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Open Mike Eagle might not have all the answers, but few in life ask smarter questions.

Recorded in London with producer Paul White, Hella Personal Film Festival artfully dissects modern life's banalities and perils. Continuing where his 2014 Dark Comedy left off, it blends whimsical anxiety, social media addiction, and scorn. Known for collaborations with artists like Danny Brown and Mos Def, Eagle and White create tense, emotionally rich anthems that capture the disorientation of daily life and examine societal double standards and casual bigotry.

Multi-instrumentalist and synth wizard Paul White readies his third album for R&S Records, offering up a cinematic journey on ‘Peace In Chaos’ that captures the current mood with its shadowy electronic prowess. With an unabashed love of 80s synth music and film scores, the South London based producer presents an album of perhaps his most pop leaning tracks yet, following on from 2018’s ‘Rejuvenate’ and 2014’s ‘Shaker Notes’. Across eleven tracks, White delves into a world of esoteric electronic pop, as waves of melodic synths wash over towering drum patterns and majestic bass, with White adding his own enigmatic vocals to many of the productions.

Los Angeles - September 7, 2018 - Billy Idol's 1980's remix collection, Vital Idol, is getting a modern-day upgrade with Vital Idol: Revitalized, set for release on CD and digital by Capitol/UMe on September 28. A 2LP 180-gram black vinyl in addition to a limited edition, color variant will follow on November 16.
More than 30 years after his groundbreaking Vital Idol compilation cemented the vibrancy of the dance-rock remix genre in the second half of the 1980's, Idol's Revitalized collection features 11 brand-new remixes of his most classic and enduring hits. Lending their hands to the Revitalized proceedings are electronic dance luminaries Moby, The Crystal Method and Paul Oakenfold as well as current innovators including Tropkillaz, Shiba San, Juan Maclean, CRAY and RAC, who's remix of 'Dancing With Myself' debuts today.
Vital Idol, initially released in Britain in 1985 and subsequently issued in the United States in 1987, was the first remix record released by a rock superstar. Besides being certified platinum, Vital Idol was accompanied by a version of 'Mony Mony' that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, as well as hitting the Top 10 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Highlights found within the grooves of Revitalized include The Crystal Method's percussive, explosive stab at 'Rebel Yell,' CRAY's bass-and-keyboard-blessed 'White Wedding,' Tropkillaz's trop-house framing of 'Eyes Without A Face,' St. Francis Hotel's shimmering stop/start caress of 'Flesh For Fantasy,' and RAC's retro-harmonic, fist-pumping 'Dancing With Myself.'
Meanwhile, the digital version of Revitalized features four additional exclusive remixes, namely the brand new Billy Idol/Steve Stevens Remix of 'Mony Mony,' Paul Oakenfold's Extended Remix of 'One Breath Away,' Moby's 'Half Time Version' of his take on '(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows' and 'Save Me Now (Lost Dog Remix),' reworked by Billy Idol's son, Willem Wolfe with Brandon Rauch and Ed Bedrosian.

Bei allen, die den Tiefgang bei Eminems Können oder seine Fähigkeit, drastische, aber faszinierend offene Ehrlichkeit zu liefern, angezweifelt haben, bei denen werden diese Zweifel schon bei dem ersten Track von The Eminem Show in alle Winde zerstreut. "White America" lebt von seinem flotten Flow und einem krachenden Rhythmus-Track (für die Produktion der Platte war schließlich der langjährige Mentor und Partner Dr. Dre verantwortlich), und wir erleben, wie Eminem wild auf all die Hände einschlägt, die ihn doch eigentlich ernähren, wie er auf seine Kritiker einprügelt, ebenso auf die Industrie und auf den Rassismus, der in mancherlei Hinsicht Marshall Mathers mehr auf die Beine geholfen hat als sonst irgendeinem Rapper. Nach dem spektakulären Auftritt bei The Marshall Mathers LP und Eminems gezieltem Einsatz von sexuellen Ausdrücken klingt diese Art von Material noch mehr nach Kontroversen, denn es erscheint tatsächlich als die Wahrheit. Angefangen von einer brutalen Antwort an seine ihm längst fremd gewordene und verwirrte Mutter ("Cleaning Out My Closets") bis hin zu einer überraschend zarten Ode an sein Kind ("Hailie's Song") nimmt Eminem alles kritisch unter die Lupe: sein Leben, seine Liebschaften, seine Festnahmen, seine Sucht, sein Versagen und seine Erfolge, und das mit einer verblüffenden, selbstkritischen Einsicht.

After the sell-out sensation of the album 'Soul Drums’, the Steve White Trio return with a special 7” single, as they take on Deep Purple’s ‘Mandrake Root’. A fitting tribute to Jon Lord, with a Hammond-heavy groove, White shows his range and power from behind the kit. It is backed by the original ‘Sunburn’, written by Joel White and Chris Hague, who complete the brilliant Trio.

’Soul Drums’ was the inaugural release in the new Acid Jazz Jazz Sessions series earlier this year and, remarkably, the first album bearing the name Steve White. After a storied session career and long association with Paul Weller, as a member of the Style Council and as the heartbeat of Weller’s solo band on ‘Wildwood', 'Stanley Road', 'Heavy Soul’ and ‘As Is Now’, the Trio sees Steve return to his jazz and filmic influences, with a true modernist touch.

The 7” release coincides with a special appearance at the 100 Club on 17 September.

Die hochgeschätzte Sängerin, Songwriterin und Produzentin Mary Bragg aus Nashville legt ihr erstes neues Album seit über vier Jahren vor, das in den FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals zusammen mit dem Grammy-Gewinner John Paul White und dem gefeierten Produzenten, Toningenieur und Keyboarder Ben Tanner aufgenommen wurde. Jeder Song ist im Grunde ein Geheimnis, das man einem Fremden anvertraut. Wenn die Wahrheit klar wird, erkennt sich der Fremde darin wieder. Mit ihrem sechsten Album in voller Länge präsentiert Bragg der Außenwelt eine Sammlung zutiefst persönlicher Geschichten. Mary Bragg wird von einer Begleitband aus Größen des Southern Rock unterstützt, darunter Chad Gamble (Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit), Zac Cockrell (Alabama Shakes) und Jay Gonzalez (Drive-By Truckers), und liefert ein Album, das zugleich weitreichend und intim ist. Secrets to Strangers" ist ihr eindrucksvollster Beweis für Seele, Verletzlichkeit und hart erkämpftes Selbstbewusstsein, getragen von prägnantem Songwriting und unbestreitbarer Kunstfertigkeit. Auch wenn frühere Beiträge in Rolling Stone, NPR und Forbes bereits für sie gesprochen haben, zeigt sich Bragg hier in absoluter Bestform.

The Civil Wars is the second and final album by americana/folk duo The Civil Wars (Joy Williams and John Paul White). Their songs can only be described as intimate and deeply personal. Although John and Joy's collaboration only lasted from 2009 to 2013, the duo was highly acclaimed, won 4 Grammy Awards, worked with Taylor Swift and toured with Adele.

Their swansong studio album features the Grammy Award Winning Song “From This Valley” plus the singles “The One That Got Away” & “Dust To Dust”. The album also includes a brilliant cover of the Smashing Pumpkins classic “Disarm”.

The Civil Wars is available on black vinyl.

Yesca is back on Shall Not Fade with ‘Paint on Walls’ 12” EP.

2024’s Yesca EP on SNF - “Mood Loops” - set a high bar, so when we say this record is something special you should take note. Of course if you already know Yesca’s music or have had the pleasure of a Yesca DJ set then you will have already this queued up.

Sweet Spot: Ben Sims, Deetron, Oliver Ho, Vince Watson, Grain (Artwork’s Techno alias). Planet-E, Primate Recordings, Paul Mac & Stimulus Recordings found the sweet spot.

According to the OED the first use of the phrase “Sweet Spot” was in 1976 in reference to tennis rackets and golf swings. It’s where everything hits just right. And that’s what this EP does, hits just right. What strikes me is how descriptive the phrase ‘Sweet Spot’ is. Given enough swings and some luck we all know what it feels like to hit the sweet spot in some regard. Finding the sweet spot regularly though takes time and skill. But being able to hit the sweet spot by design every time, well that’s something different. That’s what makes the greats great.

