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Heavenly Recordings release the next two volumes in their series of remixed classics and unreleased versions. ‘Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8’ sees the label going back into the archive, as well as picking off some more recent remixes, and both albums primarily feature either previously unreleased versions or re-workings available for the first time on vinyl and CD.

Heavenly have always seen immense value in the remix, a value way beyond what it might bring commercially. Since their first release in 1990 (where Andrew Weatherall overhauled a one-off single by club kids Sly and Lovechild) Heavenly remixes have been carefully curated and treated as a key part of the A&R process. It’s an opportunity to view an artist through a different prism, to play out a musical ‘what if’ scenario. It’s the kind of exploration that’s happened consistently through the thirty plus years the label has released music.

The ‘Heavenly remixes’ series continues to showcase the very best remixes, versions, meditations, re-rubs and dubs from all around the world of artists right across the roster of the country’s most exciting record label. In most cases, the albums offer the first physical release for a remix, elevating them from streaming playlists to their rightful, spiritual home on super heavy vinyl (or shiny, super-packed compact disc).

Heavenly remixes 7’ heads to Belfast, where David Holmes - a producer who first appeared on Heavenly in 1994 amping up the acid on Saint Etienne’s ‘Like A Motorway’ - appears as solo artist and as one third of Unloved, who get a lift right to the heart of a Vauxhall sweatbox by Horse Meat Disco. It draws a line between Amsterdam and Frankfurt as Ludwig A.F. amps up the electronics on Pip Blom’s ‘Keep It Together’. It stops off in a south London studio where super producer Dan Carey plays the desk with Toy, then relocates LA psych rock band Fever The Ghost to an Ibizan shoreline as the sun sets on the horizon. It cements Sheffield’s reputation as the home of modern British techno with the return of true originators Forgemasters. And it pitches up in front of a renegade soundsystem late night at Glastonbury as Erol Alkan’s mighty rework of Con Man gets its third rewind of the night.



‘Heavenly remixes 8’ opens with Space Afrika’s lush, ambient reimagining of the Orielles’ ‘BEAM/S’ before Justin Robertson stretches Amber Arcades’ ‘Turning Light’ into eight minutes of electronic dub. Elsewhere, Baxter Dury’s peerless ‘Miami’ becomes a string-laden electro skank in the hands of French producer Pilooski; Edinburgh’s bedroom techno genius Eyes of Others’ ‘Safehouse’ turns into an East End bathhouse courtesy of disco deviants Decius; Ashley Beedle’s Black Science Orchestra turns Unloved’s heartworn torch song into seven minutes of glimmering dreamlike percussive house and Katy J. Pearson’s freak flag is flown high thanks to The Umlauts’ throbbing filtered electro mix. It ends similarly to how it began as TONE takes

Fran Lobo’s ‘All I Want’ on a gorgeous slow motion spacewalk.

Produced by The Charlatans and Jim Spencer and mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Portishead), "Modern Nature" is the band's 12th studio album. Released in 2015, the album features a plethora of contributors, from drummers Pete Salisbury (The Verve), Stephen Morris (New Order) and Gabriel Gurnsey (Factory Floor) to Kate Bush's backup singers Melanie Marshall and Sandra Marvin to Sean O'Hagan's strings and Jim Paterson's horns. The album, described by Q as "one of the best of her career," debuted in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Pressed on clear yellow vinyl.

*2026 Repress**

Self recorded in 1984 to 4 track tape. Rhythmical patterns meet well balanced distortion, shaping the music into a mirror of his character, creating a unique blend of lo fi blue eyed soul jazz. TIP!!

Ronald was part of several Dutch Latin and Jazz bands, including Cascada and Ritmo Natural. With the latter he performed at Holland’s North Sea Jazz Festival. At this point Ronald is 78 years old, playing music every day.

Instruments: Acoustic Piano, Fender Rhodes Piano, Farfisa Organ, String Ensemble, Tenor Sax, Alt Sax, Soprano Sax, Clarinet, Alt Clarinet, Organ Bass, Micro Moog, Drums, Longa & Voices.

McKowski is pleased to confirm details of his debut solo album: ‘Notes From The Boneyard’, a new release that arrives courtesy of the Deltasonic label.

In anticipation of the record, the Irish songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has unveiled the single “Return of Pygmy Pony”.

“Return of Pygmy Pony” is one of 10 cinematic tracks, alongside previous single “Lake”, that comprise upcoming album ‘Notes From The Boneyard’. Envisioning a fictional world known as ‘The Boneyard’, McKowski’s debut will promise a purely instrumental album of atmospheric folk and otherworldly soundscapes to capture your imagination and seep into your soul.

Utilising a unique blend of acoustic guitars, strings, analog synths, and electronic toys, Mckowski creates a haunting and evocative journey across its transient 35 minutes. Gifted with the talents of some old allies, ‘Notes From The Boneyard’ sees guest musicianship from the likes of Steve Wickham (viola), Howe Gelb (guitar), Laura Mcafadden (cello), Dave Murphy (pedal steel), with St Francis Hotel also adding further elements of atmosphere and production.

With one foot rooted in a dark woodland and the other foot stepping into unknown territory, the end result is a must-listen for fans of soundtracks, the surreal, or simply those searching for the unexpected. Like the wooden beauty of Angelo Badalementi’s ‘Straight Story’ mixed with the dark synth undertones such as Carpenter-esque Moog; it’s the ideal companion for those pensive days and long nocturnal hours.

Aurora Records proudly presents Temporal Gardening, featuring
composer and performer Stephan Meidell and the baroque ensemble
Bergen Barokk
The new album will be available on vinyl and digital platforms on15th of
September 2023.
Temporal Gardening was originally a commission written in 2020 for Bergen
Barokk. The idea was to explore using early music instrumentation in dialogue
with new electro-acoustic technology. The unique and remarkable ecology grew
from pseudo- baroque music playfully reimagined, reinterpreted, disassembled,
remixed, and resampled.
The trio has been expanded with drums, functioning as speakers for the
electronic manipulations of the ensemble. A double-bass recorder vibrates a subwoofer speaker mounted inside a bass drum, and a live sampled harpsichord
sounds through cymbals, gongs, and a snare drum. Meidell himself part takes as
a musician in the performance, doing live sampling and electronic contributions.
Musician-composer Stephan Meidell is a musical adventurer who, in a nomadic
fashion, improvises his way through a plentitude of styles. Meidell's music exists
where genres dissolve into fragments that canbe picked apartand combined in
new ways. He frequently combines sounds from electronic, acoustic, and
electromechanical instruments and machines and then recontextualises them
with his finely tuned intuition and sense of detail. Meidell has a plentitude of
releases and commissions, including with Erlend Apneseth Trio, Strings &
Timpani, Cakewalk, and TRIGGER on labels such as Hubro, Clean Feed, Playdate,
and Ideophone.
Bergen Barokk was established in 1994 and is today one of Norway's leading
early- music ensembles. The group has concertized and appeared in radio
broadcasts in Europe, Russia and USA. Their recordings on Simax Classics, BIS,
Bergen Digital Studio and Toccata Classics include German, English, Italian and
French repertoire. Bergen Barokk has collaborated with several ensembles
through the recent years, some of them are Pratum Integrum (Moscow),
Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Barokksolistene (Norway). Bergen Barokk has
performed in festivals like Festspillene i Bergen, Bach Festival of Philadelphia,
Moscow Early Music Festival and Janacek International Music Festival (Czech
Republic).

REMIXED & REMASTERED REISSUE OF THE PINEAPPLE THIEF'S 2003
STUDIO ALBUM
Kscope present 'Variations On A Dream', the third album from The Pineapple Thief
newly remixed by Bruce Soord & remastered by fellow bandmate Steve Kitch.
The Pineapple Thief are one of the leading lights of Europe's experimental rock
domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord, the band have built an
incredibly loyal fanbase over the past 23 years through extensive touring &
consistently lauded recordings. Founder Bruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief
as an outlet for his music back in 1999 & has since released over 15 studio
albums.
Albums like 'Someone Here Is Missing' (2010) & 'All The Wars' (2012) paved the
way to their recent releases. Multiple headline tours followed, including their
biggest headline performance in the UK at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire & their first
ever tour of North America.
'Variations On A Dream' opens with the timid beginnings of 'We Subside' as they
slowly move into the more progressive leaning 'Vapour Trails' before the delicate
strings of 'Resident Alien' position us toward the grand finale of the 16- minute
epic 'Remember Us'.
While earlier Kscope releases were many people's introduction to the band, The
Pineapple Thief spent the previous ten years building up a dedicated fan base
across the globe, selling over 25,000 records & nurturing their 'bittersweet'
progressive sound. A sound that has recently been revisited in a beautifully
packaged 'How Did We Find Our Way - 1999 - 2005' deluxe book set.
Kscope will be presenting 'Variations On A Dream' as a single black LP.

Hailing from Wellington, Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud, Scent is a newcomer to the scene but long time GC of Modern Hypnosis. His first sighting featured a track 'Devils Dread' on Indigo Movement's 5-year digital compilation December 2017.

Heaving at 140 beats per minute, 'Trax' creates a certain energy similar to early jungle riddims. Chopped percussion, giant synth stabs, weighty driving kicks with underlining sub bass and the odd flute build the track to a halt before commencing it's minimal technoesq break down.

'Just a Dream' a rooted scentimental dub which takes you deep into a place amongst your rem sleep with sparse whaling strings and swinging percs.
Scent debut solo release. One to watch.

A frequent collaborator of THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN writer/director Martin McDonagh’s, Academy Award®-nominated composer Carter Burwell previously worked on three of his films, starting with In Bruges. He also worked on Seven Psychopaths, as well as his Oscar-nominated score for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, their last collaboration.

For THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, McDonagh already had, for one section of the film, a piece in mind that’s performed by a Balinese gamelan ensemble – mostly metallic instruments. Taking that inspiration, Burwell weaved gamelin instruments alongside the score’s three main instruments: the celeste – a keyboard that plays bell sounds, the harp, and the flute to create the film’s highly-acclaimed score.

“The score to Banshees is, like its slow simmering conflict, delicate and nuanced and heartbreaking all at once,” said Mondo Creative Director Mo Shafeek..” It takes small steps backwards and forwards like crashing waves on a lonely island, strings and woodwinds dancing with one another, in a waltz. The whole score plays like a dance between two overlapping voices - occasionally harmonizing, but never connecting. Occasionally beautiful, but always a bit melancholy.”

SoHaSo keeps finding lost gems in the rich soil of the Dutch electronic underground. You might know P.A. Presents from his epic Entangled EP (1995) or his many releases on U-Trax. When SoHaSo informed if he had any dusty DAT tapes laying around from that particular period in the 90s, Peter Aarsman started digging. And found plenty of goodies. Here's six tracks which will beam you right back the last century, when names like Carl Craig, Drexciya and Bola were household names among the lovers of funky, melancholic electronica. Whether it's moody strings, otherworldly melodies or syncopated break beats, P.A. delivers on his Lost Voices EP. Like on the 4Hero-esque Drum 'n Tech or the mysterious and jumpy electro vibes on Vice. On Drop It and closing track Lost Voices the Dutch producer goes into full club modus. This is techno that used to fill up warehouses in windy harbor neighborhoods. Be sure to check the Drexiyan remix by Proxyan, who masters the art of deduction on his skeleton-like remix of Vice.

"Bluegrass" ist ein brandneues Studioalbum, auf dem ein Dutzend klassischer Willie Nelson-Kompositionen zu hören sind - darunter "On the Road Again", "Yesterday's Wine", "Still is Still Moving to Me", "Good Hearted Woman" und viele mehr - frisch interpretiert von Willie und seinem Ensemble. In seiner sieben Jahrzehnte währenden Karriere, in der er Genres von einem Ende des musikalischen Spektrums bis zum anderen erforscht hat, ist dies sein erstes komplettes Album, das einem Genre gewidmet ist. Willie und sein langjähriger Produzent Buddy Cannon wählten persönliche und von den Fans geliebte Kompositionen aus seiner gesamten Karriere aus, um sie für diese Hommage an die Old-Time-String-Band-Musik aus den Appalachen, die Willies Songwriting und die amerikanische Country-Musik im Allgemeinen tiefgreifend beeinflusst hat, neu zu interpretieren

A radiant manifesto of artistic freedom, fLuXkit Vancouver (its suite but sacred) brings together a composition in four movements written and performed by Jones on alto saxophone, long-time collaborator Gerald Cleaver on drums, and four Vancouver-based string musicians: violinists Jesse Zubot and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee and bassist James Meger; with original artwork by Stan Douglas and liner notes by poet Harmony Holiday.

A radiant manifesto of artistic freedom, fLuXkit Vancouver (its suite but sacred) brings together a composition in four movements written and performed by Jones on alto saxophone, long-time collaborator Gerald Cleaver on drums, and four Vancouver-based string musicians: violinists Jesse Zubot and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee and bassist James Meger; with original artwork by Stan Douglas and liner notes by poet Harmony Holiday.

Sven Wunder returns with his highly anticipated fourth full-length album Late Again out September 29th on Piano Piano Records. The album compiles some of his most admired compositions to date, like the jazz ballads ”Snowdrops” and ”Asterism Waltz”, and the modal jazz pieces ”Jazz at Night”, and ”Stars Align”. As well as new compositions such as ”Sundown”, ”Pop-Jazz Structures”, and ”Take A Break” with brightly colored textures and vibrant melodies which have become Wunder’s trademark, and so forth.

The Swedish artist and composer have previously catapulted himself onto the global stage of contemporary grooves with his three critically acclaimed albums Eastern Flowers (2019), Wabi Sabi (2020), and Natura Morta (2021), along with a handful of singles such as Harmonica And.... (2023) Sun- Kissed (2022), and Mosaic (2022). His releases have appealed to psych and prog listeners, folk and jazz aficionados, hip-hop connoisseurs, bonafide tastemakers, and fans across the globe which have cemented Wunder’s position as a gifted composer and a musical force to be reckoned with.

When the sun hovers near the horizon, the rays of white sunlight are scattered out of the beam by small particles and molecules in the atmosphere that sprinkle the sky with brilliant hues indicating that the day starts to fade. As night begins to fall, tree-tops redden and begin to glow. Darkness closes in and falls like a blanket covering the sky. It is late again and all is in shadow below. It is when stars align and dreams come true.

