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Brighton folk punk band Levellers are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their timeless platinum-selling, second album Levelling The Land with a three-disc special edition package, which will be released on November 18th through their own label On The Fiddle Recordings.

Following the release, the band will be embarking on a mammoth UK tour including a performance at London's Brixton Academy for the 15th time in their career. They will be playing the classic album in full as well as other hits from their 28-year career and will be supported by Ferocious Dog and Gaz Brookfield.

The Levelling The Land special edition will be available as a 2CD & 1DVD set featuring the original album, plus a live version recorded at Brixton Academy and a DVD of that performance. There will also be a limited edition 2LP coloured vinyl set featuring the original album plus the live version.

Levelling The Land was originally released in 1991 and features the hit singles 'One Way', '15 Years' and 'Far From Home' plus 'The Game', 'Liberty Song', 'Another Man's Cause', 'Riverflow', 'Boatman' and the incendiary 'Battle Of The Beanfield'.

During that summer, Levelling The Land redefined the UK's musical landscape providing the soundtrack for a society fed up with the twin evils of Thatcherite politics, and the post-80's pre-grunge musical wasteland. Emerging victorious through the ups and downs of label deals, spats with the music press and the wear and tear of touring, the Levellers are still going strong after nearly 30 years in the game.

Formed of Mark Chadwick, Jeremy Cunningham, Charlie Heather, Jon Sevink, Simon Friend and Matt Savage, The Levellers run their own label and their own studio as well as their own festival, 'Beautiful Days'. Cherished and maligned in equal measure, they are one of Britain's finest musical exports as witnessed by the huge North American and Australian tours that precede this release and their victorious UK shows.

Enigma is the first studio album by the space age, glass-harp powered, tropicalia quartet Os Barbapapas. Understandably, those adjectives could invoke images of kitschiness in one’s mind; that concept is smashed by the ice cold shot of Brazilian jazz riffing in the album’s opener and first single, “Se Liga Na Sequência”.

Os Barbapapas trapeze the vast richness of Brazilian/South American music heritage and beyond, as a collective with members who have variously travelled to Morocco to master Gnawa; played in circuses, or were born in the heartland of samba – these experiences and much more inform the complex yet breezy instrumentals of Enigma.

It’s a joy to pick through the notable influences that resound over Enigma. Ethiopian Jazz bursts from "Caminho para Itiwawa", backed by an Afro-Latin swing, fostered by drummer Barbara Mucciollo. There’s tonalities from North African artists such as Omar Khorshidor West African artists such as Tinriwen and Ali Farka Touré, as well as rhythmic influence from Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music. The dynamite track “(L)Atitude(S)” contains the explorative excitement of Brazilian 60s luminaries like Pedro Santos, however none are as special as layered percussion of “Gaba Gaba”, connected to the very specific rhythms of Northeast Brazil. It's evident from listening to Enigma that Os Barbapapas are an exceptional live band. They have their sights set on Europe soon, with the Glass Harp packed away safely. Until then please enjoy this electrifying album of their work so far, understanding: this is an extremely exciting project, still in its auspicious infant years

Enigma is the first studio album by the space age, glass-harp powered, tropicalia quartet Os Barbapapas. Understandably, those adjectives could invoke images of kitschiness in one’s mind; that concept is smashed by the ice cold shot of Brazilian jazz riffing in the album’s opener and first single, “Se Liga Na Sequência”.

Os Barbapapas trapeze the vast richness of Brazilian/South American music heritage and beyond, as a collective with members who have variously travelled to Morocco to master Gnawa; played in circuses, or were born in the heartland of samba – these experiences and much more inform the complex yet breezy instrumentals of Enigma.

