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Leipzig-based musician, engineer, and producer Friedrich Brückner has, despite his youthfulness, been a decisive figure in the Leipzig music scene for literal decades, being involved, in one way or another, in many, if not most notable releases coming out of the city. Having received a classical musical education, Brückner most recently figured as part of the German-American band White Wine, playing the bassoon and bass, but has also, as either musician, producer or sound designer, toured internationally with the likes of Yoko Ono, Get Well Soon, Modeselektor, or Dear Reader.

For a few years now, Brückner has been working on his solo debut, which now comes in the form of his remarkable »Polyism«, out on Altin Village & Mine. On it, Brückner puts his considerable musical chops to use, in the service of a rollercoaster of an album that truly eschews categorization, being, as its title suggests, a work of being multiform. While the sound takes wide ranging cues from jazz, new age, dub, electronics to post punk, Brückner’s compositions never feel accidental in the slightest. Instead they share a distinctive sense of dramaturgy, a pronounced attention to sonic texture, and a sense of purpose both within the individual pieces as well as in the context of the album as a whole. The result is an LP that is astonishingly coherent, considering the multitude of means it employs.

On »Polyism«, Brückner also enlists a veritable all-star cast of guest performances, ranging from his parents Isabell and Bernd Brückner, both professional musicians, on saxophone, clarinet, and flute, Martin Wenk (Calexico) on trumpet, to Hendrik Otremba (Messer) and Brückner’s four-year-old daughter Rosa both on vocals, to name but a few. Each lend their own notes to »Polyism«, a work of what it means to live, that is, to be many. Truly exceptional stuff!

Ireland based American songsmith Peter Broderick announces the release of Piano Works Vol. 1 (Floating in Tucker"s Basement) - a new comprehensive album of solo piano recordings out November 25. Shining a light on the artist"s ongoing piano-based compositions, this release offers an opportunity to celebrate his more intimate work. A comprehensive collection of Peter Broderick"s piano work to date, these recordings were originally captured in Berlin to accompany the 2017 sheet music book Piano Works Vol. 1. The book contains 20 pieces for solo piano and a download code to access new recordings of all 20 pieces. Up until now, the only way to hear these recordings was to purchase the sheet music book. This release sees the original recordings receiving further treatment and processing by Tucker Martine in the customised echo chamber of his studio in Portland, Oregon-the region where Broderick grew up. The clean and unaffected original recordings were intended for educational purposes, so for this release Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths suggested to "throw the recordings into the well", for a more dynamic and conscious listening experience. "We gave these recordings a bit of a makeover. We sent all the tracks over to legendary engineer/producer Tucker Martine, who processed all 20 of them with unique tape and reverb treatments, utilising the echo chamber of his Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback," explains Broderick.

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Ireland based American songsmith Peter Broderick announces the release of Piano Works Vol. 1 (Floating in Tucker"s Basement) - a new comprehensive album of solo piano recordings out November 25. Shining a light on the artist"s ongoing piano-based compositions, this release offers an opportunity to celebrate his more intimate work. A comprehensive collection of Peter Broderick"s piano work to date, these recordings were originally captured in Berlin to accompany the 2017 sheet music book Piano Works Vol. 1. The book contains 20 pieces for solo piano and a download code to access new recordings of all 20 pieces. Up until now, the only way to hear these recordings was to purchase the sheet music book. This release sees the original recordings receiving further treatment and processing by Tucker Martine in the customised echo chamber of his studio in Portland, Oregon-the region where Broderick grew up. The clean and unaffected original recordings were intended for educational purposes, so for this release Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths suggested to "throw the recordings into the well", for a more dynamic and conscious listening experience. "We gave these recordings a bit of a makeover. We sent all the tracks over to legendary engineer/producer Tucker Martine, who processed all 20 of them with unique tape and reverb treatments, utilising the echo chamber of his Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback," explains Broderick.

For fans this is the perfect genesis of a globally acclaimed guitarist and songwriter. A blend of youthful enthusiasm and innocence that never quite resurfaced again in his work, especially as he developed his jazz-folk fusion and became known for both immense skill on the guitar and his activism in support of social causes. Fans know this album as Bruce Cockburn's happy-go-lucky years, before the weight of his success encouraged him to use his songwriting for a purpose, never again having this much whimsy in the studio. The opening number, "Going to the Country," evokes the era's hippie back- to- the- earth movement, and as all good things come back around again, is just as fresh in today's enviro-movements. His hit song "Musical Friends" remains a fan favorite to this day.

Bruce Cockburn has written more than 400 songs on 35 albums over a career spanning 50 years, of which 23 have received gold or platinum certification. He has sold more than nine-million copies worldwide, is a member of the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame, and is the winner of 13 Juno Awards from more than 30 nominations. His world-wide hits include "Wondering Where The Lions Are",
"Lovers In a Dangerous Time", "If A Tree Falls" and "If I Had A Rocket Launcher".

Tehran-born, Manchester-based artist Parham Ghalamdar provides a suite of raw & candid amateur-performed Persian folk, pop songs and poetry - all pulled from the audio on his parents archive of homemade VHS recordings documenting intimate, joyous & illicit gatherings in turn-of-the-century Iran.

"Beautiful Apparitions is a collection of audio excerpts from digitized VHS tapes recorded by my parents in early-noughties Iran. The footage depicts the secret double lives of Iranians drinking, dancing, and singing to celebrate life when owning a VHS player was illegal in the Islamic Republic. The footage is an amateur performance of pop and folklore songs about love, loss and life. Although many Iranians must have recorded such vivid moments, they are rarely made available publicly. Such tapes would usually have been well hidden, lost, or purposefully destroyed."

— Parham Ghalamdar

URBAN WARFARE

Music has always been a common means to deal with global events – so does this new release on Snork Enterprises by Lee Holman. Having actually performed in Ukraine shortly before the war, Lee Holman clearly has chosen the title of his new release by purpose. “Urban Warfare” dedicates for titles, all of them bearing names with military connotation, to the recent events in Ukraine and beyond.
The musical means of his choice to process the happenings are raw, straight forward electronic sounds echoing from the underground. His combination of beeping, roaring and crooked tunes creates a dystopian atmosphere in each track – yet, each in its unique way. This makes the release a diverse collection of four tracks of unadorned urban club sounds dashing through present day history.

LEE HOLMAN

An uncompromising underground ethos, Lee Holman has garnered support from a host of Techno's brightest names.
Performing in clubs since the late nineties, he has travelled throughout Europe, North America, South America, Asia and everywhere inbetween, compounding a reputation for his unique vision on Techno. Playing a fusion of deep, raw and energetic electronics, his sound creates a myriad of tension, constructing the perfect combination of musicality for club appearances.
Performances both as a live act and as a DJ have unlocked opportunities to share hallowed ground with Techno’s elite, appearing in prestigious underground venues such as TRESOR Berlin, Corsica Studios London, 8Bahn Arnhem, Sub-Scape Antwerp, Move Medellin, Tag Chengdu, Arkham Shanghai, Nechto events Kyiv + many more.
Production has earned him international recognition, leaving his mark at the forefront, building a reputation for consistency, originality and delivering his dynamic sound on both cutting edge and classic Techno Labels. Generating consistent support, he has remixed for high profile artists such as Aubrey and Gary Beck and has himself been remixed by leading Techno mainstays ranging from Orlando Voorn to Mike Dehnert.
Founding the Kawl Imprint, the label’s aim was to provide diversity in Techno and this formula was immediately picked up on and amounted to rave reviews and impressive charts and plays by leading connoisseurs of the underground.
This year, his releases have been frequent and in demand, with his production skills confirmed for Knotweed Records, Science Cult, Shaded Music, Nechto and more, adding to an already excellent discography.
With an ever expanding release schedule, combining remixes and a new label project called Demarcation, Lee Holman promises to be unrelenting in his definition of essential timeless Techno.

Wau Wau Collectif's second album, Mariage, is instilled with a newfound sense of purpose. Expanding upon the inspirational themes of their acclaimed 2021 debut, Yaral Sa Doom (Educate The Young), this long distance collaboration from musicians in Senegal and Sweden's Karl Jonas Winqvist is an even more stylistically expansive affair. Joyful children's songs collide with fuzzy guitar solos and thumping hip-hop beats. Shimmering synths lift off from the plunky percussion of the balafon and versatile sounds of the 22-string kora. Familiar voices from the first album return with more explicitly political lyrics, while the music feels both rhythmically dense and sonically weightless, flowing from one spellbinding moment to the next. For Mariage, band members from each country were inspired to include a wider array of instrumental flourishes unique to their cross-continental collaboration. "Yay Balma" revolves around the cycling riffs of Jango Diabaté's xalam guitar, as this song's fuzzy tones and soaring sax solos open side two with a bang. "Pitchi Goubidi" provides a stark contrast, with the kora played like a harp and Gilbert Badji's gravelly lyrics about "the bird of the night" disappearing into dubbed-out chamber pop. Winqvist's omnichord hovers back into focus on "Yonou Natangue," a free-floating jam that maintains the messages of Wau Wau Collectif's debut, promoting youth education to address the social issues facing contemporary Senegal: "Peace is the better wealth / The way to wander."

Tape

Welcome to Carsharing Tapes. Welcome to the future.

With "DIURNAL TIDES: First Wave" we're proud to present not only the first release of our new imprint for classic electronic music mixtape culture but also the first ever official gathering of two long standing figures which both have been relentlessly and continuously contributing to the German underground scene for more than two decades now.

And these two are: baze.djunkiii and THE D3VI7.

baze.djunkiii, Hamburg-born and based, officially entered the electronic music scene as a DJ back in 1997 from an angle of being an enthusiastic raver, launched his very own label Intrauterin Recordings in 1999 and - apart from becoming an 24/7 networker, knowledge hub, music blogger etc. - evolved into one of the most versatile underground DJs and purveyor of original DJ culture around whose journey on the decks has taken him all over Germany as well as to Greece and the United States and to countless hours of air time on a plethora of underground radio stations as well.

THE D3VI7, on the other hand, remains an elusive figure. Deeply rooted in electronic music production and the hell'ish jungle of circuit board wiring as well as DAW madness THE D3VI7 is a moniker created by one of the most active, yet probably most underrated figures on the release circuit, a nom de guerre which serves the sole purpose of being able to operate anonymously without any confirmation bias being attached to other musical guises which might, or might have not, been used previously and in earlier stages of a long lasting involvement in music. And btw - this is the first time ever THE D3VI7 agreed to provide an official DJ mix for a mixtape release.

With baze.djunkiii's mix opening the roughly hour long journey of "DIURNAL TIDES: First Wave" on the A-side we're getting a prime example of what original DJ culture is all about as he's taking us on a fascinating journey from deepest underground Electro to screaming, spiralling Acid madness and beyond, digging up most underground vinyl cuts and making proper use of his extensive collection of rare 7" releases - a format that has been criminally overlooked by many DJs but provides a treasure trove of goodness as this mix easily proves.

Turning the tape THE D3VI7 does what THE D3VI7 does best on the flip: Being a force. A dark one. Forging a pounding, most relentless stream of hammering Techno tunes to take out unsuspecting punters on heaving dancefloors one by one THE D3VI7 provides a high octane selection of peak time excess that either thrills or kills - an ode to the power of raw and unpolished Techno madness in its purest form. A power that cannot be contested. Ever.

Twisted and irreverent, The Rabbits combined ear-splitting guitar shrapnel with one of punk’s greatest-ever snot-nosed vocalists. With hints of PIL or Chrome, but beamed in from a parallel dimension and filtered through the warped lens of visionary loner Syoichi Miyazawa. First-ever vinyl release, fully remastered from the band’s original early ’80s cassette releases, and housed in a sturdy tip-on sleeve. Includes a double-sided, printed insert. Edition of 500

Singer-songwriter Syoichi Miyazawa’s tale is a confounding one.

He grew up in a small town in Yamagata Prefecture (in northern Japan), loved Dylan and The Beatles, and had very little exposure to, or interest in, underground music. And yet, shortly after 24-year-old Miyazawa arrived in Tokyo in 1978, he began performing solo shows at tiny clubs in the city, singing and playing guitar. His performances quicky devolved from brisk acoustic jaunts to lengthy, heavy dirges sung in a snot-nosed wail over a blown-out electric guitar detuned to produce a kind of sonic sludge.

At one of his earliest gigs, a mutual friend introduced him to Endo Michiro, who would soon become the legendary front man of Japanese punk icons The Stalin. It turned out Miyazawa and Endo had attended Yamagata University at the same time just a few years earlier, but hadn’t known each other at school. In Tokyo, they became fast friends, moved into the same apartment building, and for years were inseparable. Endo played guitar and drums on Miyazawa’s debut release, the “Christ Was Born in a Stable” flexi disc. But while Endo was social and outgoing, Miyazawa preferred to be alone, avoiding concerts unless he was performing.

