Suche:pol on

Two storming Northern Soul classics back-to-back for the first time. Recorded in the glory years of soul music 1966/67 and perfectly paced for Seventies UK dancefloor action.
RON HOLDEN was born to a prominent black Seattle family in 1939 and was a high school football star. His singing talents were first noticed by police officer Larry Nelson after Holden found himslef in the cells after a night on the booze. Officer Nelson went on to form the ‘Nite Owl’ label and recorded Ron Holden on the #7 Billboard hit “Love You So”. Holden recorded “I’ll Forgive And Forget” for ‘Challenge’ in ’67, produced by label-mate Jerry Fuller.
JERRY FULLER was born into a country music family in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938. He signed to Gene Autry’s ‘Challenge’ label in 1959 and hit with “Tennesssee Waltz” ahead of penning the six-million seller for “Travelin’ Man” for Ricky Nelson (although it was intended for Sam Cooke). The self-penned “Double Life” was released in ‘66 and later achieved iconic status in the UK.

Portico Quartet announce Monument, the electronic driven follow-up to their acclaimed ambient-minimalist suite Terrain, presenting the band at their most direct

It's rare that a band releases two albums within six months of each other, rarer too that while both are so different, they are both as epochal in terms of the band's output as Terrain and Monument are to Portico Quartet. The irony is that Monument, a stripped-back, intentionally direct album, was the album that the band set out to write in May 2020, before the dream like long-form Terrain came into focus. Briefly they were two halves of the same record, but the band ended up developing these two distinct bodies of work concurrently. And although they were written side-by-side and recorded at the same sessions, they are records best understood as distinct from each other, each with opposing ideas and forms.

Monument is one of Portico Quartet's most accessible, direct records to date. If Terrain addressed the darker side of how Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie made sense of the pandemic, then Monument resonates as an ode to better times. If not quite a dance record, it nonetheless pulses with an energy, radiance and a scalpel sharp focus. Jack Wyllie explains: "It's possibly our most direct album to date. It's melodic, structured and there's an economy to it that is very efficient. There's not much searching or wastage within the music itself, it is all finalised ideas, precisely sculpted and presented as a polished artefact."

Bellamy expands "Monument sits somewhere between our albums Portico Quartet and Art in the Age of Automation. It has perhaps a more overtly electronic edge to its sound – there are more synthesisers and electronic elements than we have used before and the music is often streamlined and rhythmic".

After the ethereal, stage-setting of Opening, the album kicks into overdrive with Impressions, a short energetic track that pairs a club influenced groove with hang drum and close, delicate saxophone. It's the balance between these elements that push and pull the track through a selection of melodic and rhythmic re-configurations, contrasting human touch with a machine-like focus. Ultraviolet is a kaleidoscopic, krautrock inspired track with a haunting introduction and an insistent pulse. The wistful Ever Present builds from a simple piano refrain; a nostalgic melody line floats over the top as drums and bass groove insistently underneath, before reaching a euphoric peak. The title track Monument builds around a looping vocal sample, drums and an enigmatic melody, the ending giving way to a gauzy, weaving synth line. The power here is in its economy and luminosity. AOE flips back and forth, like a dial that's been switched. Mining the tension between a pastoral inflected cello and saxophone melody, with an abrupt shift to jilted live drums, wailing delayed saxophone and a flickering synth line. Warm Data comes straight from the same Portico Quartet tradition as older tracks like Current History and Laker-Boo. It's a marriage of instrumental minimalism with drum machines and synths. Finally, the album closes with On The Light, a track that transmits a sense of suspense and freedom, driven by the twitching drums of Bellamy and evocative sax of Wyllie. It offers the perfect bitter-sweet and evocative ending to Portico Quartet's latest Monument.

Cinedelic Records is proud to present Paolo Vasile’s score to Enzo Castellari’s 1980 poliziottesco fim, Il Giorno Del Cobra. This record features one of maestro Vasile’s most iconic themes as featured on various polizio compilations. This release will include three bonus tracks and will be pressed in a limited quantity. The cues on this soundtrack feature a wonderful mix of cool keyboards, horns, funky basslines, and driving kick drums — a perfect reverb-fueled accompaniment to Franco Nero’s onscreen antics. (Alfonso Carrillo)

New FLEE publication focused on Arabian Gulf's pearl divers, their culture through their soundscape, traditional songs & rhythms. Including archival recordings and reinterpretations by moderns electronic artists such as Joakim, Tomaga, Ben Bertrand, Conny Frischauf, Hieroglyphic Being .....

Available as 2LP, black vinyls & 2LP+258p book (English & Arabic text) bundle.

The pearls of the Gulf have stoked the imagination and desire of people around the world for centuries, their magnificence matched only by the courage of the divers who found them. This project aims to honor the memory of these valiant free-divers, their culture and their music by the means of a 2XLP compilation with undisclosed original recordings of pearl divers and inspired modern-day compositions by artists like Tomaga, YPY, Ben Betrand, Tarek Yamani or Hieroglyphic Being. Along with that record, a 258 pages long book in Arabic and English is available featuring contributions from regional experts and artists to contextualize the tremendously rich theme that is pearling and its music.

Cinedelic Records continues on with the release of yet another Paolo Vasile gem, and that is his score to Antonio Margheriti’s 1975 poliziottesco, Controrapina (The Rip Off) starring Lee Van Cleef. This soundtrack runs the gamut from strumming guitar and vocal numbers, to straight up dancefloor heaters. This beautifully produced record incorporates smooth sax, disco strings, wah guitar, and a driving beat — all the essential elements of a first rate 70s Eurocrime soundtrack. This release will be pressed in a run of 400 copies: 400, All will also include a super cool promotional .45 caliber pistol cut-out! (Alfonso Carrillo)

anthéne, one of ambient drone’s most recognised names, presents ‘maritime’. A shift from his usual expansive, time-stretching soundscapes, maritime is something altogether more grounded, more present. It signals the call of the open ocean, of its vast possibilities and terrors, as a similitude for the night.

In both, one faces the peace, the limitlessness, the reverence, and the promise, while at the same time the uncertain, the uncontrollable, the danger and the fear of the unknown. In such a way, maritime is presented in two parts: Side A demonstrates the beauty and inspiration of ocean views and night time explorations, while Side B addresses the vulnerable nature of vast, boundless experience.
An artist with an astounding workrate, Brad Deschamps has worked with such artists as Ian Hawgood, James McDermid, Andrew Tasselmyer and Fossil Hunting Collective (as Still Harbours), and releases the likes of Hakobune, Moss Covered Technology and Forest Management on his own Polar Seas Recordings.
His patient style is clear throughout the album, shimmering guitar tones overlaying with warmth and stability, yet the addition of more troubled melodies and subtle vocal parts make for something far more poignant. The duality of awe and terror, of the two primary elements of the sublime, channel through as one in one of anthéne’s most thoughtful offerings to date.

In 1981, The Ex started squatting Villa Zuid, an estate overlooking abandoned Van Gelder paper factory in the village of Wormer, Netherlands. Formerly the home of the factory's manager, the Villa briefly served as the band's base of operations and would inspire one of The Ex's most impactful, enduring albums in their 40+ year history.

Originally released in 1983, Dignity Of Labour is "our idea of improvised industrial punk noise," states Ex-frontman G.W. Sok, which not only offers a perfect summation of these idiosyncratic sounds, but also of the group's music in the decades to come.

During its heyday, Van Gelder employed over 1,000 workers. By 1981, it had gone bankrupt, following the takeover and divestment of a multinational corporation. Having saved the Villa from demolition through squatting, The Ex pored over newspaper articles, interviews and business records to tell the story of the factory and the people whose labor brought it to life – an unparalleled example of DIY archival action.

With new drummer Sabien Witteman bringing polyrhythmic accents and a supporting crew of agitators (credits include piledriver, bus engine, printing press, etc.), The Ex recorded eight tracks in-studio and then played them back in the ruins of the factory while recording the playback – giving Dignity Of Labour a haunting sense of space that is at once cavernous and decaying.

This first-time vinyl reissue (configured as single LP) comes with 24" x 18" poster and 24-page booklet.

Aufgang is back with its 3rd album, “Broad Ways”, slated for release in November 2021

With this 3rd album, the franco-lebanese duo perpetuates its winning alchemy by drawing on the psychic and collective traumas of recent History at the crossroads between European and Middle Eastern cultures.

What more was there to prove for the Aufgang duo since their re-invention of US techno a few years ago through the means of organic instruments like piano + drums, and releases on Infiné & BlueNote/Decca ?

Maybe that they would from now on independently take onto themselves, the full conception and distribution of their body of work, supported by a collective of visual-arts creators, dancers, and emerging talent-incubators (Bi:Pole/Believe/ BigWax/Alter-K)...

“Broad Ways” could be translated as «in many ways» in the sense that there are many ways of seeing the world, and that everything is not binary and that on the contrary, our lives are shaped by the each other’s own paradigms...

In this clever mix of experimental techno, lyrical prowess and melodies in the Arab tradition, can one imagine a future that would solve the world’s current contradictions in a boiling magma so complex of which Edgar Morin would be proud... Following this unique trademark, this art of mixing influences and cultures, along the New York, Paris, Lebanon and now Sydney axis... how far will they go?

According to Pitchfork, AUFGANG “blends piano, drums and electronic music with virtuosity, with one foot in the club and the other in the conservatory.”

Rami KHALIFÉ, composer and pianist, transcends the classical heritage of his years studying at the Juilliard School in NYC and the Middle Eastern origins of his masterful family: his father Marcel KHALIFÉ is a major composer and musician in the Arab world.

The drummer and producer Aymeric WESTRICH has an instinctive DIY approach and infuses his music with his knowledge of urban and electronic cultures, developed with Kery James, Cassius, Phoenix and more recently Lomepal.

Taking their inspiration from multiple artistic movements and currents, from the Disco of the mythical Larry Levan to the poetry of Oum Kalthoum, these two free electrons have created their sound between Paris, Beirut and New York, in reaction to the frenetic energy of big cities, as if in an effort to prevent this energy from corroding their freedom. It’s a unique experience born from the sublime diversity of these two masterful approaches.

absent origin’ reassembles and reimagines recordings and musical
scores composed by Mira Calix, globally, over the past decade. It’s a
collage album about edges and borders, cutting and tearing, and
composing new combinations that point to an audio visual manifesto for the 21st Century.

“Like Duchamp, I had started out wanting to make an album, or box, of approximately all the things I produced. In the end, I realised - as much as a collage is the coupling of two or more realities, it also offers the means to examine the materials and culture of an era, questioning and expanding its borders.” - Mira Calix

Every song on the album was created by applying a different collage
process relating to a different visual artist, spanning the history of collage to contemporaries of the practice. The sonic materials are subjected to a myriad of processes; layered, synthesised, constructed and assembled into electronic melodies, textures and complex, frisky dance rhythms that are constantly shifting in surprising ways. absent origin employs collage to make sense of the current moment of displaced voices, disjunction and political unrest.

Calix’s recording sessions from all over the world are the many
fragments we hear across the album; from India to Tasmania, Jordan to Belgium, China to Uganda, her former home of South Africa, to her
current home in Britain. Slicing into these are further recordings of
vocalists, percussionists, choirs, orchestras, quartets and soloists, never appearing in the form in which they were originally intended. The record is a polyphony of predominantly diverse female voices held together by pulsating baselines, haunting electronic sounds and orchestrated melodies and with them, we travel.

The album fizzes with a political energy and the interconnectedness of
everything. At this moment in time, there is an impossibility of separating one thing from another; the effect is strange and not exactly reassuring.

Collage suggests infinite possibilities and each track here is a singularly unique compositional combine, a dizzying hall of mirrors with its own unlikely harmony, its own distinctive rhythm. On ‘absent origin’, collage becomes the tool to make sense of a present that is often anything but.

2LP in printed inner sleeves with 5mm spine outer, printed insert and
digital download code.

LTD. COLORED VINYL

Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

Note: The track “Days Man” by Yoshio Ojima is only available on the LP and Cassette versions.

* New from Innerground Records (co-founded by DJ Marky), also the home of Calibre, BassBrothers, Random Movement and Blade, comes the highly anticipated double vinyl LP from DJ Marky & others, ‘100’. Drawing inspiration from the past 18 years of Innerground’s vast history and impact on the Drum & Bass movement, and the signature latin influences of DJ Marky that have brought excitement and vitality to stages around the globe. This special collaboration between one of the most important figures in the genre, and a collection of some of the most highly respected producers and artists in the scene, creates a ground-breaking LP that marks the 100th release from Innerground Records.

