Gold nugget vinyl (2023 repress)! A masterclass in cinematic psychedelia, `God Intentions' is the third studio album from Glasgow outfit Helicon and is due out April 28 on Fuzz Club. Their most ambitious and collaborative album to date, it was recorded at Dystopia, Glasgow with producers Luigi Pasquini and Jason Shaw, mastered by RIDE's Mark Gardener and includes contributions from the Rhona MacFarlane String Quartet, Lavinia Blackwall (Trembling Bells), Mark O'Donnell (Tomorrow Syndicate), Sotho Houle (French avant-garde violinist) and Anna McCracken. Talking about the new record, guitarist/vocalist John-Paul Hughes says: "`God Intentions' is inspired by my brother Gary's story and a few other influences. It's a journey through regret, redemption and resurrection. Our familiar darkness is there, but the record carries a fresh and uplifting positivity. I had a clear idea of how I wanted it to sound and feel long before it began. We're so pleased we achieved it. We managed to hold true to the idea whilst allowing the string quartet, Sotho, Lavinia, Anna, Mark, Jason, Luigi and other collaborators the space to put their mark on it. The album art, by San Francisco-based collage artist Nina Theda Black, captures the depth and breadth of themes and sounds we brought together to create a kind of motion in your mind."
"Songbook / Chapter One" includes three highly intimate guitar compositions by Rico Friebe, being the big connector between his early 2023 debut album "Word Value" and the follow-up "Faces Meet", set to be released in October 2023.
Rico feels the songs "One To Four" and "Quarter, Last..." (actually being one song in two parts) to be the most truthful and honest songs he has ever written to this day, coming back to his well-known reduced approach on writing music after and inbetween more pop-like songs "Don't Hurt Me Now" or "So... Hi!".
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Dot Allison returns with a new solo album, Consciousology. After over a decade away, the former One Dove singer and songwriter broke cover in 2021 with Heart-Shaped Scars and this new album follows just two years later, as she hits a purple patch of songwriting. It’s also her first full release for Sonic Cathedral after contributing to Mark Peters’ acclaimed Red Sunset Dreams last year. Consciousology finds multi-instrumentalist Dot joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra, her new labelmate Andy Bell from Ride, who plays guitar on two tracks, and Hannah Peel, who is responsible for some of the string arrangements with both the LCO and a stellar group of Scottish string players. It expands on the styles and themes of the previous album, all while pushing everything just that little bit further – the songs sound bigger, more avant-garde and experimental and, occasionally, properly out-there and psychedelic. “I wanted to make some albums that felt like a set, exploring love, what lies beyond the visible and how all these aspects dovetail together,” explains Dot. “I see Consciousology a more psych Heart-Shaped Scars with a far fuller, more immersive sound and so, in that sense, it’s a more wayward, bolder, rule-breaking partner.” Right from the eye-catching artwork by PJ Harvey collaborator Maria Mochnacz it definitely does not play it safe. It veers from the techno-played-as-folk of opener ‘Shyness Of Crowns’ and ‘220Hz’ and the Linda Perhacs-meets-The Velvet Underground chug of the first single ‘Unchanged’ to the Mercury Rev-style fantasia of ‘Bleached By The Sun’, the Brian Wilson-esque harmonies of ‘Moon Flowers’ and the kaleidoscopic colour trip of ‘Double Rainbow’. Elsewhere there are echoes of Desertshore-era Nico, Jack Nitzsche’s work with Neil Young, Karen Dalton and Anne Briggs before the relative simplicity of the Tim Hardin-inspired closer ‘Weeping Roses’. It’s a brilliant, breathtaking record.
OVERVIEW: Ever since they arrived on the Norwegian indie scene at age 17, the Oslo-based four-piece Veps has released a steady stream of jaw droppingly mature, indie pop gems. Now, as they are all in their final teenage year, Veps announces their debut album Oslo Park for July 21st release on Kanine Records. Continuing to dish out indie pop bangers with a carefree, DIY attitude, Oslo Park is Veps at their most dynamic. Produced by fellow Norwegian Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Sondre Lerche), Oslo Park is an emotional, fun ride through adolescence. Feisty rocker “His Brother” evokes the spirit of the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s, before the minor key gem “Crawl” breaks your heart with its honest depiction of teenage heartbreak. The gorgeous ballads “Ballerina (Norah)” and “To the Bedwetters” are both, in their unique way, an instant emotional time capsule to the melancholy and vulnerable aspects of being young and searching for your identity. If their EP, Open the Door, was described by the band as a “love letter to our teenage years,” this album, raw, emotional, beautiful and melodic, is more of a goodbye, perhaps.
1985 war das Jahr, in dem der Grundstein für die Karriere einer Band gelegt wurde, die auch fast 35 Jahre danach noch genau so aktiv ist, wie am ersten Tag. Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst 1984 als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung kam.
Nun werden die legendären Alben der Herner Metal-Legende mit etlichen bisher unveröffentlichten Titeln auf Doppel-LPs neu veröffentlicht.
„Reflections Of A Shadow“ (1990) gilt bis heute als eines der am meisten unterschätzten Alben der Band. Die Neuauflage enthält neben dem regulären Album, die Titel der damaligen EP "Extended Power" und etliche unveröffentlichte Bonus-Titel, die aus der Aufnahme-Session des Albums stammen. Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!
The Techno banger from Maxxx Rossi.
Featuring David Moleon from Spain, Steve Redhead from Belgium, Maxx Rossi from England and... David Oblivion from Ireland !
A massive european Techno collaboration !!
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Gold farbenes Vinyl! De Augustines erstes Soloalbum seit seinem dritten Album, dem von Thomas Bartlett produzierten Tomb (2019), und dem Nachfolger von A Beginner's Mind (2021), einer von der Kritik gefeierten Kollaboration mit Sufjan Stevens, ist eine Rückkehr des südkalifornischen Künstlers zu dem in sich geschlossenen Ansatz seines Debüts Spirals of Silence (2015) und Swim Inside the Moon (2017). De Augustine verbrachte fast drei Jahre damit, allein zu arbeiten und die unendlichen Weiten seiner Vorstellungskraft zu erforschen, um ein allumfassendes Werk zu schaffen, das nach seiner eigenen quixotischen Logik existiert und eine psychische Landschaft bewohnt, die so sublim und mystisch ist wie ein Fiebertraum oder ein Märchen. Er schrieb, arrangierte, nahm auf, produzierte und mischte Toil and Trouble allein und formte den kunstvollen, detaillierten Sound des Albums, indem er auf 27 verschiedenen Instrumenten spielte (darunter so seltsame Dinge wie ein Xylophon aus Glas). Inmitten dieses höchst experimentellen Prozesses durchlebte er eine ephemere, aber alptraumhafte Zeit mit jenseitigen Empfindungen und übernatürlichen Visionen - eine Erfahrung, die die Entstehung des Albums kurzzeitig unterbrochen hat, aber letztendlich dazu beitrug, die immense emotionale Tiefe von Toil and Trouble zu bereichern. "Dieses Album entstand aus dem Nachdenken über den Wahnsinn der Welt und wie überwältigend das sein kann", sagt De Augustine. "Ich habe eine Art Gegenwelt als Leitfaden benutzt, um zu verstehen, was hier eigentlich vor sich geht - ich musste mich selbst aus der Realität herausnehmen, um zu versuchen, die Realität zu verstehen." Das Ergebnis ist das bisher visionärste Werk eines einzigartigen Songwriters, das abwechselnd betörend, niederschmetternd und unaussprechlich schön ist und seine tiefe Fähigkeit offenbart, Schmerz in außergewöhnliche Schönheit zu verwandeln.
Wild Creatures is a career retrospective album containing twenty-three of Neko Case’s most impactful tracks from her discography and will now be available on a double vinyl.
With a career spanning over twenty years, she has famously collaborated with The New Pornographers and Case/Lang/Veirs in addition to releasing many critically acclaimed solo albums, including ‘Fox Confessor Brings The Flood’, ‘Middle Cyclone’ and most recently 2018’s ‘Hell-On’.
The vinyl configuration is a 2LP on eco mix with printed innersleeves in a gatefold jacket.
Wolf is a Swedish heavy-/power-/speed metal band from Örebro. Formed in 1995, the band has released nine studio albums and toured with bands such as Saxon, Evile, Tankard and Trivium. Legions Of Bastards is the band's sixth album which was originally released by Century Media in April 2011. Now available on vinyl for the fist time since its release year! "Musically, it carries harder, faster chords and angered anguish from frontman Niklas Olsson. While Wolf have stayed true to the traditional heavy metal template, with "good times" vibes in tow, they have also pushed for a harsher edge to make their own sound. Here, they've gone even further with that direction, concentrating on solos and picking up the pace. The result is not just heavier, but also sleazier and grittier." -Invisible Oranges Legions Of Bastards is available on a limited Svart exclusive turquoise/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl and classic black vinyl.
Wolf is a Swedish heavy-/power-/speed metal band from Örebro. Formed in 1995, the band has released nine studio albums and toured with bands such as Saxon, Evile, Tankard and Trivium. Legions Of Bastards is the band's sixth album which was originally released by Century Media in April 2011. Now available on vinyl for the fist time since its release year! "Musically, it carries harder, faster chords and angered anguish from frontman Niklas Olsson. While Wolf have stayed true to the traditional heavy metal template, with "good times" vibes in tow, they have also pushed for a harsher edge to make their own sound. Here, they've gone even further with that direction, concentrating on solos and picking up the pace. The result is not just heavier, but also sleazier and grittier." -Invisible Oranges Legions Of Bastards is available on a limited Svart exclusive turquoise/red marble vinyl, limited transparent yellow vinyl and classic black vinyl.
Bruce Falkian is a world famous contemporary artist who exhibits at the world's most prestigious art galleries and fairs. Bruce Falkian moonlights as an agent of espionage against the Terrorism Industrial Complex. Wait... what?
To understand Bruce Falkian we first must understand the link between image and war. In the late 1800s the precursor to the video camera was invented. It was directly inspired by guns, specifically, Samuel Colt's Revolver. It borrowed not only its barrel mechanics, swapping bullets for exposures, but its terminology too. Load, point, scope, aim, shoot, flash. The camera and the gun, united by cordite, would go on to prove the most efficacious tools in shaping the modern world.
The 20th century was a laboratory when it comes to killing and image making, glorified through Hollywood and the Western genre. Propaganda would prove highly effective in creating and sustaining support for militaries fighting for ideological global control. Devised first in the aptly title 'Propaganda' (1928) by Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, Advertising and Public Relations became the leading media industries, learning how to control the population through images, usually just to buy random crap they didn't need, but other times to overthrow democratically elected politicians in foreign countries. Eventually Western Liberal Democracy assumed domination, built of course on the enslavement of all peoples and nations who didn't fall in line with its specific ideas of living. The Red Scare inspired countless anti-leftist, anti-communist works of art throughout the Cold War, notably and most bizarre, funding the abstract expressionist movement as a non-ideological alternative to socialist realism art. When the Soviet Union fell, Western Liberal Democracy was able to promulgate its unhindered views around the world through its various media empires and actor states. Is it a coincidence that a third of the almost $85 billion dollar global camera equipment market is represented by the greatest propaganda beast the world has ever seen, the USA?
Guns are dangerous because of the obvious. Images are dangerous because we are bad at perceiving what is real (as any jump scare, deepfake, newsreel will attest to.) Videos aren't technically real, they are only a collection of rapidly changing static images which give the illusion of movement. It's easy for us to collectively decide that a video is real, because that's the way our brains perceive reality. People who lead the world of media understand this, which is how they are able to control us, make us invade foreign countries, vote for specific politicians, feel ugly or fat etc. However, ubiquitous as they are, it seems that the image is in crisis. It seems that we've run out of them. Or perhaps our understanding of an image is changing, with the aid of near instantaneous text-to-image AI technology. So what does this mean for guns? What does this mean for war? How will images be used as an aid to war in the 21st century? It remains to be seen, but Bruce Falkian will be a useful agent.
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Opening the EP we have a serious sensory treat from Aural Imbalance, as he ditches his own rulebook unleashing a myriad of rapidly combining elements synergising over glorious echoed intro-beats, before an uncharacteristically heavy slice of breaks punches its way into the track, electrifying the atmosphere while the trademark melodies dance above like fireflies in the night.
A2 - Luminosity
An airy intro slowly welcomes in snappy snares, staunch forthright bass tones and those delicious airy pads we know Aural
Imbalance so well for, gradually enveloping the listener in a luscious web of glorious serenity. Layers of intricate textures and rhythms build upon one another, creating a mesmerizing and hypnotic sonic journey inviting repeated listens.
AA1 - Moonscape
Aural Imbalance crafts a true gem here as Moonscape opens with a serene hit of soothing pads before the wonderfully analogue breakbeats join the party, laden with hi hats and subtle poise. The backdrop exudes whimsical birdsong until halfway we are treated to a true earworm melody carrying us through to the clean ritualistic outro.
AA2 - Sunlight Through Clouds
Simon closes the EP with Sunlight Through Clouds, opening with wistful muffled grooves before the bubbly apache break reveals itself and whisks us on a synthful audio feast, built on the immersive, meditative soundscapes he is so well known for. The track has a soothing, reflective vibe and fits perfectly as a curtain call for his latest extended player.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)
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The next chapter of the Natural Information Society is here. Since Time Is Gravity, credited to Natural Information Society Community Ensemble with Ari Brown, presents a newly expanded manifestation of acclaimed composer & multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams nearly 15 year, 7 albums &-counting flagship ensemble. Joining the core NIS of Abrams (guimbri & bass), Lisa Alvarado (harmonium) Mikel Patrick Avery (drums) & Jason Stein (bass clarinet) are Hamid Drake (percussion), Josh Berman & Ben Lamar Gay (cornets), Nick Mazzarella & Mai Sugimoto (alto saxophones & flute), Kara Bershad (harp) & Chicago living legend of the tenor saxophone Ari Brown. Recorded live to tape at Electrical Audio & The Graham Foundation, cover painting Vibratory Cartography: Nepantla, by Lisa Alvarado. 2xLP on Eremite USA, 2xLP & CD on Aguirre/Eremite Europe. Out 14-04.
Since first developing Natural Information Society in 2010, Joshua Abrams has been gradually expanding the group’s conceptual underpinnings, its musical references & the sheer number of the group’s members. Its music is, in a sense, an expansive form of minimalism, based in repeated & overlaid rhythmic patterns, ostinatos & modality. Its roots, its scale & its meaning become clearer in time. If time is gravity, it also allows us to carry more. Having begun as fundamentally a rhythm section with Abrams’ guimbri at its core, the version here can stretch to a tentet, including six horns.
