quête:the collective

An elusive Soul/Funk masterpiece from mid-70s Lakeland, Florida. The Riley siblings; Carrie, Horace & James laid the foundation for the two songs they would bring to Auburndale's custom recording studio, Central Sound to be released on the Nashville/Florida label, 'Music City'. Jerome McNeil, William Freeman, Bruce Bolden & Sam Graham would complete the outfit and be collectively known as 'Carrie Riley & The Soul Fascinations'

It's been 15 years since Now Again & Jazzman showcased the Deep Funk rarity 'Super Cool' on their Florida Funk compilation, however it's James Riley's group harmony B-side, 'Living In A Lonesome House With You' that has remained at large, unknown, collectively showcasing the talent encapsulated by The Fascinations.

'During the early 70’s The Riley family members who formed the Fascinations (originally the Soul Fascinations), James, Horace and Carrie along with a few friends, were destined to develop and perform musically as music flowed through our veins. Our father was a musician who played piano and sang the blues. As children we gathered around an old upright piano after dinner to hear our father play and sang. By the time I was 14 and my brothers, James and Horace were 16 and 17, we had all learned to plan an instrument. My focus was on vocals with many role models to learn from in the music industry such as; Dianna Ross, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Mable Staple. My brothers loved the Commodores, Kool and the Gang, Rick James and Earth Wind and Fire. The Isleys’s were a favorite of ours also. James was the driver of our success in recording as he made sure we practiced for hours on end. Sometimes we would practice popular songs until 2 in the morning. James began to write songs and develop melodies that he would share with Horace and I. We would make suggestions for revisions such as arrangements and melodies. Before long we traveled to Miami where we recorded, Super Cool which was our title song, 'Living in A Lonesome House' and a few other tracks. 'Super Cool' is a song that is personal to me. It is a song about relationships and trust, while the Lonesome house song was about love affairs and breakups. So much great music came out of the 70’s. I am grateful that our music contributed to the industry during a time when great music was about love and relationships.

Lovingly
Carrie'

Close to five years on from their last transmission, Ulrika Spacek resurface from self-imposed exile with their third album, Compact Trauma, a collection of songs that function as a chance treatise of sorts for our current collective condition. With a title like that arriving at this point in time, it's tempting to interpret the record solely in the context of the global events of the past few years, but the roots of these ten songs arc back much further in time, charged with their own personalised internal damage. Trauma, in its myriad forms, is often hard to qualify, even harder to rationalise. When something begins to go wrong, how do you gain perspective? What is a temporary roadblock, and what is unmitigated disaster? In its first phase of life, Compact Trauma was a document of a band striving to perfect an idea while the universe around them seemed to want to shut down. And then, at an impasse of sorts and with a record halfway complete, it suddenly did. If Ulrika Spacek were a band in need of the breaks applying, it was the force of a global pandemic that made it happen. As the world stood still, Compact Trauma was filed away, unfinished and unheard by the wider world, possibly to remain that way forever. And yet, there was to be a second act. If mutability is our tragedy, it's also our hope, clearer days slowly began to emerge as the bad slipped away. The wound, as the saying goes, is the place where the light enters you. The prolonged break enforced by myriad lockdowns may have separated the group but it also afforded the five time to reflect on what had already been committed to tape.. As the lights came back on and the shutters up, they found themselves drawn back towards Compact Trauma. What they rediscovered was a record that seemed to preempt the shared grief of a global pandemic. Even if the specifics were different, the themes were uncannily similar. Addressing existential freak out, displacement, substance reliance and encroaching self-doubt, these highly personalised songs suddenly took on a wider significance, speaking in part to a bigger narrative. They could have left it alone, but in coming back to what they knew, Ulrika Spacek found their best work yet. RIYL: Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Deerhunter, Atlas Sound, Stereolab.

Repressed again. On the West Coast, gangsta rap held sway in hip-hop as the 21st century began. The alternative and conscious rap music of the early-to-mid-90s had all but faded into the underground. The scene was set for a comeback, perhaps as a backlash to the perceived violence and misogyny of gangsta rap's content. Leading the resurgence of alternative hip-hop were groups like Jurassic 5, and recent signees to Capitol Records; a West coast trio that had been building steam underground since the early 90s called Dilated Peoples. Anticipation was high for the release of the debut album from Evidence, Rakaa, and DJ Babu. (Of the influential turntablist collective Beat Junkies.) When The Platform arrived in May of 2000 it was met with critical and underground acclaim, as well as affording Dilated Peoples their first Billboard chartings. It featured a back-to-basics sound with a heavy debt to the old-school hip-hop ethos, the kind of sound that harkened back to the early days of legends like De La Soul & A Tribe Called Quest. Hits like "No Retreat" and "The Platform" were bolstered by Evidence & Rakaa's subtle, abstract wit, and swift, adroit wordplay, while DJ Babu provided production chops and dextrous scratches. On The Platform the trio were joined by the likes of B-Real, Tha Alkoholiks, Everlast, Planet Asia, and many more providing guest vocals, while boasting guest production from The Alchemist & Kut Masta Kurt, among others. Since its 2000 release this influential record, which heralded the return of alternative hip-hop, has never seen a vinyl reissue. With that, Get On Down-always on top of giving the greatest hip-hop albums their due-is proud to present this re-release of The Platform. The rhymes are still fresh, the production is still pristine, and the album is now back on vinyl for the first time in 17 years.

FUSE welcomes back core family member Rich NxT as he partners with Childe for ‘Brakelights’.

One of the original FUSE residents and a cornerstone of the collective’s ever-evolving sound, Rich NxT remains one of the scene’s favourites as he continues to push his trademark low-end heavy sound and represent his home city on a global level. An ever-present name on the label, delivering a wealth of solo and collaborative EPs alongside artists such as East End Dubs, Seb Zito and head honcho Enzo Siragusa, he returns for his first outing on the label this year - joining with Childe for the hypnotic and heady sonics of ‘Brakelights’.

A trippy cut merging warping vocals with sweeping synths and snaking bass patterns, ‘Brakelight’ showcases a hazy after-hours production as the two artists take things deep into the night. The EP also comes loaded with two further interpretations, with the ‘Dub’ leaning deep into the music and emphasising the track’s wicked acid-flecked baseline, while the ‘Club Mix’ raises the energy levels to harness the hooky vocal snippets and journey to the heart of the dancefloor.

John Askew is an icon of the trance scene. Well known for his intense and hammering productions and live performances as well as being the head of highly acclaimed collective and label VII, his illustrious career spans more than 2 decades.

The Record Republic are very excited to bring you 'Six of Seven'; an exclusive selections of six John Askew highlights from his back catalogue on the mighty VII label, never before pressed to vinyl!

From the mental 'Mezcal' to the riotous 'Recalibrate', this 12" double pack release is everything you need when it comes to Askew's driving VII sound.

“This music is staggeringly original and innovative, and while it’s possible to locate it in a chain of circumstance that links it to ‘Industrial’ music, P16.D4 indulged in none of the empty cliches associated with the genre, worked incredibly hard, and seem to have been aiming at a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous. Kuhe In 1/2 Trauer’s accompanying credits indicate their radical approach to making music: lots of improvisation, lots of live electronics, extensive use of tape-loops, some conventional instrumentation, and much that isn’t – like the milk churn on ‘Paris, Morgue’ or the use of baking tray and washing machine elsewhere. Even when guitars, drums or keyboards are used, they’re played very weirdly. It’s not even made clear who was doing what; the main credit is ‘Concept,’ which I assume means that one of the three devised the framework in which the noise would operate itself, and while RLW gets the lion’s share of these credits, a lot of the cuts are evenly divided among the team and I have no doubt that the group operated in a very democratic or libertarian manner. None of this prepares you for the insane and troubling sounds that reach your ears, composed with scant regard for conventional logic and following an exciting, absurdist path, especially in the matter of tape edits and juxtapositions of recordings.” - Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector.

“Though this German group started out as a the new wave band P.D., by the time of Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer, their first LP under the P16.D4 name from 1984, they had developed far beyond into extremely experimental music similar to other post-industrial artists working with abstract avant-garde soundscapes. There’s a bleak industrial feel to the gritty, lo-fi electronics and tape loops, while the group throws in enough curve balls to keep it interesting. On some pieces, strange, looped choirs bubble out of throbbing pulses and drones of feedback, while others have clanging and clattering, and elements of musique concrète and improvisation blur the boundaries even further. The opening track, “Default Value,” is one of those disorienting pieces with noises flying everywhere, while “Paris Morgue” takes excerpts from one of their old P.D. tracks and messes it up with additional instruments, while the ungainly titled fourth track throws in a heavy texture of percussive noises to create an edgy ambience about to teeter off the edge, and the even darker and more ambient title track takes the tension even further. Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.” - Rolf Semprebon / AMG

P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.

Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.

The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.

“On this, their second LP, P16.D4 solicited tapes from several artists from Europe, England, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and mixed that with their own material. Though in the current digital age collaborations from artists thousands of miles apart is quite normal, this was a quite radical approach back in 1982, when work on this LP began – an interesting concept that actually works quite well, since these artists, which include Bladder Flask, DDAA, the Haters, Merzbow, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, and several others – work in a similar free-ranging experimentalism as P16.D4, and their particular elements, usually just vocals or one instrument or noise implement, blend well without diluting P16.D4’s own peculiar brand of avant-garde post-industrialism, but merely give it another facet. One of the best tracks, “Aufmarsch, Heimlich,” consists of a choir submitted anonymously from Eastern Europe phasing in and out of static while a skronky alto sax bleats away. Most of the pieces exist somewhere just beyond the borders of free jazz, industrial, and even classical avant-garde, full of jarring noises and strange transitions and with a heavy overlay of electronics. What started out as an experiment yielded one of P16.D4’s best albums.” - Rolf Semprebon / AMG

“Distruct is organized around sounds provided by the cream of experimental musicians of the early ’80s, from Nurse With Wound to Nocturnal Emissions, via De Fabriek, Die Todliche Doris, The Haters, Merzbow, and others. Obviously, there is no question of remixing here, and at no time do P16.D4 seek to hide its sources, clearly identifying the contribution of each artist in the liner notes. It would be futile to try to find the paw of each artist, the trio operating vis-à-vis its collaborators the same methods as in their own work. Reworked, distorted by various effects, cut, edited, aggregated with other sounds, produced by P16.D4 themselves, reprocessed. Exchange, communication, two other data that will constantly recur in the work of P16.D4, rich in external contributions and encounters of all kinds. Musically, and despite the diversity of sources treated, Distruct escapes the heterogeneous character, which often marks this type of collaboration, to offer a coherent whole: fragments of opera, Soviet speeches, out-of-tune guitar, saxophone, tattered violins, overdriven and metallic noisy attacks, jackhammers, field recordings, battered choirs, and many other less identifiable sounds. In addition to the desired dialogue between the artists, Distruct also offers a real reflection on listening, and on the expectations of the listener.” - Dissolve

P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.

Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.

The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.

Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Wells and virtuoso tuba player Danielle Price once more team up for Karaoke Kalk under the name The Sensory Illusions. The two further explore the affinities between their idiosyncratic musical approaches across a variety of styles and genres while also expanding their sound palette. After its predecessor saw Wells working strictly with his electric guitar, on the »Sensory Illusions II« the piano enters the mix on two of the eleven pieces. Much like his brass-heavy collaboration album »Osaka Bridge« with Japanese collective Maher Shalal Hash Baz—made available again on vinyl by the German label Karaoke Kalk in February 2023—this album injects melancholic atmospheres with a sense of playfulness. Picking up on elements from jazz, pop, blues, and classic songwriting while acknowledging their debt to techniques from the worlds of avant-garde and improv music, The Sensory Illusions weave together disparate elements into a colourful, imaginative suite of songs.

Starting with the folky chords of opener »Four Chord Dream,« the track titles spell out Wells’ characteristic use of ideas that literally come to him in his sleep (the project was even named after a record he found while browsing a store in a dream). The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland leader then fleshes them out together with Price, who again serves as a one-woman rhythm section, as she does throughout most of the album. When Wells enters 1960s spy movie territory with a swirling rendition of John Barry’s »Theme from Vendetta« and picks up on those dynamics with a rolling riff in the next song, her versatile playing provides the backdrop for that. Once Wells sits down at the piano for the tender »Flotsam Bodes,« however, their roles are being reversed and Price—a seasoned and multifaceted musician who was one of only six applicants chosen to attend Chilly Gonzales' Gonzervatory in 2019 and who is currently working with acclaimed London-based trumpet player and composer Laura Jurd—takes the lead. »I’m the Urban Spaceman« makes it even more apparent how seamlessly these two experienced players leave each other space to showcase their respective talent and expand on their individual ideas: Marked by Wells’ soloing and exploring different sonic possibilities of the guitar, it also sees Price showcasing her reduced yet agile solos before they both return to the idea at the heart of the song.

