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SP-1200 beats made using postal service. Fredfades and Sraw collaborate through post, exchanging dusty beats for an experimental Hip Hop record. The process of sending floppy discs back and forth, where each producer added element over element on their own SP-1200, has been on-going for almost 10 years, slowly building a collaborative body of work.
The result is Double Density, an LP that oozes with the character of that infamous instrument which laid much of the foundation for the earliest Hip Hop artists and still manages to evoke those raw and visceral sounds of that era. Reinforcing those sounds are the voices of Planet Asia, Pink Siifu and Blue November, who deliver lyrics from US coasts to Scandanavia’s fjords.
The duos collaborative effort swims in a sea of eclectic influences where Jazz, Soul and Hip-Hop thrive in the construct of this unique instrument. The drum machine pops, crackles and hisses on a bed of big bass lines through 12 tracks that go from short instrumentals to fully arranged songs.
Taking Hip-Hop back to its origins, everything is stripped bare to its essentials and for every vocal track, there’s its antithesis in the form of an instrumental break. It’s a record that plays with the archetypes of Hip Hop and Rap as something that we’ve lost over the years that begs for revocation. Double Density sounds exotic in the world of today’s gleaming beats.

The new album! One of reggae's emerging masters of Reggae / Dancehall & Dubwise production, Alborosie has honed his craft through the creaton of six studio albums (five for Greensleeves). Along the way, he has become the biggest selling European roots reggae artist. His latest album, "Freedom & Fyah" demonstrates his production skill and depth of feel with strong contemporary and authentic reggae jams. All tracks are produced by Alborosie, with most of the songs mixed by the high renown James "Bonzai" Caruso. Featured guests include Ky-Mani Marley on the ballad and first single/video "Life To Me" and Protoje, who have been just voted as best international artist by the Riddim magazine readers, on the track "Strolling" and reggae legends, the Roots Radics band with Flabba Holt on the track "Everything" feat. Pupa Avril. Stand out tracks include "Poser" (which has chalked up already over 1 million YouTube views) and "Rocky Road" which is up to 500K views. "Freedom & Fyah" is availlable as CD-digipak with additional 12-page booklet with printed lyrics and also as LP-vinyl edition.

Für viele Musiker ist der Schritt aus dem Kollektiv ein riskantes Manöver: Wie nämlich nehmen Band und Publikum die Entscheidung auf? Hendrik Otremba, Sänger der Gruppe Messer, stellt nun sein Soloalbum vor. Er hat es Riskantes Manöver genannt - aber nicht aus dem genannten Grund. Längst hat er sich als eigenständiger Künstler etabliert, hat als Maler, Autor und Performer stets auch zur Identität von Messer beigetragen, die gerade obendrein an einem neuen Album arbeiten - dieses Soloalbum kündet also nicht von Zwist. Wenn etwas verblüfft, dann vielleicht eher, dass Otremba nicht erneut in ein neues Medium aufbricht, sondern dorthin zurückgeht, wo alles anfing: zu den eigenen Songs, die bisher im Verborgenen lagen. Riskantes Manöver ist dabei kein Aufguss des Bekannten, aus Ennui oder Eitelkeit. Viel eher tritt der Songwriter Hendrik Otremba an die Öffentlichkeit, der sich parallel zu Messer entwickelt hat. In den vergangenen zwölf Jahren nimmt er Demos auf, experimentiert, geht intuitiv vor und findet zu einer eigenen Sprache, aus der er nun mit zwei engen Freunden ein Album ausgearbeitet hat: Multi-Instrumentalist Alan Kassab, ein Schulfreund Otrembas, und Kadavar-Schlagzeuger Christoph 'Tiger" Bartelt, schon Produzent des Messer-Debuts. Gemeinsam nähern sie sich den Demos wie einem Skript und schaffen so eine Art auditiven Autorenfilm. Im Zentrum steht eine kreative Vision, die von virtuosen Technikern und begnadeten Darstellern umgesetzt wird - neben der Kern-Crew gehören dazu Stella Sommer, Alex Zhang Hungtai (Ex-Dirty Beaches), der Otremba überhaupt erst dazu inspirierte, ein eigenes Album zu schreiben), Gregor Schwellenbach, Friedrich Paravicini, Dominik Otremba (aka Performance) - aber auch Tochter Hedi und mehr als ein Dutzend weitere Kreative zwischen Indie-Adel, Hochkultur-Bagage und Jugendfreunden. Doch nicht nur durch sein Casting-Gespür und weitere direktive Entscheidungen überzeugt Otremba, sondern vor allem mit Musik, die durch ihre Weite und einen eigensinnigen erzählerischen Ansatz gar filmisch wirkt: Als zarter Chansonier schleicht Otremba durch die Streicherschluchten von New York II, geifert als Apokalyptiker in Nektar Nektar vor Blastbeat und heulendem Saxofon, findet in der sinophilen Klavierballade Bargfeld aber auch zu Ruhe und Intimität. Brachialen Proto-Industrial und dröhnenden Goth meistert Otremba ebenso wie epischen Pop oder Großstadt-Country; hier öffnet ein Musik-Enthusiast sein vielseitiges Portfolio, in dem er als Sänger und Performer zugleich eine neue Bandbreite entwickelt. In sein Rollen-Inventar führt Otremba zudem die Figur "66 ein, ein "Zeuge des zivilisatorischen Niedergangs" und eine Art Erzählstimme, durch deren Perspektive wir auf das von Katastrophen und Verlassenheit geprägte Geschehen des Albums blicken. Otremba tritt als "66 maskiert auf, zu sehen etwa auf dem Cover der Riskantes Manöver Doppel-10-Inch. Was die Bandagen bedeuten, bleibt unklar - ein weiterer, rätselhafter Eintrag in Otrembas Privatmythologie, bestehend aus Namen, Zeichen, Bildern, die sich durch sein gesamtes Werk erstrecken. Riskantes Manöver öffnet darin nicht nur eine neue Facette, der Titel fasst zugleich das Ethos eines Arbeitens zusammen, "das nicht auf Relevanz oder Erfolg gepolt ist". Gerade, wenn dabei immer wieder Gegensätze vereint werden müssen, die an dem Menschen dahinter zerren: "Das riskante Manöver ist mit den Widersprüchen zu leben und sie im eigenen Schaffen stattfinden zu lassen. Lust und kreative Ambition als was Positives zu begreifen in einer Situation, wo das, was ich sehe, eigentlich für das Gegenteil spricht, abgründig, negativ, dämonisch ist." In diesem Sinne ist hier ein Monolith von einem Album geschaffen, der sich zugleich machtvoll und zart aufstemmt, wie es im Untertitel der Platte heißt: "gegen die Verachtung der Gegenwarth"! - Sebastian Berlich

blueblue is the latest full-length from multi-instrumentalist and all-around vibe wizard, Sam Gendel. The record, out via Leaving Records, is a concise, tightly wound song suite whose 14 tracks each correspond to a pattern within sashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. This conceit remains playfully ambiguous — to what extent, if at all, is Kagome (woven bamboo) meant to evoke the pattern of the same name, for example? But there is an intuitive sense, throughout blueblue, that Gendel has, in this instance, narrowed his focus. To say that blueblue feels richly textural might be a little on-the-nose, thematically, but alas…it does. There is an intimacy, a humility, and a strength at play here that typifies the work of a master craftsman. Only an artist could make it sound so effortless.

