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2025 Repress

Operation Sole like the summer, hopefully, imminent; “Operazione Sole” like the 1967 song by Peppino Di Capri, considered, perhaps wrongly, the first ska in Italy, but certainly the first to talk about Jamaica and upbeat rhythms.
The record you have in your hand is intended to be a testimony to how much the sounds born in Kingston between the '60s and '70s had a significant influence on local pop.
With the first explosion of reggae in England between 1968 and 1970, as well as with the rise of Bob Marley to a worldwide cult phenomenon, parallel to the all-English phenomenon of Two Tone and the ska revival, Italy, always attracted by the new trends not only English, he certainly couldn't stay on the sidelines.
Therefore these innovative and unknown upbeat sounds, derived from the blues of the 1950s and mixed with a Caribbean sauce, have also taken hold in the Bel Paese.
It began as early as 1959 with the song “Nessuno” by Mina, considered to all intents and purposes a Jamaican shuffle, to arrive in a few years at blue-beat (I4 di Lucca, Claudio Casavecchi) and ska (Margherita, Peppino Di Capri , Silvano Silvi, Renzo and Virginia) and be exposed to the first reggae (for example Jo Fedeli and his Italian version of “Israelites” by Desmond Dekker). Thus, we quickly reach the end of the decade of the economic boom and the culture, styles, references change: everything becomes more busy (on a cultural, artistic and political level).
After a stalemate phase that lasted more than five years, Bob Marley's reggae (considered a sort of new Messiah) conquers the planet, including Italy: the producers and artists, even at a high level, for a few years do not remain at all indifferent to this novelty and decide to introduce the "upbeat", primarily reggae, into the various pop repertoires: well-known names such as
Loredana Bertè, Mario Lavezzi, Rino Gaetano, Ivano Fossati, Ilona Staller, Adriano Celentano, Edoardo Bennato throw themselves headlong into new sonic adventures, in a pioneering way, but often with excellent results.
The "Operazione Sole" collection wants to take the credit, instead, of proposing and discovering lesser-known artists (with the exception of Gino Santercole, former associate and relative of Il Molleggiato), often real meteors in the Italian musical panorama, who have tried to achieve (or achieve again) success by adapting the pop that was so popular in those years to the new black sounds prevailing in the West.
We are in the early 80s and we range from the most classic reggae, to Italo-disco contaminated by dub up to the true Neapolitan style which, on more than one occasion, in its being endemically "black" and full of groove, has wrung out the watch out for agreements made in Kingston and London.
“Operation Sun”: a pleasant philological work, but surrounded by an equally pleasant aura of disengagement.

Before Uriah Heep there was Fat Toe, and before Fat Toe there was The Gods, who recorded this risqué hard prog album, Orgasm, as Head Machine. Singer/keyboardist/guitarist Ken Hensley takes centre stage under the alias Ken Leslie, his lyrics alluding to the undeniable allure of human coitus and aspects of its management, the climax eventually coming in audible groans, though the guitar really drives most of the songs forward, with stereo panning. Produced by David Paramour, who had worked with Garnett Mimms and The Nocturnes, it was recorded in late 1969 and released in small number by Major Minor; this reissue spins at 45 RPM for improved fidelity.

‘SUNNY DAY’ PRO UNO presented by THE REGIME

Smooth loved-up and sun kissed soul, melting over jazzy road-trip and summertime vinyl dust. The Regime’s sophomore release is strictly vintage, playfully psychedelic, smothered in funky soul, and irrefutably ‘on the One’.

Spawned from 70s soul, jazz and funk, combined with the plethora of free time the covid pandemic demanded, THE REGIME’s jazzy-soul outfit PRO UNO rose from the ashes, dousing the public with a whiff of the good ol’ days, where music was real, authentic and pure. Their 70s aesthetic and full in house production combines sounds reminiscent of Al Green, Steely Dan, Bill Withers and America, to create a state of total nostalgia and peace love n harmony vibes. This iteration of the Funk Collective THE REGIME is their most exciting and tasteful project yet. Expanding on the original hip hop, funk niche, ‘SUNNY DAY’ in undeniably one for all, and indeed all for one.

For fans of Pan Amsterdam, Edan, Homeboy Sandman, Sleaford Mods etc. Features the singles ‘Baby Don’t’ ft. Sonnyjim & Quelle Chris and ‘Space-Bar’ ft Pan Amsterdam. Blessing/curse. Division/unity. Love/hate. It’s in the context of a polarising 24-hour, digitised, globally connected world that NightjaR finds its wings. NightjaR being the nom-de-plume and smudged rainbow constellation of collaborative copy-and-paste sound-wrangling and hip-hop from Doves’ Jimi Goodwin. But it’s here and it’s Mala Leche. Mala Leche (Spanish: Bad Milk) is 16 tracks of beats and bars, vocals provided by some of the hip-hop artists at the very top of Jimi’s own, personal home listening lists and interludes that throw back and forth through eras and genres in sometimes playful, occasionally awakeningly abrasive styles.

Repressed for the first time in 2 years, Note price change. Sermonizing Black Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and the benefits of a healthy and just lifestyle during the height of the Bad Boy/Roc-AFella era of nihilistic excess in the late 90's, Dead Prez also signed to a major label (Loud/Columbia) despite leaning much more towards the burgeoning indie aesthetics of the day. But this was a good thing – using major label muscle to wake up righteous hip-hop fans who might have fallen asleep at the wheel. The group itself – consisting of MCs stic.man and M-1, who produced or co-produced most of the duo’s music – was formed in Tallahassee, Florida in the early 1990's.

By later that decade, the duo had started making significant waves, having their music heard on the soundtracks to “Soul In The Hole” and “Slam,” as well as appearing on albums by Big Pun and The Beatnuts. By 1998, they released their first official single, the serious, stark “Police State,” on Loud, appropriately brought to the label by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian. After building a solid rep over the next two years with fiery live performances, in 2000 they unleashed their debut album, Let’s Get Free.

The album was a welcome return to provocative and often radically political rhetoric that hearkened back to hip-hop forebears including The Coup, Public Enemy and KRS-One (as well as poetic descendants like the Last Poets and Watts Prophets). Let’s Get Free was critically acclaimed and benefited from multiple singles, including the infectious, thick analog drive of “Hip-Hop” “It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop,” with a remix co-produced by a young Kanye West; “Mind Sex” (with Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets); and the poignant “I’m An African.”

But the singles weren’t the only worthy songs, as just about every cut here has deeper meaning than most full albums by their early 2000's peers. Highlights: the thought-provoking, anti-drug album opener “Wolves”; “We Want Freedom” “They Schools” and “Propaganda” . All in all, this is one of the more underrated and possibly Top 5 fully-realized political hip-hop albums of all time.

On February 28th 2020 NEAERA released their 7th album – it was their self-titled comeback record after a 7-year-hiatus - which caught everyone by surprise. Despite having been very well perceived the pandemic impeded the band’s long awaited and already scheduled return to the live stages. On February 29th 2020, NEAERA played a successful and sold out release show in the band’s hometown, but it remained the only show for the record in years since Wacken, the Impericon festivals and other shows had to be postponed until further notice which was a huge setback for the ambitious quintet. Sebastian Heldt (drums), Tobias Buck (guitar) and Stefan Keller (guitar) used the unfortunate state of the pandemic and the impossibility to play live shows to create something new. Together with Marcus Bischoff of German metalcore institution Heaven Shall Burn and old friend Tristan Hachmeister they unearthed a black metal project by the name of OUR LOSS IS TOTAL and released the bleak full-length record “I” end of 2022 through the project’s own label. After that release, the NEAERA band members decided it was time write new material. The band wanted to go back to an old school approach, like in the old days, when they wrote the songs together in their little rehearsal room in their hometown of Münster, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. The band started the writing process in September 2021, skipped the first material and then started with a new approach to a more free and less comfortable style, trying to leave old boundaries behind. By 2022, NEAERA played the postponed Wacken Open Air show – which was an overwhelming experience – and asked Janosch Rathmer (drummer of long-time friends and post rock institution Long Distance Calling) to record the band’s new album ALL IS DUST. The mixing and mastering was skilfully handled by Kristian Kohle at Kohlekeller Studios (Powerwolf, Aborted, Electric Callboy) who adorned the songs with the exact right powerful yet organic sound. In terms of lyrics, NEAERA shifted their approach a little bit and put the individual and its survival and well-being center stage – beside lyrics that deal with global or social clamour; a shift that can be called pandemic infused. 2024 marks the 20th band anniversary and is the perfect timing to release the eighth studio album, ALL IS DUST. Nothing can stop the band this year with two video clips at hand and prestigious summer festivals confirmed such as Summer Breeze, Reload and Vainstream Rockfest, the latter being the album release show in front of 20,000 people!

Sein drittes Studioalbum “The Learning Of Urgency“ erscheint Anfang Juni 2024 auf ODESZAs angesehenem Label, Foreign Family Collective.

Für Kasbo ist „The Learning Of Urgency“ ein extrem wichtiges Konzept. Das Songwriting kreist um das Thema Entschleunigung, da die letzten Jahre seines Lebens von einem Gefühl des akuten Drucks geprägt waren, der sich in einem unterbewussten Zwang manifestierte, ständig mehr zu erreichen und zu tun. Das Ergebnis hätte ihn fast seine Karriere gekostet, da er einen seltenen, stressbedingten Hörverlust entwickelte. Das Ende der Pandemie relativierte diese Stressfaktoren, und indem er sich mit ihnen auseinandersetzte, war er in der Lage, persönlich und beruflich wieder auf Kurs zu kommen und dieses neue Album zu schreiben. Vier Jahre lang nahm Kasbo „The Learning Of Urgency“ auf, während er hauptsächlich in Göteborg und Stockholm lebte. Er hatte die Gelegenheit, im geschichtsträchtigen Aufnahmestudio Riksmixningsverket (RMV) zu arbeiten, das auf der Insel Skeppsholmen in Stockholm liegt und dessen Besitzer:innen niemand geringeres als ABBA sind. Das Studio ist in einem 150 Jahre alten Lagerhaus untergebracht, das früher von der schwedischen Marine betrieben wurde. Kasbos Musik hat bis heute über 500 Millionen Streams erreicht. Er wurde mit dem schwedischen P3 Gold Award in der Kategorie „Dance Artist Of The Year“ ausgezeichnet und erhielt Lob von Billboard, The FADER, Stereogum und anderen. Mit seinen sich ständig erweiternden Fähigkeiten hat Kasbo als Live-Performer, DJ und Produzent die Dreifaltigkeit der modernen Tanzmusik erreicht.

“Let us advance our mortal bodies up Where hearts and minds will go Let’s walk, let’s roll.” So sings Madeleine Peyroux on the upbeat title track of her captivating tenth album, Let’s Walk, the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s most assured, courageous work to date. Powered by the distinctive, honeyed croon that delivered her from the Paris streets to concert halls, these ten unabashedly personal songs, all co-written by the versatile Peyroux, deftly interweave jazz, folk, and chamber pop, with themes ranging from the confessional to the political, from whimsy to yearning. In every note, Peyroux digs deep, rendering this exquisite work with the disarming grace and gravitas of an artist in peak form. Let’s Walk was a long time coming, but well worth the wait. Following Peyroux’s 2018 album, Anthem, the enforced isolation of the global pandemic made any real-time community gathering impossible. From a creative standpoint, however, Covid offered Peyroux a silver lining: she seized the opportunity to hunker down with longtime collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Jon Herington (Steely Dan, Lucy Kaplansky). The pair reflected on the seismic era at hand and wrote and re-wrote in what Peyroux calls “a shadow of reckoning.” When multi-Emmy-and-Grammy-winning producer Elliott Scheiner (Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles) heard a sampling of the new material, including “Let’s Walk,” he mandated “no covers” for the album. The longtime studio veteran knew the time was ripe to highlight Peyroux’s incisive, often topical lyrics meshed with Herington’s ear for melody and arrangements.

January 2023, Dorset. Snow is piled at the door, icy roads are closed, and Emily Cross is in a coffin. Not a setting typical for a rebirth. But for Loma, this is where they bring their band back from the brink. "It's like a demon enters the room, whenever we get together", writer, singer and instrumentalist Cross says of the struggle to bring new Loma music into the world. Following the release of their 2020 second album Don't Shy Away, Loma's three members were cast around the globe and the band-not for the first time-entered a deep sleep. Multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Dan Duszynski remained in his studio in Don't Shy Away's central Texas heart, but Cross, a UK citizen, moved to Dorset, and writer and instrumentalist Jonathan Meiburg left the US for Germany to research a book. In the pandemic years, even being in the same room was impossible, and attempts to start a new record faltered. The following winter, in an attempt to salvage the record and the band, Cross suggested they regroup in the UK, in the tiny stone house-once a coffin-maker's workshop-where she works as an end-of-life doula. With minimal recording gear and few instruments, Loma turned two whitewashed rooms into a makeshift studio, using a padded coffin as a vocal booth. It was a turning point. They scrapped much of what they'd made, letting a new place set a new course. The one-lane roads, hedgerows and dark skies of Dorset gave the new songs an ineffable but unmistakable Englishness. The band used the ruin of a 12th-century chapel as a reverb chamber-surprising hillwalkers who peeked in to find them singing to no one-and the sounds of Cross's chilly workshop wormed their way into the recording: a leaky pipe, a drummer's brushes on a metal lampshade, the voices left on an ancient answering machine. What emerged was How Will I Live Without A Body?: a gorgeous, unique, and oddly comforting album about partnership, loss, regeneration, and fighting the feeling that we're all in this alone. Many of its songs have a feeling of restless motion; faceless characters drift through meetings and partings, tangling together and slipping away. "I Swallowed A Stone" is like a nightmare with a happy ending; "How It Starts" and "Broken Doorbell" reflect on the challenge (and necessity) of wrestling with agoraphobia. Though the record nods to the trio's separate lives- a German percussion ensemble, a pair of Texan owls, and the surf at Chesil Beach make guest appearances-the core of Loma's sound remains intact: earthy, organic and deeply human, anchored by Cross's cool, clear voice. Loma's previous album, Don't Shy Away, was galvanized by the unexpected encouragement and contributions of Brian Eno. This time, they found inspiration in another hero, Laurie Anderson, who offered a chance to work with an AI trained on her entire body of work. Meiburg sent her a photo from his book-in-progress about the once and future life of Antarctica; Anderson's AI responded with two haunting poems. "We used parts of them in a few songs," he says. "And then Dan noticed that one of its lines, 'How will I live without a body?' would be a perfect name for the album, since we nearly lost sight of each other in the recording process." In the end, Loma's efforts to reconnect with one another are the album's central focus: what do you owe a shared past, when everyone and everything has changed? "Making this record tested us all," says Duszynski. "I think that feeling was alchemized through the music." Alchemized, because How Will I Live Without A Body? is by no means a stressed-out record: an undercurrent of deep calm runs through it. But maybe 'relaxed' isn't the right word. It's more like a feeling of relief, of making it through a tough journey together.

