Bunny Lee as producer. Prince Jammy as engineer. The Aggrovators making the tracks. A Holy Trinity of Jamaican Music. Throughout the years, recorded music has been shaped by some enduring partnerships between producer and engineer, such as Teo Macero and Fred Plautt for Miles Davis, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd for Atlantic Records, and George Martin and Geoff Emerick for the Beatles. But possibly none were as prolific as the collaboration between Bunny 'Striker' Lee and Prince Jammy at King Tubby's Studio between 1976 and 1982.
In 1977 and 1982 respectively, Conflict Dub and Dubbing In The Front Yard were released in London as white labels in extremely limited quantities. The two LPs found the triumvirate of Lee, Jammy and The Aggrovators on perfect form, with driving instrumentals, flashes of vocal beauty, and mixes that ripped apart and rebuilt traditional notions of sonic structure. Due to the nature of their limited release (not to mention the lack of artwork and even titles) the two dub LPs quickly disappeared into that mythic realm of records whispered about by only the most hard-core reggae collectors. This release is the first-ever reissue of these sought after LPs, and contains all the original songs in both vinyl form (double LP set with both albums on the original labels) and a lush double pack cd with 3 extra bonus tracks. The sleeve notes are by Diggory Kenrick with amazing photos by Howard Johnson, director of the influential Channel 4 documentary 'Deep Roots Music'.
The 3 CD bonus tracks are all remixes. Two from Paolo 'Dubfiles' Baldini for the Dubbing in the Front Yard set. One for Conflict Dub by Diggory Kenrick.
In 2018, Pressure Sounds celebrated its 100th album release since it's founding in 1995. In that time, the label has been responsible for unearthing and celebrating some of the rarest, most influential and unique Jamaican records ever cut.
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Amateur Dramatics is Awkward Corners AKA Chris Menist's second LP in the space of a year. In 2020 – a time when the global pandemic gave artists more time and space to think about their music – Chris took his collaborations and compositions to a different level. Having already collaborated remotely with Sarathy Korwar, as well as Kitty Whitelaw through Karthik from Flamingods' Isolate/Create/Collaborate community, Chris turned his thoughts towards a new project. Amateur Dramatics is influenced by the events of early 2021 and alludes to the general atmosphere of political life in the UK right now where we are chivvied along by people who seem woefully unqualified to be commanding authority. Musically, the LP builds on foundations of the meditative, devotional electronic aspects of previous LP Dislocation Songs but this time frames it more in a jazz context with significant collaborations with Collocutor and Maisha's Tamar Osborn on four tracks.Vocals (from Kitty Whitelaw) feature on an Awkward Corners track for the first time, as well as double bass provided by David Leahy.The result is a thoughtful and deep listening 40 minute listening experience.
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This year Music On Vinyl in cooperation with Sony Music and Alex Callier are releasing 4 Hooverphonic remix Eps. Each EP represents a Hooverphonic album; A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular, Blue Wonder Power Milk, The Magnificent Tree and Presents Jackie Cane. Alex Callier selected the best remixes of their songs for each remix EP. All 4 remix EP’s are scheduled for release in 2021 and are cut on 45 RPM and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl.
Hooverphonic are a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and a mixture of others. The band originally called themselves Hoover, but later changed their name to Hooverphonic after discovering other groups were already using the Hoover name and to avoid any legal issues with the vacuum cleaner company.
Since their formation, Hooverphonic’s lineup consisted of bassist Alex Callier, guitarist Raymond Geerts, and various lead singers. Geike Arnaert (1997–2008, 2020-present) has recently re-joined the band. Hooverphonic represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
The band achieved international recognition through the inclusion of the Stereophonic track “2Wicky” on the 2000 individually numbered copies of Blue Wonder Power Milk remixes are available on on solid blue vinyl.
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THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is back! The band that formed as an idea of friends from several well known rock/metal bands (SOILWORK, ARCH ENEMY, MEAN STREAK) back almost a decade ago and has been dropping jaws ever since. With 5 albums already under their belt, 2 nominations for the Swedish Grammies, countless live shows and praises from fans and media alike, TNFO have steadily upped their game when it comes to paying tribute to a decade that influences all sorts of people and even industries to this day - the 80s. With hits like ‘Domino’, ‘Lovers In The Rain’, ‘West Ruth Ave’, ‘Divinyls’ or ‘This Time’, the band manages to maintain a variety of vibes and emotions within every album. From hard rockers, poppy digressions to progressive epics, disco-esque songs and almost cheesy yet loveable ballads.
Enter 2020, TNFO had just released their recent record, ‘Aeromantic’, and kicked off their European tour in support of it, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Björn Strid, the AOR dictator helming this exceptional collective called NFO, recalls “We made it one week into the tour after some absolutely amazing shows and then it all went south and we had to go home. Just about everyone on the tour got sick when they came home, with varied conditions.”
The band didn’t step back and accept the situation but decided to do what they do best instead: “It was pretty clear after some months into the Covid madness, that it was here to stay and that we weren’t gonna be able to tour for quite some time. So we made the best out of it. The remedy was simply to hit the studio again as soon as everybody was well again. It ended up being an incredibly creative 1,5 years and so many amazing songs came out of it.”
That being said, the second part of the ‘Aeromantic’ saga really captures what this band is all about: being in motion and romanticizing traveling, sometimes even with a broken heart - accompanied by the good things in life. Namely with songs like ‘White Jeans’, yet another jaw dropping classic rock gem about hot young love, cramped with nostalgia, or ‘Change’, which encompasses all the vibes you know from your favorite decade: Urgency, emotion, warmth and excitement. But also groovy danceable songs like ‘Chardonnay Nights’, a groovy, dreamy, yet uplifting homage to parties and hot love, or ‘Burn For Me’, a true feel good anthem for the summer - driving people to dance in the streets, all worries aside, to a brighter future.
On the other hand there are tracks like the almost progressive ‘Amber Through A Window’. A little throwback (at least titular) to the NFO’s epic 2017 album ‘Amber Galactic’: “Amber is with us wherever we go and I think she’ll keep coming back. She’s our mascot of escapism. The song was very interesting to compose. It takes you on quite a journey with key changes and goes from minor to major when you least expect it and throws you between different set of emotions. At the same time it feels pretty direct and operates like a mini epos. Really happy with how it turned out“, cites Strid.
Besides all this, the band has also stepped up their game when it comes to music videos for their timeless anthems. “White Jeans” for instance features Swedish TV personality Fredrik Lexfors and is a sweet little homage to the LGBTQIA+ community. “Fredrik is a good friend of mine and has loads of experience in the musical/theatre world and is super creative. He created this character called ”Kantorn” (The Cantor) some years ago and became a hit on YouTube. He has a very twisted and unique way of singing and acting, which is very funny. He was a part of Sweden’s Got Talent TV Show and went really far and became a crowd favorite. Fredrik has a lot of friends in the LGBTQIA+ community and I also have quite a few. We saw it as a joyful tribute and we’ve only gotten really good response. It’s of course also humorous but has a very nice balance and a very positive message.”
The bold and jovial video for “Burn For Me” on the other hand maybe among the biggest and best productions, the NFO ever recorded for the depths of the internet: “I’ve had this idea to film a ”Dancing in the Streets” video, where curious people come out of the woodworks and join the party in the streets. It’s a very classic 80’s scenario and very common in videos back then. Sort of the video to IRENE CARA’s ”Fame”. You don’t see it very often these days. We felt that it was needed and after “Burn For Me” was done I immediately envisoned it being the perfect ”post corona dancing celebration in the streets-song”.”