* It should come as no surprise that the double LP packs a punch, when looking at the combined experience of its contributors. ‘100’ begins as a bold statement from the main man DJ Marky, laying down the foundations of what’s yet to come from this veteran D’nB lineup. We’re taken on a ride through morphing tempos and enchanting vocals that hammer home what this immense centennial is all about - a special milestone in the genre that will be remembered in years to come.

TRACKLIST:

A1 : DJ Marky Feat. Lorna King – Changing Moods (LEAD SINGLE (SPECIALIST RADIO PLUGGING BY LISTEN UP)
The album launches with the warm Brazilian sunshine D&B that Innerground’s main man Marky is known for. Lorna King’s uplifting harmonies intertwine with playful melodies to shape not only a guaranteed party starter, but a track that will put a smile on your face. Shades of his legendary ‘LK’??!

A2 : Data 3 – String Theory
After the Brazilian sunshine comes the rain… We’re taken on a detour through a dark valley as spiralling synths ascend to a glitch filled break. Ominous chords reverberate around the onslaught of rattling hats and deep choral vocals.

B1 : Random Movement – Patty Melt
The American D&B veteran returns to Innerground, bringing a funky fast guitar filled banger. Rapid drums and airy synths balance over happy vocals and undulating groovy bass guitar to create a track you can’t help but move to. Potential (slow-burner) track of, ’Innerground : 100’, the album?

B2 : Melinki & D'Cypher - Listen To Everything
A dark bopper with swaying hats chiming over aggressive basslines. Vocal samples provide a short-lived breather from this menacing track’s all-consuming energy. This isn’t the first time Melinki & D’Cypher have linked up and we look forward to many more from these two!

C1 : Saikon - Guilty Pleasures
Anticipative strings and a steady break lead to snappy vocal chops, crescendos at a break that unfolds in to house-led bouncey stabs. You wouldn’t expect anything less from Saikon!

C2 : Carlito - About You
Fans know that this is far from Carlito’s first Innerground rodeo – he’s back with a track that balances male and female vocals over enchanting pads. Synths twinkle amongst racing breaks to make for a certified club heater.





D1: Collette Warren, DJ Marky & Tyler Daley - One Exception (Pola & Bryson Remix)
As the album draws towards its close, cinematic piano and vocals to make your hair stand on end craft a beautiful contemplation between Tyler Daley and Collette Warren. D&B household names Pola & Bryson show their take on the track originally produced by DJ Marky. If this song doesn’t move you, you’re made of stone!


D2: Fluidity & Loz Contreras - Back To You
The LP finishes with a bang. Fluidity & Loz Contreras pair up to transport us back to the sunshine that Marky initiated. Oceanic pads and wispy vocals merge seamlessly to craft a warm and groovy finale that will leave you craving more Innerground energy, as this incredible centennial LP boldly forges its place.

Club / DJ Support
Jay Cunning, Ray Keith, Nookie, El Hornet, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

The Kniteforce Complete Collection Volume 1 does exactly what it says on the box, giving you the first 20 Kniteforce Vinyl releases, fully remastered, in both Wav and MP3 format. This set of original old skool tracks made in the early 1990s is a package unmissbale to anyone into the original old skool sound, and it features some of the early work from legendary artists such as Dj Force & The Evolution, Luna-C, Cru-l-t, Future Primitive, The Trip, Alk-e-d and more…

Gold Vinyl

From the hyperuranium of Argentinian folktronic, the mesmerizing and ancestral voice of Dat García meets the arabesque sounds of the London-based afro bass producers Carthnage in a
mystical and ethereal vibe!
On the flip Tunisian masked sorcerer Nuri takes us on a ride on his upbeat polyrhythmic grooves, through jungles and deserts right to the other side of the ocean, tying us to the masts of Carthnage's futuristic drum patterns, to let us be charmed by Dat Garcia's sirenic melodies.

In the words of Jerzy Mączyński, Sariani is a musical meditation exploring Indian musical culture and the widely understood concept of trance. The album has its roots in Mączyński’s growing friendship with Waclaw Zimpel, a fellow Polish avant-garde musician with experience in both experimental jazz and meditative ambient music. The pair first connected online during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Mączyński suggesting they join forces on an album-length collaborative project a few months later.

Sariani was recorded over the course of eight months at two different studios in their home city of Warsaw (one of which included access to an empty swimming pool, whose unique acoustics were utilised during the recording). Both composers recorded electronic textures, loops, and rhythms, onto which they added saxophone (Mączyński) and voice textures courtesy of fellow Polish musicians Wiktoria Jakubowska and Olga Koziel.

The album comprises six separate musical stories, each of which was inspired either by a specific “empirical experience” from Mączyński’s travels in India, or wider cultural themes relevant to the country in the 21st century. These include Mączyński’s first encounter with the Book of Rag (‘Raga or Raga’); the essence of spirituality within temple buildings (‘Temple of Jetsu’); a vivid dream featuring a superhero who calls for reflection on equality and freedom (‘Sariani’); and a life-changing trip to Mount Everest with guitarist Szymon Wójcik (‘Everest Inn’, which features recordings made by the pair at the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu).

Holly Humberstone is a British musician from Grantham, England. In 2021, she signed a record deal with Interscope and Polydor Records. Her first EP following the signing, The Walls Are Way Too Thin will be released on 5 November 2021. Formats: CDs: The Walls Are Way Too Thin is the second EP from Holly Humberstone. Available on 6 track CD housed in a digipack sleeve with insert. A 6 track black heavyweight vinyl housed in a reverse board sleeve with insert.

Fela Kuti (1938-1997) was a Nigerian musician,
producer, arranger, political radical and outlaw, and the
originator of Afrobeat. A titanic musical and sociopolitical
voice, Fela’s legacy spans decades and genres,
touching on jazz, pop, funk, hip-hop, rock and beyond.
 After graduating from Trinity College of Music (now
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) in
London, Fela returned to Nigeria with his band Koola
Lobitos. Fusing the sounds of Jazz and Funk with the
traditional African music he had been raised on, his star
status began to flourish.
 EMI, his label at the time, saw the true power of his
musical creation, what we now know as Afrobeat, and
brought Fela and his band back to London. The result
was ‘London Scene’. While recording, Fela began his
friendship with Ginger Baker, who plays uncredited on
the track ‘Egbe Mi O’.
 ‘London Scene’ is the beginning of what would become
Fela’s signature Afrobeat style and serves as a great
introduction to Fela’s music. Recorded and remastered
at none other than Abbey Road Studio.
 This 50th Anniversary edition of the classic Fela album
comes on red, blue and white splatter vinyl, with a gold
foil obi strip that will be the hallmark of all of the Fela
50th Anniversary reissues.
 Liner notes by the legendary Chris May.
 Fela recently came in second place, behind Tina Turner,
for the fan vote for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
nominations and received great press coverage in NY
Times, Rolling Stone, MOJO, Record Collector and
more.

New album of Québecois performer Bernardino Femminielli after several releases on Mind Records or Desire Records. Produced by Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Jef Barbara, Chocolat, Bernardino Femminielli...). A synth-pop/chanson act in between Sebastien Tellier, Serge Gainsbourg and lust.

Bernardino Femminielli, a lucid and tempestuous entertainer, abandons his performance and his leather clothes to take on the role of a triple agent in a sentimental mise en abyme, far from the tumultuous moral, political and philosophical conflicts. By turns storyteller, voyeur and actor of this tragedy in six acts, it is his word against that of another.

The other is Brad Cerini.
Lulled by the variety of his Italy, this unaware student of Vannier, Lai and Musy projects Femminielli into the heart of the torments of a high school girl in love and betrayed.

The mouse slips out of the shadow of the palaces and embraces her fate with a gunshot. Iris embarks on a hellish journey, assumes her excesses of politeness and turns an unexpected encounter into a grandiose event.

An introspective and/or schizophrenic tale that polarises a toxic, vital desire, carried by a flowery music that frees the artist from her principles.

Femminielli plays "an assumed, sincere role, a more serious posture and a more serious tone, but also an emotional distance in the face of this painting of manners. I had to act for her and him.


Directed by Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Jef Barbara, Chocolat, Bernardino Femminielli...), Dans les yeux d'Iris is the first release of the Parisian label Corps Double.

With nearly 400 million albums sold worldwide, 17 No. 1 hits and over 16 million weekly global streams, ABBA are one of the world’s most successful music acts of all time!!! One of the most successful pop groups of all time, have today announced that, for the first time in 40 years they are back! Their 9th studio album Voyage will be released on the 5th November. The album will be made aavailable on various formats. Massive marketing campaign as you would expect. Formats include CD, Eco Box CD a MC Gatefold Black LP.

Moonshine Recordings teamed up with the legendary Zion Train to deliver a brand new EP with four remixes of tracks from their recent album 'Illuminate'. On the remix duties you can find such talents as Baodub, Bukkha, DUBBING SUN SOUNDSYSTEM and last but not least the mighty Radikal Guru. Out November the 5th on limited edition 12" coloured / black vinyl and digital.

ATIC Records proudly presents ‘Electric Union’, the all-new album from Niko.

Produced by Aim. Limited edition vinyl release of 200 units. Gloss laminated, 420g heavy card outer sleeve. Matt black poly-lined inner. Transparent / purple splatter wax. Shrink-wrapped. File under : Electronic, Synth, Dance, Chill

Otherworldy sounds on Boulderhead's Craigie Knowes debut. 3 space-age mutations that traverse the space between techno, minimal, and breaks.

Mystery Jets announce that their sixth studio album ‘A Billion Heartbeats’ will be released on 27th September on Caroline International. The band also release ‘Screwdriver’, the first single to be taken from the album.

Screwdriver is an uncompromising look at the rise of the rebranded alt-right in the UK, built around a powerfully positive message: "Fight them with love / then the world will be ours".

Lead singer Blaine Harrison says of the song, “Screwdriver is about the mechanics of intolerance. Looking back at times of economic instability in history, we see how easily deep chasms grow in society and the population seeks change wherever it is most convincingly promised. Conflict arises as cultures and belief systems clash, unwilling to accept one another’s place in society, because we are fed the rhetoric that our neighbours are those responsible for our problems: then inevitably nationalism once more raises its ugly head above the parapet. But whereas political agendas fuel divisiveness, music unites and reminds us of all that we have in common. The message of Screwdriver is not a pessimistic one - because perhaps faced with confrontation we can find understanding, and even maybe learn how to listen to, and love one another.”

Each room of the house in the video is a metaphor for the different sections of society in the UK. It wraps around the narrative of the song, that in order to overcome adversity, you have to “Fight Them With Love”. The visual showcases the song’s inherent message, clashing aggressiveness with tenderness, and culminates in showing after anger, we can always come together through love.
All great albums start from a unique perspective. But try a window on the Strand, in an abandoned office block, overlooking the kind of political upheaval London hasn’t seen in a generation. Blaine Harrison was living as a property guardian right around the corner from Trafalgar Square when he found himself witness to an entire year of protests. Every weekend from January 2017 on, people were marching for a different cause: "In the space of six months it was Black Lives Matter, the huge ‘Our NHS’ march, Unite for Europe," he recalls. "Then the solidarity sleep-out organised by Help Refugees, where we slept in Whitehall for the night... The protestors would wake me up in the morning. I’d just walk down and join in.”

Over the course of that year, Mystery Jets' sixth long-player, A Billion Heartbeats, was born. "This album wasn’t about making pointed opinions,” says Blaine. “It was about being a mirror for what’s going on, reflecting back the way people are feeling.” By turns tender and fierce, abstract and full of classic rock energy, A Billion Heartbeats achieves a balance of passion, fear and hope. Amid the colourful cavalcade of rich harmonies, heavy guitars and rallying cries, the album’s essential message - about personal responsibility, and the power in becoming engaged. In a sense, it's not just their "state of the nation” record but their “state of a generation” record too.

We increasingly hear from musicians that music should be an escape these days - that there’s enough suffering in the world, enough misery on the news, without writings songs about it too. A Billion Heartbeats makes all that sound like a bit of a cop-out. These are songs of protest that get the heart racing in joy; high on hope, and serious in their message. Proof, basically, that music speaks louder than words.

If one always looks at the sky, he will end up with wings, a wise French man once declared. Halifax, Nova Scotia based musician Jeremy Costello had wings, long before he looked up. Wings of imagination. Brandishing in his head, transforming deep-rooted emotions into poetry and sound. Since 2012 the Canadian self-releases music as Special Costello, a moniker under which he records solo or with local friends like Saxophone player Nick Dourado or guitarist Dave Burns. His lyrics are sincerely woven poetic enunciations that balance between introspective emotions and existential philosophical demands. Lyrics from a spirit that is in love without an object, unconditional, mirroring his very own subconscious inner being. The music reflects his tempers in many colours. Glimpses of Synth-Pop, psychedelic rock nuances, traces of new romantic utopia, infantile Casio minimalism, Shoegaze haze, drama wave: Special Costello blends many styles, uniting all in his very own musing grandeur of pop music.

