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"Matasuna" brings together two important pioneers of funk on its latest release: "The Meters" from "New Orleans"and "The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band" from "Los Angeles". The song "Giggin' Down 103rd" by "The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band" was first released as a single in 1968 (as Misspress) and is now available again for the first time. The song "Sing A Simple Song" by "The Meters" even premieres as a 45! Both tracks have been remastered to offer the best possible sound.

The A-side opens with "Sing A Simple Song" by "The Meters", a cover version of a song by "Sly & Family Stone" written by "Sly Stone". In direct comparison, "The Meters" cover sounds much more energetic and powerful. The ingredients are simple but effective: heavy drum breaks, funky guitar riffs, deepe bassline and a lively organ. A killer instrumental joint that exudes roughness & funkyness from the first second to the last!

On the flipside "The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band" follows up in similar fashion with the song "Giggin' Down 103rd". Instead of an organ like "The Meters", the band offers a super thight horn section backed by killer drums, guitars & bass. A special spicy recipe that thematically fits perfectly for this Funk45!

"The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band" was formed by "Charles Wright". Charles, a musician & composer born in 1940 in "Clarksdale, Mississippi", moved to "Los Angeles" in the 1950s. There he played as a singer & guitarist in various doo-wop groups. Beginning in 1962, he formed his own band, "Charles Wright & The Wright Sounds", which was joined in the following years by other musicians who would become known in the future band. The name "The Watts 103rd Street Band" was established in 1967. That same year they signed a record deal with "Warner Bros. Records" and released their first album. More LPs were released in the following years.

The band played mainly cover versions of popular R&B hits in the early years, but began to create their own songs and form their own sound in the late 1960s, which would have a strong influence on other musicians at the time.

Starting in 1969, the first members left the band to work on other projects. Charles also left the band in 1972 to further his solo career and release various albums.

In 1965, the group "The Meters"was founded by "Art Neville"with three other musicians in the musical epicenter of "New Orleans". They quickly made a name for themselves in the local scene. The musician "Allen Toussaint", who was to become one of the most influential record producers of the 1960s, discovered the band and signed them to his label "Sansu Enterprises". They first played as a backing band at live and studio performances of artists of the New Orleans scene, before getting their own record deal with "Josie Records". On this label they released three albums, before releasing more in the following years on "Reprise Records" and "Warner Bros. Records". The band officially disbanded in 1977 and reunited a few years later in 1989.

Since then they have been on stage in different formations as "The Meters", "The Funky Meters" or "The Meter Man".

Their innovative musical style, which was influenced by traditional New Orleans second line music, West African rhythms, Soul and rReggae, set a standard that would influence many musicians. Also, their music had a significant impact on the Hip Hop community, which sampled their songs hundreds of times.

Wah Wah 45s make a welcome return to the world of re-issues. Having started out over two decades ago releasing dance floor funk from Benny Poole, Cheyenne Fowler and The Googie Rene Combo, and later re-releasing obscure Kompa-funk from Haitian pianist Henri Pierre Noel, they now turn their attention to an overlooked early 90s acoustic soul gem.

About thirty years ago, music teacher and budding producer Alex Boyesen found himself working as part of the Haringey Music Workshop - a community programme and outreach project funded by the local council in Haringey, North London (coincidentally the area in which the Wah Wah head office is now based!).

"Anyone could come and get lessons for free - ranging from piano, sax, guitar, drums, bass, singing and workshops including choral, jazz band and more." Alex Boyesen

It was during that time that Alex came across a young Sam Edwards.

"One day I went into one of the rehearsal rooms and there, by herself, was this girl playing a piano and singing. It was the most incredible voice I had ever heard."

Before long, the pair were playing all over London as a duo with Alex on guitar and Sam on vocals.

"Sam had never had professional training, she was simply an utter natural."

The Haringey Music workshop was connected with other projects in the borough, in particular a community project called the Selby Centre. Here they ran training programs for young people and one of these was a music business course. The idea was that they found an artist, recorded them and then promoted them. One way or the other they ended up picking Alex and Sam to be on their roster.

"My good friend Nixon Rosembert was brought in to oversee the recordings and they hired the Islington Music Workshop to do the recording. We got musicians from the Haringey Music Workshop to play on the sessions and spent a day recording two songs -American CarsandLife. The training workshop had created a label called Progression Music and out the record went."

Three decades later and out of the blue Alex started to get interest again in the record he'd almost forgotten about all those years ago. It had become something of a sought after gem on Discogs, and there seemed to be an interest in that 'acoustic soul' sound once again.

"I got three people asking if they could re-release it and finally here we are with Wah Wah 45s doing the business after all these years."

It was Hospital Records and Wah Wah 45s founder, Chris Goss, who first brought the idea of releasing this record to the table.

