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On How It Ends (?), slinky melodies snake through nocturnal atmospherics, drawing you into a world built on poetic, painterly lyricism. Night Crickets, a long-distance groove affair that materialized during the drawn-out days of lockdown, has emerged once again to soundtrack our waking dreams.

David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes) and multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners spearhead a loose collective of like-minded creative souls whom, through sheer tenacity and a burning desire to collaborate and create, transcend the restrictions of space and time. Audio files shared from Los Angeles to Milwaukee, from London to the San Francisco Bay, and the ghosts of Candlestick Park shimmer through the fog, coalescing in a glorious ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ that draws from the past, the present and the imagined future.

Declaring Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, and Violent Femmes iconic, foundational bands in the history of alternative music would receive little pushback from those in the know. San Francisco born artist Darwin Meiners is a fan of all three. A chance meeting with David J grew into a friendship, and Darwin not only became a bandmate, but his manager. After reaching out to Victor DeLorenzo through e-mail, Darwin met the Violent Femmes drummer after their set at Coachella. Soon, after the three collaborated on Darwin’s 2014 release Souvenir.

As the pandemic took hold, Darwin was looking for a new project to occupy the lock down time and approached Victor, who was keen to proceed and suggested that David join as well. The musical trust established between these three was immediate and Night Crickets were born. Within weeks a global process was initiated between them, the recordings eventually forming the album, A Free Society.

Following that release, inspired by how well – and quickly – they all worked together, the trio kept up their collaboration. “We are each free to discover musical connections that could only exist in an ideal creative setting” explains Victor. “We are very lucky to have three musicians who write, sing and play various instruments in one trio… our egos seem to melt into one when we face musical decisions, so our expeditions are always filled with pure discovery, humor and drive!”

How It Ends (?) was crafted with the same collaborative spirit as A Free Society. Each member contributed contributed unique elements to spur their collective creativity—whether a drum pattern, a lyrical concept, or a musical idea—and together, they expanded these initial sparks into the finished work. True to their approach, much of what you hear was captured in the first take, reflecting a genuine, unfiltered moment.

The music on the How It Ends (?) is a true evolution of the debut album. It is deeper and darker. Having said that, the dark tone is alleviated by a healthy measure of the buoyant, bouncy and melodic. “Much of the new material is very psychedelic and the contrast between this heavy, dark psychedelia and the more uplifting pop elements puts me in mind of The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ album to some degree,” tells David J. “The recording process for the new album was exactly the same as the first in that we all recorded remotely, taking turns to share files and reacting spontaneously to the previous track, overdubbing then passing on once again until we all felt that the track was done.”

“While we didn’t start with a specific theme, the album emerged as a contemplative exploration of endings” says Darwin. “It touches on the loss of individuals, the shifting of ideas, and the fragility of systems. Beneath this sense of darkness and finality, however, there are threads of beauty and glimpses of hope. We invite you to immerse yourself in the album and experience the journey we’ve embarked upon.”

In the age of streaming platforms and social media, stimulation is easy to come by. Real pleasure, however_the kind that feeds our soul rather than draining it_is in shockingly short supply. The second LP by THUS LOVE is full of that kind of nourishing euphoria. It swoons, shakes, and swaggers with a combination of grit and sensuality that's been hard to locate in music lately. It's called, fittingly, All Pleasure. The album came out of a period of dizzying growth and transformation for the group. When they began work on it, vocalist/guitarist Echo Mars and drummer Lu Racine were still reeling from the runaway success of their 2022 debut Memorial_a set of lush, elegant post-punk that brought praise from The FADER, the NME, and the Guardian_along with processing the departure of the founding bassist. With All Pleasure, the band re-formed with new bassist Ally Juleen and guitarist/keyboardist Shane Blank. The group convened in a barn in the woods that Mars had transformed into a recording studio, and kept one rule at the forefront: "If it's not joyful, don't do it." What emerged from that mission is a stunningly gorgeous album, full of big, arcing melodies and a range of kinky stylistic twists that will surprise listeners who know the group just for Memorial's chorus-drenched 80s-style psychedelia. "Birthday Song" gives grungy glam rock with a transcendent hook that underlines Echo's lyrical tribute to communal joy. "Get Stable" transmutes existential panic into sharp-angled punk pop. The anthemic title track is something like the album's mission statement, paying tribute to the power of joyful creation. Mixed by Matthew Hall and Rich Costey and mastered by Bob Weston, All Pleasure was recorded as live as possible, capturing the sheer infectious ecstasy that comes from sharing space together and making a divine racket. Put on All Pleasure, tap into the energy that THUS LOVE is putting out, and you just might find an escape.

