Search:shine

Almost fifteen years since the release of her self-titled debut LP on Mr Bongo, reggae’s orator of love Hollie Cook is returning to the label for Shy Girl, her fifth studio album and her most authentic yet. Woven with tight grooves, beautiful vocals and catchy melodies, Shy Girl hears singer and songwriter Hollie Cook revel in her contemporary lovers rock sound, more confident and open to vulnerability than ever before.

A sun-drenched exploration of love in all its guises, Shy Girl tells stories of the magical and the melancholy, the heart-lifting and heart-breaking, across 12 luscious, analogue reggae compositions - the culmination of a soft-hued and instantly recognisable “tropical pop” sound that Cook has made her own.

Put together across three years and four cities – from LA and NYC, to Vejer de la Frontera in Spain and Cook’s hometown London – Shy Girl was written with long-time collaborators, The General Roots Band, and features a contribution from legendary dub MC Horseman, who lends his voice to the album’s first single ‘Night Night’.

The album opens with the title track ‘Shy Girl’, a buoyant and elastic slice of lovers rock that was written in a moment of spontaneous intuition, and bubbles with a charisma and positivity that Cook radiates. “I’m not a natural show-off,” Cook explains. “The Shy Girl theme is me. It’s just about being my most vulnerable self and being as true to the music that Iove as possible.” It is this honesty which shines throughout, from the chugging deep dub of ‘Frontline’, complete with raking electric guitar lines, to the bittersweet roots ballad ‘We Share Love’, which closes out the album.

It's clear to see that Cook’s songwriting draws on a lifetime of musical influences and inspirations. From her father, Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook’s record collection and touring with post-punk icon Ari Up’s The Slits, to her love for strong female-led pop music and the bassweight of London’s sound system culture. Enamoured with the music of Janet Kay and Phyllis Dillon, Shy Girl represents a homecoming and a coming-of-age for Hollie Cook, distilling and refining a shimmering reggae sound that will capture your heart, as it first captured hers.

Almost fifteen years since the release of her self-titled debut LP on Mr Bongo, reggae’s orator of love Hollie Cook is returning to the label for Shy Girl, her fifth studio album and her most authentic yet. Woven with tight grooves, beautiful vocals and catchy melodies, Shy Girl hears singer and songwriter Hollie Cook revel in her contemporary lovers rock sound, more confident and open to vulnerability than ever before.

A sun-drenched exploration of love in all its guises, Shy Girl tells stories of the magical and the melancholy, the heart-lifting and heart-breaking, across 12 luscious, analogue reggae compositions - the culmination of a soft-hued and instantly recognisable “tropical pop” sound that Cook has made her own.

Put together across three years and four cities – from LA and NYC, to Vejer de la Frontera in Spain and Cook’s hometown London – Shy Girl was written with long-time collaborators, The General Roots Band, and features a contribution from legendary dub MC Horseman, who lends his voice to the album’s first single ‘Night Night’.

The album opens with the title track ‘Shy Girl’, a buoyant and elastic slice of lovers rock that was written in a moment of spontaneous intuition, and bubbles with a charisma and positivity that Cook radiates. “I’m not a natural show-off,” Cook explains. “The Shy Girl theme is me. It’s just about being my most vulnerable self and being as true to the music that Iove as possible.” It is this honesty which shines throughout, from the chugging deep dub of ‘Frontline’, complete with raking electric guitar lines, to the bittersweet roots ballad ‘We Share Love’, which closes out the album.

It's clear to see that Cook’s songwriting draws on a lifetime of musical influences and inspirations. From her father, Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook’s record collection and touring with post-punk icon Ari Up’s The Slits, to her love for strong female-led pop music and the bassweight of London’s sound system culture. Enamoured with the music of Janet Kay and Phyllis Dillon, Shy Girl represents a homecoming and a coming-of-age for Hollie Cook, distilling and refining a shimmering reggae sound that will capture your heart, as it first captured hers.

Classonix are back with another red-hot delivery of smart edits designed for maximum club impact. 'Lilith' marries deep house beats and dreamy roads with exotic international vocals that lend it plenty of spice. 'Coute' is a UK street soul and Afro disco collision with 80s pads that shine bright. 'Hala Hala' is another international delight with summer-ready vocals and an old-school bassline that never quits. 'Shabakni El Hawa' classes out with candied disco-pop and hypnotic vocals over some fresh synth work. A colourful package of sure-fire winners.