It is precisely those ideas that guide the duo’s way through the individual pieces, but their sometimes widely different approaches yield very distinct results. While working with the piano once more on »Mr. Sophie« results in a fuller and more anthemic sound, they opt for a more restrained, melancholic one the album closer »Desk Aunt«. It is precisely these kinds of variations in mood and tone that underscore how these two musicians are perfectly attuned to each other. As the second duo record in their six years of working together, »The Sensory Illusions II« proves once more how much musical ground they are able to cover with their instruments and open minds alone.

Over the last half decade, the music collective Constant Smiles has produced a prolific output of acclaimed music, culminating in their forthcoming record Kenneth Anger, masterfully brought to life by engineer Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, Liars, Dougie Pool). The group is known most recently for their much-praised debut album for Sacred Bones records, Paragons, an emotionally resonant offering of indie folk masterpieces that all confront the internal ways we process our struggles with intimacies, addiction and humanity produced by Ben Greenberg. Constant Smiles' primary singer/songwriter Ben Jones uses the creative process as a tool for working through deeply transformative periods in his life. The band's indie folk music lays bare this internal process, but on Kenneth Anger, the music shifts to synth pop and looks externally, examining creativity, community, ritual, and their place in the healing process. Ritual takes a primary role in the eponymous Kenneth Anger. Not only is auteur Kenneth Anger himself known for his sensorial depictions of ritual, Jones often used the films as a silent visual back drop during his song writing sessions, a ritual that grounded the creation of the album. And while the director's use of saturated color inspired the warm `80s synth style production, the director's trailblazing spirit of authenticity also pushed Jones through his most vulnerable expression to date. While the narrative undertones of the songs deal with fear and isolation and anxiety, the songs themselves were created through the healing process of ritual, and enriched with collaboration, community and trust. The resulting music produces a balm that can genuinely recalibrate the nervous system. The listener journeys through the depths of every track while being lifted and guided by the music's transformative, hypnotic power and this illustrates one of the foundational accomplishments of the album. Just as a Kenneth Anger film explores the underbelly of the unconscious through often soothing visuals, Kenneth Anger the album conjures the underworld into a series of synth pop classics.

Following well-received collaborative outings for us as 1/2 of the SF dynamo duo Moniker whose classic “Billy D” anthem and respective Patrice Scott remix graced the early catalog, followed by the galactic
flex Straylight EP with Cali brethren Dave Aju on velvet vocoder vox b/w a stellar Kai Alcé remix on the Another offshoot imprint, and of course his indelible contributions to the arrangements/derangement of the wondrous KAMM LP Cookie Policies, Kenneth Scott is essentially an extended family household name for our camp and so we’re beyond proud to present his initial solo release for the Circus Company label proper. Schooled as always in the deepest of electronic music roots and classiest of track traditions, the three pieces that form the Light Blooming EP puzzle display all the prized synth wizardry and production ingenuity we’ve come to expect from the Berlin-based veteran.
“Firesound” kicks us off in fine form, with a glistening array of pads and tight arpeggios that give way to a soulful funk strut that any fan of Detroit-style electro flavors will enjoy to the fullest. We then move to
the stylized 4/4 pulse of the aptly-titled “Lost Sonar”, an extended live set for Lost Sonar Collective skillfully condensed and finessed into a smooth-as-silk true deep house cut, where warm synth tones set the sound bed while shards of sharper percussion and angular textures flash and fizz throughout, creating an ultra-fresh contrasting feel while a rock-solid groove grinds us along faithfully. Scott then finally closes out the set with the powerful and titular “Light Blooming” which begins with a similar rising pad intro before unleashing fierce and raw overdriven drum programming, teasing us out to the two minute mark when the mighty sub bass line and multi-layered arps drop in to devastating effect, bubbling and building to a bold harmonic apex, before eventually bringing us down softly and somehow with ease
after such a glorious rise.
Filled with early-Warp feels and futurist sci-fi hopes in equal measure, the Light Blooming EP is three tracks of pure funk precision and expressive musical class from the man Kenneth Scott

With her hypnotizing voice and vivid lyricism, Jackie Mendoza makes fantastical, intimate electro-pop propelled by ukulele-based dance grooves. Having grown up between her birthplace of Chula Vista, California and Tijuana, Mexico, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist bridges these two worlds with dynamic soundscapes that pull from Latin pop, electronic music, and indie pop. She creates a musical universe that exists beyond strict borders of genre and geography, giving her the space to traverse the vast expanse of her interiority. Mendoza first started performing in 2014 as the vocalist for Brooklyn dream pop bands Gingerlys and Lunarette. She then broke out as a solo artist with her 2016 pop hits "Islands" and "La Luz," which showcased her imagery-packed, yet deeply introspective lyrics. On LuvHz, her 2019 adventurous debut EP that was initially inspired by a painful breakup, she turned her personal experiences into songs that observe greater truths about the world around her. As a result, the project became a broader reflection on varying forms of love, in relationships with your partner, your culture, and the natural environment. Mendoza expands this approach on her debut album, Galaxia de Emociones (Galaxy of Emotions), which sees her exploring a great range of feelings, from depression, celebration, outrage, numbness, hopelessness, and thrilling love. She uses each emotion as a portal to convey the intricacies of her experience as a queer, first-generation Mexican American woman, who actively defies and criticizes machismo and the Christian culture she was surrounded by. Brought up in the suburban border town of Chula Vista, she recalls being told by her parents to not mix English with Spanish, but speaking "spanglish" quickly became inevitable. It wasn't until high school, that learning to play ukulele and singing in school musicals allowed her to authentically express herself. "This album is about finding the courage to not only face my emotions, but also sharing them by singing them out loud." Mendoza says. The project was co-written and co-produced by Mendoza and Rusty Santos (Animal Collective, Panda Bear), with a contribution from Grammy winning producer and accordionist Ulises Lozano. As Galaxia de Emociones cruises from shimmering indie pop to accordion-laced electronic norteño, Mendoza proves there is both power and tenderness in embracing the fullness of your being and not doubting your instincts that might have been discouraged by society. She says it all in the opening song, "Natural," which blooms with spacey synths and twinkling ukulele plucks. "There is no use in controlling what comes natural to you," she sings in Spanish in a spellbinding loop. With her new album, she hopes that listeners can connect with her words and look within to explore their own galaxy of emotions.

Repress

Palms Trax signals the arrival of his new label CWPT with ‘Petu’, a new single featuring South African vocalist, Nonku Phiri. Originally debuting in dub form during the Berlin-based DJ and producer’s set at The Music Locker as part of Grand Theft Auto Online, ‘Petu’ re-emerges here as a soulful collaboration, neatly complimented by a wide-eyed take from Masalo.

Initially written as a slow-heating instrumental to connect the various musical dots across a DJ set, Palms Trax nonetheless had a vocalist in mind throughout, a fresh voice to lend ‘Petu’ universality and energy. Introduced through mutual friend Esa, Johannesburg’s Nonku Phiri draws on her signature style influenced by vintage Afropop styles and folk traditions, delivering a smooth and vulnerable tale of desire. Triumphant brass recorded by instrumental collective Jungle By Night adds to the depth of instrumentation and feeling throughout, each element driven by Palms Trax’s ebullient percussion and an altogether celebratory energy felt across both the original and dub cuts.

Closely associated with Dutch dance music staple Rush Hour Records, Masalo subtly raises the tempo on his high-energy rework of Petu, spinning off the interconnected elements of the original into a memorable and gloriously Italo-tinged house trip.

Established in 2021, CWPT will play home to Palms Trax original productions alongside collaborations, mixtapes, new-generation artists and vital reissues. An online blog will feature interviews, reportage and charts exploring the stories past and present at the fringe of Palms Trax’s wide-reaching record collection.

If you find the time, please come and stay a while in abracadabra’s beautiful neighbourhood; a magically wonky wonderland where strangers leave as friends to a block party soundtrack as eclectic as it is infectious. The California duo’s album shapes & colors is a dazzling collage of psych-fuelled synthscapes and contemporary Baroque-pop of anti-capitalist movements and escapism, precisely pieced around their own working lives in a blue-collar town.
In the heart of Oakland’s industrial Jingletown above a former auto-repair shop in what was once a mechanics’ break room where poker rounds ensued, Hannah Skelton (Vocals, Synthesizers) and Chris Niles, (Bass, Synthesizers) constructed the angular 80s-tinged anthems (think John Hughes montages to Talking Heads) of their new album, to positively offset the pandemic’s amplification of dysfunctional society. “It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah tells. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.”
When Covid forced Hannah from her salon in San Francisco to become a backyard mobile hairdresser, what she saw inspired them both and the lyrical foundations for their new record. “I’d drive to mansions and people would complain about how hard the pandemic had been next to their swimming pool and tennis courts.” First meeting after the album’s co-producer Jason Kick (Mild High Club, Sonny and the Sunsets) recruited the pair for a Halloween band covering Eurythmics’ art-rock debut ‘In The Garden,’ the pair hit it off and shapes & colors is a product of the years that followed. It combines Chris’ own rhythmic demos following years on the road touring and opening for Amon Tobin, Matthew Dear and Generationals in Maus Haus with Hannah’s lyrical musings honed from project Cassiopeia, so even when topics are as heavy as the beats, they’re met with luminously positive arrangements of hope and warmth.
The by-product of a psychedelic New Year’s Eve escaping a monotonous 2020 reality, the title track itself captures fireworks over East Oakland as viewed from the pair’s couch whilst listening to Mort Garson’s Plantasia for 6 hours straight. The daydream collage of ‘inyo county’ is “a little souvenir taking me back into the bottled-up essence of a slow lazy morning, waking up in bed far from home,” Hannah tells recalling those enforced stay-at-home days. “It fell out of me because I was craving that blissful flavour.” Meanwhile ‘dawn of the age of aquarius’s new parallel reality evolved from a happy accident when their demos had reset to a drone which Jason reworked into a Laurie Anderson-esque breathy vocoder effect. Even bloops and beeps from a forgotten recording session at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Emeryville can be heard, where the pair used Mini Moog, Fairlight EMI and ARP 2600 to arrange their sound into shapes whilst distortion and dirt from mixing on 1979 Neve 5313 Console added to the recordings’ color.
Casting a brighter rainbow still, in all its pastel-hued glory, Hannah, also illustrated a self-portrait of the band for the album artwork. “It reflects our makeshift recording studio to encapsulate all aspects of that time and space,” she shares of their abode where, over an intense two-week period and fuelled by the aroma of fermenting vino from the winery below, their single chord, bass and drum-heavy, groove-first momentum took them on an unexpected journey whilst the next-door couple would fire pizzas in their yard and a grandfather across the road would sweep the street clean. “We’d drink coffee and start the day, consistently working, without interruption,” Chris tells of finding their flow. “The loft is a cool space with skylights, tall ceilings and no shared walls so we could be as loud as we wanted to be.”
Just as well. Diving into decades of electronica and crunchy sound effects, field recordings and animal sounds, blended with an infectious Latin influence, shapes & colors is bolstered by live percussionists Greg Poneris (drums), K. Dylan Edrich (Vocals, Percussion: congas, bongos, chimes, cow bells and wood blocks, tone drum and tri-tone whistle) and Tom Smith (Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocals).
NIMBY crews grab those earplugs now. abracadabra is your new noisy neighbour, and there’s no turning this party down.

Skins is a producer/DJ based in Leeds with an active history in dance music that goes back over 10 years. He cut his teeth DJing regularly at the legendary former Oxford nightclub The Cellar. He played here as part of the Subverse Radio collective as well as for other favourite local promoters, alongside a regular radio show on the aforementioned station which he co-founded. After moving to Leeds in 2016, Skins focused his attention on music production and self-released a string of white-label techno EPs which garnered support from artists such as Djrum, Jane Fitz and Mike Schommer of Deepchord.

More recently Skins has moved away from the dub techno sound with which he had become associated, with an EP from speed garage newcomers Spin City on heavy rotation with DJs including Evan Baggs, Andrew James Gustav and Sugar Free. His latest explorations have found him returning to the futuristic jungle stylings which originally drew him into the world of electronic music in his teens.

