Following the cult success of the first two EPs and debut album Cinema 3000, Common Saints returns with the highly anticipated EP, Equinox - a release that"s already generating excitement within the Common Saints community. The record blends the signature soul, funk, and psychedelic influences fans have come to love, but this time with a livelier tempo and renewed energy.
Anushka Chkheidze + Robert Lippok’s »Uncontrollable Thoughts« on Morr Music is the duo’s debut joint release. The Netherlands-based Georgian composer and the German sound artist from Berlin first met in 2019 in the context of a workshop programme that took place in Tbilisi, and later worked with Eto Gelashvili, Hayk Karoyi, and Lillevan on the massive »Glacier Music II« music and book project, released in 2021. This led them to engage in a less conceptually driven form of musicking and real-time composition that corresponds with their respective environments. They draw on traditions such as minimal music or late 1990s and early 2000s electronica to integrate subtle beats with elegiac organ drones, playful melodies with lush textures. The first document of an ever-shifting intergenerational dialogue, »Uncontrollable Thoughts« is a product of mutual listening outside time.
Though Chkheidze and Lippok had access to professional studios, they chose to rent a simple rehearsal space, equipped with only the bare essentials—bass and guitar amps as well as a small PA—to maintain immediacy in their working process. The music they made together corresponded to and drew on the respective possibilities and shortcomings of this studio, much like their collaboration in general is characterised by the care with which they approach each other's talents and ideas. While both had loosely defined roles—Chkheidze was responsible for the free-flowing beat programming and the evocative distortion came courtesy of Lippok, for example—they individually contributed in different ways to their joint process, which is as free of hierarchies as it is limitless. Hence, the duo’s focus on spontaneity and out-of-the-moment emergence makes them organically move beyond tried and tested conventions, resulting in music that seems to suspend time altogether.
When the first chimes on »Bird Song« announce a piece that sets rattling kickdrums against a backdrop of layered drones and rhizomatically entangled melodic elements, it becomes clear why »Uncontrollable Thoughts« carries this title: The album follows the constant detours of the subconscious of its makers, letting them explore moments of ecstasy such as on »Rainbow,« melancholy with »Field,« and the interplay of suspense and release through the ten-minute-long title track. But the different pieces also tie into one aother in various ways. The dirge-like organ drones on which »Rainbow Road« ends reappear in the beginning of »Uncontrollable Thoughts,« much like Chkheidze’s gentle yet emphatic piano chords on »Field« seem to provide the starting point from which the artist develops the striking motifs of the final piece »Opening«, whose title itself suggests that the record as a whole can and should be enjoyed as a loop. All this creates a unique, idiosyncratic temporal logic.
While there is much that sets Chkheidze and Lippok apart as solo artists, the major shared leitmotif in their respective bodies of work is the sonic engagement with space. »Uncontrollable Thoughts« is hence best understood as an extension of this practice; as an album that maps the geographies of their minds in motion, tracing musical movements as they melt into each other.
Gold Vinyl[42,23 €]
Als MONO zum ersten Mal die Idee eines Live-Konzerts mit Orchesterbegleitung hatten, schien dies ein einmaliger Traum zu sein, der einzigartige Umstände, ein riesiges Team gleichgesinnter und großzügiger Mitwirkender und eine Menge Glück erfordern würde. Genau zehn Jahre nach Beginn ihrer Karriere war dies ihr mit Abstand ehrgeizigstes Projekt. Sie flogen aus ihrer Heimat Japan - wo sie zu dieser Zeit ironischerweise weniger bekannt und erfolgreich waren als in den Vereinigten Staaten und Europa - nach New York City, wo sie ein Orchester zusammenstellten, einen historischen Veranstaltungsort in der Nähe des Lincoln Centers sicherten und auf sich selbst setzten, um einen wirklich unvergesslichen Abend zu gestalten. Das Konzert war nicht nur ein voller Erfolg, sondern begründete auch einen wesentlichen Teil der Identität von MONO: die orchestrale Live-Performance. Seit dieser magischen Nacht in NYC im Jahr 2009 haben MONO mehr als drei Dutzend Live-Konzerte mit einer Vielzahl von Orchestern in fast ebenso vielen Ländern weltweit gegeben. Ihr letztes solches Konzert in Japan lag jedoch mehr als 15 Jahre zurück. Ein Vierteljahrhundert nach Beginn ihrer legendären Karriere sind MONO endlich nach Hause zurückgekehrt. ,Forever Home: Live in Japan with Orchestra PITREZA" feiert MONOs 25-jähriges Jubiläum mit der ,OATH"-Orchestral-Welttournee, die in den letzten Monaten des Jahres 2024 20 Konzerte in Europa, Asien und den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika umfasste. ,Forever Home" wurde vor ausverkauftem Haus im Spotify O-EAST in Tokio aufgenommen und präsentiert ein 12-köpfiges Orchester unter der Leitung des Orchesterdirektors und häufigen Kollaborateurs Chad McCullough, das MONO bei der Aufführung ihres aktuellen Albums ,OATH" in voller Länge begleitet. Das 100-minütige Konzert endet mit zwei der bekanntesten Songs der Band - ,Ashes in the Snow" und ,Everlasting Light" -, die eine Hommage an den ersten Orchester-Live-Auftritt vor 15 Jahren in New York City darstellen. ,Forever Home" wurde von Matt Cook, dem langjährigen Tontechniker von MONO, aufgenommen und gemischt und fängt die ehrwürdige Gruppe in ihrer natürlichen Umgebung und in ihrer transzendenten Höchstform ein. Mit der symphonischen Begleitung des japanischen Orchesters PITREZA verwandeln MONO einen Raum in Tokio in ein grenzenloses Meer - launisch, kontemplativ und überwältigend. Die physischen Formate von ,Forever Home" sind angemessen umfangreich und besonders. Das von dem langjährigen Art Director und Mitarbeiter Jeremy deVine entworfene 2xCD-Set ist in einer vierfachen Gatefold-Hülle verpackt und enthält einen Konzertfilm in Spielfilmlänge auf hochauflösender Blu-ray, unter der Regie von Yusaku Mitsuwaka. Es ist ein atemberaubendes Werk der Multi-Kamera-Kinematografie, das das Live-Erlebnis von MONO perfekt einfängt. Die 3xLP im Dreifach-Klappcover ist auf audiophilem schwarzem Vinyl oder als limitierte farbige Vinyl-Variante erhältlich. Sowohl das CD- als auch das LP-Format enthalten jeweils ein umfangreiches 28-seitiges, vollfarbiges Archiv-Fotobuch, das das gesamte Konzert dokumentiert. Das sind MONO. Das ist "Forever Home".
Von der Band als „spirituelle Schwester von ‚Alma’s Cove‘“ beschrieben, verlagert „Mt. Sava“ die Kulisse von üppiger Küstenruhe zu der beeindruckenden Weite bergiger Wüstenlandschaften – eine Kulisse, die „den Zuhörenden sowohl die Ruhe eines Sternenhimmels fernab vom menschlichen Leben als auch die Brutalität und Wildheit des Lebens in der Wüste erleben lässt“, so die Band. An anderer Stelle auf „Mt. Sava“ laden Yuuf die Hörer:innen ein, diese weite Landschaft in sechs Tracks weiter zu erkunden. Der Opener, „Moon Dive“, gibt sanft den Ton an und bietet einen friedlichen und meditativen Raum, der zum Nachdenken und Ausruhen einlädt, während die Nacht langsam zu Ende geht. Im Gegensatz dazu fängt „Night Aïr“ den pulsierenden Rhythmus der Wüste nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit ein, inspiriert von der einzigartigen Atmosphäre, den Düften und den Temperaturschwankungen der Bergnächte; „ein Gefühl, das in einer bergigen und wüstenartigen Umgebung mit großen Temperatur- und Feuchtigkeitsschwankungen während des Tag-Nacht-Zyklus viel deutlicher zu spüren ist“, fügen sie hinzu.
„Ørken Bloom“, vom dänischen Wort für Wüste, ist ein dynamischer, temporeicher Track, der die aufgehende Sonne widerspiegelt. „Calima“ hingegen bietet einen Moment der Ruhe und bezieht sich auf die Winde, die den Sand der Sahara über Kontinente hinweg tragen.
Dissonans marks a new chapter in a longer story and is the second album in an announced trilogy, following last year's Norwegian Grammy-nominated Resonans. For those who have been following Seigmen, the first thing they might notice about Dissonans is the album cover. Where their earlier covers have been simple, symmetrical, and minimalist, Dissonans instead offers a stripped-down, almost punk-like aesthetic. And, as the title suggests, this album is not what you might usually expect - even though the sound is still unmistakably Seigmen to the avid listener. The album's ten tracks range from majestic, drone-like sounds made on homemade equipment to high-tempo songs with drum riffs borrowed from a 35-year-old demo. It even leads the band into uncharted territory with the airy ballad Så Nært, which also serves as the third and final single ahead of the album release. All in all, Dissonans is a new album from a band that has, in a remarkable way, rediscovered fresh energy, creativity, and playfulness many years after once being Norway's leading rock band.
Anlässlich des 50. Jubiläums von Motörhead im Jahr 2025 vereinen sich Punk-Größen, um die lauteste
Band der Welt mit einem neuen Tributalbum zu ehren: „Killed By Deaf: A Punk Tribute to Motörhead“.
Motörhead – lange Zeit als unerschütterliche Brücke zwischen Punk und Metal gefeiert – hinterließen
mit ihrer unbändigen Energie, ihrem halsbrecherischen Tempo und ihrer kompromisslosen Haltung einen
unauslöschlichen Eindruck in beiden Szenen. Jetzt erwacht ihr Erbe mit fulminanten Coverversionen aus
ihrem ikonischen, genreübergreifenden Katalog zu neuem Leben.
„Killed By Deaf“ enthält mitreißende Beiträge legendärer Punk-Acts wie Rancid, Pennywise, Lagwagon,
The Bronx und vielen mehr. Sogar der große Mann selbst – Lemmy – ist mit The Damned auf einem Track
zu hören! Angetrieben von purer Kraft und tiefer Ehrfurcht fängt dieses Tributalbum den Geist einer Band
ein, deren Einfluss noch immer Bühnen und Lautsprecher weltweit zum Beben bringt.
Machen Sie sich bereit, Motörhead wie nie zuvor zu hören – lauter, schneller und höllisch punkig.
The anticipation is there in Elizabeth Stokes’ solo guitar riff under the opening lines of “I’m Not Getting Excited”: a frenetic, driving force daring a packed Auckland Town Hall to do exactly the opposite of what the track title suggests.
As the opener of The Beths’ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 expands to include the full band, the crowd screeches and bellows. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible.
The album title, and film of the same name, deliberately include the date and location, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce says. “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did.” In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.
In March 2020, everything seemed on track for another huge year for The Beths. Home after an 18-month northern hemisphere tour, they had just finished recording sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers and were primed for more extensive touring. But within days, New Zealand’s lockdown split the band between three separate houses. All touring was cancelled.
“It was existentially bad,” Stokes says. As well as worrying about economic survival, they lost something crucial to the band’s identity: live performance. “It's a huge part of how we see ourselves... What does it mean, if we can't play live?”
The band found an outlet through live-streaming, returning to the do-it-yourself mentality of their early days to connect with a global audience. The album and film have their genesis in that urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show, as widely as possible.
The fuzzy-round-the-edges live-streams pointed the way aesthetically. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans.
With much of the material still fresh, the band was less focused on re-invention than playing “a good, fast rock show”, Pearce says. The tempo is up on crowd favourites “Whatever” and “Future Me Hates Me” (released as a live single on its third anniversary) as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.
Certain songs have taken on special resonance post-Covid. Pearce has found “Out Of Sight”, a tender rumination on long-distance relationships, hits particularly hard with live audiences.
Album closer “River Run” visibly brings Stokes to tears as a mix of achievement and relief kicks in. “You can finally relax at that point … You play the last note, breathe out a sigh and look up - and you’re in a giant room full of people happy and smiling.”
Clarence Carter, blind from birth, was a blues singer with lascivious wit, a talented guitarist, a songwriter with a twinkle in his eye, and a champion of down-to-earth soul grooves who taught himself to play the guitar.
He sang in a gospel choir, completed a degree in music, and grounded the duo Clarence & Calvin but was not however very successful.
After a car crash involving Calvin Scott, Carter started on a solo career and signed a contract with Rick Hall and the Fame label as a soloist.
Among the earliest singles recorded at the Muscle Shoals studio were a few hits. After leaving Fame for Atlantic, he managed to enter the Top 20 of the R & B charts with "Looking For A Fox". His breakthrough came with "Slip Away", which sold a million copies and was awarded a Gold Record.
The legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals remained the home basis, as it were, for Carter during his career with Atlantic. "This Is…" begins with a contemplative, soft sound. "Do What You Gotta Do", written by Jim Webb, is a lovely, melancholic mid-tempo ballad, saturated with Barry Beckett’s keyboard and smothered by lush, plaintive winds.
But the man is primarily funky here … as three danceable, finger-snapping tracks prove; "Wind It Up", with further witty improvisations and a fervid organ solo, the highly syncopated, playful "Thread The Needle", and the smoky, irresistible "Funky Fever" – all written by Carter himself.
Dan Penn’s and Spooner Oldham’s "Slippin’ Around" has an unorthodox bossa nova-like beat that is reminiscent of Ray Charles’s "What’d I Say", while Carter’s unmistakable chuckle is to be heard for the first time on the riotous funk-rock number "I’m Qualified", which has the very same unique, infectious groove as was to be heard on Wilson Pickett’s "In The Midnight Hour". "She Ain’t Gonna Do Right", composed by the same man, brings more Alabama Country to the mix, whereby Beckett contributes a catchy, persistent organ riff in the refrain.
OK EG turn inwards on Silent Green, their new release on Kia's ambient label Cirrus. Written for a live performance in Berlin, Silent Green finds balance between intimate post club dream states and low tempo rhythmic workouts. Fragmented voices harmonise with delicate synths and organic textures on open sky. Wooden machinery clicks and whirs on veil, opening into an inner expanse. Optimistic warmth and melancholy blend on spirit, knitted with resonant hi hats, scrolling wavetables and dubbed claves. Sequenced hand drums and piccolo snares create structure for rising pads and analog bass on death adder, as subtle grooves unfurl under the watchful gaze of digital crows. The artwork, created by the Amsterdam based digital artist Tharim Cornelisse, finds the cycle of life and death in the artificial environment of a greenhouse, digitally blended with patch notes from the first time the music was performed.
Volume 26 of the 12" series Attack The Dancefloor features four chart topping no.1 singles available on Vinyl for the first time, WOW. First up it's the meeting of giants as we are treated to the huge version from Michael Gray of 'What About My Love' who bumps the tempo and takes the source parts into HOUSE territory, priming it for the peak time & finally satisfying the 'when's it out on vinyl' crowd. Up next the floor filling, gospel tinged "(You Gotta) Give It Up" by Z Factor, still doing damage on the dancefloors since it's recent digital release. On the flip we have the 3rd & current chart topper 'Down Down Down' by Raw Essence aka Dave Lee, his latest dose of Discotheque dopamine. Feeling both familiar yet fresh, it's all about classic good times here backed up with ravishing Moog Wizardy and irresistible vocals. To round of this essential slab of wax is Opolopo's standout 'Bebeccie's Theme' which delivers muso boogie of the highest order. Full of discreet chords and sophisticated string turnarounds, backed up with deft synth touches from the keyboard magician.
"Rumah Sakit 25" vereint das Debütalbum von Rumah Sakit und ihre lange vergriffene EP Travels In Constants in einem außergewöhnlichen Paket. Die Band hat sich erneut mit Bob Weston zusammengetan, um die Original-Masterbänder sorgfältig zu remastern. "Rumah Sakit 25" enthält neues Cover-Artwork von alten Freunden und Mitarbeitern, Jeremiah Maddock und Marty Anderson. Die umfangreiche 180-Gramm-Gatefold-2xLP in Audiophile-Qualität enthält vollfarbige Innenhüllen mit Hunderten von bisher unveröffentlichten Fotos, die die inspirierte Anfangszeit der Band dokumentieren, sowie ein massives 24-seitiges Kunstbuch im Format mit bisher unveröffentlichten Kunstwerken von Maddock. Es ist ein exquisites Werk, das eine Band meisterhaft einfängt, die letztendlich die nachfolgenden Künstler inspirierte und deren spätere Zusammenarbeit mit Foals, Pinback, Sweep the Leg Johnny, Sleeping People und HEY!TONAL unterstreicht, wie einzigartig vielfältig und produktiv Rumah Sakit wirklich waren. Rumah Sakit war eine vierköpfige Rockband aus San Francisco, Kalifornien. Die Gruppe begann 1998 Gestalt anzunehmen, nachdem Gitarrist John Baez, Bassist Kenseth Thibideau und Schlagzeuger Jeff Shannon alle von Redlands nach San Francisco gezogen waren. Nachdem Gitarrist Mitch Cheney schnell hinzukam, war die Band komplett und entschied sich für den Namen Rumah Sakit - eine wörtliche indonesische Übersetzung von ,Krankenzimmer" (alias Krankenhaus) - und einen Sound, der die frenetische Energie von King Crimson aus der "Red"-Ära mit einer meditativen Melodik verband, die in starkem Kontrast zu den meisten ,Math-Rock"-Bands dieser Zeit stand. Bald darauf betrat Rumah Sakit zum ersten Mal das Studio, um ihr gleichnamiges Debütalbum aufzunehmen. "Rumah Sakit" wurde 1999 im ehrwürdigen Music Annex Studio in zwei etwas geheimen Nachtsessions mit den Studio Praktikanten/guten Freunden/angehenden Toningenieuren Jay & Ian Pellicci aufgenommen. Das Album entstand nach einer ,No Tricks"-Philosophie, die den Ansatz der Band beim Spielen und Aufnehmen ihrer Musik prägen sollte. Aufgenommen vollständig live ohne Overdubs in nur wenigen Takes, nutzte die Band die Kunst, die natürliche Präsenz des Raumes und die strategische Platzierung der Geräte, um die reinste und genaueste Darstellung dieser Songs in diesen Momenten einzufangen. In einer Zeit, die schnell durch die aufkommende Popularität von ProTools und akribisch manikürten, maximalistischen Mixes verändert wurde, war die Welt von Rumah Sakit eine erfrischende Atempause. Ein Jahr später, im Herbst 2000, flog Rumah Sakit den renommierten Chicagoer Toningenieur und Shellac-Bassist Bob Weston nach San Francisco, um zwei kurze Tage lang eine neue EP im schäbigen Tiny Telephone Recording aufzunehmen. Diese EP wurde Teil der Abonnement-CD-Reihe ,Travels In Constants" von Temporary Residence (neben Veröfffentlichungen von Mogwai, Low, Explosions In The Sky, Eluvium und MONO). Abgesehen von der Originalauflage von 1.000 CDs, die für Abonnenten reserviert waren, waren die Studioaufnahmen auf Travels In Constants bis jetzt nie wieder erhältlich.
From the bellows of a galactic abyss, n-trip offers their first solo EP release on DU:RA. The label boss reveals 4 deep techno tracks cultivated from an appreciation of the stylings of Valentino Mora, Ntogn and Simone Bauer adjacent sound palettes. Attending festivals such as Organik and experiences with deep techno doofs out in the Aussie bushland has also heavily influenced this release.
Reservation and propulsive sound design shape the tracks for the most part, while aspects of field recordings are littered throughout the release of rocks, leaves and sticks from recent travels. The structural simplicity and minimalistic elements make for perfect DJ tracks to accompany swamp-like sets and throbbing sub basslines are sure to shake any doof or club system.
‘Domina’ opens the release with chiming pads and heavily delayed artefacts invoking an ethereal cosmos of which the kicks and bass gently reinforce in movement. A broken snare beat follows as gradually layers of percussion increase in intensity.
‘MML’ takes what energy has built and adds pounding toms to the rhythm. Harsh live synthesis swells in the backdrop as hi-hats and clicks pan around the white noise and minimal yet intentional synth work.
‘dddBBB’ drops the tempo as it comes in full of field recordings. Taking you on a bushwalk through a desolate dreamscape – it slowly grows and pulsates like a giant snake writhing through the cosmic jungle, stalking its prey.
‘MR13’ then takes these ideas and jacks up the tempo to finish off the release. Shakers pan about as sticks, rocks and leaves reinforce the rhythm. FM chords slowly add life to the beat and are accompanied by giant bassy pads that gradually coalesce into its humble yet driving finale.
All tracks have been produced on Gadigal Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Gold Vinyl[45,34 €]
STANDFIRST Titanic, the project spearheaded by Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta (aka I. la Católica), return with a sumptuous and life-affirming new album.
In her sensational 1929 biography Tiger Woman, dancer and socialite Betty May claimed her ‘coster’s eye’ meant she liked to wear as many colours as possible. “Colours to me are like children to a loving mother. Each is my favourite, yet I can never bring myself to deny the others by preferring one.” May’s bold and inclusive strategy is one that manages to transfer itself, almost a century later, to Hagen, the new record by Titanic.
Many will know Titanic as the Mexico City-based brainchild of cellist and singer Mabe Fratti and multiinstrumentalist Hector Tosta who is now operating under the pseudonym, I. la Católica, (taken, rather unusually, from the name of the street the pair live on). With Hagen, and their previous release, Vidrio, (2023), the pair are creating a distinctive signature sound in modern alternative pop music. Nobody else sounds quite like them. Both records have an open hearted nature and simple, winning melodies that play off against a taste for drama, spectacular orchestration and a feeling of otherworldly mystery. Hagen is the more ambitious, sometimes more mystical effort. From the opening handclaps of ‘Lágrima del Sol’, (a wonderfully uptempo playground chant translating as a tear from the sun but, surely, not referencing the brand of pineapple wine?), the record dances its way through various mid-to-late-eighties inspirations, lush and widescreen passages of melancholy and vertiginous contrasts.
Mystery is often found in the simple but slightly odd song titles. English translations of various track titles give, ‘you swallowed the gum’, ‘leak’, ‘a tear from the sun’, ‘raising the trophy’ ‘digging dimensions’, ‘the owner’, ‘the decapitated hen’ and ‘the trap is exposed’. All denote striking images, metaphysical hints and emotional cues or simple, even childlike actions. Though Fratti and Tosta don’t reveal its provenance, the album’s title could even be a crafty play on words: the listener would be forgiven in thinking the moments of brash contrast and eyebrow raising theatricalism in the music constitute a musical nod to German punk chanteuse, Nina Hagen.
On Hagen, singer and cellist Mabe Fratti once again displays her brilliant knack of speaking to us directly. There is never the suspicion of her playing to the gallery, and the directness of many of the lyrics don’t allow it. Parallel to this, Fratti has an almost magical ability to give Hector Tosta’s melodies, and her and Tosta’s lyrics ones imbued with an insight and meaning that feels otherworldly. Tosta admitted it was “pretty wild to hear Mabe take the interpretations to a different place” and the listener can pick up on the delight Fratti takes in (literally) adding a voice to the many narratives.
Two examples can be shown here: ‘Gotera’ (Leak) uses harsh slashes of cello and tough, gunfire-like guitars and drums and multiple vocal lines that could be acting as a Greek chorus. They play off brilliantly against Fratti’s soft, slightly baleful vocal take that delivers lyrics such as: ‘nobody knows where the leak is / but I know where it is / they fight in front of the door and / nobody can go in’. With ‘La Gallina Degollada’ the somewhat blithe melody melody line, sung with what could be sarcastic brio by Fratti, plays against an itchting rhythm and rasping guitar part. The punch comes when you see that the song is about a chicken that has been decapitated and read lyrics such as: ‘I already saw it, it moved, the decapitated chicken’ / ‘could it be that I'm broken’ and ‘Two people hurt each other by thinking that they no longer agree’/ ‘Hours pass and the chicken represents what scares me’.
There may be death and fights to deal with, but there is also a quality of chirpy self-reliance about Hagen that is a key part of its nature. Like Betty May and her colourful outfits, Hagen’s sound often revels in its own sense of richness. Throughout, the record delivers vaulting string sections or glutinous guitar squeals that could, like the powerful, driving ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ (Digging Dimensions) have come directly from a glossy 1980s TV series. Fratti sees this “glam sound” developed by Tosta on the aforementioned track and ‘Te Tragaste el Chicle’ (You Swallowed The Gum), as moments that were truly “revealing” for the album as a whole during its making.
What else? The thud and thump of ‘La Trampa Sale’ (The Trap is Exposed), and its sudden change of tempo and mood betrays a monstrously ambitious piece of music, the players almost greedily creating the sounds. Other moments are heart wrenching: ‘Libra’ ends on a poppy chord switch that cleverly ramps up the emotion inherent in the music’s notation. You could almost imagine a teenager in a bedroom forty years ago, rewinding the track over and over on a small, cheap cassette player, unable to get enough of that sugarsweet switch. Elsewhere, Oneohtrix Point Never adds stardust and an unearthly sense of space on the changeable, slightly moody meditation, ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ (Firebird). The record ends with ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ (Lifting the Trophy), a track that could soundtrack a state wedding, what with its beautiful cascading piano parts, a sugary vocal and short triumphal guitar riffs that add a rich patina to the overall sound. Fratti: “When I doubled those vocals on ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ I felt there was an epiphany happening, right at that moment.”
Making a good record is a team game. Tosta and Fratti recall seeing Randall from Circular Ruin Studios in NYC “tweak the drums in ‘Libra’ to make that amazing effect of the gated reverb”, or the shaping of ‘Gotera’, “when (recording engineer) Nate Salon added some synths to the track.” Drummer Eli Keszler, “an amazing and versatile player” had the songs down pat in a couple of days” and, according to Tosta, Oneohtrix Point Never “just came to one of the sessions and we hung out, and after all the recordings he and Nate were together in some studio and out of nowhere they sent us some beautiful tracks for ‘Pájaro de Fuego’! Fratti concurs. “He decided that he wanted to record because he was listening to the record (Nate works closely with him) and he really liked it! It was a total honour, indeed!”
Bedazzled by the playing, the skyscraping ambition in the arrangements and the giddy moments of contrast thrown up by Hagen, we could allow ourselves a brief moment of flippancy and state that Titanic’s new record is Yacht Rock meets Aeschylus, full-on. It’s also worth speculating that, in this hyper-sensitive, intemperate age, Titanic’s music has the power, however fleetingly, to heal hurts. Hagen is a brilliant showcase for a fresh and enriching form of pop music: displaying a magpie eye for what glints and plundering what has gone before.
Like Vidrio, Hagen was partially and additionally recorded at Fratti and Tosta’s house, aka Tinho Studios in Mexico City, as well as Golden Girl Studios & Circular Ruin Studios in New York City. Mixing was done by Santiago Parra in Pedro y el Lobo Studios, Mexico City and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios, New York City. The recording engineer was Nate Salon.
Hagen featured Mabe Fratti on cello, vocals & backing vocals, I. la Católica on guitar, keyboards, prepared piano, bass & backing vocals, drums by Eli Keszler and synths in ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ from Daniel Lopatin and Nate Salon.
All compositions on Hagen are written by I. la Católica, except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were composed by I. la Católica and Mabe Fratti. The record was produced by I. la Católica and co-produced by Nate Salon & Mabe Fratti. And all lyrics are by I. la Católica except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’, ‘Gotera’, ‘Gallina degollada’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were written by I. la Católica & Mabe Fratti.
STANDFIRST Titanic, the project spearheaded by Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta (aka I. la Católica), return with a sumptuous and life-affirming new album.
In her sensational 1929 biography Tiger Woman, dancer and socialite Betty May claimed her ‘coster’s eye’ meant she liked to wear as many colours as possible. “Colours to me are like children to a loving mother. Each is my favourite, yet I can never bring myself to deny the others by preferring one.” May’s bold and inclusive strategy is one that manages to transfer itself, almost a century later, to Hagen, the new record by Titanic.
Many will know Titanic as the Mexico City-based brainchild of cellist and singer Mabe Fratti and multiinstrumentalist Hector Tosta who is now operating under the pseudonym, I. la Católica, (taken, rather unusually, from the name of the street the pair live on). With Hagen, and their previous release, Vidrio, (2023), the pair are creating a distinctive signature sound in modern alternative pop music. Nobody else sounds quite like them. Both records have an open hearted nature and simple, winning melodies that play off against a taste for drama, spectacular orchestration and a feeling of otherworldly mystery. Hagen is the more ambitious, sometimes more mystical effort. From the opening handclaps of ‘Lágrima del Sol’, (a wonderfully uptempo playground chant translating as a tear from the sun but, surely, not referencing the brand of pineapple wine?), the record dances its way through various mid-to-late-eighties inspirations, lush and widescreen passages of melancholy and vertiginous contrasts.
Mystery is often found in the simple but slightly odd song titles. English translations of various track titles give, ‘you swallowed the gum’, ‘leak’, ‘a tear from the sun’, ‘raising the trophy’ ‘digging dimensions’, ‘the owner’, ‘the decapitated hen’ and ‘the trap is exposed’. All denote striking images, metaphysical hints and emotional cues or simple, even childlike actions. Though Fratti and Tosta don’t reveal its provenance, the album’s title could even be a crafty play on words: the listener would be forgiven in thinking the moments of brash contrast and eyebrow raising theatricalism in the music constitute a musical nod to German punk chanteuse, Nina Hagen.
On Hagen, singer and cellist Mabe Fratti once again displays her brilliant knack of speaking to us directly. There is never the suspicion of her playing to the gallery, and the directness of many of the lyrics don’t allow it. Parallel to this, Fratti has an almost magical ability to give Hector Tosta’s melodies, and her and Tosta’s lyrics ones imbued with an insight and meaning that feels otherworldly. Tosta admitted it was “pretty wild to hear Mabe take the interpretations to a different place” and the listener can pick up on the delight Fratti takes in (literally) adding a voice to the many narratives.
Two examples can be shown here: ‘Gotera’ (Leak) uses harsh slashes of cello and tough, gunfire-like guitars and drums and multiple vocal lines that could be acting as a Greek chorus. They play off brilliantly against Fratti’s soft, slightly baleful vocal take that delivers lyrics such as: ‘nobody knows where the leak is / but I know where it is / they fight in front of the door and / nobody can go in’. With ‘La Gallina Degollada’ the somewhat blithe melody melody line, sung with what could be sarcastic brio by Fratti, plays against an itchting rhythm and rasping guitar part. The punch comes when you see that the song is about a chicken that has been decapitated and read lyrics such as: ‘I already saw it, it moved, the decapitated chicken’ / ‘could it be that I'm broken’ and ‘Two people hurt each other by thinking that they no longer agree’/ ‘Hours pass and the chicken represents what scares me’.
There may be death and fights to deal with, but there is also a quality of chirpy self-reliance about Hagen that is a key part of its nature. Like Betty May and her colourful outfits, Hagen’s sound often revels in its own sense of richness. Throughout, the record delivers vaulting string sections or glutinous guitar squeals that could, like the powerful, driving ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ (Digging Dimensions) have come directly from a glossy 1980s TV series. Fratti sees this “glam sound” developed by Tosta on the aforementioned track and ‘Te Tragaste el Chicle’ (You Swallowed The Gum), as moments that were truly “revealing” for the album as a whole during its making.
What else? The thud and thump of ‘La Trampa Sale’ (The Trap is Exposed), and its sudden change of tempo and mood betrays a monstrously ambitious piece of music, the players almost greedily creating the sounds. Other moments are heart wrenching: ‘Libra’ ends on a poppy chord switch that cleverly ramps up the emotion inherent in the music’s notation. You could almost imagine a teenager in a bedroom forty years ago, rewinding the track over and over on a small, cheap cassette player, unable to get enough of that sugarsweet switch. Elsewhere, Oneohtrix Point Never adds stardust and an unearthly sense of space on the changeable, slightly moody meditation, ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ (Firebird). The record ends with ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ (Lifting the Trophy), a track that could soundtrack a state wedding, what with its beautiful cascading piano parts, a sugary vocal and short triumphal guitar riffs that add a rich patina to the overall sound. Fratti: “When I doubled those vocals on ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ I felt there was an epiphany happening, right at that moment.”
Making a good record is a team game. Tosta and Fratti recall seeing Randall from Circular Ruin Studios in NYC “tweak the drums in ‘Libra’ to make that amazing effect of the gated reverb”, or the shaping of ‘Gotera’, “when (recording engineer) Nate Salon added some synths to the track.” Drummer Eli Keszler, “an amazing and versatile player” had the songs down pat in a couple of days” and, according to Tosta, Oneohtrix Point Never “just came to one of the sessions and we hung out, and after all the recordings he and Nate were together in some studio and out of nowhere they sent us some beautiful tracks for ‘Pájaro de Fuego’! Fratti concurs. “He decided that he wanted to record because he was listening to the record (Nate works closely with him) and he really liked it! It was a total honour, indeed!”
