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LINKIN PARK—Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix, Joe Hahn, alongside new members Emily Armstrong of critically acclaimed band Dead Sara as co-vocalist and Colin Brittain songwriter/producer for G Flip, Illenium, One OK Rock as drummer—share their first brand new music in seven years.

The iconic band shared a new single “The Emptiness Machine,” which is also the herald for the arrival of LINKIN PARK’s first album since 2017, FROM ZERO, on November 15.

About the new era, Shinoda stated, “Before LINKIN PARK, our first band name was Xero. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently undertaking. Sonically and emotionally, it is about past, present, and future—embracing our signature sound, but new and full of life. It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and longtime bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans. We are proud of what LINKIN PARK has become over the years, and excited about the journey ahead.”

Right out of the gate, “The Emptiness Machine” channels the DNA of LINKIN PARK, harnessing the band’s explosive energy and retaining the hallmarks of their instantly identifiable and inimitable sound. A chameleonic and catchy anthem, Shinoda’s hypnotic melodies hand off to Armstrong’s blistering chorus, over distorted riffs and head-nodding drums.

Ultimately, with FROM ZERO, the band is looking to harness the purest energy of their past, present, and future. The new era has officially begun.

An album for sleeping and waking, walking and driving, hunting and fishing, for loitering outside a roadhouse on the haunted tundra. Okay in elevators, not great for dinner. On Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship’s new album and second for Merge Records, the band’s historically capacious definition of country music grows wider still. Shambolic guitars are offset by flute pads, bleary poetry is set against a Motown rhythm section, a song about Jerry Garcia and First Lady Betty Ford fades out with a drum solo, like if Talk Talk came from a dingy Philadelphia basement and was fronted by James Tate. Songwriter Dan Wriggins’ ragged baritone cuts through eleven murky, swirling country-rock songs with profound lyrical substance and sincerity. Like an alarm clock incorporated into the edge of a dream, Caveman Wakes Up belongs equally to the conscious and subconscious mind, fraught with background, steeped in reference and experimentation, delivered casually and as a dire warning, dedicated, above all, to music’s creative soul. Over the years, dedication has paid off. Friendship has become a kind of reverse supergroup,
wherein the band itself and each individual member are located centrally in an increasingly prominent scene of young folk and country musicians and songwriters. Drummer Michael Cormier O’Leary leads the instrumental collective Hour and, along with bassist Jon Samuels, runs Dear Life Records, home to friends and peers who count Friendship as a major influence including MJ Lenderman, Florry, and Fust. (Samuels also plays lead guitar in MJ Lenderman and the Wind). Guitarist Peter Gill’s band 2nd Grade records prolifically. Wriggins began writing the songs of Caveman Wakes Up on a downtuned classical guitar of Lenderman’s and finished on a barely tuned piano in an apartment he shared with Sadurn’s G DeGroot.
In the summer of 2023, Wriggins had just left the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where his love for poetry and mistrust for the academic poetry world grew in tandem. A relationship fell apart, and Wriggins crashed for several weeks at Lenderman and Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman’s home in North Carolina, where he recorded the first demos of “Resident Evil,” “All Over the World,” and “Love Vape.” Wriggins returned to Philadelphia, and the band got to work on new ideas, finally tracking the album in five days with engineer Jeff Ziegler (Mary Lattimore, War on Drugs). Wriggins recorded vocals with Love the Stranger engineer Bradford Kreiger, and organ, violin (Jason Calhoun), and flute (Adelyn Strei) were recorded by Lucas Knapp in a West Philadelphia church.

Wenn herausragende Jazzmusiker mit einer gemeinsamen Geschichte im Studio zusammenkommen, ohne zu proben oder vorbereitende Auftritte zu absolvieren, ist das Ergebnis oft eine oberflächliche, nummerierte Session. Das ist bei Solid Jackson ganz und gar nicht der Fall.

Die vier Musiker, die an dem gelungenen Nachweihnachtsalbum Consenting Adults von Criss Cross aus dem Jahr 1994 mitgewirkt haben, gehören zu den »Top Five« eines jeden eingefleischten Jazz-Kenners. Dieses zweite Treffen von M.T.B. (benannt nach den Nachnamen von Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner und Peter Bernstein und in Anlehnung an die »Young Lion«-Band OTB aus den späten 80er Jahren) ist ein intensives, konzentriertes Konzert, das die herausragende Stellung jedes Mitglieds in der Jazzlandschaft von 2024 unterstreicht. Jeder hört zu. Keiner übertreibt es mit dem Spielen oder setzt auf »House«. Die Atmosphäre ist von konzentrierter Exzellenz.

Consenting Adults wurde erst 2000 veröffentlicht, sechs Jahre nach seiner Entstehung. In den Liner Notes werden die Protagonisten (Larry Grenadier, damals wie heute, spielt Bass; Leon Parker, der Schlagzeuger von 1994, weicht Bill Stewart) als »junge Elite-Improvisatoren, die nach Abschluss ihrer Ausbildung zu den Machern des Jazz des 21. Jahrhunderts gehören werden« beschrieben.

Kurz gesagt, so Mehldau in einer E-Mail-Konversation für diesen Text, waren Turner, Bernstein und Grenadier - der in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten in einer Vielzahl von Kontexten immer wieder wunderbare Entscheidungen getroffen hat, nicht zuletzt in Mehldaus Trio mit Jeff Ballard, im kollektiven Trio Fly mit Turner und Ballard, an der Seite von Stewart in Trios unter der Leitung von John Scofield und Pat Metheny und auf 15 früheren Criss-Cross-Alben - 1994 ›voll ausgebildet‹ und ‹haben an der Identität gefeilt, die sie damals schon hatten.‹ Dasselbe gilt für Stewart, der auf Solid Jackson seinen 26. Auftritt mit Criss Cross hat.

The Freedom Affair hat von Anfang an tiefe Wurzeln in der Soulmusik geschlagen, aber nach fast einem Jahrzehnt gemeinsamer Arbeit konzentriert sich der Sound der Gruppe auf ihrem selbstbetitelten zweiten Album genau dort, wo Muscle Shoals und Memphis Soul aufeinandertreffen. Es ist eine Meisterleistung an leidenschaftlicher Message-Musik, die zeitlose Themen wie Ungerechtigkeit, Liebe und Zusammengehörigkeit erforscht. Eine schicksalhafte Begegnung mit dem Grammy-prämierten Toningenieur Boo Mitchell (Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, Al Green) in den Royal Studios im Februar 2023 löste einen Funken aus, der die Band mit neuer musikalischer Überzeugung zurück nach Kansas City schickte. Im November kehrte die Band zurück, um in dem legendären Studio in Memphis völlig neue, vom Southern Soul inspirierte Songs aufzunehmen. Das stets starke weibliche Trio an der Spitze der Band - Paula Saunders, Seyko Groves und Shon Ruffin - ist das Markenzeichen des Sounds und der Identität von The Freedom Affair, und ihr kollektives stimmliches Können ist in vollem Umfang zu hören - von hart bis zart, von Herzschmerz und Hoffnung. Die Erfahrung in den Royal Studios hat die Band davon überzeugt, dass es keinen besseren Raum gibt, um Bläser aufzunehmen. Die ,One-Take"-Bläser von Pete Carroll an der Trompete und Brett Jackson am Saxophon beweisen, dass sich ihre jahrelange Zusammenarbeit mit ihrer Präzision und den perfekt auf die Stimmung abgestimmten Linien ausgezahlt hat. Das Personal der Rhythmusgruppe ist das gleiche wie auf dem Debütalbum "Freedom is Love", aber Chris Hazelton wechselt vom Bass zu seinem Hauptinstrument, der Hammond B3-Orgel, sowie zu verschiedenen Keyboards. Branden Moser tauscht den Bass, der auch sein Hauptinstrument ist, mit seiner früheren Rhythmusgitarre aus. Cole Bales greift an der Leadgitarre weiterhin zu zeitlosen Riffs, und Dave Brick sorgt am Schlagzeug für das Rückgrat mit dem schweren Boom-Bap. Dieses Album hat den Sound von The Freedom Affair zementiert: beständige Melodien mit reichhaltigen Arrangements, unterstützt von einem düsteren Puls. Royal war der perfekte Ort für dieses Album, und die Band nutzte die Geschichte des Studios in vollem Umfang, indem sie Studiogeräte und Relikte während des gesamten Prozesses einbezog. Da die Band nur vier Tage Zeit hatte, um das zehn Songs umfassende Album aufzunehmen, bestand sie darauf, das gleiche Ampex 1"-Bandgerät zu verwenden, mit dem alle Hi-Record-Hits von 1974 und davor aufgenommen wurden, um die Authentizität zu wahren. Es war das erste Mal seit 1974, dass dieses Gerät für ein Album verwendet wurde. Die Einschränkungen und Macken, die sich aus der Verwendung alter, analoger Geräte ergeben, machten Platz für magische Momente, die den Charme des Albums ausmachen. Die Platte erweckt den klassischen Southern Soul zu neuem Leben, mit all der Gemütlichkeit und Wärme, die man erwarten würde, wenn man Al Green oder Ann Peebles Aufnahmen aus dem selben Raum hört. Abgemischt von Vince Chiarito (Hive Mind, Jalen Ngonda, Charles Bradley) und gemastert von JJ Golden (Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, The James Hunter Six, Antibalas), ist dieses Album eine wahre Lektion in Sachen Soulmusik.