Abrams has been expanding his minimalism gradually, but he has long understood a key to minimalism’s potential: the breadth of its roots in the late 1950s & early 1960s, ranging from the dissatisfaction of young European-stream composers with the limitations of serialism to the simultaneous dissatisfaction of jazz musicians with the dense harmonic vocabulary of bop & hard bop. The former began exploring rhythmic complexity & narrow tonal palates in place of harmonic abstraction (Steve Reich’s Drumming, Philip Glass’ Music with Changing Parts; perhaps above all Terry Riley’s In C & his late ‘60s all-night organ & loop concerts); the later reduced dense chord changes to scales (signally with Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, but rapidly expanding with John Coltrane’s vast project). In the 1950s the LP record opened the world with documentation of Asian & African musics, key influences on both minimalists & jazz musicians. If John Coltrane’s soprano saxophone suggested the keening shehnai of Bismillah Khan, the instrument was rapidly taken up by two key minimalists, LaMonte Young & Riley, similarly appreciative of its flexible intonation, the same thing that kept it out of big bands.
If the guimbri, the North African hide-covered lute that Abrams plays with NIS, involves a rich tradition of hypnotic healing music associated with the Gnawa people, Abrams’ music also touches on other musics as well — other depths, memories & healings, different drones, rhythms & modes. As the group expands on Since Time Is Gravity, he has made certain jazz traditions in the same stream more explicit as well. If there is a mystical & elastic quality involved in the experience of time, both in direction & duration, you will catch it here. The parts for the choir of winds expand on the roles of Abrams’ guimbri, Mikel Patrick Avery & Hamid Drake’s percussion & Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium: at times, the winds are almost looping in the tentet version, each hitting a repeating note in turn, at once drone & distinct inflection on temporal sequence. The brilliance of the work resides in Abrams’ compositions, the NIS’ intuitive execution & in Ari Brown’s singular embodiment of the great tenor saxophone tradition, including the oracular genius of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, & Yusef Lateef. The three pieces by the expanded NIS featuring Brown —the opening “Moontide Chorus” & “Is” & the ultimate “Gravity”— have an immediate impact, & togther might be considered a kind of concerto for tenor saxophone. Here Brown presses almost indistinguishably from composed melody to improvised speech, getting so close to language that he might have a text. Everything here is a sign. Note the tap of the Rhythm Ace that links “Moontide Chorus” to “Is”, the attentive heart always present, even when signed by a machine. There’s a link here to the methodologies & meanings of dub music & the linear & vertical collage of beats, textures & tongues: treated with reverence, a sample of a beat-box can be as soulful, as hypnotic, as a mbira or a tamboura. If those pieces with Brown are heard as a suspended concerto, the three embrace & enfold the other works, like the sepals of a flower. That placement will also touch on the mysteries of our perception of time.
Particularly in “Is”, but elsewhere as well, a phenomenon of transcendence arises in which time appears to be tripartite, at once moving backwards & forwards & standing still. This is an act of technical brilliance certainly, but also an illumination of music’s ability to represent temporal consciousness through polymetrics. This particular listener has only heard it before in a few places, including the horn shouts & bowed basses of Coltrane’s Africa, in moments of Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady, in certain pieces where tapes were literally running backwards, & earlier still in Dizzy Gillespie’s Cubana Be, Cubana Bop, in which the composer George Russell & conguero Chano Pozo found a music that spoke at once in the voices of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring & the vestigial rites, rhythms & songs of the Yoruba language & Santeria religion of inland Cuba.
In Joshua Abrams’ compositions & the realization of them by the NIS, in the time of one’s close listening & memory thereof, distinctions between the “natural” & the “social”, the “quotidian” & the “transcendent” are erased, suspended or perhaps irrelevant. Consider two of the ensemble pieces, one named for nature, the other social science. In “Murmuration” the repeated wind figures of flute & alto saxophone combine with the interlocking patterns of harp, guimbri & frame drum (tar) to create a perfect moving stillness, not an imitation but a witness to the miracle of the starlings’ astonishing collective art, a surfeit of beauty that might be the ultimate defense tactic.
“Stigmergy” takes its name & concept from the Occupy movement’s Heather Marsh, who proposes a social system based on a cooperative rather than competitive models, one in which ideas are freely contributed & developed as ideas rather than an individual’s property. In its form, Abrams’ “Stigmergy” is the closes thing to traditional jazz, a series of accompanied solos by each of the wind players. However, the composed accompaniment is a radically collectivist notion: a repeated rhythmic figure, call it ostinato or riff, in which the different winds each play only a note or two of the figure, a concept both more collectivist & individualistic in its conception than any typical unison figure. It suggests another of the underlying recognitions that propel the Natural Information Society, the group as social organism, the teleology of hypnotic anarchy, all parts in place, functioning systematically, evolving & expressing itself, its nature & society, as a transformative organism.
George Lewis has described music as “a space for reflection on the human condition”. This suggests that, rather than a “distraction”, at least some music might serve as a distraction from distraction. It’s a focus, a clarity, a awareness, an external invitation to interiority, as if music itself is a model for form & contemplation, an organism contemplating for us or as us. If that is a possibility, & I am sure I have heard such musics, than this music is among them. How many of our rhythms, melodies & harmonies (cultural, historical, biological, psychic) might such music carry, translate & transform in the particulate ecstasy of our own murmuration? (Stuart Broomer, April 2022)
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Emile Mosseri is an Oscar and GRAMMY nominated artist, earning acclaim for his scores for the films Minari (2021) and The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019) Recently worked with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith on the critically acclaimed album, "I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon" (2022). On Heaven Hunters, Mosseri looks inwards, using his distinctive sound and gift for musical storytelling for his most personal work. Produced by The Haxan Cloak, Heaven Hunters explores the weight of choosing one path in life, putting to death every other possible future, and finding comfort in redefining happiness.
For Mosseri, the search for Heaven _ a concept of perpetual happiness void of suffering _ is a fruitless effort that blocks us from finding peace and balance in life as it really is. Driven by Mosseri's poignant lyrics and intimate singing, Heaven Hunters is a celebration of the highs and lows that create that equilibrium, built around songs of longing, love, heartbreak, familial struggle, and domestic bliss. It is a vulnerable, heartfelt album that is both expansive and cinematic in its dynamic scope and deeply stripped down and exposed in its emotional core, ready to be experienced as intimately as possible.
Though she had been performing professionally since the late 1920s, as a teenager in Harlem, during its Renaissance, the immortal Billie Holiday didn't play a single night on the European continent until 1954. It was in that year that the great journalist and musician Leonard Feather, and a Swedish promoter organized the Jazz Club U.S.A. tour, named after Feather's wildly popular radio program. Featuring Red Norvo, Sonny Clark, and more, the centerpiece of Jazz Club U.S.A. was, undoubtedly, Lady Day. Recorded at various dates across the tour, Lady Love shows Holiday still had it, despite the turmoil, and drug and alcohol abuse, her voice remained strong, a stunning document of one of America's greatest treasures on her first ever tour of Europe.
With a mental old school pressure the Bebert Brothers open the game.
Then Damage Circuits goes salme way with mre skills. maybe.
Uzi, calm it down... inspired dark sound. Joker.
Gui Two bring it even deeper in the sweetness...
Support this crazy MOON vinyl...
Bebert selecta and feeling ! Respect.
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Fuzz is Ty Segall (drums/vocals), Charlie Moothart (guitar/vocals)
and Roland Cosio (bass). They’re heavy rock lifers—three Californiabred dudes who have been refining their riffs and getting weird together since high school (which wasn’t that long ago, actually). If you are not already aware of Segall, well, what’s up? He’s one of garage rock’s most prolific sons. He said he was going to take it easy this year, but by the time you finish reading this, the onesheet for his next record will have already arrived in your inbox. Moothart
plays guitar in The Ty Segall Band and was also a member of The Moonhearts, which included Cosio on guitar.
Way back in the early ’00s, all three played in the Epsilons. Fuzz was formed a couple years ago as a collaboration between Segall and Moothart, but only recently did the pair have sufficient time to guide
the band out of side-project limbo and into a recording studio. Since then, they have released two singles, “This Time I Got a Reason” (Trouble In Mind) and “Sleigh Ride” (In The Red). Around the time of the latter, Cosio joined on bass.
They are not dabblers or dilettantes. Fuzz flipped through used bins,
hard drives and record collections of the world, seeking out the finest
weirdo cuts. The band’s self-titled debut LP, which was recorded by Chris Woodhouse (Thee Oh Sees, The Intelligence), dives deep, drawing inspiration from the more esoteric reaches of heavy metal pre-history. There are Sabbath and Hendrix nods, obviously, but on “Sleigh Bells” you might also catch a whiff of UK progressive blues business like The Groundhogs, particularly when the song quits its 10/4-time intro and reboots into fullbore choogle.
Maybe you’ll even glimpse the ghost of Australian guitar legend/sharpie guru Lobby Lloyde sniffing around “Raise.”
The mood is not light. The songs project a state of perpetual paranoia
and eroding mental health. And as it should be, you know? It’s a record for the burners.
The duo WILDES from the south of Germany, consisting of Jana Pantha and Jenny Tulipa, presents a musical mix of electro-synth-pop, post-punk and dark disco influences. After the release of their first EP “RAWWR” in 2021, their debut album entitled “KLISCHEE” will be released on 3 February 2023. Released via the Kommando 84 label, the album features 11 songs and a musical re-interpretation of German-language Neue Deutsche Welle sounds. The songs combine spoken word passages in which the singers combine a certain irony with word-playful rhymes. In addition to world-political, social issues, the songs revolve around the complexity of the new romance in love - between cosmos and stereo. The strong and experimentally avant-garde lyrics accompany the danceable pulse of the drum computer, melodic synth waves and the shimmering solos of the lead guitar.
The album “Klischee” begins with an electro-pop track that combines consistent grooves with atmo- spheric sound arrangements and a lead guitar that accompanies our journey to the moon. With the chorus’ high-pitched words, „Konsum - leg mich auf den Moon“ (“Consumption - put me on the Moon”), WILDES dryly yet humorously allude to a society that couldn’t fly “higher”.
The following cheeky song Leger in Schwarz combines impeccable post punk with influences from the NNDW scene. A short love story led by the electronic beat of the synthesizer makes the hearts of the night beat faster. With casual reduction, a guitar riff leads through the song. The guitar solo finally rounds off the plea about the longing for a good flirt.
Italo disco shimmers and pulsates on the driving song Capri. With lyrics like “Pack the boats - Vai a bordo”, Capri is a homage to the tried and tested Italo feeling with a cappucino on the terrazza, or indeed on the yacht with a view of the rocky walls of the island. An electric charge of sequencers and synth tracks acts here as a lightness of being in contrast to the porosity of the rock.
An electrifying electric guitar solo kicks off the fourth track with a mysterious invitation to Steig ein translated, get in. Hypnotised by the lights of the road, dazzled in the side mirror, a clearly repeating rhythm leads into the chorus and through the coming verses. English spoken-word lyrics add to the stoicism of the German language. The song’s great power ends with the line Lost in the dark, holding open the finale of the “Night Drive” encounter.
Digital and stereo on all channels, the distinctly tight and robust rhythm sounds in the song Apparat. A clear and simple synth melody is heard as a contrast and the electric bass gives the balance of the machine at points. Hiddenly, WILDES points here to the superior power that can control human action beyond all limits. A piece as a laudation to all the science fiction novels that play with the switching of the individual parts.
Side One of the vinyl is finalised by a song called La Grande Bellezza that motivates to dance and sing along. The punky pop craft lives through the recurring beat of the rhythm guitar. Here the focus is on the woman in all her facets. The great beauty, una donna, who can do everything as well as wanting everything and nothing...a strong woman who, however, also staggers and wants to jump off the cliff. Clearly and distinctly, the musical accompaniment of the drum machine and the accompanying synth melody reflect hidden parallel worlds and the ambiguity of character - of life? We get a desire for more and turn the round record.
The B side starts with a powerful guitar riff, complemented by a catchy and strong bassline that runs through the song. In this work, WILDES provocatively describes the West’s lust for the much-cov- eted Schwarzes Gold black gold. The song is reminiscent of the works of the band D.A.F. and thus ties in with the electronic punk sound spate.
The driving guitar riff joins in with the reduced synth bass sequence - the electro-pop song with the title Hitze (Heat) came onto the digital music market as the first single from the LP in the summer of 2022. Pulsatingly, the drum computer lets the beats vibrate to the rhythm of heated air. The duo po- etically describes heat with supercooled voices, a clarity in the sky that makes everything flow, that makes the breath dry. The work ends with a melodic synth solo.
Ich lad dich ein, I invite you - we have all said or heard this sentence before. A chance meeting of two people later leads to the altar in love. A far-reaching question that more or less arises in many love relationships at some point “Do you dare?” positions itself in lyrical contrast to the simple ques- tion in the refrain “Do you need sugar?”. WILDES plays with laconic poetry and, full of irony, makes the listeners think about living together. Krautrock contours are skilfully used in this piece. Reduced to the essentials, the chorus immediately sticks in the ear. A cheerful mix of steel drums and infec- tious solo.
Toccami - touch me! We sit on padded leather chairs - “you’re a rocket! Peng Puff Peng” - this song by the band WILDES joins experimental art-punk-pop, electronically with flowing synth waves we take off immediately. Melodically sung, lyrical layers of lyrics dance loosely light and gracefully in the ears of the viewer. The rhythmic beat visualises the feeling of floating in a spaceship. It’s love in the universe - “I love you, my darling” sounds tipsy in the beat-heavy disco refrain.
Hypnotically, WILDES launches into the final song of the entire LP. The title Zone takes us on a journey through time. Inspired by the film Stalker, we find ourselves in a science fiction setting that couldn’t be more present in today’s European events. The musicality of the electric guitar riffs ac- companied by simple new wave drums drives the listener into unknown realms.
Repetition and electronic synth sounds play a compositional role alongside rocking guitar riffs like their forerunners in the NDW scene. Lyrically, each song varies between pop-romantic and politically critical passages. Listeners start pondering about hedonistic life and its consequences. Sometimes it feels like listening to a Tarantino soundtrack in German, other times it feels like listening to an 80s track by a James Bond. Science fiction fantasies and reality add up in dadaistic theatricality to spir- ited synthpunk of the New German Wave from the South. Discoid beats and driving drums in digital are included.
