Suche:pos

The classic 1991 album remastered and expanded with rare and previously
unreleased tracks. Extensive liner notes by band biographer Keith Cameron.
A landmark of the grunge era.
By going back to basics with ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’, Mudhoney
flipped conventional wisdom. Not for the first time - or the last - they would be
vindicated. A month after release in July 1991, the album entered the UK
album chart at Number 34 (five weeks later, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ entered
at 36) and went on to sell 75,000 copies worldwide. A more meaningful
measure of success, however, lay in its revitalisation of the band, casting a
touchstone for the future. The record is a major chapter in Mudhoney’s
ongoing story, the moral of which has to be: when in doubt, fudge it.
The album began at Music Source Studio, a large space equipped with a 24-
track mixing board - downright futuristic, compared to the 8-track setup that
birthed the band’s catalytic 1988 debut, ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’. The Music
Source session quickly turned into a false start when the results, in guitarist
Steve Turner’s words, “sounded a little too fancy, too clean.” Lesson learned,
the band went primitive and got to work at Conrad Uno’s 8-track setup at Egg
Studio. Named after the cartons pasted on the walls in an optimistic attempt
at sound-proofing, Egg boasted a 1960s vintage 8-track Spectra Sonics
recording console, originally built for Stax in Memphis.
So it was that, in the spring of 1991, Mudhoney made ‘Every Good Boy
Deserves Fudge’. The resulting album is a whirlwind of the band’s influences
at the time: the fierce ‘60s garage rock of their Pacific Northwest
predecessors The Sonics and The Lollipop Shoppe, the gnashing posthardcore of Drunks With Guns, the heavy guitar moods of Neil Young, the
lysergic workouts of Spacemen 3 and Hawkwind, the gloomy existentialism
of Zounds and the satirical ferocity of ‘80s hardcore punk. The quartet’s
special alchemy meant these fond homages never slid into pastiche.
Ultimately, ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ epitomised the best of
Mudhoney: here was a band reconnecting with its purest instincts and, in the
process, reinventing itself.
This 30th Anniversary edition, remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago
Mastering Service, stands as testimony to the creative surge that drove them
in this period. The album sessions yielded a clutch of material that would
subsequently appear on B-sides, compilations, and split-singles. This edition
includes all those tracks and a slew of previously unreleased songs,
including the entire five-track Music Source session.

In 2020, 4AD turned 40. Never one to be on time for a party, the label is
commemorating that landmark this year with the release of ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’.
The compilation features 18 of its current artists covering a song of their
choosing from 4AD’s past: a creative experiment rooted in the spirit of
collaboration and a snapshot of 4AD, 41 years after its inception.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be released on double CD and double LP. The
first 12 months’ profits from ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be donated to The
Harmony Project, a Los Angeles-based after-school programme for children
from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts
or music.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’’ 18 recordings contain fascinating connections
between artist and track. The earliest song chosen (by U.S. Girls) is The
Birthday Party’s ‘Junkyard’, from 1981; the most recent are the two Grimes
covers (‘Genesis’ and ‘Oblivion’, respectively by Spencer. and Dry Cleaning)
from 2012. Suitably, for the one band that bridges 4AD past and present, The
Breeders are all over ‘Bills And Aches And Blues. They’re covered three
times - ‘Cannonball’ by Tune-Yards, ‘Mountain Battles’ by Bradford Cox of
Deerhunter and ‘Off You’ by Big Thief, whilst The Breeders cover ‘The Dirt
Eaters’ by their ‘90s contemporaries His Name Is Alive.
Landmark songs such as ‘Cannonball’, ‘Song To The Siren’ and Pixies’
‘Where is My Mind?’ will feel comfortable to casual fans, however by
contrast, much joy can be found in the album’s surprise choices, such as Air
Miami’s ‘Seabird’ and the Lush B-side ‘Sunbathing’, covered respectively by
new signings Maria Somerville and Jenny Hval.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ is named, arguably (as Elizabeth Fraser never
published the lyrics), after the opening line of Cocteau Twins ‘CherryColoured Funk’. Perhaps too unique and uncoverable in their own right, their
legendary take on Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’, under the name This
Mortal Coil (along with Buckley’s pre-Starsailor acoustic version) informs
SOHN’s cover.
Some tracks unearth hitherto hidden shared DNA, such as Future Islands’
and Colourbox’s ‘The Moon Is Blue’; other tracks are more akin to
reinvention. Aldous Harding distils the melodic essence of Deerhunter’s
‘Revival’ and recasts it in her own uncanny image. U.S. Girls’ future-disco
‘Junkyard’ and Bing & Ruth’s neo-classical instrumental ‘Gigantic’ are even
more radical interpretations. Leading off the album, Tkay Maidza brings both
her Art Rap and R&B game, but also an unexpected ‘80s synth pop template,
to Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’, a perfect title for these chaotic times.

