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“One day, I’ll be a ghost, a spirit, that moves with you along the winds,” pines Twin Atlantic’s Sam McTrusty on the beautiful and cinematic ballad ‘Your, The End’, the fitting opener to the Scottish alt-rockers’ eighth album ‘Separation From The Animals’. “It’s about the responsibility I feel around being a parent,” he says, revealing that he cried while recording his vocal over bandmate Ross McNae’s tender Beatles-y piano part. If the album says anything, it’s ‘All You Need Is Love’, told with maturity and reckoning with the past to make sense of the present. ‘Separation From The Animals’ is an album born of two tales of triumph and perseverance – one of McTrusty grappling with his own ghosts, and the other of their finest album to date coming after a time when band morale was at an all time low. When their friends’ bands and peers were all calling it quits, words of wisdom from those close to the band were urging them to take time off. The album started out as a McTrusty solo effort, isolated in his new home. The day the band finished work on their last album, 2024’s ‘Meltdown’, was also the day McTrusty packed up his entire life and studio to start a new life in Toronto with wife and two kids, unaware of the rich seam of songwriting that it would inspire.

The Montréal psych-ambient synth-droners return with Sequence Three, their first album in five years and the final instalment in the group's opening trilogy of records that began with Sequence One in 2019. The spectral supergroup co-founded by Stephen Ramsay (Young Galaxy) and Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes), usually joined in some capacity by Lasek's Besnard bandmate Olga Goreas, deliver another dose of its trademark longform slowburn jams, forged from restored vintage synths and analogue electronic gear. Lasek and Ramsay don their seasoned producer hats to apply rockist sound design to minimalist tracks, saturated with tube compression, drenched in pink and brown noise, all queasy modulation, sparse beats, and languorous melodic lines. Evoking a humid dawn on a gas giant, these alien drone anthems meld the numinous transcendentalism of Spiritualized and Cluster with the eroded grit of William Basinski and GAS. Light Conductor has been tagged "heavyweight analogue synth nirvana" by Uncut Magazine and praised for its "fabulous, epic, shimmeringly radiant kosmische" by Electronic Sound, among other accolades. Sequence Three consolidates these strengths, while leaning into the darker disquietude that has always been an undercurrent of Light Conductor's aesthetic. Opener "She Glitters The Dust" fades up slow with intertwining detuned synth loops, a languorous lullaby beat dropping at the 3-minute mark, accompanied by insectoid shimmers and a tease of melody that's eventually given free reign over the song's second half. Aptly titled, it's as if a transmission captured within a cosmic dust cloud has provided the raw material for the band to jam on, tease out, and terrestrialize. An echo of that beat sets the tranced pulse for "Omenize", the centerpiece of Side One and the fulfilment of Light Conductor's one-vocal-track-per-album directive. With layered harmonies by Goreas and Lasek, this is the group at its ethereally anthemic best, the devotional floating-in-space bliss attenuated by another gently warped denouement. "Ghost City Radio" closes out Side One with the band's most overtly anxious tune to date, deceptively stolid in its simple bass guitar riff and filter-swept hi-hat: groove stripped to its minimum as the foundation for an extended spokenword sample of a doomsaying prepper/preacher, a sort of homage to that early hallmark of their Godspeed compatriots, done up through the lens of Light Conductor's inimitably destabilized celestial ambience. (Lasek mixed the most recent two GY!BE albums.) Side Two offers up "High In The Orange Air", a beatless, squelching, bubbling ostinato drone and the album's most orthodox ambient kosmische track. This provides the set and setting for 15-minute closer "Supercontinent", which starts off in similar territory but gradually yields to a submerged and reversed techno pulse pumping through coruscated chordal drone, gaining in woozy mesmeric psych intensity over its inexorable hypnagogic trajectory. Sequence Three rounds out a satisfying trio of full-lengths that Light Conductor has released on Constellation, featuring vibrantly minimal geometric cover art designed by label co-founder Ian Ilavsky that integrates the trilogy as a visual series as well. In keeping with the previous two albums in the set, the Deluxe 180gLP includes a 12"x24" art poster. Thanks for listening.

,Our Final Album - Vol. 1" ist das vierte Album von Glenn Morrow's Cry For Help und zeigt die Band aus Hoboken, New Jersey, auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Kreativität. Obwohl der Titel einen Abschied suggeriert, präsentiert das Album eine lebendige und vielseitige Sammlung von elf neuen Songs, die von klassischem Gitarrenrock über gefühlvolle Balladen bis hin zu Bossa-Nova- und Soul-Einflüssen reichen. Angeführt wird die Band von Glenn Morrow, einer Schlüsselfigur der unabhängigen US-Musikszene, der als Musiker, Journalist und langjähriger Betreiber des Indie-Labels Bar/None Records bekannt wurde. Gemeinsam mit Bassist Mike Rosenberg, Gitarrist Ric Sherman und Schlagzeuger Ron Metz greift Morrow auf jahrzehntelange Erfahrung in der traditionsreichen Hoboken-Musikszene zurück. Aufgenommen wurde das Album erneut im Magic Door Studio von Produzent Ray Ketchem, der besonders das Gespür der Band für eingängige Melodien und starkes Songwriting hervorhebt. Unterstützung erhält die Band diesmal vom renommierten Keyboarder Andrew Burton, dessen Beiträge den Songs zusätzliche Tiefe und Klangfarben verleihen. Musikalisch verbindet ,Our Final Album - Vol. 1" kraftvolle Rocksongs wie ,That's That", ,Beatle Bones" und ,Into Something New" mit nachdenklicheren Momenten wie ,Stop Your Crying", dem Bossa-Stück ,Boom Boom" oder dem souligen ,Let's Stay In Bed". Dabei ziehen sich Glenn Morrows persönliche Geschichten, Lebenserfahrungen und eine leichte Melancholie durch das gesamte Album. Das Ergebnis ist ein abwechslungsreiches, warmes und zeitloses Rockalbum, das die Stärke einer Band zeigt, die auch nach vielen Jahren nichts von ihrer Leidenschaft verloren hat.

