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The Barcelona trio behind the excellent Isla Fantasia from a few years ago are back to enliven another summer season with an anthemic, Ibiza-esque dance floor filler. Reminiscent of an early 90s Euro-house stomper, the production does what it says on the tin: solid four to the floor action, enchanting female vocals(courtesy of Brigitte Emaga), and a refrain that will have 'the brightest light' still lodged in your brain way into autumn.

The flip side, Mistura Magica, is a percussively-driven instrumental that feels like dancing through a tropical rainforest. With just the right amount of rise and fall to keep the rhythmic tension tight with anticipation, it's a journey of Brazilian beats peppered with exotica electronica. Sandwiched between a heavy pounding drums is the sweetest flute (courtesy of Irene Reig), taking the limelight like a bird in flight. A synesthetic track that has you listening in full colour!

Summer is now upon us, and with it one of our dearest dancefloor artillerymen returns to Timedance.

Ploy's « For when we haven’t slept » stands as a mission statement for the party athlete, it is a celebration of weekends ran like both a sprint and a marathon and its three tracks narrates the spirally craze that keeps you out and makes the dancers forget the sole existence of their beds.

Starting with the first hits of strobe lights on a Saturday night, as the energy rises and the dancefloor manically comes together (Crazy BB), it then moves on to a welcome and slightly hectic high octane after-party (Rose) before rolling all the way through to the sheer moments of lustful euphoria that defines the best Sunday sessions (Finally).

Bass pressure and intoxicating techno collide seamlessly without falling into the traps of forced seriousness, while hints of hook-laden house music keep the groove at peak levels, so the bodies can keep moving, beyond sleep and exhaustion and into the final stages of pure frenzy, for when we haven’t slept.

There's something intangible about Celeste, the Soundcarriers’ second album, originally released in 2010. It has a light, lucid quality, almost like driving exhausted through a strange city at night. Freeflowing yet tethered, dreamy yet attacking, the band continue the fight to reconcile competing impulses. Various threads just about keep the shimmering tapestry from tearing. Haunting folk melodies underpinned by rhythmic static and the physicality of the totally analogue recording and mixing, baroque keyboard counterpoints and sweeping arrangements. The opener “Last Broadcast” seems to encapsulate this but it's almost as if the album gets the angst out of its system with this track and is free to explore the quieter, less crowded back streets. After the smoke of “Last Broadcast” has cleared, the twisting road takes in the soft introspection of “Hideaway” and “Morning Haze”, both tracks morphing into heavy psyche grooves or the eastern tinged psyche funk of “Signals” and “Rise And Fall”. Or takes another turn with the tightly arranged opening segment of “Long Highway”. Somehow it still manages to fit in ‘60s pop gems like “There Only Once”. An album to really lose yourself in, yet more concise than the sprawling Harmonium and more relaxed and freeflowing than the nervy rush of Entropicalia, Celeste could be arguably their most indispensable album and not to damn it with faint praise, their most listenable.

"Nothing Compares To Metal" setzt VELVET VIPERs Konzept mit Texten über klassische, poetische und mythische Themen fort.
Wie schon auf den ersten drei Alben der neuen Ära der Band, haben Jutta und Holger alle Songs gemeinsam komponiert.
Für VELVET VIPER ist es sehr wichtig, Musik zu machen, die die Mentalität und die kreative Freiheit der Band widerspiegelt, denn die Welt braucht Originale, keine Kopien.
Zum allerersten Mal gibt es auf dem Album einen Song mit deutschem Text, der ein privates kleines Statement von Jutta ist und nur auf der CD und der digitalen Version des Albums zu hören ist. Alle Songs auf dem Album sind etwa 5, 6 oder 7 Minuten lang, weil die Band der Meinung war, dass die Songs genug Raum brauchen, um sich mit ihren verschiedenen Teilen und komplexen Strukturen zu entfalten und die Dramatik zu erzeugen, die VELVET VIPER mit ihrer Musik vermitteln wollen.
VELVET VIPER haben sich für einen natürlichen Old-School-Sound entschieden, mit nur ein paar kleinen Keyboard-Einlagen hier und da, und sie haben versucht, ihren Live-Sound, den sie so lieben, auch einzufangen.
VELVET VIPER touren und nehmen seit einigen Jahren in unveränderter Besetzung auf und haben ihren Musikstil mit druckvollen Beats und großartigen Melodien dieses Mal wirklich auf den Punkt gebracht.

"Nothing Compares To Metal" setzt VELVET VIPERs Konzept mit Texten über klassische, poetische und mythische Themen fort.
Wie schon auf den ersten drei Alben der neuen Ära der Band, haben Jutta und Holger alle Songs gemeinsam komponiert.
Für VELVET VIPER ist es sehr wichtig, Musik zu machen, die die Mentalität und die kreative Freiheit der Band widerspiegelt, denn die Welt braucht Originale, keine Kopien.
Zum allerersten Mal gibt es auf dem Album einen Song mit deutschem Text, der ein privates kleines Statement von Jutta ist und nur auf der CD und der digitalen Version des Albums zu hören ist. Alle Songs auf dem Album sind etwa 5, 6 oder 7 Minuten lang, weil die Band der Meinung war, dass die Songs genug Raum brauchen, um sich mit ihren verschiedenen Teilen und komplexen Strukturen zu entfalten und die Dramatik zu erzeugen, die VELVET VIPER mit ihrer Musik vermitteln wollen.
VELVET VIPER haben sich für einen natürlichen Old-School-Sound entschieden, mit nur ein paar kleinen Keyboard-Einlagen hier und da, und sie haben versucht, ihren Live-Sound, den sie so lieben, auch einzufangen.
VELVET VIPER touren und nehmen seit einigen Jahren in unveränderter Besetzung auf und haben ihren Musikstil mit druckvollen Beats und großartigen Melodien dieses Mal wirklich auf den Punkt gebracht.

De Brassers were one of the most notorious bands in the Belgian new wave/punk history. With their no nonsense attitude they scared the shit out of the local catholic community of Hamont. De Brassers were a local mixture of the Sex Pistols (in the lowest gear) and Joy Division (they always performed a cover version of Joy Division’s Shadowplay), combining a criticism of bureaucracy and politics with experiences of psychological and existential tensions. The doomed sound they produced tells a lot about the dark atmosphere of the late seventies and early eighties: the fear of atomic bombs, cold war pessimism, police violence against squatters, the first cases of AIDS, and the grim years of Reagan & Thatcher.

This compilation takes you back to that time. All tracks from their first 7″ "En Toen Was Er Niets Meer” & their self-titled 12″, plus rare & unreleased tracks taken from various live performances & the cassette “Levend”. If you’re in for a raw slice of Belgian history let de Brassers immerse you in a cold wave of punk.

Long out of print (10 years!), this new edition of Soul Jazz Records' classic Delta Swamp Rock, features a killer all-star line-up of seminal artists who all first blended rock, soul and country together to create a stunning new sound of southern American music in the 1970s.

Featuring the Allman Brothers, Dan Penn, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Johnny Cash, Bobbie Gentry, Big Star, Link Wray, Area Code 615 and loads more!

This album comes as a superb limited-edition gold vinyl double vinyl release complete with extensive original sleevenotes, interviews and exclusive photography, all spread over a 12-page full-size magazine and two bespoke inner sleeves. The works!

