quête:point no point

Bria is an intimate and incisive labour of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena
and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the
depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for
what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The
result is a pointillistic knockout of a release that weaves a landscape both luscious and a
little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do.
 Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings
and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley
Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal
setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They
went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in.
‘Cuntry Covers’ houses it all: well-worn favourites and lesser-known gems.
 The record opens with ‘Green Rocky Road’, as performed by Greenwich Village legend
Karen Dalton. Jennings’ twangy guitar carries Bria’s original inflection and richly textured
vocals, complete with dreamy overlay. ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’, a rendition of the
Waylon Jennings hit, is followed by John Cale’s ‘Buffalo Ballet’, a lyrical journey through
Abilene, Texas, the endpoint of the Chisholm Trail.
 Engineered and mixed by Duncan Hay Jennings, each song brings desire and sexuality
front and centre, with all the swagger you’d expect – and more. Bria hopes the record will
be understood as a small contribution to the subversion of a genre with deep patriarchal
roots. Mistress Mary’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now’, from the 1969 album ‘Housewife’,
served as the original inspiration. “It was the first song Duncan and I worked on,” Bria
notes. “It definitely set the tone for the other tracks we picked.”
 Bria’s voice - described as wavering between “sultry and howitzer” - shines on ‘Fruits Of
My Labour’, written and performed by country great, Lucinda Williams. The Walker
Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is a harmonic (and hypnotic) standout. A
musical explorer who moves fluidly between styles, Bria doesn’t consider herself a
country artist: “I feel as though I’m a visitor here, paying respect to a style that has
informed a part of my musical identity. Country music, as much as any other art form,
should be an arena for representation, expression and provocation. I have a ton of
reverence for artists who came before me and challenged the primarily whiteheterosexual status quo.”
 Salmena and Jennings have toured for years as members of Toronto four-piece FRIGS,
whose 2018 debut ‘Basic Behaviour’ was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Making a
mark in diverse genres from country to punk, both play as permanent members of Orville
Peck’s band.
 ‘Cuntry Covers’ was recorded on the territories of the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee,
the Wendat and the Mississaugas of the Credit. The release also features contributions
from FRIGS drummer Kris Bowering and vocals by Ali Jennings.
 LP pressed on opaque breeze blue vinyl.

A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 was created with hope and inspiration in mind. The spirit of the album was meant to emulate what a greater day would sound and feel like. We were in the midst of some tough political and socially challenging times. There was still hurt, anger and pain lingering, so I was thinking, “what is the next step in this revolution?” I thought about what being still in these times had brought me and that was a peace beyond understanding, a greater love for self, a closer connection with God, and more appreciation for my family, friends and the simple things in life. I wanted to write about that and create music that embodied that. What does a new day, a brighter day feel like being told through an emcee and some gifted musicians? How could this music be an example of the beautiful aspects of revolution that include joy, self-love, compassion, dreams, peace and good times? As a piece of art, I believe we took it to different places musically only to come back to the original intention. To bring joy to people’s hearts, fun to their lives and smiles to their souls. ABR2. Love Common RADIO: 6Music A List, Album Of The Week on 6Music, support across BBC R1, 1XTRA, Radio 2, 6Music. PRESS: Features in Huck, New Cue, DIY, Daily Star, The Guardian, Line Of Best Fit, MOKO, Clash, NME and more… “If ‘…Pt 1’ felt like a look at the progress we made last year, then this follow up stares down the road ahead – not with trepidation, but with boundless optimism” – DIY **** ‘A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2’ is the soundtrack to a new revolt. It’s about unity in the face of adversity and bringing awareness to the Black struggle. But at its core it’s a celebration of Black pride that sees Common in full swing as a champion of peace, love and freedom.” - NME “This is Common’s most hopeful album in years” – The Independent “A late career high” - Clash

“And now for a gentleman who’s come all the way from Kingston, Jamaica and a place called Cling Cling Avenue. We present to you the one and only, the Originator, the Godfather, Daddy U Roy!”

U Roy had visited Brighton before but there was something special about that balmy night in August 2017, when he walked out on stage at the Komedia to a hero’s welcome and immediately got the crowd cheering and dancing. There was so much warmth and excitement generated that night, and it’s all captured on this final live album of the reggae superstar’s illustrious career.

