it’s
style. The exciting and very sensual funk rock of „Lovin‘ you baby“ with crazy fuzz guitars and a dark and haunting approach is
another reason to kneel down when you put this record onto your turntable. Great clean lead guitars give it a latin garage rock
edge Carlos Santana would commit serious crimes for. If you love bands like OSIBISA, Eric Burden & WAR, GINGER BAKER
AIRFORCE, SANTANA, Miles Davis, all around 1969 to 1973, this is what you always wanted to listen to. Grab your copy now.

7"
(This is...) one of Sascha Müller's weirdest, most experimental musical ideas brought to life as a limited, hand-numbered edition of 100 gold vinyl 7"es. Following the concept of recording crackling run-out grooves from various classic Pop albums and glueing them together into one crackly mess of a megamix this one is a collectors novelty piece for those searching for the most extreme, unusual vinyl releases they can get hold of. Expect looped crackles, pops, surface noise and all the good stuff related to listening to vinyl on a regular but do not expect any kind of structure or user friendly listening experience at all. This is for the die-hard collectors and vinyl freaks only.

The super-producer duo behind the mega-hit “Let’s Go Dancing” makes their return at a time when there is nowhere to go dancing to, and no us to let go dance there.

“Your home is now the club, which makes it my responsibility,” says Tiga, safe inside a thick denim containment suit. “This is not the time for relentless bangers, no matter how amazing they sound when live-streamed by the world’s loneliest DJs. ’This Is a Dream’ is an epic poem, an immunity passport to the boundless dimensions that lay beyond the veil of slow wave sleep. For I am Sleeporus, musical ferryman to the realm of night. My toll is $1.29 on Beatport, and your pillows are my decks, and also the boat. I hope that’s clear."

Immediately contradicting his no-bangers edict, Tiga describes “Crushed by Meditation” as a weirdo freakout soundtrack for washing each grape individually. This scathing commentary on poorly curated self-care employs bizarre bits of tape found in a piece of gear the two purchased before flea markets were against the law.

“Foraging is the future of sampling. But I alone believe that humanity was destined for more than living underground, eating from a can. I only pray to Father Time and Mr. Destiny that we’re not too late."

The premise for Quindi Records is simple – to represent music with a universality at its core.
Without adhering to specific genre tropes, the releases are intended to have a meaning and purpose in all kinds of situations – a social soundtrack as much as a stimulating experience,
feeding emotions and the psyche with a sentimental palette of sounds. Lovers’ music, loners’ music, music for friends and family alike.
Woo makes for a perfect choice to meet this loose concept head-on – the music of Clive and Mark Ives straddles disparate worlds and finds its own peculiar balance. On one hand it’s delicate synthesizer music with a minimalist bent, while on the other their joyous, twinkling harmonies have an immediacy that speaks to the soul. You can detect privacy in their craft – the brothers originally recorded their music in relative isolation in London in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. It’s only in recent years their sublime work has enjoyed a wider audience through an extensive run of reissues.
Arcturian Corridor ? presents a rare, previously unreleased piece of music from Woo – the expansive suite of the title track that unfurls across five parts. It’s an enchanting listen that shows a new breadth and depth to the duo – detailed drum programming and a broader palette of synth tones cascading in elegant unison. The name refers to Arcturus, the fourth brighteststar in the night sky. As Woo themselves explain, “The Arcturian Corridor is said to be a channel of light that brings unconditional love and wisdom from Arcturus to Earth.”
In addition to the 20-minute A-side piece, Woo also presents a new version of “Love On Other Planets”, a standout piece from their 1990 album ?Into The Heart of Love? . The fragile subtlety of the original has been embellished here with rich new passages that turn it into a kind of electronica epic, although still marked out with the sensitivity one expects from a Woo record.
Two remixes complete the set, both furthering Quindi’s modus operandi as a genre-agnostic force for cosmically charged music. Dublin’s Wah Wah Wino collective present their Wino Wagon manifestation for a tastefully strange house version of the fifth part of “Arcturian Corridor” that channels the freakiness of Pepe Bradock, the robo-funk of Metro Area and a soupcon of pop nous. British duo Ultramarine maintain the stylistic ambiguity as they channel decades of expressive experimentation between live band dynamics and machine soul on their version of the title track’s second chapter.

