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"Kindred spirits and loyal soldiers on the frontlines of the dub war Detroit's 2Lanes and Los Angeles' Cromie link up to present to the world, Destiny Cloud. With a project name inspired by a mystical vacant storefront in Cromie's neighborhood of Altadena (still standing after the fires, bless), the guys formed like a storm after being intro'd by a notorious LA promoter and hotboy producer matchmaker. Funnily enough, the first session was foiled by a missing cable, so it wasn't until the sexy summer of 2023 that the cloud seeds that went on to become Sun Phase/Moon Phase were planted. From the jump, their vision was lucid and their objective collective: lock in at the stu(s) to make the most jiggy, psychedelic, tripped out club shit they could muster. Fast forward to today, Destiny Cloud is proud to bring you the latest missive on 2Lanes' Auto Shop imprint.

On the A side, Sun Phase sets it off with searing stabs from the hands of session killer Ji Hoon on a heavenly Jupiter-8 (sorry not sorry, the real thing does sound better) before a bassline straight off the Adriatic's Argonaughty comes in to funk up the flow over a bed swung hi-hats and drum circle conga lines the Wickedest west coast house heads can appreciate (no hippy shit, but we ARE on Hipp-E's dick). A keep-it-simple-stupid *muah' organ line plays nice with a gang of embellishments to take this one through its duration (Joey pressed record and said "ooh-wah" into the vocoder; no lie, I was there). With his Toxic Love remix, NYC upstart DJ John Brooklyn injects the tune with the highest grade octane to up the revs. The aforementioned organ becomes a timeless trance lead, and new pipes are inserted reminding us all that house music is forever.

Day turns to night on the B Side with Moon Phase, where booming kicks let you know off the rip that this is some real deal late night trunk funk. We're talking dualities here y'all; Cromie's deep-as-the-Pacific bassline meets Joey's frozen-lake-cold Detroit stabs as the drums speak in tongues with those on the other side of the slab. Reverb ghosts and rhythmic acid have this one veering more psychedelic without losing the jiggy factor, while diving proggy synths will have the Global Underground saying, "yea this is our shit, for real." With a run time that allows for maximum fun time, the ambient outro gives you a kiss on the forehead to put that ass to sleep. The iconic DJ Miss Parker takes the wheel on the remix, taking this one straight down the Tunnel with new-school/true-school Tenaglia-isms that wouldn't sound out of place in 2000, 2005 or 2025.

Like all the work we do, this one's a team effort. Salar Ansari put's his deft touch on the mixdowns and Jack Anderson blesses the center of both sides of the disc. Out mid-May, just in time for when things start heating up

At long last, Q Lazzarus says hello to Dark Entries. Q Lazzarus is the moniker of Diane Luckey, born in New Jersey in 1960. While living in the East Village in New York City in the 1980s, Diane met songwriter Bill Garvey at a party and they recorded “Goodbye Horses” in his home studio. As the story goes, Luckey met Hollywood director Jonathan Demme when she picked him up in her taxi during a snowstorm in 1986. Demme was wowed by her demo tape, which was playing in the cab, and they ended up hanging out at a restaurant for hours talking about life and music. “He liked it so much, I gave him the tape I was listening to, he said he would call me for one of his movies, but I didn’t really take it seriously.” said Luckey. Demme would have the song “Goodbye Horses” first appear in his offbeat comedy Married to the Mob, and then again more memorably in Silence of the Lambs when Buffalo Bill changes into women’s clothing while drowning out his intended victim’s pleas with loud music. Despite the exposure, both Luckey and Garvey languished in relative obscurity. “Goodbye Horses” is the definition of a cult classic, an ethereal tearjerker driven by Garvey’s lush synth work and Luckey’s unmistakably powerful voice. Garvey says, “the song is about transcendence over those who see the world as only earthly and finite.”

Over 15 years of effort have gone into the making of this release. All five songs on this record were previously unreleased and are sourced from original master tapes. The extended version of “Goodbye Horses” was newly mixed from the original stems by Alberto Hernandez at Fantasy Studios. Instrumental and acapella versions of the song are included, which are also available for the first time. Side B opens with “Hellfire,” a brooding number about the New York BDSM nightclub of the same name, showcasing the range and force of Luckey’s voice. “Summertime” follows, with a sauntering synth-reggae spin on the 1937 George Gershwin number. Both B-side tracks are also new mixdowns and edits from the original stems. This record is released alongside Eva Aridjis Fuentes’s documentary on Q Lazzarus, Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, a work chronicling the life of the enigmatic Luckey. It is an opportune moment to reflect on the underrecognized artists we have lost and the undeniable brilliance of both Diane Luckey and William Garvey.

Indian-born British composer Cephas Azariah presents his highly anticipated debut album, a 12-track neo-classical LP 'Joy Paradox' to Reflections. Cephas was always drawn to classical composition, he studied Music Theology and the Arts at Middlesex university and began composing soundtracks for film right away. He drew on the full spectrum of his influences to write his debut album, including neo-classical, ambient and cinematic, and wrote it in his home studio with a piano he bought off Facebook Marketplace. "I finished it all in Scotland in a cabin by the lochs," he says. "It was a beautiful way to wrap it up." Every track on Cephas Azariah's 'Joy Paradox' has a story, tending to resolve personal conflicts through music, with each piece acting as a gentle unravelling of inner unrest. "This project is a summary of thirty years of life, and a realisation that you can't have good things without sacrifice," Cephas says. "Achieving success takes a certain level of suffering, and that's the paradox of joy."

A huge part of this exploratory new era was Aaron Dessner, who produced Light Sleeper. His isolated cabin studio Long Pond, in Hudson Valley, was once Bess' desktop background, but she never thought she would end up star-gazing on its veranda and noodling away on the same instruments used by her heroes, not to mention a certain pop star... The immediate trust between the pair clicked the moment Atwell walked through the doors of the iconic recording space; Dessner showed her around and then promptly left her alone to play on the many instruments at the heart of her favourite The National songs. As Atwell puts it, they seemed to speak the same musical language. "I trust his ear and I knew we had the same vision" she says.

Growing up is painful, brutal, and sometimes beautiful _ something Brooklyn-based indie-rock band Bedridden knows all too well. The band's name is even a nod to that ineffable period between childhood and the jagged edges of the real world. "When I was 21, I kind of lost my home," says frontman/guitarist Jack Riley. "I was couch-surfing. I was having a hard time.The next iteration in the band's maturation, then, is their debut, LP Moths Strapped To Eachother's Backs, 10 fuzzed-out (and sometimes gnarly) ruminations on dating, drugs, and survival out April 11 on Julia's War. The title came from a mysterious missive Riley received on astrology app Co-Star. "Last year I was way too reliant on other people _ my partner at the time, my friends," he says. "I was strapped to them in a weird way _ and flying in circles. This album is about that time."The current incarnation of Bedridden encompasses a patchwork of styles, influences, and friends Riley accumulated over the years. A Chicago native who first started making music at age five on a thrift-store guitar emblazoned with Kurt Cobain's name, Riley moved to New Orleans for college where he dabbled in punk before falling in love with shoegaze. There, he launched the first version of Bedridden. Sebastian Duzian (bass) _ a jazz musician and Pasadena native _ linked up with Riley in NOLA along with his bandmate, drummer Nick Pedroza. Pedroza, from Claremont, grew up on rock, metal, and jazz, honing his style after joining the band. Wesley Wolffe _ a guitarist fed on a steady diet of New Wave and `90s alt _ rounded out the crew just a few months back. Bedridden's previous lineup released their first EP, Amateur Heartthrob, in 2023 _ a noise-washed blend of shoegaze, DIY, and indie that Riley says is a "coming-of-age EP _ these formative stories about not having a bed, dating, being kind of a jackass. I was making fun of myself a lot." That release caught the attention of Douglas Dulgarian from Philly Label Julia's War (and TAGABOW), who signed them for Moths."Some of these songs have been around for years," says Riley, adding that they were recorded last February at Studio G Brooklyn; the album was produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma). "As opposed to Amateur Heartthrob, we attempted to blend more clean guitars into a driving sound to capture more clarity _ one that also sounds live_ and raw," Riley says. That rawness thrums through the record, which kicks off with the thrashed "Gummy," about an incident when Riley had to gently fend off a co-worker's unwanted advances while both drunk and high on an MDMA gummy. And then there's mournful rager "Etch," which sees Riley daydreaming about beating up a meddler in his personal life _ in the minor key.The annihilating "Chainsaw" revs in next, a lightning-fast Lemonheads-inspired track that recalls Riley moving in with new roommates who were unnaturally obsessed with purchasing a lamp. "For some reason that pissed me off," he laughs; that rage is evident in the album cover, which shows said power tool demolishing a lampshade. Heavy-shredding "Heaven's Leg" showcases the band's affinity for `90s mainstays like Smashing Pumpkins while telling the tale of a gig at a local church. "The lyrics are about a pastor I had met that had lost his leg," Riley says. "The church had signs about not cussing and I had a feeling that neither of us had anything to talk about without potentially offending the other."The band's not afraid to get confrontational, though, on the anger-fueled, drum-heavy "Philadelphia, Get Me Through," which deals with a dead-end relationship and the mistaken assumption that getting drunk in the titular city would be a balm against the pain. And the nasty, brutist, and short hardcore-adjacent "MainStage"? "It's about being disrespected at a show on New Year's and how I lashed out," Riley says. "I then began to take it out on other people, which was a quality that I despise."Things get contemplative and mournful from here on out _ the emo-edged "Snare" is about bringing flowers to a hospital room where you're not welcome, while the Smiths-inspired "Uno" wrestles with self-loathing. "I guess the big finale of that song was my response to dealing with this recurring experience of feeling like I wasn't good enough by getting really into whippets," Riley says. Nu-metal bop "Bonehead," then, recalls an embarrassing dinner that turned into an argument _ the name applies both to that incident and the delicious simplicity of the guitar parts.After all that turmoil and pain, the band caps everything off with their eyes to the future on the jangle-pop "Ring Size." "All my friends are getting married _ do I follow in their footsteps? Or is it all a waste of time?" Riley says of the song. "At the end, through it all, I guess that's what I've been trying to figure out _ how to grow up, how to move on. I'm trying to navigate things as an adult and I'm not very good at it. But this is just the first record. This is just the beginning."And, hey, at least now he has a bed.