U Roy wasn’t quite the originator, but he was the first Jamaican deejay to dominate the Top 3 places on both radio stations and turn his predecessors’ simple exhortations into an artform – one that evolved into a global phenomenon. It was his performances on King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi that made him the talk of Jamaica and led him to Treasure Isle studio, where he voiced hits like Tide Is High and Wear You To The Ball. From then on his catchy, uplifting rhymes could be heard on radios and jukeboxes throughout the island, as well as from behind the control tower of his King Stur Gav sound-system, where MCs like Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and Charlie Chaplin learnt their craft. The veteran deejay, who died in February 2021, continued recording and touring into his late seventies, and without abandoning either his musical standards or Rastafarian beliefs. At his peak, U Roy voiced for Jamaica legends like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bunny Lee and Channel One, in addition to several European labels. What most of his recordings have in common is a sense of hope and often joy, because even Get Up Stand Up is delivered with optimism. They are the qualities that come across on this life-affirming set, recorded in front of an appreciative audience, and backed by some of the UK’s finest reggae musicians.

Interiors, the title of this new release from Ultramarine, may have a topical resonance for many listeners who have found themselves in involuntary confinement during the past year, but the five tracks on this EP were actually recorded in 2011, and they represent a significant opening out of the duo's evolving musical perspective.

Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond, who had become friends while growing up together in the Essex countryside, formed Ultramarine in 1989. Throughout the 90s their distinctive music, an enticing blending of acoustic with electronic instruments, secured a loyal following and won critical acclaim. Then, throughout the whole of the next decade, Ultramarine lay dormant. Interiors documents their reawakening, with Cooper and Hammond exploring approaches to music-making made possible by recently developed software, designed specifically with live performance in mind.

Four of the five tracks to be heard here were issued digitally last year. But as Paul Hammond has pointed out, "with Ultramarine the whole point is to create an artefact, so the form and the look of the finished product is central." That's an outlook shared passionately by Simon Lewin's label Blackford Hill, and the music now available on this vinyl record is appropriately enhanced with cover art by printmaker Katherine Jones. Her imagery matches the music neatly in its nuanced interplay of solidity and shadow, line and colour, geometric form and organic growth.

Ultramarine returned refreshed in October 2011, bursting back into public awareness with "Find A Way," issued as a 7" single on their own label, Real Soon. Clive Bell, writing in The Wire, extolled its engaging mix of electronic beats with cool vocals and tropical percussion. More generally Bell embraced Ultramarine's thoughtful hybrid electronica as "music you could enjoy at home without feeling your intelligence was being scorned, or that if you were not physically in a club, you were wasting your time."

On Interiors, the roots of that slinky single are laid bare on the purely instrumental track "Find A Way Back." Its two distinct parts stretch out the beats and flaunt those tropical flourishes, shuffling and flexing, vibrant and heady, languid and sultry. This is techno filtered through the fabric of magic realism, an exotically spiced concoction, chilled and ready to be savoured at home.

With the diagrammatic clarity of its punchy thrust and spooling loops "Even When" distils the essence of Cooper and Hammond's way of working with their musical material: layering and shaping, nurturing textures, plaiting rhythms and juggling accents. The cumulative impact is almost sculptural in its physical immediacy and looming presence. In contrast, on "By Return" the duo skew the outcome, projecting a selection of limber figures into dub's auditory hall of mirrors. They are clearly revelling in the reverb, relishing the recoil and decay.

Interiors ultimately opens out onto "Decoy Point (Version)." With its ozone saturated ambience, this closing track evokes marshland and mudflat soundscapes, seabird mews, maritime signals and tidal wash. Cooper and Hammond feel deep attachment to the Essex landscape and, in particular, to the local history and physical features of the Blackwater estuary. Blackford Hill provides an accommodating home for Ultramarine's ongoing project Blackwaterside, which has featured to date a 7" vinyl record plus 28-page booklet, and a photo film with soundtrack. Now, delving into the Ultramarine archive, this welcome incarnation of Interiors offers a fascinating glimpse of the duo finding their bearings, at a vital stage along the way.

‘Expressions of Interest’ is the debut album from Melbourne/Naarm post-punk group screensaver.