BBC Paris Studio was the location for the recording of the tracks for the second and third Pop Go The Beatles radio show on June 1st 1963. All except for Twist And Shout, which was cut on June 17th at BBC’s Maida Vale Studios. It was at the Paris Studios session that magazine publisher Sean O’Mahony met Brian Epstein and suggested that the Beatles should have their own monthly magazine.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes show that they have truly matured as song-thieves on this album! Running at 45 RPM, the 25th anniversary pressing comes with silver foil and silver 25th anniversary labels. But if you like you can buy the original CD still too. Punk pranksters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, came forth with their third full length album, Blow In The Wind. That time around the band pays tribute to the tunes of the late 50s and 60s. Once again Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have woven their punk rock magic into the threads of the classics from the likes of The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Del Shannon, and Cat Stevens, just to name a few. On Blow In The Wind, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes don't simply cover 13 songs whose future was dependent upon the AM dial, they breathe the breath of new life into songs that were on the verge of being forgotten! Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is comprised of the following punk rockers: Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters), Joey Cape (Lagwagon), Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (ex No Use For A Name, present Foo Fighters), and Dave Raun (Lagwagon)

Yassokiiba returns with two tracks of heavyweight modular dub pressure recorded in his Tokyo apartment! Fresh from last year's sell out drop, here we are treated to a progression in the unique blend of electronix + classic dub flavours. DUB 11 kicks off with upbeat chubby chords rubbing up against heavyweight bassline + FX! On the flip, DUB 15 goes a little deeper - beatless shards of metallic echoes float above rolling baselines and subtle glitch FX - the sound of MODULAR DUB NOW!

Am 7. August 2026 veröffentlichen THE BOYS eine limitierte Doppel-A-Seite-Vinyl-Single bei Damaged Goods Records. ,Damn Those Eyes" und ,Never Mind the Botox" wurden letztes Jahr im The Planet Of Noise Studio in Limmared, Schweden, aufgenommen. Beide Songs stammen aus dem sechsten offiziellen Studioalbum von The Boys, das im Dezember 2026 erscheinen wird. Zusammen mit den Sex Pistols, The Clash und The Damned gehörten The Boys zur ersten Welle der britischen Punk-Explosion Mitte der 1970er Jahre. Ausgestattet mit einem Arsenal an Killer-Songs von Steel und Dangerfield wurden The Boys im Januar 1977 zur ersten britischen Punkband, die einen Plattenvertrag unterschrieb. Von der Musikpresse und ihren Zeitgenossen hoch geschätzt, führten ihre gut ausgearbeiteten Songs zusammen mit Steels und Dangerfields Liebe zu Harmonien dazu, dass sie als ,die Beatles des Punk" bezeichnet wurden, aber sie hätten genauso verdient mit den Ramones verglichen werden können (und sollen) - schnell, abwechselnd frech und augenzwinkernd, und herrlich hymnisch. Auf der neuen Single sind die ursprünglichen Gründungsmitglieder und das Songwriter-Team Matt Dangerfield und Casino Steel zu hören, zusammen mit den langjährigen Mitgliedern Chips Kiesbye & Kent Norberg (von der schwedischen Megaband Sator) sowie Martin H-Son (ex-Backstreet Girls). Der renommierte internationale Filmemacher und ehemalige Bassist von The Crybabys, Danny Garcia, hat einen Gastauftritt auf ,Never Mind the Botox" und hat außerdem Promo-Videos für beide Songs gedreht.

'Under the name The 4th Street Orchestra, Dennis Bovell released a series of limited-edition albums in the mid-70s specifically for the UK sound system scene. Yuh Learn! stands as a prime example of Bovell’s creativity and production prowess. With its strong Jamaican Roots appeal, it is a record cherished by sound system selectors, capable of taking every listener on a deep journey through the many shades of dub.
'The album features two of Real Rock Records’ favorite tracks. First, the instrumental The Grunwick Affair, recorded in solidarity with the striking workers of the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories in Willesden. This historic industrial dispute paved the way for the socio-political shifts of the late 70s and remains a landmark in British labor history. The track was even hailed by Time Out as one of the top 100 songs about London. The horn section features also the legendary Rico Rodriguez, Michael ‘Bammy’ Rose, and Eddie Thornton on trumpet. Also included is the classic sound system anthem Rowing Down The River.
'Presented here in an extended version, Bovell’s vocals ride the rhythm perfectly until a heavyweight dub version takes over. The musicians performing as “The 4th Street Orchestra” deserve special mention. The lineup includes drummer Jah Bunny, a foundation musician who played on crucial albums with Bovell and the late Jah Shaka, and John Kpiaye, a leading figure in the British reggae scene and “Lovers Rock” producer. Kpiaye has collaborated with Dennis Brown, Aswad, and I Jahman Levi, and serves as the resident guitarist for the Dennis Bovell Dub Band backing Linton Kwesi Johnson.The late Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton on trumpet, an Alpha Boys School alumnus and legendary session man also for The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, brings his expertise to the project, having also contributed to masterpieces like Rico Rodriguez’s Man From Wareika.
This is a limited-edition, vinyl-only first reissue of one of the rarest and most sought-after albums from Dennis Bovell’s legendary catalog.'

