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‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.

A bit more than half a decade on from his widely acclaimed debut Vanishing Points from 2018, Swiss guitarist, composer, and improv musician Manuel Troller releases his new record Halcyon Future. A rhythmically dense and ambiguous, yet joyful ride for unstable times, a plea for warmth and hopeful resistance.

Troller’s mode of incorporating, zooming in, and expanding on small elements from improvised sessions creates a multilayered work of driving rhythms and abstract, vibrating textures. Opening with Halcyon Future I’s distinctive open pulse, this first piece guides us through subtle harmonic shifts that are almost unrecognizable as they take place over extended time, overlapping and creating a sense of ambiguity until the piece reaches an almost optimistic level with Mario Hänni’s unexpected introduction of driving acoustic drums. Relentlessly and with increasing excitement, heavy electronic 80s bass drums and an armada of layered hi-hats push them on, leading to the all-incorporating melodic finale.

The two long pieces Halcyon Future I and Halcyon Future II focus on forward momentum. In between them stands DNA, a purposely directionless contemplation on emotion as such. It is raw, naked, and confrontational, with a tender and subtly changing chord progression creating intimacy and proximity, abstraction and warmth, like a beautifully vibrant hologram for the listener to walk around in.

The B-side with its 20-minute Halcyon Future II features playful futuristic guitars, enhancing and challenging the stereo image that Troller is already well-known for. As it’s given time to develop and take root, the ever-varying guitar interactions densify and the staccato patterns jump out of the speakers with joy, creating excitement and building momentum. Compared to Side A, things turn to a slightly more complex rhythmical, melodic, and harmonic feel here. There are easy references, such as Manuel Göttsching’s E2-E4 or Pat Metheny performing Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, but Troller goes a different and very much more concrete way. Although the piece has been recorded in various places and through a long process of overdubbing, there is an astonishingly strong live feel to it, from beginning to the end, from the slow rise to the full spectrum and the almost krautrock-like finale. Improvisers Hans Koch on soprano saxophone and Michael Flury on heavily fuzzed trombone join in, while Troller and Mario Hänni on many guitars, bass, drum machines, and acoustic drums provide a joyous driving entity, not giving up until it all breaks down again. There is overkill and brute force, though never without depth and a vision of future.

In the musical scope of Halcyon Future, there is no need for an absolute definition of things. A continuously changing interpretation of repetitive and variable elements fading in and out of focus tells a story of an excited sense of acceptance. Feelings of transcendence stem from Troller’s layering of constantly shifting rhythmic structures with unforeseen improvised harmonic changes. Drum machine parts overlayed with acoustic drums shift between musical modes, anchoring the album on the verge of a jazz-influenced, motorik, post-ECM balearic plateau. Abstract textural elements gently swirl around and behind all that is rhythm, providing a submissive counterpoint. As with much of Troller’s work, Halcyon Future is an album that unfolds slowly, revealing more of its richness, detail, and subtle beauty at each listen.

Halcyon Future is a joint release by three:four records and meakusma.

A sparsely documented yet iconic era for Ted Milton's psycho-funk afro punk fake no-wave pogo jazz group Blurt has been brought to life with an expansive collection of restored versions of live performances. Captured on early camcorders during the frenzy of counter-cultural activity that characterised Europe around the fall of the Iron Curtain, these recordings of Blurt, recently posted by fans on YouTube, are a visceral reminder of a scene whose influence is writ large on today's alternative music culture.

Ted Milton's trio have produced an impressive string of albums, not to mention his numerous solo recordings. Featuring 15 tracks spanning their extensive discography from their 1980 debut single – also the title of this collection – “My Mother Was A Friend Of An Enemy Of The People” to 1999’s “Eat Up Your House”, this live collection of performances have been digitised by whatever means available. The original sound captured by the inbuilt microphones of these camcorders and the videos concerned are in many cases the only documentation of an iconic era whose zeitgeist was so masterfully epitomised for many by Blurt.

Refurbished / restored/ repurposed using new AI tools there is a spectral roughness to them but surfing on these reconstructed waveforms, the inimitable machinations of Blurt ride out once again, emerging from a pixilated oblivion to put into perspective the peculiar absurdity of our human condition.

'Comrade Detective' ('Tovaraul Detectiv') is an
American buddy cop series created by Brian
Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka.
Each episode is a different 'lost' episode from a
fictional Romanian television show that had been
commissioned by the Communist Party to promote
communism during the Cold War.
The episodes were filmed in Romania with local
actors and later dubbed into English for effect.
The episodes feature the voices of Channing
Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nick Offerman,
Jenny Slate, Jason Mantzoukas, Chloë Sevigny,
Jake Johnson, John DiMaggio and others.
The soundtrack features rare versions of
'Flashdance, What A Feeling', 'Obsession' and the
smash hit 'I Can't Wait' by Nu Shooz along with
Joe Kraemer's original score

"It seemed that if I didn’t somehow repeat the process of greatness, and do so immediately, multiple times away to satisfy playlist and binge watch culture, then I “wasn’t shit”. After a while I was like “nah this doesn’t feel good,… I don’t know if I am finding joy in this”. I would record songs and not release them, obsess over sessions recorded in my home with 30 takes of vocals and wake up only to delete them. When it began to feel right I found solace in an epiphany that I was not obligated to operate at any other wavelength. I am moving on a different type of time, and that doesn’t expire." -Cavalier

For heads of a certain time period of NYC hip-hop, Brooklyn born, New Orleans-based rapper and songwriter, Cavalier was the one that got away. The outrageously talented artist whose name and reputation preceded him everywhere you went in the scene. The rapper who everyone knew was so dope that he had to blow, but who never seemed concerned with any of that. The pretty boy draped in Polo who stole every live show with a feather in his hair and a mouth full of gold fronts. The cat so dedicated to his own independence that even indie labels stopped trying to sign him and projects came when they came, but when they came they were undeniable.


