Search:pale

Aseethe, the trio of guitarist Brian Barr, drummer Eric Diercks, and bassist Noah Koester, carve their own path in the world of heavy music. A singular blend of seismic weight, mesmeric drone, and gripping tension is the Midwestern band"s musical signature. Driven by an exploratory ethos, Aseethe warp sounds into emotionally potent songs that are as detailed as they are immense. The Cost is an album shadowed by devastating losses, a visceral study in aftermaths, centered around how life moves forward after personal and universal traumas. Recorded by acclaimed producer/engineer Sanford Parker (Pelican, Eyehategod, Yob, Voivod) at Electrical Audio in Chicago, The Cost is more focused and elaborate than anything the band have crafted before, expanding Aseethe"s dynamic palette with more nuance and transforming their battering sound into cathartic arcs.

Baxter Dury’s neues und siebtes Studioalbum heißt 'I Thought I Was Better Than You' (über Heavenly Recordings).

Mit ordentlich Selbstironie und Sprachakrobatik malt der Musiker und Schriftsteller eine wilde Collage aus schrägen Träumen und Szenen, in der Baxter mit seinem Erwachsenwerden abrechnet. Doch anstatt nur mit einem Baseballschläger blindlings auf seine Vergangenheit einzuschlagen, spricht er offen über den giftigen Cocktail, in unglückliche Umstände hineingeboren zu werden, ohne richtige Strukturen oder Verantwortungsgefühl, und schwankt dabei zwischen “Fuck you Leon…/ You stole the sunglasses and I got busted” und dem Wunsch nach “Porridge in the morning and be normal”.

Mit kaum funktionierenden Maschinen arbeitete Baxter alleine in seinem Wohnzimmer an groben Demos, die er Produzent Paul White (Danny Brown, Obonjayer, Charli XCX) übergab, der sie in wiederum in seinem Wohnzimmer mit etwas besserem Equipment zum Leben erweckte.

Auf der ersten Single 'Aylesbury Boy' erzählt Dury von “Day Ghosts” und Personen, die lieber durch die Straßen streifen und die Schule meiden, aber auch enttäuschten Erwachsenen, die genau diese Entscheidungen bereuen. In Kombination mit dem swingenden Westcoast-angehauchten Hip-Hop-Beat und Spoken-Word-Elementen ergibt sich dabei eine besondere Kombination aus Humor und Mitgefühl, die Baxters gezeichnete Bilder begleitet. “This song is about coming from one place and arriving at another without fitting in to either, and I think of these people like characters from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.”

• Transparent red LP with HQ download limited to 250 units worldwide.
• Previous collaborations with Pete Namlook for the FAX label and Alio Die for Projekt .
• Soundtrack work featured in trailers for The Hunger Games 1 & 2 and Blade Runner 2049.
Vion is the 29th full-length album to bear the name of Italian soundtrack composer, engineer, and producer Lorenzo Montanà. It is his first solo effort for Oakland-based emotive electronics outpost n5MD.
Vion began as a means for Montanà to experiment with jazz brush drum patterns. The album slowly took shape, and further experimentation gave way to stylistic shifts that, in turn, broadened the album's palette to include ought-era experimental electronica motifs and percolating ambiance. Motion is a constant with nearly all of Montanà's output; details are ever-evolving, rarely static. The brushed drums and leftfield production comple- ment each other and give Vion a sense of lightness juxtaposed with its somewhat melancholic tonality.
With Vion, Montanà has stretched beyond his recent more ambient offerings to include a cross-section of his electronic music output thus far.

Objectiv returns to Flexout with a single that blurs the boundaries between rollers and jump-up. A goofy sonic palette executed in a sophisticated manor, the tracks are fun, groovy and cold. A combination that you don't hear often and it makes this single as unique as the incredible artwork and gnarly vinyl that accompanies it.”The Goons” is a collab with Russian artist Untrue and has been gaining support from the biggest artists in Drum & Bass including Serum, BOU and Hedex

2LP, Standard 140gr Vinyl, schwarz, limited edition, HQ 380gsm invercote cardboard sleeves & antistatic polylined innersleeves

Nonkeen, the avant-garde musical collective comprising Nils Frahm, Frederic Gmeiner, and Sebastian Singwald, is gearing up for their long-awaited return with the upcoming album "All good?". Renowned for their boundary-pushing soundscapes, Nonkeen captured global attention with their critically acclaimed 2016 albums, "The Gamble" and "Oddments of the Gamble". The releases showcased their ability to seamlessly blend electronic, ambient, and experimental elements into a mesmerizing auditory experience. The trio has been celebrated for their intricate compositions, intense live shows and a sonic palette that defies conventional genres. "All good?" promises to build on their established legacy, offering listeners another immersive journey into the uncharted realms of musical expression.

Nova Vida is a unique producer's album project injecting new life into classic songs, colouring them with the broad palette that are DJ / Producer Chris Bangs’ influences from his lifetime in music. 10 classic songs have been given the distinctive Nova Vida treatment, Ritmo Da Vida features unknown vocalists and musicians Chris has discovered and incorporated into the project from around the globe. Drawing on Bangs' influences such as Sergio Mendes and the sounds of Brazil, Samba, Bossa etc thru Classic British Pop, 70’s West Coast and beyond Nova Vida fuses all of the above with ten truly classic songs taking them into new musical arenas they haven't previously graced.

The first single “My Only” ft Klei came out in July 2023 on limited vinyl, got lots of club plays , specialist radio support and spent a month on the Jazz FM A List. The album already has serious upfront tastemaker support many who are digging Empty Faces (Vera Cruz) , the sublime instrumental Affirmation and the sultry samba vocal version of Stormy. Our favourite in the BDQ office is Each and every one, its fabulous, the whole album is just perfect for summer 2024. We here at BDQ are privileged to release this album on the label, as usual vinyl will be super limited.

This release, her first album on Aurora Records, is a comprehensive collection of award- winning works performed by Norwegian Radio Orchestra and other ensembles. The album opens with the title piece, Between Trees, which takes the listener on a musical excursion through a forest. The piece received its world premiere in 2021 and won the International Rostrum of Composers in Palermo in 2022.

Leading German contemporary ensemble Recherche performs Seafloor Dawn Chorus - a sonic underwater environment inspired by field recordings of singing fish on the Great Barrier Reef.

Other tracks include ensembles where the composer herself is a member, with Toyen Filand Klafferi and Ensemble neoN, collaborations with Jenny Hvaland and Marcus Weiss, and solo pieces with the renowned violinist Marco Fusi.

Especially now, in the news, we can witness its impact every single day. And yet, it is an integral part of the human condition. On his new album for Ozella, Rain Sultanov is confronting anger by writing some of the most heavenly music of his career. Soprano saxophone, organ, cello - this unusual instrumentation is at the heart of these nine floating, deeply moving compositions.