Warsaw's finest producer of soulful Drum & Bass/Jungle, Kampinos is back on GAMM with a truly amazing 3-track EP...

The opening track 'Good Looking Pepe' will def turn some heads with an atmospheric yet jazzy Drum & Bass version of Pepe Bradock's classic deep house anthem 'Deep Burnt'.
Very old school Bukem / Good Looking Records, hence the title ;)

Turn the plastic over and Kampinos delivers a massive Gospel/Jungle anthem entitled 'Joi'. Big (!) gospel vocals, dirty amen drums and some serious breakdowns...peak time massive!!

Last but def not least we go deeper with a supa soulful D & B take on one of our favourite Little Simz tunes entitled 'See You Glow'.

Sextile, das in Los Angeles beheimatete Duo, das für seinen unbeugsamen, elektronischen Punk-Sound gefeiert wird, hat Details zu ihrem kommenden, starken Album „Yes, please.“ bekannt gegeben, das am 2. Mai 2025 auf Sacred Bones erscheint, sowie Pläne für eine umfangreiche Europatournee in diesem Sommer geteilt. Sextile, die sich derzeit mit ihren Labelkollegen Molchat Doma auf einer großen US-Tournee befinden, kündigen ihr neues Album mit der Single „Freak Eyes“ an, die ihren dunklen, pulsierenden Sound in neue Höhen treibt. Der Song beginnt mit einem fiesen Bass-Growl, das abrupt in einen Techno-Beat übergeht, der mit klirrender Kuhglocke und scharfer Hi-Hat gespickt ist. „I feel the pressure / Man the pressure I feel when we're together“, singt Sänger Brady Keehn kühl, aber bestimmt, in den ersten Zeilen. Inspiriert von der Art und Weise, wie Druck sowohl Herausforderungen als auch Verbesserungen hervorrufen kann, beschwört „Freak Eyes“ elektrisierende Bilder von schäbigen Hinterzimmern auf dem Sunset Strip und von in Leder gekleideten Tanzflächen in Lagerhäusern herauf.

Manche Bands finden ihren Groove und bleiben dabei, andere erfinden sich ständig neu. Sextile gehört zu den letzteren, die den Nervenkitzel einer sich ständig verändernden Landkarte genießen. Das Duo Melissa Scaduto und Brady Keehn aus Los Angeles macht Musik mit Lebenslust und lässt sich dabei von No Wave bis Hardstyle inspirieren. Ihr neuestes Album „yes, please.“ stößt in kühnes Neuland vor, indem es anarchisches Elektro-Feuer mit rohen persönlichen Erinnerungen verbindet - und mit genug aufgemotzten Bässen, um ein oder zwei Boxen zum Platzen zu bringen. „yes, please.“ ist ein Album der Kontraste: eine verletzliche Platte, die ihre Seele ebenso entblößt wie sie im Exzess schwelgt und zeigt, wie weit man seinen Sound treiben kann, wenn man seine Hemmungen abschüttelt. Zusammen verraten die beiden ein Selbstvertrauen, das niemals schwankt, und machen einen kühnen Spritzer auf dem schnellen Intro mit einer Rave-Sirene, die aus einer New Yorker Hausparty der `00er oder einem verschwitzten Brooklyn-Lagerhaus stammt. Auch der Geist des Electroclash pirscht sich an das Gebäude heran, zeigt seine Identität bei den mit Kuhglocken gespickten Donnerschlägen von „Freak Eyes“ und „Rearrange“ und sorgt mit „Women Respond to Bass“ für eine schmutzige Dancefloor-Bombe. „Push Ups“ - mit dem Gesang von Jehnny Beth - ist pure Muskelmusik, gestärkt durch einen wummernden Bass und ergänzt durch Synthies, die so hart hämmern wie Hagelkörner auf einem Glasdach. Aber hinter den Slogans, der Frechheit und der monstermäßigen Tanzenergie verbirgt sich eine Intimität, die man nur finden kann, wenn man sich über schmerzhafte, lebensverändernde Ereignisse öffnet. „Hospital“ und ‚Soggy Newports‘ reflektieren Scadutos erschütternde Erfahrungen in einer staatlichen Einrichtung in New York nach einem beinahe tödlichen Unfall. „Resist“ befasst sich mit Abtreibungsrechten, während ‚Penny Rose‘ das amerikanische Bildungswesen, künstliche Intelligenz und zukünftige Generationen thematisiert. Scadutos elastischer Gesang glänzt überall, von den messerscharfen Synthesizern von „S is For“ bis zu den Trance-Pop-Höhen von „Kids“ mit Izzy Glaudini von Automatic. „yes, please.“ ist eine actiongeladene Dance-Platte, vollgestopft mit wilden, berauschenden Gassenhauern, aber im gleichen Atemzug auch ein Zeugnis dafür, zu leben und niemals zurückzuschauen. Indem sie sich für eine neue, „befreiende“ Art des Musikmachens öffnen, haben Sextile ihr bisher kreativstes Werk geschaffen. Bisher, denn man spürt einfach, dass sie noch so viel mehr zu geben haben.

Sextile, das in Los Angeles beheimatete Duo, das für seinen unbeugsamen, elektronischen Punk-Sound gefeiert wird, hat Details zu ihrem kommenden, starken Album „Yes, please.“ bekannt gegeben, das am 2. Mai 2025 auf Sacred Bones erscheint, sowie Pläne für eine umfangreiche Europatournee in diesem Sommer geteilt. Sextile, die sich derzeit mit ihren Labelkollegen Molchat Doma auf einer großen US-Tournee befinden, kündigen ihr neues Album mit der Single „Freak Eyes“ an, die ihren dunklen, pulsierenden Sound in neue Höhen treibt. Der Song beginnt mit einem fiesen Bass-Growl, das abrupt in einen Techno-Beat übergeht, der mit klirrender Kuhglocke und scharfer Hi-Hat gespickt ist. „I feel the pressure / Man the pressure I feel when we're together“, singt Sänger Brady Keehn kühl, aber bestimmt, in den ersten Zeilen. Inspiriert von der Art und Weise, wie Druck sowohl Herausforderungen als auch Verbesserungen hervorrufen kann, beschwört „Freak Eyes“ elektrisierende Bilder von schäbigen Hinterzimmern auf dem Sunset Strip und von in Leder gekleideten Tanzflächen in Lagerhäusern herauf.

Manche Bands finden ihren Groove und bleiben dabei, andere erfinden sich ständig neu. Sextile gehört zu den letzteren, die den Nervenkitzel einer sich ständig verändernden Landkarte genießen. Das Duo Melissa Scaduto und Brady Keehn aus Los Angeles macht Musik mit Lebenslust und lässt sich dabei von No Wave bis Hardstyle inspirieren. Ihr neuestes Album „yes, please.“ stößt in kühnes Neuland vor, indem es anarchisches Elektro-Feuer mit rohen persönlichen Erinnerungen verbindet - und mit genug aufgemotzten Bässen, um ein oder zwei Boxen zum Platzen zu bringen. „yes, please.“ ist ein Album der Kontraste: eine verletzliche Platte, die ihre Seele ebenso entblößt wie sie im Exzess schwelgt und zeigt, wie weit man seinen Sound treiben kann, wenn man seine Hemmungen abschüttelt. Zusammen verraten die beiden ein Selbstvertrauen, das niemals schwankt, und machen einen kühnen Spritzer auf dem schnellen Intro mit einer Rave-Sirene, die aus einer New Yorker Hausparty der `00er oder einem verschwitzten Brooklyn-Lagerhaus stammt. Auch der Geist des Electroclash pirscht sich an das Gebäude heran, zeigt seine Identität bei den mit Kuhglocken gespickten Donnerschlägen von „Freak Eyes“ und „Rearrange“ und sorgt mit „Women Respond to Bass“ für eine schmutzige Dancefloor-Bombe. „Push Ups“ - mit dem Gesang von Jehnny Beth - ist pure Muskelmusik, gestärkt durch einen wummernden Bass und ergänzt durch Synthies, die so hart hämmern wie Hagelkörner auf einem Glasdach. Aber hinter den Slogans, der Frechheit und der monstermäßigen Tanzenergie verbirgt sich eine Intimität, die man nur finden kann, wenn man sich über schmerzhafte, lebensverändernde Ereignisse öffnet. „Hospital“ und ‚Soggy Newports‘ reflektieren Scadutos erschütternde Erfahrungen in einer staatlichen Einrichtung in New York nach einem beinahe tödlichen Unfall. „Resist“ befasst sich mit Abtreibungsrechten, während ‚Penny Rose‘ das amerikanische Bildungswesen, künstliche Intelligenz und zukünftige Generationen thematisiert. Scadutos elastischer Gesang glänzt überall, von den messerscharfen Synthesizern von „S is For“ bis zu den Trance-Pop-Höhen von „Kids“ mit Izzy Glaudini von Automatic. „yes, please.“ ist eine actiongeladene Dance-Platte, vollgestopft mit wilden, berauschenden Gassenhauern, aber im gleichen Atemzug auch ein Zeugnis dafür, zu leben und niemals zurückzuschauen. Indem sie sich für eine neue, „befreiende“ Art des Musikmachens öffnen, haben Sextile ihr bisher kreativstes Werk geschaffen. Bisher, denn man spürt einfach, dass sie noch so viel mehr zu geben haben.

