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Caution alert! On the volume 3 of the Resurrection series, Simoncino teams up with one the greatest & biggest voice in House Music: the great Robert Owens. The voice behind Mr Fingers and so many other timeless titles. He alone sums up our history, all the greatest tracks that paved the way for our sound & community (yes still though instagram & the self worships) since 40 years. The master sang for Larry Heard but also Frankie Knuckles, Satoshi Tomiie, Photek, Layo & Bushwacka!, Mr. C, Quentin Harris, Marshall Jefferson, Michael Watford, DJ Spen, Gene Hunt, Soul Clap, K' Alexi Shelby, Sandy Riviera and so many others! He is simply the greatest soulful underground vocalist for a generation of househeads. The Italian prodigy simoncino gives us a daunting ep of 6 tracks (!) which navigate between deep techno (that could be a easily played in Berghain) and the purest original house where he excels. Its inimitable style is a clever mix of chicago house tinged with the most classy techno touches. The A side composed of Riccione Part I, Riccione Part II & Masonry is completely dedicated to this kind of techno sound, very pure, very mental and at the same time incredibly funky. It's a total trip. The B side explores the more house influences of the genius of peruggia, notably on All my soul & All My Soul (Riviera Ambient Mix) in direct homage to the italo dream house sound. Pure gold. An absolute marvel. I'll Be Your Friend 4 Ever, Skylax 4 Ever ! Note that on the label's bandcamp, with the purchase of the vinyl, you can get 1 exclusive bonus track : Simoncino "Love Me Forever Or Love Me Not"

Salsoul is the 9th studio album by trailblazing Filipino-African American singer Joe Bataan, featuring his classic single ‘Mujer Mia’.
Re-issued for the first time since 1973 on limited edition blue translucent vinyl, Salsoul was born out of Bataan’s love for salsa & soul, which developed during his youth in New York’s Spanish Harlem.
Such was the impact of Bataan’s new sound, that Salsoul served as the catalyst for the creation of a label by the same name. Formed by brothers Joseph, Kenneth & Stanley Cayre, Salsoul Records spearheaded a new generation of charismatic artists that, influenced by soul, funk & Latin dance rhythms, gave the label a signature sound.
Re-emerging in samples and remixes, the Salsoul Records catalogue is proof of the label’s enduring legacy and it’s crucial role in shaping the sound of a new wave of disco.

Formidable psychic warriors, channelers of the mystic and proponents of a spiritual quest that transcends this realm, Goat remain a band shrouded in mystery. Travelling from their inscrutable origins in the Swedish village of Korpilombo across the stages and festivals of the world in the last decade, this band has created their incendiary music entirely according to their own co-ordinates. With all this in mind, the casual observer might have guessed from its title that ‘Requiem’, their beatific and melancholic album of 2016, was to be their last. Yet the ancestral spirits summoned by their art are always restless. Thus the eternal cycles of rebirth have triumphantly produced ‘Oh Death’ - a ceremonial conflagration as powerful as any this band has made. Invigorated by forces we can only guess at the origins of, ‘Oh Death’ is a party to which all are welcome. Blithely waving away easy classification, these heat-hazed serenades are just as comfortable in the headspace of vicious ‘70s funk as they are in zesty ZE records post-punk. Folk-haunted incantations and free jazz skronk here find common ground, buoyed by relentless forward motion and raucous energy. Yet all of the above is locked into a delirious gnostic groove that threatens to throw the whole shebang spiralling into orbit. ‘Oh Death’ is driven by a supernatural charge that unifies, invigorates and transcends borders, whether geographical, musical, or between this world and the next. In the hands of these sages and soothsayers, this is just the beginning.

We have a very special new artist for you from Berlin. Dutch native Pete Bandit relocated to Berlin some years ago where we first met in 2018 when he was part of the “Times Are Ruff” collective. They contributed a track on Dirt Crew for our “Deep Love 2018” compilation.
Now recently going solo he developed his sound even more towards Detroit-ish house with dabs of techno and a bit of high tech jazz in there as well. This debut EP offers Loads of deep soulful grooves, spiritual “computer” music at it’s best!

The A-side “Wild Feelings” is such a beautiful opener to this record, with it’s lush spread out intro it paves the way with that perfect mood for what is to come, a mix of soul, funk and electronics and overall well crafted deepness. The keys on this one were contributed by the mysterious “Nelson of the East” topped with vocals by Pete himself. “It’s Happening Again” continues the story with soulful deep house textures and this one especially reminds us a lot of those early 90s Chicago/ New York House gems, the track is building towards a great breakdown key change and with its atmospheric strings and pads it’s a truly uplifting “Good Times” tune.

On the flip we have “Computer’s Creativity”. This track picks up the pace and is centered around a funky, almost slap like, bass line. Here again topped by a vocal add of Pete about “Computer’s Creativity” and with it’s cool break this one will also be a sure floor filler, guaranteed! The closing track on this record is the driving “Luv Your Body”, great percussion guides us through a loose set arrangement and make this one a perfect late hours or early mornings tune in any mix, it could go on forever!


All tracks have been mixed by Ariel Schlichter in Berlin and mastered by Salz Mastering in Cologne. Photography & Art by Break 3000.

Pusher returns to his own Indicate at the end of October with the two-track ‘Pianos By Day / Sounds Like Voodoo’ EP. Over the past few years Ireland’s Pusher has been unveiling a series of EPs on his own Indicate imprint, showcasing his own twist on contemporary House while stirring in elements of progressive, trance and electronica throughout. Here Pusher offers up the eighth release on the label and leading the way is ‘Pianos By Day’, as the name would suggest a piano laden, sun-drenched house anthem laid out across six and half minutes with robust, swinging drums, bumpy bass stabs and a sweeping, filtered hook at its core.
‘Sounds Like Voodoo’ follows on the flip side and embraces a more classic tech house feel via gritty bass stabs, intricately intertwined synth sequences, metallic melodies and playful vocal chants running atop an up-tempo organic drum groove throughout.

We join the rest of the world to mourn the passing of Coolio and our
hearts go out to his family, friends, fans, and loved ones - Coolio was a ground-breaking rap icon who made an indelible mark on music, entertainment, and culture.

He leaves behind a legacy of music and art that will live on and continue to inspire for generations to come.
The 3rd studio album by Coolio, "My Soul" celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, which was initially released on August 26, 1997. "C U When U Get There: (feat. 40 Thevz, the first single from the album was featured on the soundtrack to the 1997 comedy film "Nothing to Lose." The song peaked at #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. It was also an internation success reaching the top 10 in many countries throughtout Europe.

Bill Nace"s Through a Room represents a seismic progression from Both, his startling 2020 debut solo LP for Drag City. Nace"s career has been defined by a relentless probing of ways to frame the complex menu of human emotions, and that the guitar has been his primary tool for exploring this terrain is of little consequence. On this new release, he also employs tapes, hurdy gurdy, doughnut pipe, quelle est belle, as well as his latest instrument of choice, taishogoto. This is also, ultimately, insignificant. What matters is the discerning spirit which animates his work. The tracks are carefully built from loops and phrases that talk to each other, subsume one another, overlapping and crashing and diving and expanding and emerging into unimagined vistas. On the whole, the record offers a fascinating and engrossing chronicle - a sequence of interrelated stories told by a temporally dislodged narrator. You think you"re here, then you"re there, and then you go through trapdoors and along tunnels, into cellars and secret rooms, and you find that actually you"re back where you started. But it"s not hard to follow. Trust me. Nothing this enticing can be hard to follow. The record was recorded and edited in Philadelphia during the uncertain summer of 2021 with engineer and co-producer Cooper Crain. Where Both was a chiseling down of spontaneous live performance, Through a Room, while obviously the work of the same artist, treats its sounds as building blocks, combining them to mesmerizing effect. What"s striking is the poise, the degree of authorial intensity. The false dichotomy of composition and improvisation is thoroughly and rightfully abolished. Bill"s interests range from post-punk to post-industrial to hip-hop to free jazz to avant-garde composition, and every area between such unhelpful labels. From the inscrutable, evocative track titles to the enticingly baffling cover art by his longtime compatriot Daniel Higgs, Nace is guided by an ineffable, internal muse, a persistently personal stormcloud of ideas that, ultimately, comprise that thing we call art. Here"s the real deal. - Matt Krefting, Holyoke, 2022

