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Die Schweiz war schon immer ein fruchtbarer Nährboden für Extreme Metal. Messiah wurden 1984 gegründet und veröffentlichten zwei bahnbrechende Alben auf Chainsaw Murder Records, "Hymn To Abramelin" im Jahr 1986 und "Extreme Cold Weather" ein Jahr später. In den frühen 1990er Jahren unterschrieben Messiah bei Karl Walterbachs Label Noise Records und veröffentlichten drei weitere Alben in voller Länge: "Choir Of Horrors" (1991), "Rotten Perish" (1992) und "Underground" (1994), bevor sie getrennte Wege gingen.

Im Jahr 2018 beschlossen Messiah, sich in der Originalbesetzung ihrer Noise Records-Alben mit Andy Kaina am Gesang, Steve Karrer am Schlagzeug, Patrick Hersche am Bass und Bandgründer R.B. Brögi an der Gitarre zu reformieren. Aufwendige Re-Issues von "Hymn To Abramelin" und "Extreme Cold Weather" erschienen auf High Roller Records, bevor 2020 ein neues Studioalbum mit dem Titel "Fracmont" veröffentlicht wurde. 2024 folgt nun endlich "Christus Hypercubus", das Opus Magnus von Messiah.

Am 4. November 2022 ereilte das Schicksal den ehemaligen Messiah-Sänger Andy Kaina, der im Alter von nur 53 Jahren an einem Herzinfarkt starb. Es war ein großer Schock für alle Beteiligten. Andys letzter Live-Auftritt mit Messiah fand am 20. November 2021 im Alten Capitol in Langenthal, Schweiz, statt. Gegen Ende des Jahres verließ Andy Messiah, weil er nach eigenen Worten "die Motivation verloren hatte, in der Band zu sein und sich auf andere Dinge im Leben konzentrieren wollte". Messiah und Andy Kaina blieben jedoch Freunde.

Messiah hatte sich aber bereits nach Andys Ausstiegsankündigung entschieden, die Band weiterzuführen. Marcus Seebach aus Chur wurde Ende 2021 der neue Messiah-Sänger. Kurze Zeit später begannen die Arbeiten an einem neuen Studioalbum. "V.O. Pulver renommierter Schweizer Plattenproduzent und derzeit auch zweiter Gitarrist bei Messiah und ich haben im Januar 2022 die Grundlagen für neue Songs geschaffen", erklärt Gitarrist und Gründungsmitglied Brögi. "Innerhalb von drei Wochen hatten V.O. und ich das gesamte neue Album geschrieben. Ich habe in dieser Zeit auch das ganze Konzept und die Texte entwickelt (bis auf einen Songtext, der von Marcus Seebach stammt). Es war wirklich eine sehr kreative Zeit."

"Wir haben es so gemacht, wie wir es immer machen", lacht Brögi, "wir haben die Songs für "Christus Hypercubus" einfach geschrieben und aufgenommen, ohne viel darüber nachzudenken, ganz spontan. Die Umstände waren dieses Mal allerdings etwas komplizierter, weil wir nicht alle zusammen im Proberaum waren, um das Material zu arrangieren. Das Schicksal schlug zu, da Steve Karrer aufgrund eines Skiunfalls sechs Monate lang nicht Schlagzeug spielen konnte. Insgesamt ist das neue Material härter und schneller als "Fracmont". Es gibt auch einen neuen Touch, der durch Marcus' Gesang entsteht, denn er ist in der Lage, diese hohen Schreie zu machen. Ich denke "Christus Hypercubus" repräsentiert unsere neue Situation sehr gut - es weht ein neuer Wind, aber wir haben nichts von den bewährten Messiah-Trademarks von früher verloren."

Hier und da tragen Songs wie das langsamere "Speedsucker Romance" oder "Christus Hypercubus" auch "progressive" Züge, was das Album interessant und frisch klingen lässt. "Das liegt wahrscheinlich daran, dass wir alle Regeln für das Arrangieren von Beats ignorieren", schmunzelt Brögi. "Wir fügen einfach verschiedene Ideen zueinander, meist angeführt von den Gitarren. Deshalb werden wir wohl auch nie einen Rockhit schreiben. Früher war es reines Chaos, heute ist es strukturierter und professioneller."

Hailing from Brittany, historical center of France's industrial scene and in close proximity to Belgium's infamous rave and EBM innovations, Ekors set out to deliberately blacken and burn the sophisticated sounds emanating from Paris. With releases on Amsterdam's harsh Leyla imprint, fellow French hardcore iconoclast Umwelt's Flesh or Die, and JoeFarr's User Experience, the trio undoubtedly made their name in their lonely redoubt in the timberland, and Rant & Rave is honored to host their theme EP, Forest Killers, as our fifth release.

'Woodchip' conjures nightmares of dead bodies run through a woodchipper rather than more pastoral scenes, its distorted kicks, bone-crushing bass and blasted-apart leads chopping air and anyone unlucky enough to stand in its way. Title track 'Forest Killers' is murderous, the lurching breakbeat and shrapnel percussion approaching like axe falls ever closer until the horror score melody enters, then accelerating frantically as the killers close in. 'Evil Sapp' only seems subdued in comparison, its hammering techno pulse providing scant breathing room as industrial machinery fells nearby trees. Self-explanatory 'Chainsaw Requiem' ups the discomfort as the titular tool buzzes overhead, more Texas Chainsaw Massacre than weekend warrior woodpile work. Amidst squalling leads, ricocheting percussion, fearful blasts of noise, and pounding bass and kicks, Ekors escort us out of the haunted wood, sighs of relief and evil laughs joining in chorus.

The eagerly awaited debut album from the London-based four-piece * At the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music with Big Joanie and Bob Vylan * Supporting Slowdive on their UK tour in February * Singles playlisted by BBC Radio 6 Music, Spotify and others Whitelands are Etienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Michael and they are ostensibly a shoegaze band ever since Etienne stumbled across Slowdive's KEXP session in his recommended videos on YouTube a few years ago. However, they come at the resurgent, Gen Z-soundtracking genre from a refreshingly different angle thanks to their mishmash of musical backgrounds. There's also the fact that their line-up is fully PoC in what is traditionally seen as a predominantly white genre. "There's an underlying narrative that it's OK for white men to be romantic, sensitive, emotional and make dreamy music and, by contrast, young Black men should be making angry music," says Vanessa. "We've all grown up with these stereotypes and therefore I think people are mystified when they see Whitelands." "I consume a lot of media," says Etienne of his wide range of influences. "Videogames, music, news, paintings, manga, animations and film are my go-to, especially anime. There is this drive to want to understand and feel the whole weight of an expression. So, the songs are based on other songs, pictures, aesthetics, 'vibes', an emotion someone else felt. Fundamentally, you are what you eat." As a result of this diet, the lyrics are stunning, dealing with everything from unbalanced relationships and vulnerability to depression, being diagnosed with ADHD and, on the new single 'Tell Me About It' (featuring vocals by Dottie from the band's Sonic Cathedral labelmates deary), trying to navigate love following that diagnosis. The album is bookended by two poetically political songs - 'Setting Sun' and 'Now Here's The Weather' - that deal with imperialism, racism and performative ignorance. "We've experienced tokenism, micro-behaviours, envy and resentment," concludes Vanessa. "So we feel we have to continually prove ourselves. We know we're making a positive impact, but I want Whitelands to really break some barriers."

The Glass Hours are American songwriters Brad Armstrong and Megan Barbera. Their music blurs between Sunday afternoon country-folk and the Golden Age of the 1970s. With the exception of Sue Westcott on fiddle (Chet Atkins, Tom Jones), the album was written, performed, recorded and produced by Brad and Megan in Brad's home studio in Red Hook, New York.