Whether it’s in the studio or behind the decks, Skins draws on a wide range of influences from hip hop, deep house and techno through dubstep and grime to jungle, with a preference for playing vinyl over three turntables. He has performed alongside the likes of Willow, Batu, Answer Code Request, Levon Vincent and Ben UFO.

From his studio retreat in the heart of the Norwegian forest, Raaja Bones astral projects to adistant paradise, glancing the frosty tips of Norwegian fir trees on his way to exotic locations. Trading the Scandinavian fjord for a beach in Miami, Raaja finds a bounce in his step, moonwalking his way across groovy keys and shuffling beats through Boardwalks . A sonic palette echoing with the reverberations of bygone days, playing on a collective nostalgia, a Kodak moment turned gif, frozen on a telephone screen. Hazy chords and playful melodies glisten against temperate rhythmical zones as they roll through the arrangement. Disembodied vocals float in a steamy fog above warm tones, as Raaja's voice passes through the record like a spectral dream. A rusty vignette forms within crystalline tones as bold synthesizers are coerced into reluctant musical forms, ambling through cheery earworms and rousing rubber bass-lines.

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome the legendary New Sector Movements to the label, and the first new release from this moniker in 15 years! A 5-track EP for 'These Times', comprised of street soul, hip hop, jazz and bruk-tinged vibes.

Founded, headed and produced by DJ & musician IG Culture (CoOp Presents / LCSM), this all-new quasi-group project also features the vocal talents of Allysha Joy, Mike City and Natalie May with additional accompaniment from Wonky Logic, Wayne Francis, Alex Phountzi and the NSM Fusion Starship!

New Sector Movements (aka NSM) were the first out the gate at the dawn of the original broken beat movement, releasing their first single 'Groove Now / New Goya' on the People label in 1997, then releasing several singles and EPs through to the late noughties, and dropping a classic album on Virgin entitled 'Download This'. The previous incarnation featured several other artists from the bruk foundation era, including Kaidi Tatham, Izzy Dunn, Julie Dexter and Eska Mtungwazi amongst others.

Awarded a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the 2019 Worldwide Awards, NSM's IG Culture is a hugely pioneering prolific artist in the UK music scene. His catalogue of releases over the years has seen numerous aliases, collaborations, remixes and productions. Appearing on the scene in 1990 as part of Dodge City Productions, to producing several solo albums throughout the noughties, to recent years with his hugely-acclaimed cosmic jazz outfit LCSM (Likwid Continual Space Motion), additionally to co-running the CoOp Presents label, continuing the legacy of the award-winning club night whilst showcasing new artists, IG Culture has been omnipresent at every corner of British black music for three decades deep, influencing many a sound.

This is all additionally to projects like NameBrandSound, Likwid Biskit, Da One Away and Son of Scientist to name just a few. His work has appeared on releases by Roots Manuva, Young Disciples, Les Nubians and Monday Michiru, while remix work over the years has included Gang Starr, Femi Kuti, José James, Miraa May, Slum Village, Digital Underground, Luniz, Naughty By Nature, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim.

As a DJ, he's shut down dances all over the world, recently at places like Fabric, We Out Here festival and Summer Dance Forever in Amsterdam, as well as regularly rocking the airwaves on Worldwide FM and combining the two at BBC 6 Music's All Points East stage in the Summer. IG Culture also founded Selectors Assemble; a collective of forward thinking DJs and producers.

So, as we head towards Winter 2022, New Sector Movements has returned (but don't call it a comeback!). After a turbulent few years in the world, it seemed a poignant moment to reinvigorate the soul, and reflect upon 'These Times'. Here we have five brand new tracks, each illustrating a pertinent mood and attitude representing the current climate. Allysha Joy leads the vocal on EP opener 'These Times', a sumptuous slice of street soul with a deeply infectious horn hook. 'Stand' is next - uptempo boom bap for the dancers, this one featuring the soulful pipes of Mike City. 'Hope' is a midtempo jazz-funk dub again feature vocal licks from Allysha, and introducing the mysterious NSM Fusion Starship into the fold. 'H.E.A.T.' picks up the pace with some infectious jazz-bruk business, this one lead by Natalie May on the vocals, who explains "heat = movement, motion". And finally 'Bless' with closes the set on a four-four riddim with bruk sensibilites, inviting Mike City back with an uplifting vocal requesting we "bless the people just trying to make it".

An essential EP of cross-genre vibes to resonate cross-generations, New Sector Movements do not ramp. IG Culture and crew proceed to give you what you need for 'These Times'.

'These Times' is released on vinyl and digital worldwide via First Word Records late February 2023.

Throughout her much-lauded career as a DJ and producer, Ciel has worked hard to build community through events and DJ workshops in her home city of Toronto and on a larger scale with podcasts and projects meant to elevate women artists. The title of her latest EP, “All We Have Is Each Other,” reflects her history of mutual support, and in these times when so many of our connections seem broken by the pandemic, it offers a reminder that music still has the power to unite us.

Ciel has never been an artist who lets genres define or constrain her, so it seems only fitting that this release lands on Mister Saturday Night Records, a New York City label with a similar ethos. It’s in this refusal to restrict her sound to narrow definitions that something magical happens.

This 5-track EP spanning dance floor fillers and home listening pieces builds on a frame of tough footwork-paced kick drums, the skip and swing of 2-step garage, broken house, and slow, meditative beats. Woven throughout are hopeful melodies, dappled with sunlight tones and layered with organic percussion. The connective tissue is a deep feeling of joy and hopefulness in the power of music and collective humanity.

When the world goes up in flames, all we have is each other. Music connects us with like-minded communities that both shelter and empower us. With this emotive collection of diverse songs, Ciel reaches out a hand and invites us to be a part of something beautiful and authentic.

BASSIST/COMPOSER PETROS KLAMPANIS LOOKS TO PAST AND FUTURE AS HE TRANSFORMS TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC WITH TORA COLLECTIVE

Unique instrumentation bridges Greek folkloric and modern jazz worlds, with Klampanis (bass, artistic direction), Areti Ketime (vocals), Thomas Konstantinou (oud, laouto), Giorgos Kotsinis (clarinet), Kristjan Randalu (piano), Ziv Ravitz (drums, electronics, co-production) and more.

Following up his acclaimed recent outings Rooftop Stories and Irrationalities, bassist and composer Petros Klampanis creates one of his most inventive musical settings to date with Tora Collective, his sixth album as a leader. For Klampanis, who grew up in Athens, Greece
surrounded by the confluence of Mediterranean and Balkan folk cultures, making music has always meant navigating cultural crossroads. With Tora Collective (“Tora”=“Now”) he puts traditional Greek music at the centre, even as he presents it from a bold new angle.

In addition to the two new originals “Disoriented” and “South By Southeast,” Klampanis and his compact hybrid jazz/Greek folk ensemble interpret popular Greek songs such as “Xehorismata,” “Sybethera,” “Hariklaki” and “Menexedes ke Zoumboulia.” These songs, Klampanis asserts, are “not just part of Greek cultural heritage or a fragment of the past, but also as part of the future: they live into the present, breathe into the ‘here and now,’ while constantly evolving in a dynamic state and in dialogue with contemporary music.”

“For me it’s a personal thing,” he says. “I want to reflect on what Greek music and culture offer the world. How can music from the Aegean to Epirus and from the Ionian Islands to Crete, meet and speak to the hearts and minds of musicians and audiences from different parts of the world, different traditions and backgrounds?”

To that end, Tora Collective draws on regional characteristics, as Klampanis explains: “Every region has a strong identity. In Epirus the clarinet is more prominent and the music has this slow, groovy, meditative vibe. The islands are lighter sounding, Macedonia is groovier, faster tempos and energetic dances. Music from Asia Minor or Istanbul is more sophisticated. Greeks often refer to Istanbul as ‘Poli,’ from Constantinopoli, so the songs from there are called ‘Politika.’”

There is magic in the clear and consistent voice of Areti Ketime throughout Tora Collective, as can also be said for the supremely voice-like articulation of Giorgos Kotsinis on clarinet. Ziv Ravitz, on drums and electronics, also plays a pivotal role as coproducer: “He added so much in the orchestration,” says Klampanis. “His knowledge of electronics, all these non-acoustic sounds and keyboards, treatments of the acoustic instruments, it’s all because of Ziv. He brought a new perspective on the whole thing.”

The string element in Tora Collective is also strong: in addition to Klampanis’ bass there is Thomas Konstantinou on oud and the traditional Greek laouto, as well as Kristjan Randalu (the pianist in Klampanis’ Irrationalities trio) providing an anchor and bringing Klampanis’ inventive arrangements into harmonic focus. Additional guests appear: Alexandros Arkadopoulos on clarinet for “Disoriented,” Laura Robles on percussion for “South by Southeast” and trumpeters Sebastian Studnitzky and Andreas Polyzogopoulos on “Milo Mou ke Mandarini” and “Hariklaki,” respectively. (“Milo Mou” is slated as a post-release bonus track.)

Using traditional Greek music to discover a common new voice, the project aims to build dialogue, spark creativity, cultivate respect for the past, pave a path forward, discover a new musical storytelling powerful enough to reach and touch audiences in many countries. This is an experiment that bridges worlds: the east and the west, the traditional and the modern, the nostalgic and the forward-looking, using the power of music and improvisation.

Limited edition colored pressing is for Indies Only. Vinyl housed in a tip-on jacket. For Fans Of... John Carol Kirby, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Evans, Durand Jones & The Indications, Misha Panfilov. Debut LP from Okonski. Features current and former members of Durand Jones & the Indications (Steve Okonski, Aaron Frazer, and Michael Montgomery). Follows the debut single 'By The Lake', a collaboration with Germanbased artist and new Karma Chief signee Pale Jay (500k Monthly listeners). The studio at 122 West Loveland Avenue was not an unfamiliar space for Steve Okonski, the leader of his eponymous trio Okonski. Ever since the Colemine label set up shop in Loveland, Ohio it has been a host to a number of groups passing through town, including Durand Jones and the Indications who all of this trio’s members have connections to. After setting aside some time in winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist, invited Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album that was initially planned to be beat driven and fully composed trio instrumentals. After finishing this first session with some improvisations, a second week was booked in the summer of 2021 to try and capture some more of that spontaneous energy. During this session, the tracks were all improvised and recorded live to a Tascam 388 during several late nights at the Colemine HQ. They were structured to allow the group’s collective intuition to fully shape the melodies and arcs of the music. The album opens with Runner Up, where a triumphant yet melancholic melody in the piano leads to a more reserved B-section driven by the drums and bass of Frazer and Montgomery. As you journey through the remainder of the album you are met with a plethora of evoked and explored emotions. The calmness one has walking down a moonlit street after midnight, the connection one has for a person who comes into their world for just a moment or a lifetime, and the nerves and catharsis one feels when starting upon a new, unknown journey. Magnolia closes with Sunday, a track that was recorded late into the night at the close of their first recording session. Without the spontaneity of Sunday, the remainder of Magnolia would likely have never come to fruition. Magnolia was composed from the heart and from the spirit of those in the studio those late nights in Loveland. It is the culmination of an emotional and artistic release that was not afforded or recognized before the band sat at their instruments, and because of that it is introspective, meditative, spiritual, and new.

The studio at 122 West Loveland Avenue was not an unfamiliar space for Steve Okonski, the leader of his eponymous trio Okonski. Ever since the Colemine label set up shop in Loveland, Ohio it has been a host to a number of groups passing through town, including Durand Jones and the Indications who all of this trio's members have connections to. After setting aside some time in winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist, invited Michael Isvara "Ish" Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album that was initially planned to be beat driven and fully composed trio instrumentals. After finishing this first session with some improvisations, a second week was booked in the summer of 2021 to try and capture some more of that spontaneous energy. During this session, the tracks were all improvised and recorded live to a Tascam 388 during several late nights at the Colemine HQ. They were structured to allow the group's collective intuition to fully shape the melodies and arcs of the music. The album opens with Runner Up, where a triumphant yet melancholic melody in the piano leads to a more reserved B-section driven by the drums and bass of Frazer and Montgomery. As you journey through the remainder of the album you are met with a plethora of evoked and explored emotions. The calmness one has walking down a moonlit street after midnight, the connection one has for a person who comes into their world for just a moment or a lifetime, and the nerves and catharsis one feels when starting upon a new, unknown journey. Magnolia closes with Sunday, a track that was recorded late into the night at the close of their first recording session. Without the spontaneity of Sunday, the remainder of Magnolia would likely have never come to fruition. Magnolia was composed from the heart and from the spirit of those in the studio those late nights in Loveland. It is the culmination of an emotional and artistic release that was not afforded or recognized before the band sat at their instruments, and because of that it is introspective, meditative, spiritual, and new.

