Cerca:r kent

Alina Kalancea's Impedance is an entirely instrumental album spanning four sides, contains powerful rhythmic sequences, heart-beating frequencies and hypnotic loops that are paradoxically encapsulated in carefully crafted compositions which are full of secret passages and hidden doors. Kalancea's work creates ungraspable sonic experiences, which overtakes you, immersing its listeners in powerful and mind-altering soundscapes. There's no quick payoff on Impedance. This is the sound of new, patient electronic music, full of depth and substance.

Alina Kalancea is a Romanian sound artist and composer based in Modena, Italy. She has studied sound design and synthesis with Enrico Cossimi and collaborated with producer Alex Gamez, and artists Julia Kent and Raven Bush. Highly recommended to fans of Eleh, Caterina Barbieri, Shasta Cults, Jessica Ekomane, Eliane Radigue, and Alessandro Cortini. Packaged in a deluxe, heavy duty tip-on gatefold sleeves printed by Stoughton; cut by Golden Mastering and pressed at RTI.

Charlie Overman ist für Fans von Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson und John Prine. Charlie Overman ist durch und durch Kentucky, und die Songs und Geschichten auf dieser LP strahlen alles aus, was Kentucky ausmacht. Diese Authentizität dringt bis in die Rillen dieser LP vor. Charlies Detailtreue beim Songwriting ist stark von John Prine beeinflusst und zeugt von einer Fähigkeit, die Charlies Alter weit übertrifft. Charlie wird von einigen der besten Musiker des Bundesstaates Kentucky begleitet, die den Sound ergänzen. Sie hören traditionelle Country- und Folk-Klänge, die für ein breites Publikum zugänglich sind. Kommen Sie herein und begeben Sie sich auf eine Reise von Pikeville nach Paducah, während Sie sich in Charlies neue und aufstrebende Stimme in der Americana Musikszene verlieben.

‘Icon’ is an overused word when it comes to describing singers and musicians, but when it comes to Nina Simone there are few artists that the word describes more accurately. The ‘High Priestess Of Soul’ is surely one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century, and one whose fame and acclaim stretches far beyond conventional black American music circles. 

Nina Simone has featured on Ace and Kent CDs before but this is the first time she’s had one all to herself. “Let It All Out” is the first and only Nina Simone collection to draw repertoire from every label she recorded for between the late 1950s to the late 1970s. 

Not a traditional ‘Best Of’ or ‘Greatest Hits’ package (although the performances included here ARE among her very best, and do include most of her Greatest Hits!) it is a singles collection that presents Nina Simone’s soul and R&B-slanted 45s in chronological order. Invariably they are the definitive versions of the songs, whether she recorded the original versions or not. 

As well as almost all of her American pop and R&B chart hits from 1960 onwards, “Let It All Out” also contains all of Simone’s UK chart hits from the same period – several of which were more successful here than they were back home, including both versions of her biggest British hit ‘Ain’t Got No; I Got Life’, a UK #2 that did not chart at all in the US as was the case with the belated UK Top 5 hit ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ which also made no chart impression on its home turf…

Carefully curated and concisely annotated, “Let It All Out” lets the listener in to two dozen of Nina Simone’s most celebrated singles. There have been many compilations of her works since she passed away 20+ years ago, but none that gets to the heart – and soul – of her catalogue in quite so direct a manner as this one does. 

DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Few moments in pop music history can match the grinding, pent-up energy of “Mongoloid” and the spastic bounce and sputter of “Jocko Homo” (two anthems presented in their earlier and superior versions here). Cult favorites like “Mechanical Man” and “Auto-Modown” make Volume 1 essential listening. Superior Viaduct and Booji Boy Records are proud to present DEVO’s Hardcore to a new generation of spuds, lovingly packaged with Moshe Brakha’s stunning cover photography. As David Bowie said in 1977, DEVO is indeed “the band of the future.”

Ostinato as resistance: Rafael Anton Irisarri’s landmark work reimagined. Marking the tenth anniversary of the American composer’s critically acclaimed album 'A Fragile Geography', this new edition arrives renewed, both sonically and visually.

First released in 2015 (Room40) during a period of personal upheaval and creative reinvention, it endures as a testament to resilience, transformation, and the connection we hold with the places that shape us.

Written in the aftermath of a devastating theft, A Fragile Geography was born out of loss. Just days before a cross-country move to New York, Irisarri’s entire Seattle-based studio was wiped out. Instruments. Recordings. Archives. Gone without a trace. He arrived on the East Coast to an empty room and the daunting task of starting over.

“This album wasn’t just a record; it was a lifeline,” Irisarri reflects. “It became a way to process the emotional chaos that followed: uprooting, instability, and ultimately, the slow, intuitive rebuilding of a life.”

Composed and recorded in the rural woods of the Hudson Valley, the album took shape in seclusion, surrounded by nature, and through a process guided by improvisation. Embracing limitations, Irisarri wove textural layers of field recordings with half-remembered melodies from his Seattle years, piecing them together like fragments of memory. Tracks like “Displacement,” “Hiatus,” and “Persistence” juxtaposed haunting stillness with restless momentum, mapping an inner terrain of grief, catharsis, and rebirth.

Among its defining sounds is “Empire Systems,” a monumental centerpiece built around a simple four-chord progression, organ textures, and guitar drones. Gradually, the track expands into layers of immersive loops and thick, enveloping distortion that wash over the listener like a rolling wave. Often cited as the album’s most majestic passage, it captures Irisarri at his most sonically ambitious. With a harmonically saturated structure crafted from restraint and repetition, it remains one of his most recognizable compositions: an exercise in the art of maximal minimalism.