Sven Wunder thrives at nightfall and welcomes the horizon of beginnings on Late Again, a collection of nocturnal jazz pieces that depict shooting stars and scattered beams from the setting sun, with an emphasis on gentle compositions for piano and orchestral pop-jazz arrangements for flute, brass, and strings.

Occasionally, you find music outside the commercial mainstream, outside of everything – the music of visionaries, eccentrics, inventors, loners, the keepers of secrets, the path-finders. Moondog, Daphne Oram, Harry Partch are from this mould. And so too is Lori Vambe.

New on Strut, the first ever reissue of Vambe’s privately pressed original albums from 1982, Drumland Dreamland and Drumgita Solo. A self-taught drummer, inventor, and sonic experimentalist, Lori Vambe is a unique figure in British music. Creator of his own instrument, the drumgita (pronounced ‘drum-guitar’) or string-drum, Vambe intended to create a kind of music that had never been made in order to pursue access to the fourth dimension.

Vambe was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and his father, Lawrence Vambe, was a noted Zimbabwean journalist and author. Moving to London in 1959, Vambe immersed himself in the Brixton squat movement of the early 1970s, teaching himself to drum and creating a short-lived performance group, The Healing Drums of Brixton (Vambe, the sculptor Alexander Sokolov and outsider musician Michael O’Shea). Vambe later had a dream-vision involving a feeling of ecstasy while playing an unknown instrument that extended from his own umbilical cord; the instrument would manifest itself as the drumgita. In 1982, he privately produced a pair of home recordings, the diptych set Drumgita Solo and Drumland Dreamland, releasing them on his own label Drumony. On these records, he rejected any commercial aesthetic and employed tape effects, temporal shifts, reversed sound and overdubbing to investigate space-time and access the fourth dimension. Combining layered drums with the rhythmic throb of the drumgita and, on Drumland Dreamland, an improvised piano performance by Brazilian concert pianist Rafael Dos Santos, the albums are both hypnotic and perturbing.



Both albums were cut at Portland Studios by Chas Chandler and stand as a concealed monument of Black British experimental music. 500 copies of each record were originally pressed, and both were released together. The albums were never performed live.



For this first ever reissue of Drumland Drumland and Drumgita Solo, Strut presents the two albums in their original artwork, housed in a deluxe slipcase including an additional 8-page 12”-sized booklet featuring unseen photos, liner notes and an interview with Lori Vambe by The Wire magazine writer Francis Gooding. Both albums are fully remastered by The Carvery.

* In 1993, Andy C & Ant Miles set out about creating a fourth release for the newly established Ram Records, now just a year old. With Hardcore still prominent in the clubs around the world, The Touch features rollercoaster bass swoops against energetic breaks flowing around the main sung vocal "c'mon and touch me".

An early sign of the precision arrangements that became synonymous of Ram's early sound that followed over for many years. Whilst going through the remaining samples in the sampler that had not been used on the A side, the pair suddenly went on a tangent with one of the drum breaks.

Experimenting with the new time stretch function in the Akai sampler, they soon had a shuffle groove layered and moving. With Ant Miles' sculpted and edited arpeggio bell line sample, a new overall sound and vibe was beginning to emerge out of their studio Atari ST computer.

Utilising an original organic analogue string pad, the haunting sinister vibe became complete. With the vocal from the BBC QED documentary 'Glimpses of Death' - "I felt, like I was in a long dark tunnel" all that remained was one of the most memorable pounding bass lines to sit underneath it all.

The result was an instant impact on the scene, heralded as one of the first anthems of the Jungle genre. Multi award winning and the track that cemented Andy & Ant and their label Ram Records within the scene.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Tender Membranes, the label’s first release from Swedish-Finnish sound artist and electro-acoustic composer Marja Ahti. Active for a decade in the Finnish underground music scene, in recent years Ahti has developed a distinctive approach to patiently unfolding electro-acoustic constructions, documented on a string of solo releases and collaborative projects with Judith Hamann and her husband Niko-Matti Ahti. Working with concrete and instrumental sounds, field recordings, and electronics, Ahti favours neither disjunctive collage nor monolithic consistency; rather, her work is composed of organically unfolding sequences of details and textures, which, as she says, ‘can stretch out or cut fast as long as they have a sense of inner stillness’, a sense that she connects to moments of heightened attention in everyday life. Tender Membranes consists of four lengthy pieces, partly inspired by the image of the senses and mind as membranes allowing for the passage between inner and outer spaces, sensation and its causes, creating a world. Ahti’s unhurried pacing encourages this sense of listening as an opening or surrender to sound, which can often create the impression that the listener is moving through a space zooming in on details. The opening Shrine (Aether) exemplifies this aspect of Ahti’s approach: a bell clears the air with a single long tone, followed by the ambience of outdoor spaces, crackling electronics, an archival recording of a horsefly on a windowpane. Dozens of these moments, varying in length, density, and intensity, move past the listener’s attention, momentarily brought into focus then slipping away. Like those of the masters of the French musique concrète tradition, Ahti’s sounds are not often recognisable, though they might suggest proximity or distance, open environments or closed spaces, the urban or rural, day or night. In Ahti’s work, we do not encounter spectacular metamorphoses à la Parmegiani but rather a state of ambiguity where the listener is often unsure what is organic and what is inorganic, where the careful productions of the synthesizer might end and sounds discovered in the environment begin. What Ahti calls her ‘poetic way of experiencing and organising the familiar and the unfamiliar’ is sustained throughout Tender Membranes, but each piece has its own character. On Dust / Light, human presence is more overt, as what appear to be whispers, singing, and distant speech thread between high frequencies, untraceable drips and pops, and metallic shimmers. In all this there is a melody that you can sing and to which you may dance makes more prominent use of musical instruments, gaining a sombre beauty from half-buried piano chords and organ tones. On the closing Oh Fragrant Witness, a delicate cloud of subtly bending pitches is repeatedly disrupted by a resounding, almost ominous mass of low tones, at once a strange detour from much of what has gone before and an almost classical finale. Arriving in a sleeve reproducing contemporary Finnish photographer Sini Pelkki’s fragmented visions of the everyday, Tender Membranes is a balm to reawaken tired ears.

David Eugene Edwards has always been larger than life. His music with innovative heavy droning folk band Wovenhand, and before that the haunting revivification of high lonesome sound antique Americana of 16 Horsepower breathed a near apocalyptic sense of urgency and power into musical archetypes long abandoned in the latter-20th Century. On his first-ever solo album under his own name, Hyacinth, David Eugene Edwards delivers a sound uniquely his own, with a vulnerability and introspection unheard from him before. Stripping back the heavy rock of his recent work with Wovenhand, Hyacinth puts the man's voice, and sparing instrumentation into the main focus. There's a somber beauty and world-weary tone throughout these songs. The album could've been considered a slight return to the more melodic sounds of 16 Horsepower's Secret South (2000) and the first, self-titled Wovenhand album (2002). But there's more going on here: a rhythmic, pulsating undercurrent reminiscent of the tape loops and rudimentary rhythms of 80s Industrial post-punk as well as 808 Drill Style beats. The overall effect is often as if we're hearing the clock ticking away our own mortality. "Hyacinth was a sort of vision," Edwards says. "A dream. I sought out of my old wooden banjo and nylon string guitar a hidden path. Secrets they had kept from me within themselves all these years and created a new Mythos to myself of philosophical and spiritual ideas or concepts." Once he'd harnessed the music within, he enlisted multi-instrumentalist and producer Ben Chisholm (The Armed, Chelsea Wolfe, Converge) to help him realize the album's recording and mix. "Overall, the album is a weaving of narratives ancient and modern, of humankind's search for understanding of this world we find ourselves in and of each other. In all its simplicity and complexity," Edwards continues. "Hyacinth is a reference to the Greek myth of Apollo. And, the word meaning a precious stone and blue larkspur flower of purple and pall."

Electronic are proud to announce the release of ‘Get the Message: The Best Of Electronic’ on vinyl for the first time, available via Warner Music on 29th September.

First released in 2006, ‘Get the Message: The Best Of Electronic’ is the career spanning collection from the Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner band who released a string of critically acclaimed hits including their debut single ‘Getting Away With It’, ‘Get The Message’ ‘Disappointed’ and ‘Feel Every Beat’.

This compilation captures the very essence of their groundbreaking sound, blending Marr’s distinctive guitar work with Sumner’s vocals and guest features from Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant (Getting Away With It, Disappointed) and Kraftwerk’s Karl Bartos (For You, Imitation Of Life).

There are only a few figures in music whose work influences and
shapes a genre as a whole. This is undoubtedly true of the Swede
Esbjörn Svensson. With his trio e.s.t., the pianist and composer
wowed audiences beyond age and genre affiliations. And his
influence on jazz as a whole reverberates to this day and already
within the second and third generation of musicians worldwide.
‘HOME.S.’ is Esbjörn Svensson’s only solo album and the sheer
existence of such a recording and its completely unexpected
discovery over a decade after its creation are nothing less than a
sensation: Since the early 1990s, Svensson focused almost his entire
creative energy and recording activities on his work with e.s.t.. Thus,
these new recordings are not only the first, but practically the only
ones that show Svensson in a setting other than that of the trio:
Intimate, concentrated and completely one with himself. The
recordings for ‘HOME.S.’ were made only a few weeks before
Esbjörn Svensson’s sudden death on June 14, 2008. Svensson
recorded the music in his Swedish home.
For almost ten years afterwards, the album rested untouched in his
wife Eva Svensson’s personal archive. Here, she tells the story
behind the discovery of the album and the music: “After Esbjörn’s
passing, I made sure all the contents of his computer were saved to
backup hard drives. And then I basically left them untouched for the
next ten years. At the point where I eventually felt ready to look into
the material, I soon realised that there was something I wanted to
look into.
“I took the hard drive and went to Gothenburg to meet with Åke
Linton, the sound engineer who had worked on all e.s.t. albums as
well as on their live shows. He was also the one who had helped me
to save the material from Esbjörn’s computer in the first place. So he
probably already knew that there was something hidden in there. But
nobody had listened to it.
“We went to his studio. And we pressed the start button. Then there
was a total silence and we couldn't speak for the entire time the music
was playing. After it finished, at first we were not able to say anything,
because we were both so touched and surprised that it was all there,
and that it was so beautiful. The tracks seemed to follow one another
like pearls on a string. After we just had sat there for a while we
agreed: This is really good. Musically, but also from a sound
perspective.”

Bristol's soul jazz kings The Jazz Defenders release a new vinyl 45 single this autumn as a taster for their third album, which is destined for release in spring 2024. Once again, they are bringing together their love of 1960's soul jazz and golden era 90's hip-hop, just as they did on a couple of tracks on their last album "King Phoenix" (Haggis Records 2022). This new single sees them reunited with London MC/rapper Doc Brown, who guested on the track "Perfectly Imperfect", and his flow sits so naturally over the Jazz Defenders' music and beats, you'd think he's a permanent band member.

The A-side "Rolling On A High" is a real old school boom bap style party hip-hop jam. Big beats, rolling bassline (acoustic double bass), Ramsey Lewis soul jazz piano vamps, funky Hammond organ and some punchy horn section business, all topped off with Doc Brown bouncing bars back and forth with that laid back vibe he always brings to the mic. A guaranteed dance-floor bomb, whether you're a breaker, a jazz dancer or simply a Saturday night disco shuffler. The B-side "Looking Back" takes the tempo right down. An 'end of the night' number when the lights in the club are low, the last drinks are being drained and you're thinking and reminiscing about times gone by. The good times and bad, successes and mistakes. And made even more poignant and reflective halfway through when the mellow strings come into the song (once again excellently arranged by pianist/bandleader George Cooper). If "Rolling On A High" is the fire then "Looking Back" is definitely the ice. Proof that the Jazz Defenders can rock the party and grab the dancers but also dig deep with emotive tunes that draw in the discerning listener.

The Jazz Defenders, led by keyboard maestro George Cooper from The Haggis Horns, have been building a reputation as a great musical unit since their debut Blue Note/hard bop-inspired album "Scheming" appeared on Haggis Records back in 2019, which received a huge amount of praise from critics, and subsequently went on to spend 5 weeks in the top ten of the American jazz charts In 2021, their double A-side vinyl single "The Big Man/Love's Vestige" got them the breakthrough they deserved. It garnered heavy support on radio from top folks like Craig Charles (BBC6 Music), Helen Mayhew (Jazz FM), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), and Worldwide FM resident DJ's Ashley Beedle and Colin Curtis. They further enhanced their reputation as a rocking band with album number two "King Phoenix" and by electrifying audiences at sold out live shows across the UK, including the legendary Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London.

Album number three is well on its way but for now, check out this tasty limited edition 45 single on Haggis Records. The JDs and Doc Brown...the perfect combination, still keeping that sweet jazz/hip-hop love affair alive today.

Dreams are made and displaced on Mark Fell & Rian Treanor’s oneiric electro-acoustic inception 'Last Exit', borne from long days in the family garden, and assembled into a mesmerising masterpiece of minimalist modal rhythm and atmospheric exploration, into rapt smallsound detailing in breathtaking form. It’s a bit like listening to Virginia Astley’s ‘From Gardens Where We Feel Secure’, with washes of Autechre seeping into the mix from outside.

‘Last Exit…’ originally appeared in a different form as a cassette release for our Documenting Sound series in 2021, and was edited this year by Mark and Rian for this new expanded and altered edition, mastered by Rashad Becker. It renders a painterly,psychedelic, and diaristic depiction of sublime atmospheric tension, occasionally ruptured by their typical, asymmetric rhythm impulses in a form that rudely transcends their respective aesthetics. Across four parts, they kern, juxtapose and diffract synthesised percussion and field recordings into polymetric arrangements riddled with timbral nuance of a highly unpredictable nature.

While patently inflected with nods to Indonesian gamelan, Ugandan folk, Indian Carnatic classical, Morton Feldman-esque minimalism, free jazz improvisation and a sort of rhythmic cubism that speaks to their mutual, voracious listening habits and tastes, the results are arguably without direct compare. Attentive listeners will recognise, however, that ‘Last Exit’ effortlessly transcends their respective styles, achieving a new high watermark of imaginary future-hyperfolk expressed in a sort of personalised but highly relatable meta-musical language.

Seriously, they’re working beyond known conventions here; opening to a sublime frisson of Feldman-esque keys, birdsong and distant car engines, and closing to a combo of just-intoned drone and wafts of distant ballroom music. The 80 minutes in between feel like returning to a dream, with flashes of FM strings dabbed to sloshing rhythms and domestic detritus, tilting into a nervously tentative tension ruptured with abstract dance dynamism and angular free jazz ballistics.

