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Britta Virves is a pianist and composer born in Saaremaa, Estonia - Her
piano compositions are narratively clear and harmonically modern
meditations on the wonder of nature, ecological webs of interconnectedness, and the people and places she calls home

Bassist/composer Christian McBride's 'The Movement Revisited: A
Musical Portrait of Four Icons' is the culminating documentation of a
richly inspired piece lauding four key figures of the Civil Rights
Movement: Rev
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali.
Marshalling his ever- sharpening skills as a composer, arranger, conductor,
musician and lyricist, McBride has created a historically and culturally
illuminating five- part suite for an 18- piece big band, chorus and narrators that
places the motivating forces as well as the goals of the Civil Rights Movement
within a powerfully relevant artistic context. It is a one- from- the- heart project
McBride was, apparently, destined to undertake.
This recording of The Movement Revisited marks the addition of a fifth
movement, Apotheosis, which acknowledges the election of Barack Obama as
the first African American President of the United States.
2-LP regular weight black vinyl gatefold jacket.

Mallorcan mastermind Joan Bibiloni gets two key works from his esteemed catalogue officially licensed via Gouranga Music and edited by the remix maestro Ray Mang.

On the A side the boogie brilliance of the aptly named ‘The Boogie’, extended and echoed in all the right places to form a true dancefloor winner. On the flip, Mang turns this classic Balearic Bibiloni gem ‘Val, I Vuw Ya’ that has an acoustic guitar and chromonica spinning around each other from the three and a half minute original into a hypnotic six minute wonder.
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Welcome to the Parish. Come, gather round dear lambs, as today’s sermon is about to begin. Crypt of the Wizard proudly presents the highly anticipated debut LP from pastoral proto-metal power trio Parish, available to pre-order on vinyl now. The two years since the release of their EP God's Right Hand have proved to be no fallow period for the band, who used the time to write and hone the 10 songs laid out on their self-titled debut. They returned to the majestic Holy Mountain to record the album. Making use of the studio's bumper crop of vintage equipment, Parish were able to unearth a sound that draws on the roots of heavy metal. The band's lyrics continue to revel in notions of the pastoral. Themes concerning the works of witches and the changing of the seasons are explored with economic and elegant storytelling. Songs of villagers besieged by strange travellers and poor wretches locked away in gaol conjure up a feeling of uncanny dread. Elsewhere, other songs suggest a sacerdotal attitude towards the earth and those who walk it. Parish stir up sweet memories of those subtle moments of perfection found deep in the discographies of heavy metal’s historic luminaries. Their sound reaches into places previously ventured by the likes of Wishbone Ash, Pagan Altar and Budgie, as well as folk revivalists Fairport Convention - a less obvious resource for heaviness, but a fine repository for musical depth. With any luck, Parish will in time join the aforementioned bands whose records will be played on repeat, locked in the unchangeable hearts of those unbothered by novelty and changes in musical fashions. Now our sermon has come to a close, peace be with you, and go forth in glory.

Projected into unexplored places, where time has vanished its power,
space has broken the limits, allowing infinite areas, uniform, soft surfaces, incomprehensible voices seem to suggest solutions to permanent reflections, flashes of light indicate a path, rhythmic structures trace the way, hypnotic percussions stimulate the matter, protected by incessant silences.

feat. Maurissa Rose

The new Parrish single appears on vinyl in the form of two mixes differing in vibe but consistent in quality and suitability for DJ use. The original rides along on a shuffling, almost Afrobeat version of house, with Maurissa Rose's gorgeous vocal floating above the gloopy, hypnotic bassline which gets the full filter treatment. The instrumental dub places that b-line very much at the centre of the mix, starting from a single kickdrum before building up to a more techno-edged, vocal free climax. all throbbing bass, solid bears and minimal, glitchy keyboard interjections.

Cardinal Fuzz and Centripetal Force (North America) announce First Welcome, the eighth full length album from the ever evolving, veteran psychonauts White Manna. The album is being presented in a 500 copy vinyl pressing and will be made available for preorder on November 12th. The official release date is December 10th. White Manna's longevity as one of the leaders of the modern psychedelic movement is attributed to their willingness to introduce new elements to their sonic repertoire. Initially, these moves were subtle, but as the band has moved on through the years, these moves have become much more pronounced, always leaving listeners wondering what is in store for them as new releases are announced. So, here we are with First Welcome, an album that features warbled country leanings, airy blooms of ambience, and occasional hints of a German yesteryear, all implemented into the band's signature hazy and spacey mosaic of sound. None of these developments are unexpected, as they do build off of their previous album ARC, but here we see the band expand these elements and really make them their own. It should be noted that First Welcome is a product of the COVID era, with much of the recording happening in quarantine or while socially distanced. The band's process relied on communicating via email and sending music files back and forth. For White Manna this made the world of COVID both more fun and challenging, and they used the opportunity to get friends in different places to overdub tracks. Backing vocals and slide guitar were recorded while camping in the Mojave Desert. The saxophone was recorded in Liverpool. England. The trumpet sounds and some of the passages on the Rhodes were laid down in Northern California, and much of the vocals, piano, and synthesizer tracks were recorded in Costa Rica. As a result, the sound of First Welcome is reflective of the circumstances of these contemplative times. White Manna is recommended for listeners of everything from Hawkwind to Harmonia - and everything in between.

'It sounds like Roedelius remixing a Spacemen 3 track'

Violence is the self-titled third album from Baltimore born/ New York based artist, multi-instrumentalist, and cult figure Olin Caprison.. Their compositions are known for vivisecting and seamlessly merging the idiosyncratic features of hip hop, metla, RnB, and electronica, creating a language all their own. A dense multilayered opus, the album takes us on a journey through religious ceremony, nightmarish visions, and the forgotten corners of a decaying cityscape, leading us to the celebratory catharsis of the club. Entirely written, produced and performed by Violence, the project is an ambitious and singular vision that takes their unique sound to transcendent new places. The album initiates with Small Body, a solemn hymn inspired by the procession of nurses encircling a congregation in black pentecostal tradition. It's freeform chanting and syncopated body percussion invoke the trancelike rhythms of call and response music. A hollowed chamber of reverence that pulls us deep into the vision of the album. It's followed by Reptile, a horrifying slab of industrial intensity that merges multiple narratives seen throughout history to interrogate a side of victimhood not usually explored. A baroque masterpiece of intricate instrumentation and celestial theatre, guitar melodies blast across a delicately woven tapestry, reflecting the manic, distorted, and unstable mindset of the central figure.

Following up on the worldwide success of their new album Education & Recreation, Surprise Chef drops a must have two-sider for those of us who can't get enough 45s. The A side, "Money Music" is a bassline driven mid tempo tune that catches you from the first note and carries you through all the gorgeous changes. Piano, vibraphone, and guitar trade places over a watertight drum track that builds up, drops down, builds up again, and changes to half time to take it all home. The B side "Suburban Breeze" kicks in the door with an intro that is bound to be sampled and will get your blood racing and your head nodding. They lure you in with the neck snapping intro that is bound to be sampled and bring you from mood to mood as they change the energy from tough as nails to floaty and groovy, and back to tough as nails.

