Cerca:take life

Continuing in its series of Yoko Ono reissues, Secretly Canadian has announced that Ono’s seminal 1982 album It’s Alright (I See Rainbows) will be released August 28, 2026, in expanded CD and digital versions, and on vinyl for the first time in more than forty years, with expanded and enhanced artwork. Influenced equally by 1960s girl group vocals and 1980s synthesizer experimentation, It's Alright (I See Rainbows) is an album of “adventurous… lush… committed and convincing avant-gardism” (Rolling Stone). As Ono said in her 1992 Onobox liner notes, “It was ’82 and it seemed as though I was finally in sync with the world.” Vacillating from a widow’s never-truly-over grief, to the necessary uplift for an artist and mother to continue her life’s missions, tracks like “Loneliness” and “Spec of Dust” make way for poptimism via “Let the Tears Dry,” and title track “It’s Alright.” As Ono said of the album in 1983, “It’s like my diary that I went through… and I’m just saying, hey, I’ve got the same kind of emotions that you’ve probably got too, and here I am saying hello… Around December 8th or whatever, I was feeling really heavy and feeling sort of down, you know… and then, side two, it’s all right… It was Sean Lennon who says, ‘Wake up, wake up, mommy.’ Like an angel that came and said, ‘Wake up!’… Wake up and dream love, and let the tears dry and I see rainbows. And sort of I’m saying all that. In result of Sean waking me up, see?” Lennon, speaking of his mother in a more recent interview with NPR in 2025, “She would say that energy is just energy, so you can turn it into anything you like. And she always said that she would take that negative energy and turn it into something productive and creative… It never stopped her from creating and putting herself out there, and I really think that it paid off… You never know how long it'll take for people to appreciate you if you just kind of hang on and don't give up.”

“An amazing new project…” Tony Minvielle, Jazz FM

“A lush, heatwave-friendly piece of dancefloor innovation…” Clash Magazine


First Word Records is delighted to bring you the debut EP from Ships of the Pharaohs.


Ships of the Pharaohs are a London-based collective led by producer Last Nubian, who’s had releases in his own right on labels like CoOp Presents, Eglo Records & Touching Bass. Blending jazz, soul, bossa nova, d&b and house-influenced grooves, the band also consists of vocalist Achanté, keys player Goldbar & bassist, Dougan.

The 7-track EP kicks off with the high-energy, vitamin D-saturated lead single ‘Sun is Rising’, featuring the guest vocals of brilliant Berlin-based singer Red Bird, who appears on three tracks on this project (‘For You’ and ‘Seasons’). ‘Can’t Quit’ follows on a smooth soulful house/bruk tempo, and invites in the thought-provoking spoken word prose of AKEEM. ‘Seasons’, ‘For You’ and recent single ‘Joys’ add another element to the band’s eclectic take on fusion, leaning heavily into the bossa side of the quartet’s influences. The latter track sees Achanté’s soulful harmonies gracefully float across a warm bed of keys, percussion, guitar picks & synth strings. We take a short jazzy breather on the ‘Interlude’ cut, featuring the resplendent sax of multi-talented Norwegian artist, Bror Havnes, who also features on the outro cut ‘One’ - this one seeing the crew ride out with a sonic salute to jungle/d&b, closing this first opus from the group with the energy levels remaining high.

Tre Wright (aka Last Nubian) explains “Our debut EP is a reflection of who we are, both individually and as a collective. Drawing inspiration from jazz, jungle, bossa nova, house, r&b and the music that's shaped us, we've explored our own interpretation of these sounds and how they come together in a way that feels true to us. It gave us the space to experiment without boundaries, trust our instincts, and create something that genuinely reflects where we are creatively right now.”


Originally conceived to perform Last Nubian material live for a Touching Bass showcase at We Out Here festival in 2023, the project soon took on a life of its own, as the group effort unleashed a unique chemistry & sound of its own merit. Thereafter followed numerous sessions in a studio-converted bedroom of a Brixton flat, developing this new sound. The finishing touches were taken care of at the infamous Total Refreshment Centre in North London, resulting in the formation of captivating new original material, which appears across this first extended release.

Ships of the Pharaohs have additionally performed live across London at Brick Lane Jazz Festival, House of KOKO, Jazz on Wick Festival, Peckham Levels, 91 Living Room & GROW in Hackney. Developing their powerful stage presence has gone hand in hand with the creation of their own material.

The initial singles from this project received praise & support from a variety of DJs, press outlets & tastemakers from the worlds of jazz, soul and clubland, including Shy One (NTS), Tony Minvielle (Jazz FM), Rohan Rakhit (Worldwide FM), Somewhere Soul & Clash Magazine to name a few.


With sonics somewhat reminiscent of Acid Jazz legends Incognito, merged with the class of Nuyorican Soul, and the dynamic fluidity of 4Hero, the 4-piece have cooked up a set of style & flavours uniquely their own, fresh for modern dances, incorporating organic improvisation with more contemporary club sounds.

The Ships of the Pharaohs are about to set sail for what is sure to be an exciting journey ahead.

‘Part 1’ will be released on 12” vinyl & all digital platforms on September 18th 2026.

Debut full length of old school DEATH METAL on a timeless warpath strewn with familiar and unknown terrors beyond.

Timelessly in the vein of Bolt Thrower, Nihilist, Entombed and Dismember where death takes bearing on the facade of life.

The ancient stench of war follows HEDONIST on their campaign of destruction!!

This four-piece old school death metal band hails from Victoria, BC, and brings forth a ferocious exhibition of power amidst morbid undercurrents of disaster.

The year was 1989, and Derrick May was at a creative peak as both a DJ and producer. Under his Rhythim Is Rhythim moniker, he released a string of landmark records on Transmat, while his residency at Detroit's The Music Institute showcased the distinctive DJ style that would soon take him onto the international stage. Around the same time, he hosted a weekly radio show on Detroit radio station WJLB, alongside influential programs by The Electrifying Mojo and The Wizard (Jeff Mills).

For one of these broadcasts, May assembled a 15-minute megamix in his studio during the week leading up to the show. He opened his radio set with this continuous mix, blending his own tracks and versions into a seamless introduction that reflected his approach to DJing at the time. It includes unreleased versions of classics such as ‘Nude Photo 88’ and ‘Strings Of Life’.

‘All of this is unreleased because I made it as I was playing it on the spot as a special Mayday Mix for my show on the radio station WJLB in 1989, edited together straight from the keyboards live to tape. There is no other recording of these tracks in this form, only here’.

The original WJLB master tapes have since been lost, and no official recording is known to survive. Fortunately, many listeners recorded the broadcasts at home. One such cassette, preserved by Richie Hawtin, eventually made it our way. It has been carefully restored and mastered, with the artist’s approval.

To highlight this remarkable document of techno history, the recording is now available as a limited-edition, one-sided 12-inch release. The mix has been cut as a continuous side, visually divided into eight sections, while the reverse features a custom engraving.

Archimboldos have clawed their way out of the starcaves of their primordial past and into the tranquil light of a coral garden on their third full length album, Crusta Arcana, a gumbo stewpot of transcendent electronica suffused with tribal rhythms and liquid ambience. Across a stereo field smeared with tolling bells, post-industrial folk percussion, and tinkling keys, Archimboldos soundtrack a science fictional journey, not into the depths of space, but deep beneath the waves.

In the past the Chilean duo of Nicolás Carcavilla and Felipe Crocco have described their music as “liminal shrimp folk.” Here they continue this strange exploration when they visit the court of the prawns, producing stately electronic chamber orchestrations. Perhaps these are the frequencies used for ritual dream initiation into the mystery schools of drowned Atlantis. Weaving an ancient sacred science, Archimboldos take listeners on a mystic vovage into their singular crustacean mythology, the crusta of their hidden arcana.

