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Daga Voladora's last album came out in 2016. To alleviate such a long wait, only a couple of celebrated singles. Now, finally, Cristina Plaza (identity gracefully hidden under the Daga Voladora name that was before Gran Aparato Eléctrico and also a quarter of Los Eterno and half of Clovis) releases an album and does it, for the first time, in vinyl format. "Los manantiales" is the title of the happy and long-awaited return of an artist that never completely left.

"Los manantiales" ("The Springs") refers to all those sources from which I drink to make my songs: Stereolab, Broadcast, Galaxie 500, Cate Le Bon... And also some of the flamenco language. Flamenco in my own way, of course," explains Plaza. "Los manantiales" will also bring echoes of acts that the artist has not practiced as much such as Esclarecidos, Vainica Doble, Ana D or Kikí d'Akí. Deep voices for songs with substance.

But there is also that other idea of the spring that gushes forth when it can no longer be contained. "It has taken me so many years to make this album because I had a prejudice related to the previous one "Primer segundo" in which there was a coherence. Not finding that concept or thinking that this or that wasn't Daga Voladora, I couldn't get into it. Until I decided that maybe I didn't have to impose such a rigid direction on myself..."

Sketched in a town bordering Ávila where Plaza decided to get lost in the summer of 2022 and then finished off in a basement in Madrid for several months, the nine songs of "Los manantiales" make up a short album, premeditatedly short ("I don't like the songs to be longer than 2:50") but, above all, varied. Because, as can be sensed in the song Quise ser ( "I wanted to be a fictional hero, an expressionist painter, a promising actress"), here are all the imagined Cristinas and their different lives ("The song Lejos de la multitud is that longing of mine to be a vagabond"), an unmistakable sign that, as the artist confesses, "I am my own spring". And all this joyful dispersion comes from the premise with which Plaza approached the album: "I said to myself: 'Let's play'. I set out to have a good time. Suddenly, I wanted to do a dub track and I came up with Fosforito or a rock song like Lou Reed in the 80s and there was 'Me vi penando'. I wanted a rock record, an experimental record, something like Broadcast, and a musical! I wanted to do a thousand things!"

The result is a playful album, very enjoyable; but above all elegant and extremely precise. In both form and substance. Thus, the melodies are so rounded at first listen; the music would work perfectly on its own, stripped of lyrics that respond to the maxim, so often ignored, that there is really only one way to say things. "I have tried to refine the texts a lot. There are some phrases taken from Steinbeck, other things that emerge in a somewhat magical way. There's also Gary Snyder, Kerouac and his Dharma Bums, echoes of California..."

It's an album made, as usual with her, in the most absolute solitude (except for the collaboration of Andrés Arregui on sax and the final mix by Fino Oyonarte). Bareback. "I recorded everything with my computer, with my instruments, my analog keyboards, my rhythm boxes, little noises I make around... I don't make demos. I just do it. In a rough way. What I do do is repeat. The good thing about this method is that many things happen spontaneously and that's where they stay".

An album that, for all of the above, responds to the best notion of caprice. A whimsical whim, signed and finished off by the splendid cover designed by Beatriz Lobo, which feartures a painting ('La chica del King Creole') by the legendary artist Javier de Juan.

In "Los manantiales" there are many possible worlds, as many dreamed ones. Of course, those of Daga Voladora (not in vain, the album opens with a song titled Cristinópolis), but also those of any curious and sensitive listener who, by the way, will find more than one musical wink along the way. You just have to be attentive.

Archival reissue of the Afro-prog-psych Zamrock masterpiece Presented For The First Time Ever In An Aged Copper Green Pressing "Electrified by a diet of James Brown, the Stones and Deep Purple, WITCH were the stadium-filling kings of 70s Zamrock. - ****" - The entirety of WITCH’s fourth album, restored and remastered from master tapes, and presented as an archival reissue in an aged copper green vinyl pressing. WITCH’s musical arc is contained to a five year span and, in retrospect, it is a logical one. The band’s fourth album - recorded after the band toured with Osibisa - makes use of traditional Zambian rhythms and folk melodies alongside progressive rock movements. It is the most "afro-rock" of WITCH’s oeuvre..

repress !

