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Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes is the debut album from Gregory Uhlmann (SML, Anna Butterss, Duffy x Uhlmann, Perfume Genius), Josh Johnson (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet & New Breed, Meshell Ndegeocello, Anna Butterss, Leon Bridges), and Sam Wilkes (Sam Gendel, Louis Cole, Chaka Khan). The three improviser/arranger/producers' impressive individual credits encompass such a wide stylistic pendulum swing that a collection of group music from the trio could mine any number of musical territories with masterful results. I n these 11 instrumental songs, the trio explores a spacious lyrical curiosity that could b e described as a jazz-informed take o n progressive electro-acoustic chamber music.

Conceived during two live shows at ETA and a session at Uhlmann's house in Los Angeles, the album maintains a focus on beauty, melody, and rhythm as the pieces unfold, with the trio pushing their instruments and highly-dialed effects to sculpt otherworldly sounds with the collective sensibility o f a rhythm section. The ethos of these instant compositions is arrangement-minded improvisation that showcases the mournful beauty of Uhlmann's fingerpicked electric guitar, the hybrid rhythm-lead of Wilkes' bass chording, and the textural harmonic worldbuilding of Johnson's effect-laden alto saxophone.

compiled by tsunaki kadowaki
artwork by yoshirotten
mastering by kuniyuki takahashi

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayō.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format (vinyl or CD), original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists.

Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Walearic and ambient pop

Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi—who is also known for his arrangements on Inoue’s masterpiece Ice World—the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. The song embodies a yearning for Balearic horizons, tinged with youthful vibrancy and sentimentality.

Next, "Oritatamu Umi", compiled from Keiko Nosaka, a 20-string koto player, and George Murasaki, a pioneer of Okinawan rock, is an instrumental track from their album "Niraikanai Requiem 1945". As the title suggests, it carries themes of requiem and remembrance, conveying poetic lyricism even without words. Blending Ryukyuan/Okinawan harmonies and indigenous elements, it unfolds as an intimate and nostalgic piece of progressive rock.

Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover, the predecessor of RC Succession. Like the opening track "Umi e Kinasai", this song was also produced by Katsu Hoshi. It stands as a folk/new music piece that takes a step into an "otherworldly" realm, recommended for fans of Twin Cosmos and Masumi Hara.

From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. With an oriental and enigmatic atmosphere, the track evokes a mystical world of deep, uncharted jungles, unfolding as an otherworldly New Age Kayō.

"Yaponesia Sakura", selected from Rehabilual’s sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. Produced by Swami Dhyan Akamo, a disciple of Indian meditation teacher Osho and a renowned balafon player, the track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). Their collective artistry creates an exquisite spiritual ambient pop sound.

"Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu’s album Sachiko, is also included. Known for her legendary folk album Misora, produced by Haruomi Hosono, Kanenobu’s fourth album after resuming her career was inspired by her experiences living in San Francisco and revolves around the theme of "love." This track carries the same intimate poetic world as Misora, imbued with a pure, crystalline innocence.

From the synth-pop band E.S. Island, known for the Haruomi Hosono-produced *Teku Teku Mami", comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Created while the band’s core duo was living in Hachijō Island, the album aimed to sonically capture "the high and happy vibrations of everyday island life." This track offers a dynamic, tribal-infused New Age Kayō experience.

Dubbed "the world's first Min’yō House Mix" "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta) " comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX Ⅰ, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa, a renowned min’yō singer. Through the prism of club music, Hokkaido's Esashi Oiwake, one of Japan’s most iconic folk songs, is transformed into a futuristic ambient pop piece with intricate sound design.

The compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh", a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Taken from their imaginative minimal work Voice From Asia, released under Aoyama Spiral’s music label Newsic, the song presents a tranquil, tribal-minimal soundscape enriched by ethnic instruments.

Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having “a shaman residing in her voice,” singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Known for her collaborations with Henry Kawahara, her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume", a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music—a hidden gem of post-choir aesthetics that deserves rediscovery.

Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto’s album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. The track weaves fragmented vocal samples, pastoral yet sweetly minimal synth sounds, and mechanical beats into a strikingly unconventional piece in the history of Japanese music.

Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze’s album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric. Merging elements of IDM, ambient techno, and chillout, the song embodies an optimism reminiscent of space music while seamlessly blending a mystical Japanese aesthetic—an ambient pop masterpiece.

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The album presents 12 exquisite pop tracks infused with an ambient feeling, resonating deeply with the evolving landscape of the mid-2020s—a time of post-hyperpop and Y2K revival.

Tsunaki Kadowaki (Compiler)

Born in 1993 in Yonago, Tottori, Tsunaki Kadowaki is a staff member and buyer at Kyoto’s Meditations record store. He is the editor of New Age Music Disc Guide (DU BOOKS) and a contributor to Music Magazine, Record Collectors' Magazine, ele-king, and more. Kadowaki has written liner notes for multiple Japanese releases (Brian Eno, Masahiro Sugaya etc.) and runs the Sad Disco music label under Disk Union. He also curates Spotify’s official New Age Music playlist and performed as a DJ at YCAM’s Audio Base Camp #3 in 2024.

Members went on to Sinkane, and Pompeii, This Morning. Originally recorded in the
summer of 2005 out west, while on tour, by Vince Tennant. The recording had been
shelved and unreleased. In 2023, Expert Work Records reached out to Sweetheart and
got the recording re-mastered. It will be released on limited vinyl and digital.
This is also a companion piece/ record with EW018 (Sweetheart- The Process of
Making Us Well). We highly suggest getting both records.
Sweetheart's "The Unbearable Tightness Of Being" is one of those records you should
put on your radar as soon as possible. A rediscovered artifact from 2005, the album is
a sonic panorama that intricately incorporates post- hardcore, noise rock, punk,
screamo, and indie elements into an innovative and complex sonic landscape. The
guitars, wielded with finesse, serve as the driving force behind Sweetheart's sonic
assault. From the opening chords to the closing refrains, they deliver a relentless
barrage of riffs that defy predictability. The interplay between the two guitarists
manifests as a dynamic dialogue - a musical conversation that seamlessly transitions
from chaotic dissonance to moments of clarity. Catchy, intricate, and hypnotic chord
progressions unfold, evoking the spirit of At The Drive-In and Fugazi while carving a
distinct sonic identity.
However, it's not merely about sonic assault; Sweetheart infuses the album with a
nuanced approach to melody. Amidst the aggressive riffage, this material treats
listeners with moments of harmonic beauty and unexpected melodic twists. Themes,
leads, melodies, and harmonies intermingle, creating a rich auditory experience that
transcends the boundaries of conventional post-hardcore.
The production quality of this long- lost gem further accentuates its brilliance.
Recorded in 2005 but kept in the shadows due to financial constraints and a desire for
perfection, the album has now found its moment in the sun. Expert Work's decision to
release the LP in 2024 has allowed audiences to appreciate the intelligent
craftsmanship that went into its creation.
"The Unbearable Tightness Of Being" is more than a musical journey; it's a sonic
exploration transcending all the possible sonic boundaries. Sweetheart's commitment
to experimentation and honesty, as emphasized by band members reflecting on their
creative process, is palpable. The act of listening, treated as a discipline, is evident in
the careful construction of each track - a result of repetitive practice, internalization,
and an unwavering dedication to their craft. In the grander narrative of the album's
release, the band's reflections on the passage of time and the meaning of their work
imbue the music with a poignant depth.
"The Unbearable Tightness Of Being" is a mandatory addition to any record collection.
It's not just a revival of the early 2000s scene; it's a sheer example of Sweetheart's
enduring brilliance and a celebration of a significant part of their musical legacy.