Ayahuasca: Music for Film, by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983) compiles works by Luis David Aguilar, one of the most prolific composers of film scores in Peru. It shows the great versatility and avant-garde style that has distinguished his work. Luis David Aguilar (Arequipa, 1950) occupies a fundamental place in the history of film music in Peru, not only because of the prolific nature of his work (which also includes music for television and advertising), but because of the singular, experimental style found in many of his scores. Aguilar's music blends modern academic composition with the use of native instruments, synthesizers, sound collages and a diversity of resources, which identify him as a key figure to understand a period of Peruvian music marked by the imprint of the avant-garde and the use of native sounds, which developed during the late 70's and the early 80's. Aguilar belongs to the so called "Generation of the 70's", along with Peruvian composers such as Walter Casas, Seiji Asato and Aurelio Tello, who were then immersed in the languages of contemporary classical music. But he also shares the spirit of renewal of a generation of musicians who came from the world of jazz and electronic experimentation such as Manongo Mujica and Arturo Ruiz del Pozo. Ayahuasca is an album that collects pieces from 1978 to 1983 and offers an overview of the different musical paths that Aguilar followed during his career as a soundtrack composer. The album opens with music from the film El viento del ayahuasca The Wind of Ayahuasca (1983), by director Nora de Izcue, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Cuba under the baton of Luis David Aguilar, with Chucho Valdés on piano. Recorded at the ICAIC studios (Cuba), it is an ambitious orchestral and vocal composition, in which you can hear the beginning of the famous melody of "Mujer Hilandera" [Female Weaver], popularized by the Amazonian cumbia group Juaneco y su Combo, which serves as an introduction to the sound world of the jungle, a dense and hypnotic atmosphere that, without a doubt, places this work as one of the most important compositions of the author's repertoire. The next track is the music for the documentary Anónimo cotidiano [Anonymous Everyday] (1979), by director Jorge Rey, a unique experimental piece for synthesizers (played by Aguilar), drums and percussion (played by Manongo Mujica), with the addition of various Andean instruments (panpipes, charango, among others). It is a clear example of fusion of sound experimentation and timbres from the Andean world. And finally Los constructores [The Builders] (1978), by director José Carlos Huayhuaca, a salsa which incorporates unusual sounds of tubular bells and prepared pianos. Ayahuasca: Music for Film by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983) is the second album by Aguilar released by Buh Records, following the celebrated Hombres de Viento/Venas de la Tierra (1978-1982), appeared in 2015. The album is published in vinyl format, in a limited edition of 300 copies, as part of the Essentials Sounds collection. It includes a booklet with notes by Luis David Aguilar. The audio has been remastered from the original reel tapes by Aldo Montalvo. The artwork and design is by About Studio.

The Belgian minimal synth band's three releases – a cassette and two vinyl EPs – were all titled »Against The Dark Trees Beyond«. This compilation collects the songs from these records.

"They were interesting times, the early eighties. Against a backdrop of cold war and economic crises, the DIY attitude of the earlier punk movement had spawned near countless new genres where artists and bands broke the three-chord guitar mould and experimented with new content matter, singular song structures and – in many cases – new instruments. Synthesizers became affordable and were no longer the sole privilege of rock millionaires. All around the globe, musical creativity boomed as never before, and Belgium was no exception: Digital Dance, Snowy Red, The Names, Pseudocode, Marine, 1000 Ohm, De Kommeniste, M.Bryo & D.M.T., De Brassers, Struggler, Siglo XX are but a few legendary names of bands and artists who started making a name for themselves.

In Leuven, things were happening as well. Until then, the music scene in this rather provincial town had been dominated by straightforward rock and blues acts. Not for much longer, though: in places like Arno'z and (later) The Gladhouse, where young budding artists met with kindred spirits, bands were often formed on the spot and, more importantly, started to make ripples.

Ludo Camberlin and Karel 'Bam' Saelemaekers already had a certain track record in Leuven's burgeoning music microcosm. But what they shared would become the cornerstone of A Blaze Colour (Against The Dark Trees Beyond): a fascination for new forms and instruments, a penchant for sonic adventure and a profound love for gripping songs. The full band name, by the way, was inspired by a phrase from the Irish-American novelist J.P. Donleavy, a writer who belongs in the definitely-worth-checking-out section.

After appearing on the first No Big Business LP (1981) with the instrumental 'Fisk', A Blaze Colour's first proper release, as was so often the case in those days, was a self-produced cassette. The music – which would later be dubbed 'minimal' – was characterized by the use of basic rhythm machines (Boss Dr. 55, mainly) and analog synthesizers (for the synth geeks: Korg Delta and MS20, Roland SH-2 and Jupiter IV, and the infamous Casio VL-1). Camberlin’s vocals, meanwhile, displayed an aloofness totally in sync with the zeitgeist. Equally important, though: all five tracks on this cassette were bona fide songs with a clear sense of structure, aided by a sonic mastery that demonstrated a high level of experience: 'Means To An End' started out as a proto-industrial track before bursting out into a moroderesque finale. The remix of 'Fisk' was as sprightly as the next river salmon, while 'Or Lie Again' proved the perfect soundtrack to a nightly walk through wet deserted streets. On the other hand, 'Through With Life', rife with disturbing sound effects countered by a slow portamento, could have been a prize track on a post punk 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. And in true dramatic fashion, 'Follow The Signs' was the perfect ending of this five-song cycle: a driving sequencer and gripping chord progression coupled with a simple but powerful vocal line. Considering the limited technical means the duo was working with, this was no less than a triumph.

A few months later, the band released a seven-inch single on its own ABLACO label. 'Dark Trees Beyond', a quirky pop song, was coupled with 'Addict Of Time', a dark and brooding spoken word piece. Not the kind of single to storm hit parades, but it didn't go unnoticed. The Minny Pops' Wally van Middendorp, who had founded the Plurex label in 1978, invited A Blaze Colour to his studio in the Netherlands, to record an EP. It would prove to be a massive step forward: recording in a semi-professional studio offered great possibilities, the recently acquired TR-808 drum machine allowed for a broader rhythm palette, and the three new tracks (next to the re-recording of 'Through With Life') showed a band on the top of their game: 'The New Ones' was a wry and haunting song built around a live drum loop and an ominous bass pattern, while 'Nowhere Else' was a near-pop track with very un-minimal vocal harmonies. And it's a mystery why 'Altitude' – another instrumental – was never used in a stylized, high-profile detective soundtrack.

Another song from these sessions, the revved-up 'Cold As Ever' turned up on the high-profile Plurex "Hours" compilation, where it shone brightly, next to songs of a.o. X-Mal Deutschland, Nasmak, Minny Pops and Section XXV.

Meanwhile, Camberlin had already carved out a bit of a reputation for himself as a producer, while Saelemaekers was a respected graphic designer. It remains uncertain if this played a big part in the end of A Blaze Colour, but the fact remains: as studio recordings go, 'The Ultimate Fight' on the "No Big Business 2" compilation, was to be their swan song. What a way to go, though: maybe their best song ever, this was a synthetic bastard funk groove, complete with shout-out chorus and punch-drunk middle-eight. It shut a door, for sure, but it did so with a resounding bang.

So there it is and there it was. Short, sweet, visionary, pioneering and highly influential. And as anybody listening to this first ever compilation will be able to assess probably one of the most colourful electronic acts of its time.

On a more a personal note, A Blaze Colour proved to be instrumental in my own coming of age as a lyric writer, when Ludo and Bam graciously adopted some of my earlier writings, warts and all. To hear them translated into songs was no less than magic, and it certainly gave me the confidence to start our own band a bit later. And the magic continued when Ludo became our producer and Bam designed our record sleeves. But that’s another story, obviously. Because this is the place and the time to dive back into the wondrous world of A Blaze Colour!"

Bart Azijn (Aimless Device)

Limited edition reissue of this legendary, rare and dreamy electronic ambient new age album.