Archimbolodos are masters of conjoining cyclonic and centrifugal lines of electricity into spellbinding incantations. These deep-sea transmissions envelope the listener into aquamarine forcefields that are as hallucinatory as they are hypnotic. Navigating these strange fantasias could lead one to getting lost at sea, but the work is buoyed by the somnolent melodies of lonely harpsichords and swelling synth pads whose sustained tones reach towards distant shores. Sailing across a vast expanse of oceanic harmonies and percolating percussion, these pieces are as precise as the hand of a sailor on the rudder, moving with the tide.

Casting their net wide across eight pieces, Archimboldos have made a big catch. From the emotive electronic counterpoint found on “Bursting Armor” to the blocks of seaweed tangled sonic sculpture trawled up from the ocean floor on “Aphelion IX.” Other songs are like samples of biological ambience collected from luminous tide pools: resplendent tones placed into a Petri dish of sound, swirled, cultured and fermented until it undulates with the rhythmic movement of microscopic lifeforms. Alternating between rippling minimalist sonority and pounding, progressive, synth-heavy entrancement, Crusta Arcana charts its own idiosyncratic itinerary of instrumental invention.

All the while light is down streaming from the heavens to pierce the waters, here calm, there choppy. The intrepid musical captains commanding Archimboldos have laid a course for new archipelagos of the imagination, guided by heavenly constellations.

-Justin Patrick Moore, author of The Radio Phonics Laboratory, Telecommunications, Speech Synthesis and the Birth of Electronic Music

Liam Hayes is an acclaimed American musical artist known for his songwriting and uncompromising approach to making records. He started cassette multitracking while a preteen and made his first real studio recording at twenty one. This started an obsession that ultimately led to his releasing a 7” single (Found A Little Baby/Three Quarters Blind Eyes) on a small US indie label. Those tracks garnered the attention of the UK music press, and on the strength of those songs a career was launched. The follow up was highly anticipated by critics and listeners alike, but rather than playing to expectations he delivered a highly personal album of solo piano/vocal songs (More You Becomes You). Not one to repeat himself, Hayes started off the millennium by serving up the extravagant pop/soul opus (Fed). Both records are now considered to be masterpieces.

Hayes’ songs are recognised for their exquisite melodies, poetic lyrics and distinctive vocals. He’s released seven albums, two singles and a soundtrack, and applies his craftsmanship to a variety of genres from orchestrated pop to stripped down rock. Comparisons to Brian Wilson, Laura Nyro, Carole King, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger (and even Prince) are numerous. His music takes the best of radio and stellar classic pop records of the 60’s and 70’s and brings it into the present.

Along with making records Hayes has appeared on screen performing his music in High Fidelity (directed by Stephen Frears) and A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III(directed by Roman Coppola) which he also wrote the soundtrack for.

In this, their first production for Hayes, are (executive producer) Terrence Washington and (multi-instrumentalist/producer/arranger) Vincent Carlo with additional contributions from Terrence’s father, legendary arranger TOM TOM 2084 (Chi-Lites, Phil Collins, Plush).

His latest album, Dancing Backwards, sees Liam stepping through the shadows in his life and into a new musical day.

Could it be that the world is finally ready for the tempestuous folk-rock opera that is "All the Leaves are Gone?" In 2004, only the truly informed and forward-thinking heads "got" this mini masterpiece. Critics scratched their heads and usually resorted to comparisons of past artists, like ol Grace Slick and her Great Jefferson Society, Fairport Convention (but which era? SURELY Judy Dyble's early reign?), and at best, Shirley Collins. A few fans attempted to connect the record to even more obscure "freak folk/rock" like Mellow Candle, Fear Itself, or Trees. "All the Leaves are Gone" was made by unique personalities not concerned with influences or copying any bygone era. Surely, some things are in our DNA or even early childhood, as Josephine Foster's roots in opera manifest themselves as much as any other influence in this organic song cycle. Sure, guitarist Brian Goodman may have heard Richard Thompson before, but his alchemical and molten guitar spray is purely his own, in tunings and intervals still not meant for normal humans to understand, mostly because his 2004 guts were poured into every sublime note (I think even Brian himself never even understood how good he was). That fiery emotion is also in every nuance of Foster's songs--like life, there's disquieting, jagged moments of unease, and there's calm both before and after the storm. There are moments of utter gentleness along the journey---because yes, every concept album should be a voyage, and this is one everyone should take. - Steve Krakow.

Remastered limited edition double vinyl with double-sided screenprinted poster-cover (sleeve folds out to be one huge poster). A real collectors item!

When Off Off came out around June 1984, one couldn’t speak of an independent music scene in Portugal. Warm Records’ vague existence didn’t have any impact and Dansa do Som’s inaugural release appeared only in December. 10 years after the revolution, after two IMF interventions, a lot of political instability (not to say turmoil, in the first couple of years) and the natural excesses of a sudden burst of freedom, the Portuguese consumer had more choices but a generally poor standard of living. There was no entrepreneurial culture and serious second thoughts about investing private money in risky ventures.

After many complaints about the whole music scene (institutions, critics and record label executives, popular and classical music alike), something that would continue well beyond the end of the decade, Telectu decided to finance, record, produce, release and sell an album with complete independence from outside structures. Their karmic reward was profit. According to Vítor Rua, Off Off was the only album fully payed by the duo and the only one that really payed off. Not an easy accomplishment for a double LP housed in a large (also double-sided) screenprint with complicated cuts and folds. The artwork was conceived by António Palolo, a friend and multidisciplinary artist. It was based on a collage of heavily saturated and xeroxed polaroids framed in shocking pink and green. Palolo was considered the third member of Telectu, regularly producing slides, video and other visual support for their shows. The inspiration for the type of cover came from GRM’s Gramme series.

Off Off is divided in four distinct sides, each one corresponding to a “theme” or “function” related to Telectu’s manifold artistic interests and interactions. The titles are also gateways to influences and a small portion of Portuguese cultural life:

- Side 1 / “Diagonale” is dedicated to Egídio Álvaro, art critic and gallery director (he opened Diagonale in Paris). Performance art was arguably his main artistic concern over the years, so the music on this side is suggested for use by one or more performers in live or playback situations. The three tracks segue into each other, linked by a synth arpeggio much in the same way as Telectu’s previous “Belzebu” álbum (1983);

- Side 2 / “Anarké” is dedicated to the composer Filipe Pires, one of Jorge Lima Barreto’s recurring invocations when asked about worthwhile contemporary music in Portugal. It is subtitled “concert music”, proposing «a new form of listening». Three tracks also, and these are separated by “clap interludes”, which basically consisted in the following: JLB and VR each had a pair of headphones on, and they clapped their hands according to the rhythm of the music each one was listening. Both musicians were interacting with a different Steve Reich piece: Vítor with “Music for Mallet Instruments”, Jorge with “Six Pianos”. The result is disjointed clapping, an awkwardly deliberate celebration of their own music. Telectu applauded themselves.

- Side 3 / “Cornucópia” is subtitled “music for theatre” and dedicated to Luís Miguel Cintra and Luís Lima Barreto (JLB’s brother), both connected to the Cornucópia theatre company. The side consists of several short pieces previously used as interludes in the Cornucópia staging of “Mariana Espera Casamento” (1983). Field recordings, mood pieces, ambience and a numeric poem (“Soneto Soma 14x”, by E.M. de Melo e Castro) read by João Perry, a quite well-known stage actor. His voice is treated with a flanger effect;

- Side 4 / “Palolo” is “video music”. It’s a one-take mix recorded from cassette sources (Telectu studio experiences) and done live while watching António Palolo’s Om film (1978) projected on the living room wall. It’s a deep, immersive, quasi-mystical 20-minute piece perfectly suiting the meditative, abstract, fluid images created by Palolo by mixing paint and water inside a bathtub. One imagines the Cosmos, hardly suspecting the technique. The film is 90 minutes long, so the music on the LP is of course edited.