West Midlands five piece MACHIAVELLIAN ART follow up their self released and self titled cassette only album with their first release proper, ‘Indoctrination Sounds’ released February 24th via Riot Season Records, with an eye popping promo video to go with it.
A Maximalist blowout of Sax-honking Noise Rock, Doom Metal, Hardcore Punk, and Shoegaze, with Industrial Noise, Howls, Paranoid Rambles, and pure Disdain for oneself and the rest of you layered on top.
Indoctrination Sounds was conceived in various practice spaces in Digbeth throughout 2020 and 2021 and recorded at Ian Boult's Stuck On A Name Studios in Nottingham in the Summer of 2021, despite the best efforts of a global pandemic. Will Killingsworth mastered the record at Dead Air Studios.
Serotonin Problem opens the record with a huge sludge bass riff before the rest of the band pile in on top to create an all-encompassing and oppressive low mood that continues for the rest of the album. Next, we spiral down into the more open and atmospheric post punk of Faceless Voices - the collective bad feelings of a nation in decline reach boiling point. Indoctrination Sounds, for which the record is named, is a hardcore punk song regarding the clear and easily understood ways that humanity in the Western World is indoctrinated into the death-cult of capitalism under fear of violence, soaked in misinformation and conspiracy. Revolution is a call to action as guitars shift and glide uncertainly around, in a menacing inversion of shoegaze's dreamy safety. Side A is finished - a brief respite.
Side B opens with the more introspective Let Down, as the band play out a pounding homage to Iggy and the Stooges with Fenriz taking a turn on the drums. The drum intro to We're Not Gonna Take It gives way to a Rusted Shut bassline as the band turns their disdainful gaze to the violent pornography that is the 24-hour news cycle and reality TV in Watch Them Crawl. The album closes with Digbeth B5, an improvised piece on the gentrification of Digbeth. During the pandemic one of the band's practice spaces was turned into an overpriced ping pong bar for yuppies. As our culture is softened and cleaned up to make profit, so are our communities and cities.
Machiavellian Art are : Amy Murphy - Bass Guitar Benjamin Thomas - Vocals and Saxophone Joe Parkes - Guitar and Noise John Andrews - Guitar and Vocals Sam Hunt – Drums

A Detroit resident, William Odell Hughes is a much-loved street educated singer-songwriter and music composer. As a regular passenger riding to work on the Detroit East Side bus route in the early eighties, he met jazz pianist Pamela Wise who also rode the bus to work every day and who he noticed was always reading music. Pamela told him about saxophonist, clarinetist, and producer Wendell Harrison (founder of the legendary Tribe collective and a regular collaborator of Pamela Wise). She introduced Odell to Wendell, who was impressed with William’s compositions and felt that it would be a great project for release on his WenHa record label.

Hughes and Harrison began producing and recording the album to be called “Cruisin”featuring musical arrangements by both Wendell Harrison and Pamela Wise. This album (released in 1981) was the first recording for Hughes and the beginning of a long musical journey that continues to this day. Cruisin’ features an all-star line-up that includes Andrew Gibson (The Counts), Pamela Wise (Tribe) and award-winning Detroit Jazz icon Wendell Harrison…all doing their bit and making this a monster of an album!

William Odell Hughes’ debut album has all the best characteristics of an 80s album: it’s filled with funky playful beats and has excellent soulful honey-dipped vocals. On Cruisin’ the listener is treated to both mellow soul sounds and electrifying disco boogie (that’ll make even the shyest of club goers want to get up and dance) and Wendell Harrison’s instantly recognizable flute-playing and synth pads give the record a warm, relaxed groove. Prepare yourself for funky vibes, cool soothing feet-tapping rhythms, fantastic interplays on vocal tempos…all backed by a beautiful array of soulful synthesized and cosmic music.

References to universal awareness are plentiful throughout and the spirituality of The Tribe remains a constant undertone; a gentle reminder of WenHa’s roots. With a sound like this, it’s no wonder that this album has long been considered a grail for crate diggers around the world. All of the above makes this incredible record both timeless and as relevant today as it was back when it was initially released.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of this rare funk & soul album (original copies go for large amounts on the second-hand market) originally released in 1981 on WenHa records. This unique record comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide) with obi strip. This vinyl edition also features the original photography by acclaimed British photographer Brian Smith known for his work with artists such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker.

First time on vinyl, expanded version of Japan-only CD album from 2006! Now a double LP with unreleased tracks on audiophile grade colored vinyl (Disc 1: Opaque Baby Blue, Disc 2: Opaque Brown) The Jungle Bros embraced of a range of styles -- including house music, Afrocentric philosophy, a James Brown fixation, and of course, the use of jazz sample , on this reissue double LP Release on Colored Audiophile grade Vinyl , the I got U album is remastered and re-released with additional tracks .Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall (Afrika Baby Bam), and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Known as the pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop group to collaborate with a house-music producer. The trio released their debut album, Straight out the Jungle in July 1988. Their hip-house club hit single, "I'll House You" was added to the album in late-1988 reissues. Fostered by Kool DJ Red Alert, the Jungle Brothers success would pave the way for De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and eventually the Native Tongues collective that they founded. Hip-Hop-House with a jazzy feel including "I Got U", a re-recorded "Sunshine" and four bonus tracks/versions. -- The Jungle Bros embrace of a range of styles -- including house music, Afrocentric philosophy, a James Brown fixation, and of course, the use of jazz samples -- _John Bush, All Music

Experimental musician and performer Moss Kissing debuts on vinyl for Lisbon collective Vilamar. Thick layers of ambience and intense bass weight form a canvas for plaintive melodies and brooding dance rhythms. These latter range in tempo and gait from dubstep to techno to jungle and back again, summoning contrary moods often within the confines of a single track. This freedom with form arises from Moss Kissing’s background in noise guitar and his current focus on dynamic improvisation led hardware jams, which have gained him notoriety around his chosen city of Lisbon. The British connection is unmissable, though, as the Pass Through LP is haunted by many of the spectres conjured by FSOL, Autechre and Burial before it. As with their previous releases, Vilamar bring to light an artist playing with the boundaries of dance music without ever losing sight of what’s at its core: the physical texture of bodies and minds in space, moving, seeking connection.

"Hans Zimmer LIVE" versammelt mehr als zwei Stunden neuer Musik des in Frankfurt am Main geborenen Komponisten-Stars! Für das Album hat Hans Zimmer neue "Suiten" arrangiert, die auf einigen der bekanntesten Themen und Melodien aus seinen Oscar®-prämierten Filmmusiken basieren, darunter "Dune" und "Der König der Löwen" sowie für moderne Filmklassiker wie "The Dark Knight", "X Men: Dark Phoenix", "Dunkirk", "Gladiator", "Inception", "Interstellar", "Last Samurai", "Man of Steel", James Bond: "Keine Zeit zu Sterben", "Fluch der Karibik" und "Wonder Woman 1984".Gemeinsam mit seiner 20-köpfigen Band "The Disruptive Collective", in der eine Reihe langjähriger musikalischer Partner des Komponisten mitwirken, sowie mit dem Odessa Opera Orchestra und Chor hat Hans Zimmer ein episches Musikspektakel geschaffen, das stimmungsvolle klassische Arrangements und elektronische Elemente mit dem kraftvollen Sound einer Rockband verschmilzt."Ich wollte einfach ein tolles Album produzieren", sagt Zimmer, der "Hans Zimmer LIVE" ähnlich wie eine Studioproduktion an zehn Abenden seiner gleichnamigen Tour im Frühjahr 2022 aufzeichnete und mehrere Wochen damit zubrachte, das Album gemeinsam mit dem Produzenten Stephen Lipson abzumischen. "Ich wollte der Musik ermöglichen, auf neue Weise in ihrem eigenen Zusammenhang zu atmen, und ich bin absolut begeistert von dem fantastischen Team, das mich bei diesem Abenteuer unterstützt hat.""The Disruptive Collective" vereint Musiker, die schon lange mit Hans Zimmer zusammenarbeiten, etwa die Sänger*Innen und Komponist*Innen Lisa Gerrard ("Gladiator"), Lebo M. ("König der Löwen") und Loire Cutler ("X Men: Dark Phoenix"), die Cellistin Tina Guo ("Wonder Woman 1984") und Nick Glennie-Smith (musikalischer Leiter der Band). Zu den weiteren Solist*Innen zählen Andrew Kawczynski (Synthesizer, Schlagzeug), Pedro Eustache (Holzblasinstrumente), Refi (Gesang), Rusanda Panfili (Gesang), Guthrie Govan (Gitarren), Andy Pask (Kontrabass), Aicha Djidjelli (Trommeln), Steven Doar (Schlagzeug, Keyboards), Molly Rogers (Gesang), Juan Garcia Herreros Snow Owl (E-Bass), Nile Marr (Gitarren), Leah Zeger (Gesang), Holly Madge (Drumkit), Aleksandra Suklar (Schlagzeug). Hans Zimmer spielt auf dem Album eine Reihe verschiedener Instrumente.Die 2 CD-Version im Digipac enthält ein Booklet mit Bildern von der Live-Show und Illustrationen, einen persönlichen Text von Hans Zimmer und Texte zu allen Solisten.Die limitierte audiophile Vinyl-Version enthält 4 x 180g LPs im Quadfold mit bedruckten Innentaschen. Enthalten sind Bilder von der Live-Show und Illustrationen, ein persönlicher Text von Hans Zimmer und Texte zu allen Solisten. Direct Metal Mastering. 33 RPM.

Some records just stop you in your tracks. They resonate with you and feel instantly familiar like an old friend, even on the first listen. SOYUZ's third album ‘Force of the Wind’ is one of those records. It holds all the trademarks, beauty, and eccentricities of classic Brazilian recordings, from the 60s and 70s, that we have come to love. Think artists such as Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Burnier e Cartier, Arthur Verocai et al. But this record wasn’t made in Brazil and is in fact a brand-new release.

SOYUZ (which translates as 'union') is a creative collective from Minsk, Belarus, led by composer, arranger, and singer, Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist, Mikita Arlou, and drummer, Anton Nemahai. SOYUZ's previous albums explored and reimagined the legacy of jazz-oriented, non-English-language pop music of the 20th century. For their third album, there is a stronger focus, and it is influenced by 70s Música popular Brasileira and building bridges from it to present-day Belarus. Alex notes that from the moment he first encountered Brazilian music, he found in it a kind of concentrated emotion that felt as if it were familiar to him from his childhood. This non-verbal emotion and connection between the listener and musician echoes in the music, regardless of understanding of the language the album is recorded in.

‘Force of the Wind’ includes songs sung in Russian and Portuguese as well as instrumental compositions. Its musical palette is both acoustic and electroacoustic: rich warm Rhodes piano, soaring string arrangements, and a controlled drum swagger sounding both relaxed yet super tight. Alongside Alex's sublime vocals, that grace the majority of the tracks, the album features guest performances by multi-talented musician and vocalist Kate NV and rising Brazilian star, Sessa. Alex also recently arranged a number of tracks on Sessa's highly praised 2022 album 'Estrela Acesa'.

On the album, the trio is joined by a cast of friends; NY-based musician of Turkish origin percussionist, Cem Mısırlıoğlu, classically trained composer, Simon Hanes, who aided with string arrangements and conducting the string players, Netherlands-based Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, Gabriel Milliet, on flutes. With the collaboration of these friends SOYUZ have created nine songs/suites that are subtle and plenitude and like the best albums, leave you aching for more.

‘Force of the Wind’ is an enigma, Brazilian yet not Brazilian, vintage yet still contemporary, out of sync with modern culture yet completely relevant and necessary.