Green Vinyl

Föllakzoid are nearly unparalleled in the hypnotic lysergic drenched neo-psychedelic experience. On their debut it is mostly a rather bulky one, determined by the downright dirty, distorted electric guitar, which is also usually accompanied by a spacey, howling and herbaceous howling one. In addition, there is fat bass and powerful drums. During the prolific post-napster musical era dominated by myspace, the Chilean musical field opened up so that many bands could broaden their creative spectrum by taking global and timeless references as an aesthetic holy grail. This experimentation had the internet and specialized forums as a search engine, which not only provided the world parameters in trends, but also allowed to find true hidden gems, bands that were adored by a few connoisseurs of the real quality left behind by the record labels. In this context, a group of university students who have known each other from school began to rehearse in the Caracol Vip underground (Santiago, Chile), in a room owned by a local heavy-metal legend, Juanzer. Equipped with tube amplifiers, Marshall and other custom made, the members of that time: Gonzalo Laguna on vocals, Juan Pablo Rodriguez on bass, Domingo García-Huidobro on guitar, Diego Lorca on drums and Francisco Zenteno on second guitar, they began to play endless jams without a strict sense of songs or directed compositional notion. The rule was to follow the noise in a journey through valleys and peaks that allowed the spontaneous appearance of textures, lyrics, phrases and some invented chords that did not resemble anything that had been heard at that time. The rehearsals were transformed into true live performances without an audience, which were only seen by a few curious, among alcohol, smoke and deafening noise, which could only end when the owner of the room (Juanzer) entered to turn off the equipment. Over time he himself stayed as an auditor, witnessing how the musicians stripped themselves in their rehearsals. Considered at that time as play or fun, the idea of forming a band with a name came with the real live performances to which they were invited, without yet having songs made, at the end of 2006. The myth of their first live performance alludes to a numerical superstition, on July 7, 2007, in a small bar in Providencia (Santiago), which also provided the band with an upward recognition for the psychedelic-punk music they were doing, with a voracious vocalist who destroyed everything on stage and a band that stood firm on the endless songs they built. The name that was invented for that occasion was the result of a nonsense about the German word feuerzeug brought to the group by their close friend Alfredo Thiermann (who would later make the cover of the first album and become keyboardist), which the members of that time took and Spanishized at will. This neologism represents the second founding myth of the band since the interest in bands like Can, Neu! and AMON DUUL II and the characteristic motorik rhythm would soon arrive, in the form of kosmische musik. By 2008 the band had already added several live performances and some songs appeared, among which were Directo al Sol and Loop (nod to the English band), which allowed a greater deployment of ambient-noise resources, almost close to the 'concrete' music. The deconstructed rock of Spacemen 3 was also present in the form of repeated sequences on the bass and drums, as the layers of shrill guitars formed the foam of the tide bursting in the darkness of space. With the ideas and general feeling of the sound that they already had, the band made the decision to record their first album with the sound engineer and Juan Pablo's brother, Ignacio 'Nes' Rodríguez, who later together with JP would form the BYM label to make the first CDs of the forthcoming debut of Föllakzoid and other bands that Nes was recording. Sheltered that winter in the studio that Nes had built in an old house in Recoleta, the band recorded the bulk of the songs on the album with a new jam that emerged in that room composed of 1 note and moments of rising intensity: Sky Input I and II appeared to complete a set of songs that came from rock but were slowly passing to a level of trance and cacophony typical of orchestrated and atonal music. With three takes per song but only one take of the jam, the album was finished with a few extra takes and overdubs, some made in the house of Nes himself, who contributed a guitar to Loop, although it does not appear in the credits, and additional takes of "Pelao" Zenteno with delay and reverse for almost all songs. The names of the songs came from the lyrics that Laguna had worked from the live versions to the studio finals, except for Loop, Sky Input and El Humo. The cover of the album, which as mentioned was made by Thiermann, represents well the spirit of those days, when creative magma looked for an outlet through the instruments without any restriction or explicit direction from any of the members of the group. The image of the tree towards the sky speaks of the roots that rise towards the immensity, the nature projected towards the stratosphere. Ideas that the neo-psychedelia of those years seemed to capture well, echoing in the Chilean bands that at that time were gathering around the BYM label. Both the creative fluency and the lack of a musical director ensured that Föllakzoid was an original band that did not impose themselves a way of doing things or sounding, collective music took shape in the most wonderful way, without characters, without a record name, without faces. Just an instant in space. 2022 GALAXY GREEN coloured vinyl

Mit "ELVIS Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" veröffentlicht RCA Records in diesem Sommer den Soundtrack zum neuen Baz Luhrmann-Film "ELVIS", der am 24. Juni in die Kinos kommt und Austin Butler sowie Tom Hanks in den Hauptrollen zeigt. "ELVIS" ist ein absolut episches Leinwandspektakel des visionären Filmemachers Baz Luhrmann, das das Leben und die Musik von Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) und vor allem seine komplizierte Beziehung zu seinem rätselhaften Manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), beleuchtet. Der Soundtrack zeigt das außergewöhnliche Werk von Elvis aus den 1950er, 60er und 70er Jahren und würdigt gleichzeitig seine vielfältigen musikalischen Einflüsse sowie anhaltende Wirkung auf populäre Künstler von heute. Neben Musik von Elvis Presley, befinden sich Original-Soundtrack-Recordings von Austin Butler auf der CD als auch neue Reimagined Tracks von Künstlern wie Doja Cat, Maneskin, Swae Lee & Diplo, Chris Isaak & Stevie Nicks, Gary Clark Jr, Nardo Wick, Jack White uvm. Avec "ELVIS Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", RCA Records publie cet été la bande originale du nouveau film de Baz Luhrmann "ELVIS", qui sortira le 24 juin dans les salles et mettra en scène Austin Butler et Tom Hanks dans les rôles principaux. "ELVIS" est un spectacle à l'écran absolument épique du cinéaste visionnaire Baz Luhrmann, qui met en lumière la vie et la musique d'Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) et surtout sa relation compliquée avec son énigmatique manager, le colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). La bande-son met en lumière l'oeuvre exceptionnelle d'Elvis dans les années 1950, 60 et 70, tout en rendant hommage à ses multiples influences musicales et à son impact durable sur les artistes populaires d'aujourd'hui. Outre la musique d'Elvis Presley, le CD contient des enregistrements originaux de la bande originale par Austin Butler ainsi que de nouveaux morceaux réimaginés par des artistes tels que Doja Cat, Maneskin, Swae Lee & Diplo, Chris Isaak & Stevie Nicks, Gary Clark Jr, Nardo Wick, Jack White et bien d'autres.

Super deep n’ rolling ambient junglist mutations from hyped cloakroom attendent Florian T M Zeisig and mysterious XPQ? operator PVAS, uniting under the NUG moniker for a highly atmospheric session beamed directly from that short-lived, elusive sweetspot in the mid 90’s when Omni Trio and DJ Crystl collided with Mo Wax’s Some Scientific Abstract Type Shit! and Gescom’s Disengage, all red lights dappling thru a dense fog of smoke.

