Orange Vinyl with exclusive illustrated notes/lyric insert ltd to 300 w/w.“Zimmerman conjures up a kind of Arcadian folk surrealism that is utterly his own” MOJO Never released before collection featuring Ian A Anderson & Maggie Holland recorded 72-80 is among Tucker’s finest - Free-ranging, Playful, Intimate - his Songpoet imagination unbound and in full bloom now on colour Vinyl for first time with (exclusive to this version) illustrated lyric insert with notes from Tucker.Recorded between 1972-80 this is the first ever release for ‘I Wonder If I’ll Ever Come True’ a stunningly beautiful, homegrown collection by Songpoet Tucker Zimmerman and friends. The range and depth is astonishing. From the heady surreal journey of ‘It All Depends’ Upon the Pleasure Man’, to the uplifting Gene Clark-esque 'So It Goes’, to some of his most beautiful & touching love songs in ‘Let’s Start Over Again’ & ‘Song’. Only one song has seen the the light of day before now - ‘Taoist Tale’ from his 1984 album ‘Word Games’. This recording from a decade earlier loses no power in its folkier stripped down style driven by Tucker’s strong narrative.
While living in bucolic seclusion in Belgium with Marie-Claire, Tucker invited visiting musicians (Derroll Adams, Wizz Jones, Maggie Holland, Dave Evans, Ian Anderson) into his home studio to play and live tape whatever songs he had at hand. Maggie Holland and Ian A Anderson feature, while Tucker found a freeing simplicity in just guitar, ’70s organ, bass and piano. We are so grateful to Ian A Anderson, who carefully kept and curated these recordings from 50 years ago. “Every time I would leave, Tucker would hand me another tape full of songs”. Ian worked with Tucker and ourselves to present this wonderful album. The collection is among Tucker’s finest - free-ranging, playful, intimate - his Songpoet imagination unbound and in full bloom. The ethos, the playing, the freedom, feels like Ronnie Lane’s time in the Welsh Borders. Unhurried, liberated, down-home and cosmic. Extraordinary music made among friends.
"Startling collection of intimate, home-recorded songs from the cult singer-songwriter adored by David Bowie and Big Thief alike.
When I first interviewed Tucker Zimmerman back in 2015 neither of us had any idea that, a decade later, he would be venerated by a new coterie of young fans, touring with maximal folk-rockers Big Thief and recipient of a concerted reissue campaign by the wonderful Big Potato Records. Last year I eulogised the “Arcadian folk surrealism” of his 1974 LP *Over Here In Europe but, if anything, this informal collection of intimate home-studio recordings is even better. Recorded between 1973 and 76 whilst living in Belgium and hosting such visiting folk musicians as Derroll Adams, Wizz Jones, Maggie Holland, Dave Evans, and Ian A. Anderson this is the kind of assured, organic freewheeling folk music that has the mellow, introspective rough-edged feel of some lost private-press LP, the kind rightly revered by Endless Boogie’s Paul Majors as “real people” music. A true find.” Andrew Male MOJO 4/5
“Here's a charming oddity: an unreleased album dating from the mid-Seventies by an American-born songwriter beloved of David Bowie and, more recently, Adrianne Lenker of the folk-rock band Big Thief. Zimmerman's a bohemian type who eschewed the big time for a life of gigging around Europe. He, his wife, Marie-Claire, and a handful of friends recorded these songs in seclusion in the Belgian countryside, and what songs they are. Slide On could have come from the Byrds when they discovered country music, Let's Start Over Again captures the dreamlike experience of being in love with unsettling clarity. This is a real unearthed gem.” 4/5 The Times
A GOOD FUN record, the new album from Lipphead – aka the collaborative NYC duo consisting of the producer Tony Simon (Blockhead) and Eliot Lipp – will be the group’s 3rd official full- length, having released the first two records via Detroit’s Young Heavy Soul label.
Lipphead’s music occupies the sweet spot between Blockhead’s groovy, sample-based hip- hop and Eliot Lipp’s upbeat electronic funk. The duo have performed live at select festivals throughout North America and are booked to tour this album, 17 dates in the US starting right after release, April 3rd. European/UK festivals are confirmed in the summer and are waiting to be announced.
The internationally renowned NYC producer Tony Simon—aka Blockhead—has released 15 albums over the past 15 years, including four acclaimed records for Ninja Tune and numerous production jobs including notable works with Aesop Rock. He is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop and has more recently been releasing music on other platforms like Future Archive Recordings and Backwoodz Studios.
Eliot Lipp is an electronic musician based in Brooklyn, New York. His work was picked up by Scott Herren of Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) after Herren heard him working the club circuit. In 2004, Lipp released his first studio album, S/T, with Eastern Developments Music, a label owned by Warp Records. Lipp has also released music with Pretty Lights Music and his own label Old Tacoma Records.
“Our process for this album was very much "Take this, and add to it" . We both made beats and sent them to the other to add things to. Eliot would generally start the arrangement process and then I'd come in and give my two cents. Gotta say, these Lipphead albums generally come together seamlessly . We definitely have a simple flow and method as to how we create things together, even though the "together" part comes at the end.” - Blockhead
“This is definitely the goofiest record so far. I imagine Lipphead did a little too much doomscrolling between ‘From The Back’ and this one, based on all the meme samples sprinkled throughout.
One difference this time around was that we made way more music than what ended up coming out. It was tough to figure out how to fit it all on one LP, we’ll definitely have some leftovers to drop later on.” - Eliot Lipp
A GOOD FUN record, the new album from Lipphead – aka the collaborative NYC duo consisting of the producer Tony Simon (Blockhead) and Eliot Lipp – will be the group’s 3rd official full- length, having released the first two records via Detroit’s Young Heavy Soul label.
Lipphead’s music occupies the sweet spot between Blockhead’s groovy, sample-based hip- hop and Eliot Lipp’s upbeat electronic funk. The duo have performed live at select festivals throughout North America and are booked to tour this album, 17 dates in the US starting right after release, April 3rd. European/UK festivals are confirmed in the summer and are waiting to be announced.
The internationally renowned NYC producer Tony Simon—aka Blockhead—has released 15 albums over the past 15 years, including four acclaimed records for Ninja Tune and numerous production jobs including notable works with Aesop Rock. He is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop and has more recently been releasing music on other platforms like Future Archive Recordings and Backwoodz Studios.
Eliot Lipp is an electronic musician based in Brooklyn, New York. His work was picked up by Scott Herren of Prefuse 73 (Warp Records) after Herren heard him working the club circuit. In 2004, Lipp released his first studio album, S/T, with Eastern Developments Music, a label owned by Warp Records. Lipp has also released music with Pretty Lights Music and his own label Old Tacoma Records.
“Our process for this album was very much "Take this, and add to it" . We both made beats and sent them to the other to add things to. Eliot would generally start the arrangement process and then I'd come in and give my two cents. Gotta say, these Lipphead albums generally come together seamlessly . We definitely have a simple flow and method as to how we create things together, even though the "together" part comes at the end.” - Blockhead
“This is definitely the goofiest record so far. I imagine Lipphead did a little too much doomscrolling between ‘From The Back’ and this one, based on all the meme samples sprinkled throughout.
One difference this time around was that we made way more music than what ended up coming out. It was tough to figure out how to fit it all on one LP, we’ll definitely have some leftovers to drop later on.” - Eliot Lipp
Step into the second chapter of the The Jazz Sinners saga dedicated to cool, groovy and sinful
Jazz. The Jazz In You goes deeper with richer grooves, glamorous moods, pure analog soul.
A cinemac journey through jazz’s most seducve decades, pressed and presented with
uncompromising audiophile standards. This is jazz that moves, seduces, and stays. Every cut is pure
jazz alchemy. Rare, prisne vintage first pressings and top-er sources only. No shortcuts, no
compromises. Mastered organically for a full 360° sound spectrum, where every nuance and every
breath feels as if the players were right there in the room. The mood is cinemac, midnight cool. Jazz with a;tude inspiring shadowed alleys, smoky clubs, late-night elegance.
Music that speaks equally to jazz lovers, lounge selectors, DJs, and serious collectors.
At the heart of the journey, instantly recognizable landmarks light the way:
Gloria Lynne’s “The Jazz In You”, Benny Golson’s “Tippin’ On Thru”,
Nina Simone’s “Central Park Blues”, Diane Maxwell’s “Love Charms”,
Sabu Marnez’s “Enchantment”, and Zoot Sims’ “Recado Bossa Nova – Pt.1”.
Timeless names, meless grooves, each cut is chosen for its power to move and to suggest feeling
and emoons. Behind the selecon stand true masters of mood, with over thirty years of digging,
taste, and style shaping every decision.
On this double vinyl, the experience is treated with the respect it deserves. Pressed under expert
supervision, housed in a premium 100% Italian-made cover on luxurious 350g cardstock, with polylined inner sleeves designed for long-term preservaon. Built for collectors. Made to last
generaons and here is the promise: Triumphant. Timeless. Deeply grooving.
Soulful vocals, hard-swinging combos, cinemac big bands, Afro-Lan heat, late-night Blues. Every
track is a winner. The Jazz In You is feeling. It’s a;tude. It’s moon and emoons.
Now, sit back, close your eyes and get ready to find something captured, once again, that escapes
explanaon … The Jazz Sinners’ way!
Introducing Red D, the Belgian DJ and producer, one half of FCL (alongside San Soda), long standing club promoter (since 1992), owner of We Play House and general all round good guy. With releases on Ferrispark and Delusions Of Grandeur (with MCDE), remixes on Eskimo, regular sets at the likes of Panorama Bar and an RA Mix under his belt you could say things are falling into place nicely. On top of all this his FCL project continues to go from strength to strength with a new
EP dropping soon on Kai 'KZR' Alce's highly regarded NDATL label. When he sent over two originals for Freerange it was love at first listen as the simple, warm beats and emotive chord stabs of title track Chez oozed from the speakers. This sounded to me like house music in it's purest form, from the days when the focus was on a feeling rather than complex sounds or technological
trickery. And the proof is in the pudding with this one as you can feel the dance floor go into some kind of collective bubble of love whenever you play it. The second original follows drawing you into a false sense of security with familiar 707 beats and gentle pads before taking a left turn. Appropriately titled Into Darkness the blissful vibes of the intro begin to fall away as the
track reaches a breakdown and we're treated to the rudest of Chi-Town basslines taking us down a somewhat less wholesome path. Flipping over we're treated to two Jacob Korn remixes, one of each of the originals and if the A side is the good cop, we can trust the Uncanny Valley regular to deliver some pure badness on the flip. His Remix of Chez is clearly inspired by his studio hardware as you can hear the improvised and 'live'
sounding arrangement, the machines taking on a life of their own as things twist and turn in a spontaneous and unpredictable way. A rattling white noise pulse drives the rhythm whilst bubbling synths add some lightness to the pummeling
kick. Into Darkness gets the Korn treatment next and here he puts it right through the sonic mangler, tape saturation distorting the mix to within an inch of it's life. Jacob puts the focus on the bassline of the original, keeping things simple at
first before winding in layers of Juno chords and the bleepiest of synth lines resulting in the finest of raw, bassment house jams.
Pariah’s cult album re-issued! “Blaze of Obscurity” brings you pure Thrash Metal fury! Satan changed their name to Pariah in 1988-1989. There’s Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, the list seems almost endless. Sub-genres are important in metal and bands are quickly classified and labeled. Pariah (the last re-incarnation of Satan) is one of few bands that are difficult if not impossible to classify. Is it Heavy metal? NWOBHM? Thrash Metal? Pariah did not make it easy to describe their sound. It might be too sophisticated to simply label it Heavy Metal, which in its infancy was a rather simple affair.
They don’t sound like any Metal band out there, perhaps discounting some of the more aggressive and technical ones, and then the signature NWOBHM sound is added. The guitar playing by Russ Tippins and Steve Ramsey is undeniably what defines Pariah as well as Satan in the past. Undeniably, Satan has gone a long way; from humble NWOBHM beginnings, to Experimental/Melodic Mettal (in Blind Fury) and something that could be described as a NWOBHM/Thrash Metal hybrid (“The Kindred”). It’s as if they’ve been experimenting trying to find their identity, and theyfinally found it. Stylistically, “Blaze of Obscurity” could be seen a step back to “Suspended Sentence”, but this time around they got everything right, down to the last note. Those who have heard Satan know what to expect: great guitar playing.
And sure enough, “Blaze of Obscurity” is a demonstration of guitar mastery and is overall a very guitar-driven album, with plenty of mind-boggling riffs and solos are all over the place, but more importantly, it’s a demonstration of some amazing songwriting as well. This is easily Pariah/Satan’s creative peak and one of the most consistent albums I’ve ever heard, featuring eight great and conceptually perfect songs with lyrics that come across as sophisticated and thought-provoking. It is not fair to put the entire spotlight on Tippins and Ramsey though since the drumming and bass work from Sean Taylor and Graham English really shines. The rhythm is fast and tight, keeping it focused, aggressive and intense till the end. Vocalist Michael Jackson (yes, that’s his name) has to be commended too as this is easily his careers best performance.
The verdict: “Blaze of Obscurity”: the level of musical genius expressed here, along with near flawless songwriting, is more than enough to skyrocket it to heights reserved only for classics. Probably not your choice for some light listening those quiet Sunday evenings, but those who take a more serious, intellectual approach when selecting their music will find very much to appreciate here.
Tracklisting
Anton Toorell’s second solo album, Solos II, deepens and intensifies the six-string language introduced on his 2022 debut, Solos. Rather than widening his scope, the Swedish guitarist, composer and producer sharpens his focus, homing in on the physical and sonic relationship between player, instrument and tuning. The result is three extended pieces of cascading tonality that feel disciplined yet light, their conceptual frameworks always secondary to the luminous sounds Toorell draws from two guitars.
Throughout Solos II, Toorell explores both the guitar’s potential for silvery, sometimes clashing textures and his own physical engagement with the instrument. Across ‘Volta’, ‘Cripta’ and ‘Scala’, he plays two guitars simultaneously: one fretted with the left hand using hammer-ons and pull-offs, while the right hand activates mostly open strings on a guitar resting in his lap. Despite the inherent complexity of this approach, the music never feels busy or demonstrative. Technique remains a quiet servant to Toorell’s compositional instincts and improvisational sensitivity.
The album leaves space for unplanned resonances and happy accidents, yet its structures are clear, resilient and finely balanced. The seventeen-minute ‘Volta’ unfolds as a shimmering continuum, its repeated figures gently reshaped through minute inflections, creating a sensation of constant motion. ‘Cripta’ spirals inward, cycling hypnotically in a way that recalls both Terry Riley’s iterative minimalism and the hallucinatory guitar loops of early Seefeel.
With the closing ‘Scala’, the recording environment comes fully into view. Captured in a 16th-century wine cellar at Palazzo Stabile in Piemonte, Italy, the room functions as a guiding presence and an implicit third instrument. Toorell tuned the guitars in response to the cellar’s reverberant character, seeking configurations that would open up the space itself.
Bosconi Records, the Florence-based imprint run by Fabio Della Torre, is back with something truly special. Over the years, the label has built a reputation for pushing house, funk and electro in all their shades, always keeping a strong link between the local scene and international legends. And when it comes to legends, there are few names that shine brighter than Alexander Robotnick.
The Italian electro pioneer – aka Maurizio Dami – has already collaborated with Bosconi on The Hidden Game and Italcimenti Under Construction. Now he returns with My La(te)st EP, a vinyl-only release that pulls five standout cuts from his 2007 CD My La(te)st Album and finally makes them available on wax. All tracks have been remastered for the vinyl format, enhancing their depth and dynamics to deliver the best possible experience on wax.
The EP opens with “Jette Le Masque (Extended Version)”, driven by a pumping bassline and jagged sawtooth synths, with whispered French vocals by Robotnick himself. Stretched out and more DJ-friendly than the original, this version is tailor-made for the dancefloor. On “We Love The Music” things get fun and funky: vocoder vocals, an electro-funk bounce and that unmistakable Robotnick irony. A killer cut to start a set on the right foot.
Flip the record and you dive into the acidic depths of “I’m Getting Lost In My Brain”. Old-school Chicago vibes, a hypnotic groove and basslines that just don’t quit – a peak-time weapon that feels raw and timeless. Then comes “A Coffee Shop in Rotterdam”, one of those secret gems: melodic, laid-back and warm, built on a slapping bass and dreamy arpeggios. It has that Riviera house touch from the ’90s, but with Robotnick’s unmistakable twist.
Closing the EP is “Addio” – a track that wears its heart on its sleeve. Romantic, emotional, and driven by a bassline that nods back to Robotnick’s all-time classic Problèmes d’Amour. A perfect goodbye track, the kind that leaves a smile on your face as the lights come on.
This is a must-have for vinyl lovers and Robotnick fans alike – five cuts carefully remastered for the vinyl format, pressed exclusively on wax and ready to work the floor from start to finish. Don’t sleep on it: limited copies, vinyl only.
out of Stock
Last delivered 22 days ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Trickpony rightfully return with their sensual sophomore record, a six track tip of downtempo anthems elaborating on the sonic blueprint established through Pillow Talk (STEP11). Contemporary trip hop revivalists at the core; the trio specialise in new age pop collages, stripped, subbed and dubbed for your pleasure. With whispered secrets tangled over atmospheric decay and hooks that tug at heartstrings, the trickpony DNA is embedded deep in the musical discourse; “24/7 Heaven” elevates even the most devious to a divine higher place.
From top to tail slung breaks crash like waves, rolling and seeping into opulent synthesis which fills the room. Sometimes music can say a thousand words without a single lyric; Ripple and Trick Trick fixating on textural constructions, layers of harmonic delight working in unison with forward thinking percussion patterns. Angel and No/Direction delve deeper into a more sparse, stripped back landscape; delayed fragments with room to breathe between vocal stylings that will lodge themselves into your memory one word at a time.
Closing with a psychedelic exploration, Memphis Light derails structure formula and drum&bass starts to feel technicolour. With an understated maturity exuding from all angles, STEP17 offers an introspective assortment of illustrious songs ready to reach into your subconscious.
out of Stock
Last delivered 78 days ago available to reorder, subject to availability
‘Call To Arms & Angels’ is the title of the twelfth studio album from South London collective Archive.
A 17-track double CD / triple LP recorded at RAK studios in London and released on Dangervisit/PIAS.
Deluxe editions of the album also include a bonus ‘Super8’ album of new and exclusive instrumentals, as featured in the band’s ‘Super8’ documentary that will accompany the release of the album.
Produced by Archive and long-time collaborator Jérome Devoise, ‘Call To Arms & Angels’ is the band’s first studio set since 2016’s ‘The False Foundation’.
Talking about the new album, Darius Keeler says, “Writing our twelfth studio album was an extraordinary time for the band. The song writing became an unfolding narrative as the world got stranger and more disturbing every day. With people’s freedoms being pushed to the brink, the suffering Covid caused and the terrible events in the US lead by Trump and the rise of the Right, anything seemed possible.
“To reflect on these times as artists brought up a darkness and an anger, but also a strange kind of inspiration that was at times unsettling. It really made us appreciate the power of music and how lucky we are to be able to express our feelings in this way.
“It seems there is light at the end of the tunnel, but there are always shadows within that light.”
Deluxe 2CD album plus ‘Super8’ bonus CD in 40-page casebound Polaroid bookpack.
2CD album.
Deluxe vinyl box set with white coloured vinyl 3LP (exclusive to this box set), ‘Super8’ bonus LP on white vinyl (exclusive to this box set), deluxe 3CD with Polaroid booklet and 12” x 12” art print.
Triple LP on gold vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
Triple LP on green vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
Triple LP on black vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
out of Stock
Last delivered 7 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Solid Ball of Rock is the tenth studio album by legendary heavy metal band Saxon and was originally released in 1991. Five of its eleven tracks were written by new bassist Nibbs Carter, who co-wrote another three songs.
The addition of young bassist Nibbs Carter seemed to inject new life into the group, which unleashed some of its most aggressive songs in years, including the full-on thrashing "Altar of the Gods" and positively scorching "Baptism of Fire."
"For our audience – and without an audience there is no band – our focus returned on Solid Ball of Rock…" noted singer Biff Byford. "Since then, we've been right on it."
Solid Ball of Rock is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on silver vinyl and includes an insert.
Emilia Sisco’s single “Trouble” b/w “It’ll Get Better” gets an instrumental treatment by Timmion, crafted by the label’s renowned powerhouse, Cold Diamond & Mink. In the absence of Emilia’s vocals, the instrumental renditions of both tracks offer the listener a fresh perspective to the deep original material.
The shimmering guitar licks of “Trouble” run face to face with the tightly grooving horn section. What starts as a light and melodic stroll in the park grows slowly towards the anthem-like ending.
“It’ll Get Better” drops the tempo down a notch, as the organ glides slowly through the southern-tinged deep soul instrumental.
Cold Diamond & Mink’s seasoned production skills shine through as they infuse these instrumental tracks with their soulful signature touch. If you are looking for a funky background for your day or jukebox, sink your teeth into these analog treats right now.
For here lies one of the most influential bands in the realm of gothic metal, a group with doom and death metal roots that has flourished for over three decades, boasting thirteen albums that have garnered devoted acclaim. This injustice is now being set right by The Circle Music , beginning with the vinyl release of the classic album "Burning: A Wish", which emerged twenty-four years ago. "Burning: A Wish", released in the twilight of the year 2001, stands as a dark reliquary of dreams lost to the velvet fog of melancholy. To revisit it now, two dozen years later, is to unseal a time capsule of gothic ache, doom- laced longing, and the tormented tenderness that only Lacrimas Profundere could conjure at their creative height. It was a candle-lit corridor between worlds. A slow fall into velvet shadows. A scream muffled by rain.
By the time "Burning: A Wish" was released, Lacrimas Profundere had already begun to evolve from their early death- doom origins, shaping their identity with the sophistication of seasoned mourners. The death growls had receded, replaced by the haunted, baritone croon of Christopher Schmid, whose voice is an echo from a chapel ruined by time. Yet, while the growls faded, the emotional gravitas remained intact, transmuted into melody, into baroque gloom, into something more sorrowfully refined. Produced with lush, theatrical clarity, the album never drowns in its own atmosphere, it breathes with it, moves with it. The soundscape is dominated by somber guitar textures, languid tempos, and subtle orchestral touches. From the very first notes, it is clear that this is music for ruined lovers and moon-drenched graveyards.
This is the hallmark of Lacrimas Profundere 's style: an emotional minimalism that does not explain or elaborate, but merely opens wounds and lets them breathe. That this album has remained, until now, absent from the warm embrace of vinyl is both tragic and oddly poetic. For what format better suits a record such as this than the one that cracks and hisses like an old seance? Vinyl is tactile, intimate. It requires attention, reverence. To place Burning: A Wish on a turntable is to light a candle in the dark.
A mix of metallic doomgaze, epic gothic soundscapes and post punk attitude. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. There are two kinds of heavy bands: the ones that make a lot of noise and the ones that drag you somewhere you didn't know you needed to go. Cwfen (pronounced 'Coven') are the latter, and Sorrows is a record that doesn't just crush - it haunts long after the final note. The allure of Cwfen's sound lies in contrasts: the glacial ferocity of Amenra, with the velvet-and-razor vocals of King Woman, and the rotting grandeur of Type O Negative. It's as hypnotic as it is harrowing, but somehow even better than the sum of those parts. Since emerging from Glasgow's underground just 18 months ago, Cwfen's reputation is growing, selling out shows and pulling growing audiences into their doom-laden fever dream. Released in October, the band's debut single 'Reliks' was a hit with fans and critics, landing a spot on Kerrang!'s release of the week playlist. And rightly so. Their sound devours and delights in equal measure. "Cwfen have emerged from the darkest depths of the Caledonian underground with a beguiling blend of doom metal and gothic post-punk for those who like to live deliciously." Kerrang! Sorrows lives in the space around doom where the weight of the riffs is matched by the weight in your chest, where the lyrics and the songwriting are as important as the music itself. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. It builds, burns, collapses, resurrects. Big on riffs, bigger on feeling. The kind of songs you carry with you. Singer and rhythm guitarist Agnes Alder bears her claws one minute, then whispers the next, as the band follows like a storm front, rising, breaking, drowning you in the weight of it. From the guttural Penance to the lush Whispers, to the feral Wolfsbane and the insurrectionist Rite. It includes a long reworking of Embers and Bodies, the two self-recorded demos that launched them into the scene with a bang and their growing legion of fans already adore. Intricate vocal arrangements, heavy and harsh guitars, a mix of atmosphere and heft, it undoubtedly punches above its weight for a debut. As Agnes says: "When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic." This is a band that sits right in the boundaries between the heavy genres, pulling in everyone from the young goths and to the die-hard metalheads alike and 'Sorrows' truly does deliver in spades. Make no mistake, Cwfen are set to be one of the names to watch in 2025. FFO: Chelsea Wolfe, Zetra, King Woman, Type O Negative, Alcest, Faetooth, Liturgy. Limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in transparent red vinyl. Full colour Gatefold outer sleeve, with a full colour printed inner sleeve, Full download included as well.
‘Call To Arms & Angels’ is the title of the twelfth studio album from South London collective Archive.
A 17-track double CD / triple LP recorded at RAK studios in London and released on
Dangervisit/PIAS.
Deluxe editions of the album also include a bonus ‘Super8’ album of new and
exclusive instrumentals, as featured in the band’s ‘Super8’ documentary that will
accompany the release of the album.
Produced by Archive and long-time collaborator Jérome Devoise, ‘Call To Arms &
Angels’ is the band’s first studio set since 2016’s ‘The False Foundation’.
Talking about the new album, Darius Keeler says, “Writing our twelfth studio album
was an extraordinary time for the band. The song writing became an unfolding
narrative as the world got stranger and more disturbing every day. With people’s
freedoms being pushed to the brink, the suffering Covid caused and the terrible
events in the US lead by Trump and the rise of the Right, anything seemed possible.
“To reflect on these times as artists brought up a darkness and an anger, but also a
strange kind of inspiration that was at times unsettling. It really made us appreciate
the power of music and how lucky we are to be able to express our feelings in this
way.
“It seems there is light at the end of the tunnel, but there are always shadows within
that light.”
Deluxe 2CD album plus ‘Super8’ bonus CD in 40-page casebound Polaroid
bookpack.
2CD album.
Deluxe vinyl box set with white coloured vinyl 3LP (exclusive to this box set), ‘Super8’
bonus LP on white vinyl (exclusive to this box set), deluxe 3CD with Polaroid booklet
and 12” x 12” art print.
Triple LP on gold vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
Triple LP on green vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
Triple LP on black vinyl in triple gatefold sleeve.
out of Stock
Last delivered 7 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
KALEIDOBOLT’s fifth album is pungent to the ears – KARAKUCHI out in March Karakuchi is one record you can judge by its cover. The first time Kaleidobolt’s faces have adorned an LP, they have been fused into a torpedoing biomechanical vehicle. Echoing The Birthday Party’s Junkyard or Motörhead’s Orgasmatron (…on acid?!), the illustration epitomises perfectly Kaleidobolt’s agenda of “hyperkinetic rock”. Their feverish, psych-prog sound is full of motion. It jerks around at different speeds, threatening to spin out of control and crash into flames at any given moment. What’s more, it isn’t taken too seriously. This is heavy and intricate music, yes. But as bassist and co-singer Marco Menestrina puts it, the Kaleidobolt attitude is “an ugly smirk more than an angry face with a fist.” On their fifth album since forming in 2014, the Helsinki-based outfit lean into their strengths as a formidable power trio. With their previous two records, 2019’s Bitter and 2022’s This One Simple Trick, they had thrown everything at their disposal into the recording with no expense spared on overdubs, effects and kitchen sinks. Produced again by Niko Lehdontie (Oranssi Pazuzu), Karakuchi comes from tightly rehearsed, live-in-the-studio takes. Kaleidobolt realise that greater sparsity can be a strength, and they’ve allowed their instruments extra space to breathe. It makes for their earthiest, purest and perhaps most authentic record to date. Karakuchi’s exuberant style emerges from the individual members’ contrasting listening habits. These span classic prog, Japanese city pop, noise rock, post-hardcore and historical podcasts. One record they can all agree is a masterpiece, the centre of the Venn diagram where all three members meet, is King Crimson’s Red. As for their new album’s title, that’s as suitable as the cover art. “Karakuchi” is the slogan of the Japanese beer brand Asahi Super Dry. Translated literally, this means “pungent to the mouth”. As drinkers of that product, Kaleidobolt acknowledge its parallels to their songs. “It’s very intense, right at the front, like at the first bite,” explains Menestrina. “And then it leaves your mouth feeling refreshed. The flavour doesn’t linger in your mouth, basically. It has a quick, hard finish. With a bit of a stretch, we thought that that could also be said of our music.” Karakuchi is Kaleidobolt at their hardest, fastest, tightest and super-driest. Pungent to the ears. -JR Moores, November 2025
KALEIDOBOLT’s fifth album is pungent to the ears – KARAKUCHI out in March Karakuchi is one record you can judge by its cover. The first time Kaleidobolt’s faces have adorned an LP, they have been fused into a torpedoing biomechanical vehicle. Echoing The Birthday Party’s Junkyard or Motörhead’s Orgasmatron (…on acid?!), the illustration epitomises perfectly Kaleidobolt’s agenda of “hyperkinetic rock”. Their feverish, psych-prog sound is full of motion. It jerks around at different speeds, threatening to spin out of control and crash into flames at any given moment. What’s more, it isn’t taken too seriously. This is heavy and intricate music, yes. But as bassist and co-singer Marco Menestrina puts it, the Kaleidobolt attitude is “an ugly smirk more than an angry face with a fist.” On their fifth album since forming in 2014, the Helsinki-based outfit lean into their strengths as a formidable power trio. With their previous two records, 2019’s Bitter and 2022’s This One Simple Trick, they had thrown everything at their disposal into the recording with no expense spared on overdubs, effects and kitchen sinks. Produced again by Niko Lehdontie (Oranssi Pazuzu), Karakuchi comes from tightly rehearsed, live-in-the-studio takes. Kaleidobolt realise that greater sparsity can be a strength, and they’ve allowed their instruments extra space to breathe. It makes for their earthiest, purest and perhaps most authentic record to date. Karakuchi’s exuberant style emerges from the individual members’ contrasting listening habits. These span classic prog, Japanese city pop, noise rock, post-hardcore and historical podcasts. One record they can all agree is a masterpiece, the centre of the Venn diagram where all three members meet, is King Crimson’s Red. As for their new album’s title, that’s as suitable as the cover art. “Karakuchi” is the slogan of the Japanese beer brand Asahi Super Dry. Translated literally, this means “pungent to the mouth”. As drinkers of that product, Kaleidobolt acknowledge its parallels to their songs. “It’s very intense, right at the front, like at the first bite,” explains Menestrina. “And then it leaves your mouth feeling refreshed. The flavour doesn’t linger in your mouth, basically. It has a quick, hard finish. With a bit of a stretch, we thought that that could also be said of our music.” Karakuchi is Kaleidobolt at their hardest, fastest, tightest and super-driest. Pungent to the ears. -JR Moores, November 2025
A light yet ominous atmospheric intro opens Pugilist’s account on Waveforms, quickly showcasing the Spatial family debutant’s shrewd prowess for mid 90’s breakbeats. An instantly familiar vocal sample gunning for your mind body and soul punctuates proceedings while solid breaks lead into a crunching amen throwdown - edited superbly with tricky arrangements and glorious melodic synthwork.
Straight into the breaks without delay, a DJ-friendly intro from Pugilist quickly escalates into a scintillating amen showcase with crisp, detailed edits taking you right back to a dirty basement dancefloor rippling with underground energy in 1994. Peppered with samples and light vocal hits - not to mention the doomsday basslines ready to tear holes in your sub - Pugilist has announced himself in style to the waveforms label.
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Another Thought was the first collection of Arthur Russell’s music to be released after his death in 1992. Released in 1993 on Point Music it marked the beginning of nearly 30 years of work to let the world hear the enormous archive of unreleased recordings Arthur left behind. Be With revisits this first compilation for a new gatefold double vinyl version and a triple-fold digipak CD reissue.
Both versions of Be With’s 2021 reissue of Another Thought have been mastered by Simon Francis and the vinyl cut by Pete Norman. The original artwork has been restored and tweaked at Be With HQ for the gatefold sleeve and the triple-fold digipak, with the essential help of Janette Beckman. Each version comes with an insert reproducing the liner notes and lyrics from the original CD release.
Together with Calling Out Of Context, Soul Jazz’s World of Arthur Russell, and much of the ongoing work of Audika, Another Thought is absolutely essential for even the most casual Arthur Russell collection. In fact we’d argue it’s essential for any fan of non-obvious pop music. This is the only place where you can hear some of Arthur’s most recognisable tunes and it’s an album that absolutely deserves to be kept in press.
We’ll assume that by now you’re all at least a little familiar with the story of Arthur Russell, the farm boy from Iowa who moved to 1970s New York. Arthur Russell the genuine musical genius who died just 40 years old, leaving behind a wealth of music that dwarfed the few 12"s and LPs that were released during his short life.
Although Arthur had been working on an album for Rough Trade during his last years, with the label no-longer operating it was Point Music (Philip Glass and Michael Riesman’s label set up together with Philips) who stepped in to help Arthur’s partner Tom Lee start working out exactly what Arthur had left behind.
Tom suggested that Arthur’s friend Mikel Rouse was the right person to make the first catalogue. Working in Tom and Arthur’s apartment he had only two weeks to go through what turned out to be around 800 tapes.
As Tom explained “at the end of each day he would generally wait for me to come home and I would, to the best of my knowledge, name and identify pieces in question from that day’s work. As he worked Mikel compiled about a dozen cassettes that he thought would present the most finished sounding songs for Don/Point to use. As Don listened he would then suggest and ask me and thus we collaborated on the choices.”
Don is Don Christensen, Another Thought’s producer. With a final selection of songs from recordings made between 1982 and 1990, including sessions with some of Arthur’s regular collaborators Peter Zummo, Steven Hall, Mustafa Ahmed, Elodie Lauten, Julius Eastman, Jennifer Warnes and Joyce Bowden, it was then Don’s job to turn these into a finished album.
Another Thought is a little different from the compilations of Arthur’s music that came out since. In our conversations with Steve Knutson (who founded Audika Records and who manages Arthur’s estate together with Tom), he explained that “more than any project released by Arthur during his lifetime or posthumously by Audika, ‘Another Thought’ is the most worked over. The material was significantly edited and rearranged from the original source tapes”.
If the aim was to release a comprehensive exploration of every facet of Arthur’s music, from the most avant-garde of his avant-garde compositions through to the most disco-not-disco of his disco-not-disco tunes then the project was a spectacular failure. But as a coherent album of non-obvious pop music Another Thought is wonderful.
Starting with the sparse voice-and-cello of the title track, A Little Lost adds some guitar along with the sneaking suspicion that we’re listening to something nowhere near as simple as it first sounds. By the time we get to This Is How We Walk On The Moon - it could be the moment you notice the congas, or the percussion that’s been building behind them, or maybe it’s that blast of trumpet and trombone - we realise we’ve gone from splashing around to being completely submerged in the musical world of Arthur Russell.
From here the album heads off on its journey around the sounds of the left-field contemporary classical music of the time, re-directed towards pop ears, with minor detours through the swirling woozy disco of the half-remembered night before on In The Light Of The Miracle and My Tiger, My Timing. Whether it’s just Arthur, his cello and some bleeps on Just A Blip, or whether he has some vocal help as he does on the bounding Keeping Up, this is difficult music made so, so easy. And through it all is Arthur’s voice and cello. Sometimes drowned in distortion and sometimes clear as a bell, but always there somewhere.
A Sudden Chill finally returns us to the calmer waters we started in and this last track closes the album with a melancholy that’s not surprising given how soon after Arthur’s death the album was put together.
Whilst Another Thought holds together with the consistency of a proper album, there’s still no getting away from the fact that this was put together from audio recorded in different ways, in different places, with different people at different times. Those with keen ears will hear traces of tape hiss, the occasional blown-out note and some digital fuzz, all fingerprints of those original recordings as well as of the 1990s digital equipment that was used to piece Another Thought together.
Add to this Arthur’s obvious pleasure in making music from the sort of sounds that can make microphones, speakers and ears uncomfortable, it’s no surprise that Another Thought isn’t glossy and pristine. Don Christensen’s productions have been careful to not scrub up those original recordings so much that they lose their original vibe, understandable given that Arthur wasn’t around as a guide. We’ve applied a similarly light touch with the mastering for these Be With versions, just working to make sure they sound like they should on both the vinyl and the CD.
Despite the Discogs rumours, Another Thought was never originally released as an LP. So when it came to the sleeve for this Be With vinyl version we took the original CD artwork as a starting point to come up with something that looks like it could have been in the record racks back in 1993.
We have to thank Janette Beckman for helping us reproduce her iconic photograph of Arthur in his newspaper boat hat. One of many photographs she took of Arthur, Janette shot this in her New York studio back in 1986 for a short article in the January ’87 issue of The Face Magazine. Those with eagle-eyes will notice we’ve used an ever-so-slightly different shot from the one that appeared in The Face and then again on the original cover of Another Thought. The original has long since been lost so we’ve worked with what is left in Janette’s archives. And we also have to thank Tom Lee for giving us permission to reproduce his liner notes from the original CD booklet, together with Arthur’s lyrics.
