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One of the two new 7" from All Nations Records coming early 2022 is a rework of a legendary tune that all reggae fans know. “I Know Myself” from Ernest Wilson has been a regular play by all champion sounds from Sir Cosxone to Jah Shaka and alikes since late 70’s. Never would be the intention to do better, but All Nations Records likes to do his thing a little bit different, so Simon Nyabinghi has rebuilt the tune entirely in his studio in 2022 style.
With a clever recipe of carefully picked sounds and a grooving way of playing, it has the original vibes with a bouncing twist that should suit to all original fans and beyond. All in all, a great humble tribute to a legendary artist sadly gone to zion earlier in 2021. 

First time vinyl issue of this 1997 Mego classic. General Magic, the duo of Ramon Bauer and Andi Pieper, who, alongside Pita, first pioneered the classic Mego sound on the Fridge Trax 12” in 1995. The following year proved to be formulative when Mego released Frantz alongside a slew of game changing releases from Farmers Manuel, Pita and Fennesz.

Originally released as MEGO 010 Frantz presented a thrilling digression from what was in vogue in music at the time. This was the advent of portable computing and the Vienna based label was at the forefront of harnessing the potential of audio within this new technology.

At once smart and playful these releases reconfigured once disparate genres such as industrial, techno, glitch and the avant garde, folding them into a bright, audacious and euphoric new system of sound. The music on Frantz (named after the Austrian skier, Franz Klammer) still pushes the boundaries of acceptable audio constructions with it’s startling fried electricity and twisted sensibility. The sense of joy in the audio discovery is palatable as techno laced explorations unfold a variety of unexpected and unprecedented sonic manoeuvres.

Tyrell launches proceedings as schizophrenic stuttering handclaps simultaneously slice into pieces as it propels forward. The bending of the brain is on display with the likes of ‘Obvious’ and ‘Close, But Not Quien’. Temko skewers digital debris in which a ghost melody comes to the fore. Brazen rhythms mobilize the tracks ‘No Ketting’ and ‘Bonden’ whilst the Official GM Ski-WM Theme is a short stab of priceless pop wizardry skittering about a strange exhilarating melody in homage to the finest of winter activities.

This reissue also includes ‘Die Mondlandung’ which was released as a 12” in 1995 (MEGO 002), and has never been released anywhere, physical or digital, since. This track is based on the live German TV coverage of the moon landing. An apt theme for the abundance of exploration contained within this classic release.

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About Frantz ... and Peter (by Ramon Bauer & Andi Pieper, November 2021):

Listening to the test pressings of the remastered Frantz album for the first time on vinyl, 25 years after the original release on the then still young Mego label in 1997, felt like uncovering an ancient artefact. In those exciting days during the mid-1990s, together with the late Peter Rehberg, we founded a label called Mego to further explore the wonders of electronic music. And that is what we did for the next 10 years until everything became too much with the label in somewhat rough waters. So we dropped out of music business and pursued different things. It was Peter who continued producing and releasing music with the restarted label, now called Editions Mego. Until his unexpected death in July 2021, he developed Editions Mego into the grown-up and much acclaimed outfit for which it is known today. We will forever miss Peter’s inspiring personality and his uncompromising creativity. His legacy will live on in his music and in the vast and rich Mego and eMego catalogues. We are humbled and proud to have played a role in those formative years of the label.

Peter approached us in October 2020 with the idea to do a vinyl reissue of Frantz, just in time for the 25 year anniversary of its release. That came as a complete surprise for us, General Magic had not released any music or performed live for over 15 years. Anyway, we were delighted with the prospect of having that General Magic "classic" remastered (by the exceptional Russell Haswell) and released for the first time on vinyl on Editions Mego.

Frantz is a collection of tracks that we produced in 1995 and 1996 right after recording “Fridge Trax” (with Peter) and “Die Mondlandung” (which comes as a bonus track on this reissue). At that time, we started to migrate our analogue gear to 64 MB RAM computers and used almost every other digital thing that yielded a sound by any means. We even deliberately crashed our then so-called "Powerbooks" and scratched self-produced CD-Rs until they produced previously unheard sounds. Real time audio processing with computers was barely a thing back then (before SuperCollider was released), but cheerful massaging of sound files yielded interesting results and the future looked bright. Listening to Frantz today, with decades of distance, there are some parts that might appear dated by modern standards, but the energy and the general magic of that period is well captured.

All Frantz tracks were produced in Andi's studio in Berlin and at Mego Vienna. The Mego studio/office was a vivid place located in an old factory on the outskirts of Vienna. We shared the place with Tina Frank, who created most of the early Mego covers and videos. Other artists, musicians and friends were hanging out there almost every day. Many ideas on Frantz are a product of that particular environment. “Mimi”, for example, is based on a field recording in the backyard of the factory, where we also shot the video for “Tyrell”. “11.25” contains sounds from the Prague train station we regularly passed through on the night train travelling between Vienna and Berlin. Other sounds were sourced from the early internet and mangled on the computer, carefully preserving those early audio codec artefacts. While working on the Frantz tracks at the Mego Vienna studio, Peter was usually around, as he was literally working and living there. And so, of course, he also made an impact on that album: It might not be widely known but Peter even appeared on Frantz contributing his voice to the choir on “The Official Ski WM Theme”.

Let there be Frantz!

Ellise is a singer, songwriter, and producer based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Ellise grew up on her dad’s classic rock and her Iranian mom’s traditional Arabic music while her own taste skewed poppier, influenced by the sounds and sights of the Y2K era. After graduating high school early to pursue music full time, she moved to Los Angeles, where she spent several years honing her craft in the studio before beginning to work in earnest on her debut album, Chaotic, alongside regular collaborator Micah Gordon.

Written almost entirely by Ellise herself, the record has a distinctive point of view wrapped in some of pop’s sleekest and most thrilling sounds, inspired by the music she’s surrounded herself with over the past two years (think Ariana Grande, Lorde, Dominic Fike, Lana Del Ray, Amy Winehouse, and Fat Joe). Standout songs like “Bubblegum Brain,” “Princess,” and “Zipper Lips!” present Ellise’s blueprint as both expertly produced pop and highly intelligent ruminations on love, loss, and what it’s like to feel flawed in a world that often demands perfection. Chaotic is certainly a product of a confident young artist steeped in pop’s richest stock, but also a singer and songwriter whose clear-cut vision is imprinted on each of the album’s songs.