Originally created and released in a small edition in Japan back in 1987 by the mysterious musician/ magician Shiho. The album features floating shimmering synthesizer textures. It's unique and extra ordinarily serene with shifting tone colors and spatial textures bringing the listener to a special magic place. It's as beautiful as it captivating. There's also a haunting edge to parts of the album sounding like what could originally have influenced David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti when they composed the soundtrack to the original Twin Peaks series. Shiho who loves to make improvisational music began studying classic piano at the age of five. She says she gets inspiration from the celestial realms but she never considers melody. She draws a musical picture. Creativity is the unfolding of the unknown realms within the self. Through our chosen ways of expression, each of us is daily creating a unique universe, a unique environment.

The universe created by each and every being in endless repetition are messages of the universe. The breath of this music, expressed from my present environment, flowing through a myriad of places as environmental music is my expression of The Body Is A Message Of The Universe. Part of the album also saw a limited US CD release in the late 1980s which is hard to come by today.

Although Shiho Yabuki continued her career in Japan, both as a musician and magician and became a pioneer of healing music in Asia, for most western listeners it was like Shiho was one of those mysterious artists who puts out an album and then is never heard from again.



Tracks: Tomoshibi / Samadhi / Winterland / Tenshingoso (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Spirit) / Forestland / Tawamure/Cosmic Dance / Energy Flow/Ki No Nagare (The Way Of The Energy Flow)

United States at the beginning of the 1960s, the vibrant speeches of the great defenders of the black cause were soon relayed by the artists of the time.... The groove revolution is underway! Dive into the heart of this era with the proud voices of the Artists who made the Protest Song! A fine selection with : GIL SCOTT-HERON - Angela Davis- Doris Duke- Seven Seas- Shirley Caesar- Skull Snaps- T-Connection- The Whatnauts...

With both sides as vibrant and colourful as a hot and sweaty street party, this latest 45 is the perfect afrobeat soundtrack to end your summer.

A side, Blue G. opens explosively and delivers all that it promises in the opening bars: beautifully orchestrated twists and turn that chug along instrumentally for half the track. South African singer Nongoma unexpectedly adds a vocal spin in English and Xhosa, and with the catchy lyrics of "all the children need love, peace and harmony", it's a delight to be swept up in this swirling, festive, solar energy.

The B side, That Good Thing, follows on at exactly the same tempo, weaving horns, guitars, keys and numerous percussions in and out of an equally infectious groove. A highly polished track, full of rises and falls in all the right places.

The Konkolo Orchestra is, for now, a Zürich studio project led by multi-instrumentalist Alexis Malefakis, but let's hope that changes soon because it feels rather criminal not to have these rich sounds live and in your face. Dexterous musicianship meets fine production and execution.

Welcome in!

WEȽ∝KER's 'ENHANCER' offers a high dive into the soggy hands and lands of Dujat & Beedles.

Having planted their flag firmly at the forefront of modern computer music, WEȽ∝KER return with 'ENHANCER', an astonishingly dynamic display of technique and form. This isn't sound for sound's sake; the duo's playful approach to composition ties many discrete events together to weave a warm-bath narrative. A tug at the skittering top layer reveals something so rare: there's real musicality under there, aching chords snaking through the crunchy boot-up sequence of "Gator" and underpinning the pneumatic drift of "Ohmbase".

ENHANCER's tracks unfurl with an instinctive flow, pulling/pushing in all the right places and guiding the listener through aural aqueducts. WEȽ∝KER are just truly properly at it again. Dive in, isn't it?

ENHANCER's artwork is the result of an all-Mancunian collaboration with sculptural artist and dead-powder virtuoso Nicola Ellis. Photographed by Glen Cutwerk and Bazz Patel, shot in the spleen of Salford's The White Hotel. Drippy, oily notes with a hint of flesh.

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Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.

Available on pad-printed solid white cassette housed in a clear double case w/ exclusive gloss laminated cover-art. Pro dubbed by Headlesstapes Includes free download code Limited Edition of 50.

Heavenly Recording’s final long player release of 2022 is set to close the year on the dancefloor at home or in the clubs. More classic Heavenly remixes on wax and CD formats for your collection. Artwork by Luke Insect.

Released on Friday November 25th, these compilations follow Heavenly Remixes Volume 1 & 2 and Heavenly Remixes Volumes 3 & 4 (Andrew Weatherall Remixes).

Since the first Heavenly recording, there have been striking remixes that reframe the original track. These remakes offer a parallel reading of the last four decades of releases; they take the music to places where genres can be pulled inside out before being reassembled for different dancefloors, or for a different state of mind.

It’s a selection of those secret sounds that make up the latest in this series of flawless compilations. Each presents a parallel reading of the Heavenly Recordings story, a version that’s best heard as the light fades and the furniture gets shoved to one side of the room in decent work places the world over.

Afro-Finnish band Maajo return with their third album, "Water of Life," a fluid celebration of various influences. Supported by two preceding singles, "Better Days" and "Unelmissani," the album is the group's first release with the Brooklyn, NY-based tastemaker label Wonderwheel Recordings. Maajo's signature Afro-Balearic sound meets late eighties new age and fusion, with touches of modern soul. The addition of two band members, Waina and Gilbert K, as well as featuring artists Issiaka Dembele and Ismaila Sané, has rooted the album's stories in a diverse range of backgrounds, featuring vocals in no less than six different languages.

Gilbert K's drum grooves pay tribute to the late Tony Allen's legendary heritage and the percussion experiments on a more melodic and atmospheric tip. Cold synth pads and 303 squeaks blend with warm guitars, fretless bass, and Issiaka Dembele's sublime kora harps and balafon mallets. "Water of Life" shows a band at its maturation point, reaching the cross-cultural coalescence of Finnish-African sound that's ready for the dancefloor or home-listening.

The three vocalists take centre-stage on the album: Waina hails from Zambia and sings in Nyanja, English and Finnish; a renowned musician in Zambia for over two decades who now calls Finland home, Waina wrote a song that reached the finals of the 2020 Afrimusic contest. Gilbert K primarily sings in his native Mauritian Creole while comprising part of the percussion line. He made his way to Finland by way of South Africa and China, eventually winning the Voice of Finland show. Gilbert K has played with such legends as Tony Allen, Andy Summers, Diana King, and Suzanne Vega. Ismaila Sané is from the Casamance region of Southern Senegal and sings in Wolof (a widely-spoken language in West Africa) on "Ndekete," and in Jola (a smaller language in Casamance) on "Èwàn".

Maajo is a sonic, linguistic, and cultural melting pot that has come together in Tampere, Finland, like a tropical breeze from the cold north. Their musical explorations lead from equatorial soundscapes to the woods and moods of their native Scandinavia. African influences, electronic beats and organic rhythms, ethereality and the sounds of nature all make up the patchwork sound of Maajo.

Not only is Maajo's music a way of travelling to faraway places, the songs themselves have travelled all over the globe. Maajo has evolved from a sample-based electronic music project to a full-sized band, including African vocalists and musicians. The group has put out two full-length albums and three EP's on Queen Nanny records, in addition to a release on German label Permanent Vacation. Maajo has received the remix treatment from artists such as Luke Vibert and Call Super, and has toured festivals and clubs internationally. The band has built a dedicated international following having been championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson (Worldwide FM), Tom Ravenscroft (BBC Radio 6), and Tim Sweeney (Beats In Space), while they've been featured by KEXP (Song of the Day), Resident Advisor, Ransom Note, and Pan-African Music.

