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Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
Bad Company's eponymous 1974 debut featuring "Ready for Love"
180-gram 45 RPM double LP
Mastered directly from the original master tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI
Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing

From the wreckage of Free came Bad Company, the English hard rock supergroup fronted by singer Paul Rodgers and featuring his drummer bandmate Simon Kirke, Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also managed Bad Company until 1982.

The group's eponymous 1974 album debut decidedly proves the band is proudly not progressive — the details make a difference, as do the pastoral acoustics of the closing "Seagull" — reducing their rock 'n' roll to a strong, heavy crunch; compare "Ready for Love," a tune Ralphs brought over from Mott the Hoople, to the original to see how these quartet members keep their heads down as they do their business. Appropriately enough given their name, there's a sense of slow, churning menace to Bad Company, writes AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

Their first three albums, Bad Company (1974), Straight Shooter (1975), and Run with the Pack (1976), reached the Top Five in the album charts in both the U.K. and the U.S.. Many of their singles and songs, such as "Bad Company," "Can't Get Enough," "Good Lovin' Gone Bad," "Feel Like Makin' Love," "Ready for Love," "Shooting Star," and "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," remain staples of classic rock radio. They have sold 20 million RIAA-certified albums in the U.S. and 40 millon worldwide.

The self-titled debut album was recorded at Headley Grange, Hampshire, in Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S, and No. 3 on the U.K. Albums Chart, spending 25 weeks on the U.K. charts. The album has been certified five times platinum in the U.S., and became the 46th-best-selling album of the 1970s. The singles "Can't Get Enough" and "Movin' On" reached No. 5 and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 10.

All the hallmarks of a top-notch Analogue Productions reissue are here for your pleasure: Mastered directly from the original master tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and cut at 45 RPM. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and housed in tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing.

This record is massive and amazing. Nowhere To Go But Up is Guided By Voices’ third album of 2023 (and thirtyninth overall) and is a sprawling, wild adventure. With virtually no choruses and just two repeated lyrics in forty minutes, GBV is audacious and unafraid. One of the most fully realized works that Guided By Voices has created, Nowhere To Go But Up showcases an expert rock band at the top of their game. The band is on a roll and unstoppable. Following their monumental 40th Anniversary Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, GBV begins their fifth decade with a bang!

When Billy Eckstine’s band dissolved in the mid-1940s, adventurous drummer Art Blakey spent two years in Africa, where he briefly converted to Islam; back in New York, he gigged with Miles and Monk, before fronting his own Jazz Messengers. 1957’s Orgy In Rhythm drew on the sounds of North Africa and the Middle East, Blakey’s unfettered drumming accompanied by Latin percussionists such as Potato Valdez and Evilio Quintero, with Herbie Mann on flute. The musical arrangement is stunning, at times melodic or primordially rhythmic, but never short of pure brilliance. Overall, an excellent and astounding release!

James Ray kickstarted his career as a teenager in 1959 after he left Washington DC for New York, but debut single ‘Make Her Mine’ flopped. Two years later, songwriter Rudy Clark discovered Ray and got him signed to the Caprice label, the resultant ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’ a top-30 hit that the Beatles covered in early live sets. Ray’s self-titled debut album had that hit and the equally appealing follow-up, ‘Itty Bitty Pieces,’ as well as ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You,’ later successfully covered by George Harrison. An overdose would tragically cut short Ray’s career, this sole LP a testament to his enduring talent.

Following up their debut full-length on Ty Segall’s God? label, Wand presents their second album, Golem, on In The Red. Recording with Chris Woodhouse at his Hanger studio in Sacramento, Wand summons the dark and heavy power of the riff. Back in September 2013, Wand was quietly dismembered and ritually eaten in the hills near Dodger Stadium. Wand was reborn as “Wand”—an obese organ falsely organized as four overjoyous nerds. Four flesh balloons betting on a few aging amplifiers. Rumor has it they listen to Here Come the Warm Jets on loop all day and plot mail fraud. What’s more, they allegedely stole Dale Crover’s car and sacrificed it to the weather near the Los Angeles County Line. A few things, at least, are certain: Wand hears ghosts. Wand prefers serpents. The Sun is the mother of every fiction. All phenomena will be consumed in alphabetical order, but desire will recirculate ad infinitum. If all else fails, Wand will just devour more hands. Wand is coming your way soon. • Sophomore full-length from California four-piece with connections to Ty Segall, Chad and the Meatbodies

Sparky Deathcap AKA Los Campesinos! multi-instrumentalist R N Taylor is the first to admit he’s an unlikely candidate for viral stardom. And yet, almost 15 years on from his final EP, Taylor’s alt-folk solo project is now getting a much-deserved reappraisal, entrancing a whole new generation of listeners. Championed by prominent Twitch streamer/YouTuber Wilbur Soot, his beautifully bruised pocket symphony ‘September’ has racked up over 36m streams on Spotify and soundtracked more than 750,000 creations on TikTok. Now, Los Campesinos!’s own indie imprint Heart Swells are delighted to release a newly mixed edition of its parent EP, Tear Jerky. Musically, you can trace the influence of Phil Elverum’s Microphones, of Magnolia Electric Co and Sufjan Stevens, and of Ys-era Joanna Newsom. From the beautifully lo-fi baroque-pop of ‘Glasgow Is A Punk Rock Town’ to ‘Send It To Oslo’s’ maximalist mix of analogue sounds, these ambitious yet intimate compositions prove the perfect foil for deeply autobiographical tales of heartbreak and recovery.

I see lucid blue flames moving before my eyes.
I hear voices melting. Voices somewhere from within.
Speaking words I do not know but feel connected to, almost as if I have known the meaning once..
Noises that obscures the multiple pictures hidden in these digital compositions.
Iku Sakan have created a set of five tracks that takes the listener on a
trip deep into the human psyché. Emotional flickering movements that twists and turns. The albums have a darker, much more intense feel than some of Ikus earlier magical and often hypnotic music. A myriad of different voices creates pulsing patterns and constantly morphing pictures for my inner eye. It's an album that might work as a hack to our lingual structures, pushing limits, pushing possibilities of meaning.

A pool of over-saturated information boils and out of the vapor new contours take form.
The magical and hypnotic is not gone, I still recognise the softer aspects of Ikus highly detailed hybrid sound design. But I no longer see where it takes me. It excites me. It feels like the world is expanding again, breathing. The sounds on the album asks us questions and points in several directions at once. In the shadows, weeds of lucid dreams grow deeper roots, reaching for my inner ear.

The faint sounds on the track Nature Morte reminds me of expeditions to the local witch house ruins as a child. Something almost not there, something felt. History, Memories and the connection between the two seems to have played a part in these compositions. Emotional reactions that plant reactions in other people, all around creating soft movements on the face of our planet.

Whether our collective psyché is an open field or an impenetrable dark forest, is of less concern with a key like Omnitopoeia, that works like an enhanced mirror, reflecting the dreams of the words we speak everyday, reflecting the emotional charges of significant places. Unrecognisable but still remembered.

