Search:sa ra

For the third in its fifth anniversary release series, Stroboscopic Artefacts brings together tracks from Xhin, Tommy Four Seven, Kangding Ray and Dsrcd. Xhin's Blade Moth', previously released digitally by Meerestief, finds today new (and remastered) life on SA. It is deep and propulsive, with scattershot percussion reverberating around finely tuned kicks and sci-fi oscillations. The detailed sound design and experimental quirks are typical of the producer; they made for a stunning debut album on SA in 2011, and here elevate the functional 4x4 skeleton into a fantastically ethereal piece of dance music. On 'FFFFF', an incessant bass groove channels pounding kicks and high-end distortion into powerful form. Tommy Four Seven's experience in the DJ booth informs the less-is-more approach, as carefully selected elements roll dynamically and to gripping effect. Flip the record over and Kangding Ray provides the most dramatic offering in 'Luna'. Warehouse-style synths slide from behind drums and throbbing pulses of sub bass, driving the track forward with vigour. 'Luna' closes with an extended and euphoric outro, it heightens the peak-time force and lends itself to spellbinding mixes. Parisian act Dscrd end the EP with slow, grinding techno cut 'Apparition Hill'. It opts for tension over release, ebbing and flowing with restrained arrangement and masterful guile. Illusory vocal samples and washes of noise rise from the murky atmosphere, filling the mid-range with harsh textures. Dscrd's contribution offers something slower and more heady, finishing a special record with finesse.

During this period Hassell was inspired by the increasingly innovative production techniques being used in hip-hop, in particular the hyper-collaged sampledelic barrage of the Bomb Squad’s work with Public Enemy, hearing it as a kind of extension of the tape splicing that Teo Macero brought to his work with Miles Davis.
He began to incorporate more of this aesthetic into his own music, playing over loops of his own performances and riffing on angular juxtapositions of noise, rhythm and melody.

The resulting sonic stew is a kind of futuristic sci-fi funk with an appropriately melted production aesthetic - instruments and samples jumping to the forefront then disappearing in the manner of the best dub records.

‘Psychogeography’ is a situationist re-thinking of the 1990 ‘City: Works Of Fiction’ album, a carefully edited sequence of alternate takes, demos and studio jams put together by Jon Hassell in 2014 using Debordian philosophy as his guide.

Impatiently returning to the golden age of Ecuadorian musica national, this second round of retrievals is more of a selectors’ affair: less reverent, more free-flowing, with more twists and turns. There is no let-up in musical quality, maintaining the same judicious, heart-piercing balance between emotional desolation and dignified endurance, the same bitter-sweet play between affective excess and musical sublimity.

This time around, the woman steal the show. Laura and Mercedes Suasti were child stars, with an exclusive Radio Quito contract. Unlike nearly all the men here, they lived long and prospered: Mercedes died last year, at the age of 93. Gladys Viera and Olga Gutierrez both came to Ecuador from Argentina. To start, Gladys plugged the scandalous new Monokini swimwear; Olga performed for visiting British royalty in 1962. Olga was glamorous but tough. She would make little of the amputation of one of her legs: ‘I don’t sing with my leg.’ She is accompanied on our opener by quintessentially reeling, sultry musica national: haunted-house organ, twinkling xylophone, Guillermo Rodriguez’ heart-plucking guitar-playing, and lilting, dance-to-keep-from-crying double-bass. ‘Sometimes I think that you will leave me with no memories,’ she sings, ‘that you hold only disappointments in store for me… In the future your love will search me out, full of regret. By then it will be too late, there will be no consolation, only disappointment awaiting you.’

Other highlights include the two contributions of Orquesta Nacional: Ponchito Al Hombro, like an off-the-wall forerunner of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, beamed into the tropics from an unknowable time and space; and the tone poem Atahualpa, a mystical yumbo invoking Quito’s most ancient inhabitants, the Kichwa. Also the tremulous, gypsy-flavoured violin-playing of Raul Emiliani, who arrived in Quito from Italy, suffering PTSD from the Second World War; the inscrutable, sardonic experimentalism of organist Lucho Munoz; and the mooing and whistling of Toro Barroso — school of Lee Perry — in which a muddy bull dashes home to his darling chola, fearless, full of desire.

Lavishly presented, with a full-size, full-colour booklet, with transporting art-work and expert notes. Luminous sound, by way of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas.

50 years after the genre turned the music world upside-down, GRADE 2 bring the raw power of old school punk to a new generation. Their second release on Tim Armstrong’s legendary Hellcat Records is a thumping 15 track tour de force melding the uncompromising ethos of punk with the howl of contemporary injustice, personal identity and frustrations of Gen-Z youth, authentically told by three lads with punk
coursing through their veins.
Formed on their native Isle of Wight when they were just 14 years old, Jack Chatfield (guitar & vocals), Jacob Hull (drums) and Sid Ryan (bass & vocals) honed their craft covering punk pioneers before creating a sound uniquely theirs: ten years on, the eponymous Grade 2 is their magnum opus.
The new album was produced by the band along with Tim Timebomb (Armstrong) and T.J. Rivers at Armstrong’s Ship Rec Studio in Los Angeles. “Returning to Ship Rec Studio resparked that magic dynamic” says guitarist Jack Chatfield. “When we’re in there I feel like we reach our full potential.
Tim would offer tweaks and tips for some songs, while others he’d compliment as finished first time we played them.” “We worked flat-out recording this record,” says drummer Jacob Hull, “but we never felt pressured, Tim keeping us in the zone to make the best tunes of our lives.

Limited Yellow Coloured Vinyl Edition

50 years after the genre turned the music world upside-down, GRADE 2 bring the raw power of old school punk to a new generation. Their second release on Tim Armstrong’s legendary Hellcat Records is a thumping 15 track tour de force melding the uncompromising ethos of punk with the howl of contemporary injustice, personal identity and frustrations of Gen-Z youth, authentically told by three lads with punk
coursing through their veins.
Formed on their native Isle of Wight when they were just 14 years old, Jack Chatfield (guitar & vocals), Jacob Hull (drums) and Sid Ryan (bass & vocals) honed their craft covering punk pioneers before creating a sound uniquely theirs: ten years on, the eponymous Grade 2 is their magnum opus.
The new album was produced by the band along with Tim Timebomb (Armstrong) and T.J. Rivers at Armstrong’s Ship Rec Studio in Los Angeles. “Returning to Ship Rec Studio resparked that magic dynamic” says guitarist Jack Chatfield. “When we’re in there I feel like we reach our full potential.
Tim would offer tweaks and tips for some songs, while others he’d compliment as finished first time we played them.” “We worked flat-out recording this record,” says drummer Jacob Hull, “but we never felt pressured, Tim keeping us in the zone to make the best tunes of our lives.

It's album time for Sam Goku aka Robin Wang: "Things We See When We Look Closer" is the second album from the Chinese-German artist, releasing nearly two years after his debut album "East Dimensional Riddims", that combined traditional Asian instruments and field recordings with his own modern take on dance music that focuses on fluid rhythms, beautiful melodies and ambient haze.

Based in Munich, things came together naturally with Permanent Vacation as a label for the DJ and producer. Not only sharing the same hometurf, but also a certain eclectic approach on music. After two EPs on the label, that found their way into DJ Sets from the likes of Ben Ufo & Four Tet, DJ Voices, Call Super and many more, Robin is drawing ever wider circles with his new album.

On eleven tracks he is refining his unique approach in his productions, probably described best as a deeply nature-rooted and aethereal sound from twinkling ambience over bright, bouncy kickdrums to shuffling breaks. Robin is hunting for the bigger picture by taking a closer look. Finding new life in the different microcosms and gaining new perspectives on things by switching the angle and developing a meditative and psychedelic swirl.

This 40 year anniversary collection traces Brother Culture's career and includes some of his biggest hits, with remastered versions of these classics. The album includes his hits Jump Up Pon It (25 million streams), Supanova (15 million streams), My Selecta (2 million streams), and some of his most listened-to tracks ever released on vinyl.

A composition simply means things being put together. In music, we usually think of composition as a classical idea. But in recent years, the possibilities of what ‘composing’ can be, have dramatically increased. Based in Oslo, Norway, Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) has been making his own forms of music with no compromise since the early 90s. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself. This music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience. The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK, Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Helge used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. Like gazing at the wonders revealed by an electron microscope with Helge compositional control directs your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures. Helge adopted the Deathprod alias in 1991. A complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects – cumulatively known as the ‘Audio Virus’ – combined with obsolete samplers and playback devices, to distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable relatives of their former selves. On the new album Compositions, the virus has evolved into even more fascinating and kaleidoscopic new strains. Electronically generated sounds vibrate and tremble like undiscovered metals ringing and resonating together. Sonic forms attract or repel each other as if under the influence of a strange magnetism. None of the tracks are over four minutes, but no way are these ‘miniatures’. Each one contains its own fully-formed galaxy of tones and clusters, while all tracks audibly belong in the same universe. These are 17 compositions in search of a sonic ideal. His off-grid audio control centre created a parallel acoustic universe which he filled with mutated samples and electronic textures. Even the gaps between the tracks are part of that universe. Helge left the almost silent, twitching crackles of his snoozing analogue gear intact, ensuring a smoother transition between them. Helge is continually striving to find new parameters and possibilities for what music can be – what you can affect with the medium of sound. From the intricate homemade miniatures of Treetop Drive to the bonecrushing electronic barrage of Morals and Dogma and OCCULTING DISK, the different sides of Deathprod are all products of the same obsessive focus and self-discipline in pursuit of sonic exploration. His Compositions are private rather than public music: like introspective chamber or solo compositions instead of the more strident, outward-looking tones of a symphony. Helge is a founder of Norwegian improvising group Supersilent and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. He recently composed music for Harry Partch’s legendary instruments, which can be heard on Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth, released in 2022 on Smalltown Supersound.

Italian nujazz newcomers pop back up with a full length LP on Chicago's own STAR CREATURE label. Futuristic acid jazz over heavy drum beats, minimal squelching West Coast synths, punchy basslines all tied together under a warm bed of vibey overtones. 9 tracks. Full picture sleeve.

2023 REPRESS in Ltd Transparent Vinyl

Strut are proud to announce the first ever internationally released new studio album by one of the all-time legends of Nigerian music, Orlando Julius, in a mouth-watering new collaboration with London super-group The Heliocentrics. At his club residency in Ibadan, Orlando Julius was one of the very first to begin fusing US R&B with traditional highlife during the mid-'60s with his Modern Aces band. His 'Super Afro Soul' album from '66 set the blueprint for a whole generation of Afrobeat and Afro funk stars and, in an illustrious career, Julius met and played with Louis Armstrong, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela and Lamont Dozier among others, famously co-composing the classic 'Going Back To My Roots' in 1979 whilst based in the USA.
or 'Jaiyede Afro', Julius takes us back to his own roots, revisiting several compositions from h s early years whi ch have never previ ousl y been recorded. The title track recal l s his experiences as a boy: 'my mother would go to group meetings with other women. They would sing together and play drums, I would play along with them and we would sing this song together.' Infectious chant 'Omo Oba Blues' is a traditional song sung at Julius' school which he re-arranged in 1965 for his Modern Aces band. The epic Afrobeat jam 'Be Counted' stems from his years in the USA: 'this was written around 1976 while I was living on the West coast. I did start recording it for the 'Sisi Sade' album around 1985 but it was never finished.'
Other tracks include 'Buje Buje' and 'Aseni', both re-worked arrangements from his rare 'Orlando Julius and The Afro Sounders' album from 1973.
Recorded at the Heliocentrics' fully analogue HQ in North London, the band follow their memorable collaborations with Mulatu Astatke and Lloyd Miller by taking Orlando's sound into new, progressive directions, retaining the raw grit of his early work and adding psychedelic touches and adventurous new arrangements. They also contribute live favourite, the James Brown cover 'In The Middle' and a series of memorable shorter interludes.

