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Red Panda is back on solid 180 gramm vinyl!
This time Roustam teamed up with Tolga Fidan for the Berlin Sessions vol. II
You know the deal...500 copies vinyl only - first come/ first serve. No repress!

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

For more than three decades, this Grammy-winning US bandleader and roots master has outrun genre, classification and comfort zone, journeying between the acclaimed solo work with his own name on the marquee, his storied jam-band Gov't Mule, and America's fabled rock 'n' roll institutions from the Allman Brothers Band to the Grateful Dead. To represent this lifetime of roots and branches in a single project, while tearing down and reimagining his songbook with bold orchestral arrangements, acknowledges Haynes, was a daunting prospect that nonetheless exerted an irresistible pull. Now, the resulting live album - Dreams & Songs, released September 18, 2026 - is a living document of 2019's one- of- a- kind concert at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, with a visceral mix by the legendary Bob Clearmountain capturing the thrilling collision between Haynes' lineup of seasoned rock 'n' roll improvisers and the 64- piece Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

Formed in 1969, Soul Media set out with a clear mission to fuse jazz and rock. That approach took a decisive next step with In The Groove, recorded in 1973. Here, the sharpness of jazz is brought to the forefront, rock elements are dissolved and refined to give a cutting edge, and funk is injected to add drive, elasticity, and physical force. The result is a body of music that transcends existing genre labels—jazz-rock, jazz-funk, or fusion—and stands instead as something simply, undeniably cool: strong yet sophisticated.

This album is often described as Soul Media’s response to The Crusaders, a band that saxophonist Jiro Inagaki was paying close attention to at the time. The aim hit its mark. With In The Groove, Soul Media acquired a “refined black feeling”, setting them firmly on the path toward their ultimate destination: Funky Stuff.

Formed in 1969, Soul Media set out with a clear mission to fuse jazz and rock. That approach took a decisive next step with In The Groove, recorded in 1973. Here, the sharpness of jazz is brought to the forefront, rock elements are dissolved and refined to give a cutting edge, and funk is injected to add drive, elasticity, and physical force. The result is a body of music that transcends existing genre labels—jazz-rock, jazz-funk, or fusion—and stands instead as something simply, undeniably cool: strong yet sophisticated.

This album is often described as Soul Media’s response to The Crusaders, a band that saxophonist Jiro Inagaki was paying close attention to at the time. The aim hit its mark. With In The Groove, Soul Media acquired a “refined black feeling”, setting them firmly on the path toward their ultimate destination: Funky Stuff.

The awaited sophomore! Members of Raven (NWOBHM) and Ice Age. Incredible old school USPM. FFO: Savatage, Satan, Crimson Glory, Raven.

Within the broad church of metal and its many offshoots – rock, doom, stoner and all the rest – it remains a minor thrill to stumble across a group who seem to exist at a slight tangent to everything else. Crumbling Ghost is one such anomaly. Crumbling Ghost are not newcomers. They've been operating for some time, releasing records sporadically, Four' is in fact their fourth release. Along the way they've accumulated a fervent coterie of followers, not to mention the occasional nod of approval from tastemakers such as Stuart Maconie, Stewart Lee and Tom Ravenscroft. And though they've appeared at Roadburn, shared stages with Hawkwind and even Damo Suzuki, they remain (possibly by design) curiously under the radar.
The group's core idea is deceptively simple: traditional folk material refracted through the haze and heft of heavy, fuzzy stoner rock with a chunk of psyche and a smattering of doom. But crucially, this is done without the costumery and theatrical tics that often accompany such collisions. No mock pagan pageantry, no graveyard cosplay, no cartoon Satanism.
What Crumbling Ghost latch onto is not folk as a museum piece, but as a lived experience, the dramas rooted in the culture, stories, and daily lives of ordinary people, the folklore, the tales of love and death, murder and adultery, freedom and oppression. Singer Katie Harnett says. "Doting mothers, possessive, violent partners, vulnerable women, seasonal workers and Royal scandals this album is our representation of the trials and tribulations of human existence and universal experiences that still feel relevant today.

Guitarist John adds. "Themes of murder, betrayal, loss, jealousy, and love are found across the record. In particular, the songs of Martin Carthy have been a particular source of inspiration".
The result is a set of murder ballads, supernatural reckonings and cautionary tales, all wrapped in slabs of heavy, thumping fuzz and atmospheric sonics. Harnett's voice sits at the centre: unmistakably folk rooted, but shorn of prettification, melodic yet capable of real bite.

The album opener 'Bows Of London' is a murder ballad of sisterly hatred and grim sibling rivalry, centred on a haunted fiddle fashioned from a dead sister's bones. The loping relentless, hypnotic backing chillingly and perfectly accompanies the narrative. Of course, the story doesn't end well. 'Bill Norrie' follows, a hooky melody propelled by an insistent bassline and a haunting psych tinged haze punctured with sheets of noise.. The story of young Bill Norrie who sends a token to a married woman, whose jealous husband beheads him, without knowing he was his wife's son from an earlier affair. An instrumental palate cleanser arrives in the shape of 'Valtz Efter Tor Lohne' a Norwegian traditional the band jokingly describe as a "banger".
Then we have 'Lovely Joan' which offers a rare note of sly triumph: a quick witted woman outmanoeuvres a predatory nobleman, escaping with his ring and his horse. Muscular riffs give this tale of empowerment a welcome sense of teeth. 'Gower Wassail' is a traditional Welsh folk tune that captures the raucous spirit of communal ritual, noise making and drink fuelled hope for a good harvest. Captured perfectly here by CG complete with wah wah guitar and a drunken groove catching the song's celebratory chaos. Then we have a little gem in 'Last Of All Sleep' , an original band composition and a genuine highlight: a heavy lidded, shoegaze tinged folk reverie, equal parts distortion and delicacy. It's a drop-dead gorgeous shoegaze-tastic psychedelic grunge mini epic. The album closer 'The Unquiet Grave' is a very apt place to finish. It's about a young man whose constant grief at the death of his true love disturbs her eternal sleep so she cannot rest. Even though the playout on this track, complete with a demonic repeated riff and feedback feels suitably bleak, even this song allows a glimmer of release ... we think.
And there we have it, 7 songs, 7 worlds, all honed to perfection by producer Wayne Adams (Green Lung/Big Lad) that will reward every repeated listen.

Folk and metal/heavy rock do have a connection of course, just look at Green Lung and their 'folk horror' infused musical universe, but Crumbling Ghost are a very different beast.
'Four' amply and beautifully demonstrates that when it comes to 'folk horror' there's nothing quite as horrible as folk ... Here, the horror such as it is, and it must be said, the moments of light, comes not from theatrics, but from the songs themselves – which, after all, is where it's always lived.
Crumbling Ghost are John Mosley – Guitar / Donny Hopkins – Guitar / Ruth O’Loughlin – Bass / Katie Harnett – Vocals / Matthew Atkins- Drums.

Members of Raven (NWOBHM). Incredible old school USPM with gorgeous art from Michael Whelan. FFO: Griffin, Liege Lord, (early) Nasty Savage, Satan.

Nach der Veröffentlichung von „idea 1“, kündigt Kelela ihr neues, drittes Album an, das am 10. Juli bei Warp Records erscheint – und veröffentlicht die zweite Single „linknb“, produziert von Oscar Scheller.