"Water of Life" is out on Wonderwheel Recordings October 14th, 2022, both digitally and as an exclusive, limited-run 2xLP.




d 04: Better Days (Kumba) feat. Waina & Gilbert K

“A rather gorgeous and engrossing collection, that borrows stealthily from a rich history of sound effect and soundtrack to build a tender poem to the night time.” - CLASH
“The plan was to make twenty 90-second tracks designed as TV themes,” says Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat, of the initial thought behind his new instrumental album as Nyx Nótt “But it wasn't a satisfying listen, it was too gimmicky and silly.”
So instead, Moffat decided to stretch the idea out, plunge deeper, and expand the music into full tracks, “making some of them quite long and dramatic, with the odd swift turn here and there.” In fleshing these tracks out into more fully realised songs he began sourcing samples from professional TV and film music libraries. “The focus then turned to making a proper album out of these modern library sounds,” he says. “I decided to stick with the Themes From title and named the tracks after the sorts of shows they made me think of when I listened back.”
The result is a record that explores genre themes such as: ‘Thriller, ‘Porno’, ‘Caper’ and Swashbuckler’, and acts as an audio equivalent of channel hopping through a unique TV station programmed by Moffat. “I still wasn't sure about all this until I did the album cover, which brought it all together,” he says, of the artwork that places an old smashed TV unit front and centre with a woman perched on top. “It has echoes of old TV compilations but is pretty cheeky and slightly sexy in that old 70s compilation style. I wanted this one to look a bit more fun than the last one, as well as hopefully sound a bit more fun too.”
Aside from being a fun experience, it is also a stirring and immersive listen, one that allows the listener to imagine their own accompanying visual scenarios to each musical theme. The opening ‘Docudrama’ marries a gently creeping beat with strings that glide from tense to sweeping, while ‘Porno’ is all seedy smoky jazz that feels plucked right out of Travis Bickle’s late night trips to porn cinemas in Taxi Driver.
Touches of jazz pop up in other places too, on ‘Hardboiled’ this merges with subtle pulses and gargles of electronics that build to a rousing crescendo of horns and bleeps, and on ‘Caper’ there’s a vivacious full jazz band skip to the lively swinging rhythms. “There's a few more jazzy elements here,” Moffat says. “Although I'm not quite sure where that came from. Although, like everyone else, I've had plenty of time to be introspective recently, so I decided the next Nyx Nótt album should be more upbeat and encourage some occasional foot-tapping.”
However, what becomes apparent, the longer you spend in the world of Themes From, is how singular and unique the tone of each composition is. “Each track has its own individual feel,” says Moffat. “The idea was to sound like a different composer and band throughout.” It’s a stylistic leap that continues Nyx Nótt’s trajectory as one that shares no direct link to Moffat’s other projects. “I approach them in completely different ways and with a different purpose in mind,” says Moffat. “I don't think Nyx has ever heard of Arab Strap, and certainly doesn't own any of their albums.” It’s also a notable shift from the debut album under this moniker, and suitably given the theme, Moffat has created a visual comparison between these two sonic worlds. “If the first Nyx Nótt album was like looking out on dark prairies before dawn, this is more like a walk through a neon Soho after a few cocktails.”

Some are looking for gold or oil and others are passionately looking for forgotten music treasures! Those who can be described as "sound gold diggers" criss cross record shops or confidential places to unearth musical nuggets previously kept in the dark. This practice began with sampling in the 80s and has now become a way of safeguarding the world's musical heritage. With our new "Diggin' Collection", we invite you to discover soul, funk or disco gems from the 70s and the 80s available on three nice vinyls for your pleasure.

Personal Passage is an imaginary journey that starts from a station and goes to a place that is not well defined, but is elsewhere.

The sounds of the record pass through calm and timeless places at frantic and often anxious moments. It crosses the moods of which it seeks to change, and often has to face light and dark.

Enthusiasm and fears mix and merge in a long time space, like a train journey, which sooner or later arrives at its destination.

Wie ein Schneesturm unter einer Glaskugel Im Herbst 2003 erschien bei dem amerikanischen Indie-Label File 13 Records Martin Revs mittlerweile sechstes Soloalbum. Nachdem Rev bereits 2002 zusammen mit seinem musikalischen Partner Alan Vega und ihrem gemeinsamen Projekt Suicide mit dem Album "American Supreme" neue Wege beschritten hatte, setze sich diese Neuausrichtung auch in seinen Soloarbeiten fort. Klang das 2000er Werk "Strangeworld" noch wie ein aus der Zeit herausgelöstes, abstraktes Komposite aller musikalischen Einflusswelten Martin Revs, scheinen auf dem drei Jahre später veröffentlichten Album "To Live" auch kontemporäre Einflüsse hörbar zu werden. So kommen hier erstmals Gitarren-Samples zum Einsatz. "Der Sound von "To Live" war eigentlich einer, den ich schon seit ein paar Jahren live auf der Bühne benutzte. Die Inspiration kam nicht aus den 2000er Jahren, sondern wahrscheinlich aus einer viel früheren Zeit, obwohl ich nicht genau sagen könnte, woher. Es hängt auch mit der Rhythmus-Technologie zusammen, die ich verwendet habe." erinnert sich Rev. Die Anmutung dieses Sequence-gesteuerten und für die späten 1990er Jahre so typischen Industrial-Rocks scheint - zumindest für ein Rev-Album - ungewohnt und so fielen die Kritiken beim Erscheinen der Platte 2003 zunächst sehr gemischt aus. Wie bereits Anfang der 1970er Jahre als Suicide für ihren neuartigen Sound gleichermaßen gehasst und gefeiert wurden, polarisierte Rev mit seiner Musik auch 30 Jahre später noch immer. Doch auch wenn jene Tracks auf "To Live" weniger von Synthesizer-Drones und minimalistischen Keyboardfiguren geprägt sind als die vorherigen Platten, so sind dennoch alle Stücke des Albums getrieben von jener eigentümliche Formsprache, die Martin Revs Sound so prägnant und unverkennbar macht. Verhallte, sich überlagernden RhythmusSchleifen durchzogen von Revs sporadisch einsetzendem, zärtlich wie bedrohlichem Sprechgesang wachsen zu einem heftigen Schneesturm unter einer Glaskugel an, in dem verchromtes Glitzer und goldenes Konfetti wie wild durcheinander gewirbelt werden. Besonders beeindruckend ist dies auf dem Track "Gutter Rock" gelungen, das wie ein übersteuertes, hypnotisch betörendes Stück Lounge-Exotika anmutet. Und es ist speziell dieser Sound der Gegenpole zwischen harten Drummachine- und Gitarrensalven und dem Ungreifbaren von Revs Stimme, in dem mitunter auch jene Stimmung und Verunsicherung zu Beginn des neuen Jahrtausends zu hören ist, die insbesondere in eine Stadt wie Revs Heimat New York beherrschte, die erst zwei Jahre zuvor von den Ereignissen des 11. Septembers 2001 erschüttert wurde. So ist "To Live" ein widerspruchsvolles und schwer zu verdauendes Werk, das als vor allem als Kind seiner Zeit und Transition innerhalb Martins Revs Gesamtwerk einen ganz besonderen Platz einnimmt.

Emerging from the forced exile of 2020-2021, Barton found himself with a large number of songs. Taking inspiration from the line of English singer-songwriters that runs from Nick Drake through Lloyd Cole to Pete Doherty and beyond, he chose 10 that lent themselves to an indie-folk aesthetic and began work on the new album, “Manchester Sun”.

Ever the storyteller, Barton weaves tales of first kisses, of soldiers trying in vain to remember their hometown, of missed opportunities and unreliable childhood memories. He casts Orson Wells as a modern day dictator, perched on high in a carousel, and tells the story of the spray-painted marriage proposal that appeared overnight on a motorway bridge 50 miles from London.


