Search:sign of four

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Remko Scha’s Guitar Mural 1 featuring The Machines, originally published as a rare cassette edition by Taal Beeld Geluid in 1982. A computational linguist by profession, Scha played an important role in the development of sound, installation, and digital art in the Netherlands from the late 1970s onward, co-founding the performance and exhibition space Het Appolohuis in Eindhoven in 1980. Alongside Paul Panhuysen and Jan Van Riet, Scha was a founding member of the radical improvisation group The Maciunas Ensemble, though he is best known for his work with mechanised electric guitars, documented on the legendary 1982 LP Machine Guitars.

Guitar Mural 1 documents an installation of Scha’s mechanical guitar ensemble The Machines held at a Groningen gallery space in 1982. Five electric guitars hang from the wall, their strings sounded by rotating rubber strings and a sabre saw controlled by a mechanical apparatus, as well as four ropes criss-crossing the five instruments on the wall. Once the mechanism was set up, Scha’s only intervention was to vary the speed at which it operated. Where Machine Guitars presents short excerpts clearly distinguished by rhythmic and timbral variation, here we are confronted with four enormous side-long slabs of percussive string attack and the resulting clouds of harmonics. Variation is minimal across the duration of each side, making for a sculptural listening experience, as if we are patiently examining each facet of a static object. But significant variety exists between the four sides, each of which shows off a different facet of what The Machines were capable of. The first two excerpts feature open strings sounded at rapid tempos, dissolving the percussive attack into a continuous stream of sound reminiscent of Charlemagne Palestine’s ‘strumming’ technique. On the third side, the strings are partly muted and the tempo slightly lowered, resulting in layers of relentlessly chugging rhythm somewhere between an ensemble of hand drums and an early Velvet Underground bootleg. On the fourth side, havoc breaks loose in percussive waves of asynchronous repetition that bring Scha’s sound world close to that of another pioneer experiment in musical mechanisation, the Solar Music of Joe Jones.

Presented as a limited edition 2LP set in a deluxe gatefold sleeve accompanied by stunning visual documentation of the original installation, remastered audio and new liner notes from Alan Licht and Van Lagestein, Guitar Mural 1 is an exhilarating document occupying a unique space between kinetic sculpture, hardcore minimalism and rock & roll.

Simoncino is back on the iconic label that launched his career: SKYLAX RECORDS. In the meantime, he has become a benchmark artist in particular for his passion, his extreme mastery of analog material and his ability to craft dream like soundscapes and mystical house atmospheres; who has seen him collaborate in recent years with the biggest names in house: Larry Heard, Boyd Jarvis, Tevo Howard and Robert Owens on excellent labels such as Lies, Vibraphone, Crème organization, Hotmix or Mathematics. For this new release, the fruit of a maturation of several months in his studio, the made in Perugia prodigy has once again surrounded himself with the master of chicago house, the legendary Merwyn Sanders of Virgo Four (who already appeared as a remixer on the Warrior Dance part 4 in 2012 on SKYLAX) on vocals. Its inimitable style is a clever mix of chicago house tinged with the most classy techno touches, “on the dance floor” will delight both fans of the purest house but also those who are also followers of the original techno made in detroit. A mix brilliantly revealed by the golden voice of Merwyn Sanders. On the B-side, the pair reward us with a high-end remix signed by the brilliant and bulimic producer from La Hague, the furious madman Danny Wolfers aka Legowelt. To conclude, the title In Viaggio reminds us how much Simoncino is also able of creating real house bombs that send us straight into the stratosphere. ON THE DANCEFLOOR we tell you.

Sir Rod Stewart was on his way to becoming one of the most successful recording artists in history in 1974 when he moved to America and signed with Warner Bros. Records (now Warner Records). Over his next 27 years with the label, Stewart released some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of his extraordinary career. This 5LP boxed set features Stewart's first four Warner albums on vinyl, plus a bonus LP of rare and unreleased studio outtakes from those albums: Atlantic Crossing (1975), A Night on the Town (1976), Footloose & Fancy Free (1977), and Blondes Have More Fun (1978).

After being out of print for decades, the studio albums look and sound better than ever as they return to vinyl, complete with replica sleeves and newly remastered sound. The albums and the bonus LP are all organised in an iridescent box with Stewart foil-stamped on the cover, his blonde shag haircut glistening in gold, and his leopard-print suit shimmering in silver.

After brilliant stints with the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces and several outstanding solo albums, Stewart moved to Los Angeles in 1974. ROD STEWART: 1975-1978 reflects the burst of creativity that followed, starting in 1975 with his label debut, Atlantic Crossing. The album was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd, who produced Stewart's next three albums. After Atlantic Crossing was certified gold, A Night On the Town went double-platinum, and Foot Loose & Fancy Free went triple-platinum, as did its follow-up Blondes Have More Fun, which became Stewart's first #1 album. That era introduced many of the singer's best-known tracks: "Sailing," "I Don't Want to Talk About It," "I Was Only Joking," "The First Cut Is the Deepest," "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)," "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and "Hot Legs."

The bonus LP, titled Encores 1975-1978, is a collection of 10 outtakes selected from the recording sessions for all four albums. The first side highlights five songs from the recent deluxe editions released for Atlantic Crossing and A Night on the Town. Songs include an alternate version of the B-side "Rosie" and a cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" recorded with the influential Stax Records house band, Booker T. & The MG's. The flip side features five previously unreleased session outtakes from Foot Loose & Fancy Free and Blondes Have More Fun. Highlights include a cover of the Motown classic, "You Really Got A Hold On Me," and the unreleased tracks "Silver Tongue" and "Don't Hang Up".

James are proud to announce the release of their new album All The Colours Of You. Their 16th studio album will be released on 4th June with the title track available today (1st March) across all DSPs. All The Colours Of You follows the release of LIVE In Extraordinary Times, a live recorded version of their last studio album Living In Extraordinary Times, which peaked at #1 in the midweeks.

The album will be their first on a new record label, Virgin Music Label & Artists Services (formerly known as Caroline International), and at their new publishing home Kobalt Music, both of which they recently signed to, reinforcing the endless and restless ambition they have as they approach their fourth decade as a band.

Recorded in part before the Covid pandemic struck, the album was produced by the Grammy award-winning Jacknife Lee (Taylor Swift, U2, REM’s, Snow Patrol, The Killers). On production duties with James for the first time, he bought a fresh approach to their sound, working remotely from his studio, reimagining their early demos, and capturing the band in all their virtual glory.

The result is a record with the most arena ready tracks of their 38-year career, the sound of one of Britain’s best bands, deconstructed and reassembled by one of the world’s most renowned producers.

Recently signed to FatCat’s 130701 imprint, Dutch
composer Rutger Hoedemaekers makes his debut
solo release with a stunning album that marks the
culmination of a decade spent in the hypercreative studio environment he co-founded in
Berlin, including four years working closely
alongside Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Sonically rich, emotionally deep, and immaculately
handled, ‘The Age Of Oddities’ showcases a
brilliant new talent, its cinematic eloquence bearing
witness to Rutger’s experiences composing for film
alongside Oscar-winner Hildur Guðnadóttir and
Jóhannsson, for whom the album is partly a
eulogy.
‘The Age Of Oddities’ is a bold and forwardthinking record, with a rich, hybrid sound seeing
vocals processed and blurred alongside brass
parts and a wall of strings shadowed by Rutger’s
understated, textural electronics.
The album features the Budapest Art Orchestra’s
23-piece string ensemble alongside vocals (Kira
Kira, Else Torp and Laura Jansen), horn (Morris
Kliphuis), trombone (Hilary Jeffery) and violin (Una
Sveinbjarnardóttir, Viktor Orri Árnason), with
Hoedemaekers contributing trumpet, piano,
keyboard and electronics.
For fans of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hildur
Guðnadóttir, Mica Levi, Max Richter, Olafur
Arnalds.