Marta Gabriel is known as the front woman of heavy metal power force CRYSTAL VIPER, who recently released a brand new studio album, „The Cult”. Except that she’s a seasoned session musician, and either was a a guest on albums, or appeared on stage with acts as VADER, MANILLA ROAD, JACK STARR’S BURNING STARR, MAJESTY and WITCH CROSS. Technically, ”Metal Queens” is her first solo album, although it’s a very unusual release. „Metal Queens” is a celebration and tribute to female singers and female fronted heavy metal acts of the ‘80s. The original Metal Queens !. LINE UP: Marta Gabriel - lead and backing vocals, bass guitar Eric Juris - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, choirs Cederick Forsberg – drums and percussion, choirs SPECIAL GUESTS: John Gallagher (RAVEN) – bass guitar on ”My Angel” Harry Conklin (JAG PANZER) – vocals ”on «Light In The Dark” Todd Michael Hall (RIOT V) – vocals on ”Call Of The Wild”

WOLF JAW were born in the depths of the Black Country, UK. Home to greats such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and half of Led Zeppelin to name a few. These bands are heavy influences that have sparked The raging fuzz fueled, groove fired, Riff machine WOLF JAW Having toured with bands such as Crobot, Scorpion child, Jared James Nichols, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, Stone Broken among others, as well as festivals such as Download, Amplified, Steelhouse and Stone Free under their belt its given Wolf Jaw time to truly master their own unique twist on the power trio formula. 2019 brought a new album entitled 'The Heart won't listen' that is full of muscular riffs mixed with soulful vocals and pounding rhythm. Initially released in 2018, WOLF JAW are re-issuing their debut album ’Starting Gun’ with bonus tracks : "We're super excited to be re-releasing our debut album, 'Starting Gun' via Listenable records. This album was an amazing starting point for us and we still love playing these songs live. In fact we've added 2 live tracks to this version of the album, both were recorded at a live streamed show we did in the first UK lockdown of 2020. We have also recorded a cover of Judas Priests 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' which will be on the CD and available digitally. We're glad this record has got a new home and can't wait to get out there and play these songs live again! » Coming from the same area that gave birth to Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, WOLF JAW display the similar class of a future great in English Metal/ heavy rock !. WOLF JAW were born in the depths of the Black Country, UK. Home to greats such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and half of Led Zeppelin to name a few. These bands are heavy influences that have sparked The raging fuzz fueled, groove fired, Riff machine WOLF JAW Having toured with bands such as Crobot, Scorpion child, Jared James Nichols, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, Stone Broken among others, as well as festivals such as Download, Amplified, Steelhouse and Stone Free under their belt its given Wolf Jaw time to truly master their own unique twist on the power trio formula. Kerrang! Magazine stated Wolf Jaw housed “riffs dirtier than a bucket of double-fried chicken !! ” .

CRESCENT was formed in 1998 by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar in Cairo, Egypt. It started as a Black Metal band influenced by the Swedish Black Metal scene. In 2014, the band released their full-length debut ‘Pyramid Slaves’, focusing on Ancient Egyptian history/mythology, which marked the band’s complete transformation towards Black/Death Metal infused with Egyptian elements. In the following years, CRESCENT was booked to major Metal festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Inferno Metal Festival, Fall of Summer festival among others . 2017 CRESCENT ’s much anticipated second full-length ‘The Order of Amenti’,a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods, showed more emphasis on the blackened death Metal epic soundscapes and thematic atmospheres while maintaining its primordial Egyptian Death Metal essence. CRESCENT’s new album 'Carving the Fires of Akhet' was mixed/mastered by Victor ‘Santura’ Bullok (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) at Woodshed studio. The artwork was done by Khaos Diktator (Thron) , which is a Baroque-style recreation of one of the most influential and ancient Egyptian relics. The album title acts as the thread that holds all tracks together. The Fires of Akhet represents the great divine will that was carved into humanity's history and future. A value that brought nations to their apex and brought others to their knees, and the cycle goes on. Lyrically, the album touches upon a primeval epic story that is full of struggle and blood. It also reflects drunkenness with divine power, and pure evil in its religious and historic form (and beyond). Finally, the album lays a dark path of philosophical and material decay. The themes will not only be represented by the sound, but also by artworks that relays the sub-themes. It manifests CRESCENT's growing identity and beyond any of its previous works, starting a new era for the band.