After an array of digital releases, Berlin based label Marmo Music now publishes the Special Costello touch for the first time physically fabricated on vinyl. Seven songs featuring the longing voice of Jeremy Costello, sometimes in correlation with spoken words and dialogues by noted artists, poets, and scientists. All creations have been recorded by himself between Spring 2017 and winter 2020, using the extrasomatic help of instruments and machines like Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P polyphonic analog synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Roland Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute monophonic analog synthesizer or a Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar. In communication with his sensitive inner blues, they created an atmospheric voyage into the heart of Special Costello, that fulfils Arthur Russel’s sapient declaration: being sad is not a crime! Seven musical paintings full of intimate, vibrant feelings and existential thoughts, veiled in an antidepressant neo new romantic glam. An epic tune like “The Next Day”, in which Costello’s singing links with thought-provoking spoken word samples, sounds like Robert Ashley is meeting Hans-Joachim Roedelius in a psychic séance with Brian Ferry. In comparison, a song like “If Not Depression, Then What?” grooves with a pulsating wave bass figure and an overall gently floating electronic majesty, while Costello’s voice takes deep listeners to an unknown higher ground. On the other hand, a composition like “Unsetting” offers a nonchalant graceful funk drift with reverberant hand claps, minimal guitar strains and a chromatic synth pop grace. Above all the music Costello’s voice cries, screams, whispers, and weeps with a compelling introspective elegancy, that invites to associate intensely with the nonpareil Special Costello touch.

Written, composed, and recorded by Jeremy Costello between 2016 to 2020 in Halifax, Scotch Village and Toronto (Canada).

Instruments used by the artist: Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P Programmable Preset Polyphonic Synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Yamaha DX7 Frequency Modulation/Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer and TX7 FM Expander, Roland Computer Controlled Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute Analog Synthesizer, Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar, MicroKorg Synthesizer/Vocoder, Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser, Memory Boy Analog Delay, Alesis Quadraverb, and finally, their voice was recorded using Shure Beta57A and AKG D 330 BT dynamic microphones.

Dave Chappelle's viral video "8:46". The video was YouTube's top trending video of 2020 with over 30 million views. The video and subsequent album are a searing rumination in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd that ignited worldwide outrage and led to protests on race inequality, police brutality and the criminal justice system. Filmed in Ohio on June 6, during the COVID-19 lockdown, "8:46" addresses one deadly plague, while in the grips of another. The B-side of the album features poet Amir Sulaiman's performance of "My Insides Out" and "We Must Win," also recorded in Ohio. It also includes "White Noise," 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in remembrance of George Floyd and the countless victims of police brutality and systemic racism. The album cover and artwork features performance and backstage photos from Chappelle's performance as well as images from various George Floyd protests in Los Angeles, CA, all taken by Grammy-nominated artists and photographer Mathieu Britton.

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce ViewFinder / Hide & Seek, a new release from acclaimed American experimental composer David Behrman, presenting recordings made in collaboration with Jon Gibson and Werner Durand between 1989 and 2020. Last heard from on Black Truffle as part of the collaborative art song/live electronics madness of She’s More Wild, these recordings find Behrman continuing the pioneering work in interactive electronics that have established him as one of the major living experimental composers.

Side A presents excerpts from two live realisations of Unforeseen Events (1989), the fourth in a series of pieces focussing on the interactions between instrumental performers and responsive software. Like the classic earlier works in the series, On the Other Ocean (1977), Interspecies Smalltalk (1984) and Leapday Night (1986), Unforeseen Events is an “unfinished composition” in which a computer system listens for and responds to specific pitch cues from an instrumentalist. Performed by the composer on electronics and Werner Durand on soprano saxophone in Berlin in 1989, the first realisation immediately ushers the listener into an environment of long soprano notes, lush, sustained synth harmonies, randomised percussive interjections and distantly burbling arpeggiated patterns.

The 1999 realisation recorded in New York with Jon Gibson on soprano shows how much room for the instrumentalist to affect the course of the music exists in Behrman’s interactive pieces, in which, as he notes, ‘performers have options rather than instructions’. Beginning in a roughly similar area to the version with Durand, this later recording eventually becomes substantially more active, as polyrhythmically layered arpeggios and percussive patterns respond to fast chromatic lines and dynamic phrases from the saxophone, moving Gibson in turn to respond with cycling figures and moments of extended technique that touch on the soprano languages pioneered by players like Steve Lacy and Evan Parker. Yet even at its most active, the lack of conventional forward movement in the music allows it to retain what Behrman’s friend Jacques Bekaert called its ‘fragile tranquillity’, as episodes of activity appear only as momentary disruptions of an underlying calm.

On the B side, we are treated to a new collaborative work from Behrman and Werner Durand, building on the 2002 installation work ViewFinder, in which a camera detecting physical motion triggered changes to electronic sound. The piece presented here is a long-distance studio construction, recorded by Behrman in the Hudson Valley and Durand in Berlin, offering up an expansive duet between Behrman’s lush, gliding synth tones and the alien, untempered tones of Durand’s invented and adapted wind instruments. Presented in a stunning gatefold sleeve with art from Terri Hanlon, archival photographs and new liner notes from Behrman and Durand,ViewFinder / Hide & Seek is an essential release showcasing the continuing vitality of a legendary figure in experimental music.

“Leave your preconceptions at home,” begins one London critic’s assessment of sensual singersongwriter Sarah Jane Morris, who straddles rock, blues, jazz and soul with a goosebump-raising
four octave range that rumbles from the heels of her size eight shoes to the tips of her flame-red mane. Famed for her association with the Communards in the mid-80s and infamous for a banned rendition of the classic Me and Mrs Jones, Sarah Jane Morris has always attracted as much attention for her politics as for her soul-driven, seismic voice. Many solo albums later, pop stardom on the continent, and a diverse set of musical collaborations on record, film and stage, Morris continues to steer her unorthodox career to greater heights. Its popularity in Italy definitely took off in 1991 after winning the San Remo Festival paired with Riccardo Cocciante. Since that moment her
live activity in our country has become more and more accentuated and she has started collaborating with Italian artists and labels including IRMA records with which she has released 6 albums since 1996, and making her become one of the most frequent guests at the Blue Note in Milan. Following some previous collaborations with the Italian producer Papik which had excellent results, Sarah Jane Morris and Papik decided to produce a full album, mostly covers of well
known songs with some original compositions written together. The album is inspired by the great Pop culture of both musicians, combining soul, jazz and bossanova, linked to the particular sound
of the Roman producer's team. After the release of the singles "Missing", (which was a great success in the early 90s of "Everything but the Girl") and "Hold On To Love" written by Sarah Jane and Nerio Poggi, comes the album: " Let The Music play ”a concentration of good musical taste in which the mastery of producer Papik and his team combined with the enchanting but also unique timbre of Sarah Jane Morris's voice, brings together 11 songs of great intensity.

Mad Not Mad is the sixth studio album by Madness. Originally released in September 1985, it marked a departure from the band’s original line-up, with keyboard player Mike Barson taking a break from the group after an astonishingly successful run of five hit albums in as many years.

Style-wise Mad Not Mad presented a more polished side of Madness and contains some of their most sophisticated and political song-writing. The first single, ‘Yesterday’s Men’ finds the band in a smooth, reflective mood, dealing with the dispossessed characters in and around Camden Town, and ’Sweetest Girl’ is a cover of the iconic Scritti Politti track, while ‘Uncle Sam’ is a classic Madness romp relayed through the narrative of a soldier’s experiences during World War II.

Within a few weeks of its initial release, NME listed ‘Mad Not Mad’ at number 55 on their list of the “100 Best Albums Of All Time” and it remains in its 2015 list of the “50 Best Albums Released in 1985”.

This LP reissue is pressed on 180g black vinyl and features brand new liner notes by Chrissy Boy, Chas Smash, Woody and Lee Thompson.

Green Vinyl

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Spice Girls smoked crack and joined forces with the Power Rangers on acid? Meet BĘÃTFÓØT. These punk-infused electronic poltergeists and big-beat acid trio are Udi Naor, drummer and founding member of electronic duo Red Axes, Adi Bronicki (who also fronts Israeli garage-punk-folk band Deaf Chonky) and ace of all trades guitarist Nimrod Goldfarb.
The band have been launching warped stoner-acid-pop out of Tel Aviv with maniacal intent and are producing post-punk rave bangers that will scorch every dance floor with a huge lethal smile. BĘÃTFÓØT
are a DIY supergroup who describe themselves as sitting somewhere between Aqua, Beastie Boys and The Prodigy.
Their music endeavours feel akin to being hurtled through a kaleidoscopic waterslide, overflowing with the spirit of 90’s youth culture. The radioactive trio are DJ’s, musicians, songwriters and producers with a diverse range of individual projects and talents, their combined sonics map your journey across the hazy astral spectrum of hip-hop, big beat and rave music. Morph these radioactive pieces with the no New Release Informationnonsense attitude of punk-rock and the venomous spitting flow of golden-era rap and you might just come close to fabricating the freakish sound of BĘÃTFÓØT.
The band’s self-titled debut is set for release on 17th September on Manfredi Romano aka DJ Tennis’ Life and Death. Founded in 2010, the imprint curates soulful dance music with a post-rock aesthetic.
This refreshingly original and experimental LP from BĘÃTFÓØT marks a new direction for Life and Death this year and beyond.
“BĘÃTFÓØT” takes unsuspecting listeners on a wild ride of unprecedented musical madness (firmly without seatbelts). Fizzy synthesiser programming stimulates you effervescently through the album like the welcomed sting of sour sweets, surprising accompaniments appear in the form of manipulated vocal lines and quirky samples, all jovially mixed together in a gummy melting pot of wild conceptualisation and starry eyed rhythms.
Thirteen tracks of unprecedented dancefloor mutations send us triumphantly into the candy-covered kingdom of BĘÃTFÓØT with open arms and infinite imagery of fanciful gutter-glam escapades. This project fulfills the role of a musical bulldozer, flattening all previous conceptions of what it means to belong to a genre and leaving behind a hot mess trail of anarchic musical fragments in its wake. The undying spirit of the nineties.
With fans that include legendary Irish born singer, songwriter and producer Roisin Murphy, BĘÃTFÓØT are a breath of fresh air set to be igniting dancefloors this summer.

East Coast minimal wave institution Xeno & Oaklander’s seventh full-length further distills their iconic noir synth pop into a streamlined suite of gleaming, graceful retrofuturism. Inspired by ideas of synesthesia, scent, star worship, and obsolescent technologies, the duo of Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride began conceiving the blueprint of Vi/deo while sequestered at their Southern Connecticut home studio during the pandemic. The context of isolation, streaming, and remote dreaming seeped into their chemistry, manifesting as both homage to and meditation on a certain cinematic strain of technicolor fantasy: the screen as stage, distance disguised as intimacy, where tragedy and glamor crossfade into one.



Opening with the precision synthetic melancholy of “Infinite Sadness,” the album marks a peak fluidity between the pair’s fusion of analog electronics and poetic melody, both refined and oblique, classic but contemporary. Wendelbo modeled her singing on “a young boy in a choir,” alternately holding notes and whispering them, with the lyrics clear, the voice elevated. McBride’s synthesizers serve as the perfect counterpart, tiered and polished, threading fluorescent architectures of a lost audio-visual age. Theirs is a... more

An unheard production unit entirely geared towards hi-octane live explosiveness and spine-tingling studio hustle-and-bustle, Hysteria Temple Foundation step up with their anticipated debut platter, "Atrahasis EP" - a four-track EP by way of manifesto, due out for release on September 13 / 21.

Elusive and haunting by nature, skirting Shackleton-esque dub meanders, polyrhythmic folk instrumentation and further left-of-centre sonic divagations, the sound of Hysteria Temple Foundation is one that sheds skins when you expect it least. Scanning out a baroque timeline where no-holds-barred floor traction wildly clashes along deeper sound investigations, "Atrahasis" ushers us into a twirly pit of tribal drums and bow echoes.

Summoning the spirits of Muslimgauze and African Headcharge for a hectic ride in a sandstorm-caught bazaar of processed darbukkahs and further steely industrial tropes, "Annunaki" gets the ball rolling in sheer immersive fashion. Cranking the heat up a notch, "Gamesh" rushes us headlong into ruthless rapids of accelerated ritual drums and mind-expanding acid onslaughts breathing in some squelchy spaciousness into its intricately-woven web of sound.

