Buscar:som

If – in some parallel universe (or perhaps a not-so-distant-future version of the one we’re already sentenced to living in) – the evil overloads of artificial intelligence were actually successful in their attempts to create convincingly enjoyable “original music,” more specifically tasked with wholly encapsulating my own personal tastes by data-chugging some cocktail of – oh, I don’t know – the posters on my wall, the records in my “most listened to” pile, the mixtapes I made for others, intensive physical scans of my auditory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, heart strings, whatever else they have splayed out on their autopsy table with the intention of generating one all-encompassing “perfect band” based on the fruitful sum of their findings – that band, for me, would be (or would at least sound exactly like) the Tara Clerkin Trio. It is, quite simply, without exception, the music I wish to hear.

Formed in Bristol UK (where none of them are from yet all of whom are deeply engrained) in 2020, the Tara Clerkin Trio – as it somewhat democratically exists today, despite the singular authority implied by its name – consists of the titular Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Sunny’s brother, Patrick Benjamin. I’ll confess, I don’t know what their respective roles are within the operation and there’s only a very small part of me that cares to learn, as one of my favorite qualities in an objective listening experience is the mystery of who is playing what, which sounds are “authentic” versus synthesized, which chunks are performed “live” in a room together versus meticulously Frankenstein’ed from measure to measure, or how exactly the overall sound is so (seemingly) effortlessly achieved. Though, I suspect, if and when I do witness a live performance by this band at any point, my enjoyment of the music will not be lost in my better understanding of it.

With two extraordinary mini-albums – In Spring (2021) and On The Turning Ground (2023) – making a splash on London’s formidable World of Echo label in wake of their self-titled 2020 debut, this upcoming Somewhere Good LP is, in many ways, the band’s most realised work. In running their usual gauntlet of idiosyncratic (*an overused adjective for which here there is regrettably no sufficient alternative) approaches, Clerkin & co. colour in and outside of compositional lines over the course of 40+ celebratory minutes - never wallowing, despite inherently somber subject matters of self-defeat, disease, displacement, restlessness, gentrification - allowing their arrangements and improvisations ample space and time to situate, stretch out, breathe, cross-pollinate, and ultimately take deeper hold on the listener’s imagination – all while somehow sounding more like themselves than ever before.

Of course, there are traceable influences herein, if one felt that such comparisons were necessary to properly examine and enjoy this music (they aren’t)… Being the big dumb American from the small boring town that I am, cornfed on ‘90s alternative radio with the enchantingly exotic sounds of Maxinquaye and Mezzanine emanating from my chunky tube television, I can’t help but to make a blatantly obvious reference to a “Bristol sound”, ie the whole trip-hop trip, the pastoral crooning over the suggestive urban grime of cracked electro/piano treatments, the digitally-yet-primitively reconstructed James Bond soundtrack string-beats, etc.. But the Tara Clerkin Trio is so infinitely much more than that. There are elements of avant-pop, modern classical, kraut-folk, audio verité, dare I say indie rock (and not of the beer guzzling, masturbatory fuzz-flex variety but perhaps more like a Trish Keenan-fronted Faust, Adrian Sherwood at the mixing desk of If You’re Feeling Sinister, or – in expanding on our alternate reality – a world in which High Llamas cut a full-length for Warp Records with Andrew Weatherall on coffee duty).

The hazy, unmappable skyline-mirage of droning harmonium, upright bass, peculiarly accentuated wind instruments, acoustic guitar, hushed yet literally mighty keys combine to hypnotizing effect. The band may make underlying nods to jazz, sure, but it’s not appropriation, it’s that they have the actual chops to build it out. Beneath the janky samples and oddball percussive embellishment lies actually great drumming. Beyond the manipulated vocal witchery and woefully reflective plain-spoke moments are Tara’s subtly inspired melodies, sung with what might honestly be the glue to the whole crazy equation. A calming consistency throughout the otherwise unpredictably dynamic, boldly intuitive, uniquely British exploration of this (their own) universe in song. – Ryan Davis (Chicago, February 2026)

In 1979, the Soviet label Melodiya released a record that immediately stood apart from most Soviet jazz of its time and perhaps for that very reason never became widely known. Oriental Suite by Oleg Gotskosik Quintet is a rare example of jazz, Eastern musical tradition, and compositional thinking coming together not as an exotic stylization but as a fully formed artistic statement.