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Despite its title, Ratboys’ new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing. Rather, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one, vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the band’s sixth studio album – its first for New West Records – fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers — twangy, effervescent, as confident as they’ve ever been, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023’s highly acclaimed The Window by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a rural Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston, Illinois. The results veer from bubbly power-pop on “Anywhere” to irresistible post-country on “Penny in the Lake,” along with heart-piercing ballads like “Just Want You to Know the Truth” and an exhilarating detour into the extraterrestrial on “Light Night Mountains All That,” which Steiner dubs the band’s mammoth “wormhole jam.” Singin’ to an Empty Chair also marks the first Ratboys album written since Steiner began therapy, which the singer/lyricist credits for the clarity found across the album’s unflinching examinations of relationship and self. Fittingly, as the album begins by extending a hand into the void, it concludes with a scene of serenity – all while weaving candid honesty, humor, chaos, and whimsy along the way. “It's not all doom and gloom,” Steiner says. “The experience of making this record definitely gives me hope for whatever happens next.”
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Finally, finally, FINALLY! After many years of fruitless praying, a true collector grail can finally grace every turntable the world over. Bright And Shining is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of Barbara Moore. It's Highly Addictive Happiness Music TM and one of the coolest records to come out of anywhere...ever! With originals almost impossible to find - and, when they do, going for over £300 - you already know how crucial this beautiful reissue is.
Recorded in 1981 for Sylvester Music Company, Bright And Shining is breezy, dreamy and funky in a perfectly smooth jazzy-soul-groove fashion, with Moore's patented celestial male-female vocal harmonies this time benefitting from the addition of Fender Rhodes and pumping bass lines.
As one particularly enthusiastic Discogs user put it: "If Eno is responsible for Music for Airports, Moore is responsible for Music for Holidays." Indeed, this is brilliantly unique, "maximum happiness music". If you miss the sun-dappled soft-psych soul of Koushik, the heavenly vocal arrangements of the great Library Music doyenne Barbara Moore - her depth, richness, sophistication and warmth - will see you just right.
The gigantic title track, "Bright And Shining", gallops out the gate, all sophisticated, jazzy leisure-soul with sax and guitars backing Moore's effortless vocal swag in this relaxed, mid-tempo head-nod strut. Worth the price of admission alone. Up next, the sunny, vibey "Fly Me High" features strolling, "unworded" vocals (aside from the refrain of the title) alongside breezy alto sax and electric guitar. Pastoral and perfect. The slow'n'sultry "Affluence" presents a moody elegance, a classical "downlifting" gem. Another crucial highlight is the breezy "Going On Holiday". It's happy. It's sunny. It's lively. It's cool and happy. Did we say happy? A mid-tempo, romantic sax workout, "Alto Sex"presents smooth jazzy funk before the first side closes out with the soaring, jazzy "Stay With Me". Seriously uplifting.
Side B opens with "Feel Fine", an excellent uptempo and bright jazz groove. Up next, "Canon" is wracked with refinement, a peaceful, smooth vocal harmony over repeating bass making for an elegant, late-night classic. It's followed by the laconic "Smooth And Soft", a laidback, casual sophisticated soul and easy-feeling jazz gem. The jazzy "Real Thing" is another exercise in strolling sophistication, complete with wordless vocal harmonies. The fairly self-explanatory "Voice Over Sax" sounds precisely how you would expect; a relaxed sax number with heavenly vocal support! To close, the carefree "Feeling Free" is a pleasant, light and breezy mid-tempo groove.
The audio for Bright And Shining has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue. We'll grant the final word to MillionDollars. on discogs from about 10 years ago: "If you listen to the record on a sunny day you feel like going out surfing in a white linen suit with a blunt on your lips, catching a cool breeze."
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Bat For Lashes’ faszinierendes Debütalbum „Fur and Gold“ erscheint 2026 neu gemastert in den Abbey
Road Studios. Das Album, das 2006 erstmals veröffentlicht wurde, präsentierte Natasha Khans visionäre
Mischung aus Mythos, Emotion und cineastischem Pop und erntete breite Anerkennung sowie eine Mercury
Music Prize-Nominierung. Mit Hits wie „What’s a Girl to Do?“, „Horse and I“ und „Trophy“ ist „Fur and
Gold“ bis heute ein wegweisendes Zeugnis von Fantasie und Kunstfertigkeit.
Diese Neuauflage ist als schwere 180g schwarze Vinyl-LP des Originalalbums, sowie als Deluxe-DoppelCD-Set erhältlich. Die Doppel-CD enthält neben der remasterten Version eine Bonus-CD mit bisher unveröffentlichten Demos und Live-Aufnahmen der BBC. Ein zeitloses Debüt, wunderschön neu interpretiert
für eine neue Generation von Hörern.
Quickly following March’s The Fool - our label debut - Sa Pa reveals his new album Ambeesh on Short Span.
Coming five years after In A Landscape, and nearly a decade since his debut Fuubutsushi, Ambeesh pulls together a previously hidden body of work.
Written between 2014-2019 and long held in reserve awaiting the right moment for release, the album has often been grouped conceptually as a follow up to his FORUM debut. There’s a strong through line connecting the unique language and liveliness of ambient, layered field recordings, and dub techno found in those earlier records, as well as the seamless skydive through pressure formations found in the Enter Sa Pa production mix, which hinted at several of these tracks.
These pieces have taken time to surface and fully catch the light, but there’s still little else that compares. It’s a cache of some of his deepest and most texturally thrilling music, some of which have been rattling around in our ears and minds and conversation for years and have now found the right home and time. Forward thinking and singular in its combination of atmosphere; Ambeesh can press on the body at the right volume, and moves in thrust and riposte with the listener’s circadian rhythms. Sa Pa continues to dissolve the border between club-informed experimentation and intimate headphone listening.
Ambeesh also marks the artist’s return to Australia and the beginning of a new phase.
Mastered by Miles. Digital release of Lexanconical mastered by CGB @ Dubplates & Mastering.
Art from The Designers Republic.
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The Portland, ME trio returns with Feels Like Hell, their most self-assured and emotionally charged record yet. Despite the title, the album is a celebration of personal growth, creative freedom, and defiant joy in the face of a chaotic world.
Coming off the burnout and frustration captured in their 2021 album Quitter, Feels Like Hell finds Sonia Sturino (vocals/guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals), and Adam Hand (drums) leaning into clarity, gratitude, and renewed purpose. Sturino’s lyrics are as raw and honest as ever, but now they reflect strength rather than despair. It’s an album that drags existential dread into the daylight and sets it on fire.
“I decided to stop being such a sad-sap negative person,” Sturino says. “Now I practice being grateful, being proud, being happy, and not being envious.” That mindset shift shapes the tone of Feels Like Hell, which looks at darkness but chooses not to be consumed by it.
The record also marks the band’s first foray into co-writing, with Hoffman playing a significant role in shaping its sound. Embracing a more intuitive recording process, the trio stripped back the excess and focused on what felt right. The result is a record that’s resilient, cathartic, and brimming with creative energy.
While the world may still feel like it’s falling apart, Feels Like Hell pulses with the power of letting go. Letting go of fear, of perfectionism, of the illusion that vulnerability is weakness. With driving guitars, unflinching lyrics, and a renewed sense of purpose, Weakened Friends prove that it’s possible to stand in the wreckage and still find something worth singing about.
Julius Rennert returns with a warm, soulful House release that channels the timeless spirit of Jack while bringing his own modern sensitivity to the floor. Blending smooth and deep-driven grooves with a partly unmistakable French House touch, the EP radiates a comforting glow - lush chords, shimmering samples, and subtly swinging drums that wrap the listener in a sense of effortless uplift.
Despite arriving in the colder months, this record feels like a beam of mid-summer light: nostalgic yet forward-thinking, deep yet wonderfully accessible. Its refined production and heartfelt energy make it equally suited for intimate late-night sets, cozy living-room listening sessions, and dancefloors craving a touch of emotion.
Warm, groovy, and irresistibly soulful - Julius Rennert's new release is set to brighten the season and warm hearts long after the last note fades.
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British singer-songwriter Lucy Kitt unveils her highly anticipated second album, Telling Me, a deeply personal collection that shifts focus from introspection to storytelling, capturing the lives and struggles of those closest to her. Drawing from her love of 70’s Laurel Canyon folk, 90’s indie rock, and country music, Kitt crafts narratives that blend her own experiences with compassionate observations of loved ones. Based on a raw acoustic “three chords and the truth” style of songwriting that ripples throughout, the album expands with full-band arrangements that give a huge range and richness to the sound.
Though influenced by American musical traditions, the Essex-native maintains her distinctive voice and authenticity, ensuring the music remains unmistakably her own. Following her 2018 debut Stand By, this new record represents a more mature approach to songwriting, written during her early 30s and completed in the 2021 lockdown – a storybook of songs capturing that moment in time.
Musically, Telling Me showcases Kitt's stripped-down acoustic foundations, while incorporating fuller arrangements that blend her love of Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, with music she loved as a teenager such as The Lemonheads and Veruca Salt. The album features collaborations with an impressive roster of musicians, including Jay Starkey on drums, Nashville-based pedal steel virtuoso Spencer Cullum, Treetop Flyer’s Sam Beer and longtime collaborator Pat Kenneally on drums and piano.
Recorded between 2021-2023 at London's Lightship 95 studio at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the album was co-produced and engineered by Dave Holmes, with some musicians contributing remotely from Nashville and London.
Kitt's commitment to authenticity extends to every aspect of the album, from the down-to-earth, home-based album artwork which represents her life right now as a musician and a working mum, with all the wonderful chaos that comes along with it. Also her decision to maintain her natural accent throughout her vocals. "I have always retained my authentic self in my songs," she explains. "Always singing with my own accent, despite the influences of all the bands and artists over the years."
Kitt has been songwriting and performing for over 20 years, starting in a riot grrl band in her teens in her hometown of Romford, Essex, before evolving into the thoughtful folk storyteller she is today. A semi-finalist at the BBC Young Folk Awards in the early 2000s, she has performed at major festivals including Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival, building a reputation for intimate, lyrically-focused performances.
Telling Me is a resplendent collection of songs, capturing the human experience with great empathy, honesty and musical sophistication that has become Lucy Kitt's signature.
The musical legacy of a night that will live on for years - Fermin Muguruza's 40th anniversary roar! Under the title "Akelarre Antifascista" (which literal translation would be "Anti-Fascist Witches' Coven", but loosely translated as Anti-Fascist Celebration), in a reference to the legendary Akelarre, a wild gathering of Basque witches, this album distils all the intensity, sweat and collective excitement of a night when thousands of voices joined together to celebrate not just a career, but a way of seeing art as resistance. On 15th February 2025, Madrid saw more than just a concert: it was a collective ritual, an anti-fascist demonstration in which thousands of voices came together as one to emphasize the tenacity of a voice that never surrendered. Four decades after lighting the fuse of combative rock in Euskal Herria, the Basque Country, Fermin Muguruza chose the capital of Spain, a city that closed its doors to him so many times and that he has described as "the heart of the beast", to make the definitive record of his 40th anniversary tour. The result is "Akelarre Antifascista", a live album that distils the history of a musical and political resistance that has spanned generations, languages and frontiers. The concert, sold out with 15,000 people, was an explosion of energy, memory and future. Right from the first chord, the Sports Palace of Madrid became an open setting, a free territory where bodies, rhythms, languages and flags mixed freely. Triple 180gr vinyl LP in trifold sleeve.
*13 ripping songs totalling 33 minutes from the original 20-song 65 minute master reel tapes, recorded in early February 1978 for producers Flo & Eddie, the night before DMZ (the raw-assed pre-Lyres outfit that never made it!) spent 3 days trapped by a blizzard recording their Sire album. **4 page insert with info, pics and Rick Coraccio's ultra-detailed journal on how it all went down! ***LP includes DOWNLOAD CODE Kapital Ink zine: "In the annals of R&R history, as far as local American rock'n'roll scenes go, Boston is hardly ever looked upon in the same shining light as, say, NY, Detroit, San Francisco or even Austin or Seattle. Unlike those other towns, there's never even been a definitive book about the scene. Maybe it's because Boston is a perennial hard-luck place (just witness the Red Sox) with a serious New York inferiority complex hanging over its head. Boston is ignored by the industry at large, despite the fact that the city has spawned countless heavyweights in both a commercial (Aerosmith, Boston, the Cars) and aesthetic (Modern Lovers, Real Kids, Mission Of Burma) (Crypt editor note: and DMZ!! and LYRES!!) sense. Boston was the first US city to directly reflect the influence of the Velvet Underground, as epitomized by the Modern Lovers, who've proven to be almost as influential in their own right. Fast forward to the days of hardcore, and Boston was one of the pre-eminent strongholds of shave-head mania, shoring up its rep as an angry, intolerant New England outpost. Naturally the town has produced more than its share of local legends: Willie Alexander (who actually was in the Velvet Underground, albeit when the band was on its Lou Reed-less last legs); Jonathan Richman (geekus supremus no small thing considering the subsequent indie hordes, to whom he's a savior); and most of all, the great Real Kids, (Crypt editor note: and DMZ!! and LYRES!!) who could've been the equivalent of the MC5, Stooges or Flamin' Groovies in the annals of American rock if it hadn't been for a series of bad breaks but let's not get into that because it'll only reinforce Boston's eternal self-pitying plight. The fact is, the scene in Boston was more or less built by a string of bands who are so organically-interconnected that it seems like an act of God."
The journey through French-speaking pop archives continues with this fifth volume, packed with fuzz, gimmicks, and dissent. Far from the charts, the selected tracks display a great creative freedom, often backed by corrosive humor. Welcome to the surprising, kaleidoscopic, and colorful world of the late sixties and early seventies, Wizzz!
Born in Montauban, Robert Pico stumbled into music by chance when he met René Vaneste, then artistic director at Pathé-Marconi. René brought him to Paris to record his first 45 RPM EP in 1964. A year later, Pierre Perret introduced him to Vogue, where he recorded his second album with Claude Nougaro’s orchestra. Sylvie Vartan then introduced him to RCA, where he recorded four singles, including the astonishing "Chien Fidèle," a track backed by a hair-rising fuzz guitar. Alongside his solo career, he also composed for other artists like Alain Delon (the song was recorded but remains unreleased), Magali Noël, Bourvil, and Georges Guétary. In the Paris of the sixties, he mingled with Mireille Darc, Elsa Martinelli, Marie Laforêt, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, Petula Clark, Régine, Dani, Serge Gainsbourg, Joe Dassin, Franck Fernandel, Charles Level, and Roland Vincent. Despite his efforts and winning a Grand Prix Sacem for his final record, Robert Pico didn’t achieve the expected success in show business and decided to leave Paris and return to the Southwest, where he devoted himself to writing. He is the author of 23 books (including Delon et Compagnie, Jean-Marc Savary Editions 2025, a memoir about his youth and his many encounters). Today, he is relieved to never have become a celebrity and devotes himself to his work with passion.
In 1969, the Franco-Italian movie Erotissimo was released, directed by Gérard Pirès (who later directed Taxi in 1998, written and produced by Luc Besson). This pop comedy features Annie Girardot, Jean Yanne, Francis Blanche, Serge Gainsbourg, Nicole Croisille, Jacques Martin, and Patrick Topaloff. The soundtrack was written by Michel Polnareff and William Sheller, with lyrics by Jean-Lou Dabadie. "La Femme Faux-cils," performed by Annie Girardot. It recounts the feelings of a rich CEO's wife who seeks to develop her sex appeal under the influence of advertisement and magazines. Groovy, sparkling and light, this track, with ITS lush arrangements humorously critiques consumer society and feminine beauty standards.
“Je suis l’Etat” (1967) is the flagship track of the first EP by singer-songwriter Spauv Georges, aka Georges Larriaga, better known as Jim Larriaga (1941-2022). Born into a family of bakers, the young man was initially planning to become a hairdresser when he discovered English-speaking music through Elvis Presley and the Beatles. After this revelation, he decided he would become a songwriter and gave himself five years to succeed. He recorded his first two EP’s independently for RCA under the pseudonym Spauv Georges; meaning “that poor George”, a nickname given to him by the mother of her friend Jean-Pierre Prévotat (future drummer of the Players, Triangle, or Johnny Hallyday). Portraying a depressed and eccentric young man, Spauv Georges created corrosive and amusing songs that didn’t reach a wide audience, despite a TV appearance with Jean-Christophe Averty.
Supported by his loyal friend and fellow songwriter Jean-Max Rivière, Georges Larriaga met the future singer Carlos in the early '70s, then Sylvie Vartan’s assistant. He wrote songs for Carlos, including the popular "La vie est belle," "Y’a des indiens partout," and "La cantine", which went onto become a huge hit in 1972. He also composed for Claude François (“Anne-Marie”, 1971), Charlotte Julian (“Fleur de province”, 1972), helped launch child singer Roméo (who sold 4 million records), and later wrote the hit "Pas besoin d’éducation sexuelle" (1975) for the young Julie Bataille. In 1971, Jim recorded an album for Disc'Az: “L’univers étrange et fou de Jim Larriaga”, which featured pop gems like “La maison de mon père”.
The story of the song "Zoé" began when Pierre Dorsay, artistic director at Vogue Records, asked Swiss singer and musician Pierre Alain to write a song for a new female singer. The inspiration came when he realized that Zoé (the artist's name) was also the name of France's first atomic battery, created in 1948, which consisted of uranium oxide immersed in heavy water! The lyrics reflect a bubbling energy that must be handled with caution, while the instrumentation echoes this atomic theme, notably with the use of a theremin.
Zoé’s career lasted only as long as a single 45 RPM, but it seems Christine Fontane was the vocalist behind this pseudonym, who is known for several EPs, a good "popcorn" album in 1964, and a handful of children’s singles in the '70s. Regardless, the photograph on the cover is of a different girl entirely.
Later, Pierre Alain continued his career, writing songs for himself, Marie Laforêt, Danièle Licari, Alice Dona, Arlette Zola (3rd place in Eurovision 1982), and achieving multiple gold and platinum records in Canada. Also an inventor with several patents, president of the Romande Academy, and head of the French Alliance in Geneva, he now composes atonal music, books, and poetry. Moreover, he is also the host of "Les Mardis de Pierre Alain" at "Le P'tit Music'Hohl" in Geneva.
Filled with oriental choruses and fuzz guitar, "Fou" is from Jacques Da Sylva's only EP released by Vogue in 1967. Despite the quality of this recording, all traces of this singer disappear after this first effort.
Valentin is a baroque pop singer born in Belgium. He is the songwriter and composer of most of the tracks on his three singles released in the late 60s in Canada. A legend says that he reincarnated himself as Jacky Valentin during the 1970s for a rock'n'roll revival career in Belgium, but his older brother sadly debunked this story. Valentin's first two singles were arranged by Claude Rogen, a Parisian session pianist who had come to Canada to promote the song “Mister A Gogo”, a cover of David Bowie’s “Laughing Gnome”, adapted by singer Delphine, his wife at the time. Far from his usual network, Claude Rogen arranged music for Polydor, including the arrangements for “Je suis un vagabond” in 1969, a jerk tune with string arrangements and a furious optimism.
Jacques Malia wrote, composed, and recorded his only 45 EP for Festival in 1966. “Histoire de gitan” is an incredible beat track with bohemian scat that tells the story of a gypsy musician who came to Paris to make it in the Music-Hall, to no avail. The hero of the song and its author probably shared a similar fate, as Jacques Malia faded into anonymity after this remarkable attempt.
Bernard Jamet recorded two EPs for Barclay in the late sixties and co-wrote several songs with Christine Pilzer, Pascal Danel, and prolific songwriters Michel Delancray and Mya Simile. The track “Raison Légale” (1968), his masterpiece, immerses the listener in a courtroom right when a murderer is being judged, with jerk rhythm and free arrangements. A unique, paranoid, judicial, and psychedelic oddity.
Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers started his career in show business in 1967 as a singer and songwriter for the Philips label. After three singles, he wrote several songs of a new kind with his friend Pierre Halioche, in the midst of the sexual liberation movement and the democratization of drugs. With provocative lyrics, “Les filles du hasard” and “Barbara au Chapeau Rose” were released on a Philips singles in 1968. The character of Barbara was inspired by a queen of Parisian nightlife during the psychedelic years: model Charlotte Martin, who dated Eric Clapton from 1965 to 1968, then Jimmy Page from 1970 to 1983. Jean-Claude Petit’s arrangements, with a table-filled intro, soul brass, and Hendrixian guitar, emphasize the flamboyance of a hedonistic and sexy character, whose dog is named Junkie because “Junkie est un nom exquis”! The track was recorded live in three takes with a full orchestra.
Upon its release, the record was censored by Europe 1 and RTL due to its references to drug use. Jean-Pierre Lebrot was then banned from the airwaves and later dismissed by his record label. He changed his artist name to Jean-Pierre Millers, while his companion Pierre Halioche became D. Dolby for a new dreamy composition, “Chilla”, which Jean-Pierre produced himself with arrangements by Jean Musy. Once again, the song was immediately censored everywhere. After this setback, he decided to stop singing and started taking on odd jobs to support his Swedish wife and their son until the day he met Jean-Pierre Martin, then production manager at Decca, who had worked with Manu Dibango. Martin offered Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers, then employed at Rank Xerox, the position of artistic director at Decca. He accepted and became, a year later, promotion director (radio, press, TV). He worked on Julio Iglesias’s first album for Decca, which became a massive hit and allowed him to meet Claude Carrère. The latter asked him to write new songs and find their performers, much like a “talent scout.” It’s through him that Jean-Pierre discovered Julie Pietri and Corinne Hermès. He composed “Ma Pompadour” for Ringo, Sheila’s husband, and took the microphone again for the syncope hit “Rendez-Vous” in 1982.
That same year, Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers tried to release a track for which he had heavily gone into debt: “Si la vie est un cadeau”. Having recorded it in London, he presented it to numerous professionals, all of whom refused to get involved. The same thing happened with Antenne 2 and the Sacem when he proposed the song as France’s entry for Eurovision. He then met Haïm Saban, who was producing cartoon soundtracks and had just launched the Goldorak theme song. Saban, having listened to the song, declared it had the potential to become a hit. He sent Jean-Pierre and Corinne Hermès to meet the CEO of the Luxembourg radio and television network. The latter received them, asked to hear a verse and chorus a cappella in his office, and immediately hired them to represent Luxembourg at Eurovision 1983. They reworked the arrangements and recorded a new version with Haïm Saban as co-producer. The song ended up winning Eurovision 1983, a great comeback for our hero. He continued producing and hung out with the band Nacash in Belgium when a couple came to introduce their daughter for an impromptu audition in a hotel room. The girl sang “Les démons de minuit” while dancing to a radio cassette. Impressed, he had her take singing lessons for a year and composed a song for her (for which he had the melody and title, but no lyrics). This required him to go on the hunt for a lyricist, who ended up being Guy Carlier. They recorded the song, which was initially a ballad, at Bernard Estardy’s CBE studio, and gave the singer a new name: Melody. They showed the song around their industry network without success. Later, Estardy called Jean-Pierre to suggest changing the rhythm and making it pop-rock. Orlando, Dalida’s brother, liked the result and decided to co-produce the track. “Y’a pas que les grands qui rêvent » became a classic hit. The song has since been covered by Juliette Armanet (as a ballad, like the original) and Valentina.
Born into an aristocratic Breton family, Hervé Mettais-Cartier worked as a DJ at Queen Kiss, a nightclub in Poitiers, where he formed the band Les Concentrés with Michel (an actor) and Christian (a radio technician). Together, they created a repertoire of whimsical songs (“Ma bique est morte”, “J’suis un salaud”, “Fils de dégénéré”...) that they performed on stage dressed in white (in homage to “concentrated milk”). They performed at Bliboquet and Olympia in 1968 for the 10th edition of the “Relais de la chanson Française” organized by L’Humanité-Dimanche and Nous les Garçons et les Filles, sponsored by Pepsi Cola. Winners in the author-composer category, alongside Danish singer Dorte, their visibility allowed them to record a 45, and appear on television in Jean-Christophe Averty’s show. The A-side of the disc features Bruno le ravageur, a casatchok dedicated to Bruno Caquatrix, the director of Olympia, nicknamed in the song “Coq Atroce” or “croque-actrices”. The B-side is dedicated to “Fils de dégénéré”, a quirky tribute to Hervé's aristocratic roots, mixing absurdity with sophisticated vocal harmonies.
After Les Concentrés, Hervé Mettais-Cartier formed the duo La Paire et sa Bêtise with his friend Olivier Robert. They performed in Parisian cabarets and toured with Pierre Vassiliu. In the late 1970s, Hervé began a solo career. He recorded two albums for the Motors label in 1978 and 1979, which did not achieve their anticipated success due to lack of promotion. In 1980, he met Bernadette, with whom he started a family and created a “Chansons à voir” (songs to see) show that he performed until his death at the end of 2024.
Publicité comes from the final EP by the Missiles (Ducretet Thomson, 1966), a disc that also includes “La (nouvelle) guerre de cent ans”, featured on Volume 4 of our Wizzz! series. Please refer to the booklet for the story of the band.
“He’s 1.82 meters tall, 28 years old, weighs 135 kg, is black and Belgian”: this is the description of singer Hegesippe on the back of his sole single (Decca, 1967). He appears on the album cover wearing a Greek toga, like a hippie gag – we are at the end of the year 1967. In “Le crédo d’Hegesippe”, this former bodyguard of Antoine and the Charlots plays the delightful card of the thick brute converted to Flower-Power and non-violence, with arrangements by Jean-Daniel Mercier, aka Paul Mille.
“Ethéro-disco” was released on a promotional record for clients of the Maréchal company (Liège, Belgium) for the New Year 1979. Over a funky rhythm, celebrity impersonations (Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Dutronc, Fernandel…) deliver an enigmatic text about pharmaceutical products like ether, bismuth, and aspartate. The track was composed by Dan Sarravah (responsible for Joanna's “Hold-up inusité” featured on Wizzz! Volume 3) and Tony Talado, who was also a singer (one 45 in 1967), songwriter (with over a dozen credits between 1964 and 1985 in various styles from surf music to disco), author (Devenez Végétarien, Dricot Editions, 1985), ad designer, and psychologist.
Décollez-les is on the A-side of Mamlouk's only single, a pseudonym for Marsel Hurten, who is known for his work on several EPs in the late sixties, as well as composing music for Hervé Vilard’s “Capri, c’est fini”, Claude Channes' “La Haine”, Annie Philippe’s “On m’a toujours dit”, and Nancy Holloway’s “Panne de Cœur”.
This strange song, with Afrobeat horns and absurd dialogues between a chef and his kitchen staff, is the result of a collaboration between Marsel Hurten and one of his neighbors, a photographer from Pavillon-sous-Bois (93), where the musician settled after returning from the Algerian War. A music video was shot to promote the record.
Marsel Hurten was born in Tourcoing (59) into a musical family. At a young age, he joined the brass band founded by his grandfather, playing the piston before studying trumpet at the conservatory, as well as teaching himself how to play the guitar. As an orchestra musician, he toured in France, Belgium, Germany, and England. He released a series of solo 45’s between 1965 and 1968 for the DMF and Az labels before stopping recording to focus on working for other artists (Gilles Olivier, Noëlle Cordier…).
“L’amour nu” (Vogue, 1971) is the work of the short-lived Belgian band Mozaïque. The track, written by singer Jacques Albin, closely resembles another of his compositions, “Carré Blanc”, which he recorded in 1969 for Disc’AZ.
Represented by the Lumi Son micro-label based in Marignane (Côte d'Azur), Jean-Marc Garrigues released two 45 RPMs in the late sixties, defending the French jerk sound. The song “Je dis Non” is a short, joyful ode to youth, pop music, and rebellion.
Songwriter and performer Jacques Penuel released three singles. The first one, “Astronef 328” (Fontana, 1969), features a dizzying series of chords punctuated by sound effects, a sci-fi story, and arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier.
We would like to sincerely thank Pierre Alain, Moon Blaha, Marsel Hurten, Bastien Larriaga, Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers, Bernadette Mettais-Cartier, Robert Pico, Olivier Robert, Claude Rogen, Micky Segura.
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The Just Joans' new album Romantic Visions of Scotland finds the Glasgow band in characteristically melancholic form, pairing shambling indie pop with sharp observations on romantic pratfalls and everyday dis-appointments, all delivered with sardonic Scottish wit, fronted by siblings David and Katie Pope, whose wry lyrics and heartfelt vocals remain at the heart of the band’s distinctive sound.
Originally inspired by a grandiose exhibition title spotted on Glasgow buses in 2019 for a show at the Nation-al Museum of Scotland called Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland, the new album arrives six years later as a collection of semi-autobiographical snapshots from the Central Belt of Scotland. Whilst some of the details have been exaggerated for comic (or tragic) effect, the songs are based on personal experience of mundane failings, bitter regrets and missed opportunities that make up an unremarkable life.
Recurring themes of nostalgia for a bygone era and the fear of being left behind by lovers, friends and peers run throughout the album. Musically and lyrically, the band channels Village Green-era Kinks, with nods to The Television Personalities, The Smiths and Dolly Mixture.
In the past they have always recorded by themselves in a variety of bedrooms, living rooms – and the occasional toilet. For the first time they have abandoned their DIY recording practices to create what songwriter David Pope calls, “a corporate behemoth in an actual studio.” The album was recorded at Chem19 in Blan-tyre with Paul Savage, who is best known as a founding member of local legends The Delgados. He has also produced and recorded the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap and Camera Obscura, and has captured a slightly more muscular version of the band while retaining their ramshackle charm.
The album artwork by vocalist and painter Katie Pope depicts Motherwell Train Station – an ordinary, boring place that speaks to the subject matter of the songs, but with a hint of potential escape. As David Pope ex-plains, “For me, the painting reminds me of the ending of Billy Liar in which Billy tries and fails to leave his hometown for the bright lights of London. Half the band also live in Motherwell, so it seemed appropriate.”
Funded by Creative Scotland, the recording allowed the band to bring in bass and cello arrangements, adding depth and a sheen of musical proficiency to their signature sound.
About The Just Joans - The Just Joans were formed in Glasgow in 2005 by songwriter David Pope. Early demos were collected together and released as a loose concept album, Last Tango in Motherwell, in 2006. Chris Elkin joined on guitar and was followed shortly after by David’s younger sister, Katie, on vocals and Fraser Ford on bass. Over the years they have released EPs and albums on WeePOP! and Fika Records and have gained a cult following as Scottish pop miserabilists.
The current line-up consists of Katie Pope (vocals), David Pope (vocals, guitar), Chris Elkin (lead guitar), Fraser Ford (bass), Arion Xenos (keyboards) and Jason Sweeney (drums).
Press Quotes:
“They fit snugly into the scratchy, low budget Scottish indie tradition of The Delgados and Arab Strap… There’s mischief in this miserabilism.” - Mojo 4*s
“Glasgow’s The Just Joans have documented the romantic pratfalls of a generation of indie kids with sardonic wit and a shambling musical style where Stephin Merrit lies down with The Vaselines.” - Uncut
“Funny and sad, it’s the kind of song that made Red House Painters, The Magnetic Fields and The Wedding Present’s early albums so easy to embrace; an unpretentious sharing of relatable gloom.” - Record Collector
"“Back of My Mind” represents a bold, inward journey—a turning point in his evolving artistry. Gone is any trace of uncertainty: instead, Drew channels a quiet confidence, and understated shift in his music style while sharpening his sense of self and sound with remarkable clarity. As a testament to his growing talent, Drew played almost every instrument on the album, giving each track a deeply personal and authentic feel.
With a debut for the ages, Drew Pulliam is about to make his mark on the music scene as a triple threat – singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. Pulliam said, “I feel like this album is finally approaching what I hear as my sound. I just hope I’m on the right path
because it’s the only one I know.”"
Rock for Light is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. We're proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
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Lillian King's debut album In Your Long Shadow is out October 24th. It is about letting the wind in, Lake Michigan in the winter, and the silence of a long summer evening. And really it's about the grief of losing her dad, Neil King Jr. When her dad died in September 2024, grief permeated every facet of Lillian's life. The loss is felt in everything, but especially when doing the things her dad loved the most -- the simple everyday good things that make life worth living: cooking, walking the longer way to work, swimming in cold water. In the throes of grief it feels impossible to find anything that doesn't just make you sadder, but when Lillian did find those things, she grabbed onto them. Soon it was clear that the best coping mechanisms weren't gin and tonics, but talking to her mom and sister as much as possible, and producing an album. The album arrangement came together in a couple of weeks as Lillian brought bandmates and friends Robert Salazar and Nick DePrey new and old songs to build on. Robert played the drums, while Nick played keys (with a smattering of bass and guitar). The process was collaborative and intimate, and only got better when Jack Henry (producer of albums by Friko and Free Range) joined to record and mix it. Some of the songs on this album are years old, including "Underwater", which Lillian wrote one late night in Montreal a decade ago. However, most came together in the months approaching recording."Dragging Dirt" was written just a week before getting into the studio. Despite the bummer material, the recording process was spontaneous and light hearted. The song "Echo" came together unexpectedly during a break between songs. In the midst of recording In Your Long Shadow, Lillian had concerns about making a "grief album." Her sister Frances, as usual, had the right advice: "Every album from now on is going to be a grief album." In Your Long Shadow is about loss as much as it is about living with it. Take it outside on a walk.
"I want nothing more than to be a loner," Emily Kempf sings early on Flower of Devotion, the new album by Chicago trio Dehd. It's a startling admission coming from a songwriter who, just a year ago on Dehd's critically acclaimed Water, wrote eloquently about the joys and pains _ more than anything, the necessity _ of love, compassion, and companionship. But then, "admission" isn't really the right word here, given the stridency of Kempf's tone. "Loner" is a declaration. The record ups the ante on Dehd's sound & filters in just enough polish to bring out the shining and melancholy undertones in Jason Balla and Emily Kempf's songwriting, even as it captures them at their most strident. Balla's guitar lines at times flirt with ticklish cosmic country, while at others they reflect the dark marble sounds of Broadcast. Kempf, meanwhile, establishes herself as a singer of incredible expressive range, pinching into a high lonesome wail, letting loose a chirping "ooh!," pushing her voice below its breaking point and letting it swing down there. When she and Balla bounce descending counter-melodies off one another over McGrady's one-two thumps, or skitter off over a programmed drum pad, they sound like The B-52s shaking off heartache. What makes Flower of Devotion so impressive is how its creation seems to have strengthened its creators, both as individuals and as a unit, even as they've stared down their own limitations. It's also striking just how much fun they seem to be having in the process. "It's okay to be lighthearted in the face of despair," Kempf says. It's a theme that runs through the album, from the opening back-and-forth build of "Desire" to the click-clacking chorus of "Haha," which finds them deflating their own history. Flower of Devotion was recorded in April and August of 2019 in Chicago. It will be released on Fire Talk Records on July 17th 2020.
HOLY GRAIL ALERT!!! Following on 2021’s massive reboot of Midnight Magic’s seminal classic Beam Me Up, Razor-N-Tape have now unearthed a bit of NYC indie disco history with 'I Found Love.'
Although recorded over 10 years ago in Midnight Magic’s nascent early period that produced many of their legendary hits, the song never received an official release; until now it has been heard only by select ears and lucky concert-goers. The package comes with a grip of luminous remixes by Dimitri From Paris & DJ Rocca, Sophie Lloyd, Perel, some solicited at the time of recording and some brand new, but all exceptionally fresh!
Here are some words about the song by the band:
“'I Found Love' was recorded in a fever on the heels of releasing 'Beam Me Up' New York dance music wizard Tommie Sunshine approached us about a co-write saying we should go as big as possible. So we did, it is one of our all time favorite vocal performances from our singer, Tiffany Roth. We had big plans, too, for a release but nothing quite felt right until meeting the Razor N Tape crew almost a decade later. Finally the stage is set, the lights are on, and we're ready. This song is very special to us because it is the last unreleased recording of our original lineup. We dedicate its release to our late bandmates Andrew Frawley and Jason Disu.”
Supergroups existed before Emerson, Lake & Palmer formed in 1970. And, as we all know well, many came after. But few, if any, matched the English trio’s chemistry and its elevated combination of virtuosity, vision, and verve. Having influenced a multitude of followers, ELP’s prowess was obvious from the start. The band’s self-titled debut stands as a towering statement of creative imagination, execution, and discipline more than five decades after its original release.
Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM LP of Emerson, Lake & Palmer presents the benchmark album in audiophile sound. Clear, dynamic, and balanced, this collectible edition honors the perfectionist approaches that both informed the playing and recording of the record.
Distinguished with black backgrounds, this reissue brings to light the epic scope, tonal depth, and mind-bending degrees of musicianship on display. Aspects — textures, nuances, effects, melodies, tempo changes — that go hand-in-hand with the trio’s compositions and interplay are rendered amid broad soundstages and delivered with pinpoint detail. Whether you’ve owned multiple copies of this touchstone or seeking out your first version, you’ll relish the presence, separation, imaging, and crispness that help make every song come across as if the group has set up shop in your listening space.
Opening the door to the seemingly infinite possibilities of progressive rock while steering clear of excess, Emerson, Lake & Palmer achieved a rare feat in that its complex, cerebral music didn’t prevent it from attaining mainstream success. The gold-certified effort launched the career of a band that would sell tens of millions of records. It also landed a Top 50 single in the form of the ballad “Lucky Man,” whose vocal harmonies, folksy strumming, multi-tracked instrumentation, and breakthrough Moog solo almost feel quaint in the face of the other fare on the album.
Comprised of genre-defying originals and hybrid arrangements of two classical pieces, the album Rolling Stone originally and rightly said is “best heard as a whole” matches outrageous ambition with the otherworldly skills of three musicians who remain among the finest to ever pick up their respective instruments. While Emerson soon drew the lion’s share of headlines for his ability on keys — clavinet, Moog, piano, Hammond organ, and pipe organ included — Greg Lake’s aptitude on guitar and bass, along with well as Carl Palmer’s monster talents behind the kit, created a three-headed hydra that devoured everything in front of it.
