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'3 x hullo, hullo' is the latest work from Jeugdbrand, the duo of Dennis Tyfus and Jeroen Stevens. A collection of fragmented snapshots, with odd phrases and playful remarks colliding, while musical ideas are tossed about with ease. Instead of a clear narrative, it's a series of disconnected sketches--emotions shift quickly, laughter turns to tears, and the ride is anything but smooth.

Known for their exhilarating live-to-record albums such as last year's critically acclaimed Wood Blues and Giant Beauty, سماع Sama'a (Audition) is the first of two releases that will surface after أحمدAhmed’s first studio recording sessions at North London’s The Fish Factory in early 2025.

Since 2014, Ahmed أحمد have excavated and re-imagined the music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, in an ever ongoing search for future music. Over a decade on, the group were given the opportunity to set up in the studio for the first time and, with the aid of meticulous engineer Benedic Lamdin, سماع Sama'a (Audition) is the quartet's most detailed work to date.

Fastidious fans may recognise the album's tracklisting as that of Ahmed Abdul-Malik’s Jazz Sahara. After his success collaborating with the pianists Thelonious Monk and Randy Weston, Jazz Sahara was the first record Abdul-Malik made as a leader and was released in 1958. It used the flame of late Fifties jazz to light the wick of North African folk music and acted as a reminder of the Arabic origins of jazz, creating a distinct, unique sound that was far beyond its time. In Malik’s Jazz Sahara, there is no piano. The ongoing work of each member of [Ahmed] then is to think differently, to wonder how the music will work and to take a risk on trying it out - an extraordinarily compelling feat of imagination. Using group improvisation strategies and recording in single takes, سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) tackled the full suite of Jazz Sahara in just one session, with ‘Ya Annas [Oh, People’] and ‘Isma'a [Listen’] being previously unrecorded. 'Farah 'Alaiyna’, also released on 2019’s Super Majnoon, sounds unrecognisable - the slow, heady stomp and repeated phrasing of 2019’s embryonic [Ahmed] having been blast furnaced and sped up four-fold. The result is four kaleidoscopic, relative miniatures that move, unfold and re-imagine at a very different scale and proportion than [Ahmed]’s previous records. It’s a dizzying, euphoric music and an extraordinary record of a group moving through space-time like no other.




[b] Isma'a [Listen]
[c] El Haris [Anxious]
[d] Farah 'Alaiyna [Joy Upon Us]


[b] b1 Isma'a [Listen]
[c] c1 El Haris [Anxious]
[d] d1 Farah 'Alaiyna [Joy Upon Us]


[b] b1 | Isma'a [Listen]
[c] c1 | El Haris [Anxious]
[d] d1 | Farah 'Alaiyna [Joy Upon Us]

Solo Suono is the first collaboration between saxophonist Filippo Ansaldi and electronic musician Simone Sims Longo, both based in Cuneo, Italy. Solo Suono is an album between acoustic gesture and electronic treatment, beyond the classical while starting from the classical. Breath, amplified mechanics, residual sounds, expressive freedom, and different forms that integrate electroacoustic composition. Passing through looped gestures, electronic processes, and concrete sound explorations, it investigates textures that blur the line between organic and synthetic, emphasizing subtle timbral shifts, evolving patterns, and the interaction between chance and structure. Fragile, immersive, and at times meditative, the music opens a space where the listener can inhabit both the immediacy of performance and the expanded sound world of electronic manipulation. Solo Suono is a phrase open to multiple interpretations, a naïve description of music.

The capstone of Miles Davis’ electric period, Agharta reigns as a funk-rock fireball — a blazing comet streaked energy and elan, a fearless organism feasting on adventure and freedom, a seven-headed Godzilla stomping its way through Osaka, Japan. Recorded on February 1, 1975 at Osaka Festival Hall at the first of a two-show stand, the double album offers an endless abundance of surprises and shifts — as well as a road-proven ensemble whose chemistry and abilities equal that of any of Davis’ celebrated bands. If the true measure of jazz is the capacity to adapt to the moment and challenge perception, Agharta is consummate.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set of this epic live release presents it in audiophile sound on a domestic pressing for the first time. Offering greater degrees of separation, detail, and richness than the compressed CD editions and more clarity, openness, and presence than older vinyl copies, this version of the 1975 release helps bring the concert stage to your home. Just make sure your turntable and speakers are up to the challenge of Davis and Co.’s explosive performances — and producing the decibels they demand.

Teeming with vibrant colors, tones, and pace, Mobile Fidelity’s reissue captures the hear-it-to-believe-it flow, sweep, and moodiness of the music. Though the group honors looseness and freedom with religious verve, the specificity and scale rendered by this remaster allows you to detect methods behind the alleged madness that are often otherwise harder to discern. This insight extends to the understated changes in volume, harmonics, and phrasings. In many ways, you can listen as Davis himself did that early February evening as he helped coordinate the overall direction and decided on whether to blow his wah-wah-wired trumpet or take a turn on the organ.

Tellingly, Agharta would likely never have been made if not for Davis’ ventures overseas and, specifically, to the Land of the Rising Sun. Having for years faced a backlash on his native soil for his choices to experiment and blow past all known borders, Davis was welcomed with open arms in Japan. The concert documented on Agharta — as well as the day’s later show, captured on the equally exciting Pangea — stemmed from a sold-out three-week tour that would ultimately mark Davis’ final public appearances for years, as he soon settled into semi-retirement and nursed the wounds connected to an unprecedented stretch of restless and relentless output.

For all the band-fueled merit of Agharta — and there’s plenty, given the cast of saxophonist Sonny Fortune, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, percussionist James Mtume, and guitarists Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey seemingly blasts off to outer space and travels distant galaxies by the time this minimally edited record runs its course — Davis’ own playing often remains overlooked. As critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton observed, it is “often fantastically subtle, creating surges and ebbs in a harmonically static line, allowing him to build huge melismatic variations on a single note.” He attacks like a man on a mission, out to prove naysayers wrong and bent on trailblazing another new path forward. Convention and skeptics be damned.

Noisy and furious, dark and discordant, abstract and off-balance, radical and intense, abrasive and atmospheric, strangely beautiful and hypnotically eccentric: Agharta evades simple description, and refuses to be pinned down in any established category — rock, jazz, punk, ambient, prog, avante-garde, or otherwise. Shot through with trench-deep grooves, screaming riffs, scalding solos, and free-improv leads, its cosmic thrust comes on as the equivalent of an animated pointillist painting comprised of millions of textured dots, dashes, and dabs that hold your attention so raptly you want to revisit the ideas again and again.

Always steps ahead of everyone else, Davis knew what he was doing even when Agharta debuted in Japan before later hitting U.S. markets. Though “Maiysha” and “Theme from Jack Johnson” are identified in the track listing, the record contains a number of uncredited references to other Davis works, including a nod to “So What.” This decision to bypass labels only adds to the art of the reveal — the rare black magic in which Agharta expertly deals.

Winner of the Gold Medal at the 2024 Jazz Audio Disc Awards, a jazz critic magazine!
This best-of album features selections from three of Alessandro Galati's most talked-about albums!
Alessandro Galati, a master of Italian jazz who has released numerous albums on Terashima Records, released his standards collection "Plays Standards" series
at the end of 2024, following "European Walkabout," a collection of European traditional music, and "Portrait in Black and White," a collection of Jobim's classic
bossa nova works. All three albums (23 tracks) of Galati's standards collection, released at the end of 2024, are now being released simultaneously! The album
won the Gold Medal at the 2024 Jazz Audio Disc Awards, a jazz critic magazine magazine, and caused a stir. This long-awaited best-of album, featuring selected
tracks from the three albums, is finally being released on limited-edition vinyl. Enjoy this collection of gentle, warm, and beautiful standards, woven with a touch
that evokes the warmth of human skin and refined phrasing.

Alessandro Galati - piano
Ares Tavolazzi - bass
Bernardo Guerra - drums

Cintura Interna is João Hã’s new release for Sucata Tapes, a work shaped by accident, drift, and unlikely connections. Its guiding notion comes from “Música Careca” (Bald Music) — a strange term apparently used by Jean Dubuffet to describe his own sound experiments. Dubuffet wasn’t a musician, but he was bald; the phrase lingers as an apt description for music that is naïve without innocence: amateur bruitism, soft sound, raw and direct, where intention is left exposed to errancy.
The piece itself came together without project or plan, eventually forming what Hã calls an “accidental Frankenstein” — or perhaps Frankenoise. Built from recordings made more than 15 years ago on cassette and obsolete equipment, mixed with more recent material, Cintura Interna bridges time and decay, refusing diaristic or documentary framing.
As an unexpected detour, the release also includes a version of the garage classic Louie Louie.

'In collaboration with the children of Nico Kasanda, better known as Docteur Nico, Planet Ilunga proudly presents an anthology dedicated to African Fiesta Sukisa, available as a 3LP set and a digital release with bonus songs. This release is the result of many years of preparations and was realized in close partnership with Liliane Kasanda, Nico’s eldest daughter. Marking forty years since his passing, we felt that the year 2025 was the right time to honor Docteur Nico’s legacy with this original collection.
'Almost all of the African Fiesta Sukisa songs were released on Nico’s Sukisa label which translates in Lingala for “the final accomplishment”. The music on Sukisa, crafted by Nico and legendary vocalists such as Chantal, Sangana, Apôtre, Mizele, Lessa Lassan and Josky, embodies the essence of that powerful phrase with genius, class and depth. The label ran between 1966 and 1975 and released approximately 280 songs. Ngoma also issued the group between 1967 and 1971 and, in addition, reissued material from the Sukisa label. Many of these songs have become part of the collective memory of Congolese society and are still heard, discussed, and analyzed daily across digital platforms worldwide, as well as on numerous Congolese radio and TV stations.
'The album we put together features some of Nico’s signature songs alongside never before reissued tracks from the Sukisa catalog. It furthermore contains a large booklet with song commentary, testimonial interviews from well-known musicians, journalists, fans and Nico’s entourage, besides never before published photography about his personal and musical life.
'Alastair Johnston, author of the book ‘A Discography of Docteur Nico’ and longstanding Planet Ilunga collaborator, designed a stylish booklet and cover using all our collected material. Audifax Bemba, longtime admirer, compiler and connoisseur of Nico’s music, and the author of most of the song commentary in our accompanying booklet, offers his portrait of Docteur Nico:
“After displaying technical virtuosity with African Jazz, expert and accomplished guitar with African Fiesta, which musicologist Sylvain Bemba described as a dream guitar, Nico Kasanda was consecrated ‘dieu de la guitare’ by the public in the late sixties. With his band African Fiesta Sukisa, Docteur Nico displays his wide palette of unusual sounds. While exploring the Hawaiian guitar with its clear, airy, plangent, psychedelic effluvia, he continues to replicate the piano comping technique, and adds two missing strings to his bow: a simulation of the sanza (likembé or thumb piano), whose sounds he reproduces right down to the noisemakers of the tiny tin rings, on the one hand, and the sounds of the Luba balafon on the other. The right note, in the right place, at the right time, is the triptych on which Nico Kasanda’s playing is based, a note dressed in the perfect sound. A guitar of pure emotion. With African Fiesta Sukisa, his playing takes a ‘Chopin-esque’ turn, sending out more notes in a sublime adagio. The true artist is the one who simplifies everything. Docteur Nico is a genius of our time, whose style makes him the supreme exponent of the most important guitar school in Congolese music. He is recognized by his peers as the greatest African solo guitarist of all time. Sculpting sound in a tireless quest for beauty, Nico Kasanda has sublimated the guitar throughout his career.”






























[xd] Kamulangu [Outro] (Dr. Kasanda – Sukisa 135) Folklore Baluba

With Lentement, Julie Jains presents her debut EP, the result of a writing and composition process focused on repetition and the passage of time. Each track is built on simple phrases that return, evolve, and gradually generate their own intensity.



Julie's voice, at once fragile and assured, becomes part of this interplay of repetition and lends the project a distinctive identity. Rowan van Hoef's productions reinforce this approach with electronic textures that are both dense and precise, highlighting the voice while establishing a coherent, singular atmosphere.



Together, they offer a work that explores the power of slowness and minimalism, inviting attentive listening beyond conventional formats.

For SEVEN's first anniversary, we've brought together a roster of talented artists, each with a distinct style, to reimagine CRYME's hit "London Boy" originally released on The Backroom EP in 2024. This 5-track remix EP features a remastered version of the original alongside fresh interpretations by none other than Ghettotech heavyweight MCR-T, Prog House queen Roza Terenzi, modular wizard JakoJako, and Amsterdam's legendary Stef de Haan as a digital bonus. The vinyl will be limited to 500 copies.
With full marketing and PR support around the anniversary SEVEN7000LTD is set to be SEVEN's biggest release of the year.
A1 - CRYME - London Boy (MCR-T Remix)
CRYME's 808-driven electro, ghetto house hybrid "London Boy" gets the MCR-T treatment, spiced up with a dose of Garage. The Berlin-based artist reshaped the bassline into a gritty reese bass and put in the iconic UK hardcore vocal "your name is not down, you not coming in," perfectly amplifying the track's original UK flair.
A2 - CRYME - London Boy (Roza Terenzi Remix)
Roza Terenzi joins the "London Boy" Remix EP with a sleek, modern tech house cut. Flipping the distinct 808 cowbells into heavily processed percussive elements that bounce through the mix while carrying a melodic line. Her remix is packed with her quirky yet precise sound design and kinetic frequencies. The original vocal phrases are creatively chopped up into fragments and reassembled so they become part of the rhythmic backbone.

B1 - CRYME - London Boy (JakoJako Remix)
JakoJako shows off her genre diversity with a steezy Tech House flip of "London Boy." The talented Berlin-based live act lays down a solid drum foundation and a bouncing bassline - no frills, just a steady groove built for the dancefloor. The composition stays laidback, leaving space for a raw synth melody and her reworked, chopped-up vocal layers that add just the right touch of playful silliness to the track.

B2 - CRYME - London Boy (Original Mix)
On the B-side you will find CRYME's remastered original "London Boy", first released in 2024 and featuring ANTICALM, a British rapper, vocalist, and songwriter whose "You Don't Want This" vocal sample takes center stage. Merging 808-driven Electro and Grime with a touch of Ghetto House, the track reimagines a genre-bending battery of block-party energy in the club setting. With its driving rhythm and unmistakable vocal hook, it remains a powerful tool for DJs and a highlight on any dancefloor.

Following releases on Longform Editions and her own Paralaxe imprint, Dania descends on Somewhere Press with crepuscular, quixotic pop that hits a sweet spot between Mark Clifford’s Cocteau Twins remixes and Massive Attack.

Parked next to Alliyah Enyo, Slowfoam, and Angel R, Dania’s found an ideal home at Somewhere Press, and »Listless« is her most confident, transcendent set to date. Her last few albums were steeped in meaning – a way for the Iraq-born, Tasmania-raised artist to explore her identity and probe the impacts of colonisation. Here, she gives herself more room to breathe, thriving in the mysteries of nighttime – a direct reference to her nocturnal existence as an emergency doctor in Australia. The album was completely composed in the midnight hours, but it’s not self-consciously dark in the way you might expect. Opening track »On a Grassy Knoll« is one of the prettiest – and poppiest – tracks Dania has released, cracking open her voice with thrumming harmonies that she complements with granulated, Guthrie-esque guitars and, most unexpectedly, half-speed drums. It’s the first time Dania’s used percussion, and it suits her extremely well.

In fact, even when the powdery breaks drop away in the album’s final breaths, you can almost hear an outline of where they might remain. On »Write My Name«, Dania loops her voice between waved strings and slippery piano phrases, and the hypnotic closer »A Hunger« is a thudding, sub-heavy 4/4 away from being Peak Oil-style contemporary dub techno.

But the big draw here is Dania’s batch of hazy dream-pop miniatures, like the Seefeel-adjacent »Heart Shaped Burn« (with Rupert Clervaux on drums), and the Bristolian »Car Crash Premonition«, that features a rolling bassline taking us right back to 1998. Very strong – peak listening if you’re into Bowery Electric, MBV, or Mark Van Hoen.

'Mauricio and Horns' by Bossa Nova legend and harmonica master Mauricio
Einhorn is produced by Jacques Muyal, with the Idriss Boudrioua Orechestra
arranged by Rafael Rocha and with guest artists Paquito D'Rivera and Lula
Galvao
In jazz, we all know the harmonica master, Mr. "Baron" Toots Thielemans, but we are
equaly fortunate to have our "Prince", Mauricio Einhorn. His early contributions in the
1950s to the birth of the Samba Jazz movement in Brazil played a pivotal role in the
creation of Bossa Nova, a genre that quickly became an integral part of the jazz world.
The influence of jazz on Brazilian music - exemplified by the great Carlos Lyra in
"Influencia Do Jazz" - was so profound that local musicians embraced it to forge a
new musical identity. Many of Einhorn's compositions have become timeless
standards performed worldwide since the early 1950s and '60s.
Together with another giant of the scene, alto saxophonist Idriss Boudrioua,
Mauricio's music gets an even grander presentation than ever before. This time, he
teamed up with an exceptionally talented young musician: a big band arranger and
trombonist named Rafael Rocha, who wrote all the arrangements and conducted the
recordings. Rafael's arrangements are nothing short of magical. They are never
overdone, always respecting the beauty of the original harmonies while infusing them
with his deep passion for jazz. His trombone solos recall the phrasing of Frank
Rosolino, and he modulates the pieces with swirling harmonies that evoke the very
roots of Brazilian jazz. In every track, Rafael enhances Mauricio's elegant and
expressive phrases without ever overpowering the artist, creating a "wall of sound"
that gracefully floats alongside Mauricio.

Amand returns to All Day I Dream alongside Belgian newcomer Capoon for their collaborative two-track Ouverture EP. The release arrives with a bonus remix from producer/DJ Khen.

Guided by a shared sense of musical storytelling, Amand and Capoon find common ground in organic instrumentation and cinematic rhythm. Across its two movements, Ouverture unfolds like a passage through dusk and dawn part meditative, part ascendant. The title track’s first part opens in a space of gentle introspection, carried by fluid percussion and softly woven synths. Its counterpart rises with quiet momentum, layering melodic phrasing, captivating vocals, and subtle rhythmic tension into a transportive finale. It’s a delicate and dreamy 12-minute journey that encapsulates the wondrous imagination of All Day I Dream curation.

Khen’s remix expands the emotional arc further, blending the original’s warmth with his signature precision and dynamic melodic control. The result feels both grounded and dreamlike, aligning seamlessly with the label’s ethos of soulful progression and timeless sound design.

The new album The Cinnamon Show by Cinnamon Gum is a juicy journey into the golden era of the 1970s, filled with a warm and rich blend of soul and funk.
Recorded using classic analog instruments, this album is a tribute to authentic sound and musical craftsmanship. A unique approach to sound engineering creates a cohesive and immersive atmosphere that accompanies the listener from start to finish. Each single is enhanced by a vibrant music video inspired by iconic music programs like Soul Train and The Midnight Special.
The artist's vocals shine throughout the album, combining deep, sensual phrases with subtle melodies, drawing inspiration from soul legends such as Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. The lyrical layer explores both personal stories and universal themes of love, loss, and hope, making the album an exceptionally intimate and authentic experience.

