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The Pineapple Thief, are one of the leading lights of Europe’s experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord & reinforced by Gavin Harrison (King Crimson) on drums.
Following the release of their latest studio album ‘Versions Of The Truth’ in September 2020, the band were preparing to start the album’s live campaign, when like so many other artists, their plans were put on hold by the continuing global pandemic.
Eager to still perform & connect with their fans across the globe, in April 2021, The Pineapple Thief filmed an extravagant on demand live event entitled ‘Nothing But The Truth’ directed by band videographer George Laycock (Blacktide Phonic/Visual).
Bruce Soord explains” “The Pineapple Thief is equally about the studio & the stage, so it was hugely disappointing that we were unable to tour, especially as we were excited to be able to perform the
new album ‘Versions Of The Truth’ live for everyone. Being able to do this film, especially under the circumstances, was invaluable. We all knew we did not want to shoot a film of us standing on stage staring at an empty room. We wanted something special, something ‘cinematic’ so we have created something unique & something very, very special that I am proud to have been a part of. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”
Drummer, Gavin Harrison adds “Nothing But The Truth” is a highlight for this band in terms of captured performance.
The Pineapple Thief’s 2018 anthemic release ‘Dissolution’ garnered worldwide acclaim from both media & fans, earning them their first UK Top 40 album, #1 UK Rock & Metal album & #22 on the German album charts. It took them on two extensive sold-out European headline tours & their first ever tour of North America.
‘Versions Of The Truth’ raised the standard yet again by delivering, quite possibly, one of the most important rock albums of 2020.
‘Nothing But The Truth’ captures The Pineapple Thief at their very best performing songs from their illustrious catalogue including for the first time live, songs from ‘Versions Of The Truth’.
The release will coincide with the rescheduled UK & European live shows this autumn & continue into 2022 with more dates to be announced.
The soundtrack to ‘Nothing But The Truth’ will be released on a gatefold black vinyl double LP with an 8-page printed colour booklet.

Written, programmed, recorded and produced throughout 2019/20 by Ed Wynne in ‘Blue Bubble Studios’ by the sea, this exploratory and diverse musical adventure comprises seven new tracks spanning 45 minutes.

Inspired by the Scottish hills, valleys and beaches surrounding his studio, Wynne feels that lockdown in a strange kind of way has provided ‘Space For The Earth’ to breathe for a while and for people to rediscover its resonant healing frequency. ‘This is space music for people from the Earth to enjoy’.

Ozrics’ synth player Silas Neptune and drummer Bal zs Szende join forces again with Wynne on the album which also features special guest appearances from former members synth player Joie Hinton, drummer Nick Van Gelder, flautist Champignon and percussionist Paul Hankin. Psychedelic voyager Gracerooms also contributes additional synth layers.

The album ebbs and flows through blissed-out soundscapes featuring incendiary guitar solos, space grooves and ambient atmospheres. Wynne plays his recently revived Ibanez Jem, a new 8-string guitar, all kinds of synths and bass. Van Gelder uses the original snare he played on the first six cassette albums and early live Ozric performances. One tune features Champignon playing kaval, a traditional wooden Balkan flute.

The album artwork was inspired directly by these seven tracks and realised by arboreal artist Kitty (Twisty-Trees) with help from Ed and cosmic artist Ivy.

One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK’s festival scene, Ozric Tentacles formed during the solstice at Stonehenge Free Festival 1983 going on to become psychedelic staples at Glastonbury and other festivals. The creative vision of multi-instrumentalist Ed Wynne, the Ozrics’ uniquely trippy soundscapes connect fans of progressive rock, psychedelia and dance music culture.
‘Space For The Earth’ represents the next harmonic step in the unfolding Ozric
journey.

Belched from Hell’s depths into the rustic charms of the Witch County, Suffolk thirty long and disturbing years ago, CRADLE OF FILTH are undisputed giants of the heavy metal realm. Imperious purveyors of a perennially unique strain of dark, dastardly and wilfully extreme metal, with deep roots in the worlds of gothic horror and occult curiosity, the band led by Dani Filth has weathered three decades of tumult and trial, earning a formidable reputation as both a singular creative force and one of the most riotously entertaining live bands the metal world has ever produced.
From primitive early works like 1992 debut »The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh« to more expansive and theatrical classics like ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ and ‘Midian’, CRADLE OF FILTH defied trends and constructed their own idiosyncratic world of foul grandeur, becoming one of the UK’s most notable metal bands in the process. Since then, they have traversed the world countless times, hoovering up plaudits and praise from an ever-expanding international fan base. Resolutely prolific, the band’s catalogue has grown in depth and stature all the while, irrespective of line-up changes or the whims of the faithful.
In more recent times, CRADLE OF FILTH have hit an unmistakable hot streak of creativity and urgency. As a new line-up coalesced around the creation of 2015’s »Hammer Of The Witches«, fresh impetus propelled the band to new heights, as the revitalised crew became more in demand around the world than ever before. 2017’s ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ repeated the trick with even more explosive flamboyance. Until a global pandemic brought the music industry to a jarring halt, CRADLE OF FILTH were almost permanently on the road and absolutely fucking flying. As a result, it should surprise no one that the band’s brand new album, ‘Existence Is Futile’, is yet another monumental and electrifying journey through the dark.
Buoyed by these recent triumphs, CRADLE OF FILTH recorded »Existence Is Futile« during 2020, piecing the record together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (Devilment/Benediction/Vader). Although instantly recognisable as the work of these veteran blackhearts, the thirteenth CRADLE OF FILTH album is a wholly different beast from its immediate predecessors. Pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme, it hangs together with mesmerising fluidity. It is also absolutely rammed with giant, rousing melodies and moments of jaw-dropping invention. No one could mistake the venomously catchy likes of ‘How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?’ or monstrous ballad ‘Discourse Between A Man And His Soul’ for anything other than CRADLE OF FILTH, of course, but ‘Existence Is Futile’ confirms that the band’s exploratory instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Underpinned by its huge and disarmingly organic production, »Existence Is Futile« is plainly the darkest and most unsettling album CRADLE OF FILTH have made in a while. Eschewing the band’s trademark twisted storytelling in favour of horrified glimpses into the mortal void and ruminations on the inevitable destruction of life on Earth, its poignancy and relevance to the cluster of nightmares facing humanity in 2021 is impossible to ignore, even if Dani Filth insists, not unreasonably, that he didn’t anticipate a global pandemic when the news songs were being written.
With the best possible timing, CRADLE OF FILTH were already due to make a new album during those long, lonely months of lockdown in 2020. Having grabbed the opportunity with both hands, Dani avows that unavoidable isolation from the rest of the world was the best possible incentive to get the job done, while also adding plenty of eerie atmosphere to the whole experience.
Sonically speaking, ‘Existence Is Futile’ is easily the most powerful and dramatic record CRADLE OF FILTH have ever made: it’s the sound of band’s enviable onstage chemistry spilling over into the studio, propelling each member of the band to new levels of intensity. Combined with the expected labyrinthine arrangements and moments of spellbinding bombast, ‘Existence Is Futile’ may be the most vivid representation of the CRADLE OF FILTH experience yet.
Also, diehard fans will be thrilled to learn that horror icon Doug 'Pinhead' Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the epic ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, and to one of the forthcoming new record’s bonus tracks, as Dani explains.
“There are also two bonus tracks in addition to the album, one of which is the culmination to the ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’ trilogy, which began on »Midian«.
For this we had little hesitation in enlisting our friend and actor Doug Bradley to reprise his narrative role. Doug lives in Pittsburgh, which he refers to ‘The Pit’, thus we directed his narrative over Skype from his local studio. He adopts this almost David Attenborough-ish role on ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, which is possibly the most politically astute song we’ve written of late. As a band we usually shy from branching into politics, but it’s something that needed spouting. The fact we’re fucking our ecology up and desperately need to address the situation pronto…”
So, if we’re all going to perish in the fire of our own stupidity, we might as well have a suitably deranged and destructive soundtrack to do it by.
A bewitching, fearless nosedive into the abyss, the band's thirteenth studio album confirms the ferocious efficacy of CRADLE OF FILTH in 2021. Bold, brave, wildly imaginative and heavy as hell, the band’s latest runaway train-ride through the flames is the perfect album for these most imperfect of times. As Dani concludes, “Be like the virus! Mutate and survive!”

