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Die aus Nordirland stammende Band Darkest Era hat sich den Ruf erworben, einen der gefühlvollsten,
atmosphärischsten und kraftvollsten Heavy Metals des Undergrounds zu kreieren. „Wither on the Vine“
präsentiert die Band auf dem Höhepunkt ihres Songwritings und ihrer Performance. Das Album, das sich mit
Themen wie menschlicher Tragödie, bitterer Misanthropie und heidnischer Spiritualität auseinandersetzt,
ist ein Album von verheerender emotionaler Wucht und musikalischer Katharsis. Über das kommende
Album sagt Gitarrist Ade Mulgew: „Das Album ist ein düsteres Spiegelbild der heutigen Welt, politisch,
sozial und ökologisch. Stilistisch mischt das Album Black-Metal- und Doom-Metal-Elemente mit einem
fast klassischen Rock-Stil.“

‘Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene… Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… is simply a masterpiece.’ – Pitchfork, 10/10, April 2002

‘The looped chaos and plangent melodies... effectively heralded the birth of a new band, as Jeff Tweedy overhauled his compositional modus operandi. So tender was the emotional core of songs like ‘Jesus, Etc.’ that the record became wrapped up in America’s post-9/11 cultural discourse... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot embedded Wilco’s great American songwriter status.’
– Mojo

‘It's as if the Flying Burrito Brothers suddenly decided to cover Pavement songs. There is a gentle, rootsy beauty here that Wilco has buried in a box of vulnerability and covered with a handful of dirt.’ – New York Times

‘Born out of turmoil, Wilco’s fourth album was a stone-cold classic.’ – Uncut

Nonesuch releases seven special editions of Wilco’s landmark 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The now-classic record has been remastered and will be available as part of each set. The Super Deluxe version comprises eleven vinyl LPs and one CD – including demos, drafts, and instrumentals, charting the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – plus a live 2002 concert recording and a September 2001 radio performance and interview. That box set includes eighty-two previously unreleased music tracks as well as a new book featuring an interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, drummer Glenn Kotche, and Jim O’Rourke, who mixed the acclaimed 2002 album; an in-depth essay by journalist/author Bob Mehr; and previously unseen photos of the band making the album in their Chicago studio, The Loft. For the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot recording, Wilco was Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, and Jay Bennett with Craig Christiansen, Ken Coomer, Jessy Greene, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and Jim O’Rourke.

A live version of ‘Reservations’ from a legendary concert contained on Snoozin’ at The Pageant – Live 7/23/02 at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO – a recording that is part of the Super Deluxe LP and CD sets as well as the Deluxe LP and digital sets – is now available. A limited-edition vinyl 7” with versions of ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ and ‘War on War’, from the Super Deluxe box set, is available now from wilcostore.

Wilco marked the anniversary of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – which was released commercially on April 23, 2002, after a circuitous and storied gestation, including a period of streaming for free on the band’s website – with a performance of the album’s ‘Poor Places’ on April 18’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which may be seen here. The band is currently performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its entirety (plus a mix of concert favourites and rarities) in two limited runs at New York City’s United Palace and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. The Chicago show on April 23 will be available as a live stream here.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was widely acclaimed as one of 2002’s best albums, appearing in year-end lists of Mojo, NME, Q, Rolling Stone, and Uncut, among many others. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot also was featured in multiple decade-end lists, with Rolling Stone naming it #3 Album of the 2000s, as well as many Greatest Albums of All Time lists, including in the NME.

Among Yankee’s inspirations was a recording Tweedy bought at Tower Records in the late 1990s, The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. As Bob Mehr points out in his new album note, the record got “deep under Tweedy’s skin.” Tweedy said in his 2017 memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), “It was as fascinating to me as anything being made by actual musicians using actual instruments… I wanted to know why it was so hypnotic to me. Why could I listen to hours of this stuff, even though I had no clue what any of them were saying. That question became the foundation for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… the way people communicated or ultimately failed to communicate.” The album takes its title from a haunting recording of a woman repeating those words that is included in The Conet Project; that recording is sampled in the penultimate song on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, ‘Poor Places’.

“Conceptually, Tweedy had decided to focus on a big idea for the next album: the state of America. His lyrics – often distilled from scribbled pages of free verse or poetry – became a form of inquiry,” Mehr continues. Tweedy said, in 2004, “I wanted to write about the stuff right in front of my eyes, microscopically looking at America and asking questions about each little thing… How can there be all these good things and things that I love about America, alongside all of these things that I’m ashamed of? And that was an internal question, too; I think I felt that way about myself.”

Mehr says, “Exploring those questions, while weaving in strands of Eastern philosophy and bits of autobiography – Yankee lyrics would be loaded with the pained imagery of someone suffering from migraines and mental health issues – Tweedy would conjure a deep examination of both country and self.”

Describing the uncanny, strangely prescient feeling of the album, which Wilco began offering as a free stream on its website in 2001, Mehr notes: “In the wake of 9/11, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be burdened with unintended meaning. The disc had originally been scheduled for a September 11 release. Its cover – a Sam Jones-shot image of Chicago’s twin Marina Towers angled in looming fashion – bore an eerie resemblance to the felled World Trade Center towers. And the songs – with titles like ‘Ashes of American Flags’ and ‘War on War,’ and lyrics about how ‘tall buildings shake, sad voices escape’ – took on a terrible new resonance.”

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the first Wilco release on Nonesuch Records following the band’s infamous split with Reprise (both labels are part of Warner Music Group). It was also the first release featuring the line-up of drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach joining founding members Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt. The 2002 Sam Jones film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documented the fraught recording and mixing process, personnel changes, and label issues.

The relationship with Nonesuch would last nearly a decade and include three more studio albums – the Grammy Award-winning A ghost is born, Sky Blue Sky, and Wilco (the album) – along with a live album and a live DVD, plus reissues of earlier records, before Wilco began its own label, dBpm. The band’s current lineup of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Patrick Sansone, and Nels Cline has been together for nearly twenty years.

‘Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene… Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… is simply a masterpiece.’ – Pitchfork, 10/10, April 2002

‘The looped chaos and plangent melodies... effectively heralded the birth of a new band, as Jeff Tweedy overhauled his compositional modus operandi. So tender was the emotional core of songs like ‘Jesus, Etc.’ that the record became wrapped up in America’s post-9/11 cultural discourse... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot embedded Wilco’s great American songwriter status.’
– Mojo

‘It's as if the Flying Burrito Brothers suddenly decided to cover Pavement songs. There is a gentle, rootsy beauty here that Wilco has buried in a box of vulnerability and covered with a handful of dirt.’ – New York Times

‘Born out of turmoil, Wilco’s fourth album was a stone-cold classic.’ – Uncut

Nonesuch releases seven special editions of Wilco’s landmark 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The now-classic record has been remastered and will be available as part of each set. The Super Deluxe version comprises eleven vinyl LPs and one CD – including demos, drafts, and instrumentals, charting the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – plus a live 2002 concert recording and a September 2001 radio performance and interview. That box set includes eighty-two previously unreleased music tracks as well as a new book featuring an interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, drummer Glenn Kotche, and Jim O’Rourke, who mixed the acclaimed 2002 album; an in-depth essay by journalist/author Bob Mehr; and previously unseen photos of the band making the album in their Chicago studio, The Loft. For the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot recording, Wilco was Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, and Jay Bennett with Craig Christiansen, Ken Coomer, Jessy Greene, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and Jim O’Rourke.

A live version of ‘Reservations’ from a legendary concert contained on Snoozin’ at The Pageant – Live 7/23/02 at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO – a recording that is part of the Super Deluxe LP and CD sets as well as the Deluxe LP and digital sets – is now available. A limited-edition vinyl 7” with versions of ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ and ‘War on War’, from the Super Deluxe box set, is available now from wilcostore.

Wilco marked the anniversary of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – which was released commercially on April 23, 2002, after a circuitous and storied gestation, including a period of streaming for free on the band’s website – with a performance of the album’s ‘Poor Places’ on April 18’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which may be seen here. The band is currently performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its entirety (plus a mix of concert favourites and rarities) in two limited runs at New York City’s United Palace and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. The Chicago show on April 23 will be available as a live stream here.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was widely acclaimed as one of 2002’s best albums, appearing in year-end lists of Mojo, NME, Q, Rolling Stone, and Uncut, among many others. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot also was featured in multiple decade-end lists, with Rolling Stone naming it #3 Album of the 2000s, as well as many Greatest Albums of All Time lists, including in the NME.

Among Yankee’s inspirations was a recording Tweedy bought at Tower Records in the late 1990s, The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. As Bob Mehr points out in his new album note, the record got “deep under Tweedy’s skin.” Tweedy said in his 2017 memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), “It was as fascinating to me as anything being made by actual musicians using actual instruments… I wanted to know why it was so hypnotic to me. Why could I listen to hours of this stuff, even though I had no clue what any of them were saying. That question became the foundation for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… the way people communicated or ultimately failed to communicate.” The album takes its title from a haunting recording of a woman repeating those words that is included in The Conet Project; that recording is sampled in the penultimate song on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, ‘Poor Places’.

“Conceptually, Tweedy had decided to focus on a big idea for the next album: the state of America. His lyrics – often distilled from scribbled pages of free verse or poetry – became a form of inquiry,” Mehr continues. Tweedy said, in 2004, “I wanted to write about the stuff right in front of my eyes, microscopically looking at America and asking questions about each little thing… How can there be all these good things and things that I love about America, alongside all of these things that I’m ashamed of? And that was an internal question, too; I think I felt that way about myself.”

Mehr says, “Exploring those questions, while weaving in strands of Eastern philosophy and bits of autobiography – Yankee lyrics would be loaded with the pained imagery of someone suffering from migraines and mental health issues – Tweedy would conjure a deep examination of both country and self.”

