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Die aus Hawthorne, Kalifornien, stammenden Thee Heart Tones setzen mit ihrer Musik sowohl eine Tradition fort als auch neue Grenzen. Leadsängerin Jazmine Alvarado ist gerade mal 19 Jahre alt und das älteste Mitglied der Gruppe, Jorge Rodriguez, ist 21, aber wenn man sich ihre Platte anhört, wird deutlich, dass sie weit über ihr Alter hinaus talentiert sind. Thee Heart Tones, das sind Jazmine (Gesang), Ricky Cerezo (Tasten und Orgel), Jorge (Schlagzeug), Jeffrey Romero (Bass), Peter Chagolla (Leadgitarre) und Walter Morales (Rhythmusgitarre). "Eines Tages bekam ich eine Mail von Ricky Cerezo mit der Frage, ob ich einen Song für seine neue (damals noch namenlose) Band schreiben wolle", erzählt Jazmine. "Ich kannte seinen Schlagzeuger und die anderen Jungs aus der Mittelschule, sie waren also bekannte Gesichter. Sie schickten mir ein mp3 eines Instrumentalstücks, das sie geschrieben hatten, und sagten mir, sie wollten einen Text, also schrieb ich einen und schickte ihn ihnen." Dieser Song wurde schließlich "Don't Take Me as a Fool", eine schwermütige Moll-Ballade, in der Jazmines schwülstiger, perfekter Gesang erklingt, und die nun für ihr Debütalbum bestimmt ist. Ricky ging nach Hause und spielte seinem Vater "Don't Take Me As a Fool" vor, das er als Sprachnotiz auf seinem Telefon aufgenommen hatte. "Ich war zögerlich. Dad kannte diese Musik besser als jeder andere, er ist damit aufgewachsen. Aber er hat sich mein Telefon geschnappt und es an sein Ohr gehalten. Seine Zustimmung bedeutete mir sehr viel. Aber er hatte die gleiche Reaktion wie Jorge und ich, als wir Jazmine zum ersten Mal singen hörten. 'Das wird ein Hit', sagte er mir. Ihr habt hier etwas ganz Besonderes". Es war dieselbe Aufnahme, die Leon Michels und Danny Akalepse von Big Crown Records aufhorchen ließ, die beide sofort das Potenzial der Gruppe erkannten. Nachdem sie bei dem Label unterschrieben hatten, flog Leon nach Los Angeles, um mit Tommy Brenneck in Tommys Diamond West Studio ihr Debütalbum aufzunehmen. In fünf Tagen haben sie 14 Songs aufgenommen, die den Charme des Teenager-Souls einfangen und ihn mit ihren bewährten Produktionsfähigkeiten mischen - das Ergebnis ist ein modernes klassisches Soul-Album. Der Album-Opener und Titeltrack "Forever & Ever" ist ein ansteckender Two-Stepper, der sofort die Stimmung hebt, während schwere B-Seiten-Balladen wie "Should I Call You Tonight", "Cry My Tears Away" und "It's Time" den Klassikern des Genres den Rang ablaufen. Mit "Need Something More" ziehen sie das Tempo an und füllen die Tanzfläche, während Jazmine mit einem Track im Northern-Soul-Stil ganz sachlich die Dinge auf den Punkt bringt. Sie covern den Klassiker "Sabor A Mi" aus der Feder von Alvaro Carrillo mit großem Effekt, werden ihm gerecht und stellen ihre Version auf eine Stufe mit den besten von ihnen. Ein weiterer Höhepunkt ist ihre Version des The Vanguards-Klassikers "Somebody Please", den sie auf eine ganz andere Ebene heben. Die stampfenden Drums von "No Longer Mine" stehen im Kontrast zu Jazmines honigsüßem Gesang und enden mit der düsteren Energie eines Hip-Hop-Samples aus den mittleren 90ern. Forever & Ever ist sowohl ein Beweis für die unverwechselbare musikalische Chemie als auch für das Talent der beiden. Ihre Intentionen als Band sind ein Beweis für ihren kollektiven Charakter. Die Entscheidung, "Sabor A Mi" zu covern, "erlaubt es uns, unser Publikum wissen zu lassen, dass wir zu unseren Wurzeln zurückkehren", sagt Jazmine. "Wenn man in L.A. aufwächst, wird man von der Stadt, den Kunstwerken und der Musik beeinflusst", sagt Ricky. "Dad besaß kein Lowrider-Auto, aber andere Mitglieder unserer Familie schon. Impalas. El Caminos. Wir waren von der Kultur beeinflusst, insbesondere von der Chicano-Kultur. Und Oldies und Soulmusik spielten eine große Rolle." Der Stil. Die Kultur. Die Anspielung auf die Vergangenheit. "Das ist es, was wir anstreben. Wir wollen junge Chicanos mit ihrem Erbe verbinden. Und wir wollen die Menschen vereinen_ alt und jung."

Die aus Hawthorne, Kalifornien, stammenden Thee Heart Tones setzen mit ihrer Musik sowohl eine Tradition fort als auch neue Grenzen. Leadsängerin Jazmine Alvarado ist gerade mal 19 Jahre alt und das älteste Mitglied der Gruppe, Jorge Rodriguez, ist 21, aber wenn man sich ihre Platte anhört, wird deutlich, dass sie weit über ihr Alter hinaus talentiert sind. Thee Heart Tones, das sind Jazmine (Gesang), Ricky Cerezo (Tasten und Orgel), Jorge (Schlagzeug), Jeffrey Romero (Bass), Peter Chagolla (Leadgitarre) und Walter Morales (Rhythmusgitarre). "Eines Tages bekam ich eine Mail von Ricky Cerezo mit der Frage, ob ich einen Song für seine neue (damals noch namenlose) Band schreiben wolle", erzählt Jazmine. "Ich kannte seinen Schlagzeuger und die anderen Jungs aus der Mittelschule, sie waren also bekannte Gesichter. Sie schickten mir ein mp3 eines Instrumentalstücks, das sie geschrieben hatten, und sagten mir, sie wollten einen Text, also schrieb ich einen und schickte ihn ihnen." Dieser Song wurde schließlich "Don't Take Me as a Fool", eine schwermütige Moll-Ballade, in der Jazmines schwülstiger, perfekter Gesang erklingt, und die nun für ihr Debütalbum bestimmt ist. Ricky ging nach Hause und spielte seinem Vater "Don't Take Me As a Fool" vor, das er als Sprachnotiz auf seinem Telefon aufgenommen hatte. "Ich war zögerlich. Dad kannte diese Musik besser als jeder andere, er ist damit aufgewachsen. Aber er hat sich mein Telefon geschnappt und es an sein Ohr gehalten. Seine Zustimmung bedeutete mir sehr viel. Aber er hatte die gleiche Reaktion wie Jorge und ich, als wir Jazmine zum ersten Mal singen hörten. 'Das wird ein Hit', sagte er mir. Ihr habt hier etwas ganz Besonderes". Es war dieselbe Aufnahme, die Leon Michels und Danny Akalepse von Big Crown Records aufhorchen ließ, die beide sofort das Potenzial der Gruppe erkannten. Nachdem sie bei dem Label unterschrieben hatten, flog Leon nach Los Angeles, um mit Tommy Brenneck in Tommys Diamond West Studio ihr Debütalbum aufzunehmen. In fünf Tagen haben sie 14 Songs aufgenommen, die den Charme des Teenager-Souls einfangen und ihn mit ihren bewährten Produktionsfähigkeiten mischen - das Ergebnis ist ein modernes klassisches Soul-Album. Der Album-Opener und Titeltrack "Forever & Ever" ist ein ansteckender Two-Stepper, der sofort die Stimmung hebt, während schwere B-Seiten-Balladen wie "Should I Call You Tonight", "Cry My Tears Away" und "It's Time" den Klassikern des Genres den Rang ablaufen. Mit "Need Something More" ziehen sie das Tempo an und füllen die Tanzfläche, während Jazmine mit einem Track im Northern-Soul-Stil ganz sachlich die Dinge auf den Punkt bringt. Sie covern den Klassiker "Sabor A Mi" aus der Feder von Alvaro Carrillo mit großem Effekt, werden ihm gerecht und stellen ihre Version auf eine Stufe mit den besten von ihnen. Ein weiterer Höhepunkt ist ihre Version des The Vanguards-Klassikers "Somebody Please", den sie auf eine ganz andere Ebene heben. Die stampfenden Drums von "No Longer Mine" stehen im Kontrast zu Jazmines honigsüßem Gesang und enden mit der düsteren Energie eines Hip-Hop-Samples aus den mittleren 90ern. Forever & Ever ist sowohl ein Beweis für die unverwechselbare musikalische Chemie als auch für das Talent der beiden. Ihre Intentionen als Band sind ein Beweis für ihren kollektiven Charakter. Die Entscheidung, "Sabor A Mi" zu covern, "erlaubt es uns, unser Publikum wissen zu lassen, dass wir zu unseren Wurzeln zurückkehren", sagt Jazmine. "Wenn man in L.A. aufwächst, wird man von der Stadt, den Kunstwerken und der Musik beeinflusst", sagt Ricky. "Dad besaß kein Lowrider-Auto, aber andere Mitglieder unserer Familie schon. Impalas. El Caminos. Wir waren von der Kultur beeinflusst, insbesondere von der Chicano-Kultur. Und Oldies und Soulmusik spielten eine große Rolle." Der Stil. Die Kultur. Die Anspielung auf die Vergangenheit. "Das ist es, was wir anstreben. Wir wollen junge Chicanos mit ihrem Erbe verbinden. Und wir wollen die Menschen vereinen_ alt und jung."