Die Gründungsmitglieder von Mojave 3 sind Sänger/Gitarrist Neil Halstead, Bassistin/Sängerin Rachel Goswell und Schlagzeuger Ian McCutcheon. Die Band trat 1995 erstmals in Erscheinung, als ein Demo mit sechs Tracks 4AD so sehr beeindruckte, dass ihnen ein Plattenvertrag angeboten wurde - trotz des damals vorherrschenden musikalischen Klimas des selbstbewussten Britpop, der scheinbar völlig im Widerspruch zu dem stand, was Mojave 3 machten. Diese Unvereinbarkeit war kaum überraschend, wenn man bedenkt, dass Halstead, Goswell und McCutcheon zuvor Mitglieder der prägenden Shoegaze-Band Slowdive waren, während Gitarrist Simon Rowe zuvor bei den Dream-Pop-Verwandten von Chapterhouse gespielt hatte. Spoon and Rafter folgte drei Jahre später und markierte erneut eine Veränderung für die Band. Zwar enthielt das Album weiterhin Anklänge an Singer-Songwriter und Alternative Country, doch stellte es zugleich eine farbenreiche Erweiterung ihres Klangspektrums dar, bei der Elektronik, Glockenspiele, Melodica und eine Beatles-artige Produktion zum Einsatz kamen.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 40 years ago that we started out as a cover band in the night clubs of California before writing and recording our own songs and selling millions of albums. Just like our musical heroes The Beatles, Rolling Stones, or even Jimi Hendrix, all artists who honed their craft by learning cover songs from the legends before them, we did the same as youngsters and still enjoy paying tributes and recording cover songs today. HOMAGE is our new album that not only pays tribute to legends but gives us a chance to showcase our lead singer’s diversity as well as the musical dynamics we learned as a band many years ago. And now, our new album HOMAGE is a thank-you note written in sound. An offering to the great singers and songs that shaped the music we grew up listening to and the songs we would eventually write.

Each track showcases Jeff Keith’s incredible vocal ability Something that may have been overlooked throughout our long career. But not by our fans.........!!! HOMAGE isn’t about imitation. It’s about acknowledgment. About tracing the line from influence to identity, from listening to becoming. You ask why ? .....why not! It felt like a good thing to do, it’s been 20 years since we did Real to Reel.....It sparked writing a new original Tesla song called “Never Alone” And it’s what bands are supposed to do ..make music. These songs were picked for various reasons… Mostly because they’re some of the greatest singers of all time: Elvis Presley Freddie Mercury Sam Cooke David Ruffin Etta James James Brown And some of the others because we liked the songs and grew up hearing them on the radio or on our turntables. Anyway, we hope you all enjoy this as much as we did making it....Thank you for all the years ..Keep it Real and keep Rockin!!!!!

Between her elaborately conceptual Drag City singer-songwriter albums and celebrated soundtracks for Ryusuke Hamaguchi, in recent years Eiko Ishibashi has quietly self-released a significant body of solo and collaborative work on her Bandcamp page. At times resembling her solo live performances in their organic interweaving of instrumental, electronic, and concrete sounds, each of these less feted online releases offers a snapshot of the experiments always underway at Atelier Eiko. Some Fine Legacy is pleased to announce a vinyl edition of one of the most intriguing of these works, Gasping_Sighing_Sobbing, made in collaboration with Hiroshi Minami and first released in 2021.

Active since the 1980s, Hiroshi Minami is a key figure in the Tokyo jazz scene, as well as a respected memoirist. Devoted to the great standards, which he explores with an Evans-ish delicacy of touch and Impressionist harmonic extensions, he is equally at home working up variations on tunes by Ryuichi Sakomoto and The Beatles or experimenting with ambient electronics. A single note from his piano is the first thing we hear on Gasping_Sighing_Sobbing, the space left by its decay unexpectedly filled by a synth arpeggio that quickly fades away as the piano returns with a balladic chord sequence.

Like her frequent collaborator Jim O’Rourke, Ishibashi possesses the virtue of patience, recognising the beauty of lingering at length in a single musical environment. Throughout its 40-minute duration, Gasping_Sighing_Sobbing remains lost in this maze of obstructed and fragmented piano balladry. The musical surface is in one respect placid, but close listening reveals dynamics and processes that are deeply strange: the resonance of a chord dying away is frozen, expanding to become a cloud that suddenly makes way for the piano’s return; or the piano is looped into a ticking glitch or a time-stretched shudder, momentarily sinking under lapping waves, distant bells, and snatches of conversation. Ishibashi’s subtle vocals and synths colour the piano passages like views through distorted glass. The metaphor of cinéma pour l’oreille is perhaps overused in discussions of the musique concrète tradition, but here the visual associations are almost unavoidable: especially when Daisuke Ijichi joins on upright bass, it’s hard to shake the cinematic image of a smoky jazz bar—shown in a sequence, perhaps, that cuts repeatedly to the musicians’ and audience’s thoughts and dreams. Like much of Ishibashi’s work, this collaboration with Hiroshi Minami is inconspicuously radical, shaped at the deepest level by electro-acoustic procedures even as it luxuriates in melancholic beauty.

100 Copies Only, Orange 7” Vinyl, packaged in Numbered A4 6 Page Lyric Wallet with safety pin fastening

To celebrate Punk’s 50th year 1976-2026, Mal-One has put together an E.P. of his punk poetry. A limited edition of 100
numbered copies on orange vinyl contained in an art folder, behind a safety pin for good measure. Contained inside lie the lyrics of these poetic verses. Side one contains `The Ballad of Punk Rock’ in all its 5 minute and 57 second glory.
Mal-One telling a brief history of how we got from there to here in all its pomp and circumstance. Side two carries a
further 5 Punk Art poems telling us some more punk related stories . Hope you enjoy the listen.1. The Ballad Of Punk Rock (5.57)

Marking the next step in his deep-diving exploration of rhythm and space, Konduku unveils his new label Hayal with a three-track single Sarmal. Continuing the visual aesthetic he developed across the celebrated 'K' series of EPs on Nous'klaer Audio from 2018 to 2024, these thoroughly road-tested tracks arrive as a natural, understated progression. Within the broad remit of psychedelic, modernist techno, this first Hayal release maintains Konduku's focus on cascading, angular percussion and meditative atmospheres. 'Zelve' matches a pensive, ambiguous mood with a steady, floor-ready 4/4 undercurrent, while 'Sarmal' builds more gradually from a delicate beginning towards a euphoric peak. The musicality at the heart of 'Sarmal' shines through in a beatless 'Ambient version' that closes out the EP, a flourish of starry-eyed electronica providing the energetic balance intrinsic to Konduku's sound.

The artists at Stax Records were no more immune to the Beatles’ charm than the rest of the United States. From the mid-1960s onward, numerous Beatles covers were laid down for the label. Available wide on vinyl for the first time, this 8 track LP collection includes vocal and instrumental performances that deliver an eclectic cross-section of soulful Beatles covers by legendary Stax Records artists, including Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas, and David Porter.

