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A stunning display of powerful emotion shines from the post-hardcore glory that defines The Appleseed Cast. The End Of The Ring Wars is a moving story about tragic loss and the battle to overcome the sorrow that lingers on. Disturbingly honest and passionately realized, The Appleseed Cast reminds us that sometimes the only way to feel alive is to grip closely the pain that made us who we are. This record will make your heart soar. This is a reissue of the long out-of-print vinyl version of the bands classic debut album on Deep Elm Records. 2xLP on heavy 180 gram vinyl. New artwork by Zum Heimathafen. Partly gloss printing on heavy deluxe gatefold sleeve.

Another bonafide classic from the all time heavy lifer Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich. If The Obsessed, St. Vitus, Shrinebuilder, Probot and The Hidden Hand aren’t enough to bring his CV to legendary status, stop reading now. Spirit Caravan’s debut, originally released in 1999, was another massive step in his career, taking his doom-laden guitar work to new heights, with slow ferocity and acidic perfection. Wino, Dave Sherman and Gary Isom weave tight numbers creating a blueprint that is here to stay. Now remastered and released for the first time as a 4 side double LP the album includes beautiful cover art by Daniel Higgs. "Jug Fulla Sun, Spirit Caravan's debut, follows a sonic continuum that began in the late '70s when Scott "Wino" Weinrich emerged from the outskirts of Washington, D.C., with the Obsessed, his stripped-down hybrid of biker rock and metal. That outfit made tremendous strides in bridging the gap between the long-haired metal contingent and the still developing, though already rabid, D.C. hardcore scene. Jug Fulla Sun shows Wino augmenting his trademark brand of doom-laden guitar work and slow-fuse vocal ferocity with greater lyrical depth and overall textural breadth. The songs are rich, refined, articulate, and created by a lifer, a true veteran of the hard music scene. Wino has obviously gone to great lengths here to subordinate his outlaw vision to a more expansive, comprehensive view of mankind, and of greater truths. The somewhat nebulous scope of his lyrics is enhanced by Lungfish vocalist/tattoo artist Dan Higgs' cryptic cover painting. An excellent album

‘Elusive Truth’ was the second full-length record by D.C.-area doom rock Spirit Caravan led by the all time heavy lifer Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich (The Obsessed, St. Vitus, Shrinebuilder, Probot). Originally released in 2001 and now remastered. “On this, Spirit Caravan's second foray into the long-player format, the band has collectively slowed down the tempo, and dropped the mood into even more contemplative territory. As the grandfather of modern stoner rock, Wino has certainly dipped his guitar picks in LSD this time around. Even though the engineering and production is bone dry and bottom heavy, Wino's psychedelic guitar work -- especially his stinging, busy leads -- has been ratcheted up a few clicks, even if the overall aesthetic is darker, and the superb musicianship from the trio simplified. The listener may be reminded of Hawkwind powered by an enormous diesel engine. As a title, Elusive Truth may indicate Wino's searching nature as a musician, and his attempt to continue down the sonic path through darkness, and through light. With this album, the listener is most certainly in darker territory.”

Textures and sounds spanning from the virtues of 90’s grunge/alt-rock to renaissance-like melodies bound together with the opposites pop-music structures sliced with contemporary collage techniques. On Mija Milovic’ second solo album “Still Life” (Escho), there is easily no conformity to constraints of simple boxes, instead it focuses on emoting with intonation, stress, rhythm and pace. It's about tender and aggressive transformations, figuring out who you are and how to be in the world. The lyrics tell lived stories of locating magic in the mundane, being swept away by the energy of fellow humans and holding space for each other in a community, feeling estranged in the urban landscape, and learning to let go. Mija Milovic is a Danish/Montenegrin musician, composer and producer based in Copenhagen. She has a background in theatre, performance, alternative notation and improvisational music creation. With several release under her own name she is also member of the rock band SLIM0 and is a part of various other collaborative.

Ploy kicks off the year with the third release on his Deaf Test imprint with his own strain of club rattling 4/4 house music.

The A side - Vortex (stripped mix) - rolls out an infectious three note bassline, rumbling alongside seven minutes of cranky arps and sharp risers with a minute long breakdown providing the only respite amidst the unrelenting groove. Tech house through Ploy’s weirdo lens.

Vocal chops and slapping percussion feature on Vortex (busy mix), deftly layered over the pounding U.S garage drums and explosive hits. A main room roller for the peak hours.

In Your Head races along a galvanic bassline and guttural techno synths, complemented by an earworm vocal hook (a ploy signature). Rude UK tech house business.

Eyez On U is a ‘tough as nails’ progressive drum workout. Functional club gear with bags of groove and industrial strength breaks, slapping you around the dancefloor.

Sending winds down the 5 tracker with sultry r&b vocals floating over hazy synths, glossy strings and a dusty drum groove. A nod to Detroit and the house music that has informed his work for the past decade.

Written, produced and mixed by S. Smith
Additional mixing from Thomas Bulwer on Vortex and In Your Head
Mastered by Beau Thomas

Back in stock!

NULLPTR never fails. Since emerging in 2016 with the Optical LP, Eddie Symons' project has become a byword for top-draw contemporary electro productions. After triumphantly returning to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with 2020's Future World full-length, NULLPTR follows that album up with a new quartet of machine-funk slammers. Striking a balance between highwire, twitchy rhythm programming and some deft textural work, the Terminus EP demonstrates exactly why the NULLPTR name is so respected in the world of electro.

The first half here almost showcases the two sides of the NULLPTR sound in microcosm. Opening track 'Connected' zips along like one of the racers from a Wip3out game. The 808s are all booming breakbeats and hissing-piston hats, with a jittery synth bassline nipping in and out of the spaces left vacant by the drums. Atop these swirl eerie keyboard pads, the reverb from them draping across the rest of the instruments like fog above a city. By contrast, following cut 'Mesospheric Cruise' is the yin to 'Connected's yang. Where its predecessor was tense and coiled, this lilting number is expansive and open like a primetime Virginia joint - though the point where the wistful house pads strip back to foreground the twinkle-toed electro beat still has a pleasing crunch to it.

The B-side of Terminus serves dystopian snap from the off. Genre masters Drexciya are invoked by 'Syndicate'. The needle-gun bassline here turns itself inside-out across these five minutes, and all the while the tune is laced with some evocative shadow-realm synth pads. A similar energy courses through the EP's closing title-track, a cut which also brings into play a booming four-to-the-flour that gives it an unstoppable sense of forward-motion. Like 'Connected' and 'Mesospheric Cruise' - indeed, like all of the NULLPTR material that Central Processing Unit has brought us down the years - these jams will sound positively devilish when deployed in a dark basement.

The Terminus EP sees electro don NULLPTR (Eddie Symons) deliver four slices of unadulterated machine-funk heat.

RIYL: Virginia, Cardopusher, Drexciya, Silicon Scally

Following her contribution to this Spring’s Gudu & Friends Vol. 1 compilation, Lady Blacktronika steps out with a full EP for Peggy Gou’s Gudu label.

Whether operating as Lady Blacktronika or her Femanyst alias, Akua Grant has built a deserved reputation as one of house and techno’s most daring and unique artists - one that dates back 25 years now, when she first debuted as a vocalist.

“House and techno” can be a cliched catch-all term, but in Grant’s case, she really has explored the extremes of both sides. Her early Lady Blacktronika work, when she earned the nickname The First Lady of Beatdown, saw her produce and narrate a style of deep house that was both sensitive and transgressive, while as Femanyst, she explores some of techno’s darkest corners, all distorted kicks and serrated edges.

Her EP for Gudu kicks off with some serious intent: ‘Baby I Got It’ chops its vocals rough and raw, pairing them with marching drums and the sort of idiosyncratic synth-work that feels like a Blacktronika signature at this point. ‘Sing the Blues’ and ‘Hold My Hand’ take things smoother, but without ever deferring to type — as ever with Grant’s music, she works with such sleight of hand that it’s easy to skip back three minutes previous and wonder how the hell we got here. Her tracks are just that hypnotic and hallucinatory.

Closing the EP, Octo Octa provides a remix of ‘Hold My Hand’ that extends things to a full 12 minutes (note: slightly shorter on the vinyl due to time constraints), taking us out with crushed percs and held pads over some undeniable drum work.

This EP marks the final release of Gudu’s busiest year to date, with music on the label in 2023 coming from Special Request, Matisa, Mogwaa, Hiver, Matrefakt, DMX Krew, Dukwa, Brain de Palma, Lady Blacktronika, Salamanda and Closet Yi.

As the fable goes: pre-discogs, intrepid disc jocks would often take trips to Italy (many tricking their spouse into believe it was a ‘holiday’!) to source records from the seemingly endless supply of top tier Italo, disco and cosmic record shops across the country. According to legend, the classified sections of local yellow pages and information booklets which would contain the addresses of the record shops and dealers in the area would often be ripped out unscrupulously, thwarting – or at least making it more difficult for – the next vinyl tourist to source out the rare gems amongst the rich seams – a wild west vinyl gold rush if you will.

Such stories are a rarity these days, with youtube making some of the most underground tracks common knowledge, and discogs almost making any record obtainable – at a price of course. Upgrading his digging methodology, Bosco has developed a secret New Technique to side-step the machine and in doing so obtained a clutch of amyl-soaked fluffers that are so rare, that upon writing they aren’t even listed online! Seriously, he must be communicating with some interdimensional, upper echelon Italo overlords; taking us on a primo-thrust tour through the most unexposed recesses of the Italo disco galaxy.

Don’t be hoodwinked by their sheer obscurity however; we wouldn’t give a toss if they couldn’t tear the arse off the dancefloor. But they’re all fuckin rhodium grade tackle peeps! Eight neon-drenched late night roman candles of Italo disco decadence that’ll defo have you jizzing rainbow skittles over the dancefloor as you search desperately through the fog for another huff of poppers off Darren.

Total Discogs market value: as yet undetermined

Pharoah Brunson’s Pyramid Points: 9999999999999

Art School Girlfriend, Aka Polly Mackey, will release second album Soft Landing via Fiction Records on August 4, 2023. The album is self-described as a series of “small euphorias”; it is an album that finds Mackey shifting her sound towards tactile electronics whilst retaining the floating melodies of her debut.

Hot Creations recruits Italian duo ItaloBros as the pair deliver three vibrant tracks across their latest EP, ‘Gosadera’

Hailing from Scalea, Italy, ItaloBros have been riding the wave of success, captivating dancefloors worldwide at venues like Ushuaia Ibiza, Motion Bristol, and PM Open Air in Buenos Aires and boasting releases on Circus, Material and Knee Deep In Sound, amongst others. With 2022 seeing the pair team up with Jerëmie for the release of their single 'Attention' on Hot Creations sister label' Hottrax, February now sees the duo step into the limelight as they drop their solo debut EP on the renowned Hot Creations with a trio of blazing tracks across 'Gosadera’.

Already becoming a mainstay in Marco Carola’s sets, ‘Gosadera’ kicks off with an orchestra of vibrant
trumpets and lively bongos layered on top of a relentless, grooving bassline. Next, ‘Story’ takes on their old-school roots, teasing lush piano chords complete with vibrant, punchy drums. Closing out the EP, ‘Amira’ showcases a deeper, sultry vibe with alluring male vocals at the core.

2023 Repress

Maston’s Darkland is a breezy collection of the material from the Tulips sessions that didn’t make it on to the original LP. Originally a digital-only release for those in the know in the autumn of 2018, after re-issuing Tulips in 2020 it made too much sense for Be With to give Darkland a vinyl release.

Like Tulips, Darkland was recorded mostly in Hoorn, in the Netherlands, between 2015-2017 during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. Bits were also done in Los Angeles on some extended trips back home.

The collection plays like an alternate view of Maston’s instant modern classic Tulips; a companion piece to the LP proper with similar mixture of shorter themes and more full length tracks. As Frank Maston explains: “I think Darkland is the shadow of Tulips in a way… what it might’ve been in a different universe. But the heart of Tulips beats in these songs as well and they evoke the same memories and feelings for me. I see my process playing out across these songs - lots of experimentation and trying out new techniques and sounds and just sort of going for it.”

Frank goes on: “It was all from the same pool of material, like 30+ ideas. I was making a lot of little demos… some would be more fleshed out and become songs and others would just be a cool riff and not go anywhere. When I started trying to form it all into an LP I went through all the sessions and ideas and collected the ones I thought were the most fleshed out and cohesive together as a whole. There were a fair amount of songs that were finished and in hindsight really should have been on Tulips (like what would’ve been the title track). And the rest of these songs are either very early versions of tunes that ended up on Tulips or some cool ideas that just ended up being dead ends. It definitely shows how wide my net was in the beginning before I narrowed the record down stylistically.”

Darkland opens with its ornate 39 second title-track before striding into “Tulips”, that full-length title-track that never was. It’s a real head-nod, percussive-rich electric piano stunner that would’ve been a comfortable standout on the album proper. But now this “downlifting” gem is given ample room to shine on this record.

The funky organ-led bass and drums workout “Immaculate Conception” will keep your neck gently snapping while MPC fiends go reaching for their sampler. And that’s gospel. “Love Theme No 3” cuts a breathtakingly stylish vibra-slapped swathe through the middle of the opening side before we’re startled by the pronounced bass and twinkling percussion of “The Owl In Daylight”. Charming digi-drums underpin the wonky synth (quiet-)banger “Innovative Patterns” which has a lovely melodic switch-up in the final third before the tempo (and hairs on your neck) rise on the faintly creepy yet imminently groovy “Osiris”. The gorgeously soft-focus “Groove Experiment No 3” closes out the first half in slow-mo wonderment.

The lushly melancholic “Raincloud” ushers in side B before the emotionally-stirring “Phonic” taps at the door, coming on like the long lost sister to Pet Sounds’ “Let’s Go Away For A While”. Next up, the swooning beauty “Love Theme No 2” keenly sways in front of you, growing ever more insistent and hypnotic. The too-short “Italian Summer” conjures the same flirtatious imagery as the title hints at whilst “Endless” is a fascinating “piano-pella” alternative version to “Rain Dance” from Tulips. “Wonder Theme” has a nostalgic, exotic 60s swing and album closer “Willow” is a hushed, campfire folk gem. The gently circular strumming is just magical.

Speaking to Aquarium Drunkard back in 2019 about the sessions that became Tulips, Frank noted: “I was really surprised by the lack of sunlight during my first winter in Holland, so I would call it Darkland which then became the name of the first demo I wrote during that time. It was also the working title of the record when I first started writing. Some are full songs that didn’t make the cut (including what would have been the title track), some are just ideas that I never finished.”