OCTOTRAX comes to life through a double LP. A debut that lays the foundation for a catalogue driven by exploration and evolution, revealing a snapshot of what has and will be.

A collection of works, each a facet of the same stone, expressed with progressive arrangements and trance essences.

Emerging from a time of rediscovery, this is the result of a pursuit to birth something enduring. More than a definitive statement, it captures a moment of clarity and renewal, a step toward the future with purpose.

octobo is to be written ALL IN SMALL!
Mastered and Cut by Graeme "Grazz" Durham at The Exchange

Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes is the debut album from Gregory Uhlmann (SML, Anna Butterss, Duffy x Uhlmann, Perfume Genius), Josh Johnson (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet & New Breed, Meshell Ndegeocello, Anna Butterss, Leon Bridges), and Sam Wilkes (Sam Gendel, Louis Cole, Chaka Khan). The three improviser/arranger/producers' impressive individual credits encompass such a wide stylistic pendulum swing that a collection of group music from the trio could mine any number of musical territories with masterful results. I n these 11 instrumental songs, the trio explores a spacious lyrical curiosity that could b e described as a jazz-informed take o n progressive electro-acoustic chamber music.

Conceived during two live shows at ETA and a session at Uhlmann's house in Los Angeles, the album maintains a focus on beauty, melody, and rhythm as the pieces unfold, with the trio pushing their instruments and highly-dialed effects to sculpt otherworldly sounds with the collective sensibility o f a rhythm section. The ethos of these instant compositions is arrangement-minded improvisation that showcases the mournful beauty of Uhlmann's fingerpicked electric guitar, the hybrid rhythm-lead of Wilkes' bass chording, and the textural harmonic worldbuilding of Johnson's effect-laden alto saxophone.

B & C können laut sein, leise und alles dazwischen. Eine ziemlich treffende Beschreibung, wenn auch etwas heruntergebrochen. Ein sound-ästhetischer Angriff, der Einflüsse wie Sunny Day Real Estate, Neutral Milk Hotel und Nirvana offen legt, ihr 2011 erschienenes Debütalbum ,Separation", das Balance and Composure als eine der vielversprechendsten Underground-RockNewcomer präsentierte. Separation ist ein wegweisendes Werk des Post-Hardcore und Emo. Der kraftvolle und emotionale Sound ist ein Muss für Fans des Genres. Mit Tracks wie ,Void" und ,I Tore You Apart In MyHead" zeigt das Album die dynamische Bandbreite der Band und derer Songwriter-Skills ebenso. Die Themen des Albums - Isolation, Verlust und Bewältigung werden durch den leidenschaftlichen Gesang und die raue Instrumentierung bestens ins Bild gesetzt. Wenn Du auf der Suche nach einem authentischen Post-Hardcore-Erlebnis bist, ist ,Separation" ein Muss für deine Sammlung. Für Fans von Citizen, Turnover, Tigers Jaw, Touché Amoré, Sunny Day Real Estate.... - Neue 2025er-Pressung auf klarem, grünen Vinyl!

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• THEIR DEBUT ALBUM
• INCLUDES INSERT WITH BLACK & WHITE GRAPHICS AND TEXT
• LIMITED EDITION OF 500 COPIES ON RED VINYL

Supersister’s debut effort remains one of Holland’s best progressive rock albums and a classic of the genre worldwide. Present From Nancy is available as a limited edition of 500 copies on red vinyl and includes an insert.

Crafted from solo recordings of 42 top-notch improviser musicians mostly drawn from Berlin’s multi-layered experimental scene, the monumental Phantom Orchestra project by Raed Yassin is finally getting released on Morphine Records. More than 1000 minutes of source material, recorded at the Morphine Raum during the fall of 2021, is distilled into a cogent work marked by a dazzling display of editing and blending, and packed into a double LP containing 7 “movements” of the Phantom Orchestra composition.

Crafted from solo recordings of 42 top-notch improviser musicians mostly drawn from Berlin’s multi-layered experimental scene, the monumental Phantom Orchestra project by Raed Yassin is finally getting released on Morphine Records. More than 1000 minutes of source material, recorded at the Morphine Raum during the fall of 2021, is distilled into a cogent work marked by a dazzling display of editing and blending, and packed into a double LP containing 7 “movements” of the Phantom Orchestra composition.

The Lebanese composer, musician and visual artist Raed Yassin has built a career straddling artistic mediums and communities, his devotion to improvisation, his connection to experimental electronic music, and his interest in the archive distinguishing a progressive impulse rooted in historic exploration. In 2020 Morphine Records released his wildly ambitious Live in Sharjah, made by a kaleidoscopic expansion of Praed, his duo with clarinetist Paed Conca. He resumes his interest in large-scale projects with Phantom Orchestra, conceived during the pandemic when most European improvisers were forced to redirect their energies into solo work,

Each set of the Phantom Orchestra’s solos was cut on a Dubplate, ready to be performed on 12 turntables routed to a six-channel setup, to create a unified and breathtaking composition from the spontaneous material. The resulting material was then edited and prepared to be cut on a Double LP format, marshalling a staggering variety of improvised footage into an air-tight collage that locates abstract consonance, stunning sonic rhymes, and unusual harmonies without shutting out the sort of exhilarating collisions and fraught tensions inherent in collaborative improvisations. With this final stage of the composition, Yassin offers a vibrant testimony to the diversity of Berlin’s community of improvisers, to say nothing of his own refined artistic sensibility in achieving such a remarkable feat of blending so many contrasting voices into a truly unified piece of music. “For me it's about how to learn to be a community again,” he says. “And how to live in a world together again, which is a very difficult question for me.”

“This Album was published with the support of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC”

Preparing your debut full length record is no small undertaking for any artist. The format itself deserves a certain frame of mind and approach – it’s different, and with Sarah Wild’s debut LP she embraces the idea. Expanding her artistic vision to offer something different, making use of the format and bringing new ideas and musical pathways to her established sound. Releasing on her imprint Midnight Operators in early 2025 – My Body Flows In Gravity constitutes a sophisticated homage to the early 2000s trance movement, integrating nostalgic motifs with her ultra-on point production that sits perfect in todays scene.

From the dreamy proto-house vibes of the opener, establishing a foundation with its understated beats, to the Orbital-esk serenity of the title track My Body Flows In Gravity the album works at evoking the emotive resonance of a golden era of music reborn. This trip is backed up by the Early-Balearic styled tracks such as “Fly With Me To The Moon” and “Visit To Mars” which pull you into hazy smoked filled dancefloor territory, hypnotic melodic progressions effectively capture the essence of Trance’s peak cultural moment.

At the mid point “I Don’t Wanna Go” introduces a different dimension, exploring a more Euro sound that is at the peak of the contemporary scene, but infused with Sarah’s unique edge, hyper pumping beats work alongside spoken word to really up the tempo. Following this the journey returns to a more progressive feel, “Floating Around” and ” On My Way Home” take things into deeper territory, bringing the focus’s of the record back the groove after the blurry eyed highs. Bringing the record in for a perfect landing. There is an emotional duality to this record, a movement through a juxtaposition of yearning and almost frantic emotions alongside more uplifting harmonics through to more introspective moments. The final track “Landing” gracefully closes this arc.

Sarah Wild delivers a sonic journey as much concerned with the process as with the destination itself. My Body Flows In Gravity shows Wild’s capacity to synthesize the deeply personal with the universally resonant, a set of tracks that equally speak to the introspective solitude as they do to the collective euphoria of the dancefloor.