The birth of rock steady portrayed in a consummate collection from the vaults of Federal Records

Most of them drawn directly from Ken Khouri's master tapes this miscellany of cool rock steady includes marvellous music from the originator of the genre, the one and only Lynn Taitt, alongside an array of Jamaica's greatest singers and vocal harmony group

American rhythm & blues fervour, boosted by a multitude of sound systems playing 78rpm records on increasingly larger sets, gripped Jamaica from the late forties onwards but, towards the end of the decade, the American audience began to move towards a somewhat softer sound. The driving rhythm & blues discs became increasingly hard to find and the more progressive Jamaican sound system operators, realising that they now needed to make their own music, turned to Kingston's jazz and big band musicians to record one off custom cut discs. These were not initially intended for commercial release but designed solely for sound system play on acetate or 'dub plates' as they would later be termed. These 'specials' soon began to eclipse the popularity of American rhythm & blues and the demand for their locally produced music proved so great that the sound system operators began to release their music commercially on vinyl and became record producers. Clement Coxsone' Dodd, Duke Reid 'The Trojan' and Prince Buster, who operated his Voice Of The People Sound System, were among the first to establish themselves in this new role and the nascent Jamaican recording industry now went into overdrive.

In 1954 Ken Khouri had numbered among the first far sighted entrepreneurs to produce mento records with local musicians (mento is Jamaica's original indigenous music) before progressing to opening Jamaica's first record manufacturing plant. Three years later he moved his operation to Foreshore Road (later renamed Marcus Garvey Drive) where, with the assistance of the inestimable Graeme Goodall, he updated and upgraded his recording studio. The importance of this enterprising move was critical to the development of Jamaican music and its influence both profound and far reaching.

"It was Ken Khouri's Federal Recording Studio, the womb that gave birth to the talented writers, artists and musicians that gave Jamaica its musical identity." Prince Buster

Federal Records was not only the place for the sound system men to record their music but it was also where they had their records manufactured and, consequently, the company enjoyed a near total monopoly on recording and record pressing in Kingston. In 1963 Ken Khouri sold his one track board to Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, who established Studio One, and Ken imported the first stereo equipment to Jamaica and Federal began making stereo records. The following year WIRL (West Indies Records Limited) opened but the competition served to drive the company on to higher heights. Ken Khouri continued to work on his own productions and, in 1966, the seven inch release of Hopeton Lewis' 'Take It Easy', recorded under the guidance of Trinidadian guitarist Lynn Taitt, ushered in the rock steady era.

These two essential albums showcase a stunning selection of well known hits, and not so well known rarities, from the vast Federal catalogue. All tracks have been transferred direct from the master tapes and assembled with the invaluable assistance of Ken Khouri's son, Paul Khouri, who generously gave Dub Store unlimited access to the Federal tape vaults. The extensive liner notes feature extracts from extensive interviews with Paul Khouri whose knowledgeable recollections of working on Marcus Garvey Drive, not only as a producer but as an engineer and musician, are illuminating and educational. Both sets present an insight into the birth and growth of Federal Records and the Jamaican recording industry and are essential to an understanding of the real roots of reggae music.

Nach Releases für Cercle, AnjunaDeep und Ninja Tune veröffentlicht der Londoner Produzent/DJ George King (aka Catching Flies) mit TIDES eine basslastige und dennoch melodische Melange aus brütender Elektronik und komplexen Rhythmen, mit Schattierungen von Hip-Hop bis House, Soul bis Jazz. Die LP enthält die Erfolgssingle GLY (25 Mio. Streams), die von Hot Chip und DJ BORING geremixt wurde. Künstlerkollegen wie Nils Frahm, Jungle, Sofia Kourtesis, Caribou, Bonobo, The Black Madonna, Lane 8 und Gui Boratto bekennen sich als Fans.

Mesmerizing and exuberant Argentinian La Yegros, probably the most magnetic artist on the South American continent, is back with a new album!

The undisputed Queen of "Nu Cumbia" has not rested on her laurels. Surrounded by the same accomplices who have supported her for the last ten years, but eager to renew herself, she has set about recording her fourth album, which stands out from her discography. Although her personal folklore is still rooted in South American folklore, La Yegros is now absorbing contemporary, global music, while tackling intimate, often melancholy and even painful subjects, which she overcomes with the same resilience that drives her in concert. Nothing stands in the way of this Argentinian whirlwind, all the more fascinating for the fact that personal considerations are now surfacing beneath the veneer of the party atmosphere she sets alight.