Sabrina Claudio's fifth studio album, Fall In Love With Her, marks a significant evolution in her musical journey. Known for her ethereal blend of R&B and pop, Sabrina Claudio delves deeper into personal narratives, offering listeners an intimate exploration of love, identity, and self-discovery.

This album follows her 2022 release, Based on a Feeling, where she emphasized authenticity and emotional resonance in her music. With Fall In Love With Her, Sabrina Claudio continues this trajectory, crafting songs that are both vulnerable and empowering. The lead single, "Need U to Need Me," exemplifies this, weaving themes of longing and self-worth into a sultry, atmospheric soundscape. Her introspective songwriting, combined with minimalist production, allows her vocals to shine, creating an immersive listening experience.

With a GRAMMY win to her name for her songwriting work on Beyonce’s Renaissance album & over 3B worldwide streams to date, Sabrina Claudio has firmly established herself as a standout in the R&B and Pop spaces.

1xLP, and includes a poster. Grab the vinyl today — and fall in love with her all over again.

Limited orange vinyl. A bombastic closure fi lled with energetic thrills delivered by the mighty Ring Van Möbius! Oh, wait..! Didn't they just vanish from the face of the earth? You're absolutely right, Prog Head! However; they had one last full-length album up their sleeves - a sparkling fresh and vital conclusion, filled with three lengthy compositions to wrap up their legacy. "Being able to now close this chapter with such a huge sparkling concept album feels terrific and quite satisfying. We really do feel that the inspiring playfulness during these spontaneous recording sessions shines through. Obviously, it's important to us to end this journey while sounding on top of our game, while still having fun!" the band says in a most humble comment, "A tremendous finale, directly from the analog Spectral Tape Studio".

The Alien Dub Orchestra is ragtag collective of Bavarian musicians, featuring members of The Notwist and G.Rag y los hermanos Patchekos. The cohort formed around the idea of performing the standards of the fabled Breadminster Songbook, aka the back-catalogue of lone dubman Elijah Minnelli. Minnelli is known for constructing wheezy, forlorn odes to his hometown, both as highly sought-after self-released 7" singles, and a critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘Perpetual Musket’ for FatCat Records, lauded by the likes of The Guardian, The Wire, and The Quietus. ‘The Alien Dub Orchestra: Plays the Breadminster Songbook’ finds group covering Minnelli’s cumbia-infused dub reggae with full band, playing an eclectic array of instruments including: guiro, accordion, melodica, sousaphone, trumpet and assorted percussion.

The tale begins in 2022, when Minnelli was invited to lend his unique dubbing style to a pair of remixes for The Notwist, and what followed was an ever-flourishing relationship between the Breadminster native and the wider Munich scene. The seeds of the Alien Dub Orchestra were sown during a support gig for The Notwist, where assorted musicians joined Minnelli for a encore, reinterpreting one of his dub remixes across woodwind, brass and assorted percussion.

“The idea of real, competent professionals playing something you’ve muddled together on a computer in a damp basement is quite overwhelming,” reflects Minnelli on the process, “hearing them interpret and improve these melodies is a real joy and privilege.”

Despite the non-traditional origins of the source material, the inherent musicality of Minnelli’s songwriting shines through across his releases, and this creative kinship is what attracted the Orchestra to reimagining his work. The first live collaboration led to recording sessions and further gigs, with the Orchestra building a full set of Minnelli’s music.

The resulting album puts forward the strongest case yet of the shared musical throughline between the acts, where cumbia, dub and folk sensibilities coalesce to something all together unique. The tracks are wrought new, with melodies fleshed out and broader instrumentation expanding the sonic possibilities of the compositions. The tactility of the tracks is perhaps best demonstrated on the gorgeous ‘Vine and Fig Tree’, with it’s layed vocals and expressive bassline returning as a cavorting sousaphone line. Elsewhere, fan favourite ‘SLATS’ sounds as if it was simply written to be performed this way.