Like much of the work they've done in their respective solo careers, the new album dances between this and that, drinking from the same wells as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams. The songs go where they want to go; Brad and Megan simply try to stay out of the way. Although it is nearly impossible, in this new world of niche artistry, not to pick a genre camp and pitch a tent, The Glass Hours seem intent on trying. Yet, there is a thread that ties the whole thing together: the constant tension and tapestry of their voices harmonizing. Every song on 'The Glass Hours' was written with the idea of this harmony and interaction, point and counterpoint. Two voices trying to come together as one.

Montenegrin born in Istanbul, precocious pianist growing up in an embassy, brilliant musician. Prolific composer speaking eight languages, he arranged music for jazz, pop music, adopting multiple identities.
For one label, he is Andy Loore; for another, Emiliano Orti. For others, he is called Alan Blackwell or Johnny Montevideo, but behind all these aliases, there is only one man: Janko Nilovic.

Exploring the shelves of musical production, venturing into the less-illuminated corners of library music, Janko Nilovic's name lights up dozens of shelves on which his soundtracks, his records for Editions Neuilly or Sforzando, but above all his twenty albums for Editions Montparnasse, are stored. A considerable and imposing work, rich in orchestrations of keyboards, strings and brass instruments, themes, atmospheres and melodies. A repertoire in which the cinema, television and advertising have come to find their delight ...

Subjected to the sharp blades of samplers, reduced to a few effective seconds, joined with rhythmic beats, some of his tracks have infiltrated hip hop for a long time , leading the most curious to go back to the source to get the complete albums from which the precious loops had been taken.
Almost unknown to the general public, Janko Nilovic is a master for the initiated, whether they are at his side in the studio or comfortably seated in their armchair savouring the final result on their turntable. His discretion combined with his long years of silence on the record could lead one to believe that he had cleverly arranged his disappearance from the radar to make Janko Nilovic a mystery that has never been completely solved.

Until this message from The Soul Surfers.
A few miles away, in their studio fired up by analog funk, the Muscovites had been put back on the Nilovic track by multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee. A few passionate discussions later, and the desire for a joint album was already lighting up the amps, making the bass strings shiver and the drum skins tighten.
Initiated by the coming and going of scores, the collaboration finally continued in studio for a real exchange, instantly bouncing off proposals, developing ideas in a live group dynamic that distance would have made impossible.
To feel the vibrations accumulated for decades at the CBE studio (like Chatelain Bisson Estardy), a mythical place founded in 1966, in which many albums, especially library, were immortalized. A place where consoles, equipment and instruments were kept as they were, accumulating in their wiring, meters and speakers, endless hours of experimentation and recording.

A place that Janko knew well and where an old acquaintance was waiting for him. A Hammond organ with a Leslie booth whose keys he had already flattered in the past and behind which an improvisation and a single take were enough to complete the eponymous title.
Together, Janko Nilovic and The Soul Surfers have built Maze Of Sounds, a musical labyrinth paved by the master's keyboards where the soul-funk groove of the fiery Russians is the listener's thread, his point of reference in this maze of atmospheres and emotions, at once cinematic, nostalgic, dancing, dreamlike and contemplative.

An album where, however, nothing is compartmentalized. Where, blown by the whirlwind strung by a violin quintet, the barriers move preparing the entrance of a Slavic choir, letting a screaming guitar come and go alongside the crystalline liveliness of the Fender Rhodes, organize some rhythmic aerations at the disposal of the samplers.

A fusion between the cleverly blackened scores, between the science of precisely written arrangements and the soul-funk feel of The Soul Surfers. An album such as Janko Nilovic has been dreaming of making for years.

Maybe your demands of punk are a little too high. Maybe they're a little too exacting - you know what you want, but you don't know how to get it. Maybe you've got an itch that's needed scratching since you first heard '(I'm) Stranded' (sounds like a doctor needs to look at that, mind). Maybe all or none of these things are true and you're just in search of three or four chords and some righteous snot. Reader, you have come to the right place. Split System came sauntering out of Melbourne back in 2022 with a self-titled 7" and a debut LP (the sensibly-titled 'Vol. I'), and as a listener of exquisite taste, one or both of those items will have carved out their own spaces within easy access of your record player. With members of acer-than-ace garage punkas Stiff Richards and Speed Week among their number, not to mention the redoubtable Jackson Reid Briggs, they deal in a gloriously back-to-basics take on punk that's part Undertones, part Royal Headache and part Chris Bailey - all hooks and glory, all the time. They're so much more than the sum of their parts and they make this shit sound effortless. Well, here's an update for you: they're back! Second album (the equally-sensibly-titled 'Vol. II') is now upon us, and a thoroughly tremendous follow-up it is too. As soon as opener 'The Wheel' slams into your speakers, it's clear that they've lost none of the pep or power that made their debut such an essential listen; if anything they're even more raucous and revved-up than before. Yep, that's jargon for 'they rule hard', and let me add here that you could listen to this album 100 times in a row or simply try inserting dynamite sticks with lit fuses into your ear canal; either way, your poor little mind is gonna blow. It's an album made entirely of bangers (still on that explosion metaphor, are we?) - the concise questioning of 'End of the Night' is as pure a punk rock nugget as you could ever wish to uncover, and 'The Drain' is just energy distilled to a perfect series of hooks - with a passion for rock'n'roll in its most scintillating form. Just listen to it. That's all you need to do. Your demands have been met - here's your new favourite record.

The "Economix" EP is a cherished item among collectors, embodying a golden era of rave. Released in 1992, it's oftencompared to other iconic EPs of the time, like 2-X-Treme's 'X-tremity EP' The tracks "Loop" and "Panic" particularly stand out for many.

"Loop" garners attention for its sampling of The S.O.S. Band and Alexander O'Neal's "The Finest", while "Panic" is notable for its two distinct samples: one from Hijack's "TheBadman Is Robbin'" and another from MC Duke and DJ Leader1's "I'm Riffin".

This hand stamped run of white label red vinyl represses catersto the enduring demand among the oldskool rave aficionados. Each track on the EP showcases a blend of hardcore, jungle,and house vibes, contributing to its revered status within the oldskool rave community.

In dieser turbulenten Zeit ist es wichtiger denn je, als Menschheit eng zusammenzustehen, anstatt sich gegenseitig zu bekämpfen. Und genau darum geht es im neuen FIREWIND-Album ‚Stand United‘! Neben top aktuellen Themen, die in Zehn neuen Tracks besungen werden, erwartet uns textlich wie auch musikalisch das wohl stärkste Werk ihrer bisherigen Bandgeschichte. Passend zum neuen Release verbreitet die Band rund um ex Ozzy Osbourne-Gitarrist Gus G. und Sänger Herbie Langhans (ehemals Avantasia) im Frühjahr 2024 ihre Botschaft von ‚Stand United‘ in Europa. Gemeinsam mit MASTERPLAN geht die Band auf große Co-Headliner Tour, u.a. in Deutschland, Frankreich, Spanien, Schweden und vielen weiteren Ländern. So erblickt ab dem 01.03.2024 ‚Stand United‘ das Licht dieser Welt - verfügbar als limitierte Splatter- und Marbled-Vinyl-Versionen, CD-Digipak und Digital!

Peace Okezie, das Genie hinter Master Peace, nimmt kein Blatt vor den Mund. Er muss die Dinge aussprechen und verkörpert den Satz: "Wenn du es sagen willst, dann sag es einfach." Obwohl er nie unvorsichtig oder unsympathisch mit seinen Worten umgeht, ist dieser Satz eine Bestätigung, die ihn antreibt.