Sonically, the 10 track album is rich and detailed, and pays homage to its era of inspiration (late 70s-mid 80s post-punk and new wave) with gripping vocals, dissonant guitar, melodic basslines, washes of synths and motorik drumming. Engineered by Julian Cue alongside band member Chris Stephenson and recorded over multiple studio sessions between 2020-2021

The album opens with the ominously titled ‘Body Parts’, an immediately arresting song that showcases the bands penchant for blending classic post-punk elements, leaning into a sound somewhere between the Banshees and Protomartyr.

Maynard doubles down on these themes in the frenetic second track, ‘No Movement’. Guttural organ tones swim under overdriven guitar, jagged and intense. Additional textures and sound effects are used percussively to embellish the dynamics, creating a feverish atmosphere with some Martin Hannett like flourishes.

The album takes a surprising turn into electronic driven krautrock on track three with 'Buy, Sell, Trade' - a rollicking piece of danceable ephemera, dominated by swirling synth sounds and punctuated with electronics reminiscent of Sparks/Moroder collaborations. Chris Stephenson's masterful guitar work begins with Greg Sage-esque determination before a crescendo into a lush Frippertronics outro.

'MEDS' transports us back to the foundation established on 'Body Parts', a gothy piece, full of tribal toms and dirge-y synths. Industrial punk rock nearly swallowed whole by the keys in the middle and slowly building back to complimentary guitar and vocal hooks.

It's from this point in the album that the band let's their other influences rise to the surface, as they explore touches of EDM on 'Static State' - a brutal, death-disco style track, Krystal Maynard's lead synth and gloomy vocal complimenting the pounding drums and dub-esque bass line culminating in a track worthy of the dancefloor.


Opening side two we have 'Skin', beginning with a solid and simple backbeat, James Beck’s post-punk percussion provides a steady and minimal framework for the rest of the band to colour in with great depth and detail. Giles Fielke’s bass guitar wobbles brilliantly leading the verse melody, whilst Chris Stephenson’s guitar drives the chorus that folds neatly in on itself.

In ‘Attention Economy’, Krystal Maynard is flexible with her lyrical style, and knows how and when to lend her voice to the greater backdrop of the composition. ‘Attention Economy’ has an almost Kraftwerkian structure - repetitious, but engaging with its constant tom driven beat, lush synth lines and minimal bass tones.

Just when you thought things had slowed down, screensaver ramp things right back up again with ‘Overnight Low’ - a no holds barred thumper. Giles Fielke underpins the hard-edged sound with his bassline, keeping things smooth and tight. It brings to mind a hybrid of PiL’s ‘Annalisa’ and Wire’s ‘Two People In a Room.’

Before you can catch your breath, we have ‘Regular Hours’ - another industrial track, and perhaps the sister song to ‘Static State’ heard earlier on side one. Seething electronic drum samples cut through an abyss of growling synths, Giles Fielke hanging up the bass temporarily to accompany Krystal Maynard on synth duties.

The album closes with the fittingly titled ‘Soft Landing’, literally bringing the listener back down...softly. The song is heavy on atmos, and resembles the aesthetics previously encountered on ‘Attention Economy’ a few tracks earlier.

‘Expressions of Interest” was recorded at various locations across Melbourne, with a handful of songs being captured before the start of the Covid pandemic in January 2020. With the recording timeline being drastically altered, the band shifted focus to work on what would become their first single ‘Strange Anxiety’, throughout the first months of the Melbourne 2020 lockdown.

New solo record from Philip Frobos of Omni (Sub Pop, Trouble in Mind), this record is released in conjunction with a novel by Philip of the same name.

Philip Frobos' ‘Vague Enough to Satisfy’ will be released on 180g black vinyl - Only 500 Pressed Worldwide October 1st 2021. The novel will be published by Hex Enduction Books in Seattle on the same day.

‘Vague Enough to Satisfy’, is Philip Frobos’ debut solo album, it is also the original soundtrack to his debut novel of the same title. This lounge-inspired punk album acts as the musical bedrock for the story of a young man who revels in the day to day details (both romantic and mundane) of his experiences in Leipzig and Atlanta. The tone of the record reflects the tides of the protagonist’s confidence and self-doubt throughout the novel.
‘Vague Enough to Satisfy’ rushes straight to the point with it's bossa nova beat and seductive lo-fi musings. ‘Vague Theme’ opens the album with a groove reminiscent of ‘Whammy’ era B-52s while the vocals tell the story of a young romantic confused of his place within a relationship and the city around him.

