Emerging from the depths of Cardiff’s burgeoning music scene, heirs to their country’s lineage of storytellers, are Slate. Formed by frontman Jack Shephard and drummer Raychi Bryant, the four-piece band are barely touching their twenties, but together, they have command of post-punk which rings with the gravitas of a death knell; a grasp of atmosphere and melody which touches on the ethereal.
With the addition of bassist Lauren Edwards and guitarist Elis Penri who completed the band at the end of 2021, the four bonded over the written word playing poetry games over pints. Together, they found an affinity with the surreal works of Arthur Rimbaud and the Welsh poets R. S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas, whose reverence for their country and its people bleeds into Slate’s own lyrics.
The 7" collects Slate's stunning 1-2 of debut singles 'Tabernacl' and 'St Agatha', which were both produced by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard's Tom Rees. Both songs come loaded with frontman Jack Shephard's distinctive, poetic drawl, blistering yet gothic and ornate guitars and rollicking, road-ready drums. Together they offer a snapshot of a band born fully-formed and prove a statement of intent that's hard to ignore.
Of the track, Shephard explains: "'St Agatha' is the first song we wrote about being Welsh. Though, living in in the south, we each converge at the forefront of anglicisation. At the time of writing, we were indulging in literature, landscapes as well as each another, in an attempt to re-connect with much of our disregarded national identity. So much was left unrevealed to us in school. We read about a churchyard on the border, where some people are buried with their heads in Wales and their feet in England. It was the perfect place to tell the story of a conflicted protagonist. Severed at St Agatha’s, between there and the homeland
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Decision Paralysis is the first collaboration by Eva Sajanova and Dominik Suchy.
Their music is very minimalist, repetitive, still, the compositions // songs surprisingly evolve over time. The cold synths are beautifully augmented with raw or effected layers of Sajanova's vocal. Of striking prominence is the decision to forgo the use of any beats or percussive elements. The whole album revolves just around vocals, synths, and layers, and the richness they possess enough in themselves.
This goes in line with Suchy's previous work, one of his trademarks being working mostly with melody and harmony, defying a lot of what is going on in contemporary experimental music. In a way, it is a strive to return to classical or pop ????? in her deepest sense; experimental more in the use of sounds, approaches and forms, rather than defying the musical.
The lyrics are exclusively in Slovak, open to interpretation and perhaps leaving the listener unburdened by meaning, enabling them to focus on Sajanova's voice, phrasing, and vocal techniques. They span from child-like repetitive dadaist poems, to heavy existentialist statements on life's inherent beauty yet meaninglessness.
All of it is further supported by the album cover by the Slovak illustrator Martu, blurring the lines between the naive, the beautiful, the natural, synthetic, dark, and glowing. All at the same time.
Released via Columbia Records, "Sunburn" is Dominic Fike's highly-anticipated sophomore full-length album, and the follow up to 2020's What Could Possibly Go Wrong. This 14-track collection finds the artist going back to Naples, Florida, as he sets to explore his childhood, family history & the meaning of home. The album has production credits for Dominic Fike, as well as Jim-E Stack and Kid Harpoon, alongside a collaboration with Weezer. Standard Black LP Vinyl. Limited stock. Marketing.
La Califfa" (1970) is a rare example, probably very rare, in which the director and author of the book on which the film is inspired coincide, we're talking about Antonio Bevilacqua, who won the Nastro D'Argento prize as Best New Director with this film.
The film deals with the issue of the class struggle, and in particular the love-hate relationship between a businessman (Ugo Tognazzi) and a female worker (Romy Schneider, almost too sensual here) who lost her fiancé at the working place. A romantic and dramatic work, as the music written and orchestrated by Ennio Morricone, here often surrounded by an impressive aura of sacredness. This LP also features, as guests on voices and choirs, Edda Dell'Orso and I Cantori Moderni di Alessandro Alessandroni. Surprisingly, despite the success of the film and its soundtrack received at the time, "La Califfa" has never been reissued on LP since the early '70s.