Cavalier was THAT guy for a lot of us; a silver-tongued philosopher with an eye for the poignant details of black life and a delivery as effortless as a young Ken Griffey’s swing. All that said, it never really felt like Cav had that moment in the spotlight that we always assumed was coming. After chiseling away through headier cult corners of the NYC hip-hop scene Cavalier was recognized for his memorable co-pilot to Quelle Chris’ 2013 Mello Music debut, Niggas Is Men. The critically acclaimed LP helped propel Quelle Chris into the forefront of indie hip-hop (and also happened to be the first production credits for Messiah Muzik). Cav followed up with his first full length, Chief, which sports a notable Raekwon feature but also early work from producers like Ohbliv and Tall Black Guy. A relocation to New Orleans and partnership with producer/vocalist Iman Omari yielded two more projects: 2015’s Lemonade EP and Private Stock in 2018. Great records all; eagerly sought by collectors and signal boosted by influential media like OkayPlayer, Solange’s Saint Heron, and Pitchfork. Cavalier’s bonafides have never been in question, but his new album Different Type Time feels like a revelation—a sonic suspension bridge between his rich history and the artform’s future.

Different Type Time doesn’t sound like the future though, its vibrations are somewhere all their own. It sounds like jazz, like a conversation overheard in roti shop, or a pool hall, or the foyer of your old building on a fall day, front door propped open with a brick. The blues is in there too, and the south—the American South, and theGlobal South, and South Brooklyn. It’s not that it sounds like the past, but you can hear everything that came before in the thick of the basslines and the yearning of the keys. Different Type Time also doesn’t sound like now, it sounds like RIGHT NOW; the bounce of the lyrics like the staccato of basketball in the park, carried on a spring breeze.

Although he doesn’t rap on DTT, Quelle Chris plays a pivotal role; producing eight songs and serving as associate producer/consigliere to Cav throughout the creative process. “There is no time wasted in explaining things when I collaborate with Quelle. He understands the universe I am in and the realities I want to create. He’s in them. And I don’t think I can envision one without him,” Cavalier explains. Messiah Muzik, Wino Willy, Ohbliv, Ahwlee, Child Actor, Fushou and several other producers round out the credits, all lending their talents to the album’s spaciously soulful sound. At the center of all these alchemies is Cavalier, nimbly dancing in and out of pockets like a sidewalk game of jumprope. Different Type Time is a masterclass in this thing we call hip-hop; daring and original, yet always standing deeply rooted in the culture.

"Espontaneamente se Tenta: Aventuras Sonoras de Djalma Corrêa is an album of deeply exploratory pieces by legendary percussionist and composer Djalma Corrêa. This double-LP set features previously unreleased recordings that cover a wide range of sonic experiments, revealing an unknown side of the prolific and groundbreaking Brazilian artist. Most of the tracks on this album were digitized for the first time – directly from the original tapes – and were compiled in collaboration with Corrêa just before he passed.

The result is a wild and unsettling collage that shows us just how original and intense Corrêa could be: from the unorthodox electroacoustic piece Evolução (Para Fita e Filme), which channels ancestral African inspirations to create a sonic cosmogonical narrative, to the proto-mixtape Exemplo de Sintetizadores, in which he transitions from transcendental drones to astral cha-cha-chas.

While the compilation might seem disjointed at first listen, it is in fact the most accurate translation or representation of his central concept: spontaneous music. Djalma's relationship with sound was always guided by his fearless approach to listening, and by his audacious and dynamic interaction with both musicians and equipment, which enabled him to work across a wide array of genres: from jazz to completely abstract music, always through a personal DIY ethic.

Corrêa developed a strong bond with experimentalist and inventor Walter Smetak, with whom he shared a studio during his formative years at Universidade Federal da Bahia. Suite Contagotas, featured in this collection, is no less than a sonic materialization of that bond: an experiment revolving around dripping water and its randomness – a tentative exploration of the ideas and possibilities envisioned by Smetak for his audacious, albeit unrealized, Estúdio OVO.

Djalma, however, is best known for his studio work in historical albums, including many by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben, and for his own polyrhythmic opus Baiafro. The last track is an early recording called Bossa 2000 dC, first performed by Djalma at the 1964 Nós, Por Exemplo concert, an event which is often cited as marking the beginning of the Tropicalia movement. At the time, he was the only artist in the lineup using electronic devices to create sounds, e.g. medical oscillators and contact mics to augment his percussive palette.

The artwork is an amalgamation of material found in the Djalma Corrêa Archive (currently managed by his son Caetano Corrêa) and other material created during the period in which the record was being put together. The intention is to guide the listeners through this possibly tempestuous soundscape, giving them additional resources so that they may draw their own meanings and make their own sense of this extremely immersive and original experience – which is like nothing we've ever heard before."

very dope.

With this EP an attempt is made at documenting the vibrant action happening during the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Pioneer Valley area of Western Massachusetts, US. The story is richer than the snapshot we present here, and a more detailed account is to be found in the accompanying book that can be purchased separately.

The Five Colleges in Hampshire County congregated a vast student population that inevitably interacted with the towns in the area. Bars, music and record stores, live music and a lot of experimentation and free thinking. Hampshire College, especially, promoted new approaches to teaching, subjects that might be considered radical by some even today, although a more favourable context would now surely exist for openly debating such topics as American Indians, Kayak Design, Black Oral Tradition, Food Management, etc. And the music? The immediate "punk effect" motivated the creation of numerous bands, many short lived, others evolving into New Wave / Power Pop territory, eventually crossing into Post-Punk experimentation. What is captured in "Noho EP" is a more electronic disposition, favoured by the existence of EMS gear and other equipment at Hampshire College and University of Massachusetts. We chose to focus on a group of musicians who, for a time, played together in different combinations under the loose umbrella of the Tekno Tunes label and the structure around it.

These musicians come from very different backgrounds and the nucleus portrayed here consisted of Christopher Vine, Elliott Sharp, James Whittemore and Nicholas Brown.

Of the several line-up changes The Scientific Americans went through, it was actually only the duo of Chris Vine and Jim Whittemore who recorded "Among Bodge Watt". Never before released, it is a companion piece to their track "El Salvador" available on the 1981 ROIR tape-album "Load & Go!". The Sci Ams were founders of the Tekno Tunes label and also created the Tekno Tours "concert promotion agency", under which name they exposed local audiences to bands such as The Stranglers, The Slits, Pylon, Pere Ubu, The Psychedelic Furs, The Bush Tetras, Steel Pulse, etc. Their own sound kept progressing but at its best there's a solid dub undercurrent, pretty obvious in "Among Bodge Watt".

Human Error was born out of a collective jam by Chris Vine, Elliott Sharp, Jim Whittemore and Nick Brown. Elliott Sharp had moved to Northampton in August of 1978 and naturally became involved in the local music scene, hooking up first with Whittemore at a hi-fi audio store where he worked at the time. Basement jams followed stimulating conversations, and other musicians joined the sessions. "Clandestinator" sounds gorgeously loose, an effortless groove coming from a quasi-dub set-up. Nothing here seems calculated, the music just flows, contagious and irregular as the handclaps in the mix.