Sony Classical release - Levit is one of the few pianists who have performed these works live in their entirety. Completed in 1951, Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues – a summary of all the major and minor tonalities – lasts some two and a half hours in total, while Ronald Stevenson’s Passacaglia on DSCH, which he completed in 1963, is an unbroken set of variations lasting nearly an hour and a half. The album’s artwork is specially created by the internationally renowned graphic artist and book designer Christoph Niemann, who regularly illustrates for The New Yorker and The New York Times. His illustration for 'On DSCH' offers a playfully abstract counterpart to this musical experience. Formats are: 3 disc set presented in deluxe paper packaging and includes a limited edition printed insert of the cryptogram that Shostakovich used as his musical signature. Also a a limited Collector’s Edition of 'On DSCH' Vinyl Part One: Shostakovich 24 Prelude And Fugues Op. 87' presented on 3LP 180g vinyl set in gatefold sleeve including a download code. This is part one of the full 'On DSCH' album - vinyl 'Part Two: Stevenson Passacaglia on DSCH' follows in February 2022.

Heavenly Recordings announce the release of ‘Heavenly remixes 3&4 - Andrew Weatherall volume 1&2’, a brace of compilation albums collecting together some of the finest remixes from the label’s long-time friend, collaborator and go-to remixer. These compilations follow ‘Heavenly remixes 1 & 2’, which showcases some of the label’s other great remixes.

 By the time Heavenly was born in the spring of 1990, Andrew Weatherall was already an inspirational sounding board, as well as a fellow traveller on the bright new road that stretched out ahead, thanks to the massive cultural liberation of acid house. Back then every energised meeting could be turned into a fortuitous opportunity in this burgeoning new underground economy. Bored of your job? Start playing records out! Start a club night! Get in the studio!
Start a label! Just don’t stand still. Commandments Andrew would follow for the rest of his life.

 At the start of things, Andrew was a regular visitor to Capersville - the pre-Heavenly press office run by label founder Jeff Barrett (soon to become Andrew’s manager). It was there that he famously picked up a copy of Primal Scream’s unloved second album and singled out a
track that would later become ‘Loaded’, after being given an instruction to “fucking destroy” it by the band’s Andrew Innes; it was there too that the idea to remix the first Heavenly release
came about.

 Andrew’s mix of that first Heavenly record is very much a product of its time. ‘The World According To Sly and Lovechild’ is a swirling bass punch topped with a hypnotic marimba line and the kind of ecstatic diva vocal that you’d hear coming out of the speakers all night at postShoom clubs like Yellow Book.

 His take on the label’s next release - Saint Etienne’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves’) - would set the template for his next three decades of audio exploration. A drawn-out imperial dub, the track builds and builds with a moody intensity (partly down to the
melodica played by Weather Prophets legend Pete Astor) that’s far more Kingston JA at dusk than Kingston-upon-Thames at kicking out time. It’s both a dancefloor record to get lost in and
headphone psychedelia of the highest order - a perfect example of what he did better than anyone else.

 Between 1990 and his untimely death in 2020, Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label. Consistently, he returned visionary music to the
office, often in person for (at least) one ceremonial playback - a ritual that would involve the volume cranked up high and Andrew rocking back on his heels, eyes closed, lost in the alchemy of it all.

 Each time, he would warp and twist originals into beautiful new shapes - elasticated club records that might evoke Detroit techno one second and Throbbing Gristle the next, before wheel-spinning into something akin to The Fall produced by King Tubby.

 Andrew’s studio adventures would always be guided by that early advice to destroy the source material. It’s why he was the first name that came up when remixes were discussed; the first number on the speed dial. Listening back to these remixes now - to thirty years of glorious outsider sounds - it bangs home again just how fucking good Andrew was.

Mariana Zwarg represents the third generation of musicians playing and spreading the tradition of "universal music", created by her godfather, the legendary Hermeto Pascoal from Brazil. Mariana is a flautist, saxophonist, composer and arranger and bandleader.

In 2016 she formed her "Sexteto Universal", uniting musicians from 5 different countries and toured the project regularly in Europe and Brazil.

"Nascentes" is Zwarg's debut album and her first solo project. It was recorded between Rio de Janeiro and Berlin at the tail-end of 2019, just before the first cases of Covid-19 were reported. There are 10 tracks in total: 8 songs composed by her, a theme by Hermeto Pascoal and a theme by Itiberê Zwarg, who are also the album's special guests.

Norwegian duo Lost Girls, artist and writer Jenny Hval and multi-instrumentalist Håvard Volden, release their first album after collaborating for more than ten years. Volden has been playing regularly in Hval's live band for more than a decade, and their duo project goes back to an acoustic collaborative album from 2012, using the moniker Nude on Sand. Instead of resurrecting the previous band, Hval and Volden opted for a fresh start for their 2018 EP Feeling, taking nomenclatural inspiration from the 2006 graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and comics artist Melinda Gebbie.

For their first LP, Hval and Volden booked an actual studio (Øra studios, Trondheim, Norway), which they had never done before. Recording sessions took place in March 2020, even if they felt like the material wasn’t really ready for recording. This left a lot to improvisation, and so Menneskekollektivet was created in-between set structures and the energy of collective exploration.

Perhaps this is what makes Menneskekollektivet unique: The quality of trying something, to see if the structures fit. In a way this is a more physical version of what Hval has been exploring lyrically over the past decade in her solo work. The title is Norwegian and translates to human collective, which adds to the feeling of a recording made as part of a strange, improvised performance project.

The music flickers; between club beats and improvised guitar textures; between spoken word and melodic vocal textures; between abstract and harmonic synth lines. Throughout the piece, Volden’s guitar and Hval’s voice come across as equals, wandering, wondering, meandering. Sharing the space.

Acclaimed UK electronic musician Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug, King Midas Sound) releases a stunningly powerful rescore of Andrei Tarkovsky’s seminal 1972 movie Solaris on Phantom Limb.

In May 2020, British musician Kevin Martin was invited by the Vooruit arts centre in Gent, Belgium to compose a new score for a film of his choice. Having been long inspired by pioneering Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, Martin tells us that his 1972 masterpiece Solaris was the “natural choice”. The film is an unattested giant, not only of science fiction and Soviet film, but also in the annals cinematic history. And its original score, composed by regular Tarkovsky collaborator and early Soviet electronic musician Eduard Artemyev, is a magnificent work of haunting majesty, a key element to the film’s brilliance. Martin’s challenge was great: “it was with a certain amount of trepidation I stepped into such large footprints,” he writes.

The results - an all new score entitled Return to Solaris - are breathtaking. The film is intense, psychologically devastating and bleakly compelling. Interweaving themes of love, horror, sorrow, nostalgia, memory and dystopia, Martin’s score expertly mirrors this expansive breadth of psychic weight, from existential dread to heartbreaking poignancy, with immense emotional gravity. Drawn to its “narrative struggle between organic, pastoral memories of a lost past, and the harsh, dystopian realities of a futuristic hell,” Martin employs atonal noise, simmering waves of distorted synthesis, undulating drones and otherworldly, astronomic sound-design to crushing effect. Subtly submerged recurring motifs - reflections of individual characters - rise and fall amidst the fog, occasionally illuminating the doom like motes of starlight, before settling back into the density of space.

