It's been three years since Jessie Ware released her second album Tough Love. Described by Pitchfork as an album that moves into the territory of real, messy love' Tough Love was the critically-embraced follow up to Jessie's landmark debut Devotion in 2012. Signed to the influential London label PMR, Jessie's deep roots into UK music saw collaborations with SBTRKT and Disclosure bear fruit before her acclaim reached international levels. With both albums now gold-certified in the UK, a million albums sold worldwide and her influence undeniable, Jessie has spent the last three years working on her third album Glasshouse. The album includes multiple Radio 1 & 2 playlist singles and Jessie is confirmed for Sunday Brunch and Later with Jools around album release.
quête:radio 4
Wooohaaa! The figure 8 always meant more to us than just a symbol on your screen. For this very reason on our eighth vinyl release from Minor Notes Recordings we’re featuring non other than the legendary producer BMB SpaceKid. Stemming from St. Petersburg and from an early age, BMB proved himself to be an extraordinary musician. Able produces top quality compositions with ease, and in any style, but all with his unique twist.
To date BMB is best known in hip-hop circles as he made album beats for many key underground rap artists. He also went international and produced joint tracks with Dj Premier, Anderson Paak, Raekwon, GoldLink and many others.
BMB has also performed at the Fabric Club in London, the Outlook Origins festival, live on Boiler Room and BBC Radio 1. He also participated in the Red Bull Bass Camp and the Hip-Hop Academy.
On the record "Taste Booster" BMB SpaceKid showcases his taste and skills in the production of house style dance music. A tribute to the traditions of African-American music, the virtuoso mastery of MPC and sampling techniques, and an outstanding approach to melodic rhythms.
We are convinced that this record will appeal to everyone who loves true house music, acting as a breath of fresh air. To enhance the overall effect we invited one of our favorite French producers Art Of Tones, who for a long time, and just like us, has been promoting the organic sound of electronic music 4x4.
Ever since Tsuyoshi Hamada, better known as Dayzero dropped his now-sold-out first ZamZam “Orbit Dub” b/w “Theory Dub” in 2020 we’ve been eager to bless listeners and dancers with a next chapter of his unmistakable, menacing 140 dubs, and that Part 2 is finally here. In the two years since his first Zam he’s worked with Sentry, Vomitspit, Endz, and most recently branched out with an EP of leftfield styles & textures for Bristol’s legendary Livity Sound. Now he's back on 7" vinyl with a pair of stompers just the way we like them.
“Word sounds and power gonna mash them down” couldn’t be a more choice sample to lace “Pages” with, a skanking behemoth of 140 energy powered by swaggering kick & sub, reverb soaked snare, driving shaker, scratchy guitar licks, and mad delays twisting out at bewitching angles.
“Sen” counts off through a dodgy radio frequency, flying low and dropping into a ruff attack of dirty drums & bass, shifting, off-beat mid-range melodics, sleigh bell and percussion cutting through the hazy sonic miasma threatening to envelop the tune. At once eyes-down and hands-in-the-air, Dayzero strikes again with a guaranteed high score in the dance.
Strictly limited to 700 copies for the world. No digital, no repress. Art, design & two-color screen print by Polygon Press. Mastered at Precise, Pressed at Third Man.