To further instill the cylindrical nature of these collaborations, the entire second half of the album is made up of dub versions of the Orchestra’s renditions. For these dubs, Minnelli is joined by Raimund Wong, who had caught his ear with his ambitious live sets, a daisy chain of tape machines and FX pedals. Again, despite their differing creative processes, the two bonded over a shared love of dub music. Each dub was a one-take, with Minnelli riding the faders and Wong’s filters and FX supplying a sound that doesn’t seek to imitate dub, so much as it tries to be it’s own chaotic self. The droning, psychedelic hypnosis of ‘Pundit Dub’ stretches the material to a whole new realm that feels outside of anything else Minnelli has produced before, an ode to the benefits of recycling sound if ever there was one. The whole second half is a perfect closing note to an album that is undoubtedly a love letter to folk tradition, dub ideology and, most importantly, the joy of uninhibited collaboration.

​Elijah Minnelli - voc, guiro, percussion
Philip Gross - accordion, melodica
Theresa Loibl - clarinet, melodica
Cico Beck - electronics, keyboards
Sascha Schwegeler - congas, steel drum, percussion
Micha Acher - sousaphone, trumpet
Markus Acher - drums, voc
Dub mixes performed live by Elijah Minnelli & Raimund Wong at Breadminster County Council Studios

Orange Crush Vinyl. GoldFord writes soul music rooted in truth. His raw, unvarnished songs — equal parts introspection and catharsis — grapple with heartbreak, healing, and the quiet revelations that come with growth and maturity. Raised in St. Louis and now based in L.A., he spent a decade mired in corporate America before a devastating loss cracked something open. Since then, GoldFord has built a devoted following with his emotionally charged vocals and timeless style. His breakout single “Upside Down” offered a first taste of virality, while “Orange Blossoms” — inspired by an illuminating moment of presence under a fruit tree — has surpassed 50 million streams on Spotify alone and earned co-signs from Sam Smith and SZA. Tracks like “Ride the Storm” (33M+ Spotify streams) and “Walk With Me” have found homes in major ad campaigns, film, and TV . But for GoldFord, it’s not about placement: it’s about connection. “This is how I sort through my shit,” he says. “The music reflects back who I am.” With a new record on the way and a festival debut at Austin City Limits looming, he’s stepping into the spotlight, one soul-baring song at a time.

Hard Rock mit Haltung - SURRENDER THE CROWN melden sich mit Album Nr. 5 zurück!Mit TRAVAILS veröffentlicht die saarländische Hard-Rock-Formation SURRENDER THE CROWN am 19.09.2025 ihr fünftes Studioalbum. Die Band hat sich mit kraftvollem Modern Rock, emotionaler Tiefe und starker Bühnenpräsenz einen festen Platz in der deutschen Rocklandschaft erspielt. Nun präsentieren sie 12 neue Songs - druckvoll produziert, musikalisch gereift und thematisch tiefgründig.________________________________________Albumkonzept - Zwischen Dunkelheit und HoffnungDer Titel Travails (frz./engl. für Mühen, Plagen) ist Programm: Das Album thematisiert die dunklen Phasen im Leben - Ängste, Zweifel, Verluste - und wie wir ihnen begegnen. Der Titelsong umreißt die Botschaft des Albums klar: Wir entscheiden, ob uns das Leben bricht - oder ob wir daran wachsen. Travails ist ein Album, das nichts beschönigt, aber umso mehr ermutigt.________________________________________Singles & Pre-Order:• 18.07.2025 - Erste digitale Single "Toe The Line" veröffentlicht (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)• 08.08.2025 - Zweite digitale Single + offizieller Pre-Order-Start für alle Formate________________________________________Highlight für Sammler: Colored Doppel-LPTravails erscheint in einer hochwertigen Gatefold-Colored-Doppel-LP. Exklusiv für den Fachhandel und echte Fans - ein Must-have für Sammler und Vinyl-Liebhaber.________________________________________Begleitend zum Release setzen wir auf umfassende Promo-Aktivitäten:- Print & Online-Pressearbeit (Fach- & Musikmedien)- Gezielte Social-Media-Kampagnen mit Fokus auf Rock- & Metal-Zielgruppen- Content-Promotion über Instagram, Facebook & YouTube________________________________________Für Fans von: Shinedown, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin, Staind, Nickelback (früh)

Our favorite six-string shaman is waving that axe around again! Sir Richard Bishop wrenches forth fresh damnable truth and beauty from a musical kamikaze run through histories both known and unknown. Turning a gimlet eye to the American Primitive guitar style, Sir Rick applies his own bloodthirsty interpretive methods on a self-described "excursion into the dark woods," to locate - and play along with - the Primitive"s moonshine-fed inner savage.