Despite these antisocial tendencies, Miyazawa came to despise playing solo. In 1982, an eccentric high school student named Chika introduced herself at one of Miyazawa’s gigs, and Miyazawa asked if she’d play bass. She agreed and drafted two of her friends to play second guitar and drums. The Rabbits were born.

Miyazawa wrote the tunes, and had a clear vision for the group, but struggled to get the sound he wanted from the other members. His second guitarist was more of a fusion player, and Miyazawa took great pains to get him to tone down the shredding. The group quickly went through multiple line-up changes. Frustrated with the sound of their first proper recording (self-released as the “X1(x)” cassette), Miyazawa spent a full year mixing their second cassette, “Winter Songs,” on his own.

The hard work paid off — the sound of “Winter Songs” is striking, and unlike anything the band’s peers produced. There’s liberal use of delay on the vocals, giving the music a psychedelic feel, but the guitars are caustic, cutting through the mix like metal shrapnel. The rhythm section seems on the verge of teetering out of control throughout, an overdriven and pummeling current below abrasive slabs of guitar and vocals. Even at their most aggressive, though, The Rabbits had strong pop sensibilities, complete with cooing backing vocals and the occasional harmonica solo. Miyazawa delivers his borderline nonsensical lyrics with equal amounts of menace and gaiety, consistently riding that fine line as only a natural oddball can. At times, the band sounds like a distant cousin of PiL, Chrome or The Homosexuals, but beamed in from a parallel dimension and filtered through Miyazawa’s warped lens.

Although The Rabbits briskly sold all 500 copies of the "Winter Songs" tape, live audiences at the time seemed dumbfounded by the group, and would stare at them in silence. After two years together, The Rabbits called it quits in 1984.

When asked if any of the many legendary groups (Les Rallizes Desnudes, G.I.S.M., etc.) he shared stages with left an impression, Miyazawa recently revealed that he always left the venue as soon as he finished performing, so he never caught any of the other bands…

All of which is to say —

The Rabbits are one of the great punk bands of the early ’80s, but their leader had no interest in the punk scene and always thought he was making “normal” music. They rubbed shoulders with a slew of notable groups of the era, and their singer was best friends with arguably the most famous Japanese punk of all time, but Miyazawa shunned fraternization and purposefully distanced himself from his peers.

Could this be why so few underground music fans are familiar with the group, even in Japan? Why they seem to have been written out of the official history of Japanese punk? One can never know for sure, but Mesh-Key hopes to remedy this travesty by offering this compilation, the first-ever official LP by The Rabbits, to a new generation of punk and psychedelic music connoisseurs.
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Zopelar arrives on Tartelet with Charme - an album of effervescent machine funk harking back to a golden era of Brazilian party music, releasing October 21st.

The era of interest for Sao Paulo’s Pedro Zopelar begins in the 1980s in Rio de Janeiro, when a particular phenomenon caught on at suburban parties which became known as Charme. “Charme was like a mix of slow boogie, RnB and new jack swing,” explains Zopelar. “DJ Corello started calling ‘charme’ the moment of the party when he played slow grooves and felt that the people started dancing differently, with sexier synchronized moves. Some years later, charme evolved from an awaited moment of a night to a whole movement of parties just playing that kind of music. On this record I tried to make something that brings this emotional feeling to my music in a modern way.”

Much like the original genre-not-genre he drew inspiration from, Zopelar’s approach across his latest LP spans different moods and tempos. There’s blissful, sultry mystery lingering around ‘Clara’ and ‘Do You Feel?’ while OSAGIE lends some chops to the exquisite, Rompler-powered synth funk of ‘Chain Net’. The lead singles ‘Shibuya’, ‘Charme’ and ‘Passado’ all tap into varying shades of deep house, from slinky City Pop-tinted loungers to peak-time dance pop and Larry Heard-influenced flavours, with the constant being Zopelar’s immaculate production and the unbridled warmth of his compositions.

Continuing the Latin-rooted theme of the album, the artworkconception of Charme was realized by multidisciplinary artist and curator Ode, showcasing a popular style of street paintings made by anonymous artists throughout Latin America. It’s not about graffiti-culture but a popular solution utilized by small restaurants, bars and other establishments to use their own walls for commercial purposes, hiring artists to paint food and drink menus or other information about their products.

With an emotional sincerity stemming from his move to reconnect with the Brazilian dimension of his creative background, Charme arrives as Zopelar’s heartfelt celebration of life and music, of sentimental moments shared and good times enjoyed.

Hate Propaganda's far too overlooked 2019 debut EP "World War 666" sees a much needed reissue on vinyl, remastered and enhanced by brand new artwork commissioned for the purpose by Xerox master P. Van Trigt. When it was first released on cassette tape back in 2019 by War Arts Productions, this war-torn debut offering of primeval warnoise by the mysterious Portuguese war criminals stood out immediately as a crown jewel debut for the genre and as one of the year's most definitive and underrated manifestations of extreme metal's most hateful and berserk fringe. Packing in nineteen minutes of absolute hatred, the annihilating MLP manifests as a nightmare hallucination of complete violence and negativity, evoking eons of perennial apocalyptic global planetary war and terror on the wings of its nefarious design of achieving maximum annihilation in the shortest amount of time possible. To harness this bleak pantheon of ruin, the Portuguese conquerors have assembled a weaponized and uncontrolled sonic chain reaction where grindcore, black metal, death metal and hardcore punk are all accelerated and instigated into an inescapable payload of death aimed straight at the vital sinews of humanity. A sonic maelstrom churned into shape by an onslaught of obscure violent riffs, psychotic leads and ominous laughter which, parallel to a pulverizing drum performance, emanates from oblivion with an antediluvian, negative aura. Comparisons to bands like Diocletian, Heresiarch, Tetragrammacide and Nuclearhammer will run abound, yet these would be only easy superficial conjectures as this is a manifestation of sonic extremism which dwells on a plain of excellence entirely its own. Its uniqueness transpires particularly in the maniacal drumming which underlines the band's hardcore and punk influences, and is exalted further by an unusually crystalline production and by a masterful onslaught of uber-audible riffs hiding behind nothing and seemingly going in the opposite direction of the homogenous and indiscernible sensorial smothering the genre usually opts to go in. Tracklisting: 1. World War 666 2. Neverending Mass Graves 3. Violent Nature of Human Annihilation 4. Welcoming the Nuclear War With Open Arms 5. Let the Sirens Signal the End of Times

Issued by Leo Fegin's visionary record label in 1993, this refreshed and revised reissue collection of Hungarian composer Tibor Szemző's chamber pieces with spoken text – composed at 1980s for the legendary GROUP 180 – is unlike anything else of its kind.

No one has survived life. Everyone has died from it so far. Man must realize that He is responsible for His own life and fate and must insist upon this responsibility beyond all limits. And since Man has dissociated Himself from the sphere of irrationality, He has no way of getting in touch with death, or of establishing control over it. How we achieve the final result is merely of secondary importance. If the vision is clear to everyone, there is no need at all to look back. In a time of complete mental disturbance, only one chance remains to us: crystal-clear thinking. This leads us back to total mental disturbance, which everyone has died from so far. (Pavel Havliček – Miklós Erdély – Tibor Hajas)

Text and Music | Language and Speech | Sound and Music

The common basis of the three works by Tibor Szemző heard on this album is the inalienable relationship to text – as an a priori principle. Text and music: the formal attributes of significance, intentions, and levels of meaning inherent in verbal communication as it is transformed into audible code. Language and speech: the structural level of communication, where it becomes purposeful expression, acoustic statements of variable modality. Vocalization as sublimation. Sound and music: By becoming an auditory signal, communication is deprived of its sense and reduced to musical articulation and abstraction.

Skullbase Fracture: Shards of reality – senseless, disconnected fragments of recorded “living speech” – simultaneously disintegrate and merge to create meaning through the musical process, while it is degraded and stylized to represent a single layer of the ambient noise one would hear in a hospitality setting.

Optimistic Lecture: The theses – like a practical, everyday user’s manual to cognitive tendencies and aims as they apply to the entirety of existence – convey their meaning through simplified rhythmic speech, galvanized into commands. As a counterpoint to recited prayers, they comprise a uniform soundscape.

The Sex Appeal of Death: The head-on simplicity of communication creates such extremely reductive musical interrelations that they cannibalize themselves in a necessary and inevitable fashion. And, in this manner, the text as well

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

Welcome to the world of Edward Blankman, a retired dentist who wrote elegant, minimalist jazz in obscurity circa 1970. At least that's the story. In truth, Edward Blankman's Cape Cod Cottage is the 2021 concept album from Echo Park composer Brendan Eder. A tender, wistful follow up to 2020's To Mix With Time, the Cape Cod Cottage sound evokes the spirit of Erik Satie, Miles Davis with Gil Evans, and Stevie Wonder, balanced with the accessibility of 1960s lounge-exotica. Eder created Blankman's story to channel his own grief, with bittersweet tenderness. Read the liner notes (or watch the mini-doc), and you'll be transported to the quiet shores of Cape Cod in the early 70s, where a lonely retiree mourns his late wife, Natalie, with walks in nature and evenings at his Wurlitzer. The story is brought to life with a meticulously crafted package sporting classic liner notes, faux 1970s photographs documenting Edward with the musicians (taken during the actual session), a make-believe jazz label, and a commissioned oil painting of Edward's cottage. Eder brought together a dream line up with a ton of chemistry for the project; drummer Christian Euman (Jacob Collier), saxophonist Josh Johnson (Jeff Parker, Leon Bridges), and bassist Alex Boneham (Billy Childs), who all studied together at the Hancock Institute of Jazz. Rounding out the group is flutist Sarah Robinson, a recurring player in Eder's ensemble, and Edward Blankman (Brendan) on the Wurlitzer. The cast was booked for a single date with coveted engineer Michael Harris (Kamasi Washington, Angel Olsen) at famed Electro-Vox Recording Studios. To create realism for Edward's story, the charts were purposefully withheld from the musicians until they arrived at the studio. The result is an authentic and natural performance delivered by players at the top of their game, captured on lauded vintage equipment including the legendary Neve-8028 console. This was, hands down, one of the very best records of last year so don't miss out on this extremely limited pressing for UK and Europe. Under license from Jazz Dad Records.

Emotional Rescue reaches its 100th reissue in its 10th year with a landmark, a collection of previously unreleased songs from Brenda Ray. Encouraged and cajoled since the label's inception, Brenda Ray's (Kenny) music has gone from cult curio to cult status in that time, as her mix of DIY/post punk, dub reggae, jazz and pop transcends reached admiring audiences.

Following the completion of Naafi Sandwich in 1985 and the subsequent recordings as Brenda And The Beach Balls - the sought after Volume 1 LP in 1986 and three singles on Siren/Virgin in 1987/88 - her releases might of stopped for almost two decades but she never stopped recording.

The 10 songs show not only continuous activity in her North-West home studio, but to be consistently creative, moving forward and relevant. Hip-Hop, Street Soul and House all feature alongside Brenda's unmistakeable Be-Pop-Dub-Pop song writing. Working as always with partner Gerry Kenny aka Sir Freddie Viadukt, plus a cohort of friends joining across the sphere.

Starting with 'Universal Purpose', poet and friend Eugene Lange delivers a lanquid breakbeat-dub sermon on struggle and love, as Brenda's vocals accompany. 'Spirit's So High' captures House music's dawning optimism to perfection, a swirling, uplifting 4.30 minutes as you'll ever hear. The doo-wop shuffle of 'MMMMoon Warp' experiments with Coldcut-lite sampledlica cut ups, alongside Brenda's unmistakable breathing-singing delivery, before 'Love's The Most' and 'Hope' are classic Ray love sentimental paeans, backed with latter day Balearic musicality.

Eugene Lange returns with the rap attack of 'Dancehall Exocet'. A conscious poetic stream over "Minister of Noise" industrial beats with backing and counter from Brenda, shows the breadth she was exploring at this time. Crude synth bass and chiming 4/4 percussion follow on 'This Was No Dream' with soft, humming vocals encapsulating some proto-house romantic escapism, before Eastern influences mix with flute, strings, bells and a doo-wop skiffle on the aptly named 'Tequila Sam'.

The album closes with a nod to what's gone before, in 'Return Of The Theme From A Tall Dark Stranger', an update on her "Volume 1" classic, all is replayed, overlayed and "mad"-mixed, Brenda's studio mastery shining through. An acoustic return of 'Love's The Most' bring the album to completion, but this is by no means the end but hopefully, the start of more undiscovered and discovered mini-masterpieces from Brenda Ray and friends to see the light of day.