This new edition on Vinyl Magic record label eventually fills this gap and, except for the front cover image, the artwork has been completely renewed: the inner sleeve contains in fact many reproductions of posters and lobby cards of the film. Various tracks, never released on LP until today, have also been added to the final tracklist.
Limited edition on 180gr. pink vinyl.
For the better part of the last 15 years, the duo of Max Dameron (guit/vox) and Sam Ford (drums/vox) have been too weird and too wild for this lame-ass planet. After enjoying vagabond stints living in Portland, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn, they now call Detroit home. Here they rebuild, out of the scraps and wreckage of the 21st century, something which casts aside any rules or adherence to banal tropes. Specializing in the unexpected, Max and Sam have wrought an individual sound that’s as much post-Melvins sludge punk as it is futurist prog metal. Their forthcoming self-titled debut, recorded in 2022 at High-Bias in Detroit, puts on display the fruits of their metamorphosis. From the soaring triumphal fuzz of “Uncanny Valley” or the sweep and thrust of “House of Butterflies” their craft is precise, they’re just making up their own shapes to sculpt. Times change and artists mature: now under the name PSYCHIC TRASH, Ford and Dameron come to Riding Easy Records as veterans turning a fresh page, reinvigorated at the prospect of forging a new path and the beneficiaries of about a decade and a half’s slog through the underground. Psychic Trash’s self-titled debut is unmistakably uncompromising, a little theatrical, intermittently manic, and deceptively broad in style for just how much punk rests beneath.
black 2x12"[34,87 €]
black 2x12"[33,57 €]
Today, the electrifying Copenhagen-based DJ and producer, Anastasia Kristensen, has announced a new EP “Cordyceps Disco” out on 14th November 2023. This will be the first release on her new label absorb emit, marking a bold new chapter for Kristensen.
This new EP marks the next chapter in Kristensen's artistic development, stepping away from the close and personal nature of her previous work, instead reflecting a broader sentiment of the post-pandemic climate. “Cordyceps Disco” is set in a romanticised future, allowing listeners to come to the dancefloor and let go of their fears for the millennium to come; of climate anxiety and hypercapitalism. Lightly inspired by the sci-fi futures in Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov novels, and taking its name after the brain-eating fungi in the recent series The Last of Us, “Cordyceps Disco” imagines a future dancefloor where listeners can forget about reality and be completely immersed in a beautifully dark yet uplifting atmosphere.
Not a lot is known about the mysterious Mayz Road Kartel. They only created this outstanding underground joint in the mid 90's in the concrets of Memphis. For many this is the sound of Memphis in his purest form.
All tracks produced by no other than Blackout and backed by featured rappers Playa Posse. The first time on vinyl for this whole planet served for you by Hole in One.