A Los Angeleno by way of Central CA, Gendel is by now an institution. Across a dizzying slate of solo releases and collaborations, he has amassed a reputation for not only virtuosic musicianship (primarily as a saxophonist, though the songs that would become blueblue were all initially composed on guitar), but also for his mercurial and prolific output — a corpus of work, which, while obviously indebted to jazz and hip hop (and the farther flung, experimental corners of both) is, in a word, unpindownable.

The bulk of blueblue was recorded in isolation in a makeshift studio built in a cabin floating atop a tributary of Oregon’s Columbia River. Having sketched out a set of guitar melodies, Gendel recorded the album in five-or-so weeks, during which time he became well-acquainted with the river’s tidal rise and fall. This organic rhythm, which daily lifted the house to meet the horizon, later setting it down gently upon the riverbed, permeates t

Melanie Martinez is set to release her new album ‘Portals on March 31st, with the first track off the album, ‘DEATH’ set to release alongside the official music video on March 17th.

Melanie Martinez's creative drive and talents have always distinguished her from other musicians. Her compelling music and visual art have created a rabid global fanbase with over 8.4 million followers on Instagram, 11.4 million subscribers on YouTube, 6.3 billion global streams, and 2.4 billion official YouTube views. After releasing her platinum-certified 2015 debut album, Cry Baby—which reached No. 1 on Billboard's alternative albums chart and has amassed over 3.5 billion streams worldwide —she conceived and directed a video for each song on the album. These mini-movies traced the traumas and insecurities experienced by the album's character, Cry Baby. As of 2020, every song on Cry Baby is RIAA certified Gold or higher, including the 2X Platinum “Dollhouse” and the Platinum “Pity Party,” “Carousel,” “Mad Hatter,” and “Soap.”

Melanie’s sophomore album and film, K-12, is another ambitious triumph with debuts at #3 on the Billboard 200 Chart, #1 on the Billboard Alternative Album Chart, #1 on the Billboard Soundtrack Chart, and a nomination for “Top Soundtrack” at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards. K-12's music is a vibrant and singular melting pot of low-key hip-hop, soulful pop and indie-leaning electro. K-12's universe is an expansion of the one introduced in Cry Baby. Using lyrics rich with metaphor, songs address the struggle to find a place to belong—including within friendships, the physical world and romantically—even when fitting into society feels like an uphill battle. Since releasing her K-12 album last September, Melanie has released 13 new music videos from the project which have now garnered over 100 million views collectively.

Nach der Veröffentlichung der 2CD-Version des Albums Moonage Daydream im letzten Jahr, wird der Soundtrack nun am 31. März als 3LP Vinyl veröffentlicht.

"Moonage Daydream" beleuchtet das Leben und Genie von David Bowie, einem der produktivsten und einflussreichsten Künstler der jüngeren Musikgeschichte.
Auf Spielfilmlänge nimmt uns Brett Morgen mit in die Welt Bowies, erforscht anhand von großartigem, vielfältigem und nie zuvor gesehenem Filmmaterial, Live-Auftritten und Musik (Morgen sichtete vier Jahre die Archive des David Bowie Estates) seine kreative, musikalische und spirituelle Reise.
Durch den Film führt uns dabei die Erzählerstimme von David Bowie selbst.
Das Begleitalbum zu "Moonage Dream" enthält Songs aus Bowies gesamter Karriere, darunter bisher ungehörtes Material, speziell für den Film und dieses Album angefertigte Mixe und Gesprächspassagen Bowies.

Zu den Highlights des Tracklistings zählen ein bisher unveröffentlichtes Live-Medley von "The Jean Genie / Love Me Do / The Jean Genie", aufgenommen beim berühmt-berüchtigten letzten Ziggy-Stardust-Konzert im Londoner Hammersmith Odeon 1973 und mit Jeff Beck an der Gitarre. Weitere Raritäten sind eine frühe Version
des Hunky-Dory-Favoriten "Quicksand" und eine bisher unveröffentlichte Live-Version von "Rock 'n' Roll With Me", mitgeschnitten bei der legendären "Soul Tour" 1974.

The "Punctual Problems" EP is the first solo release of Paul Prier, who has already accompanied artists such as Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christine & The Queen or Woodkid on stage or in the studio.

The record is in perpetual balance between a learned music, inspired harmonies and an impeccable production and the desire to propose a pop record accessible to all.

Ex-member of the electro-pop duo Toys and decisive stage man on the keyboard for Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christine & The Queens and Woodkid, Paul Prier is the brand new signature of the Research and Development house (Jacques, Miel de Montagne, PPJ). With his first EP "Punctual Problems", the Parisian finally presents himself alone, with the audacity to turn his phobias into strengths and the elegance to make them light.

We can better appreciate what Punctal Problems means - and what drives its engine. All the technique (his classical and jazz training), the hard work (an obsession with detail that is the lot of arrangers), the erudition (always ready to talk about harmonies with Stevie Wonder or choruses with Thundercat), are here only to serve the beauty of simple and limpid melodies, that we will hum everywhere. Inner dialogues, self-critical and tender at the same time, disguised as love songs so that everyone can project themselves into them. "It's harder to make a really good, sophisticated pop song that speaks to everyone than an ultra-codified jazz song reserved for a niche. In pop, anything goes, so it's all a matter of dosage. That's why Paul Prier can do a hundred versions of a song before he finds the right one... and too bad if it's the first.

Under the moniker She Drew The Gun, songwriter Louisa Roach began by playing solo gigs around Liverpool, she quickly caught the attention of The Coral’s James Skelly who she began working with at Skeleton Key Records, recruiting band members along the way. At first glance Roach’s fuzzy psych-pop may suggest that the Wirral born songwriter is another ‘Cosmic Scouser’ but then you’re drawn into the spirit of rebellion, songs that rally against injustice and food banks and celebrate outsiderdom. Roach was late to music, releasing her first LP ‘Memories of the future’ after a decade of motherhood and studying at college.