- A1: Opening Credits
- A2: The Chase
- A3: Saved/Captured
- A4: The Bracelet
- A5: Council Of Draags (Part 1)
- A6: Terr & Tiwa
- A7: The Knowledge (Part 1)
- B1: The Fight
- B2: The Knowledge (Part 2)
- B3: The Initiation
- B4: Escape
- B5: The Big Tree
- B6: The Ritual
- B7: The Duel
- C1: Theft/Zarek
- C2: The Bird
- C3: The Free Oms
- C4: The Purge
- C5: The Journey To Ygam
- C6: Council Of Draags (Part 2)
- D1: The City Of Free Oms
- D2: Robot Attack
- D3: The Fantastic Planet
- D4: The Final Battle
- D5: Terr
- D6: End Credits
Black LP[29,79 €]
New pressing on double coloured vinyl, (Disc one White & Disc two Pink), Gatefold sleeve, DL card. René Laloux’s celebrated 1973 sci-fi animation ‘La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet)’, is overhauled with a re-imagined soundtrack by electronic modernists Stealing Sheep and legendary sound innovators The Radiophonic Workshop. This exclusive release is part of Fire Records’ re-imagined score series. “No institution has had a greater impact on the development of electronic music than the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.” The Vinyl Factory. It’s a real pre-Avatar conundrum that Stealing Sheep, with the help of Bob Earland, Dick Mills and Roger Limb from the Radiophonic Workshop, unravel. Creating an ethereal excursion that’s narrated by Roger Limb; like a futuristic Martin Denny, or Dr Who gone ambient techno, with a hint of Forbidden Planet 50 years on. It’s an analogue swirl set in an off-world paradise; a field recording from the future. This is a creative, generation-spanning, union brought together to score this unique cult film. A must for fans of psyche electronica and Stealing Sheep’s formidable ‘Big Wows’ album. “Stealing Sheep devour a broad range of styles, incorporating everything from the dark dance-pop of Grace Jones to the experimentations of Radiophonic Workshop pioneer Delia Derbyshire and John Carpenter soundtracks.” The Guardian // ‘La Planète Sauvage’ is a thing of ambient beauty punctuated with electronic earworms that switches from intensely ominous to otherworldly dream like moments. Track listing: Side A A1 Opening Credits A2 The Chase A3 Saved/Captured A4 The Bracelet A5 Council of Draags pt.I A6 Terr & Tiwa A7 The Knowledge pt.I Side B B1 The Fight B2 The Knowledge pt. II B3 The Initiation B4 Escape B5 The Big Tree B6 The Ritual B7 The Duel Side C C1 Theft/Zarek C2 The Bird C3 The Free Oms C4 The Purge C5 The Journey to Ygam C6 Council of Draags pt.II Side D D1 The City of Free Oms D2 Robot Attack D3 The Fantastic Planet D4 The Final Battle D5 Terr D6 End Credits
The Maghreban has been making Dance music and related genres under various names since the mid 90s, spanning Jungle, Hip Hop, Rave, House and Techno; on labels like Versatile, Black Acre, Eglo Records, R&S Records and his own Zoot Records.
This is his second full length LP under this project and is a refinement on his first. He has worked with the jazz saxophonist Idris Rahman to craft something more cohesive perhaps and more rooted in Jazz and Techno as well as Eastern music. There are also vocal collaborations with Nah Eeto, Omar and Abdullah Miniawy.
Airplay from Benji B, Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft on BBC Radio. DJ and Radio Support from Ben UFO, Nina Kraviz, Mosca, Otik, Eclair Fifi, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur, Martyn Bootyspoon, Appleblim, Krikor, Photonz, Gramrcy, and many more.
Favourable reviews so far in Uncut & DJ Magazine: "His most expansive statement so far..Innovative and Irresistable", Reveiws to come in Mixmag, The Wire and other publications.
Sarah Brown releases her debut album ‘Sarah Brown Sings Mahalia Jackson’ on 20th May 2022, preceded by a new single ‘Walk Over God’s Heaven’ on the 6th May. The record sees Sarah offer her interpretations of some of the classic tracks of arguably the most famous gospel singer of the last century who gave Brown hope and sanctuary through hard times faced over the years. Having recently appeared on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour performing her debut single ‘I’m On My Way’, she is currently on tour with Simple Minds with whom she has been playing with for the last 15 years.
Sarah explains: “For as long as I can remember, Mahalia Jackson with her fever pitched performances have been a soothing note to my tapestry. At 10 years old, I remember hopelessly trying to sing along to her bellowing thunder of a voice. In my bedroom I would become her. I chose these songs because they tell of my story. Growing up in a Caribbean home to parents who were a long way from their home. Anger and fear were the two prominent emotions that I lived with.
The style I was trying to achieve was influenced by early jazz, blues and the spirituals. I am happy with the sound/style of the album. It was always going to be an experiment but I had no idea that it was going to sound as good and as authentic as it does. ‘Didn’t It Rain’ as a jazz feel. ‘Nobody Knows’ as a spiritual feel then it goes into swing jazz. ‘Walk over God’s Heaven’ as a hint of rock & roll with a bit of early swing.”