DC Salas’s second EP indeed is a tale of beautiful feelings: After his last year’s debut EP on Live At Robert Johnson called The Complicated Art of Dreaming, this fresh four tracker is a proof to his creative continuity.

A1 Did They Listen rhythmic structure banks on a pounding and effective combination of bassdrum, conga and cowbell, joined by a mildly distorted bass line figure, which embeds itself in a panoramic soundscape. A2 Beautiful Feelings introduces a remarkable striking sawtooth sequence, with repeated filtered and resonating variations, alternating throughout the track. On the flipside, B1 Within employs yet another bubbly bassline, keeping the soundscape wide-open to retain enough sonic space for that eerie, yet highly energetic Cosmic Disco touch. B2 Liquid Perception signature is a liquid acid bassline introduced in the second part of the track, perfectly befitting its track title. All tracks of this monolithic EP, thanks to its consistent approach to sound design, could easily be mixed subsequently with each others.

DC Salas is thirtysomething year old Diego Cortez Salas, a skilled talent with peruvian origins hailing from Brussels. A regular DJ at C12 and Kiosk Radio both in Brussels, Diego also co-runs Biologic Records with his mate Abstraxion since 2014.

BLK JKS are a seminal force in the South African underground.
After an extended hiatus the Johannesburg foursome, championed by The Mars
Volta and TV On The Radio (amongst many others), return with a groundbreaking
new album.
Monster grooves meet guitar and brass driven afro-rock. Echoes of spiritual jazz, postapocalyptic funk, renegade dub and kwaito.
Features Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Tour and Beastie Boys accomplice Money Mark
on the track “Maiga.”
”This South African art-rock band traffics in complexity, cross-hatching not only rhythms
and textures but also the signifiers of genre”- The New York Times
“A prequel to 2009’s amazing After Robots … What occurs when you listen to Abantu is
that it is an Old Testament support to After Robots – where that album prophesied Afropunk, this album suggests the roots to that moment, an engrossing journey of Afrobeat,
fuzzy yet hugely suggestive drone and psych textures, and a bristling sense of both pride
and critique that sings through.” The Wire
“A dark and brooding number that simmers and smoulders as it goes, fueled by a driving
rhythm section and mournful horns.” - Brooklyn Vegan about single “Human Hearts”
“BLK JKS, an awe-inspiring exemplar of modern Africa’s indigenous sound, make a victorious return after an extended hiatus … They create something unique on this album.”
***** Morning Star

Repress!

Sounds Familiar is excited to inaugurate their new record label with the launch of “7 Inch Nails” - a series of 7" records aimed at expanding boundaries and opening up musical horizons. The series will feature a range of extraordinary artists that we have crossed paths with, both established and up-and-coming, all of whom are adept at keeping the groove in check.

The first installment of “7 Inch Nails" arrives courtesy of musical genius Kaidi Tatham and double A-side ‘ Sooner or Later / Feeling Happy. Channelling Kaidi's signature fusion of jazz-inflected future soul, 'Sooner or Later' unfolds across four low slung minutes, before breaking out in a joyous, orchestrated Latin groove. On the flip, 'Feeling Happy' does what it says on the tin, as Kaidi brings his inner Herbie Hancock to an uplifting, piano-led sunshine jam.

Stay tuned for more uncompromising freshness to be announced in the months to come.

You've reached the bedroom funk hotline! We have the mysterious Berlin-based Westcoast Goddess on speed dial, blessing Infinite Pleasure with four of his signature uplifting melody driven house cuts. The perfect soundtrack for a much needed night of dancing in your favourite club and a successful booty call after. U Up? Let your body do the talking.

KNTXT kicks off 2021 by welcoming exciting new talent ONYVAA to its ranks. The much vaunted DJ and producer debuts with her Lost Angeles EP, a superbly powerful four tracker that is perfectly at home on this agenda setting label.

ONYVAA is an LA based artist who has been on a swift rise up through the global techno ranks in the last couple of years. She brings classy Detroit, melodic and dub influences to her music, and her raw analog aesthetic always helps ensure her stylish tracks bring plenty of atmosphere to go alongside her strong modular live-sets. Now, she steps up with a much anticipated debut on Charlotte de Witte's KNTXT label having struck up a personal friendship with the influential artist.

Says ONYVAA, "Lost Angeles was inspired by my time back home in LA and things feeling a bit foreign to my everyday life pre-covid. I’m super grateful for all of Charlotte’s support and really proud to be a part of the KNTXT family. Hoping to play these tracks out on the dance floor soon!"

Opener 'The Way It Is' wastes no time in laying down a heavyweight techno groove that is run through with edgy, laser-like synth riffs. It's an all consuming wall rattler that will blow clubs away. 'Lucid' is a darkened techno roller again lit up with expertly designed synths that are bright yet menacing as distant vocal sounds add another layer of tension. It's an all out acid attack on 'LXD' which places you at the heart of a rave, strobe lights flashing, smoke in the air, darkness enveloping you. The title track closes out at hyper speed, with turbocharged drum programming, interwoven bass and clanking industrial motifs all getting you thoroughly in the zone.

Says Charlotte, "I met Shelby for the first time after a show in Athens. We visited the city the day after and instantly became friends. Whenever the opportunity would arise, we’d spend time together. I love being around the ball of energy that is Shelby and I’m beyond excited to have her and her music on my label. Expecting big things from her!”

This is a fantastic new signing for KNTXT and surely the start of even bigger things for ONYVAA.

Los Angeles-based harpist Mary Lattimore returns with Silver Ladders, the full-length follow-up to acclaimed album Hundreds of Days. Since 2018, Lattimore has toured internationally, released collaborative albums with artists such as Meg Baird and Mac McCaughan, and shared a friends-based remix album featuring artists such as Jónsi and Julianna Barwick. At one of her festival appearances, Lattimore met Slowdive’s Neil Halstead: “A friend introduced us because she knew how big of a fan I was and Neil and I had a little chat... The next day, I just thought maybe he’d be into producing my next record.” He was. Lattimore traditionally records her albums holed up by herself, so the addition of Halstead’s touches as a producer and collaborator leave a profound trace. “I flew on a little plane to Newquay in Cornwall where he lives with his lovely partner Ingrid and their baby. I didn’t know what his studio was like, he’d never recorded a harp, but somehow it really worked

Recorded over nine days at Halstead’s studio stationed on an old airfield, Silver Ladders finds Lattimore exercising command and restraint. Her signature style is refined, the sprawling layers of harp reigned in and accented by flourishes of low end synth and Halstead’s guitar. The music can feel ominous but not by compromising vivid wonder, like oceanic overtones that shift with the tides. This material is colored by specific memories for Lattimore; “Neil has this poster of a surfer in his studio and I’d look at it each day, looking at the sunlight glinting on the dark wave. In these songs I like the contrast between the dark lows and the glittering highs. The gloom and the glimmer, the opposites, a lively surfing town in the winter turned kinda rainy and empty and quiet.”