Belched from Hell’s depths into the rustic charms of the Witch County, Suffolk thirty long and disturbing years ago, CRADLE OF FILTH are undisputed giants of the heavy metal realm. Imperious purveyors of a perennially unique strain of dark, dastardly and wilfully extreme metal, with deep roots in the worlds of gothic horror and occult curiosity, the band led by Dani Filth has weathered three decades of tumult and trial, earning a formidable reputation as both a singular creative force and one of the most riotously entertaining live bands the metal world has ever produced.
From primitive early works like 1992 debut »The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh« to more expansive and theatrical classics like ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ and ‘Midian’, CRADLE OF FILTH defied trends and constructed their own idiosyncratic world of foul grandeur, becoming one of the UK’s most notable metal bands in the process. Since then, they have traversed the world countless times, hoovering up plaudits and praise from an ever-expanding international fan base. Resolutely prolific, the band’s catalogue has grown in depth and stature all the while, irrespective of line-up changes or the whims of the faithful.
In more recent times, CRADLE OF FILTH have hit an unmistakable hot streak of creativity and urgency. As a new line-up coalesced around the creation of 2015’s »Hammer Of The Witches«, fresh impetus propelled the band to new heights, as the revitalised crew became more in demand around the world than ever before. 2017’s ‘Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness Of Decay’ repeated the trick with even more explosive flamboyance. Until a global pandemic brought the music industry to a jarring halt, CRADLE OF FILTH were almost permanently on the road and absolutely fucking flying. As a result, it should surprise no one that the band’s brand new album, ‘Existence Is Futile’, is yet another monumental and electrifying journey through the dark.
Buoyed by these recent triumphs, CRADLE OF FILTH recorded »Existence Is Futile« during 2020, piecing the record together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (Devilment/Benediction/Vader). Although instantly recognisable as the work of these veteran blackhearts, the thirteenth CRADLE OF FILTH album is a wholly different beast from its immediate predecessors. Pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme, it hangs together with mesmerising fluidity. It is also absolutely rammed with giant, rousing melodies and moments of jaw-dropping invention. No one could mistake the venomously catchy likes of ‘How Many Tears To Nurture A Rose?’ or monstrous ballad ‘Discourse Between A Man And His Soul’ for anything other than CRADLE OF FILTH, of course, but ‘Existence Is Futile’ confirms that the band’s exploratory instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Underpinned by its huge and disarmingly organic production, »Existence Is Futile« is plainly the darkest and most unsettling album CRADLE OF FILTH have made in a while. Eschewing the band’s trademark twisted storytelling in favour of horrified glimpses into the mortal void and ruminations on the inevitable destruction of life on Earth, its poignancy and relevance to the cluster of nightmares facing humanity in 2021 is impossible to ignore, even if Dani Filth insists, not unreasonably, that he didn’t anticipate a global pandemic when the news songs were being written.
With the best possible timing, CRADLE OF FILTH were already due to make a new album during those long, lonely months of lockdown in 2020. Having grabbed the opportunity with both hands, Dani avows that unavoidable isolation from the rest of the world was the best possible incentive to get the job done, while also adding plenty of eerie atmosphere to the whole experience.
Sonically speaking, ‘Existence Is Futile’ is easily the most powerful and dramatic record CRADLE OF FILTH have ever made: it’s the sound of band’s enviable onstage chemistry spilling over into the studio, propelling each member of the band to new levels of intensity. Combined with the expected labyrinthine arrangements and moments of spellbinding bombast, ‘Existence Is Futile’ may be the most vivid representation of the CRADLE OF FILTH experience yet.
Also, diehard fans will be thrilled to learn that horror icon Doug 'Pinhead' Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the epic ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, and to one of the forthcoming new record’s bonus tracks, as Dani explains.
“There are also two bonus tracks in addition to the album, one of which is the culmination to the ‘Her Ghost In The Fog’ trilogy, which began on »Midian«.
For this we had little hesitation in enlisting our friend and actor Doug Bradley to reprise his narrative role. Doug lives in Pittsburgh, which he refers to ‘The Pit’, thus we directed his narrative over Skype from his local studio. He adopts this almost David Attenborough-ish role on ‘Suffer Our Dominion’, which is possibly the most politically astute song we’ve written of late. As a band we usually shy from branching into politics, but it’s something that needed spouting. The fact we’re fucking our ecology up and desperately need to address the situation pronto…”
So, if we’re all going to perish in the fire of our own stupidity, we might as well have a suitably deranged and destructive soundtrack to do it by.
A bewitching, fearless nosedive into the abyss, the band's thirteenth studio album confirms the ferocious efficacy of CRADLE OF FILTH in 2021. Bold, brave, wildly imaginative and heavy as hell, the band’s latest runaway train-ride through the flames is the perfect album for these most imperfect of times. As Dani concludes, “Be like the virus! Mutate and survive!”

Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain may have become the quintessential independent American rock ’n roll band: a steam-spitting Hydra of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscoping travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins of this cracked and aching country.

Now, in America 2021, capping these strangest and sorest of times, the band returns with The Dharma Wheel, a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.

“I wanted The Dharma Wheel to be a portal from our everyday world, the one from which you stand on hard ground and hold the album in your hands and peer into the artwork, and into another universe,” says songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Ethan Miller. “You enter into that universe with your eyes and ears and mind and take a ride through free-form meditation on these ideas — from big, fundamental concepts about our existence right down to the grease that rolls down the arm of a pulp novel killer as he eats a gas station hot dog in an old Dodge in an alleyway.”

Lyrically, Miller has completed his evolution into a mushroom-plucking Whitman of the West, singing outlandish tales in a topographic blend of Humbead’s Revised Map of the World and an inverted U.S. where downtrodden bodhisattvas roam the back streets and moonless country roads.

“Down in Florida swamps, run by nature’s law, standing in the water, Eden gone. Two men loading rifles, beasts making time, they shot a boy from an orange tree and watched the colored birds take flight, watch the colors as they soar and dive.” — ‘Under the Wheels.’

The band, Jeff McElroy (bass, backing vocals), Justin Smith (drums/percussion, backing vocals) and Dan Cervantes (guitar, backing vocals), again sounds hardwired into Miller’s vision, building tracks that swagger and sway in response to his verse. Lending a hand this time around is the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue) on violin, and the endlessly inventive Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun) on keys.

Songs were shaped via the blast furnace of endless gigs, then recorded often mere hours after the band slipped the stage.

“The captured sonic fact about this record is that it’s the sound of a band that rehearsed this material a lot and put a ton of work into its construction and was on the road a lot and recorded on days off in the tour schedule,” Miller says. “In some cases we were on stage on Saturday night playing these songs at quarter-to-2 in the morning and by Noon the next day we were sipping coffee in the studio playing them for the machine.”

Rivera’s violin is the first sound heard as the album dawns on the instrumental “Prelude.” Soon, the band joins, twirling the theme into a psychedelicized awakening. “Don’t Let the Tears” brings the boogie, with MacDougall’s madcap synth work and wah-wah guitars showering 70’s glitter upon a parquet dance floor of the mind. “Under the Wheels” and “Rotoscope” center the album with taut, compositional epics populated by murdering drifters and fuzz pedal explosions. The blue hour comedown of “Annabelle” meditates upon the weariness of lost love, with Rivera again amping the heartache via her violin strings.

“In the evening the trains go by, and shake the dust from dirty walls, sometimes I feel like a spider in an old mason jar, who threatens only convex light from down the hall. I’ve been lost to the world since the photos of the black hole, landed on my desktop screaming, perhaps the all and nothing all-in-one is just too much to take, for particles and matter that never found their way.” — ‘Annabelle’

The record closes with the 16-minute title track, a multi-movement suite which cycles from Crazy Horse-meets-Traffic jams through colossal, mass-moving funk stomp, eventually cresting and washing into a sing-along gospel lament.

The Dharma Wheel is an album of great depth, and one steeped in good vibes: a rich, glistening world of the ultra-vivid. As illustrated in Arik Roper’s cover art, the grand dharmachakra has been set in motion, churning off the California coast.

“We were trying to build a world big enough that the imagination won’t go soft on you after just a few listens and where our love for this music, and music in general — along with a good dose of audacity — create a magic carpet ride through the world of The Dharma Wheel,” Miller continues. “In pursuing that I think we also managed to make a record that has a lot of joy in it: the joy of playing music, the joy of experiencing music, the joy of storytelling and poetry, the kind of singular joy and extended ecstatic moment that only a real ‘band’ can express in just that way.”

And it’s this joy, this exuberance and dedication to the lines of cosmic expression — all centered in the exalted art of the everyday — that constructs the heart of the record. At its core, The Dharma Wheel is the triumph of a working band, a transmission from a never-paused before arriving for our strange, bruised, spectacular now.”

Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain may have become the quintessential independent American rock ’n roll band: a steam-spitting Hydra of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscoping travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins of this cracked and aching country.