"This is a really special record for me, picked up 30 years ago, from a young James Lavelle at Honest Jon's in Ladbroke Grove. Sam Edwards would go on to perform and write songs with North London's Izit, the acid jazz collective fronted by Tony Colman - with whom I have built a music company, these past 25 years. Alex Boyeson worked with Tony at the Haringey Arts Project, who produced a one-off vinyl release of Alex's two compositions back in 1991. Thanks to Alex and Tony, we have been able to clean-up the original audio, uncover photos and lyric sheets to present, with real love and affection, these two lost gems from a bygone era." Chris Goss, Feb 2021.

The project was then expanded by Dom Servini, who got heavy disco legend Ashley Beedle and co-label owner and erstwhile producer Adam Scrimshire in to take on remix duties.

"When approached by Dom Servini to reworkAmerican CarsI had no idea about the history of the original song. After a good listen myself and studio partner Darren Morris set to work and all I can say that it was a lovely experience keeping the vibe of the original but giving it a spaced out feel in true Afrikanz On Marz fashion." Ashley Beedle, Feb 2021.

"Remixing without multi-tracks always brings a bunch of challenges, getting the balance between the bass and drums in the original and what you want to do with your own version. The song really dictates certain things to you.

But it was such a pleasure to explore that with this beautiful song and vocal performance. So many ways to approach it. I just wanted to draw out more of the melancholy in the original and make it an absorbing experience." Adam Scrimshire, Feb 2021.

Perhaps the last word should be given to Alex himself, who's very much enjoying the new lease of life that his music with Sam is getting.

"As I write this we are trying to locate her, she's somewhere singing something, that's all she ever did. Thanks for being part of my life Sam and I am so glad that this small bit of that time is being remembered." Alex Boyesen, Feb 2021.

Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriter’s fi@h solo effort,
draws from the deep well of that city’s ferCle 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground,
mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond.
Walker spent his formaCve years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folkrock
troubadour mode, it makes sense that he’s arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences disClling into something
original and unusual. To put it simply: Course In Fable is Walker’s best record yet, full of acCve imaginaCon and endless possibiliCes.
Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEn:re, Course In Fable’s producer/engineer/
mixer, can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O’Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now
spans more than three decades. Seeing his name in an album’s liners is preVy much a trademark of quality.
Another Windy City exile, McEnCre is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he’s dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs
here, he delivers the signature shimmering and prisCne sonics he’s become known for over the years. But McEnCre was also inCmately involved with Course
In Fable’s overall creaCve process. “I told him to take the mixes and have at it,” Walker says.
The result is a rich, immersive affair — a headphones record if ever there was one. Course In Fable’s songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas
(Walker half-jokingly calls it his “prog record”). But no maVer how complex it gets, the album is never overwhelmingly busy. Wiry guitars melt into gorgeous
string secCons (arranged by Douglas Jenkins of the Portland Cello Project). Tricky Cme signatures abound but feel as natural as can be. Melodies o@en dri@ in
unexpected direcCons but remain downright hummable. Like Walker’s beloved Genesis, the pop element is never too far from the surface even when shit
gets weird. (And speaking of weird, Ryley says that in addiCon to Genesis, much of the album’s inspiraCon comes from “Australian extreme scooter riders on
YouTube and balding gear heads on Craigslist.” Go figure.)
To help put together these various puzzle pieces, Ryley assembled a band made up of several longCme collaborators. Bill MacKay (another Chicago mainstay)
and Walker have made two excellent instrumental duo records of interlocking guitars and warm give-and-take — a rapport very much in evidence
throughout Course In Fable. The freakishly talented drummer Ryan Jewell has performed with Walker for years now in a variety of seangs, from
straighborward song-centric sets to blown-out improv extravaganzas. Bassist Andrew ScoJ Young (Tiger Hatchery, Health&Beauty) has logged many miles on
tour with Walker; he and Jewell are frequently astonishing, a buoyant-but-always-locked-in rhythm secCon, able to navigate someCmes dizzying turnarounds
with apparent ease. Listening to the interplay between Walker and these musicians and you might be fooled into thinking they’d spent a year roadtesCng
Course In Fable’s songs. But it all came together relaCvely fast, thanks to demos, rehearsals and the kind of musical empathy that comes from years of
playing together.
Beneath the wondrous interplay, you’ll find some of Walker’s most personal – if sCll typically crypCc — lyrics, hinCng at some of the trials the songwriter has
been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humor and oddball poetry, Course In Fable feels most of all like a life-affirming
record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. “Fuck me, I’m alive,” Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy.
Walker has released his albums on a who’s-who of independent labels over the past decade — Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City
among them. This Cme around, he’s doing it DIY-style, puang Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You’re in good hands. This is an album that
sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you’ve
been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you’re in for a treat.

After two UK #1 albums, 2 million album sales and an array of international acclaim, you might’ve thought you knew what to expect from Royal Blood. Those preconceptions were shattered when they released ‘Trouble’s Coming’ last summer. Hitting a melting pot of fiery rock riffs and danceable beats, they delivered something fresh, unexpected and yet entirely in tune with what they’d forged their reputation with.

