Cerca:ra x

Ángel Rada is one of the most interesting music experimantalists of Venezuela. He started his career in the late 1960s as a member of The Gas Light, one of the big names on Venezuela's live circuit in the era, sharing the stages with other artists such as Apocalipsis, Un Dos Tres y Fuera, Vytas Brenner, Daniel Grau, Pablo Schneider, Miguel Ángel Fuster... Rada is one of the three basic artists who set an electronic music scene in Venezuela, along with Miguel Ángel Noya and Vinicio Adames.



Rada had attended the Escuela Superior de Música José Ángel Lamas and then continued his studies in Germany, where he was impressed by krautrock music, especially by its more electronic side. He met Kraftwerk when they were recording at Kling Klang Studio, and also knew Klaus Schulze–who would become an example for him to to follow. This contact with the Kraut scene would be the biggest influence on his works from the 1970s, which would end synthesizing in Rada's first record: 1983's Upadesa, originally released on his own independent label Uranium Records. Since then he has released more than 20 albums up to date, making him one of the most prolific experimental musicians not only in his country but also in the whole world.



Rada's aproach to electronic music is based in what he calls ethnosonic music. He is interested in the mixture of various styles which he filters through the use of technology, so in his electronic compositions one can hear echoes of ethnic sounds from all over the globe as well as some jazz influenced improvisation, ambient and synthesized sounds.



The Wah Wah edition is the first ever vinyl reissue of this landmark LP and has been remastered for vinyl by Roger Prades @ Prades Mastering. Includes an insert with liner notes by Salvatore Maldera.



It is a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.

UK number one in the UK Soul charts for over two weeks

Ltd edition 45 on 7" vinyl 300 copies worldwide

Over on the flip is a BRAND new mix by The Packxsz

The Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch noise-rap group led by rap phenomenon Rudeboy. They got together in 1986 with the original intention of creating a one-time jam-session for a festival in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Eventually, after receiving lyrical reviews, the group decided to continue and became one of the most successful Dutch bands of the Nineties, releasing five studio albums in total.

This essential Urban Dance Squad compilation showcases all of the Urban Dance Squad’s hits and noteworthy tracks from their debut Mental Floss For The Globe right up until 1999’s Artantica. This career spanning 2LP includes “Deeper Shade Of Soul”, “Fast Lane”, “Good Grief”, “Demagogue”, “Temporarily Expendable” and “Happy Go Fucked Up” amongst others.

Singles Collection by the Urban Dance Squad is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on translucent red coloured vinyl and contains printed innersleeves.

Sub Signals Vol.2 is a deep dive into underground bass, guided by artist and producer Gaudi. Featuring predominantly unreleased originals and versions by some of the biggest names in the worldwide dub collective, it intricately combines analogue elements with digital grooves to stunning effect.

Much more than just a compilation, the Sub Signals series is a celebration of the evolution of the sound of dub, from its original roots in reggae to its fusion with a much wider spectrum of sounds and influences. Gaudi curated the first volume back in 2006 for the cult Canadian label Interchill, sourcing tracks and dubs from High Tone, Zion Train, Manasseh, Almamegretta, Noiseshaper, Creation Rebel, Greg Hunter, Dubadelic and more.

15 years on, Gaudi has created the second volume, blending contributions by established reggae names Steel Pulse, Dennis Bovell and African Head Charge with next generation dub producers Alpha Steppa, Radikal Guru and Paolo Baldini Dubfiles, headline acts Groove Armada, Dub FX and The Orb with underground artists Deadbeat, Pitch Black and SUBSET, to create a seamless 75 minute mix.
“With Volume 2, I wanted to create a deep vibrational experience by shaping an aural trajectory that encompassed the many aspects of dub and its related sub-frequencies. To achieve my goal, I reached out to the artists I regularly work with to ask for contributions, in some cases digging in their archives to find what I was looking for.”

As a solo artist, Gaudi has recorded over 20 albums, while as a producer he has hundreds of productions under his belt. He has worked with legends of the reggae and electronic music worlds including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Horace Andy, Dub Pistols, Hollie Cook, Youth, Mad Professor, Prince Fatty, Lamb, Trentemøller and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Dedicated to the sound of dub in its many forms, Gaudi’s latest excursion of his Sub Signals series is pure bass therapy, designed to excite your eardrums and worry your woofers.

Released on Karl Kronfeld's Synoptik Records, it was the label's only release, thus becoming a rare, sought after, private pressing.
Weird, intriguing atmospheres and a plethora of synthesized sounds, sequencers, cold sounding keyboards and even mellotron parts make this a darker offering than Aphorisms Insane.
Venturing into stark, spooky post-industrial territories it manages to combine the primitive cosmicism of early Tangerine Dream with the dystopic sound-scapes of Asmus Tietchens, 80's Conrad Schnitzler or the synthetic gothicisms of Peter Frohmader.
An album that should appeal not only to fans of cosmic synthetic music, but also those interested in the more experimental strains of cold wave & minimal synth (Robert Rental, Dome, a.o.)

The Wah Wah edition is the first ever reissue of this rare sought after collector's item.
100% analogue lacquer cut direct from the original master tape by Moritz illner @ Duophonic Gmbh and reproducing the original Dalí-esque sleeve artwork in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.

The Clash’s collaborations with the late Ranking Roger receive their first ever official release with this two track black vinyl 7” limited edition single.. It finds the legendary frontman of The Beat infusing ‘Red Angel Dragnet’ and ‘Rock The Casbah’ with his exuberant, high energy toasting.

4 more quarters, 4 more contrasting expressions of global bass music culture: Barefoot sound originator and G-stone Afrofuturist Stereotyp teams-up powerfully with Malaysian rap legend Arabyrd on 'KEK', delivering a massive dose of Malay shudder trap that does not relent in either its growling bass attack or husky lyrical humour. Next up, the crisp and clean mid-90s DnB vibes of Bristolian producer K-65 ups the energy and tempo with the steadily rolling rinse-out of 'In My Mind', lightening the mood momentarily prior to the first cut on the B-side, with which we descend once more into the increasingly familiar Badman-isms of Low End Activist, who opts for a mutant strain of hardcore UKG on this outing, all scuffed swing and first light maneuvers. Finally though, it's all about the transparency of the groove, with the lush closing tune by Sentinel 793 emanating masses of UK Bruk style and charm, delivering another solid, low-slung workout from this hardworking and charismatic producer. Confined to quarters or not, get these 4 new sound pieces for the meantime, downtime, time being etc... as you like, want or need.

Eastside Edits is back with its follow up to last year’s massive 001 release. After gaining support from all the top open format DJs and Donut slingers across the globe, we present you the label’s second record - 002. Bringing you a unique niche sound that is upbeat,
dance floor friendly and will get the crowd moving. This record features two stellar veteran artists with impressive discographies, both making significant impact in their respective scenes.

Side A is brought to you by Toronto’s very own Jackin House legend. With his signature hardhitting drums and funky soulful sound, Demuir has taken the music world by storm. Touring globally at some of the most sought-after nightclubs and festivals, as well as releasing music on the hottest labels in dance music. He has been featured as Beatport’s Hype Artist and has been awarded the #1 Jackin House Artist of the year multiple times. He takes one of the top Hip Hop
songs of 2020 and injects his personal signature. This raw, edgy edit is an absolute weapon, not to be missed!

Side B is brought to you by a Canadian native, residing in the USA. When it comes to the 45 community DJ Double A needs no introduction. He continues to drop release after release on the top 45 labels in the game. He’s the man behind Mountain 45s, with releases on Friday’s Funky 45s, Private Stock Records and Heat Rock. Double A premieres on this label with an edit that puts a modern spin on an 80s classic. This rework is guaranteed to have the crowd singing
along and humming the vocal well after the show is done. It’s truly a DJs must have

It's been a while since Local Talk presented a 12" with two artists doing one side each but it's time again.

Italian powerhouse Nico Lahs glides smoothly between labels like Delusions Of Grandeur, Adeen and Rawax, working with house royalty Chez Damier and keeps delivering top quality music.
His contribution to this split 12" is the track 'Everything Is Good', one of those moments when everything (!) works just perfectly.
A straight forward track that embraces loops and repetition with hints of HNNY's golden days.

On the flip Local Talk's very own Tooli moves through a series of moods and grooves with the 'That Cowbell Track', a cut which eases you deeper and deeper into the dance, with clever rhythmic programming.
A dub that focuses on the cowbell is also added for your pleasure, because you can't have enough cowbell, can you ?

Recorded over the course of 4 years during late-night, afterhours sessions at RCA's Studio @ Calle Carlos Maurrás in Madrid (one of Spain's best and bigger studio around that time), it was the result of the duo's interest in unorthodox sound-sources which they manipulated in a sort proto-sampling collage technique based on random tape-loops and best heard in their original percussive studies; their dreamy, surrealist-like lyrical passages or the sort of deep primeval atmospheres first conjured by Cluster or Kraftwerk in the early 70's.The studio as an instrument: pure sound alchemy at work.



The Wah Wah edition is the first ever vinyl reissue of this legendary LP reproducing the original gimmick cover, with sound mastered from the original tapes by Eugenio Muñoz, and featuring an insert with photos and info. It is a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.

Yellow Vinyl
The first volume of Back To Mine was released back in 1999 by Nick Warren, designed to showcase a selection of tracks you’d find and be heard playing at the artist's home. Selectors have come in the form of New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Fatboy Slim, and Faithless who all dug deep to find their essential at-home listening.

The latest compilers in the Back To Mine series are none-other than the renowned four-piece, Horse Meat Disco. The horsemen are known for their incredibly fun, deep-diving selections, and this shines through in their Back To Mine compilation in flamboyant style.

Over the course of 16 years of their nightclub tenure, they have become a global brand as pinnacle players of the queer party scene in London and beyond, holding down residencies in New York, Berlin, and Lisbon. Their flamboyant nature and incredibly fun, deep-diving selections have made them one of Disco’s most beloved acts.

Across 15 eclectically brilliant tracks, Horse Meat Disco, which comprises Jim Stanton, James Hillard, Luke Howard, and Severino Panzetta expertly traverse through classic disco cuts, wonky dancefloor groovers, and silky smooth soul.

CircoLoco Records is proud to present the Monday Dreamin’ Vinyl Box Set, a 5-LP collection releasing on May 20, 2022.

Featuring heavy-hitting releases from visionaries of every era of CircoLoco’s 20-year party history, including Carl Craig, tINI, Kerri Chandler, Rampa, Sama' Abdulhadi, and other icons, the acclaimed debut compilation album from CircoLoco Records is presented in matte full color sleeves with box artwork designed by TOILETPAPER.

With support from DJ’s worldwide and accolades including back-to-back Essential New Tune awards from BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong for Seth Troxler’s “Lumartes,” and DJ Tennis’ “Atlanta,” Monday Dreamin’ has already carved out a unique place in the world of dance music having been featured in the digital world of Los Santos in Rockstar Games’ blockbuster Grand Theft Auto Online: Los Santos Tuners which also featured Monday Dreamin’ artist Moodymann as a new character in the world.

Monday Dreamin’ is the first project from the pioneering partnership between global club culture icons CircoLoco and the creators of some of the world’s most popular and critically acclaimed video games, Rockstar Games, a partnership aimed at elevating and supporting dance music through the collective power of the two entertainment brands.

Brasil Novo is a compilation made up of eight contemporary Afro-Brazillian tracks disseminating the rich and percussive heritage of Brasil and Samba De Coco. The compilation was compiled by Sao Paolo’s DJ Tahira and London’s Tim Garcia and flits between Samba, Candomble, Batuques, Jazz, Folk and beyond, all selected with the dancefloor in mind.

Some of the tracks have never before been released on vinyl like Dona Celia Coquista’s ‘O Bar’ and the live version of Toró Instrumentals ‘Dunas’, and the release also features tracks from Grupo Bongar, Renata Rosa and women’s Afro Bloco, Ilú Obá De Min.

