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Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of sixties combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk, keyboard maestro Brian Auger created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm. Auger’s unique experimentation culminated in rhythm-infused jazz funk that united Black and white ’70s audiences. The 6 studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group’s diverse musical influences and progression, from the 1970 self titled debut’s heavy jazz-rock to the jazz fusion, latin and disco tinged Reinforcements from 1975 - this process no doubt powered by the groups’ evolving line up, which included guitarists Jim Mullen and Jack Mills, drummers Robbie McIntosh & Steve Ferrone, bassists Barry Dean and Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. The musical highlights within Complete Oblivion are many, but particular highlights to mention have to be Total Eclipse (Oblivion Express), Fill Your Head With Laugher (A Better Land), the blistering cover of Eddie Harris’ Freedom Jazz Dance (Second Wind), the Barry Dean composition Whenever You're Ready, the version of Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Closer To It), Beginning Again (Straight Ahead) and the mind bending keyboard tour de force Brain Damage (Reinforcements). Given the groups legendary status among fellow musicians such as Zucchero and Herbie Hancock, DJ’s like Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson and Auger’s legion of fans worldwide - that mission was fully accomplished - or to put it another way, in the words of super fans The Beastie Boys: “Those who remain oblivious to the obvious delights of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express do so at their own risk!”

Dead Times is Lee Buford (The Body, Sightless Pit, Manslaughter 777) and Steven Vallot (Muslin). The duo originally began working together in 2008 while living together in Providence DIY space The Sickle, and releasing the early records from The Body and The Assembly of Light Choir on their short-lived Aum War label. They quickly achieved cult status with just two limited releases. Those releases have become highly coveted rarities for The Body fans and those familiar with the world of Providence, Rhode Island"s legendary DIY scene, which gave rise to artists like Lightning Bolt and Black Dice. Emerging over a decade later, Dead Times connects the threads of the untethered extremes of their origins to the mastery of production, composition, and structure each member has cultivated in their time apart. On their debut self-titled full-length, Dead Times present a kind of mesmeric dread, a world of desperate beauty wrapped in sonic venom. Buford and Vallot each bring wells of experience and new skill to Dead Times since their days living together in dilapidated warehouses. The duo"s shared history remains an essential element to their chemistry, but each has sharpened their craft to harness that raw creativity into music that is fearless, poignant and undeniably unique. A band"s band, but not for long. Dead Times, the duo"s first album, is staggering in its ambitions and exquisite in its execution. Lee Buford is known for his prolific work in acts including The Body, Sightless Pit, Everyone Asked About You, and more, alongside numerous collaborations with the likes of Full Of Hell, BIG|BRAVE, Thou, OAA, and Siege Engine. Steven Vallot is known for his collaborative work both musically, and artistically, with artists such as Krieg, The Body, Whitehorse, and Drew McDowall.

Appleton, Wisconsin’s Dusk may seem to have fallen from the sky. Surrounded by a music climate of destination festivals and instagram celebrity, they’ve remained reclusive, yet focused on the proverbial
carrot on the end of the stick that’s hard for so many working musicians to define. For the past four years, they’ve maintained a steady schedule of recording and “hitting the dirt,” as they say: spending weeks on the road playing dives and basements. The group was conceived in 2014 as a casual recording project between vocalist and bassist Amos Pitsch and drummer Colin Wilde. Amos had just
completed recording Predatory Headlights, the critically acclaimed double album by his other group, Tenement, and with the new found down time, he and Colin arranged their own versions of vintage
soul songs. The intention was to treat the project like a revolving door for collaborators, but soon the permanent additions of vocalist/pianist Julia Blair, lead guitarist Tyler Ditter, and Ryley Crowe on pedal steel, rhythm guitar, and vocal duties would cement the band into a connsistent rock and roll ensemble; informed by soul music, country, jazz, and beyond.

The sophomore album from The Three O'Clock found the band further blending psychedelic pop with
contemporary sounds. Producer, Earle Mankey, encouraged the band in their experimentation. The
result yielded a college-radio hit, "Jet Fighter," which remains one of the group's most well-known
songs. Other standouts include, "A Day In Erotica," "Stupid Einstein," "Fall to the Ground," and their
version of the Bee Gees "In My Own Time". This album positioned the band at the forefront of the
Paisley Underground scene. Many fans and critics consider this to be their masterpiece. For the
album's 40th anniversary, the album was remastered by Bill Inglot and Dave Schultz. Additionally, the
band decided to update the cover art and give the album two front covers with no back cover. The LP
lacquer was cut at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and pressed at Citizen Vinyl on clear green vinyl

"Ruiner" the new full-length LP from time-honored US black metal entity
KRIEG will see its release on Oct 13
"Ruiner" is the first full- length from the cult US black metal force since 2014's
"Transient" and is a despondent expression that captures the classic KRIEG
complexion which has solidified KRIEG as a vanguard and pioneer of US black
metal.
Even though "Ruiner" is the first KRIEG full-length album in nine years, KRIEG has
continued to remain active leading up to its long-awaited release through various
splits, collabs and EPs. This all culminated in that moment for "Ruiner" to
ultimately manifest itself.
"Ruiner" is unrepentant and remorseless black metal in the reflective manner
KRIEG and mastermind N. Jameson have always been known for. Most-notably
that of the savage and unhinged aura present in the triarchy of classic KRIEG
works, namely "Destruction Ritual" (2001), "The Black House" (2004), and "Blue
Miasma" (2006) while maintaining that harsh, sorrowful and cold- blooded
melancholic aura

On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny
Pierce plunges into the work of healing from childhood trauma and the
long shadow it casts over adulthood
The sparkling, eponymous Jonny unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger
selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong.
Playful, heartbreaking, raucous, and serene all in turn, Jonny embraces the mess
of life in all its facets. It renders the magic that happens when you fall in love with
yourself down to the marrow.
Soaring to alt- pop prestige on arrival, The Drums have released studio albums
that deftly walk the line of aching melancholy and irresistible pop sensibilities,
presented through a kaleidoscope of pastel guitars, reverb, modular synthesizers
and drum machines. It's a sound that's wholly unique, and unmistakably The
Drums.
The Drums' music remains timeless, as evidenced by the recent explosion of their
RIAA Gold- certified song Money, which first appeared on their breakout
sophomore album Portamento, reaching #1 on the Alternative Global Shazam
Chart and #2 on the TikTok Global Hashtag Chart

In the late 1980s, Disco was taking a backseat to the burgeoning psychedelic scene in San Francisco, marking a pivotal shift in musical culture. A dynamic transformation was underway as the younger generation sought a fresh auditory adventure, all while the devastating AIDS epidemic cast a somber pall over the city's nightlife. Amidst this evolving backdrop, a subtle yet distinct sonic movement quietly emerged within the confines of San Francisco’s vibrant club scene, often referred to as "The Beat." Although Hip-Hop, New Wave, Gothic, Punk, and the burgeoning Modern Rock genre held considerable sway, the pre-RAVE clubs in SF witnessed the fusion of these genres into a unique amalgam of sound that insiders dubbed “The Beat.” This musical tapestry encompassed everything from Hip-Hop and Freestyle to Industrial, New Wave, Boogie, Miami Bass, and Techno – the unifying thread being the distinctive vibe that characterised this eclectic mix.

As House, Techno, and Raving gradually gained prominence along the West Coast, a distinctive interpretation of these evolving sounds took root. Drawing inspiration from influential hubs like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Europe, and notably the UK, which saw a wave of talented young DJs migrate to California, San Francisco became the backdrop for its own version of the second Summer of Love. While the exact chronology might spark debate – some recalling '92, while others leaning towards '93 – what remains indisputable is the era spanning from 1990 to 1994, an unparalleled epoch of exuberant dancefloor revelry on the western shores.

In the face of limited backing from major labels or established independent dance music entities of the time, a grassroots movement of labels and producers emerged organically, ardently championing this distinct sound and catapulting it onto the global stage. This sonic identity was deeply influenced by “the Beat,” acting as a creative wellspring that informed the musical landscape. While the tracks compiled in these volumes might not encompass the entirety of this transformative musical epoch, they offer a vivid snapshot of the melodious tapestry that coloured San Francisco and the broader West Coast during that era. Each track featured stands as a 100% Sure Shot that was played heavily by DJ Spun back in those very heady days.

Finally, but by no means least, we unveil the third and concluding volume of this extensive, impeccably curated chronicle of San Francisco's underground rave scene and its unique soundscape. Mirroring the same fervour and meticulous track selection as the first two volumes, 'The Beat By Spun' is nothing less than indispensable for any dedicated music enthusiast, DJ, or dancer. Once again, this collection showcases an outstanding array of tracks, featuring music from talents like Mattski, Bass Kittens, Hawke, and Deep2, all maintaining the high standards set by the previous volumes. It's a blend of rarities, classics, and obscurities, combining to deliver an exhilarating, almost transcendental experience to those who dare to immerse themselves in the sonics!