You may not know Sarah Brown’s name but you’ll definitely have heard her voice. From her collaborations with the likes of George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran, Simply Red, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Simple Minds … Sarah Brown is one of the most prolific and in-demand vocalists in the world. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds comments: “In a sane world Sarah’s colossal talent would ensure that she would be front of stage every night, so I would be in the front row. Every night. I am her biggest fan after all”
Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) is widely considered as a major influence on Mavis Staple, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Donna Summer, Ray Charles, and a civil rights icon (Malcolm X noted that Jackson was "the first Negro that Negroes made famous”, Harry Belafonte stated "there’s not a single field hand, a single black worker, a single black intellectual who did not respond to her”, and it was Mahalia who prompted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr to improvise the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
Vinyl[35,25 €]
Originaire de Mongolie, The HU ne ressemble à aucun autre groupe de rock dans le monde. Depuis leur sortie, le groupe s'est hissé à la première place du Billboard World Albums Chart, à la première place du Top New Artist Albums, et au Top 5 mondial du Hard Rock Music Album Chart. Ils ont effectué de nombreuses tournées dans le monde avec des spectacles à guichets fermés en Europe, au Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis. Après le succès de l'album The Gereg, qui a non seulement débuté à la première place, mais dont les succès rock viraux «Wolf Totem» et «Yuve Yuve Yu» ont atteint le Top 10 des radios rock. The Hu sont de retour avec un nouvel album, Rumble of Thunder. Cet album relie le monde à la culture mongole et à ses valeurs fondamentales uniques de préservation de la nature et de connexion spirituelle avec la terre.
Note price increase and cat number change from last time around. In 1968, Don Cherry had already established himself as one of the leading voices of the avant-garde. Having pioneered free jazz as a member of Ornette Coleman's classic quartet, and with a high profile collaboration with John Coltrane under his belt, the globetrotting jazz trumpeter settled in Sweden with his partner Moki and her daughter Neneh. There, he assembled a group of Swedish musicians and led a series of weekly workshops at the ABF, or Workers' Educational Association, from February to April of 1968, with lessons on extended forms of improvisation including breathing, drones, Turkish rhythms, overtones, silence, natural voices, and Indian scales. That summer, saxophonist and recording engineer Göran Freese who later recorded Don's classic Organic Music Society and Eternal Now LPs invited Don, members of his two working bands, and a Turkish drummer to his summer house in Kummelnäs, just outside of Stockholm, for a series of rehearsals and jam sessions that put the prior months' workshops into practice. Long relegated to the status of a mysterious footnote in Don's sessionography, tapes from this session, as well as one professionally mixed tape intended for release, were recently found in the vaults of the Swedish Jazz Archive, and the lost Summer House Sessions are finally available over fifty years after they were recorded. On July 20, the musicians gathered at Freese's summer house included Bernt Rosengren (tenor saxophone, flutes, clarinet), Tommy Koverhult (tenor saxophone, flutes), Leif Wennerström (drums), and Torbjörn Hultcrantz (bass) from Don's Swedish group; Jacques Thollot (drums) and Kent Carter (bass) from his newly formed international band New York Total Music Company; Bülent Ates (hand drum, drums), who was visiting from Turkey; and Don (pocket trumpet, flutes, percussion) himself. Lacking a common language, the players used music as their common means of communication. In this way, these frenetic and freewheeling sessions anticipate Don's turn to more explicitly pan-ethnic expression, preceding his epochal Eternal Rhythm dates by four months. The octet, comprising musicians from America, France, Sweden, and Turkey, was a perfect vehicle for Don's budding pursuit of "collage music," a concept inspired in part by the shortwave radio on which Don listened to sounds from around the world. Using the collage metaphor, Don eliminated solos and the introduction of tunes, transforming a wealth of melodies, sounds, and rhythms into poetic suites of different moods and changing forms. The Summer House Sessions ensemble joyously layers manifold cultural idioms, traversing the airy peaks and serene valleys of Cherry's earthly vision. In the Swedish Jazz Archive quite a few other recordings from the same day were to be found. Some of the highlights are heard as bonus material on the CD edition of this album. The octet is augmented by producer and saxophone player Gunnar Lindqvist, who led the Swedish free jazz orchestra G.L. Unit on the album Orangutang, and drummer Sune Spångberg, who recorded with Albert Ayler in 1962. The bonus CD also includes a track without Cherry featuring Jacques Thollot joined by five Swedes including Lindqvist, Tommy Koverhult, Sune Spångberg, and others. With liner notes by Magnus Nygren and album art featuring a cover painting by Moki Cherry: Untitled, ca. 1967-68. Track list: 1. Summer House Sessions 2. Summer House Sessions.
ORIGINAL RELEASE: 1984!
