Buscar:the best of

GREEN VELVET MAKES HIS CIRCUS RECORDINGS DEBUT WITH BIGGER THAN PRINCE, HIS MOST TALKED ABOUT TRACK IN YEARS...

BIGGER THAN PRINCE WAS BORN OUT OF A CONVERSATION BETWEEN LABEL BOSS YOUSEF AND GREEN VELVET WHEN BOTH PLAYED THE INDONESIAN LEG OF THE ANNUAL CIRCUS TOUR. THE IDEA OF THE CHICAGO LEGEND CONTRIBUTING A BRAND NEW TRACK FOR THE CIRCUS X // PART 1 COMPILATION WAS FLOATED AND SOON HE WAS JOINING NINE OTHER FRIENDS OF CIRCUS WHO WERE ALL TO FEATURE IN CELEBRATION OF TEN YEARS OF EVENTS.

'BIGGER THAN PRINCE' IS A CLASSIC GREEN VELVET VOCAL NUMBER AND SHARPER AND FRESHER THAN ANYTHING WE'VE HEARD THIS SUMMER. QUIRKY AND DRIVING, ITS SET TO BE ONE OF THE TRACKS OF THE SEASON.

TO BACK THE ORIGINAL, YOUSEF HAS DRAFTED IN MORE FRIENDS OF CIRCUS ON REMIX DUTIES, HOT SINCE 82 AND THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS...



DJ FEEDBACK



STEVE MAC - "LOVE THIS RECORD AND THE REMIXES... GREAT RELEASE!!"

TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS - "I LOVE THIS RECORD!!! I'LL PLAY THE ORIGINAL!"

MATTHIAS TANZMANN - "BOTH REMIXES REALLY ARE GREAT!! PERFECT FOR ME!"

LEE BURRIDGE - "IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE ORIGINAL FOR THIS GREEN VELVET FAN!"

SINDEN - "ORIGINAL WINNING FOR ME!!!! CLASSIC GREENB VELVET... I LOVE IT!"

ZOMBIE DISCO SQUAD - "WOW! I DON'T THINK I NEED TO SAY MORE. THAT COVERS MY ENJOYMENT MARTINEZ BROS. MAYBE MY FAV."

TIEFSCHWARZ (ALI) - "A GREAT GREAT RELEASE FROM GREEN VELVET. SUPPORT!"

AXEL BOMAN - "THIS IS SUCH A COOL TRACK... LOVE THE ORIGINAL FROM GREEN VELVET!"



DANNY HOWELLS - "MEGA PACKAGE... SUPERB ORIGINAL AND STUNNING REMIXES TOO... ALL GOOD!"

DEETRON - "REALLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL AND THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS REMIX AS WELL. I'LL BE PLAYING."

UNER - "THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS REMIX IS SUPERB!! <3"

DRUMS OF DEATH - "I LOVE THIS WHOLE PACKAGE... WILL PROBABLY PLAY THEM ALL ACTUALLY! "

SOUL CLAP - "PURE FUNK, STRAIGHT UP NASTY!! "

MOXIE - "BIG BIG TUNE!!"

RALPH LAWSON - "THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS REMIX IS BEST OF THE PACKAGE FOR ME. GONNA TRY IT OUT AND LET YOU KNOW."

ALEX WOLFENDEN - "CLASSIC GREEN VELVET TRACK WITH GREAT REMIXS! MARTINEZ BROS' THE ONE FOR ME, FULL SUPPORT."

ANNIE NIGHTINGALE - (BBC RADIO 1) - "HOT SINCE 82 SOUNDS QUITE HOT IN 2013!"

LARSE - (KLUBBING, WDR 1LIVE, GERMANY) - "I LIKE THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS REMIX. WELL DONE GUYS!"

WAIFS & STRAYS (AMOS) - "ALL TRACKS ARE KILLER! THE MARTINEZ BROS REMIX IS AMAZING...FULL SUPPORT."

LUKE SOLOMON - "I HATE TO SAY IT AS I AM SUCH A HUGE GV FAN...BUT MB'S MIX KIND OF TIPS IT FOR ME. SORRY CAJ."

&ME - "I DON'T LIKE IT, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

GERD - GREEN VELVET = BIGGER THAN PRINCE! LOVIN' THE LINNDRUM WINK... GREAT REMIXES TOO!"