Der Track entstand in einer Phase der Schreibblockade und begann als Mantra, das Kelela schrieb, um sich wieder an die Arbeit zu bringen. Angeführt von einem labyrinthischen Gitarrenriff über treibenden Metal-Drums ist „linknb“ ein Song über Selbstvertrauen, das man sich durch Schwierigkeiten erarbeitet hat, darüber, sich nicht klein machen zu lassen. „Es ist nicht schwer, mutig zu sein / Es ist leichter, zu viel preiszugeben / Ich weiß nur, dass ich den Weg geebnet habe, unterbezahlt.“

Das von Mischa Notcutt inszenierte Video versetzt Kelela in die Mitte einer urbanen Traumlandschaft. Als enger Freund und Kelelas ehemaliger Kreativdirektor war Notcutt die naheliegende Wahl. Das Video lässt Realismus und Abstraktion ineinanderfließen und verwandelt eine einsame Reise in eine Meditation über Selbstfindung und Erneuerung.

Mit „new avatar“ rückt alles, worauf Kelela hingearbeitet hat, in den Fokus. Sie begann ihre ersten Songs in der Indie-Szene von Washington, D.C. zu schreiben, bevor die Clubmusik und die elektronische Produktion, die ihre frühe Karriere prägten, die Oberhand gewannen. Mit „new avatar“ schließt sie den Kreis: R&B, unterlegt mit verzerrten Gitarrenklängen, trifft auf neue Schnittstellen in der Tanzmusik und gipfelt in einem Sound, der aus all den musikalischen Einflüssen schöpft, die sie je geprägt haben. Das Album enthält zudem Kollaborationen mit PinkPantheress, A. K. Paul und Fousheé.

„Dieses Album findet Trost in der Konfrontation“, sagt Kelela. „Ich möchte nicht, dass die Musik von dem ablenkt, was wirklich in der Welt vor sich geht; ich möchte, dass sie in dieser verrückten Zeit Sinn ergibt und den Menschen gleichzeitig hilft, mit der Schönheit und Freude in Kontakt zu kommen, die sie ebenfalls erleben.“

Das Album setzt sich mit einer Welt auseinander, die aus allen Nähten auseinanderfällt, und mit der Klarheit, die das Überleben erfordert.

„Die Leute sollten auch wissen, dass meine Freunde und ich ständig lachen und dass Humor kein Abwehrmechanismus ist; er ist Ausdruck dafür, wie scharfsinnig wir die Dinge einschätzen und wie klar wir die Welt sehen.“

Im Kern schildert „new avatar“ eine vielschichtige Erfahrung, und obwohl die Außenwelt präsent ist, schwächt sie Kelelas Entschlossenheit zu keinem Zeitpunkt.

About Kelela: Throughout her globally revered, boundary-pushing career, Kelela has established a lane of her own in R&B and electronic music. On her long-awaited third album, new avatar, the singer/songwriter (through the versatility of the guitar) challenges perceptions of these genres, while weaving together fragments of lived experiences to shape a world of connection and resilience during times of unrest.

The songs journey through Black femme rage, joy as resistance, Gotham City-esque dystopia, misogynoir, romantic tension, and more. It’s anchored by production that demands a broader rethink about alternative, rock and indie music.

Kelela’s defiant nature has propelled her so far already — from her hometown of Washington, D.C to world stages. In 2013, she released her debut mixtape, Cut 4 Me. She continued solidifying her revolutionary R&B sound with 2015’s Hallucinogen EP, with The New York Times naming its single, “Rewind,” one of the “25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going”. By 2017, she released her electric debut album Take Me Apart (which was followed by 2018’s TAKE ME A_PART, THE REMIXES), building upon her intimate storytelling.

After a nearly five-year hiatus, she returned in 2023 with her groundbreaking second album, Raven, and its critically-acclaimed counterpart, RAVE:N, The Remixes in 2024. Raven has been hailed as one of the ‘Best Albums of 2023’ by Pitchfork, Billboard, Vulture, Variety, and more, while the remixes solidified her as a leader in the dance music space.

In 2025, Kelela showcased yet another innovative side of her artistry with her live album In The Blue Light, which hit #5 on the Contemporary Jazz chart and #20 on the Jazz Albums chart. Now, with new avatar, Kelela displays the masterful intention she puts into forming new sonic cityscapes. But don’t confuse it with escapism: “I don't want the music to be a distraction from what's really going on in the world; I want it to help you get into it.”

HARTHBALL are an avant/noise/rock wrecking ball of a band from Nanaimo, Canada. Rooted in total improvisation, free expression, and a deeply psychedelic sensibility, EarthBall operate on pure instinct.
They hurtle onwards in a combustion of spontaneous composition, shooting from the hip, as they fall out of the sky ablaze. The group encompasses Isabel Ford (vocals, bass), John Brennan (drums, percussion), Jeremy Van Wyke (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Kellan Maclaughlin (guitar, talkbox), and Liam Murphy (saxophone). Each member brings a rich and varied musical history, with past and present projects including Shearing Pinx, Plan Your Future, Kamikaze Nurse, Eschatons, and Psychedelic Dirt. Collectively and individually, they have collaborated with artists such as Deerhoof, Raven Chacon, Chris Corsano, and William Hooker, deepening the band’s exploratory reach and collective language.
Since forming in 2021, EarthBall have released six cassettes and three fervently received LPs on Upset The Rhythm, including November’s widely acclaimed Outside Over There. Their latest release, Actual Earth Music - Volume 3 & 4, follows the first instalment in the series and captures two mind-quaking highlights from last winter’s European tour. This is EarthBall plunging to full fathom five, transforming into something rich and strange - channeling the fleeting moment as it fractures, erupts, and dissolves into the unknown.
Side A captures a thumping performance at Cave12 in Geneva. Frazzled from a white-knuckle alpine descent, the group settles into a hypnotic sprawl, stretching time and form across a colossal 53-minute set (with the first 22 minutes presented on the LP; the full performance appears on the CD edition). The Cave12 recording is a study in tension and release; ruminative, volatile, and barely contained. Drums stumble and surge, saxophone howls cut through the air, and Ford and Van Wyke’s voices briefly pull together the circle twice, before the tumult lapses into a spinning maelstrom.
Side B meanwhile presents a scorched excerpt from EarthBall’s crushing performance at Le Guess Who? Festival. As Van Wyke reflects: “Having the most excellent Dwarfs of East Agouza play before us only heightened our intention to bring the noise. Listening back, the thing that strikes me most is how we truly were operating in the ever-elusive but always sought-after ‘group mind’. Ninety-degree changes are super tight. Izzy and I are finishing each other’s sentences. Liam’s horn is cradling our outer and inner space. Kellan’s talk box rains down like the voice of a reawakened spirit, and all this havoc is safely stowed in the rumbling ox-cart of John’s solid drumming”.
Actual Earth Music - Volume 3 & 4 marks another ascent in EarthBall’s ever-expanding, totemic discography, an ecstatic storm of raw immediacy and unfiltered expression.