Und wieder buddeln Golden Core eine vergessene Perle
aus dem German Metal Underground, auch wenn das Wort
Hardrock hier ebenso angebracht wäre. 1984 veröffentlichte
die Band STARSTRUCK aus Karlsruhe ihr einziges
Lebenszeichen: Die LP „Thru´ To You“. Damit war man
regional nicht weit weg von GAMA Records, die ihren Sitz in
Kirchheim/Teck hatten und das Potenzial der lokal bereits
angesagten Gruppe erkannten. Aufgenommen wurde die Platte
im Spygel Studio mit Engineer Batze Kramer. Eben dieser hat
auch kultige Scheiben von Bands wie Tyrant, Stormwitch,
Bloody Six, Vampyr, Gravestone, Restless oder Necronomicon
veredelt. „Thru´ To You“ ist purer Zeitgeist und dazu passt
auch das Cover, welches beim genauen Hinschauen viel
Humor beweist.
Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Heidelberg – melodischer Heavy Metal
war in diesem Großraum immer schon mehr angesagt als im
Ruhrgebiet oder im Norden. Nur München wurde noch bekannt
für seinen Hang zum AOR. Starstruck balancieren geschickt
den Mittelweg zwischen Härte und Radiofreundlichkeit, was
bei den gut arrangierten Songs und dem spielerischen Können
hätte zum Erfolgsrezept werden können. Leider war die Firma
GAMA nicht in der Lage, das Album adäquat zu promoten.
Immerhin wurde es ein Jahr später von Mausoleum (Belgien)
lizensiert, 1990 kam es dann auch erstmals auf CD (Aurophon,
in der Brainstorm Serie, die Sammler nur zu gut kennen).
Letztere Version kann man heute nicht mehr unter 70 Euro
(siehe Discogs) bekommen…
Golden Core machten auf Starstruck bereits 2021
aufmerksam, denn sie sind mit einem Track auf der
Compilation „The Best And The Rare Of GAMA Records“ zu
finden. Zum ersten Mal gibt es nun eine remasterte Version
des kultigen Albums auf CD, später im Jahr auch auf Vinyl.
Auch wenn die weniger bekannten Bands des GAMA-Kataloges
von Einigen immer noch belächelt werden…in den letzten
Jahren hat sich gerade in Südamerika und Osteuropa eine
große Fanbase in diese Richtung entwickelt, aber auch
weltweit wird der hart rockende Sound der Achtziger geliebt
und gerne kopiert. Starstruck waren mittendrin!
Emerald Green Vinyl[29,83 €]
Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.
Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.
A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.
Black Vinyl[29,83 €]
Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.
Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.
A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.
- 1: Tanya Stephens - Welcome To The Rebelution
- 2: Au Pairs - It's Obvious
- 3: X-Ray Spex - Identity
- 4: Fea - Mujer Moderna
- 5: The Bags - Babylonian Gorgon
- 6: Fértil Miseria - Visiones De La Muerte
- 7: Crass - Smother Love
- 8: Rhoda With The Special Aka - The Boiler
- 9: Jayne Cortez And The Firespitters - Maintain Control
- 10: Skinny Girl Diet - Silver Spoons
- 11: Big Joanie - Dream No 9
- 12: Malaria! - Geld
- 13: The Slits - Spend, Spend, Spend
- 14: Poison Girls - Persons Unknown
- 16: Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps
- 17: Grace Jones - My Jamaican Guy
- 18: Patti Smith - Free Money
- 19: Tribe 8 - Checking Out Your Babe
- 20: Cherry Vanilla - The Punk
- 21: Blondie - Rip Her To Shreds
- 22: Sleater-Kinney - Little Babies
- 23: The Selecter - On My Radio
- 24: Mo-Dettes- White Mice
- 25: Shonen Knife - It's A New Find
- 26: The Raincoats - No One's Little Girl
- 27: Vivien Goldman - Launderette
- 28: Zuby Nehty - Sokol
- 29: Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance
Da die Geschichtsschreibung von Punk eine überwiegend männliche ist, war eine "Rache der She-Punks" längst überfällig. Verfasst wurde diese feministische Abrechnung von keiner geringeren als der Post-Punk-Pionierin Vivien Goldman, die aufgrund ihrer Arbeit als Musikerin und Musikjournalistin eine Insider-Perspektive besitzt. Entlang vier Themenfeldern - Identität, Geld, Liebe und Protest - begibt sich die "Punk-Professorin" auf die Suche nach empowernden Momenten, die Punk speziell für Frauen birgt. Inspiriert vom Buch (die deutsche Übersetzung erschien 2021 im Ventil Verlag) hat Vivien Goldman die vorliegende Compilation neu zusammengestellt und mit Liner Notes versehen.