Die Künstler bei Stax Records waren dem Charme der Beatles ebenso wenig gewachsen wie der Rest der
Vereinigten Staaten. Ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre entstanden zahlreiche Beatles-Covers für das Label. Diese
8-Track-LP-Sammlung, die erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich ist, enthält Gesangs- und Instrumentalaufnahmen,
die einen vielseitigen Querschnitt durch gefühlvolle Beatles-Covers von legendären Stax-Records-Künstlern
bieten, darunter Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas und David Porter.

R&B outsider Zsela joins forces with inc. no world's Daniel Aged and film composer Taul Katz on '4 Dreams', a billowing ambient-neoclassical hallucination that'll tickle fans of Mary Lattimore, Malibu, Nala Sinephro, Gigi Masin. If you only know Zsela thanks to her dramatic 2024 debut album 'Big For You', the mostly beatless, fully reflective '4 Dreams' might come as a surprise. But look a little further back in her catalogue and things will fall into place; remember 'Angels Pharmacy' and Remembrance' from Actress's 'Karma & Desire'? That was Zsela on vocals, so she's got priors. '4 Dreams' started life as the soundtrack to 'Seven Heavenly Senses', an art exhibition from last year at Paris's Hôtel de la Marine, but has since taken on a life of its own. Zsela's breaths are stretched and sculpted into warm, washing biomechanical pads on the opening dream, left to weather tinny arpeggiated FM synths and muggy bass drones. So far, so predictable. But Zsela muddles proceedings with her confident delivery, layering her voice into jazzy, R&B inflected key changes that keep you guessing. Imagine an astral plane answer to Dawn Richard's ambient-inflected pop and you'll have some idea of where this is headed.

Then 'Dream 2' takes an unexpected diversion, the vocals replaced by swirling harp flourishes and the kind of floating synth stabs that draw a core logic from classic Ambient - Harold Budd, Laraaji et al - then adding extra colors just where necessary. And on 'Dream 3', faint, almost folk-y strings enter the frame, calling out from beyond the horizon, almost blotted out by a synth part that's in the thrall of Gigi Masin's legendary 'Clouds' - the track that ended up being repurposed by Björk on 'It's In Our Hands'. Zsela, Katz and Aged keep that momentum for the final track, too, letting cinematic strings echo around subtle synths and vanishing rhythms, hitting those hypnagogic, tranquil notes that so much contemporary ambient music seems to avoid. 'Cause at its heart, '4 Dreams' is deeper than that, a record that's entrenched in jazz, soul and classical minimalism rather than throwaway numbing music, of the contemporary variety.

“All I can do is make my art from an honest place with an honest intention.” Earth-o-Naut.

Earth-o-Naut is a songwriter, drummer, musician and producer. He was born in Liverpool and raised in one of its satellite towns, Skelmersdale. He was raised by his mum and uncles on music from every genre, falling in love, amazement and awe with the groove and the craft of songwriting. Nothing has changed to this day. Songwriting has also always been a constant. That quest to create something original and use the songwriting process as some form of catharsis. Learning guitar and piano was the next logical step, to help with the creation of new ideas into new songs. A lot of time was spent playing drumming gigs and then taking his own songs on the road, solo with just an acoustic guitar, learning the ropes and serving his apprenticeship. Great songwriters The Beatles, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Neil Finn and many others inspire Earth-o-Naut to this day.

Earth-o-naut has worked hard for many years on his studio chops and is the writer, arranger, recording engineer, mix engineer and producer on all of his own material, and he also works with other artists as a producer. Earth-o-Naut's debut album, 'This Is Nowhere. This Is Everywhere.' will be released on Agogo Records in June 2026. The debut album features UK drumming legend, Steve White and also the vocals of Amalia Estradas and Suzanne Maddock. 2026 will also see Earth-o-Naut take his songs on the road and play some live shows.st singular, emotive, and genre-defying releases of its era.

Venus Flux is a new four-track EP by Lord Of The Isles on Amsterdam’s Far Blue label. The record opens with Mushroom Talk, a beatless ambient piece built from slow-moving analog tones, inspired by the honesty of altered states. Two live-improvised dub techno tracks, Betuladub and Pedaldub, form the core of the EP, shaped by intuition and in-the-moment connection rather than fixed arrangements. The closing track, Venus Flux, is an electro piece that feels reflective and unresolved.