That extends to the radical reinterpretation of Bela Bartok’s “The Barbarian” that begins the LP, a performance that in less than four-and-a-half minutes runs the gamut from distorted to churchy to angular and blustery. More classical flourishes, keyboard wizardry, hard-rock heaviness, and gothic signatures emerge throughout “Knife-Edge,” which reimagines music by Leos Janacek and J.S. Bach — and ultimately invites you to explore a cathedral of sound teeming with separate bursts of keys and percussion.
And did someone say “drumming”? Check out Palmer’s monster salvo on “Tank,” a rhythmic showcase that marches out with knee-bent notes and mirror-reflected passages. Or dive into the mythological suite “The Three Fates.” Replete with three parts and Emerson playing the pipe organ at Royal Festival Hall, it shoots off sonic fireworks via sophisticated arpeggios, jazz improvisations, dancing counter-meters, sizzling chords, and a few explosions. Please don’t hold anyone at MoFi responsible if your system cannot handle it; this is heady stuff.
Indeed, everything on Emerson, Lake & Palmer is there for a purpose. Whether you aim to attempt to dissect all of the notes, shifts, and polyrhythmic bluster or just want to absorb this album as one living, breathing organism, this version invites you to do both as many times as you desire.
Evolving further with each release, ASC delivers his latest monumental album on Spatial, a varied and memorable journey through stunningly realised fusion of modern and classic atmospheric breakbeats.
A1 - Mystic Street
Setting a murky tone with light cymbals and synthwork flecking the intro, Mystic Street calmly purrs and growls towards a drop of analogue kicks and a sparse, menacing drum pattern to kick off this incredible album. Enveloped by a dense cloud of darkly atmospherics, the track coils with tension, each element rippling through the mix like distant memories as the suitably enigmatic bassline rumbles beneath.
A2 - Convergence
Straight into the beats with a DJ-friendly two step intro, ASC utilises sparse, sci-fi hits and persistent danceable breakbeats with a melodic bassline. As the atmosphere builds, percussive tones punctuate the swirling pads, creating a luscious sense of forward motion with echoing samples and effects combining in the mix to create a dreamlike soundscape perfect for the dancefloor and headphones alike.
B1 - Invisible Borders
No ASC album would be complete without an amen workout, and we certainly have that here as Invisible Borders rushes into view with simmering intent, melodic samples tore from battlegrounds of yesteryear providing a truly epic atmosphere, rippling breakbeat trickery teasing the listener before crushing full contact amens arrive with panache and veracity - twisted across yearning bass with an unflinching fighting spirit.
B2 - Celestial Bodies
Up next a moment of calm as we soak up the charms of the dreamlike Celestial Bodies, a soothing journey of beats, breaks and atmosphere from Spatial's label head. Melodic notes ripple across the mix with old school breaks filtering to and fro, conjuring images of a cosmic journey unfolding, where old school breakbeat rhythms pulse like distant constellations, echoes shimmering in the vast expanse of ASC's versatility.
C1 - Losing Track Of Time
Into an absolute stunner next as ASC unleashes a modern classic which has a wonderfully instant familiarity to it - like it was lifted directly from the golden era of atmospheric drum & bass. The old school breaks have a distinctive feel while a variety of pads teaming with life swirl around above. A myriad of spirited melodies develop and maintain your attention with classic 808 basslines to complete this remarkable composition.
C2 - Slipstream
Switching up the vibe in style, ASC delivers an intense, cosmic intro to Slipstream which builds gradually with whooshing effects and long female vocals before a crisp, crunchy slice of Hot Pants breakbeat heaven tears through the mix, chock-full of excitable edits portrayed in a brilliant clarity. Warm sub bass punctuates the track while a reverberating earworm melody slowly etches itself into your mind.
D1 - Paradigm Shift
A good old fashioned roller up next as Paradigm Shift sees ASC blend a superb 2-step rhythm with a sumptuous smooth bassline - guaranteed to move the dancefloor. Atmospherics take no back seat either as elegant synthwork swirls and washes across the soundscape with subtly used vocal samples adding texture and warmth to an impressively layered mix that maintains its pace right through to an echoing conclusion.
D2 - Transmitter
Sending us back to interstellar space for an inspired mission through vast unexplored star systems, Transmitter sees ASC create a stunningly evocative, ethereal collage of atmospherics with sonar-like beeps punctuating and persisting throughout. Driving the track along are the superbly programmed drums, filtered and layered with twisted, distorted vocal samples to complete this exhilarating album in pure Spatial style.
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From 1968 through to the mid 1970’s the reggae beat began to slow down,some say due to the extreme heat hitting down onto Kingston Town and its surrounding enclaves. People needed something less strenuous to dance to. The Ska and Rocksteady Sounds (see 101 Orange Street KS007) that rocked Jamaica previously, had now found a slower tempo and become more ‘Dread’ lyrically to suit the times. Reggae music has always moved within the social climate it found itself in and this set here, as we ‘Return To Orange Street’ was ROOTS ROCK REGGAE TIME....
The Rastafarian message that runs through this collection of ‘Reality’, sometimes labelled ‘Sufferers’ music,is strong and works on many levels. It can come across on a heavy rhythm and vocal cut. Its example represented here by Prince Jazzbo’s ‘Dread in a Earth’ and ‘I Roy’s ‘Roots Man Time’, moving through to the popular new sounds of the DJ’s working over an old rhythm and alongside its existing vocal. As with Busty Brown working with Delroy Wilson's ‘Know Your Friend’ and Mr Jah Stitch working over Johnny Clarke’s ‘Roots Natty Roots’ to produce an even more dreader ‘True Born African’. The heartfelt lyric can also convey this message as we can see when Horace Andy laments ‘Where is the Love’ and Delroy Wilson again shows us on his ‘Who Cares’ cut. The great Twinkle Brothers also put the message across on their two cuts we have here, ’Too Late’ one of their lost classics if ever there was one and the thoughtful ‘It’s Not Who You Know’,being another prime example.
Orange Street itself is always at the heart of all reggae's musical changes and some singers also ride these waves as Mr Cornell Campbell shows us here with two cuts. The mournful ‘Too Be Loved’ and his uplifting ‘Girl of My Dreams’, which uses the same rhythm as our previously mentioned Prince Jazzbo’s 'Dread in a Earth’. Showing us that firstly you can’t keep a good rhythm down and secondly that two if not more great songs can work from the same source point. The light hearted ‘Vengeful’ lyric also worked in this period when artists spared off to each other on records to vent their frustrations. As we can hear here with Mr Lee Perry’s ‘You Funny Boy’. The song snipping back at a previous employer over what he felt were his misdoings to an under appreciated Mr Perry. We have culled these tracks together to show that the Dread Roots feel of the 1970’s came across in many guises and even in earlier songs these sentiments were also prevalent. As represented in Slim Smith’s almost bluesy feel in ‘Trying To Find a Home’, never a truer statement in Kingston's ghetto areas.
Well we hope you enjoy this musical journey and make a connection with messages portrayed here, as Mr Monty Morris points out on his contribution to this collection ‘Times Are Dread’.... Dread indeed.....
15th Anniversary Edition. Black Vinyl. When Dinosaur Jr. reunited, more than 20 years after their formation and legendary dissolution, the worry was that these guys were just flogging the back catalog, taking the old show on the road as a marketing gimmick. But the 2007 release of Beyond gave a hearty Marshall-driven "F**K YOU!" answer to those inquiring ears. Restoring the sound established by the unassailable hat-trick gambit of their first three albums -- Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug -- Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. And then came Farm, the 9th full length record by the original line-up: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. If Beyond was Dinosaur Jr.'s return to form, Farm is proof that Dinosaur Jr. could (and still do, to this day!) deliver timeless, exhilarating rock music. Farm encompasses Dinosaur Jr.'s signature palette: soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies. At times wholly 70's guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, these songs get into your head and stay there, bouncing happily around. The ear-catching "Plans" is nearly seven minutes of classic whipped-topping rock dessert, while "I Don't Wanna Go There" is a meat-and-potatoes main dish, mixing unapologetic lead guitar with straight-ahead delivery a la James Gang or Humble Pie. This expanded deluxe edition of Farm features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release:"Houses", "Whenever You're Ready" (The Zombies Cover), "Creepies" (Instrumental), and "Show". "Whenever You're Ready", a cover of classic pop-rockers The Zombies, is impossibly good for a hidden gem; Murph stomps in with a sledgehammer to the kit, J and Lou layer low-end and fuzz like two halves of one brain, and right when things feel biggest, airy and colossal, there's J with a lightning bolt of a guitar solo. Pure electricity and melody like only he can make. Recorded in J Mascis' Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, Farm was produced by Mascis himself, and delivers the singular, unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands.
Comprising of sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi, The Cords are the brightest new indiepop band from Scotland and this is theri debut. They started playing drums when they were little kids and later found that they liked 80s and 90s indie music more than their peers did, and so formed a band, just the two of them, with Grace on drums and Eva on guitar - and the songs started to flow. With only a cassette and a flexi single released so far (both of which sold out in a matter of hours), Eva and Grace honed their skills by playing a whole series of gigs with some of the biggest names in Scottish pop. Their first show was with The Vaselines, and since then they have played with Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian, BMX Bandits and others, while also sharing stages with the new generation of indiepop stars: the Umbrellas, Chime School, Lightheaded. Like all great pop bands, The Cords have taken familiar ingredients and created something utterly fresh. Older indie fans will hear echoes of The Shop Assistants, The Primitives, Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but they will hear something else too: a yearning, dreamy melodic power that takes the songs into darker, stranger places. Younger pop fans won't care about these old reference points: what they will hear is the sound of two young women doing something utterly exciting: playing loud guitar and loud drums, taking analogue instruments and hitting them hard in the service of immediate and infectious pop tunes, and not giving a second thought about the digital world that wants to own everything we do. The Cords sound free: they remind us that pop music, played right, is expressive, liberating, joyful and deeply personal. First single `Fabulist' is a sweet and catchy pop song that races along, so headlong and hooky that, on first listen, you could miss the fact that it's a wholehearted take-down of people who lie for a living. And the album is a fun rollercoaster ride from that point onwards, with the real stars of this record being Eva's sinuous guitar and silky vocals, and Grace's clattering, expressive sing-song drums. It's the sound of two sisters having an intense musical conversation with each other, pushing each other on to greater heights, exhilarated by the set of perfect pop songs they have magicked up. DIGIPAK CD, LP on BABY BLUE VINYL.
What We Do When in Silence is the trio of Nicola Ratti, Alessandra Novaga and Enrico Malatesta.
Imagine a series of small movements in an empty space. Imagine their shadows on the floor, there’s a natural light sliding in from the 3 windows on your right side. There’s no silence here. There are people outside waiting for others, waiting for the people since what we do is not visible, since we do it when in silence and there is no silence here. Synthesizer, piano, whistling, electric guitar and percussions.
Nicola Ratti is a versatile musician and sound designer who has long been active across diverse experimental fields. His sound production creates systems shaped by repetition and expansion, with a particular focus on building environments that resonate with the spaces and architectures we inhabit, and on balancing the emotional and perceptual orientations to which we are accustomed.
Alessandra Novaga is a guitarist who has been exploring, for years, the possible territories her instrument can lead her to. She has crossed through the most classical worlds, reaching into intangible abstractions without setting boundaries between the two. Sound, meanings, encounters, and narratives are the elements that guide her path.
Enrico Malatesta is a percussionist and independent researcher working within experimental contexts that intersect music, performance, and territorial investigation. His practice explores the relationship between sound, space, and movement, and the vitality of materials, with a particular focus on surfaces, listening modes, and the articulation of multiple layers of information through an ecological and sustainable approach to percussion instruments.
Straight out of the local mud of the city of Antwerp comes dancing this next Souvenirs from Imaginary Cities slab of free-flowing bits of electronic wonder : Schönen Abend by Simon B. Just in time to ease you out of this endless winter and right into springtime. Like the previous hit by Purple Uncle, this flower takes some time to bloom and fill up your head and body with it's ear wormy fragrance.
It's hazy and cinematic, makes you think of Italian electronic pioneers and their library magic, Patrick Cowley's School Daze and Haruomi Hosono in some kind of gothic manner. It's quite stripped and lush at the same time, rhythms like minimal mechanics make you fly above the river and land just outside reality. It's a nice place where soft jazz tingles right around the dark corner, and that particular mix of exotica and melancholia — the trademark of this port city's best electronic auteurs is definitely in the air. The river still shines, but she’s deeply poisoned. The old town has lost every bit of fresh air but keeps on digging for old gold. This bitter pill is served with delicacy and lightness, the wound is dressed up seductively — feet in the mud, head in the air. Stuff is sensuous, with quiet places reminding of the good side of those times when the big wheel stopped turning ever so madly. A strange quietness whistles through the leaves. Some things take time to unfold. In or out of C.
Four years in the making, this is the solo debut LP of Simon B, a longtime contributor to Antwerp's improvised music scene (Groovecats Deluxe, Wij Blij Trio ). Primarily a double bass player, he also has a deep-felt passion for offbeat electronica and the rainbowy side of American minimalism, which takes front here. The smoky voice on the last track belongs to Nina-Joy Thielemans, Nina-Joy is part of Particals, a trio working with live electronics and field recordings, releasing an lp on Ultra Eczema later this year. Furthermore, you can hear the tenor and soprano saxophone of Adia Van Heerentals on 4 tracks, deepening out Simon's naturally flowing compositions and playing around with his melodies. You may know her from Bodem and her strong presence in the Belgian jazz scene lately.
Simon's electroacoustic experiments — using a clarinet and some outboard effects — were important tools in finding the very specific colour of this record. There's this airy character, like wind blowing through old layers of bricks and over the river, anchored with a deep sense of bass, gathering ages of dust and memories in these eight elegantly wobbling tracks, forming a perfect whole that’s really coming together in one deep listening from A to Z.
The centrepiece is perhaps Come to Me, instrumental and reprise with vocals, but no fillers on this one. Every part of the mystery is needed to come to its end and back again. It's a record that works in the morning, to open up a day and in the quiet corners of the night, with it's sleazy quirkiness, smiling towards you from the right corner of the eye. A perfect compagnon for your long-form wandering habits, light reflections on a wet surface obsessions, coffee slurping in the morning and the forgotten art of beachcombing. Quite essential these days, witnessing a world going apeshit.
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Souldynamic swings back onto the Samosa label with the mesmerizingly rhythmic West-Side Of Afrika Vol. 2.
We kick off the A-Side with ‘Touma’ – a truly hypnotic tribal afro vapour that entices you into the fire-lit night. A heavy dub-style bass just about dominates above the rhythmic ensemble, whilst the haunting chanted vocals elevate the track to ethereal levels. Stunning. No wonder Ron Trent has been spinning this one in his sets for the past few weeks – it’s right in that spiritual zone where deep house meets ancestral ritual.
Second track on Side A is the happiness trip that is ‘M.I.L’. Rolling drums, marimbas and a killer bassline merge with the flighty guitar riffs and smiling vocals. You could be in a bar listening to the music live in the room, smoke filling the spaces and dim lights offering a glimpse of good times.
Heading over to Side B and you find the enchanting ‘DJA’ awaiting. A deep roller of a tune, Souldynamic shifts the gears whilst serving the entrees. A truly magnificent slice of West-African vibes, ‘DJA’ has it all from the gorgeous vocals to the chugging, hypnotic beat.
Track 2 on Side B is the sultry ‘N.T.F.P’. The BPMs are touched down a notch for this one but don’t let that fool you. ‘N.T.F.P’ is a musical celebration of joyous beats, slaps, claps, brass and Afro vocals. You don’t get it much more authentic than this.
West-Side Of Afrika Vol. 2 is like a shapely hand in the perfectly fitted glove that is the Samosa label. A truly stunning piece of vinyl with every track as strong as the last. A sure-fire winner.
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Moving freely through time and space via experimental DIY recordings since 2009, Joasihno return with their fourth album "Spots".
“Find your spot in the shade,” a truly laid-back and incredibly soft-spoken MC once advised, yet in a world that seems to get shadier every day, it’s probably time to finally get out and face the sun. Southern German experimental pop duo Joasihno – initial solo founder Cico Beck (The Notwist, Aloa Input, Spirit Fest) and drummer/composer Nico Sierig (Instrument, Fehler Kuti) – seem to know exactly when it’s time to shine. Idiosyncratic genre tweakers since day one, they have been operating at their own pace, mostly staying in their own shady corner. Yet, almost a decade after their most recent “Meshes” (an album that came with a whole legion of tiny music robots), it’s high time for them to take over more corners, to reclaim even more spots between lo-fi and sci-fi, retro electronica and contemporary classic. Drawing upon influences as varied as Reich, Riley, and Ryuichi, múm, Meek, and Moondog, while also nodding to other experimental twosomes (e.g. The Books), the duo’s fourth full-length “Spots” is set to arrive via Alien Transistor in late 2025.
Leaving soulless automation and all things artificial to others, Joasihno launch the latest record on “2 Squares” that feel like a peaceful, almost bucolic version of retro space age: lights blink ever so softly as easy-going bass tones point at today’s introspective flight arc. Electronic shapes align and things lift off – with a majestic 8-bit sunrise soon appearing right in front of us. Whereas playful title song “Spots” is a miniature Rube Goldberg kind of device, with quirky plucked strings and glitches setting off more and more contraption layers, “Crackleboom” is uncharted energy, an open landscape, an expanding bonfire that leads to a long-forgotten piano, all dust-covered in some kind of saloon. Space might be only noise to others, here, it’s foreboding screeches (“Dizzle Whistle”) that make room for A-side center piece “Forest Lights”: a steady beat that lures us to a clearance in the woods. Things break and shatter in the distance, but this spot right here is for hypnosis, dancing, sylvan spirits. And yeah, it’s surprisingly hot down here in the undergrowth…
Opening side B with a fun banger that takes the unhinged dancing to the playground – “Characa Orb.” feels like French kids on swings going crazy, a tipsy, tongue-in-cheek electro blow-out between Oizo and Orbis Tertius –, things get even more cinematic throughout the second half. Even the cheapest, lo-fiest gear is sufficient to make “The Slow Hour” glow like true, timeless pop royalty. In fact, the very same pop spirits roam and celebrate freely in the chirpy coves of mesmerizing “Detune Lagoon” – more hand-crafted sci-fi/lo-fi loops you’ll only find after facing the ghosts of Lynch or Sakamoto on those night-time trails under the “Deep Moon”. It’s all DIY spots, spots that leave room to dream or dangle, drape yourself over or dive into. Returning to the leafy bower on a melancholy post rock tip, we eventually learn that “Death Is Real” – and so we’re left with a laterna magica that turns and turns and turns. It’s a beautiful spot where light and shadows keep on dancing, just like they’ve always done, ever since the dawn of this madcap universe.
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Spite verbindet Außenseiter mit einer hypnotischen, harten Rache, die an Thrash-Komplexität und DeathcoreIntimität grenzt. Die Bereitschaft der Gruppe, Grenzen zu überschreiten, machte sie still und leise zu einer
der mächtigsten Kräfte der modernen Heavy-Musik. Mit dem gefühlsbetonten „New World Killer“ kehrt
die Band zurück und ist bereit, die Extreme-Metal-Szene zu dominieren. Produziert von Will Putney und
mit den Singles „Lights Out“, „New World Killer“, „Looking Glass“ und „Shedding Skin“, präsentiert sie
sich auf dem Album in ihrer bisher dominantesten und vollendetsten Form.
BRIDGE - WAITING PATIENTLY b/w LOVE’S IN YOUR CORNER
Paul Tillman Smith is a significant figure within in the music community of The San Francisco Bay Area, California. His connections and collaborations read like a who’s who of famous musicians.
As leader of 70s Buddah Records group VITAMIN E and then BRIDGE, the subsequent band cut an album in 1981 for the CBS distributed Bang label that never saw the light of day.
It was released by First Experience Records as a double LP and CD in 1999 and is recognised as being one of the finest unreleased discoveries within its genre.
IZIPHO SOUL revisit the album and release two gems from this magnificent body of work.
WAITING PATIENTLY - Modern Soul with all the right ingredients - lead vocal Derick Hughes, backing vocals courtesy of The Satin Shadows, driven along by Butch Haynes’ conga playing. Presented here as an extended version crafted by Phil Ward.
On the flip - LOVE’S IN YOUR CORNER (Remastered) featuring the supreme voice of Debravon Lewis (RIP) and Larry Sampson. There’s importance in documenting this great song, as this demo paved the way for the Norman Connors’ version.
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Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, released in September 1961.
The album features what Coleman called a "double quartet," i.e., two self-contained jazz quartets: each with a reed instrument, trumpet, bass, and drums.
The two quartets are heard in separate channels, with Coleman's working quartet at the time in the left channel, and the second quartet, including
the former Coleman rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell, on the right.
The two quartets play simultaneously. Free Jazz was the first album-length improvisation at thirty-seven minutes, unheard of at the time.
The original LP package incorporated Jackson Pollock's 1954 painting The White Light. The cover is a gatefold with a cutout window in the lower right corner allowing a glimpse of the painting;
opening the cover revealed the full artwork, along with liner notes by critic Martin Williams.
Free Jazz served as the blueprint for later large-ensemble free jazz recordings such as Ascension by John Coltrane and Machine Gun by Peter Brötzmann.
Free Jazz is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl.
In 2023, k.d.b lived in a crumbling farmhouse on the edge of the River Maas. Each morning, he’d wake at 6:00 and walk along the river’s bank with his dogfriend Miemel, pausing at sunrise for a cup of coffee.
It’s 6:34, and a thick rug of mist rolls out across the river. It’s so dense that k.d.b can’t see the water beneath it. Then comes the sun: a single ray cutting through the mist like a tube of light, landing on Miemel’s face. In her mouth is a CD she’s picked up, and on the CD is the title Instrumental Romance.
'What is Instrumental Romance?' thinks k.d.b. 'Romantic instrumentals? Or a romance used instrumentally? As in, a romance used to get something—like love?'
Miemel drops the CD and turns her attention to a stray purple grape on the path. Grapes are poisonous to dogs, and as she bends toward it, k.d.b. shouts, “NO!” At that precise moment, a large fish rises from the mist. It launches into the air, mouth wide open, and hangs there above the clouds. His shout, having traveled across the river, bounces back towards k.d.b with a “NO,” and in perfect synchrony, it appears the fish is also shouting at Miemel. The timing is so perfect, they can’t be sure it isn’t.
The fish falls back down, entering its watery world with an eerie, splashless silence, leaving k.d.b and Miemel standing open-mouthed on the bank. Before they can register the perfection of this duet, another fish (or maybe the same one again) rises from the mist in the exact same spot and launches into the air. Without thinking, k.d.b shouts again. The word “ROMANCE” comes out. This time, however, he is slightly too late, and the word is too long, so “ROMANCE” lingers on after the fish has already fallen back down.
'What even is romance?' thinks k.d.b. 'The construction of mystery or excitement with dead red flowers and timing?'
A foghorn sounds behind him, and k.d.b turns 180 degrees to see a boat moving freight, right to left, along the River Maas. 'That’s strange', he thinks. 'If the river is there, then what’s that behind me, below the mist?'
Staring at the boat and its shipping containers as they float out of sight, k.d.b imagines a man. The man is standing at the bottom of a small valley, holding a fish. 'Who is this man, and what does he want?'
First Word Records are proud to present the sophomore solo EP from Victoria Port.
'Barefoot In The Garden' is a 5-track selection merging classic soul with contemporary sounds.
Put together from sessions recorded at the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London, and Victoria's home studio Candle Shop, this project exemplifies her talents as a singer-songwriter, developing upon the building blocks of her debut EP 'Did it Again' and Victoria's work as one half of electronic-soul duo, Anushka (BBE / Tru Thoughts / Brownswood).
On this EP, Victoria is accompanied by a wealth of talented artists in their own right, including frequent collaborators Hemai and JNR Williams, the highly-acclaimed drummer Moses Boyd, and vocalists such as Lea Lea, to name just a few.
The sonic tapestry stitched together on this EP epitomises the quality of British soul music of modern times; a vintage symphonic feel approach with modern-day production techniques, encompassing the Ronson-era of the late great Amy Winehouse, to the pack leaders of nowadays such as SAULT and Jungle. It's a logical progression considering Victoria's lifelong influences of US luminaries like Minnie Riperton, Gladys Knight, Nina Simone and Dionne Warwick.
Her fanbase includes Gilles Peterson (BBC 6 Music / Worldwide FM) who has tipped her as "an exciting emerging new artist whose sound fits alongside current successful acts like Cleo Sol, Lynda Dawn and Yazmin Lacey."
Victoria's previous EP had support from a wide range of tastemakers, including Cerys Matthews, Huey Morgan, Somewhere Soul, Mo Ayoub (Selector Radio), Ronnie Herel (Mi-Soul Radio's "One to Watch"), Tony Minvielle (Jazz FM) and across platforms like Rinse FM, NTS, Soho Radio and Global Soul, whilst her work with Anushka also received airplay from Annie Mac, Jamz Supernova, Huw Stephens and BBC Radio 1.
Victoria says "this EP comes from a place of nostalgia. It's kind of reflective of parts of life up to this moment, culminating in 'Barefoot in the Garden'. I guess it's me starting to understand the things that are truly important to me. How I want to love and be loved, the way I want to spend my time, and just me starting to filter out a lot of the noise. Sonically it's been such a dream to explore elements of old soul and jazz with so many incredible musicians, and to put our own unique spin on the genre."
Already a seasoned live perfomer, additionally to various live appearances solo past & forthcoming including We Out Here, Jazz Cafe, Koko and the London Jazz Festival, Victoria Port is set to be one of the leading lights in the world of British soul music. This EP provides some solid examples as to why.
'Barefoot In The Garden' is due to be released on vinyl and digital, November 7th 2025.
In May, fans were treated to the first new music from Trentemøller since 2022. A new single, "A Different Light," showcased a stunning blend of prismatic space rock and folk. For anyone wondering if it foreshadowed the release of a full-length, Dreamweaver will drop in September, on Friday the 13th.
Featuring 10 tracks that traverse Trentemøller's many musical strengths, Dreamweaver also represents an obvious artistic leap, treading new ground while retaining the overall plot. Tracks featuring vocals come courtesy of of Iceland's Disa, who has been in Trentemøller's fold since the Memoria tour.
Dreamweaver's nylon string-led opening track, and first single from the album, "A Different Light," contains many of Trentemøller's trademarks: exploring dichotomies, musical shadowplay, Nordic frigidity, and warm waves. It opens the door for the steady, hypnotic "Nightfall," with its tetherless vocal, wistful guitars, and early morning desert chill. The third track in the opening trifecta, "Dreamweavers" finds its footing with a percussive soft trot, which starts after what feels like a shortwave radio scan in search of the right chords, eventually dialing in a weightless voice. Ostensibly keeping a ruminative pace with the previous two tracks, the song and, by extension, album soon opens up as the rest of the elements drop into place with a grand, luxurious burst.
Dreamweaver is about to enter its next phase. With the hatch blown off of the portal, the noisy "I Give My Tears," driven by its glissed and fuzzy bass line, pours into the void. It's followed by its sibling, the most chaotic track on Dreamweaver, "Behind My Eyes." Arriving as a piece of noise rock pandemonium, "Behind My Eyes," can't be contained in its plush vault. A whip-crack snare and convulsing guitars smash against each other in the song's verse chamber. The tension builds, as the particles collide, pushing past the point of critical mass, kicking off the chain reaction which is the chorus. At times it harkens back to the proto-gaze tracks that gave birth to dream pop, at others it newly defines what that is. There's no time to contemplate it, though, as the song disintegrates in a microphonic feedback instant.
A respite follows with the somnambulistic pair of "Hollow" and "Empty Beaches." Then, a moment of intensity returns as the soaring textures and tribal drum bursts of "In A Storm" take control, before being taken out with the ambient slo-core of "Winter's Ghost" and "Closure." This diptych wraps up an album which certainly feels on-script for Trentemøller, but is also much more psychedelic than previous offerings.
Dreamweaver will be released on Trentemøller's own In My Room label. It is an exceedingly immersive experience, bound to release any dormant hallucinations you may be harboring.
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Limited to 250 copies. Death comes to us all. Emmerhoff & The Melancholy Babies do not shy away from this irrefutable fact. The band, celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2026, may now rightly consider themselves distinguished "elder statesmen" of rock. With such perspectives also comes the recognition of the transience of life. There are now more funerals than weddings lingering on the horizon, and the ranks of both the idols of our youth and contemporaries on the music scene are beginning to thin. "The Dying of The Light", its title taken from Dylan Thomas' iconic poem, contemplates and embraces the twilight of life, but also, in the spirit of the poem, fighting spirit and stubborn resistance to the inevitable. Death will come, but until then we will create music and celebrate life. October 2025 will see the release of the band's seventh studio album, recorded at Duper and Solslottet Studios in Bergen, produced by Iver Sandoy and Jorgen Træen.. The music reflects the sombre thematic while also being vital and vigorous. The range is wide, from delicate contemplation to powerful outbursts, strictly composed in one moment and loosely improvised in the next.
The Dead 60s seminal self-titled album gets a timely Deluxe edition reissue on Vinyl for its 20th Anniversary, on Deltasonic Records
“Back in the day, punk and dub weren’t just sharing space—they were smashing into each other headfirst. Late '70s Britain was a pressure cooker, and for kids like me, growing up between Brixton’s bass bins and the chaos of King’s Road, that collision was everything. Jamaican sound system culture met punk’s raw spirit in a haze of smoke, sweat, and feedback. It wasn’t about genre—it was about energy. Identity. Defiance. so when The Dead 60s came along, post-Britpop and post-bullshit, it felt like someone had dusted off the blueprint and run it through a battered old tape echo. These weren’t just lads with good taste—they understood the assignment. They took the DNA of two rebel cultures and mutated it into something that could stand tall in the 21st century. Dub-soaked, punk-fuelled, dripping with that Liverpool attitude. I remember first hearing them and thinking—yeah, here we go again. Not in a retro way, but in a real way. Guitars that cut like sirens in the night. Basslines fat and warm, straight out the Channel One playbook. Lyrics that painted the grey corners of Britain like CCTV poetry. It was the sound of youth under pressure. The sound of not fitting in—and not wanting to.
Their debut album dropped in 2005, and it hit like a flare in the dark. “Riot Radio” was a pirate broadcast from the concrete frontlines. “Control This” swaggered with menace and reverb. It was like someone opened a time capsule from the punky-reggae party and rewired it for a new generation.
Now, with this 20th anniversary vinyl reissue—complete with the full dub companion produced by Central Nervous System—we get to hear the bones and blood of it all. The dub versions pull the tracks apart and let the ghosts speak. Reverb, delay, space—it’s not just production, it’s meditation. Revolution slowed down to a heartbeat. It’s music that makes you move and think. What they’ve done here is more than remix a record—they’ve revealed its soul. That’s what dub does when it’s done right. And The Dead 60s, they got that. They weren’t tourists in the culture—they were students of it, shaped by it, and ultimately, contributors to the legacy. Liverpool’s long had a love affair with Jamaican music—you can hear it in the streets if you’re really listening. The Dead 60s tapped into that lineage, but they brought their own thing to the table. Punk's fire. Dub’s depth. Ska’s bounce. All filtered through a Northern lens and blasted out like protest graffiti. This 20th anniversary reissue ain’t about nostalgia. It’s a reminder. A celebration. A call to arms. Music like this doesn’t belong in a museum—it belongs on a system, shaking walls and waking minds. Crate diggers, completists, young punks, old heads—this one's for all of you.
So put it on and turn it up. Let the punk edge sharpen your thoughts, and the dub shake your bones ‘cos this isn’t just a reissue - it’s resistance on wax.....”
Following up on a cracker split single in 2023, Overload Liverpool enterted into 2024 firing on all cylinders with a 5 shooter of freaked-out electro, warm house, deep dub cuts, and gorgeous ambient.
Firstly, Liverpool-based label boss Morrison highlights two of his distinct and dissociative styles. On the front end of the A-side, his The Motorist alias provides us with a freaked-out formant-filtered electro that’s bursting at the lips. On the back end, a deep yet bright house cut from his The Cyclist alias, with warm warbling synths layered over his Wurlitzer electric piano and suitably grooved and jaunty beats.
To kick off the deeper B-side of the 12”, Wax Tek, a founder of the Liverpool Soundsystem crew Polyone Audio, hits us right in the chest with his dubbed-out breakbeat wonder, Get Set, which diverges through Balearic, bass music, a delirious breakdown, and hard-hitting breakbeats.
Deeper still, the second B-side from Puncta, another Liverpool-based artist, who last year came to light with their release on Sputnik One’s N-Face, dives into the deep Arctic seas with Snow Crab, an exercise in dubbed-out electro-style bass music.
Finally, Belfast-based Aaron Thomas brings the 12” EP to a fitting closure with Concert², which, washing over the listener, dances like opulent drapes with its ethereal synths that crash to and fro.
Yarni's "Anemoia" blends disco, soul, jazz-funk, hip-hop, and trip-hop across ten collaborative tracks, arriving with an unexpected bonus record due to a pressing plant mix-up that transformed a costly mistake into a collector's item. When the pressing plant accidentally pressed the full run using a rejected master, Yarni included both the louder original test pressing and the final audiophile version rather than waste the pressing.
The project has garnered significant BBC Radio support, with Craig Charles, Stuart Maconie, Romesh Ranganathan and Huey Morgan championing tracks as essential listening. Exploring the Greek concept of nostalgia for a time never known, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist collaborates with ten musicians and vocalists, weaving genres into a thoroughly modern tapestry.
Standout collaborations include the orchestral jazz-funk opener "Neon Gods," epic "S.W.A.L.K" featuring Scarlett Fae, hip-hop fusion "Natural Light" with Franz Von and Jeff Darko, and the Afrobeat-influenced closer "Nino." Rather than a retro tribute, Yarni crafts a forward-thinking collection that reimagines classic genres through a contemporary lens, bridging past and present with fearless experimentation.
The bonus record features slight distortion and louder mastering from the original test pressing that wasn't quite right - offering fans both the intended audiophile experience and this alternate version with added character. Each package includes a personal letter explaining this happy accident, making it essential for collectors seeking authentic independent music experiences.
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Crate digger and music enthusiast James Endeacott compiles ‘Unlock Your Mind With Morning Glory’ for Two-Piers Records – A glorious heady mix of the weird and wonderful eclectic music from his radio show ‘Morning Glory’
“One weekday afternoon towards the end of 2017 I sat in The Lyric pub on Great Windmill Street, Soho with my dear friend Raf. I’d just finished another of my weekly Soho Radio shows and was starting to think about the next one. Raf had been on as a guest playing some of his favourite tunes of the day. We had a few drinks, told a few stories and started to plot and scheme. It was always a dream of mine to have a daily radio show. Radio had always informed and excited me from my early teens listening to John Peel under the blanket when I should’ve been either sleeping or revising right up to the present-day musical excursions of NTS, WFMU and numerous internet based stations.
We decided to speak to Adrian and Dan who ran Soho Radio to see if they’d be up for us doing a daily morning show. To our surprise they were into the idea and within 5 minutes Adrain came up with the name Morning Glory. We all liked it. We were all excited. It was all systems go. In December 2017 Raf and myself started a daily 2 hour show. We did the show together, got guests in and the musical policy was whatever we felt like that day. After several months Raf found the mornings too much. Off he went into the distance occasionally coming back with a smile, and a bag of new music. I carried on alone and then suddenly in March 2020 the world stopped, and we went into lockdown.
We set up in my house in Catford, Southeast London and carried on. The show became 3 hours a day and I started to invite friends, record labels, record shops, bands etc.. to supply me with hour long mixes that I played every day. The show took off during this time. My musical tastes expanded as I spent all day long searching for new sounds from around the globe. People started to send me more and more music. I became obsessed with the show. The audience started to take to social media and ask for certain tracks or artists to be played. I got listeners to make me mixes to play on the show and I did several phone interviews with musicians while playing some of their favourite tunes.
I was grateful that Soho Radio left me to my own devices. They never told me what to do or what to play – they trusted ma and I trusted my instincts.
The music on this compilation is not a ‘best of’ it’s just how I felt when I compiled it at the start of 2025. Apart from a couple of tracks they are all things I’ve come across since the show started in December 2017. If I did a list of tracks now I’m sure it would be completely different. Surely that’s the point. We never stick in one place. We are always moving and searching. Always trying to unlock our minds. Put it on. Take your time and let it take you somewhere” James Endeacott 2025
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Scintillating, alchemical kosmische; visionary, deep, and luminous; and beautifully sleeved, with gold foiling and silver ink.
Works In Metal fans out a set of acid treatments and finely sharpened blades — cutting, shaping, suspending form. Sounds are melted down and forged as if liquid metal.
The works are paired. Arc’s Blue Flame previews the smoking volatility at the album’s core. Echoes and resonance soften the dissonant, bright textures; all overlaid with Fofana’s signature, percussive kick drums. Welding drills into the discordant thrills and spills of metamorphosis. Sparks fly and the bittersweet arc of change unfolds.
Fofana discreetly folds in text, poetry, and field recordings, spooring their decomposition and recomposition with a prismatic point of view. The coupling Obscure Light (Decomposition) and Obscure Light (Recomposition) marks something new in his music. The pulse is brightly honed, cascading beyond the dancefloor, exultingly eluding musical genre.