Flip sides and here's the proper grime-steppish number "Ziuziu" taking over your brainwaves with a fierce unloading of harnessed machine rage and dystopian cybernetics turned into some club-optimised weaponry. Back to a dubby kind of vibe, "Chmanze" raises an army of louder-than-loud kicks, FX-laden percs, sizzling spurts and ankle-snapping breaks, all fit to breeze across the bulkiest sound systems with utmost sangfroid and nonpareil trenchancy.

In the afterglow of her acclaimed 2020 album Silver Ladders, Los Angeles-based harpist Mary Lattimore returns with a culminating counterpart release, Collected Pieces: 2015- 2020. The limited-edition LP features new and previously unreleased material, Bandcamp-only singles, and other obscurities alongside standouts from her 2017 tape Collected Pieces. Beyond the vinyl compendium, an expanded tracklist on the cassette/digital version brings more of Lattimore's archives together for the first time. Lattimore has described the process of arranging these releases as akin to "opening a box filled with memories," and here that box continues to populate, accessible for both the artist and fans. Evocative material separated by years, framed as a portrait of an instrumental storyteller who rarely pauses, recording and often sharing music as soon as it strikes her. Seemingly in constant forward motion for the last five years since her Ghostly debut, Lattimore glances back for a breath, inviting new chances to live in these fleeting moments and emotions; all the beauty, sorrow, sunshine, and darkness housed within. Opening the cassette version is "Mary, You Were Wrong," which mirrors an author's bout with a broken heart. "It's about how you have to keep on going even if you make some mistakes," she says. The bittersweet refrain cycles throughout, a little brighter every time, slowly, like the way time tends to heal. Unreleased track "Sleeping Deer" came together during Lattimore's artist residency on a cattle ranch in Wyoming. She remembers, "a small deer whose mother I think had been run over by a car would hang out in the yard. I called him Lollipop and would leave vegetable scraps out." Lollipop returned daily to eat, rest, and wait for more. The music this vision inspired is patient and droning, with light plucks giving way to deeper, vibrating tones, permeating with a sense of anticipation. Next is a newer single, "We Wave From Our Boats," which she improvised after walking her neighborhood during the early days of lockdown in 2020, and shared on her Bandcamp. "I would just wave at neighbors I didn't know in a gesture of solidarity and it reminded me of how you're compelled to wave at people on the other boat when you're on a boat yourself, or on a bridge or something. The pull to wave feels very innate and natural." The heart of the track is a somber loop, over top which Lattimore's synth notes ruminate, each a gentle shimmer of optimism in the most anxious and absurd of days. Also recorded in 2020, "What The Living Do" is inspired by Marie Howe's poem of the same name, which reflects on loss through an appreciation for the mundane messiness of being human. The echoed, slow-marching track has a distant feel to it, as if the listener is outside of it, watching life play out as a film. "Princess Nicotine (1909)" scores actual footage, a dream sequence Lattimore imagined for J. Stuart Blackton's surreal silent film Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy. She adopted the same approach for "Polly of the Circus," explaining it was the name of one of the old silent films discovered in permafrost in the Yukon featured in the documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time, "the only copy that survived and it kind of warped in the aging process." A trove of pieces are collected here, most recorded in the moment, just Lattimore and her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand Harp, contact mics, and pedals. Like her most affecting work, these songs showcase Lattimore's gifts as an observer, able to shape her craft around emotional frequencies and scenes. Her power as a musician is rooted in how she sees the world: in vivid detail, profoundly empathic, with deep gratitude for nature and nuance.

A little more than 2 years ago, labelhead honchos Paul & Dave released their "Nobody is Anywhere EP" on their own imprint Dynamic Reflection. It was a statement about the status quo in the techno scene back then, where many artists didn't know which way to go. Ironically enough, the contrary is very true as we speak.

The "Anybody is Nowhere EP" responds to their previous work and reflects the uncomfortable time we are currently living in, driven by uncertainty. Even though these are not the happiest thoughts, the track titles show that there is hope left. "Emergence" is a very seductive but psychedelic trip towards "Discharge", which feels like Abstract Division discharges themselves completely. The last track, "Polarise" points out the current divided society, which sets some doubtful thoughts about the future.

Scandinavian rebel and Northern Electronics patron Anthony Linell provides his interpretation of the track "Emergence" and delivers a distinctive remix as only he can.

Close your eyes and dive deep into the rabbit hole with us.

Vivian Jones' debut album, released in 1983 and backed by Undivided Roots. Heavy slow sparse rhythms (in a Roots Radics style) and floating keyboards. Superb roots by this inspired UK singer, including the well-known tunes Flash It And Gwan and Third World Man.

Born in Jamaica but raised in the UK, Vivian Jones is an important voice in the UK Roots scene. Started in the 70’s as deejay on local sound systems but also as a member of several UK Roots bands. Disillusioned with the music industry he returned to Jamaica in 1982 and recorded some material there. He returned to London, began recording again in his spare time and released his debut album Bank Robbery on Ruff Cut. He went on to work with Jah Shaka, Bobby Digital, Junior Reid and many others. In the 90’s he started his own ‘Imperial House’ label. Nowadays a welcome guest on every reggae festival in Europe, Vivian still plays live shows and even with more than 130 single releases under his belt, he keeps on recording new and uplifting tunes.

Vivian on the creation of the album: At that time I never had a band to work with or anything so I spoke to Crucial Tony Phillips and he said I must come in. I went down to Ruff Cutt and they had some rhythms down there that they didn't know what to do with and I think they were even going to wipe some of them off the tape. They played me a few of them and I said, "What? You gwaan wipe off this?? A me tek this!" so they say "Alright, come voice it..." and the tune was Flash It And Gwaan. When I heard that rhythm I said, "Bwoy you mad???" and they said, "we cyaan get nobody to sing 'pon this riddim" so I said, "gimme the riddim". And, in fact, before I sang it, when I heard the rhythm I went to a sound party. I went there and they gave me the mic and I started singing Flash It And Gwaan right there and then. Then I went to the studio and sang it for Ruff Cutt.

After Flash It And Gwaan I sang about three more tunes that night and then they decided to make an album so they started giving me different rhythms and I kept voicing them until we had an album. That was the album Bank Robbery, because at the time the bank robbery was a real thing that happened on my birthday, 1st April, when they robbed some gold bullion or something like that. Whole heap of millions. And because it was on my birthday, I remembered that and then one day they gave me a rhythm and so I sang Bank Robbery on it for the album title track.

Belched from Hell’s depths into the rustic charms of the Witch County, Suffolk thirty long and disturbing years ago, CRADLE OF FILTH are undisputed giants of the heavy metal realm. Imperious purveyors of a perennially unique strain of dark, dastardly and wilfully extreme metal, with deep roots in the worlds of gothic horror and occult curiosity, the band led by Dani Filth has weathered three decades of tumult and trial, earning a formidable reputation as both a singular creative force and one of the most riotously entertaining live bands the metal world has ever produced.
From primitive early works like 1992 debut »The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh« to more expansive and theatrical classics like ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ and ‘Midian’, CRADLE OF FILTH defied trends and constructed their own idiosyncratic world of foul grandeur, becoming one of the UK’s most notable metal bands in the process. Since then, they have traversed the world countless times, hoovering up plaudits and praise from an ever-expanding international fan base. Resolutely prolific, the band’s catalogue has grown in depth and stature all the while, irrespective of line-up changes or the whims of the faithful.
In more recent times, CRADLE OF FILTH have hit an unmistakable hot streak of creativity and urgency. As a new line-up coalesced around the creation of 2015’s »Hammer Of The Witches«, fresh impetus propelled the band to new heights, as the revitalised crew became more in demand around the world than ever before. 2017’s ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ repeated the trick with even more explosive flamboyance. Until a global pandemic brought the music industry to a jarring halt, CRADLE OF FILTH were almost permanently on the road and absolutely fucking flying. As a result, it should surprise no one that the band’s brand new album, ‘Existence Is Futile’, is yet another monumental and electrifying journey through the dark.
Buoyed by these recent triumphs, CRADLE OF FILTH recorded »Existence Is Futile« during 2020, piecing the record together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (Devilment/Benediction/Vader). Although instantly recognisable as the work of these veteran blackhearts, the thirteenth CRADLE OF FILTH album is a wholly different beast from its immediate predecessors. Pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme, it hangs together with mesmerising fluidity. It is also absolutely rammed with giant, rousing melodies and moments of jaw-dropping invention. No one could mistake the venomously catchy likes of ‘How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?’ or monstrous ballad ‘Discourse Between A Man And His Soul’ for anything other than CRADLE OF FILTH, of course, but ‘Existence Is Futile’ confirms that the band’s exploratory instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Underpinned by its huge and disarmingly organic production, »Existence Is Futile« is plainly the darkest and most unsettling album CRADLE OF FILTH have made in a while. Eschewing the band’s trademark twisted storytelling in favour of horrified glimpses into the mortal void and ruminations on the inevitable destruction of life on Earth, its poignancy and relevance to the cluster of nightmares facing humanity in 2021 is impossible to ignore, even if Dani Filth insists, not unreasonably, that he didn’t anticipate a global pandemic when the news songs were being written.
With the best possible timing, CRADLE OF FILTH were already due to make a new album during those long, lonely months of lockdown in 2020. Having grabbed the opportunity with both hands, Dani avows that unavoidable isolation from the rest of the world was the best possible incentive to get the job done, while also adding plenty of eerie atmosphere to the whole experience.
Sonically speaking, ‘Existence Is Futile’ is easily the most powerful and dramatic record CRADLE OF FILTH have ever made: it’s the sound of band’s enviable onstage chemistry spilling over into the studio, propelling each member of the band to new levels of intensity. Combined with the expected labyrinthine arrangements and moments of spellbinding bombast, ‘Existence Is Futile’ may be the most vivid representation of the CRADLE OF FILTH experience yet.
Also, diehard fans will be thrilled to learn that horror icon Doug 'Pinhead' Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the epic ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, and to one of the forthcoming new record’s bonus tracks, as Dani explains.
“There are also two bonus tracks in addition to the album, one of which is the culmination to the ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’ trilogy, which began on »Midian«.
For this we had little hesitation in enlisting our friend and actor Doug Bradley to reprise his narrative role. Doug lives in Pittsburgh, which he refers to ‘The Pit’, thus we directed his narrative over Skype from his local studio. He adopts this almost David Attenborough-ish role on ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, which is possibly the most politically astute song we’ve written of late. As a band we usually shy from branching into politics, but it’s something that needed spouting. The fact we’re fucking our ecology up and desperately need to address the situation pronto…”
So, if we’re all going to perish in the fire of our own stupidity, we might as well have a suitably deranged and destructive soundtrack to do it by.
A bewitching, fearless nosedive into the abyss, the band's thirteenth studio album confirms the ferocious efficacy of CRADLE OF FILTH in 2021. Bold, brave, wildly imaginative and heavy as hell, the band’s latest runaway train-ride through the flames is the perfect album for these most imperfect of times. As Dani concludes, “Be like the virus! Mutate and survive!”