For us at SNF there’s a consensus that in the lineage of electronic music there have been many moments where artists & labels converged on a sweet spot. One such sweet spot for us is in Techno
around 2003 when at the tail end of Hardgroove tempos began to slow and a groovier more refined tech house infused goodness appeared in the racks from a group of killer techno labels & artists (some mentioned above) that moment before the fuller emergence of the 2nd wave of Tech House in the mid 00’s.

That sound, while often emulated, never quite hit the same for us at least – until Yesca came along. His music has everything that we love about that sweet spot. Raw driving groove, rolling basslines and hip shaking percussion. What’s different on ‘Paint on Walls’ is that Yesca stepped on - he had already found the sweet spot on 2024’s Mood Loop EP - now his sound (or swing) is natural. Repeatable, refined and seemingly effortless. To revisit the tennis and golf analogy, this is the start of a Grand Slam run from an artist ready to etch their name in dance music history. Tiger..... Serena......Yesca.

Run the Tracks:
‘How I Do It (They Wonder)’ - A masterclass in less is more, and a serious DJ tool. Full of groove - slow it down and it will light the touchpaper in a house set - speed it up and you’ve got techno weaponry. Forget gatekeeping, this will make you feel like you just found a 2004 techno white label from the likes of Grain or Ben Sims.

‘I Desire’ - House music that I reckon Deetron would be proud of... Blissed out machine funk, whispered vocals, slick jazzy chords and dubbed out techno stabs are all grounded by Yesca’s impeccable, loopy drum programming. The best tunes always end too soon.

‘Domination’ - The ever rising bass, err, dominates this track and this track will dominate on many a dancefloor, but Yesca's knack for dubbed out swinging synth lines has to get a shout out here too. He turns what would be melodic elements into what feels like part of the percussion. Double Threat. Hands Up and Heads Down business.

‘Paint on Walls’ - It would be a tough call to say Yesca’s saved the best til last with the EP’s eponymous track given what’s come before, but Paint On Walls works all the highlights from the rest of the EP into a latin techno/house infused anthem. Skittering percussion, a hint of Detroit goodness and a deep deep rolling bassline and THAT vocal. In every way hopeful yet resistant, and that is what techno is all about.

Wewantsounds is delighted to present the first official reissue of the highly sought-after 1979 classic, Summer-Time Love Song by The Milky Way. Originally released on the Seven Seas label in Japan and produced by the legendary Makoto Matsushita-the visionary behind the cult album First Light -the album is a premier example of the sophisticated sound that defined the era. Featuring the cream of Japanese musicians, including Yasuaki Shimizu, the record offers a superb mix of AOR, jazz fusion, funk, and bossa nova. Remastered for vinyl by Colorsound Studio, this deluxe reissue features the original artwork, an OBI strip, and a 4p booklet with a new introduction by Paul Bowler.

Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.

Each time they have a chance to do something safe, Underoath challenges themselves instead, with integrity and attitude. Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody.

They're Only Chasing Safety is the fourth studio album by American melodic hardcore band Underoath. It was released on June 15, 2004, through Solid State Records. Following the release of their third studio album, The Changing of Times (2002), half of the band's members were replaced. After finalizing the line-up with vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, the band recorded They're Only Chasing Safety with producer James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Paramore). In the heavy and punk music scene, the album is considered a watershed moment. The blend of heavy metal and hardcore influences with a strong pop/punk sensibility spawned a new branch of heavy music. The sound eventually became synonymous with the screamo scene of the mid-2000s. The record went gold in 2011.

Celebrate the incredible music from the first half of the 70s with this brand-new 2LP collection packed with the era’s most iconic hits.

LP1 kicks off with Queen’s ‘Killer Queen’, followed by Elton John’s timeless ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and Mott The Hoople’s anthemic ‘All The Young Dudes’. Glam-rock favourites from Sweet, Mud and Wizzard sit alongside Pilot’s feel-good ‘Magic’ and David Essex’s distinctive ‘Rock On’. Side Two turns up the guitars with Rod Stewart’s ‘You Wear It Well’, Free’s legendary ‘All Right Now’ and Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’. Alice Cooper’s rebellious ‘School’s Out’, Status Quo’s ‘Down Down’ and Thin Lizzy’s ‘Whisky In The Jar’ continue an incredible run of rock classics before Bob Dylan closes the LP with ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.

LP2 opens with Paul McCartney & Wings’ epic ‘Band On The Run’, before Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ showcase some of the decade’s finest songwriting. Harry Nilsson’s unforgettable ‘Without You’ and Terry Jacks’ ‘Seasons In The Sun’ lead into soulful classics from Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The Stylistics. Side Two opens with Neil Diamond’s enduring ‘Sweet Caroline’ and Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’, before Diana Ross’ ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours’ launch an irresistible run of soul and dancefloor favourites. Barry White’s ‘You’re The First, The Last, My Everything’, George McCrae’s ‘Rock Your Baby’ and The Three Degrees’ ‘When Will I See You Again?’ lead into Michael Jackson’s beautiful ‘Ben’, bringing this celebration of 1970–1974 to a memorable close.

Yr Knives is a Chicago instrumental quartet built around two very different guitar voices. The band came together sideways: composer Paul Karner wanted guitarists Andrew Trim and Brian Sulpizio to play disparate parts on a recording of his own, and when the two finally rehearsed together, a band fell into focus. Trim leads the groups Hanami and Retroreflector; Sulpizio is the constant behind Health and Beauty. Anchoring them are two Chicago mainstays, bassist Douglas McCombs (Tortoise, Eleventh Dream Day) and drummer Quin Kirchner. Two of them come up as rock and roll players, two as jazz players, and the music lives in how closely they listen across those languages.

Their debut, Begin Yr Singing, centers on two overdriven guitars merging into something neither could produce alone, over a rhythm section that can lock a groove or let it drift. The result is exploratory but grounded, "a searching music," in Trim's words, that asks questions it doesn't always answer and shifts from one performance to the next. Recorded live in a single room at Chicago's Palisade studio with Nick Broste engineering and mixed by Cooper Crain with Sulpizio, the six tracks draw on Sonny Sharrock, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Albert Ayler, Erik Satie, and Television. The band has toured supporting The Messthetics.

It’s that time of year again! Are your copies of “Now! That’s What I Ca l Christmas” and “A Motown Christmas” finaly feeling worn out? Strut has the ideal antidote this year, as we dive into the world of festive records made by African artists spanning the late 1960s to the 1980s with our new Krismasi: Christmas Sounds From Africa compilation.

Taking in music from across the continent from Nigeria and Ghana to South Africa and Zimbabwe, Krismasi draws from a wide range of sounds from fun novelty records and spur-of-the-moment jams to spiritual and gospel favourites. Featured artists include Ghanian great Kwadwo Donkoh with a meditative highlife praise song from his much-loved Christmas Africana album. Elsewhere, pop star turned pastor, Jerry Boifraind, has some fun with a song celebrating seeing friends at Christmas and Nigerian pop favourite Martha Ulaeto features with the lilting lead track from her own Christmas Africana release. We pick out some choice Central and East African sounds with Kakai Kilonzo’s bri liant Kilimambogo Brothers Band and Congolese legend Baba Gaston’s Orchestra Baba National capturing the joy of the festive season. We stop off in Zim for a rare Dorothy Masuka acoustic piece and one of the country’s great musicians post-independence, Paul “Dr. Love” Matavire with ‘Christmas Yaswedera’ (‘Christmas Is Near’). Township jazz star Reggie Msomi appears with a joyous township instrumental and, fina ly, we couldn’t release a Christmas co lection without some carols. Here we include here a great version of ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ by UK-based Nigerian highlife musician Flash Dominci and a hi-octane funky medley of favourite festive hymns by Ghana’s Oscar Suley.

The compilation is the first in-depth co lection of rare African Christmas recordings, uncovering a rich and often overlooked chapter of the continent's musical history. Krismasi is available on Red & White Inkplosion Vinyl LP and CD. Vinyl restoration is by Colin Young at See Why Audio, mastering is by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, and the album features striking new artwork by Liam Large.