In the late 90’s, east-side LA was in the throws of a post-indie explosion; a network of stoned bands ranging from neo-psychedelia to pseudo-country overran Spaceland (our generation’s Troubadour) and the local Silverlake Lounge. I was playing freakbeat records twice a week in dive bars, half of Spacemen 3 was crashing at my house (my drop-out roomate was Sonic Boom’s tour drummer) and it was during this blur that I met Raymond Richards, a clean-cut all-American pedal steel guitarist playing in Mojave 3 (the country-tinged side project of 4AD shoegaze royalty, Slowdive). I was instantly swept off my feet, head over heals in love with Raymond's weeping tone—the most chill-inducing, emotionally responsive dialog I’d had with music since discovering Satie as a child—it was then and it is now, truly haunting. After a year of personnel trials, my roomate and I stole Raymond for our own band, and not only did he smother our songs with his enchanting steel, he was virtuosic with a variety of atypical instruments such as baritone guitar and theremin, he utilized them all. The band was short-lived—I joined Ariel Pink, Raymond fled to Portland and me subsequently to New York City—but in founding the ESP Institute years later, there was always a recurring mental note; we must make Raymond’s pedal steel album. I had managed to wrangle his blessed performance on a remix for Project Club’s El Mar Y La Luna, but it took almost a decade until I once again wore the producer hat and we began working on The Lost Art Of Wandering, a title borrowed from Sam Shepard’s Stories. Spiritually candid, expansive yet enveloping, this is the strung-out, visceral country music that simply radiates from Raymond. Each song is his set of coordinates in a vast open terrain, holding a sentimental familiarity, a truthful longing for the simple comforts that diffuse life’s complications, a place to get lost. –Lovefingers

DJ Die Soon is a local legend and ongoing inspiration in the Berlin underground electronic music scene. Remaining largely unknown outside the city, with only a handful of releases and appearances to date, the man behind the mask delivers truly freakish beats built from chaos driven crushed drums and eerie horror style basslines.

KAPPA SLAP wrenches the Morphine catalog by the neck, takes it off it’s feet and slams it back unsteadily in front of the fans who loved the Container, Metasplice and Hieroglyphic Being output of the label. DJ Die Soon delivers extreme work here. The album is a mixture of instrumental pieces and vocal tracks featuring the talents of five contrasting MC's. Three Ugandan lyricists feature: there’s MC Yallah, with whom he worked during a residency for the Nyege Nyege Festival , Lord Spikeheart from the Duma hardcore pressure band, and the mighty ECKO BAZZ. Long time friend and collaborator Infinite Livez (Ninja Tunes) appears on the cosmic & eccentric Ranthworth, and finally there’s Japan’s MA, who recently dropped the incredible AMA album on the label. Incidentally, the pair (both Japanese) decided to collaborate after acclaimed performance at the Morphine Showcase Berlin’s Berghain in 2019.

KAPPA SLAP contains a lot of our favorite sounds all in one album. Stunningly, DJ Die Soon manages to paint the Morphine picture in one hard stroke.

Artwork courtesy of Lorenzo Mason Studio

LIMITED EDITION 300 ONLY WHITE VINYL

There was a terrible egregious shift in vibration the day the transmission arrived. It came to me in a dream, as was natural for these particular occurrences, and left no time for preparation. The sound was unmistakable, a low baritone that echoed wildly and reeked of ancient fumes. A deeply monumental and monolithic apparition stood before what appeared to be a crowd of hexagonal beings. The vibrations worked through them in an apparent communicatory way, though would be impossible to translate in any logical linguistic fashion. I don’t know how but I knew they were aware of me, though their disposition was imminent of their consciousness as being collective, rather than individual; and were largely unbothered by my presence.
 
Once the transmission had finished it was clear that there had been a tamper. The kind of which Id seen  before, and had resulted in definite yet undefinable change in the fabric of reality.
 
I initially stumbled upon the odd and highly dangerous musical practices of Perhaps while on an assignment in Bermuda. There had been rumors of a local tribesman partaking in occult practices, of which I knew was native strictly to the Goat Bleeding Bad Men of the Congolese jungle. These rumors intrigued my journalistic nature, so I took the afternoon off in the hopes to possibly glean something that would be an easy pitch to a tabloid back home.
 
Upon arrival it was clear there was a strange foreign intervention within the community of the tribe, which was largely uninhabited upon first glance. Much of the surrounding foliage had been strung with the entrails of various animals and there were several disturbing fixtures composed of bones and various organs lining the commune. I managed to track down the tribesman, who appeared to be in some deep trance and was entirely unable to communicate, though seemed to be fixated on a single task: the drawing of a peculiar symbol. My researching the symbol resulted in only one hit, a piece of musical literature by a band Perhaps, who I later found to be recording in the area just weeks before.
 