The rejigged recordings also reflect the fidelity of memory recall, expressing an altered perspective on their time spent in the multigenerational family’s Rotherham garden during spring/summer 2020, replete with their mum/grandmother on piano and overheard singing and in convo, but now fraught with a more melancholic, distempered quality that makes for a genuinely unforgettable listening experience. A long-form isolationist fantasy, consider it crucial listening if yr into Robert Ashley's 'Automatic Writing', Graham Lambkin, Autechre or Nuno Canavarro.

David Eugene Edwards has always been larger than life. His music with innovative heavy droning folk band Wovenhand, and before that the haunting revivification of high lonesome sound antique Americana of 16 Horsepower breathed a near apocalyptic sense of urgency and power into musical archetypes long abandoned in the latter-20th Century. On his first-ever solo album under his own name, Hyacinth, David Eugene Edwards delivers a sound uniquely his own, with a vulnerability and introspection unheard from him before. Stripping back the heavy rock of his recent work with Wovenhand, Hyacinth puts the man's voice, and sparing instrumentation into the main focus. There's a somber beauty and world-weary tone throughout these songs. The album could've been considered a slight return to the more melodic sounds of 16 Horsepower's Secret South (2000) and the first, self-titled Wovenhand album (2002). But there's more going on here: a rhythmic, pulsating undercurrent reminiscent of the tape loops and rudimentary rhythms of 80s Industrial post-punk as well as 808 Drill Style beats. The overall effect is often as if we're hearing the clock ticking away our own mortality. "Hyacinth was a sort of vision," Edwards says. "A dream. I sought out of my old wooden banjo and nylon string guitar a hidden path. Secrets they had kept from me within themselves all these years and created a new Mythos to myself of philosophical and spiritual ideas or concepts." Once he'd harnessed the music within, he enlisted multi-instrumentalist and producer Ben Chisholm (The Armed, Chelsea Wolfe, Converge) to help him realize the album's recording and mix. "Overall, the album is a weaving of narratives ancient and modern, of humankind's search for understanding of this world we find ourselves in and of each other. In all its simplicity and complexity," Edwards continues. "Hyacinth is a reference to the Greek myth of Apollo. And, the word meaning a precious stone and blue larkspur flower of purple and pall."

The only album to soundtrack both late-'70s Minneapolis lounges and a Travis Scott x Dior fashion show. Recorded in a host of living rooms with only a Fender Rhodes piano, a Donca Matic Mini Pops drum machine, and Senrick's wide-eyed, 20-year-old voice, the 1977 LP disappeared into the wild and joined the Wendigo in Minnesota lore. A provocative mix of marina soul, easy listening, and loner folk, Dreamin' is a sanguine sliver of the American private mind garden. Harsh winters coupled with a relative lack of interest amongst siblings allowed Chuck Senrick years of unfettered access to the family piano in their Farmington, Minnesota, home. Learning both by ear and by instruction, Senrick began gigging professionally at age 15, joining John Zimmer and the CR4 for a weekly rundown of Allman Brothers, Blind Faith, and Cream covers at the Sea Girt Inn in Lake Orchard. Tapping into James Taylor's pop-chart achievements in songwriting and enunciation, Senrick composed the bulk of the songs featured on Dreamin' before graduating from Farmington High School. At 20, Senrick migrated 30 miles north to the Twin Cities to pursue music full-time. Using borrowed equipment and borrowed living rooms, a string of informal recording sessions generated the quarter-inch tape for Dreamin'. "I didn't know how to do it," Senrick says about producing an album. "I just knew it could be done." Constructed with vocals, Fender Rhodes, and an assortment of rhythm presets on his Donca Matic Mini Pops drum machine, a mere 200 copies of the private-press masterpiece were stamped and sleeved and sold hand-to-hand at performances. Chuck's wife Lesli illustrated the album cover_a pen-to-paper portrait of her husband against the backdrop of the Minneapolis Skyline, she and their newborn son situated on a nearby knoll. Any plans for a re-press were quashed when producer Bruce W. Hansen lost the reels during a messy divorce. "I was a kid with big ideas and not much hope to do anything but play," Senrick said of the Dreamin' era. "It still amazes me that people are interested in it."

Ted Milton and Graham Lewis return as Elegiac with their second release – a four track EP inch titled “Meet My Stalker”. The pair of idiosyncratic sonic stylists, bullish outsiders with a Dadaist's ear for unexpected rhythms and ear-catching turns of phrase return showcasing a new track – the title of the EP - along with three bass heavy dubbed out no wave versions of tracks from their self titled debut LP.

Ted Milton is a prolific poet, with several volumes under his belt, as well as an avant-garde puppeteer. Yet he's probably best known as vocalist/saxophonist with psycho-funk afro punk fake no-wave pogo jazz trio Blurt. Milton's group has produced an impressive string of albums, not to mention his numerous solo recordings.

Meanwhile, Edvard Graham Lewis has a history of strong solo releases, both under his own name and as He Said. And of course, as bassist, lyricist and sometime vocalist with post punk innovators Wire, he's been responsible for numerous landmark releases, from 1977's Pink Flag, to 2003's Send, to 2020's Mind Hive.

Arranged, like the album, by electronic composer and sound artist Sam Britton whose sure touch pieces all the elements together. Kicking off with a stripped down driving shortened version of “He Folds” with its eerie honking sax and kraut like pulsating bass the perfect complement to Milton’s chorus echoing throughout. “Boat” is another album track beefed up with Milton’s chants backed by layered percussive blasts and squawking sax. “Meet My Stalker” makes its first appearance here with its infectious snarling looped bassline and Milton’s refrain “It’s a wind up”. Closing out with another album highlight an elongated version of “Vancouver Slim” all synth bleeps and ricocheting grumbling sax and hypnotic vocals. Punchy, idiosyncratic, packed with melody and groove, this second release is the fascinating sound of an evolving Elegiac.

The latest EP from Drab Majesty marks the start of a stirring new chapter in the band's majestic legacy. Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote coastal Oregon town of Yachats, Deb Demure leaned into the neo- psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl - shaped 12 -string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. After early morning hikes in the rain, Deb would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into "flow states," letting the sound lead the way. These sessions were then refined or recreated, and later elevated further with key collaborations by Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Meldal Johnson (Beck, M83, Air), and Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Circular Ruin Studio). An Object In Motion is true to its title, capturing the chrysalis moment of an artist evolving, reborn and untet hered, silhouetted against an open horizon. "Cape Perpetua" kicks off the collection's divergent palette: sparkling acoustic fingerpicking refracted through delay, equal parts raga and reverie. Melodies and moods congeal and dissipate, at the threshold of rustic American primitivism, brooding neo-folk, and pastoral melancholia. "The Skin And The Glove" deploys jangle to different effect baggy, soaring, grey skied kaleidoscopic pop in the spirit of Stone Roses, Primal Scream, and The Glove. Rachel Goswell lends her iconic freefall voice to The Cure - esque ballad, "Vanity," infusing poetic gravity to the doomed refrain: "If the valve breaks / then the earth quakes / and history finds a way / to put you in your place." "Yield To Force", the closing track of the EP, may be the most anomalous offering of the set. A 15 minute instrumental odyssey of cyclical strings, ominous slide guitar, and simmering synthesizer, the piece sways and spirals like a long zoom into distant storm clouds. Demure finesses the guitar with a restless but regal grandeur, unfolding a panorama of peaks, shadows, and plateaus. It's music both intuitive and prophetic, tracing the slow swing of pendulums across an endless plain. Taken as a whole, An Object In Motion presents a showcase of potential futures from Drab's evolving domain, their sound poised to bloom at the precipice of transformation.

'Can I Go Again?', das Debütalbum von Benét (Benét Nutall) aus Richmond, VA, ist eine abwechslungsreiche Sammlung nachdenklicher, dicht gepackter Indie-Pop-, Rock- und Soul-Tracks, die ebenso emotional mitschwingen wie sie unmittelbar und ansteckend sind. Diese Tracks sind es gleichermaßen wert, Herzschmerz zu verarbeiten, mit Freunden zu spielen oder Kraft in der Einsamkeit zu finden. Die Debüt-EP von Benét, "Game Over" (2021), war ein ehrlicher Versuch der Selbstreflexion durch elektronische Dance- und Disco-Atmosphären - die titelgebende Frage ihres Debütalbums dient als Neustart des Arcade-Spiels mit mehr Wissen, Reife und Sicherheit, während Benét sich zu organischerer Instrumentalbegleitung und raffiniertem Songwriting bewegt. Die überschwänglichen und scharfen Gitarrenriffs und die treibende Bassline von "Insensitive" heben Benéts Gesang an, wenn sie über Gefühle von Nervosität, Sehnsucht und die letztendliche Überwindung von beidem mit Selbstsicherheit singen. In "Overpowering" können Benét über einer sanften Bassline und einem stolpernden Beat ihre persönliche Entwicklung zur Schau stellen. "No Alarm" bietet einen weiteren Einblick in Benéts lyrische Verwundbarkeit, die sich zwischen Selbstbewusstsein in den Strophen und einer flirrenden, stringent betonten Sicherheit im Refrain hin und her bewegt. Die Musik von Benét wurde schon immer von der Umgebung und den Menschen, mit denen sie zusammenarbeiten, beeinflusst. Das Album ist das Ergebnis von etwa drei Jahren des Schreibens und Aufnehmens zu verschiedenen Zeiten mit verschiedenen Gruppen von Freunden und musikalischen Partnern - in Richmond, VA mit Jacob Grissom, Christian Lewis, Neal Perrine und John Trainum, in Philadelphia mit Kyle Pulley und Danny Murillo und in New York mit Carlos Truly. In "Can I go again?" geht es darum, sich Zeit zu nehmen und zu erkennen, bewusst zu wachsen und Freude und Nervosität selbstbewusst auszudrücken. Benét nutzt "Can I Go Again?" um ihren eigenen Platz inmitten inspirierender, verwirrender, schwieriger und schöner menschlicher Verbindungen zu verarbeiten und diese unvergesslichen, eingängigen, emotionalen Lieder zu präsentieren, in der Hoffnung, dass das Publikum zuhören und dasselbe tun kann.

'Can I Go Again?', das Debütalbum von Benét (Benét Nutall) aus Richmond, VA, ist eine abwechslungsreiche Sammlung nachdenklicher, dicht gepackter Indie-Pop-, Rock- und Soul-Tracks, die ebenso emotional mitschwingen wie sie unmittelbar und ansteckend sind. Diese Tracks sind es gleichermaßen wert, Herzschmerz zu verarbeiten, mit Freunden zu spielen oder Kraft in der Einsamkeit zu finden. Die Debüt-EP von Benét, "Game Over" (2021), war ein ehrlicher Versuch der Selbstreflexion durch elektronische Dance- und Disco-Atmosphären - die titelgebende Frage ihres Debütalbums dient als Neustart des Arcade-Spiels mit mehr Wissen, Reife und Sicherheit, während Benét sich zu organischerer Instrumentalbegleitung und raffiniertem Songwriting bewegt. Die überschwänglichen und scharfen Gitarrenriffs und die treibende Bassline von "Insensitive" heben Benéts Gesang an, wenn sie über Gefühle von Nervosität, Sehnsucht und die letztendliche Überwindung von beidem mit Selbstsicherheit singen. In "Overpowering" können Benét über einer sanften Bassline und einem stolpernden Beat ihre persönliche Entwicklung zur Schau stellen. "No Alarm" bietet einen weiteren Einblick in Benéts lyrische Verwundbarkeit, die sich zwischen Selbstbewusstsein in den Strophen und einer flirrenden, stringent betonten Sicherheit im Refrain hin und her bewegt. Die Musik von Benét wurde schon immer von der Umgebung und den Menschen, mit denen sie zusammenarbeiten, beeinflusst. Das Album ist das Ergebnis von etwa drei Jahren des Schreibens und Aufnehmens zu verschiedenen Zeiten mit verschiedenen Gruppen von Freunden und musikalischen Partnern - in Richmond, VA mit Jacob Grissom, Christian Lewis, Neal Perrine und John Trainum, in Philadelphia mit Kyle Pulley und Danny Murillo und in New York mit Carlos Truly. In "Can I go again?" geht es darum, sich Zeit zu nehmen und zu erkennen, bewusst zu wachsen und Freude und Nervosität selbstbewusst auszudrücken. Benét nutzt "Can I Go Again?" um ihren eigenen Platz inmitten inspirierender, verwirrender, schwieriger und schöner menschlicher Verbindungen zu verarbeiten und diese unvergesslichen, eingängigen, emotionalen Lieder zu präsentieren, in der Hoffnung, dass das Publikum zuhören und dasselbe tun kann.

Bobby Caldwell's second album, Cat In The Hat, from 1980, is one of his greatest moments and another masterwork of soulful sophistication. Featuring the eternal "Open Your Eyes", brilliantly sampled by J Dilla for Common's "The Light", it's about as essential as records get. Like its eponymous predecessor, it's been out of print for far too long. To finally release the hugely-anticipated reissue is one of our sincerely proudest moments.

Whilst Ned Doheny is known in Japan as "Mr California", native New Yorker Bobby Caldwell has always been "Mr AOR" to his Far-Eastern friends. His distinct charm is an irresistible blend of soul, jazz, and pop influences. He possessed phenomenal songwriting prowess, smooth vocal performances, was both a great soul guitarist and dextrous keyboard player and known for genius chord progressions. It all added up to a multi-layered brilliance entering the studio, and the singular sound he landed on was laced with soulful, sweeping strings and funky horns, touching lightly on disco, while allowing his supple voice to carry the stunning tracks he'd crafted.

Right from the off, it's easy to tell that Cat In The Hat is a deeply special record. It's fantastically produced and incredibly well-rounded, carving its own lane with deep soul, warm jazz and a stunning vocal delivery that really helped Bobby reach out to some big new audiences at the time. Goosebumps at the ready for the rolling power-piano funk of "Coming Down From Love", opening up the album with a track as good as anything Steely Dan or The Doobies ever crafted, with a vocal performance from the heavens. Pumping AOR wonder "Wrong Or Right" is up there with the slick, classy rhythms of prime Ned Doheny whilst the cool, skipping soul of guitar-drenched "To Know What You've Got" is a funky ballad par excellence, with elemental traces of "What A Fool Believes". No bad thing. Closing out Side A, the folk-funk of "You Promised Me" is a bright, soulful strut with a wonderful vocal coda that just builds. Sensational.

