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Jake Muir's latest set of soft-focus, sensual electro-concrète, dissolves X-rated gay sleaze flick soundtracks into a shimmering suite of subdued orchestral flourishes and surreal cosmic psychedelia.

Back in 2020, Muir put together a 90-minute mix for Honey Soundsystem, blending tracks from Kelman Duran, DJ Olive, Daniel Lanois and Terre Thaemlitz with obliquely camp dialog samples from vintage gay porn. The idea was to represent queer sexuality in a looser, more experimental manner, grazing the super-sensory pleasure of the bathhouse experience and the illicit joy of cruising without getting too self-serious while doing it. The mix was so popular that Muir followed it up with a weightless sequel two years later, and began developing the concept into a proper album, using more samples of music and dialogue, eventually performing the piece at the esteemed GRM as part of their FOCUS #4 concerts alongside work by Eliane Radigue, Folke Rabe and Chris Watson.

Bathhouse Blues is split into two side-long pieces that wash and ripple with nervous tension and discreet salaciousness. Opening with a familiar theatre sting, there are echoes here of kosmische and experimental electronics on 'Cruisin’ 87', fashioned into puddles of syrupy, back-room ambience. Occasionally we hear lascivious words thru the fog, men mumbling to each other before sex. "That's beautiful," a voice mutters over a dusky cricket chirp on 'Pipe Dream'. "It is," another replies.

Muir's sonic treatment is suitably explicit, like a 1950s Hollywood jump-cut to a train going into a tunnel; he takes the whole-body, mutual release of queer sex and interprets it with heady gestures, peppering jazzy rhythmic frostings into basins of skewered drone and gurgling synths. His sound is coloured by the pleasure of physical touch, a mussy flux of high frequency scrapes and caresses juxtaposed with woozy, dubbed-out fondles and thrusts. Who said the GRM was buttoned up?

Alex Wilcox drops an expansive eight-tracker for his debut on bbbbbb recors, ‘BANG BANG BANG!’

Alex is a distinctive and quirky DJ/producer and live artist whose unique take on electronic music has welcomed curiosity and intrigue from a wealth of leading talents within techno, electro and leftfield territories.

Fusing his own brand of eclectic club music with a self-described style of DJ sets that come as a ‘genre-less, chaotic whirlwind’, it’s no surprise that his next adventure finds a perfect home on Bjarki’s bbbbbb recors - a label known for entrancing, idiosyncratic future-focused output without limitations from distinctive talents across the globe.

“When I first approached Alex about releasing on bbbbbb, he reminded me, "I sent you those tracks years ago”. I regret overlooking them. That mistake won't happen again. I'm thrilled to include him in the bbbbbb narrative. His music exudes a punk essence and undeniable quality. Alex also has a playful side, which is refreshing. I've grown weary of the prevailing scene. The stereotypical, intense techno DJs are resurfacing, making it even more special to have Alex as part of our label's fresh lineup. His sound aligns seamlessly with the likes of Skrattar, Volruptus, and other artists, solidifying his place within our collective.” - Bjarki.

Entering into the bbbbbb universe stacked with an unconventional eight-track selection of chaotic, fun-fulled and eccentric records built for the dancefloor, through to sonics that could soundtrack even the most unhinged and peculiar of scenarios and situations, Wilcox’s ‘BANG BANG BANG!’ is an exhilarating, endorphin-induced, helter-skelter rush through styles and sounds - showcasing an oddball trip into his mind and welcoming a fun-filled yet impactful selection of productions undeniably at home on the label. As always with bbbbbb, expect the unexpected and enjoy the ride.

Alex Wilcox ‘BANG BANG BANG!’ drops via bbbbbb records on 27th October 2023.

- Rare and Unreleased New Orleans Funk 1968
Tuff City’s Funky Delicacies imprint has issued the 7th volume in its New Orleans Funk series. This edition has a side of vocal tracks and a side of instrumental ones. These tracks have been hard to find and many were CD only bonus tracks on earlier editions of the series now out of print.
Noted guitarist Little Buck Sinegal opens the record with “Little Boy Blue.” This was first issued in 1969 on the Seven B label. Little Buck (as he was credited on the original record) passed in 2019 after a lengthy career dating back to the late 50’s as a session man for Slim Harpo & Lazy Lester. He also was a touring member of various Zydeco legends like Clifton Chenier, Rockin’ Dopsie and Buckwheat Zydeco. Drummer Chuck Conway leads the next track with the Amars, “Get On Up.” Cover feature Deacon John Moore still lives today. “You Don’t Know (How To Turn Me On)” was a 1970 B-side on the Bell label. Brotherhood issued “Suckey Suckey Feeling” as a 2-sided single in 1974. At some point the track was renamed “Sooky Feeling” and we have Part 2 here. Singer and Pianist Tommy Ridgley’s track “Fly In My Pie” was originally issued on our sister imprint Soul-Tay-Shus on The Best of International City compilation as well as a 7” on that imprint in 1968. Lonnie Jones recorded several singles for Jenmark in the early ‘70’s including the B-side “You Got To Do Better” originally released in 1972. Sam Henry of Sam and the Soul Machine closes out the side with “Loving You.” This track was originally a CD-only bonus track on our Po’k Bones and Rice compilation of that group we issued on Funky Delicacies in 2002.
Kicking off the instrumental second side is a recently located master by Anthony Butler and the Invaders covering the Otis Redding classic “Hard To Handle.” A bit of organ Funk here. Larry Jones jams out the “Funky Jaws.” The exact year is unknown, but the J.B.’s label that issued the original record put their releases out primarily from 1974-1976. Tyrone Chestnut’s B-side of 1969’s “The Bump” is called “Bumping.” Hook and Sling piano legend Eddie Bo has two appearances. The first is the second part of the “Getting To The Middle” single that came out on Bo-Sound in 1970. Louisiana Purchase have “Accept What You Expect” before they moved from New Orleans to Detroit. The Scram Band that backed vocalist Mary Jane Hooper on her “Don’t Change Nothin’” single are here in an instrumental version of that song. The album closes with a 5-minute combined version of Eddie Bo’s “If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)” single, issued in 1969 on Scram.
Overall, this album contains 14 previously hard-to-find tracks that would take hundreds if not thousands of dollars to track down the original singles on the used market. These tracks have been recently remastered, including tracks that were issued as CD bonus tracks on earlier volumes.

Wonderwheel is proud to present a 7" taken from Nickodemus' 2023 "Soul & Science" album. The A side finds album cut and future Bollywood club jam "Falu" taking center stage. On the track, Nickodemus called upon Grammy Award winning Indian- American singer songwriter Falu Shah for a new direction. Over an electronic 4 to the floor arpeggiating synth groove, Falu sings about in Hindi about bowing down and respecting Devi (Shakti) Goddess and surrendering to her majestic force that runs this universe & Mother Earth. On the flip side is the instrumental for "The Shadow Thief" (originally featuring Alsarah) with its driving drums, synth bassline and dissonant horns. A perfect 7" to get the party moving.

Unnion takes off with its first EP featuring a compilation of four spanish artists with different styles and a unique common thread, living up to the platform's name.
The album kicks off with Tadeo's offering, titled "The Second Part", where we can immediately hear the artist's personal touch: a lot of funk, solid sounds, and attention-grabbing elements that go straight to the dance floor.
The second track comes from Unkle Fon, titled "Eltzegor." It's a soaring journey towards a climax filled with synthetic sounds and hypnotic developments that create a unique sense of motion.
Moving on to the third track, we have the contribution of Not A Headliner, titled "Cricket Circus." It features an atonal sensation accompanied by a groovy rhythm in which the interplay of sounds transcends the norm.
Closing the album is Irazu's proposal, titled "Quietly," which presents itself as a singular, monolithic, and raw option, overwhelming like a locomotive and ready to crush any obstacle that dares to stand in its way."

This third release from Rubi Records sees Ashley Tindall—aka Skeptical—stepping out of his usual drum and bass territory and slowing things down with three seriously deep dub-infused bass tracks in the 140-150bpm realm. While not the first time Skeptical has dipped his toes in such waters, these are easily among the finest, most musically mature examples to date. For those drum & bass fans out there unsure about Skeptical branching out into other genres, this EP shows that an open mind and listening without prejudice will reward your ears.