The six titles on sides 1 and 2 evoke demons, all of them with conflicting symbolism, since it varies from culture to culture, religion to religion. No explanation is given and Vítor Rua has no idea where this imagery comes from. During virtually the whole stretch of the 1980s, Jorge was the one in charge of titles and concepts, and Vítor didn’t bother too much even reading the liner notes :) In any case, when you synchronize the listening experience with the imagery, a powerful impression emerges, a feeling of being in the presence of these entities while placing yourself inside the sonic narrative.

Off Off is undoubtedly a seminal album in the history of electronic music, as much Heldon as Fripp & Eno, jazz and American minimalism, cosmic out-thereness, mantric miniatures. Telectu at the height of their powers, still very early on, delivering an album-manifesto advocating intermedia art and the fierce independence of Portuguese musicians «from the scum of capitalist music industry monopolies. It’s a path to follow, albeit one that requires enduring hardships and retaliation from music industry gangsters.» Despite a few journalists deemed «capable of being free», the media are «enslaved by the dominant and fascist imbecility of the speculators of light music.» Off Off is addressed to those journalists «and to an audience angry at the cultural misery imposed upon us ..., certain that this music will open new horizons of musical pleasure in the conception of Portuguese avant-garde music, and in the open consciousness of us all. OFF OFF repeats Freedom.»

Those two words are a direct lift from Alberto Arbasino’s 1968 book Off Off, the basis of which is a critical analysis of Theodor Adorno’s and Dwight MacDonald’s ideas concerning the stratification of culture in different levels (high, mid and low) and the pervasiveness of mass culture in the form of a culture industry. In very simplistic terms, and that is precisely the point that inspired Jorge, Arbasino argued that it was possible and desirable to effect a revolution from below, cultivating alternative circuits completely cut-off from what he termed the in-in reality. Telectu’s record was a deliberate demonstration that it could be done, displaying Freedom in the face of all the gatekeepers and other human obstacles.

From Berlin to Lagos: Jembaa Groove expand their sound on "Be A Lover"

Berlin-based outfit Jembaa Groove return with "Be A Lover", a four-track EP set for full release on 18 September via global soul imprint Agogo Records. Following two critically acclaimed albums and an intensive period of touring across Europe and the US — including a SXSW showcase and a widely acclaimed KEXP session — this latest release marks a new chapter in the band’s trajectory. Built around highlife rhythms and shaped by Afro-jazz and the more organic edges of Afrobeats, "Be A Lover" unfolds with a warm, languid and deeply soulful feel, capturing different strands of today’s multifaceted Afrofusion scene.

Here, the band strips back from a seven-piece ensemble to its two founding members, while at the same time opening outward into a deeply collaborative space. At its centre is a close creative partnership with celebrated Nigerian highlife revivalists The Cavemen., alongside contributions from London-based, Nigerian born soul artist Azekel, Lagos vocalist Tim Lyre, and Malian icon Fatoumata Diawara.

“This record has a different flavour,” says Owusu. “It’s really about collaboration — different feelings, different thoughts, different energies coming together.” While centred around the Lagos contemporary scene, the record is shaped by a wider diasporic network stretching across London, Lagos, Berlin and Amsterdam, cities producer and bass player Yannick Nolting describes as “the pillars where everything that is happening in today’s highlife and Afro-fusion scene.”

Formed in Berlin in 2020, Jembaa Groove began after a chance meeting between bassist, producer and composer Yannick Nolting and percussionist, vocalist and songwriter Eric Owusu. Drawing on their respective musical journeys — Nolting’s years working with Lusophone artists in Lisbon and Owusu’s deep roots in Ghana’s highlife tradition, including work with Pat Thomas and late highlife legend Ebo Taylor — the project quickly took shape: their debut album Susuma established a powerful, poly-rhythmic sound grounded in highlife, jazz and soul, while 2024’s "Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves" expanded that vision through collaborations with artists across Ghana and its diaspora, including UK based Ghanaian singer, rapper, percussionist, and arranger K.O.G and legendary Ghanaian highlife musician Gyedu-Blay Ambolley.

The collaborative spirit continues on "Be A Lover", most of which grew out of a meeting with sibling duo The Cavemen. at Supersonic Jazz Festival in Amsterdam in 2023, leading to a sustained exchange of ideas between Berlin and Lagos. With two acclaimed albums behind them, The Cavemen. have emerged as central figures in both Lagos’ alternative music scene and the wider contemporary highlife revival, bringing the genre to a new generation through a stripped-back, melody-driven sound. “There was some kind of magnetism towards Lagos,” says Nolting; for Owusu, who is Ghanaian but spent much of his life in Nigeria, the connection runs even deeper. “I feel lucky to be able to bring different cultures together and make something really beautiful,” he says. A key part of that process was a close working exchange between Nolting and The Cavemen.’s Kingsley Okorie, who effectively stepped into a co-producing role on three out of four of the tracks.

The one exception is opener No Pain No Gain, which features Nigerian-born, East London-based Azekel, whose smooth, R&B-leaning vocal moves through a slow-burning arrangement of bright keys, gently rising horns and atmospheric synths, anchored by Owusu’s organic percussion.

The title track Be A Lover, featuring Afro-fusion Lagos artist Tim Lyre, distills the EP’s central message into its most immediate form. Backed by syncopated percussion and a gently smouldering arrangement, Lyre’s voice moves with a laid-back, melodic ease, delivering a simple refrain: “be a lover, not a fighter.” “It’s a very simple message,” says Nolting, “It’s about showing more love, on a personal level but also more broadly… just show love.” That same sense of warmth runs throughout the record, reflecting its core idea.

On Obi, The Cavemen. take centre stage, with Kingsley Okorie leading through melancholic, plaintive vocals rooted in classic highlife. In contrast, his brother Benjamin James punctuates the track with high-pitched vocal interjections, heightening the emotional tension against a backdrop of slow, restrained instrumentation.

Waka follows with a more melodic, hook-led refrain from Eric Owusu, whose loose, almost conversational delivery creates a striking contrast with Fatoumata Diawara’s unmistakably powerful, raspy vocal. The collaboration grew out of a chance meeting while Owusu was on tour, with ideas exchanged quickly and Diawara returning a finished vocal within days. “We are so proud to have her. It’s a privilege” says Owusu. "Be A Lover" is a record shaped by connections like these — between people, scenes, and cities. “It was partly intention, partly destiny,” says Nolting. “We met these people along the way, and somehow Lagos was meant to come into our path.”

“Environments 3” is one of ‘the great lost albums’ by The Future Sound Of London and these sessions have taken on almost mythical status with the group’s fan base. It was initially due for release after the 1993 release of the UK Top 10 album hit “Lifeforms”, but that didn’t happen. Instead, much later in 2010, it came on CD and download. Only now is it being released on vinyl for the first time..



This release also comes after the success of the first two installments which have sold steadily across the different volumes over the years and still climbing. This third volume is a sparse, highly minimal, and vivid departure from their dense 1990s period, and cited as one of the standout ambient releases of its time with FSOL in fine creative form. Reviewers at the time noted he complete absence of the heavy, spacey atmospheres of Lifeforms or the dark chaos of Dead Cities with delicate textures and moody variety throughout. While mostly calm and meditative, certain cuts evoke a desolate, lonely, or gently industrial feel.

Children of Zeus return with their third studio album ‘As The World Burns…’

Five years on from their highly-acclaimed sophomore album ‘Balance’, Manchester’s kings of hip hop soul, Tyler Daley and Konny Kon, bring us a brand new 16-track opus.

Sonically the duo continue their story where they left off; crafting an amalgamation of street soul, alternative r&b and boom bap hip hop, with a sprinkle of flavours taken from their original multi-genre pirate radio influences, and a dash of forward-thinking new sounds, ensuring all tracks are destined to become future classics.