Bitter Honey is the new album by Eric Silverman. Produced in collaboration with Damien Lewis, the album finds Silverman leaving behind the acid-fried desert rock of 2023’s Stay In It for something far more lush and expansive—a collection of ten psychedelic rock, pop, and folk tracks inspired by Peter Gabriel, John Cale, and Jeff Tweedy. Fittingly, the album is named after the “mad honey” of the rhododendron flower, a rare and potent hallucinogenic found high in the Himalayas.
The process of writing and recording the album started in early 2023, when Silverman and longtime collaborator Lewis retreated to a cabin near Nevada City, CA. Over the course of a week they sketched out the bones of nearly half the album, with Silverman recording the guitar solo for album opener “Anthropocene” live in one take during a particularly inspired moment. Meanwhile, “Get In Where You Fit In”, inspired by a bumper sticker Silverman saw heading up the mountain, was recorded on Jerry Garcia’s old 8-track tape machine and features pedal steel by Jake (Freeman) DeJongh. While at the cabin they also captured the field recordings that bookend the album, starting with the intro of “Anthropocene” and ending with the outro of “Bitter Honey” - an infinite loop.

Later on they decamped to Palomino Sound in LA for a round of sessions – tracking “Light Me Up” and “Trapped In Reverse” while making use of the prodigious assortment of vintage instruments at their disposal, including a 65’ Wurlitzer electric piano that became the centerpiece of a number of tracks. Eventually the pair ended up at 2200 Studios (formerly The Record Plant) in Sausalito, CA—a legendary studio where Prince, The Grateful Dead, and Fleetwood Mac made classic records. It was there that they tracked “New Light”, featuring strings by brothers Graham and Lewis Patzner; recorded all of Adam MacDougall’s (The Black Crowes, Circles Around the Sun) overdubs, including his synth leads on “Living the Dream”; and mixed the album in Studio A.

In a lot of ways Bitter Honey is Silverman’s first proper studio album. It’s also the first time Silverman has sat in the producer’s chair, this time around sharing the credit with Lewis. While his debut album was a product of its environment, all first takes and raw energy, Bitter Honey is thoughtful and focused, the best work Silverman has done and the culmination of his decade plus creative partnership with Lewis.
Highly anticipated sophomore album from Eric Silverman. Press coverage includes reviews and features in Raven Sings the Blues, and more.
“...threading the quicksilver needle of psych, AOR, and ‘70s Cocaine Cowboy territory.” - Raven Sings the Blues.

Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders return with their best album yet, and a UK tour this August. Press by Silver PR
‘’On the alternate timeline where the Meat Puppets inherited the bulk of the Grateful Dead’s tourheads when Jerry Garcia died in 1995, none of this would be necessary, because Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders are a household name for evolving their own musical space that overlays dusty folk, cosmic jazz, deep psych, free improv, and even (gasp!) indie rock, building an audience that ranges from open-eared curiosity seekers to deep committed music weirdos that’s also yielded the Heavy Lidders, an infamous sub-cult of concert tapers that you’re already sick of hearing about. A lot of other things are better over on that timeline, too.
But in this consensus reality (and probably the other one, too), Liquid Donnon catches the Lidders at their heaviest, “heavy” in the Lidderverse being far from a monolithic musical idea. There’s heavy like the album-opening “From Loch Raven to Fells Point,” one of several tracks with elegant and gnarled conversational jams featuring the core Lidders lineup of Alexander alongside guitarist Drew Gardner and bassist Jesse Sheppard (both of Elkhorn) and drummer Scott Verrastro. But there’s heavy, too, like “Calliope Walker” and “Tightroping,” featuring Gardner shifted to dream-space vibraphone, the former with saxophonist Tacuma Bradley, the latter with Christina Carter of Texas noise-psych legends Charalambides on veil-crossing wordless vocals, her first collaboration with Alexander in some 20 years.
But then there’s also heavy like the cover photo of Alexander’s late friend and album namesake Donnon, taken at a Dead show at Rich Stadium in Buffalo in 1989, a spirit threading through the songs and weaving unexpectedly into Alexander’s life decades later, emerging especially when Alexander passed through a near-death experience of his own. But, taken together, the different heavies of Liquid Donnon add up into a state of musical grace, where all the Heavy Lidders from all the universes come together as one. Just, like, imagine.
Convened in 2019 on Alexander’s relocation back to his native east coast, the Heavy Lidders are the latest hard-touring expression for the guitarist’s music, joining a vast and tangled discography (and tape list) that includes the beloved long-running west coast Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band and, before them, the Iditarod and Black Forest/Black Sea, as well as a bushel of solo play-all-the-instruments projects, a stint with Jackie-O Motherfucker, sessions with Kemialliset Ystävät and Avarus and others, and you’ll have to keep digging for the rest.
And while it’s not hard to find tapers at Lidders gigs (and they encourage you to be one), or to track themes and songs over Alexander’s many live releases, Liquid Donnon makes a new primary text, the original versions of six new pieces for the repertoire. The album closes with a devastating pairing of “Reservoir Drop” into “The Summer Song,” floating into a duo between Alexander’s guitar and Carter’s voice. Catch a half-dozen Lidders shows this summer, and you might not ever catch them playing it like that again, but you just might open the doorway back to that better place." - Jesse Jarnow (writer, WFMU DJ, producer and host of The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast)

Irgendwann um das Jahr 2024 tauchte Vorhex Angel scheinbar aus dem Nichts auf: keine Social-Media-Präsenz, keine Identitäten, lediglich ihr Name tauchte hier und da auf einem Flyer in Nashville oder New Orleans auf. Wer neugierig genug war, um ihre Live-Show zu besuchen, konnte mit einer Vielzahl unerwarteter Dinge konfrontiert werden, die die Sinne anregten: aufwendige Bühnenbilder, Stroboskoplichter (oder alternativ völlige Dunkelheit), brennende Gegenstände, vor dem Auftritt eingenommene Rauschmittel. Die Musik bei diesen Auftritten passte zu dem Mysterium. Sie war laut, unberechenbar und verdammt viszeral. Wenn die beiden Live-Veröffentlichungen der Gruppe und ihr Debüt ,Heavenly" tatsächlich viszeral sind (Raven Sings the Blues nannte sie ja ,Erben des Strudels von High Rise"), dann ist der Nachfolger ,Drain" sicherlich ihr intellektuelles Werk. Seine sieben Tracks führen den Hörer vom Morgen bis zur Nacht, ein weitläufiges experimentelles Doppelalbum mit überlebensgroßen Gitarrensoli, spacigen Drone-Exkursionen und Momenten von kraftvoller Intensität durch das gesamte Werk. Zum ersten Mal sehen wir, wie Vorhex Angel ihren hämmernden Klangangriff gegen stimmungsvolle und dramatischere Gefilde eintauschen. Die Band - bestehend aus den Brüdern Jake und Jamin Orrall von JEFF the Brotherhood und Kunal Prakash von Silver Synthetic - erweitert die Grenzen des Vorhex-Angel-Konzepts, lädt neue Musiker in ihren Kreis ein, geht mehr Risiken ein und erntet dafür umso mehr. ,Drain ist keine Musik, die man im Hintergrund beim Kochen laufen lässt", warnt Kunal, bevor er zwinkert: ,Vielleicht ist sie etwas für besonders abenteuerlustige Köche." Vorhex Angel verspricht, dass noch mehr kommen wird. Mehr Jams, mehr unerwartete Wendungen - allein in diesem Jahr können wir mindestens eine Tour und mindestens zwei (!) weitere Alben erwarten. Vorerst gibt es ,Drain" zu feiern, sich damit auseinanderzusetzen, damit der Hörer wie die Musik selbst ein- und ausatmen kann, mit reichlich Raum für gedankliche Kontemplation. SPA Sometime around 2024, Vorhex Angel emerged seemingly out of the ether: no social media presence, no identities, simply their name popping up in Nashville or New Orleans on a flyer here and there. Those with enough curiosity to attend their live show could be met with any number of unexpected things to spike the senses: elaborate stage dressing, strobe lights (alternatively, complete darkness), burning things, pre-performance ingestibles. The music at those functions matched the mystery. They were loud, unhinged, and visceral as all hell. If the group's two live releases and debut Heavenly are indeed visceral (Raven Sings the Blues did name them "heirs to the maelstrom of High Rise"), then followup Drain is surely their cerebral offering. Its seven tracks guide the listener from morning to night, a sprawling experimental double album with larger than life guitar solos, spaced-out drone excursions, and moments of potent intensity throughout. For the first time, we see Vorhex Angel trade their pummeling sonic onslaught for moody and more dramatic pastures. The band-revealed to be brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall of JEFF the Brotherhood and Silver Synthetic's Kunal Prakash-push the parameters of the Vorhex Angel concept outward, inviting new players into their circle, adding more risk and generating more reward. "Drain is not in-the-background cooking-type music," warns Kunal, before winking: "Maybe it is for particularly adventurous chefs." Vorhex Angel promises there will be more. More jams, more left turns-just this year, we can expect at least one tour and at least two (!) more albums. For now, there is Drain to celebrate, to sit and chew on, to allow the listener to breathe out and in like the music does, with ample room for cerebral contemplation.