La Yegros returned to the stage in 2022 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Viene de Mí, her single hit from the self-titled album, released in 2012 in Argentina and then worldwide in 2013, which catapulted her to international fame. We then discovered a singer who had grown up in the traditions of her country. Her parents come from Misiones, a province bordering Brazil and Paraguay, where balls are filled with the sounds of chamamé (a mix of polka and Guaraní music), Carnavalito (Andean folklore) and Colombian Cumbia. But she herself is a native of Buenos Aires, whose nights are enlivened by the bass of Dancehall and electronic music.

These influences have merged in two further successful albums, Magnetismo (2016) and Suelta (2019), followed by high voltage tours during which La Yegros has been able to display her generous nature, inexhaustible energy, exuberant personality and infectious enthusiasm.

To record her new album entitled 'HAZ', La Yegros has put her faith in the same team that has worked with her since Viene de Mí. On one hand, producer Gaby Kerpel (also known as King Coya), a pioneer of synthetic experimentation applied to traditional music, who has remained her faithful accomplice for over twenty years. On the other hand, composer Daniel Martín, who knows how to come up with melodies to dream about and hymns to sing along to. Inseparable and complementary, the trio continues to concoct this mesmerizing mixture where acoustic instruments meet samples and the rolling of machines. But the new productions don't rely on a tried and tested formula. Generally co-produced between France and Argentina, they break away from over-defined genres. La Yegros knits together new rhythms and incorporates sounds that are unheard of in her country, derived from the latest urban trends, as well as echoes of reggae and funk. As for the lyrics, signed alternately by the trio, they are embodied by La Yegros whose charismatic voice questions a period of her life tossed by waves of love and lovelessness, joy and sorrow, euphoria and anguish, indulgence and resentment.

The album is open to a wealth of musical styles. You'll hear funk guitar and Andean flutes, melancholy accordion and rolling drums, Tuareg blues enhanced by brass, house and electro Cumbia loops, and the bassoons of a chamber orchestra. The folklore 2.0 of La Yegros, nourished by its colorful inspiration, at times tender or exalted, has been imagined as a hymn to love and the contradictory feelings that come with it. As always, it has also been conceived with the stage in mind. Hatching in a storm of overturned emotions, the album is all the more explosive for the strength of the live show that accompanies it. In addition to the usual line-up of guitar, accordion and percussion, a musician handles synthesizers and machines to boost the electronic turboshaft. In any case, you can count on the singer to assert her increasingly clear-cut character with each new project. And, above all, she won't give up. L.a Yegros is back and her batteries are fully charged.

This Is Street Funk” is part of a new series aimed at vinyl buyers who want a genre specific compilation to excite their ears. They will appeal to long-standing, discerning music acolytes and recent converts alike. Two sides of fantastic music, at an affordable price, hand-picked with TLC from Ace and its associated catalogues.

Compiled by Dean Rudland, who also writes the liner notes, “This Is Street Funk” brings you 14 tracks of hard hitting, heavy funk, and sums up the sound of 70s Black America. A combination of fatback drums, syncopated bass, rhythmic guitars and explosive vocals.

The line-up of tracks includes classics from the Fatback Band and Millie Jackson, dancefloor favourites from Billy Garner and Billy Sha-Rae and screaming organ instrumentals from the Fame Gang and Larry & Tommy.

This is fourteen tracks that defy you to start dancing.

Voodoo Mambosis And Other Tropical Diseases ist der 2. Teil einer neuen Serie auf Stag-O-Lee. Vier Volumen sind geplant. Die Original Schallplatten stammen aus dem Fundus von unserem geschätzten Duke Jens-O-Matic, seit Jahrzehnten als Grafiker, international gefeierter DJ, Sammler und Jäger unterwegs. Schon damals, als wir Stag-O-Lee das erste Leben einhauchten, war Jens-O-Matic dabei und lieferte vier Volumen der wundervollen Jim Jam Gems 10" Serie ab. Jeweils stilistisch in sich geschlossen. Aktuell arbeitet er an weiteren Jim Jam Gems Volumen, tut sich aber mit den Linernotes schwer, weil, "man hat ja einen pädagogischen Auftrag!". Nun zu dem vorliegenden Tonträger: Was macht ein Freund der obskuren 7", wenn er schon alles im Bereich Rhythm & Blues usw. hat? Er sucht sich weitere Betätigungsfelder. Andere Länder, andere Musik, andere Einflüße. So auch unser Jens-O-Matic. Eine kleine Weltreise hat er für Voodoo Mambosis unternommen, seine neue Liebe den Cumbia einfließen lassen, eine Prise Voodoo drunter gemischt, einige alte Bluesheroen reaktiviert, dazu etwas Exotica - die schadet nie. Die große Kunst ist nun, diese auf Papier disparaten Elemente so zu verbinden, dass etwas einzigartiges, durchweg spannendes entsteht. Voodoo Mambosis And Other Tropical Diseases ist das beste Beispiel dafür! Das Cover, ebenfalls designt von Jens-O-Matic, ist eine Hommage an die wegweisende 84er Compilation Rockabilly Psychosis and the Garage Disease!