It didn’t take long for me to become fully fixated on Perhaps, who were anything but coy about their whereabouts and metaphysical practices. Wherever they went a small commune followed, which was typically composed of deranged acid freaks, occultists, and Norweigian dairy farmers who had sold all their assets to follow the band after “hearing their music speak from the mountains”. After managing to crack into one of their camps that was stationed in an abandoned motel, I spoke with Jim Haney of Perhaps regarding their cultish practices, who gave little in way of detail but claimed to be working towards a deconstruction of reality through a linguistic utilization of vibration.
 
My stint with the cosmic beings through the telekinetic transmission had lead to one conclusion; that Perhaps have been in the works on something new. It seems as if they may have landed on the result which Haney had mentioned years ago. Through my continued interest I’ve procured the names of other members of this current project, which include: Sean Mcdermott, Tom Weeks, Ricky Petraglia, David Khoshtinat, Ben Talmi, Makoto Kawabata, Lucas Brode, Isiah Mitchell, Olivia Kieffer, Tyler Skoglund, Chang Chang. Though I can’t say exactly what is to come, it seems as if the ideas that were proposed during my initial meet may have been surpassed. Perhaps’ plans have begun to surface, and we are all at risk, for whatever that means. The great column and the vibrational prismic beings have shifted their attention to earthly matters, it would be foolhardy to not heed their warning. Though, self-preservation may be an impossibility.
 
Sam Hailstone Dec 24/ 2019

Mirror Glaze Lavish” is Marc’s latest effort in trying to depict his cynical and disillusioned view of the present-day music scene, seen through a sonic magnifier that emphasizes its greatest controversies, by juxtaposing different electronic languages as a challenge to the current levelling artistic trends. The artist personality is nullified, standardized to a state of placid non-critical thinking. Everyday’s emptiness emerges as the structure of reality and only the cracks in it still lead to life. “Great souls suffer in silence”, once said Friedrich Schiller, but what if silence becomes an audible, danceable image? As if all these electro cuts, differently permeated with a balanced mix of playful darkness, were populated by eerie animals that cannot find peace with their habitat and keep dancing relentlessly until the very end of their miserable existence. Seen in this context, each of Marc’s tracks must be interpreted as an irreverent and poignant act of self-assertion vis-à-vis his contemporaries. Morah’s reinterpretation of “Celexxa” adds value to the original track, taking us for a dirty ride on a psycho-electro-charged rollercoaster.

The tag team are back with another club-ready release bringing together their combined experience and production prowess. Dan Ghenacia and Chris Carrier are long-time friends who’ve been working together in the studio over the last few years, resulting in a series of EPs on labels like Apollonia, Adult Only and, of course, Music For Freaks, for whom this is their second release. On the A-side ‘Vocalized’ comes at us full throttle with a powerful bassline and crisp, punchy beats. The vibe is unrelenting with a neat call and response vocal clip and a simple, catchy melody in the top line, keeping it hypnotic. Funky, groovy and full of potent energy from start to end. On the flip ‘Burning’ has a similar aesthetic, with taut drums and bass, plus a range of unusual sounds to add depth and character. Indecipherable vocal clips pop up occasionally, and the pace picks up as the track hits the midpoint. A repeated siren-esque effect locks you into the groove, keeping you hopelessly hooked until the end...

THE GOOPY GOONS ARE BACK with another collection of twisted American electronics. For those not familiar, CP/BW is a collaboration between Corporate Park (aka Shane English/Jonah Lange) and Beau Wanzer. This second LP collects tracks from various recording sessions done in Texas over the past 5 years. Humid ditties, bumpkin beats, toothless treats, and only for the freaks.

Stripped down, reduced to the bone raw house & techno. Extended versions for club & substance abuse. Vinyl only.

Serious grooves from Muscle Shoals. Gritty Southern-fried Funk and sweet Modern Soul on a limited edition run of 300 copies. Hand-Stamped 7" at 45rpm cut directly from the original 1/4" Master Tapes. The origin of Three Dimension is clouded in mystery. The only remaining artifact: magnetic tape containing previously unreleased material from a 1983 session. The only thing identifying the songs are track sheets housed in a box from the legendary Muscle Shoals' Fame studios in Alabama.

Vinyl only! For our third physical release, Colkin joins the House Running family with two detroit influenced house banger. 'Central 13' is a 90ties vibe track with grand-piano chords played underneath groovy 909 drums made for the dancefloor, while 'Gonna Be' with the lovely voice feature of Detroit's rising artist Javonntte also get's you back to the golden era of 90ties classic house. On the B face, Meemo ensure his soul mood with this 'Untitled' gem while Yoshiko Okabe leave towards a darke, based on strings samples and freaky sounds. Sure thing!