The compilation has so far been supported by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Jamz Supernova (BBC 6 Music) Lopa Kothari (BBC Radio 3) and Zakia (NTS) and many more.

Woo-hoo! Two of the best Italian rare grooves ever are finally back on 7'' for the first time since their original French release on the format! Both are from that most iconic film soundtrack of the Italian 70s (the LP is now a holy grail for collectors), Armando Trovajoli's score to Dino Risi's anthology sex comedy Sessomatto (1973) starring Laura Antonelli and Giancarlo Giannini.

In the title track the influence of Manu Dibango's afro-funk hit "Soul Makossa" is filtered through, and enriched by, an exquisitely Italian approach, with a sweet 'n' groovy funk base (the terrific mid-song drum break has been a DJ favorite for decades) over which Edda Dell'Orso seductively laughs and repeats the words 'sesso' and 'matto' again and again. The wild and fun electronic samba "Kinky Peanuts" on side B is a wonderful example of 'strange incredible music', with infectiously quirky Moog themes and runs.

Pretty irresistible.

Welcome to another sonic treat from the Four Flies 45s series. This 7" combines for the first time ever the two grooviest and sexiest tracks from Gianni Ferrio's score to Steno's detective comedy La poliziotta (The Policewoman), only one of which ("Step by Step") was included in the original (and now very rare and sought-after) 7" released in 1974.

Starting the party is the blaxploitation-influenced funk-blues "Rhythm & Sex" on side A, a tune chock-full of killer drum breaks and driven by an impeccable brass ensemble (a recurring feature of Ferrio's style, due to his exquisite brass arranging skills). On side B, the supercool "Step by Step" takes funky jazz into sultry territory, with the saucy vocalizing of the Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni giving more than a nod to the film's comedy-with-crime atmosphere.

Both tracks demonstrate Ferrio's great mastery as a jazz-funk composer and arranger – a mastery that, back in the day, earned him the moniker of "the Italian Quincy Jones". Listening and DJing pleasure guaranteed!

After moving to California, he was introduced to the Serge Modular Synthesizer through Eliane Radigue and registered for classes in all the colleges of the Bay where there was an Electronic Music Department so that he could use their various electronic instruments. At first, he often plugged in his electric guitar into these monsters rather than use the rather rigid sequencers, but through tape recorders and the delay techniques used by Terry Riley, he was able to quickly combine these “sound producing devices” to create his own music.

He eventually released his first “official” album named simply Music by Xolotl in 1977. Originally issued only in cassette, Wah Wah offers the chance of listening to these works on vinyl format for the first time ever on an LP + bonus 7" edition to fit all the sounds from the cassette.

A strictly limited edition of only 500 and with new artwork featuring one of Xolotl's cosmic paintings and an insert with photos and liner notes.

Giacomo “Mino” di Martino started his musical career in several early 1960s Italian beat bands. By 1968 he had found enormous success with pop superstars I Giganti. After a brief split in 1970 –during which Mino formed Il Supergruppo with Ricky Gianco and other greats of the Italian scene– he came back to I Giganti in 1971. With them and with new advanced ideas that set the band pretty far away from the sophisticated pop and beat sounds they had been so successful with, they would record the amazing Terra in Bocca conceptual LP, an adventurous experimental album that explored the obscure connections between the Italian state and the mafia. A delicate topic full of political criticism which also found them having to fight censorship –it was played only once in the radio. This fact, along with the advanced new sound probably being too far ahead from the mainstream audience’s taste, turned the record into a commercial flop. Nowadays Terra in Bocca is a highly regarded album among critics, afficionados and collectors, and a pretty seminal one for the Italian scene of the seventies, since it can even be seen as a precursor to the works on the Cramps label. Gianni Sassi, producer and photographer who founded Cramps was involved in the release of Terra in Bocca –his is the amazing cover concept.

After the Terra in Bocca experience, Mino’s will was to keep exploring new musical paths and free his mind to experimentation. Along with his wife, actress and singer Edda “Terra” di Benedetto, they formed the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale, just after the brief post-Giganti project Telaio Magnetico (with Franco Batiatto, among others) was over. The Albergo was a venue where artists from diverse disciplines, mainly musica and theatre, could meet and create works together.

On the musical side of the community, Mino and Terra explored the cosmic sonorities that were coming from Germany and mixed them with the Italian experimental scene of names like Franco Battiato, Luciano Berio or Roberto Cacciapaglia. It is from the sessions that took place in the Albergo from 1974 onwards that the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale LP came out. Originally released in 1978 the compositions had been made during those years of exploration, the goal not being the release of an album but the aim to explore new sounds and experiment with music. Eventually it was decided to present a sample of all that work, and a few copies of the Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale LP were privately pressed.

The record sleeve and notes on the insert reivindicate the fight against nuclear power. The music is dominated by Mino’s keyboards, creating amazing space sounds reminiscent of those from 1950s and 1960s science fiction B movies brought to the most avantgardist experimentation of the moment, exploring new sounds with the newest keyboards available. This intriguing background sets the athmosphere for Terra’s voice to improvise all over.

Trees Speak are back!
Speak’s new album, “Vertigo of Flaws: Emancipation of the Dissonance and Temperaments in
Irrational Waveforms” comes as a double-vinyl edition, single CD and digital release. The limitededition first pressing only of the vinyl includes a bonus 45 enclosed in an 8-page 7”x7” booklet
insert housed within the gatefold sleeve with cover artwork created by Soviet Union propaganda
artist Lazar Markovich Lissitzky in 1911.
Trees Speak are back!
This new release is a vast leap into an ocean of space and sound, a quantum leap into cybernetics, biology, anti-gravity,
time travel, dream speech and transfiguration. A seriously next step release!
Showing no signs of slowing down their rapid creative pace – incredibly this is their fourth album in the space of just over
one year – ‘Vertigo of Flaws’ is a mighty 29 tracks, one and a half hours of music across one double album that is surely
going to be a defining point in their musical career, a giant leap into the sonic unknown, an epic exploration of intensity
and sound.
Alongside their now trademark German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, tripped-out
60s spy soundtrack, psyche-rock, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders, here you will also hear a new cosmic spacial
awareness (both personal inner space and galactic outer space) and a truly wilful pushing of sonic boundaries - as police
sirens, static noise, alarms, radio signals, avant-garde voices, and orchestral string quartets, all collide to add beautiful
dissonance to uber-powerful, intense, addictive and propulsive rhythms - in the process creating a truly unique
soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.
If you ever wanted to hear Can, Hawkwind, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid,
Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Neu!, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable
Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrete and Mars in one
band - then this is it!
Trees Speak are Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz from Tucson, Arizona and their music often draws on the cosmic nighttime magic of Arizona’s natural desert landscapes. ‘Trees Speak’ relates to the idea of future technologies storing
information and data in trees and plants - using them as hard drives - and the idea that Trees communicate collectively.
Special guests from the hyper-creative hub of the Tucson music scene on this release are Gabriel Sullivan, Ben Nisbet, Saul
Millan, Stephani Guilmette, and Davis Jones.
The album Vertigo of Flaws was recorded in Brooklyn, New York, and Tucson, Arizona during the plague of 2021.
Extract from Vertigo of Flaws sleevenotes:
‘As we travel through space and time, avoiding the discarded remains of the industrial period, the
deconstruction of social norms through the expression of art, music, and philosophy guide the human
experience towards the unknown.
All that remains are musical echoes scattered throughout the universe, like ancient vibrations that now
populate the cosmos. These waves now show signs of decay. Melody, beauty, tonality have all but fallen
away as dissonance blossoms. As John Cage wrote in 1937,
“Whereas, in the past, the point of disagreement has been between dissonance and consonance, it will be,
in the immediate future, between noise and so-called musical sounds. New methods will be discovered,
bearing a definite relation to Schoenberg’s twelve-tone system and present methods of writing percussion
music and any other methods which are
free from the concept of a fundamental tone”.
Similarly, George Van Tassel claimed the Integratron as capable of
rejuvenation, anti-gravity, and time travel. So, what remains of the
“people”? We have adopted from them our own Zeitgeber: their pulses
now guide our sun, our planets, our earths, and are the new circadian,
diurnal, and ultradian rhythms of the galaxy. Traumsprache, dream
speech, is now the internal language of trees.
Decaying metal and machines liberated the note unto nature’s table,
and we sip the delicious nectar of music once more irrational, elaborate,
violent, vast. The past is the future, musical disintegration its own rebirth.
We are nature, once more the computer of the Universe.’

After releasing their 'Kerrang Top 50 Album of 2020' & seething debut
album 'Paradise', Scotland's Rock'n'Roll 3-piece Cold Years were about to
reap the fruits of their labour touring the world spreading their 'fist in the
air' punk rock anthems when the world came to a holt
While for many this kind of obstacle would have stopped them in their tracks but
not Cold Years, the time for pissing & moaning is done.
With singer/guitarist Ross Gordon relocating to Glasgow, never making any secret
of his frustrations with feeling trapped in the suffocating environs of his native
Aberdeen, inspiration for album 2 'Goodbye To Misery' was born.
Written remotely throughout the first 3 months of 2021, Cold Years found a fresh
approach to create using daily Zoom sessions to write emailing ideas back and to
throughout the second lockdown. With a change of scenery and this fresh
approach to writing, 'Goodbye To Misery' is 12 tracks born out of the want for a
more positive future rather than the self-destruction & misery of 2020's 'Paradise'.
Recorded in May 2021 the band yet again travelled south to The Ranch Studios in
Southampton to work with long-time collaborator Neil Kennedy (Creeper, Boston
Manor, Milk Teeth).
"This record is us saying you can break away from those things that are bringing
you down. It's about standing up for yourself and not letting anybody tell you what
you should or shouldn't be doing. It's a defiant statement."
Press ads in Visions, Classic Rock, Piranha (POS), Start (POS), Slam, Rocks,
Eclisped Covermount tracks in Classic Rock, Visions, Rocks Press features in
Visions, Classic Rock, Piranha, Start, Slam, Rocks, Eclipsed Radio: #6 German
Rock Charts for Home (single)

Modes continues the forward thinking soundscapes explored on Dyne’s recent album Teal, which garnered acclaim from peers and fans alike -including Late Night Tales, Toddla T, Ransom Note, and BBC6 Music presenters - and sold out quickly on vinyl.

Lush synths and dreamy vocals are paired with up-tempo afro-inspired house, with tinges of percussive jazz and future soul. Dyne's trademark slick production can be relied upon once more, as well as the music's insistent rhythmic drive and intensity.

Modes employs some of New Zealand's most well known and iconic vocalists, in addition to many new rising stars. Frequent collaborators Lord Echo, Ladi 6 and Mara TK (Electric Wire Hustle) return, alongside soul legends Dallas Tamaira aka Joe Dukie (Fat Freddys Drop), Che Fu and Troy Kingi.

"A high-octane pop with a glam coat"

When listening to Hey You! - mastered at Air Studios by John Webber -, the energy the band exudes on every track is palpable, and live, they're simply something else, giving it their all on every number and completely winning over the audience. Visually, the band are are eye-catching as their music, looking straight like they've stepped out of the '80s. Fronted by the Debbie Harry-esque Rebecca Bex, BeXatron make as much of a statement visually as they do musically, and it's an extremely welcome breath of fresh punk air to see a band that is obviously so incredibly passionate about what they do, and that has the talent to back it up.