The 11th and final studio album from Siouxsie and the Banshees - The Rapture was also as fresh and innovative as the first.
How the Banshees are able to remain vital and celebrated after almost two decades is down to their ever evolving and metamorphic spirit.
Only ever released on gatefold 2xLP vinyl outside of the UK, The Rapture's artwork has been reimagined and designed to rightly reflect this final Banshees offering.
Remastered from the original ¼' tapes and cut at half speed at Abbey Road studios, London.
Both artwork and audio have personally been overseen and orchestrated by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin.

If you were to ask for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind: from Fadoul’s “Sid Redad,” Dalton’s “Soul Brother” to Ahmed Malek’s “Omar Gatlato.” However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid Al Shaeri’s “Ayonha.” We heard the track for the first time when we were working on selecting tracks for your first compilation and we instantly loved it. We obviously had heard of Hamid El Shaeri’s music before, but only material from his Al Jeel phase when he was already the full-blown
superstar he is now.

Listening to his releases from the early 1980’s opened a whole new door for us. At the time, Hamid had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he recorded his first album. Hamid’s distinct sound of the sound is quintessentially reliant on heavy synths and so it was particularly important to purchase these synths in a timely manner. “Whenever a new one synthesizer would come out, we would have to buy it immediately, otherwise someone else would get their hands on that sound.” London also played an important role for Hamid as a musical epicenter.

He fondly reminisces about the many live shows he attended there, including some of the biggest international musicians like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. After returning to Cairo where he also recorded his following albums, he connected with SLAM! for the
release of his debut, laying the foundation of a collaboration that lasted for 5 albums. Luckily, we were able to connect with Hamid through our friend Youssra El Hawary, whose extensive network has opened many doors for us within the Egyptian music scene. We met Hamid for the first time probably in 2016 at his office / rehearsal studio in the outskirts Cairo. We were expecting a larger-than-life
character in-line with his status as a certified superstar, yet the actual person turned out to be very approachable and super easy to connect with. He liked the idea of an effort to amplify his early works again,
which, when originally released, were far from an economic success.

While he was down to assist with an interview and his blessing for the project he also told us that for any license we needed to speak with the original label SLAM! who released these songs, still held the rights and also remained in business over the decades though they didn’t actively release any new music. Hany Sabet had started SLAM! records in the early 1980s and focused on cassette tape releases, the
format that expedited the success of a new generation of record labels in Egypt. By the mid 1980’s, SLAM! had become one of the most successful and economically dominant record labels in Egypt, with Hamid El Shaeri being just one of their key artists, alongside Mohamed Mounir, Hanan, Hakim, Mustafa Amar and many more. Luckily, Hany Sabet turned out to be a friend of our colleague Malak Makar’s father, which probably helped to warm him to the idea of licen- sing “Ayonha” to this - in the scale of his world - tiny label
from Germany. Eventually “Ayonha” ended up becoming a widely successful release and either Hany or we brought up the idea of a full album dedicated to Hamid El Shaeri’s work on SLAM!.


"Maktoub Aleina” is the first single and will be released January 14th. Following the massive success of "Ayonha,” “Maktoub Aleina” is another mid-tempo groover with a beautiful, synth-forward melody, that brings together a lovely combination of soul, disco and Arabic pop music of the highest order, giving a taste of full album. The second single, “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” will be released January 28th and combines Hamid’s unique formula of soul and pop, held together by a catchy synth melody. “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” picks up the
pace a bit, making the uplifting mood of the track even more powerful. Third single, arriving February 11th, is “Dari Demou’ek,” one of the stand out tracks of Hamid’s early recordings done for SLAM! in the early 1980s. Dominated by a disco infused bassline, the track offers a lot of space of the funky production to shine while Hamid inserts his vocals at all the right moments. A masterpiece of disco touched by Arabic pop music.

Full album arrives February 25th. This release is dedicated to Hany Sabet, the founder of SLAM! and his wife Rosemary Jane Sabet (who
took the photos we used for the cover and the booklet), who sadly passed away during the time it took us to prepare the release.
Vinyl comes with an extensive booklet with an interview with Hamid as well as unseen photos

On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny Pierce plunges into the work of healing from childhood trauma and the long shadow it casts over adulthood. The sparkling, eponymous Jonny unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong. Playful, heartbreaking, raucous, and serene all in turn, Jonny embraces the mess of life in all its facets. It renders the magic that happens when you fall in love with yourself down to the marrow. Soaring to alt-pop prestige on arrival, The Drums have released studio albums that deftly walk the line of aching melancholy and irresistible pop sensibilities, presented through a kaleidoscope of pastel guitars, reverb, modular synthesizers and drum machines. It"s a sound that"s wholly unique, and unmistakably The Drums. The Drums" music remains timeless, as evidenced by the recent explosion of their RIAA Gold-certified song Money, which first appeared on their breakout sophomore album Portamento, reaching #1 on the Alternative Global Shazam Chart and #2 on the TikTok Global Hashtag Chart.

GER SMILE zeigen mit ihrem hervorragenden Debut PRICE OF PROGRESS leichtfüßig auf, dass Post Punk im Jahre 2023 noch immer erfrischend klingen kann. Sie nehmen ihre Referenzen nicht als Dogma, bleiben experimentell, eigensinnig. Erzählerisch, eingängig, rough und anschmiegsam verschmelzen dabei die feinsinnigen, poetischen Beobachtungen von Sängerin Rubee True Fegan (USA) mit dem versierten Sound einer Band, die von Produzent Olaf Opal genau dahin gebracht wurde, wo sie hingehört: an den Startblock innovativer, kluger und sinnlicher Gitarrenmusik. In PRICE OF PROGRESS manifestiert sich das Zusammenspiel aus musikalischem Sturm und Drang und der Reife einer reflektierten Erzählperspektive. Was hier entstanden ist, klingt nun, 2023, in seiner jugendlichen Frische durchaus nach einem Debut - gleichzeitig aber nach dem Werk einer erfahrenen, über lange Zeit gewachsenen Band. Nur deutsch klingt es nicht, was sicher im Wesen von Sängerin Rubees True Fegans Heimat Albuquerque (New Mexico) begründet liegt, gleichsam aber in der Vielseitigkeit, die sich SMILE erlauben - und ihrer einhergehenden Virtuosität an den Instrumenten. SMILE versuchen sich dabei - einem Post-Punk britischer Machart folgend - durchaus in homogener Geradlinigkeit (Herrengedeck), lassen Kühle zu (Machine Dreaming) und folgen einem düsteren Ernst (Säge). Diese Facetten aber vermengen sich mit einer heiteren Experimentierfreude (Stalemate, Produce, Hungry Ghosts), mit Humor (Doohickey), mit verträumter Beschwingtheit (Commuter) und Genresprengender Pop-Af finität (Protection). So zeigt sich dieses stilsichere Album in einer Vielseitigkeit, die heute selten zu finden ist - und klingt trotzdem wie aus einem Guss. Auch die ersten drei Singles zeigen gut das Panorama, das SMILE mit ihrem Debut aufmachen: Dog In The Manger erinnert zunächst an Talk Talks Happiness Is Easy, wechselt aber nach dem Drum-Intro schnell die Spur. Der Opener der Platte stellt Rubee als Sängerin vor, die, trotz einer gewissen Gelassenheit in der Performance, von Wut und Traurigkeit getrieben ist. Der Text ist eine politische Reflexion, ausgelöst vom gekippten Abtreibungsrecht in den USA, das sich mit einer alten griechischen Fabel verbindet. So startet das Album mit einem Rätsel und offenbart, das Musik noch immer eine Waffe sein kann - aus Sound, Herz und Verstand. In Doohickey, einem der beschwingtesten Songs der Platte, kramt Rubee in ihrer Erinnerung, besucht ihre verstorbene Großmutter, eine unfreundliche alte Frau, die in ihrem Haus hortete, was sie fand. So entsteht eine Kurzgeschichte über die weirdest person alive und zeigt SMILE als Band, in der Text und Musik nicht konkurrieren, sondern stets Symbiose feiern. Zackig und temporeich wie das erzählte Leben kommen auch Gitarren und Rhythmussektion daher, finden zu einer soghaften Dynamik, ohne mit billigen Sing-alongs zu arbeiten. Protection, die dritte Single, ist wohl das eigensinnigste Stück der Platte, erzeugt, gesanglich pendelnd zwischen Blood Orange und Bands wie Siouxsie & The Banshees oder Bow Wow Wow, eine breite und intensive Palette, bringt einen The Fall-artigen Witz ein und wird zwischen den vermittelten Gefühlen zur Achterbahnfahrt. Das Stück schrieb Gitarrist Lars Fritzsche, mit dem Ziel, einen klassischen Hit zu schaffen (gelungen, wenn auch nicht klassisch!) - und schuf in der Offenheit des Songs dabei eine perfekte Fläche, die nun gleich mehrere Stimmen der Band versammelt. Im Zentrum: Rubee, die hier einen Text performt, der zwischen Traum und Cut-up ihren poetischen Glanz scheinen lässt. Die aus der Hüfte geschüttelte Dramaturgie ist dabei Paradebeispiel für die Innovation einer der spannendsten neuen Gitarrenbands, die nun auf dem Indielabel Siluh (Wien) eine Heimat zwischen Köln, Bonn und Albuquerque gefunden hat. Wahnsinn! (Hendrik Otremba)