Describing the uncanny, strangely prescient feeling of the album, which Wilco began offering as a free stream on its website in 2001, Mehr notes: “In the wake of 9/11, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be burdened with unintended meaning. The disc had originally been scheduled for a September 11 release. Its cover – a Sam Jones-shot image of Chicago’s twin Marina Towers angled in looming fashion – bore an eerie resemblance to the felled World Trade Center towers. And the songs – with titles like ‘Ashes of American Flags’ and ‘War on War,’ and lyrics about how ‘tall buildings shake, sad voices escape’ – took on a terrible new resonance.”

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the first Wilco release on Nonesuch Records following the band’s infamous split with Reprise (both labels are part of Warner Music Group). It was also the first release featuring the line-up of drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach joining founding members Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt. The 2002 Sam Jones film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documented the fraught recording and mixing process, personnel changes, and label issues.

The relationship with Nonesuch would last nearly a decade and include three more studio albums – the Grammy Award-winning A ghost is born, Sky Blue Sky, and Wilco (the album) – along with a live album and a live DVD, plus reissues of earlier records, before Wilco began its own label, dBpm. The band’s current lineup of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Patrick Sansone, and Nels Cline has been together for nearly twenty years.


DISC 5: HERE COMES EVERYBODY – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 2)
Side I: (TRAIN)
1. Radio Cure (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
2. War on War (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
3. Venus Stopped the Train (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
4. I'm the Man Who Loves You (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
5. The Good Part (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
Side J: (KETTLE)
1. Pot Kettle Black (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
2. Ashes of American Flags (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
3. Poor Places (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
4. Shakin' Sugar (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
5. Reservations (Here Comes Everybody Version) *

DISC 6: HERE COMES EVERYBODY – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 2) / THE UNIFIED THEORY OF EVERYTHING – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 3)
Side K: (ESCAPE)
1. Cars Can't Escape (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
2. A Magazine Called Sunset (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. Remember to Remember (Hummingbird) The Unified Theory of Everything Version ** #
4. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
Side L: (WAR)
1. Kamera (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
2. Radio Cure (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. War on War (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
4. Jesus, Etc. (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #

DISC 7: THE UNIFIED THEORY OF EVERYTHING – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 3) / LONELY IN THE DEEP END – DEMOS, DRAFTS, ETC.
Side M: (DRUMMER)
1. Ashes of American Flags (Stravinsky Mix) ** #
2. Heavy Metal Drummer (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. I'm The Man Who Loves You (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) **
4. Pot Kettle Black (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
5. Poor Places (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
Side N: (RESERVATIONS)
1. Reservations (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
2. Love Will (Let You Down) Lonely in the Deep End Version *
3. Lost Poem Demo (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *
4. I’m The Only One Who Lets Her Down (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *
5. Has Anybody Seen My Pencil? (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *














[l] E1. Anniversary (Nothing Up My Sleeve) [American Aquarium Version] *









[v] G2. Not for the Season (Laminated Cat) [American Aquarium Version] *


[y] H2. Not for the Season (Laminated Cat) [Here Comes Everybody Version] * #





[xe] K3. Remember to Remember (Hummingbird) [The Unified Theory of Everything Version] ** #











[xq] N2. Love Will (Let You Down) [Lonely in the Deep End Version] *

A decade is a long time in music, but it feels less epic when the music in question is timeless, picturesque, and immersive. Founded in London, run from Bali for a period, and now based in Ibiza, NuNorthern Soul has grown from humble roots to become one of the most popular outlets for Balearic music on the planet.

NuNorthern Soul started in the late 1990s, long before the label launched, NuNorthern Soul was a regular Sunday session in a bar in Chester, UK where label founder Phat Phil Cooper and school friend Jim Baron (Ron Basejam, Crazy P, JIM) sat behind the decks and played laidback, eclectic musical selections to wind down the weekend. The name was suggested by one of the event’s regular punters, who likened the community feel of the event to his experiences as a Northern Soul dancer.

Fast forward to 2011. Following a move to London, Cooper was introduced to Ben Smith, a singer-songwriter and producer whose music he’d long admired. After bonding over a few pints of Guinness, Smith offered to hand over a hard drive full of unreleased tracks; together, the pair put together what would become the NuNorthern Soul label’s first ever release: a fine album of beautiful, boundary-free music entitled The Movedrill Projects.

Another EP from Smith, Dedications to the Greats, followed in early 2013, with the sometime Fug and Akwaaba band-member recording emotive, life-affirming cover versions in his signature style. It was followed by an EP of opaque, sunset-ready songs from Ragz Nordset, and NuNorthern Soul was on its way. While the label has subtly moved around musically since, offering up EPs and albums that incorporate elements from a multitude of becalmed and blissful styles, the core ethos remains the same. Significantly, those early Ben Smith and Ragz Nordset releases still stand up to scrutiny all these years on.

Smith has remained a big part of the NuNorthern Soul family ever since, and it’s fitting that two of his tracks – the stunning, undulating downtempo epic ‘Over Land & Sea’, from improvised 2019 album From The Ash, and Jonny Nash’s glistening, shuffling 2015 rework of ‘Hold On To It’ – are featured on this 10th birthday celebration of the NuNorthern Soul story so far.

It’s right, too, that Jim Baron, whose stints behind the decks with Cooper in Chester began the NuNorthern Soul story, also makes two appearances. His chugging, jangling, wide-eyed 2014 Ron Basejam rework of Ragz Nordset’s ‘You Started It All’ – a track that has so far racked up over three million streams on Spotify – was an early label hit, while his fragile, softly spun masterpiece as JIM, ‘Whisper in the Wind’ (featuring none other than Ben Smith on guitar), features here via a deliciously stretched-out, sunrise-ready remix from James Holroyd under his Balearic-friendly BEGIN guise.

Sentimentality aside, the success of NuNorthern Soul is rooted in Cooper’s ability to pick music to release from a wide variety of artists that fits the label’s colourful, atmospheric, and tactile sonic vision. This lovingly curated box set is testament to that, with immersive, yearning efforts from veteran musicians such as Jon Tye (here appearing as Captain Sunshine, via the breath-taking ‘The Oceans Inside’) and the late, great Ryo Kawasaki (remixed by Mancunian, former Body & Soul NYC resident DJ Andi Hanley) being joined by wonderfully on-point productions from relatively recent signings such as Torn Sail (the Balearic folk swell of ‘Disconnected’), George Koultalieris, My Friend Dario and Tambores En Benirras.

10 Years, 5 EPs, 10 tracks, exclusives, previously unreleased and hard to find NuNorthern Soul treasures. Packaged in a full colour commemorative designed box with full colour inner sleeves. 1 track per side of vinyl for maximum audio pleasure. Comes with 4 page NuNorthern Soul insert. Limited edition.

Subb-an returns to 20/20 Vision with 'State Of Flow' featuring vocals from Oli Gosh (Crosstown Rebels). Ash Subhan has been an integral part of the deep house and techno scenes over the last decade and more with releases for One Records, Spectral and Culprit.

'State Of Flow' is a beautiful slice of deep techno that incapsulates atmospheric layers of melodies and vocals with powerful bottom heavy bass and percussive floor control. SOF is the first collaboration between Subb-an and singer songwriter Oli Gosh and has resulted in new directions and musical landscapes.ASOF comes complete with remixes from Adam Pits and Armec.
Adam Pits delivers a devious little gem aimed at dance-floor destruction that winds it's way between a heavy garage bassline and 90's four to floor house rhythms, fragmenting the vocal around an increasingly unhinged and infectious groove. It's fusion served at it's finest and a super fresh sound perfectly placed for the current club scene.

Armec accentuates and expands the immense power hidden in 'State Of Flow' by breakin' the beats up and adding heavily swung filtered loops snaking around a massive bass. The Armec remix comes complete with a twist to its tale with the additional of a magnificently wobbly arpeggiated synth twisting our melons into a right old state.

Hervorragendes Album eines fantastischen joint venture Teams: Inkswel aus Australien und Colonel Red aus Birmingham machen unbeschwerten Hip Hop-beeinflussten Downbeat mit Soul. Perfekt balancieren sie fette Beats, gute Melodien, geradeaus Messages mit geräuschvollen Unter- oder Obertönen.

Beide haben eine beeindruckende Vita mit tollen Produktionen. Colonel Red kennt man von einigen West London Produktionen (Bugz In The Attic) und cutting edge Songwriting für Teddy Pendergrass, Amp Fiddler, Maurice White, Tony Allen u.a.
Inkswel ist nicht nur durch seine Arbeiten für Talib Kweli, Lee Scratch Perry, Andrew Ashong, Dwight Trible, Amp Fiddler u.v.m. bekannt.

Checkt das Video zu “Make Me Crazy” und auch die grandiosen Remixe von Moodymann, Potatohead People, Moodorama.
Das Cover wurde von Our Machine aus Holland gestaltet, die viel für Kindred Spirit, Tom Trago, Versatile, Build An Arc et cetera designed haben.

THE MARCH VIOLETS came out of Leeds in the early 80"s, label-mates of Sisters of Mercy. Releasing six singles, they were a constant presence in the UK indie charts, hitting the top two spots with Snakedance, Deep and Walk Into The Sun. They never got around to recording an album - their only "80"s long-players, Natural History in the UK and Electric Shades in the USA, were compilations. Eventually they signed to a major label and were groomed for a USA breakthrough, performing in the 1987 Some Kind of Wonderful movie. However they were asked to make too many compromises and split up. Their early eighties career was thankfully well-documented by the BBC, who broadcast six sessions between 1982-86 - three for John Peel, and one each with Kid Jensen, Janice Long and Richard Skinner. Chronicling their development with lead singers Simon Denbigh, Rosie Garland and Cleo Murray and backed by bassist Lawrence Elliot and guitarist Tom Ashton, these sessions include nine unreleased songs and alternative versions of their indie hits. Here is the unheard history of The March Violets.

Recorded live in 10 days, with minimal overdubs, Shuttered Dreams is a blast of uncompromising truth reminding us to stay awake when the vultures are circling. The album was mixed by Sean Genockey (Shame, Richard Ashcroft, The Who, Black Crowes).