* Begleittext vom legendären Musiker, Autor und Compiler Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith, Nuggets) * Das Booklet enthält bisher unveröffentlichte Fotos und Raritäten * Das Cover wurde restauriert und auf ein Gatefold-Cover erweitert * Neu remastert * Platz 5 auf Kurt Cobains Liste der 50 Lieblingsalben 1968 schnappten sich drei Schwestern aus Fremont, New Hampshire, ihre Instrumente und nannten sich ,The Shaggs". In diesem Moment begann eine eigentümliche Geschichte, die weit über die fünfjährige Existenz der Gruppe hinausreichen sollte. Dot, Betty und Helen (und gelegentlich Rachel, die vierte Schwester) spielten in der Gruppe auf Drängen ihres Vaters, Austin Wiggin Jr., der überzeugt war, dass sie groß rauskommen würden. Jahre zuvor hatte Austins Mutter ihm aus der Hand gelesen und vorausgesagt, dass ihr Sohn eine strohblonde Frau heiraten würde, dass er nach dem Tod seiner Mutter zwei Söhne bekommen würde und dass seine Töchter eine beliebte Musikgruppe gründen würden. Die ersten beiden Vorhersagen traten ein, also war Austin sicher, dass auch die dritte eintreffen würde. Mit unerschütterlichem Selbstvertrauen und der kühnen Vorhersage seiner Mutter beschloss Austin, dass seine Töchter auf den Besuch der örtlichen Highschool verzichten und stattdessen zu Hause unterrichtet werden sollten, unterbrochen von einem strengen Programm aus Instrumental- und Gesangsübungen sowie Jumping Jacks und Sit-ups. Bald darauf betraten The Shaggs die Fleetwood Recording Studios in Revere, Massachusetts, um ihr einziges Album ,Philosophy Of The World" aufzunehmen, eine Sammlung von Garage-Rock-Songs, die Charme und Dissonanz gleichermaßen in Einklang brachten. Austin gab den Großteil seiner Ersparnisse nicht nur für die Aufnahmen aus, sondern auch für die Produktionskosten, um 1.000 Exemplare des Albums zu pressen (von denen 900 nach Fertigstellung auf mysteriöse Weise verschwanden). Im gesamten Album werden einfache Wahrheiten durch die Feder von Schwester Dot, der Songwriterin der Band, offenbart. Die Reichen wollen das, was die Armen haben, genauso wie die Armen das wollen, was die Reichen haben. Deine Eltern lieben dich. In der Nähe liegt Glück und in der Ferne Traurigkeit. Das Album erfüllte Austins Erwartungen an den Rockstar-Ruhm nicht, doch die Gruppe blieb bis zum Tod ihres Vaters zusammen und trat regelmäßig im Rathaus von Fremont und in einem örtlichen Pflegeheim auf; weitere Alben wurden jedoch nicht veröffentlicht. Das hätte das Ende sein können, bis die Rockband NRBQ eine Kopie bei einem Radiosender in Massachusetts entdeckte und sie 1980 neu veröffentlichte. Der damalige Rezensent des Rolling Stone beschrieb es als ,die atemberaubend schrecklichste wunderbare Platte, die ich seit Ewigkeiten gehört habe". Fast 50 Jahre später zählt das Album zu den polarisierendsten LPs aller Zeiten. Manche sagten, es sei das Schlimmste, was je produziert wurde. Andere empfanden es als eines der großartigsten Langspielalben des 20. Jahrhunderts. Frank Zappa bezeichnete die Band bekanntlich als ,besser als die Beatles", während Kurt Cobain das Album auf Platz 5 seiner Liste der 50 Lieblingsalben setzte. Originalausgaben des Albums erzielen Preise von 10.000 Dollar. Jahrzehnte später könnte man argumentieren, dass Austin vielleicht die ganze Zeit recht hatte. Wir sind alle hier und immer noch fasziniert von der Reinheit der Shaggs.

John Ringhofer, der Mann hinter Half-Canded Cloud, ist ebenso fröhlich und genügsam wie seine Musik. Als sparsamer Mensch zieht Ringhofer die U-Bahn dem Taxi vor, recycelt Plastik, macht sich zwanghaft Notizen und ist ein geborener Optimist. Half-Canded Cloud begann 1999 als Heimstudio-Projekt in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ringhofer lebte später über ein Jahrzehnt lang in der kalifornischen Bay Area (wo er als Teilzeit-Hausmeister arbeitete), bevor er 2015 mit seiner jungen Familie nach Helsinki, Finnland, zog, um die linguistische Forschung seiner Frau zu unterstützen. Half-Canded Cloud versteht es, komplexe theologische Konzepte in eingängige und erhabene Kinderlieder zu verpacken, die sich weder ihrem Thema noch ihrem Zuhörer herablassend nähern.

Michigan Band EJ & the Echoes: Rediscovering a Soul Legacy

The story of EJ & the Echoes represents a remarkable chapter in Michigan's music history and the early American soul scene. Its origins date back to the late 1950s, when Everett J. "EJ" Gronda was already active as a young musician. While studying at Central Michigan University in the early 1960s, he met the talented vocalist Manuel "Manny" Holcolm. Together with other musicians, they formed vocal groups that soon performed throughout the state and even recorded near Detroit's legendary Motown studios.

In 1963, Gronda founded EJ & the Echoes, a band that quickly gained popularity at dances, clubs, and weddings across Michigan. With Manny Holcolm as lead singer, the group developed a distinctive harmony-driven sound, blending influences ranging from the Beatles to James Brown. The band served as a house band in Traverse City, opened for national acts, and performed regularly at well-known Detroit venues.

Between 1964 and 1967, EJ & the Echoes released several singles on the Diamond Jim Records label. Although major commercial success eluded them at the time, their recordings later found international recognition. Today, their songs remain staples of the British Northern Soul scene.

After the band dissolved, the members pursued different paths. EJ Gronda became a schoolteacher but remained devoted to music throughout his life. In 2006, the musicians reunited for an emotional jam session. EJ Gronda passed away in 2022, followed by Manuel Holcolm in 2024. Their musical legacy endures-on this vinyl release, dance floors, and in the memory of a remarkable era.

Our sincere thanks go to author and blues historian Fred Reif. He wrote the accompanying text and provided all the pictures of the band printed in the gatefold cover. Without him, this project would not have been possible.

‘In The Bay’ is our 21st release for The Boxmasters. Songs were all inspired by and either written or partially written in the small beach town of Morro Bay, California. It’s a slight departure from our Abbey Road influenced album ‘Pepper Tree Hill,’ but is still in the same wheelhouse. ‘In The Bay’ has a strong Brian Wilson influence in the way the instrumentation is used. It is our humble attempt at making our ‘Pet Sounds’. We’re certainly not The Beatles or The Beach Boys, no one will ever be, but those heroes continue to inspire us.

Das neue Album von Slippers-Mastermind Madeline BB ist ein Meisterwerk. Als hätte man die Beatles mit Sprühdose und Wachsstift bemalt. Das letzte Album von Slippers trug den Titel ,Do You Like Slippers?". Passender wäre ,Do You Like Pop Music?" gewesen. Denn wenn die Antwort auf eine der beiden Fragen ,Nein" lautet, was machen wir dann hier überhaupt?

