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It was a busy 2019 for Asian Dub Foundation with the long-awaited reissue of their Mercury Prize-nominated 1998 classic Rafi’s Revenge. The reissue garnered ecstatic reviews, all of which agreed that the sound and the message that ADF threw down in 1998 is as relevant now as it was then-perhaps even more so. So it’s timely that in 2020 the band are set to release their 9th album “Access Denied” which finds them as uncompromising as ever. The album showcases ADF in full spectrum mode from the tough Jungle Punk sound of “Stealing The Future” and “Mind-lock” through to the orchestral meditation of “Realignment” and the reggae lament of the title track.

With guestspots from Greta Thunberg, incendiary Palestinian shamstep warriors 47 Soul, Chilean revolt’s rap main figure Ana Tijoux and radical UK comedian Stewart Lee, Asian Dub Foundation continue their sonic opposition to the powers that be and “Access Denied” kicks harder and higher than ever.

Asian Dub Foundation are a genre unto themselves. Their unique combination of tough jungle rhythms, dub bass lines and wild guitar overlaid by references to their South Asian roots and militant high-speed rap has established them as one of the best live bands in the world. During their long and productive career Asian Dub Foundation have shared the stage with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, the Beastie Boys and Primal Scream also collaborating on record with the likes of Radiohead, Sinead O’ Connor, Iggy Pop and Chuck D.
The story began in the early 90’s when ADF formed from a music workshop in East London at the institution which is their spiritual home, Community Music. Their unique beginnings in a music workshop in east London marked out both their sound and their wider educational aspirations, as showed by their early involvements with Roma Youth in Budapest, hooking up with the leg-endary Afro Reggae in the favelas of Rio, and setting up their own education organisation ADF Education (ADFED), not to mention their campaigns on behalf of those suffering miscarriages of justice. Building a solid live reputation in the mid-90’s, particularly in France, they eventually es-tablished themselves as an important worldwide force and particularly as an explosive alterna-tive to the backward-looking obsession with Britpop in the UK.
In addition to their blistering live reputation ADF were one of the first bands to experiment with the now more commonplace live film re-score, beginning with their rapturously-received interpre-tation of the French classic La Haine back in in 2001. They’ve continued to perform said project or nearly two decades, taking in David Bowie’s Meltdown at London’s South Bank and a contro-versial show at the Broadwater Farm Estate, scene of the events that led to the London Riots of 2011.They’ve also rescored George Lucas’ debut THX 1138 (with encouragement from Mr. Lu-cas himself) and they’ve recently revived their explosive live interpretation to the continually rele-vant Battle of Algiers at the Museum of Immigration in Paris.

We're glad to be back with our latest reissue, a couple undercover soul gems from the Midwest originally self-released in 1984: LaVerne Washington's "The Promise" and "I Found What I've Been Searching For".

LaVerne has dedicated her life to the arts in every possible way. As an artist herself but also behind the scenes, helping and supporting her contemporaries fulfil their callings. Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams - LaVerne grew up in Kansas City listening to the all time jazz greats, and soon discovered she was blessed with a keen sense for playing music by ear, playing the piano to what she would hear on the radio. In her teens whilst the 60s transitioned to the 70s' disco and funk era, LaVerne was there to witness it all, and she would go on to study music at the Charlie Parker Academy where she was inspired to become an entertainer.

At Langston University, LaVerne kept studying music where her career blossomed, founding and touring the US with the gospel group "Emery Shaw and the Voices of Praise", singing in several college bands and with her choir "The Voices Of Bethel". LaVerne would go on to perform notably with her bands "LaVerne Washington and Rococo" and the "LaVerne Washington Quartet", and record several songs in KC including "The Promise" and "I Found What I've Been Searching For" in 1984 before moving to Washington DC.

In DC, LaVerne was offered a position as a Program specialist with the National Endowment For The Arts where she started supporting other artists through her work. Over the next couple decades, LaVerne became an associate producer for the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Pioneer Awards Ceremonies held in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, which saw the likes of Prince, Aretha Franklin and Jerry Butler attending among others. She has also managed and was mentored by DeeDee Sharp and consulted with artists including Bonnie Raitt (who acted as a mentor to Laverne as well), Kim Weston, Kathy Sledge (SisterSledge), Smokey Robinson and G.C Cameron (Spinners). During that time, LaVerne has kept singing, on her own and as a backing vocalist for DeeDee Sharp and Freda Payne and has never stopped her lifelong dedication to music and the Arts.

The Promise original 7" was LaVerne's last recording in Kansas City before her move to DC and the beginning of her involvement behind the scenes. Channelling her gospel roots - with impeccable arrangement, a contagious drum machine led rhythm section, soaring vocals and relatable lyrics, "The Promise" is guaranteed to bring back smiles to dancefloors and living rooms alike! "I Found What I've Been Searching For" on the flip is a beautiful soul ballad which really showcases the strength and emotion in LaVerne's voice.

Back again in it's original 7" format, we've had the audio transferred and restored from the original 24 track tape provided by LaVerne, and got the recordings re-mixed for the best possible sound! Floating Points behind the mixing desk for this new iteration of a lost classic, comes with a 14"x14" poster of the original picture

Belgian techno wizard Cri Du Coeur is back with a new 2-part vinyl release on his label Arkham Audio titled 'Erickson' & 'Erickson on Acid', which features remixes exclusively from French artists. Jerome D., the man behind the Cri Du Coeur alias, is prized in the industry for giving platforms to Belgian and French artists throughout his career, so it comes as no surprise that he is showing his francophile roots by having a solely French lineup for the remixes on this release. Following the recent release of his EPs 'Diaphragm' and 'Warning', and now bringing us the inebriating 'Erickson' & 'Erickson on Acid', Cri Du Coeur has established that his new alias and freshly-founded but tenacious Arkham Audio label are a force to be reckoned with. The entrancing yet adrenalizing sound that he has adopted shows that his approach to industrial electronic music knows no boundaries or compromises.

The first part of this release features the original mix of 'Erickson' by Cri Du Coeur and remixes of the track by Electric Rescue, Wex 10 , and Trunkline. The second part 'Erickson on Acid' puts a squelching acid twist on things and features remixes by Roman Poncet, Umwelt, and Zadig.

The original mix of 'Erickson' leads with a strong beat and a mixture of industrial sounds that makes for a sublime dark dancefloor track. Electric Rescue follows on with a remix that engages the listener with a terrorising yet intoxicating heavy baseline. Next up is Wex 10 who enchants us with a bouncy laserbeam rhythm and muffled looping vocals. Last but not least on the 'Erickson' lineup is Trunkline's remix which delivers an addictive hazy melody and a deep and dirty mechanical synth horn.

Cri Du Coeur plays with tensions in 'Erickson (on Acid)', putting the listener into a state of hypnosis with squelching sounds that give the song a raunchy character. We are implored to dance as Roman Poncet's remix bears layers of lively percussion beats with twangy synth melodies. The mood intensifies once more as Umwelt's remix features a dark and fuzzy baseline that contrasts with a screeching siren sound creating an ultimate thrilling experience for the listener. Zadig closes off this immense concoction of remixes with a relentless distorted base and scintillating machinelike background noises.

Cri Du Coeur has outdone himself by bringing together such a well-suited selection of artists to create a visceral and magnetizing collection of tracks that showcases his competence in making industrial techno.

Belgian techno wizard Cri Du Coeur is back with a new 2-part vinyl release on his label Arkham Audio titled 'Erickson' & 'Erickson on Acid', which features remixes exclusively from French artists. Jerome D., the man behind the Cri Du Coeur alias, is prized in the industry for giving platforms to Belgian and French artists throughout his career, so it comes as no surprise that he is showing his francophile roots by having a solely French lineup for the remixes on this release. Following the recent release of his EPs 'Diaphragm' and 'Warning', and now bringing us the inebriating 'Erickson' & 'Erickson on Acid', Cri Du Coeur has established that his new alias and freshly-founded but tenacious Arkham Audio label are a force to be reckoned with. The entrancing yet adrenalizing sound that he has adopted shows that his approach to industrial electronic music knows no boundaries or compromises.