Bedazzled by the playing, the skyscraping ambition in the arrangements and the giddy moments of contrast thrown up by Hagen, we could allow ourselves a brief moment of flippancy and state that Titanic’s new record is Yacht Rock meets Aeschylus, full-on. It’s also worth speculating that, in this hyper-sensitive, intemperate age, Titanic’s music has the power, however fleetingly, to heal hurts. Hagen is a brilliant showcase for a fresh and enriching form of pop music: displaying a magpie eye for what glints and plundering what has gone before.
Like Vidrio, Hagen was partially and additionally recorded at Fratti and Tosta’s house, aka Tinho Studios in Mexico City, as well as Golden Girl Studios & Circular Ruin Studios in New York City. Mixing was done by Santiago Parra in Pedro y el Lobo Studios, Mexico City and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios, New York City. The recording engineer was Nate Salon.
Hagen featured Mabe Fratti on cello, vocals & backing vocals, I. la Católica on guitar, keyboards, prepared piano, bass & backing vocals, drums by Eli Keszler and synths in ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ from Daniel Lopatin and Nate Salon.
All compositions on Hagen are written by I. la Católica, except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were composed by I. la Católica and Mabe Fratti. The record was produced by I. la Católica and co-produced by Nate Salon & Mabe Fratti. And all lyrics are by I. la Católica except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’, ‘Gotera’, ‘Gallina degollada’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were written by I. la Católica & Mabe Fratti.
Unlike anything we have heard from her before, Okkyung Lee returns to Shelter Press with "Just Like Any Other Day: Background Music For Your Mundane Activities", a deeply intimate body of recordings at the juncture of ambient music, minimalism, and the baroque, that stands as radical intervention with what experimental music can be, and the place that organisations of sound occupy in our lives. For more than two decades, Okkyung Lee has stood at the forefront of the most radical trajectories of experimental music: a virtuosic cellist and improviser, renowned for her creative rigour and emotive depth. Particularly noteworthy for her range, dexterity, and adaptability, over the last five years Lee's output has revealed unexpected shifts and developments that move far afield from the realms of free improvisation for which she is most well known. 2020's "Yeo - Neun", a heart-wrenching, ambient chamber work - drawing inspiration from the Korean popular music of her youth - was issued by Shelter Press to great critical response, followed closely by "Teum (The Silvery Slit)" - one of a series engrossing electroacoustic works created at Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris - on Portraits GRM, and then "Na-Reul" in 2021, regarded by Lee as a closing statement of more than two decades living in New York, which set the precedent of her allowing her emotions to fully occupy the forefront of the music for the first time. Marking her return to Shelter press, "Just Like Any Other Day": Background Music For Your Mundane Activities", encounters Lee upturning the apple cart once again, weaving a profoundly intimate artistic statement on completely unexpected terms. Like its three aforementioned predecessors, "Just Like Any Other Day" belongs to broadening shift in Lee's approach to composing that roughly aligns with her return to her native South Korea, having lived in the United States since her late teens. Infused with a deep reengagement with her own culture and relationship to memory, it is equally a response to those critical challenges and questions provoked by significant life change. Worked on in isolation, and continuously returned to, over the course of four years, the album's nine pieces began with a simple recognition that experimental music is not always what we imagine it to be. It is a practice and a pursuit - a music for which, at its inception, the outcome is unknown - rather than an idiom defined by certain syntaxes, approaches, and qualities of structure and sound. From this departure point, Lee began to inquire after the utility of music itself: what is it for, what does it do, and what place does it (or can it) occupy in our lives? This solitary and durational journey, each composition gradually moving through different phases and evolutions over years, led Lee toward uncharted ground: a music that is not only playful, introspective, and seductive, but also intended to provoke a relationship to experimental music beyond its normative expectations. Rather active or deep listening, it pursues passive listening. Rather than a grand statement, it is discreet. Rather than virtuosity, it embraces the elegant and direct. Even more strikingly, for the first time, the music of "Just Like Any Other Day" encounters Lee leaving the cello entirely behind. Created at home on keyboard, computer, and an inexpensive cassette recorder, "Just Like Any Other Day" presents a remarkable form of ambient music - organisations of sound that become their own environment, to be occupied - intended, as the album's subheading infers, as Background Music For Your Mundane Activities. An expansion of the creative pathways opened by the Korean pop imbued compositions of Yeo - Neun, aspects of electronic process explored by "Teum (The Silvery Slit)", and the emotive foregrounding of "Na-Reul", each of the pieces presented across the two sides of "Just Like Any Other Day" implies something far greater than the limits of its own temporarily: a mood, provocations of memory and place, mirrors for the solitude within which it was made, and palpable emotion lingering just out of grasp. For Lee, each of the album's compositions could be continued or looped for an indeterminate duration: straddling a ground between the minimal and the baroque, enveloping the listener in endless cycles of appreciating, repetitive and rhythmical notes, flirting with the melodic and implying a disembodied imagism that borders on the profound. Remarkably beautiful and direct, Okkyung Lee's "Just Like Any Other Day: Background Music For Your Mundane Activities" - issued by Shelter Press on vinyl - represents a radical reconfiguration of experiential music, stripped to its bare essence in defiance of the widely presumed aesthetic signifiers. Unlike anything we've heard from her before, this immersive body of intimate recordings not only reveals new dimensions of Lee's striking range as an artist, but also of how we might regard and occupy music itself: an ambience to lived and felt like a second skin.
Dancing & Crying is a club, just outside Carmel Vista, that is open 24/7. Here you can dance and cry on your favorite Emotional Dance Music. Producer Palmbomen II (Kai Hugo) teams up with different performers to release a series of EP's made for the fictional Dancing & Crying club. Music that makes you dance and cry. The music has been recorded over the last few years; from COVID-19 confinement up till now, while Kai was building a new recording studio, during which he made a small temporary studio in a hallway of his house and while doing soundtracks for films and series. In this edition singer Naiara Trivino takes a special spot and sings in French, Spanish, and English and she features in the music video made around this EP. This EP ranges from dramatic French synthwave ('Tes Yeux'), touching the world of Kai's other project Cindy, to proto-techno 'Darker Days' (with Antenna) to dreamy breakbeat ('Your Eyes Are Empty'). Welcome to Dancing & Crying.
Hard Times welcomes back Alex Arnout and his BLACK LOGIC project, following their recent ‘Pull Up’ EP with a second installment of new music from collective - The Illusions EP.
Hailing from West Yorkshire, Arnout spent his formative years on the Hard Times dancefloors, absorbing the beats and vibes that would later shape his own productions. His journey with the label reignited when he was invited to remix Michael Watford’s classic 'Love Change Over' and Steve Silk Hurley’s fresh hit 'All I Need'. Now, he returns with something truly special.
“Black Logic was born out of the pandemic,” says Arnout. “I wanted to move away from drum machines and synths, getting back to sampling jazz and the deep house sounds of the ‘90s - taking inspiration from artists like Bugs in the Attic, Jazzanova, and Ernest Saint Laurent.”
What began as a solo project soon evolved into a collective effort. Bassist and guitarist Alan Riggs, a former member of Delta 5, joined the sessions, bringing warmth and groove to the productions. Vocalists Tempo O’Neil, Anthony Beckford, Mariana Orsho, and Sophie Barker added their distinct voices, completing the vision
Across four tracks, The Illusions EP pulls us deeper into Black Logic’s rich, live-wired universe. The title track pairs Tempo O’Neil’s vocal with a grooving, low-slung bassline, whilst “Dusty” drifts in on brushed snares and ghostly Rhodes, its saxophone lines curling through the mix like smoke. “Chasing Daze,” analog synth shimmer and Tempo’s velvet tones, is a track suspended between head-nod groove and astral lift.
The curtain falls with “Disco Down,” a jubilant ensemble of Hammond organ, flute, guitar, bongos, and horns locking into joyous conversation.
"Prudência / Praga", or "Prudence / Plague", is a double single with these two songs that I composed and which were originally recorded by two of my heroes: Maria Bethânia and Alaíde Costa. Curiously, they are two sambas: although I come from the rock and roll scene in Sao Paulo, I wound up writing a samba as if it were the 50s. At the time of my first heartbreak, at the age of 17, I had the record Jamelao canta Lupicínio with the Orquestra Tabajara on my iPod, and I identified with those dramatic sorrows, almost a hundred years old. In a way, I felt that Lupicínio Rodrigues was bloody and direct, like Tarantino, and Nelson Cavaquinho, heavy metal like Black Sabbath. So, I feel it's a compact 45 of sambas but it's also very Rock n Roll to me. Raw and coming from hell. "Prudência" is that internal battle between the passionate side and the controlling side in the head of the former romantic bohemian. I wrote it for Bethânia to record on her album Noturno. Her version turned into a moving bolero. When I saw her singing it live and the audience singing along with her, I couldn't believe it. I cried, hidden in the audience. She said that when she showed the record to her brother, Caetano Veloso, he thought that "Prudência" was some old classic that she had dug up to bring back to light. Nothing could be a greater compliment than this mistake on Caetano's part. "Praga" also has to do with MPB heroes of mine that I never imagined I'd see up close or have any relationship with or any connection with. I was asked to write these lyrics in partnership with the main man Erasmo Carlos for Alaíde Costa's album! Surreal. Like many people, I got acquainted with Alaíde listening to "Clube da Esquina," her singing with Milton Nascimento. And the idea was to do a poisonous cabaret song samba. The curse of a woman who has dumped a drunk. I love it when Alaíde sings "BIBIDA" in her recording of the song_a total legend. I wanted to produce a kind of horror samba recording, because if it wasn't rock and roll, it wouldn't be much fun for me. I went over to Bielzinho's, and we recorded this chorus that explodes with the percussion and the choir of my friends Tulipa, Maria Beraldo, and Luiza Lian. This take of "Prudência" came from the unpretentiousness of recording two live sessions of the song with Fred Joseph with the cameras of the 70s' program "Ensaio" (MPB Especial) by the great Fernando Faro. The video take ended up being so unexpected and raw that it unseated the studio version, and that's what you hear on the single. The idea behind the video is a sort of this temporal mindfuck; like found lost tapes of the MPB Especial from the early the 70s. Same microphones, same cameras, that zoom_time travel. Between Mil Coisas Invisíveis, the end of the cycle with O Terno, and starting the new album process, I decided to take advantage of the respite to release this rock and roll 45 of sambas, without thinking too much or over-producing the thing. "Prudence? Don't talk to me about prudence!" ;) Tim Bernardes, 2025
In syrupy slow pursuit of a strong 2023 debut, Yungwebster's somnolent sequel is bolstered by pitch-perfect production from Space Afrika and Nathan Melja, who vaporise the rapper's auto-tuned post-Future drawl with euphoric orchestral drones, brittle micro-trap beats and weightless pads.
Over a decade ago at this point, Future released 'Codeine Crazy', the decelerated finale of 'Monster', one of his best-loved mixtapes. The track neatly summarised themes the Atlanta rapper had been circling for years at that point, layering his slurred, lean-dizzy rhymes over producer TM88's rubbery, melancholy synths. "Take all my problems and drink out the bottle," he moaned robotically, using the track's minor key bounce to represent the crushing delirium that followed fame and its tasting menu of intoxicants. It's still Future's high water mark creatively, and its traces can be observed in a full spectrum of contemporary sounds, from 6LACK's downtrodden, self-aware R&B to Lil Uzi Vert's feverish trap. But it's Yungwebster who's taken the haze to its logical conclusion, reimagining the Magic City-sculpted bumps as hypnagogic Actavis- 'n Xanax-hued ambient music. You could argue it was bound to happen - the more you sip, the slower it gets - and plays as a cracked mirror to cloud rap's long-smoked hybrid of Southern psychedelia and post-OutKast eccentricity.
Webster's opiated POV is clearer than ever before on 'II'. Just peep the cracks in his voice on the Space Afrika-produced opener 'Skyfall' as he coughs and splutters over watery samples, booming subs and SA's patented collage of soundtrack-ready strings and sirens. Presented at regular speed and in chipmunked form, it sets the pace for an album that, like its predecessor, constantly fucks with the timeline, pitching the whole master into doubletime or slowing it down to a crawl to present a curved, inebriated narrative rather than a straight line. Even without the tempo switches, Webster singles out beats that accent his warbled rhymes that sound as if they'll fall apart at any moment. French DJ and producer Nathan Melja backs 'Disheveled' with Black Ark-styled oscillations and airlock'd echoes, filtering the bassline until it almost disappears entirely; with room to breathe, Webster's able to take the lead - you might not be able to pick out the words, not entirely at least, but you get the message.
In fact it's Webster's voice that's the revelation on 'II' - with a coherent mix from producer tnotsobad, the nuances and fluttering tonalities emerge more vividly than they have before. It makes the flip between the regular speed and fast on 'Txts Red on iMessage' a textural decision, the different pace shifting the warbled cadences so Webster's voice becomes far more important than the additional elements. And on the album's Space Afrika-produced eight-minute centerpiece 'Crochet / I Swear', Webster's mumbled bio-mechanical whines create a much-needed foil for the decelerated boom-clack and suspended save room ambience. We get to encounter a personality here, not just an aesthetic, so as the album moves into its twilit fourth side, the beatless, voice-led somniferousness of 'YA SA' and ululating 'Phone' come off like a descent into tranquillised sedation. Rap has rarely sounded so chimeric.
Gravitate, in case you didn't know, is yet another label from James Burnham aka Burnski aka Instinct. It's hard to keep up with the man's unrelenting yet brilliant work rate, but worth making the effort to do so if you like minimal, tech and garage. The latest on this fledgling project goes deep and arrives just in time for some balmy Ibiza party nights. 'Gravitate 03-1' is loopy and lazy and invitingly mid-tempo, 'Gravitate 03-2' picks up the pace a touch but is still couched in warm, roomy grooves and soul-drenched chords. The flipside brings more gritty and turbo-powered tech on 'Gravitate 03-3' then a nice silky and blissed out cruiser to close on 'Gravitate 03-4'. Four more functional but well-formed sounds from the brilliant Burnham.
"Stories Of Life" - triosence malen Musik aus Geschichten, die das Leben schreibt Das Album "Stories of Life" des Genregrenzen neu definierenden Pianotrios triosence ist ein musikalisches Porträt von Momentaufnahmen aus dem Leben. In jedem Titel erkundet triosence-Bandleader und Komponist Bernhard Schüler die Tragik und Schönheit von Geschichten aus dem Alltag und malt diese Erlebnisse in betörend melodiöse, mitreißende Instrumentalkompositionen. Große Freude und tiefer Schmerz, scheinbar Banales und wahrhaft Lebensveränderndes liegen oft überraschend nah beieinander. Der Verlust einer Schwangerschaft in "Little Lost Wonder", die Liebe zu seiner kleinen Tochter in "Tamina's Lullaby", der Tod seines Onkels in "Dear Rainer" oder die Freude über wild wuchernde Garten-Gewächse seiner Lebensgefährtin in "Tomato Party" - "Stories of Life" ist die in Musik nachvollzogene Erkenntnis von Bernhard Schüler, dass im Leben all das verwoben ist. "Ich setze mich ans Klavier und spiele mir alles von der Seele. Schöne und traurige Erlebnisse, Beobachtungen, Empfindungen - Musik zu schreiben ist meine Art, über das Leben nachzudenken", erklärt er.Was "Stories Of Life" musikalisch auszeichnet, sind progressive Strukturen, die immer wieder in Stil, Tempo und Stimmung variieren; die mal laut oder leise sind, verträumt oder kraftvoll. Sie sollen den Hörer auf eine regelrechte Reise schicken, indem sie eine Reihe von starken Klangbildern erzeugen. "Wenn ich komponiere, habe ich das immer im Hinterkopf", so Bernhard Schüler. "Nämlich Geschichten mit meiner Musik zu erzählen. Das ist, was die Leute am meisten berührt." Auf "Stories Of Life" entwickeln er und seine Bandkollegen Tobias Schulte (Schlagzeug) und Omar Rodriguez Calvo (Bass) mit großer Leichtigkeit ihren melodiösen, stimmungsvollen Sound-Mix aus Weltbeat, Folk, Jazz, Rock und Pop konsequent weiter. "Wir gestalten ein totales Crossover", erklärt Bernhard Schüler, "das ist Musik, die zwar in klassischer Jazz-Formation daherkommt - mit Klavier, Bass und Schlagzeug - aber Jazz im herkömmlichen Sinn kann man das nicht mehr nennen. Mir geht es um starke Melodien und klare Songstrukturen. Eine Fokussierung auf das Wesentliche ist mir wichtig oder anders gesagt: musikalisch auf den Punkt zu kommen."Dem Maler Rainer Hoffmann ist nicht nur das Stück "Dear Rainer" gewidmet - mit "Stories Of Life" wird ihm auf besondere Weise ein Denkmal gesetzt. Sein Gemälde "Badere vid Ingetoprsjön" (Badende am Ingetorpssee) ziert denn auch das Cover-Artwork und im Booklet finden sich zehn weitere Bilder des Künstlers - jedes thematisch einem der Songs zugeordnet. "Leider hat die Kunst meines Onkels nie die Aufmerksamkeit und Anerkennung bekommen, die sie wirklich verdient hat", so Schüler. "Aber er hat ein sehr aufregendes Leben geführt und war ein wahrer Abenteurer, der bereits in frühen Jahren in die schwedische Wildnis gezogen ist und die ganze Welt bereist hat, um dort zu malen. Alles andere war ihm egal. Diese Leidenschaft für die Kunst - ohne Wenn und Aber - hat mich schon als kleiner Junge fasziniert, und wenn er damals Geschichten aus seinem Leben erzählt hat, saß ich mit großen Augen vor ihm." Eine dieser Geschichten greift Schüler in "Marrakesh Swing" auf - ein Flirt mit der Kultur einer Stadt, die er nie besucht hat, aber in seiner Komposition zu blühendem Leben erweckt. Der Hörer erlebt sie vor seinem geistigen Auge - in all ihren Facetten, Farben und ihrer Lebendigkeit.Mit "Tamina's Lullaby" ist nach langer Zeit wieder ein Stück für Soloklavier auf einem triosence-Album enthalten. Zudem schließt eine Referenz auf die Vergangenheit den Kreis der Geschichten auf "Stories of Life": Eine neue Instrumentalversion von "Like The Wind", das ursprünglich mit der US-Sängerin Sara Gazarek für das Album "Where Time Stands Still" aufgenommen wurde, bildet den Schlusspunkt des Albums.
2025 Repress
FINALLY! The very first commercial release of two legendary remixes of Arthur Russell's "In The Light Of The Miracle". Both are widely regarded as transcendent masterpieces and very much befitting of the title “holy grails”.
These long-beloved mixes are the types you'd wish would last for eternity. With almost 30 minutes of music here, we very nearly get our desires granted. At last, these jaw-dropping mixes are widely available to every Arthur fan in the world. This is musical perfection.
The deep Loft classic "In The Light Of The Miracle" remained unreleased during Arthur's lifetime, finally discovered when Phillip Glass included the original version on Another Thought on Point Music in 1993. As Steve Knutson told us, when Another Thought was being put together, the plan was to release a companion album of remixes that was overseen by Steve D'Aquisto but the project only got as far as these two remixes of "In The Light Of The Miracle".
Some dodgy scans of some centre label designs suggest that Point Music might’ve been planning to release these on a 12" but it didn’t happen. The story goes that Gilles Peterson heard the remixes on a visit to the Point Music offices and wanted to release them on Talkin’ Loud. We’re not sure how many white label copies made it out into the wild, but again, these remixes didn’t make it to a proper release.
These remixes both extend and undeniably enhance the original, elevating it to new heights. The 13 minute remix on the A-side is by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith with editing duties performed by Tony Morgan. As ever with Arthur, the music is almost impossible to describe: is it Disco? Garage House? Avant Garde? None of these tags do full justice to its sheer majesty. You best just listen. Stretching out the original with some unbelievably great percussive elements, until we're in a deeply spiritual, otherworldly realm, it's just too beautiful for words. As many have claimed, it's the prototype for EVERYTHING.
The "Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2)", produced by Tony Morgan in the mid-90s, is in a more up-tempo style, with vocals higher in the mix, the BPM upped to 120 and the addition of a housey 4/4 kick drum. A 14 minute epic, you could say this is a more straight ahead "club-friendly" mix (but can things ever be that straightforward with Arthur?!) It also has some really interesting vocal parts not used in the other versions, including some vocals from guest poet Allen Ginsberg.
These remixes are part of the same original project that also produced the Another Thought album so it seems only right that they have a sleeve that matches. Thanks again to Janette Beckman for letting us use another of her photos of Arthur and the rest of the design follows what Margery Greenspan, Tina Lauffer and Michael Klotz did for Another Thought back in 1994.
Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 12" well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year.
Die wilden Söhne Manchesters, Wode, kehren mit ihrem vierten Album „Uncrossing The Keys“ zurück und erweitern damit selbstbewusst ihren ohnehin schon beeindruckenden Sound, der auf einer düsteren Grundlage aus wildem Black Metal und eisernem Heavy Metal basiert. Nachdem sie sich von der eher geradlinigen Methodik ihres Debütalbums weiterentwickelt haben, haben Wode im Laufe ihrer Diskografie kontinuierlich Elemente aus verschiedenen dunklen Ecken des Undergrounds hinzugefügt, wobei ihr Songwriting schlanker, aber auch komplexer, fokussierter und melodischer denn je geworden ist.
„Uncrossing The Keys“ hat die Musik von Wode nicht milder gemacht, der Sound ist nach wie vor von Flammen und Wut durchdrungen, aber sie haben ein breiteres Spektrum an Stimmungen angenommen und malen mit schwärzeren, satteren Farbtönen als je zuvor. Zerklüftete Post-Punk-/Goth-Einflüsse leuchten düster in neuen Tracks wie „Saturn Shadow“ und dem verträumten Trance des atmosphärischen Instrumentalstücks „Phantom“. Das düstere Tempo und die majestätisch-nachdenkliche Stimmung der Single „Transmutation“ erinnern mit ihrer düsteren Unterströmung sowohl an Paradise Lost als auch an Amorphis, während das melancholisch-hymnische „Under Lanternlight“ mit dynamischen Melodien im Stil von Sentenced durchdrungen ist. Die Gitarren tragen manchmal einen traurigen Schimmer, ihre Hooks sind sowohl von Melancholie als auch von Bedrohung durchzogen und schweben mit Momenten elegischer Schönheit und dunkler Klage über dem Gemetzel. Der höllische, raue Gesang erhebt sich wie rituelle Gesänge aus einer anderen Zeit.
Wode beschwört Bilder einer Welt herauf, die sich ständig am Rande der Dämmerung befindet, und wirft im Verlauf der neun Tracks von „Uncrossing The Keys“ einen langen, kalten Schatten. Es herrscht ein Gefühl von Erhabenheit und Verfall, als hätte die Band ein Tor zu einem Reich geöffnet, in dem verfluchte Städte unter blutroten Himmeln schwelen und ihre Mauern ewig verlassene Hymnen widerhallen lassen. Als Ergebnis eines ständigen Evolutionsprozesses hat Wode einen wahrhaft gespenstischen und imposanten Blackened Heavy Metal geschaffen, der ein dunkles Banner hoch über einem riesigen und öden Königreich hisst.
BLACK VINYL EDITION[21,43 €]
Limited edition on clear vinyl. Wie in het voorjaar van 2025 het voorrecht had om de theatertour van Het Zesde Metaal bij te wonen, kon daar op de koop toe genieten van een handvol gloednieuwe songs. En daarna vaststellen dat die helaas nergens te (her)beluisteren waren. Tot nu, want de goesting om de songs vast te leggen voor de eeuwigheid werd op den duur wel heel groot. En dus kampeerden Wannes Cappelle en co afgelopen zomer enkele dagen in Waimes (DAFT Music Studios), voor het eerst in de nieuwe bezetting met Kasper Cornelus op gitaar/toetsen en Sander Verstraete op bas.
Het resultaat is de EP Randgevallen: vijf songs, vijf vertellingen uit het persoonlijke en wereldse leven die andermaal bewijzen dat Het Zesde Metaal als geen ander kan beschrijven, beklijven en betoveren. Een staalkaart bovendien van de muzikale en tekstuele veelzijdigheid die de band al jaren kenmerkt. Opener Service is een opgewekte popsong waarin Cappelle sappig de drang naar reviews en hartjes in het dagelijkse en economische leven fileert: 'wa' vind je van onze service? / zou j'ons geen tiene willen geven? / asteblieft, want anders is den directeur vies.' In Traagskes Groeien verstilt het tempo en keert de blik naar binnen, het persoonlijke leven in, mijmerend over kinderen die stilaan het nest ontgroeien. 'ge moet u zo nie' spoeien / ge moet traagskes groeien / ge moe' laagske per laagske groeien', probeert Cappelle het loslaten nog even uit te stellen.
Wie dacht dat Oud En Nieuw daarna gaat over feestvieren in de donkerste dagen van december, is op het verkeerde feestje beland. Wiegend op hypnotiserende bas, drum en pedal steel passeert opnieuw de vergankelijkheid van het leven, dit keer met een bredere maatschappelijke blik. 'alles da' oud is, was ooit nieuw / en groot is ooit kleine begonnen / veel komt van weinig / glad was eerst ruw / zelfs de waarheid wierd ooit verzonnen'. Wanneer naar het einde toe pulserende synths het tempo opheffen en de song licht euforisch uitwaaiert in een instrumentale coda, kun je alleen maar de ogen sluiten en stilstaan bij wat was en nog komen zal.
Label is het enige nummer dat speciaal voor de EP werd geschreven en baadt net als Service in meer dartele klanken, terwijl Cappelle met trefzekere oneliners een beeld van zichzelf schetst. 'de meeste middens mijd ik, ik hore bie de randgevallen thuis / misschien verdiene 'kik ook een label'. Moeten we altijd proberen de ander in een vakje te duwen? Kan iedereen niet 'gewoon' anders zijn? En ironisch draait Cappelle de rollen om: 'atypisch is de norm / ge moogt buiten de lijntjes kleuren / gewoon is niet verboden / normaal zijn doet geen zeer / as ze mor hunder plekke kennen / de rare zijn met meer.'
Het slotakkoord is voor het beklijvende Duizend Soldaten van Willem Vermandere, dat Cappelle en Filip Wauters begin dit jaar brachten voor het tv-programma Ik Vraag Het Aan. Nu zet het een pakkend punt achter een EP die nogmaals de tijdloze klasse van de band onderstreept. Meeslepend, verhalend, herkenbaar, grappig, ontroerend, scherp. Het Zesde Metaal is het allemaal en heeft daar slechts vijf songs voor nodig.
Randgevallen werd opgenomen met Frederik Segers (productie) en Jasper Maekelberg (mix) aan de knoppen, en komt uit op 4 oktober. Met de plaat onder de arm én aan de merchandisetafel herneemt de band zijn theatertour, maar dan in het groot, langs fantastische zalen in onder meer Brugge (Concertgebouw), Gent (Capitole) en Nederland.
TRANSLUCENT PINK VINYL[23,49 €]
,Push pull/ Side to side/ This way/ That way/ Can't decide/ Pressure! Pushing in/ Flattened me out from end to end", singt Blair Tramel in ,Worldwide", dem Titelsong aus dem neuen Album von Snooper. Der Song fängt die schwindelerregende Stimmung der Band während ihres rasanten Aufstiegs vom DIY-Circuit in Nashville zu weltweiten Tourneen und Bekanntheit in den entlegensten Ecken der Untergrund-Musikszene ein. Aber obwohl die Band den Druck spürte - der Song ist teilweise von YouTube-Videos über hydraulische Pressen inspiriert -, waren alle Herausforderungen eine Chance für Veränderung. ,Worldwide" ist ein Leitbild für das Album, nicht nur thematisch, sondern auch ästhetisch, und zeigt Snoopers stilistische Experimentierfreudigkeit. Neu inspiriert von elektronischer Musik, ist der Rhythmus von ,Worldwide" unerbittlich und mechanisch - er fängt das rasende Tempo ein, in dem Snoopers Leben verlief, lässt aber durch Tramels Schreie und Connor Cummins' dreckigen Gitarrenbreaks. ,Worldwide" führt uns in das nächste Kapitel von Snooper ein - persönlicher, kathartischer, schärfer, mutiger, eingängiger. ,Es gibt einen Sweet Spot", sagt Tramel über die Entwicklung, die sich aus Snoopers turbulenter Erfahrung in den letzten Jahren ergeben hat. ,Für einen Moment schaffen Push und Pull diesen wunderschönen Tanz."
,Push pull/ Side to side/ This way/ That way/ Can't decide/ Pressure! Pushing in/ Flattened me out from end to end", singt Blair Tramel in ,Worldwide", dem Titelsong aus dem neuen Album von Snooper. Der Song fängt die schwindelerregende Stimmung der Band während ihres rasanten Aufstiegs vom DIY-Circuit in Nashville zu weltweiten Tourneen und Bekanntheit in den entlegensten Ecken der Untergrund-Musikszene ein. Aber obwohl die Band den Druck spürte - der Song ist teilweise von YouTube-Videos über hydraulische Pressen inspiriert -, waren alle Herausforderungen eine Chance für Veränderung. ,Worldwide" ist ein Leitbild für das Album, nicht nur thematisch, sondern auch ästhetisch, und zeigt Snoopers stilistische Experimentierfreudigkeit. Neu inspiriert von elektronischer Musik, ist der Rhythmus von ,Worldwide" unerbittlich und mechanisch - er fängt das rasende Tempo ein, in dem Snoopers Leben verlief, lässt aber durch Tramels Schreie und Connor Cummins' dreckigen Gitarrenbreaks. ,Worldwide" führt uns in das nächste Kapitel von Snooper ein - persönlicher, kathartischer, schärfer, mutiger, eingängiger. ,Es gibt einen Sweet Spot", sagt Tramel über die Entwicklung, die sich aus Snoopers turbulenter Erfahrung in den letzten Jahren ergeben hat. ,Für einen Moment schaffen Push und Pull diesen wunderschönen Tanz."
There’s a lot for MAYDAY PARADE to celebrate these days. The T allahassee, Florida-formed quintet recently
wrapped a career-defining tour marking two decades together, one that saw more than 70,000 fans pack sold-out venues to celebrate their storied catalog. They performed a triumphant main-stage set at the 30th anniversary of the V ans W arped T our, a full-circle moment for a band that made their name selling self-released CDs in those same sweltering parking lots nearly 20 years ago. Their landmark debut LP, A Lesson In Romantics, turned 18, still beloved for its iconic singles like the platinum-certified “Jamie All Over” and gold-certified “Miserable At Best.” And the group released Sweet, the first in a self-released three-album series that reaffirmed just how vital and creatively energized Mayday Parade still remains. Now, on Sad, the second installment in that trilogy, the band continue diving deeper into the emotional nuance that’s defined their most captivating albums, blending aching sentimentality with melodic urgency as only they can. Once again produced by longtime collaborators Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, Sad sees Mayday Parade stripping back some of the tempo that colored Sweet in favor of more deliberate grooves, more introspection, and a sharpened focus on mood and space.
Sub Channels Records is proud to announce their first release, "Epic EP," featuring a collaboration between Belgium-based producer Unlisted Fanatic and Moonshine Horns.
The track "Epic" is a result of the first "post-covid" spontaneous rehearsal session. After Martin just finished building his new fast-driven 90s UK stepper riddim, Jort and Kris came to a studio, and they both felt the vibes instantly. Very quickly this turns into a recording session where they have lay down the powerful, triumphant horn line. With bouncy bass and very clever percussion layering, it's a perfect backing beat for uplifting horns.
On the flip side, EchoBoy slows down the tempo of the original recordings, transforming the melodic horns into more rootikal vibes. This, combined with hard-hitting wobs and ground-shaking subs, makes the B-side a more futuristic tune.
Vinyl AudiophilAls Pavlov's Dog im vergangenen Jahr die Veröffentlichung des karriereübergreifenden Boxsets Essential Recordings 1974 - 2018 feierten, arbeitete die Band bereits hart an einem neuen Album mit Originalmaterial. Dieses Album, genannt Wonderlust, ist 2025 erschienen. Und das ein halbes Jahrhundert, nachdem ihre Debüt-LP Pampered Menial und der darauf enthaltene Hit „Julia“ Pavlov's Dog kurzzeitig zu den Lieblingen der Progressive-Rock-Szene der 1970er Jahre machte. Das neue Album ist ein äußerst kreatives Werk mit Songs, die auf intelligentem Songwriting, erstklassiger Musikalität und einem untrüglichen Gespür für das Dramatische aufbauen, das den Sound der Band über all die Jahre geprägt hat.