The reaction was phenomenal, with highlights including 20 million streams, a premiere as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record and a run on Radio 1’s A-list and earned alternative radio support and media attention across the globe. In short, Royal Blood are primed to be bigger than ever before. That feat is set to be realised when they release their eagerly anticipated third album ‘Typhoons’ on April 30th via Warner Records.

When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original.

“We sort of stumbled on this sound, and it was immediately fun to play,” recalls Kerr. “That’s what sparked the creativity on the new album, the chasing of that feeling. It’s weird, though - if you think back to ‘Figure it Out’, it kind of contains the embryo of this album. We realised that we didn’t have to completely destroy what we’d created so far; we just had to shift it, change it. On paper, it’s a small reinvention. But when you hear it, it sounds so fresh.”

Those traits pulsate throughout the new single and title track. Kerr’s spiralling bass riff casts an hypnotic allure as it grows in intensity, while his vocals switch at will between a raw rock roar and a soulful falsetto. It’s underpinned by Thatcher’s thundering beats, his taut rhythms infused with groove-laden hi-hats.

After setting the tone with ‘Trouble’s Coming’, the album opens in breathless, take-no-prisoners style with the fierce metallic grooves of ‘Who Needs Friends’ hitting an early visceral peak. Royal Blood further reference their fresh array of influences by deploying vocodered vocals on ‘Million & One’ before dynamically switching between the biggest contrasts of their sound with ‘Limbo’. Already a fan favourite having been a regular during the duo’s 2019 shows, ‘Boilermaker’ lives up to its reputation and is more than matched by ‘Mad Visions’, which evokes a hyper-aggressive Prince. It ends with a final surprise in the shape of the stark piano ballad ‘All We Have Is Now’, a vulnerable and revealing reminder to live in the moment.

That song’s unguarded sentiments gives the album a redemptive finale. Whether directly or allusively, the album focuses on exploring the flipside of success that they’ve experienced. It comes from the realisation that success is much more complicated than it seems and that having the time to regain perspective is a precious commodity which becomes ever more elusive. The situation called for reflection and change, which Kerr addressed in Las Vegas. He downed an espresso martini and declared it to be his last drink, and soon discovered that his new-found sobriety would have a positive impact upon his creativity and life as a whole.

That new approach manifested itself in the duo’s decision to produce the majority of ‘Typhoons’ themselves. ‘Boilermaker’ was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the two bands having first connected when Royal Blood supported them on a huge North American tour. Meanwhile, the multiple Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth produced ‘Who Needs Friends’ and contributed additional production to ‘Trouble’s Coming’.

After two UK #1 albums, 2 million album sales and an array of international acclaim, you might’ve thought you knew what to expect from Royal Blood. Those preconceptions were shattered when they released ‘Trouble’s Coming’ last summer. Hitting a melting pot of fiery rock riffs and danceable beats, they delivered something fresh, unexpected and yet entirely in tune with what they’d forged their reputation with.
The reaction was phenomenal, with highlights including 20 million streams, a premiere as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record and a run on Radio 1’s A-list and earned alternative radio support and media attention across the globe. In short, Royal Blood are primed to be bigger than ever before. That feat is set to be realised when they release their eagerly anticipated third album ‘Typhoons’ on April 30th via Warner Records.
When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original.
“We sort of stumbled on this sound, and it was immediately fun to play,” recalls Kerr. “That’s what sparked the creativity on the new album, the chasing of that feeling. It’s weird, though - if you think back to ‘Figure it Out’, it kind of contains the embryo of this album. We realised that we didn’t have to completely destroy what we’d created so far; we just had to shift it, change it. On paper, it’s a small reinvention. But when you hear it, it sounds so fresh.”

Those traits pulsate throughout the new single and title track. Kerr’s spiralling bass riff casts an hypnotic allure as it grows in intensity, while his vocals switch at will between a raw rock roar and a soulful falsetto. It’s underpinned by Thatcher’s thundering beats, his taut rhythms infused with groove-laden hi-hats.



After setting the tone with ‘Trouble’s Coming’, the album opens in breathless, take-no-prisoners style with the fierce metallic grooves of ‘Who Needs Friends’ hitting an early visceral peak. Royal Blood further reference their fresh array of influences by deploying vocodered vocals on ‘Million & One’ before dynamically switching between the biggest contrasts of their sound with ‘Limbo’. Already a fan favourite having been a regular during the duo’s 2019 shows, ‘Boilermaker’ lives up to its reputation and is more than matched by ‘Mad Visions’, which evokes a hyper-aggressive Prince. It ends with a final surprise in the shape of the stark piano ballad ‘All We Have Is Now’, a vulnerable and revealing reminder to live in the moment.

That song’s unguarded sentiments gives the album a redemptive finale. Whether directly or allusively, the album focuses on exploring the flipside of success that they’ve experienced. It comes from the realisation that success is much more complicated than it seems and that having the time to regain perspective is a precious commodity which becomes ever more elusive. The situation called for reflection and change, which Kerr addressed in Las Vegas. He downed an espresso martini and declared it to be his last drink, and soon discovered that his new-found sobriety would have a positive impact upon his creativity and life as a whole.