From the outset, “Reprisal” received praise from BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, who championed the track on her radio show. Her support played a key role in introducing Irisarri’s work to wider audiences and solidifying his place within the lineage of electronic, drone, and experimental sound artists. A slow-burning elegy, the piece emerges from a haze of distortion and sub-bass, with dense, unrelenting drones carrying a sense of mounting tension. Just as it seems to collapse under its own weight, flickers of guitar emerge like distant light through fog. It’s a meditation on dissonance, resolve, and the elusive possibility of release.

The closing track, “Secretly Wishing for Rain,” is steeped in saudade: a longing for Seattle’s dour grey skies, lush green landscapes, and desaturated sunsets. Through it, Irisarri mourns a vanished chapter of life bound to the city, a time documented in scattered mementos and cherished collections, now permanently gone. A reflection on what could never be recovered: an era lost to time. Julia Kent’s looped cello motifs added a melancholic warmth to the track, marking the first collaboration between the two artists and sparking a musical dialogue that would keep growing in the years that followed.

More than a career highlight, A Fragile Geography has laid the foundation for Black Knoll studio, which Irisarri rebuilt from the ground up. The studio has since grown into a creative hub for countless projects, with Irisarri engineering records for iconic music figures like Terry Riley, Ryuichi Sakamoto, William Basinski, MONO, Devendra Banhart, Grouper, Emeralds, Steve Hauschildt, Julianna Barwick, and many others. Carried by its lasting influence, the album has quietly captured the ear of a younger generation, its sound and emotional arc finding new listeners in unexpected corners.

The album’s new visual language was reimagined in collaboration with Mexico City–based designer Daniel Castrejón. Irisarri captured ghostly images at Gaztelugatxeko Doniene, a historic coastal site in Bermeo, Euskal Herria. Castrejón then treated the photographs with distressed textures and spectral overlays. The final artwork channels the rugged, elemental forces that shaped both the music and Irisarri’s aesthetic, renewing his ties to ancestral ground inspired by the Basque homeland of his bloodline.

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu with exceptional attention to detail, this anniversary edition uncovers every nuance in the sound design, enhancing clarity and presence. With each listen, new elements emerge, inviting discovery and reconnection.

“I don’t experience this album as a document of grief anymore,” says Irisarri. “I hear adaptation and I'm reminded that when everything falls apart, something meaningful, maybe even beautiful, can emerge.”

Ostinato as resistance: Rafael Anton Irisarri’s landmark work reimagined. Marking the tenth anniversary of the American composer’s critically acclaimed album 'A Fragile Geography', this new edition arrives renewed, both sonically and visually.

First released in 2015 (Room40) during a period of personal upheaval and creative reinvention, it endures as a testament to resilience, transformation, and the connection we hold with the places that shape us.

Written in the aftermath of a devastating theft, A Fragile Geography was born out of loss. Just days before a cross-country move to New York, Irisarri’s entire Seattle-based studio was wiped out. Instruments. Recordings. Archives. Gone without a trace. He arrived on the East Coast to an empty room and the daunting task of starting over.

“This album wasn’t just a record; it was a lifeline,” Irisarri reflects. “It became a way to process the emotional chaos that followed: uprooting, instability, and ultimately, the slow, intuitive rebuilding of a life.”

Composed and recorded in the rural woods of the Hudson Valley, the album took shape in seclusion, surrounded by nature, and through a process guided by improvisation. Embracing limitations, Irisarri wove textural layers of field recordings with half-remembered melodies from his Seattle years, piecing them together like fragments of memory. Tracks like “Displacement,” “Hiatus,” and “Persistence” juxtaposed haunting stillness with restless momentum, mapping an inner terrain of grief, catharsis, and rebirth.

Among its defining sounds is “Empire Systems,” a monumental centerpiece built around a simple four-chord progression, organ textures, and guitar drones. Gradually, the track expands into layers of immersive loops and thick, enveloping distortion that wash over the listener like a rolling wave. Often cited as the album’s most majestic passage, it captures Irisarri at his most sonically ambitious. With a harmonically saturated structure crafted from restraint and repetition, it remains one of his most recognizable compositions: an exercise in the art of maximal minimalism.

From the outset, “Reprisal” received praise from BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, who championed the track on her radio show. Her support played a key role in introducing Irisarri’s work to wider audiences and solidifying his place within the lineage of electronic, drone, and experimental sound artists. A slow-burning elegy, the piece emerges from a haze of distortion and sub-bass, with dense, unrelenting drones carrying a sense of mounting tension. Just as it seems to collapse under its own weight, flickers of guitar emerge like distant light through fog. It’s a meditation on dissonance, resolve, and the elusive possibility of release.

The closing track, “Secretly Wishing for Rain,” is steeped in saudade: a longing for Seattle’s dour grey skies, lush green landscapes, and desaturated sunsets. Through it, Irisarri mourns a vanished chapter of life bound to the city, a time documented in scattered mementos and cherished collections, now permanently gone. A reflection on what could never be recovered: an era lost to time. Julia Kent’s looped cello motifs added a melancholic warmth to the track, marking the first collaboration between the two artists and sparking a musical dialogue that would keep growing in the years that followed.

More than a career highlight, A Fragile Geography has laid the foundation for Black Knoll studio, which Irisarri rebuilt from the ground up. The studio has since grown into a creative hub for countless projects, with Irisarri engineering records for iconic music figures like Terry Riley, Ryuichi Sakamoto, William Basinski, MONO, Devendra Banhart, Grouper, Emeralds, Steve Hauschildt, Julianna Barwick, and many others. Carried by its lasting influence, the album has quietly captured the ear of a younger generation, its sound and emotional arc finding new listeners in unexpected corners.