Expected late October/early November

Scott Gilmore’s Volume 01, an Analog Synth Gem, Makes Its Vinyl Debut - Pressed at 45RPM for maximum fidelity.

Recorded on a vintage Tascam 388, the LP version of Gilmore’s alluring, easy-going instrumental electronic record arrives in the physical world via In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi Records.

Los Angeles, CA — When the Los Angeles electronic musician and multi-instrumentalist Scott Gilmore recalls the creation of the songs on Volume 01, he describes specific moments of spontaneous inspiration. “I remember sitting at the tape deck, watching the leaves outside the window as they flittered in the sunlight—a moment of stillness that became intertwined with the melody I was recording,” Gilmore recalls, speaking of the track “Song For Cate.”

This sense of simplicity and presence is at the heart of Volume 01, which was recorded entirely on a Tascam 388 using a carefully curated selection of instruments.

Volume 01, an intimate, instinctual album that mixes lo-fi digital rhythms, strummed guitar, and melodic synth layers, is a collection of songs that captures Gilmore’s magnetic fluidity and the spontaneity of his process. Initially released digitally and as a limited edition cassette, Volume 01 is set to be issued on vinyl for the first time by In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi.

The Tascam 388 is a classic mid-1980s analog machine that combines an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder with a built-in mixing console. Volume 01 exudes the kind of hazy, nostalgic warmth that only such recorders can provide. For the nine-song album, Gilmore harnessed analog synths including the Arp Odyssey, Yamaha CS-01, Korg DW-8000, Hohner Pianet T, Roland TR 606, and Roland SH 101, as well as bamboo alto saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar, and electric bass.

The album is awash in brief, propellant pieces. At just over four minutes, the relatively epic “Horizon Line” is driven by a three-note snare pattern, a two-note cymbal tap, with a humble bass-line serving as the rudder; Gilmore’s improvised keyboard runs move with an intuitive, conversational glee. The pensive "Shade" sounds like it could be a Penguin Cafe Orchestra demo. Closing track “D. Hareem” runs on a wobbly time signature but with an insistent, determined rhythm that belies genre descriptives. “I prefer to not know what I’m making as I compose,” Gilmore says. “It’s when I can’t clearly define what the music is that it’s then something that I want to put out into the world.”

In hindsight, Volume 01 was a portent. After its 2016 cassette release, Gilmore connected with International Feel, the Balearic imprint run by Marc Barrot, to release the sublime Subtle Vertigo. In 2019, Gilmore’s music caught the attention of Marc Hollander, the experimental composer and founding member of Aksak Maboul, which led to a signing with the Belgian label Crammed Discs. That deal enabled the creation of Gilmore’s solo album Two Roomed Motel and Doctor Fluorescent, a retro-futuristic, Vocoder-heavy 2020 collaboration with Eddie Ruscha V, a.k.a. Secret Circuit). Across these projects, Gilmore’s work has been mentioned in the same sentences as Stereolab, Arthur Russell, Woo, Air, R. Stevie Moore, and others, all of whom have combined synths and non-synths to memorable effect.

With the upcoming vinyl release, Volume 01 will set into wax an enduring set of works, offering listeners the chance to experience analog artistry in its most authentic, tangible form. In Sheep’s Clothing Records is honored to bring Gilmore’s work to vinyl.

Though allegedly a Texas native, Milton Davis first recorded in Los Angeles in 1967 as a member of The Four Tempos. When that act split, he trekked up the coast in stages, eventually settling in Portland. Here he secured the lead vocal role for local scene heroes, Slickaphonic. Though a full album of their own was taped, another reel of material was cut centred on Milton as a solo artist. Neither set of tracks saw release in their day, but from the latter collection we've pulled a bona fide 1977 disco-soul smasher and a mid tempo flipside with a sheen that belies its depth. First time ever on 7" 45, dinked centre hole with picture sleeve, 500 numbered copies only.