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

Durch einen glücklichen Zufall zusammengebracht, durch ein gemeinsames lebenslanges Engagement für die Musik verbunden und durch ein frisches Feuer beflügelt, schaffen Paradise Slaves hypnotisch schwere Rockhymnen voller Atmosphäre und Emotionen. Das Quartett aus Boston und Anchorage ist eine unheimliche Verbindung zwischen dem Stimmgewaltigen Brock Lindow (36 Crazyfists), dem Solokünstler und Gitarristen Tyler Stroetzel, dem Gitarristen Jon Kita (Diecast), dem Bassisten Brad Horion (Diecast) und dem Schlagzeuger Ryan Manning (Blitzkid, Pentagram).

„Für mich besteht das Gesamtkonzept von With Hell In His Eyes darin, niemals zu kapitulieren, weiter zu kämpfen und weiterhin dankbar für das Leben zu sein“, sagt er. „Das waren meine Gedanken. Ich bin ein 49-jähriger Mann, der eine Menge erlebt und gelernt hat. Keiner ist perfekt. Zu dieser Erkenntnis zu kommen und zu versuchen, jeden Tag besser zu werden, ist definitiv ein Ziel.“

Letztendlich sind Paradise Slaves ihrem Schicksal genau dorthin gefolgt, wo sie hingehören.

Viele Wellen bis zum Abwinken, eine klangliche Erinnerung, ein Tremoloboot in der Sommersonne. Nichts vergeht mit voller Kraft voraus, hier kommt Semi Trucks aus Kalifornien mit Georgia Overdrive. Über 10 Tracks hinweg basteln Brenden Sepe (Gitarre und Gesang), Finn Beard (Gitarre und Gesang), Bronwyn Bradshaw (Bass und Gesang) und Ian Collins (Schlagzeug) ihre Pop-Moral mit einem kruden Unterbau. Eine immerwährende Gänseblümchenkette. Locker gefesselt in Big Blue, in den weiten, sonnendurchfluteten Straßen, in einer Garage auf der Lexington, in den kleinen Bars, in denen sich alle wie Stars aufführen. Aufgenommen im Frühjahr 2024 in Los Angeles mit Robbie Cody (Wand, Pink Trash Can), spielt Georgia Overdrive wie ein Best-Of, ein Hit-geladener Schlag in den Magen. Momente, die an Velvet Underground oder an die Sonics erinnern, an die SST-Rocker Opal aus den späten 80ern oder an die Indie-Expressionisten Summer Hits, kulminieren in einer Zärtlichkeit und einem Geräuschgerangel. Entstanden in ihrer Heimatstadt Los Angeles, ist dies das erste Semi Trucks-Album mit voller Bandbesetzung (Sepe veröffentlichte ,Vs California" 2021 als Solo-Schlafzimmerprojekt). Sie gingen hart zur Sache und achteten sehr darauf, mit Tiefe und Präzision zuzuschlagen, indem sie Feedback und zuckersüße Hooks verwoben. Sepe's mühelose Gesangsmelodien tanzen mit dem gehauchten Gesang von Bradshaw. Das Zusammenspiel und der Schlagabtausch ist mühelos, während sich die Platte entfaltet. Ein Lauffeuer. Zerbrochene Keramik. Orange- und rosafarbenes, flockiges Chrom in einer Dose. Glückselige Untermalung, dunkler als die Nacht, volle Kraft voraus, nirgends abzuschalten.

Die Modern Folk-Künstlerin Jensen McRae hat das Veröffentlichungsdatum ihres mit Spannung erwarteten zweiten Albums „I Don't Know How But They Found Me!“ bekannt gegeben, das am 25. April über Dead Oceans erscheinen wird. Zusammen mit der Ankündigung hat sie auch ihre neueste Single und das Video „Praying For Your Downfall“ veröffentlicht, ein Meisterwerk der Offenheit, das Witz und Charme verbindet, während McRae darüber nachdenkt, wie sie den Drang nach Rache an jemandem, der ihr das Herz gebrochen hat, loslassen kann.



Jensen McRae - Praying For Your Downfall (Official Video)



Vor dem Hintergrund von Herzschmerz, Selbstfindung und der Komplexität der Liebe ist „I Don't Know How But They Found Me!“ eine mutige Entwicklung für die junge Künstlerin. Das elf Titel umfassende Album, das in North Carolina mit Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver) aufgenommen wurde und an dem Nathan Stocker (Hippo Campus), Matthew McCaughan (Bon Iver) und ihr Bruder Holden McRae mitgewirkt haben, ist eine lebendige Sammlung von Songs, die von messerscharfen Texten und zeitlosen Pop-Melodien getragen werden. McRaes Stimme ist so vielseitig wie ihr Songwriting - mal flüsternd und strukturiert, dann wieder klar und hell. Es ist eine Stimme, die sowohl den Herzschmerz des Verlassenwerdens als auch die Stärke des Verlassens verkörpert.



Von Anfang an haben sich die Fans in Jensen McRae verliebt, für ihre scharfsinnigen, aufrüttelnden und klarsichtigen Songs. Ihr Songwriting ist verletzlich, ja, aber es ist auch stark, weil es sich nicht zurückhält. „I Don't Know How But They Found Me!“ zeigt McRaes Entwicklung von einer vielversprechenden jungen Künstlerin zu einer echten Songwriterin und Star. „Die tiefgreifendsten Entscheidungen meines Lebens“, sagt McRae, “haben sich oft wie Dinge angefühlt, die ich getan habe, bevor ich dazu bereit war, und in die ich hineinwachsen musste.“ „I Don't Know How But They Found Me!“ handelt davon, was folgt, wenn man dem widerstanden hat, von dem man dachte, dass es einen vernichten würde. Es geht darum, seine Grenzen kennenzulernen und zu erfahren, wozu man fähig ist. „Ich verband mich mit dem Gedanken, dass ich leicht unter dem Gewicht dessen, was mir widerfahren ist, hätte zusammenbrechen können, aber ich tat es nicht. Ich wusste es nicht einmal“, sagt sie, ‚aber ich war die ganze Zeit kugelsicher“. Jensen McRae ist in L.A. geboren und aufgewachsen und hat fast ihr ganzes Leben lang Musik studiert und gemacht. In der High School nahm sie am Grammy Camp teil und schloss ihr Studium an der USC Thornton School of Music mit einem Abschluss in Popular Music ab. McRaes Debütalbum „Are You Happy Now?“ schrieb sie größtenteils im Alter von 21 Jahren und war der erste Schritt zum Aufbau einer treuen Fangemeinde. „Are You Happy Now?“ navigiert die Identität von ihren tiefsten Grundlagen - dem Leben als junge, gemischtrassige schwarze und jüdische Frau - bis hin zu ihren persönlichsten Überlegungen - vertraue ich dir, vertraue ich mir selbst. McRaes Vertrauen in sich selbst hat sich mehrfach bestätigt, zuletzt und vielleicht am bekanntesten in Form des Songs „Massachusetts“. McRae postete eine Solo-Strophe und einen Refrain, kaum mehr als ein Stück eines Demos, und es fing Feuer im Internet. Covers, Duette und eine Lawine neuer Fans folgten, und McRae krönte den Moment mit einer fertigen Version und einer sommerlangen Tournee als Support von Noah Kahan. „I Don't Know How But They Found Me!“ nimmt McRaes mittlerweile beachtliche Fähigkeiten auf und macht sie massentauglich. „Savannah“ ist ein Song für alle, die schon lange dabei sind. Der pulsierende, an Country angelehnte Song erinnert sofort an das Beste von Phoebe Bridgers, wobei McRae in einem akrobatischen Flüsterton über einer federleichten akustischen Gitarre singt. Wenn „Savannah“ sein Crescendo erreicht, wird klar, dass McRae eine Künstlerin mit einer ganz eigenen Kraft ist, wenn sich Klavier und Gitarre überlagern und McRae eine Reihe bissiger Anklagen mit Schärfe und Überzeugung vorträgt: "You swore you'd raise our kids to end up just like you / well you're a false prophet / and that's a goddamn promise." Währenddessen ist „Let Me Be Wrong“ eine echte Hymne, eine beschwingte Ode an die Ablehnung von Perfektionismus. Wiederum auf einem einfachen Gesang und einer Akustikgitarre aufbauend, steigert sich „Let Me Be Wrong“ Schritt für Schritt in seinem Trotz; die Gitarren schichten sich, das Schlagzeug nimmt das Tempo auf, und McRae macht Platz für die Fehler aller. Wenn McRae knurrt „fuck those girls got everything“, ist das ein Schlag voller Kraft und Verletzlichkeit, der darum bettelt, unisono so laut wie möglich gebrüllt zu werden. Der ungewöhnliche Titel ihres zweiten Albums? Er stammt aus einer Zeile in McRaes Lieblingsfilm „Zurück in die Zukunft“. Ein Hauptdarsteller überlebt einen Kugelhagel, und dieses Bild hat McRae sehr beeindruckt. „Ich habe mich mit dem Gedanken angefreundet, dass ich leicht unter dem Gewicht dessen, was mir passiert ist, hätte zusammenbrechen können, aber das habe ich nicht. Ich wusste es nicht einmal“, sagt McRae, “aber ich war die ganze Zeit über kugelsicher.“

Edinburgh-based three-piece funk band High Fade are set to release their debut album 'Life’s Too Fast'.