Delta Swamp Rock is an interstate southern road-trip through the United States of America where country, rock and soul met at the crossroads - an exploration of the musical and cultural links between the cities of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Nashville in the 1960s and 70s.

At the start of the 1970s, a new type of music emerged out of the southern states of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Southern rock, the creation of young blue-collar white Americans, blended rock, soul, country and blues music together to present a new vision of the south – a post-civil rights southern identity complete with a celebration of the regions natural landscape and its way of life.

The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd epitomised the definitive southern rock groups – a mixture of blues-rock and country with a southern rebelliousness and attitude. Unfortunately both The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd were to be struck by tragedy, which would affect the movement’s rise and fall.

The backstory to southern rock is the fact that a number of the people involved in its creation had been central to the production of southern soul music in the 1960s mainly in Memphis, Tennessee, and the small town of Muscle Shoals (population around 10,000) deep within the bible-belt, liquor-free, deeply segregated state of Alabama, creating 100s of R&B hits on an almost daily basis.

Here in Muscle Shoals, with its proximity to Memphis and Nashville, an all-white group of in-house musicians, (famously referred to by Lynyrd Skynyrd in the song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ as the ‘Swampers’), created countless classic soul records for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Clarence Carter and more during the 1960s.

This album charts the rise and fall of southern rock from its funky swamp roots in southern soul to its phenomenal success in the first-half of the 1970s, including its influence on Nashville’s ‘outlaw’ country and tracing it right back to the arrival of rock and roll in the 1950s - the first meeting of black and white American music at the crossroads.

Bedouin aka Tamer Malki and Rami Abousabe are to release their long awaited and adventurous debut album Temple of Dreams on their own label Human By Default this Spring.

Over the course of the pandemic, Malki and Abousabe spent a great amount of time finalizing songs created in the past 7 years, composing, song writing, singing, and working on numerous projects including collaborations and new originals. Temple of Dreams was shaped from these sessions and captures the enigmatic sound of the versatile, forward-thinking group.

Malki explains that the album looks to “experiment and push the boundaries.” It differs from their previous work, as the album is intended to be a deep listening experience for the fans, rather than a slew of club cuts. The multi-talented artists sought to create a timeless sound in Temple of Dreams. Malki outlines that the album lies between “what we play on stages around the world and what we’re capable of writing and producing as musicians and producers. We wanted to exceed expectations and present something that you might think or feel you’ve heard before, yet it's something completely new and not what might be expected from us.”

It starts with the enchanting sounds and candle lit grooves of Rise And Fall then journeys far and wide through the Eastern string sounds of Coldman featuring Nathan Daisy, darkly alluring vocals and mystic rhythms of Voices In My Head and the hypnotic melodic leads of Crazy feat. Iveta Mukuchyan. Elsewhere the richness of Bedouin's sound makes for spellbinding listening on tracks like Hokema Feat. Delaram and Flore Chico feat. Chico Castillo with its alluring Spanish vocals. Love And Hate is a more dynamic and punchier house cut while Fill The Space is an intriguing mix of melodic magic, authentic instrumentation and smooth rolling grooves.

The musicians, singer-songwriters, and producers in Bedouin have spent the better part of a decade fine-tuning their sound, which draws as much from their Middle Eastern heritage as it does their world travels as DJs playing iconic venues across the globe. They have pioneered a distinctive and timeless sound on some of the world’s most notable labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Get Physical, All Day I Dream, and recently their own imprint—Human By Default.

Select major label releases include remixes for Black Coffee and Virgil Abloh on Ultra and Sony/Universal and as well as calling Burning Man home they have their own iconic Ibiza party, Saga, at Pacha each week of summer, and play major events such as Coachella, Tomorrowland, and Art Basel and venues like Ushuaïa, Wynn Las Vegas as well as a ground-breaking Cercle set filmed in Petra, Jordan.

This much anticipated debut album shows yet another side and the artistic development for this influential pair.

THULCANDRA’s rise to power ignited when the Germany-based outfit unleashed their debut album, Fallen Angel’s Dominion, upon metaldom in 2010. The group, fronted by founding member and visionary Steffen Kummerer (also of Obscura fame), have tightened their hibernal grip on blackened death metal since. The desolate melodic emanations in follow-up studio records Under a Frozen Sun (2011), Ascension Lost (2015), and the chart-topping, 2021-album A Dying Wish, dedicated to the late drummer Chris Kratzer, solidified THULCANDRA as a superior force, expertly thrusting the magic and mystery of mid-’90s melodic black-death metal into the modern era. Their fifth attack, entitled Hail the Abyss, sees THULCANDRA prove yet again why they’re atop death metal’s malefic vedette! Fierce tracks such as "As I Walk Through The Gateway", or the uber-brutal "Blood Of Slaves", showcase the band‘s affinity for dark, aggressive, and mellifluous metal while the album title track and the epic, mid-tempo rager "On The Wings Of Cosmic Fire" rip and terrorize with the intensity of hell. As always, THULCANDRA's about a vibe - there's a distinct "feel" to the band's latest album that's distinctly old-school but without the tired trappings of it. The hotly-anticipated Hail the Abyss is slated for release on May 19, 2023 via Napalm Records. Cooperation with renowned producer Dan Swanö (Dissection, Opeth, Katatonia), who handled the crushing album mix, was compulsory, as was the re-invitation to cover-master Lochner. Don’t fear the reaper—fear the majestic might of THULCANDRA, as Hail the Abyss will see them ultimately rise to full power!

The Ironsides have arrived. Changing Light is the first full-length effort from this masterful group of Bay Area musicians. It melds classic psych-soul sounds with sweeping orchestral arrangements - reminiscent of a cinematic soundtrack from a 60s European film. The Changing Light evokes strong imagery of an open road, a breathtaking view, and scenes of a vast landscape begging to be explored. Cruise up the coast, where sweeping orchestral arrangements rise and fall with the tide. As you head North, the countryside opens to an undeniable groove. Tremolo-soaked guitar tones grow on the vines, and timeless, soulful bass lines flow like wine. In higher altitudes, French horns and trumpets soar like eagles. A river below carries bellowing cello tones through a mountain pass into an expansive canyon. Down in the desert, fuzzed-out electric guitar cuts through the dry heat and leaves the listener thirsty for more. Plot a course, or just turn on the car and drive. Max recommends the latter. "The songs are inspired by landscapes - Each one could mean something to someone and create a completely different meaning for someone else." At the end of a long road, The Ironsides have found the perfect place to begin.

Hailed by American Songwriter as "one of America's most intriguing,
creative, and idiosyncratic voices," Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind The Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions Co- produced by multi- instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the 11- song collection pushes the acclaimed singer and songwriter's
trademark blend of vintage roots- noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption. The band's performances are electrifying here, resulting in Jewell's boldest album yet, a powerful work of artistic alchemy that transforms heartache into genuine creative rebirth.

The Offspring is a punk rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Dexter Holland, guitarist Noodles, drummer Pete Parada and bassist Todd Morse. Over the course of their 36-year career, they have released nine studio albums.

The Offspring is often credited—alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise and Jawbreaker—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s. They have sold over 40 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands in history. The Offspring achieved its first commercial success with their third studio album, Smash (1994), which has sold over eleven million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent record label, and was the first album released on Epitaph to obtain gold and platinum status. After switching record labels from Epitaph to Columbia in 1996, the Offspring continued their commercial success with its next six studio albums: Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000), Splinter (2003), Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) and Days Go By (2012); the first four were certified platinum, multi-platinum, platinum and gold status by the RIAA respectively.