Making Circles of Our Own is the new upcoming sophomore record from Northern Ireland's New Pagans. From the very beginning the Belfast’s indie rock outfit intent was clear: to fuse their collective creative experiences and emit a confidence in both their sound and aesthetic. New Pagans in essence is a movement, challenging issues surrounding relationships, equality and history all wrapped in massive riffs and soaring dynamics shaped into their own brand of alternative, post punk and indie rock — all encompassing on the bands incoming second album ‘Making Circles of Our Own’. With the dawning of 2023 on the horizon, New Pagans have been building off the success of 2020’s debut album ‘The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All’ - which helped secure them as winners of ‘Best Live Act’ at the NI Music Prize in 2020 - and emerge invigorated anew. Latest single ‘Better People’ is a stunning blast of positivity that celebrates their ability to pull together, create communities and look after one another. Often outspoken and not shy of protesting the dark themes that infiltrate modern Irish life, singer & lyricist Lyndsey Mcdougall implores us to endeavour to be just as the title suggests. And with this new era comes their staggering second album ‘Making Circles Of Our Own’, which sees the five-piece abandon the chaos of 2020 for a moment in search of hope in the future. Recorded and self-produced at Badlands Studios in the Glens of Antrim in Ireland (the band's HQ) by band members Cahir O'Doherty and Allan McGreevy, New Pagans continue to expand their DIY position. This time around they also invited Sam Petts Davis (Radiohead, Warpaint, Frank Ocean) to mix the songs and the result is an energetic and infectious collection of anthems.

In the two years since their last full length outing, Let There Be Nothing, JUDICATOR have returned from collective and personal turmoil brought on by both the Covid-19 pandemic and foundational lineup changes. The US power metal group are now primed and proud to release their triumphant sixth studio album, The Majesty of Decay, via Prosthetic Records. Refreshed and revitalized, JUDICATOR are eager to let this beastly album out of the gate and into your stereos. Whilst the album’s story remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, JUDICATOR utilizes compelling plot devices as a means to encourage fans to piece together the album’s meta-contextual threads. What we do know, however, is that The Majesty of Decay explores the subjects of love, family, and the transformation of suffering into something meaningful. JUDICATOR invites you to step into this world and contemplate how the story might relate to you. The album is a carefully constructed puzzle of mirrors and metaphor that cries out for Judicator fans everywhere to solve it. What began as a humble homage to their favorite band quickly grew into something that hads fans begging for more, and JUDICATOR is happy to oblige. The band has produced a catalog of music that spans multiple sub-genres and breaks conceptual boundaries. With this latest offering, The Majesty of Decay, JUDICATOR have delivered yet another thought provoking album that fits nicely into their discography.

ART MAKE LOVE sees the return of 30/70, the mothership of the internationally acclaimed collective. Their sound expanding far beyond its previous markers of Nu-Soul and Jazz, it is inspired heavily by Broken Beat complexity and their unique coming together of truly collaborative and eccentric songwriting. Real sense of light and dark in this — exploring the very edges of emotion and life, truth and fear, the depth of spirit and emotion.

ART MAKE LOVE is breaking down the walls between the music and the listener, it is bringing art back to the centre and inviting you in. It is looking directly into the darkness while celebrating life, expressing joy at the edges of all experience.

- Mintgrünes Doppelvinyl (140g) inklusive Downloadcode und exklusivem 12” Art Print.


ODESZA veröffentlichen ihr viertes Album auf Ninja Tune inklusive Features von The Knocks, Bettye LaVette, Låpsley, Izzy Bizu, MARO, Ólafur Arnalds, Julianna Barwick & Charlie Houston.

ODESZA veröffentlichen ihr viertes Album ’The Last Goodbye’ auf Foreign Family Collective/ Ninja Tune. Es ist das bisher ambitionierteste & emotional mitreißendste Album des Grammy nominierten Duos. Ein Projekt voller Glanz und Emotionen, nostalgisch und doch in der Gegenwart verwurzelt, ist es ein mitreißendes Klangerlebnis, das Themen wie Verbindung, Erinnerungen und den Einfluss, den wir aufeinander ausüben, anspricht. Es ist eine lebhafte Feier der Menschen und Momente, die unsere Fingerabdrücke hinterlassen haben und die in der gesamten Platte widerhallen. Es ist das bisher persönlichste Album des Duos und eine brillante Sammlung, die Vergangenheit und Gegenwart auf euphorische Weise miteinander verwebt. Neben The Knocks, Bettye LaVette und MARO werden auf „The Last Goodbye“ auch Julianna Barwick, Låpsley, Ólafur Arnalds, Izzy Bizu und Charlie Houston zu hören sein. Das Produzentenduo ODESZA besteht aus Harrison Mills und Clayton Knight, die zusammen Musik zu machen begannen, nachdem sie sich an der Universität in Washington, USA, kennengelernt hatten. 2012 veröffentlichten sie ihr von der Kritik gefeiertes Debütalbum „Summer's Gone“, gefolgt von der 2014 mit Gold ausgezeichneten Platte, „In Return“, die an der Spitze der Billboard Dance-/ Electronic-Charts debütierte und die Platin-Single „Say My Name“ enthielt - ein Remix des Tracks von RAC wurde später für einen GRAMMY 2016 nominiert. Ihr drittes Album, „A Moment Apart“, wurde 2017 veröffentlicht, ebenfalls mit Gold zertifiziert und brachte ihnen zwei GRAMMY-Nominierungen für das beste Dance-/ Electronic-Album und die beste Dance-Aufnahme für die Gold-Single „Line Of Sight“ ein. Das Album erreichte Platz 2 in den UK-Dance-Album-Top 40 Charts und Platz 2 in den iTunes-Electronic-Charts im Vereinigten Königreich und debütierte auf Platz 3 der Billboard Top 200 in den USA.

'Person Pitch’ is the third solo album from Animal Collective member Panda Bear, released in 2007.

Years in the making, ‘Person Pitch’ marks a dramatic departure from Panda Bear’s previous solo record ‘Young Prayer’.

The acoustic instruments of ‘Young Prayer’ have been replaced with samplers and electronics.

The LP won a number of plaudits in 2007, with Dan Snaith (Caribou), St. Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Grimes and even Diplo citing it as one of their favourite albums, and Pitchfork named it as their Album of the Year.

Double LP in gatefold jacket with two pockets with poster.

The heavy metal, dark, madcap visionaries collectively known as AVATAR — vocalist Johannes Eckerström (vocals), guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — have emerged from deep within the Swedish forest in which they have been working on their ninth album to grace fans and listeners with a brand new song, "Valley of Disease".

Avey Tare, das Soloprojekt von Dave Portner von Animal Collective, veröffentlicht sein viertes Album 7s. Von Porter selbst als eine "verträumte, surrealistische Landschaft" beschrieben, wurde während pandemischer Abriegelungen in Portners Wald-Heimstudio aufgenommen und arrangiert. Produziert wurde es von Adam McDaniel (Angel Olsen, Archers of Loaf) in den Drop of Sun Studios in Daves Heimatstadt Asheville, NC.

Originally released in May 2006 through the German label Karaoke Kalk, »Osaka Bridge« was an album that captured the joyful amateurism of Tori Kudo's free-spirited Japanese collective Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Bill Wells’ rich, wistful and easy sense of melody. Approaching brass band and jazz music with a knack for making playing imperfectly feel perfectly right, »Osaka Bridge« became nothing short of groundbreaking when it was released to critical acclaim, becoming an instant classic among musicians and fans alike. Coinciding with the release of the second LP of Wells’ on-going collaboration with Danielle Price on tuba, »The Sensory Illusions«, Karaoke Kalk makes this highly sought-after record available again on vinyl for the first time in 16 years.

The pairing of the prolific Scottish pianist and composer and the fluctuating collective active since the mid-1980s was an easy, natural one—a union particularly apt and complementary. But this is not to say that the 15 recordings which made up »Osaka Bridge« were in any way seamless. The horns played by these self-taught musicians strain and struggle with Wells’ luscious arrangements; each note is given all the stiff emphasis that you’d expect of a high school brass band at its first rehearsal. Songs fall in and out of rhythm, and a track like »Poxy« misses its intended swing feel by a country mile. Of course, this is all part of the magic. Maher Shalal Hash Baz take Wells’ melodies and strip them back to their emotional core, disallowing all artifice and revealing a stark, serene beauty.

Particularly affecting are »On The Beach Boys Bus«—described by colleague Jens Lekman as the »the most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard«—and »Time Takes Me So Back«, the two tracks sung by Kudo’s wife Reiko. Inspiration for both pieces came to Wells in dreams. The former was sung by a group of tanned Californians on the way to a Beach Boys convention, the latter by his grandmother shortly before she passed away. Reiko’s voice gives each song a haunting fragility that enhances their phantasmagoric character. »Cowtail Calypso«, on the other hand, was born when Wells asked Tori Kudo to sing Roger Miller’s »King Of The Road« over a syncopated, propulsive melody. Kudo’s ambiguous response (»maybe,« which according to Wells usually translated to »forget it«) resulted in a brief, idiosyncratic track that nevertheless exceeded all of Wells’ expectations.

Of the instrumental tracks, »Liquorice Tics« stands out for its rolling rhythms and circular melody, while »Family Sighs« creates a brooding atmosphere which perfectly encapsulates the conflicting feelings many people have for their immediate family. For the most part, the instrumentals are concise—a melody stated once and then dispensed with—but their brevity only heightens the impact. Even (or especially) 16 years later, »Osaka Bridge« continues to be an almost accidentally timeless document that captured fleeting moments and personal revelations at their most spontaneous and unaffected. As someone put it so aptly in a Discogs comment a few years back, »this is the album which is able to make aliens understand what humankind is about.« You better turn up the volume so that everyone can hear it everywhere.

repressed !

Firmly entrenched in techno's haziest alcoves, every new record from Denise Rabe is as punishingly hypnotic an experience as it aims to penetrate the deepest laid of your cerebral zones. Having plied her trade on Arts' sub-division Arts Collective before moving on to establish her own dedicated label, Rabe, in 2017, the Berlin-based DJ and producer steps up with her much anticipated debut platter for Stroboscopic Artefacts, as she takes the helm for the fifth sortie of the Totem series. True to her love for all things droney and psychoactive, this time Rabe has us descending into rugged, hostile sonic terrains with just a headlamp and the thick mantle of darkness for closest companions. Ahead’s a demented safari across nightmare-prone visions and thunderstruck vistas.

Hosing off the loud, churning 909 kicks and passive-aggressive machine talk straightaway, 'Manifesto' sets the tone for the warehouse-sized hammering to come. Evil-minded swashes of hyper-delayed percs and criss-crossing chimes lash out in successive waves, further subjugating the dancers as bars fly by. A more spacious and atmospheric number, B-side opener 'Clouds' heads for quieter high-altitude spheres as the dubbed-out drums beat an off-kilter, leftfield friendly pulse and ominous synth stabs and pads envelop the listener in entrancing textural folds and interplays. Back to floor-ready dynamics, the adrenaline booster 'Don't Leave' caps it off on a truly mind-bending tip. Primed for unrelenting peak time action with its angry buzzard-like drones, pacey 4/4 swing and refined palette of eerie circuit noises and click-y minimalism, this one's a high-impact steamroller, sure to get maximum response when things start getting muscular.

2023 REPRESS

Kahn hails from Bristol and is part of the Young echo collective alongside Vessel, Zhou, El Kid & J a b u. The Young Echo collective
have been collaborating, producing, putting on clubs nights and showcasing their unique and diverse sound of experimental bass
music and over the last couple of years they have gained much deserved recognition from the like of Mary Anne Hobbs and the BBC respectively. Check out their podcast series on iTunes. Kahn has recorded on Punch Drunk, Idel hands and Box Clever. He has also released 'Percy' alongside Neek on his own label, which
is currently tearing up the dance. Kahn's first release on DEEP MEDi is the long awaited 'DREAD' which has been a firm favourite in Mala's, Youngsta's and Vivek's sets over the last year.
Dread' is an 80's Dancehall/Reggae inspired bone-crushing slice of pure heavyweight dub pressure, vibes of the highest order! Back this with the equally hard and experimental dub of 'Late Night Blues' featuring vocals from Bristol's very own Rider Shafique and you
have some serious level's of bass weight to contend with.

Time and duration are core themes in the work of both William Basinski and Janek Schaefer, and this long-distance collaboration took a suitably long gestation of eight years from start to finish. In that time, our collective perception of time has at times become disorienting. “ . . . on reflection” remodels that instability as an exquisite work of art – one that is unmoored by time or space. Limitation breeds creativity, revealed as an expression of minimalism and close focus. Deploying a delicate piano passage from their collective archive, Basinski and Schaefer weave and reweave in numerous ways, forging an iridescent flurry of flickering melodies. The sounds of various birds heard from late night windows on tour can occasionally be heard throughout, ricocheting off mirrored facades, reflecting on themselves as they continually reshape their own environments with song. “ . . . on reflection” looks backwards, a bustling revelry of positive emotions heard through the aging mirrors of memory. It is a celebratory meditation where sound shimmers through time like the light of the sea’s waves glistening as it folds and unfolds upon itself. Created 2014-2022 between L.A. & London. Mixed at Narnia, Walton-on-Thames. For Harold Budd. Press Quotes: “At its best, William Basinski’s music inspires the sort of rapturous testimony usually reserved for peak experiences, cult leaders and the dead.” Pitchfork // "Schaefer finds peace in discord. His musique concrete pieces tend to evoke an ominous sense of mortal doom, yet enrapture in the process.” Pitchfork

This land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her. In dreams she saw the river, her ancestors, and her home. When the land calls, you listen. And KP found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar
trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish.