I was lucky enough to release Godflesh 'Love is a dog from Hell' on my old label Pathological many moons ago. I was equally lucky to drop JK Flesh 'In Your Pit' on my new label PRESSURE three years ago, and then follow that up with the G36 vs JK Flesh sound clash 'Disintegration Dubs' last year. Justin has consistently handed me pure audio gold, and actually gifted me some of my favourite releases from him full stop, in an incredible career of riches which he has tirelessly. produced since Napalm Death til today. So again, I’m now totally psyched to drop 'Sewer Bait' on my label PRESSURE. The sixth album from JK Flesh, this album is a Slo-mo, Slo-fi, Sewer tech journey into utter gutter level filth. Overdriven, corroded, corrupted and absolutely blasted, it contains so many essential elements of clubland low life, but yet manages to remain beautifully original whilst pushing all levels deep into the red until it hurts in the best possible way. Anyone hooked on Andy Stott's dirtiest works, Porter Ricks deepest explorations or Techno Animal's speaker punishing grooves will find addictive nourishment within these relentlessly distorted heavyweight grooves.... Not so much hard as completely f-ckin brutal, the master stroke from Justin Broadrick however, is takin his raw materials and feeding them militantly into the dub chamber. This is like a wholesale destruction of Techno, 4/4 for people too wasted and strung out to give a f-ck about dancefloors, yet compelling enough and magnetic enough to completely insist upon fully body hypnotism in an undersized room with an oversized rig. The album's title track sounds like Drum & Bass don Digital or the peak of the Metalheadz label dragged down into hell for the ultimate bad rave trip, whilst 'Crawler' could be Killing Joke, jammin with Regis and his aggro allies from Birmingham Techno's underappreciated discography, deep in a warehouse warzone. You don’t have to dig techno to dig this dirt, you just have to enjoy having your head taken off and your body physically punished. If Jeff Mills output had been chopped, screwed and then painfully, slowly crushed, it may resemble the monolithic, psychedelic, crawl of 'Sewer Bait'.” – Kevin Martin
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More in tune now with the rhythm of the sun and moon, Xylouris White (Dirty Jim White and George Xylouris) speak to each other across great distances with the intuition and fellowship that can only be found over years in each other"s company. With fewer distractions, appreciative of the freedom to play with new sounds and spaces, they carve The Forest In Me from unbelievably thin air. Once you set the needle down on the record and hear for yourself, the intimacies and impressionism, abstraction and unfiltered emotion found in The Forest In Me, you may wonder what was the mood of the room in which this music came to be. George, Jim and long-time producer (and secret third member) Guy Picciotto share their thoughts: Guy Picciotto: "In late 2019, we had begun taking steps to working on new material. In a haphazard fashion, Jim and I started tracking drums in my basement, cutting them up into shapes with no set landing in mind. Some of it we sent to Giorgos in Crete - he responded with his lyra and his lute. Without intention we had initiated a process that would soon become more ruthlessly mandated by the world events that separated and isolated us to three corners of the globe in the following year." Giorgos Xylouris: "While we were recording, I noticed that the music had a certain solitude about it, both from the title and from inside. That led us to find more music from within that we had not yet discovered." Jim White: "The idea emerged, naturally nourished and nourishing a record with none of our usual angles and themes, no verbal language, no angst nor sudden dynamics, a more subtle structure. And we found The Forest In Me." The first revelation from The Forest In Me is "Latin White", in which Jim"s jaunty pattern sets the stage for George"s Cretan lyra and lute figurations, giving this short dance piece the feel of a welcome hoedown around the campfire, warding off the encroaching darkness of an emptied world. The repetitions, gathered to induce joy, have a glassy-eyed mechanical drive to them; their dervish-istic seeking betrays any suggestion of balm.
Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung kam. Nun werden die Alben der Jahre 2001 bis 2003 der Herner Metal-Legende mit Bonus-CDs mit etlichen Demoversionen (inkl. bisher unveröffentlichten Titeln) auf Doppel-CDs neu veröffentlicht. Besonders interessant dürfte hier für die Fans das Album „Welcome To The Other Side“ sein, das endlich als neu gemasterte Version (auch als Doppel-Vinyl) vorliegt.
Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!
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Recommended If You Like: Boredoms, OOIOO, Blonde Redhead, Guerilla Toss, Rolling Stones, Liars, Marnie Stern, Yoko Ono, Battles. Cover by acclaimed photographer and artist Kunie Sugar White Vinyl / White Cassette available while stocks last. Did you know that miracles happen every day? We don’t always see it that way. We look at the state of the world and think, “It’ll be a miracle if we make it out alive.” But miracles are what humans do. We’re Earth’s most inventive and unpredictable species, when we’re allowed to be. Also the most destructive. Miracle-Level is Deerhoof’s mystical manifesto on creativity and trust. It celebrates the infinite small wonders of existence that spontaneously present themselves, when not obstructed by our death-driven masters. Musically, Miracle-Level is vulnerable, brave, and brimming with spicy surprises. Deerhoof’s 19th album is also their their first to be recorded and mixed in a recording studio. Production was entrusted to Mike Bridavsky, at No Fun Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This is also their first album written entirely in Satomi’s native language. Deerhoof once again speak in a secret code that only their fans understand, in which hooks abound, and genre is nonexistent.
Mit "Morphing Polaroids" legt die gebürtige Japanerin und seit 2018 in Berlin lebende Saeko Okuchi alias Saeko Killy ihr Debütalbum bei Bureau B vor. In den letzten Jahren konnte sie sich in der Berliner Szene rund um den Club Sameheads einen Namen als DJ und Live-Künstlerin machen. Nachdem 2021 ihre erste EP "!"#$%&"( )* - Dancing Pikapika" auf dem Osakischen Label Chill Mountain erschien, folgte eine fruchtbare Jamsession während des pandemiebedingten Lockdowns, aus der schließlich die 11 Titel umfassende LP "Morphing Polaroids" hervorging. Das Ergebnis ist ein kontemporärer Leftfield-Clubsound, der mühelos Elemente von Dub, Post-Punk und Kraut mit elektronischen Beats vereint.
Die Rough Trade Shops präsentieren die neueste Ausgabe ihrer jährlichen Counter Culture-Reihe. Ihr jährlicher Almanach der wildesten, schrägsten und wunderbarsten Hits, zu denen wir bis 2023 jammen werden. Wenn es nach diesem Jahrgang von Counter Culturisten geht, dann wird es ein verdammt gutes Jahr werden. Kaufen Sie eine für sich selbst, kaufen Sie eine für Ihre Oma, kaufen Sie eine für Ihren Milchmann, kaufen Sie eine für seinen Hamster, hier ist für jeden etwas dabei.
Bukahara veröffentlichen mit 'Tales of the Tides' die bislang besten Songs ihrer Karriere!
Das neue, im Februar erscheinende Album der größten unbekannten Band Deutschlands basiert auf sehnsuchtsvoller Rootsmusik und ist geprägt von einem postmigrantischen, grenzüberschreitenden und freiheitlichen Selbstverständnis. Damit gehen Bukahara jetzt in die größten Hallen.
Darum geht es auf 'Tales of The Tides', dem wunderbaren neuen Album der Global-Folkband Bukahara: unser gestörtes Verhältnis zur Natur und untereinander, die Agonie und den Zynismus, vor allem aber um den unbeirrbaren Glauben an Veränderung und Menschlichkeit, an eine liberale Mehrheitsgesellschaft und internationale Solidarität.
Die Lieder, die Soufian Zoghlami zu diesen Themen geschrieben hat, sind ihrerseits freiheitlich und international, vor allem aber sind es die bislang besten Songs dieser Karriere. Die Musik von Bukahara ist auch auf 'Tales of The Tides' immer noch durchdrungen von nordafrikanischen Einflüssen ebenso wie von Balkan-, Klezmer- und arabischen Akzenten. Ihre sich aus diesen Einflüssen ergebende Musik haben Bukahara indes zu einer Folk-Internationale gebündelt, die aktuell niemand so spielt wie sie.
Auf 'Tales of The Tides' türmt sich diese Folk-Internationale zu einer Flut der ganz anderen Art auf: Ja, dieses Album beschreibt einen Flutzyklus. Aber einen lichtdurchfluteten, in dem Liebe, Verständnis, Menschlichkeit und Wärme zählen. Und Hoffnung, die ganz besonders. Themen, mit denen die größte unbekannte Band Deutschlands eigentlich in jedes Radio und jede Zeitung gehört.
"Back in Black (Redux)" präsentiert neue Versionen aller zehn Songs von AC/DCs bahnbrechendem siebten Album. Dies war die erste Platte, auf der der "neue" Sänger Brian Johnson nach dem Tod des Kult-Fronters Bon Scott zu hören war, und Musikhistoriker sind sich einig, dass sowohl auf dem neuen Sänger als auch auf der Band ein massiver Druck lag, abzuliefern. Niemand konnte ahnen, dass AC/DC eines der wichtigsten Rockalben aller Zeiten erschaffen würden - und Magnetic Eye kann es kaum erwarten, euch zu präsentieren, was namhafte Bands der Stoner, -Doom und -Rock-Szene mit einigen der kultigsten Rocksongs aller Zeiten gemacht haben!
Neben "Back in Black Redux" veröffentlicht Magnetic Eye Records unter dem Titel "Best of AC/DC" ein mittlerweile traditionelles Begleitalbum mit noch mehr tollen Coverversionen. Auf dieser extravaganten 2-LP finden sich13 Bands ein, ihre aufregenden Interpretationen von zeitlosen Klassikern aus dem gesamten AC/DC-Katalog in neuem Gewand anzubieten. Mit einer Reihe von Schwergewichten und hungrigen Newcomern aus dem Heavy-Rock-Underground sollte es keinen Zweifel geben, dass AC/DC Fans begeistert sein werden, ihre Lieblingssongs in Interpretationen zu erleben, die sie so noch nie zuvor gehört haben!
Die Magnetic Eye Redux-Serie bietet handverlesene klassische Alben aus der gesamten Rock- und Metal-Geschichte - die von Bands, die wir lieben, von Anfang bis Ende neu interpretiert wurden. Auserlesene Künstler aus der gesamten Rock- und Metal-Welt werden beauftragt, einen Track auszuwählen, um ihren eigenen Sound mit Groove und Power ins neue Jahrtausend zu bringen. Bisher haben Magnetic Eye Records Redux-Versionen von PINK FLYODs "The Wall", HELMETs "Meantime", BLACK SABBATHs "Vol. 4", HENDRIXs "Electric Ladyland" und ALICE IN CHAINS' "Dirt" veröffentlicht - Darunter Künstler wie MATT PIKE, PALLBEARER, THE MELVINS, ALL THEM WITCHES, KHEMMIS, ASG, ZAKK WYLDE, MARK LANEGAN, SCOTT REEDER und viele andere Künstler.
Auch dieses mal begleiten wir wieder eine Vielzahl von Heavy-Rock-Bands auf dem sechsten Streich durch das Redux-Territorium, während sie der Musiklegende aus Down Under gebührenden Respekt zollen!
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Enter The Decagon assembles friends of the label - near and far - for further excursions into the abyss of industrial, folk, jazz and ambient music.
From Copenhagen hails Kristi Brud (Bride of Christ) extending us with a shimmering violin contemplation initially made for the short art film piece "The Abduction of Europa", absorbing a modal ambiance of harmonics rooted in central European renaissance. Recorded in Svalöv in rural Skåne comes a hillbilly folk jazz piece constructed by Joel and Ivar on equal parts violin, flute, upright bass and percussion, recorded somewhere in the misty era of of 2012-2015. Then, an interlude follows, reconstructed from the very early live sets of the label's own Inre Kretsen Grupp, laden with tuned metallic percussions and synthesized bow sounds. Following up, the idiosyncratic local talent Fai Ling offers a piece of Basinski/Hassel-esque horn repetitions in full deterioration. Concluding the A-side of the compilation is the band that never was - the only released material of Prins Emanuel and Golden Ivy's Börringe Kloster project - encapsulating their minimal maximal approach of low quality sound samples turned in to a wall of sound of rhythm of sorts.
The B-side picks up on different musings in the form of ambient cadence and carefully sculpted soundscapes signed Phillipp Otterbach, who gives us an unraveling journey into kalimba-hampered harmonies carried through a bed of industrial, synthesized sounds. Moonilena follows up with an eerie yet beautiful minimal composition of radio disturbances and repetitive, ear catching melodies.
Breaking the barrier of stillness, local producer and Catholic chant music fiend Digge Shim performs a rhytmical, tongue-in-cheek number that pulls widely from both the hymnal traditions of medieval Europe as well as the zonked out ambient trance sounds you'd meet in a mid nineties Goa chill-out room.
Near the tip of the decagon, we find the Cypriot producer, singer and lyricist Spivak presenting us with a feeling of the-familiar-but-never-heard in the form of an ambient pop breakbeat number with carefully crafted choirs oscillating on top - hauntingly beautiful and equally danceable.
Ending in the best of styles, well-mannered umarel and purveyor of drum-smitten metallic sounds shows us what Moisture is really about - the mental image of finding your true self dancing in purgatory in a never-released Kenneth Anger film set, encumbered with red lights and occult paraphernalia.
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2023 Black Vinyl Repress
We are extremely happy to welcome another talented artist in the Moonshine Recordings family. EchoBoy previously known as Riddim Tuffa is a Czech based producer that is about to mashup the todays reggae dubstep scene in the upcoming months. His first moonshine release will drop on May the 6th on beautiful marbled hazy red vinyl.
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For nearly 60 years, John Cale has been reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. MERCY, Cale’s first full album in a decade, moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronic torment toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future with the help of some of music’s most curious young minds. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.
John Cale announces MERCY, his first new album of original songs in a decade, out January 20th via Double Six / Domino. For nearly 60 years, or at least since he was a young Welshman who moved to New York and formed The Velvet Underground, Cale has been reinventing his music with dazzling and inspiring regularity. There was the bewitching chamber folk of Paris 1919 followed instantly by the gnarled rock of Fear, the provocative and spare song cycle Music for a New Society followed more than 30 years later by mighty and unabashed electronic updates. Once again, here is Cale, reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. His engrossing 12-track MERCY moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronics toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future.
On MERCY, Cale enlists some of music’s most curious young minds: Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, Tei Shi, Actress. They’re only some of the astounding cast here, brilliant musicians who climb inside Cale’s consummate vision of the world and help him redecorate there. Cale turned 80 in March, and he’s watched as many peers have passed away, particularly during the last decade. MERCY is the continuation of a long career’s work with wonder. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.
The writings and recordings that shaped MERCY piled up for years, as Cale watched society totter at the brink of dystopia. Trump and Brexit, Covid and climate change, civil rights and right-wing extremism—Cale let the bad news of the day filter into his lines, whether that meant contemplating the sovereignty and legal status of sea ice melting near the poles or the unhinged arming of Americans. Lessons from a life (still being) richly lived floated to the fore, too, nodded to on the previously released “NIGHT CRAWLING.” If we’re always regretting our past, aren’t we conscripting ourselves to permanent disappointment?
During “STORY OF BLOOD,” after the piano prelude gives way to a frame-rattling beat and synthesizers that feel like sunshine splashed across a snowfield, the voices of Cale and Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering slide past one another, two phantoms trying to find a partner amid the modern din. “Swing your soul,” they both sing in aspiration. In the final verse, Cale remembers this existence is not just about himself. “I’m going back to get them, my friends in the morning. Bring them with me into the light.” The accompanying video by Emmy-winning director Jethro Waters is a mix of disturbing and serene featuring both Cale and Weyes Blood. Its deep tones and religious images emphasize the track’s dark, spiritual mood.
Cale elaborates: “I’d been listening to Weyes Blood’s latest record and remembered Natalie’s puritanical vocals. I thought if I could get her to come and sing with me on the ‘Swing your soul’ section, and a few other harmonies, it would be beautiful. What I got from her was something else! Once I understood the versatility in her voice, it was as if I’d written the song with her in mind all along. Her range and fearless approach to tonality was an unexpected surprise. There’s even a little passage in there where she’s a dead-ringer for Nico.”