The legendary So-Cal punk group The Offspring are back with their 10th album and first new offering since 2008. After releasing two standalone tracks in 2020 - the over-the-top cover of Joe Exotic's (of Tiger King infamy) "Hey Kitty Kitty" and a rendition of Darlene Love's classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - the band is ready to plant their punk rock flag in the sand once again with their blistering new album Let the Bad Times Roll.

With the help of producer Bob Rock, Dexter Holland describes the album as "the most cathartic thing we've done. The messages might be dark, but at the end what's left is that communication is important, working through feelings is important and most of all, hope is important." 

Then let the bad times roll for now, in the hopes that good times lie ahead.

Mit ihrem neuen Meisterwerk "Beautiful Distortion" melden sich THE GATHERING am 28.04.2022 eindrucksvoll zurück!

Satte 10 Jahre haben sich THE GATHERING, die mit Alben wie "Mandylion", "How To Measure A Planet?" oder "Souvenirs" zu internationalen Ikonen atmosphärischer Rockmusik wurden, für ihr neustes Werk Zeit gelassen, denn nach über 16 Jahren im Hamsterrad von Tourneen, die sich mit Albumaufnahmen abwechselten, um dann die nächste Tournee zu bestreiten, und dem Weggang ihres langjährigen Bassisten Marjolein Kooijman in 2013, brauchten die Musiker einfach mal eine Pause, um ihre Batterien wieder aufzuladen und sich um ihre Familien zu kümmern.

Ihr 25jähriges Bandbestehen 2014 haben THE GATHERING dennoch mit allen aktuellen und ehemaligen Bandmitgliedern im Doornroosje Club in Nijmegen groß gefeiert, um sich danach wieder in ihre selbst auferlegte musikalische Klausur zu begeben.

2018 dann war die Band wieder startklar. In Hugo Prinsen Geerligs, der bereits von 1989 bis 2003 die vier Saiten bei THE GATHERING bediente, fand man einen neuen Bassisten und die Gruppe begann, neue Songs zu schreiben und Konzerte zu spielen, bis 2020 die Pandemie zuschlug und alles um weitere zwei Jahre verzögerte.

Das 11.Studioalbum von THE GATHERING knüpft stilistisch an den Vorgänger "Disclosure" von 2012 an. Acht Titel, im für die Band typischen, satten Electro-Rock-Sound - auch als Trip Rock bekannt - , getoppt von wunderbaren Gesangsmelodien und der warmen Stimme von Sängerin Silje Wergeland machen "Beautiful Distortion" zum wahrscheinlich dynamischsten und melodischsten THE GATHERING-Album in ihrer über 30jährigen Bandgeschichte.

Produziert und gemixt wurde "Beautiful Distortion" von Attie Bauw (u.a. Judas Priest, Scorpions), der bereits bei den THE GATHERING-Alben "Home" und "How To Measure A Planet?" an den Reglern saß. Für das Mastering zeichnet Maor Appelbaum (u.a. Faith No More) verantwortlich.
Die Musik wurde von der Band im Arnold Muhren Studio in Volendam (NL) eingespielt, alle Gesangsparts wurden im Bergen Lydstudio in Norwegen aufgenommen.
"Beautiful Distortion" wurde in Dolby Atmos gemischt und kann auf allen Plattformen, die Dolby Atmos Mixe anbieten, gestreamt werden.

Sämtliche Bandmitglieder waren von Anfang an am kreativen Prozess und den Aufnahmen beteiligt, sowohl einzeln, online, als auch persönlich und gemeinsam, wann immer es möglich war. Es war zwar eine Herausforderung, während der Pandemie und den damit verbundenen Maßnahmen ein Album über zwei Länder hinweg zu schreiben und aufzunehmen, doch THE GATHERING haben auch dies mit Bravour gemeistert.

Das Boxset im LP-Format enthält:



- 'Beautiful Distortion' auf Vinyl, 8 neue Tracks.
- Die exklusive türkisfarbene Gatefold-Version enthält das komplette Album. Cover mit Kupferfolien-Artwork

- "Interference" EP auf Vinyl. Exklusive türkisfarbene Version der EP mit 2 brandneuen Songs und 1 Live-Track

- Beautiful Distortion' 6-Panel-Digifile-CD mit 16-seitigem Booklet und kupferfarbener Heißfolie auf dem Frontcover

- Die Digifile-CD 'Interference' enthält brandneue Songs und 1 Live-Track

- Exklusive Kunstdrucke 12x12 Zoll (3x). Ein Kunstdruck wird von der Band signiert

Yellow Vinyl

Mit ihrem neuen Meisterwerk "Beautiful Distortion" melden sich THE GATHERING am 29.04.2022 eindrucksvoll zurück!

Satte 10 Jahre haben sich THE GATHERING, die mit Alben wie "Mandylion", "How To Measure A Planet?" oder "Souvenirs" zu internationalen Ikonen atmosphärischer Rockmusik wurden, für ihr neustes Werk Zeit gelassen, denn nach über 16 Jahren im Hamsterrad von Tourneen, die sich mit Albumaufnahmen abwechselten, um dann die nächste Tournee zu bestreiten, und dem Weggang ihres langjährigen Bassisten Marjolein Kooijman in 2013, brauchten die Musiker einfach mal eine Pause, um ihre Batterien wieder aufzuladen und sich um ihre Familien zu kümmern.

Ihr 25jähriges Bandbestehen 2014 haben THE GATHERING dennoch mit allen aktuellen und ehemaligen Bandmitgliedern im Doornroosje Club in Nijmegen groß gefeiert, um sich danach wieder in ihre selbst auferlegte musikalische Klausur zu begeben.

2018 dann war die Band wieder startklar. In Hugo Prinsen Geerligs, der bereits von 1989 bis 2003 die vier Saiten bei THE GATHERING bediente, fand man einen neuen Bassisten und die Gruppe begann, neue Songs zu schreiben und Konzerte zu spielen, bis 2020 die Pandemie zuschlug und alles um weitere zwei Jahre verzögerte.

Das 11.Studioalbum von THE GATHERING knüpft stilistisch an den Vorgänger "Disclosure" von 2012 an. Acht Titel, im für die Band typischen, satten Electro-Rock-Sound - auch als Trip Rock bekannt - , getoppt von wunderbaren Gesangsmelodien und der warmen Stimme von Sängerin Silje Wergeland machen "Beautiful Distortion" zum wahrscheinlich dynamischsten und melodischsten THE GATHERING-Album in ihrer über 30jährigen Bandgeschichte.

Produziert und gemixt wurde "Beautiful Distortion" von Attie Bauw (u.a. Judas Priest, Scorpions), der bereits bei den THE GATHERING-Alben "Home" und "How To Measure A Planet?" an den Reglern saß. Für das Mastering zeichnet Maor Appelbaum (u.a. Faith No More) verantwortlich.
Die Musik wurde von der Band im Arnold Muhren Studio in Volendam (NL) eingespielt, alle Gesangsparts wurden im Bergen Lydstudio in Norwegen aufgenommen.
"Beautiful Distortion" wurde in Dolby Atmos gemischt und kann auf allen Plattformen, die Dolby Atmos Mixe anbieten, gestreamt werden.