It’s a joy to pick through the notable influences that resound over Enigma. Ethiopian Jazz bursts from "Caminho para Itiwawa", backed by an Afro-Latin swing, fostered by drummer Barbara Mucciollo. There’s tonalities from North African artists such as Omar Khorshidor West African artists such as Tinriwen and Ali Farka Touré, as well as rhythmic influence from Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music. The dynamite track “(L)Atitude(S)” contains the explorative excitement of Brazilian 60s luminaries like Pedro Santos, however none are as special as layered percussion of “Gaba Gaba”, connected to the very specific rhythms of Northeast Brazil. It's evident from listening to Enigma that Os Barbapapas are an exceptional live band. They have their sights set on Europe soon, with the Glass Harp packed away safely. Until then please enjoy this electrifying album of their work so far, understanding: this is an extremely exciting project, still in its auspicious infant years

BERTUS DISTRIBUTION INTRODUCES NORTH SEA JAZZ CONCERT SERIES

Bertus Distribution, in collaboration with NTR, AVROTROS and MOJO, presents a new vinyl series consisting of live recordings of legendary artists through the decades made at the renowned North Sea Jazz Festival.

The North Sea Jazz Concert Series will include officially licensed releases that will be released as standard on 180-gram white vinyl in a sleeve of heavy paper printed on reversed board. The records will be captured in mainly black-and-white artwork by Hans Pol in his signature style of the festival with inspiration from the covers of classic older jazz releases from the Blue Note label, for example. The liner notes are written by journalist and jazz expert Jeroen de Valk.

For the first release in this series, the honour is given to one of the most famous jazz singers ever, Ella Fitzgerald. On Friday 13 July 1979, she gave a raucous and peerless performance at the festival then still held in The Hague. The "First Lady Of Song" worked her way with verve through standards like 'There Will Never Be Another You', 'Satin Doll', ''Round Midnight' and 'Mr Paganini'. Her accompanists that night were Paul Smith on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Mickey Roker on drums; a trio line-up with the power of a big band.

Future releases will include NSJ recordings by such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Ray Charles, Dexter Gordon and Jan Akkerman. It will be a long-running series with the aim of releasing the most extraordinary NSJ performances on vinyl.

The first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival took place in 1976 at The Hague’s Nederlands Congresgebouw with some 9,000 visitors. In the first year, jazz legends such as Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz performed alongside a host of artists from the Dutch avant-garde.

The festival, officially NN North Sea Jazz since 2018, has now developed into a major international event that is also known beyond the Dutch borders as an event where jazz from the past, present and future merges with other genres such as blues, soul, funk, hiphop, pop and more. Over the years, it has grown to fifteen venues, around thirteen hundred musicians and an annual audience of between eight-five and ninety thousand. Since 2006, the festival has been held in new wider venue, namely Rotterdam Ahoy.

“Nobody Move!”, so says Philippe Doray and his Asociaux Associés (the Antisocial Associates)! Having dynamited the end of the 70s with two radical albums – Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires in 1976 & Nouveaux Modes Industriels in 1978, both reissued by Souffle Continu – Doray still hadn’t finished singing. Throughout the next decade he began his Composant compositeur which would document the “second period”, as he calls it, of his Asociaux Associés.

The record includes new schizo-electro songs which make the most of his association with Laurence Garcette, who also plays all sorts of keyboards. A prolongation of the first period of the Asociaux Associés, the duo updates Doray’s poetry: in reaction to the current overcast atmosphere, here are some hallucinatory fantasies to the rhythm of an infernal circle dance (« Le petit géant ») or an ecstatic waltz (“Bombés fluo”) or even coded messages stuffed into bottles and thrown into space (“Secoue le flipeur”, “Choc d’amour”).

On the bonus CD there are further iconoclastic examples: rare recordings (unpublished or even “inaudible”) of the Asociaux Associés but also by Crash, a duo that Doray formed with Thierry Müller (Ilitch, Ruth). At the controls of their experiment- bending machine the musicians multiply the possibilities: peripheral rock, arias in orbit, broken swing, industrial mantras and other joyful falsities. Enough to make you lose your mind? No... as Philippe Doray promised: it is the “jackpot qui frissonne” (the shivering jackpot) which is there to excite

João Almeida (trumpet) and Pedro Melo Alves (drums), two of the most creative and prolific Portuguese jazz musicians of their generation, are MOORIS. Recorded in May 2021, right after the second lockdown in Portugal, “I” shows them freely exploring their instruments of choice but also finding and creating sound with “objects”, as they describe.

