Search:sea bee

2023 Repress

* Tales of the Inexpressible” was released on Twisted Records in 2001.

It was a much anticipated and well loved successor continuing in the pioneering spirit of the debut album and in this exceptional follow up they gave us plenty more multi-dimensional surprises and new sonic realities to explore and immerse ourselves in.
From the opening sounds on “Dorset Perception”, the first track featuring flamenco guitar and Latin percussion, we can tell we are in for some incredible planetary as well as interplanetary trips on this musical voyage as Si & Raj take us for a spin though their musical worlds, full of influences garnered on their travels to the 4 corners of the earth.

As the Star Shpongled Banner unfurls, the immeasurable beauty of the album is illustriously illustrated with blissful cascades of Indian Flute washing over the minds ear and achingly beautiful synths rippling with dimensional dub effects throughout. As the Shaman’s voice resonates through the digital dream, the Shaman’s drum begins to beat leading us to a vedic celtic crescendo.

By the time Room 23 emanates from the loudspeakers, Shpongle have confirmed their position as the true pioneers once again, shining a light on the deeper development of the Psybient and Psychill sound and unmistakably elevating the consciousness of the listener to previously unheard of heights by bringing the eddying currents of Raj’s magical flute lines and Simons mellifluous keyboard riffs and genius production style together in an extraordinary hallucinogenic mix.

The album holds 9 gems glistening in hyperspace, gems of unmistakable brilliance and radiant beauty in which every composition contains worlds within worlds, as explored by Raja and Simon on their epic voyages into the depths of musical exploration and recounted in these tales.

They have been the soundtrack to innumerable visionary voyages for the neuronaut cognoscenti, because of the multi layered sounds, shapeshifting focus and awe inspiring depths of the advanced Shpongle production techniques. Tales of the inexpressible is quite literally, beyond description and has been a part of creating so many beautiful moments that its absence from our lives is unimaginable. 

2023 Repress

Shpongle came to light 20 years ago, emerging from the burgeoning Trance music scene. Simon Posford aka Hallucinogen and Raja Ram aka The Infinity Project were already leading lights on the pioneering new sonic realms of Trance music.

The Shpongle sound was formed out of the desire to share another side of the psychedelic spectrum of music and in doing so established themselves as important innovators and arguably, inventors of genres we now know as PsyChill, Psybient, Psydub or Psybreaks.

Are you Shpongled? contains 7 tracks of epic audio adventure. Each one taking the listener on a journey, with sensurround sounds emerging from the caves of tribal reality. Across the globe, both seasoned aficionados and new sonic surfers alike take delight in the original worlds of sound explored by these visionary pioneers on their debut album which still takes pride of place in many collections.

The Shpongle sound planted sonic seeds in fertile imaginations across the world and over the past 2 decades their fanbase has grown exponentially, creating an unforgettable impression on the minds ear of all who listen. With a full live band to compliment their studio origins, Shpongle have been headlining large scale concerts and festivals across the globe, most notably two sell out shows at The Roundhouse London in 2009 and more recently their legendary performance at Red Rocks in Colorado where Shpongle performed to a sell out crowd of 1000. They have also completed numerous tours of the USA with stateside crowds showing huge love for the band and establishing a loyal following. 

After Belgian electro-samba wunderkinds Antena split at the end of 1985, singer Isabelle Antena immediately shed her cold wave crown for a sophisticated pop princess tiara. On 1986's Martin Hayles-produced En Cavale, echos of Madonna and city pop abound, with a lipstick stain of L80s Euro dance and spilled cosmopolitan's worth of bossa nova stirred in for good measure. This elegant second chapter of a French pop diva has been expanded to include Antena's shelved Island Records demo, adjacent B-sides and rarities, plus an expansive essay and previously unpublished photographs.

blue marbled vinyl /

By now a fabric of the Samurai Music sound, Tensor sees Sardinia's Last Life back for his fourth release for the label. The dive-bomb bounce of Offside opens the EP - hurling out laser-sharp mentasms over a searing groove. Elements adds pace with a driving amen tunnel, pinned down by a swaying half-step kick formation and a vocal insignia. Title track Tensor combines many of Last Life's signature talents perfectly - honed amen edits, a lush percussion loop, and kick drums sitting perfectly - a lesson in propulsion. EP closer Incubus has been receiving the most plays by DJs - a flexing groove, dripping in menace and raw power.

‘Horsepower’ marks the Dutchman’s third credit on Drumcode this year, following a strong collaborative work with Weska ‘Shades of Summer’ and the new remixes of ‘Your Mind’ from Charles D, his classic with Adam Beyer from 2018. Bart’s also been busy throughout the summer season, a fixture at our Off Sonar, Drumcode Miami and the Drumcode Ibiza event

His latest two tracker continues this reach vein of form. The title track is vintage Bart Skils; a searing festival-ready bomb built around a dreamy vocal sequence and long mid-section break that drops back into stomping techno territory. ‘Sunshine in the Dust’ brings the party with lively percussion, flamboyant vocal samples and tough bottom end. A super fun track bursting with Latin flavours.

Following up on the success of House Of Riviera released in 2019, Mona Musique releases House Of Riviera Volume 2 curated by label head Nick V, a compilation that pays homage to forgotten gems of the classic Italian House scene, circa 1991-1994. 9 tracks from the artists and record labels that were central to this seminal era of House music, including two never released cuts from Ricky Montanari, Davide Ruberto and Ivan Iacobucci.

In the early 1990s, Italy hosted one of the most prolific scenes in the burgeoning world of House music. Whilst the majority of Europe was only just beginning to digest the arrival of this new musical genre born in the US, Italian clubs, DJs and labels were hot on the heels of their counterparts in the already established scenes of New York and London. The clubs of the Adriatic coast, also known as the Italian Riviera, were full every weekend, hosting the major US and UK Djs of the time, but also seasoned resident DJs that had been honing their trade since the early 80s. By the early 90s, Italian House music was regularly exported around the world with labels such as UMM, MBG, Flying, Palmares, DFC, Oversky, Zippy, D:Vision, Irma - and its sublabels Antima and Calypso, releasing tracks inspired by the original New York House and Garage sound, but with a very different, unique and emotional take. This was the specific aesthetic that was to become the House sound of the Riviera, the soundtrack to the golden era of Italian House music.

With all releases between 1992 and 1994, House Of Riviera Vol. 2 unites a selection of 9 tracks that encapsulates the atmosphere, the energy and creativity that reigned during that era. Including 2 previously unreleased tracks from Ricky Montanari and Davide Ruberto, and Ivan Iacobucci, both in the vaults since 1992, the compilation spans the different shades of the genre : from classic deep vocal house by Ricky Montanari and Sound Set, to the more dubbier late night dance floor cuts by Workin’ Happily and Night Communication, with Mental Detector and More Heavy Soul bringing some well chosen disco samples to their contributions, without forgetting the characteristic deep Italian dream house style by Green Baize. Artists featured are iconic producers and DJs from the day : Ricky Montanari & Davide Ruberto, Alex Neri & Marco Baroni, Ivan Iacobucci, Workin’ Happily and More Heavy Soul.