The first part of this release features the original mix of 'Erickson' by Cri Du Coeur and remixes of the track by Electric Rescue, Wex 10 , and Trunkline. The second part 'Erickson on Acid' puts a squelching acid twist on things and features remixes by Roman Poncet, Umwelt, and Zadig.

The original mix of 'Erickson' leads with a strong beat and a mixture of industrial sounds that makes for a sublime dark dancefloor track. Electric Rescue follows on with a remix that engages the listener with a terrorising yet intoxicating heavy baseline. Next up is Wex 10 who enchants us with a bouncy laserbeam rhythm and muffled looping vocals. Last but not least on the 'Erickson' lineup is Trunkline's remix which delivers an addictive hazy melody and a deep and dirty mechanical synth horn.

Cri Du Coeur plays with tensions in 'Erickson (on Acid)', putting the listener into a state of hypnosis with squelching sounds that give the song a raunchy character. We are implored to dance as Roman Poncet's remix bears layers of lively percussion beats with twangy synth melodies. The mood intensifies once more as Umwelt's remix features a dark and fuzzy baseline that contrasts with a screeching siren sound creating an ultimate thrilling experience for the listener. Zadig closes off this immense concoction of remixes with a relentless distorted base and scintillating machinelike background noises.

Cri Du Coeur has outdone himself by bringing together such a well-suited selection of artists to create a visceral and magnetizing collection of tracks that showcases his competence in making industrial techno

Mono Han are brothers Alessandro and Davide, who collectively have a deep and long understanding of electronic music. Davide is a co-founder of N.O.I.A, one of Italy’s first electronic live acts to perform and record with drum machines and synths as early as 1978. He was also behind seminal Italo outfit Klein + M.B.O and proto-house hit “Dirty Talk”. Alessandro, following in his brother’s footsteps was inevitable and he too became hooked on the incredible new sound palette emanating from the early electronic machines.

Since then they have released under an array of aliases, have clocked up numerous club hits and this project brings them back to their 80’s roots.

The latest project by belgo-moroccan producer Reda Senhaji, alias Cheb Runner, focuses on breeding a new style of music between electronics and Gnawa. Taking inspiration from New Beat to Techno, Acid House and Gabber, the grooves are relentless, stiff and club oriented, relying heavily on analog synths and drum-machines. The sound is darker, more experimental and mature than his previous Gan Gah project.

Cheb Runner digs into the acoustic sounds of his youth, for an organic feeling of warmth and celebration. The syncopation of the classic Gnawa percussions, the “Tagnawit”, its groove is undeniable. Featuring two traditional Gnawa singers based in Brussels, Mâalem Driss and Mâalem Hicham, the EP is a reunion for the belgian Gnawa scene, keeping the vibe alive.

In a world of dematerialized culture, we tend to forget where we come from : by putting Gnawa music at the center of his production, Cheb Runner creates a bridge with the past. The young producer is a son of Gnawa himself, this is the music he grew up with and played as a kid.
Now he brings it to the club scene; Cheb Runner’s first EP is experimental, brutal, innovative. Getting past definitions and genres, it opens new horizons for North-African producers, showing them how to use their roots to make new beats. It encourages both tradition and modernity in Music. In 2019, Gnawa music, dance and culture was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural
Heritage list, demonstrating both the relevance of the genre and the necessity to preserve it.
of the genre and the necessity to preserve it.

Cheb, the Arabic word for “young boy”, is traditionally used to describe the young generation of Raï singers – like Cheb Hasni, Cheb Mami or Cheb Khaled. It means the new generation is here, to create something new with something old. The reference to the Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner is just that: while the Cheb comes from the bled, a moroccan village in the Agadir region, the beats come from the club scene of an industrial city, like Berlin, Detroit or Molenbeek/Brussels.

Cheb Runner takes you on a trip through space and time, as well as to pass on ancient rhythms to inspire the next generations.

Kristian Craig Robinson, aka Capitol K, is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer with a long history in London’s most interesting under-the-radar music places and spaces. With a musical story like his, you can expect side streams. New record ‘Birdtrapper’ is “the sound of an initiation rave in a utopian hidden village”, and his latest exploration of Mediterranean audio mythos following from ’Goatherder’ (2018). The six track mini-album was similarly formed from ritualistic improvisations performed in Malta (where Capitol K was born), using home-made flutes, reed pipe, bamboo percussion, drum machine, bass guitar, but this time features a wider use of synthesizers, with the alternative dance floor in mind. Where ‘Goatherder’ was an awakening of genetic primitivism, ‘Birdtrapper’ is an evocation of sonic bird callers, proto-rave abandon, ambient resonance and an ecstatic captive state, along with the previous work's visions of hunters, temples and scrub land music
‘Goatherder’ caused a quiet kind of quake and was beloved by The Quietus, BBCR3 and 6Music. Vinyl Factory described it as “like a series of manipulated field recordings that have an ancient, ritualistic quality … Goatherder shimmers with Balearic strangeness, rooted in an earthy outer-national dance music tradition”. For the last seven years K has been behind the consoles at the heavily influential Total Refreshment Centre, recording and mixing records with the likes of Trash Kit, The Comet Is Coming, Rozi Plain, Alabaster DePlume, Dry Cleaning, Flamingods Cykada, Ibibio Sound Machine, BAS JAN and John Johanna. It’s not just recording. He’s also become an influential if understated mentor to a new wave of producers and bands. His experience in studio environments is long and storied, including stints at Studio Plateaux on an island in the middle of the Thames and in the Royal Symphonia’s squatted rehearsal rooms. Capitol K has released seven albums and the 'Birdtapper EP' follows a legacy of influential releases on early 2000s electronica labels including Planet Mu and XL. Aside this he also runs the record label Faith & Industry. It’s a friends and family, love not money affair and he has released music by Champagne Dub, John Johanna, Super Best Friends Club, Blue House & Clémentine March.

2x12"

„Room With A View“ sees Rone returning to his musical roots and the set-up of his early albums: purely electronic, solitarily conceived without any musical collaborators. At the same time he was able to leave his comfort zone through a new kind of artistic liaison. The album was produced alongside a live show commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and developed together with choreography collective (LA) HORDE and 20 dancers of the Ballet National de Marseille. This new kind of collaborative approach allowed Rone to produce his most sincere and far-reaching music in some time. Inspired by discussions of collapsologie and climate change, „Room With A View“ offers food for thought on how to deal with one of the most pressing issues of humanity.

The Fenchman manages to let his trademark sound shine in a new light, pleasing early fans as well as every electronica enthusiast. Typically melodic beats like „Ginkgo Biloba“ nestle against tracks that exhibit classic influences from Boards of Canada („La Marbrerie“) to SAW-era Aphex Twin („Raverie“), euphoric dancefloor rhythms sit next to contemplative synth work. Tracks like „Sophora Japonica“ showcase Rone’s mastership in atmosphere, which sometimes requires no drums at all. Elsewhere, Rone is clearly reviving the club-centric vibe of „Tohu Bohu“ and experimenting with elements of dub. It all makes for and adventurous and rewarding listen.

Most importantly, Rone is redefining the notion of „organic“ in electronic music through use of field and voice recordings. Be it his own child chattering, Aurelien Barrau or Alain Damasio debating, or the dance troupe rehearsing and discussing the show. "Because the writing process of the album was very machine focused, it seemed appropriate to feed back a human touch into the music and to still have bodies involved". Thus „Esperanza“ uses the steps of the dancers as a rhythm to start a new track, while in „Human“ they serve as a choir. This idea of extended human collaboration becomes apparent also on the album cover.

2x12" Marbled Vinyl

„Room With A View“ sees Rone returning to his musical roots and the set-up of his early albums: purely electronic, solitarily conceived without any musical collaborators. At the same time he was able to leave his comfort zone through a new kind of artistic liaison. The album was produced alongside a live show commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and developed together with choreography collective (LA) HORDE and 20 dancers of the Ballet National de Marseille. This new kind of collaborative approach allowed Rone to produce his most sincere and far-reaching music in some time. Inspired by discussions of collapsologie and climate change, „Room With A View“ offers food for thought on how to deal with one of the most pressing issues of humanity.