Rinsed out under the timeless influence of “bong & sterni” - who sound like a legendary Berlin ambient duo, but are just weed and beer - Zeisig and PVAS collide in midair for a stereo-swirled recollection taking us back to 1995 - that Autechre radio show on Kiss FM, peak Mo Wax, Kodwo Eshun’s ‘club trax’ column, just before everything went fully tasteful. Throwing links to more contemporary refractions found on various J. Albert workouts as much as Skee Mask’s most vapourised breaks, the NUG sound keeps toes and heads off the ‘floor with a rugged but lush suite of rave suspension systems making critical use of negative space and recoiling dub dynamics.

One for the early hours of the club, ‘Not Many People Here yet’ gives acres of room to bounce off the walls, while the ruder ‘Filthy Club’ sounds like the backroom heard from ceramic tiled bogs, and you’re already healthily zonked for the zombie float of ‘Is Under The Blanket.’ The radiant pads and swingeing breaks of ‘Morpheus’ dial up Skee Mask’s most pendulous rave visions, and ‘Napping Under God’ rolls out on 9 minutes of webbed breakbeat for the locked-in steppers, with Florian’s ambient texturing fully coming into effect on the blurry-eyed flex of ‘Lite.’

Nikki Lane's remarkably dazzling third album Highway Queen, sees the
young Nashville rebel emerge as one of country and rock's most gifted
songwriters.Produced by Lane and fellow singer-songwriter Jonathan
Tyler, and recorded in Denton, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, Highway
Queen is an emotional tour-de-force
Blending potent lyrics, unbridled blues guitars and vintage Sixties country- pop
swagger, Lane's new music will resonate as easily with Black Keys and Lana Del
Rey fans as those of Neil Young and Tom Petty. Highway Queen starts with the
whiskey-soaked restlessness of € 700,000 Rednecks, a rowdy call to action, and
ends on the profoundly raw Forever Lasts Forever, where Lane belts freely,
mourning a failed marriage, the lighter shade of skin left behind from her wedding
ring. Lane's journey to heartbreak takes exquisite turns. Companion is pure Everly
Brothers' dreaminess ( I would spend a lifetime/ Playing catch you if I can ).
Elsewhere, she goes on a Vegas bender on the rollicking Jackpot, fights last-call
blues ( € Foolish Heart ) and tosses off brazen one- liners at a backroom piano
( Big Mouth ). Lane, a Greenville, South Carolina native, is a unique songwriter
who didn't take the traditional country artist path. Her backwoods roots are
undercut by her chosen career as a fashion entrepreneur (she's the owner of
vintage clothing boutique High Class Hillbilly) who has lived " and been
heartbroken in " Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. So it's no surprise that her
music seamlessly crosses musical genres with lyrics steeped in the doomed
perseverance only a true dark horse romantic knows. Lane's rapid rise in music is
thanks to the fervent critical acclaim of her debut record Walk of Shame and
2014's Dan Auerbach-produced All Or Nothin'. Pressed on Blue Jean Color vinyl.

Pink Vinyl

Molly Lewis's compositions seem to float into our ears from distant shores. They're otherworldly, drawn more from landscapes of dream than from anywhere you could find on a map. Lewis is a unique presence in music today. Her trademark whistle, which brings to mind the great Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac, has graced recordings of everything from Schumann lieder and Brazilian jazz to Spaghetti Western ballads and noir lounge. Lewis's collaborations are diverse: La Femme, Sébastien Tellier and Dr. Dre. She's performed around the globe, at Shanghai's Yuz Museum, the Cannes Film Festival, Mexico City's Salón Los Angeles, and across the whole of New Zealand. Lewis's 2021 debut EP, The Forgotten Edge, was produced by Tom Brenneck (Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse). It was a critical success, drawing praise from The New York Times and NPR, and landing Lewis a spot on CBS Sunday Morning. Now, Lewis and Brenneck have teamed up again for her second EP, Mirage, bringing aboard Brazilian guitarist Rogê, as well as percussionist Gibi Dos Santos and keyboardist Roger Manning. Capacious and atmospheric, Mirage is Lewis's most hypnotic effort yet. Like Eden's Island (1970) by eden ahbez_whose "Nature Boy" is covered in one of Mirage's standout moments_the album is based on Lewis's visions of an imaginary island. The lush, oceanic textures of Mirage transport us to the sands of an unknown beach_all alone or in the company we've always dreamt of keeping.

Jetzt auch als Deluxe 3LP im violetten Vinyl erhältlich, dieses Format wird die orange-farbene Deluxe 3LP Edition in der Zukunft ersetzen! Das Belfaster Duo Bicep veröffentlichten ihr zweites Werk 'Isles' bereits Ende Januar 2021 und das Album chartete auf Platz 8 in den deutschen Albumcharts!

Zwei Jahre in Arbeit, erweitert „Isles“ die kunstvolle Energie des 2017 erschienenen selbstbetitelten Debütalbums von BICEP und vertieft gleichzeitig die Klänge, Erfahrungen und Emotionen, die ihr Leben und ihre Arbeit beeinflusst haben. Sie beschreiben „Isles“ als „eine Momentaufnahme“ ihrer Arbeit in dieser Zeit, wobei die Stücke so konzipiert sind, dass sie sich in ihren verschiedenen Durchläufen von der Aufnahme bis zur Live-Show und darüber hinaus entwickeln. Der weltweit beliebte Sound von Bicep entstand, als ihr eigener rasanter Aufstieg im Musikbusiness begann. Nach dem Start ihres legendären FeelMyBicep-Blogs im Jahr 2008 entwickelte sich ihre simple Website, die stets neue Italo-, House- und Disco-Juwelen aus der Musikgeschichte präsentierte, zu einem durchschlagenden Erfolg, der regelmäßig über 100.000 Besucher pro Monat verzeichnete. Nachdem der Blog ein Plattenlabel und eine Clubnacht hervorgebracht hatte, wurde das Duo mit begehrten DJ-Sets, die die musikalische Vielfalt ihres Blogs widerspiegelten, auf die internationale Bühne gehoben. Nach den Erfolgen mit Produktionen für Throne of Blood und Aus Music wurden Bicep 2017 bei Ninja Tune unter Vertrag genommen, wo sie im darauffolgenden Jahr ihr umjubeltes, selbstbetiteltes Debütalbum veröffentlichten, das einen Top-20-Einstieg in die britischen Charts erreichte und in der Groove schaffte, was in der langen Geschichte des Magazins noch kein Release bewerkstelligen konnte: sowohl die Kategorie „Album des Jahres“ als auch mit „Glue“ die Kategorie „Track des Jahres“ zu gewinnen. Titel wie „Opal“ - und der bald folgende Four Tet-Remix - sowie die eben erwähnte Lead-Single "Glue" mit dem von Joe Wilson entwickelten Video wurden 2017 zu Meilensteinen der elektronischen Musik, wobei letzteres vom DJ Mag ebenfalls zum „Track of the Year“ gekürt wurde.

Formate:

- Purple Dreifachvinyl (140g) im hochwertigen Gatefold Sleeve inklusive Downloadcode inkl. 3 Bonustracks

What if Lee Perry and Lex Baxter have been caught in a firetrap altogether? A weird experiment in dub & reggae coined in 1973, the sole album of this interstellar venture was a case in point. Jamaican rhythms (provided by the almighty Trojan records crew) with legendary prog/psych keyboardist Ken Elliott (former member of influential british bands such as Second Hand and Seventh Wave) creating groovy instrumental on top. 10 tracks including the Joe Meek classic Telstar and a spacey rendition of The Skalaties' »Guns Of Navarone« for an album that might sounds like a caribbean easy listening session on dope. A truly gem on its own, incredible strange music for the suburbs.