This is not “Oriental colour” used as decoration, nor folklore treated as an ornament. Oriental Suite grows from within another musical tradition, with its monody, modal logic, slow unfolding of form, and focus on inner states rather than outward effect. The music is calm and concentrated. It does not try to impress, but gradually draws the listener into its own space.
Oleg Gotskozik was born in Tashkent in 1951, a city where Eastern music was part of everyday life rather than something distant or exotic. That may explain why his engagement with traditional material sounds so natural. He does not quote or stylize; he thinks in the same musical categories. By temperament, he was closer to a composer than to a jazz musician in the conventional sense. For him, jazz was not a style but a way of working with form and improvisation.There is no standard “theme and solos” logic in Oriental Suite. Improvisation is woven into the fabric of the music itself and unfolds in the same way as in oral traditions, gradually, with rising tension and a clear sense of arrival. Individual sections refer to traditional Uzbek genres such as lullabies, lyrical songs, and funeral laments, but these are not genre sketches. They are states of being. The music unfolds slowly, avoiding familiar harmonic drama and relying instead on modal scales and subtle internal movement.

A special role is played by trumpeter Yuri Parfyonov. His approach, with delayed vibrato, micro-glissandi, and melismatic phrasing, sounded unexpected at the end of the 1970s and still feels remarkably fresh today. This is not expressive jazz virtuosity but a focused, almost meditative voice, where improvisation becomes a form of inner speech.
It is also important to note that the original recording was not without technical flaws. Like many Soviet jazz releases of the time, Oriental Suite was captured under far from ideal conditions, and the master contained audible imperfections that were never part of the music itself. For this edition, the restoration was approached with great care and respect, working through the recording moment by moment to remove unwanted artifacts while preserving the character and atmosphere of the original. The aim was simple: to make sure nothing stands in the way of fully experiencing the music.

In the early 1980s, Oleg Gotskozik left the Soviet Union, and after that his name virtually disappeared from Soviet music journalism and literature. There were no official bans or public statements. He was simply no longer mentioned. Oriental Suite continued to exist on its own, without an author and without context. The record never entered the canon, received no continuation, and was never officially reissued. It seemed to fall out of time.
The original vinyl pressing was released in a run of around 32,000 copies, but most of them remained within the republic and never reached wide circulation. Today, original copies are hard to find and have long become objects of interest for collectors. There have been no official reissues, only attempts that never went beyond test pressings.
Today, Oriental Suite sounds surprisingly contemporary. It is music that can be described as deep ethno-jazz and even, in a certain sense, spiritual jazz. There is no exoticism here, no decorative borrowing, only a complete immersion in another musical way of thinking. It does not require explanations and does not need to be justified by its time.
This is not a forgotten curiosity revived for collectors’ sake. It is music that simply waited for the moment when it could be heard without ideological filters or genre expectations. Now it is returning quietly, without noise or hype, but with the clear sense that this is not an artifact of an era, but a living and genuinely rare artistic statement.

Fasst genau zehn Jahre nach dem letzten Studioalbum veröffentlicht die Band 2024 ihr bislang letztes Album "Zeitgeist", insgesamt das fünfte und das erste auf eigenem Label Vier Promille! 4 PROMILLE DRESCHEN WIEDER IN DIE SAITEN, SPUCKEN INS MIKRO, RUPFEN DEN BASS UND VERMÖBELN DIE FELLE! SEID IHR "BEREIT" FÜR ZEITGEIST-PUNKROCK?! 12 neue Tracks haben es auf die Platte geschafft und schon beim "Intro" wird klar, dass es hier ordentlich zur Sache geht, die Vorab-Single "Bereit", der Titeltrack selbst sowie "Lied Vom Rhein" und "Blackout" zeigen eine erstaunlich Bandbreite und Hitdichte. Dem reinen rumpeligen Oi! und räudigen Streetpunk haben 4 Promille schon spätestens mit Alte Schule 2006 abgeschworen, dennoch finden sich in ihrer Version von Punkrock, Deutschpunk oder einfach Punk immer noch derer Spuren. Die Promillos freuen sich höchstprozentig, dass es für sie unabhängig, DIY-mäßig und selbstgestaltet weitergeht! 4 PROMILLE auf Zeitgeist sind: Jason Kubke-Schlagzeug, Gesang - Martin Bayer-Gitarre, Gesang - Ralf (Basspromillo) Schmidt-Bass - Thomas (Pommes) Müller-Gesang, Gitarre Diese nun erhältliche Vinylversion heißt Rote Weiß Marbled LP, ist eher hellrot, aber wer ganz genau hinschaut, findet den Mamoreffekt. Rot Weiß weil Fortuna Düsseldorf. In Gedenken an Jason Kubke.