ZDAR - "LOVE THIS TUNE!!! CURTIS IS THE BEST AND ALWAYS BE... VERY GOOD MARTINEZ BROS. MIX TOO! LOVE!"

DJ HELL - "AND ANOTHER BIG TUNE FROM THE NEW PRINCE OF DANCE MUSIC! THIS IS GREAT!"

TOM FINDLAY (GROOVE ARMADA) - "GREAT EP!! MASSIVE, SUPER FRESH! GREAT CHOICE OF REMIXES TOO, BOTH SMASH IT!"

SHADOW CHILD - "YES! THE HOT SINCE 82 REMIX SOUNDS DOPE!!! "

SKREAM - "SICK RECORD!! MARTINEZ BROTHERS REMIX IS MY FAV ON FIRST LISTEN."

JORIS VOORN - "WAHAAHA CLASSIC GREEN VELVET ATTITUDE! GREAT STUFF GUYS!!"

ALIX ALVAREZ - "GREAT PACKAGE. GREAT MIXES, ESP FROM MY GUYS TMB, BEING MY FAVORITE. GONNA TRY IT OUT THIS WEEKEND."

TAYO - "THE COOLEST MOFO OUT THERE. CLASSIC GREEN VELVET. SLEAZY "CONTROVERSY" STYLE BUSINESS. LOVE."

CATZ N DOGZ (VOITEK) - "FUCK!! YES PLEASE!!! THIS IS FANTASTIC... MARTINEZ BROS. MIX MY FAV TO PLAY ON FIRST LISTEN."

IAN POOLEY - "THE HOT SINCE 82 MIX IS WICKED!! I'LL BE PLAYING THIS OUT FOR SURE!"

JD TWITCH (OPTIMO) - "I REALLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL OF THIS!! SUPPORTING."

MARC ROMBOY - "GREAT SELECTION OF VERSIONS AND GREAT TO HAVE A NEW GREEN VELVET IN THE BOX! HS82 IS MY PICK TO PLAY OUT THOUGH!!!"

DIESEL (X-PRESS 2) - "THE ORIGINAL AND THE HOT SINCE 82 MIXES AT ARE THE BEST FOR ME. WE'LL BE PLAYING THESE!!"

COPYRIGHT (DEFECTED RADIO) - "HARD TO CHOOSE A FAV. WHAT A PACKAGE...LOVE THE BEATS ON THE MARTINEZ BROS MIX...KILLER!"

We kick off 2013 in style with an Ep from Kiiroy. It´s always exciting for us to be introduced to a new artist. Especially when we are blown away by their Music. For his debut on Cellaa Music Kirroy brings a bouncing track which is perfect for all floors. Please help this new label get off to the best of starts by listening well and leaving considered and constructive feedback. Thank you.

30 years old Kiiroy is using freaky instruments and concrete sounds, our lovely boy, always keepin his distinctive funky´n´groovy attitude. Deep, fresh and seductively satisfying, this tune was designed for the discerning Dancer.

A bumper remix is lead by Stefano Libelle who bring a trademark deep house tune with a weighty, warped bassline and euphoric break. Here he strips the original to it´s essential parts. The super dry kickdrum and percussion in combination with the dark bassline together create Stefano´s own deep-house vision.

deutsch:
Wir starten mit einer EP von Kiiroy stylisch ins Jahr 2013. Für uns war es schon immer aufregend, neue Künstler vorzustellen, ganz besonders, wenn uns ihre Musik umhaut. Für sein Debüt auf Cellaa Music präsentiert Kiiroy einen bouncigen Track, den man auf jeden Floor einsetzen kann. Wir bitten euch, unser neues Label bei seinem Start zu unterstützen, indem ihr euch den Track genau anhört und uns Vorschläge und konstruktive Kritik zukommen lasst. Vielen Dank!

Der 30-jährige Kiiroy verwendet eine freaky Instrumentierung und harte Sounds. Unser Liebling, der stets bei seinem bezeichnenden, funkigen und groovigen Stil bleibt. Die Melodie ist deep, frisch und verführerisch und somit ideal für den anspruchsvollen Zuhörer.

Stefano Libelle liefert mit seinem Remix ein schönes Deephouse-Stück ab. Mit einer deepen, verschrobenen Bassline und euphorischen Breaks reduziert er das Original aufs Wesentliche. Die supertrockene Kickdrum und die Percussion in Verbindung mit der dunklen Bassline sind die Zutaten von Stefanos ganz eigener Deephouse-Vision.

