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RIYL: The Fall, Royal Trux, The Dead C, Shirley Collins, ’70s British progressive rock, Dean Blunt.
Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning this year with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions is conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group, including a multi-year LP reissue effort and a forthcoming comprehensive CD box set and an over five hundred page book. Recorded in summer of 1994 at S.H.P studios (frontman Graham Lambkin’s parents’ home), the group’s sophomore record Put the Music In Its Coffin is a more sinister, saturnine affair than their debut City Lights. Coffin was many listeners’ introduction to the Shadow Ring, who had hitherto self-released their music, courting a steady stable of international fans through the magazine and mail-order catalog Forced Exposure. For their follow-up, the duo reached out to the ascending Philadelphia label Siltbreeze, whose eclectic roster of sneering, low-fidelity rock and noise connected disparate subterranean scenes from rust-belt America to the English Midlands, Dunedin, and beyond. As luck would have it, Siltbreeze proprietor Tom Lax was already a fan of the band’s first record and arranged to release both a 7” and their “difficult second album.” The connection proved to run deeper than vinyl within six months, Lax would pick up the pair from the airport for their spring 1995 US tour. This episode marked not only their first trip to the States but their first live performances at all, formally introducing the Shadow Ring to the American underground and solidifying the allure of the Folkestone pair. From the get-go, the record has a menacing, vile ambience. Its opening track “Horse-Meat Cakes,” inspired by an anecdote by pulp author Philip K. Dick about how he and his wife subsisted off low-grade pet food when he first arrived in San Francisco, sets the tone lyrically and sonically. Subsequent tracks are filled with Rabelaisian body horror and sinewy, haptic diction. “I try to pass out vital organs, convinced that they are waste,” intones Lambkin in “Heart, Liver & Lungs,” before a chorus of detuned guitars kicks in, nearly drowning out the speaker’s account of consuming chevaline intestines. Later songs similarly detail vernacular cooking (“Caribbean Porridge,” about a cornmeal hangover cure), bodily processes (“Nocturnal Middle Rumbles,” about nighttime defecation), and creaturely conflict (“Crystal Tears” and “Spin The Animal Dial”). The album’s makeshift percussion and teenaged rawness resembles the verve of City Lights, while its screeching strings and gnarly distorted vocals give it a sparse, miasmic atmosphere that look towards the uncompromising, otherworldly experimentation of the band’s Hold Onto I.D. (1996) and Lighthouse (1997), making this one of the Shadow Ring’s most distilled musical statements

Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning this year with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions is conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group, including a multi-year LP reissue effort and a forthcoming comprehensive CD box set and an over five hundred page book. Recorded and self-released by the group's own Dry Leaf Discs in 1993, City Lights is the debut record of the then duo Graham Lambkin and Darren Harris_an assured arrival statement teeming with stripling angst and ambition. Lifelong chums Lambkin and Harris were barely nineteen and living at home in the seaside town of Folkestone, Kent, with few overhead expenses. The two were freshly employed as a forklift operator at a hardware store and an aide at a home for children with disabilities, respectively, affording them the time and funds to commit to a proper full-length release. Frontman Lambkin describes the album as a "microscopic examination of leisure activities, this time centered around a nightclub," a conceit surging through its lyrics, song titles, cover art (depicting an audience of cats and mice at the Leas Club, a Folkestone fixture), and flip side (replete with fictional bandmates and pseudonymous liner notes). On a recently-acquired secondhand guitar, Lambkin plays repetitive, brooding licks that form the record's backbone, weaving in and out of sync with Harris's free-form percussion and the pair's sing-song poetry. Tracks range from unraveling nursery-rhyme ditties to extended jams awash with Casiotone and toy piano noodling. The duo's musical hobby-horses work themselves in: the influence of Mark E. Smith's breathless deadpan, the headless outer-edges of ESP-Disk's back catalog, the eerie atmospherics of Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa, and the deconstructed rock tunes of the Dunedin scene are all detectable, although there is a sui generis quality to the Shadow Ring's artless temerity. "I've got to see and taste those city lights," intones Lambkin on the album's title track_indeed, this is a record of naked drive and pent-up desperation, and a shimmering glimpse of what's to come. For Fans of The Fall, Royal Trux, The Dead C, Shirley Collins, '70s British progressive rock, Dean Blunt.

The Steel Woods, die renommierte Südstaaten-Rockband, hat das Publikum mit ihrem kraftvollem Sound und zu Herzen gehenden Texten auf ihren letzten drei Alben. Mit ihrem vierten Album,"On Your Time", begeben sie sich auf eine ergreifende und emotionale Reise, die lose dem Werdegang Onkel Lloyd, einem charmanten, aber ausschweifenden Charakter, der erstmals auf dem Debütalbum "Straw in the Wind" von 2017 vorgestellt wurde.

