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In a joyous reunion after a long, 7-year hiatus, the Neil Cowley Trio reconvene giving rise to a creatively inspired recording, 'Entity', their 7th studio album. In 2006 the Neil Cowley Trio burst onto the scene with an exciting sound that fizzed with energy; their muscular anthems, galloping grooves and tender moments placed them at the forefront of the new 'post jazz' movement, paving the way for 6 highly acclaimed albums over 10 years. Cowley then pressed 'pause' to pursue a solo career - no less successful - with a focus on electronica. Now, stirred by his extended time of solitary music making, he makes a firm statement about the joy, comfort and the rewards of human connection in the digital age. Joining Cowley are his close musical allies, bassist Rex Horan and drummer Evan Jenkins; three friends giving their all to each other. Cowley is a brilliant composer and dazzling pianist and the trio flame still burns bright. 'Entity' is a magnificent return to form cementing the 'Neil Cowley Trio sound' - head-nodding wonky grooves, killer melodies, emotionally charged pieces with a glass like fragility laced throughout. It is a mature, sophisticated album of deeply impassioned music, delicate beauty, hooks aplenty and an ode to friendship.

British Folk-Rock Post-Punk duo, The Waeve, return with their latest guitar driven romp, City Lights. Graham Coxon (blur) + Rose Elinor Dougall return with the follow-up to last year's acclaimed eponymous debut (Top 30 UK OCC). Produced by James Ford (Fontaines DC, Arctic Monkeys), the record features both artists on vocal duties in addition to playing a host of instruments including saxophone, keyboards and drums. The WAEVE have established themselves as a songwriting partnership to watch and with City Lights they further push the boundaries of their collaborative creativity, using this album to chronicle the evolution of their relationship and forays into parenthood. City Lights is presented in a beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Matt de Jong (Blur, Arlo Parks). The title track was released in May and added to the 6Music playlist, as well as garnering coverage on NME, DIY, Stereogum, Under The Radar + more. At this point the band were main support to Elbow across a full UK arena tour, in addition to their own sold-out headline show at London's Hoxton Hall. This summer sees them play large scale shows with Noel Gallagher, Breeders plus Green Man Festival and their own headline show at Village Underground on 29.10, with a full album tour to follow in the spring.

"A Singular Blend of Dynamic Post-Pop & Electronic Production Featuring The Vibraphonist’s Remarkable Quartet Special Guests Gerald Clayton and Marquis Hill Named One Of Downbeat's 25 For The Future

“His music is fresh, it speaks to everyone. Never heard anyone play vibes like that before.” -Herbie Hancock

“Best vibes player I’ve heard...” -Quincy Jones

In discussing Elements of Light, his fifth album as a leader, the vibraphonist-composer Simon Moullier often returns to a specific term: unfolding.

“This is an important word — the unfolding of a song,” says Moullier, who was born in France and lives in New York. “It’s something I’m very attached to, and something I’m always working on.” As he explains, many of his essential influences —Wayne Shorter, Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Ravel, — have been masterful unfolders in their writing. Moullier admires the movement and design in their music and harmony, the way one section of a tune leads into the next, everything flowing in a natural, beautiful, inviting way. Even the most serious intellectual musical concepts are rendered with a directness, a simplicity that can captivate a general audience. “For me, no matter how complex an idea can get,” he says, “clarity is always key.”

That’s a mature, evolved outlook for a millennial jazz musician to embrace, and it’s shared among Moullier’s youthful quartet featuring pianist Lex Korten, bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Jongkuk “JK” Kim. What’s more, these musicians of astonishing technical facility interact with the selflessness and good taste that Moullier’s song-focused music requires; to say it another way, they use their virtuosity to make the bandleader’s compositions sound as human and affecting as possible — never to preen."

"Natural Palace is real wave, where the city lights have dimmers and adjust to the vision of the night. They get bright before an afterparty, can ease some shade for a cooldown celebration or spark the shine upon your day. It all started as a distant dream between four friends with a love for '90s dance, '80s AOR and '70s downtown. The dream started to become a fever during a self-imposed recording lock-in. Now, the doors of the Natural Palace are ready to be opened as a post-pan band with songs that could be welcomed on the mid-level of a three-story German dance emporium and in the back rooms of laundromats on future retro nights.

RIYL: Throwing on ""Dewdrops in the Garden"" at the first signs of spring, smoke machines with extra fog juice, hanging out with Howard Jones in a HoJo lobby, Black Box dance parties with Neneh Cherry on top."

Frederik Valentin is a Danish musician, writer and producer. He has been active since the early 2000’s, playing a key role in the Danish rock, electronic and pop scenes. Having collaborated with landmark labels like Posh Isolation and produced each of Yung Lean’s “Jonatan Leandoer96” projects, Valentin has reinvented himself over and over again. ROCK N ROLL WILL NEVER DIE is his latest solo LP, a collection of rock-inflected dance music that calls to mind the scandi alt-pop of the Tough Alliance and JJ.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio to Russian parents, Alina Baraz has been around music all her life. With both parents having classical training, she was destined to find her voice through music. Almost immediately after the release of her first single, “Roses Dipped in Gold” at age 19, Baraz and her family moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career as a singer/songwriter full time.In 2015, Baraz released her debut project, Urban Flora. The acclaimed project was praised by the Guardian, NPR, Huffington Post, Harpers Bazaar and many more, and sat on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart for over 125 weeks, peaking at #2. In January of 2017, she released the viral single “Electric” ft. Khalid, which has been streamed over 190M times and counting. In 2018 she released The Color of You, enlisting Grammy-nominated producer Robin Hannibal (Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris, Cee Lo Green) to help produce the project Baraz has been in the works of a special project, leading with her single “Trust” as her first release of 2020.

Saint Julian had established Julian Cope as something of an establishment anti-hero and audiences, who'd been reacquainted with him were expecting more of the same. Instead, Cope changed his band line-up and attempted to mix funk and Krautrock on his new material; Chris Blackwell paired him with veteran US producer Ron Fair. The album produced three singles including "Charlotte Anne" which was a minor hit in the US. Album opener, "5 O'Clock World", a cover of a 1965 Vogues song, is light and poppy and the seven-minute title track, complete with strings and a harmonica solo, is one of the greatest (and perhaps only) attempts to merge go-go beats with post punk. There is a great deal to enjoy on My Nation Underground, underlining as it does Julian Cope's desire to continually push the envelope. My Nation Underground is an album ripe for rediscovery - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1988 Mercury Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

Signed to Island Records, his Iggy Pop/Jim Morrison side was cultivated, the weirdness dialled down, leathers were worn and a rock'n'roll microphone stand was utilised. The lead track "World Shut Your Mouth" gave Cope his first solo UK Top 20 hit, a big, brash slice of garage rock, it was a post-punk equivalent to David Bowie returning with Let's Dance; simple, straightforward. Backed by what Cope called his 'two-car garage band', the album reached No 11 in the UK chart, his highest placing to date whether solo or in The Teardrop Explodes, it also entered the US Billboard Hot 200. It's not all straight-ahead stomp, the eight minute closer "A Crack In The Clouds" harks back to the Teardrop Explodes' Wilder, and Kate St. John's oboe on the title track evokes his Mercury albums. Released in March 1987, Saint Julian was seen as a storming return to form for Julian Cope - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1987 Mercury Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

From Quinteros’ early rockabilly singles to his San Fran folk rock with the Au-Go Go’s, this collection highlights his Brent singles along with unissued material, acetates, demos & outtakes! Includes a booklet with liner notes & an interview with Eddie!

Eddie Quinteros was one precocious kid. Before he was old enough to drive, he was singing on live TV and flying to Hawai’i to rock out at stadium gigs. When his contemporaries were still in high school, he was hitting the charts with a tune he wrote himself, playing on an Alan Freed package tour, and making multiple appearances on American Bandstand. And before the San Francisco singer/guitarist was out of his teens, he’d already been screwed over by a shifty manager and sworn off the music business.