Since the release of the album, we have been played worldwide on various shows ranging from mainstream such as:

BBC Radio 6, BBC Introducing, Total Rock, Planet Rock, Soho Radio

but also had tremendous support from local community radio stations:

Insanity Radio, Resonance Radio - Spizz FM, Hunter's Bay Radio, Ontario Canada, Foxy Radio, Deal Radio - Low Life in High Heels, The Chuff Bus, Dark Hearts of Camden, Premium Blend Radio Show, Punk & Preppy Radio Show, Pennsylvania

Perfect for summer clubbing... or any season. Highly recommended. - MIKE NICHOLLS from Ghostwriter books

Sonic Party Sounds, and the packaging looks as good as the band - MARK TAYLOR from Metal Talk/RecorD Collector Magazine

This is the kind of music that is sure to thrive in inner city suburban surroundings - MUSIC NEWS 2 DAY

Cracking. Catchy stuff - SONIC NEWS

Als eine der spannendsten, neuen Stimmen im Alternative-Bereich haben Porridge Radio sich innerhalb von nur einem Jahr mit ihrem Album Every Bad (2020) von den DIY-Lieblingen hin zur Mercury Prize nominierten Band gewandelt. Mit Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky kündigen Porridge Radio heute ihr drittes Studioalbum für den 20. Mai via Secretly Canadian an. Während Every Bad die scharfsinnige und offenherzige Ehrlichkeit von Frontfrau Dana Margolin offenbarte, befördert Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky dies auf ein neues hymnisches Level. Dies ist der Sound einer Person Ende Zwanzig, die sich den Enttäuschungen der Liebe und des Lebens stellt und herausfindet, wie man in dieser Welt existiert - ohne dabei so zu tun, als wüsste sie alle Antworten. Ganz nebenbei ist das Ganze höllisch eingängig. Das Album beginnt mit "Back To The Radio" als kraftvoller Aufruf, der einen Kontrast zu Margolins Lyriks um Panik und Abgeschiedenheit zeigt ("lock all the windows and march up the stairs"), bis sich ein stürmischer Chorus aufbauscht, der einen sofort all seine Freund*innen fest umklammern lassen möchte. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky ist wie ein surreales Gemälde, das teilweise durch eine Collage der Künstlerin Eileen Agar inspiriert ist und an das Unter- und Eintauchen, heikle Lagen und existentielle Lebensängste der letzten Zeit erinnert und gleichzeitig aus der Erzählung der Jakobsleiter aus dem Alten Testament schöpft, die wiederum "symbolizes the ups and downs of human life, of virtue and transgression", erklärt Margolin. Die Vorstellung, dass ein emotionaler Zustand nicht ausschließlich binär ist, ist dabei wesentlich für das neue Album. "With this album, the feelings of joy, fear and endlessness coexist together", fügt Margolin hinzu.

Coral City return early in 2022 with an excellent release. N&W are on duty again, here with three stand-out tracks.

Rave on the A-Side does exactly what it says on the tin. It's 808 State meets Larry Heard with a touch of Inner City. Stripped down and four to floor. Classic Roland 909 drums are met with a hook that shakes any dancefloor. Expect early support on this.

Speed is a killer Nu-Disco / Boogie affair with a nod to the seedy underworld of the '80s. Picture Michelle Pfeiffer throwing shapes on the dancefloor in Scarface.

Finally, Cherry is an all-out Italo / Hi-NRG workout, the linndrums, the driving arpeggio bassline and overall melancholy feel, is reminiscent of Bobby Orlando.

DJ Feedback

Gerd Janson:
"Tip top super record!"

Jim Stanton / Horse Meat Disco:
"Great things again all three are sterling stuff x"

Justin Robertson:
"Very nice stuff cheers."

Luigi Di Venere (CockTail D'Amore/Philoxenia):
"Good times!"

Marco Passarani:
"Will def play cherry and rave. Loving it."

Vincent Neumann (Distillery / Leipzig):
"Another cute package from N&W! Thx"

Four years in making, Voyeurs In the Dark is Toronto artist Barzin’s fifth studio album. That the album is more cinematic in its scope and conceptual in feel than his previous studio albums can be attributed to the time he spent over the past several years composing the soundtrack for the independent film, Viewfinder. Voyeurs In the Dark retains that cinematic quality, and at the same time infuses the music with elements taken from Jazz, electronica, rock and pop. Having primarily explored the quiet side pop and folk in his previous four albums, Barzin has expanded his musical palate, broadening his sound towards a more an experimental direction, while still retaining his preoccupation with exploring the internal landscape. The uniformity of sound that characterized the previous albums has been abandoned for the expression of differing aspects of the self that at times hold opposing views and desires. This is best represented in the image chosen for the cover of the album, which depicts three figures in one body. The album seems to be the expression of not one unified self, but the various aspects of the self. Voyeurs In the Dark sees the artist plot a seductive, contemplative route through city haze, shuttling between graceful glimmering interludes, with wonderfully atmospheric songs at every stop. From opener Voyeurs In the Dark’s first guitar strums and the fizz of its drum machine, the record envelopes itself in a glorious shadow, as shown in the slow waltz of I Don’t Want To Sober Up, dancing around its own swirling guitar chords. On Watching, Barzin plunges himself deeper into a wash of cyclic bass, guitar and synth riffs, as the gloom grooves into light. It’s Never Too Late To Lose Your Life has a much more affirming and urgent tone, shade turning into shapes and motion, while To Be Missed In the End builds its own smoke in a cloud of saxophone and sparse guitar notes, closing out a record full to the brim with scatterbrain beauty and eclectic dusk. Voyeurs In the Dark will be released worldwide on Monotreme Records on May 6th on CD and limited edition180 g black vinyl LP with printed inner discobag and digital download card. Press highlights so far: Video premiere and feature interview on Rumore.IT. Airplay on BBC 6Music, Amazing Radio (UK and US), Glastonbury FM, Shoreditch Radio, Indie Music Discovery, Listen to Discover, Norfolk Radio. Press coverage in V13, Skope, Whisperin and Hollerin, Fame Magazine, High Violet, Indie Midlands, Beehive Candy, Music Won’t Save you. Feature confirmed for Wonderland Magazine. PUBLICITY - UK and North America press and radio Cannonball PR. Europe Five Roses Press

RATA NEGRA from Madrid deliver twelve songs of dark, crude and moody punk on their debut LP. Formed of members from JUANITA Y LOS FEOS and LA URSS this power trio have distilled the negativity and uncertainly of the young Spanish generation and transformed it into perfectly crafted punk songs. Sharply turning snaps of daily life into melodic anthems for a doomed generation, musically RATA NEGRA fence between dark melodic OC punk a la RIKK AGNEW solo debut album and Spanish Punk ’83 via KGB/ VULPESS. Imagine the non keyboard tracks of Yugoslavian KAOS mixed with LA’S X melody, add to it a layer of distortion and a dose of vital desperation and you get close to RATA NEGRA’s sound. Oído Absoluto comes housed in a reverse board sleeve with printed inner. Both designed by guitarist Fa of Croke Studio and it is released as a collaboration between Beat Generation in Madrid and La Vida Es Un Mus Discos in Hackney.

Bernie Marsden was a founder member of Whitesnake, and wrote the global smash, “Here I Go Again”. Since leaving Whitesnake almost 40 years ago, Bernie has forged an impressive career. He has written and recorded with numerous music legends, composed music for film & TV, become a best selling author, amassed a priceless collection of guitars and of course continued to release outstanding albums as a solo artist. Most recently, the critically acclaimed #1 Blues album, KINGS. “CHESS” was the second album of Bernie Marsden’s “Inspirations Series”, representing his interpretation of tracks and artists which were instrumental in shaping his musical taste and guitar style. Featuring 10 songs that were originally issued by the legendary Chicago label, CHESS, this is another labour of love for Bernie. Releases by giants such as Howling Wolf, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Elmore James, have all been given a new lease of life in these remarkably fresh recordings. Once again, two Bernie Marsden penned instrumentals inspired by Chess artists appear as bonus tracks on the album. Radio support from Radio Caroline, Planet Rock and blues specialist DJs regionally and online globally. Adverts booked in Blues Matters & Blues in Britain to promote the LP release. Features appeared / appearing in Blues Matters, Classic Rock, Fireworks, Rock Hard (Germany), Sweden Rock, Rock N Reel magazines, with great reviews given by most of the premier UK Rock, Blues and Guitar publications around the release of “CHESS”. Radio support at Planet Rock, The Max, Radio Caroline and the IBBA

Trauma Collective go out all guns blazing with a fierce offering by ascendant Italian producer Sciahriar Tavakoli aka Sciahri (Sublunar Records/Unknot). The Trauma EP is at once an obviously loyal tribute to the imprint platforming him, while being a visceral soundtrack to the gradual setting in of early morning lights. Wasting no time in exercising his sonic assault, opening cut "Hypnotism" will affect you much like its name suggests on this punishing, splintered- beat body basher, before pummelling you into submission on the strobed-out warehouse techno epic "Plastic Rain". He then ventures into the more abrasive shades of texture and gradient on the experimentally minded "Ava" until getting off-the-grid once more with a descent even deeper into the void, on the knackered closer "Dead Waves".

Originally released in May 1982, ‘Combat Rock’ is the final album from The Clash line up of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. Featuring two of the band’s most well-known songs, ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ and ‘Rock The Casbah’. Now rereleased as a 180gm 3LP special edition, with an additional 12 tracks compiled by The Clash.

Having returned to London following their pivotal 17 show residency at New York’s Bond’s Casino in 1981, the band rehearsed and recorded at The People’s Hall in the squatting Republic of Frestonia near Latimer Road in London and from there they embarked on a tour of the East and South East Asia, during which the album sleeve image was captured by Pennie Smith in Thailand.

The tracks on ‘The People’s Hall’ chart the period from what was their last single Radio Clash right up to the release of Combat Rock, including unheard, rare and early versions of tracks.

Also includes rare Pennie Smith images + history of Frestonia essay by Tom Vague.




















t d5 The Fulham Connection aka The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too




















[t] d5 The Fulham Connection [aka The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too]

PRESSED ON RED SMOKE-COLORED VINYL!

When it comes to authentic, ride-or-die hip-hop, few crews have as much resonance as Mobb Deep. Featuring two double-threat MCs who also produced – Havoc and the sadly-departed Prodigy – the crew changed the hardcore rap game in 1995 with their sophomore classic The Infamous, and went on to rule the dark corners of hip-hop for the second half of the 90s and well into the 2000s. After multiple Mobb Deep platters in the ‘90s, Prodigy entered the 2000s as a solo artist with force, rolling over a stomping, piano-freaked backdrop laced by producer The Alchemist, with “Keep It Thoro.” It has held up over time, proving itself as an anthemic classic that the streets and clubs still respect. Flaunting a smooth-but-menacing flow, Prodigy’s no-nonsense lyricism on “Keep It Thoro” is prototypical modern age brag rap. Countless MCs have followed his flow, from Fabolous to Joey Bada$$. The song is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 3 minutes. There are no wasted verses, just hardcore rhymes that stay with you. But “Thoro” was the tip of the iceberg on what proved to be one of the more coveted rap full-lengths of the era. The album boasted other charting singles, including “Rock Dat Shit” and “Y.B.E.” (featuring B.G.), but it can be argued that the album’s real gems are buried deeper. “Genesis,” “What U Rep” (featuring Noreaga) and “Three” are all sinister yet pensive. “Wanna Be Thugs” and “Delt With The Bullshit” are strong and evocative Mobb Deep cuts, featuring production and vocals by Havoc. And alongside other standouts, perhaps the deepest cut of all – especially in light of Prodigy’s recent and way-too-soon passing due to complica- tions from Sickle Cell Anemia – is “You Can Never Feel My Pain,” which details the health issues and challenges this talented MC and producer had been facing his whole life. H.N.I.C. was Prodigy’s first solo album, but it is perhaps his best. Among fans he will never be forgotten, for his skills, his storytelling and his no-B.S. approach to the art of MCing.