That new approach manifested itself in the duo’s decision to produce the majority of ‘Typhoons’ themselves. ‘Boilermaker’ was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the two bands having first connected when Royal Blood supported them on a huge North American tour. Meanwhile, the multiple Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth produced ‘Who Needs Friends’ and contributed additional production to ‘Trouble’s Coming’.

Pixey grew up in the sleepy but picturesque village Parbold, Lancashire before moving to Liverpool for school and remaining there to this day. Now signed to Chess Club - a label famed for breaking new talent, where recent exciting signings include AlfieTempleman and Phoebe Green, and past successes include Jungle, Wolf Alice and Easy Life - Pixey is making more waves than ever before. ‘Just Move’ drew attention from BBC Radio 1 DJs Jack Saunders (who made Pixey one of his Next Wave artists) and Huw Stephens amongst many other admirers like Radio X’s John Kennedy who added the band to the X-Posure playlist at the station in October. Pixey has also featured as the cover artist of Spotify’s Indie Brandneu (GER) and Peach editorial playlists, and wasamongst the artists named in major annual tips lists, the Dork HYPE List and the NME 100.



New single ‘Electric Dream’ - with its accompanying video by Thomas Davies - combines cavernous drum machines and dreamy pop melodies with a signature dance stomp. Speaking about new single, Pixey explains: “‘Electric Dream’ was originally written as a piano ballad but after finishing the lyrics I felt the song worked as a dance track. I wrote it to make sense ofbeing locked in with nothing to rely on but technology. The verses are all of my anxieties that come with that - like trying to simulate humanity digitally and what kind of a future that would be - but the choruses are about the imperfections of real life that technology and AI can’t give us.”



Debut EP Free To Live In Colour was written, recorded and produced in Pixey’s bedroom in Liverpool - with additional production added by frequent Gorillaz and Jamie T collaborator James Dring - and draws inspiration from genres like hardcore breakbeat and





dream pop. Pixey says: “I wanted a collection of tracks which gave a quick snapshot into me and my brain - where I’m from, where I want to be and what I’m thinking about. I hope people can take something meaningful from it or simply have a dance.”



Pixey first discovered music as a toddler - she remembers not even being able to walk yet but desperate to sing and dance to Queen - before discovering the likes of Kate Bush, Björk, and George Harrison, whose classic songwriting struck a chord with her in her youth. The catalyst for Pixey’s musical coming of age however, was a near fatal viral illness suffered in early 2016 which hospitalised her, she says: “When I thought I was going to die I thought of all the things I wish I’d done and music was the first thing I thought of. As soon as I started recovering I started learning to record and produce.” She taught herself Ableton production software before mastering guitar and eventually drums and bass after her previous (and current) boyfriend(s) left their instruments lying around to prove she could learn it quicker and play it better.



Once able to carve out her own sound, Pixey turned to The Verve, The Prodigy and De La Soul for sonic inspiration, adding: “I particularly like the idea of using samples/making my own riffs sound like samples which was heavily inspired by the De La Soul album 3 Feet High and Rising. Starting out initially though Grimes was a huge catalyst when I realized she wrote, recorded &produced herself.” Her prolific and unusual songwriting style stems from an original riff or beat, with further layers added as she records and produces, and lyrics being added last - the process taking only a day or two.



With Free To Live In Colour and a whole arsenal of further material being readied on her new label home, Chess Club, Pixey is primed for big things in 2021 and beyond.

Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Devin Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. By 1997, he had recruited permanent members; this line-up, which consisted of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass, and Gene Hoglan on drums, lasted until the band's dissolution. Strapping Young Lad's music was characterized by the use of polyrhythmic guitar riffing and drumming, blast beats and wall of sound production. band leader Devin Townsend was also noted for his eccentric appearance and on-stage behaviour, which greatly contributed to the band's intense live performances. The band gained critical success and a growing underground fan base from their 1997 album City. After a hiatus between 1999 and 2002, the band released three more albums, reaching their commercial peak with the 2006 effort, The New Black. Townsend disbanded Strapping Young Lad in May 2007, announcing his decision to retreat from public view while continuing to record solo albums. Listenable is now extremely delighted to be releasing All Strapping Young Lad beyond Legendary studio albums on De Luxe Limited Edition Vinyls. A brand new vinyl master has been made for each album. All albums include bonus tracks . Grab them now !.

Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Devin Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. By 1997, he had recruited permanent members; this line-up, which consisted of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass, and Gene Hoglan on drums, lasted until the band's dissolution. Strapping Young Lad's music was characterized by the use of polyrhythmic guitar riffing and drumming, blast beats and wall of sound production. band leader Devin Townsend was also noted for his eccentric appearance and on-stage behaviour, which greatly contributed to the band's intense live performances. The band gained critical success and a growing underground fan base from their 1997 album City. After a hiatus between 1999 and 2002, the band released three more albums, reaching their commercial peak with the 2006 effort, The New Black. Townsend disbanded Strapping Young Lad in May 2007, announcing his decision to retreat from public view while continuing to record solo albums. Listenable is now extremely delighted to be releasing All Strapping Young Lad beyond Legendary studio albums on De Luxe Limited Edition Vinyls. A brand new vinyl master has been made for each album. All albums include bonus tracks . Grab them now !.
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Sometimes, savagery is the most effective form of communication. For that, there are the Dueling Experts, the dark ninjas behind one of 2020’s most filthy, cohesive, and authentic hip-hop records. A masterclass of verbal carnage and bell-ringing beats that reminds you that if ain’t raw, it’s worthless. You may know Verbal Kent, the battle-scarred Chicago sensei, who has proven his mettle time and time again on wax -- both in his solo albums and in Ugly Heroes. But you’ve never heard him as serrated as he sounds alongside the Ghanian MC, Recognize Ali. Spitting pyroclastic flows over a treasure trove of lo-fi beats excavated from the legendary and mysterious producer, Lord Beatjitzu, the two craftsmen attack with meticulous rhyme schemes and hardbody vocals to spark melees. The beats are so adamantine that they could crush diamonds. Meanwhile, Kent and Ali exhibit a chemistry reminiscent of all-time greats like Billy Danze and Lil Fame of M.O.P., Raekwon and Ghostface, and Rock (Sean Price) and Ruck of the Boot Camp Click. This is the sound of war. Hip-hop to slap the proverbial taste of your mouth. The soundtrack to bloody knuckle brawls and broken glass. Beats that sound like they were dropped on the floor and coated in filth, boasting an almost Beta-like quality while simultaneously exemplifying sampling and chopping in a 90’s RZA-like fashion. This is the second installment "DE2: Sand the Floor

The 'Abroad EP' catalogues a period of time spent travelling Japan in the spring of 2019. Throughout the course of the month-long trip, Rudy carried around a portable recorder, capturing various sounds that caught his ear. That collection of found sounds would eventually become the foundation for the EP, each track utilizing a handful of different recordings ranging from bird calls in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, to windchimes in the coastal town of Kawazu. The EP took a full year of patient, daily work to complete, during which time Rudy invited a diverse group of collaborators in to help finish the songs. Throughout the recording process, harp, saxophone, and violin parts were added to create a unique blend of organic and electronic sounds.

POSY is the recording name of Rudy Klobas, Portland-based producer and multi-instrumentalist with a unique sound that intersects jazz, R&B, and electronic music. Originally trained on classical guitar, POSY gradually taught himself piano, bass, and drums and began writing and recording his first songs on a four-track cassette recorder. POSY's music is lush and densely layered, but maintains an element of simplicity that ultimately leaves one feeling relaxed, nostalgic, and hopeful all at the same time.

Behind the finest and most moving pieces of contemporary-classical music lie deeply personal and poignant stories, and Simon Goff's new album Vale is no exception. The British violinist and composer's dazzling exploration of the interface between violin and technology and between the poles of intimacy and grandeur, as rich and deep and wide as the landscape that lies its heart, named after the Vale of York where Goff grew up. The album encapsulates not just a landscape but a place in time and an identity forged through youth and adulthood, all viewed from his current base in Berlin. Goff's artistic project is one which has been informed by his previous collaborations as both a performer and recording engineer, performing with artists such as Thor Harris (Swans, Amanda Palmer) and Federico Albanese, playing in concert halls across Europe. On his very first day working at the legendary Vox-Ton studios, Goff was introduced to Adam Wiltzie (half of the venerated post-classical/ ambient duo Stars Of The Lid/A Winged Victory for the Sullen), and over the next two years, he worked with post-classical and post-rock visionaries such as the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hildur Gudnadóttir (notably on the film soundtracks for Chernobyl and Joker), Dustin O'Halloran and Yair Elazar Glotman.