Lavender Vinyl. In the late 1970s, a peculiar sound began bubbling up from the land of 10,000 lakes. Buried beneath 50 solid inches of annual snow, Minneapolis made a Sound quite different than what the pop world foresaw. It issued forth as a slick, black, technologically advanced fusion, poised to storm the charts. Never known for sizable African-American populations, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in fact harbored a tight-knit community of musicians working feverishly through the late '70s and early '80s toward a radical manipulation of American dance music, coating futuristic funk with the glamorous sheen of guitar rock. Synthetic ebony and ivory met electricity, with sexed-up results sent shockingly across the pop heavens like violet lightning.

Young Marble Giants' "Colossal Youth" has mystified and beguiled audiences since its 1980 release. Seen by primary songwriter Stuart Moxham as "a last gasp" at making a record, Stuart insisted the one-off 7" deal offered by Rough Trade be altered to allow an entire album . . . that paid off when with a big seller which produces cover versions even from bands whose members were a decade or two away from being born on the album's release. When YMG disbanded, Stuart was at a loss; he'd never envisioned a follow-up. A series of experimental recordings made with pal Phil Legg (Essential Logic) and supported by other YMG members, musicians from This Heat and Swell Maps, old Cardiffian pals, and new friends like Vivien Goldman resulted in an album, "Embrace The Herd", as The Gist. Released just before Rough Trade made bold moves toward pop charts with Scritti Politti, The Smiths and others, the album was odd for its time, but has since taken on the lustre of genius. Years of silence followed, thereafter intermittently broken by the odd release from small labels. Stuart delved into family life, though he never stopped writing and recording. In more recent years, two retrospective compilation of lost recordings by The Gist have been released, as well as a superb collaboration with French arranger Louis Philippe, "The Devil Laughs". "Fabstract" is the final gathering of Stuart's lost recordings. Compiling long-lost YMG-era tracks with the recent brilliance of "Crow, Crow" and "Suburban Monochrome", through bits of whimsy and vastly alternate versions of fan faves, this diverse album shouldn't work . . . but it does, telling a satisfying story of an underrated talent whose mistake was following his muse, not the charts. This album precedes a new recording, years in the making, produced by Dave Trumfio, which promises to be Stuart's most complete - and original - work since "Colossal Youth". Tracks:

Acclaimed Canadian electronic producer Francis Latreille, known as Priori, unveils his new singles "Learn To Fly" and “Segue” today, marking the first releases from his upcoming third album, This But More. "Learn To Fly" offers a taste of the album's lush, dubby techno soundscapes, while "Segue" showcases the album's ambient side. Arriving May 24th via NAFF, This But More marks a sonic departure for the artist, exploring a richly textured landscape of electroacoustic compositions inspired by literature, cinema, and the transformative power of nature.

Priori delved into This But More from September 2023 to March 2024, drawing upon archival recordings and fresh ideas. "This album is about healing," Priori explains. "Not necessarily 'music that heals', but about the process in its ups and downs, its beauty and uncertainty." Themes of protection, healing, sleep, and decay naturally emerged during the creative journey.

To craft this immersive world, Priori collaborated extensively. Writer and musician Devon Hansen penned a series of "Suggested Stories" to accompany the album, adding depth to its lore. Musically, Priori teamed up with James K, Ben Bondy, Sabola, Adam Feingold, and Jesse Osborne-Lanthier, infusing the album with diverse instrumentation, including violin, guitar, software instruments, and field recordings.

This collaborative spirit extends to the album's striking visuals. Jesse Orsborne Lanthier designed the main and single artworks, while Ulysse De Lezenne crafted a unique jewel, both pieces seamlessly connected to the album's narrative.

The intricate world-building sets This But More apart. "It's the biggest collaborative project I have tackled so far," Priori notes. This spirit of exploration extends to the second single, “Wake”, featuring Priori's first vocal collaboration with close friend Jamie Krasner (James K).

Priori's artistic process is grounded in self-awareness and intuition, asking vital questions about how each element serves the greater purpose of the music. Swimming sessions between studio work provided clarity and focus throughout the album's creation. These meditative moments reflect in the music, inviting listeners into a contemplative, dreamlike state.

Beyond music, Priori draws inspiration from the literary worlds of Gene Wolfe, Ursula K LeGuin, China Mieville, Brian Caitlin, the evocative games of Hidetaka Miyazaki and Yoko Taro, as well as the ever-evolving beauty of myths and nature.

Since forming in 2008, Falling In Reverse have racked up a fanatical fan base, so much so that the band"s legendary videos have been viewed over 30 million times. The attitude of the 1980"s Sunset Strip, the bravado of battle-ready rap, the take-no-prisoners bottom end of metalcore and the boundless revelry of underground EDM parties have all beautifully converged in this one band and this new album. It"s for everyone on Instagram, on Twitter, or anyone with a brain and two ears. "My dad raised me on metal, but my first serious love was hip-hop," Ronnie explains. "When I heard Dr. Dre"s The Chronic, that"s when I fell in love. I didn"t know what the hell they were talking about, the beats were intertwined, and it came inside of me and took me over. When we added hip-hop elements I was thinking, "Should I do this? This sounds crazy! Are people going to like this?" Now I"ve never been so proud of something. The final product, Fashionably Late, is the best work I"ve ever done." First time pressing on limited edition Clear w/Hot Pink Splatter vinyl to celebrate the album"s 15th anniversary!