2nd Strike by the Moensters on their own playground. Charming, melodic Originals combined with superb remixes from End of Tape and Daso (Systematic, Stil vor Talent, Connaisseur, My Best Friend).

After several releases on labels like Bar25, Microtonal, Dantze and Etui Records End Of Tape finally hit the box with their Tape Jam EP.

These guys don´t talk with each other, they just do music and that´s the best. The result of this gone wrong musician friendship (but tight producer team at the same time) you can celebrate with this EP.

This is no snow from yesterday, it´s the musical climatic change of tomorrow - without any opportunity. Played & supported by Paco Osuna, Anderson Noise, Lexy, Electric Rescue, Beatamines, Gabriel Ananda, Piemont, Carlo Lio, Markus Kavka and many more.

after midi010 the label will now also spotlight on their outstanding artists - starting with the probably best techno-producer in town: fin phranklin !!! his debut solo-ep ranges from rampaging off-beat techno like t.raumschmiere to some more electronic easy-listening vocoder techno - just a pure pleasure to listen to

Brighter Discs opens with its first release from label founders Kamma & Masalo. Born out of Brighter Days, the duo’s long running party series since 2014. A colourful get together where generations mix freely, DJ legends share space with new voices, and the dancefloor is treated as common ground. Brighter Discs carries this same spirit into recorded form, a natural continuation following the Brighter Days compilation previously released on Rush Hour.

Brighter Discs starts things off with ‘Can’t Fake The Feeling’, built around the original vocal by Renee Mohannon, taken from the 1989 release produced by house music pioneer Joe Smooth. The vocal is fully cleared and officially licensed, with everything surrounding it newly written and produced, resulting in a club track that honours the emotional core of the original vocal while giving it new space to shine.

The ‘Club Mix’ unfolds with immediate lift, a classic yet upfront house energy carried by Kamma & Masalo’s elevating instrumentation moving in lockstep with Renee Mohannon’s vocal. A pure club track celebrating dance music to the fullest.

On the flip you will find K&M’s ‘Unity Dub’, a darker, percussion driven workout that strips things back and presents the track in a different light. A twilight version that highlights the duo’s versatility and deep dancefloor understanding.

Kamma & Masalo have tested both cuts extensively while touring, from sun soaked festival stages to esoteric club spaces. Each version has been shaped in real rooms and refined on the road, ensuring the tracks are heard in their best possible form.

All produced with care and free-spirited party energy, Brighter Discs 001 marks the beginning!

Reissue 2026

The track "I'm So Crazy" by Par-T-One vs. INXS (a remix of INXS's "Just Keep Walking")

is widely praised in dance/electronic circles for successfully fusing classic rock attitude with driving house beats,

retaining the iconic guitar and vocals while adding powerful drums,

making it a timeless and energetic club anthem that captured the spirit of the original for a new generation.

Produced in 2001 by the Italian electronic duo Par-T-One (Sergio Casu aka Sergione and Andrea Pareo),

reviews highlight its infectious energy, inspiring guitars, and effective dancefloor appeal.

The song has been classified as "Punk House" because the video depicts people performing the Pogo move and Michael Hutchence's skinhead-like vocal style.

The song also features samples of Dennis Parker's "Like an Eagle" and "I'm So in Love."

The single reached number 19 in the UK singles chart and the video (directed by Sam Brown and Paul Gore,

who later found success directing videos for James Blunt and The Bravery) won and was nominated for various awards

in the Short Film category and Best Promotional Video.

2026 re-release remastered by Gianni Bini at HOG Studio

"Disco Chimi" by Dominican-raised Cuban artist Charles is the second release on Coco Maria's newly found Club Coco label. Comes with 4 paged insert with liner notes and art.

Charlie Chimi — the alter ego of Charles Garmendia — is a globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic creator best known for La China de la Gasolina. A percussionist for legendary Zamrock band WITCH, L’Eclair, and other international acts, Charlie moves fluidly between roles as a live performer, studio musician, and visual artist.

Like the iconic Dominican street burger it’s named after, the Charlie Chimi project is a spicy mélange of Afro-Cuban rhythms, funk-driven basslines, and playful, inventive wordplay — touching on everyday rituals like making lunch, as well as the trickier themes of illusion, hustle, and deception in the animal (and human) world.