Along the way, Quinteros cut a handful of jumping singles showing that if he’d had the right breaks, he could have altered history. Ritchie Valens wouldn’t have been the era’s only Chicano rock ‘n’ roll hero. Quinteros’ Southern rockabilly influences are audible in his early singles, but they’re filtered through the more citified point of view of a San Francisco teen. And in the mid ‘60s, he reinvented himself as the frontman for the Au Go-Go’s, turning out a chiming, folk-rock flavored sound more in line with labelmates and fellow S.F.’ers the Beau Brummels.

All of Ed’s recorded output only amounted to a handful of 45s, but this collection sets things straight for posterity, featuring demos, unreleased tracks, live recordings, and acetates.

Jaz Karis is getting ready to take off. The South London singer and songwriter has been making waves with her silky voice and lyrical, candid pen since her first EP back in 2017, building herself up steadily over the years. 2024 will see the long-awaited arrival of Jaz Karis' debut album, Safe Flight, . It's a record that spans a breadth of sonics: slinky Afrobeats, gleaming R&B, warm gospel, shimmering flecks of pop, hiphop, jazz and amapiano, all woven through with the glowing thread of Jaz's signature soulful feeling. "Soul to me is a feeling," she explains, "All I want to do with my music is evoke feelings."

The imagery for this album all pertains to identity and travel - IDs, lanyards, nostalgia-tinged film footage - and in turn, it all alludes to the path that Jaz Karis is on. Safe Flight finds an accomplished, assured artist reflecting on where she's been and ready to step up to the next level: a star on the rise but still deeply down to earth. At once soulful, vibey and poignant, this is an album about embracing possibility, admitting mistakes, and trusting the process. "It's about getting free," Jaz says with a smile, "And it's not that I have it all figured out now or anything, but I'm on this learning curve. There's something exciting about being on the journey."

"Do you dream too?" Tomemitsu"s Martin Roark asks on his sophomore album with Friends of Friends Music. The question is also what stemmed from the album title, "Dream 2", a shorthand written in the lyrics. "Dream 2" is quite possibly Tomemitsu"s dreamiest LP, if not his most diverse. It is brimming with both new territory and nods to his past. This record reveals a more buoyant side to accompany his traditionally spaced out productions.

Rhetoric & Terror is Berlin-based Hemphill’s second album since leaving Liars back in 2016.

No stranger to reinventing his approach towards composition, Rhetoric & Terror feels like we are – perhaps for the first time – opening a doorway into Hemphill’s personal life, to his disparate sonic influences, his wide-ranging journeys through philosophy, and his own reflections on his role as an artist.

Like different thoughts and feelings emerging in a state of meditation, Hemphill invites you to pause on one ‘scene’ for a moment before moving onto the next. There’s space to get lost here – both emotionally and in the colour of the album’s wide-ranging textures.

With his wife Angelika Kaswalder on vocals throughout the album and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Henderson – a longtime friend of Hemphill’s since Henderson’s time in the post- hardcore band The Blood Brothers - adding woodwind, Nonpareils is no longer simply a solo project – and it’s apparent in this openness.

The name of the album – Rhetoric & Terror – describes this split that Hemphill is making from the conceptual nature of his first solo album (2018’s Scented Pictures), and the new direction that he – perhaps – hopes to continue taking. The title comes from a chapter in Giorgio Agamben’s book, “The Man Without Content”, where he describes the concepts of rhetoric and terror to describe two different types of writers: the rhetorician and the terrorist. The terrorist is a misologist who is only into the feeling; the rhetorician is committed to logic and form.

“With Rhetoric & Terror, I wanted to start with emotions and feeling. I was playing with my kids, listening to Cocteau Twins, I have a wonderful partner, and it seemed very contrary to any sort of growth to sequester myself from this life in order to get into character as a musician. Instead, I tried to remove the boundaries between my creative life and my. responsibilities and have it all be one fluid thing. All things at all times, and trust that this will guide my music rather than more intellectual concepts or limitations.”

Despite its catalysts being in philosophy and conceptual art, Hemphill has created an album that’s deeply “emotionally available”. It’s also helped him take a new stance on life that combines his life as a partner and parent in a kind of unity with his role as the artist. It’s plain to hear as a listener – Rhetoric & Terror, despite its intimidating name, is welcoming
and playful, even during its most intense moments.

"They are the Finnish / Dutch / British troupe NIGHTWISH – one of the most fascinating rock bands of the last decades, whose enigmatic paths have proceeded from acoustic passages to symphonic heavy metal and from catchy folk to progressive majesty. If there is one trait the band has year after year, it might be this: expect something familiar but also expect the unexpected. NIGHTWISH has indeed broken all kinds of boundaries – never deliberately, but perfectly naturally.
Now guess what? NIGHTWISH's new studio album ""Yesterwynde"" – the band's tenth overall – is no exception to the rule. But it is more...

“""Yesterwynde"" took more time to make than any previous NIGHTWISH album”, nods keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, who once again envisioned most of the material. ""The new album was intensively worked on for 3,5 years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn't let go of the creative process – and didn't want to. Along the way, ""Yesterwynde"" became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making – compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing and so on – were given more attention than ever before.""
The result? There's a fascinating, but inexplicable feeling that NIGHTWISH has once again been able to find unprecedented nuances, spices and perspectives in their new works – exactly: after a career of nine classic albums. """"Yesterwynde"" is an experience that takes time to digest. The gravid ingredients of the songs are easily recognizable, but beneath the surface lies a large number of intriguing details and features"", Holopainen describes.

""It's interesting – but not surprising – that ""Yesterwynde"" has attracted quite a variety of opinions. Some have stated that it is the most 'band' record to date. For some it appears to be the heaviest and most ominous NIGHTWISH release. It has also been called our most progressive album. And the list goes on.""
And what does Tuomas think of it himself?
""To me, ""Yesterwynde"" sounds, tastes and feels strongly like the true essence of NIGHTWISH – enriched with new moods and flavors.""

The lyrics of ""Yesterwynde"" deal with large-sized universal themes: memories, mortality, humanism, time and much more. ""The new album is the conclusion of the trilogy – textually it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors ""Endless Forms Most Beautiful"" and ""Human. :II: Nature."""", Holopainen says. ""At the same time, ""Yesterwynde"" is the band's most lyrically driven album: our music has never been so 'married' to the lyrics. So here's a tip: if something in the composition puzzles you, the words might clear it up.""
""For me, one of the key lines is 'we are because of a million loves' – taken from the song ""Perfume of the Timeless"". Each of us is part of an unbroken chain that stretches back billions of years. If even one of your ancestors had died too young – mauled by a cave bear, for example – during this incredibly long period of time, you would never have been born. In other words: our existence is such an unfathomable privilege!”

What does the term 'yesterwynde' mean?
""It describes a feeling that cannot be found in any human language. That's why we had to invent a whole new word. The album is supposed to open that feeling to the listener.""
Without taking anything away from the solid delivery of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Kai Hahto, bassist Jukka Koskinen and multi-instrumentalist/singer Troy Donockley, it might be worth highlighting one fact: the performance of the eloquent storyteller Floor Jansen is once again unparalleled. It is simply breathtaking how the singer is able to make songs fly with her performance. ""Floor's second child was born just over a month ago, and we hadn't rehearsed together at all... So it was a little nerve-wracking to go to Floor's home studio for vocal recordings. Well, what happened? We had booked twelve working days and after six days everything was completed in style. Floor's preparedness for the sessions was something extreme!""