Vielen erscheint Istanbul als ein von Mythen und Traditionen umrankter Sehnsuchtsort, andere betrachten es als Symbol für wirtschaftlichen Fortschritt. Seit den Gezi Park-Protesten 2013 sieht Westeuropa in der pittoresken Metropole am Bosporus mehr als die Hagia Sofia und andere Kulturdenkmäler. Der Gitarrist Erkin Cavus verbrachte viele Jahre seines Lebens in der riesigen, hochverdichteten und oft hektischen Stadt. Hier hat er Karriere gemacht, an der Seite berühmter Künstler gespielt, ehe er vor rund vier Jahren nach Deutschland zog. Nun setzt Cavus, zusammen mit Reentko Dirks, dem historischen Istanbul ein klingendes Denkmal. Inspiriert von Bildern des berühmten Fotografen Ara Güler (1928-2018), der als einfühlsamer und detailverliebter Beobachter zum Chronisten des Lebens seiner Heimatstadt wurde. Seine Aufnahmen des mittlerweile verblassten, teils unwiederbringlich zerstörten Istanbul und der ehedem höchst unterschiedlichen Stadtteile hängen längst in Museen. Bei der Entwicklung des Repertoires für Istanbul 1900 hat sich das Duo bewusst Zeit genommen. Der stärkste kompositorische "Flow" entwickelte sich in den Wochen vor dem Studiotermin. Die individuelle Form der Stücke, die absichtsvoll konkrete Jazz- wie traditionellen Bezüge vermeidet, "hat sich ungeplant entwickelt", so Istanbul 1900 ist eine atmosphärische Hommage, die mitunter nachdenklich klingt, dann wieder zarte Leichtigkeit suggeriert. Angesichts des Themas Vergänglichkeit und des Umstands, dass Erkin Cavus seiner Heimatstadt nicht ganz freiwillig Adieu sagen musste, ist ein Hauch Melancholie sicher keine Überraschung. Gleichwohl vermeiden die beiden Musiker jedes dramatische Pathos. Ihre Töne zeichnen, ganz im Geist der Schwarzweißa-Fotos Ara Gülers, feine Schattierungen. Selbst wenn sie in "Moda" schwungvoll das Nachtleben der großstädtischen Bohème oder in "Pera" die Dynamik in Straßencafés und -kneipen nach Feierabend imaginieren. Insgesamt entwickelt Istanbul 1900 einen sehr eigenen, subtilen Zauber, den man so nur selten erlebt. Ganz wie die Stadt, die an der Schnittstelle von Orient und Okzident Welten verbindet.

"Viktor Marek is at home everywhere, even at home," DJ Booty Carrell recently remarked on his old companion. Marek is the outernational musician par excellence. When he's not working as general manager of the legendary Golden Pudel Club in Hamburg, he travels the world, meets people and records music with them. With his inimitable productions between HipHop, Acid and Dub, he has long been known as the "Madlib from the Waterkant" far beyond the borders of Hamburg! As a beatmaker and producer for artists such as Jacques Palminger and the Sufi Dub Brothers (Marek together with Ashraf Sharif Khan) and a lot more, he has already released countless great tracks and albums. Finally, he is going to release his first solo album for which he has invented the character Mr.Subtitle. A translator of cultures. An overcomer of distances. A humanistic spirit of research and comic hero who encounters many artists and cultures on the album "The lucky bag of Viktor Marek". Some of them are probably not even native to this planet. On the first hit single for instance, "Mr.Subtitle Theme", we hear Kurdish vocals by Hêja Netirk and Sicilian Rap by Don Colfit. Is it a piece about Palermo? Istanbul? Los Angeles? We don't know. But that's exactly the point! Mr.Subtitle overcomes national and genre boundaries in the blink of an eye and has created a kind of mission statement for the Fun in the church label with this work! Outernational music for interplanetary people. Truly.

Shannen Moser wants to have a conversation: with their past selves, their present self, their undesignated, unfurling future selves; with the trees that adorn their old street, and the door they used to call home; with the shadows of lovers-turned-to- friends and the overwhelming cacophony of abrupt change. They’re drawing a map but the port of call is cloudy and indistinct. It’s while traveling along these nebulous contours that their latest album The Sun Still Seems To Move forms a kind of physicality, of outstretched giving hands, that offers a guide through the fog. Here, Moser examines the disorien- tating, challenging task of trying to hold onto ourselves––and everything else––all at once. But this isn’t a fatalistic journey of melancholy or apprehension. Instead, Moser celebrates the small steps and the unwavering perseverance that makes it all worthwhile.

Moser’s previous albums Oh, My Heart (2017) and I’ll Sing (2018) were praised for their careful, intimate arrangements that showcased their sharp, interpersonal narration and time- less lush vocals. On The Sun Still Seems To Move

It’s almost four years since their last opus - two years since the most-recent run
of live shows. Now, Bitchin Bajas return from whatever kind of rare ether they
occupy when they’re at home, bearing the riches of the whole cosmos in their
hands. And strictly OG as well - on cassette only.
 ‘Switched On Ra’ is the outcome of a typical Bajas exercise: pouring some out
for the pioneers that came before (as they’ve done with Bitchitronics and their
participation in the annual Chicago performance of ‘In C’ over the years). It’s a
nice way to get a flow - they play a little of themselves, then some for the
pioneers, then a little more for the band. Before long, they’re playing with the
inspirations twined, as they can only come from within.
 For ‘Switched On Ra’, this meant a deep delve into the song-book of one of their
soul-predecessors, Sun Ra, whose music is literally written in the Bajas DNA.
Digging into this music sounded wild on paper: the drone synth group taking on
the Arkestra harmonies and Ra’s loose grooves? The trick was to get that sense
of rhythm to translate across the spectrum from Ra to Bajas, in a way that
worked for them both.
 Their rearrangements of the tunes went good - up and down the EQ band, they
were finding the round sounds and jagged edges that brought Ra’s music into
their own thing. Then at the last minute, there was another twist - why not pay
tribute to the Queen herself, and think of the arrangements with a Wendy Carlos
vibe? A little side homage? After all, ‘Switched on Bach’ was visionary, bringing
analogue synths from the outside all the way into the mainstream in the late 60s -
and this take on Ra is meant to take him to new ears everywhere.
 Sun Ra of course was his own kind of original keyboard visionary, using electric
keyboards in the late 40s and 50s to fill a role in jazz that had traditionally been
played on acoustic piano only. Once he’d done so, he took his writing in
directions inspired by the electricity, places no one had thought to go before
then.
 Bitchin Bajas have been content to dominate in a microtonal world, usually
without a single chord to be found anywhere. But here, they step up righteously,
their vibe triangulated as they bring Ra’s music forward with some Wendy C
style, making an unexpected space for all to thrive. There’s a real feeling of joy
as these collected signals bounce off the tape and through the speakers into
your space.
 To get this unique colloid exactly right, Bitchin Bajas used nineteen different
keyboards. They abstained from deploying their arsenal of reed and woodwind
instruments: everything had to be on the keys. This meant Yamahas, Rolands,
Korgs, Casios, a MicroMoog and of course their trusty Ace Tone organ. They
even broke out the Crumar DS-2, to have some of Ra’s chosen tone in the mix.
Then Jayve Montgomery added an EWI as a solo voice on a few tunes, just to
get some air-blown signal (and a natural shout out to EWI master Marshall Allen)
in there, after all. It felt like somewhere in the universe, Ra was decreeing it.

"Hey, there's this new guy around that plays like Herbie Hancock!!". When Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro arrived in Argentina fleeing Pinochet's dictatorship, word spread like wildfire in the local jazz scene.

In the two short years that Pizarro spent in Buenos Aires, he became one third of the Viejas Raíces project alongside local jazz heroes Jorge López Ruiz and Pocho Lapouble, recorded with famed Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and released his own solo album, Pelo de Rata ("Rat's hair").

