British hard rock legends Uriah Heep are one of the “big four” rock bands, along with Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and release their 1976 album High And Mighty on limited edition picture disc. Featuring the band’s classic line up, the final to feature lead vocalist David Byron.
As part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the formation of Uriah Heep this new version is #9 in a series of collector picture disc releases from the rich Uriah Heep catalogue.
Formed in Mamelodi township near Pretoria, the group started out as Malombo Jazz Men with Julian Bahula on malombo drums, Abbey Cindi on flute and Philip Tabane on guitar Fusing traditional and improvised rhythms with jazz, Malombo became renowned as one of the first South African bands to fully connect jazz with the African traditions. Despite his undoubted genius, Tabane became erratic on tour and Bahula brought in another Mamelodi-based talent, guitarist Lucas “Lucky” Ranku, renaming the band Malombo Jazz Makers. The group played stadiums and festivals and were soon signed to Gallo. Recording at a studio in Pretoria, the trio debuted with the album ‘Malompo Jazz’ in 1966, showcasing the simple, spacious beauty of the Malombo sound and Abbey Cindi’s compositions, with Mahotella Queens’ Hilda Tloubatla on guest vocals. The partner follow-up album ‘Malombo Jazz Makers Vol. 2’ was recorded a year later, continuing the earthy flow of Malombo’s music. The two albums have since been recognised as unique landmarks of South African jazz through popular tracks like ‘Sibathathu’, ‘Jikeleza’ and ‘Emakhaya’. Alongside full original artwork, the albums feature a new interview with Julian Bahula.
Formed in Mamelodi township near Pretoria, the group started out as Malombo Jazz Men with Julian Bahula on malombo drums, Abbey Cindi on flute and Philip Tabane on guitar Fusing traditional and improvised rhythms with jazz, Malombo became renowned as one of the first South African bands to fully connect jazz with the African traditions. Despite his undoubted genius, Tabane became erratic on tour and Bahula brought in another Mamelodi-based talent, guitarist Lucas “Lucky” Ranku, renaming the band Malombo Jazz Makers. The group played stadiums and festivals and were soon signed to Gallo. Recording at a studio in Pretoria, the trio debuted with the album ‘Malompo Jazz’ in 1966, showcasing the simple, spacious beauty of the Malombo sound and Abbey Cindi’s compositions, with Mahotella Queens’ Hilda Tloubatla on guest vocals. The partner follow-up album ‘Malombo Jazz Makers Vol. 2’ was recorded a year later, continuing the earthy flow of Malombo’s music. The two albums have since been recognised as unique landmarks of South African jazz through popular tracks like ‘Sibathathu’, ‘Jikeleza’ and ‘Emakhaya’. Alongside full original artwork, the albums feature a new interview with Julian Bahula.
Dutch progressive Death Metal legends Phlebotomized at the peak of their 30 year old career!
Phlebotomized is among the oldest Death Metal bands from Holland and one of the first using violin and synthesizers in extreme metal. Their typical “Death Metal with a twist” caused a stir in the booming Dutch metal scene back in the early 90’s. Formed in 1989, Phlebotomized started out as a Grindcore/Death Metal band,
inspired by acts like Morbid Angel, Nocturnus and Paradise Lost. Later on, the band began to use keyboard and violin arrangements, resulting in their unique sound. Their “Devoted to God” demo (1992) was recognized as a classic one demo worldwide. In 1994 Phlebotomized released their seminal “Immense Intense Suspense” album which offered an intelligent blend of atmosphere and brutality. It took the Death Metal scene by storm, giving both the band and the album a legendary Cult status worldwide.
The band played numerous shows but disbanded shortly after the release of their second full-length album “Skycontact” in 1997.
After a hibernation of 16 years, Phlebotomized regrouped in 2013 upon the re-release of their classic albums. The band played several live-shows and
An explorative sonic landscape with the beautifully eclectic sounds of drum and bass at its core, Sustance’s debut album is every bit as thought-out, polished, and innovative as we’ve come to expect from one of drum and bass’ brightest prospects.
Having grown up listening to seminal Shogun albums like Spectrasoul's 'Delay No More' and Icicle's 'Under The Ice', ‘Perceived Connections’ acts as a full circle moment for the producer, who now finds himself following in the footsteps of the artists who profoundly influenced his approach to creating music.
Written between London and Berlin across a twelve-month period, 'Perceived Connections' encapsulates both of the alluring sides of Sustance's sound. In the same fashion that the album's writing process pivoted between two capital cities, Sustance's debut album presents both deep and expressive tracks such as 'I Want You' and 'Sweet Relief', as well as showcasing heavy, sound system-destroying tunes like 'Undercurrent' and 'Ten Ton’.
“The album title comes from the Zen idea that everyone perceives the world through their own perspective. Two people can listen to a record side by side and have totally different experiences. I really liked that idea as music is inherently so subjective. Sustance
Accompanying Sustance on this LP voyage is a plethora of D&B’s hottest talent, with Pola & Bryson, Visages, Flowdan, Strategy, Duskee, T-Man, Catching Cairo & Zara Kershaw all sprinkling their own flavours across the album.
Traversing an array of sounds, styles, and genres throughout, 'Perceived Connections' is nothing short of an exceptional extended body of work from a producer whose razor-tight approach to music has seen him emerge with one of the crispest and most captivating sonic palettes in drum and bass music.
Deep into lockdown, Frank pulled out Bernie Grundman's original 24 track masters of the "In a Minor Mode" ep, digitizing and exploring the original multi track recordings. Inspired by newly rediscovered parts recovered from the editing floor, what followed was a faithful but full-blown reimagining of 'Loveroom' Strangelove are proud to present this definitive version alongside a deep dive into Echoes LP favourite 'Down By The Rio' Frank's FM friendly take flipped on the B side with Frakas' trippy diced up vibe alongside a bumping beatdown version from New Zealand's finest Julien Dyne. Essential Balearic heat beat!
Jimmy LaValle’s The Album Leaf has spun from solo outlet to full band and back in its nearly 25 years. His acclaimed catalog spans releases for labels such as Sub Pop, City Slang, Relapse, and others. He also composes music for film and television, scoring over 20 projects (narrative features, documentaries, and TV series) since 2009. The cinematic sensibilities of The Album Leaf were present from the beginning. His 1999 debut introduced the start of a signature sound: melodic and meditative electro-organic soundscapes constructed with guitar, percussion, Rhodes, and field recordings.
His seventh full-length LP, and first since 2016, arrives in 2023 via Vancouver’s Nettwerk Records. FUTURE FALLING finds LaValle working with an array of musicians, shaping slightly darker, more spacious, and synth-driven songs with contributions from Bat For Lashes, Kimbra, and many others.
The music registers a shade darker and more synth-driven than most moments in his acclaimed catalog, a bridge between shadowy, cerebral terrain and dreamy precision pop, where softly percussive frameworks meet shimmering sound design and emotive instrumentation.
LaValle sees the construction of FUTURE FALLING as less conventional than past work. Contributions were done remotely with a “throw everything at it” mindset, making LaValle the arranger of layers from all over: drums, synths, horns, violins, voice, and more. LaValle created a pastiche of these layers and elements; in some cases even moving vocal takes to new tracks entirely. Without the in-the-room dynamics, he had more time to experiment, adding and subtracting ad infinitum.
The album opens on “PROLOGUE,” an evocative, slow-building instrumental that rides a pattern into a symphonic sea of static. Keys and horns glide atop the rhythmic pulse of “DUST COLLECTS,” setting the contemplative scene for “AFTERGLOW,” the record’s most pop-minded performance. Here Kimbra, the Grammy-winning New Zealand singer-songwriter, renders a striking recollection of past love as percussive elements shimmer and swirl.
A plaintive piano line moves throughout “Cycles 19.9” encircled by light ambient washes, both a valley between two peaks and a powerful composition in its own right. “Future Falling” follows; with origins tracing back to 2015, the track embodies the full sonic journey LaValle has taken. All the hallmarks of The Album Leaf — melodic builds, vivid sprawl, tonal shape-shifting — assemble to a blissful finish.
For the next stretch, “Cycles” begins with a uneasy Rhodes loop that builds and erupts into a wall of texture paving its way into “Give In,” where LaValle models a movement that begins subtle and measured before curving up with skyward, percussive bursts (“Stride”) and settling back down to the album’s back-half centerpiece, “Near” featuring the acclaimed English artist Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes. “Do you feel me near?” she sings into a mist of widescreen synths and soothing, distant drum beats as if searching through the dark.
Memory Lane Lying in Pain is the debut Ep by Evil Saint Francis, the latest incarnation of Francesco Mele, a known figure in the Italian indie/darkwave scene. Penned at the height of lockdown to exorcise his demons, these songs were produced by Jacopo Bigagli. The Memory Lane Ep is a darkwave / synthpop / shoegaze’s threesome with a very dark bystander who resemble rowland s howard. LVCA aka Luca Cazal steps up on remix duties, drawing from his synth pop and new wave influences of his former years as a musician, delivering an acid tinged rendition of the main track.
DJ Exodus is no stranger to Vinyl Fanatiks, with his two 92/93 releases on Skeleton Recordings being repressed recently. This release originally surfaced in 1994 on Tearin Vinyl and shows how Exodus traversed between his early hardcore releases and his straight up jungle darkside tear out.
One for the purveyors of authentic west London jungle who like their beats chopped and finely rinsed.
Comes in a high quality gloss Tearin Vinyl housebag and white inner sleeve. Released on either red, white or blue 180g heavyweight vinyl.
Lime green (yellowish?) vinyl LP Finnish noise rock duo NYOS deliver a clairvoyant Celebration of the present, written at a time when that present was shimmering just like the feathers of the cover art courtesy of animal photographer Zac Herr. Combining the danceable grooves of Battles with Sonic Youth - infused noise bursts and the yearning electric melodies of And So I Watch You From Afar, Celebration is a defiantly joyful, loud, and festive affair. A promising cure for the drudgery of the times we live in. Recorded by Brooke in his own Tonehaven Recording Studio, Celebration is the latest testament to the undeniable synergy these musicians have built over the past seven years. With the material largely written before the advent of corona, Celebration is a reflection of life before lockdown, filled to the brim with infectious grooves and glaring melodies. "We tried for something upbeat this time to contrast the times," explains Tom Brooke about the recording process, which in turn did take place during pandemic life. "We always love it when people can move to our music, so a big focus for the record was to embrace the dance vibe and go for it." This collection of eight colourful, jarring tracks is rife with small nods to dance music throughout the world. Take a song like "Light" with its complex syncopated drum pattern that recalls the Amen Break so typical for drum and bass music, but listen closely and the song reveals an off-beat skank that flips over into experimental reggae territory. Similarly, a track like "Tucano" recalls the experimental IDM of Bristol-based producer Vessel, while "Gold Vulcan" offsets a gnarly gyrating guitar riff with Latin- American and oriental melodies. The attention to detail on Celebration is phenomenal. The album contains some of the band's most layered compositions to date, but it is also the first NYOS record to feature improvised live recordings, the aptly named "First Take" as well as the celestial "Cloudberry". These musical sketches show two musicians at the apex of their connectedness. Every time that one of them appears to be taking a somewhat questionable turn, you'll find yourself carefully and respectfully readjusting your own interpretation of the song's intention - and what NYOS are all about.
‘Before the Odysee, there was the Iliad; a tale of the golden age of heroes and warriors.'
The idea behind the new Iliads series is to return to the sound of the golden age of Jungle/Drum & Bass, and more specifically the original ‘heroes’ of the Odysee label.
This first in the series pays homage to the style of music heard in the Oblivion releases that Source Direct delivered through Bassment Phil’s Street Beats imprint between 1995 & 1996.
Forbidden Affections is a classic Deep Amen track, made with tracks like Sands Of Time and Secret Liaison very much in mind. Right from the onset where the pads are given plenty of time and space to draw you in, it is completely faithful to that mid-90’s SD style. All the trademark break switches and deep 909 sub lines are present, and the palette of sounds are all drawn from those same sources that first inspired the SD sound (as such it is Atmospheric Jungle with a strong Techno persuasion). The finishing touches come from the achingly gorgeous female vocal ad-libs that were also such a trademark of the early, more atmospheric SD tracks.
Hidden Rooms is perhaps even more authentically SD, especially with its focus on arrangement, and the way it uses the selection of samples that are once more drawn from those same Deep Techno sources. The interaction between the rolling curls and cuts of the Apache at the start, and the crisp injection of the Think breaks at the drop comes straight out of the early SD portfolio. The bass drops down super deep underneath the drum work, punctuated by exposed electro hits and well-chosen samples. It is the haunting keys nearly 4 minutes in however that give this track the authentic SD twist more than anything, calling tracks like Fabric Of Space and Made Up Sound very much to mind.
Drifting Through is the final track of the E.P. with its beautifully sharp rolling Hotpants/Worm combination. This track leaves plenty of space; dubbed out to just breaks and bass for much of the duration, with the occasional injection of an obscure electronic sample, or the sweet vocal ad- libs to hold the tune together. Further down the track there is a touch of the Jazz influence as the Rhodes chords add an extra level of harmonic warmth.
Look out for Volume II where we will be returning to the distinctive flavours of the original Mirage releases on Odysee!
In the days before “landfill” indie, and in rebellion against a developing Britpop orthodoxy, there were some weird but melodic bands coming of age outside London that drew inspiration from the US underground and the sparkly retro-futurism of Japan. Primitive guitar noise with art rock leanings, post punk DIY and fanzine culture. The best known of these bands was maybe Urusei Yatsura; “noisy stars”, named in honour of Rumiko Takahashi, legendary manga creator.
Back in 1996, after several increasingly well-received 7’s, the band travelled to Leamington Spa to record their debut album with John Rivers, producer of Swell Maps and Glasgow scene godparents, The Pastels. The resulting album won the group legions of new fans and gained them their first Independent #1 chart placing, alongside peers Ash and Super Furry Animals.
“These were fertile years in Glasgow, a scene with no name, no single sound, where the magic thread tying everyone together was words and works so personal, they couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else’s. ‘We Are Urusei Yatsura’ is a cascade of ‘why not?’ thinking. The way ‘Phasers on Stun’ spirals into ‘Sola Kola’; the sunburned 23-second improv at the end of ‘Pachinko’; the slack-echoing strings of the outro to ‘Road Song’ sprayed with the shrapnel of toy electronics. Pure pop magic, Ren & Stimpy on upstairs, ray-guns, Ian’s homemade walkie-talkie speaker, a beatbox, all sealed with a “Talking Tina” doll’s emphatic endorsement: “I love it”” – Nick Soulsby
Degrees of Freedom is a Canadian musical group founded in 1984 in Montreal by Janet Cadman (vocals and percussion), Martin Chartrand (bass, guitar, rhythm programming and vocals) and David Curtis (keyboards, vocals, and percussion). Established as a 5-piece New Wave cover band, Degrees of Freedom evolved into its classic quartet configuration following the departure of the original guitarist and drummer, and the subsequent enlistment of Santino Mastrocola on drums. With this lineup change came a new musical mission: the writing, recording and live presentation of original material only. Since Santino's withdrawal from the band in 1988, Degrees of Freedom has carried on as a trio in the studio while augmenting concert performances with additional musicians. In February 1985, Degrees of Freedom performed at the newly formed S.O.S. (Save Our Songwriters) Club in Montreal. Like other participants in the S.O.S. project, Degrees of Freedom was rewarded with studio time to record some of its own songs. One of these, "August is an Angel" was selected to close out the locally produced 1985 band anthology album "Listen - A Faze Compilation of Montreal Music." The next year, a new track "In This Room," was included in the follow-up release "Listen 2." Both songs, with four newly recorded works, were issued in 1988 as Degrees of Freedom's eponymous sole vinyl release, informally known as the “China” album. In 2015, the music of Degrees of Freedom experienced a renaissance thanks to a new generation of club DJs, traditional and internet-based radio hosts, vinyl disc collectors, and other aficionados of synth-based music. Local and international recognition has come in the form of record sales to fans in Canada as well as in the USA, Germany, Scotland, England, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Lithuania, Sweden, Bulgaria, Australia, Vietnam, and Japan. Responding to the resurgence of interest, Degrees of Freedom has twice re-issued the disc (2017 and 2019). Today, with eyes on the future and the past, Janet, Martin and David continue to collaborate on new material including the songs, "Metal Flesh" and "Be This Way" both accessible on the band's YouTube channel.
From ‘OK Computer’ to ‘Screamadelica’, history has shown that a band’s third album is when shit starts to get real. When, after an introductory debut and a second that tests new waters, the particular alchemy of a group stamps its personality in ways that no other configuration of individuals can do; when the outside voices have been tempered and all that’s left is a perfect cocktail of confidence, skill and momentum. It’s a theory that’s been proven time and time again, and one that Newcastle trio Demob Happy are underlining with ‘Divine Machines’: a third album that harnesses their delicate tightrope of heaviness and melody, sweetness and riffs, and rides it up to the stratosphere.
From ‘OK Computer’ to ‘Screamadelica’, history has shown that a band’s third album is when shit starts to get real. When, after an introductory debut and a second that tests new waters, the particular alchemy of a group stamps its personality in ways that no other configuration of individuals can do; when the outside voices have been tempered and all that’s left is a perfect cocktail of confidence, skill and momentum. It’s a theory that’s been proven time and time again, and one that Newcastle trio Demob Happy are underlining with ‘Divine Machines’: a third album that harnesses their delicate tightrope of heaviness and melody, sweetness and riffs, and rides it up to the stratosphere.
Bruce Foxton and Russell Hastings are proud to finally release the LP format of their new album ‘The Butterfly Effect’. The Jam's bassist Bruce Foxton, who carried on their legacy by forming From The Jam in 2007 with new vocalist Russell Hastings. Created to tour the iconic back catalogue and ensure its continued relevance, the line-up has undergone a few changes over time, but the songs remain the same. With Foxton & Hastings writing and recording original music, this material has gained widespread acclaim of its own. Following on from previous albums ‘Back in the Room’ and ‘Smash The Clock’, the duo return with The Butterfly Effect, displaying a growing maturity to their song writing and a renewed sense of confidence. Toured the UK from Sept 15th '22 to March 31st this year and throughout the rest of 2023.
Reissue! In 2010, Madlib launched an ambitious series of releases known as the Madlib Medicine Show, which allowed the prolific producer to release new material on a monthly basis. The series touched on all the genres Madlib digs, and that’s just about any genre you can consider - from Jazz to Rock, Soul to Disco, myriad African musics, Brazilian and Reggae. On the 11th installment in series Madlib returned to his hip hop roots with Low Budget High-Fi Music. Featuring a run-down of regular Madlib collaborators who provide the Beat Konducta’s foil, it also included a hint of what was meant to come on the never-realized second Jaylib album, with a previously unreleased J Dilla collaboration.
Something never heard before from man of the moment Nikki Nair (or anyone else, for that matter): Whimsical glitchpop-blues with Nikki singing full vocals for the first time on record - lamenting the 9-to-5 struggle, yearning for summer & getting fucked up on the beach.
The idiosyncratic, strangely addictive original comes with a b*nging remix from Stockholm avant-techno ledge Peder Mannerfelt going full chaotic evil mode, warping Nikki's vocals into a menacing call to arms for the modern hedonist.
The album showcased Cornfield's knack for crafting deeply personal songs with an observational tone and witty lyric delivery. She took these heartbreakingly relatable songs on the road, playing numerous shows & festivals across North America and Europe, including opening for Pedro The Lion, Stars, Sarah Harmer and others.
On Cornfield's new album, Could Have Done Anything, she teamed up with producer and Bonny Light Horseman member, Josh Kaufman in Upstate New York, first at the stained- glass- tinted Dreamland Recording Studios, then at the nearby Isokon Studio, run by engineer D. James Goodwin (Kevin Morby, Whitney) and his assistant, Gillian Pelkonen. Kaufman and Cornfield played every instrument themselves, channeling the energy of her favorite classic records,
from Elliott Smith's Figure 8 and Jeff Buckley's Grace to Neil Young's Harvest -- albums where the listener is simply carried by the songs, and their musicians' beautiful playing. Standouts like "You And Me" highlight intimacy and absence, while "Gentle Like The Drugs" captures memories from Cornfield's spring 2022 tour with Pedro the Lion - her first time seeing sunsets in Arizona.
Elements of breakcore, shoegaze, and obtuse slacker rock find home on An Insult, at times with no bridge at all between the disparate styles. In TAGABOWs.
The Brazil, a stop-on-a-dime is the only thing that separates hazy slowcore and adventurous drum n bass, unambiguous evidence of the bands penchant for iconoclast composition. A Country Westerns side of the split entertains similar stylistic mashups, opening with the atmospheric jungle of Lung before lurching into the alt- rock Keeping up with the Joneses, whose fuzzed- out lead riff calls back to bygone eras. On paper, the combination of styles may read as cacophonous or incompatible, but the end result is instead a measured contrast
of sounds, a reflection of the inescapable influence of our chaotic time and the groups environments.
Upon its release, Maximum Rock N Roll called it, "Psychedelic pop without the acid flashbacks. . . remarkable." AllMusic wrote, "their cover of the Easybeats' 'Sorry' is worth the price of admission alone."
This is the release that put The Three O'Clock on the map in L.A., where the band quickly became a signature part of the Paisley Underground scene, a term coined by Three O'Clock vocalist/bassist and chief songwriter Michael Quercio.
This 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition, contains the five original songs from the LP with four additional recording from the era added to make it album length. One of the additional songs is a cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam"
"prog stalwarts deliver the goods" KKKK Kerrang!
"an album of Muse-like, slow burning guitar anthems" Rock Sound
"TPT take the baton of Pink Floyd & run with it, with the same dream- like atmosphere on the cusp of a nightmare." TERRORIZER
"the sound of a band reaching the height of their powers" Classic Rock "a high- class, mature, up to date & consistently melancholic album in between Porcupine Tree & Muse...warm, popular, contrived" Metal Hammer (DE).
The Pineapple Thief are one of the leading lights of Europe's experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord, the band have built an incredibly loyal fanbase over the past 23- years through extensive touring & consistently lauded recordings. Founder Bruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief as an outlet for his music back in 1999 & has since released over 15 studio albums.
'All The Wars' saw frontman Bruce Soord mature as a songwriter & grow in confidence, allowing him the use of a 22- piece string section & a choir. Soord explains, "no expense has been spared regarding the production of this record but at its heart it's still a rock record. It's very heavy in parts & very delicate & beautiful in others." Following Storm Thorgerson's cover for 'Someone Here Is Missing', the
artwork for this album features images created by the award- winning
photographer Mark Mawson as part of his 'Aqueous' series, which was projected onto Buckingham Palace as the background to Paul McCartney's performance of 'Magical Mystery Tour' during the diamond jubilee celebrations.
Kscope are now proud to present a newly remastered LP edition of 'All The Wars'
Destrøyer is the second single from the upcoming debut album due to be released in early 2023. All hailing from the DIY-culture in Gothenburg and with a mission to deliver fast riffs straight to your ears, Spøgelse will run you over one time, then back up and run you over one more time to be sure you get the message.