Manchester Sun was recorded in England with Barton playing most of the instruments himself, moving through guitar, bass, drums, percussion and Hammond organ during an intensive week-long session in the peaceful, rural setting of Echo Studios. The album places Barton and his acoustic guitar centrestage, with additional contributions from long time collaborators

Shelter Press extend a quietly cine-poetic invitation to visit the Outer Hebrides via immersive sounds - field recordings of psalm singing and local dialect - collected and arranged by interdisciplinary artist Joshua Bonnetta, going hand-in-hand with Shelter Press’ core interests in the fading light of its 10th year in operation. A beautiful artefact - complete with 60 page photobook.

Accompanied by an evocative photo study and access to an accompanying film and essay, Bonetta’s second release for Shelter Press following 2016’s ‘Lago’ imparts a real feel for the archipelago, off the north west coast of Scotland, where he was stationed during an artist’s residency during 2017-2019. Stitched together from observant field recordings and interviews with residents on the islands of Barra, Berneray, Harris, Lewis & North Uist, the work elicits a sense of timelessness in its slow drift between shores, hills, standing stones and the intimacy of its voices, including Gaelic spoken word, folk song and whistling. Save for the appearance of a plane overhead, the sounds of car and boat motors, plus a little bit of electronic disturbance that pull you into the modern era; the results practically imagine what it would have been like to visit the islands with a recording device at any point since the last ice age. 

For Bonetta, who hails from rural Canada, the similarities between his formative landscapes and those of Scotland must have appeared familiar, perhaps a subconscious recall/reminder that the two places shared a landmass, albeit 425 million years ago. His sound sensitive subtlety and cinematic ear in arranging his collected sounds serves to highlight the way the modern world only just infringes on Innse Gall’s ancient landscapes and only relatively modern tongues (if we’re thinking in geologic terms of scale). We hear the sounds of its avian population seamlessly eliding its humans in the whistling of Alick Macauley, and the natural cadence of of its mild oceanic climate mirrored in lilting Gaelic folksong, here performed by Calum McDonald, Joey Morrison, and Maggie Smith, and more generally practiced by only a tiny percentage of Scotland’s population (some 1%) but still surely alive in its meridian isles where time moves much more slowly.

With the nuance and poetry expected of a Shelter Press title, ‘Innes Gall’ reflects on the area’s anglicised name, meaning “islands of the strangers”, with calming, soberly documentarian results as heartwarming and fascinating as a visit to the area, just without the effort of travel, and from the comfort of your own living space. Bonnetta is incapable of ignoring the cinematic frame, and intersperses each shot with enough poetry to keep you entranced.

Electronic funk holy grail written and superbly arranged by the likes of the south Italian-based singer and multi-instrumentalist Mario Rosini. This incredibly rare original 7" reportedly dropped in the mid-80s during the blueprint of the Italodisco era and, in some way, it fixes perfectly those feelings but with an upgrade that places it at a level to be considered as a classic of the dance scene without the time and genre limits. Fully restored from the original source the reissue comes courtesy of Erezioni, after a quite long time of interrupted transmissions

'Gulliver', the latest Condor Gruppe album, is a nod to yet another spiritual journey in the band's ever-evolving saga. Released 23rd September via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra, the Antwerp-based nine-piece ensemble take you on a hypnotic trip, paying tribute to obscure Italian 70s film soundtracks, krautrock and psychedelic grooves. Fuse the melancholy of Pink Floyd, the heroism of Ennio Morricone and the world grooves of GOAT and you get an idea of what Condor Gruppe is.

Always looking to push musical boundaries, Condor Gruppe rely on the adventurous use of their instruments and their intriguing musical patter. Melancholic, exotic, surreal, the band's sound is enriched by instruments including the handpan, Jew's harp, darbouka and tanpura. Diverse sounds, rhythms and melodies build, exciting the listener whilst always remaining familiar. From the thunderous, spacious prog rock sounds of 'What Could Have Been', to the loose, laidback grooves of the mystical 'Farid' and groovy 'Rhymes On Our Mind', 'Gulliver' is a soundtrack for visits to far-flung places and a mesmerizing trip through the band's own record shelves.

Condor Gruppe released their debut album 'Latituds del Cavall' in 2014 with nine exotica fuelled songs that echo the sound of an intoxicated ride through the desert. This was followed up in 2016 with 'FROG BOG - A Tribute to Moondog' - an adaptation of the work of the legendary composer and outsider. Containing six Moondog interpertations, trumpet player Dirk Timmermans, saxophonist Matti Willems and baritone saxophonist Hanne De Backer joined the five original members of Condor Gruppe, with the results a spectacular mix between Moondog's jazzy compositions and Condor Gruppe's dreamy instrumental sound.

Second album proper 'Interplanetary Travels' (2018) - a nostalgic, melancholic soundtrack - saw the introduction of the Anoushka Shankar-trained Nicolas Mortelmans on sitar. The title hinting at Sun Ra is no coincidence. Condor Gruppe recorded 8 songs that give you the creepy feel of a horror scene, the heroism of the best film scores and the hypnotizing grooves of jungle tribes.

At this year's Ghent Film Festival, Condor Gruppe performed a live version of the score for the dark, hypnotic, surreal, erotic vampire film 'Daughters of Darkness' (1971), directed by Belgian cult director Harry Kümel. The score was originally recorded by François de Roubaix, a self-taught musician and jazz enthusiast, and he composed almost a hundred soundtracks, mostly for French films. In 1976, he won a César for best soundtrack with his work on 'Le Vieux Fusil' - awarded posthumously as de Roubaix had passed away just the year before. De Roubaix has always been a great source of inspiration for Condor Gruppe, so they were only too happy to sink their teeth into his scintillating score.

In celebration of legendary prog-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s 50th anniversary, BMG are releasing ‘Black Moon’ as a limited edition Picture Disc vinyl.

Formed in 1970, Emerson, Lake & Palmer were torchbearers of the progressive rock sound and one of rock’s first super-groups. The world-conquering, stadium-filling prog giants helped to broaden the audience for the genre from hundreds of thousands into tens of millions and were one the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1970s.

Their first 7 album releases all made the U.K. albums chart top 10 and U.S. top 20. Black Moon is ELP’s eighth studio album. It was released in 1992 when the band re-formed after 14 years, having split-up after their previous album, ‘Love Beach’ in 1978, and represents a real return to form.

The music is a stripped-down, amped-up, more mainstream rock format, though in many places retaining the feel of their 70s prog epics. Expertly re-mastered in 2017 by celebrated rock studio engineer Andy Pearce.

BeNeLux Streetpunk Outfit Bent Out Of Shape sind zurück mit ihrem ersten Full-Length-Album. Bent Out Of Shape ist eine im Oktober 2019 gegründete Streetpunk/Oi-Band aus Fryslân (Niederlande) mit (ehemaligen) Mitgliedern von Icepick, Spirit 84, DSS, No Denial, Dead Horse Running, de Hûnekop. Anfang des Jahres veröffentlichten sie ihre CD "Demo 2020" mit 7 Songs. Ende 2020 wurde die EP von Who Laughs veröffentlicht. Im Jahr 2021 veröffentlichten sie eine Split 7" mit Boldness aus Indonesien und im Mai 2022 veröffentlichten sie eine Split Picture Disc 7" mit ihren Freunden Skroetbalg.

‘The Jacaranda’ is a debut EP for GUSTAFFSON. Produced by Elbows award-winning Craig Potter. It’s a record inspired by Liverpool’s iconic music venue The Jacaranda club. A place where Andrew would go as a teenager to listen to records and write his music.

An EP that really focuses on Andrew's lyrics and storytelling, leaning towards Alternative Rock. With an emphasis on shining a spotlight on ordinary people, places or things but in an extraordinary way.