For fans of Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, and Dr. Hook! Kelakos is a seventies rock band with roots in Boston and Upstate New York, known for fusing powerful rock rhythms and guitar leads with strong vocals, catchy songwriting, and rich, varied production. Now forty-four years after their first album, Gone Are the Days, Kelakos returns stronger than ever with a new 12-song album release, Hurtling Towards Extinction. The band consists of its namesake George Kelakos Haberstroh on vocals/guitar, Mark Sisson on rhythm guitar, Linc Bloomfield holding down the bass, who after Kelakos wound up in a high lever career in Washington, and rounded out by Carl Canedy who went to play with The Rods and produce albums by Anthrax, Overkill, Blue Cheer, Exciter, etc… Hurtling Towards Extinction consists of 12 new songs with highlights such as “Livin on the Planet Love” and“Smoke and Mirrors”, while making sure there is something for everyone on this release.

In 2006, THE DRAFT was formed by Hot Water Music members Jason Black, George Rebelo, and Chris Wollard shortly after singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan's departure. The three remaining members of the band wanted to continue making music together but chose not to continue under the Hot Water Music name, opting for a fresh start instead. The initial writing and demo sessions included the legendary punk rock guitarist Brian Baker (known for Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion). However, due to conflicting schedules, Baker couldn't commit as a full-time member, leading fellow Florida resident and former Discount member Todd Rockhill to join the band. After releasing their debut album "In a Million Pieces" (produced by the esteemed Brian McTernan) on Epitaph Records in 2006, the band embarked on extensive tours with acts like Samiam, The Gaslight Anthem, and Paint It Black. They also released several singles on the renowned No Idea Label before disbanding in 2008. With both "In a Million Pieces" and all 7" records being out of print for years, THE DRAFT has now teamed up with End Hits Records and Equal Vision Records to release a deluxe vinyl version on double vinyl. For the first time, you can find every track ever recorded by THE DRAFT: Included are the twelve album tracks, six songs featured on three 7" records, two unreleased demo versions, as well as four songs recorded during a radio session in the UK that have never been released before. Not only were all songs remastered specifically for vinyl by Brian McTernan, and detailed liner notes have been added to tell the band's history from beginning to end, but the packaging has also been completely overhauled. A special feature for collectors: the European and American versions come in different gatefold covers, which together form a complete work of art.

Upstate NY heavyweights 38 Spesh and Conway The Machine have joined forces for a collaboration album fans did not see coming. Having recorded with each other for well over a decade, these two lyrical powerhousesstyles mesh effortlessly on this 10-track offering. The soundbeds for the illustrious affair are provided by Spesh himself with the help of a producer he has championed for years, Jimmy Dukes. Instead of continuing to mine the '90s like their contemporaries, the duo bring a sound that calls back to early '00s Hip-Hop. On top of verses that will etch themselves in your mind courtesy of Spesh and Conway, the project includes standout bars and hooks by the likes Lloyd Banks, Pharoahe Monch, Benny The Butcher, Che Noir, ElCamino, and Emanny.

Upstate NY heavyweights 38 Spesh and Conway The Machine have joined forces for a collaboration album fans did not see coming. Having recorded with each other for well over a decade, these two lyrical powerhousesstyles mesh effortlessly on this 10-track offering. The soundbeds for the illustrious affair are provided by Spesh himself with the help of a producer he has championed for years, Jimmy Dukes. Instead of continuing to mine the '90s like their contemporaries, the duo bring a sound that calls back to early '00s Hip-Hop. On top of verses that will etch themselves in your mind courtesy of Spesh and Conway, the project includes standout bars and hooks by the likes Lloyd Banks, Pharoahe Monch, Benny The Butcher, Che Noir, ElCamino, and Emanny.

Ever wondered what a Brian Wilson solo album
from 1969 would sound like?
Look no further. (No A.I. needed...)
Exquisitely arranged by ex-Animal Vic Briggs and
featuring several Wrecking Crew musicians who
also played on Pet Sounds, MARK ERIC’s A
Midsummer’s Day Dream is a unique blend of
Beach Boys/Four Freshmen sensibilities coupled
with wistful, lush surf psychedelia.
Defiantly soft, the 1969 LP captured the tail end
of L.A.’s pop innocence perfectly, just as it
slipped into infinity. First time on vinyl since its
original release.
Coming this summer! Our 2002 & 2009 CD reissues
of A Midsummer’s Day Dream caught the soft pop
collector’s world entirely off guard: Very few
were aware of the LP’s existence, and the
reaction was united: A masterpiece was
unleashed and a new generation of daydreamers
was born! The result was glowing reviews in MOJO
and UNCUT, a Japanese edition, as well as soaring
prices for the original long out-of-print vinyl
pressing. The full-colour gatefold jacket includes
EXCLUSIVE, rare photos, and UPDATED and
EXPANDED liner notes that feature the
participation of Mark Eric himself. Reissue
produced, annotated, and designed by STEVE
STANLEY.

A real soul gem from 1970 on the James Brown affiliated Deluxe label, the first and only album by this mysterious singer: Marie Queenie Lyons.
It is perhaps apropos that Queenie Marie Lyons’s best known song is titled ‘See And Don’t See.’ For all the acclaim that song has accrued, and all the times it has been compiled, reissued and, yes, bootlegged — for all the times it has been seen — Queenie herself has somehow remained unseen. How did a singer from Ashtabula, Ohio record one of the great female-led soul albums and then simply fall off the map, never to record or perform again? Queenie was a natural performer and a gifted singer. At the age of fifteen, she was doing three shows a week at a local venue. In early 1962, Queenie moved to Queens and was soon playing gigs across the city — an early engagement was with Gene Krupa at the famous Metropole Café in Times Square — as well as touring with established acts like Fats Domino and Ray Charles. The following year, Queenie made her debut recording, for a subsidiary of RCA called Groove, credited to an entirely fictitious “Shelley Shoop and the Shakers.” It remained Queenie’s only presence on wax until early 1968, when a Nashville-based label called Sims gave her her first accurately attributed single, “A Minute Of His Goodtime / Good Soul Lovin’.” Although the 45 is now a highly collectible part of the Northern Soul and Lowrider Oldies pantheons, it made no impact at the time, as Sims was focused on more typical Nashville sounds. A few months later Queenie was back in New York City, performing R&B and pop covers with her band when a man passed her his business card at a performance. The card read James Brown Enterprises. James Brown “was my idol,” she says, and someone whose business acumen and stage presence she strove to emulate. Although Queenie ended up on tour with James Brown for only a month or so, when the group reached Cincinnati in mid-’68 she entered the King Records studio there to record what would become the
album you hold in your hands. The songs were a combination of covers, some of which she’d been doing in her live shows, like ‘Fever’ and ‘Try Me,’ and originals written by producer Henry Glover and pianist Don Pullen, who was the bandleader on the session. The album opener, ‘See And Don’t See,’ was also recorded by the veteran R&B singer Maxine Brown, but Queenie’s version blows hers away. “Soul Fever” is a supremely funky and soulful affair, with Queenie’s powerful and captivating voice magnetically attractive, with an urgency that is impossible to ignore. ‘Your Thing Ain’t No Good Without My Thing,’ ‘Your Key Don’t Fit It Anymore,’ and ‘I Don’t Want Nobody To Have It But You’ are as funky and soulful as the best of Tina Turner and Aretha — a statement not to be made lightly!
The album was critically acclaimed — the October 10, 1970, issue of Billboard listed it as their sole “four star” pick in the Soul category — but perhaps due to the tumult at Starday-King, whose stewardship had turned over several times in only a few years, it never seemed to be able to break through to a larger audience.