First up is the utterly dub-soaked 75/150bpm track 'Tell Me'. This solid stoner groove takes clear elements of Skeptical's more dub-orientated D&B and adds mesmeric pads and soulful vocal hooks, making it one of the deepest head-nodders in his overall catalogue. This is more a refined track for the 'listener' than for the dance floor, and while you can still easily throw some shapes to it, it's great to just immerse yourself in as a purely audio experience.

Next is the 140bpm 'Tapestry', which is somewhat the darker twin of 'Tell Me'. Again, we have a slow dub-infused head-nodder, but this time more menacing in tone thanks to the finely-judged use of some moody sound modules that Skeptical has tweaked and twisted in his inimitable fashion. This one's the audio equivalent of a restless mind in the depth of night.

The final offering is another 140bpm track – the unsettling beast 'Atomic v1'. It begins with a slow-burn build up of an off-kilter metronomic beat, subtly growling bass and haunting strings. This, in turn, gives way to a distorted rendering of Oppenheimer's famous use of 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds' from the Bhagavad Gita, before becoming a sinister slow-motion dubstep rumbler. With its dragging beat and the purposefully off-point main sonic hook running over the top, this is a disorientating and unsettling weapon for the discerning DJ.

This EP continues the fresh direction of Rubi Records, showcasing exceptional, forward-thinking music without borders.

Support: Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Gilles Pererson, dBridge, Break, DLR, Doc Scott, Mefjus, Kasra, Kings of the Rollers, Alix Perez, Jubei, Dub Phizix, Flight, Tasha, Loxy, Randall, Lens.

Radio Support: BBC Radio 6 Music, Rinse FM, Kool FM

Breaking Teeth (3rd Single / Will have a music video & Reddit AMA) Breaking Teeth is the 3rd of 4 singles from their new album The Fear Of Letting Go. Tyler Tate (vox) describes this track as the heaviest song on the record and sounds simply - "pissed off". "When I wrote the lyrics I was so fed up with the world & my life in general. Set back after set back, problems around every corner. Living should be simpler but the society we live in prevents that. We should all be pissed about it.” Band will do Reddit AMA & MV Visualizer We're All Left Suffereing (2nd Single / With Album announce) 'We're All Left Suffering' is the second of four singles from Michigan based metalcore band Hollow Front's upcoming album 'The Fear Of Letting Go'. The release follows their 2022 album ‘The Price Of Dreaming’ (#9 Current Hard Music Albums, #35 Current Digital Albums, #42 Independent, # 48 Current Rock Albums) which received praise from New Noise “a blistering and bruising experience, evoking myriad emotions and conveying a heady and moving blend of euphoria and despair.” and RockNLoad “Hollow Front has dropped nothing short of a phenomenal album with The Price of Dreaming. While the release doesn’t do anything new, it takes an already established formula and polishes it into a perfect shine. If you’re a fan of any of the modern Metalcore titans, you’ll love this release, hopefully as much as I do. Utterly brilliant.” 'We're All Left Suffering' is the first song the band has released since the announce of Dakota Alvarez's departure (former guitarist/singer) and marks the next chapter in the bands journey. The song will be accompanied by a music video and lined up with the announce of their forthcoming record "The Fear Of Letting Go" (Out October 27th). Lead vocalist states “This track is an anthem for the broken spirited. We live in a world riddled with heartache and constant struggle. Whether mentally, physically, or financially; we area collective of human beings doing our best to survive. I think with everything that’s happened in the world over these last three years, things might seem hopeless. It feels like the whole world has gone mad, and we’re all just here suffering along for the ride. It can be incredibly discouraging being a human in today’s social and economic climate. So I think this song is for those people who are sick of dealing with the bullshit life is throwing at them, and just want to truly breathe for once.”

Death metal is the great undead of subgenres: rising, again and again, to take revenge on the living with maximum violence. Servants of the zombie code and masters of old school brutality, Germany’s ENDSEEKER have made their intent to kill again more than apparent over the last nine years. Formed in Hamburg in 2014, the quintet have swiftly built a reputation as one of European death metal’s most dynamic wrecking crews. From the aspirational evisceration of first full-length Flesh Hammer Prophecy, to Metal Blade debut The Harvest in 2019, and the widely acclaimed Mount Carcass two years later, Endseeker have cooked up such a formidable formula that their rise to glory seems almost inevitable. But like everyone else, they were stopped in their tracks by the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. As that global horrorshow fades in the rear-view, Endseeker are poised to return with their most crushing and charismatic album to date: Global Worming Death metal is a serious business and Global Worming is Endseeker’s most focused and sophisticated offering to date. Nonetheless, there is always room in the underground sewers for a brain-eating monster or two, and fans of zombie-centric death metal will be more than satisfied with the new album’s brilliant, bloody contents. Consumed in its belligerent entirety, Global Worming soon emits the acrid stench of a future classic. Endseeker have stayed true to their deathly roots, while also writing some of the most imaginative songs in their history. Supremely catchy but as brutal and ugly as the arcane gods demand, Global Worming promises to burrow under the world’s skin with maximum force.

AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON VINYL! 25-plus years and thousands of fan requests later, Over the Rhine’s Christmas classic, The Darkest Night of the Year, finally gets the vinyl treatment it
has long deserved. The Darkest Night of the Year is Over the Rhine’s first holiday release and quietly helped re-define the genre for many listeners. It should be filed squarely in the “Now-for-something-a-little-different” file. It includes dark ambient arrangements of classic carols as well as strange and wonderful originals. We are told that in-store holiday airplay always generates keen interest for this after-midnight, deeply-layered record. The very first national review the album
received contained the opening salvo: Take a deep breath. Relax. Over the Rhine’s The Darkest Night of the Year is the Christmas disc of the year and destined to become a classic. Curl up with someone
you love, or enjoy some quiet time alone, The Darkest Night of the Year is the perfect soundtrack…”

Reviews for Over the Rhine’s visionary Christmas Music have continued to pour in over the years with coverage in the New York Times, NPR’s Morning Edition, USA Today, Paste, No Depression and many others. TOURING: Over the Rhine will be supporting the vinyl release of The Darkest Night of the Year with 2023 Christmas concerts currently booked in Chicago, Boston, DC, Philadelphia, Cincinnati (three shows), Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids and Kent, Ohio

Modern highlife luminary Rex Omar has been a force within
the Ghanaian music scene for over 30 years. Now Soundway
presents five of his premier cuts remastered for a new self-titled
EP.

Over his career Rex Omar has evolved the genre, pushing
boundaries and dazzling listeners. A definitive piece of his
repertoire comes via his Dangerous album: while it was selfproduced and recorded in London circa 1997, upon CD
release it saw success mainly within his homeland of Ghana.

An irresistible blend of street-soul-come-highlife, with elements
of bouncing 90s RnB/hip-hop, it was developed with help
from Ibibio Sound Machine’s Kari Bannerman and prolific
Jamaican producer Bill Campbell. From this album rising
London producer and DJ Aroop Roy revisits the four-to-the-floor
excursion ‘Dada’, repurposing for today’s dancefloor with the
addition of fizzing synth chords and stabs.

While Omar regularly raps on his earlier works, on ‘Kele
Ngele’ (taken from his 2004 album Ajala) we hear a yearning
melodic vocal over a more laid back RnB beat. This rounds out
the new Rex Omar EP for the discerning listener to experience
the full breadth of his inventive output.

I Talk To Water, the fifth album for Kompakt by Danish producer Kölsch, is the artist’s most personal statement yet. While all the trademarks that make his music so popular and powerful are still present – lush, melodic techno; swooping, trance-like figures; sensuous, shivery texturology – I Talk To Water is also a deep and intimate rapprochement with family and history, a beautiful, finely detailed document of loss and memory, and a tracing of the long, unbroken thread of grief that runs through our lives once we’ve lost those we loved.

The emotional core of I Talk To Water, then, is a cache of recordings by Kölsch’s father, Patrick Reilly, who passed away in 2003 from brain cancer. With time rendered elastic by the pandemic and its associated lockdowns, its sudden, alienating shifts in everyday living, Kölsch found himself reflecting on his father’s passing and ongoing spiritual presence, thinking about how best to memorialise such a significant figure in his own life. Those recordings opened a gateway, of sorts, for Kölsch to move through – a way to bring past and present together and entwine them in a sensitive, poetic manner.