Sämtliche Bandmitglieder waren von Anfang an am kreativen Prozess und den Aufnahmen beteiligt, sowohl einzeln, online, als auch persönlich und gemeinsam, wann immer es möglich war. Es war zwar eine Herausforderung, während der Pandemie und den damit verbundenen Maßnahmen ein Album über zwei Länder hinweg zu schreiben und aufzunehmen, doch THE GATHERING haben auch dies mit Bravour gemeistert.

The Offspring is a punk rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Dexter Holland, guitarist Noodles, drummer Pete Parada and bassist Todd Morse. Over the course of their 36-year career, they have released nine studio albums.

The Offspring is often credited—alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise and Jawbreaker—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s. They have sold over 40 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands in history. The Offspring achieved its first commercial success with their third studio album, Smash (1994), which has sold over eleven million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent record label, and was the first album released on Epitaph to obtain gold and platinum status. After switching record labels from Epitaph to Columbia in 1996, the Offspring continued their commercial success with its next six studio albums: Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000), Splinter (2003), Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) and Days Go By (2012); the first four were certified platinum, multi-platinum, platinum and gold status by the RIAA respectively.

The legendary So-Cal punk group The Offspring are back with their 10th album and first new offering since 2008. After releasing two standalone tracks in 2020 - the over-the-top cover of Joe Exotic's (of Tiger King infamy) "Hey Kitty Kitty" and a rendition of Darlene Love's classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - the band is ready to plant their punk rock flag in the sand once again with their blistering new album Let the Bad Times Roll.

With the help of producer Bob Rock, Dexter Holland describes the album as "the most cathartic thing we've done. The messages might be dark, but at the end what's left is that communication is important, working through feelings is important and most of all, hope is important." 

Then let the bad times roll for now, in the hopes that good times lie ahead.

There's something intangible about Celeste, the Soundcarriers’ second album, originally released in 2010. It has a light, lucid quality, almost like driving exhausted through a strange city at night. Freeflowing yet tethered, dreamy yet attacking, the band continue the fight to reconcile competing impulses. Various threads just about keep the shimmering tapestry from tearing. Haunting folk melodies underpinned by rhythmic static and the physicality of the totally analogue recording and mixing, baroque keyboard counterpoints and sweeping arrangements. The opener “Last Broadcast” seems to encapsulate this but it's almost as if the album gets the angst out of its system with this track and is free to explore the quieter, less crowded back streets. After the smoke of “Last Broadcast” has cleared, the twisting road takes in the soft introspection of “Hideaway” and “Morning Haze”, both tracks morphing into heavy psyche grooves or the eastern tinged psyche funk of “Signals” and “Rise And Fall”. Or takes another turn with the tightly arranged opening segment of “Long Highway”. Somehow it still manages to fit in ‘60s pop gems like “There Only Once”. An album to really lose yourself in, yet more concise than the sprawling Harmonium and more relaxed and freeflowing than the nervy rush of Entropicalia, Celeste could be arguably their most indispensable album and not to damn it with faint praise, their most listenable.

After 36 years without singing one word, unforeseeable tragedy and its consecutive challenges made Rico Friebe finally find his voice, suddenly and fluently starting to write songs full of intimacy and subtle storytelling – now presented on his debut singer album „Word Value“!

Processing the encounter with a special person and the lasting aftermath, all songs are perfused by an emotional sincerity and serenity, dealing with a rise and fall of depression and hope while furthermore exploring forgotten chasms and grievances from his further past.

„Word Value“ is tracing an arc as the first of four albums that are deeply connected, based on one another, followed next by the second LP „Faces Meets“ later in 2023.

In times of fast rising technology, artificial intelligence, social deconstruction, inflation of language and morality, the most basic and natural human needs haven't ever changed – re-find them while closing your eyes, opening your soul and putting on „Word Value“...

LTD. 180g WHITE LP + CD + TAPE + DOWNLOAD-CODE (INCL. UNRELEASED BONUS SONG) BUNDLE!

After 36 years without singing one word, unforeseeable tragedy and its consecutive challenges made Rico Friebe finally find his voice, suddenly and fluently starting to write songs full of intimacy and subtle storytelling – now presented on his debut singer album „Word Value“!

Processing the encounter with a special person and the lasting aftermath, all songs are perfused by an emotional sincerity and serenity, dealing with a rise and fall of depression and hope while furthermore exploring forgotten chasms and grievances from his further past.

„Word Value“ is tracing an arc as the first of four albums that are deeply connected, based on one another, followed next by the second LP „Faces Meets“ later in 2023.

In times of fast rising technology, artificial intelligence, social deconstruction, inflation of language and morality, the most basic and natural human needs haven't ever changed – re-find them while closing your eyes, opening your soul and putting on „Word Value“...

Tape

After 36 years without singing one word, unforeseeable tragedy and its consecutive challenges made Rico Friebe finally find his voice, suddenly and fluently starting to write songs full of intimacy and subtle storytelling – now presented on his debut singer album „Word Value“!

Processing the encounter with a special person and the lasting aftermath, all songs are perfused by an emotional sincerity and serenity, dealing with a rise and fall of depression and hope while furthermore exploring forgotten chasms and grievances from his further past.

„Word Value“ is tracing an arc as the first of four albums that are deeply connected, based on one another, followed next by the second LP „Faces Meets“ later in 2023.

In times of fast rising technology, artificial intelligence, social deconstruction, inflation of language and morality, the most basic and natural human needs haven't ever changed – re-find them while closing your eyes, opening your soul and putting on „Word Value“...

blueblue is the latest full-length from multi-instrumentalist and all-around vibe wizard, Sam Gendel. The record, out via Leaving Records, is a concise, tightly wound song suite whose 14 tracks each correspond to a pattern within sashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. This conceit remains playfully ambiguous — to what extent, if at all, is Kagome (woven bamboo) meant to evoke the pattern of the same name, for example? But there is an intuitive sense, throughout blueblue, that Gendel has, in this instance, narrowed his focus. To say that blueblue feels richly textural might be a little on-the-nose, thematically, but alas…it does. There is an intimacy, a humility, and a strength at play here that typifies the work of a master craftsman. Only an artist could make it sound so effortless.

A Los Angeleno by way of Central CA, Gendel is by now an institution. Across a dizzying slate of solo releases and collaborations, he has amassed a reputation for not only virtuosic musicianship (primarily as a saxophonist, though the songs that would become blueblue were all initially composed on guitar), but also for his mercurial and prolific output — a corpus of work, which, while obviously indebted to jazz and hip hop (and the farther flung, experimental corners of both) is, in a word, unpindownable.

The bulk of blueblue was recorded in isolation in a makeshift studio built in a cabin floating atop a tributary of Oregon’s Columbia River. Having sketched out a set of guitar melodies, Gendel recorded the album in five-or-so weeks, during which time he became well-acquainted with the river’s tidal rise and fall. This organic rhythm, which daily lifted the house to meet the horizon, later setting it down gently upon the riverbed, permeates t

Oliver Cherer is back with a new Gilroy Mere record which follows on from his other much lauded Clay Pipe releases (The Green Line, Adlestrop and last year’s D Rothon collaboration, Estuary English).

Over the last two decades Ollie has released numerous collections of music in an ever shifting array of modes, from folktronic, singer-songwriter styles through psychogeographic electronica to jazz-tinged, confessional ghost-pop and most recently, the “guitar tainted machine rock disco” of Aircooled.

