quête:phil bar

Seit 2020 vereinen Sea Fever Kunstfertigkeit, Handwerk und Bühnenerfahrung der beiden New Order-Mitglieder Tom Chapman und Phil Cunningham mit dem Johnny Marr-Bassisten Iwan Gronow (ex-Haven), Sängerin Beth Cassidy (Section 25) und Schlagzeuger Elliot Barlow (Brix, The Extricated). Ermutigt durch kollektive Widerstandskraft kündigt die Band aus Manchester ihr neues Album "Surface Sound" an, Nachfolger ihres 2021er Debüts "Folding Lines". Der britische Musikblog Louder Than War beschreibt Sea Fever als "eine Band aus Manchester, die eine wunderbare Mischung aus fast westküstenartigen Sixties-Psych-Melodien und -Harmonien mit einem Post-Factory-Electropop-Kern spielt".

The first in a proposed series of transmissions, Surface Detail's mystifying debut introduces an incorporeal body that exists only through sound and sensation, prompting listeners to discern a spiritual realm beyond the physical. Its surging electro-acoustic compositions push past the material world to plunge into deeper sonic dimensions, slowly revealing a philosophy borne of near-death and out-of-body experiences that challenges perception itself.

Overhauling vintage experimental techniques with their bespoke modern methodologies and processes, Surface Detail rearrange the musical timeline, merging vastly different concepts to hint at questions rather than provide solid answers. Their uniquely immersive soundscapes use texture, rhythm and tonality to help brush away the superficial and contemplate the unknown, approaching its delicate, controversial subject matter with sensitivity and sensuality. Not just an auditory experience, 'Surface Detail' tests the potential of sound itself, eliciting visceral physical reactions with its uncanny subtleties.

Those principles are divulged immediately on opening track 'Marée Noire', as breathy saxophone notes loops and swirl over cosmic oscillations and microtonally tuned drones. It's music that cracks open a passage that snakes through various genres, suggesting silhouettes rather than affirming banal musical preconceptions. Skeletal rhythms appear in the ether for only a moment, disappearing into the sonic landscape, and Surface Detail's bespoke instrumentation materializes just to bring out the cellular intricacy of the music, concentrating the gaze on microscopic textures and irregularities that discompose the senses. As the album drifts forward, it bends material reality even further: on 'Southern Breach', warm, lower-register organ tones intermingle with sinewy guitar twangs, evaporating into warped, hypnotic oscillations and eerie echoes; and by 'Superbook of the Dead', the conspicuous details have almost disappeared completely, replaced by subterranean clangs, industrial ambience and other-worldly electrical interference.

It's in this way that Surface Detail softly assert their convictions, insinuating a narrative that subliminally ushers listeners down an hypnagogic River Styx by removing all traces of the familiar. On closing track 'Broken Silicates', distant lullabies, dissociated stutters and ghostly woodwind sounds blot fractal patterns on the wide open space, reincarnating the album in a liminal zone that's not constrained by somatic logic. Whisper quiet and utterly beguiling, it transcends material existence, dissolving barriers between surface and depth.

If this LP exists it is thanks to the vision, energies, work and perseverance of Thomas M. Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton. He is the president and one of the founding members of the ZBS Foundation (ZBS stands for Zero Bullshit), where the audio dramas written by Lopez himself were born. Dramatic programs with stories that blended noir, comedy and science-fiction genres such as Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe or Jack Flanders were produced to critic and public acclaim. It was in Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe that the Android Sisters, who would later have their own spin-off series, first appeared. The characters represent two robotic siblings that Tom Lopez created under big influence from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Philip K. Dick novel that was taken to cinema by Ridley Scott in Blade Runner. The Androids were performed by actresses Ruth Maleczech and Valeria Wasilewski.



The big success of these “cosmic and comic” sci-fi series, as they are described in the ZBS Foundations website, led to the releasing of cassette tapes, CDs, USBs and podcasting of the stories. Along with these, several music albums were also released in different formats. One of them is Songs Of Electric Despair, the first of two released by the Android Sisters. The songs contained are written by Tom Lopez and his long time collaborator experimental musician Tim Clark.



The Android Sisters Songs Of Electronic Despair LP was originally released as a ZBS Foundation cassette and also as a vinyl LP on Vanguard in 1984. It featured 11 compositions (two bonus tracks not on the original LP have been added to the Wah Wah reissue) on which the experimental synthesizer music of Tim Clark finds a perfect counterpoint in the deliciously surrealistic, cosmic social satire of Tom Lopez’s texts, magically performed by the robotic, yet sensual voices of the Android Sisters as performed by Maleczech and Wasilewski. Clark composed and performed the backing tracks on the Synclavier II synthesizer.



The Wah Wah reissue comes with two bonus tracks not on the original 1984 LP, respects the beautiful original album artwork and enhances it with a 4 pages full colour insert with notes and lyrics of the songs.