Frontman and lyricist Andrew is an actor. He has been on our TV screens since 2010, appearing in award-winning dramas such as BLACK MIRROR, OUTLANDER, BEING HUMAN and most recently CARNIVAL ROW.

'Breakfast in New Orleans Dinner in Timbuktu' is Bruce Cockburn's 1999
album written to encourage his fans to look forward to the new century,
while learning from the past
It contains a travelogue in the album's lyrics, both to familiar places of home and
family as well as social imperatives from visits to developing countries. Through
it all is Cockburn's reflections on the dynamics between men and women and
spiritual mysticism. Musically the album features the vocals of three women who
appear throughout the album. Jonell Mosser sings on two songs, including the hit
single "Last Night of the World"; Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies on the sultry
"Mango" and a cover of the Fats Domino nugget "Blueberry Hill", and most
significantly for the album's consistency, Lucinda Williams appears on four tracks.
Her standout track is "Isn't That What Friends Are For", a tender song of friendship
is made more poignant by Williams' ability to convey deep emotion.
Bruce Cockburn has written more than 400 songs on 35 albums over a career
spanning 50 years, of which 23 have received gold or platinum certification. He
has sold more than nine-million copies worldwide, is a member of the Canadian
Songwriter Hall of Fame, and is the winner of 13 Juno Awards from more than 30
nominations. His world-wide hits include "Wondering Where The Lions Are",
"Lovers In a Dangerous Time", "If A Tree Falls" and "If I Had A Rocket Launcher".

Genre : Indie / Pop-folk The New Yorker Adam Green’s 11th and latest solo album, That Fucking Feeling, continues his musical explorations with longtime collaborators Loren Humphrey, James Richardson (MGMT), and Jesse Kotansky. The album places large-scale 'Wall of Sound' style productions alongside home-recordings done during COVID quarantine. Adam Green was touring in Europe in 2022 spring, and will tour in USA in November. When talking about the title track, Adam says: “I wanted to release something home-recorded. Back in the Moldy Peaches days I used to record everything on my parent’s kitchen table, but it’s been 20 years since I put out something like that. I wrote a few songs in quarantine singing into my laptop, and I like how direct it feels. Not every song has to be big, this is just a little song that felt like a sweet moment captured. I think of myself as a singing man, maybe that’s how I’m most comfortable in life” Tracklist : 1. Black Out / 2. That Fucking Feeling / 3. Red Copper Room / 4.Bitter Hearts / 5. All Hell Breaks Loose / 6. What's her face / 7. Dreidels of Fire / 8. Black Out (accoustic) / 9. What's her Face (accoustic) / 10. Little Failure

In 1998 The Wave Pictures started carving out their own path in search of the lost essence of British Indie, since their acclaimed “Instant Coffee Baby” -nominated for The Guardian New Album Award and present in many lists of the best albums of the last 15 years– , until the most recent “When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings”, always giving their best in countless electrifying performances. Now The Wave Pictures are once again allied with Acuarela to release an exclusive double 7” with five songs (one, “French Cricket” included on their new album and the other four totally exclusive) and show that they are still an indie rock band without indie rock influences, a trio with its own style that doesn't want to be a blues group, but with blues –and soul, and country, and folk-, as the invisible core of everything they do. The Wave Pictures began their career in 1998. Since then the British trio hasn't stopped: at the frenetic pace of their concert schedule, they add a stakhanovist record production, which advances at the rate of almost one album per year. Example: “Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon”, which came out in February 2015, was already their thirteenth official LP (without forgetting that they have also released a large number of singles, EPs, rarities and unofficial material). But it is that in February 2016 the fourteenth album, “A Season In Hull” was released -which they recorded with a single microphone and only released on vinyl-, and in November of that same year its successor, “Bamboo Diner In The Rain” came out. In June 2018 they returned to the fray with another LP, “Brushes With Happiness”, and that November also dropped “Look Inside Your Heart”. The pandemic has made them slow down a little bit until May 2022 when they finally returned with "When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings". “When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings” is a double album dedicated to the cycle of life and in which each of its four sides (in the old fashioned way) is focused on one of the seasons of the year. The title refers to spring and its splendor. The result is pop in the style of The Wave Pictures, with all the essence of the band: those intense guitar solos by Dave, his acoustic plucking, the solid writing… in addition to the mandolin, the bluesy harmonica...you name it! All the band members, David Tattersall (vocals, guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass) and Jonny “Huddersfield” Helm (drums), are avid fans of rock'n'roll, classic country, 70s rock, soul and folk, and this album celebrates with joy all those musical loves of them, some rediscovered in recent times. Moreover, they have pointed out that Guided By Voices have also been a great source of inspiration on this recording, as well as re-listening to Sun Records’ rockabilly, African guitar records, the more country side of Neil Young, the crazy fun of The Who and some moments from The Yardbirds. The Wave Pictures are still playing what Modern Lovers did back in the day -and then Herman Dune or Hefner-, only they play it as if Rory Gallagher was their lead guitar. With the lo-fi pop-rock label as an amicable stigma, they never deny the maxim that places attitude before technique and they are always vaccinated against fashion. Years go by and they are still the same sly alley-cats, only sounding more and more classic. Tracklist: 1. French Cricket/ 2. From A Buick 6/ 3. Porcupines/ 4. Rufus Thomas/ 5. Cincinatti Flow Rag

Das ikonische belgische DJ-Duo 2ManyDJs, bestehend aus den Brüder Stephen und David Dewaele, feiert das 20-jährige Jubiläum ihres Albums 'As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2' mit einer besonderen Re-Issue. 2002 erschien es ursprünglich nach einer Reihe von Radioshows der beiden Brüder, damals vor allem bekannt als die Köpfe hinter der Electronic/Indie-Rock Band Soulwax. Die Re-Issue erscheint mit dem Foto von Richard Young auf dem Cover, das ursprünglich als Cover vorgesehen, aber nach Rechtsstreitigkeiten mit Tipp-Ex verfremdet wurde.

TAUMEL - the third studio album by the internationally acclaimed brass techno phenomenon MEUTE: Hamburg-based techno marching band MEUTE will release their third studio album: TAUMEL will be out on Friday, 18 November 2022 on the band's own label TUMULT. With their unique blend of hypnotic techno and energetic live performance, the 11-member band has made a globally acclaimed career start.
Tracklisting

Berlin electronic duo Donna Regina recorded two songs for the 10th edition of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club. In ‘Weihnachten Woanders’ (‘Christmas Somewhere Else’), singer Regina Janssen reflects on how it feels to spend Christmas away from home. Somewhere else, in a strange town where nobody knows your name and no one is waiting for you. You miss the familiar sounds of Christmas, like the child that sings ‘Stille Nacht’ and you dream of being home again. It’s a feeling many people can relate to. Especially this year, a year in which so many people were forced to flee from their homes. Günter Janssen, the other half of Donna Regina and Regina’s husband, lays down a minimalistic tapestry of synths and drum rolls. A loop of street sounds, a sample taken from sound artist Paula Schopf’s 2021 album ‘Especios En Soledad’, forces its way into the song, and in the end overpowers voice and other instruments. ‘Weihnachten Woanders’ very much captures the year 2022 and the worrying times we are living in, in both lyrics and music.

‘Christmas With You’, the B-side of the single, was originally written and recorded by Polish indie band Old Time Radio for their 2009 Christmas album 'Sketches For Another Christmas Songbook'. Donna Regina again goes for a minimalistic electronic sound, but also adds a certain melancholy to the song. Partly due to the synths that in places resemble the sound of an organ, an instrument that appeared on so many Christmas recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s. The love-hate relationship many people have with Christmas is perfectly laid down in the lyrics: “We watch the cartoons / We sing out of tune / Kiss by the fireplace / Listen to those horrible songs / Do we know / It’s Christmas time at all?”.