Those two videos are by far not everything the band will have to offer visually, but we won’t tell any more just for now. To be continued…
With all that new greatness up their sleeves, NFO are ready to take the world by storm – again! Even though coming up with a setlist for their scheduled tour starting in September may prove to become problematic according to the AOR Dictator: “Making a setlist might end up being a nightmare haha… I would be up for doing only songs off »Aeromantic I« and »Aeromantic II« since that’s really where we’re at right now, but I think most of our the Midnight Flyers would like to hear some old stuff, too. Maybe we could get away with it as long as we play “West Ruth Ave” as the ending song and create the good old conga train?”
The Wicker Man soundtrack has achieved huge cult status over the years, it has certainly proved to be a major influence on neofolk and psychedelic folk artists ever since the film first appeared in cinemas in 1973.
The soundtrack’s songs were performed by the band Magnet. The band was assembled by musician Gary Carpenter (the film's associate musical director) to perform songs composed by
New York songwriter Paul Giovanni. Giovanni had always planned to release the songs recorded for his soundtrack, firmly believing them to be worthy of existing as an album in their own right.
Of course, this never happened, mostly due to the film’s troubled past, and consequently all of the existing soundtrack albums that have been previously released have included extra incidental music from the film.
So, this edition is the final word in the long history of this influential soundtrack, the songs recorded with Paul Giovanni by Magnet are presented here as an album,
just as Giovanni himself intended. This definitive version of The Wicker Man has only previously been available as a special edition released in 2013 to celebrate the
40th Anniversary of the release of the film. For that release Silva Screen commissioned artist Richey Beckett to create a brand new image for the cover of a one-off pressing on vinyl,
and that edition is long sold out and has become sought after.
This newly put together Silva Screen release features new artwork, extended notes, a gatefold sleeve and is pressed on yellow vinyl.
Charlie Parr’s album, ‘Last of the Better Days Ahead’, is a collection of
powerful new songs about how one looks back on a life lived, as well as
forward on what’s still to come.
Its spare production foregrounds Parr’s poetic lyricism, his expressive, gritty
voice ringing clear over deft acoustic guitar playing that references folk and
blues motifs in Parr’s own exploratory, idiosyncratic style.
When it comes to what it all means, Parr says it best: “Last of the Better Days
Ahead is a way for me to refer to the times I’m living in. I’m getting on in years,
experiencing a shift in perspective that was once described by my mom as ‘a
time when we turn from gazing into the future to gazing back at the past, as
if we’re adrift in the current, slowly turning around.’ Some songs came from
meditations on the fact that the portion of our brain devoted to memory is also
the portion responsible for imagination, and what that entails for the collected
experiences that we refer to as our lives.
Other songs are cultivated primarily from the imagination, but also contain
memories of what may be a real landscape, or at least one inspired by vivid dreaming. The album represents one full rotation of the boat in which we
are adrift looking ahead for a last look at the better days to come, then being
turned around to see the leading edge of the past as it fades into the foggy
dreamscape of our real and imagined histories.”
“Like John Hartford jamming with St Francis of Assisi, Parr strikes a fine balance between immense generosity toward humanity and barely contained
outrage towards humanity’s tendency towards coldness and conformity.” 8/10
Uncut
“Hypnotic stories of low-key endurance and universal questions, like Raymond
Carver’s fiction set to a louch, crystal-clear soundtrack” **** Mojo
The Frank OST LP made its debut on transparent green vinyl for Record Store Day 2015 and quickly sold out.
The album comprises Stephen Rennicks's song based soundtrack to Leonard Abrahamson's fantastical black comedy featuring Michael Fassbender as the masked leader of doomed avant-rock group, The Soronprfbs.
The music press were quick to laud FRANK as one of their top soundtracks of 2014, with Mojo placing it at No.3 in their
Top Ten for the year and Record Collector giving it 5*, while public fascination with its Beefheart-esque sound has ensured cult status. The songs, sung mainly by Fassbender, veer from manic comedy to heart-breaking pathos and the
vinyl release was specially recompiled to feature all the songs, most of the incidental music
and an exclusive for vinyl version of 'Frank's Most Likeable Song.... Ever'.
Produced by Benny Yurco (Michael Nau, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals), mixed by Dan Molad (Lucius, Emily King) and recorded live at Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington, VT, Liz Cooper’s highly anticipated sophomore album Hot Sass marks multiple departures—from her nine-year home of Nashville, from her band addendum of the Stampede, and from the genre-based expectations she’s accumulated throughout her career. With these twelve new songs, Cooper comes into her own—both musically and as a person—embracing a newfound sense of independence, honesty, maturity and creativity. In addition to Cooper and Yurco, Hot Sass also features Cooper’s longtime bandmates and collaborators Joe Bisirri (bass), Ryan Usher (drums, percussion) and Michael Libramento (guitar, synthesizer). Reflecting on the album, Cooper shares, “It’s me learning about what kind of woman I am and it’s not pretty all the time…I’m still processing these songs. Still reflecting. And I think that’s the thing—Hot Sass is just a stamp in time of what was happening in my life. I just want to continue making art that displays myself, the moments, and the people around me.” The new record follows Cooper’s 2018 full-length debut album, Window Flowers, which was released to widespread critical acclaim. Of the album, NPR Music praised, “a gorgeously arranged and performed bouquet of psychedelia-tinged folk-rock,” while Rolling Stone hailed, “Cooper pushes her strand of folk rock deep into psychedelic territory by merging her idiosyncratic vocal style with swirling, droning guitar effects and lacerating solos that feel dusted with otherworldly magic,” and Paste declared, “If we’re lucky, we are going to hear a lot more artists in the future like Liz Cooper.” Originally from Baltimore and now based in Brooklyn, Cooper has continued to tour consistently since her debut, performing alongside artists such as Dr. Dog, Shakey Graves, Bermuda Triangle, Lord Huron and Phosphorescent as well as special festival performances at Austin City Limits, Newport Folk Festival, BottleRock Music Festival, Lockn’ and more.
Bad Waitress’ antsy art punk revels in fits of fury and ego. It spits in your face and winks, ferocious and playful. The Toronto-based four-piece play like they’re conspiring or casting a spell, each member wielding a different power, howls and erratic drum fills and fiery riffs fueling one another.
That improvisation spirit doesn’t stop at their music. Katelyn Molgard, Nicole Cain, Kali-Ann Butala, and Moon finish each other’s sentences. Their conversations flow like free jazz. When asked to describe Bad Waitress’ sound, they agree on one word: conviction. “We play with conviction. There's nothing apologetic about it,” Kateyln says. “Even with our bizarre song structures, we don't hide anything in our music. It's just very...I don't like the word raw, it’s overused, but...raw.” The band fidget between genres, instead honing a distinct energy. “It's energetic. It's electric,” Moon adds. “It's whatever word that we can think of later that's better than raw.” Nicole suggests, “Honest?” Katelyn jumps in, “Rawnest.”
Bad Waitress’ debut full-length album, No Taste, finds strength in mood swings, from upbeat “groovin down the street” songs like “Strawberry Milkshake” to “I'm gonna fucking punch everyone” songs like “Lacerate,” as Nicole puts it. “It’s good to listen to when you're walking alone at night. I get really anxious, but I feel powerful when I listen to this album, like I’m fucking untouchable. It’s basically a self-defense album.”