BARBARELLA MEETS PHILLIP K. DICK!



RIYL : SYNTH POP CYBERPUNK with DEVO’s sense of humor, LOGIC SYSTEM, FRANK CHICKENS or even some 1990s things to come such as LIKE A TIM or ARPANET.

If this LP exists it is thanks to the vision, energies, work and perseverance of Thomas M. Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton. He is the president and one of the founding members of the ZBS Foundation (ZBS stands for Zero Bullshit), where the audio dramas written by Lopez himself were born. Dramatic programs with stories that blended noir, comedy and science-fiction genres such as Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe or Jack Flanders were produced to critic and public acclaim. It was in Ruby The Galactic Gumshoe that the Android Sisters, who would later have their own spin-off series, first appeared. The characters represent two robotic siblings that Tom Lopez created under big influence from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Philip K. Dick novel that was taken to cinema by Ridley Scott in Blade Runner. The Androids were performed by actresses Ruth Maleczech and Valeria Wasilewski.



The big success of these “cosmic and comic” sci-fi series, as they are described in the ZBS Foundations website, led to the releasing of cassette tapes, CDs, USBs and podcasting of the stories. Along with these, several music albums were also released in different formats. One of them is Songs Of Electric Despair, the first of two released by the Android Sisters. The songs contained are written by Tom Lopez and his long time collaborator experimental musician Tim Clark.



The Android Sisters Songs Of Electronic Despair LP was originally released as a ZBS Foundation cassette and also as a vinyl LP on Vanguard in 1984. It featured 11 compositions (two bonus tracks not on the original LP have been added to the Wah Wah reissue) on which the experimental synthesizer music of Tim Clark finds a perfect counterpoint in the deliciously surrealistic, cosmic social satire of Tom Lopez’s texts, magically performed by the robotic, yet sensual voices of the Android Sisters as performed by Maleczech and Wasilewski. Clark composed and performed the backing tracks on the Synclavier II synthesizer.



The Wah Wah reissue comes with two bonus tracks not on the original 1984 LP, respects the beautiful original album artwork and enhances it with a 4 pages full colour insert with notes and lyrics of the songs.



BARBARELLA MEETS PHILLIP K. DICK!



RIYL : SYNTH POP CYBERPUNK with DEVO’s sense of humor, LOGIC SYSTEM, FRANK CHICKENS or even some 1990s things to come such as LIKE A TIM or ARPANET.

Der Kölner Multiinstrumentalist Roman Biewer, besser bekannt als Disso!ver, legt mit "Die völlige Abwesenheit von Punk" sein zweites Studioalbum vor. Biewer bedient sich stets verschiedenster Einflüsse und zitiert in seiner Musik Einflüsse aus den Genres Krautrock bzw. Neokraut, Indierock, Hamburger Schule und New Wave. "Die völlige Abwesenheit von Punk" entstand zwischen den Jahren 2020 und 2024. Abgesehen von Schlagzeugspuren, die Jan Philipp Janzen, bekannt von Die Sterne, Urlaub in Polen, Von Spar und Dumbo Tracks, eingespielt hat, und dem Hauptgesang in "Die Antinatale", der von Tobias Ortmanns von Komplizen Der Spielregeln stammt, hat Biewer wieder alles arrangiert, alle übrigen Instrumente aufgenommen, gesungen und die Songs vorproduziert. Info-Text: deutsch / englisch (Kurz und knackig Interesse für das Produkt wecken! Max. 10-15 Zeilen! Keine Bio! Bitte als unformatierten Fließtext!)Der Kölner Multiinstrumentalist Roman Biewer, besser bekannt als Disso!ver, legt mit "Die völlige Abwesenheit von Punk" sein zweites Studioalbum vor. Biewer bedient sich stets verschiedenster Einflüsse und zitiert in seiner Musik Einflüsse aus den Genres Krautrock bzw. Neokraut, Indierock, Hamburger Schule und New Wave. "Die völlige Abwesenheit von Punk" entstand zwischen den Jahren 2020 und 2024. Abgesehen von Schlagzeugspuren, die Jan Philipp Janzen, bekannt von Die Sterne, Urlaub in Polen, Von Spar und Dumbo Tracks, eingespielt hat, und dem Hauptgesang in "Die Antinatale", der von Tobias Ortmanns von Komplizen Der Spielregeln stammt, hat Biewer wieder alles arrangiert, alle übrigen Instrumente aufgenommen, gesungen und die Songs vorproduziert. //