Now, in America 2021, capping these strangest and sorest of times, the band returns with The Dharma Wheel, a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.

“I wanted The Dharma Wheel to be a portal from our everyday world, the one from which you stand on hard ground and hold the album in your hands and peer into the artwork, and into another universe,” says songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Ethan Miller. “You enter into that universe with your eyes and ears and mind and take a ride through free-form meditation on these ideas — from big, fundamental concepts about our existence right down to the grease that rolls down the arm of a pulp novel killer as he eats a gas station hot dog in an old Dodge in an alleyway.”

Lyrically, Miller has completed his evolution into a mushroom-plucking Whitman of the West, singing outlandish tales in a topographic blend of Humbead’s Revised Map of the World and an inverted U.S. where downtrodden bodhisattvas roam the back streets and moonless country roads.

“Down in Florida swamps, run by nature’s law, standing in the water, Eden gone. Two men loading rifles, beasts making time, they shot a boy from an orange tree and watched the colored birds take flight, watch the colors as they soar and dive.” — ‘Under the Wheels.’

The band, Jeff McElroy (bass, backing vocals), Justin Smith (drums/percussion, backing vocals) and Dan Cervantes (guitar, backing vocals), again sounds hardwired into Miller’s vision, building tracks that swagger and sway in response to his verse. Lending a hand this time around is the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue) on violin, and the endlessly inventive Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun) on keys.

Songs were shaped via the blast furnace of endless gigs, then recorded often mere hours after the band slipped the stage.

“The captured sonic fact about this record is that it’s the sound of a band that rehearsed this material a lot and put a ton of work into its construction and was on the road a lot and recorded on days off in the tour schedule,” Miller says. “In some cases we were on stage on Saturday night playing these songs at quarter-to-2 in the morning and by Noon the next day we were sipping coffee in the studio playing them for the machine.”

Rivera’s violin is the first sound heard as the album dawns on the instrumental “Prelude.” Soon, the band joins, twirling the theme into a psychedelicized awakening. “Don’t Let the Tears” brings the boogie, with MacDougall’s madcap synth work and wah-wah guitars showering 70’s glitter upon a parquet dance floor of the mind. “Under the Wheels” and “Rotoscope” center the album with taut, compositional epics populated by murdering drifters and fuzz pedal explosions. The blue hour comedown of “Annabelle” meditates upon the weariness of lost love, with Rivera again amping the heartache via her violin strings.

“In the evening the trains go by, and shake the dust from dirty walls, sometimes I feel like a spider in an old mason jar, who threatens only convex light from down the hall. I’ve been lost to the world since the photos of the black hole, landed on my desktop screaming, perhaps the all and nothing all-in-one is just too much to take, for particles and matter that never found their way.” — ‘Annabelle’

The record closes with the 16-minute title track, a multi-movement suite which cycles from Crazy Horse-meets-Traffic jams through colossal, mass-moving funk stomp, eventually cresting and washing into a sing-along gospel lament.

The Dharma Wheel is an album of great depth, and one steeped in good vibes: a rich, glistening world of the ultra-vivid. As illustrated in Arik Roper’s cover art, the grand dharmachakra has been set in motion, churning off the California coast.

“We were trying to build a world big enough that the imagination won’t go soft on you after just a few listens and where our love for this music, and music in general — along with a good dose of audacity — create a magic carpet ride through the world of The Dharma Wheel,” Miller continues. “In pursuing that I think we also managed to make a record that has a lot of joy in it: the joy of playing music, the joy of experiencing music, the joy of storytelling and poetry, the kind of singular joy and extended ecstatic moment that only a real ‘band’ can express in just that way.”

And it’s this joy, this exuberance and dedication to the lines of cosmic expression — all centered in the exalted art of the everyday — that constructs the heart of the record. At its core, The Dharma Wheel is the triumph of a working band, a transmission from a never-paused before arriving for our strange, bruised, spectacular now.”

M_SESSIONS - THE PROCESS

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations.

The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm.
The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

M_DOKUMENTE // THE BOOK - THE RECORDS - THE EXHIBITION

The project M_Dokumente focuses on the All Female bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador in the West Berlin music and art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. We celebrate this 40 years retrospetive with a big festival weekend from 21.-24.10.2021 at Silent Green from a explicitly female perspective.
The three bands around their members Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut played concerts in different formations from 1979 on, released records and toured around the world. The self-determined appearance of the musicians was new, raised some eyebrows and was reflected both in the music and the lyrics, but also in their unique style and the genre-crossing approach of "more art in the music, more music in the art". To this day, the bands are considered visionary, they shaped a new image of women in pop culture and are pioneers and role models for the still important and necessary emancipatory movement in the music industry. Far beyond the borders of Berlin.

3Ms

The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers. (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

Black Country Communion the rock supergroup comprised of vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple Black Sabbath, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, Foreigner), Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper) and blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa.

Their fourth album, aptly titled "BCCIV" was originally released by Mascot Records in Europe in 2017. Just like its three predecessors, "BCCIV" was produced by Kevin Shirley, the band's unofficial 'fifth member'. Three Black Country Communion albums will be re-issued as part of the Black Country Communion Glow In The Dark Vinyl Series: On September 24, "Black Country Communion" and "2", and on October 22, 2021 their latest studio album "BCCIV".

The 10 songs on BCCIV will appeal to all fans of high quality hard rock, also those that admire singers of distinction. Hughes is not known as The Voice of Rock for nothing. In terms of content, 'BCCIV' expands upon the progression that took place between the first three albums. With an abundance of heavy riffs, undeniable hooks, melodic flair and infectious choruses, BCCIV is a spectacular album that gets bigger and bolder with repeated spins. Black Country Communion initially came to fruition when Kevin Shirley saw Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa join forces on stage in Los Angeles in November 2009 for an explosive performance at Guitar Center’s King of the Blues event. Shirley then recruited powerhouse drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. The band is named after the industrial area in the British Midlands where both Hughes and Bonham were born and raised.

The making of “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” was heavily influenced by the situation everyone had to face lately. “We were forced to work under very peculiar circumstances, often interrupting our studio activity because of the lockdown”, says Franz Di Cioccio (lead vocals, drums). The whole process took one year spent mostly working at home, sharing ideas and meeting at Patrick Djivas’ (bass, keyboards) home studio, before the band was able to record the album at White Studios in Milan, Italy. Being the rhythm section Cioccio and Djivas make a perfectly working team. “We both have a great passion for SciFi movies. In the past we watched many of them together. In the case of ‘Blade Runner’ we were hit by the question: Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep? - The world has been changing around us. Computers are taking over and Covid has accelerated the process. However, we strongly believe in the power of people to use their imagination and fantasy. To us this is what really makes the difference between human beings and androids.” The band considers themselves being in a similar place when it comes to music that Impressionists were in when it comes to painting: They didn’t paint fixed somatic traits for their figures with their brush strokes while PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi) do not consider themselves limited to a specific genre. While the album tells multiple stories they are all linked to passion, love and the power of imagination. As a real treat PMF invited a couple of musicians they have been friends with for a long time: Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) on flute and Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) on electric guitar. “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” is simultaneously released in both English and Italian versions, hence the Italian subtitle, “Ho Sognato Pecore Elettriche". PMF’s “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” is available in the following formats: Special 2 CD Digipak with O-Card, Gatefold 2LP+2CD & Special LP-Booklet and Digital Album.