Beloved tenor Andrea Bocelli, the most celebrated classical singer in modern history celebrates his 30th anniversary as a global icon with a brand new album Duets – 30th Anniversary. This new definitive career-spanning collection features all the classic duets with Ed Sheeran, Céline Dion, Sarah Brightman, Dua Lipa, Matteo Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, Laura Pausini, Giorgia, Christina Aguilera, Veronica Berti, Lang Lang, Ellie Goulding, Edith Piaf, Ariana Grande, Mary J Blige, Cecilia Bartoli, Katharine McPhee, Alison Krauss, Bryn Terfel, Mary J Blige alongside brand new superstar collaborations with Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, Gwen Stefani, M° Luciano Pavarotti, Marc Anthony, Lauren Daigle, Matteo Bocelli & Hans Zimmer, Karol G, Sofia Carson, Elisa & Virginia Bocelli. Andrea Bocelli - 30 years of bringing people together.

NOW Music is proud to present the newest addition to the ‘Yearbook’ series: NOW – Yearbook 1981. NOW – Yearbook 1981; a celebration of the eclectic and creative brilliance of the year in pop. 4 CDs of 85 tracks that defined the charts in 1981. Available on a 4CD special edition which is housed in ‘hard-back book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet with a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz, and original singles artwork, and as a standard 4-CD package. A limited edition 3LP set pressed in translucent red vinyl, limited to 3,000 units and a 4CD set

lp wiBola’s music melds sheer force of spirit with a sound not often heard by ears outside the remote Upper East Region of Ghana. This man who grew up herding livestock in the savannah, far away from the tropical coast and cosmopolitan cities of Accra and Kumasi, has aligned himself with national and international means of expression to transform his hometown sound into something downright avant-garde. His bold fury stems from the kologo—a two-stringed lute with a calabash gourd resonator—and Frafra language vocals, emitted in raspy bursts.

Traditionally, kologo performances occur at pito (local beer made from fermented millet or sorghum) bars, weddings, funerals, festivals or spontaneous jams on the street, which are the environments where Bola honed his craft as a solo musician. In recent years, he came into contact with people like his mentor Guy One who helped him get into the studio to document what is some of the most dynamic music to come out of Ghana since the emergence of hiplife in the mid-'90s.

Volume 7, which came out in 2009, is just one entry in a brilliant series of recordings Bola has released on CD and cassette. Although he employs a traditional instrument and the age-old mode of griot story-telling, Bola embraces elements of up-to-the-minute mainstream Ghanaian music—drum machines, synths, bone-shaking bass. Inspired by pioneering kologo greats like King Ayisoba, Bola has taken a dynamic instrument used by traditional healers and herbalists to sing to god in search of advice and taken it to futuristic heights.

Lenparrot's third studio album, La Conversation, is a reflective exploration of human experiences, performed in French and recorded in a renovated sheepfold in the Corbières region. The album marks a shift from Lenparrot's previous work, embracing the French language more fully after experimenting with it in earlier tracks. Influenced by personal milestones such as becoming a father and coping with loss, the album was born from creative collaboration. In March 2022, Romain Lallement (Lenparrot) joined artists Nina Savary, producer Astrobal, and multi-instrumentalist Vincent Guyot to compose this album, which came together quickly in the inspiring rural setting. The result is a harmonious blend of introspective and uplifting themes, capturing the essence of life’s joys and challenges.

It's a pleasure, a labour of love and a yearly highlight to present a new volume of the Mr Bongo Record Club series. In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres. We have chosen a diverse array of artists, including Os Panteras from Brazil, stomping underground disco by Claude Jay, the Danish soul sounds of Gitte & Inger and the gospel excellence of Truth & Devotion, to name a few.

Most of the selections in this volume are older vintage productions, however, there is one very special contemporary production, recorded exclusively for Mr Bongo Record Club 7. For ‘Spring Has Sprung’, we linked three of our cherished musical family together; the legendary cult artist Asha Puthli, the wonderous band SOYUZ and Swedish maestro Sven Wunder. The result, as you’d expect, is completely breathtaking.