* 300 COPIES FOR UK/EU* With a friendship stretching back nearly 20 years, it strangely ended up being a couple of childhood photographs that finally brought Ben Chasny and Rick Tomlinson together as collaborators. Both have rich musical backgrounds: Chasny being a member of the psych-rock outfit Comets on Fire but probably best known for his solo project, Six Organs of Admittance, while Tomlinson has released numerous records as Voice of the Seven Woods/Thunders and under his own name. “A mutual acquaintance, Jamie Tugwell, took me to go see Rick play live around 2005,” remembers Chasny. “Jamie kept saying how Rick was sort of an ornery fellow and that I would like him a lot. He was right. I loved his guitar playing right away, which seemed so far from what a lot of players were doing. We had drinks and hit it off. We remained friends over the years.” Chasny became a regular visitor to Tomlinson when on tour in the UK and one particular stay unearthed something serendipitous that would kickstart the making of a joint album. “I was staying at Rick’s house after a show and I looked over and saw a photo of him in a Halloween costume as a box of matches,” Chasny recalls. “It cracked me up because I have a similar photo of me as a robot and I tried to explain to him how it matched his photo.” About 6 months later Chasny found it and sent it to Tomlinson to show him the uncanny likeness of their childhood outfits. “Pretty soon after that we realized we needed to do a duo record and have those photos be on the cover,” says Chasny. “The entire record comes from the photos on the cover.” Tomlinson adds: “It was a pretty odd coincidence. Even down to us both standing on flags with a conifer behind us. We obviously had no option but to use these for the sleeve.” Recorded at Tomlinson’s house in Todmorden over three days one June, initially the pair didn’t quite know where they wanted to go with their musical direction. Tomlinson kept pulling out super rare records from his vast collection for inspiration and they sat and listened to the solo piano recordings of Popol Vuh’s Florian Fricke but they knew they needed to land on something that was intrinsically them. “We knew we wanted to do a record together but we weren’t sure what direction to take,” says Chasny. “When we first sat down to work out some ideas it was pretty much just us getting down to finally having a guitar showdown where each of us tried to outdo each other with flashy moves and ridiculous riffs and playing. After we got that out of our system, we were able to settle down and concentrate on a mood for the record to focus on.” The result is 6 instrumental tracks that capture beautifully fluid and interlocking guitars played with deft grace and skill but also a subtle looseness. On the 9 minute-plus ‘Wait For Low Tide’, the sparse and spacious back and forth playing becomes utterly hypnotic, neatly capturing the kind of natural and intuitive playing that can only come from music made between friends who understand the crucialness of leaving space for one another. While acoustic guitars are the primary means of expression on the record - from the soothing and gentle ‘i’ to the intricate playing of ‘Waking of Insects’ - the pair delve into ambient drone tape loop territory on the humming 16 minute ‘Paths of Ocean Currents and Wind Belts’, which further adds to the deeply textural, spacious and immersive feel of the album. All the tracks were recorded in one take, with the titles all stemming from translations from the Chinese book, The Dream Pool Essays, and then mixed in London at Jimmy Robertson's SNAFU studio, with additional mixing and mastering from Andrew Liles. The laid back, breezy and spontaneous approach to making this record is one that was reflective of the pair’s friendship and camaraderie, with their relationship ultimately driving the tone and feel of the finished album. “We hiked around the countryside, climbed into church bell towers, drank delicious beer in the middle of sunny afternoons, and had fantastic dinners,” says Chasny of the three-day recording period. “I think all of that wound up in the music. I really had the best time in the world.
Tangerine Dream haben die elektronische Musik grundlegend beeinflusst, seit Edgar Froese die Band 1967 in West-Berlin gründete. Sie legten den Grundstein für mehrere elektronische Musikgenres wie Ambient und Electronica, inspirierten Musiker und andere Kunstformen und wurden für sieben Grammys nominiert. In den letzten Jahren wurde ihre Musik in beliebten Fernsehserien wie "Stranger Things" und Videospielen wie "Grand Theft Auto" verwendet.
Nach dem Tod von Froese im Jahr 2015 halfen die verbleibenden Bandmitglieder Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss und Hoshiko Yamane bei der Umsetzung von Edgars Vision eines Konzeptalbums, das versucht, Quantenphysik und -philosophie in Musik zu übersetzen: "Quantum Gate" wurde 2017 unter großem Beifall der Kritiker veröffentlicht.
In neuer Besetzung haben sich Thorsten & Hoshiko mit dem in Berlin lebenden Keyboard-Virtuosen Paul Frick verstärkt. Das Trio hat das Jahr 2021 in seinem Berliner Studio mit der Arbeit an "Probe 6 - 8" verbracht, einem ersten Vorgeschmack auf das kommende komplette Tangerine Dream-Studioalbum, das Anfang 2022 erscheinen soll.
Probe 6 - 8" sieht die klassischen Studioproduktionen und nächtlichen Echtzeit-Kompositionen der Gruppe als Blaupause für sich langsam entwickelnde Ambient-Strukturen, wobei der Sequenzer-getriebene Sound der Band an die frühen 1970er Jahre erinnert und sich mit einer üppigen, kristallinen Glückseligkeit der 1980er Jahre verbindet. Das Trio komponierte und produzierte 'Probe 6 - 8' mit vollem Zugriff auf Edgar Froeses Cubase Arrangements und Otari Tape Archive mit Aufnahmen aus den Jahren 1977 - 2013.
Der erste Track 'Raum' ist eine Anspielung auf die frühen Live-Studio-Performances 'Zeit' und 'Phaedra' der Band, wobei ein markanter schwerer Moog-Bass den Anfang und das Ende dieses 15-minütigen Einführungsstücks markiert. Diese neuen Aufnahmen enthalten auch zwei Remixe - die in Berlin lebende Komponistin und Produzentin Grand River (Aimée Portioli) hat "Raum" ihren unverwechselbaren Sound verliehen und "Continuum" wurde von Berghain Resident und Leisure System Mitbegründer Sam Barker neu abgemischt.
re:discovery records is proud to release for the first time, a vinyl edition of 'Two Zeroes' by Grain for it's 25th anniversary.
Grain was a west coast project that emerged out of the psychedelic music and art scenes in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. After a few of their tracks were featured on the key chill out compilations United State of Ambience 1&2 and Excursions in Ambience
and many local live performances, they released two ep's on local labels. Shortly after in 1998, 'Two Zeroes' the full length project appeared. A west coast chill out classic that unfortunately did not get much disribution outside the west coast let alone to the world.
To classify this album is very hard. Think early Jammin Unit with a touch of the Orb and dash of west coast breakbeat and chill out styles and you still can't fully pin it down. A unique album that sonically, was leaps and bounds ahead of most albums in this style thanks to sound designer, audio instalation architect, scientist and artist Jimmy Johnson along with illustrator and fellow sonic artist Peter Ehrlich. Featured on double vinyl with updated artwork by the original designer, Kevin Hanley and presented on beautiful gatefold with a shimmering silver vinyl to match. This could be one of the discoveries of the year for those that have never heard this album. Dare to Dream with us.
Fresh vinyl slice of UK Dub Roots Reggae sees veteran producer Vibronics hook up once again with rising star Ashanti Selah for a 4 track outing featuring 3 vocals and one deep dub mix.
Vocals are provided by Nia Songbird, Echo Ranks & Ashanti Selah. Nia is the the young singer from Leicester creating waves right now in the sound system scene, Echo provides the listener with a rare opportunity to hear his legendary tones after a long break from releases and finally Ashanti Selah shows his versatility by dropping a vibrant 70’s style DJ cut - crucial combinations on this 10” vinyl that signed of with a furious Vibronics all-analogue dub mix from the Dub Cupboard Studio.
This release is beautifully presented in a specially printed SCOOPS Records purple label sleeve
Vibronics is one of the most established names in UK Dub/Reggae music. From their base, in the Dub Cupboard Studio in Leicester, their music has achieved millions of views on YouTube, millions of Spotify streams and many tens of thousands of vinyl record sales. Vibronics have collaborated with reggae legends Michael prophet, Macka B, Iration Steppas, Soom T, Aba-Shanti and so many more.
Ashanti Selah is a musician / Dub Producer hailing from the UK, is the eldest son of the world-renowned soundman, Aba Shanti-I. As well as working on his own productions Ashanti makes use of his musical abilities as a performer in various bands as keyboardist and has had the pleasure of working and collaborating with a number of great singers, musicians & producers in the scene- such as; Vivian Jones, Mad Professor & Alpha Steppa, to name but a few.
Altered Circuits dives deeper in the world of playful and versatile club music with roots in the early 90's! There's an obvious parallel between Ildec's DJ performances and his own music.
Part of a scene with a focus on extended, broad-minded sets, the Ibiza-based artist lets his yearning to unearth and play obscure gems flood into his production process. The "Ahora Si EP" is testament to this adventurous spirit as it tackles a wide array of tempos, styles and moods.
Opener "El Principio" and closer "Grt Plschr" display Ildec's fondness of hazy, recondite atmospherics. With its sustained ambient chord, delay-washed newsreader samples and manipulated themes, the former sounds like a fever dream radio bulletin.
On the latter, a broody motif meanders alongside loosely played drums, while a buried bass guitar occasionally reveals itself. "El Break Del Dia" furtherly explores some of these elements, but this time with the dance floor front of mind.
Languidly morphing bass sequences and staccato synth salvos build up anticipation. When a slowly emerging, ceaselessly arpeggiating organ lead finally materialises, the track explodes. Natural flow is partly traded for sturdier form on the remainder of the EP. "El Break De La Noche" lets an ever-modulating lead groove alongside rigid, dry drum beats.
Descending tom fills, truncated squeaks and a top layer LFO gone haywire complete this sparse yet exciting cut. "La Nueva Version" has a similarly efficient bassline as its bedrock. An interplay of zaps, risers, transposed percussion, and other dusty cartridge samples pulls it left and right while subtle disorienting hints of speech thicken the mix.
On "Modificacion", Ildec moulds his take on progressive and tech house into its toughest shape. A druggy, bleepy lead twirls in and out of the track, carried by the road-tested combo of a taut drum pattern and a piercing backbeat bass. Ominous chords and equally menacing vocals mark its aim: to create tension in the club. It is a standout on a diverse, daring EP we are delighted to present as the fifth release on our label.
Blending elements of twisted electro with the refreshing sound of early 90's rave culture and IDM on the highly anticipated debut album from Breton artist Voiron (a precious gem in the French underground scene). 'Ingenieur du Son' features 12 bold tracks in Voiron's unique style which is evident in every piece. Uncompromising in his approach, Voiron stays true to his vision without being swayed by external influences. From light and upbeat dancefloor tracks to experimental "idm" sounds, Voiron is for everyone... Embark for Voironland! (But don't hesitate to long as the vinyl release is limited!!) (Artwork by Acid Hazel, Berlin). Tip!!
B From E is a Happiness Therapy mainstay. Just last month the Dane remixed Mogan’s Monstera Tears, on the label’s lauded HT17 release. Now he follows this up with his first full Happiness Therapy EP in Just At Night. Featuring a remix by fellow Danish regular Niles Cooper, it marks a highlight occasion for the thriving Copenhagen talent.
Balancing a well-established career in Denmark with an international tour schedule is no mean feat, but in B From E’s case, that’s exactly what the Danish mainstay has been up to over the years. From Traxx Underground to Happiness Therapy, to being head of his own label Buddahood, his productions are downright infectious. Resident Advisor described it best: “Lean and smart, they're the kind of garage-tinged groovers loved by almost every house DJ on the planet,
Autokinetic’s techno roots reach back to 1993 when Mike McClure and John Golden formed Auto K in Minneapolis, forming the vibrant MPLS rave scene alongside Freddy Fresh, Woody McBride, and DVS1. Auto K then changed their name to Auto Kinetic, and now Mike McClure is ripping hypnotic modular techno in hyperspace solo as Autokinetic. These tracks have been secret weapons in DVS1 sets for the past couple years.
“great stuff as always” - Decoder
“Very cool” - Justin Cudmore
“It bangs!” - CMD
“Really good” - 2Lanes
“Great release!” - PlayPlay
“Sounds great!!” - Golden Medusa
“Big blend potential with these trax!” - Escaflowne
The A side consists of “Sidewinder” and the cheekily titled “Didgeradont”. Both of these are bonafide heady techno hits. I mean, the production on these…higher consciousness inducing dancefloor rolling mania. For the old ears and fresh feet alike.
The B side opens up with “File003”, which has a robotic restraint and up-beat bassline to keep you locked in for the never ending tunnel ride of a track. “Wakeword” ends the EP with a proper, slightly acidic challenger to meet all late night crowds with taste. But no chin scratching here. This is techno at its tastiest. Mike is a pro who knows how to kick and punch with full peak euphoric power. He’s been in the game for three decades at this point, and is still pushing his craft and himself to new heights.
300 copies pressed worldwide. Not to be missed out on.
Produced and performed by Mike McClure in MPLS, MN USA
Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann.
Design by Nick Owen.
Distributed by One Eye Witness.
Underdog Recordings is Proud to present the Touchdown Ep by Dark Dean & Hankinson with crowd Hype from MC Shadow & also featuring MC Stevie A.
Originally started in 1993, one of Bournemouth's foundation Jungle Labels, Underdog Recordings taps into the wealth of Jungle talent on the south coast and the Destiny connection is strong with this release. Touchdown Junglist tracks started under lockdown by Dark Dean & Hankinson feature a sample of Fusion & Destiny's Master of Ceremonies & old friend MC Shadow. After an authentic old skool jungle mix was completed, it was decided to bring the track upto date with a 170bpm Future Mix to complement the '94 style original .
Add in the much requested Dub Mix of Good Samaritan featuring another Destiny soldier, MC Stevie A that has only previously been available in the digital format and the haunting vocals of Carmen Naida on Good Vibrations and you have a fully loaded 4 track Ep on vinyl, the 16th release from Underdog On a limited Translucent Blue 12" Vinyl
Underdog Recordings fills a 25 year old gap in its catalogue with "The Original Jungle EP" by Darkdean & Hankinson featuring MC Stevie A on 3 tracks and introducing Carmen Naida on the 4th. There never was an Underdog 13, until now, 4 banging brand new old skool jungle style tracks made in 2019 on this limited edition EP. Dark Dean & Stevie A have been residents at one of the South Coasts biggest raves- Destiny, from the mid nineties to the present day and team up with new gun- Hankinson to encapsulate the vibe of the legendary nights at the Manor at Matchams, on vinyl.
Bournemouth foundation Jungle Label -Underdog Recordings (est 1993) brings you the "Ghosts of Future Past" EP from unknown quantity Ghost Unit.
2x 170Bpm Jungle tunes on side A are complimented by 2x 130bpm breakbeat hardcore influenced tracks re-visitng some of the most well known vocal samples from the Rave Era repackaged for 2021 but still in the authentic Old Skool style
Released on a limited run of 300 electronic blue 12" vinyl.
New INDEX:Records transmission comes courtesy of Texan vibist Gi Gi. Trodding his own path of introspective, nu-age-infused ambient scapes and trip-hop-laced downtempo divagations, Gi Gi eases us in a distinctively soothing headspace. A self-driven, immersive audio bubble engineering a polychromatic mix of organic field-recording, exotic dub shades, lushly textured envelopes and smooth loungey jazz accents.
From the A1, “The Lower”, a steady-churning combo of retro-stepping UK dynamics, 90s-schooled atmospheric dub and low-slung, LA beat-style swagger, down to the verbed-out summer pop of “Sinews” featuring Hysterical Love Project, Gi Gi puts on a riveting synthesis of seemingly distant varietals.
On “Maiolica”, the mystique-imbued power of drums and shadowiness of the bass collides with the faux-organic vibrancy of singing robot birds; “Pyxis Glint” shows off an ambiguously feverish ASMR-like temper with its tightly woven web of chimey Andean melody and straight out Rephlex-fashioned escapism, whereas “Palm Slick” heads for further exhilarating heights through Hassellian brass flights a la “Blues Nile" and breaksy off-piste, all set at buckling a few knees along the way.
A full-fledged, soulful trip-hop number disguised in matching neo-vintage camo, “Lilted Song” treats us to a fulfilling blend of bleached pads and FX-laden slo-mo percussions swaying with a strong couldn’t-give-a-damn attitude. Gi Gi coming up with the mind trip.
Marvin Gaye at his very best! Two classics from Gaye’s esteemed catalogue, ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ and ‘I Want You’ with alternative mixes that have never been on 12 inch before. Plucked from the Deluxe Edition of the spellbinding ‘I Want You’ album that was mixed Kevin Reeves & remastered by Ellen Fitton, these two cuts have always called out for loud and proud pressing on either side of a 12.
Up first, ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ written by the magical pairing of Leon Ware and Arthur 'T-Boy' Ross with Ware also behind the production controls. An abbreviated cover of Michael Jackson’s hit, it sees Gaye take a brief respite from his usual steamy and sensual swooning to express his love for his family. Jackson would then return the favour, taking influence from Marvin’s 1977 hit ‘Got to Give it Up’ to make ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’.
Originally a 1:17 minute segue on the album, the Unedited version clocks in at over 6 minutes, turning it from a transitionary passage to a standalone gem. Extending those delectable grooves, building and breaking with a sun-kissed, funk channelling feeling that washes over like a warm wave. With the 7 inch release trading hands for over £75 on Discogs this ain’t one to miss.
On the flip, ‘I Want You’ written by the same duo as the A, with Leon Ware once again on the production and released as part of the same ’76 album. It was an LP that introduced a change in musical styles for Gaye, songs such as this giving him a disco audience thanks to Leon Ware. The Jam-Alternate version leaves Gaye’s vocals till the final section, letting that sweet soaring soundtrack sing to its absolute emotive peak. Sunrise or sunset, this one is not to be used lightly - tears of joy on the dancefloor guaranteed.
Mysticisms continues its global search for amazing music, hitting gold again with an EP of four previously unreleased house meets IDM with a dreamy edges by Romania's HAN aka Dan Handrabur, culled from early studio recordings between 1991-95.
After getting into record store culture he began building a studio and eventually gave up studying in favour of production, relocated to Vancouver, Canada, where his debut release (as X Drone with Adham Shaikh in 1993) began to establish Handrabur's role as an integral part its electronic scene. Appearances with Harthouse, Exist Dance, Eye Q Records and many more followed, plus collaborations with the legendary Phil Western. The four tracks here haven't aged at all, with nimble beats, action-packed arrangements and dreamy atmospheres, 'Give In & Resist' coming on like Rising High-era Mixmaster Morris crossed with the playfulness of Air Liquide, and 'Phantasme' revelling in the same cross-rhythmic fun that informed The Black Dog's classics.
As NuNorthern Soul eases into its second decade, the label welcomes back a familiar face: Benjamin J Smith, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and pro-ducer whose emotive, colourful and atmospheric compositions are the very definition of ‘Balearic’.
Famously, it was Smith’s The Movedrill Projects album that kicked off the NuNorthern Soul story way back in 2012, and he’s periodically returned to the imprint on numerous occasions since. It’s fitting, then, that Smith is stepping up once more, with NuNorthern Soul found-er Phil Cooper selecting to showcase two overlooked gems from his bulging back catalogue.
Both tracks are taken from Smith’s digital-only album Mojave (Vintage Californian Dreams), a set of thor-oughly gorgeous, West Coast-inspired library music compositions smothered in sumptuous strings and in-formed by the artist’s love of jazz-funk, languid jazz-rock and the kind of luscious, sunset-ready soundscapes that defy neat categorization.
Opening proceedings, and sitting on side A of the vinyl release, is the breath-taking ‘Marina Del Rey’, where layered, reverb-laden harmonic vocalisations, twin-kling electric piano improvisations, lazy guitar licks, spacey synth flourishes and sultry strings slowly rise above a toasty bassline and gentle, Latin-tinged beats. Smith cannily adds layers of sound throughout while moving the musical story forwards, leading to a mem-orable, awe-inspiring conclusion.
In contrast, ‘Big Sur’ sees Smith take an imaginary road trip through the driest, dustiest parts of the Cali-fornian countryside. Psychedelic rock style organ mo-tifs, sustained Hammond B-3 chords and glistening West Coast rock guitar solos dance atop a rubbery bassline and intoxicated, loose-limbed drums, with Smith’s eyes-closed vocalisations – drenched in reverb and delay – adding extra layers of aural loveliness. Like ‘Marina Del Rey’, ‘Big Sur’ is a vivid, widescreen con-coction tailor-made for soundtracking films that have yet to be made.
Vol.1[31,05 €]
In the words of Bill Brewster - DJ History
‘At the turn of the 1990s, there were few more successful New York house producers than Victor Simonelli. Under a dizzying array of aliases – Solution, NY’s Finest, Groove Committee, Critical Rhythm and Cloud 9 being amongst the better-known – the Brooklyn-born DJ/producer delivered a string of underground club hits during the city’s early ’90s house boom.’
BTG presents “Victor Simonelli: The Early Years Vol 1” a collectors edition double Vinyl release - 2 X 12’s in each Vol
Launching the first Behind The Groove collectors edition vinyl series is New York’s finest Victor Simonelli with ‘The Early Years Vol 1 & 2’ double Vinyl releases. Featuring seminal house tracks such as Cloud 9’s ‘Do You Want Me’, Solution’s ‘Feel So Right’, Instant Exposure’s ‘Wanna Be With You’ and rare mixes of Raiana Page and EZ-AL, this collection brings together classic and rare Victor Simonelli cuts that reflect the early raw energy and buzz of the New York House scene. With ‘Vol 2” scheduled to follow shortly after, this is the most comprehensive collection of rare Simonelli cuts that firmly establishes his esteemed role in 90s House Music as well as introducing new fans to his inimitable sound.
Victor Simonelli is one of the early kings of NYC sampling In house music. The real deal - Victor danced at the legendary David Mancuso’s Loft sessions and developed a serious appreciation for good music. He interned for Arthur Baker at his renown Shakedown Studios (where Arthur worked with the iconic Afrika Bambatta on the seminal dance floor ’Planet Rock’ track) and went on to release hugely influential releases on seminal NYC labels 4th Floor and Nu Groove. Victor’s music was championed by the hugely celebrated iconic House Music DJ pioneers, Larry Levan and Tony Humphries at Paradise Garage & Zanzibar/WBLS/Kiss FM respectively.
Revered as a New York house heavyweight and prolific producer since the turn of the 1990s, Victor Simonelli grew up in Brooklyn, NYC, nurtured by a music loving family, with an avid record collecting father who also worked as a local party DJ. He took music lessons in piano, drums, guitar and bass, before discovering his first love, tuning into NY’s Radio Mix Shows on WBLS, WKTU and WRKS,98.7 Kiss FM) where he discovered the art of mixing and in his own words, ’I just simply got lost in the music’.
Graduating from NYC’s Centre For Media Arts, Victor got an internship in the legendary producer, Arthur Baker’s Shakedown Studios. Soon graduating to editing, mixing and then producing he worked for artists David Bowie, Quincy Jones, Debbie Harry, Sinead O’Connor and Talking Heads. Teaming up with fellow NYC producer Lenny Dee to become the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, they released records ‘Critical Rhythm’ and ‘Subliminal Aurra’ on 4th Floor before Victor went solo as Groove Committee releasing the classic ‘I Want You To Know’ on the legendary Nu Groove Records. Paradise Garage legend, Larry Levan broke ‘I Want You To Know’ rocking 2 copies on his last tour of Japan whilst King of NY House Music,Tony Humphries broke Victor’s new ‘Feels So Right’ across New York on his WBLS/Kiss FM Mastermix show and at his legendary Zanzibar club sessions. It was only a matter of time before Victor’s name became synonymous with quality House music ensuring a worldwide platform for his productions.