Brian Auger’s Streetnoise, recorded in 1969 with Julie Driscoll and The Trinity, stands as a landmark of late 1960s eclecticism, where the boundaries of jazz, rock, folk, and soul blur into a cohesive, genre-defying masterpiece.

Auger was moving The Trinity on from their R&B, jazz beginnings and for Streetnoise, together with Driscoll, delivered a record that channelled their mutually progressive vision. Julie's haunting vocal performances were the perfect counterpoint to Auger’s innovative instrumentation, creating a sound that was both avant-garde yet deeply soulful. “We aimed to challenge expectations, ” Auger recalls. “Every track was a canvas to experiment and push the envelope.”

The album’s gatefold sleeve design, created by Ralph Steadman, inspired by William Hogarth's 18th-century satirical etchings, was as groundbreaking as its music. This was not just a cover, it was a bold statement about art and society, perfectly mirroring the music’s blend of historical reverence and forward-thinking innovation.

Musically, Streetnoise is a kaleidoscope of styles including jazz and R&B, fusion, folk, rock and gospel flourishes. "Ellis Island, " and “Finally Found You Out” are both intense instrumentals that embody the intense fusion of jazz and rock the group was known for. "Indian Rope Man" is one of the standout tracks. A cover of Richie Havens' original, that inspired The Charlatans ‘Indian Rope’ and All Blues, a bold reinterpretation of Miles Davis’ iconic Kind of Blue masterpiece, on which Driscoll's vocal performance may be the highlight. "Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)" is a hauntingly beautiful cover of the finale from the musical Hair. Auger's own compositions from the opening instrumental 'Tropic Of Capricorn', to the introspective solo piano and vocal Looking In The Eye Of The World' display Brian's multiple talents.

Celebrated for its fearless creativity across all 16 tracks, the album is testament to Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll’s visionary artistry. It remains a must-listen for anyone exploring the dynamic intersections of jazz, rock, and soul. The album’s reputation has only grown with time, cementing its legacy as a cornerstone of experimental music.

Streetnoise; A wholly unique album from an equally unique group

Auf ihrem neuen, fünften Studioalbum "Kidron" defi niert sich die deutsch-niederländische Progressive Metal Kultband SACROSANCT neu und überzeugt auf acht episch-melancholischen, teils schnellen und durchweg hymnischen Tracks, samt Gesangs-Neuzugang Max Morton, auf ganzer Linie. Ein Freudenfest für Fans anspruchsvoller, komplexer Klänge mit Tiefgang.

“Eerie, wailing sounds over distorted feedback drones… Vibrato-heavy harmonies chirrup and throb in agonisingly slow motion.”
The Guardian, Album of the Month

“Cinematic...carefully orchestrated...delicately explores unfamiliar territory with uncanny finesse.”
The Wire

Acclaimed Icelandic theremin musician Hekla returns with Turnar, her third album of devastatingly heavy, spectral soundscape-songwriting, entering a sublime paranormal plane of haunting dread.

Now augmenting her virtuosic solo theremin work with cello, voice, and the sacred church organ of Icelandic master Kristján Hrannar, the evolution of Hekla’s unique magic summons new worlds with Turnar. The album was recorded partly in (and named after) a medieval castle tower in rural France, its ruinous black broken in spare beams of angelic stained-glass light. But, writes Hekla, “the sound of theremin kind of opens up a portal into a new realm that both looks into a dark old world and to the future.” The record is an alternately beautiful and crushing space voyage into a glacial underworld cascading with phosphorescence and cave drip, conjuring ancient choral ritual just as readily as redolent sci-fi gloam.

Opener “Inni” begins with swooning and shimmering lines of theremin that shiver with electrified energy before subfrequency bass elevates them into a glowing plasma, hovering above a crystallised surf. Key moment “Gráminn” wails with ghostly harmonics while distorted drones crash together in a stormy and blackened netherworld sea. It traces a neat progression from Hekla’s last album - the acclaimed Xiuxiuejar - while also welcoming an expanded timbral palette and flourishing compositional confidence. At the end of side A, “Var” delicately places sonic artefacts about a desolate negative space, creating a dense inverse gravity. As with the rest of the record, a claustrophobic gauze hangs over music that could otherwise be called subverted songwriting, aligning Hekla’s sonics with avant-garde, musique concréte and sound-art.

Meet Leng’s latest signings, Liminal – a Danish duo comprised of guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer David Rosenkilde, and DJ, producer and sound engineer Morten Troest.

The pair first met when Rosenkilde was booked to perform as a session musician at Troest studio. They clicked immediately so with Troest’s studio skills and inherent knowledge of what works on dancefloors paired with Rosenkilde’s abilities as a musician they decided to produce their own music together working to one simple rule: try out every idea, however outlandish!

Since then Rosenkilde and Troest have been recording their debut album that’s set for release on Leng later in 2025. First, though, we get a taste of their talents via ‘Keep Coming Back To Me’, an impressive debut single that blends electric and electronic instrumentation while keeping its focus fixed on the dancefloor.

Ushered in by shakers, rubbery bass and flanged guitar licks, ‘Keep Coming Back To Me’ giddily blurs the boundaries between colourful nu-disco, low-slung dub disco and the sun-splashed beauty of the more club-friendly end of the Balaeric spectrum. It boasts a hazy, multi-tracked and lightly glassy-eyed lead vocal, as well as a nagging TB-303 acid line that works its way to the fore as the track progresses, adding extra layers of excitement and energy as it unfolds.

Remixer Ray Mang (AKA long-time friend of the label Raj Gupta) takes the latter element as his inspiration on a stunning, nine-minute plus remix that brilliantly re-frames the track as a blend of tactile 21st century nu-disco colour, hypnotic proto-house and analogue-rich, acid-fired Chicago jack. Re-playing the bassline in an early Chicago house style and reaching for lo-fi and spacey synth sounds, the veteran British producer frequently strips the track back to the groove before re-introducing the vocal and the dreamiest of chords.

Liminal also display their sonic diversity on bonus cut ‘The Moon Is Changing’, a wonderfully atmospheric and star-lit affair in which spacey ambient chords, twinkling electric piano keys and intergalactic electronics slowly usher in a mid-tempo Norse nu-disco groove. The pair build slowly, adding vocals and layered guitar licks. The results are hard to pigeonhole but thoroughly impressive, offering a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come on their must-check debut album.

The first-ever reissue of Gianni Marchetti's 1978 LP "Solstitium", released as part of RCA's venerable "Original Cast" series in a handful of promo copies only, sits among the most rare and enigmatic artifacts of Italian library music, it is heralded by collectors as one of the greatest free-standing gestures in the entire genre.

RIYL: Piero Umiliani, Egisto Macchi, Stefano Torossi

Gianni Marchetti's Solstitium, originally released in 1978 as part of RCA's prestigious Original Cast series, stands as one of the most elusive and iconic records within the realm of Italian library music. Its first-ever reissue brings this long-sought gem back into circulation, offering an opportunity for modern listeners to experience its raw, innovative energy and immersive soundscapes. Originally released in only a handful of promo copies, Solstitium quickly became a holy grail for collectors, its rarity only adding to its mystique and allure.
The album embodies a free-spirited, avant-garde approach to composition, blending elements of jazz, progressive rock, and experimental electronic music. Marchetti’s use of unconventional instrumentation and studio techniques marks Solstitium as an audacious departure from the more conventional library music of the era.
‘Solstitium’ remains a fascinating listening experience, revealing new layers with every listen, and it is not surprising that it has earned its place as one of Marchetti's most revered works, continuing to fascinate old fans and new listeners alike.