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!

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.

Ross Gentry takes charge of the first Ceremony of Seasons release and the music on it has been specifically written to "be paired with Sink into Seclusion, a Mendocino grown, amphora aged, skin contact Sauvignon Blanc wine." Though it might go well with wine, it works just as well on its own as a pastoral, subtly shifting ambient album with delicate pianos unfolding over sustained chords. Moods fluctuate from cathartic and dreamy on the opener to a little more unsettled and tense on 'A Shadow Decade.' How so ever you enjoy this record it is one that makes a lasting impact.

'Person Pitch’ is the third solo album from Animal Collective member Panda Bear, released in 2007.

Years in the making, ‘Person Pitch’ marks a dramatic departure from Panda Bear’s previous solo record ‘Young Prayer’.

The acoustic instruments of ‘Young Prayer’ have been replaced with samplers and electronics.

The LP won a number of plaudits in 2007, with Dan Snaith (Caribou), St. Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Grimes and even Diplo citing it as one of their favourite albums, and Pitchfork named it as their Album of the Year.

Double LP in gatefold jacket with two pockets with poster.

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.

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.

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".

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.

"I begin our sixth album by exploring melodies that take me to the boundaries of my voice. I write myself into my highest highs and lowest lows. There is a precariousness in the outer limits of my range that demands vulnerability. As our demos take shape, I realize this will be our first album without any belting, the first time I can’t force my way through the notes," recalls Tennis' Alania Moore. "In the studio, Patrick compresses the shit out of my mic and I sing with the gentleness of breathing. In that softness, lyrics take shape. We want to write a big album—something suited for radio, but our songs don’t follow conventional pop structures. Instead of choruses with universal themes, I write with a specificity that is new to me, narrowing in on the smallest details of our lives. The more we try to broaden our scope, the more we turn inward." "We name the album Pollen. It is about small things with big consequences: a particle, a moment, a choice. It is me in a fragile state; sometimes inhabited freely, sometimes reacted against. It is striving to remain in a moment without slipping into dread. It is about the way I can be undone by a very small thing." Tennis is Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. Pollen is their sixth album. The two met in the philosophy department at the University of Colorado in 2008 after dropping out of their respective music programs. In the years after graduating, they got involved in Denver’s DIY music scene. Through house shows, they were connected with Underwater Peoples and Firetalk. The band went blog-viral nearly overnight, landing them a record deal with Fat Possum and then Communion Records, but with shifting labels and new interests, Tennis chose an alternate path for their band and career. In 2016, Moore and Riley formed the label Mutually Detrimental and began self-releasing. Their newfound freedom allowed them to return to their sailboat to write their next full-length, this time in the Sea of Cortez. Yours Conditionally, released in 2017, became their most commercially successful album–charting at #4 on Billboard’s Independent list and in the top 100 highest selling vinyl releases that year. They played Coachella and opened for artists like The National, Father John Misty and The Shins–proving their DIY roots as a cornerstone to their sound and narrative. Their follow up Swimmer (2020), was recorded in their home studio with Moore and Riley producing and engineering. The pair brought their long-time touring member Steve Voss in for the second time to drum on record. The singles, Need Your Love and Runner, were Tennis’ most successful releases to date.

Formed in 2007 in the Dolomite Alps region of Italy with a deep admiration for their native country’s hardcore punk luminaries in La Quiete and Raein, as well as eighties and nineties cult heroes in Negazione, Wretched and Indigesti. STORMO’s steady rise from unassuming beginnings has been one of consistently stirring song writing. Having amassed over 400 shows across Europe and the UK - including support slots to Converge, Full of Hell and La Dispute, as well as appearances at Fluff Fest - STORMO’s next chapter sees the band fully come of age. Lyrically, Endocannibalismo was written entirely in the band’s native tongue; partly as a byproduct of the albums nocturnal and instinctive writing process and partly in honour of their history as a band. Recorded and mixed by Giulio Favero (Zu) for mixing before being placed in the hands of Giovanni Versari at La Maesta for mastering, Endocannibalismo’s 11 tracks possess a crystalline clarity to service STORMO’s surging blastbeats, spiralling rhythms and noise punk cacophony, whilst staying true to the each songs deep seated primal nature. Seeking to tie together the whole process visually, STORMO took to artificial intelligence when creating Endocannibalismo’s art. Utilising specific prompts, the AI render was put through stages of mutation before culminating in its final form. A haunting graphic representation of living beings in a state of constant death and rebirth.

Indies only release on 180g baby pink vinyl, printed inner-sleeve, download card included. Marrying psychedelic pop with folk and a touch of country, 'Earthling On The Road To Self Love' is the sublime debut album by Brisbane, Australia-based artist Baby Cool – the latest side project by Nice Biscuit co-front woman Grace Cuell. Cuell says of the record, which follows her debut single 'Magic' and tours with Babe Rainbow and The Lazy Eyes: “The songs on this album are deeply sentimental. I have a lot I need to sing about to help me make sense of this earthly pod I have been gifted. If in singing these words out loud, I can help others find solace in knowing that we’re all out here flailing about in the cosmos, then it feels good to me.” Recorded with Sam Joseph (Family Jordan), the songs on 'Earthling' were brought to life with the help of Jess Ferronato (Nice Biscuit), Nick Cavendish (Nice Biscuit) and Drew Heyden (The Flamingo Jones): "I had such a beautiful community of friends that helped bring this whole thing to life. There was magic and love in every part of the process of creating this album.

2023 repress of Low Life's second album from 2019 on coloured vinyl, in a single LP sleeve with insert. Colour effect is a seafoam green smear with a transparent base. Arriving with an aura of anticipation, 'Downer Edn' (read: Edition) feels like a collective document of the band's timeline since their unforgettable debut `Dogging'. Recorded over two years and mixed in 2018 by Mikey Young (Total Control / Eddy Current Suppression Ring), `Downer Edn' sees the core trio of Mitch Tolman, Cristian O'Sullivan and Greg Alfaro expand their ranks to a five piece. Dizzy Daldal and Yuta Matsumura of Oily Boys & Orion were brought in to reinforce the thick wall of guitars, freeing Tolman up as a dedicated front man for live duties. The hours of studio work have resulted in the band sounding more confident and fully realised, reaching and finding a sound that was perhaps unattainable 5 years prior. However, lurking behind the bigger vision and polished production, `Downer Edn remains a dark blast of an album. Expansive and cohesive, yet shimmering and rough; something they can be proud to call a definitive statement. As far as Australian punk is concerned, Downer Edition not only shatters the boundaries applied by that descriptor, it does so with the lushest attack conceivable. The visceral pounding of melodies throughout the album transforms their inspirations; desperation, neuroses, trauma, survival, hooliganism, violence, hope, rejuvenation, and their hometown of Sydney's full architectural and social scope - from a realm of intangibility to the very, very tangible. Unified on `RBB,' ruminating on `92', chasing the escape on `Rave Slave,' and unwillingly defiant on `Warrior,' Downer Edition reaches past the wild ride of Dogging - this truly is the album that Low Life have been threatening to make for nearly a decade. Released in conjunction with Goner Records in the USA and Cool Death in Australia.