The features are sparing but powerful, enlisting the talents of revered UK rapper Knucks (‘Before We Drown’), Colorado-native Young Old Soul (‘Dopamine’), MCR family K S R (‘Do You Want To Get High’, & Australian/Mauritian up & comer Anieszka (‘Water & Vibes’).

As with previous projects, this album is largely produced by the duo themselves, though there are guest productions from previous collaborators too, including Grammy Award-winner Beat Butcha, Grammy-nominated Teo, and broken beat pioneer K15, along with an assortment of new players making moves in the underground neo-soul & beats circuit.

Conceptually, this project continues on with the story to date. An eternal search for sunsets and soulfood, as a respite to the anxieties of the modern world; personally, professionally and globally. Assertive swagger is matched with brutal but sincere candidity. As ever, it encapsulates the rough with the smooth, with reflections on where they’ve been, where they’re at and where they’re headed. There’s no preaching to be found here; just an acceptance of things as they are, an embrace of the environment and people they were nurtured by, and a celebration of some of the finer things in life; slow jams, weed & rum, water & vibes. Raps for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners. All packaged together as another perfect sonic love letter to sound system culture. 50 minutes of big people music.

Since the release of their anthemic debut single ‘Still Standing’ a decade ago, to the subsequent EP ‘The Story So Far’, and their critically-lauded debut album ‘Travel Light’, the duo have received numerous accolades, including nominations for AIM Awards & Worldwide Awards both, along with tons of ‘Album of the Year’ nods care of Clash Magazine, Bandcamp, Complex, Wordplay and many more. This along with huge swathes of support from DJs, radio stations, press outlets, tastemakers, luminaries & fellow artists across the globe.

Children of Zeus have performed sessions for COLORS, Soulection (Apple Music), DJ AG, Boiler Room, BBC 6 Music and at the infamous Maida Vale studios for BBC 1Xtra as well as touring across Europe, Australia and South Africa. This is in addition to collaborating & touring with Mercury Award Winner’s Ezra Collective, including a Wembley Arena show. Other collaborations over the years have included Shy FX, Juls, Goldie, Black Milk, Kofi Stone and the late great Lenzman.

From the Broke ’n’ English / Hoodman-era, to the present day, Children of Zeus have been omnipresent in the fabric of British black music. Proud ambassadors of Manchester music, and of UK soul, it really is “Zeus to the world”.

Children of Zeus have been adorned with plenty of flowers over their career. The unbridled quality and poignance of the music and the message on display throughout this project will see the algorithmic needle move some more. It’s undoubtedly set to be a Zeus Summer. As the world burns…

Available on all digital platforms and physical formats, Friday September 4th 2026.







t 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. K S R ) - Children of Zeus03:26







t 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. K S R ) - Children of Zeus03:26







[t] 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26







[t] 07: Do You Want To Get High? (feat. [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26







[g] B3 | Do You Want To Get High? (feat [ K S R ]) - Children of Zeus03:26

Oscar Later is the solo project of one half of Once Twice, formerly known as Parallels. The EP takes its premise from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which ruled that no nation could claim ownership of the Moon or any other celestial body. Across six tracks, that idea of ownership, distance and free imagination runs through the record, which combines breakbeat and shimmering synths with processed vocals and clips from vintage ads and obscure films.

"I wanted the record to feel like public-domain myths, commercial promises and space-age optimism all colliding," Oscar says, "blurring the line between memory and fantasy."

Opener 'Air Time for Andre' channels chopped-up breaks reminiscent of Skee Mask, combined with processed found audio. 'Wenlocked', named after the East London street where it was written, develops from a downtempo sketch into a heavier club track as the bassline builds, inspired by releases on Voam and Floating Points' live sets. 'It Never Made Sense' steps away from the dancefloor, built around a granulated Orion Sun vocal that, as Oscar puts it, "ties the track into quite a surreal space," leaning towards Burial, Overmono and Radiohead.

The title track, 'The Moon Belongs to You', runs a vocoded 90s ad through a detuned one-note synth. It's the track Oscar says "best encapsulates the intention of the EP as a whole: surreal, wacky and clubby." 'Yaya' keeps the energy up as a straight techno cut, its gated bassline locking in around a chopped vocal and pitched samples. Closer 'That's Quite A Lot Of Zeroes!' expands from a stripped-back Buchla line into something huge, driven by chopped samples and inspired by sci-fi scores like Dune and Annihilation.

The cover is designed by art director Will Millner with designer Josh Lowe, a homage to space food and 80s industrial design geared to survive life on the moon. It's available as a limited vacuum-packed 12" record.

The EP launches alongside a music video for 'It Never Made Sense', directed by Louis Mackay, telling the story of a group of kids who steal the moon for themselves.

"Dance On", the latest single from Canopy continues the label's enthusiasm for re-issuing vintage Afro-tropical funk, reggae & disco, paired with modern remixes and remakes.

Two long out of print and previously un-reissued musical gems from Malian musician Nawari, get an overdue second life. Those gems being the eponymous "Dance On", an upbeat Afro-reggae-disco dancer originally self-released in 1987, and "Fanta Cini", originally released in 1989, which takes a deeper, tougher "proto-Afro-electro-funk" direction.

Sharing creative duties is Russian producer Valique, aka "V" from the best-selling "V's edits series, appearing on Canopy for the first time with a strong contribution to the label. Taking the title tune he reimagined & recreated it, building from Nawari's vocals and recording live horns, skanking guitars and percussion, blended with his signature classy production: crisp, warm, groovy & punchy.

Valique turns in 3 different mixes of Dance On, ranging from reggae disco, to cosmic Afro beat, timbale percussion workouts and beyond.

The release spans a range of moods, segueing between the past & present, organic and electronic, proving itself to be well suited for many environments, from the kitchen party to the bars, clubs & festivals of the world.

''Boo Williams - Galaxy House EP (Island Life Records) Island Life Records proudly welcomes Chicago house music icon Boo Williams with the Galaxy House EP, a powerful collection that bridges timeless underground house music with fresh contemporary reinterpretations. Leading the release are three original Boo Williams productions: the deep, groove-laden title track ''Galaxy House'', the soulful ''Need Yo Luv Tonite'', and the driving club workout ''House Me Up''--showcasing the unmistakable sound that has made Boo one of Chicago's most respected producers. The EP is completed by a quality selection of remixes. DJ Entropic delivers two contrasting takes on ''Need Yo Luv Tonite'' with a rave-fuelled Hardcore Mix and the darker, hypnotic Skeleton Mix, while Island Life label boss Garry Todd, under his Clouds of Kouros alias, reimagines ''Galaxy House'' with a deep, atmospheric interpretation that perfectly complements the originals. The whole EP blends authentic Chicago house heritage with forward-thinking club energy, the Galaxy House EP is another essential release from Island Life Records crew.''

There is a pivotal scene in “August in the Water” (dir. Sōgo Ishii, 1995) where the surface of a pool turns into a stone wall. The water that gave the protagonist's life its meaning becomes a threat. As you fall through this stone wall, you appear in a set of underwater coral-reef corridors, and one of the most beautiful musical themes begins to play: Aquatic Ambience, composed by David Wise for Donkey Kong Country (1994). It's a theme that represents the weightless vibe of your new deep-sea life, where you go about your mundane errands, collecting bananas while driving on a swordfish, or, as HerzMayhem put it: "Poor monkey... always swimming, never going anywhere..."

Synthetic Water Music is the second of three compilations, following Synthetic Bird Music and timed to mappa's 10th anniversary. As with the birds, it gathers friends of the label, artists who have released with mappa or played our shows. Most of the music is new, made to measure for this compilation, much of it from Central and Eastern European hands. Birds and water mix well, so please feel invited to play them together, creating your own environments.

Where the birds were in one flock, water is dispersed across four chapters. You live your life as a droppity drop: vapour in the heavens, condensing in clouds, falling into a swamp, trickling into the deepest sea.