Jozef K continues with part 2 of this stunning project on Takeout under his Eternal Blood moniker, showcasing his stunning take on post-Rave tinged House & Techno.

These tracks will tick so many boxes for those who love the atmospherics of Jamie XX to the rawness of 808 State as both EP's take you on a fascinating journey with the vibe of the UK's magnificent North West.

Jozef's material is regularly supported by the likes of Dixon, Mano le Tough, The Blessed Madonna and Sasha, and we're excited to have him join us with 2 sublime EP's

Solid olive green vinyl in a regular sleeve with an etched B-side
On their EP entitled perfect, MANNEQUIN PUSSY's new songs burst forth from
the sprawling months of social isolation & internet-fueled anxiety. The band rages
about the practice of condensing your daily life into a manicured stream of
images for social media. What happens to the social impulse when everyone you
love or even like is leveled into a set of pixels. "It was a really weird psychological
experience, being bombarded by images of other people constantly when you are
not around a lot of other people," vocalist Missy Dabice says.
After spending most of the year 2020 apart from each other and everyone else,
the members of MANNEQUIN PUSSY decided to book studio time and work
together in person again. What came out of that compressed session time were
some of MANNEQUIN PUSSY's most furious, incandescent songs yet. The
Philadelphia based band teams up yet again with producer Will Yip to satiate fans
with perfect, the EP follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2019 Epitaph debut
Patience (Pitchfork Best New Music, sold out US tour, and "one of the best rock
releases of 2019" according to Paste Magazine). "We just fgured if we forced
ourselves into this situation where someone could hit 'record,' something might
come out," Dabice says. "We'd never written that way before."

Martin Rude & Jakob Skøtt Duo released 2 albums in 2020: The Discipline of Assent & The Dichotomy of Control. For the third installation in their Stoic opus, they join forces with Tamar Osborn on saxophone & alto flute. Similar to their first 2 albums, Rude & Skøtt improvised a tidal wave of ideas and grooves in the studio of Causa Sui’s Jonas Munk, the perks of which were shipped to the UK for Osborn’s overdubs of echo-drenched sax and wah-flute. An improvisation rippling across time & space, merging a river of constantly in flux head-on improv, as well as making room for floating harmonies and studio-wizardry. Playful, experimental and explorative, the trio ventures into a free wash of exotica drenched in deep modal jazz-vibes - with splashes of something more futuristic and modern. But contrary to what the title suggests, there are also roaring waves of energy, sizzling funky grooves to complement the ambient undercurrent. It’s a record akin to the library & film music of the 60’s and 70’s and an ode to the willful river of experimental moderation. Far in. Bios: Tamar Osborn: Saxophonist, composer and multi-wind instrumentalist is the creative force behind modal jazz ensemble Collocutor (On The Corner Records). She is a long-standing member of the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, performs and collaborates regularly with Sarathy Korwar, Jessica Lauren, Emanative, Ill Considered and DJ Khalab, and is an in-demand session musician. Martin Rude: Multi-string instrumentalist & lead singer in Sun River, as well as stand-in bass player in Causa Sui. Jakob Skøtt: Drummer in Causa Sui with a slew of side projects on El Paraiso, as well as responsible for the label’s visuals.

Having produced the Emskee – Wall To Wall 12” released early 2021, AE boss Mr Fantastic is back with another slab of essential Hip Hop made without pretence or adhering to modern trends – in others words, how it used to be. Featuring Teekay of Dragon Fli Empire, hailing from Calgary, Canada, ‘Breakdown’ is a stand-alone single with no plans as being part of any album release right now and comes with the Instrumental version on the flip. Pressed on black vinyl and supplied in full colour card sleeve, as is the standard high-quality packaging from AE Productions.

Although only being acquainted via the internet, Mr Fantastic and Teekay have mutual admiration for each other’s work which lead to this collaboration. This funky 45 features crisp drums and disco funk samples that have been chopped into that good old Hip Hop. The beat has a reasonably sparse stabbing feel with subtle wah-wah guitar between the stabs which bounces along not just at a perfect tempo for DJ’s but also sonically perfect for a big sound system, hence this track being picked for a single release and packs that punch that sounds best played loud. No moody introspective thing here, this is crowd rocking Hip Hop.

Teekay’s rhymes flow over the beat like it is 2nd nature to him because, well, it is 2nd nature to him, and is further evidence of why his group Dragon Fli Empire alongside DJ Cosm, have been able to maintain a steady string of superb releases going all the way back to 2002 and have toured Canada, USA and Europe. The chorus features Mr Fantastic’s turntable skills backing up Teekay’s vocal giving a nicely conceived and executed song structure with a little help from 2 of Soul and Funk’s legends.

The artwork for this one was hand painted by Bristol graffiti heavyweight Turroe who favoured a nod to comic book covers for the theme which was then scanned and arranged into the sleeve format with courtesy of AE artwork regular Nick Pointon of Fine Print.

London-based record label Wisdom Teeth kicks off 2021 with something close to home: Blush - the playful, dynamic debut LP by label co-founder, Facta. Recorded unusually quickly over a short stint in early 2020, the record is the product of a period of refreshed and unfussy creativity. It’s an innovative and distinctly contemporary album that moves a good few steps beyond the artist’s work to date - loosely rooted in UK dance music but taking added influence from ambient, modern classical, dreampop, Balearic, folk music and beyond. The result is a lush, ornate record populated by aqueous pads, bleeping arps, wandering melodies and sparse broken rhythms; acoustic instruments that play out alongside FM synths, all processed with a pristine UV sheen inherited from modern pop music. The record opens with ‘Sistine (Plucks)’ - a crystalline synth piece with a stumbling, shifting metre revolving around an odd-ended MIDI harp loop, coloured through with washed-out pads and snatches of found sound. This breezy mood follows through to ‘On Deck’, where an FM vibraphone rings out on top of woozy, warping chords and a subby soca groove. Moving forward the record moves cohesively through a range of shifting moods and hues. The machine jazz of ‘Brushes’ is tense and coiled, with nods towards Burnt Friedman, Photek and Eli Keszler. ‘Iso Stream’ sees a rich, colourful sprawl of arpeggiated synths and dissociated vocal chops unspool slowly to form pooling, lowlit melodies. Title track ‘Blush’ is a forlorn Autonomic love song built from clicks-n-cuts - like dBridge & Instra:mental reduced and reinterpreted by SND. Throughout, bold, broad melodies take centre stage, and the tracks build like compositions rather than loops or club tools. There are echoes of the dancefloor - particularly in the slo-mo bruk of ‘Verge’ and the glacial subs underpinning ‘Diving Birds’ (a collaboration with friend and Trilogy Tapes regular Parris) - however the end results find us somewhere far off. ‘Blush’ is the second long-form release to come from Wisdom Teeth following K-LONE’s 2020 debut album, ‘Cape Cira’, which was widely ranked as one the best LPs of 2020.