After the recordings and mixing process, there was one more working phase. Mastering. Could you possibly guess that no shortcuts were taken at this point either?
""The album was mastered seven times until we reached the finish line – one hundred percent satisfied!"", states Tuomas. ""When the record was eventually finished, a three-year, extremely inspiring adventure had come to an end. I felt very, very happy.""
NIGHTWISH's next steps are clear. And they are not the most common ones.
""NIGHTWISH will not go on a world tour this time. This was a decision made for personal reasons. But don't worry... Our contract with Nuclear Blast Records includes several albums, and there's plenty of motivation to create new music!""
May the dream continue...
"

"They are the Finnish / Dutch / British troupe NIGHTWISH – one of the most fascinating rock bands of the last decades, whose enigmatic paths have proceeded from acoustic passages to symphonic heavy metal and from catchy folk to progressive majesty. If there is one trait the band has year after year, it might be this: expect something familiar but also expect the unexpected. NIGHTWISH has indeed broken all kinds of boundaries – never deliberately, but perfectly naturally.
Now guess what? NIGHTWISH's new studio album ""Yesterwynde"" – the band's tenth overall – is no exception to the rule. But it is more...

“""Yesterwynde"" took more time to make than any previous NIGHTWISH album”, nods keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, who once again envisioned most of the material. ""The new album was intensively worked on for 3,5 years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn't let go of the creative process – and didn't want to. Along the way, ""Yesterwynde"" became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making – compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing and so on – were given more attention than ever before.""
The result? There's a fascinating, but inexplicable feeling that NIGHTWISH has once again been able to find unprecedented nuances, spices and perspectives in their new works – exactly: after a career of nine classic albums. """"Yesterwynde"" is an experience that takes time to digest. The gravid ingredients of the songs are easily recognizable, but beneath the surface lies a large number of intriguing details and features"", Holopainen describes.

""It's interesting – but not surprising – that ""Yesterwynde"" has attracted quite a variety of opinions. Some have stated that it is the most 'band' record to date. For some it appears to be the heaviest and most ominous NIGHTWISH release. It has also been called our most progressive album. And the list goes on.""
And what does Tuomas think of it himself?
""To me, ""Yesterwynde"" sounds, tastes and feels strongly like the true essence of NIGHTWISH – enriched with new moods and flavors.""

The lyrics of ""Yesterwynde"" deal with large-sized universal themes: memories, mortality, humanism, time and much more. ""The new album is the conclusion of the trilogy – textually it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors ""Endless Forms Most Beautiful"" and ""Human. :II: Nature."""", Holopainen says. ""At the same time, ""Yesterwynde"" is the band's most lyrically driven album: our music has never been so 'married' to the lyrics. So here's a tip: if something in the composition puzzles you, the words might clear it up.""
""For me, one of the key lines is 'we are because of a million loves' – taken from the song ""Perfume of the Timeless"". Each of us is part of an unbroken chain that stretches back billions of years. If even one of your ancestors had died too young – mauled by a cave bear, for example – during this incredibly long period of time, you would never have been born. In other words: our existence is such an unfathomable privilege!”

What does the term 'yesterwynde' mean?
""It describes a feeling that cannot be found in any human language. That's why we had to invent a whole new word. The album is supposed to open that feeling to the listener.""
Without taking anything away from the solid delivery of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Kai Hahto, bassist Jukka Koskinen and multi-instrumentalist/singer Troy Donockley, it might be worth highlighting one fact: the performance of the eloquent storyteller Floor Jansen is once again unparalleled. It is simply breathtaking how the singer is able to make songs fly with her performance. ""Floor's second child was born just over a month ago, and we hadn't rehearsed together at all... So it was a little nerve-wracking to go to Floor's home studio for vocal recordings. Well, what happened? We had booked twelve working days and after six days everything was completed in style. Floor's preparedness for the sessions was something extreme!""

After the recordings and mixing process, there was one more working phase. Mastering. Could you possibly guess that no shortcuts were taken at this point either?
""The album was mastered seven times until we reached the finish line – one hundred percent satisfied!"", states Tuomas. ""When the record was eventually finished, a three-year, extremely inspiring adventure had come to an end. I felt very, very happy.""
NIGHTWISH's next steps are clear. And they are not the most common ones.
""NIGHTWISH will not go on a world tour this time. This was a decision made for personal reasons. But don't worry... Our contract with Nuclear Blast Records includes several albums, and there's plenty of motivation to create new music!""
May the dream continue...
"

For years, Benjamin Herman has formed a frighteningly tight trio with Ernst Glerum and Joost Patočka. Whether its compositions from Misha Mengelberg, jazz evergreens or original works, these are all interpreted with vision and “rollicking virtuosity’’ (Volkskrant). Erupting from Herman's creative spirit and the two worlds of Glerum (ICP Orchestra) and Patočka (Rita Reys), the formation’s work is always of the highest class.

The new album Trouble with the young and exceptionally talented singer/pianist Daniel von Piekartz adds a new chapter to their collaboration. Songs from Fats Waller, Henry Mancini and Sly Stone get a postmodern make-over that will inspire many concert-goers to willingly miss that last tram home. And naturally, the musical fireworks that we’ve come accustomed are still

Combining the signature soundscapes of Scorn with tartareous textures, the current album "The Only Place" reaches a psychedelic groove, based on what Harris calls "Pushing an original idea further" with his own shades of light and dark and celestial electricity of what SCORN is. These 10 tracks add elements unheard in Scorn since Evanescense and Gyral - ethereal ambiences and floating, near-melodic-but-not-quite moments, a signature of Harris' abilities to generate feelings in a lost world of his own creation. Mick Harris is one of the world's greatest compositional treasures. Starting his career as the energy dynamo behind the drum kit of the UK's Napalm Death, he made the term Blastbeat a household reference, wrote the band's music on his mother's one string guitar, and joined the Guinness Book of World Records for composing the world's shortest song. In the decades succeeding, he has re-inventedmusic several more times, from the wild abstract jazz of Painkiller with John Zorn and Bill Laswell, to the drowning ambience of his Lull project, all while continuing to build a world that he can truly call his own - the dark post-dub of SCORN. "Reaching 54 this year - this won't stop the challenge, driving me more so now than ever" - says Mick Harris, commenting on the recent phase in his creativity. The pandemic isolation and lockdown pushed the work of the maestro more than anything else could have. In 2021, his output is ever-increasing, releasing the newest collabs with Justin K. Broadrick and the single "Distortion", featuring one of the most outstanding voices of hip-hop - Kool Keith - his closest collaborator, Ohm Resistance founder - Submerged. Commenting on the release of "Distortion", Mick Harris said to mxdwn: "I enjoy collabs - they bring something different to the swim." Working on his own and collaborating with everyone from Sleaford Mods' James Williamson, on the previous SCORN release or with Kool Keith and Submerged on "Distortion", Mick Harris never had problems with putting energy into beats and sound landscapes, combining various surreal elements with three basic elements that always push Harris further, that are extremely crucial for both Mick Harris and SCORN as a project - frustration, anger and anxiety. 2024 vinyl version on orange coloured vinyl!

After their internationally successful releases 'Mosaic' and 'Babel', Dutch band Lesoir launches their new full-length album 'Push Back the Horizon'. With this album, the band shows its most melodic side. 'Push Back The Horizon' is characterised by traditional song structures, catchy hooks and a groovy rhythm section, with the pinch of prog this five-piece is known for. The 10 songs are inspired by the collective challenges humanity faces and the glimmers of hope from which we draw positive energy to push boundaries. 'Push Back The Horizon' was produced by John Cornfield, known for his work with Muse, Kashmir, Razorlight, Supergrass, New Model Army and Ben Howard.