Muireann Bradley is a young blues, ragtime, roots and folk guitarist and singer based in Ballybofey in County Donegal Ireland. “This is my first album. Most of these tunes were originally recorded by the great blues men and women who were making records from the 1920s and 1930s right up in some cases to the early 1970s. I have also found inspiration for the renditions recorded here in the playing of some of the musicians who began recording this music in the 1960s and later, and who in some cases learned at the feet of the greats. Many of these guitarists played pivotal roles in the 1960s blues revival and subsequent “rediscovery” of many of the greats of country blues. I grew up steeped in these old blues in the hills overlooking the valley of the River Finn just outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal. My father would play this music constantly at home and wherever we went in the car and talk about it endlessly whether anyone was listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news. My father could of course play all this stuff on guitar, I remember watching him when I was very young and thinking “I want to be able to do that”. When I was nine he agreed to teach me and bought me my first little travel guitar. I worked hard to learn how to play but as time wore on I seemed to have less and less time to practice as I became more and more invested in the combat sports I was regularly training and competing in. Then in March 2020 the first Covid lockdowns happened and all contact sports were shut down. I was lost for a while but soon found my way back to the guitar. I was now listening, playing and practicing with a new intensity and focus. In a very serious moment, I wrote out a list of tunes I was going to learn. The first tune on that list was Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”. I’m not sure now how long it took to get that arrangement together but when it was ready we videoed me performing it and posted it on YouTube. It ended up getting a lot of attention, I remember my parents being quite shocked and soon after that Josh Rosenthal got in touch… and here we are! Each individual track on this album was recorded live in the studio and represents one entire take with me singing and backing myself up on guitar simultaneously. Most are either first or second takes. Nothing has been added or taken away, no overdubs or modern recording tricks of any kind have been used at all so at least in some respects this album has been recorded in the same way as those classics of the 1920s and 1930s

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer and curator L’Rain (Taja Cheek) returns with her third album I Killed Your Dog. Over-writing themes of grief and identity that informed her previous work, I Killed Your Dog considers what it means to hurt the people you love the most. Multi-layered in subject and form, L’Rain’s sonic explorations interrogate instead how multiplicities of emotion and experience intersect with identity. The experimental and the hyper-commercial; the expectation and the reality; the hope and the despair. “I’m envisioning a world of contradictions, as always,” Cheek explains. “Sensual, maybe even sexy, but terrifying, and strange.” Written amidst heartbreaks from the perspective of an earned maturity, I Killed Your Dog takes the sonic world laid out by L’Rain in 2021’s album Fatigue on a compelling new trajectory. Described by Cheek as an “anti-break-up” record, I Killed Your Dog takes the universal pop theme of love as its starting point – bold, bratty and even a touch diabolical – and inspects it through the form of a conversation with her younger self, untangling her relationship with femininity and the formal musical conventions that others have come to expect of her. Alongside long-time collaborators Andrew Lappin and Ben Chapoteau-Katz, Cheek has developed L’Rain into a shape-shifting entity that blurs the distinction between band and individual

Originally released as a hand-numbered CD on New Year's Eve of 2004, Last Light captures Tor Lundvall 's hushed songcraft at its most ghostly and grayscale, stripped bare like branches bracing for winter. Initially conceived of as "a piano album with sparse electronics" (with the working title November), Lundvall's palette steadily expanded, incorporating synthesizer, samples, bass, metronomes, and his signature spectral vocals. A journal entry from the spring of 2002 proved formative to his evolving vision: "I remember watching the blueish-grey light shimmering outside and hearing distant sounds echoing far away, eventually sinking into silence and stillness." The album's 12 tracks are steeped in this sense of autumnal transience, of bearing witness to what fades. The music moves in whispered swells, between dirge, drift, and devotional. Synths chime like slow-tolling bells; percussion shuffles and shivers, icy and isolated; bass traces a low-lidded plod - it's a mode both austere and seductive, lulling the listener into its landscapes of deepening dusk. Lyrically, Lundvall's language skews observational and depressive ("through lace curtains / grey light falls / dark clouds gather / in my soul" ), with each song like a gauzy glimpse into a different tableau framing winter's descent: rust - colored leaves, frozen ponds, cold crescent moons. Lundvall has long considered Last Light a "personal favorite" in his discography, and it's easy to hear why. In texture, finesse, and pacing, it vividly evokes the rare mood of fragile, frosty pastoral noir depicted in his iconic oil paintings. His is an art of the half-seen and half-remembered, of fleeting figures, shapes and shadows, and gathering darkness. Of all that disappears, and the ghosts that never leave: "So I wait / as the years / slowly drain the magic and the light / and the girl / I never loved / haunts me through the dark roads of my life."

Over the past decade, Be.lanuit has made a name for himself in Ibiza, both as a DJ, artist and fashion designer. Across disciplines he radiates a deep-rooted bohemian spirit harkening back to the philosophy on which the Ibiza-scene was originally founded. This creative hearth of soulful hedonism has now borne a full-length album, one that reveals a sprawling composing talent and complete mastery of the melodic downtempo terrain.

Be.lanuit says:

“Hippie Picasso is an album inspired by the life of a hypothetical Pablo Picasso with a hippie soul. I have a deep interest in Picasso that sparked when a work by him caught my eye at the Louisiana in Denmark, incidentally on a trip with Kenneth Bager who runs Music For Dreams. Since then, reading his biographies and visiting Malaga where he was born, where the Mediterranean culture, especially through music, spreads out to the world.

The tracks revolve around Picasso’s artworks and moments in his life, all from the point of view of a dream of an imagined life on the island of Ibiza. The melodies are all reminiscent of the Mediterranean with flamenco airs, sometimes melancholic. Jazz has a subtle presence alongside the electronics. The Spanish classical guitar as well, one of his favorite instruments.”

The album features a range of artists from around the world such as the legendary multi-instrumentalist Tupac Peralta, DJ Pippi, Melón Jimenez, Lara Wong, The Swan and The Lake, Jonas Krag, WALTHER and OliO.