Gilden Gate is an album of two halves. Side 1 ‘Rising’ celebrates the sun-drenched beaches, pastures and heaths of rural Suffolk, whereas Side 2 ‘Falling’ explores the underwater world of the lost city of Dunwich and its five church spires.

Oliver says:-

“A few years ago I discovered the lost city of Dunwich. I’d made a trip to Suffolk to shoot a short film about Sizewell Nuclear Power Stations and stayed in the old Coastguard’s Cottage on Dunwich Beach within sight of Minsmere Nature Reserve and the power plants. It’s a wild, sleepy place of pines and heath and North Sea winds and a strangely mysterious air – Sutton Hoo is nearby and Eno’s reference to the very beach that I was staying on made perfect sense. In the small museum at Dunwich I learned that this tiny hamlet had once been a major medieval city of international trade. It seemed unlikely and even now, knowing Dunwich as a small village, I find putting what I know about the place into perspective as a city a certain kind of impossible.

It seems that over a period under the influence of the weather, natural erosion and market rivalry the thriving harbour port was inundated by the North Sea and eventually slipped into and under it. The city of churches was lost and all the spires engulfed and toppled. What remains are the few houses, and the ruin of Greyfriars crumbling inexorably down the cliff and exposing the bones of buried monks as the graveyard follows the building’s stones into the sea.

There are local legends surrounding the site including stories of fishermen hearing the bells of lost churches and seeing the ghostly, lighted city beneath their boats as they return to the shore.
Gilden Gate is named for one of the entrances to the old city and is a musical meditation on Dunwich past and present. Frances Castle’s beautiful sleeve art depicts the surface and the sub-marine, the warm and the cold, the past and the present. The glass rises and the glass falls and in the background there are sirens, fog horns, church bells and Eno, and on the sea bed there are the scattered remains of a once great city.”

Gilden Gate is named for one of the entrances to the old city and is a musical meditation on Dunwich past and present. Frances Castle’s beautiful sleeve art depicts the surface and the sub-marine, the warm and the cold, the past and the present. The glass rises and the glass falls and in the background there are sirens, fog horns, church bells and Eno, and on the sea bed there are the scattered remains of a once great city.”

Ground Groove, the third full-length release from the LA-based, Iranian-American producer and DJ, Maral, begins with an invocation: the sprawling, achingly heavy Feedback Jam opens the floodgates of history. Conventional (linear) spacetime collapses, crushed beneath the track’s lumbering 4/4 heartbeat and successive waves of distortion. As each wave recedes, samples trickle forward in the mix — seeking, perhaps, to fill the void. Voices and instruments rise and fall in uncanny reverse. Overlapping, implied melodies flicker into focus, then flit away. Feedback Jam is at once an initiation ritual, and a thesis statement for the record that follows.

Drawing upon a vast personal archive of Iranian folk, classical, and pop recordings (some sourced from mixtapes made by her parents in the eighties/nineties), Maral presents, on Ground Groove, a further refinement of the signature “folk club” sound she developed as a live DJ— a sound she would later codify on Mahur Club (2019) and Push (2020). By collecting, dissecting, and re/presenting sonic fragments from Iran, Maral practices a kind of dance-floor ethnomusicology. The subject of her inquiry: Iranian


culture and contexts, throughout history and in the present. But, crucially, this inquiry is instantiated within and throughout the body of the listener, whether this listener is dancing in the club, or riding the train, nodding along with headphones on.

Maral speaks of being in collaboration with her samples, treating each as a distinct bandmate, often consulting with an artist’s catalog (or even a single recording) as one would a trusted creative partner. In so-doing, Maral claims to seek to transcend the self. In this regard, her output neatly triangulates contemporary dance and heavy music with much of the traditional religious music that she samples. Broadly speaking, each of these idioms addresses a desire —shared by audience and performer alike—to transcend the self through volume, repetition, and movement.

Having, in her youth, studied the Setar under Nader Majd (the founder of Virginia’s Center for Persian Classical Music), Maral cycled through various genres (ex: punk, emo, dub) in her adolescence and early twenties, all the while expanding her knowledge of, and appreciation for, Iran’s diverse musical traditions during regular summer trips to Tehran. In college, Maral taught herself to make beats with a ripped copy of Ableton (which remains her DAW of choice), eventually transitioning to playing and hosting various club nights. Forever abiding by an autodidactic, DIY impulse to create art and foster community, Maral relocated to Los Angeles in 2013, where she quickly immersed herself in the city’s numerous overlapping music scenes.

Collaboration (beyond sampling) has proven an important component of her process, with notable spoken word contributions from the likes of Lee Scratch Perry and Penny Rimbaud, as well as a 2021 Panda Bear collab track (On Your Way), which the Animal Collective founder co-produced. Maral is equally attentive to the visual components of her records (album art, music videos, etc.), drawing upon the work of peers and friends for inspiration.

Indeed, the genesis of Ground Groove can be traced back to an audio-visual collaboration between Maral and the artist Brenna Murphy, originally commissioned for the 2021 Rewire Festival — a project that would eventually serve as the album’s foundation. Tracks eight through eleven on Ground Groove comprise Maral’s half of this installation, with tracks one through seven composed afterwards, inspired by the fruits of Maral and Murphy’s collaboration. Murphy’s visuals will be released alongside Ground Groove as a visual accompaniment. Additionally, Murphy designed the album’s art, directed the video for the lead single (the aforementioned Feedback Jam), and is featured on track six, Shy Night.

Composed largely on Ableton, Ground Groove features more frequent and more prominent live recordings from Maral (guitar, bass, and vocals) than either Push or Mahar Club. The cult favorite Roland MC-909 groovebox rears its head on Mari’s Groove. Mixed by Trayer Tryon (Hundred Waters) and mastered by Daddy Kev, the attention to sonic quality on Ground Groove constitutes another significant step in Maral’s development as a studio artist.

Ground Groove’s eleven tracks are “grooves” in the obvious sense, in that they are each driven by a persistent, propulsive rhythm, but the album’s title may just as well suggest the glacial passage of time—the scope of human history, in which individual voices, like streams, carve paths (impossibly) through earth and stone, winding their way to the vast sea of the present.

Limited colour variant "battlefield aftermath with blood & dirt swirl" Following their 2020 debut, Ruin, FORETOKEN's latest album sees the group expand upon their foundations of meticulously lofty soundscapes, mythological narratives, and elaborate musicianship. Utilizing traditional narratives of myths, legends, and folklore from a wide range of Western and Middle Eastern origins, Triumphs examines the ignored collateral damage of the cost of victory through these established mythos. Taking musical inspiration from melodic and tech death metal, as well as power, folk and black metal, Foretoken's core sound on Triumphs is bolstered by subtle and captivating use of traditionally Scandinavian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern instruments for atmospheric depth. Reunited once again with Hannes Grossmann (Hate Eternal, Alkaloid, Obscura, Necrophagist, Blotted Science, and Triptykon) on drums and boasting a guest guitar appearance by The Black Dahlia Murder's Brandon Ellis, FORETOKEN's technical prowess shines through without overpowering any of the nine songs' rhythmic charge. Triumphs was penned throughout 2021 by both Steve Redmond (guitar and orchestration) and Dan Cooley (vocals), with the pair settling on eight original compositions and a cover of Naglfar's I Am Vengeance. Grossmann then commenced drum tracking at his own studio, Mordor Sounds, with guitars recorded by Redmond himself and vocals captured at Trepan Studios by Tony Petrocelly, before mixing and mastering duties were placed in the accomplished hands of Jacob Hansen (Arch Enemy, Fleshgod Apocalypse, The Black Dahlia Murder, and more) at Hansen Studios. Visually tied together by portrait artist Tomas Honz's detailed cover painting, depicting a protagonist's journey in the aftermath of battle, Triumphs aesthetic component is a symbolic embodiment of the duo's enduring fascination with historial consequence via a folkloric lens. Taking fables and fantasy to extreme sonic heights, FORETOKEN's Triumphs is as lofty in ambition as it is accomplished in its musicianship and songcraft.