‘Vacant Street’ proceeds with a hooky bassline, the revolving, cryptic sort that Frobos is known for as a member of Atlanta post-punks Omni. ‘No Packages Today’ is similarly sprightly and circuitous, sounding like the Au Pairs refining an obsession with Bowie’s ‘Lodger’. “I’m afraid that you need more than I can offer” opines Frobos bedecked by shuffling beats and burgeoning waves of saxophone. ‘Never Noticed’ and ‘Through with Buzz’ introduce notes of tension and intrigue to the frisson of the story, “you’re stuck in the same day” confesses Frobos in the former.

Instrumental tracks help to prolong an uneasy feeling of ambiguity too, with compositions like ‘Pool Disturbance’ and ‘Inflatable Flamingo’ taking their musical cue from Henry Mancini. Curious flourishes, a metronomic headiness and shuddering xylophones bring to life the intensely vivid imagery and cynical humor that suffuse the novel.

‘Pathetic’ collides the casual, magnetism of Serge Gainsbourg with tight Cars-style vocals and choruses. Meanwhile ‘Singer Not The Song’ and ‘Saturn Return’ showcase a more sedate approach, languid and arch. ‘Vague Enough to Satisfy’ is a trip, plunging you into a curious world populated by the unexpected.

The overall atmosphere and aura of You Are Here... I Am There points at the influences of American jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and Charles Mingus. The record shows a strong tendency, however, towards a distinctive sound that was, at the time, new, embraced by musicians such as Jan Garbarek and Ian Carr. Above all, Tippett's compositional style bears traces of the artist's classical training, unveiled by his harmonic and dynamic awareness and careful balance between improvisation and composition. At the same time, in a reasonable dose, the sextet also captures the kind of spiritual aspect of American jazz, particularly powerfully displayed by Albert Ayler, John and Alice Coltrane, and Sun Ra.

No Bragging Rights are releasing a brand new self titled album. As a band we still felt we had more to say. Life took us all in different directions which made writing difficult. Anthony (Tron) joining the band was the spark and the resource we needed to start writing. Daniel would drive 2hrs to Tron’s studio in Tacoma to write and send the demo’d ideas. I was in my last year of undergrad so I would write lyrics/melodies over my Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. We hit the studio in January which was the first time Martin had seen Daniel or Tron since our last show in 2016. We feel that we were able to bring new elements to our sound without sacrificing our identity as a band.

The Esbjörn Svensson Trio, e.s.t. for short, are still
celebrated today as one of the most important and
influential European jazz bands of the last 20
years.
 In 1999, the three Swedes achieved their
international breakthrough with ‘From Gagarin’s
Point Of View’. A star rose in the musical sky and a
unique world career followed. But sometimes stars
shine for much longer than one thinks. On ‘e.s.t.
Live 95’ there are recordings that prove that this
was also true for the Esbjörn Svensson Trio.
 The band, founded in 1993, found their very
specific sound early on but it was not initially
noticed outside its home country. In 1995, when
the trio’s namesake still wore long hair and a
headband, these recordings were made at various
locations in Sweden. And whoever hears how the
trio played back then is left breathless.
 Much of what distinguishes e.s.t. was already
strongly pronounced here: the coherence and
powerful grip of the playing; the catchy themes that
immediately jump out at the listener and yet do not
become clichéd; the fusion of the music of role
models like Thelonious Monk and Keith Jarrett into
a style of their own, always infected by the forward
thrust of rock. Magical moments were saved for
eternity by these recordings.
 Now this e.s.t. early work is available on double
vinyl.