Top-rated West Coast garage sounds from the vaults of maverick genius Gary S Paxton. Acknowledged classics, tantalising obscurities and several previously unheard gems, all from the original master tapes, including tracks by Limey & The Yanks, The Avengers, The Whatt Four, The Buddhas_ among many others. Vintage garage rock is only one of the many tributaries of popular music that the maverick Gary S Paxton recorded and produced in his 1960s heyday, and compared to other genres, the off-kilter genius behind 'Alley Oop' and 'Monster Mash' was hardly prolific with it. But for a producer-engineer of his repute, it was inevitable that Paxton would cross paths with the sudden surge of teenaged rock groups that emerged in the wake of the British Invasion. We've gathered the best of them on "Lost Innocence", and for any aficionado of the genre, a treat is in store. As well as a brace of acknowledged Californian punk classics present and correct for the first time direct from master tape, this rockin' little disc also shares further booty from the Garpax vaults, including some obscurities well worthy of re-appraisal, along with completely unreleased nuggets of note. Counting among the well-known are the Avengers, Bakersfield's top dogs in the punk bracket thanks to snot-nosed missives such as 'I Told You So' and the controversial 'Be A Cave Man'. Ken & the Forth Dimension and Limey & the Yanks serve up the highly regarded items 'See If I Care' and 'Guaranteed Love' respectively, with a trio of ear-opening unissued tracks from the latter as a bonus. Riverside's Whatt Four weigh in with the popular ear-burners 'Our Love Should Last Forever' and 'You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else'. And the Buddhas' title cut is still the most eloquent ode to carnal knowledge in the entire 60s punk pantheon. Compiled by genre expert Alec Palao and originally released by Big Beat/ACE on CD only a few years back, it is now available on vinyl for the first time.

Clear Vinyl

On Rock Island, their second LP, Palm produces evidence of a distinct musical language, developed over time, in isolation, and out of necessity. On the island, melodies are struck on what might be shells or spines. Rhythms are scratched out, swept over, scratched again. Individual instruments, and sometimes entire sections, skip and stutter. There is the sense of a music box with wonky tension or a warped transmission in which all the noise is taken for signal.

Like other groups so acclaimed for their compulsive live show, Palm has been burdened by the constant comparison between their recorded material and their touring set. On Rock Island, they render this tired discussion moot, using the album form to present that which could never be completely live, reserving for performance that which could never be completely reproduced.

Despite appearing behind the instruments typical of rock music, Palm trades in sounds of their own making. On these songs, one of the guitars and the drum kit are used as MIDI triggers, producing an index that can be combed through later and replaced with new information. The percussion is sometimes augmented so as to suggest a multiplication of limbs. The strings are manipulated to choke, crack, and hum like other instruments, or other bodies, might.

Working again with engineer Matt Labozza, the band spent the better part of a month in a rented farmhouse in Upstate New York. With the benefits of time and space, Palm recorded the various elements piecemeal, only rarely playing together in groups larger than two or three. While some members tracked, others holed up in the next room, experimenting with quantization, beat replacement, and other methods borrowed from electronic music. Even accounting for the many labors that brought them to be, these materials seem produced by an organic logic. Their complex friction forms a habit of thought, scores a network of grooves on the floor of the mind.

This is music with dimensionality. Sonic objects are deployed, developed, and dissected in various states of mutation. The listener flits about between the field and the lab. The tone is warm in a way only the sun could make, the pace as forceful and as variable as a gale. Whether one locates Rock Island in a sea or in a refinished attic (as in Greg Burak's album cover), whether one escapes to there or is banished, its psychic environs are charted clearly enough. Only at this remove from the mainland can we sense the conditions necessary for such a strange species of sound.

It would be difficult to find a band that is more self-aware than longtime touring band Lucero. Since forming in Memphis in the late 90's, Lucero’s base musical hallmarks have remained similar to the band’s initial sound established with their first record The Attic Tapes. In the history of their expansive discography, Lucero has evolved and embraced everything from southern rock to Stax-inspired Memphis soul, whilst simultaneously maintaining their distinctive sonic foundations. Years later, dedicated fans of the group still flock to hear the band's punchy driving rhythms, punk-rooted guitar licks, and Iyrics that evoke the whiskey drenched sentimentality of Americana singer-songwriters. For their twelfth record, Should've Learned by Now, Lucero drew on a lot of work from their past. Literally. By adapting songs and guitar parts that had been left over from the group’s previous two albums, Lucero was able to construct one of its most comprehensive works to date. “I had a particular sound | was looking for on each record and there was no room for any goofy tock & roll or cute witticisms or even simply upbeat songs.” Said primary lyricist and frontman, Ben Nichols. “But now finally, it was time to revisit all of that stuff and get it out in the world, That's how we got to the appropriately for-us titled album Should've Learned by Now. The album is basically about how we know we are fuckups and I guess we are ok with that.” Produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Matt Ross-Spang, the album is a punchy, rock and roll record that utilizes the more mature production stylings the group developed over time, and combines it with the first-person introspectiveness that the band is known and loved for. From its original Ben Nichols-designed cover art to its credits, the album is a reflection of a band that knows itself, Should've Learned by Now bridges the gap musically between “old Lucero” and “new Lucero” in a manner which affixes the band’s position as the perfect intersection of punk initiative with hard-earned artistry. It's an album that recognizes the past in its sound and content, but leaves the door wide open to the future and for the lessons still in store

Listen Here Limited-edition double green/ red vinyl. 12 tracks spread across three sides and a screen-printed fourth side. We are very pleased to announce a special 10th anniversary vinyl version of this classic Dean Wareham live album, recorded over two nights in London back in December 2013 and featuring a mix of songs by Galaxie 500 and Luna as well as solo material. It is pressed on double red and green vinyl, with the 12 tracks spread across three sides and a screen-printed fourth side. The recordings were mixed by Britta Phillips and have been remastered especially for this release by Mikey Young (of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control and others). The new artwork by Marc Jones includes a printed insert featuring photos from the shows, which almost didn’t happen at all after Dean and his band got stuck on a train between Manchester and London. “We left Piccadilly Station at 12:15 but stopped rolling after just 20 minutes,” he recalls. “A voice informed us that a tree had fallen on the track somewhere up ahead, and this tree was on fire. We sat there for a couple of hours and started to think about alternate ways to get down to London, someone sent out a plea on Twitter and one kind fan did offer to drive us, if only there was a way to get off the train. But at around 3 o’clock the train lurched forward at last, we made it to Euston and cabbed it straight to St Pancras Old Church. “I’m not a believer but there’s something special about playing in churches, especially one that dates to the 12th century; the cavernous spaces and wooden pews make you speak softly and play quietly too – if you play too loud the sounds will just bounce all over the place. And the engineer doesn’t need to add reverb to your vocals – it is there already. “Nat from Sonic Cathedral promoted the shows and had the presence of mind to record them to multi-tracks, and I’m so glad he did. When we got back to Los Angeles, Britta mixed the live tracks, and the result is this record

We are back with a VA for our 8th release.

The title ‘Hood Classic’ by Lavan is exactly what it is, shuffle, chords and an extremely deep bassline.

‘Work It’ by Aezron has a speed garage theme with a touch of house and a vocal which may sound familiar.

The B-side flip delivers ‘Raw Uncut’ by L&F sampling Mobb Deep over some breaks and bass. Finally ‘Lock’em’ by Xantrax, giving a modern day grime meets UKG vibe.