The Fenchman manages to let his trademark sound shine in a new light, pleasing early fans as well as every electronica enthusiast. Typically melodic beats like „Ginkgo Biloba“ nestle against tracks that exhibit classic influences from Boards of Canada („La Marbrerie“) to SAW-era Aphex Twin („Raverie“), euphoric dancefloor rhythms sit next to contemplative synth work. Tracks like „Sophora Japonica“ showcase Rone’s mastership in atmosphere, which sometimes requires no drums at all. Elsewhere, Rone is clearly reviving the club-centric vibe of „Tohu Bohu“ and experimenting with elements of dub. It all makes for and adventurous and rewarding listen.

Most importantly, Rone is redefining the notion of „organic“ in electronic music through use of field and voice recordings. Be it his own child chattering, Aurelien Barrau or Alain Damasio debating, or the dance troupe rehearsing and discussing the show. "Because the writing process of the album was very machine focused, it seemed appropriate to feed back a human touch into the music and to still have bodies involved". Thus „Esperanza“ uses the steps of the dancers as a rhythm to start a new track, while in „Human“ they serve as a choir. This idea of extended human collaboration becomes apparent also on the album cover.

It goes without saying that the global metal scene would not be the same without Sepultura. For 35 years now, the Brazilian icons are not only a band revered worldwide; they have been, are and forever will be at the very forefront of Thrash Metal, trailblazing ever since they released their long-since legendary debut album “Morbid Visions” in 1986.
While quickly establishing themselves as leaders of the second wave of Thrash already in the late eighties, to this day they never came even close to stagnation. “Quadra”, their mighty new undertaking, is proof of a will unbroken, a thirst unquenched and a quality so staggeringly high it’s a wonder this band doesn’t implode. Now three albums deep into what may very well be their strongest incarnation yet – uniting the talents of old-school members Andreas Kisser (guitars, vocals) and Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. (bass), vocal force of nature Derrick Leon Green (vocals) and drummer Eloy Casagrande – Sepultura are an unleashed power to be reckoned with, uniting bucketloads of experience and youthful vigour in a totally revived way.
“On ‘Quadra’, we felt the urge to revisit that old thrash feeling of ‘Beneath the Remains’ or ‘Arise“,’ only seen through the eyes of today,” Andreas Kisser utters the magic words. “Add to that the tribal percussion, the orchestral elements, the choirs, the melodies and the clean vocals and you get a thorough run-through of our entire career, backed by a very contemporary approach.” Fuelled by an energy almost uncanny for a band that has been active for so long, Sepultura storm through a contemporary thrash monument, backed by sublime melodies, a very eerie atmosphere and a fiendishly high level of technicality. Kisser is appreciating these compliments, still maintaining his very down to earth approach. “We don’t heed the past and we don’t try to be preoccupied by the future too much,” he shrugs. “We’re in the now, trying every day to make Sepultura a little bit better. That’s what keeping us strong.”
And that’s what they have been doing for the last 30+ years. Album after album, tour after tour, no gap in between records longer than three years. “Music is all we do,” Kisser states matter-of-factly. “If it wouldn’t be for Sepultura,” he laughs, “I would be a sad and lonely guy. Sepultura is what we are.” And “Quadra” is living testimony to that. The old Sepultura echo through the very fibre of the songs in all its raw and morbid splendour, but yet it’s the present, the experienced and refined beast that is Sepultura in 2020 that’s blasting out thrash metal anthems for a fucked-up age.
With now 15 albums under their belts, Sepultura are the work horses of the metal world, always ready to attack. In many ways, “Quadra” broadens the vision the Brazilian thrash troopers had on “Machine Messiah” (2017), again relying on the impeccable talent of Swedish producing giant Jens Bogren and his Fascination Street Studios. “He is so full of passion, it’s unbelievable, man,” Kisser raves. “He’s really there, he really cares about the projects he’s doing. For Sepultura, he’s like the fifth member of the band. The chemistry was so amazing, 99 percent of what we were trying do to actually worked. That was insane!” Even after more than 30 years at the forefront of international thrash, guitarist Kisser sounds positively baffled by working with Bogren. “We felt like we were in our rehearsal room.”
Bringing together a monumental grandeur and a wild, untamed ferocity, Sepultura stepped up their game musically – and conceptually as well. “We were possessed by the number four, by the numerology of it”, Kisser starts to explain. “I divided the album into four parts as if we were doing a double vinyl. Side one is the pure and raw thrash side. Side two brings in the rhythms and percussion from our ‘Roots’ era. Three is getting a bit experimental and four brings forth the melodies and the acoustic guitars.” With John North’s book “Quadrivium” as a further source of inspiration, Sepultura dive deep into a mystical world full of hidden meanings. “You have four seasons and twelve month in a year just to pick one example. A lot of stuff in our culture is divided like that.”
Plus, Quadra also is the Portuguese word for ‘sport court’ that by definition is a limited area of land, with regulatory demarcations, where according to a set of rules the game takes place,” he adds. “We all come from different Quadras. The countries, all nations with their borders and traditions; culture, religions, laws, education and a set of rules where life takes place.” In the Quadra of thrash, however, we all are the same. And we bow our heads in unison to the mighty leader that is Sepultura.

Returning to the label's dance floor roots, BODYCLOCK is a natural extension of Darker Than Wax's DNA - a foray into the late night club sounds that defined their sound. The freshly minted series represents the Singaporean label's primary outlet for dance floor burners and machine soul, shedding light on a new school of producers from around the globe and at the same time paying homage to the pioneers who laid the foundations for us. A celebration of afro-futurism that is ever-present in the consciousness of dance, BODYCLOCK is built for the nocturnal beings and discerning selectors that push this timeless tradition forward. This first volume brings together five producers across four continents - Teymori from Australia, NYC's Malik Hendricks, label mainstay Ricky Razu from Belgium, as well as Darker Than Wax co-founder Kaye and up-and-comer Halal Sol from Singapore. Establishing both facets of the BODYCLOCK sound, Side A features two vocal-led soulful excursions, while the flip brings three unabashedly jacking cuts to light the floor on fire. This is only the beginning - BODYCLOCK is coming with an onslaught of twelve inches and EPs, distilling our sonic outlook and looking to the future.

He's back. Twenty years after Boulevard, fifteen years after the multi-platinum album Tourist (over 3 million copies sold worldwide) and a world tour spanning several continents, Ludovic Navarre, alias St Germain, finally found his way back into the studio. An uncontested and respected figure in the world of electronic music for the past two decades, a pioneer of the 'French Touch' and a creator of intelligent and sensual deep house, St Germain has always stood out. His consummate art thrives on a subtle mixture of machines and instruments, of authentic roots and modern influences.

It is a cliché to describe music as a trip or an ocean or whatever, so this album, Tecwaa’s album “Beyond the Altai” released on Höga Nord Rekords, will in part be described as a snowman: the snowman has its characteristic familiar shape. He is cold yet there is something warm and cuddly about him, something that makes you feel happy and safe.

The A side on the album goes from that warm/cold cosy feeling but elements of destruction like melodies in minor keys slowly transforms the album to become only cold and not so cosy - the snow turns grey and the snowman’s smiling mouth becomes a twisted grin. Its contours disappears and the shape dissolves as the snow melts and floats out on the ground beneath its body. As the album develops, the sound gets harder and darker and the York based DJ moves closer to his roots in electro and Roland-machine knob-turning.

In some ways, “Beyond the Altai” is a call from the eighties and nineties dancefloors like in the tracks “Back To The Atomic Ether” and “10 Swords” on the B-side but all melts together in Tecwaa’s music to create his own obstinate and loose sound!

A unique album of outtakes from the classic ‘Songs
Of Praise’ and ‘In Pursuit Of Shashamane Land’
albums, compiled by On-U archivist Patrick Dokter
from the original tapes and expertly sequenced to
work as an immersive listening experience. A
companion piece to the acclaimed ‘Return Of The
Crocodile’ set from 2016 that took the listener on a
version excursion through the early years of the
group.
 These are the dubbier and more out-there
experiments mixed down whilst Adrian Sherwood
was shaping the sound of the albums. Bubbling
percussion lines skitter across the stereo spectrum,
ghostly voices echo inside the machine and
mangled guitar riffs beam down from Mars, whilst
staying rooted in the tough tribal rhythms that
form the bedrock of the AHC sound. This is music
for the head and feet, take heed!
 Mastered by King Kevin Metcalfe. Comes with
digital download card for full contents plus doublesided poster insert containing an extensive new
interview with African Head Charge mainman
Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, telling the story of his early
life.