Seine Energie ist auf Augenhöhe mit der eigenwilligen, überschäumenden und vor allem extrem guten Musik, die er macht. Bei Master Peace geht es darum, die Menschen in seine verrückte, wunderbare und kakophonische Welt einzuladen. Er zieht Hörer an, die sich nach Rebellion und Abweichung von der Norm sehnen. Mit seinem Debütalbum "How To Make A Master Peace" verschiebt Master Peace die Parameter des Genres mehr denn je. Peace lässt seine Inspirationen spielen, indem er die Generationen der britischen Musik, die ihn groß gemacht haben, in seinen Sound integriert. "I Might Be Fake" hat die Dringlichkeit von "Giddy Stratospheres" von den Long Blondes aus dem Jahr 2005, gemischt mit der Spacigkeit des Klaxons-Katalogs der späten Nullerjahre. "Shangaladang" ist eine Ode an Peace' Black-Music-Inspirationen, mit einer Anspielung auf Skepta; hier passt er den Text "I've got my hood mates and white niggas" aus dem 2016er Song "Man" des Rappers an seine rauere, The Clash-artige Melodie an.



Der raue Künstler wird bereits als neue Stimme des britischen Indie gefeiert und war bei den AIM Awards 2023 als "One To Watch" nominiert. Das 11-Track-Album ist eine Mischung aus der alternativen Musik, mit der der Brite aufgewachsen ist, von Arctic Monkeys & Friendly Fires bis hin zu Gorillaz.

For the five members of Punchlove - multi-instrumentalists Jillian Olesen, Ethan Williams, Joey Machina, Ian Lange-McPherson, and visual artist Viz Wel - moving into a maze of a house in Brooklyn together was the transition that created the album they had been writing their whole lives. Quietly evolving from a bedroom project to a headlining live phenom, Punchlove has geared up a densely layered bed of emotionally serrated pain-pop songs that coalesce around a digitally-stimulated, emotional brand of modern neoshoegaze. Channels, out March 1st on Kanine Records, is an album of deeply prepared sounds, sharply honed instrumentals, and a band performing them that knows each other all the way through. Having met studying music technology in college, multiple members of Punchlove work mixing live bands at prominent NYC venues and in the studio. Using that expertise, the inhouse production, mixing, and recording is a palpable highlight; mastered by 2000s shoegaze stalwart Kurt Feldman (The Depreciation Guild), the record melds DIY recording and experimental sonic visions with studio quality. Punchlove is dedicated to pushing the envelope of experimental sonic practices in live performances, where they can be seen performing with real-time audio reactive analog visuals, executing real-time sampling and looping, self-mixing onstage, running radios and tape loops through effects, improvising, and playing guitar with everything from double bass bows to vibrators. In their home recording environment, experimentation is at the core of their creative process, where they integrate self-programmed digital signal processing systems, psychoacoustic phenomena, tailored feedback, elements of 3D audio, immersive field recording soundscapes, early electronic instruments, and experimental recording and mixing techniques into the greater backdrop of pop songwriting. FOR FANS OF: Radiohead, Wednesday, Hum, DIIV, my bloody valentine, The Smashing Pumpkins, bdrmm, A Place to Bury Strangers

What the listener might encounter on this album goes all the way down to the sound of a neuron transmitting pain, beatitude or any one of the countless senses and impressions we feel on any one day of life. N E U R O is the debut album by CURA MACHINES, a new project by Daniel Lea whose tracks are at once scientific in their capturing of the morphing of body cells as well as the larger expanses of a poetic filmscape of the contemporary metropolis.

The name CURA MACHINES comes from a sign Lea saw on a trip to Ancona, Italy at an abandoned hospital: Prima E Dopo La Cura (Before and after the cure). The sound in between, of what was lost or found, transmuted in the heavily manipulated and pulsating synthesisers, is the restoration here. With a physically visceral mix by Ben Frost and soaring re-amped bass textures from Yair Elazar Glotman, the album is lush with trans-morphing apeggia that shudder, quack and soar into ashen sparks.

Back in the turn of the 20th century the poet Rilke posited that the suture patterns of fused skull plates could potentially be played by the then-new technology of the gramophone, with each of us having our own personal tonal source code or anthem etched onto our skulls. And with a track like 'Suture' we have such an embodied sound: the close-up exhumation of the neural brain casing, stitched and sewn together in fleeting pulses of whisper and alarm.
The individual is exposed and isolated, but not without the promise of succour.

Or one also has the soundtrack to the loneliness of a morose private eye – a pulp novel set in a future time of neurosis or washed out euphoric beauty. It is here in tracks such as 'Terminal Zone' or 'Inversion Layers', music that is blinking in celluloid frames. The plot could easily be a sci-fi, paranoid tale of brain emulation, transhumanist crimes against humanity itself. After all this is Lea's soundtrack to Los Angeles, the city of angels that has been captured in countless movies: the racing tracking shot of the 2nd Street Tunnel at night, the freeways spreading out in a glorious sprawl of lit up veins and arteries. The last track 'Zosa' marks out the boundary line that delineates between day and night, when the lunar strains wane, the tides subside and the city comes to life.

Wo ein Krater liegt, muss es einen Vorfall gegeben haben. Etwas ist eingeschlagen oder ausgebrochen, wo jetzt Ruhe ist. 2012 spien Messer das fiebrige Debüt "Im Schwindel" in die brodelnde Begeisterung für Punk aus Deutschland und wuchsen zu einer prägenden Stimme im Post-Punk-Revival der Zehnerjahre. Was auf den letzten beiden Platten "Jalousie" (2016) und "No Future Days" (2020) noch wild wucherte, ist nun auf "Kratermusik" stärker begriffen und gibt zugleich Sicherheit für weiterführende Expeditionen. Die einzelne Idee ist jetzt schärfer konturiert als zuletzt, Kratermusik ein Album im Wortsinn: Jede Seite ein anderes Bild, eine andere Szene mit anderen Figuren, zusammengehalten von einem Einband, einer Motivwelt, einem Sound, der dieses Mal dicht, aber umso detaillierter ausfällt. An anderer Stelle lösen sich Stimmen auf: Pola Lia Levy, die lange schon eng mit der Band befreundet ist und gerade mit ihrer neuen Band Dews in den Startlöchern steht, spendet Harmonien, die im erst sachten, dann zunehmend mitreißenden "Im falschen Traum" mit dem Rest der Band verschwimmen. Im Space-Dub-Finale "Am Ende einer groszen Verwirrung" stimmt sie mit Joachim Franz Büchner in einen beherzten Singsang ein. Was hier tröstlich klingt, wirkt im vielstimmigen Spiegel zerrissen, wenn auch nicht zwingend unheimlich - sondern ähnlich faszinierend-ambivalent wie Mille Petrozza von der legendären Thrash Metal-Band Kreator, der mit einigen englischsprachigen Zeilen durch den wispernden Refrain am Ende des Wave-Epitaphs Grabeland schneiden darf. Messer bleiben also ambivalent, fragend und suchend, gerade wenn es um Krieg und Frieden oder die Zukunft des Planeten geht. Die Bewegung steckt schon im Titel: Das "Messer verwandte Wort" Krater, so Otremba, "ist vieldeutig, ein Wort, bei dem klar ist: Zu dem muss man sich verhalten. Das ist ein scharfkantiges, schroffes Wort." Im Krater steckt immer auch das Potenzial zur Explosion, im Frieden lauert der nächste Krieg. Im Vorrang des Ästhetischen ist die neue Platte aber ein typisches Messer-Album, auch in seiner gewohnten Überschreitung dessen, was Post-Punk sein kann. Vielfältiger klang diese Band nie, ihr Referenzsystem bleibt undurchschaubar. Parallel spülen die Pop-Gezeiten wieder eine (Neue) Neue Deutsche Welle an, doch Messer bleiben ihren eigenen Zyklen verpflichtet, befinden sich in ständigem Übergang: Metaphern nie ganz auflösen, Motive immer neu ausleuchten, Sounds nochmal anders aufeinander beziehen.