Kölsch’s father was a musician – “touring in the sixties and seventies, in the Middle East especially, he was doing the whole hippy trail, playing guitar, and wrote some songs over the years,” he recalls. “But all in all, he decided to focus on family rather than pursue a musical career.” Reilly kept playing and writing music over the years, though Kölsch hadn’t listened to the material for some time: “I’d never had the guts to listen to it, because I just felt too fragile listening to his voice. It’s such a tough thing to go through.”

During the pandemic, though, Kölsch listened through the fragmented body of work that his father had produced over the years. “I decided I’m gonna finally release my dad’s music twenty years after his passing,” he reflects. “This whole album is about the process of loss, and for me it’s been one of my main driving forces in my musical life, the whole emotional aspect of whatever I’ve done has been based in that feeling that he’s not there anymore.”

Recordings of Reilly appear on three songs across I Talk To Water. His guitars drift pensively across “Grape”, offering a lush thread of melody that Kölsch wraps with clicking, driftwood rhythms and droning, melancholy bass. “Tell Me” is a lovely three-minute art song, a sadly beautiful reflection, minimally adorned with gentle keys and a muted pulse. And on the closing “It Ends Where It Began”, Kölsch lets his father’s acoustic guitar take centre stage for a lament that’s unexpectedly folksy, a guitar soli dream, which Reilly originally recorded in 1996. “He actually recorded it for my first album that never came out,” Kölsch reveals, “and I had it sitting around forever. That is purely him.”

These three imagined collaborations between father and son are poised and delicate. But their relationship also marks the gorgeous music Kölsch has made across the rest of I Talk To Water, from the itchy yet lush “Pet Sound” (titled in tribute to one of Reilly’s favourite albums), the flickering synths and yearning vocal samples that slide through “Khenpo”, the ecstatic shuddering that marks “Only Get Better”, or “Implant”’s slow-motion pans and subtle reveals.

There’s also the title song, where Kölsch is joined by guest Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros), singing a mantra for internal reflection: “I talk to water / Searching for myself / Looking for answers / Oceans of you.” Farrell’s appearance brings another timbre, another spirit to the album, aligning neatly with his recent interest in electronic music. “He was completely taken by this idea of talking to water,” Kölsch says, thinking about the ways we collectively lean towards the natural world as a comfort and a listener, a guide through mourning, a way to map out the terrain of the heart. This mapping is something that Kölsch has proven remarkably adept at through the years; dance music for both body and mind, but also both for the here-and-now, and for the hereafter.

“I Talk To Water”, das fünfte Album des dänischen Produzenten Kölsch für Kompakt, ist zweifellos das persönlichste Statement des Künstlers bislang. Während alle Markenzeichen, die seine Musik so beliebt und kraftvoll machen, immer noch präsent sind – üppige, melodische Techno-Tracks; schwebende, tranceartige Elemente; sinnliche, fiebrige Texturen – ist “I Talk To Water” auch eine tiefe und intime Annäherung an Familie und Geschichte. Es ist ein wunderschönes, fein ausgearbeitetes Dokument des Verlusts und der Erinnerung, und es verfolgt den langen, ungebrochenen Faden der Trauer, der durch unser Leben läuft, sobald wir diejenigen verloren haben, die wir liebten.

Der emotionale Kern von “I Talk To Water” besteht aus Aufnahmen von Kölschs Vater, Patrick Reilly, der 2003 an Hirnkrebs verstarb. Durch die Pandemie und ihre damit verbundenen Lockdowns, die plötzlichen, entfremdenden Veränderungen im Alltag, fand Kölsch sich in Gedanken an den Tod seines Vaters und seine fortwährende spirituelle Präsenz wieder. Er überlegte, wie er eine so bedeutende Figur in seinem eigenen Leben am besten verewigen könnte. Diese Aufnahmen öffneten ihm sozusagen ein Portal, um Vergangenheit und Gegenwart miteinander zu verbinden und sie auf sensible und poetische Weise zu verweben.

Kölschs Vater war Musiker – “er tourte in den sechziger und siebziger Jahren, vor allem im Nahen Osten, auf dem Hippie Trail, spielte Gitarre und schrieb im Laufe der Jahre einige Songs”, erinnert sich Kölsch. “Aber alles in allem entschied er sich, sich auf die Familie zu konzentrieren, anstatt eine musikalische Karriere zu verfolgen.” Reilly spielte und schrieb jedoch im Laufe der Jahre weiterhin Musik, obwohl Kölsch das Material lange Zeit nicht angehört hatte: “Ich hatte nie den Mut, es anzuhören, weil ich mich einfach zu zerbrechlich fühlte, seine Stimme anzuhören. Es ist so schwer, das durchzustehen.”

Während der Pandemie hörte sich Kölsch jedoch durch das fragmentierte Werk, das sein Vater im Laufe der Jahre produziert hatte. “Ich beschloss, die Musik meines Vaters zwanzig Jahre nach seinem Tod endlich zu veröffentlichen”, reflektiert er. “Dieses ganze Album handelt von dem Verlustprozess, welcher für mich generell eine der Hauptantriebskräfte in meinem musikalischen Leben ist. Der ganze emotionale Aspekt von dem, was ich getan habe, basierte auf dem Gefühl, dass er nicht mehr da ist.”

Auf “I Talk To Water” sind Aufnahmen von Reilly in drei Songs zu hören. Seine Gitarren ziehen nachdenklich durch “Grape”, bieten einen üppigen Melodiefaden, den Kölsch mit klickenden, treibenden Rhythmen und dröhnendem, melancholischem Bass umwickelt. “Tell Me” ist ein schönes dreiminütiges Kunstlied, eine traurig-schöne Reflexion, minimal geschmückt mit sanften Tasten und einem gedämpften Puls. Und auf dem Abschlusstrack “It Ends Where It Began” lässt Kölsch die akustische Gitarre seines Vaters im Mittelpunkt stehen, ein überraschend folkiger Klagegesang, den Reilly ursprünglich 1996 aufgenommen hatte. “Er hat es tatsächlich für mein erstes Album aufgenommen, das nie veröffentlicht wurde”, enthüllt Kölsch, “und ich hatte es ewig liegen.”

Diese drei erdachten Kollaborationen zwischen Vater und Sohn sind ausgewogen und zart. Aber ihre Beziehung prägt auch die wunderschöne Musik, die Kölsch im Rest von “I Talk To Water” geschaffen hat, angefangen bei dem nervösen, aber üppigen “Pet Sound” (benannt als Hommage an eines von Reillys Lieblingsalben), den flimmernden Synthesizern und sehnsüchtigen Vocal-Samples in “Khenpo”, den ekstatischen Erschütterungen in “Only Get Better” oder den langsamen Schwenks und subtilen Enthüllungen in “Implant”.

Es gibt auch den Titelsong, in dem Kölsch von Gast Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros) begleitet wird, der ein Mantra für die innere Reflexion singt: “I talk to water / Searching for myself / Looking for answers / Oceans of you.” Farrells Auftritt bringt eine weitere Klangfarbe, einen weiteren Geist in das Album, der gut zu seinem jüngsten Interesse an elektronischer Musik passt. “Er war völlig fasziniert von der Idee, mit Wasser zu sprechen”, sagt Kölsch und denkt darüber nach, wie wir kollektiv zur Natur als Trost, Zuhörer, Führer durch die Trauer neigen, um die Gelände des Herzens zu kartieren. Diese Kartierung ist etwas, in dem Kölsch im Laufe der Jahre erstaunlich geschickt war; Tanzmusik für Körper und Geist, sowohl für das Hier und Jetzt, als auch für das Leben danach.

In March of 2020, after learning that a dear friend’s life was coming to an end, Johansing sat down and in one sitting wrote the song “Daffodils”. An elegiac tribute to someone facing death with grace and curiosity, the lyrics confront Johansing’s own mortality by observing the brief lifespan of a Hlower. Only a week later when the world came to an abrupt standstill, she soon found herself processing this recent loss while trying to make sense of a new global reality. Across the ensuing months, Johansing found herself increasingly untethered by a world of isolation and political upheaval.