The second LP ‘ Revolution of Mind’, released October 2018, again produced by James Skelly, continued the fine work laid out on her 2016 debut. Announced in the top 10 albums of 2018 by BBCRadio6 Music, the record was one of the runaway indie successes of the year. In 2019 the band completed a sold out UK tour and played a string of UK festivals including main stage performances at Glastonbury and Blue Dot among others. In 2020 the band played virtual gigs to help raise money for Greenpeace and the Music Venue Trust among others and look forward to a proper return to live music.

Three-time Grammy Award nominee, songwriter, actor and model Natalie Imbruglia released Male back in 2015 as her fifth studio album. The album is a collection of famous songs by male artists, including Cat Stevens, Damien Rice, Tom Petty, Pete Townsend, and Zac Brown amongst others. The album is produced by Billy Mann, who has also worked with Pink, John Legend, Celine Dion, Martina McBride, and Sting.

The album features the single "Instant Crush", which was her first single in six years and was originally recorded by Daft Punk and Julian Casablancas (The Strokes).

Male is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent magenta coloured vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet.

Erik Cohen meldet sich 2 Jahre nach "Northern Soul" mit seinem fünften Langspieler zurück. Das 10 Songs umfassende "True Blue" bringt nicht nur wohlbekannte Trademarks des sympathischen Kielers effektiv und lässig auf den Punkt. Die Platte erweitert das musikalische Spektrum des Norddeutschen durchaus um frische klangliche Facetten. Satt und mit Liebe für Details produziert, ergeben die abwechslungsreich rollenden neuen Lieder unter dem Strich ein reifes, individuelle Stärke präsentierendes Rockalbum in deutscher Sprache, das für durchgehenden Hörspaß steht.

'Angstkrig' handelt vom unmenschlichen Druck der modernen Welt auf den Menschen und den psychischen Folgen. Die Songs thematisieren Situationen bis zum Nervenzusammenbruch. Das riffbetonte, zweite Album der dänischen Black-Metaller hüllt den Hörer ein in eine großartige Dunkelheit aus norwegischem Schwarz, schwedischer Melodie, dänischem Groove und isländischer Melancholie. Produziert von Frederik Brandt Jakobsen (Disillusionist, Sharon Stone, DÓTTIR) im Hikikomori Studio. Mit Gastauftritten des Gitarristen Mendel (Aborted), Nils Courbaron (Sirenia), Carl Mörner Ringström und des dänischen Rappers Jøden.

Das erste Album in voller Länge seit fünf Jahren von den kanadischen Melodic-Metal-Helden Gatekeeper! Eine fesselnde Reise mit acht Songs, die epischen, melodischen Heavy Metal neu definiert! From Western Shores ist messerscharfen in Ausführung und Produktion. Der gefragte Arthur Rizk (Cavalera Conspiracy, Kreator, Sonja) übernahm die Mixaufgaben. Letztendlich verdoppelt sich From Western Shores auf die Elemente, die Gatekeeper zu einem internationalen Metal-Schwergewicht gemacht haben. Die epischen Teile sind epischer und die traurigen Teile - wie die Band unterstreicht - "sad as fuck". Es verstärkt die Vorstellung, dass Gatekeeper ein Schmelztiegel von Stilen ist, anders eben als diverse Protagonisten in der Melodic-Metal-Szene.

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Reviews / Features / Ratings: Deaf Forever, Rocks, Classic Rock, Eclipsed, Rolling Stone, Visions, Slam Magazine, Rock Tribune, Rock Hard, Legacy, Rock Hard, Rockway, Metal Invader, Loud and Proud u.a.

The endlessly prolific and unpredictable Richard Youngs returns to Black Truffle with Modern Sorrow. As any Youngs fan knows, one of the great pleasures of following his career comes from not being able to predict what the next entry in his inexhaustible string of releases will bring: Unaccompanied voice? Country songs? Shakuhachi? Guitar pieces played with his feet? Shredding fuzz bass over the top of hyper-speed distorted drum machine beats? Continuing in the grand Youngs tradition of exploring new techniques, instrumentation and approaches while bringing to all of them his idiosyncratic touch, Modern Sorrow serves up two sides of twistedly elegiac, radically stark takes on contemporary pop production. The side-long title track is built from a piano sample, synthetic bass notes and organ swells, and an iterative blurt that seems to have wandered out of a 90s jungle track. Eventually joined by a shuffling drum machine, the track moves very slowly through a series of chords, each delayed long enough that its arrival comes as a major event. Over the top, Youngs’ heavily pitch-corrected voice is heard. The processing paints his signature wandering melodic improvisations with shades of contemporary R&B; at the same time, it cuts the natural swoops and glides of Youngs’ melodies into rapid microtonal trills, giving his voice a quavering, middle eastern feel. Unfolding languorously over more than 17 minutes, the piece’s final minutes make room for an extended drumless coda, returning to the stark palette of its opening moments. On the second side, the two parts of ‘Benevolence’ push this minimalism ever further, its first half consisting of nothing more than a remarkably slow drum machine hit, bass-heavy chords and pitch-corrected voice, here so heavily processed that it starts to resemble a shawn solo. In its second part, the harmonic foundation drops out from under the piece while two more voices join; at some moments the voices pause, leaving nothing more than isolated, metronomic drum hits. Though Youngs has explored the sound worlds associated with dance music and contemporary pop in previous work, here these elements are radically reduced, foregrounding a meditative bed of silence with a boldness equal to any more academically inclined contemporary composer. Embracing the accessible digital tools of contemporary music production just as at another moment he would pick up a kazoo, like much of Youngs’ work Modern Sorrow uses simple DIY tools to generous ends, producing formally radical music that remains both free from pretension and deeply moving.

Al Green Explores Your Mind is the eighth album by soul singer Al Green. Unlike previous Al Green albums, this album featured the U.S. #7 hit "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)", and contains the original version of "Take Me to the River", a song which went to #26 on the Billboard chart when covered by Talking Heads in 1978. In 2004, the song "Take Me to the River" was ranked number 117 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. The album was his fifth consecutive album to claim #1 on the Soul Albums chart, and peaked at #15 on the Pop Albums chart.