REISSUED!!! Received an 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. "Sadly, many will hear Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt's latest LP, Made Out of Sound, as 'not-jazz,' though it would be more aptly described as 'not-not-jazz.' In a better world, it would warrant above-the-fold reviews in Downbeat, or an appearance on David Sanborn's late-night show (if someone would only give it back to him). More likely, we can hope for a haiku review on Byron Coley's Twitter timeline to sufficiently connect the various improvised terrains trodden by this long-time duo—but if you've been able to listen past the overmodulated icepick fidelity of Harry Pussy, it should surprise you not an iota that Orcutt's style is rooted as much in the fractal melodies of Trane and Taylor as it is in Delta syrup or Tin Pan Alley glitz. As for Corsano, well, it may seem daft to call this particular record 'jazz' (because duh, it has a drummer), but to me Corsano is beyond jazz, almost beyond music, his ambidextrous, octopoid technique grappling many stylistic levers and spraying a torrent of light from every direction. Corsano's ferocity has elevated many 'mere' improv records to transcendence, but here he's crafted his polyrhythms within more narrative channels, bringing to mind his 'mannered' playing in the lamented Flower-Corsano duo. It's not 'groove' playing precisely, but it follows many grooves simultaneously, much like Orcutt's own melodic musings—which is why they're so naturally lock-in-key here. Which maybe makes it all the more surprising that Made Out of Sound was in fact recorded in different rooms on different coasts at different times, and stitched together by Orcutt on his desktop. Corsano recorded the drums in Ithaca, NY, and (as Orcutt states), 'I didn't edit them at all. I overdubbed two guitar tracks, panned left/right. I'd listen to the drums a couple times, pick a tuning, then improvise a part, thinking of the first track as backing and the second as the 'lead', though those are pretty fluid terms. I was watching the waveforms as I was recording, so I could see when a crescendo was coming or when to bring it down.' Fluidity ties the tracks together. With a little more groove and a little less around-the-beat maneuvering, one could almost hear the boiling harmonic layers as Miles-oid in 'Man Carrying Thing,' but with new-found Sharrockian modalities, Corsano accentuating the tumbling nature of the falling notes. The Sharrock vein continues with 'How to Cook a Wolf,' its Blind Willie-esque melodic simplicity and repetition extrapolated 360-style in a repetitive descending riff that falls into Cippolina-isms (by way of Verlaine ) until the end crashes upon the shore. Much like Orcutt's last solo album, Odds Against Tomorrow, there's a gentler, almost pastoral flow to some tracks ('Some Tennessee Jar,' 'A Port in Air,' 'Thirteen Ways of Looking') that calls to mind the mixolydian swamplands of Lonnie Liston Smith—but unlike Odds , other tracks ('The Thing Itself') smash that same lyricism into overdriven, multi-dimensional melodic clumps that push several vector envelopes at once in an Interstellar Space vein. With the help of Corsano, Orcutt has managed to slither even further out of the noise/improv pigeonhole lazy listeners/writers keep trying to shove him into. Looking at the back cover of Made Out of Sound , we should not see Orcutt hurling a guitar into the air with post-punk bravado, Corsano toiling behind him in the engine room—we should witness an instrument levitating from his hands, rising on invisible major-key tendrils of melody, fired by percussion, spiraling into an invisible event horizon..."—Tom Carter

“The Firebird” is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of

Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses

for its owner. The Firebird’s mortal and supernatural elements are distinguished with a system of leitmotifs placed in the harmony dubbed

“leit-harmony”. Stravinsky intentionally used many specialist techniques in the orchestra, including ponticello, col legno, flautando, glissando,

and flutter-tonguing. Set in the evil immortal Koschei’s castle, the ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles Koschei with the help of the magical Firebird.

Recorded in 1961 by The Columbia Symphony Orchestra.

This version in limited pressed on Solid Orange vinyl.

Jeffrey Lewis’s 2015 masterpiece ‘Manhattan’ in random-colour reground vinyl. “Lewis’s catchiest and finest album” - (Grade: A) Vice. Blang Records are thrilled to announce they’ll be bringing the wild streets of Manhattan to the UK and Europe this autumn with the vinyl re-release of Jeffrey Lewis’s 2015 masterpiece ‘Manhattan’. The LP sold out of its first pressing and has been impossible to buy anywhere for years…until now. Out on exclusive Random Mix Colour Reground EcoVinyl in record shops from 20th September. Blang Records and Jeffrey Lewis have history: before Blang was a label, it started life as a live night at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, hosting many a set of the NY Antifolk artists over on UK shores, including Jeffrey Lewis. Now 20+ years since Jeffrey first played Blang, it feels fitting that tour support comes from UK antifolk linchpins, Blang Records mainstay, and arguably one of the UKs most criminally underrated bands, David Cronenberg’s Wife (“A mix of 80’s fall and the Velvet Underground” - NME). Native New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis is a comic book writer/artist and a musician. A cult hero birthed from the now infamous antifolk movement that sprung up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 90s, Jeffrey has released dozens of albums showcasing his unique blend of bleakly witty observations, scratchy, lo-fi punk and croaky folk/anti-folk, all firmly rooted in a strong DIY sensibility. Jeffrey and his band have toured the world multiple times over, released albums on Rough Trade, Moshi Moshi and Don GIovanni Records, and have been featured by NPR, The History Channel, The NY Times and more. ‘Manhattan’ was mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Phosphorescent, War On Drugs) and recorded by Brian Speaker at SpeakerSonic Studios NY, produced by Brian Speaker and Jeffrey Lewis. “We’ve been fans of Jeffrey Lewis since seeing him at the Sidewalk Cafe in 2001, so we’re really really pleased to be really-re-releasing the excellent album ‘Manhattan’ just in time for his September UK Tour. This all started when Jeffrey asked for help looking after his merch after his UK tour finished last year and we said we’d help him press some records in Europe from a UK address as the postage costs from the US were way too much. This ultimately led to us re-releasing his classic album (and respectful nod to Lou Reed's New York) ‘Manhattan’. It's beyond a dream come true. Blang is the home of fantastic lyricists and that's exactly what Jeffrey is - this is a perfect fit.” - Blang Records. “Jeffrey Lewis is an amazing musician, and if you don’t know his songs you probably have a hole in your heart that can only be filled by his words… I did!” – Regina Spektor. “Jeffrey is the best pure songwriter I know of… ‘Sad Screaming Old Man’… is one of my favourite songs ever written.” – David Berman, Silver Jews. Tour Dates: Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage, w/ support from David Cronenberg’s Wife - Aug 29th Hertford – Corn Exchange, 30th Coventry – The Tin Music & Arts, Sept 1st Stockton-on-Tees – Georgian Theatre, 2nd York – The Crescent, 3rd Stirling, Scotland – The Tolbooth, 4th Birkenhead – Future Yard, 5th !SOLD OUT! – Halifax – The Grayston Unity, 6th Norwich – Norwich Arts Centre, 7th Northampton – The Black Prince, 8th Carmarthen – CWRW, 9th Nottingham – The Old Cold Store, 10th Southampton – The Joiners Arms, 11th Hastings – The Pig // Jeffrey Lewis solo: 12th London – West Hampstead Arts Center, 13th London – West Hampstead Arts Center

Mermaid Chunky. It's all in a name, sometimes. The danceable, costumed, curiosity rich duo of artists Freya Tate and Moina Moin are as imaginative as they profess. Or, to get more to the point, as we all need them to be. Freya and Moina are two visual artists and musicians from Stroud and South London, places where they importantly found communities (Stroud's SVA and the capital's Total Refreshment Centre) of like minded people just as willing to chase down an idea to its possibly illogical conclusion. And it is in the collective and the idea of participation that Mermaid Chunky really clicks. This is a party, a collective dance, made all the better with more: people, ideas, layers, kick drums, recorders, saxophones, frogs. To wit, the album's first track and first single, "Céilí," named after a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering and dance, which builds from a simple recorder line into a swelling, warm burst of major chord dance music. Goosebumps or check your pulse. Further down the rabbit hole, "Chaperone" is almost boardwalk electro, like Fischerspooner on a ferris wheel; "Frogsporn" and "Nature Girl" are mucky, trippy dirges filled with stalactites of synth and squelch; "Tiny Gymnast" is a kaleidoscopic waltz into the night. Hold onto your seats, ladies and gentlemen. You might be wondering how we, DFA Records, all the way over in cynical Brooklyn, entered the picture. There was a day a few years ago, sun shining in full Springtime splendor, when James heard something while waiting for a coffee down the street from the office. It sounded simple yet deceptively complex: a dance track, but one where the one - that anchoring first beat in a measure - could be heard a thousand different ways. Frustrated and interested, he Shazamd the song, playing at the shop from an episode of Zakia's Questing show on NTS, and brought it back to the office, where we all listened to it about fifty times. (The song was "Friends," from Mermaid Chunky's VEST EP, released in 2020. It led to an invitation to open for LCD at Brixton Academy in 2022. Mermaid Chunky has also played live alongside The Comet Is Coming, Alabastair Deplume, Snapped Ankles, and many others.) Thus began our search for Mermaid Chunky. A quest it has been and a quest it will always be.

