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2LP - 180 Gram Vinyl Trumpet player, pianist, composer, producer, and DJ born in Ibiza, Pere Navarro is recognized as one of the brightest young talents in the Spanish jazz scene and a rising name in Europe. Known for his innovative and experimental approach, Navarro masterfully blends the sophistication of Black American Music with the eclectic essence of Ibiza, his homeland, crafting a sound that is both unique and boundary-pushing. His music - fresh, emotional, and accessible - resonates effortlessly with audiences, delivering a truly one-of-a-kind experience in every performance. With the addition of this third album to his discography, Navarro has solidified his place as an original and unmistakable voice in the jazz world, gaining recognition at international festivals and collaborating with artists across diverse genres.

There are very special records that achieve mythical status amongst collectors and vinyl diggers. THE SHARPEES GO ON AND LAUGH is top of that tree.

Welcome to the strange world of Nothern Soul…

The story began some years ago when legendary UK record dealer John Anderson discovered an acetate in Chicago with the record title GO ON AND LAUGH scrawled on it but no artist name.

He sold it to cutting edge Northern Soul DJ John Vincent who credited the track to THE JUST BROTHERS when playing out.

The acetate, by now popular amongst the Rare Soul cognoscenti, was traded back to John Anderson who passed it on to Mark Dobson, aka Butch. His DJ sets around the World made it an in-demand dance floor filler and a subject for many years of much conjecture as to the ID of the mystery artist who had recorded this masterpiece which was not just a one-off uber rarity but also the epitome of Nu-Northern Soul cool.

Fast forward to 2016 when USA record label Secret Stash gained access to 200 plus master tapes recorded in the 1960’s by the Windy City’s ONE-DER-FUL set up.

They were forwarded to UK Soul entrepreneur Mark Bicknell who to his amazement found GO ON AND LAUGH in the haul. And finally the whodunit mystery was over with the artist identified as THE SHARPEES, who far from being obscure unknowns aee fondly well known in Soul circles for their much loved DO THE 45 and TIRED OF BEING LONELY singles. Secret Stash promptly issued GO ON AND LAUGH in America but demand far outstripped simply and it quickly sold out with copies now fetching northwards of £150.

ANORAX - living up to its #eatsleepcollect mantra - have snapped up the rights and are delighted to issue it as a 500 run limited edition 7”.

GO ON AND LAUGH is coupled with the timeless classic TIRED OF BEING LONELY. It follows the release by ANORAX of gems from DRIZABONE, JAY. J Feat. BIG BROOKLYN RED and DON CARLOS

REPRESSED !!

Vibraphone and keyboard player, master arranger and bandleader, Mulatu Astatke is one of the all-time greats of Ethiopian music and the creator of his own original music form, Ethio jazz. Through the acclaimed Ethiopiques album series and through featuring on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers, his music has belatedly reached a global audience and a new, younger generation of fans. In November of last year, he recorded an inspired new album with London psych jazz band The Heliocentrics for Strut's 'Inspiration Information' studio collaboration series. Now, Strut are proud to present, for the first time anywhere, the definitive Mulatu career retrospective covering his landmark 60's and 70's recordings.
Mulatu is a true pioneer of African music. He was the first Ethiopian musician of his generation to travel extensively and to record abroad - he studied in the UK in Wales and at Trinity College Of Music in London, cutting his teeth on the buoyant London jazz scene of the early 60's. He became the first African student to attend Harvard and he lived and recorded in New York, developing a unique sound that fused Western jazz with traditional Ethiopian melodies.
Tracing the progression of his Ethio jazz experiments with full access to all of the labels for whom he recorded, Mulatu Astatke: New York-AddisLondon is the essential Mulatu. Covering his first recordings in the UK during 1965, his groundbreaking fusions for the small Worthy label in New York and his key '70s recordings back in Addis on Amha, Phillips and Axum, the album features comprehensive sleeve notes by Miles Cleret, boss of the excellent Soundway Records imprint, and rare, previously unseen photos from Mulatu's personal archive.

The third album Fort Sensible by Brisbane alt-rockers Tape/Off is a genuine labour of love, a passionate dose of opinionated heart-on-sleeve rock’n’roll representing not just a place but a time with its cache of meticulously-crafted guitars, robust rhythms and socially-conscious lyrics mining both the personal and the political.

While musically they veer seamlessly between intricacy and intensity their words cut straight to the quick, the songs caustic and catchy in equal measure, making Fort Sensible by far the most ambitious and accessible album in the band’s storied decade-plus history.

Tape/Off’s first two albums - Chipper (2014) and Broadcast Park (2018) - were both longlisted for the prestigious Australian Music Prize, yet Fort Sensible takes the tried and tested Tape/Off aesthetic to a whole new level as the band seek to both share the creative load and fully harness their innate collective chemistry.

The guitars of Nathan Pickels and Ben Green weave together like an electric tapestry, the resultant soundscapes both intricate and ambitious whilst still entirely capable of busting out massive riffs with the best of them, their inherent simpatico now built upon by years of experience playing off each other. From a rhythmic perspective Tape/Off's propulsive drummer Branko Cosic's immense power and Cameron Smith's robust, expressive basslines combine to provide the perfect rhythmic bottom-end throughout the record.

Excitingly Tape/Off's sonic palette has been broadened substantially on the new album, with Pickels' angry and angst-laden diatribes throughout Fort Sensible now augmented by Green and Smith taking vocal turns at junctures, adding a whole new dynamic and dimension to proceedings.

At a time when our leaders seem lacking and the world needs the redemptive powers of art and music more than ever, Tape/Off announce themselves as a serious force to be reckoned with the uncompromising power and beauty of Fort Sensible!

Back in the day, when he was the drummer for Poni Hoax, Vincent Taeger would sing in French whatever came to his mind backstage after concerts, just for fun, to amuse his friend the late Nicolas Ker. Since then, time has flown by, undoubtedly bringing its share of ups and downs. Nonetheless, today, this artist with a long career is finally releasing his debut album as a singer, OK Crooner. It's indeed an album for a singer, but also one for a musician. For this part, Taeger doesn't come alone; he brings along the Jazz Kamasutra, a sexy sextet that knows how to play everything and will later accompany him on stage. To get to this point, Vincent Taeger had to stop playing around with big names like Air, Damon Albarn, Justice, Lenny Kravitz, Skepta, Tony Allen, Oumou Sangaré, Jeff Mills, Archie Shepp, Sampa the Great, Andrea Laszlo de Simone... More than half of the major artists with whom he once collaborated, contributing to their albums or simply laying down a drum, bass, or any other heavy instrument line. Before OK Crooner, he also transformed into Tiger Tigre. This roaring alias was used for a first solo album, instrumental and so deep that one might have thought the ghost of François de Roubaix had taken shape. But that was before, before this exceptional musician decided to dive into the vast ocean of French variety to give a sequel, a culmination to this project. During COVID, Vincent Taeger started frantically listening to Souchon, Chamfort, Gotainer, and Christophe. Inspired by his elders, while not renouncing his attachment to the meticulous arrangements reminiscent of Alain Goraguer's soundtracks, he picked up a pen to jot down snippets of songs to accompany his increasingly sophisticated compositions. And the worst part is that he enjoyed it! Coming from rap, he has a knack for punchlines. Throughout the album, he delivers just as many harsh or soft words as good ones, alternating between risqué humor, Gaulish wit, and poetry. Partially recorded at Studio Ferber, but mainly at home with his partner, known by the alias La Plongée, who co-produced the album for the occasion, OK Crooner is a key album in Vincent Taeger's discography. Besides being the one where he finally unveils his voice to the public, without pretense as it is prominently featured and minimally, if at all, retouched, Taeger also offers music that suits him perfectly. Sharp yet accessible, jazz, pop, baroque, classical, modern, and resolutely marked by Tony Allen's legacy, which he daringly mixes with Beethoven in the Fifth Symphony. His alter ego, Vincent Taurelle, with whom he has produced many albums, took care of mixing this one.

Watch out! You are holding the 125th (one-hundred-and-twenty fifth!) album on Tramp Records in your hands! We are honored to celebrate this impressive anniversary with the tenth volume in the Praise Poems series. This time, too, we go on a journey to discover previously unheard regions of jazz, folk and AOR from the 1970s and 80s.

Praise Poems Vol.10 presents sixteen (almost) forgotten rare groove gems, all released between the years 1970 and 1984. One of the many highlights is the opening track: "Fields of Laughter" by Color Me Blu - originally released on an acetate only of which two copies exist worldwide. But there is much, much more to discover. This brandnew volume features a wide range of genres, from AOR (Whiz Kids, Ross Miller, and another previously unreleased track by Harve & Charee) to Latin-Rock a'la Santana (Color Me Blue, Tribal Sinfonia, and Apple) to Soul-Jazz (Ernie Lewis Trio, Joe Bozzi Quintet or Dutch saxophonist Frits Kaatee). Right at the end, one track in particular stands out: the wonderful "It's Good Not To Forget" by George Melvin and his quintet - a fabulously dreamy, thoughtful instrumental piece in the style of Ramsey Lewis with catchy tune potential.

Not many compilation series make it to a tenth edition. And if they do, then you often notice that the quality of the songs goes in the opposite direction to the increasing number of series: namely decreasing. Not so with Praise Poems Vol. 10, which the creators prove in an impressive new way. They have found tracks that were originally either a) pressed by the musicians themselves in very small editions or b) released by small, regional labels. It is understandable that neither the musicians nor these small labels had the necessary knowledge or budget to market their albums or singles professionally. The majority of the bands therefore did not manage to reach a large audience - although they certainly had the potential for the big stage.

"Praise Poems 10 - A journey into soulful jazz and funk from the 1970s" makes these almost 50-year-old treasures accessible to a new audience. We hope that you enjoy discovering your personal favorite song(s) and we are already looking forward to many more releases!

PPU's debut compilation from our favorite femme, Maryn E. Coote. Previously released material featured on PPU-061 with her son Uku Kuut, "Suggestive" gave us access to the endless trove of studio recordings, out-takes, demos, and new material from the estonian-swedish singer/songwriter. Born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1946, Marju Kuut (AKA Maryn E. Coote) was a prolific jazz singer, producer, radio host, and DJ, having recorded hundreds of tracks from the 1960s until around the time of her death in 2022. Maryn dedicated this album to her son Uku Kuut.

1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A Analogue Copy to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Carlos Santana and Company Return to a Dynamic Blend of R&B, Latin, Funk, and Rock: Amigos Aims for the Hips, Spreads Joy, and Includes “Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile)” Amigos has been beloved for decades by both long-time and recent Santana admirers, with multiple generations of fans drawn in by the record’s contagious blend of R&B, Latin, rock, and funk elements. As well as its immense accessibility. Coming off a series of albums that heavily leaned into jazz fusion, the band returns to the more dynamic and concise approaches of its earlier works without losing the sense of adventurousness, craftsmanship, and virtuosity that turned it into a juggernaut embraced by both the mainstream and experimentally minded communities.

Mastered at Mobile Fidelity’s in-house studio in California, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM LP of Amigos presents the 1976 album in audiophile sound for the first time on a domestic release. Part of the reissue label’s Santana series, this collectible version features quiet surfaces and black backgrounds that help reveal the intricate details, distinguished tones, and cohesive interplay that cause Santana’s music to take flight.

The enhanced aural perspectives extend not only to Carlos Santana’s intoxicating fills and solos, but to the rich tapestry of the rhythmic, melodic, and vocal elements that help Amigos feel as fresh today as it did several decades ago. This LP shines a beaming light on the surrounding musicians that simultaneously feed off and inspire their bandleader. The solidity and depth of the bass lines; the wash of the organ; the scope and carry of the vocals; the grip and weight of the low-end frequencies; and, possibly the most enticing traits, the textures of the acoustic guitars, numerous percussive devices, and then-modern synthesizers: all come across with tremendous presence and energy.