Cat Power - vocalist, songwriter, musician and
producer Chan Marshall - releases her new album,
‘Covers’, via Domino.
 Cover songs have always occupied a crucial place in
the Marshall canon, and ‘Covers’ௗcompletes a trilogy of
sorts, following beloved past Cat Power collections
‘Jukebox’ (2008) and ‘The Covers Record’ (2000).
 While she frequently delights and surprises with the
songs she chooses to cover, it’s Marshall’s total
commitment to the performance - imbuing the songs
with a creative singularity that rivals her original work -
that make Cat Power covers so special.ௗ Says
Pitchfork, Marshall can “rearrange a song simply by
squinting at it.”
 Produced in its entirety by Marshall, ‘Covers’ features
fully reimaginedௗsongs by Frank Ocean, Bob Seger,
Lana Del Rey, Jackson Browne, Iggy Pop, The
Pogues, Nick Cave and The Replacements and more,
plus an updated rendition of her own song, ‘Hate’, from
‘The Greatest’ (2006), retitled ‘Unhate’ for this album.
 CD in clear tray in 6-panelled digipack.
 Heavyweight vinyl with full colour labels, printed inner
sleeve and digital download card.
 Press - Reviews in MOJO, Loud & Quiet, Uncut, Record
Collector, HiFi News, Aesthetica. Features in MOJO,
Uncut, Guardian Saturday Magazine, Kinfolk, Adam
Buxton podcast.

It’s a sign of definite quality when a band can look back at a career which started as early as 1972 (!) and are still capable of thoroughly awing their fans with every new album. Magnum deliver this kind of quality on a regular basis and are set to prove their outstanding position once again with their latest studio offering ‘The Monster Roars’. Even after difficult months marked by pandemic-related concert cancellations, contact restrictions and uncertain perspectives for the whole music industry, the English rock act have succeeded in creating a vibrant, homogeneous work that impresses its listeners from the first to the last note and includes a number of surprises.

It’s a sign of definite quality when a band can look back at a career which started as early as 1972 (!) and are still capable of thoroughly awing their fans with every new album. Magnum deliver this kind of quality on a regular basis and are set to prove their outstanding position once again with their latest studio offering ‘The Monster Roars’. Even after difficult months marked by pandemic-related concert cancellations, contact restrictions and uncertain perspectives for the whole music industry, the English rock act have succeeded in creating a vibrant, homogeneous work that impresses its listeners from the first to the last note and includes a number of surprises.

As debut on his own label Hyperjazz Records, with 'The Great Oxidation EP', electro-shaman Khalab comes back to his natural habitat: the dance floor. With these three instrumental tracks, the visionary artist aims to drive the listener on a backward journey, down to rediscover the most ancestral human rite: to dance. A return to the origin in a radical way to reach a brighter future, but also a bridge for another world - a new space where meet new life forms and uncover new feelings and new consciousness. To embellish this EP, the presence of two very special collaborations.

His music evolution is a seamless journey – from the most ancestral tribes to the unexplored cosmos; from the black jungle to the skyscrapers; from the remotest subconscious to the furthest and real projection of future Africa. His wide-reaching musical tastes can be heard regularly on his monthly Worldwide FM show, Love from Rome. Already working on a new record ready in 2022, Khalab pulls out of his laboratory the first experiment with this EP.

One side of a regular Hardcore banger and one side of an irregular speedcore mellow ! Printed sleeve / Semi transparent silver shimmer with a turquoise marbling effect.

Cosmic disco classic played regularly by Baldelli, Lodola and in the underground scene, produced by John Kongos in 1981and released on 7 inch, containing only the short vocal version. Now remastered and reissued by Best Italy on 12" containing the full vocal original version plus the instrumental version on the flip.

* Following on from the success of our 'Liftin Spirit Reloaded' vinyl series, we are pleased to announce our next project in collaboration with Ram Records. 'Ram Reloaded' will be a series of limited 12" vinyl from Ram's early years, re-mastered from the original DATs and presented onto our usual, high quality, heavy weight vinyl.

* 1995 was a huge year for Ant Miles & Andy C with new tunes exploding from their studio in Hornchurch, Essex. Once again exploiting the Amen break to the fullest with bass pounding 909’s matching the transients to the rhythm exactly with the profound vocal ‘What goes around comes around’. This track once again featured the Ram style hard impact drop and roll out. For the flipside ‘Here and Now’, Ant Miles invited his regular session singer Maxine Barden over to perform original vocals over a more melodic ‘liquid’ style Drum and Bass track that was awash with haunting pads and strings.

Multi Culti launch a new quarterly 12" series in step with the seasons beginning with SOLSTICE I:

Post-pandemic lockdown inspiration can be found in the great planetary balancing act that has taken place since a cataclysmic impact with an asteroid caused mass extinction and set our earth’s orbit off axis. This AXIAL TILT, or obliquity, is responsible for the seasons, and life as we know it has evolved around these unleashed forces. As our lives and for many, careers, have spun dramatically off axis as of late, we look ahead to the coming seasons, with the hope that we can weather the changes, and maintain inner stability. To aid in this quest, Multi Culti promises to deliver sonic support with utmost regularity at the peak moments of cosmic significance, with each Solstice and Equinox.

Beginning this journey are some of the label’s most beloved artists. Israeli duo RED AXES provide a chakra-elevating soundtrack with their inimitable blend of psych-garage-tronica, a sun-kissed banger that signals a long-awaited return to the togetherness of the dancefloor.

ZILLAS ON ACID turn in a robustly wiggly jam that electrifies, frazzling zaps and frenetic percussion recall the fritzy tension of the past year, a cathartic shock-treatment for traumatized dancers looking to get back to prime spine-shaking shape.

Mexico managed to stay open for the most part, and TYU seems to have not skipped a beat here, still in perfect form after breaking out as one of the hottest young producers to emerge in recent years. Dark disco, Mexi-chug, call it what you want, but the emergent genre is never better represented than here… spooky, phosphorescent tribal dance, Tulumminati-tested and approved.

Finally, the big guy - MANFREDAS - whose remixes and edits have been highlight-reel material the past couple of years, delivers a long awaited original track with his requisite heavy-weight swag. Wonky tunings and a chunky downtempo beat underpin Manny’s trademark masterful arrangement style, building patiently, with breakdowns that managed to wring every last drop of impact out of an odd, other-worldy assortment of sounds.

Moscow-based producer and Mutabor resident Zots is a regular guest of the EYA Records universe. He already contributed to two highly successful releases and is now back on Lonewolf 008 to showcase his unique sound once again.

‘Molecules of Life EP’ is fresh and playful. Zots skilfully blends acid lines, spooky vocals, and eerie melodies into groovy and ready for the dance floor drum patterns...it’s a cosmic mind affair. Don’t miss it.