Capturing the raw, on-stage energy that has been the driving force behind High Fade’s meteoric rise was never going to be easy, but that’s exactly what Harry, Oli and Calvin set out to do with a clear creative vision to record their album live at the iconic RAK Studios in London.

'We recorded in RAK Studios, with the desk built for the Rolling Stones in ‘76, with the same cigarette burns still on the faders. It instantly had a vibe of raw energy and liveliness to it that matched the way we wanted to record - live.' – Calvin

The result? 'Life’s Too Fast' – a blistering 10-track debut from one of the UK’s most exciting bands that manages to deliver the same tight, groove-laden funk rock that has put the group on the radars of Jack Black, Cypress Hill and Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk, has seen them tour with The Cat Empire, and tick off iconic venues including Glastonbury, Jazz Cafe, and Boomtown Festival.

'We decided to record the album live rather than through the normal single track overdubbed method – we felt this would help to fully convey the band’s power, sound and energy across to the listener! More like we’re playing a gig and having it recorded – it was a tough process, but we went about it in the best way for both us and the audience, to ensure they’re getting the most authentic High Fade sound and experience possible.' – Oli

Having spent much of the last three years on the road seeing to a punishing tour schedule, 'Life’s Too Fast' is a chance for the band to stop and take stock, to reflect on their whirlwind success, and create an artistic milestone that demonstrates who High Fade are today. 'It’s the most accurate representation of what High Fade is, what we sound like, and who we are' explains Harry. Telling a clear story that matches their own experiences over the last few years, the album is a snapshot taken by a band who are accelerating towards real success and recognition.

'I’m glad we finally have a body of work that we’re proud of and feels like a collection of songs that nicely represents where we are right now. It’s organised chaos and shows that we like to play, but can also write a catchy tune.' – Calvin

Launching into proceedings with the effortlessly uplifting 'Take Me To The Floor', every track is a demonstration of the band’s technical prowess and broad sonic palette. A forward-facing selection of completely original material, the album also gave the band the opportunity to re-imagine fan-favourite 'Sharpen Up' as a stripped-back cut that reflects the band’s current lineup.

'Honestly, I kinda feel like I could explode with excitement about getting it out for everyone in the world to hear because it has been a long time in the making! A culmination of what all the singles have been working towards! I guess the album represents us and the direction we’re taking the music, it represents us as a trio and the gel that is High Fade.' – Oli

Entering its 26th year of activity, the morphing, Los Angeles based experimental outfit, Sissy Spacek, joins Shelter Press with Entrance, among the project's most captivating outings to date. Encountering the duo of John Wiese and Charlie Mumma joined in various configurations by an incredible cast of collaborators - Tim Barnes, Marco Fusinato, Aaron Hemphill, Brad Laner, Katsura Mouri, Ralf Wehowsky, and C Spencer Yeh - collectively transformed into a series a deeply intimate and delicate gestures of musique concrète, Entrance radically repositions the possibilities presented by group improvisation outside of time and place. Founded at the end of the last millennium, the Los Angeles based project, Sissy Spacek, initially emerged from the knotted, fiery context 1990s American noise and grindcore, producing sheets of visceral sonority that quickly set the scene on its head. Going through numerous evolutions, before eventually settling as a duo of John Wiese and Charlie Mumma - joined by a rotating and often recurring cast collaborators - over the last 25 years the band has continuously entered states of evolution that have defied the expectations of its own context, seeding the sonic extremes noise with subtle and sophisticated approaches to free improvisation and musique concrète. Fiercely positioning its efforts within the outer reaches of contemporary experimental music, while resisting the constraints of a singular sound or proximity, Wiese regards Sissy Spacek as being primarily centred around the practice of musique concrète and the pursuit of extremes. From its earliest releases - collage treatments of material gathered from the band's full throttle practice sessions - the project's conceptual framework has continuously evolved within a deeply engaged process of experimentation, not only reworking tactical approaches, but also definitions and perception regarding the location and action of their work. In recent years, this has led to an increasingly varied and diverse output. Percolating within, is a thread marked by a striking sense of delicacy and intimacy, driving forward while doubling as an unexpected challenge, in real time, to perceptions connected to the band's past. Entrance is the most recent of these. Embarking upon the four compositions that comprise the finalized four sides of Entrance, Wiese and Mumma enlisted longstanding collaborators, Tim Barnes, Marco Fusinato, Aaron Hemphill, Brad Laner, Katsura Mouri, and C Spencer Yeh, as well as new initiate, Ralf Wehowsky (of the seminal German electronic noise collective P16.D4), requesting a contribution of sounds from each, determined by a general set guidelines that dictated certain qualities the given sonorities, while allowing for the expression of each player's distinct creative voice. The sets of resulting recordings were then chopped, harvested, manipulated, and reassembled as the four tape compositions that make up the album - Web Of Unfolding Appearance, Figure Of Reflected Light, Trancher And The Inheritors, True Dimension (From The Opaque - Spike) - each blurring the lines of authorship and clear creative proximity in remarkable ways. Where historical gestures of musique concrète tend to draw upon non-instrumental sound sources - regarding its sonorous material as raw elements, unburdened by inherent meaning or association, to be transformed and imbued with musicality - Sissy Spacek turns this position on its head. Entrance comprises works of musique concrète that not only draw upon instrumental sound sources, with all their possible meanings or associations, but also individual characters and personalities of their players, crediting each resulting piece to its respective configuration of contributors. As such, Entrance is an effort of sound collage defined by a rare sense of intimacy and humanity: four pieces that often take on the resemblance of group improvisation, but have, in fact, been assembled outside of time and place. Bent under the ever-present hand of Wiese's tape treatments and manipulation, each of the album's four compositions unfurl startling states of sonic abstraction and percolating texture, marked by a striking sense of hard-shifting structure, that culminate as tense, driven manifestations of ambient music: scrapes, squeals, rattles feedback, rolling drums, bouncing tones, whispers, bent electronics, electric artefacts, and seemingly everything else under the sun, configured into immersive, sublime mediations in sound from the most improbable events.

Manchester-based original soul collective The 7:45s release their debut single.

Named after 7-inch 45-rpm vinyl, The 7:45s write short and snappy soul singles. Their debut is a double A-side, giving you two bops for the price of one. Inspired by Charles Bradley, 'The Way that I Love You' is full of contrasts: the piano chimes and horns respond, a man calls and a woman answers. It's laidback then intense, major then minor, nostalgic then heartbroken. On the flip-side, 'Too Little Too Late' is an upbeat northern soul stomper, featuring an earworm of a vocal hook over an infectious bassline that's sure to ruffle tail feathers.

Recorded with vintage equipment at EVE Studios in Stockport, both songs feature the captivating vocals of collaborator Martin Connor. On 'The Way that I Love You', Connor's vocal rises from a crooning baritone to a fever pitch, culminating in spine-tingling ad libs. Magic moments like this are heightened by songwriter and bassist Sam Flynn's perfectionist arrangements, which feature dozens of musicians: spotlighting vocal harmonies, horns, and even strings on 'Too Little... more

credits

releases March 7, 2025

Been in UK soul chart and played on all the indie soul stations , Starpoint , solar etc

Too little Too Late was Played on BBC radio six Craig Charles Funk and soul show twice and the Way That I Love You was played on BBC radio six Craig Charles day time show

Track of the week on Simon Phillips Jazz FM

Featured in Blues and Soul and Echoes Mag

Way back in 1962 all roads led to Dartford in Kent when a coming together of influences would result in the formation of the world’s greatest rock and roll band,The Rolling Stones...
Mick Jagger the singer and Keith Richards lead guitarist were both fans of early rockers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, whilst rhythm guitarist and harmonica player Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart would be immersed in the Blues that were coming from Chicago,the same influences would bring the original bassist Dick Taylor and drummer Tony Chapman to the party.