Our favorite six-string shaman is waving that axe around again! Sir Richard Bishop wrenches forth fresh damnable truth and beauty from a musical kamikaze run through histories both known and unknown. Turning a gimlet eye to the American Primitive guitar style, Sir Rick applies his own bloodthirsty interpretive methods on a self-described "excursion into the dark woods," to locate - and play along with - the Primitive"s moonshine-fed inner savage.

Don your bandanas, leather jackets and distressed jeans, because heavy metal is about to shine brighter than ever as Swedish newcomers BOMBER bring back the hottest era in hard rock history. Asserting their own trademark blend of 70s and 80s inspired classic and hard rock with catchy hooks, top-notch guitar solos and a vibrant aesthetic, BOMBER brings you their debut album, Nocturnal Creatures, via Napalm Records! After explosive live shows in Sweden and a subsequent tour of Germany, the hard rockers prove that the glorious era of rock isn’t over and that they’re already setting the highest standards on Nocturnal Creatures. On ten powerful tracks, BOMBER turns the night into an intoxicating adventure that convinces both old and new fans of the prominent classic and hard rock genre. Album opener and title track “Nocturnal Creatures” opens the gates with epic storytelling and interludes the following passionate ride through “Zarathustra”. With fiery vocals, melodic guitars and untamable drum-play, the track gets the listener’s pulse pumping, while “Fever Eyes” ensnares with wistful weeping choirs and guarantees a quickly increasing temperature. “Black Pants Magic” emerges into an unforgettable high-class rock experience through its industrious and catchy hook, while songs like “A Walk Of Titans (Hearts Will Break)” and “You’ve Got Demons” surprise with dynamic melodies and Anton Sköld’s powerful voice. On “The Tiger”, BOMBER send their listeners right into the eye of a raging thunderstorm of riffs driven by brilliant grooves, while “Kassiopeia” sets the strings on fire with its marvelous solos. Bursting album closer “Aurora” presents Nocturnal Creatures’ crowning achievement, bringing the 40-minute escapade to the edge of the world. With their new studio album, Nocturnal Creatures, the rising stars of Sweden establish a milestone in the legacy of hard rock that leads the once so majestic genre to new glory – marked by their very own special vision!

Conceptualized and written during the chaotic fall months of 2020, Hiss Golden Messenger’s O Come All Ye Faithful recorded shortly after the widely hailed Quietly Blowing It is a meditation on grace, loss, hope, and community. Explains songwriter M.C. Taylor, “Big, brash holiday music the type that we hear in big box stores in the middle of December has never resonated with me, and this past year it felt absolutely dissonant. I wanted to make a seasonal record that felt more in step with the way that I, and so many others, experience this time of year: quiet, contemplative, searching, and bittersweet.” Contributors to O Come All Ye Faithful include many members of Hiss Golden Messenger’s extended family, as well as special guests like GRAMMY Award winner Aoife O’Donovan, Nathaniel Rateliff, Erin Rae, and Buddy Miller. The tracklist includes new tunes written by Taylor, classic hymns, and renditions of songs by Spiritualized, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Woody Guthrie, all arranged in the inimitable Hiss Golden Messenger style. Adorned with a beautifully spare design created by celebrated artist Cody Hudson. The deluxe vinyl version of O Come All Ye Faithful includes an additional collection of remixes by Revelators, Taylor’s spiritual jazz and dub-influenced project with Cameron Ralston.

Wenn sie nicht gerade aus dem Fenster auf die stürmische Skyline von Manhattan blickte, verbrachte Margo Guryan ihre dreißiger Jahre damit, Ohrwürmer für Leute wie Bobbie Gentry, Jackie DeShannon, Claudine Longet, Carmen McCrae und Julie London bei CBS's April Blackwood Music zu schreiben. Guryans zeitlose Gedanken über Liebe, Sonntage, Erdbeben, Weinen und Jungs namens Timothy haben unzählige Filme und virale Videos unterlegt. Meisterwerke aus früheren Zeiten. 28 ihrer Songwriting-Demos aus den 60er und 70er Jahren sind auf dieser 25-jährigen Jubiläums-Doppelalbum-Edition.