As such, Forgiveness is an extension of the palette of the 2018 release Cycle, which focused on the core duo of organ and saxophone. The lineup, however, as Sultanov stresses, is not what matters. What counts is using music as an instrument to transform our anger - and to offer it, others, and ourselves forgiveness.

The Gloss is the second album from Cola. From their inception Cola have expanded on the d.i.y. ethic of the Dischord and SST eras, creating potent sounds from a minimal palette of drums/bass/guitar and lacing their songs with winsome one-liners and societal commentary. What’s another word for commentary? Gloss, apparently. Never basic, the lyrics reward repeated listening for deeper meanings. David Berman’s poetry-via-garage light pennings are an inspiration, as equally so are the lighter side of UK first-wave New Wave and the Dunedin sound. The results are in the pudding: at times sparse and poetic, at others a thrilling, hook-laden good time, as with the cheeky romantic sketch of a one-night stand that is so overflowing with innuendo-cum-journalism talk that it almost teeters over into self-parody. But the results are the right combination of lightheartedness and sincerity. Romanticism is never far from laughter, and equally never far from righteous anger in the music of Cola: “Pulling quotes now in the dark/Our outlook is restrained/Your tongue might weaken to be-fit your smile/Til nothing ill remains.” ‘nuff said. It's an album bursting with energy and wit and ideas–filled to the margins.

Nachpressung: Cloudy Red & Clear 2LP, Vinylversion im Klappcover, mit bedruckten Innenhüllen, Etching auf D-Seite & DLC! "The reigning dark priestess of goth-scarred art rock." - Rolling Stone "Hiss Spun" ist das sechste Album von CHELSEA WOLFE und der Nachfolger des 2015 gefeierten "Abyss". Aufgenommen von Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE) wurde das Album als emotionale Säuberung konzipiert, ein Mittel, sich mit dem Tumult der Außenwelt auseinanderzusetzen, indem es die Komplexität der inneren Unruhen erforscht. "Ich bin im Widerspruch zu mir", erklärt sie. "Ich war es Leid zu versuchen zu verschwinden, deshalb wurde das Album sehr persönlich. Ich wollte mich mehr öffnen, aber auch meine eigene Realität schaffen." "Hiss Spun" bietet außerdem prominente Gitarrenbeiträge von Troy Van Leeuwen (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, FAILURE) und einen Gastauftritt auf "Vex" von Aaron Turner (OLD MAN GLOOM, SUMAC). Während frühere Alben wie ,The Grime And The Glow" und ,Unknown Rooms" auf der Intimität reduzierter Folk Musik basierten oder wie bei ,Pain Is Beauty" und ,Abyss" mit dem pochenden Puls ergänzender Elektronik operierten, wartet ,Hiss Spun" mit einer Palette von ächzendem Bass, hämmerndem Schlagzeug und krachender Verzerrung auf. Einen Teil seiner Aura zog es aus dem kalten Weiß des Winters in Neuengland, obwohl das Herz des Albums aus den Umwälzungen in WOLFEs persönlichem Leben entstand und ihre Verwundbarkeit, Wut, Selbstzerstörung und dunkle Familiengeschichte preisgibt. "Das Album ist zyklisch, genauso wie ich und meine Stimmungen", sagt sie. Es stellt für die Sängerin eine Art Exorzismus ihrer selbst dar.

Joe Nora exemplifies Californian cool from the bay to LA. With a wide production palette that varies from dusty instrumental and alternative hip hop to breezy indie R&B, his range falls under a vibe that only he personifies. On his forthcoming album, Puzzle Face delves into the journey of navigating confusion and rebuilding oneself after facing adversity.

Dauwd’s Psssh imprint returns with the debut release from Zadeh,
high-octane, percussive and psychedelic techno from an Iranian sound palette.

2024 Repress

Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free.
Nur zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres selbstbetitelten Debutalbums finden sich WEVAL zurück "an jenem Ort, an dem sich alles spontan, neu und aufregend anfühlt - so wie als wir anfingen zusammen Musik zu schreiben". An diesem Ort entstand "The Weight", ihr zweiter Longplayer, auf dem Weval sich ganz den Pop-verliebten, Nostalgie-freundlichen Facetten ihres Sounds öffnen. Stetig um den sehnsuchtsvollen Strahlenkranz ihrer Melodien tanzend, legt diese Platte noch vielschichtigere, mit feinster Präzision gewobene Gefühlswelten frei.

Obwohl die Aufnahmesessions nach eigenem Bekunden oftmals "miesepetrig und emotionsarm" begannen, so war das Duo überrascht darüber, wie schnell sich bei der Arbeit jene Freude einstellte, die sie aus ihren künstlerischen Anfangstagen kannten, eine Woge des frischen, naiven Gefühls der "absoluten kreativen Freiheit". Dieses Album ist die Frucht eines verspielteren und unvorhersehbareren Arbeitsprozesses innerhalb der Band, in welchem alles zum Einsatz kam, was ihnen in die Finger kam - von der ollen Gitarre, die in der Studioecke stand, über ein Piano und den bandeigenen Sythesizern und den sonderbarsten Spielzeuginstrumenten, die man sich vorstellen kann. All dies sowie zahlreiche Vocalaufnahmen dienten als alleinige Samplequelle - "was für uns eine völlig neue Arbeitsweise war". "Es war uns wichtig für das Album den perfekten Erzählbogen zu spannen. Die richtige Reihenfolge zu finden war ein extrem aufwendiger Vorgang", erklären Harm und Merjin. "Uns war bange, wir fühlten uns total selbstsicher, uns zerbrach das Herz und wir verliebten uns erneut. Wir waren sogar von Tod und Selbstmord umgeben. Alles war Chaos. Insgesamt atmet "The Weight" die Reichhaltigkeit dieser sich ständig verändernden Gefühlslagen, frei von Einschränkungen und Regeln - außer vielleicht "mach es schnell und zerdenke die Dinge nicht." Inmitten dieser Ansammlung von Songs und Instrumentals, die aus Wevals einzigartiger, von Zuversicht geprägter Herangehensweise entstanden sind - "Musik, die dich hochzieht und Hoffnung spendet, ohne dich notwendigerweise happy zu machen. Der Titeltrack "The Weight" steht exemplarisch für Wevals ambivalenten Ansatz, die feine Balance zwischen Dancefloor und Traumzuständen, perfekt in Szene gesetzt von Soundengineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.).