Kai Winding (1922 -1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz
composer, particularly remembered for his collaborations and solo
exchanges with fellow trombonist JJ Johnson
Fans of their classic album 'The Great Kai & JJ' (Impulse!) will welcome 'Duo Bones'
with Kai trading solos with renowned Italian valve trombonist Dino Piana (1930 -
2023). The programme includes three original compositions by Kai, 'Duo Bones', 'Lady
H', and 'Stop Following Me', and one by Piana aptly titled, Kai & Dino. The rest of the
programme includes Cole Porter's 'Get Out Of Town', Bronislawl Kaper's 'On Green
Dolphin Street', Gorden Jenkin's 'This Is All I Ask', and an original composition by
producer Enrico Pieranunzi titled 'Soul Dance'.
"A series of pieces played very well, characterised by a marked swing and with solos
that transmit to the ear the joy felt by the musicians in performing them. An album of
pure fun, impeccable in execution, full of dizzying and spectacular phrasing,
impressive in the speed with which Winding and Piana intertwine their sounds in
elaborate counterpoints." - Marco Giorgi, from the liner notes
Kai Winding: trombone
Dino Piana: valve trombone
Enrico Pieranunzi: piano
Giovanni Tommaso: bass
Tullio De Piscopo: drums
Recorded by Francesco Melloni, Giovanni Fornari, Emmequattro Studio, Rome, Nov. 17
& 18, 1979.

Sie sind zurück. Lauter, klarer, größer – und »immer unter Feuer«. Frei.Wild schlagen 2025 das nächste, vielleicht sogar das stärkste Kapitel ihrer Bandgeschichte auf. Geschmiedet vom Leben, mit scharfer Zunge. Das neue Studioalbum ist ein Manifest – für alle, die mit ganzem Herzen brennen.

Voller Kraft, Schmerz, Hoffnung – ein wuchtiger Mix aus hartem Deutschrock und Gänsehaut-Balladen. Texte, die Mut machen, Grenzen sprengen, Brücken bauen. Echte Geschichten, keine leeren Phrasen. Mit Haltung, mit Tiefe – mit der Freiheit, auch unbequem zu sein. 2x 12 brandneue Songs bündelt das Doppel-Album im dreifach ausklappbaren Digipack plus 32 Seiten Booklet mit allen Songtexten, Band-Fotos und heißen Insider-Infos. Das Box-Set befeuert Frei.Wild noch dazu mit 6 weiteren, exklusiven Songs, die sich ausschließlich auf dieser Fan Edition eingebrannt haben. Wer aufs Streaming hofft, muss leider sehr, sehr lange warten … falls diese 6 Tracks überhaupt jemals den Weg auf die digitalen Plattformen finden.

Seit über 20 Jahren beweisen die Südtiroler, dass man mit klarer Haltung und Meinung Großes bewegen kann. Vom Proberaum im Kinderdorf bis an die Chartspitze, durch Gegenwind und im Feuer der Kritik – wo andere verbrannt sind, geht Frei.Wild aufrecht weiter. »Immer unter Feuer« ist ihr Dank an alle, die füreinander brennen. Und ein Antrieb für die, die noch kommen. Frei.Wild-Songs beugen sich nicht, nennen beim Namen, was unausgesprochen ist. Geliebt und gemieden. Es gibt gefühlt niemanden, der keine Meinung zu diesen Rock-Revoluzzern aus dem Grenzland hat. Südtirol ist nicht Berlin – doch im Kern lodert in Großstädten wie auf dem Land dieselbe Kraft. Frei.Wild zieht seine ungezähmte Energie aus der Heimat, den Familien, der Freundschaft. Gewachsen im Schmelztiegel von Kulturen und uralten Bräuchen und Geschichten haben sie ihre ganz eigene Prägung erfahren. »Immer unter Feuer« trägt das Album das Geweih so stark wie nie!

»Immer unter Feuer« erscheint als Doppelvinyl-Version im Gatefold Cover mit UV-Spotlack Parts und zwei weißen 180g Vinylplatten mit bedruckten Innenhüllen.

Recital releases The Holy Restaurant, the new full-length album by Derek Baron, and their first solo LP since Curtain (Recital, 2020).

The album is built from years of miniature transcriptions of improvisations, functioning in many ways as a sister to Curtain. Half-thoughts and mistakes are revisited, gilded, and illuminated. The floorboards of the album are laid with piano, organ, string pads, while serrated accruements (distortions, flourishes, and recording interferences) step and drop overhead. The resulting conflux, as Baron notes in the accompanying booklet “becomes the point and the problem to explore.”

The second track “Oven Girls” opens with us galloping on a horse in some video-game meadow on a bed of MIDI strings. Abruptly, a helicopter soars over us and we transition to a latticed guitar and woodwind exploration. The album rolls on in this fashion, juxtaposing musical half-sentences within a museum of sounds rag-picked from history and daily life. Emotional interviews with Midwestern friars who build and sell caskets are set against gothic piano and guitar duets. On “Music in the Casket,” A disorienting and hilariously epic guitar solo erupts. The penultimate titular piece, “The Holy Restaurant,” sets a text written by Baron’s grandfather. A small chorus voices his words, echoing the humanistic storytelling of “Blue” Gene Tyranny’s A Letter From Home. Under sunlit piano progressions, a fleet of smokey trumpets emerges.

Running throughout the album is a series of “traces”: short melodic phrases painted over again and again with different real and MIDI instrumentation. The “luxurious asceticism of doubling” as Baron puts it. They explain, “Part of the allure for me is that the ‘original’ material is itself kind of thin, sketchy, meaningless, maybe calling attention to itself only by way of a felicitous mistake. Hearing, transcribing, and learning what was basically only ever played first on accident becomes the guiding concern.”

The album’s shifting, variegated forms and voices pass quickly; the record feels both comforting and elusive, suitable for any hour of the day.

The Holy Restaurant features guest players Ed Atkins, Lucy Liyou, Quentin Moore, Emily Martin, Dominic Frigo, Jacob Wick, and several of Baron’s family members. It is released in a limited edition vinyl pressing of 200 copies, accompanied by a booklet of effusive program notes by the composer, alongside an assemblage of photographs, scores, and artwork.

In einer Welt, die von zwei Monden umkreist wird, tanzen die Mondphasen im Gleichklang und beeinflussen die Gezeiten. Unter diesen Lichtamuletten liegt die Landschaft, in der SAINTSENECAs neues Album ,Highwallow & Supermoon Songs" entstanden ist. Zac Little wirkt an der Oberfläche subtil, aber die Kunstfertigkeit in jeder seiner Phrasen ist fast überwältigend. HIGHWALLLOW & SUPERMOON SONGS findet seine Stimme in ihrer elastischsten Form, reitet auf den Hügeln seiner Heimat, schwirrt vorbei wie eine Libelle und legt sich dann ruhig wie ein alter Hofhund.

Eyvind Kang ist Komponist und Bratschist, dessen Werk experimentelle, klassische und traditionelle Musikformen umfasst. Zu seinen Kollaborationen zählen unter anderem Jessika Kenney, Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, Bennie Maupin, Stuart Dempster, Sun City Girls und SUNN O))). Kang ist bekannt für seine Erkundungen der Mikrotonalität, der modalen Improvisation und des Klangrituals. Seine Werke wurden weltweit auf führenden Festivals und Veranstaltungsorten präsentiert. Kang ist derzeit Fakultätsmitglied am CalArts und unterrichtet Komposition und experimentelle Klangpraktiken. Seit über dreißig Jahren erforscht Eyvind Kang die verschwommenen Grenzen zwischen Komponist, Interpret und Zuhörer. Auf Riparian präsentiert er eines seiner bisher intimsten und fokussiertesten Werke: zwei Langformstücke für Viola d'amore, improvisiert innerhalb mikrotonaler Systeme, die er während der Pandemie entwickelt hat. Kang bezeichnet diese Improvisationsmethode als ,Riparian" und beschwört damit das Bild eines Flusses herauf, der in verschiedene Richtungen überquert wird - fließend, nichtlinear und lebendig mit subtilen Variationen. ,Ich stellte mir Pizzicato und Arco wie das Springen von Stein zu Stein in einem Bach vor", sagt er. ,Es gibt eine geerdete Zufälligkeit, wie bei einem Frosch oder einer Schildkröte, die sich zwischen Land und Wasser bewegt." Jedes Stück auf Riparian ist eine erste Aufnahme, die im Studio als Teil dessen aufgenommen wurde, was Kang als ,eine Art Geschichtenerzählen unter gleichgesinnten Freunden" bezeichnet. Das Ergebnis ist Musik, die mit stiller Intensität und emotionaler Klarheit fließt und Melodien entfaltet, die sich sowohl uralt als auch lebendig präsent anfühlen. Produziert und aufgenommen von Randall Dunn (SU NN O))), Omar S ouleyman, Kali Malone) produziert und aufgenommen, fängt Riparian die volle Resonanz der Viola d'amore in einem reichen, dimensionalen Klang ein. Dunns Handschrift verleiht Kangs lyrischer Phrasierung Wärme und Transparenz und offenbart subtile Klangtexturen, die ein tiefes Hören belohnen. Meditativ und ausdrucksstark zugleich lädt Riparian den Hörer in einen Raum ein, in dem die Zeit weicher wird und Klang zu einer Form der Einstimmung wird .

Chloe Kim ist eine in Korea geborene, in Sydney lebende Schlagzeugerin und Improvisatorin, deren Musik Traditionen und Geografien miteinander verbindet. Bekannt für ihren unerschrockenen Improvisationsansatz und ihre ausdrucksstarke Beherrschung des erweiterten Schlagzeugs, ist sie in ganz Australien und international in den Bereichen Jazz, Experimental und Neue Musik aufgetreten. Aufgewachsen in Korea und heute in Sydney ansässig, hat sich die Perkussionistin Chloe Kim als einzigartige Stimme im zeitgenössischen Schlagzeugspiel etabliert, indem sie furchtlose Improvisation mit kompositorischer Klarheit und interkultureller Tiefe verbindet. Ratsnake markiert ihren kühnen Einstieg in den Kanon der Solo-Schlagzeugalben, indem sie viszerale Kraft mit Präzision und Fantasie verbindet. Kims internationales Ansehen stieg 2023 nach ihrer ,herkulischen" (The Guardian) 100-stündigen Solo-Drum-Performance über 10 Tage. Auf Ratsnake kanalisiert sie dieselbe Ausdauer und Vision in ein zutiefst persönliches Studioalbum, das das vollständige klangliche Potenzial des Schlagzeugs auslotet und es als melodisches und skulpturales Instrument behandelt. Der Titel des Albums stammt aus einem Traum, den Kims Mutter vor ihrer Geburt hatte und der sich auf die Rattennatter bezieht, ein koreanisches Symbol für Widerstandsfähigkeit, Verwandlung und seltenes Glück. Dieses symbolische Erbe zieht sich durch das gesamte Album, während Kim komplexe rhythmische Ideen mit Eleganz und Kraft entfaltet. ,Als ich zum ersten Mal in New York war, spürte ich, wie die Energie der Stadt neue Ideen aus mir hervorbrachte ", sagt Kim. ,Jeder Track hebt eine Facette meiner Solo-Sprache hervor - von ausgedehnten Percussion-Parts und langen rhythmischen Zyklen bis hin zu Texturen, die ich noch nie live verwendet habe ." Auf dem gesamten Album greift Kim auf jahrelange persönliche Motive zurück: eine im Laufe der Zeit verfeinerte Zwei-Takt-Phrase im Titeltrack, komplexe Strukturen in ,The First Gift" und weitläufige Arrangements in ,Birth Dream". Jedes Stück baut auf ihrer fortwährenden Auseinandersetzung mit Rhythmus, Form und verkörpertem Klang auf. Produziert und aufgenommen von Randall Dunn (SU NN O))), Annea Lockwood, Kali Malone), fängt Ratsnake Kims dynamische Phrasierung mit räumlicher Fülle und Detailtreue ein. Es ist ein kraftvolles , nuanciertes Debüt, das die Möglichkeiten der Solo-Percussion neu definiert .

Mister Water Wet returns to Soda Gong with "Things Gone and Things Here Still," an album that radically expands the project’s purview while preserving the homespun warmth and oblique tactility that have long defined Iggy Romeu’s work. Where earlier records tilted toward the dusty swing of sample-based beatcraft or spectral minimalist jazz, here Romeu opens the frame to a more ensemble-minded approach, inviting a stellar cast of supporting musicians, including SG alumni Memotone and K. Freund, into the fold.

The result is an album that feels both broader and more intimate, with live instrumentation such as piano, strings, and reeds woven into MWW’s signature lattice of hand percussion, production sleights, and slippery time signatures. Acoustic and electronic textures bend toward each other like plants angling for the same light: bowed strings blur into vaporous pads, brushed drums scatter under riffing guitars, a horn phrase lingers in the same space as a cracked cassette loop.

A tension between decay and presence - the “things gone” and the “things here still” - runs throughout the record. At times, the music evokes a chamber session refracted through waterlogged tape; at others, it recalls the afterimage of a hip-hop instrumental slowed into an oneiric haze. In the world of MWW, memory functions less as nostalgia and more as a living fabric - mutable and resonant. "Things Gone and Things Here Still" finds Iggy Romeu at his most expansive, offering up a generous record of open spaces and porous boundaries.

Italian producer, musician, DJ, and groove architect Sam Ruffillo drops his long-awaited debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics – a sun-drenched, genre-blurring statement that blends classic house with Mediterranean flair, romantic funk, and tongue-in-cheek Italo vibes. Over 11 expertly crafted tracks, Ruffillo delivers a dancefloor-ready, emotionally rich LP that connects deep musicality with irresistible rhythm and light-hearted elegance.

After three acclaimed EPs and collaborations with revered artists such as Barbara Boeing, Kapote, and Fimiani, Ruffillo has firmly cemented himself as a core artist on the Berlin-based label. Known for his unmistakable signature sound — a warm mix of vintage disco, 90s house, and Italian vocals — Sam’s music has garnered widespread DJ support from tastemakers like Gerd Janson, Palms Trax, Seth Troxler, and DJ Tennis, while becoming a staple on Italian airwaves. His infectious summer anthems like Danza Organica and Perfetta Così have soundtracked countless club nights and festivals, creating a loyal following that eagerly awaited this full-length debut.

Tipo Così is the natural culmination of a musical journey that’s both playful and profound — a travel diary written in grooves, synth stabs, and melodies that feel like postcards from a parallel Mediterranean universe. The album expands and deepens Ruffillo’s world into a fully immersive experience: lush emotional chords meet tight syncopated grooves, vintage synth textures collide with irresistibly catchy pop refrains, and the boundary between sincerity and playful irony is exquisitely blurred.

Entirely written, produced, and recorded in Italy, in his beloved hometown of Bologna, the album finds Ruffillo at the helm on keys, drum machines, and production, supported by a talented cast of musicians contributing live bass, guitar, and other organic elements — further enriching his trademark fusion of electronic grooves and natural instrumentation. There’s a tactile warmth in these tracks, a hands-on feel that adds soul and depth to every beat.

This album also marks Ruffillo’s heartfelt return to singing in Italian, with standout tracks like House Tipo Così, Mi Fa Volare, Ancora, and Dentro Di Me, where romantic naïveté meets pulsing club energy in a way that feels both timeless and refreshingly new. The vocal performances add an intimate, human touch to the music, reinforcing the personal stories woven into each song. There’s poetry in the casual, a bittersweet elegance in the way the lyrics float over groove-heavy production.

Having toured extensively across Europe, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Mexico — with sets at iconic venues like Panorama Bar and festivals such as Sónar Barcelona — Ruffillo has fine-tuned much of this album in front of live audiences. The real-world testing ground infused the record with a dynamic energy and immediacy that only comes from genuine crowd interaction. These songs weren’t just made in the studio — they were lived on dancefloors around the world.

Tipo Così is not just a collection of tracks. It’s a philosophy — playful, stylish and unmistakably personal. A modern club album bursting with heartfelt emotion and sophistication. Music for dancers with taste; for lovers of beauty, rhythm, and the little imperfections that make things feel real.

But what exactly is Tipo Così? More than just a phrase, it’s a way of being. It’s about embracing elegance without effort, mixing irony with sincerity, and letting nostalgia slip into the room without taking over the party. It’s Sam Ruffillo’s signature language: relaxed, confident, meticulous yet never rigid — where a chord progression can say as much as a lyric, and every beat carries intention.

The album’s visual identity complements this vision perfectly. The artwork and promotional materials lovingly reference Italian design from the ’80s and ’90s, combining bold graphic elements with playful pop culture nods. This aesthetic mirrors Ruffillo’s music — a fusion of vintage warmth and contemporary freshness, delivered with authenticity and charm.

Sam Ruffillo belongs to a new generation of European artists who are reshaping electronic music by blending past and present, analog and digital, groove and emotion — without nostalgia or pose. His artistic universe is coherent, vibrant, and alive; a rich tapestry of sound, images, and stories that coexist with lightness, precision, and a distinctive voice.

Reflecting on his artistic journey, Sam describes music as a vital, deeply human impulse — a tribal connection to rhythm and body that has driven him since he was a teenager. His creative process balances meticulous planning with room for spontaneity, usually sparked by clear melodic ideas that evolve naturally. Collaborations with close friends, especially vocalists like Ninfa, add warmth and authenticity, exemplified in tracks like “House Tipo Così.” For Sam, music is honest self-expression — crafted for listeners who crave memorable melodies and rhythms imbued with genuine feeling.

While technical perfection is tempting, Sam prioritizes emotion, knowing that what truly resonates is the soul behind the sounds. His long-standing partnership with Toy Tonics has been key in nurturing his vision, offering a blend of creative freedom and professional support. Looking ahead, Sam Ruffillo is excited to broaden his live performances, and release new projects that continue to blend electronic grooves with organic, heartfelt sounds — maintaining the delicate balance between playful irony and sincere emotion that defines Tipo Così.




Kurzversion:
Italian DJ, producer and musician Sam Ruffillo drops his debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics - a sunny blend of house, funk, Italo and pop, full of groove and emotion. Written and recorded in Bologna with live instruments and Italian vocals, it’s a playful, elegant journey shaped on dancefloors worldwide. A stylish, sincere club album where nostalgia, irony and rhythm meet in perfect harmony.

- Mi Fa Volare
Road-tested across continents and now finally released, “Mi Fa Volare” channels 90s uplifting euphoria with big breakbeats, lush chords, and Italian vocals built to stick. Somewhere between balearic bliss and piano house nostalgia, it’s a feel-good club weapon made for peak-time moments - already sung back by crowds after just one listen.


- Ancora
“Ancora” is a vibrant hi-NRG track inspired by 80s Italo disco, sung entirely in Italian. It blends driving rhythms with dreamy melodies, capturing the radiant spirit of the decade. This fresh yet nostalgic song delivers euphoric vibes and timeless energy, making it a perfect fit for both dancefloors and reflective listening moments worldwide.


- Dentro Di Me
“Dentro Di Me” channels ‘90s sensuality through a fast-paced, UK house-inspired lens. Entirely in Italian, it’s a bold and contemporary dance track where hypnotic vocals meet high-energy grooves. Blending nostalgic textures with forward-thinking production, the result is a seductive and euphoric trip - equal parts emotional and club-ready.


- Amigo
“Amigo” blends Latin groove, acoustic guitar-driven rhythm, and Mediterranean flair into a warm, magnetic, cross-cultural dance anthem. Sung in Spanish and Italian, it celebrates connection, inclusivity, and the joy of moving together - whether stranger or friend. With its unstoppable rhythm and vibrant energy, it’s a feel-good track with a unifying spirit.


