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Pauline Hogstrand's music – and Áhkká, in particular – is deeply inspired by both inner and outer influences, by the mystical as well as the rock-solid, by fictitious conversations and the queen mountain of Lappland (Áhkká).

Meaning "the old lady" in Lule Sámi, Áhkká is a barren, wild, exciting, beautiful, and sometimes grumpy mountain regardless of the season. Over the years, the mountain peaks, moss, birch forests, paths, streams, birds and people have shaped the surroundings, and the massif changed them in return - a reflection of a constantly ongoing development and emerging into greatness, surrounding and within. Speaking about why this mountain is so dear to her, the Denmark-based musician shares: "The nature there is harsh and raw and you can easily feel how it's so much bigger than you. Some people might feel overwhelmed or intimidated, but I feel that when acknowledging the greatness and the power nature consists, I can feel one with it. We come from the same source: I am a part of universe, and universe a part of me."

The music appearing on Áhkká (the album) simulates the dualities of ascent and descent, tension and release, inhale and exhale. Through implementing extended structures for analog and digital synthesis and processed acoustic instrumentations – strings, recorder, pipes and field recordings – Hogstrand expertly navigates these dual motions across two side-long pieces.

The opening "Herein" is slow, difficult, at times jagged and unwelcoming; just like climbing up a mountain early in the morning. Hogstrand shares that this piece is "about surrendering and letting go of control", especially during the last 10 minutes of the track which consist almost solely of an insistent and pulsating drone leading you to no man's land. "Magnitude" offers a release, glimpses of beauty, a softer, easier presence; descending, you're able to see beauty where previously you saw obstacles, perhaps the sun is up, breathtaking views in every direction... This piece is "about all that becomes available after letting go. Suddenly sight clears up in front of your eyes," shares the Swedish composer.

The magic ultimately lies in Hogstrand's perception and portrayal of contrasts – she does not view the two as opposites, but as one reality. "One greatness is not compromised by another greatness." In fact, the opposite is true – one without the other loses meaning, depth and context.

Life has changed in the eight years since the release of II. In ours, yours and Gala Drop themselves. Most times without noticing it, partly due to those two years of a semi-existence that still resonates and with the ongoing predatory gentrification process changing the landscape and life of Lisbon, home to the band since ever. Close to a decade and a half of existence, with various mutations along the way enacting new perspectives and moments of stillness and reflection to a sound that's been mutating itself to its own internal rhythm and agency under the guiding light of the core duo of Afonso Simões and Nélson Gomes. Now a trio, with Rui Dâmaso transitioning from II after the departure of Jerry the Cat and Guilherme Canhão, Gala Drop sound even more focused as a working band, with their new album title Amizade – friendship in Portuguese – making perfect sense in a celebration of their, by now, patented soundworld of cosmic inspiration: krautrock's endless and hypnotic potential, dub's sense of transient space, the throb of house, balearic dreams, polyrhythms and a communal sense of belonging.

Again, this sprawling sphere of influence opens itself to new shapes and inspirations, but there's a deeper sense of accuracy and direction, with the band channeling those legacies into something we can only grasp as the Gala Drop sound. An organic outcome of working steadily as a trio, made possible by a residency promoted by gnration in Braga, Amizade dwells on the psychedelic nature of the group through seven tracks made up of dreamy synth washes, loads of percussion, echoes, chilled guitars under a radiant aura. Gala Drop have never sounded as openly dubby as on 'Dub da Meia Noite' and 'Areal Dub' or capable of converging different tropes of the hardcore continuum – rave stabs and cut up vocals – on a slow burner as memorable as 'Monte do Ouro'. Or given free reign to electricity as on the narcotic guitars of 'Guitarra Voadora' – excepting the one off with Ben Chasny on 2012's Broda. 'Amizade' points towards all of that with comforting escapism and wrapping things up 'Raio' turns dubstep's original bass weight meditations into a cosmic funk workout. One last hug before we leave. An album that feels like a collective moment of celebration, just when we most need it.

Afonso Simões - Drums, percussion and synthesizers
Nelson Gomes - Electric guitar and electronics
Rui Dâmaso - Electric bass & guitar and synthesizer

Recorded by Budda Guedes at Estúdio Mobydick, Braga
Mixed by Gala Drop and Hugo Valverde at Estúdio Cão Andaluz, Lisboa
Mastered by Anne Taegert at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlim
Cover photo by Sara Graça
Design by Nicolai Sarbib