Albert Tales release their two debut singles as a double A-side funk 45". Based in Israel, Albert Tales are a neo-soul, funk and soul band. After developing a cult following in Tel-Aviv they were picked up by UK Label Freshly Squeezed - and shortly after attracting the attention of Craig Charles, Disco Freaks as well as gaining direct support from local DSP platforms such as Spotify Israel and Apple Israel. Although only their first ever release, the quality of the music and the noise building around them hints towards their future potential. Released as a dinked 7 inch and with limited supply - we hope to see this early product transition into a collectors item down the line. Albert Tales will be entering the european festival circuit next year with plans forming for the UK, Italy and surrounding nations.

The original freaks SES are back for another mind melting EP called “Saboteur”.

Completely tuned for a sweaty underground club system, the kicks in ‘Sounds Like’ hit deeper then your typical sound-boy bass lines of 2019.

Europa is on some dystopian Kraftwerk transeuropean express tip with all the attitude you’d hope to squeeze into four and a half minutes.

Hijacker kicks off the B side with continuing paranoid themes of the SES back catalog.

Flesh Tone simply jacks you in half and makes you throw shapes like it’s 1989. Only in Hi Def.

- all tracks blend with each other flawlessly, so buy two copies why don’t you.

DJ Oonops presents Volume 2 of his extensive compilation covering genres from Dub, Jazz, Funk, Soul to Beats and Hip Hop featuring pretty well known artists as well as zooming newcomers. He spent more than one year to select artists from around the globe who reflect the sounds of his "Oonops Drops" broadcast on Brooklyn Radio (NYC).

Be that jazzy beats or virtuoso live jazz drums, keys and guitars from Japan by Kazumi Kaneda, RF and 45 a.k.a. Swing-O, a first-time- on-vinyl dub remix by Great Britain's Coldcut or a brass cover version of Rihanna's "Stay" by Sly5thAve out of the US. Most of the tracks are exclusives or first time available on vinyl for this compilation, like the song "Measly Peace" by Magic In Trees out of Nashville, German beatmaker Twit One with an ill Jazz instrumental or London based rapper and singer Amy Tru featuring Nubya Garcia.

Also you gonna hear a unique and rump-shaking cover version of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" by T Bird & The Breaks, John Turell's powervoice over some heavy beats by Soopasoul, Kinny with a catchy tune, Igor Zhukovsky from The Soul Surfers & MRR Drumetrics with an exclusive, pumping psychedelic drum track and Schemes from Montreal who take all the credits at the moment from the web by Vice, Okayplayer, Music Is My Sanctuary and many more. For the artwork Oonops collaborated once again with San Francisco based artist Lindsey Kustusch who mirrored the atmosphere of New York City on point with her oil painted artwork.

Be sure to get your hands on this limited peace of work before it's gone like Volume 1. About Oonops: beside his vinyl only show on Brooklyn Radio he is spinning banging club sets to relaxed mixtures for vernissages, museums or theaters. And furthermore he works as a product designer and he's listed in the top 50 of Germany's best table tennis players and focuses all his skills in an event which will bring all this together.

After S3A's "Pages" double album earlier this year we asked some of our friends to re-interpret and re-construct their favorite original track off the album and deliver these fine remixes. We aimed to have a nice variety in styles on this record and hope you enjoy these tunes as much as we do!
Starting off with the live disco funk of "Lorenz Rhode" who sets the tone for a class dance floor EP and followed by the soulful deep house vibes of French master "Art Of Tones" aka "Llorca" who delivered 3 different mixes to this release. The main mix is on the vinyl and there are two bonus mixes added to the digital release, a "Beats" and a "Dub" version. Ending this brilliant first side is London's newcomer "Dampé" with that deep and jazzy electronica approach we got to love him for on his first debut Dirt Crew Recordings release.

On the flip we pick up the pace and present you the faster dancefloor tracks of Amsterdam's "Nachtbraker" with his freaky hallucinating sounds placed atop of one of these irresistible bass lines only he can come up with and leading towards an "end with a bang" in best Detroit ghetto house style by our own Icelandic fire "Felix Leifur".

Each artist perfectly transported his own unique styles into these tracks and we hope this release with its broad approach will serve any dance floor to its best!

Untameable Anatolian feline fuzzy folk funk finally uncaged. A spontaneous Turkish-Norwegian-Dutch expedition, where seafaring jazz cats entangled with fugitive roadies and Tee-Set mods, makes the story of Durul Gence’s highly anticipated/ill-fated Asia Minor Mission group the stuff of lost-rock legend and remains one of Turkish music’s great “what ifs?” The black cat is finally out of the bag...