Traces of Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Stooges can be heard throughout No Taste. The band also cite jazz as an inspiration. Moon’s background playing improv jazz, blues and swing makes it an essential force, at the core of Bad Waitress’ music and collaborative process. “Moon usually has a weird drumbeat that they’ll play spontaneously, then Nicole will jump in with her wack ass music sensibility on bass, and then Kali will play something that’s super wrong in a good way,” Katelyn says. “And then I’ll make sense of it and find where the chords are. It’s bizarre.”
- Dritter Teil in LITAs hochgelobter Country Funk Serie! - Mit Dolly Parton, J.J. Cale, Conway Twitty, Larry Jon Wilson und Billy Swan, unter vielen anderen - Inklusive eines bisher unveröffentlichten Tracks von Tony Joe White - Alle Tracks neu gemastert - Neues Original-Artwork des renommierten Künstlers J. William Myers (der für Robert Altmans "Nashville", Waylon Jennings und Willie Nelsons "Waylon & Willie"-Album und die LP-Cover für die Charlie Daniels Band verantwortlich zeichnet) // Im Sommer 2012 wehte ein neuer Sound aus der staubigen Wüste herein. Es war ein Sound, der schwer zu fassen war, schwer zu kodifizieren; ein Sound, der sich wie ein wildes Pferd dem Zugriff entzog. Aber dies war kein Trend, keine Eintagsfliege, keine Vermischung von Stilen. Dieser Sound reichte Jahrzehnte zurück, in die zweite Hälfte der 1960er und frühen 1970er Jahre, als abenteuerlustige Künstler begannen, Country-Harmonien mit dem Hochgefühl des Gospels, dem sexuellen Schub des Blues und einem Hauch von Großstadt-Härte zu vermischen. Dies war ein neuer Sound mit einem einfachen Namen: Country Funk. Country Funk 1969-1975, erstmals 2012 veröffentlicht, brachte eine disparate Gruppe von Künstlern zusammen, die durch das einfache Gefühl ihrer Songs verbunden waren. Country Funk ist abwechselnd verspielt und melancholisch, slow jammin' und booty-shakin'. Es ist ein Sound, der sich sowohl im Studio als auch in der Bar durchsetzt, wie die auf Volume I vertretenen Künstler beweisen: Johnny Adams, Mac Davis, Dale Hawkins, Tony Joe White, Bobbie Gentry, Larry Jon Wilson, und viele andere. Nur zwei Jahre später wurde Volume I mit einer neuen Sammlung von Songs für Country Funk 1967-1974 (LITA 116, 2014) fortgesetzt. Volume II ließ nicht locker und bot alles, was man an Loose Talking und Lap-Steel Twangin' vertragen konnte. Schwergewichte wie Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton und J.J. Cale teilen sich die Barhocker mit den weniger bekannten Stimmen von Bill Wilson, Donnie Fritts und Thomas Jefferson Kaye. Mit Country Funk Volume III 1975-1982 wird noch mehr Funk aus dem Kofferraum geholt. Diesmal sind die Jeans enger, die Haare größer und die Discokugel dreht sich zu einem Country-Synthie-Beat. Produziert und zusammengestellt von Jason Morgan (DJ/Sammler aus der Bay Area) und Patrick McCarthy (Co-Produzent/Compiler von Volume I & II), enthält die Trackliste neben den Stammgästen Dolly Parton, J.J. Cale, Larry Jon Wilson und Tony Joe White (dessen Track hier zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht wird) auch neue Gesichter wie Steven Soles, Gary & Sandy, Conway Twitty, Travis Wammack, Billy Swan, Rob Galbraith, Brian Hyland und viele mehr. Als die 1970er Jahre abebbten und sich die 1980er Jahre näherten, erweiterte sich die Palette des Country-Funks um Disco-Beats, schwere Moog-Synthesizer-Bässe und Clavinet. Volume III zeigt Künstler, die sich weiterhin gegen traditionelle Country-Tropen und -Produktionen wehren, während sie modernen Soul, Disco und verkorksten 80er-Jahre-Synthie-Pop in sich aufnehmen. Dies ist der wahre Soundtrack des Urban Cowboys. Aufsatteln, Partner.
- Transparentes Vinyl mit roten und blauen Schlieren - Dritter Teil in LITAs hochgelobter Country Funk Serie! - Mit Dolly Parton, J.J. Cale, Conway Twitty, Larry Jon Wilson und Billy Swan, unter vielen anderen - Inklusive eines bisher unveröffentlichten Tracks von Tony Joe White - Alle Tracks neu gemastert - Neues Original-Artwork des renommierten Künstlers J. William Myers (der für Robert Altmans "Nashville", Waylon Jennings und Willie Nelsons "Waylon & Willie"-Album und die LP-Cover für die Charlie Daniels Band verantwortlich zeichnet) // Im Sommer 2012 wehte ein neuer Sound aus der staubigen Wüste herein. Es war ein Sound, der schwer zu fassen war, schwer zu kodifizieren; ein Sound, der sich wie ein wildes Pferd dem Zugriff entzog. Aber dies war kein Trend, keine Eintagsfliege, keine Vermischung von Stilen. Dieser Sound reichte Jahrzehnte zurück, in die zweite Hälfte der 1960er und frühen 1970er Jahre, als abenteuerlustige Künstler begannen, Country-Harmonien mit dem Hochgefühl des Gospels, dem sexuellen Schub des Blues und einem Hauch von Großstadt-Härte zu vermischen. Dies war ein neuer Sound mit einem einfachen Namen: Country Funk. Country Funk 1969-1975, erstmals 2012 veröffentlicht, brachte eine disparate Gruppe von Künstlern zusammen, die durch das einfache Gefühl ihrer Songs verbunden waren. Country Funk ist abwechselnd verspielt und melancholisch, slow jammin' und booty-shakin'. Es ist ein Sound, der sich sowohl im Studio als auch in der Bar durchsetzt, wie die auf Volume I vertretenen Künstler beweisen: Johnny Adams, Mac Davis, Dale Hawkins, Tony Joe White, Bobbie Gentry, Larry Jon Wilson, und viele andere. Nur zwei Jahre später wurde Volume I mit einer neuen Sammlung von Songs für Country Funk 1967-1974 (LITA 116, 2014) fortgesetzt. Volume II ließ nicht locker und bot alles, was man an Loose Talking und Lap-Steel Twangin' vertragen konnte. Schwergewichte wie Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton und J.J. Cale teilen sich die Barhocker mit den weniger bekannten Stimmen von Bill Wilson, Donnie Fritts und Thomas Jefferson Kaye. Mit Country Funk Volume III 1975-1982 wird noch mehr Funk aus dem Kofferraum geholt. Diesmal sind die Jeans enger, die Haare größer und die Discokugel dreht sich zu einem Country-Synthie-Beat. Produziert und zusammengestellt von Jason Morgan (DJ/Sammler aus der Bay Area) und Patrick McCarthy (Co-Produzent/Compiler von Volume I & II), enthält die Trackliste neben den Stammgästen Dolly Parton, J.J. Cale, Larry Jon Wilson und Tony Joe White (dessen Track hier zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht wird) auch neue Gesichter wie Steven Soles, Gary & Sandy, Conway Twitty, Travis Wammack, Billy Swan, Rob Galbraith, Brian Hyland und viele mehr. Als die 1970er Jahre abebbten und sich die 1980er Jahre näherten, erweiterte sich die Palette des Country-Funks um Disco-Beats, schwere Moog-Synthesizer-Bässe und Clavinet. Volume III zeigt Künstler, die sich weiterhin gegen traditionelle Country-Tropen und -Produktionen wehren, während sie modernen Soul, Disco und verkorksten 80er-Jahre-Synthie-Pop in sich aufnehmen. Dies ist der wahre Soundtrack des Urban Cowboys. Aufsatteln, Partner.