DJ Support: Graeme Park, Tall Paul, Paul Oakenfold & Danny Rampling and many more

The DMENJ crew returns after their huge debut with two massive tracks. Already dancefloor staples worldwide, these heaters are now available on vinyl for a limited time.

Cloudy Pink / Cloudy Green 2XLP. Before being called “the coolest man in music” (The Line of Best Fit), Paul Castelluzzo was a teenager surfing the beaches of San Diego and playing bars with local jazz greats like Curtis Taylor, until Rodney Jerkins brought him to Los Angeles to perform on tracks for Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. In between driving for Lyft and serving as the music director for a Russian Pentecostal church to make ends meet, he was enlisted for Romeo Santos’ album, Golden, but soon returned home to begin his next chapter as Hether.
Since then, his self-taught guitar style, songwriting talents and profound production palette have led to him working with everyone from Clairo, Dominic Fike, Remi Wolf and The Marías to Paul McCartney, Anderson .Paak, Benny Blanco, Kali Uchis, Kenny Beats, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, Vince Staples and more who continue to discover Hether. Having already amassed millions of streams and hundreds of thousands of fans, landing music in HBO shows and scoring films, Holy Water marks both the culmination of everything Castelluzzo has experienced and accomplished, and an expansive new evolution of a project that has shaped the present and predicted the future, but remains entirely his own.

Ungeschützt, vollkommen verwirklicht und ganz und gar sein Eigen - Wesley Josephs lang erwartetes Debütalbum zeigt den Sänger, Songwriter, Produzenten und Regisseur von seiner selbstbewusstesten und verletzlichsten Seite und bringt die vielen Facetten seines kreativen Lebensweges zum Ausdruck. Das Ergebnis ist ,Forever Ends Someday": 13 Tracks voller Selbstreflexion und weitreichender Realitätsflucht. Auf dem Danny Brown-Feature ,Peace of Mind" hingegen überwindet Joseph seine Ängste und liefert eine basslastige Hymne voller Selbstvertrauen und Zuversicht. Auf ,July" arbeitet Joseph mit Jorja Smith zusammen, und die beiden performen einen freudigen Rückblick, aufgenommen in ihrer Heimatstadt Walsall, in dem sie sich daran erinnern, wie weit sie gekommen sind und was sie alles verloren haben. Joseph nahm sich drei Jahre Zeit, um sich aus dem Rampenlicht zurückzuziehen und seine Geschichte zu finden. Er entschied sich dafür, der Ehrlichkeit seiner Kunst nachzugehen, anstatt aus seiner Karriere Kapital zu schlagen - mit Höhepunkten wie einem ausverkauften Headliner-Konzert im Londoner KOKO und einer ausverkauften Nordamerika-Tournee. ,Ich habe das Album einfach wie ein Gefäß behandelt und ständig Dinge aus meinem Leben hineingeworfen", sagt er. Der Titel ,Forever Ends Someday" bezieht sich auf die vergängliche Schönheit des gegenwärtigen Augenblicks - ,die Vorstellung, dass Dinge, wenn man jung ist, ewig währen, aber dann wird man erwachsen und erkennt, dass die Jugend nur geliehen ist", erklärt Joseph. Die Titel des Albums spiegeln ehrlich die menschlichen Erfahrungen wider, sowohl die hellen als auch die dunklen Seiten. Aufgenommen in London, Walsall, Los Angeles und ,auf halber Höhe eines Berges in der Schweiz", holte Joseph ein Kernteam von Mitarbeitern und Co-Produzenten an Bord, um seine Vision während der drei Jahre des Schreibens umzusetzen. Er arbeitete eng mit dem Komponisten Nicholas Jaar (The Weeknd, FKA Twigs), der mehrere Tracks mit seiner Sensibilität für Soundscapes bereicherte, dem Produzenten Harvey Dweller (Loyle Carner, Joy Crookes), dem für den Mercury Prize nominierten Tev'n (Rina Sawayama, SBTRKT), A. K. Paul (Nao, Fabiana Palladino), Al Shux (JAY Z, Kendrick Lamar, SZA), Ryan Raines (Paul McCartney, Dominic Fike) und dem Produzenten Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton) zusammen. Von Walsall in die Welt hinaus zeigt ,Forever Ends Someday", dass Josephs Vermächtnis gerade erst begonnen hat.

‘Cataclysm’ is a poignant call for revolution of both politics and consciousness, conveyed through ten distinct songs written and produced by Zanias between 2020 and 2024. Each piece of music inhabits its own aesthetic universe and rhythm, featuring elemental fusions of coldwave, italo disco, witchhouse, trance, breakbeats, hyperpop and even a touch of drum and bass. The unique amalgamation is best described as post-industrial ethereal wave, of Zanias’s very own signature. The subject matter grapples with how to move forward through times when civilisation and the entire ecosystem of the planet feel like they are on the brink of total collapse, while gazing back over hundreds of thousands of years of human survival in total awe of how far we’ve come. The lyrics aim for a balance of vulnerability and poetic strength, as the audience is beckoned to “thread the power through the pain”. While darker atmospheres are conjured through the sound design and instrumentation, the album ultimately directs itself steadfast toward the glittering sheen of hope. As the tempo ascends through the course of the album’s tracklist, so too does Zanias’s deep attachment to our sacred humanity and refusal to give in to despair.

‘Cataclysm’ represents an ambitious defiance of genre tropes in pursuit of pure artistry, with a potent political message delivered with assertive fervour and playful sincerity. Additional production was contributed by mixing engineer Trey Frye, best known for his work in the band Korine, and the album was mastered by Alain Paul.

Ltd. Boxset White Vinyl


Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum ihres ikonischen Debütalbums Silent Alarm veröffentlichen Bloc Party drei limitierte Jubiläumsformate: eine 2LP auf weißem Vinyl mit dem original Album, eine 2CD Edition mit dem original Album und Bonus Discs, welche Demos, B-Sides und eine BBC Peel Session beinhalten. Außerdem ist ein 12-seitiges Booklet inkl. Lines Notes und einem Vorwort von Produzent Paul Epworth. Die Deluxe-Box umfasst alle oben erwähnte als 4LP Set. 2LP für das original Album und 2LP für die Bonustracks und Raritäten sowie Demos und Sessions. Wobei es hier ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit noch nie veröffentlichten Fotos der Band und exklusive Liner-Notes gibt. Ein Muss für Fans und Sammler gleichermaßen.
White Vinyl





















u b2 She’s Hearing Voices Original Version

Paul Weller meldet sich mit Find El Dorado zurück – einem neuen, sehr persönlichen Album voller Neuinterpretationen, das am 25. Juli erscheint. Inspiriert von einer lebenslangen Leidenschaft fürs Musikhören greift Weller auf Songs zurück, die ihn schon seit Jahren begleiten – nun gedacht, neu gehört, neu gefühlt. „Das sind Lieder, die ich schon lange mit mir herumtrage“, sagt er. „Im Laufe der Zeit haben sie sich verändert. Und jetzt schien mir die Zeit gekommen, sie mit anderen zu teilen.“
Die Veröffentlichung markiert gleichzeitig ein neues Kapitel in Wellers beeindruckender Karriere. Als prägende Figur der britischen Musik – mit rund 11 Millionen verkauften Alben allein in Großbritannien – kehrt Weller zu Parlophone Records zurück, dem Label, das seine von der Kritik gefeierten Alben zwischen 2015 und 2019 betreut hat.


Find El Dorado ist weit mehr als ein klassisches Coveralbum – es ist eine emotionale Landkarte seiner musikalischen DNA. Von der sanften Melancholie in Ray Davies’ „Nobody’s Fool“ bis zum flirrenden Schmerz von „El Dorado“: Diese Songs haben Wellers Innenleben geformt – und finden nun ihren Weg zurück nach außen. Mit intimen Arrangements und starken Kollaborationen – darunter Hannah Peel, Declan O’Rourke, Robert Plant, Seckou Keita, Amelia Coburn und Noel Gallagher – öffnet Weller die Tür zu seiner ganz persönlichen Songwelt.

The title says it all - A Cellarful Of Motown! ..A Northern Soul Love Affair.