ENG SMILE IS A POST-PUNK BAND WITH A SINGER, WHO PREFERS NOT TO SING. INSTEAD, SHE INTONES HER POETIC STORIES SPIKED WITH PERSONAL REFLECTIONS. With their excellent debut PRICE OF PROGRESS, SMILE light-footedly show that post punk can still sound refreshing in 2023. They don't take their references as dogma, remain experimental, stubborn. Narrative, catchy, rough and cuddly, the subtle, poetic observations of singer Rubee True Fegan (USA) merge with the accomplished sound of a band that producer Olaf Opal has put exactly where it belongs: on the starting block of innovative, clever and sensual guitar music. In PRICE OF PROGRESS, the interplay of musical Sturm und Drang and the maturity of a reflective narrative perspective manifests itself. Ltd pink vinyl LP!

GER SMILE zeigen mit ihrem hervorragenden Debut PRICE OF PROGRESS leichtfüßig auf, dass Post Punk im Jahre 2023 noch immer erfrischend klingen kann. Sie nehmen ihre Referenzen nicht als Dogma, bleiben experimentell, eigensinnig. Erzählerisch, eingängig, rough und anschmiegsam verschmelzen dabei die feinsinnigen, poetischen Beobachtungen von Sängerin Rubee True Fegan (USA) mit dem versierten Sound einer Band, die von Produzent Olaf Opal genau dahin gebracht wurde, wo sie hingehört: an den Startblock innovativer, kluger und sinnlicher Gitarrenmusik. In PRICE OF PROGRESS manifestiert sich das Zusammenspiel aus musikalischem Sturm und Drang und der Reife einer reflektierten Erzählperspektive. Was hier entstanden ist, klingt nun, 2023, in seiner jugendlichen Frische durchaus nach einem Debut - gleichzeitig aber nach dem Werk einer erfahrenen, über lange Zeit gewachsenen Band. Nur deutsch klingt es nicht, was sicher im Wesen von Sängerin Rubees True Fegans Heimat Albuquerque (New Mexico) begründet liegt, gleichsam aber in der Vielseitigkeit, die sich SMILE erlauben - und ihrer einhergehenden Virtuosität an den Instrumenten. SMILE versuchen sich dabei - einem Post-Punk britischer Machart folgend - durchaus in homogener Geradlinigkeit (Herrengedeck), lassen Kühle zu (Machine Dreaming) und folgen einem düsteren Ernst (Säge). Diese Facetten aber vermengen sich mit einer heiteren Experimentierfreude (Stalemate, Produce, Hungry Ghosts), mit Humor (Doohickey), mit verträumter Beschwingtheit (Commuter) und Genresprengender Pop-Af finität (Protection). So zeigt sich dieses stilsichere Album in einer Vielseitigkeit, die heute selten zu finden ist - und klingt trotzdem wie aus einem Guss. Auch die ersten drei Singles zeigen gut das Panorama, das SMILE mit ihrem Debut aufmachen: Dog In The Manger erinnert zunächst an Talk Talks Happiness Is Easy, wechselt aber nach dem Drum-Intro schnell die Spur. Der Opener der Platte stellt Rubee als Sängerin vor, die, trotz einer gewissen Gelassenheit in der Performance, von Wut und Traurigkeit getrieben ist. Der Text ist eine politische Reflexion, ausgelöst vom gekippten Abtreibungsrecht in den USA, das sich mit einer alten griechischen Fabel verbindet. So startet das Album mit einem Rätsel und offenbart, das Musik noch immer eine Waffe sein kann - aus Sound, Herz und Verstand. In Doohickey, einem der beschwingtesten Songs der Platte, kramt Rubee in ihrer Erinnerung, besucht ihre verstorbene Großmutter, eine unfreundliche alte Frau, die in ihrem Haus hortete, was sie fand. So entsteht eine Kurzgeschichte über die weirdest person alive und zeigt SMILE als Band, in der Text und Musik nicht konkurrieren, sondern stets Symbiose feiern. Zackig und temporeich wie das erzählte Leben kommen auch Gitarren und Rhythmussektion daher, finden zu einer soghaften Dynamik, ohne mit billigen Sing-alongs zu arbeiten. Protection, die dritte Single, ist wohl das eigensinnigste Stück der Platte, erzeugt, gesanglich pendelnd zwischen Blood Orange und Bands wie Siouxsie & The Banshees oder Bow Wow Wow, eine breite und intensive Palette, bringt einen The Fall-artigen Witz ein und wird zwischen den vermittelten Gefühlen zur Achterbahnfahrt. Das Stück schrieb Gitarrist Lars Fritzsche, mit dem Ziel, einen klassischen Hit zu schaffen (gelungen, wenn auch nicht klassisch!) - und schuf in der Offenheit des Songs dabei eine perfekte Fläche, die nun gleich mehrere Stimmen der Band versammelt. Im Zentrum: Rubee, die hier einen Text performt, der zwischen Traum und Cut-up ihren poetischen Glanz scheinen lässt. Die aus der Hüfte geschüttelte Dramaturgie ist dabei Paradebeispiel für die Innovation einer der spannendsten neuen Gitarrenbands, die nun auf dem Indielabel Siluh (Wien) eine Heimat zwischen Köln, Bonn und Albuquerque gefunden hat. Wahnsinn! (Hendrik Otremba)

ENG SMILE IS A POST-PUNK BAND WITH A SINGER, WHO PREFERS NOT TO SING. INSTEAD, SHE INTONES HER POETIC STORIES SPIKED WITH PERSONAL REFLECTIONS. With their excellent debut PRICE OF PROGRESS, SMILE light-footedly show that post punk can still sound refreshing in 2023. They don't take their references as dogma, remain experimental, stubborn. Narrative, catchy, rough and cuddly, the subtle, poetic observations of singer Rubee True Fegan (USA) merge with the accomplished sound of a band that producer Olaf Opal has put exactly where it belongs: on the starting block of innovative, clever and sensual guitar music. In PRICE OF PROGRESS, the interplay of musical Sturm und Drang and the maturity of a reflective narrative perspective manifests itself. Ltd pink vinyl LP!

Obscure British prog-rock band Mighty Baby evolved from a Mod group called The Action, but moved heavily into experimental psychedelia in 1969, when they cut an incredible debut for the Head label. Glastonbury Fayre Festival 1971 captures the legendary group in live action, ‘A Blanket In My Muesli’ being a free-form jam that remains their best-loved effort; ‘India’ is a similarly hefty instrumental mega-jam with lilting flute amidst the bluesy guitar work, and there are awesome renditions of ‘Virgin Spring,’ ‘Devil’s Whisper’ and ‘Lazy Days.’ If you like your prog thoughtful, complex, and multi-layered, this one’s for you!

I feel a deep sense of loss listening to this music, but at the same time the possibility of going beyond it through sound. It doesn't want to illustrate anything, but I would like it to be transformative, even of a feeling that sounds like death. It is an elegy." — Furtherset

The Infinite Hour is a shattered elegy synthesized in electronics. Furtherset's music does not explain, settle or justify, it rather simply manifests the grip of anguish. As a whole, the album's six compositions resemble the labored breathing of one who mourns a disappearance and fears oblivion. A feeling like having one's chest weighed down by a stone, while still being attentive to one's breath, and aware of what remains. From this dimension The Infinite Hour arises and transfigures loss into a space that is always extending: the hour is infinite, the melody is circular, and even stasis has its own measure that is exceeded into eternity.

The album was created between 2020 and 2022, in a slow process of writing and continuous refinement parallel to the previous EP, Auras. The compositions found their final form during the mixing process carried out together with composer & sound artist Bienoise (Mille Plateaux). They were later named based on references to authors who influenced and are dear to Furtherset: Amelia Rosselli, Vladimir Chlebnikov, Hubert Damisch, Dante Alighieri. Each track, composed with its live rendition in mind, manifests itself to the listener as a possible variant of a path that is never definitive. Their live performance, an increasingly distinctive moment within Furtherset's work, is a gesture of concentration and extension, where every composition is developed through meticulous variations of each singularity.