First released over 30 years ago, this EP, as with Volumes 1,2 & 3, is where The Future Sound Of London started in 1991, these tracks under their pseudonyms. All four tracks were instrumental in establishing a new genre of electronica within dance music. They were ahead of their time and extremely progressive, and here three decades later they are making an impression. All four tracks are iconic, and big influences to the hardcore scene that followed. This edition of The Pulse EP is the first reissue in this original vinyl form since 1992, those initial pressings now expensive on Discogs. Genuine underground hardcore/rave history on vinyl to obtain one more time, all sounding as fresh today as it did back in the early 90s.

"Heritage is the tenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The album was recorded in early 2011 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm and produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt, engineered by Janne Hansson, and mixed by Steven Wilson (the first album since 2003's Damnation on which he worked with the band, although not as producer). It takes on more of a progressive rock sound, something the band had wanted to do for some time, resulting in a stark contrast to the progressive death metal sounds of their past albums.

A critical and commercial success and charted at number 19 on the Billboard 200. The first 5000 copies of this edition will contain a beautiful 16 page booklet.

Heritage is available as a 2LP limited edition of 5000 individually numbered copies on black & red marbled vinyl and comes with a limited 16 page booklet, a poster and an insert."

Finnish-born producer and pianist Idealism (800K Spotify Monthly Listeners) and French transplant Lucid Green (175k SML) are no strangers to each other’s subtle, yet potent productions. Having worked together on „Untold“ their Sophomore, fully collaborative LP “Unsaid” is a natural journey into the beautiful ambient, downtempo, lo-fi worlds they’ve each created. Through visits to Lucid’s flat in Paris and ideas being exchanged remotely, the duo experimented with different sounds, instruments and aural environments, in the process crafting a natural partnership that sits in a comfortable, melancholic pocket.

With lulling guitar and poignant piano progressions that provide a pillow to rest your ears, and downtempo percussions that keeps you ebbing and flowing along on a subtle current, unsure where one wave ends and the next begins, only the albums progressions dictate the head-nod. The album soars, reminiscent of life’s simple, yet wholly memorable moments.

As with all 823 releases, the project is a visual one as much as it is a musical project. The first singles visualizers are a fusion of Hopes & Dreams Club & 823’s design aesthetics with personal super8 footage captured by Idealism & Lucid Green, beautifully expressed from Hopes & Dreams Club membersi. Each visualizer and single art will easily stand on its own, transporting you to worlds familiar, yet undeniably groovy and sonically comfortable.

823 is a multifaceted Perth-based record label, fashion brand, and artistic community, founded by Australian producer and all-around creative, Ta-ku (630 SML). With an astute attention to detail and an ethos that appreciates the everyday things in life, 823 doesn’t stick to any particular genre. Past 823 releases include “So Far To Go” EP via Cabu (500k SML), Ta-ku and matt mcwaters’s duo project “Black and White,” featuring Masego collaboration “Flight 99” (38mil streams on Spotify), the “All Things Considered” compilations, a curated, collaborative series featuring both budding and well-established artists around the world and have included Idealism, Wun Two, pastels, L.Dre, Flobama, SwuM, Jinsang, Tenderlonious, among a host of others, as well as multiple sold out clothing capsules.

Bursting forth from the darkness of this pre-apocalyptic winter comes 'The Cabanists', the first release of an improvisational project of the same name, comprising three members of the UK's seminal avant-rock band, Nøught. Garnering a cult following since their initial self-titled debut, Nøught became known in the London experimental underground for their tightly orchestrated yet highly complex compositions, ranging from heavy atonal riffage to mesmerizing and hypnotic meditations. 'The Cabanists' builds on Nøught's musical language and are a boundary-pushing trio fusing intricate guitar riffs, dynamic keyboard textures and explosive percussion into a sound that defies convention. Featuring James Sedwards on guitar (most recently known for his involvement with the Thurston Moore Group and This Is Not This Heat), Luke Barlow on keyboards (who co-runs Copepod Records with musician Alex Ward) and Bo Mapper on drums, the band recorded their groundbreaking material during an extended session at London's Lonely Man Studio, marking a defining moment in their musical journey.

With influences spanning progressive rock, experimental jazz and post-punk energy, The Cabanists weave a sonic tapestry that is as cerebral as it is visceral. They challenge standard rock and jazz norms while crafting deeply resonant soundscapes, inviting listeners into a thrilling journey of sound and intense emotion.

Prepare to lose yourself in the intricate chaos and undeniable groove of 'The Cabanists' - where every note is a revelation.

‘Night Wobble’ is the sixth long-player from Saarbrücken, Germany duo Pretty Lightning and their
second instrumental record following 2022’s ‘Dust Moves’. It’s a set of downtempo, repetitive grooves
that course through dusty spaghetti-western psychedelia, Tuareg-derived desert-blues, library music
and '70s progressive. It’s always cinematic but shot through with trippy, off-kilter moments that bring a
sense of alien to the widescreen.

‘4th DIMENSION’ is the last and probably greatest album ever recorded by Italian piano Maestro Mario Rusca. This monumental music produc"on features tracks in Nonet, Quintet and Trio. Along with the faithful rhythm sec"on composed by Riccardo Fioravan" on bass and Maxx Furian on drums, on this slamming cinema"c jazz album Mario Rusca teamed up with two extraordinary wind players: legendary Flavio Boltro (of Michel Petrucciani Quintet fame) on trumpet and Gabriele Comeglio on sax alto.

As far as the choruses are concerned, Nicole4a Tiberini, Mar"na Rossi and Alice Macchi, from Maestro Rusca’s ensemble music courses at the Civica di Jazz School, provide inspired and swinging backing vocals. The cherry on the cake, the element that gives to ‘4th DIMENSION’ a pulsa"ng and swinging’ drive, is the par"cipa"on on the album of Marco Fadda, one of Italy’s leading percussion players.

This heterogeneous ensemble has shaped, during 5 days of intense studio recordings, an absolute masterpiece full of swinging rhythms along with a few magical in"mate moments. In his 65 years career, Italian piano legend Mario Rusca has shared the stage and recording studios with luminaries such as Chet Baker, Cur"s Fuller, Gerry Mulligan, Lou Donaldson, Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, Dusko Gojkovic, Enrico Rava, Tullio De Piscopo, Kenny Clarke, Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans, Gianni Basso, Pepper Adams, Steve Lacy and Tony Sco4 (with whom he formed an indissoluble partnership).

Being accompanied in this album by extraordinary musicians, Rusca chooses to flow in a repertoire that, like in his most recent records for Mono Jazz, bridges between original pieces and revisited standards from the American Jazz Songbook, approached with unprecedented sensi"vity and depth.

The journey of ‘4th DIMENSION’ is an extraordinary cinema"c musical voyage across various styles ranging from Bop, Hard Bop, Cool, Funk and La"n Jazz. ‘4th DIMENSION’ is a perfect follow up to the interna"onally acclaimed Easy Tempo legacy! In these 13 tracks, “il Maestro” embraces and enhances a ‘cinema"c’ component in his music - an a4ribute he has long cul"vated through original soundtracks and library albums recorded for diverse cult Italian labels.