Entirely appropriate for a set that kicks from the start, with the opening “Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)” true to the song title’s combination directive-invitation meaning. Tropical, soulful, upbeat, and liberating, it beckons hips to shake and delicious libations to pour. Clinking cowbells, spirited background vocals, hand-tapped congas, and Carlos Santana’s six-string magma pour forth with abundance. The song sets the mood and expectations for a record that contains not an ounce of filler, and which inspires and spreads joy at practically every turn.

On the gold-certified Amigos, the ensemble never seems to run short of zest or happiness. Key in on the Latin bite and searing guitar architecture of “Take Me With You,” an instrumental that shifts tempo at its midpoint and sparkles with a samba-like outro that aims to put everyone in earshot on the dance floor. Surrender to the slow-burn of “Tell Me You Are Tired,” sent up with Greg Walker’s sympathetic vocals and spun around with whirling funk accents. Marvel at the Spanish guitar introduction, Mexican folk foundation, group vocals, and extroverted grooves of the forward-propulsive “Gitano,” with lead singing by conga/bongo expert Armando Peraza.

Having reached the Top 10 in the United States and spawned the hit “Let It Shine,” Amigos marked the final stint for bassist David Brown, the last of the group’s famed Woodstock lineup to depart. His contributions feel especially spirited throughout the album, compass readings that the group uses to chart their course. Just listen to how his passages pop on “Let Me” and frame the can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head “what you need is what you want” refrain. And while Carlos Santana remains the centerpiece of the brilliant and meditative “Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile),” Brown serves as a trustworthy anchor and friendly advocate.

Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan's new album, Your Community Hub, compellingly continues his sonic exploration of the New Towns movement. The issues the councillors, planners, and architects set out to solve still resound and echo throughout society.

For the latest instalment in this unique project, Gordon Chapman-Fox turns his laser eye to focus on Community and the Community Centres that populated Warrington and Runcorn in order to provide all the facilities people needed within a five minute walk from their home. These planning ideas predated the current discussions of fifteen minute cities by fifty years.

Those 50 years have seen a decline in our community centres and services: handy access to a GP or dentist, Post Offices, youth clubs, local shops, banking and much more. Successive governments have undermined and eroded those basic services. The decline in community services has also been matched with a decline in community and shared experiences with a knock-on effect on the population's health and well-being. The disastrous austerity policies imposed over the last 15 years have exacerbated this long, slow reduction in available spaces for people to meet and communicate, with seemingly no recognition of the societal impact that causes. Short-termism at the expense of the community and how we live our lives.

Margaret Thatcher's statement that "there is no such thing as society" has been taken as a mission statement by successive Conservative governments who have aimed to remove as much support and communality from the citizens as possible. It continues now, the wrong-headed idea that everyone can be left to fend for themselves.

Chapman-Fox's latest album decries the cruelty of where we find ourselves in 2024 and his quiet incandescence about the loss of optimism for what communities should be and could be. It's his most powerful work, and as always, it will deeply resonate with those who tune in to his unique vision and unparalleled productions.

As ever, beautifully packaged and designed by Gordon, the album artwork features photographs from the archive of the architect Peter Garvin, which was kindly provided by his son Richard Garvin. The photographs show Peter's work on the Castlefield Community Centre, a sleek modernist structure clad in white ceramic tiles.

"Drouillard’s most unfiltered and introspective record yet, an instrumental album drawn from the compelling musical landscapes that inspired him to begin creating music altogether.

Emotion and abstraction being main driving forces behind the work, Dean set out to create recordings that felt like abstract expressionist paintings.

Silence, mistakes and accidents all hold equal value to musical contributions, keeping the music human and vulnerable.

The album begins with more accessible cinematic pieces, incorporating melody and moving harmony. As the album progresses the form becomes more open and abstract inviting the listener into a dreamlike state.

The album was recorded and performed entirely by Drouillard with his atmospheric guitar in the forefront, with layers of pump organ, synth, percussion, bass, organ and voice creating often shapeless textures beneath."

Named after a metro station located in East Paris, Pointe du Lac originated in 2014 as the brainchild of analogue gear enthusiast Julien Lheuillier, joined shortly after by multi-instrumentalist Richard Francés, followed by Quentin Rollet on Saxophone a few years down the line. Les siphonophores des eaux froides et profondes de l'Arctique (“Siphonophores of the cold, deep Arctic waters”) is the project’s third studio album, the first one written as a three-piece as well as their first release on Hands in the Dark.

Like the organisms the album title refers to, Pointe du Lac’s music is highly polymorphic and complex, using a subtle and distinctive blend of Electronica, Krautrock, Jazz and Kosmische as vessels for the band’s fantastic instrumental imaginary voyages. Compared to previous albums and EPs -which tended to suggest cosmic odysseys- this new cinematic outing is diving deep and intends to shed light on fascinating, mysterious and diverse creatures and their habitats. Supported by (paradoxically) warm and impeccable sonic forms, the exploration turns out to be an unsurprisingly expansive one, yet accessible and oddly familiar sounding. There is a sense of assurance and serenity in the French trio’s latest offering, the musicians mastery and open-ended approach to free ambient music lets their ideas flow and never stagnate. The narrative of this expedition is one that will be remembered long after the listening finishes.

MAMMOTH is a grabber right out of the gate, every step they take is unleashed with deadly economical precision. They may flash on Lynyrd Skynyrd and other vintage southern rock traditions but the brilliant way the vocals are recorded and the to-the-point interlocking guitar moves will fire up anybody into any sort of hard rock. They can rip it up with hot leads, probably jammed out on these songs at live shows but lucky us, they laid them down for all times here with the sort of thought out unified force and construction that screams hit radio. Loads of personality, accessible, produced and mixed with the clarity of classic rock that never loses it's perfectly deployed impact. The uncluttered arrangements leave plenty of space, crafted with the kind of balanced mojo in the mix where every detail adds to the whole. Down and dirty but also achieving a universal pop-friendly appeal! The Mammoth LP was recorded in 1981 at Relayer Studios in DeLand, Florida with the two guitars, bass and drums quartet line-up sounding like it could have been a decade earlier. Buzz Fetters on lead guitar, Bill Abell on rhythm guitar, Joey Costa on bass and Ron Herman on drums… with everybody contributing to the vocals. Rather than having a strong up front emotive singer the lead vocals here are multi-tracked and integrated into the songs with plenty of attitude but also a genre-transcending presence… you can imagine the vocal ambience working in punk, glam, even psychedelic contexts. Mammoth have a sound informed by roots music but it is really in the rear-view mirror the way they roll. The songwriting here is terrific, they have a way of saying things that comes off as sincere but not too serious. You get plenty of in-your-face hard rock action but also several melodic tracks that have a more reflective charm to round out the trip. AND… when you hear their brilliant ode to southern rock titled "Southern Sounds" I challenge you to find any song about the subject more delightful. These guys keep it real, whether they're being bad ass or vulnerable they express themselves with 100% genuine feeling as contagious and life affirming as it gets!

For the hotly anticipated third release on her critically acclaimed new record label Uppers and Downers, Dr. Rubinstein has tapped one of her favorite producers--Yerevan's Dave N.A.--to take the helm and deliver a smart and stunning rave EP pitched at the intersection of acid and jungle. A prolific producer, adventurous DJ, and co-founder of the ABC Community, Yerevan's collective hub for amplifying breakbeat,jungle, and drum & bass sounds in the Armenian rave community, Dave N.A. is no stranger to Uppers and Downers, just having contributed a vivacious, jungle influenced reinterpretation of Rubi's track "Extacid" to the label's second release, Rubi's Acid Spa Remixes. For the past decade, Dave N.A.'s productions have reliably offered a fresh, frenetic yet finely tuned take on classic rave genres and their acid-drenched antics while exploring the cutting edge of international experimental bass and hard rave idioms. 'XLSoundwaves' proves to be no exception, taking listeners on a boisterous yet atmospheric, tight yet sprawling sonic journey that combines acid, jungle, hard trance, breakbeat, and IDM influences amid a striking wash of captivating, high-definition ambient studio sound design.
'XL Soundwaves' kicks off with "BFLY," an expansive track that features tunneling hard trance 303 lines deftly weaving through bouncy jungle breaks at a sprightly 165, all emerging from and ultimately fading back into an ethereal plenitude of ambient pads punctuated by a soulful, resonant vocal refrain. Next up, "Radiance" offers an infectiously groovy, sidewinding jaunt through cheeky acid breaks that evolves into a crescendo of lush, eyes-to-the-sky ecstasy. "XL," the EP's third offering, brings the heat with fat basslines, frequent turntablist rave licks, and a freaky sense of humor, almost cinematically projected onto a vast horizon of sumptuous strings. The EP comes to closewith "A.I.R.," a thoughtful banger with a mischievous IDM sensibility that sets acid jungle adrift on an ocean of shimmering orchestral sampladelia and ambient synth radiance.
To some, Dave N.A.'s acid jungle opus might seem like an unexpected plot twist in thecuratorial trajectory of Uppers and Downers. Much to the contrary however, the 'XL Soundwaves EP' is a perfect early release, helping to establish the mission of Uppersand Downers as continuing the search across diverse international rave genres, traditions, and communities for producers and productions that resonate with Dr.Rubinstein's lifelong pursuit of soundtracking her ideal rave: one that offers ravers access to an ecstatic, joyful, affirmative, and inclusive sense of home, of feeling at homewith both oneself and one another through the music.

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago is revered among jazz aficionados as an essential document of late 1950s hard bop

It captures two of the greatest saxophonists in jazz, Adderley and Coltrane, at a time when they were both at a creative peak. The album is a vital recording from a golden era in jazz, featuring a rare and electric partnership between two saxophone giants. Its hard bop foundation, infused with hints of modal jazz, places it among the most important recordings of its time. The album was recorded the February 3, 1959 during a time when Adderley was playing as part of Miles Davis' group, and it captures the quintet during a pivotal moment in jazz history. On Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, you can hear Coltrane at a transitional stage, balancing between his earlier bebop style and the modal, more avant-garde approaches he would later pursue. His interaction with Adderley is fascinating because it blends his dense harmonic language with Adderley's more traditional, bluesy approach.Cannonball Adderley had been recruited by Miles Davis in 1957, joining what would become one of the most influential jazz groups of all time. Adderley's style was deeply rooted in the blues, and he brought a strong sense of soulfulness and swing to the Davis group. While Davis' style was often cool and restrained, Adderley's alto saxophone was the opposite: robust, fiery, and emotional. Adderley's command of the instrument was remarkable, and his ability to balance technical prowess with a highly accessible, bluesy feel is on full display throughout Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago . His solos are expressive and lyrical, often imbued with a sense of joy and exuberance. This makes for a perfect contrast to Coltrane's playing, which at this point was becoming more dense and harmonically complex

The band says, We rerecorded our debut EP Grow Up to look back on our progress as musicians and revisit some very nostalgic songs after 5 years of VIAL. It’s like a little love letter to our younger selves. When we first recorded Grow Up, we had very limited resources during the recording process and didn’t even use our own cables. We feel very lucky we’re able to revisit this EP now that we have access to the funds, skills, and equipment we’d always wanted to allocate towards these eight songs. VIAL is a powerhouse trio, red-hot in DIY scenes after breaking out during unconventional times in 2020.

Their sound is a pressure cooker: Indie rock meets punk in soaring melodic hooks ready to sink teeth into all listeners alike. Bite marks burn hotter on the live stage, where they’ve supported acts such as FIDLAR, HUNNY, and Mal Blum. The jury’s in: The insatiable hunger for VIAL’s fresh genre blend will be plentifully satisfied with a steaming-hot sophomore record in 2024.