Tlālōcān (Cassette 1, Side A)
A place of eternal spring, of aquatic energy that nourishes everything and allows all things to bloom. Bubbly and splishy-sploshy, it is full of dripping sounds and moist caverns (“Emerald Pool” by Pauline Anna Strom), a landscape filled with living fountains (“Oh, to be a Fountain” by Eva Sajanová) and winding streams that flow through the area, forming part of its organic architecture. It is also a paradise reserved for those whose deaths were water-related, where the aquatic and terrestrial beings live in symbiosis and perspectives shift rapidly, from observing a single droplet (Shakali, Lau Nau) to dew (Feronia Wennborg & Lucy Duncombe) and on to flowing currents (Visible Cloaks) that gradually transform into river music (Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton).

Nephelora (Cassette 1, Side B)
A celestial anti-gravity sound world made of evaporation, steam and the formation of clouds, as if looking at “The Sky At The Bottom of the Well” (by Natalia Beylis) or at “The Cloud That Never Rains” (by Henrique Vaz).

If a cloud never rains,
it is not a cloud at all, but a veil that parches the earth with its gaze.
It generates only its own shadow —
a looming mass of suspended longing,
a sky that hoards but never yields,
a reservoir that swallows every river and returns nothing but echoes.

The water in this world is often invisible but sometimes all the more present, as Bint Mbareh describes it: “Recently been obsessed with invisible waters because I come from a place where you have to imagine the water is there even though you cannot see a river, a sea, usually no rain, so water is in the air, the voice and the imaginal realm, drought is imagined to be negotiable.”

Žaboglach Zha-bo-glahch (Cassette 2, Side A)
A fusion of Scottish lochs and Slovak ponds: a misty, foul-smelling, swampy realm, the kind of place that swallowed Artax from The NeverEnding Story. Stagnant waters full of decay become a blooming habitat for sirens (“thereby losing the weightless delight of being swept along with it” by Adam Badí Donoval) and beings straddling the line between fauna and flora, inventing their own communication systems (“Water-lily phase” by Action Pyramid).

R'lyeh (Cassette 2, Side B)
A brooding sunken city at the bottom of the ocean. It’s a journey to get there. Let this chapter guide you, from the shore down to the depths, to the gates of an unexplored world that is inherently dark, unfathomable, and beyond the limits of human perception: starting with seasickness ("Seasick" by Nikolaienko), passing through a classic Poe-esque maelstrom ("Flurry at the Whirl-pull" by Atte Elias Kantonen), a gateway into the darkness and emptiness of the ocean floor, and finally traversing the city itself (“last waves of 2025” by Jules Reidy).
But what is pulling you to a place like this that only a few explore and even fewer leave? Maybe “the darkness that water can contain, the expanse of things we don't know and that can trigger fear instincts even as we try to rationalise them and think we are in control of the rest of nature” (“supercritical fluids” by Diane Barbé).

Dive in and surface wherever you like. Always swimming, never going anywhere. Just don’t forget to take water breaks.

P.S. Birds, then water, can you guess what comes next? Synthetic Soil Music, an elegy for insects and worms? Synthetic Glaciers, or maybe Pollinators? Which sounds would you miss the most if they disappeared? Or what if the third one never comes at all, and somebody, or something, makes Synthetic mappa Music instead. Don't you worry, with the right training data, it can all be replicated, better than the real thing.

Friends of Jesse Malin: I Would Do It For You – Vol. 1 brings together musicians from the worlds of rock, punk, Americana, and the underground to celebrate one of modern rock's most respected songwriters. "I've been a fan of Jesse Malin for decades now so I was thrilled when Valley Lodge was asked to be a part of the tribute album,”says Dave Hill. The song originally appeared on D Generation’s 1996 album, No Lunch. "'Too Loose' has always been one of my favorites—a great and timeless rock song that we had a blast re-interpreting." Produced by Lyle Hysen, Friends of Jesse Malin: I Would Do It For You Vol 1. is the first in a two-volume series of nearly 80 songs (!) recorded by Jesse’s friends and community. Proceeds from the album will benefit Malin’s healthcare as he recovers from a paralyzing spinal stroke. Vol. 2 will feature Thurston Moore, Willie Nile, and many more. "Friends, collaborators, and artists from every corner of Jesse's world wanted to be involved," says Hysen. "The songs just kept coming. What started as a single collection quickly grew into something much bigger, encompassing almost the entire Malinverse. We're excited that this is only the first chapter." The compilation features contributions from Amanda Cross, Bebe Buell, Trapper Schoepp, Valley Lodge, Danny Sage, James Maddock, Gogol Bordello, Ursa Minor, Sami Yaffa, Prima Donna, Das Damen, Rene & Grace Mata, Dead Milkmen, Cat Popper & Sasha Dobson, Robinlee Garber, The Seashore Sharks featuring Jesse and Alexei Sanoff, Derek Cruz, Jill Fiore, Matt Madly & Co., Davey La, American Dream, Joe McGinty, Randy Schrager, Stephen Chopek, Ben Foley, and Kelley Swindall. Friends of Jesse Malin: I Would Do It For You – Vol. 1 will be available digitally, on vinyl, and as a deluxe double-CD edition. The vinyl release features twelve tracks across two sides and includes a download code for the complete digital collection, while the CD edition presents all 26 songs across two discs.

“The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn’t have an audience when we were making them,” Oberst says. “But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash.” Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles – “Take It Easy (Love Nothing),” from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and “Lua,” from the warm, folky Wide Awake – debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. “First Day of My Life,” also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music’s reader’s poll. Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band’s careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, “When The President Talks To God.” These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era’s releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of “harmonica and mandolins – folky vibes,” Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

This is a concept record that reflects on events that have had a calculable effect on a generation:
‘’By 83 and 84, it felt that nuclear war was going to happen. Not could happen but was going to.’’
Stephen Brotherstone
"What would you do in the event of a Nuclear war?"
I remember having discussions about what we would do when we heard the four minute warning siren. We would raid the sweet shop. I was 8 or 9 years old. The absurdity of this vivid memory encapsulates the concept of the record. It would take at least four minutes to get to the shop!
The record starts with an early memory of circling a church on a Raleigh Budgie (the smaller lesser known iconic Chopper bicycle) in 1981 and ends with staring up at a clear sky on Oldham Lows in 1990.
The record identifies and plays with the effects of an underlying fear of oblivion on a generation of children, but also society as a whole: The pieces take in media and government propaganda. Machinery (nuclear submarines) and buildings (nuclear bunkers) but also everyday activities of the civilian population, activities such as shopping, clubbing and staring at the sky. Thematically, the record is made up of personal memories mixed with historical events.
Instruments are mainly from 1980s. DX7 and 808 feature predominantly. The pieces feature numerous melodic motifs that develop and intertwine underlying ideas of espionage and layers of secret messaging. It also mirrors the ways in which governments and civilians interact. Decisions being made in the name of defence whilst people go about their daily lives. I am exploring the everyday experiences of the masses whilst major political decisions are taking place. For example, shopping on a Saturday afternoon versus heated Cold War tensions in 1983.
Although taking place conceptually in the years 1979-1991, this record mirrors current events. History repeating. It also mirrors the helplessness or maybe some oblivious everyday normality state that we adopt as a community whilst major political decisions are being made.
The idea that life goes on oblivious to larger scale politics, or on the other hand, the idea that we are all very aware but in a state of unreal normality. Adam Curtis goes into great detail about such things in his film 'Hyper Normalisation'.

Long Slow Distance is an album about finding peace, and making peace where it can’t be found. It’s inspired by change, grief, acceptance, forgiveness, love, and running.

Dawson began running around the same time he started making records. At this point it’s unclear where one practice ends and the other begins. The album’s title has become the ethos he’s embraced for all things in life.