The Infinite Hour is one possible manifestation of an ever-changing musical landscape, a universe with unmistakable sounds but always on the verge of disintegrating, collapsing, and opening up spaces, times, infinities.

Furtherset is the musical project of artist and musician Tommaso Pandolfi (1995). His compositions' distinctive traits are stratifications and recursive shifting modulations, synthetic clusters and sampling, alongside rhythmic and embracing harmonies. The project is envisaged as formal research that follows a path towards saturation and layering, but is always capable of generating voids in which the listener can take their place and fill them according to their own focus.

The eponymous debut disc from German-Swedish supergroup 4
Wheel Drive went straight to the top spot as Best-Selling Jazz Album
In Germany For 2019. And the media didn’t hold back with their
praise either: “Four first-league jazz musicians with pure joy of playing
and a love of good pop music,” said ZDF’s ‘heute-journal’ about this
spirited and enjoyable group that combines trombonist / singer Nils
Landgren, pianist Michael Wollny, bassist / cellist Lars Danielsson
and drummer Wolfgang Haffner.
 For ‘4 Wheel Drive II’, it is evident that things have shifted up a gear
right from the start, with the rocky, pulsating opening track, ‘Chapter
II’, straight from Wollny’s compositional workbench. Landgren likes to
let his trombone roar like a sports car engine. In similarly dynamic
vein are pieces like Danielsson’s final track of the album, ‘The
Wheelers’, which, thanks to Haffner’s nimble brushwork, makes you
think you’re on a high speed train.
 Compared to the first album, there has been another change, an
increase in the proportion of original compositions written by all of the
participants, as Lars Danielsson, who has contributed a sensitive,
poppy ballad to the new album, ‘Just Another Hour’, remarks.
“Interpretations of worldwide hit songs were a factor behind the huge
success of the debut album, but the ratio to original compositions
here is getting closer to 50:50. That said, the fuel powering 4 Wheel
Drive has remained the same: this band is all about creating music
from deep within, and with like-minded people whom you can
absolutely and implicitly trust to be in the driving seat.”
 “It just flows,” enthuses drummer Haffner, “we’re a group of close
friends with nothing we need to prove, we can just go for it. I've had
so many magic moments with this band, it really is incredible!”
 On the new album, listeners are treated to several new moments of
pure magic, continuing 4 Wheel drive’s illustrious story. For example,
their new instrumental version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic,
‘Sound of Silence’, has something mysteriously Nordic about it. Or
their newly-cast version of the surprisingly infrequently covered
Genesis ballad, ‘Hold On My Heart’, putting it into a jazz context. The
courage to approach pop tunes that have become so ingrained in
many people’s minds from a completely different perspective pays off
in full. Within 4 Wheel Drive are four originals at work, each of whom
can be recognised from the very first note they play or sing.

South London ne-er-do-wells Meatraffle make huge strides forward with this third album of funky trumpet-laced street pop combining a caustic wit with a tender heart. “The best band in the country bar none!” Fat White Family // “A collective of individuals who refuse to be pigeonholed…..they conjure a rich, imaginative and often simply funny world” The Quietus // “Humorous alt-punk…potent…surreal” CLASH // “Their direct and confrontational attitude has not been seen since punk really grabbed England by the balls” FAR OUT // “Your mind will be liberated” Louder Than War // Meatraffle are thrilled to announce they will be releasing 'Base and Superstructure', their third studio album on Blang Records on 29.09.2023. Recorded during lockdown, produced & mixed by Meatraffle keyboardist Chris OC, Dante Traynor (SWEAT, Fat White Family 'Feet'), additional mixing by Angelica Björnsson (Hi - Texas feat. Wu Tang Clan) and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, I Monster, The Moonlandingz), ‘Base and Superstructure’ marks a new sonic departure for the band rightly acknowledged as godfathers of the now infamous South London scene, centred around the Windmill in Brixton. The band will be touring in support of the new album later in the year. Founded in 2014, Meatraffle have toured extensively across the UK and Europe as both a headline act and support to the likes of Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods and Warmduscher. Festival appearances include SXSW, Green Man and Liverpool Psych Fest. In addition to their previous two LPs ('Hi Fi Classics' and 'Bastard Music'), the band have released singles on Dan Carey's Speedy Wunderground and Moshi Moshi, plus numerous remixes including 'Meatraffle on the Moon' by the one and only Andrew Weatherall. The band have also played sessions for Marc Riley (BBC 6Music) plus regular plays from other 6Music DJs including Iggy Pop, Gideon Coe and Amy Lamé. “We were looking for labels for a while, sending out demos to small ‘indie’ labels to which we often had the response, “we really like it but we’re not signing anyone at the moment”, which feels like the new “don’t call us we’ll call you!”... We knew we had a good record so didn’t get knocked back and knew it would be a climb as many of these small and large ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ labels can be even more conservative than the mainstream, I guess having less money and therefore having to ‘play it safe’. We bumped into Blang one night at The George Tavern and instantly had a good feeling about them…and guess what? They loved the music!” - Meatraffle frontman, Zsa Zsa Sapien. Genre-bending independent label Blang Records is a wildly non-commercial label firmly rooted in the DIY/anything goes attitude of punk and antifolk, and has remained consistent in its commitment to releasing outsider music by the likes of David Cronenberg's Wife, Jack Medley's Secure Men, Brix & The Extricated, Milk Kan, Thomas Truax and many more. Live Dates: 13th July 2023 - Peckham Audio, London w/SLEAZE, Brian Destiny, Neuro Placid (headline show).

South London ne-er-do-wells Meatraffle make huge strides forward with this third album of funky trumpet-laced street pop combining a caustic wit with a tender heart. “The best band in the country bar none!” Fat White Family // “A collective of individuals who refuse to be pigeonholed…..they conjure a rich, imaginative and often simply funny world” The Quietus // “Humorous alt-punk…potent…surreal” CLASH // “Their direct and confrontational attitude has not been seen since punk really grabbed England by the balls” FAR OUT // “Your mind will be liberated” Louder Than War // Meatraffle are thrilled to announce they will be releasing 'Base and Superstructure', their third studio album on Blang Records on 29.09.2023. Recorded during lockdown, produced & mixed by Meatraffle keyboardist Chris OC, Dante Traynor (SWEAT, Fat White Family 'Feet'), additional mixing by Angelica Björnsson (Hi - Texas feat. Wu Tang Clan) and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, I Monster, The Moonlandingz), ‘Base and Superstructure’ marks a new sonic departure for the band rightly acknowledged as godfathers of the now infamous South London scene, centred around the Windmill in Brixton. The band will be touring in support of the new album later in the year. Founded in 2014, Meatraffle have toured extensively across the UK and Europe as both a headline act and support to the likes of Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods and Warmduscher. Festival appearances include SXSW, Green Man and Liverpool Psych Fest. In addition to their previous two LPs ('Hi Fi Classics' and 'Bastard Music'), the band have released singles on Dan Carey's Speedy Wunderground and Moshi Moshi, plus numerous remixes including 'Meatraffle on the Moon' by the one and only Andrew Weatherall. The band have also played sessions for Marc Riley (BBC 6Music) plus regular plays from other 6Music DJs including Iggy Pop, Gideon Coe and Amy Lamé. “We were looking for labels for a while, sending out demos to small ‘indie’ labels to which we often had the response, “we really like it but we’re not signing anyone at the moment”, which feels like the new “don’t call us we’ll call you!”... We knew we had a good record so didn’t get knocked back and knew it would be a climb as many of these small and large ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ labels can be even more conservative than the mainstream, I guess having less money and therefore having to ‘play it safe’. We bumped into Blang one night at The George Tavern and instantly had a good feeling about them…and guess what? They loved the music!” - Meatraffle frontman, Zsa Zsa Sapien. Genre-bending independent label Blang Records is a wildly non-commercial label firmly rooted in the DIY/anything goes attitude of punk and antifolk, and has remained consistent in its commitment to releasing outsider music by the likes of David Cronenberg's Wife, Jack Medley's Secure Men, Brix & The Extricated, Milk Kan, Thomas Truax and many more. Live Dates: 13th July 2023 - Peckham Audio, London w/SLEAZE, Brian Destiny, Neuro Placid (headline show).

Johnnie Taylor was an accomplished soul artist despite having little instrumental skill and he rarely wrote any of his own material. He was known variously as the ‘Blues Wailer’ and the ‘Philosopher Of Soul’ and recorded over 30 albums and 120 singles throughout a career that cemented his status as one of the leading male soul vocalists during the late sixties and throughout the seventies.