Step into a candy box of sound: sweet Italo-infused house and tangy, bass-heavy breaks. Some tracks hit like hard candy, daring you to bite, while others are sticky and irresistible, gluing you to the dancefloor. B.Visible tasted all the sweet treats without losing a tooth, but the synths took a proper beating. On this DJ tool, you'll find a track for every part of your set, with a package that nods to '90s electronic music without losing its timeless charm.

B.Visible is a Vienna-based DJ and producer. His sets blend danceable beats with a strong musical vision - ranging from disco and house to breaks and experimental electronics, complemented by rare vinyl discoveries. Each selection is surprising, versatile, and curated with great attention to detail. His productions are just as multifaceted as his DJ sets: warm drums and organic textures meet carefully crafted electronic elements designed with the dancefloor in mind. The result is a distinctive signature style - accessible, diverse, and independent. His music is regularly featured on Austrian radio stations such as FM4 and receives international
support from BBC DJs including Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Don Letts. B.Visible's music thrives on surprise and depth - whether in the studio or on stage, it always unfolds with a unique dynamic, drawing audiences in from the very first moment.

Mit "Angriff auf"s Schlaraffenland" veröffentlicht Tapete Records eine umfassende, musikalisch kuratierte Reise durch 50 Jahre deutschsprachigen Punk - von den frühen Experimenten der späten 1970er bis zu modernen Positionen der Gegenwart. Die Compilation begleitet die Jubiläums-Veröffentlichungen des Ventil Verlags, der über 200 Autor:innen zu ihren prägendsten Punk-Songs versammelt und damit das Vermächtnis sowie die Relevanz des Genres würdigt. Wie ein gutes Mixtape verzichtet die Sammlung bewusst auf Chronologie und setzt auf rein musikalische Kriterien: rohe Energie, politische Haltung, Humor, Widerspruchsgeist und stilistische Vielfalt. Vertreten sind u. a. Die Radierer, Hans-A-Plast, Palais Schaumburg, Egotronic, Bärchen und die Milchbubis, Toxoplasma, Slime, Schnipo Schranke, Stereo Total, Die Nerven - Bands, die Punk mit Pop, Dada, Elektronik, Chanson oder Noise neu definiert haben. "Angriff auf"s Schlaraffenland" ist damit ein unverzichtbares Dokument für alle, die Punk nicht als Nostalgie, sondern als lebendige, widersprüchliche und weiterhin unbequeme Kulturform verstehen.

Much like the duo’s music, the story of Rural France is both mundane and magical. Tom Brown (also of transatlantic janglepunks Teenage Tom Petties) and Rob Fawkes moved to London in their mid-twenties. Despite living under the same roof, they never picked up a guitar – except for one drunken, failed attempt at writing a Spoon song (“Big Chops” …don’t ask). It was only after both separately relocating to Wiltshire and starting families that they began assembling songs as a way of meeting up. Tom had amassed a pile of sprightly slacker jams that were calling out for Fawkes’ messily melodic guitar lines. Rural France was born.

After a debut album on their hero, ex-Lemonhead Nic Dalton’s Half-a-Cow Records, they retreated to a garage to record their next two albums: RF (2021) and Exacamondo! (2024), both released on much-respected jangle label Meritorio Records. Despite being lo-fi in the truest GbV sense, both records were warmly received by the DIY indie blogosphere, with their short, scrappy, but supremely melodic songs landing on numerous AOTY lists. RF even won Album of the Year at Janglepop Hub.

Raven Sings The Blues probably summed up the sound best: “With drunken visions of Beach Boys harmonies playing in the back of their heads and hooks that consume Teenage Fanclub cheeriness with the same beautiful brevity that drives Tony Molina, the pair have knocked out eleven rumpled classics.” Album four, SLOTHS, arrives via Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home Records on 08/05, and is a slightly different beast. For one, it’s been mixed by a professional – Rob Slater (Westside Cowboy, Yard Act, Thank) – giving the guitars and drums room to breathe. It’s easily their most high-fidelity record to date. It’s also their jangliest, most baroque and thoughtful album yet. But alongside added organ, horns and mellotron – and drums from Tom’s Teenage Tom Petties bandmate Jeff Hamm – it still retains the buzzes, hums and little freak-outs that stick to the duo’s original “Pavement playing Teenage Fanclub” mission statement. “Rob and I both wanted to do something a little slower and a little more melancholy,” says Tom. “We resisted our usual urge to hit the distortion pedal and made something that fitted where we are now and celebrates how we still listen to Meatloaf when we get drunk.”

SLOTHS is also the most thematically consistent Rural France record to date. While it wouldn’t be right to call it grown-up, it definitely has homeowners’ insurance. From the Silver Jews-esque Americana of “Slab” and mid-life rallying cry of “Thirty Seven Forever”, to the horn-embossed loser anthem “Lonely Heart Pyramid Scheme,” the songs celebrate (and rail against) the absurdities of getting older, forming a band in your thirties, and the strange phenomenon of time passing. Because no matter how slow you move, everything else goes fast. SLOTHS.

High Roller Records, reissue 2022, black vinyl

Hard rock paired with a pinch of cowpunk and hearty Danish gruffness: This unique mix has earned D-A-D a passionate fan base whose loyalty and devotion extends far beyond Scandinavia. A bond just as deeply rooted, as that between Hamburg dark rock giants MONO INC. (whose current album Darkness once again conquered the top spot on the German charts) and their raven family. Back in 2008, MONO INC. paid tribute to D-A-D with a cover version of “Sleeping My Day Away” and today, what belongs together rocks together, as MONO INC. plays D-A-D! What's more, in MONO INC.'s version of Grow or Pay, their epic, melancholic dark rock meets the unmistakable raspy voice of D-A-D singer Jesper Binzer.