Whilst we were working on Darkland’s vinyl release Frank explained more specifically about the music that didn’t make it on to Tulips: “When I was putting together the tracklisting for Tulips I was already thinking that whatever didn’t make it onto the LP would be cool to release eventually somehow. The response to Tulips has been so passionate over the years that it’s nice to be able to offer another piece of that world. And for me personally it’s amazing to have more of my work out there in the world. Most common bit of feedback was that many of these songs should have been on Tulips. The odd friend says it’s much better than Tulips.”

Just like Tulips before it, Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering for Darkland has been cut at 45rpm so you can trip out to this as well at a woozy 33 1/3. The artwork too has been designed by Frank himself as a literal visual continuation of the Tulips cover.

We couldn’t possibly say whether Darkland is better than Tulips, and luckily we don’t have to decide.

J. Robbins on Basilisk:
2020 gave us the pandemic, which despite all its awfulness also gave me a lot of opportunities to write and demo music - but everyone was terrified to get into the same room together to play. Finally, around February of 2021, I called up Brooks Harlan and Darren Zentek and asked if they would be down to meet me at the studio and do a 2-day session and see how it turns out. Brooks and Darren were into the idea - we were all in full cabin fever mode at that point and dying to do anything - so I sent them the demos and we did it. The musical connection had always already been there, but the energy that came from all being in the same room doing this together - something we had just spent a year wondering if we’d ever get to do again - was wonderful. It felt like having been lost in the desert, and then finding an oasis. I’ve never been so happy with a session - both the results and the experience, and the outcome was exactly what I had wanted: something more stripped down and very immediate.

We were all fired up and we did a second session in March 2022. In the interim I enlisted some collaborators:Gordon Withers to add cello and second guitar to a few songs, Janet Morgan and her two sisters to sing some harmonies, Dave Hadley to play pedal steel on “Not The End,” and Chicago punk legend John Haggerty to add an actual blazing guitar solo to the song "Exquisite Corpse." And I went on working on vocals and overdubs at home. The lyrics were (as always) somewhat therapeutical: “Automaticity” came out of thoughts on aging and remaining present in a world increasingly going on auto-pilot; “Last War” and “Dead Eyed God” work out fears prompted by January 6th and the rise of neo-fascism. More personal matters were trying to work themselves out as well. Recurring childhood dreams ("Deception Island"), surrealist games ("Exquisite Corpse"), and trephination guru Amanda Feilding ("Open Mind") were also in the mix.

Another result of pandemic isolation was that I had also been working on more abstract, electronic based music(inspired by my love of film soundtracks, Peter Gabriel’s music, and by studio work I had done not long ago with the band Locrian), using granular synthesis, sampling, and software synths. So as Basilisk came together, I wanted to see if I could pull those sounds into the flow of the record, open up its vocabulary a little and still make something cohesive. Connection has always been the whole point of music making for me. There are so many ways to come at it, and i don't want to close any of those doors. Going forward, I only want to open more of them.

Second chapter for the new VA vinyl trilogy on R3volution Records called

In this edition there are the following artists under our attention:

- PWCCA, label owner of the top labels Hardtools and Inducted Waves and acclaimed world-famous Spanish producer, already distinguished with severeal appearances on our label including the latest release "Programming Language EP" last year;
- PUSHMANN, another top Spanish DJ and producer, making his debut on
- PYRAMIDAL DECODE authentic Italian based talent who, with many appearances on our label, has also found the time to make his music recognized around the world thanks to numerous releases on labels that represent milestones in the international techno scene, such as WarmUp, Mord, Dynamic Reflection, Faut Section, Edit Select...
- JOAQUIN RUIZ, the only non-European artist on this release, has already made many appearances on our label both as a solo release and as a remixer. He is a DJ/producer on the West Side of Buenos Aires. Ambitious and always looking for new challenges and opportunities, Joaquin is definitely one of the newest emerging talents from the techno music scene in Argentina. He runs his label West Rules too and also releases his music on respected labels of the scene such as Devotion, Knotweed, Affekt, Selected, Subsist, just to name a few
- MICHELE MAUSI founder & label owner with another amazing track called Waterloop
- MDMP is Michele's 2nd alias in pair with DANIELE PETRONELLI with a pure BOMB track called Under Armor

2024 Repress

Get Up! Time to release this beast on 7".

Breakwater’s earth-shattering “Release The Beast” is unquestionably the standout song from their 1980 funk masterpiece LP Splashdown. It also came out as a now-hen’s-teeth-rare 7" in the same year and when it came to putting it out as a 7" again we just had to do it in a miniature version of the Splashdown sleeve. It’s one of the best album cover shoots of all time.

For the b-side, we’ve backed Breakwater’s biggest track with Be With’s favourite: the quietly majestic gem “Let Love In”, another winner from the same LP.

Possessing a sound and a feel that was lightyears ahead of its time, “Release The Beast” is a showcase for Breakwater’s phenomenal power-funk capabilities. The energy is astounding. It rips out of the grooves on a deep funk tip, with speaker-smashing, room-shaking drums competing with distorted funk-rock guitar, bumping bass and space-age synths. But it’s not without its compellingly haunting elements too. What else can we say? It’s a genius piece of music.

And, yes, of course this is the tune Daft Punk sampled for their 2005 track “Robot Rock”. Let’s be blunt, they lifted the Philly act’s funk-rock vamping pretty much wholesale. But to be fair to them we wouldn’t have messed with the perfection of the original either and those Parisians shone a much-needed spotlight on an innovative band from the halcyon period of post-disco funk.

On the flip, “Let Love In” is a smooth, easy glide that demonstrates Breakwater’s superb, sophisticated musicianship. The tight horn section and irresistible bass make for an undeniable groove. However, it also reveals a depth to their lyricism that’s often overlooked. In these dark days, the sentiment of the opening lines is truly one to we should all take to heart:

“It feels good to be friends with everyone, Walk around and the feeling’s in the air, No more hate can’t you see, This is really for me.”

A feel good hit for the summer if ever there was one.

Remastered for this vinyl reissue, we’re delighted to present this modern soul double-sider. Essential in every way.

2023 Repress

Frank Maston’s Tulips is a sample-ready film score to the best 70s movie never made. Originally a super-limited self-release on his Phonoscope label in late 2017, Tulips has already become incredibly sought-after. Be With were introduced to Maston by mutual friends Aquarium Drunkard and it didn’t take long before we decided this modern classic deserved a reissue.

Inspired by the deep-grooving soundtracks of Italian cinema - think Morricone, Umiliani and Alessandroni - Maston conceived the entire Tulips project as a continuation of these revered works. Frank designed the artwork and made two 16mm films to accompany the music: “It wasn’t just the LP… it was kind of a whole vibe I was trying to create. Not really trying to emulate the things that influenced me but more trying to make something that could sit alongside those records on a shelf. I’m still very proud of the project.”

There’s a distinct library music feel too, with wiry organ, spacey keyboards and loping 60s guitar hinting at KPM and DeWolfe. Like the best library music, Tulips creates a cinematic universe through sound alone, evoking moving images in the listener’s technicolour imagination. It turns out that was accidentally on purpose: “I was discovering a lot of library music for the first time… listening to a composer’s entire catalog or finding all this obscure stuff. I wasn’t entirely conscious of the influence until I started making this music and realized I was channeling the vibe. That’s when I began focusing more on weaving melodic themes throughout the record to make it function more like a soundtrack”.

Tulips was recorded between 2015 and 2017 in a small studio in a village called Zwaag in Holland, during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. “Tulips” comes from the title of the very first demo he made in Holland, it was the first thing that came to mind. Makes sense.

Recording in Europe with some very European influences in mind, Frank wanted to eschew any American influences. But we can still feel the studio wizardry of the likes of Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson in there somewhere. A psychedelic bedroom-pop song-cycle, full of hypnotic hooks and dusty drums, Tulips manages to sound charmingly homemade yet wholly widescreen.

Dreamy opener “Swans” is an exquisite soul instrumental and recalls the soft-psych of Koushik, which Be With loves of course. Tropicalia influences abound in the cool and breezy “New Danger” and the KPM-references are loud and proud on the lush organ pop of “Old Habits”. Fast-paced “Chase Theme No. 1” manages to be both tense and laid back, decorated by acid-drenched spaghetti Western guitars. The glorious Gainsbourg-esque melancholia of “Infinite Bliss” is all gauzy flutes and happy-sad vocalizing and the title is almost perfect: it’s bliss, no question; *if only* it went on forever. Side A closes with “Evening”, a subtle bossa nova beat thing. Gorgeous.

Side B opens with the heat-shimmer guitars of “Rain Dance”, evoking an unreleased Byrds or Buffalo Springfield backing track. Yes, it’s that good. “Sure Thing” is music to accompany an elevator ride you never want to end, but in a good way! The ornate “Garçon Manqué” is as beautiful as the instrumentals on Pet Sounds (think “Let’s Go Away For A While”) and the wistful “Turning In” starts like a stroll in the park before Maston introduces a scorched-Earth guitar solo that would startle if it wasn’t so pitch-perfect. “Chase Theme No. 2” is a briefer, more keening counterpart to what we hear on side A. The head-nod bass-drums-keys funk of “Hues” rounds out this staggeringly assured set; still opening each phrase with a plaintive strum, but using vibrato and heavy reverb to accent the electric organ melody. Sublime.

All these top drawer musical references might sound like just more of the usual release notes hyperbole, but there’s a reason that this still-young LP already changes hands for big money. It really is that good. Of course that first pressing didn’t hang around for long and Frank’s regularly been asked about a re-press pretty much ever since.

Re-issuing Tulips on Be With made sense to Frank “because the record would fit in so well with the catalogue”. Having already delved into the archives of KPM and Themes, and beginning to do the same with Coloursound and Selected Sounds, the collaboration “just makes sense and seems inevitable”. We agree.

Frank wasn’t sure a record of instrumentals with obscure soundtrack references would be an easy sell when it was originally released, and was surprised when Tulips turned out to be exactly what some people wanted to hear. We reckon its timeless beauty ensures that it’ll *always* have an audience.

The record was originally cut to be played at 45rpm, a technical quirk that grants the home listener the opportunity to go deeper, for longer. Played at 33rpm, the more languid unfurling of the tracks proves just as wonderful a trip. As a psilocybin-soaked case study from Aquarium Drunkard back in January of 2019 describes, some of the songs sound as if they were intended to be heard that way. The slower speed allowing the listener to step inside and perhaps even “crack the code” of the music’s meaning.

Mastered for this vinyl reissue by Simon Francis and featuring alternative burnt orange artwork from Maston himself, this Be With pressing is limited to just 500 copies. Hypnagogic it may be, but please don’t sleep.

Über zehn Songs sind Bokassa auf ihrem neuen Album so vielfältig wie eh und je. Das Power-Trio bietet alles von riffigem Stoner-Metal, fast progressivem Skatepunk, metallischem Hardcore bis hin zu entspanntem Flaschenhals-Riffing auf dem Wüstenrocker 'Gung Ho'. Ganz zu schweigen vom eingängigen und hymnischen Titeltrack. Während zum Beispiel das Debüt eine laute Klanglandschaft hatte und das 2021er 'Molotov Rocktail' mit einen verspielteren und größeren Rocksound kam, hat 'All Out Of Dreams' einen etwas raueren metallischen Sound inkl. Snare-Drum-Sound der 90er wie bei Clutch, Helmet oder Therapy erinnert? Das Album wurde von Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, BabyMetal, Madball, Sick Of It All, The Haunted) aufgenommen, gemischt und gemastert. Die Band hatte dabei erstmalig Gäste wie Lou Koller von den NYHC-Legenden Sick Of It All und Aaron Beam von den Stoner-Rockern Red Fang an Bord. 'All Out Of Dreams' erscheint als Digipak, Black Vinyl sowie lim. Red Vinyl!

It was winter. Six Parts Seven had returned to Ohio after touring out to Washington State, to record Casually Smashed to Pieces. There was down time between the recording and the actual release of that album in January 2007, and we were rehearsing, playing local shows, and collaborating, with most of us involved in other projects to keep the momentum going (Mike w/ Talons, Al w/ Beaten Awake), but the one we all came together over was recording an album with Joey Beltram, the songwriter behind Goodmorning Valentine, a local band we shared players with, a band we deeply admired. The music on Kissing Distance came together over two weekend days. There were a lot of people around; 6P7 and GMV players coming and going from the Saint Ledger House. There were handles of whiskey, there was weed, stacks of Marlboro Reds for the ones still dragging butts. We all went 'dancing' at Thursday's, in Akron, Ohio, on Saturday night. Not sure how we were productive the following day. Chalk that one up to relative youth. Over those two days, songs were cut without any prior rehearsal time. None of us remember how the idea came up. In hindsight, it seems inevitable. The first song on the album, "Mediation in D," had been written a couple of years before, and was the decided spark that set the fire blazing: for both bands, this song was the starting point, an invitation to take things further, to expand, combining players from both bands, our 'toolbox' had increased in size from a single hammer to a toolbox. Everything came easily at this point. "Drunk from the Bottle," is the first of the one-take/one mic songs: an SM58 used for both vocal and guitar, making it impossible to over-think anything: You got the version, or you did not, that simple. "Instrumental #2," is the last full/core band recording by Six Parts Seven. The first piece in our catalog written/arranged by Tim Gerak. This song would have been developed on our follow-up to Casually Smashed to Pieces. Alas, an album never came to be. The ache in this is real. It's there in the bass guitar, tuned high and open, played with a slide, and utilizing one of Jamie Stillman's pre- Earthquaker Devices fuzz pedals. "Lonely Daughter," is another one-take/one-mic song, notable for the lead-guitar, played by James Matthew Haas, who overdubbed his part, months later, standing alone on the deck at Joey's folks place, playing to the moonlight, making magic...

London soul star Jordan Mackampa returns with a new album titled Welcome Home, Kid! out 16 February 2024 via AWAL. This new music sees Jordan come back to his love of R&B, soul, funk and gospel with references to Dru Hill and Blackstreet, producing a new sound that nods to his earlier soundcloud works and the nostalgia of his childhood. It's brazen and bold and presents an incredibly assured artist that is no longer afraid to show off their Blackness, queerness, or sexual expression in all their forms. Getting to this place has taken Jordan decades of growth, patience & gruelling lessons to reach this state and now he can stand in his Blackness proudly. This album tells the story of how he got to this place of self-worth and the stories of the varying complex but beautiful perspectives about the Black experience. He is open and honest about sex, intimacy, imposter syndrome and how he navigates healthy love, toxic heartbreak, friendships and forgiveness. The core theme of this record is introspection with Jordan explaining, “This was a big theme for me in writing a lot of these songs because no one else has lived life in my shoes, I really had to take other peoples’ opinions & stories out of the writing and put myself at the forefront of everything. Which in turn, made me put the guitar down more and stand centre stage naked in a way. This new album for me feels even more personal now - I use more self language of “I” over “we” because all of these stories are about me and my life in even more depth than the first record touched upon, whilst covering more bases either through my own first person story telling of something current I’m dealing with or a past situation I’m using music to heal through. The debut was me figuring out shit, this album is me putting the last puzzle piece on the board.”