Das Sony Classical-Debütalbum "Arctic" der international hochgelobten norwegischen Geigerin Eldbjørg Hemsing ist eine musikalische Reise durch die Arktis mit neuer Musik u.a. von den Star-Komponisten Jacob Shea ("The Blue Planet") von Bleeding Fingers Music und Frode Fjellheim ("Frozen"). Zusammen mit dem Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra zelebriert Eldbjørg Hemsing darauf die zerbrechliche und weithin unentdeckte Schönheit eines Ökosystems, das in einem beispiellosen Ausmaß vom Klimawandel bedroht ist. "Die Arktis wird oft als ein schroffer, unbewohnbarer Ort verkannt, dabei handelt es sich um eine Region von einmaliger Schönheit und voller Leben, die auf faszinierende Weise illustriert, wie alles in fragilen Kreisläufen zusammenhängt. 'Arctic' ist eine musikalische Reise durch diesen einmaligen, gefährdeten Naturraum", erklärt Eldbjørg Hemsing. "Ich möchte mit diesem Projekt den Menschen zeigen, wie großartig und schützenswert diese Landschaft ist und auf die Bedrohung durch den Klimawandel hinweisen, die Auswirkung auf uns alle hat." "Arctic" ist voller mitreißender Melodien und beeindruckenden orchestralen Klanglandschaften, die sich beim Anhören des Albums aufbauen, wie die atemberaubenden Lebensräume der Arktis im Lauf der Jahreszeiten. Für die musikalische Gestaltung ihres Albums hat die im norwegischen Valdres geborene Musikerin mit einer Vielzahl an Komponisten zusammengearbeitet und ein einmaliges Album kreiert, das amerikanische Filmmusik mit europäischer Klassik verbindet. So enthält "Arctic" neue Musik von den Filmkomponisten Jacob Shea von Bleeding fingers Music und Frode Fjellheim wie auch neue Arrangements von Melodien der Komponisten Selim Palmgren, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Henning Sommerro, Ola Gjeilo, Ole Bull, Edvard Grieg und James Newton Howard. Aufgenommen wurde das Album in Bodø innerhalb des norwegischen Polarkreises mit dem Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra. "Ich wollte einmalige, einprägsame Melodien mit einem malerischen orchestralen Klang verbinden, der dem großen Panorama der Arktis entspricht, um diese emotionale Geschichte zu erzählen. Entstanden ist eine sehr abwechslungsreiche Art Filmmusik für den Konzertsaal oder ein Soundtrack für eine innere Reise", sagt Eldbjørg Hemsing über die Musik von "Arctic". Das zentrale Werk des Albums ist die 20 Minuten lange "Arctic Suite" des amerikanischen Filmkomponisten Jacob Shea von Bleeding Fingers Music, der zusammen mit Hans Zimmer die millionenfach gespielte, ikonische Musik zu "The Blue Planet" geschrieben hat. In den sechs Teilen der "Arctic Suite" vertont Jacob Shea die einmaligen arktischen Naturphänomene und findet Melodien für "Frozen Worlds" im Winter, die "Aurora" in der Polarnacht oder den "Sunrise" in der Morgendämmerung des Polartages. Er gibt den Fischschwärmen im Malmström einen Klang in "Rush of Life" oder dem poetischen Pfeifen der "Polar Winds" und endet mit einem melancholischen Blick auf aktuelle Veränderungen in "Sea Ice Melting". Komponist Frode Fjellheim ist bekannt von seiner Arbeit zu "Frozen". Er entstammt den Samen, einem Volk, das bereits seit Jahrhunderten den europäischen Polarkreis bewohnt. Für seine Kompositionen "Under the Arctic Moon" und "The Return of the Sun" lässt er sich von den traditionellen Liedern der Samen, den "Joik", inspirieren. In "The Return of the Sun" singt er sogar eine dieser traditionellen Melodien. Die musikalische Reise durch die "Arctic" umfasst weitere neue und farbenfrohe Orchesterarrangements von Werken nordischer Komponisten wie das klangmalerische "Snowflakes" von Selim Palmgren, "Whispering" von Einojuhani Rautavaara, "Dawn" von Ola Gjeilo und "Vårsøg" von Henning Sommerro. "Vårsøg" ist eine bekannte Melodie in Norwegen und steht sinngemäß für die "Suche nach einem neuen Frühling". Das ursprünglich als Folk-Pop Song geschriebene Lied verkörpert damit die Hoffnung auf einen Neuanfang im Leben. Arrangeur Ben Palmer hat die Melodie in eine emotionale Hymne für Violine und Orchester gebettet.

Angel numbers: a series of recurring numerical patterns or sequences which those who believe in such things invest with cosmic significance.

Also, the name of the forthcoming album by Hamish Hawk – an apt title for an artist who bounces between scepticism and wonder, who alchemises the quotidian, who is engaged in a constant quest to outwit and outflank the ordinary. With the release of Heavy Elevator in September 2021, Edinburgh-based Hawk established himself as a writer of heartfelt, headstrong, unashamedly literate songs to stimulate both pulse and psyche. Heavy Elevator offered words to savour and tunes to relish. The songs were filmic and romantic, blending wit, wisdom, resignation and beauty with a kind of sceptical joie de vivre, delivered in a rich baritone that has drawn comparisons to everyone from Jarvis Cocker to Scott Walker. A singer of style and guile peddling accessible intelligence: what’s

not to love? Heavy Elevator established a powerful artistic imprimatur which nonetheless felt neither defining nor confining. While the album has been justly lauded, Hawk’s next steps have moved the story considerably further forward. Angel Numbers meets growing expectations head on, with panache and aplomb.

Angel numbers: a series of recurring numerical patterns or sequences which those who believe in such things invest with cosmic significance.

Also, the name of the forthcoming album by Hamish Hawk – an apt title for an artist who bounces between scepticism and wonder, who alchemises the quotidian, who is engaged in a constant quest to outwit and outflank the ordinary. With the release of Heavy Elevator in September 2021, Edinburgh-based Hawk established himself as a writer of heartfelt, headstrong, unashamedly literate songs to stimulate both pulse and psyche. Heavy Elevator offered words to savour and tunes to relish. The songs were filmic and romantic, blending wit, wisdom, resignation and beauty with a kind of sceptical joie de vivre, delivered in a rich baritone that has drawn comparisons to everyone from Jarvis Cocker to Scott Walker. A singer of style and guile peddling accessible intelligence: what’s

not to love? Heavy Elevator established a powerful artistic imprimatur which nonetheless felt neither defining nor confining. While the album has been justly lauded, Hawk’s next steps have moved the story considerably further forward. Angel Numbers meets growing expectations head on, with panache and aplomb.