On February 27, 2018, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band (comprised, in this iteration, of long-time SMB bassist Peter Kerlin and Kerlin’s Sunwatchers battery mate Jason Robira on drums) were close to wrapping up an 18-date tour of the EU and UK with a two-set, one hour and 45 minute show at Cafe OTO, London’s premier venue for adventurous music. Highlights of that show are included in this live release, RARE DREAMS: SOLAR LIVE 2.27.18, recorded before a packed house seated mere feet from the band’s amplifiers. These recordings reveal a band that is clearly in high spirits and high gear, operating with an expansive, improvisatory fleetness that allows them to stretch the material to almost ludicrous extremes and then let it to snap back to some semblance of form while somehow seemingly never wasting a note, a beat, a gesture. The four tracks included here comprise material culled from (at the time) the two most recent Solar Motel Band records DREAMING IN THE NON-DREAM (No Quarter, 2017) and THE RARITY OF EXPERIENCE (No Quarter, 2016) plus covers of two Neil Young songs - the autobiographical plaint “Don’t Be Denied,” lyrically relocated by Forsyth from Young's Canada and Hollywood to the more personally relevant geography of New Jersey and Philadelphia, and encore “Barstool Blues” (they’d run out of material to play, so another Neil Young tune it was). While the covers establish Forsyth’s basis, serving as an homage to Young and the quest for self-realization, the long tracks’ jams showcase the trance-inducing power of the Solar Motel Band as a performing entity. Kerlin’s gymnastically propulsive bass playing locks in with Robira’s relentless thud, each serving as counterpoint to some of the most blistering guitar work of Forsyth’s career. The telepathically dynamic interplay of the trio explodes with whiplash intensity across the 15-plus minute takes of “Dreaming In The Non-Dream” and “The First 10 Minutes of Cocksucker Blues,” each song’s structure serving as a framework for extended lava flows of energy. At one point late in the “Dreaming” jam, Forsyth unplugs the jack from his guitar, dragging it across the strings and lashing the body of his single-pickup “parts" Esquire, producing a desiccated barrage of percussive static. This is music beyond the notes; it is an expression of pure electric ecstasy, a simultaneous negation and celebration of rock music’s (indeed all musics’) essential energy. In contrast to the expansive but meticulously detailed guitar arrangements of his recordings, here Forsyth’s unhinged live guitar sound positively roars with a barely restrained vocal intensity, from liquid melodic lines to gnarled blasts of free jazz scree, to pulsating lead/rhythm vamping. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing this band up close for a number of years now and I can authoritatively attest that while every show is different, when the SMB is running down a steep hill at full speed (as on these takes), they become a single leaderless vibrating sonic tornado, possibly beyond the control and logic of the players themselves, picking up listeners along the way and taking them along for the ride straight into a solar furnace of sound. - Jerome Onfront, Philadelphia

Sdban Records will reissue parts of the library serie 'A Special Radio ~ TV Record' released on the Belgian based Selection Records between 1976 and 1981 on vinyl. Sdban Records teams up with publisher Hans Kusters wo recently bought this catalog. Nonetheless, the first release will be a contemporary adaptation of the original concept by composer Reinhard Vanbergen (Das Pop, Rheinzand).

When Hans Kusters heard some music of Reinhard Vanbergen on the radio, he started dreaming of a new chapter. When asking Reinhard if he would be interested, Reinhard gladly accepted after finding out that one of the original composers from the Selection series, Rene Costy, had a very similar background, being a Belgian violinist and composer. It seemed like a perfect fit.

While respecting the concept of the past, Reinhard tried to give the record a modern touch, by simulating 10 geometric shapes, using immersive audio. With headphones on, you can detect the geometric shapes that move around your head in a little dance of their own. The mix of vintage and modern synths are an homage to the past while trying to give it something new and bring the concept into modern times. The new album, Selection 19 - Geometric Shapes opens the door to a new special radio and TV-records series, to continue in the same spirit from the past, but with an eye for the future.

HIGHLIGHTS 180g vinyl reissue of the mega rare Mexican-only Luiz Eça album from 1970 in facsimile artwork and remastered sound. The Brazilian pianist and founder member of Tamba Trio is accompanied here by a large group of top-notch Brazilian musicians including Joyce, Nana Vasdoncelos, Wilson Simonal and Claudio Roditi delivering an outstanding mix of energetic arrangements and delicate vocal harmonies. A samba jazz masterpiece. Exclusive RSD 2020 release. DESCRIPTION Tamba Trio (Helcio Milito, Bebeto Castilho and Luiz Eça) released their first LP in 1962 and quickly became one of the most popular bossa jazz combos out of Brazil. By the mid 60s the band would expand becoming Tamba 4 and Luiz Eça would record his first albums as a leader. Trained as a classical pianist, Eça's style was a mix of jazz and pop then blended into bossa resulting in a fresh and unique sound that evolved over the years towards an even more eclectic blend. "La Nueva Onda del Brasil" was recorded in 1970 by Luiz Eça accompanied here by " La Familia Sagrada", a large group of top-notch Brazilian musicians including Joyce, Nana Vasdoncelos, Zeca do Trombone, Mauricio Maestro, Claudio Roditi_ even Wilson Simonal joins the group on Jorge Ben's 'Pais Tropical'. The album was released years later on the tiny Mexican label RVV, run by Rogelio Villareal, also home to the very rare LPs by Primo Quinteto or Rozana in a similar vein. Villareal was the owner of the Camino Real hotels group and the RVV records were exclusively available for sale at the hotels premises, as souvenirs for visitors. The band spent some periods of time touring Mexico, performing at different Camino Real locations. The album distribution was very limited and never got a local release in their native Brazil (or anywhere else) making this LP a very sought-after record that has reached cult status among Brazilian music collectors Worldwide. "La Nueva Onda del Brasil" includes both standards and originals, all performed in a very free style, an outstanding mix of energetic arrangements and delicate vocal harmonies, a sort of very late and evolved bossa mixed with jazz, emphasizing the rhythmic elements with an afrosamba twist. A samba jazz masterpiece.