In the beginning was a half-truth, the truth was of war and the half-truth was post-war. Fancying the pretensions of its cultural superiority, a continent chose to hide the truth behind ridiculous jargon and the soothing distance of offshored ?????????. Europe wished itself beyond war because it thought the privilege of peace a birthright, just as it refused to understand that post-war was a euphemism for interbellum. Then the truth has set us free.

The delusion was discarded and war was revealed as an inconceivable horror. Almost immediately it turned familiar and virtually comfortable. Novelty songs of drones gutting tanks became a laughing matter and the burning tanks, their crew inside, entertainment. Consequently, a plurality of people started to collectively dream of new stages of the righteous kind of carnage. This happened within weeks.

Our imagination has swollen to the point of loss of consciousness, compounded by the narrative form long in the sways of atrophy. All of this raises the question of to what degree were the years of peace culturally squandered. The art of the previous age prided itself on self-awareness, today we fail to even notice that we no longer recognize ourselves. But we have arrived where we started and our issues were not too complex for expression.

Since no art form generates action, the most appropriate art for a culture on the edge of extinction is one that simulates pain. In these times we shouldn't produce any other music, none but this, intended to prevent our silence from being misinterpreted.

The music of Atlanta trio Omni has always swung fast and hit hard. And Souvenir, their fourth album and second for Sub Pop, packs their biggest punch yet. Inactive during the majority of the pandemic-the longest downtime in their history-they approached this recording with lots of pent-up energy. Guitarist Frankie Broyles, singer/bassist Philip Frobos, and drummer Chris Yonker converted their creative fuel into sharp, driving songs that land immediately, sporting chopping riffs, staccato beats, and wiry melodies. Why does Souvenir sound so sharp? Because each track is a compact unit that stands on its own, reflecting the time and place in which it was created. That's why Omni called the album Souvenir: it's a collection of audio objects, a stash of musical miniatures. Think of it as a family photo album, a binder of rare playing cards, a shoebox holding precious gems. Take "Plastic Pyramid," the first song Omni wrote after coming out of lockdown. Filled with twists and turns, it's a journey unto itself, charged by clanging chords, spinning rhythm, and Frobos trading lines with Izzy Glaudini of Automatic, with whom Omni toured with last fall. (Glaudini sings on two other Souvenir tracks, the first guest vocalist the band has collaborated with). Or take opener "Exacto," a slicing web of intertwined guitar and bass. Its razor-fine notes and syncopated beats perfectly match pointillist Frobos lyrics such as "Exacto, de facto, concise, quite right"-a line that could well be an Omni mantra. The precision and clarity of Souvenir comes from some new Omni developments. For one, this is their first album with Yonker as their full-time drummer, and his forceful playing adds exclamation points to every pointed moment on Souvenir. In addition, the trio worked with Atlanta-based engineer Kristofer Sampson for the first time. Sampson pushed the band to a higher degree of power, with Frobos's vocals more upfront in his pulsing mix and the rest of the music leaping out of the speakers. You might notice that Frobos' singing is a bit more emotional and even nostalgic this time around. In crafting his vocals, he was inspired by the early college radio rock of formative favorites like REM, the Cure, and Big Audio Dynamite-the kind of bands whose melodies could have been top 40 hits in an alternative universe. The lyrics on Souvenir are also by turns funny, absurd, and even cryptic. A wry humor has always coursed through Omni's songs, and this time, it comes in shades of both dark and light. In "Granite Kiss," an "astronomical" love story concludes with the hope that "we can decay together," while in "PG," a romantic walk in the park includes a rose-colored mugging. Immediacy rushes throughout every moment of Souvenir, making it the band's most powerful album to date. Omni has truly crafted a musical keepsake-a set of songs that you'll want to keep close, an aural memento you'll cherish for the rest of time.

The UK avant-garde’s rising star, Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist Bingo Fury is announcing his debut album ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ due out 16 February via tastemaking label state51. Filled with noir elegance, ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is an album that revels in extremity. The album was recorded in a local church in Bristol, taking inspiration from the musician’s complex relationship with his strong religious upbringing. The influence of the church building resonates throughout the album.

‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is full of strange experiments, obscure references, offbeat one-liners, heart-breaking sentimentality and surging creativity. At the heart of it all is Bingo Fury’s crooning bass vocal, lending a vivid and slyly humorous voice to universal themes of love and pain.

Alongside the album announcement, Bingo Fury is releasing new single ‘Leather Sky’, a tender piano ballad charged with real emotion and a heartbreaking cornet refrain played by band member Harry Furniss. In this cinematic track full of paralysing despair, the musician sings: “You know I’m trying to give you everything / It all gets in the way.”

Bingo Fury on the single: “Leather Sky is a difficult song to describe succinctly. It’s about being separated from someone against both of your will. Somebody close to me became very unwell and communication became restricted, almost non-existent. The song took shape during that period. A few of the surreal lines ended up becoming reality.”

Although very much a solo songwriter, Bingo Fury’s compositional process relies on contributions from his entire band - bassist Megan Jenkins and drummer Henry Terrett have been playing together since their teens. In one of their various incarnations, they recruited local avant-jazz legend, cornet player Harry ‘Iceman’ Furniss, with guitarist and percussionist Rafi Cohen later completing the line-up.


The album announcement follows the release of the cacophonous single ‘Power Drill’, which garnered praise from The Line Of Best Fit and DIY. This comes after Bingo Fury’s debut EP, ‘Mercy’s Cut’, that came out last year to an abundance of critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6 Music, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet, Clash, as well as earning himself a spot on the NME Top 100. Filled with rich, cinematic allure, the EP is both beautiful and unsettling and underlines Bingo Fury’s complete abundance of compositional ideas.

The UK avant-garde’s rising star, Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist Bingo Fury is announcing his debut album ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ due out 16 February via tastemaking label state51. Filled with noir elegance, ‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is an album that revels in extremity. The album was recorded in a local church in Bristol, taking inspiration from the musician’s complex relationship with his strong religious upbringing. The influence of the church building resonates throughout the album.

‘Bats Feet For A Widow’ is full of strange experiments, obscure references, offbeat one-liners, heart-breaking sentimentality and surging creativity. At the heart of it all is Bingo Fury’s crooning bass vocal, lending a vivid and slyly humorous voice to universal themes of love and pain.

Alongside the album announcement, Bingo Fury is releasing new single ‘Leather Sky’, a tender piano ballad charged with real emotion and a heartbreaking cornet refrain played by band member Harry Furniss. In this cinematic track full of paralysing despair, the musician sings: “You know I’m trying to give you everything / It all gets in the way.”

Bingo Fury on the single: “Leather Sky is a difficult song to describe succinctly. It’s about being separated from someone against both of your will. Somebody close to me became very unwell and communication became restricted, almost non-existent. The song took shape during that period. A few of the surreal lines ended up becoming reality.”

Although very much a solo songwriter, Bingo Fury’s compositional process relies on contributions from his entire band - bassist Megan Jenkins and drummer Henry Terrett have been playing together since their teens. In one of their various incarnations, they recruited local avant-jazz legend, cornet player Harry ‘Iceman’ Furniss, with guitarist and percussionist Rafi Cohen later completing the line-up.


The album announcement follows the release of the cacophonous single ‘Power Drill’, which garnered praise from The Line Of Best Fit and DIY. This comes after Bingo Fury’s debut EP, ‘Mercy’s Cut’, that came out last year to an abundance of critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6 Music, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet, Clash, as well as earning himself a spot on the NME Top 100. Filled with rich, cinematic allure, the EP is both beautiful and unsettling and underlines Bingo Fury’s complete abundance of compositional ideas.

All tracks licensed from Makkum Records | Produced and mixed by remix artists | Mastering by Detlef Funder, Paraschall Studios Düsseldorf | Artwork by Darko Kujundžic

It's the kind of project that brings the old mad scientist cliché out for an airing, "It's insane, but it just might work." The insanity in this case being a motley cast that features Andy Moor (The Ex, Amsterdam), Desmond Denker (Cologne), Phanton (Cologne), Yürke (Düsseldorf), Dubby King Knarf (Knarf Rellöm, Hamburg), Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg), Begritty (Cologne) laying down their versions of tracks from the demento-a-go-go-electro-pop-rock-mono-mind known as Zea.

How could we resist the spasmodic schizoid psychedelic menace of that devilish Dutch juggernaut called Zea. This bastardised twelve inch slab of wax has Zea sonically re-assessed, dissected and twisted in side out. And it had to happen, it had to be made.

"Standing up I forgot what came to mind when I was lying on the kitchen floor. Standing up I forgot what came to mind, something I tried to remember before." It's the punky pop intro of the song 'Staande ben ik vergeten wat ik dacht toen ik lag', the Dutch translation of the first sentence of the song that provided the title for this collection of remixes. Zea, a.k.a. Arnold de Boer, a musician who skips sitting down, who either jumps or lies on the floor fumbling with a dictaphone trying to remember the ideas that just came to mind jumping around from the couch straight into the kitchen, trying to write the next song while cooking spicy food that makes his head explode. It's all inthere, everyone is in there; shrinking people, growing people, dead people. And all "Sub specie ludens" (from the perspective of human play).

Die Wiederveröffentlichung von "Swan Songs" von Lord of the Lost ist ein bedeutendes Ereignis für Fans der Band und des Dark Rock-Genres. Ursprünglich wurde "Swan Songs" als Teil der vielfältigen Diskografie der Band veröffentlicht, die Elemente aus Gothic, Metal und Rockmusik miteinander verbindet. Lord of the Lost, 2007 von Chris Harms in Hamburg gegründet, ist bekannt für ihre theatralischen und visuell beeindruckenden Auftritte sowie für ihre tiefgründigen, erzählerischen Texte. Das Album "Swan Songs" nimmt einen besonderen Platz im Repertoire von Lord of the Lost ein, da es eine eher symphonische und orchestrale Seite der Band zeigt. Diese Herangehensweise unterscheidet sich von ihrem typischen schwereren und aggressiveren Stil und unterstreicht ihre Vielseitigkeit als Musiker. Das Album enthält neu interpretierte Versionen ihrer bestehenden Songs, die an ein klassischeres und symphonischeres Arrangement angepasst wurden, bei dem oft Instrumente wie Streicher und Klavier zum Einsatz kommen, was dem Album einen unverwechselbaren und gefühlvollen Klang verleiht.

NYC speed rockers PONS are wound up and hot for skronk on The Liquid Self, a golden spiral into insanity at sea surfacing on cassette and streaming October 6, 2023. Besieged by a lighthouse panopticon of pummeling, engine-room percussion, The Liquid Self rises higher than the tides of destiny. These eleven songs churn like a gluttonous maelstrom consuming everything in its path. The Liquid Self chums indie rock’s murky waters with bloody chunks of Lightning Bolt, Van Halen and King Crimson to lure PONS’ mythical and unhinged rock ‘n roll creation to the surface. Harpoons in hand, the dual drums and guitar trio swing, shuffle and strut across oceanic horizons of playful, unhinged garage-prog-pop inhabited by a cast of unreliable narrators; bottom feeders carrying the entire ocean’s weight on their polyrhythms.

On the single “Coral King,” PONS usurp noise rock’s old guard while pledging fealty to the dystopia under the sea with a foamy, froth-mouthed manic industrial scuzz-prog rant seething with sludgy, dissonant bile oozing from every sour note. Furious violin-fuzz riffs and a chorus of lost souls lead the procession at this brutal coronation of the damned.

“Sinking Feeling” hangs ten with bright and beachy major chords anchored by fleet-flippered guitar solos breaching the surf like suppertime at SeaWorld. Chaos reigns on “Queen Conch,” soaking the splash zone with misty waves of undulating percussion and tsunami force sheets of six-string shredding. Barbed post-punk rager “Hooks” swallows the bait whole—and it turns out PONS fish with dynamite.

Nach der überraschenden Rückkehr 2023 für eine Reihe feierlicher, ausverkaufter Konzerte in UK und Europa starten die Post-Rock-DIY-Helden The Boxer Rebellion in ein vielversprechendes Jahr 2024, das noch einmal in die Tiefe geht und ihre neue 'Open Arms' EP einläutet, ein pulsierendes, kristallines Mantra, das in limitierter 500er Auflage auf cremefarbenem Vinyl erscheint. Neue schimmernd-epische Songs wie 'Powdered Sugar' und 'Lightness Out Of Darkness' oder das kathartische 'As Man As Alive As The City' bestätigen, dass die Band nicht nur zurück ist, sondern auch in einem Ausbruch dringender, aktualisierter Kreativität eine klare Linie von ihrer Vergangenheit zur Gegenwart zieht.

Comprising accomplished musicians Roy Bar-Tour, Atzmon Avrahami and Adam Yodfat, Les Dynamites built themselves a strong following for their fresh blend of Mediterranean and classic surf rock with Balkan and Yemini folk, catching the attention of Middle Eastern groove connoisseurs Batov Record. Their debut single for the label, “Pop Oud #2”, packed enough punch, and funk, for both psych fans and break dancers. Backed by a dubwise flip by digging pioneers Radio Trip, it received support from the likes of Juno, Monolith Cocktail and Worldwide FM.

“Uzi Kinrot” takes its name from guitarists Uri Kinrot and Uzi Feinerman of Boom Pam, pioneers of today’s resurgence in Middle Eastern surf rock. Ray Bar-Tour riffs like a Klezmer-playing Dick Dale over a Balkan sousaphone bass lines and snappy drum rhythms. Towards the end, Yemen Yehudith adds a special touch of traditional wailing, raising the excitement by another notch.

Recorded, co-arranged, produced, mixed and mastered by Uri “MixMonster” Wertheim of famed funk band, The Apples, and obscure sample scientists, RadioTrip. On “Uzi Kinrot” and “Sea Gull”, the group pay tribute to the Mediterranean surf heroes who inspired them most. They continue from where the seventies funk leaning “Pop Oud #2” left off, going deeper, and reuniting the classic Mediterranean and American surf sounds with a fresh perspective, destined to earn themselves an even greater following.