It is a powerful thing to return to our ancestral lands and often times the journey is not easy. Like the salmon through the currents, like the tide as it crawls to shore this is a story of return. It is the call and response. It is the outstretched arms of the people who came before, welcoming her home. The Land, The Water, The Sky is a celebration of lineage and strength. Even in its deepest moments of loneliness and grief, of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, the songs remind us that if we slow down, if we listen to the waves and the wind through the trees, we will remember to breathe.

There is a throughline of story in every song, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There is a reimagining of Sedna who was offered to the sea, and a beautiful rumination on sacrifice and humanity, and what it means to hold the stories that work to teach us something.

Chord progressions born out of moments of sadness and solitude transform into the islands that sit blue along the horizon. The Salish Sea curves along her homelands, and when the singer is close to this water she is reminded of her grandmother, how she looked out at these same islands, and she’s held by spirit and memory.

The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

There is a joy present here, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and th stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

This is a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Katherine Paul’s journey home wasn’t made alone, and the songs are crowded with loved ones and relatives, like a really good party. And as the songs walk us through the land it is important we hover over the images and the beauty, the moments that mark this album as site specific. The power of this land is woven throughout, telling the story of narrow waterways, brush strokes, salmon stinta, and above all healing.

Let it take you. Move through the story and see the land through her eyes, because it is a gift, a welcomed sʔabadəb.*

*The word “gift” in Lushootseed, the language of the Coast Salish people“

2023 Repress On Vertigo Days, the first album in seven years for The Notwist, one of Germany’s most iconic independent groups are alive to the possibilities of the moment. Their music has long been open-minded and exploratory, but from its engrossing structure, through its combination of melancholy pop, clangorous electronics, hypnotic Krautrock and driftwork ballads, to its international musical guests, Vertigo Days is both a new step for The Notwist, and a reminder of just how singular they’ve always been. Most importantly, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck are reaching out: as Markus reflects, “we wanted to question the concept of a band by adding other voices and ideas, other languages, and also question or blur the idea of national identity.”

It’s been seven years since The Notwist’s last album, Close To The Glass, and in that time the various members of the group have been busy with side projects (Spirit Fest, Hochzeitskapelle, Alien Ensemble, Joasihno), guest appearances, a record label (Alien Transistor), movie scoring, helping organise the Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie pop & running a festival (Alien Disko). Those divergent paths feed back into Vertigo Days in surprising ways, from its structure, built from group improvisations, with songs flowing and melting into one another in a collective haze, to its spirit, which feels refreshed and alive. There’s something cinematic about Vertigo Days too, reflective of the group’s time working on soundtracks, and reflected in the rich, moody photographic artwork by Lieko Shiga that adorns the cover.

The first sign of this newfound openness was the album’s lead single, “Ship”, where the group were joined by Saya of Japanese pop duo Tenniscoats, her disarmingly hymnal voice sighing over a propulsive, Krautrocking beat. Elsewhere, American multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay sings on “Oh Sweet Fire”, also contributing “a love lyric for these times, imagining two lovers in an uprising hand in hand.” American jazz clarinettist and composer Angel Bat Dawid adds clarinet to the spaced-out dream-pop of “Into The Ice Age”, while Argentinian electronica songwriter Juana Molina gifts some gorgeous singing and electronics to “Al Sur”. Saya also reappears as a member of Japanese brass band Zayaendo, who guest on the album. Throughout, The Notwist also capture the openness of their live performances, too, where they mix and link their songs in unexpected ways.

Indeed, what’s most impressive about Vertigo Days is the way it sits together as one long, flowing suite, the album conceptualised as a whole entity – it’s perfect for the long-distance, dedicated listening experience. This is also captured by the album’s lyrics, which Markus states, “feel more like one long poem.” The dimensions of that poem are multi-faceted, something intensified by the geopolitical weirdness of its times: “As the situation changed so dramatically, while we were working on the record, the theme of ‘the impossible can happen anytime,’ more about personal relationships in the beginning, became a global and political story.” But it also works at a level of poetic abstraction, such that each song gestures in multiple directions – the deeply private pans out to the global. The one certainty is that there is no certainty. “It’s maybe mostly about learning and how you never arrive anywhere,” Markus concurs. To sit within uncertainty is brave, but it’s also where we feel most alive, and Vertigo Days is an album that is brimming with life, with enthusiasm and love for music and for community, all wide-eyed and dreaming.

2023 Repress on Yellow Vinyl

On Vertigo Days, the first album in seven years for The Notwist, one of Germany’s most iconic independent groups are alive to the possibilities of the moment. Their music has long been open-minded and exploratory, but from its engrossing structure, through its combination of melancholy pop, clangorous electronics, hypnotic Krautrock and driftwork ballads, to its international musical guests, Vertigo Days is both a new step for The Notwist, and a reminder of just how singular they’ve always been. Most importantly, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck are reaching out: as Markus reflects, “we wanted to question the concept of a band by adding other voices and ideas, other languages, and also question or blur the idea of national identity.”

It’s been seven years since The Notwist’s last album, Close To The Glass, and in that time the various members of the group have been busy with side projects (Spirit Fest, Hochzeitskapelle, Alien Ensemble, Joasihno), guest appearances, a record label (Alien Transistor), movie scoring, helping organise the Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie pop & running a festival (Alien Disko). Those divergent paths feed back into Vertigo Days in surprising ways, from its structure, built from group improvisations, with songs flowing and melting into one another in a collective haze, to its spirit, which feels refreshed and alive. There’s something cinematic about Vertigo Days too, reflective of the group’s time working on soundtracks, and reflected in the rich, moody photographic artwork by Lieko Shiga that adorns the cover.

The first sign of this newfound openness was the album’s lead single, “Ship”, where the group were joined by Saya of Japanese pop duo Tenniscoats, her disarmingly hymnal voice sighing over a propulsive, Krautrocking beat. Elsewhere, American multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay sings on “Oh Sweet Fire”, also contributing “a love lyric for these times, imagining two lovers in an uprising hand in hand.” American jazz clarinettist and composer Angel Bat Dawid adds clarinet to the spaced-out dream-pop of “Into The Ice Age”, while Argentinian electronica songwriter Juana Molina gifts some gorgeous singing and electronics to “Al Sur”. Saya also reappears as a member of Japanese brass band Zayaendo, who guest on the album. Throughout, The Notwist also capture the openness of their live performances, too, where they mix and link their songs in unexpected ways.

Indeed, what’s most impressive about Vertigo Days is the way it sits together as one long, flowing suite, the album conceptualised as a whole entity – it’s perfect for the long-distance, dedicated listening experience. This is also captured by the album’s lyrics, which Markus states, “feel more like one long poem.” The dimensions of that poem are multi-faceted, something intensified by the geopolitical weirdness of its times: “As the situation changed so dramatically, while we were working on the record, the theme of ‘the impossible can happen anytime,’ more about personal relationships in the beginning, became a global and political story.” But it also works at a level of poetic abstraction, such that each song gestures in multiple directions – the deeply private pans out to the global. The one certainty is that there is no certainty. “It’s maybe mostly about learning and how you never arrive anywhere,” Markus concurs. To sit within uncertainty is brave, but it’s also where we feel most alive, and Vertigo Days is an album that is brimming with life, with enthusiasm and love for music and for community, all wide-eyed and dreaming.

Ever dream you're in a spaceship on a never-ending journey to an unknowable destination? That's how Nyles Lannon often thought of life in the early part of the pandemic, when time seemed to stand still, before the vaccines or even knowing when there might be any. But whether that spaceship is a desolate prison or a vessel for escaping to a better world depends on how you use it. With literally nowhere to go, the Film School guitarist and his then-12-year-old son Skye, on drums and modular synths, would jam most evenings in Nyles's home studio, just to have something to focus their minds on and counter the tedium of "remote learning." What started out as a way to keep his talented kid busy became a means to process the anxiety and disorientation of that strange, scary stretch of time. The result is Vanishing, a ten-song album of moody melodies, new wave beats, droney rock, and even an electrogroove instrumental interlude, by the father-son project they named Nyte Skye.

The emotional toll of lockdown, our collective grief, the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to devastating wildfires brought on by climate crisis—these are heavy subjects, but the songs also convey how we managed to keep each other sane, and inspired, through it all. Film School devotees will find plenty to love; so will fans of the Police (Stewart Copeland being one of Skye's major

influences), the Cure, Spiritualized, and Elliott Smith. The album's opener, "Dream State (I'm Vanishing)," is a wistful synth-driven indie gem about disappearing into an alternate universe where worries don't exist. "Doing Time," with its massive washes of 12-string guitar and sophisticated syncopated beat, is a shoegazey meditation on holding onto a child's sanguine outlook in the face of adversity. If dream pop track "Take Me Up Again" is the album's bounciest, its counterpoint is "Faded," whose bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty.

Ultimately, not only did working on Vanishing help the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, but just being stuck at home helped stoke their creativity. "Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school," Skye says. "It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album." For Nyles—knowing they might never have that kind of time again—to be able to put out a record with his son is, simply, "a dream come true."

Vanishing was written, recorded, and produced by Nyles Lannon and Skye Lannon and mixed by Dan Long, with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backup vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa), and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST).

2023 repress of Low Life's second album from 2019 on coloured vinyl, in a single LP sleeve with insert. Colour effect is a seafoam green smear with a transparent base. Arriving with an aura of anticipation, 'Downer Edn' (read: Edition) feels like a collective document of the band's timeline since their unforgettable debut `Dogging'. Recorded over two years and mixed in 2018 by Mikey Young (Total Control / Eddy Current Suppression Ring), `Downer Edn' sees the core trio of Mitch Tolman, Cristian O'Sullivan and Greg Alfaro expand their ranks to a five piece. Dizzy Daldal and Yuta Matsumura of Oily Boys & Orion were brought in to reinforce the thick wall of guitars, freeing Tolman up as a dedicated front man for live duties. The hours of studio work have resulted in the band sounding more confident and fully realised, reaching and finding a sound that was perhaps unattainable 5 years prior. However, lurking behind the bigger vision and polished production, `Downer Edn remains a dark blast of an album. Expansive and cohesive, yet shimmering and rough; something they can be proud to call a definitive statement. As far as Australian punk is concerned, Downer Edition not only shatters the boundaries applied by that descriptor, it does so with the lushest attack conceivable. The visceral pounding of melodies throughout the album transforms their inspirations; desperation, neuroses, trauma, survival, hooliganism, violence, hope, rejuvenation, and their hometown of Sydney's full architectural and social scope - from a realm of intangibility to the very, very tangible. Unified on `RBB,' ruminating on `92', chasing the escape on `Rave Slave,' and unwillingly defiant on `Warrior,' Downer Edition reaches past the wild ride of Dogging - this truly is the album that Low Life have been threatening to make for nearly a decade. Released in conjunction with Goner Records in the USA and Cool Death in Australia.

The gang that make up Utlandet aren't strangers to exotic rhythms and untamed saxophones. They have been playing parties and filling clubs around Norway for years, and are now readying the concept album Grandfather of Yucca, due in 2023 on Jansen Records. Having a yucca plant on the windowsill can’t replace traveling to an exciting destination. But still, it allows you to dream, and to wonder how things might be out there in the unknown. That alone is reason enough for Utlandet to pay tribute to this modest, sun-loving and exotic plant that through the ages has learnt to live with us northerners. Utlandet – the Norwegian word for ‘abroad’ – is a result of a surplus of energy emerging from a collective depression, where learning to appreciate the smaller things became a necessity for self-preservation. As crossing borders became a distant dream, the band members met for weekly rehearsals to – at least musically and mentally – reach new destinations. Accompanied by some good brew, Utlandet tore away from everyday life by creating music from a world filled with voodoo, deserts and tropical heat. The instrumental ensemble discovered how rewarding it was to be working with melodic structures without having to put words to them and that they preferred an off-key sax to off-key vocals. Adding words to music can limit were the music takes you, as it often becomes more specific, but melody alone has no boundaries and can transport you to any galaxy. So just let go, close your eyes, and go where the groove and melody takes you.