Though the hallowed halls of Berlin’s nightlife excess now sit cold, the sounds that once haunted their depths beat ever onward, and colder still. Birthed in these hushed plaguelands, XTR HUMAN’s new full-length G.O.L.D evokes the frozen melancholy of a post-pandemic city, driven ever onward by the impetus of night’s primary currencies: sweat, release and change. The latest full-length from Johannes Stabel, G.O.L.D finds the German producer evolving as much as the rest of the world has had to. Taking his political and socially conscious lyrics into his native tongue brings a deeper and more powerful thrust to their weight—particularly at a time when Germany is weighing its own social consciousness after years of being seen as a leading world figure. Across G.O.L.D’s ten tracks, Stable brings our zeitgeist into a new realm, where the anger and frustration at our current existence is refined into the energy that fuels our engines, that primal desire always amplified during times of social upheaval—the desire to move your body. Many of the songs delve into Stabel’s own experiences as a German, from explorations of the Deutsch mentality of persistent fear to tackling the fake news, jingoism, racists and coronavirus deniers on hypnotic bangers ‘Dark Germany’ and ‘Dieser Klang’; issues just as prevalent in Germany as in the USA and UK. Yet each song carries just as much weight on to the dance floor, melding driving EBM bass with soaring synthlines and coldwave atmospheres that dispel the tenseness that such heavy topics imbue, in favor of intensity and beauty. Influenced by the pop hooks of Austrian New Wave legend Falco, G.O.L.D never neglects its danceability and HD club accessibility, no matter how heady the lyricism. ‘Starker Junge’, a dissection of toxic masculinity, drops down onto the listener with sparkling synths and razor-sharp guitar, while capitalist critique ‘Fleisch’ is a pogo synthpop anthem that could send any floor into a twirling frenzy. Wrapped in darkened beats and political ideals, G.O.L.D can’t hide the light that emanates from within its glistening, imminently catchy hooks and groove-laden rhythms. In a time where the dance floor sometimes seems like a distant memory, it’s the perfect philosopher’s metal to transmogrify your existence. All songs written and recorded by Johannes Stabel Mixing by Andrew Wiseman Arwork by Nicolas Zupfer Mastering at Dadub Studio
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Porcupine is Echo & The Bunnymen’s most profound and personal album from their early period. Weathering band turmoil, rejections from their record company and spans of songwriting drought, the group emerged with a passionate and compelling set of songs described by vocalist Ian McCulloch as “coming to terms with the opposites in me.” Following their fourth Peel session in early 1982, the band chose Ian Broudie, leader of The Lightning Seeds and co-producer of Echo’s 1980 album Crocodiles, to produce Porcupine. While the album includes both “The Back of Love” and “The Cutter” (two of their most upbeat and successful singles), most of the material was fairly introverted and autobiographical.
Unfortunately suffering negative reviews upon release (including a misguided hate-piece in the NME), Porcupine has since become a gold standard for both the band and British underground rock from the ’80s. It’s also simultaneously their most retro album and their most forward-looking. The production is full of guitar effects that must have set the mind of Kevin Shields onto the path to My Bloody Valentine’s own masterpiece, Loveless.
In addition to the “The Cutter” and “The Back of Love”, Porcupine includes songs such as “My White Devil,” “Heads Will Roll,” and “Porcupine” that transcend and enlighten to this day. It’s an essential album from one of the most influential bands of the post-punk movement.
“This is another new one off the greatest album ever made. It’s called ‘My Kingdom.’” Rock and roll arrogance has never hemmed so close to the truth as this Ian McCulloch introduction to “My Kingdom” during the 1983 A Crystal Day concert special. Not only were Echo & the Bunnymen aware of the instant classic status of their latest LP, but the grand, majestic and fluid nature of Ocean Rain made it clear that the band had indeed set out to make “the greatest album ever made.” Ironically, despite all of their work and focus, this masterpiece sounds like it was simply handed down from the gods. Following the more rock-oriented material on their first albums, the songs on Ocean Rain were a departure. The aim was to make something “conceptual with lush orchestration, but with a twist.” With their success using strings on tracks like “The Back of Love” and “Never Stop” providing confidence, the band employed a 35-piece orchestra for Ocean Rain. Guitarist Will Sergeant would later describe the finished recording as “windswept; dark and stormy.” The Scott Walker / Love inspired string arrangements, unusual instrumentation, inventive recording techniques and McCulloch’s abstract and bewildering mysticism all added to the unique and timeless quality of the album. A statement of purpose by one of the elite bands from the ’80s underground, Ocean Rain includes several of the Echo & the Bunnymen’s most adored recordings and some of the best songs from the era. “The Killing Moon,” “Silver,” “Seven Seas,” “Crystal Days” and the aforementioned “My Kingdom” continue to mesmerize a new generation of post-punk romantics, and the band’s influence can be heard in the grandiose spectacle of groups such as Arcade Fire and British Sea Power.
Seit anderthalb Jahrzehnten geht Jan Plewka (Selig) auf Tour und singt die Songs von Rio Reiser und Ton Steine Scherben. Die Shows mit der schwarz-roten Heilsarmee sind inzwischen legendär und begeisterten bereits abertausende Besucher bei über 200 ausverkauften Performances. Im September erscheint nun das Live-Album + DVD "Wann wenn nicht jetzt - Jan Plewka singt Ton Steine Scherben und Rio Reiser II", das bei den Auftritten auf Kampnagel in Hamburg aufgenommen wurde. Die Singles "Jenseits von Eden" und "Macht Kaputt was euch kaputt macht" sind bereits erschienen. "Mit 14 Jahren habe ich Ton Steine Scherben zum ersten Mal gehört. Seitdem bin ich ein glühender Verehrer von Rio Reiser, von seiner Musik, seiner Poesie, seinen Utopien. Seit über 15 Jahren bin ich mit diesem Programm nun schon auf Tour. Das ist die eine Konstante in meinem Leben." - Jan Plewka Der Traum geht weiter: Wenn Jan Plewka mit der schwarz-roten Heilsarmee auf der Bühne steht, um die unvergesslichen Songs von Rio Reiser und Ton Steine Scherben zu feiern, wird sehnsüchtig und zärtlich, gleichzeitig revolutionär und kraftvoll. "Wann wenn nicht jetzt" versammelt auf Doppel-LP / CD 17 Livetracks, die 2019 auf Kampnagel aufgezeichnet wurden und filmisch von Tom Stromberg festgehalten wurden. Die beiliegende DVD kommt mit fünf Bonustracks auf insgesamt 22 Stücke.
Givin' It Back is the ninth album released by The Isley
Brothers on their T-Neck imprint in 1971. After years of having white Rock acts covering their most famed material, particularly, 'Shout' and 'Twist And Shout', the Isleys decided to do the same to music made famous by white artists such as Stephen Stills, Eric Burdon and Neil Young.