Pizarro was no beginner though. Whilst in Chile he had already participated in several music projects and worked as a producer and arranger for the IRT label, and was connected to influential bands such as Los Jaivas and Blops. He had also studied in the Berklee School of Music where he not only met and lived with the cream of an emerging new wave of musicians, but he also had the chance to attend live performances of giants such as Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk.

In the recording of Pelo de Rata Pizarro is joined by fellow Chilean Alejandro Rivera (Sacros, Grupo Sol) on quena and charango, Swedish bassist Bo Gathu on bass, Uruguayan saxophonist Finito Bingert and an impressive percussion team featuring Pocho Lapouble, "El Zurdo" Roizner and the mighty Domingo Cura. The album draws from the US jazz fusion currents of the time (think Chick Corea and Miles Davies), adding an undeniable Latin American character, all projected through Pizarro's own musical prism which displays his acute sense of harmony and a musical intimacy that reminds of those sincere, dreamy moments in Viejas Raíces.

The 8-page booklet that accompanies the vinyl edition will give you a deeper insight into the story of Matías Pizarro, with previously unseen pictures and liner notes by Argentinean journalist Humphrey Hinzillo (La Nación , Rolling Stone Argentina).

Celebrating almost 40 years of doom metal mastery, Swedish Grammis award-winning and US Grammy- nominated doom metal legends CANDLEMASS commemorate the release of their 13th full-length album, Sweet Evil Sun, with the epic third single ""When Death Sighs”, featuring Jennie-Ann Smith of Swedish progressive rock/doom metal unit Avatarium. She accents the song’s shimmering, blood-freezing chorus lines before the haunting atmosphere is highlighted by an amazing guitar solo that reads like a story!"

Mondo, in conjunction with Troll Court / WaterTower Music, is proud to present the premiere vinyl pressing of the latest mix-tape masterpiece curated by writer/director James Gunn ... the soundtrack for his superhero action-adventure film THE SUICIDE SQUAD

True concept albums are actually few and far between. While it can be said that The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia, or Pink Floyd’s The Wall were designed from the ground up, that’s not necessarily the case for equally mythical, yet composite, albums such as Bowie’s The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust…, or Lou Reed’s Berlin. In France, the genre established its pedigree in the 1970s with Serge Gainsbourg, then in the early 1980s with Léo Ferré. Cri d'amour by Mélanie Chédeville adds to this list of albums that tell a story through characters.

Cri d'amour was produced in a seaside setting, which may explain its flowing, organic character. It is all by herself that the violinist-by-training composed, wrote and arranged this collection of string-drenched songs that recall Jean-Claude Vannier’s work for Serge Gainsbourg. The latter would undoubtedly have been impressed by Mélanie’s fine-cut lyrics and melodies that are as raw as they are sophisticated, vocalized in a sprechgesang recalling his own. The deliberately retro palette, up to the bass sound so typical of 1960s English rock, betrays an artist indebted to the creator of Bonnie & Clyde and Initials B.B. through a sensual, clear tonality. Yet, polyrhythms borrowed from the late afro-beat legend Tony Allen, and the touches of guitar, piano, percussion and synthesizers distilled here and there by Éric and Mélanie, end up giving the whole affair a resolutely atemporal color.

Mélanie was sixteen with a head full of Beethoven and Brahms when she succumbed to an unexpected fascination for the world of Éric, a pianist, composer and sound engineer, who regularly delivered scores for Marc Dorcel’s X-rated films. She evokes him in L'Alpha-bêta and Le Pornographe, through whispered choruses that would suit the late Julee Cruise or Vanessa Daou to a tee, and explicit allusions to a “sword of Damocles” of “XXL” dimensions.

These are not the only texts on this album that remind us of the Franco-American author Anaïn Nin’s erotic poems, a model that Mélanie willingly takes on, adding to the list of her literary influences alongside Apollinaire and his Debauched Hospodar:

Some may find this album old-fashioned, which, far from being a flaw, is a credit to the fine musician that Mélanie is. Others will call it a charming album, which is not a bad way to describe it, provided that it is a powerfully relentless charm.

orange vinyl

As &on&on, DJ's Noni and Worth Way have been making some serious waves over the past year, being named one of DJ Mag top artists to check out in 2022 and also featured on Disclosure's DJ Kicks compilation.

On their first release on the label, the duo boast their prowess in composing uplifting, melodic dance music which draws on myriad influences to create unique and innovative sounds. Whilst every track on Mentalphysics has fun and festivity at its core, some take their inspiration from disco ('Mid Valley'), whilst others from groovy deep house ('All Day') or breakbeat ('Delta T'). Finally, 'Melted' subtly evokes speed garage in the way the bass dips, giving the track lots of depth and 'Samo' brings things to an anthemic close with reverberating cymbals filling any space with body and movement.

Rush Hour-affiliate and Amsterdam local Relmer is back with what may well be his best work so far. ‘H2O’ expertly displays the vibrant energy he’s known for around these parts with two Amazon-inspired deephouse groovers, a melancholic walk through the jungle, a Detroit-infused progressive anthem and a hypnotic midtempo floorwarmer. Absolutely stellar stuff from A to Z.

“Super nice versatile EP by Relmer, Bummers Paradise has been a firm favourite this summer”
Esa Williams

"Blissful sounds, dancefloor material, and most of all, all very fun music to listen to. 10/10"
Fatima Yamaha

Live At The L.A. Forum präsentiert einen außergewöhnlichen Auftritt der Jimi Hendrix Experience im April 1969. Vor einem ausverkauften Haus spielten Hendrix, Schlagzeuger Mitch Mitchell und Bassist Noel Redding ein einzigartiges Set mit Highlights wie "I Don't Live Today", "Purple Haze", "Red House" und einem erstaunlichen Medley aus "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" und "Sunshine Of Your Love" von Cream. Diese unverfälschte Aufnahme, die von Hendrix' langjährigem Tontechniker Eddie Kramer neu abgemischt wurde, fängt die Jimi Hendrix Experience in ihrer unvergleichlichen Hochform ein. Ein Teil dieses Auftritts war zuvor Teil einer kurzlebigen Westwood One Radio-Dokumentationsbox Lifelines 1990-1992, war aber seit zwei Jahrzehnten nicht mehr in irgendeiner Form erhältlich. Die CD-Veröffentlichung mit einem 24-seitigen Booklet - komplett mit Linernotes von Billy Gibbons von ZZ Top, der die Show aus erster Hand miterlebte - gibt diesem bahnbrechenden Auftritt die richtige Plattform und präsentiert den kompletten Auftritt, der direkt von den originalen 8-Spur-Masterbändern abgemischt wurde.Enregistrée au printemps 1969 devant un public déchaîné et à guichets fermés, la performance captivante de la formation originale (Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell et Noel Redding) n'a jamais été publiée dans son intégralité. Cet album sort à temps pour le 80e anniversaire de la naissance de Jimi Hendrix. Après le succès massif du tiercé gagnant Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland en 1967-68, le trio est devenu l'attraction internationale la plus populaire du rock. C'est au L.A. Forum que le groupe dévoile pour la première fois la fameuse reprise de « The Star Spangled Banner », que Jimi allait canoniser quatre mois plus tard à Woodstock. Le live comprend «Purple Haze» et un medley incendiaire de 17 minutes de « Voodoo Child (Return) » et « Sunshine Of Your Love » de Cream. Le concert a été enregistré simultanément par Wally Heider et Bill Halverson, et récemment remixé par Eddie Kramer, producteur et ingénieur de longue date de Hendrix, pour une fidélité audio maximale et inclut une préface de Billy Gibbons de ZZ Top, qui a assisté au concert en 1969.