ERIN Collective is an ensemble of musicians from the Bologna scene born in March 2022 from an idea/project by Gionata Lazzari
shared over time by Valentino Pirino, Filippo Cassani, Andrea Lazzari, Marcello Pala, Federico Magazzeni, Giuseppe Sardina and
Francesco Antico. Their repertoire, inspired by the Afrobeat of the 70s, is composed of original songs written by Pirino/Lazzari and
arranged together with the other members of the group. The style looks to Afrobeat and some of its artists such as Fela Kuti, and
Ebo Taylor, but also focuses on contemporaneity and other artists such as Antibalas, Budos Band, Tony Allen and other sounds from
other areas of Africa. “Alternative Positive”, anticipated by the singles “Kalam Layl” and “Alafia” is their first LP, which follows the
release of the Ep “Same Blood” in 2023 and which marks the meeting between the band and the label Irma Records. The album,
strongly influenced by Afrobeat sounds with funk nuances, contains 8 original songs written by Pirino / Lazzari and arranged together with the other members of the group, three of which are instrumental, 4 sung by the Nigerian artist Devon Miles and one by the
Moroccan artist Reda Zine. The songs on “Alternative Positive” all have a social value: for ERIN Collective, music takes a stand
against inequalities and tries to break down borders and barriers, calling on everyone to commit themselves to rights for peace for
resistance to racism and inequalities of all kinds. All this requires commitment and a choice. Music makes you dance, makes you
smile, raises your spirits, creates bonds. ÈRÍN means smile, laughter in Yoruba language and it is through this attitude that one can
meet the other and that one can defeat fears, borders, cultural differences, hatred and wars. The titles and the meaning of the lyrics
of this debut album recall this horizon.

A year after the release of the acclaimed Bright Magus album, the first remixes of the project dedicated to Miles Davis' electric turn in the 70s are out. The Bright Magus 'Super' Team, a sort of super group of musicians from the Italian alternative indie scene, has received unanimous acclaim from European critics and this positive wave has also struck many musicians and producers in the industry, including Luca LTJ Xperience Trevisi and Luca Dj Rocca Roccatagliati
who in this single remix respectively the title track of the album Jungle Cover, As Way (with Enrico Gabrielli from Calibro 35 as a super guest) and Selim/Miles, the most Davisian track of the project. Nu Fusion could be a new musical genre term suitable for this unusual sound that comes from it. Dance, Funk and Fusion mixed together.

The relationship between our star, the source that gives us life and the land we occupy during this transcendental process is one of sensitivity and compassion. Topography and rock settlements are positioned as conductive posts of energy. An energy line wrapping around a planet that straddles between the past, the present and the future. And on this land, exists an engineered string of energy called the 37th Parallel. Time Travel, multi-dimensional activity, healing, spiritual transition and rejuvenations in the supernatural respect and other powers we've yet to discover and realize.

Alice Taylor was a popular session singer who sang background vocals for several local Philly groups including The Delfonics during the height of the Philly Soul boom of the early to mid-1970’s.

In 1974 Alice under the auspice of producer Emanuel ‘Manny’ Campbell Jr and fellow Philadelphian musician/composer Charles R. Bowen entered the famed Sound Room Studios in Upper Dardy PA, to record a session of her own. This session yielded two songs. The more commercial pop soul orientated “(I’m In Love With A) Rock ‘n’ Roll Singin’ Superstar”. A song which took influences from other popular songs of the time that mentioned one’s love for Rock ‘n’ Roll singers and taking road trips to L.A (Los Angeles) in an attempt to cash in. Although the elongated song title may at first be a tad off-putting the recording showcases Alice’s vocal talents to the full and in itself is a very good record. The second song “Sounds Ridiculous” is based around the theme of a girl falling in love with a guy who spends most of his time daydreaming rather than getting a regular 9-5 job. An excellent record that should find favour with 70’s/crossover soul fans alike.



Manny Campbell Jr used some of Philadelphia’s finest musicians on Alice’s session, notably session drummer Earl Young, reputedly the first exponent of the hi-hat cymbal a style of drumming used extensively throughout the disco period. Young had honed his skills during the 1960’s with his band The Volcanos, recording sessions for the Arctic and Harthon Record Labels. The Volcanos later became The Moods before morphing into The Trammps who Young recorded on his Golden Fleece Label with the group recording several further disco hits for Buddah Records prior to their worldwide hit “Disco Inferno” for Atlantic Records. Young’s strumming can be found on many other Philadelphia International, Sal Soul and MFSB recordings. The string and horn arrangements on the session were provided by another MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother) pool of musician’s member, Don Renaldo.



“I’m In Love With A) Rock ’n’ Roll Superstar/Sounds Ridiculous” came out in November of 1975 as an initial pressing run of 500 copies for promotional use which sadly were not of the best quality with some background noise being present in the introduction on both sides of the single, a possible detrimental factor in the release gaining any significant airplay. It’s was the second and final release on Emandolynn Music’s short lived, Stage-Art label. The first release being another of Manny Campbell’s acts The Nu-Rons & Co “Disco Hustle/Can’t Do Enough Girl” (Stage-Art 1001). Sadly, Alice Taylor passed away sometime during the 1980’s. Soul Junction through its ongoing relationship with Emandolynn Music have taken the opportunity to license these now very sort after Alice Taylor songs, which have been remastered to remove the aforementioned sound problems present on the original release. Which are now presented to you as a 3 track EP which also includes a previously unissued alternative mix of “(I’m In Love With A) Rock ’n’ Roll Singin’ Superstar, a recent master tape discovery.

Riding a wave of critical praise and positive feedback for his most recent Emperor Machine album, the fabulous Island Boogie, Andrew Meecham returns with a typically wild and dancefloor-focused set of dubs, ‘versions’ and remixes.

According to Meecham, Island Boogie is his most personal set to date – a full-length excursion that not only delivers perfectly formed expressions of his dub-tinged, off-kilter synth-boogie sound, but also tracks that draw deeply on his earliest influences and long-held musical expressions.

It’s fitting, then, that this remix EP begins with his own sparse, stripped-back ‘version’ rework of ‘S-S-S-Single Bed’, a fine cover of the mid-80s Fox single featuring the vocals of Michelle Bee. Meecham’s dub-wise revision is a skeletal and driving affair, with snippets of echoing guitar, colourful synths and Bee’s distinctive vocalisations rising above a weighty dub disco bassline and rock-solid percussion.

It's followed by two revisions of album favourite ‘Wanna Pop With You’ from A Love From Outer Space main man Sean Johnston under his now familiar Hardway Brothers alias. Combining his own love of raw, analogue-sounding electronics and trippy dancefloor psychedelia with select elements of Meecham’s original – percussion, synth sounds, crisp guitar licks and elements of Severine Mouletin’s lead vocals, Johnston’s main ‘remix’ is a weighty, mid-tempo treat. Arguably even better is his accompanying dub, which is more groove-and-effects focused and makes more of Beecham’s superb original bassline. It’s heavy, spaced-out and undeniably intoxicating.