Dieses ambitionierte Album zeigt nicht nur ihre musikalische Entwicklung und die Fähigkeit, episodische Geschichten zu erzählen, sondern dient auch als Tribut an die Vision und Vermächtnis ihres verstorbenen Mitbegründers Jason "Rowdy" Cope, der kurz vor der Veröffentlichung ihres dritten Albums "All of Your Stones" verstarb. Angeführt von Wes Bayliss, dem Gitarristen, Sänger und Mitbegründer der Band, haben The Steel Woods ihr Herz und ihre Seele in dieses Album gesteckt. Sie haben ein Album geschaffen, das ihre Unverwüstlichkeit, ihr Wachstum und ihren unerschütterlichen Geist widerspiegelt.

180gr./Printed Innersleeve/500 Cps Red Vinyl

Dutch singer Anouk released her sixth studio album, For Bitter Or Worse, in September 2009. The album's lead single, "Three Days in a Row," was an epic blues rock ballad where Anouk expresses her love for someone she only knew for three days but believes their love story will continue. The song reached number 1 on the Dutch charts. "For Bitter Or Worse" also performed well, reaching number 1 in the Netherlands and number 2 in Belgium. Three additional singles, "Woman," "For Bitter or Worse," and "Lovedrunk," were released from the album.

Mick Flannery is one of Ireland's most acclaimed songwriters and singers
The award- winning, double- platinum selling artist has released seven studio
albums, three of which have reached No. 1 status.
On September 15th he will release his eighth studio album 'Goodtime Charlie'.
Featuring collaborations with Valerie June, Anais Mitchell and Tianna Esperanza.
Mick has partnered with US Label Oh Boy Records, which for them will be their
first non-American signing.
"Mick Flannery has a voice for the ages, a complete Master of his craft" cited by
Clash Magazine, whilst The Sunday Times said he "conjures up exquisite storytelling." His last album in 2021 consisted of a collection of duets with up and
coming Irish artist Susan O'Neill. American Songwriter called 'In The Game' a
"Sorrowful Masterpiece." The record was nominated for the Choice Music Prize,
and won the RTE Radio 1 song of the year two years in a row for tracks 'Baby Talk'
and 'Chain Reaction.' The album was the biggest selling independent record in
Ireland in 2021.
Mick Flannery's songs are fluent in expressing layered aspects of the human
condition, its flaws, triumphs, and general uncertainty. Originally a stone mason
by trade, he once described his stage presence as that of a 'Mountain goat'
however over the years that shy awkwardness of said mountain goat has started
to dissipate. His live shows are renowned for his self- deprecating humor,
audience engagement and the ability to bring people on a journey of both
heartbreak and joy, often in the same instance

The undoubted Queen of British Soul and 2023 Olivier Award winner, Beverley Knight returns with a brand new album The Fifth Chapter - on September 29th on Tag8/BMG. The album Includes the first single “Last One On My Mind” which was ROW on R2 and the follow up “Systematic Overload ” which we expcct to also be a R2 favourite
Zoe Ball will be playing Systematic Overload as a first play on R2 on 17th September. Beverley appears at R2 In The Park on 16.09 with appearances on Vernon Kaye TOMY, Rylan KaRyoke appearance confirmed live and interviews with Graham Norton, and a Chris Evans session on Virgin. Press to include Guardian, Sunday Times, and Attitude.
The Fifth Chapter comes on the back of what has undoubtedly been Beverley’s most successful period ever as the iconic Ms Knight celebrates 30 years making music with several top 10 albums and over a million UK albums sold.
UK national TV appearances will support the album release - we expect Royal Variety, Strictly, Sunday Brunch, The One Show and BBC Breakfast news performances and interviews, while Beverley has already appeared on ITN News, and GoggleBox on the launch of the album.
Beverley will take on her biggest ever UK tour throughout October and November, to over 30,000 people, ending with a headline date at the London Palladium on November 14th. The album brings together some of the greatest contemporary songwriting talent including Diane Warren, Seb Coe, Ollie Green and Andrew Roachford, as well as co-production with the likes of AC Burrell, Jimmy Hogarth, Mitch Allen & Josh Cohen/DJ Waldie, The Fifth Chapter is a spectacular journey through the inspirations that have defined her incredible career.
Beverley has collected numerous awards and accolades including an MBE, three MOBO Awards, numerous Brit and Mercury Music Prize nominations and, most recently, an Olivier Award for her role as Emmeline Pankhurst in the critically acclaimed musical SYLVIA at London's Old Vic Theatre. She also recently appeared as a judge on Starstruck alongside Adam Lambert, and Shania Twain.