Donovan’s Original
A Gift From a Flower to a Garden made for a few firsts: the first double LP of Donovan’s
career, one of the first box sets in pop and, most importantly for Donovan himself; the first
pop album for the children of tomorrow.

He resolved to make A Gift From a Flower to a Garden an album of two halves. The first,
Wear Your Love Like Heaven, was intended for his own generation as they started to think
about the kind of world they wanted to leave behind. The second, For Little Ones, was for
the children they had or would have in the years to come. The result was a kaleidoscopic
folk-jazz suite on the power of love, imbued with all the romance and mystery of an Arthur
Rackham illustration for an ancient English fairy tale. The songs, remarkably adventurous
given Donovan was a globally famous singer at his commercial height, combined the
influences he had amassed so far.

There is something about A Gift From a Flower to a Garden that could never be repeated,
though. It is such an innocent evocation of the childlike imagination, so redolent of its time,
yet set apart from it too. All these years later, the peaceful qualities of this pioneering,
enchanting, deeply unusual album feel more valuable than ever.

The state51 Box Set
With authenticity core to the project, The state51 Conspiracy engaged one of the UK’s
leading experts in box set design, Daniel Mason at Something Else, to painstakingly recreate
the box, records and accompanying ephemera. The first challenge was to find the deep blue
leatherette paper the original box set was covered in; a problem since it was no longer in
production. “I knew people who had stacks of it, gathering dust on top shelves, so I bought it
up wherever I could find it,” says Mason. Then came the reproduction of 12 loose leaf lyric
sheets on fine art watercolour paper, each of them featuring a watermark and a fairytale-like
illustration by Donovan’s artist friends Sheena McCall and Mick Taylor. Where, though, to
find the same paper stock? “I found out that it was made at a paper mill in North Wales
called Abbey Mills. Unfortunately the mill dissolved in the early 70s and very little of the
paper remained. However enough paper remained to allow us to produce the numbered
certificate also signed by Donovan that sits within the box.”

Then to the iconic cover image. Donovan and Jimi Hendrix’s personal photographer Karl
Ferris, used infra-red film to achieve the psychedelic effect on the cover, but the original
negatives couldn’t be found. Mason then used digital technology to ramp up the colour levels
on a reproduction from an original copy of the album while allowing it to remain a little bit
faded, as it would be after half a century. The same labour of love and care has gone into
producing all elements of the box; from the rebuilding of the famous front cover font to the
hand-numbered and signed certificate; letterpress printed on the original paper stock of the
1968 UK release lyric sheets.

To cap it all off the original mono master tapes were waiting safely in the EMI Donovan
Archive and transferred from tape to digital by Abbey Road Studios where new lacquers
were cut, ensuring Donovan's favoured mono version of the album would be presented both
physically (and digitally for the very first time) in striking audiophile quality. The final touch to

Das neue Monkeytown-Signing, das NYC-via-Berlin-Duo Sha Ru, schöpft aus der in Protest und Befreiung verwurzelten Punk- und Dancemusik, gefiltert durch die Erweiterung und Fluidität der queeren Identität. Erste aufrührerische EPs und mitreißende Auftritte haben die Band zu einer ausgesprochenen Kraft der in elektronischen Musik gemacht, die dunkle Schattierungen und basslastige, zukunftsweisende Klänge erforscht, die ebenso an Post-Punk-/Industrial-Pioniere wie an alles im Club-Kanon erinnern. Die neue EP, ihre bisher gewagteste, ehrlichste und verletzlichste Arbeit, ruft eine Palette überwältigender Emotionen hervor, von platonischer und romantischer Liebe bis zu Herzschmerz und psychischem Leid, wiedergegeben in cleveren rhythmischen Architekturen und grollendem Bass, ausbalanciert mit sinnlichen Melodien und sanfteren Texturen.

Booker Ervin cut two stellar Blue Note records in the late-60s including Tex Book Tenor which had to wait until 2005 for its first standalone release. With a quintet featuring Woody Shaw, Kenny Barron, Jan Arnet, and Billy Higgins the Texas-born saxophonist slices through a set of captivating bandmember originals. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.

LUCKYME® startet 2024 mit der Debüt-EP des Pariser Produzenten Sunareht. Dieser stammt aus der Szene um Teki Latex und dessen Label Sound Pellegrino und betreibt zusammen mit den Zeitgenossen Le Dom, To Van Kao, De Grandi und Birol den Paradoxe Club, ein Label, das sich für zukunftsweisende französische Dance Music einsetzt. Die Youth EP ist genau das – sechs prickelnde Club-Cuts, die den bekannten French Touch-Sound aufgreifen, ihn auf die Spitze treiben und in die ferne Zukunft schleudern. Samples werden in flatternde Sequenzen zerhackt und mit dem glitzernden, basslastigen Sounddesign von Post-Dubstep und Hyperpop vereint.

Der Opener 'Promises' des regelmäßigen Kollaborateurs und Aphex Twin-Lieblings Le Dom ist ein zertifizierter Partystarter und perfekter Einstieg in die Technicolor-Welt von Sunareht. Der rotierende Hook duckt und schlängelt sich durch wunderschön gestaltete Drums in einer beunruhigenden, zerquetschten Landschaft – als ob der Track seine eigene Bandbreite nicht bewältigen könnte. An anderer Stelle quetscht der Titeltrack 'Youth' jeden Tropfen bis zur Unkenntlichkeit aus einem stotternden Pop-Sample heraus; während 'Break Bandits' für helle Euphorie sorgt, indem es Synths von Etienne de Crécy mit Vocals im Overmono-Style mischt.

Recorded live at the Black Hawk, San Francisco in September 1959, At The Blackhawk 1 is the first of 4 volumes released in 1960. Featuring six cuts, Manne (drums), is joined by Joe Gordon (trumpet), Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Victor Feldman (piano) and Monty Budwig (bass). This new edition of the album is released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl pressed at QRP with (AAA) lacquers cut from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman and is presented in a tip-on jacket.

Limited orange vinyl. We've all heard the axiom, "if you ignore it, maybe it'll go away." That goes double for a lot of people who wish to apply that saying to rap music. But when it comes to the West Coast "gangsta rapper" genre made popular by the likes of NWA, Eazy E, Ice-T and his Rhyme Syndicate cohort, King Tee, the truth is hard to ignore. King Tee aligns producer DJ Pooh on this Bass EP consisting of tracks recorded in 1987. They're joined by The Compton Posse that includes the late Mixmaster Spade and J-Ro from Tha Alkaholiks. This EP sharpens the skillful word play King Tee made famous on his debut album Act A Fool. From song to song, this EP has a superior sheen, a tightness and cohesiveness between rhyme and music. Born in Los Angeles and now a resident of the infamous West Coast rap capital, Compton, California, King Tee truly is a product of the streets. He openly admits to running with gangs in his youth, causing his mother endless embarrassment and frustration. So much so that, in a desperate attempt to turn his life around, she turned King Tee into the authorities when she discovered him stealing from her. Once out of jail, King Tee ran of to Houston, Texas. Trouble is that he was underage atthe time, so his mother again had King Tee locked up in a juvenile camp. When King Tee finally realized why his mother did what she did, he decided to turn his life around by dedicating himself to music. He listened obsessively to the radio and chose to become a DJ. When King Tee was released from juvenile camp he secured a mixing gig at KSU and then KYOK in Houston. Between station gigs he handled the mix at various venues and clubs. After gaining the necessary experience behind the tables, King Tee moved back to Los Angeles and hooked up with Ice-T. In rapid succession, King Tee met Du Pooh who enlisted him into his rap group (after King Tee bugged Pooh for months), then Pooh introduced Tee to DJ Unknown with whom he made several 12" records for the Techno Hop labelwhich is now released on this EP for the first time since then. Ice-T's influence brought Rhyme Syndicate Management's Jorge Hinojosa into the picture. King Tee eventually signed with Hinojosa who then secured a contract with Capitol Records for King Tee. The result was 1988's Act A Fool.