The album’s new visual language was reimagined in collaboration with Mexico City–based designer Daniel Castrejón. Irisarri captured ghostly images at Gaztelugatxeko Doniene, a historic coastal site in Bermeo, Euskal Herria. Castrejón then treated the photographs with distressed textures and spectral overlays. The final artwork channels the rugged, elemental forces that shaped both the music and Irisarri’s aesthetic, renewing his ties to ancestral ground inspired by the Basque homeland of his bloodline.

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu with exceptional attention to detail, this anniversary edition uncovers every nuance in the sound design, enhancing clarity and presence. With each listen, new elements emerge, inviting discovery and reconnection.

“I don’t experience this album as a document of grief anymore,” says Irisarri. “I hear adaptation and I'm reminded that when everything falls apart, something meaningful, maybe even beautiful, can emerge.”

Sdban Records is proud to announce the first official reissue of Coal Mining, the 1978 debut album by Dutch jazz pianist René van Helsdingen. This album marks a significant milestone-the beginning of van Helsdingen's decades-spanning career as an innovative and independent musician.

Born in 1957 in Jakarta, Indonesia, but holding Dutch nationality, René van Helsdingen began classical piano studies in the Netherlands in the early 1960s. While initially following in his family's footsteps by enrolling in mining engineering at the Technical University of Delft, his passion for music ultimately prevailed. His academic path may have diverged, but it set the stage, both figuratively and literally, for what would become an extraordinary musical career.

Coal Mining was originally released on Munich Records, a respected Dutch jazz and roots label founded by music producer and musician Job Zomer. The album features a blend of jazz influences from giants such as Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, and Bill Evans, and showcases van Helsdingen's distinctive voice as a composer and pianist at the very start of his professional journey.

The record includes contributions from a rich ensemble of musicians, including Wim Essed (bass), Klaus Flenter (guitar), Børge Ring (double bass), Henk Zomer (drums), Martijn Nesenberend (drums), Dick Pluim (bass), and even a student orchestra formed during van Helsdingen's time at Delft University.

Often mistakenly referred to as Piano, a result of the album's back cover design prominentlyfeaturing the word, Coal Mining is both a literal and symbolic title. It alludes not only to van Helsdingen's brief academic past, but to the depth and labor of jazz creation itself: layered, gritty, and forged under pressure.

A year after the album's release, van Helsdingen moved to Los Angeles to continue his jazz studies. While living in Hollywood, he shared a house with future musical collaborators including Kent Brinkley, Essiet Okon Essiet, Brian Batie, John Rigby, Edmond Allmond, David Best and John Butler. Even in the early stages of his career, van Helsdingen displayed the entrepreneurial spirit that would define his path, self-releasing albums and even pioneering an early form of crowdfunding by selling 400 ad spaces on a record sleeve to finance an LP project. After his jazz studies in Los Angeles, he performed extensively in Europe, Canada, the U.S., Australia and Asia, often traveling with his own 'Stage bus', which housedboth a stage and instruments.

In August 2018, van Helsdingen was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Despite the physical challenges brought on by the condition, he continues to perform and compose music. His openness about the diagnosis-shared publicly in a 2019 documentary-has helped raise awareness of Parkinson's and the role of creativity and improvisation as tools for resilience.

Now, nearly five decades after its initial release, Coal Mining is finally receiving a well-deserved reissue. Introducing a new generation of listeners to the raw talent and visionary beginnings of a true European jazz original.

'Osborne' is a rock n roll recovery album for the opioid age, inspired by Trapper Schoepp's own struggles with addiction. It was produced by Mike Viola (Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis) & Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Iron & Wine, Jackson Browne). After relying on prescription painkillers and other substances for a decade, Trapper checked into the Hazelden Betty Ford rehab center near his birthplace in Minnesota last year. Fittingly, the rock n roller was placed in the 'Osborne' unit - a letter off from Ozzy's surname but appropriated as such to honor the former Hazelden patient.

Ostinato as resistance: Rafael Anton Irisarri’s landmark work reimagined. Marking the tenth anniversary of the American composer’s critically acclaimed album 'A Fragile Geography', this new edition arrives renewed, both sonically and visually.

First released in 2015 (Room40) during a period of personal upheaval and creative reinvention, it endures as a testament to resilience, transformation, and the connection we hold with the places that shape us.

Written in the aftermath of a devastating theft, A Fragile Geography was born out of loss. Just days before a cross-country move to New York, Irisarri’s entire Seattle-based studio was wiped out. Instruments. Recordings. Archives. Gone without a trace. He arrived on the East Coast to an empty room and the daunting task of starting over.

“This album wasn’t just a record; it was a lifeline,” Irisarri reflects. “It became a way to process the emotional chaos that followed: uprooting, instability, and ultimately, the slow, intuitive rebuilding of a life.”

Composed and recorded in the rural woods of the Hudson Valley, the album took shape in seclusion, surrounded by nature, and through a process guided by improvisation. Embracing limitations, Irisarri wove textural layers of field recordings with half-remembered melodies from his Seattle years, piecing them together like fragments of memory. Tracks like “Displacement,” “Hiatus,” and “Persistence” juxtaposed haunting stillness with restless momentum, mapping an inner terrain of grief, catharsis, and rebirth.

Among its defining sounds is “Empire Systems,” a monumental centerpiece built around a simple four-chord progression, organ textures, and guitar drones. Gradually, the track expands into layers of immersive loops and thick, enveloping distortion that wash over the listener like a rolling wave. Often cited as the album’s most majestic passage, it captures Irisarri at his most sonically ambitious. With a harmonically saturated structure crafted from restraint and repetition, it remains one of his most recognizable compositions: an exercise in the art of maximal minimalism.