Everest Magma’s career over the past 10 years has been slowly building one of the most ecstatic and singular paths of the Italian underground scene. His dense and beautiful three albums were not afraid to cross boundaries with a mix of hypnotic tape beats, digital wonk, psych folk tropicalia and kinetic dub. This new offering ‘Alto//Piano‘ once again sees him in uncharted territories, where nature is sublimated into a personal alien vision mixing acid-folk fingerpicking, tonal ambience, psychedelic eccentricity and Italian 70s minimalism.
Everest Magma rediscovers the folk roots of his dreamy alter ego Woodcutter. Once again he appears as a minstrel crossing moonstruck woods inhabited by gnomes, butterflies and crawling creatures. Nature is sublimated into a personal alien vision in which a lysergic approach triumphs in the arrangement of sound material and immersive musique concrète. Pure acid-folk fingerpicking communicates directly with the forest’s humus, steeped in wild and ethereal moods. Between schizoid or more lyrical moments, a persistent taste for subtle subterranean noises, electric flashes, radio and ufological interferences, deviant scents.
Swedish alternative rock group Omni of Halos enters the stage with their
self-titled debut album Omni of Halos, a guitar-driven explosion of noisy
pop music, contains the four tracks from the 2022 EP Care Free
(previously only released digitally) from plus six new, until now
unreleased songs
This collection of skewed, bittersweet, and beautiful tracks was recorded and
produced by Per Steberg (Division of Laura Lee, Pablo Matisse, etc) in Welfare
Studios. Offering a unique mixture of distinct vocals, vibrant rhythms, and rich
pedal steel guitar melodies, Omni of Halos stands out from its kind while still
communicating a sound firmly rooted in the expressive soundscapes of the
alternative '80s and '90s.The album was mixed by John Agnello, known for his
work with Dinosaur JR, Sonic Youth, and Kurt Vile, to name a few. The band
comments: We just wanted to play massive indie rock with no limitations or
influences says singer, guitarist and songwriter Henrik Hjelt Rostberg. "We aim to
be a hard- working band, stay on the road and accomplish memorable live
performances where our music is at its best."
The artwork for the album was illustrated by Sebastian Murphy (Viagra Boys) -
Recorded and produced by Per Stalberg (Division of Laura Lee, Pablo Matisse),
and mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur JR, Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan,
Nada Surf, Violent Femmes, Chavez). - Band members have previously been seen
in bands as: Division of Laura Lee, Bombus, Sparks of Seven, De Lyckliga
Kompisarna, Speed of Sound Enterprise, Firebreather, - Colorful, noisy music
derived from skewed, guitar-driven melodies, bringing the Alternative Rock of the
90's back to life.
Omni of Halos contains the four tracks from the band's 2022 EP Care Free plus
six new, until now unreleased songs. - The vinyl is pressed on two coloured
editions (each limited to 500 copies). One edition on Yellow/ Red Splatter vinyl
and one edition on Transparent Green vinyl. - The album is released through
Lovely Records (Sweet Teeth, Rotten Mind, The Dahmers, True Moon, among
others)
Swedish alternative rock group Omni of Halos enters the stage with their
self-titled debut album Omni of Halos, a guitar-driven explosion of noisy
pop music, contains the four tracks from the 2022 EP Care Free
(previously only released digitally) from plus six new, until now
unreleased songs
This collection of skewed, bittersweet, and beautiful tracks was recorded and
produced by Per Steberg (Division of Laura Lee, Pablo Matisse, etc) in Welfare
Studios. Offering a unique mixture of distinct vocals, vibrant rhythms, and rich
pedal steel guitar melodies, Omni of Halos stands out from its kind while still
communicating a sound firmly rooted in the expressive soundscapes of the
alternative '80s and '90s.The album was mixed by John Agnello, known for his
work with Dinosaur JR, Sonic Youth, and Kurt Vile, to name a few. The band
comments: We just wanted to play massive indie rock with no limitations or
influences says singer, guitarist and songwriter Henrik Hjelt Rostberg. "We aim to
be a hard- working band, stay on the road and accomplish memorable live
performances where our music is at its best."
The artwork for the album was illustrated by Sebastian Murphy (Viagra Boys) -
Recorded and produced by Per Stalberg (Division of Laura Lee, Pablo Matisse),
and mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur JR, Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan,
Nada Surf, Violent Femmes, Chavez). - Band members have previously been seen
in bands as: Division of Laura Lee, Bombus, Sparks of Seven, De Lyckliga
Kompisarna, Speed of Sound Enterprise, Firebreather, - Colorful, noisy music
derived from skewed, guitar-driven melodies, bringing the Alternative Rock of the
90's back to life.
Omni of Halos contains the four tracks from the band's 2022 EP Care Free plus
six new, until now unreleased songs. - The vinyl is pressed on two coloured
editions (each limited to 500 copies). One edition on Yellow/ Red Splatter vinyl
and one edition on Transparent Green vinyl. - The album is released through
Lovely Records (Sweet Teeth, Rotten Mind, The Dahmers, True Moon, among
others)
Griselda's Rick Hyde release's Plates 2 w/ features by Benny The Butcher, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn and others With Griselda rhymer Benny The Butcher having what seems like an endless run of Ws, his BSF Records imprint appears to be getting more attention by the day. Rick Hyde is one of the top benefactors. His new project Plates II, a sequel to his independent mixtape Plates, positions Hyde as one to watch in the Griselda-wave 2.0. Sporting production from the likes of Daringer, Sha Money XL, Harry Fraud and the late DJ Shay (who the album commemorates by its release date falling on the anniversary of his death), as well as verses from Benny, Heem, Skyzoo and Westside Gunn, Hyde flexes his connections and curates a solid body of work.The project's shiniest gems include some of the singles that have already hit the net. "Hustler's Prayer" features Hyde and Heem interlocked in a battle to see who can drop the most street flexes, complemented by The SoulMonsters' grainy production. Another noteworthy cut is the DJ L-produced "Alone" featuring Benny and G Herbo -- which, aside from the DJ Shay-produced outro "Black Sinatra," is possibly the project's most replayable track.One thing that comes across crystal clear is Hyde's lyricism. He holds his own alongside a formidable tracklist of guests and shows a lot of diversity with his delivery. Look no further than the "Sarah Freestyle," where the subdued DJ Chopz and Skrilla loop provides an atmospheric backdrop to a relentless, two-minute onslaught.
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Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.
Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.
The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.
Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.
The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."
Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!
More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.
MoFi SuperVinyl
Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.
First Lady of Song Ella Fitzgerald overcame the challenges of a tumultuous youth through music, her performances with the Chick Webb Orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom and distinctive scat singing leading to early recordings and the 1938 breakthrough, ‘A Tisket A Tasket.’ After recording bebop LPs for Decca, manager Norman Granz launched the Verve label to allow her to broaden her musical horizons, exploring the Great American Songbook. Released in 1960, Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas sees her tackle Christmas classics as only Ella can, the lavish orchestration overseen by noted conductor Frank de Vol.
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Guitar and bass duo Gong Gong Gong charge out from Beijing's underground scene with a distinct vision and uncompromising sense of purpose. The duo taps into a wavelength uniting musical cultures, drawing on inspirations as wide-ranging as Bo Diddley, Cantonese opera, West African desert blues, drone, and electronic music.
Despite the band's decision to eschew traditional rock percussion, on their debut LP Phantom Rythm, the locomotive chug of Tom Ng's guitar combines with Joshua Frank's thumping, harmonics-laden basslines to conjure an aura of ghostly snare hits and timpani overtones. Over Frank's enigmatic melodies, Ng sings in Cantonese, piecing together abstract tales of absurdity, doubt, desire, and lust. Synchronized to the point of near-telephathy, "the Gongs" use their minimalistic tools and idiosyncratic playing style to challenge the notions of rock n' roll and strip the form down to its bare essentials: rhythm, melody, and grit.
Exclusive to INDIE STORES: Hiss and Shake Records to release ‘Logically Yours’ – a limited edition, 5 x LP boxset of 50 essential recordings from seminal post-punk icon Lora Logic including 2 classic Essential Logic albums, early single releases, EPs, B-sides, rarities, vinyl exclusives + first new Essential Logic studio album in 43 years! Includes the classic Rough Trade Records releases ‘Beat Rhythm News (Waddle Ya Play?) + ‘Pedigree Charm’ + 2 retrospective compilations of early single releases, EPs, B-sides, rarities + vinyl exclusives ‘Aerosol Burns & Other Misdemeanours’ + ‘No More Fiction’ + new studio album ‘Land of Kali’ (first in 43 years) + 20 page booklet with introduction from Celeste Bell + Lora Logic Q+A. Susan Whitby, aka Lora Logic was one of the most distinctive talents from the post-punk era known for her intoxicating, rough-around-the-edges, yet exhilarating sax playing and haywire vocal style. Her offbeat, occasionally arresting lyrics tackled alienation, sexism, poverty and urban isolation, and with a complete disregard for convention, she carved her own path not only in her short-lived music career but also personal life. She was still in her teens when she answered an ad in Melody Maker “Looking for young punks,” and in 1976, with her friend Marion Elliot (aka Poly Styrene), she formed the punk band X-Ray Spex and acquired the pseudonym, Lora Logic. The duo soon achieved notoriety with the irresistible feminist protest single, ‘Oh Bondage Up Yours’ (1977) – Logic arguably stealing the show with her thrilling punk sax. “X-Ray Spex was my first band, I happened to be accepted, It happened to work, I happened to get famous overnight. I’d been playing sax in a cupboard in my room; I thought I better do something.” However, just prior to recording 'Germ Free Adolescents' (1978), X-Ray Spex's debut album, she found herself unexpectedly ousted from the band. With abundant enthusiasm and encouragement from Geoff Travis, founding director of Rough Trade Records, she went on to form Essential Logic, creating some of the most liberating and exciting music of the early post-punk era, not only as Essential Logic, but also as a solo artist. Hiss and Shake Records are pleased to present a limited edition boxset of 50 essential recordings from the irresistibly engaging Lora Logic archive, allowing for a new generation to become aware of her incredible creative output. Across 5 LPs, ‘Logically Yours’ includes in their entirety, the classic Rough Trade Records releases ‘Beat Rhythm News (Waddle Ya Play?) (1979) – Essential Logic’s sole studio album, and Lora’s solo album, ‘Pedigree Charm’ (1982) – her last studio album before turning her back on the music business, sad and disillusioned and fighting drug addiction, which saw her turn to a Hare Krishna lifestyle, alongside Poly Styrene, embracing a fresh new chapter. This totally absorbing and definitive collection also includes two retrospective compilations; ‘Essential Logic – ‘Aerosol Burns & Other Misdemeanours’, which comprises early single releases, B-sides and oddities including the gloriously chaotic ‘Aerosol Burns’, the essential punk/disco ‘Music Is A Better Noise’, and ‘Fanfare In the Garden’, showcasing Lora at her most pop. In addition, ‘Essential Logic – ‘No More Fiction’; contains 10 vinyl exclusives, including ‘Do You Believe in Christmas?’, recorded with the Krishna Kids Choir in 1985, alongside tracks recorded circa 1997, with Martin Muscatt, Dave Farren (Bad Manners) and Gary Valentine (Blondie), forming the basis of what would have been Essential Logic’s third studio album, ‘No More Fiction’. Having recently returned to the studio refreshed and rejuvenated, ‘Logically Yours’ also includes ‘The Land of Kali’ (co-produced by Youth), the first new Essential Logic studio album in 43 years, and features the forthcoming new single ‘Prayer for Peace’, a re-imagining of the X-Ray Spex track from the tragically overlooked album, ‘Conscious Consumer’ (1995) on which Lora also played sax. “Poly Styrene and I were living in a Krishna community in Worcestershire in the early 80s. We came together for the first time musically after X-Ray Spex to record the original version of this song. In 2019, I decided to record my own take as a tribute to the special times we shared. I hope Poly likes this new version too.” Further tracks penned for release from the album include the dystopian, lockdown-inspired ‘Alien Boys’ and ‘Sky Rocket’, written with daughter Malini, about the fairground of life. Despite her short-lived career in the music business, Lora still managed to perform and appear on releases with many artists including US experimental rock band Red Crayola between 1978 and 1981, and also appeared on recordings by The Stranglers, The Raincoats, Kollaa Kestää, Dennis Bovell, Swell Maps and later, Boy George. Undoubtedly an iconic figure of the UK post-punk scene, Lora Logic’s boldness, adventurousness and sense of fun can be seen as an influence on numerous female artists today including Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Peaches and St. Vincent among others. Tracklisting: Essential Logic ‘Beat Rhythm News (Waddle Ya Play?)’ (1979). A1 ‘Quality Crayon Wax OK’ A2 ‘The Order Form’ A3 ‘Shabby Abbott’ A4 ‘World Friction’ B1 ‘Wake Up’ B2 ‘Albert’ B3 ‘Alkaline Loaf in the Area’ B4 ‘Collecting Dust’ B5 ‘Pop Corn Boy (Waddle Ya Do?)’…… Lora Logic – ‘Pedigree Charm’ (1982). A1 ‘Brute Fury’ A2 ‘Horrible Party’ A3 ‘Stop Halt’ A4 ‘Wonderful Offer’ A5 ‘Martian Man’ B1 ‘Hiss and Shake’ B2 ‘Pedigree Charm’B3 ‘Rat Allé’ B4 ‘Crystal Gazing’…..Essential Logic – ‘Aerosol Burns & Other Misdemeanours’. A1 ‘Aerosol Burns’ (1978) – Debut single A2 ‘World Friction’ (1978) – ‘Aerosol Burns’ B-side A3 ‘Eugene’ (1981) – Single A4 ‘Tame the Neighbours’ (1981) – ‘Eugene’ B-side A5 ‘Music Is A Better Noise’ (1981) – Single A6 ‘Moontown’ (1981) – ‘Music Is A Better Noise’ B-side B1 ‘Fanfare In the Garden’ (1981) – Single B2 ‘Stereo’ (1982) – ‘Wonderful Offer’ single B-side B3 ‘Rather Than Repeat’ (1981) – ‘Wonderful Offer’ single B-side B4 ‘The Captain’ (1979) – ‘Fanfare In The Garden’ B-side B5 ‘Soul’ (1983) – Previously unreleased on vinyl B6 ‘Stay High’ – Previously unreleased on vinyl….. Essential Logic – ‘No More Fiction’. A1 ‘Essential Logic’ (1991) – Vinyl exclusive A2 ‘On The Internet’ (1998) – Vinyl exclusive A3 ‘Under The Great City’ (1997) – Vinyl exclusive A4 ‘No More Fiction’ (1998) – Vinyl exclusive A5 ‘Love Eternal’ (1997) – Vinyl exclusive B1 ‘Barbie Be Happy’ (1998) – Vinyl exclusive B2 ‘Not Me’ (1998) – Vinyl exclusive B3 ‘The Beautiful and the Damned’ (1997) – Vinyl exclusive B4 ‘Marika’ (1997) – Vinyl exclusive B5 ‘Do You Believe in Christmas?’ (1985) with the Krishna Kids Choir – Vinyl exclusive……Essential Logic – ‘Land of Kali’ (2022). A1 ‘Prayer For Peace’ A2 ‘Alien Boys’ A3 ‘Mother Earth’ A4 ‘Never Know’ A5 ‘Charming Every Cupid’ B1 ‘Sky Rocket’ B2 ‘Serious’ B3 ‘Fallible Soldiers’ B4 ‘Land of Kali’ B5 ‘Beyond’