Focus On Nature ist das neue Studioalbum des gefeierten Post-Psych/Independent Singer-Songwriters Nick Saloman und seiner Band The Bevis Frond. Fünfundsiebzig Minuten herrlicher Melodien, die sich zwischen 60er-Jahre-Psych, englischem Folk, den Seattle Art-Punks The Wipers, dem Buzzsaw-Pop von Dinosaur Jr. und Hendrix-esken Erkundungen bewegen. Ihre Musik hat immer etwas spielerisch Englisches an sich. Die Kult-Ikonen, die sicherlich The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Pavement und Dinosaur Jr. beeinflussten, haben eine weitere schräge Mischung aus melodischer, klaviergeführter Melancholie, akustischen Grübeleien, kratzigem Garagen-Rock mit punkigem Einschlag und voller Gitarren-Histrionik produziert. Wie der viel gelobte und äußerst erfolgreiche Vorgänger "Little Eden" befasst sich die neue Platte mit dem Überdruss der Welt, füllt aber eine größere Leinwand aus: Fast Food und globale Erwärmung, gebrochene Herzen und lange Nächte, alltägliche Unsterblichkeit und Gottes Geschenk - all das findet seinen Platz. Es ist wie Townshend in seiner thematischsten Phase; Big Star in all ihrer akustischen Pracht, perfekt ausbalanciert mit der punkigen Garage-Rock-Combo, die auf "Empty" mit Gilmour-Breaks endet, die das Ganze zur Größe erheben. "Sie mischen immer noch Pop, Punk und Psych mit schwindelerregender Wirkung. The Guardian "Selbstreflexion gepaart mit einer reumütigen Bestandsaufnahme des aktuellen Zustands der Nation." Uncut zu Little Eden - Erhältlich auf Ltd Double Purple Vinyl, DL-Karte und/oder als CD im Digisleeve -

Dostrotime ist Spaß im Squarepusher-Stil. Schwere, intensive, herausreissende, experimentelle, elektronische Musik für pures Hochgefühl. Keine Entschuldigung nötig, eine für das Squarepunter-Massiv! Anfang 2020 hatte Squarepusher gerade sein letztes Album 'Be Up A Hello' mit großem Erfolg veröffentlicht und bereitete sich auf eine weltweite Tour mit einigen seiner bisher größten Shows vor. Dann kam die Pandemie und alles war vorbei ... Ohne Ablenkung begab sich der Künstler direkt in sein Studio, um mit neuen Aufnahmen zu beginnen. Er sagt: 'Ohne die üblichen Unterbrechungen verlief die Zeit anders.' Es ist eine Episode, die er Dostrotime nennt. Daher ist Dostrotime ein Versuch, die Besonderheit der durch den Lockdown katalysierten Musik als Teil der Feier des Endes des Lockdowns einzufangen.

LIMITED RED VINYL

Sheherazaad ist eine US-amerikanische Komponistin und Sängerin, derenzeitgenössische Folk-Pop-Synthese, produziertvon Arooj Aftab, einer neuen Welle der klanglichen Innovation aus der Diaspora Teil wird. In der modernen Welt ist Migration omnipräsent. Sie durchzieht sämtliche Lebens- und Alltagsbereiche, steckt oftmals verschlüsselt in unseren Gewohnheiten. Während unzählige Menschen sowohl mental als auch körperlich mit nie da gewesener Aggressivität die Globalisierung vorantreiben, werden einst stabile "Genres" und Identitäten jeder Art zerlegt - aufgespalten und abgeschafft, überflüssig gemacht und wieder neu geboren. Alles migriert, alles ist in Bewegung. In genau diesem fluktuierenden Feld findet Sheherazaad Inspirationen für ihre Songs. Ihr Minialbum Qasr entstand während einer Phase der familiären Entfremdung. Auch die Trauer über einen Todesfall in der Familie und die rassistische Polarisierung ihres Landes, das plötzlich kaum wieder zu erkennen war, prägten die Aufnahmen. Der Titel des Albums bedeutet auf Urdu (der Nationalsprache in Pakistan und einigen indischen Bundesstaaten) so viel wie "Burg" oder "Festung". Und tatsächlich ist Qasr ein Monument: Es verkörpert die Last der Vertreibung, die widersprüchlichen Sog- und Anziehungskräfte der Diaspora - und das schreckliche Problem der Auslöschung, des Vergessens der eigenen Wurzeln. Um genau diese Art der Erfahrung geht es, um die Gewalt, die Hysterie, auch um die Romantisierungen, die damit einhergehen, wenn Sheherazaad klanglich eintaucht in jenes In-Between - ins Reich des Dazwischen. Die Aufnahmen fanden im Herzen von Brooklyn im Glass Wall Studio statt. Die unbeschreibliche Energie der nächtlichen Sessions speiste sich dabei vor allem aus der einzigartigen (und einzigartig internationalen) Konstellation der Mitwirkenden: u.a. mit dabei waren auch Basma Edrees (Ägypten), Gilbert Mansour (Libanon) und Firas Zreik (Palästina); gemastert von Heba Kadry (Björk, Ryuichi Sakamoto). Auf Qasr lädt uns Sheherazaad in eine betörende und vollkommen neue Klangwelt ein: in ein Reich der Musik, das genau genommen noch gar nicht von dieser Welt zu sein scheint. Zugleich lässt sie die Fackel der nomadischen Erfahrung auflodern, gibt auch diesem Feuer einen sehr viel prominenteren Platz. Insgesamt entwirft die Künstlerin mit diesem betörenden Album ihre eigene Festung. Denn sie will auch uns dazu ermutigen, unsere eigenen Festungen, unsere eigenen klanglichen König:innen-Reiche und unmöglichen Traumwelten zu entwerfen

The cinematic opening track Inthenever starts off as a film >> somewhere on a desolate coast, where everything has already ceased. This is going to be an album with a story and depth, a fearless tour of the barren shores of our days // or is it possibly just a mirage conclusion of their razor-sharp sound brutalism? Tittingur's third album, Epiphany, is here, pounding with waves they had not done before.

It seems as though this dyad has disposed of all the genre confines that had locked them in, and have grasped the sound of new subject matters, for which the moniker of experimental techno is finally too narrow. With utter urgency and candid to their emblematic, thunderous sound, Dominik's and Matus's deafening mallets collide in beats which are now, more than ever, drenched in a mass of palpable gloom and anguish. As though we could touch the rising levels of the oceans, and smell the melting of the glaciers themselves.

In one way or another, the music of Tittingur has always been about nature, its fierce essence, and its stark contrast with the post-era that we have found ourselves living in. However, whereas before, it was the sound of old, weather-stained concrete, and the pounding of abandoned, overgrown buildings, now it is, unavoidably, their most direct and honest return to nature landscapes, and to human, age-old traditions, referenced in the Slovak folk motives, recordings and found sounds.

On Epiphany, Tittingur's sound becomes yet more abstract, in a sound world that is ambiguous but also unified, and works on its own. The duality of nature and technology, of inland human folklore and the trenches of deepest oceans, invite us to come closer and observe the volatile obliteration taking place. Can we even attempt to re-assess our position with nature, or is this whole experiment doomed to fail?