'Floating' by Monika Linges should be repressed due to its enduring popularity and influence in the jazz fusion genre. Original copies are rare and highly sought after by collectors, with the only repress coming in 1992 and now selling between £30 and £60. The repress aims to make this classic album accessible to new audiences and satisfy the demand from djs who have had this in their wants list for a long time. Repackaging the album in a limited lilac vinyl, with liner notes written by German DJ and tastemaker Rainer Trueby

Andrew Hill’s 1968 album Grass Roots stands as one of the most immediately accessible albums in the pianist’s beguiling Blue Note discography. Featuring Lee Morgan, Booker Ervin, Ron Carter, and Freddie Waits, this set of five Hill originals is imbued with a deep sense of feeling, groove, and lyricism. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

“My introduction to “noise” came from a record shop in Lake Worth, Florida ran by a musician named Kenny 5. Kenny had left Detroit sometime in the mid nineties and had begun selling used records and CD’s from the downtown strip of this tiny southern Florida city in a humble shop sandwiched between a deli and a dog grooming business. Kenny previously was on labels like Amphetamine Reptile and timeSTEREO, and the records and videotapes that would be on repeat at his shop were a vast sonic expanse that spoke to the eclecticism of his experience as a touring musician participating and adjacent to American noise culture through the early to late 90’s. In 1998, I was eleven years old and I would order a pizza with him and watch VHS tapes of Japanese noise and deathmatch bootlegs, as well as any other sonic and subcultural rarities that far outstripped my age to comprehend (notably the RRR “Journey Into Pain” compilation and various Vanilla Tapes videos). This widecast net of information formed an introduction to a reality that did not fall deaf on me, but it took many years later for me to reorient the specific freedoms of what this dense and cathartic sound culture had imparted on my life and would continue onward to.

What does this have to do with this selection of choice recordings from the Secret Boyfriend catalog for the enmossed label? For the uninitiated, Secret Boyfriend is the long running moniker of Ryan Martin, North Carolina musician and label proprietor of the Hot Releases imprint. For over a decade from this writing I have watched Secret Boyfriend, and Hot Releases by extension as a curatorial and archival effort, embodying the multiplanal capacity that noise loosely functions from as an umbrella ideology and formalist avenue for sound creation. For anecdotal purposes, from (before) 2006 until roughly 2023 the East Coast of the United States showcased a vibrant network of eclectic regional festivals that saw wide swaths of artists addressing and negotiating the notion of what qualified “noise” from a conceptual and ideological perspective. Some festivals honed in on particularities in aesthetics and tropes, and others had a kind of “catch-all” implementation that allowed for a salvation of the sort of alienated and singular artistry that was amassing throughout these territories. While clear guidelines had been set from regional predecessors as to how noise with a capital “N” should maneuver, Secret Boyfriend is emblematic in the spirit of fluidity that was either implicitly coupled to the notion of the genre, or grew to evolve towards or devolve from.

Within Secret Boyfriend performances, I have seen and admired a mirroring from a ravenous appreciator of this culture at large back towards itself. Typical of a Secret Boyfriend set is an interchangeable narrative arc wherein blistering feedback laden scrap metal improvisations are forayed into naive ambient or “pop” songs, or skipping CDs, or mixer feedback play, or delayed Roland 707 drum workouts all at once and in a unique hegemony. Secret Boyfriend's stylistic mastery of each endeavor is at once an homage to a history of loving listening and enacting, while a brave step into the realm of actualizing the unique fluidity of his own practice. In performance and the action of network engagement, Secret Boyfriend operates a survey of that which he sought to hear and that which he cultivates around his work. His operations are mirrors, and the project (alongside his other peers) is a reflection on the ethos of his time.

Conversely his recording practice narrows in on these moments and allows for a different kind of intimacy or alienation for the non live listener. This record of selected “pop songs” (let's call them that) is particularly poignant at a time when the culture Martin mirrors is at a strange crossroads with itself. The aforementioned festival networks necessarily change and shift. The onlookers become the artists, the artists find new horizons, and the spaces for these cycles fade into locales of a distant memory. It seems, from my perspective, that audiences currently yearn for a more bottlenecked experience, searching for some ontologically vetted manifestation of an idea, of a sound and less for an experience that functions in opposition to our collective banalities. This makes sense in the face of general global catastrophism that plagues us. We need certainty of what something is somewhere, don’t we? Noise as an idea has expanded and contracted to so many iterations of itself it is hard to tell what it even is, and it is particularly difficult to identify in the absence of solid network activations a moment to reflect on its own complexities and nuances. In the face of so much change, I argue that the language of noise culture at large has on one hand become increasingly didactic and predictable, and laughably inclusive and non linear on the other. Probably has always been this way, but now we are in the midst of a moment of extreme access and indexicality, which somehow cauterizes expansion and naivety and chance.

This record highlights the Secret Boyfriend that obscures didacticism by highlighting output that opens up for more challenging catharsis and emotive signal processing. It provides an entry to the materialism of a cultural field full of ecstatic complexity and beautiful inconsistency. In these muted moments Secret Boyfriend has given us over his career we have an argument for evolving languages that further challenge our notions of what is supposed to happen and how it is supposed to be presented. In his more song oriented expansiveness, we can punctuate the ability to think in new modalities. Listening to these recordings reminds me of the polarity of sitting in the record store as a kid and understanding that His Name Is Alive is on 4AD and (gasp!) timeSTEREO. This trite early impression that nothing is really as different as our imaginations might want them to be, and that we can do whatever we want mostly within the creative realms we work through is an important filter to look through Secret Boyfriend as a project and a vessel. If we can achieve abandon and vulnerability through our artistic endeavors, then we have a sound model for, maybe, new potentialities. If that’s too much projection, or just complete liberal bullshit, I am fine with that. Secret Boyfriend's oeuvre at best offers us moments of reprieve to ponder these complexities, or at least a moment to zone out on a drive through North Carolina Highway 54.

You have one pocket of life that you must do whatever you want to inside of. Secret Boyfriend does it affectionately, in a variety of forms, and always with deep sentimentality. These recordings are a wonderful set of songs to begin further investigation from. Thank you Ryan for allowing as many avenues as possible to continue a broad cultural exchange and conversation that intersect and refract while being the kind of artist that is brave enough to not phone in the effort.”

- Nick Klein , May 2024

Co-produced with New York based No Wave legend Arto Lindsay, “Mente”, Thiago Nassif’s 4th full-lengther (and debut on Gearbox Records), is his most thrilling, accessible and inventive yet. Drawing on Brazilian influences (Tropicalia, Bossa Nova) yet equally inspired by No Wave, Post Punk and peak period Bowie, this is an album that filters classic counter cultures through a modern lens. Crammed full of emerging talent from Rio die Janeiro’s current pop, art and film movements, the energy draws parallels to the influential Brazilian 60’s Tropicalismo scene at a time when the need for political expression is once again informing much of Brazil’s artistic output. File Under : Alt Rock / Alt Pop / Brazilian / Post Punk

Combining his influences from No-wave, electronic music and Tropicalismo and inspired by artists such as Tom Zé, Ricardo Villalobos, Alva Noto, and James Chance, the album received the seal of approval from the “Dean of American rock critics,” Robert Christgau, who graded it A-, and was heavily played on BBC 3’s Late Junction, with Thiago appearing on the show as a guest in July 2018, as well as on the Bandcamp Weekly programme earlier in the same year.

2LP, 180g clear vinyl. Stephan Thelen's music has grown beyond the Swiss Minimalist movement, as seen in his work over the past decade. His Fractal Sextet project exemplifies this evolution, deepening his original concepts while embracing new influences. Their second album, Sky Full of Hope, builds on the promise of their debut, showcasing a confident and cohesive group dynamic. The album features intricate polyrhythms and complex time signatures, but despite its mathematical foundations, the music remains accessible and engaging. Thelen credits the group's ability to blend technical precision with musicality, creating a sound that feels both refined and compelling.

2LP, 180g, magenta marble vinyl, limited to 200 copies. Stephan Thelen's music has grown beyond the Swiss Minimalist movement, as seen in his work over the past decade. His Fractal Sextet project exemplifies this evolution, deepening his original concepts while embracing new influences. Their second album, Sky Full of Hope, builds on the promise of their debut, showcasing a confident and cohesive group dynamic. The album features intricate polyrhythms and complex time signatures, but despite its mathematical foundations, the music remains accessible and engaging. Thelen credits the group's ability to blend technical precision with musicality, creating a sound that feels both refined and compelling.

Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.

Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416B only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (MM1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.

Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.

“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”

Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.

Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.

A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.

Classic free jazz album reissued for the first time since the 70s. Old-style gatefold sleeve LP, with liner notes by Ed Hazell.

Noah Howard, an alto saxophonist and composer, was known for weaving intricate and innovative musical patterns, often likening his work to "sound paintings." His 1971 album Patterns, the first LP he self-produced on his Altsax label, stands as a testament to his experimental and spiritual approach to music. In interviews, Howard frequently used visual terms like "patterns" and "shapes" to describe his compositions, emphasizing the importance of melody and structure even in highly improvisational settings. For Howard, patterns and melodies were essential to guiding listeners through his explorations without alienating them, maintaining a balance between innovation and accessibility. Howard's quest for an original sound was deeply influenced by jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, and Jackie McLean. While he admired these legends, Howard avoided imitation, striving instead to develop his own distinct voice. His sound was unmistakably his own, and he felt a deep obligation to carry the jazz tradition forward through personal expression, not by mimicking others. His music was also rooted in spirituality, a legacy he traced to his upbringing in the Black Baptist Church. He believed jazz had always contained a spiritual essence, from Louis Armstrong to John Coltrane, and his work aimed to channel this cosmic, spiritual energy.

Patterns was recorded in the Netherlands during Howard's second stint in Europe, where he found a more open, less racially charged environment compared to the U.S. For the album, Howard collaborated with Dutch musicians such as Misha Mengelberg (piano), Han Bennink (drums), and Earl Freeman (bass). Despite the challenges faced by guitarist Jaap Schoonhoven, who felt out of place in the session, the album came together as a powerful mix of blues, jazz, and classical elements.

The music on Patterns is a high-energy fusion of American free jazz and Dutch improvisation. Howard's saxophone work alternates between leading with passionate, lyrical lines and blending into the collective improvisation. The album’s dynamic interplay, particularly between Mengelberg’s dissonant piano clusters and Bennink’s thunderous drumming, creates a vivid "sound painting" full of contrasting forms and colors. Patterns remains one of Howard’s most unique and celebrated recordings, showcasing his visionary approach to jazz.

Continuing our quest to get all of the classic early AMT albums released on vinyl, we turn to 2006’s ‘Starless And Bible Black Sabbath’, and with the help of Makoto Kawabata’s studio wizardry, we’ve made it possible.

This latest instalment in the ‘Acid Mothers Temple Vinyl Archives - First Time On Vinyl’ series (as with the three previous SOLD OUT releases in the series) have all been meticulously put together with the help of Makoto Kawabata with the original CD artwork recreated for these vinyl editions from archive photos stored in the vaults at the Acid Mothers Temple in Osaka, Japan and the original audio remastered by James Plotkin.

Here’s what "Brainwashed" had to say upon it’s original CD only release back in 2006 …

“The title track is the meat of the beast, beginning with a minute of booms and gongs reminiscent of a thunderstorm before launching into some slow, heavy Sabbath-esque riffs. Squealing guitar and synth effects accompany the vocals of bassist Tabata Mitsuru, whose voice captures some of the sound and feeling of Ozzy's more than it does the melody. The pace is slower than most AMT fare, but things speed up considerably around the eight and a half minute mark. The group convincingly imitates the Sabbath guitar sound here and the rhythm section is particularly tight, giving listeners something on which to hang their ears or even providing them with a chance to gasp for air during Makoto's guitar explorations. Around the sixteen minute mark, everything comes to a wailing halt before the band returns to the dirge-like tempo that started the song. This pattern continues for the duration of the piece, until a couple of minutes before the ending, when the group makes a smooth transition to acoustic guitar and processed vocals to cool down.

Clocking in at nearly thirty-five minutes, the length alone may tax some listeners. However, the second track, "Woman From A Hell, "provides relief, which with a running time of six minutes is uncommon in the Acid Mothers canon for its brevity. This one condenses many of the ideas of the title track, and accomplishes much of the same evocation of Sabbath, but with the vocals in a more prominent role. The disc comes full circle, ending with thunderstorm sounds much like theones which started the album. Though the title track could have been shortened and perhaps an additional track included, this album remain some of the group's more accessible releases in some time and should please fans old and new alike.