HLZhas comes correct with his debut solo single on Utopia Music.

For true drum & bass enthusiasts, Emilio Dimitri akaHLZ's name should already be on your radar. These tracks offer creativity and integrity, pushing the boundaries of his own respected style within the genre and nodding to times past with a modern update.

"Black Core" kicks things off with its icy break workouts, featuring raw, rasping drums with an industrial edge. It's not a high-speed roller but rather a sneaky creeper that satisfies those who want intricate beats backed with nightmarish overtones.

With "Arcane,"HLZtakes us on a journey of pure pressure in the way he knows best, stepping rhythms, stabbing yet gut-punching bass design, working in tandem with groovy tablas, clever fx builds, topped with lush euphoric pad work, 170 in the truest form.

Itʼs been five years since the last BELONG long player, as the duo works slowly to organize their sound works. Both the time invested, and the wait, have been well rewarded with this return.

Common Era shows extraordinary progression from that first album of dense, scorched earth instrumentals, hints of a new direction having been revealed on the Colorless Record EP from 2008 which contained covers of four should-have-been classics from the original psychedelic era.

The new material has such common pop elements as “songs”, vocals and drum machines, but the results could hardly be called conventional and are like little else happening on the current “scene”. The songs themselves are akin to radio transmissions received from another time and place, just as likely to be the future as the past, or even from a contemporary alternate universe.

They are both passionate and dispassionate, grey yet technicolor, ghostly and palpable, distant yet immediate, grainy and focused. Upon listening these conceptual contradictions are dismissed with ease, as the recordings reveal that they fit all of these descriptors simultaneously, an extraordinary balancing act.

Vinyl Packaging: Full color jacket featuring original artwork by Callum Rooney. Can I Communicate With the Unknown? is the new album from Go By Ocean, moniker of Northern California based singer / songwriter / producer Ryan McCaffrey. Co-produced alongside Tim Bluhm (The Mother Hips) and David Glasebrook, the album features contributions from a wide cast of characters, ranging from the tight knit community of Phil Lesh’s much loved Terrapin Crossroads to the wider West Coast indie-rock scene, including members of The Mother Hips, Sugar Candy Mountain, ALO, Tea Leaf Green, and more. Building upon McCaffrey’s catalog of songs, the new album finds inspiration in the down-to-earth music of 1970’s Marin County, when songwriters like Michael Hurley and Jesse Colin Young lived out in Olema and Point Reyes, the kind of places where songs blow in on the breeze from the Pacific Ocean. Lyrically, the album traces a hero’s journey as the narrator struggles with addiction, eventually finding peace and freedom in a tumultuous world, wrestling with metaphysical and spiritual ideas along the way. Highly anticipated new album from Go By Ocean, co-produced by Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips. Press coverage includes reviews and features in Austin Town Hall, Glide Magazine, Psychedelic Baby Magazine, and more. UK/EU Publicity handled by Chris Carr & Mal Smith. “...washed with breezy beachy vibes…” - Glide Magazine // “...marries the bright guitar arrangement of The Byrds with an updated indie appeal.” - The Wild Is Calling // “...you can almost feel the hope over the hills waiting for you with open arms.” - Austin Town Hall // “‘...satisfyingly artful and I would venture to guess you’ve never heard anything quite like it.” - Ear To the Ground Music // “We will be spinning the hell out of this record for the rest of the summer.” - Up To Hear Music // “...it’s not hard to imagine some of these songs floating in on the coastal fog, ascending ghosts indeed.” - Psychedelic Baby Magazine

Yogisoul returns with his first album in 8 years, a timeless throwback offering & an instant classic that will leave you wondering if you somehow missed this record reminiscent of 90’s West Coast Rap. It’s that blunt rolling record, with deep G-Funk grooves, skits, and raps provided by US-based rapper Woof. A record inspired by the albums Yogisoul grew up listening to. A combination of his imagination of the West Coast California landscape portrayed by 90’s records on Death Row Records, and the real-life experiences of California-based rapper, Woof.

The first track they worked on - “94 Heavy - wastes no time setting a vibe and transporting you back to 1994. It’s an undeniable head nodder, with smooth horns & deep synth bass that will leave no question about the record's low-end power, and a dope drum swing.

Other notable tracks on the record are “Comin Thru”, which is a braggadocious, G-Funk, banger! It contains all the ingredients to classic West Coast Rap albums. A smooth beat for Woof to weave in and out of, talkbox, scratches in the hook, and samples of legendary Los Angeles voices. A track that will make you feel like you should have a forty and a doobie nearby.

The title track, “Let the Dopeness Begin”, the self-titled track on the album is an homage to the West Coast Classics radio station on GTA: San Andreas. A cruise with the windows down & a jam that slaps!

To experience Justin R. Cruz Gallego's pulverizing Sub Pop debut is to get burned down to ashes and burst forth, born anew. Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra), the Tacoma-based artist's second album, is driven by opposing forces: noisy abstractions and tightly structured beats, anguish and dissolution at the outside world and empowerment within, apathy and catharsis. Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra) weds scouring electronics to hooky songs and Gallego's powerful drumming in a way that feels visceral and new. It's his most personal statement to date, at once playful and intent, driven and combustible, total fucking chaos mixed into glints of broken-glass beauty. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Gallego experienced culture shock as a child after relocating to the frigid climes of the Pacific Northwest. He found solace in the Seattle punk scene centered around Iron Lung Records and has since remained a fixture in the underground community. "I see this record as first and foremost a musical statement," Gallego says. "I grew up in punk and DIY subcultures, but before that I had Latin music playing in the background through my childhood and every phase of adolescence. It was surprisingly natural to incorporate. I realized I wanted to go deeper into these rhythms. I wanted to make a record that felt as experimental as much as it felt from the perspective of a Latino. When I got a glimmer of that possibility, it felt exciting." Lead single "Dogear" is a face-melting party starter that sounds like someone forced Talking Heads and Rudimentary Peni to share a practice space. "I wanted a song that felt playful in the way it attempted to be dissonant without taking itself too seriously," Gallego says. "Cholla Beat" is even more ambitious, an anthemic mix of WAR and Wire led by unruly synthesizers spiraling down a labyrinth of production. Gallego's influences for the album are vast, ranging from British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis to electric Miles Davis to audio miscreants like Demdike Stare and Oneohtrix Point Never. But it's Gallego's assured sonic vision that resounds the loudest. And, while J.R.C.G. is a solo project, conceived and executed primarily in Gallego's home studio, he found strength in opening the project to others, starting with Seth Manchester as co-producer. Manchester's penchant for bone-rattling frequencies, as seen in his production work with The Body, Battles, and Mdou Moctar, made him a natural fit for Gallego. Together, they retained the intimacy of Gallego's home recordings while taking advantage of the hi-fi stylings of his Machines With Magnets Studio in Rhode Island. The closing song, "World i," offers a glimpse into the live experience of Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra), with upwards of seven band members blasting off. The album features a fascinating mix of supporting players, many of whom cycle through J.R.C.G.'s live lineup: Morgan Henderson (The Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes), Jason Clackley (Dreamdecay, The Exquisites), Jon Scheid (Dreamdecay, U Sco), Erica Miller (Casual Hex, Big Bite), Veronica Dye (Terminator) Phil Cleary (U Sco), and Alex Gaziano (Dreamdecay, Kidcrash, Science Amplification). Taken as a whole, G.I.S.M. is a whirlwind of sound, pummeling, and cleansing. It's a sweaty, thrilling aural adventure and, like a great basement show, it'll leave you breathless, exhausted, and wanting to repeat it all over again. As any good mantra should.