Limited edition LP (500 copies) on LRK Records

Another identifier for the LP album is that as well as LRK-LP01 it has a different Cat number on the spine LRK-LP02

Also on a CD but the CD has 5 bonus tracks which are not on the Vinyl LP

I Am (who I want to be) is a slightly different mix to the 45. The version on the LP is the string version"Im Yours" was played a few times on the Craig Charles Radio 2 show and it was selected in "The best of 2022 so far mixtape" on Radio 2

I Am and Rise again were played by Janice Long (RIP) on her BBC Wales show

I Am was played for a month on Jazz

Rise Again was also played on Jazz FM and was Nigel Williams's "Breakfast track of the wee

David White also spun " I am " and "I'm Yours" on his BBC radio Cornwall show

Rise Again was played on BBC Manchester by Karen Gabay

The daily express gave the album "Rise Again" 4 stars and a great review

A 28 track 2LP release to be released on 20th May longside the 2CD set. This is not the first 10cc Hits collection, but it is definitely the most comprehensive TV Ad package. The CD set has aready been sold in. Promo will feature TV This Morning interview and performance, Radio R2 Johnnie Walker Sound of the 70's, , R4 Front Row, SaturdayLive, Gold, Greatest Hits Radio and a major BBC local radio campaign, plus features in Taboids and Broadsheets (We have already confirmed The Telegraph feature The Story Behind 'I'm Not in Love'). All this will be backed by a National TV campaign.

Generation '22: Chanson mit Seele

Wenn andere Jubiläen begehen, dann schwelgen sie in Erinnerungen. Le Pop ist anders:
Unsere Nummer 10 schaut nach vorn. Sie ist jünger, femininer und souliger als ihre
Vorgänger. Und stellt 16 neue Namen vor, die zuvor auf keiner anderen Ausgabe zu finden
waren. Die neuen Stars heißen Emma Peters, Iliona, UssaR, P.R2B, Ariane Roy und
Clou. Viele dieser Namen stehen am Anfang ihrer Karriere, haben bisher erst eine EP, ein
Album oder ein paar Singles draußen und doch ist spürbar, dass diese neue Generation das
Nouvelle Chanson prägen wird. Nicht alle sind Newcomer, aber Künstlerinnen und Künstler
wie KCIDY, Voyou, Malik Djoudi und Laura Cahen haben in den letzten 4 Jahren (so lange
ist Le Pop 9 schon draußen) eine so fulminante Entwicklung gemacht, dass wir sie diesmal
unbedingt vorstellen wollten. Dazu gesellen sich Schauspielerinnen wie Edwige, Elisa Erka
und Suzanne Lindon, die sich zum ersten Mal als Sängerinnen präsentieren. Ganz
besonders erwähnenswert: Camélia Jordana – einerseits als Musikerin in der Charts-Welt
etabliert, anderseits César-prämierte Schauspielerin, trägt sie in dieser illustren Runde sicher
den glamourösesten Namen.

Doch was macht sie aus, diese neue Generation? Zuerst einmal das Offensichtlichste: Nur
vier der hier vorgestellten Stimmen sind männlich. Das Chanson wird weiblicher und
orientiert sich damit an den Erfahrungen der letzten 20 Jahre. Denn meistens waren es die
Frauen der aktuellen Szene, die sich in der Breite auch im Ausland durchgesetzt haben (man
denke nur an Zaz, Coeur de pirate und Angèle). Le Pop 10 ist nicht nur femininer, die neue
Generation ist auch viel stärker durch die Präsenz von HipHop und R'n'B geprägt. Ein
richtiges Crossover findet zwar nicht statt, dafür merkt man, dass das heutige Chanson
grooviger geworden ist, soul-lastiger auch und punktuell tatsächlich Rap-Anklänge mitliefert.
Besonders deutlich wird das bei P.R2B, die gelegentlich in den Sprechgesang wechselt, bei
Emma Peters, die sogar ein ganzes Album mit Coverversionen von französischen Rap- und
R'n'B-Hits veröffentlichte, bevor sie eigene Songs aufnahm und bei UssaR, der als
Bühnenmusiker auch Rapper wie Kery James und Youssoupha begleitet. Vielleicht nicht
ganz so deutlich, aber wunderschön und subtil binden Iliona aus Belgien (was für eine
Entdeckung!) und Ariane Roy aus Kanada Soul-Elemente in ihre Musik mit ein. Selbst bei
Uptempo-Nummern wie "Le confort" von Voyou ist ein Hauch Motown zu spüren.
Selbstverständlich fehlt auch diesmal nicht der Einfluss von britischem Pop und Americana.
Die Band Palatine etwa ist gitarrenlastig, bringt Folk-Elemente mit und verbindet dies sehr
elegant mit Chanson-Tradition. Bei Laura Cahan finden wir Einflüsse der Cocteau Twins,
Kate Bush aber auch Anklänge an Camille oder Keren Ann. Eine erstaunliche Entwicklung
legte KCIDY hin, die nach einer längeren Phase des Experimentierens mit Elektro und Wave
auf einmal einen mit Vocal-Harmonien, Kraut- und 70ies-Elementen veredelten Gitarrenpop
aus dem Hut zaubert, der nur theoretisch aus der Zeit zu fallen scheint und sich doch ganz
harmonisch in den Gesamtklang der Compilation einfügt.

Und dann ist da auch noch Edwige, eine belgische Schauspielerin, der es nicht mehr
genügte gelegentlich auf Theaterbühnen zu singen. Sie hat ein traumhaftes, in dezenten
Gitarrenarrangements ausgekleidetes Debüt-Album aufgenommen, das im Herbst 2022
erscheinen soll. Ihren Song "Corps & Ame" hat sie uns vorab exklusiv für diese Compilation
überlassen. Den Tipp, uns mit Edwige zu beschäftigen, bekamen wir übrigens von Albin de
la Simone (seit Le Pop 2 immer wieder vorgestellt), der auch schon ein Duett mit ihr
aufgenommen hat.

Mit De La Simone, seit seiner Arbeit für Carla Bruni und das Durchbruch-Album von Pomme
(Le Pop 9) einer der meist gebuchten Produzenten der Szene, sprachen wir anlässlich
seines Konzerts bei der Kölner Reihe "Le Pop La Série" über junge Künstlerinnen wie Iliona,
Clou, Emma Peters und über deren Karrierewege. Dabei machte er uns auch auf Ariane
Roy aufmerksam. Wie sie sind viele der hier vorgestellten Namen Labelmates oder Protegés
etablierter Künstler.

Das sind nicht immer zufällige Beziehungen. In Frankreich erntet das neue Chanson zudem
immer mehr die Früchte des Casting-Show-Booms der letzten 15 Jahre. Hier bekommen
viele Teilnehmer irgendwann die Chance mit renommierten Musikern zusammenzuarbeiten.
Carla de Coignac zum Beispiel flog zwar noch vor dem Finale bei "Nouvelle Star" (2017)
aus dem Wettbewerb, trotzdem nahm Louane (die bei der Konkurrenz-Sendung "L'école des
stars" entdeckt wurde) fünf Songs in ihr Repertoire auf, die die Aussortierte für sie
geschrieben hatte. Teilnehmerin der gleichen Show war auch Camélia Jordana, allerdings
schon 2009. Jordana scheiterte damals im Halbfinale, bekam aber beim Major Sony einen
Vertrag. An ihrem Debüt-Album arbeitete sie mit Jean Felzine (Mustang, auf Le Pop 8
vorgestellt), BabX (Le Pop 8), "L" (Le Pop 7) und Mathieu Boogaerts (seit Le Pop 1 dabei)
zusammen. Inzwischen ist Jordana in der Musik- und Filmwelt etablierter Star und Celebrity.
Wir lernten sie abseits glamouröser Welten bei einer "sièste acoustique" kennen, einem
speziellen Konzertformat in Paris, bei dem das Publikum tatsächlich Siesta hält. Dort trat sie
mit Le Pop-Künstlern wie Armelle Pioline (Holden), BabX und Siesta-Gastgeber Bastien
Lallemant auf. An diesem Beispiel sieht man einmal mehr, wie durchlässig die französische
Szene geworden ist. Jordana ist heute ihre eigene Songwriterin – bei dem hier vorgestellten
Song, dem wunderbar groovenden "Jusqu'au bout des cils" stammen Musik und Text aus
ihrer Feder.

Der Mainstream zeigt sich immer wieder offen für Impulse von Indie-Acts, Kooperationen
zwischen diesen scheinbar gegensätzlichen Szenen sind inzwischen nahezu
selbstverständlich und verschaffen dem Underground zusätzliche Unabhängigkeit.
Le Pop 10 zeigt die Vielfalt dieser Welt auf authentische Weise und formt daraus eine
kohärente Einheit. Wie immer hat auch diese neue Ausgabe keinen Anspruch auf
Vollständigkeit. Wir lassen bewusst Künstler außen vor, die manche Fachleute hier erwarten
würden, die aber nicht "unsere Tasse Tee" sind. Im Vergleich zu ihren Anfängen ist die
Szene heute dynamischer und diverser. In den 50er und 60er Jahren haben Jazz und Brazil
ihre Einflüsse im Chanson der Gegenwart hinterlassen. Zu Beginn der Le-Pop-Reihe waren
es Indie, Electro und Reggae. Heute sind darüber hinaus die Einflüsse von HipHop und R'n'B
zu spüren. Das neue Chanson ist in Bewegung und wird es sicher auch in Zukunft bleiben

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.

John Mellencamp veröffentlicht sein 25. Studioalbum “Strictly A One-Eyed Jack”, das von ihm selbst produziert wurde. Aufgenommen und abgemischt wurde es von Grammy-Preisträger David Leonard und
einer Reihe von langjährigen Bandmitgliedern wie Andy York, Dane Clark, Mike Wanchic, Troye Kinnett uvm. Es enthält auch drei Kollaborationen mit Bruce Springsteen, darunter das im September erschienene, bahnbrechende Duett ”Wasted Days”.


“Strictly A One-Eyed Jack” erscheint digital, als CD und nun in neuem Format als 1LP!

The ‘Fever Dreams Pt 3’ EP features four brand new songs from Johnny Marr’s anticipated first double LP - ‘The Speed Of Love’, ‘Night and Day’, ‘Counter-Clock World’ and ‘Rubicon’. Timed well to follow on from Johnny’s live run with Blondie, the EP will be released on limited edition gold vinyl on May 20th, with 2.5k units available worldwide.

Early previews of ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1-4’ have been met with widespread acclaim, with Uncut stating that the double album is "The most ambitious album of his career".

Singles including ‘Sensory Street’ has been a mainstay on the BBC Radio 6 Music A-List, the album’s electro-soul opener ‘Spirit, Power and Soul’ was also playlisted by 6 Music and BBC Radio 2, described as “his strongest solo composition yet” by the Evening Standard, “an exercise in progressive creative ambition” by DIY, “invigorating” by Uncut, with “defiance in its DNA” by CLASH and simply “banging” by The Telegraph.

Earlier EP ‘Fever Dreams Pt 2’ has seen Johnny heralded as “a master songwriter” by The i Newspaper and, “a project unlike anything he's done before" by Music Week.

2022 will see Johnny Marr return to the live stage, joining Blondie as a special guest on their ‘Against The Odds’ headline tour through April and May, including London’s O2 Arena, before heading out on The Killers’ headline US arena tour, beginning in August through to October.