According to the group's website, Makoto is reviving the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. line-up after a year of recording and touring with the Cosmic Inferno. This is a shame of sorts, since the Cosmic Inferno infused a much-needed vitality to the group that it had lacked since the departure of vocalist Cotton Casino. Yet the reformed Melting Paraiso U.F.O. has the potential to be even better since, if anything, Makoto seems to be the Mother of Reinvention.”

Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno are: Tabata Mitsuru - Bass, Vocal, Maratab - Hiroshi Higashi - Synthesizer, Dancin' King - Shimura Koji - Drums, Latino Cool - Okano Futoshi - Drums, God Speed - Makoto Kawabata - Guitars, Speed Guru

BRAND NEW VINYL PRESSING ON GREEN VINYL FOR FIRST TIME

Recorded in 1996, the second album from this NYC quartet featured a new line up & sound. Clean, warm, spacious guitars paired with repetitive, hypnotic songs showcased the band reaching a new peak. Beloved by those initiated, it continues to find new devotees.
RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels

90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart?
Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the “best emo bands” lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow? Maybe it’s worth having a listen to see what I mean.
Barcelona’s La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous “Speeding Train”. Now we’ll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn’t a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You’ll need them both.

ON SAND COLOUR VINYL FOR FIRST TIME

Post-Punk? Indie-Rock? Post-Hardcore? The Van Pelt walked between all these worlds. Spoken/sung vocals, anthemic pop hooks, fiery guitars and a tightly wound rhythm section made them stand outs of the DIY basement scene they emerged from.
RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels.

ABOUT “STEALING FROM OUR FAVORITE THIEVES”:
90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart? Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the “best emo bands” lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow? Maybe it’s worth having a listen to see what I mean.
Barcelona’s La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous “Speeding Train”. Now we’ll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn’t a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You’ll need them both.

2024 Repress

Micron Audio embodies a hub for a modern and futuristic electro sound, led by its master DJ Stingray 313. The imprint beckons intense electronic sounds, roughened textures and geometries that speak to a guiding principle of making technological advancement accessible to the people. These technoid adventures of sci-fi sound design and arrays of unabating rhythm, draw its listeners through warped microworlds and wicked contortions. Behind the sounds, it exists as a display of artistic responsibility, making statements and providing solutions from socio-political commentaries.? The first Micron Audio physical release emerged in 2011, with DJ Stingray 313's Electronic Countermeasures EP, following a digital-only compilation that is no longer available. Tracks from the Micron Audio hemisphere have featured in several compilation records released by the likes of Rush Hour and Creme Organization, including Stringray's Urban Tribe project. It represents a crisply defiant and firmly electronic approach, drawing in the infective indicators of video games. Relaunching afresh in 2021, Micron Audio is working with new artists and is stepping not only further into the future but into the foreground, where its clear scientific intention and political attitude is entrenched through top-shelf sound design and pumping rhythms.

A Mountain of One return with their second single from eagerly awaited forthcoming album "Stars Planets Dust Me".

"Dealer" sees them push further into the Cosmos with a modern take on the electronic disco pulses of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder mixed with organic sensibilities, Electric sitar and reverse guitar akin to the heady moments of The Beatles track "Tomorrow never knows". Criss crossing Balearic, psychedelia, disco and electronica.



”Dealer” shows the band, made up of musical soulmates Mo Morris and Zeben Jameson, have lost nothing in the past decade. Recorded over Skype during the coronavirus pandemic, with Mo now in Bali and Zeben in west London, a shimmering, modern classic, experimental but accessible, melodic and adventurous. As ever, it is utterly unique, made in a musical universe all of their own.

When A Mountain Of One first started performing, they quickly became one of the most- acclaimed bands out there, with the likes of i-D, Sunday Times Culture, Pitchfork, NME and more raving about them and their inspired and original approach.

Sold-out shows and awesome reviews followed with “Collected Works” and “Institute of Joy”, two phenomenal globally acclaimed albums that have stood the test of time,
This heady odyssey is mastered again by Global Electronic music icon "Ricardo Villalobos", and soon to also be remixed by Ricardo on a full album of his interpretations of the forthcoming album.
Their first single "Custards last stand" from the forthcoming album had radio support from NTS radio, Worldwide FM / BBC 6.



The forthcoming album “Stars Planets Dust Me” will be released March of 2022.

Over the course of her trailblazing career, Charli XCX has earned critical acclaim for her forward-thinking musical output and refreshing entrepreneurial spirit that has seen her carve her own lane on the global pop circuit. A singer, songwriter, video director, documentary maker, radio host and record label boss, Charli’s story is one of an artist continuing to succeed without compromise.

Now in 2020, Charli is already breaking boundaries - this year has seen her first BRIT nomination for British Female Solo Artist, marking a huge moment of validation from a mainstream audience that Charli has built on her own terms. In reaction to the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, Charli has proven herself to be one of the most adaptable artists working today; initially providing programs of Instagram live sessions that invited various guests to spark conversation, share insight, or simply entertain fans across the world who are currently practicing social distancing. Charli’s vision then expanded further, leading her to announce ‘how i’m feeling now’ - a new album to be written, recorded and released in 39 days, completely in self-isolation. The creative process was also to push her collaborative stream in a unique way; opening up the recording, writing, artwork, music videos and more to fans for feedback and contribution - she also further inspired her fans’ creativity, allowing them access to song stems to create remixes and greenscreen footage to be edited using their own imagination.

‘how i’m feeling now’ has given further spotlight to Charli’s status as one of the most adaptable, exciting pop artists working today, and through it’s uniquely collaborative approach, provided a shared space for those who listen to feel safe enough to express themselves however they wish at a time when they need it most.

This third volume of Universal Synthesizer Interface delves further into early MIDI sequencing software for personal computers, focusing on Intelligent Music Software founded by Joel Chadabe in 1984. In a short period of time (1986-1990) Intelligent Music published a series of MIDI sequencing software titles that would have rippling effects throughout the music world: M, Jam Factory, UpBeat, MidiDraw, Ovaltune, Realtime, as well as an unreleased first version of Miller Puckette’s Max. These programs were a reflection of Chadabe’s desire to create interactive and intelligent algorithmic tools for home computers. Intelligent compositional tools had been floating around for decades in mainframe computer labs, but they had largely only been accessible to people working in academic or corporate laboratories. With the birth of Intelligent Music, these tools became available to anyone with a home studio. As the personal computers of this era had become less expensive and more accessible, they had also grown exponentially in processing power and seeming intelligence. In the music press from this time, we find the same two words used again and again to describe algorithmic computer systems: smart and intelligent. The tone of such articles may seem quaint by today’s standards, when AI and algorithmic control underpin so much of our technology, but the question of machine intelligence remains. Universal Synthesizer Interface VOL III Focuses exclusively on one of the more obscure of Intelligent Music’s software creations - UpBeat: The Intelligent Rhythm Sequencer, released in 1987, and hailed by reviewers of the time as “the world’s best drum machine.”

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

The iconic fifth album Houdini by the Melvins captures the band's power, vision, and musical strangeness. It's an essential '90s release, combining elements of grunge with hard rock and sludge metal. Their biggest commercially success and first major label release is an album where they displaying the full width of their musical abilities. Buzz Osbourne's guitar sound is deep and heavy and combined with Dale Crover's powerful drum rolls and fills it sounds really impressive. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) added his guitar skills to the track 'Sky Pup' and can be heard as a percussionist on 'Spread Eagle Beagle'. It's one of the most accessible Melvins albums and the gateway to explore more records by the band. Houdini is the ultimate Melvins classic and a must have for every grunge and music fan in general.

Joni Mitchell Gets Jazzy, Counterbalances Love and Trust with Freedom and Confusion on Court and Spark


Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP
Plays with Definitive Detail and Clarity: Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl Strictly Limited to 5,000 Numbered Copies
Box Set Features New Liner Notes
1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe


Court and Spark, the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell's trailblazing career, arrived after a year in which she took some time to breathe and kept a low profile. The pause led to more breakthroughs for the singer-songwriter. Marking Mitchell's increasing drift toward jazz (and affinity for Miles Davis and John Coltrane), Court and Spark garnered four Grammy nominations, earned the Best Album of the Year vote in the prestigious Pazz & Jop poll, and ranks #110 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and featuring new liner notes, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the 1974 classic with definitive detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD sets.

Benefitting from a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible edition reproduces without compromise the textures, details, and breathtaking craftsmanship that help make Court and Spark into what many fans believe is the Canadian native’s finest hour. Notes bloom and decay as they do amid an acoustic live environment. Soundstages extend far and deep, with black backgrounds and balanced tones adding to the uncanny realism.

The reference-grade presence and openness put in transparent view Mitchell’s incisive words and unique phrasing, as well as the contributions of her prized support musicians — including Tom Scott and the L.A. Express as well as guest turns by the likes of David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jose Feliciano, and Robbie Robertson. Mitchell, experimenting with the melodic parameters of guitar and piano, is rightly found at the center of it all. The jazz-rock rhythms of drummer John Guerin, slippery guitar lines of Larry Carlton, vibrant horns and reeds laid down by Scott — crucial to the songs’ shape-shifting arrangements — can now also be heard with fresh ears.

Visually and physically, the packaging of the Court and Spark UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This reissue is for listeners who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including Mitchell’s “The Mountain Loves the Sea” painting — a picture of waves embracing and receding away from a mountain, a metaphor for the record’s lyrical themes — on the cover art.

Pitching deceptively light compositions against underlying tensions, Court and Spark witnesses the singer-songwriter finding her footing with a group of top-shelf musicians who seemingly understand her visions as well as expanding her lyrical palette and venturing further into territory no artist had dared explore. Mitchell’s accessibly complex structures, beat-propelled rhythms, and spirited interplay with Scott & Co. both give the music a different identity than her prior efforts and point in the directions she soon headed.

Lyrically, Court and Spark matches the wit, integrity, originality, and intellect of anything in Mitchell’s oeuvre — no small feat. Offsetting positives with negatives, and considering circumstances from multiple angles, Mitchell explores issues connected to love and freedom, certainty and confusion, and trust and fear with unfettered boldness and introspective empathy. She teeters between surrender and retreat, and spends a majority of the record sussing out the complications and sacrifices involved with such actions.

Mitchell addresses the transactional nature of desire (the intimate title track, the upbeat “Raised on Robbery,” complete with rock ‘n’ roll pep from Robertson and zesty sax from Scott); anticipation and disappointment of romance (“Car on a Hill,” “”Down to You); fame and celebrity (“A Free Man in Paris,” “People’s Parties”); and sanity (the dark and stormy “Trouble Child,” a satirical cover of Annie Ross’ “Twisted”). Throughout, she sings with an emotionally penetrating beauty and devastating honesty that teaches about ourselves.

Or, as Mitchell relays on “People’s Parties”: “Laughing and crying/You know it’s the same release.”

Ben Kaczor and Niculin Barandun reveal their debut album on Dial Records, dedicated to the healing properties of sound. »Pointed Frequencies« contains six mesmerizing compositions. The collaboration between Niculin Barandun and Ben Kaczor started in 2022 with a carte blanche for an audiovisual show at Digital Art Festival Zurich. While working on the performance, a common understanding of sound aesthetics emerged and the foundation for the duo’s project was laid. At that time Ben Kaczor studied sound therapy. Niculin Barandun was intrigued by the concept, and it became subject of the album's creation.

The intention behind »Pointed Frequencies« is to explore the therapeutic potential of binaural beats and solfeggio frequencies, providing listeners with a healing experience. These elements are subtly integrated into the recordings, becoming a freeform blend of experimental and ambient music. A contemporary approach suspends the esoteric background common in this field. Instead, the focus is on crafting a unique sound that is appealing to those seeking a more accessible form of musical recreation. With the dynamics of free improvisation, Ben Kaczor and Niculin Barandun create virtuosly interwoven sound structures. Ambient timbres evoke the presence of the room and create an experience of wordless thinking. An immersive journey invites the listener to sense of intimacy and movement. Calmness and contemplation, beauty and melancholy meet unconventional and stochastic scenes of dramatic character.