Works in Metal is perhaps Fofana’s most narrative album. At its heart is the killer, extended Lure of the Fragment / So Another Sound Suggests Itself. Melodies circle in call-and-response patterns, balancing proximity and distance, signalling the inward gravity required to work with metal. A nested story-line, with birds flying in; an album within an album. Dredging up memories and associations, Fofana filters in selections from his sound-archives. Layered with synths, field recordings become instruments in their own right. The last three minutes proffer precious clarity — a memory, in miniature, flashed onto molten metal.
In 1943 Suzanne Césaire declared that ‘our surrealism will then supply them the leaven from their very depths. It will be time finally to transcend the sordid contemporary antinomies: Whites-Blacks, Europeans-Africans, civilized-savage: the powerful magic of the mahoulis will be recovered, drawn from the very wellsprings of life. Colonial idiocies will be purified by the welding arc’s blue flame. The mettle of our metal, our cutting edge of steel, our unique communions — all will be recovered’. Works in Metal is a tribute to her prophecy; its enactment, sculpted in sound.
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This is the story of an artist in search of sound and breath: an artist who dares to question the rhythm of silence—an invitation to rethink music, sound, and musical collaboration. This is the story of a journey that, after opening countless paths, has finally found its vessel—and its messengers. Three artists of profound musical truth and radical freedom, merging into an exceptional trio that crosses genres and transcends words in a journey toward pure emotion.
Le Rythme du Silence is the culmination of this long search. Yom delivers it here with violinist Théo Ceccaldi and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi—kindred spirits in sound. “I’ve been working on this idea of the ‘rhythm of silence’ for years,” Yom explains. “I first heard the phrase from a Sufi master, describing the foundation of meditation. It struck something deep in me. I’ve practiced meditation for a long time, and we often think of it as a kind of stillness—opposed to noise and life. But in truth, the rhythm of silence enables meditation. It means accepting that the world continues to move and live around you, even as you try to be still. I wanted to compose from that place. To imagine sound as vibratory matter—the primal substance of creation. That required letting go of fixed structures: forgetting melodies, abandoning the idea of a constructed solo. I needed to leave behind music as a system, and touch sound as a living, breathing entity. It took years. Many projects led me elsewhere. But with the Ceccaldi brothers, I finally found the right resonance. Working with them was simply obvious—it was indredibly powerful.”
Yom first rose to prominence reimagining Jewish traditional music with his 2008 debut New King of Klezmer Clarinet. Since then, his path has led through rock (With Love, 2011; You Will Never Die, 2018), electronic utopias (The Empire of Love, 2013), meditative and sacred soundscapes (Prière, 2018), and countless unclassifiable hybrids (Unue, 2009; Green Apocalypse, 2010). It was inevitable that he would eventually cross paths with the free-spirited Théo and Valentin Ceccaldi—two artists who also place collaboration and genre-blurring at the heart of their artistic development. Their projects are always bold, demanding, and full of life (Kutu, Tricollectif, ONJ, Velvet Revolution, Grand Orchestre du Tricot, Lagon Noir, Constantine, etc.). And so, when the three met within the iXi string quartet, something clicked.
“I was seated between the two of them in the quartet,” Yom recalls, “and I could feel their energy flowing from both sides—it was wild! They’re so tuned into each other, they don’t need words. It’s like they’re connected by musical Wi-Fi. The groove happens instantly. They’re precise when they want to be—thanks to their experience in pop-influenced projects —but they can also let go completely, diving into pure sound. That’s exactly what this project needed.”
Without a single rehearsal, the trio formed instinctively. They began performing Yom’s compositions live, unfolding them into a single continuous piece, where clarinet and strings stretch the limits of sound and breath.
Bowed, plucked, or prepared with clothespins, the Ceccaldi strings engage in a playful and intense dialogue with Yom’s custom B-flat clarinet. Through their imaginative listening and fearless invention, air and space open into a vast new soundscape—one that lies somewhere between meditation and healing music.
“When Yom shared the concept of the rhythm of silence, we were immediately drawn in,” says cellist Valentin Ceccaldi. “There’s a deep intensity and spiritual commitment in his music that really spoke to me. With this trio, we’re trying to dive into the core of sound—but also to create a kind of communion with the audience. It’s like gradually turning up the volume on silence, and realizing it’s made of countless tiny sounds—the music of particles in motion" This stripped-down intensity demands full presence—body and mind—of these three musicians, vibrationally connected in a state close to trance. With them, we enter a journey - not religious, but sacred nonetheless.
The Rhythm of Silence becomes an echo of our most intimate, most distant inner landscapes.
An album—and a trio—to return to without end.
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Last delivered 7 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
pictured cover sealed in shrink wrap (first time ever on Samosa)
Samosa Records comes back with a real summer bang in the form of the ‘Afro-Ritmo EP’ – a four-track journey into afro soaked vibes courtesy of Anura & Sr. Lobezno and featuring label boss De Gama!
First up on side A is the EP’s title track, the mesmerising ‘Afro Ritmo’. Anura & Sr. Lobezno announce their arrival on Samosa Records with this spicy West African rhythm bomb. Kakaki trumpet fanfares meld with intricate synth stabs and ethereal Oja flute, whilst the solid tribal beats and rolling bass dictate the dance moves. And dance you must…
Track 2 is the deliciously glitchy, conga bonanza ‘Sungu Sa’. Make no mistake, ‘Sunga Sa’ is out to get you from the very first beat – tempting you to go behind the curtain as the haunting guitar lures you ever closer to its secret door. Dark, uplifting and ritualistic, the chant of ‘Sunga Sa’ will live in your head rent free well after the sun has gone down. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Over on Side B De Gama takes the title track ‘Afro-Ritmo’ and applies his unique sonic rubs, balms and enhancers to create a pulsating after hours jam full to the brim with Afrotropic sparkle and magic dust. Like an unstoppable chugging train steaming through a savanna, De Gama is the conductor supreme as the raspy synth, bluesy guitar riff and uplifting brass fanfares entwine around that pounding beat.
Finally, Track 4 gives us the seriously powerful Javier Morrilas remix of ‘Afro-Ritmo’. The original is stripped right down and given the Big Beat treatment for this insanely good take – a peak time switcheroo of a track that keeps you guessing as to where it’s taking you. As the flutey breakdowns and broken beat madness get you, you will fall in love with this one instantly.
The ‘Afro Ritmo’ EP is a powerful, masterful four tracker from Anura & Sr. Lobezno which is well at home in the Samosa Records cooking pot. Spread the word, buy the vinyl. You won’t be disappointed.
• Reviewed with love by The Black Light Disco
Written, Produced, Arranged and Mixed by Anura & Sr. Lobezno.
Keyboards & Percussions: Anura.
Trumpet: Jimmy Garcia
Sax & Flute: Carlos Ligero
Trombone: Prudencio Valdivieso
*Remix and Additional Productions by Stefano Gamma aka De Gama for De Gama Rec - Rome.
Jazz Guitar & Acoustic Bass by Pietro Nicosia.
** Remix and Additional Productions by Javier Morillas.
All tracks mastered by Francesco Pierguidi at L’n’P Studio – Rome.
Artwork and computer graphics by Nerina Fernandez.
SMS038
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"One Hit Wonders" ist eine dynamische Doppel-LP-Zusammenstellung, die die unvergesslichen Songs feiert, die den Äther beherrschten und zu zeitlosen Klassikern wurden. Diese Sammlung vereint legendäre Hits aus verschiedenen Jahrzehnten und Genres, von den energiegeladenen Beats von "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" von Dead or Alive bis zum sanften Yacht-Rock von "Steal Away" von Robbie Dupree. Mit Tanzhymnen, gefühlvollen Balladen und genredefinierenden Titeln ist dieses Album eine nostalgische Reise durch Songs, die trotz der Tatsache, dass sie die einzigen großen Chartstürmer ihrer Künstler waren, in der Musikgeschichte unverzichtbar geblieben sind.
Diese sorgfältig zusammengestellte Auswahl umspannt die Welten von Pop, Rock, Funk, R&B und Hip-Hop. LP1 enthält Wohlfühl-Hits wie "Walking on Sunshine" von Katrina and the Waves, den Synthie-Pop-Charme von "Wouldn't It Be Good" von Nik Kershaw und die eindringliche Schönheit von "Only the Lonely" von The Motels. LP2 hält die Energie hoch mit funkgetriebenen Grooves wie "Play That Funky Music" von Wild Cherry, der filmischen Magie von "Neverending Story" von Limahl und sanften Balladen wie "Because I Love You" von Stevie B. Jeder Track auf dieser Compilation ist einkultureller Meilenstein, der von der ersten Note an erkennbar ist.
"One Hit Wonders", herausgegeben von MPO, ist ein Muss für Musikliebhaber, Sammler und Fans von klassischen Hits, die Generationen überdauern. Ob Sie diese Hymnen wiederentdecken oder zum ersten Mal erleben, dieses Album fängt die Magie von Songs ein, die Geschichte geschrieben haben, auch wenn ihre Schöpfer nie wieder denselben Erfolg in den Charts hatten. Sichern Sie sich noch heute Ihr Exemplar und lassen Sie sich von der Musik in die Momente zurückversetzen, in denen diese Titel die Charts beherrschten und und die Welt in ihren Bann zogen.
Tracklisting
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37 years after the release of her multi-million selling debut album "Ancient Heart" Tanita Tikaram will release the sequel entitled "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)". The long-awaited new album reveals the emotional and societal differences between the woman Tanita was at just 18 when she made "Ancient Heart" to the woman she is today, taking in four decades of life experience. Her first album in almost a decade, "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)" is an album of haunting beauty and exquisite musicianship underplaying her unique voice that tells a masterful story of emotional, political and personal truths. When it was released in 1988, the multi-million selling "Ancient Heart" was the story of an uncertain 18-year-old brown gay woman living in middle England feeling like a stranger in her own home. Almost 40 years later that same woman, now feeling like a stranger in her own country as politics and society become more divisive. "LIAR (Love Is A Right)" is a full circle moment: a comment on community and its importance for all our futures and the perfect accompaniment to her classic breakthrough.
37 years after the release of her multi-million selling debut album "Ancient Heart" Tanita Tikaram will release the sequel entitled "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)". The long-awaited new album reveals the emotional and societal differences between the woman Tanita was at just 18 when she made "Ancient Heart" to the woman she is today, taking in four decades of life experience. Her first album in almost a decade, "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)" is an album of haunting beauty and exquisite musicianship underplaying her unique voice that tells a masterful story of emotional, political and personal truths. When it was released in 1988, the multi-million selling "Ancient Heart" was the story of an uncertain 18-year-old brown gay woman living in middle England feeling like a stranger in her own home. Almost 40 years later that same woman, now feeling like a stranger in her own country as politics and society become more divisive. "LIAR (Love Is A Right)" is a full circle moment: a comment on community and its importance for all our futures and the perfect accompaniment to her classic breakthrough.
- Aufgrund der großen Nachfrage: Das erfolgreiche ORDEN OGAN Debütalbum nun erneut auf Vinyl erhältlich
- Erstmals als Picturevinyl erhältlich,sowie Shopexklusiv als Splatter und als Clear Red Vinyl
- Coverartwork von Andreas Marschall (Blind Guardian, Kreator, In Flames)
- ORDEN OGAN gehören mittlerweile zu den erfolgreichsten Metal-Bands Deutschlands; ihr aktuelles Album "Final Days" erreichte Platz 3 der Media Control-Charts
FINALLY! The very first commercial release of two legendary remixes of Arthur Russell's "In The Light Of The Miracle". Both are widely regarded as transcendent masterpieces and very much befitting of the title “holy grails”.
These long-beloved mixes are the types you'd wish would last for eternity. With almost 30 minutes of music here, we very nearly get our desires granted. At last, these jaw-dropping mixes are widely available to every Arthur fan in the world. This is musical perfection.
The deep Loft classic "In The Light Of The Miracle" remained unreleased during Arthur's lifetime, finally discovered when Phillip Glass included the original version on Another Thought on Point Music in 1993. As Steve Knutson told us, when Another Thought was being put together, the plan was to release a companion album of remixes that was overseen by Steve D'Aquisto but the project only got as far as these two remixes of "In The Light Of The Miracle".
Some dodgy scans of some centre label designs suggest that Point Music might’ve been planning to release these on a 12" but it didn’t happen. The story goes that Gilles Peterson heard the remixes on a visit to the Point Music offices and wanted to release them on Talkin’ Loud. We’re not sure how many white label copies made it out into the wild, but again, these remixes didn’t make it to a proper release.
These remixes both extend and undeniably enhance the original, elevating it to new heights. The 13 minute remix on the A-side is by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith with editing duties performed by Tony Morgan. As ever with Arthur, the music is almost impossible to describe: is it Disco? Garage House? Avant Garde? None of these tags do full justice to its sheer majesty. You best just listen. Stretching out the original with some unbelievably great percussive elements, until we're in a deeply spiritual, otherworldly realm, it's just too beautiful for words. As many have claimed, it's the prototype for EVERYTHING.
The "Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2)", produced by Tony Morgan in the mid-90s, is in a more up-tempo style, with vocals higher in the mix, the BPM upped to 120 and the addition of a housey 4/4 kick drum. A 14 minute epic, you could say this is a more straight ahead "club-friendly" mix (but can things ever be that straightforward with Arthur?!) It also has some really interesting vocal parts not used in the other versions, including some vocals from guest poet Allen Ginsberg.
These remixes are part of the same original project that also produced the Another Thought album so it seems only right that they have a sleeve that matches. Thanks again to Janette Beckman for letting us use another of her photos of Arthur and the rest of the design follows what Margery Greenspan, Tina Lauffer and Michael Klotz did for Another Thought back in 1994.
Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 12" well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year.
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A photo in Rodney Stepp’s scrapbook sums this period in his life in music. It’s 1974, The Spinners were headliners at the “Zaire 74” music festival, a sideshow to Muhammad Ali’s fabled “Rumble in the Jungle” fight with George Foreman. Among the faded snapshots, there’s a picture of Stepp backstage posing arm in arm with Ali; another image shows The Greatest seated at Stepp’s Fender Rhodes alongside vocalist Etta James. It was all a dream for this Naptown wunderkind, who had previously recorded for Herb Miller’s LAMP Records as the Diplomatics and had issued the sweet soul killer “Young Girl” as Jazzie Cazzie and the Eight Sounds on a rare Knaptown 45. (These recordings have been documented on the Now-Again LAMP anthology and our Loving On The Flipside compilation.) But as exciting as his rise out of those local status was, as exciting as it was to headline festivals and arenas and appear on late night talk shows, Stepp grew restless with the mechanical routine of being a sideman. He grew tired of playing the same charts night after night. He was hungry for a creative outlet that mimicked his earliest days in recorded music. So, in 1978, Stepp left The Spinners and returned to Indianapolis, where he established an all-stargroup of musicians–including members of Jazzie Cazzie and the fabled Amnesty–and he named the band Rapture. They inspired countless others. They recorded an album’s worth of material. Now-Again’s Egon first got tapes from Stepp in 2002 and dutifully transferred them, but the time was not right for a foray into this wealth of material. Come 2025, and this is the first time it Rapture’s music is seeing the light of day, a triumphant, late career moment for Stepp and a cause for celebration of those intrigued by deep, sweet soul and disco funk
Rock for Light is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. We're proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
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Last delivered 32 days ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Here we are with the Earth perched on a thin tenuous wire. The neo-liberal order and its fascist mirror world burning through fossil fuels and the souls of vulnerable peoples the globe over. Conflict, warfare, climate degradation, misinformation. The time is nigh to break the spell with music.
Right on time comes IC007 – Four cuts of progressive elektro roots to shine a light on only four of the multitudinous hot spots of suffering while also inspiring a musical movement forward through the storm. Dedicated to the peoples of the Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine, and Taiwan this tune is another ITAL COUNSELOR sound system scorcher.
The message at its very core is to keep keeping on. Never give up. Forward through the storm like an ITAL WARRIOR! This RHYTHM SHOWER is a guideline toward a better tomorrow.
Delivering this message are some of ITAL COUNSELOR MUSIC’s stalwart players. Inyaki Basque Dub Foundation returns to the fold with yet another top-notch original rhythm – A drum and bass workout that harkens back to the best of Sly & Robbie’s Compass Point era science fiction dubwise and just a little bit of Aswad’s “To The Top” era progressive roots. Both raw and rhythmically complex, Inyaki makes the drum and bass hit hard with the mixing help of top studio man James Zugati. The dubwise cuts on side two are of course custom made to make bass bins rumble and weakheart drop.
Alas, we cannot forget Soothsayer horns – here as always proving that they are the best horn section out there. They feel it. They know it. They execute it in the hardest and sharpest of manors. Heavy heavy hornsman manners…
Celebrating 20 years of defining, and redefining, electronic alt-pop - Metronomy ‘GREATEST HITS’ is the first comprehensive collection of their “smash hits” spanning across all 7 studio albums, and will be release alongside a separate album of BBC Sessions.
Formed in 1999 by Joseph Mount, Metronomy has released six acclaimed studio albums and become one of the UK's most influential electronic acts. Known for their distinctive visual aesthetic, innovative production techniques, and energetic live shows, Metronomy continues to bridge the gap between experimental electronic music and accessible pop. From the charm of early tracks like "You Could Easily Have Me" to the sophisticated pop of "The Look" and the dance floor magic of "Love Letters," Metronomy's distinctive sound has consistently pushed boundaries while maintaining their unmistakable identity.
The previously unreleased BBC Sessions reveal another dimension to these songs, capturing their magnetic live energy and Joe’s evolving approach to arrangement and performance, all recorded between 2009-2019 across BBC6Music, BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio 2.
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Last delivered 13 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Celebrating 20 years of defining, and redefining, electronic alt-pop - Metronomy ‘GREATEST HITS’ is the first comprehensive collection of their “smash hits” spanning across all 7 studio albums, and will be release alongside a separate album of BBC Sessions.
Formed in 1999 by Joseph Mount, Metronomy has released six acclaimed studio albums and become one of the UK's most influential electronic acts. Known for their distinctive visual aesthetic, innovative production techniques, and energetic live shows, Metronomy continues to bridge the gap between experimental electronic music and accessible pop. From the charm of early tracks like "You Could Easily Have Me" to the sophisticated pop of "The Look" and the dance floor magic of "Love Letters," Metronomy's distinctive sound has consistently pushed boundaries while maintaining their unmistakable identity.
The previously unreleased BBC Sessions reveal another dimension to these songs, capturing their magnetic live energy and Joe’s evolving approach to arrangement and performance, all recorded between 2009-2019 across BBC6Music, BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio 2.
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Last delivered 11 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
In the smoggy orange light of a new millennium, the young Deb Demure would take the bus, once a week, from his home in crumbling Hollywood to his grandmother's apartment, nestled in the pastel pristineness of Beverly Hills. During these visits, Deb couldn't help but notice the disconnect between the glow of his grandmother's temple, and the downtrodden, alienated figures that populated the seats of the mass transit that took him there. Week after week, he would observe these characters: fading B-movie starlets, leisure-suited alcoholics and forgotten civil servants. But one fateful commute home, as the twilight waned to the purple Los Angeles night, he realized these figures were not as lost as they appeared - there was a nobility in their failure, reflective of the dignity of the city's vanishing golden era. They were survivors, in need of a voice: a spokesperson for every color of hope and hopelessness, transcendent of gender and time; Drab Majesty became Deb's musical podium for this undertaking. Raised in a music-centric household, Deb would find the time to teach himself to play his father's right-handed guitar upside down and left-handed; an unorthodox fashion from where his earliest understanding of chords and harmony were conceived. Exploring the bins of discarded vinyl in his neighborhood thrift stores, his toolkit expanded with the subterranean sonic gems of the recent past. Influences range from the virtuosic arpeggiated guitar work of Felt's Maurice Deebank and the grittier pop progressions of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's Chris Reed as well as Steve Severin from Siouxsie and The Banshees. He also studied the harmonic oscillations and utilization of the occult power of vibratory frequency present in New Age sounds of Greek artist, IASOS. In terms of orchestration, he consciously culls from the seaside maximalism of Martin Dupont and mechanized grooves of early Depeche Mode. Like a dualistic pendulum, his vocals swing from a preistly baritone to a choir boy's falsetto reflecting the sepulchral ambiance of church visits with his grandmother. Currently the drummer for Los Angeles lo-fi rock ensemble Marriages and having honed an unorthodox home recording style, Deb sources his sounds from a repository of "mid-fi" synthesizers and other lesser-quality instruments. Following the release of his debut cassette EP, "Unarian Dances", he also shared a split 12" with synth pop forefathers, Eleven Pond. During the Spring of 2015, Drab Majesty signed with Dais Records and released his first single, Unknown to the I, as a introduction for his first initial foray into the album format, romantically titled Careless. Written over the course of 2 years, "Careless" is a compendium of songs that have outlasted a malicious burglary of his studio, his struggles with substance addiction, and most recently, the death of his beloved grandmother.
In the smoggy orange light of a new millennium, the young Deb Demure would take the bus, once a week, from his home in crumbling Hollywood to his grandmother's apartment, nestled in the pastel pristineness of Beverly Hills. During these visits, Deb couldn't help but notice the disconnect between the glow of his grandmother's temple, and the downtrodden, alienated figures that populated the seats of the mass transit that took him there. Week after week, he would observe these characters: fading B-movie starlets, leisure-suited alcoholics and forgotten civil servants. But one fateful commute home, as the twilight waned to the purple Los Angeles night, he realized these figures were not as lost as they appeared - there was a nobility in their failure, reflective of the dignity of the city's vanishing golden era. They were survivors, in need of a voice: a spokesperson for every color of hope and hopelessness, transcendent of gender and time; Drab Majesty became Deb's musical podium for this undertaking. Raised in a music-centric household, Deb would find the time to teach himself to play his father's right-handed guitar upside down and left-handed; an unorthodox fashion from where his earliest understanding of chords and harmony were conceived. Exploring the bins of discarded vinyl in his neighborhood thrift stores, his toolkit expanded with the subterranean sonic gems of the recent past. Influences range from the virtuosic arpeggiated guitar work of Felt's Maurice Deebank and the grittier pop progressions of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's Chris Reed as well as Steve Severin from Siouxsie and The Banshees. He also studied the harmonic oscillations and utilization of the occult power of vibratory frequency present in New Age sounds of Greek artist, IASOS. In terms of orchestration, he consciously culls from the seaside maximalism of Martin Dupont and mechanized grooves of early Depeche Mode. Like a dualistic pendulum, his vocals swing from a preistly baritone to a choir boy's falsetto reflecting the sepulchral ambiance of church visits with his grandmother. Currently the drummer for Los Angeles lo-fi rock ensemble Marriages and having honed an unorthodox home recording style, Deb sources his sounds from a repository of "mid-fi" synthesizers and other lesser-quality instruments. Following the release of his debut cassette EP, "Unarian Dances", he also shared a split 12" with synth pop forefathers, Eleven Pond. During the Spring of 2015, Drab Majesty signed with Dais Records and released his first single, Unknown to the I, as a introduction for his first initial foray into the album format, romantically titled Careless. Written over the course of 2 years, "Careless" is a compendium of songs that have outlasted a malicious burglary of his studio, his struggles with substance addiction, and most recently, the death of his beloved grandmother.
This is the second pressing of the highly sought after debut LP from dutch synth funk wizard Shook.
The special edition reissue is dedicated to Shook’s fans and special fan Nasa Astronaut Christina Koch who played the song ‘Always’ to her husband while she was in space during her ISS mission. In Koch’s words the song was “one of the most memorable anthems” of her mission.
To celebrate this achievement it was the right time to repress this masterpiece of exploratory electronic music with a special variant cover made by Marvel comics artist Stefan Tosheff based on the story of Koch.
Back in 2013 Harder Blogger Faster said: This debut album showcases Shook’s talents in a multitude of sonic intensities, emotions and styles without it ever being too show-y.
The album manages to find a perfect blend between nostalgic love letters and Shook’s need to combine cutting edge electronic instrumentation with his virtuoso abilities on the piano.
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In the smoggy orange light of a new millennium, the young Deb Demure would take the bus, once a week, from his home in crumbling Hollywood to his grandmother's apartment, nestled in the pastel pristineness of Beverly Hills. During these visits, Deb couldn't help but notice the disconnect between the glow of his grandmother's temple, and the downtrodden, alienated figures that populated the seats of the mass transit that took him there. Week after week, he would observe these characters: fading B-movie starlets, leisure-suited alcoholics and forgotten civil servants. But one fateful commute home, as the twilight waned to the purple Los Angeles night, he realized these figures were not as lost as they appeared - there was a nobility in their failure, reflective of the dignity of the city's vanishing golden era. They were survivors, in need of a voice: a spokesperson for every color of hope and hopelessness, transcendent of gender and time; Drab Majesty became Deb's musical podium for this undertaking. Raised in a music-centric household, Deb would find the time to teach himself to play his father's right-handed guitar upside down and left-handed; an unorthodox fashion from where his earliest understanding of chords and harmony were conceived. Exploring the bins of discarded vinyl in his neighborhood thrift stores, his toolkit expanded with the subterranean sonic gems of the recent past. Influences range from the virtuosic arpeggiated guitar work of Felt's Maurice Deebank and the grittier pop progressions of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's Chris Reed as well as Steve Severin from Siouxsie and The Banshees. He also studied the harmonic oscillations and utilization of the occult power of vibratory frequency present in New Age sounds of Greek artist, IASOS. In terms of orchestration, he consciously culls from the seaside maximalism of Martin Dupont and mechanized grooves of early Depeche Mode. Like a dualistic pendulum, his vocals swing from a preistly baritone to a choir boy's falsetto reflecting the sepulchral ambiance of church visits with his grandmother. Currently the drummer for Los Angeles lo-fi rock ensemble Marriages and having honed an unorthodox home recording style, Deb sources his sounds from a repository of "mid-fi" synthesizers and other lesser-quality instruments. Following the release of his debut cassette EP, "Unarian Dances", he also shared a split 12" with synth pop forefathers, Eleven Pond. During the Spring of 2015, Drab Majesty signed with Dais Records and released his first single, Unknown to the I, as a introduction for his first initial foray into the album format, romantically titled Careless. Written over the course of 2 years, "Careless" is a compendium of songs that have outlasted a malicious burglary of his studio, his struggles with substance addiction, and most recently, the death of his beloved grandmother.
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First time vinyl reissue, expanded and deluxe double gatefold 140g double vinyl, remastered audio with restored artwork and fresh liners written by Paul Hillery (Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours)
Alan James Eastwood's glorious Seeds is a certified folk-funk lost-classic.
But who was Alan James Eastwood? He had never hit the big time and commercial success eluded him. By the mid-1970s, his musical career was pretty much over and he was almost unknown except among deep heads, amongst whom he would gain cult status.
Original copies of the 1971 vinyl release of Seeds exchange hands for high sums, if you can find one. This expanded 2LP contains an extra record, collecting 9 rare non-album singles and is presented in a gatefold sleeve complete with freshly commissioned liner notes courtesy of Paul Hillery (Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours).
With the long overdue deluxe reissue of this prized artefact, we hope to finally shine a light on the unheralded genius of Alan James Eastwood. RIYL Nick Drake, Rodriguez, Richie Havens.
Alan James ‘Bugsy’ Eastwood was a renowned musician and singer who came to prominence in the late 1960s with The Exception, an unsung but excellent band from Birmingham. The Exception released many singles, the first featuring friend Robert Plant on tambourine, before an album, The Exceptional Exception. However, by this time, Bugsy was feeling constrained and restless; he left the band within weeks of the release.
Having vanished from the scene, he was honing a deeper, introspective edge to his songwriting. His demos found their way to the sound engineer and producer Mike Cooper at Pan Music Studios in Denmark Street. Loving what he heard, Eastwood soon entered a recording session with Cooper. The session was just Alan, his guitar and harmonica and - by all accounts - it was remarkable. With the songs, the voice and such an exceptional talent, it was hard to go wrong. Says Mike: "We had John Hawkins do the big string arrangements and Richard Hewson arranged the string quartet. We overdubbed the orchestrations on Alan's original session recordings, adding Chris Karan on tabla and various percussion. We considered re-recording the vocals but found that the magic on that original session was so exceptional overdubbing would not be as good as the atmospheric 'live' performance."
Mike and Alan viewed each track as a different entity, giving the album a diverse sonic palette. Assessing each song individually, they decided which would be suitable for each arranger. Top-flight session musicians were added to the roster to complete the sound, with Byron Lye Fook (father of musician Omar) on drums, bassist Mike Ward, Brian Pickles on marimba and jazz drummer Chris Karan on tabla and percussion. Recorded in a matter of days in Pan's small 8-track studio, they carefully added overdubs, rhythm sections and four string sessions arranged by Hawkins, with Hewson's arrangements recorded at Trident Studios.
Seeds was Alan James Eastwood's debut solo album – indeed, his only solo album - and was originally issued on President in 1971. It melded Eastwood’s impressive rock sensibilities with a folk thread to superb effect. His arresting voice - its deep, rough-hewn soulfulness - coupled with gorgeous string-drenched backing, make this a phenomenal listen. It really is a great 70s singer-songwriter record - with touches of acid-folk and folk-funk throughout.
It opens with "She's Getting Married In August", a mellow tune with Richard Hewson's strings arranged around Alan's straightforward guitar structure. Up next, the joyous, sun-dappled guitar and strings workout "Evenin' Rain" glides by before the fragile, accordion-enhanced "Les Papillons" breezes out of the speakers. The bluesy "Zeena" follows, featuring vocals and acoustic guitar and showcasing Eastwood's effortless harmonica. Starting out as a ballad, "Virgin Morn" builds with soaring strings and gospel-tinged backing vocals from Marilyn Powell and jazz singer Josephine Stahl. The A-side closes with the title track, "Seeds". With a chugging mid-tempo beat, soulful vocals and a beautiful Bacharach-esque string arrangement, it truly is stop-you-in-your-tracks spectacular.
Side B opens with "Crystal Blue", gilded by Lye Fook's marimba, lush gospel-esque backing vocals and handclaps. Eastwood's acoustic guitar begins "Lady Carole", which starts as a bluesy ballad and builds with more string arrangement, lifting the track to another height. A towering highlight of epic proportions, "Lotus Child" is a true masterpiece of arrangement. It opens with simple yet stunning do-do-dah vocal harmonies blended with John Hawkins's strings, bass lines and rhythmic beats, forming a vibe very much in conversation with the sounds coming from LA's Laurel Canyon. Next up, the heartwarming "Last Prayer", dedicated to Alan's first and last love, contains a melancholic vocal with a wistful string-drenched arrangement that would sit comfortably in a Federico Fellini score. Bringing the album to a close, "Hymn For Today" is a melodic raga with tabla, strings and a soft-psych feel. Eastwood's prophetic whisper - "I am real. At last, I am real" - profoundly hits home.
Kicking off the extra disc is the sparsely funky and country-tinged "Boston", released as the flip to the astonishing "Seeds". Next up are the two tracks that comprised Alan’s debut solo 7" single from 1968. The laconic, Bobby Charles-esque "Blackbird Charlie" evidences a real depth and charm in Eastwood's songwriting whilst the starkly brilliant flip, "My Sun", was a horizontal, atmospheric folk-tinged soundtracky precursor to his later work on Seeds.
In 1972, two further standalone singles followed. The first was the evergreen flute-driven folk-funk bomb, "Closer To The Truth", backed by the funky blues of "Strange News". The second, a deeply moving Havens-inspired "Moonchild" - rightly fawned over to this day - was flipped with "Red Shoe Truckin'", a groove-infused track. Eastwood also paired up with Marilyn Powell for a single produced by Powell's partner, Mike Cooper. Under the name Eastwood & Powell, they released their staggering rendition of "Beautiful", a rock-blues-pop song arranged by Ivor Raymonde and written by Carole King. Over on the flip, a funky Eastwood original "Opal Blue Sunday" lurked. This is not to be overlooked.
Over the years, Alan remained active on the music scene, but problems with alcohol and health complications from diabetes severely impacted his career. He spent his latter years living in London until his untimely death from heart failure on 25 October 2007, just one day before his 62nd birthday and without his music having received the real acclaim it so dearly deserved.
This deluxe reissue, spellbinding from beginning to end, should hopefully go some way to rectifying this tragic fact. Mastering for this special double vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. The original artwork has been lovingly brought back to life at Be With HQ, with the addition of passionately written liner notes specially for this landmark reissue by none other than Paul Hillery.
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Bristol music Godfather Rob Smith (Smith & Mighty) was a major force in the 1st wave Bristol Dubstep scene, not only as a huge musical influence on the likes of Pinch and Peverelist but also as a producer in his own right. This typically dubwise 12' is one of his best from that era, repressed for 2016.
CATCHY, MESMERIZINGLY BEAUTIFUL, DREAMY CHAMBER POP WITH A FOLKY TWIST
Music can have a multitude of emotional impacts and can create inner worlds out of voices, sounds, and moods.
If you open heart and ear to the mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful soundscapes of AURI, you might find a beacon of light inside a sonic realm untouched by today’s often scary, grim realities; a dreamscape that can be profoundly uplifting.
On their third studio album, III - Candles & Beginnings’ the stars have aligned yet again. Propelled by the unique and celestial voice of Johanna Kurkela, the magical textures of Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen and the almost unlimited musical palette of Nigtwish multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, Auri have presented a world to be unlocked with the senses, blending folk, progressive and symphonic elements, world music, pop and avantgarde.
Right after completing Nightwish’s 2024 monument Yesterwynde, the songwriting for the third chapter in Auri’s musical adventures started in 2023, with Troy writing in Yorkshire and Tuomas and Johanna working their creative magic in Kitee, Finland. By Autumn 2024, a 10-song demo was complete, setting the stage for what would become another breathtaking Auri journey. The band and their trusted engineer Tero “Teecee” Kinnunen took the mixing process to sunny Spain, letting the Andalucian vibes infuse the music whereas in March 2025 mastering was wrapped up by Tim Oliver at the legendary Real World Studios - a ground-breaking recording complex started by Peter Gabriel in 1989.
The album is a tapestry of emotions - each song a world of its own, touching on childhood memories, vivid life experiences, and even a nod to one of the group’s most beloved places on Earth - The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, a historic spot nestled in the North York Moors and one of the most remote pubs you will ever find.
Visually, the cover artwork by Pete Voutilainen, layout and watercolors by Mikko Pankasalo plus calligraphy by Johanna Kurkela provide wonderful illustrations perfectly capturing Auri’s unique musical visions.
With guest musicians like Frank Van Essen (strings), Jonas Pap (cello), Juho Kanervo (basses), and the incredible drumming and percussion courtesy of Nightwish’s Kai Hahto, Auri III - Candles & Beginnings is as lush as it is atmospheric and provides astonishing dynamics.
Having been a studio endeavor in the past, Auri is finally going on tour with their first-ever live European trek kicking off in August 2025, followed by summer festivals in 2026, allowing you to hear, see and feel songs from their previous two albums, as well as brand new pieces from III - Candles & Beginnings.
‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is the latest collection selected by Mikey Young (Total Control, EddyCurrent Suppression Ring) and Keith Abrahamsson (Founder and Head of A&R at AnthologyRecordings), the mangled minds behind the beloved ‘Follow the Sun’, ‘Sad About the Times’,and ‘…Still Sad’ compilations. The twenty tracks of ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ make a conscious(and unconscious) detour from its predecessors, sourced entirely from private press releases,spanning new decades and production modes within homespun folk, soft rock and otherwise70s and 80s FM radio adjacent music. The magic of ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is the untold story of the artists behind these songs; thosewho missed the big time, but whose song craft and unrequited care hit the right notes, bothhigh and low.
Where ‘Follow the Sun’ and ‘Sad About the Times’ introduced us to the fame chasing, ambitioncrashing crooners who missed their shot in the mainstream, ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ delvesdeeper into the isolated wilds - a private world where production quirks, late-night tape hiss andone-man studio dreams were not necessarily a choice but the hand that was dealt.
With the parameters set to ‘private press only’, Young and Abrahamsson follow a circuitous trailof invention and emotion, documenting a spirit that’s more homespun, sometimes lonelier andoften a little weirder. The guitars still strum, but the keyboards’ hum is more prevalent andprecious; wistful harmonies brush up against lo-fi drum machines; a bittersweet fog lingeringover even the brightest melodies.
As with their previous collaborations, Young and Abrahamsson weren’t interested inconstructing a museum or drafting a historical survey. ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ is a sentimentalmixtape, assembled late at night when the mind wanders and old memories blur with imaginedfutures, those within reach and those far too mysterious to ever encounter. Songs wereunearthed in personal collections, deep YouTube burrows, dilapidated web archives and thedim corners of Discogs, with many selections tied not only to intuition but to personalconnection. Some tracks arrived via friends - Kelley Stoltz, a frequent guide for Young, tipped him off toboth Peter Kraemer’s lost gem ‘Let the Light Slip’ and Awakening’s revelatory closer - addingan unseen but deeply felt thread of camaraderie to the compilation.
The journey takes in a wide, strange sweep: The Watson Brothers Band’s ‘Just Whistle’ opensthe collection with a sigh and a shrug, a song that feels like it’s been waiting for decades to beheard again. Jim Huxley’s ‘Tessa on a Magazine’, rediscovered after a long and winding searchby Young, shimmers with a distinctly Australian melancholia. The heartbreak of Rick Penta’s‘My Story Changes’ and Twice As Nice’s delicate ‘Thoughts of You’ float easily alongside themore buoyant, radio-dream sheen of Barracuda’s ‘Baby I Love You’ and MAK’s sunshinedappled ‘That’s Life’.