How many hardcore, let alone metal, bands exceed all previous efforts on their third LP? Some might argue that ‘Feel The Darkness’ was Poison Idea’s prime. You could present ‘Master Of Puppets’ and ‘Reign In Blood’, if you’re so inclined. Let’s face it, these are a dying breed of exceptions to the rule. And yet, like an icepick in the eye socket of logic, here stands Foreseen with ‘Untamed Force’. In the landmine ridden field that is crossover, where bands can all too easily get it so wrong, Foreseen not only survive the death sentence of their sophomore record “Grave Danger” (2017), but head out on a blunt force killing spree. ‘Untamed Force’ indeed. Rarely has a record title been more fitting. Vocalist Mirko Nummelin sounds more pissed off than ever, 12 years on. Drummer Mårten Gustafsson’s arms and feet generate enough power to make Finland energy self-sufficient. And finally, pushing the band over the edge, separating Foreseen from us feeble bastards, we have new member Ville Valavuo joining Jaakko Hietakangas to form what is arguably the scene’s deadliest six string tag-team. Foreseen’s power is untamed but at the same time borne from hard work, a love for the craft and their musical community, and absolutely no excuses. Dig in, endure, stomp out, shoot to kill. Foreseen are for headbangers who haven’t been brainwashed by click tracks and digital recordings. Foreseen are for punks who can deal with a synth intro and harmonised solos. In 2022, ‘Untamed Force’ is the guiding principle that can inspire, but not be replicated, by the Kings of Hardcore Thrash.

1. Soldier's Grave 2. Birthright 3. Tolerance of Abuse 4. Suffocating Routine 5. Oppression Fetish 6. Cold Comfort 7. Serve Your Purpose 8. Desensitized 9. Untamed Force

Ireland based American songsmith Peter Broderick announces the release of Piano Works Vol. 1 (Floating in Tucker’s Basement) — a new comprehensive album of solo piano recordings out November 25. Shining a light on the artist’s ongoing piano-based compositions, this release offers an opportunity to celebrate his more intimate work. A comprehensive collection of Peter Broderick’s piano work to date, these recordings were originally captured in Berlin to accompany the 2017 sheet music book Piano Works Vol. 1. The book contains 20 pieces for solo piano and a download code to access new recordings of all 20 pieces. Up until now, the only way to hear these recordings was to purchase the sheet music book. This release sees the original recordings receiving further treatment and processing by Tucker Martine in the customised echo chamber of his studio in Portland, Oregon—the region where Broderick grew up. The clean and unaffected original recordings were intended for educational purposes, so for this release Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths suggested to ‘throw the recordings into the well’, for a more dynamic and conscious listening experience. “We gave these recordings a bit of a makeover. We sent all the tracks over to legendary engineer/producer Tucker Martine, who processed all 20 of them with unique tape and reverb treatments, utilising the echo chamber of his Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback,” explains Broderick. Now these recordings are set to be released on doublevinyl, double CD and all digital platforms.

As three souls plunge down from the heavens, death and destruction can be felt hanging in the air like a foul stench. Red clouds swirl around a black sun that never sets and an erratic clock ticks off-tempo, moving faster and slower before rewinding and starting anew.

“Let me paint you a picture…” vocalist Mikey Arthur sings, welcoming listeners with a dramatic opening scene. It takes a skillful guide to navigate the darkest depths of hell. And, as The Gloom In The Corner depict in their second full-length album Trinity, death is merely the beginning of the series of chilling adventures

Purposefully aligning their song count with unlucky number thirteen – a reoccurring symbol in the ever-unfolding Gloom Cinematic Universe or GCU – it comes as little surprise to longtime fans that each of the Australian quartet’s enticing tracks intertwine to form an interlocking tale; this time centered around the appropriately labeled unholy trinity.

Comprised of previously deceased characters Rachel Barker, Ethan Hardy, and Clara Carne, the group’s bloody battle is woven throughout the album as the anti-heroes determinedly claw their way back to Earth from the Rabbit Hole dimension, slashing, shooting, and extinguishing anyone who dares to oppose their quest. Yet, for the Girl of Glass, Ronin, and Queen of Misanthropy, there is clearly more to the story than what can be contained within a single package.

Projecting a wide and complex web of lore, plot twists, and tongue and cheek humor, frontman Mikey Arthur, guitarist Matt Stevens, bassist Paul Musolino, and drummer Nic Haberle, have been producing highly detailed concept releases since their formation. And, consistently filling in more missing pieces of the puzzle with every body of work, the band equate each new record to a fresh season of The Umbrella Academy dropping on the streaming service of your choice. Because, just as a great TV series captivates viewers with its music and storytelling, the quartet’s work provides a complete experience designed to allow fans to check in with their favorite characters, all the while enjoying a cinematic new soundtrack.

For those just joining the GCU, as well as those looking for a quick refresh, 2016 debut album Fear Me introduced listeners to main protagonists Julian “Jay” Hardy, a Section 13 agent consumed by anger over his girlfriend Rachel’s death, and Jay’s gloom (later known as Sherlock Adaliah Bones), a demonic entity who at times takes over Jay’s body as a host vessel. 2017 EP Homecoming tells the tale of Jay’s brother Ethan, a war veteran suffering from PTSD, who upon discovering his brother’s struggle, kills himself as part of a Dante-style rescue mission to bring Rachel back to life. In 2019 EP Flesh and Bones, we’re introduced to Clara Carne, a past witness to one of Jay and Sherlock’s crimes, who instead of taking revenge, began a twisted love story with Sherlock, only to be murdered by his forced hand. And 2020’s Ultima Pluvia EP where we finally learn of Sherlock’s past as an ancient warlord under the tyrannical King Baphicho, and see Sherlock and Jay’s deaths ushered in by Section 13 opponent and New Order leader Elias DeGraver and his gloom Atticus Encey.

After 2016’s Fear Me, the band admit that their original intention was to jump straight into the events of Trinity before pivoting to create Homecoming, Flesh and Bones, and Ultima Pluvia. However, upon reflection, primary storywriter Mikey Arthur believes that pushing the timeline back actually provided greater opportunity for the group to properly flesh out the songs and plotlines for their sophomore studio record.

Indeed, while Trinity re-introduces the three central “heroes” of this new arc, it’s important to understand that while familiar, the characters are not carbon copies of who they were earlier in the story. And neither is the band who brought them to life.

Fully embracing the weird and whacky has never been a struggle for The Gloom In The Corner. Rather, it’s together with this attitude that the group come away with special moments such as the fascinating old and new dynamic between neighboring tracks “Red Clouds” – a song whose initial version predates the formation of The Gloom In The Corner as an official band – and “Gravity” in which a demo intended for future material was adjusted to fit the sonic drop.

Mirroring this evolution in the band’s musical approach, a sense of growth can also be seen projected in the characters and story that the quartet chronicle across the thirteen tracks.

Classifying their individual sound as an intricate form of “cinema or theater-core” due to the depth and breadth of their musical approach, features, samples, symphonic elements, and conceptual nature, The Gloom In The Corner continue to prove that they’re more than just a simple concept band.

In fact, similar to character theme music in movies and video games, the group seamlessly play off their diverse sonic story in a variety of ways. Continuing to breathe new life into older staples from their catalog, the quartet reworked their infamous “Oxymøron” breakdown from Fear Me into an impactful moment in Trinity’s “Nor Hell A Fury” and sprinkled audio easter eggs of this sort all throughout their new music for fans to discover.

Listeners are also brought further into the world of the GCU with the help of what The Gloom In The Corner call their “casting process.” Like picking actors for a musical, the band meticulously selected eleven different vocal features and several additional voice actors to bring the album and characters to life. Described as a 50/50 split between notable talents such as Ryo Kinoshita (Crystal Lake), Joe Badolato (Fit For An Autopsy), and Lauren Babic (Red Handed Denial), as well as talented friends and family like Elijah Witt (Cane Hill) and Mikey’s sister Amelia Duffield, each featured artist brought their own touch and realistic spark to the characters they portrayed.

For in the end, as much as Trinity and it’s cast live within the confines of their own supernatural worlds, themes such as falling out of love (Gatekeeper), battling depression (Obliteration Imminent), and standing behind women’s empowerment (Nor Hell A Fury), are ones that many can relate to or understand. And, while most individuals may avoid drowning their woes by way of transforming into full-on egotistical murderers like the Queen and King of Misanthropy and the gang, The Gloom In The Corner have illustrated that time and time again, life’s a little more fun when you can crack a smile. Taking a page from the trinity’s playbook: try to avoid the end of the world. But if you can’t…at least spend it with a killer soundtrack.

TNT is the third full length studio album released by Tortoise in 1998 1998 : Tortoise"s third studio album TNT is released. In and out of print over the past decade we are happy to finally give everyone what they have been asking for - TNT on vinyl again! Pressed on high quality virgin vinyl, the two LPs are packaged in a deluxe old-style tip?on gatefold jacket fully replicating the original artwork and includes a download coupon for the first time! Tortoise"s third full-length release, TNT, was written and recorded during a 10-month interval in 1997. This longer-than-usual writing/production schedule was purposefully undertaken by the group in the hopes of crafting an expansive, diverse, yet thematically coherent offering. TNT builds upon the spare, instrumental framework of the group"s first, self-titled album, and the extended edits, melodic adventures, and klangfarben of the subsequent full-length release, Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Further to this, Tortoise"s interest in the possibilities offered by the remixing of tracks was realized within the actual production of TNT; individual elements, sections, or sometimes whole compositions mutate within the album"s shifting framework. These techniques were suitably realized thanks in part to the use of non-linear digital recording and editing methods, the first example of such work for the group

Giacomo Smith’s critically acclaimed outfit Kansas Smitty’s embark on a new chapter with a twist on their sound; modern jazz, African rhythms and classic cinema sculpt We’re Not In Kansas Anymore.

As the title suggests, We're Not In Kansas Anymore is the beginning of a new dawn for Kansas Smitty’s. Their fifth studio album marks a progression from their swing led palette, instead pulling inspiration from modern jazz, African rhythms and classic cinema. Kansas Smitty’s continues to be the primary outlet for bandleader, alto-saxophonist and clarinetist Giacomo Smith, a musician and producer whose tireless creativity continues to lift his reputation, recently producing albums for both Jamie Cullum and rising star Jas Kayser.


“I want people to feel a big range of emotion - I want people to see things”, says Smith. “There's joy and there's humour, but there's also spirituality. There's seriousness, there's loss and longing - and those are all there on purpose. We've experienced them as a collective and I’ve experienced them as an individual”.

Giacomo Smith’s critically acclaimed outfit Kansas Smitty’s embark on a new chapter with a twist on their sound; modern jazz, African rhythms and classic cinema sculpt We’re Not In Kansas Anymore.

As the title suggests, We're Not In Kansas Anymore is the beginning of a new dawn for Kansas Smitty’s. Their fifth studio album marks a progression from their swing led palette, instead pulling inspiration from modern jazz, African rhythms and classic cinema. Kansas Smitty’s continues to be the primary outlet for bandleader, alto-saxophonist and clarinetist Giacomo Smith, a musician and producer whose tireless creativity continues to lift his reputation, recently producing albums for both Jamie Cullum and rising star Jas Kayser.


“I want people to feel a big range of emotion - I want people to see things”, says Smith. “There's joy and there's humour, but there's also spirituality. There's seriousness, there's loss and longing - and those are all there on purpose. We've experienced them as a collective and I’ve experienced them as an individual”.

Taupe's imprint Colours proudly presents another palate of delicate musical brush strokes that aims to captivate and bounce its spectator. While Taupe's refines his art, this ep has the audacity to retain itself and focus on balance and control. It's a wonderful slice of wax that has many hidden sides to it, which for that reason make it a marvelous mystery to listen to. The ep starts off with a wish-wash of stabs, creating a pressing feeling of urge and uncertainty. Whilst its progressing, things seem to shake and tumble, but never falling. The inner A-side, however, has a clear purpose! An all-present tom knocks your socks off right off the bat, followed by a moist atmosphere and an appetizing hat. While A1 aims to disorient, A2 transports you right to an intimate car-drive at 5am. Flipping the wax won't flip the theme. B1 Perpetuates the feeling of nostalgia and unknowingness by tempting and dissolving the listener with fairytale-worthy arps. Swaying from left to right, follow this dream ride! And to top off this marvelous ride, B2 gently pushes the brake in order to ascertain a comfortable speed that is exquisite for some old-skool head-bobbing. Absorb that addictive bounce!

“I wanna wake up brand new” Enumclaw lead-singer / guitarist Aramis Johnson sings to begin Save the Baby, their massive-sounding debut full-length, out via Luminelle Recordings. The album is a swing for greatness; a collection of life-affirming and deeply personal songs about the importance of chasing after your dreams. Enumclaw is Aramis, guitarist Nathan Cornell, drummer Ladaniel Gipson, bassist (and Aramis’ younger brother) Eli Edwards. Working alongside producer Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Crumb, Fleet Foxes), Enumclaw's Save the Baby delivers an album where on each track the band plays with dynamics while taking their songwriting to the stratosphere. Save the Baby is an album about stepping into your purpose, about the determination it takes to not give up on yourself in the midst of heartbreak and setbacks. It’s not a stretch to imagine a younger version of the band getting a glimpse of the future and freaking out by knowing their destiny of making it as a rock star has landed on their doorstep. For fans of all things J Mascis / Dinosaur Jr, Built to Spill and all things 90's Pacific Northwest.