You Never End is the third album from Valentina Magaletti, Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews (Moin) out via AD 93 on the 25th October. Its title alone expresses the teetering and shifting nature of both the album and band. This record marks the Moin’s shift into a new phase with vocal collaborations across the album from Olan Monk, james K, Coby Sey and Sophia Al-Maria.

The album’s collaborators all have voices that are alluring in their own right whilst hard to pin down: from james K’s ethereal, reverb drenched vocals, Coby Sey’s words that bounce and echo across London’s concrete streets and Olan Monk’s emotive songwriting, while artist Sophie Al-Maria’s voice and thoughts are known to stretch across her multidisciplinary practice as an artist, filmmaker and writer. The unique mystique of each collaborator is maintained throughout the record while simultaneously opening Moin up to new possibilities, in a gentle shifting alchemy.

Continuing their enigmatic re-configuring of the traditional band, Moin use a mix of conventional and unique production and compositional techniques. Subtly re-framing the current conversation about what band in 2024 needs to be, Moin walk the line between what's reassuringly familiar and what's unsettling and inquisitive. You Never End is a more sensitive record in sentiment, it re-contextualises grunge, shoegaze and indie rock with a weirdly comforting melancholy while still sounding direct and alive.

Showing Moin at their most accessible, the vocal collaborations bring the most articulate moments and lucid emotion while still remaining uniquely within Moin's established world. Alongside this, the record fine tunes the elements of electronic production that have always been a feature of the band's unique sound in a deeply subtle way. Elements are simpler and more direct, offering robust functional support as well as textural and emotional resonance. Together they show the potential for both practices to intertwine.

You Never End is both produced and mixed by Tom and Joe, demonstrating the extended range of control the pair have over the band's sound, and their ability to truly hold together Moin’s intricate world.

"Beneath the Mask" marks a return to the more commercially viable jazz-funk of the Chick Corea Elektric Band’s earlier albums, and marks the end of the first stage in the band’s history, which began five years earlier with the group’s self-titled debut.

Energy meets craft on this superlative outing, which finds the five virtuoso musicians (Chick Corea, drummer Dave Weckl, bassist John Patitucci, guitarist Frank Gamble, and saxophonist Eric Marienthal) engaging in a highly sophisticated yet accessible set of music.

Massive in the scale of the influences it contains, the album travels from the heavy grooving funk-fusion of the title track “Beneath the Mask,” to the lively West African township jive of “One of Us Over 40.” to the mellow smooth jazz of “A Wave Goodbye,” and the grandiose ‘70s style prog-rock/fusion of “Charged Particles.”

Originally released on GRP Records in 1991, the album reflects the innovative spirit of The Elektric Band, pushing boundaries and creating a unique sonic landscape that captivates listeners.

Rian Treanor keeps knocking new doors of possibility with his new label Electronic Music Club and its initial focus on Rotherham Sight & Sound, participants of a community-based initiative in their shared post-industrial home town Rotherham. Utilising software synths designed by Rian and his dad Mark Fell, the trio twist out vortices of shearing, asymmetric anarchitecture, rudely resembling the sort of hyper-contemporary styles alluded to in Rian’s solo works, but inflected with cranky timing and an intuitive freedom that bears extraordinary results, especially when considering the fact the trio had no prior musical ability, and only encountered electronic music a few years ago.

After a couple of years of practice and performance, ‘Action Potential’ now firms up their quicksilver sound for club and home buzzes with seven actions that warp and morph from the needling jolts and hoof of ‘Pass The Go’, to shuddering detonations in ‘Dial’, each with a properly electrifying force carrying a genuine futureshock. Working within Rian’s systems-based framework, Anne, Kathleen, and Mick deploy a tactile feel for the machines, finely honed over the course of many sessions at the Rotherham Sight & Sound facility, that uses their visual impairments to synaesthetic advantage.

Between the wickedly metallic ragga swivel of ‘Hold’, the diffractive chain reactions of ‘When It Ends’, and more tempered, sloshing sensuality of ‘30 Seconds’, the trio follow their noses down wormholes that manifest an ideal of accessibility and expressionism within electronic music contexts that Rian and Mark have long worked towards, with Anne, Kathleen and Mick’s relative lack of cultural conditioning in this paradigm prompting them to act on pure instinct

IOTUNN means Giant! IOTUNN's Metal Blade Records debut "Access All Worlds" is an epic; a cosmic and contemplative journey of energetic beauty and ferocity that reflects on human existence set in a story line following daring space travelers. The music is grounded in roaring, colorful drumming and crushing bass, while the sonic horizon is painted with a vast spectrum of guitar-driven expression, all over arched by narration through diverse vocals.

Freestyle Records drop another UK boogie 12" rarity from Eddie Capone's Treatment, this time the previously white label-only "Only You Know What I Like" from 1985. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

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A mainstay of the UK's reggae, soul, funk & rock circuits since the early 1970s, Eddie Capone has played with a diverse and revered collection of acts; Chairmen of the Board, The Foundations, Black Velvet, The Elgins, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Arthur Lee's Love, Billy Preston and Edwin Starr to name but a few. Eddie was also part of short-lived group Casablanca, with David Costa & Barry Clarke of early 70's folk-rockers Trees, signed to Elton John's Rocket Record Company.

Eddie founded the Treatment band in the early 1980s bringing in a revolving cast of singers and players, and created the Treatment Records imprint out of his own Black Rock studio in South East London in 1982. Releasing a string of singles - with efforts from Eddie Capone's Treatment, a side-project with singer Beryl Marsden as Salt & Pepper, and a single from Norwegian group Wave - Treatment Records then followed this up in 1985 with the 12" release of "I Won't Give You Up" with Diane Jones brought in on vocal duties. This received solid support amongst DJs and radio at the time, and was quickly followed with this solid slice of white label-only UK boogie-funk that has since become a favoured deep cut on the selectors circuit.

Treatment Records continued through the 1980s through to early 1990s releasing Eddie's music, both as a solo artist and as part of collaborative side-projects, and Eddie has continued to write, perform and produce music from his home studio right through to the present day. As a committed community figure & activist in South East London, Eddie has since 2014 re-started Treatment Records under the name of 3G Treatment - bringing together three generations of people from the local area to ensure young artists & musicians have access to the expertise and experience of their elders for support and encourage successful careers in the industry.

The Wild Classical Music Ensemble is a Belgian experimental rock band formed in 2007 by artists with mental disability within the social-artistic non-profit organisation Wit.h in Kortrijk. Their unique sound is a blend of punk/rock riffs, fanatical rhythms and soaring flutes and fiery synths, over which gravitate multiple, multilingual voices that scratch harshly as much as they comfort. There's something very Belgian about this harshness and noisiness. We often think of compadre Arno, from the TC Matic era. During the Covid crisis, the disabled members of the Wild Classical Music Ensemble were undoubtedly subjected more than others to the harsh conditions of confinement, alone in their rooms. Damien Magnette was still able to visit them with sound equipment. This was one of their all-too-few windows onto the world. Forbidden to meet, let alone play together, the members of Wild were nevertheless able to compose songs in tandem with Damien. The tracks were then sent to musician friends - Fabrice Gilbert, Ava Carrère, Wim Opbrouck, Shht, Arthur Satàn, Nathan Roche and Julien ZLDR - who added their artistic touch. Jean Lamoot and Carl Roosens joined the adventure, one as mixer, the other as video director. It's a result of the conditions under which it was created, this is the band's most highly-produced album, and perhaps its most accessible: frankly rock, with a great deal of freedom in production, and sometimes with a certain pop allure. Jean Lamoot's contribution to the mix had a lot to do with it. In addition, the forced slowdown allowed us to devote much more time and attention to writing the lyrics. Leader Damien Magnette says: "For over a year, we were all confined. But what about when you're a mentally handicapped person? Well, it's very different from you and me... We have the right to choose, the luxury of deciding for ourselves what rules we want to follow or not. We have free will. They don't. This series of confined songs is dedicated to all the people who have gone through this crisis, deprived of their free will. We send them our thoughts, hugs and kisses full of true love! The songs respond to a deep desire to look out for each other in adversity (the so obvious "Comment ça va?" by Johan Geenens and Wim Opbrouck, or "Waarom ben je boos" by Sébastien Faidherbe with Wim Decoene, the latter full of empathy). A sense of loneliness is logically present on the album ("Dat is mijn verdriet" by Linh Pham, a very real, very concrete and particularly touching poem, or "Loneliness", whose text was improvised by Wim), if not an understandable rage ("Je ne veux pas" and "My Frustrations"). It worth noting that on "On reste heureux", Sébastien Faidherbe composed all the parts in one go, with an optimism that stands out from the anger expressed in his other songs. Let's make no mistake: none of this is really over. All these emotions, suffering, pain and hope, speak to us far beyond this grim story of covid.

A hard rock mash up - Bandleader Paul Ngozi's split album with his drummer and co-vocalist Chrissy Zebby Tembo. The set includes an oversized 8 page booklet detailing Ngozi’s arc, rare photographs, discography and annotations.

"Zambia’s Zamrock movement that exploded in the 1970s...provided young musicians access to European and American music, and created a unique sound. At its root, Zamrock melded fuzz-toned psychedelia, chugging garage rock and roiling funk with a broad mix of African cadences and beats...enlivening a scene that included bands like Musi-O-Tunya, Amanaz and the Ngozi Family” - New York Times

Zamrock was a bona-fide rock scene: on the African continent, only Nigeria can claim one so comprehensive, and Nigeria’s was largely catalyzed and funded by subsidiaries of the European major labels. Zamrock was as independent as the newly-named country, formerly known as Northern Rhodesia. Zamrock is starting in its completeness, especially for a scene that emerged, unfurled and disappeared so quickly. From Musi-O-Tunyaís fusion of Fela’s Afro-beat, Hendrix’s rock, South African jazz and traditional Zambian melodies and rhythms to Salty Dog’s acid folk/rock, Zambia’s rock scene contained all of rock’s subgenres. Zamrock was much more than an imitation of American and European rock music: it quickly became a uniquely Zambian movement, befitting of its name. WITCH, Paul Ngozi and Amanaz sound nothing like other rock music from the African continent - or elsewhere. Zamrock came from a nation's youth carrying forth the momentum of a political and social revolution with a musical revolution that maintained the fiery power of early rock - in the mid-to late-70s. From that era, Zamrockís energy is matched only by the punk and hip hop scenes of England and America.

Opaque Mango Colored Vinyl. RIYL: Black Milk, Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington, Mos Def, Blood Orange, Milo, Pharcyde, Blackalicious, Anderson Paak. Richmond, Virginia-based artist McKinley Dixon has always used his music as a tool for healing, exploring, and unpacking the Black experience in order to create stories for others like him. For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her, Dixon's debut album on Spacebomb, is the culmination of a journey where heartbreak and introspection challenged him to adapt new ways of communicating physically and mentally, as well as across time and space. The language accessibility aspect of this project draws right back to communication and connecting," Dixon explains. "I think about the messaging, and how this can be a way for another Black person, someone who looks like me, to listen to this and process the past. Everything I've learned about communication for this album culminates with this bigger question about time. Is time linear when you're still healing and processing? Westerners look at time travel as something to conquer or control - it's a colonizer mindset. That's ignoring how time travel can be done through stories and non-verbal communication, and doesn't acknowledge how close indigenous people are to the land and the connections groups have because they've existed somewhere for so long. Storytelling is time travel, it's taking the listener to that place. Quick time travel. Magic." Never relying solely on beats, Dixon taps into a hybrid of jazz and rap, pulling in an array of piercing strings, soulful horns, percussion, and angelic vocalists throughout the album-plus features by Micah James, Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Pink Siifu, and more. Jazz instrumentals add a level of uncertainty, with the sounds and shifts evoking a lot of emotion and vulnerability. It's an energy he describes as "Pre-Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly," the era when rap adopted more live instrumentation. The best way to sum up this album is: I was sad, I was mad, and now I'm alive," Dixon explains. "These things I talk about on the record have had harmful and brilliant effects on my timeline, and have forced me to be cognizant of the fact that living is complex. Rap has allowed me the language to communicate, and be someone who can communicate with people from all over. Knowing how far I've come, I think people will find trust in the message I'm sending."