Since making her debut with the 2011 album Weightless, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Becca Stevens has tested the limits of musical identity, mining everything from jazz to Irish folk to indie-rock in her striving for complete and authentic expression. In her latest musical endeavor—the five-track EP WONDERBLOOM and a soon-to-follow full-length of the same name—the North Carolina-bred, Brooklyn-based artist again defies all expectation, this time dreaming up a groove-heavy, dance-ready sound infused with elements of pop and funk and R&B. But despite its brighter textures and uptempo rhythms, WONDERBLOOM finds Stevens achieving a profound complexity in her lyrics, ultimately redefining what’s possible in creating music that elevates and edifies. Centered on the captivating vocal presence she’s showcased as a member of David Crosby’s Lighthouse Band, WONDERBLOOM telegraphs an unabashed joy that Stevens partly attributes to the project’s production. In a bold new turn for her musical career, Stevens co-produced and co-engineered WONDERBLOOM alongside Nic Hard (Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note, The Church), overseeing every aspect of the recording and claiming a sense of agency that had long eluded her in the studio. “Nic and I were truly working as equals and trusting each other to get the job done, and it was an incredibly empowering experience for me,” she says. In another major departure, Stevens purposely brought a communal sensibility to the making of WONDERBLOOM —an undertaking that resulted in more than 40 musicians contributing to the album, including Vulfpeck guitarist Cory Wong, Jacob Collier, and all of her Lighthouse bandmates (i.e., keyboardist Michelle Willis, Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League, and David Crosby himself).

Where the Streets Lead is the new album from Slowly Rolling Camera, and builds on their acclaimed 2018 release Juniper. Inspired by colliding worlds of jazz, trip-hop, and cinematic soundscapes, SRC’s music blends strong melodies, big grooves, and surprising turns of phrase, and is infused with expansive emotional gravitas. The music on this album, recorded throughout 2020, encompasses greater scale, with an 8-piece string section and a list of world-class guests including Mark Lockheart, Jasper Høiby, Verneri Pohjola, Chris Potter and Sachal Vasandani as well as the band's regular guitarist Stuart McCallum. Where the Streets Lead is emphatic in its purpose: communicating the joy of collaboration and, through an audio-sensory landscape, a vision of the world. There is a boldness and simplicity in the album’s conception, balanced with attention to detail in its production and sound design. Slowly Rolling Camera’s last album Juniper set the band on a new path. Where the Streets Lead is a natural progression and development in the band’s’ continued exploration.

L’objectif are schoolmates Saul Kane (vocals, guitar) and Louis Bullock (drums) – who first formed a band together at the age of 12 – Ezra Glennon (bass) and Dan Richardson (guitar).

With each member picking up instruments as children, the young friends – none of whom are over the age of 17 – have a shared love of genres and musicians that belies their tender age: jazz funk, hip-hop, punk, post-punk, and almost everything in between. Also inspired by painters Basquiat and Francis Bacon, L’objectif seek excitement in the intellectually stimulating and subjective; finding thrill in the confusion.

With Saul having spent lockdown cocooned away in Leeds writing and recording demo upon demo in his home studio, and the band as a whole constantly refining their sound, L’objectif are finally ready to spread their wings for the very first time with their incendiary debut single on Chess Club, ‘Drive In Mind’.