N.O.B.A. returns on Vibes Addikt with a raw and hypnotic vinyl only release, crafted for the most intense moments on the dancefloor. Blending driving techno energy with dark trance influences, the track unfolds through pounding kicks, razor-sharp synths and relentless tension before descending into an enchanting break layered with haunting Gregorian chants. A cinematic and almost mystical sequence before the track erupts back into full-force rave energy.

Following the identity and collector spirit of previous Vibes Addikt releases, this 10’’ edition fully embodies the label’s vision: dynamic, emotional and entirely dedicated to vinyl culture. No digital format, no streaming platforms — only pure analog pressure for DJs and collectors chasing rare weapons for the dancefloor.

Français

Vibes Addikt, le label de N.O.B.A. — régulièrement soutenu par des artistes tels que Charlotte de Witte, Amelie Lens, Klaudia Gawlas, Thomas Schumacher et bien d’autres — dévoile une nouvelle sortie ultra exclusive : un vinyle 10’’ pressé à seulement 150 exemplaires dans le monde.

N.O.B.A. revient sur Vibes Addikt avec une vinyl only release brute et hypnotique, pensée pour les moments les plus intenses du dancefloor. Entre techno frontale et influences trance sombres, le morceau déploie des kicks massifs, des synthés acérés et une tension constante avant de plonger dans un break envoûtant porté par des chants grégoriens hantés. Une séquence presque mystique et cinématographique, avant le retour d’une énergie rave explosive.

Dans la continuité de l’identité et de l’esprit collector des précédentes sorties Vibes Addikt, cette édition 10’’ incarne pleinement la vision du label : dynamique, emotionnel et entièrement dédiée à la culture vinyle. Aucun format digital, aucun streaming — uniquement la puissance du son analogique pour les DJs et collectionneurs en quête de pièces rares.

From a spontaneous moment in a hotel room in Kuruman to a fully realised body of work, Ngiyasaba is a testament to organic creativity, brotherhood and the power of music to move without limits.
What started as a late-night moment with Sanele Phakathi who was too scared to sleep in Kuruman — turned into something none of us could have planned. In that space, music took over. Ideas flowed freely and the energy grew so strong it literally reached next door… waking up the legendary Vinny Da Vinci, who walked in and said he wanted to be part of it. From that moment, everything changed.
Ngiyasaba (translated as “I’m scared”) is more than just an EP – it captures a feeling. That “wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” It’s the sound of pure collaboration, where instinct leads and the music follows.
From that room in Kuruman… to now being in your hands.

ISKRA is the debut album by Polish multi-instrumentalist and composer Olga Anna Markowska. Starting at “Dawn” and ending at “Dusk”, it is a journey of melancholic depth and true beauty filled with warm memories from what was & what could be.

Using zither, cello, electronics and occasional wordless voice, Olga weaves together something so affecting and under the skin beautiful that it is hard to shake, bringing to mind classics from artists like Jacaszek and William Basinski, or the films of Kieslowski. However, there’s a personal touch in her playing and compositions that stands out. Olga explains: “the cello pieces, in particular, were born from a desire to reconnect with the instrument I’ve known intimately since childhood. However, I had to step away from it for two years to gain perspective and find a fresh approach when I returned.” She continues : “ISKRA is an album about "ignition" — a gradual shift in how I think about music and a search for new values. It also marks the closing of a chapter, blending archival recordings with the dawn of new ideas.”