Having been a frequent touring member of bands like Hand Habits and Fruit Bats, and often being called into the studio to lend her harmonies and multi-instrumental talents to records, Johansing’s phone no longer rang. Living in Los Angeles she feared her musical community was vanishing, as friends and collaborators continually announced they were leaving the city. It was in returning to her piano nightly that she found the greatest solace, feverishly writing the songs that would be collected on her next album. Resulting from this new sense of time and focus was a deepening of her songwriting. As Johansing recalls, “I felt like a metamorphosis happened during that time. There was a lot of personal growth and healing.”

Throughout Year Away Johansing traverses uncharted emotional landscapes brought upon by the changes occurring all around her. The forced self-reflection of the moment is aptly captured by “Old Friend”, featuring an aching melody and swooning production that recalls the best of Harry Nilsson. The epic piano and saxophone-driven “Smile with My Eyes” addresses the loss of community as friends became distant and political divides between family grew. On “Smile” Johansing pushes her vocals further than ever, expanding her range and using her peerless voice as the singular instrument it is. Facing the loss of a family home due to environmental destruction, “Shifting Sands” is marked by soaring Hlutes, Hield recordings and glassy synthesizers that nod to Japanese New Age.

“Daffodils”, the stunning album centerpiece, is built from a pastiche of looping samples, swirling Mellotron and dazzling vibraphone. “Keep your heart open wide, you never know your time / Keep your heart wild, true Hlower child”, Johansing sings as she says goodbye to an elder, while the band reaches a grief-stricken crescendo of woodwinds and chiming bells. On the title track, Johansing takes listeners on an eerily meditative journey of collective experiences. “I wanted to keep the progression simple and repetitive so that musically we could add new elements little by little, while the emotional tone of the lyrics becomes increasingly more strained and expressive”. The song grows to a fever pitch as Johansing sings higher than she thought possible; the tension of the repeating chords Hinally resolving into a hopeful coda as multiple soloists weave around each other.

Amidst heavier themes, Johansing still leaves room for her love of irresistible pop melodies and lush production. The driving “Last Drop” and mid-tempo “Valley Green” are two of her catchiest songs to date. On the former Johansing sings the anthemic chorus, “As if it were the last drop, and nothing ever lasts forever / As if it were the last stop, too far out to come back ever”, longing for a love that she’ll never take for granted, while also admitting that she doesn’t always know how good she has it. “Valley Green” features shimmering layers of 12- string guitars, stacked horns and an impeccable solo by co-producer and multi- instrumentalist Tim Ramsey (Vetiver, Fruit Bats), hinting at a love for bands like NRBQ.

Having been eager to capture the initial spark of songwriting, Johansing booked time at Highland Park’s 64 Sound Studio the week that it reopened. Over the course of three days, she and her band gathered basic tracks for 10 songs, before returning home to Hinish the record with Ramsey. Setting forth to make an album that paid homage to the music that kept them company during the months spent alone together, the duo pulled inspiration from a wide net including Burt Bacharach, John Carroll Kirby & Haruomi Hosono. Ramsey’s newfound love of early digital synthesizers dovetailed effortlessly with Johansing’s fondness for classic 70’s horn and string arrangements, creating a sound that is distinctly modern yet warm and familiar.

Once again Johansing called upon some of the Hinest players of Northeast Los Angeles’ vibrant music community to lend a hand with the record. The 70s R&B-folk of “Watch It Like a Show” features an electric guitar solo from Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, while album closer “Endless Sound” boasts backing vocals from electronic musician Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and swooping Indian-inspired violins from Amir Yaghmai (HAIM, The Voidz). The record shines brightly thanks to an ace mix from veteran producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Cat Power), woodwinds from Logan Hone (John Carroll Kirby, Eddie Chacon), and a featured rhythm section of drummer Josh Adams (Jenny Lewis, Bedouine) and bassist Todd Dahlhoff (Feist, Devendra Banhart). Recorded across multiple studios including LA’s famed Sunset Sound, the album remains steadfastly buoyed by the adept engineering of Tyler Karmen (MGMT, Alvvays).

Though born of turbulent times, Year Away is ultimately interested in moving forward. The album ends with “Endless Sound,” where Johansing laments seismic global changes, (“The water is hotter, the mighty thaw / The current’s reversing, the last are lost”) but vows to keep going (“No storm can take me down / Endless light, endless sound”). It’s Year Away’s resilience that shines through despite the darkness. It’s a sound all her own and Johansing’s most cohesive set of songs yet.

Part Time Signals is the new project formed by Sock vocalist and guitarist Jacob Church. The band came together initially by taking demo ideas written by Jacob. When introduced to a live band setting they grew into the form they take on this record. Part Time Signals features the talents of Sam Barnes (bass), Gavin Jenkins (drums) and Michael Blanchfield (keys).
All songs on the album were tracked one hot day in August 2022 at Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff, followed by a few days recording additional overdubs. The album was mixed by Sam Barnes and mastered by Eddie Al-Shakarchi.

On 'A Little Longer', Leavy's first major solo artistic statement, she deftly explores nostalgia and melancholy over ten tracks that wash over the listener like a gentle ocean tide. Indeed, the record's sound harkens to an era when the SoCal sound dominated the FM dial. Now a resident of Lafayette, LA, this collection of songs was written while Leavy was living in Boston and New York. However, it's clear that growing up on California's central coast was foundational to Leavy's songwriting. Lush mid-1970s production courtesy of Robin MacMillian shows up in the horns on "Cigarettes and Coffee" or the pedal steel on "I Have Been Trying."

Expansive vocal harmonies permeate "Please Don't Ask Me To Be Friends" or "I Won't Be Dreaming Anymore" which reference everything from Motown to The Beach Boys. Experienced as a whole, 'A Little Longer' is startlingly cohesive and masterful in tone and writing. Take note because this young artist has arrived as a songwriting force.

Videos for the two singles to follow

Infernal Sounds bring their digital series to life with this spicy VA compilation, snipping four of the standout tracks from their first four EP's. The VA presents tracks from all over the world, spanning from Japan to the US, back home to Bristol and bouncing to Barcelona. Karnage, 'Spirit Bomb' kicks things off by slicing and dicing you with mid-range blades and tearing you apart with the heavy trap-style low-end ruckus. Switching things up completely on the A2 is Kodama with the wonderful 'Clear Your Head', entangling you in the beautiful melodies and uplifting mainframe, before Chief Kaya spins you all the way back to '06 on 'Ma'at'. The track brings about an essence of the old-school and a premium beat that you need to feel on a soundsystem. Finally, Khanum drops you in with and takes you under with 'Bun Politician', a strong message for the times, and a forceful track at that.

The tracks on this EP have had heavy support from the likes of Truth, N-type, BunZer0, Sicaria Sound, Deep Tempo, Hamdi and many more.

Paisley Park Enterprises, in Partnership with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Records, announces expanded reissue of Prince & the New Power Generation’s multi-platinum album Diamonds And Pearls. This 12LP+ Blu-ray features 47 previously unreleased tracks and over two hours of live filmed concert footage in high definition.

Following the successful release of the 1999 Super Deluxe Edition (2019), and Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition (2020), the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition represents the third deep dive into Prince’s vault. It includes a total of 75 audio tracks across 7x CDs and 12x 180g vinyl records.

The set offers a newly remastered version of the album, plus 15 of the incredible remixes and B-sides from the era, including the never commercially released “Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Min.)” mix. The Super Deluxe Edition also features 33 previously unheard studio gems from Prince’s Illustrious vault, ranging from alternate versions of album tracks to numbers Prince gave away to other artists, and songs recorded while on the road in 1990.

Prince & The NPG previewed the Diamonds And Pearls Tour at Prince’s Minneapolis club, Glam Slam, on January 11, 1992. The sweaty, sold-out, last-minute show captures the sheer joy and sense of endless possibility that came to define this era. This previously unreleased live concert performance has been mixed from the 24-track master and rounds out the audio content of this 12LP set.
This same previously unreleased concert is also presented in stunning 2K video on the Blu-ray disc that accompanies both Super Deluxe Edition formats, in Stereo, 5.1 Dolby True HD, and Dolby ATMOS audio formats. The Blu-ray also features Prince & The New Power Generation’s performance at The Special Olympics at the Metrodome in Minneapolis in July 1991 (also in Stereo, 5.1, and ATMOS), as well as a previously unseen soundcheck.