Der schwer aus gewaltigen Gewitterwolken tropfende Funk, die eine verhaltene Poolparty suggerierenden Riffs, die sinnlichen, geisterhaften Vocals und ein verwaschenes Ambiente, das wie ein Album alter Polaroidaufnahmen alle erdenklichen Momente des Lebens festhält - von den euphorischsten bis hin zu jenen, in denen Musik der einzige Trank ist, der Linderung verheißt. Das post-KLF und Boards of Canada evozierende "Are You Even Real" führt den Hörer auf einen imaginären Flug ins Sternenzelt, während organisch-klingende Songs wie "Someday" oder "Same Little Thing" wie Quecksilber am Boden haften. "Heaven" ist eines jener "kosmische" Stücke mit wilden Arpeggios und Pianosprengseln, die Weval in den vergangenen zwei Jahren zu einer Live-Sensation werden liessen. Wevals Musik ist schwerelos und luftig, aber gleichermassen von dichter Struktur und von einer magnetischen Anziehungskraft. Ihr zweites Album "The Weight" ist eine Synthese aus dem multi-perspektivischem, kaleidoskopischen Verständnis von elektronischer Musik: Herzerwärmend, alles umschmeichelnd und unendlich frei.

„Awkward Attraction” captures Monstera Black’s exploration of both embracing and deconstructing pop music. The EP starts off with ‘system’, a piece that echoes a classic song structure while anticipating an unconventional sonic palette, setting the stage for the impending unraveling process that reaches its culmination in the final track, ‘who’s a hoe?’. As the journey unfolds, traditional structures progressively give way to a stream of consciousness, where motif-driven improvisation and softly sung melodies collide with a darker club and experimental soundscape masterfully crafted by alys(alys)alys. The lyrics, infused with provocation and sarcasm, delve into themes of existence and vulnerability, presented through warped vocals and repetitive hooks. „Awkward Attraction“ crafts a taunting atmosphere, challenging listeners to embark on a reflective journey.

If you can judge an artist's quality by the company they keep, then FaltyDL is up there with the best of them. The label history of the producer known to his friends as Drew Lustman reads like a "who's who" of 21st century electronic music imprints - Ninja Tune, Unknown to the Unknown, Planet Mu, Studio Barnhus, the list goes on.

WithIn the Wake of Wolves, we can now add Central Processing Unit to this illustrious roster. The Sheffield label joins the party at a notable juncture - while FaltyDL has kept up an impressive clip of releases throughout his career,In the Wake of Wolvesis both the NYC-based producer's first LP for two years and his first full-length release away from his own Blueberry Records for almost a decade.

In the Wake of Wolvesproves to be both a great match for CPU and also further evidence of the label's burgeoning sonic palette. While CPU has built its reputation on top quality electro joints, recent releases have delivered adventurous electronica experiments (Proswell'sPeople Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds), hard-wired breakbeat techno (Baby T'sI Against I) and golden-age synth explorations (twenty-fifth anniversary reissues of Bochum Welt'sDesktop RoboticsandFeelings on a Screen, both of which first emerged via the legendary Rephlex Records).In the Wake of Wolvestakes things further still - this is a brilliantly genre-voracious record, one which marries the rhythmic cut-and-thrust that we have long known FaltyDL for with all manner of adventurous stylistic choices.

Those familiar with the FaltyDL experience will recognise the trademark blend of synthetic grit and harmonious softness in album opener 'I Need You'. This could pass for Four Tet or even Hannah Diamond at points, the steady build of pulsing synths and looped vocals recalling a more mysterious version of the PC Music sound. 'I Need You' stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any of FaltyDL's other great atmospheric album openers - no small feat given the competition. 'Further', the following number, is yin to 'I Need You's yang. This is a pulsating track which gleefully skitters between machine-funk, tubing darkside bass and breakcore-adjacent drum programming, all of which is peppered with some genuinely beautiful work in the higher synths.

'Further' sets the scene for several of the more club-facing cuts here. 'Minds Protection' similarly features all manner of strange percussive sounds to surprise the ear, and it also boasts a thrilling mid-section in which the bottom falls out the track to incorporate a short snippet of blown-out junglism. With its tunnelling low-end and clattering drums, 'Full Spectrum' kicks off a delightful run of grime-influenced joints which take cues from Mr. Mitch, Logos and many of those other producers who took the Eski sound to exciting new places in the 2010s. 'Forget Me Not', the album's longest track which is placed three spots from the end, feels like the record's climactic point - a pitter-patter post-house joint that has a hint of Caribou in its DNA, it'll take the clubs by storm.

But as much as FaltyDL may consistently bring the heat in terms of the beat programming, the thing which has long marked Lustman out as a special talent is the musicality of his compositions. No matter how much drums clatter or bass bangs, FaltyDL always hooks the ear back in with a sonorous synth or pleasing nugget of melody. Nowhere is this more apparent than onIn the Wake of Wolves' more weightless numbers, each startling in their prettiness. 'Half Spectrum' is a new-era beat track packed full of ear candy; the keening keys of 'GasGas' are potent with feeling; and on the album's closer, the evocatively-titled 'Mila Stans In A Meadow For The First Time Eating Strawberries', we get a gorgeous synth vignette that joins the dots between the modern mastery of Yung Sherman and the most emotionally affecting moments of Aphex's Twin's catalogue.

At once wistful and hopeful, archival and futuristic, FaltyDL's brilliantly unpredictableIn the Wake of Wolvesis a feather in the cap for both this seasoned producer and the Central Processing Unit label.

RIYL: AFX, Bochum Welt, Mark Fell, Mrs Jynx, Boards of Canada

In an inspiring collaboration uniting artists from different corners of Europe and the Middle East, Palestine's Muqata'a, French-Irish Zoë McPherson, and Lebanon's Rabih Beaini have merged their creative forces to remix the Belgian/Iraqi band Use Knife's influential album 'The Shedding Of Skin'.

'Peace Carnival', released on Berlin’s Morphine Records, challenges the narrative around peace through its percussion, glitches, distortions, and Muslimgauze-esque minimalism to critique and rethink perceptions of justice and freedom.

This year, Carnival's usual satire and mockery should be directed towards the so-called and one-sided definition of 'peace'.

Compilation of (mainly instrumental) music from 1960-80s Estonian animated films. Comes with 8-page full-colour booklet in Estonian with texts by Andreas Trossek and Berk Vaher.
Musically all over the place, as you'd expect.

Note: The animated films of this LP can be watched online at kohilarecords.eu/ark

In the mid1970s, when Tallinnfilm animation studios recruited a youthful bunch of skilled artists and cartoonists, interesting things started to happen. Contemporary themes and ironic depictions of domestic life were introduced into Estonian animation – as well as pop-art aesthetics and even psychedelic imagery. Also, composers found their chance to exercise something beyond the routine standards of pop and academic music, to try their hand at the edges of orchestral sonic palette and electronic soundscapes.

Suddenly, pop art merged pop music, and electric guitars, Rhodes pianos and synthesizers were telling tales of a better future that still hasn’t fully arrived today.