Pavlov‘s Dog wurde Anfang der 1970er Jahre in St. Louis, Missouri, gegründet und erlangte mit seiner einzigartigen Mischung aus Rock, Klassik und Folk Kultstatus. Ihr damaliger Erfolg war jedoch nur von kurzer Dauer: Bereits 1977 löste sich die Originalbesetzung auf. Leadsänger, Gitarrist und Hauptkomponist David Surkamp machte weiter und schloss sich 1990 mit seinem Gründungsmitglied Doug Rayburn zusammen, um das Album Lost in America aufzunehmen. Doch das zweite Kapitel in der Karriere von Pavlov Dog kam erst nach der Jahrtausendwende so richtig in Schwung, als eine talentierte Gruppe von Musikern der nächsten Generation das Erbe weiterführte. Unter der Leitung von Surkamp hat sich die Band in den letzten Jahren weiterentwickelt. Eine neue Welle des Interesses an Prog-Rock ermöglicht es ihr, regelmäßig zu touren. Die aktuelle Besetzung hat die ursprüngliche Version von Pavlov's Dog in puncto Langlebigkeit inzwischen weit übertroffen: Sängerin Sara Surkamp, Geigerin Abbie Steiling, Bassist Rick Steiling und Keyboarder Mark Maher bilden zusammen mit dem Gründer David Surkamp seit sieben Jahren den Kern der Band.
Bereits auf dem gefeierten Album Prodigal Dreamer aus dem Jahr 2018 vertreten, beweist dieses erfahrene Team von Musikern – mit Unterstützung von u.a. Schlagzeuger Steve Bunck und Gitarristen Phil Ring – nun auf Wonderlust einmal mehr sein Können. Schon beim ersten Hören sind die große Tiefe, Reife und Vision der elf Tracks spürbar. Einige Songs, wie der Opener „Anyway There's Snow“, bei dem Abbie Steilings wunderschöne Geige im Vordergrund steht, glänzen durch große Dramatik. Das von Streichern durchtränkte „Another Blood Moon“ ist ein weiteres Beispiel der für Pavlov’s Dog typischen, musikalischen Melancholie. Auf einem Album voller eindringlicher Gesangsperformances erreicht Surkamp hier wohl seinen Höhepunkt.
Dennoch sollte man nicht vergessen, dass Pavlov's Dog in erster Linie eine Rockband ist. Stücke wie das treibende „Mona“ und das knallharte „Collingwood Hotel“ treffen ins Schwarze. „Jet Black Cadillac“ klingt wie der Titel einer klassischen Rock'n'Roll-Nummer, doch der Song beginnt wehmütig. (Seien wir ehrlich: Pavlov's Dog klingt fast immer zumindest ein bisschen wehmütig.) Doch sobald der titelgebende Cadillac im Refrain auftaucht, erhebt sich der Song und das Traumauto fungiert als Mittel zur Flucht vor dem Blues. Hinzu kommen der freche Charme von „Solid Water, Liquid Sky“ und die Hardrock-Anleihen von „Can't Stop The Hurt“.
Besonders langjährige Fans, die mehr von dem wollen, was typischerweise „Prog“ ausmacht, können sich über die zweite Hälfte des Albums freuen. Auf dem von Abbie Steiling geschriebenen, instrumentalen Prunkstück „Calling Sigfried“ entfesselt die Band kurzerhand ihre gesamte musikalische Brillanz. Das Album schließt mit einem Trio von Songs, die Surkamp gemeinsam mit seinem früheren Songwriting-Partner, dem inzwischen verstorbenen Doug Rayburn, geschrieben hat. Von diesen verströmt vor allem „Canadian Rain” die abenteuerlichen Vibes des Progressive Rock der 1970er-Jahre mit zahlreichen Tempowechseln und einem elektrischen Slap-Bass-Solo wie aus heiterem Himmel.
Auf Wonderlust klingen Pavlov's Dog wie die Veteranen, die sie sind; diese Musiker sind schon lange genug dabei, um zu wissen, was sie tun. Doch gleichzeitig beweisen sie, dass ihre kreative Quelle immer noch sprudelt. Das langersehnte Wonderlust ist ein Album voller geschickt eingespielter, vollständig realisierter Rockmusik, bei dem Surkamp zeigt, dass er stimmlich keineswegs nachgelassen hat und, dass ein alter Hund doch ein paar neue Tricks lernen kann.
Gute Musik wie diese wird nie aus der Mode kommen.
Animistic Resonance marks a new stage for artist and electronic musician Leslie García, as it is her first album under her own name, following several releases as Microhm and her parallel work as founder of the contemporary art studio Interspecifics, where she has developed an extensive body of sonic projects presented in major museums and programs around the world. The album is the culmination of a profound and extended exploration of sound as language. It is also a statement against the classicism of long-form ambient pieces. Narratively, each track is conceived as a finely detailed work that functions as a condensed temporal fragment, each with its own individuality while simultaneously forming part of a broader universe.
The compositional language of the album draws on minimalist structures, deep listening strategies, and experimental approaches to electronic sound. Each track offers a meditation on repetition, density, and micro-variation, unfolding like a sonic landscape shaped by temporal tension and perceptual ambiguity. Animistic Resonance resists categorization, situating itself between ambient, noise, and abstract rhythm, while grounding its aesthetic in a Latin American sensibility that embraces technological poetics, affective depth, and critical imagination.
The album invites listeners to move beyond the surface and inhabit a world of vibrational and animistic temporalities. It offers a refuge in sound, a suspended space where calm can emerge. In the midst of contemporary turbulence, Animistic Resonance opens the door to imagining new ways of listening and feeling, demanding an embodied and visceral form of engagement.
Composition sound synthesis and programming by Leslie García. Composed between 2022—2024 in Mexico City.
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio, NY. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón.
20/20 Vision is doing a fine job of digging into its archives and reissuing genuine treasure. Next up is a Spirit Catcher classic from 2007 that has been long out of print. The Belgian pair of Jean Vanesse and Thomas Sohet really hit on a fresh sound with their blend of electro-deco and deep house and this double pack still sounds hot all these years on. From the mid-tempo and seductive boogie of 'Motown Spring' to the cosmic tech of 'Search Is Over' via the dazzling disco radiance and sleek Metro Area style vibes of 'Rollercoaster', these are sophisticated sounds that marry dancefloor clout with great sound design. Check 'Voodoo Knight' for a playful and well-worked party starter, by the way.
Produziert von dem mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones, Clairo) und mit musikalischen Beiträgen von Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon, Marco Benevento und Brainstory. Lady Wray meldet sich mit "Cover Girl", ihrem dritten Album bei Big Crown Records, mit Spannung erwartet zurück. Der Album-Opener "My Best Step" sagt alles: "My next step is my best step", und in der Tat hebt sie ihre künstlerische Leistung auf ein neues Niveau und macht die beste Musik ihres Lebens. Das feierliche "Cover Girl" nimmt den Hörer mit auf eine ausgelassene Spritztour, die von Soul und Disco der 60er und 70er Jahre, Hip-Hop und R&B der 90er Jahre und dem vielleicht wichtigsten Element, dem Gospel, geprägt ist. Nach dem 2022 veröffentlichten "Piece of Me" trat Nicole Monique Wray a.k.a. Lady Wray in der Late Show With Stephen Colbert und bei NPR's Tiny Desk auf und tourte durch die ganze Welt. "Cover Girl" ist mühelos und unbestreitbar der bisherige Höhepunkt ihrer langjährigen Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones / Clairo / El Michels Affair), die sich über ein Jahrzehnt erstreckt. "Ich habe mich mit diesem Album mehr der Liebe und der Selbstfürsorge zugewandt. Piece of Me war die Erkenntnis, dass ich Mutter werde, und all diese Gefühle lagen mir auf dem Herzen", sagt Lady Wray. "Jetzt kann ich mich zurücklehnen und eine echte Chefin sein. Ich habe meine Karriere, meine Mutterschaft und meine Ehe in den Griff bekommen. Ich bin zu einer selbstbewussteren und schöneren Werbeträgerin für Cover Girl geworden." Die Singer-Songwriterin mit der allmächtigen Stimme, den aufrüttelnden Texten und ihrer anziehenden Persönlichkeit erzählt von ihrer Wertschätzung für ihre Familie, ihrem Glauben und ihrer erneuerten Liebe zu sich selbst - all das ist der Antrieb für ihr neues Album. Die Leadsingle "You're Gonna Win" ist ein tanzbarer Feel-Good-Banger. Nicole lässt sich gehen, während sie ihre Macht benennt und einfordert: "I do not care who came before me, after me there will be none". Der Chor der Fabulous Rainbow Singers schließt sich dem Refrain an und bringt die ganze Angelegenheit in die Kirche und stellt sie neben die besten Gospel-Disco-Platten, die je gepresst wurden. "Be a Witness" ist ein funkiges Mid-Tempo-Kraftpaket, das Prince stolz machen würde. Nicole findet den perfekten Groove über druckvollen Drumcomputern und ansteckenden Synthesizern, singt über eine Liebe, die dazu bestimmt ist, zu geschehen, und verbreitet die guten Vibes an jeden in Hörweite. Der Titeltrack von Cover Girl ist einer der verletzlichsten Momente des Albums. Lady Wray liefert eine atemberaubende Darbietung in dem schlichten Stück, in dem sie ihre Reise zur Selbstfindung beschreibt: ""I lost myself trying to please someone else / I want to be me again." Der Titel leitet sich von einem Spitznamen aus ihrer Kindheit ab, den sie sich wegen ihres stets gepflegten Stils zulegte. Lady Wray erklärt. "Als ich erwachsen wurde und ins Musikgeschäft einstieg, verlor ich diesen glücklichen Teil von mir. Ich sehe dieses Glück in meiner Tochter, die einfach wunderschön, talentiert und klug ist. Mit ,Cover Girl' kehre ich zu diesem kleinen Mädchen zurück. Es geht darum, sich selbst wieder zu lieben". In ähnlicher Weise fordert sie in "Where Could I Be" das Glück und den Sinn für Identität zurück, den sie durch die Kämpfe des Lebens verloren hatte. In "Best For Us" und "Hard Times" schwärmt Nicole von ihrer Liebe und ihrem Respekt für ihre Ehe, wobei sie sowohl die Unvollkommenheit anerkennt als auch auf die Stärke und Widerstandsfähigkeit der wahren Liebe verweist. In "Higher" singt sie für ihre Tochter und lehrt sie, wie man liebt und geliebt wird, und ermutigt sie, beharrlich und ausdauernd zu sein. Lady Wray wurde geboren, um zu singen und ihre Seele und ihr Leben durch ihre Musik mit uns zu teilen. Mit ihren glaubwürdigen Botschaften und ihrer unvergleichlichen Stimme hat sie sich weltweit eine treue Fangemeinde geschaffen. Egal, ob sie von ihren Kämpfen oder ihren Stärken singt, es ist tröstlich zu hören, dass sie uns wissen lässt, dass wir nicht allein damit sind. Nicole Wray ist inspirierend und aufbauend. Sie hat viel durchgemacht und ist durch all das zu einem besseren Menschen und einer besseren Künstlerin geworden. "Du musst deine eigene Welt beherrschen. Lass niemanden in deinen Weg kommen. Du rockst mit deinen Träumen, bis die Räder abfallen", sagt Lady Wray. "Das ist es, was ich mit meiner Karriere seit 1998 mache. Ich weiß, wer ich bin und was ich auf den Tisch bringe. Es war eine Wahnsinnsreise, und ich bin so glücklich, die beste Musik meines Lebens zu machen."
Produziert von dem mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones, Clairo) und mit musikalischen Beiträgen von Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon, Marco Benevento und Brainstory. Lady Wray meldet sich mit "Cover Girl", ihrem dritten Album bei Big Crown Records, mit Spannung erwartet zurück. Der Album-Opener "My Best Step" sagt alles: "My next step is my best step", und in der Tat hebt sie ihre künstlerische Leistung auf ein neues Niveau und macht die beste Musik ihres Lebens. Das feierliche "Cover Girl" nimmt den Hörer mit auf eine ausgelassene Spritztour, die von Soul und Disco der 60er und 70er Jahre, Hip-Hop und R&B der 90er Jahre und dem vielleicht wichtigsten Element, dem Gospel, geprägt ist. Nach dem 2022 veröffentlichten "Piece of Me" trat Nicole Monique Wray a.k.a. Lady Wray in der Late Show With Stephen Colbert und bei NPR's Tiny Desk auf und tourte durch die ganze Welt. "Cover Girl" ist mühelos und unbestreitbar der bisherige Höhepunkt ihrer langjährigen Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones / Clairo / El Michels Affair), die sich über ein Jahrzehnt erstreckt. "Ich habe mich mit diesem Album mehr der Liebe und der Selbstfürsorge zugewandt. Piece of Me war die Erkenntnis, dass ich Mutter werde, und all diese Gefühle lagen mir auf dem Herzen", sagt Lady Wray. "Jetzt kann ich mich zurücklehnen und eine echte Chefin sein. Ich habe meine Karriere, meine Mutterschaft und meine Ehe in den Griff bekommen. Ich bin zu einer selbstbewussteren und schöneren Werbeträgerin für Cover Girl geworden." Die Singer-Songwriterin mit der allmächtigen Stimme, den aufrüttelnden Texten und ihrer anziehenden Persönlichkeit erzählt von ihrer Wertschätzung für ihre Familie, ihrem Glauben und ihrer erneuerten Liebe zu sich selbst - all das ist der Antrieb für ihr neues Album. Die Leadsingle "You're Gonna Win" ist ein tanzbarer Feel-Good-Banger. Nicole lässt sich gehen, während sie ihre Macht benennt und einfordert: "I do not care who came before me, after me there will be none". Der Chor der Fabulous Rainbow Singers schließt sich dem Refrain an und bringt die ganze Angelegenheit in die Kirche und stellt sie neben die besten Gospel-Disco-Platten, die je gepresst wurden. "Be a Witness" ist ein funkiges Mid-Tempo-Kraftpaket, das Prince stolz machen würde. Nicole findet den perfekten Groove über druckvollen Drumcomputern und ansteckenden Synthesizern, singt über eine Liebe, die dazu bestimmt ist, zu geschehen, und verbreitet die guten Vibes an jeden in Hörweite. Der Titeltrack von Cover Girl ist einer der verletzlichsten Momente des Albums. Lady Wray liefert eine atemberaubende Darbietung in dem schlichten Stück, in dem sie ihre Reise zur Selbstfindung beschreibt: ""I lost myself trying to please someone else / I want to be me again." Der Titel leitet sich von einem Spitznamen aus ihrer Kindheit ab, den sie sich wegen ihres stets gepflegten Stils zulegte. Lady Wray erklärt. "Als ich erwachsen wurde und ins Musikgeschäft einstieg, verlor ich diesen glücklichen Teil von mir. Ich sehe dieses Glück in meiner Tochter, die einfach wunderschön, talentiert und klug ist. Mit ,Cover Girl' kehre ich zu diesem kleinen Mädchen zurück. Es geht darum, sich selbst wieder zu lieben". In ähnlicher Weise fordert sie in "Where Could I Be" das Glück und den Sinn für Identität zurück, den sie durch die Kämpfe des Lebens verloren hatte. In "Best For Us" und "Hard Times" schwärmt Nicole von ihrer Liebe und ihrem Respekt für ihre Ehe, wobei sie sowohl die Unvollkommenheit anerkennt als auch auf die Stärke und Widerstandsfähigkeit der wahren Liebe verweist. In "Higher" singt sie für ihre Tochter und lehrt sie, wie man liebt und geliebt wird, und ermutigt sie, beharrlich und ausdauernd zu sein. Lady Wray wurde geboren, um zu singen und ihre Seele und ihr Leben durch ihre Musik mit uns zu teilen. Mit ihren glaubwürdigen Botschaften und ihrer unvergleichlichen Stimme hat sie sich weltweit eine treue Fangemeinde geschaffen. Egal, ob sie von ihren Kämpfen oder ihren Stärken singt, es ist tröstlich zu hören, dass sie uns wissen lässt, dass wir nicht allein damit sind. Nicole Wray ist inspirierend und aufbauend. Sie hat viel durchgemacht und ist durch all das zu einem besseren Menschen und einer besseren Künstlerin geworden. "Du musst deine eigene Welt beherrschen. Lass niemanden in deinen Weg kommen. Du rockst mit deinen Träumen, bis die Räder abfallen", sagt Lady Wray. "Das ist es, was ich mit meiner Karriere seit 1998 mache. Ich weiß, wer ich bin und was ich auf den Tisch bringe. Es war eine Wahnsinnsreise, und ich bin so glücklich, die beste Musik meines Lebens zu machen."
Produziert von dem mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones, Clairo) und mit musikalischen Beiträgen von Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon, Marco Benevento und Brainstory. Lady Wray meldet sich mit "Cover Girl", ihrem dritten Album bei Big Crown Records, mit Spannung erwartet zurück. Der Album-Opener "My Best Step" sagt alles: "My next step is my best step", und in der Tat hebt sie ihre künstlerische Leistung auf ein neues Niveau und macht die beste Musik ihres Lebens. Das feierliche "Cover Girl" nimmt den Hörer mit auf eine ausgelassene Spritztour, die von Soul und Disco der 60er und 70er Jahre, Hip-Hop und R&B der 90er Jahre und dem vielleicht wichtigsten Element, dem Gospel, geprägt ist. Nach dem 2022 veröffentlichten "Piece of Me" trat Nicole Monique Wray a.k.a. Lady Wray in der Late Show With Stephen Colbert und bei NPR's Tiny Desk auf und tourte durch die ganze Welt. "Cover Girl" ist mühelos und unbestreitbar der bisherige Höhepunkt ihrer langjährigen Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten Leon Michels (Norah Jones / Clairo / El Michels Affair), die sich über ein Jahrzehnt erstreckt. "Ich habe mich mit diesem Album mehr der Liebe und der Selbstfürsorge zugewandt. Piece of Me war die Erkenntnis, dass ich Mutter werde, und all diese Gefühle lagen mir auf dem Herzen", sagt Lady Wray. "Jetzt kann ich mich zurücklehnen und eine echte Chefin sein. Ich habe meine Karriere, meine Mutterschaft und meine Ehe in den Griff bekommen. Ich bin zu einer selbstbewussteren und schöneren Werbeträgerin für Cover Girl geworden." Die Singer-Songwriterin mit der allmächtigen Stimme, den aufrüttelnden Texten und ihrer anziehenden Persönlichkeit erzählt von ihrer Wertschätzung für ihre Familie, ihrem Glauben und ihrer erneuerten Liebe zu sich selbst - all das ist der Antrieb für ihr neues Album. Die Leadsingle "You're Gonna Win" ist ein tanzbarer Feel-Good-Banger. Nicole lässt sich gehen, während sie ihre Macht benennt und einfordert: "I do not care who came before me, after me there will be none". Der Chor der Fabulous Rainbow Singers schließt sich dem Refrain an und bringt die ganze Angelegenheit in die Kirche und stellt sie neben die besten Gospel-Disco-Platten, die je gepresst wurden. "Be a Witness" ist ein funkiges Mid-Tempo-Kraftpaket, das Prince stolz machen würde. Nicole findet den perfekten Groove über druckvollen Drumcomputern und ansteckenden Synthesizern, singt über eine Liebe, die dazu bestimmt ist, zu geschehen, und verbreitet die guten Vibes an jeden in Hörweite. Der Titeltrack von Cover Girl ist einer der verletzlichsten Momente des Albums. Lady Wray liefert eine atemberaubende Darbietung in dem schlichten Stück, in dem sie ihre Reise zur Selbstfindung beschreibt: ""I lost myself trying to please someone else / I want to be me again." Der Titel leitet sich von einem Spitznamen aus ihrer Kindheit ab, den sie sich wegen ihres stets gepflegten Stils zulegte. Lady Wray erklärt. "Als ich erwachsen wurde und ins Musikgeschäft einstieg, verlor ich diesen glücklichen Teil von mir. Ich sehe dieses Glück in meiner Tochter, die einfach wunderschön, talentiert und klug ist. Mit ,Cover Girl' kehre ich zu diesem kleinen Mädchen zurück. Es geht darum, sich selbst wieder zu lieben". In ähnlicher Weise fordert sie in "Where Could I Be" das Glück und den Sinn für Identität zurück, den sie durch die Kämpfe des Lebens verloren hatte. In "Best For Us" und "Hard Times" schwärmt Nicole von ihrer Liebe und ihrem Respekt für ihre Ehe, wobei sie sowohl die Unvollkommenheit anerkennt als auch auf die Stärke und Widerstandsfähigkeit der wahren Liebe verweist. In "Higher" singt sie für ihre Tochter und lehrt sie, wie man liebt und geliebt wird, und ermutigt sie, beharrlich und ausdauernd zu sein. Lady Wray wurde geboren, um zu singen und ihre Seele und ihr Leben durch ihre Musik mit uns zu teilen. Mit ihren glaubwürdigen Botschaften und ihrer unvergleichlichen Stimme hat sie sich weltweit eine treue Fangemeinde geschaffen. Egal, ob sie von ihren Kämpfen oder ihren Stärken singt, es ist tröstlich zu hören, dass sie uns wissen lässt, dass wir nicht allein damit sind. Nicole Wray ist inspirierend und aufbauend. Sie hat viel durchgemacht und ist durch all das zu einem besseren Menschen und einer besseren Künstlerin geworden. "Du musst deine eigene Welt beherrschen. Lass niemanden in deinen Weg kommen. Du rockst mit deinen Träumen, bis die Räder abfallen", sagt Lady Wray. "Das ist es, was ich mit meiner Karriere seit 1998 mache. Ich weiß, wer ich bin und was ich auf den Tisch bringe. Es war eine Wahnsinnsreise, und ich bin so glücklich, die beste Musik meines Lebens zu machen."
Q.A.S.B.'s Debut Album Finally Released on LP!
Before the release of “The Mexican” (produced by RYUHEI THE MAN), Q.A.S.B.'s self-titled debut album "Q.A.S.B" was originally released in 2009 on CD only, during the late Deep Funk movement. Now, in 2025, as the band celebrates its 20th anniversary, the album is finally available on vinyl for the first time!
Recorded in a single take with no edits using analog tape to recreate the sound of the 1970s, the raw and vivid energy of the album remains intact even after 16 years.
This album captures the essence of Q.A.S.B., featuring passionate performances by the original members, including the first vocalist amy-A (at the time). Most of the tracks were composed by Rob.T, who is now known as the sound producer for Hannah Warm. The 7-inch single “The Key” received high praise both domestically and internationally. Its explosive power on the dance floor was undeniable. I was really looking forward to the full album release from Q.A.S.B., and honestly, it blew me away. This is not imitation or homage—this is authentic, homegrown Japanese soul and funk music.
— Yusuke Ogawa (universounds / Deep Jazz Reality)
Japan’s proud funk band Q.A.S.B. finally releases their long-awaited debut album! About six months after their sensational debut single “The Key” took the world by storm, this much-anticipated album is here! With uptempo danceable tracks, heavy mid-tempo grooves, and soulful tunes that evoke the golden era, the album showcases both musical depth and confidence. Vocalist amy-A’s passionate singing and the band’s rock-solid performance come together in a stunning fusion of future funk. This is the crystallization of music sung and played from the heart!
— Ryuhei The Man (universounds)
It’s finally coming out! I’ve been waiting!
Sometimes gentle, sometimes powerful—amy’s voice breathes life into each track. Singing really is a wonderful thing.
By the way, does Q.A.S.B. stand for something? Whisper it in my ear next time.
— Naoichi “Bobsan” Kobayashi (MOUNTAIN MOCHA KILIMANJARO)
UK sound system culture stays strong with the heavyweight new 7” release from Vibronics and veteran roots vocalist Tann-I Browne, dropping now on the SCOOPS label. Titled “COLD WORLD”, this is a hard-hitting vocal and dub cut.
A first-time collaboration between these two UK reggae powerhouses, “COLD WORLD” is a potent slice of UK Roots Vocal + Dub, driven by Tann-I Browne’s unmistakably rich and powerful voice and reality-driven lyrics. The production is signature Vibronics: an up-tempo, militant stepper riddim laced with deep bass, crisp percussion, and the unmistakable touches of future dub.
The B-side version strips it down and dubs it out in true Vibronics style—ready for sound system play at full power.
This release is pressed on 7” vinyl and presented in a full-colour printed SCOOPS label sleeve, making it a collector’s item as much as a sound system weapon.
Identified Patient returns to Dekmantel for a third time with his Reset EP. The future-facing four tracker is another mutant fusion of bass and techno with low-end power with cerebral sound designs.
Job Veerman debuted on the Dekmantel UFO Series in 2019, returned in 2020 and has lit up the festival several times with transportative sets that balance power with precision. Like his productions on the Nerve Collect label, he co-runs with Gamma Intel, they are leftfield explorations of genre and tempo that find strange sensuality in often abstract ideas. Once again here, the Dutchman draws on eclectic influences to craft music that sounds like no one else but remains anchored by magnetic rhythms.
Opener 'Light' kicks off with a fuzzy synth line that slithers between syncopated drums. Whispered vocals drift through the mix as lurching basslines swell and collapse beneath them. The groove disassembles and reassembles in waves, propelled forward by bursts of glitchy, off-kilter percussion that's unsteady yet seductive. 'Scales' is a slow, menacing descent into rhythmic darkness. It sounds both ancient and futuristic with ghoulish vocalisations and filtered synths flickering like a badly wired circuit. There's a rave tension lurking throughout, but always in the shadows.
'Internal Pace' drives on but rides fluid, wobbly bass while tightly looped hits build the pressure. Layers of static and subtle distortion add grit to this unrelenting heads-down roller. Finally, 'Return' is a kinetic, razor-edged ride where jungle breaks collide serpentine melodies. Ethereal female coos drift in and out, brushing against spat-out vocal fragments so that tension crackles throughout this hallucinogenic trip.
With Reset, Identified Patient reaffirms his status as a singular voice who twists sound into evocative new worlds.
Hellblaues Vinyl, limitiert auf 400 Exemplare. Dynamik, vielgestaltige Sounds und auch jede Menge Wumms: Das ist das Ding von Niels Hoffmann, Alex Fedorov und Johannes Rosswog. "Die Grenzen Deines Landes sind die Grenzen Deines Verstands" - hier mit markant-markigem Gesang ist ein forderndes Stück und, wie der Titelschon andeutet, auch ein dezidiert politisches. Und auch "Storno" treibt vehement nach vorne: ein unwiderstehlicher Beat aus Schlagzeug und Bass, störrische Gitarrenriffs, breite Soundflächen, Freejazz-Artiges vom Keyboard: Hier spielt eine Band, die mehr sein will, als ein nostalgischer Krautrock-Gedächtnisverein. Die Kunst wird hier nicht für die Kunst gemacht. Es geht um etwas. "Kein Schlussstrich" hält das schnelle Tempo - überhaupt ist "Energie" eine Highspeed-Platte, die nicht an Energie verliert. Im Gegenteil: Sie nimmt weiter Fahrt auf, verbindet reine Spiel-Energie mit der Lust am Experiment. Wie bei "Straßennamen", wo Einseinseins zeigen, wieviel Freude es machen kann, über einen interessanten Beat zu improvisieren.
Der norwegische Saxophonist Bendik Giske steht an der Schwelle zu seinem dritten Soloalbum und kennt sich selbst gut. Mit seinem neuen, selbstbetitelten Album befindet er sich in seiner Blütezeit als Künstler: selbstbewusst in Bezug auf seine Stimme und seine Fähigkeiten, beflügelt von Kritikerlob aus allen Ecken - einschließlich zweier norwegischer Grammy-Nominierungen - und einer Welle von Zuhörern überall. Mit der Wahl von Beatrice Dillon als Produzentin des Albums - die britische Elektronikmusikerin ist eindeutig eine Weggefährtin in der Praxis des originellen ästhetischen Ausdrucks - ist ihr Einfluss unmittelbar und deutlich spürbar. Gemeinsam entfernen sie eine Schicht des Melodismus und konzentrieren sich auf Muster und Rhythmus, um eine andere Dimension seines faszinierenden Sounds hervorzuheben. Da er wieder mit Einzelaufnahmen arbeitet, ohne Overdubs, nur mit Saxophon und seinem Körper, sind der hallige Raum und der liebliche Glamour verschwunden. Für Giske kommt das Ergebnis einer musikalischen Nacktheit von ganz vorne gleich - jedes Detail, jedes Röcheln und Schnaufen ist hörbar, nichts wird verdeckt, nichts ästhetisiert. Die Leute schauen vielleicht weg, wenn es nicht so schön ist, aber was übrig bleibt, fühlt sich präsenter und stärker an. Es ist konfrontativ, verlangt mehr Aufmerksamkeit, aber durch seine Körperlichkeit - man kann seinen Körper in der Musik hören und fühlen - versetzt es einen in einen Flow-Zustand, irgendwo zwischen Ekstase, Hochgefühl und spirituellem Erwachen. Es ist sehr menschlich, aber es gibt auch eine starke Spannung - die es immer geben wird, wenn man um Existenz und Gültigkeit kämpft - elegant illustriert durch Florian Hetz' eindrucksvolle Fotografien des Künstlers zu der Veröffentlichung. Zum Teil ist Giske von Judith Halberstams The Queer Art of Failure inspiriert. So sehr er auch von seiner Ausbildung und Teilnahme am Umfeld des Jazz-Konservatoriums profitiert hat, führte ihn sein Weg doch weit über dessen Grenzen hinaus. Die Arbeit an diesen neuen Erkundungen mit seinem Instrument war ein zehnjähriger Prozess, in dem er das, von dem er wusste, dass es letztlich nicht passte, abstreifte und das klangliche Territorium seiner gelebten Erfahrung fand. Daraus entstanden Systeme, die Studien von Tempo und Proportionen ermöglichten, ein Ausgangspunkt für einen immersiven improvisatorischen Ansatz, der jahrelange musikalische Erkundungen abbildet. Es ist der Klang von sozialer Emanzipation durch den meditativen Puls und die Geschwindigkeit der Zirkularatmung und den Tanz des Körpers, insbesondere der Finger, der Zunge und der Lippen. Giske weiß, dass Musik ein mächtiges Werkzeug sein kann, um Menschen zusammenzubringen und Ideen zu finden, und die Langlebigkeit seines Projekts ist vor allem ein Aufruf zu Fürsorge, Zusammengehörigkeit, Geschichtenerzählen und der Fähigkeit, sich für eine gemeinsame Sache zu versammeln. In aller Ernsthaftigkeit ist BendikGiske ein Vorschlag für Wahrhaftigkeit und Existenz, ein Raum für jemanden, der sein tiefstes Selbst ausdrücken kann.
If there is one person, who has been causing a stir on the international club circuit recently, it is Barcelona's John Talabot. Already his debut “My Old School“ (which is meant literally by the way) on Permanent Vacation in 2009 and shortly after that the single “ Sunshine”, which he put out on his own Hivern Disc imprint, made him one of the most promising musicians of the Spanish electronic scene. And those two releases also already set the mark for John Talabot’s unparalleled music: raw, loopy, heavy on the kick drum, sample based, moderate on the tempo, distorted on the drums and light years away from the clean and ever revolving house sound of today. This unique style which also blends influences from afro beat, Detroit techno, Chicago house and cosmic disco, but also northern soul or the energy of Flamenco, immediately turned some heads around. James Murphy, Âme and Aeroplane started including Talabot music in their sets like it was the most natural thing. However - and this is quite rare - he not only gained legions of fans in the house and disco community, but also amongst the leftfield pop and indie rock followers. NME and Resident Advisor both had “Breakthrough“ features on John Talabot and he can be proud of a “Best New Music“ dubbing on
Pitchfork. (Being rather elusive on showing his face in magazines or the web it also came to some funny rumors that John Talabot was the alter ego of a well-known techno producer from Detroit).
At the same time he drew the attention of like-minded artists like James Holden and Luke Abott from Border Community, Blondes or Delorean, which lead to a bunch of fertile collaborations: Luke Abbott and Blondes remixed Talabot’s “Sunshine“ single , John Talabot remixed a track by Delorean and vice versa Delorean’s Ekhi contributed vocals to the track “Journeys “ on John’s album). Another example is the Young Turks Label (home of Jamie XX, Holy Fuck, El Guincho or SBTRKT ) on which he released the “Families“ EP in 2010. It was praised beyond limits. Pitchfork for
instance hailed: “… where pop and house influences sweetly buffer up against one another to provide an unyielding sense of elation“ and even brought Talabot a comparison with artists like Four Tet or Caribou.
While staying true to his sound, John Talabot has nevertheless shown a constant evolution as a producer since his first release. He has traced a solid musical path that has turned him into one of the big references of European House and has made him also a highly in demand Remixer (for the likes of The XX, Francesco Tristano’s “Aufgang” project, Shit Robot on DFA, Thaiti 80, Joakim or Teengirl Fantasy to name just a few ).
A progression that now crystallizes in “ƒin”, his first full-length album for Permanent Vacation. A record, in which the Barcelona mastermind sets aside the danceable immediacy to expand his stylistic palette more than ever. For that purpose, Talabot melts all the elements that have constructed his distinctive sound until now and makes them emerge from a new perspective, in which the construction of complex song structures, intricate rhythms and superpositions of ever-evolving melodies and atmospheres pick up the baton of the “a kick-drum and a sampler” philosophy of his initial productions. The result brings us 11 tracks (we should call them songs really!) dominated by dark ambiances, gaseous textures and bittersweet moods that, above all, reveal a kind of vivacity that’s really hard to find in contemporary electronics. “Fin” is far from being a track collection. From the majestic opener “Depak Ine“ to it’s solemn ending with
“So Will Be Now“ , one of the two tracks that features Talabot’s soul and label mate Pional, each song traces an overall dialogue with the rest, culminating a highly emotional journey through Talabot’s always compelling and unique musical vision.