A truly one-of-a-kind artist, Kaitlin Butts has a deep affinity for country music’s more theatrical side: the extravagant storytelling, dazzling showmanship, songs embedded with both unbridled emotion and quick-fire humor. After discovering her passion for performing as a little girl, the Tulsa native later brought her boundless energy and radiant voice to her own unapologetic yet soulful songwriting. When it came time to create her third album, the Nashville-based musician leaned into her lifelong love of musical theater and dreamed up a modern-day reimagining of the soundtrack to her all-time favorite musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! The result: a high-concept but candidly autobiographical LP called Roadrunner!, whose 17 powerhouse songs show the full force and extraordinary depth of Butts’ artistry for the very first time. Produced by Oran Thornton (Brent Cobb, Logan Brill), Roadrunner! marks a major tonal shift from Butts’ 2022 sophomore LP what else can she do, a character-driven exploration of complex matters like addiction, domestic violence, and generational trauma. “With the last album I wanted to write about the struggles I’d seen people go through or experienced myself, so a lot of the songs had a sadness or darkness to them,” she says. “I feel like Roadrunner! is much closer to what I’m like onstage, where there’s real emotion and truth but also humor and a tendency to poke fun. It’s all those different versions of me at once.”

Indignation Meeting are punky rail fans from Leeds. 15-year-old Peter is the driver - he's the drummer and lead singer, writes most of the songs, and also plays bass and trumpet on the album. The rest of the crew is his dad Michael on guitar, Hugo on bass, and with Keith, Heather and Sally often along for the ride when they play out. Here at DGHQ we've been listening to their self-released debut album Trouble In The Shed since last year and finally spoke with the band and agreed to release it on vinyl for the first time. It was very good timing as they've just been in the studio to finish recording their second album, so we'll be releasing that later in 2024. Welcome on-board! We caught up with Peter to ask as few questions about the band_ Q: "In a week when the Labour Party promised to return the rail network to public ownership, we ask how did your fascination with trains begin?" A: "Honestly, I don't really know - I've just loved them ever since I can remember. It's not like with some people who had a family connection or watched Thomas the Tank Engine; I've just always loved them. I guess it's just a childhood obsession that never went away!" Q: "'Trouble In The Shed' is quickly becoming a firm office favourite here at DG. There's a touch of punk, indie and new wave about it. What would you say are the key influences that make up your musical DNA?" A: "My main influence when this album was released was Blyth Power. They'd been my favourite band for years when this was recorded, so everything on it was influenced by them in some way. They've had so many different musical styles over the years that they kind of conglomerated into this album, to create yet another eclectic mix of songs. The only real exception to that on this album is Electrification - no prizes for guessing the influence there! If you see us live, however, you may notice another influence pervading through our songs. That influence is the anarcho-hippy band 'The Astronauts,' whom I discovered midway through the recording process, and have quickly become one of my all-time favourite bands!" Q: "What's the story behind your song 'Hornby Horrors'?" A: "Hornby Horrors is an interesting one. People who haven't heard it may assume it's about some ill-fated model railway endeavour, but it's actually a tale of corruption in, of all places, the model train company Hornby! This song was the result of several minor scandals at Hornby HQ making their way to the modelling masses, the main ones of which were an ill-fated tier list, which placed retailers in three categories as to whether or not they received Hornby's products, with tier 3 retailers barely getting anything at all. Interestingly, the UK's former biggest retailer, Hatton's Model Railways, was a tier 3 retailer due to their 'competing products' (made by their own small brand Hatton's Originals') and has recently announced closure due to financial hardship. Now as we all know, correlation does not equal causation, but I wonder_" Q: "The album is being released on a specific shade of green vinyl. What's the significance?" A: "The shade of green on the vinyl is very similar to the shade worn by the locomotives from the Great Western Railway in the 1870s - 1940s. Due to this connection, we thought it was only proper we picked this colour, which we have dubbed 'Great Western Green!'" Q: "The album release coincides with an appearance at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool this August. Can you give the readers three reasons why they should come and see your performance?" A: "1 - We like to think we provide something different with our music - it is very obviously punk, but it's a bit more light-hearted than a lot of the political stuff, with nearly all the songs being about some sort of obscure steam loco engine. If you just want something light-hearted to enjoy, we might just be the band for you! 2 - We've got a rather interesting line up - instead of the usual line-ups you see, we've got a 15 year-old singing drummer with his dad on guitar, a newly-turned adult with a massive ginger afro playing the bass, the guitarist from the old anarcho band 'Dog On A Rope' playing some gnarly lead parts, and all topped off with some beautiful backing vocals from the drummer's sister and mother. As Attila the Stockbroker described us, Blyth Power meets the Partridge Family - not to be missed! 3 - Here's something you won't forget in a hurry - as well as his vocals, our 15-year-old frontman Peter plays drums and trumpet at the same time! If that's something you want to see, make sure you get down to see us!"

White Witch Canyon's self-titled album is a true gem and should be in everyone's record collection.
That's why Ripple Music are thrilled to include it in their new series 'Beneath The Desert Floor' and
hopefully make more people realize the greatness of this recording!

A holy grail for fans of French boogie, early hip hop, Arabic funk and Balearic bops,"Ettika" has been seriously sought after since Vidal Benjamin found it in the 1€ bin back in 2006. Teasing the ears of the underground via Vidal's 'Balearic Nightmare' mix for Noncollective, copies of the original were soon snapped up completely, and the later adopters were sated by a Blackdisco edit from Alexis Le-Tan (himself gifted Vidal's second copy), which is now also rare as hen's teeth. The fervour for the track is easy to understand. Underpinned by an endlessly buoyant bass groove, chanted female vocals dart out the speakers like a post- modern mantra while synth vamps flare in stuttering stereo.

Middle-Eastern motifs add an air of mystery, but this truly belongs in a dance floor utopia. That the track was the product of a 'back-to-work' scheme aimed at unemployed immigrant youth in Rouen only adds to the appeal. Led by teacher Bernard Guégan, a quartet of students delivered lyrics in French and Arabic inspired by their rejection letters, serving a little social commentary and a lot of funk. If you're mad on Ahmed Fakroun and Shams Dinn, or even those folks in the Bush of Ghosts, then this is a must have for you.

Archeology isn't just about excavation, there should be interpretation too, and in this case it comes from Italian duo Hear & Now and Leeds' The Veteran Delinquents. The former furnish the 12" with two radical takes, the dreamy downtempo stroll of their French Remix - all unhurried percussion, Gilmour-riffing and coastal élan - and the peaktime pump of their Arab Remix, which transports the original vocal into a land of desert new beat and Balearic trance with a little space left for some frazzled fretwork. If you've followed their work with Claremont you know the quality on show.

The Veteran Delinquents, the collaborative vehicle of Leeds stalwarts Craig Christon and Tim Hutton, condense a lifetime of club experiences into their remix, establishing the infectious groove of the original before subverting with chugging bass and winking acid, all augmented with their own slick synth work. The original was an all time classic at Craig's Joe's Bakery nights way back when, and this new interpretation is both respectful and revolutionary.