Among the songs they covered were 'Spill The Wine',
'Love The One You're With', the social commentary medley of 'Ohio' and 'Machine Gun' (from Jimi Hendrix), 'Fire And Rain' by James Taylor and Bob Dylan's 'Lay
The Isleys' perseverance paid off when their covers of 'Love
The One You're With', 'Lay Lady Lay' and 'Spill The Wine' became charted hits. Bill Withers plays guitar on the Isleys
Comet Records presents the Tony Allen & Afrika 70 reissue series with the classic late seventies first four solo albums of Tony Allen remastered and restored: Jealousy, Progress, No Accomodation for Lagos & No Discrimination, all coming in an heavy Deluxe Tip-On Jacket.
Tony's solo album, No Discrimination, marks an important turning point in Tony Allen's musical life. Tony had recently left Fela's band, which was clearly an emotional yet necessary change as Allen sings of love and brotherhood throughout his fourth solo album. No Discrimination, both in composition and sound, is a blueprint for the future of Afrobeat, decades ahead of its time. The songs are a mixture of old and new - fusing the classic Afrobeat compositional style with modern production and ideas. Classic tunes like "No Discrimination" and "Ariya" pushed boundaries for what Afrobeat could be, which a wave of Afrobeat bands would pick up on decades later.
With No Discrimination, Tony begins to move Afrobeat into the future, which he would continue doing for the rest of his career.
Tony Allen was a musical and compositional visionary, and this album finds him beginning to explore that vision outside of Fela's immense gravitational pull. They are the start of a new era in Tony's fruitful career as a solo artist, opening the floodgates for his distinctive Afro-Funk sound and laying the foundation for the next generation of Afrobeat musicians to come.
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How does a musical production in the world of entertainment evolve and materialize? What happens behind the scenes of designing a musical idea?
It's amazing how music plays a vital role in the lives of people who believe in it. In a historical moment like this and with the music scene losing its identity, Supercinema records welcomes ITNA an artist collective to its world, consisting of Ezio aka SWRD, Edoardo and Luca. The three started in 2016 and after three years of working on this project, they returned aiming to implement a collective of ideas coming from three different generations with different sounds while trying to adapt to the contexts of a world that has radically changed. The idea was to create a musical journey by combining multiple genres in order to unite diversity and create a balance that brings the people of music under a single social flag.
The goal of the project lays the foundations of a path that encompasses all those contents, interactions, and expectations of emerging artists who relate to the external world, tormented and deconstructed, which through musical, cinematographic, and exhibition productions, to then move on to tormented artistic scenographic dynamics of the fashion world. The artistic collaborations will be aimed at the production of sound samples, beats, audio packages, and unreleased songs that will be part of the ITNA collective.
The band aims to implement a collective of ideas, embrace the general culture, interactions and above all to be able to experience ephemeral emotions in our days.
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With a music career spanning more than 40 years, David Ferguson has engineered landmark albums for Johnny Cash, opened a recording studio with John Prine, and shared a Grammy win with Sturgill Simpson. Now the Nashville native has become a compelling recording artist in his own right with Nashville No More , his debut album on Fat Possum Records. The self - produced project gathers an exceptional cast of friends from the city’s Americana and bluegrass community, while the track listing is simply a reflection of songs he likes. Ferguson has won Grammy Awards for engineering the Del McCoury Band’s The Streets of Baltimore and Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’ s Guide to Earth .
Following their critically well received debut album, Seekers, in 2017 - Our Kingdom Undone sees BEYOND GRACE refining and redefining their sound into something that’s simultaneously more intricate and more intense than ever before, combining conceptually ambitious songwriting and high octane heaviness in equal measure. Our Kingdom Undone’s gestation period took place under a pall of social unrest and political uncertainty the world over, so it’s perhaps no surprise that each of these eight songs is a cathartic scream of raw emotion and primal poetry. Full to the brim with lyrics that rage with unfettered fury and unbound frustration against the rise of isolationism, exploitation, rampant militarism, and religious indoctrination. Recorded at Stuck On A Name studio by Ian Boult and Bookhouse studio by Tom Hill, before being mixed and mastered by Charles Elliott (Tastemaker Audio / Abysmal Dawn), Our Kingdom Undone (whose stunning artwork was provided by in-demand UK artist Shindy Reehal) is both a crushing statement of intent and a vital reminder that the personal is political, that the ends do not justify the means, and that we must not let our fear divide us and drive us into an age of unreason.
Desmond Dekker is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. He was originally a welder by profession, and it was his colleagues that encouraged him to pursue a career in music when they heard him singing in the workplace. He eventually signed a record deal with Beverley’s, and grew into one of Jamaica’s biggest stars. He is also credited with launching the career of fellow former welder Bob Marley.
In the 1993, he released the collaborative album King of Kings with English ska band The Specials through the famous reggae label Trojan Records. Released under the name Desmond Dekker and The Specials, King of Kings consists of songs by Dekker’s musical heroes including Byron Lee, Theophilus Beckford, Jimmy Cliff, and his friend and fellow Kong label artist, Derrick Morgan.
Underground rock festered and splintered as it spread through the U.S. in the mid-’90s, the alternative boom giving rise to microcosmic regional scenes singularly focused on feral powerviolence or screamo songs about breakfast. Boston’s Karate emerged as a force that could grip a national youth movement whose disparate tastes still commingled in the inky pages of fanzines overflowing with florid prose and on concert calendars for volunteer-run DIY spaces, community centers, and bowling alleys. In this world, Karate’s music was an enigma, one equally inviting to sneering punks and highfalutin indie-rock aficionados.Their 1996 self-titled debut, issued on Southern Records, set the standard.
Lasooing together white-knuckle posthardcore tension, sharply focused slowcore serenity, and resplendent jazz complexity, Karate eschewed settling in any one definiable style. But they certainly used the language of punk to get their point across; occasionally, guitarist Geoff Farina abandons his warm, hushed cadences for a hoarse shout that made him sound ragged, intensifying an aggression that burst out with every snaggletoothed guitar riff or drum snap that went off like canonfire.
Few followed their path—but who could keep up? Karate could make pensive moods blossom into feverish rollicking (“What Is Sleep?”), gracefully tip-toe around aggressive punk explosions without getting bent out of shape (“Bodies”), and stretch out
slowcore’s quietest reveries till their reflective notes sound ripped from an improvisational jazz session (“Caffeine or Me?”). Karate formally introduced the trio as a vital part of an independent U.S. punk scene stubbornly flowering in the face of the major labels’ ’90s harvest.
In the most literal sense, globally renowned whistler Molly Lewis makes her gorgeous
and curious compositions out of thin air.
New entrees into the Exotica canon; sprawling, would-be Spaghetti Western scores;
and a dash of Old Hollywood glamour - the whistle-led songs on her debut EP ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ are as complex, delicate and indelible as anything performed with
viola or piano.
“Whistling is like a human theremin,” said Lewis, an Australian native who’s spent the
last several years in LA and whose performances there and around the world are
changing any preconceived notions of whistling by the room-full.
That’s not to say Lewis is all serious and snooty about the craft. Quite the contrary.
Her sense of humour is witty, self-deprecating and zany. She’s as likely to reference
the slapstick Leslie Nielsen film series ‘Naked Gun’ for music video concepts as she
is a classic piece of noir cinema.