‘Expressions of Interest’ is the debut album from Melbourne/Naarm post-punk group screensaver.

Sonically, the 10 track album is rich and detailed, and pays homage to its era of inspiration (late 70s-mid 80s post-punk and new wave) with gripping vocals, dissonant guitar, melodic basslines, washes of synths and motorik drumming. Engineered by Julian Cue alongside band member Chris Stephenson and recorded over multiple studio sessions between 2020-2021

The album opens with the ominously titled ‘Body Parts’, an immediately arresting song that showcases the bands penchant for blending classic post-punk elements, leaning into a sound somewhere between the Banshees and Protomartyr.

Maynard doubles down on these themes in the frenetic second track, ‘No Movement’. Guttural organ tones swim under overdriven guitar, jagged and intense. Additional textures and sound effects are used percussively to embellish the dynamics, creating a feverish atmosphere with some Martin Hannett like flourishes.

The album takes a surprising turn into electronic driven krautrock on track three with 'Buy, Sell, Trade' - a rollicking piece of danceable ephemera, dominated by swirling synth sounds and punctuated with electronics reminiscent of Sparks/Moroder collaborations. Chris Stephenson's masterful guitar work begins with Greg Sage-esque determination before a crescendo into a lush Frippertronics outro.

'MEDS' transports us back to the foundation established on 'Body Parts', a gothy piece, full of tribal toms and dirge-y synths. Industrial punk rock nearly swallowed whole by the keys in the middle and slowly building back to complimentary guitar and vocal hooks.

It's from this point in the album that the band let's their other influences rise to the surface, as they explore touches of EDM on 'Static State' - a brutal, death-disco style track, Krystal Maynard's lead synth and gloomy vocal complimenting the pounding drums and dub-esque bass line culminating in a track worthy of the dancefloor.


Opening side two we have 'Skin', beginning with a solid and simple backbeat, James Beck’s post-punk percussion provides a steady and minimal framework for the rest of the band to colour in with great depth and detail. Giles Fielke’s bass guitar wobbles brilliantly leading the verse melody, whilst Chris Stephenson’s guitar drives the chorus that folds neatly in on itself.

In ‘Attention Economy’, Krystal Maynard is flexible with her lyrical style, and knows how and when to lend her voice to the greater backdrop of the composition. ‘Attention Economy’ has an almost Kraftwerkian structure - repetitious, but engaging with its constant tom driven beat, lush synth lines and minimal bass tones.

Just when you thought things had slowed down, screensaver ramp things right back up again with ‘Overnight Low’ - a no holds barred thumper. Giles Fielke underpins the hard-edged sound with his bassline, keeping things smooth and tight. It brings to mind a hybrid of PiL’s ‘Annalisa’ and Wire’s ‘Two People In a Room.’

Before you can catch your breath, we have ‘Regular Hours’ - another industrial track, and perhaps the sister song to ‘Static State’ heard earlier on side one. Seething electronic drum samples cut through an abyss of growling synths, Giles Fielke hanging up the bass temporarily to accompany Krystal Maynard on synth duties.

The album closes with the fittingly titled ‘Soft Landing’, literally bringing the listener back down...softly. The song is heavy on atmos, and resembles the aesthetics previously encountered on ‘Attention Economy’ a few tracks earlier.

‘Expressions of Interest” was recorded at various locations across Melbourne, with a handful of songs being captured before the start of the Covid pandemic in January 2020. With the recording timeline being drastically altered, the band shifted focus to work on what would become their first single ‘Strange Anxiety’, throughout the first months of the Melbourne 2020 lockdown.

After the success of critically acclaimed debut, SOS Music Volume 1 (praised by The Wire - ‘There isn’t a weak link’, RA, Gilles Peterson, Maryann Hobbs, Rough Trade, Love Injection, Mixmag, DJ mag, Basndcamp, Vinyl Factory etc.), the cutting edge Los Angeles electronic label are back with their sophomore release, another explosive compilation comprised of brand new female and female identifying talent.
The release, available on beautiful clear vinyl and digital features 7 of the most exciting emerging names in global dance music; Aura T-09, Closet Yi, Regular Fantasy + Yazzus to name a few. As dance floors open, SOS co-founders Maddy Maia and Tottie wanted to curate something positive, uplifting and reflective of sweaty summer dance floors, whilst retaining the edge that permeated their debut.
The release will be accompanied by an SOS tour North American + Europe at some of the most iconic global clubs - and expect mainly female, female identifying and non-binary artists on the bill.
Though only founded in 2020, SOS Music has been making waves in the independent dance community, and has helped to highlight the global underground dance scene growing rapidly in Los Angeles. The release made end of year lists including Bandcamp’s Best of Electronic and Rough Trade NY compilation of the year. SOS Music also hold a residency on Worldwide Fm, which continues to highlight ground breaking electronic talent with a female focus.

repressed !

Biogen's a different kind of musician, always travelling the road less trodden. All law's broken - no chords, no build-ups and no traditional drum patterns. Instead Biogen offers listener's fragmented shredding's, constant irritations, glitches, imbalance—and enough creative ideas to supply a whole battalion of electronic musicians. His works are full of contrast. Occasionally soft and mellow - like a cloud in trousers - Biogen would call that 'sofa-trance'. Other times the music's harsh and uncompromising with uncomfortable, irrational beats and glitches - 'Weird-core' - a vast uncharted territory. Some might be tempted to connect the contrast and contradictions in his music to his long battle with manic-depressive disorder. But the disparity in his music is its strength, confounding and delighting the listener.
It's five years since Biogen passed away, but his influence is keenly felt among Icelandic electronic musicians. In the early '90s, Sigurbjörn 'Bjössi' .orgrímsson was a pioneer of the modern electronic scene as a member of the old skool hardcore band Ajax, who for a short time counted Goldie as vocalist, and cemented his reputation for pushing the limits under his Biogen pseudonym. His musical creations weren't made to serve the past or the present, but the future.
Each release and concert offered something different. Concerts were supposed to be challenging and engaging. His releases were not easy to come by and often he'd sell his music on Laugavegur - to unsuspecting tourists intrigued by his Viking-like appearance or mesmerised by his big blue eyes. He was a friend and a mentor to many; in 1995 he was a founding member of Thule Records, and in 2007 one of the leading forces in the Weird-core movement, a group of artists focusing on the unconventional. He'd encourage young artists to release their music into the cosmos - to make mistakes and learn from them - and that wouldn't be done while sitting in a basement. Many have memories of their first gig, watching a tall and comforting figure hovering above everyone else in the crowd. That was him, and it happened rarely that he wasn't there.
A fair amount of tracks on 'Halogen Continues' are previously unreleased, or self-released in very small amounts. The music moves from 'Irrelevant Information' where Biogen illuminates on 'Stabastab" a mysterious international institute he dreamt up, originally on the 'Mutilyn' LP that he handmade and sold himself. It was an anti-LP, a non-linear album of drones, crackles and weirdness. 'Bliss' is from the 1996 double CD compilation entitled "Icelandic Dance Sampler' that he helped compile. '303 Ambient' one of the recent works of the "Weird-core" era - also a regular event showcasing abstract electronica. He was the front man of the movement; regularly performing in Reykjavik with shows included lots of break-beats and 303's.
His creativity and freedom from tradition have seen Biogen gathering appreciation as an artist with the passing of time, and are hand in hand with the concept of . The artwork by Tombo is inspired by the idea of eternity and reverence after death. Nina compiled the tracks much like other album journeys on - 'I was in the car driving in the middle of nowhere in Iceland when I heard Biogen's music for the first time. Dramatic weather conditions outside probably influenced that instant emotional connection that I had with his music. Later navigating through a large archive of his recordings it took me some time until the album took form. I picked the most idiosyncratic cuts that show his creative approach most brightly. Some of them are short cuts ending obnoxiously with a lot of temper and others gorgeous atmospheric narratives - so deep and haunting that it feels like they are not familiar with a notion of time and dissolve slowly into the eternity. It's been an honour and felt exciting to have complied his work, a responsibility I feel keenly, and I hope he would like his music together in this album.'
Biogen's friend the Icelandic musician Ruxpin (Jonas Gudmundsson) who has worked to collect together Biogen's musical legacy through his DAT recordings and hard drives, and kindly granted Nina access to the files, provided much of the text for the press release. Following the album release of 'Halogen Continues', a further album of Biogen's ambient and experimental works will be released on GALAXIID later this year.