This, as we were saying, is achieved through the addi"on of percussionist Marco Fadda, who introduces a series of rhythmic nuances across several tracks, and of the extraordinary female vocal trio reminiscent of I Cantori Moderni of Alessandro Alessandroni & Edda Dell'Orso, used in the tradi"on of Italian composers of ‘60s and ‘70s film music.

This natural progression reflects Italy's history, where jazz musicians have long been involved in soundtracks and film scoring since the late ‘50s. Italian jazz has integrated this approach into its composi"on and arranging styles, as demonstrated in the first 10 volumes of the Easy Tempo series. A spirit and tradi"on that Rusca's ‘4th DIMENSION’ record con"nues. Listening to some of the tracks on the record evokes the legendary works created for cinema by Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni, Lelio Lu4azzi, Armando Trovajoli, Gianni Ferrio and others.

After two pandemically conditioned ‘reaction’ albums - Yay! (2023) and Neigh!! (2024) - a few non-album singles and a compilation album, a downsized and sleek Motorpsycho is back where we all know and love them, with an epic, sprawling double album, filled to the brim with inventive, organic and ecstatic rock-based music. Rejoyce Psychonaut! This eponymously titled, 11 song work, has exactly as much variety & diversity, accord and discord, as one expects from a band that has released a few albums before, and that these days must be regarded as an institution in European rock. From concise 3min-something pop-rockers, to 20mins plus progressive epics, via acoustic intimacies and psychedelic wig-outs, this is concentrated Motorpsychosis: commenced Rebis, countdown initiated. Ever closer. Ever sharper... Since the traditional 3 or 4 piece rock band seems to be a dying breed these days, and MP always was a band in flux anyway, a new pragmatic era has begun in the Psychoverse. The band has, in what one might call alchemical terms, been ‘dissolved and purified’, and is by now again reduced to the core two founding members HMR & BS. This is nothing new, it has happened a few times before, but these days they are also the owners and creators of the record company NFGS, which is now the hub of all recorded band activity, and Motorpsycho marks the final severance of existing ties to other labels for the first time in 35 years. If ‘freedom is free of the need to be free’, this is it. Yikes! The minimalist title of the album is then not just easy to remember, it’s also a statement: a new era has begun in the Psychoverse, a state of affairs reflected in execution and details as well as title, if not perhaps, in ambition or size: “Senex psittacus negligit ferulam” *. This is a time of new beginnings for a band that has spent two years consolidating and reseting before charging ahead anew on a new path, trumpets blaring (...and trumpets don’t come much more blaring in the Psychoverse than with this grandiloquent hyperbole. Good fun! ). New day rising indeed. The core band was adroitly helped by a gaggle of greats from all over the Scandinavian musical landscape on these recordings: drummers Ingvald Vassbø and Olaf Olsen, string arranger/violinist Mari Persen, vocalist Thea Grant, and - as usual - honorary psycho, brother Reine Fiske, were all fellow travellers on this musical journey. Motorpsycho was co-produced by the band and Deathprod, and mixed by Andrew Scheps. Motorpsycho are not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do. NFGS2025 *: “Senex psittacus negligit ferulam,” or “An old parrot doesn’t mind the stick.”

Dubstep and garage pushers Hotflush make a surefooted return, welcoming Perth producer Odd Occasion to their roster with an al dente next-gen garage cookoff. This 'Jukebox' offers six choices to the discerning listener, though you'd be hard-pressed to find a pub owner who'll take them on in toto - unless the landlords happen to be real heads, that is! All's well that this is a machine with niche appeal, with its formal calculations and dark contusions tempting fans of all things bass-led. Though the record begins on a volatile yet minimal note, the A3 'Simple' takes a glassy dubstep turn, virtifying the mix with hollow sound design and a stealthy grime vocal sample. The B-side betrays a sacrifice of genre focus, with 'Salt' bringing brutal trade zone techno via experimental trap sound design, and 'Tape' progressing through tender zithers, which help uptick the mix to reach a snappy folktronic finish.

'Erotic Probiotic 2' is Nourished By Time’s debut album on Scenic Route, following up from last year’s two track EP, Erotic Probiotic, which had support from Jamz Supernova on BBC 1Xtra and NTS shows; Yaeji, Shy One, Macca, Anu, and more. 2023 has already been a busy year for the singer/songwriter/producer, supporting 4AD’s sardonic post-punk band, Dry Cleaning on their 20 stop tour of North America. As well as remixing their playful album track, Gary Ashby, dropping on March 1st. Nourished By Time also collaborates with progressive electronic artist Yaeji on her debut album, With A Hammer, out on April 7th on XL Recordings.

Erotic Probiotic 2 showcases the range of this rising Baltimore pop star, telling his transformative story through impeccable songwriting, infectious ear worm melodies, vivid storytelling and intimate DIY production. The album traveresses a broad spectrum of sound, allowing his songwriting to dictate the ever changing mood he orchestrates; whether it is love or loss. Sitting somewhere between indie, pop, alternative RnB, ultimately carving out a fresh sound defined by his vulnerable vocals, raw guitar licks and undeniable groove. Quantum Suicide is the lead single with a bitter sweet sentiment brought to life through fuzzy shoegaze guitar riffs, glimmering synths and beautiful melancholy vocals, leaving you with a dizzying sense of possibilities.

The album was recorded mostly in 2021 - 22 in his parents basement in Baltimore. “At this time, I was in a beautiful and formative relationship that was running its course. Songs like ‘Unbreak My Love’ and ‘Rain Water Promise’ come from that place of dealing with the end. A story of lovers parting and making sense of the battling feelings of resentment and longing. As well as the existential aspect of having to end of a relationship. All while with dealing long-time depression, songs like lead single “Quantum Suicide” and “Shed That Fear” exhibit the importance of choosing to live and that getting out of pits of despair requires tremendous amounts of effort and intention and is a very difficult lifelong task. Whilst other tracks such as ‘The Fields’ and ‘Daddy’ and ‘Workers Interlude’ are attempts at trying to aim my anger at productive targets like Capitalism which both songs are a critique of.”

Music Brokers’ exploration into legendary Progressive Rock keeps expanding now on vinyl format. We return to the rock sub-genre that combined complex arrangements and improvisation with fantasy aesthetics and lyrics. Krau- trock & Progressive: The Definitive Era digs deep into some of its lesser known artists like Hammer, Harmonia, One, and Agitation Free and combines them with many of the most essential names of the ‘60s and ‘70s like East Of Eden, Mogul Trash, Egg, La Dusselford and Beggars Opera. With fantastic artwork and remastered sound, Krautrock & Progressive: The Definitive Era is another essential addition to your collection on vinyl format; and remember that the album is not available on streaming platforms!

Black Vinyl / 350 mcn double white coated paper / Poster sleeve / PVC outers / Original artwork / Exclusive 30x30 cm insert with Q&A by Tony Higgins with Ole Matthiessen printed on on 250 gram Gardamat coated paper. Archive picture from original recording session printed on 350 gram Gardamat paper. Archive pictures printed on 375 gram Vintage Bindakote Monolucido. All papers are acid free an printed with food based inks.