To round off the package, long-time friend of the label (and sometime contributor) Rose Robinson dons her Tigerbalm pseudonym and gets to work on ‘La Cassette’. Brilliantly cutting up Severine Mouletin’s vocals, she delivers a driving slab of spaced-out, synth-heavy dub disco that adds more weight and energy to Meecham’s original. It’s a fittingly on-point way to close out a superb selection of club-ready revisions.

@rbt69 Bell Towers. Party Boy. Homage to life. In between Tokio City lights, neon signs, Paris Wine Bars, Stake Tartare, Berlin Späti vibes wunderbar. Not out of season for a reason, never change a winning team, party on full of steam. toot toot beep beep

"Sometimes you have to take sides", singt Adele Ischia im Opener des Debüts der nach ihrem Nachnamen - aber mit kleinem "i"! - benannten Band (nichts zu tun mit der gleichnamigen italienischen Vulkaninsel). Sowas nennt man wohl Statement. Da schadet auch nicht, dass "Sides" mit einem hypnotisch wabernden Gitarrenriff herein prescht, wie es einem Kevin Shields unter die Finger hätte kommen können (Ischia ist hörbar ein My Bloody Valentine-Fan, nicht die einfachste Vorgabe, die man sich als Gitarristin stellen kann). Im Februar erschien die krautrockig groovende Debüt-Single "Sleep", im September kommt das Album! In ihrem Line-Up versammeln sich Leute, die sonst mit anderen Größen der Wiener Indie-Szene auf der Bühne stehen (Endless Wellness, Yukno, Sharktank, Cousines Like Shit...). Tatsächlich sind ischia aber kein Seitenprojekt, sondern die aus jahrelanger Freundschaft und spontaner Assoziation entstandene Band rund um Frontfrau und Namensgeberin Adele Ischia. Auf ihrem Debüt-Album "Leave me to the Future" offenbart sich die breite Palette ihres Sounds, von Krautrock-Grooves bis zu Post-Shoegaze-Psychedelik, doch in dessen Kern steckt dabei stets ein melodiöser Popsong. Und ischia präsentierten einen gänzlich anderen, veritabel psychedelischen Post-Shoegaze-Pop-Sound als gewohnt gehört, entpuppen sich als Band mit breiter dynamischer Vielfalt, beseelt von einer zugänglichen Mischung aus Witz und Melancholie, ziemlich gut für eine Band, die sich erst vor etwas mehr als einem Jahr zusammengetan hat. Neben dem Release ihres Albums werden ischia dieses Jahr aus praktischen Gründen übrigens vor allem gemeinsam mit Endless Wellness auftreten. Luckily, sometimes you don't have to take sides.

"Sometimes you have to take sides", singt Adele Ischia im Opener des Debüts der nach ihrem Nachnamen - aber mit kleinem "i"! - benannten Band (nichts zu tun mit der gleichnamigen italienischen Vulkaninsel). Sowas nennt man wohl Statement. Da schadet auch nicht, dass "Sides" mit einem hypnotisch wabernden Gitarrenriff herein prescht, wie es einem Kevin Shields unter die Finger hätte kommen können (Ischia ist hörbar ein My Bloody Valentine-Fan, nicht die einfachste Vorgabe, die man sich als Gitarristin stellen kann). Im Februar erschien die krautrockig groovende Debüt-Single "Sleep", im September kommt das Album! In ihrem Line-Up versammeln sich Leute, die sonst mit anderen Größen der Wiener Indie-Szene auf der Bühne stehen (Endless Wellness, Yukno, Sharktank, Cousines Like Shit...). Tatsächlich sind ischia aber kein Seitenprojekt, sondern die aus jahrelanger Freundschaft und spontaner Assoziation entstandene Band rund um Frontfrau und Namensgeberin Adele Ischia. Auf ihrem Debüt-Album "Leave me to the Future" offenbart sich die breite Palette ihres Sounds, von Krautrock-Grooves bis zu Post-Shoegaze-Psychedelik, doch in dessen Kern steckt dabei stets ein melodiöser Popsong. Und ischia präsentierten einen gänzlich anderen, veritabel psychedelischen Post-Shoegaze-Pop-Sound als gewohnt gehört, entpuppen sich als Band mit breiter dynamischer Vielfalt, beseelt von einer zugänglichen Mischung aus Witz und Melancholie, ziemlich gut für eine Band, die sich erst vor etwas mehr als einem Jahr zusammengetan hat. Neben dem Release ihres Albums werden ischia dieses Jahr aus praktischen Gründen übrigens vor allem gemeinsam mit Endless Wellness auftreten. Luckily, sometimes you don't have to take sides.

"Sometimes you have to take sides", singt Adele Ischia im Opener des Debüts der nach ihrem Nachnamen - aber mit kleinem "i"! - benannten Band (nichts zu tun mit der gleichnamigen italienischen Vulkaninsel). Sowas nennt man wohl Statement. Da schadet auch nicht, dass "Sides" mit einem hypnotisch wabernden Gitarrenriff herein prescht, wie es einem Kevin Shields unter die Finger hätte kommen können (Ischia ist hörbar ein My Bloody Valentine-Fan, nicht die einfachste Vorgabe, die man sich als Gitarristin stellen kann). Im Februar erschien die krautrockig groovende Debüt-Single "Sleep", im September kommt das Album! In ihrem Line-Up versammeln sich Leute, die sonst mit anderen Größen der Wiener Indie-Szene auf der Bühne stehen (Endless Wellness, Yukno, Sharktank, Cousines Like Shit...). Tatsächlich sind ischia aber kein Seitenprojekt, sondern die aus jahrelanger Freundschaft und spontaner Assoziation entstandene Band rund um Frontfrau und Namensgeberin Adele Ischia. Auf ihrem Debüt-Album "Leave me to the Future" offenbart sich die breite Palette ihres Sounds, von Krautrock-Grooves bis zu Post-Shoegaze-Psychedelik, doch in dessen Kern steckt dabei stets ein melodiöser Popsong. Und ischia präsentierten einen gänzlich anderen, veritabel psychedelischen Post-Shoegaze-Pop-Sound als gewohnt gehört, entpuppen sich als Band mit breiter dynamischer Vielfalt, beseelt von einer zugänglichen Mischung aus Witz und Melancholie, ziemlich gut für eine Band, die sich erst vor etwas mehr als einem Jahr zusammengetan hat. Neben dem Release ihres Albums werden ischia dieses Jahr aus praktischen Gründen übrigens vor allem gemeinsam mit Endless Wellness auftreten. Luckily, sometimes you don't have to take sides.

On January 19, 2024, the legendary post-punk band De Brassers played their farewell concert in a completely sold-out Brussels Ancienne Belgique. It was a very memorable evening with guest appearances by Sietse Willems (Meltheads) and Stijn Meuris.
In short, a unique and historic concert now released on vinyl and CD by Antler, the label that helped found the birth of Belgian post-punk and cold wave. A release not to be missed, both for those who attended that evening and for those who could not get tickets
at the time and can now enjoy it thanks to this album.

Farbiges Vinyl-Doppelalbum-Set mit Etching/Gravur auf der D-Seite.