Ende 2022 unterzeichneten ALTAR OF OBLIVION einen Deal mit From the Vaults und veröffentlichten im letzten Jahr die "Burning Memories"-EP, die als Appetizer für ihr kommendes viertes Album diente. Aber NICHTS konnte vorhersehen, was kommen würde. "In The Cesspit Of Divine Decay", das neue Album der dänischen Epic-Doomer, ist ein Konzeptwerk, das auf dem Tagebuch von Gitarrist Martin Meyer Sparvaths Urgroßvater mütterlicherseits, Jesper Wilhem Meyer, basiert, der während des Ersten Weltkriegs (1914-1918) widerwillig für das Deutsche Reich kämpfte.

Die Vorbereitungen für dieses akustische Unterfangen begannen 2005, als die Band eine Demoversion dessen aufnahm, was sich Jahre später in das jetzt fertiggestellte Album verwandeln sollte, das ursprünglich das Debütalbum der frühen Duo-Inkarnation der Band sein sollte. Dieses Album enthält einige der ersten Kreationen der Band, und in vielerlei Hinsicht kann es als eine Art Altar Of Oblivion-Prototyp betrachtet werden, der ihr düsterstes und traditionellstes episches Doom-Werk hervorbringt und ausspuckt. Während und seit der Pandemie waren Altar Of Oblivion im Aufnahmemodus
und haben sowohl neues als auch altes Material fertiggestellt, darunter zwei Alben, zwei EPs und ein Akustikalbum, was der Band eine wohlverdiente Studiopause ermöglicht, um sich von nun an auf Live-Shows zu konzentrieren. Für 2024 sind bereits einige Auftritte bestätigt, und das Kollektiv freut sich nun darauf, wieder auf die Bühne zu gehen, schwerer, älter und stärker als je zuvor. Die Zeit wird zeigen, ob Live-Auftritte die richtige Kur für einen schweren Fall von verfärbter Studio-Bräune sind.

Seven years after its last LP, the Del McCoury Band returns to take on the challenge with Songs of Love and Life. A glorious 13-song collection, the album follows 2021’s celebrated release, Almost Proud, and once again features Del touching down on a diverse set of tracks--vintage and contemporary--as he and his crackerjack Band nod to icons Kenny Rogers, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley, as well as welcome next-generation talent, Molly Tuttle, to the party.

Produced by Del and his son, Ronnie, Songs of Love and Life showcases one of the greatest storytellers in music, delivering another rousing assembly of absorbing, compelling, and unforgettable tales.

Still, even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands uniquely apart. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral reels and digital streams, from Bill Monroe to Billy Strings, it is Del who’s the living link. And, like any genuine national treasure, the gifts keep coming.

With beauty and precision, Del and the boys bring home another endearing album of traditional bluegrass music. Brimming with hot licks, classic songcraft, and Del’s matchless vocal delivery, the Del McCoury Band and its latest, Songs of Love and Life, once again raise the gold-bar standard of bluegrass yet another notch. This is a baker’s dozen from a bushel; the best songs Del’s selected from the bounty to meet his latest challenge. “I get a big feeling of accomplishment when I get a new record out,” says the 85-year-old legend. “I never get tired of it.”"

Scoring the lives of small-time players, pimps, junkies, and prostitutes lurking around his simultaneously blessed and cursed existence, Wee mastermind Norman Whiteside lived in an entirely different Columbus than Capsoul's Bill Moss or Prix's Clem Price. Alternating between Stevie Wonder's dreamy soul and Sly Stone's druggy groove, You Can Fly On My Aeroplane bypasses Whiteside's everyday gritty street life reality, focusing instead on the airy sounds of fantasy and masquerade. Smooth, sexy, and synthy, You Can Fly On My Aeroplane is a peerless and sprawling psychedelic soul concept album and a sure'fire panty soaker to boot.

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a near-definitive collection of original Funk, Soul, Latin, Disco and Electro classic tracks from 1970-1984. These tracks, a combination of classics and obscurities, have all since become legendary to Breakdancers everywhere.

First played at South Bronx block parties, community halls and park jams in the 1970s and 80s, spun endlessly by the first three major hip-hop DJs – Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa – and found in the record crates of any DJ of note ever since. Seminal funk and soul tracks such as Dennis Coffey’s ‘Scorpio’, The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s ‘It’s Just Begun’, James Brown’s ‘Get on the Good Foot’, The Mohawks’ ‘Champ’ sit side-by-side here with the ground-breaking, classic electro of Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’, and Arthur Baker’s own definitive ‘Breaker’s Revenge.’ Breakdancing has come a long way from its New York roots to its respected position as an art form today where, for the first time ever, it is to be featured in the Olympics held in Paris this August 2024.

The ‘breakbeat’ remains at the very heart of hip-hop, the mercurial funk, soul and disco tracks, always 100% guaranteed to get B-Boys, B-Girls and Breakdancers moving at any block party, with the percussive breakdown of each track the pinnacle soundtrack to any dance/battle between Breakdancers of any note. Similarly these tracks have been sampled many 1000s of times over by every hip-hop artist and producer of note. KRS-ONE, Marley Marl, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Eric B, The Fugees, Outkast, Mos Def, Main Source, Jungle Brothers, LL Cool J, De La Soul and, well, everyone!

Compiler Arthur Baker played a pivotal role in hip-hop history when in 1982 he produced Afrika Bambaataa’s seminal ‘Planet Rock’ (as featured here), introducing electronic instruments into hip-hop for the first time ever and in the process created electro. After ‘Planet Rock’, Arthur Baker went on to remix or produce every major artist of note – from New Order to the Rolling Stones, Al Green to the Pet Shop Boys

Hardway Bros teams up with Beth Cassidy on Rekids for a timeless ode to the legendary Murk Records The release includes a ‘coral way’ dub mix and a remix by Erol Alkan and Richard Norris’ Beyond The Wizards Sleeve.

Sean Johnston is the man behind Hardway Bros, an alias well known for wobbly, downtempo, and synth-laced disco jams which have appeared on the likes of Is it Balearic? Whiskey Pickle, and Throne of Blood over the last decade. On this single, which is a love letter to legendary early 90s label Murk Records, Johnston links with vocalist Beth Cassidy, known for her work as part of Manchester’s Sea Fever and Section 25.

Hardway Bros’ wonderful 'Murky' is deep and sensual house music. The vocal brings sultry charm, unfolding in soulful style over whimsical ambient pads and chunky drums. It oozes with character and harks back to actual songwriting of days gone by.

Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve is an alias of dance music pioneers Erol Alkan and Richard Norris. It was established to bring psyched-out, acid touches to the dance floor and has resulted in a critically acclaimed album on Alkan’s Phantasy Sound and much more. Their excellent Re-Animation is eight minutes of drawn-out disco chug, loose grooves and masterful chord work. Up last is a Coral Way dub that strips things back to the beats, layers in plenty of cosmic FX, and lets your imagination run wild on the tripped-out synth leads that pan between the stars.

Timelash is the evolution of Embassador Dulgoon’s cryptozoological sci-fi opus ‘Hydrorion Remnants’ converging with Corum’s surreal sonic mapping as ‘Beguiling Isles’. The combined cinematic vision jettisons listeners through a psychedelic wormhole far beyond the usual perception of known audio latitude.

Aguirre Records has gone all out to inject this tribal dino DNA double slab of wax presented as twelve expansive and mesmerizing tracks of historical mutations linking early communication developments with speculative astrobiological impressions heard as mysterious & riveting melodies that wash over dizzying percussive styles and suspenseful ambience.

A variety of unexampled sounds take shape throughout as tectonic tablature, reptilian choral movements, bubbling bioluminescence, tube calls, orogenic bells, crustacean chatter, lost continent scales, high plains drifting riffs, and primordial soup lapping splashes revealing to listeners a living mural that is ’A Morphology of Wonders'.

The conjuring of cratonic creature harmonics resonate wildly from this interdimensional duet, emerging as Neopangaea music of now

“The place where I’m taking my inspiration from is a place of pure harmony and light. I’m just like everyone else – I’m very anxious, I have my issues and demons, but there is a place inside me which is much more in peace and harmony, so I took inspiration from this part of myself, rather than the dark part.”

As the world we live in grows darker and more bewildering with every passing day, the transformative power of music has never been more vital. Formed in the small French town of Bagnols-sur-Cèze at the dawn of the century, underground icons Alcest have always been clear about their desire to transport listeners to somewhere different, somewhere better. Led by founder and multi-instrumentalist Neige, the French artists have been one of the most consistently radical voices in all of heavy music, with a sound that eschews metal’s often myopic devotion to casting shadows, in favour of a sublime blend of darkness and blinding bright light.

The release of Alcest’s debut album Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde in 2007 blazed a unique trail through the underground metal world, eliciting high praise and feverish condemnation in equal amounts. Ostensibly a black metal project, Neige’s crew gifted an entirely new perspective to the black metal scene: wherein beauty, fragility, melody and positive vibrations co-exist with the fast, furious aesthetic of true extreme metal. Almost instantaneously influential, Alcest were able to steadily establish themselves as a unique force, both with a series of acclaimed albums and a sturdy reputation as a transcendent live act.

From the enlightened primitivism of 2010’s Écailles de Lune, and the definitive, holistic squall of Les Voyages De L’Âme (2012), to the magical, post-rock splendour of Shelter (2014) and the dark, dynamic Kodama (2016), Neige’s vision has been presented in the most vibrant and revelatory colours. Meanwhile, the legions of like-minded “blackgaze” bands that have followed in Alcest’s wake speak volumes about the Frenchmen’s profound and enduring influence.

Released in October 2019, Alcest’s sixth studio album marked another grand milestone in their story. Their first record for Nuclear Blast Records, Spiritual Instinct deftly sustained the conceptual and musical preoccupations of past achievements, while taking Neige and long-time drummer Winterhalter into new sonic realms, both grittier and more nuanced than ever before. Inevitably, plans to tour their new music were eventually scuppered by the global pandemic that broke out early in 2020. But Alcest’s creative journey continued regardless, and the results can be heard on the band’s latest album, Les Chants de L’Aurore.


Having redirected his artistic energies, Neige began work on the follow-up to Spiritual Instinct, newly inspired by the experiential essence that first led him to his band’s ground-breaking musical life. As with Souvenirs d’un Autre Mode, Les Chants de L’Aurore draws inspiration from the spiritual childhood experiences that have shaped Neige, both as a musician and a human being. A liberated nosedive into the very notion of consciousness and the layered mists of reality, the seventh Alcest album amounts to a euphoric homecoming.

“The place where I’m taking my inspiration from is a place of pure harmony and light. I’m just like everyone else – I’m very anxious, I have my issues and demons, but there is a place inside me which is much more in peace and harmony, so I took inspiration from this part of myself, rather than the dark part.”

As the world we live in grows darker and more bewildering with every passing day, the transformative power of music has never been more vital. Formed in the small French town of Bagnols-sur-Cèze at the dawn of the century, underground icons Alcest have always been clear about their desire to transport listeners to somewhere different, somewhere better. Led by founder and multi-instrumentalist Neige, the French artists have been one of the most consistently radical voices in all of heavy music, with a sound that eschews metal’s often myopic devotion to casting shadows, in favour of a sublime blend of darkness and blinding bright light.

The release of Alcest’s debut album Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde in 2007 blazed a unique trail through the underground metal world, eliciting high praise and feverish condemnation in equal amounts. Ostensibly a black metal project, Neige’s crew gifted an entirely new perspective to the black metal scene: wherein beauty, fragility, melody and positive vibrations co-exist with the fast, furious aesthetic of true extreme metal. Almost instantaneously influential, Alcest were able to steadily establish themselves as a unique force, both with a series of acclaimed albums and a sturdy reputation as a transcendent live act.

From the enlightened primitivism of 2010’s Écailles de Lune, and the definitive, holistic squall of Les Voyages De L’Âme (2012), to the magical, post-rock splendour of Shelter (2014) and the dark, dynamic Kodama (2016), Neige’s vision has been presented in the most vibrant and revelatory colours. Meanwhile, the legions of like-minded “blackgaze” bands that have followed in Alcest’s wake speak volumes about the Frenchmen’s profound and enduring influence.

Released in October 2019, Alcest’s sixth studio album marked another grand milestone in their story. Their first record for Nuclear Blast Records, Spiritual Instinct deftly sustained the conceptual and musical preoccupations of past achievements, while taking Neige and long-time drummer Winterhalter into new sonic realms, both grittier and more nuanced than ever before. Inevitably, plans to tour their new music were eventually scuppered by the global pandemic that broke out early in 2020. But Alcest’s creative journey continued regardless, and the results can be heard on the band’s latest album, Les Chants de L’Aurore.


Having redirected his artistic energies, Neige began work on the follow-up to Spiritual Instinct, newly inspired by the experiential essence that first led him to his band’s ground-breaking musical life. As with Souvenirs d’un Autre Mode, Les Chants de L’Aurore draws inspiration from the spiritual childhood experiences that have shaped Neige, both as a musician and a human being. A liberated nosedive into the very notion of consciousness and the layered mists of reality, the seventh Alcest album amounts to a euphoric homecoming.