Beneath the Massacre hit a sweet spot on this EP, avoiding several banalities and pitfalls that the genre is known for. There isn’t an obnoxious overuse of directionless wank and breakdowns. In fact, both are put to use as good songwriting techniques in applying some semblance of dynamic. The songs always seem to have a purpose and a realized direction. Marée Noire just feels right on just about every level. The production lends to a beefy and chaotic atmosphere where the low, thundering riffs and blasts of double-bass will certainly put subwoofers and good headphones to ample use. Beneath the Massacre provide what is in my opinion the right kind of brutality and heaviness. – HeavyBlogIsHeavy

The Deer have built a devoted audience for their uninhibited, cosmic indie folk the old-fashioned way: playing their hearts out, night after night. In addition to extensive headlining, they’ve shared stages with the likes of Big Thief and The Head and The Heart. Their label debut Do No Harm, released in 2019, marked a set of career breakthroughs, topping the KUTX chart and earning a nomination for the Austin Music Awards’ Album of the Year. When live music took global pause, The Deer had momentum to sort. The five musicians took the energy reserved for tour and brought it into the studio, a pressure cooker not only for creativity but newly, for existential reflection. The result is two full albums, the first of which, The Beautiful Undead, will be released September 9, 2022, on tastemaking indie Keeled Scales. It’s an uninhibited collection of cosmic indie-folk reflecting upon what it means to lose your sense of purpose. The Deer, amidst turbulent assessment, transformed a paralyzing void into an empowering surrender of ego a rollicking submission to the immense unpredictability of existing. It's a free-spirited album fueled by hard-earned revelation. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the planet is getting warmer, and human extinction looms likely. The Deer handle their devastated call for change with an artful subtlety, an infectious sense of play, and a projection of internal learning onto the external world. Their genius is in creating palpable, emotional urgency not with boisterousness, but fact. Throughout The Beautiful Undead, The Deer radiate an intensity fit for the times, but not at the cost of dancing. Also Available From The Deer: Do No Harm LP / CD. Track listing: SIDE A: 1. Bellwether 2. I Wouldn’t Recognize Me 3. Baby Green 4. Columns 5. Lilacs SIDE B: 6. The Lion Or The Bear 7. Six-Pointed Star 8. Golden Broken Record 9. Up I Presume 10. Bowl

She Sleeps is the second single from FaltyDL's coming-of-age masterpiece, Hardcourage, and perhaps the centrepiece of the album. The only vocal song on the full length, "She Sleeps" features a brilliant, haunting turn from the Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane. Mysterious, tender and reflective, his lyrics weave around the driving, purposeful percussion and a melody that's singularly exploratory and gentle.

The single comes with a remix package that more than does justice to the quality of the original. Holland's electronic pioneer Martyn has reworked the track into a writhing, muscular dancefloor stomp. Gang Gang Dance need no introduction, and their take on the song proves why once more. Lifting the inter beauty of the song to the fore, they've turned it into an opus of rich texture and uplifting, melancholic melody.
Ital is the solo moniker of Planet Mu's Daniel Martin-McCormick, and his remix takes things a touch darker and industrial edged, warping the melody into something altogether more ominous. Finally, exuberant London boogie-ists 2000Black have worked "She Sleeps" into a deep, hypnotic soulful groove

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

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Charlotte Leclerc talks loud and fast, she’s at full speed, at a heat of 10,000 degrees and gives off a very pleasant warmth - if you stay at the right distance. She’s like the sun: if you get too close, you’ll burn up straight away. Speaking of which, Charlotte has distanced herself, and not on purpose either. When coming home at night, instead of getting into the role of laboring musician, she chose instead to make music a bit like you’d smoke one last cigarette before bed. The story of this album began when I asked her if she made music by herself. I knew she played regularly with other people in bands, but nothing about any potential solo musical activity. She replied, “When I get home late at night, before going to bed, I like to switch on my old Vermona drum machine and my synths. I record stuff that isn’t songs, that I forget all about and don’t listen to again because it must be garbage.” It didn’t take more than that for me to really want to listen to it. After several months of enquiring, she accepted to send me all these “bits of music” as she calls them. I loved them straight away. Very loose and free tracks, a music made for no one in particular. No format, no structures, just creation sprinkled over daily life. Moments like these are often forgotten, lost in your head, which is overcrowded with day-to-day stuff. But in this case, she managed to save them, preserving them in time thanks to the record button. Style-wise, I’m not sure what Charlotte Leclerc’s “bits of music” are. Avant-exotica? Ambient-funk? Maybe. However, if you’re wondering if there’s any emotion in there, I’d answer as she would, “Yeah, loaaaads.”

Full Circle is the sixth album by long time Ghost Box roster member, The Advisory Circle. Self-avowed synaesthesiac, Cate Brooks conjures a very visual fantasy in four acts (the vinyl version across four sides of a luxurious gatefold double 10”). Her tracks evoke human dramas played out against the timeless backdrop of a utopian built environment, where leisure, luxury, elegance and romance are always in fashion.

Brooks' music is by turns ambient, dramatic, upbeat and melancholic. It's instrumental electronica of the very highest calibre, an expert and masterly manipulation of electronic equipment both old and new. Light touches of acoustic and electric instrumentation and flourishes of both tape and digital sound manipulation add colour throughout.

This long running solo project is saturated in 70s and 80s TV and library music influences, and in some ways Full Circle is a call back to the 2005 debut EP Mind How You Go. However, the music and production have evolved over the yers, into a distinctively rich and three dimensional soundworld. The album wears its influences and sonic components proudly, but feels contemporary, cool, and fresh. Brooks' music career predates and now transcends the world of hauntological electronica that it inspired.

P&F Recordings takes a quick break from original material to welcome back everyone’s favourite Episcopalian Minister/DJ: JAZ.

When it comes to left-field floor fillers, JAZ (née John Zahl) is in a league of his own. Over the past 13 years, he's churned out celebrated home listening mixes, jaw-dropping DJ sets, and extended edits with a pace that belies the usual slow-motion tempo of the majority of his selections.

Here, he serves up four colourful, cosmic, dance floor delights. EP opener ‘Cloud Worship’ marries a chugging prog-rock-esque bassline with virtuosic synth work. Then ‘Pick a Toy’ gets us sweating with some serious Caribbean flair.

On the flip side, ‘Puzzle’ delivers exotic chants and an infectious, serpentine beat - and lastly ‘Friday Night’ closes things out with infectious, retro positivity.

While one might wonder how JAZ consistently unearths these obscure -yet essential- gems, it's obvious that he's driven by a higher purpose.

Let the ceremonies begin!

“I had to write myself back into existence,” says Jessie Baylin. “I’d been feeling lost, empty, unsure if I’d ever make music again, and I think this album came along to remind me of who I really am, of who I could still become.” Indeed, Jersey Girl is more than just another record for Baylin; it’s a radical act of self-actualization, a moving work of reflection and rebirth from an artist who’s spent the better part of her adult life running from her roots. Written and recorded with GRAMMY-winning producers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves, Birdy), the collection marks Baylin’s first release since the passing of her longtime collaborator Richard Swift, whose influence looms large here even in his absence, and it signals the start of a profound new chapter, one marked by love and empathy for the face staring back in the mirror. The songs are lush and dreamy here, drawing on a hazy palette of warm guitars and vintage keyboard tones, and Baylin’s performances are nothing short of mesmerizing, her tender voice front-and-center in the mix as she grapples with guilt and shame, pain and healing, purpose and identity. Baylin’s the first to tell you this wasn’t an easy record to make—in fact, it wasn’t a record she intended to make at all—but sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from the most unexpected places. “I had to be tricked into writing these songs,” Baylin confesses, “but it was a good kind of trick. I didn’t realize what was happening until I was already in the midst of it, and that turned out to be exactly what I needed.”

Over the 15 years since Loren Connors' Airs was first published, it has drawn a thick circle of fans. Gently recorded to cassette tape in 1999, (with wonderfully subtle multi-tracking). Airs is comprised of a series of brief electronic guitar poems. Intimately composed with the patience and purposeful hesitation we have reverently come to expect from Connors. Lyrical melodies recur in different forms throughout the LP, as shifting figures in a dream. Shadowy and sunken, the tone evokes an overcast landscape. The album feels singular; woven along as one flowing piece

AM006 is by Berlin's ML, titled 'Life always breaks your heart'. Two 30-minute pieces were written, constructed, collaged and fixed together by himself. It's an important story, so there's a copy from ML below and also ours was written by Bokeh Version Industrial to do it justice.

Hallucinated Brazilian poetry read by text to voice engines, supernatural thrillers ripped from Youtube, the clang of cutlery and distant canteen conversation, that noise wire fencing makes when you rake it with a stick, crickets chirping over odd dance emotions, a sample you think your recognise but can’t name…..

The trivial is cosmically important, the cosmically important is trivial. ‘It’s about the product’ - all of life’s a sample. You contain universes.

Alice in Wonderland, late night sessions with kosmische guitar legends, ethnographic chants from an unknown land, “There’s no monopoly of knowledge / there’s no monopoly of power”: forecasts from global political trends, China will be important they say, someone’s whistling a tune that doesn’t exist, I’m thinking of times long before I was born . . .

Growing naturally like a beautiful montage from his field recordings (a rich library of personal psychoacoustic details) and his 150 Session on NTS, ML's Life Always Breaks Your Heart is mixtape-concrète:

Gamelan of the soul, Bio-Curry-Wurst in Kreuzberg, zither overlays the booms of the squatter’s homegrade grenades…

Mark Leckey vs. Alvin Curran, Gustav Flaubert vs Cabaret Voltaire, free association flashbacks with the timestamps mixed up, with added bass guitar, OP-1, Ableton, distinguishing the ‘real’ instruments becomes unimportant….they’re absorbed by memory foam….

No country, no flag – outernational without a cause!

There is no purpose, there is only reverie.

ML -

"A useless ruin, things are falling apart, even in our deepest, we long for harmony. A hypothetical path, for obscure reasons, fades into transparency. The mediocrity of Western culture, sicken by P.R., life offers a chance, a place for enthusiasm. The texture of the world, them can read it in your eyes. In the heart of schizo-culture, distance, suddenly shortened, forms characters as symbols. Deafen by mass media, embittered by unsettled chemistry, the willing body, forever in transition. The pre-invented existence, owned by language, creates a passage towards chaos. Paragraphs of currents, amplify the feelings, while silence leaks into the new luxury of time. Gentrification of sentiments, beneath our palms, all these memoirs. A modern consciousness, stretching over years in narcissistic differentiation. In touch with another human spirit, blowing backwards, beneath dark waters. We put our hands on your body, onto a new landscape, employed by metaphysical mutations. At the edge of the cosmos, prairies and mountains hide the truth in tactical silence. Apparently so, a number of months ago, above our head, a landscape of journals. Mystical content, statistically insignificant. A new patio, them crawled through the walls."

Born in Girona, Spain and based in Berlin since 2019, Alex Busse' Santacruz's Ameeva project previously came to life on the Lowless music label in 2020 and the album 'Fractura del SueNo'. His live set for the 9128 Birthday event took these experimental electronics to a deeper, more personal level, weaving friends' samples and conversations into a rich tapestry of drone and field recordings, creating an immersive and enveloping 40-minute narrative. That's been captured here by the 9128 label, which aims to document significant live performances by artists that previously performed on the 9128.live platform, with results that are imaginative and impressionist, like clouds of synths and other soundscapes with the serene relentlessness and sense of purpose as molten lava moving down the mountainside.

The incredible artist CASUAL TREATMENT landed on Eclectic Limited with his solo ep called "Discipline". 4 stunned tracks representing the real character of the artist.

This project signed the last chapter of "wired cube" concept that was our fantastic mission for 2 years.

With their "wall of fuzz" - the Swedish duo NOVA BLAST have a strange
way of finding their way into the heart of different audiences
Whether it has been by opening for acclaimed lo-fi electro acts or breaking the
sound barrier at punk, doom and indie festivals, NOVA BLAST have made a mark.
On Eccolalia - their wonderfully loud, melodic, dynamic and long-awaited debut LP
- they continue to do so.
The album treats the time when lyricist and frontman Anti Zurowski was in
neuropsychological evaluation - it's a diary about Swedish mental health care,
forced medication, stigma and insomnia. The lyrics (in both Swedish and English)
are purposely dreamy, metaphorical, repetitive and shaped as dialogues to
capture the broad (and chaotic) range of his inner conversations. The same can
be said about the music with sudden shifts in dynamics and sensory stimulating
walls of reverb and distortion, a focus on bass/ mid glide chords and noise
crescendos. Limited Edition Blue and Pink color vinyl.