The promise of a Florry show, a now familiar caravan that has been honed over ambitiously trekked zig zags across America and Europe since the release of Dear Life Records debut The Holey Bible, is the redemptive promise and prodigal joy of rock and roll guitar music. Bred in the crackling warmth of the Philadelphia DIY scene, and forged with the alloys of community action, queer liberation and bedroom poetry, bandleader Francie Medosch and her absolute unit of collaborators have put in the work of sharpening their homespun tools to take up the mantle of the great lip-puckering rock and roll tradition pioneered by the likes of The Band and the Rolling Stones, but with proudly displayed Aimee Mann and Yo La Tengo bumper stickers on the rusty frame of the truck. At any second, the wheels could come off but they are steering just fine. For 'Sounds Like' Florry's sophomore effort as a fully realized band, Medosch and co. decamped to Drop of Sun studios in the nest of the Blue Ridge Mountains to record with Asheville wunderkind Colin Miller, a critical voice behind the records of MJ Lenderman, Wednesday and Merce Lemon and a powerful songwriter in his own right. Three powerhouse days in late 2023 solidified writing work done by the band earlier that summer in the now defunct Haw Creek compound under Miller's guiding suggestion. The result is a portrait of a ripping band cresting towards the height of their powers, uniquely equipped to capture a wildly loving, barn-burning camcorder clip of a turbulent trip with your best friends, without dipping into nostalgia bait. Lyrically, Medosch's utterances are both careful and excessive, the product of sifting through the rubble of classic good-time media, and finding what works for both her and her community to reach the heights of abandon. "The Jackass theme song was actually a really big influence on the new album" The expansive personnel and continent spanning footprint of Florry casts a wide net for this community. Florry the band rolls deep in the heard of North American DIY, featuring Jon Cox (Sadurn, Son of Barb) on pedal steel, John Murray on electric guitar, Collin Dennen on bass, Will Henriksen on fiddle, Katya Malison (Doll Spirit Vessel) on Vox, and Joey Sullivan (Bark Culture) on drums. Medosch's recent move to Burlington Vermont entrenches the Philly born project firmly within the ranks of fellow alt-country upstarts Lily Seabird and Greg Freeman, and gives them a vantage just outside of Pennsylvania at the thresholds of New England and the Midwest. There is a new life breathed into this music that confirms Florry as equally rooted in place work, and at home on the vast roads of America. For listeners who fell in love with Florry's infectious charm on sweeping tours with the likes of Kurt Vile, Real Estate, MJ Lenderman, Greg Freeman and Fust, 'Sounds Like', provides a refreshing memento of the band that surely left them smiling. If the support behind 'The Holey Bible' provided validation for the insistent vision of these young artists, 'Sounds Like' finds them reveling in and honing their vocabulary. Praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Stereogum, Paste, and Brooklyn Vegan touched on the potential of their wild idiosyncrasies, and accurately predicted that their next steps would see them continuing to write their own story, like a 10 car pileup that you can't take your eyes off if you tried. Florry proves that they can let the car spin just out of control whenever they want, and you are welcome to ride shotgun while Medosch does donuts in the WaWa parking lot. The ceiling, it turns out, is truly the roof.

The promise of a Florry show, a now familiar caravan that has been honed over ambitiously trekked zig zags across America and Europe since the release of Dear Life Records debut The Holey Bible, is the redemptive promise and prodigal joy of rock and roll guitar music. Bred in the crackling warmth of the Philadelphia DIY scene, and forged with the alloys of community action, queer liberation and bedroom poetry, bandleader Francie Medosch and her absolute unit of collaborators have put in the work of sharpening their homespun tools to take up the mantle of the great lip-puckering rock and roll tradition pioneered by the likes of The Band and the Rolling Stones, but with proudly displayed Aimee Mann and Yo La Tengo bumper stickers on the rusty frame of the truck. At any second, the wheels could come off but they are steering just fine. For 'Sounds Like' Florry's sophomore effort as a fully realized band, Medosch and co. decamped to Drop of Sun studios in the nest of the Blue Ridge Mountains to record with Asheville wunderkind Colin Miller, a critical voice behind the records of MJ Lenderman, Wednesday and Merce Lemon and a powerful songwriter in his own right. Three powerhouse days in late 2023 solidified writing work done by the band earlier that summer in the now defunct Haw Creek compound under Miller's guiding suggestion. The result is a portrait of a ripping band cresting towards the height of their powers, uniquely equipped to capture a wildly loving, barn-burning camcorder clip of a turbulent trip with your best friends, without dipping into nostalgia bait. Lyrically, Medosch's utterances are both careful and excessive, the product of sifting through the rubble of classic good-time media, and finding what works for both her and her community to reach the heights of abandon. "The Jackass theme song was actually a really big influence on the new album" The expansive personnel and continent spanning footprint of Florry casts a wide net for this community. Florry the band rolls deep in the heard of North American DIY, featuring Jon Cox (Sadurn, Son of Barb) on pedal steel, John Murray on electric guitar, Collin Dennen on bass, Will Henriksen on fiddle, Katya Malison (Doll Spirit Vessel) on Vox, and Joey Sullivan (Bark Culture) on drums. Medosch's recent move to Burlington Vermont entrenches the Philly born project firmly within the ranks of fellow alt-country upstarts Lily Seabird and Greg Freeman, and gives them a vantage just outside of Pennsylvania at the thresholds of New England and the Midwest. There is a new life breathed into this music that confirms Florry as equally rooted in place work, and at home on the vast roads of America. For listeners who fell in love with Florry's infectious charm on sweeping tours with the likes of Kurt Vile, Real Estate, MJ Lenderman, Greg Freeman and Fust, 'Sounds Like', provides a refreshing memento of the band that surely left them smiling. If the support behind 'The Holey Bible' provided validation for the insistent vision of these young artists, 'Sounds Like' finds them reveling in and honing their vocabulary. Praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Stereogum, Paste, and Brooklyn Vegan touched on the potential of their wild idiosyncrasies, and accurately predicted that their next steps would see them continuing to write their own story, like a 10 car pileup that you can't take your eyes off if you tried. Florry proves that they can let the car spin just out of control whenever they want, and you are welcome to ride shotgun while Medosch does donuts in the WaWa parking lot. The ceiling, it turns out, is truly the roof.