The album feels deeply personal from the first note, and bridges the difficult point between classical and ambient music in a truly natural way, leaving any typical tropes far off, instead demanding your full attention. Olga uses plenty of loops throughout, which together with the cello and zither builds a transcendent atmosphere. Standouts contain amongst others the stunning “Train Ride Home” - a 7 minute piece with zither as main focal point; “Fever Dream” - a plunge into warm static noise and deep plucks, as well as the beautiful “Helix”, which sounds like a washed out dream with its minimal tape loops and ambient vocal washes. Overall the album connects very well with Olga’s subjects of identity, memory of the places and human relations with nature. There is a deep humanity burrowed within these 40 minutes of music which feels immensely appropriate in these contemporary times.

ISKRA was recorded in different times and places from 2017 to 2022 and lands with perfection on Miasmah - connecting the dots from the early years while reaching into the stars.

BEAR's sound is a calculated collision of technical precision and unfiltered aggression _ a modern strain of European metal that balances math-inflected complexity with visceral, live-wire intensity. At the core of their identity a combination of brains and brute force. With Anhedonia, Belgian heavyweights BEAR deliver five songs of pure adrenaline and unfiltered heaviness that capture a band confronting the strange emotional vacuum that can follow trauma. Anhedonia is both a battle cry and a confession; a visceral document of resilience carved from years marked by illness, loss, uncertainty, and hard-won perseverance. Musically, Anhedonia represents a sharpened evolution of BEAR's already formidable sound. Known for their intricate rhythms, punishing riffs, and explosive intensity, the band made a conscious decision this time to strip away excess and focus on the core of each song. There is no wasted movement on this EP. Every riff lands with purpose. Every rhythmic shift feels earned. The band trimmed the fat without sacrificing identity, creating space for dynamics and melody to cut deeper than ever before. "The songs are somewhat stripped back, allowing more space for Maarten's vocals to really shine this time around. I feel like we really hit a great balance of maintaining our signature complex sound while also allowing for more experimentation and melody." (James Falck) Anhedonia acknowledges numbness without glorifying it. It confronts pain without being consumed by it. And in doing so, it transforms heaviness into something connective. BEAR have always been a band driven by conviction, and here they stand at their most authentic, vulnerable and ferocious. Together, BEAR create music that feels alive _ tense, volatile, and emotionally charged _ where technicality enhances impact, and heaviness carries genuine vulnerability beneath its surface. FOR FANS OF The Dillinger Escape Plan * Every Time I Die * Botch * Converge * Norma Jean * Coalesce * Herod

BEAR's sound is a calculated collision of technical precision and unfiltered aggression _ a modern strain of European metal that balances math-inflected complexity with visceral, live-wire intensity. At the core of their identity a combination of brains and brute force. With Anhedonia, Belgian heavyweights BEAR deliver five songs of pure adrenaline and unfiltered heaviness that capture a band confronting the strange emotional vacuum that can follow trauma. Anhedonia is both a battle cry and a confession; a visceral document of resilience carved from years marked by illness, loss, uncertainty, and hard-won perseverance. Musically, Anhedonia represents a sharpened evolution of BEAR's already formidable sound. Known for their intricate rhythms, punishing riffs, and explosive intensity, the band made a conscious decision this time to strip away excess and focus on the core of each song. There is no wasted movement on this EP. Every riff lands with purpose. Every rhythmic shift feels earned. The band trimmed the fat without sacrificing identity, creating space for dynamics and melody to cut deeper than ever before. "The songs are somewhat stripped back, allowing more space for Maarten's vocals to really shine this time around. I feel like we really hit a great balance of maintaining our signature complex sound while also allowing for more experimentation and melody." (James Falck) Anhedonia acknowledges numbness without glorifying it. It confronts pain without being consumed by it. And in doing so, it transforms heaviness into something connective. BEAR have always been a band driven by conviction, and here they stand at their most authentic, vulnerable and ferocious. Together, BEAR create music that feels alive _ tense, volatile, and emotionally charged _ where technicality enhances impact, and heaviness carries genuine vulnerability beneath its surface. FOR FANS OF The Dillinger Escape Plan * Every Time I Die * Botch * Converge * Norma Jean * Coalesce * Herod