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum.
Am 22.05.2026 erscheint die Vinyle von Howlin’ Wolf ”The Real Folk Blues” und Muddy Waters ”The
Real Folk Blues”

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum.
Am 22.05.2026 erscheint die Vinyle von Howlin’ Wolf ”The Real Folk Blues” und Muddy Waters ”The
Real Folk Blues”

Following the success of his debut EP 'Departure', J Michael Harris returns with a dynamic neo-jazz album that marks his evolution as an artist. Bringing together legendary musicians from London, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, the album embodies elements of jazz, dance and electronica while drawing inspiration from luminaries such as Robert Glasper, J Dilla, Aphex Twin, Sampha, and Herbie Hancock.



All music written by J Michael Harris (saxophone, piano, fender rhodes, synths, EWI, clarinet, flute)

featuring

Freddy Sheed (drums, percussion, programming/ Lewis Capaldi, The Japanese House, The 1975)

Jimmy Haslip (bass/ Yellowjackets, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Lorber Fusion)

Mo Pleasure (piano, hammond b3/ Earth Wind and Fire,

Michael Jackson, Ray Charles)

Karlos Edwards (percussion/ Nitin Sawney, Spice Girls, Mark Ronson)

Henry Collins (trumpet/ Amy Winehouse, Tom Jones, Van Morrison)



Mixed and Mastered by Guy Massey (The Divine Comedy, Kylie, The Beatles)

Seiji Ozawas Antritt als Musikdirektor des San Francisco Symphony Orchestra im Jahr 1970 wurde später
von Barack Obama anschaulich beschrieben: „Mit seinem Mop-Haarschnitt, seinen Rollkragenpullovern
und seinen Liebesperlen sah er fast aus wie ein Beatle“. Diese Aufnahme von Dvořáks Sinfonie „Aus der
Neuen Welt“ aus dem Mai 1975 war eine der letzten, die von Philips in Quadrophonie aufgenommen und
speziell für diese Neuauflage neu abgemischt wurde.
Die neue audiophile Vinyl-Reihe DECCA PURE ANALOGUE präsentiert legendäre Aufnahmen aus den
Archiven von Decca und Philips in einer völlig neuen Klangqualität. Die renommierten Emil Berliner Studios haben diese in 100 % analoger Qualität (AAA) mit speziell für diese Reihe entwickelten Technologien
neu gemastert.
Jede Veröffentlichung der Serie wird auf 180 g schweren Virgin-Vinyl-Schallplatten gepresst und in einer
luxuriösen Gatefold-Edition präsentiert, mit Original-Artwork und Liner Notes, zusätzlichen Fotos und
Faksimiles der Bandboxen und Aufnahmedokumentation. Darüber hinaus enthält jede handnummerierte
Limited Edition neue Liner Notes, in denen die Geschichte der Aufnahme sowie der technische Prozess der
Neu-Veröffentlichung detailliert beschrieben werden.

Trajectories collide in a wormhole as Tokyo-based Igaxx and Amsterdam-based Gropina converge on a crepuscular four-track 12-inch and digital release for Paesaggi Records. Igaxx drifts through near-beatless, spiralling psychedelia: “The Perception” is a slow-burn ascent, suspended in a state of perpetual anticipation, forever circling a climax that never arrives. “Someday in Time” settles into a steady pulse that glides outward, dissolving into the distance as if lost in quiet contemplation.

On the flip, Gropina reshapes the two pieces through his own sonic lens, like stepping through the looking glass. “The Perception (Version)” brings a supernatural, Kraut-inspired vibe, opening with a deceptive 2:35 intro before unfolding into Mother Sky-esque drums, primitive flutes, and reversed guitars. “Some Day In Time (Version)” is a dubby reinterpretation driven by a ’70s Ace Tone drum machine, a funky bassline, dub-soaked guitars, noir alto saxophone, and subtle details swirling through the mix.

Zum ersten Mal auf Kassette! Mit nur sechs Singleveröffentlichungen zwischen 1965 und 1966 und von einem musikalisch abgelegenen Ort wie Lima erschufen LOS SAICOS einen rohe, wilden Sound, der Einiges mit dem gemeinsam hatte, was zur gleichen Zeit auf der Nordhalbkugel ,Garage Rock" getauft wurde. LOS SAICOS teilten sich Gene mit THE SONICS, ROCKET FROM THE TOMBRS, THE CRAMPS und BLACK LIPS. Diese Veröffentlichung versammelt sämtliche ihrer Aufnahmen und erzählt die grandiose Geschichte von LOS SAICOS. Die Archäologie des Rock'n'Roll hat viel gemeinsam mit anderen Formen des Grabens. Wichtige Fundstücke erfordern eine Neueinschätzung der alten Gewissheiten. Ich hatte niemals zuvor von LOS SAICOS gehört, hatte jedoch die WAU Y LOS ARRGHS!!! Version von ,Demolicion" genossen. Während mir die Wildheit des Tracks gefiel, dachte ich nicht eine Sekunde daran, dass das Original noch verstörter sein könnte. Was noch viel wichtiger is: dieser fauchende Strudel Nihilismus wurde in Lima aufgenommen, während der Rest der Welt die BEATLES abfeierte. Chemie ist ein Faktor, der wichtiger als theoretische Kenntnisse oder Können. Es gibt einen Punkt, an dem die Natur die Führung übernimmt - das Individuum muss gehorchen. Wer hätte gedacht, dass es da draußen in Peru eine Combo geben würde, die THE SONICS nach den verdammten SIMON & GARFUNKEL klingen lässt? Best ever Saicotherapie!

The Swallows were one of Singapore’s standout bands of the 1960s, rising from the explosive Pop Yeh-Yeh movement, the regional response to the global beat-band wave, with strong garage-rock roots. Fusing surf rock, early Beatles-inspired pop, and gritty, fuzz-laden guitars with a distinctly local sensibility, they became youth icons of the era. Defined by sharp suits, infectious melodies, and a rebellious spark, The Swallows captured the restless energy of post-independence Singapore, securing their place in the island’s golden age of bands and in the wider story of Southeast Asian rock.