Legendary shoegaze band Chapterhouse will share their first ever recordings on a new EP, White House Demos, released via Sonic Cathedral on May 9.The four tracks were laid down at The White House studio in Weston-super-Mare on January 15, 1989, when the band were only four gigs old. "They were the first songs we wrote as a band," says the band's singer and guitarist Stephen Patman. "At the time our live set consisted of Stooges and '60s garage-psych cover versions which we mixed with these original songs." The tracks weren't included on 2023's career-spanning Chronology boxset because they had been forgotten about - until the intervention of Slowdive guitarist Christian Savill. He and Patman worked together in an office in Reading as their respective bands were starting out and he says the demo remains "their best record"."When the boxset was released, Christian got in touch and reminded me of these demos and how much he loved them," says Stephen. "He was probably the first person I gave a cassette copy to. He still rehearses and records at The White House and was going in for a session the following week, so I asked if he could ask the owner/engineer Martin Nichols to check if he still had them in his archive. Thankfully he did." Of the four tracks that make up the EP, `Ecstasy' has appeared in various versions and permutations on Chapterhouse compilations over the years, but never in its full eight-minute glory; a much later version of `Guilt' was included on the band's 1991 debut album and shoegaze classic Whirlpool; a version of `Die Die Die' was also included with that album on a bonus 12", and remained part of the band's live set for a while. The stunning `See That Girl', however, has never been released before. With 36 years of distance, it sounds like something of a lost classic, and the White House Demos as a whole feel like a brief moment in time captured forever.

"My Last Star" began as a dream that Greg Lee of Hepcat had the week before his death in March of 2024. Greg dreamed of a Slackers song. The Slackers have completed this song, and now the world can hear this truly one of a kind collaboration. In Greg's dream, an old neighbor picked him up in a classic car, turned on the stereo, and played a Slackers song that - at the time - did not exist on our plane of reality. It sounds like the stuff of myth, but the song was so crystal clear in the dream that when he awoke around 2 or 3 in the morning, he immediately wrote down the lyrics he had heard, still humming the tune. "I hadn't seen Greg so excited about a new song in a very long time," says Lee's longtime partner, Mandie Becker. "I found the lyrics when I was organizing his things. I knew he had a voice recording on his phone, too. I decided the best situation was to offer it to The Slackers so we could all hear the song on the stereo from Greg's dream." "I was floored when I received Greg's vocal demo with the lyrics and I vowed to finish the song and make the dream a reality," says Slackers saxophonist Dave Hillyard. "I took the vocal demo to The Slackers, Vic Ruggiero harmonized it, and we wrote music around the words. With this song we came full circle. Greg had given us a gift and we needed to give it back to his family, friends, and musical community. We are the medium for his message." The longer history behind this collaboration is a story of decades of friendship, collaboration, artistry, and mutual respect between LA's Hepcat and NYC's The Slackers, who although from opposite coasts, have both been leading lights and creative forces in the underground ska scene since the early 1990s. Both Hepcat and The Slackers concerned themselves with timeless songwriting that paid homage to the longstanding roots of the music. It is an extraordinary final work envisioned by a beloved and thoughtful musician of the highest caliber and completed by longtime friends and collaborators he knew from the moment of inspiration were the ones that would play it. It is literally a dream come true. "My Last Star" is available as a 12" UV Printed Vinyl Single from Pirates Press Records, with art by The Slackers' in-house artist Catt Gould. The 12" also includes instrumental and dub versions of the song. As a matter of fact, snippets of Greg's original vocal demo from his phone are subtly mixed in toward the end of the instrumental version, underscoring his posthumous presence on the record. Greg's songwriting royalties, as well as a portion of the proceeds from the sales of "My Last Star," will be passed on to his four daughters.

Full throttle from Vancouver, BC to wherever the open road takes them The Vicious Cycles are BACK with their new LP Get Wrecked on Pirates Press Records! Before you even get the shrink wrap off the gatefold jacket, you can guess what kind of party you're in for. "Our pal Shakey Deal is the cover model," says Cycles head honcho Billy Bones. "A tuff looking scrub on a minibike says a lot about who we are." And who is that exactly? "We play garage/punk rock and roll songs about motorcycles. We like to have a good time." The promise of debauchery carries over into song titles like "Naked On a Beach," and "On Fire in the Hot Tub." As rip-roaring, danceable party music goes, it's second to none, and rest assured there's plenty of bike enthusiast inside baseball, but the lyrics often go deeper than a superficial glance might indicate. For example, the lead single, "Hold On Tight," is about, as Billy puts it, "the physical feeling of riding with your favorite person on the back of your motorcycle - easily one of the best feelings a human can have." So, a classic biker anthem? "But also," he's quick to add, "a metaphor for life and relationships. We're gonna make it." Waxing philosophical with motorcycles as allegory over chrome-plated punk rock 'n roll? That's The Vicious Cycles' songwriting in a nutshell. Another album highlight, "Daddy Was a Gambler" references Billy's father - an ex-preacher who regularly hauled his kids to Circus Circus in his '57 Chevy - and his mother, a nurse and, as Billy puts it, "as close to an actual saint as anyone in the world. The song is an appreciation for the two of them, and how their differences made me who I am." "Naked On A Beach" sounds like a party, but Billy explains it's "a critique of capitalism and the tiny lives we're expected - and sometimes content - to live." Even the title track, "Get Wrecked," is more than just a statement of defiance; it's a message to Billy's son about dealing with the conformist naysayers of the world. Longtime fans & newcomers alike will be stoked for the straightaways, but stick around for the twists and turns, just like any good ride. The band brings in pals on strings & saxophone for a 60s Wall of Sound-inspired production on "Black Boots, Black Leather Jacket," and try their hands at their first murder ballad on "Pretty Hands." There's an instrumental tune ("Blowing Smoke") and hell, there's even a deep cut cover of "Trouble Again" - originally performed by Stewart Copeland of The Police - which only the biggest nerds of a certain age will recall as the theme song to the 80s Star Wars animated series Droids! In the end, no matter the detours, the band - along with Jesse Gander (Territories, Comeback Kid), & Mariessa McLeod at Rain City Recorders - kept their eyes on the prize: sing-along choruses, handclaps, and short songs that get the job done and don't overstay their welcome. "I didn't want us to write a record that you could dance to." quips Billy. "I wanted us to write a record that you couldn't not dance to."

After "RUINER", "CLEAN" and "GOLD", Atlanta's noise juggernauts WHORES. return with fierce new album ,WAR". American Muscle to drown out the American Dream as it careens into the ditch_ "WAR" is a an album full of brazen rhythms, serpentine riffs, walls of feedback, and howls of contempt. It is an album that is as rowdy and boisterous as it is anxious and savage. "Helmet comparisons are understandable but Helmet wishes they sounded this authentic and convincing in 2024", Heavy Mag wrote in their rave review, and Rolling Stone included "WAR." in their 20 best metal records of 2024. "It pisses me off when people talk shit about us. They don't know the lengths I go through to keep this band going" says guitarist/vocalist Christian Lembach in an interview with New Noise Magazine on why it's taken eight years between albums. Personal issues, accidents and then the pandemic presented obstacles for the band. Lembach injured both of his knees and tore the meniscus in his right one, and he broke both elbows and his ribs in an accident at his day job. WHORES. have dealt with setbacks that would have killed other bands, but instead it's made them stronger. And Lembach's high standards haven't exactly accelerated the making of "WAR": "It takes a while because I need to make a record I can stand behind. I just don't want to put anything out to just do it. I never think the one I'm working on is a masterpiece. To me the masterpiece is the next one", he says. "Lyrics are the most important part to me. Not the riffs not the song structures but the actual words" Lembach elaborates. "I always have the title before I write the lyrics. All the lyrics and song titles fit thematically into the album title. In this case I did a lot of soul searching. I was trying to figure out what it takes to be happy. I had to confront the ugly parts of myself. The title isn't political, it's about conquering the ugly parts of yourself." "WAR" is a battering ram of a live band, slugging like a doomsday clock towards midnight. Originally self-relased in 2024, we are happy to finally release in Europe what we're sure will become a noise rock genre-classic. PRESS "time is just a construct and Whores. are forever" - Everything Is Noise " ein weiterer musikalischer Schlag in die Magengrube" - Visions 10/12 " Frontman Christian Lembach is not so much a singer as a verbal assailant a spitting cobra of a human who leaves you drenched in his venomous wordplay." - Heavy Mag FOR FANS OF CHAT PILE, HELMET, HIGH ON FIRE, KEN MODE, INTERCOURSE, UNSANE, NAILS