Seeing the BellRays live is a revelation of what the rock music should be: an aggressive and soulful guitar-driven music that you feel in your guts. The BellRays have been channelling the true spirit of rock and soul since 1990, with this being their fourth blood-letting release. As expected this record oozes a genuine passion, combining the best of a 60s soul review with the fury of garage rock's greatest. Just imagine a young Tina Turner fronting the MC5 and you'll be getting close. But make no mistake, front woman Lisa Kekaula is no mainstream soul singer. Although her warm traditional R&B vocal stylings are big, lush and beautiful, her ferocity is uncompromising. When her rock growl rumbles the floor, you best pay attention, there are no options available. This is a band preaching the continuation of the rock'n'roll tradition in all its purity, anger and visceral power. The BellRays are on a self-professed mission to save rock music from itself and they need a witness.

Seeing the BellRays live is a revelation of what the rock music should be: an aggressive and soulful guitar-driven music that you feel in your guts. The BellRays have been channelling the true spirit of rock and soul since 1990, with this being their fourth blood-letting release. As expected this record oozes a genuine passion, combining the best of a 60s soul review with the fury of garage rock's greatest. Just imagine a young Tina Turner fronting the MC5 and you'll be getting close. But make no mistake, front woman Lisa Kekaula is no mainstream soul singer. Although her warm traditional R&B vocal stylings are big, lush and beautiful, her ferocity is uncompromising. When her rock growl rumbles the floor, you best pay attention, there are no options available. This is a band preaching the continuation of the rock'n'roll tradition in all its purity, anger and visceral power. The BellRays are on a self-professed mission to save rock music from itself and they need a witness.

Brian Harden is a second generation Chicago House head, starting in 1995 under the wings of Glenn Underground, being part of the legendary Strictly Jaz Unit. His work on Detroit's Mike Grant and his Moods & Grooves label should also be noted.

One of his most famous works is his second EP on Cajmere's Relief Records, originally issued in 1996. The EP contains some of the most prolific drum machine action ever committed to vinyl and stands for the sound that brought Chicago House on top of the underground Music map in the mid 90s.

All four tunes have been carefully remastered from the original material for maximum club performance!

The unstoppable production powerhouse that is Paul Woolford aka Special Request is back with another of his frankly ridiculous run of releases. Never one to just drop a single tune, this year he has several albums on the way off the back of his superb re-imagining of the KLF's cult 'What Time Is Love?' and this Portals Box Set Project is one of them. It is a multi-part collection that "uses today's modern technology to bring you the sound of tomorrow" and each limited edition 12" comes with its own custom artwork by Nic Hamilton. As you should expect, these are all utterly monstrous bangers and this first part has the high-pressure techno bounce of 'Hectic' and 'Pure Potential' to welcome you to the Portal.

Tate McRae's One Day is the point of origin for one of the biggest pop artists in music today. These 9 songs capture the defining elements of Tate's songwriting and vocal style and include the hits "One Day" and "Teenage Mind," that have amassed over a half a billion streams to date.

Originally released on two tapes on Stucco, now available on vinyl. Ferocious, manic Punk via Austin, Texas. Overpublicised rock hack/full-time gobshite Charles Shaar Murray said of The Clash that they were ‘the sort of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage, preferably with the motor running’. Now that’s all well and good, but what if I told you there was a band that sounded like they’d taken this to heart and replaced the petrol fumes with all the gnarliest uppers and the cheapest booze? Meet Texas’ Insane Urge, a band for whom no fidelity is too low, no riff is too snotty, and there’s no hook that wouldn’t sound better being crushed into the dirt by a combination of velocity and curled-lip, devilish delirium. This is their ‘Two Tapes LP’, compiling their (you guessed it) two tapes for Down South Tapes - and what a compilation it is! Rattling through 15 songs in 18 minutes, it condenses the primal chords of The Sonics, the dumb thrills of the Oblivians and the smash’n’grab speed of hardcore punk to create something that sticks to your synapses like paste. Almost feels like someone should call Bomp!, Sympathy For The Record Industry and Crypt to check this hasn’t leaked out of their archives - that classic raw vibe is unmistakeably here and it’s an instant winner. From the opening instrumental that shares its name with the band to the minute-long thrill ride of ‘Job’, ‘Two Tapes LP’ is rock’n’roll at its stoopid best (and trust me, you’ve gotta be smart to play this stoopid). It’s a record that’ll cement its place on your speakers, its brevity only serving to make you demand another immediate fix - which you’ll do again and again and again. If the band moniker reflects anything, it’s the fact that you don’t make music like this because you wanna. You do it cos you can’t see any other choice. Listen and love.

2024 Repress

Innercity Griots, the second album from Freestyle Fellowship, is perhaps *the* essential West Coast left-field rap album of the early ’90s. Released in 1993 on 4th & Broadway, it’s a towering, progressive hip-hop masterpiece that expanded rap’s boundaries through lyrical elevation and production innovation. Their talent was ahead of everybody else by light years. This is pure b-boy jazz.

The original single vinyl LP is now hideously scarce, and of course the sound suffers from not being officially released as a double. This Be With re-issue fixes both problems, and for completeness also includes “Pure Thought” from the CD version of the album. This incredible display of imaginative hip-hop sounds better than ever.

Freestyle Fellowship were some of the earliest technically dazzling rappers to come out of California. Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Aceyalone and Self Jupiter - along with DJ Kiilu - forged their famed lyrical dexterity in the ultra-competitive crucible of the Good Life Cafe. Founded in Leimert Park, South Central LA in December 1989, this earthy health-food store and cafe was where the city’s finest microphone fiends would gather to showcase their freestyle skills at the Thursday night open-mic.

Innercity Griots has been described as the Rosetta Stone for rap styles. The group’s dense, vibrant wordplay and enviable interplay quickly earned the attention and respect of the city’s hip-hop underground. Frenetically trading acrobatic rhymes with agility and grace, the Fellowship used their voices as instruments like true virtuosos, spraying improvised raps like a Coltrane sax solo.

With the bulk of the album’s production handled by The Earthquake Brothers, and Bambawar, Daddy-O, and Edman taking over for some of the tracks, Innercity Griots dances between organic and programmed music, largely forgoing sampling and instead built around live jazz jams. The likes of Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” and Miles Davis’s “Black Comedy” were used more as templates for house band The Underground Railroad Band to spiral out from. As Pitchfork noted in their recent 9.0 review of this classic album, “Freestyle Fellowship embodied the style and spirit of jazz on a molecular level. They shared the effortless cool and tough countenance of the great bebop players from the ’50s without verging into jazz-rap parody. Their innate jazziness felt tangible and hard-earned”.

The unusual approach to the music was matched by the Fellowship’s lyrics. Eschewing the tired rap tropes of the time, this multifaceted album instead explores their ruminations on greed and homelessness, weed, sex, survival, insecurity and tribalism.

Remastered by Simon Francis for double vinyl and cut by Pete Norman, we hope this long-overdue re-issue of Innercity Griots satisfies the legions of fans that have since been bewitched by the majesty of this record. It should also introduce some new listeners to yet another overlooked classic.

"1996-97? Yeah, that’s when New York was still NEW YORK!

That was around the time we really started to get hold of exotic herbs. Copper Haze, hydroponic! The vibes in the studio were always lovely. I had hair at the time! Dread-Locs down to my shoulders... I was still rockin’ the Wallabees, or British Walkers as we called them - representing for Brooklyn and my West Indian roots!