THE LATHUMS STATE THEIR INTENTIONS TO SUPERCHARGE THEIR CONTINUED RISE WITH THE RELEASE OF BRAND NEW ALBUM, FROM NOTHING TO A LITTLE BIT MORE, RELEASED ON ISLAND RECORDS.
PROMISING A TOTAL OF ELEVEN SONGS, FROM NOTHING TO A LITTLE BIT MORE FOLLOWS THE UK OFFICIAL ALBUM CHARTS NO.1 SUCCESS OF THE BAND’S 2021 DEBUT, HOW BEAUTIFUL LIFE CAN BE.
THE NEW ALBUM FEATURES THE SONGS ‘SAD FACE BABY’ AND ‘SAY MY NAME’. UK sold out tour in March!

Anfang Januar spielten die Jungs aus Wigan (Greater Manchester) ihr allererstes Headline Konzert im Berliner Fluxbau. Es war absolut an der Zeit und die Band hinterließ ihr Publikum mit staunenden Mündern
und glücklichen Gesichtern.
Der beeindruckende Live-Ruf, der der Band vorauseilte war also nicht erfunden.
Mit den 4 Singles ”Turmoil“, ”Say My Name“, ”Sad Face Baby” und der aktuellen Single ”Struggle” ist der Weg für das zweite Album geebnet. Dieses erscheint Anfang März und trägt den Titel „From Nothing To A Little Bit More“.

NuNorthern Soul may be Ibiza-based, but the label’s connections with Nottingham run deep. Over the years, Phil Cooper’s imprint has offered up countless releases and remixes from some of the East Midlands’ city’s most Balearic-minded residents, including Crazy P’s Jim Baron, Is It Balearic? chiefs Coyote and, most recently, Constellations Workshop associates Brown Fang.

You can also add to that list Torn Sail, a collaboration between Brown Fang members Jon Thompson and Henry Scott, and another Notts-based NuNorthern Soul contributor, Huw Costin. The trio’s mesmerising ‘Disconnected’ recently featured on the label’s deluxe 10th anniversary vinyl box set and now they return with a single credited to both Brown Fang and Torn Sail – the first such occurrence of that happening.

Those who heard Brown Fang’s brilliant mini-album, Sherwood Pines, will immediately feel at home. Both ‘Exit’ and ‘Endless’, the two tracks showcased on this fine single release, feature the same gorgeous, slowly shifting fusion of sun-kissed electric guitar textures, ambient atmospherics and immersive, sunset-friendly sound design.

First up is ‘Exit’, an undulating, slow burning delight where rising and falling electronic melodies and yearning, gently jazzy electric guitar motifs rise above a sparse, shuffling, subtly Latin-tinged drum machine rhythm and warming bass. Endearing, enveloping and endlessly attractive, the track seemingly blossoms in slow motion throughout its’ three-and-a-half-minute duration, with additional musical elements presenting themselves as it progresses. Even by the trio’s high standards, it’s a magical composition.

On ‘Endless’, the long-time collaborators explore their love of mind-soothing ambient soundscapes. Doffing a cap to the 1970s new age ambience of Steve Hillage – whose distinctively languid, stretched out, effects-laden electric guitar solos were undoubtedly an inspiration –Thompson, Scott and Costin deliver a becalmed and brilliant dream-scape full of hazy aural textures, drifting chords and gentle, eyes-closed vocalisations. It feels like a loved-up, smile-inducing evocation of the most visually stunning dawn you’ve ever ushered in after a night dancing under the stars.

This land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her. In dreams she saw the river, her ancestors, and her home. When the land calls, you listen. And KP found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar
trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish.

It is a powerful thing to return to our ancestral lands and often times the journey is not easy. Like the salmon through the currents, like the tide as it crawls to shore this is a story of return. It is the call and response. It is the outstretched arms of the people who came before, welcoming her home. The Land, The Water, The Sky is a celebration of lineage and strength. Even in its deepest moments of loneliness and grief, of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, the songs remind us that if we slow down, if we listen to the waves and the wind through the trees, we will remember to breathe.

There is a throughline of story in every song, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There is a reimagining of Sedna who was offered to the sea, and a beautiful rumination on sacrifice and humanity, and what it means to hold the stories that work to teach us something.

Chord progressions born out of moments of sadness and solitude transform into the islands that sit blue along the horizon. The Salish Sea curves along her homelands, and when the singer is close to this water she is reminded of her grandmother, how she looked out at these same islands, and she’s held by spirit and memory.

The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

There is a joy present here, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and th stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

This is a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Katherine Paul’s journey home wasn’t made alone, and the songs are crowded with loved ones and relatives, like a really good party. And as the songs walk us through the land it is important we hover over the images and the beauty, the moments that mark this album as site specific. The power of this land is woven throughout, telling the story of narrow waterways, brush strokes, salmon stinta, and above all healing.

Let it take you. Move through the story and see the land through her eyes, because it is a gift, a welcomed sʔabadəb.*

*The word “gift” in Lushootseed, the language of the Coast Salish people“

Darker Days Ahead is Terrorizer's follow up to their classic 1989 album World Downfall. It features original members Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel) and Jesse Pintado (Napalm Death, Brujeria) on drums and guitar with new members Anthony Rezhawk and Tony Norman joining in on vocals and bass. Despite the 16 year gap between releases, the band picked up exactly where they left off in 1989 and created an album full of pure extreme metal that is guaranteed to satisfy all fans of old school death metal and grindcore. The Svart reissue is officially licensed from Century Media and comes on black and limited green wax.

Darker Days Ahead is Terrorizer's follow up to their classic 1989 album World Downfall. It features original members Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel) and Jesse Pintado (Napalm Death, Brujeria) on drums and guitar with new members Anthony Rezhawk and Tony Norman joining in on vocals and bass. Despite the 16 year gap between releases, the band picked up exactly where they left off in 1989 and created an album full of pure extreme metal that is guaranteed to satisfy all fans of old school death metal and grindcore. The Svart reissue is officially licensed from Century Media and comes on black and limited green wax.

MEMORIAM needs no introduction ‐ they are living legends of Old School Death Metal. Not only because the former fields of activity of the Brits belonged and still belong to the pioneers of UK Death Metal, but because they managed to follow their master plan more than precisely. MEMORIAM has built up their own loyal fan base over the past
seven years and developed its own musical identity. It would certainly have been easy for them to just follow the old paths, but the true art of the band is that they never deny their origins, but gradually incorporate something new ‐ with every album a few new nuances and facets are added.