Look no further than the equatorial and breezy opening cut ‘Oceanic Feeling’, a
lovely walk across the flotsam-sprinkled sands in the rum-pumping vein of Les
Baxter. Meanwhile, the title track - and really, the entire collection here - is a loving,
albeit rather haunting, salute to one of Lewis’s heroes, the Italian composer and
musician Alessandro Alessandroni, whose whistle and guitar you hear on the title
theme of Ennio Morricone’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’. Lewis and her ensemble create
classic cinema for your mind.
Her own love for the artform began when, around the age of twelve she was given
the CD ‘Steve ‘The Whistler’ Herbst Whistles Broadway’. Something contained in it
clicked. “It wasn’t that I was immediately obsessed, but I knew it was something I
could do well,” Lewis said.
The daughter of a musician mother and a documentary filmmaker father who often
focused his films on niche communities and topics, Lewis recalls watching a
television documentary with her parents about The International Whistlers
Convention in Louisburg, North Carolina. “My dad said, ‘If you ever make it into the
competition, I’ll take you there’,” Lewis said. Turns out, there was no bar to entry, just
a small fee. And so, several years later, she and her father travelled to the
convention. New to the form, Lewis didn’t take home one of the bigger prizes but they
were awarded the prize for Whistler Who Traveled The Greatest Distance. “We really
just used the trip to drive around the United States,” she said.
After studying film in Australia, Lewis moved to Los Angeles to be close to the film
industry. There, her circle of artist friends grew naturally and with providence - her
unique talent drawing more and more recognition. And over the last few years,
Lewis’s Café Molly events at LA spots like Zebulon, Non Plus Ultra and The Natural
History Museum have become fabled, elegant happenings with appearances from
guests like John C. Reilly, Karen O and Mac DeMarco.
Recorded with a crack team of friends and musicians during 2020’s quarantine, ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ is rife with incredible performances from Thomas Brenneck (Sharon
Jones & The Dap-Kings / Budos Band), Joe Harrison (Charles Bradley, Lee Fields),
Eric Hagstrom (Brainstory), Abe Rounds (Meshell Ndegeocello, Andrew Bird, Blake
Mills), Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), Gabriel Rowland and Dave Guy.
The Jesus & Mary Chain picked the perfect time to make this record. Their sonic assaults and industrial pop could’ve only taken them so far. Proving that they were capable of making more intuitive and subtle art, Stoned & Dethroned positions the underlying desperation of the Reids’ music in a different light. Previously known for feedback-drenched pop songs and gothic surf / blues storms, The Jesus & Mary Chain followed a successful year of touring in 1992 (including a slot on the second Lollapalooza tour) by entering the studio to record an acoustic album. The sessions were the first time that principal members Jim and William Reid had embarked on a recording with a full band since their incendiary debut, but the results could not have been different. Though the hooks were still there, Stoned & Dethroned emerged with a calmer, almost folk / country-tinged sound. Any feedback appears as hazy atmospherics rather than pain-inducing squeals. The sound of the album nobly approximates the drugged swagger of the classic early-’70s Rolling Stones records, but with The Jesus & Mary Chain’s uniquely foreboding lyrical perspective.
Robert Jon & The Wreck are back and ready to tear up the UK and Europe
all over again with their new record, Shine A Light On Me Brother.
The impressive new album, written and recorded during the COVID pandemic,
and self-produced by Robert Jon & The Wreck, is set to release 3 September,
2021. Robert Jon & The Wreck is comprised of Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals
and guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums and background vocals), Steve Maggiora (keyboards and background vocals), Henry James (lead guitar and background vocals), and Warren Murrel(bass and background vocals). They will take
the new album on tour in September/October 2021 AND February/April/May/
June/July 2022.
Robert Jon & The Wreck has been writing songs and releasing albums since the
band’s conception in 2011. During this time, this quintet of follicular proficient
gentlemen has been busy fine-tuning their sound playing to packed houses
across Europe and the United States.
The band has been received with accolades and raving reviews for years now,
from nominations of “Best Rock” and “Best Blues” and winning the title of
“Best Live Band” at the Orange County Music Awards in 2013, to numerous top
10 chart placement on Southern Rock Brazil’s Top 20 Albums to being praised
as “Classic and fresh at the same time” by Rock The Best Music, “Raising the
bar for the Southern genre” by Blues Rock Review, and “keeping the history
of classic 60’s and 70’s rock alive for newer generations” by Blues legend Joe
Bonamassa.
“A classy re-bore of well-trodden southern rock tropes by an Orange County
quintet with impeccably realised contemporary commerciality. Born of Allmans
and Skynyrd, but box fresh for 2000.” - Classic Rock Magazine
“Full of Eagles like guitar riffs and on infectious groove.” - Blues in Britain
In 1970, Kevin and David met whilst they were working in the Labour Exchange Office on Aytoun St, Manchester. Both played guitar and had been searching for other musicians who played atmospheric music. Kevin had been playing in small clubs in Manchester and David performed in a few local bands. One evening, they jammed together at Kevin’s family home, and quickly realized that their playing blended together to form the basis of the sound they had been looking for. In the late ‘70s, the music scene in Manchester was bursting with new bands and music.
However, Kevin and David had little in common with the local acts, being disciples of a more meditative approach. They followed a path of their own, reaching for an otherworldly sound that they heard from artists like John Martyn, David Crosby, Erik Satie, Terry Riley, Eberhard Weber, Alice Coltrane, and Ralph Towner. They experimented combining their acoustic guitars and David’s bass with various effects pedals and techniques to try and achieve a warm and expansive sound that rides the line between ambient, jazz, and psychedelic folk Music.
Towards 1981, they had written eleven songs and accompanied a few with Moog synthesizer laid down by Rob Baxter. All were recorded on cassette decks in their simple home studios. They named this collection of music “Light Patterns”, after a poem Kevin had written. With Light Patterns complete, they set out to find a label to represent their music. They started playing a few gigs in Manchester; Band On The Wall, the Gallery, and other venues, such as Rotters which local promoter Alan Wise had organized. They set up with small amps along with their effects and played as though they were back at home. As Kevin remarks, “It was unusual, to say the least, to play such venues in a low volume chilled out way. However, people listened, often in shocked curiosity, and some even asked for tapes.”
Peter Jenner, of Blackhill Enterprises, eventually picked up the album for his new label, “Sheet”. Peter had managed lots of experimental bands and solo artists, including Pink Floyd in their early Syd Barrett days. He always favored outsiders! The tapes were taken to Strawberry Recording Studios in Manchester, who were surprised when Kevin and David walked in with just a couple of home-produced cassette tapes. Fortunately, they liked them and agreed to master the album. It was then sent to Portland Recording Studios in London for final mastering to vinyl. George Peckham, aka “Porky”, did the pressing with a personal message in the deadwax; “Kaftans, Candles and be Cool Man”. The artwork for the album cover was done by the late Barney Bubbles, a truly visionary artist.
After the album’s release, the pair continued to play together regularly until David moved away from the city. Kevin still resides near Manchester in the rolling hills outside of the city. He continues to experiment with dreamy music in his loft, and we are set to share a selection of his ethereal archival and current compositions in the coming months. David lives a quiet life in a small coastal town in the South, he likes to sail and is an avid cricket fan. We’re excited to make Light Patterns accessible again for the first time in nearly 40 years, remastered from the original tapes. As the original press release said, “Put the album on, lie back and enter the land of no floors”.