After "RUINER", "CLEAN" and "GOLD", Atlanta's noise juggernauts WHORES. return with fierce new album ,WAR". American Muscle to drown out the American Dream as it careens into the ditch_ "WAR" is a an album full of brazen rhythms, serpentine riffs, walls of feedback, and howls of contempt. It is an album that is as rowdy and boisterous as it is anxious and savage. "Helmet comparisons are understandable but Helmet wishes they sounded this authentic and convincing in 2024", Heavy Mag wrote in their rave review, and Rolling Stone included "WAR." in their 20 best metal records of 2024. "It pisses me off when people talk shit about us. They don't know the lengths I go through to keep this band going" says guitarist/vocalist Christian Lembach in an interview with New Noise Magazine on why it's taken eight years between albums. Personal issues, accidents and then the pandemic presented obstacles for the band. Lembach injured both of his knees and tore the meniscus in his right one, and he broke both elbows and his ribs in an accident at his day job. WHORES. have dealt with setbacks that would have killed other bands, but instead it's made them stronger. And Lembach's high standards haven't exactly accelerated the making of "WAR": "It takes a while because I need to make a record I can stand behind. I just don't want to put anything out to just do it. I never think the one I'm working on is a masterpiece. To me the masterpiece is the next one", he says. "Lyrics are the most important part to me. Not the riffs not the song structures but the actual words" Lembach elaborates. "I always have the title before I write the lyrics. All the lyrics and song titles fit thematically into the album title. In this case I did a lot of soul searching. I was trying to figure out what it takes to be happy. I had to confront the ugly parts of myself. The title isn't political, it's about conquering the ugly parts of yourself." "WAR" is a battering ram of a live band, slugging like a doomsday clock towards midnight. Originally self-relased in 2024, we are happy to finally release in Europe what we're sure will become a noise rock genre-classic. PRESS "time is just a construct and Whores. are forever" - Everything Is Noise " ein weiterer musikalischer Schlag in die Magengrube" - Visions 10/12 " Frontman Christian Lembach is not so much a singer as a verbal assailant a spitting cobra of a human who leaves you drenched in his venomous wordplay." - Heavy Mag FOR FANS OF CHAT PILE, HELMET, HIGH ON FIRE, KEN MODE, INTERCOURSE, UNSANE, NAILS

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

Hey, hard rock and metal fans—ready for another classic, early ‘90s album that never before made it to vinyl here in the States? Did we hear you say “Yeah!?” Then may we present Tyketto: Don’t Come Easy! This is another great, rockin’ record that got lost in the grunge craze that swept the music industry, and, just like our recent reissue of Wildside’s Under the Influence, it’s the debut release from a band that should have blown up much bigger than they did. You no doubt remember their single “Forever Young;” but the rest of the album offers melodic hard rock of the highest order, especially on tracks like “Burning Down Inside” and the power ballad “Standing Alone.” Excellent vocal work from former Waysted frontman Danny Vaughn, too. Remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision…teal with white swirl vinyl, complete with printed inner sleeve!

Hausu Mountain continues the HausLive series of live show recordings that capture some of the headiest moments in Chicago underground music. On HausLive 4, we rewind the clock approximately one year to May 3rd, 2024 at Constellation, where the all-star Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet (featuring Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Shane Parish) made their barn-burning Chicago debut. The series channels the spirit of the informal bootlegging and tape trading of audience recordings as pioneered by the community surrounding the Grateful Dead, honing in on the raw live energy and in-the-moment emotions that can make any show stand out in the stream of time. HausLive 4 catches the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet in a sublime state of tour-hardened synergy with one another as they tear through the four-string guitar compositions that Orcutt wrote for his album Music for Four Guitars (Palilalia Records, 2022) with dialed-in fingers-on-fretboard precision, while also letting those songs evolve into flights of improvisation and extend into solo and duo passages led by each of the four guitarists. As Orcutt says on tape during one of the show’s interludes, “that record is thirty minutes; this show is an hour, so we’re improvising.” The resulting free-wheeling moments combine with the rigidity of Orcutt’s meticulous four-guitar compositions to form a program of music that draws power in equal measure from the forces of chance and discipline.

"This album is all about the vertigo of growing up," says Jack, who makes his Dualtone Records debut with the sophomore release JVC. "It's about re-defining and re-understanding yourself." JVC was born during a period of anxiety, self-examination, and newfound freedom. The album features a re-imagined version of breakthrough single "Rattlesnake," this time as a duet with artist Zach Bryan. The track's introspective lyrics and atmospheric acoustics earned Jack a spot on Spotify's 2024 Best New Artist list with tastemaker playlist "juniper." JVC is a sharply-written record that measures the long, winding road from past to present.

'Trá Pháidín are an Irish nine piece collective from Conamara, Galway, a wild coastal region of West Ireland where Gaeilge remains the first language. The group are currently lighting up Ireland's underground with their joyful noise, a unique and unpredictable blend of traditional Irish folk, post-rock, jazz, and Dadaist absurdity. The glorious album An 424 takes us on a psychogeographical journey along the 424 bus route which follows this remote stretch of coastline, introducing us to the landscapes and the characters who depend on the buses. Expect wild improvisational flights filled with brass, woodwinds, harp and fiddles alongside relentless grooves.

Here's what the band themselves have to say about the album:

Psychogeography is a funny aul term......the effect geography and landscape of a certain area has on the psychology, identity and nature of the local people...........I suppose

Notoriously, Conamara is famous place for psychogeoraphy due to the work of the great Tom Robinson. He walked every coastline in every area contemplating the geography, culture, history, Gaelic language, English language and folklore of the area while he was drawing it's best map with great depth and detail.

Right, so I've given context, a few buzzwords and some interesting names, now it's time for the absurd stuff....

"Bóthar Chois Fharraige" (the R336 and whatever anglicized name they call it) is well known by everyone in the South Conamara Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht is an area where Irish/Gaeilge is the dominant language, there aren't many because we were colonized by the British and our government doesn't care about its own language). The people of Conamara travel this road almost every day by car, by bike, on Peadar Óg's buses or of course, through the medium of the 424 (the bus service provided by Bus Éireann, Ireland's public-private bus company). From Bearna to Carna (maybe sometimes a detour in Casla going as far back as an Cheathrú Rua and/or Leitir Mealláin)

Every passenger is well versed of gorgeous views of the landscape that is on offer on this journey. Included are Cuan na Gaillimhe/Galway Bay, An Bhoirinn/the Burren, na hOileáin Árann/the Arann Islands,Aillte an Mhothair/the Cliffs of Moher, Portach Mhaigh Cuilinn/the bogs of Maigh Cuilinn, Bóthar Loch an Iolra/Eagle lake road, Cuan Casla/Casla Harbour, Cuan an Fhir Mhóir/Greatman's Bay, Cnoc Mordáin/Mordáin hill, Sléibhte Mhám Toirc/the Maamturk Mountains and Na Beanna Beola/the twelve pins. Passengers would also be well used the unique character of the bus. Depending on the day, you will get a unique perspective of the "complicated identity" of the Gaels as the bus travels from the Gaeltacht into anglophone Ireland, or maybe going the other way.

This is a topic you could write a PhD about (and maybe someone already has). But, if you are someone who grew up or lives in this region, you have a particular understanding at this stage of how complicated Gaelic psyche is and the kind of spectrum of identity along bóthar Choise Fharraige. With the landscape in mind, this bus journey is a great meditation of the various topics of life.

‘Bhfuil tionchar ag an mbus ar nádúr na ndaoine?
Nó an bhfuil tionchar ag na daoine ar nádúr an bhus?'

'Does the bus effect the nature of the people?
Or do the people affect the nature of the bus?'

Le gach dea-ghuí,
TP.

(translated from Gaeilge by Peadar-Tom Mercier)'

Once regarded as an up-and-comer to watch, it’s fair to say that the past eighteen months have seen Dutch DJ/producer and live artist Locklead establish himself as one of the most in-demand artists emerging onto the global house stage. From his collaborative ‘Across Boundaries’ with close friend Chris Stussy to music via Dungeon Meat, Pilot, and Up The Stuss, the Utrecht-based talent has set his stall and is showing no signs of slowing. Adding to a first outing on sister label LOCUS two years ago, April welcomes a big debut appearance on FUSE as head honcho Enzo Siragusa invites him to the label for the first time to release his latest EP, ‘Kemickal Affairs’.
Opening the record, A1 ‘Zero’s Delight’ is a funk-fulled and spacey ride armed with resonant chords and swirling leads, while ‘State of Peace’ is a blissful ride through rich yet driving house spheres and showcases the second of two heavily requested anthems that have been go-to records for the likes of Stussy and Siragusa over recent months. The flip sees title cut ‘Kemickal Affairs’ open the b-side with authority, as bumping kicks and slinking grooves go to work beneath swirling synth lines and hazy tones, before wrapping things up with more modulated goodness and off-kilter vocal snippets on the chunky and trippy ‘Morning Krew’ - expect this to come out to play in those weird and wonky early-hours afters!