Charlie has assembled an international crew of “Chimis” to help him run the numbers, delivering a dizzying, theatrical live show that feels like peeking into the hazy back room of a bodega: old men slamming dominoes, bachata blasting, and a cosmic sandwich opening a wormhole to somewhere far stranger.

In eine Szene, die häufig von Schein und Dunkelheit dominiert ist, schickten die DESCENDENTS ab Mitte der 80er eine Portion dreckigen Humor, Songs über die junge Liebe und das junge Leben, unverschämt eingängigen Hooks, eine koffein-befeuerte Rhythmusgruppe und natürlich dem legendären Milo am Gesang. Es gab wieder Spaß im Punk. Das erstmals 2004 veröffentlichte Album ,Cool to Be You" zeigte, dass man erwachsen werden und einen ,richtigen" Job machen kann und trotzdem schneller und lauter spielt, als die nachgerückten Kids, die halb so alt sind wie man selbst. Es festigte ihr Vermächtnis als die Band, die den Pop" in den Punk brachte, ohne dabei die Punk-Kante zu verlieren. "Luckily, the only thing that has changed about the band is their switching of record labels from Epitaph to Fat Wreck Chords. Milo Aukerman, Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton continue to spit out hook-laden pop-punk with the energy and humor they have been known for since the early '80s. Like the Ramones before them, the Descendents' overall sound tends to be interchangeable, in the best possible way, with previous efforts. Why mess with a good thing? For instance, among these 14 tracks, "Nothing With You" can be compared to "Clean Sheets," while "Cool to Be You" and "Mass Nerder" are anthems à la "I'm Not a Loser" and "I Don't Want to Grow Up." - Zurück auf schwarzem und limitiertem farbigem Vinyl! Das entscheidenen Verkaufsargument: Jeder liebt die DESCENDENTS! Richtige Annahme, oder?

In eine Szene, die häufig von Schein und Dunkelheit dominiert ist, schickten die DESCENDENTS ab Mitte der 80er eine Portion dreckigen Humor, Songs über die junge Liebe und das junge Leben, unverschämt eingängigen Hooks, eine koffein-befeuerte Rhythmusgruppe und natürlich dem legendären Milo am Gesang. Es gab wieder Spaß im Punk. Das erstmals 2004 veröffentlichte Album ,Cool to Be You" zeigte, dass man erwachsen werden und einen ,richtigen" Job machen kann und trotzdem schneller und lauter spielt, als die nachgerückten Kids, die halb so alt sind wie man selbst. Es festigte ihr Vermächtnis als die Band, die den Pop" in den Punk brachte, ohne dabei die Punk-Kante zu verlieren. "Luckily, the only thing that has changed about the band is their switching of record labels from Epitaph to Fat Wreck Chords. Milo Aukerman, Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton continue to spit out hook-laden pop-punk with the energy and humor they have been known for since the early '80s. Like the Ramones before them, the Descendents' overall sound tends to be interchangeable, in the best possible way, with previous efforts. Why mess with a good thing? For instance, among these 14 tracks, "Nothing With You" can be compared to "Clean Sheets," while "Cool to Be You" and "Mass Nerder" are anthems à la "I'm Not a Loser" and "I Don't Want to Grow Up." - Zurück auf schwarzem und limitiertem farbigem Vinyl! Das entscheidenen Verkaufsargument: Jeder liebt die DESCENDENTS! Richtige Annahme, oder?

interface 68 & friends - best of 4rth volume.

From The Hallucidite...
A Big archive pleasure.

The Romantic, the new album from Bruno Mars. The fourth studio album from the global superstar and 16 time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist marks Mars' first solo album release since 2017's 24k Magic and follows chart topping collaborations with Anderson .Paak as Silk Sonic, as well as smash hits with Lady Gaga and ROSÉ.

Available for pre-order on the 9th January at 5AM GMT and set for release on the 27th February 2026.

Sixteen-time GRAMMY® Award winner and thirty-three-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Bruno Mars is a celebrated singer, songwriter, producer, and musician who is one of the best-selling artists of all time and now continuously the number-one most listened-to artist on Spotify. With recent hits like “APT.” with ROSÉ and “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga—the latter earning him two nominations for “Song Of The Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” at the 67th Annual GRAMMY® Awards—Mars has celebrated another extraordinary year in music. Among his robust list of accolades, some of which include “Album of the Year” for 24K Magic at the 60th Annual GRAMMY® Awards and “Record of The Year” for Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” at the 64th Annual GRAMMY® Awards, Mars has held the number one global song for more weeks than any artist in 2024 with both “APT.” and “Die With A Smile.”