Lattimore and Halstead reformed three existing demos and improvised the remaining four songs. Among the batch she brought with her, the title track recalls a trip she took to Stari Grad, Croatia on the island of Hvar. “I spent some days there just swimming in the bay, silver ladders right into the sea.” The image stuck with her when she found herself performing at a cliffside wedding overlooking the Pacific. “Before anyone showed up, I had time to set up and play and this song came to me, ‘Silver Ladders (to the sea)’, so I made a little recording on my phone to remember it.” This sketch expanded; a delicately glittering harp melody comes over the horizon, swelling and rolling towards the shore on ebbs of synth and refractory delay.

It is with extreme pleasure that we, Basement Boys Records proudly announce our 100th single release and 30th year in the music business as an active recording label!

Holding down our 100th release is the legendary multi-faceted singer/songwriter/producer Byron Stingily. As one third of the Chicago-bred, world renown trio, Ten City and as its primary lead vocalist, Byron’s velvety falsetto graced such House Music staples as “Devotion”, “That’s the Way Love Is”, “My Piece of Heaven” along with scores of other classic House music favourites. As a solo artist, Byron went on to create such memorable House jewels as “Get Up” & “It’s Over” a classic collaboration with the Basement Boys for his project on Nervous Records.

“We Belong Together” contains four mixes. The Monday Night Vocal Dub and Instrumental are up first, with percolating congas and swinging violins that accentuate the well-paced drums and percussion of this delectable mix. The brassy horns sing in tandem with Byron as he tugs on the heartstrings with his romantic, chromatic vocal adlibs and signature riffs. The sugar-laden strings and sparkling pianos brings to mind the 90's Ten City production of Marshall Jefferson.

DJ/songwriter/musician/producer, Maurice Fulton is one of House music’s true originals, back where he started. Maurice had the first release on Basement Boys Records with Sticky People "Kong". A man with a mind-blowing complexity behind all that is deep, dark and funky.

Fulton’s mix takes a more soulful tech approach employing a host of electro sounds. A fervent polyrhythmic vortex of percussive wind chime effects, married with classic snares, tom toms & hi-hats, deep sub bass and a meaty kick all define this masterful alignment of electro and acoustic elements. At the midway point, Maurice turns the suspense-filled symphonic intro from the previous mixes into this electro breakdown groove fest sure to drive dancers into a frenzy complete with Byron’s heartfelt lyric.

Closing it out the Main Mix in all its glory, hi-powered, dense bottoms and percussive elements, sweet R&B “boogie” style chords, neatly placed horn accents with Byron slaying the lyric as he always does in his exquisite, soulful pleading falsetto telling the object of his affection, “We Belong Together”.

Despite the troubles globally faced in 2020, it's safe to say that The Allergies bucked the trend and came back by ultimately having a rather glorious year. Releasing their fourth stu-dio album, achieving the 'A List' on BBC Radio 6 Music and Radio Eins in Berlin, climbing high in the NACC US college charts, and generally receiving critical acclaim from a world that had an understandable appetite for some joyful and fun music in their lives.

2021 shows no signs of things slowing down. The heat continues for their 2020 album Say The Word with Pioneer, Liptons and IAMS all taking Allergies tracks for their global advertis-ing campaigns. Rather than rest on their laurels, though, the guys went full lockdown crea-tive and have their fifth album due for release in September, 2021.

"Jumping Off" was the first new track from the album to be debuted at the end of 2020 – A self-sampling version of their 2018 track "Main Event". As with all Allergies tracks of late, the limited 7" release caused a Discogs feeding frenzy.

Now, The Allergies power forward with the first single of the 2021 album campaign – An absolute dancefloor destroyer featuring legend of the mic, Dynamite MC, entitled "Lean On You".

The Allergies first hooked up with Dyna on previous album Say The Word for the fan favour-ite "Hot Sensation". But, scheduling clashes with Dynamite's own album release meant that a single outing for that track was not possible.

No such issues this time round means The Allergies kick off their 2021 album with a serious club and radio contender to move things to the next level.

It's a stylistic new lane for the Bristol-based beatmakers. Their trademark heavy drum chops now flowing on half time tempos, with blues guitars riffs front and centre. The perfect back-ing, then, for the UK rap legend to find his theme and raise the roof.

The 7" is backed by "Working On Me" – A classic Allergies-style screamer with a taste of funky swamp rock, updated for your favourite dancefloor/kitchen/outside space, with five other people…

"Tex Crick will release his debut singer-songwriter album, ‘Live In… New York City’, on April 23rd as the first artist signed to Mac’s Record Label.
‘Live In… New York City’ was written & recorded entirely on an 8-track recorder by Crick in his New York City apartment over the span of four-weeks during the winter of 2018. Performing the majority of instruments himself, Crick has delicately created a world of delusion within the walls of his New York City apartment. ‘Live In… New York City’ was compiled from these original recordings & additional instruments were added thereafter. Early versions of the album were heard by Mac DeMarco who offered to mix the album in his home studio in Los Angeles"

Isasa’s fourth LP is a guitar excursion from a skillful, humble guide. Minimal, contemplative songs, rich in atmosphere and warm in spirit.

Some musicians give their name to their first album, signifying introduction. Some hold it in reserve — it took Wire 39 years to get around to calling an LP Wire. But whenever they do so, they are making a statement. For Conrado Isasa, an acoustic guitarist from Madrid, Spain, the decision to call his fourth album Isasa reflects the fact that his music’s relationship to his own identity has evolved. Isasa presents an artist whose work reflects that he knows and accepts where he comes from.
Between 1993 and 2003, he played electric guitar in the hardcore metal band Down For The Count and the post rock combo, A Room With A View. These were collective statements, communications between small groups and a select underground community. After the latter group’s demise, Isasa stepped back from recording, and for a while from guitar playing as well. He spent some time learning to play the trumpet, but was inspired to return to the guitar in 2007 after he heard Geoff Farina play a Mississippi John Hurt song for the encore of a Glorytellers gig. Then came another period of learning, during which he studied the playing of Hurt, John Fahey, Jack Rose, and Glenn Jones.
Performing as Isasa, he made three records, each of which can be heard as confrontation with an artistic challenge. Las Cosas (2015) is between the man and his acoustic guitar; what could he do with his fingers, a slide, six steel strings, and a box of wood? Los Días (2016) faces the broader issue of how to deal with the requirements of the American Primitive guitar style. Like Fahey, Rose, and Jones, Isasa sought to make an album that used a cohesive sequence of guitar and banjo instrumentals to express personal experiences. With its references to the sights, sounds, and tastes one might encounter in Madrid, it is like a poetic diary written with the distance that comes from having mastered a second language. After making that record, Isasa toured parts of the United States, and played at The Thousand Incarnations Of The Rose, a festival that gathered representatives of American Primitive guitar’s past, present, and future in Takoma Park, the town where the style’s original synthesist, John Fahey, was born. Insilio (2019) began to look beyond that style, dealing with Hindustani raga forms and adding other instrumental textures.
And now comes Isasa. The name suggests something very personal, and it’s true that it draws upon Isasa’s closest relationships. Two compositions are either named for or feature the voices of his children, but their presence helps this music to transcend the purely personal. For what could be more universally shared than the joy and love one feels for children? Others invoke concepts — absence, liberty, love, reunion. They may mean one thing to Isasa, and another thing to you, but by sharing his reactions to them, he invites you to recognize yours. Isasa isn’t just using his experiences to tell you about his life; he is using what he knows about life to help us know a little more about ours.