Back in 2004, Vampisoul was extremely honoured to play a role in the return to recording of the legendary Joe Bataan, which fully materialized in the lauded 2005 album "Call My Name", written and produced by Daniel Collás.After being out of print for a while, the LP has now been revamped featuring new artwork and liner notes written by Andrew Mason and Daniel Collás, plus photos from the sessions.

“This whole project grew out of a song called 'Cycles Of You', which I had written around 2000-2001 with the guitarist and bassist of my band at the time, Easy. The chord progression and vocal melody really reminded me of Bataan, and it occurred to me that it wouldn't be impossible to get him into the studio to do a guest vocal if we ever recorded it. I had met Bataan a few years before at a small, family-reunion style show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in my neighborhood, where he not only still sounded great, but was also gracious and easy to talk to.

He was agreeable, so we decided to turn it into a Joe Bataan session and do 'Cycles Of You'. The funny thing is, 'Chick-A-Boom', a live favorite with Easy, was hastily added so we could have a B-side, but it ended up chosen to be the A-side of the single. When I got the opportunity from Vampisoul to do a full album, I was hoping Bataan and I could write some songs together, but our schedules proved tough to coordinate. I figured the best way to go about it was to do most of the work and just have him come sing on it. I thought this might be a little weird for him, since he is used to writing and producing most of his own records, but he was open to it.

The reactions to this album were gratifying. Diehard fans accepted it as a welcome addition to the canon and regularly compared it to some of my favorite records of Bataan's. At one point a New York radio station's listener poll listed two songs off of the album in the top ten of all-time best-loved Joe Bataan songs, and Ry Cooder enthusiastically mentioned "Call My Name" in a Wall Street Journal interview.” Daniel Collás, producer of "Call My Name".

Five years after the release of volume 1 of the collection “Collected Tape Experiments 1980-1984”, further sound experiments by this incredible Milanese duo re-emerge, never sufficiently valued and who in a few years managed to create hundreds of tracks, synthesizing different influences such as Throbbing Gristle, Residents, Kraftwerk and the arty extremisms of the “No New York” scene.

Whether it be on the banks of the Mississippi River or deep in the heart of the English countryside, rock 'n' roll lives, breathes, and burns on the outskirts. Hailing from Rome, GA, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, The Georgia Thunderbolts rise up with a scorching signature style steeped in soulful southern swagger. On, Can We Get A Witness, their full-length debut for Mascot Records, the quintet—TJ Lyle vocals, harp, piano, Riley Couzzourt [guitar], Logan Tolbert [guitar], Zach Everett [bass, keys], and Bristol Perry [drums]—conjure a tried-and-true spirit through a fresh fire.
“We all grew up on rock music,” Riley says. “Rock ‘n’ roll comes back around, but longevity depends on grinding it out. That’s what we want to do. We try to put in the work our favorite bands did. If I could think of three words to describe us, they would be ‘Hardworking, Determined, and Humble’.”




Gigging tirelessly, they cut their teeth by playing with Black Stone Cherry, The Kentucky Headhunters, Blackberry Smoke, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Molly Hatchet and The Cadillac Three. The band began when Bristol and Riley initially bonded over rock ‘n’ roll in high school. By sophomore year, they had a regular jam schedule, and eventually joined up Zack, TJ, and Logan to round out the group. They share a wide swath of inspirations, ranging from southern gospel to Hank Williams, Jr., Neil Young, Little Feet, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard to the hard rock of Ozzy Osbourne, Audioslave, Bad Company and of course, The Allman Brothers & Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The band recorded at the iconic Barrick Recording Studio in Glasgow, KY, with producer Richard Young. The album comprises of thirteen undeniable anthems, beginning with opener “Take It Slow.” Distilling whisky-soaked riffs, wild harmonica, and pulse-pounding drums into a simmering groove, it struts out of the gate with confidence and charisma. “There’s a message to what we’re doing,” Bristol leaves off. “It’s okay to be yourself. If you’re going through hard times, the music will always be there. We’d love to remind everyone of that.” The Georgia Thunderbolts embody the blue-collar working man who has put their foot down on the accelerator towards the rock ‘n roll American dream.

In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days.

Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there. Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.

Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.

Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).

The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974.
“I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.” (Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau)

BERTIE MARSHALL is a writer/ performer. He is also an acclaimed memoirist, most well known for his book ‘Berlin Bromley’ (2006) about his transformation from Bertie, an anxious, androgynous, depressed teenager, into Berlin, a teenager who would reject suburban values and become a founding member of punk’s ‘Bromley Contingent’, alongside Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin and Billy Idol.

October 29th sees Upset The Rhythm release ‘Exhibit’ by Bertie Marshall, collecting for the first time his songs and spoken word tracks from this fertile period of the 80s-90s.

He’s currently working on ‘Looking: Backwards To Go Forwards’, picking up from where ‘Berlin Bromley’ left off. His other books include the debut novel ‘Psychoboys’ (1997), ‘Nowhere Slow’ (2014), ‘From Sleepwalking to Sleepwalking’ (2016), ‘Wild - re write’ (2017), ‘The Peeler’ (2018) and ‘Pete’s Underpants’ (2019). In 2015 the British Library purchased his writing archive.