Both musicians leave behind familiar ground and use their instruments to create sounds that appear ceremonial or even manifest themselves as rituals. “+” sets the tone, dark, sparse and haunting, and the next four tracks (all on the "positive" side, with “+” added to each title) make use of the freedom proposed by this experiment with the uncanny. The “objects” start appearing, creating movement, confusion and dancing around different genres, from dark metal to industrial.

Flashes of jazz can be heard throughout, particularly on the B side (the "negative" side), with all tracks following the same conceptual logic as the A Side (“-”, “- -”, etc.). The atmosphere is clearer here. João’s trumpet ascends to a new level and creates new concepts in the fourth world realm. In a matter of seconds, it shifts naturally to somewhere else, the dense/dark atmosphere experienced on the A side becomes a distant memory and we are now flowing with the sounds, not trapped in them. A beautiful release after a tense/intense beginning.

After spending the last year constantly listening to “I”, MOORIS' debut still sounds brutal and unforgiving. A rare breed.

"North London’s midnight man tumbles out his treehouse to deliver twelve potions of minor healing in “Iron Day”, his questing, soul-salvaging songbook. Brimming with majesty and maraud in equal parts, Genghis Cohn synthesises trad. English folk and woe with surrealist dream sequences on this debut long-player. A romance of two hedgehogs, devotional bone temples, broken shadows and sausage kings, GC conjures Brent Hayward strolling through the silver birch and presents to us, in a warmly recognisable form, a grand slab of folk music that challenges its ancient rewards.

Previous acquaintance with GC's lean, amorphous strain of experimental home recordings may encounter a menacing apprehension whilst trying to settle in the splendour of "Iron Day", unnerved by it's posture and the anticipation of songs dissolving or amalgamating in rust and gob at any moment. Still minimalist and direct, but delivered by an altogether different jester, songwriting that has featured in many previous works is smithed into fine, well-wrought suites that build and blend through paced, tempered sequencing and playful, intricate storytelling.

Amidst cavernous inner-dialogue and brilliant, contorted pastoral sequences, GC’s guitar (reported to be over 100 years old!?) laps and thrashes alongside accompaniments of Lauren Collier’s aching violin, a lethargic harmonica and emphatic hand-percussion that drifts in and then out. A dynamic, earthy collection that places future barn-stormers like “Underneath The Oak” and the gentle blaze of “Onion” in cadence with the doom-stricken, ghostly slides as on “Misunderstood” and “Secrets”, all recorded in dazzling clarity that captures the cascading instrumentation as clearly as the settled, tormented humour of GC’s blues. Indispensable candlemeat and essential, joyous listening for fans of; Davy Graham, The Godz, Leonara Carrington, Smelly Feet, Martin Carthy..."

Mr. Joe Jackson Presents: MAX CHAMPION in ‘WHAT A RACKET’! The genre started in the pubs and streets of London in the mid-19th century and grew into the first form of mass entertainment to be created by the working classes. By 1900 it regularly drew huge audiencesfrom acrossthe whole spectrum ofsociety, from prostitutes to princes, allsinging along with superstar performers in gorgeoustheatres (some of which still survive). Like its American cousin Vaudeville, Music Hall featured magicians, acrobats, and ventriloquists – elements that we still see today in musical theater and cabaret shows. One of the most fascinating of the Music Hall performers was Max Champion. We know little about him, except that he was born in London in 1882. Champion was almost completely forgotten until the sheet music of his songs was found in Valletta, Malta, in 2014. How it got there is a complete mystery. “What A Racket!” presents eleven of Max Champion’ssongsforthe first time in more than a century. According to producer Joe Jackson, ‘These were wonderful songs in their time, but they’re surprisingly modern, too. Sometimes it’s almost as if Max is speaking, from his London of the early 20th century, directly to us in the early 21st’. What may sound different to the Joe Jackson you know at first listen, in fact corresponds to his consistent artistic development. This record is 100% Joe Jackson. And perhaps you already guessed it: Joe Jackson and Max Champion have more in common than it appears at first glance. Formats; CD, LP.

Clear Vinyl - Repress!