Regina and Donna Janssen debuted as Donna Regina in 1990 with the single 'Avec Le Temps' and released their debut album 'Lazing Away' in 1992 on Our Choice, a German sublabel of Rough Trade. In 1999, after four albums on Strange Ways Records, they signed to their current label Karaoke Kalk. Since then, they have released eight albums for the label. In 2015, Karaoke Kalk also released 'Dis Cover', a compilation of Donna Regina songs recorded by other artists like Dean & Britta, Bernard Burgalat, Mouse On Mars and many others. Donna Regina’s songs have been featured on compilations of labels like Rough Trade, Sonar Kollektiv, Klant Elektronik, Milan and Rolling Stone. Donna Regina was not Günther’s first band. In the early 1980s he was part of a Neue Deutsche Welle act with a very Christmas-related name: Heilige 3 Köninge ('Holy 3 Kings'). Their sole album, 1982's 'Zum Teufel Met Dem Kamel' has become very collectable. Günther was also featured as songwriter and musician on German singer Romie Singh's 1986 CBS album 'Masters' and later ventured into writing music for television and film. Regina Janssen also recorded as a vocalist with French musician Bertrand Burgalat, and sang several songs on his 2005 album ‘Portrait-Robot”.

Antares Flare is a rising jazz sextet based in Rotterdam that takes inspiration from South American magic realism, West-African traditional rhythms, and psychedelic atmospheric electronic sounds. The group consists of members from various places in the world, such as Italy, Slovenia, Malta, and the Netherlands, which shows in their worldly repertoire. Their debut album is a wonderful introduction to their refined sound, which is partially credited to the producer Anton de Bruin (Dragonfruit/Peter Somuah). This group is a good representation of the current wave of new jazz groups in the Netherlands. For fans of Christian aTunde Scott and KOKOROKO.

It’s almost four years since their last opus - two years since the most-recent run
of live shows. Now, Bitchin Bajas return from whatever kind of rare ether they
occupy when they’re at home, bearing the riches of the whole cosmos in their
hands. And strictly OG as well - on cassette only.
 ‘Switched On Ra’ is the outcome of a typical Bajas exercise: pouring some out
for the pioneers that came before (as they’ve done with Bitchitronics and their
participation in the annual Chicago performance of ‘In C’ over the years). It’s a
nice way to get a flow - they play a little of themselves, then some for the
pioneers, then a little more for the band. Before long, they’re playing with the
inspirations twined, as they can only come from within.
 For ‘Switched On Ra’, this meant a deep delve into the song-book of one of their
soul-predecessors, Sun Ra, whose music is literally written in the Bajas DNA.
Digging into this music sounded wild on paper: the drone synth group taking on
the Arkestra harmonies and Ra’s loose grooves? The trick was to get that sense
of rhythm to translate across the spectrum from Ra to Bajas, in a way that
worked for them both.
 Their rearrangements of the tunes went good - up and down the EQ band, they
were finding the round sounds and jagged edges that brought Ra’s music into
their own thing. Then at the last minute, there was another twist - why not pay
tribute to the Queen herself, and think of the arrangements with a Wendy Carlos
vibe? A little side homage? After all, ‘Switched on Bach’ was visionary, bringing
analogue synths from the outside all the way into the mainstream in the late 60s -
and this take on Ra is meant to take him to new ears everywhere.
 Sun Ra of course was his own kind of original keyboard visionary, using electric
keyboards in the late 40s and 50s to fill a role in jazz that had traditionally been
played on acoustic piano only. Once he’d done so, he took his writing in
directions inspired by the electricity, places no one had thought to go before
then.
 Bitchin Bajas have been content to dominate in a microtonal world, usually
without a single chord to be found anywhere. But here, they step up righteously,
their vibe triangulated as they bring Ra’s music forward with some Wendy C
style, making an unexpected space for all to thrive. There’s a real feeling of joy
as these collected signals bounce off the tape and through the speakers into
your space.
 To get this unique colloid exactly right, Bitchin Bajas used nineteen different
keyboards. They abstained from deploying their arsenal of reed and woodwind
instruments: everything had to be on the keys. This meant Yamahas, Rolands,
Korgs, Casios, a MicroMoog and of course their trusty Ace Tone organ. They
even broke out the Crumar DS-2, to have some of Ra’s chosen tone in the mix.
Then Jayve Montgomery added an EWI as a solo voice on a few tunes, just to
get some air-blown signal (and a natural shout out to EWI master Marshall Allen)
in there, after all. It felt like somewhere in the universe, Ra was decreeing it.

Not every two-year period measures out the same, noted Brendan Benson, the 51-year old Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and co-founder of The Raconteurs. Benson had just finished his well-received seventh album, "Dear Life" in 2019 when his world came to a stop. "I was rehearsing for South-By-Southwest and gearing up for a tour and had a band ready and then, of course, the world shut down," he said in a recent interview. The lockdown then began to reroute lives, societies and ambitions worldwide. "Everything changed," Benson said. "I went to work on some songs so I"d have new material when things opened up." Over months with minimal interactions, those songs coalesced and took on lives of their own, he said. Two years of semi-isolation, of fading relationships, of the natural inward turn that comes with less human contact unexpectedly pushed Benson"s song-writing into new places. Instead of being an afterthought, Benson"s solitude evolved into, "Low Key" the eighth album by the idiosyncratic songwriter who has enjoyed both world-wide popularity with the Raconteurs and a devoted cult following for his numerous solo projects. Low Key, the Nashville-based artist said, was his chance to explore how lives and relationships changed during the lengthy isolation from the normal interactions of everyday life.

Dressed in a powder blue suit with the frilly shirt to match, DJ Yoda invites you to be his +1 for ‘Prom Nite’, his new album promising retro Americana full of daydreaming reverie, international megastar guests, trip hop acknowledging the likes of Morcheeba and Nightmares on Wax, and the turntable extraordinaire’s bread and butter of cuts, beats and rhymes.

Certainly no stranger to retro sounds having famously peppered his DJ and AV sets with the unexpected the world over, and his ‘How to Cut n Paste’ mix series going all the way back to the 30s, Yoda’s harp-laden puppy love vibe spreads from the sweet and mellow sound of 2019’s ‘Home Cooking’, an album described as ‘boundary-breaking’ by Mojo upon slotting nicely into the UK’s blooming jazz canon. Think deliciously harmonised doo-wop murmuring ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ with an eye for dreamboats en route to Makeout Point – on ‘My Energy’, Eva Lazarus takes the form of an earth angel, with Yoda on jukebox cut-ups, taking it back to starry-eyed, clean cut days of wonder (or more recently, Little Mix’s ‘Love Me Like You’).

Beginning enigmatically with the assistance of Hollywood A-lister (and former next-door neighbour) Lily James, ‘Breathe’ demonstrate Yoda’s continued evolution as a musician (not to mention shrewd decision maker), with James’ vocal confidence - a little Lana del Rey to her breathiness - returning on the velvet-smooth ‘Airplane Mode’. It’s a smartly executed soundclash accentuated by LA rapper Choosey, the star of the album’s straightest hip-hop shooter ‘Harder I Rock’. Homeboy Sandman adds some kick to the prom punch with typical wordplay sent down ‘Coconut Grove’, and Liam Bailey is perfectly cast for the darkly cinematic sway of ‘Don’t Even Try It’.