Born out of the early 1980's Austin noise punk scene, Scratch Acid deliberately eschewed the loud, fast rules of hardcore as everything they didn't want to be and embraced a weirder, artier sound. The band's eventual permanent line-up consisted of David Yow on vocals, Brett Bradford on guitar, David Wm. Sims on bass, and Rey Washam on drums. During their brief existence from 1982 to 1987, the band released 3 records, including a full-length album (Just Keep Eating) and two EPs (S/T EP, Berserker). On March 14, 2025, Touch and Go Records will release the Scratch Acid Box Set - limited to 2000 sets worldwide. Remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, the box set includes 180-gram clear LP pressings of all three releases as well as a 24-page booklet featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, liner notes by David Yow, Brett Bradford, and photographer/journalist Pat Blashill, as well as full-color paintings by contemporary artist Mark Todd from the same era as the cover art for the S/T EP and Berserker releases. In addition, this limited Scratch Acid box set includes an exclusive clear vinyl 7" with both tracks the band contributed to the 1986 Touch and Go Records compilation, God's Favorite Dog. The 7-inch includes cover art by Mark Todd as well.

NOW Music proudly presents NOW That’s What I Call Gold – The Ultimate Hits – this essential 3-LP set brings together 46 tracks by legendary artists with timeless anthems, celebrating some of the greatest hits of all time, including chart-topping classics and enduring favourites.



LP1 sets the stage with Queen’s electrifying ‘A Kind Of Magic’, followed by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins’ #1 ‘Easy Lover’. The Police feature with their #1 smash ‘Message In A Bottle’, while The Killers follow with their record-breaking anthem ‘Mr. Brightside’. The massive ‘Stick Season’ from Noah Kahan is up next before the first side finishes with Lana Del Rey’s stunning ‘Video Games’. Flip the LP over for contemporary classics from Coldplay and Duran Duran. Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ still sounds raw and breath-taking and is followed by classics from the Pretenders, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, and Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’, one of the best-selling UK singles of the ‘80s, whilst another of those closes out the first LP: Ultravox with their masterpiece, ‘Vienna’.



LP2 delivers a legendary lineup, including Billy Joel with his Grammy-winning ‘Just The Way You Are’ and Céline Dion’s powerful version of ‘All By Myself’. John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ and Paul Simon’s groundbreaking ‘Graceland’ are featured along with the pop genius of Electric Light Orchestra with ‘Last Train To London’. While on the other side timeless ballads from Elton John with ‘Tiny Dancer’ and Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ come ahead of Wings, Simply Red and ‘60s gems from Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and the peerless ‘Walk On By’ from Dionne Warwick.



LP3 opens with Neil Diamond’s universally beloved singalong anthem, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and Cliff Richard’s mid-70s classic, ‘Devil Woman’. Disco legends Donna Summer (‘MacArthur Park’) and Gloria Gaynor (‘I Will Survive’), lead into Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ which became a smash for the second time recently. Ed Sheeran and Pharrell Williams had enduringly popular hits with ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Happy’, and the side closes with the harmonic vocals of All-4-One and their beautiful signature song ‘I Swear’. The final side is packed with anthemic and uplifting classics kicking off with Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’, Survivor’s ‘Eye Of The Tiger’, and Take That’s soaring ‘Rule The World’. The remainder of the collection celebrates and showcases some of the ‘70s greatest tracks including Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Lost In France’, Marianne Faithfull’s poignant ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’ and Blondie’s era-defining and genre-defying #1 ‘Heart Of Glass’.



NOW That’s What I Call Gold is a must-have for all music lovers —packed with legendary artists, timeless hits, and unforgettable moments in pop. Don’t miss out on this golden treasure trove of musical brilliance!

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War on Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Ajay Saggar is BHAJAN BHOY. "With BHAJAN BHOY, Saggar synthesizes all of the stylistic approaches he’s explored over the years, swirling them into an intoxicating musical blend, with an earthy spirituality. Even the project’s name reflects the dual aspects of Saggar’s upbringing coming together in harmony. In Hindi, a “bhajan” is a devotional song, sung in the mandir, or temple, while “bhoy” is a Scottish and Irish derivation for a young man. There’s a searching quality to Bhajan Bhoy, as if Saggar is still hunting for transcendence with each track, whether through an expansive drone, an orchestral facility on the piano, or an electronics-augmented raga that threatens to dip into noise” (Erick Bradshaw / writer and WFMU DJ). This album presents a rich and varied set of compositions that showcase Saggar’s skills as an incredibly talented and accomplished composer and musician. With each and every Bhajan Bhoy LP, you are are carried to a higher place. With ‘Bhoy On The Wire’, the 35 minutes laid out unfolds like a cosmic tapestry, an extraordinary exploration that shimmers and reverberates with newfound vibrancy. The songs were broadcast as part of a session on Steve Barker’s “On The Wire” radio show in April 2024. They were a gift to Steve and his team for 40 years of broadcasting. “On The Wire” is simply the greatest radio show in the world. As Ajay explains in his own words : “In September 1984, I started a degree course at the University of Lancaster. On a wet and soggy Sunday afternoon towards the end of September, I sat in my room staring out at the grey Lancashire landscape, and decided to alleviate the boredom by seeing if there was anything to listen to on the radio. Most of the stations I tuned into were as dull as the weather outside. However, as I neared the end of the FM dial (and was about to give up hope), I chanced upon a station where I was taken by the music being played. That show was “On The Wire”, introduced by Steve Barker. From there on in, every Sunday, between 2-5pm, I tuned into Radio Lancashire to listen. Steve’s shows had an incredible and wide reaching selection of music and genres, that thrilled your ears and left you wanting more. Tied to that, his deep knowledge of the material he played helped the listener dig into the sounds even more, and also left you in admiration of this trait. In 1985, I started putting on DIY shows in Lancaster (inviting the likes of Bog-Shed, bIG fLAME, The Membranes, The Wedding Present, etc etc) and Steve was kind enough to mention the shows on-air, which helped in getting people from different parts of the county to come to the shows. At the tail-end of 1985, he invited me to the studio to come and hang out. When in 1988, the group I was in, Dandelion Adventure, released our first (demo) cassette, it was Steve, who not only played tracks off it, but invited the group to the studio for an interview. Now if you’re a young band, that is a massive thrill! And in 1990, when Dandelion Adventure did a John Peel session, I actually used “On The Wire” jingles (that Steve had put on a cassette and given to me a few years before) on the track “All the World’s A Lounge”. Since then, the show has been a mainstay for me, and so many others around the world, to get turned onto incredible sounds from around the world. And over the course of 40 years, Steve has always supported my music. These six tracks are a 40th birthday gift to the “On The Wire” team (Steve, Michael “Fenny” Fenton (an absolutely critical part of the show), and Jim Ingham (engineer who keeps the technical side of things going)) for sharing so much amazing music, and making the world a better place. They were originally broadcast as an exclusive session in April 2024 on “On The Wire", and are here for your listening pleasure. Music like shower”. Artwork by Jake Blanchard

“We all grew up playing heavy music. For me personally, listening to artists like Swans, Godflesh, Neurosis and Kiss It Goodbye in my 20s was cathartic in a lot of ways. Identifying with people that have a similar world perspective, who are channeling their angst and frustration into the creative outlet of art and music — that was important.”

Josh Graham isn’t just talking about his decades-long career in heavy music, which has included A Storm of Light, Battle of Mice, and many years as the one-man visual department for Neurosis. He’s also talking about the formation of Guiltless, his new band with bassist Sacha Dunable (Intronaut), drummer Billy Graves (Generation of Vipers) and guitarist Dan Hawkins (A Storm of Light).

Guiltless released their debut EP, Thorns, via Neurot Recordings in early 2024. Crushing and cheerless, it seemed to welcome the apocalypse looming on our collective horizon. “The EP had a pretty narrow focus starting from my ideas,” Graham explains. “With this record, my main goal was to really collaborate with Sacha and Dan and Billy because those guys are great songwriters. The new album is meant to open up the sonic palette and explore more territory.”

That new album is Teeth to Sky, the band’s first full-length. Even more pulverizing and focused than its predecessor, the album’s collaborative songwriting approach was paired with an adjustment to the lyrical content.

You can hear it on “One Is Two,” which channels a tightly controlled Meshuggah churn through the more visceral lo-fi approach of Kiss It Goodbye or Swedish noise rock legends Breach. On “In Starless Reign,” Guiltless blend dissonant black metal and thundering doom while Graham invokes humanity’s inability to see the forest through the trees. Then there’s the bruising title track, which combines the gnarled sensibilities of The Jesus Lizard, Cherubs and Barn Owl into a rumination on Mother Nature’s revenge.

Teeth To Sky was recorded remotely by the members of Guiltless—except for the drums, which were recorded by Travis Kammeyer (Generation of Vipers) at Fahrenheit Studios in Johnson City, Tennessee. The album was mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City in Salem, Massachusetts, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon.

180G vinyl pressing

After releasing their well-received 7” and 12” singles ‘Night Time’ and ‘Feel It / So Hot’, Isle of Jura is pleased to present Exotic Illusions, the debut album from D.D. Mirage, the Sydney-based duo of Josh Dives and Disky Dee.