In 1998 The Wave Pictures started carving out their own path in search of the lost essence of British Indie, since their acclaimed “Instant Coffee Baby” -nominated for The Guardian New Album Award and present in many lists of the best albums of the last 15 years– , until the most recent “When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings”, always giving their best in countless electrifying performances. Now The Wave Pictures are once again allied with Acuarela to release an exclusive double 7” with five songs (one, “French Cricket” included on their new album and the other four totally exclusive) and show that they are still an indie rock band without indie rock influences, a trio with its own style that doesn't want to be a blues group, but with blues –and soul, and country, and folk-, as the invisible core of everything they do. The Wave Pictures began their career in 1998. Since then the British trio hasn't stopped: at the frenetic pace of their concert schedule, they add a stakhanovist record production, which advances at the rate of almost one album per year. Example: “Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon”, which came out in February 2015, was already their thirteenth official LP (without forgetting that they have also released a large number of singles, EPs, rarities and unofficial material). But it is that in February 2016 the fourteenth album, “A Season In Hull” was released -which they recorded with a single microphone and only released on vinyl-, and in November of that same year its successor, “Bamboo Diner In The Rain” came out. In June 2018 they returned to the fray with another LP, “Brushes With Happiness”, and that November also dropped “Look Inside Your Heart”. The pandemic has made them slow down a little bit until May 2022 when they finally returned with "When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings". “When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings” is a double album dedicated to the cycle of life and in which each of its four sides (in the old fashioned way) is focused on one of the seasons of the year. The title refers to spring and its splendor. The result is pop in the style of The Wave Pictures, with all the essence of the band: those intense guitar solos by Dave, his acoustic plucking, the solid writing… in addition to the mandolin, the bluesy harmonica...you name it! All the band members, David Tattersall (vocals, guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass) and Jonny “Huddersfield” Helm (drums), are avid fans of rock'n'roll, classic country, 70s rock, soul and folk, and this album celebrates with joy all those musical loves of them, some rediscovered in recent times. Moreover, they have pointed out that Guided By Voices have also been a great source of inspiration on this recording, as well as re-listening to Sun Records’ rockabilly, African guitar records, the more country side of Neil Young, the crazy fun of The Who and some moments from The Yardbirds. The Wave Pictures are still playing what Modern Lovers did back in the day -and then Herman Dune or Hefner-, only they play it as if Rory Gallagher was their lead guitar. With the lo-fi pop-rock label as an amicable stigma, they never deny the maxim that places attitude before technique and they are always vaccinated against fashion. Years go by and they are still the same sly alley-cats, only sounding more and more classic. Tracklist: 1. French Cricket/ 2. From A Buick 6/ 3. Porcupines/ 4. Rufus Thomas/ 5. Cincinatti Flow Rag
new pressing on red & black swirl vinyl. RIYL: New Order, Drab Majesty, The KVB, Black Marble, The Soft Moon. Layering synths, guitars, electronic percussion and live drums, Houses of Heaven fuses early industrial and techno rhythms with the melodicism of shoegaze and a heavy dose of dub-influenced effects on their first full-length album titled 'Silent Places.' Written against the backdrop of the Northern California wildfires, ever-growing tent cities and the continued rise of empty luxury housing in the Bay Area, the album explores the intimate experiences that transpire within the chaotic confines of modern living. Opener "Sleep" basks in the tension surrounding the album's inception with blown-out kick drums, claustrophobic verses, and deteriorating vocal effects. Sharp arpeggiated synths and woozy strings neutralize the track's subterranean anxiety with texture and sensuality. Produced by Matia Simovich (Inhalt) and with engineering credits that include Monte Vallier (Weekend) and John McEntire (Tortoise), it's a potent introduction to the muscular sound design underpinning the album. Booming taiko drums sound the beginning of "Dissolve the Floor," the album's most club-ready track. A pulsing arpeggio gives the song its industrial heartbeat while disintegrating tape delay throws menace into the hazy atmosphere. The undulating techno beat breaks and repairs itself with seductive and satisfying timing. "In Soft Confusion" doesn't stray from the album's obsidian narrative as it envisions and ponders the aftermath of human extinction. Sonically speaking, though, it's the album's most uptempo offering with Tecon's supremely infectious chorus vocal hook and Beck's dizzying guitar riffs. The intricate electronic drum programming is elevated by Ott's live drumming, which lends a refreshingly human touch to the potentially icy, and often mechanical, sonic territory of synthdriven music. Adding density to the album's shadowy allure are the unusual sounds and vintage outboard effects that Tecon and Simovich impressively maneuver into the album's tonal palette. Great care has been taken to finesse familiar pop structures with an inventive edge. It's this mindfulness of past and present that is sure to secure Silent Places as a standout album in the new decade. Also Available From Houses Of Heaven: Remnant 12" EP
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Für Fans von: Absu, Melechesh, Moonspell, Rotting Christ, Nile.
Unheiliger Black Metal aus dem Heiligen Land, durchtränkt von nahöstlichen Klängen und Mystik! Eine Beschwörung der Jahrtausende alten
Finsternis!
Die fünfköpfige Black/Death-Metal-Band Arallu stammt aus der israelischen Siedlung Ma'ale Adummim in Israel und ist seit fünfundzwanzig
Jahren im Metal-Underground unterwegs.
Der Name Arallu stammt aus der mesopotamischen Mythologie und bezeichnet das Reich der Unterwelt, das von der Göttin Ereshkigal und dem
Gott Nergal regiert wird und in dem die Toten gerichtet werden. Die Musik von Arallu dreht sich um die traditionellen, altorientalischen Melodien
der Landsleute Melechesh, die Hochgeschwindigkeits-Wildheit von Bands wie Angelcorpse und Absu, und dem atmosphärischen Gefühl legendärer Acts wie den zuvor erwähnten Melechesh und Absu.
Im Jahr 2019 hat die Band das Album "En Olam" veröffentlicht, und dieses Werk hat Arralus bereits bekanntes Talent in der Underground-Extrem-Metal-Gemeinde gefestigt. "Death Covenant" ist das siebte Full-Length-Studioalbum der Band und bietet dem Hörer eine atemberaubende
Mischung aus okkultem Black Metal und alten sumerischen und nahöstlichen Klängen. Die Riffs, die hier zu finden sind, werden die Hörer mit
ihrer Raserei von melodischen Tremolo-Riffs, die mit einigen unheimlichen Folk-Instrumenten verwoben sind, zufriedenstellen. Die Elemente in
der Gitarrenabteilung, die mit einigen Folkinstrumenten wie einer Saz und einer Darbuka vermischt sind, zeigen, wie die Band den Metal erfolgreich auf seinen Kern reduziert und das verleiht dem Gesamtergebnis von Arallus Musik einen zusätzlichen Punch und eine gewisse Schwere im
unteren Bereich. Er liegt im Grunde genommen gleichmäßig unter den Gitarren und unterstützt sie mit einigen dicken Linien, die den Streichern
ein tieferes Gefühl verleihen und den Tracks eine bedrohliche Atmosphäre verleihen. Auch die Schlagzeugsektion fesselt die Aufmerksamkeit des
Publikums mit einer Vielzahl von zerstörerisch stampfenden Kontrabässen bis hin zu orientalischem Tribal-Drumming, das viel dazu beiträgt, dass
die Atmosphäre intakt zu halten. Die Platte ist voll von hohen, durchdringenden Schreien und Kreischen, die eine dunkle und raue Klanglandschaft schaffen. Diese bösartigen Schreie werden manchmal mit unheimlichen Backing Vocals, die die Brutalität extremer Death- und Black-Metal-Musik mit den alten nahöstlichen Skalen des Materials verbinden. "Death Covenant" zeigt auch die bisher stärkste Produktion der Band in den
fünfundzwanzig Jahren ihres Bestehens.
Mit "Death Covenant" haben Arallu ein bedrohliches und atmosphärisches Biest in diesem Metal-Stil geschaffen. Die Israelis haben ein grausames
Album vorgelegt, das kaum mit seinen Vorgängern vergleichbar ist.
Known for creating the soundtrack of a generation, legendary singer/songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member JOHN FOGERTY celebrates 25 years of BLUE MOON SWAMP. As co-founder of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), the group’s chief musical architect, and as a solo artist, Fogerty’s works rank as some of the most influential in American music history. Originally released May 20, 1997, BLUE MOON SWAMP won Best Rock Album at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, with the song “Blueboy” receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance that same year. BLUE MOON SWAMP would go on to receive gold certification by the RIAA. The 25th anniversary release features revised cover art from the 2018 edition, showcasing the famed concert backdrop from the album’s original supporting tour. The album features contributions from Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Howie Epstein of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Donald “Duck” Dunn of Stax Records-fame. With a career spanning more than 50 years, JOHN FOGERTY is hailed as one of the most influential musicians in rock history. As the writer, singer and producer of numerous classic hits including “Born on the Bayou,” “Green River,” “Proud Mary” and “Bad Moon Rising,” Fogerty has been honored as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists, 100 Greatest Songwriters, and 100 Greatest Singers by Rolling Stone. Earning induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Baseball Hall of Fame, he is also a New York Times bestselling author for his memoir, Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music.
After surfacing online with an unknown identity Nancy has been described as a musical auteur, a provocateur, a surrealist, both male and female, a mysterious necromancer, in the same sentence both classy and trashy, weird and wonderful, Sgt Peppers for degenerates.
LP FORMAT DETAILS:
Eco-friendly vinyl
· Over 60% reduction in energy consumption
· 85% reduction in carbon impact
· Pressed from a unique innovative plastic
· Less waste
· Faster manufacturing
· More recyclable
· Audio quality as good as standard vinyl – in fact the manufacturers claim that the quality can exceed standard pressing due to the benefits of injection moulding
- White Colour LP
Several things happened before a warm day when I met the four members of Frankie Cosmos in a Brooklyn studio to begin making their album. Greta Kline spent a few years living with her family and writing a mere 100 songs, turning her empathy anywhere from the navel to the moon, rendering it all warm, close and reflexively humorous. In music, everyone loves a teen sensation, but Kline has never been more fascinating than now, a decade into being one of the most prolific songwriters of her generation. She's lodged in my mind amongst authors, other observational alchemists like Rachel Cusk or Sheila Heti, but she's funnier, which is a charm endemic to musicians. Meanwhile Frankie Cosmos, a rare, dwindling democratic entity called a band, had been on pandemic hiatus with no idea if they'd continue. In the openness of that uncertainty they met up, planning to hang out and play music together for the first time in nearly 500 days. There, whittling down the multitude of music to work with, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta's songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline's musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she'd loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite "droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality," as well as "'70s folk and pop" as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their "ambient" or "psych" album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline's penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance. The first order of business upon setting up camp in Brooklyn's Figure 8 studios was to project giant colorful slides the band had made for each track. Co-producing with Nate Mendelsohn, my Shitty Hits Recording partner, we aimed for FC's aesthetic idiosyncrasies to shine. The mood board for "Magnetic Personality" has a neon green and black checkerboard, a screen capture of the game Street Fighter with "K.O." in fat red letters, and a cover of Mad Magazine that says "Spy Vs. Spy! The Top Secret Files." On tracks like "F.O.O.F." (Freak Out On Friday), "Fragments" and "Aftershook," the group are at their most psychedelic and playful, interjecting fuzz solos, bits of percussion, and other sonically adventurous ear candy. An internal logic strengthens everything, and in their proggiest moments, Frankie Cosmos are simply a one-take band who don't miss. When on Inner World Peace they sound wildly, freshly different, it may just be that they're coming deeper into their own. Inner World Peace excels in passing on the emotions it holds. When in the towering "Empty Head" Kline sings of wanting to let thoughts slide away, her voice is buoyed on a bed of synths and harmonium as tranquility abounds. When her thoughts become hurried and full of desire, so does the band, and she leaps from word to word as if unable to contain them all. As a group, they carry it all deftly, and with constant regard for Kline's point of view. Says Greta, "To me, the album is about perception. It's about the question of "who am I?" and whether or not the answer matters. It's about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context. A teenager again, living with my parents. An adult, choosing to live with my family in an act of love. Time propelled us forward, aged us, and also froze. If you don't leave the house, who are you to the world? Can you take the person you discover there out with you?" - Katie Von Schleicher
Several things happened before a warm day when I met the four members of Frankie Cosmos in a Brooklyn studio to begin making their album. Greta Kline spent a few years living with her family and writing a mere 100 songs, turning her empathy anywhere from the navel to the moon, rendering it all warm, close and reflexively humorous. In music, everyone loves a teen sensation, but Kline has never been more fascinating than now, a decade into being one of the most prolific songwriters of her generation. She's lodged in my mind amongst authors, other observational alchemists like Rachel Cusk or Sheila Heti, but she's funnier, which is a charm endemic to musicians. Meanwhile Frankie Cosmos, a rare, dwindling democratic entity called a band, had been on pandemic hiatus with no idea if they'd continue. In the openness of that uncertainty they met up, planning to hang out and play music together for the first time in nearly 500 days. There, whittling down the multitude of music to work with, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta's songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline's musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she'd loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite "droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality," as well as "'70s folk and pop" as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their "ambient" or "psych" album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline's penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance. The first order of business upon setting up camp in Brooklyn's Figure 8 studios was to project giant colorful slides the band had made for each track. Co-producing with Nate Mendelsohn, my Shitty Hits Recording partner, we aimed for FC's aesthetic idiosyncrasies to shine. The mood board for "Magnetic Personality" has a neon green and black checkerboard, a screen capture of the game Street Fighter with "K.O." in fat red letters, and a cover of Mad Magazine that says "Spy Vs. Spy! The Top Secret Files." On tracks like "F.O.O.F." (Freak Out On Friday), "Fragments" and "Aftershook," the group are at their most psychedelic and playful, interjecting fuzz solos, bits of percussion, and other sonically adventurous ear candy. An internal logic strengthens everything, and in their proggiest moments, Frankie Cosmos are simply a one-take band who don't miss. When on Inner World Peace they sound wildly, freshly different, it may just be that they're coming deeper into their own. Inner World Peace excels in passing on the emotions it holds. When in the towering "Empty Head" Kline sings of wanting to let thoughts slide away, her voice is buoyed on a bed of synths and harmonium as tranquility abounds. When her thoughts become hurried and full of desire, so does the band, and she leaps from word to word as if unable to contain them all. As a group, they carry it all deftly, and with constant regard for Kline's point of view. Says Greta, "To me, the album is about perception. It's about the question of "who am I?" and whether or not the answer matters. It's about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context. A teenager again, living with my parents. An adult, choosing to live with my family in an act of love. Time propelled us forward, aged us, and also froze. If you don't leave the house, who are you to the world? Can you take the person you discover there out with you?" - Katie Von Schleicher
Durty Geeks are a band at the boundary between Soul, Funk and Hip Hop born in 2013. The lineup is quite uncommon in the Italian
music scene, despite the usual four elements: Federico “Piezo” Pezzotta, on the electric piano, keyboards and synths; Francesco “Frenz” Crovetto, founding member and drummer of OTU; Gregorio "Greg" Conti, bass player also part of Verbal and Bangarang!; Edoardo “DJ Edo” Fumagalli, on the turntables and samplers.