Bed Maker's origins date back to summer 2019, when bassist Arthur Noll (Light Beams, Kid Congo Powers) and drummer Vin Novara (The Crownhate Ruin, 1.6 Band), each having played in Alarms & Controls, invited guitarist Jeff Barsky (Insect Factory, Time Is Fire) to collaborate and see what might happen. By autumn, they invited Amanda MacKaye (Desiderata, Routineers) to join them, and the chemistry was immediate. In February 2020 at DC's Rhizome, Bed Maker played their first show and then paused their activities the follow- ing month, as did most people.
Due to the state of the world in 2020 and 2021, they continued writing music through sharing recordings. Mike Schleibaum assisted by assembling home recordings of their individual parts into working demos. This allowed them to keep momentum, and by the time in-person rehearsals resumed, a handful of songs and new ideas were close to fruition. Bed Maker resumed playing shows in November 2022.
Following a self-released digital single ("Miss Dickens") and an EP (Three on the Tree) -- each recorded with Schleibaum and Matt Michel at Viva Studios -- Bed Maker began work on their self-titled LP in May 2023 with Ian MacKaye and Don Zientara at the original Inner Ear Studio in his basement in Arlington, VA, and with Mike Schleibaum at his home studio in Maryland.
That their debut LP even exists is only possible thanks to the support of family and many friends, and also serves as an act of defiance to the horrors of the last four-plus years.

Mick Harris is one of the world's greatest compositional treasures. Starting his career as the energy dynamo behind the drum kit of the UK's Napalm Death, he made the term Blastbeat a household reference, wrote the band's music on his mother's one string guitar, and joined the Guinness Book of World Records for composing the world's shortest song. In the decades succeeding, he has re-inventedmusic several more times, from the wild abstract jazz of Painkiller with John Zorn and Bill Laswell, to the drowning ambience of his Lull project, all while continuing to build a world that he can truly call his own - the dark post-dub of SCORN. "Reaching 54 this year - this won't stop the challenge, driving me more so now than ever" - says Mick Harris, commenting on the recent phase in his creativity. The pandemic isolation and lockdown pushed the work of the maestro more than anything else could have. In 2021, his output is ever-increasing, releasing the newest collabs with Justin K. Broadrick and the single "Distortion", featuring one of the most outstanding voices of hip-hop - Kool Keith - his closest collaborator, Ohm Resistance founder - Submerged. Commenting on the release of "Distortion", Mick Harris said to mxdwn: "I enjoy collabs - they bring something different to the swim." Working on his own and collaborating with everyone from Sleaford Mods' James Williamson, on the previous SCORN release or with Kool Keith and Submerged on "Distortion", Mick Harris never had problems with putting energy into beats and sound landscapes, combining various surreal elements with three basic elements that always push Harris further, that are extremely crucial for both Mick Harris and SCORN as a project - frustration, anger and anxiety. Combining the signature soundscapes of Scorn with tartareous textures, the newest album "The Only Place" reaches a psychedelic groove, based on what Harris calls "Pushing an original idea further" with his own shades of light and dark and celestial electricity of what SCORN is. These 10 new tracks add elements unheard in Scorn since Evanescense and Gyral - ethereal ambiences and floating, near-melodic-but-not-quite moments, a signature of Harris' abilities to generate feelings in a lost world of his own creation. 2024 vinyl version on orange coloured vinyl!

Bereits 2012 von den Balfour-Brüdern Ryan und David gegründet, konnten sich MAVERICK aus Belfast, Nordirland schnell in der Szene etablieren. Mit ihrem ersten Album „Quid Pro Quo“ tourten sie gemeinsam mit den schwedischen Hardrock-Stars THE POODLES durch Europa. Mit dem zweiten Album „Big Red“ war der Fünfer mit den schwedischen Superstars TREAT unterwegs. Sie spielten u.a. auch auf Festivals wie dem H.E.A.T FESTIVAL (Deutschland), ICE ROCK und ROCKNACHT TENNWIL (Schweiz), WILDFEST (Belgien) und ROCKINGHAM in Großbritannien, was ihnen dabei half ihre
schon solide Fangemeinde weiter massiv zu vergrößern! Das nächste MAVERICK Album „Cold Star Dancer“ wurde 2018 veröffentlicht. Es erhielt ebenfalls beste Kritiken von der internationalen Presse und die Band spielte ihre erste Headliner-Tour durch Europa. Zudem spielte man mehrere Shows mit den schwedischen Glam-Rockern CRASHDIET. Ein Highlight war das Schweizer ROCK THE RING Festival wo sie zusammen mit WHITESNAKE,
TESLA und DEF LEPPARD auftraten. Im Jahr 2021 veröffentlichten sie das wieder vielbeachtete und überdurchschnittlich rezensierte Album
„Ethereality“. Aufgrund der Pandemie und deren Folgen konnten sie dieses Album aber leider nicht wirklich auf die Bühne bringen. „SILVER TONGUE“ ist das 5. Album der Band und das erste Lebenszeichen vom neuen Album war die bereits 2023 erschienene Coverversion des STEELHEART respektive STEEL DRAGON Hits „We All Die Young“ aus dem Blockbuster „Rock Star“, welche als
onustrack auf der CD enthalten ist. MAVERICK sind zurück, stärker als je zuvor und beginnen mit „SILVER TONGUE“ eine neue erfolgreiche Ära!

AC/DC feiern mit Limited GOLD NUGGET Vinyls ihr 50-jähriges Jubiläum! Bei den Aufnahmen für `Ballbreaker` (Release: 22.09.1995) arbeiteten AC/DC zum zweiten Mal mit Rick Rubin zusammen. Ihre Wege hatten sich erstmals gekreuzt, als die Band für den Soundtrack von Last Action Hero die Single 'Big Gun' einspielte.

"The Red Room Crystal-Ruby Splatter Vinyl". Netherworld marks a considerable step onwards from the territory that Louise Patricia Crane explored on her debut long player Deep Blue, crafting audial landscapes that go further into both inner and outer space; hallucinatory and surrealistic yet also grittier and more direct. For all that this stemmed in part from early Genesis and The Beatles, Netherworld also sits in alignment with the luxurious but oddly intimate realm of modern classics, by the likes of Tears For Fears, Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell, with passionate intensity set in a bold, cinematic vista. In realising these romantic and expansive visions, Crane not only wrote or co-wrote the entire album, but arranged, co-produced and played a wide variety of instruments on it. Yet as a supporting cast, she has surrounded herself with a formidable selection of mercurial contributors. Once again, Jakko M. Jakszyk (King Crimson) brings his fiery and mellifluous solo guitar work, as well as contributing backing vocals, keyboards and co-production. Elsewhere, the flute soliloquies of Tiny Bard are the work of Jethro Tull's Ian Andersonwhile saxophone duties are handled by Mel Collins, whose work with King Crimson marks only one chapter in an incredibly storied life in music. Providing violin and viola across the stylistic expanse of the album, Shir-Ran Yinon (New Model Army / Eluveitie) returns as a collaborator. The rhythm section for the lion's share of the record consists of the dream team of Tony Levin (King Crimson / Peter Gabriel) and Gary Husband (John McLaughlin / Billy Cobham / Allan Holdsworth) with Nick Beggs stepping in on bass for Dance With The Devil and upright bass on Long Kiss Goodnight. Crucially however, even amidst this kind of company, Louise's voice and vision is never remotely overshadowed-with the talents on offer only serving to make the backdrop to her songs still more vivid, sharp and intense. In as much as Netherworld is a work that exists on a lineage of progressive music and the visionary artists who've expanded their boundaries of exploration to form sound-worlds as big as their imagination, it's also a work of magical realism in the tradition of Pan's Labyrinth, The Company Of Wolves or the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Haruki Murakami-in which the supernatural and otherworldly, lead to a shortcut to the essence of being human. In this World, Louise Patricia Crane is our Storyteller.

(Clear with black, white & yellow splatter limited to 500 copies) SKA DREAM is a complete re-recording of Jeff Rosenstock's critically-acclaimed 2020 record NO DREAM however this time around all the songs are ska songs you're welcome. The very good idea to make this record came together when, like many other bands throughout this pandemic that refused to participate in super spreading events, we were trying to find a fun way to make some music together to share with people. Otherwise we were just spending our evenings texting the group chat in dread about the collapsing world around us. Not the most fun band activity. As with most things ska in my life, what started out as a fun goof with friends eventually morphed into "Hey, what if we tried to make it good though?" All of us have a pretty deep history playing and touring the country in punk/ska bands. We all understand the stigma that comes along with ska, we've all dealt with the pitfalls of it, and we've all kept on truckin' regardless. If you are one of those people who loves music as long as it isn't ska, that's cool, we see you. This record isn't for you and you don't have to listen to it. Byeeee. Okay, everyone else, we see you too, we love you and check it out, SKA DREAM is real. This record includes contributions from Jer Hunter (JER, Skatune Network, We Are The Union), Rick Johnson (Mustard Plug), Laura Stevenson, Ara Babajian (The Slackers, Leftover Crack), Boboso, Sean Bonnette (AJJ), George Clarke (Deafheaven), David Combs (Bad Moves), Chris Farren, Augusta Koch (Gladie, Cayetana), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Franz Nicolay, nonregla, Elise Okusami (Oceanator), Mike Park (Bruce Lee Band, Skankin Pickle, Asian Man Records), PUP, Anika Pyle (Katie Ellen, Chumped) & Shannon Toombes.

Panoram makes soundtracks for daydreams gone sideways. Picture the scene: an afternoon nap with the television on, quietly, in the corner; snatches of conversation drift in through the open window. Wandering, half-formed thoughts take unexpected detours; before you know it, there’s a movie playing out against closed lids, the colors bright, the characters unfamiliar. Accidental rhythms, incidental melodies, imitations of life, messages in code.

Across 17 fragmentary, sketch-like tracks, Panoram carves a labyrinthine path in which nothing is what it seems: a fantasy world of breathy vox pads, faux guitar, detuned synths, bursts of flute and orchestral percussion, and even the occasional cheeky cartoon sample. It’s chillout music with a chilly edge, ambient with a darkly ironic undertone. (The briefest glance at your news outlet of choice should be enough to confirm that the title—Great Times—ought to be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.)

Panoram has been making music under his principal alias for more than a decade now, releasing albums on labels like Firecracker, Running Back, and his own Wandering Eye. (He has also performed and recorded with Amen Dunes, and has co-production credits on Amen Dunes’ forthcoming Sub Pop album Death Jokes.) Panoram’s output has ranged widely, taking in abstract pop, classical composition, twisted takes on library music, and cyborg funk. One record of “bio-acoustic transmissions” came with a cannabis leaf pressed in clear wax; his 2021 album Pianosequenza Vol. 1 gathers his experiments on the Yamaha Disklavier. But Great Times offers the truest picture yet of a project that has never been easy to pin down.

Loath to overshare details about his personal life, Panoram instead lets the music do the talking, using his cryptic tracks to express the slipperiest sorts of ideas—the thoughts that take root where anxiety, distraction, and the most fleeting traces of grace commingle. Panoram’s approach flies in the face of contemporary ambient orthodoxy, with its emphasis on immersion and uplift. Great Times expresses something thornier, more difficult to translate, yet also more tantalizing to contend with. Its 17 tracks offer a chance to get lost—and an invitation to remain in the maze as long as you like.

Pushing the boundaries of intelligent dance music higher into experimental-adjacent analogue territories, where abstract serenity and complex analogue developments entangle in an organic symbiosis of sorts, Noordens newest puzzle in sound comes courtesy of two label habitues, Orion Moustache and Panta Rex. Staying true to their genre-unbound DNA and innovative vision, both artists each contribute a trio of oblique sound equations, conjuring up both identifiable rhythmic patterns and off-piste downtempo digressions to shape a grammar truly their own - not quite your usual function-oriented DJ tool, but not floor-opposed either. Hybrid and agile, this co-op between Orion Moustache and Panta Rex oozes inspirational spaciousness and ascetic sophistication thru and thru.

Above & Beyond release yoga and mindfulness-inspired ambient LP: “Flow State” Above & Beyond today announced ‘Flow State’, a49-minute panoramic journey of ambient compositions and warm, neo-classicalsoundscapes that offer moments of meditative calm in these busy and often overwhelming times. A break from the anthemic dance sound that swept Above &Beyond’s ‘Common Ground’ LP to #3 in the Billboard Album Charts in 2018, ‘Flow State’ is the culmination of a journey which began at Burning Man in 2014. A chance encounter on the Playa led to a spontaneous sunset yoga set on the infamous Robot Heart stage, guided by renowned yogi Elena Brower. A magical and spiritual experience for those present, it inspired Above & Beyond to begin opening their biggest global gigs with yoga sets, creating transformative experiences for 25,000 strong crowds at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington and Huntington Beach, California. The original Burning Man yoga set has subsequently gone on to amass over 2 million streams on Soundcloud. As the band began writing more original music for these yoga sessions, the seed for “Flow State” was sown. “Our music has always been about getting in touch with, and understanding and accepting our emotions. After those amazing yoga sets, we realised thatthere is a bigger place for this more reflective music within our little universe,” explains Above &Beyond’sPaavoSiljamaki. “With the Flow State project, we want to help bring people's attention and focus towards helping themselves find better mental fitness and overall happiness in life,” adds Siljamaki. “Through raised awareness, being more present, one can reach a state of flow: a creative and free state of mind where time, fear and stress dissipate.” To long-time fans of Above & Beyond, this new album will come as no surprise; quieter moments have always been essential components of their chart-topping electronic albums.