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Batman Forever: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1995 Tim Burton produced movie Batman Forever. It was nominated for multiple Academy and Golden Globe awards. The soundtrack contains a number of hit singles including; Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” which won three Grammy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for “Best Song” and charted at number 1 in the Billboard Top 100. Plus U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” , and songs from The Flaming Lips, the Offspring, Nick Cave, Michael Hutchence (of INXS), PJ Harvey and Massive Attack. It will be pressed on 2LPs of blue and silver vinyl.
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The 1993 hit movie Dazed and Confused is well known for its 70s rock themed soundtrack, featuring songs by Alice Cooper, War, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, and others. Pressed on purple translucent vinyl.
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Ramona Córdova is a sound artist — passionate about writing, communicating, linguistics, behavioural & social psychology, observation & investigative research, photography, sound recording, and design. Their artist focus is on project-based sound and visual media, public engagement and live performance — although they are best known for their music and are typical regarded as a singer songwriter. Ramona Córdova intends to speak to the challenges of living under systems of oppression while inspiring introspection and personal growth toward the maturing of our societies. Ramona is Haitian-Filipina, Puerto Rican, born in Kingman, Arizona, USA and is inter-feminine trans non-binary.
"When I first started working on Naïve I was completely consumed by all of the technical details involved in making a 'professional studio recording' on my own - one which could not be refuted or disregarded as subpar. My only other hope was to tell some sort of story with whichever songs i could piece together. The content and message of which were much less important to me.
The story that Naïve ended up telling comes from a cohesion of themes, ceaseless in my personal experiences living day to day in the world. Although the album dares to tread on tact while speaking poetically and lyrically about issues such as systemic oppression, racism, misogyny, policing and patriarchy - I think the album really just wants to reflect - to serve as a reflection - in order to foster healing and healthy growth towards maturing. I feel it commanding a kind of firm kindness as a reminder to love yourself enough to accept others, by way of accepting yourself.
Pressed onto this 180-gram vinyl are 10 songs I wrote while living in many different places around the world. Spontaneous recordings of inspired notions of song, written one rainy evening up high above the vineyards in Banyuls-sur-Mer became Men on the Mountain. A Scrap of paper holding jots about a sudden storm on a hot day in August while helping friends on their farm in Puglia became Mouth of Autumn and Peace Through Violence. As I dressed myself into the fragile reality of the United States, I became flooded by its manipulative social governing systems. As the monuments of slave-owners, colonisers, and white supremacists came crashing down in the name of responsibility and accountability, The Bridge Works was built, a song about crossing bridges towards empathy and equality. Civil rights activist and American-Football quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, taking the knee during the United States national anthem pre-game ceremony, brought about So Long. The incessant murdering of black, brown, and transgender citizens brought Woke, Scared I'll Bite You, and The End. The murder of Eric Garner and the feeling of being choked-out and suffocated under the weight of systemic oppression brought about Still.
From all of this birthed the collection of songs that is Naïve, a title given to the album by French Ghanian artist Eden Tinto Collins. Although written both in Europe and the U.S., most of the songs were performed and recorded at the end of the year 2018 in Philadelphia, during the American-Holidays season. Still, Loving Him, and The End were written in Philadelphia, but produced in Vlorë, Albania. This helped serve as a reminder that the issues these songs speak of are not isolated to the United States of America." - Ramona Córdova
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The core tenets of Morgan Wright's music have long tested club music's context; the rituals and customs that define it, and how each of those genres change once removed from their traditional settings.
It's a space Morgan Wright feels at home in; one where he's constantly asking questions of the structure club music resides within, and what it means to create a new space for familiar sounds. And over the course of his debut album, Class Tourist, Morgan has found new ways to elevate those same questions - whether by way of intention, or a pandemic-induced coping mechanism.
In Class Tourist, Morgan again borrows from familiar strains of the subgenres which have come to form his musical identity. This time, he fuses sounds of post-punk, IDM and breakbeat, hopeful they converge to form a bastardised rendition of the latter, with "Australiana" at its core.
It's a sound that was made possible by a change to his songwriting approach, after pivoting from a loop-based production style - one which he has applied to a slew of other projects, for the better part of five years - to one which lends itself to a more standardised, contemporary format.
Moving through the record, Morgan toys with musical tropes of contrast with a calculated refinement unheard throughout his previous work. The coalescence of melodic optimism and bleak, mournful soundscapes feature on Class Tourist again, as you would expect. But this time, contemporary structure - with the exception of a few songs - along with the features of label-mate, Purient, and frequent collaborator, ENDL355, breathe new life, and even a new genre, into Morgan's work.
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Keplar re-issues the fourth album 'Chessa' by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams.
While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and 'clicks & cuts' movement around the turn of the millennium, on 'Chessa' Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did 17 years ago.
Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by LUPO.
From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree:
Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed CDs, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after CDs in the 12k catalog.
Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.
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"Ry Cooder" - Ry Cooder (voc, g, mand, b); Van Dyke Parks (p); Bobby Bruce (v); Chris Ethridge Roy Estrada, Max Bennett (b); John Barbata, Richie Hayward (dr); Milt Holland (dr, perc); Gloria Jones (backing voc)
By the time he was aged 22, Ry Cooder was already a veteran of the music business and in great demand as a studio musician and sideman. Shortly after signing a contract with Warner Music in 1969, he released his first album under his own name, placing his confidence in the musical talent he had developed since being a child and on the rare value of his favourite instrument, the steel guitar.
The present LP that carries his name is a fascinating blend of blues, folk, rock ’n’ roll and pop – a unique mixture, which combines superb songs, virtuosic playing and somewhat bizarre yet imaginative arrangements. For material, Cooder, the son of folklorist parents, dug out ten gems coming from over six decades, right back to the 1920s – by legends such as Woody Guthrie, Blind Blake, Sleepy John Estes and Leadbelly, as well as a more up-to-date Randy Newman composition. As magnificent as his choice might be, it is the exuberant charm of his own instrumental composition "Available Space" that almost steals the show here. Expansive and unbiased, Cooder plays an ironic game made up of wordless irregular phrases, which promise the listener something new and ultimately circle in an infinite loop.
Cooder’s need to prove himself, moderated by his veneration for the past, helps to create a completely original work that will prove rewarding for the adventurous listener.
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.
Recording: 1970 at various studios by Bob Kovacs, Doug Botnick, Rudy Hill and Jim Lowe
Jorja Smith returns to announce a new 8-track project. ‘Be Right Back’ is due May 14th and is the first body of work from Jorja since her 2019 critically-acclaimed, Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Lost & Found’, for which she won her second BRIT Award for ‘Best
Female’ and earned herself a nomination for ‘New Artist’ at the GRAMMY Awards.
The project finds Jorja delivering some of the most emotive and imaginative songs of her career. Over string-heavy production, she unveils a collection of songs that are diverse in their range but still extremely cohesive as a body of work - “It’s called be right back because it’s just something I want my fans to have right now, this isn’t an album and these songs wouldn’t have made it. If I needed to make these songs, then someone needs to hear them too.” - Jorja says of the project.
To coincide with the announcement, Jorja is sharing new single ‘Gone.’ Highly anticipated,
Smith states that “There’s something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others. I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening.
This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us.”