The delicate bounce and falsetto self-harmonising of "It's Over" offers a truly delightful introduction to Side B, and serves as a great precursor to what follows. Bobby's dynamite "Open Your Eyes" is likely the reason you're all here. As if he needed it, the eternal J Dilla further immortalised Caldwell in the hip-hop canon with his production of Common’s epochal “The Light,” which heavily samples the magical “Open Your Eyes.” On a post paying tribute to Bobby in March 2023, Questlove claimed that he "got word Brother Bobby loved it". Bobby's original has seen new life even more recently from the likes of Dwele and Kendrick Lamar and deservingly so, as its insistent drums and staccato piano created a modern-soul classic. You'd think that would be hard to follow, wouldn't you? Not so, when you're Bobby Caldwell. Indeed, the horn-drenched stepper "Mother Of Creation" is absolutely ace, and, whisper it, possibly the album's finest track, all funky piano and guitars with horn lines to die for. Exquisite ballad "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love" rounds out the album beautifully.

Bobby sadly passed away on 23rd March 2023, after a long struggle with mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress, due to an adverse effect from a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. The reissue of Cat In The Hat will be available on vinyl across the globe, ensuring that fans of his incomparable talent - and soul music enthusiasts worldwide - can radiate in the deep beauty of this seminal album. Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland.

Amy Dabbs might be one of the hardest working artists in the game right now. Making it in the current electronic music landscape is not an easy thing, which might be why this talented artist is so heavily invested in her musical output. With releases on Aus Music, Shall not Fade and her own Dabbs traxx, a monthly residency on Rinse FM and a tour schedule that seems to get busier by the minute, we’re happy to see her hard work is paying off. Add to that some support by artists such as Special Request, The Blessed Madonna, Jaguar and Cinthie and you know this Berlin-based artist is right where she belongs: in the spotlight.

With a love for all things high energy – including, but not limited to house music and breaks – Amy knows how to set fire to a dancefloor (or record for that matter). Her music has been described by Resident Advisor as “Elegant and soulful drum & bass, that’ll still catch the ears of house heads.” So here you go, house heads: Amy Dabbs on Heist. The ‘Only breaks can love your heart’ EP is packed with feelgood energy and comes with a Dam Swindle remix that has the duo laying down some pleasantly unexpected breakbeats on an altogether rush-inducing record.

Right from the start, you know you’ve got an anthem on your hands with ‘Everything alright’. The gorgeous vocals by Aika Mal give you that right amount of emotive, ravey energy and come wrapped in a package of solid breaks and mesmerizing chords. With a hint of acid and a couple of meticulously crafted breakdowns you’ll be singing along with this track before you know it.

The Dam Swindle remix drops the tempo a little bit, but with its 140 bpm, warm broken beat and UK bass, the duo delivers a curveball of a track with a lot of crossover appeal. They went for a more stripped back approach that combines introverted percussion with bouncy keys that complement the vocals perfectly for an altogether irresistible remix.

‘Crush’ is a signature Amy Dabbs tracks, with driving 909 percussion, female vocal chops, ethereal pads and classic strings. It’s a warmhearted affair laced with Amy’s feelgood DNA. On the flip you’ll find ‘Eleven eleven twenty two’; a classic deep house track with subtle hints of UKG in its sampling and bass. The pads and leads are moody and the skippy percussion gives this track the kind of energy you’d welcome when pulling an all-nighter.

Rounding off the EP, we’ve got the ep title track ‘Only breaks can love your heart’; another showcase of Amy’s knack to make house aficionados dance to drum and bass. There’s a certain contrast in pace – raging drums versus dreamy chords that makes you feel at ease listening to a fast-paced track like this. The vocals are equally hazy with a subtle 90’s and 00’s RnB feel. Bassface guaranteed on this one!

He has curated an intimate, thoughtful collection of songs that deal with cherished loved ones, love denied, the power of faith, and a simpler, less encumbered way of life.The album features a healthy mix of country classics and contemporary bluegrass songs: Sparks revives warhorses from the repertoires of Lefty Frizzell, George Jones, and Hank Williams, complementing them with material from present-day writers including Wyatt McCubbin and Daniel Crabtree.

An evocative, heart-felt singer with few peers, younger bluegrass musicians are inspired by and study the subtle nuances of Sparks' vocal style. But Sparks, however, is a double threat, being equally revered for his innovative guitar playing.

Countless guitarists have tried to emulate his singular flatpicking style, but few - if any - have truly mastered it.

For some years, fans of the Bluegrass icon have requested that he do a project of this nature. At long last, that wait is over. Listeners get pure Larry Sparks.

Recorded at his newly built home studio, it's just him, his signature 1954 D-28 and his son Larry "D" Sparks providing subtle backing rhythm on bass. The warmth and intimacy of this album affords his admirers the opportunity to pull up a chair, relax, and listen to a true bluegrass master do what he does best - playing and singing from his heart to theirs.

Built around recordings by the acclaimed pedal steel player Henry Senior, the album's six hypnotic and enveloping tracks are supplemented with piano, strings, synths and field recordings performed by Wallis.

The making of the album took an unplanned route. During the winter 2021 lockdown, Wallis began work on an album of more conventional songs, sending several to Henry Senior (Danny & The Champions Of The World, Honey Harper) to record pedal steel parts remotely. Though subsequently deciding to shelve the album, he realised that Senior's pedal steel outlines of the songs formed the basis of something completely different.

The result is an immersive, meticulously crafted album that recalls the ambient pedal steel work of Chuck Johnson and Daniel Lanois mixed with the ethereal post- classical instrumentation of Stars Of The Lid and the field recording work of Claire Rousay.

In Huge Gesturing Loops' is Wallis' fourth release in as many years. The album's title comes from a poem by Philip Larkin. The artwork was put together by designer Luke Jarvis based on the 1930s swimming pool on Marshall Street in Soho, where Wallis swam regularly while working on the album.

Originally released in 2003, 1972, is a collection of songs that pay
homage to the songwriters whose songs were popular on AM radio in the year he was born - Fluttering strings, hand claps, flutes and the production of Brad Jones provide the right atmosphere for this incredible batch of songs - Highlights include the single, "Love Vibration", "Come Back (Light Therapy)" and "Rise"

The kind of band whose members are fully immersed in their local scene-through a handful of notable side projects and the show- promoting Philly staple 4333 Collective- the quintet's sound takes wide- spectrum influence from its environment. The result is an amalgam of complex song structures and flourishes of technical acumen, wholly unconcerned with genre, yet evoking the specific styles of touchstones such as Paramore and Circa Survive.

On their debut longplayer Where the Heart Is, Sweet Pill's unbound, raucous energy presents through ten autobiographical tracks that hinge on singer Zayna Youssef's elastic, enrapturing voice- at times belting and controlled, at others textural and guttural. Supporting Youssef are guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney. Their blistering lead single "Blood" sees Youssef exploring a deteriorated friendship over Williams and McCall's trudging riffs and tactful counterpoint, with Cullen and Kearney rumbling nimbly in the song's foundations.

Second single "High Hopes" counters with introspective, melodic punk that reshapes anxiety rather than succumb to it. But third single "Diamond Eyes" momentarily slows the pace, with McCall joining Youssef on vocals for a breakup lament laden with acoustic sentimentalism and an emotive flurry from guest flutist Jill Ryan. Such range is the central facet of Where the Heart Is, where Sweet Pill's penchant for combining punkish tropes enlivened with the vibrance of math- rock and the aggression of post- hardcore sweetened with pop sensibility compound into something stylistically new yet still familiar.

No stranger to the limelight with a string of forward-thinking, sought-after releases under his belt, Snad joins the roster of cutting-edge artists bringing his spark to Phonica AM under curation of Luther Vine.

The 'Labyrinthine EP' opens with a relentless 4 to the floor club ready firestarter. Aptly titled 'Quark' hits the spot in all the right places. Its swinging drum work out and oscillating chords swirl to a frenzy and guarantee to set any a dance floor ablaze.

The A2 'Labyrinthine' boots off with Snad's unique take on UK 90s Tech-House, full groove, snare syncopation and whirlwind of off-centre synth cords, adding to his effervescent sound design.

The flip side opens with a killer remix fellow Berliner expat, Huerta's take on 'Quark'. The remix retains the destructive dance floor potential of the original and adds somewhat in the hypnotic trip out department. Full engagement is guaranteed from start to finish even for the more of an absent-minded listener on this one.

Snad closes the EP with 'Revival'. This cross-genre juggernaut effortlessly marries puncy breaks with dubbed out echos while the resonant synth chords and muddled vocal chops expand listener's perception of sonar possibilities to places few have imagined possible. One of the rare tracks which hovers on the fringe of experimentation but guarantees to move the peak time crowd of the most discerning listening habits.

NOAR is a young collective of enthusiasts in electronic music from Dresden.

The aim is to bring locals from dresden and eastern germany on the screen of like minded people. The scene is bursting with talents and audiophiles of several generations and therefore we want to give these talents a platform and make their output accessible to like-minded people.

‘Clone Scratch’ by Friedrich Ernst comes with a distinct electro vibe for build ups in a club and vocals in dreamy watery manner reminds us what’s up to us.

‘locknr01’ by The Isolator gives us a cold industrial goosebumps. A whole factory is under pressure performing that straight electro tune while heavy strings foreshadow its collapse. Here and there screws turn out of the steel beams, soft like bubbles. You have to take cover to avoid being shot.

A3 by Anachronism follows straight up. ‘Lost Control by Distance’ shows us what unconsciousness feels like. In this breakbeat thunderstorm we are sitting in a crashing airplane not quite ready for what's coming next.

With ‘Establishment’ the thunderstorm lightens and suddenly soft sunrays from Planetary Secrets come through the cloud cover. You are dreaming with soft melodies warming up your face while your body is moving to uk influenced breakbeat.

The duo KAWA KAWA is making their release debut with B2. This track clearly serves you on peak times with lovely and rough vocals while its energy easily lets you understand what a desire means.

The EP is finished with a fast electro belter from Otis Key. With it’s minimalistic approach
‘Copy Natural Processes at the Nanoscale’ lets you dive into the grid of existence with your electron microscope. From time to time you can see light coming from underneath with cold strings layered between the rhythm.
Dude what if...Is it… the matrix?

1970’s Cloud One disco brilliance and one of P&P’s most well-known cuts gets a much-needed official reissue. A studio project masterminded by the legendary Patrick Adams and P&P Records’ Peter Brown, Cloud One’s ‘Disco Juice’ showcases the genius of Adams’ songwriting and production prowess. A bundle of joy from start to finish, every element is given space and arranged exquisitely from the soaring strings and Venus Dodson’s celestial vocals, to the vibraphone twinkles and power piano keys. Deliriously good grooves.

On the B side, ‘Charleston Hopscotch’ a cosmic funk-fuelled jam bouncing guitar riffs, sweltering synths and piano stabs out to the stratosphere and back again, returning with another Patrick Adam’s masterclass.

The elusive Hackney basement dweller Alpha Delta colloquially known as Alpha D drops his debutsingle “The Moat” as the very first 12” output on the mysterious new hybrid Berlin++Sydney based label Delphic Iris Records. The headline single inspired by a faithful rave session in Croatia whereAlpha D was simultaneously emotionally touched, scarred and sonically pummelled by kick drums ata wild and stormy Dimensions Festival.
This dark techno beast was the aggressive, distorted acid offspring of that faithful night ravingbetween the mud and tears of the crowd at the formidable Moat stage at Punta Christo. His OG Mixis classic 132bpm heavy pounding acid techno at its moodiest. In the Remix department we have support from the entire Delphic Iris Records crew on this one. Afitting introduction to the labels sound. Sydney based Drox of Analog Cabin fame has a low end electro bass bin rattler for us that delvesinto melancholic and psychedelic 303 territory, deep, minimal and functional a perfect mid setgroover in our opinion. Critical Automator takes us on a deep and elegant techno journey transcending both murky seasand lush hazy skies in his dub mix. Definitely dialled back from the OG mix but there is no shortage ofkick drum energy in this one. 16 Faces cooks up complex drum work and funk driven baselines in a hybrid 146 bpm number that’sa just a touch rave, grime and idm in his 5am mix. The off beat stabs and euphoric strings areplentiful, more than enough to get your through any wobbly kneed sunrise.

"If you can imagine a love child between MAC DEMARCO and SPAR-KLEHORSE, then this would be what you're left with." - SO YOUNG MAGA-ZINE
Raised in North Queensland, Australia, Jarrod Mahon is not one to shy away from bold new endeavors. Once parting ways with his previous record label in 2019, Mahon chose to go fully independent, relocating to Berlin in 2019 (where he still resides), despite having no contacts at all in the country. What’s more, having recorded/performed under the pseudonym Emerson Snowe for over a decade - during which time he home-recorded five albums and 13 EP’s, toured with the likes of King Krule or Ariel Pink, played showcases SXSW and the Great Escape, the works - Mahon took that brave, most uncommercial decision to release under his own name and start almost totally anew.
“There was never really a concept to that name Emerson Snowe other than having some kind of separation from who I was as a person,” Mahon explains, “using a moniker gave me that confidence to push myself further mentally and to give myself some kind of a freedom”. And through the process of creating what would become his debut album, Mahon saw that he had outgrown the need for this protective persona. ‘Everything Has A Life’ was meant to be the debut Snowe album”, he admits, “but after I finished mixing it with Syd Kemp, co-producer I realized that I had actually grown a lot and was much more comfort-able with who I am and what my personal beliefs are.”
The choice of ‘Everything Has A Life’ as the album title, pulled from beauteous opening track ‘All I Know’, neatly summarizes this new outlook: moving on from ‘self-pity’ of the past-self by becoming present for the loved ones around you, improving understanding of one’s own self, via the wider world at large.
That track marks the first written during a lockdown stint in LA where Mahon wrote and recorded every day for 2 months, produced nigh on 250 demos and birthed the bulk of the record. It also brought Mahon back to his all-time favorite, Sufjan Stevens’ Ilinois and its blend of widescreen orchestral landscapes and more candid, naked acoustic-leaning variations - an important influence for the album's stylistic contrasts. Another key inspiration for the record too brought Mahon back to his roots - those full-bloom strains of his Mum’s Beloved Neil Diamond, an annual Christmas irritant to Mahon as a child, yet an artist he’s come to respect in adulthood. “Whatever the reason, with age I came to love the big show band sounds,” he says, “the idea of a performer on stage with a mas-sive orchestra with strings was amazing to me.”
With the help of producer Syd Kemp (Ulrika Spacek, Vanishing Twin), such grand designs could be met. - “When we first met, he asked me if I would like real strings on it. I said of course.” Enter Magda Mclean on violin (Caroline/the Umlauts), and Gamaliel Rendle Traynor on Cello (Sweat, Fat White Family), whose strings helped lift the record to romantic new heights.
He continues: “I said to Syd that the only thing I wanted to achieve with this rec-ord was that I wanted it to make me cry at one point. And we got there eventual-ly.” The final culmination of all these strands, ’Everything Has A Life’ is indeed a treasure trove of emotive riches. Locking into that bittersweet, quintessentially ‘pop’ combination of triumphant rhythms and confessional, stream-of-consciousness lyrics plucked straight from the heart, Mahon faces up to years of substance abuse with a series of gorgeous, blushing melodies: “I was using, I was drinking, I was lying to my friends, I was messing up again, I was hiding from myself”, he joyously chants on ‘The Growing’.
A banquet fit for an indie king, Everything Has A Life is loaded with psych-pop lusciousness (‘All I Know’) and anthemic glam fuzz (‘Death Of The Ladies Man’, ‘Deadstar’, or ‘Sonny is my Best Friend’); recalling that foundational Sufjan Ste-vens influence too with shambling flecks of country (‘Charly (Romantic Heart)’). There’s also those lo-fi crepitations of ‘My Man’ and ‘I can’t’ harking back home-recorded demos that lie at the core of Mahon’s creative process.