Live At Robert Johnson welcomes Amsterdam-based DJ and Producer Alain van der Born aka Perdu to the Club, who already made his marks with Releases on DGTL Records, Heist, and Let’s Play House amongst others. His contribution is a Four Track EP called Soaring Flights, including a Digital only Bonus Track. On this EP, Perdu champions a full-on 1980s sound, which hits more than one Chord in Live At Robert Johnson’s very own set of Styles.

Dystopia (co-produced by Tjade) is a High Energy Track, in which a raw and stoic Bass Riff slowly working its way into a Break. It’s the first Break in which the Atmosphere heats up significantly and subsequently sustains for the remainder of this quite enjoyable, and not quite dystopian rush on the Dance Floor. Retrograde immediately kicks off with a South American infused Rhythm Loop, joined by a deep and analogue Bass Serpentine, with bubbly Acid sprinkled along the way. Rise Of F5 brings back those 1980s signature pumping Kick and gated reverb Snare Drums, employing melodic and slightly haunting elements, which eventually dissolve in Euphoria and a Melody to hum along with (or shout, if you prefer). Somehow It’s Different Now concludes in a slightly different and quite mellow vein, that lets you leave this EP on the easy side. Available Digital Only is the Bells Mix Version of Perdu and Tjade’s Dystopia, for those inclined to a more melodramatic Dystopia with added playfulness thanks to—you guessed it—Bells (no whistles, we promise) …

Swirling layers of OST-style sound design, dreamy choir vocals andtraditional Chinese folk combine across eight dynamic and transportivetracks on Birdy Island, the latest album by Beijing-based producer/artist,Howie Lee, due out in April 2021 on Mais Um. Fresh off the back of several high impact, club-centring album releases on Maloca, SVBKVLT and his influential, Do Hits label, on top of remixes for artists includingLawfawndah, Charlie XCX & Sophie, Lee presents his most organic andexpansive project to date. Written, produced and recorded entirely by Leeat the back end of 2018 (with the exception of the album's resident four-piece choir made up of rising Beijing artist, Fishdoll, Shanghaisinger/producer, Yehaiyahan and West by West, with Lee himself alsoincluded), Birdy Island's almost exclusively acoustic yet broad soundpalette threads continuities between ceremonial Taoist music, early Buchla synth experiments, and FWD nights at London's Plastic People.

DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL (London, UK) blend huge soundscapes, earth-shattering riffs and soaring melodies.
DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL begin a new chapter in their highly-acclaimed career, signing to metal heavyweights Nuclear Blast Records. 2021 will see the band release their fourth studio album ‘Loss’, their first with the dual vocal attack of Ed Gibbs and Paul Green.

DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL burst onto the UK underground metal and hardcore scene in 2004 growing a cult following from their first record, ‘Darkness Prevails’ EP released through Visible Noise (BRING ME THE HORIZON) in 2005. Their debut album, ‘A Fragile Hope’ saw the band take their position as one of the most respected underground bands in the UK with their visceral and captivating live shows. DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL’s sophomore album, ‘Blessed and Cursed’, elevated their sound and audience to new heights, voted into RockSound Magazine’s top 10 albums of 2010.
In 2012 the band unleashed their self-produced third album, ‘Empire Of Light’. Received to critical acclaim across the board, the album cemented their position as one of the UK’s most respected and revered metal acts.
With Ed Gibbs departing the band early in the year, 2013 saw the first new material featuring singer Paul Green with single ‘Time’, followed by 2014’s ‘Belong Betray’ EP and 2016’s ‘The Reckoning’. After welcoming Gibbs back to sing on the 2017 ‘A Fragile Hope’ anniversary tour, the band asked Gibbs to continue the dual vocals with Green for the remaining festivals and tours that year, with the line-up then becoming a permanent fixture.
2018 saw the band travel beyond Europe with their first touring in Asia, they also began to put the foundations down on what would become their new record ‘Loss’. Written about the grief and struggles faced in recent years, ‘Loss’ treads old ground and explores exciting new territories for DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL, including for the first time the dual vocals of Gibbs and Green on record. Recorded, engineered and mixed by guitarist Jonny Renshaw at his UK based Bandit Studios, DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL have poured heart and sincerity into every atom of this their fourth album, with songwriting elevated to new levels.
Having toured with the likes of CULT OF LUNA, ARCHITECTS, NORMA JEAN, BRING ME THE HORIZON, UNDEROATH, GALLOWS, ENVY and EMMURE, as well as headlining a stage at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL l (UK) and numerous European festival appearances including SUMMER BREEZE and WITH FULL FORCE (Germany) and PUKKELPOP (Belgium), DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL have built a huge reputation for their captivating live shows, over 16 years:

fter a series of successful digital releases, Minos now drops his solo debut EP on Fokuz. The "Tribe EP" contains four well-crafted tracks in his signature liquid style.

12" Vinyl with Download Code. Expanding their rich sound palette Forbidden Dance moves on to the next plateau with their third release. After releasing two legends Alton Miller and Vick Lavender, new EP is signed by a young and sound broad producer from Naples - The Mechanical Man. Drawing influences from the sound of Chicago, Philadelphia and Motor City he achieved to catch the multi essence of the house sound into a four-track journey marked with slow and fast-paced soulful corners dominated by toned vocals and stripped-down beats all the way to the underexposed lounge sections and playful intermissions.
Drum programming is a strong point for The Mechanical Man and it can be clearly heard in "A1 - The Streets Of Revelation". Infused with most probably vintage Linn Drum hits, the track intertwines numerous elements in a hoppy and gentle swirl riding on double vocals. Everything takes a full sonic conclusion in the third quarter when the main synth starts to breathe fully.
Residing on almost the same rhythm hits, "A2 - I Keep Thinking" is more of a deep dive into love dreams. Emotional and subtle pads and chords progression are really felt here as the track rubs under soft vocals in need of a response.
The light essence is captured on "B1 - What Your Eyes Don't See". While the delayed vocals are cutting the motion and the rhythm is rougher, it still manages to keep the terrace vibe movement. Rhode-like section carries the track all the way with occasionally reduced percussion hits spicing up the background.
On the other note, "B2 - Take Her In Your Arms" is a gentle dance of maracas and rhodes. The acoustic bass is quite seductive and inviting whilst flutes and other elements riddle the track with a toned-down lounge feel and sway into hypnotic slow-motion.
Diverse, rich and enchanting tunes by The Mechanical Man!