- Ma Sei Fuori
“Ma Sei Fuori” is a tongue-in-cheek dancefloor bomb blending raw house energy with catchy vocal phrases and a nod to classic French touch. Driven by hypnotic vocal lines and a playful attitude, it doesn’t take itself too seriously - while still proving serious club impact. Built for late-night moments, it’s bold, bouncy, and impossible to ignore.

Remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head.

Ornette Coleman, who died in June 2015 from cardiac arrest, must be counted as one of the most influential musicians in the jazz genre. His importance does not only lie in his ground-breaking recordings in the late Fifties and early Sixties, but lies more significantly in the educational effect of his work – in the fact that he always went beyond himself to the very end.

Just a little more than a month after his ground-breaking release "Free Jazz", Coleman recorded the present album, in which he perhaps distanced himself somewhat from the conceptual idea, but still guided his quartet to ever more richness of detail and creativity. "Ornette!" was the first recording with bass-player Scott LaFaro and Coleman, and the difference in approach between LaFaro and Charlie Haden is noticeable from the very first note of "W.R.U.". His playing is more direct and agile, and one can hear how he drives Coleman and Don Cherry actively onwards and more aggressively than Haden’s warm, languid phrasing.

The tracks, with titles that are taken from the works of Sigmund Freud, are all gems and serve as a wonderful starting point for the musicians’ improvisations. By now, Coleman felt himself comfortable in lengthy pieces, and neither he nor his fellow musicians had trouble in filling out time, never once lacking for new ideas. Ed Blackwell deserves a special mention – he shows himself here at his very best. "Ornette!" is a superb release and an absolute must for all fans of Coleman and creative, improvised music in general.

Dj T-Kut Team Leader of Skratcher Madrid, Skratch Elementz & Tablist Lounge Spain, publishes a new volume of Skratch Practice. After the success of the previous volumes, this time it will be called Skratch Fu-Finger Practice. Side A consists of 12 seamless loops at 100 BPM and Side B consists of 12 seamless loops at 133 BPM. This vinyl is a perfect tool for battle routines, freestyle scratching, in which you will find classic original sounds, phrases, Fx sounds and much more. This Battle Breaks & Scratch Tools vinyl promises hours of practice and is focused both for DJs who are beginning and advanced DJs. This work is published on 12" and 7" vinyl in black plus a limited edition in colour oxide blood for 12" and gold for 7". The 7" vinyl sides A and B consist of 6 loops per side at 100 BPM. Artwork: Adolfo Gerrero Mastered: Le Jad Producer: Dj T-Kut I hope you enjoy it and Happy Skratching!

,Slapped By My Life" ist eine bittersüße Hymne an Jessys Ehemann. Musikalisch tendiert der Song eher zu einem tanzflächenorientierten Sound, verspielt und schwebend bei schnellen 158 bpm. Die ,Existential Edit"-Version drängt noch weiter auf die Tanzfläche und betont die mitreißenden, üppigen Synth-Texturen mit Akzenten und Phrasen, die dem Track einen treibenden Schwung verleihen. Textlich schwankt der Song zwischen offener Liebe, Dankbarkeit und Unsicherheit und ist das Einfachste, Direkteste und Persönlichste, was Jessy je geschrieben hat, entstanden in Zusammenarbeit mit Pearson Sound.

"New Juke Swing" marks SHONIIA's debut in the Juke/Footwork genre, where he fully embraces the rhythmic freedom that defines the style. Centered around sampling, the release weaves together a rich palette of New Jack Swing, R&B, and soul samples, layered over rapid, broken Chicago rhythms built primarily on the genre's staple drum machines - the RolandR70 and 808 - and spiced with looping vocal phrases.

The album doesn't reject the genre's rules - it plays with them. You'll hear breakbeat elements (MY MUSIC), signature clipping and lo-fi textures (KEEP FREAKY, LOOK AT ME), and even drill influences (HUNG UP AGAIN). The final countdown in DROP ITDOWN LIKE THIS can be read as both a tribute to the cyclical nature of beat-driven music - a core part of the producer's background - and a hint at a possible continuation of the series.

Trailblazing outlet for forward-thinking Danish Jazz, April Records proudly presents the debut from trumpeter/composer Rolf Thofte; a vivid and personal record that blends lyrical melodies, inventive rhythms, and subtle harmonic exploration. Written while Thofte adjusted to fatherhood - the album captures moments of joy, reflection, and experimentation, brought to life by a handpicked quintet of Denmark"s most exciting young jazz talents. Martha"s Dance is set for release on September 19th, 2025 via April Records. The title track is a tribute to Thofte"s three-year-old daughter - a playful, clapping, goat-hoof-stomping tune in quirky 5/4 that channels the spirit of childhood joy and spontaneity. "It"s just a fun tune to play, and I feel like it really captures Martha"s spirit," says Thofte. "This band came together at a time when I was trying to get a foothold in a new life situation as a father, so it felt perfect to make this the title track." The album moves between moods and textures with elegance: from the rich harmonic language of "Vice Versa" - inspired by Wayne Shorter"s ability to cast simple melodies in shifting harmonic light - to the understated power of "Changing Tides," a piece about imperceptible gradual changes in our lives, nature, and politics. "Bendico," written in 15 minutes as a conservatory assignment, showcases Thofte"s gift for strong melodic statements, while "Dunkelflaute" evokes melancholic Nordic greyness through sparse, emotive phrasing. From the swaggering second-line feel of "The Big 5" to the hypnotic pulse of "All...", the album explores rhythm as both a driving force and a canvas for creative interplay. Throughout, Thofte"s trumpet and flugelhorn lead the ensemble with warmth and clarity. The quintet features some of Copenhagen"s top next-generation players: Andreas Toftemark (tenor saxophone), a powerhouse improviser and composer who brings NYC-honed energy and detail to the group dynamic. Rasmus Sorensen (piano), a rising star of the European scene, known for his sensitive, exploratory playing and fearless interaction. Jakob Roland (bass) and Henrik Holst (drums) - two of Thofte"s oldest musical collaborators - round out the rhythm section with deep swing, taste, and musical empathy.

múm are returning with a new album on Morr Music. »History of Silence« is the first full body of work by the Icelandic collective since 2013's »Smilewound« and their seventh studio album to date—recorded, deconstructed, put back together again, refined and finished over the course of two years. Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group's continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.

For a long time now, múm have been exploring the idea of distance in their music. In the beginning, this was born purely out of necessity. Founded in Iceland in the late 1990s, the members soon began embarking on journeys across the world—collectively while touring, but also individually, exploring new places to live and create. Settling in, moving on, catching up: The concept of distance soon became an integral part of the collective's process. »History of Silence« leans into this idea, with space and time becoming indispensable pillars of the arrangements. While being coherent and structured, they echo their origins from different seasons, cities, and spaces—neatly stitched together with unparalleled craftsmanship. They breathe an overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time.

On »History of Silence« time manifests in unexpected, liberating, and mesmerizing ways. It does not move reliably forward; it drifts, takes twists and turns, even disappears completely. Electronic textures blur into acoustic sounds, voices flicker and dissolve, melodies stumble and repeat. The arrangements often feel like they’re wandering, gently resisting direction. »Our Love is Distorting,« for instance, begins with a subtle piano motif, playing hide and seek with feedback noises, digital artefacts, and lush—yet very quiet—string arrangements, before gradually forming into a distinctive song. It's a perfect illustration of múm's general approach on this album. »Mild at Heart« turns this idea upside-down, flowing freely from start to finish with moments of silence sprinkled in—serving to emphasize the musical elements. The music on »History of Silence« moves like weather: unexpected, intimate, quietly detailed. Contrasted with vivid phrases, rhythmic shifts, and small hooks, the album offers a new angle of compositional clarity and vision.

Work on »History of Silence« began at Sudestudio in southern Italy. Additional recordings were made in Reykjavík, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, New York, and Prague. The strings were recorded by Sinfonia Nord at the Hof concert hall, Akureyri, arranged and conducted by Ingi Garðar Erlendsson, who has worked with the band for many years. The orchestral elements don’t dominate the record—instead, they surface gently, adding depth and resonance to the songs without disturbing the songs' fragility.

Contrary to what the album title suggests, »History of Silence« is a collection of bold and colorful songs, no matter how muted they might sound at times. They tickle like a feather drifting through the wind, ending up in unexpected places, stimulating long-forgotten thoughts and feelings, intimate moments of introspection. The songs move through the echoes those moments leave behind: the emotional traces of things unsaid, the weight of stillness. Offering closeness by means of distance and much-needed support.

múm are returning with a new album on Morr Music. »History of Silence« is the first full body of work by the Icelandic collective since 2013's »Smilewound« and their seventh studio album to date—recorded, deconstructed, put back together again, refined and finished over the course of two years. Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group's continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.

For a long time now, múm have been exploring the idea of distance in their music. In the beginning, this was born purely out of necessity. Founded in Iceland in the late 1990s, the members soon began embarking on journeys across the world—collectively while touring, but also individually, exploring new places to live and create. Settling in, moving on, catching up: The concept of distance soon became an integral part of the collective's process. »History of Silence« leans into this idea, with space and time becoming indispensable pillars of the arrangements. While being coherent and structured, they echo their origins from different seasons, cities, and spaces—neatly stitched together with unparalleled craftsmanship. They breathe an overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time.

On »History of Silence« time manifests in unexpected, liberating, and mesmerizing ways. It does not move reliably forward; it drifts, takes twists and turns, even disappears completely. Electronic textures blur into acoustic sounds, voices flicker and dissolve, melodies stumble and repeat. The arrangements often feel like they’re wandering, gently resisting direction. »Our Love is Distorting,« for instance, begins with a subtle piano motif, playing hide and seek with feedback noises, digital artefacts, and lush—yet very quiet—string arrangements, before gradually forming into a distinctive song. It's a perfect illustration of múm's general approach on this album. »Mild at Heart« turns this idea upside-down, flowing freely from start to finish with moments of silence sprinkled in—serving to emphasize the musical elements. The music on »History of Silence« moves like weather: unexpected, intimate, quietly detailed. Contrasted with vivid phrases, rhythmic shifts, and small hooks, the album offers a new angle of compositional clarity and vision.

Work on »History of Silence« began at Sudestudio in southern Italy. Additional recordings were made in Reykjavík, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, New York, and Prague. The strings were recorded by Sinfonia Nord at the Hof concert hall, Akureyri, arranged and conducted by Ingi Garðar Erlendsson, who has worked with the band for many years. The orchestral elements don’t dominate the record—instead, they surface gently, adding depth and resonance to the songs without disturbing the songs' fragility.

Contrary to what the album title suggests, »History of Silence« is a collection of bold and colorful songs, no matter how muted they might sound at times. They tickle like a feather drifting through the wind, ending up in unexpected places, stimulating long-forgotten thoughts and feelings, intimate moments of introspection. The songs move through the echoes those moments leave behind: the emotional traces of things unsaid, the weight of stillness. Offering closeness by means of distance and much-needed support.

múm are returning with a new album on Morr Music. »History of Silence« is the first full body of work by the Icelandic collective since 2013's »Smilewound« and their seventh studio album to date—recorded, deconstructed, put back together again, refined and finished over the course of two years. Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group's continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.

For a long time now, múm have been exploring the idea of distance in their music. In the beginning, this was born purely out of necessity. Founded in Iceland in the late 1990s, the members soon began embarking on journeys across the world—collectively while touring, but also individually, exploring new places to live and create. Settling in, moving on, catching up: The concept of distance soon became an integral part of the collective's process. »History of Silence« leans into this idea, with space and time becoming indispensable pillars of the arrangements. While being coherent and structured, they echo their origins from different seasons, cities, and spaces—neatly stitched together with unparalleled craftsmanship. They breathe an overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time.

On »History of Silence« time manifests in unexpected, liberating, and mesmerizing ways. It does not move reliably forward; it drifts, takes twists and turns, even disappears completely. Electronic textures blur into acoustic sounds, voices flicker and dissolve, melodies stumble and repeat. The arrangements often feel like they’re wandering, gently resisting direction. »Our Love is Distorting,« for instance, begins with a subtle piano motif, playing hide and seek with feedback noises, digital artefacts, and lush—yet very quiet—string arrangements, before gradually forming into a distinctive song. It's a perfect illustration of múm's general approach on this album. »Mild at Heart« turns this idea upside-down, flowing freely from start to finish with moments of silence sprinkled in—serving to emphasize the musical elements. The music on »History of Silence« moves like weather: unexpected, intimate, quietly detailed. Contrasted with vivid phrases, rhythmic shifts, and small hooks, the album offers a new angle of compositional clarity and vision.

Work on »History of Silence« began at Sudestudio in southern Italy. Additional recordings were made in Reykjavík, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, New York, and Prague. The strings were recorded by Sinfonia Nord at the Hof concert hall, Akureyri, arranged and conducted by Ingi Garðar Erlendsson, who has worked with the band for many years. The orchestral elements don’t dominate the record—instead, they surface gently, adding depth and resonance to the songs without disturbing the songs' fragility.

Contrary to what the album title suggests, »History of Silence« is a collection of bold and colorful songs, no matter how muted they might sound at times. They tickle like a feather drifting through the wind, ending up in unexpected places, stimulating long-forgotten thoughts and feelings, intimate moments of introspection. The songs move through the echoes those moments leave behind: the emotional traces of things unsaid, the weight of stillness. Offering closeness by means of distance and much-needed support.

In 2022, Meral Polat released her debut album "Ez Ki Me" as a singer under the name Meral Polat Trio. "Ez Ki Me" roughly translates to "Who am I?". The album was a search by the singer for her Alevi Kurdish roots. In her lyrics, Meral incorporated many poems from her late father, Adi Ihsan Polat. The album received positive reviews and was nominated for a Music Award by Songlines.

On her new album MEYDAN, Meral primarily showcases her own voice, that of a woman exercising her right to live on her own terms, free from the oppressive interference of patriarchy. The album celebrates female strength, inspired by the philosophy of "JIN, JIYAN, AZADI" (WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM), a phrase originating from Kurdish-led women's movements. JIN, JIYAN, AZADI symbolise resistance to oppression and the fight for women's rights.

Musically, MEYDAN takes it a step further than the debut album. Meral welcomes drummer Jens Bouttery to the band, along with many inspiring guest musicians. The track "Cenek" features a determined choir of 26 women of various ages and cultural backgrounds. In "Çiya Icaro", Meral shares a duet with Bolivian artist Ibbelise Guarda Ferraguti.

On MEYDAN, Meral and her band continue their exploration of Anatolian and Mesopotamian music, particularly the Turkish psychedelic rock revolution of the 1970s and the ancient Kurdish Dengbej traditions. The band travelled to Istanbul to record with Murat Ertel from Baba Zula and trumpet player Can Omer Uygan. In addition to Anatolian music styles, influences from Mali Blues and Nigerian Afrobeat are embraced. Another notable guest is Senegalese musician Mola Sylla, who lent his voice and improvisational talent to the track "Govend".

While the drums, keyboards or guitar, and Polat's voice still form the core of the album, each track also contains its own collage of synthesisers, vocal harmonies, percussion, organ, piano, distorted guitars, and guest musicians. All tracks were mixed by the exceptional Belgian mixing engineer Pieterjan Coppejans, who added depth to their sound. All of this results in a particularly rich and uplifting album with a message.

Following the release of his fifth studio album ‘Magickal’ at the start of the year, Damian Lazarus now opens a new chapter in the project’s evolution with ‘Magickal Remixed (Part I)’, this first instalment of the two-part series features bold reimagining’s from Harry Romero, Jonathan Kaspar, THEMBA and Mëstiza, offering four fresh takes on standout cuts from the acclaimed long-player.

The package opens with Harry Romero’s ‘Raw Dog’ remix of ‘R U Dreaming?’, originally a deeply introspective cut featuring Canadian maestro Mathew Jonson. Here, the New York favourite dials up the low-end pressure and rhythmic weight, bringing raw tribal energy and heavyweight swing to the original’s dreamlike tones. Jonathan Kaspar’s ‘Sunrise Remix’ of ‘Falling Down’, Lazarus’ collaboration with TEED and A-Trak, comes next. Channelling radiant euphoria through rising pads and sweeping melodic phrasing, it leans into the emotional intensity of the original while transforming it into a full-blown moment of sunrise transcendence.

On the B Side THEMBA delivers striking remix of Damian Lazarus and Jem Cooke’s ‘Searchin’.
THEMBA’s remix builds on that foundation and takes it into expansive, Afro-infused club territory, layering hypnotic percussion, deep rolling grooves, and subtle atmospheric shifts that heighten the emotion and push the track into new late-night spaces. Closing out the release, Spanish duo Mëstiza return to reinterpret their collaboration with the Crosstown head honcho, ‘La Hija De Juan Simón’. Expanding on the track’s flamenco-inspired roots, they layer hand-played percussion, haunting vocal flourishes, and dense atmospheres into a hypnotic, slow-burning groove, bridging folklore and futurism in their unmistakable style.