Einen schönen Fang hat das Chicagoer Label Trouble In Mind vor Kurzem mit DUMMY gemacht: Das Quintett aus Los Angeles verblüfft auf seinem Debüt ,Mandatory Enjoyment" mit einem derart ausgereiften Noise-Pop-Entwurf, das man kaum glauben mag, dass es sich hier um ein Erstlingswerk handelt. Nach gerade einmal zwei veröffentlichten EPs aus dem letzten Jahr, haben DUMMY ihren mit einem wundervollen Groove ausgestatteten Sound auf ,Mandatory Enjoyment" sichtlich gefunden und bis zur Perfektion destilliert. Das spielfreudige Debüt kombiniert geschickt Einflüsse aus Krautrock, Dream-Pop, Ambient, Psychedelic und Shoegaze zu einem Soundgebräu, das sowohl avantgardistisch als auch immer noch genug im Pop verwurzelt ist. Songs wie "Daffodils" und "Fissured Ceramics" zeichnen sich durch unerbittlich treibende Energie und reichlich psychedelischen Lärm aus. An anderer Stelle gleicht Dummy die Aggression mit meditativen Synthesizerlandschaften aus, die sich auf Sounddesign und Studioexperimente konzentrieren, wie bei dem motorischen "X-Static Blanket". Das Herzstück "H.V.A.C." und der letzte Track des Albums, "Atonal Poem", versuchen schließlich, diese beiden Pole miteinander zu verbinden und bieten mehrteilige Reisen durch unbekanntes Klangterritorium. Im Gegensatz zu der glückseligen Instrumentierung untersuchen Dummys sardonische Texte die Last des modernen Lebens, den Konsumismus, den Zusammenbruch der Umwelt, die Entfremdung und andere Ängste, die aus dem Leben in diesem absurden Moment der Geschichte entstehen. Innenarchitektur, Meeresverschmutzung, die Psychologie kommerzieller Architektur und Atomtests sind Themen, die aufgegriffen werden. Die rastlose Kreativität von Dummy treibt die Band immer weiter voran, sie fordern sich selbst ständig heraus und treiben ihren Sound in aufregende und erheiternde Bereiche. Dies ist - wie der Albumtitel schon sagt - "Mandatory Enjoyment". ENG Los Angeles band Dummy refuses to slow down. After releasing two cassette EP's in 2020 (on Popwig and Born Yesterday respectively), Dummy's debut full-length album arrives via Chicago's Trouble in Mind Records. Employing pummeling guitars and celestial ambience within the same breath, the band folds a myriad of reference points into their drone-pop style. Influence from '60s melodicism and '90s UK noise pop can be found woven in with inspiration from spiritual jazz, Japanese new age, and Italian minimalism. Dummy dodges the brooding, dark, dramatic tropes of contemporary "artistic" music often found in punk, experimental, and electronic, instead insisting on joyous and euphoric sonic palettes. They refuse to be artistically stagnant, continuously shifting their approach to writing across 12 tracks. Shaped by performances around Los Angeles in 2019, songs like "Daffodils" and "Fissured Ceramics" feature relentless driving energy and ample psychedelic noise. Elsewhere, Dummy counterbalances the aggression with meditative synthscapes focused on sound design and studio experimentation, like on the motorik "X-Static Blanket". Finally, centerpiece "H.V.A.C." and the album's final track, "Atonal Poem", seek to synthesize these two poles, offering multi-part journeys through uncharted sonic territory. In contrast to blissed-out instrumentation, Dummy's sardonic lyricism examines "the burden of modern life, consumerism, environmental collapse, alienation, and other anxieties born out of living in this absurd moment in history". Interior design, marine pollution, the psychology of commercial architecture, and nuclear testing are all featured subjects. Dummy's restless creativity keeps them moving ever-forward, continuously challenging themselves and pushing their sound into exciting and exhilarating places. This is - as the album title suggests - "Mandatory Enjoyment".

Einen schönen Fang hat das Chicagoer Label Trouble In Mind vor Kurzem mit DUMMY gemacht: Das Quintett aus Los Angeles verblüfft auf seinem Debüt ,Mandatory Enjoyment" mit einem derart ausgereiften Noise-Pop-Entwurf, das man kaum glauben mag, dass es sich hier um ein Erstlingswerk handelt. Nach gerade einmal zwei veröffentlichten EPs aus dem letzten Jahr, haben DUMMY ihren mit einem wundervollen Groove ausgestatteten Sound auf ,Mandatory Enjoyment" sichtlich gefunden und bis zur Perfektion destilliert. Das spielfreudige Debüt kombiniert geschickt Einflüsse aus Krautrock, Dream-Pop, Ambient, Psychedelic und Shoegaze zu einem Soundgebräu, das sowohl avantgardistisch als auch immer noch genug im Pop verwurzelt ist. Songs wie "Daffodils" und "Fissured Ceramics" zeichnen sich durch unerbittlich treibende Energie und reichlich psychedelischen Lärm aus. An anderer Stelle gleicht Dummy die Aggression mit meditativen Synthesizerlandschaften aus, die sich auf Sounddesign und Studioexperimente konzentrieren, wie bei dem motorischen "X-Static Blanket". Das Herzstück "H.V.A.C." und der letzte Track des Albums, "Atonal Poem", versuchen schließlich, diese beiden Pole miteinander zu verbinden und bieten mehrteilige Reisen durch unbekanntes Klangterritorium. Im Gegensatz zu der glückseligen Instrumentierung untersuchen Dummys sardonische Texte die Last des modernen Lebens, den Konsumismus, den Zusammenbruch der Umwelt, die Entfremdung und andere Ängste, die aus dem Leben in diesem absurden Moment der Geschichte entstehen. Innenarchitektur, Meeresverschmutzung, die Psychologie kommerzieller Architektur und Atomtests sind Themen, die aufgegriffen werden. Die rastlose Kreativität von Dummy treibt die Band immer weiter voran, sie fordern sich selbst ständig heraus und treiben ihren Sound in aufregende und erheiternde Bereiche. Dies ist - wie der Albumtitel schon sagt - "Mandatory Enjoyment". ENG Los Angeles band Dummy refuses to slow down. After releasing two cassette EP's in 2020 (on Popwig and Born Yesterday respectively), Dummy's debut full-length album arrives via Chicago's Trouble in Mind Records. Employing pummeling guitars and celestial ambience within the same breath, the band folds a myriad of reference points into their drone-pop style. Influence from '60s melodicism and '90s UK noise pop can be found woven in with inspiration from spiritual jazz, Japanese new age, and Italian minimalism. Dummy dodges the brooding, dark, dramatic tropes of contemporary "artistic" music often found in punk, experimental, and electronic, instead insisting on joyous and euphoric sonic palettes. They refuse to be artistically stagnant, continuously shifting their approach to writing across 12 tracks. Shaped by performances around Los Angeles in 2019, songs like "Daffodils" and "Fissured Ceramics" feature relentless driving energy and ample psychedelic noise. Elsewhere, Dummy counterbalances the aggression with meditative synthscapes focused on sound design and studio experimentation, like on the motorik "X-Static Blanket". Finally, centerpiece "H.V.A.C." and the album's final track, "Atonal Poem", seek to synthesize these two poles, offering multi-part journeys through uncharted sonic territory. In contrast to blissed-out instrumentation, Dummy's sardonic lyricism examines "the burden of modern life, consumerism, environmental collapse, alienation, and other anxieties born out of living in this absurd moment in history". Interior design, marine pollution, the psychology of commercial architecture, and nuclear testing are all featured subjects. Dummy's restless creativity keeps them moving ever-forward, continuously challenging themselves and pushing their sound into exciting and exhilarating places. This is - as the album title suggests - "Mandatory Enjoyment".

They have been called, amongst other things, "the best live band in Britain." Their music has graced everything from The Sopranos to The Simpsons, and celebrity fans include Irvine Welsh and the world's biggest selling author, Stephen King. They are undoubtedly the greatest American act the UK ever did produce, and their heady combination of techno and C&W, alongside a proclivity for rock 'n' roll decadence and an acute social conscience means that they are effectively a unique entity in modern music. Exile on Coldharbour Lane is the debut album by Alabama 3, originally released in 1997. The name and cover are references to Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones and Coldharbour Lane a major street in Brixton, South London best known for containing several after-hours clubs. Upon its release, the album received favourable reviews, including an 8.9 review from Pitchfork Media. The song "Sister Rosetta" was featured in the film "Barnyard". "Woke Up This Morning" is best known as the opening theme music for the television series, The Sopranos, which used the "Chosen One Mix" of that song.

Die zweifache GRAMMY-Preisträgerin Natalie Hemby gilt als eine der bemerkenswertesten Songwriterinnen
der Musikbranche, die hinter den Kulissen einen Hit nach dem anderen kreiert. Jetzt steht sie kurz vor dem
Durchbruch, mit der Veröffentlichung ihres zweiten Studioalbums ”Pins and Needles” am 8. Oktober.
Bekannt für ihren vielseitigen Sound und ihre Geschichten, die ihr acht Nummer-1-Singles einbrachten,
erkundet Hemby auf ihrem Album Einflüsse von Tom Petty über Sheryl Crow bis hin zum Rock und Roots
der frühen 90er Jahre: Musik, mit der sie aufgewachsen ist. In den 11 Tracks liefert Hemby unkonventionelle Texte gepaart mit ihrer genialen Wortwahl, Ohrwurm-Hymnen, herzzerreißenden Balladen bis hinzu
tiefgründigen Rock-Songs. Hemby schafft Songs, die sich wie kostbare Momente anfühlen, an die man sich
gerne erinnert.