Repressed!

For the past two years, Nils Frahm has been building a brand new studio in Berlin to make his 7th studio album titled All Melody, which will be released on January 26th, 2018 via Erased Tapes, before Nils embarks on his first world tour since 2015.Since the day Nils first encountered the impressive studio of a family friend, he had envisioned to create one of his own at such a large scale.

Fast forward to the present day and Nils is now the proud host of Saal 3, part of the historical 1950's East German Funkhaus building beside the River Spree. It is here where he has spent most of his time deconstructing and reconstructing the entire space from the cabling and electricity to the woodwork, before moving on to the finer elements, building a pipe organ and creating a mixing desk all from scratch with the help of his friends.

This is somewhere music can be nurtured and not neglected, and where he can somewhat fulfil his pursuit of presenting music to the world as close to his imagination as possible.His previous albums have often been accompanied with a story, such as Felt (2011) where he placed felt upon the hammers of the piano out of courtesy to his neighbours when recording late at night in his old bedroom studio, and the following album Screws (2012) when injuring his thumb forced him to play with only nine fingers.

His new album is born out of the freedom that his new environment provided, allowing Nils to explore without any restrictions and to keep it All about the Melody.Despite being confined within the majestic four walls of the Funkhaus, buried deep in its reverb chambers, or in an old dry well in Mallorca, All Melody is, in fact, proof that music is limitless, timeless, and reflects that of Nils' own capabilities. From a boy's dream to resetting the parameters of music itself.

Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics and overlooked gems mined from the last 20+ of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond, Mint Condition have got their expert digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been on your wants list for years! Dig in....

Back to 2002, the beginning of the new millennium. Tom Churchill's Headspace Recordings label had already been making an impact on the deeper strains of techno emanating from within the UK. With releases from detroit's Sean Deason, CiM, Hanna, Vince Watson and many more, Headspace was already a 'must check' label within record buying and DJ circles. This stellar split EP with NYC's Dennis DeSantis saw the pair remix each others tracks, both turning in very different, but equally complimentary sonic excursions. Churchill's 'Spaces' is surefire deep-space techno boogie of the highest order, swinging and funky and melodic in equal measure. The DeSantis remix of 'Spaces' is also a total winner, a stripped back exercise in expert minimalism, full of feeling and a perfect partner to the original mix. On the flip is Dennis DeSantis' 'Leisure', a sprawling and laconic broken house jam. Brilliant and teasing melodic synth motifs sit atop nagging acidic basslines and space. Again, the remix follows the original and Tom Churchill dials the track down into chasm deep shuffling drums and basslines and dubbed out FX. It's hard to think of an EP where two artists can remix each others music in such a compelling way, and for it to work so well. This is truly an excellent release and it's a real pleasure to see these tracks back on the streets. Sublime, and essential.

'Spaces / Leisure' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Headspace Recordings for 2020 and remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!

DOUBLE BLACK LP : 2 x 140 G Black Vinyl , Sleeve & 2 x Heavy Weight Printed Inner with UV Gloss Finish

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

2 x Solid White LP, 5mm spine Sleeve UV Gloss Finish, 2x Heavy Weight Printed Inner Sleeve UV Gloss finish, marketing sticker.

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

Ugly Mac Beer, a key figure in the French breakbeat scene, founder of Beatsqueeze Records and author of the critically acclaimed albums Modonut 1 & 2 alongside Mister Modo, is back with a new solo album “The Valley of the Kings”, between lofi hip-hop, abstract hip-hop or even broken beat, which will be released on January 27, 2023.

A digger/beatmaker effort par excellence, very inspired by the 90s productions of masters of the genre such as Madlib, DJ Shadow or RZA, the concept of this instrumental album with oriental sounds is based on the search for the sample of “THE” ultimate and perfectly heady loop, which can be listen to over and over again.

The eponymous title track which opens the album sets the tone with its powerful lofi hip-hop drum on a big cinematic and orchestral sound which evokes an Egyptian peplum of the 60s taking place in the heart of the mythical valley of the kings! Another highlight of the album, the track “Les chœurs perdus” resonates like a children’s tale, with its bewitching voices and magical songs set to a catchy beat that evokes the Egyptian goddesses and the mystery of the pyramids. To compose the powerful and rather dark beat of “The New Flame”, another essential piece of the album, the beatmaker drew his inspiration from New York hip-hop from the 90s but also from “crime film” soundtracks from the 70s. The sublime interludes “Fortune & Gloire”, “Years of Despare” and “Ambitious Dream” take us from one track to another, each one more powerful than the other.

In a very cinematographic mood, Ugly Mac Beer succeeds in developing its “old film about Egypt” album concept from start to finish and thus manages to tell a real story that takes us on a journey back in pyramids time.

Ugly Mac Beer, a key figure in the French breakbeat scene, founder of Beatsqueeze Records and author of the critically acclaimed albums Modonut 1 & 2 alongside Mister Modo, is back with a new solo album “The Valley of the Kings”, between lofi hip-hop, abstract hip-hop or even broken beat, which will be released on January 27, 2023.

A digger/beatmaker effort par excellence, very inspired by the 90s productions of masters of the genre such as Madlib, DJ Shadow or RZA, the concept of this instrumental album with oriental sounds is based on the search for the sample of “THE” ultimate and perfectly heady loop, which can be listen to over and over again.

The eponymous title track which opens the album sets the tone with its powerful lofi hip-hop drum on a big cinematic and orchestral sound which evokes an Egyptian peplum of the 60s taking place in the heart of the mythical valley of the kings! Another highlight of the album, the track “Les chœurs perdus” resonates like a children’s tale, with its bewitching voices and magical songs set to a catchy beat that evokes the Egyptian goddesses and the mystery of the pyramids. To compose the powerful and rather dark beat of “The New Flame”, another essential piece of the album, the beatmaker drew his inspiration from New York hip-hop from the 90s but also from “crime film” soundtracks from the 70s. The sublime interludes “Fortune & Gloire”, “Years of Despare” and “Ambitious Dream” take us from one track to another, each one more powerful than the other.

In a very cinematographic mood, Ugly Mac Beer succeeds in developing its “old film about Egypt” album concept from start to finish and thus manages to tell a real story that takes us on a journey back in pyramids time.

On Origins Chris Bartels takes on the role of singer-songwriter for the first time under his Elskavon moniker, unveiling a voice that wouldn't sound out of place next to vocal-forward artists like Justin Vernon, Jónsi, or Baths, who master the balance between conventional songcraft and bold, idiosyncratic experimentation. Origins is vast yet intimate, fluttering yet cohesive, tattered yet clean, a little like rainfall during sunlight. Shedding the ambient-classical confines of his previous output, the album's opener and title track, offers a swirling mosaic of acoustic textures that recall the beloved duo The Books, laced with warped vocal utterances flitting in and out of a club-friendly beat. "Origins" is followed by the equally danceable "Coastline," which drives home the smiling melodies and intricate sound-design that form the spine of Origins, keeping Bartels' voice in a largely decorative and impressionistic role up to this point. "Blossom and the Void" dissolves the introductory tension as Bartels comes out lyrically swinging, his digitized voice chanting widely over the mutated New Wave-esque anthem. Here, Bartels shows his instinct for dynamics by rising to bombast and quickly dispelling it, making steep yet grace- ful descents into skillfully delicate sound-design. Throughout Origins, the patient glacial aesthetic of his previous work is still discernible-- there are wordless, expansive panoramas that stretch out patiently for minutes at a time and smartly resist the impulse to pack each moment with a persona made even more impactful when Bartels chooses to wield it. At other times, his spokesmanship is woven discreetly into a larger tapestry, like on "See Out Loud" (and its ambient reprise) where Bartels' voice shimmers from a distance, covering the scene in diffuse splendor. "There is so much warping, mangling, re-sampling, reversing and pitching," Bartels says of his intricate vocal manipulations. "I printed a lot of the vocal recordings onto a tape machine from the `60s, first at one speed, and then I'd halve, or double the speed going back into my comput- er," he elaborates, illustrating how this kind of analog processing freed him from his habits. "Sometimes I'd do this multiple times on one recording or layer-- it gave me such a unique and unexpected sound. At this point, I threw away any inhibition on what type of vocals to have, or not have, on the album." This newfound freedom is palpable in the peaks of soaring grandeur that dot the emotional landscape of Origins. "All These Years" cathartically reaches one such summit in its second half after laying a path of gently plodding indie-IDM in its first. The cinematic vignette "Dreymur Aftur" provides pause for reflection amid its brisk procession of string plucks and rhythmic synthesizer while marching wordlessly into album-closer "This Won't Last Forever." Here at the end, Bartels' guitar playing is laid bare in the mix, skeletally framing a single ribbon of his voice as it unfurls into the atmosphere. Though the track isn't expressly lyrical, its starkness still exemplifies the new leaf of vulnerability Bartels has turned over on Origins, an album that documents his hard-won evolution from musician, to producer, to composer_ and finally_ his confident arrival in the role of songwriter.

White Vinyl

The Pretty Reckless haben dem Rock 'n' Roll den nötigen Schwung für eine neue Generation gegeben, und sie haben es auf ihre ganz eigene Weise geschafft. Seit 2008 haben sie sich als die ungewöhnlichste Naturgewalt entpuppt, die in INTERVIEW Magazine, Nylon, ELLE, Good Morning America und Entertainment Tonight erscheinen kann - und sich eine Bühne mit Guns N' Roses und Soundgarden teilt. Zusammen mit dem verstorbenen Produzenten Kato Khandwala entfachten sie diese Flamme auf Light Me Up 2010 und Going To Hell 2014. Letzteres enthielt drei Nummer-1-Hits - das Platin-zertifizierte "Heaven Knows" (der größte Rocksong des Jahres 2014), "Fucked Up World" und "Follow Me Down". Nach "Who You Selling For" von 2016 stieg "Take Me Down" auf Platz 1 der US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart und machte die Band laut Billboard zur "ersten Band, die ihre ersten vier Singles auf Platz 1 der Charts schickte". Im Jahr 2021 wurden sie mit dem Album "Death By Rock and Roll" in den Himmel gehoben. Die vierköpfige Band ging in die Geschichte ein als "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die zwei Mal hintereinander auf Platz 1 der aktiven Rock-Charts stand" und "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die sieben Mal auf Platz 1 der Billboard Rock Radio Charts stand". Das Album wurde nicht nur vom V Magazine, Spin und anderen gelobt, sondern landete auch auf Platz 1 der Billboard Top Album Sales Chart. Bemerkenswert ist auch die Zusammenarbeit mit Legenden wie Matt Cameron und Kim Thayil von Soundgarden bei "Only Love Can Save Me Now" und Tom Morello von Rage Against the Machine bei "And So It Went". Diese Grenzenlosigkeit treibt "Other Worlds" [Fearless Records] an, wo sie ihre ersten richtigen akustischen Aufnahmen, unerwartete Covers und andere Neuinterpretationen abliefern und einmal mehr Neuland betreten.