A chirp, a wine and a gurgle are the sounds that make the song of swallow. You won't find any of them on here though. The third installment of this sampler series features well-rounded dance and prance material instead. Four artists, four hits. Berlin duo Cyrk pay tribute to their favorite Sunday parties with Italo Blade. Barely hidden by its name, it cuts right through any heart of stone with aural infatuation and elation. Portraying the best moment in someone's life after a gig at the infamous Papaya Playa Project, Smallville records associate Snad, delivers a skippy and irresistible MPC jam that makes one want to whistle along. The baroque effect and element of Voon's music is a given. The Italian duo made that clear with Rose in Japan and is able to repeat the trick with Brando. Like Rondo Veneziano at a rave, it's larger than life and happily jumping over the inhibition gate of restraint. Finally, Lukas Lehmann takes the boiling pot off the stove. Juno Cuts A Caper is an ode to synthesizer number six of the renowned Roland series and a masterclass in simmering down. All in all: fun, fun, fun.-

9ms is the duo of Simon Popp and Florian König.
On their wide ranging debut album ‚Pleats' the tech-savvy drummers offer grooves from the dubbier realms of World Music and Krautrock - some meditative and light, some thick as wall and steady as a clock.
The album was recorded live in a large wooden hall in the Bavarian Alps with only three microphones. Using various infrared and magnetic field sensors, Popp and König were able to translate their movements into control voltage, which they then used to trigger and tweak synthesizers and a myriad of effects. A way for two humans to become one with their mystic machinery.

17 Track compilation of all of their studio recordings, remastered and pressed on Electric Blue Vinyl. Presented in gatefold sleeve with never seen before photographs ,a printed lyric inner sleeve and poster.
The VIP’s were formed in 1978 while at Warwick University. Within weeks they were gigging at clubs in the Midlands, often on the same bill as THE SPECIALS in Coventry. Soon they found a manager, Clive Solomon, who with Timmy Mallet (now a TV and Radio presenter) and both students at the university, financed the group’s first single the EP ‘Music For Funsters. In the summer of 1978 they built up a loyal following in London. The single was picked up by John Peel, who played it constantly on his BBC radio show through the year. The 3 track EP, featuring ‘I’m Perfect’, ‘I Believe’ and ‘Boys of the City’ was released on Clive Solomon’s own ‘Bust’ label.
In 1979 the VIP’s could be found playing all over the country, frequently on the same bill as Squire, stablemates on Clive Solomon’s label.
In early 1980 they went into Olympic Studios in Chiswick to record some tracks with ex-THE ANIMALS bass player and SLADE/Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler. The track ‘I Thought You Were My Friend’ was recorded at these sessions A few weeks later a major record deal was agreed with Gem Records/RCA and ‘Causing Complications’ came out in March. To coincide with the release the VIP’s went on tour supporting SECRET AFFAIR.
After the tour the single ‘The Quarter Moon’ was released, another track produced by Mike Leander. It received extensive airplay around the UK and beyond, and was also picked as BBC Radio 1’s Record of The Week by DJ Mike Reid on his Morning Show, as well as being Radio Luxembourg’s ‘Power Play’ for two weeks. The constant touring, recording and radio play had earned them a spot on Top of The Pops but they were suddenly told -on the afternoon that they were due to appear - that an industrial dispute at the BBC had resulted in the show being cancelled. Disappointed, they continued to record and tour, this time with MADNESS, THE BEAT and DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS amongst others. This time Bob Seargent (of The BEAT and HAIRCUT 100 fame) was recruited to give ‘Need Somebody To Love’ that sparkle and edge to capture The VIP’s live sound on vinyl. Although perhaps the most representative of the band’s sound, Top of The Pops again eluded them.
By the end of 1980 the VIP’s were selling in Spain, Germany, Italy and France through the RCA label but they seemed to be losing heart with the business. Illness -Jed had been touring with a collapsed lung - and tensions saw the band play their last concert at Leicester University. A fourth and final GEM single, ‘Things Aren’t What They Used To Be’ (a song taken from their earlier Mike Leander recording sessions) proved to be their last. With several songs still to be recorded, it was a frustrating time for all.
Paul Shurey and Guy Morley has already made alternative plans for THE NEW VIP’s and recruited Simon Smith from THE MERTON PARKAS to play drums while Paul returned to his native keyboards. With Tony Conway on guitar and Andy Godfrey on bass they became MOOD SIX.
Paul Shurey played a central part in the birth and proliferation of the Rave movement in the 80’s, 90’s and 2,000’s, initiating a great a great many DANCE RAVES all around the world. Very sadly he died in 2017. He was also a gifted artist/cartoonist, and it’s his picture which graces the album’s sleeve. He is a brother very greatly missed.
Guy Morley works in film editing and Andrew Price is involved in developing community projects in and around his native Bristol.
“We became lifelong friends and shared a great and very exciting rock and roll dream.”