Legendary 2010’s indie band Crocodiles’ guitarist Charles Rowell’s new synthpop-meets-gothic rock project. Think Nick Cave crooning over Martin Rev’s minimal electronics or The Lords of the New Church-era Stiv Bators jamming with Wayne Hussey and Douglas Pearce.

After relocating from New York to France, Charles Rowell began stuffing his suitcase with various synths and samplers while taking cheap bus rides to bordering countries.

While living out of a hotel in north east Paris, he played his demos for Third Coming Records who quickly released the Bad Trip EP in 2020. Concerts became more frequent after the pandemic, with the release of Spellwound and a few have become infamous with guitars smashed to pieces, broken glasses, unruly audience front flipping onto the stage.

With Paris providing the background and a scene of friends such as avant-garde drag artist Tuna Mess and industrial techno veteran Poison Point who pushed his creativity even further, Crush Of Souls constant spirit is that it remains unpredictable and thrives on collaboration.
This is even more true with his upcoming album (A)Void Love.

Written over a period of intense insomnia that coincided with a run of shows playing guitar for Australian legend Harry Howard, Crush Of Soul’s main man Charles Rowell finally found rest after writing and recording the last song entitled World of Fear. Six months prior he had quit his job as a chef, traveled east to Prague for inspiration and returned ragged and sleepless.
Rowell’s insistence on keeping the instrumentation simple and clean came from an arduous two years of literal blood, sweat and tears. Every bit of drama, eastern excursion and sleep psychosis can be found within the walls of (A)Void Love.

Acoustic guitars and dramatic synths provide a cold wilderness for the various rhythms to inhabit; touches of minimal electronics, cold wave and synth pop can be found while the song writing remains classic for lovers of Echo & the Bunnymen and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

There’s always been a thread of synth-punk, death rock and DIY noise running through all of Charles’ projects (Crocodiles, ISSUE, Flowers of Evil), however Crush Of Souls pushes harder and further into the darkness with the new album ‘(A)Void Love’.

We walked the earliest edge of Sunday, winter dark; streets lined up with standstill cars,

silver, grey, and black, and white; while the ever-distant sun, then further still, was slowly
breaking into shining. The town was quiet, gleaming; the rows of tenements - awash with sky.

And we rarely chanced upon a person, save the stocking-wrapped, shadows without bodies,
and that nude and mouthless one. We turned into a narrow lane past the power station,

the mute red lights of chimneys looking down at us. We reached the concrete halfpipe
of the dried-out canalside. And listened out for it. To disappear.

For that.

FINAL GASP unleash their debut album Mourning Moon! A harrowing journey through all things Hardcore, Metal, and Goth, Mourning Moon drags the listener through the dark in 12 thrilling tracks, and drives a stake right into the heart of 2023's most compelling releases. Opener "Climax Infinity" sets the tone for what's to come: the undeniable hardcore swagger of the Boston-based band is immediate as drums and guitars stomp and riff against one another, while FINAL GASP vocalist Jake Murphy howls - "watch as the way it falls, your loss of control, from whispered incantations, burnt down for your invocation!" Mourning Moon showcases expert songwriting and lyrical crafting, snarling and barking through the harsher, heavier punked out moments in "Blood and Sulfur" and "Frozen Glare" while flexing arena chops on the tremendous "Temptation" and utterly despairing "The Vanishing". Elsewhere, the hook-laden title track explodes out of the underground and aims straight for the moon. Lead single "Mourning Moon'' is downright catchy and showcases FINAL GASP's knack for excellent songwriting. A song professing eternal love through a lens clad in black and morbid as ever, "Mourning Moon" proves to be one of the most inventive journeys this side of the genre in recent times, recalling a prime period for luminaries Killing Joke and Danzig. With Mourning Moon, FINAL GASP emerge from the shadows, and step into the forefront of extreme music's new guard.

My Light, My World is a gorgeously slammin’ four track release by Brooklyn-based Ryan Clover on Eris Drew’s Ecstatic Editions imprint. We fell in love with Ryan’s music as we wore out the grooves on his killer 12 inch for ARTS. The tracks featured on My Light, My World are a perfect fit for Ecstatic Editions because, much like Eris’s sets, the tracks are beautiful musically and genuinely emotional, but they also seriously slap and translate powerfully on large sound systems. It is hard to find Big Room records with so much heart, so the label jumped to sign the tracks and prepare the project for release.

Clover’s arrangements on the EP unfold in truly magical and unexpected ways with buildups giving way to gorgeous musical passages. “We Love (We Feel)” is a heartfelt instrumental which sets the tone for the record, while the title tune “My Light, My World” declares boldly “ITS ON!” before heeding to woozy chords and a sax riff that sounds amazing in the mix. Flip the record over for “Here We F***ing Go!” which is a total boast track for deck players but doesn’t lose its sweetness in the process, and the powerfully fun closer “Let Me Tell U Sumthin’” which reminds sweaty dancefloors that “Love Is Special.” Ecstatic Editions hopes you’ll put your needle in the groove and dance hard to one of the season’s sweetest bangers.