Having forged a celebrity status as one of Turkey’s premier percussionists and bandleaders, Durul Gence assembled the underground fusion group known as Asia Minor Mission (AMM) in early 1972 (with Irfan Sumer, Oguz Durukan and Ugur Dikmen) while trying to escape the constant daze of paparazzi camera flashes that followed him across Turkey. During a far-fetched post-gig brainstorm the group pondered relocating to Norway (based on fact that none of them had ever visited the country) when a local seaman who claimed to have recording studio connections in Oslo overheard them. Enlisting the roadie services of a streetwise Istanbul taxi driver friend on the run from the police AMM took the plunge, accepting the sailor’s offer of passage on his next sailing.
In these new idyllic surroundings, the same region that played host to fellow Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz, Durul found the peace he desired discovering a muse in Norway’s welcoming creative climate. Much like Barıs Manço and Mogollar in France, Cem Karaca and Gökçen Kaynatan in Germany, Gence’s relationship with Norway rekindled a passion for composition in ways he couldn’t have imagined in his homeland, opening doors thought previously unreachable. As a potential prodigal son for Anadolu pop Durul joined a wider pop-cultural diaspora alongside electronic pioneer Ilhan Mimaroglu, Tülay German (aka Tuly Sand) Kardasllar’s “Alex” Wiska (collaborator with Krautrockers Can) and Maffy Falay from the band Sevda.
Despite a blooming fan base and original repertoire the Nordic dream was not to be and after two years without a studio session, AMM called it quits during a tour of Holland after which Durukan and Dikmen went home to join Cem Karaca’s band Dervisan - Dikmen’s keyboards feature on Finders Keepers releases by Turkish singer Selda (FKR011). Retreating to the city of Delft to ponder his next move, Durul met Peter Tetteroo, former vocalist from successful Dutch psych-pop combo Tee-Set, who also found himself in a lonely boat after the demise of his long-running group. As an AMM fan, Tetteroo suggested they record two Gence penned AMM demos for Dutch Philips signed exotic songbird Sasi Naz at Peter’s home studio. A session was hastily arranged and a talented, yet unconfirmed, guitarist was enlisted. Durul maintains it was the work of Ferry Lever from Tee-Set/After Tea, something Ferry has denied, and with Tetteroo having died in 2002 the question remains. Upon entering the humble studio Durul stumbled upon a skeletal drum kit. Lacking hi-hat, toms or even a snare he cobbled together a bongo and a tambourine and set to work. Together, under the watchful eye of Tetteroo, the pair jammed stripped back versions of the AMM live staples Black Cat and Boo Song, with an added freak factor otherwise missing from their jazzier approach. Laid down in just 30 minutes, with Gence’s accomplished guide vocals and fuzzy overdubs, the rudimentary but professional recordings never made it to Philips execs and the tapes returned to Turkey under Durul’s arm as one of only two documented AMM recordings (the other being a live performance in Oslo’s Hennie-Onstad Art Centre in May 1973).
Unintended for commercial release, curiouser and curiouser, Finders Keepers proudly present these previously unheard tracks sourced directly from original tapes, which stand as a testament to the inimitable talent of Gence and the only studio document of the mythical AMM Turk jazz funk troubadours, representing a pop-psych Hollandaise holiday postcard which has taken five decades to be delivered. 45 revolutions later... The cat’s got the cream.

Birthed from Arizona’s regaled Ascetic House collective, Body of Light is a dark synth-pop outfit comprised of young brothers Andrew and Alexander Jarson. What began as a vehicle for their exploration of noise and sound during their early teens has evolved into an established production over the last decade, as Body of Light continues to carve out their own style of complex, structured, and moving dancefloor electronics.

Their music is not only individually personal, but drawn from experiences shared between the two brothers – and calls on elements of new wave, freestyle, goth, and techno to create timeless and singular tracks without fear of trend or passing fashion.

On their third album Time to Kill, Body of Light refines their brand of cold and driving synth pop with a bold pallet of sounds and a focus on uncharted technique and purpose. Like the pale digital stare of the modern devices surrounding our daily lives, the album weaves stories of love and obsession in an era of technical bondage and fleeting exhilaration. Written over a period of intense and profound change, Time to Kill stands as a startling reminder of how important our existence truly is. Haunting keys, swelling pads, and punching rhythms score their work as Alex Jarson presents an alluring and romantic dialogue with confident projection. The title single “Time to Kill” kicks off the album with a merciless signature beat, complimented by distorted sample patterns against an infectious, moving bass groove

A wonderful reminder of Big Boi's unparalleled prowess in the rap game. He has literally been doing this longer than some rappers have been alive.' - High Snobiety

Big Boi is one of the OGs of hip-hop and he's still reinventing himself more than two decades after entering the game.' - XXL
An all-star affair.' - Rolling Stone

Big Boi reveals June 16 as the release date for his highly-anticipated third full-length solo album and first release for RCA Records, Boomiverse.