Nur sehr wenige Bands schaffen es, Jahrzehnte zu überdauern, aber bei denen, die es schaffen, ist es oft einfach, sich niederzulassen und es sich ein wenig zu bequem zu machen. Allerdings gibt es nichts Bequemes an „Devourer“, dem explosiven neuen Album von Cursive. Die kultige Band aus Omaha hat in den letzten 30 Jahren eine kühne Diskografie geschaffen, die sich sowohl durch ihren kathartischen Sound als auch durch ihre gewichtigen, herausfordernden lyrischen Themen auszeichnet. Ihr 10. Album „Devourer“ ist so kühn wie eh und je Es steckt voller intensiver und prägnanter Songs, die untermauern, warum Cursive so einflussreich und beständig waren - und dass sie auch heute noch genauso vital sind. In den Jahren seit ihrer Gründung 1995 haben sich Cursive zu einer der wichtigsten Gruppen entwickelt, die Ende der 90er/Anfang der 00er Jahre entstanden sind, als die Grenzen zwischen Indie-Rock und Post-Hardcore zu etwas völlig Neuem zu verschwimmen begannen. Alben wie „Domestica“ (2000) und „The Ugly Organ“ (2003) wurden zu wichtigen Prüfsteinen, deren Widerhall auch heute noch in neuen Bands zu hören ist. „Devourer“ untersucht die bodenlose Fähigkeit der Menschheit zum Konsum durch eine Reihe von Songs, die wie Vignetten wirken, angetrieben durch den nie endenden Appetit von Frontmann Tim Kasher, sowohl Kunst aufzunehmen als auch zu schaffen. „Ich bin besessen davon, die Künste zu konsumieren“, erklärt er. „Musik, Film, Literatur. Ich habe erkannt, dass ich all diese Kunstformen verschlinge und dann wiederum meine eigenen Versionen dieser Dinge erschaffe und sie in die Welt hinausspucke. Das ist positiv, man ist Teil eines Ökosystems. Aber der Begriff 'Verschlinger' kann auch etwas Unheimliches, Unheilvolles verkörpern.“ Die Fans erwarten von Cursive mittlerweile solch brisante Themen, aber „Devourer“ setzt einen neuen Standard. Während die Musik von Cursive nicht bequemer geworden ist, wird sie vielleicht in eine Welt entlassen, die zumindest ein bisschen mehr nach ihrem Bild geformt ist. „Devourer“ klingt dringend und frisch, das Werk einer Band, die immer noch experimentiert und nach neuen kreativen Höhen strebt. Auf dem Album-Highlight „Consumers“ klagt der Protagonist: "I saw our future and I want to go back." Aber Cursive bewegen sich nur vorwärts.

Tip!

Polido has been fantasizing with the idea of free music throughout his artistic career. Free from restraints, logos, musical genres, but also from this modern obsession with narratives, plans, business plans, algorithms and bubble wrapped ideas for comfort of those of you that can’t breathe without everything making sense.
“Hearing Smoke” has nothing of that. It has been four years since Holuzam released the double album “A Casa e os Cães / Sabor a Terra” and for four years I have been daydreaming about what would come next. This is it, eleven new pieces about the future of the future of music. It is the result of years of study, research and sound consolidation. Sound as matter, mutating, transforming, absorbing all around, a shapeshifting entity connecting with the principles of freedom.

"Polido has been researching Portuguese contemporary composition, its very own sounds and ideas. Its origins, the web of repression, tension and censorship before the April 25th revolution in 1974; secondly, as an afterthought, freedom, equality and a unique sense of community and belonging screaming through the music. He absorbed those states of mind and made an album that listens to the current world and presents globalization as a mental trap.
If the music that inspired him somehow comes from a post-colonial world, “Hearing Smoke” questions how we can create something new in this permanent state of cultural colonization, where new trends or forms of music only thrive if they are accepted by the dominant cultures. The physical world has been transformed, but ideas like “world music” or “ghetto music” still show that dominance, the Strange can only be accepted if it incorporates the rules and codes of that dominant force. What I am saying is that it is hard for Portuguese musicians to present themselves as original. They will never have that credit unless the music relates to something that exists in another

realm. Never for their benefit, but for the power of association. I may sound arrogant here, but Polido is unique, original, one of a kind (all those words, all those redundant synonyms). I knew it four years ago when I got lost in the way “A Casa e os Cães” is assembled and how he makes something memorable out of the most commonplace conversations. “Hearing Smoke” continues the flow and puts us in the centre of these ever evolving masses of sound.
Somehow his music finds you, it starts speaking with you until it asks you to be a part of it. Polido’s beats and harmonics are combined in such a tender way that you mellow out while listening to these beats - thinking of the brilliant “Saque”. Even when he exposes you to something more harsh - “Canto D’Amorte” or the closing moments of the last track “Custa A Crer” - there’s still a cradle effect.
But what keeps me returning to this album is how it seems to transform in my ears. Not every time I listen to it, but while I am listening to it. The sound seems to move, embracing me and controlling my inner thoughts. These start to move along at the same pace, with the same feeling of cloudiness. Nothing new here, the thing is how it feels different from time to time, how the music, because of something that changes or moves, comes as a catharsis/revelation. It drives me nuts how the beats come and go in tracks like “Fogo Firme (Encomendação)” or “The More I Think, The Less I Can Speak“, leaving everything suspended and, simultaneously, relieved. When dramatic - ”Prova De Existência“ - it is sad af and gorgeously epic.

Trap, bass music, dubstep, ambient, hauntology and contemporary music flow side by side here, no pushing around, free of interpretation, and you are free to feel or listen to whatever you want in “Hearing Smoke”. That’s free music for you. Not a hard concept, something for you to enjoy, feel, reflect about. This is what the future will sound like."

André Santos // Holuzam

The long awaited reunion show! Founded in London in 1976, The Damned became one of the most successful and influential bands in the British punk rock scene of the 70s.

Their debut single "New Rose" (1976) is considered to be the first punk single ever released in the UK. Over the course of their 45-year career, The Damned have experimented with different musical styles and integrated elements of gothic rock, psychedelia and new wave into their sound. In October 2020, more than 40 years after the founding members split up, The Damned announced a series of reunion shows with the original line-up consisting of Dave Vanian (vocals), Brian James (guitar), Captain Sensible (bass) and Rat Scabies (drums).

However, due to the pandemic, they were forced to postpone the shows until 2022. On November 3, 2022, the original line-up performed at the sold-out O2 Apollo in Manchester, UK, and presented an energetic 21-song set from the first two 1977 albums "Damned Damned Damned" and "Music for Pleasure"; the only albums to feature all four founding members. "AD 2022 - Live In Manchester" presents not only a legendary reunion show, but also the unique magic surrounding The Damned.

Futurismo proudly present a celebration of the Paisley Underground scene with TWISTED DREAM MACHINE The Paisley Underground / California’s Psychedelic Renaissance: 1982-1986, the next volume in their Altered Vision compilation series.

This collection draws from the neo psychedelic movement that took hold in California during the early to mid 80’s, one that melded the psychedelia, country, garage rock, avant-garde and pop of the 60’s with the DIY ethos of the then burgeoning punk scene, a hypnotic amalgamation of sound that came in staunch contrast to the blown out sonic excesses of the time.

Twisted Dream Machine takes you on a trip from the city to the desert, as the kaleidoscope of noise drifts from the The Dream Syndicate’s Velvet Underground inspired take on Crazy Horse and The Three O’Clock’s chiming baroque powerpop, to Rain Parade’s dreamy Beatlesesque melodies and the Bangles hook-laden Love inspired pop. Also featured are the wondrous sounds of Green On Red, The Long Ryder’s, Game Theory, True West, Thin White Rope and others highly worth your attention. If you are not familiar with some of the bands here, you will surely question how that is possible. The Paisley Underground, if anything, encapsulated a certain musical mindset, an outlook where the past and the future would collide in the moment. This thread would bond the bands, yet each honed it’s own sound in a twisted incarnation of the seeds planted two decades earlier. Whilst the ‘scene’ did remain contained, its influence did in fact spread throughout mainstream culture as the Bangles stuck a chord into the heart of MTV, whilst Prince took inspiration from the movement in his own songwriting and the naming of Paisley Park, as well as signing The Three O’Clock to his label and writing one of the Bangles biggest hits.