"To The End" is a tremendous demonstration of power that impressively unites all elements of its predecessors and paints a frightening picture of war, death and destruction at the end of which nothing remains but ashes and the realization of a masterpiece. It is the beginning of a new era. Since early October 2020, smoke is laying over Northampton near London. The machinery is well-oiled, the plan excellent - MEMORIAM have recorded their fourth studio album! The speed the British machinery has been working at since their early days is just enormous and equally amazing. Only back in 2016 the band inaugurated the public about their existence. Since those days the machines never stood still. The British Death Lead Commando caused a big rumble shortly after the first rumors about where the journey would go. "The Hellfire Demos" hit the worldwide scene with their old school Death Metal and left speechlessly torn open mouths which are still raving about the enthusiasm of this achievement today. When "For The Fallen", the debut album, is unleashed on mankind via Nuclear Blast Records in 2017, the impression is even more powerful – Truly an historic act for metal history. But as mentioned, there is no stand still in MEMORIAM. Meanwhile emancipated from other bands, they write their very own piece of history. While the first album was still heavy, oppressive and marked by grief, the second album "The Silent Vigil" (2018) showed a more merciless and aggressive side. The same applies to the third strike "Requiem For Mankind", which stands unmistakably in the short but impressive tradition of all previous MEMORIAM works. After this concentrated Death Metal trilogy, all signs were pointing to upheaval. As if the band wanted to completely break away from their old roots, they looked for a new home and signed a worldwide record deal with the upcoming label Reaper Entertainment Europe. While drummer Andy Whale had to take a forced break due to health reasons, Spike T Smith - a close friend of the band - took over the job in the rhythm section. Nevertheless "To The End" follows the tradition of its predecessors without leaving any doubt that one of the strongest albums of 2021 lurks here. Once again the groove is monstrous, the riffs deadly merciless and the atmosphere oppressive, paralyzing, even overwhelming. Willett's aggressive vocals give the sound the proverbial icing on the cake.

Wait for Me is the compelling new album by Snowpoet, created by Irish vocalist and lyricist Lauren Kinsella and producer Chris Hyson. After their hugely successful release of 2018 Thought You Knew, this fourth body of work is a bold, flowing statement offering a mantra evocation to explore the deeper questions of how we love, how we accept our faults and how we let go in a time of profound confusion. With storytelling at its core and impeccable taste they weave their signature and evocative hook-like melodies, rich harmonic movements, flutters of emotive sung-spoken singing and thick, rich production to create an album that suggests repeated listening.

Magnonic Signal head honcho Antonio Velazquez aka Spin Fidelity, known from his top notch releases on Subwax Excursions and Parang recordings, is present on the fourth outing on Brussels imprint Nightflight Records. This EP reflects the label’s spirit where there are no musical boundaries and hi-tech funk is the main ingredient of every track. On the A-side we have two techno soul stompers, “Photon Stream” and “Ancient love”, with rolling basslines, some acid and deep pads that will draw you straight to the dancefloor. On the flip we get two deep electro-funk tracks, “There must be a way” and “Magnonic transmission”, with a Detroit touch on a deep futuristic trip.

It’s nearly a decade since William Doyle handed a CD-R demo to the Quietus co-founder John Doran at a gig, who loved it so much he set up a label to release Doyle’s debut EP (as East India Youth). Doyle’s debut album, Total Strife Forever, followed in 2014, as did a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. A year later, he was signed to XL, touring the world and about to release his second album – all by the age of 25.

After self-releasing four ambient and instrumental albums, Doyle’s third full-length record – and the first under his own name – Your Wilderness Revisited arrived to ecstatic reviews in 2019: Line of Best Fit described it as “a dazzlingly beautiful triumph of intention” and Metro declared it an album not only of the year, but “of the century”. Just over a year later, as he turns 30, Doyle is back with Great Spans of Muddy Time.

Born from accident but driven forward by instinct, Great Spans was built from the remnants of a catastrophic hard-drive failure. With his work saved only to cassette tape, Doyle was forced to accept the recordings as they were – a sharp departure from his process on Your Wilderness Revisited, which took four long years to craft toward perfection. “Instead of feeling a loss that I could no longer craft these pieces into flawless ‘Works of Art’, I felt intensely liberated that they had been set free from my ceaseless tinkering,” Doyle says.

“The album this turned out to be – and that I’ve wanted to make for ages – is a kind of Englishman-gone-mad, scrambling around the verdancy of the country’s pastures looking for some sense,” says Doyle. “It has its seeds in Robert Wyatt, early Eno, Robyn Hitchcock, and Syd Barrett.” Doyle credits Bowie’s ever-influential Berlin trilogy, but also highlights a much less expected muse: Monty Don, presenter of the BBC programme Gardener’s World, Doyle’s lockdown addiction.

“I became obsessed with Monty Don. I like his manner and there's something about him I relate to. He once described periods of depression in his life as consisting of ‘nothing but great spans of muddy time’. When I read that quote I knew it would be the title of this record,” Doyle says. “Something about the sludgy mulch of the album’s darker moments, and its feel of perpetual autumnal evening, seemed to fit so well with those words. I would also be lying if I said it didn’t chime with my mental health experiences as well.”

Lead single “And Everything Changed (But I Feel Alright)” is representative of the album as a whole: eclectic and unpredictable, but also playful and properly danceable. On top of the gently pulsing electronics, soothing harmonies and glowing melodies, there’s a ripping guitar solo that ricochets around the song like a pinball. “I wanted to get back into the craft of writing individual songs rather than being concerned with overarching concepts,” Doyle says. Elsewhere there’s the synth pop strut of “Nothing At All”, pulsating static on “Semi-Bionic”, incandescent synths and enveloping soundscapes in “Who Cares”, and the ambient glitch groove of “New Uncertainties”.

Great Spans of Muddy Time is a beautiful ode to the power of accident, instinct and intuition. The result, however, is far from an anomaly: this celebration of the imperfect album is one that required years of honed craft and dedicated focus to achieve, “For the first time in my career, the distance between what I hear and what the listener hears is paper-thin,” Doyle says. “Perhaps therein reveals a deeper truth that the perfectionist brain can often dissolve.”













m 13. [a sea of thoughts behind it]

Soft Cell’s 2002 reunion album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ is set for reissue in new expanded and remastered 2CD format, as well as being released on vinyl for the very first time.

Long regarded by many fans as an overlooked masterpiece, the album features a lyrical outlook that was as true to Soft Cell’s maturity and perspective back in 2002 as it is relevant and accurate to the world situation in 2020. Harshly honest, fatalistic and bleakly humorous, Cruelty Without Beauty also preserves the band’s highly distinctive and edgy sound, and stands alongside their greatest work.

The new 2020 version includes tracks originally destined for the album, but for various reasons not on the final cut. It also includes brand new 2020 versions of album highlights Monoculture, Together Alone, Darker Times and Last Chance, updated this year by Dave Ball. Also included are a number of unreleased live versions of album tracks, plus rare remixes.

Cruelty WithoutBeauty, Soft Cell’s fourth studio album, and the first since their original split in 1984, happened after Marc Almond and Dave Ball reunited in the studio after Dave’s ‘other’ band The Grid (with Richard Norris). They worked with Marc on some tracks from his 1991 Tenement Symphony album, which eventually opened the door for some live Soft Cell dates and areunion in 2001. As well as this album release in 2002, the band toured thealbum extensively in the UK, and across Europe and the US, including many festival appearances throughout 2002 and 2003.

The album includes the singles Monoculture and a cover of Frankie Valli & The Four Season’s classic The Night, which became the band’s first Top 40 hit since since 1984.

Most recently in 2018, Soft Cell sold out London’s O2 Arena and were the subject of a career retrospective BBC documentary. They have recently signed to BMG and are currently recording a brand-new album, set for release in 2021. Before then, all of their classic Phonogram-era albums will be reissued in new expanded editions via Universal Music.