The Blu-ray is completed by the long out of print Diamonds And Pearls Video Collection, originally released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1993. The 120-page hardback book which accompanies the SDE set features unseen photos by Randee St. Nicholas, and essays by: author & broadcaster Andrea Swensson; Archivist and Senior Researcher for the Prince Estate Duane Tudahl; British music critic and Prince expert Jason Draper; De Angela L. Duff, an Industry Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn; Social Media Personality KaNisa Williams; and an introduction from Public Enemy founder, Chuck D.

British Sky Empire is back with their second album "The Shifting Tectonic Plates of Power - Part One". This time has Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Talisman, Journey) taken over the position as vocalist, and he is doing a fantastic job. The album will surely appeal to fans of both 70´s, 80´s and 90´s eras of progressive heavy rock/metal, but also to the fans of the new age spotless equilibrism of prog-artists, like Tesseract, Haken or Vola.

Sound Like: Dream Theater, Threshold, Kings X, Rush

Death metal is the great undead of subgenres: rising, again and again, to take revenge on the living with maximum violence. Servants of the zombie code and masters of old school brutality, Germany’s ENDSEEKER have made their intent to kill again more than apparent over the last nine years. Formed in Hamburg in 2014, the quintet have swiftly built a reputation as one of European death metal’s most dynamic wrecking crews. From the aspirational evisceration of first full-length Flesh Hammer Prophecy, to Metal Blade debut The Harvest in 2019, and the widely acclaimed Mount Carcass two years later, Endseeker have cooked up such a formidable formula that their rise to glory seems almost inevitable. But like everyone else, they were stopped in their tracks by the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. As that global horrorshow fades in the rear-view, Endseeker are poised to return with their most crushing and charismatic album to date: Global Worming Death metal is a serious business and Global Worming is Endseeker’s most focused and sophisticated offering to date. Nonetheless, there is always room in the underground sewers for a brain-eating monster or two, and fans of zombie-centric death metal will be more than satisfied with the new album’s brilliant, bloody contents. Consumed in its belligerent entirety, Global Worming soon emits the acrid stench of a future classic. Endseeker have stayed true to their deathly roots, while also writing some of the most imaginative songs in their history. Supremely catchy but as brutal and ugly as the arcane gods demand, Global Worming promises to burrow under the world’s skin with maximum force.

This two-time Grammy nominee’s career has taken Cidny from singing back-up on tour with Elton John, working with Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, and singing three lead vocals on the “Grease” movie
soundtrack to having nine critically acclaimed solo albums, including the award winning Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth. Cid’s friends on the albums include friends Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda
Williams, Steve Earle, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Delbert McClinton, and Sir Elton John himself.

Cidny has also co-written many Country songs in Nashville, including Radney Foster’s hit “Hammer and Nails”. Since 2007, Cidny has been one-third of “super-group”, The Refugees with Wendy Waldman and Deborah Holland. In 2011, Cidny made the difficult and daunting decision to start transitioning from female to male, from Cindy to Cidny. He has written and has been performing his one-person theatrical show Somewhere Between: Not An Ordinary Life all over the U.S. An award-winning documentary short about his life called The Gender Line screened at major film festivals around the world from 2019-2022. Cid will be releasing his first album as “Cidny Bullens” Little Pieces in the fall of 2023. Cid’s memoir, TransElectric: My Life as a Cosmic Rock Star, with foreword by Sir Elton John was released on June 6, 2023, and is now available for purchase at all major bookstore sites.

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AhGeeBe is the stage name of Welsh songwriter, pedal-steel player and general all-round multi- instrumentalist, Rhodri Gwyn Brooks. Through the past decade performing and recording with various artists (Melin Melyn, Gia Margaret, Novo Amor, Georgia Ruth & Ivan Moult to name a few), Rhodri has drawn on inspiration from artists such as George Harrison, Wilco and Neil Young, to produce his distinct brand of country Americana.
Through Bubblewrap, Rhodri has released lo-fi home
recordings and a couple of EP’s under his own name, as well as a Welsh Music Prize nominated album ‘Pontvane’, alongside Eugene Capper. Now, a decade in the making, AhGeeBe’s debut album ‘Chin Up, Chief‘ drops on November 3rd, through Bubblewrap Collective.
Rhodri shares some of his thoughts and processes...
Over the years I’ve come to realise that I much prefer playing for other artists, and collaborating with people, more than writing and releasing my own music with all the ffaff and headspace it takes up. But here we are.
The name of the record comes from a line in TV show Fargo, where police officer Molly tries to cheer up the police Chief. It stuck with me and seemed all too fitting a title for the songs as a whole.
Musically I wanted to make an album with all the sounds and feel I really love from artists like George Harrison, Wilco, Neil Young etc with piano and acoustic guitar, interupted by spikey electric guitars or mad fuzz solos with a solid slight funk to the rhythm section - my attempt to sound like a David Axelrod record. I got a pedal steel guitar around 3 years ago so there’s a veriety of bottleneck slide, lapsteel, and pedal steel guitar on the record. And then on the flip side, have moments of calm and sparsity, with room to woozily meander around.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jonny Cash"s demise, listen to this double vinyl gathering all the greatest songs by the man in black ! Including : "Folsom Prison Blues", "I walk the line", "Hey Porter"...

Named for the rewind mechanism on the reel to reel tape machine on which the band tracked the album, Auto Locator coils up the chemical trails of ribbon binding old places and head spaces to our consciousness. Static and hiss leach between analog track layers, blurring the normal and paranormal to remind us that no memory is totally separate from a fiction - just like no drum track is totally separate from bass.

Over Auto Locator's ten songs, Del Paxton rip shit like a band entering their second decade of existence. On-the-nose opener "Freight Train Metaphor" throws listeners face first into the band's first album since 2017, with a syncopated pulse and arpeggiating guitar foreshadowing a record replete with punkish, serpentine composition. "Up With a Twist," the album's lead track, deals in Del Paxton's crashing punk vibrance, through which the band explores and laments the uninspired architecture of American sprawl.

Second single "Chart Reader", whose origins trace back to a psychedelic dream inspired by Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music, sees the trio dabbling in emo Americana, even featuring a nod to John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Such unashamed references abound throughout Auto Locator, which takes further inspiration from bands like Mock Orange, Third Eye Blind, and Jimmy Eat World, all of whose influence can be heard on "Palpitations" and third single "Spiritual Gymnastics."

Midnight EP brings another four heavyweight cuts from the London based Club of Jacks production duo showcasing their varied sound. 'Midnight' opens up with deep, haunting chords and a lush reworked vocal laid over a smoky 2 step beat. 'Let It Ride' brings the 4x4 house vibe, mixing infectious synths, catchy lyrics and a rolling bass groove. On the flip, 'Remember This' digs into the garage house sound, infusing jazzy organ chords and solos with skippy drums and tasty vocal chops. To finish off, 'Smokers Dub'' takes us into a darker, speed garage inspired vibe, with weighty bass and dub reggae flavour.

Polish jazz rebels sneaky jesus are back with their second studio album For Chaching Taphed.The highly imaginative quartet out of Wroclaw comprising Maciej Forreiter (Guitar), Matylda Gerber (Saxophones), Ben Łasiewick i(Bass) and Filip Baczyński (Drums) have won fans around the world for their restless, quirky brand of jazz which takes in breakbeats, twisting chord progressions and improvisation as well as a wealth of musical influences.

The band have been touring their asses off ever since they surprised the world with their debut album For Joseph Riddle in 2021. From out of nowhere their debut LP of 500 copies sold out in a month and they quickly went on to sell close to 1,000 CDs of the album. Fast-forward to 2023 and the band are sharing stages with artists such as Ill Considered and Theon Cross.