An ode to nineties trance and the more introspective side of lower-mid tempo music. Drawing inspiration from the external environments that encompass Australia and the vast rural landscapes, Reflex Blue’s double LP is a reflection of migration, introspection and deeper meditative states.

Spanning across nine tracks the LP explores our deeper connection to the outside world.

Crate Classics release their 2nd vinyl, pressed by Music House Studios. Stars from the Jungle and Dancehall scenes crammed onto this 12. Undoubtedly one of the most exciting figures to arise within drum & bass over the past decade, Rouen Wilkins, also known as Voltage, has carved his way to becoming one of the most valued artists in the scene. He now takes on Rudeboy Sound by Crate Classics and JODIAN NATTY which was a huge hit at 2022's Notting Hill Carnival, with support from Shy FX, 1xtra, 6music, Radio 1, KOOL FM and more. This Rudeboy Sound Remix EP also includes Jungle pioneer 'Potential Bad Boy's' mix of the tune Babylon fro

Bring back my Bass Butches! They’re bossy & they mean business. Rag-tag rhythm riders Maara and Roza Terenzi come together for a freaky friday sound swap; trading auditory secrets only a mixologist would know to conjure up a 2 track tek-trailblazer. Not for the faint hearted deejay, the record flaunts their distinct signature sounds as they reincarnate the status quo of experimental club music one snare at a time.

Percussively penetrating the core ethics of composition, the A side flirts and squirts all over a rhythm so raucous, the bass battens down the hatches. Stir the pot, rock the boat, roll the dice and ride the bass, surrender to the unruly structure as the groove gets full custody.

The bareback B side breaks rules and regulations; leading you to high-tech temptation, fast and furious with an explosive temper that can’t be tamed.

Tickling the rim of electro and bass yet ditching the doctrine, Loose Lips Sink Ships is a take-no-prisoners secret source of dancefloor dopamine, the sleek modern rendition of a ritualistic beatdown destined to weave motifs together and breed atmosphere.

It takes 2 to techno, but these are the number 1 drum degenerates of the future wave party starters.

A collaboration between two prestigious Italian bands, the wizards of dub and the masters of big-band ska-jazz, in perfect symbiosis. An album full of dub atmospheres mixed with orchestral patterns; compelling rhythms of the ska and reggae traditions together with dilated and hypnotic electronic sounds. A recording fruit of a challenge and a celebration of music, something that is undoubtedly reflected in the spectacular outcome. 22 musicians locked in a large studio to rediscover the beauty of sharing after months away from the stage due to the pandemic, without even being able to rehearse.

The decision to record a live album was instantaneous, it was just about enjoying the energy of the moment. All tracks were recorded strictly live in the studio, without overdubs, with the aim of apprehending something unrepeatable.

The electronics, the melodies of the wind section and the vocal power come together in this work, recorded live at Deep Studio in Treviso (Italy) and mastered by Ibon Larruzea (Bilbao), full of dub atmospheres mixed with orchestral patterns.

All this merges into a unique and explosive sound in which the strength of the big band meets the deep and hypnotic beats of dub music. The instrumental "Cascade Dub" opens the album with a rootsy, majestic brass-led track.

From there on, Michela Grena, Rosa Mussin and Freddy Frenzy jump into their vocal games, inducing a trance-like state from which you can't (don’t want to) get out. A succession of untamed riddims and expansive sounds in which, in many cases, the wind section remains crouched in the background leaving the creative element in the hands of the dubmaster unit. As small depth charges "You Can Fly", "Lion", "Moon", "Beating Heart", generate submission to the beat and texture. "Mama", the successful first collaboration between the two bands, celebrates the bright sounds and colours of mother earth, a glorious song to our home. In the face of inequality, the senselessness of war, injustice, it becomes necessary to "Shine a Light" that offers hope and, at the same time, to "Give Thanks" for what we are fortunate enough to enjoy. The power of the big band merges with the heavy and deep step of the dub.


A progression of organic, pressing cadences, as in the solidest of the ska and reggae traditions and, at the same time, electronic resonances, dilated and deep. "Sinking Sand" closes the album in a sort of sonorous fencing of styles that makes us guess (as well as the title of the album itself) that WDD and NESJO still have a lot to debate. WDD began their journey as a quartet in 2014 and prior to Studio Session #1 they had already released two albums and several singles. NESJO formed in 2012 and have previously released two albums (both available on Brixton Records) and are working on what will be the recording of their next full-length.

Northeast Italy is a border area and it's easy to connect with each other in those territories made of enchanted landscapes. That energy, that desire to experiment and get involved, have made possible this ambitious project in which a ska-jazz orchestra and a dub band, each with its own language, are assembled in an amazing sonority

A1 - Healing Properties
Opening his Spatial account with Healing Properties, Eusabia immediately throws down the gauntlet showcasing an inimitable versatility with breakbeats, permeated with a jungle flex so rarely captured in the atmospheric D&B landscape. Pivoting effortlessly as the track progresses from drumloop to thunderous drumloop with a simmering haunted atmosphere and deep, weighty basslines to yearning filtered vocal samples, this track has it all.

A2 - The Space Between
Smooth jungly synthwork seizes the foreground before crisp breaks begin to reveal our direction through The Space Between, jittery key stabs and familiar old school FX create a unique sci-fi style backdrop as the breaks drive the vibe forward, switching and weaving in style, constantly mixing it up to ram the point home that you cannot fully appreciate a Eusabia track until every second has been consumed - many times over, as The Space Between demands.

AA1 - Scope of Understanding
A more contemplative piece, Scope of Understanding strips things back with a synthwave-esque vibe tinged with intrigue and allure. Soon the breakbeats leap into gear and develop with an incredible level of refined detail, expertly edited, chopped and cut to a darkly undertone of sub bass and subtle micro melodies. Scope of Understanding will leave you in awe of the quickfire ideas Eusabia can conjure in the space of 6 minutes.

AA2 - Self Reflection
A smooth atmospheric introduction ushers in a thumping drum tools workout, somehow perfectly in sync with the calm harmonies dancing around in the composition. Certainly a track to enjoy both on the discerning dancefloor and while driving home with rain lashing at the windscreen at 2am, Self Reflection's synths and breaks conclude the EP in style leaving a long lasting memory of a Spatial debut you will not forget.

Words by Chris Hayes.

2023 Repress

Noisia & Foreign Beggars are extremely proud to present I Am Legion's much anticipated self-titled, 16 track, debut album.
"The album was made during countless sessions (no more than 40 full studio days max) over the last five years. Many passes of production and scrutiny reached every track, alongside a plethora of feedback spread sheets and whiteboard summaries. We never set a deadline for ourselves; the whole idea of a full album only took shape later in the process when we realized how much material we had generated and how cool it could be to put it out as one big thing." I Am Legion nods to rap's erstwhile forays into electronica, absorbing elements of its present whilst laying out a reassuringly disturbed vision of what's to come.