There was no social media, no supervision, nobody all up in our business… It was classic "mind your own business" NYC Vibes! I was DJing at a lot of the hot clubs and THE hottest afterhours in the city. There were nights when I saw Micheal Douglas roll into the afters with Grace Jones - they were there to party and unwind and I was there dropping the dope tracks for the people.

When it was studio time, with my homie Matt Echols...I was probably setting things off with some quality herbage, a big ass bag of Funyuns and my trusty SP-1200, lol. I had picked up some tips and tricks from Todd Terry and by '96-'97 I was a Shaolin with it myself! This was around the time tracks like "Flowers" and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Dub)" were tearing up the clubs. I wanted to be able to get my ideas out with no problem, and by then I had a lot of confidence...

Being able to Dj in some of the hottest NY hot spots at the time, I was able to really see what worked and what didn't on the dancefloor. The best House Dancers from around the world and around the Tri-State area would be at my jams. I'm talking Ejoe, Voodoo Ray, maybe kids from the Mop-Top Crew... I was definitely taking note of the kind of rhythms and sounds that would make them go crazy on the dancefloor!

And that's how we went about it - I laid down the rhythms that made it happen in my sets and translated the vibes I was picking up from NYC itself. Matt threw down musically and we were just being as creative and inventive as possible! But we always kept in mind that our job was to make the people on the dancefloor jump!

A lot of the jams from those days got signed to various record labels, we dropped a lot of them on our own label...and some of them ended up in the archives - until now!"

- DJ Romain

To celebrate 10 years of one of London’s most loved underground club nights, Tangent, Mr Bongo are thrilled to launch this new compilation series. Crafted by its two residents, John Gómez and Nick the Record, it aims to transmit a taste of Tangent’s spirit. A party rooted in inclusivity and open-mindedness, whose name captures the spontaneous switches in musical direction that are a defining element of their nights. For the compilation, the pair have cherry-picked a selection of their prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks from around the globe, that have soundtracked the past decade of parties.

Friends for close to 20 years, music lovers, record obsessives and internationally renowned DJs in their own right, John and Nick have two lifetimes worth of musical knowledge to draw from. John a long-standing NTS Radio resident and compiler for Music From Memory. Nick one of the UK’s go-to record dealers, resident DJ since the ‘90s at one of Japan’s pioneering parties, Life Force, and co-captain / co-edit-expert of Record Mission with Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys).

In 2014, the pair decided to bring some of Life Force’s grassroots principles to the UK, whilst channelling underground clubbing institution Plastic People’s meticulous attitude to sound. Tangent grew from being a small gathering of friends, to an established fixture in London’s nightlife, whilst always maintaining a strict no guest DJ policy. “As London’s clubs have become increasingly reliant on international guests, we wanted to emphasize the importance of a club night growing through its residents”, John and Nick reflect. With 10 years of the duo at the helm, an intimate connection between DJ and dancefloor has been built, allowing for freedom of expression on both sides of the decks.

Tangent reaches around the globe and across different eras to make connections that stimulate emotional reverberations in the unfamiliar. Where the blissfully Balearic ‘Laberinto’ by Miguel Perikás, goes hand-in-hand with the Cameroonian hip-house of King B.’s ‘Love is Crazy’. The thundering ‘Amek Amek’ by L'Innovateur Djoe Ahmed et le Zoukabyle, rubs shoulders with the soulful Caribbean-influenced touch of Champagn’s ‘Bel Ti Négress’. And Pellegrin El Kady’s afro-cosmic ‘Seiva de Carnaval’, crosses paths with Kajou’s Kompa disco anthem ‘Tet Chajé’.

Tangent’s longevity is in part down to it having always embraced contemporary sounds. The sub-rattling bass of Srirajah Sound System’s stunning Molam dub stepper ‘Si Phan Don Lovers Rock’ and the slow, woozy mantra of leftfield dancehall explorer Androo’s ‘Lyriso’, are two shining examples.

This compilation represents an ongoing dialogue between past and present, transporting listeners to the heart of a pure musical experience, where open minds and open hearts are eager to follow the tangent.

HIGHLIGHTS Originally released in 1980, this was Stiv Bators' first solo album. Now reissued with 2 bonus tracks, not available on the original version, a slightly different picture on the cover (the actual unfiltered photo as used on the 1980 issue) and a booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. Bators was the man who destroyed Rocket from the Tombs, from which he hijacked half the members to found one of the most influential American punk bands to have existed, The Dead Boys. Stiv had turned in his broken teeth for a more power pop oriented solo career. This is not an album recorded by a has-been former punk idealist; instead it's a true step forward into another unknown arena packing all the glare and attitude that remained from the last. The music is more similar to 60's power pop than the vicious punk rock that Bators became known for originally, while a member of The Dead Boys. New generations continue to discover it. It still holds up very well and sounds as fresh and vibrant as ever. DESCRIPTION On August 11th of 1980, Stiv Bators, David Quinton Steinberg, George Cabaniss and Frank Secich flew to Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. They were there to do the West Coast leg of the "URGH! A Music War" tour. On the bill of the tour were Pere Ubu, Magazine, the Members, and they were billed as Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys or just the Dead Boys. After the tour they were supposed to embark on a 6-week tour of Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East. During the beginning of the Urgh Tour the Australian Tour was abruptly canceled. Greg Shaw who owned Bomp Records decided that since the band were already going to be in California that they should do Stiv's solo album which they had planned to do after returning from Down Under. So, Bators and the rest of the group set up camp at the infamous Tropicana Motel in West Hollywood and Greg booked them into Perspective Studios in Sun Valley, CA. Before going into Perspective, they went into Andy Chappel's Stone Fox rehearsal studio in North Hollywood, CA for a few days to rehearse the songs and arrange them for the album. "We had 'Evil Boy' (Zero-Secich), David Quinton's 'Make Up Your Mind' and my song 'A Million Miles Away'. We also rearranged mine and Stiv's 'The Last Year' changing the key from D to F# and making it much easier to sing in a power pop vein. In addition, we had 'Swinging A Go-Go' another great contribution by George Cabaniss. Stiv and I had written two more for the album 'Ready Anytime' and the album closer 'I Wanna Forget You (Just the Way You Are)'. We also had a moody dark instrumental (written by Cabaniss-Quinton-Secich) that we were playing around with for some time. Stiv was supposed to write lyrics for it, but he never got around to it, so we left it as an instrumental. It had a great vibe and reminded me of the John Cassavetes 1956 film "Crime in The Streets" and was thus christened that. The last song we picked for the LP was 'I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)' which was the one cover we did that suited Stiv's voice perfectly. After a few days of rehearsing at Stone Fox, we went into Perspective Studio in Sun Valley, California. Greg hired Thom Wilson (who would later become a famous punk rock producer of Offspring, Iggy Pop, Dead Kennedys, T.S.O.L., Bad Religion and many others). Stiv co-produced with Thom and Andy Chappel and Thom did the engineering." Frank Secich recalls. In September, after the "Disconnected" mixing sessions, Stiv went to Baltimore to film "Polyester" with Movie Director John Waters and actors Tab Hunter and Divine. Stiv then went to the UK to record with the Wanderers doing their LP "Only Lovers Left Alive". He wanted to have both bands going simultaneously but logistically and practically they all knew that could never work. The "Disconnected" Band would do one last tour to support the album release of "Disconnected". The LP was released by Bomp Records on Monday December 08th, 1980. Later that night, John Lennon was murdered in New York City. So many of the principal characters involved in the creation of "Disconnected" have passed on. Stiv Bators (June 3rd, 1990), Greg Shaw (October 2nd, 2004), Thom Wilson (February 8th, 2015), and George Cabaniss (July 17th, 2020). But "Disconnected" lives on and on and has left quite a legacy for itself. There have been over 100 cover versions internationally of the songs from "Disconnected" and it has been in print and reissued in various forms in many countries around the world. New generations continue to discover it. It still holds up very well and sounds as fresh and vibrant as ever.