Having first played music together during the mid-2010s in the indie-psyche and punky-shoegaze bands King Colour and SCK CHX, the two Australian musicians/DJs came up in the warehouse party scene that fermented in the wake of the Sydney lockout laws. While organising mixed media events under the Yeah Nah Yeah brand, they discovered the joys of disco, dance-punk and the Balearic beat through Pender St Steppers’ DJ mixes and reissue releases and found themselves changing direction in response.

Written and recorded with a range of vintage keyboards and preamps, instruments and digital studio software, Exotic Illusions is a cosmopolitan love letter to the immaculate blend of Italo disco, Neopolitan funk, Nigerian boogie, cosmic house, synth-pop, UK street soul and lovers rock sounds that have inspired D.D. Mirage since they began this iteration of their ever-evolving musical relationship.

“The name Exotic Illusions refers to our fascination with all of this music made in other parts of the world,” they explain. “During lockdown and thereafter, we indulged in these exotic sounds as an antidote to our lack of travel. This fascination continued as the world opened up again, and we started working on tunes together. It’s also a way of acknowledging that we feel like tourists partaking in these styles and established sounds. They aren’t ours and weren’t born out of the place we’re from, but we hope we’ve been able to add something unique to them.”

In recognition of this, rather than just reinterpreting genre motifs through an antipodean lens, D.D. Mirage opened up lines of communication with some of their favourite musicians from the Neapolitan scene, bassist Daniel Monaco (Rush Hour, Periodica Records) and drummer Andrea De Fazio (Parbleu/ Nu Genea), who recorded the rhythm section for ‘So Hot’. They also wrote to the Manchester-based singer/producer Private Joy, who graced ‘Night Time’ with a smoother-than-silk street soul vocal that helped the single secure crucial plays on NTS and BBC Radio 6.

Opening with the tropical melodies, post-disco machine beats and jilted art-punk singalong chants of the title track, Exotic Illusions unfolds as a series of sturdy, internationally-minded dancefloor excursions. ‘Piranesi’ is boogie with a South American shuffle. ‘So Hot’ is Neapolitan funk with a Leichhardt strut, and ‘Antenna’ (featuring Jofi) is D.D. Mirage’s love letter to ‘80s drum machine bossa nova from Brussels.

On ‘Feel It’, the duo hit a sparking groove that reaches into an eternal sunset of the mind before throwing out a bubbly disco-not disco spoken word bounce on ‘Cat’s Cradle’, featuring psychedelic-pop singer Jermango Dreaming. From there, D.D. Mirage bring it home with a cheeky Aussie drawl on ‘Living Upside Down’ and the nocturnal excellence of ‘Night Time’, making a case for themselves as a significant new force from Australian music to the world.
full sleeve artwork from Bradley Pinkerton.

2025 Repress
Singing black-lit liturgies of bog bodies caked in mud, entranced by nocturnal landscapes flickering in the moonglow and powered by queer enchantment, Tristwch y Fenywod are a Welsh-language gothic avant-rock powercoven. Exhumed from the depths of Leeds’
experimental underground, the trio consist of Gwretsien Ferch Lisbeth (Guttersnipe, The Ephemeron Loop), Leila Lygad (Hawthonn) and Sidni Sarffwraig (Slaylor Moon, The Courtneys).
Stark, striking and bewitching, Tristwch y Fenywod’s self-titled album is their debut studio recording, following just 10 gigs and a live demo. Formed in 2022, Tristwch y Fenywod ("The Sadness of Women”) record exclusively in the Welsh language, conjuring an eldritch, subterranean, alien folk music played on dual zither, electronic drums and bass guitar. With towering, siren-like vocals curling around the Welsh consonants, accompanied by stark, martial rhythms and swirling claw-plucked strings, Tristwch y Fenywod feels like an early 4AD recording dredged from the waters of an Anglesey swamp. The effect is simultaneously chilling and stirring.
The eight tracks on the record constitute what feels like a recently rediscovered, unholy grail of edgy, atmospheric, occult feminist goth emissions. Gwretsien’s dual-zither playing scatters melodic fragments and spirals of harmony around the decimated space opened up by the lugubrious bass playing and pounding, brooding drum pads.
Coupled with the Welsh vocal, Tristwch y Fenywod embody a new, unique Celtic darkwave sound, equal part Pornography-era The Cure, Svitlana Nianio’s haunted hammered string-work and the dark beauty of Dead Can Dance or This Mortal Coil. Opener Blodyn Gwyrdd feels like the last ride of Princess Ukok, with lumbering bass and 6/8 rhythms in procession to the event horizon with an entreating, impassioned vocal and surprising lyrical theme. The doomed dancing of the zither provides the mysterious melodic bedrock throughout the album, particularly on Ferch Gyda’r Llygaid Du’s heavy funereal swa and the slowly building, paroxysmal banshee breakdown of Awen: an astonishing swell of thrilling chaos.
The album was recorded and produced by Ross Halden and the band at Hohm Studio, Bradford, Summer 2023.

Muireann Bradley is a young blues, ragtime, roots and folk guitarist and singer based in Ballybofey in County Donegal Ireland. “This is my first album. Most of these tunes were originally recorded by the great blues men and women who were making records from the 1920s and 1930s right up in some cases to the early 1970s. I have also found inspiration for the renditions recorded here in the playing of some of the musicians who began recording this music in the 1960s and later, and who in some cases learned at the feet of the greats. Many of these guitarists played pivotal roles in the 1960s blues revival and subsequent “rediscovery” of many of the greats of country blues. I grew up steeped in these old blues in the hills overlooking the valley of the River Finn just outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal. My father would play this music constantly at home and wherever we went in the car and talk about it endlessly whether anyone was listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news. My father could of course play all this stuff on guitar, I remember watching him when I was very young and thinking “I want to be able to do that”. When I was nine he agreed to teach me and bought me my first little travel guitar. I worked hard to learn how to play but as time wore on I seemed to have less and less time to practice as I became more and more invested in the combat sports I was regularly training and competing in. Then in March 2020 the first Covid lockdowns happened and all contact sports were shut down. I was lost for a while but soon found my way back to the guitar. I was now listening, playing and practicing with a new intensity and focus. In a very serious moment, I wrote out a list of tunes I was going to learn. The first tune on that list was Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”. I’m not sure now how long it took to get that arrangement together but when it was ready we videoed me performing it and posted it on YouTube. It ended up getting a lot of attention, I remember my parents being quite shocked and soon after that Josh Rosenthal got in touch… and here we are! Each individual track on this album was recorded live in the studio and represents one entire take with me singing and backing myself up on guitar simultaneously. Most are either first or second takes. Nothing has been added or taken away, no overdubs or modern recording tricks of any kind have been used at all so at least in some respects this album has been recorded in the same way as those classics of the 1920s and 1930s

Welcome to 'Instrumental Dubs #3', the ongoing series that delves into the world of the Dub Version and beyond. Side one explores the axis of UK Street Soul and Reggae with the opening two tracks produced by Howard Hill and originally released on his Passion Enterprises label in the late eighties. Both 'Versions' have a machine lead rhythm section paired with a reggae skank and snippets of soulful vox. The Proto House of Protek's 'I Love to Dance With You' featured on a Jura Soundsystem DJ Mix for Planet Trip, a one off single from the now sadly deceased Errol Parkes that's been re-edited with love by The Nightlark from Edinburgh.

The B side features The Cool Notes 'Natural Energy', which isn't strictly speaking a Dub Version, but it has that vibe with a primarily instrumental backing track featuring sparse vocals and spacey FX. The album closes with a secret weapon of Ilija Rudman 'Dub 4 Love' that pays homage to a famous track from Acid House's heyday.

Pressed on 180g Heavyweight Vinyl with full sleeve jacket design by Bradley Pinkerton.

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome aboard Takuya Kuroda.

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop music.

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid-noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the 'Blackmagic' and 'No Beginning No End' projects.

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier's BADDER band (also including acclaimed bass player, Brady Watt). Premier said "The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I've known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, 'What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He's got a hip-hop perspective and respect in the jazz field…"

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya's independently-produced debut album, 'Edge', followed by 'Bitter and High' the following year and 'Six Aces' on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album 'Rising Son', as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, 'Blue Note Voyage'. He released his 5th album 'Zigzagger' on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic 'Think Twice'.

Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album 'Fly Moon Die Soon'.

In his words, "this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to being vulgar."

It took two years to make this album. In 2018, I decided I just couldn't make albums the same way I had been in the past anymore. As a birthday treat to myself, I booked a studio in Brooklyn for two days, with only myself and an engineer, Todd Carder. I brought along some tracks I'd been building at home to see if we could complete them within that time. We began replacing sounds and adding texture, sampling noises from all over the studio; me sipping coffee, hitting a 26" kick drum, speeding up snares. At the end of the two days we were like "wow, I didn't know we could make tracks this good in this way". This is how the process of the full album started. Everything was based on my beats I made at home, inviting musicians in one by one, adding or replacing parts. I was very careful when developing these tracks; just note by note, part by part. I wanted to make the music effectively from a blend of two different recording methods; one very slickly produced part and one very organic part played by live musicians. I remember mixtapes from when I was kid, and wanted to make an album that wasn't just a bunch of flashy singles, trying to catch people's attention in the first 30 seconds, or full of guest features. Instead, I'm essentially just trying to let the grooves breath."