Tender / Wading zeigt Matthew Sage, alias M. Sage, in den Ausläufern und Weiden Colorados, wo er schreibt, aufnimmt und zu einem Stück seiner Heimat und Identität zurückkehrt, wobei ein Akt der Fürsorge den nächsten nach sich zieht. Das Album, das hauptsächlich auf Klavier und Klarinette aufgebaut ist und dann mit Gitarre, modularem Synthesizer, Percussion und Feldaufnahmen aus der Umgebung seines Zuhauses verziert wurde, ist eine weitreichende, ruhige Vision von Vitalität, radikaler Sanftheit und dem beruhigenden Gefühl, nach Hause zu kommen, auch wenn sich das Zuhause verändert hat. Seit den frühen 2010er Jahren hat Sage ein eigenwilliges Musikrepertoire zusammengestellt, das sich in verschiedene Klangrichtungen erstreckt, sich in Veröffentlichungen auf Geographic North, Orange Milk und Moon Glyph manifestiert und sowohl kritische Aufmerksamkeit als auch eine treue Zuhörerschaft für jede neue Wendung erlangt hat. 2023 debütierte Sage bei RVNG Intl. mit Paradise Crick, das zeitgleich mit seiner laufenden Arbeit im improvisierten Ambient-Jazz-Quartett Fuubutsushi erschien. Nun präsentiert er sein nächstes Soloalbum und seine neue Richtung. Tender / Wading folgt auf Sages Rückkehr nach Colorado nach fast einem Jahrzehnt in Chicago, wo er nun mit seiner jungen Familie dreißig Meilen außerhalb seiner Heimatstadt ein paar Hektar verwildertes Land bewirtschaftet. In einem ganzheitlichen Kontrast zu Cricks synthetischer Klangwelt schafft Sage Kunst aus dem Akt des Pflegens neuen Wachstums, hinterfragt Konstrukte des häuslichen Lebens und versteht die Spuren seines früheren Selbst durch die schmutzverschmierte, schweißvernebelte Linse der Gegenwart. Das Ergebnis ist sein bisher autobiografischstes Material, geprägt von Zeit und Veränderungen in der Wahrnehmung sowie bedeutungsvollen Details aus Sages psychischer Suche. Sage vergleicht das Gefühl, verschiedene Versionen von sich selbst zu sehen, mit der berühmten Hase-Ente-Theorie des Philosophen Ludwig Wittgenstein. ,Es ist dieselbe Zeichnung, aber je nachdem, wer man ist, wo man ist und wann man ist, sehen manche Menschen einen Hasen und manche eine Ente oder beides", erklärt Sage. Hier sind das Subjekt und der Betrachter, zurück in vertrauten Landschaften, als Partner und Elternteil, der Gestrüpp zurückschneidet, gedemütigt von invasiven Pflanzen, Schädlingsbefall und verdichtetem Lehmboden, seine Prioritäten haben sich grundlegend geändert. Und doch ist auch dieses andere Ich da: ein gewiefter Akademiker, der oft in Memes denkt und das Ziehen seines Handys in der Hosentasche spürt. ,In diesem Album geht es darum, diese Wahrnehmungsverschiebungen zu ergründen und ihnen Raum zu geben, beides zu tun: hüpfen und quaken." Es ist ein inneres Kind, das Sages intermediale Praxis in seinem Atelier leitet, einer Scheune, die nach dem großen Umzug im Jahr 2022 im Rahmen einer hausweiten DIY-Renovierung umgebaut wurde. Im Inneren werden Gedichte zu Zeichnungen, zu Skulpturen im Hinterhof und darüber hinaus, und alberne Ausflüge in den Vogelgesang oder die Freude an der Herausforderung, Klarinette zu lernen, weichen ernsthafter Musik. ,Ich glaube, ich habe entdeckt, dass es diese Linien gibt, die alles miteinander verbinden", sagt er. ,Und dieses Album ist voller hartnäckigem Optimismus und Hoffnung, aber auch der Bewusstheit, dass wir uns in einer späten Phase befinden, und dem Versuch, mit der Rhetorik dieser Phase umzugehen." Für Tender / Wading setzt Sage einen unverwechselbaren Sound ein: eine pastorale Art von Folk Kosmiche, kontemplativer elektroakustischer Barn Jazz für die Front Range, voller blasser Puddle Blues und rostigen Oil Drum Reds. Die meisten Songs entstanden auf einem 1910er Hamilton-Klavier, das kurioserweise in Chicago gebaut, von den Vorbesitzern zurückgelassen und von Mäusen bewohnt worden war. Die zufällige Begegnung mit dem Instrument fühlte sich kosmisch an, nicht nur wegen seiner Verbindung zur Windy City, sondern auch wegen Sages sich weiterentwickelnder Herangehensweise an das Songwriting nach Fuubutsushi. Er fühlt sich hinter den Tasten wohler und kehrt zurück zum Schlagzeug (seiner Jugendliebe). In einem passenden Raum für Holzblasinstrumente umarmt er das Elementare und Absichtliche und verleiht der Musik von Anfang an mehr strukturelles Gewicht und Wärme. Tender's M. Sage verbindet die Studioexperimente und Improvisationen seiner Vergangenheit mit einem geschärften Ohr für melodische Phrasierungen und Akkordwechsel und hat seine übliche Fülle an Demos auf neun finale Stücke reduziert. Seine charakteristischen Weltbilder bleiben erhalten, von Holzhauskröten, die in statischer Elektrizität schwimmen, über raschelndes Gras und Regen, der in die Dachrinnen plätschert, bis hin zu walzenden Sternbildern im Mondlicht. Während Cricks Universum aus magischem Realismus und digitaler Fantasie entstanden ist, greift Tender / Wading direkter auf menschliche Erfahrungen zurück. Er weist schnell Vorwürfe zurück, es handele sich um ein hochkonzeptionelles Album: ,Ich mache einfach die Musik, die ich selbst gerne in meinen Kopfhörern hören würde, während ich Unkraut jäte oder so." Es könnte beides sein, wie der Hase und die Ente behaupten würden: zutiefst persönlich und abstrakt, eine faszinierende und natürliche Wendung eines experimentellen Künstlers des 21. Jahrhunderts, dessen Vermächtnis sich in Echtzeit weiterentwickelt und wächst.

The song sets the tone of this album. A simple structure, over which a web of rhythm is woven using an instrumentation of old drum machines in dialogue with live drums and percussion. Lots of sax, tenor and baritone! A pumping bass. A frisky pizzicato violin. And some classic keyboards: the Fender Rhodes, the Hohner Clavinette D6, the L-100 Hammond organ. And lots of analogue synthesisers: a rippling Juno-106 marks the path to follow, which is crossed with phrases from other museum pieces: Crumar's Stratus, Farfisa's Synthorchestra, Sequential's Prophet-10. Or still the Casio Club M-100, which is basically a toy, but has been subtly colouring SKC's songs for years!

SKC has often dived deep into the repertoire of artists he holds in high esteem, looking for pearls, forgotten or not, to work on. Likewise on this album with versions of songs by Prince, Dez Mona, Alain Bashung…

Emil Friis’ neues Album Moving Images, seine erste Soloveröffentlichung für das Klassik-Imprint 130701 des Labels FatCat, ist ein Zeugnis der menschlichen Verfassung und der Dinge, die uns als Spezies zusammenbringen. Es ist inspiriert von den Bewegungen des menschlichen Geistes und den Geschichten, die wir durch Musik, Worte, Kunst und Film teilen.

Das Album umfasst ein breites Spektrum an Instrumenten und Emotionen: düstere Kammermusikstücke wie „For Goodbyes“, bedrohliche, aber hoffnungsvoll hypnotische Ambient-Stücke wie „Zero“, sanfte Solo-Piano-Stücke wie „Dancing“, poetische und verspielte Flöten- und Synthesizer-Stücke wie „Through Air“ und spannungsgeladene, filmische Streicher-, Synthesizer- und Klavierstücke wie „An Upward Motion“.

„Moving Images“ ist auch ein gemeinsames Projekt zwischen Friis und ausgewählten Filmemachern. Jeder der 15 Albumtracks wird von einer Videoarbeit begleitet. Die Filmemacher Kevin Brooks, Shaun Hart, Morgan Jon Fox und Jonathan Meyers hatten kreative Freiheit, die Stücke zu interpretieren, die ihnen am meisten zusagten.

Das aus nur wenigen Elementen bestehende Arrangement sorgt für ein enges Zusammenspiel aus Instrumenten und Emotionen sowie der Tiefe der Texturen. Die Originalkompositionen werden auf Synthesizern, Streichern, Holzbläsern und Klavier dargeboten. Mit Beiträgen von Künstlern wie dem renommierten Streicher Davide Rossi werden sie in cineastische, moderne klassische Werke verwandelt. Die Stücke sind so voller Helligkeit, Sensibilität, Spannung und düsterer Schönheit, dass es oft den Anschein hat, als würden die Instrumente miteinander sprechen. Die Phrasen wirken manchmal einsam. An anderer Stelle schweben und fliegen sie. Trotz ihrer Kürze sind die Resultate von Wärme und Inbrunst erfüllt.

The latest by Andrew Clinco's acid punk alias VR SEX takes its title from an architectural phrase but more importantly refers to the warped, wicked underworld the songs both chronicle and condemn. Donning the moniker Noel Skum - an acerbic anagram of Elon Musk - Clinco vents his scorn for and fascination with the seedy, surreal margins of low-life Los Angeles, doomed to dead ends of vanity, lust, and technology. Although initially launched as an outlet for "heavier sounds" beyond Clinco's duties in new wave fantasists Drab Majesty, the project has ripened into a compelling exercise in world building, weaving themes of gritty city neofuturist sleaze within a framework of driving, distorted guitars and cathode-blasted synths. Echoes of Chrome, Wire, Minimal Man, and Sisters Of Mercy ripple through the collection but ultimately Rough Dimension charts its own twisted vision of "our unforgiving reality." Written and demoed across two weeks alone in a Marseille flat using his prized 1980's Gibson "Invader" and a laptop, Clinco then took the tracks to Strange Weather studios in Brooklyn to record with Ben Greenberg (Uniform, The Men) who helmed 2019's debut, Human Traffic Jam. The results are notably ripping, refined, and riveting. Riffs in alternate tunings chug and churn over mid-tempo drums punctuated by spikes of sci-fi electronics while the vocals swagger and spit venom ("where we walk is also where we shit / but if we bark at our reflections are we hypocrites? / impulses bleed right into our seed / where hate culminates the apple rotted on the tree"). It's a bristling mix of the melodic and the macabre, absurdist observations of fast living and desperate measures, the clock of youth ticking towards midnight as dreams unravel in Babylon. VR SEX's specialty is making these cautionary tales of psychic decay and tainted love a thrill rather than a drag. There's a sunglasses at night glamor to Clinco's choruses and solos, a wit to his black leather judgements ("what is the answer / to cancerous people / walking in my line of sight?"). The music's milieu tends towards parasites and predators but its mood skews refreshingly accelerated and amused, cruising the strip with a cigarette, watching goths and limousines crawl in gridlock beneath digital billboards. The Rough Dimension may be a cesspool, but it's home.

In C is a musical piece by the composer and performing musician Terry Riley. As one of the first minimalist compositions and a masterpiece of this genre it’s a response to the modern music that dominated the scene in 1968. The piece inspired a lot of famous composers, like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. In C consists of repeating cells and different rhythms, loosely based on the musical structures he had heard and loved in north African music. 53 short musical phrases
is where the compositions is made of. The thing that makes In C so enduring is that, once all concept is stripped away, it’s a seriously hypnotic piece of music. For listeners with a sympathy for minimalism it’s a wild and impressive work, full of energy.

In C is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl.

In C is a musical piece by the composer and performing musician Terry Riley. As one of the first minimalist compositions and a masterpiece of this genre it’s a response to the modern music that dominated the scene in 1968. The piece inspired a lot of famous composers, like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. In C consists of repeating cells and different rhythms, loosely based on the musical structures he had heard and loved in north African music. 53 short musical phrases is where the compositions is made of. The thing that makes In C so enduring is that, once all concept is stripped away, it's a seriously hypnotic piece of music. For listeners with a sympathy for minimalism it’s a wild and impressive work, full of energy. In C is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl.

Vines, the solo project of New York-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Cassie Wieland, offers a window into her inner world through expansive swaths of sound. She pieces together a celestial mix of synths, percussion, strings, and vocoded voice, making music that is at once deeply personal and cinematic in scope. This diaristic approach first took shape with her 2023 EP Birthday Party, and is crystallized on her debut LP, I’ll be here. With the sweeping and vulnerable I’ll be here, Vines arrives fully formed as an artist who crafts deeply resonant and open music–the kind that invites listeners in to listen, reflect, and share in the journey of learning through living.

“It was through making music that I was able to meet myself,” Wieland said. “Anything I’m going through or feeling is something that somebody else out there can relate to, and that’s really special to me.”

I’ll be here is both a culmination of years spent creating gossamer soundscapes and an opening to a new journey for Wieland as an artist. The album grew out of her years as a composer and songwriter, and builds on the language she developed on Birthday Party, which transformed the tumultuous feelings of the passing of time into minimalist meditations. It was just a start, though–a prologue, a development of the kind of language and ideas she wanted to express. With I’ll be here, she digs deeper and writes music that feels more sprawling, further solidifying her singular voice.

Wieland’s musical composition process is similar to journaling, lending itself to the music’s honesty. When she writes, she makes room for all the ideas she has; in these sessions, there are no wrong ideas, and she allows the music to be attuned to the experiences she’s having at the time. With I’ll be here, Wieland zeroes in on themes of anxiety, loneliness, navigating human connection, and having to grow up from a young age, ultimately coming to a place of acceptance. And though it began as a journal written in solitude, her collaborators shape the music with her.

Working with friends, in fact, was a crucial part of bringing the record to life. “Everything that was supposed to happen came together so easily because of the people involved,” Wieland said. I’ll be here was co-produced and recorded with Wieland’s longtime collaborator Mike Tierney, a four time Grammy-nominated engineer who has worked with artists across the contemporary classical and experimental scene like minimalist pioneer Steve Reich, LA’s preeminent classical ensemble Wild Up, and various bands on Bang on a Can’s Cantaloupe Music label. Percussionist and composer Adam Holmes and violinist Adrianne Munden-Dixon are two other longtime collaborators who are frequent fixtures of her live show. Holmes plays synths, drums, and banjo; in live settings, his kit is loaded with elements of the songs that are then triggered by MIDI, making the music an interactive, evolving experience. The album’s gentle, filamented edges are colored by Munden-Dixon, whose poignant string melodies elevate Wieland’s introspective compositions, as well as cellist Helen Newby, saxophonists Julian Velasco and Jordan Lulloff, and bassist Pat Swoboda.

Wieland takes an economic approach to writing music, building the swirling and immersive landscapes of Vines through short melodies, lyrics, and phrases. As each element layers and interweaves, they grow into sprawling webs of ghostly sound. Prior to Vines, Wieland composed pieces for other people to play using a minimalist’s sensibility, writing slowly unfolding melodies for instruments like violin and saxophone. In recent years, she sharpened her solo style across a variety of singles and covers which have garnered significant attention on social media for their emotional resonance (“being loved isn't the same as being understood” in particular went massively viral on TikTok in 2024). Birthday Party, her debut as Vines, brought her writing to a much more intimate space, centering on her vocoded voice cloaked in feathery reverb. A series of recent singles, meanwhile, including “I am my home,” showcase the way that Wieland’s music is born from the story of her innermost feelings, extending far beyond just the self.

Though Wieland’s music often deals with dark themes, it unfolds with tender melancholy, the kind that feels like a warm embrace. On “Evicted,” Wieland wonders if she’s getting sick or moving on, if she’s lost or found. Her vocals expand with each lyrical repetition, as the instrumentals slowly encircle and the music’s rhythm grows and bursts into a heart-wrenching, yet radiant wave reminiscent of post-rock bands like Explosions in the Sky. “Tired” follows a similar trajectory, building from a looping, melancholy rhythm and floating lyrics into a solemn resignation. Elsewhere, Wieland takes a more ruminative approach: “Omw” begins with twinkling piano and melancholy strings that gradually transform into an undulating mass. It is a song born out of the warm feeling of reminiscence, the slight return of hope that comes with nostalgia.

With any searching journey, there is also a point of understanding. The title track closes the album with the freedom of acceptance. A marching drum beats steadily beneath Wieland’s open vocals, moving forward, ever onward as it flies into the ether. In Wieland’s delicately textured music, there is room to come into yourself, and learn to love whomever that is. I’ll be here is a special space that can be all your own, one in which to feel what needs to be felt. “This is music for your story,” Wieland said. “I want you to use it how you need it.”

The extroverted blend of attitude, energy, and ostentatiousness that spills from the New York Dolls’ self-titled debut can be seen in full view on the album cover. Depicting the quintet in its hallmark flash-and-trash apparel and in drag appearance, the 1973 album scared away a considerable amount of potential listeners while capturing the attention of a sizable audience that recognized the band for what it was: zeitgeist pioneers who helped develop the punk and glam rock movements.

Named by Rolling Stone the 301st Greatest Album of All Time and by Mojo the 49th greatest album of all time, New York Dolls receives long-overdue audiophile treatment on Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set. Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, this collectible version marks the first time the group’s career-making statement is available to be experienced in audiophile quality.

Far from harboring the crude elements that became associated with the punk scene, New York Dolls benefits from keen production overseen by none other than Todd Rundgren. Though more accustomed to working far higher-caliber musicians, Rundgren — taken by the New York Dolls’ charisma and cool, if not their instrumental approach — fully understood the ensemble’s aesthetic. He captured what went down at New York City’s Record Plant with an astute blend of live-on-the-floor feel, raw authenticity, and professional acumen.

On Mobile Fidelity’s definitive-sounding reissue, you can hear those facets as well as key details, dynamics, and textures with previously unimaginable insight. Rundgren preserved generous degrees of grit, grime, and grease while bestowing the raucous music with elevated levels of separation, solidity, and impact every landmark recording deserves. His vision extends to introducing choice accents — barroom piano notes, Moog synthesizer passages, Buddy Bowser’s honking saxophones — that add to the songs’ appeal without interfering with the primary architecture.

Afforded extra groove space on this pressing, the tenor, presentation, and attack of both vocalist David Johansen and now-iconic guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain come across with stunning vibrancy and vitality. The New York Dolls often seem headed off the rails and into the red, but somehow, the strut, swagger, and sloppiness — and the associated sleaze and scruff, scrape and snarl, frenzy and feverishness those characteristics entail — remain together as a whole that shakes its collective fist at the frustrations, isolation, disarray, and disillusionment of youth chaos and urban decay.

Kicking off its debut with “Personality Crisis,” cited by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the band makes obvious its grasp of alienation, deviance, displacement, and suburban disaffection — as well as its capacity to play hanging-by-a-thread boogie, noisy rock ‘n’ roll, and Brill Building-inspired pop. The lipstick-kissed New York Dolls possesses traits many of its harsher predecessors would overlook: joyfulness and melody, topped with a knack for knowing how and where to take a song inside of three-and-a-half minutes.

Dive and dash with the belligerent “Looking for a Kiss”; stomp your feet and clap your hands to the big choruses of “Jet Boy”; surrender to the demands and provocations of the coded “Vietnamese Baby”; decide whether “Bad Girl” yearns to explode or implode. It’s one of several tunes here that allude to the world coming to end. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a fling before everything burns. “There’s no place I gotta go,” yowls Johansen. And he means it.

Adorned with tonal crunch, glitter, and gristle, New York Dolls takes pride in its brashness and brattiness. The rambunctious effort, which earned the band the distinction of being voted both “Best New Group of the Year” and “Worst New Group of the Year” in the pages of Creem, displays knowing reverence for the blues without calling attention to the style. The folk-laden “Lonely Planet Boy” is nothing if not a collision of heart-on-the-sleeve emotions and the desire in the face of challenges to maintain a tough-skinned exterior. An interpretation of Bo Diddley’s “Pills,” complete with shivering harmonica and clattering rhythms, announces there’s no cure for what infects this band. It’s that contagious. And how.

His deliveries gushing with campy fun, playful irreverence, and sheer decadence, Johansen doubles as the equivalent of an open fire hydrant that spouts at will. He’s at once tender and vicious, serious and tongue-in-cheek. On arguably his finest hour on the album, Johansen’s phrasing, passion, and lyrical ambiguity alone turn “Trash” into an insistent glam-rock gem whose echoing harmonies and girl-group references stamp it a pop classic.

Too much, too soon? Only for those averse to some of the finest rock ‘n’ roll ever put on tape.

Experience the Double-Platinum 1996 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time
Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Is Sourced from the Original Analogue Tapes
1/2” / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

If great art, as many believe, is inherently polarizing, then the Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop easily ranks as the California-based band’s finest album. Simultaneously celebrated and castigated upon release in spring 1996, the group’s third full-length finds vocalist Scott Weiland and company expanding their “grunge” palette with a smart blend of glam rock, psychedelia, jangle pop, and other related styles. Having benefited from long-view reassessments that shed the biases and meanness of initial criticisms, the double-platinum effort is now largely and rightly seen as a creative masterwork. All the more reason why it deserves reference-grade production.

Overseen by producer Brendan O’Brien, Stone Temple Pilots used bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, and the lawn to capture a broad blend of textures, spaciousness, and ambience that helped underline the group’s obvious (and somewhat unexpected) leap from normal “alternative” status to an artist whose aspirations went beyond that of many of its contemporaries. You can hear the multitude of details and tonalities with previously unattained clarity, presence, and scope on this fantastic reissue, which also delivers the impact and punch every rock record deserves. Another tremendous asset: The depth, grain, and pitch of Weiland’s voice.