'the fun years', comprised of multi-instrumentalists Ben Recht and Isaac Sparks, have been making music together since the turn of the century, producing intriguing interrogations of ambient, drone, post-rock, and turntablism. Originally released in 2008 on the now-defunct Barge Recordings, 'baby it’s cold inside' is perhaps the high watermark of their discography. Equally concerned with microtonal nuance and harmonic intensity, it is both a product of its time and something well past it. The chief protagonist is surely the turntable, deployed to create woolly, evocative loops from unidentifiable source material that recall, at times, the work of Philip Jeck or Jan Jelinek—churning, roiling, hissing, atrophied textures further articulated with nuanced processing and buoyed by baritone guitar drones and anti-riffing.

The title of opener "my lowville" feels like a wink to the famed slowcore duo, with spare post-rock motifs hovering in a dusty ether, slowly consumed by distorted washes of rich, harmonic sound. One of the most satisfying aspects of the album is that despite the recumbent nature of most of their sound design choices and compositional proclivities, Recht and Sparks are loath to sit still. "auto show of the dead" is a serpentine piano/guitar exploration full of subtle detail, preceding the immaculately titled "fucking milwaukee’s been hesher forever," in which the tactile delights of clicks+cuts are liberated from the laboratory and allowed to slum it in the world of tape gunk and '90s plate reverb. Later, "re: we’re again buried under" presents an inky black ambience that feels truly expansive and almost overwhelming, and closer “The Surge is Working” tears apart an anthemic shoegaze dirge at the seams, leaving only billowing filtered noise and negative space in its wake.

Presented here with a brilliant remaster by LUPO, 'baby it’s cold Inside should be considered alongside records like Belong’s October Language and Polmo Polpo’s Like Hearts Swelling—an arresting early aughts ambient marvel that warrants ongoing investigation.

'Quiet Pieces' initiates Abul Mogard’s personal imprint Soft Echoes with a definitive self-portrait of calm, contemplative, and discreet inner landscapes made audible. It is the first solo album on vinyl in four years. RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker.

While sifting through archived material left idle from earlier projects, a chance encounter with a late uncle’s trove of beloved 78rpm classical and opera records prompted the reworking and completion of what would eventually become the album. Spinning dusty records at 33 and 45rpm, Abul Mogard recombined their enduring spectres with unfinished sketches from his archive. The resulting soundscape blurs distinctions between his memories and those of another, exquisitely short-circuiting the senses with its waking, dream-like lucidity.

This was a process I hadn’t explored in my earlier works. I began sampling brief moments from these records, altering them with studio effects and playing them at slower speeds. In many cases, I wasn’t entirely sure how the original music sounded. These fragments, once further processed, became a source of inspiration for my new compositions. Over time, I realised that the old pieces from the archive and the new material derived from the samples naturally complemented each other.”

The resulting pieces hover over a threshold, a liminal space that harmonises the old and older material. Voluminous waves of quiet and loud undulate between consonance and dissonance, conjuring imagery of a decaying grandeur that humanity’s decadence has surrendered to the elements. Abul Mogard’s seemingly abandoned yet vast landscapes are nevertheless intimate with timbral frissons of red-lined distortion. Elusive, yet as tangible as sea spray or smog, they affect the olfactory senses with a rarified, synesthetic quality that modestly engages one’s emotional register – a hypnotic, distinguishing feature long hailed as one of the hallmarks of his work. A fidelity to memory and dream recall is sensitively probed in the journey from the stately symphonic stasis of 'Following a dream' to the almost industrial, untethered brutality evoked by a looming silhouette that’s never fully visible in 'Constantly slipping away', culminating in the foreboding coda of 'Like a bird'. Those pieces appear to shield the album’s sentimental core, where the tempestuous play of light and shadow of 'In a studded procession' escalates to breathtaking, panoramic climax, while 'Through whispers' evokes an out-of-body-like experience encountered with visceral poignancy.