Gotts Street Park are a proud bunch of throwbacks. The Leeds-based trio - Josh Crocker (bass, production), Tom Henry (keys) and Joe Harris (guitar) - met through various music studies and friendship networks. Individually their tastes are diverse: from North Indian classical to experimental jazz, soul to alternative hip hop but their vision is united: “The idea of doing things live in one room has always been important,” remarks Josh. “That’s how they used to do it. Our identity evolved from that.”

The inception of the collective goes back to around 2012. There have been minor line up tweaks - they currently record with a rotating list of drummers - but the philosophy has stayed the same: an ongoing pursuit to capture the raw, unparalleled vibe that comes from recording music together, usually as one take, sometimes to analogue tape.

That approach is a deliberate call back to the methods made famous by legendary studios like Sun and Stax in Memphis, or FAME and Muscle Shoals in Alabama and their in-house bands. That’s why for years, GSP set up their own studio in a shared house in a tough (but, crucially, affordable) corner of west Leeds, Armley. Gotts Park (historically the home of industrialist Benjamin Gott) was close by - the group’s name was a nod to their local geography but also the fact it sounded like an area plucked straight out of some of their favourite East Coast hip hop releases.

Their work was quickly noticed, and it was from that base where they began working with an eye catching list of collaborators: Rejjie Snow, Kali Uchis, Cosima, Yellow Days, Chester Watson, Greentea Peng and Benny Mails. Tom also played keys in Mabel’s band. Early on, while performing as a band for hire for those artists, they were simultaneously honing their own sound; a deliberately retro “heavy, saturated” atmosphere that married the languid vibe of traditional soul with the pin sharp clarity of contemporary hip hop. Old leanings, sure, but upcycled with their own modern twist. “We’re constantly trying to build a catalogue,” says Tom. “Writing new stuff and sending it out to people.” That’s why after the release of their debut EP, ‘Volume One’, in 2017 the invitations kept coming; most notably from Brits Rising Star award winner Celeste, with whom they recorded two tracks on her debut EP ‘Lately’.

‘Volume Two’ once again features an impressive raft of vocalists - all female - from established names to fresh talent. This time, musically, the overall tone is lighter; less gritty, more optimistic. “It’s definitely not as gloomy,” says Josh. “Still though, there is this kind of dark, mysterious thing that we do a lot that works,” he continues. “Like the song we’ve done with Grand Pax, for example - it’s got that kind of witchy darkness to it. I think if you do a really straight male soul voice, it can be a bit cheesy and sound like you’ve heard it a million times before.”

Their collaborations might be some of the freshest of 2020 but make no mistake: Gotts Street Park are out there looking to create something timeless.

Maceo Plex's Lone Romantic label signs up new school techno innovators Any Act for the powerful Deti Techno EP.

Since their self-released protest EP ‘Civil Act’, Yaroslavl-based collective Any Act have put out music that is physically, socially and politically powerful. That debut from the TRAM Planet Records associates was an evocative offering that paired dynamic guitar riffs with samples of a policeman's voice and acid-laced basslines. They now continue their mission to unite and strengthen young music communities in their native Russia, as well as around the world, with this new standout release.

The bristling title track opens up with a killer electro-techno groove. Distorted synth stabs and dark vocal samples make for an intense and edgy atmosphere that will fire up any club. 'Jug A Jug' is another visceral track with razor-sharp synths ripping up the groove as busted bass blasts down low. Add in angular riffs and booming kicks and you have an explosive techno rave-up.

The excellent 'Bayla' is another no-frills, lo-fi, high-impact banger with thumping drums and brain-frying synth textures that are all coated in grit and grime. 'Till I Die' shows a different side with its sleazy feel and ghetto bass. A freaky female vocal and pixelated melodies bring late-night rave vibes before closer 'Chin Chin De' takes off on rugged electro drum programming. It's an explosive cut with raw attitude and unbound energy that places you at the heart of a strobe-lit warehouse.

This is a direct and potent EP from the hotly tipped Any Act.

Heroes Of Limbo strike again with two stunning interpretations of hiphop and R&B staples on one 45. The mystery funk collective took the scene by storm last summer with their flips on Eric B. & Rakim's 'Don't Sweat The Technique' and Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's 'T.R.O.Y.', moving all copies on release day. Here the reimagine the Beatnuts unmistakable 'Watch Out Now' and Aaliyah's smash hit 'Try Again' in a their hypnotic, polyrhythmic afrobeat-inspired style. A sure shot double sided slice of musical pineapples.

MEMORIAM needs no introduction ‐ they are living legends of Old School Death Metal. Not only because the former fields of activity of the Brits belonged and still belong to the pioneers of UK Death Metal, but because they managed to follow their master plan more than precisely. MEMORIAM has built up their own loyal fan base over the past
seven years and developed its own musical identity. It would certainly have been easy for them to just follow the old paths, but the true art of the band is that they never deny their origins, but gradually incorporate something new ‐ with every album a few new nuances and facets are added.

The sheer speed of their creative output shows how consistently MEMORIAM follow this path: Following the initial success of the HELLFIRE DEMOS trilogy, MEMORIAM signed with Nuclear Blast in 2016. The band went on to release FOR THE FALLEN (2017), THE SILENT VIGIL (2018) and REQUIEM FOR MANKIND (2019) ensuring within a very short time that MEMORIAM were firmly established among loyal Death Metal fans. This wassupported by dozens of concerts, which have taken the band from selected club shows to major festival appearances (e.g. Hellfest, Wacken, Summer Breeze, Graspop). Following the success of this initial trilogy, MEMORIAM switched to the young label Reaper Entertainment. The album TO THE END, the first of a new trilogy, was released in 2021. The second album of the trilogy, RISE TO POWER, will be released in early 2023.

RISE TO POWER will not only once again offer an atmospherically dense Dan Seagrave cover, the war theme stylized on it also runs through Karl Willetts’ lyrics: With 'Never Forget, Never Again (6 Million Dead)' about the Holocaust and the, unfortunately, more than current 'Total War' about the war in Ukraine, Karl is more political than ever. "I am
writing 'our burden and shame' instead of 'their' as I believe it is our collective responsibility to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. I feel that it is my responsibility as a frontman and lyricist to write about the things that I feel are important," explains Karl. MEMORIAM transforms aggression and grief into
uncompromising Death Metal energy. Also musically the mentioned above development process continues.

While the opener still serves the essential Death Metal groove, MEMORIAM becomes more variable with each additional song and keeps adding new dynamics into their Old School Death Metal sound ‐ from brutal grooves ('Annihilation's Dawn') via doomy‐melodic parts like in 'I Am The Enemy' up to aggressive Nordic riffing like in 'Total War'. RISE TO POWER is an extremely varied album, as Karl confirms: "That's Scott's style, he comes from a different generation than Frank, Spike and me. He brings in influences from bands I haven't even heard of. It gives us the balance between old and new, and it works pretty well for us.” (Thomas Strater)

The Soninke collective consciousness finds its origins in a founding myth, a blood pact: the legend of Biida and the decadence of the empire of Ghana or Wagadu (evoked by Léopold Sédar Senghor as a land of plenty in his poem Le Kaya Magan). From the 3rd century AD, gathered in the region of Sahel, on the edge of the Sahara desert, the Soninko ruled over their kingdom and its capital Kumbi Saleh. According to folklore, they were blessed with abundant rain and nuggets of gold could be picked directly from the ground.

They owed this prosperity to a providential but cruel protector: the Wagadu Biida, a seven-headed serpent who lived at the bottom of the Kumbi well. Every year, as a reward for his favours, the Biida demanded an offering: the life of the most beautiful virgin woman in the community. Sacrifices took place for generations, until the 13th century AD, when fate chose Siya Yatabéré, Maamadi Sehedunxote's sweetheart...

Centuries later in 1977, Gaye Mody Camara, a young Soninke raised in Mali's Kayes region, settled in France to found his own empire. Initially selling wax, kola nuts and other goods in his Parisian outlets, he rapidly started distributing cassette tapes and eventually producing a multitude of recordings for his own label: Camara Production.

Crossing paths and collaborating over the next four decades with legendary artists, griots and industry moguls like Boncana Maïga, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Ganda Fadiga, Diaby Doua or Ibrahima Sylla, Camara became one of the great independent music producers of his generation, and a pilar of the Parisian Soninke diaspora.

Released in close collaboration with Gaye Camara and with the assistance of Daouda N'diaye, one of A.P.S' (Association pour la Promotion de la langue et de la culture Soninké) historical members, this selection of songs and accompanying notes aim to shed a light on an intricate culture and its modern music, injustifiably unknown outside of West Africa and the various Soninko diasporas around the world.

From Malian Zouk to Mauritanian Reggae and other psychedelic groovers originally released on cassettes or digitally, we have given the utmost attention to bringing this music to a new format. It has been carefully remastered and pressed on a couple of 180g vinyls, with riso printed liner notes.

‘SOMEONE TO BELIEVE IN’: A COLLECTIVE ANTHEM OF SOLIDARITY.

‘RIDING HIGH (ON YOUR LOVE)’: AN ECSTATIC EULOGY TO SUMMER DANCE FLOORS.

CRISP SUN SHIMMERS THROUGH BRITTLE BLUE SKY.

THE WORLD AWAKENS FROM ANOTHER BLEAK COLD WINTER.

YET MILLIONS STILL SUFFER WHILE OUR LEADERS LAUGH AT US.

AMF - HERE TO BRING JOY AND HOPE.

DJ Support -
Patrick Topping ‘You have nailed that vibe’
Sasha ‘Big Stuff’
Totally enormous Extinct Dinosaurs ‘Great Sample!’, Mr V Cool vibes on this pack’
Auntie Flo ‘Nice One’
Mousse T ‘Useful goodies’

Radio Support -
Danny Howard, Sarah Story

box-set clear / vinyl / 180 gr

The Stone Techno Series returns with another exciting compilation. This time alongside a new festival that celebrates forward thinking artists from 9th to 10th of July at Europe's biggest coal mine complex under the UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein. The project is exceptional at its core, bringing back excitement and inventiveness to the genre.

The project functions as a multidisciplinary ever-evolving experiment that brings different aspects together. Sampling, creating and releasing music made out of million years old inorganic materials which shaped and defined the Ruhr Area like nothing else. "Auf Kohle geboren - born on coal" stands for this region and the so-called "German Wirtschaftswunder".

The Stone Techno project wants to embrace the history of "the Ruhrpott" while looking into the future as well. Techno Music stands for upheaval and modernity, while coal is the symbol of the Ruhr Area. This unique project will lend audibility to the ongoing process of transformation in the cultural and natural history of this region. Science and museums crossing paths with contemporary electronic music culture.

The Stone Techno project is not shy of its obvious significance. World-famous Ruhr Museum and The Third Room collective mark a first of its kind of long-lasting collaborations between a techno brand and a cultural institution.

This time the project is conceptually going one step further: Before the final backfilling of the mine at Zeche Zollverein, the acoustic atmos

BABILBON is the fusion between Babylon and Bilbo. A collective of musicians with experience in other bands from Bilbao with the idea of bringing a modern twist to the old Jamaican rhythms, fusing them with dancehall and hip-hop rhythms without any pretension of sounding purist, and also lending the microphone to 10 artists from Bilbo and "surroundings": Bite Akatz, Suprah, Mad Muasel, Xatiro, Belardi Rockers, Gatom, Ras Reguilón & Daka, Fundación de Raperos Atípicos de Cádiz, Inés Pardo and Priteo. Their eponymous debut album (called 10 Beats and Riddims Basque Label) was recorded at Mamba Beltza studios in the Iturralde neighborhood of Bilbao, with the aim of thundering in all the sound-systems of the great Babylon. For the purpose, the band gives the microphone to 10 vocalists from Bilbo and "surroundings" to the delight of locals and strangers. The selection is of bells and whistles, but behind the rhythmic recitation of rhymes, puns, breaks and Jamaican riddims, there is a solid and versatile band that, adapting to the guests, builds a homogeneous sound around the Babylonian assortment of languages, dialects, accents, textures, styles, personalities, moods, cultures and subcultures.

Monks Road Social are an ever-changing collective of artists (some well-known, some just starting out) all with one thing in common - a love of making music.