Selection of all winners from the Music Team label - mid 80s to early 90s gems on here!

One of South Africa’s biggest independent labels for more than a decade, Music Team offered working musicians a shot at fame via access to top studios, producers, songwriters and session musicians, as well as distribution via a number of imprints: CTV, Red Label, Solid, Spinna, Mambo Music and others. Artists in the stable who tasted success would typically release a few albums over as many years before moving on to other labels or falling off the radar as times changed. At their peak, according to label boss Maurice Horwitz, Music Team was selling a million records a month, and was at the forefront of South African pop music as it evolved from soul to disco and beyond.

Afrosynth Records’ ‘Music Team Sampler’ dusts off six rare and long-forgotten gems from the Music Team catalogue, originally released between 1986 and 1992. Four are typical of the label’s take on the popular ‘bubblegum’ sound of the day — Isaac ‘Cool Cat’ Mofokeng’s ‘Candy’, ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ by Linda Oliphant, Jappie Lebona’s ‘My Love is Yours and ‘Instant Love (Eyami Lendoda)’ by Thandi Zulu (aka TZ Junior). Two instrumentals — Mr. Ace’s ‘Ace 1’ and ‘Axe Chop’ by The Hard Workers, a studio project by Music Team’s in-house producer Tom Mkhize — meanwhile hint at the imminent rise of kwaito and house.

Forged in the fire of a cruel and volatile political system that was gradually unraveling, instead of addressing political realities these indelible pop songs sought to provide an escape to a world where love and music were all that mattered.

Pianist Aaron Parks returns to Blue Note—where he released his influential 2008 album Invisible Cinema—with Little Big III, the third studio album from his acclaimed band Little Big featuring guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard Jr., and drummer Jongkuk Kim. Co-produced by Parks and Don Was, the collective’s concise, accessible writing and vibrant, empathetic playing elevate the band’s powerfully modern, post-genre concept for improvised music in the 21st century.

Austrian electronic music producer Peter Kalcic, better known as B.Visible, is set to release his third studio album titled "Life is my Hobby" on October 10th through his own imprint, Data Snacks.
This new album sees B.Visible continuing to blend genres, drawing inspiration from the trip-hop sounds of the 90s, the R&B of the 80s, and mellow house music. True to his signature style, he maintains a balanced mix of acoustic drum sounds, electric pianos, and shimmering synths.
Unlike his previous works, the creation process for "Life is my Hobby" extended beyond the traditional studio setting. Much of the album was crafted in his newly moved apartment and various cafes in Vienna's 5th district. His collaboration partners were close to home, literally-Anda Reverie and Silvia Ponce Marti, his upstairs and downstairs neighbors, respectively, feature as vocalists on the album.
Silvia Ponce Marti's contribution for instance is featured on the track "Ella," which addresses the sensitive issue of the hyper-sexualization of the female body in today's society. She also created a stunning mixed media video for the song, which can be viewed here.
Anda Reverie appears on the track "Bad Karma," portraying an alien questioning the moral implications of humanity's destruction. The music video for this song brings the scenario to life with dreamy environments and unsettling projections.
B.Visible describes the album's creation as guided by causality, resulting in a less experimental and more accessible sound-his closest encounter with pop music to date. Asked about the title he keeps quite. The listener is encouraged to form their own opinion from the impressions.


BIO (EN)
Viennese producer B.Visible is always pushing his craft forward, with each concept being an evolution. His music is mutating organically as each project brings novelty, but always while blending sharp electronic components with dusty acoustic layers. That duality exists in every aspect of his creative journey, with DJ sets revolving around second-hand records and modern-day productions, but also his live project offering a whole new dimension and generosity to the audience. B.Visible melts the barrier between analog and digital in a such distinctive and elegant way that it feels natural.

There are cult bands and then there's Souled American. In 1988, the Illinois group arguably invented "alternative country" with the album Fe. While the alt-country sound is widely recognized as Southern roots rock with an indie-punk sensibility largely defined by Uncle Tupelo's No Depression released two years later — Souled American's early music feels as if it was formed in a vacuum, inspired by the timestretching space of reggae. But over the course of the following decade, Souled American's music grew increasingly slow, insular and esoteric. Although Fe, Flubber and Around the Horn are inarguably more accessible, upbeat and even sometimes fun, if you've never heard this music before, it actually makes sense to start at the end.

Their last two albums Frozen and Notes Campfire will now be re-issued in limited, 30th Anniversary Editions with a fresh abundance of stories, technical information, musician credits, and cartoons that detail the unexpected origins surrounding these two early classics of “ambient Americana.” These records sound at once both old and new with brilliant melodies and profound performances stacked in unusual patterns like soft-hued bricks.

There are cult bands and then there's Souled American. In 1988, the Illinois group arguably invented "alternative country" with the album Fe. While the alt-country sound is widely recognized as Southern roots rock with an indie-punk sensibility largely defined by Uncle Tupelo's No Depression released two years later — Souled American's early music feels as if it was formed in a vacuum, inspired by the timestretching space of reggae. But over the course of the following decade, Souled American's music grew increasingly slow, insular and esoteric. Although Fe, Flubber and Around the Horn are inarguably more accessible, upbeat and even sometimes fun, if you've never heard this music before, it actually makes sense to start at the end.

Their last two albums Frozen and Notes Campfire will now be re-issued in limited, 30th Anniversary Editions with a fresh abundance of stories, technical information, musician credits, and cartoons that detail the unexpected origins surrounding these two early classics of “ambient Americana.” These records sound at once both old and new with brilliant melodies and profound performances stacked in unusual patterns like soft-hued bricks.

Blending a mix of street intellect into pop music, Naughty by Nature delivered raw-edge but accessible East Coast rap and created some of the biggest and most contagious hits of the 90s. Naughty By Nature's brand new greatest hits compilation The Naughtiest, which has not been produced physically in over 20 years, contains the groups best known songs including "O.P.P" which hit #1 on the Billboard Rap Charts & #6 on the Hot 100, "Uptown Anthem" "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" from their self-titled album, along with "Feel Me Flow" & "Craziest" from Poverty's Paradise. And of course, select tracks from 19 Naughty III including "Hip Hop Hooray" which hit #1 in several countries and has become a defining anthem for hip hop music.

2024 Repress

Undoubtedly the darlings of electro-pop, Satin Jackets finally unveil their debut artist album, 'Panorama Pacifico' featuring a string of cameos from vocalists familiar and exotic, jetting in from LA, Berlin, London, Belgium and Australia.

Scaling the heights of the Hype machine from their first release to the latest, and clocking up almost ten million plays on spotify, Satin Jacket's original brand of diva funk and smooth disco has whetted the tastebuds of the likes of Majestic Casual and i-D mag who said the duo's "super sexy, infectious house music is filled with the vibe of summertime." Their smash single, 'You Make Me Feel Good' has accumulated close to three million plays on Soundcloud (soundcloudsatinjackets/you-make-me-feel-good) and Youtube concurrently.

"The idea came from our character, Mr. Satin Jackets, who's been travelling the world quite a bit the past two years," explained Tim Bernhardt, the founder of the duo. "Four continents, about twenty countries in, he's on the West Coast and takes a break. He watches the ocean to put his mind at ease and out pours Panorama Pacifico."

This idyllic perspective is launched by the vocals of Scavenger Hunt, the Los Angeles-based electro-pop 4-piece, charted by Billboard and featured by the likes of Nylon mag. They explain about their contribution, "Feel Good' feels like jumping into a cool pool on a hot summer day- refreshing, exhilarating and sexy." Nigerian born and Birmingham based UoB's Got Talent winner, IsaacO contributes to 'Keep Moving On'. He explains it's, "a song about having a nonchalant attitude towards life regardless of what it throws at you. Best listened to on a nighttime drive on the highway."

The album also takes a peek into the past successes of Satin Jackets, with last year's smash single, 'Shine On You' featuring UK born and Berlin based talent Esser, dubbed by Clash magazine as "an exploratory glimpse into the mind-expanding side of Satin Jackets' electronics," and recent single 'We Can Talk' featuring vocals from Emma Brammer.

Further new collaborations include Ghent-based collective I will, I swear, Melbourne's Kids At Midnight and diamond in the rough of Belgian pop Marble Sounds. Fellow Eskimo artist and Greek producer NTEIBINT and KLP from Australia also feature. Each plots a similar narrative about the struggles of love. "'Say You' is about being afraid of being happy,' explains Jane Elizabeth Hanley AKA Kids At Midnight; 'Coast To Coast' is "a sweet love song that could also work on the dancefloor," says George Bakalakos AKA NTEIBINT; and Emma Brammer explores the concept of, "the exciting and painful first love - maybe it's not so good for you but it feels historical."

Pieter Van Dessel of Marble Sounds digs further on 'Find Out'. "The lyrics 'Shut your eyes, and you'll find out' started as a reference to childhood memories: as kids we often had to close eyes when somebody wanted to surprise us with a gift. But it can also mean that you could learn more about reality when you disconnect and close your eyes, instead of gathering (too) much information."

Three quarters of the tracks are fresh and introduce exciting guest vocalists and producers. These are complemented by the much-loved staples from the duo, 'Girl, Forever' and 'You Make Me Feel Good'. Tim of Satin Jackets explains, "We're ending the journey of this album with 'You Make Me Feel Good',

German music producer, Tim Bernhardt and lead performer Den Ishu are Satin Jackets. Their eponymous live show has relentlessly toured the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe, opening their fluid pop appeal and accessible four-to-the-floor groove up to the world at large. Their debut album, 'Panorama Pacifico' is set for release on 8th April on their home label, Eskimo Recordings. The Belgian imprint has been a purveyor of disco, house and everything in between for over fifteen years.

Skinshape (aka Will Dorey) releases his ninth studio album titled Another Side Of Skinshape on 27th September via Lewis Recordings. As the album title suggests, Dorey’s latest body of work is somewhat unlike anything in his prior discography. However, there is always a consistent Skinshape thread which pulsates throughout all of his music - a kind of sonic dreamscape which echoes a mystical nostalgia for a sun dappled afternoon.

Taking inspiration from childhood memories, Ethiopian rhythms, and even calls to prayer, Another Side Of Skinshape gained access to the most esoteric corners of Dorey’s mind. Whilst ‘It’s About Time’ and ‘Ananda’ display a slightly more synthesised palette than we typically hear of a Skinshape tune, singles ‘Stornoway’ and ‘Lady Sun’ (which features the hazy soul vocals of West London’s Hollie Cook) replicate the same lifeblood heard on albums Nostalgia, or Craterellus Tubaeformis.

Speaking on the album, Dorey says “Some songs pay homage to the 90s whilst others the 60s and 70s. Yet you may not perceive all of these in the form that they are presented. In any case I hope that the album is enjoyable and will fit casually into the flow of your day.”

Whilst making this album, Dorey experimented with various keyboards and drum machines, which are at times layered over the excellent drumming of Thomas Blunt, who played live onto tape. Blunt is well versed in the Skinshape vernacular, also being part of Dorey’s live band. Indeed, Another Side Of Skinshape is due for release just before a run of UK and US live dates, which will be the first time the band has ever hit the open road.

Dorey is a former member of the band Palace, has played Glastonbury, BBC Maida Vale and Shepherd’s Bush Empire to name a few. Skinshape’s ‘I Didn’t Know’ has streamed over 50 million times. He is proudly from Swanage, Dorest.