The Pretty Reckless haben dem Rock 'n' Roll den nötigen Schwung für eine neue Generation gegeben, und sie haben es auf ihre ganz eigene Weise geschafft. Seit 2008 haben sie sich als die ungewöhnlichste Naturgewalt entpuppt, die in INTERVIEW Magazine, Nylon, ELLE, Good Morning America und Entertainment Tonight erscheinen kann - und sich eine Bühne mit Guns N' Roses und Soundgarden teilt. Zusammen mit dem verstorbenen Produzenten Kato Khandwala entfachten sie diese Flamme auf Light Me Up 2010 und Going To Hell 2014. Letzteres enthielt drei Nummer-1-Hits - das Platin-zertifizierte "Heaven Knows" (der größte Rocksong des Jahres 2014), "Fucked Up World" und "Follow Me Down". Nach "Who You Selling For" von 2016 stieg "Take Me Down" auf Platz 1 der US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart und machte die Band laut Billboard zur "ersten Band, die ihre ersten vier Singles auf Platz 1 der Charts schickte". Im Jahr 2021 wurden sie mit dem Album "Death By Rock and Roll" in den Himmel gehoben. Die vierköpfige Band ging in die Geschichte ein als "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die zwei Mal hintereinander auf Platz 1 der aktiven Rock-Charts stand" und "die erste von einer Frau angeführte Band, die sieben Mal auf Platz 1 der Billboard Rock Radio Charts stand". Das Album wurde nicht nur vom V Magazine, Spin und anderen gelobt, sondern landete auch auf Platz 1 der Billboard Top Album Sales Chart. Bemerkenswert ist auch die Zusammenarbeit mit Legenden wie Matt Cameron und Kim Thayil von Soundgarden bei "Only Love Can Save Me Now" und Tom Morello von Rage Against the Machine bei "And So It Went". Diese Grenzenlosigkeit treibt "Other Worlds" Fearless Records an, wo sie ihre ersten richtigen akustischen Aufnahmen, unerwartete Covers und andere Neuinterpretationen abliefern und einmal mehr Neuland betreten.

Pink Vinyl
Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio SK-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

A compilation by To Pikap records diving deep into the 90's rave nostalgia. Pera Sta Ori starts with a jungle/idm track, while next Serge Geyzel contributes with a killer acid breakbeat. All 303 DimDJ's track also and ACU with a party feeling but yet sentimental track. Finally Dj Tsoug and TSEV add up a slice of braindance.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Ramrock on the cutting edge

Should 'The Great Encyclopaedia of Musical Genres' be at a loss for a word to describe the music of Ghent-based Ramkot, they wouldn't have to look far. 'Ramrock'; done. It's how the solidly carefree rocking Ghent triumvirate themselves describe the music with which they have been selling clubs, concert halls and festivals spicy maws since 2018. With two EPs to their credit, 'Ramkot' (2019) and 'What Exactly Are You Looking For' (2021), and a giglist that you can only be in awe of, the laureates of De Nieuwe Lichting 2021 thought it was high time to stamp their awe-inspiring sound on a first album.

Le nouveau Ramkot est arrivé: with 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot delivers a debut full of particularly solid, yet danceable, 'ram rock' and bangs its way through the wall of sound to a - no doubt - very exciting future.

'In Between Borderlines' is the apotheosis of two years of rock hard work. Idea. Elaborating. Polishing. And there's the diamond. Ramkot is not the band to sit still and wait for the time to put their music on tape. The time is always ripe.

For 'In Between Borderlines', Ramkot dove into the studio for a year - at different times - where they canned eight songs, all with the familiar Ramkot signature: hard and cutting, melodic and danceable and now and then gleefully deviating from the usual path.

The two advance singles 'Exactly What You Wanted' and 'I Can't Slow Down' already beautifully indicated the tenor of 'In Between Borderlines': the back straight and firmly in line, ready to continue on the successful and - above all - very eager momentum. And did the music hit its mark? Absolutely. Studio Brussels, Willy and KINK were immediately on board. With a spot in De Afrekening, Catch Of The Day (Studio Brussel) and Daily Drop (KINK) as a result.

It is sometimes said that three is a magic number. It is. A three-piece band reduces music to its essence and cuts harder live than a Japanese chef's knife. Whereas during the recording process Ramkot was tempted to also get to work with synths, live they invariably opt for the more pared-down versions of their songs that - just like on the album - grab the audience by the neck and show them every corner of the room. And it is this playing live that has certainly not hurt the band in recent years. On the contrary, it made Ramkot more natural, tightened the reins and gave the band an even more distinctive look. 'In Between Borderlines' is brimming with the pleasure of playing, the desire and eagerness to go flat out until 'everything is broken'.

Ramkot never gets stuck. On 'In Between Borderlines' this manifests itself in multi-layered songs with tentacles in solid riffs, occasionally borrowing from other genres. Does a song have a ragtime feel to it? Or is there a hint of 'despacito'? The band is not afraid to blend some exotic influences with abrasive guitars and sulky drums. Extra flavour makes the dish more interesting. And as for 'In Between Borderlines', the starter, main course and dessert are immediately on the table. It may be finished in one sitting.

Freestyle drops another 12" rarity from the annals of UK funk & boogie history - this time giving the sounds of VeiraKrew's "Sexy Lady" from 1985 a fresh new cut.

--------

Elvis Veira was born on the Carribean island of Nevis and moved to England alongside his pianist and music teacher mother at the age of 2, quickly becoming profficient on piano, guitar & bass by the time he was in his early teens. His love for playing music and singing in choirs propelled him on this musical journey, and his late teens to 20s saw him supporting top acts such Heatwave, Wham, Second Image, Katrina and the Waves, Mezzo Forte, Chris Rea, Shakatak and many others.

In 1983 he started working under the alias VeiraKrew, and a couple of years later in 1985 laid down this 12" at Bedford's Thatch Cottage Studio on a shoe-string budget. Backed up with the title-track's killer instrumental version and the b-side "Welcome to a Dream" it was self-released by Elvis on a x1000 run (since becoming quite the collectors item, with clean copies changing hands for up to £150 a piece).

Following the release of Sexy Lady, Elvis continued playing and working as a session musician and vocalist, going on to release a further 12" in 1988 signing to Stevie V's Beatbox International label for the house-inflected track "Good Stuff". Fast forwarding to present day, Elvis has had some time away from music but is now back actively playing and producing, alongside working with the OMG (Outreach Music Group) - helping to provide support and music therapy within the NHS.

Repress !

One of music's most unpredictable characters Tricky is back with his new album Adrian Thaws, released in conjunction with !K7 Records and his imprint False Idols.
'Calling it Adrian Thaws is saying you don't really know me,' says Tricky, explaining the title of his 11th album. 'So many times people have tried to put a finger on me and every album I
go to a different place.'It's typical of one of music's most unpredictable characters that the first album to bear his
birth name is one of his least introspective. Adrian Thaws is a vivid, attention-grabbing set of songs which roamfrom hip hop to house, jazz to blues, rock to reggae. It was recorded in
Tricky's home studio in London, where he's living again after almost two decades in New York, Los Angeles and Paris, and features an international crew of collaborators: Francesca
Belmonte, Nneka, Mykki Blanco, Bella Gotti, Tirzah, Blue Daisy and Oh Land. It's designed to be played loud.
'I suppose this is my club/hip hop album,' he says. 'I've only heard my music a few times in a club but I grew up in clubs from when I was 14: blues parties, hip hop clubs, a few raves. I'm
not known for doing club music but this album has some club tracks on it — well, what I would consider club music.'
Tricky makes complicated music because Adrian Thaws has had a complicated life. Born in 1968, he grew up in an extended family that was both black and white, urban and rural, containing strong women and volatile men. His choice of cover versions is revealing. Janet Kaye's 1979 lovers rock classic Silly Games reminds him of his childhood in Bristol's Knowle West district. London Posse's 1990 track Gangster Chronicle harks back to his musical apprenticeship with the Wild Bunch and Massive Attack under the name Tricky Kid before he launched his solo career with 1995's startling Maxinquaye. Tricky has always used music to explore the different, sometimes contradictory facets of his
background and personality. 'I can be anything I want when I do an album,' he says. 'I could be a woman, I could bea man. It's great to be able to be all these different things.'

In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created the Terminator.

Studio One was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd1 in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1963 on Brentford Road in Kingston.12 Amongst its earliest records were "Easy Snappin" by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, and "This Man is Back" by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos.
In the early 1960s, the house band providing backing for the vocalists were the Skatalites[3] (1964–65), whose members (including Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Lester Sterling and Lloyd Brevett) were recruited from the Kingston jazz scene by Dodd. The Skatalites split up in 1965 after Drummond was jailed for murder, and Dodd formed new house band the Soul Brothers (1965–66), later named the Soul Vendors (1967) and Sound Dimension (1967-). From 1965 to 1968 they played 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week, 12 rhythms a day (about 60 rhythms a week) with Jackie Mittoo as music director, Brian Atkinson (1965–1968) on bass, Hux Brown on guitar, Harry Haughton (guitar), Joe Isaacs on drums (1966–1968), Denzel Laing on percussion, and on horns (some initially and some throughout): Roland Alphonso, Dennis 'Ska' Campbell, Bobby Ellis, Lester Sterling, among others on horns during the era of Rock Steady. Headley Bennett, Ernest Ranglin, Vin Gordon and Leroy Sibbles were included among a fluid line-up, to record tracks directed by Jackie Mittoo at Studio One from 1966-1968.
During the night hours at Studio One from 1965-1968, singers like Bob Marley, Burning Spear, The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Ken Boothe, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bunny Wailer[4] and Johnny Nash, among others, would put on headphones to sing lyrics to original tracks recorded by the Soul Brothers earlier each day. These seminal recordings included "Real Rock" (by Sound Dimension), "Heavy Rock", "Jamaica Underground", "Wakie Wakie", "Lemon Tree", "Hot Shot", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Dancing Mood", and "Creation Rebel".
Jackie Mittoo, Joe Isaacs, and Brian Atkinson left Studio One in 1968, recorded drums and bass for Desmond Dekker's and Toots' biggest hits at other Kingston studios, then moved to Canada. Hux Brown stayed in Jamaica to record on the soundtrack The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, and toured in Nigeria with Toots and the Maytals and Fela Kuti. The Soul Brothers (a.k.a. Sound Dimension) formed the basis of reggae music in the late 1960s, being versioned and re-versioned time after time over decades by musicians like Shaggy, Sean Paul, Snoop Lion, The Clash, String Cheese Incident, UB40, Sublime, and countless other Billboard originals and remakes trying to emulate their original Rock Steady sound at Coxsone's Studio One.
The label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s.

Cryptically-named duo JOHN - comprised of John Newton (drums, lead vocals) and Johnny Healey (guitar, backing vocals) - return with their first new music since the release of their acclaimed third album Nocturnal Manoeuvres . It comes in the guise of the blistering 'Theme New Bond Junior', the A-side of a new 7" single, b/w 'Hopper on the Dial'.

Set to undulating guitar riffs and a greater sense of dynamics than ever before, 'Theme New Bond Junior' finds JOHN tackling the questioning feelings that arose as the band returned to the live circuit once venues began to open their doors as they embarked on a rapturous 30-date UK tour in autumn 2021, as well as recent festival slots at Green Man, End of the Road, Latitude, a main stage appearance at Bearded Theory’s Spring Gathering and a memorable return to the mainland at Belgium’s historic ROCK HERK.

“The arts function as a mirror of our wider culture, and it’s been interesting to see how the acceleration of the present affects most aspects of our lives - including the production of art and music," says Newton. "The track was a gestation on the speed of consumption: this includes both the constant update/obsolescence of physical products and their resulting affect on the human attention span.”