The sheer speed of their creative output shows how consistently MEMORIAM follow this path: Following the initial success of the HELLFIRE DEMOS trilogy, MEMORIAM signed with Nuclear Blast in 2016. The band went on to release FOR THE FALLEN (2017), THE SILENT VIGIL (2018) and REQUIEM FOR MANKIND (2019) ensuring within a very short time that MEMORIAM were firmly established among loyal Death Metal fans. This wassupported by dozens of concerts, which have taken the band from selected club shows to major festival appearances (e.g. Hellfest, Wacken, Summer Breeze, Graspop). Following the success of this initial trilogy, MEMORIAM switched to the young label Reaper Entertainment. The album TO THE END, the first of a new trilogy, was released in 2021. The second album of the trilogy, RISE TO POWER, will be released in early 2023.

RISE TO POWER will not only once again offer an atmospherically dense Dan Seagrave cover, the war theme stylized on it also runs through Karl Willetts’ lyrics: With 'Never Forget, Never Again (6 Million Dead)' about the Holocaust and the, unfortunately, more than current 'Total War' about the war in Ukraine, Karl is more political than ever. "I am
writing 'our burden and shame' instead of 'their' as I believe it is our collective responsibility to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. I feel that it is my responsibility as a frontman and lyricist to write about the things that I feel are important," explains Karl. MEMORIAM transforms aggression and grief into
uncompromising Death Metal energy. Also musically the mentioned above development process continues.

While the opener still serves the essential Death Metal groove, MEMORIAM becomes more variable with each additional song and keeps adding new dynamics into their Old School Death Metal sound ‐ from brutal grooves ('Annihilation's Dawn') via doomy‐melodic parts like in 'I Am The Enemy' up to aggressive Nordic riffing like in 'Total War'. RISE TO POWER is an extremely varied album, as Karl confirms: "That's Scott's style, he comes from a different generation than Frank, Spike and me. He brings in influences from bands I haven't even heard of. It gives us the balance between old and new, and it works pretty well for us.” (Thomas Strater)

Ma Spaventi is a wonderfully versatile artist. Over his decade-long career, the Italian musician has turned his capable hand to everything from ambient to techno. Once again, he is expanding his sound palette and challenging expectations with Vicino Lontano.

Across eight tracks, an array of ideas and influences are explored with additional guitar work coming care of Odeon’s Michele Righini. The reflective hues of “Solitario” give way to the warming strings and peaceful brightness of “Crepuscolo.” Written and produced in Amsterdam between 2017 and 2019, beautiful memories of the past are the source of inspiration. Radiating Summer sunshine bathes “Bring Me Back” in a comforting glow, while “Velvet Lights” teases rhythm sections with thick bass lines and shimmering synth work. Moments of introspection arrive in the elegant gliding forms of “Bomber” and “Intermezzo.” The rumbling “End Line” finds harmony amongst a spread of styles, cascading chords and rich textures, all combining beautifully. A moon rise closes, the grand curtain falls on “Bidderosa”, calling time of this stunning collection.

Techno trailblazer Amelie Lens presents her new EP 'In My Mind' on her own Lenske imprint, containing three explosive techno tracks.

Belgium's Lenske Records presents its next EP from label head Amelie Lens. The release marks a considerable high point of Lens' career, hot on the heels of the launch of her radio show and dropping just before her debut Ibiza residency with sister label EXHALE. 'In My Mind' will mark Amelie's first solo release on the label since 2020 and follows her collaboration with Airod on 'Raver's Heart' EP late last year. The EP also was inspired by electrifying visuals that Amelie takes on the road and showcases at selected gigs.

Title track 'In My Mind' opens proceedings with blasts, bangs and heavy reverbs whilst Amelie's voice swirls above. The build-up gives way to furious claps, and spiking synths that continue to dance around the vocal sample in a ruthless march. The beat is unrelenting with a venomous, pulsing bassline that creates this raw and atmospheric techno cut, while bubbling keys maintain vitality and lightness with their careful arrangement.

Multiple elements come into play for subsequent track 'First Light'. A stripped back kick synchronizes with distorted pads for the opening, soon accompanied by a heavier kick-drum counterpart and lick of acid to inject some sharpness. The true DNA of the track is the programmed claps and dark pads that rise and fall menacingly throughout, as splashes of effects are thrown into the mix.

Final track on the record 'Trippin'' undoubtedly packs a punch. Blasting off with a dominant kick and oscillating spring reverb that swipes through Amelie's wistful vocals, the harder elements gradually succumb to the softness of her voice. The listener's focus is momentarily shifted during an early breakdown before the kick returns with more vigor accompanied by hurried hi-hats and distortion that sends you into a frenzy.

35th anniversary release of Liege Lord's seminal metal album "Master Control". Liege Lord are a staple of the United States power metal scene for a reason – all three of their albums; Freedom’s Rise, Burn to my Touch, and Master Control, are undoubtedly classics of the genre. It exemplifies the best features of the genre; aggression, speed, catchy vocals, varied riffs, pounding drum and bass, blistering solos, and a strong production to tie it all together. Interesting tidbit, "Master Control" was engineered by Terry Date (Overkill, Pantera, White Zombie, Slipknot, Deftones and more)

LP 180G HEAVY BLACK VINYL, INCL. 12 TRACK MP3 ALBUM

For the better part of two decades, the acclaimed band Calexico has crossed musical barriers, embracing a multitude of styles, variety in instrumentation, and well-cultivated signature sounds. With their forthcoming record Edge of the Sun, out April 13th via City Slang, they take inspiration from a trip to a place surprisingly unexplored by the band before in Mexico City, and with the benefit of many friends and comrades to help guide the way.

Encouraged by the experience, the guest list grew to include Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Nick Urata (Devotchka), Carla Morrison, Gaby Moreno, Amparo Sanchez, multi-instrumentalists from the Greek band Takim, and Neko Case. Burns' brother John Burns lent a hand to some lyrics and songwriting, and the band's keyboardist, Sergio Mendoza, stepped up to co-write and arrange certain songs, ultimately co-producing the album along with Burns, John Convertino, and longtime associate Craig Schumacher.

•A touchstone LP from the beginning of reggae's 'post-Bob Marley era,’ Wailing Souls’ Fire House Rock was released by Greensleeves in 1981 to enduring acclaim. The title track became Wailing Souls’ most popular, anthemic song. Features production by Henry Junjo Lawes, backing by the Roots Radics with mixes by Scientist.

•For the Record Store Day 2022 edition, the original mixes were transferred from reel-to-reel to a pristine 24-bit/96k digital master. These are paired in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with a bonus 12-inch single disc of alternate, extended mixes originally released through VP’s Jah Guidance imprint.

•Sticker application; 180g Heavyweight Vinyl Pressing Gatefold sleeve with full-colour Inner Bags featuring rare photos and extensive notes.

With both sides as vibrant and colourful as a hot and sweaty street party, this latest 45 is the perfect afrobeat soundtrack to end your summer.

A side, Blue G. opens explosively and delivers all that it promises in the opening bars: beautifully orchestrated twists and turn that chug along instrumentally for half the track. South African singer Nongoma unexpectedly adds a vocal spin in English and Xhosa, and with the catchy lyrics of "all the children need love, peace and harmony", it's a delight to be swept up in this swirling, festive, solar energy.

The B side, That Good Thing, follows on at exactly the same tempo, weaving horns, guitars, keys and numerous percussions in and out of an equally infectious groove. A highly polished track, full of rises and falls in all the right places.

The Konkolo Orchestra is, for now, a Zürich studio project led by multi-instrumentalist Alexis Malefakis, but let's hope that changes soon because it feels rather criminal not to have these rich sounds live and in your face. Dexterous musicianship meets fine production and execution.