Words And Music" ist eine 3xLP-Box mit dem Werk der im Jahr 2021 verstorbenen Sängerin und Songwriterin MARGO GURYAN. Als Zeugin von Revolutionen in Jazz und Pop hat sich GURYAN ihren Platz im Pantheon der Songwriter verdient. Dass sie jahrzehntelang weitgehend unbekannt war, liegt nicht an zerstörten Träumen, sondern an ihren eigenen Entscheidungen und Prioritäten. Von den bescheidenen Anfängen über die Höhepunkte ihres barocken Pop-Meisterwerks "Take A Picture" von 1968 und die gesammelten Demos bis hin zur jüngsten viralen Verbreitung von "Why Do I Cry" - das Boxset "Words And Music" fängt die gesamte Karriere von GURYAN ein, einschließlich 16 bisher unveröffentlichter Aufnahmen und einem 32-seitigen Booklet, das ihre ganze Geschichte erzählt. Produziert wurde die Box von ihrem Stiefsohn Jonathan Rosner, ihrem Freund und Historiker Geoffrey Weiss und den Numero Group-Mitarbeitern Douglas Mcgowan, Rob Sevier und Ken Shipley. Alle Tracks wurden von Jessica Thompson neu gemastert. In ihrer Blütezeit veröffentlichte GURYAN nur ein einziges Album: "Take A Picture" von 1968. Da MARGO jedoch kein Interesse daran hatte, aufzutreten, zu touren und für ihr Werk zu werben, wurde das Album damals kaum beachtet. Dennoch wurde die Platte in den 1990er Jahren zu einem begehrten Kultobjekt. Eine neue Generation von Hörer*innen lernte ihre Arbeit kennen, als "Take A Picture" im Jahr 2000 neu aufgelegt wurde. Kurz darauf folgten die gesammelten Demos, eine unglaubliche Zusammenstellung von ausgegrabenen alternativen Aufnahmen und neu veröffentlichten Songs, die MARGO selbst betreut hat. GURYANs Leben war in den dazwischen liegenden Jahren weiterhin von Musik erfüllt; sie wurde Musiklehrerin, schrieb weiterhin Songs und pflegte Freundschaften mit einem wachsenden Kreis von Anhängern. Die Geschichte von MARGO GURYAN ist die einer Frau, die von klein auf in die Tiefe ging und nie Angst vor Veränderungen hatte. Ihr Gespür für Ton, Phrasierungen, Spannung, Präsenz und Texte, die treffen, machen ihren Namen heute zu einem Synonym für ausgefeiltes Songhandwerk und die unnachahmliche Coolness der 1960er Jahre. Ihr Einfallsreichtum und ihre Technik stellen sie in die Tradition von Kammer-Pop-Ikonen wie Brian Wilson und Burt Bacharach, während die bittersüße Offenheit in ihren Beschreibungen des Frauseins einen Mittelweg zwischen Carole Kings Pop-Fabrik und der Singer-Songwriter-Ära aufzeigt. Aber die unaufdringliche Strenge von MARGOs künstlerischer Stimme ist ganz ihre eigene.

Club music culture necessarily shifted gears in many ways during and after the course of the pandemic. Older participants found their way into other interests and younger participants took new reigns to orient spaces they felt good inside of. The agenda for the music, and the cultural industry surrounding it at large, took a more frivolous and “fun” turn. Clubs needed to recoup lost money, people needed more refreshing catharsis for their nightlife escape, and in some pockets scattered around the globe a newer and younger cadre of producers/promoters/DJ’s pulled optical cues from a scattering of “darker” influences to give an alternate aesthetic to the aforementioned “vibes” culture. In the midst of this, a large polarization of conceptual energy shifted within the compositional and utilitarian machinations of the club music culture leaving behind the brooding and cerebral placeholders for different kind of enjoyable hedonism. Terrestrial Paradise’ “Artificial Hell” harkens to another prescient time before that shift occurred. “Artificial Hell’ might just be an illustration of what all of this fun escapism encapsulates.

Terrestrial Paradise is the latest moniker from Montreal come Los Angeles based producer Jaclyn Kendal. Having developed and cemented her sonic positionality with releases on North American labels like Ascetic House and Summer isle over the years, as well as a series of monolithic live sets, Bank is pleased to announce Kendal’s Terrestrial Paradise first full length album “Artificial Hell”. Over the course of nine recordings, “Artificial Hell” gives a master class in pressurized industrial techno of the slower variety. Fitting with the legacy of Bank’s output since it’s inception, Terrestrial Paradise’s aesthetic sensibilities sit within the canon of a certain tinge of club music imbued with a sense of natural grit, sans pretense.

“Artificial Hell” nods to artists like Scorn, Regis, and 400 PPM while maintaining it’s own territory in the landscape of cerebral and brooding rhythmic techno. Ominous, mechanistic drones sit above succinctly exacted percussion composition and sound design. Throughout “Artificial Hell”, Kendal shows her proficiency with the push and pull of building and releasing tension. On tracks like “Salvation” and “Relativity” she melds her synth wash wallscapes with driving percussion, serving as both a hint and counterpoint to the the entirety of the latter part of the album taking on spartan ambient compositions as a way to keep the listener in a subdued stasis. This album is a statement piece from a long time participant in the North American underground music sectors. It reminds the listener through perilous, considered rhythms and darker drone impositions to cement themselves back into a place where not
everything is always a good time.

Black vinyl back in for the first time in a while, note new price. Produced by Leon Michels. Toured with Chicano Batman. Planned touring with Lee Fields & The Expressions. What is Buck? Buck is a state of mind, a way of life, a demeanor that gets you through the good times and the bad. If you ask Brainstory, It is also the energy that permeates their debut album. Kevin, Tony, and Eric are a trio of brothers bounded by blood, fate, and a small town with nothing to do. Their story begins in the long lost lands of the San Bernardino Valley, in the twilight zone known as Rialto, California: An arid wasteland of boredom and empty lots. Through punk rock and skateboarding they found temporary liberation from the local monotony. However, it wouldn’t be long before a hunger for more led them to explore musical realms beyond that of the hardcore punk they admired. After stints at music school and steady disappointment trying to navigate their local jazz scene they moved to Los Angeles and Brainstory was born. Through a introduction from Chicano Batman’s bassist, Brainstory caught the ears of Big Crown head honchos Danny Akalepse and Leon Michels. Shortly thereafter they were on their way to Queens, to record at The Legendary Diamond Mine with Michels at the helm. An instant chemistry yielded 10 songs in 10 days and now Brainstory has gifted the world with one hell of an introduction to all things Buck. Highlights include the sublime slow burner, “Dead End” which was the A-side to their first 45 on Big Crown that sold out in a matter of days. With Kevin’s sublime falsetto floating atop Tony and Eric’s unflappable and unmistakable backbeat, this tune has become a favorite with the ballad heads, the low-riders, and the slowie collectors. “Breathe” showcases another side of their sound taking a page out of the Shuggie Otis playbook and flipping the script with some stoned out west coast swag. Kev and Tony’s father, Big Tone, an accomplished performer himself, steps in on “Peter Pan” to sing lead vocals over a chorus of friends and family. Bassist extraordinaire, Tony, takes over lead vocal duties on “Sorry”, a smoked out, G Funk groove that is just waiting to be sampled. These guys have come a long way from their self released EPs and opening tours with Chicano Batman. Their musical growth is undeniable, and taking their California sunshine vibes and mixing them with Michels’ NYC aesthetic has proven to be an amazing combination. It’s a debut record that pulls influences from so many genres seamlessly it’s hard to nail down. Call it Funk, call it Rock, call it Soul, but over here at Big Crown HQ, we’ve decided to call it BUCK.

Drawing inspiration from the raw energy of the 1960s women's garage bands in the style of Girls in the Garage and the fervent revival of the '80s with a strong influence from The Brood, The Pandoras, The Makers, The Headcoatees, among others. The Go-Goettes infuse their music with a fresh twist on underground rock. The band consists of Rita on organ and vocals, Naye on guitar, Ana on drums, and Tete on bass. The Go-Goettes' music resonates with authentic lyrics that narrate their personal experiences and perspectives as women navigating life in Mexico. Their compelling sound has captured the attention of influential DJs worldwide, leading to features on international radio stations such as El Sotano De Radio 3 in Spain, La Bicicleta & la Machine a Sons in France, Radio LUX in the USA, and The Paul Groovy Radio Show in the UK.

London based brothers, Timoti, launch their new record label, Below Surface, with 4 original tracks from French artist Nikizi.

A1 ‘Church Sound’ consists of groovy baselines, dreamy pads, topped off with an array of trippy effects to keep the mind occupied.

A2 ’We Moving Forward’ is a heavy hitting breakbeat with its rumbling low ends that will have the dance floor shaking.

B1 ‘Hey Back Off’ is an uplifting groover with a constant flow of rhythmical drums to keep the energy running high.

B2 ’Space Sex’ is a mind bending, hypnotic loop with its repetitive drums and dark bouncy baselines keeping the energy going throughout and its “space”vocal delaying and panning around the room will have the listener locked infrom start to finish.

Sugaray Rayford is a man with a message and a larger than life personality and voice to deliver it

Working with producer, songwriter Eric Corne for the past 3 albums, the soul-blues powerhouse has crafted an incendiary sound and narrative, combining classic soul melodies and funky R & B grooves with raw blues power.

The pair's first collaboration, 'Somebody Save Me', earned Rayford a 2020 Grammy nomination. Later that year he took home Blues Music Awards for 'Soul Blues Male Artist' and 'B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.' Rayford's follow up In Too Deep won a plethora of awards including the Blues Music Award for 'Soul Blues Album of the Year'.

His new release is entitled 'Human Decency'. The title track is a simple reminder that our similarities are stronger than our differences and in the end, there is no black or white or left or right, there are only hearts and minds.

About the leadoff single, "Run For Cover" a song that takes no prisoners, Q Magazine declares, "The bluesey soul of Rayford comes on full steam with this powerhouse single."

"We're calling people on their bullshit but we're having fun with them. That's my way. I'm gonna tell it to you straight but with love in my heart. I always bring some suga with the salt!" says Sugaray, bellowing with laughter.

An all-star cast lent their talents to the album, including guitarist Rick Holmstrom and singer Saundra Williams who are both from Mavis Staples's band, along with bassist Taras Prodaniuk (Lucinda Williams, Merle Haggard).

"In the wake of SQUID PISSER’s “Vaporize A Neighbor” EP and Comic Book Set and “Vaporize A Tadpole” Collection comes “Dreams of Puke”, the band’s second full length album. Weighing in at a meaty 12 songs and cut at a lean 45 revolutions per minute, “Dreams of Puke” refuses to let up or let down - emitting climax after scintillating climax - a bounteous bouquet of dayglow viscera and tumor-filled sonic snot.

“Dreams of Puke” is the face ripping, dolphin-loving, anthropomorphized mountain of nuclear sludge intravenously injected with methamphetamines that listeners have been clamoring for. Tommy Meehan's use of effects pedals and sonic textures create a dense soundscape of intestinal debris, mortared with a grout of pus, goo, gummy candy and pure, unadulterated insanity. Meanwhile, Seth Carolina's all out, rage-fueled and categorically pummeling approach to slamming the beats down lays out a visceral scene of absolute intensity - a great white shark attack on The Mall of America.

Tommy explains “The writing sessions for this album resulted in about 100 songs... Demos, seedlings, and scraps were strewn about everywhere. Then Seth and I assembled them into a viable and tangible fruition. I tracked all of the guitars, bass, and vocals myself at Los Angeles’ Castle Barf Studios. The drums we did at Sea Horse Sound downtown”.

“Dreams Of Puke” is an aural DMT trip that will leave brains boggled. Its atonal anthems of slime are a kaleidoscope of brilliant, bespeckled rage that, in the end, will scalp the world & mutate the throne.

Glass Mastered Compact Disc includes Mystery Matrix Message and comes packaged in a Six Panel Tri-Fold Jacket with corresponding Fold-Over Lyric Insert. LP and CD formats each sport unique, subliminally different cover art by painter Gregory Jacobsen of the band Lovely Little Girls. Parental Advisory: Explicit content"

Antibody presents this new opus by Berlin based Japanese artist Tot Onyx (Tommi Tokyo, formerly of group A).» Satire Of Desire« is her second solo album to date. Here, performance and sound art meet post-industrial deconstructivism. It’s radical, ferocious, wonderfully free and powerful.

Written under the covid-19 pandemic, "Satire Of Desire" is her radical criticism on the man-made catastrophe and sonic response to the cacotopic world that seemed less realistic than the surreal dreams of flying turtles. »My dreams started to become more realistic than the empty streets of Berlin. That's when I began wondering the difference between dream and reality, conscious and subconscious, how we distinguish them and what that even means. That was the beginning of creating this album. The beginning of the future i was unwillingly stepping into.«

The Italian trio Desert Wave was formed in 2016, when Drugo (drums) and Logan (bass) were already playing in a doom metal band and then decided to break away and form their own with a more psychedelic/stoner-style. Guitarist Burton joined them a month later, and their musical influences were quite similar: Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, 70's hard rock, Seattle grunge, up to the granite desert sound of Kyuss.

With "Deafening Silence" they created a more psychedelic and epic, mostly instrumental, sound than their 2017 debut “Lost In Dunes”, much more like the long jam sessions they play in the rehearsal room. The songs were born during the pandemic that deeply marked the band. Like everyone else, they spent several weeks at home, while the empty streets generated a ghostly and disturbing silence. The lyrics are a bit dark and gloomy and on "Endless Night", Logan's voice carries that ghostly presence that loomed over us all. Drugo designed the artwork, as a tribute to the Blade Runner movies. In both films, as in the songs on the album, there was the same feeling of foreboding that hovered in a dystopian future, in which not all the answers are clear and many questions are still unanswered. Burton's powerful guitar riffs echo in this unreal silence, sometimes increasing the sense of restlessness, other times instead, in the more psychedelic parts, they create a crescendo of impotence and inevitability that totally invades you and from which you cannot escape. Purple edition.

"Nonesuch Records releases Rectangles and Circumstance, an album of ten songs co-written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion. The album follows their 2021 Grammy Award–winning Nonesuch debut, Narrow Sea, and their first record as a band, 2021’s Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, with Shaw on vocals backed by Sō – Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting. Grammy-winning engineer Jonathan Low (The National, Taylor Swift) co-produced with them on both Let the Soil… and Rectangles and Circumstance. Sō and Shaw’s upcoming performances will be announced soon.

Sliwinski says in the new album’s liner notes, “After a few years of touring Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part together, with a pandemic in between, we came to record our second album, Rectangles and Circumstance, as a road-tested band who knew each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies intimately.” He continues, “Most of the songs started with instrumental pieces or fragments of pieces from Jason or Eric.