From the outset, “Reprisal” received praise from BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, who championed the track on her radio show. Her support played a key role in introducing Irisarri’s work to wider audiences and solidifying his place within the lineage of electronic, drone, and experimental sound artists. A slow-burning elegy, the piece emerges from a haze of distortion and sub-bass, with dense, unrelenting drones carrying a sense of mounting tension. Just as it seems to collapse under its own weight, flickers of guitar emerge like distant light through fog. It’s a meditation on dissonance, resolve, and the elusive possibility of release.

The closing track, “Secretly Wishing for Rain,” is steeped in saudade: a longing for Seattle’s dour grey skies, lush green landscapes, and desaturated sunsets. Through it, Irisarri mourns a vanished chapter of life bound to the city, a time documented in scattered mementos and cherished collections, now permanently gone. A reflection on what could never be recovered: an era lost to time. Julia Kent’s looped cello motifs added a melancholic warmth to the track, marking the first collaboration between the two artists and sparking a musical dialogue that would keep growing in the years that followed.

More than a career highlight, A Fragile Geography has laid the foundation for Black Knoll studio, which Irisarri rebuilt from the ground up. The studio has since grown into a creative hub for countless projects, with Irisarri engineering records for iconic music figures like Terry Riley, Ryuichi Sakamoto, William Basinski, MONO, Devendra Banhart, Grouper, Emeralds, Steve Hauschildt, Julianna Barwick, and many others. Carried by its lasting influence, the album has quietly captured the ear of a younger generation, its sound and emotional arc finding new listeners in unexpected corners.

The album’s new visual language was reimagined in collaboration with Mexico City–based designer Daniel Castrejón. Irisarri captured ghostly images at Gaztelugatxeko Doniene, a historic coastal site in Bermeo, Euskal Herria. Castrejón then treated the photographs with distressed textures and spectral overlays. The final artwork channels the rugged, elemental forces that shaped both the music and Irisarri’s aesthetic, renewing his ties to ancestral ground inspired by the Basque homeland of his bloodline.

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu with exceptional attention to detail, this anniversary edition uncovers every nuance in the sound design, enhancing clarity and presence. With each listen, new elements emerge, inviting discovery and reconnection.

“I don’t experience this album as a document of grief anymore,” says Irisarri. “I hear adaptation and I'm reminded that when everything falls apart, something meaningful, maybe even beautiful, can emerge.”

Die Psych-Rocker aus Cincinnati kehren mit ihrem vierten Album zurück und drehen die texturierten Synthesizer und spacigen Melodien voll auf, um ihr bisher shoegaze-lastigstes Album zu schaffen. Das zentrale Nervensystem von In The Pines befindet sich in The Lodge - einem alten Freimaurertempel, der als Mehrzweckraum gegenüber von Cincinnati in Dayton, Kentucky, umfunktioniert wurde. Die Band bewohnt eine Ecke des Kellers in diesem weitläufigen Labyrinth, wo sie Foleytronics betreibt - einen kleinen Laden für Vintage-Profi-Audio-Reparaturen und einer der wenigen Läden weltweit, der Vintage-Digitaleffekte reparieren kann. Ein natürliches Nebenprodukt dieses Ladens ist das Studio in Bandmitglied Peter Foleys Keller, ein Raum voller verschiedener Vintage-Effekte, Bandmaschinen und Synthesizer, in dem sie Sunbeam Dream vollständig aufgenommen und produziert haben. Alle Aufnahmegeräte, die für ,Sunbeam Dream" verwendet wurden, wurden vor dem sicheren Tod gerettet, repariert und von der Band selbst wieder funktionsfähig gemacht, die sich der Grenzen dieser Geräte bewusst war (und diese gerne ausnutzen wollte). Ähnlich wie beim Konzept von Oulipo in der Poesie und Mathematik entstehen Kreativität und Problemlösungsfähigkeiten aus einem klaren Verständnis und ständiger Überprüfung der Grenzen. Der Aufnahmeprozess ermöglichte es In the Pines zum ersten Mal, sich mit den kleinsten Details zu beschäftigen - ganze Tage wurden damit verbracht, den richtigen Akustikgitarrensound zu finden, nur um schließlich auf ein Stück Klebeband zu kommen, das über die Saiten geklebt wurde; Stunden, die in anderen Studios als Luxus gelten würden, wurden damit verbracht, verschiedene Beckenkombinationen für einen Refrain oder eine Bridge auszuprobieren. Genau wie bei ihrer Reparaturwerkstatt schuf die Band einen Aufnahmeraum, in dem Hyperfokus und Liebe zum Detail nicht nur erlaubt, sondern ausdrücklich erwünscht sind. Das Ergebnis dieser obsessiven Kontrolle ist das bislang ausgereifteste Werk von In The Pines. Sunbeam Dream hebt den Shoegaze-beeinflussten Psych-Rock der Band auf ein neues Niveau. Mit einer stärkeren Betonung der Synthesizer, die sich von einem strukturellen Element zu einem Hauptcharakter im Sound der Band entwickeln (dank eines wiederbelebten Mellotrons von 1971), reiht sich die Band in die Tradition großartiger und kraftvoller Alben wie ,A Northern Soul" von The Verve oder dem selbstbetitelten Album von The Charlatans (UK), bei denen die Produktion der beiden Bands ihrer kreativen Vision zu entsprechen schien. Mit ,Sunbeam Dream" fühlt sich alles heller und klarer an, während es gleichzeitig auf wunderbare Weise in einem Zwielichtschleier schwebt, der jedes Element umgibt.