Nach der erfolgreichen "The Stadium Tour" von MÖTLEY
CRÜE mit DEF LEPPARD, bei der sie in diesem Jahr vor
über einer Million Fans in Nordamerika gespielt haben,
kündigt BMG die Veröffentlichung des limitierten Box-Sets
"Crücial Crüe: The Studio Albums 1981-1989" mit den
ersten fünf Platin-Alben von MÖTLEY CRÜE auf farbigem
Vinyl an: "Too Fast For Love" (weiß/schwarz Splatter),
"Shout At The Devil" (gelb/schwarz Splatter), "Theatre Of
Pain" (pink/schwarz Splatter), "Girls, Girls, Girls"
(cyanblau/schwarz Splatter) und "Dr. Feelgood" (Coke
Bottle Green/Oxblood Splatte). Die 5LP Box kommt in
einem edlen schwarzen Schuber

Über 6 Milliarden Streams für ihren bisherigen Katalog und mehr als 20 Millionen Follower:innen rund um die Welt – Aya Nakamura hat in den jüngsten Jahren Standards gesetzt. Nun öffnet der französisch-malische Superstar das nächste Kapitel für sich: Am 27. Januar erscheint das neue, vierte Album „DNK“, schon heute gibt es die Single „Baby“ in Begleitung eines Musikvideos – siehe unten.

„DNK“ folgt auf das 2018 veröffentlichte „NAKAMURA“ – das meistgestreamte französischsprachige Album aller Zeiten – und „AYA“, das 2020 erschien, zum meistgestreamten Album des Jahres 2021 einer Künstlerin in Frankreich wurde (über 1 Milliarde Streams!) und den Victoire de la Musique France Music Award 2022 gewann. Zusammen haben sich Nakamuras Alben weltweit über 1,5 Millionen Mal verkauft – und das nicht etwa nur in französischsprachigen Ländern, sondern quer durch Europa, Afrika und Südostasien. Wie populär die Künstlerin ist, zeigen auch ihre Zahlen bei TikTok: über 40 Millionen Creations und mehr als 40 Milliarden Views auf fünf Kontinenten gehen auf ihr Konto.

Nachdem die Titel der beiden Alben „Aya” und „Nakamura“ sich auf ihre Künstlernamen bezogen, gibt der Titel „DNK“ des neuen Albums einen Hinweis auf ihren bürgerlichen Nachnamen Danioko. Unverändert bleibt ihr einzigartiger lyrischer Stil, der der Pariser Slang, Arabisch und Bambara (die malische Sprache ihrer Eltern) vereint und Afrobeat, Pop, R&B und den karibischen Dance-Sounds des Zouk einen frischen Anstrich verpasst. Für zusätzliche Abwechslung sorgen die Features des Albums, darunter die aufstrebenden Rapstars Tiakola & SDM und die bekannte karibische Zouk-Sängerin Kim

1987 in Umeå, Schweden, gegründet, wurden
MESHUGGAH vom Rolling Stone als "eine der zehn
wichtigsten Hard? und Heavy?Bands" bezeichnet und
haben sich den Respekt und die Bewunderung von Fans
und Musikern gleichermaßen verdient.
Im Jahr 2023 wird das Meisterwerk "Nothing" in
atemberaubenden neuen Vinylfarben wiederveröffentlicht
(weltweit auf 500 Stück pro Farbe limitiert), um den
Traum eines jeden Sammlers zu erfüllen.

Als LACRIMOSA 1994 ihr bahnbrechendes "Schakal"
veröffentlichten, waren sie die erste Szene-Band, die
Gothic und Metal kombinierten, und dies in eine
klassische Orchestrierung einbetteten! Von der
Metal-Presse als zu düster und von der Gothic-Presse als
zu hart verrissen, fand sich der Band zunächst auf
einsamen Posten. Zwei Jahre später waren LACRIMOSA
Headliner der Dark Winter Nights Festivals, der ersten
Festival-Tour, die Gothic- und Metal-Bands wie THE
GATHERING, SENTENCED oder DREAMS OF SANITY
auf einer Bühne vereinten. Der Rest ist Geschichte: Viele
Bands, sowohl aus der Metal- als auch aus der
Gothic-Szene, folgten ihrem Beispiel und Gothic Metal,
sowie Symphonic Metal wurden bis heute zu etablierten
Musikstilen. In der Zwischenzeit haben LACRIMOSA ihre
musikalischen Fähigkeiten weiterentwickelt und
perfektioniert, während sie seit mehr als 20 Jahren Shows
auf der ganzen Welt von Argentinien bis China spielen
und nun alles in diesem Meisterwerk zusammenführen:
Leidenschaft trifft auf Vollkommenheit, Schmerz trifft auf
Erlösung und Dunkelheit trifft auf das leitende Licht der
Liebe! "Leidenschaft" ist mehr als ein neues Album, es ist
ein magisches Erlebnis purer Hingabe!

Holidays In Eden wurde ursprünglich 1991 veröffentlicht
und war das sechste Studioalbum von Marillion und das
zweite mit Steve Hogarth als Lead-Sänger. Diese
Versionen enthalten die neuen 2022 Remixe des Albums
von Stephen W Tayler, die auf den Holidays In Eden
Deluxe-Editionen veröffentlicht wurden.


[a] A1 Splintering Heart [6:44]
[b] A2 Cover My Eyes [4:04]
[c] A3 The Party [5:37]
[d] A4 No One Can [4:45]

[f] B1 Holidays In Eden [5:23]
[g] B2 Dry Land [4:45]
[h] B3 Waiting To Happen [4:55]
[i] B4 This Town [3:19]
[j] B5 The Rake's Progress [1:54]
[k] B6 100 Nights [8:07]

Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue. His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio SK-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

160-gram heavyweight Vinyl LP with gatefold jacket displaying the painting series that inspired the music, and the story of Newtok. Newtok is a remote Alaska Native village situated on the Ningliq River, near the west coast of Alaska. Although a very remote and quiet place, Newtok has come face-to-face with climate change. Due to a combination of thawing permafrost, low levels of sea ice, and strong storms, the coastal land of Newtok is eroding dramatically. In 2016, Chicago visual artist Jennifer Cronin embarked on a trip to Newtok to document this changing environment. Upon returning, she spent the next several years developing a series of paintings and screen prints titled Seen and Unseen that captured this eroding landscape. In 2019, Cronin and musical Artist Patrick Mitchell (a/k/a Dusty Patches) began discussing the project after Cronin asked him to perform at the Gallery opening for the series. As a result, Mitchell created this album, Newtok - inspired by Cronin's Seen and Unseen series and the story of Newtok, Alaska. Mitchell is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer from Chicago who has led numerous past projects in the Chicago DIY community including De Triomphe, New Color, and Whiskey Wise. He dove headfirst into synths in 2017 and adopted the electronic alias Dusty Patches. Dusty Patches released his debut project Filthy Four Track Machine: Volumes I & II (2018, Sooper Records), largely made with the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators and OP-1. In 2020, he released Nocturnal Emissions from the Dablatory, his first project fully realized with modular synthesis. In approaching Newtok, Mitchell composed all of the constituent musical elements of the work and then recorded and live mixed the album during a single live performance on modular synthesizer. The album draws heavily on sprawling ambient synths, electric and acoustic post-punk guitar motifs, cryptic vocal sampling, vintage drum machines, and modular patches that often sound like birds or the sea. The subject matter of the album, the complexity of its arrangement, and its execution as a single live recorded performance makes Newtok a unique musical experience. About Newtok, Mitchell says: This record was an exploration of themes. When faced with the immense canvases Jen Cronin produced upon her return from the village of Newtok, one can't help but feel awe. With the sheer size of the works towering above you, you are compelled. There is overwhelming beauty, desolation, a sense of urgency, and a sense that it is, in fact, far too late. These visual themes, and the emotions they evoke, were connected to the sounds and compositions of this record. There is a coldness to the digital soundscape, but organic sounds of nature and humans tether and steer the album through a journey of musical storytelling. Newtok is a journey of musical storytelling about the tragedy of the Anthropocene in the age of climate change. FOR FANS OF: Mother Earth's Plantasia, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Boards of Canada, Bibio

In the midst of a wave of hybridizing ambient, drone, folklore and experimental electroacoustic music, Roxane Métayer has gained a cult following with only a couple of releases to date. Following her debut album (Éclipse Des Ocelles) for Morc with a split EP and a limited cassette for Wabi-Sabi, Roxane now turns to Marionette with her intimate narrative based multi-instrumental recordings, a match made in the heavens if you ask us. With her violin, woodwind, voice and various effect pedals, Métayer takes the listener on a newfound journey into the ancient, medieval, and primordial.

Perlée de sève is Métayer’s second full length, a sophomore to the critically acclaimed Éclipse Des Ocelles, where Métayer continues to sonically realize the map of the fictional habitats that inhabit her mind. Coming from a background of studying narration and different animation mediums, it’s no surprise that her recordings evoke vivid imagery and carry a trace of the environment they were conceived in. The instruments morph as extensions of her body and ultimately become new organs, a means of communicating these bio-memetic stories and creating a dialogue between herself and her surroundings. Meandering melodies intertwine with accompanying drones, mantra-like fragments and a handfeel percussion lend themselves as living and breathing elements in Roxane’s beguiling and spellbinding anecdotes.

Roxane is an observer of the world, her projects conceived from elements that inform her reality, such as the organic imagery and sounds of nature, then transforming that into a strangely familiar parallel universe that would not exist otherwise. Whether it's active research or taking her instruments to the forest, Métayer opens up her imagination by taking this mental journey to discover locations, creatures, and time periods then channeling that into her own fairy tales. The album and track titles act as a portal into those worlds, like chapters in a book where the protagonists are animalia, plantae, and fungi. As Métayer wrote in an interview: “Stories are a privileged way to create an awareness of a specific subject.”

Making Circles of Our Own is the new upcoming sophomore record from Northern Ireland's New Pagans. From the very beginning the Belfast’s indie rock outfit intent was clear: to fuse their collective creative experiences and emit a confidence in both their sound and aesthetic. New Pagans in essence is a movement, challenging issues surrounding relationships, equality and history all wrapped in massive riffs and soaring dynamics shaped into their own brand of alternative, post punk and indie rock — all encompassing on the bands incoming second album ‘Making Circles of Our Own’. With the dawning of 2023 on the horizon, New Pagans have been building off the success of 2020’s debut album ‘The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All’ - which helped secure them as winners of ‘Best Live Act’ at the NI Music Prize in 2020 - and emerge invigorated anew. Latest single ‘Better People’ is a stunning blast of positivity that celebrates their ability to pull together, create communities and look after one another. Often outspoken and not shy of protesting the dark themes that infiltrate modern Irish life, singer & lyricist Lyndsey Mcdougall implores us to endeavour to be just as the title suggests. And with this new era comes their staggering second album ‘Making Circles Of Our Own’, which sees the five-piece abandon the chaos of 2020 for a moment in search of hope in the future. Recorded and self-produced at Badlands Studios in the Glens of Antrim in Ireland (the band's HQ) by band members Cahir O'Doherty and Allan McGreevy, New Pagans continue to expand their DIY position. This time around they also invited Sam Petts Davis (Radiohead, Warpaint, Frank Ocean) to mix the songs and the result is an energetic and infectious collection of anthems.