Reflecting on Volume 7, it now feels like a record comprised of two themes. Firstly, we have gone quite heavy on the Brazilian selections. This saw us searching further afield and digging into other areas of the endlessly rich Brazilian musical tapestry. The reflection of a more folk / Afro-Brazilian sound than presented in previous volumes in the series, can be heard in the songs of As Sublimes, Romeu Fernandes and Conjunto de Percussão Dora Pinto. The second theme is a representation of the tracks that we have been playing in our club DJ sets and are aimed more at the dancefloor. Disco tracks such as 'Come Inside' by The Shades of Love and The Duncans' 'Too Damn Hot' have been firmly tested favourites in recent years.

We hope these songs, by the sensational artists on display, inspire you as much as they do us. Music is the gift that keeps giving and there is so much more to learn, find, and share.

On October 18th, Twisted Pine releases its joyous third LP, Love Your Mind. Dubbed “a band to watch” by NPR, the band’s first album in four years is the long-awaited follow-up to Right Now, which No Depression praised for its "sheer pop glory, funky all-day grooves, and spacecraft sonics.” The title represents the quartet landing after several years of touring, serious introspection, glorious bursts of creativity, and many after-hour festival jam sessions that had them pickin’ ‘til dawn. What started as a (semi-)traditional bluegrass band in the trenches of the storied Massachusetts Americana scene a decade ago has bloomed into an ensemble gleefully ready to race down any artistic detour. This is the sound of Twisted Pine now —experimental production, fearless songwriting featuring input from each member, finely-crafted collaborative arrangements, playing that is sometimes virtuosic, always visceral. The sound of a band that demands you Love Your Mind.

15 years onwards from the original release in October 2009, "This Is …" by Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos remains a classic in its genre. Upfront, raw and melodic, this super sister funk album has not aged at all. Now, in 2024, it is time for a proper re-release with unreleased bonus tracks, rare remixes and a limited edition double vinyl album. Welcome to the deluxe version of "This Is …" by Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos.

Read here what the original release sheet said about the album:

"Strong album – packs a serious punch" Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, BBC 6 Music

"A breath of fresh air" Keb Darge

"Really amazing stuff, full of killers" Nick / Record Kicks

"Definitely recommended" Peter Wermelinger, Funky & Groovy Music Records Lexicon

"What a fantastic album – this is proper funk" Tobias Kirmayer, Tramp Records

Ever since their first collaboration on the "Mocambo Funk Forty Fives" compilation, things have gained momentum for Gizelle Smith, the "Golden Girl of Funk", and the much respected Hamburg-based label and live band The Mighty Mocambos. Their first single "Working Woman" became an overnight smash and a prime-time club favourite of funk & soul DJs from all over the world. Initially released on the Finnish private press label Old Capital, producer legend and Grammy nominee Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads) picked up and remixed the song for his own label Kay Dee Records. Gizelle Smith & Mocambo now step up with a full-length album of bonafide sister funk. In the days of digital recording and Pro Tools editing, they show true exception to modern techniques and create their highly regarded, unique and raw soul sound, by making use of simple dynamic microphones and reel-to-reel tape machines. In a genre which is often littered with overused clichés of the past, the charismatic Gizelle Smith adds a lot of her own flavour rather than slavishly copying icons of bygone decades. The result is a refreshing alternative to post-millenium plastic pop without being a mere retro rip-off. From the heavy and determined "Gonna Get You" to vulnerable, gospel-tinged laments such as "Coffee High", "This Is Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos" is just as deeply rooted in the music from the golden era of soul as it is a modern masterpiece in its own right. Blazing horns, soulful guitars, driving drums and basslines combined with Gizelle's gripping and powerful voice all weave together to create a long player that is varied and coherent at the same time.

'We're excited to be able to bring you the latest wonderful album from Chester's boycalledcrow, after a series of superb releases for labels such as Mortality Tables, Waxing Crescent Records and Subexotic Records, including the wonderful Kullu from earlier this year.