Repress

‘Cinnamon Sea’ is the perfect introduction to one of the most mysterious, ever-morphing underground bands from New Zealand. The Garbage and the Flowers make their long awaited return with another psychedelic masterpiece from the band that gave us 1997's cult dreampop gem 'Eyes Rind As If Beggars'. A hybrid fusion of the Velvets, Elephant 6 and any God-fearing stoned strummers you can think of, with a nod to Charlie Manson’s bedside balladry to boot. On their return, the band hone their songcraft with tracks like ‘Eye Know Who You Are’, a tantalising piece of Mazzy Star on steroids, a spiralling sonic rumble, that reaches a miasmic high on every hummed chorus. It opens the Pandora’s box of this release, a sleight of ear collection of five songs from this cosmology-observing Australia-based outfit. Tracks like ‘Red Star’ exist in a land where sound levels are destroyed by savage birds. ‘On The Radio’ trips into an untuned lagoon. There’s a quasi-religious zeal to proceedings, a nod to Sterling Morrison’s Velvet strum elsewhere, everything that would have been key to the Elephant 6 conglomerate not so long ago, maybe, if you can even imagine, My Bloody Valentine unplugged. ‘Cinnamon Sea’ was recorded in an abandoned courthouse in Freyerstown, a ghostly village in Victoria’s Goldfields in Southeast Australia, where you’re more likely to meet giant grey kangaroos bounding on its dusty main street than tottering prospectors these days. It unravels with claustrophobic glee as we traverse the structured climes of exemplary songwriting seasoned with the salt of improvisation. This from a band who previously released an album famously dubbed ‘Stoned Rehearsal’. It closes with the track ‘Jacob B’, a melancholy tale that’s a hybrid of Manson’s troubled tunes and the psychedelic folk songs of Quicksilver’s Dino Valente. File under: outsider music for insiders. “By some measure Wellington's most brilliant pop band, The Garbage & The Flowers are classic underground rock'n'roll with a hazy ramshackle sound pockmarked by bursts of genius.” Forced Exposure

This is the second Haress album, a five piece from Shropshire. They channel the sounds of Fairport Convention, Lungfish, Papa M, Earth, Robert Wyatt, John Fahey, and Talk Talk. Taking influence and making it their own. The first vinyl press comes with a bonus flexi disc telling the story of the week the band spent recording the album, the weirdness, the positively supernatural happenings. On this album the core duo of Elizabeth Still and David Hand are joined by David Smyth (Mind Mountain, Kling Klang) on drums, Chris Summerlin (Hey Colossus, Kogumaza) on guitar, Thomas House (Sweet Williams, Charlottefield) on vocals and Nathan Bell (Lungfish, Human Bell) on trumpet. In early 2020 the group travelled to a disused water mill in North Wales for a week to record with engineer Phil Booth (JT Soar) and his mobile studio. The stories of what occurred are told on the flexi disc that accompanies the LP but the group’s plans for a relaxing break in the country were scuppered by events that were either highly unusual, or positively supernatural (depending on your own beliefs in such things). Well-made plans were abandoned and the recording was forced to develop according to the location it was being made in. Chance and accident were welcomed as a collaborator rather than a saboteur and the group exited the sessions extremely freaked-out but with the makings of an album. Ghosts is an incredible piece of work and posits Haress on their own when it comes to developing new approaches to traditional musical forms. The music contains many moments of immediate joy - the relative pop of House’s vocals on White Over, the wild horns of I Think I Think, the rush of warmth as Time To Drink morphs into focus. But it also stretches the sound Haress have carefully developed almost to breaking point with sections of music that feel like somebody - something - else is steering the ship. The 2 final songs – Litres Into Metres and Sussurus – are joined together by a collage of site-specific sound. It was decided to add the output from a detuned long wave radio to this section on the final night of recording. Static hissed from the device but as soon as the record light illuminated, a rich male baritone voice sang loud and clear from the radio, taking a solo right where it was needed and then disappearing into space forever like the Ghosts of the title.

Many will know Bernie Marsden for being a founder member of Whitesnake, one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and writing the iconic global smash, “Here I Go Again”.Since leaving Whitesnake almost 40 years ago, Bernie has forged an impressive solo career. He is acclaimed as one of the premier British blues guitarists. He has written and recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, composed music for film & TV, forged a successful career as an author, and amassed a priceless collection of guitars. Most recently, Bernie partnered with Joe Bonamassa to write half of his hit album, Royal Tea. Rewind to Summer 2018… Bernie was invited to join Billy Gibbons on stage, when he said “Bernie, wouldn’t it be great if we could all record the songs we grew up with as we learned to play the guitar?” Rather than suffer the usual fate of great ideas that are left to litter the dressing room floor, Bernie immediately set about making a list, and the “Inspirations” Series was born. KINGS” is the first album of Bernie Marsden’s “Inspirations”. Featuring 10 songs that were originally recorded by Albert, B.B. & Freddie King, and recorded in a studio in Oxfordshire with a band that just locked into a groove, “KINGS” is chock full of blues and soul. Two Bernie Marsden penned instrumentals inspired by The Kings appear as the final two tracks on the album. Features appeared / appearing in Blues Matters, Classic Rock, Fireworks, Rock Hard (Germany), Sweden Rock, Rock N Reel magazines, with great reviews given by most of the premier UK Rock, Blues and Guitar publications around the release of “KINGS”. Radio support at Planet Rock, The Max, Radio Caroline and was IBBA’s #4 most played album in 2021.

David Gedge says: “During the summer of 2006 we were invited to record a session for 'One Music With Huw Stephens' - a show on BBC Radio 1. However, this was the year after the 'return' of The Wedding Present and we'd basically been pretty much continually on tour ever since the release of the 'Take Fountain' album the previous year. Accordingly, we didn't really have any new songs of our own and so I decided that we could pursue that other favourite pastime of The Wedding Present... the recording of cover versions! Arranging covers is fascinating, actually, because you get to explore how other people write songs and I think that can often feed back into your own writing. I thought it would be interesting to pick a song from each of four different decades... the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. No particular reason... if we'd've been asked to record five tracks I would have thrown in the 50s, too. So I chose four classic pop songs for us to look at. They weren't particularly 'favourites' - although I have always loved 'Step Inside Love' and 'Lovin’ You' - they were just songs that I thought the band could successfully 're-imagine'. I have never seen the point of recording faithful copies; I have always felt that any Wedding Present version has to bear the stamp of The Wedding Present. And I think we accomplished that particularly well on this session. I'm pretty proud of this E.P., in fact. I remember Graeme Ramsay, our drummer at the time, initially hating the idea of us doing a 'Take That' song but I think he eventually came round to it, especially after The Guardian said it was an interesting 'post-rock' take on the original, or words to that effect..." Track-listing - Step Inside Love/Lovin’ You/Our Lips Are Sealed/Back For Good/

2022 Repress On Elephantine, Cairo-based Maurice Louca guides a 12-piece ensemble through a 38-minute masterwork that might best be described as panoramic. Elements of free improvisation, Sun Ra's cosmic jazz, gorgeous Arabic melody, trancelike African and Yemeni music and minimalism meet in his wholly unique compositional vision. Louca also makes vital contributions on guitar and piano, and inspires stirring performances from a global lineup.

One of the most gifted, prolific and adventurous figures on Egypt's thriving experimental arts scene, Louca has in recent years garnered a global reputation through two previous solo albums and an expanding, evolving lineup of genre-defying collaborations. The Wire called his 2014 sophomore solo effort, Salute the Parrot, "remarkable music-dense, driven and splashed with colour." In 2017, the self-titled debut by Lekhfa, the trio of Louca and vocalists Maryam Saleh and Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, was praised as an "edgy triumph" in The Guardian and picked by BBC Radio 3's Late Junction as one of the very best 12 albums of 2017.

For Louca, 36, Elephantine serves as both the pinnacle of his wide-ranging experience and a bold next step in his development as a composer, arranger and bandleader. The celebrated Egyptian visual artist Maha Maamoun has created the album cover art, following her contribution to Salute the Parrot. "There was a blessed thing about the process of making this record," Louca says of the sessions, held last year in Stockholm and featuring the leader on guitar and piano. "The dynamic between us musically but also as people ...What these musicians delivered was really more than I could ask for, Everyone played their hearts out on this record."

The music-from its pensive lulls through its stretches of hard-grooving hypnosis and moments of avant-jazz catharsis-testifies to that rapport. Best absorbed as a continuous performance, Elephantine's six individually named tracks nonetheless present striking self-contained landscapes. "The Leper" entrances through a deft use of repetition that Louca gleaned from cosmic jazz, African and Yemeni music and other transcendental modal traditions. (Those who've followed Louca's work might be reminded of the Dwarfs of East Agouza, his mesmeric unit with Shalabi and Sun City Girls' Alan Bishop.)

"Laika" manages to evoke the minimalists, though on the combustible terms of '60s and '70s free jazz; "One More for the Gutter," on which Louca ingeniously pits one half of his ensemble against the other, albeit in a synergistic way, mines similarly fiery terrain. "The Palm of a Ghost" distills the band to a Cairo-rooted core, featuring stirring spontaneous melodies from oud player Natik Awayez, violinist Ayman Asfour and vocalist Nadah El Shazly. The album's title track follows, and it too blurs the border between composition and improvisation with gorgeously atmospheric results. "Al Khawaga," with its colossal ensemble riffs, beautifully dirty swing and impassioned blowing, is an ideal finale.

The latest from Burnski's Vivid label is a three way split, six track affair with Oldboy, Xander and Longeez each dispatching a pair of tunes in the label's trademark roughneck breakbeat style. - Oldboy kicks off proceedings with the speedy junglisms of 'Blackbird' before the chunkier, funkier and a little more traditionally paced breaks heft of 'Walrus Party'. Xander's 'If I Tell EM' and 'Get To The Point' both plays off two step rhythmic twists and menacing bass against dreamy synths and more breakbeaty flourishes, before Longeez closes proceedings with the slightly sparser 'Evermore' - super sharp hi hats and echoing rasta dialogue - and the appropriately spinback-peppered 'Wheel Up'.

Fake Records is back with a bang with this limited hand stamped 12" by Len Lewis (Swag Records London)

4 originals produced way back in the late nineties / early naughties, this will be the first in a line of some amazing tracks from the vaults, keep your eyes and ears open >I

Featuring Squirrel Flower and Liam O’Neill (SUUNS). Recommended If You Like: Mount Eerie, Low, Richard Swift, the Weather Station, Lomelda, Fleet Foxes, Squirrel Flower, L’Rain. Cedric Noel is a songwriter, bassist, collaborator and producer currently based in Montréal, Québec. The newest longplayer from Tio'tiá:ke/Montreal staple Cedric Noel lands with a stunning sense of surety and self. Hang Time stands as a high water mark for a songwriter who's spent the past decade quietly expanding the borders of his music. Longtime fans will recognize the fluid elements of the album’s open-ended rock formations: reflective strumming, soaring choruses, searing guitar lines, subtle bass grooves; all occasionally dissolving into pools of pure ambience. New listeners will find surprises throughout: threads of folk pop, ambient and sound collage fasten the foundations of this expressive whole. However, what’s most striking on Hang Time is Noel’s newfound sense of voice, both literal and metaphorical. Written primarily in 2017-18 during an intense period of self-reflection, this collection of songs finds Noel wrestling profoundly with his sense of identity, self and place. The album’s material was captured faithfully at The Pines, a beloved downtown Montreal studio whose doors shuttered shortly after amidst the strain of the pandemic. Noel worked closely and patiently with friend and engineer Steve Newton, ensuring the songs had the time and space needed to come fully to fruition. Hang Time features subtle rhythm work from drummer Liam O’Neill (SUUNS) and guest spots from Brigitte Naggar (Common Holly) and Tim Crabtree (Paper Beat Scissors) among others. The album opens in mid-air with ‘Comuu’, a song that implores a becoming-more while hovering triumphantly. Then follows a suite of songs (‘Headspace’, ‘Keep’, ‘Stilling’) that recall the heart-rending power of y2k-era Low, albeit with a more vigorous beat. On ‘Bass Song’, an intimate duet with musician Ella Williams (Squirrel Flower) that explores the depths of interpersonal constriction. At the crux of the album sits ‘Born’, a deceptively pleasant-sounding song that explores the confounding emotionality of adoption before fading into a distended soundfield. Throughout the back half of the album, Noel double’s down on this commitment to his genuine, proud, Black self. The most confrontational track, ‘Allies’ finds him refraining “Are you on my side?” as a trailing guitar solo interweaves a Malcolm X soundbite, eventually engulfing the composition. Glorious lead single ‘Nighttime (Skin)’ traces the artist’s sense of ancestral dissociation through to a triumphant moment of pride in self-acceptance. Throughout Hang Time, Noel finds a way to ask hard questions (both of the listener and himself) in ways that are compassionate, open and honest. The ebb and flow of tension and tenderness that moves within these tracks helps to grow the heart and redefine what Black music can be in 2021.