Belched from Hell’s depths into the rustic charms of the Witch County, Suffolk thirty long and disturbing years ago, CRADLE OF FILTH are undisputed giants of the heavy metal realm. Imperious purveyors of a perennially unique strain of dark, dastardly and wilfully extreme metal, with deep roots in the worlds of gothic horror and occult curiosity, the band led by Dani Filth has weathered three decades of tumult and trial, earning a formidable reputation as both a singular creative force and one of the most riotously entertaining live bands the metal world has ever produced.
From primitive early works like 1992 debut »The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh« to more expansive and theatrical classics like ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ and ‘Midian’, CRADLE OF FILTH defied trends and constructed their own idiosyncratic world of foul grandeur, becoming one of the UK’s most notable metal bands in the process. Since then, they have traversed the world countless times, hoovering up plaudits and praise from an ever-expanding international fan base. Resolutely prolific, the band’s catalogue has grown in depth and stature all the while, irrespective of line-up changes or the whims of the faithful.
In more recent times, CRADLE OF FILTH have hit an unmistakable hot streak of creativity and urgency. As a new line-up coalesced around the creation of 2015’s »Hammer Of The Witches«, fresh impetus propelled the band to new heights, as the revitalised crew became more in demand around the world than ever before. 2017’s ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ repeated the trick with even more explosive flamboyance. Until a global pandemic brought the music industry to a jarring halt, CRADLE OF FILTH were almost permanently on the road and absolutely fucking flying. As a result, it should surprise no one that the band’s brand new album, ‘Existence Is Futile’, is yet another monumental and electrifying journey through the dark.
Buoyed by these recent triumphs, CRADLE OF FILTH recorded »Existence Is Futile« during 2020, piecing the record together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (Devilment/Benediction/Vader). Although instantly recognisable as the work of these veteran blackhearts, the thirteenth CRADLE OF FILTH album is a wholly different beast from its immediate predecessors. Pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme, it hangs together with mesmerising fluidity. It is also absolutely rammed with giant, rousing melodies and moments of jaw-dropping invention. No one could mistake the venomously catchy likes of ‘How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?’ or monstrous ballad ‘Discourse Between A Man And His Soul’ for anything other than CRADLE OF FILTH, of course, but ‘Existence Is Futile’ confirms that the band’s exploratory instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Underpinned by its huge and disarmingly organic production, »Existence Is Futile« is plainly the darkest and most unsettling album CRADLE OF FILTH have made in a while. Eschewing the band’s trademark twisted storytelling in favour of horrified glimpses into the mortal void and ruminations on the inevitable destruction of life on Earth, its poignancy and relevance to the cluster of nightmares facing humanity in 2021 is impossible to ignore, even if Dani Filth insists, not unreasonably, that he didn’t anticipate a global pandemic when the news songs were being written.
With the best possible timing, CRADLE OF FILTH were already due to make a new album during those long, lonely months of lockdown in 2020. Having grabbed the opportunity with both hands, Dani avows that unavoidable isolation from the rest of the world was the best possible incentive to get the job done, while also adding plenty of eerie atmosphere to the whole experience.
Sonically speaking, ‘Existence Is Futile’ is easily the most powerful and dramatic record CRADLE OF FILTH have ever made: it’s the sound of band’s enviable onstage chemistry spilling over into the studio, propelling each member of the band to new levels of intensity. Combined with the expected labyrinthine arrangements and moments of spellbinding bombast, ‘Existence Is Futile’ may be the most vivid representation of the CRADLE OF FILTH experience yet.
Also, diehard fans will be thrilled to learn that horror icon Doug 'Pinhead' Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the epic ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, and to one of the forthcoming new record’s bonus tracks, as Dani explains.
“There are also two bonus tracks in addition to the album, one of which is the culmination to the ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’ trilogy, which began on »Midian«.
For this we had little hesitation in enlisting our friend and actor Doug Bradley to reprise his narrative role. Doug lives in Pittsburgh, which he refers to ‘The Pit’, thus we directed his narrative over Skype from his local studio. He adopts this almost David Attenborough-ish role on ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, which is possibly the most politically astute song we’ve written of late. As a band we usually shy from branching into politics, but it’s something that needed spouting. The fact we’re fucking our ecology up and desperately need to address the situation pronto…”
So, if we’re all going to perish in the fire of our own stupidity, we might as well have a suitably deranged and destructive soundtrack to do it by.
A bewitching, fearless nosedive into the abyss, the band's thirteenth studio album confirms the ferocious efficacy of CRADLE OF FILTH in 2021. Bold, brave, wildly imaginative and heavy as hell, the band’s latest runaway train-ride through the flames is the perfect album for these most imperfect of times. As Dani concludes, “Be like the virus! Mutate and survive!”

Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.

“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”

Grounded by lockdown, Biffy Clyro recorded ‘The Myth’ in a completely different way to how they approached ‘A Celebrations’. Rather than spending months in Los Angeles, they traded one West Coast for another by recording for just six weeks in their rehearsal room (converted DIY style into a fully functional studio by rhythm section brothers James and Ben Johnston) in a farmhouse closer to their homes.

The trio went in with the intention of completing some unfinished songs from ‘A Celebration’, but instead ‘The Myth’ took over as it started to take shape late in 2020, with everything written and recorded within a ten-mile radius. Traditionally, 90% of Biffy songs have been written in Scotland before the band head to London or Los Angeles for recording, but this represented the first time they’ve ever recorded in their homeland. As Simon jokes, “It’s our first full-on tartan album!”

‘The Myth’ blends experimental flourishes with flashes of old school Biffy. ‘Existed’ is the moment that shaped the record an elegant expression of self-doubt that redefines the sonics of the band’s catalogue of vulnerable slowburners, while ‘DumDum’ is an even bigger departure, having been constructed primarily around soft synths sampled from Simon’s voice. And ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep’ is just as audacious a closer as ‘Cop Syrup’ from ‘A Celebration’. It also represents one of a selection of “easter eggs” or “turns of phrase” that subtly complement and contrast the two records.

At the other extreme, devoted fans will connect with the feral anger of ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’, the arena-scaled drama of ‘Errors In The History of God’ and the sheer catchiness of ‘Witch’s Cup’.

‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.

“When you lose people that you love deeply and have been a big part of your life, it can make you question every single thing about your own life,” he says. “Like a lot of creative people, I struggle with dark thoughts. If you’re that way inclined you realise you’re staring at darkness, but you don't want to succumb. Those moments don’t stop. As the song says, ‘The devil never leaves.’ There’s never a day where you wake up thinking, ‘I feel great, it won’t cross me ever again.’”

A recurring concept of the album is the power of personal convictions, which have taken on an almost religious fervour via the echo chambers of social media and news platforms. But that idea has the nuance to rise above contrasting sides of an argument, arguing that greater unity and open-mindedness is the only way forward. Elsewhere, it spans everything from gaslighting to the ultimate devotion of cults and the beautiful failure of a Japanese racehorse.

‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ is now available to pre-order here, with ‘Unknown Male 01’ provided as an instant download. It will be released on CD and digital formats, as well as a limited edition red vinyl which is packaged with a must-have bonus CD for fans: full audio of the acclaimed livestream show that Biffy Clyro performed at Glasgow Barrowland in August 2020 to commemorate the release of ‘A Celebration of Endings’.

After headlining Reading and Leeds in August, Biffy Clyro will also play further large-scale outdoor gigs this summer at Cardiff Bay and Glasgow Green. Plans for 2022 are also taking shape, with April’s long sold-out ‘Fingers Crossed’ intimate tour and a huge Saturday night headline set at Download. Please see the band’s official website for a full list of shows and ticket information.

M_SESSIONS - THE PROCESS

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations.

The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm.
The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

M_DOKUMENTE // THE BOOK - THE RECORDS - THE EXHIBITION

The project M_Dokumente focuses on the All Female bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador in the West Berlin music and art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. We celebrate this 40 years retrospetive with a big festival weekend from 21.-24.10.2021 at Silent Green from a explicitly female perspective.
The three bands around their members Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut played concerts in different formations from 1979 on, released records and toured around the world. The self-determined appearance of the musicians was new, raised some eyebrows and was reflected both in the music and the lyrics, but also in their unique style and the genre-crossing approach of "more art in the music, more music in the art". To this day, the bands are considered visionary, they shaped a new image of women in pop culture and are pioneers and role models for the still important and necessary emancipatory movement in the music industry. Far beyond the borders of Berlin.

3Ms

The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers. (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

The Rolling Stones have announced the release of 40th anniversary, expanded deluxe editions of their chart-topping, multi-platinum 1981 album Tattoo You, via Universal Music. The newly-remastered set, out on October 22, will be accompanied by no fewer than nine previously unreleased tracks from the era. '1CD: 11track remaster of album. 2CD Deluxe: 20 tracks over 2Cd's and also included is a 20 page booklet including an essay from Kevin Howlett & Jeff Slade. 1LP: 11 track remaster on 180g vinyl. 2LP Deluxe: Pressed on double 180g Black Vinyl in gatefold sleeve. 4CD+1LP Box: Includes 4 x CDS (CD1 - Remastered Album, CD2 - Bonus 9 Tracks + CD 3 & 4 - Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982 + Tattoo You 12” Picture Disc + 124 Page Book + Lenticular Art. 5LP Boxset: Includes 5 x 180g Heavyweight Vinyl. (LP1 Brand New 2021 Remaster of Tattoo You, LP2 Lost & Found: 9 Previously Unreleased Tracks, LP3, 4 & 5 Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982) + 124 page book & lenticular artwork. LIMITED EDITIONS. FIGURES SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS ARE IN AT DEADLINE.

Einen schönen Fang hat das Chicagoer Label Trouble In Mind vor Kurzem mit DUMMY gemacht: Das Quintett aus Los Angeles verblüfft auf seinem Debüt ,Mandatory Enjoyment" mit einem derart ausgereiften Noise-Pop-Entwurf, das man kaum glauben mag, dass es sich hier um ein Erstlingswerk handelt. Nach gerade einmal zwei veröffentlichten EPs aus dem letzten Jahr, haben DUMMY ihren mit einem wundervollen Groove ausgestatteten Sound auf ,Mandatory Enjoyment" sichtlich gefunden und bis zur Perfektion destilliert. Das spielfreudige Debüt kombiniert geschickt Einflüsse aus Krautrock, Dream-Pop, Ambient, Psychedelic und Shoegaze zu einem Soundgebräu, das sowohl avantgardistisch als auch immer noch genug im Pop verwurzelt ist. Songs wie "Daffodils" und "Fissured Ceramics" zeichnen sich durch unerbittlich treibende Energie und reichlich psychedelischen Lärm aus. An anderer Stelle gleicht Dummy die Aggression mit meditativen Synthesizerlandschaften aus, die sich auf Sounddesign und Studioexperimente konzentrieren, wie bei dem motorischen "X-Static Blanket". Das Herzstück "H.V.A.C." und der letzte Track des Albums, "Atonal Poem", versuchen schließlich, diese beiden Pole miteinander zu verbinden und bieten mehrteilige Reisen durch unbekanntes Klangterritorium. Im Gegensatz zu der glückseligen Instrumentierung untersuchen Dummys sardonische Texte die Last des modernen Lebens, den Konsumismus, den Zusammenbruch der Umwelt, die Entfremdung und andere Ängste, die aus dem Leben in diesem absurden Moment der Geschichte entstehen. Innenarchitektur, Meeresverschmutzung, die Psychologie kommerzieller Architektur und Atomtests sind Themen, die aufgegriffen werden. Die rastlose Kreativität von Dummy treibt die Band immer weiter voran, sie fordern sich selbst ständig heraus und treiben ihren Sound in aufregende und erheiternde Bereiche. Dies ist - wie der Albumtitel schon sagt - "Mandatory Enjoyment". ENG Los Angeles band Dummy refuses to slow down. After releasing two cassette EP's in 2020 (on Popwig and Born Yesterday respectively), Dummy's debut full-length album arrives via Chicago's Trouble in Mind Records. Employing pummeling guitars and celestial ambience within the same breath, the band folds a myriad of reference points into their drone-pop style. Influence from '60s melodicism and '90s UK noise pop can be found woven in with inspiration from spiritual jazz, Japanese new age, and Italian minimalism. Dummy dodges the brooding, dark, dramatic tropes of contemporary "artistic" music often found in punk, experimental, and electronic, instead insisting on joyous and euphoric sonic palettes. They refuse to be artistically stagnant, continuously shifting their approach to writing across 12 tracks. Shaped by performances around Los Angeles in 2019, songs like "Daffodils" and "Fissured Ceramics" feature relentless driving energy and ample psychedelic noise. Elsewhere, Dummy counterbalances the aggression with meditative synthscapes focused on sound design and studio experimentation, like on the motorik "X-Static Blanket". Finally, centerpiece "H.V.A.C." and the album's final track, "Atonal Poem", seek to synthesize these two poles, offering multi-part journeys through uncharted sonic territory. In contrast to blissed-out instrumentation, Dummy's sardonic lyricism examines "the burden of modern life, consumerism, environmental collapse, alienation, and other anxieties born out of living in this absurd moment in history". Interior design, marine pollution, the psychology of commercial architecture, and nuclear testing are all featured subjects. Dummy's restless creativity keeps them moving ever-forward, continuously challenging themselves and pushing their sound into exciting and exhilarating places. This is - as the album title suggests - "Mandatory Enjoyment".