Our latest Holy Grail reissue is this private press spiritual jazz gem out of California from Rickey Kelly and his vibes & marimba. Features Diane Reeves (vocals) & Adele Sebastian (flute)!

Heavyweight 180g LP with tip-on sleeve, individually numbered 1-1000, card enclosed for liner notes & audio download

"Rickey, I know these are your friends, the guys you went to school with, but if you wanna record an album, you record with musicians who have been playing their whole life; whatever you write, they'll put their whole life into it. You play with your friends; they may not even play in tune."

These are the words of Slave guitarist Kevin Johnson, and they were to change the course of young Rickey Kelly's life.

It was 1978, and music student Kelly had approached Johnson with a tape of rough demos of some songs he'd written. A San Francisco native, Kelly had recently moved the short distance south to study music at LA City College in East Hollywood. He was a member of E.W. Wainwright Jr.'s African Roots of Jazz, and was spending up to 10 hours a day in practice on both vibes and marimba. He also played with Horace Tapscott, and had his own band made up of fellow students, but it was his ambition to make an album that led to the conversation with Johnson. It was a turning point in his education, and a decision was looming.

The next thing Johnson said was "You call the best jazz musicians. How'd you like to play with Billy Higgins?", a line that would seal it for anyone; for a youngster like Rickey just starting out in the business, you just don't turn down the opportunity to play with the likes of highly accomplished musicians, especially those of the calibre of legendary jazz drummer Billy Higgins.

Some calls were made and the date was set to record at Studio Masters on Beverly Blvd, a studio set up just a few years previous in 1973, owned and operated by Dot Records founder Randy Wood with his son John. Some of the other music professionals set to record with Kelley that day were flautist Adele Sebastian, bass player Tony Dumas, saxophonist Charles Owens and vocalist Diane Reeves, none of whom had previously played with Kelly before.

Kelly was impressed with the studio, with the gold records displayed on the walls and the famous musicians hanging out. 'It took a lot of humility for me to record with them, I mean I was nobody, nothing, and for not a lot of money either' remembers Rickey in a later interview with Calvin Lincoln, 'It taught me a lot, to practice hard, and study for the rest of your life, to give your all, and there's a lot of all to give'.

As the recording session took place, John Wood was listening in. He was impressed. Kelly didn't have the funds to manufacture and release the album himself, so Wood suggested it was pressed up on his in-house studio label, Los Angeles Phonograph Records, and thus the LP 'My Kind of Music' was released early in 1979. The album also saw a subsequent pressing soon afterwards on Dennis Sullivan's New Note label.

Kelly remains humble and proud of his debut album to this day. 'I was still a beginner' he says, 'These masters walked in, smiling, and gave me something worth gold'.

Obwohl es sich nicht eindeutig einem bestimmten Genre zuordnen lässt, hat ,A Way In" was von Afrobeat, Cumbia, Salsa, Jazz, Reggaeton und Soul - eine Mischung aus kraftvollen Rhythmen und geheimnisvollen Melodien, die Mitchum Yacoubs zweites Album in der Welt der Groove-Musik hervorstechen lässt. Zwischen synkopierten Dance-Tracks, ätherischen Klanglandschaften und gleichmäßigen Backbeats finden sich Geschichten über Angst, Liebe, Aufstand und Heilung. Zehn Tracks, die den menschlichen Geist offenbaren und feiern. Yacoub hat das gesamte Album selbst aufgenommen, produziert und abgemischt und damit den sorgfältig geschichteten Sound sichergestellt, den die Fans seines Debüts ,Living High in the Brass Empire" so schätzen. Wir treffen wieder auf Travis Klein, Bradley Nash und Wesley Etienne, seine unnachahmliche Bläsersektion, die man weder auf Platte noch auf der Bühne verpassen sollte. Mit den aufstrebenden Stimmen von Divina Jasso und Lourdes Iri auf der Hälfte der Tracks mangelt es ,A Way In" nicht an herausragenden Singles, die dich von morgens bis abends begleiten werden.