Long Slow Dance unravels the woven collage of his previous work. Here each song consists of three long guitar takes, panned across the stereo-field with minimal overdubs. “I remember my grandmother always kept a rain barrel on the farm. Just a simple vessel that served as a means for gathering water for the garden and the flowers. I wanted to instill that sentiment on this record. Other than some panning and recreational EQing, the computer was just a vessel to gather sounds.”

There is a distant grace to the album. A soft expanse, a quiet contrast. Guitars dissolve and then recalibrate. Sparse melodic motifs bloom and fracture. Warm chords clash and make amends. Alpenglow textures shimmer against tones that feel weathered by salt air. The songs are lightly propulsive, yet drift at a glacial pace. Fields and artifacts ground the material, like keeping your eyes on the horizon. Long Slow Distance feels intuitive, sentimental, and like Dawson is one step closer to whatever distance he is chasing.
Downloadable Assets

A Collision of Worlds. A Convergence of Sound.

Czarface opens another portal. On Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, the boundary between comic book canon and hip-hop reality dissolves. Frankie Pulitzer, also known in certain dimensions as FacePuller, is no ordinary collaborator, character, or catalyst. He is a hybrid entity: part human, part alien force, fully embedded in the expanding Czarface universe.

Following landmark team-ups with MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah, Czarface continues its “Meets” saga with a full-scale crossover event that pushes deeper into story and sound. Frankie’s presence is both lyrical and mythological, bringing a chaotic, shape-shifting energy that challenges and complements Czarface’s razor-sharp precision. Dusty drums, cinematic soundscapes, and razor-edged bars bring the classic Czarface sound, yet mutated.

The universe widens with appearances from Busta Rhymes, Method Man, and El-P (of Run the Jewels), each adding their own gravitational pull to the project, thus grounding it in hip-hop legacy while amplifying its larger-than-life scope.

LP includes double-sided print insert. Thorn Wych makes instruments from tree branches; bowed strings, flutes and percussion that she runs through a chain of loopers, pitch bending glitches and delay pedals. Strange songs sung in tongues, mashed up chewed and spat out. As the adder weaves her way through the dirt and mycelium hum, we play in the mud and converse with insects. 'Aesthesis' is Thorn Wych's debut LP that she recorded and mixed herself at home, often performing long improvised pieces, then later editing them down, cutting and pasting and overlaying other instruments. This album takes inspiration from such works as 'The Secret Book of John', the 1940 film 'The Thief of Bagdad', and Lata Mangeshkar's 'Meera Bhajans'. She dedicates her work to the Divine Mother Asherah, Holy Spirit, Guardian of the Tree of Life.

Some people change your life in every way that a life can be changed. David Lynch is one of those people. When Alicia Witt first worked with him at age 7 in his classic Dune (1984) she had no idea what he meant to anyone as a filmmaker, nor that she would work with him 3 more times over the course of his life and that he would become one of her greatest influences. She only knew that she had found a kindred spirit and that she loved him. Between Heaven & Earth is a tribute to his energy, his legacy, and most of all, his love. When Alicia attended his memorial gathering shortly after his passing in 2025, she was struck by the depth of the relationships in that space. The knowing that if you were loved by David, you stayed loved. As those in the room spoke of their shared experience that David was still among them - directing from beyond - Alicia became ever more aware that she was being encouraged to create an album from this space of eternal unconditional love. ‘Use my name,’ David whispered. And so it was. Produced by renowned producer and singer-songwriter Joe Henry (Emmylou Harris; Milk Carton Kids; Bonnie Raitt; Rodney Crowell), this album was recorded live in studio in 5 days in New York City in January 2026. Alicia Witt on piano and vocals, accompanied by a band of 5 musicians, take you on a sonic journey that could never be recreated, channeling the energy that was brought together in this moment to honor the immeasurable effect that David Lynch had and still has on the world. He was palpably present in every moment of the making of this album. The 13 songs that were chosen reflect everything Alicia feels she learned about love from David - the acceptance, the insistent optimism, the curiosity, and the permanence. The final song, The Director, recounts messages he has sent to her from beyond over the year since he passed away.

Am 15. Februar 2026 feierte Posaunist und Sänger Nils Landgren seinen 70. Geburtstag – wie es sich für einen der erfolgreichsten europäischen Musiker seines Fachs gehört mit einem oppulenten Orchesteralbum »Love of My Life« und einer Tour durch die großen Konzerthäuser.

ACT-Gründer, Förderer und Freund Siggi Loch machte Nils Landgren ein besonderes Geschenk: Einen Abend in der von ihm kuratierten Reihe »Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic« im großen Saal der Berliner Philharmonie. Im ersten Teil des Konzertes spielten Mitglieder der ACT Family für »Mr. Red Horn«.

Nach der Pause betrat Nils Landgren unter großem Jubel selbst die Bühne – mit einem exklusiven Programm, dass seinem großen Idol und Weggefährten Joe Sample gewidmet war. Mit dabei: Michael Wollny, Lars Danielsson, Wolfgang Haffner, China Moses und Mitglieder der Berliner Philharmoniker mit Arrangements von Magnus Lindgren.

Es wurde eine Soul-Jazz-Party im Klassiktempel, bei der am Ende der ganze Saal tanzte – jetzt nachzuhören auf »Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic – Nils Landgren 70«

For years, singer-songwriter Riley Downing has collected stories about life’s overlooked moments and underappreciated people. He’s unearthed these tales of castaway truths and once-faded recollections for Landfill Poetry, a sophomore solo album and Oh Boy Records debut.??A native of small-town Missouri who once worked as a backroad trashman before becoming one of music’s weathered journeymen, the husky-voiced Downing may be best known as a member of noisemaking Americana outfit The Deslondes, a New Orleans-born band that he co-founded after a clandestine meeting with likeminded musicians at a folk festival in Oklahoma.??On Landfill Poetry, his six-string worldbuilding takes listeners to the back of the trash truck (“Landfill Poetry”), inside the lonely hours of the graveyard paycheck (“Night Shift”) and to the quiet moments after a hard day of work (“Porch Song”). He sings for the restless ones who stay up way too late (“Hay Hay Hay”) and the grandchildren who admire a hard-working compassion once shared between late loved ones (“Helen & Gene”). With each song, Downing uncovers sketches of life that once might’ve been lost to the landfill but instead?are shared anew.

The Seeds stand tall amongst the handful of mid-60s American garage bands whose influence is palpable in rock to this day. Led by charismatic frontman Sky Saxon, the original Hollywood-based quartet’s unique and exciting brand of minimalist rock’n’roll still sounds contemporary and is perfectly encapsulated on this first album. If second album “A Web Of Sound” was pop-art flash, and 1967’s “Future” a florid take on psychedelia, then the July 1966 debut remains The Seeds’ grand statement; an all-original programme of rock and R&B-inflected garage punk that buzzed with a peculiar-yet-riveting energy that was the ensemble’s very own.

Whilst ”The Seeds” contains a pair of familiar classics in ‘Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’ and ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’,’ it is instructive to remember that it was recorded and released some time before either tune became a hit. Unlike so many albums of that era, the Seeds’ debut was not a quickie thrown to together to take advantage of singles chart success. Instead, the record constitutes a sharp definition of their unique and aberrant style, featuring several key items within their canon, be they the rough-hewn rockers ‘Girl I Want You’ and ‘No Escape’, the pot-boiling blues ‘Nobody Spoil My Fun’,’ or the lengthy and downright sinister ‘Evil Hoodoo’.’

American experimental composer Stephen O’Malley releases Avaeken, two sides of immense, immersive, self-annihilating music via Dais Records.

The record preserves site-specific work: O’Malley installed Avaeken as part of Wish You Were Here, the exhibition by renowned American artist Banks Violette, underscoring the tension between presence and absence, life and loss.

O’Malley and Violette have developed a distinct language of sound, space, and sculpture over the past two decades, reverberating through the walls of world-class institutions from The Guggenheim and Centre Pompidou to prominent galleries such as Maureen Paley in London, Gladstone Gallery in NYC, and Antwerp’s TICK TACK, the brutalist space where Wish You Were Here unfolded in early 2026.