A founding member and keyboardist of acclaimed jazz
groupBADBADNOTGOOD,Tavares has gone from being an in-demand
producer with some of the biggest names in music to a songwriter and
artist in his own right, having touched corners of the globe and cemented
twoGRAMMY Awardsand five nominations
Between collaborations with Kendrick Lamar , Ghostface Killah , MF DOOM , Tyler
the Creator , Kali Uchis , Tavares has also played with Frank Ocean ,
soundtracked Virgil Alboh 's landmark S/ S 2019 runway show for Louis Vuitton,
and penned songs for Post Malone , Rosalia , Travis Scott , Kodak Black , Justin
Beiber,Camilla Cabello,Jack Harlow amongst others.
With a sound that fuses his nostalgia for the golden era of blogs with the
eclecticism of the late 2000s, the combination of the internet crossed with an
isolated suburban upbringing has laid the groundwork for Matty's genre-bending
artistry. Embracing a raw creative output with an aversion to following the norms
of the industry reverberates across his discography,Matty has found success in
previous releases including 'Clear' and 'I'll Gladly Place Myself Below', which push
the boundaries of sonic creativity and knowledge.
Now with his upcoming album POPS , Matty relinquishes his lowkey and
understated style for something larger than life, while maintaining a level of
honesty and openness that has defined his past work to make for a dynamic
release that constellates around music's greatest subject - love.

On her second album, Sawt El Doumouh (The Sound of Tears), Beirut-based Sandy Chamoun summons flickers of light from sadness. Influences from the Arabic tradition of Tarab – one of the first styles Chamoun learnt to sing – and polyphonic Cantu are reinterpreted and reimagined through her voice and electronics, synths from her SANAM and Ghadr bandmate Anthony Sayhoun, and live percussion from Ali Hout.
Marked by its times, the record isn’t what Chamoun had planned. “I wrote the lyrics between October 2023 and September 2025,” she explains. “The plan was to write about nature, since the album’s concept was inspired by Cantu, a tenor Sardinian ritual that celebrates humanity’s victory over nature. I intended to visit several places and regions in Lebanon and write a track for each, but after the genocide and the war in Lebanon, everything changed.”
“I chose the title because many mornings during this period I woke up crying silently. I remember a dark story from school: a teacher yelled at a small boy while he was crying and told him to cry without making any sound. I feel we are still living in that condition in the region — forced to die or suffer without making any noise.”
Sawt El Doumouh is a gorgeous refusal to be silent. It opens with a booming drum. Over keening autotune Chamoun’s pure voice cuts through, burying the despair to illuminate rays of hope. On “Ward W Shok” a shuffling swing gives way to a righteous organ interlude. The title track sees a choir of Chamoun’s vocals lull and lap. Drums arrive and indignation stirs, what’s mournful begins to stride.
Chamoun’s tracks are as beautiful as they are defiant. Why write songs in the face of horror? Perhaps because music can hold onto something better. By turning to song, Chamoun catches the hopeful glints and sparks that persist and strive outside the terror. In SANAM and Ghadr she often borrows lyrics from Arabic writers through the centuries, listening to what their words say in the present while reminding us the world can and has been different to how it is now. Solo she writes her own words, and the way her songs alternately soar and sigh evokes hopeful pluralities and suggestions of other, kinder realities. Even hearing someone cry is a connection to humanity.
It’s a possibility conveyed in the album’s most jubilant moments. “Shahed” is an incandescent dance of percussion and levitating synths. “I wrote it after I saw a photo of a small boy on a horse on the beach in Gaza,” Chamoun recalls. “I imagined a fantasy where the boy lives in the water and watches the terrifying reality on the shore, trying to bring water to put out the fire. Shahed is the witness who lives far from the shore, enjoying the water and trying to help. You can hear this duality: the percussion is desert-like, while the vocals and synths evoke the feeling of water.”
Although it comes from darkness, in Chamoun’s music we can hear faith in something beyond it.

"I decided to just let myself go," Zzzahara says of their new record, 'Spiral Your Way Out' "I think I finally came to this acceptance that I don't have to be perfect. I want to be a good role model to my fans and stuff like that, but I also don't want to hide who I am." Zzzahara's music wades into the deep waters of love, lust, and self-discovery in a part of the world where artifice and authenticity co-exist. Emerging from the heart of LA's alternative music scene, their sound is raw in feeling and rebellious by nature.