One of the rarest, and greatest, horn instrumental dub albums of the seventies featuring the soaring saxophone of Tommy McCook in combination with Glen Brown, 'The Rhythm Master', is finally given a legitimate release.

The original title for this long playing release was initially advertised on the label of the seven inch release of 'Determination Skank' as 'The Sannic Sounds Tommy McCook', however the album was released in Kingston in 1974 in very limited quantities on a white label in a plain recycled cover rubber-stamped 'Tommy McCook Dub'. Three years later the set was released through Grounation in London, once again on a white label and without a cover, where it was known as 'Horny Dub'. It gave music lovers a fascinating opportunity to compare and contrast the work of Tommy McCook, one of the architects and builders of the Jamaican sound, with Glen Brown's role in taking and breaking it into pieces...,

Dub Store Records is the Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots and Dancehall reissue label run by the eponymous Tokyo based record store. The label aims at accurately covering the 50-plus years of Jamaican music, and pass on many rare and magnificent recordings, which are non-commercial and highly artistic. Carefully handing down the tradition of reggae music, Dub Store Records has so far issued recordings from labels and artists such as Studio One, Federal Records (Federal, Kentone, Merritone), Bunny Wailer's Solomonic, Familyman's Fam's, Jammys, King Tubby's Firehouse, Derrick Harriott, Kiddus I, Redman International, BMN and much more to come.

Mr Lee Perry who in no uncertain terms defines the words musical genius, recorded some of the most inspiring, soulful, funny and weird / wild reggae music ever put down on tape. Working through all the manifestations of reggae from Ska to Roots and Dub, where his ground breaking 1973 ‘Blackboard Jungle’ LP, set the standards, he was an innovator. If this was not enough his recordings of THE WAILERS, many believe to be their finest work. Born Rainford Hugh Perry, 28 March 1936, Hanover, Jamaica. He began his career at the grand age of 16, working for Clement ‘Coxone’ Dodd’s sound system, rising quickly to the position of record scout and organising recording sessions during his 3 year period 1963-1966. Restlessness and unsatisfied with credit he felt due to him he moved on to work with Producers J.J. Johnson and Clancy Eccles, the later of which would help him set up his ‘Upsetter’ label in 1968,which would see his first of many recordings telling the injustices done to him by previous employees. ‘The Upsetter’ track itself pointed at Mr Dodd but reflected back to Perry when he inherited it as a nick name along side many others during the coarse of his career, including ‘Scratch’, again taken from one of his recordings ‘Chicken Scratch’ recorded in 1965/1966. Perry’s work in 1968 with producer Joe Gibbs was fruitful and resulted in many successfulreleases, but again lack of credit and itchy feet, it was time to move on. But not without leaving his trademark recording summing up his feelings at the time ‘People Funny Boy’ this time aimed at Mr Gibbs. Still not having a studio of his own, Perry recorded at the various Kingston establishments of the time, Randy’s Studio 17 on North Parade, Dynamics on Bell Road and Harry J’s on Roosevelt Avenue where the bulk of the aforementioned recordings with The Wailers were carried out. During this time and the years that followed Perry has built up a vast catalogue of backing tracks / instrumentals, he had cut over a 100 releases on his ‘Upsetter’ label alone. A library of music that he has an uncanny knack of reutilising to work into something new when put against a new song / singer. This collection of rare and unreleased dubs stems from his 1971-1974 period. We can here on tracks like ‘Perry’s Jump Up’ Ska-ish up tempo chopping guitar cuts leading through to organ laden tracks like ‘Roots Rock Dub’. The sound moving to a slowed down rhythm on ‘Perry in Dub’ which would predominate his sound, when in mid 1974 he’d open his own studio at his home in the Washington Gardens district of Kingston. We hope this selection of lost treasures will add to the jigsaw that makes Mr Perry’s output now spanning over 5 decades so remarkable.
RESPECT.... JAH FLOYD.