Personnel: 

Jesper Nehammer - tenor saxophone
Ole Mathiessen – piano
Jon Finsen – drums
Henrik Hove - bass

Notes:
Danish jazz band founded in 1969. Band line up: Henrik Hove on bass, Ole Mathiessen on piano, Jesper Nehammer (later Thors Hammer, Alrune Rod and Entrance) on tenorsax, and Jon Finsen on drums. Played for a while every Monday in the famous Jazzhouse Montmatre in Copenhagen.
Tordenskjolds Soldater only made this record (1970).
The small record label Spectator Records was founded in 1969 by Jørgen Bornefeldt a former journalist from Danmarks Radio in coorporation with the jazz musician Carsten Meinert. Meinert recorded two albums on the label. He only joined the company in the beginning. Cindarellaistudiet The studio was destroyed august 6th 1972 by a major fire. And that was the end of Spectator Records. From 1969 to the end, the label recorded at least 23 lp albums and 9-11 singles/EP's. The picture shows Henning Kragh Pedersen from Cinderella in Spectators studio. The great Danish rock band Gasolin recorded their first single – Silky Sally - on Spectator Records. It was no success and sold only 155 copies. Silky Sally is now one of the most sought after Gasolin singles among collectors and is of course very expensive.
The music from Spectator Records is mostly jazz, progressive rock and hippie free style. But they also made strange records for children, education etc. Most records were issued in very small numbers (300-500). Some of the best progressive rock in Northern Europe was recorded here.
Quality of vinyl was often poor - even new looking records can have audible problems. Covers and labels are primitive and cheap. On the other hand the creativity could be outstanding - check the Furekaaben cover gallery or the artwork of William Skotte Olsen from Green Grass. Several record from the labels are cult today. A perfect copy of certain records costs a fortune.
Master tapes was never found after the fire in 1972. Unofficial reissues and bootlegs are therefore made on the base of the original records. Recordings that never made it to the vinyl got lost in the fire. Both Cinderella and The Copenhagen based band, Lines lyst, had material readdy for lp's which was never recorded. (Tony Higgins)

Prehistoricisms by Intronaut is a landmark album in progressive metal, merging complex rhythms with deep, atmospheric textures. Originally released in 2008, this album showcases the band’s unique approach to combining elements of jazz, sludge, and progressive metal, setting a new standard in genre-blending. Intronaut, formed by accomplished musicians Sacha Dunable, Joe Lester, Dave Timnick, and Danny Walker, stands out for their technical mastery and innovative soundscapes, drawing listeners into a journey through ancient themes and explorations of human existence. Prehistoricisms is revered for its intricate compositions, with tracks that seamlessly shift between aggression and introspection, highlighting the band's bold musical vision and mastery of dynamics. This exclusive vinyl reissue is carefully crafted to preserve the album's original depth and clarity, making it the definitive version for discerning listeners. Perfect for both long-time fans and new listeners, "Prehistoricisms" remains a testament to Intronaut’s legacy in modern metal and is an essential addition to any vinyl collection. Experience the immersive power of this high-quality pressing and rediscover the timeless impact of Prehistoricisms.

REPRESSED !!

Vibraphone and keyboard player, master arranger and bandleader, Mulatu Astatke is one of the all-time greats of Ethiopian music and the creator of his own original music form, Ethio jazz. Through the acclaimed Ethiopiques album series and through featuring on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers, his music has belatedly reached a global audience and a new, younger generation of fans. In November of last year, he recorded an inspired new album with London psych jazz band The Heliocentrics for Strut's 'Inspiration Information' studio collaboration series. Now, Strut are proud to present, for the first time anywhere, the definitive Mulatu career retrospective covering his landmark 60's and 70's recordings.
Mulatu is a true pioneer of African music. He was the first Ethiopian musician of his generation to travel extensively and to record abroad - he studied in the UK in Wales and at Trinity College Of Music in London, cutting his teeth on the buoyant London jazz scene of the early 60's. He became the first African student to attend Harvard and he lived and recorded in New York, developing a unique sound that fused Western jazz with traditional Ethiopian melodies.
Tracing the progression of his Ethio jazz experiments with full access to all of the labels for whom he recorded, Mulatu Astatke: New York-AddisLondon is the essential Mulatu. Covering his first recordings in the UK during 1965, his groundbreaking fusions for the small Worthy label in New York and his key '70s recordings back in Addis on Amha, Phillips and Axum, the album features comprehensive sleeve notes by Miles Cleret, boss of the excellent Soundway Records imprint, and rare, previously unseen photos from Mulatu's personal archive.

The world became another since the release of »Decadent yet Depraved« and Belief Defect’s reflection of it: now darker, political, honest – end times in Cinemascope. When the duo reunited in the studio after the 2 year fracture COVID inflicted on reality, the album that had been on pause all this time seemed insufficient against whatever life had morphed into, while humanity hid from itself. Finishing an album coherent to the present moment took prolonged studio shut-ins that proved to be as cathartic as the struggle sessions of the cultural revolution must have been. »Desire and Discontent« unfolds like a parable, structured by subsonic frequencies that give arrangements a solid gravity, dissonant chord progressions resulting in coherent movements, punctuated by human-like voices over slow, suspenseful melodies that come into being without the listener’s awareness. Contributing to the album with machine-like precision drumming is Merlin Ettore, vocals from Anna Gartner and the artwork of Juan Mendez (Silent Servant).

In the neon-lit underbelly of Vilnius, where the pulse of the city syncs with the rhythm of the cosmos, Lithuanian sound architect Tourman emerges with his debut EP on Trance-Atlantyk entitled “Identification Mentale.” This electrifying release is a masterclass in neo progressive house soundscapes, featuring three original tracks and one hard-hitting remix.

The EP kicks off with „Restricted Airspace”, igniting senses with its relentless drive and pulsating bass. The track is a cybernetic symphony, weaving together glitchy synth lines and hypnotic beats that propel you into the heart of a digital dystopia. Embracing a darker, more introspective vibe, “Digitalog” is a proper roller that dances effortlessly between the realms of emotion and energy.

The title track boldly attacks your auditory membranes with its earwormy synth stabs, echoing the familiar yet exhilarating sensations of a sonic awakening. This cut also serves as a true manifesto for the modern trance movement, capturing the essence of euphoria and nostalgia in one exhilarating ride. The last word on the EP belongs to the polish power duo Penera, who transform the original title track into a hard-hitting, uncompromising dancefloor stomper that effortlessly blends hardgroove energy with trance nostalgia. Their remix amplifies the intensity, layering driving beats and electrifying synths that explode with energy.

Chapeau Music presents its second vinyl release, this time by Resonances (IT). "Signal" is a record that connects diverse shades of electronic music: from jazzy undertones to industrial techno, from punchy and intricate rhythms to straight and clean grooves. It's a collection of tracks that showcases the vision of the "man behind the Octatrack".

The title track "Signal" develops naturally, immersing the listener in its dynamic layers of piano stabs and synth elements with a fast-paced groove. The subtle distortion of the rhythmic elements injects raw energy without compromising the track's underlying elegance. It reimagines the genre's darker roots, offering a bold and innovative perspective.

Gene Richards Jr's remix of Signal intensifies the journey, delivering a high-impact, hard-groove edge that perfectly complements the EP.

"Please" concludes the A-side with a pulsating rhythm and a cadence that keeps the dancefloor in motion. Its energetic progression completes the A-side with an undeniable dancefloor weapon.

The flip side begins with "Randomizer", an exploration of atmospheric and industrial textures. The track builds around a solid kick drum and spatial synths, with scattered elements orbiting like satellites to create an extraterrestrial experience.

To close, "The Stand" merges classic influences with melodic, Detroit-inspired elements. Wide, reverberated synths fill the space, crafting a fusion of rhythm and melodies to deliver a standout closing track that feels timeless.