Sababa 5 sharpens their euphoric Middle Eastern psych sound into an infectious four-track EP, featuring vocal revelation Shiran Tzfira, recorded here for the very first time. Together they reinterpret the traditional Yemenite songs of Shiran’s childhood into modern and irresistible blends of disco, funk, boogie, pop, and rock.
Tel Aviv based four-piece Sababa 5 is a supergroup of musicians from the local scene, steeped in psych rock, funk, the traditional Yemenite music that gave birth to popular Mizrahi Israeli music, and traditions from across the Mediterranean and the Middle East that have long blended into one another. Between them, they have played with everyone from the Hoodna Orchestra, Tigris, and Kutiman Orchestra to widely known vocalists such as Gili Yalo, Ester Rada, and Liraz Charhi.
Sababa 5’s catchy instrumentals and popular songs such as “Tokyo Midnight” have gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Radio Music’s Gilles Peterson, Cerys Mathews, and Gideon Coe, Rashad “Ringo” Smith, and France’s leading purveyor of alternative sounds, Radio Nova.
Growing up in a traditional Yemenite Jewish household, Shiran Tzfira was heavily influenced by both the Jewish and Arabic traditional songs that play a major role in Yemenite culture. But her soulful, soft, yet powerful voice betrays a love of not only singers of Yemenite heritage, such as Ofra Haza and Balqees but also Western artists such as Stevie Wonder and Erykah Badu. Subsequently, Shiran has gained many fans in the Arab world, especially in Yemen, where she has been dubbed the Israeli Balqees”.
When Rey Sapienz was eight years old, the Democratic Republic of Congo was plunged into the Second Congo War. The conflict last five years and was the bloodiest since World War II, leaving an indelible mark on East Africa and creating mass displacement and loss of life. But Sapienz endured, cutting his teeth as a young rapper at twelve, first performing to celebrate Congo's independence day. When he finished school, he headed to nearby Kampala to hone his craft and collaborate with local producers. But civil war broke out back home and he was forced to extend his stay in Uganda. Since then, Sapienz has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, co-founding the Hakuna Kulala label, teaching his Ableton Live skills to Kampala's young producers and releasing two acclaimed EPs. For his debut album, Sapienz embarks on an ambitious project that travels beyond the avant beatscapes of his early material. Alongside traditional percussionist, vocalist and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Doggis, he has formed The Congo Techno Ensemble, utilizing their skills and experience to offer a statement that speaks to the past, present and future of the DRC. On "Eza Makambo", the trio channel rich musical traditions and historic tension, evolving electronic and traditional forms into boundless sci-fi mutations. The track breaks open the stories all three artists accumulated in the DRC, augmenting radioactive techno-dancehall beats with radical, open-hearted words and rhymes. "Eza Makambo" is a heady cocktail of stylistic futurism and harsh reality that could be compared with Zizou Bikaye's seminal "Noir et Blanc or Danis Mpunga & Paul K.'s genre-breaking electronic experiments. But marked by the DRC's recent scars, it's a critical work that stands painfully alone.
In 2021, Los Angeles trio Gabriels arrived in a whirlwind with the loose-limbed vintage soul jam of ‘Love & Hate In A Different Time’, a song that could have dropped in almost any era. A stone-cold classic, it introduced a band so much more than just the sum of their supremely talented parts.
For the first time, ‘Love & Hate In A Different Time’ is now getting a special 7 Inch release with a previously unreleased live version of ‘Spanish Harlem’ recorded at BBC Maida Vale studios for a Gilles Peterson 6 Music session.
Just a handful of live shows deep, the spotlight swings and lands squarely on vocalist Jacob Lusk. A man who demands attention with a presence and voice of a gospel choir. That rich vocal swoops and soars through the pitches effortlessly matched by an on-stage persona that’s intensely likeable.
A bonafide star by anybody’s reckoning. Two acclaimed EPs deep and yet barely out of second gear, Gabriels have moved beyond mere promise to become one of 2022’s most essential new acts.
Press / PR:
“One of the most spectacular voices you will hear this year... Set to be 2022’s word-of-mouth hit” - The Guardian
“A sound that’s unlike anything else out there” – The Times
SOLD OUT every headline live show in 2021 and 2022 so far in seconds. Gabriels will also support Celeste on her sold out UK tour in the spring of 2022.