UK label Wisdom Teeth returns with its third long-form offering - Sculpturegardening: a new LP by Mexico City-based artist and producer, Tristan Arp. Incorporating elements of ambient, glitch, microhouse and downtempo, it’s an otherworldly record populated by knotty modular textures, blossoming floral melodies, tight pointillist rhythms and glossy acoustic instrumentation. The record was born from a process of “collaborating with machines”: using modular synthesisers to generate probabilistic melodies and rhythms, with the artist taking on the role of sculptor and curator. Throughout, the boundaries between the organic and digital are playfully blurred: we hear synthesisers played by guitars; emotive and distinctly human melodies generated by modular circuits; digital percussion drummed by hand; and live cello processed with a digital finish. The results sometimes recall Roman Flügel at his most colourful, or Benge’s meandering synth workouts, and even at times echo the dubbed-out cello experiments of Arthur Russell.But really sculpturegardening occupies a sonic world of its own, born from a unique web of happy accidents and incidental arrangements. The record’s bright colours and subtle rhythms make it a fitting follow-up to K-LONE’s 2020 LP Cape Cira and Facta’s 2021 LP Blush, and place it neatly alongside the work of label mates Duckett, Benoit B, Steevio and Iglew.
“With sculpturegardening, my concept was to approach music like gardening. I collaborated with machines inspired by the way a gardener collaborates with the earth. A gardener creates the conditions for the plants to come to life and develop on their own. In a similar way, I created a set of conditions and probabilities for the music to make itself. Who is making the music here? “A sculpture garden to me can be a really beautiful environment of balance between randomness and order––between nature and human interaction. Things that are either extremely organized or completely random tend to not resonate with us. On the other hand, something very interesting happens when a balance between the randomness and organization is struck. I invented this verb sculpturegardening to represent creating with the aim of this balance, and the with the aim of building a world in which each piece is a zone, or a sculpture in a garden.” The record will be twinned with a physical iteration - a sound installation at an exhibition curated by Tristan Arp titled Nada Se Pierde; Todo Se Transforma. The show opens on 9th October in Mexico City at Avant.dev. The physical sculpture garden will be a collaboration with Mexican sculptor Pablo Arellano. The sound installation will centre around a 4-channel audio system that gives voice to different sculptures and allows visitors to create a mix of the sounds depending on their position in the garden.

“One of the greatest live bands of their generation”
- Rolling Stone
 My Morning Jacket have become one of the most
vital and reliably thrilling forces in American rock
and roll.
 On ‘Live 2015’, the band’s first live album in 15
years, My Morning Jacket showcase 16 explosive
performances recorded during 2015’s ‘The
Waterfall’ Tour.
 Track list includes fan favourites ‘Victory Dance’,
‘Circuital’, ‘Dondante’, ‘Touch Me I'm Going To
Scream Pt. 2’ and more
White vinyl triple LP in gatefold jacket.

Back in 2004, Vampisoul was extremely honoured to play a role in the return to recording of the legendary Joe Bataan, which fully materialized in the lauded 2005 album "Call My Name", written and produced by Daniel Collás.After being out of print for a while, the LP has now been revamped featuring new artwork and liner notes written by Andrew Mason and Daniel Collás, plus photos from the sessions.

“This whole project grew out of a song called 'Cycles Of You', which I had written around 2000-2001 with the guitarist and bassist of my band at the time, Easy. The chord progression and vocal melody really reminded me of Bataan, and it occurred to me that it wouldn't be impossible to get him into the studio to do a guest vocal if we ever recorded it. I had met Bataan a few years before at a small, family-reunion style show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in my neighborhood, where he not only still sounded great, but was also gracious and easy to talk to.

He was agreeable, so we decided to turn it into a Joe Bataan session and do 'Cycles Of You'. The funny thing is, 'Chick-A-Boom', a live favorite with Easy, was hastily added so we could have a B-side, but it ended up chosen to be the A-side of the single. When I got the opportunity from Vampisoul to do a full album, I was hoping Bataan and I could write some songs together, but our schedules proved tough to coordinate. I figured the best way to go about it was to do most of the work and just have him come sing on it. I thought this might be a little weird for him, since he is used to writing and producing most of his own records, but he was open to it.

The reactions to this album were gratifying. Diehard fans accepted it as a welcome addition to the canon and regularly compared it to some of my favorite records of Bataan's. At one point a New York radio station's listener poll listed two songs off of the album in the top ten of all-time best-loved Joe Bataan songs, and Ry Cooder enthusiastically mentioned "Call My Name" in a Wall Street Journal interview.” Daniel Collás, producer of "Call My Name".