From 1980-83, Bertie was the frontman for post-punk boundary-pushers Behaviour Red - they released one single (favourably played by John Peel), did a mini-tour and broke up. At various times Behaviour Red featured Noel Blanden of Normil Hawaiians and fine artist Nicola Tyson. Their sound was characterised by looseness and freedom, boasting at times tribal drumming, streams of vocals, dazed guitars and feedback. Bertie continued sketching out atmospheric compositions afterwards too, walking a tightrope between bewildered pop and gothic folk. Central to everything is Bertie’s commanding voice; heartfelt, impassioned and masterfully leading you through the story.

Bertie became interested in spoken word and performance poetry in the 90s, which then led him into writing and performing in his own plays and devised theatre pieces. He did regular readings and performances in NYC and began writing books inspired by the visceral talents of Acker & Burroughs. Having lived in Berlin, San Francisco, and Brittany, Bertie now lives in London.

Both regulars of the club, arts and queer scenes of New York, Berlin and London of the last three decades, it's surprising Wolfgang Tillmans and Honey Dijon only met five years ago. A walk between clubs in Brooklyn resulted in the two having a mutual interest to collaborate. Busy as both are, the wait was long, but well worth it. This week's release of Honey Dijon's Euphoria Mix of 'Can't Escape into Space' sets the tone for what is left of this summer: Our desire to be together, with friends and strangers, close up on dancefloors, festivals and open airs. Honey's and Wolfgang's shared unapologetic spirit comes alive as Dijon transforms Tillmans's original song into an electrifying dance floor banger. As we can already sense a reawakening of our freedom blowing in the air, even if many clubs remain closed, the two musicians' call to come together again is euphoric and inescapable.
The original version of the song was released last winter in the midst of lockdown, accompanied by a video showing an empty nightclub and its mirror balls performing for the camera, filmed in 2017 by Tillmans, in pre-pandemic Fire Island. A new video accompanies Honey Dijon's Euphoria mix with three vignettes of longing and passion.

* Limited edition vinyl release presented in full colour sleeve.
* Suv & Dr Meaker link up to create a 3 track project, complete with 2 additional mixes from Jungle D&B don Bladerunner.
* As part of the V, Reprazent, Full Cycle, Dope Dragon and Playside Recordings camps Suv has always forged his own path within D&B. Experimentation has always been at the core of his musical journey and, over the years he has been behind some of the freshest and most forward-thinking music this genre has to offer.
* Dr Meaker has built up an impressive CV, gaining nods from the likes of Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, DJ Target, Mistajam, support from UKF, Mixmag, DJ Mag, DNBA and more, as well as regular bookings at festivals such as Glastonbury and Boomtown.

Clear Vinyl

Perc returns to Perc Trax with an EP designed to capture the energy and chaos of rave without relying on the same classic sounds that have been in constant use since the early 90's. 'Greed Dance' is Perc's first full EP in 14 months, following 'Fire In Negative' on Perc Trax back in September 2020. Since then Perc has pushed through lockdown with an intense production regime resulting in tracks being signed to Lebendig, Possession, RAW and Rote Sonne, as well as this EP for Perc Trax.

Originally started at Christmas last year, lead track 'Greed Dance' started life as an anger fueled full vocal track aimed squarely at the hypocrisy of certain sections of the dance music industry, but over time has been stripped down to a tight rhythm track with sparse vocal elements reflecting a change of mood as the UK's clubs and events were finally allowed to open again this summer.

B1 ' Resistor' takes a similar approach as previous Perc release 'Toxic NRG', looking to squeeze maximum dance floor drama out of a small group of continually tweaked sounds. Finally B2 track '240 Volts' layers rapid fire organ arpeggios over a rock solid kick & bass foundation to create something fresh for both Perc and techno in general.

'Greed Dance' will be released on limited edition cola bottle green 12" vinyl, packaged in a full colour double-sided sleeve designed by regular Perc Trax design crew Adult Art Club. The EP was written & produced by Perc at his home studio and mixed down by Perc at MAP Studios in London. The EP was
mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis, London

Kingston Jamaica's well known and always forward operating Dancehall creators Equiknoxx in special collaboration with eclectic Twin Cities USA newcomers Feel Free Hi Fi. 4 tracks with 4 dub versions of experimental electronic dancehall.

The records come in double sided silkscreen printed DJ jackets, with Obi Strip style stickers and hand stamped white labels created and printed by Digital Sting.

To many, Equiknoxx needs little introduction. The musical collective of Gavsborg, Time Cow, Shanique Marie, Bobby Black Bird and Kemikal has been operating on an international level for many years now. Their debut, 2016’s Bird Sound Power was met with critical acclaim. Since then Equiknoxx has released two more full length albums, many singles, collaborations and have consistently performed around the globe

During the inception of Feel Free Hi Fi as a Sound System in the Twin Cities, Equiknoxx productions were in heavy rotation. Their distinct approach to Dancehall, Dub and Electronic music felt like a sound that Reed and Maxwell had been waiting to hear for a long time. The initial connection with Time Cow via social media soon turned into a regular correspondence, hang outs in NYC and this musical collaboration.

The record is simple in premise but dynamic in resulting sounds. The record features original rhythm offerings from Gavsborg, Time Cow and Feel Free Hi Fi (in collaboration with W. Statler of Free Music). All rhythms were swapped and dubbed, creating eight tracks in total. A release with a basis in international correspondence and similar interests in sonic exploration, we kept it fun, we kept it simple, but we think the rhythms and the dubs stand up quite nice.

Storage units hold possessions on pause from the outside world, objects capable of reconnecting us to a time or place. Hana Vu (born in 2000s California) grew up with her family making regular use of public storage spaces in Los Angeles, moving every few years, leaving a mix of the sacred and the mundane to sit inside concrete and steel. The 20-year-old musician sees the art of making and releasing songs in a similar sense: “these public expressions of thoughts, feelings, baggage, experiences that accumulate every year and fill little units such as ‘albums.’” She lived next to one of these buildings when she started writing her full-length Ghostly International debut, Public Storage, and its towering presence lends a metaphor to a record that sounds far bigger than the bedroom it came from.

Vu’s relationship with music began when she picked up a guitar her dad had lying around and taught herself to play. She’d wake up every day and listen to LA’s ALT 98.7, home to ‘90s and ‘00s alternative rock; later in high school, she found the local DIY scene. She remembers, “A lot of my peer musicians were surf rock/punk type bands and so I tried to fit into that when I was gigging around. But what I was listening to at that time St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens was very different from what I performed.” Ultimately she’d do her own thing, keeping a journal of bedroom pop ex-periments on Bandcamp, including a low-key Willow Smith collaboration and covers of The Cure and Phil Collins. She caught the ear of Gorilla vs. Bear, who released Vu’s self-produced debut EP in 2018 on their Luminelle Recordings imprint, followed by a double EP the next year.