West Grand has been set up to mine the deep vaults of mighty Motown courtesy of a licence deal with Universal Music.

The first West Grand LP fuses two musical religions, Motown and Northern Soul.

In some ways they are unlikely bedfellows. Motown became known as Hitsville by churning out hit after hit, while Northern Soul passion is fired by a constant search for the unknown and the obscure.
The 16 tracks here - on incredibly the first Motown various artists vinyl album released worldwide for 40 years - join the dots. All of them were recorded in the 1960s. None of them were released at the time, despite being prime examples of the sublime magic conjured up by Berry Gordy’s genius-like team of singers, writers, producers, arrangers and musicians at that tiny little snakepit of a recording studio on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.

Motown authority Adam White’s album sleeve notes confirm just how productive that studio was. It often ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As a result, lots of the most sublime music ever made was somehow rejected for release. It would have stayed unknown and unloved in tape boxes if it had not been for detective work by Soul aficionados turned detectives. That’s Northern Soul power. Many were DJs and collectors tracking down cassette copies or acetates (some of them found in rubbish skips and about to be destroyed). Others, notably Paul Nixon, the founder of the CD series A Cellarful Of Motown! which inspired this album, badgered the Motown gatekeepers so much they were eventually granted access to the forbidden kingdom.

Over recent years all the tracks contained here have been released—some bootlegged, some on legitimate seven-inch issues, some on CD, one download-only. The album proudly boasts debut vinyl release for some in the collection. All have been remastered and have never sounded better.

As a homage to Motown music makers + Rare Soul fanaticism, WEST GRAND believe we have come up with a classic.

"Throughout all my time as a musician and producer, ever since Jack the Tab, I've been focused on developing a single idea: Blending psychedelic sounds and effects with rhythm." Richard Norris, Strange Things Are Happening White Rabbit 2024

Over the past few years Eskimo Recordings have invited some of thebest crate diggers around to curate compilations that don't just reveal the hidden contents of their record bags but something about themselves too. Now, following in the footsteps of the likes of Bill Brewster and Psychemagik, producer, musician, DJ, writer and more, Richard Norris, takes us on a globetrotting psychedelic journey with the epic 42 track collection, Mr Norris Changes Brains.

For over forty years Richard has played a part in many of the UK's most important music subcultures. Whether sharing stages with the likes of Tracey Thorn as a pubescent punk in St. Albans, or running freakbeat nights in Liverpool and working at the pioneering psychedelic label Bam Caruso, co-producing the UK's first acid house inspired LP with Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P. Orridge or riding the wave of creativity that the second summer of love unleashed all the way to the Top of the Pop studios as The Grid, Richard's career has continually seen him work to expand both his own and the public's musical horizons.

With Mr Norris Changes Brains it's the most recent part of his mercurial career that he's focused on. Drawing inspiration from his post 2006 adventures as one half of Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, alongside Trash's Erol Alkan, this compilation shows how a more connected world has blown the dust off a paradoxically sometimes straightjacketed scene. The result is a dizzyingly wide-ranging collection that explores the further out there reaches of worldwide psychedelia and dancefloor mayhem.

"A lot of these tracks are fairly recent discoveries, things that I've discovered from around the time I started working with Erol and going right up to today," Richard explains. "Whether that's from going out to play and finding new records in places like Istanbul or just connecting with people online from all around the world. Psych can sometimes be a sort of narrow-minded field, with everything having to sit in its specific niche, but more and more people are open to new sounds and that's allowed for a much broader selection."

Despite their disparate origins what does unite these tracks is that they aren't just there to zone out to on a bean bag as projections of swirling coloured oils and psychedelic patterns wash over you. Mr Norris may change brains but his DJ sets also move feet, and whether it's their killer guitar riffs, oscillating synths floor shaking drums or soulful Hammond organs these are all cuts that from festival tents to underground clubs have proven time and time again to get people dancing.

"With a lot of these tracks there's a kind of fun element in them," says Richard. "It's still psychedelia, but they've also got these solid, funky grooves. They sound phenomenal on the dancefloor and as much as these records might excite old psych heads, this compilation is also for a new generation out there who might have never heard anything like this before and, just like when I was 18 and heard The 13th Floor Elevators for the first time, think 'Oh, my God, what on earth is this and more importantly what else is out there?'"

Following the success of his ‘Love Dub So’ EP, Nick Barber’s Doof project returns to Mysticisms, delving back to his earliest recordings of his ground-breaking Trance project, presenting tracks from his previously cassette only release ‘The Love Mixes’.

A youth that had captured the psychedelia of Pink Floyd, Gong, Hawkwind and on to Psychic TV, as a self-taught guitarist, his first trip to India and Thailand in 1989 and witnessing the early electronic dance music at the Full Moon parties, had seemed rudimentary in nature compared to musicality of psychedelic rock.

Returning to England, the electronic / rock crossover of The Shamen’s ‘Progeny’ parties – featuring DJs like Paul Oakenfold and Mixmaster Morris with the live acts of Orbital and Ramjac Corporation – offered something new that turned his head, before finally finding his crew in the legendary squat / underground Pagan parties. There, residents Lol and Yaz first played the new electronic Trance sound, introducing Barber to the music of Eye-Q, Dance To Trance and the hugely influential Pete Namlook.

Recorded between 1990 – 1991, while living in Cambridge to study Philosophy, these are the first versions of tracks that formed the basis of his debut EP on Novamute, in 1993. Working with minimal equipment – an Akai sampler, Roland monosynth, Yamaha delay pedal, all sequenced on an Atari black and white PC and single MIDI output and then recorded straight to an 8-track Tascam cassette multitrack – the exuberance and rawness of the music are full of the excitement and naivety of youth.

Never intended for public release or initially even as a demo, Barber would play the music off the Tascam multitrack for friends at after parties. Dubbing a handful of cassettes himself and personally drawing the covers, around a dozen cassettes were handed out to mates. Eventually one copy found its way to Mute Records, who were looking to launch their dance offshoot, Novamute. Re-edited mixes of Gift Of The Gods and The Nagual appeared on his debut EP and history was made, before Doof went on to release for luminaries like TIP Records and Dragonfly and a career touring the globe was launched.

Remastered from the original tapes, this EP offers a snapshot of that time, the energy and joy of these early recordings is clear and overwhelming. Where Ambient, House and Techno met the birth of electronic Trance that truly stand up some 30 years later as originals then and now.

Trance The Mystery.

The fifth album from H. Hawkline (Huw Evans), ‘Milk For
Flowers’, is released via Heavenly Recordings.
Following the 2017 album, ‘I Romanticize’, and 2015’s ‘In
The Pink of Condition’, the album was produced and
features musical contributions from long-time collaborator
and celebrated solo artist Cate Le Bon. Artwork is
designed by H. Hawkline.
Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, the
album features a host of musical collaborators - Davey
Newington (Boy Azooga) on drums, Paul Jones (Group
Listening) on piano, Tim Presley (White Fence, DRINKS,
The Fall) on guitar, Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo) and
Euan Hinshelwood (Younghusband, Cate Le Bon) on sax,
Harry Bohay (Aldous Harding) on pedal steel and John
Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding) on infrequent bongo.
The record was then engineered by Joe Jones (Aldous
Harding, Parquet Courts) and mixed, after an unlikely and
fortuitous crossing of paths, by the Grammy-nominated
Patrik Berger (Charli XCX, Robyn, Lana Del Rey), and
mastered by Heba Kadry (Deerhunter, Cass McCombs,
Cate Le Bon).
‘Milk For Flowers’ is at once visceral and enlightened, its
soundscapes verdant yet delicately rendered, and with this
latest, most intimate work, H. Hawkline bares his blood,
bones and soul beautifully. And quietly, along with the
entrails and rubble held in ‘Milk For Flowers’’ reliquary,
there hides a small, green kernel of life; hope, perhaps,
that today’s decay might nourish tomorrow’s blooms.
Available on CD and LP with rigid ‘tip-on’ sleeve with antiscratch matt lamination and digital download code.