Legendary US Metal masterpiece finally available again on deluxe180 grams vinyl after more than 35 years! With their sound and style completely defined on their previous and nearly perfect album, “Soldiers of the Night”, Vicious Rumors continue on with yet another outstanding sequel that could go hand in hand with their debut. This is pretty much US Power Metal with actual riffs, and some technical and mindblowing riffs at that with Geoff Thorpe’s tremendous skill and incredible songwriting. The standout here is hands down vocalist Carl Albert (Rest in peace). Nothing but energy sparks from his every lyric spoken. His aggressive and energetic mid-range performance can easily be matched to Bruce Dickinson. Vicious Rumors were truly out of this world when Carl was with them, this being the flawless beginning of that legacy. Its nearly impossible to pinpoint Vicious Rumors exact sound and style and just throw them in one genre, because you really can not. There are a few Speed Metal songs here, a few more Power Metal orientated ones, few hints of progessive structures, and even some Thrashy parts from time to time. Standout tracks would be the self title track, “Minute to Kill”, “R.L.H (Run Like Hell)”, and “Towns of Fire”. Then again, this whole album is just great with no real low points at all. In the end, this is an essential Vicious Rumors album, and often hailed as their finest release!

Louien is back with her third album, which sees her taking a big leap into a more indie pop sounding universe. She started out writing melancholic folk songs on her debut album, but has slowly found her own voice and a real knack for melodies. We heard hints of this on her last album, «No Tomorrow/Figure Me Out», and on this album - «Every Dream I Ever Had» - she really embraces her new sound. On songs like «Please» and «Hours», you can clearly hear influences from artists like Boygenious, Gracie Abrams and Lizzy McAlpine, while on «Losing My Mind» she turns it up one more notch, with responding vocals from her band, and a tight drum groove. «Quite Like This» is a another highlight from the album, which highlights her skill for writing unbelievably big and beautiful pop ballads. You could say that this is a slightly new turn for Louien, but still with strong songwriting and amazing melodies as the core of all her songs.

Der britische Superstar Paloma Faith schlägt ein neues Kapitel in der Karriere auf und meldet sich mit einem neuen Song "How You Leave A Man" zurück. Mit der ersten Singleauskopplung "How You Leave A Man", die von Selbstermächtigung und dem Finde seines eigenen Glücks handelt, kündet die Sängerin gleichzeitig die Veröffentlichung ihres sechsten Studioalbums "The Glorification of Sadness" für den 16. Februar 2023 an. Für das kommende Werk arbeitete Paloma Faith mit dem preisgekrönten Produzenten und Komponisten Martin Wave und den Co-Autoren JKash, Andrew Wells, Ellie King und Charlie Puth zusammen.

As part of our continuing Suede30 campaign, Demon Records will be issuing Suede’s fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth singles as highly collectable 7” picture discs, reproducing the original arresting cover images on the discs. • Released on 14th February 1994, the band’s fifth single was a new song, “Stay Together”. Peaking at number 3 in the UK charts, it remains Suede’s highest-charting single (along with “Trash”). The Bside was “The Living Dead”. • Neither song was included on the “Dog Man Star” album, released in October 1994.

The second reissue of NETWORK 23 classics features remastered tracks by R-ZAC (Crystal Distortion and 69db) also known as the original Spiral Tribe Live Set. If you missed out on these tracks from the past you should definitely get your hands on it now.

Der legendäre Rockgitarrist Steve Hackett wird sein neues Studioalbum "The Circus And The Nightwhale" am 16. Februar 2024 über InsideOut Music veröffentlichen. Die 12 Tracks von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" sind ein Rite-of-Passage-Konzeptalbum, in dessen Mittelpunkt eine junge Figur namens Travla steht. Für den Musiker haben die 13 Tracks einen autobiografischen Aspekt, der über sein 30. Solo-Album sagt: "Ich liebe dieses Album. Es sagt die Dinge, die ich schon seit langer Zeit sagen wollte." Aufgenommen zwischen den Tourneen 2022 und 2023 im Siren Studio in Großbritannien - mit Gastbeiträgen aus Schweden, Österreich, den USA, Aserbaidschan und Dänemark - umfasst die Besetzung von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" neben Steve an elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren, 12-saitiger Gitarre, Mandoline, Mundharmonika, Percussion, Bass und Gesang einige bekannte Gesichter. Roger King (Keyboards, Programmierung und orchestrale Arrangements), Rob Townsend (Saxophon), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Nad Sylvan (Gesang), Craig Blundell (Schlagzeug) und Amanda Lehmann (Gesang). Nick D'Virgilio und Hugo Degenhardt kehren als Gäste an den Drumhocker zurück, der hervorragende Tontechniker Benedict Fenner ist an den Keyboards zu hören und Malik Mansurov ist wieder an der Gitarre. Und schließlich ist auch Steves Bruder John Hackett wieder an der Flöte zu hören. Steve fasst "The Circus And The Nightwhale" wie folgt zusammen: "Es ist eine schöne Reise, die schmutzig, kratzig und rauchig beginnt und dann himmlisch und göttlich wird. Wie kann man da widerstehen?" Das Album wird als Ltd CD+Blu-ray Mediabook (inkl. 5.1 Surround Sound & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180g LP + LP-Booklet & als digitales Album erhältlich sein.

Der legendäre Rockgitarrist Steve Hackett wird sein neues Studioalbum "The Circus And The Nightwhale" am 16. Februar 2024 über InsideOut Music veröffentlichen. Die 12 Tracks von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" sind ein Rite-of-Passage-Konzeptalbum, in dessen Mittelpunkt eine junge Figur namens Travla steht. Für den Musiker haben die 13 Tracks einen autobiografischen Aspekt, der über sein 30. Solo-Album sagt: "Ich liebe dieses Album. Es sagt die Dinge, die ich schon seit langer Zeit sagen wollte." Aufgenommen zwischen den Tourneen 2022 und 2023 im Siren Studio in Großbritannien - mit Gastbeiträgen aus Schweden, Österreich, den USA, Aserbaidschan und Dänemark - umfasst die Besetzung von "The Circus And The Nightwhale" neben Steve an elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren, 12-saitiger Gitarre, Mandoline, Mundharmonika, Percussion, Bass und Gesang einige bekannte Gesichter. Roger King (Keyboards, Programmierung und orchestrale Arrangements), Rob Townsend (Saxophon), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Nad Sylvan (Gesang), Craig Blundell (Schlagzeug) und Amanda Lehmann (Gesang). Nick D'Virgilio und Hugo Degenhardt kehren als Gäste an den Drumhocker zurück, der hervorragende Tontechniker Benedict Fenner ist an den Keyboards zu hören und Malik Mansurov ist wieder an der Gitarre. Und schließlich ist auch Steves Bruder John Hackett wieder an der Flöte zu hören. Steve fasst "The Circus And The Nightwhale" wie folgt zusammen: "Es ist eine schöne Reise, die schmutzig, kratzig und rauchig beginnt und dann himmlisch und göttlich wird. Wie kann man da widerstehen?" Das Album wird als Ltd CD+Blu-ray Mediabook (inkl. 5.1 Surround Sound & Hi-Res Stereo Mixes), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180g LP + LP-Booklet & als digitales Album erhältlich sein.

"Mane Attraction is the fourth studio album from the New York-based glam metal band White Lion. The album featured the singles “Love Don’t Come Easy”, the eight-minute heavy rock epic track “Lights and Thunder”, and a re-recorded version of their debut single “Broken Heart”. It was the last album that featured both Greg D’Angelo and James Lomenzo in the line-up. For the first time since its original release in 1991, the album is getting a reissue. Mane Attraction is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on silver coloured vinyl and includes an insert. "

You just moved to the big city, you end up at a party where you don't know anyone and someone walks up to you and asks: "Hey, are you alone here?". That is exactly the feeling that Porcelain id describes on their debut album Bibi:1, short for the Arabic pet name Habibi. Porcelain id is the pseudonym under which Hubert Tuyishime (they/them/their) has been unleashing unique songs since 2020.

The album - inspired by their move from a quiet provincial town to Antwerp - is the soundtrack to walking into city traffic during rush hour and trusting to get out of the chaos in one piece. It is an ode to exciting encounters with complete strangers and to the friends you can come home to afterwards. A story about being a stranger in a city you've romanticized for so long, the rejection that comes with it, and the false nostalgia with which you look back on it all later on.

At first hearing, the completely English-language Bibi:1 may seem like a brusque farewell to the autobiographical intimacy and lo-fi singer-songwriter music on the previously released EPs Mango and Reprise, and especially on songs like Vlaanderen. But to Porcelain id it feels like an organic evolution. One towards more abstraction, experimentation and electronics, but never detached, and still building on the core of Porcelain id.

The new sound is the result of an intense collaboration with producer and partner in crime Youniss Ahamad, who, despite their different musical backgrounds, immediately felt challenged after Porcelain id's legendary elevator pitch: 'I want to make something that is situated between Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Yeezus by Kanye West'.

Together they drew the blueprint for Bibi:1 in Youniss' home studio. Track by track, without looking back. A sporadic, but rigid process that added to the intensity of the album. In the studio, the songs were taken to a higher level. The two invited a pack of talented friends and young musicians to the studio to add parts, a stark contrast to the solitary approach of previous EPs. Aram Abgaryan (recording engineer/synths/vocals), Nard Houdmeyers (guitar), Tim Caramin (drums), David Idrisov (bass), Alban Sarens (sax) and Emma Hessels (vocals) came by. Aram Santy was at the controls during the mixing sessions.

The result sounds like the ultimate symbiosis of Porcelain id and Youniss. Lofi, but ambitious. Fragile, but rough. Poppy, but disruptive. Sometimes challenging. Then welcoming again. Sometimes even danceable. Each song forms a small vignette that is part of a diverse, but coherent unity. Adam Coming Home and Low Poly are closest to the melancholy of Porcelain id's earlier work, while Lights! strikes a new path. First single Man Down, on the other hand, is inspired by the Antwerp students who drown every year and sounds like a wandering nightly stroll through the city. For Brilliant, David Idrisov was asked to 'play bass as if Chet Baker were not a trumpet player, but a bass player', a bizarre assignment that he accomplished with verve. And Cellophane flirts with emo trap and was sung with raspberries between the teeth, to simulate the effect of grills.

Arketip Discs is a Barcelona-based vinyl and digital imprint co-founded by Spear and Makuto that has featured music by Reeko, Truncate, Temudo, ORBE and Eduardo De La Calle.
Makuto is the label head from Spain with a growing reputation and who has kept his productions exclusively to Arketip Discs so far. ''Sfera'' is a hypnotic and atmospheric cut with modular accents and tones that morph and expand in sleek style.
A. Morgan is from Manchester, UK and has been establishing his productions with revered releases on the likes of Jay Clarke's Blackaxon, Joton's New rhythmic, Hans Bouffmyhre's Sleaze and Berlin's BCCO. ''Vogue One'' has a stripped-back style and groove focused rhythm with creative sound design and precise percussion highlights.
VIL is known as a core member of the Portuguese outfit HAYES, and has released music on Ben Klock's Klockworks, Ben Sims' Hardgroove, Shlomi Aber's Be As One, and TWR72's Float amongst others. ''The Reaction'' has a shuffling and quirky rhythm with deep, floating chords and electric elements creating a unique vibe.
Also from Spain, Psyk is the Non Series label owner whose back catalogue includes Tresor, Luke Slater's Mote Evolver, Scuba's Hotflush, Reeko's Mental Disorder and Chris Liebing's CLR to name only a few. Psyk's impressive remix of ''The Reaction'' succeeds in expanding distinct electric fragments from the original into a tapestry of organic, modular soundscapes

Extra Characteristics
Printed Sleeve

High Roller Records, Als der inzwischen verstorbene Rhett Forrester die New Yorker Band Riot nach ihrem gut aufgenommenen Album "Born In America" von 1983 verließ, dauerte es nicht lange, bis er mit der Arbeit an seinem ersten Soloalbum begann. "Gone With The Wind" wurde ursprünglich 1984 auf dem französischen Label Bernett Records veröffentlicht. "Even The Score" von 1988 war das zweite und letzte offizielle Soloalbum von Rhett Forrester, da der legendäre Sänger am 22. Januar 1994 im Alter von 37 Jahren in Atlanta, Georgia, erschossen wurde. Obwohl auf "Even The Score" kein weiteres Studioalbum folgte, hörte Rhett nicht auf, neue Musik aufzunehmen. Er arbeitete mit verschiedenen Musikern in unterschiedlichen Bands und Projekten über einen Zeitraum von sechs Jahren bis zu seinem frühen Tod 1994 zusammen. Zwei davon sind auf "The Canadian Years" zu hören. Dr. Dirty (die Gruppe hieß ursprünglich Mr. Dirty, wurde aber wegen der Verwendung von zwei D's als Logo in Dr. Dirty umbenannt) war das Geistesprodukt des Gitarristen Rob Robins. Er erklärt: "Scot Gaines, der Bassist, und ich hatten schon fast ein Jahr lang geschrieben, als wir Rhett Forrester in Calgary trafen. Er hatte gerade seine Zeit bei Rick Plester's Black Symphony beendet. Wir waren auf der Suche nach einem Sänger, mit dem wir ein paar Gigs spielen konnten. Rhett wurde erwähnt, und wir trafen uns mit ihm, und es schien, als würde er gut passen! Wir haben ihm sofort die Songs vorgespielt, an denen wir gearbeitet hatten. Rhett war immer großartig im Studio und hat seine Parts aufgenommen. Ein echter Profi. Egal, was wir ihm vorsetzten, Rhett lieferte immer eine großartige Leistung ab." Die eigentlichen Demo-Sessions für Dr. Dirty fanden von 1992 bis Anfang 1993 statt. Rob Robins: "Wir haben vier Songs in Calgary aufgenommen: 'Red Bone Rock', 'Smoking Gun', 'In And Out' und 'Coming Home'. In LA haben wir 'Rescue Me', 'Hold On', 'Love Song' und 'Too Little Too Late' aufgenommen. Ursprünglich hatten wir ein gewisses Interesse von einem Label, gerade als sich das Projekt auflöste. Einer der wohl ungewöhnlichsten Beiträge von Rhett Forrester war 1992 (kurz vor den Dr. Dirty-Sessions) in Form von The Black Symphony (bestehend aus den drei Songs "In The Beginning", "Redemption" und "End Of Time") entstanden. Black Symphony war das Baby des kanadischen Gitarristen Rick Plester, der erklärt: "Ich habe so ziemlich das gesamte Material für die fünf Alben von The Black Symphony geschrieben. Ich habe in Magazinen in ganz Nordamerika Anzeigen für einen Leadsänger geschaltet und Rhett Forester hat sich gemeldet. Als er mich aus heiterem Himmel anrief, war ich angenehm überrascht, denn ich war schon vorher ein Fan von Riot gewesen. Ein paar Wochen später flogen wir Rhett nach Calgary in Kanada, wo ich zu der Zeit lebte. Einige Tage nach seiner Ankunft nahmen wir drei Songs in einem Studio in Calgary auf. Rhett war sehr unterhaltsam, es machte Spaß, mit ihm zusammen zu sein. Ich genoss seine Freundschaft. Er war sehr engagiert und brachte eine Menge mit. Am Ende war es traurig, dass ich ihn wegen seiner Drogenprobleme und abgebrannten Brücken gehen lassen musste."