MEMORIAM needs no introduction ‐ they are living legends of Old School Death Metal. Not only because the former fields of activity of the Brits belonged and still belong to the pioneers of UK Death Metal, but because they managed to follow their master plan more than precisely. MEMORIAM has built up their own loyal fan base over the past
seven years and developed its own musical identity. It would certainly have been easy for them to just follow the old paths, but the true art of the band is that they never deny their origins, but gradually incorporate something new ‐ with every album a few new nuances and facets are added.

The sheer speed of their creative output shows how consistently MEMORIAM follow this path: Following the initial success of the HELLFIRE DEMOS trilogy, MEMORIAM signed with Nuclear Blast in 2016. The band went on to release FOR THE FALLEN (2017), THE SILENT VIGIL (2018) and REQUIEM FOR MANKIND (2019) ensuring within a very short time that MEMORIAM were firmly established among loyal Death Metal fans. This wassupported by dozens of concerts, which have taken the band from selected club shows to major festival appearances (e.g. Hellfest, Wacken, Summer Breeze, Graspop). Following the success of this initial trilogy, MEMORIAM switched to the young label Reaper Entertainment. The album TO THE END, the first of a new trilogy, was released in 2021. The second album of the trilogy, RISE TO POWER, will be released in early 2023.

RISE TO POWER will not only once again offer an atmospherically dense Dan Seagrave cover, the war theme stylized on it also runs through Karl Willetts’ lyrics: With 'Never Forget, Never Again (6 Million Dead)' about the Holocaust and the, unfortunately, more than current 'Total War' about the war in Ukraine, Karl is more political than ever. "I am
writing 'our burden and shame' instead of 'their' as I believe it is our collective responsibility to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. I feel that it is my responsibility as a frontman and lyricist to write about the things that I feel are important," explains Karl. MEMORIAM transforms aggression and grief into
uncompromising Death Metal energy. Also musically the mentioned above development process continues.

While the opener still serves the essential Death Metal groove, MEMORIAM becomes more variable with each additional song and keeps adding new dynamics into their Old School Death Metal sound ‐ from brutal grooves ('Annihilation's Dawn') via doomy‐melodic parts like in 'I Am The Enemy' up to aggressive Nordic riffing like in 'Total War'. RISE TO POWER is an extremely varied album, as Karl confirms: "That's Scott's style, he comes from a different generation than Frank, Spike and me. He brings in influences from bands I haven't even heard of. It gives us the balance between old and new, and it works pretty well for us.” (Thomas Strater)

Double Groovy / Trans-Pacific Express by Big Boss Man, one of two limited edition of 500 vinyl 45s to Juju Funk / Return To Baron Samedi by Big Boss Man, one of two limited edition of 500 vinyl 45s to be released simultaneously of essential killer funk. Grab while you can. The tracks have already received very strong radio responses from around the world. Both tracks being supported by Gideon Coe and Cerys Mathews at BBC Radio 6 Music, whilst Nasser Bouzida from the band discussed the rhythm influences of Return Of Baron Samedi on the Cerys Mathews show. Specialist funk shows from Australia, Germany, France, Canada and the US have already been supporting these tracks. The tracks are also set to appeal to fans of one of Big Boss Man’s biggest tracks ‘Sea Groove’, which is currently one of the UK’s biggest home-grown funk recordings on Spotify currently close to 7 million streams. These are the first new releases from Big Boss Man since their fourth album Last Man on Earth on Blow Up Records. A Side – Juju Funk, B-Side – Return Of Baron Samedi

Double LP - Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl, packaged in a sleeve that replicates the LP's first pressing in exacting detail.

The Led Zeppelin reissue campaign continues in 2015, turning the spotlight on the double album Physical Graffiti. The deluxe edition of the group's sixth studio album will arrive 40 years to the day after the original debuted in February, 1975. The reissues of the first five Led Zeppelin albums in 2014 found both commercial successes, with multiple titles reaching Top 10 chart status in countries around the world, as well as widespread critical acclaim, including the recent Classic Rock 'Reissue Of The Year' Award. As with the previous deluxe editions, Physical Graffiti has been newly remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page and is accompanied by a disc of companion audio comprising previously unreleased music related to the original release.
The companion audio disc that accompanies the deluxe edition of Physical Graffiti has seven unreleased tracks, including rough mixes of 'In My Time Of Dying' and 'Houses Of The Holy,' as well as an early mix of 'Trampled Under Foot' called 'Brandy & Coke.' All the unreleased companion tracks offer fans a chance to hear well-known songs from a different perspective, including the Sunset Sound mix of 'Boogie With Stu' and 'Driving Through Kashmir,' a rough orchestra mix of the band's eight minute opus 'Kashmir.' Also featured is 'Everybody Makes It Through,' a strikingly different early version of 'In The Light' with alternate lyrics.

A space of wonderment and exhilaration, the home of
true heart and a timeless soul, Delays’ ‘Faded Seaside
Glamour’ was an atmospheric and evocative debut
album. Released in 2004, the fragile strength of
frontman Greg Gilbert’s vocals intoxicatedly
intertwined with the forward looking synths of his
brother Aaron, Colin Fox’s bass and Rowly’s
drumming, to create a series of affecting songs that
delivered an immediate pop hit that also left a deep
and wistful impact worthy of the album’s enticing title.
Its iconic singles, ‘Nearer Than Heaven’ and ‘Long
Time Coming’, became immediate yet lasting focal
points for Southampton’s Delays, while tracks
including the melancholic ‘No Ending’, the smooth
beats of ‘Stay Where You Are’ and chiming opener,
‘Wanderlust’, demonstrated the remarkable depth of
this unique debut.
Nearly 20 years have passed since the release of
‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ and much has changed -
most notably the loss of Greg Gilbert, who passed
away in 2021 after a period of treatment for cancer -
but like the idiosyncratic places the album’s name
celebrated, Delays’ music has not only endured but
their art has been loved and cherished as it has
continually connected with audiences.
To celebrate this soaring and smouldering body of
work, Rough Trade Records are pleased to announce
the release of Delays’ ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ on
vinyl for the first time ever.
Also available to independent retailers on orange vinyl
with deluxe packaging, a print of Greg’s art and some
words written by Aaron.