When Elena Colombi launched the Osàre! Editions label in the autumn of 2019, she explained that the label would become home to bold, daring, future-facing music rooted in experimentation and free-spirited musical abandon. These are all descriptions that could apply to the label’s latest release, a retrospective album of little-known works by Greek musician and producer Thanasis Zlatanos.

Many will not have heard of Zlatanos, or Nekropolis, the band he fronted alongside dear friend and regular collaborator Trygve Mathiesen, yet the music he made during the 1980s was otherworldly, intergalactic and undoubtedly alluring. These songs and instrumentals made extensive use of analogue synthesizers and lo-fi drum machines, as well as Zlatanos’s trusted Gibson Les Paul guitar and his own distinctive voice.

Stylistically, the musician and producer refused to settle on a specific sound, preferring instead to create inspired, often mind-altering pieces that join the dots between wave music, skewed leftfield pop, ambient, prototype electronic and Madedonian folk music. Operating for much of the period from a crumbling house earmarked for demolition, Zlatanos kept up a daily music-making vigil that resulted in a vast vault of music, most of which has remained unissued since the 1980s.

The breadth of and width of Zlatanos’s distinctive approach is laid bare on Retrospective, a compilation album prepared by Colombi and the artist himself that draws on tracks from his numerous albums, those by Nekropolis – whose sophomore set “The New Europeans” was banned in Norway – and his epic archive of previously unheard material.

The artist’s singular but wide-ranging musical vision is free for all to see across the 13 tracks stretched across the vinyl version of the album (digital buyers also get a further four superb cuts). It veers attractively from the ghostly, traditional-meets-futuristic new age electronica of “The Crystal Sight (Excerpt)” and the doom-laden coldwave throb of “Master Chameleon”, to the undulating, soft-touch creepiness of “Surreal Moment”, the Vocoder-laden operatic poignancy of “The New Barbarians” and the squally guitar solos and effects-laden electronics of “The Light”.

Words from the artist___:
"I live in the Internet. Visits from outer space make me compose. I breathe here. I am the master chameleon, the psychedelic clown. I am not here anymore, neither in the picture, nor the reflection. Our bed is a boat that takes us tomorrow without us.

Here is an album of dreams and digital emotions. Analogue recordings made with a Prophet, a Moog Rogue, a tape recorder and a Gibson Les Paul guitar.

As far as I can remember I have always been in a recording studio. I listen to, understand and live my life through songs and music. I have worked alone and with friends such as Trygve Mathiesen. Although I am a guitarist, I continue to work with synthesizers on music that blends elements of Macedonian folk music, recordings from the streets and embryonic electronic sounds.

Some of my albums have been critically acclaimed, others banned by radio stations. For years I worked on endless recording sessions in a crumbling house that should have been torn down. The music on this retrospective compilation was recorded at various points between 1982 and the present day. Some of the compositions first appeared on previous albums, while others have never been released before. They were sat on tapes waiting for a saviour. Now that saviour has arrived and they can be free.

For further proof of Zlatanos’s unique sonic approach, check the startling contrast between the bass-laden slacker pop headiness of “No Expectations” and the spacey ambience of “The Dead Don’t Remember”. Considered together, the selected pieces and those elsewhere on Retrospective forms a snapshot of a genuinely unique and visionary musician, composer and producer. It’s a celebration of someone whose work has previously been overlooked."

Soul Jazz Records new release takes us on a serious road trip into the North-West region of the USA, 1986-97, to explore the amazing lost and forgotten sounds of the Grunge era.

This Deluxe massive 28-track Double CD with 44-page outsize booklet features extensive text, band features and interviews, exclusive photos. Also Worldwide digital release + Ltd.Edition Two seperate double-vinyl albums with full notes and free download code.

The underground music scene of the North-west of America arose from the early 1980's, strung out in isolated towns across the vast state of Washington. In its early days bands who showed an allegiance to their roots of punk. Yet, by 1991,Nirvana, the biggest band in the world, had been born from this community of outsiders.

This compilation features some of the many divergent bands who emerged out of the North-west during this era. Intensely researched and documented this album features many bands who have now disappeared from history after releasing maybe just a couple of singles, or an album, or even never making it onto vinyl – alongside some bands that continue to this day.

Perhaps most fascinating is the wide-ranging styles that these grunge bands incorporated - from punk to metal, experimental and more.

All Roads lead to Nirvana: 17 of the bands featured here played alongside Nirvana in the period 1987 to 93. All 23 bands featured feature members who shared a stage with Nirvana. Jack Endino (The Ones) produced 37 Nirvana songs. Dave Foster (Helltrout) was Nirvana's 3rd drummer. Bundle of Hiss became TAD who played more gigs with Nirvana than any other band.

With fantastically in-depth sleevenotes, interviews with most of the bands, exclusive photography and all sonically remastered tracks this is a comprehensive double CD (and 2 volumes of 2x12" vinyl releases) bringing together the hidden, lost and forgotten sounds of the North-west grunge era.

Reviews & Articles: Seattle Times feature here. Irish Times here. Read article by compiler Nick Soulsby in Nirvana Legacy here Read second article by the compiler here. Read article about the artwork here.

STL machine groove strikes back “blundar” imprint: 180g 12” EP, dub and house rooted cuts, and the expected locked surprise.

- non-gatefold sleeve without 7"

Rush Hour announces their second artist compilation Patchwork, curated by one of the label’s most loved family members, Sassy J. The Swiss DJ is the very embodiment of passion and long-standing dedication to the craft of the DJing, but also to the community surrounding the music that she lives and breathes. For the past fourteen years Sassy J has run the Patchwork night in her native Bern and in London, with guests ranging from Theo Parrish and Little Dragon to Floating Points and MF Doom invited to share their respective musical visions. Her collaborative approach stands out in a DJ world that is too often weighted in favour of promoting the individual. This compilation grows out that unique sensitivity, foregrounding a theory of curation that centres on long-term bonds, articulated through Sassy J’s personal relationships with the contributing artists.

Patchwork speaks to the grass roots values that Sassy J espouses, showcasing music by many of the artists that have joined her throughout the years in clubs, on the radio, and at home. It is an expression of Sassy J’s individual musical path that casts its gaze firmly in the future: Patchwork is made up almost entirely of new and unreleased songs that are exclusive to this collection. Patchwork captures a sound that has continued to evolve in its restless search for new musical directions. Across thirteen tracks we find forward thinking electronic music rubbing elbows with cosmic jazz and deep percussion workouts from Brazil and beyond.

There are irresistible calls to the dancefloor: 2000 Black’s UK boogie and the syncopated rhythms of WaH-chU-kU nod to the West London sound, whilst the early rave of Nu Era and Aardvarck’s sub-rattling techno channel the grittier edges of the club experience. We find machine music imbued with humanity in Larry Heard’s deep house classic “Survivor” and in Ron Trent’s WARM project, whose gentle breeze points to a different side of the legendary producer. Patchwork also opens a more immersive listening space in which the radical indie soul of Georgia Anne Muldrow, the ambient spiritual jazz of bandleader Carlos Niño & Friends, and the lament for the Amazon rainforest by Azymuth’s drummer Ivan Conti can channel the overall spirit of group interplay and solidarity. Patchwork also includes Sassy J’s collaboration with veteran producer Alex Attias, marking her own place in a universe that is held together by her singular thread.

"This is the compilation of the year!" - DJ Spinna

Early Days maps out Nine Circles interpretation of Cold Wave and Minimal Synth. Unbelievably the tracks are mostly from a brief time period, ’80—’82. Alienation and uncertainty course through the 2LP with heavy Yamaha chords, metallic machine beats and brittle vocals.

Nine circles was formed in the early 80s by Peter Van Garderen and Lidia Fiala. In 1980 there was a band called Genetic Factor. This band split up when their three members got girlfriends and they started to make music together with their girls. So at that time there were 3 bands living together in one house.

One of the couples were Peter van Garderen and Lidia Fiala. Lidia had been writing lyrics since she was 15 years old. Nine Circles was born. Within 2 years they wrote about 60 songs.