Dissolution Sessions' is the first release by art punk rockers The Imbeciles since their well received eponymously named debut album earlier this year. The six-track EP
features a new band line up - and a different sound. 'We've slimmed down from a meandering, vegan, six member prog rock combo, to a tight-knit, guitar-led, steakeating 4-piece,' says lead Imbecile, Butch Dante. 'The guitar sound is fuzzy punk beast-master AF, and we like it.'
The band had originally gone into the studio earlier this year to record a radio session for 6Music. That ended up being cancelled because of the pandemic crisis. 'We
were there anyway so we started riffing on some new songs and everything came together real fast,' continues Butch. The result is three new songs and three new
versions of tracks that first appeared on the album. 'The music is still weird; but everything just gets to the point faster,' he adds. "You can hear that energy in 'Yes I
Am'; it's the sound of a band having fun being creative again after a difficult year.'
That particular new track is a Foo fighters/STP/Stooges-style banger, but played on Imbeciles terms - one note leads and guitar scrapes, with off beat stabs and a pop
punk drum track that pulls the whole together. And the overall vibe of the EP is a NSFW hybrid of 1979 London punk (Skids and Ruts), with second guitar stolen from
eighties Echo and Bunnymen and a leavening of Bauhaus art rock.
'Sunday Leaguer' was inspired by Butch's love of English football. The song is both a banging punk celebration of the beautiful game, and a lament to the gaping hole left
in peoples' lives when Coronavirus forced the cancellation of all football in March. As well as the Premier League, MotD and other football staples, the song also
celebrates the unsung legends of amateur Sunday League football. Dante, a Crystal Palace fan, enlists Palace's Holmesdale Fanatics on the track, who are heard chanting
'Eagles', while the video for the song pays tribute to the club's mascot, Keya, who sadly passed away this summer.
Charlie Conkers makes his debut on the EP as the band's drummer. 'He's young, good looking, and talented. It's quite annoying, actually,' Butch says. New lead guitarist
Stan Moseley makes a sideways move into the band from his previous role as The Imbecile's chief engineer and co-producer - the producer role now being occupied by
music legend, Youth, with whom the band has just started working on a new album, to be released in 2021.
'Having Youth involved as producer and co-writer is the most dope thing that has ever happened to the band,' says lead singer and bass player Kip Larson. 'Everyone is in
a super positive, hyper creative place right now and we can't wait to see what we come up with.'
So what about the name, Dissolution Sessions? Was it a nod to the pandemic, or a reference to the band breaking up and reforming again with its new members?
Neither, according to Butch. 'Kip was super hung over at the session. too many Dos Equis, yo. Hence: Dissolution Sessions.'

Whispers And Sighs is the final studio album by the late David Olney,
beloved folk songwriter’s songwriter, in collaboration with Anana Kaye, a
young Eastern European powerhouse taking Americana by storm.
If the futile longing to reach back through memory and grasp what is in the
past could be set to music, it would sound like Whispers and Sighs. Over the
course of 13 tracks, David Olney and Anana Kaye manage to craft a journey that
amounts to far more than just another Americana album.
And while it’s hard to escape the seeming cosmic significance of the album as
posthumous Olney release, at no point does this create the air of morbidity;
rather, it lends the project a bittersweet ambiance. Within Whispers And Sighs
is an undeniable reminder that David Olney’s extraordinary legacy can never
fade, while Anana Kaye’s star grows deservedly brighter by the day.

The debut album of the singer-composer Rita Ray from Estonia packs powerful, warm vocals and crisp production to go with it. "Old Love Will Rust" contributes 8 soul-heavy cuts to the current scene: it's got that slower, classic R&B side of affairs, as well as an uptempo disco delight, that keeps things tight. While miss Ray herself has credits in almost all aspects of the LP, it's a certified Solid Gold Production, led by Martin Laksberg of Lexsoul Dancemachine. Blue-eyed soul hasn't sounded so strong in ages! Rita Ray is a small-town girl whose vocal chords are hardened by a decade in choir singing, spirit toughened by the city life and a foundation built in jazz studies. She's the first contemporary soul diva to rise from the post-Soviet state. Her soul-stirring shows have yet to leave a heart cold - she'll have you in her palm to deliver tender melodies, irony-filled lyrics, catchy riffs and disco-stomping sessions.