Looking back, Mogard notes an unexpected influence: “I realise being inspired by Phill Niblock, whose work I had barely known at the time but explored after his passing in 2024. His album 'Boston Tenor Index' changed the way I approached dissonance. It encouraged me to push my sound further, to the edge of a space where I began to feel uncomfortable.”

The album artwork, created by longtime collaborator Marja de Sanctis, features a photograph taken at the Temple of Jupiter Anxur, an archaeological site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Captured with an iPhone, the image traces the residual presence of construction techniques and architectural forms of the Romans, where material history is transcribed through contemporary tools. The convergence of ancient and modern technology aims to reverberate the site’s lasting spiritual presence – an echo persisting in what is now perceived as a quiet, emptied space. The spiral gestures towards infinity and light. Past and present dissolve into one another, reflecting 'Quiet Pieces' meditation on sound, memory, and time.

RIYL Alessandro Cortini, William Basinski, The Caretaker

A double LP package from Bardo Pond, combining two of their super rare jam volumes on vinyl for the first time. A further edition in this celebrated series, ‘Volume 4’ and ‘Volume 5’ feature more freeform improvisational pieces from the hypnotic Philadelphia outfit.

Capturing the raw essence of the band, whose fearless exploration blurs the lines between structure, chaos, melody and noise. Bardo Pond's music traverses space rock, acid rock, post-rock, shoegaze, noise, Krautrock and psychedelia.

‘Volume 4’ hails from self-released sessions recorded in January 2002, its five tracks include the supremely tripped out heaviness of ‘K2’ and the balance-shifting ‘New Drunks (Revisited)’ with Isobel Sollenberger’s exquisite and, frankly, quite disturbing vocal. They’re shorter interrogations of sound by Bardo terms, almost succinct in their mesmerising riffage and off-kilter arrangements.

By contrast, ‘Volume 5’ consists of two lengthy mantras recorded between 2000 and 2004 and released as the tape spool spiralled out. ‘FUFO’ sounds like Cluster unravelling with Merzbow mixing, a post-industrial slew of hypnotic proportions, while ‘Monarch’ begins as a Current 93-like neo-folk mood piece before evolving into a wailing slice of drone-drenched Americana by way of a Velvets’ jam.

“We were pushing improvisations as far as we could. It was glorious having the studio. The more that our heads were spinning after a session, the better we knew that session would sound when we listened back. We were getting together two nights a week, usually three or four hours working on material and songs and the other half the time letting loose. Volumes 4 and 5 gather together some of these improvisations, and one early song that we felt like doing.” Adds Michael Gibbons of Bardo Pond.