On Rock Island, their second LP, Palm produces evidence of a distinct musical language, developed over time, in isolation, and out of necessity. On the island, melodies are struck on what might be shells or spines. Rhythms are scratched out, swept over, scratched again. Individual instruments, and sometimes entire sections, skip and stutter. There is the sense of a music box with wonky tension or a warped transmission in which all the noise is taken for signal.

Like other groups so acclaimed for their compulsive live show, Palm has been burdened by the constant comparison between their recorded material and their touring set. On Rock Island, they render this tired discussion moot, using the album form to present that which could never be completely live, reserving for performance that which could never be completely reproduced.

Despite appearing behind the instruments typical of rock music, Palm trades in sounds of their own making. On these songs, one of the guitars and the drum kit are used as MIDI triggers, producing an index that can be combed through later and replaced with new information. The percussion is sometimes augmented so as to suggest a multiplication of limbs. The strings are manipulated to choke, crack, and hum like other instruments, or other bodies, might.

Working again with engineer Matt Labozza, the band spent the better part of a month in a rented farmhouse in Upstate New York. With the benefits of time and space, Palm recorded the various elements piecemeal, only rarely playing together in groups larger than two or three. While some members tracked, others holed up in the next room, experimenting with quantization, beat replacement, and other methods borrowed from electronic music. Even accounting for the many labors that brought them to be, these materials seem produced by an organic logic. Their complex friction forms a habit of thought, scores a network of grooves on the floor of the mind.

This is music with dimensionality. Sonic objects are deployed, developed, and dissected in various states of mutation. The listener flits about between the field and the lab. The tone is warm in a way only the sun could make, the pace as forceful and as variable as a gale. Whether one locates Rock Island in a sea or in a refinished attic (as in Greg Burak's album cover), whether one escapes to there or is banished, its psychic environs are charted clearly enough. Only at this remove from the mainland can we sense the conditions necessary for such a strange species of sound.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce its first release from celebrated London-based Canadian composer Cassandra Miller. Though her body of mature work stretches back almost twenty years, many listeners were introduced to Miller through the success of her astonishing 2015 Duet for Cello and Orchestra, which sets an imperturbable two-note cello part against a series of increasingly dense orchestrations of an Italian folk melody; in 2019, it was selected by The Guardian as one of the ‘best classical music works of the 21st century’. Traveller Song / Thanksong, the first release of her music on vinyl, presents a pair of compositions for voice and ensemble that exemplify Miller’s gently absurd, strikingly beautiful, and utterly unique work.

Like many of Miller’s compositions, these pieces originate in existing music. Traveller Song (2016/2018) begins from a 1950s song of an anonymous Sicilian cart driver recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella, which Miller recorded herself singing along to, going on to then record herself singing to her own layered voices. Miller’s untutored voice is an unsteady, wavering wail that has, in her words, ‘more in common with a quasi-shamanistic keening than anything Sicilian’. Heard sometimes alone, sometimes layered, her pre-recorded voice is accompanied by a chamber sextet drawn from London’s Plus-Minus Ensemble. In the first section, Miller’s exposed warble is set to a spare piano accompaniment, somehow both faintly preposterous and magisterial. Following the voice note for note, the piano part often makes use of almost mechanical sequences of parallel chords, reminiscent both of Satie’s Rosicrucian period and the abrupt harmonic movements of a chord organ. The orchestration then opens up to guitar, clarinet, and sliding strings, a delicate environment for Miller’s voice, which, especially when it begins to be layered, generates a powerful sense of intimacy. In its concluding minutes, the folk roots of the original melody return in the form of a glorious full ensemble setting dominated by accordion, clarinet, and strummed guitar. Thanksong begins from recordings of Miller singing along to the third movement of Beethoven’s late quartet in A minor (Op. 132), the ‘holy song of thanks’ the composer wrote to express his gratitude for (temporarily) recovering from illness. Recording herself singing along repeatedly to each of the individual parts of the quartet, Miller created an aural score where each member of the string quartet listens to their own part on headphones, playing by ear. Performed on this recording by Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini, with whom Miller has a decades-long relationship, they are joined by the British soprano Juliet Fraser, who sings material from the Beethoven quartet ‘as slowly and quietly as possible’. The atmosphere of the opening of Beethoven’s Dankgesang, of hushed reawakening and thoughtful reflection, is sustained throughout the fourteen minutes of Miller’s piece, building at points almost to sentimentality before the five individual parts again fall back into a gentle burble of unsynchronised melodic gestures. Like Traveller Song, here the use of the voice is a long way from the mannered performance of much contemporary music, reaching for a human and bodily presence more connected to the reality of the everyday, albeit suffused with wonder. Presented in a stylish sleeve adorned with photography by Lasse Marhaug and liner notes by Cassandra Miller, this is a key release from a major contemporary composer whose work challenges and dazzles in equal measure. .

Guy Pedersen, French jazz-soul-funk double-bass player extraordinaire, recorded Contrebasses in 1970 for Tele Music. It's one of the most outstanding - yet puzzlingly slept-on - releases in the library's catalogue. Forget library, this is basically a sublime, straight-up moody jazz record with monster breaks. It's brimming with sensational psychedelic/jazzy bass-heavy moments throughout; it's absolute gold.

"Indian Pop Bass" contains a deep, abstract breakbeat that intersects with a bassline that loops as if it sinks into the swaying, heavy, slow drums. The mysterious, deliberate "Prélude À Une Angoisse" is an eerie, magical number with ace effects whilst "Patio Bass" is a breezy deep jazz knockout with fantastic drums and a sashaying melody. "Tension Nerveuse" creates an atmosphere that's exactly as the title suggests, full of genuine suspense, rumbling percussion and deep drama jazz. "Amour, Délices Et Contrebasse" is a touch lightweight so you're advised to head to the much darker, peculiar funk of "Percussion Bass", bursting with imaginative sounds and effects. "Obsession Diabolique" closes out the A Side, with a funky walking bassline and sparkling percussion battling against droning strings to create a uniquely unsettling, beatless track.

Enlivening the B-Side immediately is the fantastic, propulsive funky-jazz of "Les Copains De La Basse". "Doucement La Basse" is largely forgettable but "Bass Session" is a blazing psych-jazz-rock burner. Absolutely thrilling. Equally, "Bass After Love" is devastatingly psychy, funky and unique. "Ballade Pour Une Basse" is a classic funky French jazz piece with an infectious bass melody that seems to anticipate "Before The Night Is Over", the Joe Simon track that Outkast sampled for "So Fresh, So Clean".

The audio for Contrebasses has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

European funk fusion of the highest order, Michel Gonet's Phasing News Volume 1 is the essential companion piece to the venerated Volume 2. It's truly a library treasure that every home must own. As Tele Music themselves said, it contains "tense and mysterious underscores in a range of styles"; whilst we don't disagree, we'd add swaggering, orchestral drama-funk-jazz-breaks. Vital.

Opener "Moon To Light (Number II) - A" is a total wonder. It's incredible, and what a way to begin a record. The percussion is electrifying, complimenting the dark, heavy piano, eerie organ work, electric guitar soling and rhythm section brilliance. Part B is virtually identical but without the electric guitar. The slow "Soul Cathedral (Number II) - A" is an ambient spacey synth gem which is both beatless and drenched in phased organ. Pretty captivating. Part B plays it rather straighter, a church organ continuing the same melody and tempo but with less of the swirling synthy effects.

"Light In The Rains (Number II) - A" sounds like something Diamond D would've sampled in the mid-to-late 90s, conjuring as it does that peculiar, creeping Axelrod-funk, all eerie electric guitar and organ, bass and spacey effects. Part B loses the electric guitar and adds brass.

The swirling, dramatic "Mondial Scoop (Number II)" has that urgent News At Ten feel with its prominent timpani drums whilst "Mecanic Bird Song" is a frenetic, abstract track with disorientating keyboard interplay.

*Total highlight* "Mephisto Jet (Number II) - A" rides a slick, proto-hip-hop beat with melodic, warm Rhodes yet, thrillingly, casually ups the drama with strings and timpanis. It then returns to its more mellow state. Ace. Part B adds acidy, phased percussion to create a more hypnotic, tripped out feel to proceedings. Part C is half as long but, pared back to just drums and Rhodes, it's arguably twice-as-nice.

To close, the shuffling, bell-laced urgent jazz of "Phasing News - A" is another highlight, riding a great bassline and augmented by ace drums, organ and electric guitar. Part B is also great, removing the guitar and doubling down on the head-nod funk.

The audio for Phasing News Volume 1 has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Up next on TRIP is berlin-based, but boston native, soren jahan.

for his debut on the label, nina signed 16 tracks that were conceived in 2016 following a simple concept: no samples. all rhythms and sounds are synthesized and controlled with lfo modulations as well as step sequencers. the result is a minimal masterpiece straddling the line between danceable music and ambient.

Soren got his start in boston in 2011 with the label supply records that he founded with john barera. since coming to berlin in 2013, he has released a string of ep's on his own labels supply, blank slate, ygrok / ssto as well as projects for the double r amongst others. these days he's also active as an analog photographer and printmaker in berlin's underground fetish scene.

The 12" features special locked groove edits of all 16 tracks.

Worriers' new album Trust Your Gut is what happens when a queer Springsteen sleeper cell emerges to throw an indie rock house party. It’s the opening scene of Empire Records if it were soundtracked by Frightened Rabbit. It’s about yearning for a better self when you constantly feel neither here nor there. While that isn’t entirely about their gender, it’s absolutely a part of songwriter Lauren Denitzio’s lived experience as a millennial. After Worriers released an album the same week as the 2020 lockdown - and after a history of what can only be described as music industry slapstick comedy - Denitzio rebuilt their songwriting practice from scratch. Armed with a small artist grant, new collaborators, and a lot of time on their hands, Trust Your Gut was written by taking everything apart and putting it back together again. The album was written and arranged with drummer Atom Willard (Against Me!, Angels & Airwaves), pianist Franz Nicolay (The Hold Steady), and guitarist Frank Piegaro who joined the band in 2019. With bass recorded by Allegra Anka (Cayetana) and strings by Ethan Philbrick, Trust Your Gut crafts a world of heart-punching indie rock with pop and folk influences after a career of fierce punk-leaning anthems.

The debut album from Winnipeg psychedelic jazz-funk collective Apollo Suns, 'Departures' (Do Right! Music), finds the band evolving across new styles and moods, encompassing the shifting tides of the pandemic years.

Produced by Juno award-winning producer Ben Kaplan (Bootsy Collins, Five Alarm Funk), Departures is a cinematic journey inspired as much by artists like Goblin, Lettuce, and Frank Zappa as film, TV and video game scores and soundtracks. The band combines classic compositional techniques with synths and electronics, showcasing genre-melding finesse. Introducing strings, acoustic guitar, grand piano, and lap steel into the mix, Apollo Suns explore the visceral and heavy, the elegant and ethereal, epic house rock to New Orleans-y brass, proggy pathways, string-backed balladry, greasy funk and beyond.

"It's been a heavy couple of years. We wanted to make an album that summed it all up," says bandleader Ed Durocher. "I always kind of think of music as the different parts of life. Sometimes it's aggressive, sometimes it's fun and loose, and sometimes it's sad and hard. So, since we don't have vocals, a lot of these songs try to convey those experiences through sound."

Tasty Treats Records is happy to present another great artists: Shaka.
Title track is a pure dancefloor track with nice strings,organ solo and with the piano chord with lot of old school house influences.
B side is a totally different kind of song influenced by jazz and latin music with a groovy percussion session,a fat bassline and soulful vibrations.

The Duca Bianco label swerves its usual various artists' format to allow CW - who has appeared on those before - to step up with his own solo EP. He is a mysterious artist but is well known for his immersive record collection and legendary sets on the London scene. He is one-third of the Beauty & The Beat party and brings his unique twists of Afro and soul to this quartet of tunes. 'Karambolage' opens up with lots of big horns and noodling string sounds over a ramshackle beat then things take a cosmic turn on the rather more psychedelic 'Six Times Seven' with its Nippon-koku polyriddims, while 'Ou Ka Jis Fe Kole' is a party starter with a Zouk dub edge and 'Nzimbab' is built on a low slung and swaggering rhythm.

Owl Records has another 12" that will get your head swiveling and booty shaking. It comes from the BBC 6 Music host, TV legend turned funk and soul tastemaker Craig Charles who has put totters a couple of sizzling edits. First up he layers a classic Hot Chocolate sample over a rolling and rubbery beat and bassline that will pump any dance floor. On the flip is a more slow and seductive sound in 'Rok On' with its funky bass and sleazy vocals over low-slung and slo-mo beats. Add in the playful trumpets and muted string and you have a brilliantly curious and compelling cut.