Knott's music doesn't sit easily in any pre-existing genres, being at once strange and experimental, yet melodic and somehow comforting. His music is intimate and evocative, deeply personal, and manages to be both bucolic and yet totally 21st century, like Kraftwerk's robots dreaming of sheep.

The songs and sounds on “eyetrees” are inspired by a rich family life and the wonderful times spent with his wife and kids, both at home and out in nature.'

Knott said of the album and its inspirations:
“We enjoy spending time in the woods with our young children, creating stories about the "eye tree”. This tree, with thousands of eyes, watches over us and cares for us like family. We make fox medicine and cherish these blissful moments. The music reflects these times, seen through the colors of an old, fuzzy reel—orange, red, and yellow with blurred edges, like an old photo scorched by the sun.

I feel a deep spiritual connection to the countryside; the hands of Arcadia cradle me when I feel sad. Some of the album was created during times of sadness when I felt death was close and the lines between worlds were blurred. This feeling—that anything can happen and that life is delicate and can be taken away in a flash—permeates the music.

The song titles are stories and memories of my family, filled with hazy pinks, yellows, reds, and oranges.

Wonky acoustic guitar, broken electronics, and a warm, otherworldly space."

Visionary art-pop duo Faux Real (a.k.a. Los Angeles-based Franco-American brothers Virgile and Elliott Arndt) release their debut album "Faux Ever" on City Slang.

Faux Real’s long-awaited debut album "Faux Ever" is a self-described “11-piece symphony for head-banging and longing,” the album sees the fraternal duo continuing to play on the outskirts of language and sound, exploring themes of heartbreak, labor, and the home with harmonies and humor, playful beats, and en franglais. Recorded between Paris, New York, London, Los Angeles, and Provence, "Faux Ever" thrusts Faux Real’s sultry, surreal, and unclassifiable sound towards a glossier pop horizon, an existential sonic pastiche with a glistening digital sheen. "Faux Ever" also includes such certified bangers as the bold, glitchy, and infectious “Rent Free” and the acclaimed “Faux Maux,” both available everywhere already alongside self-directed official music videos streaming now on YouTube. Known far and wide for their DIY, Iggy Pop-meets-Eurodance live performances, Faux Real are building anticipation for "Faux Ever" with international shows in the UK/EU and US.

Format: 140g Crystal Clear Vinyl

About Faux Real:
Elliott and Virgile Arndt founded Faux Real in 2018, blending post-punk, glam rock, and a taste for pop grandeur, fashioning a truly inimitable musical experience. From their increasingly accomplished studio output to mesmerizing, unprecedented live performances, Faux Real invite the audience to join them an enthralling post-realist expedition through contemporary pop culture with razor-edged satire, inspired boy band choreography, and a charged sensuality that has fast earned them a fervent fan following that includes among their number such iconic stars as Duran Duran, Beck, Paramore, Metronomy, and Wet Leg. Now, with the imminent arrival of Faux Ever, Faux Real continue to gleefully ignore boundaries and barriers, assuring the journey is as exhilarating as the ultimate destination.

The latest 45 from Durand Jones & The Indications out on Colemine Records features two tracks from their previous LP, Private Space. The A Side features the album's title track and is a laid-back, string-enhanced, smooth progression where guitarist Blake Rhein plays minimal but on-the-money strokes. The flip is an uptempo, drum heavy beat with lyrics depicting heartbreak and longing. "Sea of Love" delivers on that smell good, look good, feel good '70s synth sheen arrangements, lavish string charts, and double-down confidence from a band who gets to move their core expertly into a different decade.

This release is part of the Move-E series, but not only that, it is a certified classic. Originally released on a white label in the early 90's, this EP was much sought after then, and remains a personal favourite of many Djs for its eclectic take on early jungle and the incredible combination of samples and sound styles.

The latest 45 from Durand Jones & The Indications out on Colemine Records features two tracks from their previous LP, Private Space. The A Side features the album's title track and is a laid-back, string-enhanced, smooth progression where guitarist Blake Rhein plays minimal but on-the-money strokes. The flip is an uptempo, drum heavy beat with lyrics depicting heartbreak and longing. "Sea of Love" delivers on that smell good, look good, feel good '70s synth sheen arrangements, lavish string charts, and double-down confidence from a band who gets to move their core expertly into a different decade.