Marking over 16 years as an artist, Robert James unveils his debut album Battle of The Planets. A milestone in any musician’s career, the LP illustrates the breadth of Rob’s tastes and influences, exploring the rugged terrain of planet electronica. Ranging from breaks and electro to house and techno, Battle of The Planets was made during lockdown, a period of creativity and isolation for many artists around the world. Across 10 skillfully produced cuts Rob takes us on an intrepid adventure into the cosmos, where mysterious atmospheres and uplifting melodies sit side by side with captivating dance floor rhythms. Many shades of his personality come through on this album, all tied together by his unique sonic identity; informed by his years spent on the dance floor, behind the decks and in the studio. On Battle of The Planets Robert James presents a distillation of his extensive knowledge and experience into one succinct, highly engaging body of work.

The four members of Sad Daddy; Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Rebecca
Patek, and Melissa Carper, all conspired and united in the sudden spare
time of 2020 to create their third album, 'Way Up in the Hills'
Convening at Brian's cabin in Greers Ferry, Arkansas to write and record the album
together, the collective decided on a down-home, back-to-the-country theme--a
refection on the state of the world and the desire to go back to simpler ways and
self- sufciency, goin' way up in the hills and letting the chaos settle. Recording
engineer Jordan Trotter brought his equipment into the cabin and the band
recorded the 14 original tunes live and in a circle. Half of the tracks were only a
week old and the other half had grown to be Sad Daddy standards since the
band's last album. The feeling of being at a lakeside "home" studio in the serene
Arkansas woods was distilled into sound as Sad Daddy explored using porch
stomps, hamboning, the sounds of insects buzzing and bacon sizzling to create a
picking-on-the-porch vibe into the fun and refreshing creation of 'Way Up in the
Hills'.
Forming in the spring of 2010, Arkansas outft Sad Daddy has traveled down
many a road--together and separately-- at times focusing on their solo projects
and then reuniting for a band project.

AOW is a new collaborative project from Dan Ghenacia and Tolga Fidan emerging from a new period of creativity and inspiration for the Lisbon-based artists.

Long time friends and fellow lynchpins of the European house and techno scene, Ghenacia and Fidan started working closely together through 2020 and 2021 while sharing studio space at Boa Lab. They found themselves at the heart of an artistic community of musicians, designers and engineers, which took shape around Ghenacia’s experiments with alpha wave generation, inspired by Bryon Gysin’s Dream Machine.

Ghenacia and engineer Anine Kirsten developed a modern update on Gysin’s 1950s design, which has been installed at exhibitions in London, Lisbon and Paris. At its heart, the project explores the natural hallucinatory effects of alpha wave projections on the eyelids, and the therapeutic benefits of the experience. Out of this spirit of psychedelically-charged experimentation, Ghenacia and Fidan have been working beyond the confines of their typical club-oriented material, creating ambient soundtracks to artist exhibitions in Boa and auditory backdrops to Alpha Wave Experience installations.

AOW bridges the gap between this new period of creativity and Ghenacia and Fidan’s life-long passion for electronic dance music. Compared to the strictures of house and techno they’re best known for, the three tracks on Hear the Light explore a more open, inquisitive sound with roots in UK electronica and West Coast psychedelic breaks (a seminal scene when Ghenacia was in the Bay Area in the 90s). Crucially though, it’s not a pointedly retro sound, but rather a result of rich streams of inspiration meeting and passing through crisp, modernist production techniques to offer something
genuinely fresh on the ears.

Working outside of their comfort zones and guided by creative philosophies springing from research, shared experience and community, Hear the Light marks a new step forward for Ghenacia and Fidan, with many more developments promised for the future.

Iconic singer Mavis Staples is an alchemist of American music, and during her 70+ year career one of her most beloved musical mo?ments was her riveting performance in Martin Scorsese's film' The Last Waltz,' performing "The Weight" with The Band, a moment that forged a life-long friendship between her and Levon Helm. Staples came to Woodstock, NY to perform as part of Helm's re?nowned Midnight Ramble series, and the ensuing concert-available now for the first time on the rousing new ANTI- Records release Carry Me Home-would mark a personal high watermark for both artists. Captured live in the summer of 2011, Carry Me Home showcases two of the past century's most iconic voices coming together in love and joy, tracing their shared roots and celebrating the enduring power of faith and music. The setlist was righteous that night, mixing vintage gospel and soul with timeless folk and blues, and the performances were loose and playful, fueled by an ecstatic atmosphere that was equal parts family reunion and tent revival. Read between the lines, though, and there's an even more poignant story at play here. Nei?ther Staples nor Helm knew that this would be their last performance together-the collection marks one of Helm's final recordings before his death-and listening back now, a little more than a decade later, tunes like "This May Be The Last Time" and "Farther Along" take on new, bittersweet meaning. The result is an album that's at once a time capsule and a memorial, a blissful homecoming and a fond farewell, a once-in-a-lifetime concert-and friendship-preserved for the ages. Staples and the night's soulful crew of backup singers handle the vast majority of the vocal work here, but it's perhaps album closer "The Weight," which features Helm chiming in with lead vocals for the first time, that stands as the concert's most emotional moment. "It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we'd see each other," says Staples. "He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I'd always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out." "My dad built The Midnight Rambles to restore his spirit, his voice, and his livelihood," says Helm's daughter, Amy, who sang backup vocals with her father and Staples at their performance. "He'd risen back up from all that had laid him down, and to have Mavis come sing and sanctify that stage was the ultimate triumph for him."

Iconic singer Mavis Staples is an alchemist of American music, and during her 70+ year career one of her most beloved musical mo?ments was her riveting performance in Martin Scorsese's film' The Last Waltz,' performing "The Weight" with The Band, a moment that forged a life-long friendship between her and Levon Helm. Staples came to Woodstock, NY to perform as part of Helm's re?nowned Midnight Ramble series, and the ensuing concert-available now for the first time on the rousing new ANTI- Records release Carry Me Home-would mark a personal high watermark for both artists. Captured live in the summer of 2011, Carry Me Home showcases two of the past century's most iconic voices coming together in love and joy, tracing their shared roots and celebrating the enduring power of faith and music. The setlist was righteous that night, mixing vintage gospel and soul with timeless folk and blues, and the performances were loose and playful, fueled by an ecstatic atmosphere that was equal parts family reunion and tent revival. Read between the lines, though, and there's an even more poignant story at play here. Nei?ther Staples nor Helm knew that this would be their last performance together-the collection marks one of Helm's final recordings before his death-and listening back now, a little more than a decade later, tunes like "This May Be The Last Time" and "Farther Along" take on new, bittersweet meaning. The result is an album that's at once a time capsule and a memorial, a blissful homecoming and a fond farewell, a once-in-a-lifetime concert-and friendship-preserved for the ages. Staples and the night's soulful crew of backup singers handle the vast majority of the vocal work here, but it's perhaps album closer "The Weight," which features Helm chiming in with lead vocals for the first time, that stands as the concert's most emotional moment. "It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we'd see each other," says Staples. "He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I'd always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out." "My dad built The Midnight Rambles to restore his spirit, his voice, and his livelihood," says Helm's daughter, Amy, who sang backup vocals with her father and Staples at their performance. "He'd risen back up from all that had laid him down, and to have Mavis come sing and sanctify that stage was the ultimate triumph for him."

Clear Vinyl

Bartosz Kruczynski - the sometimes-ambient producer also known by his more club-ready moniker, Earth Trax - returns to the Shall Not Fade catalogue with his third full-length album. The Sensual World LP draws from both the moody, industrial soundscape of the cold wave-inspired LP1; and the warmer, more ethereal undertones of its successor. Whilst lending stylistic aspects from both, his latest release maintains their mercuriality and textural complexity whilst at the same time resembling something distinctly new. This 13-tracker sees the Warsaw producer continue to prove himself as one of the most versatile and consistent producers in the game.

Composed and produced during the 2020 pandemic, The Sensual World contemplates eco/environmental aesthetics and recontextualizes the genres that Kruczynski took as a springboard for the inception of his musical career. The aptly-named "Dream Pop" and "Fireflies" use arpeggiated melodies, vocal chops and luscious pads to capture the transportive allure by which early Earth Trax releases have been recognised; whilst later in the record, "Pearl" and "Splash" pair these tropes with those of industrial techno to create two pulsating dancefloor heaters. Elsewhere, the focus is on sound design and rhythmic complexity, with sharp, crystalline acid melodies ("Metal") and "Dreams Made Flesh's" broken drill beats and epic synths. Whilst other tracks see Kruczynski tap into the "bittersweet dance floor moments" for which he has become renowned over the course of his illustrious career ("Nowhere"), The Sensual World also offers its listeners sonic respite with some stripped-back, down-tempo slow burners "Nowhere" and "Everlong".

A protean producer who nonetheless has succeeded in helming a truly inimitable and idiosyncratic sound, The Sensual World LP sees Kruczynski cater for everyone - from the emotional ravers to the more hard-faced warehouse dwellers.

LIMITED EDITION OF 300 YELLOW VINYL COPIES

Shawn Lee follows up his country-soul solo album "Rides Again", released in 2019, with an even more personal, intriguing set of songs. The US born and London based prolific singer, songwriter, musician, producer, arranger, filmmaker and author puts the story of "Rides Yet Again" in his own words.

"When the original pandemic lockdown of 2020 ascended upon the world, I found myself like many others a prisoner in my own home. I began thinking about making new music. What do I wanna do I pondered… 'Rides Again' was a personal once in a lifetime album or was it? After some reflection, I realised there was more to this story, this sound. As I eventually crept back to my studio ducking and diving all the way, I started writing and recording new songs for Rides YET Again. The lyrics heavily informed by life during lockdown, my new dog Carla and my recent health problems. I had suffered a stroke which left me with some brain damage and I struggled with Aphasia for well over a year with extremely impaired speech. It was hard … I found solace in song and a musical context to share my ups and downs. It was a beautiful place to retreat to. John Pickup brought his brilliant orchestral treatments. Also Nichol Thomson, Tom Walsh, Mike Davis & Andy Ross blessed me with their sublime horn stylings. Suffice to say I'm really quite fond of this little record. Much love to you wherever you may be."

Nathan Hose, known more commonly as N8NOFACE, has built a heavy history behind his name. Known for his previous work with Crime Killz and a string of solo mixtapes, EP’s and collab projects, he comes out swinging to close out 2021 with “Homicide”.
For Fans of: Screamers, Le Shok, Suicide, Xiu Xiu, Atari Teenage Riot
Both a full-length album of all new material and his debut Blackhouse release, N8 shows up with a catalog of raging synth-punk jams, knocked out with only a synthesizer, a computer, and the true-life humility and humanity only he can deliver. The dose of reality that lives within N8NOFACE’s lyrics resonate with a population of people who have stayed true to themselves all the while feeling disenfranchised. People needing an outlet and something raw and new over a year and a half long pandemic (and counting) is the allure behind N8NOFACE, and this record is sure to deliver that and more.
Southern California. A Jekyll-and-Hyde atmosphere of glitz and glamour, with a seedy dark side that lays as an unspoken wasteland in the streets. There’s a thriving underground that has always existed among the Southwest United States. It’s a melting pot of the punk, metal, and hip-hop scenes, skateboarding, art, underground fashion, and custom car cultures. It’s also a hotbed for some real-life shit, to say the least. Crime, drugs, homelessness, porn, and shady activity is part of the life; proof that the city is not only wide awake at night, but it burns white hot. With all the musings one would need to inspire nothing less than a prolific output, when it comes to Long Beach-by- way-of-Tucson synth-punk dynamo N8NOFACE, calling him prolific is an understatement.

anno returns with a 5 track ep from NYC's K Wata, resident DJ at NYC's Slink party.

Big one for us at RAD combining the energy of producers like Batu, Equiknoxx with some timeless Gescom / Autechre soundscapes.

250 copies only, stickered sleeves.