Es gibt sie noch, die guten Nachrichten: Jan Delay meldet sich mit seinem neuen Album zurück. “Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist voll Bass, Bumms und positiven Vibes: eine Platte für den Club in unserem Herzen.
“Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist Jan Delays fünftes Soloalbum und sein erstes seit 2016. Wie immer bei Jan Delay schöpft “Earth, Wind & Feiern” aus fünf Jahrzehnten Popgeschichte. Vor allem aber spielt die Platte im Hier und Jetzt. In ihr stecken Burna Boy und Stefflon Don, Daft Punk und Drake, Sly & Robbie und Meek Mill. Es gibt Afrobeats, Disco, Trap und Ska, sogar Stadiontechno und LatinX-Riddims.
“Earth, Wind & Feiern” ist eine Platte für den Club in unserem Herzen. Sie ist voll Seele und Bounce und positiven Vibes. Denn so bedrückend und komplex die Welt manchmal auch scheinen mag: Ein paar simple Wahrheiten werden nie von ihrer Gültigkeit verlieren. Wenn Hass herrscht, hilft Liebe ganz bestimmt. Und das Wichtigste ist, dass das Feuer nicht aufhört zu brennen. Jan Delay ist zurück, um es am Lodern zu
halten.

Clear Vinyl

Freddy Fresh is a legend. Period. From a plethora of 12“es on labels like Nu Groove, Drop Bass Network, Forced Nostalgia, Spaziotempo, Lone Romantic or Toolbox Killers to albums on 90s scene mainstays like Harthouse, Anodyne or Eye Q to countless releases on his own imprints like Howlin Records, Analog Records USA and Electric Music Foundation. From remixes for the likes of GusGus, Heaven 17, Kitachi, Steve Stoll, Frankie Bones and many more to hitting the UK Top 40 with the massive BigBeat smasher „Badder Badder Schwing“
produced alongside Fatboy Slim. The man has done it all. Nearly.
And therefore Intrauterin Recordings is proud to present the first ever Drum'n'Bass release in the more than 30 year spanning career of the one and only Freddy Fresh!
With „333“ Freddy Fresh is going down a twisted, hard stepping and yet positive alley of what the man himself refers to as Modular Drum'n'Bass that is unmistakably cooked up live and direct in his Minneapolis-based studio. Expect a whirlwind of swirls, swooshes, bleeps and FX alongside raw junglistic beats and the most positive Synth bass motif you've heard in a long while.
Yet the singles' main dancefloor smash is to be found on the flip side. „Watch It Go Roun Roun“ is a raw classic, a heavy original JumpUp banger driven by a killer vocal performance by Mike Gates a.k.a. Mikey Dredd. Likely better known to many for his Techno productions on labels like Kanzleramt, Creation Rebel or Howlin Records rather than for his MC skills this is the very first time Mikey Dredd's secret love for taking up the microphone as a proper Jungle / Drum'n'Bass MC is officially recognized and revealed on wax as a late tribute to and
honoration of a large scale talent which passed away way too soon in 2019. Lighter crew!
Initial pressing will be limited to 225 copies on 7“ whitelabel vinyl. Hand-stamped with stickered cover.


b B1: Watch It Go Roun Roun featuring Mikey Dredd

Tape

Ambient Music? Oh yes! Number two in the Frank Music tape series comes from the city of Leipzig yet again. Mary Yalex is a mainstay in various genres of dance music. Better go and check her records on KANN & Dial for instance if you haven't already. We are delighted to give you around 39 minutes of textures, sketches, warmth, weirdness and kindness. In other words: welcome to "Sentimental Journey". Mary guides us through a 10 tracks trip over calm pads ("November Strings"), steady bubbles ("Coral Reef"), postponed dreams ("Broken Café Blues"), ascending melodies ("Moonlight") and bitter realities ("Social Distance"). Tape format for the enthusiast, digital formats for all of us. Artwork by beloved illustrator Jana Marei.

Reissue for John Joseph’s own all-star group 2017 debut album

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it."

The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs."

Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit.