High Roller Records, Als der inzwischen verstorbene Rhett Forrester die New Yorker Band Riot nach ihrem gut aufgenommenen Album "Born In America" von 1983 verließ, dauerte es nicht lange, bis er mit der Arbeit an seinem ersten Soloalbum begann. "Gone With The Wind" wurde ursprünglich 1984 auf dem französischen Label Bernett Records veröffentlicht. "Even The Score" von 1988 war das zweite und letzte offizielle Soloalbum von Rhett Forrester, da der legendäre Sänger am 22. Januar 1994 im Alter von 37 Jahren in Atlanta, Georgia, erschossen wurde. Obwohl auf "Even The Score" kein weiteres Studioalbum folgte, hörte Rhett nicht auf, neue Musik aufzunehmen. Er arbeitete mit verschiedenen Musikern in unterschiedlichen Bands und Projekten über einen Zeitraum von sechs Jahren bis zu seinem frühen Tod 1994 zusammen. Zwei davon sind auf "The Canadian Years" zu hören. Dr. Dirty (die Gruppe hieß ursprünglich Mr. Dirty, wurde aber wegen der Verwendung von zwei D's als Logo in Dr. Dirty umbenannt) war das Geistesprodukt des Gitarristen Rob Robins. Er erklärt: "Scot Gaines, der Bassist, und ich hatten schon fast ein Jahr lang geschrieben, als wir Rhett Forrester in Calgary trafen. Er hatte gerade seine Zeit bei Rick Plester's Black Symphony beendet. Wir waren auf der Suche nach einem Sänger, mit dem wir ein paar Gigs spielen konnten. Rhett wurde erwähnt, und wir trafen uns mit ihm, und es schien, als würde er gut passen! Wir haben ihm sofort die Songs vorgespielt, an denen wir gearbeitet hatten. Rhett war immer großartig im Studio und hat seine Parts aufgenommen. Ein echter Profi. Egal, was wir ihm vorsetzten, Rhett lieferte immer eine großartige Leistung ab." Die eigentlichen Demo-Sessions für Dr. Dirty fanden von 1992 bis Anfang 1993 statt. Rob Robins: "Wir haben vier Songs in Calgary aufgenommen: 'Red Bone Rock', 'Smoking Gun', 'In And Out' und 'Coming Home'. In LA haben wir 'Rescue Me', 'Hold On', 'Love Song' und 'Too Little Too Late' aufgenommen. Ursprünglich hatten wir ein gewisses Interesse von einem Label, gerade als sich das Projekt auflöste. Einer der wohl ungewöhnlichsten Beiträge von Rhett Forrester war 1992 (kurz vor den Dr. Dirty-Sessions) in Form von The Black Symphony (bestehend aus den drei Songs "In The Beginning", "Redemption" und "End Of Time") entstanden. Black Symphony war das Baby des kanadischen Gitarristen Rick Plester, der erklärt: "Ich habe so ziemlich das gesamte Material für die fünf Alben von The Black Symphony geschrieben. Ich habe in Magazinen in ganz Nordamerika Anzeigen für einen Leadsänger geschaltet und Rhett Forester hat sich gemeldet. Als er mich aus heiterem Himmel anrief, war ich angenehm überrascht, denn ich war schon vorher ein Fan von Riot gewesen. Ein paar Wochen später flogen wir Rhett nach Calgary in Kanada, wo ich zu der Zeit lebte. Einige Tage nach seiner Ankunft nahmen wir drei Songs in einem Studio in Calgary auf. Rhett war sehr unterhaltsam, es machte Spaß, mit ihm zusammen zu sein. Ich genoss seine Freundschaft. Er war sehr engagiert und brachte eine Menge mit. Am Ende war es traurig, dass ich ihn wegen seiner Drogenprobleme und abgebrannten Brücken gehen lassen musste."

Als der inzwischen verstorbene Rhett Forrester die New Yorker Band Riot nach dem viel beachteten Album "Born In America" von 1983 verließ, dauerte es nicht lange, bis er eine Solokarriere startete, die in zwei Studioalben mündete: "Gone With The Wind" (1984) und "Even The Score" (1988). Am 22. Januar 1994 wurde der legendäre Sänger in Atlanta, Georgia, im Alter von 37 Jahren erschossen. Die "Sessions"-Compilation vereint eine Reihe verschiedener Projekte, an denen Rhett Forrester im Laufe seiner allzu kurzen, aber dennoch beeindruckenden Karriere beteiligt war. Die meisten dieser Aufnahmen sind im Vergleich zu den bekannteren Veröffentlichungen von Rhett Forrester, sei es mit der legendären Band Riot, Jack Starrs erstem Soloalbum "Out Of The Darkness" oder Rhett's eigenem Solo-Output, in Vergessenheit geraten. Den Anfang machen die "Dirty Water Sessions", die erstmals auf dem längst vergriffenen Compilation-Album "Hell Or Highwater" zu hören waren und in Texas mit dem Gitarristen und Co-Autor Jonathan Grell aufgenommen wurden, der früher bei der Band Winterkat spielte. Diese Songs sind die allerletzten Aufnahmen, die Rhett vor seinem frühen Tod machte. Als nächstes folgt das Projekt "Dogbone", eine Band, die Rhett mit den ehemaligen Keel-Mitgliedern Brian Jay und Dwain Miller gründete. Diese Aufnahmen wurden Mitte der 1990er Jahre in begrenztem Umfang halboffiziell veröffentlicht, sind aber bis heute weitgehend ungehört geblieben. Außerdem enthält "Sessions" den einzigen Track aus dem "Thrasher"-Projektalbum mit Rhett. Dieser Track wurde von Andrew Duck McDonald und Carl Canedy produziert und war auch auf der "Hell Or Highwater"-Compilation zu hören. Den Abschluss dieser Veröffentlichung bilden die Demos für Dr. Dirty, bekannt als "The Clear Lake Sessions". Diese Aufnahmen bildeten die Grundlage für die vollständigen Dr. Dirty-Aufnahmen, die auf der High Roller Records-Veröffentlichung "Rhett Forrester - The Canadian Years" zu hören sind.

Als der inzwischen verstorbene Rhett Forrester die New Yorker Band Riot nach dem viel beachteten Album "Born In America" von 1983 verließ, dauerte es nicht lange, bis er eine Solokarriere startete, die in zwei Studioalben mündete: "Gone With The Wind" (1984) und "Even The Score" (1988). Am 22. Januar 1994 wurde der legendäre Sänger in Atlanta, Georgia, im Alter von 37 Jahren erschossen. Die "Sessions"-Compilation vereint eine Reihe verschiedener Projekte, an denen Rhett Forrester im Laufe seiner allzu kurzen, aber dennoch beeindruckenden Karriere beteiligt war. Die meisten dieser Aufnahmen sind im Vergleich zu den bekannteren Veröffentlichungen von Rhett Forrester, sei es mit der legendären Band Riot, Jack Starrs erstem Soloalbum "Out Of The Darkness" oder Rhett's eigenem Solo-Output, in Vergessenheit geraten. Den Anfang machen die "Dirty Water Sessions", die erstmals auf dem längst vergriffenen Compilation-Album "Hell Or Highwater" zu hören waren und in Texas mit dem Gitarristen und Co-Autor Jonathan Grell aufgenommen wurden, der früher bei der Band Winterkat spielte. Diese Songs sind die allerletzten Aufnahmen, die Rhett vor seinem frühen Tod machte. Als nächstes folgt das Projekt "Dogbone", eine Band, die Rhett mit den ehemaligen Keel-Mitgliedern Brian Jay und Dwain Miller gründete. Diese Aufnahmen wurden Mitte der 1990er Jahre in begrenztem Umfang halboffiziell veröffentlicht, sind aber bis heute weitgehend ungehört geblieben. Außerdem enthält "Sessions" den einzigen Track aus dem "Thrasher"-Projektalbum mit Rhett. Dieser Track wurde von Andrew Duck McDonald und Carl Canedy produziert und war auch auf der "Hell Or Highwater"-Compilation zu hören. Den Abschluss dieser Veröffentlichung bilden die Demos für Dr. Dirty, bekannt als "The Clear Lake Sessions". Diese Aufnahmen bildeten die Grundlage für die vollständigen Dr. Dirty-Aufnahmen, die auf der High Roller Records-Veröffentlichung "Rhett Forrester - The Canadian Years" zu hören sind.

The brand new EP "Wellental" by Extrawelt on Traum is herewith reveled to the fans. Their new 3 track vinyl 12" gives a nod to the mayhem and urgency of techno all finely tuned. Straightforward in its brilliance and simplicity, yet carefully measured with a maturity that speaks the language of Extrawelt´s minimalism.

We attest: a unique techno track for the dance-floor on the a side, a trippy track on b1 and a very musical one as B2.

What happens within these 3 tracks is nothing short of alchemy, traversing all sorts of grounds without ever losing the plot. It’s due to the duo’s keen grasp of sound design—they always exchange ideas, on an expansive set of hardware, so no matter what tunnel they’re traveling down head-first, the sounds are always pristine, filled with unexpected details.

The EP opens with the title track "Wellental" which translates as "wave trough". Wave trough valley refers in particular to the points of maximum negative deflection in a traveling wave. In contrast, the points of maximum positive deflection are called wave crests. Musically this converts in a way that, although the title track "Wellental" has a lot of forceful steady forward motion and zig zag sequences cutting into it, it also has that "hanging time" feeling that adds unpredictability and tension to the track. You can defiantly sense that Detroit theme in a post Detroit interpretation here.

The flip-side starts with "Unter Wasser" which is illustrated by urgent uptempo beats that can push it on the dance floor and dreamy, surreal soundscapes on the other hand that account for that great under water feel. The track sounds a bit like the "Deep End" film soundtrack from CAN in that respect.

The B2 track is called "Samtstrand" and there is a reason for this since the track is very gentle and brushes over a surface with velvet hands but in contrast to that, the Extrawelt beats are kicking out the jams here! So this song has a twin drive going!

Mal-One’s new single ‘When The Two 77’s Clashed’ talks about that heady time back in 1977. The year the Rastafarian faith also picked up on a biblical quote that told of an apocalyptic time coming in the year the two 77’s clash in 1977.

Well it was definitely a heady year for the punk movement that also coincided with the release of The Clash’s debut album. Mal-One describes the bands rehearsal rooms where they created the songs and whose entrance supplied the cover shot for the album cover itself. A machine gun splatter through the songs on the album and the meanings they reflected to all our lives. Hope you enjoy the ride back in time, an important time that as the lyric of the songs points out… ‘It even says it in the Bible’…..

Einar Solberg, Frontmann von LEPROUS, präsentiert eine offizielle Veröffentlichung seiner rohen und unbearbeiteten 2022 live gestreamten Solo-Performance des 2015er Albums "The Congregation" von LEPROUS. Diese völlig reduzierte Performance - nur Einar und das Klavier - präsentiert das Album in einem ganz neuen Licht, das selbst Einar selbst nicht für möglich gehalten hätte. Das wunderschöne Solo-Klavierkonzert ist als limitiertes CD-Digipak, limitierte Gatefold 180g schwarze 2LP sowie als Digitales Album erhältlich.

Take part in the sound of Bogota's eclectic cumbia scene that permeates the ritual sonido of this new 7" Vinyl by Conjunto Media Luna, out now on Little Beat More!

Enter the labyrinth that transcends the danceable and psychedelic, guided by the Colombian accordion and ecstatic percussion of their slow-pitched beat.

The 7" includes 2 songs taken from the debut album "Noches de media luna", with the iconic "Conjunto Media Luna" and "Perdi´ mis temores" featuring colombian rappers N. Harden & Mismo Perro!

Credits:
Prod. by Conjunto Media Luna
Artwork by Michael Boulton


Made with by Little Beat More 2024

Purple Clear Vinyl

Take part in the sound of Bogota's eclectic cumbia scene that permeates the ritual sonido of this new 7" Vinyl by Conjunto Media Luna, out now on Little Beat More!

Enter the labyrinth that transcends the danceable and psychedelic, guided by the Colombian accordion and ecstatic percussion of their slow-pitched beat.

The 7" includes 2 songs taken from the debut album "Noches de media luna", with the iconic "Conjunto Media Luna" and "Perdi´ mis temores" featuring colombian rappers N. Harden & Mismo Perro!

Credits:
Prod. by Conjunto Media Luna
Artwork by Michael Boulton


Made with by Little Beat More 2024

East Los Angeles quartet Levitation Room’s floaty, cosmic songs are always a trip. Since forming nearly a decade ago, they’ve self-produced dizzying, otherworldly music that’s connected with fellow travelers in the hallucinogenic world of outré rock music. Led by singer and guitarist Julian Porte along with founding members Gabriel Fernandez (lead guitar) and Johnathan Martin (percussion), the band has enchanted live audiences at Desert Daze and on tour with like-minded groups Post Animal and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. The band’s vivid sound has found them placed on popular playlists like Modern Psychedelia and the legendary superproducer’s Danger Mouse Jukebox. Their 2015 debut, “Friends,” has surpassed 18 million streams. Joined by new member Kevin Perez (bass) in 2021, Levitation Room have continued to expand their colorful, unearthly sound, a process that has culminated with the vibrant new album Strange Weather. Collaborating with former Brian Jonestown Massacre keyboardist Rob Campanella, Jason Kick (Mild High Club), and Black Crowes’ Joel Robinow, Levitation Room take a new step in their story and vision with Strange Weather. The record’s lyrical narratives—about love in the park, life in the city, and the fact that “The world today is such an illusion”—are appropriately steeped in ’60s sonics and a dreamy, lo-fi atmosphere. It’s spacey, celestial guitar music for escaping into, and “it feels just like heaven.” Join Levitation Room on their new voyage.