“As both a songwriter and a classical composer, Caroline is accustomed to writing lyrics as well as setting them. Going over texts with her is like working on music: I collect a handful of poems and send them over to her, waiting to see if anything catches her interest, then I modify my search based on her feedback,” Sliwinski says. “For this album, Caroline, Eric, and I sourced a group of nineteenth-century poems that shaped its expressive mode and ended up using verses by Christina Rosetti, Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, and William Blake … The lyrics on this album by members of the band contain wordplay that explores the same profound feelings explored by Blake and Dickinson.”

Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She is the recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, several Grammy awards, an honorary doctorate from Yale, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She has worked with a range of artists including Rosalía, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma, and she has contributed music to films and TV series including Fleishman Is in Trouble, Bombshell, Yellowjackets, Maid, Dark, and Beyoncé’s Homecoming. In addition to her albums with Sō, Nonesuch has released her two Grammy-winning albums Orange (2019) and Evergreen (2022), both of which feature Attacca Quartet. ‘Two-Step’, the first of Shaw’s songs with Ringdown, her duo with Danni Lee, to be released on Nonesuch is available now.

For twenty years and counting, Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the twenty-first century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (New Yorker). Their commitment to the creation and amplification of new work, and their extraordinary powers of perception and communication, have made them trusted partners for composers including David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nathalie Joachim, Bryce Dessner, Dan Trueman, Kendall K. Williams, Angélica Negrón, Shodekeh Talifero, claire rousay, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Bora Yoon, Olivier Tarpaga, and many others. Sō has recorded more than twenty-five albums, including a performance of Steve Reich’s Mallet Quartet on the Nonesuch record WTC 9/11. Its members are the Edward T. Cone performers-in-residence at Princeton University. Sō Percussion’s educational and community work includes the Sō Laboratories concert series and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for percussionists and composers.
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Octet supergroup lead by Eric Quach aka Thisquietarmy. Including 3 drummers, guitar, synth & brass players (who also play in bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Exhaust, Hanged Up, Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche & more); Pangea De Futura brings together the merged and emerging territories of Montreal's exploratory music scene.

War Milk is the debut studio album from the supergroup Pangea de Futura, an octet that has been exploring since 2019, the many ways of - slowly - constructing massive textural musical shapes and droning tribal post-rock ambiances. Each track simultaneously encapsulates its structure emerging from and within a flux, alongside its impending entropy, creating a suspended moment. This intense experience is crafted through the combined rhythmic contributions of Aidan Girt, Eric Craven, Samuel Bobony, the merging brass arrangements of Véronique Janosy, Reüel Ordoñez, Neboysha Rakic, the electronic textures provided by Charles Bussières, and the intense drones / soundscapes created by Eric Quach's guitar playing. Eight musicians, involved - in total - in some fifty projects from the Montreal scene (a.o. : Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion, Fly Pan Am, Some Became Hollow Tube, HRSTA, BLD, Black Givre, Avec le Soleil Sortant de sa Bouche...)

Earth, Water, Air, Fire... the genesis of a complex and perpetually evolving life.

The mercurial talent that is SW. back in the building with a new album, and if it weren’t already apparent, OYSTER45 goes some way to assert his place in the pantheon of pioneering producers. In fact, nobody can question his position right at the vanguard of forward-facing dancefloor dynamics.

myDEFINITION part II catches the SUED co-founder as vital as ever. Keeping it on that dusty, low-key flex that has long been his trademark, it harnesses ingenuity to conjure some of the most intriguing gear you’re likely to hear from a limited studio setup. Gone are the hi-tek jazz and ambient flourishes of the near-mythical ‘Untiled’ album, opting, instead, for pure dancefloor headiness. Precision-tooled breakbeats, opulent IDM cybernetics, tuff bleep n’ bass and late nite electro across 10 distinct trax.

Side quests into more abstract realms are fleeting. Dappled melodies evoke warmth in hues of pink and orange but any ambient-dub ephemera quickly dissipates into the peripheries in favour of club-ready pressure. The spectre of mid-‘90s dance music looms large but the SW. blueprint, with its captivating free-form approach, spins those vintage tropes into a distinct sound unto itself. Masterful, cinematic and hallucinatory.

Often drawing comparisons with B12’s seminal brand of ambient techno, SW. will surely be a stylistic reference point in his own right for years to come. Such is the indelible influence he has cast on contemporary electronic music.

Reality Hacked Part 2 collects together three more of the heavyweight remixes of key tracks from Lost Souls Of Saturn’s album ‘Reality’.

The second 12” in the Reality Hacked series features two radically different takes on the Lvv Gvn collab, 'Click’ – one of the fan favorites of the album, it's now molded into an epic melodic anthem by UNKLE and a restless techno workout by Hessle Audio’s Pangaea. Completing the package is a vinyl-exclusive heavy dubbed-out take on Scram City, by Brendon Moeller under his Echologist moniker.

Rapid-fire with the releases like it’s effortless, minimal donny Velvet Velour steps up with his latest 4-tracker. Strong tech house currents in a similar vein to Kepler’s recent ‘Lowlife’ EP, but with extra zonk - it’s a head turning label debut.

The growing catalogue of releases belies a relatively short time spent producing. That said, he’s already a key proponent of the sound’s contemporary vanguard and XK035 might be the most vital effort to date.

Since 2008 our Spiritual Jazz series has presented unlimited horizons. Each album celebrates the rich tradition of African-American songs based on the belief in a higher force than oneself and has also focused on geographical areas, such as Europe or Japan, thus recognizing that these territories have immense cultural riches. Religions, like Islam, whose musical traditions have vivid Arabic and North African resonances, have also been highlighted. The stylistic range of all the above is wide.

Yet historic record labels, from Blue Note and Impulse! to Prestige and Steeplechase, have also featured because their catalogues are musical treasure troves that could not be more relevant to Spiritual Jazz, even though they issued vast amounts of music between the late '30s and present day, that have not been confined to any one school.

Spiritual Jazz 16 is a focus on Riverside and its associated sister labels. Riverside itself was founded in 1953 by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, and became an important purveyor in that decade and beyond of what would be marketed as of modern jazz. That coinage was itself an amorphous, umbrella term that essentially created a demarcation from the vocabulary of pre-war classic jazz and inter-war big band swing, thus recognizing that improvising artists were breaking new creative ground that would subsequently give rise to a flurry of sub-genres, for example bebop, hard bop, cool, modal and Latin jazz. And it's from this multiplicity of sub-genres that we choose the deepest, most vibrant selections that the vast, pan-generational catalogue of Keepnews & Grauer has to offer

Respected Leipzig based multi-instrumentalist Panthera Krause arrives on KANN with New Age appeal! Delving into a more mysterious sound than the label is commonly known, the artist draws from the dark side of the pool, taking in Baltic choir inspirations, 80s cinema themes (Tarantino's favourite) and lyrical GDR rock for good measure. Produced in secrecy over the past 12 months, Krause gets in touch with his inner Stereolab by creating an enchanting new full length entirely on headphones. Drip fed to those close to him over the past year, he was convinced to share these audiobooks to a wider audience, now resulting to: Aside The Aeons. Adding almost only sounds from Korg M3R, Roland Aeorophon and a JX 03 synthesizer to the action - the record explores an unique musical universe and head trip for the astral plane.

Sect have a lot on their minds. With the release of their brand new single, New Low and the promise of Plagues Upon Plagues, the follow up full-length to 2019’s Blood of the Beasts, Sect explore the intersection of issues which have cascaded over us for the last five years, the “plagues” of the title referring to the literal pandemic, and the metaphorical plague of the political state and the rise of fascism.

Comprised of an international cast of stellar musicians, who cut their teeth in a formative moment of political, cynical, antagonistic extremes, Sect unites Scott Crouse (Earth Crisis, Tooth & Claw) & Jimmy Chang (Undying, Catharsis) - guitars, Steve Hart (Day of Suffering, Mania For Conquest) - bass, Andy Hurley (Fall Out Boy, Racetraitor) - drums and Chris Colohan (Cursed, Unwell) - vocals. They released No Cure For Death in 2017 and Blood of the Beasts in 2019.

Plagues Upon Plagues opens with the bereft waves of “No Uncertain Terms”, a side of the band we haven’t seen before. Vocalist Chris Colohan describes this album as “a funeral rather than a trial”, the activism of previous releases fading to sorrow and grief.

Lead single New Low follows with the advent of marching drums, a funereal procession for the world we hoped to build. There’s frantic horror on the album too, with the track “Drowning in Sorrows” taking a look at the ways in which we numb ourselves as a society. “#ForeverHome” is a bitterly angry track about how people used animals for both narcissistic virtue signalling and one-way comfort in the pandemic, and abandoned them en masse just as selfishly when social life came back. Speaking to their straight-edge principles and how that continues to feed into their songwriting, Chris says, “the only kind of straight edge songs I’m interested in writing are dynamic ones that address human realities that you don’t have to be straight edge to engage with.”

On Plagues Upon Plagues, Sect pierce through the veil of complacency, forcing listeners to confront uncomfortable truths about the fragility of our world. The band wields their sonic arsenal like a prophetic warning and with raw vocals and uncompromising lyrics, they confront the harsh realities of existence in these tumultuous times. As society teeters on the brink of chaos, Sect's cold hard statement resonates with an urgency that cannot be ignored.

„Prism Of Pleasure“ wurde in 18 Monaten geschrieben und fasst Elkkas Wesen als eine LGBTQI+-Künstler:in zusammen, die Freiheit und Sinnlichkeit in den Vordergrund ihrer Arbeit stellt. Das war nicht immer so: Geboren und aufgewachsen in Südwales, wo es so gut wie keine Queer-Community in ihrer unmittelbaren Umgebung gab, musste Elkka ihre Identität langsam und neugierig zusammensetzen und dabei allmählich zu sich selbst finden. Nachdem sie sich geoutet hatte und in ihren 20ern nach London zog, begann die Musikerin mit dem Auflegen, Schreiben und Produzieren, was schließlich dazu führte, dass sie ihr eigenes Plattenlabel, femme culture, gründete und ihre eigenen queeren Clubnächte veranstaltete. „Prism Of Pleasure“ ist wie ein weiblicher Blick in einen dampfenden Raum voller Wunder (ein Konzept, das sich wunderbar im pinkfarbenen Albumcover widerspiegelt, das von Elkkas Frau und langjähriger kreativer Mitarbeiterin Alex Lambert fotografiert wurde), das sich um den Begriff der queeren Intimität dreht. Von den sanften, seidigen Vocals von „Crushhh“ bis zu den sich langsam entwickelnden, gehauchten Beats von „Your Skin“ („I'm breathing you in, I want to taste every inch of your skin“) und den gleichmäßigen, wogenden Synthesizer-Mustern von „surrender2me“ entfaltet sich „Prism Of Pleasure“ wie ein Patchwork aus schweißtreibenden Nächten, emotionaler Verbundenheit und versteckten Freuden. Elkka wurde von vielen Kolleg:innen unterstützt, darunter Four Tet, Floating Points, TSHA, Caribou, Sofia Kourtesis, Jon Hopkins, Ben UFO und SHERELLE, und gewann kürzlich einen AIM Award in der Kategorie „Bester Remix“ für ihre Überarbeitung von Ela Minus' „Megapunk“. Letztes Jahr veröffentlichte Elkka eine 4-Track-EP mit energiegeladenen Club-Tools unter dem Titel „DJ Friendly“ und trug auch zur bahnbrechenden DJ-Kicks-Reihe mit einem fesselnden Mix bei, der ihre Liebe zu Frauen und der LGBTQI+-Dance-Community zum Ausdruck brachte, zu der Elkka gehört und regelmäßig in intimen Räumen und auf Queer-Partys wie in der Panorama Bar und FEEL IT auftritt.

When Man Man released its last album, "Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In Between," frontman Honus Honus (née Ryan Kattner) was in a state of unrest, oscillating between hope and cynicism. Perhaps fittingly, the album dropped during the pandemic, a time at which we could all relate. But, much like that bizarre turn of events, the ennui now seems so distant to Man Man. A revived sense of purpose washes through Man Man's new album, Carrot on Strings, radiating a mix of calm and confidence. Kattner always embodied a wild-man pied-piper vibe: his melodic, unhinged art-rock was at once intriguing and angsty. He was so alluringly creative that you went along with it, even if you were never sure where Man Man would take you. Carrot on Strings is no less inventive, but its ethos is radical in context of the band's two-decade career. "When I was younger, I would feed off of chaos. I would, you know, be upset and get drunk and smash chairs," Kattner explains. "Now those chairs are in my head: It's less of an outward projection, more of an interior monologue." The name "Carrot on Strings" came to Kattner while experimenting with the sound of someone munching on the vegetable, which you can hear in the cacophonous, similarly named song. It alludes to how success always seemed to dangle uncertainly before him, often just out of reach. But listen intently and you'll hear a more content Kattner finding an uneasy peace: "Life, as far as I've known it, has always been side hustles. Would it be great if I could go into a studio and record for a year without figuring out how to finance it? Yeah, it would be," he says. "But ultimately, I need to keep making music because art is an extension of my psyche. It's how I have learned to translate the palpitations of my heart. Simply put, I'd go insane without it." Growing up as a multiracial Hapa kid (half Filipino, half white) with a father in the U.S. Air Force, Kattner lived an itinerant childhood that included a few pivotal years in Germany, where he honed in on an appreciation for out there German cinema and art. His film obsessions and screenwriting background were crucial to Carrot on Strings. The album nods to the films of Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder as much as Italo-disco, Randy Newman, goth rock, and avant pop. (Kattner continues to work in the film industry with an acting role in the upcoming horror-comedy movie Destroy All Neighbors, for which he also served as composer; music supervising season 1 & 2 of the Interview With The Vampire AMC TV series; and shopping around, with director Matthew Goodhue, a script he wrote that he describes as a Wim Wenders road movie on acid.) In a bid to not overthink anything - his last album took seven years to make - he recorded the bulk of Carrot On Strings in five days in Mant Sounds studio in Glassell Park, Los Angeles with "very chill" producer Matt Schuessler, who had worked on Man Man's cover of Neu!'s "Super" for the seminal Krautrock band's box set. The resulting album represents a newfound sense of self for Kattner, who finds himself inspired and at peace both personally and artistically in ways that eluded him for most of his first 15 years playing music. When, on Carrot On Strings, you hear Kattner croon humbly, or sing of the tension between his outsize stage persona and the thoughtful, soulful guy he actually is, you're hearing Kattner liberate himself. "I first got into music to escape from myself," he says. "And now, it sounds so corny, but I have zero doubt that music ended up saving my life."