Emerging now as an LP, Avaeken presents power and phenomena: low-frequency vibrations, deep oscillations, and phase cancellations that translate as innately effective in any environment. Violette’s visual expression — the impossibility of locating yourself within the loss of a friend and the broader decay of culture — now fills the LP sleeve and feels inextricable from O’Malley’s sound, both still without resolution.

“Natural harmonic tone coloured by the valves of the amplification is the one desired characteristic,” reads the initial notes.

“At first I asked, why would I write for another guitar player?” he says. “I realized how amazing it is to be a listener on the other side of the music; together we were able to try all these precisions with intonation, harmonics, specific microtonal ideas.”

The quartet performed Avaeken several times before O’Malley joined them for a recording session at Muziekcentrum De Bijloke, a 13th-century former hospital with modern acoustics in Ghent.

Broshuda returns on the newly born label Ballads Infinite with another array of absurdist vignettes, lowercase hi-tech ambience and textural degradations of radio transmissions from the bicameral mind. Weaving multiple sonic timelines into silky yet slippery articulations, he sculpts each sound with deliberate care making it breathe, slither and shimmer. Spells conjures a subterranean force through its vanishing presence, with the restraint in the sonic palette feeling utterly refreshing, as watering, drop by drop, a ghostly flower in the dromoscopic netscape of overreaching stimuli.

Deliriously patching fragments of unnoticed memories, gliding freely— slightly inebriated—through the ocean of sound: what does it take to capture the transitory entities inhabiting the latent space of this hyperconnected manifold? An assemblage of mechanical debris reduced to their bare-bone essentials; the Tao of discharge brings life to corrupted data, unpacked through textural ruminations.

Broshuda doesn’t just cast the spell, he patiently coils it around you, dissolving each and every thought in the hiss, manipulating subtle energies by making them move beyond and outward. What’s the sound of matter silently falling apart? The serpent sheds its subtle yet solid armor, revealing the space between each spire blooming with gentle eruptions of broken melodies. Where do we land now? What are we turning into? An ontological enigma still awaits to be solved.

Mastered by: Inner Lakes @ Tapewave Studio

Stargazing Brooklyn noise-rock cosmonauts Upper Wilds - the power-trio led by Parts & Labor co-founder Dan Friel - return with another set of lean anthems filtered through a flamethrower. Their speediest, most explosive album yet, Mercury, is a meditation on death, with Friel expounding on his brush with skin cancer, climate change, funerals, Henry Kissinger, and a world seemingly on fire. Buoyed by recent tours with acts like Pelican, Uniform, Psychic Graveyard and Savak, the trio"s increased speed is met with a precision that gives every hairpin turn more wallop. Upper Wilds" space-rock adventures through their recent albums Mars, Venus, & Jupiter came replete with stories of the heavens and humanity alike. On this fourth installment, the closest planet to the sun, things take a darker turn. The small, barren planet Mercury was named after the gods" speedy messenger and guide to the underworld, and the album syphons Upper Wilds" fuzz-pop aesthetics into concise, scorched anthems about the brevity and fragility of life with the ferocity of a band playing on the edge of extinction.

What is Buck? Buck is a state of mind, a way of life, a demeanor that gets you through the good times and the bad. If you ask Brainstory, It is also the energy that permeates their debut album. Kevin, Tony, and Eric are a trio of brothers bounded by blood, fate, and a small town with nothing to do. Their story begins in the long lost lands of the San Bernardino Valley, in the twilight zone known as Rialto, California: An arid wasteland of boredom and empty lots. Through punk rock and skateboarding they found temporary liberation from the local monotony. However, it wouldn't be long before a hunger for more led them to explore musical realms beyond that of the hardcore punk they admired. After stints at music school and steady disappointment trying to navigate their local jazz scene they moved to Los Angeles and Brainstory was born. Through a introduction from Chicano Batman's bassist, Brainstory caught the ears of Big Crown head honchos Danny Akalepse and Leon Michels. Shortly thereafter they were on their way to Queens, to record at The Legendary Diamond Mine with Michels at the helm. An instant chemistry yielded 10 songs in 10 days and now Brainstory has gifted the world with one hell of an introduction to all things Buck. Highlights include the sublime slow burner, "Dead End" which was the A-side to their first 45 on Big Crown that sold out in a matter of days. With Kevin's sublime falsetto floating atop Tony and Eric's unflappable and unmistakable backbeat, this tune has become a favorite with the ballad heads, the low-riders, and the slowie collectors. "Breathe" showcases another side of their sound taking a page out of the Shuggie Otis playbook and flipping the script with some stoned out west coast swag. Kev and Tony's father, Big Tone, an accomplished performer himself, steps in on "Peter Pan" to sing lead vocals over a chorus of friends and family. Bassist extraordinaire, Tony, takes over lead vocal duties on "Sorry", a smoked out, G Funk groove that is just waiting to be sampled. These guys have come a long way from their self released EPs and opening tours with Chicano Batman. Their musical growth is undeniable, and taking their California sunshine vibes and mixing them with Michels' NYC aesthetic has proven to be an amazing combination. It's a debut record that pulls influences from so many genres seamlessly it's hard to nail down. Call it Funk, call it Rock, call it Soul, but over here at Big Crown HQ, we've decided to call it BUCK.

Big Crown Records is proud to present the debut full length offering from Les Imprimés, Rêverie. The stirring and ethereal sounds of Les Imprimés have been making fans of anyone who hears them since their first 7" single hit the speakers. Morten Martens is the man behind the band. Born, raised, and working in Kristiansand, Norway, he keeps a low prole while making his heart felt, highly infectious, and unique music. This album is a long time coming for Martens and it is sure to make him a name to be reckoned with. The first thing you notice listening to Les Imprimés is the high level of musician-ship. Martens plays nearly every instrument on the recordings and handles the production and arranging. He has been making records for decades, winning a Spellemann Award (aka, the Norwegian Grammy) in 2006 for producing a HipHop album as well as getting nominations across three other genres. While awards and accolades speak to the level of his talent, this new album really shows who he is an artist on his own terms. Moving away from being a hired gun on the touring scene naturally led him to start doing more studio work. Slowly collecting gear and getting more experi-ence behind the boards he built his own studio on the island of Odderoya and was making a living playing with and recording other people's music. As the story goes, after those sessions would end he would work on his own project into the wee hours of the night. From these late night sessions, Les Imprimés was born and Rêverie began to take shape. However, "it wasn't until COVID, when things locked down, that I was really able to nd the time to focus on Les Imprimés" Morten says about creating and leading his own solo project. "It was a scary time. But I knew I had to do something with it." He took the sum of his inuences, combined them with his own vibe and got busy writing the music, playing the instruments, and singing the songs. "It's soul music, but I don't exactly have the soul voice," Morten explains humbly. "But I do it my own way, in a way that's mine. "It is his sound, his fingerprint, his sensibility, that makes his music hard to put in a box. The album showcases both Martens' range and his ability to make a cohesive album. The lead single "Falling Away" starts with a raw drum break and turns into a lushly arranged tune that paints the picture of love when it slips away. On "Still Here" he professes his resilience through life's twists and turns over a thundering track that puts a new spin on the B side ballad genre. Songs like "You" and "Our Love" mix tones from 60s and 70s Soul with arrangement nods to Doo Wop records while Martens' lyrics and delivery leave you singing the melodies long after they finish. "Love & Flowers" finds Martens in a moment of clarity with a song that ts the niche sub genre of happy break up tunes, the four on the floor track will move the dancefloor or while the message will resonate with anyone who put too much effort into the wrong situation in their lives. However, it is songs like "Muse" and "Chess" that really encapsulate the uniqueness of Les Imprimés as they push the boundaries of genre, one a profession of love for music and the other a cover of an electronic record respectively. Martens' lyrics, emotion, and delivery truly make the whole thing come together and stand out from any of his peers. There's an infectiousness and a pop sensibility in the writing that is done with the utmost class and taste giving Les Imprimés the rare quality of immediate attraction that only deepens the more you listen.