“We've adored D-A-D since we first saw them live in the early 1990s,” explains MONO INC. mastermind Martin Engler. “The fact that we were able to get Jesper Binzer on board for our version of ”Grow or Pay“ and that D-A-D will also be joining us as special guests on our 2026 tour in Bremen and Munich is almost too much of an honor.”

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Der mehrfach mit Platin ausgezeichnete Sänger und Songwriter Dermot Kennedy veröffentlicht am 3. April
sein drittes Studioalbum „The Weight Of The Woods“. Das Album entstand in enger Zusammenarbeit mit
dem renommierten Produzenten Gabe Simon, der bereits mit Künstlern wie Noah Kahan und Lana Del
Rey gearbeitet hat. Aufgenommen wurde das neue Werk sowohl in Dermot Kennedys Heimat Irland als
auch in Nashville und verbindet damit persönliche Wurzeln mit internationalem Sound.
Dermot Kennedys Karriere nahm 2017 mit der EP „Doves & Ravens“ ihren Anfang. Zwei Jahre später
folgte sein Debütalbum „Without Fear“, das in Irland zum erfolgreichsten Debüt eines irischen Künstlers
aller Zeiten avancierte. Auch international feierte das Album große Erfolge: Es erreichte die Top 20
der US-Charts, Platz 11 der deutschen Albumcharts und wurde in insgesamt zwölf Ländern mit Platin
ausgezeichnet.
Mit seinem zweiten Album „Sonder“ setzte Dermot Kennedy 2022 seinen Erfolgskurs fort und überzeugte
erneut sowohl Fans als auch Kritiker. Insgesamt wurden bislang vier seiner Singles in Deutschland mit Gold
ausgezeichnet.
Auch live sorgte Dermot Kennedy für Aufsehen, unter anderem 2019 beim Reeperbahn Festival sowie beim
Finale von „The Voice“. Darüber hinaus wurde er 2020 bei den Brit Awards als „International Solo Artist“
nominiert. Mit „The Weight Of The Woods“ knüpft Dermot Kennedy nun an seine beeindruckende Karriere
an und schlägt zugleich ein neues musikalisches Kapitel auf.

This Raven With A Crown 02 is a new fledgling label materializes in the Violent Cases universe. Corvus Corone - also known as the carrion crow - is stylistically dedicated to true Tribal sounds.This is not chipmunk tribal with laughing gas voices, this is serious stuff as you can expect from Violent Cases because evil forces are invading lala land and we need to gather the tribes. The roadmap for the project covers territory cultivated by the likes of Isotope, LBE and DSP just to name a few reference points.
First in flight is a full release by As’teka Nahuatl who just featured on MSTR 13.
Corvus Corone is styled by TDSiGNZ, whose design skills consistently lend the Violent Cases sub-labels a fresh, disciplined minimalist touch. As he previously created for “Endless Night”... More is forthcoming - because the Violent Ravens nest has another spawn in the breed. Keep an eye out for their upcoming signs!
Mastering by Stefan ZMK.
A1 – Musicō'teka
20k rig in the catacombs of the pyramid of the sun. Join the war dance. 160 beasts
A2 - Tekno Drops (feat. Lil’ Nahuatl)
Serious old school dancefloor vibes under the wings of crows circling above. 170 beasts
B1 – Shaman Children
Inducing a long trancy journey heeding the shaman’s call. 170 beasts

Dread Spectre Council is Kenneth Amundsen"s solo-moniker compiling years of archival demos reimagined and re-recorded. First presented through the debut EP "Dystopia/Eons" (2024) feat. Dale Crover (Melvins/Nirvana/Redd Kross) on drums. Connected to bands like Mindy Misty, Le Corbeau and Izakaya Heartbeat, - He has sneaked around the Norwegian indie scene for the past two decades. On Thetans Kenneth plays all instruments, records and mixes himself in a solitary catharsis. Bringing emotive confessionals, barn-burners and sect nodding psychedelics together in a melancholy-stroked indie rock epos, "unshakably human" as described by Last Day Deaf . A gang of co-conspirators is lurking to join for future releases and tours.

Dread Spectre Council is Kenneth Amundsen"s solo-moniker compiling years of archival demos reimagined and re-recorded. First presented through the debut EP "Dystopia/Eons" (2024) feat. Dale Crover (Melvins/Nirvana/Redd Kross) on drums. Connected to bands like Mindy Misty, Le Corbeau and Izakaya Heartbeat, - He has sneaked around the Norwegian indie scene for the past two decades. On Thetans Kenneth plays all instruments, records and mixes himself in a solitary catharsis. Bringing emotive confessionals, barn-burners and sect nodding psychedelics together in a melancholy-stroked indie rock epos, "unshakably human" as described by Last Day Deaf . A gang of co-conspirators is lurking to join for future releases and tours.

"Morning Star" zeigt Kekht Aräkh auf dem Weg zu einer authentischeren, verfeinerten Version seiner selbst. Das Album wurde in Berlin und Stockholm aufgenommen und entstand in einer Phase intensiven persönlichen und künstlerischen Wachstums. Es verbindet aggressive Black-Metal-Passagen mit immersiven, strukturierten Klanglandschaften, die sowohl intim als auch weitläufig wirken. Seit seinen Anfängen in Mykolajiw, Ukraine, hat Dmitry (alias Crying Orc), der alleinige Kopf hinter dem Projekt, einen unverwechselbaren Weg innerhalb des Black Metal gesucht. Diese Vision entfaltete sich durch sein Debütalbum "Through the Branches to Eternity EP" (2018) und die Alben "Night & Love" (2018) und "Pale Swordsman" (2021), die eine charakteristische Spannung zwischen wildem, viszeralem Black Metal und zarten, introspektiven Balladen etablierten. Auf "Morning Star" erreicht diese Dynamik eine neue Tiefe. Das Album entstand in einer Phase künstlerischer Klarheit und erkundet eine rauere, persönlichere Gefühlspalette, geprägt von Stress, Angst und langen Phasen der Schreibblockade, was ihm eine seltene Unmittelbarkeit und Verletzlichkeit verleiht. Dmitry nahm fast alle Instrumente selbst auf, das Schlagzeug stammt von Jonathan (Spira Me, Vanskapth, Olycka). Bladee steuerte den Gesang bei und war Co-Autor der Texte zu "Eternal Martyr", eine unerwartete Zusammenarbeit, die eine intuitive Chemie offenbart. VS--55 und Varg2Ö fügen abstrakte Samples und subtile Texturdesigns hinzu, die "Morning Star" seine unverwechselbare Körnigkeit und analoge Wärme verleihen, während James Ginzburg (Emptyset, Osmium) sich um das finale Mastering kümmerte und die dynamische Tiefe und atmosphärische Fülle verstärkte. Mehrere Tracks greifen früheres Material mit neuen Perspektiven wieder auf. ,Wänderer" und ,Drömsang" wurden teilweise neu aufgenommen oder komplett neu interpretiert. Intensive, treibende Passagen kollidieren mit spärlichen, kontemplativen Zwischenspielen und erzeugen eine Landschaft, die sowohl viszeral als auch eindringlich ist. Themen wie Isolation und Wanderschaft tauchen in "Wänderer" auf, traumhafte Melancholie in ,Drömsang", existenzielle Kämpfe in "Angest" und Reflexionen über Zeit und Transformation in "Three winters away". Mit "Morning Star" verbindet Kekht Aräkh vergangene Erkundungen mit neuer kollaborativer Energie und produziert ein Album, das die Black-Metal-Tradition der 90er Jahre würdigt und gleichzeitig Lo-Fi-Wärme, melancholische Melodien, klangliche Experimente und emotionale Offenheit umfasst. Das Ergebnis ist ein zutiefst persönliches Statement - ein Album, das sowohl eine Ankunft als auch eine Fortsetzung seiner künstlerischen Reise darstellt.