Widening the aperture to the late 1970s and early 1980s allows for a deeper exploration intoevolving production techniques and musical technologies. The Squad’s ‘D.L.M.H.I.M.A.’ andChristoph Spendel Group’s ‘Forever’ crackle with the kind of bedroom synth warmth that couldonly come from the analogue age, while the soulful, yearning undercurrent of Awakening’s‘Gotta Do Somethin / Might As Well Cultivate’ caps the collection with a call for action - ormaybe just acceptance - in an accidental Brian Eno ‘Here Come the Warm Jets’ parroting.
While ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ moves away from the ‘sad man with guitar’ archetype that hoveredover its predecessors, it remains tethered to a familiar emotional gravity - a balance of longingand lightness that defines this corner of the musical universe. Each track shuffles gentlybetween resignation and hope, sadness and serenity, as if the artists themselves were chasinga dream just beyond reach, recording not for fame but for the simple act of getting it, thatprimal, creative itch, out into the world.
Available on CD and 2LP, featuring the third eye-opening artwork of Dang Wayne Olsen. Thedouble LP set arrives in an outrageous double-wide spine jacket with printed inners and adream journal entry by Pacific Northwest artifactual authority Josh Lewellen.
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Originally released in 1978 on Americom Records. Officially reissued for the first time with love by Celestial Echo Records.
Some records just have that magic. A vibe that pulls you in from the first note and doesn’t let go. Phylliss Bailey’s 1978 cult classic Phylliss is one of those records—a hidden gem of modern soul and disco that’s been doing the rounds for decades in underground scenes, on dancefloors, and among collectors who know. It’s been whispered about in the right circles, bootlegged and then bootlegged again—but never given a proper reissue… Until now.
Celestial Echo Records proudly presents the first official reissue of Phylliss, a record that’s as essential today as it was back then. Originally released on the independent Americom label, the LP flew under the radar in its day but has since become a secret weapon for DJs with a taste for the modern soul & disco sound.
Phylliss Bailey’s voice is pure class—gliding over lush arrangements, tight rhythm sections, and dreamy strings with ease. Whether she’s riding the groove on dancefloor bombs like 'Focus' and 'Release Me' or slowing it down on the smouldering 'Feeling Of Love,' Bailey brings emotional weight and undeniable swagger to every track.
Fully remastered and officially licensed, it brings Phylliss into the light where it belongs. With a reimagined sleeve and labels (to distinguish from some shady copies going around!). This record is looking and sounding better than ever.
Celestial Echo Records is a label devoted to the soulful and the timeless. Based in London and run by miche & Stu Clark, the imprint has been steadily carving out a reputation among collectors and DJs for high-quality, lovingly curated reissues of rare modern soul, boogie, and disco. With each release, they shine a light on overlooked gems that still resonate deeply in today’s clubs and dancefloors. Phylliss is the next jewel in their growing catalogue of essential rediscoveries.
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The Beths occupy a warm, energetic sonic space between joyful hooks, sun-soaked harmonies, and acerbic lyrics. Their debut album Future Me Hates Me, forthcoming on Carpark Records, delivers an astonishment of roadtrip-ready pleasures, each song hitting your ears with an exhilarating endorphin rush like the first time you heard Slanted and Enchanted or 'Cannonball.'
Front and center on these ten infectious tracks is lead singer and primary songwriter Elizabeth Stokes. Stokes has previously worked in other genres within Auckland's rich and varied music scene, recently playing in a folk outfit, but it was in exploring the angst-ridden sounds of her youth that she found her place. 'Fronting this kind of band was a new experience for me,' says Stokes. 'I never thought I had the right voice for it.'
From the irresistible title track to future singles 'Happy Unhappy' and 'You Wouldn't Like Me,' Stokes commands a vocal range that spans from the brash confidence of Joan Jett to the disarming vulnerability of Jenny Lewis. Further honeying Future Me Hates Me's dark lyrics that explore complex topics like being newly alone and the self-defeating anticipation of impending regret, ecstatic vocal harmonies bubble up like in the greatest pop and R+B of the '60s, while inverting the trope of the 'sad dude singer accompanied by a homogenous girl-sound.'
All four members of The Beths studied jazz at university, resulting in a toolkit of deft instrumental chops and tricked-out arrangements that operate on a level rarely found in guitar-pop. Beths guitarist and studio guru Jonathan Pearce (whose other acts as producer include recent Captured Tracks signing Wax Chattels) brings it all home with an approach that's equal parts seasoned perfectionist and D.I.Y.
'There's a lot of sad sincerity in the lyrics,' she continues, 'that relies on the music having a light heart and sense of humor to keep it from being too earnest.' Channeling their stew of personal-canon heroes while drawing inspiration from contemporaries like Alvvays and Courtney Barnett, The Beths serve up deeply emotional lyrics packaged within heavenly sounds that delight in probing the limits of the pop form. 'That's another New Zealand thing,' Stokes concludes with a laugh. 'We're putting our hearts on our sleeves—and then apologizing for it.'
Neuauflage zum 15. Jubiläum nach längerer Nichtverfügbarkeit!
Black Light ist das sechste Studioalbum des englischen Elektronik-Duos Groove Armada. Es verbindet den
eher Mainstream-orientierten Sound seines Vorgängers Soundboy Rock mit dem Rock-Spirit von Lovebox,
und die Band setzt erstmals 80er-Jahre-Synthesizer ein. Das Album ist von David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac,
Gary Numan, New Order und Roxy Music beeinflusst. Zu den Gesangseinlagen auf dem Album zählen
Bryan Ferry, Fenech-Soler, Jess Larrabee, Nick Littlemore, Saint Saviour und Will Young.
Following the 9 instalments of the MAGNETO WAS RIGHT series, Canadian emcee and BKRSCLB founder rapper / producer RAZ FRESCO brings the series to an end with MAGNETIC, the final chapter. The entire series has been an iconic one, true art brought in the physical form with the 9 collectible volumes building up the MAGNETIC work of art!
“Rob wanted the world of The Northman to feel harsh and uncomfortable, and for everything to feel like it was caked in mud and dry blood, so it was crucial for the score to mirror that.” Composers Robin Carolan (Tri-Angle Records) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel) were given a task of epic proportions when director Rob Eggers (The VVitch, The Lighthouse) asked them to create the score for his ambitious and highly anticipated new film The Northman, releasing on April 22nd. They needed to make a score that both honored the immense research that had gone into the authenticity of this Viking era period piece and complimented the cinematic maximalism of the film for a modern audience. The artists stretched themselves to the depths of their creativity and the resulting album is a gorgeous sonic tableaux that places the listener right in the center of the film.
While arranging the score the composers consulted musician and ethnographer Poul Høxbro for inspiration and insight into the history of Viking music. Having backgrounds in left field electronic music, Robin and Sebastian felt liberated by the constraint of using a small selection of musical tools for this piece. “Electronic music has almost limitless potential when it comes to making sounds and that’s obviously an incredible thing, but you can also go down the wormhole and get lost in it sometimes. There’s no risk of that happening when you only have a few primary instruments to draw upon.” Robin remarked.
They utilized traditional instruments such as the tagelharpa, langspil, kravik lyre, and säckpip to build the cinematic world of The Northman but they also took creative freedoms in adding instruments likes drums, which some academics believe wouldn’t have played a big part in Viking musical culture, simply due to the lack of archaeological evidence of actual drums. “One of the pieces we wrote was intended to emulate the sound of a bullroarer; an ancient instrument used in sacred rituals or in battle to intimidate enemies. It makes a really disorienting roaring vibrato sound and low frequencies capable of traveling insane distances.” Robin says when asked about one of the more unique aspects of the score. Everyone involved put so much effort into both their research and their creativity and this richness is evident in every track. The album as a whole is a cinematic masterpiece of sound and ambiance, both gorgeous and disturbing, like the film it so beautifully accompanies.
Tough Love brings to vinyl for the first time April Magazine's Sunday Music For An Overpass, a nine track collection originally issued on cassette in vanishingly small number by Paisley Shirt in 2021. The kind of mythical recording you might have once needed to know the band to own. Alas, no longer... Can the universe have two centres? Because if it's not Gothenburg it's San Francisco... It's impossible for me to think about what's going on in that particular part of the west coast right now without immediately being drawn to April Magazine, a comparatively loosely assembled three (sometimes four) piece centred around artist/musician Peter Hurley, who seem to simultaneously operate at both the heart and the margins of the current Bay Area underground. On the one hand they share members with many other bands, their guitarist/singer runs a gallery that functions as some kind of focal point/social space, and Cindy even have a song named after them. On the other hand, their music is resolutely lo-fi and invariably couched in a mysterious haze, the live footage available online seems to suggest that they sound slightly different each time they play, and there are reports they have dozens of songs (possibly albums?) that have not and may never be released, hidden inside their own private universe. On its initial release, Sunday Music For An Overpass was an early attempt to drag the group a little closer into the light, yet inevitably made them feel as endearingly enigmatic as ever. Typically, this vinyl reissue some four years later only goes part way in clearing that alluring fog. April Magazine channel the greats - Spacemen 3, The Pastels, early B&S, Mary Chain, Rainy Day/Opal/Mazzy et al - but submerge their obvious melodic capabilities within seemingly infinite spray can hiss, as if the songs are being pulled backwards through some vortex to the past. Half of these tracks are instrumentals, and it's in those moments that the band are perhaps at their most expressive, suggesting a very inviting melancholy that can't quite be figured out. Though the LP remasters the original recordings and is a little cleaner sounding as a result, no secret is being given away. The appeal is that the more you hear from them, the less you really know, and all the better for it. Maybe, then, it's that April Magazine are here to show there is no centre to the universe, that instead it's always just off to the side...
Experience the Double-Platinum 1996 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time
Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Is Sourced from the Original Analogue Tapes
1/2” / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe
If great art, as many believe, is inherently polarizing, then the Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop easily ranks as the California-based band’s finest album. Simultaneously celebrated and castigated upon release in spring 1996, the group’s third full-length finds vocalist Scott Weiland and company expanding their “grunge” palette with a smart blend of glam rock, psychedelia, jangle pop, and other related styles. Having benefited from long-view reassessments that shed the biases and meanness of initial criticisms, the double-platinum effort is now largely and rightly seen as a creative masterwork. All the more reason why it deserves reference-grade production.
Overseen by producer Brendan O’Brien, Stone Temple Pilots used bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, and the lawn to capture a broad blend of textures, spaciousness, and ambience that helped underline the group’s obvious (and somewhat unexpected) leap from normal “alternative” status to an artist whose aspirations went beyond that of many of its contemporaries. You can hear the multitude of details and tonalities with previously unattained clarity, presence, and scope on this fantastic reissue, which also delivers the impact and punch every rock record deserves. Another tremendous asset: The depth, grain, and pitch of Weiland’s voice.
For all the contagious choruses and glossy melodies that help make Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sparkle, the vocal performances of the late singer arguably rank as the best that the much-missed Weiland committed to tape. None other than the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan — who, like many peers and critics, felt a pressing need to reevaluate the record as both time marched on and the self-importance attached to the “alternative” scene faded — praised Weiland’s efforts by noting: “Like Bowie can and does, it was Scott's phrasing that pushed his music into a unique, and hard to pin down, aesthetic sonicsphere.”
Smooth and diverse, those traits are everywhere on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. From the clever combination of emotional closeness and distance he brings to the catchy albeit ultimately melancholic “Lady Picture Show”; to the lounge-fly balladeering that causes “And So I Know” to lightly swing akin to a bleary-eyed house band’s final number at a 4 A.M. bar; to the effortless cool and laissez-faire casualness he articulates on the grinding “Pop’s Love Suicide”; to the dimensional raspiness, defiant energy, and let-loose wail that sail through the crunchy “Big Bang Baby.”
The latter tune, the record’s first single and per Weiland a conscious attempt by the band to deconstruct its prior approaches, clearly borrows from the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Because of it, the song drew all kinds of barbs from naysayers. Their disdain extended to most material on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, which indirectly references other prized acts such as the Beatles, Cheap Trick, T. Rex, and Lush. Those cynics failed to grasp that Stone Temple Pilots were paying homage and having a blast, with even Weiland, then battling serious substance-abuse and legal issues, getting in on the action.
Stone Temple Pilots’ skeptics also turned a deaf ear to the records’ stellar pop craftsmanship, sticky hooks, and sly commentary on music-industry machinations and fame. Not to mention the band’s intent, made clear from the outset. In an interview conducted in 1994, guitarist Robert DeLeo stated: “The last thing I wanted to do with this band was make everybody believe we invented something.”
Seen through that lens and the hindsight afforded history, and appreciated independent of the self-righteous authenticity standards of the day, Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sounds borderline fearless while authoritatively checking all the right boxes for fun, flavor, and finesse. Part winking send-up, part tribute to the glitter rock age, and part middle finger towards the hip crowd that didn’t know what they were missing, this mid-90s classic repeatedly invites you to drop the needle and press play.
HEMELBESTORMER have been a commanding entity in the heavy music scene for over 10 years, with their idiosyncratic take on the merger of post-rock, doomgaze and black metal. Made up of veterans from the Belgian hardcore and metal community, the four piece from Hasselt, Belgium create intricate sonic journeys through space and time built over punishing riffs and spine-chilling climaxes. With their fourth full-length The Radiant Veil HEMELBESTORMER take their songwriting and production to new heights, honouring their name as trailblazers on the intersection of dark and light, the crushingly heavy and the hauntingly beautiful. Having appeared at many of Europe's finest music festivals - ranging from Roadburn festival to Dunk! festival to Graspop Metal Meeting - HEMELBESTORMER feel right at home on stages with a wide variety of heavy, experimental and ethereal acts. The road combining ethereal post-rock with seething black metal has been travelled by many acts, but with HEMELBESTORMER that winding path has taken a different turn. Facing away from shoegaze or indie rock influences, the band find a more sophisticated way of incorporating unsettling melodies, blast beats and lo-fi synthesizers to emulate the dark void of space and eerie cold light of stars. HEMELBESTORMER are a sight to behold on stage, and with The Radiant Veil they penetrate deeper than ever into the farthest reaches of their sonic space ethos. Once more the Belgians capture the cavernous expanse between the cold lights of the universe, but also our power as humans to explore it, proving their greatness as masterclass storytellers in sight and sound. FOR FANS OF Neurosis, ISIS, Year of No Light, The Ruins of Beverast, WuW
HEMELBESTORMER have been a commanding entity in the heavy music scene for over 10 years, with their idiosyncratic take on the merger of post-rock, doomgaze and black metal. Made up of veterans from the Belgian hardcore and metal community, the four piece from Hasselt, Belgium create intricate sonic journeys through space and time built over punishing riffs and spine-chilling climaxes. With their fourth full-length The Radiant Veil HEMELBESTORMER take their songwriting and production to new heights, honouring their name as trailblazers on the intersection of dark and light, the crushingly heavy and the hauntingly beautiful. Having appeared at many of Europe's finest music festivals - ranging from Roadburn festival to Dunk! festival to Graspop Metal Meeting - HEMELBESTORMER feel right at home on stages with a wide variety of heavy, experimental and ethereal acts. The road combining ethereal post-rock with seething black metal has been travelled by many acts, but with HEMELBESTORMER that winding path has taken a different turn. Facing away from shoegaze or indie rock influences, the band find a more sophisticated way of incorporating unsettling melodies, blast beats and lo-fi synthesizers to emulate the dark void of space and eerie cold light of stars. HEMELBESTORMER are a sight to behold on stage, and with The Radiant Veil they penetrate deeper than ever into the farthest reaches of their sonic space ethos. Once more the Belgians capture the cavernous expanse between the cold lights of the universe, but also our power as humans to explore it, proving their greatness as masterclass storytellers in sight and sound. FOR FANS OF Neurosis, ISIS, Year of No Light, The Ruins of Beverast, WuW
Leng Records proudly presents Everything You’re About to Hear Is True: Volume 1, a compilation carefully curated by Rotation Soundsystem. Brought together by Rotation founders Dean Meredith and Ben Shenton, alongside the Wrekin Havoc trio of Rob J, Stuart Robinson, and Rich Hall, this debut volume captures the collective’s shared vision – shaped by decades of crate-digging.
Founded in 2013, Rotation has grown from a modest gathering in Staffordshire into a thriving community of like-minded music lovers, attracting heads and partygoers from across the UK – and well beyond. What began as an intimate affair has evolved into a full-scale, three-day celebration, now held in a grand yurt and powered by a bespoke six-way sound system. The rig features four Klipschorns, two JBLs with twin 18” and 15” sub reinforcements, compression horns, and an Isonoe 420 mixer.
Meredith explains: “With the help of my brother, Martin, I’m constantly looking at ways to improve the setup. I love the way Larry Levan did that at The Paradise Garage. We have a few things that are custom-made. I want our system to be unique to us.”
According to regular attendee, DJ and writer Steve KIW: “In the right hands, the sound system at Rotation – very much Dean’s labour of love – is untouchable. The comparisons with Mancuso’s Loft come easily because they are deserved. There isn’t a bad spot in the yurt. Wherever you are, it sounds incredible.”
As the dancing continues through the weekend, the DJ line-up has grown to match the occasion. Guests and headliners have included a roll call of legendary selectors: Bill Brewster, Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy, Phil Mison, Nick The Record, Ruf Dug, Mark Seven, and The Idjut Boys — the latter playing a marathon 10-hour set in 2024. The parties have also featured live performances from Emperor Machine, Quinn Lamont Luke, Reuben Vaun Smith, and Orbs of Light.
Presented on gatefold double vinyl, this lovingly assembled collection is the result of decades spent digging through dusty crates, reflecting the selectors’ deep-rooted passion for uncovering rare gems and overlooked treasures. Decidedly European in spirit, the album brings together 14 rarities with standout selections from Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Germany, and France. The vast majority of tracks are true obscurities, and nearly every one is a mid-tempo bumper.
“This has been a long time coming – something we’ve always dreamed of doing. We’re incredibly thankful to Leng Records, who understand our vision and what we’re trying to build. This compilation pulls together some of our favourite tracks from over the years. It’s not just a playlist – it’s a journey, a window into the sound of Rotation,” says Meredith.
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"The nineteenth entry in the Altered Circuits catalog comes courtesy of Alex Neri with a selection of 4 tracks that distill an equal amount of decades in the studio. They are undeniably straightforward yet difficult to pigeonhole. It is clear Neri is aware of current trends and, at times, might even throw them a little nod - but overall, his music escapes easy temporal classification. On the "Club Voyage EP", he aims at the brash and brazen yet keeps the pace lighthearted. When the results come buttressed with the type of technical prowess at hand, it is hard not to get sucked into the adventure. "Teller Mood", charged with a fierce bassline, boisterous drums and jittery arps, is a slab of electroshock production. The track comes complete with extra motivational vocals to drive the point home, and when it arrives at its most stripped parts, instead of toning down, an alarm-like lead emerges. "Schelter's Sounds" features an FM bass and gently modulated, slow-attack synth embellishments. It is a set-up that allows for catching a breath until a grandiosely introduced portamento-heavy patch cranks things up a notch again. On the other side, the delayed and flanged percussion of "Tenax Roots" forms the ideal conditions for ominous synth work and robotized vocals; a theme that could have been lifted from a giallo flick completes its suspenseful, hypnotic ambience. "Move Tokyo Inputs" starts with another salvo of invigorating percussion. Amidst subtly evolving formant basslines and several risers, the tune directs a tweaked deadpan vocal sample to take center stage, showcasing how, in the right hands, the sparsest source material can be turned into a showstopper."
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Last delivered 6 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Best of' albums are invariably repackaged collections of old recordings, so Vice Squad's `Punk Rockers' is a breath of fresh air The songs have been lovingly recorded and remastered, keeping all the original fire and adding decades of experience gained from punishing tours and continuous songwriting Beki is the original architect of the songs and the Vice Squad name, and she is the sole surviving member of the original lineup to have continued as a full-time musician Vice Squad are 100% DIY and record everything in their home studio with guitarist/riffmaster Paul Rooney engineering and mixing. There is nothing sloppy here; the whole album is concise and intelligent with lightning-speed diction, passion, and intent. The glorious `If I Knew What I Know Now' and `The World Is Wrong' are examples of Vice Squad's ability to write instantly catchy, witty songs, and the more gut-wrenching material from their last album, `Battle of Britain', showcases some enormous riffs and a voice that is a million decibels from Beki's untried teen vocals. The album opens with the deliciously effervescent `If I Knew What I Know Now', followed by the sparkling old-school tongue-twister `Out of Reach'. Next up is the visceral `Get A Life', an angry anti-suicide note to the desperate, originally the title track from their 1998 comeback album. This is followed by a shimmering version of Vice Squad's old-school classic `Resurrection'. While the treatment of the old songs remains true to the original teenage renditions, the upgraded versions pack more of a punch with detuned guitars and growling bass. The tribal tom-toms of `Allergy' underpin just over two minutes of punk protest about the delights of pollution and asthma. Then comes the sublime `Sniffing Glue', a near-perfect punk love song that would be a huge hit if not for its subject matter. `Ordinary Girl' is punk-pop perfection brimming with hook lines and harmonies, warmly mocking the life that could have been chosen instead of the grindstone at the sharp end of the music industry. `The World Is Wrong' is anthemic, joyous, and wonderfully contrary, and one would expect nothing less from a band that has soldiered on and grown through the decades. It's always great when bands lead by example. In these increasingly tough times where our survival is threatened by the gargantuan greed of a few individuals, it's important to continuously stick two fingers up to the grabbers and spoilers. 'The World Is Wrong' does just that in an impassioned, melodic, and optimistic style. 'Hold your head up, stand your ground, and don't let the bastards grind you down.' Then we roar into the final single Beki wrote with original and now sadly deceased guitarist Dave Bateman, `Citizen', and continue with another teenage opus, the quite brutal `Scarred For Life'. `Voice of the People' is a bulldozer of a song, all swagger and ballsy riffs, and the chorus, `Freedom of speech is against the law; now we're all criminals,' snarls its derision at red-handed red tape. `Punk Police' sneers over a catchy-as-COVID guitar riff, and the lyrics, `Regulation cut, you must measure up, down on the street, PR companies, monied families, running the scene,' call out the hierarchies that now permeate Punk. Baritone guitars add extra darkness to one of the first-ever animal rights songs, `Humane', and I'm struck by how relevant the older songs are. Chocks away, and the awesome 'Spitfire' takes flight like Motörhead on extra amphetamines. Merlin engines fade into `Born In A War', the second in the triumvirate of conflict-themed songs, an absolute stonker with huge muscular riffs and lyrics that roar pure outrage. Then comes the ominous Last Rockers, with all the angst of the original plus added depth and resonance. Beki: ' "Last Rockers" is a typically depressive adolescent song about nuclear war and being too young to die but too late to live. I believed Punks were the `Last Rockers', the final youth cult before the Apocalypse. I was obsessed with punk, and all I wanted to do was sing in a band and be part of the movement, so I would often romanticise the idea of punk in my lyrics.'
Best of' albums are invariably repackaged collections of old recordings, so Vice Squad's `Punk Rockers' is a breath of fresh air The songs have been lovingly recorded and remastered, keeping all the original fire and adding decades of experience gained from punishing tours and continuous songwriting Beki is the original architect of the songs and the Vice Squad name, and she is the sole surviving member of the original lineup to have continued as a full-time musician Vice Squad are 100% DIY and record everything in their home studio with guitarist/riffmaster Paul Rooney engineering and mixing. There is nothing sloppy here; the whole album is concise and intelligent with lightning-speed diction, passion, and intent. The glorious `If I Knew What I Know Now' and `The World Is Wrong' are examples of Vice Squad's ability to write instantly catchy, witty songs, and the more gut-wrenching material from their last album, `Battle of Britain', showcases some enormous riffs and a voice that is a million decibels from Beki's untried teen vocals. The album opens with the deliciously effervescent `If I Knew What I Know Now', followed by the sparkling old-school tongue-twister `Out of Reach'. Next up is the visceral `Get A Life', an angry anti-suicide note to the desperate, originally the title track from their 1998 comeback album. This is followed by a shimmering version of Vice Squad's old-school classic `Resurrection'. While the treatment of the old songs remains true to the original teenage renditions, the upgraded versions pack more of a punch with detuned guitars and growling bass. The tribal tom-toms of `Allergy' underpin just over two minutes of punk protest about the delights of pollution and asthma. Then comes the sublime `Sniffing Glue', a near-perfect punk love song that would be a huge hit if not for its subject matter. `Ordinary Girl' is punk-pop perfection brimming with hook lines and harmonies, warmly mocking the life that could have been chosen instead of the grindstone at the sharp end of the music industry. `The World Is Wrong' is anthemic, joyous, and wonderfully contrary, and one would expect nothing less from a band that has soldiered on and grown through the decades. It's always great when bands lead by example. In these increasingly tough times where our survival is threatened by the gargantuan greed of a few individuals, it's important to continuously stick two fingers up to the grabbers and spoilers. 'The World Is Wrong' does just that in an impassioned, melodic, and optimistic style. 'Hold your head up, stand your ground, and don't let the bastards grind you down.' Then we roar into the final single Beki wrote with original and now sadly deceased guitarist Dave Bateman, `Citizen', and continue with another teenage opus, the quite brutal `Scarred For Life'. `Voice of the People' is a bulldozer of a song, all swagger and ballsy riffs, and the chorus, `Freedom of speech is against the law; now we're all criminals,' snarls its derision at red-handed red tape. `Punk Police' sneers over a catchy-as-COVID guitar riff, and the lyrics, `Regulation cut, you must measure up, down on the street, PR companies, monied families, running the scene,' call out the hierarchies that now permeate Punk. Baritone guitars add extra darkness to one of the first-ever animal rights songs, `Humane', and I'm struck by how relevant the older songs are. Chocks away, and the awesome 'Spitfire' takes flight like Motörhead on extra amphetamines. Merlin engines fade into `Born In A War', the second in the triumvirate of conflict-themed songs, an absolute stonker with huge muscular riffs and lyrics that roar pure outrage. Then comes the ominous Last Rockers, with all the angst of the original plus added depth and resonance. Beki: ' "Last Rockers" is a typically depressive adolescent song about nuclear war and being too young to die but too late to live. I believed Punks were the `Last Rockers', the final youth cult before the Apocalypse. I was obsessed with punk, and all I wanted to do was sing in a band and be part of the movement, so I would often romanticise the idea of punk in my lyrics.'
Vice Squad are 100% DIY and record everything in their home studio with guitarist/riffmaster Paul Rooney engineering and mixing. There is nothing sloppy here; the whole album is concise and intelligent with lightning-speed diction, passion, and intent. The glorious ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’ and ‘The World Is Wrong’ are examples of Vice Squad’s ability to write instantly catchy, witty songs, and the more gut-wrenching material from their last album, ‘Battle of Britain’, showcases some enormous riffs and a voice that is a million decibels from Beki's untried teen vocals. The album opens with the deliciously effervescent ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’, followed by the sparkling old-school tongue-twister ‘Out of Reach’. Next up is the visceral ‘Get A Life’, an angry anti-suicide note to the desperate, originally the title track from their 1998 comeback album. This is followed by a shimmering version of Vice Squad's old-school classic ‘Resurrection’. While the treatment of the old songs remains true to the original teenage renditions, the upgraded versions pack more of a punch with detuned guitars and growling bass. The tribal tom-toms of ‘Allergy’ underpin just over two minutes of punk protest about the delights of pollution and asthma. Then comes the sublime ‘Sniffing Glue’, a near-perfect punk love song that would be a huge hit if not for its subject matter. ‘Ordinary Girl’ is punk-pop perfection brimming with hook lines and harmonies, warmly mocking the life that could have been chosen instead of the grindstone at the sharp end of the music industry. ‘The World Is Wrong’ is anthemic, joyous, and wonderfully contrary, and one would expect nothing less from a band that has soldiered on and grown through the decades. It’s always great when bands lead by example. In these increasingly tough times where our survival is threatened by the gargantuan greed of a few individuals, it's important to continuously stick two fingers up to the grabbers and spoilers. 'The World Is Wrong' does just that in an impassioned, melodic, and optimistic style. 'Hold your head up, stand your ground, and don't let the bastards grind you down.' Then we roar into the final single Beki wrote with original and now sadly deceased guitarist Dave Bateman, ‘Citizen’, and continue with another teenage opus, the quite brutal ‘Scarred For Life’. ‘Voice of the People’ is a bulldozer of a song, all swagger and ballsy riffs, and the chorus, ‘Freedom of speech is against the law; now we’re all criminals,’ snarls its derision at red-handed red tape. ‘Punk Police’ sneers over a catchy-as-COVID guitar riff, and the lyrics, ‘Regulation cut, you must measure up, down on the street, PR companies, monied families, running the scene,’ call out the hierarchies that now permeate Punk. Baritone guitars add extra darkness to one of the first-ever animal rights songs, ‘Humane’, and I’m struck by how relevant the older songs are. Chocks away, and the awesome ’Spitfire’ takes flight like Motörhead on extra amphetamines. Merlin engines fade into ‘Born In A War’, the second in the triumvirate of conflict-themed songs, an absolute stonker with huge muscular riffs and lyrics that roar pure outrage. Then comes the ominous Last Rockers, with all the angst of the original plus added depth and resonance. Beki: ' "Last Rockers" is a typically depressive adolescent song about nuclear war and being too young to die but too late to live. I believed Punks were the ‘Last Rockers’, the final youth cult before the Apocalypse. I was obsessed with punk, and all I wanted to do was sing in a band and be part of the movement, so I would often romanticise the idea of punk in my lyrics.' The four bonus CD tracks kick off with ‘Coward’, another teen Bateman/Bond composition. ‘No You Don’t’ is just over two minutes of vocal acrobatics over a Dexedrine-driven Devo-esque chord sequence, and the frantically brilliant ‘I Dare To Breathe’ from ‘Battle of Britain’ continues the aural assault. Then the final sombre entreaty of ‘You Can’t Buy Back The Dead’ warns us that ‘Enough’s never enough; absolute power will corrupt; the war machine still rumbles on’ before fading into the future.
The album opens with "Hypnagogia," an ode to the space between sleep and wakefulness where we are open to other realms of consciousness. The song slowly builds along a steady pulse provided by bassist Pickle (Nicole Smith) and drummer Rikki Styxx. Tripped out saxophone bleats from guest player Gabe Flores swirl on top of the organ drones laid out by guest keyboardist Gregg Foreman. The band's choral objectives for Under the Spell of Joy are established right off the bat, with Bonnie Bloomgarden's melodic invocations bolstered by a choir, giving the album a rich and vibrant wall-of-sound aesthetic. The song ominously builds on its hypnotic foundation until it opens up into a raucous revelry at the four-minute mark. The portentous simmer of the opening track yields to the ecstatic rocker "Hold My Hand," where verses reminiscent of Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For The Man" explode into big triumphant choruses. From there the band launches into the title track, which marries the griminess of The Stooges with an innocence provided by a children's choir chanting the album's primary mantra "under the spell of joy / under the spell of love." Death Valley Girls have always vacillated between lightness and darkness, and on "Bliss Out" they demonstrate their current exuberant focus with a patina-hued pop song driven by an irrepressibly buoyant organ line laid down by keyboardist The Kid (Laura Kelsey). A similar cosmic euphoria is obtained on "The Universe," where alternating chords on the organ help elevate soaring saxophone and keyboard lines out beyond the stratosphere. If you're looking for transcendental rock music, look no further.
Silva Screen Records is proud to announce the release of Music from House of the Dragon, a new album featuring the epic score from HBO's hit series House of the Dragon reimagined by London Music Works and renowned cellist Nick Squires. This collection of music from the show's first two seasons - originally composed by Emmy Award-winner Ramin Djawadi - offers fans a fresh way to experience the grandeur and drama of Westeros through powerful new performances. From the thundering battle themes to the haunting melodies of the Targaryen saga, the album brings to life the sounds that have become an integral part of the House of the Dragon experience. Double LP on Orange Edge Glow Vinyl
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Last delivered 8 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Smut is the project of lyricist Tay Roebuck, guitarists Andie Min and Sam Ruschman, drummer Aidan O’Connor, and bassist John Steiner. Roebuck, Ruschman and Min started the band a decade ago in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, they’ve played alongside Bully, Wavves, and Nothing. After years in the Cincinnati DIY scene, they made their Bayonet Records full-length debut, How the Light Felt. The record was a revelation. Pitchfork called it “a rigorous, decade-spanning study,” and a “well-oiled spin on late-’80s guitar pop.” Under the Radar called it “pop perfection,” that “blends subtle hooks with wistful lyrics.” It was a record that explored grief through the lens of melancholic dreampop, using drum machines and layered, intricate melodies.
Tomorrow Comes Crashing, Smut's first record with O'Connor and Steiner, sees the band re-energized and trained on the limitless potential that comes with making music with people you love. Galvanized with a new lineup, Smut focused on creating a record that possessed the same towering intensity as the records that first got them into music: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Relationship of Command. The outcome is ten of their most intense, bombastic, and focused songs to date.
Catharsis bursts through the seams throughout Tomorrow Comes Crashing. “Syd Sweeney, ”inspired by the actress, is the record's centerpiece. It's about how profoundly strange it can be to be a woman, to be misunderstood by people who don’t even know you. The song is driven by chugging guitars and big, rolling drums. In other words: stadium rock about perception. Paramore meets Dookie. “She connects to the youth and the girls in the water/All she amounts to is someone’s daughter,” sings Roebuck in one particularly poetic moment. The song comes to a thrashing metal-inspired breakdown. It’s ecstatic.
To make the record, Smut recorded “as live as they could,” alongside Aron Kobayashi-Ritch(Momma) in a studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, over the course of ten days. “We have so much energy right now,” says Roebuck. Right before they went off to New York, Roebuck and Min got married, with the rest of the band by their side. The recording was a true labor of love — driving from Chicago with all their equipment, returning from 12 hour studio days to sleep on friends' couches and floors, Roebuck completely blowing her voice by the end. Smut has always been DIY. Because they love it. Because they have to do it–there’s no other option. Tomorrow Comes Crashing is the culmination of that DIY spirit: making a record that completely encompasses the intensity, moodiness, and emotion of their journey so far.
"World of Pooh immensely brightened the dark corners of San Francisco, California during the years 1983-1990, with their most recognized guise being the MMF trio that existed & thrived during the years 1986-1990. This is the lineup you’ll hear documented on this exceptional collection of 45s, compilation tracks and assorted ephemera. The band has ranged from being a footnote for some (“is that the band Barbara Manning was once in?”) to a fondly-regarded memory for others (“the Land of Thirst album is a forgotten classic”) to a turnstile, door-opening band for still others — like me. They arrived in my life as they were slowly exiting theirs, and I eagerly attended a half-dozen shows of theirs circa 1989-90 around San Francisco moments after I moved there. They were instantly my favorite local band, one I was instantly duty-bound to see whenever & wherever they played. Their jagged and discombobulated take on underground pop music was exceptionally fertile, feral and fetching, and it served as a personal gateway drug that flowered my own appreciation for many different kinds of subtle musical tension.
I also spent at least five glorious years watching Jay Paget, who drummed for World of Pooh and later the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, ply his rhythmic trade with much aplomb. He was always a steady hand behind the musical wheel of innovative bands who often threatened to careen off course. And I’ll admit to an untoward admiration of (and fascination with) World of Pooh founder, guitarist and singer Brandan Kearney from the moment I met the guy. Not only was he exceptionally friendly and welcoming to a carpetbagging interloper quickly trying to horn in on his scene (me), he was at once one of the most quick-witted, self-deprecating, highly intelligent & musically conversant people I’d ever met. Everything he and his band were doing, along with the mind-boggling DIY gunk he was pushing through his record label, Nuf Sed, and via his multiple other bands (among them: Caroliner & Archipelago Brewing Company, with several more to follow), made me extremely curious and not a tiny bit jealous about these wiser, weirder and musically more daring freaks who were making art, love & war in the relatively grittier & non-gentrified San Francisco of the day.
What I’ve learned in the 35 years since the band broke up is just how highly regarded they were (and remain) by not only those who saw them, but by a now-considerably larger group of humans who’ve subsequently heard & loved their records. I know that their place in the late 1980s was a small but special one, and I’ve seen plenty of online clamoring for more, more, more about this ephemeral and poorly-documented band. And rightly, here it is, lovingly assembled: their two hard-to-come-by 45s, a handful of comp tracks, and a quartet of phenomenal songs just coming to light for the first time, including that Half Japanese cover that dimly existed in my memory as a live song they naturally pulled off with sangfroid, from a time and space when we were all a little younger. - Jay Hinman"
The hypnagogic haze of purling, refractive dub is strong on Sleepdial’s debut for West Mineral, introducing a crafty new name to the scene after a teasing preview on that Peak Oil x NWAQ radio show, delivering a heavy-lidded dose of tattered ambient dub inversions.
Sleepdial chases a frayed thread of thought thru the fractal echo chambers of ‘RV Lights’, only their 2nd full-length under this alias, and first on vinyl. The 9-part album is optimised for getting smudged on sunny daze with its pursuit of elusive dub sprites that connote subaquatic or vaporous etheric themes in their elemental diffusions and world-building ecologies.
In equilibrium of ambient and dub-as-method, they tenderly tease the senses with a fine grasp of deferred gratification, oscillating abstract spatial navigations and ephemeral moments of heart-in-mouth euphoria. Where sometimes this stuff can err to a pleasant mess, the dub ballast here anchors proceedings in a rugged groove that really pushes the right buttons and elevates the whole thing in its own air.
Blessed with a compelling sensuality, tracks follow a course from the compressed contrails of ‘Purview’ to the helical shapes of ‘Dovetailing’ and thru beautifully pill-bellied sensations on ‘Icarus Rising’, into ruggeder, insectoid dub in ‘Blue August’ to short circuit agitated and soothing feels. That fractured sort of duality manifests at its most anxious yet enchanted in the unpicked strings and astral scree of ‘Lightplay’, and in the title and feel of ‘Lean Angst’, gently keeping heads on toes into the swirling pressure system of album sign-off ‘Airtank’.