BLUE & YELLOW GALAXY SWIRL VINYL[26,01 €]
Mit ihrem vierten Album voller Eigenkompositionen lädt die eigenwillige Singer-Songwriterin Kendra Morris dazu ein, in die DIY-Kaleidoskopwelt von Next einzutauchen. Morris' neuestes Album für Karma Chief verzichtet auf vielschichtige Produktionen und glatte Sounds und präsentiert Kendra von ihrer authentischsten Seite, mit einem kreativen Prozess, der lebendig, schön und chaotisch ist und von Herzblut und der unvollkommenen Perfektion des Augenblicks getragen wird. Als Konzeptalbum in umgekehrter Reihenfolge verbindet ,Next" Kendras Figuren mit einem Vintage-Brettspiel im Stil von Milton Bradleys besten Retro-Würfelspielen. Begeben Sie sich auf die Reise von Block zu Block durch Next, und dieses Universum offenbart sich Ihnen. Sie können hören, wie die Klangpalette mit Morris' Einflüssen und Inspirationen mitschwingt. Jahrzehntelange New Yorker Klänge und Stimmen verschmelzen an den Nahtstellen dieser Tracks - eine Welt, in der das Brill Building und Warhols Factory im selben Block florieren, während Blondie und die Frightnrs rockige Sounds erkunden. Doo-Wop und Boom-Bap untermalen den Cut-and-Paste-Stil eines UHF-Senders, während Morris, eine Künstlerin, die sich hinter der Kamera genauso wohlfühlt wie vor dem Mikrofon, das Tempo vorgibt. Kendra Morris und Karma Chief Records laden Sie ein, mit Next mitzuspielen, einer akustischen Reise, auf der Würfeln für Spannung und Abenteuer steht. Es ist Next, komplett mit 10 Tracks und stundenlangem Spaß für die ganze Familie. Einige Teile müssen zusammengebaut werden. Plattenspieler, CD-/Kassettenplayer oder Streaming-Dienst sind separat erhältlich.
Mit ihrem vierten Album voller Eigenkompositionen lädt die eigenwillige Singer-Songwriterin Kendra Morris dazu ein, in die DIY-Kaleidoskopwelt von Next einzutauchen. Morris' neuestes Album für Karma Chief verzichtet auf vielschichtige Produktionen und glatte Sounds und präsentiert Kendra von ihrer authentischsten Seite, mit einem kreativen Prozess, der lebendig, schön und chaotisch ist und von Herzblut und der unvollkommenen Perfektion des Augenblicks getragen wird. Als Konzeptalbum in umgekehrter Reihenfolge verbindet ,Next" Kendras Figuren mit einem Vintage-Brettspiel im Stil von Milton Bradleys besten Retro-Würfelspielen. Begeben Sie sich auf die Reise von Block zu Block durch Next, und dieses Universum offenbart sich Ihnen. Sie können hören, wie die Klangpalette mit Morris' Einflüssen und Inspirationen mitschwingt. Jahrzehntelange New Yorker Klänge und Stimmen verschmelzen an den Nahtstellen dieser Tracks - eine Welt, in der das Brill Building und Warhols Factory im selben Block florieren, während Blondie und die Frightnrs rockige Sounds erkunden. Doo-Wop und Boom-Bap untermalen den Cut-and-Paste-Stil eines UHF-Senders, während Morris, eine Künstlerin, die sich hinter der Kamera genauso wohlfühlt wie vor dem Mikrofon, das Tempo vorgibt. Kendra Morris und Karma Chief Records laden Sie ein, mit Next mitzuspielen, einer akustischen Reise, auf der Würfeln für Spannung und Abenteuer steht. Es ist Next, komplett mit 10 Tracks und stundenlangem Spaß für die ganze Familie. Einige Teile müssen zusammengebaut werden. Plattenspieler, CD-/Kassettenplayer oder Streaming-Dienst sind separat erhältlich.
Satisfaction comes in many forms. When the magical word Motown is uttered, most people are hard-wired to The Four Tops, the Temptations and The Supremes. But to reduce Motown to the effervescent sixties is only part of the label’s remarkable legacy.
By the 1970s, a different sound was gathering. America was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The Vietnam War had been a disaster, urban street crime was epidemic and the nation’s college campuses were alive with political resistance. The joyful hope that had inspired “Baby Love” now felt anachronistic and out of time.
The music industry was changing too. The vinyl pop single on 45rpm which had been the staple of Motown’s success was being challenged by concept albums. This was the era of Edwin Starr’s anti-war album War and Peace (1970), The Temptations mind-bending Psychedelic Shack (1970) and Marvin Gaye’s state-of-the-nation classic What’s Going On (1971).
By the early 1970s Motown had a stable of male vocalists that was arguably the best in the world, among them former lead singers from The Temptations - David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards and Eddie Kendricks. Alongside them singer-producers like Leon Ware and Frank Wilson were asserting their presence.
David Ruffin’s “Crime in the Street” captured the epidemic of violence in Detroit allowing his exquisite voice to quietly rage against gun crime. Recorded a few years before his underground classic “Rode by the Place”, both sound more modern today than when they were recorded.
If there is a common thread here, it’s the mid-tempo shifting soul soon to be christened as “quiet storm” including groups on the margins of Motown such as The Originals and The Fantastic Four led by the impassioned “Sweet” James Epps.
Just to keep you satisfied, immerse yourself in the overlooked creativity of Detroit’s male voices in the early 1970s.
Following the frankly HUGE Benny L remix, UK dons Reggae Roast wind down the tempo for a deep and heavy dubwise remix, drawing on elements of dubstep for a real soundsystem stepper!
Quiet Village collaborate with Vanessa Daou on 'Naked Hunger’ Legendary New York artist and The Daou front-woman Vanessa Daou lends vocals to Matt 'Radio Slave' Edwards and Joel Martin's second release on the ‘The Quiet Village’ imprint.
Matt ‘Radio Slave' Edwards and Joel Martin's critically acclaimed Quiet Village project follow-up, 2024's 'Reunion' with the Vanessa Daou collaboration, 'Naked Hunger' on September 5th, '25. 'Naked Hunger', which comes in 'Vocal Mix' and 'Spoken Word Mix' versions, sees Quiet Village employ their hypnotic sensibilities to one of house music's most tantalising vocal talents in Daou, resulting in a mid-tempo house cut that completely envelops.
While the vocal mix of 'Naked Hunger' leans into the interplay between Vanessa Daou's cosseting song voice and spoken vocals, with the rest of the track embracing a subtly dubby ethereal musicality, Quiet Village ramp up the instrumentation on the' Spoken Vocal' version with bass guitar and piano flourishes accompanying her sultry poetic delivery.
'Naked Hunger', Daou's first collaboration with Quiet Village, marks her first release since 2019's 'Little Black Dress'. Throughout her illustrious career, the acclaimed three-time #1 Billboard Dance Chart topper has collaborated with Danny Tenaglia, David Morales, Mood II Swing, Ralphi Rosario, Terry Farley (Farley & Heller), Charles Webster, Horse Meat Disco's Severino Panzetta, Hifi Sean, and Eli Escobar.
Friends since meeting at Goldie's legendary MetalHeadz sessions at London's Blue Note in the '90s, Quiet Village, aka Matt Edwards and Joel Martin, began releasing their brand of dubbed-out, balearic-and-beyond tracks in 2005 via NYC's Whatever We Want Records. The duo's 2008 'Silent Movie' LP was a critical smash hit that resulted in remix commissions for the likes of Bryan Ferry, The Gorillas, Leftfi eld, Francois K, Massive Attack and many more. After a few years in the wilderness, unable to use their nom de plume due to contractual restrictions, the pair launched The Quiet Village label in 2024 with 'Reunion', a stunning 6/8-time urban jazz odyssey, a favourite of the likes of Luke Una, Gilles Peterson and Ryan Elliott.
2025 Repress
Hypnotic Mindscapes unearths fragments from the temporal abyss with the 1998-2000 Compendium, a re-issue of selected works from LA based, Hawaii-born producer Matt K.Turner aka Kamahele. 4 deep cuts fitting for versatile use. Recorded 26 years ago, Kamahele‘s creations linger in a space where futuristic visions and dystopian longing intertwine, their relevance evading the decay of time.
Artwork painting by Abbas Rizvi.
180 gram pressing.
Producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist and live performer Alek Lee returns with his second LP, an immersive instrumental journey shaped by his raw, smoky, guerrilla-style production. Cold Feet invites you deep into the Alek Lee universe, rich with swirling synths, layered percussion, Balearic guitar lines and dub-infused horns.
From the psychedelic, Sade like grooves of the title track and “Too Soon,” both steeped in cinematic mystique, to the sun drenched energy of “Pino Pino” and “The Right Thing,” which shimmer with Balearic disco flair, the album glides effortlessly across moods and tempos. A highlight arrives with the summer dub anthem “Was Was Was,” featuring long time collaborator and former Shame On Us bandmate Yovav Arzi on electric guitar.
The journey winds down with “Illusions,” a sultry, downtempo banger laced with an oriental twist, before dissolving into the final track “Cold Feet Desert”, a return to stillness, barefoot on white desert sand beneath a star strewn sky.
With a career spanning over two decades, Alek Lee has carved out a unique space in the global music scene. Known for his long, genre defying DJ sets and dynamic live performances, he moves fluidly between dub, house, and his own idiosyncratic productions. As a solo artist and through projects like Shame On Us and Project Runaway, Alek has played some of Europe’s most respected venues and festivals, including Sisyphos, Kater Blau, Glastonbury, Garbicz and Fusion. His releases have earned radio play from BBC6’s Iggy Pop and NTS’s David Holmes and featured on Peggy Gou’s Boiler Room and France’s legendary Radio Nova.
Now based in Athens, Alek continues to evolve his distinctive sound with Cold Feet, his most expansive statement yet.
"Bite Reality", das neue Album des New Yorker Indie-Duos Cafuné, präsentiert die Band sowohl musikalisch als auch textlich in einem konfrontativeren Umfeld. Das Ergebnis ist ein selbstproduziertes Album über digitale Erniedrigung, das zweischneidige Schwert der Realitätsflucht und das Bedürfnis, sich von Menschen und Gefühlen zu lösen, die einem nicht guttun. Cafunés Sound bewegt sich zwischen traditionellem, wohltuendem Dream-Pop und Indie-Rock, die beiden Protagonisten teilen eine Liebe für ihre Vorbilder Two Doors Cinema Club. Der Song "Tek It" aus ihrem Debütalbum "Running" (2021) ging viral und steht heute bei - über alle Versionen hinweg - bei über 1 Milliarde(!!) Streams.
Was tun die Menschen um uns herum? Wie tun sie’s? „Wollen wir das nicht alle die ganze Zeit verstehen?“, fragt Alli Neumann, die mit ihrem dritten Studioalbum methaphorisch als funkelnder Stern auf hartem Asphalt landet. Als „ROQUESTAR“ muss sie sich dort erstmal orientieren. Inspiriert von David Bowies Ziggy Stardust, der fürs Seltsamsein bekannt wurde und sich was traut, auch um gesehen zu werden, blinkt Alli zwischen Auffallen und Anpassung. Die Musikerin bewegt sich längst fließend in dieser Dualität und changiert zwischen den Polen – man will ja doch von allen geliebt werden, oder?! Die Musikerin spielt mit diesem ambivalenten Gedanken, der unlösbar scheint und liefert mit ihrem Album „ROQUESTAR“ 12 Songs, die von genau diesem dringlichen Hunger nach Anerkennung getrieben sind. „Sie erzählen von dem Willen, geliebt zu werden.“ Eine Wahrheit und auch psychosoziale Utopie, vielleicht, „in der sich viele wiederfinden“, meint Alli, und ja doch schambehaftet daherkommt, weil deutlich wird: Wir sind schrecklich abhängig vom Außen, von dem wir so oft die Schnauze voll haben. Mit „Ich kann gar nichts“ schreibt Alli genau dagegen an: Eine selbstironische Hommage an die Imperfektion – wider jeder Erwartung. Geliebt werden wollen, trotz oder gerade wegen ... Rockstar sein, Alli sagt: „everybody’s favorite misfit“. Wie es geht, das mit dem Lieben, das ja auch immer damit einhergeht, wie es um die Liebe zu sich selbst steht, zeigt sich in der Gleichzeitigkeit ihrer Songs: Während Alli in „Vom anderen Stern“ zu Funk eine neue Liebe als Eskapismus zeichnet, „Baby lass dich fallen, um fliegen zu lernen“, erinnert sie in der Grungerock-Ballade „Nie wieder verlieren“ daran, wie giftig es sein kann, sich für einen Menschen aufzugeben. Auf „ROQUESTAR“ scheint alles in Bewegung. Es sind Anstöße, die die Musikerin gibt. Manchmal Anklagen, Aufforderungen, aus denen Sehnsüchte sprechen, nur nie Antworten. Auch weil das nicht zu Alli, der Artist, passen würde, die sich doch so gerne bewegt, wie die Welt, durch die sie fliegt. Durch Genres und Formate – als Musikerin, Schauspielerin, auf Bühnen, auch im Fernsehen, eine Künstlerin, die sich erfährt, (er)lebt, ein bunter Hund, Alli liebt, auch ihre Integrität. Und während die Songs in sich und auch im Miteinander organisch aufgehen, hört man mit etwas Genauigkeit zwei ungewöhnliche Instrumente spielen. Zwei barocke, die Allis „ROQUESTAR“-Modus musikalisch markieren. Zusammen mit ihrer Produzentin Novaa lässt sie Cemberlo und Fagott sich an vorherrschende Synthie- und Kraut-Pop-Sounds schmiegen, während das Fagott von den allermeisten aus der Popmusik verbannt wird. Sich wirklich zeigen, das kann Alli. „Being loved for not being loved“, beschreibt sie selbst, nur immer als Versuch. Bemerkenswert ist, dass die Musikerin bei ihrem Tempo und ihren Kurven der vergangenen Jahre nie Splitter ihres Ichs verloren hat. Während sie also 2025 zwischen den Zeilen über eine „ROQUESTAR“-Identität textet, ist sie es längst: Ein Stern, der vom Himmel auf den Boden einer steinigen Realität fällt, sich umschaut und unaufhörlich probiert. Im ewigen Gerangel zwischen laut und leise, Kraut und Folklore, Protest und Rückzug. Zwischen amüsiert und politisch, Großstadt und Landleben, 80ies und Barock. Alli und ihre Musik strahlen manchmal gleißend hell und manchmal gedimmt hinein in diese Welt, aber leuchten, das tun sie wirklich immer.
Stripping away excess layers, Dispossessed lives up to its title. The band went into Causa Sui's Jonas Munk's studio on the last day of February 2025. In an a priori session, the first note played together since 2023's Dens - the conclusion of a trilogy and a live album all in less than a year. Has something shifted during the silence? Added aggression? Faster tempo? Darker ambiance? The feeling of losing time? Or is it simply the listener who's world has tilted? In a fast paced world, Edena Gardens shows us how to resist and tune to our own inner chord. Edena Gardens deals in subtle shifts that can only be summoned from something played for the first time. From the sludgy blasts of opener Hiraeth to the droning ambience of 10-minute ender Aftenstjerne. As always, the band travels far yet stays in the same internal realm. The band's own Jakob Skott has made minor edits to cut a record from hours of free improvisation, and every dubbed ambience has been culled directly from the material recorded that day, bringing into play the band's gestalt in a way that shows their both outer and inner workings: Dispossessed. Edena Gardens is: Jakob Skott: Drums (Causa Sui) Nicklas Sorensen: Guitar (Papir) Martin Rude: Baritone guitar & Bass (London Odense Ensemble)
After recent sold-out vinyl and cassette releases garnering plays on BBC 6Music and NTS, among other Radio Play, 0282 are back with another choice double-sider.
Travis Street’s ‘Jackie Morris Said’ is an instrumental mid-tempo soul stomper, with Advance copies being very well received on contemporary Northern Soul Dancefloors throughout the UK. DJ feedback has likened it to all-time classic instrumental Mod & Soul numbers by the likes of Googie Renee and Wynder K Frog.
The flipside sees a remix by Barden Juniors, fresh from recent DJ gigs with the likes of Keb Darge, DJ Food, and Doug Shipton from Finders Keepers records. Their wonky angular deconstruction is in the vein of classic European Library Tunes from the late 60s / early 70s, and feedback on promo copies has seen it described as “a lost KPM out-take”, “the soundtrack to a lost public information film from 1973”, and “a time-travelling Kool Keith instrumental”.
It has already had radio play support from the likes of Markey Funk (Delights).
Continuing the sensational Spring Revisited series - Acid Jazz presents a new 12” release – Fatback Band: ‘Night Fever (Kenny Dope Mix)’ / ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good (DJ Spinna Refreak). Spring Revisited is an exciting and unique mix project that explores the musical legacy of legendary New York label Spring Records, with a series of new mixes from top mix artists, using the original masters. Fatback Band are a disco/funk group that were at the peak of their success in the ’70s, and they were one of Spring Records’ most iconic artists. This is the second release in the series featuring the band’s classic work. ‘Night Fever’ is an electro-disco track released in 1976.
Keeping the soulful vocal and strings from the original, house legend Kenny Dope beefs up a looped section of the percussion that forms the backbone of his version. He lifts the tempo and creates a DJ friendly version, while keeping the improvised feel of the original. This rough and ready remix has the kind of bumping groove that’s infectious on a dance floor. On the flip, DJ Spinna gives a new take on the Fatback’s ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good’. Presented in the signature Spring Revisited house-bag, looking as if it were hand delivered to you from a 1970s record pool.
Limited edition…
Australia's powerhouse Hammond Organ trio Cookin' On 3 Burners serve up a heavy double-sider, offering DJs and collectors a taste of what's to come from their first studio LP in six years, due October 2025. With a 27-year legacy in the global funk and soul scene, CO3B have earned praise from the likes of Dusty Groove, Wax Poetics, and Rolling Stone Australia, and boast over 2 billion streams worldwide — thanks in part to their breakout hit "This Girl" (Kungs remix).
Side A – Cookin' The Books
A gritty, upbeat Hammond-led instrumental cooked low and slow in the heart of Melbourne's funk scene. It's all business up front — deep pocket drums, greasy organ licks, and guitar work that snaps and struts. No vocals, no fat — just a raw funk workout that's ready for the crates.
Side B – Give a Little Bit More (feat. Stella Angelico)
A classic-feeling, mid-tempo soul joint with a message that cuts deep. Longtime collaborator Stella Angelico delivers a powerful vocal performance about generosity, empathy, and turning things around when it matters. With uplifting lyrics, smooth horns, and a groove that nods to vintage 45s, this one lands straight in the heart — timeless, spiritual, and soul-drenched.
Captured live to tape at Soul Messin' Studios using vintage gear, the record oozes warmth and authenticity. Supported with airplay from Craig Charles (BBC6) and limited to just 500 copies on black vinyl in a Soul Messin' Records disco sleeve, this 45 is a must-stock item for funk, soul, and groove-focused retailers.
FFO: The Meters, El Michels Affair, Menahan Street Band, Quantic, Daptone Records
Black Vinyl[21,81 €]
Everything Is Recorded, ist das musikalische Kollaborationsprojekt von XL-Recordings Chef Richard Russell. Auf dem Album "Temporary" sind zu hören u.a. Sampha, Bill Callahan, Noah Cyrus, Florence Welch, Maddy Prior, Berwyn, Alabaster Deplume, Jah Wobble, Yazz Ahmed, Laura Groves, Kamasi Washington, Ricky Washington, Roses Gabor, Jack Penate, Samantha Morton, Clari Freeman-Taylor und Nourished By Time. "Temporary" entstand im Verlauf von vier Jahren in Russells Londoner Copper House Studio und während einiger zusätzlicher Sessions in Tottenham, Cumbria, Dorset, Los Angeles und Las Vegas Es schließt an die vorangegangenen Releases wie das 2018 für den Mercury Prize nominierte Debüt an. Auf dem neuen Album erfährt Russells musikalische DNA allerdings ein Reboot: Sein Cut & Paste Approach reicht in die Zeit vor Sampling-Helden wie The Bomb Squad und Prince Paul zurück bis hin zu Innovatoren wie Steve Reich, Robert Rauschenberg und William S. Burroughs. Während Russells Musik bislang geprägt war von Rhythmus, Worten und Melodie - in ebendieser Reihenfolge - tauschen zwei Aspekte diesmal ihre Rollen. Der Rhythmus tritt zugunsten der Melodie in den Hintergrund. Musikalisch ist "Temporary" vom Gedankenexperiment "what if folk music had "gone digital" in the 80s, just as reggae had?" geleitet, während sich in spiritueller und lyrischer Hinsicht vieles um Trauer und den Verlust von Freunden, Familienmitgliedern und Kollegen dreht. Im Ergebnis stehen leuchtende und gelassene Kompositionen, auch dank der faszinierenden und vielfältigen Gästeliste, die "Temporary" mitbringt. Die fragilen, zärtlichen und stillen Tracks liefern vielleicht eines der sanftesten Alben, die je über den Tod geschrieben wurden. "Das Album zu machen, war erfüllend, eine Art, das Leben zu heiligen", so Russell. "Temporary" ist die erste reguläre Veröffentlichung von Everything Is Recorded nach über vier Jahren. In der Zwischenzeit war Russell allerdings nicht untätig. Via Soundcloud und Bandcamp erschienen zuletzt "Summer Solstice", "Autumn Equinox", "Winter Solstice" und "Spring Equinox", die alle mit einer Reihe von Gastmusikerinnen und -.musikern im Rahmen ausgiebiger Jams an jeweils nur einem Tag entstanden. Mit der Schauspielerin und Regisseurin Samantha Morton tat er sich zum Duo Sam Morton zusammen, welches sein Debüt "Daffodils und Dirt" veröffentlichte. Für Peter Gabriels Comeback-Album "i/o" produzierte Russell den Song "Four Kinds of Horses".
In Guadeloupe, many people think that jazz and ka music are like a ring and a finger. To some extent, the same could be said about so called Latin music and the music played in the French West Indies.
Both aesthetics were born in the Caribbean and bear so many connections that they can easily be considered cousins. In constant dialogue, there are lots of examples of their fruitful alliance and have been for a while. The English country dance that used to be practiced in European lounges came to be called kadrille in Martinique and contradanza in Cuba. They both featured additional percussion instruments inherited from the transatlantic deportation. Drawing from shared feelings about the same traumatized identity – later to be creolized – it would be hard not to assume that they were meant to inspire each other. The golden age of the orchestras that graced the Pigalle nights during the interwar period further proves the point. As soon as the 1930s, Havana-born Don Barreto naturally mixed danzón and biguine music in a combo based at Melody's Bar. In the following decade, Félix Valvert, a conductor who was born and raised in Basse-Terre in Guadelupe, also worked wonders in Montparnasse with La Coupole, which was an orchestra made up of eclectic musicians. Afro- Caribbean performers of various origins were often hired on rhythm and brass sections in jazz bands, which used to enliven the typical French balls of the capital. In the 1930s and onwards, Rico’s Creole Band was one of them.
Martinican violinist-clarinettist Ernest Léardée, who would become the king of biguine music as well as the main figure of French Uncle Ben's TV commercials (a dark stigma of post-colonial stereotypes), had musicians from the whole Caribbean sphere play at his Bal Blomet – and they all enchanted "ces Zazous-là" (according the words of Léardée's biguine-calypso piece). In les Antilles (French for French West Indies), music history started to speed up in the 1950s, when trade expanded and radio stations grew bigger. The Guadelupean and Martiniquais youth tuned in their old galena radio sets to South American and Caribbean music. As for the women traders, les pacotilleuses, they bought and sold goods across different islands (the "passing of items through various hands" was thought to be most pleasurable) and brought back countless sounds in their luggage. Such was the case of Madame Balthazar, who once returned from Puerto Rico with the first 45rpm and 33rpm to ever enter Martinique.
Out of this adventure was created the famous Martinican label La Maison des Merengues, a music business she opened and undertook with her husband and which proved to be a major landmark. At the end of the 1950s, in Puerto Rico, Marius Cultier competed in the Piano International Contest playing a version of Monk's Round 'Midnight. He won the first prize and this distinction foreshadowed everything that was to come. Cultier, the heretic Monk of jazz, was quickly praised for writing superb melodies, always tinged with a twist that conferred a unique sound to his music. It didn't take long for the gifted self-taught musician to get to play with Los Cubanos, making a name for himself thanks to his impressive maestria on merengues.
The rest is history. Besides, in the late 1950s, Frantz Charles-Denis, born into the upper middle class in Saint-Pierre and better known by his first name Francisco, went back home after working at La Cabane Cubaine – a club located rue Fontaine where he had caught the Latin fever. Francisco's music was therefore heavily marked by his Cuban cousins' influence, which gave the combos he led a specific style and also led to renewal. Things were swinging hard in La Savane, located in the main square in Fort-de-France. He set up the Shango club close by and tested out the biguine lélé there, a new music formula spiced up with Latin rhythms. Soon afterwards, fate had him fly to Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
As for percussionist Henri Guédon (percussions were only a part of his many talents), he was born in Fort-de-France in May 22nd 1944, the day marking the celebration of the abolition of slavery. As an old man, he could remember that in " his father's Teppaz, a lot of hectic 6/8 music was constantly playing...". In the opening lines of his Lettre à Dizzy, a small illustrated collection of writings published by Del Arco, he highlighted the huge impact that cubop had on him as a teenage boy, around 1960. He eventually turned out to be the lider maximo in La Contesta, a big band steeped in Latin jazz. He was also the one who originated the word zouk to describe music which brought the sound of the New York barrio to Paris. It was the culmination of a journey that started in Sainte-Marie: "a mythical place for bélé, the equivalent of Cuban guaguancó". In the early 1960s, the tertiary economy developed to the detriment of agriculture. Yet rural life was where roots music emerged in Martinique and in Guadeloupe.
Record companies played a major part in the process of Latin versions sweeping across the islands – before reaching everywhere else. Producer Célini, boss of the great Aux Ondes label, and Marcel Mavounzy, both the head of Émeraude records - a firm which was founded in 1953 - as well as the brother of famous saxophonist Robert Mavounzy, were big names to bear in mind. Although there were many of them - all of whom are featured on this record - Henri Debs was definitely the major figure in the recording adventure. He proved to be so influential that he even got compared to Berry Gordy. In the mid 1950s, when he acquired his first Teppaz, he worked on his first compositions: a bolero and a chachacha. Then, he became the one man who made people discover Caribbean music, from calypso to merengue. He was among the first ones to rush out to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to buy records and distribute them through a store run by one of his brothers in Fort-de-France. He had members of the Fania All Star come and perform there, which he was madly proud about. He was also the first one to pay attention to Haitian music, such as compas direct and various other rhythms which would soon flood the market. As a result, many of the combos hitting his legendary studio would end up boosted by widespread "Afro-Latin" rhythms. However, he never denied his identity: gwo ka drums were given a major role, although they were instruments which had long been banned from the "official" music spheres. The present selection bears witness to such a creative swarming. Here are fourteen tracks of untimely yet unprecedented cross-fertilization: all types of music rooted in the Creole archipelago have found their way, whatsoever, to the tracklisting. Whether originating from the city or being more rural, they all go back to what Edouard Glissant, in an interview about the place of West Indian music in the Afro-American scope, called "the trace of singing, the one which got erased by slavery." "It is so in jazz, but also in reggae, calypso, biguine, salsa... This trace also manifests through the drums, whether Guadelupean, Dominican, Jamaican or Cuban... None of them being quite the same. They all point to the idea of a trace, seeking it out and connecting to each other through it. This is the hallmark of the African diaspora: its ability to create something new, in relation to itself, out of a trace. It may be the memory of a rhythm, the crafting of a drum, a means of expression which doesn't resort to an old language but to the modalities of it." The opening track features one of the emblematic orchestras of this aesthetic identity, criscrossing many music types from the archipelago. The 1974 Ray Barretto guajira – Ray Barretto was a major New York drummer influenced by Charlie Parker and Chano Pozzo – is magnificently performed by Malavoi, a legendary Fayolais group (i.e from Fort-de-France). Additionally, the compilation ends on a piece by Los Martiniqueños de Francisco. It symbolically closes the circle as it is a genuine potomitan of Martinique culture which also functions as a tireless campaigner for Afro-Caribbean music. Practicing the danmyé rounds (a kind of capoeiria) to the rhythm of the bèlè drum, it delivers a terrific Caterete, a kind of champeta of Afro- Colombian obedience which was originally composed by Colombian Fabián Ramón Veloz Fernández for the group Wgenda Kenya. The icing on the cake is Brazilian Marku Ribas, who found refuge in Martinique in the early 1970s, bringing his singing to the last trance-inducing track. These two "versions" convey the whole tone of a selection composed of rarities and classics of the tropicalized genre, swarming with tonic accents and convoluted rhythms. It is the sort of cocktail that the West Indians never failed to spice up with their own ingredients. For instance, the Los Caraïbes cover of Dónde, a famous Cuban theme composed by producer Ernesto Duarte Brito, has a typical violin and features renowned Martinique singer Joby Valente and his piquant voice.
The track used to be – or so we think – their only existing 45rpm. The meaningful Amor en chachachá by L'Ensemble Tropicana, a band which included Haitian musicians among whom was composer and leader Michel Desgrotte, also recalls how Latin music was pervasive in the tropics in the mid-1960s. They were the ones keeping people dancing at Le Cocoteraie in Guadelupe and La Bananeraie in Martinique. Around the same time, another "foreign" band, Congolese Freddy Mars N'Kounkou's Ryco Jazz, achieved some success on both islands by covering Latin jazz classics – such as their adaptation of Wachi Wara, a "soul sauce" by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo whose interweaving of strings and percussions can have anyone hit the dancefloor. How can you resist Dap Pinian indeed, a powerful guaguancó by Eugene Balthazar, performed by the Tropicana Orchestra and published by the Martinique-founded La Maison des Merengues? It also acts as a symbol of the maelstrom at work. Going by the name Paco et L'orchestre Cachunga, Roger Jaffory used to play guaguancó too: his Fania-inspired Oye mi consejo is one example of his style. Baila!!!!! Dancing was also one of the Kings' focus points. Oriza is a Puerto Rican bomba and a "classic" originally composed by Nuevayorquino trumpeter Ernie Agosto, which reserves major space for brasses, giving it a special sheen.
Emerging from the New York barrios crucible was also La Perfecta, a Martinique group originating from Trinidad, whose name directly references the totemic Eddie Palmieri figure as well as his own band, also called La Perfecta. Here they borrow Toumbadora from Colombian producer and composer Efraín Lancheros and interpret it by emphasizing percussions, which set fire to the track even more than the wind instruments. The same goes for Martinique's Super Jaguars, who use Tatalibaba – a composition by Cuban guitarist Florencio "Picolo" Santana which was made famous by Celia Cruz & La Sonora Matencera – as a pretext for sending their cadences into a frenzy. In a more typically salsa vein, the Super Combo, a famous Guadelupean orchestra from Pointe-Noire that was formed around the Desplan family and had Roger Plonquitte and Elie Bianay on board, adapt Serana, a theme by Roberto Angleró Pepín, a Puerto Rican composer, singer and musician also known for his song Soy Boricua. Here again, their vision comes close to surpassing the original. In the 1970s, L'Ensemble Abricot provided a handful of tracks of different syles, hence reaching the pinnacle of the art of achieving variety and giving pleasure. They played boleros, biguines, compas direct, guaguancó and even a good old boogaloo - the type they wanted to keep close to their hearts for ever, "pour toujours", as they sang along together in one of their songs. Léon Bertide's Martinican ensemble excelled at the boogaloo which had been composed by Puerto Rican saxophonist Hector Santos for the legendary El Gran Combo.
Three years later, in 1972, Henri Guédon, with the help of Paul Rosine on the vibraphone, tackled the Bilongo made famous by Eddie Palmieri. Such a classic!!!!! And so were the Aiglons, the band from Guadelupe: choosing to execute Pensando en tí, a composition by Dominican Aniceto Batista, on a cooler tempo than the original, they noticeably used a wonderfully (un)tuned keyboard in place of the accordion. On the high-value collectible single – the first one released by Les Aiglons under the Duli Disc label – there is a sticker classifying the track under the generic name "Afro". Now that is what we call a symbol. Jacques Denis
Flags Are Walls is the latest release from an enigmatic electronic duo based in Barcelona. "Universal Comfort"
The album explores the boundaries of contemporary electronic music, blending synthetic and organic sounds, layering analogue and digital sources, where abstract and concrete elements shift in and out of focus.