"Morning Star" zeigt Kekht Aräkh auf dem Weg zu einer authentischeren, verfeinerten Version seiner selbst. Das Album wurde in Berlin und Stockholm aufgenommen und entstand in einer Phase intensiven persönlichen und künstlerischen Wachstums. Es verbindet aggressive Black-Metal-Passagen mit immersiven, strukturierten Klanglandschaften, die sowohl intim als auch weitläufig wirken. Seit seinen Anfängen in Mykolajiw, Ukraine, hat Dmitry (alias Crying Orc), der alleinige Kopf hinter dem Projekt, einen unverwechselbaren Weg innerhalb des Black Metal gesucht. Diese Vision entfaltete sich durch sein Debütalbum "Through the Branches to Eternity EP" (2018) und die Alben "Night & Love" (2018) und "Pale Swordsman" (2021), die eine charakteristische Spannung zwischen wildem, viszeralem Black Metal und zarten, introspektiven Balladen etablierten. Auf "Morning Star" erreicht diese Dynamik eine neue Tiefe. Das Album entstand in einer Phase künstlerischer Klarheit und erkundet eine rauere, persönlichere Gefühlspalette, geprägt von Stress, Angst und langen Phasen der Schreibblockade, was ihm eine seltene Unmittelbarkeit und Verletzlichkeit verleiht. Dmitry nahm fast alle Instrumente selbst auf, das Schlagzeug stammt von Jonathan (Spira Me, Vanskapth, Olycka). Bladee steuerte den Gesang bei und war Co-Autor der Texte zu "Eternal Martyr", eine unerwartete Zusammenarbeit, die eine intuitive Chemie offenbart. VS--55 und Varg2Ö fügen abstrakte Samples und subtile Texturdesigns hinzu, die "Morning Star" seine unverwechselbare Körnigkeit und analoge Wärme verleihen, während James Ginzburg (Emptyset, Osmium) sich um das finale Mastering kümmerte und die dynamische Tiefe und atmosphärische Fülle verstärkte. Mehrere Tracks greifen früheres Material mit neuen Perspektiven wieder auf. ,Wänderer" und ,Drömsang" wurden teilweise neu aufgenommen oder komplett neu interpretiert. Intensive, treibende Passagen kollidieren mit spärlichen, kontemplativen Zwischenspielen und erzeugen eine Landschaft, die sowohl viszeral als auch eindringlich ist. Themen wie Isolation und Wanderschaft tauchen in "Wänderer" auf, traumhafte Melancholie in ,Drömsang", existenzielle Kämpfe in "Angest" und Reflexionen über Zeit und Transformation in "Three winters away". Mit "Morning Star" verbindet Kekht Aräkh vergangene Erkundungen mit neuer kollaborativer Energie und produziert ein Album, das die Black-Metal-Tradition der 90er Jahre würdigt und gleichzeitig Lo-Fi-Wärme, melancholische Melodien, klangliche Experimente und emotionale Offenheit umfasst. Das Ergebnis ist ein zutiefst persönliches Statement - ein Album, das sowohl eine Ankunft als auch eine Fortsetzung seiner künstlerischen Reise darstellt.

The Astonishing is the thirteenth studio album by Dream Theater. The Astonishing is set in a dystopian future United States and follows the Ravenskill Rebel Militia in their efforts to defy the Great Northern Empire

of the Americas using the magical power of music. It was inspired by contemporary fantasy and science fiction franchises such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars, as well as John Petrucci’s observations on the

ubiquity of technological automation in modern-day society. Limited edition 4LP release on clear vinyl.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s highly anticipated second album, Come Creeping Fiends, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Released in 2019 via DYING VICTIMS, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s Havoc at the Midnight Hour debut album introduced this British power-trio with no small amount of sleazy, Satanic fanfare. While their background may jointly lie in black metal, the three un-gentlemen of AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR held high heavy metal done the ancient way: classic Tank, early Raven, Warfare, and of course the almighty Venom as well as modern torchbearers like Midnight, Whipstriker, and Power From Hell. Unsurprisingly, the album garnered international acclaim. Eclipsing that feat is the band’s second album, Come Creeping Fiends.

Truly titled once again, Come Creeping Fiends comprises nine tracks of heavy metal for the insane, forged in the Manchester morgue. Raging like a ravenous beast, summoning ancient ones, and agonizing with morbid doom, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR cover a lot of ground here, but like the rotting undead that inspired it, this second album somehow holds together. The same black magic that made Havoc at the Midnight Hour a highlight six(-six-six) years ago is here again, only this time with a higher kill count and hit rate. Cleaner and crisper in execution but somehow darker and dirtier in its content, Come Creeping Fiends offers highlights at every crooked turn; tunes like “Strange Companion,” “Fiend in You,” and lead track “Dead Undead” will have all the witches dancing. Needless to say, fans of maniacal, EVIL heavy metal music and horror movies will find a lot to love. The wait for AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s second album might have been long, but Come Creeping Fiends will prove to be worth it…

She studied classical music on viola from the age of 3 through into college where she was on a path to be a performer in a large ensemble, but eventually left after feeling frustrated and limited in a world that did not provide much of an outlet for individual creativity. But the doors of perception really opened when she moved to British Columbia and was exposed to the raw beauty of the wilderness there.

She began recording at home using a basic audio setup along with a cello, viola, violin and double bass, and spent time making field recordings of natural sounds in BC. Her next idea was to actually move into nature to record, curious as to “how it would sound if I recorded outside entirely, with the natural reverb and sounds of the environment in the recording from the very beginning. The rustling of the leaves or a raven’s beating wings were as integral to the music as whatever I played.”

Fables is a mix of pieces that were recorded in the fall of 2024, in a small, remote cabin and outside, primarily using stringed instruments. The result is a series of stunning vignettes, meditations patiently unfurling like gentle waves, slowly advancing and retreating.4, in a small, remote cabin and outside, primarily using stringed instruments. The result is a series of stunning vignettes, meditations patiently unfurling like gentle waves, slowly advancing and retreating.