Born into a musical family Al Manfredi started writing songs when he was child. As a teenager in 1965, he formed the Nuts & Bolts in the small beach town of San Clemente, California. Inspired by the Kinks, the Beatles and the Byrds, the group separated themselves from the pack by also performing original material written by Manfredi and band mate Mike Ingram. In late 1966 they changed their name to the Lost & Found and relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where they cut a rare single, “Don’t Move Girl” b/w “To Catch the Sun,” which now commands high coin from ‘60s garage collectors. When they returned to San Clemente in early 1967 their music had taken a more psychedelic direction. The Lost & Found were riding high that year, until tragedy struck. Ingram was found hanged under suspicious circumstances and soon after Lost & Found drummer Mike Ryer died of cancer at the age of 19. Heartbroken, Manfredi gave up on the band scene completely and moved to Garden Grove to teach at his family’s music store. But alone, behind closed doors, he kept writing songs and working on his music, recording hours of tapes, often tracking all the instruments himself. In 1973 he chose six of his best songs, some of them written back in the Lost & Found days, and had them custom-pressed as an LP. Only a handful of copies were pressed, and most of these were sent out to various record companies in the hope of landing a deal. Despite the outstanding quality of the music, there were no takers. But decades later, collectors discovered the Al Manfredi album and hailed it a West Coast rock masterpiece. In his Acid Archives book, Patrick Lundborg called its discovery a deus ex machina and compared it to David Crosby’s first solo album and Hawaii-era Merrell Fankhauser, “not just the acutely captured mellowness, but the self-confidence and the talent.”This little-known West Coast rock masterpiece was rediscovered and celebrated by Acid Archives founder Patrick Lundborg and others around the time that Manfredi died in 1995. This version of the album, overseen by Manfredi’s son Exile, and with Manfredi’s story told by Ugly Things’ founder Mike Stax, presents the complete package of an incredible lost and found artist. Contains the album, as originally issued, on side A with unreleased music on side B.

Xylitol, aka producer and DJ Catherine Backhouse, shifts up the refinement and musical breadth for her second album Blumenfantasie, the follow-up to her Planet Mu debut Anemones.
With Blumenfantasie, Xylitol wanted “to make space and for the music to float and propel at once”, finding routes through the pointillistic figures, cascading synths and the meditative stillness of kosmische musik and bolder breakbeat programming. She reaches this delicate balance through careful subtraction, hoping “to convey a sense of intimacy and sadness but without sentimentality” which she manages with a feel and sound that's raw and intuitive.

Blumenfantasie rolls through detailed jungle workouts that flutter and bleep, through beatless ambience, taking a rare dip below 160 bpm for the elegiac Mirjana, the album’s most explicit nod to Krautrock with a drum break chopped up from Amon Duul II’s anthemic ‘Archangel’s Thunderbird’, through to Halo, a bare bones grime rhythm that calls to mind the missing link between industrial pioneers Nurse With Wound and Wiley's Eskibeat.

Catherine cast her net to draw in experimental audiovisual duo Sculpture and Reading based post-rock band The Leaf Library as collaborators, pulling the former’s whirling eddies of musique concrète into a slice of sublime aquatic jungle, and the latter’s radiophonic folksong into a dark and disorientating breakbeat workout equally indebted to Source Direct as to Broadcast.
Blumenfantasie moves with a confident, self-effacing fluidity which has been informed by DJ Bunnyhausen’s more regular DJ gigs. She speculates ‘if this album feels more cohesive than its predecessor it's likely because I've been DJing a lot more, with Worthing Techno Militia, with central and eastern european electronica collective Slav to the Rhythm, as well as being part of Italo Disco crew Flex. Moving between these zones seemed to open up hidden pathways between the disparate musical trajectories they represent.'
While Anemones contrasted the rough and the delicate, its successor is an album built for the head, hips and heart, with painterly sounds and a sense of intimacy that encourages deep listening while keeping its eyes on the strobelight and its feet on the dancefloor.

Grady Steele (Formant Soundsystem) debuts on FELT with the tender spectre of Nausea, poignant patterns captured through the dusk-hued window pane.

Co-founder of the Formant Soundsystem, a travelling rig that’s powered forward-thinking dances in London and Paris, Grady Steele has championed both experimental and club music at the cutting edge. Concurrently to this, he debuted his own productions back in 2024 for Archaic Vaults. Uniquely intimate, his music shone lowkey and warm with an assured glow. It’s no surprise then to find his inimitable sounds land neatly on Fergus Jones’ FELT imprint.

Nausea extends across seven movements, narrating sentimental parallels of familiarity. Grady posits concentrated pangs of post-rave nostalgia with rich melodic sustenance, a vivid introspection tempered with field recordings and live instrumentation. Strummed guitars and aching pads move purposefully with the suspended pace, an immersive beatless vista from its opening quiet moments through to the guttural noise-laden finale. It’s a brief, beautiful collection from Grady Steele and another string to FELT’s unpredictable bow.

Written, recorded and produced by Grady Steele

Mastered by Miles Whittaker

Cover photo by Alex Kurunis

This is a special work by acclaimed composer and musician Adriaan de Roover, who has released records on Dauw, VIERNULVIER, PIAS, and Consouling Sounds. Chansons de trottoir / Stoepliedjes documents his relationship to sampling in the form of a radio play.

Originally created as a radio piece for Resonance FM in Manchester, the album is a sonic portrait of a walk through Brussels. It is constructed from two field recordings: one made during a walk from Metro Midi towards Adriaan’s home, and another recorded on a walk towards Flagey. Rather than foregrounding recognizable landmarks, the piece focuses on the pavement underfoot: the steady, repetitive rhythm of footsteps on sidewalk tiles.

The recordings are mixed with samples from the music of the Brussels hip-hop group STIKSTOF. Their music became the soundtrack to a period in which Adriaan’s desire to move from Antwerp to Brussels began to take shape. Through repeated listening, the city of Brussels gradually revealed itself to him. This experience echoes that of countless music fans who, while listening to The Beatles, imagine what Liverpool might be like: a city revealed through sound and myth, often crystallized in lukewarm Hard Rock Café–style projections.

Chansons de trottoir / Stoepliedjes is an exercise in sampling and an exploration of how one might find a personal place within the music of others. It frames appropriation as an attentive and considered act. Suspended between memory and imagination, the piece exists closer to a dream state than to reportage.