Live LP from cult French punk / new wave band Dogs - limited white vinyl plus obi.

In the spring of 1984, the Dogs give a concert in Rouen, their hometown, at the Exo 7, the local venue. They play as a quartet, Dominique, Mimi, Hughes and Antoine. They are under contract to EPIC and have just released their 4th LP "Legendary Lovers" the previous year.

The concert, of course, will be rock and, in the band's image, elegant. It will be recorded and will remain unpublished to this day. With this record, you're holding in your hands the very essence of a rock concert as it should be: a small, smoke-filled venue (it's not compulsory) with no giant screen, no need for binoculars to see a tiny singer on stage waving to 25,000 spectators. The magic created by 16 strings, four electric guys, can only work this way. That's what you'll find here. Dry and clean.

"Live at Home" is that concert, finally available.

Lionel Herrmani

This is the only album produced in 1975 by the 11-piece Turner Brothers, who were active mainly in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA!
As the band's name suggests, the Turner Brothers were a funk band consisting mainly of the Turner brothers. From driving high-speed funk to slow ballads, the rhythm section supports the backbone of the band, and the vocals and chorus are perfectly matched to deliver a superb groove that only a family band can deliver. The band's groove is as breathtaking as a family band can be! The opening number "Running In The Rain" (M1) starts with a thunderous sound effect and is followed by a thick brass sound, while "Please The People" (M5) starts with the sound of rain and shouts, with the brass blowing in all directions, The percussive beat of "Cause I Love You" (M3) with MJ-like boy vocals, the rich sweet soul of "I Remember" (M6) that will make you cry, and the killer soul of "Sweetest Thing In The World" (M7) that should be considered the highlight of this album, are just a few examples of the many soulful tracks on this album. The album is a top-quality disc that is full of the best of soul and funk, including the killer soul "Sweetest Thing In The World" (M7), which is the highlight of the album!
This is a newly remastered reissue with the latest specifications!

Valley of Rain was Tucson’s Giant Sand’s debut album recorded in 1983, and eventually released by 1985. It included Howe Gelb on vocals, guitar and Winston Watson on drums for most of it, Tommy Larkins on drums for some of it and Scott Garber on fretless bass for all of it. At the time of the recording, Howe was unacquainted with the possibilities of tube (valve) amps and had recorded most of the album with a Roland JC120 at the miraculous 8 track facilities of The Control Center in Korea Town, Los Angeles by Ricky “Mix” Novak. This impromptu recording had occurred because the band refused to cancel their first Los Angeles live gig, at Madame Wong’s, when the band (Giant Sandworms) had broken up days before in Tucson. Instead, Howe headed out anyway with Scott, the newest member who’d only been in the band for about a year, after band mainstays Billy Sed and Dave Seger reasonably decided ‘enough was enough’ following a rough and tenuous year spent in the lower east side of NYC attempting to further the band circa 1981/82. Tucsonan Winston Watson, (who would go on to tour with Bob Dylan in the 90s, as well as Alice Cooper, Warren Zevon etc ) was already living in Los Angeles and was brave/kind enough to jump in for the live date with no rehearsal. The result was so sparked with adrenalin, that the trio set up an impromptu studio session the next day to attempt to capture the sonic thrust on tape. The total cost of the day and a half recording was $400 including one 1” reel of 30 minute tape. When Enigma Records offered to release the album they requested another 15 minutes of music to make it a full LP. Ron Goudie was then called in to oversee the extra recordings at a Venice, CA studio called Mad Dog with Eric Westfall engineering. Tommy Larkins, who had been on the previous country punk album of Howe’s “The Band of ... Blacky Ranchette” came in to drum for those last 3 songs. It was there when Howe borrowed an amp that had been stored at the studio did he discover the bolster of a tube amp and his world changed. The amp was a slightly modified Fender Twin Reverb owned by Robbie Krieger of The Doors. 30 some years later, now that the band had been put to sleep indefinitely, those very first songs had begun creeping into the last Giant Sand tours. It somehow seemed appropriate to give them another shot with the proper amp just to see what they could’ve been. What made the idea more approachable was the availability of both original drummers living back in Tucson. The first attempt came last summer with both Winston & Tommy and Thøger Lund on bass, as well as the 2 newest members, 29 year old Gabriel Sullivan and 23 year old Annie Dolan on double neck guitars. The sound was insane. The funny part was Gabriel, who engineered and mixed the session, gave it an intentional 80s production sound. Howe later explained to Gabe he had been at war with that production trend since those first original recordings. So they all tried it again at Christmas time, this time with a newly discovered Fender 30 amp that had only been in production from 1980 – 1983. This new re-recording of that first album now sounds like it should’ve sounded. It was re-done for $400 and the same day and a half session time as the original. Scott Garber even drove up from Austin TX with his fretless to play so that the album is literally the originally line up for at least half of the songs. And yes, no pedal boards were used too. The band intends to tour this summer playing only those Valley of Rain songs. Giant Sand Returns To Valley Of Rain.

Midi Mode Records, a new chapter begins for the label formerly known as Mini Man Records.
A home for the unmistakable energy of electro and techno grooves.

The decision to rebrand to Midi Mode as a name came after the previously known label title was unexpectedly caught up in a weird trademark dispute.
The label has adapted to survive and will provide tracks for true believers, made by true believers into the future.

As the label unveils its upcoming releases, it starts with the "Fake Reality EP", a 5 tracker with Electro & Techno Funk, housing a collaboration with Human Rebellion & Power.

Electro heads should already be very familiar with the unmistakable electro sonic sounds of Human Rebellion.
Furthermore to this, a fusion with the stripped back Detroit electro sounds of Power means the senses are pushed to move in dark rooms with the fierce Techno cut of "I'm a Freak".
All of this is combined with a haunting and unhinged remix from Nite Fleit that's mesmerising.