Tonight, the seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning, RIAA diamond-certified hip-hop luminary, producer, and member of OutKast takes the stage at NBC's The Voice for the very first time. Big Boi and Levine will team up to perform Mic Jack' live during the semifinals. In addition, he's set to debut the song's official music video in revolutionary fashion.By Shazam-ing the performance, fans can unlock the exclusive premiere of the visual. The Voice airs at 8pm ET/7pm CT on NBC.

Kill Jill' and Mic Jack' have already begun to amplify excitement for the album's arrival. Kill Jill' has racked up over 3.1 million Spotify streams to date, while Mic Jack' garnered 1.5 million Spotify streams in just a few weeks. Big Boi unveiled the songs during a high-profile Apple Music Beats 1 premiere before performing Mic Jack'' on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In addition, both tracks continue to draw critical praise.

One of history's tightest and most clever rhyme mavericks, Big Boi's indelible influence courses throughout two generations of rap music. As one-half of OutKast, he achieved seven GRAMMY® Awards, sold 25 million records, and created a string of music's most influential work, including Aquemini, Stankonia, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzikand Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—which went RIAA Diamond making OutKast the first and only hip-hop artist in history to win the GRAMMY® for 'Album of the Year.' Big Boi's 2010 solo debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and received unanimous critical acclaim with Pitchfork proclaiming it one of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade 'So Far'" and topping year-end lists from Time, Paste, Vibe, and more.

His 2012 follow-up Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors enamored tastemakers and fans alike and boasted collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Killer Mike, Kid Cudi, and more. In 2015, Big Boi collaborated with Phantogram to create supergroup Big Grams. Their debut self-titled album was released to critical and fan delight.

Founded in 1990 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cold Front were what you'd call early adaptors, their music at the time of its inception an oddity. This fourpiece, consisting of spouses Ayanna and Cam Muata, Jon Jon Scott and Ron Clark, were far ahead of their time and faded just as rapidly as they entered the stage, only playing a handful of local shows in support of Nine Inch Nails, Meat Beat Manifesto and such, alongside several cameos during early house nights and techno events.

Though short lived, their music nevertheless speaks volumes. It's intriguing stuff, a magical association of sound reminiscent of Ron Hardy and Klein MBO. New Beat-like drum parts, overdubbed by politically engaged raps, basslines that would make The Cure proud, held together by freakout speaking in tongues vocal experiments while also showing an obvious parallel to the rise of triphop at the other side of the ocean.

Beyond the Beat will burst dancefloors soon. In collaboration with Paris' recordshop Dizonord, Knekelhuis will close the summer of 2019 with this amazing gem.

Born out of a chance encounter in 2012 that led to a lasting friendship, Rhythm Section Int'l & producer, DJ, label boss, radio host, and record store owner Ruf Dug join forces to present 'The Committee'. Sitting somewhere between fictional band and studio collaboration, the record is the first fully in-house production for Rhythm Section, recorded start to finish at their own South East London studio and featuring vocals from label founder Bradley Zero and label mate FYI Chris's Chris Watson.

Right from the studio's initial creation, Ruf Dug felt inspired by the space's unique musical identity, jumping at the opportunity to create a collaborative record there over a two week studio residency. And between his DJ residencies at Pikes, Gottwood and NTS radio the Manchester-via-Ibiza computer game freak and renowned vinyl digger found the time to meld his wide range of influences. Having been a key driving force behind Be With's Holy Grail reissue of Bô'vel's - Check 4 U , Ruffy has more than earned his stripes as a boss level Street Soul collector, pre-empting the resurgent interest in the genre, which began in the mid 80s and is still a popular sound in Manchester today. This new release draws parallels between the DIY attitude of Street Soul labels like TSR, Intrigue, Jam Today & Elite and the modus operandi of the RS studio.

A wholly synergetic work, the project's title 'The Committee' reflects the collaborative nature of this release, as Ruf Dug states: 'Authorship is a strange concept at the best of times but this genuinely is a group effort and I very much enjoyed feeling like just one piece of a larger entity - the complete opposite to my usual production experience of being all alone in my room for days at a time.' The EP also features additional production from Rhythm Section's own Mali Baden-Powell, who DJ's and produces as Z Lovecraft and comes from a background in Street Soul music, his father was also in legendary UK acid jazz collective D'Influence. In addition, the record features a dynamic range of vocalists: sultry deliveries from Natalie Wildgoose and Sienna Mustafa, a rap from her sister Nadina, and the vocal debuts of FYI Chris's Chris Watson and Bradley Zero. 'I had been joking with Bradley that he needed to be on the record somehow and he did appear, playing an egg shaker at one point, but his singing wasn't in the least bit planned... I got back from lunch, and the next thing you know he just starts singing...So I dragged him reluctantly down the corridor to the studio and that's it- now he's a pop star!'