The EP features original art by Karina A. Linares and mastering by Trutone legend Carl Rowatti.

Indies Only LP is opaque green vinyl. Both LPs come with a download. The moment the needle drops on Bite, the new A Giant Dog record, one’s conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that Bite is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. A Giant Dog’s first album of original songs since 2017’s Toy, Bite finds the band Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Danny Blanchard, Graham Low, and Andy Bauer at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. “We had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs,” Ellis explains. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. This is evident in songs like “Different Than,” where Ellis sings, “My body can’t explain the things my mind don’t comprehend” as if societal gender pressure is squeezing its protagonist out of their skin. The songs on Bite are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album’s narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden. Appropriately, A Giant Dog came to this narrative armed to the teeth with new ideas, unleashing synthesizers and string sections to create what Ellis describes as orchestral, symphonic, futuristic punk. To achieve this, they left their home turf of Austin, Texas, for La Cuve Studio, just outside of Angers, France. Living in the French countryside, A Giant Dog laid down their vision of the future against a decidedly pastoral backdrop. On walks from Angers to La Cuve, Ellis says that they “would see many things, and also nothing at all. Swans on the river. Romani people living in little trailers, with a side hut built for their dog. A juggler on a unicycle—not fucking with you.” “We thought we wouldn’t be allowed back in France after this trip, to be honest,” they continued. “Five loud, stomping, clapping, rowdy Americans who ran through the streets of Angers for three weeks in November 2022.” The experience capped two years of planning and writing, fleshing out the universe of Avalonia beyond the bounds of most concept albums. The resulting nine songs do not merely occupy this space: They’ve lived in it, and they want out.

Until the End of Time is the seventh studio album, and third posthumous album by 2Pac. It follows his previous posthumous albums R U Still Down? (Remember Me) and Still I Rise. The album consists of material recorded while the rapper was on Death Row Records from 1995–1996. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.

A majority of the music compositions were remixed from their original state. Highly anticipated, Until the End of Time was ultimately one of the best selling hip hop albums of 2001. There were only three times references to Death Row Records were not censored (“Until the End of Time” (both versions), “U Don’t Have 2 Worry”, and “All Out”). The core vocal tracks and some instrumentation was recorded during and after the All Eyez On Me and Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory sessions.

This will be a 180 gram 4LP 20th anniversary reissue of the long out-of-print, 4x platinum, posthumous album.

Since 2003, Cleveland, OH's Midnight have been peddling their classic homage of self styled Black Rock N' Roll, building up sizable catalog for their ever growing fanbase. "Shox Of Violence." corrals all of Midnight's early EPs and splits into one savory collection of heavy metal madness. "Shox Of Violence" features four (at the time of original release) new songs plus a covers of Venom's "Too Loud For The Crowd" that was available exclusively to subscribers of Decibel magazine, some super-rowdy live tracks and a handful of covers of Midnight favorites from The Spits, Quiet Riot, Girlschool, The Pagans, Australia's Taipan and NWOBHM cult Crucifixion among others.

Freddie is the fourth studio album from acclaimed rapper, Freddie Gibbs. One of the most consistent and polished artists from the blog era, Freddie Gibbs has yet to release an album that does not achieve widespread acclaim, proving that he’s able to compete in any era. At 10 tracks, the album comes at a blistering yet concise pace, showcasing his raw and energetic flow over thundering trap-influenced beats. Aside from a tasteful appearance from 03 Greedo, Freddie Gibbs mainly relies on himself to carry the album, and features production from hip-hop heavyweights such as Kenny Beats, Dupri, RichGains and more. Marking the 5 year anniversary since release, Freddie is back in print for the very first time.

Die von Tim Burton produzierte Serie zeigt Wednesday Addams, die Tochter der Addams Family, wie sie als Teenager auf ein Internat für außergewöhnliche Menschen kommt (Zauberer, Werwölfe und mehr). Neben den beeindruckten Streamingzahlen auf Netflix, ging die Serie auch auf TikTok und Instagram monatelang viral. Komponiert vom Oscar-nominierten und Emmy-Gewinner Danny Elfman (Men In Black, Good Will Hunting, Desperate Housewives) und Emmy-nommiertem Chris Bacon (Bates Motel, Sherlock Gnomes) erscheint der Score zur Serie auf farbigem Doppelvinyl (purple smoky marbled) und in bedruckten Sleeve mit Gatefold.

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Dexys are back! 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I'm Going to Soar, the band return with a stunning new record, The Feminine Divine, out July 28th on 100% Records.