A raw-nerved hybrid of elemental Merseybeat, lugubrious surf-noir and sheer sonic assault, the remarkable legacy of Long Island's Mystic Tide has long been venerated within the '60s garage rock pantheon, even if their existential racket only slipped out on a series of painfully rare 45s. Now, the fruit of Joe Docko Jr and friends' cottage industry has been refurbished in best-ever sound, along with fresh insights as to how this singular brand of noise came to be.

Strut introduces a new special edition repress of the influential first volume of "Disco Not Disco", compiled by Dave Lee and Sean P, pressed on translucent yellow vinyl 3LP as part of the label"s 25th Anniversary.

A raw-nerved hybrid of elemental Merseybeat, lugubrious surf-noir and sheer sonic assault, the remarkable legacy of Long Island's Mystic Tide has long been venerated within the '60s garage rock pantheon, even if their existential racket only slipped out on a series of painfully rare 45s. Now, the fruit of Joe Docko Jr and friends' cottage industry has been refurbished in best-ever sound, along with fresh insights as to how this singular brand of noise came to be.

Devon Hoff, Yuka C. Honda, Michael Leonhart, João Nogueira, Mauro Refosco, Ches Smith, Johnny Mathar, Sean Ono Lennon. Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today.

Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums—and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz, and more into an exciting new musical soundscape. With driving rhythms, a stunning lyricism, and a brilliant sense of orchestration, this album is sure to surprise and delight music fans the world ’round. Beautifully recorded, this is modern instrumental music at its very best—essential!

This freakbeat jelly belly delight showcases the Bandits’ vaudeville humor, garage rock & catchy psychedelic pop! Considered a cult classic, this mixed bag of candy-coated fuzz is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth! Our favored stereo mix, pressed on yellow vinyl! Newburgh, New York psych-punks the Jelly Bean Bandits formed in 1966. Originally known as “The Mirror,” the band regularly packed area nightspots like the local Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie's Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont's Red Dog.

In due time, they recorded a three-song demo reel that resulted in a three-album recording contract with Mainstream Records – however, unknown to Mainstream, these three songs represented the sum total of the Jelly Bean Bandits' repertoire, forcing the band to write enough additional material to flesh out a full-length LP in the course of a week. Amazingly, their eponymous 1967 debut is excellent, a freakbeat cult classic distinguished by emotive guitar and some innovative production techniques – all the more impressive, the album was recorded in a single 12-hour stretch. Mainstream hated the end result, however, and dropped the Jelly Bean Bandits just as they were commencing work on the follow-up – only one song was completed before the sessions were aborted, leaving just one ‘60s studio album from these confectionary con-artists. – Jason Ankeny

"The Jelly Bean Bandits" includes the following tracks: "Poor Precious Dreams", "Going Nowhere", "Goodtime Feeling", "Neon River" and more.

This version of the album comes as a 1xLP pressed on yellow vinyl.

Danielle Boutet’s P »Pièces« is a mysterious artifact of Quebecois marginalia, self-released in 1985. Moving from languid ennui to high drama, »Pièces« is a dreamy gestalt, an album that borders Chanson, spoken-word, jazz noir, and minimalism, conjured from the chasm between acoustic and electronic realms. »Pièces« allows us a window into the highly intimate songcraft and compositional skill of an artist who longed to linger not in the public eye, but in relation with others and the world around her.

Born in Quebec City, Boutet studied music at the University of Montreal, where she focused on composition and percussion, before becoming involved in Montreal’s feminist and lesbian art scene. Primarily written, performed, and recorded by Boutet, with voice, guitar work, and technical assistance by Sylvie Gagnon, Pièces was created during a paradigm shift in home recording. Originally composed for the piano, Boutet and Gagnon utilized a consumer-friendly Tascam 4-track Portastudio and versatile Yamaha DX-7, alongside guitar, bass, marimba, and the human voice, to expand and contemporize the original composition’s scope.

Inspired by prog rock and British poet and musician Anne Clark, »Pièces« translates Boutet’s influence by moving between sunny, wistful fairytale and dark, wintry dirge. Filled with longing marimba, vertiginous, startling synth pads, and folk guitar, each track on Pièces offers a wholly unique proposition. Some are modal and rife with the ethereal psychological tension of a sci-fi soundtrack, while others are more like entering a smoke-laced lounge, the entertainer embodying seduction.

With the sprechgesang of artists like Serge Gainsbourg, there is an intense intimacy to Boutet’s delivery, sometimes as if she is performing for an audience of one. As one lyric goes, translated to English from French: “Like holograms/ Images from a world/ That inhales souls/ And exudes drama.” Another song contains an excerpt from The Tao of Physics: “The eastern sages specify clearly that they do not identify an ordinary void, but rather, a void having an infinite creative potential.”

To English-language audiences, the album’s title, »Pièces«, might seem to simply refer to the eleven different pieces. The title can also, of course, refer to parts of a larger whole, but Boutet is keen to point out that there is also another meaning: In French, a pièce is a room. On the cover of the original cassette, Boutet is seen sitting on a chair, alone in an empty apartment, a cable snaking at her feet. Listening to »Pièces« is like entering eleven different rooms: whether a study encased in shadow, a greenhouse left to wither in an eternal frost, or a divine nave.

Boutet sold a few dozen copies around Montreal, a scene mostly occupied by the new wave explosion de rigueur, but the inclusion of Pièces in the 1987 issue of Ladyslipper—the North Carolina-based mail order catalog that championed women musicians of all calibers and careers—led to more exposure throughout North America. “In the catalog,” Boutet says, “they included it in the New Age section, but I was, and still am, aware that this album is relatively unclassifiable.”

Boutet would release one more album, titled Musiques Urbaines, before getting pulled in the direction of interdisciplinary art and theory. “Although I never stopped making music, I lost all interest in public diffusion or performance,” Boutet says. Despite her departure from performance and publicly releasing music, she left behind a strange and enthralling document of Montreal’s 1980s feminist fringe, an aural document of the historic moment when self-recorded music and its practical potential became a prismatic reality.

Danielle Boutet’s Pièces arrives February 16, 2024 as part of uncommon¢ (“uncommon sense”), an open-ended, serialized endeavor from Freedom to Spend that provides new meaning for rarefied recordings from music’s outermost fringe.

Lazy Sunday’s first LP “Another Summer” is what bassist KT Austin has called a “90’s nostalgia pop-punk” record about love. The band says, "This record is all about big feelings from the past, present and future. Big firsts, big lasts, and letting go.” Songs like Differentiation and Flutter bust out of the gate with classic pop-punk tempos layered with singers Rani Gupta and B Okabe’s dreamy melodies. The album’s finale, Closer, reveals Lazy Sunday’s ability to play slower, spacier songs and showcases the production work of drummer Jeremy Dunlap.

"Another Summer" by Lazy Sunday includes the following tracks: "Long Con", "You Said", "Peaches", "For An Old Friend" and more.

With "Onaida", Natascha Rogers shares a liberating folk spell that draws inspirations from Yoruba spirits, Afro-Latin rhythms and her Native American ancestry. Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a father with Amerindian origins, Natascha Rogers dares to be intimate and unveils a highly spiritual chiaroscuro record, raising purity, care and reconciliation to the level of the art, through folk enchantments. Sensitive to the ancestral call of the drums, she travelled the Black Atlantic for several years and received the teachings of the greatest Mandingo and Afro-Cuban master percussionists. As a distinguished percussionist and vocalist, she has graced the stage and has accompanied artists around the world, but for Onaida she set out on her own, retreating to a studio to escape the noise, rush and fast information cycles of our modern world. This album marks a rebirth for Natascha Rogers, as it symbolizes her return to the piano, her first instrument. Channelling these inspirations for Onaida, Natascha Rogers, has created a space of her own, where themes of humanity, spirituality, nature and womanhood are centre stage while also paying tribute to her ancestors. Sung in English, Spanish, or Yoruba, the album is a tapestry of intimate ballads and universal prayers, drawing inspiration from dreams, Amerindian poetry (Joy Harjo), and Cuban santería with ritualistic batá drum pulsations. On the powerful folk-tinged song "The West", she invited gifted singer-songwriter Piers Faccini. Onaida is a true initiatory experience, a second birth for Natascha Rogers who finds balance and accuracy with this singular opus. Natascha Rogers headed to the quiet commune of Pommerit-le-Vicomte, to write this new release, accompanied by sound engineer Joachim Olaya and published on acclaimed French imprint No Format!

Open Mics might not always have a great reputation but for Merlin Hydes it brought some good things. On one hand he met his producer Jon Kenzie who is hosting "Bring Your Own Song" in Hamburg and on the other hand playing that Open Mic put him in touch with DevilDuck Records because they are good friends with Jon Kenzie and he told them to check this boy out. A couple of months later the debut album "In Plain Sight" was recorded at Kenzie"s home studio in just three days and is now ready to conquer the world... or at least a little part of it. The idea was to just record the songs in a cosy and easy set up just as in the good old days without thinking too much about it and avoid any perfectionism. "In Plain Sight" describes the balancing act between the peaceful country life, the desire to have a yard and a garden and the supposedly exciting and urban city in which you always might feel a bit strange and as you have chicken poop under your shoes", as Hydes explains....

WILLIAM DOYLEs neues Album "Springs Eternal" folgt auf das von der Kritik hochgelobte Album "Great Spans Of Muddy Time" (10/10 Loud & Quiet, 9/10 Line of Best Fit, 4/5 Mojo, 8/10 Uncut, 5. The Quietus 100 Albums of the Year) aus dem Jahr 2021. "Springs Eternal" ist das bisher ehrgeizigste und verspielteste Werk des für den Mercury nominierten und von der Kritik gefeierten Künstlers WILLIAM DOYLE und bietet Kunst-Pop für das Anthropozän. Das Album bietet einen Panoramablick auf die Ekstasen und Qualen des Lebens in den 2020er Jahren und stellt die Frage, wie wir als zerbrechliche Wesen aus Fleisch und Blut - unsere Herzen schlagen und unsere Gedanken rasen - in einer beispiellosen, fast unvorstellbaren Zeit der rasenden Klimazerstörung und technologischen Expansion existieren. In 11 Tracks hören wir von Erzählern, die am Abgrund der globalen Katastrophe, des Herzschmerzes, der Sucht, der Indoktrination und der Geisteskrankheit stehen, bis sie ins große Unbekannte gehen. Die Texte, die abwechselnd ernst und ironisch, offen und allegorisch sind, werden mit ansteckenden Melodien und oft mit einer gewissen Überheblichkeit gepaart. Co-produziert von Indie-Superproduzent Mike Lindsay (TUNNG, LUMP) in seinem MESS-Studio in Margate, hören wir den Sirenengesang des Meeres, umspült von pulsierender Elektronik und mitreißender Instrumentierung, mit Beiträgen der Musiker ALEXANDER PAINTER, GENEVIEVE DAWSON und BRIAN ENO. "Springs Eternal" ist das nächste Kapitel in der klanglichen Odyssee von WILLIAM DOYLE, der mit seiner Inkarnation als EAST INDIA YOUTH ("Total Strife Forever", 2014; "Culture Of Volume", 2015) begann und sich unter seinem eigenen Namen weiterentwickelte, indem er die von der Kritik gelobten Alben "Your Wilderness Revisited" (2019) und "Great Spans Of Muddy Time" (2021) produzierte. Neben seinem eigenen Output produzierte DOYLE kürzlich das gefeierte Debütalbum "A Common Turn" (2021) von ANNA B SAVAGE und spielt in der Band von ORLANDO WEEKS, sowohl live als auch auf seinem kommenden Album. Farbige LP sowie CD.

Introducing the latest release on Phunkation records - a funky techno banger record that will get you up and dancing! Drawing influences from classic techno and funk, this release is sure to be a hit on the dance floor.
Featuring a pumping bass line, a catchy synth hook and a groovy beat, it's destined to keep you moving all night long.
This one-of-a-kind release is sure to get you into the groove with its dirty drums and infectious energy, perfect for a peak time occasion. Whether you're hitting the club or just having a dance party at home, this is the record to get you in to the mood. Don't miss out on this must-have release from Chris Chambers & Homma Honganji - get it now and get ready to dance!

East Los Angeles quartet Levitation Room’s floaty, cosmic songs are always a trip. Since forming nearly a decade ago, they’ve self-produced dizzying, otherworldly music that’s connected with fellow travelers in the hallucinogenic world of outré rock music. Led by singer and guitarist Julian Porte along with founding members Gabriel Fernandez (lead guitar) and Johnathan Martin (percussion), the band has enchanted live audiences at Desert Daze and on tour with like-minded groups Post Animal and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. The band’s vivid sound has found them placed on popular playlists like Modern Psychedelia and the legendary superproducer’s Danger Mouse Jukebox. Their 2015 debut, “Friends,” has surpassed 18 million streams. Joined by new member Kevin Perez (bass) in 2021, Levitation Room have continued to expand their colorful, unearthly sound, a process that has culminated with the vibrant new album Strange Weather. Collaborating with former Brian Jonestown Massacre keyboardist Rob Campanella, Jason Kick (Mild High Club), and Black Crowes’ Joel Robinow, Levitation Room take a new step in their story and vision with Strange Weather. The record’s lyrical narratives—about love in the park, life in the city, and the fact that “The world today is such an illusion”—are appropriately steeped in ’60s sonics and a dreamy, lo-fi atmosphere. It’s spacey, celestial guitar music for escaping into, and “it feels just like heaven.” Join Levitation Room on their new voyage.

If Talk Show’s exhilarating full-length debut, Effigy, feels more like a film than an album, that’s no coincidence. The band crafted the collection to soundtrack to a fictional nightclub. “One of the biggest influences on this record was the intro to the movie Blade, where this character’s being dragged through a meatpacking plant and into the vampire rave,” says frontman Harrison Swann. “There’s so much tension and anticipation and intimidation in that scene. We wanted to create the kind of music we’d play if we were performing in that club, to put ourselves into that scene and see how far we could push it.” With Effigy, Talk Show do more than just push their sound; they completely reinvent it. Produced by Remi Kabaka Jr., of Gorillaz, the record offers up a bold and exhilarating showcase for the band’s dramatic evolution, drawing on everything from The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy to Nine Inch Nails and The KLF as it taps into a raw, primal sound at the intersection of techno, electronic, industrial, and rock music. The songs are dark and gritty, fueled by blistering guitars and explosive drums, and Swann’s vocals are nothing short of hypnotic, leaning on repetition and restraint to reach for transcendence in the midst of swirling sonic chaos. The result is an immersive, multi-sensory experience, one that conjures up a dark, sweaty warehouse packed with moving bodies all radiating heat and desire, anxiety and release, ecstasy and desperation

PRAISE THE PLAGUE formulate the introduction to the dark, grim soundscape of their third album themselves by saying: "The gate is passed, upon us is a bleak, raging sea. Tidal waves crushing ashore, out of desperation evolves anger and frustration. Time, as a construct, imprisons its architects. "Suffocating In The Current Of Time" takes us from a dark and devouring realm, to staring the devourer into its cold, dead eyes. Lead by fierce and unforgiving melodies, we are marching into our own decay. Lead by the pounding of drums we indulge ourselves in the cloak of false promises." The quintet from the German capital Berlin has been around since 2017. After the debut "Antagonist" and their first album for LIFEFORCE RECORDS, "The Obsidian Gate" (2021), "Suffocating In The Current Of Time" showcases a further intensification of the band's dense and intense black metal. PRAISE THE PLAGUE are modern representatives of their guild and not purists. There are also ominous echoes of doom and sludge as well as atmospheric post-metal. It is no coincidence that the Berliners' third album remains instrumental for longer passages. This increases the impact of the furious tempo sections with their nagged vocals. "Suffocating In The Current Of Time" is full of emotion. Not all of them are purely negative and depressing. Nevertheless, PRAISE THE PLAGUE's playing will be perceived above all as oppressive and hopeless. Given their band name, who can blame them? The musicians pursue relentless catharsis.