 ‘Paint It Blue’ is dedicated to the man who, for many still today embodies
the central figure at the genre’s source: Julian Edwin ‘Cannonball’
Adderley (1928 - 1975). Maybe he didn’t invent Funk. Together with his
co-musicians in his 60s quintet, Cannonball’s alto sax style, his attitude,
humour great musicality, and his love for his audience allowed him to
become a synonym for funk.
 Nils Landgren, born in 1956, grew up between the music of his father, a
Jazz cornet-player, and the music of his grandfather, a pastor on the
island Gotland. He first heard Cannonball Adderley on ‘Kind Of Blue’. In
this Miles Davis Sextet of the late 1950s, they were all together: “Miles,
the master of beauty. Coltrane, the master of sound. And Cannonball
Adderley, the master of funk,” Nils Landgren writes in the liner notes to
‘Paint It Blue’. From that point on, he procured everything of
Cannonball’s that he could lay his hands on. “Without the soul of
Cannonball it would have been impossible to form my group Funk Unit
many years later,” he writes.
 Landgren edited Cannonball’s live concert announcements into his own
arrangements, so that the time jump between the original and the
nouveau arrangement appears non-existent. An effective device that
literally brings this revered musician into the fold of Nils Landgren’s Funk
Unit.
 Whoever speaks of Cannonball Adderley, must also speak equally of his
brother Nat Adderley. It was an obvious thought to invite the most
important brothers in Jazz after the Adderleys to guest on ‘Paint It Blue’;
with the high energy Funk-Jazzrock of the late 70s, the Brecker brothers
have proven worthy heirs to the Adderleys. Both of them solo on
Landgren’s track ‘You Dig’.
 The equally noble and forcible groove is delivered by the sideman to
countless Soul greats, Bernard Purdie. Bernard’s own stylistically related
production with the Brecker Brothers, Nils Landgren, amongst others is
now strongly in the public consciousness on ‘Soul To Jazz’. Much like
Cannonball Adderley, Airto Moreira owes important impulses to his time
with Miles Davis.
 ‘Paint It Blue’ is possibly Nils Landgren’s most lavish record to date and
with some certainty also his best. Landgren’s playing is cool and smooth,
with warmth, temperament and thought. Here his sound combines
organically with everything he surrounds himself with. The album sounds
as if the recordings for it were a pure joy for all participants. Nils
Landgren has the prerequisite for serious fun, the gift of intelligent
serenity.

Reissue of Augustus Pablo's Augustus Pablo At King Tubbys, originally released in 2005. The visionary musician and record producer Augustus Pablo made some of the most unique and individual recordings in the history of reggae. As with his friend and mentor, Jackie Mittoo, the man born Horace Swaby was of mixed Indian and African heritage, and although his middle-class background might have pointed him in a very different direction, the lure of Jamaica's sound system culture captured him at a young age, particularly after debilitating health problems saw him drop out of school.

It’s been four successful collaborative releases and Mama told ya has grown up so much since this last couple of years.

Faithful to its praise of collaboration, this fifth release will be no exception: Anetha invited the prodigious Alex Wilcox in a 4-tracks emotional roller coaster adventure entitled « It’s okay to cry ». Because yeah, newsflash : it really is.

Best piece of advice from Mama, you should now let it go, open the floodgates, release the pressure. Let yourself be carried through BPMs, Glitched-Ghetto-Techno, satured yet textured, that our powerful duo concocted. It is time to catharsis! The artwork has been commissioned to the extraordinary Risa from Olga Goose Candle. It was an evidence to bring to the table her vintage kooky wax characters whose ultimate poetic fate is to melt. Into tears.

Photographer Anaïs Lallite and designers Diplomatie Studio took care of the design, mastering was entrusted to Sixbitdeep, as usual. Embark for a jazzy-cowboy-bepopesque-techno ballad in Funky Blender (A1). At first, you’ll feel the sharp blades twirling by your ear: Alex Wilcox chops up what’s left of our sorrow then smooths it up with some soul in it through that « groovgeous » bass saxophone. Featuring Latrice Pink, Alex Wilcox shows some damn good maestria in glitched and vocal effects with RESPOND! (A2). The urge to let it go is relentless. So irrepressible that you let the boisterous uptempo drumming race sweeps you in direction of that point of no return where you’ll have nothing else to do but finally release. And here we are, Paris, Texas (B1), where two universes collide. Both Anetha and Alex Wilcox discharge their heart into two beautiful tunnels of grief intertwining into one bomb aquatic transe track. The drop you’ve been waiting for is here and it’s okay to cry, honey. Alex Wilcox upbeats one last time our journey in a spooky, spine-chilling electronic course in BOO. (B2).