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Adam Melchor, Singer-Songwriter aus Los Angeles, brilliert auf seinem dritten Studioalbum "The Diary Of Living" sowohl als beruhigender Folk-Sänger, als auch als Weber wundervoller Klangteppiche. Melchor schrieb Songs mit Künstlern wie Ashe, Alexander 23, Briston Maroney, ELIO und The Chainsmokers und tourte zusammen mit Noah Kahan, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jeremy Zucker und Mt. Joy, letzterer tritt neben Bruno Major als Featuregast auf dem Album auf.
65 years ago, on October 17th, 1959, Cliff Richard and The Shadows hit the No. 1 spot in the UK with ‘Travellin’ Light’. This was the first single credited to Cliff Richard and The Shadows – re-named from their original title - The Drifters.
This notable anniversary will be marked with a brand-new collection which focuses, for the first time, solely on Cliff’s output with The Shadows (or The Drifters for pre-October ’59 releases). All their classic hits are included going right the way up to their 2009 reunion; making it the most comprehensive Cliff Richard & Shadows collection to date.
here may still be electronic music artists in this age of overflow and convenience who follow their own artistic vision regardless of what attention it might bring, if any. With an output that shows individualism, ideas and a signature sound. An ongoing creative process, uncompromising and adventurous, even eccentric, with results of consistent quality and determination. Dennis Busch aka James Din A4 is an archetypical example for this type of artist. He flooded the scene with releases in the 00s with numerous monikers, mostly on his own Esel imprint, and they were all great. On the outside you had his singular artworks (he is also a very accomplished collage artist) and quirkily humorous titles, and on the inside you had his music, also seemingly informed by a collage approach (only with samples), managing to sound focussed and out of focus, often at the same time. If you listen to a James Din A4 track it probably is simultaneously playful and disciplined. Anything can happen, and a lot if it actually does.
For quite some years, music releases by James Din A 4 were scarce. Jan Jelinek, an ardent fan, re-interpreted some of his favourites from the vast back catalogue as an album in 2014, then ten years later the album „Ins Licht“ appeared, and it quite nonchalantly continued what seemed to have stopped, right on the same level of greatness. And now we know that it still continues, as the label Live At Robert Johnson releases the new album „Never Look Back“. Its title should not be taken too literally, as all the trademarks of his musical legacy are perfectly intact. You will find the light and air that seems to seep through the sounds, the frisky structural details, the jolly melodies, the subtle deepness, the minimalistic yet not too strict grooves.
But do not be mistaken, this album is not looking back too much, of course. After all, this is music that is still evolving. Let’s hope for more glimpses of James Din A4‘s special and spacious world, they are ever
needed.
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Last delivered 15 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Dez Dare launches into 2025 with his 5th album, ‘CHERYL! Your Love Shines Down Like A Supernova's Death'. Blending his unique mix of existential wordplay and experimental riffage to create an album that is at arms with itself while cohesive; cheeky and upbeat, simultaneously breaking our hearts. How often do we think about what we miss when we are distracted by shiny things? While fencing with social media, long winded stories, dreams of other lives, unnecessary toys, and irrelevant social experiments with happiness, we miss the things that make up our world. This album looks at those morsels of time and the bits that fill them, soaking existence… as well as manspreaders. Those people should be added to the 7th circle of hell… or suburbia. Either is probably a similar commute!
Dez Dare (AKA Darren Smallman of labels God Unknown, BATTLE WORLDWIDE, Low Transit Industries, and bands Thee Vinyl Creatures, The Sound Platform, Warped) grew up in Geelong, Australia, where he became involved in the local punk and rock scene in 1990. Sharing stages with the likes of 5678s, Cosmic Psychos, Fugazi, The Dirty Three and the Hard-ons, before shifting his focus to running record labels. In the 2020s we see Dez Dare take form in a spare room in Brighton, UK, where Dez starts building his own studio and producing music and videos that have been described as "sounds like MONSTER MAGNET and DEVO caught in a drug bust… highly unique and highly recommended" by MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL Nick Odorizzi to The Wire’s Edwin Pouncey "dynamically armed with a ten-pronged set of lyrical barbs and musical hooks that, once heard, sink deep and hold fast" to Crossfire Metal "minimalistic, electronic psychedelic hippie poop that is only bearable with a hell of a lot of acid, angel dust and LSD". On this album Dez was joined by Laura Loriga on backing vocals and Jonny Halifax on backing vocals and lap steel, expanding on the sound of previous records and adding a new dimension to his trademark weird-n-roll.
After over 50 events of Bristol's beloved Club Blanco, the city's anointed high priest of night, Chez de Milo, is crystallising his party's dimension-hopping hedonism into a label, calling on an extended family of esteemed producers and musicians to make it happen.
First up is Johnny Aux, aka Quinn Whalley (Paranoid London, Sworn Virgins, Decius), delivering two offerings accompanied by remixes from Jamie Paton and Chez de Milo himself.
Supersonic blends a hyperspace bassline with euphoric 90s synth elevation that delivers us to a blissful dance floor crescendo, where you've been dancing for hours—maybe days— when the sun appears over the horizon and pierces through the club's blacked-out windows. Chez de Milo's re-rub wraps you up vines of a living, breathing forest, where all your favourite flora and fauna summon you to the dappled light of a clearing, front left of the booth.
On The Train locks you into a rolling groove, and electro slaps and smacks. It feels covered in equal parts space dust and the dust of an old crate of records, where this forgotten banger has been buried deep for 25 years, waiting for the right hands to pull it out. Jamie Paton veers off down a stranger track, conducting a driving Italo beat with eerie soundscapes dissected by lasers and a brooding bassline.
"In a world where it is easier than ever to say something, it is actually the hardest time to be heard.
We are constantly bombarded by so much information and/or distractions that people can hardly be blamed for not tuning in.
The box has been constructed to be safe, so why step outside it?
The vibe shift is undeniable but everyone is free to choose which frequency to tap into.
Music can be nourishment for the soul if you have the right ingredients. Even then you need the right chefs to cook it properly to be served.
Meftah and Ideeyah have taken their time to create something that feels complete.
Something intentional. Meditative.
Another piece in the great chain of the African Diaspora.
Where else but Detroit could something like this come from?
A complete concept that is unabashedly of the present but still honors the past. This is Soul music. Crafted with love for community, for heritage, for fulfillment.
There was a method to the madness, a reason for the gradual formation of artistic merit that is presented to you now.
This music contains a universal message if you can open your eyes and mind to it.
Less talking, more doing.
Go out there and be somebody again.
Reclaim your light under the sun.
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
For Funk is it’s own reward,
if you want it to be.
- Turtle Bugg"
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Let All That We Imagine Be The Light“ ist das achte Studioalbum von Garbage und wurde bei Red
Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, Butch Vigs Studio Grunge Is Dead und Shirley Mansons Schlafzimmer
aufgenommen. Die Platte wurde von der Band und ihrem langjährigen Toningenieur Billy Bush produziert.
Das Album ist unverkennbar Garbage. Alle Markenzeichen und Handschriften, für die sie bekannt sind,
sind hier vorhanden. Große, kantige Gitarren, präzise, treibende Beats und filmische Klanglandschaften
lauern alle unter Shirley Mansons ausdrucksstarker Stimme, ihre Texte strotzen vor Attitüde. Es ist der
Sound einer Gruppe auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer kreativen Kräfte – die charakteristischerweise klangliche
Gegenüberstellungen und Stimmungen nutzt, um ein Album zu schaffen, das gleichermaßen von Licht und
Schatten pulsiert.
„Als ich mit der Aufnahme dieser Platte begann, war ich entschlossen, eine hoffnungsvollere, erhebendere
Welt zu finden, in die ich eintauchen konnte. Der Titel des Albums, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light,
ist ein perfektes, schlagzeilenträchtiges Statement für die gesamte Platte. Wenn alles düster erscheint, ist
es unerlässlich, nach den hellen, positiven und schönen Kräften der Welt zu suchen. Es fühlt sich fast wie
eine Frage von Leben und Tod an. Eine Überlebensstrategie“ – Shirley Manson
Garbage besteht aus allen vier ursprünglichen Bandmitgliedern, Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker
und Schlagzeuger Butch Vig. In den 30 Jahren seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr
Let All That We Imagine Be The Light“ ist das achte Studioalbum von Garbage und wurde bei Red
Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, Butch Vigs Studio Grunge Is Dead und Shirley Mansons Schlafzimmer
aufgenommen. Die Platte wurde von der Band und ihrem langjährigen Toningenieur Billy Bush produziert.
Das Album ist unverkennbar Garbage. Alle Markenzeichen und Handschriften, für die sie bekannt sind,
sind hier vorhanden. Große, kantige Gitarren, präzise, treibende Beats und filmische Klanglandschaften
lauern alle unter Shirley Mansons ausdrucksstarker Stimme, ihre Texte strotzen vor Attitüde. Es ist der
Sound einer Gruppe auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer kreativen Kräfte – die charakteristischerweise klangliche
Gegenüberstellungen und Stimmungen nutzt, um ein Album zu schaffen, das gleichermaßen von Licht und
Schatten pulsiert.
„Als ich mit der Aufnahme dieser Platte begann, war ich entschlossen, eine hoffnungsvollere, erhebendere
Welt zu finden, in die ich eintauchen konnte. Der Titel des Albums, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light,
ist ein perfektes, schlagzeilenträchtiges Statement für die gesamte Platte. Wenn alles düster erscheint, ist
es unerlässlich, nach den hellen, positiven und schönen Kräften der Welt zu suchen. Es fühlt sich fast wie
eine Frage von Leben und Tod an. Eine Überlebensstrategie“ – Shirley Manson
Garbage besteht aus allen vier ursprünglichen Bandmitgliedern, Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker
und Schlagzeuger Butch Vig. In den 30 Jahren seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr
During the course of his career, the legendary creator of Afrobeat Fela Kuti used his music to lament social injustices and political corruption in his native Nigeria. His music, a compelling blend of American funk and West African highlife, often locked into spellbinding grooves that seemed to go on forever. Yet that was the point: to fall deep into the rhythm and dance away the hardship. While this impacted Nigeria and the entire world, it also affected Fela’s son Femi and his son Made, both of whom carry his legacy as torchbearers for change. On February 5th 2021, Partisan Records, home to Fela’s catalog, will release two albums from Femi and Made — both very much in the tradition of Fela’s music, but with different scopes. Femi’s album, Stop The Hate, radiates the unique Afrobeat sound that he has forged throughout his long career, affirming the sharply political conviction that his father would’ve claimed in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Made’s album, For(e)ward, is a modern and progressive freedom manifesto, pushing boundaries of the subgenre even further. Made also performs every instrument on the album. Together they will be packaged into a double album called Legacy + that, when taken as a whole, bolsters the rich musical heritage of the Kuti name. Yet this isn’t just about honoring Fela, it’s also personal for Femi and Made, a father and son with deep creative synergy. Most importantly, the project finds these men coming together in the name of family. “This is probably the most important part of my life right now,” Femi says. “I’m happy because he’s not copying me. He has found his voice. What other joy could a father want than to experience this in his lifetime?”
A mix of metallic doomgaze, epic gothic soundscapes and post punk attitude. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. There are two kinds of heavy bands: the ones that make a lot of noise and the ones that drag you somewhere you didn't know you needed to go. Cwfen (pronounced 'Coven') are the latter, and Sorrows is a record that doesn't just crush - it haunts long after the final note. The allure of Cwfen's sound lies in contrasts: the glacial ferocity of Amenra, with the velvet-and-razor vocals of King Woman, and the rotting grandeur of Type O Negative. It's as hypnotic as it is harrowing, but somehow even better than the sum of those parts. Since emerging from Glasgow's underground just 18 months ago, Cwfen's reputation is growing, selling out shows and pulling growing audiences into their doom-laden fever dream. Released in October, the band's debut single 'Reliks' was a hit with fans and critics, landing a spot on Kerrang!'s release of the week playlist. And rightly so. Their sound devours and delights in equal measure. "Cwfen have emerged from the darkest depths of the Caledonian underground with a beguiling blend of doom metal and gothic post-punk for those who like to live deliciously." Kerrang! Sorrows lives in the space around doom where the weight of the riffs is matched by the weight in your chest, where the lyrics and the songwriting are as important as the music itself. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. It builds, burns, collapses, resurrects. Big on riffs, bigger on feeling. The kind of songs you carry with you. Singer and rhythm guitarist Agnes Alder bears her claws one minute, then whispers the next, as the band follows like a storm front, rising, breaking, drowning you in the weight of it. From the guttural Penance to the lush Whispers, to the feral Wolfsbane and the insurrectionist Rite. It includes a long reworking of Embers and Bodies, the two self-recorded demos that launched them into the scene with a bang and their growing legion of fans already adore. Intricate vocal arrangements, heavy and harsh guitars, a mix of atmosphere and heft, it undoubtedly punches above its weight for a debut. As Agnes says: "When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic." This is a band that sits right in the boundaries between the heavy genres, pulling in everyone from the young goths and to the die-hard metalheads alike and 'Sorrows' truly does deliver in spades. Make no mistake, Cwfen are set to be one of the names to watch in 2025. FFO: Chelsea Wolfe, Zetra, King Woman, Type O Negative, Alcest, Faetooth, Liturgy. Limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in transparent red vinyl. Full colour Gatefold outer sleeve, with a full colour printed inner sleeve, Full download included as well.
WOW. Daniel O'Sullivan's transcendent new album, Eros, is one of the greatest things we've ever heard. A simply stunning song cycle of hypnotic, experimental contemporary chamber music composed for a 14-piece ensemble. Combining minimalism, complex syncopation, detailed acoustic textures, weird intervals and samurai precision, this record will elegantly blow your mind. When Daniel first sent us this, he pitched it as “Liquid Swords meets Michael Nyman”. Trust us, he wasn't wrong. A "unique hybrid orchestral music", it presents a confluence of Daniel's longstanding fixations; indeed, there's elements of Nyman, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Magma, Aaron Copland and RZA. But this is wholly O'Sullivan's. Originally commissioned for the Sonoton Music Library in Munich, Eros now receives a deluxe vinyl release courtesy of Be With Records, bringing this meticulously crafted work to a wider audience. Limited to just 500 copies for the world, these are gonna fly.
An English composer and multi-instrumentalist, Daniel O'Sullivan’s career has been marked by versatility and innovation. In addition to his work with Sonoton, he has composed extensively for the legendary KPM music library, contributing to its storied legacy of production music. As a deep virtuoso and collaborator, O'Sullivan has also played in a number of influential projects, including Ulver, Sunn O))), This Is Not This Heat, Grumbling Fur and Miracle (with Steve Moore), leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary experimental music landscape.
O’Sullivan’s first foray into classically informed chamber music, Eros is a culmination of his long-standing fixations and expansive musical influences. The album features arrangements that are as detailed as they are emotionally resonant, showcasing his unparalleled ear for intervals and mastery of counterpoint. The music brims with complex rhythmic syncopation and a sensitivity to texture and space, resulting in a soundscape that is both intoxicating and dauntingly precise.
Recorded June 2023 and February 2024, in Brussels, London and Carmarthenshire, Wales, Eros features members of Echo Collective (Neil Leiter and Margaret Hermant), Thighpaulsandra (from seminal post-industrial band Coil), and jazz pioneer Oren Marshall. Daniel's sonic weapons of choice, in his own inimitable words, were "Big Bad Drum, Pee Anne Oh, Low End Brass, Willowy Winds & Samurai Strings." You get the picture. As a cyclical suite, this is a record that really needs to be heard in its entitreity, from start to finish, to truly appreciate the genius at work here.
A jaw-dropping statement of intent, the minimalist "Golden Verses" sets the tone with its complex cue which has your neck snapping right when it feels like it needs to. Listen and you'll understand. A syncopated tangle of sharp strings, crunchy bass, drums percussion and bright piano and mallets vie for position with French horn and woodwind melody in the most compelling and unexpected ways. Quite simply, it's one of the finest album openers I've ever heard. It's followed by the atmospheric rippling minimalism of "Lyre Lyre", a gorgeous gem with shimmering chimes, bright melody, human percussion and syncopated pizzicato strings. It kinda comes on like a less-abstract Boards Of Canada, bursting with typical wonderment. The piano and string-drenched "Dolorous Stroke" effortlessly builds its warm, pastoral orchestration with flowing piano arpeggio, steadfast drums, expressive string quartet, rich low brass, woodwind and lyrical flute. Just sublime.
The insistent frenetic propulsion of "Plain Paper" is utterly beguiling, featuring a determined string motif, urgent drums and percussion, driving low brass and breathless, energetic flute. The haunting, interweaving string arpeggios that propel "Grapes Draped" presents a claustrophobic minimalism for chaos and darkness, with growling low woodwind and brass, spiky harpsichord, skittering flutes and tight drums. Up next, "Xanix Annum" is a stately minimalist waltz with expressive lyrical string quartet and delicate woodwind, anchored by drums and percussion. "Painting Rose" is a bouncy stop-start track with angular syncopated strings and a piano pulse underneath bright harpsichord and flutes. "Rotunda Garden" presents ethereal textural minimalism for landscapes and reflection with flowing string arpeggios, warm, low woodwind drones, floating choir and cymbal swells. Closing out this extraordinary side of music, the glowing, flowing minimalism of "Flowry Orb" features urgent organ, piano and woodwind arpeggios, half-time drums with shimmering cymbals, a soaring, beautiful violin solo and hypnotic vocal chant.
Side 2 opens with "Theia Mania" a determinedly off-kilter, angular track featuring low wind, brass and drum stomp in dialogue with lively string trio, woodwind and solo horn. The light, airy minimalism of "Painting Percy" is built around an interplay of rhythmic motifs for piano, low brass, bassoon, fluttering flutes, urgent strings, drums and percussion whilst "For Archetypes" is a delicate, gently syncopated chamber cue for nostalgia, nature, reflection and moments of calm, with steady piano motif, intimate woodwind and French horn, and warm, graceful strings. The urgent Ars Memoriae is a propulsive march for progress, processes and industry, underpinned by driving tuba, with determined strings, resolute drums, and vivid, expressive flute, clarinet and French horn.
The syncopated energetic minimalism of "Mirrored Seven" presents layers of melodic and cyclical piano, drums, low brass, harp, flute and strings. "Pure Ornament" follows, a slowly evolving chamber cue with flowing clarinet, string and harp arpeggio, plodding tuba and percussion, fluttering flute and graceful, lyrical solos. Stunning! Up next, "Brave Boy" moves from its tender, warm, lullaby-like intro with lyrical flute, clarinet and strings before opening into a playful backend driven by a bouncy tuba riff and syncopated piano, woodwind, string trio, and drums and percussion. Rounding out this astonishing piece, "Waxen Waned" is a warm, pastoral chamber cue with light lyrical woodwind, tender French horn and subtly pulsing string trio.
The album's title is a reference to Plato’s conception of Eros, which is more than romantic or physical desire. It is a dynamic and creative force that drives individuals to seek perfection whether in art, relationships, philosophy or the pursuit of truth. Wholly appropriate, here, we think. When asked what his influences were in making this astounding record, he answered thusly: "Non-musical: Householding, Pythagoras, Goethe, Grail romances, Hermeticism, Doctrine of Signatures (Parcelsus, Bohme, Pliny), Eric Rohmer, John Stezaker, Yasujiro Ozu. Musical: Duke Ellington (late suites), Smile-era Brian, early RZA, Wagner (Parsifal Overture), Magma, Mancini, Axelrod, YMO, Hildegard, Nyman, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Jobim (Stone Flower), Alessandro Alessandroni, Tavener, Moondog, Orthodox Music, Secular Music." That's some pretty deep shit. Makes you want to dive in, no?
Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis, and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. Truly, Eros is a work of extraordinary depth and sophistication. It invites listeners to immerse themselves in its intricate layers, to lose themselves in its hypnotic rhythms, and to marvel at the precision of its execution. With this release, O’Sullivan reaffirms his position as one of the most inventive and uncompromising voices in contemporary music. Do. Not. Sleep.
Following ‘No Closer To Heaven’, The Wonder Years released ‘Sister Cities’, their most transformative work to date.
Recorded at Sunset Sound with Joe Chiccarelli (Manchester Orchestra, The Shins, Spoon) and Carlos de la Garza (Jimmy Eat World, Paramore), ‘Sister Cities’ is an album about distance, connectivity and the way humanity towers above boundaries.
What The Wonder Years do so effortlessly on ‘Sister Cities’ is no small feat; through poetic lyricism, ambient guitar swells and Jimmy Eat World-levels of crashing momentum. On ‘Sister Cities’, they take a massive, unexpected leap forward both sonically and thematically, now speaking confidently to the world at large.
Vocalist Dan Campbell on the inspiration behind ‘Sister Cities’: “It started with journals and photos. We started by documenting. We didn’t know where it would go or if it would go anywhere at all, but we wrote it all down. We took photos of everything. And
then when it came to put it altogether, we had this catalog of how we felt and what it looked like and sounded like and we built from there. Figuring out what the moments were that stayed with me the most. When did I feel most connected to the people around me and why? What did being in this place during this moment teach me? It was a difficult year personally and globally and we experienced that through this lens of being everywhere but home, kind of floating through places and seeing how being there altered our perspective.”
The album is housed in a 200-page, 13”x13”, full-colour book that includes photos, artwork, journal entries and lyrics. LP pressed onto Shinjuku Street Splatter coloured vinyl.
An overpowering sense of earnestness and vulnerability.” - Pitchfork
There is a lifetime yelled in every punk song, captured in the desperate and catchy ‘Sister Cities’.” - NPR MusicFrom the first notes, it’s already clear that The Wonder Years are stepping into uncharted territory.” - UPROXX
"1980 was a huge year in pop music with every genre competing for hits. We have already included many tracks on the records of the 1980 Yearbook, the 80-84 Final Chapter, and their extras so far in our appreciation of the year…
Those tracks were generally the bigger hits of the year, with their chart achievement a factor in their inclusion – however – that’s not the whole singles story of the year, and our celebration of 1980 wouldn’t be complete without shining a light on some of the years’ singles that have been compiled much less frequently over the years.
Welcome to THE VAULT for 1980… Some of the tracks included were Top 40 hits, some missed the chart completely. Some were representative of massive selling albums, and some were big hits in the U.S. and not in the U.K… but all are part of the wonderful pop story of 1980. "
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NOW is pleased to announce the next addition in the Millennium series NOW –the ultimate celebration of the finest pop hits from the 2000s . NOW – Millennium 2008-2009, bringing the first decade to a close – out September 27th! Available on STD 4CD set and a special edition 84-track 4CD set is housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet summary of the years and a track-by-track guide and 30 tracks across 2LP’s, pressed in a Gorgeous Gold and a White Vinyl, showcasing some of the most iconic sounds of the noughties!
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Last delivered 13 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
15th Anniversary Edition. Lime Green Vinyl. When Dinosaur Jr. reunited, more than 20 years after their formation and legendary dissolution, the worry was that these guys were just flogging the back catalog, taking the old show on the road as a marketing gimmick. But the 2007 release of Beyond gave a hearty Marshall-driven "F**K YOU!" answer to those inquiring ears. Restoring the sound established by the unassailable hat-trick gambit of their first three albums -- Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug -- Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. And then came Farm, the 9th full length record by the original line-up: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. If Beyond was Dinosaur Jr.'s return to form, Farm is proof that Dinosaur Jr. could (and still do, to this day!) deliver timeless, exhilarating rock music. Farm encompasses Dinosaur Jr.'s signature palette: soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies. At times wholly 70's guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, these songs get into your head and stay there, bouncing happily around. The ear-catching "Plans" is nearly seven minutes of classic whipped-topping rock dessert, while "I Don't Wanna Go There" is a meat-and-potatoes main dish, mixing unapologetic lead guitar with straight-ahead delivery a la James Gang or Humble Pie. This expanded deluxe edition of Farm features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release:"Houses", "Whenever You're Ready" (The Zombies Cover), "Creepies" (Instrumental), and "Show". "Whenever You're Ready", a cover of classic pop-rockers The Zombies, is impossibly good for a hidden gem; Murph stomps in with a sledgehammer to the kit, J and Lou layer low-end and fuzz like two halves of one brain, and right when things feel biggest, airy and colossal, there's J with a lightning bolt of a guitar solo. Pure electricity and melody like only he can make. Recorded in J Mascis' Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, Farm was produced by Mascis himself, and delivers the singular, unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands.
Dark Horse Records veröffentlicht s tolz d as e rste S oloalbum v on J on L ord, d er v or a llem a ls Keyboarder und Mitbegründer von Deep Purple bekannt wurde. Diese limitierte Auflage a uf C olor-Splatter-Vinyl reproduziert das originale Gatefold-Artwork von 1971. Nach dem 1969 erschienenen Concerto for Group and Orchestra im klassischen Rock-Fusion-Stil wurde Jon Lord beauftragt, ein Nachfolgealbum zu schreiben. Dabei handelte es sich um die Gemini Suite, fünf lange Sätze, die von den Mitgliedern von Deep Purple inspiriert und erstmals im September 1970 in der Royal Festival Hall mit dem Light Music Society Orchestra live aufgeführt wurden. Jon Lord nahm es dann 1971 als sein erstes Soloprojekt im Studio auf, mit dem London Symphony Orchestra unter der Leitung von Malcolm Arnold und Solisten aus der Rockwelt – Gitarrist Albert Lee, Deep-Purple-Schlagzeuger Ian Paice, Sänger Yvonne Elliman und Tony Ashton sowie Deep-Purple-Bassist Roger Glover.
Following a trio of quick sell out, limited lathe cut 45 to kick off 2025, Feral Child now embark on a stash of more widely available full lengths (from the likes of Lake Ruth, The Jonny Halifax Invocation and Polypores amongst others). First up is a wonderful follow up to 2023’s “Refrains” 10” EP from Swedish band TAPE. “Refrains” figured in 2 or 3 notable UK stores’ end of year polls, noticeably Monorail in Glasgow where Stephen Pastel gave it a top 3 for 2023 nomination. “Preludes” is -if anything- even more majestic and acts as a superb follow up. The record is released 11th April on Feral Child as one time pressing 10” vinyl only release, featuring beautiful artwork once more from Peter Liversidge and the calligraphic hand of Klas Augustsson. The return of Swedish trio Tape has been reassuringly slow motion. They’ve always moved at their own pace, these three peripatetic musicians – brothers Andreas and Johan Berthling, and companion Tomas Hallonsten – though it’s been over a decade since their last full-length, 2014’s Casino. Not a disappearing act, rather a break for consideration, time to explore other avenues of creativity, perhaps… But their reappearance, with the Refrains 10”, was one of 2023’s most encouraging moments; doubly so, as it was proof they’d not lost their way, at all, in the intervening nine years. The Tape modus operandi is one of deceptive simplicity and artful innocence. On Preludes, a typically right, one-word Tape title, this means five wordless songs that move between fully fleshed out, lovingly tended folk threnodies – the beautiful opener, “Lights Out”, that spins webs via simple, hypnotically repeating guitar – and textural conceits that hover, appealingly, in a kind of no-place. “Naukluft Plateau” is lovingly dappled, with ruminative piano adrift on a cascading tonal waterfall. Then, feather-fall strums of guitar meet huffing harmonium and electronic scrum on the brief “Golden Gain”. Is there a more perfect song title for Tape than “Tangential Thoughts”? It sums up the way their music, nimble and dainty but also carefully tended, lends itself to the reverie, the meander, the anfractuous. The madeleine-like power of this song’s two-chord figure allows the music to take flight: rustling organ, oscillating cymbal, droplets of percussion, a spinney of sound. And Preludes slips away “On The Accordeon Bus”: there’s something lovely about the way that title collapses transit, articulation and bellows, reflected in the see-sawing sway and glitch-like rivulets of sound that course through the song. So, Preludes, then – alive to the moment, both gentle and sturdy. A copse of tone, and a most gorgeous wool-gathering.
'Trá Pháidín are an Irish nine piece collective from Conamara, Galway, a wild coastal region of West Ireland where Gaeilge remains the first language. The group are currently lighting up Ireland's underground with their joyful noise, a unique and unpredictable blend of traditional Irish folk, post-rock, jazz, and Dadaist absurdity. The glorious album An 424 takes us on a psychogeographical journey along the 424 bus route which follows this remote stretch of coastline, introducing us to the landscapes and the characters who depend on the buses. Expect wild improvisational flights filled with brass, woodwinds, harp and fiddles alongside relentless grooves.
Here's what the band themselves have to say about the album:
Psychogeography is a funny aul term......the effect geography and landscape of a certain area has on the psychology, identity and nature of the local people...........I suppose
Notoriously, Conamara is famous place for psychogeoraphy due to the work of the great Tom Robinson. He walked every coastline in every area contemplating the geography, culture, history, Gaelic language, English language and folklore of the area while he was drawing it's best map with great depth and detail.
Right, so I've given context, a few buzzwords and some interesting names, now it's time for the absurd stuff....
"Bóthar Chois Fharraige" (the R336 and whatever anglicized name they call it) is well known by everyone in the South Conamara Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht is an area where Irish/Gaeilge is the dominant language, there aren't many because we were colonized by the British and our government doesn't care about its own language). The people of Conamara travel this road almost every day by car, by bike, on Peadar Óg's buses or of course, through the medium of the 424 (the bus service provided by Bus Éireann, Ireland's public-private bus company). From Bearna to Carna (maybe sometimes a detour in Casla going as far back as an Cheathrú Rua and/or Leitir Mealláin)
Every passenger is well versed of gorgeous views of the landscape that is on offer on this journey. Included are Cuan na Gaillimhe/Galway Bay, An Bhoirinn/the Burren, na hOileáin Árann/the Arann Islands,Aillte an Mhothair/the Cliffs of Moher, Portach Mhaigh Cuilinn/the bogs of Maigh Cuilinn, Bóthar Loch an Iolra/Eagle lake road, Cuan Casla/Casla Harbour, Cuan an Fhir Mhóir/Greatman's Bay, Cnoc Mordáin/Mordáin hill, Sléibhte Mhám Toirc/the Maamturk Mountains and Na Beanna Beola/the twelve pins. Passengers would also be well used the unique character of the bus. Depending on the day, you will get a unique perspective of the "complicated identity" of the Gaels as the bus travels from the Gaeltacht into anglophone Ireland, or maybe going the other way.
This is a topic you could write a PhD about (and maybe someone already has). But, if you are someone who grew up or lives in this region, you have a particular understanding at this stage of how complicated Gaelic psyche is and the kind of spectrum of identity along bóthar Choise Fharraige. With the landscape in mind, this bus journey is a great meditation of the various topics of life.
‘Bhfuil tionchar ag an mbus ar nádúr na ndaoine?
Nó an bhfuil tionchar ag na daoine ar nádúr an bhus?'
'Does the bus effect the nature of the people?
Or do the people affect the nature of the bus?'
Le gach dea-ghuí,
TP.
(translated from Gaeilge by Peadar-Tom Mercier)'
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Conflict formed in 1981 in Eltham, Southeast London, when frontman Colin Jerwood, inspired by early encounters with the Pistols 'Spunk' bootleg and following The Clash on tour, struck up a friendship with Crass and set about crafting a whole new kind of punk that totally upped the ante in terms anger and confrontation. Crass, the renowned anarchist punk collective, having got Conflict started by releasing their debut single 'The House That Man Bult' in 1982 on Crass Records, ended in 1984 as they had always intended. Now it was up to Conflict to pick up the baton and run with it. And they did, charging into the battle lines of authority.
The years that followed saw Conflict go from strength to strength, peaking on the 18th of April in 1987 at the London Brixton Academy for the 'Gathering of the 5,000' concert. A climax and explosion of rage and rebellion that inevitably ended up in a police provoked full-scale riot with police injuries, arrests, and with the band hopelessly in debt and banned from the majority of major London and UK venues.
Undeterred, Conflict continued into the 90s with their acclaimed 'Conclusion' album and remained a mainstay of the live punk circuit throughout. However, after more than two decades since the release of their (2003) 'There's No Power Without Control' album, the band are back with 'This Much Remains'. Featuring sixteen brand new Conflict creations, the album sees the band keeping one eye on their eventful past, and the other firmly on moving forward, both musically and politically. Animal Rights are still at the forefront of Conflict’s collective minds, giving a voice to the voiceless on songs such as 'A Mother's Milk' and 'Shut The Fuck Up', whilst their anger at world governments will never dissipate.
Also featuring an appearance by the late Benjamin Zephaniah on the track 'Cut The Crap', 'This Much Remains' is the sound of a band that continues to surprise and progress, decades after it first began. Conflict are Colin Jerwood - vocals; Fiona Friel - vocals; Gav King - guitars, melodica & Hammond; Fran Fearon - bass; Stoo Meadows - drums. With Benjamin Zephaniah - vocals on 'Cut The Crap'; Mitsuko Sonoda - voice on 'The Impossible Soul'.
***Four years after his rock juggernaut Puritan, Chris Brokaw delivers Ghost Ship, a landscape meditation (at sea) for vocals and electric guitars. "I set out to make an 8 song statement like Desert Shore or Raw Power, but it became a 9 song... something else. I've described it to friends as Twin Peaks-ish but that feels only part right. The songs were written on a 60's Teisco Del Rey electric guitar, set up by the Belgian luthier Flip Scipio with heavy gauge flat wound strings and an .80 gauge low E string tuned down to a low A, which reframes how you play the instrument. I wrote them all quickly in a kind of fever."—Brokaw
Listen to This.” As the original working title for Bitches Brew, the instruction and invitation remains to this day as the best way to approach a record that shattered conventions, altered music history, and, 55 years later, still sounds far ahead of its time. The template for jazz fusion, Bitches Brew is rightly ranked by virtually every significant outlet among the 100 greatest albums ever made. Sewn together with vibrant colors, voodoo textures, and ethereal moods, the 1970 landmark emerges with supreme detail and nonpareil feeling on Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM 2LP vinyl set.
Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, this definitive-sounding 55th anniversary reissue enhances every element of a double album that established new possibilities for studio recording techniques. You’ll hear wide and deep soundstages, separation between instruments, and an extremely broad dynamic range. If ever a jazz album can be said to have gone to outer space and back, this is it.
Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, this definitive-sounding 55th anniversary reissue enhances every element of a double album that established new possibilities for studio recording techniques. You’ll hear wide and deep soundstages, separation between instruments, and an extremely broad dynamic range. If ever a jazz album can be said to have gone to outer space and back, this is it.
Davis conceived Bitches Brew by having the musicians stand in a semi-circle. There, he pointed at them with vague directions for tempo, solos, and cues. The collective improvisation and interplay spawned a galaxy of melodies and grooves that were later spliced together by producer Ted Macero. Benefitting from the ultra-low noise floor and superb groove definition of this pressing, these distinct creations take shape with utmost realism. Compositions stretch across jet-black backgrounds and paint canvases laden with millions of colors and shades. Juxtaposed percussion, loose jams, and melodic segues explode with impressionistic verve.
Bitches Brew also boasts visionary artwork. By design, the lavish packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Bitches Brew set call attention to such matters. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. It is made for discerning listeners who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything surrounding the album, from the images to the tones. And this is one effort where every last detail matters.
Gathering a Hall of Fame-worthy lineup of musicians and tweaking it according to his desires, Davis follows through on his idea to “put together the greatest rock and roll band you ever heard.” Central to his proposition is the presence of two (and sometimes three) drummers and two bassists, a tactical move that makes rhythms a central focus. Akin to the futuristic album cover art, the drum-driven suites head toward distant universes and uncharted territories. At once hypnotizing and grooving, they chart maverick adventures via quixotic rock, funk, and R&B elements.
A without-a-net experiment involving interchangeable double-quintet lineups, Bitches Brew explores the previously unimaginable with electrified instruments — Fender Rhodes piano, processed trumpet, dissonant guitars, and bass among them — and an emphasis on feeling over composition. Mesmerizing and soothing, jarring and smooth, overt and subtle: The music seemingly covers an entire map of emotions and sensations, and like no record before, ties together the groundbreaking creativity of the multiple disciplines that were changing popular culture at the end of the 1960s and dawn of a new decade.
Conceptually, Davis described Bitches Brew as “a novel without words” and “an incredible journey of pain, joy, sorrow, hate, passion, and love.” The vast psychedelic expanses of warped echoes, liquid reverb, and tape loops confirm such ambitious contrasts of light and dark, fear and hope. Yet the most absolute characteristic of the watershed effort lies in how it resists definitive interpretation and encourages free thought — the very principles Davis used to conceive Bitches Brew.
More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called “converts”) are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.
"Vilhelm Bromander Unfolding Orchestra returns with Jorden vi ärvde (""The Earth We Inherited""), the follow-up to their acclaimed 2023 debut, In This Forever Unfolding Moment. Set for release on April 25, 2025, the album deepens Bromander’s unique fusion of cosmic jazz, free jazz, folk music and Indian classical traditions while carrying a powerful message about environmental and social responsibility.
Bromander composed this work as both a dedication to his children and a reflection on humanity’s role as caretakers of the planet. “The album is an attempt to spread light, beauty, hope, and resistance while acknowledging the gravity of our times,” he explains. “Right-wing forces are rising, wars continue, and climate disasters escalate. How do we find the strength and hope to change?”