The Feminine Divine’s arrival is heralded by today’s release of the glorious first single ‘I’m Going To Get Free’, soaked in horns and with a heavy dance-hall feel. "The character is optimistically breaking free from internalised trauma, depression and guilt," Kevin Rowland said of the track.

The Feminine Divine is Dexys’ fifth album of original material produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. A personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: an education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.

With two tracks on the album with Goddess in the title in ‘My Goddess Is’ and ‘Goddess Rules’, it’s no surprise Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the artwork.

Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener, ‘The One That Loves You’, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel”, as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, ‘It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023)’.

The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.

Today the band is more of an “organic” assemblage – Kevin, Jim (a non-touring band member), Sean Read and Mike Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”

With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the UK, two number 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”

Mike Cooper wrote his final songwriter record, a suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio, while living on the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain, an era when he was considering retiring from music altogether. A chance encounter and a last-ditch record deal convinced him to make one last album, which he recorded in 1974 at Pathway Studios in London, with “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World,” featuring the inventive South African jazz rhythm section of Louis Moholo and Harry Miller with UK saxophonist Mike Osborne. This first-ever reissue includes a bonus CD of Milan Live Acoustic 2018, a previously unreleased solo set that represents Cooper’s return, after forty-four years pursuing free improvisation and electronics, to a new, deconstructed approach to singing, steel guitar, and songcraft. The deluxe LP+CD edition also features a six-panel insert with additional artwork and an essay by the artist about both records. The deluxe 2xCD gatefold edition features an eight-panel version of the same insert. In the wake of his magisterial triptych of early 1970s avant-folk-rock records Trout Steel (1970), Places I Know (1971), and The Machine Gun Co. (1972) the British songwriter, guitarist, and fledgling improviser Mike Cooper retreated to the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain. With no prospects for touring or recording again, his fiery band the Machine Gun Co. had disintegrated. Cooper sets the scene in his liner notes of the first-ever reissue of his unjustly forgotten next album Life and Death in Paradise (1974): No one came running with offers of fame and riches, and we fell apart, and I left the country and headed for the beach, disillusioned and a bit disorientated musically. I went to Almuñécar in Andalusia, a place I had been going since 1969, because a painter friend from Reading, Rowland Fade who made the collage in the gatefold of my earlier album Trout Steel had moved there in 1968. It was in this synthetic coastal “paradise,” unmoored and adrift, considering retiring from music altogether, that he began tentatively writing new songs. A chance encounter with producer Tony Hall, who offered Cooper a last-ditch record deal on Hall’s nascent Fresh Air label, convinced him to make one last album with the stipulation that he could assemble what he called “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.” I told Tony that I would do it if I could hire some of my South African jazz musician friends that I had used on my Pye/Dawn albums and some friends from Reading that I still knew and admired. I called up Harry Miller, Louis Moholo, and Mike Osborne, who were in fact a trio at the time … and several local Reading heroes, including the singer-songwriter Terry Clarke. The result, recorded live with minimal overdubbing at Pathway Studios in London, was Life and Death in Paradise, an utterly singular suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio comprising the inventive South African jazz rhythm section of Moholo and Miller with UK saxophonist Osborne. Unlike anything else in Cooper’s extensive catalog. Fresh Air fizzled, and Life and Death became Cooper’s final record as a songwriter, having pushed the form as far as he could. Drifting north from Spain back to the UK, he fell into the scene of the London Musicians Collective (LMC) including Paul Burwell, David Toop, and saxophonist Lol Coxhill, Cooper’s bandmate in the Recedents and fully embraced free improvisation. He was still, however, interested in singing and lyrics, so, influenced by Tom Phillips, William Burroughs, and Brion Gysin, he began experimenting with text collage and cut-up techniques, arriving at his own hybrid compositional strategy for improvisatory songs. The previously unreleased solo set Milan Live Acoustic 2018 represents Cooper’s return, after more than four decades pursuing free improvisation and electronics, to a new, deconstructed approach to singing, lap steel guitar, and songcraft. Presented here together with Life and Death in Paradise, the two records provide fascinating bookends to Mike Cooper’s long, mercurial, and pioneering practice as a songmaker.