Their 2022 debut album, Liminal Spaces, chronicles a coming- of- age in Highland Park, following painful childhood memories through to late- night, live- fast coping mechanisms, and the changes the neighbourhood has endured over the same period of time. Their 2023 follow- up, Tender, marked a period of slowing down, looking inward, and embracing a softer side of being. 'Spiral Your Way Out' sees Zzzahara evolve again. Emotionally, its foundations are built on scorched earth.

The album finds Zzzahara in the aftermath of a relationship spent trying to fit someone else's mould, being jerked around by indecision, and then hitting "emotional rock bottom." Made in a three-month burst that let all their pent-up frustrations loose, 'Spiral Your Way Out' is in part a work of self-reclamation, swapping there 2nd album Tender's meditative state for something fiery and more assertive. The new album marks another sonic evolution as much as an emotional one. Zzzahara's songs have always come wrapped in a warm glow that reflects how they were written -namely at home in their bedroom.

That glow remains on 'Spiral Your Way Out', but it also packs an ambitious streak and a gutsy punch. Taking a more collaborative approach than usual, Zzzahara worked with a range of producers including Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, No Joy, Sky Ferreira), Sarah Tudzin (boygenius / Cloud Nothings / The Armed), former Ducktails guitarist Alex Craig (Jelani Aryeh / re6ce) and Halsey tour drummer Franco Reid, who helped harness their intimate style of writing and blow it up into something more panoptic. After a year of upheaval, Zzzahara finally feels "calm." The musical equivalent to going several rounds on a punching bag, 'Spiral Your Way Out' finds solace between extremes. It licks its wounds in a place where pain and love, healing and abandon, sit side-by-side. If it has a message, it's one of standing tall in your own shoes - scuffs and all.

"I decided to just let myself go," Zzzahara says of their new record, 'Spiral Your Way Out' "I think I finally came to this acceptance that I don't have to be perfect. I want to be a good role model to my fans and stuff like that, but I also don't want to hide who I am." Zzzahara's music wades into the deep waters of love, lust, and self-discovery in a part of the world where artifice and authenticity co-exist. Emerging from the heart of LA's alternative music scene, their sound is raw in feeling and rebellious by nature.

Their 2022 debut album, Liminal Spaces, chronicles a coming- of- age in Highland Park, following painful childhood memories through to late- night, live- fast coping mechanisms, and the changes the neighbourhood has endured over the same period of time. Their 2023 follow- up, Tender, marked a period of slowing down, looking inward, and embracing a softer side of being. 'Spiral Your Way Out' sees Zzzahara evolve again. Emotionally, its foundations are built on scorched earth.

The album finds Zzzahara in the aftermath of a relationship spent trying to fit someone else's mould, being jerked around by indecision, and then hitting "emotional rock bottom." Made in a three-month burst that let all their pent-up frustrations loose, 'Spiral Your Way Out' is in part a work of self-reclamation, swapping there 2nd album Tender's meditative state for something fiery and more assertive. The new album marks another sonic evolution as much as an emotional one. Zzzahara's songs have always come wrapped in a warm glow that reflects how they were written -namely at home in their bedroom.

That glow remains on 'Spiral Your Way Out', but it also packs an ambitious streak and a gutsy punch. Taking a more collaborative approach than usual, Zzzahara worked with a range of producers including Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, No Joy, Sky Ferreira), Sarah Tudzin (boygenius / Cloud Nothings / The Armed), former Ducktails guitarist Alex Craig (Jelani Aryeh / re6ce) and Halsey tour drummer Franco Reid, who helped harness their intimate style of writing and blow it up into something more panoptic. After a year of upheaval, Zzzahara finally feels "calm." The musical equivalent to going several rounds on a punching bag, 'Spiral Your Way Out' finds solace between extremes. It licks its wounds in a place where pain and love, healing and abandon, sit side-by-side. If it has a message, it's one of standing tall in your own shoes - scuffs and all.