He started his recording career mid-50s with the doo-wop group The Five Echoes and gospel groups The Highway Q.C.’s and then in 1957, The Soul Stirrers, replacing Sam Cooke who had left the group for a solo career. Taylor followed that path a few years later signing for Cooke’s SAR label. and had a minor hit in 1962 with “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day”.

in 1964 he moved to Stax Records where he started as a blues artist enjoying many fruitful years, most notably with “Who’s Making Love” selling more than a million copies. Following the unfortunate demise of Stax in 1976 he moved to Columbia Records where he went platinum with the hit “Disco Lady” (ironically not a disco track at all) and the album from which it came ‘Eargasm’ (1976) was a commercial peak he would never scale again. However, he continued with many collectable releases before moving to Beverly Glen Music in the early eighties and then Malaco Records in 1984, where his style became the more soul-blues based sound that was synonymous with the label. He remained with them until he died of a heart attack in Dallas aged 66 in 2000.

“Let’s Get Back On” Track comes from the CD ‘Gotta Get The Groove Back’ (1999) produced (and co-written with Charlie Brooks) by Frederick Knight, who also used the same backing track some 7 years later with his production of the David Sea track “Stay In My Arms” which was a modern soul favourite and will help to register the significance of this earlier production. It is now available as a vinyl release for the first time. It was taken from his final album although Malaco released ‘There’s No Good In Goodbye’ posthumously in 2003.
Robert Calvin Brooks, known professionally as Bobby “Blue” Bland spent his early career in Memphis, developing a sound that mixed gospel with blues and R&B and was known as the ‘Lion Of The Blues ‘and the ‘Sinatra Of The Blues’. His father abandoned the family not long after his birth and he acquired his name from his stepfather, Leroy Bland. His formative musical years were centered around the Beale Street scene and he was scouted by Ike Turner for Modern Records.

His progress was interrupted by a two year stint in the US Army and when he returned to Memphis he signed for Duke Records, run by Don Robey. Bland was illiterate and Robey helped him sign his contract which only gave him half a cent per record sold instead of the industry standard of 2 cents. He had his first hit in 1957 and continued a successful run of R&B chart entries without breaking through into the mainstream markets and was ranked number 13 of the all time chart-topping artists in Joel Whitburn’s “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995”.

Duke Records sold out to ABC and with them he managed to return to the R&B charts but he still couldn’t succeed in the pop charts. In 1985 Bland signed for Malaco who were specialists in the Southern black music sound and he recorded many albums and toured for them, frequently with B.B. King, and was inducted into the ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’ in 1992.

Whilst “Heart Open Up Again” was a vinyl release in 1985 it was not chosen to be the single release from the Tommy Couch & Wolf Stephenson produced album Members Only (1985). This beautiful ballad, penned by George Jackson/Robert Miller/Michael Wooten, was never before released as a single and is a fabulous pairing with the topside – two of the best from two of the all-time greats.

The MERCYFUL FATE vinyl re-issues continue! After re-releasing 'Time' and 'In The Shadows' in August - the three remaining Metal Blade classics will get the 'Original Series' treatment: original layout, 400g spine sleeves (inside-out print), 250g insert, large artwork poster ('Into The Unknown', '9') or 350g Gatefold-sleeve + large poster ('Dead Again'). *2023 new vinyl pressing *Original Release Date: June 15th, 1999. * Format Details: Single LP + poster. Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel BAND LINE-UP: King Diamond: Vocals Hank Sherman: Guitar Mike Wead: Guitar Sharlee D’Angelo: Bass Bjarne T. Holm: Drums Recorded and mixed at Nomad Recording Studio, Carrollton, Texas, USA February – March 1999 Produced by Kol Marshall and Mercyful Fate Mixed by Kol Marshall and Mercyful Fate Engineered by Kol Marshall 2nd Engineer Vince Rossi

Limited 100 copies.
Printed sleeve.
Purple Vinyl color.

Attention record is a bit warped (it should be more expensive but price have been downed for this reason)

Les Neiges Noires De Laponie brings again a crazy music performance... If the Speedcore influence remains the unformated scale of this sound predomines... Rhythm morphing, sounds from space, and amplified micro sounds from nature...
A splendid concept out of nowhere...

MUST HAVE !

High-octane tour-de-force by legendary post-punk group, INU. Widely considered in Japan to be one of the all-time greatest punk records, 1981's Don’t Eat Food! remains shockingly unknown to the rest of the world. Led by literate but unhinged Machida Machizo, a magnetic stage presence who sang in a thick Osaka dialect that sounded like nothing else at the time, INU took Japan by storm in the late '70s with their powerful and often belligerent live show. Their membership changed frequently but INU's final lineup -- the group that recorded Don't Eat Food! -- was sharp as a knife, and the band's airtight debut still wows forty years later.

It's hard to describe INU's unique sound in comparison to other bands, but maybe imagine a more fidgety Richard Hell & The Voidoids jamming with PiL? Better yet, just listen for yourself.

This first-ever fully-licensed edition has been remastered from the original tapes and cut by Kevin Gray and includes an 8-page booklet with never-before-seen photos, lyrics in English and Japanese, and liner notes by Syojiro Ishibashi in English and Japanese.

Serge Devant returns to Crosstown Rebels with his mesmerising new single ‘A Little Bit Of Love’, complete with a remix from Art Department & MDL Child. Thanks to his fresh house sound, New York resident Serge Devant has turned the heads of tastemakers like Jamie Jones and Damian Lazarus for several years. A regular on Crosstown Rebels dating back to his label debut in 2015, dropping a string of EPs on the label since, he arrives in fine form once again as he unveils his latest single.

His brilliant ‘A Little Bit Of Love’ is an inventive rhythm that soon sweeps you up with its wavy beats and slick hits. Gorgeous chords are draped over it next to steamy vocals to ensure a truly emotive dance floor trip, while the dub version strips out the lead vocal to lay the focus on the remaining musical elements. The remix comes from Jonny White, aka pioneering underground artist and No. 19 Music boss Art Department, and fellow Canadian talent MDL Child. They flip the production into seven minutes of emotionally intense house music with muted acid lines undulating throughout the mix, while immense percussive energy and lush cosmic keys make for a fulsome dancefloor rush.

Sublime ethereal minimalism from Hiroyuki Onogawa on this retrospective compilation album for
Mana, the first dedicated release and remaster of his soundtrack compositions.

The album August in the Water: Music for Film 1995-2005 plots a decade of Onogawa’s compositions for films by the renowned filmmaker Gakuryū Ishii (formally known as Sogo Ishii). Ishii’s leftfield and trailblazing cinema has proven highly influential - Crazy Thunder Road (1980) is frequently cited as the starting pistol for the Japanese cyberpunk genre - and unfathomably difficult to source outside of Japan. This, coupled with the mysterious and artistic nature of the films, has seen him build a cult-like following. Most of his oeuvre remains undistributed outside Japan, though Third Window Films has recently taken great strides toward making some titles available internationally.

This retrospective publication, sequenced into an album by Onogawa himself, spans a fertile period of collaboration with Ishii, through soundtracks for three remarkable films: August in the Water (1995), Labyrinth of Dreams (1997), and Mirrored Mind (2005). Each feels texturally and sensually linked with the spiritual, ambient, dreamlike quality that lingers in Onogawa’s music.

The sound Onogawa conjures for these films is elegant and patient, often minimal or essential in form, but saturated in a poetic emotion and atmosphere that feels strange and otherworldly, touched by the metaphysical in subtle ways. Boundaries are crossed between New Age and science fiction, locating a blissfulness, melancholy and paranoia within the same spectrum, and moving toward an enchanting sense of mood and colour.

It’s notable that the compositions on this album straddle the millennium, and the mix of divine and uncertain themes in the music carry that currency. New listeners might hear links to Mark Snow’s compositional work for the X-Files and Millennium, or other celebrated future-facing and future-fearing Japanese anime or cyberpunk.

Onogawa’s music adds great depth and tenor to the sensory experience of the films themselves, but it stands just as strongly as a listening experience on its own terms, a virtuosic example of ambient that changes in hue when turned in the light. Remarkably, and in similar circumstances to Ishii, Onogawa’s work has never been widely available outside of (always highly enthusiastic) underground fan posts, usually sourced from extremely limited and private CDs limited to Japan. This retrospective seeks to remedy that, and hopes to achieve recognition for Onogawa as one of the great composers of the last three decades.

Onogawa continues to work in film, both in the creation of soundtracks, and now as a producer and director. He composed the music for Koji Fukada’s Harmonium (2016), which won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as for Fukada’s A Girl Missing (2019). As a director, he received the Grand Prize for Best Short Film in the Noves Visions category at the Sitges Festival in 2022 for Flashback Before Death (Guu), co-directed with Rii Ishihara.'

Keita Sano is a prolific Japanese producer who has released on revered labels such as Mister Saturday Night, Lets Play House, Morris Audio and 1080P. His fusion of dark, distorted, acidic textures and crunchy disco beats gives his produc tions a unique sound which works perfectly for Delusions Of Grandeur and the label is proud to welcome him for his debut DOG EP entitled Love Is Emotion.