Die Symphonic Metal Piraten VISIONS OF ATLANTIS live vom Wacken Open Air 2022!
2022 setzten VISIONS OF ATLANTIS die Segel, um mit dem achten Album Pirates erneut auf eine symphonische Reise zu gehen. Zum ersten Mal in den 22 Jahren ihres Bestehens stiegen sie in die Top 20
der deutschen Albumcharts ein. Frei wie die sieben ungezähmten Meere hat die Symphonic-Metal-Band ihre rebellische Seite entfesselt und ihr bisher selbstbewusstestes und ehrlichstes Album abgeliefert.

Auf dieser Reise spielten sie ausgedehnte Touren durch die USA und Europa, sowie zahlreiche Festival-Shows.
Um die neue Ära von VISIONS OF ATLANTIS als Piraten für ihre Fans einzufangen, nahm die Band ihren Auftritt auf dem legendären Wacken Open Air im Sommer 2022 auf - jetzt erhältlich als ihre dritte
Live-Veröffentlichung, Pirates Over Wacken, die am 31. März 2023 über Napalm Records erscheint.
Mit Songs von Pirates sowie Fan Lieblinge wie ”A Life Of Our Own”, ”The Silent Mutiny” und ”A Journey To Remember” bot das Wacken Open Air die perfekte Bühne für diese Live-Veröffentlichung. Pirates Over Wacken ist der perfekte Vorgeschmack auf das, was VISIONS OF ATLANTIS 2023 mit erneut ausgedehnten Touren durch Europa und die USA erwartet! L

Das Album ”The Who With Orchestra Live At Wembley” wurde bei der Show der Band im weltberühmten Wembley-Stadion am 6. Juli 2019 aufgenommen. The Who performte viele ihrer größten Hits sowie Songs von ihrem gefeierten letzten Studioalbum mit Hilfe des Isobel Griffiths Ltd Orchestra. Dieses Album wird nun in 5 Formaten veröffentlicht und umfasst die 1CD mit den Highlights, eine 2CD + Blu-Ray mit einem Atmos-Mix des gesamten Albums sowie eine schwarze Standard-Vinyl-Version.
Dazu gibt es ein umfangreiches Booklet mit zahlreichen Fotos von den Proben, Backstage und von der Show.

First things first - you don't need me to tell you about the significance of Australia in the history of punk. I mean, what am I, Jon Savage? Google it yourself, FFS. Instead, let's just agree that the speedy, feral racket thrown together by the likes of The Saints, Radio Birdman and The Scientists in the mid-late '70s is AT LEAST as deliriously entertaining as anything concocted by their UK/US counterparts, sowing the seeds for seemingly endless garage-inflected noisemakers in the land down under. No one likes using words like 'tradition' or 'heritage' here - the punk rock clusterbomb is far too messy for any of that business - but also emerging from Australian rock's primordial soup is the addictive sneer of Stiff Richards. Like their predecessors, the band are a gleefully wracked mess of full throttle energy and barrelling power chords, with songs like 'Kids Out On The Grass' and 'Point of You' proving at least the equal of '(I'm) Stranded' or 'Aloha Steve And Danno'. Nine tracks in less than 30 minutes, all winners and all determined to leave you flipping over couches and smashing your TV set. And let's face it, you may as well; there's nothing good on. It all builds towards frantic closer 'Fill In The Blanks', which rattles around your speakers like the UK Subs trying to play Ed Kuepper riffs at the centre of an earthquake, before grinding to a halt as a voice says, "That's the one." Does it sound self-satisfied? Hey, it's got good reason to - this is the best no-frills garage rock party since Gino & The Goons' 'Do The Get Around', and the only appropriate response is to declare yourself betrothed to Stiff Richards because you can't imagine your life without 'em. Don't believe me? Sort out your ears and get 'State Of Mind' in 'em. Rock'n'roll as it's supposed to be played. Will Fitzpatrick.

Es ist mittlerweile längst kein Geheimnis mehr, dass die TrinkundSinggemeinschaft (TSG) aus dem Oxo86-Umfeld kommt! Sänger Willi und seine Bernauer Freunden schreiben Songs rund um Fußball, Stadion, Zusammenhalt und Anekdoten, die ein wahrer Fan so auf den Platz, davor und danach erlebt. Mit "Fußball & Blues" erscheint nun endlich der Nachfolger des legendären TSG-Debuts mit 12 neuen Folk-Punk-Akustik-Shanty Hymnen. Geschichten über "Abstiegskampf", "Liebe auf den ersten Blick" und weitere Liebesbekundungen für das "Mädchen aus der Kurve" oder "Unser Sportplatz - Unser Revier"! Sucht- und Ohrwurmgefahr garantiert.

Canadian alt. rock 5-piece Mother Mother have experienced a whirlwind decade, amassing over 830 million streams and views, earning 14 million monthly listeners on digital platforms and 2 million searches at Shazam.
In 2021 they became something of a TikTok sensation when songs from their back catalogue exploded on the platform, quickly accumulating a staggering 325 million uses of #MotherMother as well as 1.5 million fans (now at 2.7m).

In the band’s homeland, they have had numerous Top 10 Alternative Radio hits, spent several weeks at #1, and have been the most played alternative artist at radio for multiple years running. The band have also found success on the road. Their most recent pre-pandemic tours featured numerous sold-out headline dates including New York, London,
Los Angeles and all across Canada and the US.

Last autumn Mother Mother performed a sold out UK tour to over 9,000 rabid fans, including two nights at the 02 Forum in Kentish Town.

Als Aldous Harding 2017 mit ihrem Zweitwerk "Party" ihr Debüt auf 4AD gab, war sie wohl nur absoluten Insidern der Indie-Folk-Szene bekannt. Als Straßenmusikerin entdeckt, mauserte sich die Neuseeländerin mit ihren Alben aber schnell zum absoluten Geheimtipp, wobei schon vom ersten zum zweiten Album eine deutliche und steile Lernkurve im Schaffen der Songwriterin zu erkennen war. Umso schöner, dass sie uns nun ihr drittes, wieder von John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse) produziertes Album "Designer" präsentiert! Aldous Hardings Musik ist nichts für zartbesaitete Menschen, entwaffnend aufgrund der trostlosen Bildhaftigkeit und ihrer einnehmenden Instrumentierung, behandeln ihre Songs die Kernthemen des Lebens: Tod, Geburt, Leid und Liebe. Es gibt ein paar Happy Endings in ihren Geschichten, aber vielmehr geht es um ihre Kraft, wie sie in den Kampf zieht - mit der Anmut eines Tänzers und Einstellung eines Boxers.