Also living in the house was Richard Zeilstra, who had a job at the VPRO radio, hosting a show called „Spleen“ where he gave New Wave bands a chance to play. He asked bands to send tapes to him and the best bands had the opportunity to play live at the radio and also got the chance to be on the „Radio Nome“ compilation. Peter and Lidia sent their tape to him and were the only ones from this house to be on the show. Richard knew their music was special. Nine Circles never played a live show on stage, only one concert live at the radio which is also featured on this LP.

Two years later Peter and Lidia split up and Nine Circles disappeared. In 2009 Lidia’s son googled her name just for fun and found a lot about the band Nine Circles. Lidia was surprised, she never knew how popular Nine Circles have been over the years. She got herself on Facebook and since then she got in touch with many people and decided Nine Circles should come back! Peter was not able to join the band these days, he had a different life but he was supporting Lidia and liked that she enjoyed doing music again. Peter still had all the old recordings and sent Lidia a lot of the music they made together back in the days. The best tracks are collected on this 2LP.

Together with Per-Anders Kurenbach Lidia revived Nine Circles. They recorded new material (released on the album „Alice“) and played live until Lidia had to stop playing live for health reasons in 2016. Nevertheless they‘re working on a follow-up album called „Emerge“ which is planned to be released in 2020 and hopefully Lidia will be able to go on stage again soon.

Back with a vengeance, Cimm returns to the imprint with a highly anticipated succession to his Sentry debut from last year, stamped on a irresistible 2 x 12" vinyl release. Infernal halftime beats and top-notch Dubstep shells, firmly entrenched at the frontier of sound system music and its invaluable heritage. The London-based producer and DJ rose to swift and significant acclaim in the last few years with releases on institutions like Tempa, J:Kenzo's Artikal and Wheel & Deal as well as notable residencies at Rinse FM and the renowned Fabric night club, among other recent achievements. Now coming to a turntable near you, Cimm delivers four bespoke cuts, primed for the dance and your enjoyment, battle-tested by the scene's foremost tastemakers.

Diving into unidentified transmissions, 'Unknown Caller!!' sets the pace with eerie reverberations and filtered resonance. Amid the faint hiss of machinery, larger-than-life drums set up shop alongside subterranean pressure emissions. Hefty breaks, hold tight! Retro synth melodies keep us on track within the monstrous switch-ups and unquestionably meticulous arrangement, sure to shut down any dance in style. Cutting no corners with the B-Side, Cimm teams up with veteran vocalist Rider Shafique for a dystopian sub-bass onslaught, swaggering militant chants and the apocalyptic ambience to go with it. Steaming low-frequency oscillations bubble and hurl their weight, stripped of all restraints, coveted in freezing harmonies and ethereal atmosphere. Vibrating in a more uplifting spirit, the dedication to the Jamaican roots of sound system culture unfolds in the Londoner's signature style - dubbed out soundscapes ahead. 'Tosh Dub' keeps it a laid back, with vintage instrumentation, scattered skanks and swirling organ chimes. Taking an ultimate trip through unremitted grit and off-kilter grooves, 'I Am Jack Travis' lures us in with rainy undertones and hypnotic foley sampling. Promptly revealing its true nature with plenty of pressure and scrupulous syncopation, a ghostly heavyweight ensues and closes the deal.

Before an upcoming album in 2020 on Heavenly Sweetness, Mama is the first single. A track in which the balafon’s woody resonance, the meditative flute and the female choruses return to the Creole roots of David, recall the memory of his Caribbean grandfather exiled to New York but, above all, a title dedicated to his grandmother, who after the last soaring electro-disco, she comes to declaim the text on the ultimate measures. David Walters will have thought of it, conceived and realized in close collaboration with Patchworks. Then, in the wake of the single Mama released in the month of each of them took the title, isolated himself in the studio with instruments and machines to come out only with a total reinterpretation, but especially personal, of the title. Hammering bass drum and snare drum bursts, David has entrusted the direction of operations to the rhythmic, and it is one after the other that digital elements were invited to transform the original maternal softness into a boiling soundsystem. Synths their strings on the hum of the bass, the hypnotic power of the riddim remains.
Two remixes, two atmospheres. The Patchworks scene is set in a jazz-funk setting, an heritage from Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith. Powerful drum, enrobing bass, the Fender Rhodes becomes a soloist, motivated by this irrepressible groove, first become a soloist. And that the meshes leave the hands of the balafon player to pass in those of the vibraphonist.

Casino Times? aka Nicholas Church and Joseph Spencer
from London have been betting against the house for
close to 10 years already, winning big with releases on
Wolf Music, Needwant, Omena and their own Casino
Edits label. The pair also hosts the radio Show “What’s
My Derivative?” on Bloop Radio.
Since Mireia Record’s big cheeses RSS Disco have been keen to gamble with the Time’s
music, routinely lighting up dancefloors with it, a loose connection and mutual admiration
formed over the years and eventually lead to this fine record here.
RUSH & KAWAI
Casino Times demonstrate their cunning yet natural and flowing sound with two originals:
“Rush” and “Kawai”. Both tracks are a proper trip of its own, psychedelic pinball machines
that’ll catapult you to the further edges of the known sphere.
An arpeggiated melody line leads the “Rush”, while a rock solid foundation of hard hitting
drums keep you steady. The melody filters into acidic fringes and a strange voice guides the
traveler to the core of this outer-body experience.
By intertwining a pulsating E-Bass with sharp percussions and a brazen guitar chords,
“Kawai” steers the travels even further out of world’s reach. A whole ensemble of sirens and
vocal fragments warn of imminent rapture. After this, it’ll be hard to return to the mundane.New Release Information
KAWAI (Conga Fever’s Belgian Fries Remix)
Leading the string of three remixes is Mireia’s Conga Fever. Known by now for impeccable
and inspired productions he might just have outdone himself again with this interpretation
of “Kawai”.
Taking cues from Belgian New Beat while sounding unconditionally modern at the same
time, Conga Fever has crafted a bona fide festival anthem. After confidently building up
tension and taking his time in the breakdown, the remix manages to release an incredible
amount of energy. We’ve seen people out of their minds and literally stage dive to this one.
KAWAI (Rigopolar Remix)
A new face and dream cast to the label: Rigopolar aka Menio Brown. The Brooklyn-based
producer and DJ has been on our radar for some years with a string of captivating releases
for Tom Tom Disco, Nazca Records and an upcoming EP on Duro. Especially “Sun Of
Lemuria’s” hypnotic brittleness turned our heads.
Adding a new high point to his repertoire, Rigopolar’s take on “Kawai” is an expansive, dark
journey into the void. Powerful lasers and strobe lights appear to lead the way, emergency
broadcast voices beckon the dancers to the floor. The clobbering bassline and twitching
melody help to reach previously unseen heights.
RUSH (Filburt Remix)
Working his signature slow-burn magic on his remix of “Rush” is Filburt. More than happy to
welcome him back to the label. The O*RS label head, DJ and producer is responsible for
some of our favorite material in the past and does not disappoint with this remix either.
Lush pad sounds oppose salient drumming, slowly tightening the atmosphere while a robotic
voice evokes a melancholic mood. The whole night’s rooted on this fervid bassline and it’ll
carry you into next Monday

DJ Richard's first release of 2019 sees him drop four invigorating electro tracks on Flexxseal titled "Eraser".

Emerging from the Providence noise scene, DJ Richard forges a path of disciplined selectiveness as a producer and DJ with his idiosyncratic style allowing him to make impressive, self-assured connections between 80s EBM, new beat and Italo disco, electro, techno and "post-minimalist" house. DJ Richard's feral approach evolved from the roots of his White Material imprint which quickly achieved cult status after early releases from himself and co-founders Galcher Lustwerk and Young Male.

As a solo artist, DJ Richard continues to push the boundaries of his talent and influences reflected in his two utterly distinctive and bewitching albums released in alliance with influential German electronic label, Dial. "Eraser" sees him join up with fellow American Christopher Joseph and his Flexxseal imprint as DJ Richard masterfully maintains his skill in propagating ephemeral and raw sounds with his aptitude for electronic body control.