Love And Hate In A Different Time was playlisted at 6Music Arielle Free’s TOTW on Radio 1, other supporters included Annie Mac, Nick Grimshaw and Adele Roberts
Syncs with Reebok and Gucci campaigns
Breaking Act - Sunday Times Culture feature
Included in The Guardian’s 2022 Tips
NME Radar feature & NME 100: Essential Emerging Artists For 2022
KCRW’s 2021 Breakthrough Artist
Ones To Watch – The 25 Artists to Watch
"After 11 pm, you stop hearing regular rock on the classic hits radio
station and start hearing more strange stuff, one-hit wonders from 1976,
or really minor singles from artists I thought I didn't like because I just
hadn't heard this one weird song before," says Bloomington, Indianabased singer-songwriter Damion - Rather than let those offbeat classics
fade into the twilight on his late-night drives, Damion returned home and
went straight to the Tascam cassette machine - Inspired by both the
sound and the bleary-eyed ambiguity, the result of that late-night
recording is the bronzy Special Interest, a record bathed in memory and
the antigravity of '70s AM radio
Once he had finished demoing songs at home, Damion brought the nine tracks
that would make up the album to his preferred studio, Russian Recording, and
worked with Ben Lumsdaine and Lewis Rogers to polish them up. Aesthetically,
Damion aimed to fit within the limits of the era that inspired the songs.
"Recording to cassette tape, you either have to play the part right or learn to love
the way it sounds wrong, so even in the studio we abided by those same
limitations," he says. Rather than limitations, the structures and styles of vintage
rock perfectly suit the album's lithe falsetto, eerily familiar melodies, and hazy
storytelling--the listener immersed in a soup of poetic fragments, Damion himself
always at a beguiling arm's length. On lead single and opener "Company Man",
resonant acoustic guitar and Super Ball bass provide a platform for Damion's
knowing ability to split the difference between confident swagger and laid-back
charm. The singer-songwriter pulls joy out of musical echos and lyrical wordplay,
in part coming from his love of classic songwriters and long history as a
performer. "I am mostly inspired by singer- songwriters like Carole King, Todd
Rundgren, etc.
When you talk about the origins of jungle music, DJ Dextrous is most definitely cited as a name that helped define the genre. His tracks were always on heavy rotation on the mighty Kool FM and every Jungle/DnB radio station across the country. Dextrous VIP dubplate specials were weapons in the record bags of Micky Finn, DJ Ron, Kenny Ken and his old mate from school DJ Hype!
The 1994 Jungle anthem Charged was released on the ground-breaking Suburban Base Records imprint as part of a ‘King Of The Jungle’ Trilogy. Now updated for 2022 Charged gets a couple of fresh licks from two modern day jungle specialists, backed up with original and VIP exclusive versions, all packaged on a beautiful 12” vinyl picture disc.
First up are the mighty Serial Killaz who’ve taken the original track and applied their trademark, award winning sound which has seen them releasing on Congo Natty, Philly Blunt, Souped Up and their own self-titled Serial Killaz label.
Next up is AKAS who’s recent Old Skool New Skool track on DeVice spend almost 3 months in the Beatport Top 10!! AKAS keeps things jungle for his Charged remix but tweaks the elements and pushes the genre to have the maximum impact on any dancefloor across clubs or festivals.
On the flip is an original unreleased VIP dubplate version, sourced from the archives or Da Kings Of The Jungle studio DAT recordings, which DJ Dextrous was playing in his sets exclusively.
Finally we have the classic original mix of Charged which has been beautifully remastered from the original source recording to make this picture disc release sound as good as it possibly can.
This is an extremely limited pressing & will never be re-issued so we’d advise jungle aficionados, both new & old, to buy on sight!!
- B1: Undercover Agent - Oh Gosh! (Daz '95 Dubplate)
- C1: M.t.s - Baad Boy Sound ('95 Vip)
- D2: M.t.s. - Hard Disk (Dj Zinc Remix Vip Dubplate)
- E2: Undercover Agent - Five Tones (97 Daz Vip Mix)
- F2: Undercover Agent & The Kriminal - Jah Works (Exclusive '95 Alternative Studio Mix)
- A1: Splash - Babylon (Original 94 Studio)
- A2: Splash - Babylon (Dj Trace Remix Part 2)
- B2: Splash Collective - Rebels (Studio Master Dat Source)
- C2: M.t.s. - Brothers & Sisters ('95 Original Remastered)
- D1: M.t.s. - Inspiration ('95 Original Remastered)
- E1: Undercover Agent - Dub Plate Circles ('96 Original Remastered)
- F1: Undercover Agent & The Kriminal - World Mash Up (Original '95 Studio Master)
- G1: Undercover Agent - Rougher Pt.3 ('94 Original Remastered)
- G2: Undercover Agent - Bass Kick Mix 2 ('96 Exclusive Unreleased Version From Dat)
- H1: Undercover Agent - Dangerous ('96 Original Remastered)
- H2: M.t.s. - Revolution ('96 Original Remastered)
A truly incredible collection of foundation Jungle / Drum & Bass from these ground-breaking labels. Splash aka Undercover Agent aka Daz has been with SubBase since the start, having signed to Suburban Base Publishing (including the iconic track Babylon) back in the 90's and remained with us ever since. As part of the SubBase Family we’ve collaborated once again to deliver a perfect package of in-demand classics and unearthed dubplate specials.