Marc Almond commented at the time of the album release ‘I always felt it was an unfinished story, and I’m glad we’re able to write another chapter’.

Dave Ball also commented ‘As soon as we work together, we become Soft Cell, you know’. I don’t know what the magic element is, but it just seems to be there’.

Two years after their first record came out, the crew operating legendary dance nights in Nantes are back on top of the new release pile. Two original tracks by Kanot and two remixes. Overall, their stylistic balance signature is maintained, although the gravity center is a bit more leftfield and poetic, a bit less dance-obvious. But that’s only in comparison to other material: any of the four pieces here can take a dance floor apart, played at the right time.

Hit & Run has a massive “star grabbing” feel, the synth and guitar surges sounding like as many jumps above the stratosphere, and the vocalizing choirs on top making it a definitive cosmic jam.

Turbulens is more earthy than spacy: drum breaks and big ass basslines bring out an irresistible leg shaking feel, the melodic guitars on top balance the vibe into that delicious moment when Caribbean sunsets turn the day into a warm a groovy night, certainly a party starter. The Pilotwings Remix is to the image of their added touch: trancy on edges but very far from easy or obvious. Constantly jumping above and diving under the line, it’s playing greatly with dancers’ feet, and eventually their minds.

Houseman Vidock delivers the most danceable material on this record. His strong experience as a DJ for parties focused on having people dancing freely for a long time is clearly audible. This slo-mo belter doesn’t need much advertisement, it just needs to be played to any dancefloor, be it at midnight or 8 am.

Melbourne’s Cool Sounds return with their fourth full-length album Bystander, out February 12. Warm and deftly balanced, Bystander moves through indie rock and alt-country with an alert effortlessness.

Cool Sounds’ signature lead guitar lines are in dialogue with lead singer and songwriter Dainis Lacey’s lyrics, which are at turns introspective, self-aware, irreverent and unflinchingly observant. Bystander was written during a European summer and recorded in three weeks over the following Australian one, produced by Lacey alongside Dylan Young (Way Dynamic). While it can sound serene, Bystander isn’t always as laid back as the warm weather might suggest: this album sees Cool Sounds more attuned to their surroundings than ever. While Lacey has always been interested in storytelling, these songs bring lyrics into sharp focus – for the first time the words were all written before the music, and he took notes in the band’s cramped tour van on the autobahn and while wandering through small towns in France and Italy, reflecting on his home while away from it.

Bystander sees Cool Sounds explore the contemporary moment and the everyday with nuance and dexterity, never losing sight of the intimacy and charm that characterises their work. An exercise in observation and reflection, Bystander takes snapshots and zooms in, underlines phrases, and asks its listener to continue paying close attention.

Cool Sounds are Dainis Lacey, Nick Kearton, Ambrin Hasnain, Steve Foulkes, Jack Nichols, Pierce Morton

Produced by Dainis Lacey and Dylan Young

Engineered by Dylan Young

Electronic four-piece Big Yawn invites five revered artists to reconstruct their debut album No!, originally released in March 2020 through Research Records.

The remixes convey a unique combination of darker textures and brooding sounds, clearly indebted to their source material.

The release features interpretations from Sleep D, Jay Glass Dubs, Maria Moles, Bullant and Raymond Scottwalker.

Rhythm merchants Sleep D (Butter Sessions) up the tempo and weave their signature expansive production in their fearless take on 'Reflex'.

Prolific producer Jay Glass Dubs (Bokeh Versions) flavours the 'Body Double' refix with looping clattering drums and glitchy murk, creating a compelling arrangement.

Like a drift into a warm gorge, percussionist Maria Moles (Nice Music) inserts gentle sustained synth work into 'Doodle Damage'.

Bullant (Flightless Records) pulls the listener out abruptly with a rework of 'Skinrat', a house-streaked churner.

Raymond Scottwalker (Fallopian Tunes) wraps up the record with another rework of 'Reflex', creating a mind-bending, aggressive industrial rejig.

Big Yawn's remix EP is a dynamic pairing to No!, entrusting an exceptional group of musicians to adhere to the spirit of the record, yet take it in a totally re-imagined direction

The music on Dance Nos. 1-5 was originally conceived as a three-way collaboration between composer Philip Glass, choreographer Lucinda Childs and artist Sol LeWitt. Dance received its world premiere in Amsterdam on October 19, 1979 and its New York premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 29, 1979.

Post-dating Einstein on the Beach - Glass’s 1975-76 collaboration with director Robert Wilson - Dance was another Glass collaboration, this time with choreographer Lucinda Childs, known for her austere, athematically exact dances, and artist Sol LeWitt, who provided a ghostly, gigantic black- and-white film for several of the piece’s five sections.














RELEASE: 5-3-2021





• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• DELUXE HEAVYWEIGHT SLEEVE WITH GLOSS LAMINATE
• PVC JACKET
• THE COMPLETE ALBUM, AVAILABLE ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS ENTIRETY ON A 3LP-SET
WITH FIVE SIDES OF MUSIC
• INCLUDES PHILIP GLASS CATALOGUE WITH INFO ON THE PHILIP GLASS SERIES ON MOV


SIDE A

Dance has an abstract purity that easily earned it the label “minimalist,” a term that Glass himself disavows but that seems appropriate, at least in this case. After Dance, Glass’s music took several turns, not so much in style as in the various new contexts in which it was presented: major opera commissions and film scores led him to write for forces other than those of the Philip Glass Ensemble. At the same time, an attempt to reach a wide audience resulted in some shorter, perhaps more accessible, narrative pieces. Dance marked the blossoming of the composer’s experimental work. Here, though, the music - particularly Dance Nos. “1”, “3” and “5”, all written for the Ensemble— has an unforgettable exuberance that somehow speaks all at once of joyful innocence, intense erotic desire, tenderness, regret and, finally, acceptance. On the other hand, Dance Nos. “2” and “4” see Glass composing several large-scale works for solo organ; for instance, Dance No. 2 originated as a 1978 work entitled Fourth Series Part Two. This piece, later incorporated into Dance, and Dance No. “4” as well, have a more subdued, more darkly romantic quality than the work’s other sections and are quite unlike anything Glass had previously written. Still, they too, with their mysterious tilts of time and key signatures, continue the exploration of polyrhythms and harmonic complexities within the context of Glass’s repetitive, “minimalist” style.

The complete Dance Nos. 1-5 album is now available on vinyl for the first time in its entirety on a 3LP-set with five sides of music. The 3 LP’s are housed in a heavyweight sleeve.

Live At Robert Johnson kicks off 2021 with a new cut above the rest thanks to Benjamin Fröhlich, who dons a cosmic Acid-to-Italo four-track EP. Whether „Club Fantasy“ insinuates the phantasy of clubbing in times of a pandemic shutdown in global club cultures, or a club by the name of it, lies within the ears of the listeners. Either way, Benjamin’s ties with the Robert Johnson club can be heard resonating throughout this fantastic EP.