Sydney, Australia- Melodic metalcore band BLOOM have announced new album Maybe In Another Life, out 15th February 2023- their first for new label, Pure Noise Records. Alongside the announcement is the release of the title track of the record, Maybe in Another Life. The track speaks to the anxiety that can be buried in fantasy. The lyrics contrast the experience of a sordid existence and the indulgence of what could have been, and what could be. The song moves from a dreaminess desire to a lament on the harshness of reality, the voice in the song is “Lost in the fantasy, Of being anyone but me.” The listener is left with a sense of longing at the climactic moments of the track, with soaring, symphonic instrumentation that fuels the words “ Let me start again, I'll make it count this time, Can I start over? Maybe in another life” "The song speaks to the characters anxieties and their methods of distracting through fantasy." says the band. "The lyrics contrast the experience of a sordid existence and the indulgence of what could have been. The song touches on a desire to lament on the harshness of reality. “Lost in the fantasy of being anyone but me”. The listener is left with a sense of longing at the climactic moments of the song with soaring, symphonic instrumentation that fuels the words “Let me start again, I’ll make it count this time. Can I start over? Maybe in another life”.

Remastered and first ever vinyl and CD release When it came time to create "What I like to do," GRÓA took advantage of the prolonged standstill of lockdown and spent months on end in a friend’s studio, slowly building up an elaborate sonic world that unequivocally captures the joyful ferocity of their live show. To achieve the album’s glorious unpredictability, the band allowed themselves an even greater level of freedom in the writing and recording process. “All our songs are made in such different ways,” says Fríða. “Sometimes they come from us jamming in the garage, but other times we’ll sit down and draw a song on paper and then try to put the images to music. Another thing we love to do is switch instruments—when I hear Karó play the bass, for example, it gives me new ideas because she looks at the bass in a completely different way than I do. We’re always trying to find a new angle on what we’re creating.” Encompassing everything from the gorgeously ominous sprawl of “Ég skal bíða eftir þér” (“I will wait for you”) to the hypnotically loopy harmonies of “Grannypants,” What I like to do also marks the first GRÓA release to feature one of Karó self-built instruments. “For the last album I made a waterphone, which is a metal instrument that you pour water into and then play with a bow,” explains Karó, who’s currently studying new media compositions at university.

Remastered and first worldwide release (previously only limited availability in Iceland) Since first bursting onto the global punk scene in 2018, Icelandic trio GRÓA have thrilled audiences across the world by fully embracing an unruly freedom. Made up of sisters Hrafnhildur Einars Maríudóttir (aka Hrabba, age 22) and Karólína Einars Maríudóttir (aka Karó, age 20) and their childhood friend Fríða Björg Pétursdóttir (also 22), the Reykjavík-bred band merge elements of post-punk and noise-rock and art-pop with absolute abandon, arriving at an explosive yet magnificently arranged sound unlike any other. A local favorite, the Icelandic government has recently been sponsoring worldwide travel to share GRÓA with the rest of the world and in 2023 they have played shows around the world including in UK, Western and Eastern Europe as well as USA dates including Washington DC, Seattle, Chicago and New York City. They have recently recorded an in studio performance at KEXP which will be broadcast worldwide in January 2024 and more worldwide touring is planned for early 2024 to support the vinyl and CD releases. Listing iconoclasts like Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, and Bikini Kill among their longtime inspirations, the Icelandic punk band GRÓA pursued their experimental impulses with more intensity and confidence on Í Glimmerheimi, matching the album’s shapeshifting sound with a surrealist but emotionally potent form of lyrical storytelling. “It’s about a girl who’s trying to escape the world she’s stuck in—this glitter world that looks so good on the surface, but it’s not where she’s meant to be,” says Karó in discussing the album’s concept. “There’s a song called ‘Jetpackstelpan,’ or ‘Jetpack Girl,’ where she leaves the world on a jetpack and flies away to the moon, and she’s never coming back again.” Opening on the kaleidoscopic rhythms and rowdy call-and-response vocals of “Fullkomið” (“Perfect”), Í Glimmerheimi brings that narrative to frenetic and dazzling life, ultimately closing out on “Skrímslið er að ná þér” (“The monster is getting you”): a serpentine and strangely mesmerizing epic whose swirling textures, otherworldly vocals, and sparse yet complex guitar tones illuminate the immense scope and depth of GRÓA’s artistry.

"HEALTH–the LA-based industrial-rock band of Jake Duzsik (vocals/guitar), John Famiglietti (bass/producer), and BJ Miller (drums)–today announced their new album RAT WARS will be released December 7th, 2023 via Loma Vista Recordings. The album’s first two singles are also out now at all DSPs: the menacing “CHILDREN OF SORROW,” featuring Lamb of God’s Willie Adler on guitar (YouTube link HERE), and the half-time hellscape “SICKO,” which samples Godflesh’s “Like Rats” (YouTube link HERE). Preview the singles’ upcoming visuals by James Markidis and Mynxii White via a new YouTube trailer.
The follow-up to 2019’s VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR, HEALTH’s fifth album is the most violent yet vulnerable of their career. It is somehow fitting that such a brutal collection of songs is at the same time their most comprehensive artistic statement. Meticulously aggressive production detail collides with painfully personal confessions and a strange savage grace is paired with icy gallows humor… surprisingly it’s still fun as hell.
Produced by Stint (Oliver Tree, Demi Lovato) and mixed by Lars Stalfors (SALEM, The Neighbourhood), the 12-track LP joins the lineage of groundbreaking heavy acts like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, which re-drew the borders between metal, electronic and pop music. It also speaks directly to the band’s young, fervent online subculture.
It’s The Downward Spiral for people with at least two monitors and a vitamin D deficiency.
Written during the most emotionally trying period of the band’s life, the album builds on their chaotic yet re-invigorating pandemic years. RAT WARS captures all the fury and ambition their LP’s have until now aspired to. It’s their boldest statement on the insanity and the insipidness of contemporary life.
HIGHLIGHT: Sleep Token Arena Support Tour (UK/EU) / Kerrang! Cover / Radio 1 Rock Show Session / Metal Hammer Feature / The Dome Album Release Underplay / 2024 Summer Festivals / Q4 2024 Headline"" "

Japanese sound artist Saskia hits it out of the park with her debut LP, showcasing stunning textures & provoking moods.

Saki Yamada aka Saskia hails from Tokyo but has resided in Bristol for the last two years, this is where she has been crafting her debut album, which is mixed & mastered by Miles Whittaker of Demdike Stare.

It's a deep listen, an ever changing and challenging mood, with sub aquatic ambience and dub-techno textures glistening throughout. The combination of Saskia's sound palette and Whittaker's touch contrasts perfectly, finishing in a beautiful and sometimes haunting listen.

"Profiler is a Nu-Metal reawakening from the mind of vocalist and guitarist Mike Evans.
This band is inspired by those who have incited change in genres, arts, and theories. It's a weight of legacy that Profiler is comfortable shouldering, backed by SharpTone Records, its home since 2020.

After starting as a solo project in Bristol, UK, Mike stepped out from the studio and onto the stage, enlisting bassist/vocalist Joe Johnson and drummer Oscar Hocking. In early 2023, Oscar departed to be replaced by Brad Ratcliffe, cementing the line-up that would forge 2024 debut album, A Digital Nowhere.

Profiler's nu-metal-grunge-alt-rock, call it what you want, is an abrasive distorted soundscape that reverently glances back to those genres' heydays. Profiler is for anyone who misses or missed the contagious nineties Seattle grunge movement or the explosion of nu-metal that dominated the 00s and the genre-bending bands they made a path for. "

Bella Brown & the Jealous Lovers Unveil "Soul Clap" LP: A Fusion of Retro Soul/Funk and Modern Grooves

Los Angeles-based retro soul/funk sensation Bella Brown & the Jealous Lovers are set to ignite the music scene with their highly anticipated LP, "Soul Clap." Born from the creative genius of Grammy Award-winning vocalist/songwriter Carol Hatchett, Bella Brown emerges as a diva with a fiery stage presence, drawing inspiration from the likes of Tina Turner and Sharon Jones, and channeling the empowered female leads of 70s Blaxploitation films. Led by producer/bassist/songwriter Daniel Pearson, The Jealous Lovers assemble an impressive ensemble of A-list musicians, boasting pedigrees that include names like Mick Jagger, Elton John, Whitney Houston, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. This musical collective is on a relentless quest to redefine the boundaries of music, infusing soul and funk with elements of jazz, rock, and Afro-Caribbean influences.

The essence of "Soul Clap" is derived from the cultural phenomena it is named after—a shared and improvised rhythm-making by a collective. The LP, spanning 40 minutes of pure musical bliss, invites the audience to immerse themselves in the groove and discover their individual truths in the music.

The title track, "Soul Clap," and the infectious "Living Proof" serve as funky dance bangers, echoing the spirit of Bohannan and The Tramps. These tracks, punctuated with jazzy improvisations and soulful horn arrangements, are simple yet joyful expressions of shared humanity and self-love.

"Coming For You" is Bella's audacious response to the soul/funk classic Apache, boldly announcing her and The Jealous Lovers' arrival on the modern soul landscape. "I Found You" takes a northern soul love song approach, reminiscent of Gloria Jones with a touch of modern influence, giving it a distinct Amy Winehouse feel.

Bella Brown seamlessly weaves social commentary into her art. "Bang Bang Bang," an uptempo, funky Motown groove, cleverly uses Curtis Mayfield's sense of sarcasm to reflect on American gun culture. "Lady Time" takes a driving afrobeat groove, employing brassy horns and reggae-like echoes to address the issue of homelessness.

However, the album is not without its lighthearted moments. "Fast As Lightning" celebrates a cleaner future by imagining Jimi Hendrix joining Ike and Tina Turner's band to create a classic Chuck Berry car song. "There Is Love" blends horns, strings, and vocals reminiscent of The Stylistics over a Chi-Lites style rhythm section, to create a lush message of support to those among us that may find the world a bit overwhelming at moments. Finally, "What Will You Leave Behind," is a revamped version of the group's sold-out vinyl 45 release. This track serves as a powerful call to action for a better future, delivered over a straight-up Motown groove with a funky Sly Stone finish.

Bella Brown & the Jealous Lovers have crafted an album that transcends genres, embracing the roots of soul and funk while pushing musical boundaries.

"Soul Clap" is a celebration of individual truths, shared experiences, and the timeless power of music.

Rated 5/5 in UK Music Republic Magazine

Two years after recording an EP on a guitar he didn't know how to play, Ujko releases a piano album without knowing how to play the piano. To add to that, Hudba k filmu is a soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist.

If Ujko previously played with the clumsiness and exposed intimacy of outsider music, on Hudba k filmu he instead focuses on the emotional and dramaturgical possibilities of a film score. The movie may be hypothetical, but this album still imposes a narrative of melancholy and hopelessness, even more penetrating in the guise of a supposedly background music. It's also mostly instrumental, adding to ambiguity and potential projection // Hudba k filmu sneaks up on the listener and encumbers them with the weight of their own world.

Ujko thereby manages to mediate his despair without being as presumptuously overbearing as most film composers. Even the lack of instrumental skill is barely noticeable, enough so that Hudba k filmu doesn't fall for its own concept, but is instead an accomplished and complete work of film music, lacking nothing.

A musical project with roots in the work of cult underground collective Noize Konspiracy, Ujko is an alias of Mišo Ormos. Hudba k filmu is his second release on the world-weary label Weltschmerzen.

East Los Angeles quartet Levitation Room’s floaty, cosmic songs are always a trip. Since forming nearly a decade ago, they’ve self-produced dizzying, otherworldly music that’s connected with fellow travelers in the hallucinogenic world of outré rock music. Led by singer and guitarist Julian Porte along with founding members Gabriel Fernandez (lead guitar) and Johnathan Martin (percussion), the band has enchanted live audiences at Desert Daze and on tour with like-minded groups Post Animal and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. The band’s vivid sound has found them placed on popular playlists like Modern Psychedelia and the legendary superproducer’s Danger Mouse Jukebox. Their 2015 debut, “Friends,” has surpassed 18 million streams. Joined by new member Kevin Perez (bass) in 2021, Levitation Room have continued to expand their colorful, unearthly sound, a process that has culminated with the vibrant new album Strange Weather. Collaborating with former Brian Jonestown Massacre keyboardist Rob Campanella, Jason Kick (Mild High Club), and Black Crowes’ Joel Robinow, Levitation Room take a new step in their story and vision with Strange Weather. The record’s lyrical narratives—about love in the park, life in the city, and the fact that “The world today is such an illusion”—are appropriately steeped in ’60s sonics and a dreamy, lo-fi atmosphere. It’s spacey, celestial guitar music for escaping into, and “it feels just like heaven.” Join Levitation Room on their new voyage.

For the last seven years, sound artist, technologist, and electronic musician Moisés Horta Valenzuela (aka Hexorcismos) has been studying artificial intelligence and generative art, wondering how these new technologies might be augmented into his musical process. Born in Tijuana and currently based in Berlin, Hexorcismos has long attempted to break down the permeable borders between musical styles and expressions, using the spaces in between to reinforce his politics and worldview. And on 'MUTALISMX - becoming sonic network', he expands his vision, inviting artists from across the globe to collaborate on work that questions the biases inherent in AI models, offering a collective alternative that could serve as a blueprint for further research.