In 2019, Parisian cinema composer Jean-Gabriel Becker and Japanese composer and multi- instrumentalist Susumu Mukai embarked on the making of an album that was ultimately going to become ‘Time Very Near’.
The album was finally released to great acclaim in April 2020 through the strangest time in history for its singularity and originality. Prompted by a few unsolicited offers for remixes, Becker & Mukai saw an occasion to invite their community of musician and producer friends to re-invent, deconstruct and rebuild the songs on ‘Time Very Near’.
Joe Goddard (Hot Chip), who, from his studio next door, had witnessed the birth of the project from day one, was kind enough to unleash his killer beats on Spice War. Old friend Jas Shaw (Simian Mobile Disco) transformed the tropical sounds of Dark Fields Of The Republic into a dance-floor ready techno workout.
Long-time collaborator and friend Sasa Crnobrnja (In Flagranti, Mytron & Ofofo, Auf Togo) took Time Very Near on a trip to Jamaica. Label mate AMA//MIZU stripped Tout Azimuth down to its core to rebuild it with his unique production skills. Dreems delivered a sweltering 19 minute version of Dark Fields Of The Republic and a shorter version more suited for a vinyl listen. And finally Becker & Mukai chose to don their alternative monikers (Zongamin and Lux Prima) to re-interpret the duo’s own compositions.
Like the original album, this remix project gathers sounds and inspiration from an ever-expanding palette of influences, assembled into something amorphously intangible that’s simultaneously refreshing and sharp, meandering and cosmic, futuristic but timelessly vintage and manages to expand where the original album left off.

November 13, 2020 – Beneath the simplicity of the title of the latest single from HEADACHE – “mike’s back” – you can find the story of Mike Duce, putting his ghosts to rest – PRESS HERE to listen. The former frontman of Lower Than Atlantis – a band proclaimed as the future of British alternative-rock – the artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist wondered if he “might have already seen the best days of his life.” Fighting his doubts, Mike approached his new EP, Get Off The Internet, as an opportunity to create change in himself and his outlook. As a result, each song on the release leans into a more positive and imaginative aura, signaling a return of confident artistry. By taking a broader, more organic approach to songwriting, he found inspiration in his current music diet, using everything from boom bap to jazz to help curate his neo-soul sound which Mike describes as "a regurgitation of an amalgamation of music I’ve been into all my life." While Get Off The Internet’s title rallies against our overreliance on social media and online personas, its lead single, “mike’s back”, is a surefooted, motormouthed burst of positivity. “I feel like I’m back to myself,” says Mike. “I was depressed and didn’t really know what I was doing before, but now I’m back in the game and back on the form, personally and musically.” HEADACHE, who has already garnered attention from BBC Radio One, DORK Magazine, and Kerrang! with the release of his first EP Food For Thwart, is enthusiastic that his expanding audience will be drawn to his the positivity of Get Off The Internet.

Hexvessel and Svart Records celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Hexvessel’s debut album Dawnbearer with a set of reissues, including CD, double vinyl. “Dawnbearer is a very important album for us, being our first album but also the first original album release for Svart Records. It’s also a very special record for our fans, and one that’s particularly close to my heart, in a world of its own when compared to the other records we have made. Considering that it’s been out of print now for some time, I’m delighted to be able to oversee a reissue of this album, together with original demos and out-takes, and liner notes showing the making of this album which carries the initial DNA of Hexvessel’s musical and spiritual journey”, says band leader Mat McNerney, “We haven’t touched a thing on the original layout, but added some bonus material for the limited edition, should you wish to own a luxury edition of this, our now classic debut.” Hexvessel band was founded by English singer/songwriter Mat McNerney (Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures, Carpenter Brut etc) after he moved to Finland in 2009. Their style of music has been referred to as “forest folk” or as Noisey/Vice puts it: “Weaving English folk, lilting Americana, and mushroom-induced psychedelia”. Their debut album 'Dawnbearer' was released worldwide in 2011 on Svart Records and is considered to be an influential classic record of the modern Occult Rock revival. Highly popular with Hexvessel fans and unique in their catalogue, featuring guitars by Andrew McIvor (Code), violin work of Daniel Pioro (who works on Paul Thomas Anderson’s soundtracks with Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead), the early production work of Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost), and guest vocals from Carl Michael Eide (Virus, Ved Buens Ende, Aura Noir). “Think Woven Hand, haunted ’60s/’70s pastoral folk, or a darker riff on Midlake. McNerney covers Clive Palmer’s post-Incredible String Band crew C.O.B. and successfully transforms and darkens Paul Simon’s “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.” He quotes Crowley, Truman Capote, Isaac Babel, etc. Unlike black metal-ready folk, this is folk by a talented, ambitious black metal musician. But the energy’s there. As is the atmosphere.” - Stereogum “(Part of) a new wave of bands who share many of the original occult bands' musical and philosophical characteristics, spearheaded by Ghost, from Sweden, and the Devil's Blood, from Holland – have begun to lure in a new generation of fans, predominantly from the metal scene, their names alone – Ancient VVisdom, Hexvessel, Blood Ceremony– point to a focused step back to the age of Wheatley and Hammer. ” - The Guardian (2011)