Club Fantasy (Club Version) introduces a a happy 303 reminiscent bouncy bassline, supported by relentless rim shots, fast-forwards the Club Version of the title track directly into the uplifting domains of well-established sounds. Sparse echoing vocal snippets, encouraging us to dance, and by the time the piano stabs finally kick in, it’s all hands up for your very own club phantasies. Club Fantasy (Fantasy Version) boasts a less peaky signature, while working a more playful and driving treatment of the title track, supported by mellow strings, a harder kick and subtle room reverberation. On the flip-side, Escape presents a warm, emotional and cinematic Italo soundscape, featuring floating arpeggios, which flash like coloured strobes in the dark. Benjamin’s final track, Dream Machine, is a beautiful kaleidoscope of sounds, slightly more energetic yet moody, that is sure to catch everyone's ears on the dancefloor.

As a co-founder to Munich based record label Permanent Vacation, but also as a DJ and producer, Benjamin Fröhlich’s musical involvement traces back many years in the Cosmic Disco and Balearic scene, and into the networks of both Robert Johnson club and its label.

Tape Works Vol. 2 is the second album from the UK's leading musique concrète ensemble, Langham Research Centre, on Nonclassical. This album presents recent substantial pieces that contrast with the shorter pieces found on Tape Works Vol. 1 (2017) which showcased some of the group's earliest tape experiments. This album features 'Dinotique', commissioned for Café Oto's Stereo Spasms festival in 2019, a celebration of the work of the late French composer Luc Ferrari to mark his 90th birthday.

Langham Research Centre - Felix Carey, Iain Chambers, Philip Tagney and Robert Worby - make experimental music using resources and ideas that, until recently, were considered obsolete, redundant or outdated. Their music is made using tape recorders, cassette machines, shortwave radios and specialist devices found in recording studios. Their inspiration and enthusiasm is driven by the soundworlds produced by maverick composers working in the middle of the 20th century. The four members met at the BBC, where they all work in production. Their music has received significant radio airplay on BBC Radio 3 and more.

The album will be featured along with an interview with the group in the February 2021 issue of Electronic Sound Magazine.

Tape Works Vol. 2 is the second album from the UK's leading musique concrète ensemble, Langham Research Centre, on Nonclassical. This album presents recent substantial pieces that contrast with the shorter pieces found on Tape Works Vol. 1 (2017) which showcased some of the group's earliest tape experiments. This album features 'Dinotique', commissioned for Café Oto's Stereo Spasms festival in 2019, a celebration of the work of the late French composer Luc Ferrari to mark his 90th birthday.

Langham Research Centre - Felix Carey, Iain Chambers, Philip Tagney and Robert Worby - make experimental music using resources and ideas that, until recently, were considered obsolete, redundant or outdated. Their music is made using tape recorders, cassette machines, shortwave radios and specialist devices found in recording studios. Their inspiration and enthusiasm is driven by the soundworlds produced by maverick composers working in the middle of the 20th century. The four members met at the BBC, where they all work in production. Their music has received significant radio airplay on BBC Radio 3 and more.

The album will be featured along with an interview with the group in the February 2021 issue of Electronic Sound Magazine.

Johnny Cash had a birth certificate marked J. R. Cash because his parents couldn’t decide what to call him. Their environment was the recurrent poverty that reigned in Thirties America, a background of depression where J. R. went to work in flooded fields, learned music and sang along with other cotton pickers, picking up jobs here and there, and finally signing up for three years in the Army.

In 1954 he went back to civilian life, married Vivian Liberto, and went through the studio doors at Sun Records, where Sam Phillips recorded his first hits. In ’57 he joined Columbia Records and a decade later married June Carter (of The Carter Family) in 1968. The following years were complicated by drugs, alcohol and constant tours, yet the pair remained together until June passed away in 2003. Johnny Cash only survived another four months.

His original country music showed empathy for those who had been rejected, and his vision of the misery around him. But he also had an especially warm baritone, and it gave Johnny Cash an immense and faithful audience. He sold 90 million albums, confirming him as one of the greatest artists in music, all genres included.

Hot Creations continues its 2021 release schedule this February with a four-track EP from Josh Hvaal. Getting Better sees the UK talent return to the label, fresh from releasing his maiden EP, The Sound, on the imprint in March last year.

Basic leads the charge and takes no prisoners as it goes, pairing rapid kick-hat combos against layered vocal tones to create Josh’s signature late-night sound. Getting Better comes next, blending a retro acid vibe with an up-tempo lead bassline before the near six-
minute Oi takes the form of a heavyweight techno number. Tiptoe brings things to an emotive close, showcasing Josh’s eclectic style with drawn-out chords and percussion- laden breaks.

Josh Hvaal has become a household name in the contemporary house sphere in recent times. It was in March that the young UK-native achieved a remarkable feat: releasing his debut EP on Hot Creations. Such an achievement didn’t go unnoticed, with industry heavyweights soon playing his music in the form of Joseph Capriati, Andrea Oliva and many more. Releases have since followed on Yousef’s Circus Recordings, Malgado’s Distortion and Hot Creations’ offshoot Hottrax, standing him in good stead for another successful year in 2021.

A fixture on Copenhagen's music scene for nearly two decades, Nikolaj Jakobsen, aka Sugar, has to date thrived on concentrating - usually to the point of obsession - on one type of music at a time. Early on, it was punk: from his mid-teens he lived in the legendary squat and artistic community Ungdomshuset, toured worldwide with punk and metal bands, and was completely immersed in and dedicated to the city's DIY punk and metal scene.

Then in 2012 he set foot in a techno club for the first time, and his laser-like focus turned in that direction. Jakobsen began producing fast techno under the Sugar alias, and co-founded Fast Forward Productions, an agency and party that has gathered together the city's previously disparate band of fast techno and trance producers, DJs and collectives. Fast Forward has been instrumental in launching the careers of the likes of Schacke, Repro, Funeral Future and Rune Bagge, as well as Jakobsen himself.

Now Jakobsen is launching a new label that, even down to its name, is an open challenge to himself to focus on multiple musical styles at once. Perfumery, of which the Eyes Cream EP is the inaugural release, will be a home for his productions under the Sugar name and other aliases, as well as collaborative efforts with others. The label's open remit defies definitive categorisation of is to come, but its second release will be an abstract, atmospheric album by the cimbalom and tuba player and composer Anders Bo Eriksen, aka OPICA. On that record's heels will be collaborative projects with D.Dan and HVAD, as well as an experimental-minded debut LP by Jakobsen as Sugar.

Though Perfumery will be a platform for the exploration of new musical territories, Eyes Cream comprises four fast-techno hardware jams in Jakobsen's signature style. As well as showing off his knack for punning in a second language, opener Bright Side Of The Spoon is a classic Copenhagen splicing of darkness and light, with insistent, ominous bass waves leavened by twinkling synth textures. On the surface the middle two tracks, Eyes Cream and Try Me, are harder, flintier, Detroit-referencing tools. Just beneath, however, lurks the texture and warmth that is one of Copenhagen techno's prime calling cards. Perhaps the greatest treat of the EP is saved for last: Once And For No One is a gorgeous, gauzy, end-of-the-night banger that packs a hefty emotional punch.

All proceeds from physical and digital sales of the first EP on Perfumery will go to Sea-Watch.Org, a German NGO dedicated to saving migrants trying to reach Europe on stricken vessels in the Mediterranean.