Introducing - The Mellons finds that balance somewhere in pages of the
Beach Boys book of psych pop.Jepson and Beck unlocked the expansive
potential of their songwriting when they found their match in another pair
of collaborators
Multi- instrumentalist and producer Dennis Fuller and percussionist Ian Francis
had worked together in a handful of bands, and Jepson and Beck enlisted them to
join The Mellons and round out their sound. "All of these pieces of songs that Rob
and I had swirling around in our heads started to magically come together," Beck
says. Though the resultant tracks are jampacked with everything from clarinets
and violins to sleigh bells and trumpets, the layers never overpower the intimate
harmonies and honeyed lyrical emotionality at the songs' core. "I wanna get
closer/ I wanna go deeper/ I wanna know it all," they sigh on opener "So Much to
Say", surrounded by twirling guitar riffs and glimmering bells. The Mellons play a
symphony's worth of instruments, and self-producing the record largely at Fuller's
No. 9 Studios in Salt Lake City allowed them to chase that stratified sweetness to
its heartfelt extreme. "Writing, arranging, and composing everything ourselves
gives us the freedom to really get the exact sound we're all interested in," Fuller
says. Always focused on the power of a taut hook, The Mellons made sure that
freedom was used for a purpose. "We stay true to the musical stylings of the midto late-'60s while still creating room for the vogue," Francis says. "It's all about
finding that balance." The nostalgic vibe to the psychedelia doesn't end at the
music, as the quartet opt for paisley or matching turtlenecks as well as vintage
collage. A trained illustrator and designer, Beck funnels visual influences into The
Mellons' vibe. Pressed on Yellow color vinyl.

Freestyle's run of reissues continues with the sought-after 1983 UK electro-funk of State of Grace's Touching the Times getting a freshly remastered 12" cut!

State of Grace were a trio formed at the start of the 80s, releasing a handful of singles between 1981 and '84. As SoG's David Inglesfield recalls, "in early 1982 we recorded 4-track demos of 'That's When We'll Be Free', 'Touching the Times' and a third song. When we played them to Mike Collier, who'd released our first single for his Flamingo label, he offered us a contract on the spot and licensed the finished tracks to for release on the PRT label"

Having released 'That's When We'll Be Free' in late 1982, 'Touching the Times' landed on 12" and 7" formats in early summer 1983. "For the demos, we'd used a TR-808 for the drums, and we kept the 808 for the final version of 'That's When We'll Be Free'", Inglesfield continues, "but for the full version of 'Touching the Times' we decided to use a Linn LM-1 for the drums. The keyboard sounds were from a Roland Jupiter 8, Roland SH-2 and Fender Rhodes"

Touching the Times was recorded at The Bridge studio near Putney Bridge, then mixed at The Sound Suite in Camden. "At the time, we were into the Sloane Ranger upper-class English look" says Inglesfield "and for the photo shoot for the original picture sleeve, we wanted an aristocratic type interior, and Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire was selected for this purpose."

The updated centre label image on our reissue shows State of Grace's Adrian & Pat Thomas, and David Inglesfield, in the Camden Mews outside The Sound Suite - located just a short walk from Freestyle's home in Kentish Town.

don Grammar’s success and longevity as a band has traced the British pop graph for over a decade now. The new album embodies a new clarity of purpose centred around frontwoman Hannah Reid, who crafts a message of femininity and power on the new material. Their debut double platinum selling record 'If You Wait' garnered huge success on its release in 2013, which was followed up by their #1 record 'Truth Is A Beautiful Thing' in 2017. To date the band have sold over 3 million records and 1 million tickets globally, whilst their music has been streamed 1 billion times. Having garnered numerous BRIT nominations and awarded a prestigious Ivor Novello, London Grammar remain rooted as one of the most exceptional and successful artists of a generation.

"What took you so long?" might be a valid question concerning the ten year gap between Zanshin's new album "In Any Case By Any Chance" and his first album "Rain Are In Clouds".

Of course it is a question that the Viennese musician has asked himself quite startled in his usual self-critical manner, just to realize at a closer look that it has not been a lack of creativity or laziness at least. He used the Zanshin moniker on four EP releases and several remixes, plus a game soundtrack. Not to forget all his output as one half of producer duo Ogris Debris (the album "Constant Spring" from 2016 and roughly two dozen singles and remixes) and the many, partly award-winning audiovisual installations and performances with Leonhard Lass as DEPART (depart.at). Furthermore he has also built two sound installations in 2021, "I Gong" at Elevate Festival and "Cymatic Sands" at Ars Electronica. In addition, Zanshin performs with the Max-Brand-Synthesizer from time to time as part of the compositions by Elisabeth Schimana, and together with label mate Dorian Concept he has also composed and performed the piece "Half Chance/Music for Moogtonium" for this unique instrument, built by Bob Moog himself.

Not spared by certain global developments of recent years, but rather invigorated by exploring his own resilience, Zanshin had a talk with Affine Records Operator Jamal in the beginning of 2021, speaking of future ideas and releases. And what was initially a single release spawned into a whole album in seemingly no time. An old skit ("Polar Polychrome") on the Roland MC-505 groove-box that had never really been forgotten, but was rather waiting patiently somewhere in the back of his mind, suddenly proved to be the initial spark for the album.

The term "Zanshin", roughly translated as un-focussed attention, is in fact more than just a pseudonym but rather a directive in the artists life. Zanshin really likes to go in several directions at once, kind of according to Wittgenstein's claim that "The world is everything that is the case.", to find out where his love for music might lead him this time. He also somehow went back to his roots with this album. Not necessarily in the sense of certain musical influences or genres, because then the album would be even more eclectic than it already is. More like a focus on the core values in the fabrication process of the music itself, the freedom to rather follow the structures and sounds than to shape them in a completely predetermined way. Somebody once called it, "to weave what the music demands."

In this regard, Zanshin often feels more like a sculptor and tries not toadhereto strongly to the rules of specific sub-genres of electronic music. Searching for sounds and designing them is one of the energies that fuels his interest the most, thus at the beginning of a lot of tracks there are small skits and ideas that have the freedom to grow in whatever direction.

Hence this album has no elaborate story to tell, there is no extensive "narrative" or big time "storytelling" at work. "In Any Case By Any Chance" is not a novel but rather a collection of short stories (which are certainly dense and have complex plots nonetheless). The result is a long-player where playful electronica, skillful songwriting, extrovert dance music and symphonic film music enter into a symbiotic relationship. Returning to another Wittgenstein quote, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent", the emotional impact of music is the main focus and the results can be quite solemn at times, but around the corner always lurks the next bone-breaking rhythm pattern and gnarly sound design.

The infamous saying, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", is another brick in the wall of sound in Zanshin's approach to music. He rarely roots himself in traditions or uses them too overtly, he really likes to agglomerate sounds, to challenge the listeners. It seems like he tries to avoid classification on purpose, because he knows that everyone has their own perception anyway. The only thing that this music demands implicitly is a willingness to listen attentively.

Very dense, at times really heavy and massive, then again airy and playful. "Music for clubs that don't exist.", might be another fitting caption to describe this album, which lasts for a little more than an hour.

The opener "Heatseeker" rushes to a sudden head start with its steel pan extravaganza, tropical vibes meet a bass line drenched in electro funk, and electrified synth stabs support the declaration of love in the lyrics. Kind of Jamie XX meets Electro meets Diva House. The monster that is "Bronteroc Brawl" is up next, a serious test for the speakers and a wild ride with metallic, growling sounds. The aggressive sound design reminds of suspense ridden shark chases, vicious dogs and cunning dinosaurs, in any case a track for people who love a proper bass stomper.

A new approach for the "indie discotheque" brings the emotional roller-coaster "In Gloom" with snappy drums and hypnotic synth motives á la Alessandro Cortini, creating an epic atmosphere together with the multi-layered vocals. A psycho-acoustic treat is position 4, the crisp instrumental "Polar Polychrome", you could even go as far as calling this a Zanshin signature track. Like mentioned before, the roots of this track go back to 2002 and you can hear the unmistakable influence of beat wizards like Photek, a piercing bass line is supported by poly-rhythmic drums, while dense pads try to escape the claustrophobic lockdown mood of winter 2020/21.

Another round of intense pathos waits for the listeners in the ensuing track "In Search Of". Moderat say "Hello", a melancholy piano melody is rushed to a climax by a wild bass arpeggio and forceful drums, the desire for a perfect sunrise at the next after-hour to the max. Initially just an appendix to the preceding track, "Time After Thought" swiftly developed from a mere improvisation to an ambient epic with a croaking alien piano, as if Keith Jarrett were on his way to Alpha Centauri.

Up next is the first single "Because Why", a breakbeat driven, synth-heavy track with winged vocals and a popular film quote. The title refers to the movie "Alphaville" by Jean-Luc Godard, a dystopian science fiction film noir, in which an omniscient computer system named Alpha 60 is ruling society and humans can only say "because" but never "why". As if the gears of a galactic mechanism were spinning into motion sounds "Identity Slices". A raspy chord structure finds its counterbalance in a kind of stumbling, wonky beat, and Zanshin would never deny the huge influence that Autechre's sounds and structures always have had on his music. Micro- and macrocosm meet on the same level and this friction is also a metaphor for questions of identity and self-awareness, without using voices or lyrics.

Off we go into the IDM bubble bath of "Enzyme Enigma", the bass drum is stomping and a fizzy acid-line is twisting in all directions behind rolling dub-techno chords. "Corrosion Creak" is a kind of acoustic degradation process, the rave dogs are finally let loose and everything happens at once, funky synths shred, string sounds wail and then there is this bass that sounds like smashing a rusty metal plate in the junk yard with a vengeance.

Towards the end everything slows down a bit, the beat in "Whatever Words" is Warp school cerebral hop at its best and therefore loads of glittery, creaky sounds swarm out until the synapses are overloaded, cumulating in a mighty bass ending. Last but never least, "Rebus Redux" guides us into the limitless night sky, with long indulgent pads dotted by an aimlessly wandering piano, while a compact net of tamed resonances and meandering sub frequencies unfolds in the background, enticing navel-gazing imagination.

Terreno Baldio is hailed as one of the leading progressive rock bands from the seventies in Brazil, from its surrealistic album art to its equally interesting music, translates the feeling of wasteland to an alternative world of beauty and complexity, achieving worldwide popularity over several essential albums lists. The homonymous work Terreno Baldio, released in 1976, was an active part of a whole scenario of youth suffering from strong political repression, representing in the song Grite (Scream) the desire of all Brazilian society that yearned to express its voice with freedom, being an impressive moment of collective catharsis in their live performances. Originating in Sao Paulo in the early 1970s, it released its debut album in 1976, recorded on 4 channels. Formed by Mozart Mello on guitars, Roberto Lazzarini on keys, Joao Ascençao on bass, Jô on drums and Joao Kurk (Fusa) on vocals and percussion. The band Terreno Baldio was born in 1974, when they got together in a group with the purpose of making progressive rock. Roberto Lazzarini was already playing with Joao Kurk and Joaquim in the Ilanders group, a dance band; Mozart Mello and Joao Ascensao joined there, having met on the recordings of Pete Dunaway's album. Everyone knew and liked King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Yes, wanting to make a more worked sound as a group, thus creating Terreno Baldio.

Back in 2011 Markus Guentner and Heiko Badje formed Stareaway to follow their vision of creating both enchanting and haunting music from melodies and drones. Combining Guentners complex Wall of Electronic Sound and Badjes ethereal androgyn voice and multifaceted guitar play, they indeed produced some epic works between Ambient, Pop and Shoegaze, strangely shimmering and profoundly mysterious.
Now Stareaways fantastic (and back then maybe a little overlooked) album No Life In This Ghost Town sees its rerelease and is, for celebrational purposes, accompanied by this EP of four stunning remixes by stunning artists Rafael Anton Irisarri (who also did the mastering), Simon Scott (Slowdive), Thomas Fehlmann and David Westlake (ex Sneaker Pimps). Rafael Anton Irisarris magical take on O Suomi sparkles bright, still with melancholia always present. David Westlake emphasizes the Pop-aspect of Appointments, adding lush synth melodies and light-filled grooves while Thomas Fehlmann lets All Over You spiral into Popambients most majestic heights. Finally Simon Scott builds a Kathedrale aus Klang on Dreams May Never. Amazing remixes of amazing originals.

On High Flying Man, the third LP by Matt Berry’s pseudo-eponymous project The Berries, loss and desire take center stage. Berry delves deep into 21st century malaise, crafting densely layered songs which project an unshakable yearning for deliverance from the world’s shortcomings. Each track extends an outstretched palm towards universal connection, blending a complex of mix of pop hooks, rock swagger, and psychedelia into dejected populist anthems. Faced with the perils of an isolating world, High Flying Man reignites the tradition of great American songwriting, speaking in the voice of the longing masses. At heart, Berry demands more life, rejecting both arty cynicism and nostalgic escapism.