Unsurprisingly, in the echoes, all the ingredients of the classic Tittingur sound are still present, distilled into new forms >> the ever-present over-saturation, the exaggerated, maximalist approach and megalomania >> the sound of impending climate change, doom, and near-apocalyptic visions, the scent of borovička mixed with the wild North Sea, the agony of contemporary urban life, and the adventure of wilderness: ferocious synths, monumental beats, aggressive basslines and crumbling noise-scapes built of a found-sound, music concréte-like, collagist approach.

At moments, it seems the means have changed. Just until you realise that the sentences of this story are spoken in a new language. If you dive deep enough, and listen to the essence that the music of Tittingur articulates, it's surprisingly easy to understand >> although the notions and emotions are difficult to put into words. The profound narrative of Epiphany is that of an endless inner struggle of society, anxiety, crises, and ambiguously easy // difficult solutions in the post-modern global chaos. It is the calm before a storm. It is the storm. Is it the calm. It is all of it, in itself. credits

For the past five years, Projekt Ruiny has been rejuvenating abandoned and decaying industrial landmarks by using them for concerts, exhibitions and discussions. This refusal of disuse also defines the character of SILO by Kolektív Ruiny, which disposes of all aspects of such cultural urban exploration besides the two most monumental >> sound and time.

The trio of musicians // sound artists kept returning to sugar and brewery silos in Rimavská Sobota in southern Slovakia for over six months to listen to their sounds and reply with improvisations. The silos' ambience proves that these places in a state of decay are living environments that hear plenty themselves, both from outside and inside, and spread what they hear wholeheartedly.

Kolektív Runy builds on this acoustic generosity with a combination of empathy and boldness. The attitude is most apparent on the few tracks that are musically harsh, but still offer the same discernible respect towards their industrial venues as the most serene pieces on SILO. It is an homage to these places, teeming with attention and care, and the ninth release by the devout label Weltschmerzen.

Blending sounds of early 70s Funk & Soul, Latin-Jazz, and Afrobeat, Mestizo Beat kicks the year off with a heavy dose of new material. First up is “She’s A Rose b/w Lotsapapa,” their next 45, offering two sides of masterful instrumental soul music written & produced by The Magaña Brothers out of their hillside studio, Spc 166 in Topanga, CA. Side A’s “She’s A Rose” takes us back to the golden years of the Blaxploitation film genre and the soundtracks we have grown to love. This song was inspired by the compositional and orchestral arrangements from the greats, such as Curtis Mayfield’s “Superbad,” Johnnie Pate’s “Shaft in Africa,” and Bobby Womack’s “Across 110 Street.” Featuring Tim Felten of Surefire Soul Ensemble on keys, with horns written and arranged by Jesse Audelo, Mestizo Beat takes the listener on an evolving journey, exploring the mood and cinematic elements of flute, saxophone, and wha’d-out guitar, topped off with a funky drum and percussion break. On the flip, “Lotsapapa” rounds out the B-Side, blending the musical styles of Latin and Nigerian disco-funk into a track that’s perfect for the dancefloor and those late nights out. Written about Bernard “Lotsapapa” Crowe, a notorious drug dealer who survived an attempted murder by Charles Manson, this side is sure to get the body moving with the afro-disco rhythms and chant vocals, dubbed out around a tightly arranged horn section written and arranged by Jesse Audelo and Jason Cressey. “Lotsapapa” features guests Steve Haney from Jungle Fire on Percussion and Cressey of the True Loves on trombone.

With each side highlighting the various talents of the ensemble, Mestizo Beat always stays true to their sound and recording techniques. Both tracks are mixed by Sergio Rios at Killion Sound and are featured on the forthcoming LP, Jaraguá, coming mid-2024.

REKORDER is "a kind of retrospective of myself", says M.RUX about his second, long-awaited solo album. For over 10 years, Marten Rux aka M.RUX appears as a DJ, producer, editor, remixer and multi-instrumentalist all over the world and has developed an idiosyncratic sound that opens up subtle fields of tension: M.RUX mixes a sound between experimental sound design and hooklines that stay in your ears forever. Between wild percussion and contemplative harmonies, between ecstasy and meditative calm. In his DJ and live sets, M.RUX usually steps up to the controls with a smile, discreetly bobbing his head, while the audience goes wild. He circumnavigates clichés with trustworthy certainty and develops his very own guiding threads in his selection beyond BPM or genre straitjackets. One constant is his warm, often stoically slow kick drum, which holds all that playfulness together. REKORDER is a manifestation of this typical M.RUX sound. Similar to his concept album "Vermonische Melodien" from 2020 (on the Pingipung label), the artist's curiosity is directed towards the musical visions of the past. When new music technology projected great visions of the future and when new sounds had not yet solidi ed into clichés. REKORDER refers to the recording device, spelled in a German way, because most of the recordings were made in Germany (and in England as well). Phonography is a miracle that has only been around for 150 years: Technology gifts upon us prosthetics for remembering sound. Every recording is a process, and every playback a new performative act. Recordari (Latin) is a beautiful word. It literally means to take something to heart (cor) once again (re-). This doesn't just refer to remembering, but also to a ponderous, loving, sometimes doubtful contemplation. It is a perfect headline for M.RUX’ approach to processing sound. REKORDER draws deeply from its own archive, which has ourished quite splendidly during the pandemic. Multi-instrumentalist M.RUX mixes his own recordings of banjo, guitar, auto-harp, synths, percussion and jews harp with fragments from sessions with friends that have accumulated since 2020. They unfold in the process of re-listening in the mix and transform into a solid musical tapestry. A typical gesture for this album? M.RUX bows deeply to the history of pop music - especially the blues and its melancholy, coolness and shuf ing groove. The harmonic framework of the album is based on blues scales throughout. Instead of conveying blue emotions via lyrics or the tone of the voice, as the original genre does, the synthesizer takes on this role on REKORDER. With his sound design, M.RUX achieves an ecstatic sorrow in his melodies, this gurgling portamento that is reminiscent of R&B (or even the ingenious title melody of the series "Bojack Horseman”). If voices are heard on REKORDER, then as hypnotic fragments that guide us through the groove as conjunctions: "Because...", says the voice in the track of the same name. That's enough. There are no lyrics, no literal weariness, no love-songs or storytelling, REKORDER processes all of this into timbres and groove as vessels for the album’s individual, contemplative melancholy. Never forgetting, with a gentle smile, to swing a leg.