For fans of Khruangbin, El Michels Affair, Tame Impala and Ezra Collective. Genre: Psych/Funk/Jazz/Breakbeat/Indie. Taken from the forthcoming Lewis Recordings album ‘Another Side of Skinshape’. Will Dorey aka Skinshape is a former member of the band Palace, has played Glastonbury, BBC Maida Vale and Shepherds Bush Empire, to name a few. His ‘I Didn’t Know’ has streamed over 50 million times. Taking inspiration from childhood memories, Ethiopian rhythms, and even calls to prayer, Another Side Of Skinshape gained access to the most esoteric corners of Dorey’s mind. ‘Stornoway’ replicates the same lifeblood heard on albums Nostalgia, or Craterellus Tubaeformis. Speaking on the album, Dorey says “Some songs pay homage to the 90s whilst others the 60s and 70s. Yet you may not perceive all of these in the form that they are presented. In any case I hope that the album is enjoyable and will fit casually into the flow of your day.” Another Side Of Skinshape is due for release just before a run of UK and US live dates, which will be the first time the band has ever hit the open road

Global superstar Ed Sheeran will release the ‘‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ on 27th September on CD and Bright Blue 2LP. Sheeran made the announcement last night (Sunday 8th September 2024) after enthralling fans on the closing leg of his 2024 Mathematics World Tour in Cyprus.

‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ brings together some of Ed Sheeran’s biggest songs to date from his decade-spanning mathematical album era. It will be available on CD, 2xLP (Bright Blue vinyl), Download and streaming partners. The physical formats will include access to exclusive voice notes from Sheeran. A brand new selection of related merchandise will also be available.

Ed Sheeran is an era-defining artist who has sold nearly 200 million records across the globe. After starting his record-breaking Mathematics Tour in Dublin back in 2022, Sheeran has taken his blockbuster show all over the globe with an astonishing total of 133 performances under his belt so far. With one more show this month in Rio De Janeiro, Sheeran has announced another run of European shows for 2025 which will form part of the final leg of his Mathematics tour, all while continuing to break records and make history.

‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ features 22 tracks including the tracks ‘Shape Of You’, ‘Perfect’ ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Shivers’ and ‘Bad Habits’. The song ‘Afterglow’ appears on vinyl for the very first time. The tracklisting includes 9 UK Number 1 singles with 11 tracks that have been streamed in excess of 1 Billion times on Spotify.

Global superstar Ed Sheeran will release the ‘‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ on 27th September on CD and Bright Blue 2LP. Sheeran made the announcement last night (Sunday 8th September 2024) after enthralling fans on the closing leg of his 2024 Mathematics World Tour in Cyprus.

‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ brings together some of Ed Sheeran’s biggest songs to date from his decade-spanning mathematical album era. It will be available on CD, 2xLP (Bright Blue vinyl), Download and streaming partners. The physical formats will include access to exclusive voice notes from Sheeran. A brand new selection of related merchandise will also be available.

Ed Sheeran is an era-defining artist who has sold nearly 200 million records across the globe. After starting his record-breaking Mathematics Tour in Dublin back in 2022, Sheeran has taken his blockbuster show all over the globe with an astonishing total of 133 performances under his belt so far. With one more show this month in Rio De Janeiro, Sheeran has announced another run of European shows for 2025 which will form part of the final leg of his Mathematics tour, all while continuing to break records and make history.

‘+-=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)’ features 22 tracks including the tracks ‘Shape Of You’, ‘Perfect’ ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Shivers’ and ‘Bad Habits’. The song ‘Afterglow’ appears on vinyl for the very first time. The tracklisting includes 9 UK Number 1 singles with 11 tracks that have been streamed in excess of 1 Billion times on Spotify.

Veteran electronic music composer Jill Fraser"s new work takes stock of generations and lifetimes of memory, speculating on how the spirit of our songs might be interpreted after we"re gone. With her 1978 Serge Modular, Prism Modular and Ableton Push 3 in the circuit path, she recomposes a stack of American revival hymns, making new creations for the future. A fluent meditation upon mortality and rebirth amid numinous infinities of dimensional sound. The sound world of Earthly Pleasures accesses a seeming infinity of dimensional sound in which the human hand is always keenly felt, no matter how deep the space. It"s a breathtakingly transcendent album that suggests inclusion within a diversity of genres: Ambient, Electronic, New Age, Modern Classical, Gospel, Healing, Sacred... . It is the work of a veteran composer and synth master at the peak of her powers, meditating upon the detritus of memory, the passage of all consciousness, and the rebirth of meaning in a new era.

One of the most famous Northern Soul tracks ever. Clean original pressings go for $1K and up. First ever reproduction of this classic 7" record. Hand numbered, limited edition 250 unit pressing WW. Limited Stock for UK. Mamie P. Galore’s 1967 Sack Records single, “No Right To Cry” backed with “Do It Right Now,” is a beloved Chicago soul classic and one of the most sought-after records of its kind. Original pressings regularly command over $1,000. The record’s enduring popularity is largely due to its status as a Northern Soul staple, where it has been an unattainable gem for collectors and DJs for decades. In fact, in 2020 Soul-Source magazine named “No Right To Cry” one of the “Most Sought After Rare Northern Soul” records. Secret Stash Records is thrilled to offer the first-ever 7” reissue of this timeless classic, finally making it accessible to a wider audience. However, with only 250 hand-numbered copies available worldwide, eager collectors will want to get one while they can. Track Listing: 1. No Right To Cry 2. Do It Right Now

We want our own Monaberry Garden. So partnering with Monaberry seemed the right thing to do!

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Ever-evolving the mythologies and magic of Dialect's sonic sphere, Andrew PM Hunt returns with Atlas of Green, elegantly molding unexacting details of memory and mistranslation into the framework of the British musician and composer's creative pursuit. The album imagines a young musician named Green working in a future dawning era where lost signals and enduring impulses are unearthed from the sediments of technology and time. Across twelve compositions, Green becomes the compass in an epoch of transition; one shaded with pastoral patinas and studded with the fragments of allegorical ruin. As tattered as it is tender, Atlas of Green is a patchwork of scavenged relics and bygone hues, cast through the iridescent shimmers of a mid-future in flux. Growing up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, Hunt was surrounded by stone age landmarks and rock carvings that infused the landscape with legend. It was beside those carvings on a residency at Bidston Artistic Research Center where he began the journey of Atlas of Green, experimenting with tape loops and exploring the center's library of sci-fi. Here Hunt also encountered the work of Italian philosopher Federico Campagna, a writer who believes we're at the end of our current world. This encouraged Hunt's exploration of how the fabric and fantasies of our current era might endure into the future of Green, as they try to make sense of the riddles of the past, utilizing broken electronics and simple acoustic instruments to create new mythic forms. This question of endurance led Hunt to inscribe Atlas of Green with its own lucid markings - sometimes almost anthemic adornments - which unfurl through the album's melancholic air as possible new metaphors for how the human spirit might persist through dark days and regain lost wisdom. As Hunt reflects, "We're not just on an endless procession through constantly better worlds. Our lack of action (on climate and inequality) feels hopeless at times. I find some comfort in the idea that maybe the world needs a new song in order to tell a new story about itself". The image of Green as a journeying adolescent in-between eras developed out of a burgeoning interest in the fantasy writing of Ursula K. Le Guin and Gene Wolfe and occurred at a point in Hunt's life where the question of starting a family was looming. Green became a device for thinking about the future, or futures, putting someone in another world and granting access to a slightly longer timeframe than one's own life. What would this person, in this as-yet-unsung world do with something as powerful as music? As Hunt notes, "I imagined them doing what we've always done with music - using it to build a map of feeling, providing boundaries and tracing the edges of our emotions, defining a space of possibility and giving voice to our intuition. This is an alternative future to the one of endless growth but one which still holds space for hopes and dreams." Mapping new folds in the passage of time, Atlas of Green is traced with an aura of sonic urgency which arises through its process-led construction. Following a series of live shows in early 2023, the record was created with an assemblage of analogue electronics and acoustic instruments, including scratched records and a broken four track, collaging studio work with recorded live recordings featuring work in progress. Where the indeterminate energies of Under~Between (2021) appeared through digital processing, Atlas of Green embraces chance encounters within the malfunctions of physical media and glitching gear. Within these interwoven clusters of organic and blemished sound, Dialect reclaims the joyfulness of the inner amateur and creates a soft landing for new seeds of magical possibility - rooted in the bounds and abundance of realism. "As a planet of people we have to deal one way or another with our finite existence. We have to deal with that loss with hope still in our hearts - our capacity to love cannot be contingent on things lasting forever, and so this image of Green is not a vision of dystopia, nor utopia but an expression of trust and an acceptance of limits."

" The myths of our Western tradition have often captivated me, whether they be Greek, Roman, or Judeo-Christian. Myths are a transcendent collective narrative; a buried memory, not intellectual but spiritual, alive to all the senses of another world. These stories often describe forbidding passages guarded by terrifying monster-like creatures, which, if conquered, give access to other planes. 'Door 1 - Door 2' are two of these planes, opening to prophecy and kingship." (Christopher Chaplin)

Following the release of his powerful and dark album trilogy "Je suis le Ténébreux", "Paradise Lost" and "M", British avant-garde composer Christopher James Chaplin has unveiled his latest project in 2021: "Patriarchs", released to critical acclaim. This project is a musical exploration of the Antediluvian patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, and is another captivating and daring work of art that straddles experimental electronic music and the avant-garde. Chaplin has also been wowing audiences with his live performances, releasing the concert album "Patriarchs Live" to shorten the wait for his new studio album "Door 1 Door 2", which will be released on September 20, 2024.

It is another powerful work of art, located between electronic music and avant-garde. Once again, Christopher Chaplin breaks genre boundaries and manages to condense experimental and colorful electronics in chamber music in a unique way, transporting the listener into mental and spatiotemporal intermediate states. A completely unique musical microcosm that can also be experienced in his impressive solo live performances.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

Equator is the sixteenth studio album by the British rock band Uriah Heep, released in 1985. It marked a departure from their earlier progressive rock sound towards a more commercial and accessible style, incorporating elements of pop rock and AOR (album-oriented rock). It peaked at #79 in the UK albums chart. The album features a lineup consisting of Mick Box (guitar), Lee Kerslake (drums, vocals), Trevor Bolder (bass guitar, vocals), Phil Lanzon (keyboards), and Peter Goalby (vocals). This album was the last to feature Kerslake and Goalby before their departure from the band. Singles on the album include ""Rockarama"" and ""Poor Little Rich Girl”. Equator is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on smoke coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Monument is one of Portico Quartet’s most accessible, direct records to date. If Terrain addressed the darker side of how Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie made sense of the pandemic, then Monument resonates as an ode to better times. If not quite a dance record, it nonetheless pulses with an energy, radiance and a scalpel sharp focus. Jack Wyllie explains: “It’s possibly our most direct album to date. It’s melodic, structured and there’s an economy to it that is very efficient. There’s not much searching or wastage within the music itself, it is all finalised ideas, precisely sculpted and presented as a polished artefact.” Bellamy expands “Monument sits somewhere between our albums Portico Quartet and Art in the Age of Automation. It has perhaps a more overtly electronic edge to its sound – there are more synthesisers and electronic elements than we have used before and the music is often streamlined and rhythmic”.

Spirit Mother's forthcoming album "Trails" brings the energy of the band's visceral, all-in live performances while expanding on the sensibilities of their debut album "Cadets." It is the undeniable next chapter in the band's creative process. The darker tonality, heavier, fuzz-fueled riffs, and relentless rhythm section accompanies prolific structure and arrangement. The violin summons a brooding, atmospheric pedestal for the remaining power trio to wield with fervor. Lance's haunting vocals and stark lyricism intersperse the instrumentals with a melody that is as dynamic as it is accessible. It is the culmination of road worn years in pursuit of the art, and the moment-to-moment adrenaline of studio exploration. The album was aged, captured, delivered by Spirit Mother, and brought to the broader public by Heavy Psych Sounds Records.

Mustard Yellow Vinyl, limited to 400 copies. Spirit Mother's forthcoming album "Trails" brings the energy of the band's visceral, all-in live performances while expanding on the sensibilities of their debut album "Cadets." It is the undeniable next chapter in the band's creative process. The darker tonality, heavier, fuzz-fueled riffs, and relentless rhythm section accompanies prolific structure and arrangement. The violin summons a brooding, atmospheric pedestal for the remaining power trio to wield with fervor. Lance's haunting vocals and stark lyricism intersperse the instrumentals with a melody that is as dynamic as it is accessible. It is the culmination of road worn years in pursuit of the art, and the moment-to-moment adrenaline of studio exploration. The album was aged, captured, delivered by Spirit Mother, and brought to the broader public by Heavy Psych Sounds Records.