Alex Silvi also known as Alien Signal is an Italian composer who profoundly tasted the creation and evolution of electronic dance music. He grew his music interest during the late 80s in Belgium under the strong ascendancy of key venues such as La Rocca, Boccaccio, and Fuse. Consequently moving to Rome in the early 90s where the techno scene was flourishing. In 1992 released on Upland Recordings, managed by S.Paganelli author of Defcon 5 And Altitude, the album "Alien Signal" - "The Search Begins" including the track called "Atomic", which very soon became one of the anthems for the Roman techno hood of that time. Superluminal Recordings is honored to guide you through trance-progressive themes of evangelical nostalgia. "Circularity" induces inner meditation due to melancholic strings and slow-descending ethereal scenarios, fresh-tasting melodies blended into soft-decaying instrumental charm. All compositions have been re-collected from an early 90s Alien Signal archive.

Gold nugget vinyl (2023 repress)! A masterclass in cinematic psychedelia, `God Intentions' is the third studio album from Glasgow outfit Helicon and is due out April 28 on Fuzz Club. Their most ambitious and collaborative album to date, it was recorded at Dystopia, Glasgow with producers Luigi Pasquini and Jason Shaw, mastered by RIDE's Mark Gardener and includes contributions from the Rhona MacFarlane String Quartet, Lavinia Blackwall (Trembling Bells), Mark O'Donnell (Tomorrow Syndicate), Sotho Houle (French avant-garde violinist) and Anna McCracken. Talking about the new record, guitarist/vocalist John-Paul Hughes says: "`God Intentions' is inspired by my brother Gary's story and a few other influences. It's a journey through regret, redemption and resurrection. Our familiar darkness is there, but the record carries a fresh and uplifting positivity. I had a clear idea of how I wanted it to sound and feel long before it began. We're so pleased we achieved it. We managed to hold true to the idea whilst allowing the string quartet, Sotho, Lavinia, Anna, Mark, Jason, Luigi and other collaborators the space to put their mark on it. The album art, by San Francisco-based collage artist Nina Theda Black, captures the depth and breadth of themes and sounds we brought together to create a kind of motion in your mind."

Mit 'Jubilee' begeht die Americana String Band aus Nashville, Tennessee feierlich das 25ste Jahr ihres Bestehens.

Das neue Album der mehrfachen Grammy-Gewinner wurde zusammen mit Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, St. Paul & the Broken Bones) produziert und hält neben einem Cameo-Auftritt von OCMS-Mitbegründer Willie Watson auch Gastbeiträge von Mavis Staples und Sierra Ferrell bereit.

Das Ergebnis umspannt alles von Jug-Band-Tunes über irische Folksongs bis hin zu frohlockenden Gospel-Jams.

"Everything Will Change" ist eine Dokumentation und Konzertfilm über den Auftritt von THE POSTAL SERVICE im Greek Theater in Berkeley auf ihrer 2013er Reunion Tour. Als Kollaboration zwischen Benjamin Gibbard von DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE und Jimmy Tamborello von DNTEL zusammen mit Jenny Lewis von RILO KILEY veröffentlichten THE POSTAL SERVICE ,Give Up", ihre erstes und einziges Album, 2003. Das Album sollte sich über eine Million Mal verkaufen. Die meisten Fans allerdings hatten niemals die Chance, die Band live zu sehen. Zur Feier des zehnjährigen Jubiläums von ,Give Up" kam die Band wieder zusammen, um durch die ganze Welt zu touren. ,Everything Will Change" fängt eine dieser Nächte ein, in der sich alles änderte. Das Konzert ist nun erstmals als LP Tonträger erhältlich. Die limitierte Erstauflage der 2xLP kommt gepresst auf hellblauem (Disk 1) und pinkem (Disk 2) Vinyl.

"Oui Bitte", das elfte Studioalbum von Station 17, wurde in intensiver Arbeit und nicht selten bis spät in die norddeutsche Nacht auf dem Forellenhof in Nordhastedt produziert. Mit müden Augen saß das Musikerkollektiv so für gewöhnlich zu vorgerückter Stunde beisammen und hörte die Takes durch, die das Tagwerk hervorgebracht hatte. Ist der zwingende Rhythmus als Königsdisziplin der 1989 gegründeten Band in ihrem Werk immer schon angelegt, ergab sich spätestens beim housigen "Hausmann" kollektiv der Wunsch: hier muss ein Remix her! Der Wunsch wuchs und legte sich über das gesamte Album ... Remixalben haben dabei in der über 30 Jahre währenden Geschichte des Kollektivs bereits Tradition: 2001 erschien beim legendären Label Mute Records, das nicht nur Depeche Mode zu Ruhm verholfen hatte, das Album "Mikroprofessor" mit Remixen von etwa DJ Koze, Thomas Fehlmann, Justus Köhncke oder To Rococo Rot. Im Jahr 2011 folgten die "Goldstein Variationen Remixes", darunter Versionen von Erobique, Tobias Thomas, aber auch von Ada und Mense Reents, die uns auch hier wiederbegegnen. Zaghaft fing die Band also an, ihre Lieblingsproduzent/innen anzufragen, die ohne Umschweife komplett zusagten. So stand schon bald ein hochkarätiges Remixalbum mit dem Who-is-Who der hiesigen Landschaft elektronischer Musik im Raum. Und auch, wenn die Grundlagen der Stücke wiedererkennbar sind, ist hier ein gänzlich neues Hörerlebnis entstanden, das durch die Versiertheit der Beteiligten und ihre Expertise zu einem eigenständigen Werk gewachsen ist, das sich auch losgelöst vom Ausgangsmaterial genießen lässt. Wie von Zauberhand entsteht ein zugleich stringenter und abwechslungsreicher Vibe, der "Oui Mixe" zu mehr macht als nur eine Ergänzung zu "Oui Bitte".

Gebürtig aus North Carolina, zog Jonathan Wilson schon vor gut 15 Jahren nach Los Angeles, wo er als gefragter Produzent, Multiinstrumentalist und Komponist zentrales Mitglied der Songwriter-Community wurde. Schon auf den gefeierten Alben Gentle Spirit (2011), Fanfare (2013) und Rare Birds (2018) erledigte er so gut wie alles im Alleingang, spielte fast alle Instrumente selbst ein und übernahm auch die Produktion. Kurz vor Beginn der Pandemie ging er nach Nashville, um dort im legendären Sound Emporium Studio von "Cowboy" Jack Clement das Album Dixie Blur (2020) aufzunehmen - eine Sammlung von Songs, mit denen sich Wilson sowohl klanglich als auch inhaltlich ganz klar auf seine Südstaaten-Wurzeln bezog.

Einerseits eine Rückbesinnung auf seine musikalischen Roots im US-Süden, machte er mit dem Vorgänger zugleich auch einen Schritt nach vorn, indem er auch zeitgenössische Sounds ins Spiel brachte. Als gefragter Live-Musiker regelmäßig auf den größten Bühnen der Welt zu sehen, hat Jonathan Wilson parallel zu seinen Solo Veröffentlichungen in den letzten Jahren auch als Produzent für etliche hochkarätige Kolleg:innen gearbeitet, unter anderm für Father John Misty, Margo Price, Billy Strings, Conor Oberst, Roy Harper, Dawes und Angel Olson.

Auf dem gesamten Album, hat Wilson so gut wie alle Instrumente selbst eingespielt und dazu auch die Rolle des Produzenten selbst übernommen. Während er sich unter anderem um Gitarre, Klavier, Schlagzeug und Keyboards kümmerte, schaute neben dem Bassisten Jake Blanton (The Killers) auch eine Auswahl von renommierten Streicher:innen und Bläser:innen im Studio vorbei.

She has made a fresh name for herself that extends beyond her band's legacy, establishing herself as a singular force in her own right. Nowhere is this more readily apparent than on Realms, Wilson's spirited sophomore studio album and her most ambitious effort to date. Once again working with Suny Lyons (with Sterling Campbell contributing drums and Maria Kindt on strings), Wilson invites her audience on an immersive, enchanting ten-track journey that peels back the layers of our common humanity. Realms demands our undivided attention as Wilson takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey through our own minds and souls.

Through a series of colorful, dramatic outpourings and dynamic, finessed upheavals, it's a carefully crafted record proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cindy Wilson continues to have her fingers on the pulse of modern music. Pop in style and indie at heart, Realms is the next new wave of Wilson's already storied legacy.

Anchored by the powerhouse precision drumming of Felix Lehrmann and the resounding groove of electric bassist Thomas Stieger, augmented by kaleidoscopic contributions from Raphael Meinhart on vibes, marimba, MalletKAT Pro and synth and pyrotechnic shredding from six-string marvel Arto Makela, this potent collection of intelligent high- energy music conjures up favorable comparisons to everyone from Philip Glass and Frank Zappa to Joe Zawinul, Allan Holdsworth, King Crimson and Tribal Tech.

And while those varied influences may seep into the fabric of the ten
compositions here, the members of Marriage Material apply their own personal touch to the material, which they've come to define as "cinematic jazz."

An aura of mystery hangs over Jacky Giordano, a studio musician who has mostly worked for library music.He is the one behind the amazing label Freesound (Schifter, Philopsis, Challenger), but as well on Montparnasse 2000 with Pop in Devil's Train (reissued on Le Tres Groove Club), on Timing (Timing N?1 and Timing N?5, under the nickname Jacky Nodaro), on Musax with Boucles Rythmiques (under the nickname Joachim Sherylee, reissued as well on Le Tres Groove Club) or Black Devil Disco Club whose paternity for this record is still disputed between him and Bernard Fevre. Jacky Giordano wasn't an altar boy, far from it, and will have sadly been more known for his troubles with justice than for his music.This is his work for the label l'Illustration Musicale (IM) which can now be rediscovered thanks to this new reissue on Le Tres Groove Club.Organ Plus (IM26) is the sequel to Organ (IM 24), also reissued by Le Tres Groove Club. The title is misleading here, an organ not being preponderant part of the record which honours the Fender Rhodes, string machine, bass synth and clavinet. 'Be Careful', 'Riffologic', 'Twillight' : Jacky Giordano offers slow tempo jazz-funk, without losing his melancholy and low-fi groove that make his tracks immediately recognisable regardless the record label or nickname.

ltd 700 copies on black vinyl housed in reverseboard printed sleave with printed inner sleave. Comes with lyric booklet, poster and postcard inserts ** Formed in 1968, The Plastic People Of The Universe – named after a Mothers of Invention song and heavily influenced by Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground – were iconic figureheads of the Prague Underground, a loose collective of Czech poets, philosophers and artists considered a threat by the Communist government. Banned and jailed under Czech communism The Plastic People Of The Universe are a true story of artistic perseverance, Authorities claimed their music would have a "negative social impact", and they were banned from playing for the public, having to play secret shows in remote locations. The raw DIY sound of their recordings escaped to Europe on tape and was released without the band's knowledge, their first album being a document of artistic defiance against the control of a stringent political environment they lived under.

Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned, PPU's debut LP, was recorded in 1973-74, but not released until 1978 (and even then, only in France). A beguiling album of lo-fi experimental rock that falls somewhere between Can, The Fall and Canterbury psych-folk with Ayler-esque sax solos. First-time vinyl reissue and it is limited. Essential.

One of the best band you never heard of

ltd 700 copies on black vinyl housed in reverseboard printed sleave with printed inner sleave. Comes with lyric booklet, poster and postcard inserts ** Formed in 1968, The Plastic People Of The Universe – named after a Mothers of Invention song and heavily influenced by Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground – were iconic figureheads of the Prague Underground, a loose collective of Czech poets, philosophers and artists considered a threat by the Communist government. Banned and jailed under Czech communism The Plastic People Of The Universe are a true story of artistic perseverance, Authorities claimed their music would have a "negative social impact", and they were banned from playing for the public, having to play secret shows in remote locations. The raw DIY sound of their recordings escaped to Europe on tape and was released without the band's knowledge, their first album being a document of artistic defiance against the control of a stringent political environment they lived under.

Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned, PPU's debut LP, was recorded in 1973-74, but not released until 1978 (and even then, only in France). A beguiling album of lo-fi experimental rock that falls somewhere between Can, The Fall and Canterbury psych-folk with Ayler-esque sax solos. First-time vinyl reissue and it is limited. Essential.

One of the best band you never heard of

Kristin Hersh’s new album is a cinematic road trip; a series of personal vignettes from a fiercely independent auteur, sitting plush with layers of all-consuming strings and mellotron. It’s a watershed moment in a career overflowing with creative firsts and inspirational thinking; an elegant piece of personal reportage, a home movie caught in time. Previously, the juxtaposition of light and dark has been essential to the drama of Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE, but this solo set is something of a departure; more inward looking, quieter but outspoken, underpinned by background noise for ambience and awkwardness. “Passion sounds less angry, more grateful, I think,” Kristin muses, “sweeter, sadder. And somehow, no less alive… over car engines and rain in New England and whistling ducks and wind chimes in New Orleans, it all sounds wistful to me.” ‘Clear Pond Road’ is a life-affirming statement, a further part of the jigsaw, a very personal memoir, from street signs to snapshots; a late blossoming and coming-of-age from a true icon of independence. The record is both intimate yet expansive, written largely within the confines of Hersh’s home, making the proceedings ever more personal. // “Few artists understand the intensity of living one’s art like Hersh” The Guardian // “A fearless rock innovator” New York Times

The music heard on this album was originally the result of a commission to score the second half of the film Nico/Nico Crying made by Andy Warhol in 1966. The commission was made by Art Cinema OFFoff in collaboration with B.A.A.D.M for a screening of the film together with a live presentation of the score in September 2021 at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The recording presented here was made in the last week of that year and mixed soon after in January 2022. These recordings are essentially live-recordings performed by the composers together in the same room and recorded in a manner reminiscent of the record making process as it was in the late 1960s. The instrumentation used to make the sounds on this album consists of modular synthesis, zither, voice, contaminated field recordings and metal percussion.

Mats Erlandsson is a composer and musician part of the vibrantly re-emerging field of drone music in Stockholm, Sweden, and is associated with practices characterized by the extensive use of sustained sound. Erlandsson presents his work both as a solo artist and in collaborations, most notably together with Yair Elazar Glotman and Maria W Horn. Recent releases include Gyttjans Topografi on XKatedral, Minnesmärke on Hallow Ground and the collaboration Emanate made with Yair Elazar Glotman on the label 13070. In addition to his own artistic practice Erlandsson holds a position as studio technician and was temporarily, from October 2022 to September 2023, the acting studio director at Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm.