Margate in March 2021 was a time to test your resolve. If the wind howling round the closed down shops and cafes didn’t send you spinning out of control the out of season coastal melancholy could drag you down as surely as any dead eye mermaid. Add in a murderous virus and a frozen gig scene and it was a time to stay frosty and fight off the demons. Dan had some experience to draw on.

“Instead of baking banana bread or knitting, I decided to upgrade my home studio but after a couple of months of writing it was obvious that the songs needed to breathe as much as I did. They’re all about real people and raw feelings and I felt they wouldn’t get justice by being turned into zeroes and ones so early in life “.

It was decided to record the masters live with his new band featuring Dom Hall (drums), Henry Gabbott (bass) and Freya Warsi (vocals) and engineer friend, Harry Armstrong. Armed only with a Vox Marauder, a skeleton recording studio, and a pad of lyrics, Dan moved in with The Tenants to The Tom Thumb Theatre which like everywhere was closed for business but had just received Arts Council recovery funding and was offering residencies for artists.

“Musically I wanted to try to work within a strict palette of sound, using the same acoustic and electric guitars for every song, and Henry’s Wurlitzer and Mellotron to flesh things out a bit.” Dan explains, “We played all of the songs live, sometimes up to sixty or seventy times until we were happy with a take, we might then add a bit of extra electric, percussion or backing vocals, but what you hear on the record is pretty much what was happening in the room. That makes me feel proud, as all the records I love listening to were made in that way.”

After the 2021 Re-Release of “Schwingungen” (MG.ART612) and together with “Seven Up” (MG.ART613) we proudly announce “JOIN INN” as Part3 of the authorised 50th Anniversary “A.R.T.” Re-Edition Series.
“JOIN INN” is the fourth album by Ash Ra Tempel. It was recorded at Studio Dierks and originally released on LP by Ohr Musik-Produktion, catalogue number OMM 556032. Each side of the LP comprises one long track.
In 1972 ASH RA TEMPEL teamed up again with Klaus Schulze during the recording of Walter Wegmüller's Tarot album, and after one of the recording sessions, ASH RA TEMPEL members: Enke, Göttsching and Rosi, together with Klaus decided to "play it again" in a late night session. This recording led to the birth of the “JOIN INN” album, as well as two legendary last concerts in February 1973 in Paris and Cologne.
Manuel Göttsching recalls Hartmut Enke on bass and Klaus Schulze on drums being a dream-team rhythm section for him to play his guitar, especially here to hear on “Freak'n' Roll”, that was ingenious and not to replace ever since.
It was the last recording ever where Klaus Schulze (who sadly passed away this Year) played the Drums and also Hartmut (the Hawk) Enke soon after quit the Bass and music forever.
Join Inn marks the end of the collaboration with Klaus Schulze.
However, together with Ash Ra Tempel, their eponymous first album, which will be released in 2023 as the final edition of our Series, it is considered a highlight of the Krautrock movement.
As for the music itself we again refer to Julian Cope´s review from his book “Krautrocksampler” (published by Head Heritage, 1st ed. 1995):
""Freak’n’roll” fades in like it never started - just was always there from the beginning of time, a dry wah-guitar freerock riff-out unlike any of the other Ash Ra Tempel LPs, and not much like any other music. Yes, there are bluesy riff but none of them have a blues context. Manuel Gottsching’s guitar is so confident that he sometimes drops down to a simple major chord groove, whilst the Hawk pushes that round woody bass into strange overlapping rumbling melody. And ... it’s the return of Klaus Schulze on drums which propels “Freak’n’roll” to its height. No-one but Klaus has the ability to
transcend rock’n’roll in such an on-the-beat non-groove-y way and still send sparks of light into the cosmos as he does it.
-> continued on page 2“Freak’n’roll” is so egoless that it even works at a quiet volume as meditational music. Themes rise from the high tempo pulse beat, then are carried along the muscles of the song into the main area where the riff actually becomes real and expressionist for just long enough before slipping back into the musical fabric of the song.
As usual with Ash Ra Tempel, the other side is an enormous drift piece called “Jenseits (The Next World)”, a beautiful Klaus Schultze meditation of haunting synthesizer chords over which Rosi Muller tells the story of the Cosmic Couriers’ meeting with Timothy Leary. Gradually, the pulsing guitar becomes increasingly intense and turbulent, but Rosi never sounds less than freaked out. Essentially, “Jenseits” is a precursor to Klaus Schulze’s later spacey minor-key grooves.
Unfortunately, this was the last Ash Ra Tempel album in its particular ‘series.
(…) After “JOIN INN”, Manuel Gottsching took over the Ash Ra Tempel mantle alone.”

After the 2021 Re-Release of “Schwingungen” (MG.ART612) we proudly announce “Seven Up” as Part 2 of the authorised 50th Anniversary “A.R.T.” Re-Edition Series.
“Seven Up” is the third studio album by Ash Ra Tempel and their only album recorded in collaboration with American Ph.D. in psychology, Dr. Timothy Leary. The Coverart for “Seven Up” was designed by famous Swiss Artist Walter Wegmüller. Recorded in August 1972 at Sinus Studio in Berne, Switzerland, remixed September 1972 at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, Germany. First release in spring 1973 by OHR Musik - the first release on the new sub-label "Kosmische Kuriere", Kat-Nr. KK 58001.
We release “Seven Up” in a Re-Cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself, on September 9th 2022, also being Manuel Göttsching´s 70th Birthday. Our Edition features the full original text for the “7 levels of consciousness” by Timothy Leary in English, i.e. “Instruction Manual for Pleasure Panel” plus a previously unreleased glimpse view of the original scripts incl. notes and mark ups as well as partly unreleased photos from the recording session. ->continued on page 2->continued on page 2 As for the music itself we again refer to Julian Cope´s review and remarks from his book "Krautrocksampler” (published by Head Heritage, 1st ed. 1995):
“When the Leary Mob met the Kaiser Gang, the sparks flew ever Up-wards... 7up is a stone classic in every way. Yes, it is unlikely to find Timothy Leary singing lead vocal in a cosmic group, but even weirder that he chose to sing a wild yelping freaked out blues !
Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke had begun their careers in The Steeple Chase Blues Band back in the mid-'60ies, and they quickly felt their way through what Barritt and Leary were aiming for. They reconciled it all as a kind of West Coast chordless psychedelia, where blues riffs sparkle out of nowhere and the sheer weight of synthesizers renders everything with an unreal Pere Ubu/early Roxy Music quality.
The greatness of Ash Ra Tempel burned so brightly on 7Up that there is really nothing else like it. Hartmut Enke and Manuel Gottsching here returned to their riffy roots. It can hardly be called a retro act, though, as the context of music is everything. And with Dierks at the controls, even the New Kids on the Block would have sounded psychedelic.
7Up is like a late night radio show glimpsed through a shattered tuner where all but the most truly dangerous sounds have been allowed to stay, to drift and to dance around the performers.
The result is an extreme gem, a flash of hysterical white lightning, and a pre-punk Technicolour yawn in the grandest of traditions.
In typical Ash Ra Tempel style, the record is divided into two pieces, “Space” and "Time”. Within this, though,
Timothy Leary’s ideas are allowed to free-flow and the two sides are therefore divided into mini-songs all segued together. The highlight of Side 1 is “Power Drive”, a West Coast burn-up that transcends any W.
Coast music I ever did hear. Leary and Barritt present the greatest twin-vocal of all time, coming on like Jagger and Morrison but too caught up in their own maelstrom to be anything less than Heralds of the Punkfuture still five years away.
In chaos it was conceived and in chaos it was recorded. Yet Dieter Dierks, the great Aural Architect of the Cosmic Couriers, turned 7Up into a personal triumph and a Kosmische dream.”

Ash Ra Tempel – “Seven Up”
TIMOTHY LEARY - voice
BRIAN BARRITT - voice
MICKY DUWE - voice & flute
LIZ ELLIOTT - voice
BETTINA HOHLS - voice
PORTIA NKOMO - voice
HARTMUT "HAWK" ENKE - bass, guitar & electronics
MANUEL GÖTTSCHING - guitar & electronics
STEVE A. - organ & electronics
DIETMAR BURMEISTER - drums
TOMMY ENGEL - drums
DIETER DIERKS - synthesizer & Radio Downtown

The Best Old School Death Metal album from the Netherlands gets a well-deserved re-issue! Crushing, aggressive, abrasive, pounding, bone crunching... In an age when blast speed drums were still mostly used by grindcore acts (and some pioneers such as Morbid Angel) and now classic bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Deicide were still tiny demo acts, Dutch masters Pestilence released one of the best old school Dutch death metal classics ever to be unleashed upon mankind, the album that made a huge impact upon its release. “Consuming Impulse” is one intense album. one could say this album is definitely up there with classic death metal albums such as Death’s “Leprosy”, Obituary’s “Slowly We Rot”, and Morbid Angel’s “Altars of Madness”. With “Consuming Impulse”, Pestilence created their greatest, most complete album, successfully marrying the primitive brutality of their previous effort ‘Maleus Maleficarum’ with the technicality of their later releases. Whereas their debut album “Malleus Maleficarum” had some hints of thrash metal, this was gone on “Consuming Impulse” although the up tempo beat was still of course very much present. The production was heavy yet remarkably transparent. The riffs of Patrick Mameli on “Consuming Impulse” are simply mind-blowing. Even though quite simple at times they still prove extremely deadly. Try the main riffs in the verses of ‘Process of Suffocation’ and ‘The Trauma’ for starters. Speed monsters like ‘Dehydrated’ and ‘Reduced To Ashes’ were simple compositions but the intensity of this material just oozes out of your speakers. The presence of these straight forward raging death metal tracks was perfect to balance the dynamics and variety of the album. Songs such as ‘Chronic Infection’ and the classic ‘Out Of The Body’ incorporated some great interacting differentiating guitars and much more diversity in pace and riffing.

repressed !