"Hello It’s Me" sings Signe Marie Rustad in her crystal clear, inimitable voice. And with that, she’s back, three years after the release of her successful third album, When Words Flew Freely. The above lyric is taken from a song bearing the same name, the first single off Rustad’s fourth album, Particles of Faith. Known for her poetic lyrics and vivid songwriting, and backed by a tight knit band that’s been with her for years, Rustad’s new album offers a natural transition from the already classic When Words Flew Freely (WWFF). However, Particles of Faith also brings something completely new and fresh. WWFF presented a broader, organic and piano-driven Laurel Canyon-sound, and less of the americana sound present on Rustad’s first two releases. Particles of Faith is harder to place in any genre, other than in the broader singer-songwriter tradition, helmed by pioneers such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King. But Rustad also points to a host of other inspirations. Alternative pop/rock from the 80’s and 90’s have always been a big influence on Rustad, and on Particles of Faith, this is more evident than ever. R.E.M., Fiona Apple, Crowded House and Tori Amos were important components both in the artist’s record collection and on her TV screen via MTV. Seeing as this era was also the golden age of the saxophone, it was only natural to include a three-minute-long sax solo, courtesy of acclaimed Norwegian jazz musician Harald Lassen – a solo that “made me cry” says Rustad. The album is produced by Rustad along with indie pop hero Kenneth Ishak. “This is the music coursing through my veins,” says Rustad about the album. Rustad has been critically acclaimed ever since her 2012 debut, but with WWFF, things really took off. Rave reviews, inclusion on several year-end lists, live performance on Norway’s biggest talk show and a booking to Norway’s biggest festival followed the release. The album was awarded a Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammy) for lyricist of the year. After widespread touring since the fall of 2019, Rustad’s performance on Øyafestivalen’s main stage in August 2022, marked the wrap up of the WWFF project, while it simultaneously introduced the next chapter, announcing the new album with the performance of two new songs. The songs on the album are snapshots from a life, and “particles of faith” refers to keeping the faith in yourself, love, the people around you and the world in general throughout everything that you endure in life. It can be a kind of strength that you may think comes from the outside, but is actually found inside of us.

"Hello It’s Me" sings Signe Marie Rustad in her crystal clear, inimitable voice. And with that, she’s back, three years after the release of her successful third album, When Words Flew Freely. The above lyric is taken from a song bearing the same name, the first single off Rustad’s fourth album, Particles of Faith.

Known for her poetic lyrics and vivid songwriting, and backed by a tight knit band that’s been with her for years, Rustad’s new album offers a natural transition from the already classic When Words Flew Freely (WWFF). However, Particles of Faith also brings something completely new and fresh.

WWFF presented a broader, organic and piano-driven Laurel Canyon-sound, and less of the americana sound present on Rustad’s first two releases. Particles of Faith is harder to place in any genre, other than in the broader singer-songwriter tradition, helmed by pioneers such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King. But Rustad also points to a host of other inspirations.

Alternative pop/rock from the 80’s and 90’s have always been a big influence on Rustad, and on Particles of Faith, this is more evident than ever. R.E.M., Fiona Apple, Crowded House and Tori Amos were important components both in the artist’s record collection and on her TV screen via MTV. Seeing as this era was also the golden age of the saxophone, it was only natural to include a three-minute-long sax solo, courtesy of acclaimed Norwegian jazz musician Harald Lassen – a solo that “made me cry” says Rustad. The album is produced by Rustad along with indie pop hero Kenneth Ishak. “This is the music coursing through my veins,” says Rustad about the album.

Rustad has been critically acclaimed ever since her 2012 debut, but with WWFF, things really took off. Rave reviews, inclusion on several year-end lists, live performance on Norway’s biggest talk show and a booking to Norway’s biggest festival followed the release. The album was awarded a Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammy) for lyricist of the year. After widespread touring since the fall of 2019, Rustad’s performance on Øyafestivalen’s main stage in August 2022, marked the wrap up of the WWFF project, while it simultaneously introduced the next chapter, announcing the new album with the performance of two new songs.

The songs on the album are snapshots from a life, and “particles of faith” refers to keeping the faith in yourself, love, the people around you and the world in general throughout everything that you endure in life. It can be a kind of strength that you may think comes from the outside, but is actually found inside of us.

- Mintgrünes Doppelvinyl (140g) inklusive Downloadcode und exklusivem 12” Art Print.


ODESZA veröffentlichen ihr viertes Album auf Ninja Tune inklusive Features von The Knocks, Bettye LaVette, Låpsley, Izzy Bizu, MARO, Ólafur Arnalds, Julianna Barwick & Charlie Houston.

ODESZA veröffentlichen ihr viertes Album ’The Last Goodbye’ auf Foreign Family Collective/ Ninja Tune. Es ist das bisher ambitionierteste & emotional mitreißendste Album des Grammy nominierten Duos. Ein Projekt voller Glanz und Emotionen, nostalgisch und doch in der Gegenwart verwurzelt, ist es ein mitreißendes Klangerlebnis, das Themen wie Verbindung, Erinnerungen und den Einfluss, den wir aufeinander ausüben, anspricht. Es ist eine lebhafte Feier der Menschen und Momente, die unsere Fingerabdrücke hinterlassen haben und die in der gesamten Platte widerhallen. Es ist das bisher persönlichste Album des Duos und eine brillante Sammlung, die Vergangenheit und Gegenwart auf euphorische Weise miteinander verwebt. Neben The Knocks, Bettye LaVette und MARO werden auf „The Last Goodbye“ auch Julianna Barwick, Låpsley, Ólafur Arnalds, Izzy Bizu und Charlie Houston zu hören sein. Das Produzentenduo ODESZA besteht aus Harrison Mills und Clayton Knight, die zusammen Musik zu machen begannen, nachdem sie sich an der Universität in Washington, USA, kennengelernt hatten. 2012 veröffentlichten sie ihr von der Kritik gefeiertes Debütalbum „Summer's Gone“, gefolgt von der 2014 mit Gold ausgezeichneten Platte, „In Return“, die an der Spitze der Billboard Dance-/ Electronic-Charts debütierte und die Platin-Single „Say My Name“ enthielt - ein Remix des Tracks von RAC wurde später für einen GRAMMY 2016 nominiert. Ihr drittes Album, „A Moment Apart“, wurde 2017 veröffentlicht, ebenfalls mit Gold zertifiziert und brachte ihnen zwei GRAMMY-Nominierungen für das beste Dance-/ Electronic-Album und die beste Dance-Aufnahme für die Gold-Single „Line Of Sight“ ein. Das Album erreichte Platz 2 in den UK-Dance-Album-Top 40 Charts und Platz 2 in den iTunes-Electronic-Charts im Vereinigten Königreich und debütierte auf Platz 3 der Billboard Top 200 in den USA.

Alt-rap dissident Jam Baxter announces his newest solo venture, Fetch the Poison. Conceived during a state-wide alcohol ban in Mexico, the album is Baxter’s first to be composed in complete sobriety — though his hallucinatory style of storytelling and cast of monstrous characters make a welcome return. Lyrics on Fetch the Poison meld Baxter’s Latin American experience with visions of a grisly alternate dimension: sun, sea and glittering vistas are sullied by hollow-eyed addicts, shady bar tenders and duplicitous lovers. Amongst deft bars, the rapper includes a number of spoken word pieces that echo the prose in his now sold out book Off-Piste. The album also features Blah Records' Nah Eeto & Black Josh, as well as DJ Sammy B-Side and Jehst, alongside Brazil’s NOG, Black Alien and Xamã. Baxter reunites with frequent collaborator Chemo on production — now under the moniker Forest DLG — for much of the album, with appearances from Jack Danz, Dr Zygote, Wundrop (CMPMD) and Midlands' electronic stalwart Lenkemz. Despite its diverse credits, tracks are connected by icy, spaced-out electronics with beats twisted through tape distortion and anchored by chest- rattling bass. Baxter began writing the album in Mexico just before the pandemic began while holed up in the city of San Cristobal De Las Casas, Chiapas, as the world shut down. “All the streets were eerily empty and it was amazing. I had the city to myself,” he says. “Then suddenly there was a state- wide alcohol ban and I could no longer casually sip tequila as I went about my business. I didn’t really have a choice but to write” With no alcohol to fuel him, and San Cristobal largely silent, the rapper says he was surprised to find himself in a deeply creative — and prolific – state. “I took to it amazingly well, and I wrote this whole album in three months of clear-headed bliss in the same apartment. I would sit and write all day, and occasionally walk up a mountain when I got stuck ... or go and feed the stray dogs at the church on top of the hill. It was weirdly the most fun I’d had in years.” Fetch the Poison is Baxter’s seventh solo album.

Another powerful release from the Exist Dance catalogue, pioneering and shaping the sound of the US early 90's rave scene. A 4 track EP by High Lonesome Sound System - yet another project by Tom Chasteen and Mike Kandel - with a collection of different mixes of “Waiting For the Lights”. Overall a mighty rollercoaster ride in breaky prowess, playful sample wealth and driving synth riffs. Putting the Amen break to unprecedented monumental grandiosities on the dancefloor. Especially with the meticulous mastering on behalf of Manmade mastering. Can't go wrong, buy on sight.

Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.2 is the second dance music compilation from WALLS AND PALS. The aim is to share various ideas of dance floors instead of lingering on a certain genre or style, and while being DJ Friendly, it also serves as an exchange ground where production techniques of artists co-exist. All four tracks in Vol.2 correspond with the common purpose of bringing out ‘Floor Materials’, keeping distinct identity from each musician. In ‘Cofrica’, rapper and producer Simo of Y2K92 injects his long-time affection of Detroit flavor into a minimalistic form. Conversely, DOTT from the Thai label More Rice brings intricate and complex rhythms centered around the step sequencer in ‘Antibody Movement’, walking a fine line between House and Techno while the essence of Tech House is preserved . And in ‘Pump It Up’, ACIDWORK demonstrates what the outcome would be when Electro runs through digital instruments and samplers. Last but not least, Seo John, who put out his first EP DIVE last year from the label GODDEZZ, follows up with ‘miQro’, creating a different side of Trance that is more adequate for clubs or concrete spaces rather than outdoor raves or festivals. In the same manner with the preceding release Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.1, Vol.2 is a compilation executed by fellow Asian musicians across the region. Beyond the reopened borders, and just like the excitement and stimulus at unusual events, this compilation serves to contribute to the dancefloor as an interesting ‘Material’ than simply as a ‘Tool’.

2023 Repress, Marbled Vinyl

After their Grime / Dubstep leaning debut single in late 2018 Intrauterin Recordings mastermind baze.djunkiii and production partner Sascha Müller return with a new outing of their conjunctional COMBAT DUBS project. With „Crystals“ they're coming at us with a special twist, presenting a fascinating crossover of UK Garage and Breakbeat sporting overwhelming basslines and a crystalline, most beautiful and ever cascading synth motif whilst the flipside sees the pair of producers diving deep into raw SpeedGarage / BasslineHouse territories for maximum dancefloor pressure with the aptly titled „Crystals *Speed Mix“.

Initial pressing will be limited to 200 copies on white vinyl.

The Songs All Sound the Same is a singles collection by American rock and roll band Supersuckers. It was originally released in 1992 on eMpTy Records. This album led ultimately to the signing of the band with Sub Pop. Now fully remastered and with new artwork it is released in 2021 for the first time on vinyl (an earlier version was on a picture disc). Raw, loud and fast, this is the first document of an incredible career. Liner notes by Eddie Spaghetti.