Trumpeter Don Cherry, an Ornette Coleman soulmate and a world musician decades ago, became one of jazz's many early losses 10 years back. But saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, who joins him on this fizzing 1966 set, has since ascended to cult status, and he is still around to admire . In the 1960s, he knew no melodic fear at all, in which respect he was aptly partnered with Cherry. This is a quartet set, strongly influenced by the melodic approach of Coleman, but with a fierce abstraction of tone quite different from Coleman's playful lyricism.

Moreover, the rhythm team of Ed Blackwell on drums and Henry Grimes on bass provides a scintillating underpinning for the music that is worth listening to all on its own. Sanders' mix of Coltrane's yearning long notes, Ayler's ghostly, fluttering wail, Coleman's fast, bumpy phrasing and his own manic bagpipe screams certainly separates the faint-hearted from the stayers on the opening Awake Nu. But the conversation between Sanders and Cherry is light, lyrical and engaging on The Thing, and the saxophonist even gets into a stubborn, Sonny Rollins-like repeating Latin vamp on There Is the Bomb. An unflinchingly quirky classic. (THE GUARDIAN)

ONE LEVEL is delighted to announce its latest release, the captivating 'Big Tal's Elements' EP by French DJ/Producer, ALEQS NOTAL.

Following the resounding success of One Level's debut release, the awe-inspiring Afro-futurism of Hagan's 'Forward Focus' EP - a production that ignited a dynamic and fruitful chapter for the London-based artist - the label has been meticulously crafting its return. One Level prides itself on championing quality over quantity, and this ethos is beautifully demonstrated in its second release...

Aleqs Notal, the former scratch champion and consistently evolving producer, joins the label family with a collection of four remarkable tracks. Despite his years of experience, Aleqs admits that he's still in the process of refining his own sound and with 'Big Tal's Elements’, a nickname affectionately bestowed by longtime friend and fellow artist Manaré, his four carefully curated house joints encapsulate a wealth of influences, all beautifully combining to create a modern and innovative soundtrack.

Following his early years of turntable virtuosity, and having embarked on a new creative chapter in the studio, it was 2014 and as a founding member of the innovative ClekClekBoom collective - a group of young French talents who spearheaded a groundbreaking movement that reshaped the Parisian electronic landscape - that saw Notal continue to cultivate his own sound, one rooted in the sounds of Detroit and Chicago. He became a respected DJ on the cities’ club circuit, and has gone on to to feature his music on esteemed labels including Phonogramme, Salon Recordings, Release Sustain and Patrice Scott's Sistrum Recordings.

The EP opens with 'Untwisted Delight', a homage to the timeless sound of the Motor City. A bass-driven DJ tool, pulsating with the resonance of the 808, evoking echoes of Pittman, and igniting a powerful dancefloor energy.

‘Save Ya’ is an ode to determination and self-preservation. A track with its roots deeply embedded in the dancefloor and featuring an archive sound-bank vocal alongside glorious hi-hats, it is a firm favourite of Notals. “I think its from my scratch background. I always work with the hi-hats. For me, when I hear the hats its as though I hear somebody singing." Fully road-tested at Fabric London, Save Ya is now set to rescue many a night.

'Come Get It' channels the spirit of early Chicago house. A fusion of spirited 606 and 808 drum patterns, coupled with the enchanting allure of resounding hi-hats, it offers a heartfelt homage to the revolutionary sounds that defined an era and continue to influence so much of today’s music.

Concluding the EP is 'Hymn Of Passion', a track inspired by Ron Trent's Future Vision imprint. Drawing on a diverse palette of Nigerian percussive elements and samples garnered from past projects, Aleqs weaves a sonic mosaic. Crafted in a single jam session, the track elegantly melds a rhythmic finesse with resonant congas, intertwining with the emotive Rhodes piano, to craft an unforgettable finale.

With a diverse array of influences seamlessly interwoven, Aleqs Notal’s ‘Big Tal's Elements’ EP is a journey through sound that fully captivates the listener.