Also playfully melding digidub, soul, chicago house and acid jazz, the release not only marks a new chapter in the development of the Rhythm Section sound, but also catalogues a crucial turning Point in Ruf Dug's musical development. Still oozing with the cheeky DIY approach that won his own label, RUF KUTZ an army of fans, this latest Collab steps things up and opens a whole new realm of possibilities for one of Manchester's favourite sons.

"It's been nearly five decades since Joe McPhee assembled a group of musicians to perform the weekend concerts that would become Nation Time, his debut LP. It was December 1970, thirty-one-year-old McPhee was inspired by Amiri Baraka's poem 'It's Nation Time,' and the students at Vassar College didn't know what hit them. 'What time is it?' shouted the bandleader. 'C'mon, you can do better than that. What time is it?!'

"The music on Nation Time came out of the fertile, but little-known creative jazz scene in Poughkeepsie, New York, McPhee's home base. Two bands were deployed, one with a funky free foundation featuring guitar and organ, the other consisting of a more standard jazz formation with two drummers and the brilliant Mike Kull at the piano. Across the concert and the next afternoon's audience-less recording session, the band was ignited by McPhee's passion and his gorgeous post-Coltrane / post-Pharoah tenor. On 'Shakey Jake,' they hit a James Brown groove filtered through Archie Shepp, while the sidelong title track is as searching and poignant today as it was during its heyday.

"Originally released in 1971 on CjR, an imprint started expressly to document McPhee's music, Nation Time has a sense of urgency and inspiration. Additional material from those December days would later appear on Black Magic Man, Hat Hut's first release. In fact, the first four records on this seminal Swiss label all featured McPhee.

"Nation Time was largely unknown a quarter century or so later, when it was first issued on CD through Atavistic's Unheard Music Series. On Corbett vs. Dempsey, we reissued the album along with all known tapes leading up to and around it as a deluxe box set, but the standalone LP has long remained incredibly rare. Now is the time for a new generation of freaks to lose their shit when settling into the cushy beat of 'Shakey Jake' and answer McPhee's call with the only appropriate response: It's NATION TIME."

– John Corbett

Naphta is a DJ and producer hailing from Wroclaw, Poland. Also, one half of Polish DJ/producer duo, Pvre Gold and host of Wroclaw's infamous Loud & Clear parties, he takes inspiration from a variety of electronic stylings, with a thick dose of soul and southern rap and acid techno thrown in for good measures. After a string of 12's released on Studio Barnhus, Omena , Father And Son Records And Tapes, Transatlantyk and his first LP with a full live band as Naphta & The Shamans; the Polish producer returns to the latter with his debut EP for COSMIC CLUB, SKYLAX RECORDS sub-label. This is house music like you've never heard before - loose, freaky, hippie, voodoo machine funk, highly infectious grooves for any modern dancefloor. As usual : Vinyl only. SKYLAX RECORDS 4 EVER !

After the release of their playful debut album "Worldstyle" the Budapest duo are now returning with their 2nd album "Brotherhood" and this time their message is more serious. The music if often summons blues elements but also influenced by dub, funk and a little hip-hop while the lyrics are mainly about the social and personal problems of our time interpreted by talented guest vocalists from all over the world. The guest performance of KRSA puts the point on the letter 'i' in 'Brotherhood' and in the other reggae-inspired song 'Pass It On'. Being one of the dominant figures of the Hungarian ska movement he is an
important guest on the album. As the main driving force behind the 90's very popular and recently revived British band Freak Power Ashely Slater needs no introduction. He has worked with Dub Pistols, Dublex Inc., or Fort Knox Five, and his
talents and professional performances are turbocharges three
completely different songs. 'Revolution!' has previously released in 2016 as a 7' single and features dazzling electro blues and Ashley's food for thought lyrics. In 'Life Is Love' he proves that his talent has no barriers whether he sings lonely doo-woptempo or the dub-ska of 'People Kill People' which is a unique cover of Éric Serra's seminal 80's cult classic 'Guns & People'.
Denise M'Baye known as the MC/singer of Mo'Horizons is featured in two downtempo tracks. 'Wings' is a laidback song about love while and 'All My Life Is In This Bag' smuggles back a little bit of the mood of 'Worldstyle'.Fedora is the best-known female MC/singer of the Hungarian bass music life. She made her own solo album in 2017. With 'Come Away With Me'
she proves that she's not only an bass music MC, but a great singer with deep emotions. Another guest from Hungary is the lead singer of the downtempo-funk band Mystical Plants. Bryant Goodman contributes to the album in two different tracks with his gravelly voice. 'Bad Man's Ballad is bittersweet song about the average politician of our age while 'Keep Going On' on
the other hand is full of playfulness and delivers a short but positive message.
At last but not least we have the Ghanaian M3NSA on the board from Fokn Bois and RedRed. His lyrics in 'It Works' is very motivating for everyone and spreads the message of not giving up even if the world is seemingly against you.
Savages Y Suefo's new album 'Brotherhood' is a lot different from their previous one in many ways but it remained just as eclectic as its predecessor 'Worldstyle' and still proves Savages Y Suefo's wide interest and openness in music that is needed today... and not just in music.