Drei Jahre nach ihrem morbiden Manifest "Limbo", einer bitteren Abrechnung mit der Pandemie und ihren bestialischen Folgen, kehrt Wave-Alchemist Ronny Moorings zurück. Im Gepäck hat er einen schwarzen Blumenstrauß aus Trauergesängen für eine kranke neue Welt, Elegien für einen neuen Status quo, mit dem wir alle leben müssen.

Auch 40 Jahre nach ihrer Gründung sind CLAN OF XYMOX ein Leuchtfeuer tragischer Eleganz und düsterer Tristesse. Sie sind die unbestrittene, unangefochtene Speerspitze einer Szene, die zuletzt überraschend die Aufmerksamkeit einer viel jüngeren Generation auf sich gezogen hat, die ihre Angst und ihren Schmerz durch Musik wie diese ausdrücken will. Gerne doch! "Exodus" zeugt von diesem Ausnahmestatus und führt das Feld der prosaischen Trauer mit zehn neuen Hymnen von erlesener Nachtschwere an. Das Besteck, welches Ronny Moorings benutzt, mag noch dasselbe sein; das Ergebnis ist ein weiteres Meisterwerk voller sehnsüchtiger Melodien, weltabgewandten Vocals aus den Tiefen der Erde, hallenden Gitarren und hypnotischen Drums, die die Phantome in uns allen zum Mitternachtsschmaus einladen.

Wir tanzen direkt in den Abgrund, will uns dieses Album sagen. Aber wenigstens tanzen wir noch. Denn wenn es nichts mehr gibt, an das man sich wenden kann, wenn alle Hoffnung verloren scheint und die Welt uns unter Fluten biblischen Ausmaßes begräbt, bleibt manchmal nur noch, sich der Musik hinzugeben. Diesem fesselnden Exodus in Richtung Katharsis. Vielleicht ist das der Grund, warum "Exodus" einige der düstersten und niedergeschlagensten Stücke enthält, die Ronny Moorings seit vielen Jahren geschrieben hat. Vielleicht ist das der Grund, warum diese Platte mit den besten Veröffentlichungen von THE CURE mithalten kann. Weil die Zeiten, in denen wir leben, ihn dazu gezwungen haben. Weil es einfach keinen anderen Weg gibt, als all seinen Kummer, seine Wut und seinen Weltschmerz in seine klagende Musik einfließen zu lassen. Nicht, weil die Welt danach eine bessere sein wird. Sondern weil es für ihn die einzige Möglichkeit ist, mit dem brutalen Wahnsinn, den wir Alltag nennen, fertig zu werden.

"Exodus" ist kein Album für Träumer. Es ist aber auch kein Albtraum - trotz der Schatten, die unter der Oberfläche brüten. Es ist ein Tor für all jene, die die Dunkelheit unserer Tage anerkennen und sich dennoch weigern, aufzugeben. Lasst uns also diese nächtlichen Wiegenlieder gemeinsam singen und tanzen, solange wir noch einen Boden dafür haben. Denn das ist alles, was wir im Moment tun können.

Drei Jahre nach ihrem morbiden Manifest "Limbo", einer bitteren Abrechnung mit der Pandemie und ihren bestialischen Folgen, kehrt Wave-Alchemist Ronny Moorings zurück. Im Gepäck hat er einen schwarzen Blumenstrauß aus Trauergesängen für eine kranke neue Welt, Elegien für einen neuen Status quo, mit dem wir alle leben müssen.

Auch 40 Jahre nach ihrer Gründung sind CLAN OF XYMOX ein Leuchtfeuer tragischer Eleganz und düsterer Tristesse. Sie sind die unbestrittene, unangefochtene Speerspitze einer Szene, die zuletzt überraschend die Aufmerksamkeit einer viel jüngeren Generation auf sich gezogen hat, die ihre Angst und ihren Schmerz durch Musik wie diese ausdrücken will. Gerne doch! "Exodus" zeugt von diesem Ausnahmestatus und führt das Feld der prosaischen Trauer mit zehn neuen Hymnen von erlesener Nachtschwere an. Das Besteck, welches Ronny Moorings benutzt, mag noch dasselbe sein; das Ergebnis ist ein weiteres Meisterwerk voller sehnsüchtiger Melodien, weltabgewandten Vocals aus den Tiefen der Erde, hallenden Gitarren und hypnotischen Drums, die die Phantome in uns allen zum Mitternachtsschmaus einladen.

Wir tanzen direkt in den Abgrund, will uns dieses Album sagen. Aber wenigstens tanzen wir noch. Denn wenn es nichts mehr gibt, an das man sich wenden kann, wenn alle Hoffnung verloren scheint und die Welt uns unter Fluten biblischen Ausmaßes begräbt, bleibt manchmal nur noch, sich der Musik hinzugeben. Diesem fesselnden Exodus in Richtung Katharsis. Vielleicht ist das der Grund, warum "Exodus" einige der düstersten und niedergeschlagensten Stücke enthält, die Ronny Moorings seit vielen Jahren geschrieben hat. Vielleicht ist das der Grund, warum diese Platte mit den besten Veröffentlichungen von THE CURE mithalten kann. Weil die Zeiten, in denen wir leben, ihn dazu gezwungen haben. Weil es einfach keinen anderen Weg gibt, als all seinen Kummer, seine Wut und seinen Weltschmerz in seine klagende Musik einfließen zu lassen. Nicht, weil die Welt danach eine bessere sein wird. Sondern weil es für ihn die einzige Möglichkeit ist, mit dem brutalen Wahnsinn, den wir Alltag nennen, fertig zu werden.

"Exodus" ist kein Album für Träumer. Es ist aber auch kein Albtraum - trotz der Schatten, die unter der Oberfläche brüten. Es ist ein Tor für all jene, die die Dunkelheit unserer Tage anerkennen und sich dennoch weigern, aufzugeben. Lasst uns also diese nächtlichen Wiegenlieder gemeinsam singen und tanzen, solange wir noch einen Boden dafür haben. Denn das ist alles, was wir im Moment tun können.

San Francisco psych-pop legend announces new album, “La Fleur” out June 7th, 2024. Between outside musical projects, pushing past 50 years old and becoming a father for the first time, San Francisco psych-pop legend Kelley Stoltz has spent the past two years steadily writing and recording his 18th album, “La Fleur”. The dazzling 12 song collection will be released in June by Agitated in Europe/UK and Dandy Boy Records in the USA. “La Fleur'' finds Stoltz once again playing nearly all of the instruments on the album- though a new friendship with pop guru Jason Falkner has led to Falkner appearing on two songs, “Hide In A Song” and “Make Believer” respectively. There’s the requisite 60’s meets 80’s pop rock confections that Stoltz favors with a new focus on out front vocals and perhaps a bit shinier production. Pandemic era blues, politics and fatherhood are lyrical touchstones throughout. The album’s first single “Reni’s Car” is the jangle rock lead single based on an actual event of Kelley riding around Manchester in the Stone Roses drummer's car. The accompanying music video was shot (partially) on location. “About Time” marries Twin Peaks synths to Fleetwood Mac and Avalon era Roxy Music in a cautionary tale to Stoltz's young daughter. “Human Events” puts revolutionary prose to a Moody Blues strum that floats off into Osees territory …and do I hear a nod to Gershwin in there? During the 2010’s Kelley played live as a sideman with Rodriguez and Echo & the Bunnymen, as the 2020’s dawned he was invited to support Pavement on their big reunion tour. He’s also been heard playing drums live with Robyn Hitchcock as well as adding sitar to Hitchcock's last two albums. In 2022, Stoltz was championed with a live appearance on Marc Riley’s BBC6 show. As producer, he has recorded the new album by Brigid Dawson formerly of the Ohsees. In my ears, Stoltz rarely does any wrong, and these comparisons are only just that little fruit to get you curious- he is still one of a kind. An under the radar hero to a few, and still after all these great songs, deserving of more. Climb on the bandwagon - as ever it’s quite pleasing here. - GEORGE CLOUD San Francisco, CA 2024

San Francisco psych-pop legend announces new album, “La Fleur” out June 7th, 2024. Between outside musical projects, pushing past 50 years old and becoming a father for the first time, San Francisco psych-pop legend Kelley Stoltz has spent the past two years steadily writing and recording his 18th album, “La Fleur”. The dazzling 12 song collection will be released in June by Agitated in Europe/UK and Dandy Boy Records in the USA. “La Fleur'' finds Stoltz once again playing nearly all of the instruments on the album- though a new friendship with pop guru Jason Falkner has led to Falkner appearing on two songs, “Hide In A Song” and “Make Believer” respectively. There’s the requisite 60’s meets 80’s pop rock confections that Stoltz favors with a new focus on out front vocals and perhaps a bit shinier production. Pandemic era blues, politics and fatherhood are lyrical touchstones throughout. The album’s first single “Reni’s Car” is the jangle rock lead single based on an actual event of Kelley riding around Manchester in the Stone Roses drummer's car. The accompanying music video was shot (partially) on location. “About Time” marries Twin Peaks synths to Fleetwood Mac and Avalon era Roxy Music in a cautionary tale to Stoltz's young daughter. “Human Events” puts revolutionary prose to a Moody Blues strum that floats off into Osees territory …and do I hear a nod to Gershwin in there? During the 2010’s Kelley played live as a sideman with Rodriguez and Echo & the Bunnymen, as the 2020’s dawned he was invited to support Pavement on their big reunion tour. He’s also been heard playing drums live with Robyn Hitchcock as well as adding sitar to Hitchcock's last two albums. In 2022, Stoltz was championed with a live appearance on Marc Riley’s BBC6 show. As producer, he has recorded the new album by Brigid Dawson formerly of the Ohsees. In my ears, Stoltz rarely does any wrong, and these comparisons are only just that little fruit to get you curious- he is still one of a kind. An under the radar hero to a few, and still after all these great songs, deserving of more. Climb on the bandwagon - as ever it’s quite pleasing here. - GEORGE CLOUD San Francisco, CA 2024

Words And Music" ist eine 3xLP-Box mit dem Werk der im Jahr 2021 verstorbenen Sängerin und Songwriterin MARGO GURYAN. Als Zeugin von Revolutionen in Jazz und Pop hat sich GURYAN ihren Platz im Pantheon der Songwriter verdient. Dass sie jahrzehntelang weitgehend unbekannt war, liegt nicht an zerstörten Träumen, sondern an ihren eigenen Entscheidungen und Prioritäten. Von den bescheidenen Anfängen über die Höhepunkte ihres barocken Pop-Meisterwerks "Take A Picture" von 1968 und die gesammelten Demos bis hin zur jüngsten viralen Verbreitung von "Why Do I Cry" - das Boxset "Words And Music" fängt die gesamte Karriere von GURYAN ein, einschließlich 16 bisher unveröffentlichter Aufnahmen und einem 32-seitigen Booklet, das ihre ganze Geschichte erzählt. Produziert wurde die Box von ihrem Stiefsohn Jonathan Rosner, ihrem Freund und Historiker Geoffrey Weiss und den Numero Group-Mitarbeitern Douglas Mcgowan, Rob Sevier und Ken Shipley. Alle Tracks wurden von Jessica Thompson neu gemastert. In ihrer Blütezeit veröffentlichte GURYAN nur ein einziges Album: "Take A Picture" von 1968. Da MARGO jedoch kein Interesse daran hatte, aufzutreten, zu touren und für ihr Werk zu werben, wurde das Album damals kaum beachtet. Dennoch wurde die Platte in den 1990er Jahren zu einem begehrten Kultobjekt. Eine neue Generation von Hörer*innen lernte ihre Arbeit kennen, als "Take A Picture" im Jahr 2000 neu aufgelegt wurde. Kurz darauf folgten die gesammelten Demos, eine unglaubliche Zusammenstellung von ausgegrabenen alternativen Aufnahmen und neu veröffentlichten Songs, die MARGO selbst betreut hat. GURYANs Leben war in den dazwischen liegenden Jahren weiterhin von Musik erfüllt; sie wurde Musiklehrerin, schrieb weiterhin Songs und pflegte Freundschaften mit einem wachsenden Kreis von Anhängern. Die Geschichte von MARGO GURYAN ist die einer Frau, die von klein auf in die Tiefe ging und nie Angst vor Veränderungen hatte. Ihr Gespür für Ton, Phrasierungen, Spannung, Präsenz und Texte, die treffen, machen ihren Namen heute zu einem Synonym für ausgefeiltes Songhandwerk und die unnachahmliche Coolness der 1960er Jahre. Ihr Einfallsreichtum und ihre Technik stellen sie in die Tradition von Kammer-Pop-Ikonen wie Brian Wilson und Burt Bacharach, während die bittersüße Offenheit in ihren Beschreibungen des Frauseins einen Mittelweg zwischen Carole Kings Pop-Fabrik und der Singer-Songwriter-Ära aufzeigt. Aber die unaufdringliche Strenge von MARGOs künstlerischer Stimme ist ganz ihre eigene.

A home, a house, has countless frequencies. Each room, each corner feels different. Swings differently. And as you grow older, you realize which corner is yours. But yeah, it takes time…

It certainly marks the end of an era when the house one called home as a kid no longer exists. This home, it was the starting point of so many journeys. Of one big, ongoing journey. And so it feels good, soothing, reassuring to at least return to a spot nearby – to that (proverbial) hill from where you can see it. Feel the vibe that made you.

Andi Haberl’s debut solo album as Sun is sort of dedicated to that house. It’s a journey leading to that hill overlooking everything that made him. It’s not about nostalgia, not about actually returning to a specific place. Instead, it’s about finding a personal frequency, an overlapping of sounds and samples, an open space that mirrors and extends whatever frequencies felt right at different points in time.

“To me, the results feel like Gold Panda/Four Tet meets Steve Reich meets Krautrock meets film scores. I just really wanted to create moods that touch me – and ideally others, too.”