"Espontaneamente se Tenta: Aventuras Sonoras de Djalma Corrêa is an album of deeply exploratory pieces by legendary percussionist and composer Djalma Corrêa. This double-LP set features previously unreleased recordings that cover a wide range of sonic experiments, revealing an unknown side of the prolific and groundbreaking Brazilian artist. Most of the tracks on this album were digitized for the first time – directly from the original tapes – and were compiled in collaboration with Corrêa just before he passed.

The result is a wild and unsettling collage that shows us just how original and intense Corrêa could be: from the unorthodox electroacoustic piece Evolução (Para Fita e Filme), which channels ancestral African inspirations to create a sonic cosmogonical narrative, to the proto-mixtape Exemplo de Sintetizadores, in which he transitions from transcendental drones to astral cha-cha-chas.

While the compilation might seem disjointed at first listen, it is in fact the most accurate translation or representation of his central concept: spontaneous music. Djalma's relationship with sound was always guided by his fearless approach to listening, and by his audacious and dynamic interaction with both musicians and equipment, which enabled him to work across a wide array of genres: from jazz to completely abstract music, always through a personal DIY ethic.

Corrêa developed a strong bond with experimentalist and inventor Walter Smetak, with whom he shared a studio during his formative years at Universidade Federal da Bahia. Suite Contagotas, featured in this collection, is no less than a sonic materialization of that bond: an experiment revolving around dripping water and its randomness – a tentative exploration of the ideas and possibilities envisioned by Smetak for his audacious, albeit unrealized, Estúdio OVO.

Djalma, however, is best known for his studio work in historical albums, including many by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben, and for his own polyrhythmic opus Baiafro. The last track is an early recording called Bossa 2000 dC, first performed by Djalma at the 1964 Nós, Por Exemplo concert, an event which is often cited as marking the beginning of the Tropicalia movement. At the time, he was the only artist in the lineup using electronic devices to create sounds, e.g. medical oscillators and contact mics to augment his percussive palette.

The artwork is an amalgamation of material found in the Djalma Corrêa Archive (currently managed by his son Caetano Corrêa) and other material created during the period in which the record was being put together. The intention is to guide the listeners through this possibly tempestuous soundscape, giving them additional resources so that they may draw their own meanings and make their own sense of this extremely immersive and original experience – which is like nothing we've ever heard before."

Blue vinyl. Since forming in Western New York in 2016, Feeley and his musical partner Matt Cox have blurred the line between absurdism and existentialism, swirling ‘90s melodicism, new-millennium pop-punk energy, and heartfelt emo into a wry, smirking rock sound. Now, on their third album, Gangster of Love, the duo let their melting pot sonic palette go further than ever, exploring the outer edges of their musical spectrums. Produced by Sam Guaiana (Neck Deep, Bayside), Gangster of Love follows

2021’s SUP and 2018’s Tequila Sunrise and found the duo fleeing Buffalo for Los Angeles, where the push and pull between the two songwriters – the real magic at the heart of Super American – was allowed to flourish and grow in a brand-new environment

The explorer Walter Maioli makes his most amazing adventure, the journey to the center of the Earth. Retracing the exploits of the Platonic demiurge, he identifies in the cave the deepest meaning of myth. Primordial sounds, not shadows, are at the center of this magical path straddling geology and Paleolithic polyphony. The recordings between 1985 and 2002 capture the sonic imperceptibility of the great subterranean womb, investigate the secret dialogue between the trickling of pond waters and the faint percussive reverberation of stalactites and stalagtites. Rocky sediments are played as tubular organs, glockenspiels, xylophones or stone marimbas. Crystalline timbral variations and subtle microtonal passages recall the chimes of Tibetan gongs and bells, of the scales of Java and Bali. Amidst muffled pauses and silences, trills and rings, echoes and tremolos, hisses and pops of vibration, Maioli builds his most imaginative niche of sound, a magnetic and telluric chant that is pure symphony and archetypal synaesthesia. Co-produced with Holidays Records.

East of Ely is Miracle Mile's first album since 2012 - It was largely written on the Suffolk coast and later recorded between London and Norfolk - Both Trevor and Marcus found bucolic bliss in coastal retreat - The detachment informed the writing process and limited the palette to primary colours - You won't be dancing but we hope that the songs offer some kind of balmy relief to your day.

"Trevor Jones finds the poetry in real life; Marcus Cliffe anchors it in the sweetest pop. Gorgeous as ever. You may cry." - The Sunday Times

Boulderhead debuts on Rhythm Section International with his most expansive EP to date:
“ I Need Space to Dance”

The Bristol based producer, known for his intricately crafted, up tempo club records has long been a favourite at RS HQ and has, over the years, garnered much respect from a plethora of influential DJs. His most recent hit “ Bread, Butter, Noodles, Spice”, was a festival earworm and one of the most played underground tracks of 2023.

Existing in the sweet spot between tech-house, prog, broken beat and minimal techno - this EP sees Boulderhead widen his sonic palette with a collection of songs that showcase his versatility.
Equally appealing to the Ricardo Villalobos contingent as it will be to those delving into the history of progressive house and the golden days of minimal techno - we think there’s a bit of something for everyone here.

Despite the many different bases the EP touches on - the sound pallette and production are unified and coherent. Henry is at the top of his game, and much like contemporary artists like Adam Pits, Priori and Russell EL Butler - his style screams ALBUM!

"Negore" is the second album by the Kenya-based duo Odd Odokko. After their debut "Auma" saw percussionist Sven Kacirek work with pre-existing recordings of singer and instrument builder Olith Ratego, the two opted for a similar approach for the ten pieces to preserve the expressiveness of the latter"s performance. Further contributions by sound artist KMRU and Angel Bat Dawid on bass clarinet expand the duo"s sonic palette which draws on the dodo music of the Luo people and enriches it with percussive, melodic, and occasionally electronic means. The record"s title translates to "petroleum lamp," signifying the transition from day to night-when the time has come to dance. In this decidedly joyful spirit, "Negore" is dedicated to transitions and venturing into the future. Ratego"s interpretation of the folk tradition is expressly contemporary, while Kacirek uses a rich variety of avant-garde and advanced electronic music techniques to propel it even further.