A space of wonderment and exhilaration, the home of
true heart and a timeless soul, Delays’ ‘Faded Seaside
Glamour’ was an atmospheric and evocative debut
album. Released in 2004, the fragile strength of
frontman Greg Gilbert’s vocals intoxicatedly
intertwined with the forward looking synths of his
brother Aaron, Colin Fox’s bass and Rowly’s
drumming, to create a series of affecting songs that
delivered an immediate pop hit that also left a deep
and wistful impact worthy of the album’s enticing title.
Its iconic singles, ‘Nearer Than Heaven’ and ‘Long
Time Coming’, became immediate yet lasting focal
points for Southampton’s Delays, while tracks
including the melancholic ‘No Ending’, the smooth
beats of ‘Stay Where You Are’ and chiming opener,
‘Wanderlust’, demonstrated the remarkable depth of
this unique debut.
Nearly 20 years have passed since the release of
‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ and much has changed -
most notably the loss of Greg Gilbert, who passed
away in 2021 after a period of treatment for cancer -
but like the idiosyncratic places the album’s name
celebrated, Delays’ music has not only endured but
their art has been loved and cherished as it has
continually connected with audiences.
To celebrate this soaring and smouldering body of
work, Rough Trade Records are pleased to announce
the release of Delays’ ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ on
vinyl for the first time ever.
Also available to independent retailers on orange vinyl
with deluxe packaging, a print of Greg’s art and some
words written by Aaron.

Drunk punks Organized Chaos release their first ever album compiling 18 tracks from two demos from 1981 and 1982 plus the compilation tracks from Wessex 82 7” and the Riotous Assembly Compilation LP. Organized Chaos were masters of driving UK82 punk with tin pot drums, buzzsaw guitars and snarling vocals. If the band had released an album at the time they could have easily been as influential as Chaos UK or Disorder. How this band didn’t have a Riot City release is anyone’s guess. Simple meat and potatoes UK82 punk for those who still hate Thatcher, are worried about a nuclear war and despise the system.

“Avada Kedavra Deluxe,” by Seattle rapper AJ Suede, is a 21-track, self-produced, self-referencing, double-vinyl labyrinth of experimental boom-bap. Building on a signature style that SPIN magazine describes as “stream-of-consciousness rhymes, containing everything from socio-political commentary and blunted cinematic allusions to psychedelic visions,” Suede’s creation is as compelling as it is unclassifiable. On the first LP, Suede demonstrates his substantial skills as a beatmaker and rapper, chopping up what Seattle’s KEXP calls “the smoothest, jazziest, weirdest samples” and overlaying parkour bars about Grunge, success, and social justice. From the first cut, “Nebuchadnezzar,” which New York’s Major Stage describes as a “powerful chant-like hypnotic loop,” these 10 tracks capture an elusive mood of too many hours inside watching YouTube and trying to piece together fractured connections. The album’s title is derived from an Aramaic spell: “Let this thing be destroyed.” On the second LP, Suede invites 13 guests to “destroy” the original songs. This disc of remixes and reworkings showcases underground voices from across the Northwest (Seattle’s Wolftone, Khrist Koopa, Portland’s Fines Double), from across America (New Jersey’s Fatboi Sharif, California’s mudwater, Ohio’s Lord Olo, New York’s Bloodblixing), and around the world (Tel Aviv’s Argov and Japan’s Wazasnics). Seattle rappers Astral Trap, Blake Anthony, Mika’il, and Greg Cypher are featured on a bonus “posse” cut. AJ Suede has been grinding for years in the underground, building a solid, devoted global fanbase. He’s released acclaimed cassettes and CDs through respected labels such as Fake Four Inc., Candy Drips, Chong Wizard, and Blackhouse. In May 2022, a 100-copy vinyl run of his album “Metatron’s Cube” sold out in less than four hours. With “Avada Kedavra Deluxe,” AJ Suede has tapped into the moment, using what Deeply Rooted Hip-Hop calls “a subconscious steeped in the mystical.” As KEXP says: “Quite predictably, the whole album bangs.”

The last album of Dead Cat In a Bag on vinyl! 180g + downloadcode.

"Do you know it? Ennio Morricone, Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, Tom Waits and Zach Condon walk into the bar, and there are all the seats occupied by the Dead Cat In A Bag musicians. Really." - this is how Jarek Szubrycht started the review of the last album of the Italian group Dead Cat In Bag in Gazeta Wyborcza. And he was right. Really.
Yes! Dead Cat In A Bag is back! They are back with a new album "We've Been Through".

After exploring several so called Neo-Folk regions, flirting with Folk Noir, mostly with Traditional Folk in a modern perspective, for example Americana to Tex-Mex and Balkan Music to Alternative Country, on this third record the ensemble drifts to a cinematic landscape, focusing on the theme of overcoming.

We've Been Through puts together World Music elements incorporating an almost soundtrack experience for a journey into both Day and Night, Hope and Disillusionment and telling stories of broken romances and shipwrecks.

Utilizing banjo and theatrical vocal delivery, together with with classic and odd instruments, the band remap the original charts but still set sail the desired destinations. And if, about the previous records, critics were prone to recall the prowess of Waits, Cave, Lanegan, Cash and Tindersticks, this time it will be harder to name the grandfathers.
Now there is a Morricone (or was it Badalamenti?) guiding spirit and a dreamlike universe full of memories, from the dry electric blues of a stream of consciousness duet in Duet For Nothing to the unexpected crooning vocals provided by Liam McKahey (CousetauX) in Lost Friends (a banjo droven dirge dealing with electronics and a bassoon, with steal percussions and a music saw for a frame), from the rendition of the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, balancing between electric guitars and Bluegrass, to the intimate cover of Leonard Cohen's Hunter's Lullaby, from the rock-(swamp)blues of The Cat Is Dead (enriched by Italian bass hero Gianni Maroccolo, from Litfiba and C.S.I.) to the soft meloncholy of the string quartet in Between Day And Night, from the dark cabaret of Fiddler, The Ship Is Sinking to the soft porch song, between Willard Grant Conspiracy and Kris Kristofferson, of the final title track.
You can hear a shrawn and a blues harp, whispers and choirs, love and dudgeon as the record goes. This is the sound of an orchestra playing on a sinking ship: what else could a fiddler do? And what can we do, in the end?