The title track comes on like a proverbial runaway train with heavy, pounding beats and bassline forging things ahead while the most twisted, tripped out FX rise and fall creating an absolute juggernaut of a track which takes no prisoners. A decept ively simple DJ tool which is loaded with drama for maximum impact on the more left of centre dance floors.

Up next we have Violet which takes a low-slung deep house approach but with the grit and dirt that Keita always brings to the party. The first half of the track teases with tension-building chords and syncopated bassline which bounces around a massive four on the floor kick drum. Things fall away in the middle of the track to reveal a beautiful, heartwarming piano part, setting the scene before things get truly epic with orchestral strings bringing a touch of the film noir to proceedings.

I’m A Man picks up the pace again for an intense acid work out which pushes the sonic boundaries to the limits with seriously warped FX creating mayhem around a simple, percussive disco groove. As secret weapon DJ tools go, this is right up there.

Closing out this mind-bending release Keita remains in experimental mode on Love Is Emotion offsetting melodic arpeggios and sweet chords with off-kilter sonic madness ensuring things remain dark, dirty and deep.

If you were to ask for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind: from Fadoul’s “Sid Redad,” Dalton’s “Soul Brother” to Ahmed Malek’s “Omar Gatlato.” However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid Al Shaeri’s “Ayonha.” We heard the track for the first time when we were working on selecting tracks for your first compilation and we instantly loved it. We obviously had heard of Hamid El Shaeri’s music before, but only material from his Al Jeel phase when he was already the full-blown
superstar he is now.

Listening to his releases from the early 1980’s opened a whole new door for us. At the time, Hamid had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he recorded his
first album. Hamid’s distinct sound of the sound is quintessentially reliant on heavy synths and so it was particularly important to purchase these synths in a timely manner. “Whenever a new one synthesizer would come out, we would have to buy it immediately, otherwise someone else would get their hands on that sound.” London also played an important role for Hamid as a musical epicenter.

He fondly reminisces about the many live shows he attended there, including some of the biggest international musicians like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. After returning to Cairo where he also recorded his following albums, he connected with SLAM! for the
release of his debut, laying the foundation of a collaboration that lasted for 5 albums. Luckily, we were able to connect with Hamid through our friend Youssra El Hawary, whose extensive network has opened many doors for us within the Egyptian music scene. We met Hamid for the first time probably in 2016 at his office / rehearsal studio in the outskirts Cairo. We were expecting a larger-than-life
character in-line with his status as a certified superstar, yet the actual person turned out to be very approachable and super easy to connect with. He liked the idea of an effort to amplify his early works again,
which, when originally released, were far from an economic success.

While he was down to assist with an interview and his blessing for the project he also told us that for any license we needed to speak with the original label SLAM! who released these songs, still held the rights and also remained in business over the decades though they didn’t actively release any new music. Hany Sabet had started SLAM! records in the early 1980s and focused on cassette tape releases, the
format that expedited the success of a new generation of record labels in Egypt. By the mid 1980’s, SLAM! had become one of the most successful and economically dominant record labels in Egypt, with Hamid El Shaeri being just one of their key artists, alongside Mohamed Mounir, Hanan, Hakim, Mustafa Amar and many more. Luckily, Hany Sabet turned out to be a friend of our colleague Malak Makar’s father, which probably helped to warm him to the idea of licen- sing “Ayonha” to this - in the scale of his world - tiny label
from Germany. Eventually “Ayonha” ended up becoming a widely successful release and either Hany or we brought up the idea of a full album dedicated to Hamid El Shaeri’s work on SLAM!.


"Maktoub Aleina” is the first single and will be released January 14th. Following the massive success of "Ayonha,” “Maktoub Aleina” is another mid-tempo groover with a beautiful, synth-forward melody, that brings together a lovely combination of soul, disco and Arabic pop music of the highest order, giving a taste of full album. The second single, “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” will be released January 28th and combines Hamid’s unique formula of soul and pop, held together by a catchy synth melody. “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” picks up the
pace a bit, making the uplifting mood of the track even more powerful. Third single, arriving February 11th, is “Dari Demou’ek,” one of the stand out tracks of Hamid’s early recordings done for SLAM! in the early 1980s. Dominated by a disco infused bassline, the track offers a lot of space of the funky production to shine while Hamid inserts his vocals at all the right moments. A masterpiece of disco touched by Arabic pop music.

Full album arrives February 25th. This release is dedicated to Hany Sabet, the founder of SLAM! and his wife Rosemary Jane Sabet (who
took the photos we used for the cover and the booklet), who sadly passed away during the time it took us to prepare the release.
Vinyl comes with an extensive booklet with an interview with Hamid as well as unseen photos

Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada , the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore , speaks not just for its beloved namesake _ a hotel in Croatia facing renovation _ but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephem - eral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalog. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slow - ing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements . "When I think of these songs, I think about fading flowers in vases, melted candles, getting older, being on tour and having things change while you're away, not realizing how ephemeral experiences are until they don't happen anymore, fear for a planet we're losing because of greed, an ode to art and music that's really shaped your life that can transport you back in time, longing to maintain sensitivity and to not sink into hollow despondency." For the title and inspiration, Lattimore's mind returns to the island of Hvar in Croatia, where she first saw those silver ladders at the water's edge. "There's a big old hotel there called the Hotel Arkada, and you could tell it had been hosting holiday-goers for decades in a great way. I walked around the lobby and the empty ballrooms and it looked like a well-worn, well-loved place. My friend Stacey who lives there told me to `say goodbye to Hotel Arkada, it might not be here when you get back' and I heard soon after that it was actually going to be renovated in a very crisp, modern way." Lattimore became fixated on the ingredients that make a place special _ for Hotel Arkada, the patinaed chandeliers, the patterned bedspreads, the echoes of its intangible charm _ and how when those leave this world, as they inevitably always will, it feels import - ant to memorialize them, "to bottle it for a brief second.

Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada , the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore , speaks not just for its beloved namesake _ a hotel in Croatia facing renovation _ but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephem - eral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalog. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slow - ing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements . "When I think of these songs, I think about fading flowers in vases, melted candles, getting older, being on tour and having things change while you're away, not realizing how ephemeral experiences are until they don't happen anymore, fear for a planet we're losing because of greed, an ode to art and music that's really shaped your life that can transport you back in time, longing to maintain sensitivity and to not sink into hollow despondency." For the title and inspiration, Lattimore's mind returns to the island of Hvar in Croatia, where she first saw those silver ladders at the water's edge. "There's a big old hotel there called the Hotel Arkada, and you could tell it had been hosting holiday-goers for decades in a great way. I walked around the lobby and the empty ballrooms and it looked like a well-worn, well-loved place. My friend Stacey who lives there told me to `say goodbye to Hotel Arkada, it might not be here when you get back' and I heard soon after that it was actually going to be renovated in a very crisp, modern way." Lattimore became fixated on the ingredients that make a place special _ for Hotel Arkada, the patinaed chandeliers, the patterned bedspreads, the echoes of its intangible charm _ and how when those leave this world, as they inevitably always will, it feels import - ant to memorialize them, "to bottle it for a brief second.

Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada , the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore , speaks not just for its beloved namesake _ a hotel in Croatia facing renovation _ but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephem - eral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalog. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slow - ing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements . "When I think of these songs, I think about fading flowers in vases, melted candles, getting older, being on tour and having things change while you're away, not realizing how ephemeral experiences are until they don't happen anymore, fear for a planet we're losing because of greed, an ode to art and music that's really shaped your life that can transport you back in time, longing to maintain sensitivity and to not sink into hollow despondency." For the title and inspiration, Lattimore's mind returns to the island of Hvar in Croatia, where she first saw those silver ladders at the water's edge. "There's a big old hotel there called the Hotel Arkada, and you could tell it had been hosting holiday-goers for decades in a great way. I walked around the lobby and the empty ballrooms and it looked like a well-worn, well-loved place. My friend Stacey who lives there told me to `say goodbye to Hotel Arkada, it might not be here when you get back' and I heard soon after that it was actually going to be renovated in a very crisp, modern way." Lattimore became fixated on the ingredients that make a place special _ for Hotel Arkada, the patinaed chandeliers, the patterned bedspreads, the echoes of its intangible charm _ and how when those leave this world, as they inevitably always will, it feels import - ant to memorialize them, "to bottle it for a brief second.