The compositions of Maria W Horn implement synthetic sound, electroacoustic and acoustic instruments and audiovisual components, often devicing generative and algorithmic processes to control timbre, tuning and texture. She employs a varied instrumentation ranging from analog synthesizers to choir, string instruments, pipe organ and various chamber music formats. Acoustic instruments are often paired with digital synthesis techniques, in order to extend the instruments timbral capacities. Often based on minimalist structures, her music explores the inherent spectral properties of sound and their ability to transcend time and space, reality and dream.

Moiss Music released a hot pair of EPs in February and repeat the same trick in May with another quality double drop. It is a various artists offering as always with DJ Delivery's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' a sure-fire floor-filling anthem to start things off. It's got loopy drums and string samples as well as sumptuous vocal harmony then Borka & The Gang keep the feel-good vibes alive with 'Kidding Feelings and Even Funkier's' Dance With Your Feet' is another smile-inducing bit of disco warmth with withering sic-fi synths and hip swinging claps. Jordan Reece's 'Prayer' has hints of gospel in the vocal while noodling keys and tight kicks all get looped to perfection.

After the success of ITTY01, Comb is back with two more sides of love – a pair of fine-tuned edits on Norwich based label I Travel to You.

'I Know You Feel' It is a tropical-tinted soul hit with a powerful female vocal and killer funk bassline. The steaming vocals take you back to those intimate moments when you realise the love is real.

Take a trip East on the B side with 'What a Night', a dubbed-out version of a Japanese production, the lyrics recall yearning for a lover and the sound of an unanswered phone call. Smooth keys, soaring strings, and a glistening solo.

Rotterdam rising star Danou P steps up to Jamie 3:26’s label with a three-track EP of emotive deep house.

The title track ‘Allez Hoop’ is deep, moody and somewhat reminiscent of an electronic ‘Riders On The Storm’. Lush strings, analogue leads, classic Rhodes and a barely containable synth sequence stacked on top of a driving groove.

‘Jazz Dummy’ sees Danou P collaborate with fellow Rotterdam based artist Kems Kriol. It’s a classic sounding track drenched in live percussion and that good old M1 saxophone.

Closing out the EP ‘So Fruit’ is an homage and inside joke gone wrong in a good way. Funky electric piano stabs and rhythmic synths in a sandwich of punchy drums and thick bass. It pays tribute to an absolute classic track and features an epic flute solo by Moises Toscano Fuentes.

Disco re-edit master Moplen sprinkles his magic on the golden grooves of Jackie Moore’s classic, ‘Holding Back’ for the third release on A’s and Bees backed with the original Breakdown and Chin-Mental mixes from the mighty John Morales and Sergio Munzabai (M&M).

Continuing their run of heavyweight pressings that marry remastered originals with new interpretations of those prized cuts, A’s and Bees look to ’83 with this sensuous slice of disco heat, blending beefy slap bass with a soaring string section and Jackie’s soulful vocal tones. A cover of David Simmons’ 1979 classic ‘Holdin' Back’ penned by Gregg Diamond and Steve Love, Moore’s interpretation is a high energy disco hit from across the Atlantic.

Opening up the release, re-work whiz Moplen was graced with the stems to the original recording, tweaking, finessing and squeezing out all the best bits of the original building the tension across 7 sublime minutes, that balances deftness with full frontal power. Taking the A2, the original vocal mix in all its glory, produced and arranged by MFSB’s Bobby Eli.

On the B side two masterful M&M mixes from the legendary duo of John Morales and Sergio Munzabai in the form of the Breakdown and Chin-Mental versions.

50% of the profits from this release will be donated towards the British Beekeepers Association.

Repress!

Oliver Dollar debuts on Rekids with disco-fuelled three tracker, ‘Strings for Life’ EP.

Initially appearing on Rekids as a remixer in 2012, Berlin-based Oliver Dollar returns to Radio Slave’s imprint with the Spring-time funk of his ‘Strings for Life’ EP this April.

The rich, stirring strings of the title track open ‘Strings for Life’ with real soul. Warm, euphoric and built atop a rocksteady discoid groove, it’s a track that’s familiar, new and classic all at the same time. ‘School Daze’ follows with rhythmic shakers, funk-infused chopped guitar and bass licks while nifty vocal samples and cosseting chords provide the hooks. Closing out is ‘Sophisticated Funk’ which sees Dollar double down on the disco with an epic, emotive beatdown.

With releases from Radio Slave, Eddie Fowlkes, Cromby, Dave Angel, Star B and Alinka on Rekids in
recent months, Matt Edward’s imprint is as fresh as ever and Oliver Dollar’s ‘Strings of Life’ EP joins the catalogue in fine style.

Following up his recent record on NAFF, Cousin returns to the Moonshoe home front for his latest offering. Introspective and unbound sounds etched into the latest mini disc - delicately staunch cuts that may both pluck at your heart strings and rattle your bones. Recommended connection to the call as it phones home.

RIYL: Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Bark Psychosis, Caspian, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You. Exclusive vinyl colour (Opaque Mix Hellfire), limited to 1000 copies, and features a gatefold jacket, printed two-sided Euro sleeves, four art prints, and download code. Breaking from the strange monotony and abnormal norms that took hold during two years of pandemic life, Hammock returns with Love in the Void, an album that looks to the future, seizes the present, and unabashedly relishes the experiences and bonds that bring meaning to our days. Known for crafting orchestral works of stirring cinematic ambience, on Love in the Void the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson bring guitar-forward, heart-pounding urgency to songs that shout through and shatter the static of complacency. Since forming as Hammock in 2003, Byrd and Thompson have released 14 critically-acclaimed albums and are renowned for their unique talent for bringing inexpressible emotion to life. The Covid-19 pandemic followed closely after one of Hammock’s career-defining works, the Mysterium, Universalis, and Silencia trilogy that chronicled the incomprehensible loss of Byrd’s 20-year old nephew. At their homes and apart, Byrd and Thompson then recorded Elsewhere, an album of shimmering ambience that channelled alienated longing and displacement into avenues that gave way to worlds and possibilities yet realized. Shaken awake and needing to break free of frustrations and longings, Love in the Void pulses with an unbridled spirit for action and experience and a burning desire for connection. Across songs that hammer home the keenly felt emotions of life’s highs and lows, Byrd and Thompson crest soaring crescendos awash in reverb and delve to keenly felt moments of quiet introspection, with unflinching lyrics on tracks like “Undoing” and “Denial of Endings’’ that weigh choices made and circumstances that can’t be changed. Lush and dramatic string orchestration from Matt Kidd (Slow Meadow) and emphatic drumming from Jake Finch heighten the stakes in play, and Christine Byrd’s (Lumenette) ethereal vocals leave mysteries lingering in the haze. Love in the Void is Hammock’s loudest album to date, embracing daring and vulnerability with palpable vitality at its core, and moving into an unknown future without fear.

Indies Only LP is opaque green vinyl. Both LPs come with a download. The moment the needle drops on Bite, the new A Giant Dog record, one’s conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that Bite is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. A Giant Dog’s first album of original songs since 2017’s Toy, Bite finds the band Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Danny Blanchard, Graham Low, and Andy Bauer at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. “We had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs,” Ellis explains. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. This is evident in songs like “Different Than,” where Ellis sings, “My body can’t explain the things my mind don’t comprehend” as if societal gender pressure is squeezing its protagonist out of their skin. The songs on Bite are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album’s narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden. Appropriately, A Giant Dog came to this narrative armed to the teeth with new ideas, unleashing synthesizers and string sections to create what Ellis describes as orchestral, symphonic, futuristic punk. To achieve this, they left their home turf of Austin, Texas, for La Cuve Studio, just outside of Angers, France. Living in the French countryside, A Giant Dog laid down their vision of the future against a decidedly pastoral backdrop. On walks from Angers to La Cuve, Ellis says that they “would see many things, and also nothing at all. Swans on the river. Romani people living in little trailers, with a side hut built for their dog. A juggler on a unicycle—not fucking with you.” “We thought we wouldn’t be allowed back in France after this trip, to be honest,” they continued. “Five loud, stomping, clapping, rowdy Americans who ran through the streets of Angers for three weeks in November 2022.” The experience capped two years of planning and writing, fleshing out the universe of Avalonia beyond the bounds of most concept albums. The resulting nine songs do not merely occupy this space: They’ve lived in it, and they want out.

Boy Harsher, Portishead, Thom Yorke, Radiohead, Beak>, ERAAS, SUUNS. Over the past seven years, Public Memory's distinctive use of analog synthesizers, electronic beats mixed with organic percussion, lo-fi sound design, and gritty ambience has created a singularly eerie and shadowy world. The first seconds of Public Memory's new record, Elegiac Beat, thrust us immediately into that world. We are in media res, with a feeling of sudden movement from a sensible point A to B. Given some time however, we realize that there is something askew–a bit of brightness here, some shadows pushed aside, some jazz and funk amongst the dub and Krautrock. This is an unfamiliar, ambiguous mood that pushes Public Memory towards new ground. We still drift past the clouded lights and hollowed out buildings of previous albums, but with an occasional bounce in our step now, a bit of golden haze around the edges. First single "Savage Grin" cements this clearly. The track has a jazzy, trip-hop flavor, albeit filtered through Public Memory's narcotic, hazy lens. We could be in a hotel lounge in the alps somewhere on holiday, or out of time in a majestic, sparkling ballroom. But we still have the feeling of being haunted, or perhaps even hunted in some way. This feeling intensifies and comes to a head towards the ever-darkening end of the track, leading directly into "Afterimage", in which someone almost imperceptibly sings "I hear them coming" in a twisted, auto-tuned flail. Second single "7 Floor" begins with flanged drums and damaged synthesizer stabs, evoking a kind of apparition floating towards us in the mist. As the track moves on there is, similarly to "Savage Grin", a contrast in feeling between a cold exterior roaming and an interior, warmer, human place. This time however, we move from the colder to the warmer as the synths from the track's beginning make way for a Rhodes-style organ and backing string synth, infusing an unexpected sense of peace. But like "Savage Grin", the track moves to its end through an in-between place beyond the haze. Faded and distant synthesizers meld with voices–human, or perhaps otherwise–that beckon us, or perhaps warn us. We can't be sure which. Third single "Far End Of The Courtyard" brings us closest to classic Public Memory territory with hip-hop beats, chopped and screwed samples, lo-fi ambience, and ghostly electric pianos complementing the vocals. There is darkness, perhaps more here than in the previous two singles, but with a crucial moment of uplifting lightness so subtle it may be missed upon first listen. As an inverse to both "Savage Grin" and "7 Floor" we end with brightness, the jazzier side of the record pushed to the forefront as the track fades away on that golden haze. In the end though, the haze may be just that: a vapor, a mist, a slight dusting of some other world on top of the degraded one Public Memory so effectively portrays. Elegiac Beat is between two places, and as it straddles the line between the two, we are uncertain if the light it brings shines directly from the sun, or if it is dimly reflected through that majestic ballroom world. For fans of 1990s Bristol trip hop, coldwave, and Thom Yorke's The Eraser

i am fortunate to play with amazing musicians - always have had my ear to the 6 winds to assess players and their strengths and the music we would make...
electric or acoustic, 2 or 5 people, country, folk, blues, string players, grass,
rocking, quiet or loud - WHATEVER the category does not matter (as it is just a category) - there has always been a group of great musicians near to help me get there - and yes, i am lucky

on this recording MATT FLINNER (mando and banjo), SHAD COBB (fiddle)
and BRYN DAVIES (double bass) & ALL folks on vocals and me on dobro/piano/banjo and guitar -mostly ben bullington's 1933 D18- we had been playing anytime a festival wanted a fiddle/banjo/mando/double bass/acoustic guitar instrumentation sound from me- in one way, it can easily be called "bluegrass" -( not a big stretch )- i kinda think "string band " is as good or a better name (certainly less used)... so enter this DARRELL SCOTT STRING BAND
(a rose by any other name)

HERE'S HOW THIS RECORD CAME ABOUT- we had 2 consecutive weekend gigs (arkansas and colorado) and rather than sending us... more

YMO DRUMMER YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI'S SOPHISTICATED CITY FUNK CLASSIC FROM 1978 CO-PRODUCED BY RYUICHI SAKAMOTO AND FEATURING HARUOMI HOSONO, MINAKO YOSHIDA AND TATSURO YAMASHITA. RELEASED FOR THE FIRST TIME OUTSIDE OF JAPAN - WITH REMASTERED AUDIO, LP COMES WITH OBI AND FOUR PAGE INSERT

Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the release of Yukihiro Takahashi's debut solo album 'Saravah!'. One of the key Japanese albums of the 70s, it was released in 1978 at a key time when, following his tenure with Sadistic Mika Band, Takahashi had just joined the nascent line up of Yellow Magic Orchestra. A sophisticated mix of Disco Funk, synth Pop, Ambient, French Exotica and Bossa Nova, the album has the stylish feel of a night out clubbing in Paris circa 1978. It’s the missing link between the City Pop scene of the late 70s and the synth sound of YMO which was about to revolutionise the world. Newly remastered by renowned engineer Mitsuo Koike, the LP features original artwork with photos by Masayoshi Sukita (David Bowie's Heroes), a 4-page insert and a new Introduction by Benjamin Barouh (Saravah records).
The month before recording the YMO debut album that would help alter the course of music, Yukihiro Takahashi entered the studio with his fellow band-members Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono to record 'Saravah!' together with the cream of the Japanese scene. He drew his inspiration from globe-trotting French musician Pierre Barouh who had introduced Bossa Nova in France in 1966 with "Samba Saravah" (featured in soundtrack the Oscar Winner A Man And A Woman which he co-wrote) and subsequently launched Saravah Records.
'Saravah' starts off with a couple of French and Italian exotica classics ('Volare' and 'C'est Si Bon') with delicious touches of synth while 'Saravah!' a nod to Pierre Barouh, is a languid Bossa Nova with beautiful soulful strings arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album gets hotter with 'La Rosa' a superb mid tempo ambient funk featuring Takahashi's beat backed by Haruomi Hosono's bumping bass line, Sakamoto's Hammond Organ and Shigeru Suzuki's fluid guitar.
The first side ends with an amazing exotica-synth version of the standard 'Mood Indigo', announcing the midi revolution that was to come before things get funkier on Side Two starting with Ryuichi Sakamoto's superb up-tempo Disco instrumental ‘Elastic Dummy’ featuring soulful strings and horns with solos by Sakamoto and guitarist Tsunehide Matsuki. The album then moves on to the ambient synth pop of ‘Sunset’ before switching back to Disco Funk with 'Back Street Midnight Queen’ which. like 'Elastic Dummy' has become a dancefloor cult classic over the years.' Saravah! ends on a perfect note with the beautiful 'Present' a perfectly crafted pop song which Takahashi wanted to do in a City Pop mode, featuring a superb melody and high-class arrangements. The perfect soundtrack to an early morning stroll in the Paris streets as illustrated by Masayoshi Sukita's photos featured on the album cover.
A sophisticated album full of glitz and fun, 'Saravah!' gives a unique insight into the versatility the YMO musicians and how funky they could play under Yukihiro Takahashi's influence. This was a key time when the three musicians were just transitioning to a sound that would be dominated by synthesizers and 'Saravah' catch them just at that fascinating moment.