Sheffield's hugely talented producer Hedge Maze lands on Selvamancer. Years in the making after a long search to decipher an unreleased tune from an unknown alter ego found online (title track Riding The Wave), we're excited to finally bring it to the masses. Morphed industrial violence, tearjerking post-dubstep-trap and the ruthless title track bounce off the walls. Let's commence! Face to the glass. "You use a mirror to see your face, you use a work of art to see your soul." G.B.Shaw... but if you stood with your breath appearing on the canvas what would you say to a Mane or a Rothko three inches away from it. As you push your nose up to the mirror of your soul, what to say to it in response. To listen to one's soul is to hear its depth, for it has many voices, but which voice to listen to. Fear be a man's best friend, he will accompany you should you wish. Forever on your coattails, a whisperer of half unseen truths: distorting perceptions. grief, illness, disappointment, pain, struggle, poverty, loss, terror, heartache, All to be feared. Yet, all features of a life lived! Courage then is simply to live and to live well, choose the voice that gives light. Throw the house out of the window so some say, throw yourself too, say I. Mark Warren. - written whilst listening to Strukku's Beat on Hedge Maze EP

alphacut sets off into brushy tribal jungle

the early 2010s have been a prosperous era for a lotta fast dance and bass music. dubstep's magic was fading due to brosounds taking over but the idea of some fresh air inbetween drums and basslines was thankfully carried on into the jungles too. not only halftime but also tribal beats grew strong, whether it being in warm dubby or cold darker reincarnations.
speaking of living on, this plate is not only a sequel to that era but also a tribute to the one like morphy, who brought dubby tribal brushy jungle onto alphacut around that time. it light up a spark to head for new territories, its soul is vibing on in 45seven and especially in this new alphacut - post morphem!

rude operator are opening with a minimal dancehall feel, wriggling from 8bar to 8bar, switching tensions with patterns with a slice of footwork dna inside - zero chances to freeze!
rainforest is stepping on with enlightening skanks and mystic basses under a riddim one simply can't escape as well.
paradox effects is not only flipping sides but vibes pretty much too. keeping it tribal and one-seventy but much darker with an amen from the vaults in a bunker-conrete jungle - the raw and free sound of leipzig.
dreadmaul is closing with a masterpiece which could have been executed by the homaged dubbing don himself. moody pads meet distant dub sirens and robotic amen leftovers step up into a hypnotising groove, taking you back down in the woods.

we are happy to be back with a solid round-up package which should never leave your tribal crates again, zooom!

Gravity Loss will be the first EP released as part of Dsum's eagerly anticipated album, 'Water In The Moon.' Since his last album in 2022, he is pleased to announce a 12-track project focused purely on electro sounds, aiming between experimental ambient and Detroit techno, and which might be his most musical album to date.



To be released on his label Back Door, Dsum's fourth album has been years in the making and sees him go back to the sound of his electronic music roots. The album's inception traces back to the lockdown period of 2020, serving as a tribute to his introspective musical exploration and honoring the genesis of electronic music.



Featuring an analog sound loaded with lush pads, spatial synths, and solid raw 808 electro rhythms, tracks are brought together with a succession of short variations and instrumental snippets, contributing to a vision of what sound in outer space should be.



'Gravity Loss' alongside 'Double Distance' will be the two EPs bringing "Water In The Moon" to life, both to be released on vinyl as well as digital. This project's wax version sees ten tracks spread across 2x12" records releases in June and July, followed by the full album release in a digital format with extra exclusive tracks featuring all twelve songs in their original intended order.

“Gun The Man Down ” by Dice The boss aka Pama Dice was first released in 1969 on the Trojan sublabel Joe with the track “Thief” by Joe Mansano on the B side. “Thief” is also reissued by us on a separate single dedicated to Joe Mansano.

“Your Boss DJ” was also released in 1969 on the Joe Label with the track “Read The News” by Joe All Stars on the flip.

Both titles are skinhead reggae classics that have never been reissued until now.

About Joe Mansano:

“Gun The Man Down ” and "Your Boss DJ" were both credited to Joe Mansano, real name Joel Mansano, who also produced the songs. Joel was a Trinidadian who moved to London in 1963. He was a record shop seller, song writer and producer and became heavily involved in the early reggae era producing and writing tracks for several Jamaican artists, enough for Trojan to dedicate a label to him: the “Joe” label aimed at the emerging Skinheads market. He also owned a shop the Joe's Record Centre in Brixton and recorded two handfuls of singles under the name Joe The boss…

About Dice The Boss/ Pama Dice:

Not much is known about Dice The Boss. His real name was Hopeton Reid and he was alternatively known as “Pama Dice”. But we know more about Pama Dice thanks to Gaz Mayall!

"Pama Dice was one of Prince Busters ‘no-shoes’ ‘Sunday school gang in west Kingston Jamaica. According to the Prince there wasn’t a car that Pama couldn’t nick. He used to nick the cars uptown with no shoes on & take them to the ghetto to teach the youth to drive. They were called the Sunday school or no-shoes gang as they were so poor that they only had one pair of shoes each & only wore them to church on Sundays. Pama Dice rose in the ranks to become one of Prince Busters main sound system DJs before emigrating to London in the late sixties where he MC’d for Duke Vin & recorded many great records for the UK/Jamaican booming new Reggae market in its infancy on the shoulders of the Bluebeat & Ska & Rock Steady music scene."

Source Gaz Mayall 27/2/2021

Jaqee's last album with the promising title "Fly High" leads the inclined listener into a sometimes idiosyncratic fermentation of street-ready R'n'B, pop aesthetics, jazz intellect, world music earthiness, chanting Afro soul and sensitivity and softness of classical music and orchestral warmth, which is defined by Jaqee's voice throughout all tracks, but never overridden. Thilo "Teka" Jacks, who produced "Fly High", is looking for musical salvation and the courage to change things up in order to illustrate unity, also in busy, heated, African sub-currents like High Life, but also in European dancefloor stereotypes and even traces of soca and merengue, all of course always only thought of, because the real main actor is and remains Jaqee's sustained singing, her unique intonation and her voice, which sometimes sounds clear and angry, other times fragile and sensitive - that's the way it should be. Despite or precisely because of this immensely expressive character of the album, it is advisable to listen to the work several times: Jaqee makes music with sophistication and expression and a look that also allows for sheer black music entertainment, "Fly High" proves this with lasting effect. "Fly High" is now available on vinyl for the first time.

Look through the lens of Tom Mansi & The Icebreakers and what will you see? A passion for the blues and raw rock ’n’ roll manifested in a band who have been playing together for the last 26 years. Full to the brim of delicious grooves and swirling sounds, the Icebreakers have reignited their burners and brandished us with a hot new release — their first on Lunaria Records. The band pride themselves on delivering outstanding live performances, and their ability to recreate this in the studio. Eyeball follows their celebrated album, ‘Rock ’n’ Roll On Bones’ and pays homage to the band’s rock ’n’ roll and blues roots

"Although life is hyper-individualised, you rarely go about it alone. This rings especially for RADIOHOP, the 4-man band drawing in everything that derives from Jazz. Aptly titled, ‘All We Do’ sees the band culminating each member’s journey through life as a performer and music head, into one entity. It is a collection of various musical feelings; drawn from all of the widely diverse musical environments they are surrounded by. Their early explorations in Hip-Hop laid the foundation RADIOHOP jetted from. All We Do ventures into Soul, Funk, Jazz, Broken Beat, Brazilian harmony, Fusion and other genres that they see connections with. It engenders a journey through the peaks and troughs of a modern musical spectrum and is an undeniable act of successfully approaching a contemporary Jazz album.

Together, they drew on Jazz as a concept existing outside the walls of formality. In addition to sessions and gigs with like-minded musicians, they explored the Amsterdam nightlife and genre-bending concerts for inspiration. This 3.5-year exploration brought them unconventional writing, producing and performing experiences resulting in All We Do being as much a presentation of the people accompanying them on this exploration, as it is about the journey itself.

RADIOHOP are constantly surrounded by other musicians and creatives from all different genres, disciplines, and spaces. The album is a celebration of the creative, and the ecosystem they operate in. The band likes to root that in the philosophy of Hip-Hop: spoken word, rap, vocals, lyrics, flute solos, photography, digital art, graphic design, tagging and poetry all congregate on the limited vinyl, as they truly believe art should not see any material boundaries. All We Do appreciates the art and the artist's creative endeavour. RADIOHOP gladly shares that with others in a holistic creation that is this album."