Consuming you in one swoop, through 10 tracks of poetic electronic-pop odyssey’s, Evadney’s sensational voice acts as the guiding force, weaving between piano, strings, harp, driving electronic elements, and almost beatless moody textures.

Following the release of 3 eps on Black Acre, being remixed by I.JORDAN, inclusion on Jamz Supernova’s BBCRadio ‘Ones To Watch’ list, the Glastonbury Emerging talent list and creating an audiovisual live show performed in the UK and Shanghai, Evadney’s debut album ‘It’s Dreaming’ looks set to solidify him as a bold new voice on the UK music scene, bringing with him a new world of melancholy, narrative-driven pop.

The subjects of sexuality, love, family and a yearning for the divine are played out across this cinematic piece of work. “I’m asking myself and everyone to consider; Where is your love? What does it mean for you? What are your boundaries around it and why?” - Evadney.  On ‘Plie’ Evadney’s vivid storytelling flows effortlessly in a surreal conversation with an angel who teaches him how to dance. ‘Qualia’’ is a harp laden ode to his parents and their enslaved ancestors, whilst ‘Leathered & Laced’ and ‘Good Lord’ are devastatingly beautiful and honest stories of Evadney pulling himself out of his darkest moments of lost direction and substance abuse.

Next year, Earthtones Recordings (which was renamed to Seasons Recordings after ten releases) marks the significant milestone of 30 years in the game. Ahead of that, they have been digging in the vaults for some choice reissues and this hugely in demand one from Natural Rhythm gets the nod. It has been remastered and is a joyous house outing with 'Original Jive' layering up cascading jazz keys with soulful pads and moving drums. 'Earthtones 001' is the beatless sound of a humid jungle, then 'Eclectic Dub' reworks the original with a more stripped-down and focused, groove-driven sound. 'Dub Drums' closes a vital reissue.

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum. Anlässlich dieses historischen Meilensteins
wird Chess im Oktober dieses Jahres eine umfassende Jubiläumsreihe mit einer kuratierten Auswahl audiophiler Vinyl-Neuauflagen starten, beginnend mit Muddy Waters’ „The Best of Muddy Waters“ und Howlin’
Wolfs „Moanin’ in the Moonlight“.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, darunter Chuck Berrys „Berry Is on Top“, Etta James’ „At Last“, Little Walters
„The Best of Little Walter“ und Sonny Boy Williamson IIs „The Real Folk Blues“.

Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Im Jahr 2025 feiert Chess Records sein 75-jähriges Jubiläum. Anlässlich dieses historischen Meilensteins
wird Chess im Oktober dieses Jahres eine umfassende Jubiläumsreihe mit einer kuratierten Auswahl audiophiler Vinyl-Neuauflagen starten, beginnend mit Muddy Waters’ „The Best of Muddy Waters“ und Howlin’
Wolfs „Moanin’ in the Moonlight“.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, darunter Chuck Berrys „Berry Is on Top“, Etta James’ „At Last“, Little Walters
„The Best of Little Walter“ und Sonny Boy Williamson IIs „The Real Folk Blues“.

Released in 1967, Open marked a bold debut for Brian Auger & The Trinity, featuring the dynamic vocals of Julie Driscoll. Music and its makers were rapidly evolving in ‘67, the UK's Jazz and R&B scenes were being influenced by pop and psychedelia and socially, musicians of many styles found common ground in London’s clubs like The Cromwellian and The Scotch Of St James where the The Beatles, US legends Wilson Pickett and Jimi Hendrix mingled with the capitals jazzers and pop stars, often loudly jamming together in even louder 'Lord Byron' shirts. 'Open' fully embraced this spirit by fusing together those genres and attitudes of the era. From the outset Auger displays his jazz rooted approach on the A side with 'In and Out' and 'Isola Natale' (later covered by one of his American jazz heroes Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes). Both showcase the Trinity's musicianship and Brian's improvisational flair. Auger himself takes on vocal duties on the raucous ‘Black Cat’, a track that became a club hit. Open is marked by its eclecticism; 'Lament for Miss Baker' is a tender, piano ballad influenced by Duke Ellington, reflecting Auger’s jazz and classical influences whilst 'Goodbye Jungle Telegraph' is a wild and crazy percussive freak out. Brian displayed not only his virtuosity but also his surrealist sense of humour with bizarre sound effects, inspired by Spike Milligan's The Goons' radio show interspersed between the tracks.

Julie Driscoll’s arrival on the album’s B side brings a sharp shift in tone. Her smoky, emotive vocals inject a soulful depth, notably on covers of Otis Redding & Carla Thomas hit 'Tramp', Aretha's 'Save Me' and The Staples Singers ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad". With original numbers 'Break It Up' and 'A Kind Of Love In' we hear the Auger / Driscoll pop infused R&B at its very best, whilst the version of Donovan’s 'Season of the Witch' stretches out into a slow-burning epic. In 2025, Open is viewed as a cult classic and testament to a unique period when genre boundaries were fluid and artistic risk-taking was the norm. Brian Auger & The Trinity’s debut captures the adventurous energy of the late 1960s. 58 years later, its importance in the development of British jazz fusion and progressive bands that followed is undeniable, with The Charlatans Tim Burgess recently commenting on Auger's Instagram that The Trinity were a 'huge influence'.

Dusty Springfield hosted this impromptu TV special to promote the Tamla Motown artists that were taking part in their first ever European tour in 1965. Motown sent over their six premier - The Supremes, The Temptations, The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas were all backed by the Motown house band, The Earl Van Dyke Sextet. Dusty was a huge Motown fan and was keen to play her part in bringing the acts to a wider audience. The Beatles and the Stones also went out of their way to give Motown a mention in their interviews. Remember, Motown had only just launched its label in Europe earlier that year and the artists were known only to a small number of soul aficionados, so ticket sales for the tour were very poor. Mary Wilson recalls that the acts referred to it as the ghost tour, but they all put a performance for this fabulous TV show.