PRESSED ON FRUIT PUNCH COLORED VINYL WITH HAND NUMBERED OBILIMITED TO 2000 COPIES

The contemporary realm of hip hop music can be seen as polarized between two sides; mainstream versus underground, industry versus independent, at a base level boiled down to catchy sounds & infective hooks over higher quality lyrical content. These elements don’t need to be mutually exclusive, but these days it’s rare to find an act that can please all sides of the discussion. Clipse are one of the few groups that successfully and consistently caters to both sides of rap’s splintered psyche, simultaneously serving the scene with upbeat bangers that get the club poppin’ & subwoofers rattlin’ while crafting clever quotable compositions deserving of repeated headphone submersions. Though their preceding official albums Lord Willin’ (2002) & Hell Hath No Fury (2006) made bigger splashes commercially, 2009’s Til The Casket Drops is surely no slouch, a gem which deserves to be revisited with fresh ears – good thing Get On Down has given it the proper treatment it deserves with its first-ever vinyl pressing!
Til The Casket Drops was a departure from the duo of Malice & Pusha T’s previous works in that it was their first LP not completely produced by The Neptunes. However, the celebrated team who brought us ‘Grinding’ & ‘Mr. Me Too’ still helmed 8 of the album’s 13 tracks, thus dominating the soundscapes and aesthetic of the album anyway. With the remaining beats handled by Hitmen Sean C & LV (Jay-Z, Big Pun, Ghostface) and Aftermath’s DJ Khalil (Kendrick Lamar, Aloe Blacc, Eminem) clearly Clipse stock hadn’t lowered in the game. While boasting notable vocal features from Kanye West, Pharrell, Cam’ron, Keri Hilson, Yo Gotti & their Re-Up Gang affiliate Ab-Liva, Casket Drops leaves ample space for the core emcee duo of Pusha & Malice to shine in the spotlight, with verses revolving around each other succinctly in-synch and bonded by an exceptional creative rhythm only biological brothers could share.
Clipse have always delighted in dualities, juxtapositions and contradictions, unabashedly celebrating the capitalistic lifestyle and the grind as the kings of ‘coke-rap’, while taking hard looks at society’s mores and those of their own individual journeys. We hear Malice’s eventual transition to No Malice taking form on this album as he found religion, warning others who might follow in his path on ‘Footsteps’: “don’t let my wrongs give you the right of way/ to emulate my past escaping the law’s grasp” while refusing to be pinned down in one lane: “it weights on my conscience and I hate conscious rap”. Meanwhile Pusha T continues his lyrical ascent into the King Push persona with bars like “pompous motherfucker, look what them jewels made me/ I’m only finding comfort in knowing you can’t replace me/ What a thing to say, but what am I to do/ I’m role-playing a conscious nigga and true is true/ Cocaine aside, all of the bloggers behooved/ My critics finally have a verse of mine to jerk off to” decisively on album opener “Freedom”.
Since it dropped, the Clipse have stated that Casket… is their final album together while subsequently alluding to the possibility of an eventual reunion. Only time will tell, but until then it’s time to re-celebrate one of hip hop’s most dynamic duos by hearing Til The Casket Drops in a whole new light with its long-overdue, first time on vinyl pressing via Get On Down featuring all 13 original tracks on wax and cover art by the legendary KAWS! It’s kinda like a big deal…

Filled with aural magic and enchanting musical spells, Sorcerer is true to its name. The third of five albums devised by Miles Davis' legendary second quintet – and the second record in a still-unprecedented string of eight consecutive releases within a four-year period that forever changed the face of jazz – the 1967 magnum opus mesmerizes with instrumental colours, subdued musings, and subtle details.

This is a reference-standard reissue. You'll hear poetic lyricism pouring out of Wayne Shorter's horn, the breadth and definition of the notes spreading across an enormous soundstage. Never before have drummer Tony Williams' rim shots ricocheted with such purpose or his light percussive work mirrored that of a feather touching skin. Similarly, Herbie Hancock's piano runs now occupy their own space, where their relationship to the central rhythms and front line becomes clearer.