Part of the Optic Sevens 3.0 Reissue Series.
“Take the Skinheads Bowling” The signature song of Camper Van Beethoven. Taken from their 1985 album Telephone Free Landslide Victory.
Their classic debut single became an indie top 10 hit and featured in John Peel's festive 50. On it’s release it picked up substantial airplay and is still played frequently on radio shows across the globe.
Later covered by Teenage Fanclub & Manic Street Preachers and featured in the Michael Moore film ‘Bowling For Columbine’

On paper, a full collaborative album from Doom and space age production from Jneiro Jarel

can't fail. In practice it's even better. Doom is in the form of his life here. JJ produced all the

tracks, Doom provided the bulk of the vocals and compiled the cut and paste skits. Doom

recorded the album while 'banished' from the States and back living in london. He references

British culture throughout the album, name dropping British institutions, and possibly being

the first emcee to reference My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Jneiro recording the beats in the dirty

south, got into a UK state mind, and turned in heavy hip hop production that leans towards

grime, dubstep and British techno. The album will appeal to fans of classic Doom material.

JJ's tough, far out hip hop production will appeal to fans of Dilla, Flying Lotus and el-p. It also

features guest appearances from Beth Gibbons, Damon Albarn and Khujo (goodie mob).

Album artwork is by graffiti artist Steve Powers aka Espo.

Ever since the release of their acclaimed debut EP P'eau (2018) these Mechelen-based musicians have been honing their craft in songwriting and production, building a new home studio to record future material while also expanding from a three-piece to a five-piece ensemble. By adding singer/percussionist Stefan De Graef (Psychonaut) and guitarist/singer Sander Rom (L'Itch) to their ranks, HIPPOTRAKTOR have become a more versatile outfit able to employ a broader palette of sounds, taking the band's earlier instrumental prog metal sound to new heights. Taking notes from the best moments in contemporary progressive and post metal, HIPPOTRAKTOR capture the awe-inspiring power of nature_from the delicacy of the first falling leaf to the massive cosmic energy of the sun. By combining the big, catchy riffs and the rhythmical prowess of Gojira with the relentless but equally groove-loaded complexity of Meshuggah, Meridian delivers an overwhelming experience of sound, presenting the listener with sentiments that are recognisable, but with an intensity that seems larger-than-life. "Meridian finds its origin in everyday moods, taken out of context and morphed into a stylised version that re- flects the dreamer in me," explains main songwriter and guitarist Chiaran Verheyden. "It tells the story of someone who's lost in a world too massive to comprehend, and seeks answers in places where none can be found. Meridian was written as an attempt to distillate what I felt but couldn't put into words." As the main vocalist in the group, finding these words was the job of Stefan De Graef, who carried over his fascination for philosophy and religion from his other band Psychonaut. "Meridian tells the story of a solitary wanderer on the Earth in the absence of other beings," explains Stefan. "Without anyone to share knowledge and history with, the protagonist is forced to create his own truths and stories about the nature of life, consciousness and the universe. The protagonist begins to personify and deify his surroundings, assigning sentience to the trees, the mountains, the wind, the waters etc. for they are his only companions in this desolate world." Essentially, Meridian is an exploration of the evolutionary theory of naturism, which was put forth by German scholar Max Mu"ller in the 19th century, and which argues that religion finds its origin in the deification of the forces of nature by early human beings. By juxtaposing this sociological theory with seven tracks that unfailingly conjure images of the earth, sea and sky, HIPPOTRAKTOR have created an analogy that enlarges the imaginative quality of their music to (literally) epic proportions. Combining the best of prog, groove and post-metal, Meridian comprises an incredible ride for fans of soaring hooks, technical riffing and earth-shattering breakdowns. Limited bluegreen-grey single colour vinyl edition, gatefold! FOR FANS OF Meshuggah, Periphery, Cloudkicker, Intronaut, Animals As Leaders, Gojira, Skyharbor, Psychonaut

First time on vinyl
10th Anniversary of the Breaking Bad TV Series
5 x 10' vinyl in 5 different jackets, 1 relating to each season
Each 10' is the same colour, Strictly Limited Edition Albuquerque Crystal Coloured (transparent with a hint of turquoise) Vinyl!
Lift off box-set with Breaking Bad logo on front with special drip-off varnish
Exclusive Breaking Bad Poster & Pollos Hermanos plastic ID badge
Booklet with exclusive pictures and extensive liner notes by Thomas, the musical supervisor of Breaking Bad
One run only of this very exclusive BOX-SET
Individually numbered the manufacturing qty for Worldwide is est 4000 with 800 for the UK - we could get some more
PLEASE ORDER BY 12.00 TUESDAY 25 SEPT TO BE GUARANTEED YOUR QTY
Available worldwide
Weight ESTIMATED 950g
All the essential Breaking Bad songs by Badfinger, Calexico, Far East Movement, America, Fever Ray, Apparat, Whitey, Knife Party, The Peddlers and others
Various dialogies by Walter, Jesse, Skyler, Mike, Gus, Saul and many more
This release will be heavily promoted on social media, including the social media accounts of Breaking Bad (facebook, over 11 million followers!!!).

MOV proudly presents the OST - BREAKING BAD (MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES) 5 x 10' BOX-SET!

A TOP PRIORITY RELEASE with WORLDWIDE RIGHTS!

So far only the score music has been released on vinyl and now finally, for the very very first time, the original soundtrack music is released on vinyl!

Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time and celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2018.

The legion of fans have been waiting for this to be released for a long time. There will be a huge demand for this exclusive BOX-SET!

This release was never released in any other format (CD, vinyl, digital) before and will only be available on vinyl!

OST - BREAKING BAD (MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES) is presented in a beautiful Lift off box-set with Breaking Bad logo on front with special drip-off varnish. The box-set includes a selection of defining songs, devided in five 10' records on coloured vinyl, each representing a season with accessory artwork. The numbered box-set also includes a booklet, poster and Pollos Hermanos plastic ID Badge. Next to all essential Breaking Bad songs by Badfinger, Calexico, Far East Movement, America, Fever Ray, Apparat, Whitey, Knife Party, The Peddlers and others, the 10' records also include various dialogies by Walter, Jesse, Skyler, Mike, Gus, Saul and many more. The box-set is a ONE-RUN-ONLY and is STRICTLY LIMITED!

Breaking Bad is an American neo-western crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show originally aired on the AMC network for five seasons, from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013. The series tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling and depressed high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer. Together with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), White turns to a life of crime by producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal world. The title comes from the Southern colloquialism "breaking bad", meaning to "raise hell" or turn toward crime. Breaking Bad is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Walter's family consists of his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and children, Walter, Jr. (RJ Mitte) and Holly (Elanor Anne Wenrich). The show also features Skyler's sister Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt), and her husband Hank (Dean Norris), a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. Walter hires lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), who connects him with private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and in turn Mike's employer, drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). The final season introduces the characters Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) and Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser).

Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. By the time the series finale aired, it was among the most-watched cable shows on American television. The show received numerous awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards and four Television Critics Association Awards. For his leading performance, Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, while Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series three times; Anna Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series twice. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time.

Der renommierte Komponist/Regisseur John Carpenter und seine kreativen Mitstreiter Cody Carpenter und Daniel Davies haben auch zum zweiten Teil der neuen "Halloween"-Trilogie, "Halloween Kills", den Soundtrack beigetragen. Wie der Film selbst bleibt auch Carpenters Filmmusik dem Geist dessen treu, was das Original von 1978 so großartig gemacht hat, und bringt es gleichzeitig fest in die Gegenwart. Die Musik ist unverkennbar John Carpenter: die düsteren Vintage-Synthesizer-Klänge, das atemberaubende Gefühl der Bedrohung, das mit nur wenigen dissonanten Tönen hervorgerufen wird. Doch mit einer breiteren Klangpalette, neuen digitalen Techniken und einem tieferen Sinn für Musikalität ist der Score zu "Halloween Kills" das Werk eines Meisters, der auch nach fast 50 Jahren in seiner Karriere immer wieder an seine kreativen Grenzen geht und neue Wege findet, seine Fans zu begeistern und zu erschrecken. John Carpenters hypnotisches Thema zu seinem Horror-Meisterwerk "Halloween" aus dem Jahr 1978 hat mittlerweile für Generationen von Kinobesuchern die Angst vor Slasher-Stalkern verkörpert und sich so sehr in die Popkultur eingewoben, dass es zum musikalischen Kürzel für das gesamte Horror-Genre geworden ist. Es sind nur fünf Noten, die auf einem Klavier gezupft werden, so spärlich arrangiert, dass es sich wie kaum mehr als eine Skizze anfühlt, so einfach, dass ein ungeübter Spieler es leicht aufschnappen kann, aber es ist eine der größten musikalischen Errungenschaften des Kinos. 2018 kehrte Carpenter zum ersten Mal seit "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" von 1982 zu dem Franchise zurück, das er mit seiner ikonischen Schöpfung ins Leben gerufen hatte, ließ die 40 Jahre an Fortsetzungen und Reboots unter anderen Filmemachern hinter sich und kehrte zu seiner ursprünglichen Vision zurück. Während David Gordon Green die Regie für den neuen "Halloween"-Film und seine Fortsetzungen übernommen hat, ist Carpenter geblieben, um ihnen ihre unverwechselbare akustische Identität zu verleihen, die zu "Halloween" gehört wie die Totenmaske und das schimmernde Schlachtermesser von Michael Myers.