Brooklyn duo The Still Brothers is a musical project of childhood friends Evan Heinze (The Shacks/Big Crown) and Andrew LeCoche (Ula Ruth). Heinze has toured with the likes of Khraungbin, Lee Fields and Cut Chemist, while LeCoche’s old band once opened for Paul Simon and Edie Brickell. A former student of Madlib’s uncle Jon Faddis, LeCoche has scored music for Netflix and Patagonia and sound design for Twitter, Patron, and Marvel. Signing to Lewis Recordings in 2020 the band’s first single ‘The Deep’ was instantly picked up by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music who regularly plays it to this day. ‘Wake Up’ featuring the vocals of Marina B. spent six weeks on the BBC 6 Music playlist gaining support from Lauren Laverne, Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Craig Charles, Huey Morgan, Cerys Matthews, Don Letts, Tom Ravenscroft and Guy Garvey. Lockdown didn’t slow down the band’s creativity with many tracks on their self-titled debut EP recorded remotely. Two such tracks were the collaborations with London based singer/songwriter Shauna Kelly aka Shoshy. ‘It’s Not Over’ and ‘Crazy’ were released on 7” and both received BBC radio support. Marina B stepped back on the mic with the upbeat hit ‘I Wanna Be With You’, a dancefloor filler mixed by St. Frances Hotel (producer for Michael Kiwanuka). The b-side ‘Sungalz’ is a hazy dream pop number that started life as an instrumental jam

FRQNCY LDN, the new project from Alex Lavery and James Ford (producer du jour and one half of Simian Mobile Disco), are releasing their debut album ‘The White Edition’ on 5 September via PRAH Recordings. Alongside the news of their debut album, the duo are sharing the first taste in ‘Matthias’ Wajd’, which they describe as “a rousing, instrumental piece from the middle of the set where the whole ensemble became balanced providing moments where Raven played violin with haunting yet uplifting melodies within the cavernous reverb of the church. Interestingly, at this moment, most of the audience who had been laying down rose to watch the performance like a gig, like an awakening.”

Initially conceived as a live project with earlier performances at churches in London and at Glastonbury, FRQNCY LDN’s music is a mix of strings, gongs, oscillators, FX, and spoken word, and the result is a musical experience unlike any other. Now that immersive magic has been captured on their debut release through Prah Recordings.

The music that FRQNCY LDN are releasing as their debut album is from an extraordinary live take from a performance at St Matthias Church in Stoke Newington last year, and thanks in no small part to the serendipitous bunch of musicians they assembled: composer and violinist Raven Bush, clarinettist Arun Ghosh, cellist Satin Beige Chousmer, and harpist Chloe Chousmer-Kerr. Alongside Lavery and Ford and assisted by engineer Animesh Ravel, they were able to capture the music to a world class level.

FRQNCY LDN has its roots in a supermoon that occurred three summers ago, after the hottest day of the year. Two of Lavery’s friends gave a sound bath that evening. “I’m not overly into astronomy or anything but the experience was nuts,” he says. “I had to find out what had just happened. What felt like forty minutes was actually two and a half hours. We were all out. It was so profound that I was hooked.”

He immediately signed up for a sound therapy course where he learned about what he calls a “brain hack” to meditation. “The thing about sound therapy is there’s a lot that’s meditation-based, and I find meditation really difficult. I’ve got a very busy brain. What was alluring about this process of sound immersion, a sound bath, whatever you want to call it, is it’s basically a hack to making your brain get into a meditative state.”

FRQNCY LDN’s early shows crystallised their ideas into a project, and Lavery brought poet Nikita Gill on board as a vocalist. “One of the first poems she gave to me, ‘Unwitches’ was in response to me explaining that I’d love this project to be perceived as something anyone could access. It’s not just for the sound meditation or the yoga, or the mushroom crowd. No one should be turned off by connotations from where the music comes from, I love music but I’d never be into that because it’s too woo-woo. Nikita said she’d had this poem for a long time but she’d never found the right home for it.”

And in an increasingly busy and fraught world, the need to tune out for an hour or so, and maybe tune in to something more profound, is only going to get bigger.

Don Leisure has cemented his name as one of the most forward-thinking and experimental beatmakers & producers within the current musical ecosystem. As well as being 50% of Darkhouse Family (alongside Earl Jeffers) he has collaborated with the likes of Angel Bat Dawid, Gruff Rhys, DJ Spinna and First Word label-mates Amanda Whiting & Tyler Daley (Children of Zeus). Garnering serious support from Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft, Huw Stephens, Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, The Vinyl Factory, Clash, Uncut and many more. Following the release of ‘Cynnau Tân (feat. Carywyn Ellis)’ (which gained support across BBC Radio from Tom Ravenscroft, Zakia & Huw Stephens) Welsh beatmaker Don Leisure announces the release of a new album ‘Tyrchu Sain’) as he returns with a new single ‘Tyrchu’ due for release on 22nd January 2025. ‘Tyrchu’ features the soft-spoken vocal stylings of Gruff Rhys over a gently rolling, tape saturated and expertly chopped instrumental, creating (in Gruff’s own words) ‘Shiny new beat-treasures with ghostly reflections of Welsh pop’s past - skillfully dug from Sain Records’ deepest veins’

A dedicated student of music, over the years, Don has amassed a vast encyclopaedic knowledge of music genres and subcultures, including a fascination with Welsh psychedelic folk music from the mid-20th century. This introduction was made by respected musician, producer & selector Andy Votel’s 2005 two-part compilation series ‘Welsh Rare Beat’ (in collaboration with Gruff Rhys and Don Thomas), comprising twenty-five tracks from Sain Records’ back catalogue. Now the oldest independent record label in Wales, Sain is a wildly influential bastion of home-grown Welsh talent, co-founded by Welsh-language folk singer Dafydd Iwan, whose music has seen a cultural resurgence in recent years with his 1983 song Yma o Hyd (We’re Still Here) becoming a huge anthem for Wales football fans. Set up in the Welsh capital, many of Sain’s early releases were recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, but in the early 1970s the record company moved to the Caernarfon area and opened their first recording studio in 1974 near Llandwrog. Announcing a huge digitisation project throughout 2024, Sain Records took on the mammoth task of painstakingly digitising their entire back catalogue spanning 55 years, working in partnership with the National Library of Wales the resulting archive then be submitted for to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, preserving them for future generations to enjoy. Taking this period of rediscovery as an opportunity to reimagine their impressive inventory, Sain invited Don Leisure to dig into their musical treasure chest, creating a sprawling sonic tapestry from the dusty gems within. On this exhilarating excursion, Sain Records founder Dafydd Iwan explains: ‘Imagine someone gave you access to over 50 years of Welsh popular music – almost all of it unknown to you before. It would be a strange experience of discovery, an unknown territory which could baffle and excite. This happened to Jamal (Don Leisure) – and he was captivated by a world of music he barely knew existed, and when he was asked to distill the experience into one album, he immediately warmed to the idea. And this is the result – a kaleidoscope of sounds to encapsulate a half century of Welsh music. To call it unique would be superfluous: no-one could ever recreate this album. Listen, and enjoy.’.

The resulting product is ‘Tyrchu Sain' (translating to ‘Digging Sain’), a fearless and exploratory album, which sees Don put his signature unparalleled and unpredictable skills to work, weaving together moments of forgotten beauty into celestial and otherworldly compositions. The record features appearances by artists from Wales who have a similar obsession as Don Leisure in these classic Welsh rarities including Gruff Rhys, Carwyn Ellis, Earl Jeffers Amanda Whiting and Boy Azooga. A shimmering patchwork quilt of sound, ‘Tychru Sain’ traverses a shifting landscape of acid folk, eerie vocal melodies and interstellar soundscapes, propelled forth by crisp, head nod-inducing drums and grainy textures. Breathing new life into compositions lost to time, and paving a path for new listeners to discover the magic that lies within.