ZG ist der Name des neuen Projekts von Zansika Lachhani aus London und Grant (auch bekannt als Anthony Collins und der Tony in Frank & Tony) aus Brooklyn. Das Konzept entstand aus einer Online-Verbindung, als Grant und Zan sich auf Soundcloud kennenlernten und beide unabhängig voneinander von der Musik und des anderen schwärmten.

Im Jahr 2018 begannen sie zusammenzuarbeiten und entwickelten eine Reihe von Tracks, stellten das Projekt aber schließlich ein, da andere Lebensverpflichtungen in den Weg kamen. Im Jahr 2021 entdeckte Grant beim Entrümpeln alter Festplatten die Aufnahmen wieder und war begeistert von der Musik, die bereits darauf gespeichert war. Gemeinsam begannen sie, das Projekt zu überarbeiten und weiterzuentwickeln, was zu einer atemberaubend schönen Sieben-Track-LP führte.

Der Opener 'Jungle Times' ist ein atmosphärischer, verträumter Song mit einem eigenwilligen Breakbeat und geflüsterten Vocals von Zan Platz, die den Sound gleichermaßen zwischen Londoner und New Yorker Stilen schweben lassen. Es folgt das rätselhafte 'Roll of Thunder', das mit seinen kraftvollen Breakbeat-Patterns, tiefen und gefühlvollen Streichern an 4Hero in ihrer Glanzzeit erinnert.
'When Young' bringt eine Jazz-Ästhetik in den Vordergrund, mit vordergründigen Drums und Rhodes-Akkorden, die sich in melodischer Glückseligkeit überschlagen. 'Ombre' beginnt mit einer dicken Basslinie und drängenden Synthesizer-Stabs, bevor es sich zu einem abgedrehten Groove entwickelt, der von dicken Synthesizer-Linien und subtilen harmonischen Akzenten überlagert wird. In ähnlicher Weise verwendet 'Aura' die gleiche Klangpalette mit Gitarren und funkelnden Flächen, die eine erhebende und doch melancholische Reise erschaffen. Der erste echte Gesang kommt im vorletzten Stück 'Dog Days' zum Vorschein, das sich verträumt über wunderschön sich entwickelnde Synthesizer-Waschungen und flirrende Beats legt. Wenn 'Drift Out' den letzten Akt dieser außergewöhnlichen LP einläutet, schweben wir auf Wolke sieben.

The sound company operating under the project name "Noiseshaper" is poised to release a very special vinyl album into record shops worldwide. The band received great acclaim for their first albums, which were released on the legendary and famous Rockers Hifi label Different Drummer. They later became celebrated for their musical contribution to the US television series CSI - Miami ! The Viennese coffeetable boys Axel Hirn und Florian Fleischmann achieved cult status with their 12-inch single "The Only Redeemer", which was later released in the US by Quango (Island Records /Palm Pictures) and fast became a permanent fixture on the playlists of the best and most popular DJs in Berlin, Vienna, Tokyo, Paris, London and New York. The next dancefloor filler followed with "All A Dem A Do", sung by Juggla, which was the band"s first release to get heavy rotation on many European and US radio stations. Next up were remixes by and for heavyweights such as Sly & Robbie, Outkast, Seven Dub and Carl Douglas. Noiseshaper"s defining sound has been distilled and condensed an utterly distinctive blend of "housey downbeats with a fat reggae flavour" has brought the Noiseshapers international acclaim and popularity. The very special VINYL release is the essential of what NOISESHAPER has ever done all over the years with a special focus on HEAVY bass remixes by Adrian Sherwood & Paolo Baldini. It is another very impressive display of how a musical style has progressed. Dub as a style with all its reference points between commerce and innovation ! 8 pounding dub flavour tunes all are best for bringing the dancefloors of the dub universe to boiling point. Heavy bass for heavy dancing!

ACID KLAUS, the new collaborative solo project from songwriter-producer and Northern England cult leg-end, Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz, International Teachers of Pop, Eccentronic Research Council & lots more) announces his debut concept album co-produced with his music partner in the ERC, Dean Honer titled Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris which will be released on Yard Act"s ZEN F.C. label. The album features contributions from Adrian"s long-time collaborators and friends including actress, Maxine Peake, US musician and video director, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth and the Bradford-born pop-noir singer (currently singing in The Specials), Hannah Hu who is joined on lap steel guitar on a track by Richard Hawley. The album is completed by a whole host of fresh and exciting artists (as well as the aforementioned Lieselot Elzinga) - there"s the enigmatic Queen Bee of the Calder Valley, solo artist, Bianca Eddleston who goes under the name Soft Focus and finally from South Wales (and the current talk of the South London scene), the incredible welsh language singer-songwriter, Cat Rin.

White Vinyl

Technological agitation. Narcissism fatigue. A galaxy of isolation. These are the new norms keeping Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering) up at night and the themes at the heart of her latest release, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. The celestial-influenced folk album is her follow-up to the acclaimed Titanic Rising. (Pitchfork, NPR, and The Guardian admiringly named it one of 2019's best.) While Titanic Rising was an observation of doom to come, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is about being in the thick of it: a search for an escape hatch to liberate us from algorithms and ideological chaos. "We're in a fully functional shit show," Mering says. "My heart is a glow stick that's been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness." And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow opens with the wistful, winsome "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody," a song about the interconnectivity of all beings, despite the fraying of society around us. "I was asking a lot of questions while writing these songs. Hyper-isolation kept coming up," Mering says. "Our culture relies less and less on people. Something is off, and even though the feeling appears differently for each individual, it is universal." Other tracks follow in kind. The lullaby-like "Grapevine" chronicles the splintering of a human connection. The otherworldly dirge "God Turn Me into a Flower" serves as allegory about our collective hubris. "The Worst Is Done" is an ominous warning, set against a deceivingly breezy pop melody. "Chaos is natural. But so is negentropy, or the tendency for things to fall into order," she says. "These songs may not be manifestos or solutions, but I know they shed light on the meaning of our contemporary disillusionment."

Technological agitation. Narcissism fatigue. A galaxy of isolation. These are the new norms keeping Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering) up at night and the themes at the heart of her latest release, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. The celestial-influenced folk album is her follow-up to the acclaimed Titanic Rising. (Pitchfork, NPR, and The Guardian admiringly named it one of 2019's best.) While Titanic Rising was an observation of doom to come, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is about being in the thick of it: a search for an escape hatch to liberate us from algorithms and ideological chaos. "We're in a fully functional shit show," Mering says. "My heart is a glow stick that's been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness." And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow opens with the wistful, winsome "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody," a song about the interconnectivity of all beings, despite the fraying of society around us. "I was asking a lot of questions while writing these songs. Hyper-isolation kept coming up," Mering says. "Our culture relies less and less on people. Something is off, and even though the feeling appears differently for each individual, it is universal." Other tracks follow in kind. The lullaby-like "Grapevine" chronicles the splintering of a human connection. The otherworldly dirge "God Turn Me into a Flower" serves as allegory about our collective hubris. "The Worst Is Done" is an ominous warning, set against a deceivingly breezy pop melody. "Chaos is natural. But so is negentropy, or the tendency for things to fall into order," she says. "These songs may not be manifestos or solutions, but I know they shed light on the meaning of our contemporary disillusionment."