Prizing inflection and nuance more so than heady solos or uptempo flights, Sorcerer mesmerizes with cerebral properties and cascades of emotional interplay. Such beauty emerges in the mellow ballad "Pee Wee," an indelible statement of restrained authority and sophisticated expression. The swirling title track unfolds as jazz shadowplay, Hancock, Shorter, and Williams mirroring one another's moves with guile and purpose. The opening "Prince of Darkness" showcases the ensemble's reach and communication, every musician going in seemingly different directions yet ending up on the same page

A lasting example of Davis' visionary insight, Sorcerer is comprised entirely of pieces written by his band mates. Indeed, save for the closing "Nothing Like You" – a brief tribute to Davis' eventual wife, who also graces the cover, recorded in 1962 and adorned with vocals from Bob Dorough, the album represents a further maturation and refinement of a quintet that stands as one of the finest in jazz history.

This EP is 6 unreleased tracks in the Thomas Brinkmann celebrated Max Ernst series of 12", all with female names, released with names ordered alphabetically. Starting with. 1. Anna Beate, the series ran for 12 releases over the 2 years from 1998 to 2000. 2. Clara Doris 3. Erika Frauke 4. Gisela Heidi 5. Inge Jutta 6. Karin Lotte 7. Monika Nikola 8. Olga Petra 9. Susie Trixi 10. Ulla Vera 11. Wanda Xenia 12. Yvette Zara, followed. There was never an ep with Q and R. Number 9 is Susie and Trixie. The tapes were lost. But have come to light nearly 25 years later. So now, here is Q/R; Quila 1-3 and Romy 1-3. What we have here are the original tracks as intended for release, with some minor editing and rearranging for release now. The original series was very successful. The first 3 12", released at the same time were a sensation on release. Suddenly, Thomas Brinkmann was the name to check. Today, these Quila/Romy tracks may well have the same impact as the other tracks in the series had when they were released. There is still nothing that sounds like this music. It seems to be an example of a perfect melding of soul and machine. 25 five years later... a annniversary of sorts, offered up by the machines.

Three tracks that were included as bonus tracks on the Gherkin Jerks compilation CD from a few years ago are now up for their release on vinyl. All originate from the same Gherkin sessions as Mr. Heard's two outstanding late 80's EP's but were never released as such. The moniker showed a different side to his sonic pallet, and would innovate the acid sound to great FX, influencing a great many of artists in the decades that followed. Psychotic Fantasy eventually made its way to the Dance 2000 Pt. 2 album, while the original full take of Ecstasy and Reznaytor never saw the light of the day. Now for the first time on wax and still sounding as futuristic as ever!

New for 2023! Kitty, Daisy & Lewis' iconic debut album reissued on Half Black and White vinyl. Originally released in 2008 when the band were still only teenagers, their self titled debut catapulted them into rock n' roll favourites and the album has since been regarded as a cult classic. With a sound deep rooted in the past, the sibling trio pay homage to those who inspired them from Charlie Rich to Muddy waters and released an album truly like no other.

The new 12” series on Ballyhoo Records is dedicated to what label owner ‘Thee J Johanz’ describes as ‘Triptech Journeys’. The series takes the listener on a journey traversing old school house to mystical acid and everything in-between.

On volume 1, titled ‘There Is Power In Love’, side a gives us ‘Afrobot and Steven Pieters’ who deliver the perfect message of love. The artist ‘Strange’ then provides us with his stunning Indian style Charanjit Singh rag reworks. We then have raving madness from Goa’s finest ‘Deka’ whose track ‘Dance with me’ was a secret weapon played at a number of major festivals over the summer.

Flip it over to side b, we have ‘Thee J Johanz’ providing us with the perfect intro/outro tool for DJs (lets face it, there is simply not enough good ones on vinyl!) We then have ‘Sintaro Fujita,’ Ballyhoo’s best Japanese friend, delivering sharp and mystical vibes with his track ‘Are We Still Friends.’ Last but by no means least, snake charmer ‘Sid Ua’ slows it all down leaving us in a trance like state with his stunning track ‘Feels Familiar.’ Weird and wonderful music from a fabulous bunch of weird and wonderful talented outsiders, this cannot be missed!