The album consists of nine tracks of excellence. The uptempo jazz-funk of 'ABC' and 'Moody' sit alongside soulful jazz cuts like 'Fade' and 'CHANGE', also featuring Corey King on vocals. The title track is a downtempo groove lead by a heavy Moog bassline, whilst 'Do No Why' contains an infectious piano riff throughout. Aside from Takuya's original compositions, he revisits two classics from Ohio Players ('Sweet Sticky Thing' featuring Alina Engibaryan on vocals) and Herbie Hancock ('Tell Me A Bedtime Story') whilst the album closes with the epic 'TKBK'.

Takuya adds "this special cover was inspired by the Golden Moon I saw during a photoshoot in Death Valley with my homie Hiroyuki Seo".

Takuya Kuroda is a truly unique talent, and this album is a realisation of the evolution of his sound.

'Fly Moon Die Soon' is released on Worldwide Award-winning UK label First Word Records on vinyl & digital in September 2020.

This is an outrageosly brilliant EP. Indie-spirit, early industrial noises, a bold handling of white noise / filter effects and vocoder vocals, virtuously mixed together in a funky acid dancefloor stomper. Jörn’s unmistakable trademark is deep electronic coolness, combined with a good dose of humoristic winks, sophisticated and puristic at the same time - and of course highly recommended. The B-Side contains a remix of Thee Church Ov Acid House, a project by Wuttke together with his longterm recording partner Oliver Bradford.
They offer an intense100 BPM version in an early 90s “post-rave” fashion.
Oscillating samples, drenched in fuzz, skirt around classic organ keys and balearic percussions. A great set opener, closer or, as intended, something to put on when you get home from the rave, while the sun is rising but you’re not quite ready to go to sleep.

Info-text : Miriam Schulte

Die 'weiße' LP GREATEST HITS" ist erstmals 1977 bei RAK erschienen und war nach einer Reihe von Top Hits die erste "offizielle" Best Of von Smokie.
Mit den Singles aus den ersten drei Alben, die für diese Kopplung ausgewählt wurden, sind schon reichlich Hits versammelt. Die zur Erstveröffentlichung bis dato völlig neuen 'Non-Album' Tracks sind dann allerdings für den Aufstieg der LP in den Legenden-Status verantwortlich. 'Living Next Door To Alice' wurde als erste neue Single ausgekoppelt und ein Welterfolg sondergleichen. Mit 'Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone' hat das Album zudem eine zweite neue Single, die ebenfalls zum Top-Hit avancierte. Das Album erreichte Platin Status in Deutschland, war 67 Wochen in den Charts, davon allein 8 Wochen auf der 1 und auch in vielen anderen Ländern in den Top 10, darunter mit einer #6 Platzierung auch der heimische Markt der Band, England.
Da die Erfolgsserie mit den folgenden Alben und Singles wie ‚'Mexican Girl'‚ 'It's Your Life' oder 'Needles And Pins' anhielt erschien 1980 die 'goldene' GREATEST HITS VOL.2 und wurde ein weiteres Chart-Album für die Band. Ebenso wie die erste Greatest Hits ist auch Vol 2 durch verschiedene Vertragswechsel bis heute nicht wieder neu aufgelegt worden. Bis heute! Jetzt werden beide Alben zusammengefasst und zudem mit einigen weiteren Erfolgstitel, die der Erstveröffentlichung nachgelagert waren, ergänzt. Damit sind diese Kult-LP endlich wieder aufgelegt und das auch gleich noch auf hochwertigem 180g Vinyl die sich auf dem Plattenteller in strahlendem Weiß präsentieren .

I first saw Hugh and Jackson play together at Good God’s ‘Soft Future Piano Bar’ at the Sydney Opera House in 2017. That year was a fruitful year for the two as artists and for the Sydney music community in general. I remember that all of us, along with Greville and Brad, hosted a DIY party in a tunnel under a highway somewhere near Sydney Airport. Is that the same tunnel that Tunnel Dancers derived their name from? 7 years after that first meeting at the Sydney Opera House, Hugh and Jackson have released an album. Listening to these songs there is an audible patience and understanding between two musicians. They probably could have released something else a long time ago, but chose to wait - instead enjoying bowls of laksa on their lunch breaks and sharing long, quiet conversations at The Babylon Sauna & Spa. When the next warm bowl of noodle soup arrives on your table, how long will you let it sit before you dive in? Soup first or noodle first? If you learn from these songs, perhaps you will know to first observe the whole bowl. Observing in this way, the moment settles and hovers and remains for much longer than a moment.

Rhythm Section International, the impossible-to-define label founded in South East London by Bradley Zero in 2014 has reached the ripe old age of 10 years.Spanning 6 discs and 30 tracks, the compilation begins by taking us on a walk down memory lane and presenting one track from each year of the labels output

Rhythm Section International, the impossible-to-define label founded in South East London by Bradley Zero in 2014 has reached the ripe old age of 10 years. Funny thing is, it feels like it could have been almost double that. It’s hard to imagine the Landscape of the London music scene without this foundational force whose influence is felt more than ever.

With this special anniversary release, the label takes stock at this milestone to present a compilation in 3 parts: PAST, RE-IMAGINED AND FUTURE: honouring the labels tradition of always paying homage to what has come before while setting sights firmly forwards.

With 100-odd releases in their extended back catalogue covering every imaginable style and boasting influence in every inhabited continent on earth, it’s been quite a decade for the independent label, which began on a shoestring budget with funds made via the now legendary Rhythm Section pool hall parties in Peckham.

From humble beginnings to an era defining output - few would have predicted the slow and steady rise of the imprint and the impact it has had on generations of Dj’s, musicians and listeners - at home and abroad.

Spanning 6 discs and 30 tracks, the compilation begins by taking us on a walk down memory lane and presenting one track from each year of the labels output - highlighting some forgotten classics from the archives over the first 2 discs. For discs 3 & 4, the label invited it’s stable of artists to pick a track from the back catalogue to re-imagine in their own style. This process resulted in some incredibly playful contributions from the likes of Ruf Dug, Session Victim and Private Joy - whose playful reinterpretations add new depth to old material.

Finally, the last 2 discs are entirely new material for 2024, carrying the torch of the previous SHOUTS compilations - whose sole aim is to shine light on new music from emerging artists

Record includes 2 page insert and download

Flipping rhythms from Guadeloupe, Cuba, Senegal and Puerto Rico, Time Capsule founder Kay Suzuki releases an acid-soaked collection of remixes that transcends time and space.

From the blacked-out basement of Plastic People to the psychedelic dancefloor of Beauty and the Beat, Kay Suzuki’s musical world has been shaped by some of London’s most iconic sound systems. High quality audio, he says, can open portals to new universes. Rhythm is time made plastic and beauty is the space between the beats.

Spanning over fifteen years of music from the prolific DJ, producer, Time Capsule label boss and one time Brilliant Corners sushi chef, this collection of remixes is the logical conclusion of Kay Suzuki’s musical thinking. Drawn to unique percussive or syncopated rhythms, he describes remixes as conversations between the original artist’s sense of time and his own. Weaving broken beat, house and dub influences into rhythms from across the Black Atlantic, these four tracks find each other kinship on the dance floor.

The A-side begins with a dubbed-out rework of the Gwoka celebration rhythm ‘A Ka Titine’ by Guadeloupe’s Gaoulé Mizik that was originally released by Beauty and the Beat in 2022. Layering electronic flares, dub sirens and space echo reverb across the shuffling toumblak beat, Suzuki leans into the track’s creole heritage, turning the track into a sought-after dancefloor jam, played by everyone from Colleen Cosmo Murphy and John Gomez to Yu-Su and Bradley Zero.

Skipping to Puerto Rico, Broki’s ‘Es Que Lo Es’ emerged from a collaboration between Bugz in the Attic’s Afronaut and Seiji and local musicians. Here Suzuki reworks the Afro-Latin percussion into a subtle bruk, conjuring a third space between London and San Juan that remains both of and outside the era in which it was made.

Blackbush Orchestra’s ‘Sortez, Les Filles!’ opens the B-side, taking apart the original and kneading the Senegalese percussion into a chugging Balearic house track, buoyant and full of life. Also first released by Beauty and the Beat, the track features new synth and structural elements that bring out the innate dancefloor potential beneath the surface of the original.

The final track on the collection heads back to the Caribbean and the island of Cuba, where Sunlightsquare a.k.a. Claudio Passavanti worked with vocalist Rene Alvarez and expert in Afro-Cuban percussion, Giovanni Imparato, on ‘Oyelo’. Here, Suzuki strips out the kick completely, leaving an implied rhythm which he calls an “imaginary four-to-the-floor” - a groove that is felt rather than heard, leaving the listener floating in another universe entirely.