The second LP by California rock n roll unit SPICE expands their palette of damaged anthems and addiction poetics with a more bristling, visceral sound, distilled from years in the trenches of bands, break-ups, and breakdowns. Singer Ross Farrar explains their chemistry succinctly: "We all got in a room and this is what came out." Viv is named for a precursor project of bassist Cody Sullivan and violinist Victoria Skudlarek, but also alludes to broader notions of vividness, sonic, visual, and otherwise. Engineered by Jack Shirley and mixed/mastered by Sam Pura in Oakland, the mix achieves that rare balance of every element being elevated but distinct, with voices, strings, and drums each given space to blaze parallel paths. Opener "Recovery" captures SPICE at their stormy, weathered best, booming drums and East Bay riffs skidding out in a rockslide of rapture, regret, and bruised melody ("You sacrifice perfect days to laugh through the night / you have to get out of bed / and it's hard / and it's hard / it's so hard to admit"), peaking in Ian Simpson's poignant single-note vibrato guitar solo; Farrar agrees: "The guitar says what we cannot." Other tracks embrace the group's shredded pop potential ("Any Day Now," "Dining Out," "Live Scene") and their speedway ripper mode ("Threnody"), with detours into oblique instrumentals ("Melody Drive") and orchestral balladeering ("Ashes In The Birdbath"). But what unites and ignites these songs across different energies and arrangements is their specific sense of emotion. Rawness refined into reckonings, approaching truth, born of cold mornings, bad luck, and too many wrong turns. Waking up where you're not supposed to be, living a life you don't recognize. The album ends with no end to its narrative, still fighting, still slipping. Farrar calls "Climbing Down The Ladder" a "relapse song - telling people you're okay but you're still fucking up." Heartbeat drums march under heartbroken guitars in an elegant downward spiral of defeat, delusion, and desperate hope, dreamed more than believed: "I said it was the last time / but I was up so high / 100 miles / 1000 miles / no me in sight / I saw into the next life / I wasn't dead / I felt so vivid in the next life."

The second LP by California rock n roll unit SPICE expands their palette of damaged anthems and addiction poetics with a more bristling, visceral sound, distilled from years in the trenches of bands, break-ups, and breakdowns. Singer Ross Farrar explains their chemistry succinctly: "We all got in a room and this is what came out." Viv is named for a precursor project of bassist Cody Sullivan and violinist Victoria Skudlarek, but also alludes to broader notions of vividness, sonic, visual, and otherwise. Engineered by Jack Shirley and mixed/mastered by Sam Pura in Oakland, the mix achieves that rare balance of every element being elevated but distinct, with voices, strings, and drums each given space to blaze parallel paths. Opener "Recovery" captures SPICE at their stormy, weathered best, booming drums and East Bay riffs skidding out in a rockslide of rapture, regret, and bruised melody ("You sacrifice perfect days to laugh through the night / you have to get out of bed / and it's hard / and it's hard / it's so hard to admit"), peaking in Ian Simpson's poignant single-note vibrato guitar solo; Farrar agrees: "The guitar says what we cannot." Other tracks embrace the group's shredded pop potential ("Any Day Now," "Dining Out," "Live Scene") and their speedway ripper mode ("Threnody"), with detours into oblique instrumentals ("Melody Drive") and orchestral balladeering ("Ashes In The Birdbath"). But what unites and ignites these songs across different energies and arrangements is their specific sense of emotion. Rawness refined into reckonings, approaching truth, born of cold mornings, bad luck, and too many wrong turns. Waking up where you're not supposed to be, living a life you don't recognize. The album ends with no end to its narrative, still fighting, still slipping. Farrar calls "Climbing Down The Ladder" a "relapse song - telling people you're okay but you're still fucking up." Heartbeat drums march under heartbroken guitars in an elegant downward spiral of defeat, delusion, and desperate hope, dreamed more than believed: "I said it was the last time / but I was up so high / 100 miles / 1000 miles / no me in sight / I saw into the next life / I wasn't dead / I felt so vivid in the next life."

Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, JK Flesh) breathes new life into his FINAL project for an album on Helm’s ALTER label. Formed in 1984 out of an obsession with the industrial, noise & power electronics acts of the early eighties, FINAL made its public debut at the legendary Mermaid pub in Birmingham when Broadrick was just 14 years old. A string of cassette releases via his Post MortemRekordings label established the name within the underground noise scene of the time until increased activity with his various groups (Napalm Death, Head of David and later Godflesh) meant that FINAL naturally fell by the wayside before the end of the decade. Broadrick reactivated the project in 1993 during the British ambient “isolationism” period and FINAL's sound became focussed more on texture, producing beatless ambient work with a number of albums for labels like Sentrax, Utech, No Quarter and Neurot. ‘It Comes To Us All’ is the first FINAL album to appear on vinyl since 2015’s ‘Black Dollars’ on Downwards and continues to explore the textural nature of Broadrick’s ambient work - this time through a filter of blown-out harmonic noise that reconnects the project with its harsher roots. Rather than channelling the angst of early power-electronics, the noise here rumbles along blissfully through 8 untitled tracks, sombre in tone and at times beautiful. Melodies sampled from pop music are put through a process of decay, stripped of their form and worn down with a rusty, melancholic afterglow. Reducing all its parts to slow-motion shadows of their former selves, ‘It Comes To Us All’ is an exploration of the decay of all living things that we face collectively, day after day.

These words by legendary bassist/composer Charles Mingus are a touchstone for Little Big, the quartet led by pianist Aaron Parks. The band’s new recording, Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man, communicates with a clarity and simplicity that belies its ultimate depth. “I want to cast a spell,” explains Parks, “to lull you into a trance where you think you know where you’re going, and then take you somewhere unexpected, almost without realizing how you got there.”

This new music continues the band’s cultivation of a musical language that marries creative improvised music to more groove-centered music—electronica, indie-rock, hip-hop, and psychedelia—but without a trace of mannered “fusion” or a sense that the music is cobbled together from disparate styles. Rather, it feels seamlessly integrated, whole in and of itself.
Dreams of a Mechanical Man is Little Big’s second release on Ropeadope Records, recorded after more than two years of touring for Parks, guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David “DJ” Ginyard, and drummer Tommy Crane. One primary distinction of this new album, according to Parks, is that “today, the band operates as a single organism. The first record was about the tunes and the aesthetic. This album keeps that focus and also captures the chemistry we’ve developed on the road, the way this band feels as it makes music in the moment.”

Am 31. Oktober 2020 feierte die Band die Veröffentlichung ihres ersten Studioalbums seit 1999, The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo - eine Neuaufnahme ihres 1986er High School Thrash Metal Demos -, mit einem massiven Livestream-Event, das neben einem Gastauftritt von Comedian Neil Hamburger auch Cameos von Musikern und Prominenten wie Eric Andre und Josh Homme (von Queens Of The Stone Age) enthielt.

Die Vinylvariante enthält ausschließlich das Audio und keinen Videocontent.

NYC-based producer Endemic Emerald is proud to
present the release of his 3rd album entitled “The
Virux”. Featuring such renowned emcees as
General Steele, Chris Rivers, Sadat X, Planet Asia,
Tragedy Khadafi, Ruste Juxx, Rim & Royal Flush
- to name but a few - the set is packed with high
class talent embedded in electrifying soundscapes.
Endemic, known for producing outstanding
compilation records Terminal illness 1 & 2 once
again does not disappoint with this offering, which
comprises a cohesive selection of epic, yet gritty
east coast bangers. Collaborating with a
combination of legendary and upcoming rappers
“The Virux” has that classic feel from beginning to
end, ensuring it to become an underground
favourite.

PRESSED ON MAROON-COLORED VINYL

The third instalment of “Speshal Blends” instrumental series includes
ten sought-after beats culled from Spesh’s own 6 Shots: Overkill EP,
Che Noir’s Juno album, 1000Words’ compilation, and the Army of
Trust II compilation. This collection further proves that on top of
being one of the nicest emcees on the mic, Spesh is also one of the
illest producers in the game. The cover continues the series’ trend of
tributing the cigar brands most popular for rolling blunts. This time
around Dutch Masters’ packaging gets flipped.

Originally released in 2008 on Type Recordings, Caesura by Helios aka Keith Kenniff returns in a new 2022 edition vinyl re-release, remastered by Taylor Deupree.

Keith Kenniff had been with Type from the very beginning, and in the fifth year of the label he offered his fifth gorgeous release. In those five years Keith's style had evolved constantly, with his drifting piano compositions taking the Goldmund label and the Helios sound moving out from underneath the clipped beat-heavy electronics of 'Unomia' and into a more unique place, even incorporating vocals on the 'Ayres' mini album. 'Caesura' however was his 'proper' follow-up to the acclaimed 'Eingya', and has seen Keith return to the instrumental sound he knows so well. In fact in many ways 'Caesura' is a more electronic work than its predecessors, blending layer upon layer of synthesizer and adding his assured drumming to come up with the perfect meeting of indie-pop and ambient music. The haunting cinematic element is still present of course, but these songs are more rounded and confident than any in Keith's career to that point.

From the delicate bliss of 'Hope Valley Hill' which opens up the album with gauzy nostalgia and, as the title promised, hope, through the chunky pop of 'Come With Nothings' it is clear that Keith's music is as arresting as it ever was. Taking cues from the lilting indie-electronics of Ulrich Schnauss and the unfussy ambience of Brian Eno, Keith manages to inject this with his knowledge as a composer. The epic harmonies of 'Backlight' for instance reveal a lightness of touch rarely heard in the genre with sweeping synthesized chords buzzing alongside Keith's signature guitar.

Accompanied by more gorgeous artwork from Matthew Woodson, 'Caesura' still is a glowing record for the winter months, and a glimmer of hope to keep the seasons at bay.

Food For Thought will be shipping in a random split between the photo and the illustrated cover art shown here.

The Shea Butter Queen is back! It’s been more than a year since her
last release, After 12, but Che has returned with a body of work that
she clearly spent her time on. She not only serves up a barrage of bars
on Food For Thought, but also produces 6 of 12 tracks. The other 6
cuts are handled by TrickyTrippz, JR Swiftz & Motif Alumni, Chup, and
a couple up-n-comers. Guests include 38 Spesh, Ransom, Rome
Streetz, Armani Caesar, 7xvethegenius, and more.

 Born into a musical family, as a child Charlie Hickey would obsessively
watch videos of his parents on tour in their old band Uma, learning all the
lyrics that he loved but didn’t understand. This introduction to music sowed a
seed and Hickey was soon writing songs of his own, playing on the guitars
that lay around him and singing about the little details of his school days. He
continued throughout his teen years, his songs becoming an outlet for the
growing anxieties that Hickey now understands to be Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder.
 This journey has led to ‘Nervous At Night’, Hickey’s debut album which is
released via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Where 2021’s
‘Count The Stairs’ EP was an attempt to capture the rawness of his
performance, ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive within its production, Hickey
and producer Marshall Vore leaning into their perfectionist tendencies to find
the best version of each track. “He’s always interested in how you can push
things further but also reigns them in when necessary,” Hickey says. “I think
that’s the true hallmark of a good producer.”
 Hickey calls it a pop record but admits that sonically it moves in many
directions, an amalgamation of his love for the folk singers of yesteryear and
more contemporary peers, from Taylor Swift and The 1975 to the Californian
songwriter and producer Blake Mills. This shifting of styles - from the album’s
quiet heavy-hearted ballads to its more gleaming, hook-led tracks - mirrors
its overarching theme: life’s graceless passage between teenage years and
adulthood.
 And so we have ‘Planet With Water’, a plaintive love song that bristles with
nostalgia, Hickey singing of phone calls after school, of hearing a neighbour’s
TV through the wall. Elsewhere, ‘Mid Air’ holds a similar weight, Hickey
singing of “spinning in mid-air, waiting for somewhere to land, or some face
to show up” as the song flourishes around his voice, delicately accompanied
by guest turns from fellow LA musicians Harrison Whitford, Christian Lee
Hutson and Mason Stoops.
 ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive in its juxtapositions, chronicling the constant
push and pull of life, both its stagnancy and motion. Chiefly though, this is an
album about connection, how even through those struggles we rely on the
people around us to keep moving forwards. “I’d like to write songs that are
for everyone, that let people into my inner world while also hopefully making
people feel less alone on their own. I hope that these songs can be there for
somebody the way my favorite songs have been for me.”
 Collaborated with MUNA on track ‘Seeing Things’.
 2022 live shows include The Great Escape and SXSW, as well as shows in
London, NY and LA’s Troubadour. Recent US tour with Samia.
 LP available on opaque yellow vinyl.