Through his project Lionlimb, New York based singer/songwriter/producer Stewart Bronaugh crafts unfurling soundscapes that feel mysterious and otherworldly, yet timeless and nostalgic at the same time. He presents his most ambitious vision of these inner vistas on his new album, Limbo, arriving May 24th on Bayonet Records. Inspired by a palette of '70s Italian film soundtracks, '60s girl group music, and funk and soul ballads, Bronaugh brings these influences together to invent an immersive sound all his own-with help from close collaborator Joshua Jaeger, whose live drums bring a rawness to Limbo's meticulously layered production. Led by the smoldering single "Dream of You," featuring Angel Olsen, Limbo taps into universal themes of romance, longing, and loss, while still offering a hazy escape from our present reality. Bronaugh penned the songs with "classic" songwriting in mind, transforming his personal struggles with grief and addiction into love songs. Using images inspired by nature (like the sun, moonlight, hurricanes, and deep water), he expresses being overtaken by a force greater than himself, as the psychedelic production evokes a sense of being plunged into this vast landscape. Limbo benefits from its eclectic influences, as Bronaugh overlays sitar-sounding guitar on top of funky basslines, melodramatic string arrangements, and fuzzed out guitar, making for music that could easily belong on Twin Peaks just as much as a Western cowboy film. An album of duets, Limbo features a host of female vocalists-Angel Olsen, Ewa Synowiec, to Bion augil, nderstad ocal periora ne Bill bout vocal sad ate another instrument* he explains. "When we first tried to have someone else sing, I liked it, because I felt more akin to a producer than a songwriter." There's a dreamy quality to how these singers trade off with Bronaugh, both parties expressing his inner emotions. Limbo is a culmination of Bronaugh's years of production experience, as he composed, produced, and mixed the project almost entirely by himself, with additional recording from Robin Eaton. Always inspired to make bold and experimental choices that capture his instincts in the moment, Bronaugh's production style is informed by "wanting to do the weird thing that engineers wouldn't approve of," as he describes it. "My favorite part of making music is the mistakes."

"Everything's been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider" say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred. Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly: "What's personal is political and vice versa." To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they'd shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us. Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church. The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this "delusional".) 'In A Bliss' acts as the album's radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship. After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground's sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, 'Operator' swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on 'Farewell Spacegirl' is jazzier and more meditative. "It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time," says Henric. "We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same people we are, if it wasn't for The Janitors. We'll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: 'Every society gets the criminals it deserves.'"

Late Night Load Out is the debut LP from Dublin five piece band Papa Romeo.

The release is a collection of work which catalogues their first two years of rehearsing and gigging together around Ireland, a process which has forged their sound. The tracks journey through sound palettes which variously touch on dreamy spaced out indie rock, moments of ambient contemporary jazz, and rougher post-punk influenced sounds.

The ‘Late Night Load Out’, became the term to describe loading gear out of venues late at night after a show, which is a moment to both dread and cherish, the (sometimes) hard work which follows elation.

Now primarily based in London, Papa Romeo’s music has connected with London based DJs and broadcasters. Their debut single ‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’ was supported by Flo on NTS, as well as Avalon Emerson, and appeared as the A1 on a vinyl compilation from All City Records Dublin. Singles from ‘Late Night Load Out’ have also gained early support on BBC 6 Music and from Ross Allen on NTS.

In the meantime the band have been busy on the Irish circuit with appearances at Cork Jazz Festival, Other Voices, All Together Now and Another Love Story, as well as repeat sold out shows at Dublin’s Sugar Club. They have built a reputation as a versatile band who can bring the energy to a packed room, and were named an Artist to Watch for 2024 by Hot Press Magazine.

‘Late Night Load Out’ will be released on digital and vinyl in May 2024.

Papa Romeo is Paddy Rogers, Mark Rogers, Dan Coyne, Rob de Boer and Chris Wong.

Radio Support:

Ross Allen - Soup to Nuts NTS

Colleen Cosmo Murphy - NTS

Lauren Laverne - BBC 6 Music

Esk - Rinse FM

District Magazine (Ireland)

Peter Curtin - RTE

New Music Fix on BBC 6Music

Bill Brewster

Composed by Jim O’Rourke and pieced together by Jim together with longtime collaborator and trumpeter Eivind Lønning at Jim and Eiko Ishibashi’s home in the Japanese mountains, this engrossing new album blows brass wails and tense fanfares across O'Rourke's manipulated Kyma tapestries for a deep, captivating trip into the aether.

Eivind Lønning has been sharing ideas with O'Rourke for several years: the duo collaborated on music for the Whitney's 'Calder: Hypermobility' exhibition, and Lønning played trumpet on O'Rourke's brilliant 2020 album 'Shutting Down Here'. For this new work, Lønning headed to O'Rourke and EIko Ishibashi's home studio in the Japanese mountains, where he teased unfamiliar, alien textures from his trumpet to open the labyrinthine three-part composition. O'Rourke took the material and subsequently funnelled it through his Kyma system, transforming it into a swirl of sound that hums alongside Lønning's original takes. The album was composed, mixed and mastered by O'Rourke, with everything's based on Lønning's virtuosic performance.

The album begins by cautiously introducing us to its sonic palette: wavering, bird-like horn wails that O'Rourke contorts around quiet synth oscillations and computerised swarms. Lønning's spittle-drenched blasts are given the spotlight, but O'Rourke's manipulations - often gentle and illusory, and sometimes utterly lacerating - lift the sounds into completely new territory. When Lønning begins to turn rhythmic cycles using the trumpet keys, popping with his mouth to compliment its leathery timbre, O'Rourke replies with dense, hallucinatory drones, juxtaposing unstable electronics with Lønning's breathy, sustained notes. All these sounds coalesce into a dizzy vortex, but O'Rourke is careful not to overwhelm the senses, dropping to near silence as the first act transitions into the second. O'Rourke pelts Lønning's vertiginous wails, steadily mutating them into Xenakis-like stabs until they sound like cybernetic strings and icy tones that extract the tension from Lønning's brassy harmonics.

The third act is more screwed, with O'Rourke allowing Lønning's improvisations wail into cathedral-strength reverb, accompanying the sound with glassy penetrations and throbbing subs. Here, Lønning sounds as if he's heralding the arrival of a celestial being, piercing the atmosphere with bright, sustained tones and muted, jazzy flourishes. O'Rourke hangs back, carefully spinning the notes into naturalistic fibres and orchestral drapery, before he allows the electronics to subside completely and the trumpet to echo into the imposing negative space.

'Most, but Potentially All' is a dumbfounding piece that shifts the dial on contemporary experimental music; dizzyingly complex but never showy, it's the kind of record you can spin repeatedly and hear something different each time. As an exploration of the trumpet, it's a unique expression, and as a progression of electro-acoustic compositional techniques, it draws a deep trench in the sand, setting a new standard.