Berry cut his teeth at a young age playing in the bands Happy Diving (Topshelf Records) and Big Bite (Pop Wig), and has since regularly served as a touring member for bands like Angel Dust and Dark Tea. His early work with Happy Diving and Big Bite solidified his position as an upcoming star in the world of fuzzed-out indie rock, earning him tours and opening slots with the likes of Turnstile, Dinosaur Jr., Nothing, The Swirlies, and The Coathangers. With The Berries, however, Berry turns the Big Muffs down (although not off), creating sonic space to stretch his wings as a burgeoning pop songwriter. The psychedelic-surrealist textures of his earlier output are not gone, per say, but rather find themselves folded into more expansive, rock-oriented arrangements, becoming accoutrements as opposed to the driving force of each song itself.

High Flying Man follows The Berries’ previous releases, 2018’s Start All Over Again and 2019’s Berryland. While longtime listeners will undoubtedly recognize Berry’s disaffected drawl and melodic sensibility, High Flying Man’s complex arrangements and expansive sonic landscape place it well apart from its predecessors. Berry enlisted live band members Danny Paul (drums), Emma Danner (backing vocals), and Lance Umble (bass) during the recording of High Flying Man, as well as the mixing talents of Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, Guided by Voices), breaking from the self-produced home recording ethos of the previous Berries LPs. The collaborative nature of High Flying Man’s recording process is reflected in the quality of each song’s arrangement. Freed from the pressure of being individually responsible for every detail committed to tape, Berry was able to focus his attention more fully on the creative demands of constructing a dynamic and cohesive record. High Flying Man pivots away from any sort of obvious nod to Americana tropes, baggy British attitude, or Neil Young-esque riffing, leaning head on into a lush, idiosyncratic grandeur.

Each track evokes the irreverent and flashy style of a songwriting voice finding itself for the first time. Berry’s guitar heroics extend towards new heights, channeling the simple pop mastery of Lindsay Buckingham (“Prime”) and the wicked emotion of a 21st century “November Rain” (“High Flying Man”). Unusual stylistic juxtapositions give certain songs an almost timeless quality: Bert Jansch-esque crooning finds its counterpoint in sweeping, distortion-soaked riffs (“A Drop of Rain”), the primitive rhythms of Amon Duul are given an arena-sized, Britpop facelift (“Life’s Blood”). On High Flying Man, however, the ballad reigns supreme. “Down That Road Again” drips with sentimentality, powered by soft, undeniable pop melodies and pared-down chord progressions. Album-centerpiece “Eagle Eye” teeters between pure grace and extreme sorrow, unfolding into a massive, immediately memorable tide of melancholic beauty.

Lyrically, High Flying Man is both simple and direct. Although often bitter about the state of the world, Berry has no overtly political axe to grind. In some instances, he takes jabs at the moral laziness of aging millennials, expressing his yearning for a return to vitality and conviction (“Prime”). In other instances, Berry turns his criticism inwards, examining his longing for a better life and his repeated tendency to self-sabotage (“Down That Road Again”). These two poles balance each other out, creating a thematic tenor which is more so self-implicating and empathetic than critical. If anyone is to blame, it is the world we have been saddled with, not the people left to pick up its pieces. Although often personal, Berry’s words evoke a universal experience of continued belief in the face of loss. “High Flying Man” chronicles the growing distance between Berry and an old friend who has been shipwrecked by the weight of trauma, evoking the sorrow of trying to love someone who is no longer able to keep up with reality. Even the most somber passages of “Eagle Eye” (“long before I become aware of it, my friend/it’s 6 AM and I’m gonna die”) find their redemption in a burning devotion towards something worth living for (“If there’s one thing I can depend on/it’s my old friend/my shining light/my eagle eye”).

With High Flying Man, Matt Berry embraces undying love in the face of isolation. Daring to want more life becomes a spiritual rallying cry against a world that has failed to make life either meaningful or beautiful. At their core, these songs are not about revolution, but they are about the faith that gives something like revolution a purpose in the first place.

Dusky’s music has always been built on the pleasure principle, but JOY – as the title makes absolutely clear – takes that to new levels of purity and intensity.
Looking back to more innocent times and to rave music’s halcyon days, the duo of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman have tapped into that special moment when raving was still a voyage into the unknown.

This project is a distillation of the spirit of people coming together in hard times, forgetting their troubles and celebrating life. All of the core elements here are familiar from the peak rave era and the birth of hardcore – the cascading pianos, the infectious bleep melodies, the Chicago and Detroit grooves, the rugged Belgian techno riffs, and the proto-jungle break beats – but retooled, rewired, and refreshed for this brave new world.

It’s both a natural development and noticeable evolution from the pair’s previous work. Natural, because these musical elements have always been apparent in Dusky’s sound, but a clear evolution in they way they are presented, with such an unreserved and joyous tone.

The result is a celebration - and expression - of the communal ecstasy of the dance floor experience. An expression of 18 months yearning to be back out there communing and celebrating. An expression of everything that dance music - and dance culture - is about at its very best.

JOY brings together all the finesse and subtlety that Dusky have honed while traversing the various corners of clubland over the past decade, all their understanding of fundamental dance floor dynamics, and channels it all to a single, unified purpose. At a time when we’ve all suffered, we’ve all struggled, and we’re all uncertain, we’ve never needed this sense of unity more. All the release we’ve so badly wanted is here: we all need JOY.
credits

Red Hot Chili Peppers will unveil their new album and twelfth full-length offering, Unlimited Love Warner Records, on April 1, 2022. It notably marks their first recording with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006 and first with producer and longtime collaborator Rick Rubin since 2011. To herald Unlimited Love, the Los Angeles band just shared the first single and music video “Black Summer.”

“Our only goal is to get lost in the music. We (John, Anthony, Chad and Flea) spent thousands of hours, collectively and individually, honing our craft and showing up for one another, to make the best album we could. Our antennae attuned to the divine cosmos, we were just so damn grateful for the opportunity to be in a room together, and, once again, try to get better. Days, weeks and months spent listening to each other, composing, jamming freely, and arranging the fruit of those jams with great care and purpose. The sounds, rhythms, vibrations, words and melodies had us enrapt.

We yearn to shine a light in the world, to uplift, connect, and bring people together. Each of the songs on our new album UNLIMITED LOVE, is a facet of us, reflecting our view of the universe. This is our life’s mission. We work, focus, and prepare, so that when the biggest wave comes, we are ready to ride it. The ocean has gifted us a mighty wave and this record is the ride that is the sum of our lives. Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy it.

ROCK OUT MOTHERFUCKERS!” - Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, John Frusciante

On lead track “Black Summer,” ethereal guitar underlines introspective lyrics as the rhythm unlocks a hypnotic drum groove highlighted by evocative bass. It quietly inhales only to exhale with a massive refrain, “It’s been a long time since I made a new friend, waiting on another black summer to end,” before a guitar solo echoes to the heavens and back.

Unlimited Love resumes a three-decade partnership with Rick Rubin Johnny Cash, Adele. Their creative collaboration spans legendary albums, including the diamond-selling Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991, Californication 1999, By The Way 2002, and Stadium Arcadium 2006.

The interplay between the band borders on intergalactic once again—yet elevated to another stratosphere altogether. Unlimited Love represents the united spirit of four individual souls still fearlessly exploring the future of their eternal friendship and musical congregation.

This summer, Red Hot Chili Peppers will launch their first tour in support of Unlimited Love. They’ve invited a dynamic cohort of guests along for the ride at select dates, including Anderson.Paak & The Free Nationals and Thundercat and will be playing stadium dates in the UK in June 2022.

For their Drag City debut, the enigmatic duo expand into eight-armed wonder; all the better to reach ever-deeper into their bag o' tricks. Slinky and sliding elegantly, the kids forge tunes with a harmony of ambiguity and nostalgia, effortless yet precise, and rounded with thick bottom - a dancing clash of cognition and dissonance! Since 2015, Kamikaze Palm Tree have been a relative mystery. Now, in times no less mysterious, Drag City welcomes them, celebrating the energy of their second LP, where KPT play their offbeat strain of 21st century rock. Making MINT CHIP, Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner reach deeper into their bag of tricks than ever before, dialoguing with an absurd shared intent they haven't yet paused to question. The off-center pieces gathered together for Good Boy have given way to pulsing aquatic compositions on MINT CHIP. Cole's guitar tones, wire thin, bell-like, bluesily downtuned, slinky and sliding elegantly, arc purposeful around their peripherals. Dylan's kit work, effortless yet precise, grounded with heavy bottom, drives and interacts organically with all the emerging structure, nailing down finely detailed frames and canvases to backdrop her singing and the unremitting landing of melodies and songs. With the addition of Josh Puklavetz, things that didn't make sense before - like bass - are now on the beach, fully lotioned, essence to essence. Violin and clarinet (Laena Myers Ionita and Brad Caulkins, respectively) round out the tonal spectrum. All strung together in the foothills of Altadena's Wiggle World Studios with Hartling back in the engineer's seat and Tim Presley producing the proceedings!

For their Drag City debut, the enigmatic duo expand into eight-armed wonder; all the better to reach ever-deeper into their bag o' tricks. Slinky and sliding elegantly, the kids forge tunes with a harmony of ambiguity and nostalgia, effortless yet precise, and rounded with thick bottom - a dancing clash of cognition and dissonance! Since 2015, Kamikaze Palm Tree have been a relative mystery. Now, in times no less mysterious, Drag City welcomes them, celebrating the energy of their second LP, where KPT play their offbeat strain of 21st century rock. Making MINT CHIP, Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner reach deeper into their bag of tricks than ever before, dialoguing with an absurd shared intent they haven't yet paused to question. The off-center pieces gathered together for Good Boy have given way to pulsing aquatic compositions on MINT CHIP. Cole's guitar tones, wire thin, bell-like, bluesily downtuned, slinky and sliding elegantly, arc purposeful around their peripherals. Dylan's kit work, effortless yet precise, grounded with heavy bottom, drives and interacts organically with all the emerging structure, nailing down finely detailed frames and canvases to backdrop her singing and the unremitting landing of melodies and songs. With the addition of Josh Puklavetz, things that didn't make sense before - like bass - are now on the beach, fully lotioned, essence to essence. Violin and clarinet (Laena Myers Ionita and Brad Caulkins, respectively) round out the tonal spectrum. All strung together in the foothills of Altadena's Wiggle World Studios with Hartling back in the engineer's seat and Tim Presley producing the proceedings!

In late 1961 Spector formed Philles Records with Lester Sill, buying his mentor out the
following year. The slogan was ‘Tomorrow’s sound today’, and Phil Spector proceeded to live
up to that boast. Three-track tape machines were then state of the art, and he perfected the
method of ‘bouncing’ the tracks to get the biggest possible sound. As time went by, his ‘twominute symphonies for the kids’ would be increasingly gilded by his ‘everything but the kitchen
sink’ production including Strings, Percussion and banks of Vocals. Spector gained his
second U.S. chart-topper and his first as a Producer in 1962 with the Gene Pitney penned,
He’s A Rebel. Spector became increasingly obsessed by the production process. ‘My records
are built like a Wagnerian opera. They start simply and end with dynamic force, meaning and
purpose. I dreamed it up.’ He retired from the music business, returning only sporadically to
work with first The Beatles (their Let It Be album, plus solo LPs by George Harrison and John
Lennon), plus a handful of other artists including Dion, Cher and the Ramones.

Since the release of Superstition back in 2018, FUNERAL CHIC has been through something of a metamorphosis, a rebirth if you will. With renewed purpose and a line up that has been solidified along the way, the four piece are preparing to release their third full length album, Roman Candle, this summer. Holding no desire to make the same album twice, they have eschewed the punk-led powerviolence that informed their previous work and have embraced the great tradition of American rock and roll - but given it a very distinctive FUNERAL CHIC twist. The swagger of proto-punk forefathers The Stooges and The New York Dolls imbues the darkest, grittiest corners of their reinvigorated sound, and can also be found on their cover of Roky Erickson’s Two Headed Dog. The caustic energy of early thrash and black metal scenes is also present, flickering with unmistakable incandescence throughout. Having previously led with their outspoken politics, this time the lyrics are refracted through a more personal - but no less fervoured - lens. With members of the band taking a path of sobriety in recent years, the knot of rage that was previously doused with alcohol has been channeled into the lyrics on Roman Candle instead. Ten tales of sweat and pungent aggression dripping into a powder keg of a global identity crisis weave throughout the album’s length. Recorded at Legit Biz, in Greensboro, NC with engineer, Kris Hilbert, FUNERAL CHIC guitarist, Robert Stroud, oversaw production, before the album was mixed by Matt Russell and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege. Throughout the process of creating Roman Candle, FUNERAL CHIC has - without ceremony - sloughed away old skin to reveal something new beneath. The volatile and unpredictable experience of living in modern day America is distilled via the mercurial sound of aggressive punk, sleazy Americana, and raw heavy metal. Roman Candle marks the beginning of the next blistering chapter for FUNERAL CHIC.