Dies ist die LP-Version der sehr erfolgreichen CD-Einspielung des Arrangements für vier Klaviere von Mike Oldfi elds Kultstück "Tubular Bells".
"Tubular Bells", veröffentlicht 1973, ist das bahnbrechende Debütalbum des britischen Multiinstrumentalisten Mike Oldfi eld. Die Mischung aus progressivem Rock, Klassik und Volksmusik machte das Album für seine experimentelle Struktur berühmt, die zwei Teile erstrecken sich über insgesamt fast eine Stunde. Die Musik ist vollständig instrumental. Was "Tubular Bells" so einzigartig macht, ist die vielschichtige Komposition, bei der Oldfi eld alle Instrumente – insgesamt über 20 – selbst spielt, darunter Gitarren, Keyboards, Schlagzeug und natürlich die Röhrenglocken, die
"Tubular Bells". Das eröffnende Klaviermotiv, das im Film "Der Exorzist" von 1973 eine wichtige Rolle spielte, wurde zur Ikone und trug zum kommerziellen Erfolg des Albums bei

JORDY arrived as a pop disruptor with the 2018 breakout “Just Friends,” gathering tens of millions of streams in the process. He continued to progress from Mind Games 2021 to the critically acclaimed BOY 2023. Huffington Post hailed the latter as “an introspective listen that doesn’t skimp on sonic joy,” and Rolling Stone applauded its lead single “Story of a Boy” as “a welcome twist with lyrics that speak to JORDY’s all-too-relatable experience as a queer person coming of age.” Meanwhile, JORDY not only shined on stage at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Firefly, OUTLOUD at WeHo Pride, and Bottle Rock, but he also ignited television on NBC’s TODAY and The Kelly Clarkson Show. And during his ascent, his diaristic, authentic voice earned him nominations at the GLAAD Media Awards (Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist), the iHeartRadio Music Awards (Social Star), and the Queerty Awards (Favorite Music Video i get high + Best Anthem [Story of a Boy]).

JORDY's third studio album, SEX WITH MYSELF, is a bold and uninhibited exploration of love, pleasure, and self-discovery. Packed with danceable, retro-infused tracks that delve into hookups, heartbreak, and unapologetic self-love, the LP showcases JORDY’s signature diaristic lyricism, creative evolution, and newfound artistic confidence. SEX WITH MYSELF includes the singles, “NICE THINGS,” & “SECOND MINUTE HOUR.” Pressed on Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl.

Emmanuel Mario returns to Karaoke Kalk with his third album under his Astrobal moniker for the Berlin-based imprint. »L’uomo e la natura« (»Man and Nature«) sees the prolific drummer and producer, who has worked with artists such as Laetitia Sadier and label mate Pink Shabab, take a different musical route than before. The French electronic music composer pays homage to the spirit of library music while also making concessions to different strains of pop and even classical music. With only two of the ten songs putting words to the music, »L’uomo e la natura« is a masterful exercise in the evocation of atmospheres: expressing much while saying very little outright—show, don’t tell.

The album was born out of a desire to push the envelope. »I wanted to make music that was both pop and ambitious in its chord progressions as well as surprising in its construction,« explains the Paris-based artist. Taking inspiration from library music artists such as Alessandro Alessandroni or Bruno Nicolai as well as the more cosmic strains of electronic instrumental music, he strove »to create a soundtrack that would immediately bring to mind outer space.« The first of the three singles released ahead of the full album, »L’abeille pourpre,« captures this spirit with funky rhythms and an overjoyed interplay of different melodies, all tied together by wordless yet terminally catchy vocals.

The second single, »Miami 2064,« traverses through many different moods in its six-minute run-time: Starting off as neo-noir synth-wave piece, it then proceeds to pay its dues to the masters of the cosmic music tradition such as Tangerine Dream or, of course, Jean-Michel Jarre before slowly descending back to Earth with guitars and dreamy synthetic vocals, playfully punctuated by a plethora of wistful melodies. It is the perfect encapsulation of the open-ended approach Mario follows throughout the entire album, taking full creative licence in regards to songwriting and arrangements. »I wanted to surprise myself,« he shrugs. He succeeded.

»L’uomo e la natura« rewards multiple listens not only emotionally, but also intellectually. »I also wanted to talk about politics and ecology, because it’s impossible not to,« Mario notes. Some of the track titles express this more openly than others and the two title tracks sung by Mario and Nina Savary use French and Italian lyrics, respectively. However, as a whole the album leaves things open to interpretation. Does »The End of Capitalism« sound elegiac or triumphant? And what do you actually make of this musical vision of the Floridian metropolis, whose mere existence is threatened by climate change already today, four decades from now? Mario doesn’t necessarily answer these questions—he doesn’t tell, he shows.

Volume 1 of this expertly curated project of 90s Italian House - put together by Don Carlos.

If Paradise was half as nice… by Fabio De Luca.

Googling “paradise house”, the first results to pop up are an endless list of European b&b’s with whitewashed lime façades, all of them promising “…an unmatched travel experience a few steps from the sea”. Next, a little further down, are the institutional websites of a few select semi-luxury retirement homes (no photos shown, but lots of stock images of smiling nurses with reassuring looks). To find the “paradise house” we’re after, we have to scroll even further down. Much further down.

It feels like yesterday, and at the same time it seems like a million years ago. The Eighties had just ended, and it was still unclear what to expect from the Nineties. Mobile phones that were not the size of a briefcase and did not cost as much as a car? A frightening economic crisis? The guitar-rock revival?! Certainly, the best place to observe that moment of transition was the dancefloor. Truly epochal transformations were happening there. From America, within a short distance one from the other, two revolutionary new musical styles had arrived: the first one sounded a bit like an “on a budget” version of the best Seventies disco-music – Philly sound made with a set of piano-bar keyboards! – the other was even more sparse, futuristic and extraterrestrial. It was a music with a quite distinct “physical” component, which at the same time, to be fully grasped, seemed to call for the knotty theories of certain French post-modern philosophers: Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio... Both those genres – we would learn shortly after – were born in the black communities of Chicago and Detroit, although listening to those vinyl 12” (often wrapped in generic white covers, and with little indication in the label) you could not easily guess whether behind them there was a black boy from somewhere in the Usa, or a girl from Berlin, or a pale kid from a Cornish coastal town.

Quickly, similar sounds began to show up from all corners of Europe. A thousand variations of the same intuition: leaner, less lean, happier, slightly less intoxicated, more broken, slower, faster, much faster... Boom! From the dancefloors – the London ones at least, whose chronicles we eagerly read every month in the pages of The Face and i-D – came tales of a new generation of clubbers who had completely stopped “dressing up” to go dancing; of hot tempered hooligans bursting into tears and hugging everyone under the strobe lights as the notes of Strings of Life rose up through the fumes of dry ice (certain “smiling” pills were also involved, sure). At this point, however, we must move on to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, in the quiet and diligent town of Lugano, between the 1980s and 1990s there was a club called “Morandi”. Its hot night was on Wednesdays, when the audience also came from Milan, Como, Varese and Zurich. Legend goes that, one night, none less than Prince and Sheila E were spotted hiding among the sofas, on a day-off of the Italian dates of the Nude Tour… The Wednesday resident and superstar was an Italian dj with an exotic name: Don Carlos. The soundtrack he devised was a mixture of Chicago, Detroit, the most progressive R&B and certain forgotten classics of old disco music: practically, what the Paradise Garage in New York might have sounded like had it not closed in 1987. In between, Don Carlos also managed to squeeze in some tracks he had worked on in his studio on Lago Maggiore. One in particular: a track that was rather slow compared to the BPM in fashion at the time, but which was a perfect bridge between house and R&B. The title was Alone: Don Carlos would explain years later that it had to be intended both in the English meaning of “by itself” and like the Italian word meaning “halo”. That wasn’t the only double entendre about the song, anyway. Its own very deep nature was, indeed, double. On the one hand, Alone was built around an angelic keyboard pattern and a romantic piano riff that took you straight to heaven; on the other, it showcased enough electronic squelches (plus a sax part that sounded like it had been dissolved by acid rain) to pigeonhole the tune into the “junk modernity” section, aka the hallmark of all the most innovative sounds of the time: music that sounded like it was hand-crafted from the scraps of glittering overground pop.