Wewantsounds Is Pursuing Its Ambitious Akiko Yano Reissue Program With The Release Of "japanese Girl", Her Landmark Debut Album From 1976. Backed By Little Feat With Lowell George And By The Cream Of Japanese Musicians (including Haruomi Hosono), Japanese Girl Is One Of The Most Important Japanese Albums Of The 70s, Mixing Pop, Rock, Japanese Folk Together With Little Feat's Superb Classic Sound. This Is The Very First Time The Album Is Released Internationally. The Deluxe Lp Edition Includes Remastered Sound, Tip-on Lp Sleeve, Download Card Plus The Original 4-page Insert With Lyrics And Full Line-up!
When Akiko Suzuki Left Her Home Town Of Aomori For Tokyo In The Early 70s Aged Just 15 To Become A Professional Musician, She Quickly Started Making Waves On The Local Music Scene Performing At The Jazz Club Rob Roy. In 1973 She Released A 7" With The Group Zariba And Caught The Attention Of A&r Man Koki Miura. She Then Recorded One Song, "oinaru Shiino-ki" With Haruomi Hosono On Bass And Drummer Tatsuo Hayashi (who Features On Many Hosono Albums And Also Hiroshi Sato's 1979 Album Orient) With A Full Album In Mind.

After A Marriage With Musician/producer Makoto Yano And The Birth Of Her Son (named Fuuta), Yano And Her Team Resumed The Recording Of The Album And Decided To Pitch Little Feat For A Collaboration As She Loved The Group. Against All Odds They Said Yes And Yano Left Tokyo For Los Angeles In March 1976 To Record A Full Side With Them. The Legend Has It They Found It So Difficult To Keep Up With Yano's Compositions They Returned Some Of Their Fee. The Session Was Nevertheless Stunning And Lowell George Even Compared Yano To Stevie Wonder. The Little Feat Blend Of New Orleans Groove Matched Yano's Melodies Perfectly, As Witnessed On "funamachi-uta Part 2." Originally A Traditional Song From The Nebuta Festival In Her Hometown Of Aomori (part I On Side 2 Gives A Good Idea Of What The Original Form Sounds Like), The Little Feat Version Is A Formidable Slow-funk Workout Not Dissimilar To Their Classic, "spanish Moon", Serving Yano's Beautiful Vocals And Sense Of Groove To Perfection. The Whole Side Is A Match Made In Heaven, Showcasing The Classic Little Feat Line Up At Their Funkiest With Yano's Unique Japanese Twist.

The Japanese Side On The Album Gives A Great Snapshot Of The Tokyo Music Scene Of The 70s With Many Musicians Gravitating Around Haruomi Hosono (and Present On His 1973 Classic Album 'hosono House' Including Sound Engineer Kinji Yoshino) And Also Several Musicians From Japanese Band, The Moonriders.

Recorded At The Legendary Onkyo Haus Studio In Tokyo, The Sessions Mix Singer-songwriter Sensitivity And Pop With Traditional Japanese Sounds And Instruments Like The Shinobue Transverse Flute, The Koto String Instrument Or The Tsuzumi Hand Drum As Played On "hekoriputaa" By The Legendary Percussionist Kisaku Katada Who Was Appointed Living National Treasure By The Japanese State In 1999; Together They Create A Beautiful East-meets-west Mix Masterfully Driven By Yano's Creativity And Unique Talent.

A Breathtaking Debut Album That Made Akiko Yano One Of The Most Important Artists To Emerge From The 70s, Japanese Girl Has Since Become A Milestone In Japanese Music With A Recent Documentary On Nhk Tv Telling The Whole Story Behind This Classic. Wewantsounds Is Now Proud To Present This Essential Album To The Rest Of The World.

“Upopo Sanke“ means “Let's sing a song" in the Ainu language. Umeko Ando (1932-2004) was one of the best-known artists of the Ainu, an indigenous, long-suppressed community in northern Japan. She sings their traditional songs together with Oki Kano on the Tonkori harp, who also recorded the album. The two are supported by members of the female vocal group Marewrew as well as Ainu percussionists, a string player and a male singer who provides rhythmic shouts and also throat singing. The call-and-response structure of many of the songs is performed with a mantric quality in a vocal style that is perhaps best described as elastic and breathing. There seems to be a gentle smile in every note and syllable. This music softly hits the heart.

Upopo Sanke was recorded on a farm in Tokachi in the summer of 2003. We hear dogs barking, a distant thunderstorm and voices imitating animals. The liner notes that accompany the 2LP release gather the anecdotal memories of Umeko Ando and Oki Kano about the stories of the 14 songs. Oki Kano is a musical ambassador of the Ainu culture who tours worldwide with his Oki Dub Ainu Band and also gives solo concerts, always playing the Tonkori, the five-stringed Ainu harp.

The Ainu have suffered from the oppression of their culture and language by Japan, especially since the 18th and 19th centuries. Only recently, in 2008, were the Ainu officially recognized again as an indigenous people culturally independent of Japan. As a result of the marginalization, there are now only a few hundred native speakers of the Ainu language left, making it a particularly worthy object of preservation.

"Upopo Sanke" was mixed again in part by Oki Kano, before being mastered and cut to vinyl by Kassian Troyer. The 2LP plays on 45rpm and it sounds fantastic. This album was the second album by Umeko Ando, the follow-up to „Ihunke" and also re-released in 2018 by Pingipung together with Oki Kano.

Whispers is the first proper P.G. Six album since 2011"s Starry Mind. Time passes slowly, as they"ve been known to say out in the country, and before you know it, there"s a bunch of it behind you. After five releases in the first decade of P.G. Six, it may seem a bit of a surprise to have not heard something new in the past twelve years - but a cursory listen to Murmurs & Whispers will answer why, as the deep acoustic focus of the tracks imply an investment of the type of compassion and understanding that takes time and concentrated effort to conjure. Additionally, Pat Gubler"s always got a few pots going at once in his ever-expanding musical universe. He"s been active since the mid-90s, first with Memphis Luxure and Tower Recordings, then as P.G. Six, and as a member of Metal Mountains, Wet Tuna, Garcia Peoples and Weeping Bong Band. Additionally, some time was spent making collaborative records with Dan Melchior (in 2019) and Louise Bock (in 2021). Pat"s been playing the harp for more years than he"s been in bands, but when he realized that he was writing a set of songs centered around harp compositions, he spent some time in the woodshed with his instrument, a late 80s model Triplett Celtic 34 String Harp (which replaced a lovely Paraguayan harp he"d played for years previously). After the previous P.G. albums of electric band arrangements, he was in a place of writing songs with more silence in them. He ended up playing a lot of the parts himself on Murmurs & Whispers, adding guitar, bass, keyboards, recorder and hurdy gurdy, in addition to his harp and vocals. Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudson, who Pat plays with in Weeping Bong Band, played and sang a bit themselves, and the record was recorded piece by piece in houses around upstate New York by Mike Fellows. Returning to the quiet acoustic sound of the first couple of P.G. Six albums, Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (which has seen a much-needed reissue in the past year after too many years OOP) and The Well of Memory, Murmurs & Whispers is more straightforward in expressing its vision of rural celestial wonder. Bucolic and comfortably lived in, Murmurs & Whispers nonetheless projects the transcendent heart of P.G. Six once again, and as ever, it is magnificent to hear it passing through us.

Part of Tele Music Reissue Campaign, 2023 first time reissue, 140g vinyl

Wow! Pierre-Alain Dahan & Mat Camison's Rythmiques is another iconic release in the hallowed Tele Music catalogue. First appearing in 1973, it features tense funk, blunted jazz and heavy breaks all the way. Considered the rightful sequel to Continental Pop Sound, it's a vital album for producers and DJs; and you can probably guess that RHYTHM is central to the record's presentation. And you can really taste what's rhythm, to borrow a phrase. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet whilst his partner here, Mat Camison, was a pioneering synth LORD. So, you know this Be With reissue is absolutely crucial.

The album picks up from where Continental Pop Sound left us, opening with the tense, stabbing thriller-funk of "Rythmiques N° 4". The dubbier "Rythmiques N° 5" is no less electric and definitely has a spacey air of wonky funk about it with the slightly off-kilter rolling piano. "Rythmiques N° 6" is more percussive-focussed with a brilliantly hypnotic opening that really stretches the drama out. “Rythmique N° 7” alternates between fast-paced, skipping drums and slo-mo funk, always with the clavinet high up in the mix. Wicked. The dope jazz of “Rythmique N° 8” truly mesmerises with licks of electric piano, funky bass flourishes and varied percussion. “Rythmique N° 9” has great, sloppy-yet-hard intro drums which sound like something Daft Punk could've pilfered circa Human After All, punctuated by a guitar rock refrain that repeats til the end but is never overdone. The A-Side closes with the beautiful, melancholic "Piano + Piano", a reflective jazzy piano track which could easily open a wide-ranging set this autumn and many after it. Stunning.

Opening Side B, "Auto Rythmiques" is a hectic yet compelling funk workout but it's all about the frankly devastating breakbeats on “Rythmiques N° 10 & N° 11” with effortlessly twisted funk bass lines over open drum breaks and enough tension and rhythmic switch-ups to keep your neck-snapping and your mind lifted. Downright essential. Taking leave from the heavy funk break action, the pastoral "Océan Horizon" is perhaps an unfairly overlooked highlight. A gorgeous, softly-aquatic, ambient gem, it's gently percussive with warm, floaty keys decorating the mellow rhythmic bed. The mercifully brief "Super Carrousel" is harmless fun-fair-funk but perhaps best skipped over whilst the intriguingly titled "Gay Shopping" is another throwaway exercise in inexcusable jaunt whilst. To close out this memorable set, thankfully, we're left with "Suspense N° 1" to get us back on course with its unsurprisingly tense mix of urgent stringed instruments that flirt with rhythm and melody yet the longer the track goes on. Deep.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Whispers is the first proper P.G. Six album since 2011"s Starry Mind. Time passes slowly, as they"ve been known to say out in the country, and before you know it, there"s a bunch of it behind you. After five releases in the first decade of P.G. Six, it may seem a bit of a surprise to have not heard something new in the past twelve years - but a cursory listen to Murmurs & Whispers will answer why, as the deep acoustic focus of the tracks imply an investment of the type of compassion and understanding that takes time and concentrated effort to conjure. Additionally, Pat Gubler"s always got a few pots going at once in his ever-expanding musical universe. He"s been active since the mid-90s, first with Memphis Luxure and Tower Recordings, then as P.G. Six, and as a member of Metal Mountains, Wet Tuna, Garcia Peoples and Weeping Bong Band. Additionally, some time was spent making collaborative records with Dan Melchior (in 2019) and Louise Bock (in 2021). Pat"s been playing the harp for more years than he"s been in bands, but when he realized that he was writing a set of songs centered around harp compositions, he spent some time in the woodshed with his instrument, a late 80s model Triplett Celtic 34 String Harp (which replaced a lovely Paraguayan harp he"d played for years previously). After the previous P.G. albums of electric band arrangements, he was in a place of writing songs with more silence in them. He ended up playing a lot of the parts himself on Murmurs & Whispers, adding guitar, bass, keyboards, recorder and hurdy gurdy, in addition to his harp and vocals. Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudson, who Pat plays with in Weeping Bong Band, played and sang a bit themselves, and the record was recorded piece by piece in houses around upstate New York by Mike Fellows. Returning to the quiet acoustic sound of the first couple of P.G. Six albums, Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (which has seen a much-needed reissue in the past year after too many years OOP) and The Well of Memory, Murmurs & Whispers is more straightforward in expressing its vision of rural celestial wonder. Bucolic and comfortably lived in, Murmurs & Whispers nonetheless projects the transcendent heart of P.G. Six once again, and as ever, it is magnificent to hear it passing through us.

Originally released on tape in 1982, »Maraccaba« is the second solo album from electronic wizard Klaus Wiese. Member of the krautrock band Popol Vuh in the early 1970s – Voice, Zither, Tambura, Harmonium, Singing Bowls – Klaus Wiese (1942 – 2009) was a veteran musician, minimalist, and multi-instrumentalist. A master of the Tibetan singing bowl, he created an extensive series of albums using them, alongside zither, Persian stringed instruments, and chimes. Wiese is considered by some as one of the great ambient or space music artists alongside Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Michael Stearns, Constance Demby, and Jonn Serrie. His musical style is much more appropriately compared to the organic soundscapes of drone and dark ambient music, such as Oöphoi, Alio Die, Mathias Grassow, and Tau Ceti.

In the 1990s he founded the Nono Orchestra to play the giant sheetmetal instruments of Robert Rutman. Wiese is known also for his collaborations with Al Gromer Khan, Mathias Grassow, Oöphoi, Tau Ceti, Saam Schlamminger, and Ted de Jong. He collaborated with Deuter on his Silence is the Answer album in 1980 and East of the Full Moon in 2005

The record is both a wonderful evolution in Tom's songwriting, and perhaps his most personal, heartfelt work so far. Inspired by pivotal moments, the album examines everything from family strife to heartbreak and abandonment, and exhibits some of the most confident, refined songwriting of his career. Set against lush soundscapes of beautifully textured guitars, agile strings and bright piano notes, these songs delve into the wonders of new love; reach out to a beloved sister; celebrate a close friend's good news. "I've touched on things in this record that I've never spoken about before," he says. "It's without doubt my most personal to date."Title track 'Love & Light' is dedicated to Speight's older sister, Cathy. Like "Tomorrow", it reaches out to a loved one with an emotional acuity that is startling for its candour. "My sister was the one who gave me my first guitar," he explains. "She used to pick me up from school... sometimes she'd forget and be a bit late, but I didn't mind." The song (like the album) is full of unconditional love, powerful enough that it stays with you long after the final note.