For all the contagious choruses and glossy melodies that help make Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sparkle, the vocal performances of the late singer arguably rank as the best that the much-missed Weiland committed to tape. None other than the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan — who, like many peers and critics, felt a pressing need to reevaluate the record as both time marched on and the self-importance attached to the “alternative” scene faded — praised Weiland’s efforts by noting: “Like Bowie can and does, it was Scott's phrasing that pushed his music into a unique, and hard to pin down, aesthetic sonicsphere.”

Smooth and diverse, those traits are everywhere on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. From the clever combination of emotional closeness and distance he brings to the catchy albeit ultimately melancholic “Lady Picture Show”; to the lounge-fly balladeering that causes “And So I Know” to lightly swing akin to a bleary-eyed house band’s final number at a 4 A.M. bar; to the effortless cool and laissez-faire casualness he articulates on the grinding “Pop’s Love Suicide”; to the dimensional raspiness, defiant energy, and let-loose wail that sail through the crunchy “Big Bang Baby.”

The latter tune, the record’s first single and per Weiland a conscious attempt by the band to deconstruct its prior approaches, clearly borrows from the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Because of it, the song drew all kinds of barbs from naysayers. Their disdain extended to most material on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, which indirectly references other prized acts such as the Beatles, Cheap Trick, T. Rex, and Lush. Those cynics failed to grasp that Stone Temple Pilots were paying homage and having a blast, with even Weiland, then battling serious substance-abuse and legal issues, getting in on the action.

Stone Temple Pilots’ skeptics also turned a deaf ear to the records’ stellar pop craftsmanship, sticky hooks, and sly commentary on music-industry machinations and fame. Not to mention the band’s intent, made clear from the outset. In an interview conducted in 1994, guitarist Robert DeLeo stated: “The last thing I wanted to do with this band was make everybody believe we invented something.”

Seen through that lens and the hindsight afforded history, and appreciated independent of the self-righteous authenticity standards of the day, Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sounds borderline fearless while authoritatively checking all the right boxes for fun, flavor, and finesse. Part winking send-up, part tribute to the glitter rock age, and part middle finger towards the hip crowd that didn’t know what they were missing, this mid-90s classic repeatedly invites you to drop the needle and press play.

Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Plays with Authoritative Tonality, Airiness, and Clarity:
Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl and Strictly Limited to
3,000 Numbered Copies
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Joni Mitchell is the only artist who could’ve made Hejira. The legendary singer-songwriter said as much when discussing the album decades after its release. Yet that fact seemed obvious from the moment the gold-certified effort streeted in fall 1976. An adventurous travelogue, probing narrative, and offbeat homage to freedom, Hejira remains an inimitable entry in the catalog of recorded music — a spare, gorgeous, meditative series of sonic vignettes comprised of floating harmonic pop, cool jazz, soft rock, and sensitive vocal elements that beckon feelings of motion, discovery, and self-examination.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the record ranked the 133rd Greatest of All Time by Rolling Stone with definitive detail, richness, accuracy, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD.

Playing with a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible reissue reproduces in enveloping fashion the tones, textures, and craftsmanship that help Hejira function as the equivalent of a liberating trip down an open road with nothing but blue sky, natural landscape, and fresh air in the immediate vicinity. Passages bloom, carry, decay as they do amid an acoustically optimized environment. Soundstages extend far, wide, and deep, with black backgrounds and pinpoint images adding to the realism.

The reference-grade immediacy, airiness, and presence put in transparent perspective Mitchell’s dense strings of words, stream-of-conscious-like phrasing, and unhurried albeit forward momentum. Likewise, the instrumental contributions of her A-list support musicians — a cast that includes L.A. Express members John Guerin, Max Bennett and Tom Scott, plus Neil Young, Victor Feldman, and Abe Most — emerges with breathtaking clarity and dimensionality.

While Mitchell, whose intimate vocals and abstract guitar parts center everything, Mobile Fidelity's restoration of Hejira further reveals the visionary breadth of guitarist Larry Carlton and bassist Jaco Pastorius. Though heard on only four tracks, Pastorius' fretless bass epitomizes the fluid, subtle, flexible, roomy, and shape-shifting characteristics of songs that often appear to transpire out of nowhere akin to the formation of a puffy cumulus cloud overhead. In sync with Mitchell’s voice, Pastorius’ fusion hovers and floats, suspended in a fog you want to deeply inhale. The "grace notes" Mitchell desired on Hejira can now be heard in full. Ditto the luxurious tapestries of alinear lines, fills, and supplements unreeled on Carlton’s six-string.

Visually, the packaging of this UD1S set complements its identity as the copy to own. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, the LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics. This version is for listeners who desire to become immersed in everything about Hejira, including the unforgettable album cover — a pastiche of 14 different photos Mitchell used a Camera Lucida to assemble into one image that’s anchored by a portrait of her in a stoic pose — and the interior shots of Mitchell skating on a frozen Wisconsin lake wearing a pair of black skates, black shirt, and fur cape.

The notion of skating, feeling an awakening wind whipping against your face, and losing yourself to the surroundings are extremely apt for Hejira, which Mitchell wrote after a sequence of trips and relationships prompted her to reflect on the complicated conflicts between independence and marriage, success and satisfaction, duty and desire — and, more specifically, “the cost of being a woman.” The Canadian native delved into such themes before. But never as she does on Hejira, whose liberating, running-away aura doubles as another of Mitchell’s rejections of tradition as well as a suggestion of a better alternative.

At once observational and personal, expansive and insular, cheerful and poignant, Hejira spans a sea of human conditions, emotions, and circumstances. It addresses drifting, isolation, pleasure, place, time, and surroundings with strikingly poetic discourse matched with music that, save for the crooned ballad “Blue Motel Room,” forgoes conventional structures and choruses.

The jazz-based arrangements, marked by scaled-down percussion and all manner of bent, rounded, and unsettled notes, hint that Mitchell has no exact destination in mind. Excursions such as the moody “Furry Sings the Blues,” funky “Coyote” and edgy “Black Crow” throw open previously locked doors to possibility and journey. They signal it’s time for a welcome departure from norms and the past, one that leads to a heightened sense of clarity and perspective. Or, as Mitchell said upon choosing the album title, it’s time for “leaving the dream, no blame.”

Bob Marley & The Wailers' Rastaman Vibration Analogue Productions' UHQR, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl! 45 RPM 2LP Ultra High Quality Record release limited to 4,500 copies Mastered from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound Pressed on 180-gram at Quality Record Pressings using Clarity Vinyl® Includes "12 x 12" 8-page booklet featuring new liner notes by musician and Marley biographer Leroy Jodie Pierson (APO Records Direct-To-Disc AAPO 005), plus exclusive photos by Kim-Gottlieb Walker Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!

When Rastaman Vibration was first released in America in 1976 it did what some in the music industry considered nearly impossible at the time. It took Bob Marley into the Top Ten alongside disco records and corporate rock, points out Rolling Stone, which rates the album 4 stars. Despite the good cheer of the title track and the upbeat "Roots, Rock, Reggae," Rastaman Vibration contains some of Marley's most intense images of oppression, paranoia and despair. Tracks such as "Who the Cap Fit," "Crazy Baldhead" and "War" are offered by the Wailers with dire urgency as Marley's brutal visions are echoed by his own church choir, the I-Threes.

More than four decades later, neither Marley's music nor his message has lost its sting. Now, Analogue Productions presents perfection — Rastaman Vibration cut at 45 RPM in UHQR format on 180-gram 2LP Clarity Vinyl. This Ultra High Quality Record release will be limited to 4,500 copies, with gold foil individually numbered jackets. For Bob Marley, 1975 was a triumphant year. The singer's Natty Dread album featured one of his strongest batches of original material (the first compiled after the departure of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) and delivered Top 40 hit "No Woman No Cry." The follow-up Live set, a document of Marley's appearance at London's Lyceum, found the singer conquering England as well. Upon completing the tour, Marley and his band returned to Jamaica, laying down the tracks for Rastaman Vibration (1976) at legendary studios run by Harry Johnson and Joe Gibbs.

At the mixing board for the sessions were Sylvan Morris and Errol Thompson, Jamaican engineers of the highest caliber. Of the material on Rastaman Vibration, "War," for one, remains one of the most stunning statements of the singer's career. Though it is essentially a straight reading of one of Haile Selassie's speeches, Marley phrases the text exquisitely to fit a musical setting, a quiet intensity lying just below the surface. Equally strong are the likes of "Rat Race,""'Crazy Baldhead," and "Want More."

These songs are tempered by buoyant, lighthearted material like "Cry to Me," "Night Shift," and "Positive Vibration." Not quite as strong as some of the love songs Marley would score hits with on subsequent albums, "Cry to Me" seems like an obvious choice for a single and remains underrated. This UHQR is remastered at 45 RPM by Sterling Sound's Ryan K. Smith from the original analog master tapes. Each UHQR will be pressed at Acoustic Sounds' industry-leading pressing plant Quality Record Pressings (QRP) using hand-selected Clarity Vinyl® with attention paid to every single detail. These records will feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable. From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer's stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center.

Clarity Vinyl allows for the purest possible pressing and the most visually stunning presentation. Every UHQR will be hand inspected upon pressing completion, and only the truly flawless will be allowed to go to market. Each UHQR will be packaged in a custom clamshell box and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection. This will be a truly deluxe, collectible product. In addition to the UHQR booklet the package will contain a 8-page 12" x 12" booklet containing new liner notes by musican and Marley biographer Leroy Jodie Pierson as well as exclusive photos by Kim-Gottlieb Walker. Pierson is a past performer for Blues Masters at the Crossroads, the two-night historic blues festival at Blue Heaven Studios in Salina, Kansas. He's also recorded a Direct-To-Disc blues album for APO Records. (AAPO 005) Rastaman Vibration — now a landmark production on 180-gram 45 RPM Analogue Productions UHQR Clarity Vinyl!

Over sixty years into a life in music, Amina Claudine Myers revisits old compositions with a quiet force on Solace Of The Mind, her first solo record since receiving an NEA Jazz Master honours. Recorded for Red Hook Records and produced by Sun Chung, it hears Myers at the piano, Hammond B3 organ and mic, reinterpreting personal standards such as 'African Blues', 'Song For Mother E', 'Cairo' and 'Steal Away' with patient, spacious phrasing and the tonal sensitivity she's honed since her days with the AACM. Chung's production renders every harmonic shimmer and pause with startling clarity; a glistening move compared to last year's duo release with Wadada Leo Smith, adding a returnal layer to an otherwise eclectic discography, spanning free jazz and blues-rooted experimentalism. In her words, "I wanted to play (the originals) differently this time."

Despite the outright denial in its title, death is present in every one of the songs on Never Die, the collaborative album from MIDWIFE’s Madeline Johnston and Matt Jencik (of Implodes, Don Caballero, and Slint’s live band). Jencik held the tenderest thought imaginable when he came up with that phrase—Never Die—the fact that the people he loves eventually would, a certainty that feels impossible and remote, until the day it absolutely doesn’t. Never Die represents Jencik’s desperate bid to hold onto everyone he loves, to keep them on Earth so fiercely that they might enter the grave with claw marks on their skin.

Johnston, who recognizes the grace of mortality (and who, as MIDWIFE once sang: “I don’t wanna live forever,” over and over) serves as the spiritual guide for the album, transmuting the fear of death into an incentive to live more keenly and dearly. Following a number of ambient drone instrumental albums, Jencik felt the need to set himself a new creative challenge: to write vocal-heavy songs. He worked on them alone in his basement, recording directly to a four-track cassette. He sent those demos to a different collaborator to tinker with before that partnership eventually dissolved. Then, he thought of Madeline: the way her voice tended to glower in her songs, as well as her commitment to minimalism, which fell squarely within the project’s aesthetic and spiritual impulses.

“I was immediately drawn to what she was doing,” Jencik says. In both of their work, Jencik and Johnston understand minimalism as a vehicle for enormous, desperate and universal emotions. Entire worlds come in and out of existence between each of their sparse notes; a great breadth of feeling is bedded into the simple structure of their songs. Never Die offers a calm confrontation with the dour inevitability that bookends our lives. When the fact of death looms over life, it tends to denature every experience we have and every relationship we know we’ll eventually have to forfeit back to the Earth. No one, no matter how hard we love, makes it out of this alive thing. But we feel anyway. And we love anyway. And we sing anyway. Here, Jencik and Johnston have sung ‘die’ over and over, snowglobing life in the process.

Bulbous Monocle focuses its lens further into the legacy and archives of the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. These Things Remain Unassigned—a phrase coined by Brian Hageman, one of the band’s musical snake appendages emanating from its Medusa crown—is presented as a double LP (gatefold jacket with a twelve page libretto). It gathers together the band’s singles, compilation tracks, outtakes and never before released gems encompassing the arc of TFUL’s musical corpus. Every track has been surgically remastered by Mark Gergis (Porest / Sublime Frequencies / Mono Pause) with his signature craftsman approach. This collection is an auditory and visual feast. The extensive booklet included features band ephemera, concert flyers, photographs, and commentary about each track from Mark Davies. Beyond the rare singles and unreleased tracks from the TFUL archives, are cover versions from such disparate artists and composers as Ennio Morricone, Krzysztof Komeda, The Residents, The Shaggs, Caroliner Rainbow and Pérez Prado. “…In addition to these compilation one-offs, there were also a few studio recordings that were never quite completed or released. Throw in an alternate mix or two and the handful of singles that came out on various labels over the years, and you end up with what I feel works well as its own body of work, a bunch of adopted oddballs that somehow fit together as a family. I hope youʼll agree with me that these things are now no longer unassigned, but part of a somewhat cohesive whole, stitched together into something mysterious and glistening.” —Mark Davies (2023)

Following on from last year's acclaimed ‘R.O.I.’ album, Manchester’s favourite sons Aerial Salad are set to return to the fray with a brand new 5-track EP titled ‘Roi de l’herb’ to be released June 27th via Venn Records.
Having released their ‘Dirt Mall’ album during lockdown, which was a pretty grim time to put an album out, the release still eventually opened up some exciting doors for the band and captured Aerial Salad at their most Aerial Salad; loud, brash, silly and emotive.
This led swiftly to 2024’s ‘R.O.I.’ album that marked a real evolution in the band’s sound and songwriting.

“R.O.I. is a concept album but rather than being about a band, it’s from the perspective of an individual pushed to the brink of insanity by the ever-present quest from commercial success,” explains singer and guitarist Jamie Munro. “The idea came from my job; I’ve been working in the tech industry in ‘sales’. ‘Return on investment’ was probably my most uttered phrase for a few years, I was sick of it, sick of having no positive impact on the world and sick of the tech bro, double espresso, thirsty thursdays, work hard - play hard bollocks culture that comes with it. ‘R.O.I.’ is me saying ‘know what, you can actually earn a lot of money in life, even without the fallacy of educational infrastructure and financial privilege, however, it comes at the cost of your soul, time and energy. ‘R.O.I.’ is called such because it’s in the opposite pursuit, it’s not about a return on a financial investment, it’s about doing something with your life that’s enjoyable.”
This brings us crashing into 2025, no longer in the same line of spirit destroying work, with some seriously exciting gigs on the horizon, Aerial Salad wanted to kick off the next era of the band with a short, fast and hard EP and have served up 5 absolute bangers that sit somewhere between ‘Dirt Mall’ and ‘R.O.I.’ The EP is called ‘Roi de l’herb’ because of the track ‘King Of The Grass’: “We tour and play a lot in France, we’ve played most of our “best” gigs in France, so out of curiosity I wanted to see if the title would translate well, naturally, when the translation contained both “ROI” and l’herbe” - I though, fuck it, that’s about as spot on a title for this EP as we can possibly muster.”
‘King of The Grass’ is about the band’s bassist Mike Wimbo who works for Rochdale council on the greens team, which means he spends his life in the pouring rain chopping down overgrown hedges and mowing lawns. Elsewhere on the EP, ‘Inject Your Blood’ is another romantic love song inspired by the TV series ‘True Blood’ (“I’d inject your blood, into mine just to feel you close”), ‘Wires’ rages against the world of AI and GPT, whilst the EP’s opening track ‘My Girl’ is a chaotic, high energy catchy punk song, nothing profound, nothing complicated. It’s a punk song as god intended, a few chords and a load of shouting.
“The EP is like the teaser for what’s next,” summarises Jamie. “The overall hook for this EP is one of hope, that by sticking to what you believe in you can do anything.”

When Alanis Morissette took direct aim at an ex who wronged her on the eviscerating “You Oughta Know” in 1995, everything about the Top 10 song communicated it wasn’t the usual narrative about love gone south. Or the typical wounded singer wallowing in self pity. Morissette, and both the lead single from and her entire American major-label debut — the profoundly personal Jagged Little Pill — represented a sea change. They kickstarted a movement, one whose impact continues to echo throughout the mainstream nearly three decades later.

Ranked the 69th Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 200 Definitive Albums, and featured in several books about essential albums, Jagged Little Pill remains more than a blockbuster that has sold more than 17 million copies in the U.S. and 33 million units worldwide. It’s a statement, an attitude, a soundtrack for anyone seeking inspiration, an outlet, or permission to be themselves.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set of Jagged Little Pill presents the landmark effort in audiophile-grade sound for the first time. A key part of the record’s appeal and accessibility — Glen Ballard’s smooth production, touches that help Morissette’s exposed-nerve fare seem more accessible and melodic — comes through on this special 30th anniversary edition with an openness, presence, and dynamic explosiveness that make the vocalist’s songs that much more real and visceral.

The singer’s distinctive mezzo-soprano deliveries — the octave-rippling highs, dark-hued lows, dramatic crescendos, belted choruses, wispy reflections, occasional yodels — resonate with full-range ardor and depth. As crucial as anything on the record, Morissette’s confessional words take center stage like never before. Ditto the instrumentation and atmospherics that form the magnetic backgrounds of the songs. Key in on the contributions from Red Hot Chili Peppers Dave Navarro and Flea on “You Oughta Know” to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' co-founder Benmont Tench’s organ playing on six tracks.

The deluxe packaging of Mobile Fidelity’s Jagged Little Pill UD1S set underscores the work’s distinguished status. Housed in a slipcase, the LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. Benefitting from an ultra-low noise floor, superior groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces, this UD1S reissue is for listeners who prize sound quality and desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the now-iconic cover art that juxtaposes two portraits of the then-21-year-old singer-songwriter and features typewriter font.

That script — which suggests a raw, blood-on-the-floor document created without modern aids like spell check or language correction — hints at the heightened level of unvarnished intimacy, honesty, and catharsis Morissette offers throughout Jagged Little Pill. Named after a phrase uttered on the astute “You Learn,” the album explores the frank emotions, inherent contradictions, and wishful desires people feel everyday but are often too afraid to express. Morissette displays no such fear or shyness.

Akin to a woman reading from a diary, Morissette leaves nothing to the imagination as she skewers hypocrisy during the poignant “Forgiven,” seeks recompense on the vengeful “You Oughta Know,” and spills her guts on the soul-purging “All I Really Want.” For all the anger and bile ascribed to the singer and record, Jagged Little Pill is incredibly healthy and upbeat. Morissette uses the catchy pop-rock frameworks and moody ambience to suss out situations, to learn, to give hope. There’s the clever yearning of “Hand in My Pocket”; wry contrarianism of “Ironic”; kind-heartedness of “Hand over Feet”; the live-and-let-live spirit of “You Learn” – all positive and amiable.