In loving memory of Darrell - you will be missed. "On Wednesday the 15th of June we lost our best friend, our Bobby. Words can’t describe how shocked and heartbroken we are. The joy, or what he would call ‘hot sauce’, that he brought to our lives has left a massive hole in our hearts. This is a photo taken at our last show on Saturday night. After we finished our set, he said “that was fucken sick, I think that was the best show we have ever played.” Darrell, we will love you forever." Love always, Greg & Steph x Eora/Sydney 3-piece Display Homes are back with new music! The asymmetric guitars, bass grooves and dynamic drums we’ve come to love on their previous two EPs are all there brighter than ever on forthcoming debut album What If You’re Right & They’re Wrong?. It’s raw but sharp, minimalist and danceable. Their pop sensibilities make it accessible while their post-punk leanings make it exciting. We’re calling it now as one of our favourite albums of the year! When I put this on I listen all the way through. The other day two times in a row. Unbelievably catchy. I will love this even years and years from now, for sure. Can’t pick a favorite song. This sounds like it could have been released in any of the last 5-6 decades. Solid, tight songs that warm the soul. I’m picking up on a wide diversity of sounds, from The Pixies to Blondie. Really glad to have stumbled across these guys! Extremely catchy, every song is a bop.

Verbz & Mr Slipz have been jumping on the train (52m, 0 changes) between Croydon and Brighton to reconnect on ‘Where It Started’; a 10-track EP that does everything (and more) you have come to expect from the duo.

Shimmering with nostalgia, but with one eye firmly on the next motive, ‘Where It Started’ offers a front row seat to the trials and tribulations of Verbz & co. doing what they did (and still do) to thrive and survive on the streets of Croydon, expertly scored by the meditative swing of Slipz’ 100% sample-free production.

Think classic hip hop aesthetics, beautifully reincarnated; chunky MPC drums, deeply personal multi-syllables, tales of loss, heartache, learning the hard way but coming back stronger. 5 x vocals and 5 x Instrumentals, Where It Started’ is a 50/50 deep dive into the hearts and minds of Verbz & Mr Slipz; perfectly poised as a duo, the EP is an unmissable trip down memory lane.

Fredfades is finally ready with his second album as a solo artist. The producer and DJ and has remained active as a musician ever since his debut single in 2008. Since he released his debut solo album 'Warmth' six years ago he's ben diving into a bunch of different genres and cross-ing musical landscapes such as ambient, hip-hop and house, which has led to releases and productions across labels like his own Mutual Inten-tions imprint, as well as bigger labels like Stones Throw, Fresh Selects and Jakarta Records. This sonic voyage has resulted in ‘Caviar’ - an album that tells the story of a producer who's ready to let go of his youthful love and indulge himself to electronic music.

Fredfades name is more often seen on foreign club posters than back home in Norway. This has colored the musical expression of the Oslo-born multi-artist, and on ‘Caviar’ he is gathering inspiration from every corner of the world where he has traveled. You can clearly hear the inspi-rations from the sounds of Rome, Manchester, South-Africa, Detroit, New York, Berlin, Paris and the Balearic ocean, which are all well repre-sented throughout the album's eight tracks. If you close your eyes and put your ears close to the speakers you will hear loons, running water, African percussion instruments, roaring saxophones, bit-crushed samples, moaning women, TB 303’s, bottom-heavy basslines and recordings of whales communicating at the bottom of the ocean. Everything seamlessly put together for Fredfades’ own sonic world view. The album features a bunch of talented friends of Fred, such as Telephones or the vocalists MoRuf and Kristian Hamilton.

Despite being known as more of a progressive and edgy DJ that haunts down a lot of indie and private press electronic music, Fredfades has cultivated a more elegant and controversial output in his own music. His progressions often consist of dwelling jazz chords from electric pianos or mellow sub-filtered synth patches that creates space where he can unleash rowdy basslines, rhythm sections and leads just as confident and captivating as the man himself. On the jazzy ‘Tenerife 1994’ you can hear a tribute to one of Fred’s greatest heroes in music: Pharoah Sanders, while on ‘My Heart Is On The Edge’ and ‘Summer of Love’ the energy and euphoria is boiling over and directs your mind towards the summer raves which Fredfades is known to throw down in Oslo.

On the LP covers backside Fredfades is posing with a Korg Wavestation in front of the block where he grew up in the suburbs outside Oslo, while the front cover is showing an airbrushed illustration of Caviar from sturgeon - ‘From block to Beluga’. The black vinyl contains magic grooves created by an electronic musical convertite, with the power to transport the listener from a perpetual winter to the 90s warm dance floors and the 'Second Summer of Love’.

***
Words,
older.
Drowning,
rowing.
***

Harry’s House is the third solo studio album from Harry Styles and first music release since 2019’s record breaking sophomore album Fine Line. The new 13-track full-length album was recorded in multiple locations across the UK, Los Angeles and Tokyo from 2020 to 2021. It was written by Harry alongside frequent collaborators Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, and Mitch Rowland.

Often dubbed reggae's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club, the notorious Jamaican collective prove that they are still on top of their game with a new album, which journalist David Katz already declaring it was "their best one yet".