Boundaries are not only physical-shaping how we experience time and space-but also emotional, framing the sense of place we attach to them. The tracks play with these flimsy, and uncertain intersections, exploring expression and perception through evolving, haunting and diffused sonic landscapes.
The latest by Andrew Clinco's acid punk alias VR SEX takes its title from an architectural phrase but more importantly refers to the warped, wicked underworld the songs both chronicle and condemn. Donning the moniker Noel Skum - an acerbic anagram of Elon Musk - Clinco vents his scorn for and fascination with the seedy, surreal margins of low-life Los Angeles, doomed to dead ends of vanity, lust, and technology. Although initially launched as an outlet for "heavier sounds" beyond Clinco's duties in new wave fantasists Drab Majesty, the project has ripened into a compelling exercise in world building, weaving themes of gritty city neofuturist sleaze within a framework of driving, distorted guitars and cathode-blasted synths. Echoes of Chrome, Wire, Minimal Man, and Sisters Of Mercy ripple through the collection but ultimately Rough Dimension charts its own twisted vision of "our unforgiving reality." Written and demoed across two weeks alone in a Marseille flat using his prized 1980's Gibson "Invader" and a laptop, Clinco then took the tracks to Strange Weather studios in Brooklyn to record with Ben Greenberg (Uniform, The Men) who helmed 2019's debut, Human Traffic Jam. The results are notably ripping, refined, and riveting. Riffs in alternate tunings chug and churn over mid-tempo drums punctuated by spikes of sci-fi electronics while the vocals swagger and spit venom ("where we walk is also where we shit / but if we bark at our reflections are we hypocrites? / impulses bleed right into our seed / where hate culminates the apple rotted on the tree"). It's a bristling mix of the melodic and the macabre, absurdist observations of fast living and desperate measures, the clock of youth ticking towards midnight as dreams unravel in Babylon. VR SEX's specialty is making these cautionary tales of psychic decay and tainted love a thrill rather than a drag. There's a sunglasses at night glamor to Clinco's choruses and solos, a wit to his black leather judgements ("what is the answer / to cancerous people / walking in my line of sight?"). The music's milieu tends towards parasites and predators but its mood skews refreshingly accelerated and amused, cruising the strip with a cigarette, watching goths and limousines crawl in gridlock beneath digital billboards. The Rough Dimension may be a cesspool, but it's home.
Back from the undead in the fresh (because we believe in upgrades & afterlifes!) is this new pressing of the first of all Gastr del Sol records, The Serpentine Similar. It is one of several distinct initiators of a definitive musical drift in the 1990s, and a drift all of its own, to boot! At the time, this album was largely heard within an underground whose boundaries were clearly defined - but if today"s sound-pool of "commercial" music is deeper and wider than it was back then, it is without a doubt due to the cracking open of certain doors of perception by Gastr del Sol, alongside their esteemed others. The year was 1992. After a bruising run of tour dates the year before, the final lineup of Bastro, a power-trio of David Grubbs, Ken (Bundy) Brown and John McEntire, retired, exhausted. Shortly thereafter, they were rebirthed, sans drums, via a new set of ideas composed in the cut-down configuration of Grubbs on guitars, keyboards and vocals and Brown on bass. Playing in duo format opened up sound and intention, leaving the need for speed (and the stock in rock) out, while letting in an expanse of brooding, droning acoustic space that highlighted the songs" serpentine shapes. This was something so radically different as to require a new calling card: henceforth, Gastr del Sol. Signing to Teen Beat, Gastr del Sol completed The Serpentine Similar in late 1992 for release the following year (the DC reissue came in "97). In the final rendering, Serpentine"s roof-rent, white-sky execution was attenuated with several percussion appearances from the prodigal John McEntire. Over the next five years, his cameo presence was a constant in Gastr del Sol"s steadily-evolving tradition of significant breaks from tradition at every turn. There would be an even more significant tradition-breaker onboard for all this; following the release of The Serpentine Similar, Jim O"Rourke joined Grubbs in Gastr as Brown exited (to focus on Tortoise, with McEntire et al). For the new Gastr duo, a world of new directions in music awaited, the future became the past, and the music of Gastr del Sol emerged from the thin air, then returned there. Now, The Serpentine Similar has been returned to vinyl from the temporal streams of contemporary music listening, a glorious rematerializing of all its spatial details on LP for the first time in 20 years.
Nestled away in the UKs quiet, picturesque east coast town of Ipswich, the lads in Basement are conflicted between the comfort of the beautiful familiar and the allure of escape. This duality pervades the band's existence. As frontman Andrew Fisher's gravelly yowl skips and stretches over driving rhythms and poignant guitar melodies, its clear Basement expertly walk the line between the contrasts of heartrending pop and gruff post-hardcore. When working through a slow-burning mid-tempo or pounding out driving punk, Basement has a quiet layer of jagged desperation weaving songs together under the smooth melodic surface. Much like a coming of age, the songs are toiling, torn and bursting at the seams.
Established in 2022, Warm Exit is a post-punk quartet hailing from Brussels, Belgium. Their violently frontal music is an explosive blend of sonic intensity that sets them apart as one of the country's most electrifying and raucous acts. Drawing inspiration from Krautrock, Punk, and Noise, their relentless rhythmic prowess is a testament to their diverse influences. Channeling the spirit of iconic 1970s bands like Wire, The Fall, and Public Image Limited, Warm Exit ventures into the shadowy realm of post-punk with their latest EP. Here, they seamlessly oscillate between fast and slow tempos, high and low energy levels, and vocals that span from tense whispers to unbridled screams. This journey takes the listener through a landscape of discordant riffs, haunting groans, evocative spoken word passages, and industrial undertones. Over the past three years, Warm Exit has cultivated a devoted following both locally and internationally, thanks to their electrifying live performances that leave audiences in awe. Carrying the reputation of a striking live band, they are eager to storm the stage at any and every given opportunity.
"Back in print with a brand new 2024 cut by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering, pressed on striking Transparent GOLD colored vinyl and topped off with a collectible “Footlong” OBI. NPR calls “Angherr Shisspa” a “vital reissue of a punk-prog opus”.
Japan's Koenjihyakkei blend progressive rock, jazz fusion, symphonic rock and neoclassicism with the energy of hardcore punk, the volume of metal and the attitude of rock in opposition.
Tatsuya Yoshida’s (of the renowned bass and drum duo RUINS), progressive rock powerhouse is Area and ELP at their most excessive; Deus Ex Machina with tempo changes multiplied by 100; and Magma at their orff-ian choral, fusion jazz, overcharged gospel peak.
“Angherr Shisspa”, the band’s landmark fourth album explodes with glittery keyboard lines, speedy bass/drum workouts, emotive reed respites, and operatic female vocals that take the listener from sheer exuberance to absolute apocalypse... all performed with superhuman technique in confoundingly catchy, complex arrangements.
“...towers over most modern progressive rock because of an attention to detail and an almost overwhelming force of conviction. No irony here: this rocks with the teeth and heart to cut through scenes and the ""overground"" like a knife."" - PITCHFORK"
"This digitally re-mastered version of ""Generator"" contains two bonus tracks for ""Heaven Is Falling"" and ""Fertile Crescent"" that originally appeared on the split 7"" with Noam Chomsky put out by Maximum Rock"N Roll in "91. ""Generator"" knocks about stirringly with a steadfast, mid-tempo punk roar, keeping the songs simple but continually on the upsurge. Brett and Greg Hetson"s guitars piggyback to ever-rousing heights, utilizing the essential chords and keeping limits on flashy things like solos or effects, never letting the enthusiasm or sentiment wane. With all players striving to turn each listening experience into a placard-waving melee, Bad Religion emblazons honest, dissatisfied-with-the-status-quo lyrics with an Uberpunk spirit, Greg Graffin"s vocals growing more gravelly and endearing with each record. With the implicit understanding that strength lies in brevity, Bad Religion hew mighty exhortations to action out of a well-trampled happy-punk base, and the sheer motivational impact of ""Generator,"" ""Only Entertainment,"" ""Atomic Garden"" and ""No Direction"" sweeps clear any charges of oversimplification or sameness. Generator is a brutal noise that is louder, faster & angrier than ever! A plethora of power punching punk pedagogy."
Limited Press, full sleeve & centre label design by Ciaran Birch. Mastered by Beau @ 1087 Studios.
The Babyfather members have been on a roll recently, and this one is no different. Following 24's single 'Open Up' for Accidental Meetings, Tusk & Massiah link up once again on the Bristol imprint.
Lord Tusk serves up a killer beat on Might Be The One, a raw and breezy stepper with Tusk's trademark drums and synth work sprinkled all over. With it's tempo coming in on the slightly quicker side for the dance floor, James Massiah's flow is perfect as per to meet it, ice cold delivery from the London poet with sharp verses and lyric work. Another gem from two of London's finest.
Recorded as part of the same daydreaming puzzle as Unwishing Well, Still Clouds at Noon brings out the slowcore/sadcore elements that drift through The Reds, Pinks & Purples' melancholy catalog. Donaldson names '90s hometown San Francisco acts such as American Music Club and the more obscure Timco as pivotal to his guitar playing and development as a songwriter, both of which shine bright here. The slower tempo ballads on Still Clouds_ often culminate in heavy fuzz drenched codas and showcase the more abstract poetic side of Donaldson's lyricism. There's an inherent pop-sensibility always at work though, with ear-worm melodies appearing over intoxicating circular riffs. Formerly a Bandcamp only digital release, this white vinyl version is remastered and adds two unreleased tracks, one featuring Mark Monnone from Australian pop-legends The Lucksmiths on bass. Strictly limited edition of 500 ww.
Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.
Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.
Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.
Brenda (Hudson Whitlock of Surprise Chef / Karate Boogaloo / The Pro-Teens) presents new album 'Bath Time', a suite of heartbreaking, cinematic indie-soul ballads from the hotbed of Melbourne, Australia.
Brenda encompasses the left-field soul sensibilities for which Whitlock has come to be recognised in cult instrumental groups Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo and The Pro-Teens, alongside heartfelt, introspective lyricism delivered in a sincere, delicate falsetto. Stylistically, lines can be drawn to the 1960s sweet soul ballads of The Delfonics, Jean-Claude Vannier's vivid arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg, and, of course, the unmistakable flavour of Melbourne's cinematic soul movement à la other Whitlock exploits Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo.
'Bath Time' contains ten entrancingly melancholic ballads that earnestly express Whitlock's dramatic indie-soul sensibilities; encompassing the classically introspective nature of the poetic lyricist and the idiosyncratic use of soulful instrumental arrangements. The songs encompass themes of old romantic habits dying hard, familial rifts and unrequited love.
True to his modest vagabond nature, Whitlock has 'released' six Brenda albums to date, each uploaded exclusively to bandcamp, gladly resigning the music to the underground. Whilst he created theses albums in solitude, playing each instrument himself, 'Bath Time' sees Whitlock relinquishes the isolationism of previous works in favour of including his trusted inner circle of friends and collaborators: Surprise Chef's Lachlan Stuckey and Jethro Curtin on guitar and keyboard respectively, Karate Boogaloo's Darvid Thor on bass, and production from Henry Jenkins (Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo, Frollen Music Library).
AVAILABLE IN BLACK ICE WITH ORANGE AND BLUE SPLATTER (COK015WW)
As they landed from their extended hovering adventure – a journey en(capsule)ated by twists, turns and various chops – the Fast At Work crew found themselves drawn to the idea of a new, singular sonic flow. Always on a noble mission for a future-forward vision of higher-deeper tempos, the crew realized that often the most meaningful iterations of their gospel can be found in the most inconspicuous places – “not even noticed,” some might say. Within these subtle crevices, a rising duo emerged to carry this torch (disc) forward into new, uncharted realms. Taking inspiration from “Eteus,” the god of light and knowledge, this duo expertly crafted four original offerings, all with a distinctive, minimalistic fusion of breaky, hopeful expansion. While the title contribution echoes a sermon of oozing bassline flows and siren signals, “Drip Advise” equally mesmerizes with its spiraling melodies and strong percussive foundation. On the disc’s flip, the anointed duo broadened and refined their journey via the acid-tinged bedrock of “Creamavity,” while the final offering “Anxious” ironically synthesized the full pilgrimage into a polished musical (and vocal) definition – “release yourself, into the unknown.” With the hope of sharing this glistening gospel far and wide, the mystical duo prescribed a set of two reshapes from enlightened phonic gurus in their own right. While Wisdom Teeth’s K-Lone opted for the always reliable essence of strong foundational grooves and deep airy textures, Maara (founder of the newly formed Ancient Records) crafted an oceanic odyssey – over 10 minutes of timeworn atmospherics and sensorial sensibilities.
Brenda (Hudson Whitlock of Surprise Chef / Karate Boogaloo / The Pro-Teens) presents new album 'Bath Time', a suite of heartbreaking, cinematic indie-soul ballads from the hotbed of Melbourne, Australia.
Brenda encompasses the left-field soul sensibilities for which Whitlock has come to be recognised in cult instrumental groups Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo and The Pro-Teens, alongside heartfelt, introspective lyricism delivered in a sincere, delicate falsetto. Stylistically, lines can be drawn to the 1960s sweet soul ballads of The Delfonics, Jean-Claude Vannier's vivid arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg, and, of course, the unmistakable flavour of Melbourne's cinematic soul movement à la other Whitlock exploits Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo.
'Bath Time' contains ten entrancingly melancholic ballads that earnestly express Whitlock's dramatic indie-soul sensibilities; encompassing the classically introspective nature of the poetic lyricist and the idiosyncratic use of soulful instrumental arrangements. The songs encompass themes of old romantic habits dying hard, familial rifts and unrequited love.
True to his modest vagabond nature, Whitlock has 'released' six Brenda albums to date, each uploaded exclusively to bandcamp, gladly resigning the music to the underground. Whilst he created theses albums in solitude, playing each instrument himself, 'Bath Time' sees Whitlock relinquishes the isolationism of previous works in favour of including his trusted inner circle of friends and collaborators: Surprise Chef's Lachlan Stuckey and Jethro Curtin on guitar and keyboard respectively, Karate Boogaloo's Darvid Thor on bass, and production from Henry Jenkins (Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo, Frollen Music Library).
AVAILABLE IN BLACK ICE WITH ORANGE AND BLUE SPLATTER (COK015WW)
Sunshine and Balance Beams, das neunte Album von Pile, ist eine Sisyphus-Parabel über Arbeit und Leben. Um es zu schreiben, begab sich Sänger Rick Maguire an ,einen dunklen Ort" und rang mit dem Konzept, dass es keine Erleuchtung und kein Ende des Leidens gibt. Maguire erforscht den Workaholismus, den Mythos der Leistungsgesellschaft und die Akzeptanz der Sterblichkeit - und das alles in einer teuflischen Allegorie, in der es darum geht, durch einen schattigen Wald zu stapfen und dem ungewissen Traum einer hellen Lichtung entgegenzugehen. Pile ringt mit existenziellen und sozialen Widersprüchen, indem er klangliche Zwischenräume heraufbeschwört. Die Musik existiert irgendwo im temporären Gleichgewicht von Licht und Schatten, Chaos und Ordnung. Heiße, regenähnliche Gitarren, sich verschiebende Drums, die gewundene Wege in Klang und Tempo ebnen, unheimliche Synthesizer und wässrige Streicher fügen sich zu einem Panorama aus lauter und leiser Dynamik zusammen, das der Emotionalität der donnernden Auftritte der Band entspricht. Die Gruppe bevorzugte auch freilaufende Darbietungen, die das Erzählen von Geschichten belebten, während sie eine Streichergruppe (Geigen, Bratsche, Cello) engagierte, um glühende, durchkomponierte Arrangements zu spielen, die von der Cellistin Eden Rayz und Pile mitgeschrieben wurden. Sie ließen sich von Kino- und Opernpartituren von Chopin, Bernard Herrmann und Ralph Vaughan Williams inspirieren, was Sunshine einen überlebensgroßen Sound verleiht, der Piles blitzschnelle Umsetzungen einiger ihrer bisher zugänglichsten Songtexte noch verstärkt. Die Aufnahme ist ein deutlicher Sprung im Produktionswert und stellt Maguires Gesang auf neue und aufregende Weise in den Mittelpunkt. Pile reiste nach Pawtucket, RI, um zwei Wochen lang bei Machines with Magnets mit der langjährigen Tontechnikerin Miranda Serra (Kal Marks, Kira McSpice) aufzunehmen. Das Album wurde von Seth Manchester (Lightning Bolt, Mdou Moctar) gemischt und von Matt Colton (Aphex Twin, Swans, Muse) gemastert. Sunshine and Balance Beams ist das erste Album von Pile für das Chicagoer Label Sooper Records.
Sunshine and Balance Beams, das neunte Album von Pile, ist eine Sisyphus-Parabel über Arbeit und Leben. Um es zu schreiben, begab sich Sänger Rick Maguire an ,einen dunklen Ort" und rang mit dem Konzept, dass es keine Erleuchtung und kein Ende des Leidens gibt. Maguire erforscht den Workaholismus, den Mythos der Leistungsgesellschaft und die Akzeptanz der Sterblichkeit - und das alles in einer teuflischen Allegorie, in der es darum geht, durch einen schattigen Wald zu stapfen und dem ungewissen Traum einer hellen Lichtung entgegenzugehen. Pile ringt mit existenziellen und sozialen Widersprüchen, indem er klangliche Zwischenräume heraufbeschwört. Die Musik existiert irgendwo im temporären Gleichgewicht von Licht und Schatten, Chaos und Ordnung. Heiße, regenähnliche Gitarren, sich verschiebende Drums, die gewundene Wege in Klang und Tempo ebnen, unheimliche Synthesizer und wässrige Streicher fügen sich zu einem Panorama aus lauter und leiser Dynamik zusammen, das der Emotionalität der donnernden Auftritte der Band entspricht. Die Gruppe bevorzugte auch freilaufende Darbietungen, die das Erzählen von Geschichten belebten, während sie eine Streichergruppe (Geigen, Bratsche, Cello) engagierte, um glühende, durchkomponierte Arrangements zu spielen, die von der Cellistin Eden Rayz und Pile mitgeschrieben wurden. Sie ließen sich von Kino- und Opernpartituren von Chopin, Bernard Herrmann und Ralph Vaughan Williams inspirieren, was Sunshine einen überlebensgroßen Sound verleiht, der Piles blitzschnelle Umsetzungen einiger ihrer bisher zugänglichsten Songtexte noch verstärkt. Die Aufnahme ist ein deutlicher Sprung im Produktionswert und stellt Maguires Gesang auf neue und aufregende Weise in den Mittelpunkt. Pile reiste nach Pawtucket, RI, um zwei Wochen lang bei Machines with Magnets mit der langjährigen Tontechnikerin Miranda Serra (Kal Marks, Kira McSpice) aufzunehmen. Das Album wurde von Seth Manchester (Lightning Bolt, Mdou Moctar) gemischt und von Matt Colton (Aphex Twin, Swans, Muse) gemastert. Sunshine and Balance Beams ist das erste Album von Pile für das Chicagoer Label Sooper Records.
Sunshine and Balance Beams, das neunte Album von Pile, ist eine Sisyphus-Parabel über Arbeit und Leben. Um es zu schreiben, begab sich Sänger Rick Maguire an ,einen dunklen Ort" und rang mit dem Konzept, dass es keine Erleuchtung und kein Ende des Leidens gibt. Maguire erforscht den Workaholismus, den Mythos der Leistungsgesellschaft und die Akzeptanz der Sterblichkeit - und das alles in einer teuflischen Allegorie, in der es darum geht, durch einen schattigen Wald zu stapfen und dem ungewissen Traum einer hellen Lichtung entgegenzugehen. Pile ringt mit existenziellen und sozialen Widersprüchen, indem er klangliche Zwischenräume heraufbeschwört. Die Musik existiert irgendwo im temporären Gleichgewicht von Licht und Schatten, Chaos und Ordnung. Heiße, regenähnliche Gitarren, sich verschiebende Drums, die gewundene Wege in Klang und Tempo ebnen, unheimliche Synthesizer und wässrige Streicher fügen sich zu einem Panorama aus lauter und leiser Dynamik zusammen, das der Emotionalität der donnernden Auftritte der Band entspricht. Die Gruppe bevorzugte auch freilaufende Darbietungen, die das Erzählen von Geschichten belebten, während sie eine Streichergruppe (Geigen, Bratsche, Cello) engagierte, um glühende, durchkomponierte Arrangements zu spielen, die von der Cellistin Eden Rayz und Pile mitgeschrieben wurden. Sie ließen sich von Kino- und Opernpartituren von Chopin, Bernard Herrmann und Ralph Vaughan Williams inspirieren, was Sunshine einen überlebensgroßen Sound verleiht, der Piles blitzschnelle Umsetzungen einiger ihrer bisher zugänglichsten Songtexte noch verstärkt. Die Aufnahme ist ein deutlicher Sprung im Produktionswert und stellt Maguires Gesang auf neue und aufregende Weise in den Mittelpunkt. Pile reiste nach Pawtucket, RI, um zwei Wochen lang bei Machines with Magnets mit der langjährigen Tontechnikerin Miranda Serra (Kal Marks, Kira McSpice) aufzunehmen. Das Album wurde von Seth Manchester (Lightning Bolt, Mdou Moctar) gemischt und von Matt Colton (Aphex Twin, Swans, Muse) gemastert. Sunshine and Balance Beams ist das erste Album von Pile für das Chicagoer Label Sooper Records.
Subjekt mints a new limited edition series with a first vinyl pressing of some Biz (Transmat, Acquit Records) tunes that have previously been available only digitally via his Bandcamp. The Aussie is a real pioneer of techno in his homeland and has also made a mark around Europe with outings on top labels like Further Electronix and Tronic. He always delivers deep, hard-hitting cuts that draw on experiences picked up in the scene since the late '80s. This one opens with 'Tears,' which is a deep and atmospheric sound with fuzzy chords and melancholic moods over a mid-tempo rhythm. 'Worlds Collide' brings some Detroit mysticism, then 'Dark Mofo' taps into electro for a deft, kinetic rhythm and icy melodies that come back from the future. 'Fallen Apache' is a deep and dubby roller with an introspective edge, and 'Teach Em A Lesson' shuts down with an astral odyssey and more fluid synth work over analogue drums. Tasteful stuff from this vital veteran.
The Vestige is the first fruit of a new intergenerational collaboration between Giuseppe Ielasi, a quietly prolific key contributor to the European experimental music scene for over twenty years, and Jack Sheen, a young composer-conductor-sound artist from Manchester whose recent projects have seen him moving seamlessly from enigmatic chamber music composition and installations to conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Their materials and working methods differ significantly, with Ielasi having focussed for many years on electro-acoustic techniques alongside his ongoing commitment to the guitar, and Sheen primarily composing for traditional instruments. More important, though, is what they share: a fascination with what Sheen calls “mysterious, liminal musical material,” using irregular repetition and cyclical forms to create structures at once alive with activity and almost static, as well as a rigorous exploration of spatial diffusion and the interaction of sound event and environment. Working individually with a library of acoustic instrument sounds from Sheen’s recent projects and Ielasi’s guitar, the pair eventually met for several days at Ielasi’s home studio in Monza, sculpting the fourteen pieces that make up The Vestige. Like Ielasi and Sheen’s solo works, the record shows an exquisite attention to details of sequencing and pacing, the sound palette and compositional approach consistent throughout while each piece asserts its own identity. The twenty-five seconds of the opening piece serve as an entrée into the record’s distinctive world of sound: repeated chirps fluctuate in volume as they move across the stereo spectrum, woven between strangled snatches of string glissando against a backdrop of percussive ticks, long tones, and white noise. Across the remaining thirteen pieces, Ielasi and Sheen sketch further dimensions of the ambiguous space, where distinctions between pitch and noise, repetition and irregularity, electronic and acoustic remain pointedly unclear. As the record’s title suggests, the origins of the sounds we hear have become remote: while at moments we get flashes of timbres and attacks that could come from wind instruments, bowed strings, or prepared guitar, these remain vestigial traces, glimpsed through a veil of shifting white noise textures. These textures are themselves difficult to trace, suggesting artefacts of the recording process, electronic synthesis, amplified room sound, rubbed instruments or objects. The Vestige shows an unusual degree of attention to frequency range as a compositional tool, something it shares with the hyper-subtle variations of Ielasi’s electroacoustic works and the deliberately ‘unbalanced’ midrange-heavy ensemble of Sheen’s Sub. Here, movement between episodes is as much about adding or removing a frequency band as it is about changes in density, harmonic content, or instrumental texture. Tracks are marked by the sudden appearance of subbass or exaggeration of high frequencies in otherwise similar material, contributing to our sense that these fourteen pieces are like different views on a scene that we can never quite see clearly. While calling up a range of past music, from the early works of Rolf Julius to Simha Arom’s recordings of layered polyrhythms embedded in the background sounds of central African villages to the temporal distortions and layered hiss of DJ Screw, the alluring and disconcerting world of The Vestige is entirely its own.
Selected songs from Yu Hayami's album "Delicacy of Love" released in 2016, are now available on vinyl from SLENDERIE RECORD, a music label
led by Takashi Fujii!
Contains two songs "" Tokeruyouni kiss me"" a masterpiece with lyrics by Yu Hayami, music by Takashi Fujii, and arrangement by Ken Tomita, and "Boogie
Boogie Love Train (English Version)" an English cover of Anne Lewis' "Koi no Boogie Woogie Train" which was not included on the album.
Experience the charm of the songs anew with the sound that only an analog record can provide. Limited quantities available, so don't miss out.
Yu Hayami Profile
Made her debut as a singer in 1982 with "Isoide! Hatsukoi".
Has had many hits, including "Natsuiro no Nancy" and "Passion"
Yu Hayami spent her childhood in Guam and Hawaii, and is bilingual, fluent in both English and Japanese.
Graduated from the Department of Japanese Culture, Faculty of Comparative Culture, Sophia University. In 1992, she participated in the Earth Summit held in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is active on a global scale.
She is also a certified wine expert and dance fitness ZUMBA® instructor. She has a diverse range of charms not only in music but also in lifestyle.
In 2022, she will celebrate her 40th anniversary since her debut and release her best album, "Affection ~Yu Hayami 40th Anniversary Collection~".
In the summer of 2024, she released a new song, "DISCO de DISCO" (composition: DJ Night Tempo), which she wrote the lyrics for.
She currently appears regularly on NHK Radio's "Midnight Flight NEXT" and NHK World's "Dining with the Chef". She also hosts BS-TBS's "MUSIC X".
Her annual summer solo concert, "Natsuiro no Nancy Festival 2025" is scheduled to take place at Otemachi Mitsui Hall on July 13th.
In recent years, she has also been working on jazz, pursuing new musical possibilities through the fusion of pop and jazz.
Danny Krivit’s landmark rework of Marvin Gaye's “I Want You" is amazingly celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and Most Excellent Unlimited have answered the pleas of the faithful by reissuing it for the first time on 7-inch. For the uninitiated, Mr. K’s much-loved edit peels back the instrumental layers of the original to focus on the lushly soulful vocal, leaving the track nearly drumless with just a touch of conga providing the only percussion. A magical listen. Elevating the tempo on the flip side is Billy Paul's "Only The Strong Survive", a stone-cold classic in the pantheon of Philly disco and the inspiration for countless house bangers that have drawn from its relentless drive and soaring vocals. Mr. K’s edit naturally focuses on the epic ride out of the original, a blissful 5+ minutes that will lift dancefloors to the heavens.
Colombia-based duo and Bogota scene-players Julian Sanza (who you may know as part of 2020 Soundsystem) and Lafrench Toast have decided to add their own spin to a stone cold classic pop tune. With this one they manage to flip the iconic 'Thriller' into a nu-disco world. The drums are funky, the synths are explosive and full of cosmic colour and plenty of the original motifs remain to ensure that crowds will appreciate the work done. 'We Shine So Bright' on the flip is another sunny sound with nice breezy pads and mid tempo drum funk. Two useful and playful cuts.
Black Vinyl[27,31 €]
Iridescent Metallic Gold Vinyl. Just before recording their epic disasterpiece, You Are There in late 2005, MONO began collaborating with fellow Tokyo native and modern electronic composer, world's end girlfriend. The result was a five-part suite of neoclassical grace and luminescence that defies easy categorization. As dark as the bottom of the ocean, and nearly as otherworldly, Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain finds MONO inhabiting an illuminated world previously only hinted at in their most orchestral compositions. Recorded in multiple studios in Japan last year, Palmless Prayer highlighted MONO's increasing obsession with classical music with world's end girlfriend's mastery of subtle dynamic shifts. Forgoing their tendency to erupt into hellish bursts of speaker-destroying noise, MONO instead exhibited remarkable restraint, stretching song lengths up to and beyond the 15-minute mark and turning barely-there crescendoes into earth-shaking events. Less an epiphany and more a reminder of the beauty that already exists all around us, Palmless Prayer was a miniature panoramic view of the sea on an eerily still day, the current swaying at an impossibly laconic pace and the sound of a thousand tiny waves crashing in the distance all at once.
A truly essential piece of early Detroit Techno history here, Octave One's original white label "Octivation" EP from 1990 has long been a sought after and coveted slab of wax. This 5 track journey charts the Burden brothers mood from sinister, spacey, acidic Techno jams ("Sonic Fusion") to deeper, more melancholic mid-tempo cuts ("Nicolette") and along the way manages to usher in a new wave of Detroit Techno sounds.
Steeped in soul and depth "Octivation" was hinting towards the epic style Octave One would shape with their various projects in the following decades and releases. The earliest glimpse (Their 1st release) into a long and fruitful career that is still continuing today. This EP was a game changer and it's influence can still be felt in contemporary House and Techno right now.
Now, finally made available again to be re-discovered and experienced.
Re-mastered, re-pressed and re-issued with all the original 430 West white label and sticker artwork intact, in conjunction with the Burden brothers / 430 West Records.
"After the success of his album Le Bal des Crocodiles in 2023, the Parisian label Teenage Kicks Production has announced the imminent release of the new album by the artist Homme Bleu, titled Dark Matter. Recorded at Garage Studio in Montpellier, this album will feature 12 tracks in English. The mixing was done in New York by Alex Conroy, except for the track The Life in Me, which was mixed by Steve Lyon (Depeche Mode, The Cure, etc.). A resolutely rock album that highlights guitars with modern arrangements. Introspection, existential questions, human relationships, and the passage of time are the artist's favorite themes, with a distinctly pop-rock influence infused with an electro whirlwind. Three singles have already been released from the album: The Life in Me, a high-energy rock track dominated by guitars; I Ride: a groovy mid-tempo ballad reminiscent of Radiohead's universe, an ode to inner freedom and resilience; titletrack Dark Matter, an eponymous track, a piano-vocal ballad. The album cover was designed by Frank Loriou (Manu Chao, Miossec, etc.), with whom Homme Bleu has collaborated since the beginning of his career." Double-LP in gatefold sleeve, blue vinyl.
The discovery of Doris Dennison's score represents a genuine musicological breakthrough—what once would have been "a tree falling in the woods" thirty years ago now holds the potential to render "a thunderous clap in our minds." While researching Anna Halprin's lesser-known collaborators, scholar Tom Welsh uncovered the archives of AA Leath, one of Halprin's principal dancers. Buried within these materials was Dennison's handwritten score for Earth Interval, dated May 1956. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1908, and raised near Seattle, Dennison (1908-2009) encountered John Cage while teaching Dalcroze eurythmics at the Cornish College of the Arts. She joined Cage's earliest percussion quartet—alongside Margaret Jansen, the composer and his wife Xenia—in the group widely regarded as having performed the first complete concert of percussion music in the United States. This historic December 1938 concert was followed by tours and the landmark May 1941 performance at the California Club, comprising Cage and Lou Harrison's Double Music, the premiere of Cage's Third Construction, and Harrison's 13th Simfony.
As Bradford Bailey observes in his extensive liner notes, Earth Interval demonstrates "an extraordinary balance of elements that imbues the piece with a sense of clarity, directness, and constraint that is both distinct and ahead of its time." The work's most remarkable innovation lies in its approach to extended techniques, particularly Dennison's notation for the central movement: "In 2nd movement, 1st player lowers + raises a gong into a tub of water while beating." This technique, absorbed from Cage's experimental vocabulary, generates what Bailey describes as "fields of acoustic abstraction that bend and warp time through sustained resonances, beat, and space." The temporal sophistication of these manipulations anticipated Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I (1964) and Annea Lockwood's water-based sound investigations by over a decade. After joining Mills College as dance accompanist, Dennison maintained crucial connections to the Bay Area's experimental scene, collaborating with figures like Merce Cunningham and programming Cage's music throughout the 1950s.