The Zephyrs release their brand new album “For Sapphire Needle” on January 27th 2023 alongside Spanish comrades Acuarela, their first since 2010. With only 2018’s double A-side single “The Witches” and “The Crown Prince of Lies” in between, this represents their first collection of new songs in 13 years: from short and tightly constructed country-folk introspections to sprawling, spaced-out psychedelia, including a couple of extremely sharp pop glimmers and a killer Morricone-like instrumental. Originally conceived of as a series of 4 track EPs based on the seasons in which they were created, the recordings spanned into a patchwork of sessions with long-time collaborator and producer Michael Brennan at his Substation studio, neighboring a naval port in Rosyth. The ongoing recording sessions were made possible with the kind support of Robert Dillam, drummer for The Zephyrs and ex-guitarist for Creation band Adorable. With songs ranging from short and tightly constructed country-folk introspections to sprawling, spaced-out psychedelia, what resulted was an album near to double length. The collection presented as “For Sapphire Needle” is a cut-down selection of these songs. The record opens with “Leatherback”, a Crazy Horse inspired wall of distorted guitars drawing on lyrics from The Zephyr’s first album and pre-history, followed by the four songs earmarked for the first of the seasonal EPs – Winter – whose artwork was photographed in the alley behind Traceyann Campbell’s (Camera Obscura) house in Glasgow. Elsewhere on the album, “I tell you what” had much of its writing and recording initiated in a wooden shack near Aviemore and “Bolder” tells the story of overheard bar-side conversations and delayed flights in Denver airport, where lizard people live underground and some say the new world order lays dormant. The domestic depression of “How have you been today” precedes closing opus “Aliens”, inspired in equal measures by the maturation as social control science fiction of The Tripods and the schlock b-movie imagery of Rocky Erickson’s The Evil One. The album is the work of older and more consistent The Zephyrs. Stuart, David and Robert joined by collaborators: guitarist John Brennan and keyboardist Will Bates. The songs and sounds are sculpted out of slabs of time with friends at the Substation, a de facto weekly youth club for musicians who refuse to grow old. The triple bridges of Queensferry, the shipbuilding cranes of Rosyth docks and Babcock's shop - one of the few places in Scotland you can buy a real periscope over the counter - are just some of the backdrops as the Zephyrs rehearse for nobody but themselves. Yet, ever since Jean-Luc Picard himself told us that "this is not a holiday", it has become a unique and unbeatable way of peering up above the waterline, reinventing themselves and returning to the scene. Indeed with 10 songs in 46 minutes which wade across Gram Parsons and Big Star, Slowdive and spaghetti Western: folk, rock and shoegaze… as if they were trying to shorten the path to the California sky passing through Scotland and then Almería in Spain.

Observatories is the collaborative music project by Ian Hawgood and Craig Tattersall. This is their second opus together after their first release "Flowers Bloom, Butterflies Come" on IIKKI in March 2021.

Born in the United Kingdom, Ian Hawgood spent most of his adult life living in Japan, Italy and Poland. Currently he calls Peacehaven (on the south coast, near Brighton) his home. Since 2009, he’s well-known with his work as the curator of the Home Normal label. He makes music using an array of reel-to-reel and tape machines in his studio by the sea, where he also master works for many labels and artists alike. You could often catch him on the coast with his faithful Nagra recorder, hydrophone and field microphones. These days his focus of music is on decayed ambient works using old synths and reels mostly, alongside his childhood piano.

Craig Tattersall is a former member of The Remote Viewer and Famous Boyfriend bandmate Andrew Johnson. Tattersall's music can be found these days more often under his alias The Humble Bee; as a founder member of The Boats; and in his collaborative works with the likes of Bill Seaman in The Seaman And The Tattered Sail. He has run the wonderful label Cotton Goods from 2008 to 2015 and since 2009 he has recorded 15 solo albums on his moniker The Humble Bee and almost the same under his name on some collaborations.

Innovative horn player, producer and songwriter CJ Camerieri returns with his deeply collaborative CARM project. CARM II, the second album due out this fall with 37d03d, was produced in Minneapolis by Ryan Olson and features Edie Brickell, Sid Sriram, Kristian Matsson, Justin Vernon, Gabriella Smith, Sean Carey and others. It is a genre-defying, heartfelt exploration of the possibilities in provocative musicmaking and provides a homespace for a profound variety of voices. Where the first record used horns in place of other instruments, CARM II places them even more prominently in the musical texture. The experience of playing live shaped this approach. "Standing at the front of the stage was a new experience for me and I wanted to create a record of songs that justified my being there." On CARM II, there is no mistaking that the lead "singer" of this band is Camerieri's horn. CJ also wanted to feature bandmate Trever Hagen, who takes on both production and performance roles. The featured artists on CARM II have opined on their various roles in this project. Brickell contacted Camerieri asking him to participate in her short-form songwriting project that she introduced on social media during the pandemic. Camerieri and Olson were in the middle of writing songs for the record, and one stood out as perfect for Brickell's request. Sent as a work-inprogress, she quickly responded, writing the first verse and chorus to what would become "More and More." They knew it needed to be fully realized. Says Brickell, "CJ's trumpet melodies and phrases inspired `More and More.' I just listened to him and followed his lead, trusted what came to mind and sang it. It all flowed from his music." "For `I Fall' Ryan and I created the basic track and I really struggled to write on it. It wasn't in song form, and I couldn't find my way into making it a coherent thought." CJ thought of Gabriella Smith, one of the leading composers of our day, and on a whim sent her the track. Smith sent fragments to experiment with and send back to her as she rode out the pandemic in the Norwegian countryside. After 3 months, she then sent him a fully realized score of horns/vocals. The result is a testament to the visionary composer's incredible ingenuity. "That this music was in Smith's imagination and then fully notated is mind boggling to me." "The Ones You Love" was the last song written for the record. CJ had been arranging and playing horns on Sid Sriram's forthcoming debut, falling in love with Sriram's voice and style. The song came from a jam session at with Andrew Broder on keys, Evan Slack on guitar, Chris Bierden on bass, and Hagen on drum machine. CJ and Sid trade epic lines back and forth, celebrating vulnerability and virtuosity in tandem.

Monks Road Social are an ever-changing collective of artists (some well-known, some just starting out) all with one thing in common - a love of making music.

Following the three genre bending albums MRS has already released this time round Richard Clarke turned to WONDERFULSOUND head honcho Miles Copeland to navigate the the vibe alongside mainstay of the band, the inimitable Dr Robert of Blow Monkeys fame.

Miles first showed up on debut album Down The Willows with the dreamy 'Golden Day' featuring Isle Of White favourite Angelina.

First single 'I’ll Keep On Searchin’ featuring Dr Robert on vocals is a lilting soulful slice of summer pop combining sweet melancholy and wistful chord changes.

Dr Robert explains “The song came from a piece of music Miles presented to me. It put me in mind of “Friends” era Beach Boys or early Smokey so the song came very quickly. Lyrically its informed by a kind of yearning. A desire for change, growth and connection. The things we’ve all been missing so much that give life meaning”

Miles continues…
“The idea for this single came about from these 2 loops sampled from some charity shop record creating this infectious lazy, jazzy groove but I knew the music needed to change and become its own thing… so when the Monks Road Social posse came knocking I knew the calibre of musicians involved would be able to flip it around, and that’s how a majority of the LP was written”.