Nachdem 2013 zum 10-jährigen Jubiläum die Deluxe Version veröffentlicht wurde, ist ,Give Up" nun wieder als einfache LP im Original Format zu haben. Man kann alle Zeit und alles Geld der Welt darauf verwenden, das perfekte Pop-Szenario zu erschaffen, aber manchmal müssen sich die Sterne von ganz allein in die richtige Position rücken. Und obwohl die Mitglieder von THE POSTAL SERVICE schon früh darüber Witze machten, dass ,Such Great Heights" der ,Hit" ihres Debüalbums ,Give Up" sei, konnte niemand ahnen, was für einen Einfluss diese Album haben sollte, das in Schlafzimmern des Mittleren Westens konzipiert wurde. Über zehn Jahre sind ins Land gegangen, seit das kleine Projekt aus Ben Gibbard von DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE und Jimmy Tamborello (DNTEL, FIGURINE) scheinbar aus dem Nirgendwo anrauschte und sich tief in die Ohren all derer eingrub, die in Kontakt mit dem ansteckenden Electropop von THE POSTAL SERVICE geraten waren. Natürlich war die Musik von THE POSTAL SERVICE zu jeder Zeit viel mehr als nur Electropop. Die Kraft, mit der Jimmy und Ben den Zeitgeist des Indie Rocks der frühen Nuller Jahre heraufbeschworen, machte sie zu einem derartigen Phänomen, dass Künstler wie BEN FOLDS, AMANDA PALMER, STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO und CONFIDE ,Such Great Heights" gecovert haben. Ein Zeugnis des zauberhaften Funken und der melodischen Kompaktheit des Songs. Der Sound der Band ist ein derartiger Meilenstein, dass der Terminus ,Postal Service-esque" ein akzeptiertes Adjektiv in der Musikwelt ist. Es war unmöglich, vorherzusagen, wie groß ,Give Up" werden würde, aber schon 2003 war klar, dass diese Herren etwas ganz Besonderes erschaffen hatten.

'Angstkrig' handelt vom unmenschlichen Druck der modernen Welt auf den Menschen und den psychischen Folgen. Die Songs thematisieren Situationen bis zum Nervenzusammenbruch. Das riffbetonte, zweite Album der dänischen Black-Metaller hüllt den Hörer ein in eine großartige Dunkelheit aus norwegischem Schwarz, schwedischer Melodie, dänischem Groove und isländischer Melancholie. Produziert von Frederik Brandt Jakobsen (Disillusionist, Sharon Stone, DÓTTIR) im Hikikomori Studio. Mit Gastauftritten des Gitarristen Mendel (Aborted), Nils Courbaron (Sirenia), Carl Mörner Ringström und des dänischen Rappers Jøden.

The return of the classic Demonstration Tapes double LP on vinyl from the one and only Dolly Mixture. Originally self released in 1984 - this 27 track set collects the band's demos from 1979 to 1983 of perfectly executed pop, indie pop and '60s girl group gems. The sound is raw but the charm and pure-pop songcraft manages to shine through.

Dolly Mixture should have been massive - so just sit back and enjoy these charming songs that have aged like a fine wine. Original copies sell for silly money and even the Germs of Youth reissue sells for over £100. This reissue comes with a brand new sleeve design.

The undisputed kings of garage rock are back! It’s been 22 years since the last Headcoats album, but now Billy, Bruce, and Johnny return with a brand-new studio album!

Recorded last year at Ranscombe Studios in Rochester. Billy, Bruce, and Johnny kindly answered some pertinent questions…You got back together recently as Thee Headcoats Sect to make the ‘Tribute to Don Craine’ EP. What was it like working with each other again after all this time? BILLY: It was 'fab' and 'gear.' BRUCE: The weirdest thing for me was how weird it wasn't.

It was like time compressed, but to the 'good old days', early on. I was wary that it 'wouldn't be like Thee Headcoats', but it was. JOHNNY: I'm with Bruce and Billy on that one. I think we were all surprised how it all just worked. If I remember correctly, we kicked off role playing like we detested each other. Then we got started and well, you can hear the result.

What were the first songs you ran through when you got in the studio? BILLY: That’s a very good question. No idea. BRUCE: I can't remember. They all sound the same to me. JOHNNY: Bill had stuff on his phone that went “KSSHHCCCKSSHHHH”! So, we did that first. You’ve also paid tribute to Don with a track on the Irregularis album – ‘Oh Leader We Do Dig Thee’.

He was, along with the other members of Downliners Sect, a big inspiration to Thee Headcoats. When did you first become aware of his music and what was he like to work with? BRUCE: We were given (or possibly lent) a reissue of the Sect's first LP around 1977, marketed as 'Punk From The Vaults', which certainly floated our boats and definitely popped our corks, due to the somewhat aggressive yet carefree nature of the tunes and sound in general. Ollie, our old bassist, found an ad in a trade magazine for them with a contact number for a Michael O'Donnell, which I excitedly called almost immediately.

T'was none other than Don his'self and we managed to convince him into venturing down to Rochester to record some tunes with us which became the first Headcoat Sect EP. We were fairly starstruck and presented him with a brand new 'dearstalker' (or 'Headcoat', as they were now known). He was very accommodating and a great laugh and spent the evening with us, regaling us with tales of yore. I recorded a lot of it on cassette, which I may still have somewhere. Gawd bless Don

First time available on cassette. Gap Girls led by Jacob Rubeck of Surf Curse. Gap Girls is the synth-pop project of Los Angeles DIY scene mainstay Jacob Rubeck. As half of the electrifying indie rock duo Surf Curse, Rubeck is no stranger to a good hook, but when he trades jangly guitars for synths, an entire new world opens up. On his new album Forever Love, Forever After, that world is one of love, hope, and welcomeness. In contrast to the shadowy wistful sounds of Gap Girls’ previous effort ‘Street Desires,’ ‘Forever Love, Forever After’ sounds like an uplifting triumph of love, in all its mysterious shapes and forms. With punchy drum machines, shimmering synths, and chest-rumbling bass, these songs are pure synth-pop bliss for letting love in.