The “nighters” at Wigan Casino initially ran from 2am-8am every Saturday night/Sunday morning. From midnight onwards, crowds would gather outside and spill over onto the road blocking the local traffic. As attendances grew the crowds became a problem, particularly to the local constabulary, and on the eve of the Casino’s 1st Anniversary – with a genuine threat of closure looming – a momentous decision was made. Gerry Marshall, the Casino’s owner, somewhat reluctantly decided to open the club’s adjoining cabaret lounge, known as “Mr M’s” (named after the man himself).

That night Northern Soul history was made. It was the start of an era, the birth of the “club within a club” and, as it proved to be, a temple to fans of Northern Soul “oldies”. Eventually at 3am the black double doors – which separated Mr M’s from the upstairs balcony of the main ballroom – burst open, and a sea of soulies hit the dancefloor for the very first time to the banging sound of “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney” by Mickey Lee Lane, spun by DJ Alan Cain and featured here in all of its remastered glory (side 1, trk 1).

Such was the incredible response to that first night in Mr M’s in 1974 that a petition did the rounds gaining over a thousand signatures demanding that it should continue every week! What had intended to be an emergency one-off event had unintentionally ended up being the longest, most popular “temporary” oldies venue EVER!

M’s, as it was more affectionately known, soon became the No.1 oldies venue in the 70s. It was unashamedly “100%” oldies and “100mph” dance tunes!!! It was like an engine room churning out vinyl memories week in, week out and the atmosphere and sounds are captured here!

Raleigh Ritchie releases his highly anticipated second album, ANDY. A twelve track project, Andy sees Bristol born and London-hailing Raleigh holding a colossal magnifying glass to himself. Over the production, for the most part, from long-term collaborator Chris Loco but also, the incredibly talented GRADES on “Time In A Tree” and “27 Club”, Raleigh leaves no stone unturned. The album is a creation of heartbreakingly honest songs that seamlessly fuses sweeping soul and mellow R&B with forward-thinking electronica and gutsy orchestral moments. (Raleigh has become well known for working with the sensational Rosie Danvers and Wired Strings.) This is a truly powerful record, a long-awaited return that packs a poignant punch.

It has been four years since Raleigh aka Jacob Anderson, released his inaugural debut album You’re A Man Now Boy but fans have not been left wanting. When he wasn’t releasing music, performing at his sold out show at Shepherds Bush Empire, or alongside Stormzy in his iconic Glastonbury headline, featuring on Gang Signs & Prayer, Stormzy’s critically acclaimed debut, or acting as Grey Worm in the hit HBO series Game Of Thrones, he was and is “Andy”.

Jupiter, the gas giant in our Solar System, with thunderstorms a thousand times more powerful than on Earth, rainfalls of diamonds in the atmosphere, temperatures below -100°C, plenty of hydrogen, 79 moons and a South pole that looks like an abstract painting, has just the kind of environment this music seems to emanate from.

Jupiter and Beyond, the second collaborative effort of composer/performer Rafael Toral and percussionist João Pais Filipe as a duo (after Saturn in 2016), is definitely not quite a record of Earth music. On the contrary, Jupiter and Beyond, is indeed gas music, unfolding over two long movements without solid body or any tangible outline, between ambient and noise. A music of sheer volume and beauty, icy, massive, in which the elements of Toral's signature, in particular his use of jazz-inspired electronics and feedback, dissolve to become a labile, nebulous, expansive material, occasionally struck by abyssal depressions and masterful densities, magnified by the return, after 17 years of silence, of the electric guitar in Rafael Toral's instrumentarium.

Towards the end of Beyond, the second piece on the record, lurking behind the volutes of feedback, a bell and a bass drum, one can detect from the distance... a barking dog, as a surreptitious and prosaic reminder of where we are here and now, a calling back to Earth. Between sadness and joy, anger and peace, movement and stillness, Jupiter and Beyond is indeed a mirror held out to us, music reflecting our times and that emotionally speaks first of all about us.

"While João Pais Filipe was drummer in the Space Quartet, we played a live duo set. During soundcheck we were jamming for a while on bowed gongs and feedback and lost track of time, it just flowed so well. I joked "we could make a whole record with this!". But later we took the idea seriously and set to record an improvised session at his cymbalsmith workshop (he made the gong on the cover and it was used in the recording). When we listened to the first take the mass of sound was amazing. At some point it reminded me of the complex clusters of sound in Ligeti's music as it appears on Kubrick's 2001 scene "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite". In the end the title felt like an apt choice for Saturn's successor. Back at my studio I felt the need for some more layers of density in some sections. I thought of using trombones, but ended up picking up the electric guitar, which I hadn't used since 2003.” Rafael Toral

After two tracks were successfully taken for a limited Maxi single, the whole album is now available on Double LP - Nicely remastered.

Patience, Violet ,and Pinky recorded their first Album in 1992. Knowing each other from the music scene, the back up singers turned friends teamed up with Emmanuel Diale and signed with Mob Music to embark on their music career as their own act. The first two albums were straight African Disco, A leftover sound of the 80's that some had still hoped to capitalize on. By the time they released their third album Why O Nketsa so Baby, loosely translated to "Why are you doing this to me Baby", Kwaito was still called either Disco or International House, and it was new sound that was taking over. The third album was influenced by the Shangaan sound made largely popular by artists like Penny Penny and Peta Teanet. Looking back now, at the time Mob Music was really leading the pack with this new sound. Being one of the last labels to have official releases with artwork and a group of young talented producers given full creative freedom they pushed the sound in a way only few other labels of that time can be given the same credit.

For their fourth and final album on Mob Music they worked with legendary producer/songwriter Malcom "X" Makume. With three years of songwriting experience and stellar talent behind the desk the result was the LP Malende. Eight tracks that would combine the early kwaito sound with the more uptempo International House topped off with productions heavily inspired by what had been slowly making its way from Chicago over the last 10 years. At the time they had some success and to this day are well known amongst the real heads.

The girls would go on to record one final album once their contract with Mob was up and then after a 5 album catalog would hang up their matching outfits for work a in a newly free South Africa. They remain friends to this day.

Signed to Parisian label N F rmat! (home to Oumou Sangar , Blick Bassy & M lissa Laveaux), Soweto-based 4 piece band Urban Village present their debut album, ‘Udondolo’.
Marrying the day-to-day experiences of black South Africans with ebullient elements from traditional Zulu music, Urban Village is the alias of four experimental musicians all born & raised in the township of Soweto at the tail end of apartheid.
Urban Village release music under a name which specifically references the blend of cultures, music & rites which were assimilated into the now 1 million strong population of Soweto, when black South Africans from multiple provinces were brought to the area during the establishment of apartheid, under strict segregation from Johannesburg’s white suburbs.
Born for the most part in the last years of apartheid, whilst growing up the band plunged happily into house and dance music that turned the page of a heavy past. Guitarist Lerato came across older Zulu musicians and their style of maskandi playing. Lerato has since mixed styles from homelands and rural areas, sharpened in club jam sessions (where he went on to meet Tubatsi and form Urban Village) during which spoken word, hip-hop and jazz rub shoulders freely.
‘Udondolo’ - partially recorded at legendary Downtown Studios in the heart of Johannesburg and at Figure of 8 studios in the leafy suburbs of Randburg, - is a journey through all the colours of Soweto. This is where it draws its consistency, strength & identity. That of Soweto itself - a dormitory town designed to
monitor those who were sent there, it has become a laboratory of music where the hopes of an entire people resonate, even today.