360 mcn white-white light cardboard paper / one side only hand plasticization / 2 separated parts prints / hand gluing / PVC outers / original artwork / gatefold sleeve / Bandcamp limited edition 30x60 cm insert with extended liner notes by Tony Higgins and Interview with Babs Robert and Sébastien Gorlé with exclusive pictures and self-portrait by Babs Robert himself printed on GF Smith "Takeo Tant Select" Canvas Paper tip-on left jacket panel / Exclusive never released Memorabilia from Babs Robert's vault.

Personnel:
Babs Robert - alt sax, tenor-sax, electric tenor-sax, Bin Recorder, Acme siren, Chinese-bell, sleigh-bells, maracas, tambourine,hand-rattle,claves)
John Van Rymenant - baritone-sax, fluegelhorn, Bala, tambourine, sleight-bells, cowbell, triangle, claves
Johnny Peret - vibes, bongo's, cowbell, maracas, castanets, rattle-snakes, tambourine, drums, woodclock, trinagle
Johnny Brouwers - piano, prepared-piano, triangle, cowbell, sleigh-bells, maracas, caves,hand-rattle, guiro, woodblock, tambourine
Paul Dubois - bass, triangle, cowbell, claves, rattlesnakes, hand-rattle, woodblock, tambourine
Michel Gobbe - bass,Chinese-bell, claves
Robert Pernet - drum, tambourine, seven-notes M'Bichi, guiro, alarm-siren, home-made metal xylophone, African telephone-drum, triangle, sleigh-bells, Siku

Notes:
Despite its modest role on the world stage, Belgium has produced a number of internationally renowned musicians and composers. There is the iconic gypsy jazz guitar maestro Django Reinhardt, whose position remains unassailable, and guitarist/harmonica player Toots Thielemans, who became an internationally renowned artist performing and recording with Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Shirley Horn and Quincy Jones. The other key Belgian figure is composer/arranger Francy Boland, co-leader with US bebop drumming legend Kenny Clarke of Europe's leading big band of the 60s, the Clarke-Boland Big Band.

The Love Planet performed in the main clubs of Brussels, such as Blue Note, Pol's Jazz Place, and Smog as well as in major musical events throughout Belgium including to big festivals in 1969 - the Avant-Garde Festival in Ghent and the First International Jazz Event in Liege – where the Love Planet shared the bill with Miles Davis - and the Bilzen Jazz Festival in 1970. The contrast between the musical architecture of the themes and sonic freedom in the improvised playing perfectly illustrated the polymorphism – an order within disorder – which the Love Planet aimed for.

The initial original quartet line-up was Babs Robert (sax), Paul Dubois (bass), Johnny Brouwers (piano), and Johnny Peret / Robert Pernet (dru- ms). On the album session, the quartet was augmented with the addition of John Van Rjimenant (saxes) and Michel Gobbe (bass). As well as their main instruments, the band members also played an array of unusual instruments, principally percussion. This is the first official re-release
of the 'Babs Robert and the Love Planet'. Original copies of the album fetch many hundreds of Euros on the collecting circuit and it remains a curious and fascinating window into a moment in time that still resona- tes some fifty years later. Come with us to the Love Planet. (Tony Higgins)

These are all tracks that were available digitally as part of the artists single sales, and that people wanted us to press on vinyl. This is a very limited album, and like all Kniteforce White, it will never be repressed. It comes on glorious clear blue vinyl.

They’re Only Chasing Safety is the fourth studio album by American melodic hardcore band Underoath. It was released on June 15, 2004, through Solid State Records. Following the release of their third studio album, The Changing of Times (2002), half of the band's members were replaced. After finalizing the line-up with vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, the band recorded They're Only Chasing Safety with producer James Paul Wiser (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Paramore). In the heavy and punk music scene, the album is considered a watershed moment.
The blend of heavy metal and hardcore influences with a strong pop/punk sensibility spawned a new branch of heavy music. The sound eventually became synonymous with the scream scene of the mid-2000s. The record went gold in 2011

Twin Cities duo Feel Free Hi Fi return to their in-house imprint Digital Sting with their first full length entitled “I was so far in I was out.” After two prior EP's and collaborations with Equiknoxx and Duppy Gun Feel Free Hi Fi deliver 8 new tracks of their distinct but eclectic digital dub. Amalgamating many of the sounds, sonics, and aesthetics of prior releases into these eight percussive instrumentals. The industrial dub and weirdo dancehall remain but the focus is further refined while also exploring environmental and cinematic sounds to create often dark and heavy versions that are as singular as they are collective, as introverted as they are expansive.

The records come in double sided silk-screened printed custom DJ Jackets, with Obi Strip style stickers and hand stamped white labels created and printed by Digital Sting.

The package, posted from Inglewood in California, dropped through my letter box…
I was looking forward to seeing this, the VHS of the then relatively ‘unknown’ but now legendary live show at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. But when I fed it into my VHS player, I was disappointed. I could not quite figure out why. The band were tight, each musician sounded great, the product of being on the road, year after year, club after club in the States, sometimes playing five shows a night, all propped up by one of the best soulful voices we had ever heard, the maestro Frankie Beverly.
It took a second play of the VHS to realise what was missing. It was ‘too comfortable’ an atmosphere. A few wealthy customers sat around coffee tables quaffing champagne. It seemed to me that this audience, somehow, did not fit the band.
Paul Fenn at Asgard promotions received the contract from the band to appear live in London and Manchester. I became more and more convinced that his UK fans were going to be a lot more responsive than those from New Orleans.
We put the word out with just a couple of exclusive ‘shout outs’ by Robbie Vincent on his Radio London Soul programme. Those two plugs were enough to sell out all four shows at London’s premier music venue, the Hammersmith Odeon. The ticket office was rammed and the queue six deep, stretched halfway down Queen Caroline Street.
“I have never seen anything like it” expressed the manager of the theatre as he rolled down the shutters and turned on the “Sorry, SOLD OUT” notice above the theatre box office.
I was curious, so I went up and stood in the wings of the Hammersmith stage on that first show. Frankie, introduced to the stage by his sound engineer, Greg Blockman, sauntered past me, strumming his rhythm guitar, dressed in a casual dark green towelling suit, a brown leather visor and flip flops…and then five seconds later, he suddenly stopped. He seemed suddenly to be aware of the thunderous ’Welcome to London Maze’ roar, circling around the theatre about to engulf him. He slapped every black and white hand offered up to him that night, with a huge smile as he circled the edge of that stage. We wanted to get next to him, even if it meant climbing over rows of seats in front of us to do so.
That was the beginning of our love affair with Maze and Frankie Beverly. It certainly wasn’t New Orleans comfort; it was more like a crazy, but friendly, London riot.
Five albums on from the “Live in New Orleans” LP, Frankie sauntered into the California recording studio, probably with the same swagger as in London, to cut the delightful A-side here, “Somebody Else’s Arms”, from his aptly named ‘Silky Soul’ album. Along with the B-side, ‘Love is’ (from the “Back To Basics” CD, 1993) both are so delicious you might want to relax and pour yourself that London glass of champagne, 1983 vintage. Tell your mates your Maze/Hammersmith story too. You deserve it.