Limited Loser edition on dark green vinyl. There are times in our life when we feel magic in the air. When new love arrives, or we find ourselves lost in a moment of creation with others who share our vision. A sense that: this is who I want to be. This is what I want to share. It's a fleeting feeling and one that Kyle Thomas, the singer-songwriter who records and performs as King Tuff, found himself longing for in the spring of 2020. But knowing he couldn't simply recreate this time in his life at will, Thomas-who hails from Brattleboro, Vermont-set out to write a love letter to those cherished moments of inspiration and to the small town that formed him. The one where he first nurtured his songwriting impulses, bouncing ideas off other like-minded artists. The kind of place where the changing of the seasons always delivered a sense of perspective and fresh artistic inspiration. Where he felt a deeper connection with nature and sense of community that had once been so close at hand. And so, Thomas seized upon his memories, creating what he calls "an album about love and nature and youth." The result is Smalltown Stardust, a spiritual, tender and ultimately joyous record that might come as a shock to those with only a passing knowledge of the artist's back catalog. On Smalltown Stardust, Thomas takes us on his journey to a place where past and present collide, where he can be a dreamer in love with all that he sees. References to his Brattleboro upbringing abound, but at the core of Smalltown Stardust is Thomas's desire to commune with nature on a spiritual level. Images of the natural world, from blizzards to green mountains to cloudy days, fill the songs. "I consider nature to be my religion," he explains, and Smalltown Stardust is nothing if not a spiritual exploration. While so much of Smalltown Stardust invokes idealized traces and places of Thomas's past, the album's recording process made his communal vision a reality. Thomas's Los Angeles home in 2020 formed a micro-scene of sorts, with housemates Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) and Sasami Ashworth recording their own heralded albums (2021's Fun House and 2022's Squeeze, respectively) at the same time. A shared spirit dominated an era spent largely on the premises, with Thomas serving as engineer and contributor to both records, and Ashworth working as co-producer on Smalltown Stardust. Ashworth's contributions are vital to the album: she co-wrote a majority of the record and contributed vocals, arrangements, and instrumentation to each song. In the end, Smalltown Stardust is not merely a nostalgia trip. Thomas not only conjured a special time in his life, he found new inspiration, surrounded by collaborators and a sense of love and wonder for nature. If the first King Tuff record was content to merely state Thomas was no longer dead, Smalltown Stardust is a paean to what that life means. A statement of belief and a hymnal to the magic still to behold all around us.

There are times in our life when we feel magic in the air. When new love arrives, or we find ourselves lost in a moment of creation with others who share our vision. A sense that: this is who I want to be. This is what I want to share. It's a fleeting feeling and one that Kyle Thomas, the singer-songwriter who records and performs as King Tuff, found himself longing for in the spring of 2020. But knowing he couldn't simply recreate this time in his life at will, Thomas-who hails from Brattleboro, Vermont-set out to write a love letter to those cherished moments of inspiration and to the small town that formed him. The one where he first nurtured his songwriting impulses, bouncing ideas off other like-minded artists. The kind of place where the changing of the seasons always delivered a sense of perspective and fresh artistic inspiration. Where he felt a deeper connection with nature and sense of community that had once been so close at hand. And so, Thomas seized upon his memories, creating what he calls "an album about love and nature and youth." The result is Smalltown Stardust, a spiritual, tender and ultimately joyous record that might come as a shock to those with only a passing knowledge of the artist's back catalog. On Smalltown Stardust, Thomas takes us on his journey to a place where past and present collide, where he can be a dreamer in love with all that he sees. References to his Brattleboro upbringing abound, but at the core of Smalltown Stardust is Thomas's desire to commune with nature on a spiritual level. Images of the natural world, from blizzards to green mountains to cloudy days, fill the songs. "I consider nature to be my religion," he explains, and Smalltown Stardust is nothing if not a spiritual exploration. While so much of Smalltown Stardust invokes idealized traces and places of Thomas's past, the album's recording process made his communal vision a reality. Thomas's Los Angeles home in 2020 formed a micro-scene of sorts, with housemates Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) and Sasami Ashworth recording their own heralded albums (2021's Fun House and 2022's Squeeze, respectively) at the same time. A shared spirit dominated an era spent largely on the premises, with Thomas serving as engineer and contributor to both records, and Ashworth working as co-producer on Smalltown Stardust. Ashworth's contributions are vital to the album: she co-wrote a majority of the record and contributed vocals, arrangements, and instrumentation to each song. In the end, Smalltown Stardust is not merely a nostalgia trip. Thomas not only conjured a special time in his life, he found new inspiration, surrounded by collaborators and a sense of love and wonder for nature. If the first King Tuff record was content to merely state Thomas was no longer dead, Smalltown Stardust is a paean to what that life means. A statement of belief and a hymnal to the magic still to behold all around us.

Tape

There are times in our life when we feel magic in the air. When new love arrives, or we find ourselves lost in a moment of creation with others who share our vision. A sense that: this is who I want to be. This is what I want to share. It's a fleeting feeling and one that Kyle Thomas, the singer-songwriter who records and performs as King Tuff, found himself longing for in the spring of 2020. But knowing he couldn't simply recreate this time in his life at will, Thomas-who hails from Brattleboro, Vermont-set out to write a love letter to those cherished moments of inspiration and to the small town that formed him. The one where he first nurtured his songwriting impulses, bouncing ideas off other like-minded artists. The kind of place where the changing of the seasons always delivered a sense of perspective and fresh artistic inspiration. Where he felt a deeper connection with nature and sense of community that had once been so close at hand. And so, Thomas seized upon his memories, creating what he calls "an album about love and nature and youth." The result is Smalltown Stardust, a spiritual, tender and ultimately joyous record that might come as a shock to those with only a passing knowledge of the artist's back catalog. On Smalltown Stardust, Thomas takes us on his journey to a place where past and present collide, where he can be a dreamer in love with all that he sees. References to his Brattleboro upbringing abound, but at the core of Smalltown Stardust is Thomas's desire to commune with nature on a spiritual level. Images of the natural world, from blizzards to green mountains to cloudy days, fill the songs. "I consider nature to be my religion," he explains, and Smalltown Stardust is nothing if not a spiritual exploration. While so much of Smalltown Stardust invokes idealized traces and places of Thomas's past, the album's recording process made his communal vision a reality. Thomas's Los Angeles home in 2020 formed a micro-scene of sorts, with housemates Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) and Sasami Ashworth recording their own heralded albums (2021's Fun House and 2022's Squeeze, respectively) at the same time. A shared spirit dominated an era spent largely on the premises, with Thomas serving as engineer and contributor to both records, and Ashworth working as co-producer on Smalltown Stardust. Ashworth's contributions are vital to the album: she co-wrote a majority of the record and contributed vocals, arrangements, and instrumentation to each song. In the end, Smalltown Stardust is not merely a nostalgia trip. Thomas not only conjured a special time in his life, he found new inspiration, surrounded by collaborators and a sense of love and wonder for nature. If the first King Tuff record was content to merely state Thomas was no longer dead, Smalltown Stardust is a paean to what that life means. A statement of belief and a hymnal to the magic still to behold all around us.

‘Living Rooms’ is a full-blooded debut of rich, playful, experimental pop from the artist Fe Salomon – full of unabashedly big songs and sumptuously big sounds. Fe’s soulful and arresting lead vocals weave amongst soaring strings and big band brass sections; clattering percussion and disjunctive rhythms; dirty electro synth and butchered guitar. A collaboration with producer and contemporary classical composer Johnny Parry, ‘Living Rooms’ is a true pop album with a distinct, exuberant and deeply generous sound.