Africamore: The Afro-Funk Side of Italy (1973-1978)

Continuing Four Flies' dedication to delving into lesser-explored periods of Italian music, Africamore takes us on a captivating journey into the intersection of Afro-funk and the Italian soundscape during the six years between 1973 and 1978 - a time when disco was looming on the horizon and the nightclub market was rapidly expanding.

Before reaching Italian shores, the infectious sound originating from African and Afro-Caribbean roots traversed both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, landing on New York dancefloors, where DJ Dave Mancuso discovered "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango. In 1973, from Mancuso's Loft parties, the song's hypnotic groove spread to the rest of the globe, including in Italy, where it sparked a wave of imitations and variations.


Tribal influences thus found their way into Italian soul-funk and early-disco productions released between 1973 and 1978 – from psychedelic-tinged tunes like Jean Paul & Angelique's "Africa Sound" to the Afrobeat-inspired club banger "Kumbayero" by composer/producer Albert Verrecchia (aka Weyman Corporation); and from groundbreaking Afro-cosmic songs like Chrisma's "Amore", co-written by Vangelis and featuring the rhythms of Ghanaian-British Afro-rock band Osibisa, to mind-blowing floor-fillers like Beryl Cunningham's "Why O", a re-write of Nat King Cole's "Calypso Blues" arranged by Paolo Ormi, with percussion breaks that sound pretty much like what would later become known as techno.


Combining feel-good vibes with driving rhythms, world-style percussion, and even synths, all these productions pushed the boundaries of dance music at a time when disco had not yet taken over. In doing so, they sowed many of the seeds of the later Italian cosmic scene and its unique mixture of African elements, disco-funk and electronic music.

This was a brief but nuanced period in Italian music history, one that deserves to be rediscovered, with love.

Africamore is due out on March 22nd and will be available as a gatefold 2LP and digipak CD. Both formats come with stunning artwork by Kathrin Remest and liner notes by Pierpaolo De Sanctis and Elena Miraglia.

Reissue! Poets of Rhythm founding members first crucial piece of the funk spectrum recorded as The Whitefield Brothers. A wear-your heart-on-your-sleeve, hypnotic, defiantly psychedelic funk album that is as modern as it is grounded in the great musical traditions from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Featuring members of the Dap Kings, El Michels Affair and Poets of Rhythm. “The Whitefield Brothers In The Raw remains as potent in 2022 as the day it dropped twenty years ago. Originally released in 2002, and later reissued via Now-Again, the LP’s panglobal brew of ragged psychedelic funk dripped different, defying easy markers of genre, era, and locality...live breakbeat drums and tribal chants...anchor the set’s twelve tracks. Hypnotic and humid, come for the polyrhythms, stay for the swirling dub adjacent blasts of trumpet.” - Aquarium Drunkard

Repress 2024.


Pampidoo’s dancehall classic SYNTHESISER VOICE has been remastered and remixed by LEGOWELT!

under official licence from King Jammys.

Produced by Henry Jenkins (Surprised Chef), cinematic funk combo The Diasonics are back with a limited edition 45 feat. an explosive version of soul stormer "Beggin'. Limited to 500 copies worldwide.

Produced and mixed by Henry Jenkins (Surprised Chef), Russian cinematic funk combo The Diasonics unleash a limited edition 45 featuring an explosive version of soul classic "Beggin'. Composed by Bob Gaudio and Peggy Farina and initially brought to success by the Four Seasons of Frankie Valli in 1967, "Beggin" became a classic of the Northern soul scene in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. With a tight rhythm section, a super funky bassline and heavy wah-wah guitars The Diasonics version is an instant floorfiller. On the flip side the brand new track "Take One", an irresistible hammond-funk mover, full of heavy breaks and eastern spices.

Active since 2019 The Diasonics are five young and seriously talented Muscovite musicians: Anton Moskvin (drums), Maxim Brusov (bass guitar), Anton Katyrin (percussions), Daniil Lutsenko (electric guitar) and Kamil Gzizov (keyboards). In just a few years the band has amassed a cult following, releasing collectable and in-demand 45s on labels such as Funk Night Records and Mocambo Records. In 2021 they released their debut album "Origin of Forms" on Record Kicks produced by Henry Jenkins, producer amongst the others of the Australian cult instrumental band Surprise Chef. Thanks to the Diasonics's unique style that blends infectious Funk Instrumentals, East European flavours, abstract hip-hop and psychedelia, the album rapidly went sold out on vinyl and it's heavily praised on the international cinematic-funk scene.