Einen schönen Fang hat das Chicagoer Label Trouble In Mind vor Kurzem mit DUMMY gemacht: Das Quintett aus Los Angeles verblüfft auf seinem Debüt ,Mandatory Enjoyment" mit einem derart ausgereiften Noise-Pop-Entwurf, das man kaum glauben mag, dass es sich hier um ein Erstlingswerk handelt. Nach gerade einmal zwei veröffentlichten EPs aus dem letzten Jahr, haben DUMMY ihren mit einem wundervollen Groove ausgestatteten Sound auf ,Mandatory Enjoyment" sichtlich gefunden und bis zur Perfektion destilliert. Das spielfreudige Debüt kombiniert geschickt Einflüsse aus Krautrock, Dream-Pop, Ambient, Psychedelic und Shoegaze zu einem Soundgebräu, das sowohl avantgardistisch als auch immer noch genug im Pop verwurzelt ist. Songs wie "Daffodils" und "Fissured Ceramics" zeichnen sich durch unerbittlich treibende Energie und reichlich psychedelischen Lärm aus. An anderer Stelle gleicht Dummy die Aggression mit meditativen Synthesizerlandschaften aus, die sich auf Sounddesign und Studioexperimente konzentrieren, wie bei dem motorischen "X-Static Blanket". Das Herzstück "H.V.A.C." und der letzte Track des Albums, "Atonal Poem", versuchen schließlich, diese beiden Pole miteinander zu verbinden und bieten mehrteilige Reisen durch unbekanntes Klangterritorium. Im Gegensatz zu der glückseligen Instrumentierung untersuchen Dummys sardonische Texte die Last des modernen Lebens, den Konsumismus, den Zusammenbruch der Umwelt, die Entfremdung und andere Ängste, die aus dem Leben in diesem absurden Moment der Geschichte entstehen. Innenarchitektur, Meeresverschmutzung, die Psychologie kommerzieller Architektur und Atomtests sind Themen, die aufgegriffen werden. Die rastlose Kreativität von Dummy treibt die Band immer weiter voran, sie fordern sich selbst ständig heraus und treiben ihren Sound in aufregende und erheiternde Bereiche. Dies ist - wie der Albumtitel schon sagt - "Mandatory Enjoyment". ENG Los Angeles band Dummy refuses to slow down. After releasing two cassette EP's in 2020 (on Popwig and Born Yesterday respectively), Dummy's debut full-length album arrives via Chicago's Trouble in Mind Records. Employing pummeling guitars and celestial ambience within the same breath, the band folds a myriad of reference points into their drone-pop style. Influence from '60s melodicism and '90s UK noise pop can be found woven in with inspiration from spiritual jazz, Japanese new age, and Italian minimalism. Dummy dodges the brooding, dark, dramatic tropes of contemporary "artistic" music often found in punk, experimental, and electronic, instead insisting on joyous and euphoric sonic palettes. They refuse to be artistically stagnant, continuously shifting their approach to writing across 12 tracks. Shaped by performances around Los Angeles in 2019, songs like "Daffodils" and "Fissured Ceramics" feature relentless driving energy and ample psychedelic noise. Elsewhere, Dummy counterbalances the aggression with meditative synthscapes focused on sound design and studio experimentation, like on the motorik "X-Static Blanket". Finally, centerpiece "H.V.A.C." and the album's final track, "Atonal Poem", seek to synthesize these two poles, offering multi-part journeys through uncharted sonic territory. In contrast to blissed-out instrumentation, Dummy's sardonic lyricism examines "the burden of modern life, consumerism, environmental collapse, alienation, and other anxieties born out of living in this absurd moment in history". Interior design, marine pollution, the psychology of commercial architecture, and nuclear testing are all featured subjects. Dummy's restless creativity keeps them moving ever-forward, continuously challenging themselves and pushing their sound into exciting and exhilarating places. This is - as the album title suggests - "Mandatory Enjoyment".

Paul’s sixth solo studio album, Illumination, was originally released in September 2002, and is Weller’s second solo number one, it includes the hit singles “It’s Written in The Stars” (no. 7) and “Leafy Mysteries” (no. 23) and features guest performances from Carleen Anderson, Jocelyn Brown, Kelly Jones and Noel Gallagher. The 2021 reissue features faithful original packaging replication including rounded corners and was cut at London’s Metropolis Studios.

NME: "Paul has clearly regained his sense of adventure… a spirited, joyous album.” (4/5)

The Guardian: "The trinity that opens his sixth solo album is his best work in ages, by turns love-besotted, politically outraged and burning with spite. What a surprise - just when you thought Weller would never do it again, he goes and does it.” (4/5)

Following on from the release of ‘Ultra Mono’ in 2020,
IDLES are back to release a version of ‘Model Village’ with
none other than slowthai.
 In vocalist Joe’s words: “We are fortunate to announce our
forces have joined with the enigmatic and vibrant soul that
is slowthai. Go dig.”
 ‘Ultra Mono’ was a UK Number 1 album, with over 75k
global sales in week one and over 19k UK pre-orders
before album release.
 The band had five sold out Brixton Academy shows in
2021 and were the cover stars of Music Week, DIY and
Kerrang last year. Three sold out live streamed
performances at Abbey Road, with over 10k tickets sold.
 Praise for ‘Ultra Mono’:
 “Louder, angrier & more political” - Q (★★★★)
 “Alive, bristling, vicious and hopeful” - Financial Times
(★★★★)
 “The band want to take you on a trip and for you to enjoy
the ride, and for the destination to be serene. Hold on
tight.” - NME (★★★★)
 “it’s unapologetic and cements their status as one of the
most important bands in the country.” - Evening Standard
(★★★★★)
 “IDLES have concocted an explosive formula unlike
anything currently being offered in the arena of rock
music” - Crack (9/10)
 “it would take a brave person to bet against this from firing
IDLES to even more ridiculous levels” - Dork (★★★★)
 “This is rock music that compels you to pay attention” -
Independent (★★★★)

Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.

“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”

‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.

While meditating on the concept of our next album, we listened to the soundtracks of our favorite movies and dreamed of composing our music for the films. What could the film be like, what would be the story, what would be the idea? What would we like to say this time? 
 And one day such work appeared and suddenly for us, it was not a movie. The book “Star Corsair” by Ukrainian science fiction writer, philosopher, and dissident Oles’ Berdnyk emerged from our distant memories. We even remembered the original cover of the old edition of 1971, a copy of which was immediately found, as if sanctifying our idea and adding a touch of eternity to the process. We decided to read the book again and right after that make our soundtrack to it. 
 

 
 We began to dive. And it immediately became clear that in the case of Berdnyk it is impossible only to read his works without reading about his life. Therefore, the reading of “Star Corsair” and its sequel “Kamerton Dazhboga” turned into an in-depth study of a unique phenomenon in the Ukrainian spiritual, art, and political space – Oles’ Berdnyk.
 
 From the first pages, the book resonated as much as possible with our ideas about true freedom and personal development. An incredible concentration of powerful ideas, subtly set on multilevel spirals of the modeled future intersected with the myth-created past, in projections of bright explosions and degradations of societies and civilizations, in the unconditional possibility of impossible revolutions and eternal deep struggle with systems, in the fire and explosions of liberation ignited by the freethinkers. 
 
 “Star Corsair” naturally intersected with our feelings and understanding of the interdependence of personal development and inner freedom, with the vision of the world around us and the direct action. It naturally complemented our vision of how, through the inner realization, we can contribute to the implementation of freedom, and then live it in our own lives.
 
 And so, this album became not only music for the novel, but also our reflection of the work, observation of our own transformation in the process, and what new ideas and vectors we will formulate for ourselves and offer to those who want to listen to the album.

Good Morning, the Melbourne duo of Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons, are rulebreakers. Not in a sexy, flamboyant way — more in a casual, resigned kind of way. Accidental and incidental rulebreakers. They are friends first, band second, business third, often in spite of function, and often at their own expense. Every time the machinations of the industry have zigged, Good Morning have zagged.

Night Church is the second album from London-based band Ghosts Of Our Former Selves. On the new record you can hear the band’s love of soul and funk but also their fascination with synth sounds and classic songwriting.While Marvin and Stevie might be a thread you can pick up, there are shades of Daft Punk, The Police and even Elton John. There is emotion in this record. The four years between first and second albums is bookended by the loss of fathers and the birth of children. In the middle a lot else has happened. While making this album, Theo and producer/band member Fred Ala became obsessed with the classic songs of the 70’s and early 80s and that influenced the way they recorded many of the songs. Mixing the album proved the trickiest part. Singer and lyricist,Theo Brehony, describes the life events behind the songs: “This is like a picture of all the things that have happened since our last release. It started out as an album about the break of a relationship but turned into arecord about redemption, love, starting again, having children, fathers."

DENNIS BOVELL, from Barbados, based in London, England, is a legend - a bass player legend (band leader of the legendary Linton Kwesi Johnson Band) - a producer legend (THE SLITS, Fela Kuti, Bananarama, Madness, Joss Stone, a.o.). He produced the soundtrack for the critically highly acclaimed movie Babylon and the hit song "Silly Games" by Janet Kay. In recent years his works regained interest, also due to the recent rerelease of the 80's movie Babylon and his participation in Steve Mc Queens drama series Small Axe about the real-life experiences of London's West Indian community, set btw 1969-82. In 2019 Vienna's Dubblestandart produced a limited selection of reworks of reggae classics of Dennis Bovell's 1980's band Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, Twinkle Brothers, Culture a.o. , focusing on works that have been pivotal for the inspiration of Dubblestandart's bandleader Paul Zasky. Nicolai Beverungen, dub reggae label headman of ECHO BEACH outta Hamburg/Germany, invited DENNIS BOVELL to "REPULSE" the album at Robbie Ost's GoEAST Studio. Dennis felt inspired, loved the idea, re-voiced the songs, added a couple of guitar lines and also re-dubbed the album. "Repulse" Reggae Classics features DENNIS BOVELL on vocals and as a dub producer in co-operation with Robbie Ost from Dubblestandart, mixing on a legendary E - 6000 solid state mixing board (taken over from TEARS FOR FEARS studio in London), using selected vintage outboard Analog equipment, developing a distinctive dub reggae sound for this coming up 2021 release. What do songs like "I'm No Robot", "Babylon The Bandit" or Matumbi's "Hypocrite" have in common? All of them were written during the 1980's of the last century, but never lost their contemporary accuracy, still perfectly criticizing and analysing the "pulse" todays political leaderships and societies controversial points of view, have, while entering the digital age. Re- Pulse 21!

This is the follow up to Kero Hero Bonito’s 7” ‘Flamingo’ release from November last year.


Kero Kero Bonito are a London-based experimental pop trio, comprised of bilingual Anglo-Japanese singer Sarah and producers Gus and Jamie. Having previously made college radio indie (Time 'n' Place, #1 NACC 2018) and viral Casio megahits ("Flamingo", "I'd Rather Sleep"), the six track Civilisation mini-album compiles the "lost world junk pop" of the band's Civilisation I and Civilisation II EPs.

Civilisation was inspired by the art pop lineage of artists like Kate Bush, David Sylvian and Peter Gabriel, with a sonic palette informed by Warp's Artificial Intelligence series, homemade New Age music and early digital synth experiments. It was created entirely with dusty old musical hardware and uses both ancient musical tropes (pentatonic scales, minimalist repetition) and contemporary songwriting techniques to summon an out-of-time atmosphere that spans the past, present and future simultaneously. The songs tackle widescreen themes like psychological warfare (on the mystical polyrhythmic funk of "Battle Lines"), ancient mythology (on the energetic, melancholy synth-pop of "The Princess and the Clock") and the resurrection of the dead (on "Well Rested", the record's 7-minute psychedelic house closer).

In what seems like some sort of cosmic alignment bound to happen, the ever prolific and somewhat elusive Niagara make their way into the Discrepant catalogue with '1807'. Compiling tracks recorded between 2014 and 2018 that appeared scattered among very limited and long out of print self released CDRs, the record feels as much out of time as deeply resonant with these times with no dancefloors. Stripping away most of the beat based approach of early Príncipe releases and Ascender EPs, these 17 vignettes presented in the classic dance maxi 12" format dabble with escapism in a manner that projects them as potential DJ tools for lockdown.

Deeply idiosyncratic, the trio from Loures shows an internal coherence that while not easy to grasp given their mutating creative impulses, weaves each different path into a sonic fiction all their own. Cobbled together from countless hours of jamming on warm spectral synths, field recordings, otherworldly textures or devious drum machines '1807' paints a vivid and dreamlike escape route that goes from the hypnotic arpeggios and rarefied synths of 'Esc8' through the glowing tones and fragmented melodies of 'Egyptiu' and into the malfunctioning swirl of the stark 'Esc 10' or the polluted 4/4 thump and funky guitar line of 'Mapas'. Equally disruptive and inviting.

All tracks composed by Niagara between 2014 – 2018

Since slipping out on Leng last year, Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy’s first collaboration with singer/songwriter David Harks, ‘Susta’, has become a much-played modern Balearic classic, with DJs and listeners alike responding to the track’s attractive blend of sun-kissed nu-disco instrumentation, warming melodies and deliciously evocative lead vocals from Jaanika Leino AKA JaneLy. Now the track returns for 2021 in the shape of two superb new remixes from Chicagoan deep house legend Ron Trent, who four years ago delivered similarly ear-catching revisions of Mudd and Pollard’s ‘Far Away’ as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations for Murphy’s Claremont 56 label.