BOTANIST nehmen uns auf ihrem zwölften Album "Paleobotany" auf eine Reise mit, die 70 Millionen Jahre zurück in eine Zeit führt, in der Dinosaurier den Planeten beherrschten und die ersten Wälder zu Kohle wurden. Bevor der apokalyptische Einschlag des Chicxulub-Asteroiden das Zeitalter der Giganten in Flammen untergehen ließ, wuchsen auch viele Pflanzen, deren Artenfamilien auch heute noch Nachkommen haben, zu erstaunlichen Größen heran. "Paleobotany" kommt mit all jenen Markenzeichen daher, die BOTANIST aus der Masse aller Metal-Acts auf diesem Planeten hervorheben. Lyrisch dreht sich bei der Band aus San Francisco, Kalifornien alles um Pflanzen - ein klarer Bruch mit den üblichen Genre-Klischees wie Satan, Drachen und Bier. Ihre Musik ist einerseits deutlich im "Metal" verankert, doch statt 6-saitiger Gitarren verwenden die Amerikaner 110-saitige Hackbretter. Zur Verwirrung aller Traditionalisten statten BOTANIST die perkussiven Saiteninstrumente aus der Folklore mit magnetischen Tonabnehmern aus und verzerren sie mit verschiedenen Mitteln, die von Verstärkern über analoges Tonband bis hin zu digitaler Manipulation reichen. Der daraus resultierende Sound ist ebenso einzigartig wie spektakulär. Die kontinuierliche klangliche Entwicklung von BOTANIST begann an einem hörbar vom nordischen Black Metal geprägten Ausgangspunkt. Die Band entwickelte aber bald einen offeneren, avantgardistischeren Stil, der zu einer wachsenden Komplexität führte. Auf "Paleobotany" haben die Kalifornier einige der verschlungenen progressiven Elemente zugunsten songorientierterer Arrangements wieder abgelegt, die dennoch weiterhin detailreich bleiben und voller Überraschungen stecken. Dies wird dadurch verstärkt, dass das Album vom renommierten schwedischen Produzenten Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, OPETH, AT THE GATES) im Studio Fredman abgemischt wurde. BOTANIST bleiben eine einzigartige Band. "Paleobotany" erweitert die dunkelgrüne Klangpalette ihres Avantgarde-Metal-Sounds zu einem zugänglicheren und dynamischeren Klangerlebnis. Pflanzen bevölkerten schon weit vor den vierbeinige Giganten die Erde - und sie werden immer noch wachsen, wenn die Menschheit längst wieder zu Sternenstaub zerfallen ist. BOTANIST gewinnen ihre musikalische Zukunft, indem sie mit "Paleobotany" Millionen von Jahren in die Vergangenheit reisen!

Super-rare, highly sought-after EP from 1983 Adelaide, Australia - a raw blend of post-punk and new-wave under a heavy blanket of dub and afro-pop experimentation from Toyland

Church Andrews and Matt Davies weave intricate patterns from Fibonacci sequences on new mini-album, Yucca.

Producer and composer Church Andrews (aka Kirk Barley) and drummer Matt Davies return to explore the outer limits of rhythm on a six-track suite that is at once angular and fluid, natural and systematic. Drawn to the restrictions of working solely with one synth and live drums, the pair found creativity in limitation, developing a compositional dialogue between the sonic timbres of Kirk’s productions and Matt’s percussive practice.

Evoking the primitive yet complex form of the plant from which it takes its name, Yucca features tracks that are built around rhythmic ratios of the Fibonacci sequence. Mirroring spiral patterns exhibited in nature, each track evolves like a cellular structure of its own, from the livewire syntax of ‘Chirp’ and the deconstructed ebb and flow of ‘Ferns’, to the mini-album’s title track, where crisp grooves flit between modulated electronics like fireflies.

“I’ve always been inspired by music that is complex without sounding complex,” Matt explains. He maintains a sense of bounce amid the intricate phrasing and cites drummers Roy Haynes and his grandson Marcus Gilmore as inspirations, alongside sabar drummers from Senegal and Mridangam drumming of South India.

With a shared background in hip-hop and the swung beats of J Dilla and Flying Lotus, Kirk Barley and Matt Davies were also inspired by the minimalism of Terry Riley and the sparse palette of dub techno.

Written and recorded in Lewisham in the spring and summer of 2023, Yucca follows the release of Axis in 2022, with the duo having also performed at festivals such as Rewire and Waking Life, and recorded live sessions for FACT magazine and Worldwide FM.

The third release on Yorkshire-based Odda Recordings, following Kirk Barley’s Marionette and Flaer’s Preludes, Yucca confirms the label’s reputation for championing music on the unstable ground between the organic and the synthetic.

Armageddon Patronage verkörpert den immensen Antrieb einer Band, die auf Hochtouren läuft und ihre ganz eigene Mischung aus extremem Metal verfeinert. Nach einer Reihe von intensiven Festivalauftritten ist der Name Strychnos nun in aller Munde. Angetrieben von diesem enormen Schwung hat die Band unermüdlich gearbeitet, um Armageddon Patronage weniger als zwei Jahre nach ihrem Debüt aufzunehmen und zu veröffentlichen.
"Diese Veröffentlichung stellt eine natürliche Fortsetzung dessen dar, was A Mother's Curse begonnen haben", meint Bassist/Sänger Martin Leth Andersen. "Die Band versucht, die Schlüsselelemente des Debüts zu verfeinern und weiter voranzutreiben - sowohl in Bezug auf die Aggressivität als auch auf die atmosphärischeren Teile. Dieser Nachfolger zeigt auch eine Reihe neuer Details wie alternative Instrumentierung, Gesangsvariationen, Intros, Outros und ein paar bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte."
Es ist selten, dass sich eine Band mit jeder neuen Veröffentlichung so exponentiell verbessert. Verpasse Strychnos nicht... denn man weiß nie, wie lange der Untergrund sie noch halten kann!
Armageddon Patronage wurde von Lasse Ballade in den Kopenhagener Ballade Studios aufgenommen und gemischt und von keinem Geringeren als Necromorbus' berüchtigtem Tore Stjerna gemastert.

Das MEANWHILE PROJECT LTD ist zurück - Knappe vier Jahre nach MARSEILLE erscheint ein neuer Longplayer des Kölner Projekts. Das Duo um MARCELL BIRRECK und MARCUSADAM ist mittlerweile zur fünfköpfigen Band angewachsen, die das neue Album mit der Unterstützung weiterer Gastmusiker gewohnt opulent und vielschichtig präsentiert. SIR MANDRILL wartet erneut mit einer üppigen Palette unterschiedlicher Stilrichtungen, die sich dabei gekonnt miteinander vermischen. So verschmelzen auch hier wieder Chansons, Folk, PostPop, Indie-Rock, Alternative, Ambient und noch viel mehr zu einem großen Ganzen, das in seiner Gesamtheit absolut stimmig wirkt. Einflüsse von so unterschiedlichen Bands wie dEUS, Motorpsycho, den Villagers oder Calexico blitzen hier und da auf. Und die beeindruckende Stimme von Sänger MARCELL hüllt alles abwechselnd in einen warmen Mantel, ermahnt, fleht, rüttelt auf und beruhigt von einem zum nächsten Moment. Damit ist der Band ein großartiges Album gelungen, das dazu einlädt, sich auf eine intensive musikalische Reise zu begeben und mit jedem Hören neu einzutauchen.