Guitarist, composer and producer Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 13
million year old ghost) and Chaikin Records proudly present 41 Strings, a
song cycle for string orchestra, electric guitars and expanded rhythm
section
This four-movement composition was originally commissioned for a large-scale
Earth Day event and draws inspiration from and pays tribute to the four seasons.
Notable performances over the years include those at Sydney Opera House,
London's Royal Festival Hall and NYC's Rockefeller Center. Each performance of
the piece features stellar special guests; previous guests have included Lenny
Kaye (Patti Smith), Paul Banks (Interpol), Sarah Lipstate (Noveller, Iggy Pop)
among many more. The rhythm section features members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
TV on the Radio and Boredoms. 41 Strings's compositional style is purposefully
simple, lyrical and minimal; each of the four season's is treated as its own distinct
'character' to conjure a sentimental link of association, experience and
environment.

EAT is the brand new album from your favourite rapper trumpeter, Pan Amsterdam. Made with fans of both food and hip hop in mind, the LP opens up a new pocket in the Pan Am dimension: the rapper-producer album. The whole thing’s a collaboration with underground legend and Def Pressé family Damu The Fudgemunk.

EAT lands in the wake of the success of Pan Am’s second album, HA Chu. Food, of course, was a vital component in the culture of that work, with GUTS-produced single Carrot Cake receiving plaudits from the likes of BBC 6 Music, and interludes taking place over Chinese food. HA Chu was named his ‘hostile industry diss record’ by Bandcamp and ‘a jazz musician’s vision of what hip-hop can be’ by The Times.

Whereas HA Chu was conceptualised while Pan Am’s real life alter ego Leron Thomas was on tour as Iggy Pop’s bandleader (Iggy had loved Pan Am’s debut LP, The Pocket Watch, leading to him asking him to write and produce his 2019 album Free), and saw guests such as Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Doves’ Jimmy Goodwin in his El Diablo guise, EAT’s genesis was slightly different.

About to fly on tour in Europe last year, Pan Am was in need of a DJ. Up steps Damu The Fudgemunk, fresh from creating his KPM library-sampling opus Conversation Peace (on Def Pressé Editions). Tour life led to a mutual musical respect, Damu creating soundscapes in his head as he got to know Pan Am’s intricacies whilst performing together.

‘We had some good hangs and talks,’ recalls Pan Am. ‘In those hangs and talks, it seems Damu was taking musical notes because the music he would give me was fitting like a glove. It reminded me that artists be observant and it pays off in the end. Damn fun making this project.’

Perceiving the world in terms of taste, EAT is musically wistfully joyous and lyrically playful, a full menu with Pan Am your maître d' and Damu the chef du cuisine. Damu’s beats are deep, warm, melodic and progressive, a perfect playground for the duality of Pan Am’s beat poetry and Leron’s caressing trumpet, which as always is a persona in itself.

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

EAT is the brand new album from your favourite rapper trumpeter, Pan Amsterdam. Made with fans of both food and hip hop in mind, the LP opens up a new pocket in the Pan Am dimension: the rapper-producer album. The whole thing’s a collaboration with underground legend and Def Pressé family Damu The Fudgemunk.

EAT lands in the wake of the success of Pan Am’s second album, HA Chu. Food, of course, was a vital component in the culture of that work, with GUTS-produced single Carrot Cake receiving plaudits from the likes of BBC 6 Music, and interludes taking place over Chinese food. HA Chu was named his ‘hostile industry diss record’ by Bandcamp and ‘a jazz musician’s vision of what hip-hop can be’ by The Times.

Whereas HA Chu was conceptualised while Pan Am’s real life alter ego Leron Thomas was on tour as Iggy Pop’s bandleader (Iggy had loved Pan Am’s debut LP, The Pocket Watch, leading to him asking him to write and produce his 2019 album Free), and saw guests such as Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Doves’ Jimmy Goodwin in his El Diablo guise, EAT’s genesis was slightly different.

About to fly on tour in Europe last year, Pan Am was in need of a DJ. Up steps Damu The Fudgemunk, fresh from creating his KPM library-sampling opus Conversation Peace (on Def Pressé Editions). Tour life led to a mutual musical respect, Damu creating soundscapes in his head as he got to know Pan Am’s intricacies whilst performing together.

‘We had some good hangs and talks,’ recalls Pan Am. ‘In those hangs and talks, it seems Damu was taking musical notes because the music he would give me was fitting like a glove. It reminded me that artists be observant and it pays off in the end. Damn fun making this project.’

Perceiving the world in terms of taste, EAT is musically wistfully joyous and lyrically playful, a full menu with Pan Am your maître d' and Damu the chef du cuisine. Damu’s beats are deep, warm, melodic and progressive, a perfect playground for the duality of Pan Am’s beat poetry and Leron’s caressing trumpet, which as always is a persona in itself.

Overcome is a new Dave Douglas recording, alongside vocalists Fay
Victor and Camila Meza, trombonist Ryan Keberle, bassist Jorge Roeder,
and drummer Rudy Royston, who banded together over a period of
months to create a new album of songs
A statement of purpose, an acknowledgement of forebears, and an exhortation to
activism, Overcome involves the six musicians in an emotional and powerful
statement of human engagement towards justice: Racial justice. Climate justice.
Voting justice. Gender justice. The project began with a reimagining of the Civil
Rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome," featuring Victor and Meza each singing a
verse before joining for arousing final verse. As Douglas began working on the
originals for the album, this unique communal vocal interplay became a key
element of three more pieces: "Overcome" and "When We Are Together Again" are
both inspired by the challenges of pandemic isolation; "Good Trouble" celebrates
activist John Lewis. Victor takes the spotlight on "Peace" as she voices poignant
poetry from Langston Hughes. And the free- spirited Royston original
"Perspective" brings a nice balance to the proceedings. This is spirited communal
music on a mission. Released direct- to- fan previously, the LP is available
worldwide for the very first time. Pressed on 180 gram black vinyl.

Taking direction from both the cinematic song stylings of sardonic yet
unfettered troubadours like Randy Newman, Brian Wilson, and Harry
Nilsson and the "visual scoring" of indie pop song placement in 21stcentury films, Best Move's music suggests the sound of a decade of
winding, disparate avenues finally convening in a perfect center
The Sacramento-based trio is composed of Kris Anaya, Joseph Davancens, and
Fernando Olivia. Anaya, a talented songwriter with a penchant for wry, offbeat
guitar-based folk-pop songs, and Davancens, who holds higher education degrees
in avant- garde composition and jazz double bass, formed the electronic act
Doombird together in 2016, but in 2019 the pair gravitated back to what they
consider more natural inclinations: organic instruments, earnest songwriting, and
a more true-to-themselves direction. Adding Oliva, Best Move was born. Many of
Best Move's songs maintain an intentionally similar sonic feel. Guitars strum and
piano twinkles while a layer of manipulated or synthesized instruments spread a
hazy overtone on top of it all, and steady yet minimal drums keep things moving.
Lyrically, the standards prevail - love, loss, friendship, searching for purpose - but
the themes bubble under the surface of a sea of metaphor, leaving the listener to
decipher the message in their own way. Anaya calls the sound a "thank you to the
past," and while a warm, familiar tone echoes throughout the band's universe,
something unmistakably modern remains.

Debut vinyl outing for Valentina Magaletti and Pino Montecalvo's Avvitagalli project. Variegated percussion + wtf jams inspired by an abandoned & torched palazzo somewhere in southern Europe. None Corsa explores presence and absence, purpose and chance. The push-pull between Pino's toys, records, radio & instruments with Valentina's arsenal of percussion and production techniques takes in elements of modern composition, jazz, dub and post punk. The Wire magazine will run a multi-page feature on Valentina Magaletti, mentioning this release, in their May or June '22 issue.

White Vinyl

Remastered reissue of Het Zweet's 1987 self-titled LP + a bonus LP, consisting of previously unreleased material.

Marien Van Oers work under the name Het Zweet (“The Sweat” in English) originally came out in the 1980s (specifically 1983-1988), but listening to the new reissue of this self-titled album from 1987 can feel like one is listening to something that’s both much more current and also much, much older than that. Van Oers, who passed away in 2013, made music that tended to get classed as “industrial”, and tracks here like the steady, clanging churn of “From the Lowland” or “On Earth” show why, but he was as or more inspired by tribal music intended to produce trance-like effects via rhythm and (percussive and vocal) repetition. Using instruments made by himself out of anything from shopping carts to cardboard tubes, the music of Het Zweet locks into grooves that somehow feel more elemental and physical than many of his contemporaries. It never quite feels like Van Oers is emulating or echoing the music of any particular region or tradition so much as trying to synthesize all the ones he’s heard into some sort of ur-pulse, an overtone so powerful as to compel the “Massive Trance” the title of the last song on the record evokes.

While the 1987 Het Zweet has four track titles per side, and on listening you can discern some segues and places where it feels like new movements do shift into place, it’s fitting to have this record on vinyl where the listener is encouraged to experience each side as one uninterrupted piece. The bonus material included on this reissue expands Het Zweet from one LP to two, the second LP consisting entirely of previously unreleased material. This bonus LP is sequenced similarly, with three untitled tracks and two live excerpts presented as side-long experiences that belie their disparate origins with a unity of sound and purpose. Van Oers’ percussive nous and distantly yelled chants certainly sound capable of working up a sweat in both the performer and any movement- minded listeners, but maybe the most striking thing about Het Zweet is how vital it still sounds, despite its age and relative obscurity.

He may not have known it before, but Toronto-born, New York-based
guitarist Matthew Stevens, prized for his forceful, distinctive electric
sound was an ideal candidate to make an album fully devoted to solo
acoustic guitar: the intimate, unadorned, straightforwardly titled
'Pittsburgh'
September 2020, Stevens was hunkering down in his wife's family's hometown of
Pittsburgh, while navigating his way through the crisis. He had with him a vintage
Martin 00-17, a small- body mahogany guitar. Practicing daily on the Martin, he
began generating a series of short song "starts" - ideas and sketches he thought
might lead somewhere. Then one rainy Pittsburgh day, Stevens' bike slid out from
under him and he broke his right elbow. Rather than getting derailed musically, he
became immersed in a creative process that led straight to 'Pittsburgh': a
document of those short song "starts" from the notebook, now hatched as
completed compositions. "Playing this music became a big part of my rehab,"
Stevens recalls.
As the album took shape, it became clear to Stevens that he was headed in the
direction of a wholly unaccompanied recital, with no overdubs or sound layering
of any kind. Just him and this special Martin, two Neumann U89 mics and enough
peace of mind across two separate sessions to make 'Pittsburgh' the triumph that
it is.
In addition to his extensive high-profile work with Esperanza Spalding (serving as
co- producer on 'Exposure' and '12 Little Spells'), Stevens is also a member,
songwriter and co-producer of Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY-nominated Social
Science band. He has made vital contributions to groups led by Dave Douglas,
Linda May Han Oh, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Ben Williams and more. With
tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III he co-leads the In Common collective. Stevens
has also amassed many credits beyond the jazz world, collaborating on
forthcoming releases by Anna B Savage, Jamila Woods, Tyler Armes
(Murdagang) and Berlin-based electronic artist Robag Wruhme.

Baby? are Erin Allen (Violence Creeps, High
Castle) and Max Nordile (Preening, Violence
Creeps, Uzi Rash).

 This collaboration sprang from a singular epic
recording session. “Even though we hang 11 times
weekly, shouldn’t we remotely pile on overdubs ad
infinitum for havoc injection?” Did they really say
that? Did they really do all this on purpose?

 For fans of Wild Man Fischer, Minutemen, Electric
Miles, Contortions, The Fugs, Preening.

 Punked-up no-wave improv skronk to get you
going all night.

 Includes poster insert.

THE OKLAHOMA KID - a modern metal experience
Known for their very own blend of genres, the German 5-piece never falls shy of
pushing the boundaries and breaking old conventions.

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

Mind Eclipse completes Deetron’s triptych for Running Back. After Body Electric and Ego Rave, it’s the missing part in a tale of youthful exuberance told by a seasoned raver and transported into the here and now. Taking the essence of the carefree energy of those days, its warehouses and fields minus the (sometimes!) aural clumsiness, Deetron delivers four studies in the transformation of said emotional states.
Mind Eclipse aka Trancehouzztool does exactly what it says on the tin: big synths, swirl and twirl during an extra long break down for an uproar – serotonin shower included. HG acts like an umbrella to that. Almost melancholic in its presence and meandering between highs and lows, it’s the perfect counterpoint and offset.
On the other side, Phoenix sounds like a lost Border Community hymn that found its way near a Roland 909 for peak time purposes, before The Shore closes the book in a hybrid state between electro and disco or the soundtrack to IDM supporters in a gym workout (also available in an alternative version digitally for those who like their beats straight).
It won’t eclipse your mind though that Deetron knows what he does in the studio, so expect finest artistry, crafty tricks and technical expertise. „’Til the sweatshirts are falling down of us…“

First Word Records is extremely delighted to present 'Torn : Tonic' — the sophomore album from singer, performer, poet and producer, Allysha Joy.