Auf ihrem umfangreichen neuen Album "Water Made Us" stellt die Chicagoer Musikerin und Dichterin Jamila Woods die Frage, was es bedeutet, sich der Liebe voll und ganz hinzugeben. Auf "Water Made Us" umarmt Jamila neue Genres, verspielte Melodien und hypnotisierende Wortspiele, während sie durch die berauschenden Turbulenzen von Liebeswracks und Zuflucht watet. Während Jamila auf "HEAVN" (2017) ihre Community innerhalb der schwarzen feministischen Bewegung feierte und auf "Legacy! Legacy!" (2019) ihre Lebenserfahrungen durch die Geschichten schwarzer und brauner Künstlerinnen und Künstler verarbeitete, ist "Water Made Us" eine völlig neue Art der Selbstoffenbarung und damit ihr bisher persönlichstes Album. "Water Made Us", das sie zusammen mit dem in LA ansässigen Produzenten McClenney aufgenommen hat und auf dem langjährige Freunde aus Chicago wie Saba und Peter CottonTale zu hören sind, ist ein weitläufiges und intimes Porträt der Selbstreflexion, das geschickt die verschiedenen Phasen einer Beziehung widerspiegelt: Die Anfänge, in denen man leicht Kompromisse eingeht, kokettiert und Spaß hat; das vorsichtige Aushandeln von Momenten des Konflikts oder der Verletzung; die Trauer über etwas Verlorenes; und die zärtliche Erkenntnis am Ende von allem, dass die Person, die gegangen ist, einen nie wirklich verlässt, sondern bei einem bleibt, während man bereit ist, es noch einmal zu versuchen, erfrischt und beruhigt. Der Titel des Albums - eine Zeile aus dem Highlight des Albums "Good News" - ist eine subtile Anspielung auf das berühmte Toni-Morrison-Zitat "All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was". Es ist dieses Gefühl - der Erinnerung, des Ortes und der Rückkehr - das als Pfeiler für den Bogen des Albums dient. "Water Made Us" erinnert uns daran, dass die Liebe im besten Fall ein warmer, stiller Ozean ist. Tief, schimmernd und endlos in seinem Wunder. Und im schlimmsten Fall kann die Liebe ein reißender Strom sein, der uns so weit von uns selbst entfernt, dass wir kaum den Weg zurückfinden, ja nicht einmal mehr wissen, wie wir schwimmen sollen. Und doch ergibt sich Jamila dieser Brandung - jeder Welle und jedem Sog - weil vielleicht sogar die schmerzhaftesten Enden eine Einladung sein können, die sie zurück nach Hause ruft, zurück ans Ufer, zurück zu sich selbst.

Preston’s unholiest sons Evil Blizzard return with their most furious, compelling and diverse album to date, released on their own Crackedankles label, (which has recently branched out into releasing the likes of Hotwax, Thank, Bad Guys and TV Face.) Following the critical and commercial success of their last album ‘The Worst Show On Earth’ the band took a year off after that tour to recoup. And then got back together in March 2020, just in time for… another enforced year off. They did, however, release ‘The Very Best Of Evil Blizzard’ on vinyl, which was completely blank. And sold out in less than a day. The new album, their fifth, was written during and post lockdown and ‘reflects the claustrophobia, fear and paranoia of those days’ according to guitarist (not bassist!) Filthydirty. ‘The band has changed. One of our 4 bassists Kav left and we were joined by Fleshcrawl (aka Mr. Dibs, Hawkwind’s vocalist and bassist for over 12 years). Kav was inimitable as a musician, so it never crossed our minds to try and ‘replace’ him, so when Fleshcrawl scurried in he brought a whole new range of sounds and toys to the sandpit. Also, we’d run out of sonic space to play with, having just the basses, and everything had got a bit stale - so I switched to lead guitar which brought a whole new range of possibilities. 'The new album is much more representational of the band’s record collections: it retains the ‘Sabbath-meets PiL-meets Killing Joke’ sound found on the band’s earlier albums, but now encompasses dub, goth and electronica in its 8 tracks, with clear nods in the general direction of Sonic Youth, Jane’s Addiction, Leftfield and The Mission. As opposed to all previous albums which were recorded live in one or two takes, this album took over three months with the band meticulously de-structuring songs ‘that sounded too much like pop songs’ resulting in an album that is uncomfortable yet still accessible. Featuring cover art by the legendary Nick Blinko or Rudimentary Peni, the album is released in gatefold sleeve on black vinyl, compact disc and DL.