Ein Album zum Schlafen und Wachen, zum Gehen und Fahren, zum Jagen und Fischen, zum Herumlungern vor einer Raststätte in der verwunschenen Tundra. In Fahrstühlen okay, zum Abendessen nicht so toll. Auf Caveman Wakes Up, dem neuen Album von Friendship und ihrem zweiten für Merge Records, wird die historisch weit gefasste Definition von Country-Musik noch weiter gefasst. Shambolische Gitarren werden durch Flötenpads ausgeglichen, trübe Poesie trifft auf eine Motown-Rhythmusgruppe, ein Song über Jerry Garcia und die First Lady Betty Ford wird mit einem Schlagzeugsolo ausgeblendet, als käme Talk Talk aus einem schmuddeligen Keller in Philadelphia und würde von James Tate gespielt. Der zerklüftete Bariton des Songwriters Dan Wriggins schneidet durch elf düstere, wirbelnde Country-Rock-Songs mit tiefgründiger lyrischer Substanz und Aufrichtigkeit. Wie ein Wecker, der am Rande eines Traums eingebaut ist, gehört "Caveman Wakes Up" gleichermaßen zum bewussten und zum unterbewussten Verstand, voller Hintergründe, durchdrungen von Referenzen und Experimenten, beiläufig und als düstere Warnung vorgetragen und vor allem der kreativen Seele der Musik gewidmet. Im Laufe der Jahre hat sich diese Hingabe ausgezahlt. Friendship ist zu einer Art umgekehrter Supergroup geworden, in der die Band selbst und jedes einzelne Mitglied im Zentrum einer zunehmend prominenten Szene junger Folk- und Country-Musiker und Songwriter steht. Der Schlagzeuger Michael Cormier O'Leary leitet das Instrumentalkollektiv Hour und betreibt zusammen mit dem Bassisten Jon Samuels das Label Dear Life Records, das Freunde und Kollegen beherbergt, die Friendship zu einem wichtigen Einfluss zählen, darunter MJ Lenderman, Florry, und Fust. (Samuels spielt auch die Leadgitarre bei MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Die Band 2nd Grade des Gitarristen Peter Gill ist ebenfalls aktiv und macht zahlreiche Aufnahmen. Wriggins begann mit dem Schreiben der Songs von "Caveman Wakes Up" auf einer verstimmten klassischen Gitarre von Lenderman und beendete es auf einem kaum gestimmten Klavier in einer Wohnung, die er mit G DeGroot von Sadurn teilte. Im Sommer 2023 hatte Wriggins gerade den Iowa Writers' Workshop verlassen, wo seine Liebe zur Poesie und sein Misstrauen gegenüber der akademischen Poesiewelt gleichzeitig wuchsen. Eine Beziehung ging in die Brüche, und Wriggins übernachtete mehrere Wochen in North Carolina im Haus von Lenderman und Karly Hartzman (von Wednesday ), wo er die ersten Demos von "Resident Evil", "All Over the World" und "Love Vape" aufnahm. Wriggins kehrte nach Philadelphia zurück, und die Band machte sich an die Arbeit, um neue Ideen zu entwickeln. Schließlich nahmen sie das Album in fünf Tagen mit Tontechniker Jeff Ziegler (Mary Lattimore, War On Drugs) auf, den Gesang mit Bradford Kreiger, dem Techniker von Love the Stranger. Orgel, Geige (Jason Calhoun) und Flöte (Adelyn Strei) wurden von Lucas Knapp in einer Kirche in West Philadelphia aufgenommen. Textlich bewegt sich "Caveman Wakes Up" auf vertrautem Friendship Terrain - das Heilige wird profaniert und das Profane geheiligt. "Caveman Wakes Up" zeigt Friendships besonderes Genie für visionäre Arrangements, die über Generationen hinweg dem Folk-Rock-Kanon von Neil Young, Joni Mitchell und Emmylou Harris ebenso verpflichtet sind wie Indie-Größen wie Yo La Tengo und den Merge-Labelkollegen Lambchop oder Zeitgenossen wie Lomelda und ML Buch. Mehrere der Songs verwenden Fade-Outs, die im Text von "Love Vape" scherzhaft erwähnt werden, und es gibt andere Elemente, die von Motown und 70er-Jahre-Balladen übernommen wurden: festgefahrene Schlagzeugmuster, Bassintervalle, gefühlvolle Streicherarrangements. Jede Referenz wird über das Genre hinausgeschoben, verwirbelt und wiederholt, zu etwas Neuem, das eindeutig zum Friendship-Sound gehört. Bei "Free Association", "Artex" und "Wildwood in January" ist der Groove so festgelegt, dass andere Klänge nahtlos kommen und gehen können: Mellotron-Flächen, Klavierwirbel und -stiche und klare Gitarrenmelodien, wimmelnde Texturen, die sich als Einheit tarnen. "Caveman Wakes Up" das bisher am weitesten fortgeschrittene Werk von Friendship, ein weiterer Beweis für die Hingabe und Sorgfalt der Band.

An album for sleeping and waking, walking and driving, hunting and fishing, for loitering outside a roadhouse on the haunted tundra. Okay in elevators, not great for dinner. On Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship’s new album and second for Merge Records, the band’s historically capacious definition of country music grows wider still. Shambolic guitars are offset by flute pads, bleary poetry is set against a Motown rhythm section, a song about Jerry Garcia and First Lady Betty Ford fades out with a drum solo, like if Talk Talk came from a dingy Philadelphia basement and was fronted by James Tate. Songwriter Dan Wriggins’ ragged baritone cuts through eleven murky, swirling country-rock songs with profound lyrical substance and sincerity. Like an alarm clock incorporated into the edge of a dream, Caveman Wakes Up belongs equally to the conscious and subconscious mind, fraught with background, steeped in reference and experimentation, delivered casually and as a dire warning, dedicated, above all, to music’s creative soul. Over the years, dedication has paid off. Friendship has become a kind of reverse supergroup,
wherein the band itself and each individual member are located centrally in an increasingly prominent scene of young folk and country musicians and songwriters. Drummer Michael Cormier O’Leary leads the instrumental collective Hour and, along with bassist Jon Samuels, runs Dear Life Records, home to friends and peers who count Friendship as a major influence including MJ Lenderman, Florry, and Fust. (Samuels also plays lead guitar in MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Guitarist Peter Gill’s band 2nd Grade records prolifically. Wriggins began writing the songs of Caveman Wakes Up on a downtuned classical guitar of Lenderman’s and finished on a barely tuned piano in an apartment he shared with Sadurn’s G DeGroot.
In the summer of 2023, Wriggins had just left the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where his love for poetry and mistrust for the academic poetry world grew in tandem. A relationship fell apart, and Wriggins crashed for several weeks at Lenderman and Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman’s home in North Carolina, where he recorded the first demos of “Resident Evil,” “All Over the World,” and “Love Vape.” Wriggins returned to Philadelphia, and the band got to work on new ideas, finally tracking the album in five days with engineer Jeff Ziegler (Mary Lattimore, War on Drugs). Wriggins recorded vocals with Love the Stranger engineer Bradford Kreiger, and organ, violin (Jason Calhoun), and flute (Adelyn Strei) were recorded by Lucas Knapp in a West Philadelphia church.