Kapitän Platte will release the debut album from Belgium based band CHATTE ROYAL in March 2024. The four-piece group has already released two EPs in 2020 and 2022 and will present eight new songs on the first full-length, Diego Di Vito who is responsible for most of the songwriting on the album is also well known as the guitar player in cinematic-post-rock band We Stood Like Kings. CHATTE ROYAL is like the music of a film whose image we would have removed. Obsessions that result in powerful riffs accompanied by an impactful rhythm. This quartet travels through music oscillating between atmospheric and aggressive math-rock and melodic post-rock with a punk attitude. In a completely uninhibited style and imbued with virtuosity and energy on stage.

With 'Why Don't You Go Home' Fingier produces a monster Rhythm & Blues tune that will take you straight to the King and Federal R&B sound, and for the B side, 'Cocktail De Medianoche' is the perfect mix of Boogaloo and Northern Soul. Percussion, flute and horns will make this a Fingier favourite for lovers of Latin grooves and Uptempo Soul.

Diane Ward is singer from USA, who grew up singing Gospel in her local church. Music was always a big part of her life, and she has always had a deep interest in Rhythm & Blues and Jazz. She lived in Argentina for a couple of years, and one night Kevin saw her perform and instantly her voice blew his mind. In his words:

“She’s a proper R&B singer, she reminded me to Ruth Brown, MaryAnn Fisher or Lula Reed. She has that potent and obscure soundthat took me to those lately 50s early 60s Popcorn tracks”

With two monster tracks, calling this a ‘Double Sider’ wouldn’t be enough, both with that '60s sound we've come to expect from Fingier Records.

Dark Machine Funk is delighted to welcome the first guest producer into the fold, Head Front Panel. A huge source of inspiration to DMF since those highly sought after HFP 12”s hit the record store racks in 2014, Head Front Panel delivers a superb well rounded 4 track EP titled ‘Tactile’ for DMF’s 5th release.

The opening track 'Panama' opens with some otherworldly pads, sweeping resonances tickle the ear before signature HFP drums hit you with pure engaging energy. Broken kick drums and rattling percussion perfectly sit on this hypnotic tribal-esque sonic dream, a depth and area that we've not heard from HFP before. 'Tactile' brings the perfect tool, loopy rhythms that stretch the perception of time whilst getting lost in subtle rides and eerie door creaking atmospheres, deep listening will provide a new journey on every repeat. 'Surdo' open's side B, and we're catapulted into the fire with shaker/hi hat percussions that grab your attention immediately and vocal samples scatter across the stereo field. Shimmering pads take the track into deeper territory but all while keeping in a constant state of forward motion accented by the occasional double kick drum. A huge baseline swings the track to give it it's funk. 'Them' probably the most recognisable HFP track hammers with a thunderous kick drum and a subtle repetitive synth line, groove is king here where percussion elements are pushed and modulated to create enough interest to carry the track through till close.

We are more than honoured to present ‘Head Front Panel - Tactile’ on DMF!

The Body & Dis Fig are a natural pair. Each has pioneered instantly recognizable worlds of sound all their own that defy any traditional categorizations or boundaries. The Body, Lee Buford and Chip King, continually challenge any conventional conception of metal, collaborating with myriad artists and from the folk-leanings of their work with BIG|BRAVE to their groundbreaking work with the Assembly of Light Choir to the intensity of their collaborations with OAA or Thou. Dis Fig, aka Felicia Chen, pushes electronic music into dark extremes, from warped DJ sets to avant production, from being a member of Tianzhuo Chen’s performance-art series TRANCE to being the vocalist with The Bug. The Body and Dis Fig find kinship in reimagining what it means to make “heavy music”. Their debut Orchards of a Futile Heaven is the perfect synthesis of two forces, twisting melodicism and intoxicating rhythms, layering a dense miasma of distortion with intense beats and a soaring voice clawing its way towards absolution.