It's no understatement that London Grammar's forthcoming album is one of the most highly anticipated debuts this year. Confirmed for release on September 9, the album is a result of 18 painstaking months spent writing and recording. Each of the 11 tracks is testament to the trio's innate understanding of the roles that subtlety, contrast and restraint have played in the creation of memorable, timeless and transcendent music. 'That's how this all started,' says Dan, 'and it's always been our primary goal, to keep space in the music. The way that, say, the guitar and vocal interact is massively important to us.'

Heavily involved in every decision made on the album, the band handpicked their team, working closely with producers Tim Bran (The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, La Roux) and Roy Kerr AKA The Freelance Hellraiser. Drafting in Roc Nation's KD (Outkast, Beyoncé, Jay-Z) to mix the album, with Grammy-winning Tom Coyne (Adele's 21), joining them to master.
Tracks like If You Wait and Flickers possess that strange duality of lament and defiance, filled with textures, colours, shadings and interjections that are subtle yet deliver devastating power. The next single, Strong, out on September 1 is the final, killer blow. Building - as you would expect from London Grammar - from nothing, from the barest of bones, Hannah's soaring vocals propels the song to its crashing climax.
More than delivering on their promise, London Grammar's electrifying debut solidifies them as being one of the most exciting and innovative bands to emerge in 2013.

Last Temptation with their 2nd album "Fuel For My Soul". Founded by guitarist Peter Scheithauer (Killing Machine, Belladonna, Temple of Brutality) and singer Butcho Vukovic (Watcha, Showtime), with bassist Julien Rimaire (Los Dissidentes Del Sucio Motel) and drummer Vince Brisach (Mitch Ryder), the band has a whole new rhythm section that supports them. Fuel for my Soul has a completely different production style than the band's debut album. The band had over 40 demos before finally narrowing them down to 11 hard-hitting tracks, all the rhythm tracks, bass, drums, and guitars were recorded live, and the songs are far more versatile than the previous release. While Last Temptation still maintain their Ozzy/Black Sabbath influences, they add a grungy twist, along with big choruses that add an 80s vibe. A big step forward for Last Temptation.

With their sophomore full-length "Gotta Light?", dark rock innovators CRONE are cruising in a high octane fuelled hotrod. Channelling their personal musical inspirations that range from ALICE IN CHAINS, via KILLING JOKE, NEW MODEL ARMY, and JOY DIVISION to PINK FLOYD among many others, the Germans leave their very own and personal mark on the genre that has been brought back to the forefront of interest by acts such as GHOST in recent years. While composer, guitarist, and singer Phil Jonas had felt tired, burned out, and empty, working on new songs for CRONE provided the spark that kindled the firestorm of fresh ideas and led to the creation of "Gotta Light?". The album title was inspired by the haunting eighth episode of David Lynch's masterpiece TV series "Twin Peaks". A corresponding element of the mysterious and surreal permeates all of the new songs that revolve around topics such as the hope of receiving signals from the afterlife ('Waiting for Ghosts'), shattered dreams ('Abyss Road'), and a guiding last will ('Gemini'). CRONE was conceived out of a musical collaboration between Phil "sG" Jonas and EMBEDDED drummer and guitarist Markus Renzenbrink. Both musicians wanted to explore musical horizons beyond the metal limits of their regular bands at the time. As a result the "Gehenna" EP was released in 2014 and sparked a first wave of interest. Critics labelled the first effort post-rock, post-punk, and even as shoegaze. The well-received debut full-length 'Godspeed' hit the streets in 2018 and its more focussed and consistent songs got often filed under "post-rock". With CRONE having been elevated to the main band of each protagonist, the band's renewed focus and urgency is clearly audible on "Gotta Light?". With Christian Schmidt a permanent keyboard player has been added to the line-up that now also features lead guitarist Kevin Olasz for added sparkle and sonic depth. From the ashes of SECRETS OF THE MOON a dark reborn phoenix is rising with CRONE and this bird of prey is ready to rock humanity's unstoppable descent into madness: "Gotta Light?"

With their sophomore full-length "Gotta Light?", dark rock innovators CRONE are cruising in a high octane fuelled hotrod. Channelling their personal musical inspirations that range from ALICE IN CHAINS, via KILLING JOKE, NEW MODEL ARMY, and JOY DIVISION to PINK FLOYD among many others, the Germans leave their very own and personal mark on the genre that has been brought back to the forefront of interest by acts such as GHOST in recent years. While composer, guitarist, and singer Phil Jonas had felt tired, burned out, and empty, working on new songs for CRONE provided the spark that kindled the firestorm of fresh ideas and led to the creation of "Gotta Light?". The album title was inspired by the haunting eighth episode of David Lynch's masterpiece TV series "Twin Peaks". A corresponding element of the mysterious and surreal permeates all of the new songs that revolve around topics such as the hope of receiving signals from the afterlife ('Waiting for Ghosts'), shattered dreams ('Abyss Road'), and a guiding last will ('Gemini'). CRONE was conceived out of a musical collaboration between Phil "sG" Jonas and EMBEDDED drummer and guitarist Markus Renzenbrink. Both musicians wanted to explore musical horizons beyond the metal limits of their regular bands at the time. As a result the "Gehenna" EP was released in 2014 and sparked a first wave of interest. Critics labelled the first effort post-rock, post-punk, and even as shoegaze. The well-received debut full-length 'Godspeed' hit the streets in 2018 and its more focussed and consistent songs got often filed under "post-rock". With CRONE having been elevated to the main band of each protagonist, the band's renewed focus and urgency is clearly audible on "Gotta Light?". With Christian Schmidt a permanent keyboard player has been added to the line-up that now also features lead guitarist Kevin Olasz for added sparkle and sonic depth. From the ashes of SECRETS OF THE MOON a dark reborn phoenix is rising with CRONE and this bird of prey is ready to rock humanity's unstoppable descent into madness: "Gotta Light?"

DELUXE EDITION

Das Herzstück der ersten Lou Reed Archive Series Veröffentlichung von Light In The Attic ist die Deluxe 45-RPM Doppel-LP Edition von "Words & Music, May 1965". Diese auf 7.500 Exemplare weltweit limitierte Sammlung wurde von dem mehrfach mit dem GRAMMY ausgezeichneten Künstler Masaki Koike entworfen und verfügt über einen stilisierten, gestanzten Klappumschlag, der von Stoughton Printing Co. hergestellt wurde, mit fortlaufender Foliennummerierung. Darin enthalten sind zwei 45-RPM 12"-LPs, gepresst auf 180-Gramm-Vinyl in HQ-Audiophil-Qualität bei Record Technology Inc. (RTI), mit der einzigen Vinyl-Veröffentlichung von "I'm Waiting for the Man - May 1965 Alternate Version". Eine Bonus 7" Single, die in einer eigenen, gestanzten Bilderhülle untergebracht ist und bei Third Man Record Pressing hergestellt wurde, enthält die einzige Vinyl-Veröffentlichung von sechs bisher unveröffentlichten Bonustracks, die einen nie zuvor gesehenen Einblick in Reeds prägende Jahre bieten, darunter frühe Demos, eine Coverversion von Bob Dylans "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" und ein Doo-Wop-Ständchen, das 1958 aufgenommen wurde, als der legendäre Singer-Songwriter gerade 16 Jahre alt war. Ein begleitendes, gestanztes, 28-seitiges Buch mit Texten, Archivfotos und Linernotes enthält eine Archivreproduktion eines selten Briefes, den Reed um 1964 an seinen College-Professor und Dichter Delmore Schwartz schrieb. Das Set enthält eine CD mit dem kompletten Audiomaterial des Pakets in einer gestanzten Hülle. "Ein Tonband mit ihren frühesten Demos, aufgenommen am 11. Mai 1965 und bis heute unter Verschluss gehalten, zeigt Spuren von Dingen, die selten mit The Velvet Underground in Verbindung gebracht werden: Blues und Folk, erdig und traditionell, unsicher und zögerlich - und doch von diesem rostigen, ätzenden Lou Reed-Geist durchdrungen. Es ist eine Offenbarung." - Will Hodgkinson, MOJO. Light in the Attic Records ist stolz darauf, in Zusammenarbeit mit Laurie Anderson den ersten Titel ihrer fortlaufenden Lou Reed Archive Series vorzustellen: "Words & Music, Mai 1965". Das Album, das anlässlich des 80. Geburtstages des verstorbenen Künstlers erscheint, bietet einen außergewöhnlichen, ungeschminkten und ergreifenden Einblick in einen der wahrlich größten amerikanischen Poeten und Songwriter. Diese bisher unveröffentlichte Sammlung von Songs, die der junge Lou Reed mit Hilfe seines späteren Bandkollegen John Cale aufnahm und sich selbst als "Urheberrecht des armen Mannes" mit der Post zuschickte, wurde fast 50 Jahre lang ungeöffnet in einem Originalumschlag aufbewahrt. Der Inhalt verkörpert einige der wichtigsten und bahnbrechendsten Beiträge zur amerikanischen Popmusik im 20. Jahrhundert. Die fest in der Folk-Tradition verwurzelten Songs belegen Lous nachhaltigen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der modernen amerikanischen Musik deutlich - vom Punk bis zum Art-Rock und allem, was dazwischen liegt. Diese Aufnahmen sind eine wahre Zeitkapsel und halten nicht nur die ersten Funken dessen fest, was die Keimzelle der unglaublich einflussreichen Velvet Underground werden sollte; sie machen Reed auch zu einem echten Beobachter mit einem angeborenen Talent, die Welt um ihn herum zu synthetisieren und in reine Klangpoesie zu verwandeln. Mit Beiträgen von Reeds zukünftigem Bandkollegen John Cale präsentiert "Words & Music, May 1965" die frühesten bekannten Aufnahmen so historischer Songs wie "Heroin", "I'm Waiting for the Man" und "Pale Blue Eyes", die Reed später mit Velvet Underground aufnehmen und unauslöschlich prägen sollte, in ihrer Gesamtheit. Außerdem sind mehrere bisher unveröffentlichte Kompositionen enthalten, die zusätzliche Einblicke in Reeds kreativen Prozess und seine frühen Einflüsse geben. Das Album wurde von Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Hal Willner und Matt Sullivan produziert und enthält neu gemasterte Tonaufnahmen vom Originalband durch den GRAMMY-nominierten Toningenieur John Baldwin. Abgerundet wird das Paket durch neue Linernotes des renommierten Journalisten und Autors Greil Marcus sowie ausführliche Archivnotizen von Don Fleming und Jason Stern, die das Lou Reed Archiv betreuen, während die Veröffentlichung von dem mehrfach GRAMMY-prämierten Künstler Masaki Koike gestaltet wurde.