The Higher Primates later evolved into a "proper" band but started as Nick Brown's solo project. The Primates only ever released a (now sought-after) 7" single in 1980 (on the Tekno Tunes label, precisely). Both tracks on "Noho EP" were recorded the following year and never released until now. "Auto Music in the Disco Dub Style" is self-explanatory, with a steady, mid-tempo TR808 beat running through, supporting synth squelches, echoes and reverbs, a fat bassline, dissonant melodic lines and odd vocal snippets. Kind of a DJ tool when the concept was barely in place. The more uptempo "Teresa Variations" adds a Fender Jazz bass and Selmer sax to the electronics. It actually sounds more "Disco", even with the robotic, unintelligible vocals. On top of this, the vibe is sealed by the overall Radiophonic Workshop analogue strangeness applied to a dance beat.

"Klara Lewis and Yuki Tsuji's collaboration builds on Tsuji's singular guitar playing and Lewis's resolutely explorative soundscapes. Salt Water is their debut album.

Klara Lewis is a sound sculptor and loop finder. She has spent the last decade creating albums equally tender and brutal for Editions Mego as well as in collaborations with Nik Colk Void, Peder Mannerfelt and now Yuki Tsujii. Lewis has presented her audiovisual work at festivals such as Sonar, Mutek, Dark Mofo and Atonal.

Yuki Tsujii is a guitarist from Japan-via-London, now based in Stockholm. In the last 15 years, as a member of Bo Ningen, Tsujii has performed extensively across the world in festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury, and Yoko Ono’s Meltdown and collaborated with artists across different disciplines such as Faust, Lydia Lunch, Keiji Haino, Alexander McQueen and Juergen Teller."

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.

Citadel of Stars" ist ein bahnbrechendes Album. Eine einzigartige Mischung aus epischem Pagan Metal und traditionellem Blackened Metal. "Citadel of Stars" ist sowohl ein wehmütiges Klagelied für ein sterbendes Zeitalter als auch ein hoffnungsvoller Blick auf eine Wiedergeburt zwischen den Sternen. Der kanadische Ein-Mann-Act SIG:AR:TYR ist mit "Citadel of Stars" zurück. Das erste neue Album seit dem 2016 erschienenen "Northen"

kehrt zu den dunklen Atmosphären früherer Werke zurück und verwebt Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft zu einer bahnbrechenden Veröffentlichung, die die epischen Themen von 20 Jahren SIG:AR:TYRs musikalischem Erbe widerspiegelt. Von den frühen Jahren mit Akustikgitarren und Ambient-Klängen bis hin zu einer Reihe von Alben, die epischen Pagan Metal mit introspektiven Instrumentalstücken nahtlos verbinden, ist "Citadel of Stars" der Höhepunkt von zwei Jahrzehnten musikalischer Entwicklung, die den Hörer auf eine spirituelle Reise zu den Sternen und wieder zurück mitnimmt - eine Erfahrung, die man so noch nie gehört hat und die man nicht so schnell vergessen wird. Es ist schwer, einzelne Songs herauszugreifen oder hervorzuheben, denn "Citadel of Stars" schwebt, nimmt einen mit auf eine Reise und bevor man sich versieht, merkt man, dass man wieder auf "Play" drücken muss: Das ist die Stärke dieses großartigen Albums.

Die gefeierte Can Live Serie wird mit einem Konzert in Paris mit Damo Suzuki fortgesetzt! Die zweite Phase der gefeierten Can Live-Serie, Can Live in Paris 1973, wird am 23. Februar 2024 auf Vinyl, CD und digital über Mute und Future Days (das neue EU-Label von Spoon Records) veröffentlicht.

Live in Paris 1973 zeigt Can in magischer Form bei einem Auftritt, der am 12. Mai 1973 im Pariser L'Olympia aufgezeichnet wurde und bei dem erstmals Damo Suzuki am Gesang zu hören ist. Von 1970-73 wurde die Stammbesetzung von Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli und Holger Czukay durch den japanischen Improvisator und Sänger Suzuki ergänzt. Sie lernten sich durch eine zufällige Begegnung kennen, als Suzuki als Straßenmusiker in München unterwegs war; einige Monate nach dem hier veröffentlichtem Auftritt verließ Damo die Band. Dieses neue Album in der Reihe ermöglicht es uns, die Band in einer besonders wichtigen Phase ihrer Karriere zu erleben, da zwei ihrer am meisten gefeierten Alben - Tago Mago und Ege Bamyasi, wobei letzteres in den Pariser Auftritt einfließt - erst kürzlich veröffentlicht wurden. Die Aufnahmen wurden von Gründungsmitglied Irmin Schmidt und Produzent/Sound Engineer René Tinner, die alle Alben dieser Reihe zusammengestellt und bearbeitet haben, aus Aufnahmen in den Archiven von Spoon Records und von hilfsbereiten Fans eingesandten Aufnahmen zusammengesetzt und für das 21. Jahrhundert aufgearbeitet. CAN, die in den späten 60er Jahren gegründet wurden und sich ein gutes Jahrzehnt später auflösten, haben sich mit ihrer beispiellosen und kühnen Verbindung von hypnotischen Grooves und avantgardistischen Instrumentalstrukturen zu einer der wichtigsten und innovativsten Bands aller Zeiten entwickelt, und diese Alben zeigen die Gruppe aus einer ganz anderen Perspektive. Man hört vielleicht vertraute Themen, Riffs und Motive, die auftauchen und sich durch diese Jams wälzen, aber es sind oft nur flüchtig wiedererkannte Gesichter in einer wirbelnden Menge. An anderen Stellen hört man Musik, die es nie in den offiziellen Albumkanon geschafft hat. Bei diesen Aufnahmen gehen Can in noch extremere Bereiche als bei ihren Studioarbeiten: von sanftem, atmosphärischem Drift-Rock bis hin zu Momenten, denen die Band den Spitznamen "Godzillas" gab. Und selbst wenn sie sich von Minute zu Minute dem Rhythmus anpassen und hinterher jagen, kann man die außergewöhnliche musikalische Telepathie hören, die ihre Mitglieder miteinander teilen.