DJ Feedback:

Laurent Garnier - Very cool Ep

Jamie Jones (Hot Creations / Paradise) - Feeling this.

Joseph Capriati (REDIMENSION) - nice, will try soon. thanks !

Seth Troxler (Circoloco / Lost Souls Of Saturn) - lov

Paul Woolford / Special Request - State Of Peace is a killer house record, lovely chords and groove, thanks!!

Stacey Pullen (Blackflag Recordings / Transmat) - COOL THANKS!

Chris Stussy (Up The Stuss) - already on heavy rotation for the last couple of months, absolute heat!!

Rossi. (HOMEGROWN. / NO ART / LOCUS) - Immense music :)

Listeners will drift through soundscapes with even greater expanses than before as Geir Sundstøl releases his new album, Sakte Film,. This marks Sundstøl’s sixth solo album on Hubro and his tenth anniversary as a solo artist. Geir Sundstøl has had a rich and varied career, to say the least. Within the HUBRO universe, his music has remained a pillar for years, and Sakte Film is no exception. However, this release embraces a broader scope, with multiple layers of strings that create even more room for resonance and exploration. Sundstøl explains: - What sets this album apart from my previous ones is, first and foremost, the string arrangements. Erik Sollid, Sunniva Shaw, Håkon Brunborg, and Mari Persen have contributed with violin, viola, and cello, adding a new dimension.
Geir Sundstøl(born in 1969) is a Norwegian musician who plays a wide range of string instruments, including the marxophone, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, bouzouki, lap steel, banjo, and dobro, as well as harmonica and various keyboards. He is a highly sought-after and respected session musician and was awarded the Gammleng Prize in the studio category in 1994. In 2015, he released his first album under his own name, Furulund, which was nominated for the Spellemann Prize in the open category. He later won the Spellemann Prize in 2018 for his third album, Brødløs

Nothing is lost on Cash Langdon. It’s something you can hear in the observational lyrics of his last record, 2022’s Sinister Feeling; but on its follow-up, Dogs, you can also hear it in the camaraderie he cultivates playing live with his band Meadow Dust, a sonic energy that gives off the heat of his native Birmingham. The trio’s fuzzy take on heavy country rock has a worn-in no-fussiness that recalls Neil Young & Crazy
Horse – nothing overthought, nothing understated. And like Young, Langdon’s voice is simultaneously earnest and world-weary – but there’s a sense of humor, too, and a resignation to keeping on (“Dogs,” “Magic Again”). Recorded at Portside Studios (the former location of the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound) in just two days, engineer Brad Timko (Dan Sartain, St. Paul and The Broken Bones) captured Langdon and Meadow Dust at their fiercest yet. The title track “Dogs” and side B heater “Dead Dogs” both take inspiration from the wild dogs Langdon encountered in his neighborhood at the time of writing the record, where he wondered about the sick twist of fate that renders one dog a pet and another a threat. Across songs, he examines how oppressive cycles overlap, intersecting the personal and the societal at all times. The heavy yet melodic “Lilac Whiskey Noise” is the heartbeat of the record, written following an active shooter event that Langdon witnessed at work in 2016. It’s an indictment – not of the perpetrator – but of the systems of power that enable such an act. It’s a microcosm for all of the themes on the album, too: the ongoing violence of simply being awake to the world around you, and the resolve to stay awake anyway.
On the crunchy album-closer “Nothing’s Good Anymore,” Langdon sings about overhearing someone say just that – and you can tell he’s tempted to agree. He’s going to find what kernel of beauty he can. Dogs is a sonic map for finding that beauty in just about anything.

Oi Va Voi verbinden Dance-Grooves, Singer/Songwriter-Sensibilitäten und kosmopolitische Rhythmen aus Osteuropa und Nahost. Trotz (oder gerade wegen) der zerrissenen Zeiten strahlt ihr neues Album "The Water's Edge" Optimismus aus und weckt Erinnerungen an ihr bahnbrechendes Debüt "Laughter Through Tears" (BBC World Music Award, NYT Top 10 Alben 2003). Oi Va Voi sind bekannt für prominente Kollaborationen wie mit KT Tunstall, Bridgette Amofah (Rudimental) oder der Violinistin Anna Phoebe. "The Water's Edge" wurde zum Teil von Mike Spencer (Rudimental, Tom Walker, Ellie Goulding) produziert und erscheint auf dem eigenen Label Parallel Skies. Es ignoriert Kategorisierungen zugunsten dauerhafter musikalischer und sozialer Werte und ist ein Ausdruck der Notwendigkeit, Spaltungen hinter sich zu lassen und eine gemeinsame Menschlichkeit zu finden.

Oi Va Voi fuse dance grooves, singer-songwriter sensitivity and a rock’n’roll sensibility with the group’s Jewish cultural heritage and a cosmopolitan rhythmic inspiration drawn from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Despite the fractured times we are living in, a theme of optimism through pain is there throughout Oi Va Voi’s new album ‘The Waters Edge’.

We’re reminded of the title of the breakthrough first album, Laughter Through Tears. The Bacon & Quarmby-produced debut won a BBC World Music Award, was listed as a New York Times Top Ten Album Of The Year, and launched the career of a young KT Tunstall. The tradition of world-class musicianship continued with Bridgette Amofah (Rudimental) as the featured vocalist on Travelling the Face of The Globe, and noted violinist Anna Phoebe, who recorded and performed with the band for over a decade.

Every member evolves the Oi Va Voi sound; but through each change, the core themes and vision have remained constant. 2018’s album, Memory Drop, introduced the unique voice of Zohara Niddam, and it’s Zohara who returns here on The Water’s Edge, featuring on ‘Shine A Light’, ‘Lay Your Head’ and ‘Wave’. Also featuring across the new album is composer, violinist and singer Sarah Anderson, who co-wrote seven tracks on the album, with her emotionally poignant lyrics, evocative layered vocals and uplifting violin parts. Guitarist John Matts and Trumpeter David Orchant also return, with Orchant bringing deep colour and expression to the stirring waltz ‘Oceans’.

The album opener ‘Sad Dance’ was written after the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in early 2023 impacting many of the band’s friends, fans and colleagues. Finding themselves in the studio the day after the tragedy, the band searched for ways to respond. Sarah’’s mournful, pulsating violins create an ever evolving soundscape on top of which her own vocal, and Steve’s earthy clarinet express sorrow and hope. Says Sarah - “It’s about human connection - a metaphorical hand held through trauma, and the preservation of ‘old worlds’ through relics, reminding us of where we came from”.

‘Shine a Light’ was also a chance to welcome back producer Mike Spencer (Rudimental, Tom Walker, Ellie Goulding), who produced their second album. Here his Pop experience can be felt in the hooky dance loop, which you can hear becoming one of Oi Va Voi’s trademark live encores. Along with the melodic pop sheen of ‘Lay Your Head’, this song shows the band in an uplifting mood, pointing at the years of high-energy tours which have become their signature. These tracks, and the poignant ‘Josephine’, offer a release - a more escapist mood and a sign of the hope underneath everything.

Oi Va Voi have never been easy to categorise, and they’ve made a point of ignoring genre in favour of more enduring musical and social values. The Water’s Edge is the first album to be released on the band’s own Parallel Skies label, which will sign artists from a diversity of cultures, nations and musics in the coming years. The album title refers to an old custom from the Jewish New Year of going down to the waterside - casting off the baggage of the past, and letting it wash away on the tide. As the first release on this label it’s an expression of the need to put divisions behind us, and find a shared humanity.

»Carpet Of Fallen Leaves« is an introduction to the folk-pop world of Eddie Marcon. It follows in the footsteps of other collections of Japanese artists on Morr Music, such as yumbo, Andersens, and the »Minna Miteru« compilations. »Carpet Of Fallen Leaves« draws together songs from Eddie Marcon’s twenty-two-year history, including fragile, yet rich in melody material, collected from a prodigious run of limited edition, self-released CD-Rs.

Eddie Marcon is the project of Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon, who met through their involvement in Japan’s underground music scene. Eddie was a member of noise-rock duo Coa, while both Eddie and Marcon were part of psych-rock collective LSD-March. Forming in 2001, Eddie Marcon’s sound is markedly different from these groups, though they do, at times, share a sense of psychedelic dislocation, through the gentle, limpid pace of their songs. But with Eddie Marcon, melody and gentleness is at the music’s core.

They’ve long marked out their own, unique territory within a worldwide community of psych-folk and folk-pop artists; sharing their music through a subterranean network of colleagues and friends, they count groups like The Pastels and The Notwist as their fans, and Eddie has collaborated with the likes of Shintaro Sakamoto, and Aki Tsuyuko (in Tondekebana, and with Marcon and Ippei Matsui in the quartet Wasurerogusa). Eddie Marcon have also recently worked with drummer Ikuro Takahashi, who’s played with groups such as Fushitsusha, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, and Nagisa Ni Te.