GRAILS don’t mince words. Awesomely communicative but entirely instrumental, this dynamic band’s violin, guitars, piano, and drums collide with sober melodies and massive emotion. At alternate moments, Grails can sound vaguely classical, Eastern European, Irish, like the lost tapes of Pauline Oliveros, and, you know, rock. They’re not really like anything else on the Neurot roster, but they’ve got something in common with all the Neurot bands: a commitment to intense music that forges new paths and, yeah, communicates in the most real way possible.
Grails have their fair share of ambient noise - shivery violins, a trickle of a high-hat, the amplified scrape of a guitar string - but their music is based on strong, narrative melodies that resonate in the heart. At times it sounds delicate, but they never cower; Grails ROAR, even when they’re being quiet.
The Burden of Hope is the debut LP, following a pair of self-released, eponymous ep’s in 2000 and 2002. The LP is the culmination of a year’s worth of recordings, including a reinterpretation of Sun City Girls’ classic “Space Prophet Dogon.”
Grails are gathered in Portland, Oregon from Baltimore, Little Rock, Louisville, Chapel Hill, and Reno. As an ensemble, their respective backgrounds in hardcore, classical, folk, and rock blend seamlessly. Formed in late 2000 to execute live the bedroom recordings of guitarist Alex Hall, the once-tentatively-assembled group found unexpected success with both audiences and local press. Originally formed under the moniker Laurel Canyon, the name of the group was changed to Grails to coincide with the release of The Burden

Sounds Of The Universe | The 12" Singles, a deluxe collector's
edition box set, contains seven 12" vinyl discs presenting
singles--including Wrong, Peace, the double A-side Fragile
Tension/Hole To Feed--alongside B-sides, remixes, dub
versions and other recordings contemporaneous to Depeche
Mode's 12th studio album, Sounds Of The Universe, originally
released by Mute Records in April 2009.
Sounds Of The Universe | The 12" Singles offers a full range of
ear-grabbing mixes--radio, club, dub and more--of Depeche
Mode originals with three discs (Discs Two, Four and Seven)
newly compiled for this collection, bringing together B-sides
and mixes first released across CD and maxi-singles
contemporaneous to the album's release.
When it came time to record the Sounds Of The Universe
album, DM's classic core (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew
Fletcher) returned to the studio to make their second album
with producer Ben Hillier, whose intuitive contributions to
their previous studio album, 2005's Playing The Angel, had
created new sonic possibilities for the band expanding
Depeche Mode's vision and repertoire while continuing their
tradition of issuing monumental 12“ singles.

Celebrating a Decade of Dark Entries with a compilation titled ‘Tens Across The Board’. We revisit our roster and chose 10 songs from 10 bands from 10 different countries spanning the years 1981-1993. The songs flow in chronological order and have never appeared on vinyl, with 7 of the songs previously unreleased.

The compilation begins in 1981 with Parade Ground from Belgium, the duo of brothers Pierre and Jean-Marc Pauly with help from Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc of Front 242. “The Light’s Gone” was one of their earliest experiments and employs a stark minimalism with modular synthesizers, guitar reverb and tape delay. Next we venture to Granada, Spain in 1982 to meet the trio of Diseño Corbusier. Influenced by Cabaret Voltaire and Dadaism, “La Esperanza está en Antenas” was the band’s take on melancholic pop fueled by a robotic DR-55 bass-line. Sailing the Mediterranean Sea to Athens to meet Greek electronic goddess Lena Platonos who shares a demo from 1983. “Μια Γάτα Σασ Περιμένει Στη Γωνία” translates to “A Cat Is Waiting On The Corner” and is possibly the witchiest sounds we’ve shared yet, ending with a blood curdling scream. Frozen in 1983 we cross Ionian Sea to Messina, Italy and visit Victrola, the duo of Antonino “Eze” Cuscinà and Carlo Smeriglio. They’ve unearthed a melodic instrumental version of “Luca” fueled by a Korg Polysix and TB-303. Traveling across the Adriatic to Slovenia circa 1984, where Borghesia are working on their album ‘Ljubav Je Hladnija Od Smrti’. “Magla” translates to “Fog” fitting for the thick, somber electronics of Aldo Ivancic providing a dense atmosphere for the baritone vocals of Dario Seraval.

On Side B we go down under to Sydney and excavate a hidden Tom Ellard song recorded in 1984 under the alias Lord Metal, an anagram of his name for copyright reasons. “Ga Duum Blitzfonika” is a slow-motion, unadulterated dance groove originally released on the cassette compilation "Independent World”. Skipping ahead to 1986 in Tours, France we salute X-Ray Pop the minimum new wave duo of Didier "Doc" Pilot and Zouka Dzaza. They contribute the hypnotically fragile “Corto Maltese” that originally appeared on the cassette compilation ‘Plop’. Crossing the German boarder we arrive in Dortmund at the apartment of Andreas Sippel of Second Decay who recorded the instrumental demo “Lübeckerstrasse” in 1988 with partner Christian Purwien. Utilizing an TR-808, SH-101 and Arp Odyssey this cold slice of futurism was named after the street Andreas lived on. Traveling westward to England, specifically Basildon, Essex to the teenage bedroom of From Nursery To Misery, the trio of identical twin sister vocalists Gina and Tina Fear and keyboard player Lee Stevens. “Contentment” is an introspective, ethereal pop song with child-like vocals that originally appeared on the Belgian tape compilation ‘Heartbeat Vol.4’ in 1989. Finally, we return home to San Francisco and close out the compilation with Cyrnai the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Fok. “Digital Grit Box (Demo)” was an outtake from the ‘Transfiguration’ album sessions recorded in 1993, utilizing dark dance drum beats made with MIDI sequencer programs Studio Vision and Sample Cell.

All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl is housed in a custom designed jacket by Eloise Leigh featuring our label’s colors black-white-red with connect-the-dots pattern linking the 10 songs via maps/timeline/location, all relating to the reissue process, plus source images from San Francisco, our hometown. For this landmark release we've also printed a 2-sided fold-out wall poster that includes every artist we've released in our first 10 years 2009-2019 in black, red and silver metallic ink, plus an 8x11 insert with lyrics, notes and photos.

'World' is the debut album dreamt up by Barcelona based DJ / Production duo Memorial Home. Comprising of Paul Roux (France) and Jeremy Pinchasi (Belgium), 'World' is the exciting result of their shared desire to push the limits of their own brilliant musical foresight. It's an ambitious 20 track longplayer which effortlessly showcases the incomparable sonic space shared between both musical masterminds.

Sitting somewhere just to the left of Nicolas Jaar, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Mike Dehnert and Ostgut Ton, Memorial Home has managed to craft an album absolutely unique to their sound, impossible to categorise and sure to catch the attention of music lovers of all shapes and sizes. Techno without a dancefloor, experimental electronica fit for the warehouse raves. It's an exciting, perfectly confusing album which simply works wonderfully.

Heavily textured in incredible atmospherics, dub effects and crisp, clear percussion, 'World' spreads over an excellent array of individual tracks full of groundbreaking musical magic. Incorporating a stunning fusion of live instrumentation and electronic craftsmanship, 'World' is an audio adventure into emotive soundscapes, with a clear focus on the subtle saturation of melancholy. It's a soundtrack for a dystopian film yet to be written. A sonic painting for the coming winter months where the trees are all but dead and frozen; and the ground a thick layer of glowing white snow.

Memorial Home are the founders of the independent label Rapid Eye Movement, which has seen a breadth of incredible EPs riding the balance between experimental Techno and introspective electronica. They first met by random chance in their newly adopted home of Barcelona, Spain. This unexpected encounter quickly developed into a full-fledged musical kinship through their shared interest in crafting cinematic, experimental techno music. Each release from the label and duo showcase their clear passion to unearthing sounds beyond the expected. With their debut LP about to drop, the future is looking certain for the duo, the label, and the changing face of modern day electronic music.

KiNK (Macro/ Running Back)
I love this! All the tracks are massive! My favorite is the Andreas Gehm remix as it`s the most
weird one, but I`m a sucker for funky acid and this is right up my alley!'

Robert Owens (Chicago/London/Berlin)
Great tracks'

Tensnake (Virgin)
thanks, nice original and Gehm remix'

Dave Clarke (White Noise 2fm)
Dark and groovy'

Luke Solomon (Classic Music)
love love love love hard TON xxxxxxxx'

Tim Sweeney (Beats In Space)
Make me Dance is the one for me'

DJ T. (Get Physical)
thank you for the music!'

ÂME / Kristian (Innervisions)
thanks'

Mark Broom (UK)
FAT mix from Andreas! Respect for the UK!!!!!!!!'

Massimiliano Pagliara (Live At Robert Johnson)
bravi!!'

Mørbeck (Vault Series/Code Is Law)
Make Me Dance!'
Acid Washed (Paris)
MEGA GOOD!!!'
Patrick Pulsinger (Vienna)
love it!'
Angel Molina (Barcelona)
the ultra dark acidic 'Make Me Dance (Andreas Gehm Remix)' is my track on here, although
'Forget About The Music' is a fantastic 80 ´s house track as well. Thanks.'

Paul Woolford (Planet E/Hotflush)
2 thumbs up for the Andreas Gehm Remix. Many thanks!'