Die neue Veröffentlichung folgt auf Can Live in Brighton 1975 "Pure dynamite... keep them coming" - MOJO; Can Live in Stuttgart 1975, UNCUT's Reissue of the Year, #2 in MOJO's Reissues of the Year, #7 in THE WIRE’s Archive Reissues of the Year, und Can Live in Cuxhaven 1976, das ebenfalls in den “Reissues of the Year” stark vertreten war.

Can Live in Paris 1973 wird am 23. Februar 2024 auf Doppel-Vinyl, 2 x CD und digital über Mute / Spoon Records veröffentlicht.

Es fühlt sich an wie eine Infusion: die Kochsalzlösung strömt durch die Kanüle in dich hinein, ist aber etwas kühler als deine Körpertemperatur, deshalb breitet sich diese angenehme Kälte in dir aus. Klar, diese Infusion ist die 7"-EP von MANTAROCHEN, dieser lichtscheuen Kreatur aus den Untiefen der Leipziger Unter(wasser)welt. Die verhuschte Gitarre, grobkörnig verpixelt wie eine VHS-Kassette aus den 80ern, flangert sich durch ein Labyrinth aus melodisch-organischen Bassläufen. Die Rhythmusmaschine treibt die sechs Songs gnadenlos und nonchalant an den Abgrund. Seltsamerweise hauchen die Synths keine zusätzliche Kälte ein, viel mehr hüllen sie den Coldwave in eine wärmende Decke. Keine Kuscheldecke, eher eine dieser gold-silbernen Folien-Rettungsdecken. Über all dem schwebt eine distanziert, unterkühlte Stimme. "Alles wird gut, es ist bald vorbei" scheint sie dir zuzuraunen. Doch es werden tiefe Wunden besungen und die Sehnsucht, den Ballast und die ganzen Banalitäten hinter sich zu lassen. Das jedoch völlig unverkrampft. Die Tragik lauert zwischen den Zeilen, während sich dein Verstand schon im Bann der Hooklines verabschiedet hat. MANTAROCHEN, das sind Diana, Sebi und Tom. Alles ist selbst aufgenommen und gemixt. Das Mastering übernahm Jean-Baptiste Meyrieux (u.a. in Broncho Libre & Laxisme aktiv). Die 7"-EP erscheint am 31.05 auf It's Eleven Records.

This product is a Record Store Day exclusive title and is not available to pre-order.

To buy in-store: 8am, 20/04/2024 (Record Store Day).
To buy online: 8pm, 22/04/2024. (Subject to availability).
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Manhattan Fire is a collection of demos from prolific Brooklyn outfit The Men, revealing early versions of the tracks that would go on to make up their 2023 LP New York City – described by Pitchfork as “an unpretentious garage-punk racket … summoning the snottiest ghosts of the city’s punk past.”

Recorded in mono and with a drum machine by founding members Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi over lockdown in late 2020 – before being shelved for the full-band, live-to-tape affair of the final LP – Manhattan Fire shows a new side to those songs that's even more primitive and rough around the edges, as well as previously unheard tracks that never made it onto the album.

The phenomenal three-piece band includes members of Oranssi Pazuzu, K-X-P, Grave Pleasures and Aavikko


Svart Records is proud to release the debut album, I, from Haunted Plasma, a powerhouse of futuristic synth in symbiosis with the super violent atmospherics of kosmische Black Metal. Haunted Plasma is “man meets machine” in a cybernetic wasteland, set to a conceptual backdrop of William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick style mind-melt. The highly evolved creatives at the heart of Haunted Plasma’s sound, cite Terry Riley, Massive Attack, a contemporary take on Krautrock hypnosis, psychedelic Black Metal and 90s Techno, resulting in an orgy of mutant sound.



The phantoms at the beating nucleus of this unearthly machine are Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu, Grave Pleasures), Timo Kaukolampi (K-X-P, Op:l Bastards) and Tomi Leppänen (Circle, Aavikko, K-X-P), transmitting a music form evolved from a life of redefining sonic boundaries in their respective projects. Also featuring guest vocals from Mat McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Grave Pleasures/Beastmilk), Pauliina Lindell (Vuono, Dust Mountain) and Ringa Manner (Ruusut, The Hearing). Haunted Plasma promises an extraterrestrial experience from some of the foremost contemporary musicians at the heart of the Finnish heavy and avant-garde musical underworld.



Haunted Plasma reveals:

“We are liberated futurists, embracing free-form and natural composition, mirroring the merciless forces of cosmic creation. We have a motto to stay true to our feelings, to spawn a sound that’s never been heard before. Servants of music. Energizing, radical and pure”


The first single from Haunted Plasma’s cascading debut, Reverse Engineer, is a creepy, slowly erupting, synthetic nightmare, of a downloaded being waking up in the wrong future. Ghostly vocals demand the listener to “give us what we want” in an Orwellian glimpse into the current dystopia we live in, where information is controlled, and thoughts are bought and sold. As McNerney intones the words “technology of power” he describes the threat of a malevolent and omnipresent artificial intelligence, as much as describing the oppressive and electromagnetic sonar pulse of Haunted Plasma’s sound itself. Psychedelic guitar hypnosis from Vanhanen snakes around Kaukolampi’s molten and morphing synths, while Leppänen’s uncanny man/machine rhythms pull our strings and animate their other-worldly mechanisms. Have a look at the official visualiser of "Reverse Engineer" on the Svart YouTube channel here


Culminating in the full-blown fast Krautrock of the final self-titled track, oozing with blistering noise elements and enigmatic vocals from Ringa Manner, the album's journey reaches its zenith, taking you to unknown territories on a Kubrikian space trip. I is a rare record of talented musicians coming together to create a completely new sound, which is entirely their own, boldly glowing, where no light has shone before. From the dreamy psychedelia of Echoes to the discombobulated Spectral Embrace, Haunted Plasma is a willful force of deliberate sound contortion.


Whether you want to give in to Haunted Plasma’s sound or not, you are being watched, you are being recorded and your every move is monitored. Haunted Plasma will enter your system on the 31st of May 2024. Turn on your phantom circuits and be prepared for an interdimensional excursion into Haunted Plasma’s alien dreams.

The debut album from Haunted Plasma will be packaged in a beautiful tip-on sleeve, swirling fog artwork, complete with 12” booklet and pressed on 3 exclusive vinyl colours: 300 copies on Standard Black Wax, 500 copies in Amber + Black Smoke and 200 copies of Svart exclusive Turquoise/Black Marble. The album will also be available on CD and digital platforms.