In addition to the usual cast of Inna de Yard legends, this new album features the pristine vocals of '70s icon Johnny Osbourne and '60s memorable duo Keith & Tex. Thirteen songs of pure emotions, exceptional musicality and authenticity gathered on a riveting album which promises to be a firm favourite amongst reggae lovers and general music fans alike.

Often dubbed reggae's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club, the notorious Jamaican collective prove that they are still on top of their game with a new album, which journalist David Katz already declaring it was "their best one yet".

In addition to the usual cast of Inna de Yard legends, this new album features the pristine vocals of '70s icon Johnny Osbourne and '60s memorable duo Keith & Tex. Thirteen songs of pure emotions, exceptional musicality and authenticity gathered on a riveting album which promises to be a firm favourite amongst reggae lovers and general music fans alike.

Sorry Girls have danced out of the darkness into the light. Since forming in 2015, the Montreal duo of Heather Foster Kirkpatrick and Dylan KonradObront have transformed an eerie, dream like sound into lush, pleasure seeking pop. Expanding upon their debut album, Deborah, the band’s deftly arranged sophomore LP, Bravo!, sings to the back rows of the stadium, drawing listeners inward with a newfound focus on personal lyrics. “These songs are all about self-acceptance, self-affrmation, personal freedom, and letting go,” says Kirkpatrick. “There are a lot of lyrics about the creative process itself, identity shaping, and how those things intertwine.”

Das berühmt-berüchtigte jamaikanische Kollektiv, das oft als die
Antwort des Reggae auf den Buena Vista Social Club bezeichnet
wird, beweist mit seinem neuen Album, das der Journalist David
Katz bereits als "ihr bisher bestes" bezeichnet hat, dass es
immer noch auf der Höhe der Zeit ist. Neben der üblichen
Besetzung von Inna de Yard-Legenden sind auf dem neuen
Album auch die unverfälschten Vocals der 70er-Jahre-Ikone
Johnny Osbourne und des unvergesslichen 60er-Jahre-Duos
Keith & Tex zu hören. Dreizehn Songs voller purer Emotionen,
außergewöhnlicher Musikalität und Authentizität sind auf einem
fesselnden Album versammelt, das sowohl bei ReggaeLiebhabern als auch bei Musikfans im Allgemeinen zu einem
festen Favoriten zu werden verspricht.

Das berühmt-berüchtigte jamaikanische Kollektiv, das oft als die
Antwort des Reggae auf den Buena Vista Social Club bezeichnet
wird, beweist mit seinem neuen Album, das der Journalist David
Katz bereits als "ihr bisher bestes" bezeichnet hat, dass es
immer noch auf der Höhe der Zeit ist. Neben der üblichen
Besetzung von Inna de Yard-Legenden sind auf dem neuen
Album auch die unverfälschten Vocals der 70er-Jahre-Ikone
Johnny Osbourne und des unvergesslichen 60er-Jahre-Duos
Keith & Tex zu hören. Dreizehn Songs voller purer Emotionen,
außergewöhnlicher Musikalität und Authentizität sind auf einem
fesselnden Album versammelt, das sowohl bei ReggaeLiebhabern als auch bei Musikfans im Allgemeinen zu einem
festen Favoriten zu werden verspricht.

It features compositions by the great Stan Tracey - The Godfather of British Jazz - inspired by Dylan Thomas' drama 'Under Milk Wood', including the timeless "Starless and Bible Black" with its acclaimed solo by tenor saxophonist Bobby Wellins.

Like Thomas's characters, the themes vary greatly in tempo, in mood, in dramatic depth. The title song is a triumph, not only because it stands by itself as a beautifully conceived jazz ballad, but because it sets the scene for the rest of the writing and playing. Some of the other themes are impressionistic and highly subjective sketches of Thomas seen through the prism of jazz.

It was awarded 69th place in Jazzwise magazine's The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World: "Tracey is indispensable, a one-man mission statement. Here he showed how much could be achieved within the basic jazz quartet format.

Reaction at the time seems to have been along the lines of where on earth did this come from? Coherent, vital and mind-stretching."
"The haunting Starless and Bible Black remains probably the finest single recorded performance by a British jazz group." - The Observer

Die Neuauflage des Debütalbums von Animal Collective mit neu gemasterten Audioaufnahmen und einem neuen Artwork von Abby und Dave Portner. 'Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished' wurde ursprünglich im Jahr 2000 unter dem Namen Avey Tare & Panda Bear veröffentlicht, bevor der vollständige Bandname auf den Veröffentlichungen verwendet wurde.

Legendary 7X GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning artist/producer Dr. Dre celebrates the 30th anniversary of his magnum opus, The Chronic by announcing the album will be re-released. The Chronic, which is not currently available on streaming services, will again be available to fans on all major DSPs .