Skyline recordings is proud to unleash a super funky new FLYING FISH
“Takin’ Over” 7” is a killer vocal up-tempo, sexy, club floor dancer, and a must have 45 for good music collectors.
The fantasy Flying Fish duo of Malachi Trout & Ed Morris have been making Flying Fish DJ tools for many years. This outstanding vocal, features the amazing Elliot May (lead singer on Do your thing – Basement Jaxx)

Danny George Wilson (Bennett Wilson Poole, Danny & The Champions Of The World, Grand Drive) unveils a radically surprising new solo album Another Place to a world coming up for air. Celebrating the future returning with a vibrant and diverse collection of startling, impressionistic songs produced in tandem with Sussex-based, studio-wizard Hamish Benjamin and his frequent collaborator Henry Garratt, helped along by pedal steel maestro Iain Sloan (Peter Bruntnell, Wynntown Marshals), and with memorable guest appearances from Emma Swift (Blonde On The Tracks), Gerry Love (Teenage Fanclub), and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco).

Spiral Grave are comprised of extraordinary
vocalist Screaming Mad Dee, Iron Louis Strachan
(bass), Mot Waldmann on drums and ex-Lord
guitarist Willy Rivera. They were formed in 2018
after the tragic death of their long-time bandmate
Alfred Morris III, founding member of the iconic
Iron Man.
 Setting the mood for classic heavy as hell and in
your face doom metal, US Maryland’s Spiral Grave
quickly carved a place for themselves in North
America’s heavy music scene, playing wellreceived sets at The New England Stoner Doom
Fest and The Maryland Doomfest.
 ‘Legacy Of The Anointed’ is not a sixth album by
Iron Man, as this up-tempo doom metal has more
speed, swagger and groove with a swampy edge.
 For fans of Iron Man, Down, Cathedral, Black
Sabbath, Earthride.
 LP pressed on clear silver vinyl.

LP pressed exclusively for National Album Day 2021 on gold vinyl in
single-pocket jacket with custom dust sleeve and digital download
coupon.
 Through ‘Titanic Rising’, Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, has
designed her own universe to soulfully navigate life’s mysteries.
Manoeuvring through a space time continuum, she plays the role of
melodic, sometimes melancholic, anthropologist.
 Tellingly, Mering classifies ‘Titanic Rising’ - written and recorded during
the first half of 2018, after three albums and years of touring - as The
Kinks meeting WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya. The latter captures the
album’s wilful expansiveness (“You can tell there’s not a guy pulling the
strings in Enya’s studio,” she notes, admiringly). The former relays her
imperative to connect with listeners. “The clarity of Bob Seger is
unmistakable. I’m a big fan of conversational songwriting,” she adds. “I
just try to do that in a way that uses abstract imagery as well.”
 The Weyes Blood frontwoman grew up singing in gospel and madrigal
choirs. (Listen closely to ‘Titanic Rising’ and you’ll also hear the jazz of
Hoagy Carmichael mingle with the artful mysticism of Alejandro
Jodorowsky and the monomyth of scholar Joseph Campbell.)
‘Something To Believe’, a confessional that makes judicious use of the
slide guitar, touches on that cosmological upbringing. “Belief is
something all humans need. Shared myths are part of our psychology
and survival,” she says. “Now we have a weird mishmash of capitalism
and movies and science. There have been moments where I felt very
existential and lost.”
 As a kid, she filled that void with ‘Titanic’. (Yes, the movie.) “It was
engineered for little girls and had its own mythology,” she explains.
Mering also noticed that the blockbuster romance actually offered a story
about loss born of man’s hubris. “It’s so symbolic that The Titanic would
crash into an iceberg, and now that iceberg is melting, sinking
civilization.” Today, this hubris also extends to the relentless adoption of
technology, at the expense of both happiness and attention spans.
 But Weyes Blood isn’t one to stew. Her observations play out in an
ethereal saunter: far more meditative than cynical. To Mering, listening
and thinking are concurrent experiences. “There are complicated
influences mixed in with more relatable nostalgic melodies,” she says.
“In my mind my music feels so big, a true production. I’m not a huge,
popular artist, but I feel like one when I’m in the studio. But it’s never
taking away from the music. I’m just making a bigger space for myself.”

Soul Mass Transit System is a familiar name to fans of Shall Not Fade's highly popular garage imprint, Time Is Now. The Leeds duo made up of producers D. Jason and Baby J have been favourites of the series and of the UKG revival in general, recently scoring a release on another trend-setting label of the scene, Dr Banana.

The Dubble Trubble EP traverses the wide range of very British club sounds with ease that only comes with expertise, from frenetic hyper breaks to deep dubstep bass. Opener "Give It 2 U" tempts listeners in with its dramatic rolling minimalism, forward off-kilter drums and a chest-rattler of a sub. Sludgy A2 "My Name Is Down" centres a Niche style bassline, plenty of swing and dubwise sensibility.

On the B-side things ramp up a notch; "Trubble N Strife" tears it open, peak time cybernetic junglist gear with more than a few tricks up its sleeve. "U Got Me Burnin" is a real climax; jubilant, hands-in-the-air rave nonsense that closes out a collection of solid dancefloor toughness with more choppy breaks.

A Fantastic Woman (Spanish: Una mujer fantástica) is a 2017 drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio and written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza. It was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film where it won in the 90th Academy Awards. The film is about Marina, a transgender woman who works as a waitress and moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend. It premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017 where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Teddy Award, an award given to films with a LGBT theme.

Matthew Herbert is an award-winning composer, artist, producer and writer. He has had work commissioned by the Royal Opera House, the BBC and has remixed iconic artists such as Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone and been a longtime collaborator of Bjork’s, but he is best known for working with sound, turning ordinary or so-called found sound in to electronic music.

This is a limited edition contains of 1000 individually numbered copies on transparent pink coloured vinyl. The LP package contains an insert with notes from director Sebastián Lelio.

Listening to the story of Canadian duo cleopatrick is a bit like hearing the plot of the best, most righteously validating coming-of-age film never made. Two friends meet aged four in Hicksville, Nowheretown (real name: Cobourg, Ontario, population 19,000), grow up completely inseparable, form a band and, against numerous obstacles, blossom into a genuine, global underground sensation. There are heroes and villains, highs and lows and, crucially, some of the most poetic plot twists that could seem almost too perfect, were they not completely true. Take the story of 2017 breakthrough track ‘hometown’ for example. “It’s one of the craziest, most ironic things that’s ever happened,” begins vocalist and guitarist Luke Gruntz. “I was going to college because I was too scared to put all my chips in the band pile, and that’s what ‘hometown’ is about: it’s a song about feeling like we’re doing all this stuff and we’re working so hard and we’re just never going to be heard. It’s literally a song about people probably never hearing our songs. And then by some act of the universe, that song ended up unlocking all the doors for us.” Today, cleopatrick has logged 77 million streams and counting - all from an increasingly dedicated fanbase who’ve found the duo, completed by drummer Ian Fraser, their own way: no major label, no big budget, just two best pals knuckling down, cementing a unique sonic alchemy and filling a space of honest, empathetic yet undeniably heavy-hitting rock music that they’d been searching for themselves for years. Between multiple sold out tours in Canada, the US and the UK/EU and appearances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Reading/Leeds, the pair have been crafting BUMMER: a debut album that sees cleopatrick harness all the magic they’ve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funnel it into a record that aims to reinvigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Taking the ethos of their New Rock Mafia collective - a group of friends and fellow bands, united in making a more inclusive, equality-driven space in rock music - and imbuing it with the sonic ambition and ferocity of a record designed to be played hard and loud, it’s an album about two friends, who’ve been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn ‘BUMMER’’s heartwarming cover image and made something that’s a testament to the power of sticking to your guns.