On October 15th & 16th 2020, drummed Daniel Villarreal was joined by guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Anna Butterss for two afternoons of recording in the backyard of Chicali Outpost in Los Angeles. For all three musicians, it was the first ensemble recording session they"d done in-person since the pandemic locked the world down just seven months prior. Some choice moments from the sessions made it onto Villarreal"s critically-acclaimed 2022 album Panamá 77, bust most of the music remained unreleased. Lados B is a deep dive into the high-level spontaneous music made by Villarreal, Parker and Butterss across those two days in 2020. Villarreal is heard leading the group through various rhythmic modes and structures for improvisation - flow as informed by the Latin soul of Fania Records as it is by the otherworldly trance of Brain Records - while Parker and Butterss draw on their extensive experience playing free together (as heard on Parker"s recently-released Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, and the LA side of Makaya McCraven"s 2018 LP Universal Beings) to build harmonic buoys for their spontaneous melodicism. The result is a beautifully vivid illustration of context, creativity, and collective composition from a particularly rich moment in history.

Northern California psychedelic sorcerers Carlton Melton are brain surfers, mind trippers, … “psychlists,” if you prefer. The band will take your head for a ride, occasionally rushing at superluminal speeds through a wormhole or gliding softly on a gentle breeze in a leafy glade. Sometimes your brain needs to rage, and sometimes it needs to repose. For a decade and a half, the band has yo-yo’ed, almost schizophrenically, between these two modes: walloping space jams with furious guitar solos in one hemisphere of the brain and ethereal, feather-light splashdowns in the other. Not to mention a track here and there that builds from the latter into the former. But with two new releases in 2023, the band has evolved. Whether psych rock or ambient trance, their sound remains driving, organic, and flowing. With the addition of Anthony Taibi (White Manna, DDT), however, the group’s metal freak-outs are Hawkwindier and their droning kraut trances are Spacemen 3-er. In January, the quartet released the playfully spacey Resemble Ensemble, recorded in Taibi’s home studio 3D Light. October now sees the band Turn To Earth, a work with scents of Autumn, a season of death and transition. The cover art evokes a vine-covered, electric crucifix. The sound is, well, earthy but also gritty and striving towards change. The album was recorded in Fall 2022 and now harvested in Fall 2023. Phil Becker (Terry Gross, Pins Of Light) contributed drums and percussion to a few tracks on Turn To Earth, recording the album at El Studio in San Francisco.

With Becker at the helm, the synths have become more prominent (“Cosmicity,” “Roboflow,” “Migration”) and the tone heavier on the doom (“Cloudstorming,” “Unlock The Land,” title track): several moments could even serve as background music for epic dark fantasy films like Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, or Heavy Metal. As exquisite as Turn To Earth is, Melton are best appreciated as a live act: their recordings as well as their gigs are largely improvised – not so much composed as birthed. And yet their most recent tour ended abruptly and perilously. The group had to cancel its final three shows once members were admitted to Arnhem hospital in the Netherlands. Five years later, reinforcements have strengthened the band and restocked its arsenal of great tracks. After the rockus interruptus of that 2018 tour and the tantric tease of the intervening Covid lockdown, Melton have some unfinished business. An October 2023 tour is poised to set the freshly minted quartet back onto the stages of Europe and within the cerebral folds of its fans. Turn To Earth, sure … but keep your head in outer space. Carlton Melton is: andy duvall – drums/gtr; clint golden – bass; rich millman – gtr/synth; and anthony taibi – synth/gtr.

Another dream coming true! One of Giuliano Sorgini's finest and most sought-after titles is finally available as an official LP reissue – the first ever – remastered from the original tapes.

Originally released in 1971on the small library music imprint FAMA, which operated as a sub-label of RCA Italy, the record contains the original music written for Scappo per cantare, a small, pseudo-psychedelic 'musicarello' (musical comedy film) broadcast on RAI television and starring, among others, Italian singers Gianni Morandi and Mauro Lusini.

The only credited album artist is Sorgini, but it's impossible not to perceive, in this record, the hand of his close friend and colleague Alessandro Alessandroni.

This should not come as a surprise. In the early 70s, the two composers and multi-instrumentalists had a fruitful collaboration that saw them, under the monikers Braen (Alessandroni) and Raskovich (Sorgini), produce an abundance of works together, most of which have now gained the recognition they deserve. These include, among others, two 7" singles from their band The Pawnshop, three records in the series Alle sorgenti delle civiltà (Folkmusic), the crime/noir library albums Quarta pagina (Usignolo) and Inchiesta giudiziaria (Octopus Records), as well as the LP Tempo Libero (Panda Records), which was released shortly after the record presented here and in some ways drew rhythmic inspiration from it.

While their collaboration remained unacknowledged on the original release of Scappo per cantare (this was not uncommon at the time, especially in the field of library music), the record sounds perfectly in line with other works composed by Alessandroni in the early 70s, such as Complesso Gisteri's Mostra Collettiva (co-written with Oronzo De Filippi), or even a landmark album like Spontaneous, where Sorgini contributed to a handful of tracks.

So, yes, the sheer beauty of Scappo per cantare is the result of an incredible synergy between two heavyweights of Italian library music! Airy and sweeping melodies à la Zoo Folle, psychedelia à la Under Pompelmo, and various percussion instruments played by Sorgini seamlessly blend and fuse with elements and touches provided by Alessandroni.

More specifically, we find Alessandroni's signature, melancholy whistle in "Desolazione"; the peaceful and dreamy sound of his 12-string guitar in "Scogliere" and "Con Amore"; the trademark harmonies of his vocal ensemble Cantori Moderni in the last two tracks mentioned and in "Per cantare"; and his ingenious use of distortion on his Fender Stratocaster in the suspenseful transitions "Concentrazione" and "Fantocci", as well as in the frantic/hypnotic hippie numbers "Mordente" and "Fendente" (as a side note, it is worth remembering that Alessandroni experimented extensively with distortion in the rock-infused album Underground, co-written with De Filippi and released in 1971 under the moniker Braen's Machine, probably a reference to British psychedelic band Soft Machine).

The creative relationship between Sorgini and Alessandroni was so symbiotic that it would be useless to try to identify in more detail their respective contributions to the sound of Scappo per cantare. The alchemy between these two musical geniuses is the key to the album's exquisitely Italian mixture of cheerful lounge, sweet psychedelia and smooth easy listening.

To do justice to the quality of the music, this remastered reissue is enriched by a new artwork by Eric Adrian Lee, who drew inspiration from the psychedelic visual culture of the period in which the album was written and recorded.

Die spanischen Old-School-Death-Metaller DECAPITATED CHRIST sind zurück in bester Form mit einem neuen Hammerschlag-Album namens 'Glorious Tyrannizing of Human Rats'.
Dieses 5. Album der Band ist ohne Zweifel ihr bisher stärkstes, eingängigstes und brutalstes Werk.
FFO: Fans von DEICIDE, AEON, VITAL REMAINS usw..

Highly anticipated by his legions of fans, Andrew Rayel's album Lifeline limelights the incredible versatility - and the innate musicality - of the Moldovan DJ, producer, radio show host and label boss. Flaunting his melodic prowess across eighteen tracks, this body of work underlines Andrew Rayel's intentions to remain amongst dance music's key figures as he gives all his loyal supporters yet another reason to smile.

Lifeline contains several of his biggest hits to date, including “Silver Lining”, “Wild Feelins”, “Closer”, and “Stars Collide”. The album features guest performances by Takis, Zagata, Florentin, Sam Gray, AVIAN GRAYS, Olivia Sebastianelli, Mike Schmid, Amanda Collis, Robbie Seed, and That Girl amongst many others.

The 2LP Lifeline is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies and includes an insert.

Rarely could a project be called such a culmination point of a career as what Kris Defoort presents with Pieces of Peace. Just about all the backgrounds, influences and acquaintances the iconic Belgian composer and improvising pianist collected throughout his long career come together in this distinct and original musical adventure.

Together with vocal artist Veronika Harcsa and three fellow musicians, he forms a chamber orchestra in the strict sense of the word, although they are by no means restricted to that one idiom. As an experienced opera and classical composer, Kris Defoort dribbles the timbres, harmonies, dynamics and, if you like, drama of a complete (opera) orchestra through these compositions, supplemented by an inescapable layer of jazz, obviously the other form of music that remains continuously prominent in Kris' life and DNA.

As always in his work, also improvisation is added as a core element, not least thanks to the voice and inventive personality of Hungarian vocalist Veronika Harcsa, a true European reference in this field. This duo has worked together regularly over the past decade, including for Diving Poet Society (2017, W.E.R.F.148) and in DUET: pure vocal and piano improvisations, on poems by Theodor Roethke, Peter Verhelst and William Blake.

Those musical ideas formed the framework when composing the final new song cycle Pieces of Peace. The duet was then quickly expanded into a quintet, with Lode Vercampt on cello, Jean-Philippe Poncin on clarinets and Benjamin Sauzereau on electric guitar. These three musicians are as well compagnons de route of Kris has since many years, allowing him to incorporate each one's own playing style in a special way throughout these compositions: therefore, the entire orchestral spectrum (woodwinds, strings, percussion) is thus prominently represented through these five instruments.