Comprising three movements—Land Form, Air Tide, and Earth Play—Earth Interval is scored for recorder, drums, gongs, maracas, muted gongs, and bowl gongs. In total, the piece is just under eight minutes: "a fleeting glimmer of moment in time, a life spent at the cutting edge, and a singular creative vision that packs a powerful punch." When viewed in historical context, placed in contrast to roughly contemporaneous avant-garde percussion works by Cage, Harrison, Louis Thomas Hardin (Moondog), and Harry Partch, or important precursors like Edgard Varèse's Ionisation (1931) and Henry Cowell's Ostinato Pianissimo (1934), it's clear that Dennison was following her own path. Earth Interval is not derivative. It is a precursor to what was yet to come, alluding to developments of avant-garde and experimental music that wouldn't begin to appear on the cultural landscape until the 1970s and '80s, with the emergence of Post-Minimalism and more idiosyncratic artists and ensembles like Midori Takada, Ros Bandt, Peter Giger, Frank Perry, Christopher Tree, Michael Ranta, Gamelan Son of Lion, and Niagara.
This recording by Chicago's Third Coast Percussion, captured in March 2022, represents the first complete documentation of this pioneering work. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity while maintaining its historical specificity. Where Cage, Harrison, and Partch employed "self-consciously off-kilter polyrhythms," Dennison's rhythmic sensibility anticipates minimalist developments by nearly a decade, yet integrates "forceful rests, as well as sharp shifts in sonic character, tempo, and meter, that break the momentum and breathe a sense of life into the piece's structure." This positions her work closer to Post-Minimalism decades before its emergence. The architectural approach demonstrates Dennison's understanding that "the composer almost entirely disappears" in favor of phenomenological listening experience, creating what might be called an egoless music that places its realities and meaning entirely in the ear of the beholder. The present recording, realized by Chicago's distinguished Third Coast Percussion ensemble, represents a significant achievement in experimental music scholarship and performance practice. As specialists in the Cage tradition and contemporary percussion repertoire, Third Coast Percussion approached Earth Interval with the historical sensitivity and technical precision required to illuminate Dennison's subtle compositional innovations. The March 2022 recording sessions, engineered by Colin Campbell, capture both the work's intimate chamber music qualities and its bold exploration of extended techniques. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity—its ability to speak directly to current musical concerns while maintaining its historical specificity.
This recording serves multiple scholarly functions: it provides the first complete documentation of Dennison's compositional voice, offers insight into the broader network of experimental music practitioners surrounding Cage and Harrison, and demonstrates the sophisticated level of compositional thinking that was occurring within the Bay Area's dance-music collaborations of the 1950s. The work's emphasis on phenomenological listening—what might be called an "egoless" approach to musical experience—places it within a lineage of American experimental music that prioritizes perceptual process over compositional personality. The work's original obscurity—limited to AA Leath's performances at venues like the 1957 Pacific Coast Arts Festival at Reed College—paradoxically allowed it to remain "entirely on its own terms," free from the constraints of historical categorization. Drawing on Jacques Derrida's Archive Fever, the argument emerges that "the archive can acknowledge, celebrate, and resurrect" overlooked voices, transforming our understanding of experimental music history. The present Blume edition, featuring Third Coast Percussion's authoritative interpretation, includes a lavishly illustrated 16-page booklet designed by Bruno Stucchi / dinamomilano, containing complete scholarly apparatus, historical photographs, and detailed production notes. This recording enables "cross-temporal intersectionality," allowing Dennison to "belong to a newly formed and more dynamic understanding of the present and past," demonstrating how forgotten voices can reshape entire historical narratives when given proper scholarly attention and performance advocacy.
MAROON VINYL[14,08 €]
Auf dem Weg zur 100. Eccentric Soul 45 widmet sich die Numero Group ihren Wurzeln in Ohio mit drei Replika 45s aus dem Capsoul-Universum. Ron Harringtons "Because You're Mine"-Demo war unter den Capsoul-Bändern, das für den Gründer Bill Moss aufgenommen wurde und nie veröffentlicht worden ist. Die Mid-Tempo-Harmonie-Nummer "It Happened To Me Again" ziert die A-Seite mit einem Lo-Fi-Funk-Backbeat. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.
Auf dem Weg zur 100. Eccentric Soul 45 widmet sich die Numero Group ihren Wurzeln in Ohio mit drei Replika 45s aus dem Capsoul-Universum. Ron Harringtons "Because You're Mine"-Demo war unter den Capsoul-Bändern, das für den Gründer Bill Moss aufgenommen wurde und nie veröffentlicht worden ist. Die Mid-Tempo-Harmonie-Nummer "It Happened To Me Again" ziert die A-Seite mit einem Lo-Fi-Funk-Backbeat. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.
Grass Green[14,08 €]
For our 100th Eccentric Soul 45, Numero returns to our Ohio roots with three replica 45s from the Capsoul universe. Marion Black’s timeless two-sider “Who Knows” b/w “Go On Fool” made a few blipsupon its 1970 release, but has taken on a life of its own soundtracking prestige TV and car commercials around the globe and finally going gold after 65 years. We discovered Ron Harrington’s “Because You’re Mine” demo amongst the Capsoul tapes, a demo cut for founder Bill Moss that never escaped greater Columbus. The mid-tempo harmony joint “It Happened To Me Again” adorns the flip, with a lo-fi funk backbeat tossed in for good measure. Capsoul’s crown jewel group harmony quartet Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr cut just two records in their short time together, but the quartet’s “You Can’t Blame Me” has endured as a classic example of the raw and unhinged soul sound that Numero is known for. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.
For our 100th Eccentric Soul 45, Numero returns to our Ohio roots with three replica 45s from the Capsoul universe. Marion Black’s timeless two-sider “Who Knows” b/w “Go On Fool” made a few blipsupon its 1970 release, but has taken on a life of its own soundtracking prestige TV and car commercials around the globe and finally going gold after 65 years. We discovered Ron Harrington’s “Because You’re Mine” demo amongst the Capsoul tapes, a demo cut for founder Bill Moss that never escaped greater Columbus. The mid-tempo harmony joint “It Happened To Me Again” adorns the flip, with a lo-fi funk backbeat tossed in for good measure. Capsoul’s crown jewel group harmony quartet Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr cut just two records in their short time together, but the quartet’s “You Can’t Blame Me” has endured as a classic example of the raw and unhinged soul sound that Numero is known for. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.
In the world of Pharaoh Overlord, little is ever as it seems. This band is less comprised of tricksters or mischief makers than fearless obsessives whose musical instincts take twisted and wild pathways. Now, fresh from forays into Italo-disco and synth-pop, they have thrown another still more mighty statement of intent into the universe. Louhi is a thunderous and majestic epic of joyful repetition and earth shaking power. A two-track minimalist-rock monolith forged from guitars, synths and hurdy-gurdy, inspired by the band’s eternal touchstone influence Outside The Dream Syndicate by Tony Conrad and Faust, and constructed around a single riff and melodic idea, it builds and evolves to fearsome pinnacles of elemental intensity.Luminaries and constant compatriots in the Pharaoh Overlord
headspace were recruited for this voyage into the ether. Vocalist and longtime collaborator Aaron Turner (SUMAC, Isis, Old Man Gloom)and Tyneside maverick Richard Dawson were equally keen to get on board, the former taking a spontaneous and improvisatory approach to his vocal parts, and the latter largely playing a part consisting of one guitar chord. Yet whatever routes Pharaoh Overlord take to their destination, a common theme is the consciousness-warping singularity of the riff and the mantra, and the temporal disorientation this can provoke mirrors the broader designs of this record, which takes traditional folk elements and transports them in the band’s singular time machine. “It’s our 25th Anniversary this year, and from time to time we hear wishes that if just we could play more of the stuff that we did twenty or more years ago” relate Jussi and Tomi. “We totally understand this. You could say we used Louhi to reset ourselves to the past, to be able to continue again to the future.” Aaron puts it another way, evoking simplicity in the chaos – “The world of Pharaoh Overlord is a magical one - every album is an invitation to enter that place and rejoice in doing so…”
Penguin Cafe Orchestra’ is the second studio album by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, released in 1981, and recorded between 1977 and 1980. By this album, the line-up for the band had expanded greatly, with contribution including Simon Jeffes, Helen Leibmann, Steve Nye and Gavyn Wright of the original quartet, as well as Geoff Richardson, Peter Veitch, Braco, Giles Leamna, Julio Segovia and Neil Rennie.
All pieces were composed by Simon Jeffes, except for ‘Paul’s Dance’ (Jeffes and Nye), ‘Cutting Branches’ (traditional), and ‘Walk Don’t Run’ (by Johnny Smith).
The cover painting is by Emily Young.
‘Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter’ is based on the traditional Zimbabwean song, ‘Nhemamusasa’, a field recording of which can be heard played on mbira on the Nonesuch Records album ‘The Soul of the Mbira’.
The Boston Globe opined that “this is one of the most eccentric records released this or any year... It’s also one of the most delightful.”
In 2021, ‘Penguin Cafe Orchestra’ was named among The Fifty Best Albums Of 1981 by Spin.
This repress uses the 2008 remaster.
Pressed on apricot vinyl.
Balmat 17 marks both a return and a new frontier. It is the second album on the label from Patricia Wolf, whose 2022 album See-Through is one of the most beloved in Balmat’s catalog; it also marks the first time that Wolf has turned her hand to a film soundtrack. The results are every bit as magical as fans of the Portland, Oregon, composer’s music might expect.
Hrafnamynd—Icelandic for “raven film”—is a new feature-length documentary by experimental filmmaker Edward Pack Davee. Shot on a mix of film and digital formats, and incorporating his father’s Ektachrome slides from the 1970s, the autobiographical film works on multiple levels at once: a reminiscence of his childhood in Iceland, an exploration of landscape and folklore, and a documentary study of the island nation’s ravens—including a talking raven named Krummi.
Wolf is the perfect artist to score such an unusual film. Mixing ambient music and field recording—including extensive experience documenting bird song—Wolf brings an unusually empathic perspective to her music. In the context of Hrafnamynd, her airy melodies, pensive atmospheres, and vivid textures intuitively complement the film’s grainy film stock and blown-out colors. Friends for years, the two artists further bonded when Wolf asked Pack to film music videos for her songs “Woodland Encounter” (from See-Through) and “The Culmination Of” (from I'll Look For You In Others). Pack used Wolf’s previously recorded music as placeholders as he began assembling a rough cut of the film, which made her a natural choice to help him complete his idiosyncratic vision with an all-new, bespoke score.
But Wolf’s soundtrack also indisputably stands alone as a full-length album. Largely created using the UDO Super 6 synthesizer, it features a carefully distilled palette of warm, string-like pads and darkly glistening mallets, rounded out with the very occasional introduction of nylon string guitar. Musically and stylistically, the album’s 11 tracks represent both a continuation of the ruminative sound of See-Through and also an extension into new expressive modes. Few musicians, ambient or otherwise, are as skilled at balancing melody with atmosphere, or at finding ways to eke fresh at finding ways to eke fresh, surprising sounds out of an intentionally reduced toolkit. Meditative, immersive, and emotionally generous Wolf’s Hrafnamynd soundtrack evokes a range of ambient classics from decades past while confidently marking out its own verdant patch of ground.
Artist’s Statement:
Edward and I have been friends for years, but we really started to get to know one another better after I hired him to make music videos for my songs “Woodland Encounter” and “The Culmination Of.” For those projects we got to spend a lot of time hiking in various locations around the Pacific Northwest with his camera, very nice lenses, and tripod. Keeping quiet, hidden, and vigilant we searched for wildlife, good light on the trees, meadows, lakes, rivers, and skies. Edward was already an appreciator of my music and I was already in awe of his filmmaking talents so it felt like a great fit. Although we work in different areas of art our styles compliment one another. We both tend toward slow and careful pacing, with a focus on emotion and introspective reflections on life and the landscapes around us. For this reason, Iknew that I could trust Edward to create videos for my music. We saw so many beautiful and unexpected things on our filming days, but I was moved to tears once I saw how magnificent and poetic it all was. His video work from the cinematography, to the editing, and color correction helped bring my inner vision to life.
A few months after that, Edward surprised me with an invitation to work on the soundtrack for his new film, Hrafnamynd. I enthusiastically said yes. I had always wanted to work on a film, and I knew that his filmmaking style would be inspiring to write music for. I had recently acquired an UDO Super 6 synthesizer but hadn't used it much. I decided that this would be the synth that I'd use for the film. It has the ability to sound very modern, but can also sound so warm and fuzzy, like a synth from the 1970s. It turned out to be the perfect instrument for this project as the film itself straddles time from the ’70s to today.
When Edward sent me the rough cut of the film, he used placeholder music to help give me an idea of the emotion and energy that he was hoping to achieve for each scene. For many of the scenes, Edward used music from my albums as temporary tracks. This told me that he trusted my work and style and therefore I should just trust my intuition with how to proceed. I wanted to make sure that everything that I made was a direct reflection of what was happening on screen, a mirror of its emotion and energy so people could really lock into the film psychologically. This process took my composing to unexpected places—like being led by a strange cat or a raven that seemed to have something to show me. I found that the approach made the music so much more dynamic than my usual style. I really enjoyed being influenced by the action and dialog on the screen. Thankfully, Edward was very happy with the work. I made sure to handle this project with the utmost care because this is about his life and his family, and an exploration of the experiences that made him an artist and filmmaker. While watching the film many times over, I found myself thinking about my own family and my early memories with them and how the place where I grew up has influenced who I have become. I found that his film invites the viewer to reflect on their own lives in a similar way. I hope that this music and film can guide others to contemplate on the history of their beingness and the people and places that shaped them.
Another aspect to this project is the splendor and wonder of Iceland itself. I had the opportunity to visit Iceland for the first time in 2023. I got to play a show there for the Extreme Chill Festival and met many friendly and brilliant Icelanders. I also got to collect field recordings that I used in the film. It's a fascinating place and culture that easily captures the hearts and imaginations of anyone who visits. Whether you spend your time in the city immersed in its impressive arts scene, or venture out into the wilderness to behold its wondrous landscape, it will leave a lasting impression. The soundtrack is also a love letter to Iceland itself.
Bebedera takes the style of Tarraxo to a heightened awareness of its sexual nature. Tight, wicked layers of percussion, a suggestive ID ("Drinking is his life"), a slow pace that's not only perceptively slow, it sounds charged with intent, even malice, dissolution. Letting go of morality may be the big attraction in the music, permission to get down, this time in a heavy, conspicuous manner instead of a spiritual, breezy floatation. One has to recognize the impulse in ourselves. Once at peace with this rough nature, there are sublime grooves to follow, mind-boggling arrangements, a freedom from judgement in connecting with what may seem to be at first a very masculine take on dancefloor sensuality but which is in fact only human. Just with less filters.
In other ways, an aural combination of metal and flesh produces this notion of a cyborg, a very expressive physical body making its weight known to everybody around, a sort of walking fortress as in the "Moderan" group of sci-fi short stories. A glorious rattle of lata percussion, scraps from the junkyard. A sense of unease, even slight danger starts a flow of adrenalin. According to DJ Marfox, it's not the only thing flowing, there's also a strong desire for intercourse when a Bebedera tarraxo is playing. His very distinctive style has been a cult favourite for years. Accordingly, it took years to make contact, to reach an agreement, and the result is a set of classics that stretch as far back as 2014. Still the same punch, still the feeling no one has really stepped into this territory with such force.
Flipping the construct on its head, there's two Bebedera house tracks, we'd say almost an oddity, an abrupt change from the previous density of atmosphere, though they retain all the percussive bounce. Sensual, sure, a different tempo also letting through a romantic disposition other than the sheer physical attraction. One of the titles sums up the aesthetical power at play: "I Will Beat The Top High". As in reaching further out, further up. Wanting to. Time freezes - 2014 and 2016 (production years of these two tracks), fold up and melt into the Present. Where it matters.
"The nineteenth entry in the Altered Circuits catalog comes courtesy of Alex Neri with a selection of 4 tracks that distill an equal amount of decades in the studio. They are undeniably straightforward yet difficult to pigeonhole. It is clear Neri is aware of current trends and, at times, might even throw them a little nod - but overall, his music escapes easy temporal classification. On the "Club Voyage EP", he aims at the brash and brazen yet keeps the pace lighthearted. When the results come buttressed with the type of technical prowess at hand, it is hard not to get sucked into the adventure. "Teller Mood", charged with a fierce bassline, boisterous drums and jittery arps, is a slab of electroshock production. The track comes complete with extra motivational vocals to drive the point home, and when it arrives at its most stripped parts, instead of toning down, an alarm-like lead emerges. "Schelter's Sounds" features an FM bass and gently modulated, slow-attack synth embellishments. It is a set-up that allows for catching a breath until a grandiosely introduced portamento-heavy patch cranks things up a notch again. On the other side, the delayed and flanged percussion of "Tenax Roots" forms the ideal conditions for ominous synth work and robotized vocals; a theme that could have been lifted from a giallo flick completes its suspenseful, hypnotic ambience. "Move Tokyo Inputs" starts with another salvo of invigorating percussion. Amidst subtly evolving formant basslines and several risers, the tune directs a tweaked deadpan vocal sample to take center stage, showcasing how, in the right hands, the sparsest source material can be turned into a showstopper."
Bring the epic Starfleet adventures to a new dimension!
We are proud to present the exclusive colored vinyl release of
the thrilling original soundtrack of Star Trek: First Contact!
Take a deep dive into the world of Captain Picard and his
crew with a soundtrack that perfectly captures the thrilling
moments and dramatic climaxes of this intergalactic classic.
Erleben Sie das epische Abenteuer der Sternenflotte in einer
neuen Dimension!
Wir freuen uns, Ihnen das exklusive farbige Vinyl-Release
des mitreißenden Original Soundtracks zu Star Trek: First
Contact anzubieten! Tauchen Sie ein in die Welt von Captain
Picard und seiner Crew mit einem Soundtrack, der die
packenden Momente und dramatischen Höhepunkte dieses
intergalaktischen Klassikers perfekt einfängt.
DJ support - Alix Perez, Fracture, Lenzman, Kyle Hall, Doc Scott.
Introducing a new remix EP series from Rosebay Music aiming to connect the dots between soulful D&B and more disparate styles, tempos and scenes - with remixes coming in from a carefully selected group of artists reinterpreting tunes from the catalogue in fresh and unexpected ways.
Detroit’s Kyle Hall has been 1 of the cities main ambassadors of soulful, gritty house & techno over the last 15 years. Here he’s joined by instrumentalist Ian Fink to deliver a classic slice of deep and raw Detroit house music in his remix of Submorphics - Blastoff. This unforeseen linkup between Kyle Hall and Submorphics represents a rare joining of forces between 2 Detroit-born artists who have both repped their hometown’s aesthetic quite heavily in their respective scenes.
Noodles142 is the new alias of D&B star Satl - making fresh bangers fusing UKG, techno, dubstep and bass music in a classic-yet-futuristic way. Here he flips Submorphics - Hey Baby into deep, dark and dubby 140 territory paying homage to middle-of-the-night Detroit grittyness.
Primitive Instinct has quickly become one of the hottest upcoming names in D&B, repping Bristol with ultra-modern production, swinging drums, gorgeous synth work and amazing vocal sample manipulation. His stellar EP on The North Quarter convinced Rosebay to get him to remix Submorphics - Cinerama; and the result is a truly infectious dancefloor weapon.
The final remix comes from one of the current stars of 1985 Music: Trail. Repping the Toulouse D&B scene over the last few years, Trail has a unique knack for melody, harmony and groove that sets him apart from other modern liquid artists. Here he flips Submorphics, Zar & aya dia’s modern classic “Another Level Of Love” into a trippy and experimental heater. A diverse and eclectic selection of remixes from some very intriguing artists each existing in their own lane. Enjoy the ride!
Quebecois Death Metallers Sedimentum formed back in 2018, giving us a magnificent debut album and several equally formidable shorter releases alongside it. Now they return with an even more doomy, eldritch mini-album for your listening displeasures…
Following some otherworldly ambience, those charnel guitars bring in a truly crushing spectacle of doomed extremity. Grotesque vocals and strong drums permeate the thick, tarry stringed arrangements. Their sinister and inhuman music has sunken even further into the pits of putrefying grave matter to conjure spectral apparitions of the dead. Those of you who already know this superb band will definitely recognise their unique sound while appreciating that the more low-register, slower tempo rumble of this cacophonous rot is even more intense than ever. Never afraid to blast out viscerally gripping savagery, the old school way, there is plenty of those more traditional moments tied into the abhorrent affair. However you like it, Sedimentum master Death Metal…
At a mere three songs, one could foolishly assume this record is lacking. But listen for yourself to discover three majestic pieces of masterful musical torment. In little over twenty minutes, Sedimentum grasp your soul with their ghoulish atmospherics and sepulchral hammering force. Exhuming the ancient spirits, this mini-LP is a must-listen for all true die-hards of the Death Metal underground who value both atmosphere and brutality in equal measure. There is no denying this band has a perfect grapple of both as these new constructions of contorting morbidity prove beyond doubt. Enter the ossuaries of Quebec with one of the finest bands of the underground as its lumbering corpse staggers toward you with only malicious intentions…
Token presents the 6th chapter of the Fuga series. Challenging new faces to complete the label's sound, Fuga VI is another focused compilation that balances spatial detail and rhythmic bite.
Skipping any introduction to dive straight into the essence of the compilation, Skjöld portrays 'Forbidden City' as a tense aquatic exploration. With pressure in the low end, he keeps the record alive by conjuring obscure pads to give dimension and intrigue to an already nervous track. This persistence is quickly met with weight; Tapefeed's 'Residual Memory' follows up to tap into the label's more aggressive side. Riddled with mechanical sound design bordering on the industrial, the Tapefeed duo creates dancefloor dominating energy that sets them apart with an all-out approach. The density of this second track feeds smoothly into Stephen Disario's 'Out Of Tune' - a drum-forward record with dispersed texture. The LA based producer puts his hi hats brutally forward to cut through the space, finding a remarkable balance between its two sides and exploiting its confrontation. Returning to the label's recognizable resonance, Merino steps in with 'Memoria' - a manic 5 minute synth loop with minimal percussion. Dealing in restraint and dissonance, Merino naturally finds a home in Fuga VI with this track before heading back into the peak time paranoia of JSPRV35 in 'Question'. Pushing up the intensity and flicking through vintage percussion lines, 'Question' is an extraverted homage to the origins of techno that embodies flair. The track drives through the middle of Fuga with ease, bouncing rhythm off a sharp bassline with thundering claps and snares. 'Catch 22' by Terminus restores balance with minimalism but pace. A hypnotic break in the second half is sure to mesmerize dancers and home listeners alike. Stuttering hats shake throughout 'Catch 22' to push the track along, keeping the harmony low and maintaining focus on the movement. With a similar tempo, Sanna Mun follows up with 'Binary Systems'. A speedrun through an acid-like bassline, the track's rhythm is obsessive and persistent as we reach the conclusion of the compilation. Fuga VI comes full circle with a ghostly track by Mode_1 called 'Lifespan', stretching time and tunneling through with booming toms and shuffled hats. Keeping the pressure high and maintaining that never ending energy is the only way to wrap up such a high energy release and Mode_1 does just that.
Claremont 56 founder Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy has been in a rich vein of creative form of late. Having released his first solo album in 18 years in 2024, the effervescent and picture-perfect 'In The Garden of Mindfulness', Murphy is well on his way to finishing solo LP number three – a set you’ll be able to hear in full later in 2025. To get us in the mood, he’s offering up a two-track taster featuring instrumental takes on cuts that will appear as full-vocal songs on the final album. Both were written with, and feature instrumentation by, regular collaborator Michele Chiavarini, an Italian musician, producer, composer, and arranger who has long been part of the Claremont 56 family.
Up first is ‘Mahalo (12" Instrumental Mix)’, a languid and emotion-rich groover built around a smooth, mid-tempo jazz-funk-goes-disco groove – think crispy drums, delay-laden hand percussion and rubbery bass guitar – and all manner of ear-catching musical details. As the track unfolds, you can expect to hear lilting strings, warming electric piano chords, mazy synth solos, heady horn-style blasts and glistening, eyes-closed guitar licks. It’s a genuinely superb slab of musically rich dancefloor warmth. The track that follows, ‘Mata Ne’, is an altogether dreamier and more dub-influenced affair. Featuring some sublime piano playing from Chiavarini, it sees Murphy layer simmering strings, cascading guitar licks, spacey synths and blissed-out melodic motifs atop the kind of chunky, dubby groove that has long been one of his aural trademarks. Offering positivity and melancholia in equal measure, ‘Mata Ne’ is Mudd at his most musically majestic. His forthcoming album will be worth waiting for.
Transitioning from the successful 2 Years EP (O Sótão Records, 2023), Tiago Fonseca became an up and coming Producer and DJ based between Lisbon and Porto. On the back of gigs at some of the best clubs in the country, he also transitions from Tiago A.F. to TGZ (sounding Tigz) as his moniker for what’s to come ahead. Long Shape, his latest project, is O Sótão’s first vinyl release, and the first to be delivered with higher standards of professionalism. Learning the trade, the processes, the timeframes, the costs, and having just completed 10 years of existence. A good time to go a bit deeper.
In the summer, Tiago sent me a golden playlist of unfinished projects for a second opinion. The idea for a new record started there, and from the bunch we handpicked a selection that ended up making really a lot of sense for us. We were looking for wet deepness and eternal warm ups, pulling up the fader slowly. An invitation to leave our mental capsules and divert attention towards a seductive bassline cliff-hanging a dream. Progressiveness and jazz. Long shapes and melodies in the last frontier between nostalgia and hope.
To help, we invited Miguel Tenreiro (a.k.a. Gazpa) to master the tracks, with him adding a smooth-extra-delicious pump on the beautiful original elements. Miguel also picked up the title-track for a remix treatment, breaking up the tempo with a hip-hop-electronica finale, sprinkled by a guitar solo from Zé Nuno - another great musician stemming from Mr. Bean’s bar, where we held a residency for the past year.
Long Shape will drop on March 21st. Vinyls might be only available a bit later. It will be a landmark moment for us, being Tiago’s most complete work to date, and a better representation of his rich musical influences, expanding it, as we speak, to another level. It’s also been 10 years for O Sótão, so there’s that too. To sum up, I’m just very glad that Long Shape sounds exactly where we would like to be after all this time, with a quick image of a nite-lit skyscraper cutting into a couple of rocks being dropped in the coolest whiskey glass, and the people warming up to a dream.
Edition of 100 Vinyl 12’’, Cover 3mm spine
Two of the most prolific remixers in the world of Disco, Dave Lee and John Morales have teamed up for one of their biggest projects to date - 'Mixed To The Maxxx' After gaining access from the legendary original artists these two highly esteemed producers take the multi-track tapes of many classic Disco, Funk & Soul tracks and re-work them...to the Maxxx! Here we are treated to a 12" sampler of what is to come from the Album later this year.
First up, the Bass twanging floor filler version from Dave Lee of 'The Brothers Johnson - The Real Thing' which has already been causing a stir in his DJ sets of late, featuring lots of musical parts not audible in the original. Following up is Dave's Friday Night Fever Mix of Philly legends 'Bell & James - US chart hit "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)' where he beefs up and extends the original to re-step back out on the town, a masterclass in elevating something that is already great to start with. On the second 12" we have John Morales taking on a biggie! Inner Life's - Aint No Mountain High Enough. Here John handles the prestigious parts with the respect due, re-shaping key moments in a new light and bringing the sonics up to par for modern dancefloors, an Anthem Mix indeed. To finish proceedings Morales takes on British Jazz-Funk band 'Light Of The World' with their mum loved classic 'London Town' bumping the tempo a touch and beefing up the funk.
Pioneering British electronic musician Mark Van Hoen is set to release his latest solo album, The Eternal Present, on 23 May 2025 via Dell'Orso, a remarkable collection of tracks spanning nearly three decades of recordings from 1998 to 2024.
The Eternal Present embodies its philosophical title, inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept that "Eternity isn't some later time... Eternity is that dimension of here and now that all thinking in temporal terms cuts off." The album explores music as the ultimate expression of existing in the present moment, transcending time and creating a sonic experience that is simultaneously "spectral, ghostly, melodic, harmonic, and decayed."
An influential contemporary of Aphex Twin, Autechre, LFO and Boards of Canada, Van Hoen is best known for his solo work as Locust in the mid-'90s, which helped push post-rave electronic music into newly challenging realms. His extensive discography spans releases on influential labels including R&S, Touch, and Editions Mego. Van Hoen has worked on numerous collaborations throughout his career, including with Nick Holton and Neil Halstead of Slowdive under the moniker Black Hearted Brother—their album Stars Are Our Home was released in 2013.
The Eternal Present continues the lineage of Van Hoen's most significant works, with artwork by Ian Anderson (Designers Republic) reflecting the album's "eternal present" concept with a mysterious visual approach, allowing listeners to form their own imaginary landscapes. The mastering by Stefan Betke (Pole) enhances this document of the evolution of the artist over the years as he continues to hone his signature sound. Using a host of instruments including analogue synthesisers and employing various recording approaches, Van Hoen's equipment changed dramatically over the years—from early DSP processing used on his first solo record on Apollo ‘Playing With Time’ to various synthesisers, modular systems, tape machines, and digital workstations—contributing to the album's rich sonic diversity.
Throughout The Eternal Present, ideas are woven together through spoken word quotations and abstract vocals featuring notable collaborations from Rachel Goswell on the Slowdive cover "Shine" (from 1998), Megan Mitchell (Cruel Diagonals) on "Somewhere", and session vocalists Clare Dove and Dorothy Takev on "No-One Leave" and "It's Not You (In A Way)" respectively. The use of cleverly assembled vocal samples from an "undisclosed but very famous female vocalist" on "Multiplex" (2016) and the indistinct vocalisations on the Cabaret Voltaire-influenced "Only Me" (2017), constantly challenges and disorientates the listener through fluctuating, ever-changing musical elements.
The album was recorded across multiple locations including Somerset, London, Los Angeles, and New York—even beginning compositions during flights and in airport lounges—reflecting Van Hoen's changing personal circumstances, environments, and situations throughout the years.
Of Indian-Jamaican descent, Van Hoen was born and raised in England, absorbing diverse musical influences from his neighbors—African-Jamaican on one side and Punjabi Indian on the other. "Each family played their own music frequently, and I absorbed it." His musical foundations include Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, OMD, Tangerine Dream, Japan, Cabaret Voltaire, and Cocteau Twins, later finding inspiration in My Bloody Valentine, LFO, and '90s producers Robert Leiner and CJ Bolland.
These eclectic influences are evident on The Eternal Present, which contains snapshots of different periods in his life, with changing circumstances across decades creating a variety of textures and sounds. As Mark explains: "It holds the same sonic signature as many of my solo releases and early Locust albums. It's a natural development that has taken place in the last few decades. It's even related to the earliest music I made as a teenager, although perhaps more sophisticated."
“What a remarkably affecting, majestically broad and captivating work it is..what strikes you most is the album’s myriad diversity. Outstanding” (Electronic Sound)
“Whether channelling mid- 70’s Eno, early Aphex Twin or Neu! his vivid sounds shimmer with emotional weight” (Mojo 4*)
"Musically, Van Hoen belongs to a distinguished family tree. Originally influenced by the likes of Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream, and later presaging both Autechre's glitch and Boards of Canada's pastoral IDM." (Pitchfork)
Emerging from the Kansai underground with a sense of ritual and restraint, G Version III returns with a slab of meditative pressure, carved for sound systems. Following last year’s cassette release on Digital Sting, the Kyoto-based producer deepens his exploration of experimental steppers and sacred low-end science.
TRK 1 treads heavy—medium-tempo four-to-the-floor steppers, soaked in 80s/90s UK dub DNA and wired with flickers of celestial synth energy, edged with something unknown.
TRK 2 drifts off-grid—a 100bpm oddity conjuring sacred synth rituals and off-beat spatial tension. Droning and eerily weightless, it hangs like a vapor of frozen scent in an echo chamber.
Flip the plate and TRK 3 and 4 ignite—raw, unrelenting steppers built to test the physical limits of the rig. No compromise, no decoration—just ritual voltage for the floor.
Riddim Chango’s 16th release channels something ancient through circuitry, born for the weight.
Heat Death Vinyl is Clear w/ Black Splatter. The drowsiest and earliest inklings of the slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine's 1991 debut. Combining the Louisville scene's relaxed tempo with doom metal's distorted slurry, the album is a depressing masterpiece of hushed vocals, noisy guitar, and punishing drums. Remastered from the original analog tapes and recreated in painstaking detail, Frigid Stars LP is the NYC trio's fuzziest and most affecting work. "A deft musical approximation of the sound of water turning to ice, the guitars are so weighed down with distortion that they struggle to march from one chord to the next." _ Pitchfork
The drowsiest and earliest inklings ofthe slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine's 1991 debut. Combining theLouisville scene's relaxed tempo withdoom metal's distorted slurry, the albumis a depressing masterpiece of hushedvocals, noisy guitar, and punishing drums.Remastered from the original analog tapesand recreated in painstaking detail,FrigidStars LPis the NYC trio's fuzziest andmost affecting work."A deft musical approximation of thesound of water turning to ice, the guitarsare so weighed down with distortion thatthey struggle to march from one chord tothe next."-Pitchfork
This album released in 1957 showcases Chet Baker's trumpet skills alongside Bobby Jaspar on tenorsaxophone. The recordings for the album took place between October 25, 1955, and February 10, 1956, at Studio Pathe-Magellan in Paris and features a mix of cool jazz and bop styles with tracks like "How About You," "Once in a While," and "Alone Together." The ensemble of musicians on this album includes notable names such as Jean-Louis Viale on drums, and Benoit Quersin on bass; the album highlighting Baker's distinctive trumpet tone and his collaboration with talented European musicians: "I Get Chet" is a significant work in his discography and reflect his mastery in the cool jazz and bop genres. The tracks are characterized by its relaxed tempos and lighter tone, and bop, known for its complex rhythms and harmonies, it is praised for its lyrical and cool jazz elements. For this and other reasons and considered a gem from Chet Baker's Paris sessions, showcasing his talent during a pivotal time in his career.