The majority of AI art at this stage works with "big data", taking ideas from the cultural canon and muddying them with our contemporary reality. But if we accept that mass culture is always politically biased, always swaying towards historical prejudices, then there must be a counter-narrative. Hexorcismos began to develop a bottom-up approach, using "small data" to interrogate his idiosyncratic approach to art; he built a tool called SEMILLA.AI based on neural audio synthesis that could not only mimic his sonic fingerprint but transform it into another. So when he offered the synth to his network of collaborators, he gave them the option of either using only their data or sharing the signatures of each other artist involved in the project, blurring their identities into a mutual voice.

The result is a compilation that unspools with the coherence and fluidity of a single-artist album or adventurous DJ mix, genreless and boundless but unified by a singular message. Hunanese-American artist Kloxii Li for example takes rugged percussion and tense, industrial ambience, smudging her soundscape into a swirling gust of ghostly dissonance. Hexorcismos himself contributes two compositions: the lengthy, hypnotic 'Acaso de veras se vive con raíz en la Tierra', an AI-powered scramble of his pointed tribal guarachero experiments; and 'Interferencias', a collaboration with Mexican club veteran Bryan Dálvez, aka El Irreal Veintiuno that drives intense dancefloor rhythms into a dense haze of frozen drones and radio static. Elsewhere, Berlin-based Lebanese artist and writer Jessika Khazrik dissolves her voice into a mesh of obscured rhythms and dissociated whirrs, blending the organic with the artificial but retaining an overpowering sense of humanity.

Some artists were drawn to the nebulous aspects of the technology, searching for truth in a soup of different sounds, while others, such as KMRU, used Hexorcismos's synthesizer the examine their output. On 'hidden options', the Kenyan sound artist fed his immense catalog into the neural net, bringing out his mannerisms and tendencies in the process. Each track is singular but myriad, prompting both mutual respect and a sonic becoming, a feedback process between the artist and the tool, the individual and the collective. Data sets are made by people, and by engaging directly with musicians, Hexorcismos suggests a new way of utilizing a technology demonized and glorified without careful examination. Each artist owns their AI model, and alongside the album Hexorcismos will release SEMILLA.AI to the public (with custom-made models to start the process), allowing anyone to access this revolutionary technology.

Even the album's artwork reflects the political message, conceptualized by Chilean duo hypereikon, who used AI processes to develop a visual reflection of the technology and its possibilities. Operating outside of academia and capitalist enterprises, MUTUALISMX proposes an alternative future - one without borders that's not beholden to the Western canon, where independent labor can be prioritized and celebrated, and where creativity can truly flourish.

This release captures the joyous and confrontational performance by the pioneering experimental electronic-pop outfit The Knife, 'Shaking the Habitual: Live at Terminal 5.' After a seven-year hiatus from playing live, the resulting musical saw The Knife expand from Karin Dreijer and Olof Dreijer to a 11-piece dance troupe. The show was recorded at the Hell’s Kitchen venue Terminal 5 in 2014. It was the Knife’s last tour before the band called it quits in November of that year

"Due to the huge success of the Original Source Series and due to frequent wishes by both fans and critics alike, DG have decided to launch a reprint of all four titles of Batch 1 – marked as “SECOND EDITION”. Same Quality, just without numbering. THE ORIGINAL SOURCE is a new series of celebrated albums reissued on vinyl. These new releases include Claudio Abbado’s fascinating interpretation of works by Debussy and Ravel with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1 LP), the legendary recording of Brahms’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with Emil Gilels, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Eugen Jochum (2 LPs), and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in the iconic version of Herbert von Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker (2 LPs). The renowned Berlin-based Emil Berliner Studios are remastering 4-track recordings from the 1970s, using their own cutting-edge and 100% pure analogue techniques (AAA) to create versions of the highest possible audio quality. Compared to the original releases, the advantages in sound are outstanding: More clarity, more details and a better frequency response, less noise, less distortion, less compression – the highest possible audiophile quality which gives listeners the chance to enjoy this repertoire like never before.
Produced on 180g virgin vinyl by Optimal, these limited and numbered releases will be issued in deluxe gatefold editions featuring the original artwork and liner notes, with additional photos and facsimiles of the recording documentation on the inner sleeve. Furthermore, each release includes a note by Rainer Maillard/EBS detailing the technical background and procedure of the Original Source Series, and an additional insert with a photo of the original tape box. Each LP comes in a protective cellophane jacket with a sticker highlighting the

"Due to the huge success of the Original Source Series and due to frequent wishes by both fans and critics alike, DG have decided to launch a reprint of all four titles of Batch 1 – marked as “SECOND EDITION”. Same Quality, just without numbering. THE ORIGINAL SOURCE is a new series of celebrated albums reissued on vinyl. These new releases include Claudio Abbado’s fascinating interpretation of works by Debussy and Ravel with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1 LP), the legendary recording of Brahms’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with Emil Gilels, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Eugen Jochum (2 LPs), and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in the iconic version of Herbert von Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker (2 LPs). The renowned Berlin-based Emil Berliner Studios are remastering 4-track recordings from the 1970s, using their own cutting-edge and 100% pure analogue techniques (AAA) to create versions of the highest possible audio quality. Compared to the original releases, the advantages in sound are outstanding: More clarity, more details and a better frequency response, less noise, less distortion, less compression – the highest possible audiophile quality which gives listeners the chance to enjoy this repertoire like never before.
Produced on 180g virgin vinyl by Optimal, these limited and numbered releases will be issued in deluxe gatefold editions featuring the original artwork and liner notes, with additional photos and facsimiles of the recording documentation on the inner sleeve. Furthermore, each release includes a note by Rainer Maillard/EBS detailing the technical background and procedure of the Original Source Series, and an additional insert with a photo of the original tape box. Each LP comes in a protective cellophane jacket with a sticker highlighting the
"

"Due to the huge success of the Original Source Series and due to frequent wishes by both fans and critics alike, DG have decided to launch a reprint of all four titles of Batch 1 – marked as “SECOND EDITION”. Same Quality, just without numbering. THE ORIGINAL SOURCE is a new series of celebrated albums reissued on vinyl. These new releases include Claudio Abbado’s fascinating interpretation of works by Debussy and Ravel with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1 LP), the legendary recording of Brahms’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with Emil Gilels, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Eugen Jochum (2 LPs), and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in the iconic version of Herbert von Karajan and Berliner Philharmoniker (2 LPs). The renowned Berlin-based Emil Berliner Studios are remastering 4-track recordings from the 1970s, using their own cutting-edge and 100% pure analogue techniques (AAA) to create versions of the highest possible audio quality. Compared to the original releases, the advantages in sound are outstanding: More clarity, more details and a better frequency response, less noise, less distortion, less compression – the highest possible audiophile quality which gives listeners the chance to enjoy this repertoire like never before.
Produced on 180g virgin vinyl by Optimal, these limited and numbered releases will be issued in deluxe gatefold editions featuring the original artwork and liner notes, with additional photos and facsimiles of the recording documentation on the inner sleeve. Furthermore, each release includes a note by Rainer Maillard/EBS detailing the technical background and procedure of the Original Source Series, and an additional insert with a photo of the original tape box. Each LP comes in a protective cellophane jacket with a sticker highlighting the
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Orange vinyl w/ heavy black spatter (Indie Retail exclusive) 'Enemy Of The World' is the fourth album from US pop-punk / melodic hardcore heavyweights 'Four Year Strong'. This album has now been pressed onto vinyl since its original release in 2010, as the band's first major-label released studio album. All units come with a fold out poster / lyric insert, and each comes in a hand-numbered sleeve. This new re-issue comes via Hassle Hindsight, a recently-launched sub label of Hassle Records, created to facilitate the occasional one off re-issues of releases and records from the past that the people at the label have loved and still love.

Opaque white vinyl in printed innersleeve, includes Bonus 7". A Welsh rock trio with a predilection for delivering stadium-sized riffs with shoegazey vistas and dreamy post-punk riffage, The Joy Formidable return with their new album 'Into The Blue', to be released August 20th 2021. Taking a cue from bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and Arcade Fire, the trio have continued to push their expansive sound on previous studio albums, from the breakthrough debut 'The Big Roar' (2011), through to the last studio album 'AAARTH' (2018), whilst always maintaining the hook-driven indie rock foundation laid down on their debut EP 'A Balloon Called Moaning' (2009). Currently the band split their time between their native Wales and the closest thing they could find in the U.S, "In the middle of nowhere" Utah, where they recorded the new album 'Into The Blue', which is being released worldwide this summer. March 26 brings us the first single in the campaign, title track 'Into The Blue'; we invite you to hear a band that reflected on where they've been, and where they needed to go for their next chapter. "Into the Blue is about opening your eyes to beauty & love again. Making it to the other side. Whilst not conceived as a metaphor for the times we all live in now, it certainly turned out that way" - Ritzy, Rhydian & Matt - The Joy Formidable

Car Therapy Sessions is an EP of new and re-imagined songs by Faye Webster recorded at Spacebomb Studios with a 24 piece orchestra. The orchestra was headed by Trey Pollard who was responsible for both conducting and arranging, and Drew Vandenburg produced and mixed the EP. Car Therapy Sessions will be available on vinyl in the fall and is available to pre-order on April 13th. "I have a vivid memory of walking around London in 2018 listening to a mix of Jonny, which I had just written. I remember thinking "I want to perform this song with an orchestra". I truly have had my heart set on it since then, always talking about it and figuring out how or when to make it happen," says Webster. On the EP, Webster reimagines three songs from her critically acclaimed 2021 release I Know I'm Funny haha and 2019's Atlanta Millionaires Club. The songs "Kind Of", "Sometimes" and "Cheers" take on a cinematic and glimmering new sheen. In addition to the title track -"Car Therapy" - she also shares a sprawling and emotional work - "Suite: Jonny" - which combines fan-favorites "Jonny" and "Jonny (Reprise)." The two songs originally appeared on the Atlanta Millionaire's Club tracklist, two different views on the same narrative. Here they're presented together. It's remarkable how beautifully Webster's work can take on this orchestral treatment. Like Cole Porter, or Judy Garland - her delicate and emotional delivery packs a gut punch when dramatized by the EP's robust arrangements.

Warehouse find!

With '100% Dope' we find Central Processing Unit bringing up their hundredth catalogue number, and you'd struggle to find a more fitting artist to ring in a century of releases for the label than Cygnus. The one born Phillip Washington has been with CPU since the very beginning, his 2012 LP 'Newmark Phase' representing the first record ever released on the imprint. That album's combination of textured techno and grizzly Drexciyan electro set the tone for CPU perfectly, and it's no surprise that Cygnus has returned to the Sheffield imprint several times down the years.

While '100% Dope' is an expert demonstration of what Cygnus and CPU do, this EP also shows just how much both artist and label have grown over the past nine years. At its heart '100% Dope' is a set of prime machine-funk from a master of the form, but these are also some of the most daring and innovative tracks that Cygnus has ever produced.

Take opening cut 'Bad RGB Controller'. In the undulating synth lines we have a ghost of grime as well as Drexciyan drive, and as such the track reminds one as much of Mr. Mitch or Last Japan as it does, say, Dopplereffekt. Furthermore, 'Bad RGB Controller' shifts gear around the halfway mark into a highwire electronica mode which has the wit and spark of prime Bogdan Raczynski. Entries like 'Float Back To The Surface' are similarly unpredictable. There's some lovely industrial techno bite to this one - the snare drum will echo in your head long after the party's died down - but Cygnus periodically pulls out the rug from underneath us with passages of impressionistic texture that almost border on sound art.

'Float Back To The Surface' is one of a trio of vocoder-led jams here. On 'Throwing Shade' we hear I-F and Egyptian Lover, with Cygnus' vocals clattering around like pronouncements from some funked-out robot overlord atop hissing-piston drums. Then there's the enticingly-titled 'CPU Records'. 'CPU Records' delivers all the crisp electro snap we've come to expect from a record emblazoned with that signature black-and-white artwork, yet this thing is also widescreen and cinematic in ways that demonstrate the maturation of the Cygnus sound. With a wicked vocoder vocal that celebrates the label's many achievements, 'CPU Records' is a victory lap tune if ever we've heard one.

Central Processing Unit keep it 100 on for this new EP. '100% Dope' by Cygnus is CPU's 100th catalogue number, and the Texan producer delivers on the promise of the record's title with a collection of brilliantly unique electro joints.

United Kingdom-based Dirty Water Records has signed the California-based rock and roll / Power Pop outfit The Tearaways to a 5-year deal. The label has released the Ed Stasium-produced (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens) digital version of their new record called “And For Our Next Trick.” The band features the dual lead singers of bassist John “Fin” Finseth and rhythm guitarist Greg Brallier, lead guitar David Hekhouse and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Clem Burke (Blondie). Also, from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench played keyboards and Steven McCarthy (Jayhawks, The Long Ryders) added pedal steel guitar. The new record was recorded at legendary Village Recorders in Los Angeles and mastered at Sterling Sound by Greg Calbi. The first single being released to radio was “Charlie, Keith and Ringo,” along with the the award-winning video (Raindance Festival directed by Stephen David Brooks (“Flytrap”). The spring single is called “Saturday Everyday” and is being serviced to radio stations and other outlets right now. Label chief Paul Manchester: “We are thrilled to have assembled an all-star team of distributor Cargo Records UK, Wipe Out Music Publishing, Seán Crossey from the UK promotion firm High Violet PR & Plugging, and US publicity specialist Lou Mansdorf to help launch this project.“

Repress!

Tone Def are the original Bournemouth ravers with some absolute classics released in the early 90’s on Moving Shadow. Rog from the band is also the founder of Void Acoustics, the ultimate in club and festival audio equipment, a hobby that became a huge business empire for him.

This EP was written during 1990 to 1991 and had been lost for 30 years until recently, when Rog was checking some of his old ¼” tapes that he took out of storage. These are 4 original UK acid breakbeat rave tracks, encapsulating the raw DIY ethos of the era, of kids messing about in their bedrooms, writing music with no boundaries or templates. Never heard before, never released before… until now.

Acid Boom is a sister label to the Vinyl Fanatiks family. A vehicle to release that early 90’s acid sound that would later morph into rave. High energy 303’s, 808 and 909 drum machines, synced up to rolling breakbeats. Whether music from back in the day or new music that’s been created to emulate that early warehouse sound, Acid Boom is here to take you on a rush.

3 Monstruous Tracks Straight From the Basement Feat. One of the Original House Music Creator Ron Hardy. All the Real Djs Were Looking for Those for Years. Grab It Before It's Sold Out, We Have Very Few Copies. a Must Have. Essential Item Limited Edition No Re-Press...