Bereits im Kindesalter lernte die junge Sängerin Klavierspielen und schrieb mit acht Jahren schon ihre ersten eigenen Songs. Im Alter von 12 Jahren gewann sie einen Talentwettbewerb, zwei Jahre später erschien ihr Debütalbum „Birdy“, das ihr nicht nur den internationalen Durchbruch bescherte, sondern auch 9x Platin. Zu ihren erfolgreichsten Singles zählt bis heute das Bon Iver Cover ihrer Version zu „Skinny Love“. Auf dem neuen Album „Portraits“ können die Fans sich auf einen neuen Sound der Künstlerin freuen: „Es ist ein Album, das von wichtigen Künstlern der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart inspiriert wurde. Der kunstvolle, jenseitige Pop von Caroline Polachek, Christine and the Queens und Angel Olsen, aber auch die eindringliche, gotische Seite von Kate Bush, das Melodrama von Prince, die elegante Fremdartigkeit der Stimme von Beth Gibbons von Portishead und die Synthesizer-lastige Raffinesse von The Blue Nile“ finden Eingang in das neue Album.

Bereits im Kindesalter lernte die junge Sängerin Klavierspielen und schrieb mit acht Jahren schon ihre ersten eigenen Songs. Im Alter von 12 Jahren gewann sie einen Talentwettbewerb, zwei Jahre später erschien ihr Debütalbum „Birdy“, das ihr nicht nur den internationalen Durchbruch bescherte, sondern auch 9x Platin. Zu ihren erfolgreichsten Singles zählt bis heute das Bon Iver Cover ihrer Version zu „Skinny Love“. Auf dem neuen Album „Portraits“ können die Fans sich auf einen neuen Sound der Künstlerin freuen: „Es ist ein Album, das von wichtigen Künstlern der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart inspiriert wurde. Der kunstvolle, jenseitige Pop von Caroline Polachek, Christine and the Queens und Angel Olsen, aber auch die eindringliche, gotische Seite von Kate Bush, das Melodrama von Prince, die elegante Fremdartigkeit der Stimme von Beth Gibbons von Portishead und die Synthesizer-lastige Raffinesse von The Blue Nile“ finden Eingang in das neue Album.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Portugal. The Man’s Evil Friends. Released in 2013, the album features the singles “Evil Friends”, "Purple Yellow Red and Blue" and "Modern Jesus". On June 30th, Atlantic Records will reissue Evil Friends on white vinyl, and on Clear Vinyl for RSD stores.

Chris Black Changed My Life is the follow-up to 2017's Woodstock and dedicated to their late friend Chris Black, who sometimes acted as their hype man at shows. The album was produced by Jeff Bhasker, and some songs, including "Thunderdome W.T.A," "Summer of Luv," "Time’s a Fantasy," "Champ," and "Anxiety:Clarity"

La MegaCobla: an experienced traditional Catalan cobla wind quartet, born after an improvisation workshop with ZA! two years ago. Pep Moliner, Jordi Casas, Xavi Molina and Xavi Torrent are four of the most reputable and innovative cobla musicians, experts in hacking tradition and using their folk instruments in any modern musical genre.
Tarta Relena, young a capella trans-folk duet that have shook up theire scene. With their use of polyphony and voice FX, Helena Ros and Marta Torrella are digging in the deepest Mediterranean folk repertoire and placing it in the XXIst century with aesthetic renewal.
ZA!: Papadupau & Spazzfrica Ehd are European benchmarks of the underground Do-It-Yourself music community. Their uniquely intense shows, as well as their collective/collaborative work (wokshops, benefit shows, Do-it-Together cooperation) have allowed them to tour the whole world, from Tokyo to Maputo, from Tasmania to Sao Paulo, from New York to Saint Petersburg. Under the premise that avant-garde art is not incompatible with collective horizontal creation, ZA! mix cult, underground and popular music without asking permission.
These three elements come together with the purpose of portraying their own vision of Mediterranean music, filtered by distortion (so current in cognitive, social and identity terms) and psychedelia (so inevitable in an increasingly accelerated and saturated reality). A retro-futuristic journey from folk to free exploring the shores of the Mediterranean, claiming its power as a living core, never as a deadly border.

The TransMegaCobla fuses traditional Mediterranean culture -from bulería to kopanitsa, from gnaoua to sardana- with contemporary culture to create a fictional but deeply human and festive universe. Resurrecting the Phoenician language, the octet seeks common roots to fuse and remake them with contemporary molds such as rock, punk, free jazz and conducted improvisation. A timeless orchestra ready to invent, with real elements, a science-fiction Mediterranean in a parallel reality.

Original release date: September 20, 1979

Along with the 3rd album, another excellent Sanullim album with the highest proportion of Kim Chang-hoon's songs. Based on a more stable and elegant performance than ever before, it is a work that attempted various experiments never before.
The guitar sound using rough fuzz tone and flanger effect, the strong rhythm and groove of the prominent bass line and dynamic drum, the keyboard expressing the rich string effect, and the stronger 'Korean' color are properly harmonized to each song. It conveys a kaleidoscopic, dramatic and refined fascination.