For Chaching Taphed was created in complete isolation. The group locked itself in a barn at the Museum of Agricultural Technology in Piotrowice Świdnickie. It worked on its sophomore output surrounded by machinery, trucks and carriages. These new compositions mirror the abstract conversations which the group frequently has just for fun. Contrary to For Joseph Riddle, this album is simple and does not rely on ongoing grooves. This enabled the group to be much more experimental. The band was joined by friends Flautist Mariya Mavko on Piękno Niemożliwe (Impossible Beauty) and her playing is sampled in Hipotetyczny Taras (Hypothetical Terrace). Pięciu Pszczelarzy (Five Beekeepers) closes the album featuring EABS' Jakub Kurek on trumpet. His fiery solo is one of the most intense moments of the album.

Spacer Po Nadodrzu (A walk around Nadodrze) opens the album and is inspired by one of the districts of Wrocław. It is a sonic story depicting a walk through Nadodrze late at night. A steady bass rhythm imitates a careful pace and the responding sax line is a spooky theme that might pop to oneʼs head in a moment of uncertainty.

The album's first single Krztusiec (Whooping Cough) finds the group diving head first into their most recent influences. The trackstarts with drum improvisation, rolling into a solid hip-hop backbeat provided by Ben Łasiewicki on Bass and Drummer Filip Baczyński. Sax and Guitar weave steady but dissonant lines, written by Maciej Forreiter after many hours spent listening to the Ethiopian jazz greats. The track takes off right after that. Matylda Gerber delivers a fiery Sax solo, while the group picks up the tempo and quickens the groove. The essence is the middle section, a dubby collective improvisation. Forreiter, Gerber and Baczyński take turns playing both classic dub phrases and fierce avant grade lines. Łasiewicki keeps everybody in check with a steady bassline. The energy slows down until Baczyński's drum solo, which explores phrasing detached from the rest of the tune.

Second single Chiński Sprzedawca Smażonych Kasztanów (Chinese roasted chestnut seller) is a fusion of breakbeats, energized songo rhythms and motifs inspired by South African melodies. Presenting the group with spacious and rhythmic horn lines, guitarist Maciej Forreiter wrote a chord progression while Beniamin Łasiewicki and Filip Baczyński took care of the rhythm section. This first part of the track suddenly drops out and explodes into the dramatic main motif which includes double sax and fierce guitar playing in harmony, plus the rhythm section playing more and more jungle-esque. Powerful guitar and sax solos feature before we return to the main theme with a completely different rhythmic backdrop.

W Klatce z Bykiem (In a cage with a Bull), starts like a race. The music plays with an incredible nerve and when the theme is right on edge it suddenly stops. It is followed by an animalistic growl on the saxophone and a doom metal-esque bash of downtuned, distorted guitars and heavy drums. In this heavy fashion it slowly approaches the finishing line hitting one final metallic clang.

Piękno Niemożliwe (Impossible Beauty) features wonderful flute playing of Mariya Mavko (Kadabra Dyskety Kusaje). Her work in the opening motif evokes sounds of Polish and Ukrainian folklore. This brief mellow moment serves as a contrast to the usual frantic sounds of sneaky jesus. It is an appreciation of thepolish jazz music of the past, intrinsically-linked to folklore. The band took this idea and reworked it into their own unique style.

Hipotetyczny Taras (Hypothetical Terrace) is built on top of a lengthy vamp in an unusual 7/8 time-signature. The bass anchors the quartet in a simple line, while the rest of the quartet share an emotional conversation. This track is the most open of the whole project and it ends accordingly. The final burst is a call back to the basics ofspiritual jazzand the whole band shows every emotion simultaneously and gracefully fades out.

Pięciu Pszczelarzy (Five Beekeepers) is For Chaching Taphed's conclusion and is a non stop assault of heavy horn lines, punk rhythms and noise. The band is joined by the extraordinary trumpeter Jakub Kurek from EABS, who blends in perfectly with sax and guitar. His exchange of solos with Maciej Forreiter is a combination of classic jazz phrasing and discordant clatter. In the same fierce manner the whole group works within the motif, switching up accents and breaks.

In the short space of two years, sneaky jesus has gone from ambitious upstart looking to break out from its home city playing spit and sawdust venues, to touring Europe as well as prestigious Jazz clubs such as Jassmine in Warsaw. In the process, it has delivered two full-length albums that don't stay in lane or pander to established jazz sub-genres as so many groups do. Some artists make the same record twice or even more than that, but not sneaky jesus. For Chaching Taphed shows the band as restless, experimental, fun, irreverent but purposeful as never before.

“A lot of over-hyped improv / jazz projects out there at the moment and Sneaky Jesus are genuinely excellent and out on their own. Drawing on the expansive atmospherics of a barn as the recording's setting, the album immediately pulls you in with the unsettling 'Spacer Po Nadodrzu' and lifts off on 'Krztusiec', effortlessly moving from angular, abrasive jazz to trippy dub and cinematic intrigue. Tempos shift and intensities shift naturally. The whole set warrants a deep listen from start to finish and watch out for two great guest features from flautist Mariya Mavko and Jakub Kurek bringing some mad fuzz licks to the boisterous closer. Brilliant album.”
Quinton Scott — Strut Records

Repress!

Last year's release of "The Midlands Roots Explosion Volume One", saw the culmination of many years work spent tracking down artists and tapes to shine a light on one of England's greatest, yet most overlooked musical scenes, the home grown take on reggae that briefly flourished from the mid-seventies and had almost disappeared little more than a decade later.

Volume Two starts off in exactly the same way as its predecessor with Handsworth's biggest musical exports, the legendary Steel Pulse and "Bun Dem produced by the legendary Dennis Bovell. Our first act new to the series are Natural Mystique with their 1982 single "Generals" whilst tracks 3, 4 and 5 round off the missing A and B sides from some of the most popular artists we included last time with Iganda's "Mark Of Slavery", Carnastoan's "Sweet Melody" and yet another Generals, this one from Musical Youth featuring the same line up that caused so much surprise and positive feedback with their inclusion on Volume One.

"Africans" from Bass Dance featuring a second appearance from former Steel Pulse guitarist/vocalist Basil Gabbidon, is the first of four previously unreleased tracks. The other three that we've managed to track down on long forgotten tapes, are Leicester's Groundation with "Rebel" recorded a few years before "Fa Ward" which we included last time, "Cannot Take It Away", another lost gem from Handsworth's Mystic Foundation and "Equalisation" another lost slice of early eighties roots from Wolverhampton's Capital Letters.
The late Linton Haughton is another new name with his scarce Shield label 12" cut "Hustling Man". Also making their first appearances, are Afrikan Star with "Run And Hide" originally issued in 1980 on Black Vinyl Records and from the Crucial Music stable, Sledge Hammer with "Ruled By The Stone" released as a 7" single on the Crucial Music Inc. label. The remaining three tracks are provided by label favourites and key players in the Birmingham scene, Black Symbol, Sceptre and Eclipse and showcase songs from the individual albums we've previously released by each band.
British roots reggae at its finest.

Teichmann + Söhne’s »Flows« is not so much the result of a collaborative process as it is a process in itself. Over the course of nine pieces, the Gebrüder Teichmann—Andi and Hannes—and their father Uli repeatedly find common ground between the very different musical styles, sound aesthetics, and subcultural codes they have internalised throughout their lives. The source material out of which the album evolved was culled from several recordings of rehearsal sessions in preparation for the trio’s concerts that took place between the years 2012 and 2022. The three added only a few overdubs to those recordings but edited them rigorously to both preserve and transform the spirit of their unlikely collaboration. The combination of Uli’s background as a versatile jazz artist and multi-instrumentalist with his sons’ penchant for dub techniques, modular synthesis, and live sampling as well as their interest in electronic dance music take on ever-different shapes. »Flows,« released on the occasion of Uli’s 80th birthday, is as joyful, lively and free-spirited as its makers.

It took the three musicians decades to get together to jam. Uli and Lu, the mother of Andi and Hannes, ran the legendary Jazzclub Kneiting between 1978 and 1983 while he also made a name for himself as a musician who, besides jazz, is knowledgeable in a plethora of music styles from all over the world and has an instrument collection to match. Naturally, Andi and Hannes rebelled against this versatility by opting for simplicity. Already as pre-teens, they formed a punk band and once they got a whiff of the burgeoning techno scene, strayed even further from their father’s path. They eventually moved from their native Regensburg to Berlin where they made a name for themselves with a slew of releases on seminal labels like Disko B or Kompakt before starting to more regularly collaborate with musicians from the realms of Contemporary Music, Improv, and Sound Art. Even after Uli had finally contributed some saxophone licks to the brother’s 2011 »They Made Us Do It« LP, it indeed needed someone else to make them do it, i.e. finally get together to reconcile their musical differences in a creative way.