Orchards of a Futile Heaven’s walls of sputtering texture and tectonic booms are soaked in the reverence and melancholy of sacred spaces brought to life by palpable intensity by Chen’s voice. Crafted during a time of personal fragility, the album’s devastating force lies beyond any of the expected noise and abrasive textures typically associated with both The Body & Dis Fig. Suffused with a raw vulnerability and a longing for catharsis, Chen’s voice searches for escape in the midst of oppressive atmospheres as if determined to find relief from guilt. “Eternal Hours” patiently unfurls waves of surprising sounds, whispered undulations that are punctuated by sudden crashes, all beneath Chen’s haunting harmonies. “Dissent, Shame” evokes grief and shame with a minimalist drone dirge that gradually builds to an enchanting choral passage. King’s guitar on “Holy Lance” matches the uncanny drone of Chen’s accordion in an all-consuming blast, Chen’s voice transforming the moment from anguish to defiance and empowerment. The album’s arc finishes with “Coils of Kaa” acting as a kind of propulsive exorcism, breaking through a suffocating air before the funeral procession of “Back to the Water” lays the album to rest.

While sampling has long been essential to each, The Body & Dis Fig deftly meld their differing approaches to sampling and creating extreme sounds until the boundaries are entirely blurred. The two found kinship in their desire to find new avenues to make heavy music that looked beyond tropes of metal and electronic music by merging the two. “I always wanted the heavier stuff but I also didn’t really like heavier guitar music,” says Buford. “None of it really felt quite heavy enough to me. A human can’t be as heavy as a machine.” Chen counters, “I love the balance. You could never connect to just a machine as well as you could a human. Which is why the combination is so potent for me. I don’t want to hide. I think nothing connects you more empathetically than another human's voice.”

Orchards of a Futile Heaven affirms The Body & Dis Fig as skilled sound sculptors who have an exceptional ability to make deeply affecting music, bracing as it is touching, harrowing as it is awe-inspiring. Together, the two have harnessed their expansive artistry to make music that is profoundly emotional, and staggering in its beauty.

The Body & Dis Fig are a natural pair. Each has pioneered instantly recognizable worlds of sound all their own that defy any traditional categorizations or boundaries. The Body, Lee Buford and Chip King, continually challenge any conventional conception of metal, collaborating with myriad artists and from the folk-leanings of their work with BIG|BRAVE to their groundbreaking work with the Assembly of Light Choir to the intensity of their collaborations with OAA or Thou. Dis Fig, aka Felicia Chen, pushes electronic music into dark extremes, from warped DJ sets to, avant production. From being a member of Tianzhuo Chen"s performance-art series TRANCE, to being the vocalist with The Bug. The Body and Dis Fig find kinship in reimagining what it means to make "heavy music". Their debut Orchards of a Futile Heaven is the perfect synthesis of two forces, twisting melodicism and intoxicating rhythms, layering a dense miasma of distortion with intense beats, and a soaring voice clawing its way towards absolution. Orchards of a Futile Heaven affirms The Body & Dis Fig"s distinct and unified tastes as skilled sound sculptors who have an exceptional ability to make deeply affecting music, bracing as it is touching, harrowing as it is awe-inspiring. Together, the three have harnessed their expansive artistry to make music that is profoundly emotional, and staggering in its beauty.

United Kingdom-based Dirty Water Records has signed the California-based rock and roll / Power Pop outfit The Tearaways to a 5-year deal. The label has released the Ed Stasium-produced (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens) digital version of their new record called “And For Our Next Trick.” The band features the dual lead singers of bassist John “Fin” Finseth and rhythm guitarist Greg Brallier, lead guitar David Hekhouse and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Clem Burke (Blondie). Also, from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench played keyboards and Steven McCarthy (Jayhawks, The Long Ryders) added pedal steel guitar. The new record was recorded at legendary Village Recorders in Los Angeles and mastered at Sterling Sound by Greg Calbi. The first single being released to radio was “Charlie, Keith and Ringo,” along with the the award-winning video (Raindance Festival directed by Stephen David Brooks (“Flytrap”). The spring single is called “Saturday Everyday” and is being serviced to radio stations and other outlets right now. Label chief Paul Manchester: “We are thrilled to have assembled an all-star team of distributor Cargo Records UK, Wipe Out Music Publishing, Seán Crossey from the UK promotion firm High Violet PR & Plugging, and US publicity specialist Lou Mansdorf to help launch this project.“

Wicked previously unreleased late '80s combination tune from Icho Candy & his brother Prince Junior, who are sometimes confused for each other. On the same rhythm as King Kong's "Agony and Pain", which we've now repressed after being long out of stock (see link above). Lyrically about the struggle for freedom of the day, as resonant today as it was nearly 40 years ago.