Speckled Dragon Egg Color Vinyl. Being Dead knows how to make an entrance - within the first several seconds of EELS, the duo's new record, the bright, hard-strummed guitar line on "Godzilla Rises" conjures cinematic immediacy, a creature emerging from the depths of the ocean in campy, freaky stop motion, fittingly so. Being Dead's records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song its own self-contained little universe. And while the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead's psyche, it is, most importantly, in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil' house in the heart of Austin, Texas. They decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks to record with GRAMMY-winning producer John Congleton, writing songs for the record until days before they left. The radical shift in process was welcome - a good balance and a challenge, Congleton helping them find new ways to work and helping peel back the layers on the core of their songwriting. Being Dead has grown from a duo to a trio live, including bassist Ricky Motto (who is immortalized finally on record here, particularly in the giggles on "Rock n' Roll Hurts") The resulting EELS is a darker record, tapped more into the devilishness within, but it's also a more raucous, rougher ride sonically. There's heartbreak, excitement, enchantment, dancing - we move through it all at a high-octane pace. Falcon Bitch and Smoofy never want to do the same thing twice on any song, and they don't. From the pummeling garage rock distortion of "Firefighters" to "Dragons II," which appears in its demo form taped on a hand recorder, it's unexpected but intuitive, and, most importantly, singularly Being Dead. Like its animal namesake suggests, the songs on EELS are malleable, the record like slithering through murky waters or strange half dreams, mysterious and beautiful in how it moves, reflective in a wavering sheen. Dipping into each song feels like uncovering a new cavern, plunging into depths unknown but fully open to what will be revealed. On the album artwork, an illustration by the artist Julia Soboleva, there are some weird disparate spectral creatures, a stark glimmer against a cloudy darkness. It's a fitting encapsulation of Being Dead, exuding a welcoming, playful energy even if something foreboding lurks just beyond the pale - more out of frame that's left to uncover, no path unexplored, strange and beautiful in the light.

It's a pleasure, a labour of love and a yearly highlight to present a new volume of the Mr Bongo Record Club series. In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres. We have chosen a diverse array of artists, including Os Panteras from Brazil, stomping underground disco by Claude Jay, the Danish soul sounds of Gitte & Inger and the gospel excellence of Truth & Devotion, to name a few.

Most of the selections in this volume are older vintage productions, however, there is one very special contemporary production, recorded exclusively for Mr Bongo Record Club 7. For ‘Spring Has Sprung’, we linked three of our cherished musical family together; the legendary cult artist Asha Puthli, the wonderous band SOYUZ and Swedish maestro Sven Wunder. The result, as you’d expect, is completely breathtaking.

Reflecting on Volume 7, it now feels like a record comprised of two themes. Firstly, we have gone quite heavy on the Brazilian selections. This saw us searching further afield and digging into other areas of the endlessly rich Brazilian musical tapestry. The reflection of a more folk / Afro-Brazilian sound than presented in previous volumes in the series, can be heard in the songs of As Sublimes, Romeu Fernandes and Conjunto de Percussão Dora Pinto. The second theme is a representation of the tracks that we have been playing in our club DJ sets and are aimed more at the dancefloor. Disco tracks such as 'Come Inside' by The Shades of Love and The Duncans' 'Too Damn Hot' have been firmly tested favourites in recent years.

We hope these songs, by the sensational artists on display, inspire you as much as they do us. Music is the gift that keeps giving and there is so much more to learn, find, and share.

2024 Repress

'Solar Nights' is the long awaited second album from German nu-disco star Tim Bernhardt, aka Satin Jackets. Released on Eskimo Recordings this April, 'Solar Nights' follows on from Bernhardt's critically acclaimed, and Gold certified, debut LP 'Panorama Pacifico' and features 14 tracks of smooth disco and leftfield pop sounds with guest appearances from the likes of Future Classic's Panama, David Harks, Niya Wells, Emma Brammer and Anduze.