‘Gone’ follows in the footsteps of Jorja’s stunning March release ‘Addicted’, which also appears on ‘Be Right Back’, alongside 6 additional unheard tracks including a feature from
rising South London rapper, Shaybo on track 3, ‘Bussdown’.
Over the past three years, Smith has been celebrated unanimously across the world for her evocative song-writing, powerful delivery, pure emotion and unbridled talent as a young woman navigating her way through the world. Smith has graced multiple magazine covers,
performed at awards ceremonies and on late night TV, and sold out shows across the globe, now surpassing over one billion global streams. Her 2019 hit single ‘Be Honest’ featuring Burna Boy has become her biggest song to date at almost 250M streams worldwide. Smith continues to hone her craft and ‘Gone’ serves as a much-anticipated prelude for the release of ‘Be Right Back’ on May 14th.
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Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection Madi Diaz cycles
through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling,
her debut on ANTI-.
It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a
craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an
artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.
Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings she is as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey
and directness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based
songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship.
By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t
hate herself for being so heartbroken.
The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs
Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in
front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels
acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take
root years ago.
It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in
some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her.
“I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house
and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning
because you needed to talk about what just happened.”
The debut album from The Story So Far. These 11 songs do burst with the cathartic desperation of the former and the boundless urgency of the latter. Rough but catchy, raw but well-recorded, songs such as “High Regard” and the terse, broken-hearted indictment of “Mt. Diablo” threaten to burst with youthful, angst-ridden aggression. While these are powerful, punchy anthems, there are subtleties and nuances in the arrangements that elevate the likes of “Quicksand” and “Daughters” to be more than just another batch of angry songs sung by frustrated young men. Under Soil and Dirt 10 Year Anniversary Picture Disc - Limited to 5000 - Die Cut Gatefold Jacket - Screenprinted Slipmat
Produced by and featuring Aesop Rock. “I wrote half of these songs when my energy was either headed in the wrong direction or already there. I wrote the other half while my energy was moving in a direction I’m more excited about, that I find to be more enriching. They’re all still my songs though. My mother, and lots of my relatives, used to call me “Angelito.” Little Angel. The taijitu is the symbol for yin and yang. Opposites that make a whole. Given the dualistic/duelistic nature of the songs on the record, put it all together and what do you get, Anjelitu.” - Homeboy Sandman
Runnner's Always Repeating yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner's poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. Self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, Always Repeating documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation. For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavor with an ever - expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a producer, notably working on Skullcrusher's critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favorite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker. The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner's 2017 debut, Awash, and 2020's One of One EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life. Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman's journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again.
New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.
“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk
In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.
Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
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sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”
Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.
Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”
Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.
Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.
Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”
“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”
Maisie Peters treated fans to their first taste of ‘You Signed Up For This’ earlier this year with ‘John Hughes Movie’. The track soared to No. 1 on iTunes the weekend of release, was playlisted across BBC Radio 1 and 2, and has been streamed over 11.5 million times globally to date.
Revered for her songwriting, Maisie has spent the past three years honing her craft in sessions across London, LA and Nashville, creating songs for ‘You Signed Up For This’ alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Fred again.., Johnny McDaid, Miranda Cooper, and producers Joe Rubel (Tom Grennan, Benjamin Francis Leftwich), Afterhrs (Niall Horan, GRACEY), Rob Milton (Easy Life, Holly Humberstone) and Brad Ellis (Jorja Smith, Little Mix).
Impressively, ‘You Signed Up For This’ is Maisie’s second full length release in the space of three months, as she recently became one of the youngest musicians in history to write and curate a soundtrack for the second season of Apple TV+ Original Series, ‘Trying’, at only 20 years old. Written in just two months last winter, the stunning body of work includes duets with her friends and favourites, including Griff, James Bay and Bear’s Den.
With her knack for transforming everyday experiences in to vividly written diary-style songs, ‘You Signed Up For This’ is both Maisie’s coming of age story and a love letter to girlhood; penned with the wit, charm and quiet confidence that has seen her ascend from busking on the streets of Brighton, to recently making her US TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Transporting us directly in to her world as she navigates from small town teenager to adulthood, there’s a universal sense of familiarity and nostalgia as she shares memories of blossoming relationships (‘Outdoor Pool’, ‘My Elvis Song’), being played (‘Boys’, ‘Volcano’), heartbreak (‘Tough Act’, ‘Villain’), and first holidays with her twin sister (‘Brooklyn’).
After the release of ‘Kuarahy’ concurred with the blast of the worldwide pandemic and all the consequences it has generated, WHITE STONES - Martín Mendez’s project (OPETH’s bass player) - are ready to launch their second record.
When WHITE STONES released ‘Kuarahy’ they became the first Spanish band signed to Nuclear Blast Records, cementing their first album as an unprecedented milestone. Now, with ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’, the band returns with a more compact sound, having been hard at work ensuring the utmost attention to every detail for a result that is even better than the first record.
The topics covered on this second album draw on the feelings that Martín himself affirms he has lived through during the lockdown imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. “I started it very calmed in March when »Kuarahy« was released and the lockdown started. I wrote the new record and it just flowed so well. It’s my point of view, of the feelings I had during the lockdown period, in this weird year. I took advantage of the moment and I feel excited about it”, reveals the musician.
The most outstanding musical elements on this new record are the disparate genres that manage to co-exist. There is an element of aggression, that can be seen rearing its head in an instrumental frenzy, as well as soft and delicate intricacies that develop an atmosphere which surrounds the listener. There are distinct dynamics among the songs, with interludes allowing the listening to take a breath and appreciate what they’re hearing.
The writing process of ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ has been pretty similar to the previous ‘Kuarahy’ but with some clear changes. Martín composed all of the instrumentals for the album but, as he says, “I’ve left sections open to the interpretation of each of the other musicians, both in the drums and in the vocals. Eloi wrote the lyrics this time and we then workshopped them together whilst working out the vocal parts to get the final result in the studio”.
WHITE STONES once again recorded at Farm Of Sounds Studios (Barcelona), owned by their singer Eloi. They were satisfied with the sound of ‘Kuarahy’ and the experience of the recording of that album and the comfort of making everything with their own tools made it all easier. “Everything has been ‘homemade’ because it’s a way of working and a philosophy I like. You have more control and you can better enforce your ideas”, Méndez explains -who also created the cover for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ together with Sandra, his partner for many years.
The final mix and mastering of this second album was done by Jaime Gómez Arellano at Orgone Studios (UK) because the band were more than satisfied with the work he did on ‘Kuarahy’ and they wanted to repeat that great experience. Eloi, as the singer and also the guy who recorded the music sent to Orgone Studios, acknowledges “the recording had more experience and a better sound quality because we made better decisions during the pre-production thanks to a higher level of self-awareness of ourselves as a band. Jaime knew us better too, so that simplified the process and in turn helped to make »Dancing Into Oblivion« as good as it can be”.
The line-up has been enhanced with the participation of the multifaceted Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums (who also plays in other bands like FACE THE MAYBE). The guitar solos were the job of Joao Sassetti (who was already a member of the touring line-up of WHITE STONES). Sassetti lives in Portugal and he couldn’t be in the studio in Barcelona, so he recorded his solos and digitally sent them over for integration into the final songs. The recording of the instruments has been more organic and as Boucherie says. “The original sound has been retained as much as posible in each and every element” and it has brought a natural/raw touch for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ just as the band had hoped and expected.