LIMITED RED COLOURED VINYL!
REKORDER is "a kind of retrospective of myself", says M.RUX about his second, long-awaited solo album. For over 10 years, Marten Rux aka M.RUX appears as a DJ, producer, editor, remixer and multi-instrumentalist all over the world and has developed an idiosyncratic sound that opens up subtle fields of tension: M.RUX mixes a sound between experimental sound design and hooklines that stay in your ears forever. Between wild percussion and contemplative harmonies, between ecstasy and meditative calm. In his DJ and live sets, M.RUX usually steps up to the controls with a smile, discreetly bobbing his head, while the audience goes wild. He circumnavigates clichés with trustworthy certainty and develops his very own guiding threads in his selection beyond BPM or genre straitjackets. One constant is his warm, often stoically slow kick drum, which holds all that playfulness together. REKORDER is a manifestation of this typical M.RUX sound. Similar to his concept album "Vermonische Melodien" from 2020 (on the Pingipung label), the artist's curiosity is directed towards the musical visions of the past. When new music technology projected great visions of the future and when new sounds had not yet solidi ed into clichés. REKORDER refers to the recording device, spelled in a German way, because most of the recordings were made in Germany (and in England as well). Phonography is a miracle that has only been around for 150 years: Technology gifts upon us prosthetics for remembering sound. Every recording is a process, and every playback a new performative act. Recordari (Latin) is a beautiful word. It literally means to take something to heart (cor) once again (re-). This doesn't just refer to remembering, but also to a ponderous, loving, sometimes doubtful contemplation. It is a perfect headline for M.RUX’ approach to processing sound. REKORDER draws deeply from its own archive, which has ourished quite splendidly during the pandemic. Multi-instrumentalist M.RUX mixes his own recordings of banjo, guitar, auto-harp, synths, percussion and jews harp with fragments from sessions with friends that have accumulated since 2020. They unfold in the process of re-listening in the mix and transform into a solid musical tapestry. A typical gesture for this album? M.RUX bows deeply to the history of pop music - especially the blues and its melancholy, coolness and shuf ing groove. The harmonic framework of the album is based on blues scales throughout. Instead of conveying blue emotions via lyrics or the tone of the voice, as the original genre does, the synthesizer takes on this role on REKORDER. With his sound design, M.RUX achieves an ecstatic sorrow in his melodies, this gurgling portamento that is reminiscent of R&B (or even the ingenious title melody of the series "Bojack Horseman”). If voices are heard on REKORDER, then as hypnotic fragments that guide us through the groove as conjunctions: "Because...", says the voice in the track of the same name. That's enough. There are no lyrics, no literal weariness, no love-songs or storytelling, REKORDER processes all of this into timbres and groove as vessels for the album’s individual, contemplative melancholy. Never forgetting, with a gentle smile, to swing a leg.

Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 Reissue Series
Limited to 500 copies worldwide. Pressed on Clear vinyl. Includes poster.
Hard to find debut single originally released on Molesworth Records in 1988 Formed in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire after drummer Simon Scott met Guitarist Graham Garduilo in local band The Giant Polar Bears.
They were tour buddies to Ride and most of the late 1980s shoegaze bands. Simon Scott was stolen by Slowdive after a gig at the White Horse in Hampstead in 1990, where the Boo Radleys opened the three-band bill.
They split after releasing two albums. John Peel loved them and NME gave debut album Lovehappy 9 out of 10.

Die australische Dark Folk & Blackgaze-Szene hat einen neuen Namen: SULDUSK!
Das von Ausnahme-Talent Emily Highfield gegründete, australische Dark Folk/Blackgaze-Projekt SULDUSK machte erstmals 2019 mit dem Debütalbum
Lunar Falls auf sich aufmerksam. Mit diesem „Killer-Debütalbum“ (Folk N Rock) verblüfften SULDUSK nicht nur Hörer/innen und die internationale
Musikpresse, sondern auch das Rock- und Metal-Imperium Napalm Records, das die Band 2023 unter Vertrag nahm.
Am 1. März 2024 veröffentlichen SULDUSK nun ihr zweites Studioalbum mit dem Titel Anthesis und machen dort weiter, wo sie mit ihrem packenden
Debüt aufgehört haben, jedoch musikalisch eine ganze Spur komplexer. Einst als Ein-Frau-Projekt gestartet, rekrutierte Highfield für Anthesis fünf
weitere Musiker, um die Vision eines Akustik-Sounds zu einem intensiven, kraftvollen und harten Album weiterzuführen. Anthesis entführt in eine
düstere, magische Welt, das eine ganze Vielfalt unterschiedlicher, dunkler und extremer Sounds zu einem ganz eigenen Klanguniversum vereint. Laut
Highfield bedeutet Anthesis „Blüte“ und handelt thematisch von Trauer und Akzeptanz. Von den „Mythical Creatures“ über Single-Auskopplungen wie
„Crystalline“ bis hin zum Album-Titeltrack überzeugen SULDUSK auf ganzer Linie durch eine ganz eigene Synthese von Dark Folk-, Blackgaze-,
Post-Rock-, Prog-, Doom- und sogar Black-Metal-Elementen und Emilys Stimme, die zeitweise durch eine sanfte Zerbrechlichkeit beeindruckt.

Sheer Mag haben sich eine einzigartige Position im Kanon des zeitgenössischen Rock erarbeitet: Sie wechseln mit Leichtigkeit zwischen den
raffinierten Schnörkeln einer "Kenner-Band" und der ekstatischen Umgangssprache des populistischen Songwritings - und zeigen dabei keine strikte
Loyalität zu einem der beiden Lager - ihr Sound wird zwar oft zitiert, ist aber unverkennbar und sofort als ihr eigener erkennbar. Auf Playing Favorites,
Sheer Mag's drittem Album und dem ersten bei Third Man Records, profitiert die Band von einem Jahrzehnt der Hingabe an ihren eigenen kollektiven
Geist - einem Geist, der sowohl in den verschwitzten Gräben der Punk-Lagerhallen als auch im überlebensgroßen Glamour der Konzerthallen
verfeinert wurde - und bringt ein dichtes Werk voller packender Emotionen, massiver Hooks und meisterhaft konstruierter Power-Pop-Hymnen
hervor. Wie Sängerin Tina Halladay es ausdrückt: "Niemand scheint mehr geradlinige Rock-Knaller zu schreiben - mehr als alles andere wollten wir mit
dieser Platte das große, eingängige Songwriting in den Mittelpunkt stellen." Dies ist das Album, das die vierköpfige Rock'n'Roll-Band aus Philadelphia
schon immer machen wollte.

Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan’s legendary Ghetto Records. The series concludes with Drug Story - Rare and unreleased material from Joe Bataan and his Ghetto Records vaults, including an entire side of Bataan’s neverbefore-issued Latin Funk that spans the gamut from Salsa to Soul. Drug Story was inspired by true events and ranks highest among Bataan’s finest achievements as the poet laureate of El Barrio. Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on “The Man” and out of the ‘hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel. As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault. Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print - until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.

Drum-machine soul, funk, disco and boogie from Buffalo, NY. Rare 7" singles and previously unreleased tracks presented as a complete album. In the early 70s, Jessie Key and Sylvester Cleary - two passionate idealists living in Buffalo, New York - formed a close friendship based on a mutual mission to better their city. The Attica State Prison Riot of 1971 was a burning memory, and the Arthur vs. Nyquist lawsuit - brought against the City of Buffalo for creating and maintaining a racially segregated school system - was on the docket. Key was once a cotton-laborer in Mississippi, who journeyed north for school where he met his kindred spirit, Cleary. The two struck up an intense friendship, bought a drum machine and recorded their first 45, "A Man," a paean to self-actualization and Black American empowerment, which they custom pressed and issued privately. Dozens of recordings followed over a decade long span, issued on local labels and warehoused on cassette tapes. Perennial optimists, Key & Cleary tried any - perhaps every! - path they could demarcate in hopes of forwarding their agenda of self-effected, positive change. They formed Buffalo’s first minority-owned construction company, opened a health food restaurant in a building previously occupied by a fast food chain, and even concocted a candy bar called "The Buffalo Treat," which they manufactured and sold locally. Eventually they started their own label, Buffalo’s Reflection. On it they released their masterpiece, "What It Takes To Live," a sought-after disco and Northern Soul classic, which previously appeared on Now-Again”s Soul Cal anthology. This album collates the breadth of Key & Cleary’s recordings from 1970 until the mid 1980s, both with songs issued on rare 7" singles and previously unreleased. It presents a conjoined musical vision and tells the story of a duo years ahead of their time, both musically and culturally. Love Is The Way was their ethos - their goal was to enlighten humanity and to bend history in a more loving direction through communion.