Instead of looking back with longing, Futurebirds uses the past as fuel - after more than 15 years together, the band has channeled everything they've lived and learned into their best project yet, one that elevates and adds new dimension to their signature cosmic Americana, psychedelic country-rock sound Self-reflective lyricism explores themes of isolation, release, love lost and found again, and ultimately, embracing life in all its chaos.

A transcendental journey through the shadows of consciousness - remastered and expanded for the deepest listening experience yet With Metamorphyses , Swedish dark ambient pioneer Peter Andersson (RAISON D'ETRE) invites us into a labyrinth of sound and soul, where drone, ritualism, and neoclassical minimalism converge into something vast, immersive, and transformative. Originally released in the mid-2000s, this defining work now returns in a gloriously expanded edition - and for the first time ever, pressed onto double vinyl.

This 2025 edition, meticulously remastered to K14- level standards by Andersson himself, features not only the core studio album (Disc I, recorded winter 2005-2006), but also two full discs of evocative live performances from across Europe, including Gent, Sofia, Salzburg, Alkmaar, Budapest, and a stunning set recorded in the Sophienkirche of Wuppertal during the Phobos II Dark Ambient Festival (2010) - a performance that plays like a liturgy for forgotten gods. The sound is monumental yet subtle: subterranean drones coil beneath spectral chants, decaying harmonics ripple through ancient cathedrals of reverb, and slowshifting textures create a space where the listener floats between the sacred and the surreal. There are echoes here of Lustmord's somber gravity, Thomas Koner 's icy isolationism, and the ritualistic depth of Inade or Desiderii Marginis, but it's RAISON D'ETRE's singular spiritual voice that rises from the abyss. The artwork by Kati Astraeir perfectly captures the album's meditative darkness - fluid forms, organic decay, and transcendent abstraction - while the layout, also designed by Andersson, reinforces the ritualistic purity of the listening experience.

A transcendental journey through the shadows of consciousness - remastered and expanded for the deepest listening experience yet With Metamorphyses , Swedish dark ambient pioneer Peter Andersson (RAISON D'ETRE) invites us into a labyrinth of sound and soul, where drone, ritualism, and neoclassical minimalism converge into something vast, immersive, and transformative. Originally released in the mid-2000s, this defining work now returns in a gloriously expanded edition - and for the first time ever, pressed onto double vinyl.

This 2025 edition, meticulously remastered to K14- level standards by Andersson himself, features not only the core studio album (Disc I, recorded winter 2005-2006), but also two full discs of evocative live performances from across Europe, including Gent, Sofia, Salzburg, Alkmaar, Budapest, and a stunning set recorded in the Sophienkirche of Wuppertal during the Phobos II Dark Ambient Festival (2010) - a performance that plays like a liturgy for forgotten gods. The sound is monumental yet subtle: subterranean drones coil beneath spectral chants, decaying harmonics ripple through ancient cathedrals of reverb, and slowshifting textures create a space where the listener floats between the sacred and the surreal. There are echoes here of Lustmord's somber gravity, Thomas Koner 's icy isolationism, and the ritualistic depth of Inade or Desiderii Marginis, but it's RAISON D'ETRE's singular spiritual voice that rises from the abyss. The artwork by Kati Astraeir perfectly captures the album's meditative darkness - fluid forms, organic decay, and transcendent abstraction - while the layout, also designed by Andersson, reinforces the ritualistic purity of the listening experience.

The Lounge Society guitarist HERBIE MAY releases his second solo single on June 5 via Red Licorice Records. Uphill is an exuberant blast of choppy mood-altering indiepop energy with the kind of sharp, observant lyrics that recall Courtney Barnett, Jonathan Richman or Stuart Murdoch. The record is backed with Apple an urgent exhortation to get up, get out and go and Do Something. The 7inch 45 will be available on limited edition vinyl (250 copies) as well as on all digital platforms. Herbie says: These songs are my call to leave it all behind. To forget ourselves; the myths of our identities. These veneers of personalities we've constructed don't seem to serve us any more. We all feel stuck. So why don't we just drop it, find new selves, in new places. Who's with me?