No one knows who was the first to call it “paradise house”, nor when it happened. Alternative definitions on the same topic one happened to hear included “ambient house”, “dream house”, “Mediterranean progressive”… but of course none were as good (and alluring) as “paradise house”. What is certain is that such inclination for sounds that were in equal measure angelic and neurotic, romantic and unaffective, quickly became the trademark of the second generation of Italian house. Music that seemed shyly equidistant from all the rhythmic and electronic revolutions that had happened up to that moment (“Music perfectly adept at going nowhere slowly” as noted by English journalist Craig McLean in a legendary field report for Blah Blah Blah magazine). Music that to a inattentive ear might have sounded as anonymous as a snapshot of a random group of passers-by at 10AM in the centre of any major city, but perfectly described the (slow) awakening in the real world after the universal love binge of the so-called Second Summer of Love.

For a brief but unforgettable season, in Italy “paradise house” was the official soundtrack of interminable weekends spent inside the car, darting from one club to another, cutting the peninsula from North to centre, from East to West coast in pursuit of the latest after-hours disco, trading kilometres per hour with beats per minute: practically, a new New Year’s Eve every Friday and Saturday night. This too was no small transformation, as well as a shock for an adult Italy that was encountering for the first time – thanks to its sons and daughters – the wild side of industrial modernity. The clubbers of the so-called “fuoriorario” scene were the balls gone mad in the pinball machine most feared by newspapers, magazines and TV pundits. What they did each and every weekend, apart from going crazy to the sound of the current white labels, was linking distant geographical points and non-places (thank you Marc Augé!) – old dance halls, farmhouses and business centres – transformed for one night into house music heaven. As Marco D’Eramo wrote in his 1995 essay on Chicago, Il maiale e il grattacielo: “Four-wheeled capitalism distorts our age-old image of the city, it allows the suburbs to be connected to each other, whereas before they were connected only by the centre (…) It makes possible a metropolitan area without a metropolis, without a city centre, without downtown. The periphery is no longer a periphery of any centre, but is self-centred”.

“Paradise house” perfectly understood all of this and turned it into a sort of cyber-blues that didn’t even need words, and unexpectedly brought back a drop of melancholic (post?)-humanity within a world that by then – as we would wholly realise in the decades to come – was fully inhuman and heartless. A world where we were all alone, and surrounded by a sinister yellowish halo, like a neon at the end of its life cycle. But, for one night at least, happy.

2 x black LP + LP Booklet

Die GRAMMY®-gekrönten Progressive-Music-Titanen Dream Theater melden sich mit ihrem 16. Studioalbum "Parasomnia" zurück - eine Ankündigung, die satte 15 Jahre auf sich warten ließ. Es ist das erste Album mit der legendären Besetzung Sänger James LaBrie, Gitarrist John Petrucci, Bassist John Myung, Keyboarder Jordan Rudess und Schlagzeuger Mike Portnoy seit "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" von 2009. "Parasomnia" wurde von Petrucci produziert, von James 'Jimmy T' Meslin aufgenom-men und von Andy Sneap abgemischt. Hugh Syme hat erneut seine kreative Vision für das Cover-Artwork beigesteuert. Vom Opener "In The Arms Of Morpheus" bis zum abschließenden "The Shadow Man Incident" kehren Dream Theater mit einer Samm-lung von Songs zurück, die zeigen, weshalb die Band seit vier Jahrzehnten eine treue Fangemeinde hat. Mit einer Spielzeit von 71 Minuten nimmt "Parasomnia" den Hörer mit auf eine musikalische Reise, die seit Beginn der Karriere zum Synonym für die Band geworden ist

ltd 2 x ultra-clear 2 LP + LP Booklet

Die GRAMMY®-gekrönten Progressive-Music-Titanen Dream Theater melden sich mit ihrem 16. Studioalbum "Parasomnia" zurück - eine Ankündigung, die satte 15 Jahre auf sich warten ließ. Es ist das erste Album mit der legendären Besetzung Sänger James LaBrie, Gitarrist John Petrucci, Bassist John Myung, Keyboarder Jordan Rudess und Schlagzeuger Mike Portnoy seit "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" von 2009. "Parasomnia" wurde von Petrucci produziert, von James 'Jimmy T' Meslin aufgenom-men und von Andy Sneap abgemischt. Hugh Syme hat erneut seine kreative Vision für das Cover-Artwork beigesteuert. Vom Opener "In The Arms Of Morpheus" bis zum abschließenden "The Shadow Man Incident" kehren Dream Theater mit einer Samm-lung von Songs zurück, die zeigen, weshalb die Band seit vier Jahrzehnten eine treue Fangemeinde hat. Mit einer Spielzeit von 71 Minuten nimmt "Parasomnia" den Hörer mit auf eine musikalische Reise, die seit Beginn der Karriere zum Synonym für die Band geworden ist.

36 Jahre nach dem Fall der Mauer, präsentieren Dirk Zöllner (Die Zöllner) und Manuel Schmid (Stern-Combo Meißen) die schönsten Balladen aus dem
Land vor unserer Zeit. Keine Nostalgie Show, sondern Pflege eines hochwertigen Kulturerbes. Ein opulentes klangliches Erlebnis mit zwei Sängern,
zwei Klavieren, Saxophon, Gitarre. Lieder von Lift, Karat, Biege, Bartzsch, Bicking und Lakomy. Sänger und Pianist Manuel Schmid sorgt auch mit
eigenen Alben in der deutschsprachigen Musikszene für Aufsehen und hat 2024 mit der EP „Die Himmelsscheibe von Nebra“ die Stern-Combo Meißen
wieder in aller Munde gebracht. Saxophonist Marek Arnold ist in der internationalen Progressive-Rock Szene längst eine feste Größe und hat
gemeinsame Alben mit Steve Hackett (GENESIS), Jon Anderson (YES) oder Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER) veröffentlicht. Das vorliegende
Konzertmitschnitt wurde von ihm bearbeitet und gemixt. Sänger Dirk Zöllner und der Pianist André Gensicke arbeiten seit November 1987 zusammen
und gründeten im Juni 1988 ihre Bigband „Die Zöllner“. Sechzehn Alben erschienen in den vergangenen 35 Jahren. Zöllner veröffentlichte außerdem
vier Bücher und engagiert sich als Kolumnist der „Freien Presse“ für einen friedvollen gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt. Das Raue und das Weiche,
das Improvisierte und das Klare – schon mehrfach kam es zur Symbiose der sehr unterschiedlichen Stimmen von Dirk Zöllner und Manuel Schmid. In
Zeiten von Corona veröffentlichten die beiden ein Wohnzimmerkonzert mit besagtem Liedgut. 2024 wurde die Symbiose nun live erlebbar und als
Mitschnittfestgehalten.

Swedish veterans Gin Lady are back with another brilliant 70's infused classic rock/progressive album. It's their first for Ripple Music who are stoked beyond words in welcoming the band to the family!