- My Baby Just Cares For Me
- Love Me Or Leave Me
- The Other Woman - Live At Town Hall
- Don't Smoke In Bed
- It Might As Well Be Spring
- Cotton Eyed Joe - Live At Town Hall
- Blue Prelude
- I Loves You Porgy
- Nobody Knows When You're Down & Out
- Black Is The Color Of My True Loves Hair - Live At Town
- Wild Is The Wind - Live At Town Hall
- Chilly Winds Don't Blow
- Come On Back, Jack
- Solitude
- He Needs Me
- Little Girl Blue
- The Gal From Joe's
- Memphis In June
- No Good Man
- Summertime - Live At Town Hall
- You Can Have Him - Live At Town Hall
- Mood Indigo
- African Mailman
- I Love To Love
- Just Say I Love Him
- That's Him Over There
- Work Song
- Gin House Blues
- Rags And Old Iron
- I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
- Hey Buddy Bolden
- You Better Know It
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- You've Been Gone Too Long
- Plain Gold Ring
- Forbidden Fruit
- Exactly Like You - Live At Town Hall
- Fine And Mellow - Live At Town Hall
- Willow Weep For Me
- Stompin' At The Savoy
- Can't Get Out This Mood
2008 listete der "Rolling Stone" die 1933 als Eunice Kathleen Waymon geborene Künstlerin Nina Simone auf Rang 29 der 100 besten Sänger aller Zeiten. Im Dezember 2017 wurde Simone, die ihren Künstlernamen nach der Schauspielerin Simone Signoret wählte, mit der Aufnahme in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame geehrt. Rock"n"Roll ist insofern etwas irreführend, da die Sängerin, Pianistin und Songschreiberin im Blues und Jazz zuhause war, beziehungsweise in Black Classical Music, wie sie ihren Stil selbst nannte. Von ihren Fans wurde sie hingegen als "Hohepriesterin des Soul" bezeichnet. In den Sechzigerjahren engagierte sich Simone stark in der US-amerikanischen Bürgerrechtsbewegung. Mit Liedern wie "Mississippi Goddam" und "To Be Young, Gifted, And Black" (Text: Weldon Irvine) wurde sie eine der musikalischen Leitfiguren dieser Bewegung. Wagram ehrt diese großartige Sängerin mit einer 3-LP-Box inkl Poster.
- Al Green - Let's Stay Together
- Etta James - I Just Want To Make Love To You
- The Platters - The Great Pretender
- Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
- The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow
- James Brown & The Famous Flames - Think
- Aretha Franklin - Try A Little Tenderness
- Ben E. King - Stand By Me
- Peggy Lee - Fever
- The Clovers - Love Potion No. 9
- Ike & Tina Turner - A Fool In Love
- The Drifters - Save The Last Dance For Me
- The Impressions Feat. Curtis Mayfield - Little Young Lo
- Aretha Franklin - God Bless The Child
- Stevie Wonder - Contract On Love
- Al Jarreau - Ain't No Sunshine
- The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman
- Bob & Earl - Harlem Shuffle
- O.v Wright - Let's Straighten In Out
- Esther Phillips - Release Me
- Otis Redding - These Arms Of Mine
- Gladys Knight & The Pips - Every Beat Of My Heart
- The Supremes With Diana Ross - Your Heart Belongs To Me
- Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World
- Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman
- Al Green - Tired Of Being Alone
- Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
- Barry White - Ghetto Letto
- Curtis Mayfield - She Don't Let Nobody (But Me)
- Dionne Warwick - Don't Make Me Over
- Ray Charles - Unchain My Heart
- Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain
- Galt Macdermot - Coffee Cold
- Aaron Neville - Hercules
- Gwen Mccrae - 90% Of Me Is You
- Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem
- Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy
- James Brown - Please, Please, Please
- Brenda Lee - I'm Sorry
- Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl
- Lavern Baker - Love Me Right
- Syl Johnson - I Hate I Walked Away
- Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together
- Nina Simone - Plain Gold Ring
Re-release Soul entwickelte sich gegen Ende der 1950er Jahre aus Rhythm"n"Blues, Gospel, Blues und Jazz. Im folgenden Jahrzehnt war Soul ein Synonym für schwarze Popmusik. Kennzeichnend dafür waren vor allem die Produktionen von Motown Records, zum Beispiel Diana Ross & The Supremes oder Sam Cooke. Seither sind herzergreifender Gesang und groovige Vibes die größten Stilmerkmale des Soul. Zu den weiteren Ikonen des Soul gehören Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Barry White, Sam Cooke, Al Green und viele mehr. Deren Erfolg ist eng mit dem Kampf der US-amerikanischen Bürgerrechtsbewegung gegen Rassentrennung und für Gleichberechtigung verbunden. 1969 benannte man die Rhythm"n"Blues- in Soul-Charts um. Der Soul-Orkan, der während der Sechziger in den Charts tobte, ebbte jedoch wieder ab, kam aber runderneuert in den 70ern als Phillysound wieder zu erneuten Hitparadenehren. 1982 änderte man die Chart-Bezeichnung von Soul in Black Music. Die vorliegende Kompilation vereint die legendären Stimmen des Soul mit ihren unvergesslichen Hits.