- Erste Pressung, schwarzes Vinyl, limitiert auf 1000 Stück weltweit Uffe Lorenzen (alias Lorenzo Woodrose) ist der Frontmann von BABY WOODROSE und SPIDS NOGENHAT, der bei diesem Projekt allerdings unter seinem bürgerlichen Namen aufnahm und zudem auf Dänisch singt. Das erste Ergebnis ist das neue Soloalbum "Galmandsværk", das am 10. November erscheint und während eines Urlaubs auf der kleinen Vulkaninsel Gomera nahe der Küste von Marokko geplant wurde, wo er sich zum Großteil in einem kleinen Raum verschanzte und nichts anderes tat, als zehn Wochen lang neue Songs schrieb. Uffe Lorenzen: "Ich hatte im vergangenen Winter die Gelegenheit, für ein paar Monate zu reisen und entschied mich, viel Zeit damit zu verbringen, den Ozean zu betrachten und Songs auf Dänisch zu schreiben. Ich glaube, ich habe meine eigene Methode gefunden und vielleicht sogar einen persönlicheren Blickwinkel. Ich denke immer noch, dass das Schreiben auf Dänisch eine Herausforderung darstellt, aber ich glaube, dass der ehrlichere Ausdruck eine ehrlichere Darstellung verdient, daher sollte der Name LORENZO WOODROSE, der wirklich nur für Leute außerhalb Dänemarks zwecks Aussprache gedacht war, fühlte plötzlich merkwürdig oberflächlich an ".Galmandsværk (übersetzt "Akt des Wahnsinns") enthält zehn Lieder, die in viele Richtungen gehen und sich anhören, als ob BABY WOODROSE, SPIDS NOGENHAT und DRAGONTEARS verschmolzen sind und zu etwas Neuem wurden. Der Sound des Albums ist überwiegend akustisch mit vielen exotischen Instrumenten wie Sitar, Tablas, Bansuri, Drehleier und Geige. Uffe Lorenzen: "Ich denke, ich bin an einem Punkt angelangt, an dem ich neue Wege finden muss, um den Prozess interessant und motivierend zu gestalten. Diesmal war das Schreiben auf Dänisch nur eine Herausforderung von vielen. Wir haben zum Großteil Akustikinstrumente verwendet und versucht die üblichen Fehle rzu vermeiden, indem alle Songs mit einer einfachen Aufnahme von Gesang und Gitarre anstelle von Rockdrums und Gitarrensolos begonnen wurden und das Album zu einem ganz anderen Universum gemacht hat als alles, was ich in der Vergangenheit getan habe." "Galmandsværk" wurde mit einem analogen Ansatz aufgenommen. Das gesamte Album wurde auf einem Band gemischt, was bedeutet, dass kein Schneiden und Einfügen und keine Verwendung von Pro-Tools erforderlich war. Produziert wurde es von Uffe Lorenzen, Anders Onsberg und Anders Kjærsgaard im wunderschönen STC Studio in Kopenhagen und von Flemming Rasmussen in Sweet Silence gemastert.

Gordon is a great advertisement for live jazz. When he really starts “stretchin’ out” on a number, and his long, firmly anchored legs begin vibrating rapidly from side to side, the intense swing of his music has a natural visual counterpart. It’s true that you cannot see him in this album but you can feel the impact of his personality as it is poured into his music. This session was not recorded in a nightclub performance but in its informal symmetry, it matches the relaxed atmosphere that the best of those made in that manner engender. Everyone was really together, in all the most positive meanings of that word. It was so good that Blue Note put these four men in the studio again, two days later. We’ll be hearing that one in the near future. Meanwhile, proceed directly to Go! You won’t collect $200.00, but you will get a monopoly of Melody Avenue, Swing Street and Inspiration Place.

Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics, overlooked gems and never heard before material, mined from the last 30+ years of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond. Mint Condition have got their digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been in your wants list for years. Dig in....

With acclaimed releases on Strictly Rhythm under his belt, much lauded Californian DJ and producer Safar followed up his early success on L.A. based Aqua Boogie. Originally released in 1996, 'Tangerine Train' would become his most sought after release, rightly garnering the attention of the most discerning DJs, record collectors and music heads alike as the eye watering Discogs prices will attest. 4 complimentary mixes of 'Tangerine Train' feature here, so get ready to jump on board.

The 'Absolute Runaway Train Mix' opens proceedings with driving beats and railroad bells. An undulating acid line builds and builds, adding chords that lead to a dramatic breakdown, train FX and strings add to the tension, reaching a mesmeric peak when a killer breakbeat kicks in and the acid line returns. Next up the 'Train Beats Mix' cuts the track back to the percussion and FX for those wanting to get creative in the mix. 'Lost In A Tunnel Of Dub' has all the classic elements of its predecessors, although programmed in a slightly more subtle way, the percussion remains as crisp as ever and a classic organ riff lightens the mood without ever losing the dancefloor energy. Last, but by no means least the 'Last Acid Train To Euphoria Mix' goes on a deeper hypnotic trip, losing the train FX, but adding an ethereal vocal to devastating effect.

Whichever mix you choose to play you can't go wrong, all are worthy of your attention and hard earned cash. The sound design and execution are second to none and what's more your dancefloors will shudder. "Tangerine Train' has been legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Safar, lovingly remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original DATs especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label -
Mint Condition!

Funkadelic have created an enduring legacy, and the power of their impact is visceral in Detroit. Their records not only played with genre, but possessed a diabolical sense of humour that led to music domination by the late 70s with Parliament, Funkadelic, Parlet, Bootsy's Rubber Band and the Brides Of Funkenstein all releasing albums the same year for two years in a row.

The music itself is beyond stereotype, but equally huge is that they were a black band not allowing themselves to be limited by anyone else's notions of who they could be, having a massive impact on the next generation of Detroit music, Detroit Techno.

But more than just Techno, it is a freedom of thinking that extends beyond boxes, so we included all sorts of today's generation of Detroit musicians and producers to show the wide range of music that was Funkadelic and how these ideas are still contemporary, they endure and inspire.

Musique Pour La Danse is proud to present the Donkey Kong Country 2 OST Recreated of the much appreciated and globally followed Donkey Kong Country OST recreation project led by NY-based composer and producer Jammin’ Sam Miller.

Using hex SPC data crudely converted to MIDI, Jammin' Sam Miller painstakingly recreated DKC's soundtrack note by note, by finding the original equipment used to create it, translating the MIDI into a modern studio context, adding in keyboard samples, and re-mixing the sounds with added effects and mastering. To find out more about his process watch an explanatory video here: cutt.ly/ulUHE6J

Remastered for vinyl, licensed, and presented in a limited edition green forest double LP.

Frontline is the 9th studio album by Dub Pistols. Chief rabble-rousers & festival favourites, the band are known for their veritable feast of jump-up party-starting sounds, melding dub, reggae, dancehall, ska & DnB into an irresistible tonic that has seen them amass a merry band of Pistoleros across the world.

For this chapter, they are joined by a stellar band of featured artists including both legendary & award-winning collaborators such as Horseman, Top Cat, The Freestylers, Myki Tuff and Chezidek alongside long-term Posse members The Ragga Twins, Lindy Layton, Natty Campbell, King Yoof and Cheshire Cat, and regular Dub Pistol frontman Seanie T.

So, saddle up and join the gang, it's time to ride to the Frontline!

repressed !

Firmly entrenched in techno's haziest alcoves, every new record from Denise Rabe is as punishingly hypnotic an experience as it aims to penetrate the deepest laid of your cerebral zones. Having plied her trade on Arts' sub-division Arts Collective before moving on to establish her own dedicated label, Rabe, in 2017, the Berlin-based DJ and producer steps up with her much anticipated debut platter for Stroboscopic Artefacts, as she takes the helm for the fifth sortie of the Totem series. True to her love for all things droney and psychoactive, this time Rabe has us descending into rugged, hostile sonic terrains with just a headlamp and the thick mantle of darkness for closest companions. Ahead’s a demented safari across nightmare-prone visions and thunderstruck vistas.

Hosing off the loud, churning 909 kicks and passive-aggressive machine talk straightaway, 'Manifesto' sets the tone for the warehouse-sized hammering to come. Evil-minded swashes of hyper-delayed percs and criss-crossing chimes lash out in successive waves, further subjugating the dancers as bars fly by. A more spacious and atmospheric number, B-side opener 'Clouds' heads for quieter high-altitude spheres as the dubbed-out drums beat an off-kilter, leftfield friendly pulse and ominous synth stabs and pads envelop the listener in entrancing textural folds and interplays. Back to floor-ready dynamics, the adrenaline booster 'Don't Leave' caps it off on a truly mind-bending tip. Primed for unrelenting peak time action with its angry buzzard-like drones, pacey 4/4 swing and refined palette of eerie circuit noises and click-y minimalism, this one's a high-impact steamroller, sure to get maximum response when things start getting muscular.

A new label out of Mexico, Short Attention Records launches its second release with a five track offering of proper melodic house & techno from Hector Ram with the word 'quality' stamped large upon them. 'Midnight Sounds' starts things off with the grand rhythmically-building 'Midnight Sounds', almost New Order-esque at times. 'For Our Small Parties' follows, old skool again in flavour, blending subtly employed breaks and a sturdy house framework, then 'Dear Dancefloor', probably the gentlest and most fragile effort here, opens side two. 'On The Road' boasts a more electro feel and Orbital-esque synths, and is deemed worthy of a second airing via a nicely throbbing remix from Detroit's Generation Next closing proceedings.

At the very coalface of the UK rave/breakbeat/techno/call it what you like scene since the 1990s, Jerome Hill is something of a hidden treasure amongst the plethora of DJs and producers to have dropped both bangers and bloopers over the ensuing three decades. With minimum of fuss and fanfare, Hill has steered record labels like Super Rhythm Trax, Don’t, Fat Hop and Hornsey Hardcore to revered acclaim, as well as firing out a consistent stream of releases for imprints such as Matthew Herbert’s Accidental Jr, Exalt Records, and I Love Acid, to name but a few.

Surprisingly, ‘Flow Mechanics’ is Hill’s debut album after a production career that kicked off in 1998 as one half of Groove Asylum. And its collection of unabashed acid and rave bangers is a perfect fit for the Hypercolour label, whose personnel over the last few years has included Luke Vibert, DMX Krew, Shelley Parker and Gary Gritness. Tracks produced directly for club play; the album features 8 cuts destined to fit in cross-genre sets.

With pumping electro cuts such as ‘Deafening Lull’ and ‘Knob Jitter’, four to the floor acid stompers like ‘Walk The Plank’, the mutant garage of ‘Brought Up Badly’ and the house groover ‘Stax Had The Funk’, ‘Flow Mechanics’ is a joyous romp through rave’s sound palette, replete with playful samples and skits (featured on the vinyl LP version), and a mischievous demeanour that affords the listener an lively album that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Infinite Machine is proving again it's a label that refuses to sonically sit still. Having released everything from code-based compositions to bass-heavy techno in 2022, the imprint is readying the release of the black metal-tinged Ehkta by BOLT RUIN later this month. A musician whose work has been described as 'apocalyptic' more than once, on this new mini-album, the Belgian producer blends field recordings, twisted samples and rave signifiers with an eerie tonality born out of his nocturnal production sessions and time spent absorbing the silence of his studio garden.

Bridging the gap from his previous record to this one, 'Sktone' is a cinematic opener that unfolds like a bad dream in slow motion. Warped samples of Bulgarian choirs glide over synths wired in closed-circuit loops which feed back on themselves, degrading for infinity. Texture and space is added via field recordings of waves crashing over the ruins of Brighton West Pier. This track exemplifies the unexpected influence BOLT RUIN took from the wildlife he witnessed in the garden of his urban studio when working on Ehkta. Adapting to the material at their disposal, weasels and blackbirds create nests from organic waste and human trash - an astute metaphor for the Belgian producer's compositional approach.