"Ein Tonband mit ihren frühesten Demos, aufgenommen am 11. Mai 1965 und bis heute unter Verschluss gehalten, zeigt Spuren von Dingen, die selten mit The Velvet Underground in Verbindung gebracht werden: Blues und Folk, erdig und traditionell, unsicher und zögerlich - und doch von diesem rostigen, ätzenden Lou Reed-Geist durchdrungen. Es ist eine Offenbarung." - Will Hodgkinson, MOJO. Light in the Attic Records ist stolz darauf, in Zusammenarbeit mit Laurie Anderson den ersten Titel ihrer fortlaufenden Lou Reed Archive Series vorzustellen: "Words & Music, Mai 1965". Das Album, das anlässlich des 80. Geburtstages des verstorbenen Künstlers erscheint, bietet einen außergewöhnlichen, ungeschminkten und ergreifenden Einblick in einen der wahrlich größten amerikanischen Poeten und Songwriter. Diese bisher unveröffentlichte Sammlung von Songs, die der junge Lou Reed mit Hilfe seines späteren Bandkollegen John Cale aufnahm und sich selbst als "Urheberrecht des armen Mannes" mit der Post zuschickte, wurde fast 50 Jahre lang ungeöffnet in einem Originalumschlag aufbewahrt. Der Inhalt verkörpert einige der wichtigsten und bahnbrechendsten Beiträge zur amerikanischen Popmusik im 20. Jahrhundert. Die fest in der Folk-Tradition verwurzelten Songs belegen Lous nachhaltigen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der modernen amerikanischen Musik deutlich - vom Punk bis zum Art-Rock und allem, was dazwischen liegt. Diese Aufnahmen sind eine wahre Zeitkapsel und halten nicht nur die ersten Funken dessen fest, was die Keimzelle der unglaublich einflussreichen Velvet Underground werden sollte; sie machen Reed auch zu einem echten Beobachter mit einem angeborenen Talent, die Welt um ihn herum zu synthetisieren und in reine Klangpoesie zu verwandeln. Mit Beiträgen von Reeds zukünftigem Bandkollegen John Cale präsentiert "Words & Music, May 1965" die frühesten bekannten Aufnahmen so historischer Songs wie "Heroin", "I'm Waiting for the Man" und "Pale Blue Eyes", die Reed später mit Velvet Underground aufnehmen und unauslöschlich prägen sollte, in ihrer Gesamtheit. Außerdem sind mehrere bisher unveröffentlichte Kompositionen enthalten, die zusätzliche Einblicke in Reeds kreativen Prozess und seine frühen Einflüsse geben. Das Album wurde von Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Hal Willner und Matt Sullivan produziert und enthält neu gemasterte Tonaufnahmen vom Originalband durch den GRAMMY-nominierten Toningenieur John Baldwin. Abgerundet wird das Paket durch neue Linernotes des renommierten Journalisten und Autors Greil Marcus sowie ausführliche Archivnotizen von Don Fleming und Jason Stern, die das Lou Reed Archiv betreuen, während die Veröffentlichung von dem mehrfach GRAMMY-prämierten Künstler Masaki Koike gestaltet wurde.

A previously unreleased project of Henning Christiansen, monumental in scope, traversing years, countries and now, formats. The Henning Christiansen Archive is proud to finally present one of the crown jewels of the archive, the masterpiece ‘Penthesilea’ as a 2LP and 5CD set. Both limited to 300 copies. Pentheseila is one of the most ambitious works in the entire Henning Christiansen oeuvre. A large-scale work from the mid eighties based on the play of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist (1808). Both Henning and his widow, Ursula Reuter Christiansen, were enthusiastic about Kleist’s text, both making works around the themes within this portent text. Henning Christiansen first developed a work around this text for the Rosenfest festival performed in Berlin in 1984. Rosenfest was curated by René Block and featured a variety of composers presenting works in response to Kleist’s work including Robert Ashley, “Blue” Gene Tyranny etc. Henning formulated a composition utilising tape, field recordings, voice, soprano, and violoncello alongside the home made instruments of Werner Durand. The live presentation was then expanded upon and first performed two years later at Teatro Olímpico, Rome on the 8th November 1986 as directed by Carlo Quartucci. The two releases presented here include a 2 x vinyl LP of the Rosenfest recordings in 1984 and a 5CD set sharing the four and a half hour backing track prepared for the Teatro Olímpico performance in Rome in 1986. Together these two releases make up a substantial overview of one of the most significant works in the entire Christiansen canon. THE REALITY IS A GHOST IN MY MIND (LP1) is a work that unfolds patiently with a mix of field recordings; wind, bird song and the sound of snow being crushed underfoot all unite in a foreboding atmosphere. IN PENTHESILEAS HÖHLE (LP2) features electronic treatments to the original field recordings found on THE REALITY IS A GHOST IN MY MIND, a representation of psychological reorientation perhaps? A deep ground tone (or ROOT as Henning calls it) leads the listener through a variety of realistic and unrealistic environments. As Henning says in his essay reprinted on the back sleeve: “Then comes a section where the field recordings of the sea, the storm, birds, cars and other things, are built together so that the realism of these sounds become unreal. For example the cars drive into the sea and the birds are singing within the storm. When you hear footsteps in the show, it’s Kleist sneaking past Deutsche Schauspielhaus. When you hear a deep, human sleeping noise, it’s Achilles sleeping. When you hear hammering it’s the weapon smith working. When you hear a stone being thrown it means the unanswered question: “Who threw the first stone?” These recordings lead to the finale where Carla Tatò’s haunted vocals into her singing mournfully along with Jan Tilman Schade’s violoncello and tuba, then a chainsaw appears. Presented in a deluxe di-cut sleeve with writings by Ursula Reuter Christiansen and Henning Christiansen and adorned with an artwork, Penthesilea by Ursula Reuter Christiansen, 1983.

Ever Crashing, the second LP by Kennedy Ashlyn aka SRSQ pronounced ‘seer-skew’, is the summation of a nearly three-year journey of soul searching, songwriting, and self-discovery: “I became myself in the process of making this record.” From the first choral swells of opener “It Always Rains,” it’s clear this collection exists on an ascendant plane, capturing an artist in super bloom. Every song hits like a single, heaving with guitar, synth, strings, live drums, and oceans of Ashlyn’s astounding voice, balletic and illuminated. The tracks gleam with detail, often assembled from as many as 100 separate tracks, all of which were written and played solely by Ashlyn – a feat of world-building as daunting as it is devastating.

For her, however, the process is intrinsic and intuitive – even a matter of survival. Her 2018 solo debut emerged in response to the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, which took the life of her bandmate and best friend Cash Askew. Similarly, Ever Crashing began materializing in the wake of an ADHD and bipolar disorder diagnosis, prompting a profound personal overhaul. Ashlyn cites such periods of turmoil as a muse of sorts, when “songs begin to echo within me,” gradually reverberating clearer and more vividly. As melodies and arrangements come into focus, the songs act like containers, vessels in which to externalize and exorcise tumultuous emotions, a transformation she memorializes in the climax of “Élan Vital:” “Reeling in and out of deep despair / I am saved by song.”

From swooning end credits balladry (“Dead Loss”) to orchestral slow-burn torch songs (“Abyss”) to dizzying shoegaze heavens (“Someday I Will Bask In The Sun”), the album exudes a sense of aching grandeur and bewildered joy, rich with triumphs hard won and lost loves never forgotten. Melodies pirouette and crescendo in dazzling, elevated acrobatics, somewhere between Kate Bush and The Sundays, threaded with ethereal undercurrents of shimmering shadow. Riffs brood and sparkle over crystalline synths, buoyant bass, and patient percussion, steadily building to holy moments of tidal power, finessed to perfection by producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Slowdive, Zola Jesus). Ashlyn’s is a dream-pop of questing catharsis, vulnerable but orchestral, as dense with hooks as heartbreak.

The album’s title refers to Ashlyn’s recurring sensation of being trapped in the crest of a wave, turned and churned in the surf, mirroring the cycles of self-flagellation and surrender that she battles being bipolar. But as the poetic raptures of these songs attest, her creative process thrives at transmuting trauma into potent music of arresting beauty and hidden divinity. Ever Crashing is an aching, rare work, shaded with gradients of reverie and regret, loss and letting go, “mourning the person I thought I should be, mourning the person I never was.” But even in its pain, Ashlyn’s voice exerts a redemptive gravity, yearning to transform and transcend: “Even on the inside / I’m bracing for impact / I’m waiting to destroy my life / To become sunlight.”

Ever Crashing, the second LP by Kennedy Ashlyn aka SRSQ pronounced ‘seer-skew’, is the summation of a nearly three-year journey of soul searching, songwriting, and self-discovery: “I became myself in the process of making this record.” From the first choral swells of opener “It Always Rains,” it’s clear this collection exists on an ascendant plane, capturing an artist in super bloom. Every song hits like a single, heaving with guitar, synth, strings, live drums, and oceans of Ashlyn’s astounding voice, balletic and illuminated. The tracks gleam with detail, often assembled from as many as 100 separate tracks, all of which were written and played solely by Ashlyn – a feat of world-building as daunting as it is devastating.