Across the songs on »Carpet Of Fallen Leaves«, Eddie Marcon’s songs are performed by Eddie on guitar, organ and vocals, and Marcon on bass; they’re variously joined by Takahashi, Yojiro Tatekawa (drums), Tomoko Kageyama (vibraphone), Yasuhisa Mizutani (flute), Madoka Asakura (vocals), and Ztom Motoyama (pedal steel). The arrangements are pared back to best serve the core of each song, and the playing is gorgeous – fluent but not showy; capable of great intricacy, but aware that simplicity is key to direct communication.

Songs like »Mayonaka No Ongaku« stretch their limbs languidly, the music shivering with beauty as guitar and cymbal drift across Eddie’s poised vocal delivery. »Tora To Lion« began as an improvisation, but it’s become a firm favourite of the group’s fans: as Eddie says, »it has become a very important song for us, to the extent that it can be said to be our representative song.«

Perhaps the most moving thing about »Carpet Of Fallen Leaves«, though, is the way it captures the subtle yet significant moments of everydayness that ask for our attention. »Shoujo«, a song for a beloved cat who passed away, possesses rare emotional resonance. »At the end of the song,« Eddie remembers, »I wanted to have her throat rumbling endlessly.« When the song was cut, a television voice appeared behind the purring, saying ›thank you‹. »For us, it felt like words from Poco-chan, and tears came to our eyes.«

The Great Dismal, NOTHING’s new full-length album explores existentialist themes of isolation, extinction, and human behavior in the face of 2020’s vast wasteland. Closing in on the band’s ten-year mark, frontman Domenic Palermo finds himself stringing together songs of misanthropic tales of Philadelphia with a refined and refreshed take on NOTHING's classic sound. “The Great Dismal refers to a swamp, a brilliant natural trap where survival is custom fit to its inhabitants,” Palermo states. “The nature of its beautiful, but taxing environment and harsh conditions can’t ever really be shaken or forgotten too easily.” The ever progressive NOTHING keep true to their chaotic outlook on life, keeping a keen eye to avoid repetition. With a radical cast of talented contributors such as harpist Mary Lattimore, classical musician Shelley Weiss, and singer/songwriter/producer Alex G., The Great Dismal showcases yet another essential side of the band’s trademark American Post-Shoegaze.

**Gangster Music Vol.3: The Most Gangster Music Trilogy of All Time Comes to a Triumphant Close**

Imagine curating a dream lineup of MCs and producers from every corner of the rap world—sounds impossible, right? Not for artist and illustrator Gangster Doodles, who has been bringing this vision to life for the past decade. Now, with “Gangster Music Vol.3”, the trilogy reaches its grand finale, and it’s bigger, bolder, and more unpredictable than ever before.

Gangster Doodles himself puts it best:
"It’s hard to believe that I’ve been actively working on this Gangster Music series for the past 10 years. The most gangster music trilogy of ALL TIME is almost complete!! And in my humble opinion Vol.3 is the most exciting out of the 3, both from a music standpoint (special shout-out to all my music heroes on Vol.3) and artistically speaking this is the most fun I’ve had in years”

Since launching Volume 1 in 2019 and following up with the second volume in 2022, Gangster Doodles has been shaping the Gangster Music series into a one-of-a-kind sonic universe—an unfiltered mix of underground titans, unsung legends, and rising stars. Volume 3 is the biggest installment yet, boasting a staggering 30 tracks that traverse the entire spectrum of rap and beat culture.

This time around, the lineup is as eclectic as ever. From legendary pioneers like Lee Perry and Tommy Wright III, to veteran producers such as Mr. Scruff and Peanut Butter Wolf, the album pays homage to hip-hop’s roots while pushing forward into fresh territory. The roster also includes established up-and-comers like Devin Morrison, Low Leaf, DJ Harrison, Quelle Chris, Homeboy Sandman, and Suzi Analogue, ensuring a mix of classic flavors and new-school innovation. The bubbling underground is well represented too, with artists like Raz Fresco, Atlanta’s 645AR, and Pro Era’s Chuck Strangers bringing their own distinct heat.

From pioneering SoundCloud rappers like Pouya to genre-bending composer John Carroll Kirby, from Birmingham’s Romderful to Chile’s RVYO, the album encapsulates a truly global soundscape, proving once again that Gangster Doodles’ ear for cutting-edge talent is second to none.

As always, the cover art is a vital piece of the puzzle. This time, Bootleg Garfield & Friends take center stage, bringing the same playful irreverence that has defined Gangster Doodles’ artwork for years. Fans are encouraged to engage, remix, and make the cover their own, staying true to the spirit of interactive creativity that has always fueled the series.

After years of meticulous curation, countless DMs, emails, and behind-the-scenes wrangling, Gangster Music Vol.3 is here to complete the trilogy in legendary fashion. Expect boundary-pushing beats, next-level lyricism, and a lineup that celebrates hip-hop in all its many forms.

“Thanks to everyone who’s actively supported and continues to tap-in. Believe & trust when I say I've got more dope stuff cookin’. STAY TUNED!! GANGSTER DOODLES 4EVER. 1LUV."

Gangster Music Vol.3 is out April 7th on All City. Stay tuned, stay tapped in, and get ready for the most gangster music experience yet.

Team TD take a break from re-scoring Colin McCrae Rally to pay our own oddball homage to some of our DJ deities in the form of Talking Drums Volume 8.
Keeping things diverse-yet-disco, this little mover grooves through Muzic Box pump, Lofty symphonics and a Ku-curveball with a smile on its face and a pep in its step.

The A-side erupts in a flash of sexy Euro-NRG, twisted and lifted to give any sweatbox a massive Hardy-on. Sequencers throb, swell and burst, horns wail and not one, but two, killer basslines blast the floor with erogenous urgency. Chuck in a coquettish vocal, delay madness and a fist pumping breakdown and you've got pure peak-time play folks.

The B1 belongs to the sumptuous strings, loose funk and live disco strut of 'Too Hot'. Low slung, low tempo but plenty punchy, this classy cut builds and builds through Merc-y repetition before blooming a fully fledged groover. Taut funk breaks sit beneath a floor-filling vocal and twinkling Rhodes, the wah guitar works overtime, and it all adds up to take the dance floor temperature sky high. Enjoy on a hi-fi sound system with plenty of spiked punch.

The curtain call comes via the alfresco flamenco-frenzy of Ronseal-approved 'Maximum Balearic Dancer', which does exactly what it says on the tin. The TD troupe takes a tiny snippet of Swiss fusion and fleshes it out into the fully fledged floor-filler it always deserved to be. Blessed with a buoyant bassline and balmy mood, this beauty sways along through some weird but wonderful synth riffs, holding you close for that soul-soaring piano solo.
Sometimes you gotta wake up on a beach naked.

Limited Press - Numbered Insert - Drum Fun Guaranteed. .

Fly Anakin is a rapper and producer who approaches his craft in a way few contemporaries can. Vigilant yet unorthodox, DIY-minded yet prolific, the Richmond, Virginia multihyphenate’s razor-sharp lyrics, ear for soulful production, and collaborative synergy are the result of over a decade of fundamental mastery. Described by Madlib as “one of the illest MCs,” the Mutant Academy cofounder was in his pocket well ahead of his acclaimed solo debut, Frank (2022). After years of consistent releases with his collective, Anakin broke major ground in 2020 with his and Pink Siifu’s joint project FlySiifu’s, followed by their $mokebreak EP in 2021. A student of the East Coast’s golden age, Anakin transmutes its spirit into music that’s both classicist and pioneering, having worked with the likes of Freddie Gibbs, redveil, BbyMutha, and MAVI. With the release of a Mutant Academy debut album completed, and his solo album (The) Forever Dream imminent, Anakin has cemented his place as a leader in rap’s underground Renaissance.(The) Forever Dream commemorates a new era of freedom for Anakin, who rarely approaches bodies of work without a preconceived concept. Executive produced by Quelle Chris, the project, which features the likes of Denmark Vessey, The Alchemist, BbyMutha, and Pink Siifu, includes songs that Anakin believes are some of his most experimental and ambitious. “The album is me and Quelle kicking it, smoking, learning each other, and playing video games,” he says of the project’s inspiration and recording process. “It was time to make some mindless music, to tackle production I would’ve otherwise picked up.” The long anticipated project comes after years of Anakin and Quelle developing a strong rapport, stemming back to 2019. “Quelle is one of the best collaborators ever—he’s not biased but he knows what he likes, open minded but stubborn at the right times,” Anakin says of his collaborative relationship with the Grammy nominated producer. “On the low we just alike but polar opposites, we can do no wrong together.”