On an album of many talking points, the LP’s crowning glory is opening single ‘Feel Like Home’: featuring the vocal comforts of the House Gospel Choir, it’s your go–to pick-me-up when the chips are down, targeting the hairs on the backs of necks like a softer focus version of Jamie xx’s ‘Loud Places’. Extended into an alternative, equally uplifting form by Beardyman’s ‘Don’t Mean Thing’, summer festival season already has its homecoming anthem.

With tongues wagging, the twists and turns step away from Heartbreak Ridge when O Love tucks into the mouthwatering shopping list funk of ‘Way Home’; and ‘Lesson 1956’, featuring Jamie Cullum and DJ Woody, jauntily pays homage to classic Cut Chemist alchemy, Yoda’s celebrated turntable tomfoolery back in full effect and extending the flavours found in ‘Home Cooking’.

Again maximising the experience and enjoyment gained from recording live instruments and prioritising songs over beats, Yoda continues to progress with a mixture of risk-taking, elite musicianship, nostalgia brought bang up to date, and ultimately, good clean fun capable of stirring your soul, making ‘Prom Nite’ a date to remember.

Magpie artwork supplied by London’s ENDLESS, whose signature style has tagged Liberty and Lagerfeld as but two high profile clients, Yoda again maximises the experience and enjoyment gained from recording live instruments and prioritising songs over beats. His continued progress mixes risk-taking, elite musicianship, nostalgia brought bang up to date, and ultimately, good clean fun capable of stirring your soul, making ‘Prom Nite’ a date to remember.

Featured 7” Vinyl singles:
Feel Like Home (feat. The House Gospel Choir)/ Don’t Mean A Thing (feat. Beardyman)
My Energy (feat. Eva Lazarus)/Lesson 1956 (feat. Jamie Cullum & DJ Woody)

dreamcastmoe is the recording project of singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ Davon Bryant, a lifelong resident of Washington, DC. His music moves freely between moods and modes, hypnotic, romantic, traversing electronic, R&B, funk, soul, and hip-hop... Resident Advisor dubs it "soulful, cross-genre dance music." This ability to adapt and finesse, to twist in different directions while staying true and coherent in vision, can be traced to his home city and its complex cultural history. "Most Black kids in DC don't ever get to this point," he says. "This is what I am making this music for, in the DC tradition of soul and empathy and love that is rooted in this city. My music is for real people dealing with shit every day." A versatile, modern artist and collaborator, dreamcastmoe has thrived in the underground since his first uploads to Soundcloud and Bandcamp in 2017 and subsequent releases with labels like People's Potential Unlimited, Trading Places, and In Real Life Music. Bryant's laid-back personality, emotional honesty, and infectious energy shine through his work and how he talks about it, as Crack Magazine notes in their 2021 Rising feature: "a steady combination of confidence, creativity, and calmness." He grew up playing drums in church; he's worked dead-end jobs, had ups and downs, even sold off all his gear one time, but never stopped reinvesting in himself. He is quick to praise his co-producers, rattle off influences _ the visual feel of NBA 2K, the comedic timing of Bernie Mac, the savvy legacy of Duke Ellington, for starters _ and credit resourceful DC breakouts like Ankhlejohn that showed him the roadmap. His voice, a steady instrument, seemingly connects it all, capable of slow falsetto flow, swaggering talk-rap, and outright croon. His storytelling style is choppy yet fluid, like a mixtape, which is how Bryant sees Sound Is Like Water, his debut on Ghostly's International's freeform label, Spectral Sound. The two-part project culminates as a full-length LP release in November 2022. The first side, released as Part I, opens on the blurred beats of "El Dorado," which dreamcastmoe dedicates to his journey. It's a head-nodder, an off-kilter earworm co-produced by Max D (Future Times, RVNG Intl, etc.), with Bryant harmonizing hooks with synth jabs and a pitched-down presence. "Complicated" is the slow jam, delivered smoothly from a Saturday night crossroads. dreamcastmoe is contemplative and committed... gliding and locking ad-libs into skittering rhythms courtesy of co-producer Zackary Dawson _ but also willing to let something go, "acknowledging that everything in life IS NOT easy." "RU Ready" takes off from the jump as a tribute, challenge, and promise to his partner and his city ("The times you sat with me when I needed you the most / Told me the things that I needed to see / Young black man, really trying to be what I can be / And I'm really from DC). In its potent two-plus minutes, the sonics (co-produced by ZDBT) press the message, all cymbal crashes, breakbeats, and serrated synth lines. "Cloudy Weather, Wear Boots" is a blitzing dance-punk track made in collaboration with Jordan GCZ on Bryant's first trip to Amsterdam. The album's flipside opens on "Much More," the first of two synth-and-beat ballads co-produced by ZDBT. Later on "Long Songz," he claims, "I'm not writing love songs no more," prioritizing the vibe with "all my day ones." He calls it "a cry for more normal moments. Everything doesn't have to be a fantasy love story, more time spent getting to the money, growing, and making a way." He saves two of his most propulsive cuts for the finale, co-produced by Sami, co-founder of DC dance label 1432 R. As their titles suggest, "Take A Moment" and "Make Ya Mind" operate as anthems for movement, with Bryant free-flowing commands above wildly-styled percussion. Per Bryant, the latter is both "wake & bake jam" and a "dance floor bomb." His parting line: "Action / You got to show me action / Reaction." The world of dreamcastmoe straddles virtual reality and the realness of DC, images both imagined and lived-in. Bryant has a knack for unexpected melodies but what makes his music so exciting is his capacity to defy the expectations of genre and image. A fluid ingenuity and vulnerability bottled by Sound Is Like Water, and this is just the beginning.

The 6th release in the 'Foundations' series of classic House curated by DJ Spinna and Kai Alce, Sandee's 1988 masterpiece Notice Me joins seminal tunes from Ralph Rosario, Dreamer G, Cajmere, Chip E & K-Joy and Tyree Cooper to complement this amazing selection of hugely significant and killer heritage tracks. Written by Robert Clivilles and co-produced with David Cole (C+C Music Factory), the pedigree of Notice Me is seriously enhanced by the vocals of Latina singer and original member of the vocal group Exposè, Sandeé (Sandra Casañas) and the sound editing of long time Clivilles & Coles collaborator, the producer and percussionist Luis Rivera. Bass heavy and featuring a drum break that inspired so many great House cuts Notice Me was picked up by DJs of the calibre of Frankie Knuckles and Roman Ricardo on release in 1988. Notice Me became a dancefloor favourite at legendary clubs such as Tunnel and Palladium in New York City and the Riviera in Chicago , subsequently reaching number 9 in the Billboard Dance Charts in 1989. Tragically both Sandeé and David Cole died at far too early ages (46 and 32 respectively) but their places in the pantheon of House music history are assured as the vocalist and the co-producer of Notice Me. Indeed it is an era defining track and definitely a must have in your vinyl collection. A word about the Foundation Series from its curators: Kai:“Well my interest in 7”s is new. I have been a collector of 12”s all my life, House & Disco. Being inspired by JRocc after playing one of Discogs’ Crate Diggers events, my initial focus was on finding House 7”s which proved to be harder than I thought… Most were not available in 7” format & the popular ones that existed were quite rare. So now me and Spinna are trying to fill some of those empty spaces.” Spinna:“45 DJing has become a new excitement among vinyl DJs, but although endlessly repressed on other formats, a few classic house titles have simply never been pressed on 7” vinyl. We ran our ’45 wish list past BBE and the rest is history. When creating the edits we tried to imagine we worked for the original record label and were cutting the ‘radio edit’. The aim: to keep the heart of the track intact while reducing the length to fit the format.”