"Critical Damage" kicks things off with resilient oscillations fused beautifully with angelic leads and thudding percussion reflecting a post-punk aesthetic while "Eraser" delivers tough, acidic swirls undulating beneath sharp, broken grooves and growling undertones.

On the flip, a slow, chugging drum sequence balanced with haunting modulations and machine-like vibrations that echo throughout take the focus in "His Threshing Floor" before "Casca's Theme" concludes the EP with meandering, robotic synth flutters and distorted bass resonations driven by hypnotic rhythms and world-ending atmospheres in this powerful electro cut.

Jatinder Singh Durhailay and David Edren released Tea Notes as a cassette back in April of 2018. London-based Jatinder Singh Durhailay is a painter and student of Indian Classical music. He has trained in both the sitar and the Hindi singing technique, Dhrupad. He also plays two traditional Sikh instruments; the bowed, stringed Dilruba and Taus. Poetic Pastel Press issued his solo debut, The Last Ballad Of Mardana, in 2017. David Edren`s expertise lies with machines and modular synthesis. His Kosmische and New Age-Inspired electronics have featured on numerous cassettes, and compilations, produced for imprints from the current Belgian underground, such as Jj Funhouse, Social Harmony, and Ultra Eczema. These recordings appearing, since the turn of the millennium, either under his own name, or the moniker DSR Lines. Jatinder and David’s collaboration, Tea Notes, is a celebration, a meditation, on both the beverage, and the communal time shared imbibing. The coming together to partake in its ritual. Each of the six tracks represents a different infusion. The opening piece is a tribute to semi-oxidised Oolong, from China`s Wuyi Mountains, with hammered dulcimer-like glissando. Gongs shimmering, gently crashing, as if signaling a change in the weather. A calm of thin, stretched synths and Ai angels introduces Tulsi from India. The Holy Basil of Hinduism, used in the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, and Rama. A traditional herb of Ayurveda and Siddha medicine. Automated arpeggiated sequences raising a vibrating wall of hallucinatory sound. Pairing swooning strings with a racing robot heart. Ceylon is a modern twist on the classical raga. Serving to tell the story of a tea smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Plants stolen from South West China, where the brew had been enjoyed since the days of the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC). The contraband founding fresh industry in its new home when the indigenous coffee crops failed. Muted organ and sleepy, treated sine wave microtones describe Kava, the Polynesian fireweed root, whose extract serves as both sedative and euphoriant.Shincha are the first young leaves of the season. Picked in Southern Japan and steamed to prevent oxidization, retain their flavour and green / gold colour. Their musical counterpart finds Edren establishing an ecclesiastical drone, while Durhailay`s strings chart an ancient romantic ache. Sonic stars shine. Singing out to the infinite, the universe, before dissolving into knots of Radiophonic Workshop noise.Melodies treated with subtle sustain and delay denote Pu-Ehr, from the Yunnan province. The only truly fermented black tea - made distinctive by the action of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts. Its musical themes hovering in the vapour trails, the atmospheres, they themselves create. Spiraling, soaring, reaching for the heavens, while pretty music box glitches - tiny chimes turned in on themselves. Catching, reflecting, like light at play on fresh running water. (words: Robert Harris)

Magic Carpet" is the first Compilation of the German Label "Harmonie Exotic". Jose Manuel selected 12 experimental ambient tracks from the 1982 to the 1994. They are combined by the same feature, namely the magic and mysterious character. Even though all the (remastered) tracks released in different countries, such as Japan, Italy, and France, they are all combined in being rare and obscure songs. In most of them it is possible to verify the oneiric melodies mixed with the different drum machines, typical of that year.

For this reason, they show how the magic has been developed over the chosen years, as they were all enveloped from the same carpet. Starting from this idea the Compilation's title plays an important role in anticipating the dreamlike listening experience.

Master of ambient spaces and far out places, long-time Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti (aka Vladislav Delay) blesses us once again with another release, this from his 'Visa' period of unreleased tracks.

The first track out of the gate is a recognizable Vladislav Delay piece, but instead of gently flowing rivers of sound, instead we have a series of stiff, machine-like rhythms applied to his classic infinitely deep pads and ambient environmental sounds.
It just continues to pile in more elements until becoming almost indistinguishable from his natural, organic flow.
From there we move into somewhat more familiar territory but still unusually stripped down and mechanical for a Vladislav Delay joint.

It’s fascinating to see such an intricate songwriting process laid bare in such a way, often exposing each individual, nearly bottomless sound in isolation.
Deeper into the album, things veer into decidedly more abrasive and synthetic territory, at times becoming an almost unrecognizable artist for a moment, only to be eventually subsumed under layers of shifting ambience that could only be Sasu.

This austere minimalism makes these tracks some of the most hypnotic since the early 90s excursions, but at the same time seems to have left its organic, analog roots and melded with the harsh gridlocked modern sequencer. ~Clint Anderson

Global tracks is a mystery; browsing the name online gives nothing associated with the artist. All we really know is that Gothenburg is home base. Most points toward that this is Global Tracks first release and Hoga Nord Rekords are more than proud to be first out giving his/her music out.

With albums like 'Selected Ambient Works' by the Aphex Twin and cities like London and Sheffield as a ground for the sound, Global Tracks displays how breakbeats should sound in 2019. The music is mostly influenced by Jungle, but also by Footwork and Dancehall. The roots lie shallow but the phantom behind this music don't give up with trying to recreate the nineties straight up, instead he/she develops the legacy from all the best and most drug marinated DJ:s from England circa 1995.

Breakbeat has a new vanguard in this mysterious shadow crawler that we know almost nothing about, but rumor has it Global Tracks is locked up with the machines under ground somewhere in Vastra Gotaland in Sweden working on new broke up beats, ready to surface when the time is right for more, deep and ganja oozing dance music!

This is the first in a series of remixes of tracks from Dubkasm’s acclaimed 2018 LP, Rastrumentals. The 10” opens with Alter Echo and Zam Zam/Khaliphonic label head E3, who have an impressive list of previous collaborators including Lee Perry, Pinch and The Bug. The Portland, Oregon duo have taken the driving roots energy of ‘Lei Áurea’ and used pounding drums, flurries of aggressive foley and veering synth attacks to flip it into an apocalyptic dancehall banger.

Side B comes courtesy of recent Bristol arrival Om Unit, a truly unique producer and DJ, headlining shows around the world, and collaborating with artists as diverse as Goldie, Joker, and Machinedrum. Always impossible to classify, his remix of LP opener ‘Eco do Jongo’, , dives deep into dub territory, its ethereal, stripped-back nyabinghi drumming, crystallised synths, and a slipstream of horns bringing Ras B’s righteous message to the fore

This release has been expertly mastered via 1/2” tape by Lewis at StarDelta, and is backed and distributed by Unearthed.

Mario Pierro aka Raiders of the Lost ARP (ROTLA) returns to Edizioni Mondo. “Trasmissioni” is his debut LP under this moniker, using fictitious TV show themes as an excuse to create his musically most eclectic record so far. Departing slightly from the Balearic and prog rock influences of the previous “Laguna” EP, in “Trasmissioni” ROTLA covers many territories: opening with the science-celebrating arpeggios of “Progressi della Scienza” (Italian for “advances in science”), to the funky, off-beat grooves of “Telemusic”, then taking a step into a disco during “Nightlife”, before programming his rocket towards eerie nordic drum machines and Hammond organs in “Esterno Neve” and “Effetto Notte”, and many planets more. A welcome edition to the ever expanding Edition Mondo universe and a record you can’t grow tired of. Eco-Friendly green artwork that shows how tiny we all are. Good listening!



The name MONDO has its roots in “MONDO MOVIES", an italian movie genre born in the 60’s. Mondo movies are characterized by documentary-like content that addresses several topics from around the world ("mondo"). The Mondo label has the goal to produce music that is descriptive of concepts, images and environments. Mondo is inspired by library music, a genre frequently used as theme or background music in radio, film and television in that very same period. Production music libraries typically offer a broad range of musical styles and genres describing everything ranging from deserts to war and sports. Library music composers and session performers had no constraint at all. They typically work anonymously, have rarely become known outside their professional circle and they have produced what probably is the most creative music catalogue ever. The Mondo productions start with four releases dedicated to seascapes; scenarios range from sea fauna to poaching, from natural parks to sea dunes.