Crosstown Rebels reignites Amtrac’s ‘Just’ with fresh remix package, featuring Patrice Bäumel.
Landing 29th August 2025, the emotive 2019 track is reimagined with a powerful take from Bäumel plus a Club Mix from Amtrac himself.

Damian Lazarus welcomes Kentucky-born, Los Angeles-based artist Amtrac to Crosstown Rebels for a special revisit of his much-loved track ‘Just’, originally released in 2019 on his label OPENERS. The 2025 remix package brings fresh interpretations crafted for the dancefloor courtesy of acclaimed German-born, Lisbon-based producer Patrice Bäumel, alongside Amtrac’s own extended Club Mix.
Known for his fearless musical evolution, Amtrac, real name Caleb Cornett, has carved a reputation for bridging genres with emotion-led dance music that resonates both on and off the dancefloor. Revisiting ‘Just’ with Crosstown Rebels marks a new chapter in the track’s journey, opening it up to a new wave of club-ready reinterpretations.

As the original’s shimmering melodies meet fresh layers of rhythm and energy, the result is a record that resonates with both nostalgia and forward motion.
Leading the charge, Patrice Bäumel steps up with a stunning remix that transforms the original into a hypnotic, high-impact dancefloor weapon. Drawing on his storied history of creating euphoric moments on the world’s biggest stages with material on labels such as Kompakt and Cocoon, Patrice infuses his unmistakable, tension-building style, layering driving grooves with cinematic textures. Speaking on the remix,

Rounding out the package, Amtrac himself delivers his own Club Mix, reimagining ‘Just’ with extended energy and a refi ned arrangement built for peak-time sets, highlighting his ever-evolving approach to production and delivering his own vision for the record when transformed for dancefloors.

Back from the undead in the fresh (because we believe in upgrades & afterlifes!) is this new pressing of the first of all Gastr del Sol records, The Serpentine Similar. It is one of several distinct initiators of a definitive musical drift in the 1990s, and a drift all of its own, to boot! At the time, this album was largely heard within an underground whose boundaries were clearly defined - but if today"s sound-pool of "commercial" music is deeper and wider than it was back then, it is without a doubt due to the cracking open of certain doors of perception by Gastr del Sol, alongside their esteemed others. The year was 1992. After a bruising run of tour dates the year before, the final lineup of Bastro, a power-trio of David Grubbs, Ken (Bundy) Brown and John McEntire, retired, exhausted. Shortly thereafter, they were rebirthed, sans drums, via a new set of ideas composed in the cut-down configuration of Grubbs on guitars, keyboards and vocals and Brown on bass. Playing in duo format opened up sound and intention, leaving the need for speed (and the stock in rock) out, while letting in an expanse of brooding, droning acoustic space that highlighted the songs" serpentine shapes. This was something so radically different as to require a new calling card: henceforth, Gastr del Sol. Signing to Teen Beat, Gastr del Sol completed The Serpentine Similar in late 1992 for release the following year (the DC reissue came in "97). In the final rendering, Serpentine"s roof-rent, white-sky execution was attenuated with several percussion appearances from the prodigal John McEntire. Over the next five years, his cameo presence was a constant in Gastr del Sol"s steadily-evolving tradition of significant breaks from tradition at every turn. There would be an even more significant tradition-breaker onboard for all this; following the release of The Serpentine Similar, Jim O"Rourke joined Grubbs in Gastr as Brown exited (to focus on Tortoise, with McEntire et al). For the new Gastr duo, a world of new directions in music awaited, the future became the past, and the music of Gastr del Sol emerged from the thin air, then returned there. Now, The Serpentine Similar has been returned to vinyl from the temporal streams of contemporary music listening, a glorious rematerializing of all its spatial details on LP for the first time in 20 years.