Better Man, the debut album by The Föhns, is the result of a close friendship between two men whose characters are polar opposites. That alone is worth gold. Eindhoven pop heroes Dennis Grotenhuis and Roel Blommers have been working together since the wild punk rock adventure called The Spades. After this they continued to write, arrange and record songs. Record after record appeared, each time different, each time richer and each time under a different name. They thought they felt the hot breath of the pop industry breathing down their necks. But does that breath actually exist? Weren't they themselves the source of that hot breath? Enter The Hair Dryers. Slow down and go into the depths. Their debut features thirteen beautifully crafted listening songs in power pop guise. Imagine Sparklehorse and Elliott Smith in the respectful hands of The Posies, delicacy preserved in the grander gesture. Better Man contains their strongest work to date, car radio pop supreme. Dennis and Roel found a better version of themselves thanks to the efforts of five musician friends from the Eindhoven scene.
Nothing in Narciso's (known) background indicated these 10 minutes of tension and release, a soundtrack to some nameless anticipation. Soundtrack, also, to a dance piece on video by choreographer Catarina Miranda produced in 2021.
It is certainly nothing one would expect to hear in one of his regular DJ sets. A long, moody intro appears to chart a difficult journey under heavy clouds, until the drums manifest themselves first as a sort of warning, or preparation, maybe a signal, maybe just warming up for the steady kick drum that follows, a clean 4/4 beat complemented by broken off-rhythms and sparse percussion that seem to run parallel in observation of the main event.
Clouds definitely open up towards the end. Crystalline drops brighten the sonic mood. Quite a unique experiment in Narciso's body of work, undertaken during a period when the DJ and producer, feeling unmotivated, decided to relax from detailed planning and instead allowed himself to flow along with the sounds, expanding possibilities and actually breaking free from previous notions of composition.
Sound Metaphors Records continues to explore the Italian early 90's techno scene with another re-issue of D.A.T.A.'s precious catalogue. Already 3 decades ago, 4 Italians got together in northern Italy to elaborate this sound, and it's only fair to say it's still timelessly effective, possibly a mixture of pure naivety and/or premeditated distilled club essence, bold and minimal in its use of rhythmic patterns generated by drum machines and samplers of the time. To imagine this music was being made in a time where only petrol company CEO's had cell phones, emails weren't even a thing, let alone social media, a time capsule into a special epoch where "progressive" or "trance" weren't quite established keywords yet. Re-issued with a new remastered face and 2 new remixes from studio guru Anatolian Weapons beautifully adding to this powerful exploration of club oriented electronics.