Following the release of Eric Chenaux's last album Say Laura (2022), The Guardian wrote "the Canadian songwriter has one of the all-time great singing voices in popular music, an intensely romantic Chet Baker-ish instrument that seems to float with piercing direction, like a paper aeroplane thrown hard through mist." With Uncut describing his songcraft "as delicate and lovely as a rare orchid" and Record Collector praising the album's "sublime alien balladry" such are the accolades that have accrued throughout Chenaux's unique and consummately uncompromising solo music for well over a decade now. Delights Of My Life opens a new chapter for the singer/guitarist and formally introduces the Eric Chenaux Trio, with Toronto-based musicians Ryan Driver on Wurlitzer organ and Phillipe Melanson on electronic percussion. Driver is a longtime collaborator, appearing on several of Chenaux's solo albums (even embedded into the very title of the 2010 masterpiece Warm Weather With Ryan Driver). Melanson has a long list of involvements that include Bernice, Joseph Shabason, and U.S Girls, and a recent release with his Impossible Burger project on Chenaux's own experimental label Rat-drifting, but this marks the first fulsome involvement between the two as players on a recording. In many ways Delights Of My Life also picks up right where Chenaux's previous album left off, in its subversions of a classic, timeless jazz-inflected balladry, while the interplay of the trio formation indeed unfurls many new delights. Recording together at Chenaux's spartan home studio in rural France, Driver's harmonically warped organ and Melanson's electroacoustic sampling and percussion hold time in newfound ways. Where previously Chenaux relied on a freeze/sustain pedal and minimalist rhythmic triggers to generate both pulse and chordal foundations, Melanson now paints timekeeping with expressive and intricate colourations, through live deployments of fluid sampled percussion (including orchestral timbres like timpani, kettle drums, and woodblock) that blur the boundaries between acoustic and electronic. Driver also ramps up his role in the song arrangements (prefigured in his support playing on Say Laura), teasing out chords and melodic filigree on Wurlitzer that percolate more prominently with Chenaux's signature fried guitar solos and succulent singing. Both trio members add dulcet backing vocals, most notably on the 10-minute tour-de-force of fuzzed and ring-modulated swing "This Ain't Life" that opens the record. All seven songs on the album groove and sway, simmer and sparkle, like nothing in the inestimable Chenaux discography to date. Chenaux's tunes have the uncanny ability to sound like jazz standards; songs you feel you've heard before, though certainly never quite like this. Yet these are of course all originals, compositionally and interpretively, bent through an inimitable avant/out-music lens. Delights Of My Life conveys warm familiarity, shot through with the exuberantly experimental subversion and playful, even mischievous, iconoclasm that continues to mark Chenaux as defiantly, virtuosically, and genially one-of-kind.

Ein Doppelalbum, das sich auf die 2012 mit 45 7" Singles erschienene Box-Set Compilation "Eccentric Soul: Omnibus" bezieht und zusammenfasst. "Minibus" versammelt 25 dieser Songs aus der amerikanischen Soul-Diaspora und verbindet die Punkte zwischen dem Harmony Group Sound, Funk, Disco und modernem Soul, 1966-1980. Deluxe Klappcover mit zahlreichen Notizen und Fotos illustriert.

Tickled Pink Glass Vinyl. Ein Doppelalbum, das sich auf die 2012 mit 45 7" Singles erschienene Box-Set Compilation "Eccentric Soul: Omnibus" bezieht und zusammenfasst. "Minibus" versammelt 25 dieser Songs aus der amerikanischen Soul-Diaspora und verbindet die Punkte zwischen dem Harmony Group Sound, Funk, Disco und modernem Soul, 1966-1980. Deluxe Klappcover mit zahlreichen Notizen und Fotos illustriert.

It is 1983 and you've just stepped into your Ford Capri with your girlfriend Julie. You live in Harlow, but in your head you're really somewhere near Salou in Spain, next to your yacht. But the thing you really love is soul and they play nothing but at Sups in Loughton. OK, so It's not 1983 at all. It's 2014, but listening to this electrofied soul, will put you back in the zone. Tom Findlay, one half of Grammy-nominated Groove Armada, has put this collection together: a stamp of authenticity in itself. Tom has also put a few of these through the edit wringer, reworking many of the tunes for maximum towelling sockability.

You'll probably recognise a few tunes. There's Mtume's incredible 'Juicy Fruit', still sounding advanced and modern, while 'I Specialize In Love, mixed by disco legend Tee Scott, is even older yet sounds equally perky.

The 1980s was a period that was pretty much owned by Minneapolis thanks to Prince and former cohorts Jam & Lewis and the latter weigh in with a pair of killer productions, Thelma Houston's 'You Used To Hold Me So Tight' and Alexander O'Neal's 'What's Missing'. And since this is Late Night Tales, there is always our exclusive cover version, this time done by Findlay and Tim Hutton's Sugardaddy, who've delivered an ace version of 'Don't Look Any Further'.

Grab yourself a bar stool, order a cocktail, take a sip and make believe you're lying on a shagpile carpet with the soul star of your dreams.

Bill Brewster

Automatic Soul, like my previously compiled Late Night Tales Music For Pleasure, is based very much on a sound. It's a sound that I feel has been overlooked: 80s R&B-infused music, with drum machines, synths and invariably brilliant vocals. It's formed the bedrock of my rare groove sets for all the years I've played. It's not the most fashionable, but to me it's the perfect marriage of technology and soul, hence the title for this album, Automatic Soul. There are plenty of songs I could have included, and no doubt some that I shouldn't, but I've tried to represent what's best to me from this era. It's not a classic Late Night Tales. It's a pretty personal journey, which I hope some of you might be willing to share... Tom Findlay Groove Armada September 2014.

Repress!

StarWax magazine celebrates its fifteenth year, it is in the extension of the anniversary event that the vinyl Wild Star Wax 15 Years Edition in Partnership with Overdrive is born!

Curated and Seòected by Dj Coshmar for the most famous STARWAX magazine a powerful dancefloor combo for djs, diggers and clubbing addicted.

Available in stores from September 2022, the tracklist contains six tracks of cumbia, disco, creole funk, bass music and hip-hop that are available exclusively in this vinyl format, at exception of "An Tèt Aw" the last title of side A already available on the Lp of DjeuhDjoah &
Lieutenant

Big Vern, also known as DJ Vern was a resident DJ on Weekend Rush, a pirate radio that broadcast out of the Nightingale Estate in Hackney. To be precise, it broadcast out of the Embley Point high rise, the same tower that Kool FM as also broadcasting out of at the same time. It was here that Vern met DJ Ash, a resident of Kool FM and the two of them joined forces for their release on Tearin Vinyl in 1994.