For her, however, the process is intrinsic and intuitive – even a matter of survival. Her 2018 solo debut emerged in response to the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, which took the life of her bandmate and best friend Cash Askew. Similarly, Ever Crashing began materializing in the wake of an ADHD and bipolar disorder diagnosis, prompting a profound personal overhaul. Ashlyn cites such periods of turmoil as a muse of sorts, when “songs begin to echo within me,” gradually reverberating clearer and more vividly. As melodies and arrangements come into focus, the songs act like containers, vessels in which to externalize and exorcise tumultuous emotions, a transformation she memorializes in the climax of “Élan Vital:” “Reeling in and out of deep despair / I am saved by song.”

From swooning end credits balladry (“Dead Loss”) to orchestral slow-burn torch songs (“Abyss”) to dizzying shoegaze heavens (“Someday I Will Bask In The Sun”), the album exudes a sense of aching grandeur and bewildered joy, rich with triumphs hard won and lost loves never forgotten. Melodies pirouette and crescendo in dazzling, elevated acrobatics, somewhere between Kate Bush and The Sundays, threaded with ethereal undercurrents of shimmering shadow. Riffs brood and sparkle over crystalline synths, buoyant bass, and patient percussion, steadily building to holy moments of tidal power, finessed to perfection by producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Slowdive, Zola Jesus). Ashlyn’s is a dream-pop of questing catharsis, vulnerable but orchestral, as dense with hooks as heartbreak.

The album’s title refers to Ashlyn’s recurring sensation of being trapped in the crest of a wave, turned and churned in the surf, mirroring the cycles of self-flagellation and surrender that she battles being bipolar. But as the poetic raptures of these songs attest, her creative process thrives at transmuting trauma into potent music of arresting beauty and hidden divinity. Ever Crashing is an aching, rare work, shaded with gradients of reverie and regret, loss and letting go, “mourning the person I thought I should be, mourning the person I never was.” But even in its pain, Ashlyn’s voice exerts a redemptive gravity, yearning to transform and transcend: “Even on the inside / I’m bracing for impact / I’m waiting to destroy my life / To become sunlight.”

Akae Beka's inimitable style of rich, deep, multi-layered songwriting, uncompromising devotion to RasTafari and soulful healing melodies developed over decades performing with St. Croix based band Midnite and countless recordings. At the point of his untimely passing in 2019, he had released over 70LP's. He is without a doubt one of the most prolific reggae artists ever known.

The stellar production trinity that is Zion I Kings have been involved collectively and individually in creating some of the most highly regarded contributions to the vast Akae Beka catalogue. Ride Tru, originally released digitally and on CD in 2014, stood every chance disappearing into the all eclipsing shadow of the LP released by them earlier that year, Beauty for Ashes, which had been named by iTunes as the reggae album of the year. A monumental achievement for undiluted, uncompromising RasTafari roots reggae music this side of the millennium. So needless to say, the bar was high and Vaughn Benjamin and Zion I Kings must have known that, as they managed to raise it higher again.

Ride Tru continues in the same form, rootsy, soulful, refreshingly polished and authentically raw, the threads of anciency that any devout reggae lover will be looking for and the threads of modernity that keep it alive and appealing in the modern day. A uniquely regal tapestry that has become synonymous with music created from the unity of Zion I Kings and Vaughn Benjamin

Following 8 years of anxious anticipation, for the countless Akae Beka fans that are also vinyl connoisseurs, this LP is now being released on as a 12" vinyl LP courtesy of Before Zero Records. This offers the listener not only the chance to enjoy this LP in an analogue form, but also the chance to hold the artwork as a 12" square masterpiece, created by the hands of Ras Marcus, the artist who gave the powerful visual presence that became synonymous to much of the I Grade / Akae Beka works over the years.

“How does an artist follow an album considered by many to be the best reggae album of 2014?..... you get right back in the studio with the same brilliant production team and follow that album a few short months later with one that nearly eclipses it entirely.”
Midnight Raver — Worldareggae

“...remarkable for the clarity of Tippy’s mix and the contrast between the hardness of Lloyd Richards’ drums and the softness of the guitars, keyboards and brass. The woozy analogue warmth of an old Augustus Pablo production – Son of Jah Dub - for Worry Free demonstrates how well Vaughn sits on the sounds of the original masters (an avenue that should be pursued further). Another veteran guest is the late Style Scott - who beats out one of his final patterns on How I & I Carry On.”
Angus Taylor — United Reggae

Dust Star is the new power-pop project from songwriters Cameron Wisch and Justin Jergens, set to release their debut LP “Open Up that Heart” this summer on Lame-O Records. Fans of Wisch’s previous band Cende and Jergens’ cult-classic group SIRS will find that these thirteen new songs raise the bar for concise and pristine pop songwriting with a gritty edge. The album features stunning art from Sheer Mag’s Kyle Seely and is pressed on classic black vinyl.

'Livin' My Best Life' is the follow-up to Scott's Nothing To Do Town EP
Produced by Will Weatherly, Matt Alderman, Jim Ed Norman, Curt Gibbs and Mark
Holman, the new record delivers a personal set filled with the backroads,
barstools and church pews that defined the Louisiana native's youth. The singer/
songwriter co-penned eight of the album's 16 selections, whose credits boast an
all- star lineup of writers like Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Ashley Gorley and more.
Notable highlights include fiery heartbreak single "New Truck," unifying anthem "In
Our Blood (feat. Jimmie Allen)" and No. 1 hit "Nobody."
Bob Harris BBC Radio 2 -mulitple plays
Included on Baylen Leonard's Spotlight Tracks on the Absolute Radio Country
playlistFeatures to run in Country Music People and Maverick
Full page ad in Country Music People, Quarter page ad in Maverick

This May, Italian alchemists and power trio Ufomammut return with their ninth studio album, Fenice via Neurot Recordings. But not as we’ve heard them before, now “more intimate, more free.”
For over 20 years, the band has combined the heaviness and majesty of dynamic riff worship with a nuanced understanding of psychedelic tradition and history in music, creating a cosmic, futuristic, and technicolor sound destined for absolute immersion.
Fenice (meaning Phoenix in Italian) symbolically represents endless rebirth and the ability to start again after everything seems doomed. The album is the first recording with new drummer Levre, and truly marks a new chapter in Ufomammut history.
“I think we lost our spontaneity, album after album,” says Urlo. “We tried to make more complicated songs and albums, but I think at some point we just ended up repeating ourselves. With Fenice, we were ready to start from zero, we had no past anymore - so we just wanted to be reborn and rise from the ashes..”
While the band are well-known for their psychedelic travels into the far reaches of the cosmos, Fenice is a much more introspective listening experience. Fenice was conceived as a single concept track, divided in six facets of this inward-facing focus. Sonic experimentations abound in the exploration of this central theme; synths and experimental vocal effects are featured more prominently than ever before as the band push themselves ever further into the uncharted territory of their very identity.
The towering synths on the opening track ‘Duat’ evoke an almighty machine rising from the depths of primordial ooze. There’s a shift to a frenetic garage-psych pace before mellowing out into a more familiar doomy stomp. ‘Kepherer’ is a respite, albeit a slight one, returning to the pulsing rhythms of the album’s intro before plunging the listener into the menacing build and release of ‘Psychostasia’ next. Each oscillation of this extraordinary album feels inevitable - Ufomammut are after all, masters of their craft, and when it comes to creating enveloping sonic journeys into the unknown, it’s their uninhibited sense of exploration that breaches new sonic ground.

Fenice is the sound of a band whose very essence has been rejuvenated, and are welcoming the chance to create music in the way they know best; by unfolding carefully and attentively, by melding those extreme dynamics which render Fenice as a living and breathing creature - and by writing gargantuan riffs that herald their very rebirth.

New album from South London producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Wu-Lu.

Leader of the punk-rap awakening, Wu-Lu pulls inspiration from personal hardship and the underrepresented on his latest for Warp entitled 'LOGGERHEAD'. Miles Romans-Hopcraft based his artistic moniker on the Amharic word for water, “wu-ha”. True to his fluid sound and nature, he decided to change it to something that felt more liquid. He ended up with Wu-Lu, a name he has been using since 2015. His first record GINGA opened the floodgates to a career that would take him to various places, people, and genres. From breaking bones at skateparks as a teenager, to DJing as one of the original members of Touching Bass, and eventually getting signed to Warp in 2021.

As an artist, Wu-Lu seems concerned with feeling and communicating the full spectrum of human emotion. Throughout his varied discography, he touches on disparate themes and sounds, straddling a divide between blissed-out beats and grungy guitar dirges, and often mixing both into one amorphous, unclassifiable sound of his own.

On ‘'LOGGERHEAD'’, Wu-Lu hones his unique sound. On ‘Take Stage’, a despondent spoken word intro opens with sombre strings and underlying bows dragged delicately across them. Then the lights flicker to life on ‘Night Pill’, and the mosh pit with them - the bassline approaches like a hungry shark and the guitars snarl with a homemade 90s grunge energy. This grunge drawl and punk spirit is peppered with dry old-school drum sounds of classic hip-hop, with laid-back beat-oriented tracks are spread amongst those with intermittent growls, scratches, and shrieks. Sonic elements are constantly rearranged and juxtaposed throughout the album, like on ‘South’ where the fluctuating pitch of squealing guitars and screaming vocals is contrasted with the steady flow of Lex Amor.

Listening through the album you are constantly greeted with about-turns, and through the element of surprise and deft use of contrast 'LOGGERHEAD' sits at an exciting point in Wu-Lu’s genre-defying artistry.