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Vestigios, Aeondelit’s second full length record after recently releasing an EP of shifting club music influenced by postmodern philosopher Leotard on Tel Aviv’s Sadan records, tells a lucid, captivating story of heritage, transformation, vulnerability and healing. It will be released via Berlin-based art platform and record label Unguarded as a digital and tape release with an artwork created by Petra Hermanova, and will be accompanied by limited textile pieces by Diane Esnault. Aeondelit’s music is strongly influenced by the rocky surrounding of his hometown Manizales and fuses electronic sensibilities, ambient streams and avant-percussive rhythms that build his sound identity. Aeondelit's evocative music has previously been released via the Insurgentes imprint, Vienna-based Ashida Park and was recently featured on the 'Unguarded 2 – Entangled' compilation. Cortés describes the meaning of Vestigios as such: “The memories of past generations: the lives that burn within me, are the pillars of who I am. They constitute longings and traps, sin and strength, the temple that breaks down and rebuilds. The different dimensions of consciousness converge in the mind, which constantly tells us who we are, synthesizing and projecting our contradictions. The pain that comes with getting in touch with our vulnerabilities opens the doors to healing through confrontation. This lays the foundation for a more honest relationship with our past, present and future. 'Vestigios' is the bridge between the temporal and the eternal, the crystallized remnant of pain caused by transformation and recognition of the convulsive underworld of our psyche.” Aeondelit, birth name Sergio Cortés, is a Colombian music producer who explores themes related to technology and human condition in sound. He focuses on the creative use of sample manipulation techniques and digital sound synthesis to deepen the idea of a dialogue between computer and human, and how both influence each other. Deep in Colombia's Andes, surrounded by big mountains and the sacred Nevado del Ruiz, Aeondelit has been forging his own sound identity, exploring the intersection points between sparkly experimental club music and melodic ambient electronic. His first release Editing Destiny on the Colombian label Insurgentes was well received by the public and DJs, named one of the best albums of 2020 on Mixmag. His last release on Sadan Records, Anima Minima, was reviewed and premiered on platforms like DJ Mag, THE BRVTALIST and Orb Mag. He is also the co-founder of the independent record label Nvrclose, where his debut album as Æon Series: Dualidad, was released. About Unguarded: Unguarded is a Berlin based experimental electronic music label and art platform. In 2020 long-term collaborators Tim Roth aka Sin Maldita aka 1k Flowers and Phillipp Hülsenbeck founded Unguarded to foster forward thinking artists with a focus on exploring cross-disciplinary collaboration and embarking on sonic adventures. Unguarded was founded in a time of turmoil and uncertainty for artists and music, trying to keep personal connections alive through shared personal and collective experiences between doom and destruction and glistening hope. Amongst their own contributions, Hülsenbeck and Roth gather a collection of genre-defying works by longtime collaborators as well as artists they bonded with in recent years. Their releases constantly escape from definition but through entangling their unique artistic marks, this diversity remains absorbing and compelling throughout their sprawling sonic miasmas. Combining earth-shattering club cuts, equally elegant and bouncy, Unguarded contributes to and connects the experimental music scene in and outside of Berlin. We invite the curious to a deep, tense but rewarding experience.
Berlin-based artist Avilynn fuses electro, breaks, rave and IDM on modular driven '6' EP for her own Taisha Records this October.
Avilynn has been slowly unveiling releases via her fledgling Taisha imprint, showcasing her unique sound which encapsulates a variety of influences, always laced with a dynamic feel, sonic hypnotism and gritty drive. Following on from 2021's acclaimed 'Five Million Sunsets', Avilynn returns to Taisha Records with her new '6' EP. Blending sonic experiences from the Berlin cityscape and coupling them with provocative and sophisticated instrumentation.
'Air and Bubbles' leads the release and lays down cinematic strings, tension building atmospherics, a vacillating rhythmic groove and murky bass grooves. '66 33'48.8' follows next, coordinates possibly, a hidden destination, a journey complete. This one sees Avilynn shift focus towards textural soundscapes layered with ethereal, billowing voices atop intricate off-kilter drums and swirling synth flutters.
Title-cut '6' then opens the flip-side, embracing a brighter aesthetic with cosseting pads and resonant bubbling synths delicately intertwined with a winding low-end groove and a combination of electronic and acoustic drums to create the composition's bumpy
breaks. 'Fobias' then rounds out the EP, edging back into darker realms bringing crunchy saturated bass stabs and shuffled percussion into the forefront while sweeping strings, intricate melodies and voice-like textures unfurl as the composition progresses.