African Queen is a departure from the sound of the Amarra’s debut Ariwa release. This time Toots Hibbert’s Bam Bam provides the template for African Queen. Over the past 30 years this rhythm track has been associated with several hits including Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam and Chaka Demus and Pliers Murder she wrote.

African Queen has a catchy chorus with a touch of modern day electronics using the warbler and filter effects. An interesting song, drawing from some unlikely quarters of the 21st century, and blending them together.

Van Halen did more than announce to the world the earthshaking arrival of a revolutionary guitarist. Performed by an enterprising California quartet that took its name from two of its principal members, the 1978 debut ripped headlines away from punk, injected fresh energy into a then-moribund rock 'n' roll scene, reimagined how heavy music and throwback pop could coexist, and invited everyone to experience the top-down pleasures of a beach-front Saturday night every day of the week no matter where they lived. Painstakingly restored by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and the first of a multi-album series in an exciting partnership between the famous reissue label and Van Halen, Van Halen delivers feel-good thrills and hormonally charged desires like never before.

Limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and allows fans to experience Van Halen's original blend of raw power, Hollywood flair, and vaudeville fun for generations to come. Playing with reference-setting sonics that elevate a 10-times-platinum landmark whose importance cannot be quantitatively measured, this definitive version provides a clear, clean, transparent, balanced, and turn-the-volume-up-to-11 view of an album that birthed entirely new styles. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen in your chest, no fifth-row concert seat necessary.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Van Halen pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic cover art to the meticulous finishes and, yes, of course, Eddie Van Halen's pioneering fretwork and his brother Alex's double-bass percussion.

Indeed, could a piece of music that transformed how countless guitarists approached their instrument be more fittingly named than "Eruption"? Likely not, and in just 102 seconds, Eddie Van Halen rewrote, reimagined, and reconfigured a vocabulary last significantly updated a decade earlier by fellow six-string wizard Jimi Hendrix. Akin to the Washington State legend, Eddie Van Halen developed his own techniques and tones all the while making his seismic accomplishments seem effortless. Devoid of the pretence, ego, and showiness that infected many of his imitators, the Dutch native sticks to a straightforward approach that underlines the authority, prowess, and visionary scope of his playing and then-unheard-of finger-tapping skills. Throughout Van Halen, he establishes himself as an instant idol – a savant whose otherworldly combination of breadth, poise, feel, speed, force, and melody seems beamed in from another galaxy.

As does nearly every song on the record, whose cohesiveness and dynamic put into perspective the advanced chemistry and one-for-all spirit the youthful band had out of the gates. Having paid its dues for years in bars and clubs – going as far as recording a 24-track demo for Kiss bassist Gene Simmons at Village Recorders only to be spurned by management companies that felt its music wouldn't go anywhere – Van Halen finally got a deserved break when Warner Bros. executives signed the group in 1977. The subsequent recording sessions further testify on behalf of the band's synergy and alignment. Completed in just a few weeks with producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen was primarily cut live in the studio with minimal overdubs and edits. The explosiveness, energy, and electricity remain definitive, and as heard on this UD1S set, put the group on a private stage – humming amplifiers, Frankenstrat guitar, bright spotlights, sweaty headbands, and then some.

Van Halen yielded just one hit in the form of a Top 40 single (a breathless cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me") but practically every song on the revered LP has become a staple. Named the 202nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone and considered by countless experts as one of the best debuts in history, the record displays what can happen with four distinct talents gel and strive for the same purposes. In Van Halen's case, the latter almost always involved partying, freedom, sex, and, in the immortal words of singer David Lee Roth, living "life like there's no tomorrow." The celebration manifests from the opening notes of the strutting "Runnin' with the Devil" – announced with the blare of droning car horns, Michael Anthony's robust bass line, and Alex Van Halen's thumping drumming – and continues through the conclusion of the white-hot "On Fire," goosed by Eddie Van Halen's race-track-ready lines, Roth's flamboyant deliveries, and the rhythm section's cat-like pounce.

Picking out individual highlights on Van Halen is akin to trying to count all the stars in a clear nighttime desert sky: There are far too many to identify, once you see one you notice another dozen you didn't spot before, and the cluster is best enjoyed as a whole. What's evident over repeat listens is the sheer diversity, a fact that's often overlooked: The high harmonies and background funk of "Jamie's Cryin'"; the insistent cane-and-a-tophat shuffle and doo-wop shoo-bop vocal break on "I'm the One"; the throwback acoustic blues that spreads into fast-paced, single-entendre wildfire on the Roth-led standout interpretation of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Like the man says, on Van Halen, all the flavours are guaranteed to satisfy.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior


Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

Music On Hold's second album raises to its climax an altogether well-cultivated ambiguity between new ambitions and the waiting posture of a band which has never lived up to its name so well. Produced in a cellar in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, supported by Ray Jane and "surrounded by a group of people who manage to concentrate on something for more than 15 minutes", "MOH4Ever" is one of the most personal things that Emile Cartron-Eldin delivers today, "from the salt-dough workshops in kindergarten". Opening, "His Master Voice" transforms the tribute to a recently deceased loved one into a sad clown's dancing homily. With no surprise follows "Wander" and roaming in a Paris traveled up and down at least ten thousand times already. "Music On Hold 4 Ever" then releases the title of this album in a cry accompanied by an invitation to "unplug" his singer. We hear a bit of the group's very first single, "Bread", taken through the prism of Beck's "Up all night". "Citadel", 6'30" end of side A, loudly proclaims as a chain-breaking the nostalgia of truant school and a desire not to die (at least not like Darby Crash). Mixed in - like this entire album - are the versatile ingenuity of LCD Soundsystem and Gorillaz with Italo-disco arrangements from Roberto Zanetti (aka Savage). With "Over", "Home", "Taming a Tiger" and "Last Laugh", side B prolongs the tightrope walker's delirium by summoning in no specific order, memories in Vienna, resumption of excessive consumption, the fact that "the director of the US Federal Reserve is a real fake-ass" and the cynical humo(u)rous swings of a guy overwhelmed by them in an everlasting after-party. From the first LP, "30 Minutes Of..." and its already delayed release, its chopped tour, "Music On Hold 4 Ever" digs a refined pop, no longer as "solar" as some could have described it when everything seemed to be going quickly. Retaining a semblance of immediacy, the 8 pieces of this second album open up new perspectives with their elegant sophistication, in a quite French and truly original touch of DIY and experimentation that the group can pride themselves on. " I'm twenty-nine, and i don't wanna die ".

The long-anticipated debut album "Infernal Fractality", set for a late 2023 release, unleashes a relentless onslaught of sonic brutality that has consumed over half a decade of tireless devotion from the band's enigmatic founder, Ødemark (known for his work with 3rd Attempt, Ovate, and Necrocave). Ødemark, an artist driven by both the fiery passion of psychedelics and a relentless pursuit of extreme metal's uncharted territories, has woven these elements into an epic, violent, and boundary-defying soundscape that delves deep into the realms of the Luciferian ideals, non-duality pointers, and the mystic principles found in his own psychedelic experiences.