Armageddon Patronage verkörpert den immensen Antrieb einer Band, die auf Hochtouren läuft und ihre ganz eigene Mischung aus extremem Metal verfeinert. Nach einer Reihe von intensiven Festivalauftritten ist der Name Strychnos nun in aller Munde. Angetrieben von diesem enormen Schwung hat die Band unermüdlich gearbeitet, um Armageddon Patronage weniger als zwei Jahre nach ihrem Debüt aufzunehmen und zu veröffentlichen.
"Diese Veröffentlichung stellt eine natürliche Fortsetzung dessen dar, was A Mother's Curse begonnen haben", meint Bassist/Sänger Martin Leth Andersen. "Die Band versucht, die Schlüsselelemente des Debüts zu verfeinern und weiter voranzutreiben - sowohl in Bezug auf die Aggressivität als auch auf die atmosphärischeren Teile. Dieser Nachfolger zeigt auch eine Reihe neuer Details wie alternative Instrumentierung, Gesangsvariationen, Intros, Outros und ein paar bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte."
Es ist selten, dass sich eine Band mit jeder neuen Veröffentlichung so exponentiell verbessert. Verpasse Strychnos nicht... denn man weiß nie, wie lange der Untergrund sie noch halten kann!
Armageddon Patronage wurde von Lasse Ballade in den Kopenhagener Ballade Studios aufgenommen und gemischt und von keinem Geringeren als Necromorbus' berüchtigtem Tore Stjerna gemastert.

Next up on BPitch sublabel UFO Inc. is an essential linkup from two rising Berlin-based talents, Linn Elisabet and Stina Francina. Bringing with them two distinct approaches to music production but a shared vision of techno's weirder corners, Linn and Stina go all in on their first joint release together, fusing sonic abstractions into a release that never loses sight of the club. With a classically trained musical background, Linn explores reverberant soundscapes and complex arrangements with a learned ear, but a firm rejection of the rigid forms that often taint formal musicality. Promoting a sense of non-compliance in their sonic palettes, they offer a contemporary and transgressive interpretation of techno that strives to reimagine reality and desire. Having fostered her passion for electronic music in intimate, underground spaces, Stina's approach to production is rooted firmly in affect; carefully weaving fragile emotional narratives with a generous sensitivity. With a particular penchant for old school trance, her sound is often coloured by a feeling of melancholy and hope.

Snakes of Russia ist das von Joseph Holiday - Ektronischer Musik mit zeitlosem Appeal. Seine Reise begann mit der EP 'At Home Alone With Lions', was zu Remixen, Filmkollaborationen und Auftritten für Ableton und Spitfire Audio führte. Nun steht sein Debüt-LP 'True Surrender' im Mittelpunkt, eine Zusammenarbeit mit dem Metal-Produzenten Kurt Ballou. Aufgenommen im God City Studio in Salem, MA, erforscht es einen schwereren, texturierten Sound, der Synthesizer mit Gitarrenverstärkern und Drum-Maschinen verbindet. Während der kreative Prozess im God City begann, spielte Josephs Heimstudio in LA eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Verfeinerung und Fertigstellung der Produktionsphasen. Der letzte Schliff kam von Justin Weis bei Trakworx Mastering in San Francisco, um die makellose Erhaltung jeder klanglichen Kontur und emotionalen Essenz zu gewährleisten.

Die US Metal-Legende Warlord wurde im Jahre 1981 von Mark Zonder und William J. Tsamis gegründet. Ein Jahr später, 1982, erschien der Song "Lucifer's Hammer" (basierend auf einem Roman von Larry Niven und Jerry Pournelle) auf der prestigeträchtigen Compilation "Metal Massacre II". Als Resultat unterzeichneten Warlord einen Kontrakt bei Metal Blade Records und nahmen ihre erste Mini-LP auf. "Deliver Us" erblickte 1983 das Licht der Welt und gilt heute als Blaupause des "Epic Metal" (zusammen mit Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol und Brocas Helm gelten Warlord als Erfinder jenes Stils). Nach zwischenzeitlicher Auflösung erschien im Jahre 2002 das starke Comeback-Album "Rising Out Of The Ashes", erst elf Jahre später gefolgt von "The Holy Empire". "The Holy Empire" sollte das letzte Warlord-Studioalbum mit neuem Songmaterial bleiben, denn Bandgründer William J. Tsamis verstarb am 13. Mai 2021 im Alter von nur 60 Jahren. Allerdings erschien danach noch ein weiteres Warlord-Album, nämlich "The Hunt For Damien" im Jahre 2015. Darauf zu hören ist als Sänger Nicholas Leptos (u.a. auch bei Astronomikon, Prodigal Earth, Gangland und Diphteria tätig). Das jetzt erscheinende "Free Spirit Soar", welches auch zwei überarbeitete Nummern von Lordian Guard enthält, ist ein Tribut von Sänger Giles Lavery an das musikalische Erbe von Bill Tsamis. Er wird dabei unterstützt von Mark Zonder (Drums), Jimmy Waldo (Keyboards/Synthesizer), Phillip Bynoe (Bass) sowie Eric Juris (Gitarre). Alle Songs wurden zwischen März und September 2023 aufgenommen.

Giles Lavery, der auch als Produzent fungierte, erklärt die Entstehungsgeschichte des Albums im Detail: "Unser erklärtes Ziel als Band war es, diese Musik für Bill fertigstellen. Und das vorliegende Material erschien uns ohne Frage stark genug, um uns dazu zu inspirieren. Bill ist bei allen Gitarrenparts zu hören, bei denen es uns möglich war, sie von den ursprünglichen Demo-Recordings zu isolieren - ganz so wie die verbliebenen Beatles die Stimme von John Lennon vom einem alten Demo-Tape zu retten in der Lage waren. Der Großteil der Gitarrenpassagen auf "Free Spirit Soar" wird zwar von Eric gespielt, aber die gesamte Musik stammt aus der Feder von Bill. Und wir haben uns wirklich sehr darum bemüht, seine Arrangements möglichst originalgetreu umzusetzen."