Throughout Jagged Little Pill, the ever-approachable Morissette connects with listeners who recognize themselves in her — and has an intelligent conversation with anyone who wants to participate. It seemed almost everyone did. In addition to the mammoth sales that make the effort the 17th-best-selling album in American history, Jagged Little Pill collected four Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, and eight Juno Awards. In 2018, the record became the basis for a musical that netted 15 Tony nominations on Broadway.

Ironic? Anything but. Jagged Little Pill transcends generations, gender, and trends. As Morissette sings on the opening “All I Really Want,”, the album represents “deliverance” — “a place to find common ground.”

Santana Bridges the Divide Between Live and Studio Material on Moonflower: 1977 Double Album Features Extraordinary Performances, Soulful Vibes, and Dynamic Mix of Latin, Rock, Funk, and Blues
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes and Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies: Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP Set Plays with Audiophile-Quality Detail, Balance, and Imaging
1/4” / 15 IPS original analogue non-Dolby master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe



Though it may seem strange now, Moonflower stood for nearly 15 years as Santana’s first and only live record released in the United States. This despite the fact that roughly half of the double album consists of new studio songs, including a zesty cover of the Zombies classic “She’s Not There” that reached the Top 30 of the singles charts.

However unconventional, the “split” strategy went over like gangbusters. Moonflower reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 and achieved double-platinum status — feats the group would not again replicate for 22 years. These, and the beautiful quality of the program itself, are among the reasons why the 1977 effort remains viewed by critics and fans alike as must-have Santana.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP set of Moonflower presents the record in audiophile sound for the first time on a domestic reissue. Part of the MoFi’s Santana catalog restoration series, this collectible version features quiet surfaces and black backgrounds that expose the critical details, liquid tones, and dynamic interplay central to Santana’s music.

The enhanced sonics extend not only to Carlos Santana’s six-string wizardry, but to the rhythmic, melodic, and vocal elements that course throughout both the studio and live cuts on Moonflower. The grip and depth of the bass lines; the wash of the organ; the scope and carry of the vocals; the extension and weight of the low-end frequencies; the rich textures of the guitars, percussive devices, and keyboards: all appear amid wide, balanced soundstages and image with right-sized dimensionality.

Significantly rooted in the styles and approaches that inform the group’s first three records, Moonflower captures the final appearances of iconic percussionist Jose “Chepito” Areas and go-to keyboardist Tom Coster on a Santana album. As he did during the preceding five-year stretch, Coster inhabits a large role here, sharing songwriting credits on a majority of the new cuts and helping steer the arrangements toward spiritually minded albeit concise directions that encompass vibrant Latin, rock, and blues themes that began to escape the ensemble shortly after his departure.

Close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sun on the R&B-kissed “I’ll Be Waiting,” anchored by Carlos Santana’s gliding fretwork and Greg Walker’s creamy vocals. Enter the cosmic universe of “Zulu,” on which Coster’s nimble phrasing opens the gate to polyrhythmic beats, knotty grooves, and interlocking funk. Grab the album cover and drift off to paradise amid the equally evocative “Flor d’Luna (Moonflower),” a romantic slow dance that Carlos Santana ensures tiptoes en route to its blissful destination. Channeling a different spirit animal, the guitarist later lets loose on the hard-hitting “El Morocco,” on which he seemingly engages in a shootout with himself and wades into the rippling psychedelia that elevated the band’s early material.

Speaking of the past, Moonflower triumphs on that level as well. In more ways than one, the live selections — and the caliber of the performances — chosen for inclusion represent an abbreviated greatest-hits survey of the band up to that point. And, at the very least, a convincing argument about why Santana had progressed into one of the most formidable bands you could hope to see on a stage in the mid ‘70s.

Simultaneously representative and illustrative of the group’s breadth, tracks stem from the collective’s eponymous debut, Abraxas, and Santana III as well as the then-more recent Amigos and Festival. Whether you fall for the sidewinding spell of a spicy rendition of “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen,” lose your head to the positively epic momentum of “Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet,” or keep dropping the needle on the savory grace of the brilliant reading of “Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile),” this pressing of Moonflower puts you — and Santana’s first-chapter legacy — in good hands.

The 1985 B Side Classic!! ‘The Creator’ Made famous from Mad Professor’s ‘Ffwd to Dub’ where he looped hook phrases of Aisha vocals. Then sampled by ‘The Orb’ in the 90’s & introduced to a new psychedelic audience. This is one of the first Roots songs made with a Drum machine! Coupled with lovers rock gem - ‘Dancing Time’

If there is one quality that best sums up the personality and music of Michel Petrucciani, it is generosity.
It was on stage, in the moment, in close proximity to the audience, in the warm intimacy of a club setting, that he most truthfully expressed his passion for sharing.
Many musicians, he confessed, play too selfishly. They play only for themselves and a few happy few. I play to please and to communicate. I’d like to think I’m a very happy person.

That’s why it’s essential for me to transmit and give others the generosity that is vital in art, music, and life.”
This is proven by these magnificent moments captured live in 1997 in Tokyo.
Accompanied by Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd - two close friends with whom he shared an almost telepathic musical relationship - Michel Petrucciani delivers an intense hour of pianoforte, performing both standards and original compositions to unleash his boundless generosity and sensual lyrical expression live on stage.

Once again, one is struck by the solar clarity of his phrasing, the vigour and percussive precision of his touch (this master of tempo played ‘deep in the note’), and the breadth of his long lines where each note remains distinct and articulate. Michel infused everything he played with great emphasis and nuance - but above all, with sincerity. His heart sang immediately through the piano. This record is the most brilliant demonstration of that.
· Until now, this album had never been released on vinyl. Now available as a 180g double vinyl edition, mastered specifically for vinyl, housed in a 350g leather-textured sleeve with Struktura finish, offering an elegant texture and refined feel.

Matching vivid world-building with a full house of kinetic rhythms, Polygonia delivers her latest album to Dekmantel as an invitation to experience 12 different dream scenarios.

As Polygonia, Munich-based Lindsey Wang has established herself as a constantly inventive, omnipresent operator within the modern electronic landscape, exploring varying shades of ambient and deep techno while increasingly spreading into downtempo and leftfield electronica with a playful yet mysterious spirit.

Dream Horizons is an instructive title — Wang approached her new album as a collection of different dream scenarios, with all the creative freedom the concept implies. From oceanic calm to artful propulsion, she was free to shift gears from track to track while relishing the strange and beautiful atmospheres her inspiration pointed towards. A multi-instrumentalist as well as a producer, Wang recorded her own voice, saxophone, flute, violin and percussion to inject organic, human vibrancy into the surreal spaces she was shaping out, capturing the uncanny sensation of alien and familiar that hangs over the places we visit when we sleep.

There are pointedly direct techno workouts on the album, from deft beatdown 'Soul Reflections' to shimmering ear worm 'Set Me Free', and 'Twisted Colours' relishes shifting blocks of flute around a sprightly, footwork-tickled framework. Elsewhere, there's space for softer expressions on pearlescent opus 'Crystal Valley' while elastic rhythms and tactile textures slither around at a lower tempo on 'Flakes Flying Upwards'. In between, Wang plays with fractured beat patterns and sharply sculpted sonic matter with a staggering level of detail and intention. 'Gate To Amygdala' is the perfect example of the bold scope of her expression — the midpoint track thrives on nervous tension and a dislocated sense of momentum without anything like a conventional techno trope. 'Mindfunk' equally pushes and pulls at sensory perception with an off-kilter, awkwardly looped synth phrase that relishes the opportunity to skew dance music conventions within the flexible rules of the dream world.

For all the smart production and knowingly experimental approaches that form the basis of the album's sound, it's also a record charged with the full range of emotions you might expect to experience on a break away from consciousness. Whether it's the melancholic impressions that smudge into incidental pauses on 'Metaphysical Scribbles' or the mantra-like breath and sax combination of 'Essential Breath' that closes the record, Polygonia's heart bursts out of the album's vibrant form as brilliantly as her exacting, studio-synced mind.

A l’occasion des 20 ans de cet album devenu culte, Record Makers réédite une version spéciale anniversaire limitée (vinyles transparents – 500 exemplaires) qui ravivera la flamme des fans de la première heure, des nouveaux fans et des collectionneurs. "Vive la Vie" est aujourd’hui un album référent pour les amateurs de rap, reconnu par ses pairs lyricistes, c’est un de ses albums qui marquent à jamais une époque, celle des années 2000 et de son rap aux rimes fines et puissantes.



Le 15 novembre 2004 sortait "Vive la Vie" le premier album du Klub des Loosers.



On ne présente plus le Klub des Loosers et son unique membre Fuzati. Pourquoi ? parce qu'on en a un peu honte quand même. Imaginez un jeune versaillais que tout prédestinait à devenir écrivain maudit ou chanteur d'un groupe de pop répétant dans le garage parental le dimanche de 16h à 20h. Le genre de type qui passait ses samedis après-midi à la bibliothèque municipale, ses samedi soir à boire de la bière dans les squats de jeunes où on recense une fille pour dix mecs et où la phrase qui revient le plus souvent est "qui roule un joint ?"

Imaginez maintenant que ce type ait une illumination, au milieu de ces jeunes que tout prédestine à la réussite (HEC, science-po) et qui lorsqu'ils se retrouvent ensemble ne savent pas faire autre chose que de se défoncer. "Nous sommes un klub de loosers".



Comme il n'aime pas trop les gens, Fuzati fondera un klub dont il sera le seul membre. Comme il n'a pas de guitare que le hip hop est son seul ami il se dit qu'il fera ça comme musique. Bah oui c'est sympa le hip hop. Comme on lui a dit qu'il n'avait pas une tête de rappeur et que les casquettes à l'envers lui vont mal il ne montrera jamais son visage et portera un chapeau. S'en suivra un parcours classique de MC underground qui rappe pour la rue (mais aussi les avenues) et représente ses refrés illégalement enfermés derrière les murs des prépas t'as vu. Mixtapes, nombreux freestyles dans l'émission Greckfrite diffusée sur la chaine internet Canalweb, concert à la MJC de Versailles mais aussi dans un entrepôt désinfecté à Dunkerque.



En 2003 Il signe sur le label parisien Record Makers parce qu'on lui a appris qu'il ne fallait pas trop se mélanger avec les gens d'autres milieux. Sortiront deux EP, "Baise les Gens" et "La Femme de Fer" qui sont déjà des classiques pour au moins 32 personnes. La même année sort également l'album de l'atelier "Buffet des Anciens Elèves" auquel il participe avec Tékilatex du groupe TTC, James Delleck, Cyanure et deux producteurs de talent, Tacteel (Lex Records) et ParaOne (Institubes). En juillet 2004 sort le maxi du Klub des Loosers où collaborent MF DOOM, légende hip hop, et Jean-Benoit Dunckel, moitié du groupe AIR.

Repress of 2018’s classic compilation from Brownswood.

A primer on London’s bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Looking at the album’s running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of London’s most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years. Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the crossover between each of the groups speaks to the close-knit circles which make up the scene.

Surveying the way that London’s jazz-influenced music had spread outside of its usual spaces in recent years, this album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. Giving a platform to a scene where mutual cooperation and a DIY spirit are second-nature, it’s a window into the wide-eyed future of London’s musical underground.

Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the project’s musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His entry on the album, ‘Black Skin, Black Masks’, is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases – mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet – shape the track with an alluring hue. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility that’s shared through all the players on the record.

Theon Cross – who’s also part of Sons of Kemet with Hutchings – starts his track, ‘Brockley’, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. Ezra Collective – whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch – run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on ‘Pure Shade’, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch.

Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on ‘Go See’, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko – whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material – spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on ‘Abusey Junction’, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.

Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maisha’s ‘Inside The Acorn’ is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. In contrast, Nubya Garcia’s ‘Once’ is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. And finally, Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Brown’s languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove.

This is what you get when an emcee/producer is fed on a diet of abstract hip-hop, Southeast Asian samples, and Taoist folklore. Together with the Clementi Sound Appreciation Club (a five-piece band of up-and-coming musicians schooled in jazz from the local scene in Singapore), Mary Sue melts samples with live instrumentation on 'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword.' At the core of the album is the tale of a time-traveling oracle, struggling to find meaning in the modern world-where ancient wisdom feels fragile, and truth is ever-shifting. A reinterpretation of idioms shapes its journey, where spiritual pursuits feel performative, and where the weight of the past clashes with an uncertain future. The music mirrors this tension: phrases of Gamelan music dissolve into smoky brass, spectral melodies unravel over off-kilter drums, and time bends through layered textures. 'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword' is both a reckoning and a dream, where echoes of the past find new life in the chaos of now. A porcelain shield shatters on impact; a paper sword folds before it cuts. It's about the constant, fragile push-and-pull between aesthetics and money, tradition and progress, meaning and spectacle. "Like the oracle, we're all stuck in a world where spiritual longing gets tangled up with consumerism, where authenticity is blurred by performance, and where finding real meaning feels shakier than ever," rapper and producer Mary Sue explains. "'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword' lives in that field of tension. The album drifts between beauty and collapse, truth and illusion, and past and present, without ever landing on solid ground."

Crafted entirely on an analog monophonic synthesizer with no overdubs, Pièces Monophoniques is a tribute to simplicity in an era of limitless digital possibilities. Since his debut album, Music For Prophet (Les Disques du Festival Permanent, 2017), Majorca-born composer Marc Melià, now a long-time resident of Brussels, has been redefining the contours of electronic music through a minimalist, reductionist approach. Much like a solitary hike through the vastness of mountains, where one carries only the essentials, Melià’s work invites listeners on a journey stripped of excess, focusing instead on the purity of sound and intention.
While some have dismissed monophonic music as overly simplistic, others have embraced its distinct charm. Historical records, such as those by Johannes Quasten, reveal that early Church leaders were drawn to monophonic music because it resonated with the era's cosmological beliefs, highlighting the harmony and unity of all creation. In an age of digital abundance, Marc Melià deliberately embraces constraint, crafting an album that thrives within a limited palette of choices. Yet, from these self-imposed boundaries emerges a stunning universe, brimming with rich textures and elegant harmonies. For his debut album, Melià worked exclusively with a Sequential Prophet. With Pièces Monophoniques, his third LP, he returns armed solely with an analog monophonic synthesizer and handcrafted MIDI sequences etched directly onto a single stereo track. These recordings seek to uncover beauty within the boundaries of limitations and simplicity, rejecting any embellishments that are not essential. Melià presents the bare skeleton of music, highlighting the power of absence and silence as creative forces. Like the hidden mass of an iceberg, what is not heard becomes as significant as what is heard.
The album navigates the boundary where the quest for an uninhibited emotional response intersects with the mechanical sounds generated by synthesizer circuitry. Despite being a collection of beatless tracks, a pulse occasionally surfaces, like in the closing piece, "224 Steps. A sharp sequence blended with multiple delays and reverbs creates the vaporous celestial specter of multiple voices in "Illusions of Polyphony", while "Échoes et Fantasies" conjures the illusion of dual harmony. The expansive reverbs and silences between the euphoric synth phrases in "Overture" transport us to an imaginary magestic landscape shaped out of an electric field. "Resonances," a one-note drone-like sequence, embodies the album's aims as a series of resonances created with the synth filter emerge from the fundamental note.
"Pièces Monophoniques," aims to contribute to a tradition that dates back to the dawn of humanity. After all, there is no denying that the earliest music crafted by humanity was monophonic, from the soothing lullabies sung to newborns to Gregorian chants, traditional labor songs, and the repertoire of solo compositions by countless composers.

Bridgewater and Charlap curate a repertoire that only they can present: exploring the deep understanding of jazz tradition alongside impeccable phrasing and a once-in-ageneration dynamic range, bringing a level of sophistication that is sure to be considered a masterpiece for generations to come.

Available on 4-panel digipak CD and 180g black vinyl.

“13 Months of Sunshine” is more than just a slogan for Aminé. Ethiopia’s marketing campaigns of the 60s and 70s used the phrase to entice Western visitors to the country, but for the Portland-born rapper raised by an Eritrean father and an Ethiopian mother, it holds deeper meaning. “13 Months of Sunshine,” a phrase adorned on posters in homes of his aunts and uncles, cousins, and family friends, became something more, a declaration of shifting perspectives and a reinvigorating jolt to one of rap’s most celebrated discographies. He's returned with a new offering, featuring artists as varied as 454, Toro y Moi, and Waxahatchee, that will go down as one of the most exiting rap releases of 2025.

Repress of 2018’s classic compilation from Brownswood.

A primer on London’s bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Looking at the album’s running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of London’s most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years. Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the crossover between each of the groups speaks to the close-knit circles which make up the scene.

Surveying the way that London’s jazz-influenced music had spread outside of its usual spaces in recent years, this album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. Giving a platform to a scene where mutual cooperation and a DIY spirit are second-nature, it’s a window into the wide-eyed future of London’s musical underground.

Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the project’s musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His entry on the album, ‘Black Skin, Black Masks’, is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases – mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet – shape the track with an alluring hue. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility that’s shared through all the players on the record.

Theon Cross – who’s also part of Sons of Kemet with Hutchings – starts his track, ‘Brockley’, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. Ezra Collective – whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch – run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on ‘Pure Shade’, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch.

Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on ‘Go See’, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko – whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material – spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on ‘Abusey Junction’, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.

Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maisha’s ‘Inside The Acorn’ is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. In contrast, Nubya Garcia’s ‘Once’ is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. And finally, Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Brown’s languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove.