Porto-based trio 10 000 Russos will release their new ‘Live In Berlin’ double LP on March 24th 2023 via Rubber Duck, a new live album imprint by Fuzz Club Records. The record captures the band storming through their subterranean motorik psych-drone live at Berlin’s Astra Kulturhaus on October 16th 2021. Recorded whilst out on a European tour, ‘Live In Berlin’ finds 10 000 Russos performing their 2021 ‘Superinertia’ LP in full the album’s five songs expanded and taken to even more transfixing and hedonistic heights in a live setting. These shows were 10 000 Russos’ first with the new, more-electronic line-up and sound, with newly-recruited synth player Nils Meisel making his debut on the ‘Superinertia’ LP and completing the line-up alongside founding members João Pimenta (drums/vocals) and Pedro Pestana (guitar). Across the hour-long set, Pimenta’s deadpan sprechgesang vocal and machine-like percussion, Pestana cascading psych guitar-loops and Meisel’s repetitive synth basslines all combine on a performance that will pull you into a trance at times and get you on your feet at others.

For over 30 years Richard Adams has been quietly documenting his own particular corner of the English countryside both with Hood, the post-rock band he formed with his brother in 1991, and since 2007 with The Declining Winter. Recorded over a five year period and inspired by rustic English alternatives such as Talk Talk and Robert Wyatt, The Declining Winter’s latest work ‘Really Early, Really Late’ is a collection of beautiful songs, immersed in a richer sonic spectrum incorporating strings, horns and lush electronic textures, alongside Adams’ own unique guitar tones and characteristic dubby bass. Though it retains the homespun scratchiness of previous The Declining Winter records, ‘Really Early, Really Late’ is also their most ornate. A remotely collaborative effort, the record is scattered with decorative embellishments from violinist Sarah Kemp (Brave Timbers), cellist Peter Hollo (Tangents), and guitarist Ben Holton (epic45), among many others. Adams’ distorted whisper of a voice has never been more exposed leading to a brutally emotive and intensely personal song-suite, both raw and beautiful in equal measure. The storybook curiosity of Mark Hollis’ work is a particular influence. Like Hollis, this music is imbued with magical realism: beholden to nature, it hints at the mysteries lurking in mundane local landscapes and the more remote Yorkshire moors and valleys. A record to hold close to your heart, ‘Really Early, Really Late’ sees Adams and his collaborators emerge from the shadows with their most complete work to date. Home Assembly are proud to present the album on lush crystal clear, double vinyl, bundled with a CD housed in an oversized vinyl-style sleeve.

Free The Robots intentionally marries various electronica genres into a joyous, machine-like syrup that swims between the currents of deep introspection and the depths of the dance floor. 'Kaduwa' is his most recent manifestation, born out of his travels around the world. Especially inspired by his time between Los Angeles, Barcelona, and the island Siargao in the Philippines, Free The Robots translates his experiences into electronic, jazz-centric and sample based beats with sublime tinges of psych, rock, house, and hip-hop. For the most part, these compositions are blunted, funky, and psychedelic. There are tracks for club nights, tunes for early morning comedowns, and songs that are suitable for both. Once more adding new ripples to his sound, Free The Robots continues to explore new frontiers while keeping the torch burning for the L.A. beat freaks

Now available at a new lower price. Pressed On Opaque Yellow Vinyl With Japanese Stylized Insert And Deluxe Obi Strip. Remastered From The Original Analog Tapes. The first live Miles Davis electric band release since 1977’s very dark and heavy Dark Magus. The album features live performances from shows at Boston’s Kix Club. The double vinyl release contains reimagined versions of songs from The Man With the Horn (1981), tunes from the pre-electric Gil Evans collaboration Porgy and Bess (1959), and a dedication to the Boston venue called Kix. While this was one of the first live Miles Davis performances in over half a decade it certainly did not show!!! This album features R&B legend Marcus Miller on bass, Mike Stern on guitar, Bill Evans on saxophone, Mino Cinelu on percussion, and electric band alumni Al Foster on drums. Produced and edited by long time Miles collaborator Teo Macero

Puscifer setzen ihre Serie von Album-Remixen fort und veröffentlichen "Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired", das am 31. März 2023 über Puscifer Entertainment/Alchemy Recordings/BMG erscheint.

„Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired“ bietet eine Track-by-Track-Neuinterpretation der 12 Songs von „Existential Reckoning“. Die Puscifer-Bandmitglieder Mitchell und Round sowie die aktuellen Tourmusiker Greg Edwards (Failure, Autolux) und Gunnar Olsen interpretieren die Stücke des prophetischen, elektrolastigen Albums neu.

Before MF DOOM donned his mask and became one of the most prolific MC-producers of modern Hip-Hop, he was a member of KMD, an early ‘90s rap group whose work still goes criminally under-appreciated to this day.

Following their 1991 debut album, Mr. Hood, the former trio shed one member leaving only two remaining – Subroc and his brother, Zev Love X (better known today as MF DOOM). Originally scheduled for release in 1994, their sophomore album Black Bastards showed clear progression from their debut. It was a truly amazing record, both sonically and lyrically, full of youthful creativity and tinged with the stresses of growing up as Black men in urban America. Songs like the lead single “What A N*gga Know”, the slippery, bass-driven “Get U Now”, and the album’s title track explore Black consciousness viewed through young-but-experienced eyes. Musically alternating between bouncy and raw – many times both, concurrently – the tracks gave the MC’s the springboard they needed to express themselves clearly.

Sadly, Subroc would face a sudden and untimely death in 1993, just as the duo were finishing the album. Grief-stricken, his brother Zev Love X – now the sole remaining member of the group – was determined to carry the legacy of KMD onward, but Elektra Records unceremoniously shelved the project in the eleventh hour, due to controversy surrounding the album’s provocative cover art. Following the fallout with Elektra, Zev tried for years to release the album on other labels, but he was continually met with dead ends. Struggling through the pain of losing his brother, coupled with the inability to release their final project together, a discouraged Zev Love X quietly withdrew from the scene and began quietly plotting his revenge on an industry that had broken him spiritually. Thus, in order to understand the true origin story of the super-villain, MF DOOM, one must recognize and appreciate the evolution of his former group, KMD, and the backstory of their pivotal album, Black Bastards.