Expanding upon his critically acclaimed MAX comedy special of the same name, John Early’s long-awaited first comedy album Now More Than Ever features four brand new cover songs from John Early and The Lemon Squares, along with an exclusive, album-only set from Early’s beloved alter ego, Vicky with a ‘V.’ In the album's oddly stirring climax, Early delivers a sermon on the emptiness of millennial culture, pleading to the Brooklyn crowd, “We have to get serious! Before it’s too late! And our gravestones read: Because Cancer.” Now More Than Ever is Early’s sincere and abundant offering back to the culture of thoughtful critique, heartfelt music, and infectious joy, firmly cementing his place as the godfather of millennial alt-comedy.

20 years of The Go! Team"s Thunder Lightning Strike, 20 years of lasers through tracing paper, orange tone oscillations, cable access hangover,music made through sunburnt circuits, a K-tel dream sequence, a haunted vision mixer, station wagon-core, straight to video, VHS in distress, something in the fog, fluff on the needle, chromakey constellations, a hovercraft on the fret board, maxing the minute maid, faxing a car alarm, a Morse code pep talk, etch-a-sketch jackknife, a daily Haley"s comet, light sound colour motion, a holiday from yourself... CD and LP are packaged with a recreation of the original CD-R version of the album that stands up as a document of band leader Ian Parton"s unique method of working.

2024 repress

Rush Hour’s RSS series excels in unearthing buried treasure, offering a second chance for artists and releases that have long been overlooked. That’s certainly the case with ‘Witches’, the superb sole single by British 1980s wave trio Zenana.

Originally released on seven-inch by the tiny PRM label in 1986, ‘Witches’ was the product of a sister-brother songwriting team whose music was mostly recorded in the front room of a terraced house in Nanpean, a small industrial village in Cornwall, England’s most south-westerly county. While the single was infectious, impeccably produced and dancefloor-ready, it sold in limited quantities at the time.

Zenana’s story can be traced back to the early 1980s, when singer-songwriter Anita Tedder founded the all-female trio as a vehicle for her musical ambitions. To bring her songs to life, she joined voices with her brother Mike, an early adopter of electronic music who had built a studio – nicknamed MFR, short for ‘Mike’s Front Room’ – in his Cornish home.

Countless Zenana tracks were recorded at ‘MFR’ between 1984 and ’86, with the resultant demo cassette securing the band a management contract, a slew of live bookings, a video shoot and even a television appearance. Buoyed by this underground success, they headed to the remote Sawmills Studio in Cornwall – famously only accessible by boat – to re-record ‘Witches’, a song inspired by local folk tales of witches gathering near Mike’s home.

While this version of ‘Witches’ failed to make an impact at the time, it has become something of a cult classic following its’ rediscovery by crate digger Kiernan Abbott – and subsequent championing by other dusty-fingered DJs including Antal, Skyrager, Trevor Jackson and Luke Una – in early 2023. The buzz inspired Zenana to perform live again for the first time in decades, with the story of their surprise comeback being covered by British media outlets including the BBC and (more surprisingly) the Daily Mail.

Now presented in re-mastered form, ‘Witches’ is a genuinely slept-on gem. Propelled forwards by punchy drum machine beats, a killer synth bassline and fizzing keyboard sounds, the song benefits greatly from strong vocals and an extra-percussive middle eight layered with vocalisations, cosmic spoken word sections and swirling noises.

It comes backed by a brand-new extended ‘spell of love’ courtesy of Bristol duo Bedmo Disco, AKA music journalist Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music) and DJ/production partner Gareth Morgan. Anniss is a long-time friend of Mike and Anita Tedder who has fond memories of visiting Mike’s home studio with his family around the time that ‘Witches’ was recorded.

Working from Zenana’s original MFR eight-track recording (tapes of the single version were lost years ago), Anniss and Morgan have turned in the extended ‘dance mix’ the track never had first time around. More atmospheric, clandestine and dancefloor-focused, it offers authentic nods to New York proto-house, mid-80s Shep Pettibone dubs, and the pioneering synth-pop productions and dub mixes of Factory Records regular Martin Rushent.

"One of the best bands to come out of NYC since who gives a shit." -CVLT Nation. When you enter White Hills' lair in Brooklyn, the duo's insatiable desire for music and art is immediately palpable. Crates of vinyl from floor to ceiling line the long hallway. Guitars appear at every angle, one lying across a sofa in obvious mid-play with others in cases tucked beside amplifiers into every conceivable corner. Synthesizers and cables cover the purple satin bed while gouache paintings in various stages of progress strewn the floor. Album covers, movie posters, books, paintings, prints and souvenirs of subversive culture occupy the remaining wall space. A sanctuary of adoration, creation and imagination, it's also the nerve center of their record label Heads on Fire Industries and the site where the final mixes of their latest album Beyond This Fiction took shape. For nearly two decades, White Hills have been blowing minds with their sonic alchemy: a unique mix of neo-psychedelia, art rock, and post-punk- at once original and recognizable. Their cult reputation emblazoned in celluloid following their performance in Jim Jarmusch's sultry vampire romance Only Lovers Left Alive, the duo has toured vigorously since their inception. With a vast catalogue that astounds and a relentless punk ethos, time seems to energize the duo, making them increasingly daring and prolific. "Music creates a bliss beyond sex and drugs," professes one-woman rhythm section Ego Sensation. "We'll never stop making music. It's the highest high to be had in life." Founding member Dave W, whose signature other-worldly guitar sorcery defines the White Hills sound, grabs his Les Paul to record a melody lingering in his head from last night's dream before it escapes. Outside, the sound of passing sirens, honking horns and bits of conversation remind you that you're in the middle of New York, a city so flush with rock legacy and artistic innovation it would take lifetimes to drink it all in. A voice from outside shouts, "This shit is going for 3! These people got to be out of their fucking minds!" Dave shakes his head and laughs, "There's no place I'd rather be." Committed to a vocation marked by extremes, doubt, struggle and moments of ecstasy, Dave and Ego continue this torrid affair with music bearing their latest fruit Beyond This Fiction. Inspired by the ideas of Joseph Campbell, the writer/philosopher known for the book The Power of Myth, the album explores the idea of "riding between opposites"- forging one's own path unrestrained by the dualistic constraints of society. It's a cry to all the seers among us- call us outsiders or rebels- who feel smothered by convention and see nonconformity as the gateway into divine mystery. Recorded with Martin Bisi, known for his iconic NYC sound developed through his work with no-wave titans Sonic Youth, Swans and Lydia Lunch, Beyond This Fiction sees Dave W (guitar/vocals/synths) and Ego Sensation (drums/bass/vocals) orchestrating their distinct guitar heavy meditations into songs with a stronger focus on vocals than previous albums. Opener "Throw It Up In The Air" and closer "Beyond This Fiction" both have a lush quality that flirts with shoegaze. "Killing Crimson", a song that takes inspiration from Killing Joke and King Crimson, has a driving beat and a catchy hook that begs for a sing-a-long. "The Awakening" plunges into the meditative ambient abyss the band is well known for, featuring the unique voice of frequent collaborator poet Dan McGuire to deliver the meaning behind Beyond This Fiction. The album harnesses the seductive accessibility of 2015's Walks For Motorists while evoking the tempestuous soul of the band's seminal 2011 H-p1. Notorious shapeshifters, White Hills make Beyond This Fiction a familiar surprise. Back in the lair, Dave draws eyes on his hands in preparation for the day's video shoot. Ego reaches in the closet pulling out the red velvet jacket she wears on the cover of Beyond This Fiction where she stands in a NYC alley holding a glowing orb. "That's the portal- the gateway into the mystery. The music will take you there.".

LRK are excited to announce their latest limited edition 45 (LRK-28) release:

Dylan Chambers - I Can Never Get Enough/Comin' Up

Dylan Chambers is a vintage pop/R&B/soul singer, songwriter and guitar player from Arlington, TX. After graduating high school, Dylan got accepted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston but ended up moving to LA to work on his music career. He has since shared the stage and worked with numerous artists such as Haley Reinhart, Brett Young, Sabrina Carpenter, Gavin DeGraw, Dave Koz, Three Dog Night, etc. and toured around the country with ABC's hit television show "Dancing With The Stars" as a featured singer/guitarist on their 2014-15 National Winter Tour. For the past five years, Dylan has traveled around the world as a guest artist aboard the "Dave Koz and Friends" Live at Sea Jazz Cruise. As a songwriter, Dylan co-wrote jazz legend Herb Alpert's first single "Skinny Dip" off of his album, "Slow Down Turbo" for Indonesian rapper Rich Brian as well as country star, Brett Young's "Kiss by Kiss". Live TV appearances include the Radio Disney Music Awards, Access Hollywood, Hallmark's Home and Family, and The Today Show.
Since 2020, he has released over a dozen singles as a solo artist which he co-produced with longtime friend and musical collaborator, Stefan Lit (Lil Nas X, One Direction, Andy Grammer). Throughout the years, he has shared the stage with Flatland Cavalry, Charley Crockett, Molly Tuttle, Haley Reinhart, Sabrina Carpenter, Delvon Lamar Organ Trio, and Prep. As a songwriter, Dylan has written tracks for UMI and Rich Brian, and he's also collaborated on singles with Cory Wong from Vulfpeck, G. Love and Special Sauce, and Alex Lambert

Having established himself as one of the most energetic and exciting Jazz musicians within the already thriving worldwide scene, New Zealand born, London based Drummer & Producer Myele Manzanza has made a major impact upon the global music landscape.

 A founding member of Electric Wire Hustle, Myele has released five solo albums, and racked up tours and collaborations with Jordan Rakei, Theo Parrish, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Recloose and Amp Fiddler amongst others . Myele has developed a strong live presence in his new London base; his quartet has shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, The Bad Plus, Alfa Mist, and drawing packed houses to top venues such as The Jazz Café and Ronnie Scott’s. Last year, the first two instalments of his 'Crisis & Opportunity’ record series saw him garner praise from Mary Anne Hobbs, Cerys Matthews, Jamie Cullum, Huey Morgan, The Guardian, Complex, Jazz FM, Lefto, Worldwide FM, Jazzwise and more.

Following the release of his last offering, a chance conversation between Myele and a young Barista at a local coffee shop occurred - their topic (centred around the trials and tribulations of following your musical passions) sent Myele down a spiralling path of internal reflection, spawning a new lease of creative energy and examination of new ways to approach his craft. The third addition to the heralded series, ‘Crisis & Opportunity Vol.3 - Unfold’ sees Myele change his approach from drummer / improviser, altering his sonic output to a more electronic dance music output, opting for a more producer / beatmaker focussed role. Sharing production duties with Lewis Moody (Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange) and taking a more producer / beatmaker focussed role. His initial instinct was to create music that could be played in a club, but also incorporate elements music of the Jazz and technical musicianship he’s renown for.

Articulating his thoughts on the record’s genesis, Myele explains: ‘‘As the process developed, I was also drawing a lot of inspiration from vocal driven soul, RnB and songwriter-driven music to a point where I had lit a new creative fire. Reconsidering the direction of the album, I was left with the creative question “What broader ranges of emotion might my music be able to access, and what kinds of art could be made possible if I were to open up my music to hold space for singers and for stories?”

First single ‘Silencing The Sun’ features the vocal talents of fast-rising fellow Kiwi artist Wallace, whose spectral tones glide gracefully over the pulsating rhythm section and twinkling keys. On second single ’Therapy’ UK Soul royalty Omar weaves his trademark magic over a solid 4/4 beat, soulful key stabs and lush synths, bottling lightning into dancefloor alchemy. Final single ‘Unfold’ sees Rachel Fraser deliver a delicate and introspective vocal performance over stripped back instrumentation as cold, angular electronics juxtapose the warmth of piano keys and sweeping strings. With a wealth of additional incredible talent (such as China Moses and Rosie Frater Taylor) enlisted to further compliment the record’s grainy synth textures, emotive chord changes, driving low end sonics and expressive percussion, the scene is set for a beautiful, shifting and engaging listening experience.