Soundway Records presents the eponymous debut LP from in-demand Amsterdam five piece The Mauskovic Dance Band – fusing no-wave dance punk, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and space disco in a “controlled explosion” (The Quietus).

Entirely self-produced, the band has reiterated their favourite elements of the 70s and 80s legacy of the Afro-Latin psychedelic music of Colombia and Peru, interpreting it through the context of modern day Amsterdam. The output is a lo-fi No Wave groove all its own - rooted in a deep love of champeta, Palenque, psychedelic cumbia, chichi, classic afrobeat and picó soundsystem culture.

Since the release of their “Down In The Basement” EP on Soundway Records in early 2018, the band have found themselves on a hectic European touring schedule – not to mention being involved in other side projects. Following stints with Turkish psychedelic folk rock group Altin Gün, and touring with the re-formed 70s Zamrock outfit W.I.T.C.H., Nic Mauskovic also teamed up with Dutch neo-psychedelic artist Jacco Gardner to form the “cinematic Balearic disco” duo of Bruxas (released by Dutch institution Dekmantel) – and together, they mixed The Mauskovic Dance Band debut album in Lisbon.

Lead single Space Drum Machine encapsulates the band’s prototypical brand of busy rhythmic patterns interwoven with insistent synth stabs and vibrant disco toms, layered with an elastic guitar riff drawing inspiration from Kenyan kikuyu and benga styles. High-pitched vocals describe being on a flight together and inciting each other to press a button of unknown consequence with “push it, push it” - and push it they do, at breakneck pace. And of course, the undeniable influence of Amsterdam’s hotbed of underground dance producers shines through as it does on all tracks - with the vintage psychedelic swirl of synthesiser, lo-fi drum machines and tape recording.

In a landscape increasingly dominated by surface-level sonics and a lack of true organic – man-made-machine-driven - sound, the newly found and London-based Gaia Tones project rises with an unforgiving grasp over the science of improvisation and mystery. Like a gust of wind from Mother Nature herself, the duo comprised of John Swing and David Soleil-Mon breathe a new, highly perceptible form of life into the UK’s long ‘dub and ‘bass’ dynasty.

Contrary to the consumer plastics found across much of the ‘digital’ musical spectrum, the two artists impose their own vision and aesthetic to a framework of sound that has somehow always existed but never fully explored before. Heady, stoned-out and surely emanating from physical matter, their two debut tracks are set to redefine the standards going into the next decade.

The A-side “Lychees”, stutters its own brand of dread paranoia over a sea of complex, morphing percussion that together create a whole new palette of exploratory sound, loosely tied up into a hazy, nomadic groove. On the flip, “Wonkadonk” feels like its natural extension, evolving that familiarly off-kilter assembly of drums to work around a devotedly dystopian swell of bass that pushes further and further out into the ether.

In the end, the universe tends to unfold as it should.

Label artwork by Egidio Sterpa

A cryptical presence hiding behind many different aliases spread across a range of underground labels: co-owner of LiveJam Records alongside EMG, John Swing begins producing with a live and spontaneous approach that pushes the boundaries and general conceptions of club music while digging deeper into the techniques of the past.

The production process through ananlog equipment that John Swing so strongly supports with an uncompromising attitude is the key to his underground success and esteem.
With a back catalogue of over seventy releases including collaborations with established artists such as Mr. G and Ben Sims, the London based talent has been receiving recognition by established artists including Floating Points, Gerd Janson, Levon Vincent, Theo Parrish and many others.

Inspired by London's Plastic People and it's bonding vibes, through a well refined spectrum of musical knowledge John Swing engages with the dance floor in a physical yet emotional way: the strength and power of pure house is blended with black soul music in a constant crossover between underground aesthetics and cherry-picked funk and disco. His subtle understanding of the dance floor guarantees a deep-rooted experience for the mind, body and soul.

Repress

In 1981, Alexei Borisov, a history student at the Moscow State University, formed his first band "Prospekt (Avenue)", drawing inspiration from kitchen table talks and new wave music coming from the West. They broke up in 1984 and a year later Borisov joined forces with Ivan Sokolovsky, an electronic music enthusiast and a connaisseur of rare synthesizers, to introduce the new and "updated" version of the band. By becoming Notchnoi Prospekt (Night Avenue), Borisov and Sokolovsky started moving towards industrial music and viscous, psychedelic synth pop.

In 1986, after a few conceptual, revolutionary albums as Notchnoi Prospekt, various solo projects and collaborations, the duo reunited in the studio to record their only instrumental album "Kurorty Kavkaza" (Resorts of the Caucasus). Built around the hypnotic meshing of afro-caribbean drum machine percussion and vintage Soviet and Italian synthesizers' vivid sonic palette, the resulting record was something that was absolutely different from Borisov and Sokolovsky's dark signature sound and wasn't well received both by the public and underground scene.

Until now, these tracks were never released and Notchnoi Prospekt never performed them live. Shortly after the recording session the duo focused on a return to their industrial roots that resulted in a number of monumental albums including "Kisloty" that became an instant underground classic.

"Kurorty Kavkaza" lay dormant and forgotten decades, and thirty three years after its recording, it gets the deserved official release.

Eno Williams, frontwoman of Ibibio Sound Machine, uses both English and the Nigerian language from which her band's name is derived for the dazzling new album Doko Mien. Long lauded for jubilant, explosive live shows, Ibibio Sound Machine fully capture that energy on Doko Mien, the followup to their Merge debut Uyai.
In a glowing piece in the New York Times, those songs were praised for following 'in the tradition of much African music, [making] themselves the conscience of a community.' By pulsing the mystic shapes of Williams' lines through further inventive, glittering collages of genre, Ibibio Sound Machine crack apart the horizon separating cultures, between nature and technology, between joy and pain, between tradition and future. That propensity for duality and paradox seems common in people whose lives span continents.

Williams was born in the UK, but grew up in Nigeria, always steeped in her family heritage. She obsessed over West African electronic music, highlife, and the like, but was equally empowered by Western genres such as post-punk, disco, and funk. The London octet have enveloped themselves in that maximalist quilt proudly since their 2013 formation. Though it can often bring with it news of stress and uncertainty, the modern world further brings all these disparate traditions into connection.
'Everyone has everything now,' says multi-instrumentalist Max Grunhard. 'Everyone has immediate access to every genre, picking things up from everywhere—like magpies.' And while they haven't suddenly left their African roots behind, Doko Mien does find increased representation of English lyrics in the ratio. By sharing more directly with more universal lyrics, the record feels more anthemic, reaching for grander heights.
'We wanted to give people a reason to sing along, to find their soundtrack every day,' Williams says. 'We wanted everyone to feel as if they're part of the music as well.'

Late album highlight 'Guess We Found a Way' addresses the change with a coy smile. 'Guess we found a way to speak to you/ Guess we found a way to say what's true/ To say what's real,' Williams coos over glistening chains of reverberant synth and diamond dust percussion, before returning to Ibibio in the chorus. Perhaps the best example of the group's ability to convey meaning across language and tradition, to blend past and future into a singular present comes on 'She Work Very Hard'. The traditional Ibibio folk tale bobs over the waves of tuned percussion, chunky synth, and pinprick highlife-esque guitar, while Jose Joyette's drums and Derrick McIntyre's bass funk groove bring everyone to the dance floor. 'These stories won't be forgotten. Feel the music: it speaks to everybody,' Williams says. 'We can travel back in time together, while convening on a futuristic, present tense. We hope that we can give people that reason to wake up, that one song to sing and dance and be happy.'

Doko Mien: Tell me everything. On their new album, Ibibio Sound Machine provide the perfect companion, ready to digest as much as possible and then further unfurl beauty and hope. They remember and honor the past and charge forward toward the future, all while intensely expanding the present.

Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra have been a consistent presence on the u.k. music scene, touring constantly in the promotion of their debut LP "Dilla" and follow up 45 "New Day feat. Illa J", steadily building a loyal and supportive fanbase. Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures, breathing new life into familiar material.

The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets, and trombones and features the cream of the north of England's jazz scene who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse.