Born in Northampton, Fe moved to London at 18 for a place at Theatre College; but soon left to concentrate on music and songwriting, falling quickly into the Camden music scene, and earning her a prolific career as a singer. Building on her diverse musical background and honing her unusual sonic style, this album has been percolating at the back of Fe’s mind for a long time. The perfect storm of personal and external factors thus created the moment to make it. ‘Living Rooms’ tells stories of multiple lives lived and lost

in the city, of friendships that meant everything and the characters you’ll never meet again, of transience and loneliness, and of getting by and moving on.

At the forefront of the album is an organic and fiercely honest lead vocal performance. However, Fe permits her voice to be twisted and distorted into the fabric of the instrumentation. The un-doctored lead vocals are frequently haunted by angels and demons, created through Fe’s uninhibited willingness to this manipulation, and capturing the more visceral emotions within the expression of the human voice.

‘Living Rooms’ navigates a wide spectrum of sounds and emotions. Take album opener “Polka Dot”, a track that mixes emotive vocals with an avant-garde alt/pop production to conjure a cut as stylish as it is shrouded in shadowy mystique. A track “about mourning innocence, and the darkness that’s picked up along the way, with an ‘up yours’ sarcastic tone, and not wanting to grow old”, it sets the scene for a twisting collection that up-ends expectations at every opportunity.

Elsewhere, the chunky hooks of “Super Human”, the sci-fi/country/big band of “Wired of Caffeine”, or the intimately sung vocals and Vaughan-Williams-esque string sections of “Taxicabs”, all contribute to an album that evolves like a rich and constantly surprising tapestry.

Although the conception of the album was a frenzy of wild experimentation. The album is faithful too, and celebratory of many joyous pop traditions; but searches for ways to reinterpret the familiar. And no less so than on the off-kilter centre-piece “Quintessential England”. Through wry lyricism and vivid imagination, the track paints a lucid, if lonely, depiction of a life lived out in the sticks; one that ultimately arrives at the conclusion that perhaps “the grass isn’t always greener”.

Gifted with the kind of superpowers that have blessed Alison Goldfrapp with her unwavering glam-pop allure and Stevie Nicks with that invincible soul, Fe Salomon’s empowering first release will prove she’s cut from the same cloth and ready to be your newest musical hero.

Eva Louise Goodman’s Nighttime project locates itself on a musical tree planted on the British Isles, perched atop the branch of folk leaning into sixties rock. Her upstate New York environs don’t stray far from that image. With tempered percussion, floating mellotron, and singing that evokes Bleecker & MacDougal on a fervent Saturday afternoon, her new album Keeper Is The Heart reaches deep into the essence of musicians such as Vashti Bunyan, Sibylle Baier and Pentangle, breaking down the decades into a sound thoroughly and bizarrely modern.

Through her years performing with Mutual Benefit, Goodman fell in love with life on the road and the collaborative energy of a band. In this third Nighttime album, she channels these experiences into her own music. The creative journey from writing to recording to mixing drove her deeper into a sense of self while expanding her sound. In the process, she put aside lo-fi origins and challenged herself to achieve the same intimacy with a bigger production.

Like most paths of self-discovery, the journey started with displacement. In October 2019, Goodman set out to record the album on her own, while cat-sitting at a friend’s empty Brooklyn apartment. Rather than recording, she was drawn to the overgrown garden, where she spent her days listening to music and reading old journals. Charlie Megira, The Incredible String Band and Roy Montgomery invoked the spirit of the album, as she realized that a new, more collaborative approach would be necessary to bring the songs to life.

In March 2021, after a pandemic year immersed in sound experimentation and writing, she entered the upstate New York studio of recording engineer Rick Spataro (Florist). Together, Spataro and Goodman dove into creating the album, recording one song a day, letting the spark and excitement of spontaneity be their guide. “I've always been fascinated with ‘automatic’ arts,” Goodman says, “where things are created intuitively and without premeditation, from the subconscious.” In this light, they worked with abandon–pushing through the heaviness of songs written years earlier with the same energy as songs which were not yet fully developed. Taking chances, improvising, they sought to strip away pretense, and elude perfectionism at all cost.

Among their experiments, the duo manipulated tape speeds–slowing or speeding up different instrument tracks, imbuing passages with altered perspectives. Improvisation was the key in track five, ‘The Way,’ a song about “the magical act of carving out a path through life, amidst all possibility.” After a long day of recording, the song was feeling heavy and uninspired. As night fell, Spataro picked up the Stratocaster and, in one take, laid down a rolling, roiling guitar line that defined the track.

This spirit of surrender weaves through the album. “Break free from time, and sink in the pool of the mind,” begins ‘Garden of Delight’, an energetic highlight, propelled by 60’s-era organ and Jefferson Airplane-esque vocals. The song was accidentally deleted after the first day of recording. By luck or fate, the one surviving file captured the song’s loose and free-wheeling essence. Inspired, Goodman encouraged her circle of collaborators to work similarly: “I gave everyone trust and total freedom to contribute as they felt called to, encouraging an intuitive approach of simply improvising, playing through the song a few times and then sending over the results.” Synth, cello, violin, saxophone and flute all appear, but often in unconventional ways.

Keeper Is the Heart reflects Goodman’s process towards greater creative freedom. The first words she sings: “Lift the veil of all of this hate/To see the fear at its base.” Her last lines: “We’ll follow the fates across the great expanse of time/To the source of the light within our mind.” In between is a work of art awash in personal awakenings that revel in the freedom of intuition, the lifting of veils, and the beauty of transformation. As Goodman states, “What is it you find when you look inward to see beyond, past your fears, to your heart's true desires?”

There’s a line on Honey, the latest album from Nashville-via-NYC songwriter Samia, about Aspen Grove, a collection of 40,000 trees in the plains of North America, all connected by a single expansive root system. There’s no stronger metaphor for the audience the 25-year-old empathy engine has been generating since she began releasing music seven years ago. Her songs, her fans, her friends: one enormous, interconnected ecosystem. Honey, comprised of eleven new moments of catharsis, is by and for that organism. Set for release on January 23rd 2023 via Grand Jury Music, the album was recorded at North Carolina studio Betty’s –- owned and operated by Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sandborn and Amelia Meath, frequent touring partners of Samia’s. It was produced by Caleb Wright, part of the team that helmed Samia’s breakthrough 2020 debut The Baby, and a founding member of one of Samia’s favorite bands, The Happy Children. It features some of her nearest and dearest friends: Christian Lee Hutson, Briston Maroney, Jake Luppen, Raffaella. Its songs were surreptitiously road tested for her devotees while opening for Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett, and more. The end result is what Samia calls simply “a real community record.”