“Wrecking Ball” was one thing. Now comes the long-awaited anti-austerity blast-a-thon with the teeth, venom and one-of-a-kind music of Jello Biafra. The second full-length from Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine picks up where last fall’s SHOCK-U-PY! left off. Covered in gruesome detail this time are corruption (“The Brown Lipstick Parade”), “Werewolves of Wall Street,” “Road Rage,” and corporate McMedia making pop stars out of small-time crooks to shield the big ones (“John Dillinger”) or tabloid pop stars to lobotomize everyone else (“Hollywood Goof Disease”). The title track shines a light on our never-ending foreign policy disasters in ways even Jello’s spoken word albums never did. “Crapture” is the perfect song to play for those lovely End Times believers, pointing out how much better the world would be for everyone else left behind—replete with melodies on the scale Biafra hasn’t really touched since “Moon Over Marin.” Above all, White People and the Damage Done rocks! No pop punk here, just Jello and crew taking punk fire in unexplored directions, with wallof-sound, in-your-face production from Marshall Lawless and Matt Kelley (lots of Jello projects, Hieroglyphics, The Coup, Digital Underground, Zen Guerrilla). Lineup retains the double-barreled guitar attack of Ralph Spight (Victims Family, Freak Accident) and Kimo Ball (Freak Accident, Griddle, Mol Triffid), joined by bassist Andrew Weiss (Rollins Band, Ween, Butthole Surfers, more) and drummer Paul Della Pelle (Helios Creed, Nik Turner’s Space Ritual, and Philly HC legends Ruin)

“Wrecking Ball” was one thing. Now comes the long-awaited anti-austerity blast-a-thon with the teeth, venom and one-of-a-kind music of Jello Biafra. The second full-length from Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine picks up where last fall’s SHOCK-U-PY! left off. Covered in gruesome detail this time are corruption (“The Brown Lipstick Parade”), “Werewolves of Wall Street,” “Road Rage,” and corporate McMedia making pop stars out of small-time crooks to shield the big ones (“John Dillinger”) or tabloid pop stars to lobotomize everyone else (“Hollywood Goof Disease”). The title track shines a light on our never-ending foreign policy disasters in ways even Jello’s spoken word albums never did. “Crapture” is the perfect song to play for those lovely End Times believers, pointing out how much better the world would be for everyone else left behind—replete with melodies on the scale Biafra hasn’t really touched since “Moon Over Marin.” Above all, White People and the Damage Done rocks! No pop punk here, just Jello and crew taking punk fire in unexplored directions, with wallof-sound, in-your-face production from Marshall Lawless and Matt Kelley (lots of Jello projects, Hieroglyphics, The Coup, Digital Underground, Zen Guerrilla). Lineup retains the double-barreled guitar attack of Ralph Spight (Victims Family, Freak Accident) and Kimo Ball (Freak Accident, Griddle, Mol Triffid), joined by bassist Andrew Weiss (Rollins Band, Ween, Butthole Surfers, more) and drummer Paul Della Pelle (Helios Creed, Nik Turner’s Space Ritual, and Philly HC legends Ruin)

Mannequin Pussy"s music feels like a resilient and galvanizing shout that demands to be heard. Across four albums, the Philadelphia rock band that consists of Colins "Bear" Regisford (bass, vocals), Kaleen Reading (drums, percussion), Maxine Steen (guitar, synths), and Marisa Dabice (guitar, vocals) has made cathartic tunes about despairing times. "There"s just so much constantly going on that feels intentionally evil that trying to make something beautiful feels like a radical act ," says Dabice. "The ethos of this band has always been to bring people together." Their new album, I Got Heaven, which is out March 1 via Epitaph Records, is the band"s most fully realized recording yet. Over ten ambitious tracks which abruptly turn from searing punk to inviting alternative pop, the album is deeply concerned with desire, the power in being alone, and how to live in an unfeeling and unkind world. It"s a document of a band doubling down on their unshakable bond to make something furious, thrilling, and wholly alive. Following the 2019 release of their critically acclaimed third album Patience, Mannequin Pussy returned in 2021 for their EP Perfect. They toured that release relentlessly and added guitarist Maxine Steen to the band"s official lineup. The band changed their entire creative formula, choosing to write together in the studio in Los Angeles with producer John Congleton , over slowly crafting tracks at home.