"We don't want to conquer space at all, we want to expand Earth endlessly. We don't want other worlds, we want a mirror" these words uttered by Dr Snaut from the masterpiece of Science Fiction novel "Solaris" couldn't better outline this tripped-out 6 tracks ep. RTR crafted a hypnotic pull, drawing the listener deeper into its enigmatic journey by joining the dots between colorful, moody and very melodic electro all way long. It rolls out as much structures as Solaris planet can carve out on his ocean surface, intertwining acid-tinged bass, crisp techno, break edits, jungle. Fans of electronic music's 90s golden age will find plenty to love about Splash of a drop.

Der renommierte Komponist/Regisseur John Carpenter und seine kreativen Mitstreiter Cody Carpenter und Daniel Davies haben auch zum zweiten Teil der neuen "Halloween"-Trilogie, "Halloween Kills", den Soundtrack beigetragen. Wie der Film selbst bleibt auch Carpenters Filmmusik dem Geist dessen treu, was das Original von 1978 so großartig gemacht hat, und bringt es gleichzeitig fest in die Gegenwart. Die Musik ist unverkennbar John Carpenter: die düsteren Vintage-Synthesizer-Klänge, das atemberaubende Gefühl der Bedrohung, das mit nur wenigen dissonanten Tönen hervorgerufen wird. Doch mit einer breiteren Klangpalette, neuen digitalen Techniken und einem tieferen Sinn für Musikalität ist der Score zu "Halloween Kills" das Werk eines Meisters, der auch nach fast 50 Jahren in seiner Karriere immer wieder an seine kreativen Grenzen geht und neue Wege findet, seine Fans zu begeistern und zu erschrecken. John Carpenters hypnotisches Thema zu seinem Horror-Meisterwerk "Halloween" aus dem Jahr 1978 hat mittlerweile für Generationen von Kinobesuchern die Angst vor Slasher-Stalkern verkörpert und sich so sehr in die Popkultur eingewoben, dass es zum musikalischen Kürzel für das gesamte Horror-Genre geworden ist. Es sind nur fünf Noten, die auf einem Klavier gezupft werden, so spärlich arrangiert, dass es sich wie kaum mehr als eine Skizze anfühlt, so einfach, dass ein ungeübter Spieler es leicht aufschnappen kann, aber es ist eine der größten musikalischen Errungenschaften des Kinos. 2018 kehrte Carpenter zum ersten Mal seit "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" von 1982 zu dem Franchise zurück, das er mit seiner ikonischen Schöpfung ins Leben gerufen hatte, ließ die 40 Jahre an Fortsetzungen und Reboots unter anderen Filmemachern hinter sich und kehrte zu seiner ursprünglichen Vision zurück. Während David Gordon Green die Regie für den neuen "Halloween"-Film und seine Fortsetzungen übernommen hat, ist Carpenter geblieben, um ihnen ihre unverwechselbare akustische Identität zu verleihen, die zu "Halloween" gehört wie die Totenmaske und das schimmernde Schlachtermesser von Michael Myers.

Fanatics of '70s Italian giallos take note…

Behold a veritable smorgasbord of sounds that is Ennio Morricone’s score to Dario Argento’s debut film, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (a.k.a. L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo) from 1970.

Considered one of the genre’s gold standards, Maestro Morricone’s stunning sonic work is a masterful accompaniment to the knife-wielding images on the screen. This colorful (yet dark) score features il Maestro’s trademark scat vocal harmonies, beautiful melodies, and mandatory sinister themes – perfect musica for this wonderfully stylistic giallo masterpiece.

The first of Argento’s “animal trilogy” series, the music on THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is a lovely mix of string-infused bossa, to tenser and instrumentally sparse passages that Morricone does so well.

Just be sure to handle the piumaggio cristallino with care… we suggest wearing your black gloves.

Composed by Ennio Morricone
Artwork by Luke Insect
Manufactured in Italy

SHY, LOW are true masters of the exquisite craft of stark contrasts and broad dynamics, from delicate crescendos to the grandiose power of the riff_ a craft that lies at the heart of every outstanding instrumental rock record. The Richmond, Virginia based four-piece has made an absolutely incredible and epic album brimming with creativity, groove, heaviness and truly outstanding songwriting- a record that is intricate and mature, yet gloriously anthemic at the same time. The fantastic cinematic and (surprisingly, so) entirely self-produced first music video for the track ,Helioentropy", premiered at Roadburn Redux this year, was only a tastemaker for the 5th studio album and Pelagic debut, Snake Behind The Sun. Recorded, mixed and produced at Vudu Studios in Long Island, NY by Mike Watts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, GlassJaw, Hopesfall, Tides of Man), the album pulls from elements from previous eras of the band, but also pushes into new territory. The result is a slicker, more modern, layered and 3-dimensional sound. The album title is a metaphor for the notion that darkness and negativity can remain hidden even among seemingly positive forces and positive beings in one's life. As a matter of fact, the snake crawled out from behind the sun, while the band was in the studio recording the album: ,By week 3, there were talks of NY state locking down due to the rapid rise in Covid cases; with one day left before the lock down was alleged to go into effect, it became a mad dash to finish tracking the record so we could book it home to Richmond, Virginia", says bass player Drew Storcks. Though entirely instrumental, reducing the band's contemporary sound to the term ,post-rock" wouldn't do this record justice: there is much more to it than lengthy dramatic build-ups and bittersweet melodies played by delay-drenched guitars. Snake Behind the Sun is an astounding and immensely diverse record that will appeal to fans sitting on all ends of the broad spectrum of modern heavy rock music. Limited 2LP red single colour edition! FOR FANS OF PG.LOST, THIS WILL DESTROY YOU, CASPIAN, AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, THRICE

Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) was one of the most transformative, forward-thinking and straight-up heavy big bands to have played jazz in the 1960s and 1970s. If P.A.P.A. doesn't have the interstellar rep of that other famous Arkestra, and if the name Tapscott doesn't ring bells like Monk or Tyner, there's a reason why: in an industry dominated by record labels, a band that doesn't record doesn't count. And the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra didn't record for nearly twenty years. But recording success was never their concern -- they weren't about that. First formed as the Underground Musicians Association in the early 1960s, Tapscott always wanted his group to be a community project.

From their base in Watts, UGMA got down at the grassroots. The group was renamed the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in 1971, and soon after they established a monthly residency at the Immanuel United Church of Christ which ran for over a decade, while still playing all over LA and beyond. But they never released a note of music. It was the intervention of fan Tom Albach that finally got them on wax. Determined that their work should be documented, Albach founded Nimbus Records specifically to release the music of Tapscott, the Arkestra, and the individuals that comprised it. The first recording sessions in early 1978 yielded enough material for two albums, and the first release was Flight 17. The album commences with the magnificent title track. It is effectively in three parts. It begins with unaccompanied pianos. Then the ensemble embark on a dense, circular and mechanical movement, a platform for horns and pianos to swoop and dive. We return to Earth with a beautiful solitary flute. The second track, the piano-centric, ‘Breeze’ is different to ‘Flight 17’ in intensity and also brevity but it is quietly as daring as the title track. It concludes with a moving lush wash from the full Arkestra, which sound almost like strings only more substantial. These first two tracks take full advantage of the texture of the unusual mix of the various instruments. Next though, it’s a significant change with ‘Horacio’, which is an exuberant Latin infused jingle. It’s unlike anything else on the album. I like to think it was named after the conductor’s Cuban alter-ego! ‘Clarisse’ gracefully switches between slow blues and bop and is bookended with a grand vaguely East Asian theme. The busy bass line introduces ‘Maui’. As with the previous track, it moves between a number of contrasting melody lines and rhythms but there’s still space for a tuneful sax solo.

This is a must-have album. I think the first two tracks on their own make this release essential. Kevin Ward/UK Vibe/Boomkat

‘Open Mouth, Open Heart’ is the Hopeless
Records debut from San Francisco-based punk
band Destroy Boys.

Identifying as majority female, non-binary,
LGBTQA+ and POC, Destroy Boys are known as a
band that uses their platform to be outspoken
advocates for myriad social justice issues,
especially when it comes to racial equality,
LGBTQA+ rights and inclusion for all.

The punk trio have been redefining West Coast
punk and have been embraced by TikTok to the
tune of 20 thousand user-made videos and over
3.5 million views.

In addition to having racked up over 60 million
streams, their music can be heard in 2020's Tony
Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 game and upcoming
campaigns for Fender and Starz' Hightown.

The band can currently be seen on Sad Summer
Festival, where they will be sharing the stage with
All Time Low, The Story So Far, The Maine,
Movements and Grayscale.

For fans of FIDLAR, Bikini Kill, Mannequin Pussy.