Talking about his first solo album, Haberl recalls many stages: early compositions that ended up on Alien Ensemble’s albums, early DIY/home studio/multi-instrumentalist inspirations (Le Millipede), new technologies that came and went, even a set of wildly convincing arrangements (done with Cico Beck’s crucial input) that ultimately became stepping stones for yet another round of DIY takes. “It was a long, recurring process, and the songs went through so many different versions,” he says, talking about phases of growth (“I added more and more equipment over time”) and pruning, “cleaning up my music a bit.” Tending towards instruments that open up space, and slowly falling in love with sampling, he certainly didn’t rush things once it was time for interior design decisions ;)

“During this whole process I got to learn so much about my own taste, how I prefer to listen to the pieces, which musical elements really matter to me… and what my own voice is. For example, that acoustic elements are most important to me: the banjo, piano, drums, my voice, glockenspiel, trumpet, melodica. Anything that opens up some space.”

Every journey begins with a search: “Missing” with its plucked chords opens like a sunrise over pastoral plains, gently leading the way towards the intricate, playful explosion that occurs once a certain amount of energy (“Sun”) hits dirt and other surfaces: things grow, clot and curdle into new shapes, like new buds; layers of sound move forward, drenched in Spring’s new light. Relying on samples to ask for precipitation (“Rain On Me”), robotic “Low” goes from barren to bass-heavy after its midway shift in pace, full of loops plucked from the shade.

Towards the album’s midpoint, things are suddenly reversed: “Cluster” has that backwards pull, you can’t tell what’s what, yet everything is perfectly locked in, as the pace increases once again. And before the title song shimmers with densified cheering (to eventually stand tall like early Lymbyc Systym), “Beside Me” swipes you off your feet with its booming bass drum. The beat returns once again (“Daydream”), full of searching voices underneath, and at “Dawnday,” we can finally catch a melancholy view of the house. Voices hum. It’s the score moment of the album. Everything makes sense now. A happy end of sorts?

“I want to take people on a journey. A personal journey, too, because when my parents split up and sold the house I grew up in, I felt a bit like the ground had fallen out from under my feet. But I have dedicated the album title and the accompanying piece to this house… so I can keep it in good memory.”

“I Can See Our House From Here” has been a long time coming. It’s been a long journey. Homeward-bound. Leading to a place that’s really Haberl’s – his sound. His frequencies.

Known as a long-time member of The Notwist and various other bands/projects (Alien Ensemble, AMEO, jersey, Ditty etc.), Berlin-based drummer/composer Andi Haberl has also worked with My Brightest Diamond, Till Brönner, Owen Pallet, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to name a few. “I Can See Our House From Here” is his first solo offering.

A1 - Blue Sky
Opening with a clean, DJ-friendly Hot Pants break, Blue Sky offers the listener a subtle, warming production with inquisitive synth work creeping around a fine selection of serene effects, panning excitedly across a pristine, polished field. Utilising light orchestral strings, a soft undertone bassline and wistful twilight sounds, Aural Imbalance blends danceable breakbeats with the soothing sounds of yesteryear as fluidly as ever.
A2 - Starburst
Starburst jumps straight into a tight, energetic beat pattern constructed with old school breaks and an off-key bassline, soon joined by eerie, spectral pads to gradually build an ethereal, other-worldly vibe. The composition is elevated by arising symphony of swirling blippy melodies, expressing a nervy and curious tone with detail and harmony before the beat recedes, allowing the melodies to shine alone in the dreamy outro.
AA1 - Frozen Tears
Aural Imbalance conjures a quietly grandiose track with Frozen Tears, driven by muffled keys and thick hi-hats in the intro before a luscious, meditative melody enters the mix. Intricate breakbeats with a suitably understated bassline accompany the fading and echoing synthetic strings, rich pads and subtle bells, producing a beautifully varied spectrum of sound, perfect for the Spatial record box.
AA2 - Moonlit Clouds
A distinctive, impeccably produced Helicopter break takes center stage with Moonlit Clouds, a deftly relaxing ambient aura floating overhead as synths and knowing melodies slowly weave their way into your psyche like shimmering fireflies seizing the moment in the dark. A low sub bassline permeates the depths to complete a collage of euphony to round off another special EP from Aural Imbalance.

Words by Chris Hayes Spatial/Red Mist

A1 - Polaris
Going all in to open the EP with a truly stand out 2-step roller, ASC crafts a distinctly energetic vibe with Polaris, featuring an intricate old school break seldom heard in drum & bass - packed with high-end detail and a glorious raw energy. With long radiant pad work, a classic jumpy 808 bassline and a stunning, reverberating female vocal sample whooshing and panning across the mix, Polaris will instantly become a favourite in your setlist.
A2 - Things Left Unsaid
Opening with an intriguing fusion of suspenseful keys and deliciously crisp bongos that each play a key role throughout, Things Left Unsaid asks the listener questions of yesteryear in a varied odyssey filled with a myriad of echoed vocal samples, horns and effects, set to a break-laden beat pattern that hops along with kicks and snares each snatching the attention. A calmer vibe from ASC that still packs a punch.
AA1 - Temple Bell
A thumping, spirited beat pattern with rapid kicks and metallic snares provide a visceral aural onslaught as the aptly-named Temple Bell blends our imperious breaks with darkly, epic tolls radiating through a vast ornate hall of resonance -suitably reverberating alongside a backdrop of synchronic atmospherics. Heavily EQ'd vocal samples colour the mix to complete a weighty musical collage.
AA2 - Contrast
Beginning with a flurry of cow bells in a vibrant, expertly edited take on the classic Circles break, ASC serves up a delightfully laid back yet danceable piece with Contrast. Space FX, swirling pads and a mellow, memorable key melody overlay a beautiful mosaic of calm as the continued thrust of the break drives a constant energy to the track, perfectly capturing the ethos of Spatial and closing another immense EP

Words by Chris Hayes Spatial/Red Mist

A1 - Permeate
JLM returns to Spatial with another superb selection of old school inspired tracks. Kicking us off is Permeate, with anxious melodies evocative of 90's sci-fi introducing proceedings before filtered old school breaks slowly rise into the mix. An early breakdown with the playful bassline flying solo for a spell precedes superbly executed amens adding a thick layer of detail to an eclectic beat pattern.
A2 - Orogeny
Orogeny opens with a lush old school riff, classically off-key melodies and echoing pads as the varied beats takes shape - effortlessly navigating a range of breaks to create a unique, bouncy pattern evoking a dynamic mid 90's energy with a captivating rhythm. Tuneful synth work and jazzy drum samples deliver an entertaining breakdown before the breaks resume for the latter half, airy pads adding further texture to the track.
AA1 - Subsidence
A contemplative, introspective tone is set by a delicate melody in the introduction to Subsidence, a track which showcases the variety of atmospheres JLM Production scan glean from his unique brand of drum & bass on Spatial set to the usual high standard of classic breaks and bass. Majestic pads and synths envelop the listener in a solemn haze, while a more intense, darkly melody counters, creating a divergent synergy to the vibe.
AA2 - Laminar Flow
Closing the EP in style, we are treated to a jazzy, melodic introduction to Laminar Flow with rising strings and vocal samples, before inspired 80's style synth sounds zip around the mix to a subtle, clean 2-step breakbeat. JLM ups the ante with a crisp Hot Pants break layered over the top while the jazz-inspired Rhodes key shifts craft a tuneful aura as cow bells ring throughout, rounding off another sublime and varied experience for the ears.

Words by Chris Hayes Spatial/Red Mist

Brachiales Drumming, ein massiv drückendes Basslick und kreischende Gitarren - so eröffnet der heißeste Postpunk-Newcomer vom Monte Scherbelino - dem Trümmerberg aus dem 2. Weltkrieg auf dem Birkenkopf Stuttgarts - sein unverschämt souveränes Debütalbum "Scherbenhügel". Die 2021 gegründeten BERLIN 2.0, um die mit ihrer sonoren Stimme gesegneten Ausnahme-Vokalistin Elena Wolf, liefern damit ein absolutes Highlight ab, unter dessen waviger Oberfläche immer eine nicht von der Hand zu weisende, rohe Punkrockbasis lauert, die sich natürlich auch in den exzellenten deutschsprachigen Lyrics niederschlägt. Hardcore-Versatzstücke vermengen sich mit dem Einfluss von US Deathrock, bergen aber eben auch diese herrliche Pop-Affinität, die die 10 Stücke von "Scherbenhügel" gleichsam so fordernd und fragil wie dringlich und emotional wirken lassen. Zwar erwachen durchaus wohlige Erinnerungen an Bands wie Xmal Deutschland, II. Invasion, EA 80, Hysterese oder die Terrible Feelings, BERLIN 2.0 definieren auf "Scherbenhügel" aber meisterhaft ihren ganz eigenen wehmütig-desillusionierten Sound, der einen sofort einfängt und einfach nicht mehr los lässt.

Dream Harder is the sixth studio album by The Waterboys, released in 1993. Scottish singer-songwriter and bandmember Mike Scott produced the album together with acclaimed producer Bill Price, which resulted in a return to the rock-based sound. The song “Love And Death” was an arrangement of a poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, “The Return Of Jimi Hendrix” a tribute to the famous guitarist, and other songs contain references to pre-historical religion. Singles from the album were “The Return Of Pan” and “Glastonbury Song”. The album peaked at #5 in the UK Albums chart, reached several European charts and the US Billboard 200.

Anlässlich des 50-jährigen Bestehens der berühmtesten Vier aus Birmingham werden die "Erfinder" des Heavy Metal von dem prominent besetzten Tribute-Trio um Gitarrist und Sänger Zakk Wylde mit dem Doppelalbum "Doomed Forever Forever Doomed" erneut geehrt. Mit dieser liebevolle Hommage liefern die Amerikaner brillante Interpretationen von BLACK SABBATHs zweitem und drittem Album ab, also die klassischen Heavy Metal-Meisterwerken "Paranoid" (1970) und "Master of Reality" (1971).

ZAKK SABBATH wurden von BLACK LABEL SOCIETY-Gitarrist und Sänger Zakk Wylde gegründet, der auch als langjähriger Lead-Gitarrist von OZZY OSBOURNE und inzwischen auch noch von PANTERA bekannt ist. Nachdem ZAKK SABBATH anfangs mit wechselnden Mitgliedern nur live auftraten, fand die Band schließlich mit dem OZZY OSBOURNE- und ROB ZOMBIE-Bassisten Blasko und Joey Castillo am Schlagzeug (DANZIG, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) eine stabile Besetzung. Inspiriert durch das 50-jährige Jubiläum von BLACK SABBATHs selbstbetitelten Debütalbum, veröffentlichte ZAKK SABBATH im Jahr 2020 eine Hommage an diesen monumentalen Heavy Metal-Meilenstein unter dem Titel "Vertigo". Das Album wurde von Kritikern und Fans gleichermaßen mit Lob überhäuft. Das Trio feierte einen weltweiten Erfolg, der sich in beeindruckenden Platzierungen in diversen Charts widerspiegelt: Das Album stieg auf Platz 5 in den US Hard Music Charts, Platz 7 in den Current Rock Albums Charts und Platz 27 in den Billboard Top Album Charts ein. In Frankreich gelang sogar ein Platz 1 in den Metal Album Charts und neben einem Platz 3 in den deutschen Album Charts sowie Platz 9 in den UK Top 40 Rock/Metal Charts finden sich weitere Einträge in anderen Ländern.

Die glühende Leidenschaft für Heavy Metal hat ZAKK SABBATH dazu getrieben, BLACK SABBATH mit dem Doppelalbum "Doomed Forever Forever Doomed" ein noch monolithischeres Denkmal zu errichten. Nicht allein Headbanger dürfen sich über fantastische Interpretationen dieser klassischen Songs freuen, die sicherlich zu den einflussreichsten und folgenreichsten zählen, die je von Menschenhand komponiert wurden!

A deep, zouk/electronic dancehall crossover track from Cameroonian artist Maréchal Papillon, including a brand new dub version from Canadian producer Poirier Ferdinand ‘Maréchal’ Papillon was part of the makossa wave that moved from Cameroon to France and across the African diaspora in the 80s and 90s, bringing the sounds of rhythms of Douala and Yaoundé to the clubs and dancefloors of Paris. Although best known for his Sakissa style - his own uptempo take on the makossa of Cameroon - Papillon also regularly featured zouk and reggae influenced tracks on his albums, combining Caribbean and African influences into a unique sound that has stood the test of time. ‘Moulongo’ originally appeared on Papillon’s highly sought after 1995 album “Homme fort….je suis sérieux” and was recorded at Studio de la Madeleine in Paris. The Moulongo session features a who’s who of the Paris scene of the time - Aladji Touré and Toto Guillaume from Cameroon as well as Congolese guitar greats Ngoma Lokito and Nene Tchacou - and combines dancehall, zouk and makossa elements for a pan-African dancefloor sureshot.

Recorded in Los Angeles in 1982, 13.13 exists as document to the pandemonium of specters and potential serial killers who twisted the California Dream into a waking nightmare as they snaked through the boulevards, back yards and basements of a sun stroked paradise turning into a blood soaked inferno of fear, paranoia, panic and lust killings. Lush musical textures provided by members of seminal art punks The Weirdos - Dix Denney, Cliff Martinez and Greg Williams create a hypnotic backdrop to Lunch’s evocative vocals and terrifying lyrics.

The classic 1981 collaboration returns expanded! • LP features two previously unissued tracks, CD/Digital adds four more Packaging features photos and new liner notes from John DeAngelis “I’m more proud of this album than anything I’ve done since I got my first gold record, toured with Elvis Presley, and joined the Grand Ole Opry.” —Skeeter Davis “This album was recorded with love all over the tapes. For us, it was the best.” —Terry Adams (NRBQ) After working with her sisters in The Davis Singers, Skeeter Davis embarked on a storied solo career. With nearly 40 charting singles between 1957–1974, her recording of “The End Of The World” (Produced by Chet Atkins) hit #2 on both the Pop and Country charts, #1 Adult Contemporary, and #4 R&B in 1962. Think about that! Since Skeeter had already crossed perceived genres, the thought of the collaboration with music’s Pandora’s Box known as NRBQ shouldn’t seem difficult to grasp. Terry Adams’ discovery of David Sisters 78 RPMs saw tracks added to early NRBQ set lists. The pairing was meant to be. She Sings, They Play was a natural coupling, and was issued to critical acclaim in 1985. “We had more fun making this record. What other group would think to do ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ in 4/4 time?,” asked Skeeter Davis. She Sings, They Play returns nearly four decades after its original release, remastered and including six previously unissued bonus tracks – two studio outtakes appear on the LP while those and four more live tacks are now available on the CD/Digital version. The packaging contains updated artwork, photos from the sessions, and insightful liner notes from John DeAngelis. It’s a fresh look at an incredible union of two groundbreaking artists. She Sings, They Play. You enjoy!