THE LAST EON was formed to push the boundaries of the established but dormant industrial black metal sound pioneered by bands such Thorns and Mysticum and to its maximum exponential, with the vision of "creating the most intense music in history", objective that took 6 years of obsession, a couple burnouts, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers and outers, to map the depths of the psychedelic experience that would be distilled into "Infernal Fractality". With the help of drummer Jarle Byberg, Ødemark created this whole beast by himself.

After years of pushing every conceivable boundary, and breaking every possible rule and standard in composition, production and sound design, the masterpiece was ready for the crucible of Zardonic's mastering process, who consolidated the behemoth of a more than 300 track project into a time-space shattering soundscape of cosmic proportions.

Mainman Ødemark states: “I wanted to push the limits of what extreme metal can be, and materialize a vision for the future of electronic black metal that required me to rebel against every single rule in my mind of what black metal is, to create what black metal can be. This included also the theme and lyrics, spreading awareness of the mind expanding psychedelic experiences and self exploration within the black metal culture.”

The long-anticipated debut album "Infernal Fractality", set for a late 2023 release, unleashes a relentless onslaught of sonic brutality that has consumed over half a decade of tireless devotion from the band's enigmatic founder, Ødemark (known for his work with 3rd Attempt, Ovate, and Necrocave). Ødemark, an artist driven by both the fiery passion of psychedelics and a relentless pursuit of extreme metal's uncharted territories, has woven these elements into an epic, violent, and boundary-defying soundscape that delves deep into the realms of the Luciferian ideals, non-duality pointers, and the mystic principles found in his own psychedelic experiences.

THE LAST EON was formed to push the boundaries of the established but dormant industrial black metal sound pioneered by bands such Thorns and Mysticum and to its maximum exponential, with the vision of "creating the most intense music in history", objective that took 6 years of obsession, a couple burnouts, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers and outers, to map the depths of the psychedelic experience that would be distilled into "Infernal Fractality". With the help of drummer Jarle Byberg, Ødemark created this whole beast by himself.

After years of pushing every conceivable boundary, and breaking every possible rule and standard in composition, production and sound design, the masterpiece was ready for the crucible of Zardonic's mastering process, who consolidated the behemoth of a more than 300 track project into a time-space shattering soundscape of cosmic proportions.

Mainman Ødemark states: “I wanted to push the limits of what extreme metal can be, and materialize a vision for the future of electronic black metal that required me to rebel against every single rule in my mind of what black metal is, to create what black metal can be. This included also the theme and lyrics, spreading awareness of the mind expanding psychedelic experiences and self exploration within the black metal culture.”

.- "Wishah" (meaning veil in Arabic) is a composition in five stages, written by Youmna Saba between 2021 and 2022, for voice, oud and electronics. Following her previous solo works "Njoum" (2014) and "Arb’een" (40) (2017), this album marks a significant turning point in Saba's journey. Created after leaving Beirut and settling in Paris, "Wishah" reveals a profound shift in her musical expression, informed by rigorous research in the sonic properties of sung Arabic phonemes and their role in shaping synthesised electronic sounds. The album employs a digital extension for the oud, a concept developed by Saba in her research project 'Taïma’. This device enhances the oud's sonic range, seamlessly integrating synthesised electronics. It also amplifies subtle, often overlooked sounds generated during playing, such as resonances and fingerboard friction. The composition is organized into five distinct stages, each contributing to a process of gradual revelation. As the tracks unfold, they strip away layers of constructed emotions and perceptions that have been intricately woven over time, to expose a space that no longer exists. Wishah is a farewell to home. Youmna Saba (born in Beirut, 1984) is a musician, composer and musicologist. Her current research focuses on instrument and space resonances in different sonic and musical contexts. With four albums to this date, she has collaborated with musicians of different musical expressions such as Kamilya Jubran, Floy Krouchi, Mike Cooper and the Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble, and has taken part in numerous artist residencies. She is the laureate of the first sound residency at Quai Branly Museum, Paris (2022-2023) with her research project and installation “La Réserve des Non-Dits”, now on view at the museum; and a laureate of the music residency program at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2020-2021).

The entity known as ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES, would like to express its excitement to be working with the Seattle, WA based BAND Sandrider, and enjoyed the previous relationship of Damm and Weisnewski in their former entity known as AKIMBO. ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES is very much a fan of previous work from the BAND on Satanik Royalty Records and highly recommend new listeners investigate the discography further. The upcoming 2-song single by BAND, hereafter referred to as AVIARY/BALEEN has a limited-edition initial pressing on blue and white splatter vinyl pressing of 300 copies, and successive runs will not be as colorful. Immediate orders are encouraged. This cheeky duality of Sandrider is also captured perfectly in the subject matter of the EP’s two tracks: The explosive first track, “Aviary,” portrays the modern hellscape of social media as sinister, soulless mama bird, willfully vomiting disinformation into the eager mouths of enthusiastically consenting participants. “PLEASE MOTHER, FEED THEM YOUR BILE. DOUSE THE BABES WITH YOUR WHOLESOME RETCH,” vocalist/guitarist Jon Weisnewski wails over massive, frenetic riffs, rounded out by bassist Jesse Roberts’ warm low end and drummer Nat Damm’s ultra-hard, punch-like beats. The song concludes in a frenzy of danceable beats, with Weisnewski doing his best Painkiller-era Halford screams as he commands you to flood the whole damn thing – drown those who wish to destroy us. As pissed off as the song is, you’ll feel triumphant by the end anyway. Side B’s “Baleen” on the other hand (while ironically the angrier-sounding song of the two), is about a lighter thought that keeps Weisnewski up at night: Do you ever think about how fucking weird whales are? They’re enormous floating creatures that can't handle gravity, and they hang out in the deepest oceans. Yet they can’t breathe underwater, so they have to stay near the top and come up for air all the time. Seems inconvenient. And you’d think that the biggest mammal that ever lived would be a brutal carnivore, right? But no. They eat the tiniest creatures, through a bunch of hair in their mouths. What the fuck? Anyway, ponder on that while you bang your head along with Sandrider’s signature primal, hypnotizingly heavy riffs.

About Tonder:
Match made! Between poet Alex Deforce and Azertyklavierwerke more specifically. Over a runaway beat, they seem intent on taming the search for love, or anything that smells like it from far or near. "Swiped right, match made" dictates Deforce as rhythmically and unflappably as if he were a Chat GPT controlled computer: more mechanical and cold love has never sounded. What follows would not have been out of place on the soundtrack of Fritz Lang's Metropolis: an industrial drum computer gasping for breath in an attempt to ward off an epileptic fit.
Contemporary yet headstrong, cryptic yet unapologetic: Tonder is an intriguing song full of contradictions that leaves you orphaned but also addicted.

About Soort Van Nerd:
A hearty dash of tristesse rubbing up against the best work of such masters of Weltschmerz like Sufjan Stevens or Spinvis: "Soort Van Nerd" translates as "Kind of nerd" and is a kind of genius underground pop song.
Melancholy and sincere emotion, it is still allowed. Melancholy but above all thoughtful: Azertyklavierwerke handles words and sound extremely sparingly but cuts deeper into his or anyone else's skin as a result. On a nostalgic but austere bed of a drum machine, a naive piano line he pokes Eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-wise where it hurts: "I wish you could melt, like an ice cube in the sun."