Fly Anakin is a rapper and producer who approaches his craft in a way few contemporaries can. Vigilant yet unorthodox, DIY-minded yet prolific, the Richmond, Virginia multihyphenate’s razor-sharp lyrics, ear for soulful production, and collaborative synergy are the result of over a decade of fundamental mastery. Described by Madlib as “one of the illest MCs,” the Mutant Academy cofounder was in his pocket well ahead of his acclaimed solo debut, Frank (2022). After years of consistent releases with his collective, Anakin broke major ground in 2020 with his and Pink Siifu’s joint project FlySiifu’s, followed by their $mokebreak EP in 2021. A student of the East Coast’s golden age, Anakin transmutes its spirit into music that’s both classicist and pioneering, having worked with the likes of Freddie Gibbs, redveil, BbyMutha, and MAVI. With the release of a Mutant Academy debut album completed, and his solo album (The) Forever Dream imminent, Anakin has cemented his place as a leader in rap’s underground Renaissance.(The) Forever Dream commemorates a new era of freedom for Anakin, who rarely approaches bodies of work without a preconceived concept. Executive produced by Quelle Chris, the project, which features the likes of Denmark Vessey, The Alchemist, BbyMutha, and Pink Siifu, includes songs that Anakin believes are some of his most experimental and ambitious. “The album is me and Quelle kicking it, smoking, learning each other, and playing video games,” he says of the project’s inspiration and recording process. “It was time to make some mindless music, to tackle production I would’ve otherwise picked up.” The long anticipated project comes after years of Anakin and Quelle developing a strong rapport, stemming back to 2019. “Quelle is one of the best collaborators ever—he’s not biased but he knows what he likes, open minded but stubborn at the right times,” Anakin says of his collaborative relationship with the Grammy nominated producer. “On the low we just alike but polar opposites, we can do no wrong together.”

Fly Anakin is a rapper and producer who approaches his craft in a way few contemporaries can. Vigilant yet unorthodox, DIY-minded yet prolific, the Richmond, Virginia multihyphenate’s razor-sharp lyrics, ear for soulful production, and collaborative synergy are the result of over a decade of fundamental mastery. Described by Madlib as “one of the illest MCs,” the Mutant Academy cofounder was in his pocket well ahead of his acclaimed solo debut, Frank (2022). After years of consistent releases with his collective, Anakin broke major ground in 2020 with his and Pink Siifu’s joint project FlySiifu’s, followed by their $mokebreak EP in 2021. A student of the East Coast’s golden age, Anakin transmutes its spirit into music that’s both classicist and pioneering, having worked with the likes of Freddie Gibbs, redveil, BbyMutha, and MAVI. With the release of a Mutant Academy debut album completed, and his solo album (The) Forever Dream imminent, Anakin has cemented his place as a leader in rap’s underground Renaissance.(The) Forever Dream commemorates a new era of freedom for Anakin, who rarely approaches bodies of work without a preconceived concept. Executive produced by Quelle Chris, the project, which features the likes of Denmark Vessey, The Alchemist, BbyMutha, and Pink Siifu, includes songs that Anakin believes are some of his most experimental and ambitious. “The album is me and Quelle kicking it, smoking, learning each other, and playing video games,” he says of the project’s inspiration and recording process. “It was time to make some mindless music, to tackle production I would’ve otherwise picked up.” The long anticipated project comes after years of Anakin and Quelle developing a strong rapport, stemming back to 2019. “Quelle is one of the best collaborators ever—he’s not biased but he knows what he likes, open minded but stubborn at the right times,” Anakin says of his collaborative relationship with the Grammy nominated producer. “On the low we just alike but polar opposites, we can do no wrong together.”

2025 Repress

DJ Koze might be one of the world's best producers, but above all he's a DJ, and it's his DJ ear that governs. J
ust as in a great set, so with his releases: 'Seeing Aliens' came out of nowhere, a big buzzing beast of a track, to announce that Koze was back on the scene and prime everyone for the coming album, knock knock.
But now that Koze has your attention, it's time to remind everyone what's most important about club music, pull things back, take a turn to the left, and get deep into the groove.

Thus 'Pick Up': the second single from knock knock is 100% pure groove, doubly so in the extended 12' version.

In a sense it's incredibly familiar - it is essentially a filter disco record, very close to something you could imagine coming out of Paris around the turn of the millennium. But of course, this is Koze. Nothing is normal or familiar in his world, and he's taken this most foundational of clubland staples into new territory. Flipping amples of Gladys Knight & the Pips 'Neither One Of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)' and Melba Moore's 'Pick Me Up, I'll Dance', it creates something completely airborne, shot through with emotions such as gods must feel: not quite explicable to the human mind but strong enough to knock you off your feet. In its way it's absolutely as powerful as 'Seeing Aliens', but it comes in like the proverbial iron fist in a glove of velvet.
The flip, a ten-minute new track, 'The Love Truck' is a big contrast again. If 'Pick Up' is giddy flight,
'The Love Truck' is woozy floating. Its sharp, clicking percussion recalls 2000s minimal techno, but this time absolutely nothing is generic. The long, intense, on-and-off bass tones, the flickers of birdsong, the pure voices slipping in backwards as if from the future... it's all like the most blissful dream, and culminates in a coda so subtle yet so beautiful it's like ever time you've ever seen the sun rise and thought 'I never want this to end', all the while understanding deep down that the fleeting nature of the pleasure is also what give it its power. But of course, being created with that consummate DJ's ear, it's also full of the thrill of wondering what Koze has in store next.

This year, Youth Fountain embarks on a new chapter with this acoustic EP, Together in Lonesome. Like previous Youth Fountain acoustic EP’s, the release reimagines their signature sound, stripping down the intensity to reveal raw, poignant renditions of their songs. Alongside this, fans will be able to dive deeper into the band’s catalog with the release of a limited-edition vinyl LP, ‘Stuck in My Own Hell’, which is released 25th April 2025 and brings together all three of their acoustic EPs into one stunning package. These projects highlight the band’s ability to connect through vulnerability, offering listeners an intimate experience that resonates deeply. "Getting to have all 3 acoustic EP's in one whole collective compilation for Youth Fountain is really exciting. Super nice way to tie everything together. I’m sure a lot of super fans of Youth Fountain will also be stoked to have the songs all on vinyl for the first time ever. " says Tyler Zanon

"Released in 2011, Revelator is the debut studio album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a powerhouse blues-rock ensemble led by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. The album blends blues, rock, soul, and jazz, showcasing the band's rich, full-bodied sound. Standout tracks like ""Midnight in Harlem,"" ""Come See About Me,"" and ""Bound for Glory"" highlight Tedeschi’s soulful vocals and Trucks’ masterful slide guitar work. Produced by Jim Scott and Derek Trucks, Revelator received critical acclaim for its organic musicianship, heartfelt songwriting, and dynamic arrangements. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album in 2012, solidifying the band’s reputation as one of the finest acts in contemporary blues and rock. For fans of blues-infused rock with deep soul influences, Revelator is an essential listen, capturing the magic of a band that seamlessly blends technical brilliance with emotional depth. Revelator is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on red coloured vinyl."

Johnny Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. He is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century. Starting his career with singles of standard music,

Mathis became highly popular as an album artist, with several of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts. Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for the single “It’s Not For Me To Say”. Although frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes traditional pop, Latin American, soul, rhythm and blues, soft rock, blues and country music.

On this compilation some of his greatest hits like “Wonderful, Wonderful”, “Chances Are”. Johnny’s voice & music has been used in countless Hollywood movies, TV shows, and even video games for theme songs & background music to enhance a particular setting or segment. Just to name a few: Family Ties, Gremlins, Criminal Minds, Soul Train, Goodfellas, The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, EastEnders, Mad Men, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Luke Titus is a Chicago-born drummer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his remarkable versatility and genre-spanning artistry. With deep roots in jazz and a knack for blending it seamlessly with experimental music, drum & bass, and beyond, Titus has earned a reputation as a world-class drummer and a dynamic force across the national musical landscape. Growing up in Chicago's vibrant music scene, Titus flourished alongside fellow young artists in the early 2010s. His work quickly positioned him as a key figure in the city's jazz, hip-hop, and R&B communities, leading to collaborations that propelled him to national recognition. Continue to follow the thread of Luke Titus' many contributions to jazz and alternative scenes across America, and what emerges is a singular weave between his roots in Chicago, LA and New York communities. From What Was Will Grow A Flower is the second LP from the prolific young songwriter and producer, codifying his many musical leanings into an emergent, nearly clairvoyant statement of musical intent. Blooming and innovative songwriting, effervescent vocal hooks, virtuosic instrumental passages, and meticulously studied production techniques abound. About the album, Titus says "This album is about spirituality and connectivity, both with the universe and the self, as told through my personal journey. It questions reality as a way to deepen one's connection to it. I dedicate this album not only to anyone who has been through hard times, but to anyone who relates to the cyclical nature of the human experience. And more than that, I dedicate this album to my mom." As a producer and songwriter, Titus' fingerprints can be found on numerous acclaimed projects, including Noname's Room 25, Luke Titus & Cisco Swank's Some Things Take Time, Orion Sun's Orion, and Ravyn Lenae's Hypnos. His co-production credits span across a roster of innovative talents like Steve Lacy, Monte Booker, Brian Sanborn, Teo Halm, Phoelix, Cisco Swank, Saba, Kiefer, Elijah Fox, and Itai Shapira. Titus has taken his talents to the global stage, performing at high-profile festivals and venues such as Lollapalooza, Coachella, Pitchfork, Blue Note NYC, North Sea Jazz Fest, Smoking Grooves, Fuji Rock Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, and NYC Winter Jazz Fest, amongst many others.