I’m Jimmy Reed underlined the very raw nature of the recordings, yet it immediately showed
why his music was embraced so much by others as the songs offered more melody and variety
than other Blues players. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby has fine melodic hooks that could easily
be transcribed into rocking versions, while Boogie In The Dark set the template for so many
groups in the sixties. The slower tracks like You Got Me Crying and Little Rain provided useful
contrasts, while Honest I Do gives added meaning to the phrase 'stripped down'. Jimmy Reed
was easily the most commercially successful Bluesman in America during the 1950s, and as
such his material was readily available to be plundered by artists wanting to enrich their live
repertoire. This reached its height during the UK Beat boom when virtually every working group
included his songs in their sets. The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Them and The Animals all
covered his songs liberally during the first half of the sixties. In his homeland, The Grateful
Dead, The Steve Miller Band, Johnny Winter, Wishbone Ash and, bizarrely, even Bill Cosby
followed suit!

We all make mistakes. We all have regrets. We all look back on the loves and losses life brings and lament on how things might have been different. In these deeply personal moments of reflection our emotions can run wild as we contemplate our choices and come to terms with what’s next. Hindsight is a powerful and complex thing, and a phenomenon whose intricacies are explored in captivating fashion on The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, the second album from Cardiff’s Holding Absence.

Building on the excellent foundations laid down by the band’s eponymous debut record, released in 2019, and following standalone singles ‘Gravity’ and ‘Birdcage’, the four-piece have returned with a group of songs that, in the view of vocalist Lucas Woodland, are the truest representation of Holding Absence to date.

Inspired by a song of the same name that was recorded in the 1930s by actor and singer Dame Gracie Fields, The Greatest Mistake Of My Life is rooted in a time long before Holding Absence even existed. Lucas’ great uncle covered the song during the 1950s – something the frontman repeats on this album – and after finding this out from his grandmother, the singer decided the poignancy of its words were worthy of titling Holding Absence’s next record.

Holding Absence – the band completed by bassist James Joseph and drummer Ashley Green – carry the The Greatest Mistake Of My Life’s contemplative and thoughtful spirit throughout their second album. Whereas their debut was a concept record about the subject of love, The Greatest Mistake Of My Life’s inspirations are more complex, as Holding Absence stare down love in the face of death, all the while musing on the vast array of emotions we as humans experience throughout our lives.

Lead single ‘Beyond Belief’ is a soaring epic about the risk of loving someone forever, when their definition of ‘Forever’ might be different to yours, and a song that, Lucas says, argues how “love is something worth taking a risk on.” Holding Absence’s unique approach to romance is also present on atmospheric tracks like ‘Curse Me With Your Kiss’ and ‘Afterlife’, but for every display of affection, The Greatest Mistake Of My Life counters with despondency. ‘Die Alone (In Your Lover’s Arms)’ tells of the loneliness two people feel within a relationship long-turned sour, while ‘In Circles’ speaks to the monotony of everyday life and the crushing of dreams.

The Greatest Mistake Of My Life soundtracks the journey of our lives via all of its despair, elation, joy and pain, but never once tells the listener how they should be feeling.


Shedding their skins and emerging into a bright new phase for their band, with The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, Holding Absence are embracing change whilst holding onto the things that make them special. Aesthetic, for instance, remains important to Lucas and his bandmates, but as seen in the video for ‘Beyond Belief’, no longer do they exist in a world of purely black and white colour. Ushering in a colourful new era for Holding Absence, Lucas speaks of a desire “to bring warmth to people’s lives.”

Armed with a stellar new album and an unflinching belief in their craft, this new incarnation of Holding Absence promises to excite and impress like never before. An enthralling collection of songs and stories that tell of love, life, death and everything in between, The Greatest Mistake Of My Life is a thrilling record, and one its creators were born to make.

As Holding Absence have proved, the greatest mistakes can sometimes open the door to even greater triumphs.

Die texanische New-Southern-Gothic-Band OCEANS OF SLUMBER verwandelt sich auf ihrem unglaublichen neuen Album 'Starlight and Ash'. Die Puppenstube, die von 'Winter' (2016) bis zum wild beklatschten 'Oceans Of Slumber' (2020) dauerte, ist nun vorbei. Ausgestattet mit einem tiefgründigen musikalischen Hintergrund, einer unerschütterlichen Verehrung für den amerikanischen Süden und einer künstlerischen Neugierde mit leuchtenden Augen haben OCEANS OF SLUMBER einen klanglichen Ausdruck wie kein anderer geschaffen. Sie sind einzigartig geworden, der erste (und wahrscheinlich nicht der letzte) Zugang zu einem Stil, den man nur New Southern Gothic nennen kann. Angeführt von der unnachahmlichen Kraft, Bandbreite und Anmut der Sängerin Cammie Beverly, stellt 'Starlight and Ash' OCEANS OF SLUMBER in eine eigene Liga. Es ist ebenso eine eloquente Erweiterung der berühmten Singer-Songwriter Nick Cave und Chris Stapleton wie der herzzerreißende Puls von Type O Negative und Katatonia. 'Starlight and Ash' ist kein Metal, aber seine Kanten sind es

Bristol-based singer, songwriter and bandleader, who has powered her
way to the-forefront of the British blues and roots scene in recent years,
unveils her eagerly-awaited third album 'Shining in the Half Light'
Crammed with vibrant originals brought to life with her A-list touring band, it's yet
another significant step forward in a career already feted with awards and
acclaim.'Shining in the Half Light' is Bailey's first full length album recorded in the
UK & feature's Joe Wilkins on Guitar, Jonny Henderson on Ivories, Matthew Waer
on Bass duties and Matthew Jones on drums. It was recorded in deepest Devon
in December 2020 at Middle Farm Studios and produced by Dan Weller, best
known for his long working relationship with Enter Shikari. Elles wanted this
record to feature 'gospel style vocals' so in steps Izo Fitzroy, an incredible artist in
her own right, who arranged the stunning background vocals on 'Shining In The
Half Light', and performed them alongside Jade Elliot and Andrusilla Mosley.
An exciting team of co-writers feature with three credits for Ashton Tucker & Will
Edmunds, who both wrote with Elles for 'Road I Call Home', plus she teamed up
with longtime guitarist Joe Wilkins to write the slow-flowing, philosophical 'Riding
Out The Storm'. Other kindred spirits include guitar maestro Martin Harley, for the
gentle and romantic 'Different Kind Of Love' and Matt Owens, co-founder of the
hugely successful indie- folk outfit Noah and the Whale, on the aforementioned
'Sunshine City'. The album comes to a striking conclusion with its title track, cowritten with Nashville's Craig Lackey, written over Zoom in May 2020.
Front cover features in Blues in Britain (Jan) and MNPR (May) Features in Record
Collector, Rock and Reel, Blues Matters, HRH Magazine, Fireworks Mag,
Powerplay, and Maverick
Reviews in Record Collector, Maverick, Powerplay,Fireworks,Blues Matters,HRH
Mag
Online press in Music News, Maximum Volume, Rush On Rock, All About The
Rock, Vents, Bluesdoodles, Rock and Blues Muse,Blues Rock Review, Blazing
Minds, Decibal Report, Maverick Country
Radio- BBC Radio 2 Cerys Matthews and Johnnie Walker, Planet Rock A playlist.

Bristol-based singer, songwriter and bandleader, who has powered her
way to the-forefront of the British blues and roots scene in recent years,
unveils her eagerly-awaited third album 'Shining in the Half Light'
Crammed with vibrant originals brought to life with her A-list touring band, it's yet
another significant step forward in a career already feted with awards and
acclaim.'Shining in the Half Light' is Bailey's first full length album recorded in the
UK & feature's Joe Wilkins on Guitar, Jonny Henderson on Ivories, Matthew Waer
on Bass duties and Matthew Jones on drums. It was recorded in deepest Devon
in December 2020 at Middle Farm Studios and produced by Dan Weller, best
known for his long working relationship with Enter Shikari. Elles wanted this
record to feature 'gospel style vocals' so in steps Izo Fitzroy, an incredible artist in
her own right, who arranged the stunning background vocals on 'Shining In The
Half Light', and performed them alongside Jade Elliot and Andrusilla Mosley.
An exciting team of co-writers feature with three credits for Ashton Tucker & Will
Edmunds, who both wrote with Elles for 'Road I Call Home', plus she teamed up
with longtime guitarist Joe Wilkins to write the slow-flowing, philosophical 'Riding
Out The Storm'. Other kindred spirits include guitar maestro Martin Harley, for the
gentle and romantic 'Different Kind Of Love' and Matt Owens, co-founder of the
hugely successful indie- folk outfit Noah and the Whale, on the aforementioned
'Sunshine City'. The album comes to a striking conclusion with its title track, cowritten with Nashville's Craig Lackey, written over Zoom in May 2020.
Front cover features in Blues in Britain (Jan) and MNPR (May) Features in Record
Collector, Rock and Reel, Blues Matters, HRH Magazine, Fireworks Mag,
Powerplay, and Maverick
Reviews in Record Collector, Maverick, Powerplay,Fireworks,Blues Matters,HRH
Mag
Online press in Music News, Maximum Volume, Rush On Rock, All About The
Rock, Vents, Bluesdoodles, Rock and Blues Muse,Blues Rock Review, Blazing
Minds, Decibal Report, Maverick Country
Radio- BBC Radio 2 Cerys Matthews and Johnnie Walker, Planet Rock A playlist.

Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth…

Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Stephen Mallinder's second solo outing for Dais further distills his signature fusion of minimal synth, oblique wordplay, and "wonky disco" into a riveting rhythm suite ripe for our Age of Escalation: Tick Tick Tick. Channeling the temporal malaise of lockdown through a lusher palette of modular electronics and stereo strings, the songs embrace ambiguity and plasticity, loose systems of percolating circuitry and airless funk. Recorded across a handful of sessions at Meme Tune Studios in Cornwall with frequent collaborator Benge (aka Ben Edwards), Mallinder cites no guiding aesthetic premise for the collection beyond "cowbell on every track, and entirely no reverb." From the first coiled cybernetic groove of opener "Contact," the album's spatial dynamics are disorienting and asymmetrical, alternately cold and sensual, opiated and claustrophobic. But, throughout, "rhythm is the default, the bedrock, the building block-even the melodies are rhythmic." Across 40-plus years of electronic musicianship, Mallinder's sense of timing and tempo has honed into a rare tier of mastery, limber and fluid but knotted with strange frictions. Shades of Detroit technoid industrial ("ringdropp," "Shock To The Body") crossfade into now avy punk-funk ("Guernica Gallery," "Galaxy," "The Trial"), bad trip IDM ("Wasteland"), and jittery vapor house ("Hush"), at the threshold of modes both familiar and foreign. Lyrically the record is equally evasive, rich with allusions and associative linguistics, surveying liquid notions of societal noise, ecological ruin, art world pretension, and the trials of daily life. But the lack of fixed meaning remains Mallinder's main muse: "Music should draw you in; lyrics should make you think. Most interpretation is misinterpretation." This is music of countdowns and comedowns, fleeting pleasures and opaque futures, observing the great decline while dancing on its ashes. Flux is deathless and forever; the rest, illusion: "I will be a constant figure / Flickering a moving picture / Turning in your head forever / Split apart but held together."

Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Stephen Mallinder's second solo outing for Dais further distills his signature fusion of minimal synth, oblique wordplay, and "wonky disco" into a riveting rhythm suite ripe for our Age of Escalation: Tick Tick Tick. Channeling the temporal malaise of lockdown through a lusher palette of modular electronics and stereo strings, the songs embrace ambiguity and plasticity, loose systems of percolating circuitry and airless funk. Recorded across a handful of sessions at Meme Tune Studios in Cornwall with frequent collaborator Benge (aka Ben Edwards), Mallinder cites no guiding aesthetic premise for the collection beyond "cowbell on every track, and entirely no reverb." From the first coiled cybernetic groove of opener "Contact," the album's spatial dynamics are disorienting and asymmetrical, alternately cold and sensual, opiated and claustrophobic. But, throughout, "rhythm is the default, the bedrock, the building block-even the melodies are rhythmic." Across 40-plus years of electronic musicianship, Mallinder's sense of timing and tempo has honed into a rare tier of mastery, limber and fluid but knotted with strange frictions. Shades of Detroit technoid industrial ("ringdropp," "Shock To The Body") crossfade into now avy punk-funk ("Guernica Gallery," "Galaxy," "The Trial"), bad trip IDM ("Wasteland"), and jittery vapor house ("Hush"), at the threshold of modes both familiar and foreign. Lyrically the record is equally evasive, rich with allusions and associative linguistics, surveying liquid notions of societal noise, ecological ruin, art world pretension, and the trials of daily life. But the lack of fixed meaning remains Mallinder's main muse: "Music should draw you in; lyrics should make you think. Most interpretation is misinterpretation." This is music of countdowns and comedowns, fleeting pleasures and opaque futures, observing the great decline while dancing on its ashes. Flux is deathless and forever; the rest, illusion: "I will be a constant figure / Flickering a moving picture / Turning in your head forever / Split apart but held together."

Die britische Band Fellowship wird mit ihrem Debütalbum die Power-Metal-Szene mit eingängigen Melodien, rasanten Gitarren und lebensbejahender Lyrik aufmischen! “The Saberlight Chronicles" steht in der magischen Tradition von Twilight Force, Rhapsody und Majestica und hebt die Emotionen des Genres auf ein neues Niveau. “The Saberlight Chronicles" ist zu gleichen Teilen ein erzählerisches High-Fantasy-Konzeptalbum und eine gefühlvolle Sammlung von absoluten Knallern... zumindest sagen sie das so - sie sind schließlich Briten! Das Album greift das Thema psychische Gesundheit in einer Zeit auf, in der wir alle eine Aufmunterung brauchen, und erzählt eine mythische Geschichte über Selbstwert, Selbstfindung und die Suche nach Mut; Und dies alles in Songs, die so eingängig sind, dass man schon beim ersten Hören mitsingt. Metal hat sich noch nie so gut angefühlt!

Singer-songwriter Bob Lind will forever be immortalized by his 1965 hit, »Elusive Butterfly«, but his career is so much more interesting than the fading wonder of that one hit. Once a hard-partying buddy of Charles Bukowski, Lind was the inspiration for the character »Dinky Summers«, a down-on-his-luck folk singer in Bukowski's 1978 novel Women. Lind also doubled as a writer, penning a number of novels and plays as well as serving as a long-time staff writer at the lowbrow tabloid Weekly World News.

If that wasn't enough, Lind is also responsible for one of the greatest major-label 'loner' albums of all time, 1971's Since There Were Circles. After several years languishing without a second hit for the World Pacific label, Lind signed to Capitol and went into the studio with some of the biggest names in the LA country-rock scene including Doug Dillard, Gene Clark, Bernie Leadon and legendary session bassist Carol Kaye. While the record was well-received critically, it sold poorly and marked Lind's bitter departure from the music business for several decades.

The intervening half-century has been incredibly kind to »Since There Were Circles«, and it is now regarded as a cult masterpiece that pairs perfectly with Gene Clark's No Other, Bobby Charles' self-titled Bearsville album and Lee Hazlewood's Cowboy in Sweden. Lind's songwriting here is vastly darker and more self-reflective than anything from his folk-pop period, and the production is simultaneously loose and rootsy, yet lushly orchestrated and occasionally bombastic. Lind somehow manages to bring it all together with wry delivery and literate detail.

For Fans Of The Buffalo Killers, The Black Keys, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Michael Nau, Wilco, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, Gene Clark. From the ashes of the acclaimed Ohio rock band Buffalo Killers, singers / songwriters/siblings Zachary and Andrew Gabbard have re-emerged as The Gabbard Brothers. And while there are still similarities to their previous band - with nods to greats like Neil Young, James Gang and Buffalo Springfield - there's a hazier, organic, earthy-psych vibe running through the brothers' new music. Debut LP as The Gabbard Brothers. Formerly known as Buffalo Killers with strong following, "Get It" by Buffalo Killers has 2 million streams on Spotify. Staple tour members of The Black Keys' band.

Nightlands is the solo project of The War on Drugs’ bassist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth. Throughout the album, there are plenty of buoyant high moods where the pitter-patter of drum machine and humming digital organ hints at Hartley's low-key tropicalia streak, but the lyrics anchor the dreaminess in real-world sorrow and resignation. Nowhere are these sentiments more apparent than on the title track, a nearly acapella recitation of "America the Beautiful" that poignantly hovers over a mirage of soft keyboards before dovetailing into Hartley's own words about the hypocrisy of the American dream. "This was never intended to be an overtly political record" he admits. "I have so many friends who are able to process the frustration of current events gracefully or with wisdom or in a nuanced way, but I often find myself just consumed with anger about it all. I decided to just let that come out, and it manifested itself lyrically." Moonshine's wide-eyed, utopian instrumental backdrops provide sharp contrast to Hartley's lyrics, which sting even harder within the sweetness. Even in light of the album's vocal emphasis, Hartley's history as a bassist brilliantly beams through Moonshine, giving effortless and sprightly movement to songs like "Down Here," which also features an extended section of saxophone lent by his Western Vinyl labelmate, Joseph Shabason. In addition to Shabason, the album hosts a short list of remote collaborators including four of Hartley's bandmates from The War on Drugs, Robbie Bennet, Anthony Lamarca, Eliza Hardy Jones, and Charlie Hall, as well as exotica virtuoso Frank Locrasto (Cass McCombs, Fruit Bats), and producer Adam McDaniel (Avey Tare, Angel Olsen). Hartley was forced to keep the guest list small out of the necessity of pandemic isolation, coupled with his move to a smaller city, all of which challenged him to do most of the album's heavy lifting right down to the mixing duties, resulting in the most independent effort of his career. By that measure, Moonshine is also the clearest image yet of Dave Hartley as a person and creator.

Greek genius Christos Chondropoulos’ stunning debut for The Death of Rave finally lands on vinyl - an incredibly imaginative masterwork rich with quartertone melody and meticulously chiselled production, shaped into a future-folk songbook that deeply expands on his wonders for 12th Isle and The Wormhole. Highly recommended if yr into Paul DeMarinis, Rashad Becker, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kara-Lis Coverdale's 'Aftertouches', Jonathan Bepler’s soundtracks for Matthew Barney, Black Sabbath or Aphex Twin. Floors us every time!

Continuing Christos’ singular fascination with, and reappraisal of, Ancient Greek modes, ’Relics’ further excavates the deeptime topography of Greek music prior to the ban of “oriental” or 1/4 tone microtonal modes nearly 100 years ago.

Clandestine, euphoric, hyperreal and otherworldly; it takes shape as faintly familiar forms of new age folk, avant-techno and metal musicks, but with an alien appeal that treats the past almost like another planet, never mind a foreign land. Christos studiously raids the past for lost treasure, navigating his tuned instincts as an improvising percussionist, and lover of non-Western composition, to create a uniquely absorbing soundworld that resembles an AI’s dreams after ingesting encyclopaedia entries on thousands of years of Greece prior to 1936. In the process, the album acutely questions his and our relationship to the past, and what has become lost in translation with reliance on prelaid templates and the “wisdom” of elders.

Bursting to life with the iridescent arps and new age AI chorale of ‘First Love Fereter’, and concluding with bone-clacking raverie of ‘Jungle X’, the album offers a stunning advance of the themes and aesthetics in Christos' previous records, from the self-released free jazz of ‘Fingerpainting’ (2013) to 2021’s 12th Isle released ‘Athenian Primitivism.’

Thanks to meticulous detailing, ‘Relics’ allows a finer play of textured light and almost tangible - yet entirely generated - voices into his music: most strikingly on the sublime songcraft of ‘Regret’ and ‘I Dream Of You’, while the likes of ‘Asham’ are bathed in deeply uncanny atmosphere, and his percussive proprioceptions are most heightened in the delirious battery of ‘War Horns’ and ‘Sacrifice’, with ‘Cyber Crust’ calling up demonic, cthonic pagan spirits resembling Black Sabbath undergoing regression therapy.