In the early 90s alongside his own productions, Victor Simonelli worked on high profile projects, including James Brown’s album, “Love Overdue” BeBe and CeCe Winans single featuring Mavis Staples “I’ll Take You There” and Quincy Jones’ “I’ll Be Good To You” featuring Chaka Khan and the legendary Ray Charles. Never straying too far from his clubland roots, Victor worked with Danny Tenaglia on his classic “The Harmonica Track”.
DJ gigs across the world started flooding in and Victor found himself recording for a dizzying array of labels including Tribal America, Sub-Urban, Bassline, King Street Sounds and Vibe, under a wide range of aliases. He also produced, wrote and remixed for artists such Nile Rodgers (Chic), Afrika Baambata, Hall & Oates, Frankie Knuckles, Kerri Chandler, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Famed for his own productions “It’s So Good” by Creative Force, “I Know A Place” as Sound Of One - the first release on Roger Sanchez One Records -, “Dirty Games” as well as the “Street Players Vol 1 EP”, Victor went on to set up Suburban Records with Tommy Musto and Bassline Records with two other partners. Notable releases on this label include “Do You Feel Me”, Connie Harvey’s gospel inspired, “Thank You Lord”, Urban Blues Project’s “Deliver Me”, Colonel Abrams “Not Gonna Let”, and Mone’s “Better Way”. Never ceasing to produce, DJ, run his own label and host radio shows like Groove Lift, Victor has worked with virtually every NYC producer and has nurtured a next generation talents including Angel Moraes, Jazz ‘N’ Groove, Urban Blues Project, Harlem Hustlers, Jay Jay and Julius Papp. Victor’s releases have also been used on M&S’s “Salsoul Nuggett” hit and Eddie Amador’s underground smash ‘House Music’.
In the late 90’s Victor launched his new Westside Productions, notable for the “Latin Impressions 1 & 2” releases, opened up a studio in Italy as he found himself increasingly working in Europe and now divides his time between New York and Italy. Suffice to say his unique sound of uplifting and spiritual music has kept him at the forefront of House Music and he is credited as one of its leading exponents with his string of classic releases and remixes.
Behind the Groove, branches out from its digital platform to embark on a programme of releases from the iconic pioneer producers of House Music. Esteemed for their high quality features and mixes that continue to explore, celebrate and venerate the contributions of highly respected, scene-shaping Labels, Artists, DJs and Special Events, BTG seeks to bring these talents and tales to the attention of the wider community. Unlocking the stories surrounding the pivotal roles they played and continue to play today in shaping the underground music scene we have come to know and love.
BTG presents “Victor Simonelli: The Early Years Vol 1” a collectors edition double Vinyl release, released on May 12th 2023. ‘Vol 2” follows on May 26th 2023 . These releases are the most comprehensive collection of rare Victor Simonelli cuts that firmly establish his esteemed role in 90s House Music and introduces new fans to his carefree sound.
Defamator is the long-time-coming debut project of 24-year-old Chloe Gallardo. It tells a story of betrayal in love and friendship and the painful reality of overcoming love lost and former heartbreak.
Drawing influences from artists such as Broadcast, Grouper & My Bloody Valentine Gallardo adds her own haunting, folk-style vocals and hyper-specific lyrics to create a sonic unique to her. A style that she describes in her words as “dark shoegaze bedroom indie pop”.
Album opener “Bloodline” epitomises this bittersweet modus operandi. 15 seconds into its dainty acoustic strum , Gallardo adamantly sulks “I’m fucked up” - the salvo of a lyric about feeling like a family disappointment. As the track lifts up into a cascading gaze-pop rush, recalling the likes of Bachelor and Snail Mail, we’re blessed with a pristine elegance that belies the song’s raging core.
“I have always written music this way.”, she says of this fundamental contradiction. “It’s funny because I try so hard to write darker sounding songs and they always come out way too pretty. So, I’ve resorted to writing the most gut-wrenching and intense lyrics to compensate.”
Written mostly during peak-pandemic times in Gallardo’s bedroom - (“you can hear how scared and alone I was.”) - the songs that made their way onto Defamator arose from a concerted period of healing. Drawing from the teachings of therapy, the songwriting process gave her the means to channel some deeply entrenched emotional scars.
This venting of anger is implicit throughout the record. The album’s title - Gallardo’s own neologism - uses the concepts of “defamation” and “defamatory speech” to innovate a kind of pejorative accusation. As a result, it is like we are actively listening to Gallardo forcefully take command of her past. Of the title track she explains: “The song Defamator is about someone who spoke untruthful things about me in order to manipulate me and the way people perceived me and I felt that was an underlying theme in most of the album.”
Recorded at Jazzcat Studios in Long Beach California with Jonny Bell (Hanni El Khatib, Adult Books, etc.) Defamator marks Gallardo’s first time in a “legitimate recording studio”. And it shows. Bell’s production is vital moving part here. There’s more stripped back affairs - ‘There Will Be Blood”; ”The Way’ - songs which gently seethe and purr like Grouper’s spectral dream-pop; Gallardo’s fluttering folk-ish voice gloriously pushed to forefront.
Mysterious Belgian experimental electronics duo Suumhow returns with their third album, Years Failed Successfully.
The album opens with the duo's signature melodicism and broken glitched-up beatwork. It then ebbs into more sinewy territory with swaths of pulsing static and overarching widescreen vivid ambiance. It's new ground for the duo that displays some rather aurally fitting symbolism to the state of the pandemic era, with ambient music on the edge of hysterical hope and arrested emotions.
It's a gripping album that displays fine detail in its coarseness and somehow relief in its muted melodicism. When things seem like they might be getting too ominous, the duo boomerangs the listener back to their harmonious and glitched-up world as a means of much needed escapism.
Introducing the highly anticipated EP from the legendary Aston, of the Freestylers, Blapps Posse, and Rap & Aston. This time, he has teamed up with the talented DJ Quicklung to create four brand new tracks, each showcasing Aston's impeccable production skills and style.
The EP opens with "Raggamuffin Soldiers," a hard-hitting D&B track with classic influences that has already gained significant support across clubs and radio. Next up is "Moving On," a lively club roller that clearly showcases Aston's foundations and rave pedigree.
On the flip side, "Galactica" takes things in a darker direction with moody D&B vibes that pay homage to classic Suburban Base and Boogie Times, but with a fresh twist that's unmistakably 2023. Finally, "The Hangman" closes out the EP with a stunning breakbeat masterpiece that will leave listeners wanting more.
With its diverse range of sounds and styles, this EP is a testament to Aston's enduring talent and influence in the world of electronic music. Don't miss out on this incredible release!
Mr. Confuse returns with a brand new series of 7Inches on Confunktion Records.
"No Time To Snooze" is a heavy up tempo funk tune with a disco feel. On the flipside "Break It Loose" catches your ear with a nice melody and a smooth breakdown part. Both songs feature heavy funk drums, a powerful horn section, funky guitar and driving Rhodes sound. Just the right sound for funkateers, organic sound lovers, disco heads and b-boys.
Don't miss this release on Confunktion Records as the 7 Inch vinyl version is limited to 300. Be quick on this one!
Hania Rani announces "On Giacometti" a tender meditation on the life and art of Alberto Giacometti and family. "On Giacometti" is a collection of beautiful recordings inspired by the renowned artist and family and features some of Rani's most profoundly delicate compositions to date. Invited by film director Susanna Fanzun, to score her forthcoming documentary on the legendary artist Alberto Giacometti, Hania Rani took herself to the Swiss mountains to compose in blissful isolation. As Rani explains eloquently below the compositions are based on improvised melodies, simple harmonies and structures and inspired by the silence of the mountains as Rani returns to her main instrument, the piano. The results are beguilingly reminiscent of her beloved debut album Esja, but with subtle extra layers of synthesiser, and on two tracks cello from friend and long-running collaborator Dobrawa Czocher.
'On Giacometti' is presented as a limited edition LP with bespoke packaging featuring Les Naturals - Chocolat (Gmund) sustainable recycled paperboard made from 100 % recovered paper with Foil Artwork by Łukasz Pałczyński. Plus Double sided printed insert and download code inside.
Hania Rani "On Giacometti":
‘When I was asked to compose a soundtrack for a movie about the family of Giacometti I didn't think twice.
Alberto Giacometti, a Swiss artist, who worked mainly as painter and sculptor has been one of my favourite artists for a long time. His individual style, aesthetics and the character of his creative process is still fascinating to me on many levels, so being able to dive even deeper into his universe, getting to know not only him but also his family was an opportunity that I couldn't miss. Little did I know how far this "yes" will take me - not only mentally and on a creative level but also physically. Thanks to the director of the documentary - Susanna Fanzun and by a stroke of luck and a couple of extra questions I decided to move for a couple of months to the Swiss mountains, not far away from the place where Giacometti was born and where the place he called home was, although he didn't live there. Susanna showed me a place close to her hometown where I could rent a studio and work on the soundtrack but also for my other projects. It was the middle of a winter, the area was full of ice and snow, just like only it can happen still in the mountains. The residency house was located in a valley surrounded by high mountains and the sun in the winter season was not coming up for too long during the day. I remember she told me about it and added "that not everyone is feeling well there, but I hope you will". I did.
Being almost separated from reality, the city and its entertainments, people rushing and everything that usually takes my attention I could fully concentrate on the music and soundtrack, spending most of the day with my own thoughts and having enough space to experiment and be free in a creative process. This soundtrack would probably be a very different thing if composed in a place that I am usually living in. I took this a chance to explore something new about myself as a composer and human being, taking the opposite direction that I would usually choose for myself.
The album "On Giacometti" includes the excerpts from the soundtrack, the most representative tracks and those which became a strong voice itself. Based a lot on improvised melodies, simple harmonies, structures and silence it reminds me of my debut album "Esja" which was partly composed and recorded in another chilly place - Iceland. All these components, both mental and physical, guided me back to my main instrument - piano, which I tried to redefine again with a language of the space that I was working in. The space is usually the key element that gives me the answer about the arrangement or character of the project. Space seems to be the first to appear and music is the invisible power which is changing its angels.’ Living surrounded by mountains makes you change the perspective and understanding of scale as Alberto Giacometti once famously wrote in a letter: It gives an impression that things that are actually far away, like mountains, are close and the other ones that are not so far away, like people, seem small, watched from a distance. You feel like touching the mountain top with your finger could be as easy as touching the tip of your nose. The snow additionally protects the whole area from the noise, each sound lands softly on the ground accompanied by echoes of immeasurable space. Each scratch or whisper is becoming an autonomic entity, opening the gate to the world of ghosts and lost spirits. It's easy to think that time stands still there, while nothing is moving and changing at the first sight. But the ubiquitous ice and snow reveal the passage of time, transforming frozen paysage into the wild stream of water - each day, hour and second. Melting and vanishing, clearing the space from white powder and noise consuming surface. Invisible process for a one night traveller, becomes painfully real for longer time settlers. Time flows with each new wave of sound coming through the river, reminding us that we are part of the cycle, which endlessly repeats itself.
Following my recent phone call with Prof. Benson, I left him to continue his 92nd birthday celebrations with his family. We'd talked about his life, his music, his achievements. Throughout our conversation it struck me what a kind, humble and pleasant man he was. I felt that I was in the presence of greatness – not the egotistical greatness that emanates so often from high achievers, but that of someone who had simply won at life.
"I was a music teacher. I wasn't trying to make a record to compete, I was trying to make a record so the students would have something to remember the experience that we had... I was doing it for the kids."
It was 1973 that Prof. James Benson had self-funded his private press LP for the benefit of the teenage musicians he tutored at Cal Poly, California. The album was a momentous achievement for him and his young protegees, something they were all proud of, and rightly so. Taking inspiration from their recent trip to Africa and blended with the radical jazz associated with the young minds of early '70s black America, the Gow-Dow Experience is a unique foray into the enthusiastic mindset of up-and-coming jazz musicians, as encouraged by their mentor Prof. Benson.
We present the album as it was released in 1973 with a heavyweight tip-on jacket and 180g vinyl or on CD. We also include an insert with liner notes and photos provided courtesy of Prof Benson. The LP and CD come with 4 additional tracks taken from the recording session. Until now these tracks have never been heard since the day they were recorded - believe me, they're worth the wait!
Made with love from Jazzman - because we love to dig deeper!
Drop a needle on Psyché's debut album and you'll see visions, or rather Mediterranean visions, be they of waves of heat shimmering above dunes of sand, or of women dancing around a bonfire on a rocky plain, or of bushy cliffs overlooking emerald-green and turquoise sea. The name Psyché is of course ancient Greek for 'soul' or 'mind', signifying the band's love of psychedelic funk, but also the wide range of Mediterranean influences – from Southern Europe to the Balkan Peninsula, and from Anatolia to the Maghreb – that provide an endless source of inspiration for their hypnotic sound and minimalist style.
Psyché members Marcello Giannini (Guru, Nu Genea, Slivovitz), Andrea De Fazio (Parbleu, Nu Genea, Funkin Machine) and Paolo Petrella (Nu Genea) have been active in the Naples music scene for almost two decades, most notably during the first wave of the new Neapolitan Power movement (Slivovitz, Revenaz Quartet). Over the years they have often crossed paths and collaborated on side projects in various genres (math-rock duo Arduo and, more recently, synth-pop duo Fratelli Malibu), before working together as the rhythm section of Nu Genea's live band. Following their first tour with Nu Genea in 2018, they started Psyché with the intent of exploring more minimalist styles and making music with just a few elements.
A unique combination of psychedelia, groove and improvisation, the music of Psyché goes back to the roots of our future; it evokes visions of a mythical past, blending centuries-old music traditions and mixing them with modern genres. Like a warm Mediterranean breeze, it travels across lands, seas and eras, distilling essential rhythms and cosmic pulsations.
The album's opener "Kuma" (titled after the first ancient Greek colony on the Italian mainland, now an archeological site near Naples) is like a vibrant, magical wave. With its deliberately simple harmony and sharp guitar riffs, it travels across the Mediterranean from Italy to North Africa, first lapping gently on Greek and Turkish shores – with some compositional elements reminiscent of Italian pop legend Lucio Battisti – and then speeding up and landing on the driving, syncopated rhythms of afrobeat. While listening to it your eyes fill with images of small white houses shining in the sun, of fig trees heavy with fruit, of spice bazaars and colourful medinas, and you can almost feel the desert wind blowing in your hair.
The journey continues with two examples of Psyché's bold and elegant approach to contemporary afrobeat and cumbia fusion: "Cumbia Mahàre" and "Amma". The former combines minimal synths and exhilarating rhythmic patterns of drums, percussion, guitar and bass, drawing us into the movements of an imaginary ritual dance (the term mahàre was used in Southern Italian dialects to indicate witches). Next is the cinematic and mysterious ambiance of "Angizia" (a snake goddess worshipped by the Marsi in ancient Italy), another fascinating mixture of different sonic traditions and cultures where hip-hop/funk drums are blended with Maghreb influences, Balkan echoes, and hypnotic, Theremin-like synths that have sort of a sci-fi movie quality to them.
The title track "Psyché", with its uptempo afro-rhythms, ethereal vocalizations and refined percussion, is almost a manifesto of the band's style and confirms the freshness of their minimalism, which is not afraid of taking in the sun of lands confined between the sea and the desert. The following "Manea" (named after the Roman-Etruscan goddess of the dead) is an afro-funk number with smooth and introspective dreamy jazz touches, and with an arrangement dominated by a guitar that, dripping notes like drops of water, creates a delicate, cinematic sound. Next, we come to "Hekate" (the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft and crossroads), a track that fuses psychedelia, spacious Latin guitars and a fast, tight groove. The album comes to a close with the exquisite melodic ballad "Kelebek", which seamlessly combines hip-hop drums and dreamy guitars, and whose warm, flowing sonorities and evocative atmospheres conjure the image of a butterfly (which is what kelebek means, in Turkish) floating over the Mediterranean and, from there, the world.
After a string of sought-after releases on labels like Barefoot Beats, Cocada Music, Bongo Synth and Too Slow To Disco, Bernardo Pinheiro brings his seasoned production skills to Onda Boa.
A man at home working in a myriad of styles, the third release on the label sees Pinheiro assemble The Amazon Orchestra to create a brilliant cover of the Marcos Valle / Azymuth jazz dance classic, “Virabrequim”.
Diggers of Brazilian wax andjazz-funk aficionados will know the tune from the O Fabuloso Fittipaldi OST that first united Marcos Valle and Azymuth in 1973.
Pinheiro’s updated disco version maintains the original track's swinging piano, propulsive bassline and soaring horn charts while pushing the material into the future, earning high praise from the man like Marcos Valle himself. Live bass, keys, guitar and brass bring an organic sound to Pinheiro’s stylish production, creating a euphoric take that's ready to elevate any house, disco or jazz dance set.
Voilaaa’s remix sees the French maestro pull back the reins a bit, stripping things down before reassembling the elements in a way that allows each section to shine in a supremely funky way. With the third release on the label, Onda Boa has cemented their sound, one which honors the iconic Brazilian originators while charting their own unique course to a cosmitropical future.
After "Afro Exotique - Adventures In The Leftfield, Africa 1972-88" was enthusiastically embraced by heads, collectors and core Africa Seven enthusiasts alike, we dived back down into the vaults, and hope we've come up with another volume of listenable esoterica from roughly the same period.
"The Quest", courtesy of fleeting 1978 leftfield supergroup Afro Cult Foundation (featuring Joni Haastrup, Remi Kabaka and friends) sets the tone-bar high and sideways, with 4.50 mins of atmospheric, effected solo piano drift to get things started.
Congolese ensemble band "Orchestre Lipua Lipua" introduces gently lilting Soukous with 1977's, "Distingue", before BG and Fibre's "Thanks and Praises" introduces some wobbly, Moog tinged Lagos reggae shuffle to proceedings.
Akwassa's 1974 funker "I Don't Want Nobody" peels off into a Hammond / wah wah / moog mini odyssey half way through, before Tongolese chanteuse Akofa Akoussah's stirring "Ramer San Rame" introduces emotional charge into proceedings.
Francis Bebey's "La Condition Masculine" (1976) is a centre piece of the album, with it's skippy drum machine rhythm and spoken world vocal, but we'll admit, we probably wouldn't have used it if we'd read a translation of that vocal first.
Benis Cletin's "Jungle Magic" (1979) acid funk intro then gives way to a blatant, and at times slightly unhinged homage to the all conquering (at the time) "I Feel Love", Sorry Bamba's "M'Bife Je T'Aime" keeps the leftfield funk groove rolling, before the mournful, immersive croon of Gregoire Lawani's "Elle M'a Mordu La Langue" brings proceedings to a reflective close.
Jamie Jones and Lee Foss welcome Brazilian newcomer Cassi to Hot Creations as he unveils his two-track EP, ‘Request’.
A new name quickly catching a lot of attention within the tech house world, Brazilian DJ/producer Cassiano Salbego, aka Cassi, only released his debut record via Amine Edge & DANCE’s CUFF Records in August of last year. However, the months since have seen the exciting South American drop a sprinkling of follow-ups and downloads to begin to showcase his sound and style, with a growing list of supporters added by the day. Next up, he gets set for his biggest release to date, making his debut appearance on James Jones and Lee Foss’ internationally renowned label Hot Creations with two new originals across ‘Request’.
Opening with rolling drums, slinking bass groove and hooky warped vocals, arpeggiated lead synths soon take hold of ‘Request’ as the track builds into a cascading surge of energy, while ‘Nervousinha’ is a stripped back yet impactful cut that sees further vox snippers paired with trippy and resonant melodies.
Death Is Not The End sub-label 333 returns again with... 333.
Originally released on his seminal Ujama label in 1988, Prince Jazzbo's 333 (aka Mango Tree) features the foundation deejay riding a killer update on the MPLA rhythm. One of the best 45s to come out of this late 80s digital era, no doubt.
• A globe spanning (France, Italy, Germany, USA, Belarus, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Canada) covers album of the late great Marc Bolan songs starting with the earliest cover in 1965 • Covering a huge range of genres and styles • A response to the U.S Hit album Angel Headed Hipster which opened up the songs of Bolan to a new American audience by using big names and TV advertising…this concentrates on quality recordings by lesser known artists • Presented in deluxe gatefold sleeve. • Reviews in Record Collector, Vive le rock R2, Shindig, Classic Rock.
SSIEGE have struck our non-linear world again with Meteora, the follow-up to the breathtaking 2019 cassette release Fading Summer, on Youth. Its elusiveness might be its biggest strength. Indicating a genre is a lost cause. Any description locating it safely inside well-defined boundaries falls flat. Neither analogue or digital, neither old or contemporary, these 5 tracks evoke an androgynous world that is at once open and veiled. A place where presence and absence and weightlessness and gravity are simultaneous. Bathing in colorful light, this record is like a slightly melancholic dream able to usher in a new day or soundtrack the last rays of sunlight
Old style, Tip-On Jacket, and 8pp heavy insert featuring a treasure trove of newly discovered photos, and a 6,000 word essay by Kris Needs.
In 1962, Karen summoned Richard Tucker to join her in Colorado, extolling the healthier lifestyle, and plentiful gigs at Boulder folk club The Attic. Upon his arrival, the pair solidified their personal and professional relationship, riding horses in the mountains, and performing as a duo at parties and venues throughout Denver and Boulder. Stories of the spell they conjured - and rumours of tapes! - have circulated among friends and musicians who witnessed them, but until now, no recorded evidence had turned up.
Shuckin' Sugar is the glorious result of three reel to reel tapes that miraculously found their way to us in November, 2018; which featured two complete shows from The Attic in January '63, and a benefit concert for The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) recorded the following February. Their gigs would often include brief solo sets from Karen and Richard, in addition to the duets, and all seven solo songs of Karen's found on the three reels are included here, as well as five duets, sequenced as close to how it all went down as humanly possible. To describe the record would take a poet, but all I can say is that unveiling a missing chapter in the Karen Dalton story - with six songs we've never heard her sing before - is cause for celebration in Delmore's world.
"From her opening, jaw-dropping lift-off with early blues standard "Trouble In Mind," the unique
otherworld Karen conjured springs into vivid life. Playing to audiences inevitably bound to the era's formalities and traditions, Karen instinctively pushed the envelope, straying into uncharted territory beyond the established borders. She must have bewildered many who came to see her in those winsome Peter, Paul and Mary times." From the liner notes by Kris Needs
Manchester's Avant-Jazzy-Funk outfit Swamp Children were enviably eclectic and Taste What's Rhythm is their mini masterpiece. Flitting gracefully through a feast of genres with consummate ease, the band were almost indefinable and, accordingly, nigh-on impossible to market. So whilst this cult EP, originally out in 1982 on Factory Benelux, remains in demand for those in the know, it has also glided under the radar of many otherwise clued-up heads for over 40 years. If you don't know, get to know...