Next up, BOLT RUIN drives up the tempo with the rave-ready 'Nehng', where a frenzy of trance arpeggios and frantic drum programming builds and intensifies over its 5-minute duration. Inspired by Yves Klein's 'Leap Into a Void', 'Nehng' definitely evokes that bodily rush of freefalling into the unknown. 'Nehng''s driving rhythm is switched out for the brooding 'Tzarhk' - an ode to the soundtracks of B-movies composed on a vintage Roland SH-2 (a prominent character of the Stranger Things soundtrack). BOLT RUIN runs thick, syrupy synth slabs and punishing drum patterns through a rain-soaked limiter the producer found lying on the street by chance.

Another master-class in self-destructive arrangements comes in the form of 'Rfohmdrá' as delicate pianos and synth tones atrophy through daisy chained pedals which erode the signal. Valgeir Sigurðsson's mastering skills shines through here, taking BOLT RUIN's sci-fi-meets-metal sonics and amping them up to a scale on par with the Björk or Ben Frost records he's previously worked on.

Conceived of as the mirror reflection of the LP's opener, 'Maevr' pushes the approach of 'Sktone' to an even more nightmarish extreme. Embracing chance, the clattering layers of beats are sampled of a knocked mic on a window as BOLT RUIN attempted to capture a recording of rain from his studio. A happy and very effective accident for the foreboding mood of the track!

BOLT RUIN rounds off Ehkta with 'Ekztamnh'; an ode to that specific sensation of entering through a corridor to a rave and hearing the rumble of a soundsystem from afar. Snarling melodies are run through a reverse granular delay effect which fragments the signal, reverses it and plays them back in irregular order; much like the shattered memories of a late night in a warehouse.

A musical magpie who finds inspiration in the most unlikely of sources, Ehkta is a restless exploration of salvage-punk aesthetics where doom-laden black metal melodies, amen breaks and an experimental approach to sound design sit in an irregular and uneven musical apocalypse. For fans of Blanck Mass or Caterina Barbieri - this is a must-listen material from a fresh producer establishing himself with a singular musical voice.

Repress !

The long-awaited reissue of the best ever album of rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz music by this famous Hungarian guitarist
Gabor Szabo, originally released in 1968. For the first time as extended edition with 2 bonus tracks: radio versions of Fire Dance
/ Ferris Wheel from the 1969 7” single 7”. Deluxe 8-sided Digipak CD and Gatefold Vinyl come with long, exclusively written
inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne. Remastered by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios (UK).
Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep
love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy
Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still
living in his hometown. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way
to America, settling with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged
by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during
melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the
energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and
"Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the
brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of
rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more
commercially oriented forms of jazz.
During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style.
From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop,
Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform
brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

Following up last year's orchestral album opus “Overtones For The Omniverse", Mocky has been releasing a number of upbeat and uplifting instrumental tracks and now collects them as "Goosebumps Per Minute, Volume 1" on classic vinyl and digital. Putting his vocals and songwriting to the side for this project, Mocky employs harps, horns, and 70’s analogue synths to provide a funky soundtrack that spreads a little of that California sunshine in the listeners direction. Built around Mocky's signature basslines and ensemble vocal arrangements that include his son Telly and his daughter Lulu, all recorded to his vintage ampex tape machine, Mocky did away with the normal metronomic BPM calculations in modern production and instead measured his music in "GPM" (the tempo at which music transmits Goosebumps) - and on top of a multitude of summery bass, drums & strings perfection, Vicky Farewell drops a blistering Rhodes solo on "Flutter" and Carlos Niño lends a percussive hand on the sublime "Iridescence”. Todd M. Simon handles the horn duties, and Liza Wallace infuses the dance tracks with live harp which recalls the floating approach of Alice Coltrane. Titles like "Refractions", "Wavelengths" or "Conduction" are hinting at a scientific approach to creating the conditions for "Goosebumps Per Minute" - his own calculus for the timing of how and when to hit and strum the things in his studio to make it raw & funky.

The songs were also inspired by his time hanging out at the Goldline bar in LA’s Highland Park. “Throughout the pandemic it was the one place I could go and sit outside and hear incredible music as I listened to my friend DJ Phonecalls playing from the Goldline's vinyl collection. He would be dropping these uplifting funk and disco cuts - and at the end of the night I would go home to my studio and make a track and upload it to my Bandcamp and the streaming services immediately … It reminded me of my time in Tokyo's vinyl bars so "Goosebumps Per Minute" owes a lot to that inspiring culture as well“.

About Mocky:
Performer, producer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Dominic "Mocky" Salole came to prominence in the Berlin electronic scene of the mid 2000s, releasing three acclaimed solo albums and co-writing and producing classics like Jamie Lidell's "Multiply" and Feist's "The Reminder". In 2009, his music took a jazz-inflected turn to the acoustic with the release of "Saskamodie" and in 2011 Mocky relocated to Los Angeles, where he quickly established himself as a co-writer with uncommon credentials collaborating with L.A.’s brightest breakthrough artists like Kelela, Joey Dosik, Vulfpeck or Moses Sumney. Mocky channeled those new creative energies into his fifth full length album "Key Change" and four digital mixtapes/EPs "The Moxtapes" Vol. IIV. After co-producing and co-writing Feist's "Pleasure" and Kelela's "Take Me Apart", in 2018 Mocky released two albums: "Music Save Me (One More Time)" and "A Day At United", an instrumental jazz album, recorded in a single day. In 2019 Mocky delved into soundtrack work by collaborating with legendary Anime director Shinichiro Watanabe on the first two seasons of the breakthrough show “Carole and Tuesday” (Netflix) for which he won Best Score at the Anime Awards. In 2020 he started a new Single series with 2 releases featuring the portugese singer Liliana Andrade and in 2021 he released his orchestral album "Overtones For The Omniverse" and started a series of funky instrumentals under "Goosebumps Per Minute".

Release date Jan 9th 2023
This incredible trio of poets, were not only musicians but Civil Rights Activists, rising up in the early 1960’s. They formed the group whilst in prison where they began performing the “spoken word” to rhythm and percussion. The last poets where born! None of this prolific music has been issued as a 7” before, great music for all good music lovers

A - “It’s a trip” - Vocal ACID JAZZ / dance gem!
Killer Track. Percussive vocals; addictive and funky. Acid jazz club classic. Dare you to keep up. Once you start, you can’t stop dancing. Such vibes. Environmental and racism-alerts messages chorused as early as 1977. You gotta listen to the words. Zeitgeist extraordinaire.

B - “Blessed are those who struggle” - Exclusive 7” cut for this vinyl release. The super funky drums of Mr Bernard Purdie, one of the best drummers in the World, if I may say so myself. Stunning.

Returning to Phantasy for a triumphant fourth single, ahead of a debut album to be released later in 2023, Josh Caffe dons ‘Meine Lederjeans’ for a gloriously tight squeeze of electro-funk, accompanied by an unapologetically gritty, stroboscopic remix from Caffe’s frequent collaborators, Paranoid London.

Dialing the tempo down from the frenetic club play of previous releases ‘According To Jacqueline’ and ‘Do You Want To Take Me Home?’, ‘Meine Lederjeans’ finds the British-Ugandan DJ and performer melting into a hedonistic slow jam of Prince-indebted grooves driven by drum machines oozing Chicago spirit with additional playing from Alex White of cult groups Fat White Family and Saint Leonard. Celebrating and subverting queer tropes in double measures, ‘Meine Lederjeans’ is an exquisite blend of soul and sexuality.

Paranoid London, the duo of Gerardo Delgagdo and Quinn Whalley (Caffe’s principal studio partner, and producer of ‘Meine Lederjeans’) deliver a characteristically merciless remix of Caffe’s original, looping their vocalist into an acid-soaked stupor. Throbbing, insistent, maximal yet minimal, this is PL in particularly raw form.

Travelling extensively across Asia and Africa between 1974-1985 to study music, Roberto made many field recordings and collected many instruments on his travels which he would then combine with synthesizers and electronics back in Italy. BIG TIP!

Repress !

The long-awaited reissue of the best ever album of rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz music by this famous Hungarian guitarist
Gabor Szabo, originally released in 1968. For the first time as extended edition with 2 bonus tracks: radio versions of Fire Dance
/ Ferris Wheel from the 1969 7” single 7”. Deluxe 8-sided Digipak CD and Gatefold Vinyl come with long, exclusively written
inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne. Remastered by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios (UK).
Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep
love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy
Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still
living in his hometown. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way
to America, settling with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged
by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during
melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the
energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and
"Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the
brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of
rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more
commercially oriented forms of jazz.
During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style.
From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop,
Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform
brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

*TIP!*
A compilation of old cassette demos from the beginning of 80's plus few new tracks.

All very exclusive and maximally random. Compiled by a 80-90-2000-influencer, punk zine maker and record collector Piitu Lintunen.

Erstpressung auf pinkem Vinyl. "Breaking The Balls Of History" ist das insgesamt zehnte Album von QUASI, das am zehnten Februar, zehn Jahre nach ihrer letzten Platte, erscheint. Drei Zehner, was sich mit den dreißig Jahren deckt, die sie zusammenspielen. Sam Coomes und Janet Weiss sind zu Ikonen des pazifischen Nordwestens geworden, und QUASI hat sich immer so beständig angefühlt - ihre dauerhafte Freundschaft so generativ, ihre Energie unendlich, jedes Album rauer und eingängiger und wilder und lustiger als das letzte. Aber wir haben uns geirrt, QUASI jemals für selbstverständlich zu halten. Eine Zeit lang dachten sie, dass das komplizierte "Mole City" von 2013 ihr letztes Album sein könnte. Sie würden mit einem großartigen Album abtreten und weiterziehen. Dann, im August 2019, krachte ein Auto in Janets Haus und brach ihr beide Beine und das Schlüsselbein. Dann kam ein tödlicher Virus über uns, und niemand wusste, wann oder ob Live-Musik, wie wir sie kannten, jemals wieder würde stattfinden können. "There's no investing in the future anymore", erkannte Janet. "The future is now. Do it now if you want to do it. Don't put it off. All those things you only realize when it's almost too late. It could be gone in a second." Während des Lockdowns standen die Straßen von Portland still, Flugzeuge verschwanden, wilde Tiere tauchten auf. Und mit der ausgelöschten Normalität kam ein unerwartetes Geschenk: ununterbrochene Zeit, Stunden am Tag, um Kunst zu machen. QUASI konnten nicht auf Tournee gehen, also hatten sie eine Idee: Sie taten so, als wären sie auf Tournee und spielten jeden Tag zusammen. Jeden Nachmittag verschanzten sich Sam und Janet in ihrem winzigen Übungsraum und kanalisierten die Verwirrung und Absurdität dieser fremden neuen Welt in Songs. Sie beschlossen, dass sie die Songs live und gemeinsam aufnehmen würden, um einen Moment einzufangen. Das unglaubliche Ergebnis dieser Sessions ist "Breaking The Balls Of History", aufgenommen in fünf Tagen und produziert von John Goodmanson. Hier sind zwei Künstler*innen in ihrer Blütezeit, jede*r ein menschlicher Fundus an musikalischem Wissen und Erfahrung, völlig unverwechselbar in ihrem Songwriting und Sound. In der QUASI-Form wird die Band alchemistisch noch größer als die Summe ihrer Teile. Mitten in einem katastrophalen sozialen und politischen Moment haben sie exquisite, melodische Songs geschaffen, die vor Wut, wildem Humor und Intelligenz nur so sprühen, angetrieben von einem großen, zerschundenen, pochenden Herzen. "A last long laugh at the edge of death", singt Sam zu Beginn des Albums, und dieser fröhliche Trotz - der genauso gut der Logbuch-Eintrag unserer Gegenwart sein könnte - gibt den Ton für die kommenden Songs an. Es klingt düster, und das ist es auch, weil es sich dem Moment stellt. Aber es ist auch eine Platte, die vor Energie, Vergnügen und Freude nur so strotzt.