Formed in 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts and now based in Berlin, Germany; Arms and Sleepers is the electronic trip hop project of producer Mirza Ramic (formerly a duo with Max Lewis), who has subsequently released 13 full albums and 20 EPs of glitched-out grooves that take as much inspiration from leftfield hip hop experimentalism as they do from the slowburn ambience and panoramic euphoria of contemporary post-rock. His forthcoming 14th full-length album, `What Tomorrow Brings' is a breathtaking aural account that charts the life-changing journey of being forced out of your home over four distinct, musical sections. Initially inspired by watching Kenneth Branagh's award-winning coming-of-age drama Belfast as the fighting in Ukraine broke out, MIrza found himself reflecting on his own experience as a child and how it has formed the man he is today. As such, the album's four sections, titled `Innocence', `Melancholy', `Rupture' and `Reflection', serve as the reification of the life and experience that Mirza lost as well as a representation of the identity he has since shaped for himself. Whereas more recent Arms and Sleepers releases, such as 2022's full-length `former kingdoms', are peppered with the sultry saxophone refrains, syncopated 16ths and smoky ambience of a New York jazz bar; `What Tomorrow Brings' is instead acute and driving, with complex drum breaks reminiscent of powerful post-rock acts such as BATTLES, Mogwai and Caspian brought insistently and urgently to the fore. Double vinyl in single colour orange!

Skyllumina represents a new evolution of London-based, Italian-born composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller. Goller is known for her bass and vocal work with Alabaster DePlume, whose music she elevates in live contexts with her genre-less improvisational intuition, and an incredibly diverse résumé that includes performance and recording with Bex Burch"s Vula Viel, Shabaka Hutchings, Rokia Traore, Melt Yourself Down, Sam Amidon, and even a very brief moment with Paul McCartney. For Skyllumina, her International Anthem debut, Goller expands upon the concept of her first solo album Skylla - de-tuned bass harmonics with layered voices - this time collaborating with a different drummer on each track. Her accompanists on the album include The Smile"s Tom Skinner, go-to London drummer Seb Rochford, Berlin-based International Anthem labelmate Bex Burch, and ex-pat Chicago legend Frank Rosaly. But more importantly, the music is an immersive hyperfocus for Goller and her patently distinct, singular compositional vision.

If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GOREFEST, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH

Viktoria Tolstoys ACT-Debütalbum »Shining On You« aus dem Jahr 2004 markiert aus heutiger Sicht einen wichtigen Moment in der Erfolgsgeschichte populärer Jazzstimmen aus Skandinavien. Die Musik für die Aufnahme schrieb Esbjörn Svensson, der zusammen mit Dan Berglund und Magnus Öström die Kern-Band bindet, welche wenig später als e.s.t. weltberühmt wurde. Das von Nils Landgren produzierte Album ist auch ein Treffen vieler Mitglieder der damals noch jungen ACT Family of Artists, die als Gäste an der Session teilnahmen.

Genau 20 Jahre später hat Viktoria Tolstoy für »Stealing Moments« die Idee des »familiären« Musikzierens wieder aufgegriffen. Die Kompositionen des Albums stammen von einer ganzen Reihe aktueller ACT Künstler, von denen viele auch schon an »Shining on You« beteiligt waren. Und auch Esbjörn Svensson ist auf besondere Art am Album beteiligt: Von ihm stammt die Instrumentalkomposition »Hands Off«, für welche seine Frau Eva nun einen Text verfasst hat. Dazu kommen Kompositionen, die langjährige Freunde und Weggefährten wie Nils Landgren, Ida Sand, Wolfgang Haffner, Cæcilie Norby, Lars Danielsson, Iiro Rantala und Jan Lundgren eigens für Viktoria Tolstoy und ihre Stimme geschrieben haben.

»Wenn du singst, geht die Sonne auf«, sagte Pat Metheny einst zu Viktoria Tolstoy. Ihre klare, kraftvoll strahlende Stimme ist der rote Faden, der alle Stücke auf »Stealing Moments« verbindet. Dazu kommt eine Mischung aus Energie und Leichtigkeit, die Viktoria Tolstoy als Person ausmacht und die sich durch die Musik auf die Zuhörer überträgt. Ihre Botschaft ans Publikum, in Anlehnung an den Albumtitel: »Lasst mich Euch ein bisschen Zeit stehlen, um dieser Musik zuzuhören.«

Burn Out - the latest release from Mini Trees - is a defiantly euphoric EP with the sonic and emotional bandwidth of a full-length record packed neatly into five new songs from Los Angeles-based songwriter Lexi Vega. Inspired by a relentless touring schedule that followed the release of her 2021 debut album Always In Motion, the songs of Burn Out confront questions of identity, exhaustion, and how to navigate creating art in an industry fixated on commodifying it.
A month away from music sparked Vega’s creativity and inspired her to return with long-time friend and producer Jon Joseph. Together they determined to push the limits of Mini Trees’ “bedroom pop” description, opening the door to a number of new

collaborators - keys from Zac Rae (Death Cab for Cutie, Lana Del Rey), arrangements from James McAllister (Sufjan Stevens, Taylor Swift), and even bass from longtime family friend Jimmy Johnson (James Taylor, Phil Collins). These songs shimmer in production, even as they’re saturated with the pervasive sense of fractured identity, disillusionment, and otherness that has shaped much of Vega’s sense of self. The overwhelming weight of these disparate identities is reflected in the EP’s cover art - a bed cluttered with clothes she’s chosen not to wear, familial heirlooms and mementos strewn at her feet.

Skyllumina represents a new evolution of London-based, Italian-born composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller. Goller is known for her bass and vocal work with Alabaster DePlume, whose music she elevates in live contexts with her genre-less improvisational intuition, and an incredibly diverse résumé that includes performance and recording with Bex Burch"s Vula Viel, Shabaka Hutchings, Rokia Traore, Melt Yourself Down, Sam Amidon, and even a very brief moment with Paul McCartney. For Skyllumina, her International Anthem debut, Goller expands upon the concept of her first solo album Skylla - de-tuned bass harmonics with layered voices - this time collaborating with a different drummer on each track. Her accompanists on the album include The Smile"s Tom Skinner, go-to London drummer Seb Rochford, Berlin-based International Anthem labelmate Bex Burch, and ex-pat Chicago legend Frank Rosaly. But more importantly, the music is an immersive hyperfocus for Goller and her patently distinct, singular compositional vision.

Gwendoline werden nicht gern in Schubladen gesteckt. Wir tun es dennoch: Nu Wave with wit, Synthwave with edge, Postpunk with Pop. Als wenn Benjamin Biolay Molchat Doma vorstehen würde, ,I'm Not In Love" (Chrystal Castles) auf ,Anyway" (OTO) trifft, Ladytron mit DAF in den Urlaub fahren würden. Seit 2017 verfolgt das social medial scheue Duo Micka (a.k.a. Mikoune) und Pierre (a.k.a. Daniel) im eher verborgenen ihre Cold Wave-Vision. Das Debut wurde in reinster DIY-Manier zu Hause im Keller aufgenommen und ohne Umschweife in kurzer Zeit produziert. Lange Zeit gab es kaum was zu Gwendoline zu googlen, aber an den Kennnern ist es natürlich nicht vorbeigegangen. Das spanische Label Dead Wax Records fand das so super, veröffentlichte digital und sehr limitiert auf Vinyl, ein Reissue gab's auf bandeigenem Label 2022. Nun sind sie bei Born Bad gelandet und dabei in bester Gesellschaft mit Vox Low, Frustration und Bracco. Was macht Gwendoline einzigartig? Sicherlich ihre Wut und gleichzeitige Zurückhaltung, die sie mit Selbstkritik, Ironie und Humor vermischen, was sich in den Texten wie auch im Sound wiederspiegelt. LP-Version in klassich schwarz mit Download Code und Digipack-CD.