The Taste Whats Rhythm EP was originally released in 1982 on Factory Benelux (an informal partnership between the legendary Manchester-based Factory Records and Belgium-based Les Disques du Crépuscule). With it's kaleidoscopic brightness, silky panache and superb execution, it remains one of the most startling documents of a remarkable time and place.
The EP opens with the oh-so-Balearic title track. "Taste Whats Rhythm" gently unfolds with a Spanish guitar, hazy, drifting vocals and sun-bleached Latin percussion. After this most sumptuous of intros, the tempo is raised, the rhythms grow in complexity as horns jostle amidst the restrained chaos quite wonderfully. And then it winds down again. Proper fluctuating rhythms and tempos throughout. I guess that was the point - taste the variety!
“You’ve Got Me Beat” is a *perfect* piece of post-punk pop-jazz. A mysterious, after dark jazz-dancer, the aching vocals serve as a touching, tender resignation to love. A guitar hook which seems to elegantly reference The Blackbyrds' "Rock Creek Park" and a flowing pulse from New York's No Wave scene. It still sounds so fresh all the years later.
Closing out this most perfect of EPs, the twisted synths and nimble rhythms of bass-heavy roller "Softly Saying Goodbye" combine to create a super-slinky gem; Brit-Funk of the highest order.
Swamp Children formed in Manchester in 1980, around core members Ann Quigley (vocals), Tony Quigley (bass, metalaphone, percussion), John Kirkham (electric & acoustic guitars, metalaphone, percussion), Ceri Evans (keyboards, bass, percussion, background vocals), Cliff Saffer (saxaphone, clarine) and Martin Moscrop (drums, percussion, trumpet). They initially practised at a rehearsal space shared with fellow post-punk funkers A Certain Ratio and Joy Division/New Order. Young and relatively inexperienced upon getting together, the ages of Swamp Children's members ranged from just 16 to 19. Talk about the brilliance of youth.
From the outset, Swamp Children shared DNA with A Certain Ratio. Martin Moscrop was a founder member of Ratio, while Ann provided artwork for them. Although the close association with ACR led some to assume that Swamp Children were simply a splinter group, the new band pursued a more overt latin and jazz tinged direction, at the same time adopting a post-punk attitude towards making music, influenced by the records they were listening to at the time: Miles Davis, Brazilian jazz fusion and heavy funk dancefloor sides.
The band made their live debut at Manchester's infamous Beach Club in May 1980. Thanks to a double-booking blunder another support band turned up and were turned away, having travelled all the way from Dublin for a string of British dates. The name of the unlucky band was U2...
With arrangements that emphasised Tony Quigley’s darkly-coloured basslines (and Ann Quigley’s impressionistic vocals as another instrument in the mix) Swamp Children possessed an easygoing grace and a bubbling energy which indicated that the band's true strength was as an ensemble. The band’s musical sophistication (a fusion of funk, jazz, and bossa nova) would prove to be a strong influence on later UK acts like Sade. Indeed, Swamp Children themselves later mutated into the more known and acclaimed latin jazz outfit Kalima.
Working directly with James Nice, custodian of Factory Benelux, means that the audio for this re-issue of the classic EP comes from the original tapes. Cut at 45 RPM and released in the house Be With disco sleeve, we’ve made sure this record is well up to the job of having a permanent place in every DJ’s bag. As far as we’re concerned, this is essential stuff.
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023! Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Songs fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, 20seitiges Booklet, printed inner sleeve
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023! Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Songs fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, 20seitiges Booklet, printed inner sleeve
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023, wie üblich gibt es auch eine rein instrumentale Version des Werkes. Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Tracks fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, printed inner sleeve
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023, wie üblich gibt es auch eine rein instrumentale Version des Werkes. Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Tracks fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, printed inner sleeve
After releasing their debut project “Voyage” in 2022, Tapioca, the Brussels-Kigali-based, Brazil-inspired duo return with LP “Samba em Kigali.” Building on their sound and influence, “Samba em Kigali” is a definitive step up and clear sonic growth for the twosome, whose debut, RA wrote, is "if Anderson Paak. & Marco Valle made a Brazilian pop-funk record.” Arriving via Berlin’s Jakarta Records May 19th.
Tapioca (32k Monthly Listeners on Spotify), the Belgian duo made of rapper / lyricist Alessandro “Le Tagarel” Vlerick and producer & composer Simon “SiKa” Carlier, tapped into a unique and infectious groove with their debut LP “Voyage,” released in 2022 via Jakarta Records’ “Dubplates” series. Positive reviews came flooding in, including coverage from, among others, BBC Radio 6, KCRW, Resident Advisor, JAZZIZ as well as performances and features on Worldwide FM and Bandcamp Daily. Their debut also landed on global editorial playlists such as Spotify’s “Global Groove,” (600k) “Tulum Vibes” (110k) and Deezer’s “Chilling Pool” (31k). “Voyage,” as the name indicates, was an ode to freedom, escape and the discovery of alternative cultural horizons that brought together various spoken-word testimonies from Portuguese friends around the world. Tapioca’s upcoming LP, “Samba em Kigali,” picks up the thread where “Voyage” left off, acting as an ode to traveling and, more broadly, of the inherent beauty of the African continent. Le Tagarel has worked as a teacher in Kigali, Ruanda, for the past years and his time there is reflected in the album’s buttery lyricism, putting forth the proposition that Africa and Brazil are in fact not so far apart - Africa is, and will always be, present in Brazilian culture. Featuring the Dillaesque sound infused with inspiration from rap, jazz, MPB and funk of the 70/80’s to the stunningly fleshed out lyricism - the LP sways like a ship on the smoothest of seas, a pure ray of aural sunshine to welcome the warm weather. Artwork was stunningly put together by Simone Cihlar (Anderson Paak. Tom Misch, Ivan Ave) and visualizers done by the stalwart crew at Die Ottos (Flofilz, K Le Maestro, Suff Daddy, S.Fidelity, Gianni Brezzo). Jakarta is ecstatic to share such a high-water mark of an album, out everywhere physically / digitally May 19th.
Kicking off “Samba em Kigali” is the impeccably smooth 1st single, “Lagoas de Ruanda” out March 22nd along with LP pre-order announcement. Instantly catchy, the crisp guitar, funky bass and buoyant underlying percussion are the perfect vitamin of joy that gives rise to Le Tagarel’s vocals. The track is a perfect sonic voyage that encapsulates the continued growth of Tapioca’s sound and gives a sonic peek into the LP. Infectious and groovy, the song skirts a line along samba, R&B and jazz with an almost hip-hop bounce.
2nd single, “Sabor Swahili,” out April 12th, is a nostalgic groovy splash that melds soft keys, bass and a percussive edge that slides you into an aural pocket. The song moves in a joyous melancholy that is almost impossible to move to, the under-water synth stabs keep your shoulders loose while the rhythm keeps you bouncing along. Even if you don’t know Portuguese, you’ll be singing along by the tracks end. The joyous 3rd single “Terra Preta” is out April 26th and will lift you up high to keep you in a serene mood anytime, anywhere. Focus track is the headnodding grooves of “Cara de Arabe.” Building from “Voyage,” Tapioca provides a fresh, rare vibe, adding a slight dose of disco to the R&B-driven progressions. “Samba em Kigali” is a unique album that is soaked and marinated in a sonic and visual aesthetic that brings with it feelings of joy, movement, and a global home, and sonic moods ranging from Bruno Berle and Marcos Valle inspired arrangements to bouncing progressions with a swingin’ percussive edge. Besides online promotion from the label and artist profiles, the album will further be promoted by external agencies within the US and UK.
One day, you wake up with a cloud in your head. You feel out of place and uninspired, and juggle so many worries the balance is skewed. That was Armin van Buuren three years ago. He put so much love and passion into his work and found it hard to cope with the fact that not everyone can be pleased. Something needed to change. So, he reformed his life routines, took up meditation to calm the storm and did everything he could to negate the numbness. And what he ended up with was a newfound love for music and an incredible three-part album: Feel Again.
From "No Fun" and "Computers Take Over The World" to "One More Time", "Come Around Again" and "Roll The Dice", the Feel Again album sonically represents the journey of an artist extraordinaire radically looking for harmony within himself. Its 34 tracks may be different in terms of sound, but together, they reflect an equilibrium that could only come from a man in balance.
From reconnecting to friends, family, and fans to finding inner peace, Feel Again means acknowledging harsh truths, finding out what really matters and letting that power a new step forward. Because in the evergreen words of Armin van Buuren himself, “we're still learning and will never stop learning till the day we die”.
Feel Again is available as a deluxe limited edition box set, including 3 LP's, which are housed in printed innersleeves. The set also includes 5 exclusive Armin van Buuren lithos. This deluxe boxset is limited to 3000 individually numbered copies on turquoise marbled (LP1), white marbled (LP2), and orange marbled (LP3) vinyl.
A welcome return to Concrete Castle Dubs for Dub-Liner, this time linked up with Polish producer Riffz, together they kick up a rumpus and deliver two sterling Jungle cuts for the label. Each side comes with its own distinct feel, lickin’ off shotz with some tuff ragga fashion thrown into the dancehall.
Both seasoned producers combine some killa armshouse breakbeat choppage they're well known for, a dose of reversed basslines and general head banger boogie of the highest order… the beat goes on, full up a class!
(This one should have come out at the end of 2022, hence the date on the centre label... long story).
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023! Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Songs fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, 20seitiges Booklet, printed inner sleeve
Die deutsche Post-Metalformation THE OCEAN veröffentlicht ihre neuen Albums "Holocene" im Mai 2023, wie üblich gibt es auch eine rein instrumentale Version des Werkes. Mit Holocene fügen The Ocean das neue und abschließende Kapitel in ihrer paläontologisch inspirierten Albumserie hinzu. Erweitert wird die Härte des Kollektivs diesmal um einige elektronische Dimensionen. Gegründet zu Beginn des Jahrtausends, hat die Gruppe von Musikern um den Gitarristen Robin Stapps auch nach über 20 Jahren nicht an Intensität eingebüßt. The Ocean kommen jedesmal zusammen mit der gemeinsamen Vision von grenzenloser Klangforschung, niemals stillstehend, genießt die Band einen hervorragenden Ruf in den Genres des Postrock, Progressive Metal und sogar Hardcore. Robin Staps kommentierte das abschließende Werk der paleontologischen Albumserie: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you want so. It's tackling the Holocene epoch, which is the current and shortest chapter in earth's history, but it is essentially an album about the angst, alienation, loss of reason and critical thinking, rise of conspiracy theories and deconstruction of values in the modern age." Zum Entstehungsprozess und der elektronischen Basis der neuen Tracks fügt er hinzu: "The writing process of every album we've ever made started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drumbeat or a vocal idea. This album is different since every single song is based on a musical idea that was originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synths). He came up with these amazing synth parts that were already sounding huge in pre-production, and he sent me some of those raw, unfinished ideas during mid lockdown 2020... and while it was all electronic, it had that definite Ocean vibe to it. It made me want to pick up my guitar instantly_ and so I did, and it didn't take long until we had an inspiring creative exchange that was heading towards totally unforeseen but very exciting places." Für Fans von Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Gatefold aus schwarzem Spezialpapier mit Stanzungen, metallic inks und UV Spot Lack, Insert mit Kupferfolienprägung, printed inner sleeve
Dubcore Volume 20 is another Istari Lasterfahrer release. dropping four tunes starting up with a more dub then jungle track "bridge over gibraltar", strictly echoing and bass. "waanya" second on the a side goes into heavy amen breaks and massiv dancehall basslines. on the flipside the speed goes up from previously 160/162 bpm to 174bpm with the soundclash mashup tune "pee pee a fi dubplate" with warping subs, filteramens and melanged on top with uptempo footwork riddims. last tune "mr. white" drops back to 162 bpm and dubwize basslines and idm jungle breaks.
Christopher Schwarzwalder strikes again for Denature Records, this time with a 5 tracks EP: 'Leaves'. The tracks 'Catjammer' and 'Slow Down' were produced with Feathered Sun lead singer Jo.Ke and have a wonderfully uniquely slow and melancholic groove. On the other side 'Setup' and 'The List' will take you more darker and hypnotic places. The EP ends with 'Leaves' which sounds like an invitation to an endless ballad into the sunset.
Das in LA ansässige DJ-Trio Cheat Codes, bekannt durch mehrere Singlehits auch in den hiesigen Charts, begibt sich in die 'schönste Stadt aller Zeiten', Nashville, und nimmt zusammen mit einschlägigen Country-Sänger*innen ein Album mit 13 Songs zwischen Country und entspanntem Lofi-Dance-Pop auf. Der Erfolg einer ersten Single mit Lee Brice & Lindsay Ell sowie die erfahrene Zustimmung auf dem Stagecoach Festival 2022 bestätigten ihr Bauchgefühl, Country inspirierte Dance-Pop-Tracks mit einer Vielzahl an Kollaborationen, darunter der legendären Dolly Parton, aufzunehmen.
THULCANDRA’s rise to power ignited when the Germany-based outfit unleashed their debut album, Fallen Angel’s Dominion, upon metaldom in 2010. The group, fronted by founding member and visionary Steffen Kummerer (also of Obscura fame), have tightened their hibernal grip on blackened death metal since. The desolate melodic emanations in follow-up studio records Under a Frozen Sun (2011), Ascension Lost (2015), and the chart-topping, 2021-album A Dying Wish, dedicated to the late drummer Chris Kratzer, solidified THULCANDRA as a superior force, expertly thrusting the magic and mystery of mid-’90s melodic black-death metal into the modern era. Their fifth attack, entitled Hail the Abyss, sees THULCANDRA prove yet again why they’re atop death metal’s malefic vedette! Fierce tracks such as "As I Walk Through The Gateway", or the uber-brutal "Blood Of Slaves", showcase the band‘s affinity for dark, aggressive, and mellifluous metal while the album title track and the epic, mid-tempo rager "On The Wings Of Cosmic Fire" rip and terrorize with the intensity of hell. As always, THULCANDRA's about a vibe - there's a distinct "feel" to the band's latest album that's distinctly old-school but without the tired trappings of it. The hotly-anticipated Hail the Abyss is slated for release on May 19, 2023 via Napalm Records. Cooperation with renowned producer Dan Swanö (Dissection, Opeth, Katatonia), who handled the crushing album mix, was compulsory, as was the re-invitation to cover-master Lochner. Don’t fear the reaper—fear the majestic might of THULCANDRA, as Hail the Abyss will see them ultimately rise to full power!
After the mind blowing success of Witchcraft's Legend (2012), mastermind Magnus Pelander outdid himself once again with the band's 2016 offering Nucleus. Combining what made it's predecessor the modern classic it quickly became as well as elements of the band's earlier days makes Nucleus a melancholic, raging, fragile, melodic and at times noisy masterpiece filed somewhere between classic rock, doom and ambient music. With a renewed line-up (Rage Widerberg on drums and Tobias Anger on bass) the band sounds more hungry and powerful than ever. In combination with the thrilling, yet very down-to-earth production by Pelander, Philip Gabriel Saxin and Anton Sundell, Nucleus throws you in dreamy sonic landscapes that will mesmerize and haunt you alike. Svart Records are proud to release an official reissue of this album on black and limited green vinyl on May 19th
After the mind blowing success of Witchcraft's Legend (2012), mastermind Magnus Pelander outdid himself once again with the band's 2016 offering Nucleus. Combining what made it's predecessor the modern classic it quickly became as well as elements of the band's earlier days makes Nucleus a melancholic, raging, fragile, melodic and at times noisy masterpiece filed somewhere between classic rock, doom and ambient music. With a renewed line-up (Rage Widerberg on drums and Tobias Anger on bass) the band sounds more hungry and powerful than ever. In combination with the thrilling, yet very down-to-earth production by Pelander, Philip Gabriel Saxin and Anton Sundell, Nucleus throws you in dreamy sonic landscapes that will mesmerize and haunt you alike. Svart Records are proud to release an official reissue of this album on black and limited green vinyl on May 19th
repressed !
Commodo chalks up another release for DEEP MEDi and this one delivers vocals from JME. JME also featured on Skepta's 'That's not me' which recently won the 2014 MOBO for best Video.
The Instrumental sits snugly on the flip; with full focus on the beat. Anything but a B side!
For Fans Of... Sunny and the Sunliners, Rene Y Rene, Ray Camacho. The second offering by The Revues continues to explore the intersections between Tejano music, Latin Soul, and funk. This updated take on Rene y Rene’s coveted version of “Mi Corazón Esta Llorando” is tough but with a touch of sweetness. On the flip side we get the instrumental version only with the vocal melody being swapped out for tenor and alto saxes, heightening the Tejano influence and flavor. Also Available From The Revues: Take Me For A Little While 7”. Tracks: 1. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando 2. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando
Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu's most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu's subject matter. What Is Going On? confronted some of the nation's most urgent struggles through Jadagu's compassionate perspective. What Is Going On? built on the small online fanbase Jadagu had developed by releasing music on SoundCloud for years as she realized her growing passion for songwriting. Now, Jadagu is releasing Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. "Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don't go to church, you're still practicing in some form," Jadagu says, laughing. "Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I've been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it's definitely a theme on this album, but so is family." As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister - a major source of inspiration - to a local children's chorus, where she received choral training. "I hated it," Jadagu admits. "But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody." The aching single "Admit It" is dedicated to Jadagu's sister, whose love and impeccable taste have been a constant since Jadagu was a kid. The siblings were raised on mom's Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom Hannah credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister's car that Jadagu discovered the indie artists who inspire her work. With Aperture, Jadagu faced the challenge of finding a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu's attention with his take on Aperture's lead single "Say It Now." The duo worked remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris. "When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments," Jadagu says. "Every track on this album, except for 'Admit It,' was written first on guitar. But the blanket of synths throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There's rock Hannah, there's hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn't want any of the songs to sound too alike." An aperture is defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it's the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you. Let the light in.
Tape
Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu's most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu's subject matter. What Is Going On? confronted some of the nation's most urgent struggles through Jadagu's compassionate perspective. What Is Going On? built on the small online fanbase Jadagu had developed by releasing music on SoundCloud for years as she realized her growing passion for songwriting. Now, Jadagu is releasing Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. "Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don't go to church, you're still practicing in some form," Jadagu says, laughing. "Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I've been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it's definitely a theme on this album, but so is family." As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister - a major source of inspiration - to a local children's chorus, where she received choral training. "I hated it," Jadagu admits. "But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody." The aching single "Admit It" is dedicated to Jadagu's sister, whose love and impeccable taste have been a constant since Jadagu was a kid. The siblings were raised on mom's Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom Hannah credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister's car that Jadagu discovered the indie artists who inspire her work. With Aperture, Jadagu faced the challenge of finding a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu's attention with his take on Aperture's lead single "Say It Now." The duo worked remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris. "When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments," Jadagu says. "Every track on this album, except for 'Admit It,' was written first on guitar. But the blanket of synths throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There's rock Hannah, there's hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn't want any of the songs to sound too alike." An aperture is defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it's the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you. Let the light in.
Mit seinem frischen Blend aus Reggae und Hip-Hop gelang dem Jamaikaner Kabaka Pyramid mit seinem Debütalbum 'Kontraband' (2018) ein Überraschungserfolg, an den der Nachfolger 'The Kalling' nun ansetzt. Das Meisterwerk, produziert von Damian und Stephen Marley, Young Pow und Kabaka Pyramid, gewann dieses Jahr den Grammy für 'Best Reggae Album'. Diese Symphonie von 15 Songs hebt den Reichtum der Reggae-Musik hervor, von der scharfen Perfektion von Percussion und Bass bis zu ikonischen Tunes von Junior Byles ('Faded Away' ft. Buju Banton), Peter Tosh ('Mystic Man') und Eddie Fitzroy ('EZ Ride'). Features kommen u.a. von Protoje, Jemere Morgan, Black-Am-I, Jesse Royal und den Marley-Brüdern.
[o] D3. Kontraband, Pt. 2 (feat. Damian Marley) [Bonus Track]
Formed in the early 1970s, The Residents have now been charting a unique path through the musical landscape for 50 years. In celebration of that remarkable and unlikely anniversary, we present an expanded vinyl reissue of the classic 1978 album ‘Duck Stab/ Buster & Glen’.
Compiling the legendary ‘Duck Stab!’ EP with another side of similarly themed ditties, The Residents’ produced one of their best-loved works during the punk rock explosion of 1978 - the album has remained a cornerstone of their remarkable body of work ever since; and has recently been featured heavily on the band’s ‘Dog Stab!’ tour. This expanded edition includes the ‘Shitty Rock ‘N Roll’ RDX suite (a reworked and remixed suite produced by The Residents using the album’s original multitrack tapes) alongside related bonus tracks, all packaged within the album’s long out of print original sleeve artwork.
Produced with The Cryptic Corporation, remastered by Scott Colburn and complete with insightful new sleevenotes, this set builds upon The Residents’ ongoing pREServed reissue project, which will continue into 2023 and beyond.
Mirror Zone proudly presents its upcoming release. We welcome Sun Genam & Altjira to the family with their debut on the label. Presenting a sound spanning between rhythmic tribalism and dreamy soundscapes that will give the listener an altered state into the unknown.
"Time is circular, not linear, quantum. Through observer effect, we all play part in and affect creation, affect reality”
Bristol's new wave dance floor instrumentalists announce their new album 'Ruins Everything' releasing on Worm Discs. Snazzback’s
electrifying chemistry has wowed audiences at Ronnie Scott’s, festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown & Shambala and gained support from BBC Radio heavyweights including Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova and Jamie Cullum. Snazzback's music is a collage, collectively constructed, torn up and glued back together in unexpected ways, bringing a renewed, daring energy to UK dance music.
The 7-piece embrace their experimental beginnings to create a sound
fusing abstract beats with spiralling improvisation. Their music is soaked in influences including interlocking West African rhythms, rootsy Brazilian flavours, sprawling soundscapes, deep dubstep
basslines and flickering arpeggiators. A collaborative instinct runs through the group, and an eclectic choice of vocalists keeps their
compositions shimmering with new possibilities.
The Ironsides have arrived. Changing Light is the first full-length effort from this masterful group of Bay Area musicians. It melds classic psych-soul sounds with sweeping orchestral arrangements - reminiscent of a cinematic soundtrack from a 60s European film. The Changing Light evokes strong imagery of an open road, a breathtaking view, and scenes of a vast landscape begging to be explored. Cruise up the coast, where sweeping orchestral arrangements rise and fall with the tide. As you head North, the countryside opens to an undeniable groove. Tremolo-soaked guitar tones grow on the vines, and timeless, soulful bass lines flow like wine. In higher altitudes, French horns and trumpets soar like eagles. A river below carries bellowing cello tones through a mountain pass into an expansive canyon. Down in the desert, fuzzed-out electric guitar cuts through the dry heat and leaves the listener thirsty for more. Plot a course, or just turn on the car and drive. Max recommends the latter. "The songs are inspired by landscapes - Each one could mean something to someone and create a completely different meaning for someone else." At the end of a long road, The Ironsides have found the perfect place to begin.