Known for her delicate, subtly psychedelic approach to production - all subtlety is thrown out of the window on the opener, “Parents and God”. We are immediately confronted with a slamming Chicago house style beat in style of Mr Fingers at his most utilitarian. It slams, jerking in and out of tempo like Ron Hardy in beast mode.
Out of nowhere a soulful church organ arrives - at first for a brief respite - but then for an extended solo, which gives way to an 80s electro style breakdown before reverting back to form. It shouldn’t work, but somehow it does - to a dizzying extent - and heirin lies Mayurashka’s magic: a blatant disregard for norms and a deft touch that makes the unorthodox so compelling.
“Notango" takes another big left turn - sitting somewhere between tribal seance and rain dance, it’s mostly organic drums and otherworldly sound effects that combine to drag us deeper into the wormhole before “ Vat Murmur” takes us back into the light with its uptempo disco energy and giving way to heavy chugging bass. This one is equally for fans of idjut boys and Larry Levan.
The EP rounds off with the title track “ LSI dreaming” - to try and describe it is almost impossible, but let’s say it starts of with a mid 2000s Perlon-era tech house energy before things quickly escalate beyond all recognition and then just hover with lysergic intensity. If I ever closed panorama bar, this is the track I’d end with.
Launched in London in December 1976, punk stalwarts 999 are one of the most successful and long-lasting acts of the upstart movement. Third studio album The Biggest Prize In Sport was their first for Polydor, the band's competency at a peak, despite the temporary appearance of fanboy drummer Ed Case, drafted in from the Southall Crew supporters when Pablo LaBrittain broke his arm. Often ranked as the greatest album of their entire career, The Biggest Prize In Sport had noticeably smoother edges than their earlier work, yet still holding plenty of bite, the combination pushing it into the Billboard top 200 in the USA. Unmissable!
Misty Lane paves a path to Dark Entries to deliver some quirky Quebecois disco pop. In 1983, producers Michel Bibeau, perhaps best known for his work on Pluton & Humanoids’ “World Invasion,” and Fitz Roy aka Ralph Mashats teamed up with singer Elaine Desjardins, the eponymous Misty Lane.
Mashats reminisces about bringing his Roland TR-808 and TB-303 to Michel’s Studio 21 in St. Eustache, two units he regretted later selling for “a slice of bread.” Michel added hooks with his Roland Jupiter 4 and various studio effects. Their sessions produced “Energy” and “Contrôle,” two cuts of slinky synthpop with French-Canadian flair. “Energy” pops off with proto-house vibes thanks to snappy 808s and Desjardin’s naive-but-enthusiastic vocals, and would fit right into a mid-80s WBMX Radio mix. “Contrôle” is a mid-tempo groover with tropical atmospheres, sitting perfectly next to to Junior Byron’s “Dance to the Music,” which was another Bibeau production.
Energy comes in a sleeve featuring Elaine at The Chivas Club in Montreal. Fans of Italo, Canadian disco, and oddball wave will rejoice in these artfully produced gems.
Vinyl Only!
The transformation deepens with “Prolonged Resistance”; the second chapter in the Instruments Of Rapture series. The record opens with the hypnotic, slo-mo burner “Just A Memory,” luring you in before the striking hard with the uptempo, cosmic stomp of “Planets (Lost Groove).” The 12” closes out with “Better,” a mid-tempo, smoky soul bumper that lingers long after the fade.
Having crested the west coast modular-ambient wave in just a few releases - including 2018's Sharing Waves on the influential LA experimental imprint Leaving Records - Sean Hellfritsch has swapped the mossy analog synth improvisations of his prior output for refined melodic arrangements dressed in sprightly dawn-of-digital textures. Big Earth Energy plumbs the depths of Hellfritsch's multimedia mind and naturalist heart, spinning an impressionistic narrative world off of cultural touchstones like the PC game MYST, and the work of Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. Inspired by the aforementioned, and guided by Hellfritsch's experience as an animator and filmmaker, Big Earth Energy is the soundtrack to a hypothetical video game with a pointedly ecological premise, and a twist of psychedelic charm. In Hellfritsch's imagined virtual journey, the player assumes the perspective of a treefrog sixty-five-million years ago, hopping epochs with each new level, forming a comprehensive picture of the massive changes the planet has gone through over the eons. The ultimate goal of the game is not to amass resources, defeat enemies, or gain power, but to fully witness the unfolding of one of the biggest systems of energy imaginable - or as the album's creator puts it - "to explore the incomprehensibly vast energetic expression and mystery that is Earth." Big Earth Energy is steeped in exploratory RPG intrigue, possibility, and contemplation, lovingly overlaid with Miyazaki-an sentiments and aesthetics. The through-composed, organic, meandering synthesis heard on previous Cool Maritime albums has been fully replaced by meticulous polygonal arrangements that recall the computerized sheen of late 80s work by composers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Yoichiro Yoshikawa - using true-to-period gear no less. Even given its referentiality, Big Earth Energy comes off as forward-facing where so much reminiscent music remains fixed to a bygone moment in pop culture. Hellfritsch has created a musical world where the endless verdancy of the biosphere finds its parallel in the golden age of early 1990s video games, and late 80s Japanese environmental music, all while pointing to a hopeful planetary and artistic future that vindicates the motives of all of these muses.
After several killer EPs and tracks on labels such as Tresor, Multi Culti, Hard Fist, or Playground Records, Antonio De Oto aka A-Tweed finally delivers "Spring Music" his first solo LP via Abstrakce Records, changing perspective on his music and way of producing. A minimal approach, where echoes and reverbs become some of the main characters of the full journey, mixing up weird acid, experimental downbeat, electro, dub, and tribal vibes across a wide range of tempos.
Slow-motion beats pulse beneath swirling acid lines, while dubby echoes and reverberations sculpt a landscape that is both immersive and mysterious. A-Tweed’s meticulous production draws from the label’s tradition of organic textures and ambient vibes, yet carves a distinct path balancing deep bass, shimmering synths, and a subtle sense of psychedelia that lingers long after the needle lifts.
A cohesive journey, crafted for those who seek introspective voyages without giving up new forms of dancefloor communion. A manifesto about the power of slow rhythms, dub sensibilities, and acid-tinged experimentation, out of any hype and trend, aiming for a distinctive sound. An essential addition to the ever-evolving Abstrakce catalogue. The spring has just arrived.
Detroit's own DJ 3000 returns with a futuristic techno-electro offering in the form of the Waiting in the Dark EP, featuring heavyweight remixes from electro pioneers Aux 88 and DJ Stingray 313. Set for a limited vinyl release, this project captures the essence of Motor City’s deep-rooted heritage while pushing sonic boundaries forward.The title track, Waiting in the Dark, receives two distinctive remastered remixes—Aux 88 injects their signature bass-heavy funk, transforming it into a machine-driven electro roller, while DJ Stingray 313 pushes the tempo with his unmistakable high-velocity precision. Both remixes have been carefully remastered, enhancing their depth and impact for a new era of listeners.DJ 3000’s own Midnight Mix offers a shadowy, groove-laden interpretation,capturing the hypnotic essence of the original, while Voyager (The JourneyMix) propels listeners through deep, evolving rhythms, combining layered melodies with driving percussion. These two previously unreleased mixes showcase DJ 3000’s seamless fusion of soulful depth and forward-thinking production.Limited vinyl copies will be available—don’t miss this essential Detroit techno release.
Random Coloured Vinyl
Nu-Tone presents Combo Tezeta's debut 7" vinyl record! The A-side, "La Danza Del Camaleón" is an instrumental cumbia-salsera that takes you on a tropical trip with a touch of psychedelia. On the flip side, a dark mid-tempo bolero called, "La Reina Nocturna". Remastered from the original verion, released by Discos Más in 2020. Based out of the Bay Area, Combo Tezeta plays a highly danceable blend of instrumental Cumbias, Chichas, and Musica Tropical inspired by the late 60's and early 70's era of psychedelic Peru. Layering the reverb-fueled sounds of surf rock onto the foundations of Cumbia, the band's focus is to highlight the rich melodies and hypnotic rhythms birthed from the Afro-Latin diaspora. Along with its appreciation of world music and its diverse cultures, Combo Tezeta's mission is to deliver the sounds and musical echoes of the past to the present through a combination of traditional and original music. Combo Tezeta was featured in Noise Pop 2023 and has played Pacific Northwest tours with Satan’s Pilgrim and Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini 2023. The band has played famed Bay Area Venues the Chapel, Eli’s Mile High Club and the Ivy Room. In Summer of 2024 they toured the Pacific Northwest and Southern California, including an appearance at The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The band was chosen by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts to be one of 20 finalists (out of 7000), and featured them in the Northern California showcase of finalists at Lagunitas Brewery in 2024. “Oakland seven-piece Combo Tezeta kicked off the baile with a garage-band take on ’60s and ’70s classics and originals, with distorted guitars and jangly synths layering psychedelic ooze onto timbales and güiras. The musician’s solos revealed hard-won skills, but the band members looked remarkably chill as they played together fluidly.” – KQED
If there is one quality that best sums up the personality and music of Michel Petrucciani, it is generosity.
It was on stage, in the moment, in close proximity to the audience, in the warm intimacy of a club setting, that he most truthfully expressed his passion for sharing.
Many musicians, he confessed, play too selfishly. They play only for themselves and a few happy few. I play to please and to communicate. I’d like to think I’m a very happy person.
That’s why it’s essential for me to transmit and give others the generosity that is vital in art, music, and life.”
This is proven by these magnificent moments captured live in 1997 in Tokyo.
Accompanied by Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd - two close friends with whom he shared an almost telepathic musical relationship - Michel Petrucciani delivers an intense hour of pianoforte, performing both standards and original compositions to unleash his boundless generosity and sensual lyrical expression live on stage.
Once again, one is struck by the solar clarity of his phrasing, the vigour and percussive precision of his touch (this master of tempo played ‘deep in the note’), and the breadth of his long lines where each note remains distinct and articulate. Michel infused everything he played with great emphasis and nuance - but above all, with sincerity. His heart sang immediately through the piano. This record is the most brilliant demonstration of that.
· Until now, this album had never been released on vinyl. Now available as a 180g double vinyl edition, mastered specifically for vinyl, housed in a 350g leather-textured sleeve with Struktura finish, offering an elegant texture and refined feel.
"Receive” is the fully improvised fourth album from I Am An Instrument. It follows up on a series of 3 elegant and melodic recordings by a finely tuned and talented group of musicians at the height of their powers.
For I Am An Instrument ( IAAI) the focus is always on the music and this fourth album is no exception. This session was performed and recorded live to an enchanted and attentive crowd at “All-Dayer” Copenhagen, taking place halfway through a free 12 hour Sunday session of dancing and listening in an audiophile environment.
While picking up on tempo, compared to previous recordings, this record also reveals the polyrhythmic dance dynamic central to the improvised style these fresh players have developed amongst themselves. ‘ Receive’ is an elegant and powerful celebration of music and melody evolving in the seconds as they pass.
Gold Vinyl[33,57 €]
Gerade, als MONO anfingen, die Grundsteine zu "You Are There" zu legen, experimentierten sie zusammen mit dem ebenfalls aus Tokio stammenden elektronischen Komponisten WORLD'S END GIRLFRIEND. Die Zusammenarbeit resultierte in einer Reise voller neoklassischer Leichtfüßigkeit und Leuchtkraft, die sich jeglicher Kategorisierung entzieht. "Palmless Prayer..." ist weniger ein alles enthüllender Tagtraum als eine Erinnerung an das Schöne, das bereits um uns herum existiert.
LTD DIM GLEAM ED[24,79 €]
Haunting, discordant and deeply unsettling, `Les Maîtres Fous' (`The Mad Masters') was written by French post-metal collective Year of No Light in response to French filmmaker Jean Rouch's controversial 1950's docufiction of the same name. Commissioned by Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris for their 2012 `L'Invention Du Sauvage' exhibition, trance-metal pioneers Year of No Light approached the ritual practices of the Hauka movement as depicted in the film and responded with their uniquely hypnotic heaviness. Performed only twice, once at the exhibition on the 6th January, 2012 and again in Bordeaux on the 29th January, 2015; this release is a live recording of the second and final performance of `Les Maîtres Fous'. Whilst Year of No Light have a long history of collaboration with forward-thinking filmmakers and visual artists, the sensitivity of this documentary's problematic subject matter and the intensity of the band's performance made this performance both a physically and emotionally demanding experience; something that can be keenly felt upon listening. Founded in September 2001 by a collection of Bordeaux's heavy scene stalwarts as an ongoing side project encompassing elements of sludge metal and shoegaze, Year of No Light released their debut album, Nord, in 2006 to critical acclaim. The subsequent years however saw a significant lineup change with the band replacing their vocalist with a third guitarist to become a fully instrumental sextet incorporating aspects of black metal, drone electronica and dark ambient into their already formidable sound. 2010's four track epic Ausserwelt and the 2013 follow up Tocsin saw Year of No Light distilling their punishing sound even further; stalling the tempo to a glacial crawl and tuning guitars ever downwards to new uncharted depths. Consolamentum, the band's first full-length release in nine years and their first with Pelagic Records, brought the outfit's crushing double-drumming percussion to the fore as a masterclass in dynamic control saw Year of No Light embrace the highest highs and the lowest lows of the intervening years. Now approaching their 25th anniversary, `Les Maître Fous' is a pressing reminder that, despite the band's long and ongoing journey, Year of No Light have never been afraid to experiment, to take risks, to square up to life's ugliness and look it straight in the eye. FOR FANS OF Neurosis, Cult of Luna, SWANS, ISIS, Russian Circles, My Bloody Valentine, Chelsea Wolfe
Haunting, discordant and deeply unsettling, `Les Maîtres Fous' (`The Mad Masters') was written by French post-metal collective Year of No Light in response to French filmmaker Jean Rouch's controversial 1950's docufiction of the same name. Commissioned by Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris for their 2012 `L'Invention Du Sauvage' exhibition, trance-metal pioneers Year of No Light approached the ritual practices of the Hauka movement as depicted in the film and responded with their uniquely hypnotic heaviness. Performed only twice, once at the exhibition on the 6th January, 2012 and again in Bordeaux on the 29th January, 2015; this release is a live recording of the second and final performance of `Les Maîtres Fous'. Whilst Year of No Light have a long history of collaboration with forward-thinking filmmakers and visual artists, the sensitivity of this documentary's problematic subject matter and the intensity of the band's performance made this performance both a physically and emotionally demanding experience; something that can be keenly felt upon listening. Founded in September 2001 by a collection of Bordeaux's heavy scene stalwarts as an ongoing side project encompassing elements of sludge metal and shoegaze, Year of No Light released their debut album, Nord, in 2006 to critical acclaim. The subsequent years however saw a significant lineup change with the band replacing their vocalist with a third guitarist to become a fully instrumental sextet incorporating aspects of black metal, drone electronica and dark ambient into their already formidable sound. 2010's four track epic Ausserwelt and the 2013 follow up Tocsin saw Year of No Light distilling their punishing sound even further; stalling the tempo to a glacial crawl and tuning guitars ever downwards to new uncharted depths. Consolamentum, the band's first full-length release in nine years and their first with Pelagic Records, brought the outfit's crushing double-drumming percussion to the fore as a masterclass in dynamic control saw Year of No Light embrace the highest highs and the lowest lows of the intervening years. Now approaching their 25th anniversary, `Les Maître Fous' is a pressing reminder that, despite the band's long and ongoing journey, Year of No Light have never been afraid to experiment, to take risks, to square up to life's ugliness and look it straight in the eye. FOR FANS OF Neurosis, Cult of Luna, SWANS, ISIS, Russian Circles, My Bloody Valentine, Chelsea Wolfe. The Dim Gleam edition is kind of a beige vinyl colour
Wytch Hazel's stellar 2016 debut Prelude confirmed these Lancastrian apprentice wizards to be Britain's most promising new hard rock band. Two years on, that promise comes to abundant fruition on II: Sojourn, an album that moves Wytch Hazel on from the innocence and exuberance of the debut to a darker, more profound and complex place, carefully wrought into optimum shape by the band's singer, guitarist, songwriter and mastermind Colin Hendra. "I'm really into the idea of an album," notes Colin. "I don't do mix-tapes, I don't listen to singles, I'm interested in albums. I want to make a good, listenable, cohesive work, that is the whole thing." Asked what inspirations were brought to bear this time, Colin has good news, and even better taste: "I was listening to plenty of Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash last year," remarks the frontman. "This seems to be more of a hard rock album, where the last one was more rock-folk. It's definitely more rock than folk!" The most crucial influence fully expresses itself via Les Paul guitars in sweet twin harmony through cranked Super Lead Marshalls - "Exactly the same type of amp that Thin Lizzy would have used," beams Colin - a benefit of working in James Atkinson's Hand Of Law Studio, a converted gaolhouse in Leeds. "We knew there would be a lot more great gear, more amps, more options," enthuses Colin of this productive new work environment. "We were more prepared, we planned better. I had a lot more vocals to record on this album, pretty much every song has at least three harmonies, but James is a really chilled out guy, he made it easy for us. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted each song to sound, I thought about every single aspect. I probably over-prepared for this album, and it paid off!" Wytch Hazel's proud, avowed Protestant Christianity continues to set them apart from the occult hocus-pocus of their peers, and the very title Sojourn has a Biblical inspiration: "It's used a lot in the Old Testament, people would travel somewhere to stay for a short period of time," explains Colin, comparing the idea to Wytch Hazel's development since Prelude. "We're going to reside here with this sound for a while, and the next album might not sound the same. Come and have a listen to this aspect of Wytch Hazel - it's a temporary stay. We'll be here for a while, then there will be something else. I'm always writing, it's a constant stream, but I'm always trying to raise the bar, because I don't want the next album to be not as good as the other ones!"
Debut single from forthcoming full length out in May 2019. The first time we heard Bobby Oroza, it was his slow moody ballad 'This Love', that perked the world's ears and made a name for the dapper crooner that calls Finland his home. Since it's release, 'This Love' has become somewhat of an underground hit, the soundtrack to car shows and swap meets in the West Coast, numerous movies and TV shows, and it even made it to Earl Sweatshirt's most recent mixtape. This new single from Bobby Oroza picks up the tempo and showcases another side of his range with a record sure to move bodies and nod heads. The A side 'Your Love Is Too Cold' is a stomper that blends the groovy soul drumming of early Motown records with guitar that could have been lifted from a James Bond
soundtrack. Bobby pleads over the track of his decision to call it quits and keep it quits. The B side 'Deja Vu' finds Oroza leaning again into the B side ballad stylings that made him a name to check for. Heavy duty drums lay down the canvas on which Bobby's vocals paint the picture of a relationship that has come to a fork in the road. The Cold Diamond & Mink production and backing band are tight as ever and this is sure to be another classic with the slowie fans.
Wonderwheel is happy to present the very first pressing of Nickodemus' longtime classic "Sun People", pressed on translucent yellow vinyl. Originally released in 2009 by Thievery Corporation's Eighteenth Street Lounge label, "Sun People" was built with songs made for people who love the sun, sunshine and brighter days to come. Appropriate, of course, as Nickodemus has made his mark soundtracking NYC summers with his massively popular Turntables On The Hudson live events as well as with 20 consecutive years touring the World. The songs were inspired by various people Nickodemus met and places he's been, along with his collective feelings of optimism. It's these positive sonic vibes from all over the globe that Nickodemus matches with collaborators hailing from destinations including Guinea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Romania, India, Turkey, United Kingdom and New York City. These are the Sun People.As songs like "N'dini" "Sun Children" & "The Love Feeling" continue to kept parties dancing until today, "Calle Sol" & "Gira Do Sol" are being discovered by new fans & playlists today. As Jason Bentley, former Music Director at KCRW once said, "Sun People reflects a rich musicality, while infectious rhythms keep the party live. Nickodemus truly knows
no borders on this global dancefloor."Wonderwheel recordings is happy to keep the fire burning with this special limited color vinyl reissue out on June 21st, 2024.
a 01: Sun People (Intro) feat. Ismael Kouyaté
b 02: Sun Children (Original Mix) [feat. The Real Live Show]
RNT takes a trip south with some fresh modern takes on a pair of Colombian tropicalia classics from the 1970s! Sisters Elia and Elizabeth Fleta recorded some of the most beloved rare groove from Baranquilla’s early-70s period, and when Jaime Tuiran (Vagabundo Club Social) brought the project to label owners Aaron Dae and JKriv, they jumped at the opportunity to work with such rarefied source material.
On the A side, the mysterious newcomer producer Demi Riquisimo crafts a synth-laden tropical opus of a remix of Elia y Elizabeth’s signature hit 'Alegria' and the ever solid Parisian Yuksek works the tune into a concise and mid tempo disco stomper.
On the flip, Bostonian-come-Colombian BOSQ turns 'Soy Una Nube' into an uptempo soul banger, and Baranquilla natives Vagabundo Club Social lend their homegrown organic and clubby style to their mix of 'Alegria'. The perfect blend of earthy OG soul with modern and musical production, this record is as colorful and vibrant as the streets of Baranquilla during Carnaval. And RNT is throwing in a 7Inch with solid new masters of the original songs on heavyweight wax, to boot!
Matching vivid world-building with a full house of kinetic rhythms, Polygonia delivers her latest album to Dekmantel as an invitation to experience 12 different dream scenarios.
As Polygonia, Munich-based Lindsey Wang has established herself as a constantly inventive, omnipresent operator within the modern electronic landscape, exploring varying shades of ambient and deep techno while increasingly spreading into downtempo and leftfield electronica with a playful yet mysterious spirit.
Dream Horizons is an instructive title — Wang approached her new album as a collection of different dream scenarios, with all the creative freedom the concept implies. From oceanic calm to artful propulsion, she was free to shift gears from track to track while relishing the strange and beautiful atmospheres her inspiration pointed towards. A multi-instrumentalist as well as a producer, Wang recorded her own voice, saxophone, flute, violin and percussion to inject organic, human vibrancy into the surreal spaces she was shaping out, capturing the uncanny sensation of alien and familiar that hangs over the places we visit when we sleep.
There are pointedly direct techno workouts on the album, from deft beatdown 'Soul Reflections' to shimmering ear worm 'Set Me Free', and 'Twisted Colours' relishes shifting blocks of flute around a sprightly, footwork-tickled framework. Elsewhere, there's space for softer expressions on pearlescent opus 'Crystal Valley' while elastic rhythms and tactile textures slither around at a lower tempo on 'Flakes Flying Upwards'. In between, Wang plays with fractured beat patterns and sharply sculpted sonic matter with a staggering level of detail and intention. 'Gate To Amygdala' is the perfect example of the bold scope of her expression — the midpoint track thrives on nervous tension and a dislocated sense of momentum without anything like a conventional techno trope. 'Mindfunk' equally pushes and pulls at sensory perception with an off-kilter, awkwardly looped synth phrase that relishes the opportunity to skew dance music conventions within the flexible rules of the dream world.
For all the smart production and knowingly experimental approaches that form the basis of the album's sound, it's also a record charged with the full range of emotions you might expect to experience on a break away from consciousness. Whether it's the melancholic impressions that smudge into incidental pauses on 'Metaphysical Scribbles' or the mantra-like breath and sax combination of 'Essential Breath' that closes the record, Polygonia's heart bursts out of the album's vibrant form as brilliantly as her exacting, studio-synced mind.
After limping back from retirement with a remix or two and a single on Neroli, Domu makes it back to his birthplace, 2000black.
After 25 years of ups and downs, highs and lows and down and ups, it's now time to rest for good. As the spirit of his jungle past still haunts the hallways of what is left of record and clubland, Domu instead lays down to accept, for him at least, enough has been said.
A Madness is the result of layers and layers of random obscure rhythmic samples with some textbook Domu keys. Urgency pours out of it. Quick let me finish this before I die.
Not him again is a result of a jam with long time collaborator Robert Marin with Domu leading the creative direction. Do we like house records that could be on the wrong speed? Yes. Do we like Hip Hop that doesn't accept any of the standard conventions of Hip Hop? Yes. And this is the result.
And finally Them Things. Domu has been trying this whole time to convey a feeling, that weird feeling that those special 'odd numbers' create. Not a specific genre or tempo or movement with a catchy name, just a thing you can't quite explain. Maybe he got close now and again, maybe he didn't but this feels like it could be the closest we'll ever hear.
Miss this end of an era at your peril.
Jetzt auch auf Vinyl: Nach Mette Henriettes vielbeachtetem selbstbetitelten Debüt folgt nun Drifting – ein Album, das von Trio-Gesprächen mit eigenwillig-originellem Ausdruck durchdrungen ist. Mit Rückkehrer Johan Lindvall am Klavier und dem Neuzugang Judith Hamann am Cello präsentiert Mette kammermusikalische Ausarbeitungen von höchst konzentrierter und forschender Natur, zum Ausdruck gebracht durch subtile und zugleich intensive Interaktion. Motive und wiederkehrende Muster entstehen fast unscheinbar und offenbaren ein prägnantes Narrativ. Die Saxophonistin erklärt, dass ”dieses Album in Bewegung ist. Es bahnt sich seinen Weg und hat sein eigenes Tempo – der kreative Gestus unterscheidet sich grundlegend von dem, was ich bisher gemacht habe.” Aufgenommen in Oslo, fertiggestellt in den Studios La Buissonne und produziert von Manfred Eicher, präsentiert Drifting Trioerkundungen gedämpfter Texturen und vielfältiger Timbres mit besonderer Klarheit und Präzision.
Repress of the KGB002... that was never repressed since 1998.
One legendary tubular Tribe speedaz tune... and one more Dub-Techno tribal 69DB pure style (in the vibe of the Trax or the Drop bass 23...)
The Toolbox Killerz 23 was never out so far because we really wanted this one to be the KGB002, as KGB is part of our history for those who knows...
We did dig some cool old flyers and pictures and did a patchwork printed sleeves with some souvenirs :)
-------------------------
Mastered by Stefan ZMK and cut by Simon The Exchange.
Tunes have been re-calibrated to regular tempo (as it was a live the tempo was moving, somehow...)
ENJOY !
L.A. Witch haben schon immer eine Aura müheloser Coolness ausgestrahlt, sei es in Form des Americana Noir und des lakonischen Back-to-Basics-Rock'n'Roll ihres selbstbetitelten Debüts oder des glühend strengen Abenteurertums ihres zweiten Albums "Play With Fire". Die Band - bestehend aus Sade Sanchez (Gitarre/Gesang), Irita Pai (Bass) und Ellie English (Schlagzeug) - begann als informelle Angelegenheit, aber die schwülen und betörenden, von Hall umhüllten Songs, die sie schufen, fanden beim Publikum Anklang und brachten das Projekt über den isolierten Raum von Freunden und Gleichgesinnten in Südkalifornien hinaus in die weite Welt. Auf ihrem neuesten Album "DOGGOD" geht das Trio über die bisherigen kreativen und geografischen Grenzen hinaus - das Material wurde in Paris produziert und die Tracks im Motorbass Studio in der Rue de Martyrs aufgenommen. "DOGGOD" erkundet ein breiteres klangliches Terrain, setzt ein größeres Arsenal an Sounds ein und erforscht größere existenzielle und kosmische Themen, ohne dabei den für die Band typischen Sinn für das Verbotene, das Verlassene und die Vorahnung zu verlieren. "DOGGOD" ist ein Weg, das universelle Rätsel der spirituellen Natur von Liebe und Hingabe anzugehen. "Ich habe das Gefühl, eine Art Dienerin oder Sklavin der Liebe zu sein", sagt Sanchez. "Ich bin bereit, für die Liebe zu sterben, indem ich ihr diene, für sie leide oder nach ihr suche - so wie ein treuer, ergebener Diensthund es tun würde." Der Titel des Albums ist ein Palindrom, das DOG und GOD zusammenfasst - eine Verherrlichung des Unterwürfigen und eine Subversion des Göttlichen. Es ist eine Anspielung auf die Reinheit von Hunden und eine Anerkennung ihrer bedingungslosen Liebe und ihres beschützenden Wesens, die im Widerspruch zu den verschiedenen abwertenden Assoziationen stehen, die mit dieser Spezies verbunden werden. "Es gibt diese symbolische Verbindung zwischen Frauen und Hunden, die die untergeordnete Stellung der Frau in der Gesellschaft zum Ausdruck bringt", erklärt Sanchez. "Und alles, was solche göttlichen Eigenschaften verkörpert, hat es nicht verdient, als Schimpfwort benutzt zu werden." Diese widersprüchlichen Erkundungen von Liebe und Unterwerfung manifestieren sich in der sanften und rauchigen Garagerock-Alchemie der Band, mit einer neu entdeckten Nutzung der disziplinierten Zurückhaltung und eisigen Instrumentierung des Post-Punk. Der Album-Opener "Icicle" zeigt, wie L.A. Witch aus dem Proto-Punk, der Psychedelia und den düsteren Riffs der 70er Jahre in die von Refrains durchtränkten Gitarren und den verlorenen Minimalismus von Joy Division und den frühen The Cure reist. Es wird eine Parallele zwischen romantischem Selbstmord und Märtyrertum gezogen, die sich im zweiten Song, "Kiss Me Deep", fortsetzt. Hier beschreibt Sanchez eine Liebe, die so rein ist, dass sie die Zeit übersteigt und sich über mehrere Leben erstreckt. Es ist ein Lied über Leidenschaft, vorgetragen mit dem weltlichen und verletzten Stoizismus der frühen Goth-Pioniere. Von dort aus geht die Band zur Leadsingle "777" über, einem Song über Hingabe bis hin zum Tod. Ein treibender Beat, ein treibendes, verzerrtes Riff und Sanchez' ätherischer Gesang vereinen sich zu einem Song, der sowohl düster in seinem Fatalismus als auch sinnlich in seiner treuen Leidenschaft ist. Auf dem gesamten Album "DOGGOD" weichen L.A. Witch nie von ihrer Muse ab. In "I Hunt You Pray" legt Pai einen hypnotischen Basslauf hin, während English einen zyklischen Krautrock-Groove einsetzt und Sanchez das Bild eines verlassenen Hundes am Straßenrand malt, der allein in der Nacht ist und sowohl als Jäger als auch als Gejagter lebt. Auf "Eyes of Love" macht sich die Band die meditativen Mid-Tempo-Wiederholungen, dekonstruierten Akkorde und esoterischen Betrachtungen über Liebe, Tod und Spiritualität zunutze, die Lungfish zu einer so beliebten Band gemacht haben. Es unterstreicht die Parallele zwischen der unerschütterlichen Liebe in den Augen eines Hundes und der Selbstaufopferung eines Erlösers. Auf "The Lines" nimmt die Band den treibenden Puls des Post-Punk und fügt dem Mix eine Extraportion Chorus hinzu. "Chorus ist ein moderner Effekt, der auf der Idee beruht, die leichten Tonhöhenunterschiede eines Chors nachzubilden. Es gibt eine schimmernde Qualität, die uns zurück zu diesem spirituellen, göttlichen Gefühl bringt", erklärt Sanchez. Gepaart mit dem Einsatz von Orgel und einer grüblerischen Moll-Melodie, beschwört der Song gleichzeitig das Heilige und das Sakrileg. Der Titeltrack "DOGGOD" hat vielleicht die größte Ähnlichkeit mit dem Material des Vorgängeralbums "Play With Fire", in den schlanken und gemeinen Gitarren auf eine raue Rhythmusgruppe und verträumten Gesang treffen. Aber während ihr vorheriges Album ein Aufruf war, seinen eigenen Weg zu gehen, bleibt "DOGGOD" dem "Bis dass der Tod uns scheidet"-Thema des Albums treu und geht sogar so weit, ein Maß an Unterwerfung zu beschreiben, das in gefährliche und ungesunde Gefilde übergeht, wobei Sanchez singt "hang me on a leash / `til I wait for my release". Letztendlich ist "DOGGOD" eine perfekte Verkörperung des Ansatzes von L.A. Witch. Es ist gleichzeitig romantisch und bedrohlich, ehrfürchtig und profan, eine Feier und ein Klagelied. Es spannt den Bogen zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, indem es vertraute Klänge aufgreift und sie für die Jetztzeit aufbereitet. Aber es läutet auch eine neue Ära für die Band ein, die über die Kodachrome-Erinnerungen an das Amerika der Jahrhundertmitte hinausgeht und tiefer in den mittelalterlichen und gotischen Energien von Paris und darüber hinaus gräbt, während sie gleichzeitig ein besudeltes Herz erforscht.