Public Storage builds on the sound of Vu’s early work underscoring her strengths as a songwriter with a deeper sense of luster, sophistication, and urgency. She calls it “very invasive and intense sounding music,” refreshingly out of step with contemporary trends; this is music to engage with rather than lean back to. For the first time, she welcomes a co-producer, Jackson Phillips (Day Wave), who helps Vu create a vast, grainy, multifaceted world to stretch into vocally, her distinct contralto drifting freely between evocative low-lit ruminations and soulful, skyward bursts.

Storage units hold possessions on pause from the outside world, objects capable of reconnecting us to a time or place. Hana Vu (born in 2000s California) grew up with her family making regular use of public storage spaces in Los Angeles, moving every few years, leaving a mix of the sacred and the mundane to sit inside concrete and steel. The 20-year-old musician sees the art of making and releasing songs in a similar sense: “these public expressions of thoughts, feelings, baggage, experiences that accumulate every year and fill little units such as ‘albums.’” She lived next to one of these buildings when she started writing her full-length Ghostly International debut, Public Storage, and its towering presence lends a metaphor to a record that sounds far bigger than the bedroom it came from.

Vu’s relationship with music began when she picked up a guitar her dad had lying around and taught herself to play. She’d wake up every day and listen to LA’s ALT 98.7, home to ‘90s and ‘00s alternative rock; later in high school, she found the local DIY scene. She remembers, “A lot of my peer musicians were surf rock/punk type bands and so I tried to fit into that when I was gigging around. But what I was listening to at that time St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens was very different from what I performed.” Ultimately she’d do her own thing, keeping a journal of bedroom pop ex-periments on Bandcamp, including a low-key Willow Smith collaboration and covers of The Cure and Phil Collins. She caught the ear of Gorilla vs. Bear, who released Vu’s self-produced debut EP in 2018 on their Luminelle Recordings imprint, followed by a double EP the next year.

Public Storage builds on the sound of Vu’s early work underscoring her strengths as a songwriter with a deeper sense of luster, sophistication, and urgency. She calls it “very invasive and intense sounding music,” refreshingly out of step with contemporary trends; this is music to engage with rather than lean back to. For the first time, she welcomes a co-producer, Jackson Phillips (Day Wave), who helps Vu create a vast, grainy, multifaceted world to stretch into vocally, her distinct contralto drifting freely between evocative low-lit ruminations and soulful, skyward bursts.

The long awaited Jorun PMC album is finally here! Available on all formats – double vinyl, download from Jorun and Phill’s bandcamp pages plus limited CD and Cassette. Jorun Bombay and Phill Most Chill have impressive individual catalogues and together on AE Productions have a clutch of vinyl releases as Jorun PMC stemming from the debut ‘Magic Disco Machine’ EP with the associated 7” ‘The Champ’ from 2013. After a brief hiatus while working on other projects they returned with the ‘Check Out This’ 12” in September 2018 followed by the Stay Back (Keep Your Distance) b/w Sammy Davis 7” in February 2019. Due to some delays at the label the album was unfortunately delayed from it’s intended 2019 release but is now available including stunning sleeve artwork by the amazing Dan
Lish with design and layout by regular AE artwork supremo Mr Krum.

Carwyn Ellis from Cardiff/Wales is a singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He fronts Colorama, formed the Welsh folk group Bendith and hosts a regular themed radio show on Soho Radio. In 2019, Ellis embarked on the first project under his own name, Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18. Sung in Welsh and recorded mainly in Rio de Janeiro, the album, "Joia!" was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize and followed by "Mas" in early 2020. The new album "Yn Rio" is a collection of new songs recorded in Cardiff together with The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales.

In 2017 Carwyn Ellis joined the touring line-up of The Pretenders. For Ellis, a record collector and fan of Brazilian music, the opportunity to tour South America would present opportunities he couldn't have possibly imagined when he accepted Chrissie Hynde's invitation. "The first place we went to was Rio and by the time I met Chrissie for breakfast the day after our gig, I already had a bag of albums I'd just bought. I'm sitting with her and she says, 'You should meet my mates, and do something in Welsh with them! Nobody's done a Welsh language album with Brazilian musicians?"

In 2018, when Alexandre Kassin, a leading light in that Brazilian scene announced a show in London, Hynde suggested that they see it. "I met him afterwards," Ellis recalls, "and we hit it off straight away." Within weeks, Ellis was on a plane to Rio with songs that would form the basis of the first album. This creative purple patch extended into another album released early in 2021 with Carwyn working once again with Kassin plus long-time friend Shawn Lee. The songs on "Mas" drew on the environmental threats that face both Wales and South America, spidering out around the central theme of water ("rains, no rain, droughts, rising seas and flooded valleys for corporate gain. We're screwed without it and screwed if there's too much").

With "Mas" recorded but weeks away from release, Ellis received a call from Gareth Iwan Jones, head producer of BBC Radio Cymru, offering a third album to be performed in March 2021. Ellis started to reflect upon the life-changing events triggered by his South American adventures. The Welsh word 'hiraeth' which describes the longing that Welsh people feel when they're far from home, was something that he was now beginning to feel for Rio de Janeiro: "'Yn Rio' is based around a day in Rio," he explains. "The events of 2020 influenced the record inasmuch as I wanted it to be a complete antidote to what was going on. If you couldn't go on holiday in real life, you could at least put this record on."

The first single "Olá!", incorporating Jorge Ben's spirit in the chorus and rhythmic breakdown, manages to sound languorous and euphoric. "Cariad, Cariad" was a Portuguese folk poem brought to Ellis' attention by Sonya from Quarteto em Cy and arranged by Christiaan Oyens. "Tristwch 20" is a nod to "Foot and Mouth 68" by Gorkys Zygotic Mynci from "The Blue Trees", 'one of the most beautiful albums of all time', while "Ynys Aur" is named after a 1929 book by Welsh missionary J. Luther Thomas written on returning from his travels to Papua New Guinea. With Kassin unable to participate, Ellis thanks him by translating his "A Paisagem Morta" to create "Y Bywyd Llonyd". For Carwyn Ellis "Yn Rio" is an extraordinary memorial to extraordinary times."There are some days so idyllic you just want tobe able to jump back into them at the touch of a button. That's what I was searching for when I was writing these songs."

We now have a superb new remix which has a very different feel to the original version thanks to Mac McRaw’s expertise in using his weapon of choice, the Emu SP1200 famed for that authentic much prized 12-bit grit. Plus, the original LP version now available on the recurringly popular 7” format.

Fellow Vinyl Veteran and regular AE designer Mr Krum has beautifully recreated the feel of early 90’s Electra Records sleeve artwork as to a nod to Grand Puba’s debut solo recordings, having already been a member of 2 sterling Hip Hop groups – Brand Nubian and prior to that Masters Of Ceremony.