+ REPRESS OF THE LONG OUT OF PRINT DEBUT ALBUM BY THE COATHANGERS + LIMITED EDITION FOURTH LP PRESSING ON NEON BUTTERFLY VINYL + REMASTERED WITH TWO BONUS TRACKS + EXPANDED ARTWORK BY BRADFORD COX (DEERHUNTER, ATLAS SOUND) + HOUSED IN A GATEFOLD JACKET + DL COUPON // Eighteen years ago, four young Atlanta women picked up instruments without any prior musical experience or lofty aspirations and decided that they were going to start a band so that they could play a friend's party. The house-show begat more shows around town, and the feisty and fiery live sets begat an album. Recorded during a single graveyard shift at a local studio and mixed the following night, the self-titled debut album by The Coathangers was a raw, rowdy, and revelrous affair. What it lacked in polish it made up for in its undeniable energy and charisma. "We didn't think anyone was going to listen to it," says vocalist/guitarist Julia Kugel. "We knew our friends in Atlanta would get it, but we didn't think it was going to go anywhere. We were just excited to make a record." Little did Kugel or her bandmates_vocalist/drummer Stephanie Luke, bassist/vocalist Meredith Franco, and keyboardist Candice Jones_know that their scrappy house show-anthems would catch on, prompting years of international tours, a slew of excellent LPs and singles, and, eventually, a deluxe version of their boisterous debut, The Coathangers. The eponymous debut album by The Coathangers is a whirlwind ride of a band at the most frenzied, celebratory, and free moment of their existence. As a standalone record, it's a brash and bawdy rocker sure to please anyone who likes their rock n' roll sweaty and messy. As a piece in the band's legacy, it's an exhilarating reminder of the band's youthful care-free beginnings. The deluxe remastered version of The Coathangers includes the bonus tracks "Wife Eyes" from the Hard Candy EP and the title track from the Never Wanted You EP. The Coathangers on vinyl features expanded artwork by Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound) in a gatefold jacket.

This is a massively awaited repress from the Hectic back catalogue. Ramos & Vinylgroover team up for the first time in this absolute classic from 1994. The A side, Phantasm, is a subliminal slice of that era showing pretty much every sound and trick in their arsenal. Then the flip is a proper slice of darkness in The Beast. No piano or cheery vocal here, just an eerie melody with melancholy samples to keep even the darkest of hardcore raver happy. An absolutely massive EP that is a must for any collector.

Club / DJ Support
Jay Cunning, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Paul Bradley, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Jimmy J, Doughboy, Lowercase, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

The classic X-Static EP gets the remixes treatment from three huge talents in the scene: When released, Murderous Style was way ahead of its time, and these remixes bring showcase its strengths as both an early jungle track and old skool rave masterpiece.

Danny Styles, one of the original jungle dons, gives us a smooth and deep remix, with lush basslines and rolling breaks. Dj Terrace takes a ruffer approach with a remix that leans into the harder side. Meanwhile, Kniteforce regular Paul Bradley smashed a more stab laden remix of Ready 2 Go, a track that leans more uplifting than jungle but still takes no prisoners!

All music written, arranged and performed by 1000mods
Lyrics by 1000mods
Produced by Matt Bayles & 1000mods
Mixed by Matt Bayles
Engineered by Matt Bayles
Recorded at Sierra Studios, Athens, GR
Studio personnel: Christos Achladiotis and Kostas Spiropoulos
Piano recorded at Electric Highway Studio by John Vulgaris
Mixed at Red Room, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR
Artwork by Eva Mourtzi
Designed by Ouga Booga Crew

Hammond and piano on Love, Grey Green Blues and Bluebird by Jiomy Amaranth
Additional Guitar on Götzen Hammer by John S.
Additional vox on Götzen Hammer by Api
Backing vox on Overthrown by Amie
Chelo οn Bluebird by Nikos Veliotis
Semantron on Götzen Hammer by Panos Z

'We are thrilled to be able to bring you Yara Asmar's first two cassette releases in a deluxe remastered double vinyl gatefold package featuring all new art and design from Yara herself.

Both albums were originally released on Hive Mind Records in 2022 and 2023 and received critical acclaim around the world':

“Melancholic drifts sound through the overcast skies of synth waltzes and accordion laments, infusing ageless melodies with a sense of falling backward through time. History is stitched through gilded aural silhouettes and elegiac drones. Asmar’s music is visceral. While electronics beckon beyond the sunrise stretched through a metallic shimmer, synth waltzes and accordion laments sticks with us while we remain lost in the hazy doldrums, always crawling forward tethered to our past lives. Highest recommendation.”
Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

"...these tracks are a cushion against reality. Asmar creates music that unfurls in evanescent bliss, an invitation to a safe space both isolated and welcoming."
Daryl Worthington, The Quietus

"...a set that transmutes the instrument’s droning tones into a sweep of introspective, breath-catching moments of beauty"
Eric Torres, Pitchfork Best Jazz & Experimental Albums of 2023

"The combination and contrast of highly familiar and highly alien elements give Asmar's music a quality not quite like anything else I can name. The way she channels found voices into her surreal mix of sounds is particularly striking."
Byron Coley, The Wire

On November 8th, 2Tone Records/Chrysalis Catalogue will release a 40th Anniversary Half-Speed Mastered Edition of The Special AKA 'In The Studio' album. This release has been liaised and approved by the band's founder and main songwriter Jerry Dammers. Formed in Coventry in the mid-1970s, The Specialswas the idea of musician Jerry Dammers, who brought together an eclectic array of individuals to fulfill his vision of a multi-racial band, fusing the energy of punk with the legendary but, at the time, often overlooked, sound of Jamaican ska. The band rose to prominence along with the 2Tone movement, which included two No. 1 singles, Too Much too Young and 1981's Ghost Town, which theme still resonates today before Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple left to form the Fun Boy Three and Roddy Byers left to tour with his band the Tearjerkers. The remaining members, Dammers, Bradbury and Panter, recruited guitarist John Shipley from The Swinging Cats, ex-Bodysnatcher Rhoda Dakar and lead vocalist Stan Campbell,reverting the original band name of The Special AKA and set to work on a new album. Released in 1984, 'In the Studio' was a brave mix of bold and challenging music, with a strong political, social and moral conscience. The album made it into the Top 40, and while it might not have been a huge commercial success, it was, and still is, an astonishingly unique work: a haunting, claustrophobic mix of lounge, soul, reggae, jazz and Arabic rhythms, with uncompromising subject matter. It featured two classic singles: the joyous, yet serious rallying anthem for the then imprisoned South African ANC leader, 'Free Nelson Mandela', and 'What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend'. As time has gone by, the status of 'In The Studio'has grown, and today it is rightly viewed as a genuine lost classic. Like the previous two Specials 40th Anniversary vinyl editions, this has been newly remastered and cut at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London. Format: Wide spine sleeve, 2LP 180gm Black Vinyl cut at 45rpm with insert inside and OBI.

Phonica AM proudly introduces the latest release from upcoming Irish-born producer and DJ, Rhythms Of Prescott. For fans of Pepe Bradock and Derrick Carter, this record is a must-have.

The A-side kicks off with 'Beat Heat', a driving filter house monster underpinned by dubbed-out percussion, playful vocal interjections, and infectious disco stabs. Following up is 'RGRT', which delves into a deeper vibe with slick jazz samples and a pulsating filtered bass line. The B-side brings 'The Instigator', a tension-filled mind melter perfect for early morning trippiness, featuring Rhythms Of Prescott's masterful sample manipulation and unique wonkiness.

This release showcases Rhythms Of Prescott's raw approach and jackin' sample manipulation to rock any dancefloor.

Rough Trade Shops präsentiert mit "Behind The Counter with Ian Rankin" den zweiten Teil einer Reihe, in der Künstler eingeladen werden, die Musik zusammenzustellen, die sie am meisten beeinflusst hat. Der schottische Autor und Musikfanatiker Ian Rankin folgt auf den Komponisten Max Richter, der 2017 die erste Ausgabe kuratierte. Als langjähriger Vinylenthusiast gehören in Rankins Auswahl auch Songs, die als Titel seiner Bestsellerromane dienten, wie etwa Jackie Levens "Another Man's Rain" (aus dem "Another Man's Grave" wurde) und "The Hanging Garden" von The Cure. Beide Doppelformate enthalten je 23 Tracks mit Begleittexten.

- "Ich treibe mich immer noch in Plattenläden herum und lege Vinyl auf, und ich erstelle immer noch Playlisten, für den Fall, dass sich die Gelegenheit ergibt, hinter der Ladentheke zu arbeiten", sagt Rankin. "Hier ist ein Teil dessen, was Sie hören würden, wenn Sie die Tür aufstoßen und in mein Kaufhaus kämen, Tracks, die ich mir immer wieder gerne anhöre."