Im Jahr 2018 war Case Oats so etwas wie eine nebulöse Idee. Die Bandleaderin Casey Gomez Walker hatte bereits in Bands gespielt, und ihr Projekt Case Oats hatte eine selbst veröffentlichte Single, aber war keine Band, bis ein auswärtiger Freund sie fragte, ob Case Oats eine Show in Chicago headlinen könnten. Casey bluffte - ja, sie hatte eine Band, ja, sie waren bereit, eine Show zu spielen - und machte sich an die Arbeit. "Es war ein bisschen wahnhaft von mir", sagt sie, "aber ein bisschen wahnhaft zu sein hat ja auch etwas für sich." "Last Missouri Exit", das Debütalbum von Case Oats, ist ein bemerkenswert sicheres Album, bei dem sich die Band - Spencer Tweedy (Schlagzeug), Max Subar (Gitarre, Pedal Steel), Jason Ashworth (Bass), Scott Daniel (Fiddle) und Nolan Chin (Klavier, Orgel) - um Gomez Walkers Stimme und Gitarre gruppiert. "Last Missouri Exit" ist eine Sammlung scharf gezeichneter Charakterstudien. Gomez Walkers Hintergrund im kreativen Schreiben drückt sich in ironischen Beobachtungen und einem entwaffnend leichten Sinn für Lyrik aus, das Tiefgründige und Profane purzelt aus Songs wie "Bitter Root Lake" mit dem Gewicht eines Bekenntnisgedichts und der Leichtigkeit eines Gesprächs unter Freunden. Der rote Faden von Case Oats' erstem Auftritt bis zu ihrem Debütalbum ist Vertrauen, in die Songs und in ihre Spieler. "Last Missouri Exit" klingt aus den chaotischsten Kammern des Herzens und die Band schwillt um Gomez Walker herum an, die das Erwachsenwerden in Bezug auf die Loyalität zu verzweifelt fehlerhaften Menschen und schließlich, mit etwas Abstand von zu Hause, die Treue zu sich selbst beschreibt. Die Songs entstanden live, und die ersten Aufnahmen fanden, wie sich Gomez Walker erinnert, im Keller eines Hauses statt, das Ashworth, Subar und Tourmitglied Chet Zenor gemeinsam bewohnten. "Wir nahmen die Songs an drei heißen Augusttagen mit unseren Freunden auf und versuchten einfach, die Energie zwischen uns einzufangen". Tweedy, der die Session mit Ashworth und Subar aufnahm und das Album produzierte, sagt dazu: "Wir brachten gerade so viel Material mit in den Keller, dass wir es aufnehmen konnten. Wir hatten das Glück, in den Monaten vor der Session viele Konzerte gespielt zu haben, so dass wir einfach so spielten, wie wir gespielt hatten, ohne jede Wertigkeit." Diese anfängliche Kellersession ist das Zuhause, in dem "Last Missouri Exit" aufwuchs, und diente sowohl als Ursprungs- als auch als Zielort, da Gomez Walker und Tweedy den Gesang in getrennten Sessions zu Hause aufnahmen. Texte, die sich so wahrhaftig lesen wie "Your brother was the golden boy and you were your mother's pup / The safety of her guiding arms kept you from fucking up", heißt es in einem Couplet aus "Buick Door", das durch die Distanz zwischen Gomez Walker und den auslösenden Ereignissen ihrer Songs gestärkt wird. Ihre Stimme ist selbstbewusst und zart, sie fängt den Nervenkitzel eines Schlagzeugs oder die schmerzende Weite der Pedal Steel ein und kanalisiert den Schwung in die Hoffnungen und den Herzschmerz des Kleinstadtlebens im Mittleren Westen. Auf der Fahrt von Gomez Walkers Heimatstadt auf dem Freeway nach Chicago in Richtung Norden steht auf dem Schild kurz vor der Grenze zu Illinois unter anderem "Last Missouri Exit". Es ist ein Punkt auf der Landkarte und für sie ein Punkt, an dem es kein Zurück mehr gibt. Als sie ihn eines Tages überquerte, bedeutete das das Ende ihrer Kindheit und den Beginn ihres restlichen Lebens. Das Album ist ein Scharnier zwischen diesen beiden Zuständen, in dem sich die Schmerzen des Heimwehs mit dem Nervenkitzel des Aufbruchs zum Horizont überlagern. "In a Bungalow" betrachtet diese Überschneidung im Licht der goldenen Stunde, ein Lied, dessen leidenschaftliche Sehnsucht nach der Heimat - ihren süßen Quellen und langsamen Tagen und alten Freunden - nur möglich ist, weil sie einen Ort verlassen hat, der sich einst wie das Zentrum des Universums anfühlte. Wenn "Last Missouri Exit" ein Coming-of-Age-Album ist, dann deshalb, weil es um Wachstum und Perspektive geht, und weil es von einer Band gemacht wurde, die bereits jenseits des Horizonts lebt, nach dem das Album benannt ist. Es ist ein Album, das sich danach sehnt, gehört zu werden, während man den Sonnenuntergang von seiner Veranda-Schaukel aus beobachtet, aber seine wehmütige, idyllische Sicht auf den Mittleren Westen ist keine Nostalgie für die Vergangenheit - es ist das, was Case Oats einen Sommer lang im Keller auf einer Ad-hoc-Bühne gezaubert haben, ein Dokument einer Band, die um diese Songs herum zusammengewachsen ist, auf einem neu entdeckten Höhepunkt ihrer gemeinsamen Kräfte. Was sie geschaffen haben, ist warm und einladend, ein Album, das sich beim ersten Durchlauf offenbart und mit jedem Hören tiefer wird. Dies ist ihre Einführung; man fragt sich, was ihr Horizont noch bereithält.