Long Awaited Double Gatefold Release!

Omar Lyefook MBE is without doubt, one of the greatest soul music talents the United Kingdom has produced in the last 40 years. If anyone has doubts about that, then they might want to consider the list of legendary artists who happily line up to collaborate with him musically, or simply sing his praises - from Stevie Wonder, the late Leon Ware, Erykah Badu, Common, through to Carleen Anderson, D'Angelo, and Soul II Soul's Caron Wheeler, Angie Stone and U.K. artists Courtney Pine, Rodney P, Kele LeRoc, Natasha Watts and Estelle, all appreciate his truly original and unique voice, musicianship and songwriting talent.

When asked to reflect on his long, successful, critically acclaimed and deeply influential career that shows no signs of slowing up, Omar said "I feel blessed. I try to keep things moving and evolving, and when I finish an album, I always put my heart and soul into it. I'm looking at it from an outsider's point of view, because I never really see myself making the music. It's like I'm the vessel and somebody's controlling what I do, I just happen to be the one that gets the praise for it".

That modest statement just re-enforces the fact that Omar is simply a one off, a genuinely unique artist. That is a bold claim, but his sound is so immediately identifiable, that you will know you are hearing an Omar track within seconds - and that is the stamp of true originality.

This collection features many of his classic collaborations, from his evergreen worldwide anthem There's Nothing Like This, It's So, the dancefloor destroying banger inspired by the amalgam of sounds Omar heard at The Notting Hill Carnival.

Intimate, sensual: such is the music of Malik, shaped as desired over the albums: Un (2017), Tempéraments (2019), which earned him the nomination “Revelation album of the year” at the Victoires de Music 2020… And, today, Troy. Which opens a new chapter, that of an organic bias whose idea germinated after his last tour. Major fashions, solar and organic: TROIE imposes itself in warmth and sensuality.

Malik Djoudi has always been fond of duets or collaborations - with Juliette Armanet, Cécile de France or even Etienne Daho, support from the start - does not deprive himself of it here. Thus, we savor the tempo shared with the young rapper Lala & ce, “Point sensible” and the synthetic poetry explored with Philippe Katerine, “Eric”. Third collaboration, and not the least: "A few words", sung with Isabelle Adjani, the immense actress in a state close to Ohio, that of the navy sweater made in Gainsbourg.

Time fortifies the bonds between us. Since emerging in 2018, Light The Torch have grown stronger in lockstep together as a band and as friends. Through this growth, the Los Angeles, CA trio—Howard Jones vocals, Francesco Artusato [guitar], and Ryan Wombacher [bass]—only enhanced every aspect of their signature sound. Upheld by head-spinning seven-string virtuosity, yet also anchored to skyscraping melodies, the group crafted twelve no-nonsense and no-holds-barred metallic anthems on their 2021 second full-length album, You Will Be The Death of Me [Nuclear Blast].
“The past few years have helped me to become much more personal in my writing,” explains Howard. “Even though I’m kind of a loner, this band became real family. My experiences with Ryan and Fran inside and outside of the band truly bonded us. I think it shows in this album, it truly represents who we are as a group.”

“Every second on this record was thought-out,” adds Fran. “Howard’s performance gives me chills, because it feels so alive. There’s so much emotion in it. I know the guy very well at this point, and our friendship is a big part of Light The Torch.”That friendship cemented over the course of the past three years. The group shot out of the gate as a contender on their full-length debut, Revival. It bowed at #4 on the Billboard US Independent Albums Chart and at #10 on the Hard Rock Albums Chart in addition to receiving acclaim from Revolver, Outburn, and many more. “Calm Before the Storm” racked up a staggering 14.5 million Spotify streams, while “The Safety of Disbelief” remains one of SiriusXM Octane’s all-time most requested songs. They also crisscrossed North America and Europe on tour with the likes of Trivium, Avatar, In Flames, Ice Nine Kills, Killswitch Engage and August Burns Red to name a few.