The latest venture in the ToneShift imprint from UK-based label Comma Traxx welcomes emkay and Janthe to the Comma releases catalogue alongside label boss Hannd and frequent releaser Cosmic G. Each track stands out individually but works together seamlessly to create a complete compilation package. Hannd’s ‘Ratio Extract’ acts as the modernized progressive house representative on the VA, merging intricate sound design with developing goa’esque melodies forming a fine line between euphoric uplift and rolling peak time ammo. emkay’s ‘Rays Of The Sublime’ does as the title suggests, sending the listener into an uplifting state of bliss, combining raw break percussion with intricate synth developments - a strong representation of why the talented producer is a name to be reckoned with at the moment. Cosmic G draws on old-school goa trance influences for ‘Life Pride’ fusing tribalistic percussions tastefully immersed with deep and atmospheric sound design. Janthe’s ‘Conversations’ blends dubbed-out house flavours with prog-like rhythms to bring the fantastic finishing piece to the compilation puzzle.
In November 1985, Bérurier Noir and his band of agitated*e*s returned to the studio, in the middle of a social strike. The surprise strikes that plunged the country into a "Joyeux Merdier" were the ideal setting for this new Christmas prank and tinged with rage but also with fun, 4 new tracks and not the least. It is THE record that contains "Salut à toi" and opens the door to the first radio broadcasts of the group, before becoming the eternal anthem of a youth always in solidarity with the peoples of the world zone.
The band's name alone evokes the epic of alternative rock: rebellious and committed.
Born by mistake, one evening in February 1983, Bérurier Noir quickly found itself the driving force behind a vast "Youth Movement", determined to take control of its life in the face of a society that was ultra conservative at the time. Times have hardly changed.
From the first self-produced records distributed by hand to the creation of self-managed labels, from concerts in squats and wild appearances in demonstrations, in the street or in the metro to endless tours, from interviews given to fanzines and free radio stations to unclassifiable appearances in the mainstream media, Bérurier Noir has waged the most exciting war of independence in the history of French rock, with only a microphone, a guitar, a drum machine, a few red noses and patched-up theatre masks.
The last finger of honour of this turbulent and irrecoverable raia, François, Loran and their "Troupeau d'Rock" commit hara-kiri, at the peak of their glory, during three last concerts in the heart of Paris in November 1989.
Forty years after its birth, Bérurier Noir's work still resonates, whether in demonstrations or free parties, nourishing the hopes of those who wish to overthrow this world to build a truly libertarian, united and fraternal society.
The label Archives de la Zone Mondiale reminds those who missed this unprecedented adventure, 8 discographic parts of the group Bérurier Noir in the form of reissues in particularly original colour vinyls (crown finish), in a limited series and distributed throughout the year.
A nomad in France and elsewhere, a dandy of the highways and byways, Antonin carries his poetically gaunt figure along the beaches of Cap-Ferret, where he is originally from, his long Cossack hair and his profile of a night owl with a sharp sweetness. Born "sea-drunk", he grew up in a wooden hut on the sand in the middle of the pines, and his only masters are time, the ocean and the six strings of his acoustic guitar. His music is like him: sun-drenched, free as air, necessary as water. Heady pop ritornellos, ballads to sing in chorus and dance barefoot, island saudades. Somewhere between Nino Ferrer and Nino Rota, Air and Moustaki, with Antonin's casual and chameleon-like ability to pass himself off as an Italian or an Israeli when the wine or the atmosphere encourages him to do so.
Former In the Woods... members deliver epic Norwegian Black Metal to takes you into the night sky!
It’s the moment just after the tree-root thick tangle of guitars come in and the luminous clean vocals light up the sky while the keyboards suddenly shine from below: when the singing enters on ‘Astrologer’, the first track of Nattehimmel’s first album “Mourningstar”, that one might actually hear a continuation from In The Woods...’s legendary “Omnio” album from 1997. None of the 5 members are strangers to one another, having met before in bands such as In The Woods... and Strange New Dawn.
We guarantee that the members regard “Omnio” pretty highly.
Enough to revere it though? The similarity is not likely to be incidental, and anyway proves fleeting in the context of the 8 songs on “Mournigstar”, this new union turning out
very creative in shaping their Black Metal with a variety of elements. Primarily, the vocals set Nattehimmel apart from many other acts of this nature by including a variety of tropes from harsh growls to monkish groans to undead rasps, plus other backing parts that overlay the slightly echoey production with a ton of reson.
Das zweifach ausgezeichnete Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-Mitglied Graham Nash präsentiert sein erstes Studio Album seit 7 Jahren. Das Gründungsmitglied der Hollies und Crosby, Stills & Nash hat mit seinem langjährigen Tour Keyboarder Todd Caldwell sein Album
mit dem Titel "Now" produziert. "Ich glaube, dass mein neues Album Now das persönlichste ist, das ich je gemacht habe.
An diesem Punkt in meinem Leben ist das etwas, das man sagen kann", erzählt Nash. Nash wird in diesem Frühjahr mit einer Reihe von Auftritten in den USA auf Tournee gehen, um das Album zu promoten.
Zusätzlich zu seinen zwei Eintritten in die Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (mit Crosby, Stills & Nash und den Hollies) ist Nash zweimal in die Songwriters Hall of Fame aufgenommen worden - als Solokünstler und mit CSN.
Nashs bemerkenswertes Werk begann mit den Hollies in den Jahren 1964 bis '68. Seine Beiträge zu Crosby, Stills & Nash, Déjà Vuare und den Hollies mit Titeln wie "Marrakesh Express", "Pre-Road Downs", "Lady of the Island", "Teach Your Children" und "Our House" gehören
zur musikalischen DNA in der amerikanischen Musikgeschichte.
Dj Jedi delivers his first release on Burning Bush Communications - a 1992 style uplifting piano anthem on the A side and an exclusive remix by Pianoman of "Come On" on the Flip.
The Emergency Declaration has been issued, so... past iron up... between iron chan... it is commonly known as the limited express... the chill system (Red Belt) + (Blue Belt) formation crab-crab. Limited operation @ Sultan Al Sham, Magnetic Dress, and Dedicated Computer Realm.
Armed with a discography that includes hits for the likes of Nas (“Ether”), Big L (“Ebonics”), Jim Jones (“Pop Champagne” f/ Juelz Santana), Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, Killer Mike, Papoose, Method Man, Ja Rule and more, the Harlem-based, iconic producer returns with his most coveted compilation album to date with, One Twenty Seven.
Named after Harlem’s 127th street that raised the gifted beatsmith/recording artist, the 12 track LP boasts a soundscape that ranges from 808 heavy club bangers, head nodding boom-bap and menacing underground joints, equipped with a star-studded line-up of guest appearances that include Diddy, Kid Capri, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, Busta Rhymes, Rockness Monsta, Kool G Rap, Sauce Money, T-Pain, Jadakiss and more!
BENNY THE BUTCHER THE PLUGS I MET 2 THE PLUGS I MET 2 IS NOW AVAILABLE IN A LIMITED EDITION BURGUNDY PRESSING
Mere months after releasing an undisputed AOTY contender for 2020 with Burden Of Proof and only three months after being shot, Benny got back on his feet (way ahead of schedule) and re-immersed in his element “back to that little pot, that little flame.” While he has separated himself from his peers, Benny from Montana Ave knows the game is to be sold and never told and he has put all of these accolades in his rearview mirror to focus on his next lick; The Plugs I Met 2. The Plugs I Met 2 is the coronation of a true G going from worker to the PLUG---and never looking back. “I came in as an underdog, to filling out my position as one of the elite rhymers in the industry. Plugs 2 expands upon that mindset; the same confidence, same attitude, cocky, but I still have something to prove” Benny asserts. Produced entirely by Harry Fraud, the Brooklyn bred producer describes The Plugs I Met 2 as “the story of a hustler who’s realized success but understands how fragile it is. Lyrically the album shows Benny reflecting on what he’s sacrificed to get here and what he’ll need to do to continue his rise to the top. With this project we set out to transport the listener into a world that was lush but still gritty, triumphant but still emotional and sonically diverse across the board.”
Vic Spencer’s unconventional rap style coupled with his consistent output has made his name synonymous with the new era of underground Hip-Hop. And while 38 Spesh may be best known for his bars, he has built up a production resume that puts him in the company of the best beatmakers in the industry. Yet, neither of their fanbases know how closely affiliated they are, so Greenthumbs Meets Trigger Fingers comes as a complete surprise. This project is a concentrated shot of both artists’ flavor that will have listeners fiending for more. The LP features guest spots from Rome Streetz, The Musalini, Rasheed Chappell, and Risktaker.
Back in 2012, Thee Oh Sees made their first appearance at Austin Psych Fest, performing an electrified set at Emo's East. The first of many Levitation appearances down in Austin, this show has been mixed by John Dwyer and mastered for vinyl by JJ Golden. Now immortalized on glorious 12" colored wax. "I think this was our first time at levitation but our millionth time in the amazing and tough as nails city of Austin, Texas. Brigid Dawson, Mike Shoun, Petey D and myself had already laid the live show out in front of crowds here, so it wasn't our first rodeo and certainly not my last. Our love is obvious here as we bring forth a short but sweet set of hits and deep cuts. This is also the version of the band with Lars "Fingers" Finberg of Intelligence fame as second banana drummer. So enjoy some primal and sensual double drumming and as a side note, no one died at this show. Thanks as always to Levitation for making shit happen" - John Dwyer LEVITATION and the LIVE AT LEVITATION Vinyl Series The first Austin Psych Fest was held in March 2008, and expanded to a 3 day event the following year. The event quickly developed into an international destination for psychedelic rock fans, with lineups spanning the fringes of indie rock, from up-and-comers to vintage legends, and capped off with headline performances from co-founders The Black Angels, along with Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Thee Oh Sees (in various forms) and many more. LEVITATION helped spark a movement, inspiring the creation of similar events across the globe and a burgeoning psych scene that would soon ignite. The series captures key moments in psychedelic rock history, and live music in Austin, Texas, pressed on beautiful limited edition colorful vinyl pressings - each an eye popping visual representation of the music contained within.
As part of its continuing exploration of Detroit’s Strata label with DJ Amir’s 180 Proof Records, BBE Music reissues the 1974 rare jazz classic ‘Inside Ourselves’ by Sphere. Recorded live on June 28th, 1970 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, ‘Inside Ourselves’ features John Dana on bass, Jimmy Peluso on Drums, Keith Vreeland on, Electric Piano, Eddie Nuccilli on Trumpet and Flügelhorn, plus bandleader Larry Nozero on tenor and soprano Saxophone. The album comprises seven captivating original compositions, written by Vreeland, Nuccilli and Nozero himself. Perhaps Larry Nozero’s single most-recognisable contribution to popular music is the soprano sax solo on Marvin Gaye’s seminal, 'What’s Going On', the title track and tone-setter for one of soul music’s most successful, not to mention conceptual, recordings. Like so many talented reedmen before him, Nozero received instruction from Detroit’s Teal School of Music, creating common ground with Yusef Lateef, Joe Henderson, and Benny Maupin. Although Nozero flirted with the Strata groundlings briefly in 1964 as a member of Charles Moore’s Detroit Contemporary 5, he was soon drafted into the military. A mixed blessing, Nozero took full advantage of the opportunities within the Army Band, which led to several high-profile jobs upon his return to Detroit. Despite lengthy engagements with Henry Mancini, Sergio Mendes, and studio work with everyone from Holland-Dozier-Holland to Berry Gordy, Nozero still relished musical freedom of expression, which made him right at home on the Strata roster. While little is known about Sphere as a standalone group aside from its contributors and producer Bud Spangler, ‘Inside Ourselves’ represents the level of quality jazz expected from the Strata imprint.
After an explosive performance at Wacken Festival, the mighty heavy metal newcomers ROADWOLF are back with pure power to unleash their highly anticipated sophomore record! The first single, “On The Run”, starts off the record with a bang, featuring electrifying guitar riffs, a pulsating bassline, and driving drums that set the tone for the entire album. The band wears their influences proudly on their sleeves as you can hear their inspiration from legends like Judas Priest, Saxon, and Dio. Single Blurb: Single 2 ROADWOLF is tearing up the heavy metal scene with their latest epic release! As one of the leading acts in the new wave of traditional heavy metal, they've shared the stage with some of the genre's most iconic names like Enforcer, Skull Fist, and Bullet. With "Supernatural," the band showcases their versatility, delivering a touching ballad-like verse before unleashing a full-blown metal extravaganza during the chorus. Get ready to rock out with ROADWOLF, the masters of heavy metal power! Single Blurb: Single 3 With the success of “On The Run”, ROADWOLF launch through your speakers once again with the release of their next single “Midnight Lightning”! The title track brings out ROADWOLF’s heavy metal prowess with soaring vocals and scorching guitar solos, reminiscent of Judas Priest. Join the band on this electrifying ride, bolting along lightning crashes as the clock strikes midnight. ROADWOLF is guaranteed to get the crowd head banging and moshing in frenzy with this new powerful single! Album Blurb: Brace yourself for an ear-shattering, face-melting experience as Austrian heavy metal sensations ROADWOLF unleash their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Midnight Lightning, out on May 5, 2023 via Napalm Records! With their debut album, Unchain the Wolf (2020), the band firmly established themselves as purveyors of classic heavy metal, drawing inspiration from legendary acts such as Judas Priest, Saxon, UFO, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne. Since its release, the band has turned heads on stage, performing at renowned metal festivals such as Wacken and sharing the stage with notable acts such as Enforcer, Skull Fist, Bullet, Lizzy Borden, Vicious Rumors, and Night Demon. Now, they bring the madness directly to you with their all killers no fillers album Midnight Lightning!
Schottlands hottest Superstar Lewis Capaldi meldet sich mit seinem langersehnten 2. Album zurück - nachdem er mit seinem Überhit ”Someone You Loved” 2019 alle UK Rekorde knackte und sein Debüt ”Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent” weltweit wie heißeste Semmeln über die Ladentheken ging (7fach Platin in UK, Gold in DE und aktuell wieder #4 in den UK Albumcharts).
”Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent” enthält neben der Uptempo Single ”Forget Me” auch die aktuelle Ballade ”Wish You The Best”, die Lewis zum mittlerweile das fünfte Mal auf den UK Singlechart Thron
katapultierte.
Nahezu täglich nimmt er seine über 6,5 Millionen Instagram Follower auf unterhaltsamste Art und Weise mit auf seine Reise und beherrschte zuletzt sogar wochenlang die #1 der UK Netflix Charts mit seiner sehr berührenden mental health Doku ”How I’m Feeling Now”.
Niemand vereint herzzerreißende Songs, eine einzigartige Stimme, Humor und die Zerbrechlichkeit aufgrund andauernder mental health und Tourette Erkrankungen wie der 26-Jährige. Trotz aller Widrigkeiten spielt er weltweit in den größten Hallen und mit befreundeten Kollegen wie Niall Horan, Sam Smith, Jonas Brothers und zählt u.a. Elton John und Harry Styles zu seinen Fans.
Mo H. Zareei (mHz) returns to Imprec/Cassauna with Proof Of Identity, an album of pulsating, pattern-based electronic pieces that evolve in ways reminiscent of Steve Reich's early work or Philip Glass' Music In 12 Parts. With Proof Of Identity, Zareei confronts issues surrounding identity and authorship in composition specifically when created by non-Western musicians. He simultaneously tackles orientalism and the normative take on identity politics.
Artist's Statement:
More than a decade ago, I made a piece of beat-based electronic music and titled it "Middle Eastern IDM" for a course assignment. After listening to it in class, my professor asked what was Middle Eastern about it. It was only a year after I had left Iran to study in the US, and I didn't know that I could say "I am. I made the piece". So I went back and superimposed a sample of Egyptian protest chants on top of the piece, to make it "sufficiently Middle Eastern".
What prejudiced conservatism and performative liberalism share is gatekeeping practices that box one in a preconceived state of otherness. While the former overtly regards that otherness as inferior, the latter exoticises it through patronising paternalism. To me, it is especially troubling when exclusionary practices are driven by some form of overzealous "diversity and inclusion" agenda. If you don't fit the diversity box they've made for you, too bad. It's your fault for being "insufficiently diverse". "Poor thing, you've been colonised!", they tell you, as they claim ownership over a collection of frequencies and rhythms. When you look at who gets to decide if something's indigenous enough, you see how decolonisation itself has been colonised.
When you listen to this piece, I'm very happy for you to keep in mind that it was made by someone from Iran. But I might need to clarify that this piece has nothing to do with sufism and the whirling dervishes, the interweaving patterns of the Persian carpet, the poetry of Rumi, or Islamic architecture. And if you hear those moments of "non-western" sonorities, that is because I have constructed this piece from samples of a piece of Iranian traditional music – an overplayed piece that was all over TV and radio while I was growing up Iran, one that I never found particularly inspiring or interesting. Here, I have tried to make it more interesting by completely taking it apart and reconstructing it through my personal compositional techniques, aesthetic preferences, and a wide range of musical influences. So in short, while this piece might not sound like your archetypical Iranian music, I assure you that it is Iranian enough.
After a creative break of more than 10 years the Contemporary Noise Ensemble returns with the brand new album called »An Excellent Spiritual Serviceman«. With the band’s line-up reduced and the sound of the brass section replaced with programmable synthesizers comes an entirely new sound of the band’s music. Leaning towards composition instead of improvisation the music is now less jazzy sounding - with electric bass being used instead of double bass and drums actually being the only strictly acoustical instrument. But then again you can hear a lot of other prerecorded instruments like marimba, vibraphone, Rhodes and upright pianos surrounded by arpeggiated synths and other programmable electronic instruments.
The album takes you to a journey through jazz, space rock, funk and electronic music with a destination in a form of a rock song which is as well the title song of the album. The Contemporary Noise Ensemble still impresses with maturity and class.
Produced by Kelly Finnigan of The Monophonics, Record Kicks present “Without You” / “Love Can't Be Borrowed” a limited edition 45 featuring 2 singles from the upcoming album by US combo The Sextones “Love Can’t Be Borrowed”. The 45 vinyl is limited to 500 copies worldwide and it’s a must have for all rare soul fans and djs. The Sextones are back. The intrepid soul crusaders from Nevada’s high desert have emerged from years-long writing and recording process guided by virtuoso producer Kelly Finnigan (Monophonics) with their latest offering: Love Can’t Be Borrowed the new album to be released next September 29 via Milan heavy-weight soul label, Record Kicks. With inspiration from artists like The Moments, Baby Huey, The Delfonics, and especially the late Curtis Mayfield, the album is drenched in the era-defining tone that can only come from its origins on analog tape. Friends since childhood, The Sextones are Mark Sexton (guitar, vocals), Alexander Korostinsky (bass), Daniel Weiss (drums), and Christopher Sexton (piano). Having known each other for so long, their musical chemistry is effortless and forms the foundation of the band’s longevity and creative workflow. Despite their bond, each member has been able to channel their creativity into other acclaimed groups—Alexander and Mark with their cinematic-soul project Whatitdo Archive Group, whose acclaimed debut LP “The Black Stone Affair” was released on Record Kicks in 2021, and Daniel with the soul/jazz group Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio (Colemine Records). Flexing their creative muscle individually has only strengthened The Sextones’ collective songwriting ability and heralds their formidable return to the spotlight. With their recent signing to Record Kicks, the self-made heroes of soul begin a new chapter in their sonic journey, ready to scale new heights and plumb deep emotional depths in service of the genre they love.
Physcial release from The Wedding Present of "24 Songs" whch were all previously released digitally as singles.
BerettaMusic, known for discovering and developing Detroit talent and serving as a launching ground for several well known artists such as Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Luke Hess and many others, the label further solidifies their legacy in Detroit dance music with a release from legendary Dez Andrés.
“It's hard to believe it is now a full decade since Detroit's Dez Andres blew up off the back of his classic house jam 'New For U.' He had of course been toiling away for years before that, recording with Moodyman and DJing for Slum Village amongst other things. Since then the music has kept coming - some of it hip-hop as DJ Dez, some of it house under this alias, and much of it a perfect fusion of the two. And that's what we get here on this new EP for Beretta Music - four lush deep house joints with his smooth signature drum loops and gloriously incidental melodies. The slower, funkier bounce of 'Back To Nature' is the EP highlight for us, but all four of these are a cut above, as per usual with Dez.”
Airport Society are the Detroit duo of Brian Kage and Ryan Sadorus who founded the label BerettaMusic together nearly 20 years ago. They have been on a tear this past year since getting back together on both the label and musical collaborations. Here they deliver a heavy remix of “Back in My Space”, taking it into the depths while accentuating the soulful elements. Inspired by late night Detroit underground parties, the duo continues to deliver classic releases and remixes. The label continues to build momentum through 2022/2023 with some great releases. Written and Produced by Dez Andrés. Remix by Ryan Sadorus and Brian Kage. Mixed and mastered at the Bear Cave in Detroit, cut by Dietrich Schoenemann. Pressed at the world famous Archer Records in Detroit.
Power, Pain, Privilege is Specimens fourth album & most personal work to date, it follows up on his collaboration album ‘Intersections’ with Peter Broderick, Benoît Pioulard, Midori Hirano & Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch.
Power, Pain, Privilege is a commissioned piece by London’s Southbank Centre and is an abstract sonic exploration of biracial identity, in its historicity as well as through the lens of Ives’ own personal experience of being British-Jamaican. The album is a departure from his largely ambient work and explores haunted and twisted dancehall rhythms, industrial drones, and spoken word pieces that track a course through painful incidents of imposter syndrome, shame, privilege & racism.
The album opens with a computerised robotic voice reading excerpts of the 1930s Fletcher Report: “an Investigation into the Colour Problem in Liverpool and other ports” a report which heavily stigmatises children and mixed heritage families of African and European origin. It could be deemed the official outset in defining Liverpool's ‘half castes’ as a problem and blight to the “British way of life”. Ives’ states “this track sets the tone to the album, the cold analytical and dehumanising approach to reports like this, whilst over 80 years old set the standard for viewing biracial families and to have used a Human voice to recite these pieces of text would have been to give it too much life”
The album is accompanied by a film directed by the photographer & director Lucie Rox which was live scored at The Southbank Centre in London and in Paris at 3537.
Core Dimension team up with legendary vocalist Angie Brown to deliver a 1992 style Piano Breakbeat Hardcore Rave double Aside release.
Now in its 14th year, the unique and constantly evolving Fire! Orchestra is back with their largest line-up so far, counting an international cast of no less than 43 members that includes mainstay singer Mariam Wallentin as well as newcomers David Sandström and Joe McPhee, both on vocals, McPhee also on tenor sax. The popular and widely praised Arrival is a highlight in both our and the band's catalogue, but this epic triple album ups the ante. While following in the great tradition of ensembles led by the likes of Carla Bley, George Russell and Keith Tippett, Echoes is firmly placed in 2022 and takes in elements of rock, jazz, folk, electronic, classical and contemporary music. Starting out with the working title Big Bang, the near two-hour piece had its concert premiere at Stockholm Jazz Festival in October to rapturous applause from a full house, with major national newspaper Dagens Nyheter calling it a feast for eyes and ears in their ecstatic review. The core elements of Echoes are the seven self-titled parts, each mostly over 10 minutes in duration, interspersed with shorter pieces where we find a string quartet, an "African" stretch and generally music of an exploratory and experimental nature. Considering the size of the orchestra and the somewhat intimidating working title, this is a very open, breathing, organic, detailed and dynamic recording with a lot of space. As previously, a defining base element in the music is the repetitive and hypnotic grooves from the main rhythm section of bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin. Needless to say, the hand-picked musicians are all on a very high level and on top of their game, conducted by Mats Gustafsson but given free reign when it's called for. And Jim O'Rourke was given free reign when it came to the selections and the mix and is a big part in how the final album turned out. The album closes with a vigorous tribute from Joe McPhee to one of the late, great masters, McPhee being a pretty decent finger wiggler himself, to say the least. Echoes was mostly written by Fire! founders Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin and recorded at the legendary Atlantis studio in Stockholm in March last year.It was mixed by Jim O'Rourke in Japan in the course of two autumn months. The mastering and vinyl cut was done by loop-o mastering in Berlin, making for a fantastic sounding album, especially the vinyl edition is a real treat.