The Durty Geeks sound universe is an illegitimate son of Hip Hop, but without the main element ‐ the voice ‐ replaced by scratches and
samples. This produces an instrumental form that winks at the American soul and funk of the 60s and 70s, as well as the Italian compo‐ sers who in those same years signed cult movie soundtracks: Piccioni, Nicolai, Bacalov, Trovaioli to name a few.
From “La Dama Rossa uccide sette volte" to "The Mack", the sound flows like a second feature film screening. A sequence shot that
does not indulge in the past but that leads straight into modernity thanks to the more contemporary interventions of synth and scrat‐
ches, and to sporadic experimentations in electronics.
The first EP "We Gun Make It" was released in 2014, an exploration of the american imaginary linked to weapons, between urban and
rural contexts, containing 3 tracks, self‐produced and printed by CORPOC.
The first full length album is "Also Starring", 9 tracks plus 5 skits mixed by Tommaso Colliva (Muse, Afterhours, Caliber 35 etc.) which
constitutes an instrumental journey through B‐movies filmography, citing cinema subgenres such as wuxia, blaxploitation and italo hor‐
ror.
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B. Bravo (aka Adam Mori) returns to Bastard Jazz with the long-awaited follow-up to his 2017 debut LP, "Paradise," with a fresh full-length offering: "Vizionz." Replete with his signature future funk vibes, infectiously soulful grooves, and talkbox excursions, "Vizionz" sees the multifaceted artist take the classic West Coast into outer space. If B. Bravo's last album sought to get lost in paradise - enjoying the moment here and now - "Vizionz" looks forward, feet placed firmly in an established LA vibe, while the matured eyes of a veteran producer gaze keenly to the future.
"Vizionz" arrives following a slew of diverse singles, which highlight B. Bravo's stunning versatility as a songwriter, producer, and collaborator. Last year's "Lifted (What U Waiting 4)" came first, at the end of May, 2020, pairing g-funk talk-box verses and synth lines with rich vocal harmonies and a dance-floor-ready beat. Frequent collaborator Reva DeVito (Miami Horror, Kaytranada) makes a standout vocal appearance on "Fly Bye," the second single. Here, Adam surrounds Reva's vocals with ambient pads, a Dilla-inspired beat, and an irresistible bassline, while Reva's dreamily sings about getting away from it all. The final single, "Believe," sees Chuck Inglish (of the famed duo The Cool Kids) rhyme in his distinctive baritone over a bass-heavy instrumental meant to rattle some car stereos.
The singles offer a view into the rest of the album: Solo B. Bravo joints include "Moon Bounce," a talk-box boogie jam begging for late-night drives with the top down; the largely-instrumental synth improvisation, "Midnight Rider;" the upbeat "Penelope," which showcases Adam's vocal and harmonic prowess; a bumping g-funk interlude, with "Flip Out;" as well as the laid back album opener, "Da Essence."
Further vocal assists come by way of Sally Green on the flirty "10/10," and Rojai on the slow jam ""No Regrets" . Both singers have worked on B. Bravo projects in the past, with Rojai additionally joining forces with Adam to form the duo Kool Customer, whose self-titled debut album was released on Bastard Jazz in 2018. Two more hip-hop-leaning tracks are aided by Def Sound ("Back Times Two") and Nico Fasho ("Ms. Stardust"); leaning heavy into outerspace G-Funk Hip-Hop vibes.
Taken as a whole, "Vizionz" is a much needed boost of serotonin: Uncompromisingly positive, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes aspirational, but always funky. The range of styles is a testament to Adam's indelible production chops, songwriting skill, and ability to collaborate. While it has been a long 5 years since "Paradise," "Vizionz" proves more than worth the wait.
Born and raised in California, with roots in Japan, B. Bravo's signature style of Cosmic Funk and late night synth grooves have made him a favorite among DJ's, dancers, and music lovers worldwide. A tasteful producer, sought after remixer, party rocking DJ, master of the talkbox, band leader, and alumnus of the Red Bull Music Academy, Mr. Bravo is an accomplished performer both at home and abroad.
Heavily inspired by the synthesizer-enhanced R&B grooves of the late '70s and early '80s, B. Bravo debuted in 2009 with the seven-track "Analog Starship" EP. A deeper impression was made the following year with a shorter extended play, "Computa Love," the title track of which was supported by BBC DJ Benji B months prior to release. Additional strides were made with a batch of singles and EPs that followed throughout the next few years, as Bravo toured and performed at numerous festivals around the world.
His relationship with the Brooklyn tastemaker label, Bastard Jazz Recordings, began in 2016 with the 7" single "I'm For Real / Stay The Night' (which notably featured a Mr. Carmack remix of the latter). Bravo's debut solo LP quickly followed with 2017's critically acclaimed "Paradise" - which shone a light on vocalists and frequent collaborators Reva DeVito, Trailer Limon, Kissey, and Lauren Faith - with a remix album appearing six months later.
Additional solo releases have found a home on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings and Frite Nite, while production credits have appeared on releases from the legendary Blue Note Records, HW&W, All City, Friends of Friends, and Tokyo Dawn. B. Bravo has worked on projects with the likes of Salva, Mr. Carmack, Teeko, DJ Lean Rock, Reva DeVito, Lauren Faith, and Kate Stewart.
Having toured throughout the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia, he's shared the stage with performers like Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, DāM-FunK, Hudson Mohawke, at a world-spanning range of festivals such as Detroit Electronic Music Fest, HARD LA, Northern Nights, Laneway Singapore, Sonar in Barcelona, Snowglobe, SXSW, Basscoast, Do-Over, Low End Theory, Boiler Room, and Soulection.
B. Bravo's "Vizionz" LP is out on Brooklyn's Bastard Jazz Recordings Spring, 2022.
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Ltd edition RED Vinyl, DL card. Re-writing the rule book when it came to punk requisites, Leatherface combined passion, angst and power with undeniable songwriting and technical prowess. Led by wordsmith Frankie Stubbs their explosive hooks and thrashing guitars quickly became their trademark and made them one of the most exhilarating UK bands of the 90s. Arriving at the peak of their career, ‘Minx’ channelled Stubbs’ love for Joy Division and features their much loved fourth bassist, former Snuff band member Andy Crichton. A lost classic, it brought with it a more emotional direction to their sound which was released on the brink of the band’s hiatus. // “A ferocious force to be reckoned with… another superb album” AllMusic // ★★★★ MOJO
Blood Moon ist ein außergewöhnliches, vielschichtiges
Werk. In 13 wunderschön arrangierten Liedern bewertet
der als Ry Cuming geborene Sänger die Beziehungen,
die er im Laufe der Jahre erlebt hat, und schreibt dabei
von einem Ort aus, der für ihn eindeutig unglaublich
persönlich ist. Diese Songs halten ihm einen Spiegel
seiner eigenen Selbstwahrnehmung als Künstler vor, der
ständig lernt und wächst. Blood Moon ist vielleicht das
bisher organischste Album von RY X , das über intime
Beziehungen reflektiert und sie in umfassendere
Gespräche über den Geist, das göttliche Weibliche und
die Erforschung des Selbst übersetzt
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Bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) launches new collaborative project with saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands)
Vega Trails is a new project from double-bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founder member of Portico Quartet, who has also performed with the likes of Nick Mulvey and Jono McCleary and features saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc) in a richly powerful duo bringing together two powerfully charismatic musicians. The project which takes its name from Carl Sagan's science fiction novel 'Contact' (a book about signals of new life detected from the Vega system) andwas born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the foreground in their rawest form and Fitzpatrick explains that he deliberatelychose the stripped back approach.
"There is so much in just one musician's sound; the emotional, the intellectual, the vulnerability and power of their character. But often these delicate nuances can be submerged in the quest for a group sound. In Vega Trails I wanted to grant the musicians space to breathe and be heard and for the listener to witness the intimacy and depth of a conversation between two voices, bass and melody. I was also interested in how the limitations would guide both the composition and performance and to push us both to places close to the limits of what we could play, and it is in this place where I believe the character of a musician blossoms and comes forward".
Tremors in the Static was composed during Lockdown as Fitzpatrick immersed himself in music that had space and sparseness such as Swedish fiddle music and Indian Classical music. Jan Johansson's legendary 'Jazz på Svenska' (jazz versions of Swedish folk songs) was another influence, as was a collection of ancient lullabies by Spanish soprano singer Montserrat Figueras. Through exploring the harmonic and textural possibilities on the bass, Fitzpatrick would cycle riffs and motifs whilst singing melodies, and he began to create the music debuted here. However, it was only after listening to Charlie Haden's album of duets, 'Closeness', that the project would come into focus as a duo, and Fitzpatrick immediately knew that the second musician had to be Jordan Smart.
"I saw Jordan play at two Gondwana Records events – in Berlin and Tokyo. Both times I was mesmerised by the intensity and conviction of his playing. His commitment to the cause of transcending himself and the listener made a lasting impression on me. When I began writing this record, I knew I needed a strong player who had equal conviction in their playing as me, but also someone who understood the importance of melody"
It was an inspired idea as Smart brought an openness and positivity which allowed the music to be both experimental and bold. Smart's ability to play tenor and soprano saxophone with equal command, as well as bass clarinet and Ney flute, allowed them to open up the pallet of sound and pull the melodies into varying emotional landscapes.The final piece of the puzzle was the performance space. Fitzpatrick knew that he wanted the two players to react off of a third element. The music was written for an ambient space which interacted with the notes: decaying and disintegrating them into silence. They found the perfect space in a church in Fitzpatrick's local neighbourhood of Stamford Hill.
"The recording space is the canvas on which the sound interacts and flows, it is the frame in which notes can live, breathe and die and is as important as the other elements. A resonant recording space, like a church, allows this stripped back sound to resonate, echo and linger, enough to create images and landscapes in which stories can play out".
This then is Vega Trails, a project that brings together two open-mined and communicative musicians for the first time, to tell beautiful winding stories together and to create something soulful and new.Something bigger than both of them and something that leaves us all richer for hearing it. Enjoy!
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Die Allgegenwärtigkeit des Todes inmitten des blühenden
Lebens und der Kreativität steht im Mittelpunkt von
SEVENTH STORM. Mike Gaspar, der fast 30 Jahre lang
den Rhythmus auf der wichtigsten portugiesischen
Metal-Galeere Moonspell vorgab, hat endlich ein neues
Ventil gefunden, um seine Liebe zum Heavy Metal, sein
kulturelles Erbe und seine Leidenschaft für ungezähmte,
wilde Musik zu zelebrieren, deren Wurzeln tief in das
Gewebe unserer Welt reichen. Hier hebt sich eine
hungrige Band empor, die ihre Seele für ihre Musik
gegeben hat. "Ich wollte ein Album schreiben, von dem
Fans aller Kulturen sagen können ?das ist für mich?",
meint er über den primären Antrieb, der hinter
"Maledictus" steht. "Mein Traum war es, etwas von
diesem unschuldigen Neunziger-Jahre-Touch
zurückzubringen und dabei traditionelle portugiesische
Musik mit Metal zu mischen." Mit Einflüssen, die von
Bathory über Samael, Tiamat, Paradise Lost, Fields of the
Nephilim, Cradle of Filth und Dead Can Dance bis hin zu
Van Halen oder Mötley Crüe reichen, machen sich
SEVENTH STORM gerade erst auf ihre Reise durch die
wilden und wundersamen Gewässer der Heavy
Metal-Geschichte. Und obwohl es kein Konzeptalbum ist,
wird "Maledictus" von einem starken Gefühl des
Schmerzes und der Wut zusammengehalten, gepaart mit
einer flackernden Hoffnung auf Vergebung für unser
Following the incredible reception to Deb Never’s most recent releases ‘Someone Else’ and ‘Sorry’ being championed by Radio 1s Annie Mac and Jack Saunders as ‘Tune Of The Week’ ‘First play’ & ‘First Wave’ stating that “Deb Never is a really special artist, someone with limitless sonic horizons and the most brilliant lyrical finesse! Deb Never has all the makings of stardom and her journey is truly under-way!”, along with continuous support from Matt Wilkinson and Zane Lowe Apple Music 1 shows, New York Times, Billboard, The Fader, Variety and Spotify’s continued love in both Pollen and LOREM adding to the playlist description ‘how are we supposed to focus when this Deb Never track exists’. In the lead up to her highly anticipated second EP, Deb Never teases us with another single ‘Disassociate’. The EP is due to drop this July, yet this is only an introduction to what is to come and to be an extremely exciting year ahead for Deb Never.
IMITED 2022 REPRESS ON RED VINYL WITH GOLD SPLATTER.
Steve Von Till, best known as Californian heavyweights Neurosis' singer and guitarist.
TERRORIZER - 8/10 Boxed review and interview excerpt (May issue) "Imagine if a coarser Neil Young had been born in England instead of Canada and if he had done a little bit of time in Hawkwind as well, and the imaginary result isn't too far from some of the best songs on offer here..."
Von Till enlisted Randall Dunn, production supremo and Master Musicians of Bukkake founder, to helm the desk, as well as bringing in Eyvind Kang on viola and percussionist Pat Schowe.
'A Life Unto Itself' also showcases J. Kardong on pedal steel, texturising Von Till's baritone gravel and sun-bleached skeleton of a guitar arrangement with some dust-blown harmonics , reminiscent of similarly raspy, whiskey-throttled voices of Mark Lanegan and Michael Gira.
O’o share many of the musical characteristics of their ornithological namesake. The Kaua’i O’O produced the most exquisite birdsong before its extinction in Hawaii in the late 1980s. The beauty and character of its voice was delicate and mysterious, tuneful and surprising. You can experience it with just a cursory websearch, a haunting cri de coeur from the last century. If the poor O’O is consigned to history, then life is just beginning for this French duo, based in Spain, who’ve won plaudits and awards already in their short musical lifespan.
O’o are about to release their sublime debut album Touche. This is not an endling, it’s just the beginning: “I found the name on a website of weird English language words, and I loved the way the letters were arranged like a pair of glasses,” says O’o singer Victoria Suter. “Afterwards, I went onto YouTube and started listening to the last bird of its species, calling for a mate that would never come. I thought: ‘Oh my God, that’s so sad’. Then we talked about the name and we thought it could be a nice thing to honour it and keep it alive in some way.”
Suter met her musical partner Mathieu Daubigné at college in Agen, South West France, when the pair were studying music theory in their teens. Victoria moved to Barcelona in 2010; Mathieu followed six years later. Their debut EP, Spells, appeared in 2018 a beautifully crafted patchwork of vocals and samples that is redolent of the uncanny vocalese of Laurie Anderson. The bird makes an appearance at the beginning of the EP: “Sweet tooth beak. Soft melody peak / Oh O’o, go round and round in circles / Looking for a honeydrop, til you vanish, til you drop”.