Intimate and joyful, playful and complex, lyrical and rhythmic, ... and layered and full of detail, each track on the eponymous record unfolds like a story in itself. They are all states of emotions, impressions from real life - another reference to opera. They are also an ode to the voice, the human instrument par excellence. As improvised compositions (or composed improvisations?), Pieces of Peace represents a constant evolution that offers hope, softness and inspiration in times when all this sometimes dares to be lacking.

Too Pure are excited to get Moonshake’s debut album, ‘Eva Luna’, back in
print, releasing a deluxe edition, re-mastered from analogue 1Ú2” tape, on
blue double vinyl.
 The reissue contains 19 tracks - the album’s original 10, the non-LP threesong single ‘Secondhand Clothes’, the two B-sides from the ‘Beautiful
Pigeon’ single and four tracks from a November 1992 John Peel session.
The release also includes an 8-page full-colour booklet.
 Moonshake were formed in 1991 by David Callahan (vocals, guitars,
samplers), formerly of The Wolfhounds, and New York musician Margaret
Fiedler (vocals, guitars, samplers). Callahan and Fiedler recorded a demo for
Creation Records, and were joined by John Frenett (bass) and Miguel
Morland (‘Mig’, drums) to record and release the ‘First EP’ for Creation in
1991.
 They took their name from a 1973 single by Can. Both Fiedler and Callahan
wrote songs, and they would (generally) sing on the songs that they wrote.
Their output of shared inspiration produced wildly different results - Can, PIL,
Kraftwerk, MBV and Erik B & Rakim were a melting pot that made
Moonshake somewhat uncategorizable, and as Margaret noted in an
interview, “Moonshake was a collision - it was supposed to be a collision.”
 Their debut album, ‘Eva Luna’, took its name from a novel by Chilean author
Isabel Allende, and the tracks on it are split evenly between the two
songwriters. Callahan’s songs are somewhat angry, dissonant, post-punk
affairs, while Fiedler’s are just as angular, but her quieter sometimes near
whispered vocals compliment her writing partner’s equally. Producer /
engineer Guy Fixsen, fresh from his work on My Bloody Valentine’s
‘Loveless’, was instrumental in making the album cohesive.
 This album has been critically revisited often since its original release, with
Tiny Mix Tapes describing their sound as “an updated take on Can and
Public Image Limited’s rhythmic propulsion with noisier guitar work and a
predilection for sampling influenced by The Young Gods.” Last year, in a
wonderfully long piece to celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary, Louder
Than War wrote that they were blown away by the album’s “utterly
spellbinding, dizzyingly genre-defying approach at articulating explicitly the
sound of a city in the throes of urban psychosis and derangement... ‘Eva
Luna’ really is one hell of a ground-breaking record, and it stands resolutely
alone among all of the albums released in 1992 as no other band has
managed to create anything remotely similar before or since. It really is a
unique album with few equals.”
 In 1993, the original incarnation of the band split up, and Margaret Fiedler
and John Frenett went on to form Laika with Guy Fixsen. Callahan and
Morland continued on with guest musicians, with Callahan ultimately
remaining the band’s sole original member. Moonshake ended in 1997 but
their legacy is indisputable.

The Darkness announce Permission To Land… Again; a special 20th Anniversary reissue collection, to be released on October 6th 2023 via Warner Music. Britain’s beloved rock band celebrate this landmark with a special 5LP release including the full original album, rare B-sides, bonus unreleased demos, as well as live albums from their iconic shows at London’s Astoria (2003), Knebworth (in support of Robbie Williams in 2003) and Wembley Arena (2004).

Permission To Land was originally released in 2003 via Atlantic Records and stormed to the top of the UK Albums chart, where it remained for four weeks, and spent 53 weeks in the Top 100. It achieved the band three BRIT Awards, including British Album Of The Year, British Group and British Rock Act, where they fended off competition from the likes of Blur, Radiohead, Sugababes, Muse, Primal Scream and more. The record has sold over 1.4 million copies to date.

The release will be supported by a promo campaign with interviews featuring lead singer Justin Hawkins. TV, Radio, and Press opportunities are being discussed. For announcement Justin will be interviewed on Planet Rock and Kerrang! Radio. Heavyweight digital marketing campaign across socials and banner advertising.

The MERCYFUL FATE vinyl re-issues continue! After re-releasing 'Time' and 'In The Shadows' in August - the three remaining Metal Blade classics will get the 'Original Series' treatment: original layout, 400g spine sleeves (inside-out print), 250g insert, large artwork poster ('Into The Unknown', '9') or 350g Gatefold-sleeve + large poster ('Dead Again'). *2023 new vinyl pressing *Original Release Date: June 15th, 1999. * Format Details: Single LP + poster. Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel BAND LINE-UP: King Diamond: Vocals Hank Sherman: Guitar Mike Wead: Guitar Sharlee D’Angelo: Bass Bjarne T. Holm: Drums Recorded and mixed at Nomad Recording Studio, Carrollton, Texas, USA February – March 1999 Produced by Kol Marshall and Mercyful Fate Mixed by Kol Marshall and Mercyful Fate Engineered by Kol Marshall 2nd Engineer Vince Rossi

The most potent memories I have of music are from my early childhood listening to the oldie's station, riding in the back of my Pops' 1975 Cadillac Seville to work alongside him moving plants in Sacramento at the now long gone Capitol Nursery during white hot summer afternoons, and then the drives back home in the purple twilights and oily blue-oranged nights. I'm talkin' The Temptations, War, Earth Wind and Fire, Al Green, Sly and the Family Stone, The Delfonics, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan...soul music. I loved the melodrama of it all. The world outside refracted and transmuted through the crackling speakers past Pops' thumping thumb and my tiny whirring mind and left whatever road behind us fundamentally changed in our wake. Through the years other sounds too left its imprint well before I picked up a guitar. Rap, Punk, hardcore, dub, R&B--and a little later in middle school, blues, folk and country. But those early Cadillac memories always remained the bedrock. With folk and blues music, I fell in love with the immediacy of it and found the acoustic guitar economical for all the solitary roaming of my early 20's. All the while I knew that one day, when I had something I felt like I could add, I wanted to incorporate the sound of those early Cadillac memories. But only after I felt established as a songwriter in its most simple form, banging on a wooden guitar and yodeling up some melody did I feel comfortable exploring other sounds and only recently did I find the time and space to do that. The pandemic trapped all the world in their rooms. While recording my last record in the height of it and at the behest of my friend and You, Yeah, You producer Brad Cook and his friend Justin Vernon, I bought my first keyboard. A Roland Juno DS. I started tinkering on it throughout the past couple of years and as I became more stationary started writing songs on different instruments that I accumulated. Layering sounds on garageband in my apartment writing bass and horn parts, making drum loops, adding synth... I became pretty obsessive with the endless possibilities it brought and got quicker and quicker at making songs that way. It was just so fun and limitless.

The most potent memories I have of music are from my early childhood listening to the oldie's station, riding in the back of my Pops' 1975 Cadillac Seville to work alongside him moving plants in Sacramento at the now long gone Capitol Nursery during white hot summer afternoons, and then the drives back home in the purple twilights and oily blue-oranged nights. I'm talkin' The Temptations, War, Earth Wind and Fire, Al Green, Sly and the Family Stone, The Delfonics, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan...soul music. I loved the melodrama of it all. The world outside refracted and transmuted through the crackling speakers past Pops' thumping thumb and my tiny whirring mind and left whatever road behind us fundamentally changed in our wake. Through the years other sounds too left its imprint well before I picked up a guitar. Rap, Punk, hardcore, dub, R&B--and a little later in middle school, blues, folk and country. But those early Cadillac memories always remained the bedrock. With folk and blues music, I fell in love with the immediacy of it and found the acoustic guitar economical for all the solitary roaming of my early 20's. All the while I knew that one day, when I had something I felt like I could add, I wanted to incorporate the sound of those early Cadillac memories. But only after I felt established as a songwriter in its most simple form, banging on a wooden guitar and yodeling up some melody did I feel comfortable exploring other sounds and only recently did I find the time and space to do that. The pandemic trapped all the world in their rooms. While recording my last record in the height of it and at the behest of my friend and You, Yeah, You producer Brad Cook and his friend Justin Vernon, I bought my first keyboard. A Roland Juno DS. I started tinkering on it throughout the past couple of years and as I became more stationary started writing songs on different instruments that I accumulated. Layering sounds on garageband in my apartment writing bass and horn parts, making drum loops, adding synth... I became pretty obsessive with the endless possibilities it brought and got quicker and quicker at making songs that way. It was just so fun and limitless.