As you’d expect given Trent’s impeccable track record over the last three decades, both revisions are stunning. He begins by eking every last ounce of soul from Leino’s brilliant vocal on a remix that’s warming, deep and luscious. Combining elements of Murphy and Harks’ colourful, synth-heavy original mix – including the lusciously tactile bassline and boogie-style synth flourishes – with his own yearning chords, hand percussion sounds and a shuffling, samba-tinged house beat, Trent re-imagines ‘Susta’ as a future vocal deep house classic. Melodious, musically intricate, infectious and summery, it’s a remix for the ages. It comes accompanied by a Dub Mix that successfully shows off the intricacy of Trent’s production and additional instrumentation while keeping both eyes firmly on the dancefloor. Beginning with effects-laden synth sounds reminiscent of the mid-‘80s proto-house classics by Paul Simpson, Winston Jones and Boyd Jarvis, the mix sees Trent skilfully add selected snippets of Leino’s lead vocal to a backing track rich in delay-laden synthesizer sounds, reverb-rich chords, echoing percussion hits and chords so warming they feel like a late-night, loved-up bear hug for your ears. Like the A-side vocal version, Trent’s dub is breath-taking and spine-tingling in equal measure.

First time on vinyl
10th Anniversary of the Breaking Bad TV Series
5 x 10' vinyl in 5 different jackets, 1 relating to each season
Each 10' is the same colour, Strictly Limited Edition Albuquerque Crystal Coloured (transparent with a hint of turquoise) Vinyl!
Lift off box-set with Breaking Bad logo on front with special drip-off varnish
Exclusive Breaking Bad Poster & Pollos Hermanos plastic ID badge
Booklet with exclusive pictures and extensive liner notes by Thomas, the musical supervisor of Breaking Bad
One run only of this very exclusive BOX-SET
Individually numbered the manufacturing qty for Worldwide is est 4000 with 800 for the UK - we could get some more
PLEASE ORDER BY 12.00 TUESDAY 25 SEPT TO BE GUARANTEED YOUR QTY
Available worldwide
Weight ESTIMATED 950g
All the essential Breaking Bad songs by Badfinger, Calexico, Far East Movement, America, Fever Ray, Apparat, Whitey, Knife Party, The Peddlers and others
Various dialogies by Walter, Jesse, Skyler, Mike, Gus, Saul and many more
This release will be heavily promoted on social media, including the social media accounts of Breaking Bad (facebook, over 11 million followers!!!).

MOV proudly presents the OST - BREAKING BAD (MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES) 5 x 10' BOX-SET!

A TOP PRIORITY RELEASE with WORLDWIDE RIGHTS!

So far only the score music has been released on vinyl and now finally, for the very very first time, the original soundtrack music is released on vinyl!

Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time and celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2018.

The legion of fans have been waiting for this to be released for a long time. There will be a huge demand for this exclusive BOX-SET!

This release was never released in any other format (CD, vinyl, digital) before and will only be available on vinyl!

OST - BREAKING BAD (MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES) is presented in a beautiful Lift off box-set with Breaking Bad logo on front with special drip-off varnish. The box-set includes a selection of defining songs, devided in five 10' records on coloured vinyl, each representing a season with accessory artwork. The numbered box-set also includes a booklet, poster and Pollos Hermanos plastic ID Badge. Next to all essential Breaking Bad songs by Badfinger, Calexico, Far East Movement, America, Fever Ray, Apparat, Whitey, Knife Party, The Peddlers and others, the 10' records also include various dialogies by Walter, Jesse, Skyler, Mike, Gus, Saul and many more. The box-set is a ONE-RUN-ONLY and is STRICTLY LIMITED!

Breaking Bad is an American neo-western crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show originally aired on the AMC network for five seasons, from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013. The series tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling and depressed high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer. Together with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), White turns to a life of crime by producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal world. The title comes from the Southern colloquialism "breaking bad", meaning to "raise hell" or turn toward crime. Breaking Bad is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Walter's family consists of his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and children, Walter, Jr. (RJ Mitte) and Holly (Elanor Anne Wenrich). The show also features Skyler's sister Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt), and her husband Hank (Dean Norris), a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. Walter hires lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), who connects him with private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and in turn Mike's employer, drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). The final season introduces the characters Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) and Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser).

Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. By the time the series finale aired, it was among the most-watched cable shows on American television. The show received numerous awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards and four Television Critics Association Awards. For his leading performance, Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, while Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series three times; Anna Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series twice. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time.

THE CHARLATANS proudly announce their (Covid) delayed release of their 30th Anniversary tour and a career spanning best of entitled “A Head Full of Ideas’ Released on Then Recordings through Republic Of Music. ‘A Head Full of Ideas’ sums up their remarkable progress from 1990 Manchester scene hopefuls to one of the UK’s most enduring and best-loved bands. The accompanying tour begins at Belfast, Limelight 22/11/21 and finishes in Aberdeen on 20/12/21.

The band have notched up 13 Top 40 studio albums - three of them number ones - alongside 22 hit singles, four of them top 10. The rollercoaster highs have been accompanied by some shattering lows, any which one of them could have felled a less resilient band, from nervous breakdowns to near bankruptcy and the deaths of two founder members.

Somehow, they have not just carried on but adapted and transformed. The classic Charlatans sound - driving Hammond organ, Northern Soul and house-influenced rhythms, swaggering guitars and Tim Burgess’s sunny yet somehow yearning vocal - is instantly recognisable. And in spite of everything they have been through their music is now more relevant than ever, The Guardian described their last album, Different Days as “one of their best ever”.

As well as a very limited 6 Vinyl box set, there will also be Limited Coloured Triple vinyl LP version and 2CD deluxe of the box set featuring the hits albums plus a bonus live album ‘Trust is For Believers’, and finally a CD or Double LP Vinyl of just the hits albums.

No one combines death and black metal quite like Poland’s Hate . With unflinching viciousness and a sense of atmosphere unique to the band, on Rugia, their twelfth full-length, they push the boundaries of their craft even further. Writing for Rugia commenced shortly after Auric Gates of Veles was released. However, Hate soon began to tour extensively in support of their then new opus, and the production of new music was put on the back burner. But come 2020 and the COVID pandemic, the band’s touring plans with Belphegor and Suffocation were abruptly cut short. With this unexpected infusion of free time, the band decided to buckle down and finish writing the material they were working on. .” The album title is taken from the archaic name of a German island on the Baltic Sea now called Rügen. In ancient times, Rügen or Rugia, was a site of holy pilgrimage to the pagan Slavic people. It was the very heart of the western Slavic faith, housing the fabled stronghold of Arkona. The album is at its core a tribute to Rugia and its tribes and the culture they created. The band elected to once again track the album in the Hertz Recording Studio in Poland, and it was recorded, mixed and mastered by the Wiesłaski Brothers (Behemoth, Decapitated).

Fueled By Ramen will be reissuing one seminal album from our 25- year history each month throughout the calendar year of 2021, again this will be on Silver Vinyl as part of the FBR 25th Anniversary.

FBR 25 Podcast

We are currently working on a 16 part podcast that will delve into the history of FBR, it’s cultural relevance and Global impact over the past 25 years. Each episode will look at the careers of some of our most important artists, and deep dive into the making of albums told by the artists themselves in their own words.

25th Anniversary Merchandise

We announced the 25th Anniversary around Thanksgiving last year with our first 25th Anniversary limited merch drop, and then will be working throughout 2021 on new and exclusive designs to drop throughout the year.

THE CHARLATANS proudly announce their (Covid) delayed release of their 30th Anniversary tour and a career spanning best of entitled “A Head Full of Ideas’ Released on Then Recordings through Republic Of Music. ‘A Head Full of Ideas’ sums up their remarkable progress from 1990 Manchester scene hopefuls to one of the UK’s most enduring and best-loved bands. The accompanying tour begins at Belfast, Limelight 22/11/21 and finishes in Aberdeen on 20/12/21.

The band have notched up 13 Top 40 studio albums - three of them number ones - alongside 22 hit singles, four of them top 10. The rollercoaster highs have been accompanied by some shattering lows, any which one of them could have felled a less resilient band, from nervous breakdowns to near bankruptcy and the deaths of two founder members.

Somehow, they have not just carried on but adapted and transformed. The classic Charlatans sound - driving Hammond organ, Northern Soul and house-influenced rhythms, swaggering guitars and Tim Burgess’s sunny yet somehow yearning vocal - is instantly recognisable. And in spite of everything they have been through their music is now more relevant than ever, The Guardian described their last album, Different Days as “one of their best ever”.

As well as a very limited 6 Vinyl box set, there will also be Limited Coloured Triple vinyl LP version and 2CD deluxe of the box set featuring the hits albums plus a bonus live album ‘Trust is For Believers’, and finally a CD or Double LP Vinyl of just the hits albums.

Bad Bad Hats are an indie rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Known for bringing a joyful, exuberant presence to their live shows, touring
with The Beths, Margaret Glaspy, The Front Bottoms, Hippo Campus, and
Third Eye Blind, the group took specific care to bring their fun-loving spirit
to their third LP, Walkman.
Kerry (guitar/vocals), Chris (bass), and Con (drums) let their collective hair
down on Walkman, bringing raucous and explosive riffs alongside witty lyrics.
Though you might not notice from their indie rock exterior, Bad Bad Hats draws
a heavy influence from classic pop songwriting that shines through in their
hooky choruses and strong melodic sensibilities.
For this release the band set out to push their capabilities as a trio. Subtle
changes in process helped the band achieve this goal, such as shifting Chris
from a wider multi-instrumental role to allow him to prioritize his bass playing, having Kerry record the bulk of the guitars instead. ‘You can hear all of our
musical voices a lot better on this record.’
A carefully crafted studio sound brings the record to life, injecting it with an
energetic voice that is unique to Bad Bad Hats. Walkman is the group’s fourth
time working with producer Brett Bullion, including their previous two LPs, Psychic Reader and Lightning Round, and the Wide Right EP.
Bullion and the band use the studio as an instrument, resulting in their most
polished work to date.

ABRAXAS is the activist techno side project of Damià Llorens , alma matter of WE ARE NOT BROTHERS. Self-defined as “activism trough music, promoting social, political, economical and environmental changes in our fucking capitalist society towards a greater good”, his vinyl debut is about real punk attitude on the 21th century. Including collaborations by Nightcrawler, Univac and José Rodríguez”. Presented on deluxe edition, including inner printed sleeve.

Greetings Earth-o-nauts.

The worm has (re) turned! And this time the Regal Worm (Jarrod Gosling of I Monster, Cobalt Chapel) is tackling The Hideous Goblink.
An album painstakingly created by one solitary man ensconced in his darkened, tiny sky parlour of awe, wonder, and heaps of dusty old gear.

Regal Worm’s mission is putting a ‘ggressive’ back into progressive. Getting grubby with the ghosts of the old gods.
The Hideous Goblink reveals a distinct sense of urgency, expressing abstract musings on the shadow cast by our colonial history, nationalism,
terrifying overlords, and what the future might hold for the ever shrinking third tone from the sun.

The fourth Regal Worm offering draws on a number of fresh musical influences; be it space rock, cosmic funk, sludge, fusion, choirs, electronics or pop.

On the fringe of the indie Rust Belt scene since the 1990s,
Moviola has quietly forged a low-key career of high-quality
recorded output over twenty-five years, issuing ten (!) records
and countless 7-inch singles (including splits with Cobra Verde,
Hiss Golden Messenger, Handsome Family and many others).
In this artistic continuum, the band has evolved from everything
from 4-track fuzz to hi-fi country soul. Today, the band steps
forward with Broken Rainbows, its strongest collection of songs
to date, written, recorded, and mixed inside the group’s HQ in
Columbus.
Jake Housh started Moviola in 1993 as a student at “The”
Ohio State University as a noisy, fuzzed out lo-fi noisemakers.
Over the years, the band has morphed into a unique DIY
music and art-making collective with five distinct singers and
songwriters, recalling the creatively democratic lineage of The
Mekons, The Band, Pink Floyd, many others. Moviola is Jake
Housh, Ted Hattemer (Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments),
Scotty Tabachnick, Greg Bonnell, and Jerry Dannemiller.
Broken Rainbows is a milestone release, showcasing a band
newly energized and assured in its artistry, and supportive of its
members’ songcraft. The eleven-song album hovers over a plot
of ground that’s optimistic in its despair. Album topics range
from the personal to the political, showcasing each member’s
unique songwriting within an overall cohesive band aesthetic.
“Moviola was one of those groups I met early on back in the day
that showed me how to do it. Broken Rainbows is a highlight—
pastoral thumpers, fuzzy indie radness, hooks to spare, pretty
much all the good stuff. Feels like a glorious drive from one
disparate end of Ohio to another. I love this band.”
—Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats)

Barenaked Ladies return with their first new album in four years, ‘Detour de Force’. The 14-track effort is the result of both pre- and post-lockdown recording sessions. The band spent five weeks at vocalist/guitarists Ed Robertson’s cabin outside Toronto pre pandemic writing and recording in a makeshift studio. During pandemic lockdown, they decided they wanted to polish things up a bit. They returned to a Toronto studio when the lockdown lifted to rework the tracks resulting in ‘Detour de Force’. The Barenaked Ladies are Ed Robertson: Guitar, Vocals Jim Creeggan: Bass, Vocals Kevin Hearn: Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals Tyler Stewart: Drums, Vocals Over the course of their remarkable career, Barenaked Ladies have sold over 15 million albums, written multiple top 20 hits (including radio staples “One Week,” “Pinch Me,” “If I Had $1,000,000”), garnered 2 GRAMMY nominations, won 8 JUNO Awards, had Ben & Jerry’s name an ice cream after them (“If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours”), participated in the first-ever “space-to-earth musical collaboration” with astronaut Chris Hadfield, and garnered an international fan base whose members number in the millions. In 2018, the band were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Toronto Mayor John Tory declared October 1st “Barenaked Ladies Day.”