A new compilation titled Erased Tapes _+ù_¦ö, encompassing a two hour cross-section of the label"s 15-year history including hidden gems and previously unreleased material, will be available on November 4 to coincide with specially curated festivals in London and Berlin. The first offering comes from UK producer Kevin Richard Martin aka The Bug and Japanese voice artist Hatis Noit who share their paranormal first collaborative cut After the Storm amongst other unique pairings such as The Art Ensemble of Chicago featuring Moor Mother, Bell Orchestre interpreted by Colin Stetson, Douglas Dare joined by The London Contemporary Orchestra and Ben Lukas Boysen remixed by Kiasmos. Premiered exclusively via The Wire magazine in form of a free download ahead of their debut live performance at Le Guess Who? Festival 2019 in Utrecht, the track is now finally made available on vinyl and streaming platforms alongside other previously unreleased pieces from electronic producer Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles and Icelandic composer Högni. "As a solo vocalist and voice artist, I"d always dreamed of floating and being drowned in a beautiful sonic storm. And then I met Kevin Martin" - Hatis Noit The artwork is composed of the Japanese kanji for "15" - calligraphed by label founder Robert Raths and designed by Munich-based artist Bernd Kuchenbeiser.

Felix Laband’s The Soft White Hand is the masterwork of an artist who expresses himself through musical and artistic collage acting together to reinterpret his sources and to express significant elements of his own personal story.

Released by Munich-based Compost Records, the 14-track album is Laband’s first full-length offering since the critically acclaimed Deaf Safari in 2015. It is heralded by the single “Derek and Me”, and is being pressed on vinyl for distribution globally.

In The Soft White Hand Laband works with source materials that will be familiar to those who know his previous four records – Thin Shoes in June (2001), 4/4 Down the Stairs (2002), Dark Days Exit (2005) and especially Deaf Safari which reached deep into the South Africa scene and its political culture to inspire its vocal and music sampling. However, the disengagement he felt from his homeland during his latest album’s creation – an abiding sense of untethered-ness to place and space, exquisitely rendered in tracks like “Death of a Migrant” – is perceptible in Laband’s desire to illuminate instead aspects of his own life.

“For this album, my source material became almost autobiographical as opposed to African statements I’ve worked with previously,” says the artist. “I have sampled a lot from documentaries from the 80s crack epidemic in impoverished African American communities and believe my work speaks unapologetically for the lost and marginalised, for those who are the forgotten casualties of the war on drugs. In the past, I have had my issues with substance abuse, and I know first-hand about the nightmares and fears, what it feels like to be isolated and abandoned.”

Few artists have managed to air these intimate aspects of their life so luminously as Laband does in tracks like “5 Seconds Ago”, “They Call Me Shorty” and in the strange and meditative “Dreams of Loneliness”. “I’ve been building this weird, autobiographical story using other people talking. It’s kind of humorous but it is also sad and beautiful,” says Laband.

Yet, as in all of Laband’s recorded output, the delineations between emotions are never starkly drawn and The Soft White Hand is also shot through with beauty. Nature appears in recordings made in his garden in the intimate early morning hours, whether as in the calls of the Hadada Ibis and other birdsong in “Prelude” or of the vertical-tail-cocking bird in “Derek and Me”. The last is a wonderful track with Derek Gripper, the South African experimental classical guitarist of international renown, whose 2020 song “Fanta and Felix” imagines a meeting between Fanta Sacko and Laband.

Laband’s eloquence in reinterpreting classical composers such as Beethoven in “We Know Major Tom’s a Junkie” is another thrilling aspect of the new record. “I’ve been properly exploring classical music on this album,” explains Laband, “taking melodies from classical compositions and reinterpreting them”. A fresh quality comes to his work through this sonic adventuring: the tender manipulation of the mundaneness of the computer’s AI voice to reimagine and reinvent iconic lyrics and melodies in strange and unexpected configurations.

The Soft White Hand is Laband’s most cohesive body of work to date. Yet it remains, in its sheer artistic scope, impossible to describe fully. Darkness abuts the gossamer light. A song that summons the sunrise and all the hope of a new day could also be about the final dipping down of the sun that portends a troubled night ahead. Interludes are invitations to expand outwards or shift inwards. Mistakes and “weird fuckups” in the sound are cherished as convincing statements against what Laband calls the “grossness” of perfect sound in modern music.

For this world-leading electronic artist, the boundaries are unfixed. He is inspired by the German Dada artist, Hannah Höch, who memorably declared: “I wish to blur the firm boundaries which we self-certain people tend to delineate around all we can achieve.” His music consequently reflects a primal artistic impulse that is also visible in Laband’s considerable visual art output as seen recently in several solo exhibitions such as that held in the No End Gallery in Johannesburg in 2019 and in the works he produced during his 2018 Nirox Foundation Artists Residency. “My music is always about collage, as is my art,’’ he affirms. “Everything I do is collage. It is a medium I find very interesting because you are taking history and distorting it and changing its meaning and turning it upside down and back to front.” In her book Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit calls collage “literally a border art”; it is “an art of what happens when two things confront each other or spill onto each other”.

With The Soft White Hand, Laband is confirming his singular ability to achieve this in both art and music, melting the divisions between the two creative disciplines until they become one. He is also affirming his belief that an album of music should be more than a collection of unrelated tracks, but should unfold a fully integrated, cohesive story as in the song cycles of the great classical composers. In doing so, he claims his position as one of the most significant artists working today.

Artist Statement – Felix Laband – August 2022

When the Khmer Rouge took their captives for processing, they identified their class enemies by looking at their hands. If they were sunburned, rough and calloused, they were those of a peasant, a proletarian to be spared. But if they were soft and white, then they were those of a city-dweller, an intellectual or bourgeois, an adversary to be liquidated.

In calling this album The Soft White Hand, I was reflecting on the Cambodian genocide and how it resonates in contemporary South Africa. The apartheid era is over, and gone with it is white political domination. Yet economic and social privilege is still held in soft white hands. But those who grasp it know just how tenuous is their hold, how it singles them out, and my music reflects their subconscious fears, the stress and guilt of clinging on to what others envy and desire.

The soft white hand of the title suggests to me a further image, one that relates to all of postcolonial Africa. In my mind’s eye, I see the soft, duplicitous handshake of the smooth representatives of the superpowers making deals and promising gifts that benefit only them, and not their African dupes.
Yet, soaring above the wailing of sirens sampled from the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, my music is also about love gained and passion lost. It is about the tender caress of a soft white hand that conducts you into a place of dreams to be enfolded by nocturnal melodies.

The essential series from the ’80s has been rebuilt, remastered, and carefully portioned onto a five disc set of 7-inch singles, including all the classic vocal bits that became iconic samples, and more than a few new additions to bring things up to date.

Where would dance music be without Acapellas Anonymous? Although many records claim to have changed the game, the arrival of the Acapellas Anonymous series in the mid/late ’80s actually did just that. A hugely popular, multi-volume set of vocal tracks sourced from a wide variety of dance classics, AA was used extensively at the dawn of sampled music to provide hooks for numerous hits. “I’ve Got the Power,” “Ride On Time,” multiple Clivillés and Cole tracks, Pal Joey’s “Party Time,” ’90s Italo house and rave cuts, and untold others all found their choruses among the many acapellas collected on the series. As Ultimate Breaks & Beats was for funk and hip-hop sampling, so was AA for dance music, both for producers and as a must-have for the creative DJ. Sure, before these records came along, DJs had their own choice vocal bits that they used in sets or layered into edits. But suddenly, much like Ultimate Breaks, these carefully guarded secret sources were available easily, and in convenient form, for the first time. And the response, from DJs and a new generation of producers, was immediate.

That part of the story is widely known, and indeed, was widely experienced by anyone paying attention to music of the time. But the questions linger: who was it that found these acapellas, many of them only existing on promo singles, or as tiny fragments buried on obscure B-sides? Who edited and put them together? By now, you may have guessed that once again we owe an enormous debt to the maestro of edits and our hometown hero, Danny Krivit. And it’s to him we must tip our collective caps for this latest release, a carefully revised, fully remastered, and immaculately executed update to the series — this time on 7-inch.