Line-up: Giles Lavery - vocals Eric Juris - guitars Philip Bynoe - bass Jimmy Waldo - keys Mark Zonder - drums

Die US Metal-Legende Warlord wurde im Jahre 1981 von Mark Zonder und William J. Tsamis gegründet. Ein Jahr später, 1982, erschien der Song "Lucifer's Hammer" (basierend auf einem Roman von Larry Niven und Jerry Pournelle) auf der prestigeträchtigen Compilation "Metal Massacre II". Als Resultat unterzeichneten Warlord einen Kontrakt bei Metal Blade Records und nahmen ihre erste Mini-LP auf. "Deliver Us" erblickte 1983 das Licht der Welt und gilt heute als Blaupause des "Epic Metal" (zusammen mit Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol und Brocas Helm gelten Warlord als Erfinder jenes Stils). Nach zwischenzeitlicher Auflösung erschien im Jahre 2002 das starke Comeback-Album "Rising Out Of The Ashes", erst elf Jahre später gefolgt von "The Holy Empire". "The Holy Empire" sollte das letzte Warlord-Studioalbum mit neuem Songmaterial bleiben, denn Bandgründer William J. Tsamis verstarb am 13. Mai 2021 im Alter von nur 60 Jahren. Allerdings erschien danach noch ein weiteres Warlord-Album, nämlich "The Hunt For Damien" im Jahre 2015. Darauf zu hören ist als Sänger Nicholas Leptos (u.a. auch bei Astronomikon, Prodigal Earth, Gangland und Diphteria tätig). Das jetzt erscheinende "Free Spirit Soar", welches auch zwei überarbeitete Nummern von Lordian Guard enthält, ist ein Tribut von Sänger Giles Lavery an das musikalische Erbe von Bill Tsamis. Er wird dabei unterstützt von Mark Zonder (Drums), Jimmy Waldo (Keyboards/Synthesizer), Phillip Bynoe (Bass) sowie Eric Juris (Gitarre). Alle Songs wurden zwischen März und September 2023 aufgenommen.

Giles Lavery, der auch als Produzent fungierte, erklärt die Entstehungsgeschichte des Albums im Detail: "Unser erklärtes Ziel als Band war es, diese Musik für Bill fertigstellen. Und das vorliegende Material erschien uns ohne Frage stark genug, um uns dazu zu inspirieren. Bill ist bei allen Gitarrenparts zu hören, bei denen es uns möglich war, sie von den ursprünglichen Demo-Recordings zu isolieren - ganz so wie die verbliebenen Beatles die Stimme von John Lennon vom einem alten Demo-Tape zu retten in der Lage waren. Der Großteil der Gitarrenpassagen auf "Free Spirit Soar" wird zwar von Eric gespielt, aber die gesamte Musik stammt aus der Feder von Bill. Und wir haben uns wirklich sehr darum bemüht, seine Arrangements möglichst originalgetreu umzusetzen."

Line-up: Giles Lavery - vocals Eric Juris - guitars Philip Bynoe - bass Jimmy Waldo - keys Mark Zonder - drums

Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop. May 2024 sees the release of their fourth album Here on Fika Recordings. After 2019’s big, bold and confident There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win, and the initial shock of the global pandemic cancelling a trip to SXSW in 2020, the band returned to the studio in the summer of 2021 to start recording. The new record leans into a raw pop-punk power-trio sound more than ever, with a deep growl in layered guitars and bursts of percussion and harmony. The songs and artwork explore themes about finding a place for yourself and familiarity with people and places. Although it turns back towards a classic three-piece sound, the band weren’t restricted by that palette, adding finishing touches of percussion, extra guitars and backing vocals in short bursts in a garden shed, and also bringing in gorgeous strings to sweeten the title track. The sound builds on the band’s first album, Hide and Seek, which was released with the much-loved and sorely missed Fortuna POP! in 2015. The follow-up LP John Doe in 2017 was an ambitious concept album, exploring the feelings of loss and anger at a man who fakes his own death only to return years later, expanding well beyond the 3-piece rock‘n’roll template, with washes of strings, synths and samples. The ‘Penguins have been smashing it at some high-profile support slots in the lead up to this album release, including at Allo Darlin’s joyous reunion at Islington Assembly Hall (Oct 2023) and Muncie Girls last ever London show (Dec 2023). They play the Leicester Indiepop all-dayer and Wales Goes Pop in March, before heading out on tour in support of the new album in May. Those big singalong choruses need your voice shouting back from the crowd with joy and defiance. Mammoth Penguins are Emma Kupa (guitar, vocals), Mark Boxall (bass, vocals) and Tom Barden (drums, vocals). Reminiscent of the pop melodies of The Beths, the indie dissonance of Land of Talk, and the guitar forward slacker rock of Weezer, Mammoth Penguins marry heart-ache indiepop with spiky guitars and Emma’s frank confessional songwriting. “wonderfully awkward indie pop with a literate flair, sounding a lot like a Weezer record or even a more feminine Wedding Present” Clash // “eminently relatable earworms” Brooklyn Vegan // “one of the finest examples of simple and true indie rock around” All Music // “her characterful voice still carrying masses of charm and the messier, grungey approach bringing a strength all of its own, aided by a clutch of cheerful hooks and riffs that contrast nicely with lyrics dealing mostly with heartbreak and misery” Drowned In Sound

Live recording of the final show of SANAM's debut European 2023 tour at London's home for experiemntal music, Cafe Oto.

Beirut's SANAM burst on the scene in 2023 with their debut album Aykathani Malakon, chosen by The Guardian as one of their 5-star albums from 2023: "Aykathani Malakon thoroughly embodies their originating influences, whipping up kosmische, post-punk, psych rock, free jazz and Levantine folklore into an alchemical tour de force delivered with a defiant, DIY disposition".

Under difficult conditions, the band took to the road for a European tour in November 2023 with the final show at Café Oto. From their incendiary European debut earlier that month at LeGuessWho then rapturous, sold out shows in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the UK, spirits for the Cafe Oto gig were high and it was destined to be a tour highlight. 'Live at Café Oto' captures the intensity of the shows, a ritual where improvised rock, free jazz and noise underscored an exorcism of traditional Egyptian song and Arabic poetry.

Drummer Pascal Semerdjian adds: "On this tour, I felt the album evolve from being a set of improvised tracks captured spontaneously, into ripe solid songs. Playing these shows back-to-back, our chemistry kept growing, we got closer, and our live sets, at least to me, were an embodiment of this evolution. In a way, this was the real birth of the band"

Vocalist Sandy Chamoun: "We started the tour with a great push at LeGuessWho, and we kept this energy throughout the whole tour. Every gig felt like I was playing the songs for the first time, providing a new and fresh experience for me. We finished the tour with an emotionally intense gig at Cafe Oto, a dream venue. The audience was incredible, as if we had known each other for a long time and the energy was intense and intimate at the same time; it felt like we were in a small circle of fire together, both us and the audience."

"There was definitely magic in the air for our show at cafe oto - an iconic, humble and warm venue and the last show of the tour – it felt like everything was in the right place. It was my favourite show by far, specially that we were also comfortably able to talk about Palestine, the atrocity we have to live with and can't ignore." Pascal Semerdjian

MaidaVale paint with a larger, bolder and brighter color palette on their third album Sun Dog. Without losing sight of their characteristic kraut rock influences, the band have more than ever immersed themselves into their unique take on neo-psychedelia