»In Words« is the first solo album by the Danish musician, composer, and visual artist Alexander Tillegreen. The album represents a series of varied electronic music pieces while also carrying examples of ongoing work with psychoacoustic phenomena. Composed partly of material taken from his artistic practice as an installation artist and his ongoing interdisciplinary artistic research into psychoacoustic phenomena, Tillegreen investigates subjective sonic perception and the negotiation of language. Particularly, these investigations are done through the use of the phantom word illusion, originally discovered by music psychologist Diana Deutsch. Parts of the album were conceived when Tillegreen was the first artist ever in resident at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Triggering the brain’s tendency to interpret language-based auditory illusions as meaningful information and as words within the mind of the listener, Tillegreen’s unique sound works unfold like a kaleidoscope of phonetic mirrors which render possibilities to reflect upon the listener’s own psychological and culturally situated linguistic embeddedness. Gender-distorted voice perception, speech and language borders are all challenged and thematized throughout Tillegreen’s work. The listener’s head and bodily movement drastically affect the listening and the word interpretation. Their psychological subconsciousness, recent events, memories, and expectations as well as the listener’s motion in space all become co-creative and co- composing factors in a reactive and choreographic process of listening. The polyrhythmic seriality of spatialized syllabic structures is accompanied by elements of heavy bass drops, high-frequency tensions, undulating synth lines, and hypnotic effects. Some of the many compositional potentials of the phantom word illusions are exercised and unfolded in selected tracks throughout the album. The notion of language borders is approached from an entirely different and even more “anti-logocentric” perspective on the “eponymous” closing track »Assimilate (in Words)«, where the listener experiences the struggle and collapse of interpersonal communication through conversation. Other parts of the album represent more diverse approaches to abstract electronic music. »In Words« morphs soundscapes into glacial, spherical passages of ambient backdrops, while at other times emphasizes raw tectonic blocks of hyper-panning drones that erupt into high-velocity outlets of energetic, granular fields. Tillegreen is alternating between cyclical, minimalist, hypnotic approaches and complex, glitchy polyrhythmic melodic structures that shift and melt into evocative ambiences. The phantom words and the nature of Tillegreen’s musical visions progressively demand more of the listener’s attention and represent the artist’s ongoing artistic work and scientific research into psychoacoustics and language. While »In Words« is a highly conceptual album, the musical bandwidth is extensive.
Following an inspiring moment during a back-to-back live appearance at Fool’s Gold Presents: A-Trak & Friends in Oasis Wynwood during this year's Miami Music Week, The Magician and long-time friend A-Trak have collaborated on the captivating new single 'Love On You' (ft. Griff Clawson).
The Magician - known for his seminal Magic Tapes compilation series - heads up Potion Records and is a veteran of high-profile collaborations with Kolombo and Samaran, amongst many more. He has a mystic touch and spellbinding sound full of emotion and has taken it to places like Ushuaia Ibiza, Tomorrowland, and CRSSD festival in San Diego while also holding down his influential residency at Elsewhere Brooklyn. Here, he works with A-Trak, a.k.a. Alain Macklovitch, a legendary talent on the decks, president of Fool's Gold Records and a quintessential cultural connector. His 25-year career has seen him take turns as an internationally renowned DJ and World Champion turntablist, as well as being one half of the Grammy-nominated duo Duck Sauce and The Brothers Macklovitch, all of which have meant he continues to reshape the very role of the DJ as tastemaker and storyteller.
Their sublime 'Love On You' (ft. Griff Clawson) is an uplifting dance track that radiates positive vibrations. The rhythm section is married to tender piano chords and plenty of subtle synth details that bring it to life. The standout feature is the well-treated vocal that sounds fresh and futuristic but comes laden with a bittersweet sense of emotion that hooks you in and is sure to be sung back by vast crowds worldwide.
Support from: Purple Disco Machine, Junior Sanchez, Feenixpawl, Swanky Tunes, Olugbenga, ROOG (Hardsoul), Mr. Belt & Wezol, Judge Jules, Sugarstarr, Keanu Silva, Dots Per Inch, DJ Phantasy, Micha Moor, Patric La Funk, Borgore, Don Diablo, Claptone.