Vol.1[26,01 €]
"...When I make music, I'm always trying to create a temporary refuge for myself, a refuge from the increasingly frightening world out there. A kind of remote island where I can hide, switch off for a while, feel at peace. In any case, I feel inner peace when making this music, and I hope, in some way, it does the same for you..."
"Dub Tapes. Volume 2 picks up exactly where its predecessor left off, employing a very similar sonic palette, drawn from analog instruments and effects. All 4 tracks are driven by Lars' live B-line virtuosity. He's played bass for a host of jazz bands and it shows. The bottom-end throughout is a constant, reassuring, warm, womb-like presence, that packs a deceptively powerful pulse. The subtle splashes of studio trickery might have their root in Basic Channel-esque techno, but the results reside somewhere far less minimal, more relaxed, more melodic and musical.
The reverb and delay twisted into soothing, rather than room-shaking shapes. Resembling birdsong and mountain streams.
Lars' piano improvisations are also integral to everything...Stuffed with rich, diverting detail for stoners and siesta seekers, the EP is certainly a set that you're supposed to sit back, settle into and savour."
"All four tracks are superb, the opener 'Ferry From Torkwrith' setting the scene - languorous, beatific Balearic dub from Berlin, music to hide inside, to temporarily block the outside world with.
Second track 'Morning Hour' is slightly more sunlit, a guitar joining the mix. 'Starlings' sets off with birdsong and the thud of a kick drum, a wave of synth chord and some bass guitar, unhurried and mellow.
Fourth track 'Isle Of Stonsey' drifts in, a nine minute excursion into a chilled-out version of space, Hawaiian guitar and dub bass prodding us gently into the cosmos."
PHASE SHIFTING INDEX is a time capsule record of Jeremy Shaw's vast original artwork that includes audio excerpts, voiceover passages and music composed by There in Spirit and Konrad Black. Shaw's seven-channel video, sound and light installation-that premiered at Centre Pompidou in 2020-uses science fiction, documentary, visual effects and synchronisation to induce an ecstatic experience in narrative temporality. Each video details the belief systems of one of seven fictional subcultural groups spread across time that aspire to induce parallel realities that could redirect the evolution of the human species through embodied forms of ritual, ideology and movement. The vinyl release serves as a gathering of the piece's key audio elements, focussing on their importance to the engineering of the artwork and their stand-alone listening qualities. Side A of the record follows the dramaturgy of the artwork in full-swing, including audio segments from four of its five distinct chapters. Written by long time collaborators Konrad Black and Jeremy Shaw together as There in Spirit, "Cross- Temporal Sync" soundtracks the strobing peak of the installation at the moment when all seven disparate videos fall into a unified choreography in which every person on every screen performs the same ecstatic series of slow-motion movements. The pulsing, hypnotic dirge aligns with the locked choreography in mood and action, caught somewhere between ecstatic trance and somatic takeover. A steady sub line, clipped stabs and a swooping choral gasp harmonise with the dancers movements onscreen while restrained filters open slowly to reveal a submerged melody that builds in intensity towards the chaotic rupture of Black's "Mosh". Here the score breaks into digital shards as heard through analog bodies colliding and pixelating into each other. The dancers eventual dissolution into "Particles" sounds like the field recording of a disembodied neural cosmos. The B-side of the record contains a narrative outline edit of the artwork comprised of music, excerpts and pieces of narration from each video. Listeners can follow along in an accompanying thirty-six page booklet of full-bleed film stills documenting each of the seven groups as they move through the five chapter dramaturgy. Composer Konrad Black's authentically backwards-glancing production and sound design is as disparate as the groups represented on screen. From the bespoke-16mm-tribal-techno of "The Cyclical Culture" and retro-cyber-funk of the "Zero-Ones," to the VHSdark- wave of "The Violet Lux" and skewed vocal/piano minimalism of the "Quantum Modern," each group exists in its own custom-made world out-of-time. The record ends where it began, with the full sequence of "Ramping" playing out as each subcultural world begins to lose control, galvanise, sync, rupture, atomise and scatter throughout the universe, only to loop back into another inevitable beginning. Phase Shifting Index premiered at Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2020 and has since been exhibited in nine international venues including ARoS, Denmark, MONA, Tasmania, MAC, Montreal and Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
ANORAX is privileged to issue a very special 7” single.
Piano virtuoso Gail Jhonson’s stunning reimagination of EXPANSIONS celebrates the 50th anniversary of LONNIE LISTON SMITH releasing his groundbreaking epic classic. His revolutionary fusion of Jazz Funk & Soul with a cosmic message is in the music was hailed as an instant classic when released in 1975. Since then after being adopted across diverse dance music genres it has become an anthem of anthems.
Gail grew up listening to Lonnie’s music on quiet storm radio in Philadephida. After attending his concerts she began jamming with the great man and they became friends. Now based in Los Angeles and leader of all female jazz outfit Jazz In Pink she came up with the idea of paying homage to and reinventing EXPANSIONS.
“I decide to cover one of his many compositions and EXPANSIONS spoke to my spirit. As a smooth jazz artist I was able to slow the tempo down and reharmonise some of the chord voicings and play his vocal melodies as a piano lead. The bass line is infectious and carries the groove, accompanied by a four on the floor beat, a little wah guitar and the reimagining began…”
Covering a song as sacred as EXPANSIONS could be regarded as herey but when it is recreated with such reverence as this it simply adds to the legend.
Cosmic Echoes indeed.
Front man Austin Getz doesn't blink when asked to sum up Turnover's third full-length, Good Nature. "Learning," he replies. "This whole record is about learning. Opening your eyes to new things, going outside of your comfort zone, and learning to grow into something new."The album's unique blend of musical and spiritual growth is immediately audible on the opening track, "Super Natural," a late-summer idyll of intertwined guitar parts and laidback vocals. Listening to how the leisurely "Nightlight Girl" melts into a more propulsive selection like "Breeze," and the way Good Nature flows together as a seamless whole, it's also evident that the foursome has been paying closer attention to how artists from earlier eras made full-length albums: the range of textures, tempos, and dynamics on Good Nature are infuenced in part by bossa nova, cool jazz, electronic music, and psychedelic grooves. This infux of new infuences and inspiration, navigated by Peripheral Vision producer Will Yip, results in the band's best album to date. Good Nature comes from a place of calm and contentment, nurtured by looking inward.
Phantasy proudly presents a new AA single from Ewan McVicar, ‘Careless Drifter / Basic Foundation’. Undoubtedly one of the most prominent and successful figures in UK dance music in recent years, McVicar’s contribution to Erol Alkan’s long-standing London label is a love letter from his earliest days raving in rural Scotland. Debuted by McVicar at I Love Acid at Corsica Studios, and road tested at his own Handpicked parties, each track is a paean to communal party spirit that has informed his musical philosophy.
Patient but instantly trippy, ‘Careless Drifter’ coaxes dancers into a bottom-heavy bath of bassline and oscillations, revealing an alluring saxophone break that bridges the rawest end of the rave with unexpected opulence.
On the flip side, ‘Basic Foundation’ further strips back this instinct for club composition, dropping the tempo while dazzling with razor-sharp synths. The result is primo acid-house chug, alternating between light and shade, as McVicar’s knack for a melody emerges from his modular experiments.
Die beiden Klavierkonzerte sind die erste Vinylauskopplung aus dem bisher ehrgeizigsten Projekt des koreanischen Star-Pianisten Seong-Jin Cho für die Deutsche Grammophon: die Gesamteinspielung des Klavierwerks von Maurice Ravel anlässlich des 150. Geburtstags des französischen Komponisten.
Chos einfühlsame Interpretationen, begleitet vom Boston Symphony Orchestra unter der Leitung von Andris Nelsons, wurden von Publikum und Kritikern weltweit bejubelt. „Mit seinem kristallklaren Anschlag ist Cho eine natürliche Besetzung für Ravel“, schreibt The New Yorker und die Financial Times hebt hervor: „Chos Stärke ist, dass er einen so hohen Standard an Genauigkeit und Klarheit beibehält... Ein Ravel-Spiel von solcher Perfektion im Detail kommt nicht oft vor“
Zehn Jahre nach dem Gewinn des Chopin-Wettbewerbs bestätigt sich Chos Status als einer der bedeutendsten Pianisten unserer Zeit, und der erste Teil dieser maßstabsetzenden Aufnahmen sind nun endlich auch auf 180g-Vinyl erhältlich
‘You are behind the damn wheel every day and you don’t even know it’ , weightily remarks Powerplant’s band leader Theo Zhykharyev on the reading of his latest single. London-based project signals the return to signature formula of marching drum machines and wailing synthesisers, matured by life experiencing of prolonged touring. ’Car is life, brother. Sometimes you drive it, other times - the car drives you. And, statistically, we’ll all see the airbags go off sooner than later as consequence of choices made by us or onto us, consciously or not.’
Crashing Cars breaks out the gates to the heavy low end driven dance floor. ‘I was listening to a lot of Bladee when I wrote it and needed a similar thick kick to get you moving’, says Theo. Its an emotionally loaded cannon of a track that will keep you in its grip until it has run its course and told its story. Yearning from connection unfulfilled, rings out through the heartbroken and weeping synth and choir lines. The ever-morphing and dynamic bass works in tandem with razor sharp guitars. The instrumentation, through combined ‘no looking back’ forward charge and immediacy, conjure a manic and emotional forward momentum, which rings out in the song’s lyrics. The vocal performance ranges from the trademark Powerplant goblin squeaks, to more mature, tour-hardened singing. On a sonic aesthetic level, Crashing Cars vibrates in a familiar fashion to Powerplant’s biggest hit Dungen. However, this time far less playful and harder hitting. Described as the fallout of “avoiding, chasing and running away”, lyrically it paints a dead end in human relationships concluding it car-crash heading for the scrapyard. The song concludes with a loaded four line spoken word poetry segment, that hangs over the fleeting outro.
The B side of the single, Never Smile, rolls the speed back, but throws in jangly guitar hooks and bouncy bass lines. Zhykharyev’s vocals sit in a lower register, hence are more stoic and melancholic. If this track had to be a day of the week, it would be a calm, introspective Sunday. With lyrics about looking into evil omens, the sky and reading people as ‘not something different’, it paints an ambiguous, but heavy conclusion about the world and its people. It tells a story about circumstantially settling into an identity and playing the assigned part for the convenience of the external world. It’s easier to fit than to stand apart. It's a perfect balance of mid-tempo radio-rock that builds and changes, before exploding into a shaggy guitar solo, only to go into an unexpected ethereal outro and this 7”s crescendo.
‘Both of these songs are kinda old now, sitting at around 4 years old. And although I haven’t changed the lyrics since then, I somehow find new meaning in them as time goes on. Being Ukrainian and going into the fourth year of the full scale Russian invasion back home, the chorus “my death to you - a better price to pay” makes a lot of sense looking at how the world powers are trying to spin the devastation of my people for a quick profit and an easier life for themselves. This single coming out now at this very point in my life feels both profound and very ironic. Life never ends’, summarises Zhykharyev.
“Splitter Archive” is a debut release by p4rticl3, a duo consisting of Berlin-based Gerriet Krishna Sharma, co-founder of spæs lab Berlin, and Glasgow-based TRSSX. Presented and recorded entirely live at EXIT Glasgow in November 2024, “Splitter Archive” was a 4-channel abstract electronics performance presented as part of a larger collaboration between EXIT and spæs lab. This particular ‘archive’ catalogues intricate granularity and looped swells of low frequencies generating a multitude of vertiginous spatio-temporal planes. Abstract, experimental techno-esque structures.
Distortion and feedback on Brazilian classics? Only these Sao Paulo mutants dared to reinterpret the standards of the giants of Música Popular Brasileira. Exceptionally talented, curious, and inventive, Os Mutantes infused tropicália with a generous dose of psychedelia. While some listeners were outraged at the time, they stood firm, and their debut album went on to become one of the gems of Brazilian music. Don"t miss their delightfully eccentric coversof "Tempo No Tempo"(The Mamas and The Papas) and "Le Premier Bonheur du Jour" (Françoise Hardy). A true treasure.
Carrying on from recent archival releases from masters of Indian classical tradition such as Kamalesh Maitra and the Dagar Brothers, Black Truffle is pleased to present a previously unheard recording of a concert by Pakistani vocalist Salamat Ali Khan. Born to a musician family in Hoshiarpur in the northwestern state of Punjab, Khan moved with his family to Lahore in Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India, becoming a child musical prodigy. Khan was a master of the kyhal form of Hindustani classical vocal music, a style integrating influences from Middle Eastern musical traditions that gives the singer a great deal of improvisational freedom. Travelling widely across the globe from the 1960s until his death in 2001, Khan approached ragas performed in the kyhal style as expressive forums for risk-taking improvisation, enlivened by ceaseless ornamental invention.
This remarkable recording was captured by Michael Hönig (of krautrock legends Agitation Free) in concert at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie as part of the MetaMusik festival in 1974 (which also featured Nico, Tangerine Dream, and Roberto Laneri’s Prima Materia, among many others). Khan, who is also heard accompanying himself on a specially tuned alpine zither (in place of the traditional swarmandal, an Indian style of zither), is joined by Shaukat Hussein Khan on tabla and Hussein Bux Khan on harmonium. The lack of a familiar underlying tanpura drone gives this performance a weightless, floating quality, with all three of the musicians playing masterfully with the interaction between silence and the pulse propelling each section of the raag.
As Khan explains in his opening remarks, this performance of the rainy season Raag Megh is divided into three parts, each with its own tempo and rhythmic scheme (tala). The opening vilambit, in a twelve-beat tala, stretches out for over twenty minutes, lingering for a long time in a space of meditative calm, Khan lightly strumming the zither while exploring the lower end of his range in languorously extended notes. Virtuoso tabla interjections at first barely state the tempo, and the interplay between musicians is so spacious that we hear scraps of audience noise and the squeak of the harmonium’s mechanism in between the notes. Gradually picking up rhythmic definition and melodic complexity, after around fifteen minutes the music builds dramatically, with Khan letting out emotive yelps and swooping scalar shapes ranging across his full vocal range. This flows seamlessly into the following jhaptal, at a faster tempo in ten beats, which then makes way for the concluding teental, very fast in sixteen beats, which becomes a frantic improvisational exchange of daring rhythmic disruptions from the tabla, flowing harmonium melodies, and a stunning variety of vocal approaches from Khan, ranging from rapid-fire staccato consonants to guttural growls.
Accompanied by stunning black and white concert photographs, the LP also contains a moving and entertaining recollection from acclaimed German musicologist Peter Pannke, looking back on his experience assisting Khan and his musicians in Berlin at the Metamusik festival (including a mouth-watering description of a feast cooked by the maestro himself). As Pannke describes in his account of attending the concert, the beauty and spiritual intensity of this music leaves the listener speechless.
Ursprünglich 2001 auf dem angesehenen japanischen Punk-Label H.G. Fact veröffentlicht, erschien "All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead" in Amerika 2003 in Lizenz für eine limitierte Veröffentlichung auf Dim Mak Records. Die Originalpressung war fast sofort ausverkauft und das Album erzielte auf eBay und Discogs zunehmend obszöne Preise. Temporary Residence brachte 2008 den Backkatalog von envy neu heraus, was ein noch größeres und breiteres Interesse an der Band weckte. Das Herzstück dieses historischen Backkatalogs ist "All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead", das weithin als innovativer Höhepunkt des Hardcores gilt. Zusammen mit dem Nachfolgealbum "A Dead Sinking Story" wird es zu Recht als unverzichtbarer Post-Hardcore-Klassiker angesehen, dessen monumentale Fußstapfen unendliche Wellen schlugen. Jetzt erhältlich als "Pearlescent Metallic Silver Vinyl" LP.
C1 | Meduza, Onerepublic, Leony – Fire (Official Uefa Euro 2024 Song)
C2 | Ofenbach Feat Norma Jean Martine – Overdrive
C3 | Kygo, Ava Max – Whatever
C4 | Felix Jaehn & Leony – Waking Up
C5 | Jaxomy X Agatino Romero X Raffaella Carrà – Pedro
C6 | Artemas – I Like The Way You Kissed Me
D1 | Michael Marcagi – Scared To Start
D2 | Cyril – Stumblin' In
D3 | Ariana Grande – Yes, And?
D4 | Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me
D5 | Tate Mcrae – Greedy
D6 | Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten
E3 | Benson Boone – Beautiful Things
E4 | Teddy Swims – Lose Control
E5 | Sabrina Carpenter – Taste
E6 | Noah Kahan – Stick Season
F1 | Justin Timberlake – Selfish
F2 | Shawn Mendes – Why Why Why
F3 | Ariana Grande – We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)
F4 | Purple Disco Machine & Benjamin Ingrosso Feat Nile Rodgers & Shenseea) – Honey Boy
F5 | Lost Frequencies, Tom Odell – Black Friday (Pretty Like The Sun)
F6 | Hugel, Topic, Arash Feat Daecolm – I Adore You
G1 | David Guetta & Onerepublic – I Don't Wanna Wait
G2 | Karol G – Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido
G3 | Fourty & Bausa – Vempa (Frx202445570)
G4 | Sampagne, Badchieff, Cro – Tempo
G5 | Billie Eilish – Lunch
G6 | Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
H1 | Zartmann, Ski Aggu, Dauer – Wie Du Manchmal Fehlst
H2 | Soffie – Für Immer Frühling
H3 | Sdp, Sido, Esther Graf – Mama Hat Gesagt
H4 | Nina Chuba – Nina
H5 | Luciano X Jazeek – Starboy
H6 | Shirin David – Bauch Beine Po
E1 | Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile
E2 | Gracie Abrams – I Love You, I'm Sorry
Bevor sich das Jahr 2024 dem Ende neigt, erscheint mit der „BRAVO – The Hits 2024“ der alljährlich
beliebte Jahresrückblick voller Hits und Chartstürmer. Ganz nach dem Motto „End Of Beginning“ vereint das Album von Anfang bis Ende die erfolgreichsten Songs und musikalischen Highlights des Jahres 2024.
Wenn Chappell Roan „Good Luck, Babe!” wünscht, Sabrina Carpenter „Espresso“ trinkt, The Weeknd in
den Flammen tanzt und MEDUZA, OneRepublic und Leony on „Fire” sind, kann das nur eines bedeuten:
Die „BRAVO - The Hits 2024“ steht in den Startlöchern und versorgt uns mit den größten Hits und beliebtesten Singles. Mit dabei sind internationale Bands und Künstler*innen wie Billie Eilish, Linkin Park,
Hozier, Coldplay, Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande sowie deutsche Newcomer und Stars wie Shirin David,
Zartmann oder Nina Chuba.
Das Besondere dieses Jahr: Die beliebte Hit-Compilation erscheint erstmals auch limitiert als 4LP. „BRAVO
– The Hits 2024“ ab 08.11. als 2CD & Download und pünktlich zum Nikolaus als 4LP erhältlich!
Orange Vinyl[32,98 €]
King Gizzards 22. Album und geistiger Nachfolger von 'Made In Timeline', 'Laminated Denim' enthält zwei 15-minütige Tracks, darunter den Fan-Favoriten 'Hypertension'. Das Paket enthält eine einzelne Lucky Rainbow-Colored LP aus recyceltem Vinyl in einer geprägten Single-Pocket-Hülle mit Flood Printing. Artwork von Jason Galea.
Die australische Band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard hat sich zu Recht den Ruf als eine der produktivsten, abenteuerlichsten und einfallsreichsten Bands aller Zeiten erworben.
Seit 2010 hat die Band 25 Studioalben veröffentlicht, die von ausladendem Jazzrock bis zu Spaghetti-Western-Soundscapes, von halbakustischen kosmischen Balladen bis zu Sci-Fi-Prog, von kaleidoskopischem Garagenrock bis zu Thrash Metal, von Erkundungen mikrotonaler Stimmungen bis zu Krautrock und vielem mehr reichen.
King Gizzards produktiver Charakter hat dazu geführt, dass sie ihre Musik in einem frenetischen Tempo veröffentlichen, und ihr intensiver Wunsch, neue Klänge zu erforschen und neue kreative Wege zu gehen, bedeutet, dass jede ihrer zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen anders klingt als die letzte. Oft erscheinen sie in rascher Folge (so veröffentlichte die Band 2017 fünf Alben und 2022 drei weitere allein im Oktober 2022). King Gizzard haben die traditionellen Regeln der Musikindustrie auf den Kopf gestellt.
- Ltd. Col. LP: (Lucky Rainbow-Colored LP aus recyceltem Vinyl, in einer geprägten Single-Pocket-Hülle mit Flood Printing)
DIG Curated is proud to announce its latest release: a jolting EP from Tbilisi's rising producer Uvall. This highly anticipated record is backed by Amsterdam's radiant force Marron, co-founder of the ever-evolving techno event Eerste Communie - a true rite of passage in the underground dancefloors.
Driven by a relentless passion for vinyl, and a vision for techno rooted in shared experiences, DIG Curated stands as a community-driven platform allowing emerging artists to be discovered through the endorsement of established diggers in the scene. Co-founded as a sub-label of DIG, by Berlin-based techno mainstays Olivia Mendez and Chami, the project is nurturing a future of vinyl curation shaped by credibility and collaboration.
For the third release on DIG Curated, Marron steps in to present a trailblazer in Tbilisi's underground scene - Irakli Bregvadze aka Uvall. He is known for groove-driven, high-energy techno, emerging from the heart of Georgia's electronic music movement, where the mantra "We dance together, we fight together" symbolises a commitment to unity and resistance. His production style - a potent fusion of hypnotic rhythms and raw intensity - is designed for big-room club spaces, capturing dancers in an immersive experience throughout. Uvall's magnetic sound lies in touching all elements while never failing to keep the minimalism as intriguing as it is mysterious. His undulating rhythms, draped with enigmatic synths, work seamlessly at both faster and slower tempos, keeping the tracks deeply captivating.
With Northern Lights' heavy pulsations that control and mold the listener, it becomes clear why Marron-who has been consistently curating the steamiest dancefloors-would choose to present Uvall's music as a precious discovery. Both artists seem to be born under similar stars, living and breathing the social movement that techno is, standing up for freedom of expression and border-transcending values.
Renowned for his deep-rooted dedication to the underground techno community, Marron lends his endorsement and artistic appreciation to the release. As a co-founder of Eerste Communie, Marron has consistently championed forward-thinking sounds and community-driven dancefloor experiences, making him the utlimate advocate for DIG Curated's mission. Always in competition with himself, Marron's fast-paced yet highly rhythmic selections are driven by his roots in African groove combined with a powerful, yet hypnotizing and atmospheric techno sound.
"With DIG Curated, we aim to harness the collective power of creativity and knowledge, and spotlight emerging artists. We want to collaborate with esteemed figures in the music scene, who have the credibility to endorse new names with distinct sounds." - Chami, co-founder of DIG Curated.
"As DIG continues to evolve and grow, we are committed to pushing the signature sound of techno that brought us together, and inspire a new movement in vinyl curation by launching DIG Curated." - Olivia Mendez, co-founder of DIG Curated.
DIG Curated 003 is a testament to the power of community, resilience, and the importance of music as an igniting tool to empower and connect dancers in times of polarisation and adversity.
From the newly minted SWOB label. The third chapter of SW,’s tekkNOthing featuring a dub-oriented collection of five tracks that elegantly double back on the creative foundations from which the tekkNOthingproject emerged. With tempos on the low and analogue effects spilling over valleys of rhythm, the journey concludes with ‘thxJA’, where the sheer weight of dense musical layers unveils another chapter.
Black[25,00 €]
Howdy punkè rocke fans, welcome to FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE - the wonderful and frightening world of ALIEN NOSEJOB’s EP’s & singles. Anti Fade and Agitated Records are teaming together to bring you a paint stripping, mind altering, rare collection of EP and compilation tracks recorded in various Australian bedrooms and garages between 2017 and 2022. The sound of goofy obnoxiousness will soon be permeating your bedroom airwaves and perforating your eardrums. Kicking off this long player is an EP that was recorded by Billy from Anti Fade in his childhood bedroom in July 2017. The songs came to fruition while AUSMUTEANTS were on tour in Japan 2016.
There was a lot of ‘WALLABY BEAT’ / ‘MURDER PUNK’ being played in the background while seeing the sites of Mount Fuji and ‘Bar Fuck Yeah’. In between shows Jake was organising the release of DANNY GRAHAM and PLASTIC AND THE EP’S records on the label he co-ran XEROX MUSIC. Both artists played parts in the sound and ethos of the PANEL BEAT EP. The goal was to make the songs sound unapologetically Australian without pretending to be something they’re not. There’s no fake accents or songs about VB and mullets. Instead, there’s songs about every day struggles, like dealing with fickle fashion followers, having too many fucking records, playing PlayStation, resentment and manipulation.
500 copies were pressed and self released, with a photo slipped inside each copy at random. Next is THE DEATH OF THE VINYL BOOM which was self recorded in a shed in November 2017. This is the only Alien Nosejob release (besides this comp, smartarse) to feature a cover - Flyblown by Adelaidean arty weirdo band JACKSON ZUMDISH. The idea behind this EP was to incorporate the simplicity and scrappiness of the late 70’s DIY Australian sound, but give them the complicated structures of prog songs. Scum stats - 500 copies, self released. Several copies were smeared with Jake’s blood and had smashed pieces of vinyl glued to the front cover.
Now we have a cover of the DEAD KENNEDYS. The conspiracy theorist wet dream Government Flu. Recorded September 2020 during lockdown in one-man-band with a tape recorder fashion for a 20 minute unedited ‘live set’ video where all instruments were played one by one, sung and mixed in the space of a couple of hours. The HC45 7” was recorded at the same time as a disco 12” maxi, which I hear were originally meant to come out on the same day. Shit happens I guess? This EP came out in Feb 2020 and sounds somewhere between early GANG GREEN, DIE KREUZEN and the BEASTIE BOYS old bullshit. Self recorded on a 4 track with a broken pinch roller. Lyrically this thing is cynical and choc-a-bloc full of satire and hate. A year later a sequel was recorded the same way, on the same machine.
No fucking disco this time though. Cold Bare Facts is the most recent recording on this comp. Self recorded in Jake‘s bedroom 2022 It has the same mid paced tempo as DYS or SSD when they’re at their slowest (pre-Boston Curse, of course!). Both songs take a stinky shit on the Australian state police. 300 copies. Finishing the record is a cover by THE AINTS. Originally written by ED KUEPPER for THE SAINTS Eternally Yours album, but it sounded too similar to Lost and Found. Originally released on ‘ALTA’ cassette compilation during the lockdown. FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE binds this mouthful of releases into one neat package from June 6th, 2025. Catch the ALIEN NOSEJOB band on tour in Europe & UK from June 13 - July 2nd, 2025.
Red Vinyl[25,00 €]
Howdy punkè rocke fans, welcome to FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE - the wonderful and frightening world of ALIEN NOSEJOB’s EP’s & singles. Anti Fade and Agitated Records are teaming together to bring you a paint stripping, mind altering, rare collection of EP and compilation tracks recorded in various Australian bedrooms and garages between 2017 and 2022. The sound of goofy obnoxiousness will soon be permeating your bedroom airwaves and perforating your eardrums. Kicking off this long player is an EP that was recorded by Billy from Anti Fade in his childhood bedroom in July 2017. The songs came to fruition while AUSMUTEANTS were on tour in Japan 2016.
There was a lot of ‘WALLABY BEAT’ / ‘MURDER PUNK’ being played in the background while seeing the sites of Mount Fuji and ‘Bar Fuck Yeah’. In between shows Jake was organising the release of DANNY GRAHAM and PLASTIC AND THE EP’S records on the label he co-ran XEROX MUSIC. Both artists played parts in the sound and ethos of the PANEL BEAT EP. The goal was to make the songs sound unapologetically Australian without pretending to be something they’re not. There’s no fake accents or songs about VB and mullets. Instead, there’s songs about every day struggles, like dealing with fickle fashion followers, having too many fucking records, playing PlayStation, resentment and manipulation.
500 copies were pressed and self released, with a photo slipped inside each copy at random. Next is THE DEATH OF THE VINYL BOOM which was self recorded in a shed in November 2017. This is the only Alien Nosejob release (besides this comp, smartarse) to feature a cover - Flyblown by Adelaidean arty weirdo band JACKSON ZUMDISH. The idea behind this EP was to incorporate the simplicity and scrappiness of the late 70’s DIY Australian sound, but give them the complicated structures of prog songs. Scum stats - 500 copies, self released. Several copies were smeared with Jake’s blood and had smashed pieces of vinyl glued to the front cover.
Now we have a cover of the DEAD KENNEDYS. The conspiracy theorist wet dream Government Flu. Recorded September 2020 during lockdown in one-man-band with a tape recorder fashion for a 20 minute unedited ‘live set’ video where all instruments were played one by one, sung and mixed in the space of a couple of hours. The HC45 7” was recorded at the same time as a disco 12” maxi, which I hear were originally meant to come out on the same day. Shit happens I guess? This EP came out in Feb 2020 and sounds somewhere between early GANG GREEN, DIE KREUZEN and the BEASTIE BOYS old bullshit. Self recorded on a 4 track with a broken pinch roller. Lyrically this thing is cynical and choc-a-bloc full of satire and hate. A year later a sequel was recorded the same way, on the same machine.
No fucking disco this time though. Cold Bare Facts is the most recent recording on this comp. Self recorded in Jake‘s bedroom 2022 It has the same mid paced tempo as DYS or SSD when they’re at their slowest (pre-Boston Curse, of course!). Both songs take a stinky shit on the Australian state police. 300 copies. Finishing the record is a cover by THE AINTS. Originally written by ED KUEPPER for THE SAINTS Eternally Yours album, but it sounded too similar to Lost and Found. Originally released on ‘ALTA’ cassette compilation during the lockdown. FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE binds this mouthful of releases into one neat package from June 6th, 2025. Catch the ALIEN NOSEJOB band on tour in Europe & UK from June 13 - July 2nd, 2025.
Running some cranky, tempestuous currents on the latest, courtesy of Berlin’s Okain.
A quartet of the meanest cuts to grace the label for a minute as he pulls no punches on propulsion. Hurtling through the temporal plane at break-neck speed.
Proper strapping accelerators rooted somewhere between third portal freak-out and girder-strength tech house flex. All four built like a brick shithouse, but the foundations have given out and we’re falling down a wormhole. Transcending epochs and realities with one foot in the free party and another in the big room.
Organ synth, searing 303 and lysergic flourish in abundance. Synths darting, drums impeccable.
Trippier than we’ve come to expect from the Talman Records founder, but no diminishing returns on dancefloor potency.
'I Choose You' 3 Winans Brothers Feat. Karen Clark Sheard remixed By Louie Vega is the very reason house music is known around the world as A SPIRITUAL THING! House and Gospel have shared a dance floor from the very start thanks to pioneers like Louie Vega who harness the joy and inspiration of Gospel with the motivational energy of House. Never was this more evident than in the 1st project Louie Vega and 3 Winans Brothers Featuring The Clark Sisters came together for in 2015, DANCE which was a world renowned sensation and the catalyst for 'I Choose You'.
'I Choose You' is the result of a combined 20+Grammy Award Winning artists THE WINANS BROTHERS & KAREN CLARK including our very own Louie Vega's Grammy win bringing forth music that not only stands out but is an undeniably exceptional sound that will undoubtedly reaching past the top of the charts to blaze a path for music that celebrates being thankful for the life we are given! The 3 Winans Brothers, Bebe, Marvin and Carvin, have come together yet again with their love for writing, singing, and performing music with 'I Choose You'. Karen Clark Sheard having laid down new vocals produced by Bebe Winans himself coupled with the additional Winans soulful vocals completely enhance the reaffirming message 'I CHOOSE YOU... the POWER of HIS Love, I could NEVER deny it'.
Louie Vega has once again delivered the ultimate composition and arrangements to complement the beauty that lives in the message of 'I Choose You' and brilliantly elevates the powerful voices of the Winans and Karen Clark Sheard that bring that very deep sentiment of hope and light forward. For music with a message as enlightened as the one in 'I Choose You' Louie enlisted Axel Tosca of Elements of Life band, the Cuban born pianist with an intense passion to bring any keyboard to life who transfers that energy into this exceptional piece. Every single harmony, each key, all seamlessly aligned with in various mixes with engineer Yas Inoue of Vega Records on the boards so that 'I Choose You' can be enjoyed by those looking to fuel packed dance floor or their own individual playlists. The icing on the cake are the new vocals by Karen Clark Sheard, where she is testifying and ad-libbing powerful messages to the world! 'I Choose You' 3 Winans Brothers Feat. Karen Clark Sheard remixed by Louie Vega drop at all vinyl outlets ....AND be on the look out for future performance dates in your country and city.... this message is going world wide!