That sense of profound longing for something lost is carried over to Touche, as well as the same heightened sensory awareness of the world around them. What has developed in spades is the creative process. O’o have blossomed organically, augmenting their pop sensibilities. Avant-garde techniques have been brought to heel as the pair create off-kilter pop music that warms the heart and nourishes the brain. The catalyst that enabled this bold pop transformation came with the song ‘Touche’ itself, a saucy chanson at the heart of the album. Suter’s wry narrative about a botanical femme fatale is inserted into a lithe and skittish song with reggaeton beats and an inviting, balmy atmosphere.
“The song is about a flower which attracts male insects, producing the very same smell as the female of the species,” explains Victoria. “The poor male is fooled by the sex-appeal of this botanical trap, and gets so excited that he exhausts himself and wastes all his other chances of ulterior mating and having any offspring. The flower entices the insect in in mermaid-like fashion, to come nearer and touch her. It’s the hot track!”
‘Touche’ reaches into hitherto unexplored areas of pop, while the rest of the album is accessible in the way that James Blake, Radiohead or Kate Bush are accessible, and it always challenges, in a way that pop isn’t supposed to. Suter writes playful, poignant, observational songs that tell stories as well as tell us something about ourselves. Songs like ‘Dorica Castra’ are built upon the voice as an instrument, centrifugal and layered from its core.
Complimentary to this method is Daubigné, who brings startling innovation with found sounds, samples and clever vocal manipulations—creating unique, otherworldly sonic flourishes. A guitar whirs like a musical spinning top on ‘Spin’, created in Ableton; an Ondes Martenot appears to make a guest appearance on the title track, though it’s the ingenuity of the Prophet 8 synthesiser. “I’ll often say to Mathieu, ‘what’s that?’” says Suter, He’ll reply, ‘that’s your voice’.”
O’o found their own voice when they won a competition held by the legendary festival organisers Primavera Sound. Victoria entered the band into a competition she saw on Instagram, sending off rough demos on the final day of entry, thinking little more about it other than the fact Mathieu might be annoyed. Soon they would have to build a live set from scratch and figure out how to present their music for the first time. At stake was seventy hours of recording time at Aclam studios, used by Rosalía and Kendrick Lamar, and for the winner a coveted spot at the festival. A pool of 350 acts were whittled down, and then O’o triumphed at a Battle of the Band style face off.
The O’O might be extinct, but O’o the band have learned how to fly. Just watch them go.
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Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “Unorthodox Jukebox”, a limited Dark Red Vinyl edition will be released on the 17th June, with the pre-order going live on the 19th May. “Unorthodox Jukebox” is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, The record also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the U.K.. It became Mars's fastest-selling album in the latter country in 2012, the third best-selling album in Australia in 2013, and the fifth best-selling in the United States in 2013. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Unorthodox Jukebox was globally the fourth best-selling album in 2013. “Unorthodox Jukebox” also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Bruno Mars is a 21-time GRAMMY Award nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner. The celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, musician has sold over 171 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His most recent critically acclaimed and RIAA certified platinum album, “24K Magic,” made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Additionally, the album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts week of release. The single has since climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Federico Albanese is a composer born in Milan, Italy in 1982, and currently based in Berlin. His musical versatility is a natural gift that pushes him to explore music in all its facets. Albanese's compositions are airy and cinematic, blending classical music, electronics and psychedelia. Federico started studying piano and clarinet as a child before becoming fascinated by rock music. As a teenager he studied bass and became a self-taught guitarist and soon became one of the leading figures of Milan's underground scene, performing in several bands. Influenced by black music, folk, electronic, modern and contemporary classical music his skills as a composer soon emerged, He worked for 5 years as prop man in several film sets. This experience made him understand the power of the connection between music and images and helped him to develop his personal musical path. In 2007 Albanese met singer and songwriter Jessica Einaudi and together they founded the avant-garde duo ""La Blanche Alchimie"". Composing songs with Jessica he rediscovered his love for the piano, which from that moment on, became his main instrument. Since then Federico has scored several films, short films and documentaries, including a documentary on a project commissioned by Ermenegildo Zegna in the National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome. In February 2014, Federico Albanese will release his debut album entitled ""The Houseboat and the Moon"". He found a place, an imaginary place, where, whenever he wanted to, he could jump on and just float away. On this moving shelter, traveling across memories and imagination, lulled by water and led by the moon, Federico wrote the 13 compositions of his debut. He recorded all of the piano parts with a 1969 German tape recorder, the Uher Royal Deluxe, which allowed him to catch all of the tiny hidden shades, the imperfections, the noises of the piano and its surrounding space. Federico melts this rarefied sound with electronics, live recordings, strings, and homemade instruments. The result is a combination of contrasts and colors with a variety of atmospheres that wonderfully represents Federico's musical universe. Vinyl: thick gatefold covers, 180g vinyl,free download.
There were two trains leaving the musical station back in the late seventies. One was punk rock the other was reggae. I had a foot in both, which we called The Punky Reggae Party.
When I cut tracks for the `It’s All Punk Rock’ album, released in October 2021, I always cut a dub / version of the track. Some came out as the flip side of the 7’’ singles in true reggae style and some were worked on more and changed. Some I dropped different lyrics on top of the backing track simply because it seemed to work. All had the bass /drums pushed up,
lyrics dropped in /out when needed. I always saw these as a different way of listening to the tracks and these seem to work together as an album release.
Hope you enjoy the ride…
1976 the writings on the wall
Police and Thieves, Riots at the Carnival
Dreadlocks In Moonlight, Anarchy In The UK
New Rose, M.P.L.A.
1977 the Silver Jubilee
Two Sevens Clash, In The City
The red, white & blue meets the red, green & gold
It’s a punky reggae party, so I’m told
1978 Ah Strictly Roots
Gabicci tops and bondage suits
Nah pop no style in me whistle and flute
Creepers, Clarkes & DM boots
1979 this is No Fun, Rasta No Pick Pocket
Got me copy of Hong Kong Garden
looks like we a buying what we are sold
Cos the punks & teds are fighting in the King’s Road
Punk Rock meets version International herb
Pass the ready rub
You’ve had It’s All Punk Rock
Now It’s All Punk Dub …..
LNDFK (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, "Kuni" on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, LNDFK has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's "Pollen" and "Fresh Finds."
"Kuni" is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album.
"Kuni" opens with "Hana-bi," an ambient instrumental piece that sets the tone for the album. Inspired by the Takeshi Kitano 1997 film of the same name – particularly Joe Hisaishi's stunning soundtrack, as well as Kitano's paintings which appear in the film. "Hana-bi" expresses the dialoguing opposites of flowers and fire, the first of many dichotomous representations throughout the album. "Takeshi" acts as an extension and to "Hana-bi," albeit one of opposing sound, with its driving, highly syncopated drums (which reappear throughout "Kuni") – à la Karriem Riggins, Questlove, or Yussef Dayes – frenetic bass line, and jazz chords. Linda's sultry voice is interspersed, initially jumping around in scat fashion, being triggered as if a sample, before her lyrics come in; her vocals are used like an additional instrument, adding to the song's rich texture. "Kuni" truly hits its stride with the next song, "Smoke – a moon or a button" (its title lifted from the 1959 book by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip), which is structured like a jazz standard yet flows into neo-soul territory sonically with those prodigious drums a highlight once again.
LNDFK touches on experimental hip hop in two songs on the record (both of which were released as singles in 2021): "Don't Know I'm Dead or Not (feat. Chester Watson)" – track #4 – and "How Do We Know We're Alive (feat. Pink Siifu)" – track #9. Although they embrace a more hip hop-leaning sound, these songs by no means shy away from the exploratory theme, and feature two of the alt-rap scenes rising stars with Chester Watson and Pink Siifu who offer provocatively impressing verses, combining dense word play with unconventional flows. While these tracks may first appear to be outliers on the album, they are undeniably in tune with "Kuni's" message and sonic palette, acting as testaments to LNDFK's willingness to explore and experiment.
Meanwhile, "Ku" – the third and last single before the album release – furthers the pre-established future soul sound while meandering through nu jazz and left-field electronic. Inspired by the graphic novel and film, "Sin City," and its female assassin protagonist Miho, "Ku" is a musical interpretation of Miho's story, incorporating both her beauty – the first half of the song – and murderous tendencies – the second half – to create a stunning juxtaposition, culminating in an ambient finale that suggests the character's vulnerability and inner peace. The song gracefully bridges the gap between Hiatus Kaiyote-esque songwriting, Dilla's rhythmic syncopation, and Thundercat's instrumental prowess (LNDFK has shared a stage Brainfeeder labelmate Kamasi Washington).
Mixed in throughout "Kuni" are a series of instrumental pieces that function as something akin to an interlude. The aforementioned intro, "Hana-bi," and the album closer "se mi stacco da te, mi strappo tutto:" act as bookends, while "Om" indicates the half-way mark, and "Ktm" sees Jason Lindner add his sound the album. These tracks are the ambient foundation of "Kuni," representing the thematic duality of the work. Clocking in at only 24 minutes, "Kuni" packs an astonishingly diverse array of sounds, styles, and themes, all while showcasing virtuosic musicianship and instrumental prowess.
Appearing on "Hana-bi" and "Ktm," renowned international artists Asa-Chang and Jason Lindner add an additional perspective to "Kuni": Asa-Chang on "Hana-bi," and Jason Lindner on "Ktm." Asa-Chang - famously of the Japanese avant-garde group Asa-Chang & Junray - provides vocals and percussion to an alternate version of the instrumental opener, while the acclaimed keyboardist Jason Lindner offers his synth expertise on "Ktm." These features highlight the spirit of collaboration found in LNDFK's music, always willing to try out new ways of working.
LNDFK is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures – an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover – through art – an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility.
Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (BBC, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona.
"Kuni," is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.
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No time to waste: nine months after Tim Vanhamel released 'Dubs Pour Oh La La', his debut album under the moniker Comité Hypnotisé, the Millionaire frontman presents already the second album 'Hiking The Trails Of Mount Muzak'.
Hardly leaving any traces of the dubbed out vibe which marked the first record, Tim expands his Comité Hypnotisé universe to a surprising next level on this second album: exploring a place where James Last, Wu-Tang Clan and Dj Shadow are cooking up a Thai meal in a Peruvian restaurant overlooking the breathtaking peaks of Mount Muzak.
Ney flutes tumbling backwards over the edge of easy listening in opener 'Rise Of The Equinoxians', lurking for feel good vibes in 'Red Wolf Riddim' and breezing in to new dimensions in 'Zing Zoing' on the A-side while the Comité enters the chambers of the 70's 'Disco Skank' and rides an untamed dragon towards the scorching sun in search of a flame-bringing beat in 'The Dragon Rider' on the flipside.
‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ is a sprawling album exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians and chosen family over four distinct recording sessions.
In Upstate New York, Topanga Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, and Tucson, Arizona, Big Thief spent five months in creation and came out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’, a fluid and adventurous listen.
The album was produced by drummer James Krivchenia, who initially pitched the recording concept for ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ back in late 2019 with the goal of encapsulating the many different aspects of Adrianne’s songwriting and the band onto a single record.
The attempt to capture something deeper, wider and full of mystery points to the inherent spirit of Big Thief. Traces of this open-hearted, non-dogmatic faith can be felt through previous albums but here on ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ lives the strongest testament to its existence.
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Passarani debuts on Aus with his sixth studio album, The Wildlife Of The Quieter Ones. Marco's discography boasts releases on Libertine, Running Back, Peacefrog and Numbers, the diversity between each label show his versatility as as a producer, he’s seamlessly moved with the times and glides through each era with a zesty take on a timeless sound, his credentials speak for themselves and here you see a well seasoned producer at the top of his game
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It begins with a rustle of noise, equally reminiscent of distorted factory noise and a cassette recording of cathedral bells unspooling, before a near-robotic beat and stuttering bassline enter the fray. Initially, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve stumbled across the lost tapes of Joy Division’s early Warsaw incarnation, but the atonal blast of strafing guitars fading in and out soon make you realise this is a very different proposition. This is The Drin, and ‘Engines Sing for the Pale Moon’ is their debut album. It’s also one of the best things you’ll hear all year. Helmed by Dylan McCartney, drummer of the rock band Vacation, The Drin originally released this album as a hyper-limited cassette via Future Shock. It’s as much of a departure from McCartney’s usual output as it is for Drunken Sailor Records; songs don’t so much explode out of the gate as drift towards you like a creeping fog that turns your skin inside-out and leaves you sloshing organs all across the carpet. Second track ‘Guillotine Blade’ shows the pieces all coming together, a dubbed-out riot of claustrophobic noise that feels like Pere Ubu trapped in a cupboard one minute, and ‘Warm Jets’-era Eno trying on Bauhaus’ trenchcoats the next. Meanwhile, ‘Down Her Cheek A Party Tear’ unfolds across jittering, skittering rustles of drums and an undulating bassline, making you wonder why post-millennial post-punk so often settles for dickheads shouting non-sequiturs over landfill indie, when it could be entering these dark, unsettling territories instead. The Drin like to get weird. The Drin like to get wild. The Drin rarely cut loose, but that’s because the trip is already intense and haunting enough without things getting raucous in here as well. Hey kids, turn off those shite band name redacted records and get into this; you deserve so much better, and better’s right here. Fall into it, immerse yourself and step forward into a brave new world. I love this record
Rare early Soft Machine cuts from 1963 -1970, featuring Robert Wyatt,
Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper, Daevid Allen and others no
released on red vinyl
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Suzanne Santo has never been afraid to blur the lines. A tireless creator, she's built her sound in the grey area between Americana, Southern-gothic soul, and forward-thinking rock & roll. It's a sound that nods to her past — a childhood spent in the Rust Belt; a decade logged as a member of the L.A.-based duo HoneyHoney; the acclaimed solo album, Ruby Red, that launched a new phase of her career in 2017; and the world tour that took her from Greece to Glastonbury as a member of Hozier's band — while still exploring new territory. With Yard Sale, Santo boldly moves forward, staking her claim once again as an Americana innovator. It's an album inspired by the past, written by an artist who's only interested in the here-and-now. And for Suzanne Santo, the here-and-now sounds pretty good. Yard Sale, her second release as a solo artist, finds Santo in transition. She began writing the album while touring the globe with Hozier — a gig that utilized her strengths not only as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, but as a road warrior, too. "We never stopped," she says of the year-long trek, which often found her pulling double-duty as Hozier's opening act and bandmate. "Looking back, I can recognize how much of a game-changer it was. It raised my musicianship to a new level. It truly reshaped my career." “Defiant” - American Songwriter “a bluesy ripper that gets its sizzle not just from her dynamic vocals but from a dirty, undulating guitar line from Gary Clark Jr” - Buzzbands “On “Fall For That,” she digs deep to sing about the push and pull between needing human connection and solitude, chaos and calm” - Buzzbands “bold storytelling and introspective reflection” - CMT “Catchy-as-hell” - Glide “she digs deep” - KCRW “Suzanne Santo is one of those musicians that come along every once in a blue moon.” - National Rock Review “Santo takes ownership and power back with crass and candor, introducing shameless, self aware dialogue that opens the door for conversation that leads to real healing.” - Paste "spunky" - Premier Guitar “Southern-gothic soul” - Rolling Stone Country “vivid musical portraits” - San Diego Union-Tribune
Here we are! Back for the second volume of Back from the Canigó ! In the same spirit as Back from the Grave, our goal is to look back at what happened in the South of France near Perpignan at the beginning of the 21st century. As you can hear it in the first volume, the city of Perpignan (and its region, Northern Catalonia) has been a strong place for underground rock'n'roll for many years. In the 90's, there were a lot of garage bands and an important mods community. These guys created a spirit in the city that's still present today. This volume showcases the new bands created by Perpignan's city rockers and the country punks from the nearby villages. Bands like Les Gardiens du Canigou, The Ugly Things, The Likyds, The Toxic Farmers, The Vox Men, The Feedback, heard on the first compilation, spawned plenty of new formations. This time the scene has its own labels - Nasty Products and Profet Record are two of them. It has never been easier to record music and put it on vinyl. There are live venues all over the city. The beginning of the internet also makes life easier, even when you're in a town in the South of France near the Spanish border and the Mediterranean. Myspace is growing fast and local bands make contact with the other side of the Atlantic. The Sonic Chicken 4 are signed by In the Red and Trouble in Mind. Parisian labels are also interested in the work of bands from Perpignan. The Hushpuppies, ex-Likyds, go to the capital and are signed by Diamondtraxx. They're certainly the best known band of that era with their hit "You're Gonna Say Yeah", featured on Guitar Hero and in several commercial ads. Boosted by international touring, Catalan bands make their way into the world. The Fatals go on tour in Italy and Canada. The Sonic Chicken 4 are booked for a US tour while Jack of Heart, signed on Born Bad, play all over Europe. The whole world listens. This is the story told by our compilation. Just put the needle on the record and let the music do the talking...