Luke Titus is a Chicago-born drummer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his remarkable versatility and genre-spanning artistry. With deep roots in jazz and a knack for blending it seamlessly with experimental music, drum & bass, and beyond, Titus has earned a reputation as a world-class drummer and a dynamic force across the national musical landscape. Growing up in Chicago's vibrant music scene, Titus flourished alongside fellow young artists in the early 2010s. His work quickly positioned him as a key figure in the city's jazz, hip-hop, and R&B communities, leading to collaborations that propelled him to national recognition. Continue to follow the thread of Luke Titus' many contributions to jazz and alternative scenes across America, and what emerges is a singular weave between his roots in Chicago, LA and New York communities. From What Was Will Grow A Flower is the second LP from the prolific young songwriter and producer, codifying his many musical leanings into an emergent, nearly clairvoyant statement of musical intent. Blooming and innovative songwriting, effervescent vocal hooks, virtuosic instrumental passages, and meticulously studied production techniques abound. About the album, Titus says "This album is about spirituality and connectivity, both with the universe and the self, as told through my personal journey. It questions reality as a way to deepen one's connection to it. I dedicate this album not only to anyone who has been through hard times, but to anyone who relates to the cyclical nature of the human experience. And more than that, I dedicate this album to my mom." As a producer and songwriter, Titus' fingerprints can be found on numerous acclaimed projects, including Noname's Room 25, Luke Titus & Cisco Swank's Some Things Take Time, Orion Sun's Orion, and Ravyn Lenae's Hypnos. His co-production credits span across a roster of innovative talents like Steve Lacy, Monte Booker, Brian Sanborn, Teo Halm, Phoelix, Cisco Swank, Saba, Kiefer, Elijah Fox, and Itai Shapira. Titus has taken his talents to the global stage, performing at high-profile festivals and venues such as Lollapalooza, Coachella, Pitchfork, Blue Note NYC, North Sea Jazz Fest, Smoking Grooves, Fuji Rock Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, and NYC Winter Jazz Fest, amongst many others.

Luke Titus is a Chicago-born drummer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his remarkable versatility and genre-spanning artistry. With deep roots in jazz and a knack for blending it seamlessly with experimental music, drum & bass, and beyond, Titus has earned a reputation as a world-class drummer and a dynamic force across the national musical landscape. Growing up in Chicago's vibrant music scene, Titus flourished alongside fellow young artists in the early 2010s. His work quickly positioned him as a key figure in the city's jazz, hip-hop, and R&B communities, leading to collaborations that propelled him to national recognition. Continue to follow the thread of Luke Titus' many contributions to jazz and alternative scenes across America, and what emerges is a singular weave between his roots in Chicago, LA and New York communities. From What Was Will Grow A Flower is the second LP from the prolific young songwriter and producer, codifying his many musical leanings into an emergent, nearly clairvoyant statement of musical intent. Blooming and innovative songwriting, effervescent vocal hooks, virtuosic instrumental passages, and meticulously studied production techniques abound. About the album, Titus says "This album is about spirituality and connectivity, both with the universe and the self, as told through my personal journey. It questions reality as a way to deepen one's connection to it. I dedicate this album not only to anyone who has been through hard times, but to anyone who relates to the cyclical nature of the human experience. And more than that, I dedicate this album to my mom." As a producer and songwriter, Titus' fingerprints can be found on numerous acclaimed projects, including Noname's Room 25, Luke Titus & Cisco Swank's Some Things Take Time, Orion Sun's Orion, and Ravyn Lenae's Hypnos. His co-production credits span across a roster of innovative talents like Steve Lacy, Monte Booker, Brian Sanborn, Teo Halm, Phoelix, Cisco Swank, Saba, Kiefer, Elijah Fox, and Itai Shapira. Titus has taken his talents to the global stage, performing at high-profile festivals and venues such as Lollapalooza, Coachella, Pitchfork, Blue Note NYC, North Sea Jazz Fest, Smoking Grooves, Fuji Rock Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, and NYC Winter Jazz Fest, amongst many others.

Belgium’s most ferocious metal band BARK returns to the spotlight with their highly anticipated fifth studio album, The Time Has Come, set to be released on Insert Release Date. This marks the band’s second collaboration with renowned French Metal label Listenable Records, solidifying their presence in the global scene. The Time Has Come encapsulates BARK’s relentless energy and raw power, delivering an unapologetic onslaught of heavy riffs, thunderous drums, and guttural vocals. The album showcases the band’s evolution while staying true to the no-holds-barred sound that has earned them a devoted following. With a mix of blistering anthems and dark, groove-laden tracks, The Time Has Come cements Bark’s reputation as one of Europe’s most formidable forces in modern metal. “This album is a statement,” says singer Ron Bruynseels. “We’ve poured all our passion into these songs. It’s about living the moment, confronting challenges head-on. We are telling stories that resonate with the listener because we have lived them first hand. We’re excited to unleash this beast with Listenable Records by our side again.” Recorded at their own studio Jurassic Recordings, under the guidance of guitarist Martin Furia (producer for Destruction, Nervosa, Toxik, Chemicide…) the album boasts a production that amplifies BARK’s signature sound while pushing their sonic boundaries even more to achieve their most brutal album to date. Standout tracks such as “Negativist”, “Shaman” and “On No One’s Word” offer a glimpse into the diverse yet cohesive journey that awaits listeners. BARK will be hitting the road shortly after the release, bringing their explosive live performances to fans across Europe. Tour dates will be announced soon.

It is with a certain sadness for his fans across mediums that Donald Glover has declared Bando Stone and the New World the last Childish Gambino album. The ostensible soundtrack to a feature-length movie of the same name, the hour-long project includes snippets of dialogue that hint at the film’s apocalyptic subject matter. The fact that the soundtrack is preceding the actual film is part of Glover’s strategy: He wants listeners to work to figure out what they’re listening to. “The soundtrack forces the audience to participate in a way that I don't feel like most things force you to participate,” he says. “It forces you to have an imagination. I already see people being like, 'This is very cinematic, this must be the part that... This feels like a credit sequence.' A lot of stuff feels flat because it's not asking you to participate. Art used to be you had to participate on some level and have some sort of thought process on it. You can't just be like, 'Oh, this is mid.'” Even without the benefit of the full visuals, these 17 tracks make for a satisfying swan song that synthesizes what came before with fresher ideas gleaned from the threshold of finality.

The Problem of Leisure: A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four is a
double album of tracks written by Andy Gill and Gang of Four, all newly
reinterpreted and recorded by artists whose own unique contributions to
music were enriched by listening to Gang of Four.
The album features songs from across Gang of Four’s 40-plus year career, each
individually chosen by the artists who covered them. Andy Gill originally conceived of the album to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Entertainment! in 2019. His widow, Catherine Mayer, explains that this plan had already
changed by the time of Andy’s death in 2020, after some artists chose tracks
from different albums and periods.
“Andy was massively excited about this project,” Mayer says. “It wasn’t of
course conceived as a tribute album, but it’s comforting to me that he lived to
see artists he hugely admired enthusiastically agreeing to participate, signalling that the admiration was mutual.” The album artwork has been created by
English artist Damien Hirst, a long-time friend of Andy’s.
Idles - Damaged Goods. Tom Morello & Serj Tankian - Natural’s Not In It. Helmet
- In the Ditch. 3D x Gang of Four feat. Nova Twins - Where The Nightingale Sings.
Hotei - To Hell With Poverty. Gary Numan - Love Like Anthrax. Gail Ann Dorsey -
We Live As We Dream Alone. Herbert Gr nemeyer feat. Alex Silva - I Love A Man
in a Uniform. LoneLady - Not Great Men. JJ Sterry - 5.45. La Roux - Damaged
Goods. Everything Everything - Natural’s Not In It. Dado Villa-Lobos - Return The
Gift. The Dandy Warhols - What We All Want. Warpaint - Paralysed. Flea & John
Frusciante - Not Great Men. The Sounds - I Love a Man in Uniform. Hardcore
Raver in Tears - Last Mile. Killing Joke x Gang of Four - Forever Starts Now (Killing
Joke Dub) . Sekar Melati - Not Great Men (live version)

For their second album 'The Foel Tower', Quade holed up in an old stone barn in the cradle of a Welsh mountain valley.
The valley was a stark and windswept backdrop with little daylight, as the band would huddle around crackling fires each evening. “There was very much a feeling of being on the complete fringes of society,” the band says. “The last vestiges of settlement before the unrelenting barren moors that loomed over us.”
It was an environment that would shape the band – a Bristol four piece made up of Barney Matthews, Leo Fini, Matt Griffiths and Tom Connolly – and the record they have made. It’s an album that is as dreamy as it is melancholic, and as quiet and tender as it is forceful and potent – gliding across genres like winds blowing over those wide-spanning Welsh hills – to arrive at something the band half-jokingly, yet somewhat accurately, describe as “doomer sad boy, ambient-dub, folk, experimental post-rock.”

Quade is a band but it’s also a very close-knit group that have been friends since childhood who use this musical vehicle for interpersonal explorations and connections. “We’ve individually experienced a lot of difficulty over the last several years and Quade has represented a space to shelter from these,” the band says. “This means we often communicate extensively with each other about the issues affecting us individually and collectively. These conversations and concerns are central to The Foel Tower.”

In many ways, the making of this record – or any Quade record – goes way deeper than the simple writing, construction and recording of music. It is a profoundly deep and meaningful experience. “A key theme of the album relates to why we connect with specific places in the way that we do,” the group says. “We often remove ourselves to isolated valleys, sheltered from some of the painful personal struggles that we have experienced as a band. These become spaces in which we collectively purge ourselves of some of these difficulties hoping to make Quade a physical and emotional place of solace. This album celebrates these places that we’ve been able to retreat to and recuperate.”