Finding out that the three had never performed together, Yoichi Osaki from Berlin’s iconic Miss Hecker venue, a focal point of the city’s so-called Echtzeitmusik (real-time music) and Improv scene, scheduled them to play their first concert on April 1, 2012. Even though the date was chosen deliberately, things got serious very quickly and this first joint concert proved to be the first of many. It also laid the foundation for »Flows« since the three would start recording their rehearsals. Revisiting the roughly 90 recordings, some of which clock in at a full hour, after ten years of playing with each other then started what Hannes describes as a »form-finding process.« It was a holistic one and involved all three of them, extending also to their choice of cover artwork, a piece created by Lu, who died in 2016 and to whom the album is dedicated. For the collage, she had used photos of the place where it all began, Regensburg, and the river that flows through it, the Danube. This made the piece, coincidentally created around the time Teichmann + Söhne started playing their first concerts together, correlate perfectly with the working process of the three musicians on a visual level.

Similarly, Teichmann + Söhne can be thought of as a human-musical collage. It is a meeting of three different musicians who all have in common that they have occupied alternative spaces and perfected a variety of musical styles and subcultural codes throughout their lives. When those flow into each other, this necessarily creates something that is as unique as the nine tracks collected on this album. While it is mostly Uli who takes the lead on pieces like the appropriately titled »Im Zwischen« (»In the Inbetween«), the brothers respond by live sampling his playing, thus serving as a creative interface between acoustic sounds and electronic responses. This in turn provides a framework in which Uli can improvise on a variety of acoustic instruments like the saxophone and the clarinet as well as a mandolin and glockenspiel or even percussion. This indeed makes their music flow—across different generations, between different musical ideas and genres, into previously uncharted territory.

Repress on green vinyl of GGGOLDDD's fourth album, Why Aren't You Laughing'. The Dutch ensemble marry hypnotic gothic vibes with soulful heavy rock, overlaid with atmospheric, often dream-like vocals. The multi-faceted album is complex in its construction, but by enlisting producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost), each element is given ample room to breathe and indeed shine. GOLD's fourth album, Why Aren't You Laughing?, produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Grave Pleasures). The Dutch ensemble marry hypnotic gothic vibes with soulful heavy rock, overlaid with atmospheric, often dream-like vocals. Available on CD & LP. Recalling the experimentalism of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the dark and sweet beauty of Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses, but firmly rooted in a powerful, yet artsy rock vibe, GOLD have tapped into something truly unique.

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band return with another set of covers bound to get you out of your seat and on your feet. The mysterious German steel pan outfit is working on their fourth studio album now and treat us to another must have two-sider to hold us over while they finish it. This one is sure to become another favorite among DJs worldwide. The A side finds BRSB taking on a huge hit with an eerie cover of Drake's "Hotline Bling". The intro melodica hints at the melody and when the beat drops and the top line plays on the pans all bets are off. The B side is something of a Big Crown family affair as Bacao covers "Murkit Gem" from El Michels Affair's Yeti Season album. The tune lends itself to the pans with its infectious melodies and the way BRSB plays it, it takes on a James Bond spy chase energy that works perfectly. Tracks: A Side. Hotline Bling B Side. Murkit Gem

SAVED! is an apocalyptic revelation on the complex, sometimes ugly, always nonlinear process of healing. Herein, Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter documents an earnest attempt to achieve salvation through the tenets of charismatic Christianity, focusing on the Pentecostal-Holiness Movement, which dictate that one's closeness to God is demonstrated through transcendental personal experience. Sonically and thematically, the record is both a logical conclusion to and a significant departure from Hayter's previous work as Lingua Ignota. Mirroring her personal evolution away from pain, she sheds the moniker that made her successful for its unflinching expression of lived trauma and instead builds herself anew, claiming her full given name, determined to see value within. Musically, while she continues to use historical avant-garde technique and formal constraints superimposed over accessible frameworks, she also strips down her instrumentation and degrades audio to provide a sense of musicological antiquity. Similar to Lingua Ignota, the record is steeped in pathos, but now the wrath of God gives way to His deliverance: "His boundless love shall make you whole."

SAVED! is an apocalyptic revelation on the complex, sometimes ugly, always nonlinear process of healing. Herein, Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter documents an earnest attempt to achieve salvation through the tenets of charismatic Christianity, focusing on the Pentecostal-Holiness Movement, which dictate that one's closeness to God is demonstrated through transcendental personal experience. Sonically and thematically, the record is both a logical conclusion to and a significant departure from Hayter's previous work as Lingua Ignota. Mirroring her personal evolution away from pain, she sheds the moniker that made her successful for its unflinching expression of lived trauma and instead builds herself anew, claiming her full given name, determined to see value within. Musically, while she continues to use historical avant-garde technique and formal constraints superimposed over accessible frameworks, she also strips down her instrumentation and degrades audio to provide a sense of musicological antiquity. Similar to Lingua Ignota, the record is steeped in pathos, but now the wrath of God gives way to His deliverance: "His boundless love shall make you whole."

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s debut album God Fodder is an often overlooked classic in the British shoegaze and alternative rock scene. The album is characterized by the noisy guitars and drum beats. God Fodder was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number 4 in the UK chart and number 91 on the Billboard 200. The college friendly songs can’t be taken too serious, but the sound is immense, mainly by recording the songs with 2 bass guitars. The album was praised by almost every magazine and could be considered one of their best albums.

Available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on silver & black marbled vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Sampha announces the full details of his highly-anticipated, sophomore album LAHAI, out October 20th on Young. Taken from his paternal grandfather’s name, which is also Sampha’s middle name, LAHAI revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesizing the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14-tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha’s closest friends, peers and collaborators including: Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves and Kwake Bass, LAHAI, in contrast to Process, is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. On the album’s latest single “Only,” premiering today via a new music video directed by Dexter Navy in collaboration with Sampha, which follows the recent “Spirit 2.0,” we meet a newly energized Sampha, as he spits melodically over a fragmented hip-hop hued beat with co-production from El Guincho.

Not unlike its maker, LAHAI defies clear categorization. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle and west African music, LAHAI sees Sampha elevating his production and vocal ambition to great new heights. A notable singer, songwriter and producer, it’s no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice plus songwriting and production contributions to their music. His work expands across multiple disciplines, with previous creative partnerships including the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, the Shy Light zine with Durimel (who also shot the LAHAI artwork) his Process film with director Kahlil Joseph, and most recently creative director Jonny Lu, with whom Sampha worked to create the LAHAI album artwork and logo.

If Process, Sampha’s 2017 Mercury-Prize-winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, LAHAI is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself. Welcome to Sampha’s next musical chapter: LAHAI.

Fresh from supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium this summer, Sleaford Mods are getting set for some of their biggest ever UK and Europe dates this autumn with the release of new six track EP, More UK GRIM, on 20 October. Recorded at the same time as their acclaimed 2023 album, UK GRIM, the freshly released songs not only continue Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson's current dancefloor dominance, but with a mix of insight and wit, outrage and compassion, they critique and celebrate our turbulent times.à Lead single Big Pharma, shares a 'take no prisoners' lyrical approach with the band's recent album as it casts a doubtful eye down the 'truther' wormhole, although entwined around a slinky bass riff the track confirms the two-piece at their most dexterous musically. Big Pharma, which sets the tone for the More UK GRIM EP, is accompanied by a sharply satirical animated video directed by Sean Sears, who has applied his distinctive, stylised 2D vision to examining the consequences of a health 'philosophy' that prizes drinking urine over carefully researched medical treatments.à "Big Pharma was written in the opening chapters of autumn 2022 when Covid kicked in again. It carries a lot of the normal Sleaford Mods absurdism but also looks at the ongoing fascination with trying to find truths in information wholly pushed by very questionable people," explains Jason Williamson. Alongside the lead single, the More UK GRIM EP also features Under The Rules, Old Nottz, PO Crazeh and My 18hr Girdle, all previously unavailable.