The rap duo By Storm, made up of Injury Reserve emcee RiTchie and producer Parker Corey debut their first album “My Ghosts Go Ghost”.

Courtney Marie Andrews has long been celebrated as an artist who challenges herself, and who finds new interplays of Folk and Americana.. Also a vivid poet and accomplished painter, she brings a multidisciplinary richness to her work that shines throughout her 9th studio album, Valentine. Co-produced with Jerry Bernhardt and recorded almost entirely to tape, the album features complete in-studio performances that prize raw performance rather than perfection. It is Andrews’s most sonically explorative record thus far – she plays flute, high strung guitars, myriad synths, and draws heavy inspiration from her art outside of music. Her voice is gorgeous and acrobatic always, but on Valentine it finds a new depth, an assertiveness that brings new dimension to its biggest anthems and its softest moments. Written during a period of profound endings and new beginnings, Valentine is a vulnerable exploration of love vs. limerence. While anticipating the imminent loss of a loved one who would eventually recover, a new but uncertain romance began to develop. Rather than lift her up, the two emotional poles seemed to bleed into each other to sow doubt, trouble, even obsession. But through her own exploration of music and art, Andrews found a way to grow stronger inside this feeling. “I didn’t want to slink into my pain, I wanted to embrace it, own it” she says. The songs that emerged are devotional in their lyrics but defiant in their energy; it’s the very sound of a woman standing in her first wisdom. With Valentine, Andrews rejects the objectification of love, the love filled with gestures and objects instead of trust, mess, and growth. In doing so, she delivers her most beautiful and loving album to date.

Two turntables and a microphone. There is a truth in the clarity of that simple coda, a truth that also belies the breadth of what is possible within its confines. Sometimes you gotta get reminded. I Guess U Had To Be There, the new album from NYC rapper ELUCID and veteran producer Sebb Bash, is one of those ones. So fresh it sounds like it was made tomorrow, but bet money you could put this on in ’89 and get heads bopping.
There are moments in music when masters of their craft cross paths at the height of their respective powers—records like Madvillainy, Liquid Swords, Dr. Octagonecologyst, and Hell Hath No Fury—where the result is more than the sum of its parts. ELUCID and Sebb Bash find themselves in this heady, seemingly effortless ephemera on I Guess U Had To Be There. Everything is both familiar and groundbreaking. The beats shift and flip under ELUCID’s feet but he tightropes it all, delivery nimble as a mountain goat, producer and rapper moving in perfect synchronization. Some shining stars make memorable appearances: billy woods, Breezly Brewin, Estee Nack, Shabaka Hutchings. But this is a two-man show, and the duo keep the spotlight where it belongs. I Guess U Had To Be There is a captivating, convention-defying listen and a high-water mark for two of the best artists in the genre.

Sueño Stereo is the final album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo. By 1995, it was clear that the band was the most important Argentinian group of the decade. The album went platinum in 15 days and Rolling Stone considered it the fourth-best album in Latin rock history.

The album is a true reflection of the times, blending Britpop, dream pop and electronic music. Next to that the band named The Beatles as a major influence on the album's structure. Inspired by The Beatles did the band end the album with a medley on the D-side. This gives the album a strong conceptual feel.|

Sueño Stereo is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on transparent vinyl, is packaged in a gatefold sleeve, and includes an insert.

From the maniacal opening notes and carnival barker howl that launch the album, The Ugly Organ wasted no time searing itself into a listener's ears and quickly established Cursive as a musical force with which to be reckoned. A self aware examination of artistic constraints (or lack thereof), relationships, sex, and the intersection of all three, The Ugly Organ wowed critics and audiences alike with its cerebral, cathartic blend of songs. Fiercely intelligent and cohesive - the liner notes laid the songs out like a play, complete with stage directions - across its diverse sonic landscape, the album landed Cursive on the Sunday Arts & Leisure section cover of The New York Times (which also called it "a marvelous collection of riddles and left turns, conceived as a single piece of musical theater") and earned accolades from Rolling Stone ("a brilliant leap forward"), Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Alternative Press, MAGNET ("The best punk record you'll hear all year"), Esquire, and SPIN, among many others, as well as a place on numerous year-end best lists.The Ugly Organ feels as vibrant and vital today as it did upon release more than 20 years ago. A landmark album, it not only catapulted Cursive from the simmering indie underground to the forefront of a genre, but also served to inspire a host of young bands in its wake.