It is a deep, dense record that is stuffed with musical, cinematic and literary influences – from Ursula La Guin and Cormac MacCarthy through to RS Thomas and Yeats – but despite the heavy, introspective and anxious nature of some of the material, it is also a record that is remarkably deft, agile and considered.

Made with producer Jack Ogborne and mixer Larry ‘Bruce’ McCarthy, there is a pleasing duality to the final sound of the record. One that feels fragile and intimate but also powerful and forceful, as introspective as it is expansive, and a record that is as detailed and textured as it is wide open and spacious.

The album title also pays homage to the place that shaped it so greatly. Within this remote Welsh valley stands the Foel Tower, a stone structure filled with valves and cylinders that can raise and lower the level of the reservoir to draw off water. Which it can then send as far as 70 miles to Birmingham. However, in the late 1800s this land was occupied by local farmers and families in the hundreds until the British Government acquired the land, cleared the valleys, and promptly displaced them in order to begin serving the vastly expanding industrial English city. The band dug into the history and politics of this and wove it into the themes they were already thinking about, using what the Foel Tower stands for as something of a contemporary metaphor. “This tension was something that we wanted to explore without the haughty judgement of our more metropolitan lifestyles,” they say. “And to explore how this specifically relates to ourselves: how can we envisage a genuinely ecological future for ourselves – one that is accessible, affordable and in harmony with endangered rural practices.”

What makes The Foel Tower such an incredible record is that it feels born of a time, place and situation that only existed in that very moment. It’s a snapshot of those 10 days spent in rural Wales and all the feelings and anxieties the band were experiencing at that specific time, magically caught on tape. “The album very much feels tied to this valley for us and the conversations and experiences we shared there,” they say. “It brings up a great deal of poignancy for us, an emblem of some fleeting respite from the strains we all have to experience. But there’s also deep sadness knowing how transient these moments are – in fact, there’s just a great deal of sadness in this album. But it’s also a record that while personal, resigned, and emotionally burdened, is ultimately hopeful.”

The Ibex Band, with Giovanni Rico and Selam Woldemariam at the creative helm, provided the musical backbone for legends like Aster Aweke, Girma Beyene, Tilahun Gessesse, Mulatu Astatke, and Mahmoud Ahmed, including the iconic album Ere Mela Mela, shaping modern Ethiopian music as we know it today. This 1976 album (Ge’ez Year 1968) played a pivotal role in that legacy and has now resurfaced to set the record straight.

There’s a tendency to talk about the seventies as a golden age of Ethiopian music. There are good reasons for that, and just as good reasons against it. However, the notion of a golden past privileges the role of Western explorers and suggests that the pinnacle of Ethiopia’s musical culture is something only a foreigner can appreciate and unearth. It downplays the complexities of Ethiopia’s culture and history, creating an artificial divide between then and now. And it underestimates the constantly evolving sound that has followed.

The legendary musical outfit The Ibex Band, later metamorphosed into The Roha Band, has played a central role in defining the sound of many of the greatest stars on the music scene of Ethiopia from the mid-seventies onwards–but their golden output has never really waned. The story of the origins of the band that provided the musical backbone for greats such as Aster Aweke, Girma Beyene, Tilahun Gessesse, backing the solo career of group member Mahmoud Ahmed as well as backing Mulatu Astatke and many others has yet to be properly told.

Two misconceptions plague the image of Ethiopian music, one is that the music is pure because it is, by some notion, unexploited, the other is that it is all traditional. To begin with, a combination of political changes between the late sixties and the mid-nineties created an environment where only the most dedicated and skilled musicians struggled on and pursued a musical career against fierce odds. The whole Ibex Band, with Giovanni Rico and Selam “Selamino” Seyoum Woldermarian at the creative helm, are arguably the origo of the vibrant scene in the mid-seventies, and the said pair are foremost responsible for not only navigating the band through troubled times, but also modernizing the 6/8 chickchicka rhythm to a contemporary form. Giovanni laid the rhythmic foundation with heavy looped basslines that reinvented traditional melodies as dance music, and with Selamino’s innovative guitar work they influenced scores of musicians from Abegaz Kibrework Shiota to Henock Temesgen. Even Giovanni’s Fender bass and Selamino’s Gibson guitar inspired younger musicians in their choice of instruments. Not only in choice of instruments but also in sound–even as the digital revolution hit Ethiopian music, a lot of popular music still took its cue from the masters from Ibex and Roha.

Ibex emerged out of the ashes of the sixties group the Soul Echos band, adding Giovanni and Selamino to their ranks and taking their cues from a slew of influences, such as Motown and The Beatles, fused with traditional music. A tighter-knit unit than most bands at the time – Ibex has remained six to seven members throughout their whole career, compared to many bands that were as large as fifteen or sixteen men strong when Ibex set out. Their playing has been viciously focused, economical yet heavy. Just a year before the recording sessions of the album in your hands, Giovanni and Selamino made a contribution to the popular musical lexicon of Ethiopia that was simply defining the popular sound: their arrangement and recording of bandmate Mahmoud Ahmed’s solo effort and real commercial breakthrough tune and eponymous album, Ere Mela Mela, from 1975.

Selamino has never limited himself to being an adroit lead guitarist, but has always been a scholar of history, and as such he has probably contributed as much to modern Ethiopian music with his guitar playing and compositions as with a deepened understanding of modern or contemporary – Zemenawi – Ethiopian music. Selamino’s contributions serve as a metaphor for those of the whole band, at one and the same time creating and defining a new, danceable and updated sound anchored in Giovanni’s bass, whilst also elevating the broader scene through their support for others on the scene and on top of that, increasing the understanding of the music.

There is an understandable desire to romanticize the musical heyday Ibex and Roha were at the forefront of, because so much of the output is sorrowfully hard to come by. Ibex creativity was nothing short of ridiculously fierce compared to many of their Western contemporaries. Based on their sheer recorded output alone they could have usurped the title “hardest working in show business” from James Brown, recording more than 250 albums or 2500 songs in the seventies and eighties. Some only surface as cassettes today, others were never given full LP release, and some are simply impossible to find today. In the light of that, it’s nothing short of a miracle that the recording Stereo Instrumental Music from 1976 (Ge’ez Year 1968) has resurfaced. Unearthed in perfect condition on a chrome cassette, this is musical history comes alive–to set the future straight. Stereo Instrumental Music was recorded in collaboration with Karl-Gustav Lundgren, a Swedish national working for the Radio Voice of the Gospel. It took two sessions at the Ras Hotel ballroom in Addis Ababa. The Ibex Band was the first band in Ethiopia to employ a four-track recorder for their recording (the first available in the country, lent by Karl-Gustav). Later the same week, Giovanni and Selamino realized that, lengthwise, the recorded material fell short of what they wished for, so they recorded four more tracks in one more session on a single-track recorder. The Ras Hotel and Ghion Hotel, where the Ibex Band held musical residencies were to Ethiopia in general and Addis Ababa in particular what Motown was to the USA and Detroit a few years earlier – a hotbed of musical creativity and showmanship.

The most astonishing thing about Ethiopian music of the last half century is how tradition and modernity are intertwined. Because of this feature, it’s kind of hard to tell when there ever was or when we are in a “golden age”. So much of music from the past has been criminally neglected, but because of the hardships in the past, it would be an oversimplification to say that said past was a golden age. Probably, the golden age is what we are approaching, because for the first time both the past and future are accessible, and the monumental contributions from before can lay a firm foundation for a thriving music scene today. The Ibex Band stands firmly in the past, present and the future. That, if anything, is golden.

The detailed history of Stereo Instrumental Music is in many ways unique. To begin with, it couldn’t have been recorded earlier (there were no four-track recorders available) and it really couldn’t have been recorded afterwards either, at least not in the years directly following, because of the toll the musical scene took from the unfavorable political climate that followed when the nascent Derg regime and rival groups tried to assert themselves, the musical equipment lent from The Voice of Gospel Radio simply disappeared from Ethiopia when the radio station folded in 1977. Karl-Gustav Lundgren,
the Swedish foreign national who assisted during the recording, worked with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus at the time, recalls how they only had about fifteen minutes to get the microphones in place for the recording as to not alert neither the management at Ras Hotel nor the authorities and most importantly, to complete the recording before the curfew came into effect at midnight. In leaping to the opportunity to use previously unavailable equipment to push their sound forward and improvising to meet the logistical challenges, the Ibex Band displayed the very avant-gardism and adaptability that explains their longevity as a band through the years. The recording of Stereo Instrumental Music is from a given time in history, but it sounds as beyond time.
Much of the energy that burst out of the scene that Stereo Instrumental Music came out of dissipated or got sidetracked during the societal changes Ethiopia went through in the 1970s and 80s. Whilst leaders might have professed to be revolutionary, the work ethic of the Ibex Band can truly be described as that. They never called it quits, but adapted, toured extensively abroad in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and found ways to work even in the face of the curfew that curtailed a lot of musical life. They even played major arenas in the nineteen eighties, despite said curfew and restrictions. The whole extent of their legacy has never been told, but their music speaks louder than words, so therefore… tune in to the Ibex Band’s Stereo Instrumental Music.