A captivating work of impressionistic memories, observations and intimate confessions, Ebony wrote her debut self-titled solo album while coming into prominence as an in-demand portrait photographer within New Zealand’s contemporary literature and independent music scenes. The release comes five years after her alt-country band, Eb & Sparrow, amicably parted ways in 2018.

Recorded on vintage analog studio gear and mastered to tape, EBONY LAMB finds Runga and Nielson placing Ebony’s distinct, fragile-but-firm voice within a cinematic confluence of jazz, folk, psychedelia, alt-country and ambient pop. Written over the last five years while coming to terms with the realities of a changing world, themes of gratitude, loss, acceptance and aspiration run through the album like a river, especially in the nocturnal groove of ‘My Daughter My Sister My Son’ and ‘Brother Get Me Home’.

From the album’s opening notes, Ebony expresses herself in non-judgmental terms, singing with a raw tenderness that draws listeners into her reflections on friendship (‘Drive Me Around’), the complexity and contradictions of success (‘Successful Feelings’), and connections in seemingly hopeless moments (‘Come, Put A Record On’). Yet while her songs can feel like she’s sitting just across from you, Runga and Nielson’s production imbues them with an expansive sensibility. Spare, vivid and moving,

EBONY LAMB is an album that captures a defining artistic leap from a talented artist coming into her own. Singing to herself and the listener, she implores us to continue reaching forward without losing sight of what we have and the elements of our lives that truly matter.

Teakup is Lauri Reponen, the Columbus, Ohio DJ, producer and torch-bearer for the city’s proud Techno heritage. Following in the footsteps of Columbus originators, Titonton Duvanté, Archetype and Todd Sines, Teakup has spent the past decade forging a sound of his own via a genre alchemy that embraces genres past and present. Hardcore’s staccato samples and chopped breakbeats, UKG’s crunchy triplet hi hats and mellifluous House melodies combine in novel forms. Titonton’s wonky Tech House takes, Todd Sines’ stripped minimalism and Archetype’s broken rhythmic exploration are more key ingredients in the Teakup stew. This recipe has cooked up a massive cache of unreleased tunes as well as previous 12”s on is / was, Residual, Shut Off Notice and Lauri’s recently-minted TKP imprint.

Compiled from over 200 demos, Signal 23 has Lauri flexing a new level of genre-mastery. The title track explores Spiral Tribe’s ripping, psychedelic Freetekno. ‘Valve’ is cutting-edge rhythm hypnotism. ‘Felopzd’ loops into ecstatic trippy crescendo and ‘Pad Thai Mystic’ takes you on the spiritual voyage of late-night food delivery in middle America. Four modes, four hitters – to warm floors, open hearts or split psyches.

Sampha announces the full details of his highly-anticipated, sophomore album LAHAI, out October 20th on Young. Taken from his paternal grandfather’s name, which is also Sampha’s middle name, LAHAI revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesizing the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14-tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha’s closest friends, peers and collaborators including: Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves and Kwake Bass, LAHAI, in contrast to Process, is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. On the album’s latest single “Only,” premiering today via a new music video directed by Dexter Navy in collaboration with Sampha, which follows the recent “Spirit 2.0,” we meet a newly energized Sampha, as he spits melodically over a fragmented hip-hop hued beat with co-production from El Guincho.

Not unlike its maker, LAHAI defies clear categorization. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle and west African music, LAHAI sees Sampha elevating his production and vocal ambition to great new heights. A notable singer, songwriter and producer, it’s no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice plus songwriting and production contributions to their music. His work expands across multiple disciplines, with previous creative partnerships including the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, the Shy Light zine with Durimel (who also shot the LAHAI artwork) his Process film with director Kahlil Joseph, and most recently creative director Jonny Lu, with whom Sampha worked to create the LAHAI album artwork and logo.

If Process, Sampha’s 2017 Mercury-Prize-winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, LAHAI is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself. Welcome to Sampha’s next musical chapter: LAHAI.

OVERVIEW: This is essential. We don't just refer to the album title: this new record by multi-instrumentalist and producer Thysenterprise is essential material for lovers of spiritual jazz with a hip-hop edge. As described in the liner notes: "The spirit of Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Coltrane permeate the music here. At times, Thysenterprise and his guests meld the influence of the great jazz cannon with the rhythms of hip-hop."

'ESSENTIAL' moves with ease from spiritual sounds to hip-hop-infused head nods. The liner notes by writer John Morrison perfectly encapsulate the type of sonic trip you're in for: "While the improvisational heights that Thysenterprise and crew reach throughout the album owe a debt to hardbop and the avant-garde, there are beats and textures here akin to the work of Karriem Riggins or A Tribe Called Quest. The result is a truly contemporary sound that plays freely within the depths of human feeling."

'ESSENTIAL' is by far Thysenterprise's most personal album to date. From beginning to end, he pays a heartfelt tribute to his late father. The artist revisits and rearranges melodies from iconic jazz records that formed a profound connection between the two of them. Throughout the album, there are nods to songs that were essential for Reinier's musical upbringing. It shows that the saxophonist plays with heart and doesn't shy away from expressing grief and loss. Or as stated in the liner notes: "We play for pleasure, we play to understand ourselves and the world around us, we play to celebrate and remember our loved ones."

Renowned Dutch alto saxophonist Benjamin Herman joins Thysenterprise for intimate call-and-response on "Feedback of Silence." Next to that, Michael Moore graces "Happiness Is a Memory" with a heartfelt bass clarinet solo. Moore is part of the Han Bennink-founded ICP Orchestra. It's safe to say that Thysenterprise builds on that rich lineage of improvisation, playfulness, and distinct originality. On 'ESSENTIAL,' he takes that to new heights. The album comes beautifully packaged as a gatefold 2LP with vinyl-exclusive alternate takes on the D-side.

repressed!

Demi Riquísimo and his Semi Delicious imprint return for their 15th edition with another versatile, club ready collection of cuts from old & new members of the label family set for a release on the 7th July.

The EP features contributions from regulars Lulah Francs, Jive Talk & label owner Demi alongside debuts from NairLess, Last Magpie, Corbi and Michelle Manetti.

The A-side kicks off with ‘All I Need’, a collaborative track from Demi & Michelle Manetti. A bouncing, progressive house number with some old school Italian flavour that sets the tone nicely for the EP. Corbi’s ‘Kraken’ is up next providing some driving, analog acid squelch to SEMID015. ‘Don't Make Me Wait’ by Lulah Francs & Nebari wraps up the Ice Cream side. Proto house style drum programming and bass are juxtaposed nicely to the psychedelic synth work and impeccable vocals from Lulah creating a unique and versatile track to close out the A-side. The B-side opens with NairLess’ ‘Swell’, a tripped out slice of balearic trance. The EP takes a slightly more heads down turn on ‘Release It’ by Last Magpie. A menacing track driven by a sharp synth line that you’re sure to hear over festival season. Jive Talk’s ‘Wizard’s Slippers’ wraps up the EP in their imitable style. Off kilter drums, unique bass and minimalism with the perfect amount of elements to pique the listener’s interest bringing SEMID015 to a close in style.

Liquid Love is taken from the 2015 BBE released album of Roy’s unreleased material, Virgin Ubiquity II, and is a wicked mid-tempo track where Roy’s vibraphone complements an amazing female vocal arrangement to create harmonies and melody over a tough as you like breakbeat, bass line and keyboard riff. Coming from the 2004 initial release in the Virgin Ubiquity series of unreleased Roy Ayer’s tracks, What’s The T? is a more uptempo, bassline driven slab of dance floor funk. Augmented by a horn section and a huge female vocal from Merry Clayton over a hi-hat drumbeat, What’s The T? is Roy Ayers and his musicians playing Roy’s arrangements to perfection.

Releasing on BBE Music’s ALIM imprint, Liquid Love/What’s The T? 7″ vinyl single issue is two musical moments in time now presented as a moment in history in the year we celebrate the excellent career and legacy of Roy Ayers as a touring musician. This is Roy at his best as musician, arranger and artist, grab this now.