For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

A little over a year ago, Nathan Williams found himself back in San Diego, writing what would eventually become Hideaway, his seventh album as Wavves, in a little shed behind his parents’ house. It was also the place where he made some of his earliest albums, before he became known for his uncanny ability to write songs that sneered at the world while evoking pathos, sympathy, and a deep understanding of how sometimes we’re our own worst enemies, and that can be okay. Williams’ return to his childhood home was not just a symbolic attempt at jumpstarting creativity. It came as a result of a series of major life changes. A decade ago, Williams released King of the Beach on the maverick indie label Fat Possum. The album was a cocky collection of pop punk gems that catapulted him into the public consciousness, eventually prompting a jump from Fat Possum into the major label system, where he released two albums before becoming disillusioned by the lack of creative agency available to him. In 2017, Williams self-released You’re Welcome on his label, Ghost Ramp. Now, Williams has returned to Fat Possum with a barbed collection of anxious anthems that grapple with the looming sense of doom and despair that comes with getting older in an increasingly chaotic world. “He’ll always skew toward the Bart Simpson character,” says Matthew Johnson, founder of Fat Possum. “But that does not mean that he doesn’t have some commentary, and once in awhile, it’s totally spot on.” Across its brief but impactful nine tracks, Hideaway is about what happens when you get old enough to take stock of the world around you and realize that no one is going to save you but yourself, and even that might be a tall order. The album features Williams’ most universal and urgent songs yet. “Honeycomb” lopes along sunnily, as Williams sings affecting lines like “I feel like I’m dying, it’s cool, it’s great, just pretend I’m okay.” His directness is shocking, and proof that Williams is the kind of songwriter who can capture pain and uncertainty with resonant brutal force. “It’s real peaks and valleys with me,” Williams says. “I can be super optimistic and I can feel really good, and then I can hit a skid and it’s like an earthquake hits my life, and everything just falls apart. Some of it is my own doing, of course.” It’s this self awareness that permeates each of Hideaway’s songs, marking them each as mature reckonings with who he is. After realizing the material he’d been working on in the hideaway was starting to take shape, Williams, along with bandmates Stephen Pope and Alex Gates workshopped the songs in a series of now-abandoned studio sessions, before linking up with musician and producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio to help fully realize their new songs.

When Rey Sapienz was eight years old, the Democratic Republic of Congo was plunged into the Second Congo War. The conflict last five years and was the bloodiest since World War II, leaving an indelible mark on East Africa and creating mass displacement and loss of life. But Sapienz endured, cutting his teeth as a young rapper at twelve, first performing to celebrate Congo's independence day. When he finished school, he headed to nearby Kampala to hone his craft and collaborate with local producers. But civil war broke out back home and he was forced to extend his stay in Uganda. Since then, Sapienz has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, co-founding the Hakuna Kulala label, teaching his Ableton Live skills to Kampala's young producers and releasing two acclaimed EPs. For his debut album, Sapienz embarks on an ambitious project that travels beyond the avant beatscapes of his early material. Alongside traditional percussionist, vocalist and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Doggis, he has formed The Congo Techno Ensemble, utilizing their skills and experience to offer a statement that speaks to the past, present and future of the DRC. On "Eza Makambo", the trio channel rich musical traditions and historic tension, evolving electronic and traditional forms into boundless sci-fi mutations. The track breaks open the stories all three artists accumulated in the DRC, augmenting radioactive techno-dancehall beats with radical, open-hearted words and rhymes. "Eza Makambo" is a heady cocktail of stylistic futurism and harsh reality that could be compared with Zizou Bikaye's seminal "Noir et Blanc or Danis Mpunga & Paul K.'s genre-breaking electronic experiments. But marked by the DRC's recent scars, it's a critical work that stands painfully alone.

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem britischen Entwickler-Studio Kaizen Game Works veröffentlicht das Kölner Soundtrack-Label Black Screen Records im Frühjahr 2021 Barry "Epoch" Toppings funkigen "City-Pop meets Vaporwave"-Soundtrack zu dem von der internationalen Gaming-Presse gefeierten Open World Adventure Game Paradise Killer auf Vinyl. Barrys Toppings Soundtrack erscheint auf limitiertem 180g Crystal Clear Vinyl und kommt in einem von 80er Animes & City Pop-Alben inspirierten Artwork der deutschen Designerin Mizucat. Zudem enthält das Vinyl ein gefaltetes A2 Poster und einen Download Code. Die Sounds des Paradieses. Die Musik eines kosmischen Traums. Tracks einer anderen Realität. Das Tempo eines Verbrechens, dass alle Verbrechen beendet. Der Beat von lange verlorenen außerirdischen Göttern. Die Playlist des "Investigation Freaks". Lass dich von der Musik ins Paradies führen. Fühle die glühend heiße Sonne auf deiner Haut. Rieche unerträglich heißen Beton. Genieße den süßen Geschmack von Verbrechen, begangen, auf einer tropischen Insel in einer alternativen Realität. Erinnerst du dich daran, wie wir am Strand getanzt haben? Neben den paradiesischen Straßen? Du hast mir dieses Mix-Tape auf dem Dach deines Apartments gemacht. Wir haben den Mond angestarrt. Du sagtest, du würdest den Mond töten. Ich glaubte dir nicht. Wie falsch ich doch lag.