Vinyl release compiling both Nukuluk EPs on one LP. Curating their own unique sound and captivating crowds with their refreshing approach to hip-hop, electronica and indie, Nukuluk return with their new EP ‘SUPERGLUE’ on 21 April. The writing and recording process has never been executed in a conventional style for the group, a series of laptops and bedrooms manifesting the groups’ studio, aspiring to a fundamentally collaborative process as they piece their separate parts together in ever surprising ways. Respective members lead through a variety of formats, bringing a demo, a motif or concept in what can be a deeply stimulating process, ensuring the sound is ever-evolving. The EP acted as an educational vehicle that held the group together as they learned how to overcome certain challenges, and hold it together as one, hence the title SUPERGLUE. It presents a fractured journey and chaotic growth of five individuals trying to create the new together; honest vulnerable expression married with complex soundscapes, pulling from whatever genre feels natural and trying new combinations of internal collaborations in the group. The release spans genres from hip-hop to alternative rock, ambient to metal, dance music to r’n’b in what the band note as: “a kaleidoscope of sonics, songs, beats, noises and stories lurching between vulnerability and bravado, as a body of work growing in all directions at the same time.” Their latest single ‘I Just Wanna Luv U’, the follow up to the high octane ‘Covered In Gold’, marks a charged change of pace; an introspective, meditative trip-hop piece, with creeping synths, electronic drums and gruff vocals transitioning into acoustic guitars, live drums and rap verses. It tells the story of wrestling with childhood trauma, isolation and self-acceptance. Vocalist/producer Syd Nuku explores an eerie modern condition before conversing with an inner child’s trauma and memory - “be slow kid, go and take a place below the ceiling where it won’t fall”. The accompanying video was co-directed by Luke Kulukundis (Syd Nuku) and Iso Attrill, and takes reference from the likes of Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and David Lynch. Nukuluk are Monika, Syd, Mateo, Louis and olivia. Entirely self made the collective successfully blend genres and styles to reach new spaces through a broad range of influences (including JPEGMAFIA, Jockstrap, SOPHIE, Wu-Lu and Yves Tumor as well as esteemed groups like Massive Attack, Portishead and Gorillaz). Formed in the midst of lockdown, the collective played their first show in July 2021 before releasing their debut EP DISASTER POP to critical acclaim in November, which subsequently led to multiple festival appearances and a 3-night sold out residency at Bermondsey Social Club in 2022. Their release campaign was littered with videos and creative visuals that were constructed by the collective and its extended family of artists - this multifaceted creative output of the group making them a unique prospect; directing and producing their own videos, exploring many avenues of creation and trying to exist in a unique contemporary DIY space. With nods across the spectrum of the music media – including The Quietus, CLASH, NME, Ransom Note, DIY, DORK, So Young and many more – Nukuluk are steadily carving out their own space in the British leftfield.
Hailed by American Songwriter as "one of America's most intriguing,
creative, and idiosyncratic voices," Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind The Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions Co- produced by multi- instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the 11- song collection pushes the acclaimed singer and songwriter's
trademark blend of vintage roots- noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption. The band's performances are electrifying here, resulting in Jewell's boldest album yet, a powerful work of artistic alchemy that transforms heartache into genuine creative rebirth.
Label boss Ben Jones steps up to curate the third outing on Before. It finds him working with Benjamin Joseph on opener 'Soothe', a stripped-back and warm house roller with crisp hits. Robert James then remixes with a more broken vibe and old-school baselines. On the flip, James then steps up with 'Dmode' with its a punchy cut with drilling bass and tripped-out effects. Ben Jones & Benjamin Joseph then return the remix favour with their own take on 'Dmode'. It's darker and more heads down, with silky synths and plenty of late-night intrigue keeping you locked.
1st Science (Henrik Helenius) Has Been An Online Man Of Mystery For Some Time, And You'd Better Believe He Supplies The Goods Whenever He Resurfaces!
In The Early 1990s, Out Of The Uk's Rave Scene, 2 Genres Known As Breakbeat Hardcore And Jungle Were Spawned. A Decade Later, And A Modest Online Community Began To Try And Revive The Genres In The 2000s Within A Scene Dubbed "Hardcore Breaks". Henrik Became One Of Its Most Influential And Creative Contributors, Bagging Himself Appearances On The Likes Of Right Touch Records, Bat Beat Recordings (The Precursor To Renegadegenius's Paranoid Recordings) And Hardcore Lives, As Well As Becoming One Of The First Serious Juggernauts Of Sharing Music Online.
Based In Stockholm, In The Words Of Strictly Nuskool Blog, Henrik Swiftly Earned Himself The Title Of "The Swedish King Of Hardcore" Amongst Junglists... And That's A Tough Title To Pinch!
Skip Ahead To The Year 2023, And 1st Science Is Far From Done. Hell, Didn't You Know He's Only Just Started Tuning Up The Bunsen Burner? From The Ones Who Brought You "You Time" And "First Sign Of Trouble", Yes Yes, Erupt Proudly Presents A Shiny New Ep From The Man, Featuring 5 Of His Finest Tracks On Wax For The First Time. If You're Familiar With The Earlier Digital Release Of This Ep, Don't You Worry, For Being Patient You Get The Exclusive Bonus Track "Everlasting Night" Here.
So What Are You Waiting For? 1st Science Invites You To Participate In An Experiment Which Requires Your Subwoofers. An Absolute Treasure Trove For Any Techno, Breaks, Or Uk Retro Rave Lover.
Brazilian beat maker Fabe has emerged over recent years as one of tech house's most skilled groove smiths. His drums and bass are always seductive no matter their style. Here he links up with Burnski aka Instinct's Constant Sound label for four more irresistible nuggets. 'The Greater Good' is super quick as it glides over rippling bass with silky chords, then 'Newbie Bounce' has a more weighty groove. There is elastic funk and US swing in the shuffling goodness of 'Flow Groover' then 'On Edge' closes out with bulky deep house beats and late-night synth work of the highest order.
The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.
A digital twin is a computer system programmed in such a way that, receiving the same inputs as the physical object or process it is a twin of, it provides the same outputs.
Characteristics of digital twin technology
1 Connectivity
2 Homogenization
3 Reprogrammable and intelligent
4 digital traces
«There is no light without shadows and no fullness of mind without imperfections. Life requires for its realization, not perfection, but fullness. Without imperfection, there is no progress or growth.»
»Italia Synthetica 1981-1985« represents the musical mutation that occurred after the post-punk hangover gave way to more frigid emotional shores, in-line with the synth-wave moment that was sweeping Europe and the white cliffs of Albion. This scene flourished in Italy between 1981-1985, and the musicians that came out of it are still revered today (particularly in the US).
Robotic rhythms and intuitions that, besides sharing common ground with the electronic movements that had come before, also knew how to fill up the dancefloor. Featuring four previously unreleased tracks by Der Blaue Reiter, along with tracks by Modo, Actor's Studio, and La Maison, as well as the still fresh sounding contributions by true pioneers of the genre Neon and Naif Orchestra. Also features Ein-st-ein, Scortilla, Eurotunes, Oh Oh Art, and 2+2=5 featuring Paolo Mauri.
New album from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, tackling issues such as gun violence, the opioid crisis, and women's rights all through Isbell's signature songwriting lens. Weathervanes is a collection of grown-up songs: Songs about adult love, about change, about the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, about cruelty and regret and redemption. Life and death songs played for and by grown ass people. Some will make you cry alone in your car and others will make you sing along with thousands of strangers in a big summer pavilion, united in the great miracle of being alive. A Jason Isbell record always lands like a decoder ring in the ears and hearts of his audience, a soundtrack to his world and magically to theirs, too. Weathervanes carries the same revelatory power. This is a storyteller at the peak of his craft, observing his fellow wanderers, looking inside and trying to understand, reducing a universe to four minutes. He shrinks life small enough to name the fear and then strip it away, helping his listeners make sense of how two plus two stops equalling four once you reach a certain age - and carry a certain amount of scars. Jason Isbell has established himself as one of the most respected and celebrated songwriters of his generation. The North Alabama native possesses an incredible penchant for identifying and articulating some of the deepest, yet simplest, human emotions, and turning them into beautiful poetry through song. Isbell sings of the everyday human condition with thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes brutal honesty. The record features the rolling thunder of Isbell’s fearsome 400 Unit, who’ve earned a place in the rock ‘n’ roll cosmos alongside the greatest backing ensembles, as powerful and essential to the storytelling as The E Street Band or the Wailers.
180 Gram Vinyl Following the success of the 2021 reissue of Ambient Warrior’s cult classic Dub Journey's (1995), Isle of Jura is pleased to present their unreleased second album, II. Born from the same oceanside fusion of instrumental dub, reggae, bossa nova and tango music that made Dub Journey's so distinctive and memorable, II is an equally sublime collection of eleven unheard tracks from the brilliant minds of Ronnie Lion and Andrea Terrano.
Evoking the delights of white sands, palm trees and sunsets, all set against clear waters and endless blue skies, Dub Journey’s and II document the golden moment when Ambient Warrior came together during the mid-90s to create some of the most Balearic Dub ever made. “Music is the greatest traveler, isn’t it?” says Ronnie. “It gets to places the actual artists can’t even get to really.”
The son of an orphaned Jamaican jazz trumpet player and professional boxer who enlisted in the military after stowing away on a boat to London, Ronnie grew up between Germany, Singapore and the UK before becoming a working musician in his mid-teens. A bass player by trade, he honed his skills playing in a series of soul, jazz-funk, blues, rock and reggae bands that performed throughout the UK.
By the time Ambient Warrior released Dub Journey’s, Ronnie and his business partner Ras Joseph were running the Lion Inc. recording studio and record label in Brixton, London. Having set up distribution arrangements with Roots Records (UK) and Semaphore (DEU/NL), they recorded and released a series of singles, compilations and solo albums from a who’s who of roots reggae artists, including Twinkle Brothers, Delroy Washington, Michael Prophet, Alton Ellis, Little Roy, and Ronnie’s own band The Amharic. “Lion was a regular port of call for visiting Jamaican artists,” reflects Ronnie. “When you were in London, it was on the route.”
An accomplished guitarist, producer and recording engineer from Trieste, Italy, Andrea grew up listening to Russian folk, Klezmer and the Italian harmony tradition in a Sicilian-Ukrainian family. After completing compulsory Italian military service, he moved to London to continue studying music. One night, he turned up at Lion Inc. and approached them about running audio engineering classes from the studio.
In Andrea, Ronnie found a collaborator who shared his desire to create borderless music that reflected the diversity of their backgrounds. “I wanted to do something that had no boundaries,” Ronnie explains. “If you’re working on a roots album, it has to sound a certain way, but with Ambient, especially in the nineties, it was just a license to let off. You could do whatever you wanted to do.” “It was a melting pot of influences like London itself,” adds Andrea.
Although they wrote most of II at the same time as they were recording Dub Journey’s, it took them several years to finish off the album. “Things never got done quickly,” Ronnie remembers. By the time it was complete, Roots Records had gone out of business, leaving Lion Inc. without UK distribution. Not long after, their Brixton studio flooded, bringing the label to a close.
These days, Andrea continues to work as a session guitarist, recording engineer and producer in London. Over the last two decades, he has collaborated regularly with Basement Jaxx and released several solo albums. Ronnie, on the other hand, lives on a boat equipped with an onboard studio, where he has recorded a series of oceanic dub albums off the British coast. Twenty-eight years after the release of Dub Journey’s, he recently started working on demos for a third Ambient Warrior album he hopes to record with Andrea in the not-so-distant future.
Artwork By Bradley Pinkerton.
Total Annihilation Beach is the latest collection from Caveman LSD, one of the handful of monikers of Special Guest DJ / uon / sometimes just shy. Their releases under this name have always had the character of sonic transmissions – crushed sine-waves hurtling out of a wormhole, remote pirate radio bandwidths, whale-song picked up on radar, and so on. Here, the signal seems to come from a place whose remoteness is not defined by distance, but adjacency: these are alternate reality bops.
What does it sound like? Kind of solarpunk, but dirty; not at all an artifact from a hopeless culture. Percussion at the forefront; warm timbres and tones – never have I heard this producer play with tabla and tambourine loops as they do in “Lost Hours,” the opening track of the EP. The buildup holds tension and dynamics tight, with a vocoder-smoothed moan – sampled from the caveman’s own voice, on the low – alternating between two notes; when the beat decompresses for the first time two and a half minutes in, one hears the amorphous and cavernous pads we know so well from shy. “Bottle Service Angels” picks up with another acoustic drum loop, and a clap entering 18 seconds in swings the rest of the track into your hips – there’s even an alternate percussion interlude
sandwiched in the middle. The drums are turned over by a distorted and delayed wave, almost like a cop siren, which finds an answer in the track’s final seconds: we hear them blaring, but distantly (the demo version of this track, from spring 2020, was called “ACAB Beat”).
The B side begins with a textured, heaving slab of ambience: “The Sun Will Sink Into the Ocean.” It is perhaps the sun one sees setting over “Total Annihilation Beach” – a phrase that came to shy while tripping on LSD in San Francisco, which felt to them like a post-apocalyptic haven for the rich. Seems on point. There is a machinic repetition to the track, but also sweeping curtains of sound that move like mist. But what comes at nightfall? Not cops, not raiders nor bottle service angels – nothing, actually. Just a void into which one lobs praise. “H6 Remix” adapts a Mesopotamian hymn to the divine wife of a moon deity, dated to 1400 BCE; the strings of the sampled oud playing it out are rich and trail beautifully with reverb. Caveman LSD’s gesture of remixing such a song reads sincere – the reality we inhabit is likely just as brutal as the one to which these transmissions belong; however, in both, honor exists. Love follows.
Fresh off the release of his own ‘Repertoire’ EP and label showcases in Berlin and Brooklyn, label boss Beartrax now prepares the twelfth Melodize vinyl, this time handing a debut to Manuel Ortúzar aka Aural Trace, who delivers the neon-drenched ’Midnight Thoughts’ EP.
As one half of Random Atlas, the young producer can be found exploring the boundaries of New Wave and Post Punk. Flying solo as Aural Trace however, the Chilean embarks on more synthesized Italo dreams.
The EP kicks off with ‘Soft Lips.’ A non-stop, full-speed drive through the radiant passages of outer space loaded with fast synth arpeggios, epic strings and aggressive linn beats, the track is underpinned by a mean bass line and a glossy layer of refinement that will keep those lips super supple.
“Midnight Thoughts” is characterised by lush retro pads, raw 707 drums, and longing gentle melodies that form to create a romantic midnight Italo delirium, whilst “Resolution” is a romantic ode to an unforgettable time where introspective dx feelings meet tense, detuned synth pads, agitated large gated drums, and a huge, rounded bass.
Completing the package with a wonderfully compelling rework of ’Soft Lips’ is Melodize favorite Chinaski, who ramps up the tempo whilst staying true to the blazing vibe of the original.
After last year's release on Shall Not Fade, Paul Rudder & Kresy are back - this time on Exploited for the infamous Black Jukebox Series.
‘Along With You’ bounces along with plenty of feel-good energy, channeling ‘90s energy with its thicc bassline pump and an earworm of a sugar-sweet vocal. Well-chosen vox cuts create an infectious rhythm in between the full vocal sections while soft synth arps tickle the surface of the track and epic snare rolls inject more energy in the breakdown and at key moments. Guaranteed to get massive reactions. Kresy’s Continuum Mix takes things into a lighter direction with gorgeous, sunny piano chords chiming in unison with a driving, uplifting bassline and pretty synth flourishes.
‘Her Dream Road’ pushes the EP into almost ambient house territory with its swirling pads and deep atmospheres, but the energetic percussion and warm bassline throb and melody give it plenty of dancefloor energy. Kresy’s Mellonized Remix pumps it up with plump organ bass, dreamy acid licks, soaring arpeggios, continual automation and epic pad progressions that make for an absolutely huge rework that’s full of life, atmosphere and colour.
Neon is eviscerated across the wet light of pavement dreams, splashed back and absorbed by the darker shapes coalescing in the shadows. Through the broken concatenation of the night, neuron inputs are fed relentlessly by hardwire bodies. Mainlined subtle as a fetishist’s whisper, they in turn feed a punishing progression of rhythms dragged like a dream through your body. Against this digital dystopia, Sequence 87’s I Am Sequence propels the ear through a high-intensity array of blackened beats at once familiar and fresh. The grimey pulse of underground techno bridges the DNA of early industrialized electronics, a chimeric construct which heaves with the chrome breath of EBM’s heavy assembly. Shawn Rudiman, the Pittsburgh pioneer behind alias, has been crafting techgnosis solo and as part of the experimental dance duo T.H.D., and these veteran bona fides show in how deftly he parses the language of that era’s heavy synthesis into a work that easily translates into the modern languages of club movement. I Am Sequence retains that chunky ‘80s analog bounce, while injecting a wriggling sheen of HD intensity through its veins. Vocals emerge from the glistening shards, bursting against a wash of sine waves before remerging in a fusion of funked-out bass. Headlights crashing as horns blare, an autobahn nightmare funneling you down some future highway where machines crash ceaselessly across a horizon of endless red night. Lifting the psyche upon high, corroded harmonies herald the last chants to dance before the inevitable systemic collapse. An album for a foreseen Apocalypse, experienced through the language of dance floor speakers. All songs written and recorded by Shawn Rudiman Artwork by Shawn Rudiman Mastering at Dadub Studio Distributed by ReadyMade Distribution Braid Records 2023
Neon is eviscerated across the wet light of pavement dreams, splashed back and absorbed by the darker shapes coalescing in the shadows. Through the broken concatenation of the night, neuron inputs are fed relentlessly by hardwire bodies. Mainlined subtle as a fetishist’s whisper, they in turn feed a punishing progression of rhythms dragged like a dream through your body. Against this digital dystopia, Sequence 87’s I Am Sequence propels the ear through a high-intensity array of blackened beats at once familiar and fresh. The grimey pulse of underground techno bridges the DNA of early industrialized electronics, a chimeric construct which heaves with the chrome breath of EBM’s heavy assembly. Shawn Rudiman, the Pittsburgh pioneer behind alias, has been crafting techgnosis solo and as part of the experimental dance duo T.H.D., and these veteran bona fides show in how deftly he parses the language of that era’s heavy synthesis into a work that easily translates into the modern languages of club movement. I Am Sequence retains that chunky ‘80s analog bounce, while injecting a wriggling sheen of HD intensity through its veins. Vocals emerge from the glistening shards, bursting against a wash of sine waves before remerging in a fusion of funked-out bass. Headlights crashing as horns blare, an autobahn nightmare funneling you down some future highway where machines crash ceaselessly across a horizon of endless red night. Lifting the psyche upon high, corroded harmonies herald the last chants to dance before the inevitable systemic collapse. An album for a foreseen Apocalypse, experienced through the language of dance floor speakers. All songs written and recorded by Shawn Rudiman Artwork by Shawn Rudiman Mastering at Dadub Studio Distributed by ReadyMade Distribution Braid Records 2023
The classy sounds of Detroit label MotorCity Wine will get any house head hot under the collar. For their latest serving, they turn to DCTL about which we know next to nothing but are already big fans off the back of this one. The smoky deep beats of 'Deep Tannin' (feat Rafael Leafar) kick off with a classic vocal sample drifting up top to add the soul. 'Refugee' is a slow and purposeful beatdown cut with lovely dusty drums and sustained chords while 'Little Dancer' layers up jazzy off-grid chords with disheveled beats to loose-limbed effect. '2 Bottles' is a loungey trip-hop closer with vibes to spare.
RP Boo's essential first album, 2013's ‘Legacy’ caused a storm of acclaim worldwide as people finally started to piece together his true place in Footwork and the powerful legacy of his work as an innovator. In parallel with productions, his always on-point DJ sets have lit up festivals and clubs worldwide and continue to do so to this day, notably leading to him being named one of the ‘100 World’s Best DJs’ in a recent book by DJ Mag. Now on its 10th anniversary ‘Legacy Vol.2’ continues his story. Featuring tracks created between 2002 and 2007, this is a wonderous selection of material, some known, some unknown. The album kicks off with the dark and epic ‘Eraser’ created in September 2007, during a time RP was going to underground Footwork club War Zone on the west side of Chicago. The track was inspired by, and created to fuel, the “taunting words of intimidation” between dancers.” And now it makes for one intense album opener. Some cuts are inspired by everyday life – take for example 2005's ‘Pop Machine’, which was inspired by the time he was working at Speedway Oil Change who had a temperamental soda/pop machine. One day, a customer put money in the machine and nothing came out, so he continued to press the button, and for some reason RP found this funny so he went over to the machine and started pressing the buttons himself and everyone he touched started saying “Work!.” Inspired once he was back home in his studio he made ‘Pop Machine’ in tribute to the defunct machinery. When he came back to work the next day and played the track for all this co-workers it blew their minds and they also laughed with at how creative RP could get using things from his everyday life as inspiration. ‘Pop Machine’ also illustrates how RP’s Footwork uses repetition and minimalism as fuel. Years later RP Boo is still inspired by Foot Work – the art of dancing and working for dancers. He continues to shake up clubs and isn’t afraid to get out from behind the decks and drop some Foot himself. We’ll let the man himself have the final word - “What inspires me to keep going is seeing the people having an awesome time moving on the dance floor, as well as playing music that is a recognizable part of my life. I’m one with it.”
An impossibly rare double sider from the JB's Records vaults gets a much called for official reissue. Cynthia Sheeler - I'll Cry Over is one of the rarest and greatest Southern Soul classics out there, always held back due to the scarcity of its original 1975 release. The last copy sold on Discogs five years ago for £400 and it’s easy to tell why. A luscious slice of Baton Rouge crossover soul that will sweep you up and whisk you away in it’s blissful grasp. An absolutely essential 7 inch for any collection. Black label version original black sleeve.
Collecting orders for repress!
Since 1991, Detroit’s own Strand has represented everything funky and soulful about Detroit Techno. Strand returns with 3 new selections on the Space Age Polymers EP on their imprint Harbonder.
A1: “ABAR” - Spacey pad, funky bassline, and relentless stabs create a syncopated groove calling feet to the dance floor.
A2: “3 Piece” - 21st century boom-bap electro drums teaming up with a hard, walking bassline morphing into an altered state of soul.
B: “Tensioner” - Ethereal strings, cosmic pads, intricate electronic percussion and a straight, no-chaser bass represents classic Strand.
Harbonder’s must-have, first vinyl release!