Around the same time as the two of them teamed up, Vern was also running his own label, World Bass Records. It was on this label that Vern formulated his own distinctive East London sound of Jungle. His debut release on the label in 1994 – The V Experience EP, was a 3 tracker that received a lot of rotation back in the day. This release was followed a 12” in 1995 which had one of Vern’s tracks on there – ‘Vision’.

Fast forward 27 years to 2022 and Vinyl Fanatiks have repressed all 4 of those tracks on one EP titled ‘Vision Of Experience’, an EP that showcases the raucous sound of Vern and his integrate and rambunctious skill and ability to manipulate a sampler to create some of the heaviest jungle of the era.

Both of the original releases are highly collectable and withstand the elements of time and capable of going toe to toe with any recent jungle output from the 21st century.

Support the architects…

Die talentierte Künstlerin Chappell Roan veröffentlicht ihr Debütalbum „The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess“. Chappell Roan überzeugt mit kühnen Hooks, einem kraftvollen Gesang und einem theatralischen Flair. Ihren Synth-Pop Durchbruch erreichte die erfolgreiche Künstlerin mit ihrem Hit „Pink Pony Club“ im Jahr 2020 und legte mit weiteren Hits wie „Red Wine Supernova“ und „Kaleidoscope“ nach. Chappell Roan befindet sich auf dem besten Weg mit ihrer Musik eine Queer-Ikone für eine ganze Generation zu werden.
„The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess“ ist eine Zusammenstellung aus 14-Songs, welche die Geschichte über die Entdeckung des eigenen Selbst und der furchtlosen Umarmung der Queerness, mit dem Kontrast zwischen der Midwestlichen Erziehung und dem Leben in einer der größten Städte der USA der Künstlerin erzählt.

Chappell Roans Debütalbum „The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” ist ab dem 22.09. auf Vinyl erhältlich!

Within the first few seconds of the opening song on Australian troubadour Peter Bibby's latest album, we get an unvarnished look at the man behind the music as he observes the late-night scene of a local watering hole with increasingly bleary eyes:"No one seems to want to talk to me / 'cuz I'm the arsehole, probably." Indeed, that lovable ambivalence is at the heart of Drama King, Bibby's fourth studio album for Spinning Top Records. The project was produced by first-time collaborator Dan Luscombe (The Drones, Amyl and the Sniffers) and mixed by White Denim's Josh Block a frequent collaborator with Leon Bridges. An artist who has been celebrated as inherently working-class and wholeheartedly independent, Bibby comes by this caution honestly, having cut his teeth in the rough-and-tumble underground rock scene centered around Perth's Hyde Park Hotel in Western Australia. Bibby's affable personality has gotten him plenty of mileage as a live act. He's toured the U.S. with Pond and performed at the infamous open mic night at Pappy and Harriet's in the California desert. He's also taken the stage at international festivals such as Laneway, Falls, All Points East, South by Southwest and South Africa's Rocking the Daisies while notching his fair share of rowdy headlining shows.

The Prodigy Carlos Nilmmns Is Back on Skylax With Once Again a Splendid 12 Inch! His Style Is a Mixture of Refinement and the Most Beautiful Things That House Music Has Ever Produced, Moodymann, Theo Parrish in the Lead but Not Only That, We Must Also Add the Masters Lalo Schifrin, Donald Byrd and Even Henry Mancini. This Ep Starts With a Bang With the Sublime "Nes", Three Letters Which Alone Sum Up the Small Miracle of Bringing Together Both the Ghosts of Detroit and the Most Beautiful Cinematic Music Directly Inherited From the Glorious 70s. "Believe" Plows the Same Furrow With a More Mental Universe and to Conclude "Parisian Nights" (Jazz Version) Which We Swear Would Not Have Been Missing on an Impulse Album. Side B Opens With "Celebration" Which Sounds More Club Tool for Once With Obviously This Je Ne Sais Quoi That Is Far Superior to All Current House Productions. and This Ends With the Club Version of "Parisian Nights", a Real Volute of Sound. His Style Reminds Us Very Strangely and Quite Paradoxically of the Illustrious Terre Thaemlitz Aka Dj Sprinkles. Music for the Soul and the Body....

Wormwood is undoubtedly one of the leading bands on the Swedish metal scene right now. The band now returns straight into the hot air to follow up the highly praised predecessors "Nattarvet" and "Arkivet". Albums that made the band soar on the national charts and led to numerous nominations for prestigious awards.

The release of "The Star", concludes the magnificent trilogy about death (NATTRAVET, ARKIVET, THE STAR). "NATTARVET" was about the grim famine that plagued the people in the 19th-century Nordic region. "THE ARCHIVE" focused on the inevitable downfall of mankind and "THE STAR" tells the story of the end of the universe.

There is no doubt that Wormwood musically has taken another big step forward, both in terms of songwriting and performance. Nothing is left to chance, and everything is refined down to the smallest detail, and this without sacrificing the bands unmistakable raw sound.

The album was mixed and mastered the renowned metal producer Sverker Widgren from Wing Studios in Stockholm, Sweden

Wormwood is undoubtedly one of the leading bands on the Swedish metal scene right now. The band now returns straight into the hot air to follow up the highly praised predecessors "Nattarvet" and "Arkivet". Albums that made the band soar on the national charts and led to numerous nominations for prestigious awards.

The release of "The Star", concludes the magnificent trilogy about death (NATTRAVET, ARKIVET, THE STAR). "NATTARVET" was about the grim famine that plagued the people in the 19th-century Nordic region. "THE ARCHIVE" focused on the inevitable downfall of mankind and "THE STAR" tells the story of the end of the universe.

There is no doubt that Wormwood musically has taken another big step forward, both in terms of songwriting and performance. Nothing is left to chance, and everything is refined down to the smallest detail, and this without sacrificing the bands unmistakable raw sound.

The album was mixed and mastered the renowned metal producer Sverker Widgren from Wing Studios in Stockholm, Sweden

Wormwood is undoubtedly one of the leading bands on the Swedish metal scene right now. The band now returns straight into the hot air to follow up the highly praised predecessors "Nattarvet" and "Arkivet". Albums that made the band soar on the national charts and led to numerous nominations for prestigious awards.