"These Exit Times" is the name of a newsletter sent by an environmental organisation advocating the extinction of the human race as a solution to save the planet. When Victor Ramirez first came across the group on the internet a couple of years ago, it brought a smile to his face. But after some pondering on the subject, he decided that "Exit Times" would be the name of his sensational third album as Ramirez Exposure.

The record started to take shape in early 2020, after a musical hiatus that had lasted a year. It had been somewhat of a dark period, and Victor felt it was time to go back to recording songs. It would be the first time he would be doing so at home. He had managed to set up a small studio that would allow him to make some proper recordings, and without having to use a computer. He'd also started a new job, as an orderly in a hospital, which gave him time to record and cash to pay the rent.

Victor was ready to take on the task of making the album with the help—albeit from a distance, this time—of Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star) and Brian Young (Jesus & Mary Chain, Ivy, Fountains of Wayne), both regular accomplices of the Valencian in production and instrumentation. Working with the two of them feels very natural for him, even though they are in three different countries.

Looking back, it seemed as if he'd prepared himself for what was coming.

And so, the pandemic happened, and Victor found himself turning the ideas he had outlined on his phone into the songs for Exit Times. He was in a good place, personally and, despite the situation, he was happy to be able to contribute to society through his job at the hospital and, after coming home, to concentrate on his music and isolate himself from everything else.

Gradually, the sketches turned into luminous songs, with bright harmonies and lyrics that exude a fine irony. Victor admits that he strives to be a good pessimist every day, and the songs reveal a way of understanding life that relativises almost everything in order to stick with what's really important. This subtle sense of humour in the lyrics, like the luminosity of his music, is vintage Ramirez, and is present throughout the album, and even on the cover. The artwork is a painting by German painter Angela Dalinger, depicting Victor himself, their dog, Colombo, and some meaningful objects. The vinyl record featured is George Harrison's Brainwashed.

Exit Times is a shiny collection of songs with a universal vocation, bathed in sunshine pop with touches of new psychedelia. All simmered under the Mediterranean sun—the same sun that illuminates the entire planet.

A deep dive into the one of most collectable jazz catalogues in the world, a selection of some of the rarest and most sought-after recordings from the 60s and 70s, a time when British jazz began to find its own identity. Drawn from the iconic labels of Decca, Deram, Argo, EMI Columbia/Lansdowne Series, Fontana, Mercury, & Philips. A figure in British modern jazz for over half a century, Don Rendell was both active protagonist and key witness to the main developments in the music from its rise out of tiny clubs and back rooms on up to the most prestigious national stages. From his earliest performances in London’s West End and his work of the 50s and 60s — most not ably with the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet — to the lower profile work of the 70s and 80s, his quite assurance and consistent performance marked him out as a highly respected figure among his peers. He is one of a handful of British artists to feature on Blue Note Records and appeared on some of the most distinctive and characterful British jazz albums by the likes of Michael Garrick, Stan Tracey, Amancio D’Silva, and Neil Ardley. Even though Rendell eschewed much of the free and electric fusion styles that came to the fore in the late 60s, in the main sticking to an acoustic sound with melody and rhythm at its heart, he similarly bridled at any notion that he was merely a ‘bopper’, a description he positively hated. In many ways, Space Walk was as much a valedictory as transitionary album for Rendell. It was his last for Denis Preston, the fabled producer behind Lansdowne Studios, described by Neil Ardley as a ‘rare Diaghilev like figure’ who steered many of the key figures of the British jazz scene into the studio when nobody else would record them. It was also Rendell’s final project for EMI Columbia and his last as a leader for a major record label. After Space Walk, Rendell would record for smaller, independent labels like Spotlite. But as much as the album is a farewell to one chapter, it also marked the way forward to the next..