Die färöische Folk-Singer/Songwriterin EIVOR bringt mit ,Slor" bereits ihr zweites Studioalbum innerhalb eines Jahres raus. ,Slor" ist eine Sammlung neu komponierter Songs, die EIVOR in ihrer Muttersprache - färöisch - eingesungen hat. Das Album ist der Nachfolger des englischsprachigen Albums ,Bridges". Und auch wenn es sich um zwei unterschiedliche Alben in unterschiedlichen Sprachen handelt, gibt es eine Verbindung der beiden Platten. Wo ,Bridges" leicht und vor allem sehnsüchtig war, klingt ,Slor" eher rau und reflektierter. ,Bridges" wurde von Freundschaft, Liebe und Heimweh inspiriert. Es thematisiert die Brücken zwischen uns, Beziehungen zwischen Menschen, Plätzen und auch Dingen, die uns berühren. ,Slor" hingegen gibt sich der Fernsucht hin, thematisiert Trennungen und die Suche nach Frieden. Ein Schleier kann ein Symbol für eine Grenze zwischen Gegenwart und Vergangenheit sein, doch ein Brautschleier hingegen repräsentiert vor allem Glück und Hingabe. EIVOR selbst erklärt den Prozess der Geschwisteralben: ,Als ich die Songs geschrieben haben, erfolgte das Songwriting erst auf Englisch und direkt danach kam es auf Färöisch in meinen Kopf - wie eine Art Spiegelbild." Somit handelt es sich nicht nur um zwei voneinander getrennte Werke, sondern auch um einen zusammengesetzten Moment im Songprozess.

“Elemental 7 has cast a looming shadow of influence over almost all electronic music since it was made” - Boomkat. Chris & Cosey’s Elemental 7 – available here for the first time in 40 years - is the soundtrack to the film of the same name (on Cabaret Voltaire’s Doublevision video imprint) that saw the duo working once more with John Lacey – Lacey had previously worked with Cosey in COUM Transmissions and introduced Chris Carter to the collective. The album’s highlight and one of their best loved songs, ‘Dancing Ghosts’, sounds as fresh and relevant today as it must have on its original release.

An incredible heart 'n' soul story continues this spring with the release of Reel People's first original album in over a decade, Love2.

Produced by core collective Oli Lazarus, Mike Patto and Toni Economides, and with a fresh vocal line-up including Raheem DeVaughn, Muhsinah, Chantae Cann,

Michael Champion, Paula, Jill Rock Jones, Eric Roberson and Arrested Development's Speech, this super- fine, 10- track opus marks a further powerfulevolution of the Reel People sound.

Weaving contemporary R&B sensibilities into the collective's classic grooved-out flow, Love2 embraces the out- and- out euphoria of love but offers an entirely unique voice.
Love2 is a monumental addition to the Reel People canon, following acclaimed album releases Second Guess, Seven Ways To Wonder and Retroflection. New

songs and sounds, but the same soulful passion and craftsmanship. New friends and flourishes but the same mission to move hearts, minds and dancefloors.

First original Reel People album since 2008 !

Featuring a plethora of US Vocal talents including Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson, Speech from Arrested Development, Chantae Cann, Michael Champion, Paula, Muhsinah & Jill Rock Jones

Ahead of an interestingly cheeky release schedule in 2023 from Seven Davis Jr., collaborators and fellow associates on Secret Angels Records, we present to you “savedbythebell”.

Described as a vibey intermission project. Music you might hear on an elevator ride inside a massive mothership that’s traveling through multiple dimensions. Sounds from an 80s themed alternate timeline. There are no rules here. There are no one set descriptions and multiple meanings abound. Although this be more of an instrumental adventure with only one song (chorus and verses etc). Its all interdimensional vibes.

Featuring 5 fresh tracks produced within in the last 2 years by Sev. (who previously had the habit of releasing mixtures of older tracks/reworked
demos along with new songs).

And with all releases from Seven Davis Jr., this one picks up where the previous ended. Sev’s 2021 song based album “I See The Future” left us with an unpredictable track titled “New Life Who Dis”. This ep introduces us to forthcoming new sounds from that new life.

Not just for dance floors, also for “chillen” or lounging on a nice day, or disassociating in the depths of a wormhole, or at an after hours where everyone’s faces are on fire and no one ever sleeps!

We hope you enjoy and if you do, please play it, share it and reach out to let us know so we can be friends. Because we aren’t jerks, we swear. At least not in this timeline.

It’s been seven strange years since The Veils’ last studio album Total Depravity, and Finn Andrews has a new double LP to show for it. "...And Out Of The Void Came Love" is the result of this tumultuous period of injury, isolation and new life...

Following the release of Total Depravity, Andrews released a solo album and began a worldwide tour. One night, while lashing out at a particularly intense moment on piano, he broke his wrist on stage. “It sounds wild and Jerry Lee Lewis-esque, but it was an absolute fucking nightmare,” Andrews says. He played on and finished the rest of the tour, but it wasn’t until he got it examined much later that he realized what a bad move that was. “The scaphoid bone in my wrist had died, which I didn’t know was possible. My sister said that at least it was a really ‘on brand’ injury for me.”

Finn’s convalescence meant a lengthy hiatus from touring, so he did what he does best and stayed at home and wrote songs. “I was in a cast and couldn’t use my right hand. I sang the melody lines, then recorded the right hand piano part, then the left hand part. It might have been an interesting, avant-garde process if it wasn’t also just profoundly annoying.”

Just when his hand had healed sufficiently for him to play again, The Veils found themselves in need of a new record label but Finn set about starting to make a new record regardless. Producer Tom Healy invited Finn to his small studio underneath the old Crystal Palace ballroom in Mount Eden, and they listened through the legions of songs he had amassed throughout the previous year.

“Tom was incredibly patient, it was a really laborious process - I brought a lot of junk down there and we had to sift through it all to try and find the parts worth saving.”

Following another two years of intermittent recording between lockdowns, Finn’s wife became pregnant, and yet more songs started coming.

By the time the songs had been recorded, it was clear that arranging the album into two halves best suited such varied material - but the meaning of the songs as a whole still eluded Andrews. “Then my daughter was born, and suddenly the whole record made sense to me,” he says. The music was telling a story, and somewhat strangely for The Veils, it seemed to have a happy ending.

The result of all these years of questioning, confinement and precarious uncertainty is the magnificent new double album from The Veils … And Out Of The Void Came Love. It is an album intended to be listened to in two sittings with a short break in the middle, or as Andrews instructs: “Make a coffee or smoke a cigarette – but don’t mow the lawn or go to the movies or something, that takes too long.”

Composer Victoria Kelly’s soaring string arrangements play an integral role in bringing the songs to life, as do musicians Cass Basil (bass), Dan Raishbrook (lap steel, guitar), Liam Gerrard (piano), Joseph McCallum (drums) the NZTrio and special guests the Smoke Fairies on backing vocals.

“Refreshingly passionate… Andrews rages with a Herculean intensity.” The Guardian
“Horse-whipped, lightning-crash clamor… magnetic.” Pitchfork
“One of the finest songwriters of his generation.” Drowned in Sound

Elias Devoldere is the drummer in bands such as Nordmann, Hypochristmutreefuzz, Suwi, Robbing Millions, and John Ghost. Following an ep, Kaiku, released last summer, Bloomed > Exploded is his debut full length as a solo artist. Besides writing and singing, he composed, played, recorded, and produced the bulk of the ten songs himself. 'Everything blooms', he explains the title of his first album. 'Until it explodes, and something else is able to grow from it'. In this case, what came full cycle is an intimate coming-of-age album of intangible atmospherics, crisp melodies, and understated rhythmical patterns.