The music balances urgency with a deep trust in humanity. Bromander’s meticulous arrangements, performed by an all-star ensemble, offer moments of both fiery resistance and serene contemplation. Tracks like “Jorden vi ärvde, den skall oss också ärvas” unfold patiently, blending vibrant improvisations with lush orchestration. The evocative ballad “Erde”, with stunning solos by pianist Alex Zethson and the bass-player himself, nods to Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, while “For Dewey” pays tribute to the elastic interplay of Keith Jarrett’s legendary quartet, high-lighting the fire-y saxophone playing of Elin Forkelid. The closing piece, “Calliope,” channels Indian classical influences, with harp evoking a swarmandal’s shimmering resonance.
With Jorden vi ärvde, Bromander expands his artistic vision, weaving together intricate compositions with a passionate call to action. The result is an album that doesn’t just demand to be heard—it invites listeners to reflect, feel, and, ultimately, act."
Northern soul is in the news again, as once more this most resilient of dance floor cults is discovered by a new generation. For four decades now Ace Records has been a natural home for the music and using that experience we are bringing you our first ever all classics collection of some of the scene's greatest hits. All on one LP.
The recordings featured on this release are tried and tested, often in the hot forge of the scene's earliest day, when new discoveries were coming thick and fast, and only the strong survived. These did.
So we have 14 tracks which filled floors in Wigan, Blackpool, Cleethorpes, London's 100 Club and many other legendary venues. From West Coast Mirwood and Kent/ Modern label classics by Jackie Lee, Bobby Garrett, Mary Love and Danny Monday, to the big City Chicago soul of Darrow Fletcher via the super rare recordings by Rita & The Tiaras and Little Ann, which are now accepted standards of the scene.
This is an album for the beginner, those who want to know what all the fuss is about, or those older hands who just want to relive some exceptional memories.
After a little vacation Wellness Records returns - straight out of the spa area onto the much missed dancefloor! During the break a lot has changed and developed, hence the sound of Wellness also discovered new nuances. With the two young talents Pük & Oward, it turned out wonderfully. The English Pük on the A side manages to pack a very own eclectic variation of breaks, minimal and electro into two sonically top balanced and driving tracks. Both "Double E" and "Get Well Soon" captivate with their clarity, their deepness and their inherently unique coherence.
French Oward, on the other hand, creates a wonderfully fun and light-footed contrast on the B side. With "I Need A Rocking Chair" and "Center Of The Universe" it's almost impossible to keep your feet still. This inevitable groove-attack throws thousandfold ideas and details in the right spots and creates two fantastically arranged dance tracks. We are so happy and proud to present Wellness IV to you!
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The Vendetta Suite is back to light up the early part of 2025 with a brilliant brace of singles on Hell Yeah. Kicking things off is a glorious acid house/disco thriller backed by a soothing out of body escape.
We’ve often referred to The Vendetta Suite as Belfast’s best kept secret, but with the quality music he keeps releasing he is rightly picking up ever more of a profile. The Hell Yeah regular has long been a key part of his native Northern Irish scene thanks to the way he mixes genres; ambient, post-rave Balearic, dub and acid house all in the mix with his own unique psychedelic magic.
First up is ‘The Jam Answer’, which taps into plenty of classic sounds but reinvents them for modern dancefloors. Bendy acid lines weave in between the dusty analogue drums, familiar acid house vocal samples and fizzing chord stabs bring the heat before a cosmic synth lead sings out with sunny soul. ‘Island Hill Microdot’ channels dreamy Chicago house, the futuristic styles of IDM with the blissed out warmth of Balearic. Carried along with gentle percussion, it’s an immersive soundscape that makes for the perfect tropical distraction.
Two very different but equally effective cuts from The Vendetta Suite.
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Originally released on CD only – those were the days – “Triola im Fünftonraum“ counts as one of the most iconic albums of the early Kompakt era. Experience this timeless masterpiece of lush electronica lovingly restored and remastered for the first time on vinyl – 21 years after its inception.
We found this review from back in the days that perfectly sums up what “Triola im Fünftonraum” is all about:
The press material for “Triola im Fünftonraum” made allusions to home listening, when the album is mostly about movement… in a car …preferably a fast one … on a muggy spring day.
This might catch followers of producer Jörg Burger off guard. Up until this point, the producer’s Triola tracks – limited to three consecutive appearances on Kompakt’s yearly Pop Ambient series and a spot on “Leichtes Hören Teil 1” – were free-floating ambient washouts (albeit wondrous free-floating ambient washouts) with no pulse. The album, on the other hand, is beat-driven. Though still resolutely ambient – more an update of Burger’s lushest Bionaut tracks, only fully engaging instead of mildly diverting.
The soft, synthetic hand drums and tranquil vapors of “Leuchtturm” from Pop Ambient 2003, remain untouched and begin the album. Two other tracks that might sound familiar receive dynamic overhauls, now supported with quick dance rhythms and additional layers of synth gauze; the whispy flute trills and lightly flickering keys of “AG Penthouse”, for instance, are melted into a churning rhythm and some singing keyboard vamps that resemble a relaxed take on Tangerine Dream’s suspenseful soundtrack work for “Thief” (minus the crazy guitars).
What really makes the whole thing glow is the manner in which the tracks are attached, flowing in and out of another, rising and cresting and receding, with supreme poise – even if its title provides no indication, the album is as much a travelogue as Carl Craig’s “Landcruising”, Morgan Geist’s “Driving Memoirs” and Model 500’s “Deep Space”.
These are some of Burger’s most inventive productions, a remarkable feat since he’s been doing this so long. Catch yourself in the right frame of mind and you’ll wonder if everything he has released has been one extended ramp-up to this. In this age, it’s also refreshing to have a purely ambient techno album with absolutely no connection to “Boards of Canada”.
In other words, it’s a landmark for both its label and its genre.
Andy Kellman
Copyright 2025 TiVo Corporation
Ursprünglich nur auf CD veröffentlicht – das waren noch Zeiten – zählt „Triola im Fünftonraum“ zu den ikonischsten Alben der frühen Kompakt-Ära. Dieses zeitlose Meisterwerk schwelgerischer Electronica erscheint nun 21 Jahre nach seiner Entstehung erstmals liebevoll restauriert und remastered auf Vinyl.
Wir haben diese zeitgenössische Rezension gefunden, die perfekt zusammenfasst, worum es bei „Triola im Fünftonraum“ geht:
Das Pressematerial für „Triola im Fünftonraum“ spielt auf das Zuhören zu Hause an, obwohl es in dem Album hauptsächlich um Bewegung geht … in einem Auto … vorzugsweise einem schnellen … an einem schwülen Frühlingstag.
Das könnte die Fans des Produzenten Jörg Burger überraschen. Bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt waren die Triola-Tracks des Produzenten – beschränkt auf drei aufeinanderfolgende Auftritte in der jährlichen Pop-Ambient-Reihe von Kompakt und einen Platz auf „Leichtes Hören Teil 1“ – frei schwebende Ambient-Auswaschungen (wenn auch wundersame frei schwebende Ambient-Auswaschungen) ohne Puls. Das Album hingegen ist beatgetrieben, obwohl es immer noch entschieden Ambient ist – eher eine Aktualisierung von Burgers üppigsten Bionaut-Tracks, nur dass es voll und ganz fesselt, statt nur leicht abzulenken.
Die sanften, synthetischen Handtrommeln und die ruhigen Dämpfe von „Leuchtturm“ aus Pop Ambient 2003 bleiben unangetastet und bilden den Auftakt des Albums. Zwei weitere Stücke, die einem bekannt vorkommen könnten, erhalten eine dynamische Überarbeitung, die nun von schnellen Tanzrhythmen und zusätzlichen Schichten von Synthesizer-Gaze unterstützt wird; die flüsternden Flötentöne und leicht flackernden Tasten von „AG Penthouse“ zum Beispiel verschmelzen zu einem aufgewühlten Rhythmus und einigen singenden Keyboard-Vamps, die an eine entspannte Version des spannenden Soundtracks von Tangerine Dream erinnern, der für „Thief“ (ohne die verrückten Gitarren) verwendet wird.
Was das Ganze wirklich zum Leuchten bringt, ist die Art und Weise, wie die Tracks miteinander verbunden sind, wie sie ineinander fließen, ansteigen und ihren Höhepunkt erreichen und wieder abklingen, und das mit höchster Gelassenheit – auch wenn der Titel nichts darauf hindeutet, ist das Album ebenso ein Reisebericht wie Carl Craigs „Landcruising“, Morgan Geists „Driving Memoirs“ und Model 500s „Deep Space“.
Dies sind einige von Burgers einfallsreichsten Produktionen, eine bemerkenswerte Leistung, wenn man bedenkt, wie lange er schon dabei ist. Wenn man sich in die richtige Stimmung versetzt, fragt man sich, ob alles, was er bisher veröffentlicht hat, eine einzige Vorbereitung auf dieses Album war. In der heutigen Zeit ist es auch erfrischend, ein reines Ambient-Techno-Album zu hören, das absolut nichts mit „Boards of Canada“ zu tun hat.
Mit anderen Worten: Es ist ein Meilenstein für das Label und das Genre.
Andy Kellman
Copyright 2025 TiVo Corporation
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Laura Nyro's album “Walk the Dog & Light the Light” was released on August 17, 1993, marking her return to studio recordings after a nine-year hiatus since “Mother’s Spiritual” in 1984. This album is notable as it was the last collection of original material she released during her lifetime. The album features a mix of original compositions and covers, showcasing Nyro's distinctive blend of pop, soul, and jazz influences. Notably, the track "Broken Rainbow" was previously featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary of the same name, which addressed the relocation of the Navajo people. Musicians contributing to the album include Bernard Purdie on drums, Freddie Washington on bass guitar, and guitarists Elliott Randall, Michael Landau, and Ira Siegel. The album was co-produced by Nyro and Gary Katz, known for his work with Steely Dan. The sound is smooth and soulful, with Nyro's rich and smokier vocals singing her lyrics concerning topics such as feminism, animal rights and Native American rights.
It’s always fun to let our audience peer through the party peephole with some hot behind-the-scenes info. For months, Black Light Smoke’s Control EP has supplied several of label head Tiga’s secret DJ weapons. In fact, he’s been sneaking out constantly after 9pm to play it out anywhere they’ll have him. And it’s little wonder to those who wonder why, as the Chicago-born producer’s top-flight mix of EBM, electro and Benadryl-soaked vocals has all the right people dancing.
Leadoff track "New York Is Dead” eulogizes the famous Big Apple Dance Party Scene in a way that will confuse the many who have embraced the city’s thriving “Groove With the Avengers” day rave series in Times Square. But the nihilism-liking doesn’t stop there, with the Friday-Til-I-Die attitude of “Black Hole at the Disco,” the pleather-dreaded post-cyberpunk of “Last Song Before Sunrise”, and the oxygen-deprived acid of “Break Your Back” culminating in the 11:45am-peak-time industrial trance of closer “Mind Control.”
Because we want this to be available to as many inhabitants of the blasted apocalyptic landscape we have pencilled in for 2034 or so, we have decided to make this release available both digitally and on vinyl. So whether you’ve managed to jack in illegally to a Spotify Wind Farm or you’re relegated to the hand-cranked misery of a Victrola while living in a barn or something, we’ve got you covered!
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Smith/Kotzen ist die musikalische Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Musikern Adrian Smith von Iron Maiden
und Richie Kotzen, der Mitglied der Winery Dogs und selbst Solokünstler ist.
White Noise ist die Debütsingle des mit Spannung erwarteten zweiten Albums Black Light/White Noise
des Weltklasse-Duos der Sänger/Gitarristen Adrian Smith und Richie Kotzen. Dieser mitreißende Track
hebt ihre einzigartige Zusammenarbeit auf die Spitze, da ihr moderner Ansatz, sowohl auf dem Griffbrett
als auch stimmlich, ihre Liebe zum klassischen Hard Rock hervorruft. Dieser hymnische Aufruf zeigt einmal
mehr das Songwriting-Können dieser beiden Musiker für ihre weltweiten Fan-Legionen.
Smith/Kotzen ist die musikalische Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Musikern Adrian Smith von Iron Maiden
und Richie Kotzen, der Mitglied der Winery Dogs und selbst Solokünstler ist.
White Noise ist die Debütsingle des mit Spannung erwarteten zweiten Albums Black Light/White Noise
des Weltklasse-Duos der Sänger/Gitarristen Adrian Smith und Richie Kotzen. Dieser mitreißende Track
hebt ihre einzigartige Zusammenarbeit auf die Spitze, da ihr moderner Ansatz, sowohl auf dem Griffbrett
als auch stimmlich, ihre Liebe zum klassischen Hard Rock hervorruft. Dieser hymnische Aufruf zeigt einmal
mehr das Songwriting-Können dieser beiden Musiker für ihre weltweiten Fan-Legionen.
"BODIES marks a bold evolution in our ever-developing sound. HEROINE was defined by its meticulously crafted and tightly woven concept, but the weight of this careful construction sometimes overshadowed the energy of the music itself, leaving some listeners feeling disconnected. With BODIES, we have embraced a more immediate, unfiltered approach that feels like a lightning bolt, looking to capture the energy of “Thornhill right now.” The album thrives on spontaneity and freedom, foregoing rigid concepts in favor of pure, in-your-face authenticity. It’s less about delivering a carefully constructed narrative and more about creating a visceral, open-ended experience. BODIES serves as a sonic moodboard—a collection of feelings and vibes—intentionally left open to interpretation. It has an upbeat and almost celebratory, party energy at times, but also retains all the emotion and intensity Thornhill are known for, making it our heaviest and most explosive work to date. With BODIES, we invite listeners to connect on their own terms. It’s raw, personal, and unapologetically immediate—a record that thrives in the moment, capturing our band at our most authentic and free."
*180g virgin leaded vinyl in a deluxe textured heavy gatefold cover, with paste-on artwork and special anti-static innersleeve.* Note: The pressing is absolute on point!!!!
Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon with a beautifully recorded suite of songs and instrumentals.
" More than two decades since he blew minds with a suite of brilliant releases on Warp, Vincent Gallo returns to the world of music at long last in Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon, with the project’s full-length debut, “The Music of Butterfly”. A gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, while interweaving fascinating flirtations with minimalism and experimentalism, it’s a truly captivating piece of work that’s hard to get off the turntable after the first needle drop.
In the arts, the lines between genius and madness, as well as fact and fiction, often blur. Such, it seems, has always been the life of the artist, filmmaker, actor, musician, and composer Vincent Gallo. A cult figure and a member of various creative undergrounds for the better part of half a century, Gallo has courted controversy, ruffled feathers, and made some of the most singular statements to flirt at the outer edges of popular culture that can be called to mind. Arguably most well known for his work in film, during the late '90s and early 2000s - notably with his soundtrack for “Buffalo 66” and a suite of releases on Warp - Gallo became something of a sensation in the world of independent music for a visionary, incredibly unique and sensitive approach to sonority. For a time, the world was abuzz, waiting on bated breath for more, and yet time passed. Bar a few fragments, appearing here and there, almost nothing has been heard from Gallo, within the world of music, for more than 20 years. That is, until now, with the release of “The Music of Butterfly”, the debut full-length of Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon: beautifully produced and issued by Family Friend Records - Gallo’s own label, founded in 1981 - in a deluxe edition that simply left us speechless: 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve. More or less picking up from where we last encountered him, spinning captivating melodies and gentle song-craft within the quieter temperaments of DIY, left-field pop, once again, and at long last, Vincent Gallo, encountered in an incredibly successful collaboration with Harper Simon as Butterfly, reminds us that he’s as much a force within the realm of music as he is within film. Not to be missed. This one isn’t going to sit around for long.
Vincent Gallo’s biography reads like the stuff of blaring beauty: a figure of moderate fame in his own right, who has remained at the centre of cultural ferment as the decades have rolled by. Born in 1961, in Buffalo, New York, as the story goes he ran away to New York City at the age of 16 and fell into the brewing counterculture of the Downtown scene, William Burroughs and John Giorno, in addition to the cream of his own peers, and began making paintings, music, and experimenting with film. In addition to being a member of the now legendary band Gray, with the artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the filmmaker, Michael Holman, Gallo appeared in the cult 1981 film “Downtown 81”, before slowly beginning a career as an actor and catching the eye of Claire Denis, who brought his talents into the broader cultural gaze. Catapulted into the public by his own subsequent career as a filmmaker with “Buffalo '66” (1998) and “The Brown Bunny” (2003), both of which were marked by controversy and praise, Gallo further captivated the public with a partially brilliant, if not relatively brief, flurry of activity in the realms of music.
While Gallo had already been making music for roughly two decades at the time of his release of the “Brown Bunny” soundtrack, and the four release issued by Warp in rapid succession between 2001 and 2002 - “When”, “Honey Bunny”, “So Sad”, and “Recordings of Music for Film” - the almost fanatical fandom reached a fever pitch at the moment, allowing him, for some, to be regarded as much, if not more, as a musical artist than an actor and filmmaker. Anyway you cut it, in a few short years, he proved himself to be a polymath of rare talent. Somewhere along the way, while both were working as members of Yoko Ono's Plastic One Band, Gallo met the New York based, highly regarded singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer, Harper Simon, who also happens to be the son of Paul Simon. The pair fell into an incredibly fruitful duo collaboration, which came to be called Butterfly, and “The Music of Butterfly” being their debut full-length release.
Written, performed, and recorded by Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon in New York City between the winter of 2018 and the spring of 2019, the ten tracks comprising “The Music of Butterfly” are cumulatively a gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, making one feel like barely a moment had passed since we’d encountered his graceful hand at song-craft. Stripped back and raw, while retaining a sense of warmth and intimacy, across the length of “The Music of Butterfly” the duo of Gallo and Simon weave something completely captivating at the juncture of minimalism, experimentalism, and pop: meandering moments of texture and tone, slowly forming toward flirtations of melody that flower into song and back again. Somehow playful and light, while also remarkably emotive and personal, it’s almost as though each of these tracks crystallised out the air, unlabored and exactly as they should be without a note or beat more.
An engrossing immersion into both Gallo and Simon’s remarkably accomplished minds, having followed the path toward one another after radically different experiences and careers, “The Music of Butterfly” is one of those records that’ll be hard to get off the turntable after that first needle drop, and rarely leave the listening pile for some time to come. Issued by Family Friend Records in a beautiful deluxe edition that is unmatched even among the most stunning recent productions we can call to mind - 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve - it’s lovely to have Gallo back in the musical mix after so many years. "
'It begins with a shoebox of mysterious provenance, full of recordings from the Vendée department on France’s western seaboard: songs of love and war, life and death, played out on land and sea. Songs passed down and sung by ordinary men and women, gracefully delivered with the poetic economy which unites the folk song of all peoples.
Next it takes a group of contemporary musicians to make selections from this treasure trove and sing these old songs anew; to sing them for their beauty, of course, and to reclaim the people’s tradition from those who would seek to exploit it for nefarious political ends. Who better for this task than Tartine de Clous, a singing trio from Vendée’s neighbouring department of Charente-Maritime, who burst into national and international consciousness with their debut album "Sans Folklore" in 2015? The result of their shoebox rummagings, the new album "Compter les dents", recorded in 2019 and finally seeing the light of day, is bound to delight old fans and win them many new ones.
Time makes many’s the alteration, and "Compter les dents" finds 'les garçons' - Geoffroy Dudouit, Thomas Georget and Guillaume Maupin - in a different state of being from their debut release. The trio, friends since youth, have certainly matured between albums, as one would expect; consequently the newer performances are more considered and poised, unfolding with a patient confidence. A relaxed domesticity prevails, something to do with the fact that the album was entirely recorded chez les amis, in contrast to the first album, which was mostly recorded at live performances in bars and night-spots across France.
Lending gravitas to the grain of their voices we mark a deepened richness, doubtless born of the various vicissitudes of daily existence which these gentlemen - and we too as citizens of this turmoiled globe - have weathered in the intervening years. Not too dissimilar, in fact,
from some of the vicissitudes detailed in those old Vendée songs. Plus 'ça change', right?
There’s a greater complexity and subtlety to their unique three-part harmonising, too. Their voices mesh in even stronger - almost telepathic - 'fraternité' than ever before: now commanding and mighty as a full-rigged counter-vessel, now gentle and lulling as a mother’s
cradle-croon, or as the whisper in a lover’s ear.
Three legendary figures of French traditional music, now sadly departed, preside as tutelary spirits over Compter les dents. They are: the late Claude Flagel, musician and ethnomusicologist; and the late Jean-Loup Baly of the well-known 1970s band Mélusine. Most of the album was recorded by Claude in the Brussels home he shared with his late wife Lou Flagel. The album is dedicated to the memory of Jean-Loup, Claude and Lou.
For the first time there are several guest instrumentalists working their magic to expand the Tartine de Clous sound. Jean-Loup plays a characterful accordéon on the song ‘La Veuve'. The other guests are: Maurice Artus (voice), Robert Thébaut (violin), Quentin Manfroy (piccolo, contrabassoon), Marceau Portron (cigar box guitar). Their contributions add even more conviviality to that which the trio of singers already share, a sensation which will doubtless be shared by those who happen to find a place in their lives for "Compter les dents".'
As a founding member of Dublin experimental folk group Lankum, Ian Lynch explores submerged leylines of music and song. Forging a musical path that is all at once dark, mysterious and foreboding, but ultimately transcendental. His new solo project One Leg One Eye sees him taking a fresh approach to musical arrangement culminating in a sound that is more rooted in the raw aesthetics of second wave black metal than contemporary folk. The project was born across 2021, a period in which Lynch was able to enjoy the freedom of experimenting and exploring different paths of sound design without expectation or pressure. Seeking out interesting settings to record music and gather field recordings, there are several environments, external and interior, whose respective essence have seeped into the spirit of the music and come to represent Lynch’s artistic approach and development with this singular debut album, …And Take The Black Worm With Me. Rediscovered spaces in Dublin and the familiar enclave of his bedroom are intrinsic to the distinct and sometimes harrowing atmosphere conjured throughout the album’s five enveloping compositions. One particular location, an abandoned factory where his father worked when Ian was a child, provided a space of great inspiration and intrigue during this time. Lynch frequently visited the large abandoned warehouse and sang with his shruti box, contented in his solitude. ‘I’d Rather Be Tending My Sheep’, grew into existence from those initial sessions, eventually finding a home as an emotive centrepiece to the album. Reflecting on the overall recording of …And Take The Black Worm With Me, Lynch says, “Everything I was doing with these songs was all kind of new to me; experimenting with different sounds, textures and palettes and seeing what I could come up with by piecing it all together. I spent about a year making the album. I loved the whole process because it was basically just me in my bedroom recording everything. The experience of recording like this and having my own time to do it was amazing. I could focus on recording a specific element and happily spend all day working on that one part, doing it as many times as I wanted. At the end of the day if it didn’t feel right, I could just try it again the next day. When you’re on your own you can spend as much time as you want on particular parts until you feel that it’s absolutely perfect. I found that to be a really liberating experience. It was probably my favourite experience recording music.” The collection of songs (and their chronology) featured on …And Take The Black Worm With Me tell a story unique to Lynch’s experiences with anxiety and recognising his shadow self. Whilst the album became an outlet of personal expression for Lynch, the overarching themes and subsequent journey to confront one’s internal dichotomy of light and dark before accepting this inherent duality is universally shared. The eerie and often unsettling world contained within the album’s texturally dense opener ‘Glistening, She Emerges’, driven by the captivating drone of distorted uilleann pipes, immediately immerses the listener in this transportive work. It descends with a great heaviness, yet woven throughout the arrangement is a fascinating and indescribable entity that draws you further into this otherworldly dimension. This mood continues as the tracklist progresses and transitions into Lynch’s haunting realisation of ‘Bold and Undaunted Youth’ which further demonstrates a cinematic influence to Lynch’s compositional style. Sonically, Lynch effectively builds an impressively vast terrain with brilliantly murky lo-fi recording techniques and an unshakable curiosity to move beyond conventional structures and play with the timbre of the instruments available to him. From recording hurdy-gurdy or concertina to tape and experimenting with loops and effects pedals to stitching field recordings together, there’s an intimacy established between Lynch and his audience established through the simultaneously eerie and beautiful tones courting through …And Take The Black Worm With Me. This culminates in ‘Only the Diceys’, the extraordinary closing track in which we reach a place of resolution mapped into the album’s narrative structure. Mixed by longtime collaborator John ‘Spud’ Murphy in his Dublin-based Guerrilla Sounds Studio and mastered by Harvey Birrell …And Take The Black Worm With Me features contributions from Ruth Clinton (Landless) on church organ and vocals by Laurie Shanaman (Ails, Ludicra). Of Shanaman’s participation, in particular, which further illustrates the lo-fi and DIY ethos to the recording, Lynch says, “Laurie is my favourite black metal vocalist of all time and so I reached out to her hoping to have her involved in some way. She did, and she features on the opening track by providing some incredible screams. She recorded them into her phone and sent them over to me; what appears on the album is literally a phone recording of her screaming in her kitchen!” …And Take The Black Worm With Me continues Ian Lynch’s groundbreaking work with Lankum; recontextualising traditional forms and generating new spheres of music in his wake, confirming his status as one of the most interesting and innovative artists working in Ireland today.
American director and actor Eli Roth takes you on a forbidden journey across the vaults of legendary Italian soundtrack label CAM Sugar. Setting the mood for his very own red light discothéque, Tarantino’s right-hand man and Italian B-movies connoisseur has sourced and selected 20 juicy tracks, spanning from kinky disco and funk to seductive bossa nova and psych, from Italian Sexy Comedy and softcore films (1969-1981). It includes 9 previously unreleased tracks with 4 previously unreleased on vinyl and music by some of Italian film music's most cult composers, including Stelvio Cipriani, Bruno Nicolai, Riz Ortolani, Franco Campanino, Gianni Ferrio, Nico Fidenco as well as unique vocal performances by actress and Italian sexy comedy actress Gloria Guida.
Joni Void, the artistic persona of Montréal-based French-British producer Jean Néant (he/them) returns to songcraft on their warmest and most welcoming record yet, where the acclaimed sampledelic sound collagist chills out with an emotionally resonant song cycle tinged by downtempo, lo-fi, avant-pop, and trip-hop. Guests include Haco, Ytamo, Sook-Yin Lee, Pink Navel and N NAO. Every Life Is A Light expands on Void's recent stylistic turn towards more languorous and mellow lo-fi production, foreshadowed by the drifting looseness and ambient bricolage of their preceding experimental sound-art record. This transitional sensibility now shapes more defined song structures and styles, with loops are given time and space to unspool, and rhythms shot through the softer-focus lens of trip-hop and dub. Every Life Is A Light swaps the twitchy insistence of Void's acclaimed early albums for a newfound lightness and suppleness, still imbued with all the restlessness, sonic detailing, and emotional resonance that made their name. The neurotic brokenmachine kinetics of earlier Void, summarized by Sasha Geffen as "drawing despair and wonder from within the vast unfeeling of digital communication" in an 8.0 Pitchfork review, may be chilling out, but Void is becoming an ever better conjurer of hauntological feeling. Every Life Is A Light summons this in a comparatively buoyant, benevolent, head-nodding journey more open to tenderness and modest joys. Perhaps it's the sound of Void at greater peace with themselves and the world, despite the bittersweet cost: even as it channels grief, memorializing comrades and companions recently deceased, this album wants light. Void's raw materials continue to draw heavily from samples (their own Walkman cassette fieldrecordings and songs by others) and from a wide community of musical guests. Vocalists Haco on "Time Zone" and Ytamo on "Cloud Level" help levitate what could be lost tracks from a mid-90s Too Pure Records compilation of skewed-lounge electronica. Canadian musician Sook-Yin Lee sings on lead single "Vertigo," a sinewy 80bpm tape-loop and bassline groove propelled by psychedelically-layered lyrics that eventually turn the song in on itself entirely, like Grace Jones' "Nightclubbing" covered by Animal Collective. One of Void's greatest hip-hop loves is the Ruby Yacht collective; charter member Pink Navel drops some brilliant verses on "Story Board." The album's two minimal tracks, an extended piano loop set to a slow beat and shimmering electronics on "Muffin-A Song For My Cat" and the languid sampled bass riff and breakbeat of "Event Flow," are perhaps most overtly `lofi chill.' Indeed the whole album could be said to sit adjacent to those viral (if not already AI-generated) genre trends, which maybe begs the question on a lot of our minds: can specificity and authenticity of musical materials still be heard, still meaningfully signify substance and difference, still matter? Perhaps a question that fades in comparison to the career break Void could catch by landing on generic streaming playlists. More likely, these tracks remain too off-kilter, too genuinely lo-fi and ineffable, and too disqualified by the status of its peasant rights-holders, to catch the algos. Context remains the poor cousin of content. Meanwhile Void marches on, as a tireless organizer of local music events, bouncing around and often living in DIY venue, depending on the latest apartment eviction. With an ubiquitous polaroid camera in tow, they also document each communal happening with a single shot (and often a blinding flash bulb): a memory and metaphor for lives illuminated preciously, singularly, `imperfectly' in the moment. Dozens of these polaroids adorn the album's back cover and inner sleeve art in grid-like montages, as a fitting analog for the careful construction, grainy intimate materiality, and ephemeral feeling of these songs. Every Life Is A Light is Joni Void's most coherent and congenial record while relinquishing none of their experimentalist acumen as a producer or emotional attunement as a composer. Instead these qualities flourish, on an album that lights a humble flame for the fragile promise of homespun creative collaboration as unalienated labour and therapeutic communion, making an enchantingly idiosyncratic contribution to downtempo sample music along the way. Thanks for listening.
Known for his indie-folk-inspired singer-songwriter music that envelops emotions and
moods in intimate, breathtakingly beautiful soundscapes, Cunningham has built a
massive following over the years, amassing more than half a billion streams.
With 'In Light', he wanted to push boundaries. Inspired - and unsettled - by the rapid
development of artificial intelligence, he sought to capture the essence of raw human
creativity. The result is a collection of ten tracks, recorded over five weeks in
Tottenham, North London. These songs-- captured as single takes with minimal
editing-- immerse the listener in a profound stream of consciousness. Cunningham
explores personal truths and reflects on the world's complexities, from the unsettling
grip of big data to the hope that genuine human connection still offers. As he sings in
'This I Know', "The best is yet to be / I believe." The album's title, 'In Light', reflects
Cunningham's optimism, shining through even in darker moments. "We're here right
now / Let's be here again tomorrow," he urges in New Symmetry, concluding with the
poignant affirmation, "I am leaving a light on".
"Obscured By Version" ist ein brandneues Set von "Versionen" von Dub Syndicate- Rhythms aus ihrer '89-'96 Klassikerphase. Adrian Sherwood holte die Originalbänder hervor, setzte seine Mischpultmagie ein und betrachtete den zeitlosen Puls von Lincoln Valentine 'Style' Scott aus ganz neuen Blickwinkeln, mit frischen Overdubs von Cyrus Richard (Dub Asante Band). Es ist eine passende Hommage an die langjährige kreative Partner- und Freundschaft zwischen Sherwood und Scott. Gemastert von Frank Merritt bei The Carvery, mit raren Fotos von Coneyl Jay und Linernotes von Rob Harris (Test Pressing).
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Maltese musician & producer Joon’s galactic debut arrives on our shores fully formed a decade after she first set sail. 12 cuts of uniquely addictive Synthesized Pop twist & turn on the rocky waters of life.
Her story begins after a life-changing car crash on the streets of Malta many moons ago. She was lucky to walk away in one piece. “That car crash was a wake-up call,” she says. “It made me realize how precious life is & I started living the life I felt was worth living.” Inspired to finally pursue her love of music full time, she began collecting instruments. Starting with a Stylophone& a vintage rhythm box, she started documenting ideas. Returning home to Malta after a few years in London, she only met one other woman making electronic music on the island. Driven by the desire to make music possible & accessible for the next generation, Joon co-founded the Malta Sound Women’s Network.
Ten years later, she sends us messages in a bottle from across the Mediterranean Sea. Armed with a Moog & her ethereal voice, she transmits hope & joy from a bedroom somewhere between Sicily & North Africa. Her music is right at home alongside outsider pioneers like Fever Ray, Grimes, Laurie Anderson & Molly Nilsson. Dream Again glides across heavy rhythms & eclectic electro. Telling stories of alienation with a throbbing heartbeat & space-age melodies, she lets us into her ultra-vivid world where anything is possible. Produced by Johnny Jewel, the album shines bright like comet orbiting the label’s dark sky, a much-needed vision of light on the horizon.
“Even if I’m sad or heartbroken, I remain optimistic. I want to grow old with no regrets.”
It’s time to Dream Again…
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After the release of their highly successful self-titled album in summer 2021 (#1 in Germany and Spain etc.), HELLOWEEN -- one of the most respectable German metal exports and pioneers of German melodic speed metal -- are finally bringing their new anthems to the packed arenas, leading them all around the globe with their »United Forces« tour. The creators of the albums »Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Pt. I & II« (87‘/88‘), which are considered to be among the most successful German metal records of all time and are reckoned internationally as absolute milestones of power metal, haven’t only cemented but even expanded their status as giants of the scene. Caused by the pumpkinheads‘ aforementioned triumphant wave of success, the group’s back catalogue albums are also more in demand than ever which is why Atomic Fire are now set to release a series of brand new vinyl editions including the following hot HELLOWEEN records: »The Dark Ride« (2000), »Rabbit Don’t Come Easy« (2003), »Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy« (2005), »Gambling With The Devil« (2007), »Straight Out Of Hell« (2013), »My God-Given Right« (2015), and last but not least their latest offering »Helloween« (2021).
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The second part in the series looking at the works of the Beninoise super group T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo and the compositions of bandleader Clément Melome. The title song, "Unité Africaine" was originally released domestically in 1977 on the LP, "T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Benin - Melome Clement, Chef d'Orchestre" and celebrates a message of unity across the African nations.
The single focuses on the modern interpretations for which Canopy again enlists the skills of Jose Marquez & Sol Power All-Stars.
Jose Marquez builds around the core elements of "Unité Africaine", deepening the mood with characteristic production prowess. Recruiting precise musicians who add live bass, percussion and synthesizer, Jose delivers an adaptation which effortlessly compliments the original arrangement and feeling with a thoughtfully executed sensibility.
Sol Power All-Stars step up with a sincere rendition of "Unité Africaine". No strangers to the work of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, (having released a dynamite remix EP of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo on their own imprint "Sol Power Sound"), they were a natural fit for this project. The version presented here is respectful to the original, adding live drums, light disco FX and new arrangements to gently enhance the original composition, adding just the right amount of seasoning to their mix to bring it to a joyful and tasty simmer.
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MOLA's music is the unadorned antithesis to a rosy world. She celebrates herself to death, pulls you into her inner chaos and does without the usual romanticising transfiguration of the merciless disorientation that catches up with you on the way home after the last cigarette.
MOLA knows better than anyone that she is a border commuter - and she has never made a secret of it. Perhaps it was fate that the course of events abandoned her shortly after her birth in Erba, Italy, in Germany's most austere metropolis. In Munich, where flying free and falling free are a little more complicated than in the cesspit of Berlin, where one would naturally place Isabella Streifeneder and her music if one didn't know better.
Temporarily reduced to intimacy, then escalating into iconic 80s "Purpel Rain" pathos, MOLA illustrates the emotional chaos that the inner dialogue of left and right brain triggers in her. Unconventional pop music that bundles the nonchalance of great soul anthems, the grace of the Italo-disco of the eighties and the ingenuousness of lascivious hip-hop bangers instead of trying to sound modern by force.
MOLA celebrates defeat, exposes life lies, criticises adulthood, documents radical mood swings. She balances along the abyss in her ball gown, jokes about things you don't joke about, praises and curses intoxication and love - "Vino Bianco no longer tastes like dolce vita, it only tastes like losing".
You can now see MOLA supporting Fatoni, Roy Bianco & the Abbrunzati Boys, Mayberg and Kaffkiez in a flurry of strobe lights after sold-out "nothing breaks me" shows in Munich, Cologne, Berlin & Hamburg. In addition to a festival season that couldn't have been more beautiful, they finally have a big tour of their own coming up for their next album, which will see the light of day in September.
After more than 40 festivals "Snow in Summer" on well-known stages like Lollapalooza Berlin, Rocken am Brocken, Puls Open Air, but also as support for Udo Lindenberg at the Hermann-Hesse-Festival, "Life is Beautiful", the darned second record, sounds almost cynical, ironic or simply naive? In the end, it doesn't matter, because when you are overcome by this spontaneous feeling that is far removed from any rationality, you don't ask any questions. It tastes like the melancholy of a summer in its last breaths, like the last drink of an uncompromisingly insane night.
There is sweating, pogoing and feeling together. Even where it hurts.
You are not just an onlooker or a silent spectator, but part of this empowering feeling of "we".
Exploring late-night, after-hours meditations on sound; ‘Everything Above The Sky (Astral Travelling with Luke Una)’ is a new compilation by the titular DJ, promoter and enigmatic cultural curator. Off the back of the E Soul Cultura phenomena, this compilation comes at a timely point in Luke’s rich career as he soars the heights of playing all over the world. Avoiding any chance of his sound being pigeonholed, Luke has put together a tracklist of songs and music that have a transcendental feel, after coming off the grid, going back to source, outside the city walls .
Music has long been believed to aid out of body experiences and many of us have searched long and hard for a combination of those elusive ingredients that might alleviate some of the monotony of everyday life, our daily routines and obligations, and those things that seem to block us from the spirit of the universe. In this collection, Luke selects music with all the right ingredients in just the right quantities, allowing the listener to engage in an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Being a prolific collector of music, Luke initially delivered enough tracks to compile several compilations, making the licensing process the biggest effort to date for the label. The music moves softly and slowly, never becoming too intrusive, exemplifying the wonderful elevating properties of simple songs played from the heart.