The new EP is released on limited edition 'Scissorhands Ice Blue' coloured vinyl with a hand-numbered gold riso print sleeve art with obi strip. Sarah/Shaun wooed hearts and wowed critics with debut EP It's True What They Say? in 2024 plus follow-up EP Someone's Ghost in 2025. They have been featured across the media including BBC Radio 6Music, BBC Radio Scotland, The List and The Skinny. They've played gigs supporting French legends Air, Glaswegian 80s pop legends The Bluebells, Glasgow's huge Glasvegas, a slew of venues across Glasgow and Edinburgh, not to mention the festivals: Kelburn Garden Party, Fringe By The Sea, Kendall Calling, Dunbar Music Festival and Hidden Door Festival. The duo are set to release a full length album in late 2026.


b A2 Heart Started Beating [Backwards] (4:10)
[c] B1 Desperation Looks Ill [From The Other Side] (4:26)


[b] A2 Heart Started Beating [Backwards] (4:10)
[c] B1 Desperation Looks Ill [From The Other Side] (4:26)

2026 Repress

Once in a while Athens of the North drops something for the heads, and this is most definitely one of those. An insane deep soul rarity — and I mean so rare most people don’t even know it exists, I certainly didn’t till labelmate Brian Sears played it to me. Sugar Bear and the Sensations came out of Houston, Texas, masterminded by Clyde Gambrel (who was kind enough to clear this for re-release). They only ever released this one 45 as Sugar Bear & The Sensations, though Clyde also put out another killer 45 under just Sugar Bear.

There are two versions of this album:

1. numbered 100 copies of limited black 180g vinyl made in collaboration with U JAZZ ME Records

2. transparent orange 180g vinyl

LINER NOTES:

" When AJ Lee stepped back into the ring in September 2025 - after a ten-year break - she introduced herself to a new generation of fans with the words: 'If you haven't heard of me, I am your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler.' That is exactly what came to my mind as a lead for this blurb when Pokusa asked me to write it. Because that’s what they are: your favorite indie darlings' favorite indie darlings (even though no one uses that term anymore, let alone identifies as such). They are your favorite cool jazzcats’ favorite jazzcats. And they are probably your favorite young jazz act - if you don’t usually (or ever) listen to jazz.

This, I always thought, is their greatest strength. Half the battle (in my eyes) is recording a sick jazz album - one that a jazz magazine would fawn over. The real win is getting someone wearing a heavy metal T-shirt into it; someone who’s never listened to jazz and has never stepped foot in a place like Pardon, To Tu, but heard Pokusa and decided to change that. I am such a person. I didn't learn about jazz because of them, but they’re definitely the reason I started rating it.
Głowy (Heads) is, in a way, a classic album. If someone played it for me and - relying on my lack of knowledge and gullibility - tried to convince me that it was recorded in the Polish Radio Studios in 1975, at Akwarium Club in Warsaw in 1985, at Club Rura in 1989, somewhere in Tri-City in '94, or at Mózg in Bydgoszcz, I would probably believe it. Its 'classicness' goes hand in hand with its timelessness. I could write about how the album fits into the catalogs of Lado ABC, GOWI, or Biodro Records. I could dig for connections to Yass, Tzadik, or a number of other things.
But what Teo, Natan, and Tymek create here is as important in its experience as it is in its music. For me - an artist active in a similar time - each Pokusa album, including this newest release, is a record of a period of time and the experiences hidden between the notes. The Indian spices in food served before a show in Mózg. A headache from all the cigarettes smoked listening to tapes in Eufemia. Marveling at the graffiti over the sink in Młodsza Siostra. The narrow steps at Chłodna 25. The wider but slippery steps to Pogłos. The quirky and uncomfortable steps in Ziemia. The mosquitoes at Ladomek. The dilemma of whether to wear a nice polo instead of a T-shirt to SPATiF. The wonder of turning off Monciak into Dwie Zmiany. Why is a club like this on such a strip? Why is Pokusa playing here? And why do they sound so good?
On one hand, you can find journalists writing that Pokusa grew out of the classic free jazz of the 1960s; some might mention Albert Ayler. On the other hand, there’s Unsound Festival and young critics writing about 'post-jazz.' All of them are correct. This is universalism. This is that timelessness. Whether you pick up this album the day it comes out or in the year 2046, it will be good. In twenty years, people will still reach for it. Of that, I am certain."
Michał Turowski