In late 2019, an idea for the title track “Death of Me” kickstarted the creative process. The guys returned to Sparrow Sound in Glendale, CA to once again work with the production team of Josh Gilbert and Joseph McQueen [Bullet for My Valentine, As I Lay Dying, Suicide Silence].This time around, they also welcomed Whitechapel’s Alex Rudinger on drums. “He’s incredible,” says Fran. “He was exactly what we needed.”Now, they kick down the door for You Will Be The Death of Me with the single “Wilting In The Light.” Howard’s instantly recognizable vocals soar over a sweeping riff and rolling beat before culminating on a massive luminous hook, “Over and over again we struggle. We’re wilting in the light, and we stumble in the dark.”“It has a different vibe and a very interesting riff,” observes Howard. “I love it when listeners can take what they want from a song. This was a special one for us.”

“More Than Dreaming” opens up the record with gut-punching guitar and another knockout hook. Elsewhere, airy keys wrap around chugging distortion on the title track “Death Of Me.” Regarding the latter, the frontman goes on, “Most people have some source of grief in their lives. It’s relatable, and it was appropriate for the song.”After the melodic melancholia of “Come Back To The Quicksand,” Light The Torch recharge the 1987 Terence Trent D’Arby classic “Sign Your Name” as the record’s climax. Shimmering keys bleed into an overpowering verse before it snaps into the immortal chorus beefed up with thick distortion. “Howard stayed at my house with me and my wife for the entire recording of the album,” recalls Fran. “I like to cook, and one night during the first week of pre-production I made everyone dinner. A compilation with ‘Sign Your Name’ started playing, and I thought, ‘I can do a version that would sound awesome!’ Howard knew and loved the song too. For as crazy as it sounded, it worked so well.”
In the end, the bond between Light The Torch burns brighter than ever in the music as they deliver a definitive statement with You Will Be The Death Of Me.

“We wanted to make a fully listenable and fun album that doesn’t let up,” Howard leaves off. “At the same time, we’re showing some heart, passion, and connection. It’s what we’ve always intended to do with this band.”

It is highly likely that you will have hummed a song by
Charles Trénet at some point in your life. Thus ‘La Mer’
(aka ‘Beyond the Sea’), a song written on a train
between Narbonne and Montpellier in July 1943, is sung
in Tokyo as well as in Los Angeles and its popularity is
universal. And this is not the only one, among the 700 or
so songs that Charles Trénet submitted to Sacem during
a career of exceptional longevity: nearly seventy years.
 10 CD box set features 277 tracks, including 11 rarities.
This edition presents the complete studio recordings
1937-1962 plus several bonus titles from 1933-1936.
 2LP vinyl format offers a selection of 29 of his most
famous songs.
 What they said about Charles Trénet:
 “This new pulse, this extraordinary joie de vivre brought
by the songs that this dishevelled boy was throwing by
dozen, were born from the conjuncture of a remarkable
poetic gift and the vitality of jazz fully assimilated by a
fine sensitivity.” - Boris Vian
 “The Sun-King of songs” - Henri Salvador
 “He’s a giant … someone who brought everything to
French song. The ‘Singing Fool’ was not only a singerpoet, he was someone extraordinary who is part of the
heritage. He will be teached in schools, he will be talked
about in universities around the world” - Charles
Aznavour
 “Charles never asked for anything, but he knew exactly
which place was his, which is the first.” - Alain Delon

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s dark, throbbing score to
Prano Bailey-Bond’s horror debut ‘Censor’ is out now on
vinyl, after previously being released on digital platforms.
 The vinyl is pressed on clear vinyl with black smoke effect
and comes housed in a deluxe spined sleeve with double
sided printed insert featuring beautiful imagery from the
film.
 Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch manages to inhabit a space
between Ennio Morricone, Goblin and John Carpenter in
her stunning score to ‘Censor’.
 “I wanted the original score to focus on two different
elements of the film’s storytelling which slowly intertwine
as the movie progresses,” Emilie told Booklyn Vegan.
 “One sound palette represents the trauma of our lead
character Enid, with a use of manipulated vocals and
synthesisers, slow moving, almost suspended, and at
times disorientating cues, with short melodic motives, little
lullabies Enid might softly sing to herself to sooth her
anxiety and guilt of having lost her sister. The other palette
is much more anchored in the time period (1980s) and
genre the film explores.” She calls that second sound
palette a “love letter to classic Carpenter and Goblin
soundtracks, using vintage synths, rare Japanese
instruments and choirs to bring us deep into the fun,
surreal, and meta elements of the film.”
 ‘Censor’ received critical acclaim upon its release,
including a 5-star review in The Guardian, and is available
to watch now.