This Summer has never looked so bleak. Along with news of the album, Kulk have also released their new video single 'An Endless Kife': "An Endless Knife is about growing up. When we're younger, sometimes it feels like we're invincible. Like everyone we know and love are constant parts of the universe. When that reality is shattered, it changes how we see the world. You come to realise we are all just a couple of bad days from the worst. At the same time, it feels devastating. It reminds us to look after each other" - Kulk The band have toured across the UK extensively the past few years, playing amongst bands such as Part Chimp, Hey Colossus, Crowbar, Melt Banana, Iress, Big Brave, Gnoomes, Conan and Portrayal of Guilt... to name a few! They have toured twice with PigsX7, including shows at Electric Ballroom (London) and Rock City (Nottingham) and have appeared at the renowned UK festivals Arctangent and Desertfest

White Vinyl Repress

With his new EP Music Always Helps, DJ Jauche once again delivers the finest deep house with soul, a 3-track EP that sums up his unmistakable mix of soul, groove and depth. Three tracks full of groove, warmth and feeling - including an exclusive remix by Shaka that takes the sound to a new level. A must-have for lovers of timeless club music and true vinyl fans.

T-Spoon is a Dutch Eurodance project founded in 1991 by rapper Shalamon Baskin (known as Shamrock) and producer Remy de Groot (known as Prince Peration). They had multiple hits in the UK, Australia, Canada, Israel, Ireland, Scandinavia, South America, and, of course, their home country, the Netherlands.

The group released its debut single, “No Time To Waste,” in 1993, which became a European top‑10 hit. In the years that followed, T‑Spoon scored a series of international successes with tracks such as “A Part of My Life,” “Where R U Now" and “Take Me 2 the Limit.”

In 1997, they became known for the summer hit "Sex on the Beach" which reached the charts in the Netherlands as well as Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom.

This brand new Greatest Hits collection is now available on vinyl and features all of T‑Spoon’s biggest successes, plus an exclusive bonus mix of “Sex on the Beach.”

T-Spoon's Greatest Hits is available as a limited edition of 1000 copies on white marble vinyl.

When the CD was issued, this album was Andy's first solo record in 26 years since Mega Shebang in 1980. It was produced by Glyn Johns with Andy's band including Dave Bronze, Henry Spinetti, Rabbit (John Bundrick), Katie Kisoon, Pat Arnold and Carole Kenyon.

Recorded when the band members were barely out of their teens, this 1966 masterpiece captures Los Mockers at their rawest and most inspired. Fueled by obsession, talent, and urgency, the group forged a uniquely South American take on British rhythm & blues - wild, melodic, and timeless more than half a century later. Released at the end of 1966, Los Mockers' debut album stands as one of the defining rock & roll records to emerge from South America in the 1960s. While often compared to The Rolling Stones because of Polo Pereira's unmistakable vocal swagger, the band built a sound of its own: rooted in the bluesier side of the British Invasion, yet rougher, fiercer, and unmistakably rioplatense. Recorded in Buenos Aires under modest technical conditions, the album transformed limitations into creativity. The result is a collection bursting with urgency and inspiration - from swaggering rhythm & blues and explosive rock & roll to infectious pop melodies and unforgettable ballads. More than fifty years after its original release, the album remains as youthful, vibrant, and essential as ever.

One original mix, never before released on vinyl, alongside three brand new remixes from Claptrap Allstars.

Francisco D’Argento may not have been a pioneer of the Italo Disco movement that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but his sun-soaked, refined approach captured the spirit of the era with unmistakable charm.

While D’Argento received critical attention from local press and music journals, his work unfortunately never connected with a wider audience. In later years, his output gradually slowed, and his early recordings slipped into obscurity.

With the support of the D’Argento estate, this forgotten gem has been lovingly restored and remastered from the original ½-inch tape, bringing new life to an overlooked piece of Italian electronic music history.

This release presents the original version, an uptempo, high nrg direct italo cut featuring D’Argento’s own vocals, alongside the voice of his second wife, actress and model Eleanora D’Argento.

Donald Dust delivers a powerful and thumping rework for the A2 the “Squish Mix”, a stretched-out, dubbed-out interpretation built for those late-night, hot and heavy dancefloors.

Dr Valentine takes things into the cosmos with the “Nello Spazio Mix”, slowing the tempo and drifting into hypnotic space.

Closing out the EP, Vanity Project presents a darker Robotalo Remix, stripping away the original’s outer layer and revealing a shadowy, dark-disco driven version.

Buon ascolto!

Great Television unfolds as a loose, emotionally driven narrative about navigating love, identity, and self-destruction against a backdrop of memory, movement, and Southern imagery. It begins with “Sunset Promenade,” where a deep, possibly lifelong bond offers comfort amid internal turmoil, establishing a desire for connection strong enough to withstand a restless mind. This sense of identity expands in “Girls of Atomic City,” where independence and womanhood are celebrated, though tinged with performance and uncertainty.

As the story progresses, songs like “Okeechobee Mud” introduce instability and intensity, portraying relationships that are passionate but corrosive, where love becomes inseparable from pain. “Thiokol Tripwire” honors the lives lost in the 1971 Thiokol Chemical Explosion and those affected in the south Georgia community of Woodbine. “Razorwire Wall” reinforces this devotion to chaotic love, suggesting loyalty even in destructive circumstances. A turning point arrives with “The Easy Kind,” where Cook reflects on attempts at self-repair, acknowledging her contradictions and rejecting simplicity in favor of a more fractured self-understanding. This awareness deepens in “Caldonia and The Love Convoy” and “In Your Veins,” where freedom blurs into recklessness and love takes on addictive qualities, revealing her complicity in cycles of harm. “19th Nervous Breakdown” provides crucial context, tracing her instability back to a turbulent upbringing marked by neglect and emotional disorder. “Feverfew,” leaves the narrative unresolved, as she recognizes her repeated attraction to destructive paths yet continues to follow them. In contrast, the closing track “Lightly” offers a rare glimpse of pure, protective sisterly love. Altogether, the album portrays a cyclical journey of longing, damage, and partial self-awareness, where clarity emerges but transformation remains uncertain.

ome songs are simply too good to leave alone.

Original Gravity Records returns with a fresh take on one of the most enduring songs in Jamaican music as Donnoya Drake breathes new life into "You Don't Love Me (No No No)."

The song's remarkable journey begins with Bo Diddley's 1955 recording "She's Fine, She's Mine," before evolving into Willie Cobbs' blues classic "You Don't Love Me." It was then embraced in Jamaica, where it became a foundation stone of the island's musical heritage through Dawn Penn's original Studio One recording.

Rather than recreating any single version, Donnoya Drake's recording draws together the defining moments in the song's evolution. The unmistakable Bo Diddley-inspired riff, popularised by Willie Cobbs, is reimagined by the horn section, while the middle eight pays tribute to Dawn Penn's original Jamaican arrangement. The result is an infectious ska recording that honours every chapter of the song's evolution while bringing a fresh energy of its own.

On the flip, Prince Alphonso & The Fever present "You Don't Love Me Pt.2", an instrumental version that proved far too good to keep in the vault. Stripping away the vocals allows the arrangement to shine in its own right, creating the kind of infectious ska instrumental that selectors and DJs are always searching for.

Produced by Original Gravity Records founder Neil Anderson, the single continues the label's tradition of creating new recordings inspired by the golden era of Jamaican music—not as museum pieces, but as vibrant records made for today's dancefloors. Respectful of the past while unmistakably original, this is another release that bridges the gap between vintage authenticity and fresh interpretation.