“Friends! I am so pleased to announce ‘A Night At The Little Los
Angeles’ - the 4-track version of ‘Sundowner’. Recorded at
home and in my back shed - aka The Little Los Angeles - in
suburban Kansas during the summer and winter seasons of
2017 and 2018. This is quite simply the sound of me alone in a
room with a four-track to catch my songs as they fell out of my
mouth. When I later went into a proper studio to make
‘Sundowner’ my goal was to capture the essence of these initial
recordings, and here you will now have access to the very
essence I was chasing.

“In many ways, this feels like a proper album to me, as it’s my
initial attempt to capture the Kansas sunset and put it into
sound, whereas ‘Sundowner’ was an attempt of an attempt. I
love and am proud of them both, of course, but am happy to -
for the first time - share this vulnerable side of my songwriting
process with the public. Many of my favorite recordings have
been made inside of an artist’s home without regard of the
outside world, but instead deep in their own world that they’re
creating in real time. And with that - I’d like to invite you into my
own little world here and now and ask you to please... step
inside of... and spend ‘A Night At The Little Los Angeles’!” -
Kevin Morby

Released in 2020 on Dead Oceans, ‘Sundowner’, with Morby’s
distinctively conversational and reflective writing style, was
received with open arms and was beloved by fans and critics
alike. Pitchfork lauded it as “a vision of the Midwest that feels
mythical and enormous.” ‘Sundowner’’s vision was further
fleshed out in comprehensive features in Vanity Fair, New York
Magazine, Stereogum, The FADER, Vice, Aquarium Drunkard,
and more.

In addition to traditional music publications, Morby appeared on
Adult Swim’s Fishcenter and Office Hours with Tim Heidecker.
Morby also made his network television debut on CBS This
Morning, where he performed the songs ‘Campfire’ and
‘Sundowner’ as part of a special joint performance with his
partner and fellow songwriter Katie Crutchfield, aka
Waxahatchee.

• Long lost 1968 album from visionary South African jazz composer incorporating traditional African music sources and instruments.

• Officially licensed from the Nxumalo family and reissued with inner sleeve containing archival photographs and new liner notes by Francis Gooding.

Gideon Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays might just be the most mythologised and sought-after LP in the whole South African canon. A sophisticated bop excursion with a distinctive African edge, it was only Nxumalo’s second LP as leader, despite his crucial place in South African jazz history. Pianist Nxumalo was a visionary jazz composer who had recorded regularly during the 1950s, and his 1962 Jazz Fantasia album was the first South African jazz recording to incorporate traditional African musical sources and instruments. But he was also the country’s most significant radio presenter and jazz tastemaker – from 1954 onwards, he had worn the nickname ‘Mgibe’ to introduce ‘This Is Bantu Jazz’, South African radio’s premier jazz show.

But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961, Nxumalo had been side-lined from radio play, and was eventually sacked for playing records with political meanings. By 1968, he had not been heard on record or airwave for several years. Gideon Plays was a celebrated return to the studio for one of South Africa’s best loved and most forward-thinking jazzmen, and it showcases Nxumalo’s deep understanding of jazz, his brilliant touch as a composer, and his commitment to bringing South Africa’s indigenous sound into the music.

However, it was released on the tiny JAS Pride label owned by production impresario Ray Nkwe, and after one pressing in 1968, Gideon Plays fell into the undeserved silence that has obscured so much of the South African jazz discography. It has since become a legend: hardly more than a rumour, it has been bootlegged by the unscrupulous, changed hands for eye-watering sums, and has scarcely been heard outside the circles of the most committed South African jazz devotees. It goes without saying that it has never been released outside South Africa, and even now only a handful of original copies are known to have survived.

Over the last ten years, Matsuli Music has been proud to present some of the greatest lost and found jazz recordings in South African history – but we have never presented a rarer, lesser known album than the mighty Gideon ‘Mgibe’ Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays.

The second volume of music from the hit Fox TV show ‘Bob’s Burgers’. The Emmywinning, top-rated show was named one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time
by TV Guide.
In addition to the show’s cast, the album features high-profile guests including Adam
Driver, Tiffany Haddish, Jenny Slate, Daveed Diggs, Max Greenfield, Toddrick Hall,
Aparna Nancherla and Matt Berninger (of the National).
The ‘Bob’s Burgers’ audience is wide-ranging: strong performance with 15-25 year
olds, median viewing age of 37, 35 share among males 35-54 and a 16 share of
females in the same group.
Campaign will include promotion from the cast and show production team.
‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’ includes nearly every single musical morsel
from Seasons 7 through 9.
This 90-song smorgasbord will feature the Belcher family - Bob (H. Jon Benjamin),
Linda (John Roberts), Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen
Schaal) - as well as the show’s numerous recurring and special guests.
For fans of the show, enjoying the music of Bob’s Burgers on its own is both an
irresistible to-go bag and ultimately a world unto itself. Lose yourself in the strangely
epic disco celebration ‘Hot Pants Rain Dance’, sing along with the musical theatre
gem ‘The Wedding Is My Warzone’, or do whatever you’re gonna do to ‘Sexy Little
Tiger’ but don’t miss ‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’.

Fans have been waiting eight long years for this new album from Ishi that
is expected to drop under Swedish Indie Label Icons Creating Evil Art, the
home of Flora Cash, Summer Heart, and Glamour Hammer.
It will be titled ‘Sweet Gold’ and feature the hit singles ‘Not My Girl’ and ‘LoFi Love Affair’ and the new single ‘Fly Away’. Ishi’s ability to successfully walk
the line between an ambitious studio act and a multi-sensory live experience
allows him to engage the audience in an uplifting celebration of life. His subtle
undertones of inner exploration combine to create a concert experience that is
unequivocally one-of-a-kind.
Each night, Ishi intends to create an entirely unique environment of mysticism,
awareness, love and acceptance. Adored by fans and critics alike, there is no
denying that Ishi is an immersive experience that everyone should discover.
Following the successful release of the Yuksek remix of ‘Not My Girl’ (supported by the likes of A-Trak, Kiss FM, Ministry of Sound, Amazing Radio etc.) and
a remix collaboration with the internationally acclaimed EDM-producer Oliver
Nelson, and his Goody Goody collab with fellow Texans CAPYAC; Ishi now line
up some new original music and the new album dropping early fall.

“Is the juice worth the squeeze? Is the honey worth the bees? Is the trip
worth the risk? Is the rub worth the fleas?”
These are some of the big questions CHILDCARE find themselves pondering
at the top of their second album ‘Busy Busy People’. It’s a mantra that returns
later in the record but remains in the back of your brain throughout, a playful
enquiry into the purpose of our everyday activities that highlights the South
London-based group’s knack of marrying the surreal with the ordinary; soberly
tripping out during the big shop.
It’s something the group have been refining as part of their identity since their
genesis, when singer Ian Cares spent the time between school runs at his nannying job writing songs. He started adding other musicians to the project gradually until two EPs (2017’s ‘Made Simple’ and 2018’s ‘Luckyucker’) and one
album (2019’s ‘Wabi-Sabi’) later, Ian, male guitarist Rich Le Gate, bassist Emma
Topolski, and male drummer David Dyson have shaped CHILDCARE into one of
the most unique emerging groups in the UK.
They’ve earned themselves a loyal following of fans, sold out their biggest
show (so far) at London’s Scala and gained support from BBC Radio 1 (Annie
Mac, Jack Saunders), Spotify (several New Music Friday slots) and five SXSW
2020 showcases, which of course, never happened.
Busy Busy People was recorded at Somerset’s Distiller Studios with producer
Dom Monks (Laura Marling, Big Thief, White Denim)
Former BBC Radio 1 Track of the Week with key supporters incl. Jack Saunders,
Annie Mac plus BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq & Radio X’s John Kennedy
Performed on the BBC Radio 1 stage at Reading/Leeds 2019 and were slated
for SXSW ‘20 before the pandemic hit.
They also sold out London’s Scala in Christmas ‘19.
UK tour kicks off September ‘21 Bassist Emma Topolski also performs as touring
member with Bombay Bicycle Club, Dua Lipa & Laura Marling

A mix of punk, synth-pop and electronica, neon lights, distorted bass and liberating screams. The ironic, dadaist and nonsense approach of the first album is well preserved but with Refrigerator, the band have taken a deep dive into experimentation with analog synthesizers and drum machines - modelling a more defined sound by uniting the punk soul of their past with more varied and articulated songwriting. For fans of New Wave For fans of Synth Punk For fans of Electroclash

MILKY CLEAR VINYL.

''The lightness of the C86 Sarah Records guitars come with the significant counterweight of more ominous Factory Records basslines.The lyrics and vocals are stark, sandpapery and sardonic, akin to Jonathan Richman, Kiwi Jr and, Bodega.'' Ducks Ltd. - EP Review - God Is In The TV
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)

Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)

It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.