‘Skin’ is the debut album and hugely personal body of work from one of the UK’s boldest and brightest young talents, Joy Crookes. A collection of songs built and honed throughout her adolescence and into her early twenties, it weaves through topics such as mental health, relationships, and politics all with grace and sensitivity. Recorded between Abbey Road & Konk & produced by Blue May (Kano, Blood Orange), the end product is a debut record that is both perfectly of the moment, and entirely timeless.

Lu's Jukebox is a six-volume series of mostly full-band performances recorded live at Ray Kennedy's Room & Board Studio in Nashville, TN. Each volume features a themed set of songs by other artists curated by the multi-Grammy award winner, Lucinda Williams. The series aired as ticketed shows through Mandolin in late 2020 with a portion of ticket sales benefitting independent music venues struggling to get by through the pandemic. Like thousands of artists, Williams cut her teeth and developed her craft by playing in small, medium and large clubs throughout the country, and the world. These venues are vital to the development of artists and their music. Williams has never forgotten her roots, and often performs special shows in some of her favorite halls. This year, the Lu's Jukebox series will be made widely available on vinyl and CD. Volume 2, Southern Soul: From Memphis to Muscle Shoals, features covers of Al Green, Percy Sledge, Bobbie Gentry, Ann Peebles, Tony Joe White & more. It is scheduled for a July 9th, 2021 release.

The monstrous new album from one of the heaviest bands to ever emerge from the shores of the UK - BOUND IN FEAR. Following their brutally stark EP 'Eternal', this new album continues the conceptual theme of Depression, Abuse and Anger. With lyrics that reveal deep insight into the personal upbringing of frontman Ben Mason, this is not for the faint of heart. Essential listening for fans of BODYSNATCHER, DISTANT, PALEFACE AND BLACK TONGUE

Seven new cues from Black Water as written, performed and produced by Everyday Dust.
Additional cues salvaged from an incorrectly labelled transcription disc.
Seven tracks on a gold/white 45rpm 7” with picture sleeve and inner poly bag.

On October 15th, Mac Miller's cult favourite mixtape Faces will be available on all streaming services for the first time since its initial release. The project, which originally debuted on Mother's Day 2014, is a vital release in Mac's catalogue that followed-up his critically-acclaimed sophomore album Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Upon its arrival, the mixtape served as the high water mark for Mac's technical prowess and cemented a creative actualization that would continue through his career; reinventing himself with each new project. Reviewing the project following its release, critic Craig Jenkins succinctly described it as "the best work of his career.
"In addition to being made available on streaming services, Faces will be available on vinyl for the first time on October 15th. .

The announcement of the mixtape’s release on streaming services next month arrives alongside a new music video for Faces highlight "Colours and Shapes." Its director Sam Mason speaks on the work: “The track felt very visual to me—like it had its own world. This atmospheric night time place that was sometimes dangerous, sometimes comforting, then I saw a picture of Ralph and a story emerged. To build it out I asked Malcolm’s family to send me bits and pieces from his childhood, scenes from the town where he grew up, objects, toys from his room—little pieces of his life that I extrapolated outwards and used to inspire the story. In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood—growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience. It’s sort of a look at the emotional and difficult and perilous but noble path of an artist. ”Stay tuned for more Mac Miller and Faces news soon.

British producer Patrick Tipler spent his formative years immersed in psychedelia as a bassist and guitarist in various bands and groups. The arrival of synthesizers –along with his move to Bristol– radically changed his vision of sound and impacted on his musical direction with the force of an asteroid. This shockwave subsequently saw the birth of Delay Grounds.

After releasing the outstanding 'Onomatopoeia' Pressure Dome, 2020 and 'Upcycling' Tropopause, 2021, Delay Grounds’ output has made it clear for all to see that Tipler’s sound design skills are second to none, and with just two releases to his name he has already transformed himself into an artist to watch very closely.

Today Patrick joins the Lapsus crew to present 'Genus', a five track EP that he says "is my most personal release to date, something I've always carried inside and wanted to produce, but had never managed to articulate before". On 'Genus', Delay Grounds preserves the essence of his sound but takes things a step further, with a form ofmaximalist electronica, sprouting powerful torrents of high-pitched and ruff-as-rock avant-techno, glitches and mutant sound elements, combined with sweet and delicate melodies in the purest IDM style. Polishing is provided by sound engineer Nick Earle, with whom Patrick has recorded and remarkably treated a kit of "deconstructed drums" especially for the occasion.

‘Genus’ is 30 minutes of astral travelling, an experience perhaps analogous to what we would feel if we opened a vault, containing music from a lost civilization.

In contrast, the Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack conveys fundamental themes of panic and desperation via varying musical styles. Featuring ambient horror, industrial pieces and rousing militaristic anthems you’ll experience classic orchestral compositions alongside ominous piano underscores, taking you back to Raccoon City’s iconic Police Station, Sewer and Underground Laboratory.

Each soundtrack has been remastered specifically for this release and will be pressed onto audiophile heavyweight, deluxe double-vinyl 180g LPs, on black vinyl.

"Kazakh artist Galya Bisengalieva’s debut album was released by One Little Independent in September 2020 and is a concept record about the shrinking of the Aral Sea, which has been called one of the “20th century’s more jaw-dropping ecological catastrophes, a consequence of the Soviet-era policy of diverting the two tributary rivers to irrigate cotton plants across Central Asia” (NY Times)
Now, roughly a year later, Galya is releasing Aralkum Aralas. In Kazakh aralas means mixed/reworked. Galya has thoughtfully curated a remix album of artists to respond to her work having previously commissioned new work for her label NOMAD Music Productions. Those musicians are; Coby Sey, Jing, Moor Mother, Jlin, CHAINES and Nazira. Galya approached artists whose practise she judged would resonate with her source material and bring new light to the narrative. She was interested in getting responses from artists from diverse backgrounds for their insight into her voice."

Grains is the debut album by Numinos on Mille Plateaux. The Cologne-based producer, DJ, author and lecturer has been writing the tech-reviews in "Groove" for many years, tests equipment for various specialist magazines and teaches at the Institute for Pop Music (IFPOM) and Institute for Computer Music and Electronic Media (ICEM) of the Folkwang University.In his current creative phase, he conceptually deals with the topic of "granular synthesis".
A "grain" is thus, to a certain extent, a tiny spectral snapshot from a larger musical context - an infinitely expandable, flowing intermediate state. This is also where the connection to the cover motif is found that shows the negative of a photograph of a wild field and has been taken Bernd Adamek-Schyma: The negative as an eternal intermediate state between the motif and the developed image. And despite the fact that "Numinos" has a fully equipped studio with a wide range of instruments, the 20 Euro iPad app "Borderlands Granular" turned out to be the creative catalyst that enabled the trained pianist to implement his sound ideas with direct haptic influence.The app gives the Cologne-based sound artist the opportunity to extract tiny fragments from the sample based on their specific tonality, to recontextualize them and thus work out structures that are not audible at the original tempo.
The results are polyrhythmic sound scenes that appear harsh, artificial and strange in a moment, only to transform into contemplative, warm and familiar frequency stratification minutes later. Numinos deceives the listener in many ways. Above all with the supposed rhythm that does not exist. Because in fact almost all granular clusters within the pieces run in completely asynchronous loops. The addition of a simple kick drum then forces the brain to suddenly hear apparent triplets, quintoles or dotted eighths in these mathematically completely chaotic structures, which are purely fallacy.

Over the course of five records to date, JUNO Award-winning Toronto rapper Shad has used an array of old-school tools to tackle modern problems, addressing the indignities and absurdities of our world through a shapeshfiting melange of boom-bap breaks, dusty soul samples, jazzy improvisation, and 10 dollar words rolled into thousand-dollar rhymes. But after weaving his myriad musical and philosophical interests into a narrative socio-political song cycle—2018’s A Short Story About a War—Shad began building his sixth record, TAO, from a much simpler concept: an image of a circle. Though, in true Shad fashion, he saw something much more profound within its basic round boundaries.

“The thing that inspired this record was this image in my mind of a circle, but it’s getting fragmented, and then the pieces start floating away from each other,” he explains. “And that felt to me like a picture of ourselves as individuals. If you think of our humanity as one whole, there’s all these different aspects of that, whether that’s work, or our relationship to the land, or our relationship to the transcendent, or our relationship to our bodies, or to our inner child?”

Nantais by adoption, the Australian Will Guthrie is a discreet star of the international scene of free, experimental and improvised music; over the past fteen years, he has developed an open and personal approach to drums and percussion, skillfully blurring the lines between his brilliant jazz upbringing, his passion for traditional musics, and his inexhaustible interest in experimental and noise creation, with a pronounced taste for a physical and raw approach to sound. With thousands of performances and some fty albums to his credit, the Australian regularly dispenses his vibratory art solo or alongside the best of improvisation; From Oren Ambarchi to Roscoe Mitchell via Jérôme Noetinger, Anthony Pateras, David Maranha, Ava Mendoza, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Keith Rowe or even Mark Fell. In recent months Guthrie has performed with Tunisian singer Ghassen Chiba, toured as part of “All Around”, a performance with Danish dancer choreographer Mette Ingvarsten and founded the Ensemble Nist-Nah, a gamelan orchestra, in the company of eight other percussionists, out of which Black Truf e published an album, with a second on the way. He also found the time to put in shape a second volume of “People Pleaser”, a discographic act between an autographical assessment, the parenthesis and the musical UFO. A singular exercise in Guthrie's discography, “People Pleaser”, a series initiated in 2017, sees the Australian partially put down his drumsticks and wear a producer cap for a result offering a resolutely singular perspective of / on his work with a very personal dimension. On the rst volume, with a cover signed Stephen O'Malley sets the tone by diverting the chamaré Warhol infulenced visual of the album “Unit Structures” by Cecil Taylor. The portrait of the free jazz pianist has been replaced by passport photos of Guthrie. The result is a diversion into a fairly “Pop” aesthetic whose musical content works in a fairly similar way. Four years later, the cover art's undertones are slightly darker and Guthrie hasn't aged a bit on his new passport photo. The twelve tracks of this second “People Pleaser” combine and arrange eld recordings, heady loops, twists, musical quotes stuck on bedside records, recorded moments captured during travels, ghosty voices from low- lands, a police interview tape and imagined exotic sounds ... Guthrie could walk us for hours on his hard drive like looking at a photo album but he chose to build pieces based on this very personal sound material, much like a mixtape, with special care given to how sounds articulate, overlap and collide. He thus invites his heroes and his friends to join him in skilfully chiseled and nely edited imaginary jams. The rst to take pleasure in this “People Pleaser” is undoubtedly its author as some of his nds are enjoyably playful; we are there embarked in an addictive sound patchwork at high speed where a Balinese Squarepusher is propelled via a defective cathode ray tube in a temple where the happy marriage of the saxophone and the gong is celebrated before this too short respite is interrupted by a sustained hip hop rhythm. The multiplicity and variety of sources give the whole a very pop format and the way in which Guthrie combines sounds, textures, rhythms and vocal elements quickly takes on a narrative dimension and poses this exercise between hip hop and a very personal plunderphonic, evoking as much J Dilla or RZA as the irreverent inventiveness of People Like Us or Wobbly. Will Guthrie has never been in as good company as on a solo album, he also lists on the cover the list of friends, heroes, members of his family and countries who inspired him and to whom he pays homage / collage on this new disc; An aesthetic exercise apart in his discography, both in nitely personal and self-centered and resolutely turned towards what animates him, the aptly named “People Pleaser” reveals the music DNA of the Australian and can be listened to on repeat.