Piezo’s Ansia imprint returns for its 8th outing ‘Imago’, inviting Berlin’s Unity Vega for a split EP of uptempo dancefloor explorations that mine that fertile space between footwork, drum’n’bass, dancehall and experimental contemporary club sonics.

Unity Vega leads the charge with ‘No Body No Mind’ - a waterlogged darkside skanker that sits somewhere between the half-stepping jungle of the UVB-76 crew and the kind of oddball dancehall deconstructions often peddled by Ansia's extended circles. 
Appearing again on the flip, Vega ups his pace on ‘Set Em’ - a nervy footwork roller that pits gully hip-hop vocal chops against rising bell chords and washes of delayed noise. Think Rashad dubbed out by Kevin Martin and you’re in the right ballpark.

Label head Piezo’s contributions continue along similar lines, albeit in his own unmistakable style. ‘Toughts, Heavy’ also finds the midpoint between d’n’b and dembow, this time marrying a gurgling acid bassline with a euphoric-turned-paranoiac trance lead. 
Up next, ‘Nel Frigo Ah’ strips things back to the raw, banging basics: a looping vocal call pinned down by a frenetic crescendoing drum workout.

To close, Japanese legend Foodman delivers a pots-and-pans rework of ‘Thoughts, Heavy’ - a true curveball tool for the adventurous DJs amongst us.

London, UK – May 23, 2024 – The Original Gravity Label proudly announces the release of "Gravity Dubs Vol.1," the highly anticipated new LP from label boss and chief musician Neil Anderson, a.k.a Prince Deadly. This pioneering collection sees Prince Deadly masterfully dubbing some of the early Original Gravity Reggae releases, transforming them with his signature early dub style. "Gravity Dubs Vol.1" is a testament to Neil Anderson’s deep-rooted passion for reggae and dub music. As Prince Deadly, he has meticulously reimagined and remixed classic tracks from the Original Gravity catalogue, infusing them with a fresh, vibrant energy while staying true to the genre's authentic roots. This LP is set to be a landmark release, bridging the gap between the past and present of reggae music. Neil Anderson, the creative force behind the Original Gravity Label, has long been celebrated for his innovative approach to music production. With "Gravity Dubs Vol.1," he continues to push the boundaries, offering listeners a rich, immersive experience that honours the traditions of early dub while introducing contemporary elements. "Gravity Dubs Vol.1" features an array of reworked tracks that highlight the versatility and depth of the Original Gravity Label's early reggae releases. Each track has been carefully crafted, showcasing Prince Deadly's expertise in blending hypnotic basslines, echo-laden rhythms, and atmospheric effects. The result is a collection that not only pays homage to the genre's pioneers but also sets a new standard for modern dub music. "I've always been deeply inspired by the roots of reggae and dub," said Neil Anderson (Prince Deadly). "With 'Gravity Dubs Vol.1,' I wanted to take the ethos of the formative years of Dub, where studio creators re-visited the classic Studio One rhythms to create a completely new sonic landscape. "Gravity Dubs Vol.1" will be available on all major streaming platforms from 1st June and the vinyl is now on pre-order and will be shipping in early June.

For Fans Of: Operation Ivy. This was the debut release and first LP from JESSE MICHAELS post OPERATION IVY. The band was COMMON RIDER, originally released on LOOKOUT/PANIC BUTTON. Remastered by Mass Giorgini. Comes in random color vinyl

Fifth solo album from saxophonist Julius Gabriel. Born out of new sounds and rhythms that the musician discovered during the pandemic, “Tales From The Subterranean” embodies a blend of primal energy and inventive exploration across twelve tracks. The opener “Time Riding” sets the mood, a tearing rhythm that sounds like a frenetic tap dance. It invites you to move and when you get to “Footworks” you are all set up, merging saxophone finger percussion with a continuous siren whisper emanating from the instrument, provoking euphoria, fear and satisfaction all at once. Moving on, you start to understand the sense of discovery behind the record and the needs Julius had, like to construct a saxophone with drone capabilities and closer to an idea of natural sound. “Hailing From The Mountains” has a meditative tone; “Westward At Sundown” feels like a ballad. Born from darkness yet radiating with newfound light, “Tales from the Subterranean“ stands as a testament to the resilience of artistic expression. It is primal music.

All music composed and performed by Julius Gabriel on electroacoustic tenor saxophone and twin soprano saxophone.

Exit Plan" ist das 6. Studioalbum von Withering Surface nach dem Erfolg des 2020er-Comeback-Albums "Meet You Maker". Der Prozess des "Exit Plan"-Albums war lang und herausfordernd mit verschiedenen Aufnahmesessions, Besetzungswechseln, Produzenten und obendrein all den Hindernissen mit Covid und Post-Covid. Die Tatsache, dass die Engagements der Band bei Copenhell und verschiedenen anderen Festivals im Jahr 2020 um zwei Jahre auf 2022 verschoben wurden, hätte Withering Surface, die nach 15 Jahren im Dornröschenschlaf ein Comeback feierten, leicht das Leben kosten können. Stattdessen wurden alle Anstrengungen in die Entwicklung von "Exit Plan" gesteckt. Ein Album, auf dem sowohl das Songwriting als auch das lyrische Konzept der Band stärker denn je erscheinen. Hinzu kommt die Produktion von Soren Andersen (Medley Studio), der
in Rock- und Hardrockkreisen vor allem durch seine Arbeit mit Künstlern wie Thundermother, Tygers Of Pan Tang und Glenn Hughes bekannt ist.

Soren Andersen war nicht die offensichtliche Wahl als Produzent für eine Melodic-Death-Metal-Band, aber am Ende war er die perfekte Ergänzung für Withering Surface anno 2024 und lieferte einen gewaltigen Over-the-Top-Sound. Das lyrische Konzept: "Exit Plan" handelt davon, Grenzen und Normen, die einem gesetzt wurden, zu durchbrechen. Einen mentalen Schlussstrich ziehen und neu anfangen. Völlige Klarheit darüber zu bekommen, wo man ist und hingeht und enden will = "Exit Plan". Songtitel wie "Where
Dreamers Die", "Mindreader", "You Hurt This Child" und "I Finally Lost (All Faith In Humanity)" haben alle eine lyrische Grundlage in der oben genannten Lebenseinstellung, Sex, Scham, Religion und einem schwindenden Menschenbild.

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2024 Repress

With two critically acclaimed albums and a swathe of award-winning production turns under their belt, Ana Frango Elétrico present their most confident and accomplished work to date: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua / Call Me They That I’m Yours. Gesturing to a tradition of Brazilian boogie music, but bouncing with modern pop ebullience, the album sees the Rio artist evolve from a captivating upstart into a surefooted scene leader in full stride.

At just 25, the prolific artist and producer has already garnered worldwide admirers. Ana’s sophomore Little Electric Chicken Heart was nominated at the 2020 Latin Grammys. Since then, standalone singles have received the WME ‘Best Music Producer’ Award, recognising Ana’s deep passion for music production – a passion which has led to collaborations with nascent Brazilian stars Dora Morelenbaum, Illy and Sophia Chablau. Most recently, Ana was hailed for their co-production of Bala Desejo’s 2022 Latin Grammy-winning album Sim Sim Sim.

The new album finds Ana at their most assured and full voiced. Album opener “Electric Fish”, with funky bass and shimmering backing vocals, sets a buoyant tone. “Boy of Stranger Things” is its bombastic counterpart. It’s the grooviest Ana has ever sounded. And the most brazen. Lyrically, where Ana was once oblique on personal matters, they are now forthright – lucidly exploring their gender identity, citing accessible cultural references, and often singing in English.

“I started this album in 2021 with the intention of showing, in means of sound, understandings and feelings about queer love, subjectively exposing myself,” the non-binary artist states – before qualifying that though “feeling was its driving force, the album is really about musical production.”

“There’s so many references to different decades,” Ana explains. “Seventies drums with eighties processing … Going back, getting beyond … Testing the limits of organic sounds”. Characteristically playful, on Me Chama, Ana takes vivid and rewarding detours through funk-inflected R&B (“Dela”) and art pop (“Dr. Sabe Tudo”). “Nuvem Vermelha” is a cinematic chanson with lush strings that recalls Arthur Verocai. Then, “Coisa Maluca” loafs with the indie insouciance of Canadian slacker Mac Demarco. Later, “Let's Go Before Again”, is a full-on drum machine workout evocative of Stereolab.

Nachdem The National den Soundcheck für ihren Auftritt in Vancouver am 5. Juni 2023 beendet hatten, spielte die Band einfach weiter. Etwas braute sich zusammen: Die prägnanten Gitarrenparts von Aaron und Bryce Dessner trafen auf den Signature-Drumbeat von Bryan Devendorf. Als der Bassist Scott Devendorf loslegte, fing Matt Berninger an, einige Zeilen zu singen, die schon seit ein paar Jahren in ihm reiften. " Smoke detector, smoke detector / All you need to do is protect her", intonierte er. Ihr Tontechniker ließ die Aufnahme laufen und plötzlich war es ein 12 Minuten-Jam. Sie wussten, dass sie etwas Besonderes hatten, und nahmen die Live-Aufnahme bald darauf in Aarons Studio mit. Sie haben ein paar Minuten gekürzt, aber ansonsten das beibehalten, was auf der Bühne in Vancouver passiert ist. Dieser Song, "Smoke Detector", ist der krönende Abschluss von "Laugh Track", die überraschende zweite Hälfte eines Doppelalbums, das im April mit "First Two Pages of Frankenstein" begann. Es erwies sich als das letzte Kapitel eines Werks, das ansonsten neben dem Schwesteralbum geschrieben wurde - der Schlussakt einer Katharsis, die zeigt, was The National in den letzten drei Jahren durchgemacht haben. Vor zwei Jahren war die "Smoke Detector"-Zeile einer der wenigen Fetzen, die Matt während einer lähmenden Depression schreiben konnte und das zu einer Zeit, in der sich die Band fragte, ob sie jemals wieder ein Album machen würde. Nach der Pandemie belebte ihr neuer Glaube aneinander die kreativen Fähigkeiten wieder. "Weird Goodbyes", das bereits im August 2022 erschien, war ihr erster Durchbruch und der erste Vorgeschmack auf diese neue Ära. "Wir haben es wirklich schnell veröffentlicht, weil es wie ein Baby war, das in der Dunkelheit geboren wurde, oder so", lacht Matt. "Wir mussten es den Menschen zeigen". Aber als sie schließlich mit diesem umfangreichen Werk vorankamen, entschieden sie sich, "Weird Goodbyes" nicht auf das Frankenstein-Album zu nehmen. "Es fühlte sich an, als ob die Geschichte bereits erzählt worden wäre. Es war eine eigene Sache", sagt Aaron. "Aber es fühlte sich auch so an, als hätte es einen Bezug zu dem, was wir taten. Das war ein Teil der Logik für die Aufnahme einer weiteren Platte - wir wollten "Weird Goodbyes" ein eigenes Zuhause geben." "Laugh Track" ist das vielleicht musikalisch bedingungsloseste Album, welches die Band seit Jahren gemacht hat. Es ist aufmüpfig und dennoch leichtfüßig, doch es enthält ebenso viel seltene, ungebremste Schönheit wie Trostlosigkeit. Thematisch gibt es keine absichtliche Trennung zwischen "Frankenstein" und "Laugh Track". Während Matt auf "Frankenstein" eher auf der Suche nach einem Zufluchtsort war, hat er hier eine neue, klare Sicht auf das, was zählt. Sein dringendes Bedürfnis nach Intimität wird durch eine immer größere Angst vor der Unwirklichkeit des modernen Lebens noch verstärkt. Die Charaktere auf diesem Album (keine Vornamen, abgesehen von einer Tourmanagerin namens Alice - nur "ich" und "du") decken einander, träumen füreinander und helfen, den Schein zu wahren - und lösen damit das Versprechen von der gegenseitigen Fürsorge ein, das Matt auf dem Frankenstein-Schlusslied "Send for Me" gegeben hat. Wenn "Frankenstein" ein Zeichen für die Wiederherstellung des Vertrauens zwischen den einzelnen Bandelementen war, so ist das lebendige und neugierige "Laugh Track" das selbstbewusste Produkt dieses Prozesses und eine Absichtserklärung für jetzt und die Zukunft.

Back in stock! A collection of super rare and highly danceable masterpieces recorded between 1969 -1981 by four legendary composers from Benin: ANTOINE DOUGBÉ, EL REGO et Ses Commandos, HONORÉ AVOLONTO, GNONNAS PEDRO & His Dadjes Band each one of them with their own distinctive sound. This compilation comes with a 40 page full colour booklet with ultra rare pictures and biographies. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the mind-blowing sound of Benin.

2LP Soundtrack for UbiSoft video game in the Avatar series on Translucent Blue & Pink Vinyl Set after the events of the first Avatar film, you’ll embark on a journey across the Western Frontier, a never-before-seen continent of Pandora, as you join other Na’vi clans to protect Pandora from the formidable forces of the RDA. Created in collaboration with Disney and James Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, you will experience a first-person open-world action-adventure game exclusively developed to maximize the power of new-gen consoles and PC. Abducted by the human militaristic corporation known as the RDA, you, a Na’vi, were trained and molded to serve their purpose. Fifteen years later, you are free, but find yourself a stranger in your birthplace. Reconnect with your lost heritage, discover what it truly means to be Na’vi, and join other clans to protect Pandora from the RDA.