Zepter sind eine neue, aufstrebende Heavy-Metal-Band aus Österreich, die 2024 gegründet wurde. Wenig später erschien, auf 100 Stück limitiert als Kassette, die erste EP »Inferno« über Ironbound (eine Vinyl-Ausgabe von Fucking Kill Records sowie eine CD-Edition durch Witches Brew folgten). Das Debütalbum von Zepter, welches über High Roller Records erscheint, bietet authentischen Heavy Metal der alten Schule mit catchy Hooks und geschmackvollen Twin-Harmony-Parts. Das Album klingt, wie ein erdiger Cocktail aus Thin Lizzy und UFO aus der Schenker-Ära mit Elementen aus frühem Speed Metal à la Acid und Slayer, wenn es sie schon 1978 gegeben hätte – mit Einflüssen von Saxon, Witchfinder General, Dark Star, Raven, Saracen, Angel Witch, Satan. Alle Songs bis auf die Coverversion “Lonely Night” von der Band Screem sind brandneu.

As the fifth chapter in the band's discography, " The Neonai" arrived at a critical juncture in Lake of Tears' career, marking both an end and a reluctant new beginning. Released in 2002, three years after the melancholic masterpiece Forever Autumn, the album came to life under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Despite the commercial and critical success of its predecessor (the band's best- selling album to date) Lake of Tears found themselves adrift, unsupported by their label at a time when the world expected them to rise higher than ever. Instead of world tours and deserved recognition, the band withdrew, disillusioned, and made the difficult decision to put all activities on hold. But one last obligation remained: to deliver a final album to Black Mark Productions. What could have been a soulless, contract- bound release turned out to be anything but. "The Neonai" pulses with haunting melodies, infectious refrains, and a deeper embrace of keyboards and electronic textures, without ever losing the emotional gravity and sorrowful beauty that define Lake of Tears.

If this album was truly written "in haste," then let us hope Daniel Brennare continues to compose under pressure, for rarely has urgency sounded so inspired. As with the previous vinyl releases, we do not single out any specific tracks. Each song, like every Lake of Tears album, carries its own unique charm, its own shade of shadow and light. "The Neonai" is not simply a continuation, it is a transformation, an echo from a band caught between endings and new beginnings. Another gem in the band's catalogue, a masterpiece where the doom/ gothic equation tilts gracefully in favor of the latter. A deeply cherished album, long adored by Lake of Tears' devoted followers, who have waited patiently for 23 years to finally see it released on vinyl. After all, every ending is but the beginning of something new. And as we've said before: The end for Lake of Tears has not yet come, and we truly hope it won't come for a long, long time.

As the fifth chapter in the band's discography, " The Neonai" arrived at a critical juncture in Lake of Tears' career, marking both an end and a reluctant new beginning. Released in 2002, three years after the melancholic masterpiece Forever Autumn, the album came to life under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Despite the commercial and critical success of its predecessor (the band's best- selling album to date) Lake of Tears found themselves adrift, unsupported by their label at a time when the world expected them to rise higher than ever. Instead of world tours and deserved recognition, the band withdrew, disillusioned, and made the difficult decision to put all activities on hold. But one last obligation remained: to deliver a final album to Black Mark Productions. What could have been a soulless, contract- bound release turned out to be anything but. "The Neonai" pulses with haunting melodies, infectious refrains, and a deeper embrace of keyboards and electronic textures, without ever losing the emotional gravity and sorrowful beauty that define Lake of Tears.

If this album was truly written "in haste," then let us hope Daniel Brennare continues to compose under pressure, for rarely has urgency sounded so inspired. As with the previous vinyl releases, we do not single out any specific tracks. Each song, like every Lake of Tears album, carries its own unique charm, its own shade of shadow and light. "The Neonai" is not simply a continuation, it is a transformation, an echo from a band caught between endings and new beginnings. Another gem in the band's catalogue, a masterpiece where the doom/ gothic equation tilts gracefully in favor of the latter. A deeply cherished album, long adored by Lake of Tears' devoted followers, who have waited patiently for 23 years to finally see it released on vinyl. After all, every ending is but the beginning of something new. And as we've said before: The end for Lake of Tears has not yet come, and we truly hope it won't come for a long, long time.

As the fifth chapter in the band's discography, " The Neonai" arrived at a critical juncture in Lake of Tears' career, marking both an end and a reluctant new beginning. Released in 2002, three years after the melancholic masterpiece Forever Autumn, the album came to life under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Despite the commercial and critical success of its predecessor (the band's best- selling album to date) Lake of Tears found themselves adrift, unsupported by their label at a time when the world expected them to rise higher than ever. Instead of world tours and deserved recognition, the band withdrew, disillusioned, and made the difficult decision to put all activities on hold. But one last obligation remained: to deliver a final album to Black Mark Productions. What could have been a soulless, contract- bound release turned out to be anything but. "The Neonai" pulses with haunting melodies, infectious refrains, and a deeper embrace of keyboards and electronic textures, without ever losing the emotional gravity and sorrowful beauty that define Lake of Tears.

If this album was truly written "in haste," then let us hope Daniel Brennare continues to compose under pressure, for rarely has urgency sounded so inspired. As with the previous vinyl releases, we do not single out any specific tracks. Each song, like every Lake of Tears album, carries its own unique charm, its own shade of shadow and light. "The Neonai" is not simply a continuation, it is a transformation, an echo from a band caught between endings and new beginnings. Another gem in the band's catalogue, a masterpiece where the doom/ gothic equation tilts gracefully in favor of the latter. A deeply cherished album, long adored by Lake of Tears' devoted followers, who have waited patiently for 23 years to finally see it released on vinyl. After all, every ending is but the beginning of something new. And as we've said before: The end for Lake of Tears has not yet come, and we truly hope it won't come for a long, long time.

As the fifth chapter in the band's discography, " The Neonai" arrived at a critical juncture in Lake of Tears' career, marking both an end and a reluctant new beginning. Released in 2002, three years after the melancholic masterpiece Forever Autumn, the album came to life under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Despite the commercial and critical success of its predecessor (the band's best- selling album to date) Lake of Tears found themselves adrift, unsupported by their label at a time when the world expected them to rise higher than ever. Instead of world tours and deserved recognition, the band withdrew, disillusioned, and made the difficult decision to put all activities on hold. But one last obligation remained: to deliver a final album to Black Mark Productions. What could have been a soulless, contract- bound release turned out to be anything but. "The Neonai" pulses with haunting melodies, infectious refrains, and a deeper embrace of keyboards and electronic textures, without ever losing the emotional gravity and sorrowful beauty that define Lake of Tears.

If this album was truly written "in haste," then let us hope Daniel Brennare continues to compose under pressure, for rarely has urgency sounded so inspired. As with the previous vinyl releases, we do not single out any specific tracks. Each song, like every Lake of Tears album, carries its own unique charm, its own shade of shadow and light. "The Neonai" is not simply a continuation, it is a transformation, an echo from a band caught between endings and new beginnings. Another gem in the band's catalogue, a masterpiece where the doom/ gothic equation tilts gracefully in favor of the latter. A deeply cherished album, long adored by Lake of Tears' devoted followers, who have waited patiently for 23 years to finally see it released on vinyl. After all, every ending is but the beginning of something new. And as we've said before: The end for Lake of Tears has not yet come, and we truly hope it won't come for a long, long time.