As you listen to the tracks on Twisted Dream Machine you will be reminded that there is still music left to discover and inspire, this compilation is aimed to hopefully delight longtime fans, as well as ignite a passion for those new to the bands. The Paisley Underground was the sound of neo psychedelic rock, it was subterranean pop...in

the classic sense, it was alternative rock before the term existed, a distillation of the fundamentals present at the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll, with a twist. The bands of the Paisley Underground may have been writing out of their own time, but as you listen to them in today’s context these songs should be heard as landmarks, rather than throwbacks. After all, nothing this good should stay underground. This 2xLP comes on limited edition coloured vinyl, it is housed in a gloss laminated outer sleeve with colour inner sleeves and contains a large fold-out poster with unseen photos and liner notes by Lisa Fancher of Frontier. Also available on CD with Gloss laminated Sleeve and Fold Out Poster.

Jade Hairpins waste no time fulfilling their second album's titular demand. From its harmony-drenched opening note to its baroque-anthemic conclusion, Get Me the Good Stuff is positively loaded with musical ideas, an absurdist buffet of sound and aesthetic that comes with one hell of a floorshow as the Hairpins stack those ideas higher and higher, almost daring them to crash to the floor. Instead, those elements - punksploitation, power pop, baggy, funk, and Italo disco are just some touchstones - are not only held aloft, they defy gravity and convention. These pyrotechnics are, in true Jade Hairpins fashion, something of a sleight of hand. While the music swaggers and gallops, Get Me the Good Stuff grapples with anxiety and self-doubt, obfuscating pain and alienation with sparkling wit and some straight-up ravers. Get Me the Good Stuff opens with one of those, "Let It Be Me," in which Jonah Falco shouts lyrics about being alone with one's shortcomings against guitars, synths, and harmonized vocals that are on the verge of closing in. The song is just over 90 seconds long, hitting with the gnarled-barb ferocity of punk and the gleeful insanity of theatrical art rock. It is, in other words, overwhelming. Or it would be if Jade Hairpins - Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk - weren't remarkably nimble in their ability to bring unity to sounds by placing them in competition against each other. When those sounds are adjacent, like the glam and disco that saturate "Drifting Superstition," the thrill of those universes colliding in the heat of an absolutely filthy clavichord line turns its lyrics, about the habit of solving personal problems by ignoring them, into a winner's anthem on the order of Bowie or Hot Chocolate. Get Me the Good Stuff arcs towards unequivocal joy as Falco, Jade Hairpins' primary lyricist, breaks these cycles and attempts to run away with his dreams. The arc is roughly analogous to how the album came to fruition. Four years removed from Harmony Avenue, an album of material that proved too strong to be contained within the narrative universe of Fucked Up's Dose Your Dreams, Jade Hairpins have gelled as a live act - with Tamsin M. Leach and Jack Goldstein centering them on stage - and planted their flag in the UK punk scene in which Falco has embedded himself. Working out new material live, Falco noticed that crowds were digging into his unfinished lyrics, and the album tightened around the anxieties of being in the spotlight, of being worthy of attention. At times, those songs are eager to please, like the album's title track in which a winking self-deprecation rubs up against the self-congratulatory bombast of Freddie Mercury, Falco simultaneously turning heads as a shooting star and a burning car. Elsewhere, as in "Better Here Than in Love," Jade Hairpins pitch themselves towards creating gorgeous soundscapes that exist nowhere else, channeling postpunk through the glimmering haze of '80s Japanese electronic music. Theatrical and personal, absurd and true-to-life, playful and serious, Get Me the Good Stuff is album of tremendous personal and artistic growth that signposts towards dozens of potential futures to come. It's not only worth the attention, it continuously rewards it.

Opium Warlords' sixth album "Strength!" out on Svart Records in September 2024! Opium Warlords, led by Sami Albert ”Witchfinder” Hynninen (Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan, The Candles Burning Blue), return with their sixth album Strength! It is a versatile but tight combination of pussy techno, sludge, industrial pop, hardcore punk, drone, shamanistic pulse, noise, heavy metal, old school gothic rock and march music. It is a take on European rhythmic patterns: stagnant factory beat – no groove, no swing, just a rhythm of industrialism that pierces through different genres and styles. Comparing to the dark and oppressive Nembutal (2020), Strength! is significantly more light-hearted, with its postmodern lyrics emitting from sources such as shampoo bottles and television UFO series to the Pan-Europa myth or morbid lore of death-hungry Transylvanian Iron Guard. However, the sting of irony and sarcasm is balanced with more serious subjects: Strength! is a hate/love letter to Europe and a self-reflection on Machiavellian and Nietzschean philosophies of strength and elitism. True to the band’s soul everything is covered with pure toxic misanthropy. Strength! 2LP/digital/2CD will be released 13th of September on Svart Records. Album’s first outtake, Erotomania, is out right now via digital services worldwide.

Opium Warlords' sixth album "Strength!" out on Svart Records in September 2024! Opium Warlords, led by Sami Albert ”Witchfinder” Hynninen (Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan, The Candles Burning Blue), return with their sixth album Strength! It is a versatile but tight combination of pussy techno, sludge, industrial pop, hardcore punk, drone, shamanistic pulse, noise, heavy metal, old school gothic rock and march music. It is a take on European rhythmic patterns: stagnant factory beat – no groove, no swing, just a rhythm of industrialism that pierces through different genres and styles. Comparing to the dark and oppressive Nembutal (2020), Strength! is significantly more light-hearted, with its postmodern lyrics emitting from sources such as shampoo bottles and television UFO series to the Pan-Europa myth or morbid lore of death-hungry Transylvanian Iron Guard. However, the sting of irony and sarcasm is balanced with more serious subjects: Strength! is a hate/love letter to Europe and a self-reflection on Machiavellian and Nietzschean philosophies of strength and elitism. True to the band’s soul everything is covered with pure toxic misanthropy. Strength! 2LP/digital/2CD will be released 13th of September on Svart Records. Album’s first outtake, Erotomania, is out right now via digital services worldwide.

A Colourful Storm presents Effroyables Jardins, a soundtrack composed by Zbigniew Preisner for Jean Becker's eponymous film. Given limited distribution during its initial release, the soundtrack's lustre has only strengthened and it is now considered a lost gem of contemporary chamber composition. An understated triumph of the oeuvre of Preisner, who closely collaborated with Polish director Krzysztof Kie?lowski and was responsible for the film scores of Dekalog, The Double Life of Véronique and the Three Colours trilogy.

"Krzysztof and Zbigniew really found each other, as they were deeply complementary in their need of emotional expression," reflects actor Juliette Binoche upon her work in Three Colours: Blue. A Colourful Storm cites no other film leaving a greater impact on them than Three Colours: Red. These would be the last films the duo worked on together, before Kieslowski's retirement and untimely death.

Effroyable Jardins marks Preisner's post-Kieslowski era of solo composition, shifting from devotional harmonies into a beautifully restrained style of neo-Romanticism. It is his second soundtrack for Jean Becker, following Francis Ford Coppola's commission for The Secret Garden, the César-winning Élisa, and Edoardo Ponte's Between Strangers. Its leitmotif - a delicate, sparse melody for piano and organ, appears only during the opening sequence and, like Preisner's most powerful soundtracks, takes on a life of its own. Compositions for violin, harp and percussion are interspersed with haunting variations on a theme and a masterful use of silence. His music haunts the grieving Julie in Blue, soundtracks Valentine's epiphany in Red, and evokes the sublimity of moments in everyday life.

The fourth studio album „Pain Matters“ by Rico Friebe came totally unexpected to him as well as it comes to you now!

Deeply affected from personal occurences within the further realms that already spawned „Anthems For A Lost Generation“, Rico fell into an abyss where anything became possible – anything raw, spell-binding, meditative and bold as „Pain Matters“!