Nineties-inspired alternative indie noise rock / post
punk.
For fans of IDLES, The Jesus Lizard, (‘Worst Case
Scenario’-era) dEUS, Black Midi.
If The Waltz were a drink, it’d be a slamming
cocktail of Panoramix’s magic potion, mixed with
Red Bull, some coffee and a strong Belgian Tripel
beer. A firm headbutt with a kiss on the cheek
afterwards. You won’t know what to remember first:
the bang or the catharsis.
CD in digipack. LP pressed on 180gm yellow
coloured vinyl.
First singles received airplay on Belgian national
radio (Studio Brussels / Radio Willy).
Everything is Noise (US) premiered the single
‘Red-Orange Moon’ and will do an extended
feature on the album.
As the tides change and the majesty of the moon once more begins to illuminate our forgotten domain, the hotly-tipped Incus has made the jump to hyperspace and determined that now is the time to unleash his neoteric creation into the macrocosm of music. At the behest of the sonic social masters, "INC.AUDIO" will be deemed a passion project, but in reality it will rip the very fabric of what it means to have a personal creative outlet, curtailing boundaries and expectations alike. Based on the creed of freedom of experimentation, the label will allow Incus and close friends within the industry to share their creative expressions within a familial and contemporary framework free from third-party limitation.
For now we start at the first chapter of the INC.AUDIO narrative, and the inaugural release which comes from the architect himself. His first solo EP contains 4 tracks conceived at home during lockdown, combining new sound design techniques developed through the mediums of trusty Korg Hardware and Ableton live. The end product is a consummate representation of the benefits of free time, reckless abandon and zero red tape.
Kicking off with "Design Your Mind", Incus draws on his longstanding influences collected via years of crate-digging and supporting underground idols in the UK and Ibiza. Shuffling percussion, jittering stabs and percolatin' chords wax and wane, submitting us to the will of its deep, minimal groove with a sultry sensibility. Next is "New Dog Old Tricks", the one with "that" bassline. No holding back from the get-go, the punching percussion is waylaid sporadically by erratic tones and steadied by placid, ambient chords. The charming breakdowns are peculiarized by a haunting saxophone sample, firmly establishing the clear-cut level of advancement and attention to detail achieved by the creator.
"Calm in the Chaos" steps back from straight-up grooving, inviting an equatorial temperature to come and play. Tantalising acid-inclined bass notes perforate the horizon, aiding the insistent percussion and creating a sunny, party-ready disposition infectious as they come. Feel like you're on a beach or in a rainforest? Snap. After the party we finish in the "Morning Haze". Alien-like frequencies and UFO bleepology steer the good ship Incus on this extra-terrestrial journey through the tech-house heavens to its final resting point. The seductive vocal cut adds a beautiful edge to the track, creating a minimal yet also expansive soundscape perfect for disembarkment. So, now you see what INC.AUDIO is all about, why wouldn't you stick around? Fight the bureaucracy and become who you need to be today, not tomorrow.
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Cemento Atlantico is the first recording project by the Italian DJ/producer Alessandro “ToffoloMuzik” Zoffoli, conceived between 2020 and 2021, in an orphaned silence from wandering and social sharing due to the lockdown in this Pandemic era. To be released on vinyl, CD and all digital platforms starting from July 29th, 2021 via Bronson Recordings, the album Rotte Interrotte was born from the need to translate the travel experiences of recent years into music: Morocco, Vietnam, Peru, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Guatemala, Myanmar. At the edge of the world. The sound that fills everyday life is often seen as a foregone background, in reality all its connotations can be explored and ordered to create a melody. Without a shadow of a doubt, the threshold of auditory attention rises by being sent, immersed in cultures and countries other than your own. Among those coordinates, Cemento Atlantico has kidnapped fragments, samples and field recordings from nature, history, road and sacred places. Emotions engraved in the mind with occasional recording means, subsequently manipulated through electronics and rhythmic construction creating a truly unique and contemporary sound and of cultural melting-pot. Zoffoli has written and produced the record (then mastered by Giovanni Versari), also taking care of its artwork. Cemento Atlantico’s logo is made up of the initials “C” and “A”: “The letter ‘A’ indicates the first Ocean I crossed, the Atlantic one, while the letter” C “- represented by a crescent Moon, with no political or religious reference – symbolizes rebirth, the growth of a project or the advent of a new life in many ancient and modern cultures“. Trip hop, dubstep and chillout are intertwined with world music and ethnic elements, as if the starting point was Bristol, rather than Cesenatico, and the arrival point was all to be soundtracked, all to be explored. Following the first extract Umm Bulgares, the new singles taken from the album are Beat ’em Bang, Amazonienne, Blade Runner Zero and El congreso de los Fantasmas. More than an album, Rotte Interrotte is a casket of stories set in time with your eyes closed, in the deep belief that through sound you can imagine the world without seeing it.
"Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads Amorphis have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On “Halo”, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Fins underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes. In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos “Kalevala” into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, Amorphis combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honouring tradition without getting stuck in the past. The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is “Halo” highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by
renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how Amorphis manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s “Under the Red Cloud” followed by 2018’s “Queen of Time.” “It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates. Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerising lullabies, adds, “To me, ‘Halo’ sounds a little more stripped down compared to ‘Queen Of Time’ and ‘Under The Red Cloud.’ However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.” He’s right, of course: By stripping down some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental. That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs Amorphis offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried Amorphis significantly forward.” Indeed. Setting off with the stormy grandeur of opener “Northwards,” Amorphis take us on an epic journey through the lands of the north, their rich cultural and historical heritage and musical traditions. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark. However, no Amorphis album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for Amorphis,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.” Since 2007’s “Silent Waters,” Kainulainen has been navigating the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For “Halo,” he outdid himself once again. “‘Halo’ is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.” Thirty-one years after their inception, with uncounted global tours under their belt and fourteen albums deep in their career, Amorphis still proves to be the musical fountain of youth, an extraordinary band constantly reinventing itself without abandoning its mystical roots. With “Halo”, they deliver an astonishing album that deserves to be played everywhere, transcending the realms of metal and rock by its sheer profoundness and musicality."
"Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads Amorphis have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On “Halo”, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Fins underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes. In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos “Kalevala” into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, Amorphis combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honouring tradition without getting stuck in the past. The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is “Halo” highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by
renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how Amorphis manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s “Under the Red Cloud” followed by 2018’s “Queen of Time.” “It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates. Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerising lullabies, adds, “To me, ‘Halo’ sounds a little more stripped down compared to ‘Queen Of Time’ and ‘Under The Red Cloud.’ However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.” He’s right, of course: By stripping down some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental. That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs Amorphis offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried Amorphis significantly forward.” Indeed. Setting off with the stormy grandeur of opener “Northwards,” Amorphis take us on an epic journey through the lands of the north, their rich cultural and historical heritage and musical traditions. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark. However, no Amorphis album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for Amorphis,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.” Since 2007’s “Silent Waters,” Kainulainen has been navigating the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For “Halo,” he outdid himself once again. “‘Halo’ is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.” Thirty-one years after their inception, with uncounted global tours under their belt and fourteen albums deep in their career, Amorphis still proves to be the musical fountain of youth, an extraordinary band constantly reinventing itself without abandoning its mystical roots. With “Halo”, they deliver an astonishing album that deserves to be played everywhere, transcending the realms of metal and rock by its sheer profoundness and musicality."
Shall Not Fade welcomes Rotterdam based producer Kessler to the family with six weighty jams for their "Basement Tracks" series. Rising Rotterdam based producer Kessler has been bubbling over the past 12 months with a string of high quality releases on labels such as Yellow Island Records and his own KESSLER TRAX imprint. His first full vinyl outing sees him serve up a bass driven masterpiece for Shall Not Fade's new "Basement Tracks" series. Ambivalent EP is nothing short of spectacular, weighty breaks meet dreamy synth patterns on this killer dance disc.
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- Followup to 2015's Insides. - RIYL: Jacques Greene, Leon Vynehall, DJ Seinfeld, Project Pablo - Features cover art by Salvador Dalí protégé Steven Arnold. - Silver halide (gray + black marble) vinyl limited to 1,500 copies worldwide - Vinyl is housed in a black dust sleeve inserted in to a matte varnish jacket with metallic silver spot color // After a run of critically-acclaimed singles and EPs, British producer Michael Greene, aka Fort Romeau, returns to the full-length format with Beings of Light, the long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Insides and his second LP on Ghostly International. While a prolific DJ who orients many of his productions for the dancefloor, Greene still sees the album as the ultimate statement of intent, "a space to stretch out, to speak in full paragraphs rather than stunted sentences." He has explored several stylistic fragments in recent years (including the summer 2018 anthem "Pablo," hailed a Best New Track by Pitchfork), but when faced with the extended pause to the dance community in 2020, Greene felt compelled to focus on a larger body of work. Embracing a back-to-basics mentality, he amassed over a dozen hours of sounds, asking himself throughout the sessions: "Does the music move you? Is it honest?" He came out the other end with Beings of Light, an expressive collection traversing rainy day ambient, moonlit disco, and dream-like techno in pursuit of the power found within our subconscious. Album opener "Untitled IV" ushers in a sprinting tempo in its exploration of the human voice, a recurring device in the Fort Romeau project. Greene uses it as a compositional layer, disembodied with its context often opaque or reduced to a single phrase. Here the voice is scattered in percussive twitches, colliding with a kick drum to induce a near state of hypnosis as horns sound off in the distance. Propulsive standout "Spotlights'' is Greene's ode to the romanticised New York City that lives in our hearts, nocturnal and carefree. A vocal snippet repeats the title with a breezy poise, reminiscent of classic house cuts. "Ramona'' honors the beloved Robert Johnson club in Offenbach, Germany. Hazy, spacious, and sustained, Greene designed the beat with their system in mind, "also with a strong nod to the more modern lineage of exceptional minimal house music from Frankfurt," he says. Two ambient pieces surround the track, "(In The) Rain" sets the scene and "Porta Coeli" (a Latin phrase which loosely translates to "heaven's gate") soundtracks the comedown. The album's closer, the title track, is an arc constructed with atmospheric textures, euphoric swings of percussion, and a well-placed piano refrain, "Beings of Light" is adaptive; one could imagine it reverberating from a club, scoring the emotional apex of a film, or radiating through the realm of dreams.
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Hailing from Sydney, Australia, prolific producer Cabu (860K Monthly Listeners and more than 90M cumulative streams on Spotify alone) has come a long way; from his successful remix work – from Joe Hurtz's "Stay Lost" edit (37M Spotify-streams) to Big Wild's "Empty Room" flip (20M Spotify-streams) – to his consistently catchy original productions, Cabu's only getting started. He keeps this momentum alive with the EP "So Far To Go", his first to be released by Ta-ku & Jakarta Records' sublabel 823 Records.
823 is a perfect place for Cabu's bouncy, hypnotic grooves and is a return to form for what "Cabu" represents: a driving force in the pursuit of happiness through sound. It's a well-timed collaboration, as Cabu's fanbase has continuously grown over the past few years through features on Australia's Triple J, DJ Complexion's Future Beats Radio, Soundistyle, The South East Grind, Mutual Friends, ThisSongIsSick, Majestic Casual, Soulection Radio, BBC 1xtra, Pilerats, Maison Kitsune and more. To that end, "So Far To Go" features some of the most talented artists to come out of the Pacific continent, such as Milan Ring (95K monthly Spotify listeners) – coined "Australia's R&B Princess" by Apple Music – Brisbane native hit-maker Young Franco (1M+ monthly Spotify listeners), Kamaliza (123K monthly Spotify listeners), NOÉ, Gabby Nacua, Pastel and of course label-head Ta-ku himself.
1st single, "Process" featuring Ta-ku & Milan Ring was released on November 3rd. Hypnotically bouncy, with heavenly synth pads, crisp percussive elements combined with the ethereal voices of Ta-ku and Milan harmonically push the sonic envelope to make this track an infallible groovy knockout. As Cabu says, "Process" is "the dream-like state in which you take gratitude in your current situation whilst being hopeful in the future." The track provides a perfect taste of these artistic and creative powerhouses. The stunningly beautiful music video – directed by Sydney based Redscope Films and premiered on The Sound You Need – is the perfect accompaniment.
2nd single, "Sun & Moon" featuring Young Franco & NOÉ is set to be released on December 10th along with an announcement of the EP and pre-order. The song is a contagiously bouncy bop, with the different vocal harmonies and synth chords giving the track an almost prime 00's throwback, it's the perfect year-end anthem to keep dancing and growing through the good and bad.
The album's focus track, "About U" featuring Kamaliza will be released along with the EP release on January 28th, 2022. The song perfectly blends electronic elements within an R&B / Soul aesthetic, and is all about moving forward with intention, from the lyrics to the groove, making you feel tipsy on life.
All singles off the EP will be accompanied with custom visualizers by Perth-based design / creative firm Gesture Systems. The album's single-releases and videos will be promoted in-house via the artist's and the label's social media channels in Germany and Australia.
The 823 label represents the appreciation for the people, ideas and places that inspire and push their protagonists forward. "823 celebrates the simple beauty of everyday life and the people in it that inspire us." (Regan Matthews aka Ta-ku)
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