Renato Cohen (Brazil)
That's proper music! Forget About The Music sounds amazing. Andreas Gehm Remix is also
huge!'

The Yummy Fur’s first album of new material in over 25 years is seductive and ambiguous; a fast-paced flip through scenes from art, myth, life and fantasy; a witty whole made from glittering scraps. The band’s original incarnation – fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist John McKeown from 1992 to 1999 – morphed from making quick-hit cartoon-art songs to Eno and Cale-influenced creepers, populated by characters from McKeown’s life in Glasgow and the films, books and poetry that he lived a parallel life through. Everybody Talks About The Weather delights in using every past iteration of the band as potent collage material: a melee of sounds and ideas existing at once, revealing themselves then dipping back into hiding.
Recorded by the original core trio of McKeown, Brian MacDougall (guitar) and Paul Thomson (drums), Everybody Talks About The Weather comes 17 years after the band reformed for sporadic live shows, and seven years after the release of their sorta-greatest hits compilation Piggy Wings (Rock Action). Ten tracks long with nothing to spare, it is as condensed and vital as their best songs, with a new clarity of sound that allows their ambiguities to come into the light.
The album begins with “Cogs”, a taunting inquisition from within. As McKeown stages a fight between his id and ego, the tension heats up between conversational guitar lines and minimalist repetition; threatening sing-song melody and real, palpable menace. The band members are forced in tandem only to break apart, sustaining a genuine sense of just-hidden danger throughout the whole record – except, arguably, “Headphones”, a looser moment which sees McKeown make an existential something out of nothing while waiting for someone in the car (“I should have brought a book.../My ears are bleeding from the compression on your album”)
The songs are riots of reference: “Unity Over Europe” is a slyly complex two act play about the Mitford sisters – Diana, Unity, and Nancy, in a wink to the YF canon – smashing tragic biographical detail together with allusions to Thomas Pynchon and Francis Bacon. Pynchon is also lifted to serve “Blue Sunshine”, a collision of school shooters, serial killers and fictional fuck-ups (“Fast forward to Compton/Fast forward to Pynchon/Fast forward to Columbine'”) whose buzzy guitar lines are taunting and confrontational like a smarmy teenager. The innocuous title of “My Lasagne” belies a song that exists in several time periods at once: a visit to see Guernica, 50 people with their backs to the portrait of Dora Maar; the time that Picasso painted from; the Reina Sofia and the dirty streets of the Malasaña; myth-making musicians and the myths they’re riffing off overlapping and leering at each other.
All this could be laboured in lesser hands, but cultural verbosity is second nature to The Yummy Fur, who transform all this source material into songs that are weird, sexy, funny and absurd. Meaning is not happily understood or flattened. Susan Sontag's essay Against Interpretation accompanied McKeown as he wrote this album, and she’s paraphrased in “Semolina Ballerina”, the album’s justification of artistic ambiguity. Thomson’s motorik beat leads a gathering of back-and-forth instrumental phrases – including a wiry contribution on saxophone – embodying the futility of trying to parse something definitive from repeated action. “Listen to the very first thing that’s in your head,” Sontag-via-McKeown commands directly, then slinks sideways: “Interpretation is a conversation in an unmade bed”
The album features two more focused portraits, or at least The Yummy Fur’s version of such a thing. “Wanda” merges the life of filmmaker Barbara Loden and the title character of her semi-autobiographical 1970 feature film, with Loden’s then-husband Elia Kazan joining the fray of no-good men in her film. It’s a mix of adaptation and avant-criticism, with McKeown’s wordplay and mannered pronunciation mirroring the way that non-fiction and fiction twist around each other in the song. The title track is a series of vignettes and impressions from the lives of the band’s ‘90s inner circle, positing painter Mac McNaughton as a kind of Falstaffian ringleader. As with Piggy Wings and the recent single “New T-Shirt”, McNaughton painted the cover of Everybody Talks About The Weather – like the album’s music, the image of a coy girl in a white dress is an uncanny amalgamation of styles, suggestions and references just out of reach, as though seen in an art museum in a dream.
The album ends with two reads of the same frustration. “King of Nothing” is the closest The Yummy Fur will ever get to sludge-rock: the band melts together into a dusty, dreary haze as McKeown drowns in a drudgery of personal struggle (“Two jumpers on in Babylon/And only cats to talk to”) and the rhythmic toppling of heroes (Rowlands, Duvall, Munro). The majority of visible dirt is cleaned off for “Say Hello”, an uncharacteristic depiction of throwing the windows open after a dark night of the soul. Here, the situation is still cold and hard (“When the sun burns gold, but the heat never reaches your fingertips”) but it feels surmountable. Everybody Talks About The Weather is an unpredictable album from an unpredictable group, but ending on a moment of almost uncomplicated light is maybe its biggest surprise. - Claire Biddles (2026)

The Yummy Fur’s first album of new material in over 25 years is seductive and ambiguous; a fast-paced flip through scenes from art, myth, life and fantasy; a witty whole made from glittering scraps. The band’s original incarnation – fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist John McKeown from 1992 to 1999 – morphed from making quick-hit cartoon-art songs to Eno and Cale-influenced creepers, populated by characters from McKeown’s life in Glasgow and the films, books and poetry that he lived a parallel life through. Everybody Talks About The Weather delights in using every past iteration of the band as potent collage material: a melee of sounds and ideas existing at once, revealing themselves then dipping back into hiding.
Recorded by the original core trio of McKeown, Brian MacDougall (guitar) and Paul Thomson (drums), Everybody Talks About The Weather comes 17 years after the band reformed for sporadic live shows, and seven years after the release of their sorta-greatest hits compilation Piggy Wings (Rock Action). Ten tracks long with nothing to spare, it is as condensed and vital as their best songs, with a new clarity of sound that allows their ambiguities to come into the light.
The album begins with “Cogs”, a taunting inquisition from within. As McKeown stages a fight between his id and ego, the tension heats up between conversational guitar lines and minimalist repetition; threatening sing-song melody and real, palpable menace. The band members are forced in tandem only to break apart, sustaining a genuine sense of just-hidden danger throughout the whole record – except, arguably, “Headphones”, a looser moment which sees McKeown make an existential something out of nothing while waiting for someone in the car (“I should have brought a book.../My ears are bleeding from the compression on your album”)
The songs are riots of reference: “Unity Over Europe” is a slyly complex two act play about the Mitford sisters – Diana, Unity, and Nancy, in a wink to the YF canon – smashing tragic biographical detail together with allusions to Thomas Pynchon and Francis Bacon. Pynchon is also lifted to serve “Blue Sunshine”, a collision of school shooters, serial killers and fictional fuck-ups (“Fast forward to Compton/Fast forward to Pynchon/Fast forward to Columbine'”) whose buzzy guitar lines are taunting and confrontational like a smarmy teenager. The innocuous title of “My Lasagne” belies a song that exists in several time periods at once: a visit to see Guernica, 50 people with their backs to the portrait of Dora Maar; the time that Picasso painted from; the Reina Sofia and the dirty streets of the Malasaña; myth-making musicians and the myths they’re riffing off overlapping and leering at each other.
All this could be laboured in lesser hands, but cultural verbosity is second nature to The Yummy Fur, who transform all this source material into songs that are weird, sexy, funny and absurd. Meaning is not happily understood or flattened. Susan Sontag's essay Against Interpretation accompanied McKeown as he wrote this album, and she’s paraphrased in “Semolina Ballerina”, the album’s justification of artistic ambiguity. Thomson’s motorik beat leads a gathering of back-and-forth instrumental phrases – including a wiry contribution on saxophone – embodying the futility of trying to parse something definitive from repeated action. “Listen to the very first thing that’s in your head,” Sontag-via-McKeown commands directly, then slinks sideways: “Interpretation is a conversation in an unmade bed”
The album features two more focused portraits, or at least The Yummy Fur’s version of such a thing. “Wanda” merges the life of filmmaker Barbara Loden and the title character of her semi-autobiographical 1970 feature film, with Loden’s then-husband Elia Kazan joining the fray of no-good men in her film. It’s a mix of adaptation and avant-criticism, with McKeown’s wordplay and mannered pronunciation mirroring the way that non-fiction and fiction twist around each other in the song. The title track is a series of vignettes and impressions from the lives of the band’s ‘90s inner circle, positing painter Mac McNaughton as a kind of Falstaffian ringleader. As with Piggy Wings and the recent single “New T-Shirt”, McNaughton painted the cover of Everybody Talks About The Weather – like the album’s music, the image of a coy girl in a white dress is an uncanny amalgamation of styles, suggestions and references just out of reach, as though seen in an art museum in a dream.
The album ends with two reads of the same frustration. “King of Nothing” is the closest The Yummy Fur will ever get to sludge-rock: the band melts together into a dusty, dreary haze as McKeown drowns in a drudgery of personal struggle (“Two jumpers on in Babylon/And only cats to talk to”) and the rhythmic toppling of heroes (Rowlands, Duvall, Munro). The majority of visible dirt is cleaned off for “Say Hello”, an uncharacteristic depiction of throwing the windows open after a dark night of the soul. Here, the situation is still cold and hard (“When the sun burns gold, but the heat never reaches your fingertips”) but it feels surmountable. Everybody Talks About The Weather is an unpredictable album from an unpredictable group, but ending on a moment of almost uncomplicated light is maybe its biggest surprise. - Claire Biddles (2026)