American dancehall vocalist Sluggy Ranks was part of a growing dancehall movement in the '90s which emphasized cultural roots and positive messages instead of "slack" artists' obsessions with sex and violence. Ranks was born in Kingston and grew up in its Ray Town section, attending the same primary school as Wayne Wonder. Ranks began his singing career in the mid- to late '80s, coming to the U.S. to record the beginning of a series of Jamaican hit singles that included "95% Black 5% White" and his signature song, "Ghetto Youth Bust." Ranks later re-recorded both songs for his full-length 1994 album, Ghetto Youth Bust, which was produced by King Jammy and issued in the U.S. on Profile Records. While the majority of Ranks' most significant output through the '90s was largely issued on singles (and thus not very accessible to most American listeners), he also cut albums like Just Call Sluggy and 1999's My Time.

Sämtliche Songs des Nachfolgers ihres von der Kritik hochgelobten Debütalbums TAKE ME APART, das Kelelas Aufstieg in den Mainstream beschleunigte, wurden von ihr selbst geschrieben, arrangiert und zusammen mit Asmara co-produziert, während das Ambient-Duo OCA (Yo Van Lenz & Florian T. M. Zeisig) und LSDXOXO, neben Bambii, als Hauptproduzenten des Albums gelten. Auf RAVEN taucht Kelela aus den Gezeiten der ozeanischen Umlaufbahn ihres höheren Selbst auf, um Autonomie, Zugehörigkeit und Selbsterneuerung als Heilung zu erkunden. Die beiden Singles 'Washed Away' und 'Happy Ending' wurden von Pitchfork bereits als 'Schaufenster ihres schwebenden Soprans' und Beweis für ihren 'gehauchten, anmutigen Gesang' gefeiert. Mit ihren talentierten Bewegungen zwischen den Frequenzen von R&B und Dance Music konnte sich Kelela als künstlerische Interpolatorin von Musik, Kunst und Mode etablieren. Ihre Frühwerke CUT 4 ME (2013) und HALLUCINOGEN (2015) zementierten sie als führende Kraft in der alternativen Underground-R&B- und Elektronikwelt und eröffneten ihr Kollaborationen mit weiteren visionären Künstler*innen wie Solange, Gorillaz, Andrew Thomas Huang und Danny Brown. Mit ihrer durchdachten Mischung aus Eleganz, Futurismus, Göttlichkeit und Sinnlichkeit hat sich Kelela einen Weg gebahnt, der Stil sowohl als Bestandteil der Kunst als auch als Kunst an sich demonstriert.

Ltd. Clear Vinyl 2LP+DL

Sämtliche Songs des Nachfolgers ihres von der Kritik hochgelobten Debütalbums TAKE ME APART, das Kelelas Aufstieg in den Mainstream beschleunigte, wurden von ihr selbst geschrieben, arrangiert und zusammen mit Asmara co-produziert, während das Ambient-Duo OCA (Yo Van Lenz & Florian T. M. Zeisig) und LSDXOXO, neben Bambii, als Hauptproduzenten des Albums gelten. Auf RAVEN taucht Kelela aus den Gezeiten der ozeanischen Umlaufbahn ihres höheren Selbst auf, um Autonomie, Zugehörigkeit und Selbsterneuerung als Heilung zu erkunden. Die beiden Singles 'Washed Away' und 'Happy Ending' wurden von Pitchfork bereits als 'Schaufenster ihres schwebenden Soprans' und Beweis für ihren 'gehauchten, anmutigen Gesang' gefeiert. Mit ihren talentierten Bewegungen zwischen den Frequenzen von R&B und Dance Music konnte sich Kelela als künstlerische Interpolatorin von Musik, Kunst und Mode etablieren. Ihre Frühwerke CUT 4 ME (2013) und HALLUCINOGEN (2015) zementierten sie als führende Kraft in der alternativen Underground-R&B- und Elektronikwelt und eröffneten ihr Kollaborationen mit weiteren visionären Künstler*innen wie Solange, Gorillaz, Andrew Thomas Huang und Danny Brown. Mit ihrer durchdachten Mischung aus Eleganz, Futurismus, Göttlichkeit und Sinnlichkeit hat sich Kelela einen Weg gebahnt, der Stil sowohl als Bestandteil der Kunst als auch als Kunst an sich demonstriert.

It could only have happened in Detroit. It was in the ashes of this Detroit, that Tribe Records was born - a community-led platform where artists took control of marketing, promoting, and releasing their own music. Two original founding members, saxophonist Wendell Harrison and trombonist Phil Ranelin, are still active in the Detroit jazz community, and act as global ambassadors for the Tribe legacy. In the years that have followed, the path Tribe blazed has become the blueprint for generations of independent artists. With the upcoming release of Ranelin and Harrison"s joint entry in the Jazz Is Dead series, they continue the mission of Tribe to provide "a new dimension in cultural awareness".

Known for their dynamic sound and complex song structures, De Beren Gieren deliver an extravagant blend of polyrhythmic soundscapes and elitist twists, showing an ability to change mood in a way that constantly holds the listener’s attention. They effortlessly shift from more rigidly styled compositions to improvised sections and thus reveal the pulsating and ominous futuristic sound of a new world.

Produced by Dijf Sanders and Frederik Segers, ‘Less Is Endless’ is an ode to a universe teeming with life. Seen as an extension to the critically acclaimed 2017 album ‘Dug Out Skyscrapers’, it searches for vents through which life can emerge and evolve. The secret of communicating creativity can be found in the cultivation of the unfinished; the missing piece of the puzzle tickles the imagination more than the perfect end result.

From the psychotropic opener ‘A Funny Discovery’ and off-kilter piano rhythms of ‘Animalcules’ to the impressionist melodies and harmonic soundscapes of ‘Tuin’, De Beren Gieren give the music the space to breath and grow with every unexpected twist and turn. Elsewhere, ‘Guggenheim House’ is a lesson in the avant-garde, while ‘Gentse Leugentjes’ is a far cry from the traditional piano-bass-drum set-up, before the affecting ‘Moments Never a Moment’ and 18-minute ‘A Random Walk’ is an adventure in improvisation and electronics that defies any logical convention.

Forming in 2009, Fulco Ottervanger (piano, fx, synths), Lieven Van Pée (double bass, electric bass) and Simon Segers (drums, fx) quickly built a reputation across the Benelux region with their ‘must-see’ live shows and have since taken their transcendental live energy across Europe, Morocco and Japan and have performed at North Sea Jazz, Jazz Middelheim, Trondheim Jazzfestival, Ljubljana Jazz Festival, Moers Festival, Gent Jazz, Kanazawa Jazz Street and Eurosonic.

The trio’s breakthrough came with second album ‘A Raveling’ (2013) which received rave reviews, and the following year, a live recording with Portuguese trumpet player Susana Santos Silva was released as ‘The Detour Fish’ (2014) on the Clean Feed label, gaining De Beren Gieren further widespread recognition. Their 2015 release ‘One Mirrors Many’ was lauded by Dutch magazine Jazzism and signalled the beginning of their electronic quest, finding its maturity in ‘Dug Out Skyscrapers’ (2017). In 2019, they celebrated their 10th anniversary, releasing the limited edition ‘Broensgebuzze EP’.

De Beren Gieren have collaborated with renowned jazz artists including Louis Sclavis, Ernst Reijseger, Joachim Badenhorst, Marc Ribot, Jan Klare and Jean-Yves Evrard.

It seems fitting that a trilogy of albums celebrating nature should conclude some eight years after its second chapter. Manchester-via-Todmorden based instrumental trio Plank’s first two LPs – 2012’s kosmiche-inspired Animalism and 2014’s more expansive and structurally disruptive follow-up Hivemind – enjoyed relatively quick gestation periods. However, Plank are firm believers in letting nature run its course, and so it is that their third LP Future of the Sea arrives early in 2023. “I always knew I wanted to make three albums inspired by nature” says Plank main-man David Rowe (synths / guitar). “Future of the Sea is another exploration into odd time signatures and traditional rock instruments alongside synths and electronics.”

“Future of the Sea is a celebration of the power and majesty of our oceans and how humankind has been destroying them through industrial scale fishing and global warming” says Rowe. “Rachel Carson put it more eloquently in her book The Sea Around Us: ‘It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.’” A post apocalyptic underwater city scape adorns the cover in an illustration by Jake Blanchard, whose work you'll also see on Richard Dawson's latest album 'The Ruby Cord'.
The synthetic nature of Plank’s sprawling rock odysseys feel at their most pronounced on Future of the Sea which leans to the band’s love of Pink Floyd era Meddle, Camel, film score composers like John Carpenter and Vangelis, 70s experimentalists Harmonia, 1980s King Crimson and 90s post-rock adjacent group Tortoise. In polyrhythmic dexterity if not heaviness, Plank also take some influence from Meshuggah, and it’s in their movement between the 16 minute final album track’s sections that it feels most prominent. They swerve from crunching stoner rock jams to more ambient spatial explorations, crescendoing progressive peaks, 80s synth pop and finally a crushing riff-laden finale.

The third compilation (of four instalments) in the Various Artists catalogue of Pi Electronics is hitting physical and digital stores around the globe on the 10th of February 2023.

The concept of releasing artists, who performed at Pi parties (2014-2019) along with musicians who stood close to the label before and during its activity, gathers 18 tracks to the Limitation Compilation.

Music by New York City industrial legend Adam X, Swedish master mind producer Peder Mannerfelt and Irish Techno figure, Eomac (also one half of Lakker) finally takes its place on the label catalogue, along with tracks by the electro side of Italian born producer, Alessandro Adriani and the sound-aesthetic of UK hailing musicians, Slave to Society (formerly AnD ) and Sam KDC.

Berlin artists Alekzandra and Interviews appear with a synth leaning piece, and a hypnotic, broken techno contribution respectively.

You can also meet the sound of Tel Aviv's finest electro duo TV.OUT on this release, which also includes a rare collaboration track by Ireen Amnes and Gramrcy.

Finally, 'Limitation' presents music by Greece affiliated acts of different backgrounds: from the dreamy guitars of Monochromatic Visions and the ambient/drone of Devika, to the broken beats of Zevla and the rolling techno of Thanos Hana; Not to mention the textures of noise band Phallucipher, the industrial slo mo techno of Thessaloniki's, Archaic Intellect, and the noise-techno of label founder, 3.14.

A crossroad of different genres and production styles is offered in the formats of Double Vinyl Sampler, Double CD and digital for this compilation, titled "Limitation".

HALFTONE The future of heavy bass music has always found its portal via SATURATE! Records, and now alongside WAVECRAFT, we have another glimpse into infinity in the form of HALFTONE! From the onset of this compilation, you can feel the ominous bass ballast even before it first hits you…. Swelling up like a tsunami to engulf your brain with grinding terror. The heaviness is abundant across these tracks, with contributions from synth destroyers like Suahn, Kryptt and Low Poly melting your speakers and eardrums alike. Dark atmospherics rule the day here, which effectively sets the tone for the rabid roughness on display when the bass morphology takes hold of each track so mercilessly. Slow knuckle draggers and upbeat head bangers both hold dominion in this realm, leaving no sonic stone unturned. Always at the crest of the future music wave, HALFTONE shows you just how deep this rabbit hole can get.