Daz Ellis, most commonly known as Undercover Agent, was a true pioneer of the emerging jungle scene back in the early 90’s. He was heavily involved in the pirate radio scene, setting up the infamous Cyndicut FM to transmit breakbeats & basslines across the airwaves of the South East of England, noted for having one of the strongest and widest reaching broadcast signals of the period.
Under various aliases he produced music that defined the sound of the dancefloor. Early releases featured on the genre-defining Suburban Base & Lucky Spin labels.
As Splash his seminal track Babylon set the standard for how amens and ragga infused samples should sound, a format that has stood the test of time and can still be heard today regularly getting played by the world’s biggest drum & bass DJ Andy C! This compilation includes the 2 most in demand versions of this foundation anthem.
In 1994 off the back of his success he launched Splash Recordings, then the year after Juice Records came into fruition. Under the guises of DAZ, M.T.S. and various releases as Splash Collective, all on his own Juice & Splash imprints he gained an army of dedicated fans, demand from whom has led to the creation of this special vinyl box set!
For this exclusive compilation project Undercover Agent went searching back through his original studio master tapes from his impressive back catalogue to find both the original recordings, and some of the alternative edits that never made it to vinyl back in the day. There were also a handful of special versions made exclusively for DJ’s to play on dubplate that are now available for the first time ever.
Exclusive to this collectors box set are 6 never before released versions of classics such as Oh Gosh, Five Tones, Jah Works, an alternative mix of DJ Zinc’s remix of Hard Disk & Bass Kick that were unearthed from the original session DAT’s!
This album features 16 of his most legendary tracks, remastered & pressed across 4 slices of vinyl.
c B1. Undercover Agent - Oh Gosh! (Daz '95 Dubplate) Unreleased
e C1. M.T.S - Baad Boy Sound ('95 VIP) Unreleased
h D2. M.T.S. - Hard Disk (DJ Zinc Remix VIP Dubplate) Unreleased
j E2. Undercover Agent - Five Tones (97 Daz VIP Mix) Unreleased
l F2. Undercover Agent & The Kriminal - Jah Works (Exclusive '95 Alternative Studio Mix) Unreleased
[c] B1. Undercover Agent - Oh Gosh! (Daz '95 Dubplate) [Unreleased]
[e] C1. M.T.S - Baad Boy Sound ('95 VIP) [Unreleased]
[h] D2. M.T.S. - Hard Disk (DJ Zinc Remix VIP Dubplate) [Unreleased]
[j] E2. Undercover Agent - Five Tones (97 Daz VIP Mix) [Unreleased]
[l] F2. Undercover Agent & The Kriminal - Jah Works (Exclusive '95 Alternative Studio Mix) [Unreleased]
- A1: Quad
- A2: Don't Know Yet
- A3: Chipped
- A4: Slow Down
- A5: U33
- B1: Television
- B2: Woke Up
- B3: Widowmaker
- B4: Taken Too Much
- B5: Coogan's Bluff
- C1: Chipped (Peel Session, Maida Vale 10/11/95)
- C2: Widowmaker (Peel Session, Maida Vale 10/11/95)
- C3: Theme (Peel Session, Maida Vale 10/11/95)
- C4: Woke Up (Peel Session, Maida Vale 10/11/95)
- C5: Spliff Riff (Peel Session, Maida Vale 10/11/95)#
- D1: Quad (Live Bbc Radio 1 Rock Show, Glasgow 31/03/96)
- D2: U33 (Live Mark Radcliffe Bbc Radio 1, Manchester 02/05/96)
- D3: Television (Live Mark Radcliffe Bbc Radio 1, Manchester 02/05/96)
- D4: Jellystoned Park ( B-Side Of Television 7")
BLACK VINYL REPRESS
ITS 25 YEARS Since the first Heads album was released.. .so.. for 2021..Rooster has decided to get the album back in print on vinyl.. but changing the artwork. With some silver foiling and bordering, the single sleeve has been boosted to a sweet gatefold, Rooster also got the Radio 1 sessions from the time remastered, and re-cut along with the huge b-side to their Television 7” “Jellystoned Park”.