The global success of 'Panorama Pacifico' has seen Bernhardt coaxed out from his remote studio in one of Germany's ancient forests to play to fans across the world, from South Korea to Mexico and beyond, experiences that inspired both the album itself and its title, 'Solar Nights'.

"In recent years the world's become smaller, a more inter-connected place. It can be dark and cold here, with snow all around, and the next day I can be playing to people on a beach. Somewhere on the planet it's always daytime or summer, but beyond that day and night just blend into each other these days," Tim explains. "We have daytime discos so you can go and party while the sun is still high in the sky, and you can go and hit the gym at night. Beit day or night, Satin Jackets is your soundtrack."

And what a soundtrack it is, from the first chords of opening 'Welcome Back' it's clear we're in safe hands here, the warm pads, delicate guitars and pianos providing the perfect introduction to the album. Whether it's the slow burning seductive pop of tracks like 'Just Like You', piano led house tracks like 'String It Again', the Balearic haze of 'All For You' or bonafide hits like the Nordic inspired 'Northern Lights' and 'Mirage' that between them have already scored well over 10 million streams across streaming platforms, 'Solar Nights' takes everything we loved from 'Panorama Pacifico' and polishes it to an ultra high sheen.

And in an age when rough and raw production is seen as an easy shorthand for authenticity, Tim's love of über-smooth production has made him an unlikely iconoclast, "I had always been fascinated by how glossy people like Nile Rodgers made their music," he reveals. "It always sounded like the musical equivalent of a fashion magazine's cover. I'd been making more underground music for a while but really wanted to go in totally the other direction and instead create a really smooth, polished sound."

That obsession with sonic fidelity shines through across every track on 'Solar Nights', and the years since his debut was released have been well spent perfecting his craft. "Even in just the last couple of years I've made some big changes in how I produce music. Compared to my debut, everything under the hood has changed here," he explains. "Every day, with every production, I'm learning new things and when I listen to these new tracks, the depth in the mixes, the clarity, I like to think of 'Solar Nights' as Satin Jackets but in 3D."

From wanting to recreate the sound of magazine covers to appearing on them, the past few years has been quite some journey for the still enigmatic producer. The man behind the golden mask may prefer to stay out of sight but 'Solar Nights' reveals him to be fully in control, producing music that reflects the glamour and glitz of 70s Manhattan, artfully updated for the 21st century.

Der italienische Musiker, Produzent, Komponist und Instrumentenbauer Alessandro Cortini veröffentlicht am 4. Oktober sein neues Album 'NATI INFINITI' via Mute.

Nach 'Scuro Chiaro' (2021) ist 'NATI INFINITI' ein 40-minütiges Stück in fünf Sätzen, das auf einer immersiven Audioinstallation basiert, die Cortini ursprünglich für das Sónar Lisboa Festival 2022 schuf, wo sie auf vier Etagen des Museu de Lisboa's Moagem präsentiert wurde. Später, im Jahr 2023, präsentierte Cortini die Live-Performance auf dem Atonal-Festival in Berlin, wo er das Werk als einen einzigartigen, sich entwickelnden Dialog neu interpretierte. Das Album wurde von der für einen Grammy nominierten Tontechnikerin, Produzentin und Mischerin Marta Salogni (Björk, Depeche Mode, Sampha) abgemischt und enthält Cortinis Strega-Synthesizer, den er zusammen mit dem Musiktechnologieunternehmen Make Noise entwickelt hat.

Cortini ist einer der wichtigsten Vertreter der zeitgenössischen elektronischen Musik und vor allem für seine eindringlichen, atmosphärischen Werke bekannt. Als langjähriges Mitglied von Nine Inch Nails ist er ein äußerst produktiver Solokünstler, der in den letzten zehn Jahren einen stetigen Strom seiner eigenen berauschenden Musik auf renommierten Labels wie Mute, Hospital und Important Records veröffentlicht hat. Während seines schattenhaften Aufstiegs zum Ruhm hat er mit Künstlern wie Lawrence English, Daniel Avery und Merzbow zusammengearbeitet und wurde in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen (als einziger italienischer Musiker, der jemals geehrt wurde).

- Ltd. LP: (Limited edition first pressing - Silver Mirror Board - Embossed on front / Debossed on back / Includes information sheet insert)