Acclaimed director and musician Jim Jarmusch and experimental lute player and composer Jozef van Wissem met nearly 20 years ago, forming a close bond after they ran into each other on the streets of New York City. In 2011, they began performing and producing records together. The follow up to “American Landscapes “ entitled “ The Day The Angels Cried” releases June 6 and coincides with a world tour. The duo weaves an intricate Lute and guitar string tapestry of droning, minimal free-folk compositions destined to captivate listeners with their dark hypnosis. This time vocals and electronics are added as well. Van Wissem’s work comes from a tradition of avant-garde minimalism and lends itself well to the director’s stark cinematic works. Jarmusch has played guitar in bands on and off since the late ‘70s. Van Wissem’s compositional style involves hypnotic circular musical phrases that allow for a lot of contemplative space between the notes. Their first live performance was in Issue Project Room in Brooklyn in October 2011, where they appeared together for a Van Wissem curated concert program called “New Music for Early Instruments.” The idea for their first album, Concerning the Entrance Into Eternity (Important Records) developed from their live performance. Jarmusch has said that he considers these songs as Van Wissem’s compositions, and sees himself as someone filling in the background to Jozef ’s foreground, like the “scenic” on a film shoot, the one who paints the backdrops. “The sound of the lute is as bright as the sun, a beautiful red color and my stuff sounds sort of like the moon, more like blue, like mercury.” .According to Van Wissem: We started with layers of instrumental parts.. Jim recorded a otherworldly Passerelle bridge guitar part to which we added vocals. This became the title track " The Day The Angels Cried" The lyrics for this song came to me during a vision I had in a dream. It was much like a vision Swedenborg writes about. In it he converses with angels. In my vision the angel looked down from the heavens upon the earth engulfed in flames. Recent events in Los Angeles and other parts of the world, have led me to believe that this dream was a premonition. “The Day The Angels Cried” ( Inc 040/41) releases June 6th on Incunabulum Records, right before the duo start their World tour. releases June 6, 2025 Jozef Van Wissem Voice, Baroque And Renaissance Lutes, 12 String Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Electronics, Found Recordings Jim Jarmusch Voice, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Passerelle Bridge Guitar, Electronics, Found Recordings

"How do I know if my cat likes me?" ist die erste Zusammenarbeit der Organisten Ellen Arkbro und Hampus Lindwall mit der bildenden Künstlerin Hanne Lippard, eine existenzielle Meditation über die leeren Weiten unseres automatisierten Alltags. Das Stück entstand während Arkbro und Lippards Residenz 2023 im La Becque in La Tour-de-Peilz, Schweiz, Das Album persifliert die lähmende Ästhetik des Geschäftslebens, von der Warteschleifenmusik bis zum Onlinebanking. "How do I know if my cat likes me?" führt die Linie von Roberts Ashley von Roberts Ashley und Barry fort und hämmert auf die Klänge der Sprache ein, bis sie alle Bedeutungen durch angenehm betäubende Wiederholungen verdrängen. Die Platte zu hören ist, als würde man ein Captcha wieder und wieder lösen bis alle Zeichen zu Hieroglyphen verschwimmen, oder man findet sich in einem tautologischen Kundendienst-Argument verstrickt, nur dass man, nachdem man in der Sackgasse des Unsinns gelandet ist, eine unerwartete transzendente Schönheit findet, in der die Sprache von der reinen Funktion zur reinen Ästhetik umschlägt und vor Möglichkeiten schimmert. Selbst subtile Brüche in lyrischen oder musikalischen Mustern können eine grundlegende Veränderung in der Welt des Songs auslösen. Auf der gesamten Platte begründen strenger Formalismus und Minimalismus eine Erzählung. ,The Long Goodbye" stellt sich einen quälenden Dialog zwischen Bekannten vor, die sich nicht höflich voneinander lösen können: ,It's my pleasure!", stöhnt Lippard, die sich selbst antwortet: "Pleasure is all mine! / See you soon! / See you next time! / See you then!". Obwohl die Zeilen immer wieder dieselben wenigen Abschiedsworte wiederholen, akkumuliert sich eine geheimnisvolle Kausalität in den winzigen Variationen, die einen erzählerischen Bogen kreieren, weniger für die Figuren des Liedes, sondern für den Zuhörer, der sich mit Verzweiflung, nihilistischem Humor oder tiefer Dankbarkeit über die Fähigkeit der Kunst konfrontiert sieht. An anderer Stelle, als ,Modern Spanking" sich frei assoziierend von der Phrase "Online-Banking" in Richtung "breathing down your neck banking" und ,sexy but bankrupt banking" wandelt, wird eine ganze Welt oberflächlicher Vergnügungen ins Blickfeld gerückt. Während minimalistische Bewegungen in der Musik und der bildenden Kunst eine gewisse Situiertheit des Blicks fördern, erinnert ,Modern Spanking" an den glatten, reibungslosen Minimalismus eines gehobenen Einkaufszentrums: eine Menge wahlloser Passanten, die sich zwischen Sex und Geld, Fantasie und Realität, zerstreuter Aufmerksamkeit und intensiver Ablenkung befinden. In einer Welt wie dieser ist der Unterschied zwischen Bankgeschäften und Prügelstrafe zu vernachlässigen.

Double Italo Header incoming! Hailing from Turin in northern Italy, we have a new artist on Frank Music named Hey Cabrera! who presents his dance single "The Moment", which has it all: The ever-familiar bassline, melodies, and pianos for days and topped with additional catchy vocal phrases. It's exactly this kind of unique vibe you only hear when it's truly made in Italy. Label boss Giovanni Francesco Alberto—a.k.a. Johannes Albert—steps in with a sizzling club mix to keep the vibe afloat. Who wouldn't want to live in "The Moment"? We sure do! Flip it over, and the B-side "Exposed" carries the same high-energy tradition—more vocals, even punchier pianos, and for the J.A. club mix, a dash of 808s for that extra groove. Housed in a fully printed cover and ready to soundtrack your summer nights. Grazie mille, Gianluca! The power of Italo Disco—often imitated, never duplicated.

Neues Scheibe - Neue Wut: Nach Ihrem erfolgreichen Debutalbum gleich noch diese EP nachgelegt! Maschine Mensch beschreibt den alltäglichen Wahnsinn eines Individuums gesehen von unserer westlichen Welt. Wir werden geboren um ausgebeutet zu werden, alles zum Wohle des Kapitalistischen Systems. Maschine Mensch ist die Antwort auf die Frage: Was machst du aus deinem Leben? Auch wir müssen uns jeden Tag neu hinterfragen was unser Sinn des Lebens ist. Mit ,Maschine Mensch" schlägt die Berliner Punkband Shell Shocked ein neues Kapitel auf - und zwar laut. Die EP ist eine musikalische Abrissbirne gegen die Entmenschlichung unserer Zeit: gegen Algorithmus-Alltag, gegen soziale Kälte und gegen die leise Resignation im Kopf. Mit voller Wucht aus den Kellern Berlins meldet sich Shell Shocked zurück - roher, lauter und kompromissloser denn je. Auf ihrer neuen EP "Maschine Mensch" prallen schneidende Gitarrenriffs auf treibende Drums und Texte, die wie Faustschläge gegen die graue Realität wirken. Zwischen Großstadtbeton, Systemkritik und persönlichem Aufbegehren liefern Shell Shocked 6 Songs, die aufrütteln, antreiben und aufregen. Ein Soundtrack für alle, die nicht stillhalten können, wenn die Welt im Gleichschritt marschiert. ,Maschine Mensch" ist mehr - es ist ein Aufschrei. Punk aus Berlin. Direkt. Unverfälscht. Keine leeren Phrasen sondern Songs die verbinden und bewegen. Für alle die nicht blind mitlaufen wollen.

After a collage tape collab with Bardo Todol back in 2022 (SUC52, Magnetic Road to Hell) Robert Millis finally gets his Discrepant debut proper, a much overdue entryin our random catalogue of lost musical oddities.

The not so self explanatory title Interior Music explores Millis obsession with hidden sounds and its anomalies. An hermetic rearrangement of emptiness could be another more big headed title. But I leave the man to talk about his thing:

‘’The phrase interior music occurred to me a few years ago as a way to describe some recent work. It’s about the resonances inside of hollow wooden chambers (and hollow heads) like gramophones and talking machines, music boxes, instruments, metal containers, and resonant rooms. It’s about exploring tiny audio fragments—single notes, vinyl and shellac surface noise, recording mishaps and anomalies—and arranging them into something meaningful. It is about my own interior mishaps and anomalies and attempts to arrange THEM into something meaningful. It also references “interior design” with the placement of sounds in specific locations, layers or in juxtapositions.

Inspirations include Steve Roden’s lowercase work, Toshiya Tsunoda’s field recordings, Eliane Radique’s slowly shifting ambiances, and the musique concrete of Pierre Schaeffer, as well as the dhrupad and kayal traditions of Indian classical music—especially Kesarbai Kerkar and the Dagar family who have a sublime way of stretching out individual notes and exploring their endless permutations, combinations and connotations.’’

Robert Millis is a sound artist known for his work with Climax Golden Twins, the Helen Scarsdale Agency, the soundtrack to cult horror film Session 9, the Victrola Favorites book and cassette series, and many releases on Sublime Frequencies including Indian Talking Machine, Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road, compilations of the earliest music recorded in Korea, Japan and Myanmar, and the documentaries This World is Unreal Like a Snake in a Rope and Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan. Somehow he is a Fulbright scholar (to India 2012-13) and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2020). He has or currently does play with AFCGT, Idol Ko Si, and/or Telescoping.

In a world where physical experiences are becoming rarer, artists are looking to connect their process to something more tangible, and with A/V rinsed, scent is an obvious next sense to plunder. Florian TM Zeisig - who last appeared on Somewhere Press as Angel R, goes the extra mile, teaming up with perfumer Angel Paradise to develop a suite of music that plays like a bouquet of memory-triggering aromas, coupled with a fragrance that captures the oily essence of their bucolic alpine setting. The project came about when both artists were living in Hinang, a small farming village in the rural Bavarian alps. Paradise was studying alpine plant behaviour and using her research to inform her approach to scent creation, developing natural perfumes based on the landscape. Zeisig, meantime, composed his own response to the mountains and forests that surrounded them. He wrote ‘Spool’ as a poignant farewell (or spiritual rebirth) as they prepared to leave, considering teenage nostalgia as well as the idyllic locale, and the pastoral suite of lulled loops, field recordings and dissociated instrumental vamps plays like a contemporary Heimatfilme soundtrack, locking into the genre’s idyllic, fantastical simplicity and romance. Drunken horn loops and mushy piano chords concertina around a wobbly axis on ‘Oneandhalf’, met by dreamy guitars and whispered, lysergic vocals. The sweet-smelling notes form an enigmatic compound, prompting us to think of Codeine or Galaxie 500 without solidifying completely. It’s music that works with outlines and traces, catching us off guard with flickers of samples and veiled base notes: the Cocteau Twins-like phased piano on ‘Threeandhalf’ that’s drowned out by gunked tape fog, or the smudges of ‘Spirit of Eden’ ambience on ‘Alright’ that creep between tweezed piano phrases. There’s depth too; Zeisig doesn’t restrict himself to Romance-cum-Basinski loopmuzak, he intersperses his GASeous orchestral waves with serene, relatively demure reflections that capture the pristine beauty of a dewy alpine morning. ‘Four’ is an ASMR-rich blend of crunching leaves and mossy, decelerated pads, and ‘Plus’ burns its drones down to crackling embers, letting the faint harmonies flicker through the coal dust. Importantly, it’s emotional music, but not overly melodramatic, finding peace in nostalgia and the calm of nature.

Definitive Recordings Reissues the Classic "Do It" by Las Americas with Remixes by St. David.

Definitive Recordings proudly presents the reissue of "Do It", a timeless house classic by Las Americas, the project of renowned producer David Alvarado. Originally released in 1994, this track returns in remastered form, accompanied by two fresh remixes by Italian house maestro St. David and a remastered version of the Chuck Phulasole remix.

St. David, born Davide Disanto in Bari, Italy in 1991, leads this reissue with his distinctive old-school house style. His influence shines throughout this reissue, showcasing why he is one of the most respected figures in the underground house music scene. With a career rooted in the 90s house aesthetic, he has reached the top of the World Vinyl Charts multiple times, with support from icons like The Martinez Brothers, Jovonn, and Chris Stussy. Drawing inspiration from legendary American house labels such as Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records, St. David has built a reputation for blending timeless grooves with modern energy.

His "St. David Big Tool Mix" is a playful and catchy reimagining that manipulates the iconic vocal phrase "Do It" with rhythmic sampling, injecting a vibrant groove into the original. The "St. David Drum Tool Dub" takes a funkier, stomping approach, layering the track with sharp, rhythmic guitar licks and adding a fresh twist to the vocal hook.

The remastered original from 1994 remains a testament to David Alvarado's legacy, with its repetitive 90s house structure, featuring classic basslines and funky guitar riffs centered around the unforgettable vocal motif. Rounding out the release is the Chuck Phulasole remix, which leans into a moodier vibe with its focus on keys and a prominent Moog bassline, adding depth and texture to the track.

The "Do It" reissue is a celebration of house music's enduring influence, pairing a remastered classic with fresh interpretations for contemporary dancefloors.

Total Maniac ist von Herzen ein DIY-Projekt. Die ersten Songs entstanden im Laufe der Jahre von 2012 bis 2020, als die ersten Aufnahmen gemacht wurden. Alle Aufnahmen fanden im Beisein von Volker statt, der zwar den Prozess beendete, aber 2 Wochen nach der Aufnahme der letzten Phrasen verstarb.

Der Sound unterscheidet sich von den früheren WARHAMMER-Veröffentlichungen, indem er sich von den starken HELLHAMMER-Einflüssen zu einem eigenen, unverwechselbaren Sound entwickelt, aber dennoch seinen Ursprüngen treu bleibt.

Mit einer Coverversion von CRUDE SS und VELLOCET auf der Bonus-EP wird nicht nur die Sympathie, sondern auch der direkte Einfluss der Punk-Szene unterstrichen.

Total Maniac wurde 2022 ebenfalls in DIY-Manier von den verbliebenen WARHAMMER-Mitgliedern und Frederik Aderholz abgemischt und einem professionellen Mastering durch Obscured by Evil unterzogen.

- Weißes Vinyl, Inside out Druck mit Innenbedruckung, Einleger (offset Papier), schwarze polylined-innenhüllen, 180g vinyl

Total Maniac ist von Herzen ein DIY-Projekt. Die ersten Songs entstanden im Laufe der Jahre von 2012 bis 2020, als die ersten Aufnahmen gemacht wurden. Alle Aufnahmen fanden im Beisein von Volker statt, der zwar den Prozess beendete, aber 2 Wochen nach der Aufnahme der letzten Phrasen verstarb.

Der Sound unterscheidet sich von den früheren WARHAMMER-Veröffentlichungen, indem er sich von den starken HELLHAMMER-Einflüssen zu einem eigenen, unverwechselbaren Sound entwickelt, aber dennoch seinen Ursprüngen treu bleibt.

Mit einer Coverversion von CRUDE SS und VELLOCET auf der Bonus-EP wird nicht nur die Sympathie, sondern auch der direkte Einfluss der Punk-Szene unterstrichen.

Total Maniac wurde 2022 ebenfalls in DIY-Manier von den verbliebenen WARHAMMER-Mitgliedern und Frederik Aderholz abgemischt und einem professionellen Mastering durch Obscured by Evil unterzogen.

- Rotes Vinyl, Inside out Druck mit Innenbedruckung, Einleger (offset Papier), schwarze polylined-innenhüllen, 180g vinyl

Total Maniac ist von Herzen ein DIY-Projekt. Die ersten Songs entstanden im Laufe der Jahre von 2012 bis 2020, als die ersten Aufnahmen gemacht wurden. Alle Aufnahmen fanden im Beisein von Volker statt, der zwar den Prozess beendete, aber 2 Wochen nach der Aufnahme der letzten Phrasen verstarb.

Der Sound unterscheidet sich von den früheren WARHAMMER-Veröffentlichungen, indem er sich von den starken HELLHAMMER-Einflüssen zu einem eigenen, unverwechselbaren Sound entwickelt, aber dennoch seinen Ursprüngen treu bleibt.

Mit einer Coverversion von CRUDE SS und VELLOCET auf der Bonus-EP wird nicht nur die Sympathie, sondern auch der direkte Einfluss der Punk-Szene unterstrichen.

Total Maniac wurde 2022 ebenfalls in DIY-Manier von den verbliebenen WARHAMMER-Mitgliedern und Frederik Aderholz abgemischt und einem professionellen Mastering durch Obscured by Evil unterzogen.

- Rotes Vinyl, Inside out Druck mit Innenbedruckung, Einleger (offset Papier), schwarze polylined-innenhüllen, 180g vinyl

En pakt med naturen is Tusmorke's first ever live album, recorded live at Oslo's biggest independent record store Big Dipper, as part of their 25th anniversary celebration last October. "We knew we had to do something special with Tusmorke. Benediktator and Krizla have since the early 2000s been building their record collections and releasing their own music simultaneously. We like to think the records we sold them in our store somewhat influenced their musical output, at least we know that the albums they released had a huge impact on us!" (Andreas Leine Jakobsen, Gerenal Manager, Big Dipper Musikk & Hi-Fi "Is this Folk Horror? Silly question, perhaps, but we need you to mutter certain phrases while listening: Bucoloc, acoustic, ancient, uncanny; acid, pagan, peasant, occult; wildness, wilderness, wildestness, Wicker Man. Ever since the start of Tusmorke, we've wanted to make an acoustic album. In Skien, Telemark in the 90s, we wanted to record in an ancient loghouse with an open hearth (årestue) in the local folk museum Brekkeparken. Years passed and line-ups changed. Then, when we supported Ved Buens Ende at Blå in the Autumn of 2021, we were joined by Åsa and Dauinghorn. They played some of the arrangements that we finally managed to record here, after several attempts to find a suitable time and place to make it happen. Again, time had passed and line-ups had changed, but the spirit of Folk Horror remained. We ask you to close your eyes and picture yourself in a windowless low dwelling, open to the sky through a hole in the roof. Acrid smoke curls upward and occasional sparks fly from the smoldering fire. Music wafts through the gloom in this serene scene of timeless primitivism. There is no electricity. There are no synthesizers. I won't even mention digital things, because they don't exist. There is only Folk Horror and you are in League with Nature." (Benediktator)

Dateline: April 10, 1970. Setting: The storied Fillmore West in San Francisco, CA. Context: Miles Davis, three days removed from his first session for Jack Johnson and, with newly recruited soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman in tow, opening shows for countercultural heroes the Grateful Dead on the latter’s home turf. Result: The initial rumblings of a thrilling era in which Davis and his cohorts would again upend jazz and popular conceptions of the genre with music steeped in groove, improvisation, and hang-on-for-your-life adventurousness. All captured on Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West.

Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set helps bring what went down that spring evening in Bill Graham’s venue to your listening room with exceptional clarity, balance, and presence. Originally only released in Japan in 1973 and unavailable in the United States until the late ‘90s on compact disc, this marks the first time Black Beauty has been issued on domestic vinyl. The wait is worth it.

Benefitting from quiet surfaces and excellent definition, these LPs present the band’s livewire energy and torrential storm of notes with captivating dynamics, pacing, and fullness. At its core, this audiophile reissue takes you into the walls of sound erected by a band learning on-the-fly the sheer power, will, and breadth of the electric jazz Davis was orchestrating and realizing, on the spot, would reach rock audiences that until that point had only a faint awareness of his mad-scientist experimentation. The sense of release and reach conveyed by these carefully restored records make it clear the veteran bandleader was in the process of a permanent shift that he’d chase for the next five years.

Given Davis was only a few months away from releasing the pioneering double album Bitches Brew, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that much of the fare here adheres to similar explorative approaches. Turbulent rhythms, provocative trumpet passages, and rich, saturated tonal colors that seemingly splash against a blank canvas take precedence over any traditional attempts at organization and melody. Davis and Co. intentionally play everything on a line with the bandleader signaling changes with his horn via coded phrases. The group speaks a common language — with each member having gone to achieve iconic status for their career contributions and technical prowess.

In the company of Grossman, Chick Corea (piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Airto Moreira (percussion), Davis constructs themes around “Directions,” “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” “It’s About That Time,” the title track to Bitches Brew, and more from his then most-recent studio works and the in-progress Jack Johnson. His farewell to the popular standards that for nearly two decades remained a part of his repertoire arrive via a brief dalliance with “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” a shortened albeit aggressive “Masqualero,” and the “Theme” finale of “Spanish Key.” Initially, Black Beauty lacked specific track listings due to Davis’ increasing frustration with listeners over-analyzing his music.

In retrospect, it’s difficult to blame anyone for wanting to view what’s on display here with the aural equivalent of a magnifying glass. Leaning in rock directions, yet maintaining an ear for spaciousness and solos, Black Beauty survives as a snapshot of a thrilling moment amid a transitory period in which evolution came fast and furious. Just two months later, Davis would add another instrumentalist to the lineup in the form of organist Keith Jarrett, and the perpetually restless visionary would blast off to a more atmospheric and arguably more chaotic universe.

Consider, then, this live document a bridge to that galaxy and a breathtaking example of the possibilities of jazz itself.