So there you have it, a double vinyl silver jubilee reissue of a fantastic debut album!
From the original reissue sales notes:
“The Heads had self-released a couple of 7"', and then Cargo Uk's inhouse label Headhunter UK got to release a further 7", and then the Debut album in 1996. Amidst a world suffocating in Britpop smarm, the Heads cut a timely swathe with their unkempt rock psychedelique. The album contained 10 tracks of guitar driven, amp destroying rock, with cues taken straight from the US underground, Stooges, MC5, Mudhoney, Pussy Galore, early Monster Magnet too but with a disitinctly British stamp, some of the drone and fuzz from Loop / Spacemen 3, some of the attitude of the Fall, Pink Fairies and Walking Seeds and overlaid with the spaced rock of early Hawkwind. It was obvious that the four members of the Heads were music obsessives. The debut album was recorded at Foel studios (owned by Dave Anderson from Hawkwind) and engineered by Corin Dingley, it was mastered by John Dent at LOUD.”
We’ve asked for some new appraisal of the Heads for the Silver Jubilee edition from good friends....
Stewart Lee February 2021
“The Halley's Comet victory orbits of historic heavy artefacts from Detroit, like The Stooges or The MC5, leave grateful onlookers aghast. But, hidden away in Bristol, The Heads are still with us now, our homegrown acid-garage godfathers, an ongoing thirty-two year old concern with a back catalogue arguably more consistent than the super-dense psyche-rock groups that inspired them. The Heads arrived fully formed and have spent three decades becoming more like themselves, a musical black hole that sucks in all surrounding matter. I love The Heads “
Phil Alexander February 2021
“The Heads make music for freaks in the know. If you were there in 1996, you’ll know just what that means…
Back then, they were gloriously out of step with the pop-cheese of the time and geezerly lumpiness of Britpop. Theirs was an altogether different take on music – a take inspired by the glorious burn-out of the ‘60s, the sonic overdrive of the ‘70s and the axis of joy created by the combination of excess volume and repetition.
We could name-check some inspirations and kindred spirits: The Stooges, Hawkwind, Floyd, Loop, Sabbath, Amon Düül II, Spacemen 3, Walking Seeds, Mudhoney, Monster Magnet among them... But in all honesty, The Heads have always existed in a world of their own, surfacing as and when the mood takes them, before returning to their subterranean rehearsal room to jam their way through yet more mind-altering riffs and mood-altering rhythms.
Relaxing With The Heads is their first defining statement. It is also possibly their most straight-forward release, the sound of a band attempting to find structure in their playing rather than abandoning themselves to their wildest impulses. That would come later…
And yet, 25 years on, this album blasts forth like few records from that time, its slacker charm welded to super-fuzzed riffs that propel its 10 tracks ever onwards. Righteous is probably the only word for it…”
"His music filled me with the urge to connect with the world," Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith says of Emile Mosseri. She first heard his work while watching the 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco; just minutes in, she paused it to look up who did the score and wrote to him immediately. "I love Emile's ability to create melodies that feel magically scenic and familiar like they are reminding you of the innocence of loving life." Those talents saw recognition in 2020 with an Oscar nomination for Mosseri's original score to the film Minari. He was already a fan of Smith's and became increasingly intrigued by her impressionistic process as they started to talk. "The music feels so spiritual and alive and made from the earth," Mosseri says. "I think of her as the great conductor, summoning musical poetry from her orchestra of machines." I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon, their two-part collaborative album, introduces an uncanny fusion of their sonics. Constructed using synthesizer, piano, electronics, and voice, this soft-focus dream world is lush, evocative, and fleeting. It finds two composers tuning their respective styles inward as an ode to mutual inspiration, a celebration of the human spirit and its will to surrender to the currents of life. As a full album set, I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon moves fluidly from track to track, panning through textural vignettes. Two roughly 17-minute halves, the set evokes the bittersweet sense of something too bright or rare to last, a short-lived glimpse into a golden hour. There is a dreamy, elemental intention to this music, which Smith and Mosseri say came naturally, as they both embraced intuitive interplay throughout their creative back-and-forth. The stylistic threads of each composer are recognizable yet become more ambiguous as the album progresses, sewn into a singular vision.




