All of the classics are here, rinsed but still powerful: “Let No Man Put Asunder,” “Weekend,” “Don’t Make Me Wait,” “You Don’t Know,” and dozens more. New additions make a few clever appearances as well, with Roland Clark’s “I Get Deep” (used for Fatboy Slim’s “Star 69”), and Rickie Lee Jones’s stoned rambling known as “Little Fluffy Clouds” showing up for the first time. This is no nostalgia trip — Acapellas Anonymous was recently tapped for a Cardi B megahit, and naturally you’ll find that source, Frank-Ski’s “Whores In This House,” included. All in all, an astounding 80 high-quality acapellas and vocal hooks are spread across the five 7-inch, 33RPM singles, which have each been sequenced thematically with attention paid to timings and tempos to provide maximum utility for the working DJ. And if the past is any indicator, we will likely see a new crop of tracks spring up as these find their way into the production toolkits of the world’s track-makers.

Deluxe gloss laminated gatefold reissue with bonus 7” The Silly Egg E.P . Pressed on half & half colour vinyl (Red/Turquoise) with a white vinyl 7”. Includes printed inner sleeve.
East London’s The Gymslips, Paula Richards, Suzanne Scott and Karen Yarnell, barged their way onto the post punk scene in 1981. They openly embraced drinking, Pie & Mash, monkey boots and double denim right from the start. Often credited with being the first female Oi! band, but they brought so much more to the table with their punky 60s influenced girl pop.
Formed in 1980, The Gymslips started playing live the following year, and opened for Dolly Mixture on a 1981 UK tour. The band referred to themselves as “Renees” a late 60s term for mod girls, the same subculture that named boys “Ronees”. Drummer Karen Yarnell told the NME that a “Renee was a girl who got as much shagging done as a bloke while also matching him for pint drinking, fag smoking, nose-picking, farting and the wearing of skinhead style double denim”.
They recorded 5 sessions for the John Peel show, after signing to Abstract Records their first single was a cover of Suzi Quatros 48 Crash, which was released in 1982. The following year they released Their sole album Rocking With The Renees along with 2 further singles “Big Sister” & “Robot Man”
After Karen Yarnell left to join Serious Drinking, this ended The Gymslips Mk 1. Although they were to return 2 years later with a new line up to release their final single “Evil Eye”

"Who invented the Typical Girl?" The Slits gleefully proclaimed as they attacked sexual stereotypes way back in 1979. There are no typical girls. Just remarkable women making remarkable music, as this compilation highlights. 16 of the greatest current female fronted independent punk, darkwave and independent bands, from around the world, celebrated on vinyl.

Inspired by the pioneering women of the 1st wave punk era and beyond, Emotional Response continues to bring you the sixth volume of their acclaimed TYPICAL GIRLS series. Featuring the finest in current punk, indie, darkwave female fronted music for all corners of the globe.

"Who invented the Typical Girl?" The Slits gleefully proclaimed as they attacked sexual stereotypes way back in 1979. There are no typical girls. Just remarkable women making remarkable music, as this compilation highlights. 16 of the greatest current female fronted independent punk, darkwave and independent bands, from around the world, celebrated on vinyl.

Inspired by the pioneering women of the 1st wave punk era and beyond, Emotional Response continues to bring you the sixth volume of their acclaimed TYPICAL GIRLS series. Featuring the finest in current punk, indie, darkwave female fronted music for all corners of the globe.

Berlin electronic duo Donna Regina recorded two songs for the 10th edition of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club. In ‘Weihnachten Woanders’ (‘Christmas Somewhere Else’), singer Regina Janssen reflects on how it feels to spend Christmas away from home. Somewhere else, in a strange town where nobody knows your name and no one is waiting for you. You miss the familiar sounds of Christmas, like the child that sings ‘Stille Nacht’ and you dream of being home again. It’s a feeling many people can relate to. Especially this year, a year in which so many people were forced to flee from their homes. Günter Janssen, the other half of Donna Regina and Regina’s husband, lays down a minimalistic tapestry of synths and drum rolls. A loop of street sounds, a sample taken from sound artist Paula Schopf’s 2021 album ‘Especios En Soledad’, forces its way into the song, and in the end overpowers voice and other instruments. ‘Weihnachten Woanders’ very much captures the year 2022 and the worrying times we are living in, in both lyrics and music.

‘Christmas With You’, the B-side of the single, was originally written and recorded by Polish indie band Old Time Radio for their 2009 Christmas album 'Sketches For Another Christmas Songbook'. Donna Regina again goes for a minimalistic electronic sound, but also adds a certain melancholy to the song. Partly due to the synths that in places resemble the sound of an organ, an instrument that appeared on so many Christmas recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s. The love-hate relationship many people have with Christmas is perfectly laid down in the lyrics: “We watch the cartoons / We sing out of tune / Kiss by the fireplace / Listen to those horrible songs / Do we know / It’s Christmas time at all?”.

Regina and Donna Janssen debuted as Donna Regina in 1990 with the single 'Avec Le Temps' and released their debut album 'Lazing Away' in 1992 on Our Choice, a German sublabel of Rough Trade. In 1999, after four albums on Strange Ways Records, they signed to their current label Karaoke Kalk. Since then, they have released eight albums for the label. In 2015, Karaoke Kalk also released 'Dis Cover', a compilation of Donna Regina songs recorded by other artists like Dean & Britta, Bernard Burgalat, Mouse On Mars and many others. Donna Regina’s songs have been featured on compilations of labels like Rough Trade, Sonar Kollektiv, Klant Elektronik, Milan and Rolling Stone. Donna Regina was not Günther’s first band. In the early 1980s he was part of a Neue Deutsche Welle act with a very Christmas-related name: Heilige 3 Köninge ('Holy 3 Kings'). Their sole album, 1982's 'Zum Teufel Met Dem Kamel' has become very collectable. Günther was also featured as songwriter and musician on German singer Romie Singh's 1986 CBS album 'Masters' and later ventured into writing music for television and film. Regina Janssen also recorded as a vocalist with French musician Bertrand Burgalat, and sang several songs on his 2005 album ‘Portrait-Robot”.

Essentia is not only the latin word for – you guessed that right – essential, but also the name of Krystal Klear’s return to Running Back. While trance might be a state of mind (according to DJ Dag), it’s also a tone theory with a very specific tool kit. Here you get the version that makes sense in the aural universe of a producer that got raised on a diet of hip hop, boogie and the foundation tunes in house music. Moderate in tempo, the result is still euphoric to say the least: melted brains, stimulated spinal cords and rave rampage included. Essentia balances the euphoric rush of its topical genre perfectly with the happy-sad moments after the rave. If that is not musical or emotional enough for your taste, you will find content in the Sunrise version. Excessive use of the well-beloved choir, breakbeats and - downs make it equally irresistible for sun-ups and love-ups.

Flip the coin for Winnies Karaoke. Stemming from the same source and session as Essentia. Named after the interactive entertainment bar in Chinatown NYC and made sometime in the early morning hours, its the quintessential Krystal Klear. Sawtooth boogie, if you will. It’s counterpoint is the Sundown mix. Techno prog for the tilted generation.
Sometimes, in the permanent search of happiness, the world of tomorrow needs the sound of yesterday made with the means and minds of today. Essential bliss.

Human Remains follows Creatures of the Deep and Black Sarabande as the final installment of a trilogy of piano based recordings by Robert Haigh for Unseen Worlds. The trilogy marks the end of the late era of solo albums by Haigh before he steps away from music production.

The title, Human Remains, was initially based on a painting of the same name by Haigh that is suggestive of an ancient structure resolute in the wake of overwhelming forces. As a metaphor for our current times, it could be interpreted as human frailty in the face of nature’s unyielding dominion. Conversely, it could represent the persistence of human spirit and resourcefulness in the midst of catastrophe and upheaval.