Soulful and radiant, ALA.NI shines in Sunshine Music. Ten years after "You & I", which left a mark in France and internationally (with collaborations including Iggy Pop, Lakeith Stanfield, and Jon Batiste), the golden-voiced Londoner returns with a new album blending vintage tones and Caribbean influences. Shaped by a two-year stay in Jamaica, the musician delivers eleven timelessly elegant tracks infused with the laid-back charm of life surrounded by lush nature. Calypso, ragga, bossa, rocksteady... In this new album, ALA.NI allows herself subtle rewritings of the most emblematic Caribbean rhythms, with interpretations that go as far as Brazil. Her crystalline voice dances, with jazz inflections reminiscent of Sade Adu and Minnie Riperton.

Blue House Rockin’ is the result of a unique collaboration between Soul Sugar and Dub Shepherds — two projects united by a shared love for roots reggae, vintage studio gear, and warm analog sound.

The album was recorded live over two intense days at Blue House Studio by Christophe “French kiss” Adam, using ribbon and tube microphones from the ’50s and ’60s from the ’50s and ’60s, a Hammond organ, upright piano, Fender bass and Gibson guitars, classic amps and preamps, along with drums, syndrums and percussion. The sessions were transferred to a 24-track tape machine, and final mixes were crafted the old-school way by the Dub Shepherds at their own Bat Records Studio, using analog consoles and hardware vintage effects.
The tracklist brings together deep cuts, timeless classics, and original compositions. Curtis Mayfield’s Give Me Your Love and Aaron Frazer’s My God Has a Telephone (Colemine Records) — two soul gems, one vintage, one modern — are reimagined in reggae style, both featuring the great Jolly Joseph on lead vocals, working wonders with his falsetto. He also shines on Hold My Hand, a sweet and mellow original composition with lovers rock flair, written on the spot during the session.
Other standout moments include the soulful fire of UK singer Shniece McMenamin, who lights up Family Affair (Mary J. Blige / Dr. Dre) — flipped into a fiery hip-hop-meets-reggae version packed with energy and attitude.

Instrumentals like Disco Jack, Choice of Music, and Drum Song — all originally composed by Jamaican organ legend Jackie Mittoo — bring Guillaume “Booker G” Metenier’s Hammond work to the front. The playful exchange between organ, guitar, and a rock-solid rhythm section is elevated by swirling spring reverb, dub echoes, and filter sweeps.
The album’s explosive title track — Blue House Rock — was composed and recorded on the spot at the end of the session. A raw, greasy groove that sounds like The Meters jamming at Studio One or a lost instrumental from a Beastie Boys B-side.
Blue House Rockin’ is a vibrant blend of soulful roots reggae and funk, wrapped in the deep, dusty tones of analog tape. A joyful and authentic studio experience, captured live — and played loud.

Here we are with the Earth perched on a thin tenuous wire. The neo-liberal order and its fascist mirror world burning through fossil fuels and the souls of vulnerable peoples the globe over. Conflict, warfare, climate degradation, misinformation. The time is nigh to break the spell with music.

Right on time comes IC007 – Four cuts of progressive elektro roots to shine a light on only four of the multitudinous hot spots of suffering while also inspiring a musical movement forward through the storm. Dedicated to the peoples of the Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine, and Taiwan this tune is another ITAL COUNSELOR sound system scorcher.

The message at its very core is to keep keeping on. Never give up. Forward through the storm like an ITAL WARRIOR! This RHYTHM SHOWER is a guideline toward a better tomorrow.

Delivering this message are some of ITAL COUNSELOR MUSIC’s stalwart players. Inyaki Basque Dub Foundation returns to the fold with yet another top-notch original rhythm – A drum and bass workout that harkens back to the best of Sly & Robbie’s Compass Point era science fiction dubwise and just a little bit of Aswad’s “To The Top” era progressive roots. Both raw and rhythmically complex, Inyaki makes the drum and bass hit hard with the mixing help of top studio man James Zugati. The dubwise cuts on side two are of course custom made to make bass bins rumble and weakheart drop.

Alas, we cannot forget Soothsayer horns – here as always proving that they are the best horn section out there. They feel it. They know it. They execute it in the hardest and sharpest of manors. Heavy heavy hornsman manners…

Progressive. Heavy. Horns. Elektro. Roots. Forward.

One Love and Guidance along the Way,
Andy G, IC

When you name Barrington Levy, Roots Radics, and Scientist at King Tubby's studio, you can't go wrong. Produced by Hyman "Jah Life" Wright, Bounty Hunter captures the transition from roots reggae to early dancehall, blending deep rhythms with Levy's distinctive vocal style. A landmark album that defines an era and showcases the evolution of Jamaican music.