"Madvillain Vol. 2" follows on from the 2018 release "Madvillain vol. 1" and further explores the jazz, TV soundtrack and film score aspect of the original work, combining it with classic big band writing and a focus on improvisation. As with vol 1. there is a strong influence of Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin and David Shire(Composer of the soundtrack to The Taking of Pelham 123) on the album, and the arranger Rob Mitchell crafts his own sound that inhabits the space between Madlib's production and Quincy Jones' writing.

As a bonus track to the album, Abstract reworks Dabrye's 'Air' and have included the original vocal of MF DOOM. Dabrye's original is heavily soaked in synths and drum machines, with an almost sci-fi, Blade Runner or Tron-esque sound . Mitchell explores this further and is influenced by Bob Brookmeyer's late work 'Electricity', which explores synths and jazz orchestration.

Madvillain Vol. 2 will build on the success of vol. 1 which received enormous support from Gilles Peterson & Huey Morgan on BBC6 Music as well as numerous airplay on Worlwide FM and Jazz FM, and reviews from soulbag in France and ukvibe, qwest.tv, and vinyl district online.

'The Loop' is the new LP by Los Angeles based polymath Shafiq Husayn, an epic project which saw its inception in 2012 through a series of studio sessions at Shafiq's home, including collaborations with the likes of Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, Bilal and Anderson Paak. Amongst a close knit circle of friends and family the golden tones of The Loop were created, deeply rooted in ideas of song, story, history, guidance and spirituality. The album bumps, jumps and jangles through progressions in jazz, hip hop, soul and funk, following on from his debut album 'Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka' and adding further to his rich history of timeless, unique music. On The Loop past, present and future are brought together through a psychedelic concoction of time traveling drum machines, celestial string sections and trails of synthesizer vapour. Inflections of Sly Stone, Pharaoh Sanders and Earth Wind And Fire traverse with Marley Marl and Dilla-esqe drums making for an organic yet LA-trifying experience.

Shafiq has brought together an impressive array of LA's musical royalty, enlisting the likes of Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Kamasi Washington, Chris 'Daddy' Dave, Eric Rico, Coultrain, Computer Jay, Jimetta Rose, Om'Mas Keith, Kelsey Gonzalez, I-Ced and more to provide the backbone to his recording sessions. Drawing in features from an international cast of performers and artists like Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Hiatus Kaiyote, Fatima and Karen Be amongst others. Now complete and finally ready for release in 2019 The Loop is truly something to behold. The records is accompanied by a series of paintings by acclaimed Japanese visual artist Tokio Aoyama, who worked in tandem with Shafiq to create a painting for each song on the record.

ZamZam 70 is our first team-up with the man of mystery known as Marcus Anbessa. An enigmatic figure whose identity must remain secret for the time being, his infrequent releases on labels such as Lion Charge, Tribe 12, and The Most High (as “Unknown Artist”) are eagerly awaited by those who know, charting an uncompromising vision down a path untrod by the weakheart or the follow-fashion. We love music that builds its own sound world with only passing reference to familiar genres or signposts, music that believes in itself utterly - for this reason we feel genuinely blessed to present these two sides.

“March of The Falasha” is pure roots music that, firmly planted in the soil of dub and sound system, reaches back even further into the mists of time through technological means. Downbeat steppers is the idiom, pure heartbeat is the pulse. Like an old soul young in years but full of wisdom, a distorted flute melody wanders ahead through the undergrowth of bass, light filtering through the ancient canopy above in the form of swung percussion and flickering echoes overlapping and intertwining like vines and creepers weaving on temple walls. Ancient-to-the-future.

“Creator” strikes a different yet equally dread chord, 140-ish post-apocalyptic Rasta business focused squarely on bass and space, hard, insistent drums and infinite echo trails flinging from the snares and percussion, creating hypnotic tracers like sparks swirling heavenward from a well-tended fire in blackest night.

Imagine African Headcharge on Jah Tubbys, or a rootsman groundation resuscitating ancient machines in the crumbling ruins of a near-future world and you begin to see what Marcus Anbessa brings. This music reminds us that nature herself will some day claim Babylon and grind it to dust, regardless of our efforts to save it or hasten its fall.

Production duo Computa Games take the most slamming synth bass, the crispest drum machine hits, and the overall classic vibes of 80's dance-funk tunes to new aural heights. Sculpted using the best modern studio techniques, the 'Cosmic Dispatch' EP fuses funk, disco, soul and electro to various combinations, fitting the feel of the classiest nightclub or the grittiest backyard party. Each individual tune on the EP pairs with a unique vocalist or collaborator, as the project features guests Lovechild, B Bravo, Jackie Rain, NATALITA, and E. Live. There is something killer and personalized on this EP for every type of dancer, funkster, and headnodder around.

The Computa Games project is the product of the combined efforts of Martin Arceneaux and Chris Arenas. Joining their deep roots of live funk, electronic/live production and DJing, they formed in the fall of 2012, and quickly released two singles on the Supermart Produce label. The two debuted their live set at Monarch in San Francisco, with follow up performances at SXSW in Austin, and Tipitina's New Orleans. The group's third single "Rock Creek (Revenge)" was released exclusively on Beatport, where it was a featured track on the site's Funk/R&B page and stayed in the Funk/R&B Top100 for nearly 2 months, peaking in the top15. The group then released the "Grand Design" EP in September 2013 on Super Mart Records, followed quickly by a remix of The Pendletons single "Let Me Turn You On" featuring K-Maxx, and then a remix of New Orleans based funk band Galactic's "Heart Of Steel', featuring the legendary Irma Thomas. In October of 2015 Computa Games released their first vinyl 7' on ABC records with 'Do Your Thing' featuring K-Maxx b/w 'Feel Right 2Nite' which promptly established them in the burgeoning modern funk scene. Their follow up 7' was released in January 2017 with the single 'Computer Rock' b/w 'Computer Rock (West Coast Remix) on the New Orleans label Super Jock Records. Computer Rock garnered the duo more accolades with critics and fans alike.

Identity Theft is the solo electronic music pseudonym of Michael Buchanan, who is one half of the project Abandoned Footwear, and also a founding member of Nommo Ogo. Utilizing an arsenal of analog and digital synthesizers alongside rhythm machines and effects, he continues to explore themes of paranoia, surveillance and shadow psychology; prevalent in Identity Theft's catalog since the release of his first effort, 'Night Workers' in 2010. He has previously released music on various European labels such as Oráculo Records and Treue Um Treue, as well as domestically via the Record Label Records and Katabatik imprints.


Chem Club's fifth EP, The Wrong Side of History, builds on Identity Theft's divergent production style, showcasing a mix of heavy sub frequencies, plucked modulars, tight delay, broken percussion and chuggy basslines. The A side, with tracks Johari Window, Climate Denial and No Response demonstrate the record's more rhythmic leanings. A1 and A2 use a forward moving sound palette rooted in heavy kicks, modular stabs and sequenced bass. A3 cleverly chops it's drums up while a throbbing sub and sharp synths create movement. The B Side with tracks Say Something and Vault7 opens the door to a darker room. B1 uses a fragmented arpeggiated bass that coincides with an array of plucks and melodies to create something uniquely catchy. B2 is the real low end face melter on this record where the drawn out bass notes, sonar like synth work and metallic pads conjure up thoughts of a lost submarine never making it home

Ltd. Ed. 180 units w/ Special Poster Cover

Syncope is concept EP, a mutant musical and visual project
initiated in 2018, promoting the inherent link between music and graphic design. It takes roots in Isaac Newton's Opticks treatise, which for the first time addresses a relationship between audible and visible. Syncope aims to explore the diversity and affinity of distinct phenomena such as frequencies, colors, synesthesia, polyrhythm ...Each exploration takes the form of a visual and musical narrative. This duality emerges on all visual and musical media, mixing plastic and technological elements, organic and synthetic, exploring the intimate relationship between man and machine. Dual nature also existing within the object, both a cover and a poster. A particular interest is giving to printing, using offset, with bronze and purple Pantone colors.This EP is the first object resulting from this project. Oil thief is an ambient track with synthetic and bestial sounds. Jungle is a rite of passage integrating African percussion and polyrhythms. Mengele Zoo close this EP with a progressive and psychedelic guitar slick.