 Born into a musical family, as a child Charlie Hickey would obsessively
watch videos of his parents on tour in their old band Uma, learning all the
lyrics that he loved but didn’t understand. This introduction to music sowed a
seed and Hickey was soon writing songs of his own, playing on the guitars
that lay around him and singing about the little details of his school days. He
continued throughout his teen years, his songs becoming an outlet for the
growing anxieties that Hickey now understands to be Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder.
 This journey has led to ‘Nervous At Night’, Hickey’s debut album which is
released via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Where 2021’s
‘Count The Stairs’ EP was an attempt to capture the rawness of his
performance, ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive within its production, Hickey
and producer Marshall Vore leaning into their perfectionist tendencies to find
the best version of each track. “He’s always interested in how you can push
things further but also reigns them in when necessary,” Hickey says. “I think
that’s the true hallmark of a good producer.”
 Hickey calls it a pop record but admits that sonically it moves in many
directions, an amalgamation of his love for the folk singers of yesteryear and
more contemporary peers, from Taylor Swift and The 1975 to the Californian
songwriter and producer Blake Mills. This shifting of styles - from the album’s
quiet heavy-hearted ballads to its more gleaming, hook-led tracks - mirrors
its overarching theme: life’s graceless passage between teenage years and
adulthood.
 And so we have ‘Planet With Water’, a plaintive love song that bristles with
nostalgia, Hickey singing of phone calls after school, of hearing a neighbour’s
TV through the wall. Elsewhere, ‘Mid Air’ holds a similar weight, Hickey
singing of “spinning in mid-air, waiting for somewhere to land, or some face
to show up” as the song flourishes around his voice, delicately accompanied
by guest turns from fellow LA musicians Harrison Whitford, Christian Lee
Hutson and Mason Stoops.
 ‘Nervous At Night’ comes alive in its juxtapositions, chronicling the constant
push and pull of life, both its stagnancy and motion. Chiefly though, this is an
album about connection, how even through those struggles we rely on the
people around us to keep moving forwards. “I’d like to write songs that are
for everyone, that let people into my inner world while also hopefully making
people feel less alone on their own. I hope that these songs can be there for
somebody the way my favorite songs have been for me.”
 Collaborated with MUNA on track ‘Seeing Things’.
 2022 live shows include The Great Escape and SXSW, as well as shows in
London, NY and LA’s Troubadour. Recent US tour with Samia.
 LP available on opaque yellow vinyl.

 With their duo debut, Dean Spunt and John Wiese invite you to experience
the frenzy of percussive space and discreet sound found inside ‘The Echoing
Shell’.
 This is the first official collaboration between the two veteran music-makers,
though their connection goes back to 1999. As John recalls, “Dean was in a
high school arts program at CalArts. A friend and I were recording the first
Sissy Spacek demo in the design studios there, and taking a tape to my car
over and over again to check the mix. Dean was walking through the parking
lot with a Locust shirt on, we said hello, and he immediately got into a car
with two strangers to ‘listen to a tape’.”
 The tape-listening ended well, apparently. Dean and John became friends
and fellow travellers in LA circles and beyond: in 2005, John did a remix for
Dean’s first band, Wives; in 2007, Dean played percussion with Sissy
Spacek’s 13-Tet Los Angeles; John toured with No Age several times and
collaborated live with them in 2010.
 Under the Sissy Spacek name as well as his own, John’s recordings for his
own Helicopter label and many others kicked things off for him around the
end of the century; since then, he’s been constantly engaged in solos and
collaborations on record, performances, and installations around the world.
 In addition to Dean’s ever-growing discography with No Age, he curates his
own label, Post Present Medium. In 2018, Radical Documents released
Dean’s solo debut ‘EE Head’, which explored concrète and experimental
techniques in a four-part, album length piece.
 ‘The Echoing Shell’ is born of Dean and John’s shared understanding, using
John’s process common to Sissy Spacek: elaborate sound-collage works
using source material originating from punk, hardcore and improvised music.
A series of impositions, tape manipulation and edits recompose the material,
cracking open the crust of the source, freeing its implied guts to steam forth
in gushes of extreme noise. On ‘The Echoing Shell’, this is as often noise as
it is extreme intimacy, seeming at times to be sourced from within Dean’s
drumkit, at other times appearing to emanate from the capsules of
microphones and the circuits of the signal path itself.
 One may read these collaged sounds as abstraction, but there is a unique
language conveyed in their assembly, forming something like word-shapes
and meaning. And intention: the two side-long pieces, comprised of many
short sections, form a linear whole, creating alternately ripping and
discriminating music - and meaning - in the process.
 ‘The Echoing Shell’ is a fantastic conception in contemporary musique
concrète, combining incendiary post-rock power, dry humour and astonishing
depth of field. Whether projecting the sound through headphones, ear buds,
bookshelf speakers or your own personal amp stack, crank up ‘The Echoing
Shell’.

 With their new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, SOAK has
finally shaken the hangover of their starry debut ‘Before We Forgot How
To Dream’, and the pressures that came with it, hiding in the wings of
their ambitious follow up album, ‘Grim Town’.
 Having come up through BBC Introducing at the tender age of 15, before
signing to Rough Trade Records, as well as winning the RTE Choice
Music Prize and The Northern Irish Music Prize, in addition to being the
youngest ever Mercury Prize nominee, SOAK has again and again been
described as “the voice of a generation.”
 Showing, from a young age, an intensely artistic awareness of the poetry
of memory, Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK, would incessantly
photograph and video everything, documenting and organising the
material so it was always there for them to revisit. “I always want to
remember exactly how I felt at a certain moment.” Now, at 25, SOAK’s
third album, ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again', is naturally made up
of what Bridie intimately calls ‘song-memories’.
 Working closely with Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers), with whom Bridie
has been collaborating with since the age of 15, and armed with
influences from Pavement to Radiohead to Broken Social Scene, they
wrote most of the album together before recording it with the rest of the
band in Attica Studios, Donegal.
 Throughout the album SOAK pushes and pulls at melodies, but never
milks their brilliance. Bridie masterfully glides their vocal melody slightly
off-kilter above excitable compressed high hats and flourishing guitar
lines. With the new direction of a grungier, more lo-fi production, the
swooning guitars are given a contemporary pop edge, reflected in the
rich and robust musicality of songs like ‘Bleach’, ‘Last July’ and ‘Pretzel’.
 There’s a constant pulsating beat at the album’s centre, propelling it
towards a kind of dewy happiness, like the end credits of a 90s comingof-age film. Bridie’s lyrics move through the songs almost as effortlessly
and they sing them, and the songs when read, read like poetry.
 With this album Bridie is, as the title suggests, freezing time in the
pursuit of truth: capturing their life into existence. In the world of ‘If I
Never Know You Like This Again’, a life is lived only because it's
remembered.

Soul Jazz Records are releasing this 20th anniversary edition of their classic Studio One Rockers on unique Record Store Day EXCLUSIVE coloured vinyl + download code. This new edition is a one-off pressing exclusively for Record Store Day Owned and founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Studio One's output serves as a comprehensive guide to the history of Reggae music.

The music on Studio One Rockers covers all areas of Reggae such as Ska, Rocksteady, Roots and Dancehall, all areas in which Studio One led the field and has become the essential introduction to reggae fans throughout the world.


Included in this compilation are classic Ska tracks ("Phoenix City"), Rocksteady ("Feel Like Jumping"), Roots music ("Truth and Rights"), Dancehall (Freddy McGregor, Michigan and Smiley) and many more. Featured here are many of the classic tracks from Studio One. From Dawn Penn's legendary "No, No, No" to classics such as Horace Andy's "Skylarking" and Marcia Griffith's "Feel Like Jumping".

"Compilation of the year. 100% Essential” Time Out "Compilation of the year. A compilation of unbelievable quality. Awesome” DJ "A who's who of Jamaican music” The Times "An essential slice of musical history" Wire "The most credible compilation of reggae you can buy” - The Guardian.

 Once again, accordionist Vincent Peirani
reshuffles the cards. As a good jazz musician, he
likes to venture into unexplored territories. As a
good music fan and a very good musician in
general, he is curious, enthusiastic, and eager to
make new discoveries and find new things to listen
to or play. ‘Jokers’, his first album in trio, goes
even further, and elsewhere.
 Vincent chose to turn to the jazz trio for the first
time, a formula with such a long history that it is
almost sacred, and certainly intimidating. But
typically, he used that framework only to escape
from it. His two accomplices, Federico Casagrande
on guitar and Ziv Ravitz on drums and keyboards,
both have a wealth of experience and skills, an
interest in rock and electronic music, and a taste
for musical hybridity.
 Now available on vinyl with digital download code.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.

Oops, Four Flies did it again! Like other rare Italian gems, Berto Pisano's La Novizia was long thought lost before the FF team rescued, restored and remastered it from the original tapes. And wow, it's just one of the best things, if not the best thing, about the 1975 film it was written for – an erotic comedy with melodramatic overtones directed by Pisano's long-time collaborator Giuliano Biagetti (they previously worked together on Interrabang and La Svergognata) and starring a young and mesmerizing Gloria Guida.

The film's low budget meant that Pisano had to make a virtue out of necessity. Rather than using a big orchestra and strings (as is well known, he was a brilliant conductor and string arranger), he relied on a smaller ensemble – almost a chamber ensemble, but with a jazz-like rhythm section – to create sensual late-night soundscapes that exude a downtempo ambience. In a nutshell: smooth, warm, velvety music. The epitome of the lounge sound.

At times, whispered, sexy vocals by (the then ubiquitous) Edda Dell'Orso float dreamily over brushed drums, bass, guitars and electric pianos. At others, we find Italian library heavyweights like Alessandro Alessandroni (whose unmistakable whistle can be heard in "Canto Notturno") and even psychedelic rock influences, as in the acid distorted guitars, furious drums and crazy synths of "Free Dimension". At yet other times, we're taken into more easy-listening territory – "Fiore Rosso", for instance, offers a wonderfully cinematic example of Mediterranean, rather than Brazilian, bossa nova (did they ever thought of using a spinet in Brazil??).

The secret to the charm of La Novizia is that it encapsulates the Italian erotic sound of the 70s in all of its nuances, from the morbid, to the prudish, to the naïve. Because yes, this is a record of nuance and musicianship. And while the themes are in themselves simple, the fantastic quality of the writing, arrangement and production is a testament to Berto Pisano's superb talent, style and professionalism.

Finally back to life after decades of obscurity, La Novizia is a thing of beauty – which, as a pretty bright fellow once said, is a joy forever. Don't miss out on joy.

Comes on vinyl, CD and Digi with original artwork by Eric Adrian Lee and exclusive liner notes by the Pisano family. All tracks are previously unreleased in any format.

This is the second 12" EP featuring reinterpretations of tracks taken from the brilliant Nicola Conte & Gianluca Petrella's jazz dance album "People Need People" released in 2021. The song "Inner Light" gets here a further interpretation by the great Anthony Nicholson, one of the most respected producers and key characters in the tribal / afrocentric house scene, while DJ Spinna has put his artistry on "New World Shuffle" for an uplifting result: Bridgette Amofah's original vocals shine over a sunny house groove full of keys and moog lushy layers, in a distinctive 'Spinna feel'. Coming next: new versions of "People Need People" songs made by Tall Black Guy, Andrés and Fred P.! Stay tuned!!!