Steve Berman, Vice Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, said: “Dr. Dre is without a doubt one of the most iconic and groundbreaking artists in the modern era. He has also used his platform to fuel some very impactful philanthropic efforts that will ensure his legacy is felt for generations to come. Dre’s solo career all started with the The Chronic, one of the most celebrated recordings of all time.

First released on December 15, 1992, The Chronic peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and has spent 97 weeks on the chart since its release. The album also spawned three top 40 hits on the Hot 100, including top ten records with "Nuthin' But a “G” Thang" (No. 2) featuring Snoop Dogg and "F— Wit Dre Day" (No. 8). The Chronic topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for eight weeks, while "Nuthin’ But a "G" Thang" hit No. 1 for two weeks on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Last June, Rolling Stone placed The Chronic on its 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time List, boasting how the album "redefined the West Coast Hip Hop sound." Pitchfork also holds the seminal album in high standing, saying The Chronic lives on as a “timeless show of strength” and “gave shape to L.A.’s present and future.” Videos from The Chronic are also available on Dr. Dre’s official YouTube channel.

Last year, Dr. Dre dazzled during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show in Los Angeles. His enormous set was star-studded, as Dre performed alongside some of music's biggest stars, including Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and 50 Cent. Dre commanded the stage – just a few miles from his birthplace of Compton – with a groundbreaking setlist anchored by hits such as "The Next Episode" and the 2Pac-led "California Love." The historic performance earned Dr. Dre his first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The Hollywood Reporter called the halftime show "thrilling and nostalgic," while Billboard credited Dre for his "seismic impact" on music.

Nas King's Disease II Album Following the Grammy Award winning album, King’s Disease, the king returns to his throne with the second coming, King’s Disease II. The star-studded project offers tacit game on life, love, and loss, uplifting through action and lived experience in a way only Nas can. This is a body of work for the fans, for the day 1’s that contributed to the legacy. Alongside the decorated production savant, Hit-Boy, Nas remains rooted in lyrical prophetism while proving that he constantly reinvents the wheel. The sequel to last year’s King’s Disease features Ms. Lauryn Hill, Eminem, EPMD, Hit-Boy, Charlie Wilson, YG and more.

GAB002 sees Gimme A Break Records keep things local with a rowdy EP from Leeds-based DJ and producer BEERUS. Over the last six months, BEERUS has demonstrated his production power through two bodacious releases on Gunfinger Food’s new sub-label, Booty Frooty Records. Fusing UK styles including hardcore, acid and jungle with US staples such as electro, juke and footwork, BEERUS has established a playful sound primed for the dancefloor.

BEERUS’s “9000” EP opens with a hardcore weapon which combines rave stabs with Dragon Ball samples and an acid line threatening to spiral out of control at any given moment. “Play This Shit” sees the EP take a sensual turn as BEERUS channels the sounds of Chicago with an enticing juke number. “Booty Acid” follows suit, offering up a particularly self-explanatory track title: luscious electro meets 303s. “Love4U” is BEERUS’s love letter to the happy hardcore scene as a thumping 4x4 bassline collides with melancholic vocals and piano lunacy. Finally, BEERUS rounds off GAB002 in style with the junglist mediation “DO U WANT ME”.

Chloé Robinson & DJ ADHD still aren’t short on fuel. In fact, they seem to only be boosted further by their own supply. With such a weighty momentum driving forward their newly established identities, only one big question sits adjacent in the saddle: what’s next? It seems that Chloé and Alex already have the answer for today’s daily summon, and for the next Pretty Weird release, it’s a 4-track techno record reiterating the trusted adage of less being more. With an emphasis on space and silence placed intuitively, the first single from the ‘Steamin’ EP finally gets its much anticipated drop - including a killer remix from close friend Four Tet stamped on in classic, inimitable style.

‘Steamin’ is all serrated kicks, 909 drums and tenacious vocals that yell without inhibition, invoking the looseness of a party spiralling unphased into its collective apex.. ‘Redbull’ scales up on the pyrotechnics and rowdy behaviour, taking the sensation of several shots of caffeine and packaging it into a mean, raucous pick-me-up.

For ‘Pax’, Chloé and Alex continue on the stripped back disorder with white-hot conviction through rhythm and textures that find their power through no-frills, unpretentious simplicity. Kieran Hebden steps up for the remix, nodding back in appreciation to the past through the nestling of a sharply redefined ‘Pulse X’ sample alongside his addictive, punchy production all too suited to those can’t-go-home-just-yet stints.

Early support from artists including Four Tet, Peggy Gou, Jamie XX, Floating Points, Ben UFO, Caribou, Skrillex, Mary Anne Hobbs, Bradley Zero, Bonobo, Saoirse, Zenker Brothers, TSHA, HAAi, I. Jordan, Logic1000 and Pearson Sound.