Politics Of Dancing once again gets our vote here with some balmy deep house propositions from the eponymous production team working alongside French stylist Djebali. 'Close To Gate' layers balmy pads and smeared chords over punchy and dynamic drums with plenty of cosmic effects up top. There is a little more urgency to 'Soul Brothers' which skates and skips along nicely beneath shimmering vocals sounds and wispy melodies. 'Simple Minds' brings more physical drum work and infectious finger clicks while the Franco Cinelli remix gets things on more of a breezy and rolling tip. A useful, heartwarming EP of modern deep house music.
Here comes something unapologetically goth.
Male Tears is the dark electro group consisting of vocalist, James Edward and synthesist, Frank Shark. Hailing from Los Angeles, what began as a solo project re-established itself as a duo in 2021, simultaneously moving from the breezy sounds of the first self-titled album to darker realms with their sophomore Trauma Club.
Krypt is their third full-length recording and it shows a fully grown ensemble capable of pushing everything over the top; blending elements of darkwave, goth rock, EBM and futurepop into a sound they call Dark Rave.
Naturally drawing inspiration from the Californian goth tradition (45 Grave, Christian Death) and the Canadian post-industrial brood (Skinny Puppy, FLA), as well as the best UK synthpop (Depeche Mode, The Human League), Male Tears emphasizes the most glamourous, and at once, gruesome aspects of the whole gothic subculture, bringing everything to the next level, resulting in a contemporary and cutting edge album.
Eight new cuts that alternate rarefied synthwave (Krypt), dark eurodance (Slay) with goth techno-pop (Sleep 4Ever) and pounding electro-industrial (I Expire) to create something we may call New Romantic Body Music. It’s no wonder we wanted the scene’s top studio, La Distilleria, run by Maurizio Baggio, to master this for the most bombastic outcome.
And yet Krypt is not just about the music, it’s about one up with the times attitude that can review aggressive EBM in the light of an extravagant pop sensibility and a theatrical grandeur worthy of the Blitz Kids from London circa 1979-80.
You may think it takes quite a bit of nonchalance to do so but the L.A. duo easily succeeds at this. Akin to their aesthetics, they may seem spooky from the outside but their approach is nothing stuffy. Quite the contrary, everything regarding Male Tears is a celebration of life’s most bizzare shades, driven by some of the best dark humor you’ll find around.
So Dance with me, my dear, on a dancefloor of bones and skulls / The music is our master The devil controls our souls.
Yazmin Lacey didn't set out to be a singer. Born and raised in Manor Park, East London, she relocated to Nottingham whilst working for a children's charity and initially only considered making music as a way of having fun with friends. However, a chance encounter lead to her earning a place on Future Bubblers - Gilles Peterson's development programme devoted to discovering and nurturing fresh UK talent – and enthused by the experience, Lacey recorded some songs in her living room, then in 2017 self-released her debut EP, 'Black Moon'. The more polished 'When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees' EP followed in 2018, and then 'Morning Matters' EP in 2020 – the EP's title track has clocked up over 14 million plays on Spotify and also saw Yazmin make her COLORS debut performing 'On Your Own'.
Up next we welcome Chinese artist B.AI to the Pleasure Club family for a trip into a melodic cyberspace.
Fusing elements of techno, electro & electronica, and accompanying this with her musical training, she has formed a style completely of her own. One which references the past whilst journeying into the future, and stirs memories of a time we are yet to discover.
Join us as we enter her world...
Initially releasing on Oscilla Sound, then following up with records on Intramuros and FTD, E-Unity gained wider recognition when Resident Advisor described "post-Livity techno with a dreamy twist, from this promising young Frenchman". His next release – on TEMƎT – saw him inaugurate the imprint with the ‘Duo Road’ EP – four tracks of electronic futurism, jerky rhythms and dubbed-out frequencies.
‘BBB<3’ is an LP of club ballads that echo his influences, ranging from hyper-pop, Latin music, the hardcore continuum and post-dubstep stylings, featuring heavy bass mutations, spacey synths and hybrid rhythmic compositions.
In an uncertain world, E-Unity takes the opposite approach to a lot of contemporary electronic music which is always faster, harder and somehow dystopian. Instead he offers a record filled with sensibility, love and positivity, fighting the evil forces with heart emojis and sub-reinforced sonic weapons.
E-Unity shows extraordinary musicality and eclecticism throughout his productions and DJ mixes. His b2b set with Simo Cell at Positive Education Festival and former monthly residency on Rinse France solidified his notoriety as an adventurous yet thoughtful selector.
TEMƎT was launched by Simo Cell with a mission to release cross-genre electronic music, placing focus on the French music scene, whilst developing collaboration across different artistic disciplines. Previous artists to release on the label are Lolito, Less-O, Second., elise, E-Unity and Simo Cell, plus additional contributions from Low Jack, Peverelist and Skee Mask for their mix cassette series.
Emerging from Yorkshire, UK, Druum & Melatron fuse punk intensity with electro and techno beats, igniting a sonic rebellion that transcends genres. This groundbreaking duo captivates audiences with their cathartic live performances, challenging societal frustrations through Melatron's thought-provoking lyrics. With vinyl releases 'Weapons of Mass Subversion' and the upcoming 'Where Did All the Punks Go?' under their belt, Druum & Melatron are set to redefine the electro-punk landscape on a global scale.
Octave One's deep and downtempo album “Never on Sunday” arrives in late April 2023. Before that, they release a special reworking of the album single “The Bearer”. Injected with the spine-tinglingly vocal performance from Karina Mia, the Burden Brothers revisit the track with a stripped sultry production ready for dance floors and playlists alike. Leading up to their new collection of deep rhythmic journeys and thoughtful atmospheric material, the ‘Brother’s Burden Pt1’ mix is a soulful mid-tempo groove that introduces you to Octave One’s “Never on Sunday” album in fine style.
After a bit of down-time, Spacetalk Records returns with something special: a stunning compilation of obscurities, rare cuts and secret weapons compiled by label co-founder Danny McLewin under his Skyrager alias.
Although most widely known as one half of Psychemagik, McLewin has long been regarded as one of the UK’s most decorated crate-diggers – a DJ and record dealer recognised for his ability to unearth slept-on gems, private press obscurities and campfire-friendly curios. He’s already showcased his curatorial skills on a string of acclaimed and now sought-after comps – see Psychemagik’s Magik Cyrkles, Magik Sunrise and Magik Sunset Pt 1 & 2 – but Traces of Illusion marks the first time McLewin has put together a collection as Skyrager.
There’s no grand concept behind Traces of Illusion, though McLewin’s selections are universally tactile, sun-baked and effortlessly summery, evoking images of nights spent camped out in the Californian desert or beneath the vibrant canopy of an English forest at dusk. As you’d expect, there are no well-known anthems or ‘big tunes’ here, just an inspired selection of largely unknown musical nuggets oozing in quality.
For now, the track list is under wraps but you can be sure there are plenty of highlights to savour amongst the 15 tracks which all add up to an eye-opening, head-soothing journey through the dustiest corners of McLewin’s record collection.
Eddie Logix makes his return to Rocksteady Disco fold with this fresh new 12", 'Flight Risk'. It's a varied affair that pulls from a wide range of genres including leftfield, deep house, disco, Afrobeat, and even Balearic. Some of these tunes have already been picking up high-profile support from the likes of Leo Mas, Chris Coco and Danny Krivit - no wonder given that his last on the label sold out immediately. 'Sky Dive' is a nice loose limbed funky deep disco jam, 'Home Suite' has a superb new age flute lead and 'Missing Pixels' is a tribal Afro dancer. 'Mount Juniper' is the lively and tropical house number that has you dreaming of cocktails by the sea.
Damian Lazarus celebrates 20 Years of his world-renowned Crosstown Rebels imprint with a special album project of unreleased cuts and fresh remixes, featuring material from Black Coffee, Maceo Plex, Art Department, Dennis Cruz and many more.
Undeniably one of the most influential record labels within underground dance music, releasing material from Laurent Garnier, Krust and Mathew Jonson to Rósìn Murphy, Deniz Kurtel, Francesca Lombardo and Jennifer Cardini while playing a pivotal part in the careers of artists like Maceo Plex, Jamie Jones, Art Department and Seth Troxler, Crosstown Rebels stands today as a hub and platform for flourishing projects across the electronic spectrum, including via sub-label Rebellion and across a long list of showcases across the globe. More than just your everyday label, the Crosstown Rebels legacy has grown alongside its founder in equal measure, with head honcho Damian Lazarus continually showcasing, championing and spotlighting artists from across the globe who share his radiant, experimental vision for house music and beyond. Ringing in a major milestone in style, 2023 will see the biggest twelve months to date as Lazarus and Crosstown mark the 20th Anniversary of the label with a series of projects set to be unveiled in the lead-up to summer, with ‘CR20 The Album’ set for release on 12th May 2023.
“20 years ago, I dreamed a dream of creating a family of like-minded, crazy individuals from all corners of the planet - releasing music to the world and making people dance. That dream was Crosstown Rebels, and this year we are 20. Over these years, I have forged beautiful friendships, discovered very talented artists and tried my best to help, advise and support some of the most colourful characters in dance music. Crosstown Rebels is more than a record label, it is family.
So 2023 will mark the label’s 20th Anniversary. This is an opportunity for the Crosstown Rebels family, a global community of artists, DJs and creatives, and the label’s myriad of followers to celebrate this momentous milestone. There will be parties and events around the world. A killer compilation of exclusives and special remixes, a beautiful coffee table book, a short film, and a special launch event are planned to bring together the sights and sounds of the label’s unique and influential history. There’s lots to share, announce and reminisce. 20 years young.” - Damian Lazarus.
Comprised of six stellar, high-profile remixes of releases from the label’s catalogue, alongside two previously unreleased original gems, the eight-track package is a rich and exemplary showcase of the far-reaching corners of the Crosstown Rebels sound and also its globally connected family of artists and close friends.
Opening the package, Lazarus’ own 2020 collaboration ‘Into The Sun’ with regular Crosstown vocalist Jem Cooke is given a cosmic rework by Johannesburg’s Major League DJz, while Jamie Jones’ slick ‘Paradise 2011’ is stripped back and given a new lease of life by the hypnotic and heady sounds of Art Department. Opening the B-Side, Dennis Cruz brings his percussive Latin-infused signature sound palette to Chilean musician and producer Pier Bucci’s ‘Hay Consuelo’, before Audiojack’s ‘Feel Good’, another standout collaboration alongside Cooke, is taken into synth-led territories as Michael Mayer reaches for an evolving bed of captivating tones.
The second half of the project brings more excellently remixed material, both new and old, with GRAMMY-winning DJ/producer Black Coffee turning his hand to the label’s first release of 2023 in Made By Pete and Zoe Kypri’s emotive ‘Horizon Red’, unveiling reworked melodies and sparkling keys as he delivers an interpretation of a track which has featured as a staple in his sets. Next, the project welcomes Adam Ten & Yamagucci’s playful yet off-kilter and wonky ‘The K Dance’ which unveils itself as a production perfect for those late night hours and early afters, before Ellum boss Maceo Plex’s ‘Together (2011 Mix)’ brings another lost production to the mix with a driving and zipping ride through sugary synths and soaring leads. To close, Tibi Dabo turns his attention to Guti & Dubshape’s absorbing ‘Every Cow Has A Bird’, delivering a nimble minimal-led trip through lush pads and crisp percussion to round things out in style.
Alongside the album, the 20 Year celebrations will also welcome a 192-page hardback book, ’20 Years Of Magic, Madness and Music’, with words from renowned journalist and key underground music player Joe Muggs, and a feature-length documentary directed by acclaimed director David Terranova.
Crosstown has become known globally for throwing some of the world’s best parties, from the wondrous cultural journey of Day Zero Tulum to longstanding Music Week marathon Get Lost Miami. This ethos of creating magical dancefloor moments spills into the label’s 20 year celebration with its worldwide Get Lost tour, launched with Get Lost Miami, and followed by Bali, Tokyo, Ibiza, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin and more, plus a special to-be-announced London showcase.
Dynamite cuts is proud to cross over to the amazing sound and world of Library music. Muisc that can capture a feeling and mode in a single note and groove. This selection is from the German Library series Sound Music Albums, These tracks are taken from volume 11 in the series, the Original album sells for £150 plus
Few artists exude as much passion for, and dedication to, their craft as Tom Marshall (AKA Marsh). Since he first emerged on the electronic music scene in the mid-2010s, Marsh has sculpted a uniquely soulful sound that has captivated his listeners and earned him a fast-growing and intensely devoted fanbase. Marsh's forthcoming album 'Endless' follows two previous bodies of work; his 2017 debut 'Life On The Shore', and his critically-acclaimed Anjunadeep debut LP, 'Lailonie', the latter of which has accumulated over 20 million streams to date. Marsh also has an array of widely-supported anthems in his discography. 'Come Together' (with Nox Vahn), 'Little Darling' and the Beatport chart-topping 'Lost In You' are some of his best-loved tracks, all streaming well into the millions and winning support from electronic music's biggest artists, including Joris Voorn, Pete Tong, Diplo, and RÜFÜS DU SOL. The two years since Marsh released his previous album 'Lailonie' have seen Tom moving around the States and touring the globe in a world rapidly opening up post-pandemic. This whirlwind, semi-nomadic lifestyle has inspired his third artist album 'Endless', and caused him to take stock of his values. In his own words, "I've written this entire album on the move, writing from so many different homes. On a deeper, more spiritual level, this has led me to question, what is truly home, and will we experience home after this life?" 'Endless' comprises twelve memorable tracks, including collaborations with vocalists Jodie Knight, Leo Wood, and Mariel Beausejour. Drawing on influences as diverse as the rich trance sounds of the 2000s that soundtracked his teenage years, and the musicality of crossover drum & bass acts like Pendulum, Tom's next offering is perhaps his most expansive in scope. Opening with the subtle first track 'Pneuma', the album moves from the emotive and lyrical, on lyrical, emotive tracks like 'Sleep' and 'Forgiveness', to piano house melodies on 'Reminiscent' and smooth broken beats on 'Blue', all united by Marsh's innate warm musicality.
Live @ Granada Theater" ist das einzige Live-Album der Get Up Kids, das ursprünglich 2005 veröffentlicht wurde. Dieses Album ist ein Juwel in der Diskographie der Band - hier sind viele ihrer größten Hits vereint, eingefangen in einer beeindruckenden Live-Show. Dies ist die allererste Pressung dieses Titels auf Vinyl, als Teil der Zusammenarbeit von Hassle Records mit Vagrant Records zur Feier ihres 25-jährigen Bestehens. Doppel-Vinyl, hellblau mit roten Splattern. Handnummeriertes Gatefold-Sleeve.
First LP from Donna Candy, the bass-vocal-drums trio trawled from the sub genres of experimental rock and busy pushing to the front of heavy music. Nu metal bass riffs, switch-pitched fuzz vocals and big, splashy drums layer over unsettling narratives and extreme loops to bring a bit of the pit to the dancefloor.
Begun as an off the cuff party band with the idea of finding a live sound that would fit between 4am trance sets, the trio soon found themselves addicted to the euphoric sludge they created. Swapping their usual guitar for a bass, JS Donny drives Donna Candy with simple riffs, split half clean and half shredded with Boris / Sunn O))) like distortion. Head-banging the whole way, they’ll switch speed or stop suddenly, bending and drawing out notes to ratchet things up for release. Nadja's vocals tear through the top layer - heavily processed and warped with weird imagery. Together there’s a feeling of what it might be like to see Sightings slowed by codeine but with Elvin Brandi on the mic.
Always set up facing each other, off stage and surrounded by the audience, Donna Candy encourage catharsis - reciprocally transforming energy between themselves and the crowd. They build a queer euphoria that pulls apart metal’s narrow dichotomy of nihilistic machismo vs. hyperfemininity, and begins to make the visceral faux-hybridity of nineties nu metal feel possible this time around. ‘Blooming’ brings us six offerings from the band on a four way split release that speaks for itself - once on board with the DC energy you’ll want to be a part of it.
Farron enters faster territories on this record, telling the story of the hunt after the mysterious jade antique that is hidden in the infamous 'House Of Traps'.
After entering the house, one already feels the oppressive atmosphere. The ubiquitous feeling of not being welcome here is obvious when the golden walls invert and you come to face countless swordsmen ready to attack. The vigorous atmosphere of 'Penny At The Chain' boosts up your confidence for what is about to come.
But what if the intruder is skilled in kung-fu? The mob retreats automatically and bars of iron come down to confine you. 'Wilshire 1015' and its driving bassline, warm pads and whirling breaks will calm you down a bit. But what's next?
In the twinkling of an eye, a field of razor-sharp nails come through the floor that you are standing on, and the escape route up the stairway becomes perilous as the stairs suddenly form into an array of sharp blades. 'Hiatus Phase' keeps you focused and light-footed, so you can manage the jump up to the next floor.
However the next stirring event quickly follows. The moment you feel safe, a giant golden net unexpectedly launches from every direction and traps you in the middle of the room, hung over the floor. As if this wasn't enough, the mob is rushing back again - armed with bows and arrows. But the varied atmosphere of 'All In CST', its floating pads and filtered breaks energize you, and so you are able to make a getaway from the most lethal attack.
After dodging the giant blades suddenly swinging in from each side, you are finally there. The golden cage and its arcane content. The warmth of 'Conback' and its sparkling pads slowly fill the room as you open up the cage. Another trap, or a bright future? Find out...
The Croatian production powerhouse and disco boogie impresario steps up to International Feel, and takes a left turn into deep space with a new six track LP Pulsar Diaries.
Ilija’s discography stretches back to 2003, and over those 20 years he’s packed it full with albums, versions, remixes and singles. His releases are often perfectly-penned love letters to ‘80s boogie, electro and disco, and like postcards from an old flame, they’ve landed in an array of record label catalogs, from Bear Funk, Rong, and Electric Minds, to Is It Balearic? as well as his own Red Music and Imogen Recordings. He’s long-been an active voice on the underground club scene, and if you’ve been out dancing in Zagreb, Berlin or even Tisno beach, chances are you’ve gotten down to one of his beautifully blended sets of cosmic-tinged electro funk and disco dubs.
On Pulsar Diaries, Ilija delivers a panoramic collection of spaced-out synths and drum machine grooves, dedicated to the planet and our place in the universe. The A side opens up with the blissful, weightless pads of the title track, before it breaks out into filtered stabs over a minimal b-boy bounce. Delphic Expanse ebbs and flows like a lunar eclipse, sounding like a futuristic version of Key-Matic’s Breaking In Space, all uprock rhythms and syrupy synth horns as it spins off beyond the asteroid belt. Side A closes out with Blackburn Tales, a suspenseful and spacious electro rhythm packed with strings and 303 squelch, which you might call anti-gravity acid, if you were so inclined.
Side B picks up the tempo with Fourth Amendment, perfect for the space station discotheque with its sweeping bass filters and ice-cold synth melodies hovering in orbit. Farewell Theme takes an introspective moment, slowing the pace to a cosmic 90 bpm and inviting a certain cinematic feel to proceedings. This feeling applies not just to the vivid landscapes we travel through, but also wider thoughts about humankind: as we pause for a breath and look around, we find ourselves in Ilija’s space, considering human motivations, like the pursuit of happiness, or the eternal struggle with the self.
Every journey begins with a goodbye, and so the last track of the album feels like the arrival at a new destination: Ursa Major is ablaze with cascading drum fills, bubble-wrapped bass riffs and bright synth chords that sparkle like city lights underneath a re-orbiting satellite.
With Pulsar Diaries, Ilija Rudman has created a rare artifact: an album that straddles several worlds at once. Part soundtrack to space travel, part meditation on the human condition, part deep-burning dancefloor dynamo - whether in the club surrounded by friends or at home by yourself, this is a record that expands the mind and lets the imagination soar.
Atlanta bass player Khari Cabral has joined up with Jiva for a first new album in some 13 years. The pair has a great musical chemistry as evidenced by this welcome return as they harness their creativity and draw on the acid jazz roots of the 90s to cook up something fresh. Jiva's reputation for a soul-boss nova funk sound also adds to the mix as these smooth, vibrant and lush sounds pair with real emotional weight from the vocal performances to make for an album of real delight for fans both old and new.
Hot on the heels of dropping a double LP's worth of downtempo shenanigans for Fresh 86, Coco Bryce serves up another full length album, this time for his own Myor imprint.
Computer Love sees the bpm's being turned up a notch again, mainly operating within the 160 realm, whilst taking the occasional side street into UKG and breakbeat house.
Although the jungle and D&B vibes are still clearly present on tunes such as House Music and the previously released singles Night Safari and Trust Issues, Coco opts for slightly more off-kilter and genre-defying drum programming on the album's title track and the pleasantly subdued Eye New.
All in all the rhythmic, and stylistic, diversity on display here makes for an album equally suited for dancefloors and home listening alike.
Murmer is the long-standing project for Estonian field recordist and composer Patrick McGinley, and in Tether, The Helen Scarsdale Agency welcomes Murmer back to our roster, over a decade since he graced us with his last production for the Agency. His field recordings often center upon the amplification and activation of resonance from a particular space, landscape, or object. Such sounds emerge from a condition as begin fleeting, inconsequential, or ephemeral and explode into that which alien, sublime, and profound. Here lies the tremendous prowess of the contact microphone, as wielded by an accomplished musician! The source material cited by McGinley includes cables, fences, wires, and vents.
There is a heft to many of these sounds as heard throughout all of "Taevast" with deep throbbing pulsations from arctic wind generating subharmonic patterns upon thick high-tension wires. Elsewhere the subtle dissonance from a rasping cooling fan blooms into a brooding ambience that is sublimely rich in its metallic timbres and complex reverberations. McGingley has long been an exemplary artist in the field of phonography even as he is less prolific than others. On Tether, he has produced a majestic if occasionally foreboding work on par with the mythic wire recordings of Alan Lamb, Jacob Kirkegaard's haunted resonance from Chernobyl, and much of the Touch catalogue for that matter!
Patrick McGingley on Tether:
In 2006, I made a collection of recordings at a mobile phone mast in Mooste, southeast Estonia. It is a guyed tower, 80 meters tall, affixed to 3 support points with heavy cables. I attached my self-made contact microphones to these cables with poster tack, and spent many hours over several weeks recording the various wind and weather variances (it was summer), and the birds that passed or settled on the tower or cables. This was one of my first visits to estonia, where i now live, and one of the things that marked me about that experience was the access: the tower had no fences or protections around it (I have not been back there recently to answer my own question of whether or not this is still the case); it stands in the middle of a field of tall grass along a dirt road in the countryside, just out of view of the few nearby houses, and during all the hours I spent there I was never disturbed or shooed away.
For more than 16 years, I have been thinking about this location and these recordings, and have made several attempts to work with them. I have used the sounds in installations a handful of times, and uploaded one short edit to the Aporee soundmaps, but have never managed to use them in any composed work. They always seemed too big for any structure I could provide them, whether I left them on their own, or partnered them with other sounds. Finally, in 2019, after putting them down and picking them up again repeatedly over so many years, they seemed to allow me in, although it took me another few years before they were happy with what I could offer. They stand now not quite alone - the majority of the layered sounds in the piece come from various edits of those cable recordings, but I added two other contrasting sounds, related to one another: one is snowflakes landing delicately on a plastic cakebox with microphones inside it, and the other is a frosted field of grass thawing on a lightly warming autumn morning (both these recordings can also be heard on their own on the Aporee maps).