“Arguably his generation’s best lyricist” – Mojo // “The year’s stand-out album for me” – Stewart Lee // “A sort of modern-day pastoral” – Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate // The follow-up to last year’s first volume, English Primitive II continues the themes introduced previously in a harder, more electric and psychedelic style. The songs were mostly recorded during the same sessions but, if EPII showcased the ‘songs of innocence’, this new set comprises ‘songs of experience’. Callahan's lyrical themes here are frequently the sleaze and corruption of our ‘betters’, the intentional and unintentional brutality meted out on those weaker and the sometimes perverse ways in which this happens. There are moments of reflection among the broken mirrors, but they allow scant solace or reassurance. Dressed in another of Scottish artist Pinkie McClure’s witty and detailed stained glass creations and recorded at home and under a railway arch, EPII rises above its origins and invades the wider world, in all its colour, gritand glory. Each song serves as a monument to its internal tale – in fact, the whole LP is as much a collection of musical short stories as it is an album of songs. Opening with Invisible Man, the impression of a regular person with hidden grievances, biding his time and waiting to lash out is given. Waves of distant samples ebb and fall as the warped guitars swell and crash behind the main themes. We don’t know when this explosion will happen – we only know it will. A sleazy celebration of Britain’s position as the laundering capital of the world follows in the form of Beautiful Launderette. It’s good that we keep everything nice and clean for the whole planet, isn’t it? Business as usual, keeping the globe turning – that’s our role and we love it. The Parrot rocks like only a prolonged evisceration of governmental mouthpieces and their court stenographers can. It’s a thankless task making sure that the powers that be retain their authority in all things and patrolling the borders of what is allowed to be said and believed, but somebody’s got to do it. If you’re providing a service, you’ll need to present a united front against the grievances of the public, so you’ll need The Scapegoat. Mistakes and accidents can’t be the company’s fault, so you’ll need to pay someone to be publicly and repeatedly sacked to make it appear as if you’re solving problems and getting better. Lessons will be learned, going forward. The disturbing tale of Bear Factory begins side two and is the real-life story of the murder of one of the singer’s primary-school classmates in the 1970s, and true in every detail. The victim’s body was never found but the killer justifiably imprisoned for life. A more ancient scent of death pervades The Burnet Rose. This ground-hugging plant covers the graves of the victims in a seventeenth-century plague village on the Yorkshire coast to this day, commemorating their sacrifices when all around have forgotten. It’s this particular songwriter’s favourite flower. Orgy of the Ancients describes the intimate intricacies of ageing politicians and the press as they decide whether to go to war. In grotesque scenarios worthy of Caligula, they decide the fates of our children. And it’s not even half the truth. To finish, the songwriter looks back to an admired predecessor, when he sets William Blake’s famous poem London in a groovier setting than we’re used to – in the form of London by Blakelight. If London swings, it’s from the Tyburn tree. Tracks: Invisible Man / Beautiful Launderette / The Parrot / The Scapegoat / Bear Factory / The Burnet Rose / Orgy Of The Ancients / London By Blakelight

First trained in his church choir, Print played in R&B bands in high school and later developed a reputation as a standout rapper. On Adventures in Counter-Culture, he experiments with the synths, keyboards, and drum machines that connected the musical dots of those early days.

Print began pursuing his career as a musician in 2001, working on several hip hop projects including his collaborative project Soul Position with DJ/Producer RJD2. Releasing The Unlimited EP & 8,000,000 Stories on Rhymesayers Entertainment with RJ, Blueprint began work in 2004 on what would become his first solo album, 1988. The success of that album allowed him to tour extensively
throughout North America and Europe, before returning home to focus on writing and recording his next album. When he sat down to work on this sophomore effort, Print began with the dark, soulful and sample heavy hip hop of the early 90's, but soon found himself

hitting a creative wall. What shook him loose was a new mission: to create an album that encompassed every facet of music he knew, blurring genre lines and bringing it back home as one cohesive listening experience. The more he worked to pair new found interest in rock & electronic music with his love of hip hop, the more he was able to break down that creative barrier.

Thus began his Adventures in Counter-Culture, a monumental undertaking that would involve reinventing himself as a musician and person. His growing cynicism with the world, his disdain for pop culture, the state of politics, and an apathetic, uninspired society, all worked as fuel to inspire this sophomore album. Moved by the impact that sampling lawsuits were having on the music community, Blueprint also decided to return to his roots and began writing and producing his own original content.

Johannes Schebler's musical output is all about establishing a dreamlike territory where sonic settlements can spread at ease. While Grykë Pyje (Johannes Schebler's duo with Jani Hirvonen) presents musical landscapes as open and clear spaces, Baldruin's miniature pieces tend to narrow them down, zooming into domestic sceneries that shift like malleable rooms inside a magic building. These are the quarters where the inhabitants of Schebler's musical world are configured.

Rendered in a tender manner, the tunes in Kleine Freuden (in English: small joys) unfold like a collection of fairy tales and bedtime stories. Fables and lullabies performed in whispering tones seem to carry us through a child's dream where images blend into each other. Compact, yet gauzy and free flowing melodies gather up revealing an ensemble of households where fanciful entities play care freely, leading us along their musical maze. The music is placid, childlike and playful. It wanders around in unwavering estrangement, organizing an unprecedented and intimate space as seen from a bird's eye view.

In the landscape of a bedroom where the night lamp is the sun, we take part in a lively journey, as wonder is warrant and keeper of a warm and pristine environment. Perspective shifts as we rise from bed sheet folds that turn into fragile mountain ranges. We crawl behind furniture and take shelter in secret hideouts while dust falls upon us like a blizzard. Transfiguring notions of scale and time, we are left wondering how long have we been here, wondering if music is the only true measurement of time.

Hell Yeah is proud to present the return of Jazz N Palms with a superb new project following the success of his Ses Rodes album. 'Milano' as a 7" with radio and instrumental versions alongside an original video and expressive artwork by Parisian studio Nokko.

Jazz N Palms is a jazz-inspired project from Italian DJ and producer Riccio. He started this project after moving to Ibiza and falling under the spell of its ancestral side, its sweet and slow pace of life and the natural rhythms of the beauty in the north of the island. In summer, he served up his fantastic Ses Rodes double album which was dedicated to the original way of life that had remained almost unchanged till the early 80s party explosion.

This new track came about after Riccio heard Piera Martell's 1978 soul-jazz track 'Exotica' in a mix by Phil Mison. The idea was reimagine the song with new lyrics and set in Milan, in the early days when the town was invaded by unusual and exotic palm trees in Piazza Duomo. The song tells the story of a country teenager who is unsure about heading to a big new city after receiving an invitation. The story will retrieve familiar emotions for many of us who have faced similarly important decisions in our life, but this time married to an escapist groove.

For this release, the original 'Exotica' has been fully replayed by contemporary musicians from the multi-genre Italian ensemble 291out, with whom Riccio has worked in the past. It has new lyrics sung in Italian by fellow 291out collaborator Giovanna Lubjan after permission was given by original composer Salvo Ingrassia.

'Milano' is a luxurious soul-jazz fusion. It has exotic guitar lines and gently persuasive rhythms topped by the soaring vocal from Lubjan. A steamy sax helps the temperature rise as the track unfolds and traps you under its gorgeous spell.

This is a timeless package of blissed-out brilliance from Jazz N Palms.