BLOOMED >

'As a kid, I just wanted to play football, you know?', says Elias. 'But when I was eight years old, my parents made me choose between drawing school and music school'. And thus began a dedication to rhythm for Elias. At 18, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown of Ghent, opting for a jazz education. 'Not because I aspired to become a master 'jazz drummer', but to learn music, to become a good musician'. It was at the academy that, after an impromptu jam session, Nordmann first came together. The exhilarating instrumental quartet went on to win second place at the prestigious Humo's Rock Rally in 2014, and released three albums to critical acclaim, with a new one in the works.

Devoldere, in the meantime, had completed his degree with a craving - ironically - for music. 'I was in over my head with jazz for such a long time, and went on an epic discovering spree. Moses Sumney, James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Connan Mockasin... Lots of stuff I had missed over the years. In a way, I reconnected with the kind of music I was into before jazz dominated my life. Pink Floyd was my first love, for instance, and later Radiohead proved to be a game changer. Diving back into those kind of sounds, I was feeling the urge to follow my old dreams, of being a solo artist - or something more than 'just' a drummer, anyway. So I bought a guitar, an interface for my laptop, and started writing'.

EXPLODED

When he released his 5 track ep Kaiku in the summer of 2021, it summarised a lot of firsts for Elias. First time writing lyrics, first time as a lead vocalist, first time recording his own songs all by himself. The songs had been around for a while, but taking those leaps took a long time. 'Making the ep helped me to find my voice, in every way possible'. Still, in the aftermath of the pandemic, the songs on Bloomed > Exploded sprouted in a time of upheaval. 'Musically the album is quite serene, gentle even. But the themes speak of internal unrest and uncertainty. There are a lot of questions on the album, as it turned out. Duality, as the title suggests, coming from the struggle between a wish to turn everything upside down and a search for peace. Honestly: the prospect of my 30th birthday was messing with my head too'.

Recording during a period of solitude in France, Elias initially relied heavily on synthesizers and drum machines. 'Explode / Boalis was one of the first songs I wrote for this album, and pivotal for its atmosphere, based mostly on electronic elements. Later, I did use 'real' drums on most of the other songs, though, and contributions from other musicians, but the overall mood is very cohesive'. 'Pure', that's how Bruno Ellingham, the UK engineer who mixed the album, described it. Much to the delight of Elias, who reached out to Ellingham because of his previous work with bands such as Massive Attack and Portishead. 'Hearing the end result, I thought he really captured the essence of the original demo's. For me, that adds to this album being a sincere reflection of my true self. 'Take a dive/ Into the place where it's more quiet', as I sing in the last song, that kind of sums it up for me'.

There's more than a hint of ambition on the double LP sophomore effort from Sam Austin Rabede, the producer known as DJ Black Low. Pretoria, South Africa-born and based, the young man makes amapiano with new ways of expressing this local- turned-global style of dance music. In DJ Black Low's musical imagination, the songs manage to smoothly vacillate between dreamy and firmly-grounded. Adorned with vocalists across most of the twelve tracks, there's a new dimension to Black Low's now-signature approach to abstract, angular deconstruction of the rhythmic developments in his songs. The album references influences and ambitions in its song titles and lyrics while the music itself is anthemic in its sonic and structural aspirations. On many of the songs a slow-burning tension transforms into something unexpected until you're somewhere else as the track concludes. There is an emotional and compositional maturity that builds on his earlier work. Vocals and lyrics are in focus. Production collaborators among Black Low's Gauteng Province circle add to the constantly churning array of ideas that populate this consistently surprising release. Despite being a relative newcomer, DJ Black Low is onto something here.

Steve Gunn has always had one foot in indie rock and the other in an expansive improvisational scene. His songwriter albums alternate with freewheeling jams, most notably in his Gunn-Truscinski Duo, but are not confined to that. So when Gunn decided to revisit Other You, it made sense that he brought in some guests from the far side of the commercial/experimental spectrum to reimagine his songs. Nakama presents five tracks from that last album, reshaped by artists that Gunn admires. The process loosens the songs up considerably.

To start, he calls in Mdou Moctar’s backing band (the American bassist Mikey Coltun and the other guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane) for “Protection.” The song already had a bit of blues-y swagger to it, with sharper-edged guitar rhythms also heard on the ultra-smooth Other You, but here the heat has an otherworldly desert sheen. Its caravan-traveling rhythm sways from side to side, digging in to to the upbeats in a way that is both kinetic and also hypnotically still. There’s some crowd noise in the background, the knot of people that regularly forms when Mdou and his compatriots plug in from Agadez, and a few mournful afro-blues licks arcing off the vamp. But mostly it’s a cut that reminds you how much African guitar music Gunn has absorbed (listen to “Tommy’s Congo” from Way Out Weather for proof), and how well it fits with what he does.

Gunn also brings in Circuit Des Yeux’s Haley Fohr to reconfigure “Ever Feel That Way,” and she sets the song’s drifting melancholy amid pensive minor-key piano chords. She strips back the ambient whoosh that surrounds the original, slows down the pace and presents the song in startling, unadorned clarity. Her version removes some of the sticky, over-prettiness that I found so distracting in Other You. The melody is better, purer and more focused without the frills. There is also an electronic remake of “Reflection” from David Moore’s ambient ensemble Bing and Ruth, which traps Gunn’s fragile vocals in a shivering palace of synthetic tones. It’s enjoyable in its way, but the two sensibilities never quite meld together.

The best part comes when Gunn joins forces with Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society in remakes of “Good Wind” and “On the Way.” The former is a matter of subtle differences: the gentle pitch and roll under Gunn’s voice, the intermittent liquid runs of bass between widely spaced phrases. Abrams and his crew open up the jazz-leaning, reiterative possibilities under Gunn’s song, but they don’t change it fundamentally. “On the Way” is even stronger, a glowing drone and a pattern of hand drums enveloping the melody. It makes the music seem more spiritual, more resonant, more deep and full of mysteries. It was striking enough that I had to go back to Other You to hear again an album that had left me cold. This new version of “On the Way” didn’t change that chill, but it gave me an idea of how strong the songs might have sounded in another setting. (by Jennifer Kelly)