Co-directed with Maxime Daoud (Ojard), this 7th opus was written and composed with passion and recorded with an outstanding team of musicians. The message of Barbara Carlotti's new album is direct and essential: "Cherish your future!" It is an invitation to welcome the unknown, to view our destinies with tenderness, to strive toward the future while taking care of our style, to counter life's setbacks, to chase the green ray, and to reinvent love. The goal is to liberate expression, heal the wounds of the past, articulate desire with elegance and humor, and let ourselves be moved by fleeting yet eternal joys, the sight of the ocean, or the infinite beauty of a singing voice that fills us with hope and strength in an outpouring of freedom.

" Pickled Eggs and Sherbet is the sole album by English electronic group All Seeing I - the production trio of Dean Honer, Jason Buckle and Richard Barrett (aka DJ Parrot).

" Part of the late nineties big beat / trip hop scene, it brought together many disparate threads of the Sheffield's music scene past (and then) present including contributions from the likes of cabaret crooner Tony Christie, Human League frontman Phil Oakey and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker.

" Lead single "The Beat Goes On" which had a huge viral moment on TikTok and social media in 2022, becoming one of the most widely used 'Sounds' in recent years accruing 2.4 billion views and 162k creations.

" The follow up 'Walk Like A Panther' peaked at #10 in the UK Singles Chart. Featuring vocals from Tony Christie, it became his first hit single in 25 years.

" London Records have remastered & re-issued the cult-classic album :
1. for the very first time on vinyl ! As collector Red & Yellow Double LP.
2. with an expanded and remastered 2CD edition to boot, including rare b-sides from lost CD singles, new mixes from DJ Parrot and more.

This retrospective is not merely a celebration—it’s a legacy. Sven Väth’s unparalleled life and pioneering spirit, as well as the defining moments that inspired an entire generation, are distilled into a profound tribute. A musical retrospective that captures the evolution of a visionary whose art has defined, inspired, and reimagined electronic music culture and retells it with zeitgeist.

Sven Väth is more than a DJ, he is a force of nature. A trailblazer whose work is not just music, it’s a philosophy of life: ecstasy, freedom, and a fearless pursuit of creativity, all wrapped in a knowing wink of craziness and rebellion.

Spanning over three decades, this carefully curated collection invites listeners to trace special moments of Sven’s musical work. From his electrifying beginnings to modern interpretations that pulse, This collection is a tribute to a life dedicated to music, every beat a moment frozen in time. Beyond the timeless anthems lies an unreleased treasure—a hidden gem by Roman Flügel that promises to surprise even the most ardent followers.

Alongside Sven’s timeless originals, this release showcases visionary remixes by some of the most revered names in electronic music. Beginning with Adam Port’s hypnotic reimagining of Ritual Of Life to Eric Prydz’s cinematic take on The Beauty and the Beast and Roman Flügel’s unique interpretations, each remix pays homage to Sven’s legacy while channeling a bold, contemporary edge. Speedy J, Bart Skils & Weska, and Kölsch further elevate the collection, showcasing the influence of Sven’s work across generations and styles.

More than a retrospective, this is a living contemporary document that makes techno and club culture tangible. It’s a sonic time capsule for those who lived through the golden nights when Sven set dancefloors ablaze - a musical legacy that connects past, present, and future in a shared pulse that transcends boundaries.

For those who want to experience Sven Väth's incomparable energy and passion over and over again. The perfect opportunity to rediscover Sven Väth's legacy in music history or perhaps even experience it for the first time.

It's more than just a look back - it's an experience. A celebration of nights without end, of passion without limits, and Sven himself, of course.

Barker's debutalbum Utility (on Berghain's Ostgut Ton label) was something of a sensation in the world of electronic music when it was released. Utility made numerous Best of 2019 year's end lists, including Pitchfork (8,2 review), The Quietus, DJ Mag, Resident Advisor (Recommends) and others. It also earned title of Mixmag's Album of The Year 2019. Now its finally time for the follow-up Stochastic Drift on Smalltown Supersound. And where Barker on Utility was "using ambient materials to remake techno" as Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne wrote, he takes this approach even further here creating - as the title suggests - a dreamy stochastic drift and beautiful freeform float.

Barker's debutalbum Utility (on Berghain's Ostgut Ton label) was something of a sensation in the world of electronic music when it was released. Utility made numerous Best of 2019 year's end lists, including Pitchfork (8,2 review), The Quietus, DJ Mag, Resident Advisor (Recommends) and others. It also earned title of Mixmag's Album of The Year 2019. Now its finally time for the follow-up Stochastic Drift on Smalltown Supersound. And where Barker on Utility was "using ambient materials to remake techno" as Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne wrote, he takes this approach even further here creating - as the title suggests - a dreamy stochastic drift and beautiful freeform float.