Budabeats Records celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2018, on this occasion label bosses Dj Gandharva & Von Yodi picked 11 previously unheard tracks from artists of the Budabeats family and created a compilation that perfectly represents the imprint's musical approach: no restrictions in terms of genre or style, the only thing that matters is the quality of the music.

Shades Of Budabeats features African- influenced jazz and funk (Dokkerman & the Turkeying Fellaz, The Mabon Dawud Republic), head-nodding hip-hop beats (Abase, Tom Caruana), straight dancefloor friendly pieces (BeTe aka Suhov, Umoja, M.W.D, Chilum Trio & Auto Reverse) and also, laidback grooves (Freakin' Disco & Crookram).

All kinds of good vibes that will feed your soul and make your body move !

"In 2016, 21 years after Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. were founded in Osaka, Japan, there was a major shift in the line-up and "Next Generation" was added to the bands name. We now view the first 20 years of the bands career as chapter one in our story, and we are now turning the page to start chapter two. In 2018, it's time to re-record our classics with this new line-up, we just opened the door to the next stage!' (Kawabata Makoto 2018)
 
Twenty four years into their existence, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. have circled the globe at least a few dozen times, released over 100 albums in their various guises and played thousands of shows.
 
In recent years, they've experienced seismic line up changes which has given them yet another new lease of life ... or a rebirth if you will. Original members Kawabata Makoto (guitar, speed guru) and Higashi Hiroshi (synthesizer, noodle god) are now joined by Jyonson Tsu (vocal, midnight whistler), Satoshima Nani (drums, another dimension) and Wolf (bass, space & time) and as anyone that has seen the new line up live will testify, things have gone even more cosmic ...
 
'Reverse Of Rebirth In Universe' sees the band return to their old label Riot Season for the first time since 2012's 'IAO Chant From The Melting Paraiso Underground Freak Out' (CD still available). Both label and band have gone on some wonderful journeys during that time apart but both felt the stars were finally correctly realigned to renew their partnership in all things weird.
 
Long time AMT fans will immediately recognise some of the song titles listed on the album sleeve here. But the songs themselves have been reworked and transformed far away from their original versions. New boy Jyonson Tsu's quiet, almost whispered vocals bring a whole new aura to proceedings, despite the familiar riffs hidden in the depths below them. It's so laid back in places it's practically horizontal, with only occasional trademark piercing guitar squeals threatening to destroy the peace and calm. The whole of side two is taken up with the twenty minute epic 'Black Summer Song' .. and if this is an indicator to where the AMT mothership is heading going forwards we're all in for another fucked up and magical ride.
 
If you stepped off the AMT ride over the years, possibly overwhelmed by the amount of releases they were once firing out ... it could be time to step back on it and check out where they're currently at. In a world that's more messed up than ever, we could all use a little break away from the norm, and nobody takes you as far away from the norm as possible as Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
 

After a long time in the works, Mothball Record is proud to present a lost album from legendary Italian wave band: Ruins.

Hailing from Venice, Ruins are one of the pioneering artists of the Italian new wave scene beginning in the late seventies: an explosion of new and exciting art, music and film.

The tracks on 'New Record' were taken from the self-distributed, tape only release from 1983 'Side Roads'.
This album was timed directly before their most well-known releases in contemporary times, the 'Fire / Crime' 12' and the eponymous 4 track EP on Black Square.

Taken from the original master tapes and selected by Ruins themselves, the album should be listened as a whole to gain the full experience, but immediate 'must-hear' tracks are 'I Don't Know', 'I Love You' and 'Last Night DJ Killed My Wife' featuring early use of Roland TB303.

At times unsettling, beautiful, violent, harmonious, these songs will finally get the audience and exposure they deserve 35 years later.