Delivered unfiltered, straight from the soul, ´Torn : Tonic' pulls us into a 10 track journey that weaves through the multiplicity of letting go, standing tall, and creating space all at once. The album's expansive and vivid exploration of healing examines the power that comes with accepting the complexity of change. Allysha walks listeners through the remedy she finds in sound and emerges empowered to share this healing with others. Deeply moving and lyrically compelling, 'Torn : Tonic' hosts a stellar line-up of artists, creating a world of collective power, growth, and hope.

Allysha Joy is an integral member of the vibrant Melbourne soul & jazz scene, well known for both her solo work and as lead vocalist for 30/70. A uniquely-talented soul, her husky voice, and formidable Fender Rhodes prowess have garnered attentive audiences around the world.

Her 2018 debut album 'Acadie : Raw' was named 'Best Soul Album' at the Music Victoria Awards, featured in Bandcamp's 'Top Soul Albums' of the year and received a nomination for 'Best Jazz Album' at the Worldwide Awards. An incredibly prolific artist, Allysha has released on labels; Rhythm Section, Gondwana, Future Classic, Total Refreshment Centre and now another drop for First Word, after her acclaimed 2020 EP, 'Light It Again'.

Allysha's production on 'Torn : Tonic' effortlessly arches across a sonic palette, comprised of shuffling broken grooves and exquisite celestial melodies. There are healthy swathes of skippy neo-soul boom bap sensibilities, entwined with stark swing-laden electronic percussion, Detroit-esque sun-saturated synths, and Antipodean bruk backbeats. And whilst this project was produced entirely by Joy herself, she is far from alone, inviting in an array of female and non-binary artists to bless assorted tracks with their own unique gifts. Ego Ella May, BINA, Rara Zulu, Belle Bangard and Dancing Water all appear, expanding upon the formulaic roles of featured artists to share the creative space as equal collaborators.

'Torn : Tonic' exudes vibes, from the opening whiplash snare of 'Peace, to the rolling jazz-bruk of lead single 'Let It!', to the sweet soulful sonics of 'Still Dreaming', to the closing triumphant shout of "All Joy!!" on 'G.N.D.', this is a 40-minute opus that will definitely require repeat listening.

Allysha's poetic introspection reveals the album's intention to demand space, purpose, and pleasure. Her words are deliberate and direct to the alarm bells and messages her artistic vision carries. Fluid, cross-genre, and spirited with generational stories embodied, 'Torn : Tonic' sits at the intersection of a feminist manifesto of Joy's momentous leap as an artist, and her exploration of what it means to be human in today's capitalist-driven world.

In Allysha's words, 'Torn : Tonic' is exactly as the name describes. "It is looking directly into the shadow of pain and overcoming it with joy. No love songs! Just social, political, emotional anthems for change! It is the first record I have produced entirely on my own and it feels like that perseverance that I have consistently had to conjure up is embedded in this music, overcoming my own conditioning in a society and industry that constantly tells me I can't, so I must!"

"Robot Hive/Exodus" is the second of initially four albums reimagined and individually curated by a band member, in this case Dan Maines, and reissued as part of the Clutch Collector's Series. The first album in this new series was Blast Tyrant, curated by Jean-Paul Gaster. TheRH/E artwork is in the vein of the original "Blast Tyrant" yet strikingly different. The vinyl release is remastered and manufactured on 180-gram colored vinyl which in turn is stored in extra heavy sleeves. The gatefold jacket is printed on metalized polyester paper, and each album includes a numbered insert autographed by the band. As an extra special element this 2xLP includes a 7" with two tracks: "What Would a Wookie Do?" and "Bottoms Up, Socrates". These two songs were originally among the 16 songs written and recorded for Robot Hive/Exodus back in 2005 but were left off the final album for time purposes. We are glad to have these recordings return home as part of the RH/E Collector’s Series limited to 7,500 units worldwide.

Robot Hive/Exodus (Ltd. Collector's Series/2LP+7"):
- The 12" colors are "Metallic Silver" with "Metallic Gold"
- Bonus 7" with two additional tracks
- Remastered Audio
- Limited Edition
- 2xLP 180g Colored Vinyl
- Artist Autographed Numbered Insert

Here is a quote from Dan, who quarterbacked this project re the two tracks on the 7" (the 7" is black vinyl in its own sleeve):

"What Would a Wookie Do?", and "Bottoms Up, Socrates" were among the 16 songs written and recorded for Robot Hive/Exodus back in 2005. For time purposes these two were left off the final album. We are glad to have these recordings return home as part of the Robot Hive/Exodus Collector’s Series.

London-based composer/bassist, Daniel Casimir returns with his solo debut album Boxed In, a dynamic collision of pulsing modern jazz and orchestral instrumentation.

Featuring Casimir's quintet of fellow British jazz luminaries, including Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, Al MacSween and James Copus, the album astutely bridges traditional and contemporary jazz forms enveloping strings, woodwind & brass arrangements.

Boxed In represents Casimir's debut set of compositions written for orchestra. Despite his interest in writing for orchestra while studying jazz and classical music, attending conservatoires and completing a masters degree at Trinity Laban, he was never given the opportunity or choice to fulfil his aspiration. Casimir notes that as only one of two black musicians in his study cohort the normalisation of the situation made it almost easy to miss its inherent injustice.

Coming up through the essential development foundation Tomorrow's Warriors, Casimir has gone on to feature on all of Nubya Garcia's recorded output to date as well as projects by Makaya McCraven and Ashley Henry and has performed with Lonnie Liston Smith and Jason Rebello amongst others.

This album reflects the experiences of navigating prescribed labels traditionally placed on black musicians. As well as being inspired by Wayne Shorter's hybrid orchestral jazz projects, Boxed In was also influenced by a conversation Casimir had in 2018 with legendary composer and producer Quincy Jones who talked a lot about classical music orchestration.

The album is also inspired by Derek Owusu's book Safe which reflects on the Black British male experience and becomes the broad thematic skeleton of Boxed In with the track Safe split into three parts across the album, the first of which opens proceedings in a purposeful up-tempo style with stylistic touches of Roni Size-esque drum & bass (in part courtesy of producer/polymath Moses Boyd). The album's title track follows, with Garcia's soaring tenor taking lead, followed by New Waters and the introduction of vocalist Ria Moran.

Flute, woodwind and brass melodies envelop Casimir's charming string arrangments on Your Side and Safe Part 2, showing off Casimir's command and ease in an orchestral setting. Get Even and Rewind The Time confirm Casimir's penchant for weaving brooding pop vocals with jazz composition while the fanfaric Into The Truth leads literally into The Truth where Copus and MacSween engage throughout to the track's triumphant close.

The closing track Outro is a lively Afrobeat-tipping style with Casimir's deft bass manoeuverings and large ensemble arrangement on full show.

Following the release of their debut album, Overcast!, Atmosphere was already making waves in the underground Hip-Hop scene, attracting attention for their unique combination of content, styles and sounds. Although the group was suddenly smaller due to the departure of one member, Spawn, the buzz continued to grow, as did the creative output of remaining members Slug and Ant. Over the next 3 years, the duo recorded and released a flurry of unofficial Atmosphere CD's, tapes, songs and side projects, along with pressing and distributing a string of vinyl EP's, titled "Ford One", "Ford Two", and "The Lucy EP". These vinyl EP's were ultimately consolidated onto one CD as well, for the purpose of selling on tour and distributing to retail, becoming what most considered to be Atmosphere's official sophomore album, Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP's, more commonly referred to as simply Lucy Ford. Lucy Ford was packed with the kind of nimble wordplay found on Atmosphere's debut, but it was paired with more self-reflective and introspective rhymes than their previous album. Tracks like "The Woman With the Tattooed Hands" and "Nothing But Sunshine" showed Slug was equally as talented at poignant storytelling as he was at conveying a deeper message for the greater good of humanity, while songs like "Don't Ever Fucking Question That" and "Like Today" stripped away at the character facade, allowing listeners to know the rapper on a more intimate level. The album wasn't entirely devoid of ego though. Slug reminds listeners of his competitive roots on "Guns & Cigarettes" over a truly inspired bluesy beat by Ant, who handled the lion's share of the album's production. And while Ant knows how to bring the emotional essence out of a beat, from the idyllic to the incensed, there were a few notable contributions from outside producers as well, including the dub-inspired "Free or Dead" by Jel, and the darkly optimistic "Nothing But Sunshine" by Moodswing9, among others. Now, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, the entire Lucy Ford album is finally available on 2xLP vinyl, for the first time in history! At last, fans and collectors everywhere can finally own this integral part of Atmosphere's legacy on vinyl, complete with the original artwork and a redesigned layout.

Flock is a brand new collaboration between five leading musicians from London's open-minded jazz and experimental scenes: Bex Burch (Vula Viel), Sarathy Korwar, Dan "Danalogue" Leavers (Soccer96, The Comet Is Coming), Al MacSween (Maisha) and Tamar Osborn (Collocutor).

A Collection of Sounds from the Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia (1959-2001)
Art by Zofia Kulik

"Would it sound just as bad if you played it backwards?" assembles a collection of audio experiments created at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (PRES) from 1959 to the beginning of the millennium. These exceptional works are presented alongside images from the Polish artist Zofia Kulik, whose career reached its apogee between the late 1960s and early 70s. While PRES and Kulik remain important artifacts in the recent history of the Polish avant-garde, presenting them together in one release may not seem like an obvious choice. There are, of course, some historical intersections-he most notable being a shared interest in Polish artist and architectOskar Hansen's Open Form theory. Open Form promoted a modular theory of architecture that became a tool adapted by its users and inhabitants to ??????????????..Hansen's ideas influenced Kulik's early works and also manifested in the PRES's iconic "black room", a music studio designed by Hansen, himself, which was equipped with moveable sound panels that absorbed or reflected sounds to promote a greater, creative freedom from its users. And yet, as it usually goes, the most obvious connections are usually the most deceitful. Whereas Kulik initially followed Open Form, she later turned away from it. And as for the black room-it mostly worked in theory but not in practice. What is it then that makes the two work together?

Polish Radio Experimental Studio - PRES (Polish: Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia) was an experimental music studio in Warsaw, where electronic and utility pieces were recorded. The establishment of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was conceived by W?odzimierz Sokorski, head of the Radio and Television Committee. Between 1952 and 1956 he was a Minister of Culture, and as a strong supporter of socialist realism he fought against any manifestations of modernity in music. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio was founded on the 15th of November 1957,1 but only in the second half of the following year was it adapted for sound production.23 It operated until 2004.4
Until 1985, for 28 years the studio was headed by its founder - Józef Patkowski - musicologist, acoustician, and the chairman of the Polish Composers' Union. The second most important person in the Studio was Krzysztof Szlifirski, an electro-acoustics engineer. Before founding the studio Józef Patkowski visited similar hubs in Cologne, Paris, Gravesono and Milan.5 Though the studio was a place where autonomous electronic pieces were recorded, this wasn't its main purpose. It was launched as a space for the creation of independent compositions, sounds illustrations for radio dramas, and soundtracks for theatre, film and dance.

"The focus of this project and presentation examines the art of mental persuasion and how the mind can control as well as fall vulnerable to subservient ways. It allows the means to look creatively and more in-depth to a subject that applies to every person and at every stage of life because how we perceive or sense something is part of our evolutionary survival pattern. " -Jeff Mills

Mind Power Mind Control

The focus of this project and presentation examines the art of mental persuasion and how the mind can control as well as fall vulnerable to subservient ways. It allows the means to look creatively and more in-depth to a subject that applies to every person and at every stage of life because how we perceive or sense something is part of our evolutionary survival pattern. Because there is no exact mental compatibility between any of us, speculation and misconceptions are not exemplary so, an emphasis on "the presentation of facts, ideas and methods and what we knew as true by example" are the major points that drives the overall purpose of this album project.

Mainly artistic but scientifically as well, the album will explore various techniques used to control minds, physicality of people and inanimate objects. The objective of this project is to examine, reveal and demonstrate how humans have created metaphysical and mind-bending techniques to control people, they're minds, societies and our outlook on reality and life.

-Jeff Mills

Mit erlesenem Studiogear aus sieben Jahrzehnten im Kofferraum seines VW Bullis hat René Mühlberger alias Pressyes den Motor angelassen, um das nächste Kapitel seiner akribischen Suche nach Realness im Pop zu schreiben. Süchtig machende Melodien mäandrieren um sonnige Synth-Flächen in Cinemascope. Das Wurlitzer glitzert und der Beat diktiert den Beinen die Richtung, während flirrende Arpeggios die Nebel des Stereopanoramas durchqueren, nur um sich im Space Echo in der Unendlichkeit zu verlieren. 'Breeze In Breeze Out' channelt in einer psychedelischen Séance Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft in dreizehn sonnengeküsste Songperlen, die Freiheit verheißen.