The release of "The Star", concludes the magnificent trilogy about death (NATTRAVET, ARKIVET, THE STAR). "NATTARVET" was about the grim famine that plagued the people in the 19th-century Nordic region. "THE ARCHIVE" focused on the inevitable downfall of mankind and "THE STAR" tells the story of the end of the universe.

There is no doubt that Wormwood musically has taken another big step forward, both in terms of songwriting and performance. Nothing is left to chance, and everything is refined down to the smallest detail, and this without sacrificing the bands unmistakable raw sound.

The album was mixed and mastered the renowned metal producer Sverker Widgren from Wing Studios in Stockholm, Sweden

Wormwood is undoubtedly one of the leading bands on the Swedish metal scene right now. The band now returns straight into the hot air to follow up the highly praised predecessors "Nattarvet" and "Arkivet". Albums that made the band soar on the national charts and led to numerous nominations for prestigious awards.

The release of "The Star", concludes the magnificent trilogy about death (NATTRAVET, ARKIVET, THE STAR). "NATTARVET" was about the grim famine that plagued the people in the 19th-century Nordic region. "THE ARCHIVE" focused on the inevitable downfall of mankind and "THE STAR" tells the story of the end of the universe.

There is no doubt that Wormwood musically has taken another big step forward, both in terms of songwriting and performance. Nothing is left to chance, and everything is refined down to the smallest detail, and this without sacrificing the bands unmistakable raw sound.

The album was mixed and mastered the renowned metal producer Sverker Widgren from Wing Studios in Stockholm, Sweden

Winston Hytwr is a co-release presented by K and Perennial. Born in Columbus, Ohio in March 1993, Winston Hightower is a prolific home recording artist with an expansive discography that crawls across space and genre. A staple in the Midwestern punk/DIY scene, his first work under the eponymous moniker was a self-released tape in January 2015. Since then, he has put out over 100 songs on tape, online and on video. The music defies easy categorization, and instead breezes through a landscape of synths that effortlessly blend pop, rock, rap and jazz. In doing so, Hightower continues to build a cohesive, ever-morphing experiment in pushing the boundaries of underground guitar music, all with his signature wit and charm. This body of work is almost entirely written and recorded alone in his room, causing many to refer to him as `the Black R Stevie Moore,' a fitting epithet as his influences likewise include modern "lo-fi" progenitors such as Guided by Voices and Vivian Girls. Hightower has released much of his own work and more on his tape label, the FAH-Q Catalog, which boasts over 12 releases He has also collaborated with numerous other Ohio legends such as members of Times New Viking, Slant 6, and Ron House. Both mysterious and effervescent, Winston shape shifts into roles that have also included pro skater (UNITY, Adidas) and touring hardcore guitarist/bassist (most recently with the groups Minority Threat and Twompsax). With such an extensive pedigree, and having toured ceaselessly since he was a teenager, it's shocking that Winston Hightower is largely unknown outside of the Midwest. K records is thus thrilled to be putting out his first ever record, "Winston Hytwr" KLP292/PRNL50 which will cull songs from his previous and impossible to find releases. Remixed by Capt. Tripps Ballsington and Remastered by Amy Dragon. This release continues the rich tradition of DIY bands crafting instant pop hits entirely on their own terms, which has long been the hallmark of the International Pop Underground. 1000 vinyl copies.

When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, Ship to Shore, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There’s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels “Trust,” and the straightforward riff-rock of “Turnstile Casanova.” The drone-y “The Old Pack Mule,” an “old man’s song” that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” an ode to “snake-oil salesmen and hucksters” that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that’s “almost like a parody of a Noël Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s,” Thompson says. “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

Ship To Shore by Richard Thompson, released 31 May 2024.

This version of Ship To Shore comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Sticker(s).

Freddy McKays "Creation"-Album, das von Ossie Hibbert produziert wurde, enthält eine gut gewählte Mischung aus Originalen, die bald zu Klassikern werden, sowie eine Auswahl inspirierter hymnischer Neuinterpretationen. Es spricht für die Qualität dieser Veröffentlichung, dass sich diese inspirierten Interpretationen mit den Originalen von Burning Spear und Dennis Brown messen können. Die Auswahl an subtilen Dub-Versionen der enthaltenen Songs unterstreicht die Brillanz der Musiker, die im Stil der klassischen "Rockers" spielen, die die zweite Hälfte der siebziger Jahre dominierten.

'Freaking Out', das Debütalbum der gefeierten Grunge-Rock-Newcomer LOWLIVES aus Los Angeles, wird am 31. Mai via Spinefarm erscheinen und Fans der frühen Foo Fighters, Bush und Stone Temple Pilots gleichermaßen abholen.

Sänger Lee Downer, Schlagzeuger Luke Johnson, Gitarrist Jaxon Moore und Bassist Steve Lucarelli gründeten die junge Band aus der gemeinsamen Liebe zum Alternative und Grunge der 90er Jahre und dem Wunsch, Musik aus reiner Freude daran zu machen. Das LOWLIVES-Debütalbum 'Freaking Out' ist von genau diesem Geist durchdrungen.

Das Album wurde in den Londoner Chapel Studios mit Produzent Adrian Bushby aufgenommen, der bereits mit Bands wie Foo Fighters oder Muse gearbeitet. Sänger Lee Downer hegt eine Leidenschaft für Nirvana und Alice In Chains, die in Tracks wie 'Vertigo' und 'Swan Dive' durchschimmert. Drummer Luke Johnson beweist seine Besessenheit von den Smashing Pumpkins in 'You Don't Care'. Fans der frühen Foo Fighters, Bush und Stone Temple Pilots werden sich auf 'Freaking Out' wohl fühlen. Bewunderer von Billie Joe Armstrong ('Freaking Out'), Matt Skiba ('Damien') und Rivers Cuomo ('Loser') ebenso. 'Freaking Out' zelebriert schamlos seine Einflüsse und die einfache Schönheit des Zusammenspiels von Gitarre, Bass, Schlagzeug und Gesang.
Tiefgang findet man auf 'Freaking Out' trotzdem, verwurzelt in Texten, die von Ängsten, Sorgen, Verletzlichkeiten und den existenziellen Fragen handeln, die uns in den frühen Morgenstunden an die Decke starren lassen. 'Freaking Out' ist vor allem eine Destillation dessen, was LOWLIVES wirklich ausmacht. Es ist Rockmusik, die einen dazu bringt, sich wieder in die Rockmusik zu verlieben.