Luke’s Everything Above The Sky manifesto reads, “Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, around midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical spellbound whirling swirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel utopia dreaming, Balearic bossa, Outer Space ancient African drum, the breath of trees, escaping the big bad modern world, gathering round winter fires, walking amongst the bracken in Padley Gorge in late summer twilight, overlooking the Hope Valley, escaping ego, detaching and finally letting go amongst the stars with the slowly floating people. It’s beautiful beyond. Everything above the Sky”.
Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene. Then came Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to É Soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long-running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ cultural landscape. Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM captured imaginations and became a cult four-hour must-listen monthly journey for fans all over the world. Today, Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing milieu, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.
"Bad Bad Hats are an indie rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Known for bringing a joyful, exuberant presence to their live shows, touring with The Beths, Margaret Glaspy, The Front Bottoms, Hippo Campus, and Third Eye Blind, the group took specific care to bring their fun-loving spirit to their third LP, Walkman.
Kerry (guitar/vocals), Chris (bass), and Con (drums) let their collective hair down on Walkman, bringing raucous and explosive riffs alongside witty lyrics. Though you might not notice from their indie rock exterior, Bad Bad Hats draws a heavy influence from classic pop songwriting that shines through in their hooky choruses and strong melodic sensibilities.
For this release the band set out to push their capabilities as a trio. Subtle changes in process helped the band achieve this goal, such as shifting Chris from a wider multi-instrumental role to allow him to prioritize his bass playing, having Kerry record the bulk of the guitars instead. “You can hear all of our musical voices a lot better on this record.â€
A carefully crafted studio sound brings the record to life, injecting it with an energetic voice that is unique to Bad Bad Hats. Walkman is the group’s fourth time working with producer Brett Bullion, including their previous two LPs, Psychic Reader and Lightning Round, and the Wide Right EP. Bullion and the band use the studio as an instrument, resulting in their most polished work to date."
The Gentle Spring are a new group, formed by Michael Hiscock, Emilie Guillaumot and Jérémie Orsel. Michael has an illustrious pop history, having been a founder member of The Field Mice, possibly the most beloved band on Sarah Records in the 1990s. And with The Gentle Spring, it seems that history is repeating itself…
When Michael and his friend Bobby Wratten formed The Field Mice, the two of them very quickly created a set of songs whose emotional honesty, raw guitars and perfect pop melodies pierced the hearts of a generation of indiepop fans, kids who were unmoved by the posturing of mainstream indie, and who didn’t want to spend time in fields dancing at 24-hour raves. The Field Mice were the band who defined the meaning and the spirit of Sarah Records. Defiantly in love with pop, defiantly un-macho, defiantly…sensitive. And now, remarkably, Michael has done it again. With his new musical partner Emilie, The Gentle Spring have created a fresh new iteration of indiepop music. Once again, the songs are unafraid of raw emotions, brutally honest and is still in love with big pop melodies.
They are still….sensitive. But life is seen through a different lens now. There is wisdom, there is experience, and there is the ability to look back at the world with a mixture of regret and joy. These are very adult songs, and the arrangements reflect this. Rich acoustic guitars and Emilie’s haunting keyboard have replaced hectic drum machines and urgent distortion. And there is a third element to this music. Jérémie Orsel’s sophisticated guitar adds textures and melodies that give these songs a real depth, while maintaining an enigmatic distance, never quite overwhelming the vocal line. So things are clearer now.
But feelings are just as strong. The pain of unrequited love that made Field Mice songs so poignant hasn’t gone away. In some ways, the thought of roads not taken is more profound when experienced in retrospect. I Can’t Have You As A Friend entertains this notion, still moved by the allure of a different life, but shuddering with fear at what might have happened. Also still haunted by the past, The Girl Who Ran Away conjures up the ghost of a previous failed relationship, which threatens to undermine happiness in the present. In Severed Hearts, sung by Emilie, there is the stark recognition that some endings really are final: sometimes there can be no reconciliations. But the song cleverly moves on from this: it acknowledges that, even after the worst emotional loss, you have to pick yourself, you will move on. It’s sophisticated and it’s mature – but it will still break your heart. Sugartown is another song that plays this trick on you. It insists that there will always be lightness and shade. It warns you against complacency, but does it so kindly that you feel like you’ve been embraced. When Michael’s and Emilie’s vocals combine in the final chorus, telling us that we don’t live in Sugartown, you know they are right – and yet the sweetness of the singing makes you feel that – just for a moment – you do.the band perform as a trio and have already found a keen audience in France, where they are based. During a short tour of the UK in January, to coincide with this release, British audiences will get their first opportunities to see The Gentle Spring play these new songs live
Written and recorded in a firestorm of creativity during the mastering phase of Lukah's upcoming double LP with Real Bad Man, Permanent Blackface is a monstrous vignette displaying the true power of Lukah's songwriting and the technical brilliance of his team. The album flashes before you like a lightning strike illuminating a barren cityscape.
Introducing himself as Mr. Blackface, Lukah identifies the true artist's responsibility to hold a mirror to the listener in order to confront and disarm taboos. In both content and music, the record balances vulgarity and introspection, the horror of silence, and the comfort of colossal, discordant sound. Over 12 songs the celestial, often blood-soaked color palette of soul and R&B that gave emotional weight to Why Look Up and Raw Extractions has been scraped away like a charred skeleton. With a small cast of voices consisting entirely of Lukah's immediate family, and production duties handled in-house by WALZ, Deener, Hollow Sol, Cities Aviv, SB11, and Lukah himself, the record has the intimacy of a theater production. The only voices present are Lukah, joined by his mother providing scat vocals, and his grandfather discussing the Jungian self-hatred of the colonial project and its terrifying repercussions for contemporary Black Amer-icans, with a fitting invocation of Dr. Frankenstein's monster. The beats here are reminiscent of noir, 78rpm swing and big band, evoking the underlying horror of a pre-Civil Rights movement America, where segregational binaries invert-ed folk tales through the white terror of ghosts, the black "spook", and mythic themes of fate and free will. The whip-lash of shifting perspectives keeps your head on a swivel in way only Lukah's superior pen can elucidate. Will it trigger anger that first voice you hear on Permanent Blackface is Judy Garland singing "Sweet Chariot"? But isn't this just Lukah speaking through her, announcing he's got "The Southin his mouth"? As the internet endlessly debates intention and appropriation in our artistic history, the insignificance of this small sample is put into perspective: another white pebble in a black ocean of Lukah's creation. "If the sun don't shine today / pray the sun come out tomorrow...pray the sun pierce through the sorrow"
The album introduces an unnamed character beset by disposition. As the story's scope increases, the gaze of the mir-ror shifts. How would white society feel if historical roles were reversed? How does a presumed white listener experi-ence the trauma of interacting with police?
The prolific, virtuosic original Bjarki Sigurðarson returns to the concept album format, with ‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’. It’s the first LP to be released on Differance.
‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’ explores the psychological landscape of contemporary social issues, offering a sideways rumination on lifestyle dilemmas and wellness obsessions, presenting itself as a response to the modern condition. It combines storytelling with innovative sound textures – encouraging listeners to pause and contemplate the absurdities of contemporary life. Neither a critique nor an endorsement, it represents an honest exploration of our world through Bjarki’s sonic lens, gleaming a heart of darkness, but eventually finding light.
The album utilises hyper-stereo techniques, soothing melodies, complex audio structures, AIgenerated voices and sampled vocals – influenced by Coil, Genesis P- Orridge, and Paul Lansky. Bjarki investigates how specific frequencies can impact consciousness, awareness, mood, and mental state, thereby influencing our perception of reality. His vaporous sound design provides a listening experience that bridges the physical and imaginative realms; sometimes placing the listener in contemplative sanctuary, and at others making them lost – somewhere strange, uneasy, disconnected.
Bjarki on his Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle
“This new album has been two years in the works. It’s sort of my take on all the social weirdness and wellness obsessions happening right now. It kicked off with a track I started in California – the story of a soul that got born into the wrong womb. During that time, I was noticing more and more of this whole ‘wellness religion’ everywhere – people trying to sell you ‘good vibes’ and random people offering you life coaching sessions on Instagram who maybe have less life experience than a houseplant. All these apps that track our every move; it’s like they’re repackaging control and calling it ‘self care’. Capitalism in yoga pants. Thats when I started putting ‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’ concept together. A never ending, self improvement rabbit hole. We are all being sold this idea that we are not quite enough and we need to buy our way out to being better.
At one point, I took a break from the album and started working on another album full of satirical speeches, AI generated voices, where I create my own voices and type in some ideas of speeches, taking the piss out of wellness gurus and life coaches. I messed a lot with these AI voice generators, creating these deep, faux serious monologues. Proper weird stuff, but it cracked me up. Reminded me of the early days, when I was 13, making tracks on Fruity Loops, mucking around with text-to- speech generators. After the break I came back to finish ‘The Guide’ on a much deeper level.
I moved part of my studio to Latvia and continued in the countryside for few months. I realised that I just wanted something beautiful. So, yeah, this album is all of that. It’s spiritual, bits and pieces from the past, all these weird cultural moments, and whatever strange places my head goes. It’s a reflection, a rebellion, a bit of a piss take. But mostly, it’s just me, doing what I do.” - Duncan Clark
The album will be released only in its entirety, December 13th digi, with no advance singles.
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Fang Island's second and last record, long out of print and back in stock as gray splatter coloured vinyl in gatefold jacket LP via Joyful Noise, defined the sound of danc-y/math-y indie rock of the early 2010s alongside contemporaries Lightning Bolt, Titus Andronicus, and Japandroids. Fang Island described their music as the sound of "everyone high fiving everyone." No matter where they went, Fang Island's up-with-people approach made them a subversive art project by default. At a time when the belligerent noise-rock of Lightning Bolt and The Body defined Providence, Fang Island played major-key guitar harmonies and flashy tapping riffs. When people tried to call them "math-rock," they thought of themselves as "recess rock." Two years after Fang Island released what they expected to be their first and only album, Major became the "highly anticipated sophomore LP." The songs were bigger, shinier and hookier, forged under the pressure that comes with being a band rather than a couple of weekend warriors - label pressures, grueling tours and the frequent personnel changes that ultimately brought the band to their amicable end. Fang Island began with the crackle fireworks and, as the band heard fireworks going off in the distance as they played in Barcelona, they took it as a supernatural sign that this show would be the perfect bookend to their career. "We were getting older, we were in serious relationships, we were getting tired, and that just felt like the right way to end it."
First time ever release on vinyl format. 180 GRAM BLACK VINYL. After The Sabres of Paradise split in 1995 Andrew Weatherall underwent one of many reinventions. He began working with Keith Tenniswood as Two Lone Swordsmen which released several records on the Warp label, set up a new electronic imprint under the Rotters Golf Club banner and fully explored new DJ personas departing from his house-based sets into dub, electronica and rockabilly. Renowned for unconventional sets where he’d raise the roof dropping an unexpected but exactly right track into the mix, he’d push the audience to new heights by introducing them to music they’d never even thought of exploring. The experiments went down especially well in Japan where he’d tour playing solo sets as well as performing alongside pioneers like Underworld, Adrian Sherwood and The Orb. In 2003 his new label, Rotters Golf Club, was approached by the Italian fashion house Emigliano Zegna to create some music to help launch their first foray into Japan. Andrew always had a keen eye for quality and agreed to provide some music. At the time it wasn’t envisaged as an album. He’d just grabbed some tracks he and Keith had been working on, polished them up and swapped them for a small advance and a large raid on their Bond Street store. He then let them get on with the release and turned his attention to the next TLS album proper. This was Double Gone Chapel where rock and psychobilly were mixed in with electronica and controversially Andrew added his own vocals. The Zegna album ‘Still My World’ was sidelined by a live band and a whole new direction. Andrew’s untimely death refocused attention on his historical recordings and ‘Still My World’, previously only released on CD in Japan, now sees the light of day in the rest of the world.
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The Motion (Club Edit)
One of the biggest tracks from the album Arseholes, Liars & Electronic Pioneers gets a stripped back, DJ friendly remix from PL themselves. A “lose yourself” strobe-light beauty with a pay-off right at the end that makes it all worth while. Tested, proven dancefloor melter from the boys that know.
Help (DJ Version)
Straight up loopy techno type thing for the harder DJ’s out there. The swirling vocal gradually burrows into your brain, slowly driving you mad - in a good way. Once again tested to destruction on dancefloors all over the world.
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In den späten 1960er Jahren erlebte Kanadas größte Stadt einen musikalischen Aufschwung, als karibische Einwanderer Toronto zu ihrer neuen Heimat machten. Die besten Ska-, Rocksteady- und Reggae-Aufnahmekünstler jener Zeit - die Gründer von Studio One, Treasure Isle und Trojan Records - taten einfach das, was ihnen in den Sinn kam. Einer nach dem anderen gingen sie ins Studio und nahmen einige der härtesten Songs diesseits von Kingston auf. Gemeinsam überwanden sie die rassischen und kulturellen Barrieren und bildeten eine beispiellose und wenig bekannte kanadische Soul & Reggae-Community. "Jamaika to Toronto: Soul, Funk & Reggae 1967-1974" beschreibt diese entscheidende klangliche Migration im Detail. // Mit Jackie Mittoo, Johnnie Osbourne, Wayne McGhie, Lloyd Delpratt, The Mighty Pope, Jo-Jo Bennett, Eddie Spencer, Noel Ellis und mehr_ // 2024 erweiterte Ausgabe mit 20-seitigem Deluxe-Booklet mit Archivbildern, Künstlerbiografien und Essays // 2xLP-Set, läuft mit 45 rpm, in einem luxuriösen Klappcover // Zusammengestellt, und kommentiert von dem GRAMMY-nominierten Produzenten, DJ und Journalisten Kevin Howes (alias Sipreano, Voluntary In Nature) in Zusammenarbeit mit Light in the Attic // Yellow & Green ReVinyl, eine nachhaltige Alternative aus 100% recycelten Materialien //
Strut proudly present the brand-new studio album from Nubiyan Twist, 'Jungle Run'.
Now one of the leading lights in the UK's new generation of soulful, genre-fluid artists, the Leeds-born and now London-based 12-piece collective have created their finest recordings to date, effortlessly weaving together elements of jazz, soul, hip hop, African styles, Latin, dub, hip hop and electronics in a flow of thought-provoking and life-affirming music.
Recorded at the band's own self-built Henwood Studio in rural Oxfordshire, the album effortlessly moves through different voices from the band's circle. The inimitable, timeless vocals of Nubiya Brandon lead the way on the album's title track about breaking preconceptions and promoting equality, 'Where you from I'm from wherever I be.' Saxophonist Nick Richards vocals the killer first single from the album about inner turmoil and a search for the truth, 'Tell It To Me Slowly' while rising Ghanaian star K.O.G. appears on the Afro jams 'Basa Basa' and 'They Talk'. Percussionist Pilo Adami (Nina Miranda / Afrosamba) voices the infectious bossa-jazz jam 'Borders'. The band also draft in two African legends for guest duties with the original Afrobeat maestro Tony Allen on 'Ghosts' and Ethio jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke contributing vibes on the sinuous 'Addis To London'. 'The depth of talent and ideas that every member of this group has brought to the table for this album is incredible,'
says producer and orchestrator Tom Excell. 'Conceptually, 'Jungle Run' is all about connecting different people and cultures whilst exploring the journey of individuals. This album is the pinnacle of everything we have done to date and to collaborate with the godfathers of Afrobeat and Ethio Jazz and celebrate their music in a modern context was very humbling.'
The album is another landmark for a band that has been consistently developing their sound since their formation in 2015 at Leeds College Of Music. 'One of the biggest factors in our sound was the exciting music scene in Leeds,' explains saxman Joe Henwood. 'From a reggae night called 'Sub Dub' to venues playing whacked out experimental jazz.' Since then, the band's self-titled debut album (2015), EP 'Siren Song' (2016) and single 'Dance Inna London' (2017) have become classics in their own right and their live show has become an essential ticket; previous live highlights have included high profile slots at David Byrne's Meltdown at the South Bank and Glastonbury West Holts
'Jungle Run' is released on 15th February on CD, 2LP and digital. Cover artwork comes from acclaimed designer Marcus Davies and the album is mastered by The Carvery. Nubiyan Twist tour across Europe from November.
In Zusammenarbeit mit WaterTower Records ist Waxwork Records begeistert, den lang erwarteten BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack zu veröffentlichen! Beetlejuice ist zurück! Der Oscar-nominierte, einzigartige kreative Visionär Tim Burton und der Oscar-Nominierte und Hauptdarsteller Michael Keaton treffen sich für Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, die lang erwartete Fortsetzung von Burtons preisgekröntem Beetlejuice, wieder. Keaton kehrt in seine ikonische Rolle zurück, an der Seite der Oscar-Nominierten Winona Ryder als Lydia Deetz und der zweifachen Emmy-Gewinnerin Catherine O'Hara als Delia Deetz, mit den neuen Darstellern Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti in seinem Spielfilmdebüt, der Emmy-Nominierten Jenna Ortega als Lydias Tochter Astrid und dem Oscar-Nominierten Willem Dafoe. Nach einer unerwarteten Familientragödie kehren drei Generationen der Familie Deetz nach Winter River zurück. Das Leben von Lydia, die immer noch von Beetlejuice heimgesucht wird, wird auf den Kopf gestellt, als ihre rebellische Teenager-Tochter Astrid das mysteriöse Modell der Stadt auf dem Dachboden entdeckt und das Portal zum Jenseits... -Exklusive Vinyl-Variante von Light In The Attic -Doppel LP gepresst auf violettem mit weißem Smoke Vinyl und fluoreszierendem grünen Vinyl -Etching/Gravur auf D-Seite -Gatefold-Jacket -Kommt mit limitiertem 11x11 Kunstdruck -Artwork von Jiro Fujita -Mit Songs von Donna Summer, Bee Gees, Richard Marx und vielen mehr!
The making of a maiden album can be a capricious process. One moment of outright musical flow paired with another period of sustained creative struggle are feats experienced by seasoned producers the world over. So when Miraclis was forced to hole away in his makeshift studio - in the midst of a global pandemic - the stage was set for something magical. Now it will see the light of day for the very first time.
Having released two singles on Secret Teachings to critical acclaim already this year, Chilean talent Miraclis will accomplish a milestone achievement in July with the release of his debut album: Origin Of Truth.
Difficult experiences were fundamental to the creation of such work, as were Miraclis’ inherent musical interests. He explains: “Origin Of Truth had its birth during the pandemic. I created it as a way of communicating to myself the sensations and feelings that were spinning around my head at the time. I've always been inspired by Bristol trip hop, as well as classical rock, and these genres definitely contributed to the making of these melancholic tracks. In a way I wanted to fuse all the musical influences that were part of my childhood, up until this point now, so this album really means a lot to me. It was my way of communicating, when there was a lack of social contact and communication itself was hard to come by.”
It's this meditative quality that initially drew Damian Lazarus to the project. “It’s a record that has its roots in electronic music, but it’s a very alternative, very deep, melancholic album. I find it both soothing and stirring at the same time, and that’s a quite interesting juxtaposition in that it feels edgy but delicious at the same time,” says Lazarus. “The fact that this was written in this place surrounded by the most incredible desert landscapes makes this a very important piece of work to me. It doesn’t sit in any particular genre, which is why it feels right for a Secret Teachings release. It hints at so many genres that I as a DJ am quite into, and it feels like a first as it’s unique and unclassifiable. That mystical, esoteric, edgy feel makes this a perfect release for the label.”
Sonnet opens proceedings, with ghostly vocals residing next to raw instrumental elements throughout. Miraclis’ signature guitar riffs soon converge on saddened keys, paving the way for Scienter. It takes the form of an instrument-based, electronic-inspired cut, building slowly before reaching a crescendo midway through via an enrapturing acoustic solo.
Floating Child comes next, brimming with a darker intensity courtesy of broody synth pulses and rhythmic hi-hats, as Shiver arrives next. There’s a rock-leaning sensibility to the piece that gives way to earnest lyrical offerings, opening swiftly into the breakbeat-esque world of Perceptions. Hard-hitting drums act as the focal point, with electric chords adding depth and intrigue, whilst Bright continues in a similarly heartfelt vein.
Introspective pads leave us feeling pensive, ahead of Interstellar taking us on a celestial journey through warped bass tones. Acting as the LP’s penultimate number, it’s a four-and-a-half minute showcase of guitar-based musical goodness and one that perfectly sets the stage for Trapped, a closing saga of suitably emotive proportions.
Miraclis earned his stripes as a DJ under the name Max Clementi in his native Chile, as well as Spain after a stint at the Barcelona SAE Institute. Playing and writing music since his parents gave him his first guitar at age twelve, he found himself inspired by synth wave, electronic pop, trip hop, and psychedelic rock of the ‘80s and ‘90s, drenching himself in music by the likes of Massive Attack, Tricky, Depeche Mode, and Nine Inch Nails. However, it wasn’t until he had to move back to Pucón to take care of his father during the pandemic that he began working on what would become Origin Of Truth.
Serendipity seems to play a large part in Crosstown Rebels’ new label Secret Teachings. Just look at the story of how Damian met Miraclis in the first place. It involved a chance midnight encounter in Pucón, Chile at a woodland campfire after the DJ was locked out of his hotel room. This meeting of minds was the start of a remarkable friendship, where Miraclis invited Lazarus to stay at his house and break bread with his family. The two kept in touch, exchanging music and ideas as a result.
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Real people music recorded at a Quaker Boarding school in the mid- '70s. Mixing soft psych, vocal jazz, and sunshine soul, Shira Small and her high school music teacher Lars Clutterham created a peerless artifact of outsider magic. Imagination, wonder, the existential dread of Vietnam and math class and getting caught smoking weed in Nixon's America_ it's all here. Is your life alright?
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Continuing our quest to get all of the classic early AMT albums released on vinyl, we turn to 2004’s 'Mantra Of Love’, and with the help of Makoto Kawabata’s studio wizardry, we’ve made it possible.
This latest instalment in the ‘Acid Mothers Temple Vinyl Archives - First Time On Vinyl’ series (as with the three previous SOLD OUT releases in the series) have all been meticulously put together with the help of Makoto Kawabata with the original CD artwork recreated for these vinyl editions from archive photos stored in the vaults at the Acid Mothers Temple in Osaka, Japan and the original audio remastered by James Plotkin.
Here’s what others had to say upon it’s original CD only release back in 2004 …
“Acid Mothers are strong folk. You'd think they'd tire quickly, all tucked away on their island, strewn about on tree roots while baking their lungs and throats to a knotty green tinge. But instead of waltzing through life like hippies, they manage to not only tour and put out records every year, but also to fill those albums with 30-minute jams and assorted freakouts. And while evil jam bands would fill that space with guitar work taken from the Classic Rock Manual of Clichés, Makoto Kawabata and company assault listeners with frighteningly dense walls of white noise, psychedelic swirl effects and, yes, even guitar solos-- albeit ones that are more Merzbow or Keiji Haino than Gary Rossington. Truly, AMT's endurance and threshold for cosmic lashings are both worthy of admiration.
But how much AMT can you take in one sitting? If there's anything this band has taught us-- via records such as 2002's Electric Heavyland and the ferocious Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O-- it's that they're not afraid to reach for the upper regions of consciousness. On Mantra of Love, they offer two titles over the course of one hour, never faltering along the way, and it's as if we listeners are just brief visitors passing through a never-ending, spontaneous group trip. For all I know, Kawabata has hundreds of hours of this stuff on his hard drive-- at any single moment, this record's sheer volume of sound is a clamor to behold. However, if you aren't dialed into that the particular space AMT inhabits (for me, it's the mystical fire-baptism standby), you might not hear their glorious noise for all the, well, glorious noise.
"La Le Lo" begins as a lengthy psychedelic ballad sung by Cotton Casino (who doubles on "beer & cigarettes"), who is accompanied by her own ghostly backing vocals. The band is playing a mantra as Casino waxes earth-mother stylings to the moon. The serenity is broken by a patented AMT rave led by Kawabata's electric sitar (!) solo. Ace rhythm section Tsuyama Atsushi ("monster bass") and Koizumi Hajime hold things together, as does the generally decent recording quality (not a given for these guys), but the real money is in effects-- lots and lots effects. Much like France's Richard Pinhas or AMT's countrymen in Les Rallizes Denudes and High Rise, the band understands the collaborative power of solo + overdriven Moog sirens and screams. And, also like those artists, Acid Mothers can go on all night if need be. About 25 minutes into this piece, any hell that hadn't already broken loose gets its due, and the band speeds to a fiery climax before winding down into glimmering astro-ambience.
The second track, "L'Ambition dans le Miroir", also begins as a minor ballad featuring Casino's haunting solo vocal. The Mothers set her up with a faux-blues drag and a thick buffer of synth-rays; when Casino actually enters, she fights for airtime with an array of falling stars and cosmic dust. However, this time there is no overwhelming solo to power the comedown. Casino intermittently coos in the background while droning horns keep the auxiliary pixie haze from evaporating. As they showed on In C and La Novia, AMT are more than adept at creating calmer storms-- listeners just have to catch them in the right light. Mantra of Love doesn't necessarily capture the most inspired moments in their canon but as usual with this band's records, it's rarely at a loss for moments of horror or grandeur.”
After more than a decade of lighting up Australia's soul scene and stages across the country, Fulton Street is all grown up with the release of their sophomore album 'Hard Truths' – and they aren't holding back. Raw and real, 'Hard Truths' is forthright funk that shoots straight from the heart.
Made with great reverence to the roots of funk and soul, 'Hard Truths' is made up of 11 songs recorded directly to tape. Produced and mixed by Fulton Street's very own Jamie Stroud, the album was recorded with Alex Bennett from Sound Recordings in Castlemaine and is a tribute to the rawness of analogue recording, resulting in a sound that makes you feel like you are right there in the room.
From their Uni days, Fulton Street has retained a truly vibrant sound that has only grown into a lion's roar. Recorded and produced to perfection, 'Hard Truths' is a record for retro music lovers who are looking to hear something true.
Fulton Street has lit up festival stages across Australia's biggest events, as well as continuously selling out feature shows. They have enthralled crowds at Moomba Festival, Tasmanian Wine Festival, Caloundra Music Festival, Boogie Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, St Kilda Festival, Melbourne Music Week, Stonnington Jazz Festival, as well as Bluesfest sideshow support slots.
Coming to full form in Melbourne's most iconic and sweatiest soul venues, Fulton Street is regularly featured nationally on the stations where the true music aficionados live: PBS, Triple R and Triple J.
A Universe of Pop: Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night Features Meticulous Production, Includes the Hits “Big Love,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders,” and “Little Lies”
Experience the 1987 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time:
Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Captures the Perfectionist Details
1/2" / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe
The perfectionism involved in crafting Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night reached a level of intensity experienced by few artists before or since. Commercially and creatively, the painstaking efforts paid off. Recorded over the span of 18 months, the triple-platinum album spawned four hit singles and put Fleetwood Mac back at the center of mainstream conversation. Its demands also ultimately forced its primary architect, guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham, to leave the group shortly after its completion. Was it all worth it? A thousand times “yes.”
Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Tango in the Night presents the 1987 record in audiophile sound for the first time. Everything co-producers Buckingham and Richard Dashut sought to instill in the music — the exacting tones, gauzy textures, plush atmospherics, shifted harmonics, unique pitches, pristine acoustics, biting rhythms — can now be heard with elevated accuracy, range, depth, and detail.
Made under challenging circumstances, Tango in the Night is as much a universe of sound as it is an album. This reissue conveys that sonic spectrum in exhaustive manners that go beyond prior editions by playing with a combination of transparency, imaging, openness, and dynamics that provides uncanny insight into the meticulously layered vocal and instrumental tracks. Equally important, it also amplifies your connection to the elaborate melodies, contagious hooks, and airy highs that account for the album’s ageless pop brilliance.
As for the wondrous array of percussive accents, synthesizer elements, interlaced guitars, and lush choruses — all seemingly occupying the exact right place amid the soundstages and taking on shapes and forms that lend them a living, breathing quality? If your audio system is up to the task, the realism, presence, and warmth of Mobile Fidelity’s collectible edition will have you considering Tango in the Night from a new perspective — one that puts its lavish, gorgeous creations on a par with those from Rumours and Tusk.
Unlike those records, Tango in the Night began from a more individualistic perspective in that it sprang from what originally was intended to become a Buckingham solo effort. Instead, it remains the final album credited to the peak Fleetwood Mac lineup involving Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie. Though the participation of all the members varies from track to track, the cohesive arrangements and alchemic production on Tango in the Night suggest a unity that remains on a par with the band’s other landmark works.
Largely constructed from laborious methods that involved recording at half speed to achieve the desired sonics and tonal nuances, piecing together verses and choruses to attain seamless synchronicity, and Buckingham using a Fairlight CMI synthesizer/workstation in visionary ways, the songs pair electronic and acoustic elements to radiant effect. Tango in the Night also possesses light dance structures that resulted in several tunes being recast as dance mixes on extended-play singles. Above all, however, this is music that appears to float and cast dreamy spells.
Surrender to the frisky interplay of the opening “Big Love,” big pop punctuated with Buckingham’s back-and-forth “oh-ah” sighs that ping the Top 5 smash with innocuous sensuality and toe-tapping momentum. Delight amid the shimmering lights of “Seven Wonders,” whose shades and shadows shift amid Nicks’ raspy vocals and a large group chorus. Wrap yourself in the warmth of the weightless “Everywhere,” a flawless slice of hummable pop that topped with Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks and towers as an ode to the love everyone desires. Stare into the mysterious landscape of the title track (and dig the synthesized harp) just before it explodes, briefly ceding to a terse riff and locked-in grooves.
Tango in the Night teems with delightful surprises and well-honed specifics, especially when Buckingham and Christine McVie team together. In addition to the aforementioned “Everywhere,” the singer born Christine Anne Perfect plays a major role on four more cuts — all highlights — from the breathy, head-over-heels emotionalism of “Mystified” to the sweet, sweeping escapism of “Little Lies,” a cover-up of romantic despair aided by Nicks’ irreplaceable background vocals.
“If I see you again/Will it be the same,” asks Buckingham on “When I See You Again,” finishing up a song a longing-sounding Nicks had started while voicing words that many likely knew would resonate far beyond the confines of the heartfelt song — a goodbye wearing a faint disguise. Though Fleetwood Mac would never again reach the heights maintained throughout Tango in the Night, and members would go their own way, the album towers as a paean to what’s possible in the fields of pop, rock, and studio wizardry.
Joni Mitchell Gets Jazzy, Counterbalances Love and Trust with Freedom and Confusion on Court and Spark
Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP
Plays with Definitive Detail and Clarity: Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl Strictly Limited to 5,000 Numbered Copies
Box Set Features New Liner Notes
1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe
Court and Spark, the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell's trailblazing career, arrived after a year in which she took some time to breathe and kept a low profile. The pause led to more breakthroughs for the singer-songwriter. Marking Mitchell's increasing drift toward jazz (and affinity for Miles Davis and John Coltrane), Court and Spark garnered four Grammy nominations, earned the Best Album of the Year vote in the prestigious Pazz & Jop poll, and ranks #110 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and featuring new liner notes, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the 1974 classic with definitive detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD sets.
Benefitting from a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible edition reproduces without compromise the textures, details, and breathtaking craftsmanship that help make Court and Spark into what many fans believe is the Canadian native’s finest hour. Notes bloom and decay as they do amid an acoustic live environment. Soundstages extend far and deep, with black backgrounds and balanced tones adding to the uncanny realism.
The reference-grade presence and openness put in transparent view Mitchell’s incisive words and unique phrasing, as well as the contributions of her prized support musicians — including Tom Scott and the L.A. Express as well as guest turns by the likes of David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jose Feliciano, and Robbie Robertson. Mitchell, experimenting with the melodic parameters of guitar and piano, is rightly found at the center of it all. The jazz-rock rhythms of drummer John Guerin, slippery guitar lines of Larry Carlton, vibrant horns and reeds laid down by Scott — crucial to the songs’ shape-shifting arrangements — can now also be heard with fresh ears.
Visually and physically, the packaging of the Court and Spark UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This reissue is for listeners who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including Mitchell’s “The Mountain Loves the Sea” painting — a picture of waves embracing and receding away from a mountain, a metaphor for the record’s lyrical themes — on the cover art.
Pitching deceptively light compositions against underlying tensions, Court and Spark witnesses the singer-songwriter finding her footing with a group of top-shelf musicians who seemingly understand her visions as well as expanding her lyrical palette and venturing further into territory no artist had dared explore. Mitchell’s accessibly complex structures, beat-propelled rhythms, and spirited interplay with Scott & Co. both give the music a different identity than her prior efforts and point in the directions she soon headed.
Lyrically, Court and Spark matches the wit, integrity, originality, and intellect of anything in Mitchell’s oeuvre — no small feat. Offsetting positives with negatives, and considering circumstances from multiple angles, Mitchell explores issues connected to love and freedom, certainty and confusion, and trust and fear with unfettered boldness and introspective empathy. She teeters between surrender and retreat, and spends a majority of the record sussing out the complications and sacrifices involved with such actions.
Mitchell addresses the transactional nature of desire (the intimate title track, the upbeat “Raised on Robbery,” complete with rock ‘n’ roll pep from Robertson and zesty sax from Scott); anticipation and disappointment of romance (“Car on a Hill,” “”Down to You); fame and celebrity (“A Free Man in Paris,” “People’s Parties”); and sanity (the dark and stormy “Trouble Child,” a satirical cover of Annie Ross’ “Twisted”). Throughout, she sings with an emotionally penetrating beauty and devastating honesty that teaches about ourselves.
Or, as Mitchell relays on “People’s Parties”: “Laughing and crying/You know it’s the same release.”
When Bob Vylan won the first MOBO award for Best Alternative Music Act in 2022, the punk-grime duo took to the stage and used the platform to speak about how they managed to achieve the impossible as independent artists in a genre-defying space. “We released an album this year that we produced entirely, mixed entirely, recorded entirely, all from my bedroom…so everybody that’s here, bigging up Atlantic and bigging up Warner, fuck that, us man did it ourselves”.
It was an acceptance speech that rattled the room and built anticipation for their next projects.
Humble as the Sun, the forthcoming album from Bob Vylan continues with much of the rage and urgency that they have come to be known and loved for, but this latest project shows that they are now stronger and wiser, bolstered by the wins and learnings that they have fought hard for along the way. The resulting tracklist aims to leave the listener feeling power alongside their anger, and brings a fresh and compelling blend of punk, rock, grime and rap together in an experimental way.
Following on from the last album, Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life, the message woven throughout Humble as the Sun remains dark in places but is high-energy, defiant and unapologetic in its critique of a broken social and political system that so many have fallen victim to, but feel powerless against.
This album is for the underdogs, the ones who come out swinging and those who refuse to be defeated in the face of injustice, and aims to remind listeners that anger is a fire that can be harnessed and put to use. The album creation started from a conversation with the sun, which is, after all, a big ball of fire that sustains life.
From masculinity to myths about the G Spot, the themes and topics explored on Humble As The Sun make for an often humorously empowering celebration of the peoples ability to endure, overcome and bring about change.
The lyricism on this album is even more layered than their previous projects, still darkly humorous, anti-establishment and unforgiving but at times pauses to deliver much-needed words of afrmation to listeners, “You are loved. You are not alone. You are going through hell but keep going.” Bobby assures the listener, ofering an antidote to the state of the world, aiming to give some power and agency to those who hear it. At a time when so little trust or faith exists between the people and the powers that be, Bob Vylan ofers out a hand in the despondent darkness that has overwhelmed so many in the shadow of a burning planet. They guides the listener to a place where they can see some light and feel empowered to do something, to fight back, to continue pushing forwards despite the challenges faced along the way.
Mixing all of the best quintessentially British - and Jamaican - musical elements from punk to drum and bass, grime and rock, Bob Vylan creates a sound that reflects the state of the nation, at once voicing the frustrations that normal people have, while also highlighting one’s ability to persevere, overcome hardship and to change.
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There is NO LIGHT at the end of this tunnel! BROWN ACID: The Nineteenth Trip fires ten more savage nails deep into the coffin of ‘60s psychedelic idealism. This series is THE premier top dog journey into the rarest and most wasted early local eruptions of heavy rock, unleashed at a time when harsh reality, human nature and disillusionment drove prevailing underground rock glimpses of a ‘better’ world into ever darker selfabsorbed comedowns. Mind expanding ’60s love energies transform into toxic aggression right before your ears! The great thing is that these moves are totally justified, ‘we are all one’ is cosmically good in theory but ‘get it while you can’ ends up perhaps better advice in the light of human history. Both of those angles of awareness can coexist, some of these bands deliver unrelenting sideways positive energy but they aren’t over-thinking it, they are youthfully driven by hunger for life and satisfying the undeniable urges their DNA thrusts upon them. Sonically, the results in the BROWN ACID series never fail to breathe hot and heavy, the guitars kill it every time, the variety of approaches these tracks take keep the scenery shifting into new places. The key element that makes this stuff so potent is that THEY (the bands) are in control. Captured genuinely with no compromise, right out of the gate. No doubt they had ambition with high hopes for the future when they laid down these primal efforts, the fact that they captured their energy so vividly at a moment in time when the only direction imaginable was UP creates a hard hitting life affirming subtext to the proceedings. That is the core energy of blues and rock and roll, dealing with the struggles of existence by flipping a gigantic ‘what the fuck’ high energy bird right in the face of the moronic defective reality these bands were born into. If you take this stuff too ‘seriously’ you are utterly missing the point, it is beyond analysis, it is life itself! No amount of thinking will get you there quicker! BROWN ACID: The Nineteenth Trip is scary... the bottomless pit of deranged vintage heavy rock the series presents continually expands over time... one deadly dose too many and you might be trapped in the bad trip loop forever... enjoy it or lose your mind!