Coming back to those cables brought to mind so many other wind-driven sounds that I had spent time with and recorded, but never returned to, that I began digging through my archives looking for them. I ended up with a pool of sounds from resonant wires, cables, fences, poles, fans, and vents, which became the basis for the 2nd work on this release. One of these sounds is among the first sounds I ever recorded, possibly within a month or so of buying my first microphone and minidisc recorder: the rhythmic fan of a beer cooler in a pub where I worked in North London in 1999. Other sounds in the piece include another phone tower, recorded on the northern coast of France in 2008, a telephone pole recorded in the Beaujolais region in 2010, the drone of ventilator fans at a factory in Tezno, Slovenia in 2012, an electric sheep fence in the Scottish borders in 2013, a hanging wire in a storage space in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2016, and, with no relation to cables or wind at all, calcium deposits being cleaned from the inside of an electric kettle here in Estonia in 2019.
I offer these two new pieces as my first solo publication since 2018, the first release on a physical medium since 2016. No one has ever accused me of working too fast, or being too prolific. I have a need, it seems, to leave a physical space of time around my work, before I can consider it 'finished'. Perhaps it is a simple need to forget how I did something, or that I did something; perhaps I have a need to be able to hear a work as a first-time listener would, before I can consider it ready for such an encounter. In some part of my mind I have to forget it before I can let it go. Well, I've just about forgotten that London beer cooler now, and that walk in the Beaujolais (with my father, who has since passed away), and that sheep fence next to our campsite in the borders, and that kettle that is now leaky. So I guess it's time.
Die deutsche Rocklegende Phillip Boa und seine Band Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub, in Zusammenarbeit mit Universal Music, freuen sich, anlässlich des 30-jährigen Jubiläums die Wiederveröffentlichung des
bahnbrechenden Albums Boaphenia anzukündigen.
Im Jahr 1993 veröffentlicht, stellte das Album aufgrund ihres musikkritischen so wie kommerziellen Erfolg eine wahre Zäsur in der Karriere der Band dar und gilt heute als Kultklassiker. So erreichte es in den deutschen Albumcharts Platz 25 und war auch in Österreich und der Schweiz in den Charts vertreten.
Boaphenia wird weithin als eines der bedeutendsten Alben der hiesigen Szene angesehen, welches vor allem Phillip Boas einzigartigen Ansatz beim Songwriting und seine Fähigkeit, verschiedene Genres und Stile zu vermischen, eindrucksvoll unter Beweis stellt. Mit seinem innovativen Ansatz zur Rockmusik und den
poetischen Texten etablierte sich die Band als einer der wichtigsten Acts in der deutschen AlternativeRock-Szene. Gleichzeitig reicht ihr Einfluss auch heute noch über deutsche Grenzen hinaus.
Die umfangreiche 30 Jahre Jubiläumsedition fährt mit edler weißer 2LP-Doppelvinyl und einem 2CDMintpack auf, und enthält außerdem ein nie zuvor dagewesenes Earbook, bestehend aus insgesamt vier
CDs, einem Hardcover-Fotobuch über 52 Seiten und einer 10“ Single auf Vinyl. Zudem befinden sich auf dem Release 10 komplett neue, bisher unveröffentlichte Songs.
An unmissable pairing of Texan-born soul queens! Ruby Wilson was Memphis based for most of her life whilst Emily spent her formative years in Houston before relocating to Stockton, CA, to raise her family. Both were signed to Malaco Records in Jackson, MS, where these two timeless example of Southern Soul were recorded nearly 30 years apart and now appear on 7” vinyl for the first time.
Ruby Wilson first came to our attention in the mid-70s with two singles on T.K. subsidiary Glades, with Number One In Your Heart and the funkier Sky High both still sounding good today. She signed to Malaco during their most fruitful period, and her self-titled album in 1981, from which this classy below-midpaced selection comes, despite being a typically polished affair never reached the highs with the label that Jewel Bass, Fern Kinney, and of course Dorothy Moore had set over the previous few years. It remained her only outing with them, but she went on to make a further three albums in the late 80s with the Hot Cotton Jazz Band, one with the Climax Jazz Band, and finally back on her own A Song For You (2000 Cadre Ent.) and Show You A Good Time (2005 Unkut Music). She became an accomplished actress and was also known as the Queen Of Beale Street for her many club performances in Memphis. Sadly, Ruby died in 2016, but hopefully this release on Jai Alai will help us remember what a talent she really was.
Not only is Emily David an extraordinary talent, she is a remarkable woman too. Her only album Queen Emily was a direct result of her finishing as a semi-finalist of America’s Got Talent in 2008 at the tender age of 40. She was no stranger to talent shows having won a Sammy Davis Jr award in 1999, but back then, as a single-mother decided to put her singing career on hold to bring up her two daughters. One day her troubled sister arrived to stay but left without taking her two boys with her, so Emily felt she had to bring up her nephews as well. Her dreams of a musical career had evaporated but years later her daughters encouraged her to try once again.
It was almost a year after America’s Got Talent that Malaco boss Tommy Couch Jr. called out of the blue and offered her a contract without meeting her. As Queen Emily, a digital 4-track EP was released in the US, but her eponymous CD album, bizarrely released by Malaco in the UK before the US, is one of the best examples of 21st century Southern Soul, steeped with the label’s trademark live instrumentation by the Muscle Shoals Horns Rhythm Section and contains a number of polished standards such as Use Me, Angel In Your Arms, I Betcha Didn’t Know That and Going Crazy. However, it is the George Jackson-penned ballad Throw Away Me that really stands out and deservedly received critical acclaim in the UK at the time. It now gets a very welcome vinyl debut on Jai Alai and makes for a fabulous pairing.
Now also available as vinyl! - 28 tracks Best Of the Best, of Reggae & Dancehall star with comprehensive release & track by track notes. Incl. combinations with Buju Banton, Shabba Ranks , Luciano, a.o. - double vinyl limited edition!
FOR REGGAE COLLECTORS & VINYL ENTHUSIASTS
Now available, by popular demand - the Cocoa Tea Reggae Anthology - Sweet Sounds Of Cocoa Tea!
The double vinyl limited edition collection features the best of the best from reggae legend Cocoa Tea
This is a must have for reggae specialists!
Death/Thrash Metal classic reMastered! A strong Master album re-issued.
Since the dawn of human intellectualism, self-aware individuals have sought solitude. Paul Speckmann of Master finds his own solidarity in
expressing apathy towards society. Lets acknowledge the introspective impact of Master’s 1998 release “Faith is in Season.”
Crusty bass lines and tom-centric drumming push “Faith is in Season” forward with a reliable tempo, coupled with intermittent guitar leads and Speckmann’s defiant screeches define Master’s new production - consistent and comprehendible Death Metal. This is further polished with thoughtful song intros that highlight each individual member’s musicianship. This foundation supports the guitar melodies and lyrical concepts.
Compositionally, each instrument in Master is worth its own weight in gold while also not overshadowing each other. This is a self-evident
testament to Speckmann’s exemplary leadership because the band line-up on “Faith is in Season” was relatively brief.
Similar to 1990’s contemporaries like Vader or Obituary, Master solidified their craft with “Faith is in Season” and has since strayed minimally.
Speicher 125 is a most auspicious collaboration between two great, inimitable voices in techno: Kompakt co-founder Michael Mayer, and Magazine’s own Barnt. They’ve both been productive of late, Mayer with his “Brainwave Technology” EP in 2021, Barnt with his first release on Kompakt, "ProMetal Fan Decor Only Product" in 2022. Of course, they’re also busy with their respective record labels, and international DJing schedules.
You may already have heard their first track, which appeared on Michael’s "&" album from 2014, the psychedelic “Und Da Stehen Fremde Menschen”. For Speicher, though, they set their sights firmly on the peak time dance floor – the result is two stunning cuts of techno euphoria.
On “Teller” Barnt and Mayer unleash a synth storm, tense and thrilling. Percussion piles up against the incessant buzz, but before too long we’re submerged in waves of dense texturology, making the track an object lesson in tension and release. “Duration” is a bittersweet anthem about "life long love". A moving voice tells us about "faith in life" while gleaming, synths, choral swarms and snares shower down from above to form an epic tale about duration and devotion.
Weirding the groove and updating the emotions, Speicher 125 is a monster.
Speicher 125 ist die Zusammenarbeit zwischen zwei unnachahmlichen Stimmen des Techno: Michael Mayer, Mitbegründer von Kompakt, und Barnt von Magazine. Beide waren in letzter Zeit nicht unproduktiv, Mayer mit seiner "Brainwave Technology" EP, Barnt mit seiner ersten Veröffentlichung auf Kompakt, "ProMetal Fan Decor Only Product". Natürlich sind sie auch mit ihren jeweiligen Plattenlabels und internationalem DJing beschäftigt.
Vielleicht hast Du schon ihre erste Kollaboration gehört, die auf Michaels "&"-Album von 2014 erschienen ist, das psychedelische "Und Da Stehen Fremde Menschen". Für "Speicher" haben sie den Peak-Time-Dancefloor ins Visier genommen - das Ergebnis sind zwei atemberaubende Stücke voller Techno-Euphorie.
Auf "Teller" entfesseln Barnt und Mayer ein Synthie-Gewitter, spannend und mitreißend. Die Percussion türmt sich gegen das unaufhörliche Summen auf, aber schon bald tauchen wir in Wellen dichter Texturen ein, was den Track zu einer Lehrstunde in Sachen Spannung und Entspannung macht. "Duration" ist eine bittersüße Hymne über "lebenslange Liebe". Eine bewegte Stimme erzählt uns vom "Glauben an das Leben", während schimmernde Synthies, Chorschwärme und Snares von oben herab eine epische Geschichte über Ausdauer und Hingabe prasseln.
Speicher 125 ist ein Monster, das den Groove neu erkundet und die Emotionen auffrischt.
Magenta/Black-Smoke Vinyl, limitiert auf 250 Exemplare. Die Metalcore/Screamo-Band Stick to Your Guns wurde 2003 von Sänger Jesse Barnett in Orange County, Kalifornien, gegründet. Die Band, die mit Größen wie Comeback Kid und Protest the Hero verglichen wird, wurde von Sumerian Records-Chef Ash Avildsen entdeckt, der die ohnehin schon angesagte Band auf ein Live-Showcase setzte. Kurz darauf unterschrieb die Band einen Vertrag mit dem Label. Das erste Album der Band, For What It's Worth, wurde 2007 veröffentlicht. Die Band wechselte im Anschluss zum Indie-Metal-Label Century Media, das im Frühjahr 2008 das Nachfolgealbum "Comes from the Heart" veröffentlichte. Comes from the Heart ist die zweite Veröffentlichung der amerikanischen Hardcore-Punk-Band Stick to Your Guns. Das Album erreichte Platz 33 der Billboard's Heatseekers Charts. Diese Vinyl Version enthält 4 Bonustracks, die bisher nur auf einer limitierten CD-Version erhältlich waren.
Since the release of the Sentimental Fool, Lee Fields has been touring relentlessly, playing to capacity crowds all across the US & EY with the drive and determination of an artist a fraction of his age. The fruits of which have culmi-nated in his song "Forever" being featured in 2023's top rated Super Bowl commercial, further solidifying Lee as the king of soul. In keeping with the momentum it is our pleasure to announce the release of his brand new single "Waiting on the Sidelines". Written by Thomas 'TNT' Brenneck (MSB, Charles Bradley, Diamond West Records) this beat-ballad grooves low and slow, giving Lee ample room to unleash a heart-breakingly soulful display of vocal acrobatics - an absolute must-have for fans of the Penrose sound. On the flip you'll find "You Can Count On Me", an in demand, upbeat moover previously only available on a limited edition 12" EP. Now bow to the king!
BLACKPINK, „Die erfolgreichste Girlgroup des Planeten“ (ZEIT) veröffentlicht ihr neues und zweites Album „Born Pink“. Das Album folgt auf ihr Debüt Album „THE ALBUM“ - auf der Billboard Top 200
Album Liste aus 2020 auf Platz 25 - und versorgt Fans jetzt mit neuer Musik.
Für BLACKPINK ist es üblich mit ihren Releases weltweite Rekorde zu brechen.
Das Musikvideo ihrer Hit-Single „How You Like That“ erreichte innerhalb von 24 Stunden 82,4 Millionen Aufrufe auf Youtube und knackte damit den damaligen Rekord von BTS.
Insgesamt stellte BLACKPINK bereits fünf Guinness-Weltrekorde auf: meiste Youtube-Aufrufe in den ersten 24 Stunden nach Upload für ein Video, Musikvideo und K-Pop-Video, sowie zwei Rekorde für die
meistgesehene Premiere eines Videos.
Jazz saxophonist and playwright Archie Shepp was a cornerstone of what was considered 'avant-garde' jazz in his day. He was also a civil rights activist of implied yet huge proportions, having once accused the establishment of creating a "plantation of the mind". This also reflected in his music. Vocally critical of genre boundaries, 'Kwanza' exemplifies his stance, with the music contained on the record an upbeat and joyous yet foray through a kind of party jazz that, though it is fun, doesn't simply encourage you not to think about your predicament. Released five years after its original recording sessions, this is an important slice of history, well deserving of its reissue.
Purple & Clear Mix Madison's latest project, I Hope You Can Forgive Me, represents an evolution in her career as she finds ways to improvise and self-produce in the midst of an ever changing global pandemic landscape. I Hope You Can Forgive Me builds upon that next step sonically while exploring themes of love, self preservation, fear, and conjuring. What comes out of this work and Madison's career thus far is a commitment to leave - leave fear and doubt behind in order to make space for what is next to come, all with a sense of style, fun, and invitation to dance through it
First-ever reissue of the 1988 album. Gatefold LP includes new and restored artwork and a chapbook, featuring forty-eight pages of lyrics, essays, photographs, and Gordon's extraordinary drawings for each song. The Choctaw, Assiniboine, and Texan poet, journalist, visual artist, American Indian Movement activist, and musician Roxy Gordon (First Coyote Boy) (1945-2000) was above all a storyteller, known primarily as a writer of inimitable style and unvarnished candor, whose wide-ranging work encompassed poetry, short fiction, essays, memoirs, journalism, and criticism. Over the course of his career he recorded six albums, wrote six books, and published hundreds of shorter texts in outlets ranging from Rolling Stone and The Village Voice to the Coleman Chronicle and Democrat-Voice, in addition to founding and operating, with his wife Judy Gordon, Wowapi Press and the underground country music journal Picking Up the Tempo. Along the way he cultivated close friendships with fellow Texan songwriters such as Lubbockites Terry Allen, Butch Hancock, and Tommy X. Hancock, as well as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Billy Joe Shaver, and, most famously, Townes Van Zandt, whom he called his brother. Although his work covered a vast array of topics exploring strata personal, local, global, and cosmic alike, Gordon's primary subject as a writer, musician, and visual artist was always American Indian culture, specifically the ways it collided and coexisted with European American culture in the South and West-and within the context of his own life and braided identity. The ten songs on Crazy Horse Never Died, his first officially released and distributed album, were recorded in Dallas in 1988. "Songs" is perhaps an imprecise taxonomy for what Roxy captured on this and his other albums, all of which remain out of print or were released in instantly obscure limited editions of homebrew cassettes and CD-R's. (Paradise of Bachelors plans to reissue remastered, expanded editions of his catalog; Crazy Horse is the first.) He only occasionally attempted to sing, and his musical recordings are primarily corollaries of, and vehicles for, his poems. His sharp West Texan drawl, tinged by formative years of reservation living in Montana and unmistakable once you hear it-high, lonesome, flat, and cold-blooded as a bare rusty blade-instead patiently unfurls in skewed sheets of anecdotal verse and discursive narrative rants. Although Gordon's music at times incorporated powwow style drumming, fiddling, or unaccompanied ballad singing, the majority of it hews to an idiosyncratic spoken word style, accompanied by atmospheric, sometimes synth-damaged country-rock that skirts ambient textures and postpunk deconstructions. His songs are essentially recitations over backing tracks of finger picked guitars, rubbery washtub bass, and buzzing, oscillating keyboards. On the stark yellow and red jacket of Crazy Horse, which he designed himself, Gordon describes these recordings as innately ambivalent in terms of form, content, and identity: These are poems and/or songs about the American West, white and Indian. My life has been Indian and/or white. Maybe there's not a lot of difference-maybe. I guess that's mostly according to which white person or which Indian you're talking about. That's probably what this album's about. Crazy Horse Never Died comprises songs that span the personal and political arcs of his writing practice and the poles of his native and white ancestries.
Gatefold Green Vinyl Double LP with design by Dian Vandermeulen, the popular Canadian visual artist
(limited edition cassette version will be released by Not Not Fun).
Between December 2018 and 2019, Stefana Fratila embarked on a series of research trips across North America (including to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Centre), meeting with astronomers and scientists in order to address a complex question: “If each planet in our solar system were a different room, what would each room sound like?”
Her ongoing creative research culminated in Sononaut, eight open-source VST plug-ins created for digital audio workstations (DAWs) that emulate the atmospheric conditions of the planets in our solar system (made in collaboration with artist and coder Jen Kutler, using calculations by NASA astronomer and planetary scientist Dr. Conor Nixon).
Her forthcoming album I want to leave this Earth behind is the sonic extension of her creative research.
In her own words: “The album is conceptual, in that it centres on outer space exploration and my understanding of 'Crip futurity'. My vision is for the album to engage listeners in an exercise of imagining the sounds of interplanetary atmospheres– conditions which are inherently unlivable, unbreathable, converting all human body-minds into disabled-bodied-ness. Since I identify as Crip, or disabled, this idea deeply resonates with me. I am the first artist (a disabled producer/musician, no less) to have worked with NASA researchers on a sonic imagining of the solar system’s atmospheres that incorporates real scientific data. If we are all 'disabled' in (or by) outer space, my music is concerned with propelling all listeners into space, leaving Earth behind them, through my music.”
The solar system’s planetary bodies are inherently prohibitive even in regards to Earth’s most ‘able-bodied’ subjects. Her project seizes upon a form of radical agency and science-fictive ambition, placing all human subjects within new worlds, into the interplanetary bodies of our solar system, through her own sonic imaginings.
The album will be released by Toronto-based label Halocline Trance (Casey MQ, myst milano, ACT!).
During a 2019 residency at CMMAS (Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras) in Morelia, Mexico, Fratila began writing the album on an octophonic sound system (8 planets = 8 speakers).
Afterwards, from her home studio in Toronto, she recorded additional synthesizer parts, finalized arrangements, and incorporated Sononaut (her 8 solar system VST plug-ins) into the album’s production. The album was recorded, written, and produced by Fratila. She worked with mixing engineer Jeremy Greenspan (Jessy Lanza, Caribou, Junior Boys), as well as mixing engineer Lisa Conway and mastering engineer Sage Kim.
Underlining each track is a five-minute soundscape representing the weather on that planet, based on Fratila’s research at NASA. The weather patterns are interwoven with layers of synths and time-stretched samples.
There are very few disabled femme electronic artists gaining exposure in Canada today.
Oscillate / verb – to move or swing back and forth in a regular rhythm. Alexander Flood has developed and refined a strong, progressive voice and style on his kit through his 17 years performing and studying. Previously graduating top of his year, he has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including Australia's Best Up-andComing Drummer in both 2012 and 2016, The John ‘Slick’ Osborne Scholarship in 2017 and the Helpmann Academy Jazz Award for Top Overall Graduate in 2018. In 2020 he signed with 6x Grammy nominee Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to release Alex’s debut LP “HEARTBEAT” and “The Space Between” in 2022. 2023 finds Alexander aligning w/ Berlin’s Jakarta Records to release LP “Oscillate” - a blistering, hard-hitting meld of infectious rhythms, pulsing keys, and a swingin’ groove that melds into a genre-defying conglomeration of creative compositions and collaboration. In mid 2022 Alex travelled from Australia to Berlin, where he assembled a dream team crew of creative innovators featuring Hungarian keyboard player Àbáse, Australian bass guru Horatio Luna, and Brazilian flautista Paulo Cedraz. Together the group cut six unique dance tracks at Berlin’s iconic Jazzanova Studios, engineered by Grammy nominated Axel Reinemer. From the shuffling broken beats and dancing flute melodies in title track “Oscillate” to the experimental uptempo “Deja Vu”, the momentum of the music ceases to stop. “U R THA 1” features a driving jungle sound of repitched drums, vocal chops and 808 bass, and “Berlin” captures a classic funky 90s house feel powered by 4-on-the-floor kick and melodic basslines from Horatio Luna. Paulo Cedraz shines on flute in the Caribbean influenced “Ginealach”, and the LP finishes with the head-bopping “Hüpf” giving the listener a taste of some down-tempo beat music atop a bed of Àbáse’s lush rhodes. From top to bottom, the unique voices and powerful musicianship of each band member is obvious. Australian influence is at the core of the sound not only through the bass and drum chair, but through the punchy characteristic mix by Melbourne’s Lewis Moody and master by Gareth Thomson. The final piece of the puzzle was bringing in Alex’s childhood drum and percussion teacher Joel Prime, where they overdubbed additional percussion parts together in London. Artwork was stunningly put together by Robert Winter (Suff Daddy, Bluestaeb, K, Le Maestro) with visualizers put together by the stalwart KARL-F. Jakarta is ecstatic to share such a high-water mark of an album, out everywhere physically / digitally May 12th. Check the accompanying Press Sheet for Campaign Schedule and more. Besides online promotion from the label and artist profiles, the album will further be promoted by external agencies within the US and UK.
Fans of Coltrane will certainly dig this historical 1970s spiritual jazz album from Argentina which left an everlasting imprint in the local jazz scene. From the eerie "Blues para un cosmonauta" —which could easily fit in the Twin Peaks soundtrack—, to the majestic "Líneas Torcidas" or the mid-tempo groove of "Mi amigo Tarzán", new landscapes in jazz are explored without hiding, at moments, the musicians' bebop pedigree. Venturing into unchartered dimensions, the album breaks with traditionalism and combines jazz and new electronic instruments into a contemporary concept that is both cosmic and sensual, a sound where timbre and space play a crucial role. Here, no track sounds like the other.
The charismatic, multifaceted saxophone player Horacio "Chivo" Borraro is joined here most notably by Fernando Gelbard —who pioneered electronic keyboards and analog synths in Argentina, playing here Fender Rhodes and Minimoog— and Brazilian musician Stenio Mendes —who plays the 12-string craviola and contributes two tracks. Jorge González on bass and Néstor Astarita on drums —both part of Gato Barbieri's rhythm section in the early 60s— and Chino Rossi —responsible for much of the unusual percussion and special effects that give the album its unprejudiced aura— complete the line-up of Blues para un Cosmonauta.
Super bitter-sweet ballad. Like 70% cacao chocolate. Tomasz Guiddo teams up with legendary Vienna crooner Louie Austen (remember all his hits on Cheap, KittyYo, Tirk, G-Stone, Klein Records, Etage Noir). On the flip side of this 7" the Columbian superdons Meridian Brothers turn this into real mambo madness, which gives the ballad a joyful twist.