The 20th installment of Saddle Creek’s Document series features Dean Johnson, the Seattle-based singer/songwriter whose heartfelt storytelling and undeniable charm have been quietly building a devoted fanbase across the globe.

For years regulars at Al’s Tavern might murmur to each other about Dean Johnson behind the bar. There were nudges and whispers that he might just be the best songwriter in town. They spoke of his talent like a family secret –Seattle folklore. How many times, and for how many years, did Dean elusively reply to some variation of the question, “When will there be a record?”

In May of 2023, there finally was. Nothing For Me, Please, Dean Johnson’s debut album, was released on his 50th birthday.

Calling him a “hidden gem” doesn’t quite fit, because there’s nothing hidden about him—he shines in plain sight. It was only a matter of time before people stopped to take notice.

Dean’s music feels like a conversation with an old friend—warm, honest, and deeply human. His songs bridge the past and present, weaving modern sensibilities with a timeless appeal. With razor-sharp wit and an uncanny ability to make you laugh and cry in the same breath, Dean’s songwriting reminds us why music matters, offering proof that a song can be more than the sum of it’s parts. Hear just a phrase of his melody, catch even a moment of the sobering depth in his voice, and you’ll feel it—like a letter written, signed, sealed, and delivered just for you.

Go see him live, and you’ll understand. That’s how he won us over—one song, one story, one unforgettable moment at a time.

The double vinyl LP includes the complete nineteen minute plus version of Tower of Meaning/Rabbit’s Ear/Home Away along with the previously unreleased songs That’s The Very Reason, and Too Early to Tell. Side four includes two instrumental tracks from the previously unreleased in the UK “Sketches For World Of Echo” Changing Forest and Sunlit Water

VERVE ACOUSTIC SOUNDS SERIE: Stereo, komplett analog von Ryan K. Smith bei Sterling Sound von
den Originalbändern gemastert, QPR-Pressung (180 g), stabiles Tip-On-Gatefold (Stoughton Printing),
wattierte Innenhülle.
Mit seiner unverwechselbaren, ungemein eleganten Phrasierung auf dem Altsaxofon war Johnny Hodges -
nur mit einer kurzen Unterbrechung in den frühen 1950ern - von 1928 bis zu seinem Tod 1970 eine der
prägenden Stimmen des Duke Ellington Orchestra gewesen. Dass ihre musikalische Komplizenschaft auch
im kleinen Rahmen hervorragend funktionierte, bewiesen sie 1959 bei einer lockeren Jamsession für Verve,
bei der einige der Aufnahmen für das Album “Side By Side” entstanden.

j.o.y.s. is both the moniker of and the debut self-titled LP by the Los Angeles based artist Ramon Narvaez. j.o.y.s. is an acronym for “jump out of your skin”. While the phrase can conjure moments of shock and surprise, Narvaez, however uses the phrase as a foot lamp illuminating a path towards momentary transcendence through creating beautifully conjured ambient music that recalls work by Daniel Lanois, suss, Dean Hurley and Tim Hecker. While the pedal steel is prominent, j.o.y.s., as a project, is more in conversation with shoegaze and noise than what has recently been deemed ambient country. Heavy brutalist slabs of noise, swirling feedback create the sound bed of these songs. Collaborator Justin Gaynor’s pedal steel on this album operates as important connective tissue as both the road and the traveler between the light and shadow zones. Drones are wrapped in distortion, processed just below the threshold where we’d throw the word “harsh” around. Rather, there is a delicate dance between Gaynor’s top-rope pedal steel lines - always sweet and always just a bit mournful - with Narvaez’s ringing bass notes and noise chatter. j.o.y.s. revels in intransigence. Nothing can last. As Matt Colquhoun puts in the introduction to Mark Fisher’s heartbreaking Ghosts of My Life - our identity and relationship to the past are “portals in perpetual collapse”. Depression, friendship, longing are all briefly satiated while in the peak experience of creating something as a response to them. But even that is impermanent. These sounds - improvised, exploratory, ecstatic - are eventually edited, whittled down and pressed to wax - not tombs but portals to the past.

Every so often an album of such deceptive genius, of such aesthetic clarity, comes across our desk and transfixes us. Thought Leadership's III Of Pentacles is one such work of art. It's an instant classic and glides into the pantheon of timeless guitar-soul totems. Originally out on cassette only, we present the first ever vinyl issue. It's a hideously limited pressing of 300 for the world, so don't sleep on this.

Thought Leadership has already garnered big support from such tastemakers as Ruf Dug, Jason Boardman, Nathan Gregory Wilkins, J Walk, Evan Woodward, Justin Robertson and Heavenly's Jeff Barrett. The first time we heard III Of Pentacles, we nearly wept at the thought that something so beautiful, so bursting with real hope, could even exist in this brutal world. To quote the Quietus, "imagine if Stockport was situated somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway rather than the M60, and you’ll have some idea of the coordinates to the post-industrial, sunburnt dream space opened up here."

So, who is Thought Leadership? What do we know about them? They reside in Stockport and are obsessed with ethereal guitar records. That’s about it. That and these X ideas shared with you, the listener.

Captured on a multitrack recorder in a terraced house in Stockport, this is as DIY as it gets. Glaringly obvious is a love for classic Factory and early 4AD. Perhaps it is the proximity to the River Mersey where the ideas arrived, and there being but three miles between where this and the Durutti Column’s classic “LC” was recorded, as the two operate across a familiar aural plain. Be it geographic or otherwise, limited by a true economy of means, namely guitar, pedals and drum machine, the fruit borne from these humble tools has been indelibly shaped by the perma-gloom that hangs low over the Manchester and Stockport environs.

Ushered in on 808 kicks, “I” opens the record as a beautiful Sketch for Stockport; a chiming maj7 chord dripping in chorus and delay sets us on our way. The Vini Reilly comparisons are unavoidable. “II” is all John McGeoch, with its trippy goth-psyche arpeggiated pattern cascading across the stereo image. Do those drums swing? But goths don’t swing?! They do here. We’re treated to a bit of crunch on the lead guitar part and some really lush reverb. We even step forth into shoegaze territory, albeit briefly, for the middle eight. “III”, a firm Be With favourite, continues the dreamy psyche leanings of the previous track, with an even bigger melody this time. We’re hearing The Teardrop Explodes on quaaludes here. A proto-dream pop cut soaked in melancholy. But watch out! The coda finds Johnny Marr has gotten into the ‘ludes and gatecrashed the final bars with some incredibly ignorant B minor pentatonic noodling.

“IV” ditches the drum machine for the first in a suite of three beatless electric guitar duets. The first of these semi-improvised rubato ideas is a striking departure from the earlier playful pieces, coming over emo and moody. Greyscale sulking for Stratocaster. Sign us up. “V” contains some really lyrical phrasing; a gorgeous conversation between two guitars. Real Stopfordian Primitive; meditative, crude, rain-soaked. We cycle through the same feels, then end on an alluring chord that breaks the pattern. Sometimes thoughts are like this. “VI” creeps in all plaintive, then a huge reverberating descending guitar line comes tumbling in like something off those classic Dif Juz 12”s. There’s some Maurice Deebank in there too, for sure, and the coda nods to early Meat Puppets.

“VII” rounds out the A Side, and succinctly presents a summary of all ideas explored thus far on our journey. The drum machine is back, this time with some wispy delay, before both guitars enter together playing interlocking lines. As we start, we end, with the delayed 808 guiding us out.

Opening Side B, “VIII” sees us embark on the other side of our journey as we slow down and space out. The drum machine is here, but the guitars are different now. Think Sensations Fix or Göttsching at his most peeled out. Drones, ambient drifts of broken chords and distorted lead lines all swirl round the mix. Side B is one for headphones for sure. “IX” is almost too exquisite for words. A New Age Mixolydian voyage through the cosmos. If you’re unmoved by the end you’ve probably got no pulse. We were left blunted ineffable by this one, such is the smudged elegance radiating from this idea. All hail the Thought Leader.

“X” is a full circle moment, and a fitting end. If you’ve not already elsewhere across the platter, you will be getting heavy Robin Guthrie vibes from this piece. Like the rest of Side B, this improvised jam sticks within a framework of related chords but the celestial energies channelled might invite us to wander “outside”, especially when the Tubescreamer is engaged.

RIYL Durutti Coulmn, Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Sensations Fix, Spike and adjacent guitar musicks – but, ultimately, this is just its own thing; such is the strength of ideas presented. "It’s good music to chill out to." (??)

Be With is honoured to present the first ever vinyl release of III Of Pentacles, carefully remastered by Be With's engineer Simon Francisco to ensure it sounds better than ever after its initial tape release. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry, in Holland. The original tape cover artwork, so crucial to Thought Leadership's striking visual aesthetic, has been rejigged for vinyl issue here at Be With. Its stark presentation befits the music contained within. They inform us that they shuffled their tarot deck to ask what the album should be called and the card you see on the cover popped out. The III Of Pentacles tarot card represents teamwork, shared vision and the ability to achieve goals through collaboration. We like to think Thought Leadership and Be With have nailed this one.

Chris Ryan Williams (trumpet & electronics) and Lester St. Louis (cello & electronics) work together as HxH (H by H). Their skills have seen them move smoothly across various situations, constantly carving out new terrain and working in new configurations of musicians at a rapid pace. While worth reading, their biographies capture only a part of their complex rhizome.

HxH started about three years ago. The project is a direct response to all their activity with others and more importantly all their future leaning sonic desires. Their debut album STARK PHENOMENA is both their first studio recording and their first physical release. The album is appropriately set to be released by KMRU on his growing label OFNOT. It’s an ideal introduction to their sound world and their approach.

HxH describe their music as “electroacoustic,” but until recently the presence of Black musicians in this field has been greatly overlooked and largely ignored, making this phrase only partially appropriate. What HxH do really is to always be unpredictable. Every gig is a new soundscape. Sometimes you might hear echoes of Autechre or Robert Hood but then the sound-field will open up into a new terrain all their own. Chris and Lester bring together techniques from across the sound spectrum of electronic music and also draw on their deep backgrounds in Jazz, Improvisation, Classical and Noise scenes to create a sound that is true to them. After all, these two have worked with the likes of Bennie Maupin and the music of Black Fluxus artist Ben Patterson. Their rhizome is deep.

One of the ways that their unique approach manifests is in their merging of both acoustic instruments and electronic instruments in real time. This is something few have managed to do – but their spontaneous leanings work in both complex and accessible ways because of their deep understanding of landscape crafting. You can hear this clearly on the track “Pyrex Vision.” Their approach makes it tempting to compare their music to Sun Ra jamming with Laurel Halo – a comparison that would be only partly accurate.

Chris and Lester note that the sounds on STARK PHENOMENA are “imbued with such hopeful, gracious care; one that is far flung from obsessive carefulness or fuck the world carelessness, but more a caring embrace without the fuzziness of nostalgia.”

They note that when they began working together, they would “always come back to speaking on our concepts of an architecture of the expanse,” noting that their live sets often take on the joyfully noisy task of “dreaming big.” For HxH it was essential that STARK PHENOMENA have a quality that is “almost sculptural.” They consider the album “an object to be viewed from all sides.” This kind of thinking has resulted in them directly engaging with numerous sculptors and artists including Torkwase Dyson. Shape wise HxH’s sound fields work in a parallel to Dyson’s black architectural works.

They also note that the opening cut “BEACH” (the opening and longest track from the album) was “written weeks after our first gig in a studio session donated to us by our dear friend jaimie branch.” And that Pyrex Vision “was continually being edited months after sending our ‘final mixes’ to KMRU.” Their sound sources and samples come from studio sessions, live gigs, durational installations, 3am improvised downloads and more.

KMRU notes: "I think there is an in-between layer on this record. I was first caught by the Pyrex Vision track which organically flows between monologue, subtle field recording, and instrumentation. It's such a beautiful track, evoking deep emotion through simplicity. STARK PHENOMENA effortlessly glides in between imaginative mosaics of sounds — free yet complex — unlocking memories within its layers."

Patrick Conway crossed the threshold to find a new hope. This is his third offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, 'Loss' sets an overall melancholic tone for the record. A single repeating high note on the piano establishes a guiding element, which is eventually supported by a tear-jerking yet resolving chord progression, a trailing choir of angelic voices, and a filter-modulating synth that pads the widest zones of the mix with the occasional counter-melody. Robust in and of itself, Patrick’s melodic arrangement floats gracefully over an otherwise antagonistic rhythm section built from his signature corroded dancehall arsenal. This hornets nest of boxed live kick drums, piccolo snares, and high-pitched toms is held together by a dry veneer of saturation, sitting at safe distance from but in natural harmony with the bulbous low-frequency atmospherics. On the flip, 'Silencio' employs a similar statement at the top of each measure, this time an anthemic polyphonic synth stab as opposed to the singular piano note, however, unlike the layered melodies throughout 'Lost', here Patrick explores the narrative possibility of negative space—call and response, rhythmic dialogue, and the implied notes that leave the listener’s or dancer’s intuition to complete a phrase. In the game “musical chairs,” children run around manically until signaled to find a chair, at which point their diverse personalties must urgently synchronize, until set free to run again and repeat the process. Patrick's approach for 'Silencio' conjures said metaphor—his melody and rhythm are unleashed to meander and spasm within the confines of each respective bar, until that anticipated synth stab unifies everything “on the one”—controlling the chaos, calling on muscle memory and affirming logic. These two songs will be with you always as they always have been.

Pacific Coliseum (aka Jamison Isaak) also known as Teen Daze releases his new album : ‘Voice Wave’ ; his first release since 2020’s ‘How’s Life’. The winner of the Juno Awards for Electronic Album of the Year 2023 presents a new work even more immersive than before. Across 12 tracks, the album weaves through a kaleidoscope of different genres and sounds, all with Isaak's characteristic warm production.

‘Voice Wave’ is the new album from Pacific Coliseum (aka Jamison Isaak) also known as Teen Daze, his first release since 2020's, How's Life. Across 33 minutes, the album weaves through a kaleidoscope of different genres and sounds, all with Isaak's characteristic warm production. The album features collaborations with balearic legend Ruf Dug and Italian party starters, Eternal Love. Influenced by his love of All Things Balearic, the theme of the album is succinctly summed up in the repeated phrase of the track, "Understanding": "Let go of what you're feeling." Let go, and let the sounds of Voice Wave crash over you.

In dem neuen Werk ''Shlimazl'' des Schweizer Komponisten Michael Wertmüller verschmelzen Sinfonieorchester und Big Band zu einem virtuosen, polymetrischen Organismus zusammen, der nicht nur Stile, sondern auch eine gefühlte Linearität der Zeit überwindet. Dabei knüpft er explizit an die reiche Tradition der Big Band an und belebt sie im sinfonischen Kontext unter neuen Vorzeichen wieder und lässt sie emporfahren. Alle Solisten agieren wie ein Bild im Bild der Big Band, die zwischen musikalischer Keimzelle, Ort der Konzentration und utopischem Freiraum oszilliert. Wertmüller beleuchtet die Doppeldeutigkeit des jiddischen Titels Shlimazl (dt.: Durcheinander) mit den strukturierenden Phrasen Mazely Shlimazl (dt.: Glück und Unordnung). Die stilistische Karombole und das Chaos der Polyphonie ohne Einheitlichkeit bergen nicht nur den überwältigenden Effekt der scheinbaren Unvereinbarkeit, sondern auch das Glück neuer Möglichkeiten des Miteinanders: aus der Kraft des Widerspruchs und der Reibung an irgendetwas, welches weder planbar noch vorstellbar ist. Ein Model, das in Zeiten zunehmender Unvereinbarkeit und Verhärtung die Vision eines konstruktiven Auswegs birgt. ''Shlimazl'' von Michael Wertmüller ist eine Auftragskomposition der Basel Sinfonietta und der Ruhrtriennale. Basel Sinfonietta & NDR Bigband Musical Director - Titus Engel Drums - Lucas Niggli E-guitar - Kalle Kalima

Look At Us Now: the long-awaited debut album from Song Festival sensation Gustaph!

"I wanted to make a record that makes people feel good about themselves."

Good things come to those who wait: after more than 20 years as a musician, Gustaph is releasing his debut album, Look At Us Now. The title is a phrase from the song Because Of You, which won him seventh place at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

"Look At Us Now may be taken literally," Gustaph explains. "Look where we are now after 20 years of hardwork. And look where we are with the queer movement: as a queer artist, I can openly be myself and sing about the things that are important to me."

Gustaph's soulful voice takes us through various themes, from believing in yourself and fickle lovers to chosen family and loss.

Look At Us Now is a pop record infused with nineties house, dance and disco, but we also spot a ballad (Miss You The Most) and two Scandi-pop tracks: Like You, an ode to love and Darker Days, an epic track that will pull you through bleak periods with panache.

"I wanted to make a record that makes people feel good about themselves," Gustaph says. "One that they put on while getting ready to go out or just to start the day. A little pick-me-up that makes them think: Yes, now I can kick ass."

When you play the record for the first time, you'll already be able to sing along to a bunch of tracks: there's Because Of You of course, butalso more recent singles like Already Know, Faith In What You Feel and Calls Your Name.

The record was produced in London with Richard X, known for his work with Róisín Murphy, Alison Goldfrapp and Pet Shop Boys, among others. "That's very close to who I am as an artist, so that collaboration just made sense," Gustaph explains.

Look At Me Now sounds like a party where everyone is welcome. The club tour kicks off at Ancienne Belgique. Come celebrate!

SCRATCH FORMERS, pt. I! Skratch Practice proudly presents a new 7" skip-proof scratch series on premium Picture Disc. Originally conceived by Dj T-Kut. The picture design illustrated in full color by Adolfo Gerrero and produced by Skratch Practice's DJ T-Kut, Skratcher Madrid . Each 7" picture vinyl (Volumes 1 & 2) comes with 6 unique skip-proof scratch phrases with 100 BPM on both sides. Perfect for practicing portable scratching, improvisations and battles... This vinyl is a piece of art that you have to get for your collection.

Dj T-Kut Team Leader of Skratcher Madrid, Skratch Elementz & Tablist Lounge Spain, publishes a new volume of Skratch Practice. After the success of the previous volumes, this time it will be called Skratch Fu-Finger Practice. Side A consists of 12 seamless loops at 100 BPM and Side B consists of 12 seamless loops at 133 BPM. This vinyl is a perfect tool for battle routines, freestyle scratching, in which you will find classic original sounds, phrases, Fx sounds and much more. This Battle Breaks & Scratch Tools vinyl promises hours of practice and is focused both for DJs who are beginning and advanced DJs. This work is published on 12" and 7" vinyl in black plus a limited edition in colour oxide blood for 12" and gold for 7". The 7" vinyl sides A and B consist of 6 loops per side at 100 BPM. Artwork: Adolfo Gerrero Mastered: Le Jad Producer: Dj T-Kut I hope you enjoy it and Happy Skratching!

Originally released on eilean rec. 10 years ago as a very limited CDr edition, "Stay / Sea" is being released on vinyl for the first time.
HolyKindOf is multi instrumentalist J. Bryan Parks from Akron, Ohio. It's a solo venture that began its current incarnation in the late spring of 2012 in a cathartic response to personal tragedy. Using dense layers of manipulated loops; primarily cello, field recordings, tape & voice. He sculpts viscerally; a requiem of repetitive phrase, culminating heady delicacies, evolving melodies & crescendo.

Each live performance is unique & written specifically for each space. With vague compositions & open ended construction -a quilt work of pieces, woven together- half written & half improvised.