KID FRANCESCOLI, leader of the French Riviera Touch is back with the stellar album SUNSET BLUE out Sept 22nd 2023.

After a first sold-out world tour (over 200 concerts in Europe, USA, Asia...), and successful hits such as Nopalitos, Blow Up or Moon (now certified diamond, with more than 200 millions streams), the Marseille-based producer, crooner and multi-instrumentalist, Mathieu Hocine, is eager to share his most accomplished LP ever. This fine collection of soulful songs honor his Mediterranean roots, with elegant and pop melodies. His most recent success and the creation of his first original soundtrack with AZURO, installed him as one of the best French songwriters of his generation, with a unique signature sound.

"I live in Marseille, I spent my childhood in Corsica, I have Algerian origins, my first vacations with friends were in Barcelona, vacations with my first girlfriend in Roma,... Then, I had the chance to perform in Morocco, Greece, Turkey and Egypt: each time I spent time in the Mediterranean region, the people I met there made me feel like I was part of the same country. This shared multiculturalism is really comforting, it has its own poetry and strength, bringing uniqueness and empathy to the people. It is essential for me. I love my city: it’s the perfect place to feel good with sun, sea, family, friendships, love... It gets me emotional, bringing tears with a smile".

With his new musical gem, Mathieu Hocine unveils 11 elegant tunes of his finest craft: sunbathed French Touch (Run Run, 1986), romantic chillwave (Corsica), uplifting synthpop (You Are Everywhere, Like Magic), electronic-soul (Casino Soul), cinematic disco (Solaris), cosmic R&B (Sweet and Sour, Take Time), … Everything is in this record.

For the first time ever, Kid Francescoli paid tribute to his mixed origins with his collaboration with world-renowned lute and mandolin player Hakim Hamadouche (Rachid Taha, Patti Smith, Brian Eno, Tricky...), whom added Algerian patterns to the introspectives songs Drift in Blue and The Morning After.

"My ambition is to create pictures in people's heads with music, to transport them instantly into a movie"

SUNSET BLUE is an instant-crush album: crystal-clear, strong, personal but universal at the same time.

It's an ecstatic soundtrack for this moment when time is suspended, the golden hour when everything seems possible. It feels like Love is in the air, you're living your best life and you're at the right place at the right time. This album embodies this magic moment where we would like to last forever… Like an epiphany, Kid Francescoli's new album is a moment of pure pleasure, a soothing way to escape reality.

"I see myself as a melodist.I would like my music to feel like velvet. There's something cinematic, classy about it, and yet comforting. It's very simple, popular and synonym of love and passion"

His friend French 79 co-produced the album, while the american rapper Bamby H2O brought his NYC swag (on Sweet & Sour), Stan Neff (Polo & Pan, Kungs, Christine and the Queens...) took care of the mix and Alex Gopher (Daft Punk, The Blaze, Bon Entendeur...) added a final touch of magic when mastering. Nicolas Despis (known for his work with Etienne Daho, Hoshi, Juliette Armanet... and many famous French rappers) later joined this dream-team to craft custom-made artworks. SUNSET BLUE is a deeply personal quest, a human adventure for Mathieu Hocine (whom explores his maghrebian origins, his feminine side, his subconscious space, ...). It's a male's work, but don't get it wrong, this LP would be nothing without women’s touch : Julietta (on Run Run and Take Time), Sarah Gaugler from Turbo Goth (on You Are Everywhere and Like Magic), and iOni (on Drift in Blue).

“Music has this magical power to broaden your vision of the world. It's fascinating because, like dreams, it's the kind of irrational things science can't explain and that makes life exciting."

Planets aligned perfectly on this project and thanks to this five-star cast of collaborators, Kid Francescoli achieved his personal holy grail : he orchestrated a great 21st century pop-music album.SUNSET BLUE is a new turning point between organic and electronic, both a mediterranean travel and a Californian dream, a bridge between Ennio Morriconne and modern electronic music.

Also, while it might be called SUNSET BLUE in honor of the sea and the Portuguese / Brazilian concept called “saudade”, but it is a really optimistic album, whose true colors would rather be "yellow-orange-red" in nod to the sun.

Created in the midst of the world tour, SUNSET BLUE is a direct result of the lives’ energy and fans’ joyful vibes: going back in the studio after smiling, singing and dancing with people all around the world inevitably gave Kid Francescoli the desire to retranscribe this ecstatic feeling in music. This album is a sensitive experience, from sunrise to sunset, from first track to last one. It’s an exploration of an everlasting summer, reaching its climax in the very final seconds of the track Corsica, making us want to press play and dive into this jewel all over again.

A beautiful cosmic trip, whether you like to stay in bed cocooning, to travel far, far away or to dance ‘till dawn, to catch the first rays of light.

Make sure to catch Kid Francescoli on his next world tour to have a good time.

2023 Repress

New York, early 90's, the haydays of the New York and Jersey clubhouse! With labels such as NuGroove, Nervous, Freeze, Strictly Rhythm, Henry Street Music taking all the spot light, there is Jovonn working on a small but sensational catalogue of music that somehow gets overshadowed by the popular releases on the mentioned labels. The honest productions, jazzy melodies and playful vocals (rooted in gospel) were taking things into a more musical, more spiritual way, lacking gimmicks or dispensable samples. For the real diggers, the true lovers of House music Jovonn always was a name to watch, a producer of some of their favorite NY house tracks, tracks that have a raw edge combined with a sincere human touch and pure underground house vibes. People such as Rex resident Dj Deep was a huge fan, and also collaborated on couple later productions with Jovonn. Slowly he started getting recognition from europe which resulted in a handfull of records on European labels such as Distance, Coco Soul and Estereo. Now after almost 25 years since his first release the man's small discography on his own Goldtone label and Emotive records stand out with his unique musical personality. More then 20 years after their original release dates these tunes are still very relevant and stand for many things we love about house music! We are happy to offer this selection of his hard to find early works remastered by Alden Tyrell and pressed on fresh clean high quality vinyl.

St. Virus is a Covid-themed album born in Covid times. It processes the pandemic phenomenon from the aspect of the individual and sometimes of the pandemic itself on a philosophical level.

The opening track, "Isolation", takes the listener on a journey plagued by the sense of loneliness created by isolation. The ever-present melancholy slowly deepens into an overflowing anxiety without release. The eponymous "St. Virus" is a piece that considers the relationship between man and nature and the viruses that appear in it. They work in their own expected and, upon consideration, very honest way. Are we humans honest like this? Are human beings on some level similar to a virus? “Inherently Destructive” presents the idea of the unsustainability of the current situation. The events around us are fundamentally destructive for the individual person, for society and for the culture it carries. St. Virus is a personal soundtrack through Covid times. Record featuring artists are Tapani Rinne, Wimme Saari and Ville Kuukka.