*Limited edition (500) reissue of The Orchids second album – originally released on Sarah Records in 1991- remastered with the 7” and E.P tracks from the time. Translucent pink*
“The Orchids have a lightness of touch, an autumnal and mellow fruitfulness, a clear-eyed pop nous. Imagine some nexus that takes in Felt, Orange Juice, The Beach Boys and The Go-Betweens”
-Stuart Maconie

“The Orchids can come on like esoteric angels high on Felt and Massive Attack”
– John Mulvey, NME

The early summer bloom of 1992 felt like it had been pollinated by a lot of sunshine-loving records from the year before, optimistic headrushes that embraced hedonistic bliss or at least a sweeter ride. There was still an element of bedroom wistfulness to singles like Higher Than The Sun, Nothing Can Stop Us and even Paris Angels’ Perfume but there was no denying the appeal that techno, rave and Bleep held, especially when it was microdosed. Bands were more willing to experiment with technology and producers, if not necessarily going for all whistles-blazing club bangers.

The Orchids, hailing from the suburbs of Glasgow were unlikely to ever emerge from their hood as contenders for a deal on Soma Records (which had begun in 1991 in that city) but they evidently wanted to stretch their boundaries beyond their introverted debut. Unholy Soul is somewhat breezier than Lyceum. It’s still laced with a Scottish melancholy but there’s more breathing space within the production. They’d hinted as much on their 12” ‘Penetration’ EP from 1991 and lovelorn songs such as Waiting For The Storm and Peaches are now spiked by absent-minded cherubs with an ear for the 3.a.m comedown.

As lead singer James Hackett says today: “Unholy Soul was the first time we had spent more than a couple of days in the studio, doing so after work. It was a thrilling period of creativity and we had most of the songs written but not enough. We didn’t worry about that too much though because with Ian Carmichael there was a new opportunity for studio generation. Also this was the first time we had heard Pauline (Hynds) singing with One Dove so we asked her to sing on some of the songs. We were obviously influenced by a lot of the music of the time but you can still hear it’s The Orchids at heart”.

The next year of course One Dove (with Carmichael programming) released their debut album - produced by Andrew Weatherall - on the Boy’s Own label. It felt like there was a lot of ideas being spun back and forth between artists and producers in the early 90s. If some of the records also sound very much of that time that’s no bad thing either. There was a lot of loved-up nostalgia for the 60s then so it’s no surprise that many of the records have a youthful exuberance coupled to a technological innocence, that’s the charm.

There is a pivotal scene in “August in the Water” (dir. Sōgo Ishii, 1995) where the surface of a pool turns into a stone wall. The water that gave the protagonist's life its meaning becomes a threat. As you fall through this stone wall, you appear in a set of underwater coral-reef corridors, and one of the most beautiful musical themes begins to play: Aquatic Ambience, composed by David Wise for Donkey Kong Country (1994). It's a theme that represents the weightless vibe of your new deep-sea life, where you go about your mundane errands, collecting bananas while driving on a swordfish, or, as HerzMayhem put it: "Poor monkey... always swimming, never going anywhere..."

Synthetic Water Music is the second of three compilations, following Synthetic Bird Music and timed to mappa's 10th anniversary. As with the birds, it gathers friends of the label, artists who have released with mappa or played our shows. Most of the music is new, made to measure for this compilation, much of it from Central and Eastern European hands. Birds and water mix well, so please feel invited to play them together, creating your own environments.

Where the birds were in one flock, water is dispersed across four chapters. You live your life as a droppity drop: vapour in the heavens, condensing in clouds, falling into a swamp, trickling into the deepest sea.

Tlālōcān (Cassette 1, Side A)
A place of eternal spring, of aquatic energy that nourishes everything and allows all things to bloom. Bubbly and splishy-sploshy, it is full of dripping sounds and moist caverns (“Emerald Pool” by Pauline Anna Strom), a landscape filled with living fountains (“Oh, to be a Fountain” by Eva Sajanová) and winding streams that flow through the area, forming part of its organic architecture. It is also a paradise reserved for those whose deaths were water-related, where the aquatic and terrestrial beings live in symbiosis and perspectives shift rapidly, from observing a single droplet (Shakali, Lau Nau) to dew (Feronia Wennborg & Lucy Duncombe) and on to flowing currents (Visible Cloaks) that gradually transform into river music (Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton).

Nephelora (Cassette 1, Side B)
A celestial anti-gravity sound world made of evaporation, steam and the formation of clouds, as if looking at “The Sky At The Bottom of the Well” (by Natalia Beylis) or at “The Cloud That Never Rains” (by Henrique Vaz).

If a cloud never rains,
it is not a cloud at all, but a veil that parches the earth with its gaze.
It generates only its own shadow —
a looming mass of suspended longing,
a sky that hoards but never yields,
a reservoir that swallows every river and returns nothing but echoes.

The water in this world is often invisible but sometimes all the more present, as Bint Mbareh describes it: “Recently been obsessed with invisible waters because I come from a place where you have to imagine the water is there even though you cannot see a river, a sea, usually no rain, so water is in the air, the voice and the imaginal realm, drought is imagined to be negotiable.”

Žaboglach Zha-bo-glahch (Cassette 2, Side A)
A fusion of Scottish lochs and Slovak ponds: a misty, foul-smelling, swampy realm, the kind of place that swallowed Artax from The NeverEnding Story. Stagnant waters full of decay become a blooming habitat for sirens (“thereby losing the weightless delight of being swept along with it” by Adam Badí Donoval) and beings straddling the line between fauna and flora, inventing their own communication systems (“Water-lily phase” by Action Pyramid).

R'lyeh (Cassette 2, Side B)
A brooding sunken city at the bottom of the ocean. It’s a journey to get there. Let this chapter guide you, from the shore down to the depths, to the gates of an unexplored world that is inherently dark, unfathomable, and beyond the limits of human perception: starting with seasickness ("Seasick" by Nikolaienko), passing through a classic Poe-esque maelstrom ("Flurry at the Whirl-pull" by Atte Elias Kantonen), a gateway into the darkness and emptiness of the ocean floor, and finally traversing the city itself (“last waves of 2025” by Jules Reidy).
But what is pulling you to a place like this that only a few explore and even fewer leave? Maybe “the darkness that water can contain, the expanse of things we don't know and that can trigger fear instincts even as we try to rationalise them and think we are in control of the rest of nature” (“supercritical fluids” by Diane Barbé).

Dive in and surface wherever you like. Always swimming, never going anywhere. Just don’t forget to take water breaks.

P.S. Birds, then water, can you guess what comes next? Synthetic Soil Music, an elegy for insects and worms? Synthetic Glaciers, or maybe Pollinators? Which sounds would you miss the most if they disappeared? Or what if the third one never comes at all, and somebody, or something, makes Synthetic mappa Music instead. Don't you worry, with the right training data, it can all be replicated, better than the real thing.