Im Laufe der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte hat Kevin Barnes, kreative Kraft hinter Of Montreal, seine Fans mit faszinierendem Pop und hypnotisierenden Liveshows begeistert. Seine in der Szene zur Ikone gewordene Songwriting- und Produktionsästhetik mündete in Kollaborationen mit Solange, Janelle Monáe und Jon Brion. Auf dem neuen Album wechselt Barnes mit jedem Song zwischen den Genres, die von Gitarren-Psychedelia-Pop der späten 60er bis zu experimentellem Funk-Pop reichen. "Lady On The Cusp" ist ein weiterer spannender Hörgenuss von einem der produktivsten und einflussreichsten Künstler unserer Zeit.

New music from Philadelphia’s recently rediscovered soul powerhouse Ron Aikens and his backing band the Hip Tones is a soon-to-be classic double sider. Following in the traditional “soul 45 rpm” single format, a ballad side with a funk side on the flip, here is the first physical release from the forthcoming LP “Ron And The Hip Tones”. The lowrider soul feel on “Tear On My Chin” comes from a brainstorming session with Ron, producer P. Maxwell Ochester, and the two main songwriters Dave Cope & Fred Berman.

It tackles heartache, pain, and loss coupled with the slow grinding groove only true heartache can produce. On the flip, you will find a nod to Ron’s former band, Power Of Attorney, and their breakout single “Changing Man” which inspired the uptempo groove and sweet flute part. Hinting at the classic Philly Soul style, there are lush strings and as a bonus, the impactful and powerful message delivered by Philadelphia poet Ursula Rucker.

Die italienische Symphonic-Power-Metal-Institution RHAPSODY OF FIRE kehrt mit einem ihrer bisher besten Werke zurück, einem weiteren Teil ihrer epischen Nephilim-Saga, die 2019 mit "The Eighth Mountain" ihren Anfang nahm. Ihr neues Epos heißt: "Challenge The Wind"!
Fragt man einen Power Metal-Fan, so wird er feststellen, dass RHAPSODY OF FIRE in 30 Jahren nicht nur ein Genre geprägt, sondern sich auch als Band weiterentwickelt und ein Vermächtnis als die unangefochtenen Könige des Symphonic Power Metal geschaffen haben.
Nach Klassikern wie Legendary Tales (1997), Symphony Of Enchanted Lands (1998) oder Dawn Of Victory (2000) zeigen RHAPSODY OF FIRE einmal mehr, was sie am besten können: Epische Orchesterarrangements, bombastische Chöre, schnelle und melodische Gitarren und eine packende Story, die dieses Werk an Symphonic-Power-Finesse zusammenhält. Für den letzten Schliff haben sich RHAPSDOY OF FIRE einmal mehr an einen der renommiertesten Tontechniker der Metal-Szene gewandt: Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann von Orden Ogan.
Mach dich bereit für "Challenge the Wind"!

Neues Album erscheint am 31. Mai 2024 bei City Slang inklusive der Single 'Big Swimmer' featuring Gesangsharmonien von Sharon Van Etten!

King Hannah entwirft einen musikalischen Wandteppich, der nahtlos zwischen den ruhigen Tiefen des meditativen Pops und den weitläufigen, klangvollen Landschaften voller Dunkelheit, Witz und schrägem Humor pendelt. Merricks Gesang, ein rauchiges Vergnügen, verleiht ihren Worten tiefes Gewicht und Kraft, ergänzt durch die bluesigen Leinwände, die Whittle meisterhaft unter ihnen malt. Ihr Sound wechselt mühelos von Momenten post-rockiger Weite zu dem Gefühl, dass Springsteen auf eine düstere Seitenstraße abseits seines Highways zur Freiheit gerät. In jüngster Zeit hat das Duo die Bühnen neben geschätzten Künstlern wie Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, Kevin Morby und DIIV geziert und das Publikum auf Festivals in ganz Europa und Nordamerika, darunter End of the Road, Green Man, Primavera Sound und Fusion, in seinen Bann gezogen. King Hannah wurde unter anderem von Stereogum als "Band to Watch", von The Guardian als "Ones to Watch" und von Paste als "Best of What's Next" gefeiert und in der Rubrik "NEU" des DIY Magazins sowie als "Rising Artists" von SPIN vorgestellt.

“Not a lot of people talk about the true origins of bluegrass music,” says Swamp Dogg, “but it came from Black people. The banjo, the washtub, all that stuff started with African Americans. We were playing it before it even had a name.” Blackgrass, Swamp Dogg’s remarkable new album, is no history lesson, though. Produced by Ryan Olson (Bon Iver, Poliça) andrecorded with an all-star band including Noam Pikelny, Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas, Chris Scruggs, Billy Contreras, and Kenny Vaughan, the collection is a riotous blend of past and present, mixing the sacred and the profane in typical Swamp Dogg fashion as it blurs the lines between folk, roots, country, blues, and soul. The tracklist is an eclectic one—brand new originals and vintage Swamp Dogg classics sit side by side with reimaginings of ’70s R&B hits and timeless ’50s pop tunes—but the performances are thoroughly cohesive, filtering everything through a progressive Appalachian lens that nods to tradition without ever being bound by it. Special guests like Margo Price, Jenny Lewis, Justin Vernon, and The Cactus Blossoms all add to the excitement here, but it’s ultimately the 81-year-old Swamp Dogg’s delivery—sly and playful and full of genuine joy and ache—that steals the show. The result is a record that’s as reverent as it is raunchy, a collection that challenges conventional notions of genre and race while at the same time celebrating the music that helped make Swamp Dogg the beloved iconoclast he’s known as today.

Atmosphere and gravity lean into each other. They are simultaneously expansive, and anchoring. They hold us, and lend a sense of perspective. They provide a stability and a knowingness which is essential in the absolute, and yet we can't help but find ourselves gazing upward, outward and reaching towards that which sits outside those things and ways we know. Selene is a record about that this lingering desire for that which sits beyond. It is work that seeks new perspectives snatched from familiar vistas, and it meditates on that sense of anchor and perspective. The work is also a speculative hymn to the visions of the celestial zones that spill ever outward. These visions, once merely what we could perceive with the naked eye are now so much more. Our minds eye is fed in equal parts by radio telecopy, filmic dreams and fiction renders of a place most of us will never know first-hand. This recording ties into a linage that reaches back, while stretching forward. It is just one story of so many, told across places, across cultures, across generations. It sits in the in-between of before and after, and in that moment invites us to situate ourselves and lean into it.