Mysterious and dreamy classic song Let’s Go To The Vineyard with a strong scent of progressive rock, and the Sanullim’s sounding hard rock A Portrait Of A Lady Shaman, the first song written by Kim Chang-wan, Why Are You Leaving Me? It contains songs that deliver new inspiration the more you listen to it.

12" + 7" !

Mind Maze is, amazingly, Trees Speak’s fifth album to be released on Soul Jazz Records in the space of little over two years– an output matched only by the intensity of their music created during this short time.

The first pressing only of the album comes with a bonus seven-inch single containing two tracks that are not available on vinyl anywhere else.
As with all their previous releases, ‘Mind Maze’ is a mind-boggling tightrope walk across an array of musical influences that seamlessly create the unique present-day world of Trees Speak.

The band’s sound is characterized by a combination of German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound; both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries.

Trees Speak are a musical duo based in Tucson, Arizona, composed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz. Their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona, creating a unique and captivating sound that is both experimental and innovative.

Here you will find the myriad sounds of 1970s German electronic music (everything from Can to Cluster, Popul Vuh to Tangerine Dream); 1980s New York post-punk and synthcore (from No Wave to Suicide); John Barry’s 1960s movies, John Carpenter’s 1970s horror. You will also hear the influences of French and Italian progressive rock (Magma, Goblin) as well as cosmic, new age and experimental space soundscapes …. an almost endless list of diverse influences that ebb and flow like an ocean of sound, in the process creating a truly unique soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.

The name Trees Speak reflects their interest in the concept of using future technologies to store information and data in trees and plants, with the idea that trees communicate collectively. This interest in nature and technology, combined with their passion for experimentation, has led Trees Speak to create a truly one-of-a-kind listening experience that is both unique and engaging.

If you ever wanted to hear Can, Neu!, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid, Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrete and Mars in one band - then this is it! Trees Speak are a band that defies categorization and offer an eclectic listening experience, both exciting and memorable.

The two bonus tracks (‘Seraphim’ and ‘Orpheus’) included with the album give us a further window into the complex mind maze of the group - two stunning acoustic tracks that explore a distinct early 70s sound of Yes, Argent and other progressive rock accolytes.

Montreal duo Bas Relief present a collection of rough-cut IDM and pitch-corrected emo on Insulary, a five-song EP out June 2023 on Brooklyn imprint Quiet Time. Written and compiled long distance from threads of bass music-inspired alt pop and guitar recorded in isolation, Insulary is the duo’s first substantial release since 2018. Granulated microglitches fill out the digital drum arrangements, calling on influences Baths and Loraine James, overlaid with warm piano progressions, melancholic guitar loops, and collaged vocal production.

These self-reckoning, forlorn vocals form a patchwork narrative, hazed like a shapeshifted memory, long reconfigured with each conjuring, coherence inconsistent but still there. Recurring dreams find home among recursive passages, self-referencing lyrically and with samples churned through plugins, recorded on loop until you fall upon the most satisfying aha! moment and lock it to the grid. At certain moments all the pieces combine to reminisce in sentimental shards of Porter Robinson or The Postal Service, while never straying from Bas Relief’s own vernacular.

Visiting the past in person simply by walking the routes you took in a life long past, that reenactment of memory, that attempt to capture that which you can’t – it might even be a future – is a central bolt of Insulary’s lyrical content. It’s sentimental, it longs for some past which might not even have existed, and it’s hopeful too, never capitulating to traditional structures in its embrace of unusual stylistic combinations. Insulary – brim-packed with fragments of drum and bass, uptempo electronica, and emo – is but a preview of Bas Relief’s exciting near future

The new Hunter Complex album Airports and Ports arrives today Friday 2 September 2022 on Burning Witches Records and features contributions from Aquiles Navarro (trumpet, Irreversible Entanglements), new age legend Kat Epple (flute, Emerald Web), Alexander Hawkins (piano, Louis Moholo-Moholo), Justin Sweatt (aka Xander Harris, guitar) and Coen Oscar Polack (field recordings). Airports and Ports is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed synth albums Dead Calm and Zero Degrees (Burning Witches, 2020) and Open Sea (Death Waltz, 2019) and takes a new direction with influences from new age, ethereal jazz and krautrock.The gorgeous artwork was created by Luke Insect.For Airports and Ports,

Lars Meijer of Hunter Complex invited musicians from all around the globe to contribute to the album.Meijer: ‘I wanted to know what they would come up with, what new sounds and styles they would bring to my music. My previous album Dead Calm and Zero Degrees came out at the beginning of the Covid crisis in March 2020. I didn’t create music for months, it felt like time stood still. I missed the energy I got from being around people, from seeing concerts, from traveling. Those musicians gave that back to me and inspired me to create and discover new grounds.