Im Jahr 2018 war Case Oats so etwas wie eine nebulöse Idee. Die Bandleaderin Casey Gomez Walker hatte bereits in Bands gespielt, und ihr Projekt Case Oats hatte eine selbst veröffentlichte Single, aber war keine Band, bis ein auswärtiger Freund sie fragte, ob Case Oats eine Show in Chicago headlinen könnten. Casey bluffte - ja, sie hatte eine Band, ja, sie waren bereit, eine Show zu spielen - und machte sich an die Arbeit. "Es war ein bisschen wahnhaft von mir", sagt sie, "aber ein bisschen wahnhaft zu sein hat ja auch etwas für sich." "Last Missouri Exit", das Debütalbum von Case Oats, ist ein bemerkenswert sicheres Album, bei dem sich die Band - Spencer Tweedy (Schlagzeug), Max Subar (Gitarre, Pedal Steel), Jason Ashworth (Bass), Scott Daniel (Fiddle) und Nolan Chin (Klavier, Orgel) - um Gomez Walkers Stimme und Gitarre gruppiert. "Last Missouri Exit" ist eine Sammlung scharf gezeichneter Charakterstudien. Gomez Walkers Hintergrund im kreativen Schreiben drückt sich in ironischen Beobachtungen und einem entwaffnend leichten Sinn für Lyrik aus, das Tiefgründige und Profane purzelt aus Songs wie "Bitter Root Lake" mit dem Gewicht eines Bekenntnisgedichts und der Leichtigkeit eines Gesprächs unter Freunden. Der rote Faden von Case Oats' erstem Auftritt bis zu ihrem Debütalbum ist Vertrauen, in die Songs und in ihre Spieler. "Last Missouri Exit" klingt aus den chaotischsten Kammern des Herzens und die Band schwillt um Gomez Walker herum an, die das Erwachsenwerden in Bezug auf die Loyalität zu verzweifelt fehlerhaften Menschen und schließlich, mit etwas Abstand von zu Hause, die Treue zu sich selbst beschreibt. Die Songs entstanden live, und die ersten Aufnahmen fanden, wie sich Gomez Walker erinnert, im Keller eines Hauses statt, das Ashworth, Subar und Tourmitglied Chet Zenor gemeinsam bewohnten. "Wir nahmen die Songs an drei heißen Augusttagen mit unseren Freunden auf und versuchten einfach, die Energie zwischen uns einzufangen". Tweedy, der die Session mit Ashworth und Subar aufnahm und das Album produzierte, sagt dazu: "Wir brachten gerade so viel Material mit in den Keller, dass wir es aufnehmen konnten. Wir hatten das Glück, in den Monaten vor der Session viele Konzerte gespielt zu haben, so dass wir einfach so spielten, wie wir gespielt hatten, ohne jede Wertigkeit." Diese anfängliche Kellersession ist das Zuhause, in dem "Last Missouri Exit" aufwuchs, und diente sowohl als Ursprungs- als auch als Zielort, da Gomez Walker und Tweedy den Gesang in getrennten Sessions zu Hause aufnahmen. Texte, die sich so wahrhaftig lesen wie "Your brother was the golden boy and you were your mother's pup / The safety of her guiding arms kept you from fucking up", heißt es in einem Couplet aus "Buick Door", das durch die Distanz zwischen Gomez Walker und den auslösenden Ereignissen ihrer Songs gestärkt wird. Ihre Stimme ist selbstbewusst und zart, sie fängt den Nervenkitzel eines Schlagzeugs oder die schmerzende Weite der Pedal Steel ein und kanalisiert den Schwung in die Hoffnungen und den Herzschmerz des Kleinstadtlebens im Mittleren Westen. Auf der Fahrt von Gomez Walkers Heimatstadt auf dem Freeway nach Chicago in Richtung Norden steht auf dem Schild kurz vor der Grenze zu Illinois unter anderem "Last Missouri Exit". Es ist ein Punkt auf der Landkarte und für sie ein Punkt, an dem es kein Zurück mehr gibt. Als sie ihn eines Tages überquerte, bedeutete das das Ende ihrer Kindheit und den Beginn ihres restlichen Lebens. Das Album ist ein Scharnier zwischen diesen beiden Zuständen, in dem sich die Schmerzen des Heimwehs mit dem Nervenkitzel des Aufbruchs zum Horizont überlagern. "In a Bungalow" betrachtet diese Überschneidung im Licht der goldenen Stunde, ein Lied, dessen leidenschaftliche Sehnsucht nach der Heimat - ihren süßen Quellen und langsamen Tagen und alten Freunden - nur möglich ist, weil sie einen Ort verlassen hat, der sich einst wie das Zentrum des Universums anfühlte. Wenn "Last Missouri Exit" ein Coming-of-Age-Album ist, dann deshalb, weil es um Wachstum und Perspektive geht, und weil es von einer Band gemacht wurde, die bereits jenseits des Horizonts lebt, nach dem das Album benannt ist. Es ist ein Album, das sich danach sehnt, gehört zu werden, während man den Sonnenuntergang von seiner Veranda-Schaukel aus beobachtet, aber seine wehmütige, idyllische Sicht auf den Mittleren Westen ist keine Nostalgie für die Vergangenheit - es ist das, was Case Oats einen Sommer lang im Keller auf einer Ad-hoc-Bühne gezaubert haben, ein Dokument einer Band, die um diese Songs herum zusammengewachsen ist, auf einem neu entdeckten Höhepunkt ihrer gemeinsamen Kräfte. Was sie geschaffen haben, ist warm und einladend, ein Album, das sich beim ersten Durchlauf offenbart und mit jedem Hören tiefer wird. Dies ist ihre Einführung; man fragt sich, was ihr Horizont noch bereithält.