A blistering advancement of the knife-sharp hooks and urgently efficient post-punk structures that they’ve spent over a decade refining since their formation in 2011, the band’s fourth album – and second on Specialist Subject - emerges from a period of flux for the band’s chief songwriting partnership of Emma Wigham (drums/vocals) and Mark Jasper (guitar/vocals). First came a move north to Yorkshire from their native London. “We had decorated a tiny, rented house in Mytholmroyd” Jasper explains. “We setup a practice room in the top of a mill nearby and tried to write music, which we did amid stress about money, and a fear of having made the wrong decision. We had left our jobs, friends and a nice but absolutely tiny flat in London behind, and moved to a small village in West Yorkshire.” Although they found the location to be beautiful, the transition from city life to rural turned out to be an odd fit – too much so, it turned out. From this relatively short stay in West Yorkshire, however, came a more permanent change as the couple welcomed their first child Ivy into the family. Although, they’re hesitant to put too much of Streams and Waterways influence on the shoulders of their young daughter – she arrived a year and a half into the album’s conception – there’s no denying that its themes of loss, birth, and being part of this eternal, momentary life were brought into sharp focus following their new arrival. “Streams and Waterways is about the struggle of looking at the clock, realising it’s actually going pretty damn fast and knowing that really you have no control over anything” Jasper confirms. Perhaps that explains the way that opener The Valley doesn’t even introduce itself before careering into a full-throttled, three-minute scuzzy rager that would approach the descriptor anthemic had it not been kicked and scuffed along the way; it’s maybe why the wiry, ferocious Choice You Make feels like a charge into a storm despite the uncertainty of what you might find. It’s perhaps why even when Witching Waves allow themselves respite on the pared down Open A Hole, there’s a churning anxiety that lies below the acoustic guitar and harmonising vocals: in many ways musically and thematically Witching Waves are relinquishing the control that’s always been a fixture of their music – with all the thrilling and nervous fallout that comes from that. Although the pair have since returned south (having relocated to Exeter), Streams and Waterways also serves as a document of their foray northwards. The surviving artefact from Jasper’s never-to-be-finished studio that he’d began to build in Yorkshire – following the ending of his London-based Sound Savers studio – the record is also the first to feature current bassist Will Fitzpatrick, who joined initially live on their support tour with Australian punks Camp Cope. Fitzpatrick – a key component of Liverpool’s DIY scene for two decades – quickly became a key part of the writing process. Recording sessions were done during periods of lockdown that allowed congregation, Jasper recalling a still unborn Ivy kicking hard during an early mix playback of It’s A Shame’s layered noise rock assault. “The song was about my past, a much harder time. But my future was egging me on” he says. It’s a neat summation of Streams and Waterways and its representation of the discomfort of life amidst the compulsion to ride on its journey regardless. It’s a record that finds Witching Waves looking into the future more than ever before, but still bristles with the rush of being in the moment – because ultimately, despite what may have happened or may yet come, the band’s strongest trait remains being able to keep you feeling in the present.
With their 2018 debut album, ”Windborne”, Oslo based trio Kanaan quickly established themselves as one of the most important groups in the youngest generation of psychedelic impro-rockers. As accomplished players – all three educated in jazz – they marry fiery energy with musical intricacy, and possess a rare ability to balance power and delicateness. They devote as much energy to exploring airiness and atmosphere as they do to intensity. On this set the trio join forces with Causa Sui guitar player and producer Jonas Munk, for a series of semi-improvised sonic excursions. Recorded in Jonas Munk's Odense studio, where most of the El Paraiso magic happens, the band explores a looser side of their sound. Jonas Munk joins on guitar on every track, and occasionally synths as well, unlocking new modal possibilities and a Grateful Dead-esque dual-guitar flow that suits the band well. These four tracks unfold in a panoramic slow burn, only occasionally exploding in blazing leads. They know just when to hold back and when to let loose. On the final track, ”Urgent Excursions To The Tundrasphere”, the four eventually let it all rip, creating a complete sonic meltdown. For fans of freeform psychedelic rock this is as essential as it gets.


