Old-time and traditional music stay exciting for their contrasts. Exacting instrumentation honed through mentorships and late-night jams at fiddler's conventions tangles with a community-sourced inventiveness that influences variants and new sounds. Joseph Decosimo is a master of this genre for this very reason, blending deep technique with an openness and curiosity that keep his music crackling with life. A "marvelous fiddler" (No Depression) and banjo player who braids "exultation and veneration" (INDY Week) into his music, on his third solo album Fiery Gizzard Decosimo gathers a close-knit ensemble of friends from his musical career to infuse his interpretations of fiddle and banjo pieces with a contagious communal joy. As an artist working with traditional music from the South and Appalachia, Decosimo chooses songs based not only on historical significance and lineage but also his own sensory approach. For Fiery Gizzard, his ear was tuned to otherworldly tones and mystery, sourcing from field recordings such as Virginia fiddler Luther Davis' hypnotic version of "Shady Grove" while amping up the music's psychedelic potential. On the middle Tennessee banjo composition "Flowery Girls," a VHS of bluesman Abner Jay inspired Decosimo to rig up a pickup inside a fretless banjo and play it thr ough a tube amp to capture some of Jay's edge and funkiness. But to round out the sound and keep it kinetic meant galvanizing a genre-eschewing crew to jam out - and not in a "spaced-out drooly" kind of way, he laughs, but as a sort of "responsive conversation." Decosimo has always been a community-minded artist. He began playing as a seventh graderin Tennessee, fostering relationships with older players at jams and in homes, a learning mode natural to his inquisitive nature and desire for musical connection. A folklorist by intuition, he later became one by profession, studying with old-time legend Clyde Davenport, teaching in East Tennessee State University's renowned bluegrass program, and receiving his PhD at the University of North Carolina with a dissertation titled "Catching the `Wild Note': Listening, Learning, and Connoisseurship in Old-Time Music." In North Carolina, Decosimo kicked about in the verdant environment of Durham and Chapel Hill's folk and indie scenes, collaborating with artists including Alice Gerrard, Hiss Golden Messenger, and Jake Xerxes Fussell. This community has influenced his own music, including his "sublime and strangely heartening" (Bandcamp Daily) 2022 release While You Were Slumbering and Beehive Cathedral, Decosimo's 2024 "Appalachian mountain music treasury" (New Commute) trio album with Luke Richardson and Cleek Schrey for Dear Life Records. Continuing on this path, Fiery Gizzard is home base for a loose outfit of mostly Tarheel-based musicians from within and beyond traditional music. Inspired by a tour with fiddler Stephanie Coleman (Nora Brown), guitarist Jay Hammond, and synth builder and multi-instrumentalist Matthew O'Connell, Decosimo assembled studiomates based on close friendships and comfort. Coleman, O'Connell, and Hammond contribute to Fiery Gizzard, along with bassist and producer Andy Stack (Helado Negro, Wye Oak), horn player Kelly Pratt (Beirut, David Byrne), Mipso and Fust's Libby Rodenbough, Joseph O'Connell (Elephant Micah), andtrad/experimental artist Cleek Schrey. Decosimo's fiddle and banjo work is virtuosic, intricate and simple simultaneously, a testament to his many years of study. On some tracks, his playing or lovely, plain-hearted singing is the centerpiece, such as on his interpretations of Texan street preacher Washington Phillips' 1929 recording "I Had a Good Father and Mother" or the Eastern Kentucky fiddle barn-burner "Glory in the Meetinghouse," famously played by Luther Strong for Alan Lomax. But there's also a trusting open-door policy, like where Southern Appalachian tune "Ida Red" relaxes into Coleman's sweet, confident fiddling and Hammond's loping guitar. As a bandleader, Decosimo's confidence and enthusiasm for the music reveal the heart of traditional music and how it can come to life through community. Fiery Gizzard is Joseph Decosimo as a powerful champion of traditional music - a sponge who soaks up as much as he squeezes out, a responsive artist who makes his genre accessible, and a magnet who can bring musicians of all sorts into his orbit with his same passion.

Formerly managed by DJ Ghost — a key figure of the hard trance scene and one half of the legendary Cherry Moon Traxx duo alongside Youri Parker — Ghoststyle has now joined the Diki Records family. The label remains a true reflection of the raw energy and hard-hitting sounds that define Ghost’s dynamic DJ sets.

With Traky 2025 Remixes, Ghoststyle brings new life to a cult classic: Traky, originally produced by the group People of Cactus, reimagined here in a series of explosive remixes made for the most demanding dancefloors. This release gathers a powerhouse lineup of Belgian artists: DJ Ghost & Danny Corten, DJ Furax & Sandy Warez, Lethal MG, Binum, Greg S, and the timeless 1998 version by DJ HS.

Each remix breathes fresh energy into this iconic track, blending rave power, acid lines, and intense build-ups. A selection that perfectly fuses raw drive, retro vibes, and modern edge — a must-have to ignite any set.

Français

Anciennement géré par DJ Ghost — figure emblématique de la scène hard trance et moitié du duo légendaire Cherry Moon Traxx avec Youri Parker — Ghoststyle rejoint désormais l'équipe de Diki Records, fidèle reflet de l'énergie brute et des sonorités percutantes qui résonnent dans les sets de son fondateur.

Avec Traky 2025 Remixes, Ghoststyle ressuscite un classique culte : Traky, signé par le groupe People of Cactus, dans une série de relectures explosives taillées pour les dancefloors les plus exigeants. Ce package réunit une sélection d’artistes phares de la scène belge : DJ Ghost en tandem avec Danny Corten, DJ Furax & Sandy Warez, Lethal MG, Binum, Greg S, et la version intemporelle de 1998 par DJ HS.

Chaque remix insuffle une nouvelle vie à ce titre mythique, oscillant entre puissance rave, lignes acid, et montées frénétiques. Une sélection qui mêle parfaitement énergie brute, ambiance rétro et modernité — un incontournable pour faire vibrer les platines.

Early support from Mark With A K, Anonymize, Manu Kenton, Franky Kloeck, Jan Vervloet, DJ Wout, Bestien, DJ Dinamyk, Don Diablo, Tom Leclercq, DJ Liberty, N.O.B.A, etc…

2024 repress!

Masters at Work member Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez is the genius behind The Bucketheads – The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind). An established History of House hall of famer’, The Bomb’ is a 90’s house, party soundtrack essential that mixies electro, hip-hop and 4/4 house it features samples from Chicago’s ‘Street Player’ & Green Velvet’s ‘The Preacher Man’ fused into a disco-funk and house groove with edgy, funky, rough and ready beats and subtle latino flavour. It easy to see why its ranked in the 100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time! Portuguese house producer Massivedrum is on remix duties. He has remixed dance royalty from Bob Sinclar, Axwell, Mory Kantè, Alexandra Stan, DJ Chus, Kentphonik, Yolanda B Cool among many others. He lends his house sensibilities and ear for the floor to enhance ‘The Bomb’ to new levels for an unforgettable experience. Besides the Massivedrum remix and it’s dub, also the full 14’51” minutes original version is available on this double A sided release! The Massivedrum remix is taken from the album “High Fashion Dance Music 5 – Mixed by Ben Liebrand”, which is available on LP/CD/MC and DCC.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?