Following the three genre bending albums MRS has already released this time round Richard Clarke turned to WONDERFULSOUND head honcho Miles Copeland to navigate the the vibe alongside mainstay of the band, the inimitable Dr Robert of Blow Monkeys fame.

Miles first showed up on debut album Down The Willows with the dreamy 'Golden Day' featuring Isle Of White favourite Angelina.

First single 'I’ll Keep On Searchin’ featuring Dr Robert on vocals is a lilting soulful slice of summer pop combining sweet melancholy and wistful chord changes.

Dr Robert explains “The song came from a piece of music Miles presented to me. It put me in mind of “Friends” era Beach Boys or early Smokey so the song came very quickly. Lyrically its informed by a kind of yearning. A desire for change, growth and connection. The things we’ve all been missing so much that give life meaning”

Miles continues…
“The idea for this single came about from these 2 loops sampled from some charity shop record creating this infectious lazy, jazzy groove but I knew the music needed to change and become its own thing… so when the Monks Road Social posse came knocking I knew the calibre of musicians involved would be able to flip it around, and that’s how a majority of the LP was written”.

The iconic collective CSNY became both a symbol for Woodstock and the late 1960s counterculture sweeping across America. While
the internal dynamics of the band would soon determine its fate, CSNY would prevail by providing generations with a definitive
soundtrack of the period as well as an immense body of inspiring songs that would endure through the decades. The 1970-74
timeline is a golden one for the singer/songwriter and here are four of its finest authors, performing together, on stage as one.
Get Yer Vinyl Out takes you back to that golden era with their Greatest Hits performed across three rare broadcasts that help define
the sound of CSNY. Superb, professionally remastered original broadcasts pressed on Eco Mixed 180g Vinyl and presented in a
deluxe gatefold sleeve with background liners and timeline photos.

Adapted from Charles Perrault's famous fairy tale, the soundtrack of Jacques Demy's unforgettable movie "Peau d'Âne", Jacques Demy's unforgettable film, is once again available in its original format.

A timeless music, for all ages, orchestrated by one of the greatest French composers at the service of a masterpiece of French cinema.

Faitiche presents Groupshow’s Greatest Hits: The ten tracks on this first vinyl album by Groupshow (Hanno Leichtmann, Andrew Pekler, Jan Jelinek), recorded between 2005 and 2018, document concert recordings and studio improvisations by the trio.

In improvisation there are no mistakes, only missed opportunities. Groupshow found their first opportunity in the routines of live performance and they used this opportunity to break with these routines. The trio consisting of Jan Jelinek, Hanno Leichtmann and Andrew Pekler came together in the context of Kosmischer Pitch, playing live versions of the music from Jelinek’s 2005 studio album of that name. During this project, the musical interaction between the three participants quickly emancipated itself from the original programme, departing from fixed roles and finding a distinct form in constant change.

Groupshow sessions – rehearsal, concert or recording – are always improvised. The interplay of the various sound sources, converging from the directions of “electronics”, “percussion” and “guitar”, does not follow the Krautrock wave logic of crescendo and morendo. Jelinek, Leichtmann and Pekler have established a method of transparent density in which links and breaks are not concealed but remain audible. The music works through attraction and repulsion, with a loosely organized structure that always leaves enough room for the next intervention.

The principle here, repeated even in the smallest units, is that of duration. Groupshow think of their music in terms of an installation: no starting point, no dramaturgy, and ideally no end. Concerts take place not raised up on a podium, but in the middle of the room on a level with the audience, who only enter the space with the musicians and instruments once their interaction is already underway. In 2008, Groupshow used this approach to create a live soundtrack for Andy Warhol’s film Empire, over the full length of eight hours and five minutes.

Recordings in general and the “Greatest Hits” format in particular are another key aspect of this ongoing work on a collectively modulated continuum. The ten tracks on this first vinyl album by Groupshow, recorded between 2005 and 2018, document the ephemeral capturing of opportunities that were not missed. Extracts and essences of an endless movement of searching. The sprawling form of the whole, suspended in succinct, separate units.
To paraphrase Lao Tzu and Roland Barthes, one might say: Once their work is done, they are no longer attached to it. And because they’re not attached to it, it will remain.

Arno Raffeiner, 2022

Ecuadorian musician, sound engineer and producer Andre Salmon collaborates with Teddy Wong, Jorge Andrade, Le Roi Carmona and Michael Joseph for their first collective release on Hot Creations. The three-track EP is a rumbling journey through club-ready tech house, shaped by glistening beats, thick basslines and groovy melodies.

The title track simmers with a chunky bassline and a giggly vocal sample, in tandem with Spanish lyrics and a catchy melody. Co-produced with Teddy Wong, The Wonx follows suit with a more laidback mood and a twinkling synthline. Snappy percussion and glitchy vocals add a clubby feel. On the flip, Andre joins forces with Le Roi Carmona and Michael Joseph on La Piel De Salmon. A weird and wonky melody ensues, aligned with Hot Creations’ signature take on house music. Ethereal Spanish vocals build tension in the breakdown before erupting into a colossal, bass-heavy groove.

James Curd presents the fourth instalment from his already essential PRONTO label, delivering a hyper-infectious original alongside a bumper pack of top-drawer remixes on ‘I Am One, I Am Many’.

First up, Curd’s original version of ‘I Am One, I Am Many’ bursts from the blocks with its lively tempo and feel-good groove. Built around an empowering spoken word vocal and pitched somewhere in the fertile soil between disco and house, the funk-laden jam rolls over thick bass, dramatic strings and jaunty guitar licks, with irresistible horn motifs lifting spirits as the dance-ready arrangement unfolds.

Next, renegade UK collective Adelphi Music Factory maintain the uncompromising approach that has seen them garner universal tastemaker heat thanks to impactful releases on Shall Not Fade, Nervous, and their own Beat Factory label. Adding weight to the drums, they stay true to the intention of the original, retaining the track’s key parts while tastefully reforming them as an unfettered main room banger.

The UK remix flavour extends into the third iteration, with notorious party-starters Make A Dance continuing their club-focused manifesto with their brilliantly atmospheric revision. Here, M.A.D. carry on the fine work they’ve been manifesting on their eponymous label, constructing an almost entirely new track around the iconic vocal. A contagious organ hook drives the energy as saucer-eyed sweeps and off-kilter synths meander across the panorama, the sturdy house rhythm expertly powering the kinetically charged groove.

Tel Aviv’s Nenor rounds off the remixes, the esteemed producer and DJ showing the kind of sparkling form that has seen his work appear on benchmark labels including Mahogani, Strictly Rhythm, Heist, and Razor N Tape among many others. Transposing the track into deeper territory, Nenor strips back the instrumentation to serve a mesmerising heads-down roller. The vocal soars over brooding bass and syncopated chords, with loose rhythms and subtle textures combining to hypnotic effect.

Strut revives a lost recording from the archives in January with a 2002 collaboration between acclaimed South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, singer songwriter Norman Zulu and Swedish jazz / soul collective Jive Connection. Sotho folk singer Vusi Mahlasela, dubbed "The Voice" Of South Africa, performed at Mandela"s inauguration in 1994 and has enjoyed his own long relationship with Sweden, regularly embarking on cultural exchanges and forging a strong bond with the Jive Connection band, featuring guitarist / bassist Stefan Bergman and Little Dragon drummer Erik Bodin within its line-up. Although touring regularly, the collaboration has rarely been documented beyond a lone studio album in 1994. This "lost" recording, discovered in the archives of producer Torsten Larsson, also features songwriter / vocalist Norman Zulu and showcases their natural musical chemistry together. Vusi"s songs have traditionally addressed the struggle for freedom and the need for reconciliation and, here, his lyrics are as powerful as ever, ranging from parables ("Prodigal Son") to an unflinching lament on child abuse ("Faceless People"). Jive Connection vary the soundtrack, bringing in hints of reggae, jazz and post-punk alongside traditional township arrangements.

For nearly 60 years, John Cale has been reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. MERCY, Cale’s first full album in a decade, moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronic torment toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future with the help of some of music’s most curious young minds. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.

John Cale announces MERCY, his first new album of original songs in a decade, out January 20th via Double Six / Domino. For nearly 60 years, or at least since he was a young Welshman who moved to New York and formed The Velvet Underground, Cale has been reinventing his music with dazzling and inspiring regularity. There was the bewitching chamber folk of Paris 1919 followed instantly by the gnarled rock of Fear, the provocative and spare song cycle Music for a New Society followed more than 30 years later by mighty and unabashed electronic updates. Once again, here is Cale, reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. His engrossing 12-track MERCY moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronics toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future.

On MERCY, Cale enlists some of music’s most curious young minds: Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, Tei Shi, Actress. They’re only some of the astounding cast here, brilliant musicians who climb inside Cale’s consummate vision of the world and help him redecorate there. Cale turned 80 in March, and he’s watched as many peers have passed away, particularly during the last decade. MERCY is the continuation of a long career’s work with wonder. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.



The writings and recordings that shaped MERCY piled up for years, as Cale watched society totter at the brink of dystopia. Trump and Brexit, Covid and climate change, civil rights and right-wing extremism—Cale let the bad news of the day filter into his lines, whether that meant contemplating the sovereignty and legal status of sea ice melting near the poles or the unhinged arming of Americans. Lessons from a life (still being) richly lived floated to the fore, too, nodded to on the previously released “NIGHT CRAWLING.” If we’re always regretting our past, aren’t we conscripting ourselves to permanent disappointment?

During “STORY OF BLOOD,” after the piano prelude gives way to a frame-rattling beat and synthesizers that feel like sunshine splashed across a snowfield, the voices of Cale and Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering slide past one another, two phantoms trying to find a partner amid the modern din. “Swing your soul,” they both sing in aspiration. In the final verse, Cale remembers this existence is not just about himself. “I’m going back to get them, my friends in the morning. Bring them with me into the light.” The accompanying video by Emmy-winning director Jethro Waters is a mix of disturbing and serene featuring both Cale and Weyes Blood. Its deep tones and religious images emphasize the track’s dark, spiritual mood.

Cale elaborates: “I’d been listening to Weyes Blood’s latest record and remembered Natalie’s puritanical vocals. I thought if I could get her to come and sing with me on the ‘Swing your soul’ section, and a few other harmonies, it would be beautiful. What I got from her was something else! Once I understood the versatility in her voice, it was as if I’d written the song with her in mind all along. Her range and fearless approach to tonality was an unexpected surprise. There’s even a little passage in there where she’s a dead-ringer for Nico.”

It's an all electronic affair, harmonically maximalist, predominantly symphonic-synthetic, requiring active listening. Some pieces function as challengers of musical structural habits, provoking the short attention span culture, others present a problem-solution scenario, collectively via a neoteric noise aesthetic and detailed melodic weaving. Ultimately, the objective was to engineer an assortment of works full of sound, euphonic and vivid in nature.

The making of this album was intentionally a very personal process, going into self therapy territory at times interpreting the composer's contemplating mind dealing with tolerance, destruction, compassion, misery, grace and tyranny in an auditory manner. Some pieces function as challengers of musical structural habits, provoking the short attention span culture, others present a problem-solution scenario, collectively via a neoteric noise aesthetic and detailed melodic weaving. Ultimately, the objective was to engineer an assortment of works, awash with euphonic sound vivid in its essence, with a deep focus on various synthesis techniques within a compositional framework.

Dedicated to Peter Rehberg aka Pita

Ata 'Sote' Ebtekar composes music with a deeply-held conviction that rules and formulas should be deconstructed and rethought. He alters musical modal codes from their original tonality and rhythmic tradition to achieve vivid, synthetic soundscapes. Over the last three decades, his work has been published by labels such as Warp, Sub Rosa, Opal Tapes, Diagonal, Mute and Morphine, among others. In 2018, he founded a new label called 'Zabte Sote', which focuses on releases by Iranian experimental electronic composers from around the globe.

Known for creating compositions that range from the delicate to the abrasive, using sounds both of acoustical and electronic origins, Ebtekar sees music as the expression of cultural habits in sound and anti-sound (silence). Seeking to expand such traditions he creates music that, while rooted in many cultures at once, belongs to none in particular. Sote's work deals with various blueprints, in particular his solo all synthetic music, his electroacoustic audio/visual group project, and his multi-channel sound installations. Sote is on the jury panel of The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, and has created commissioned work for and performed at a.o. Berghain and CTM Festival (Berlin), Unsound Festival (Krakow), Cafe Oto (London), Jazzhouse (Copenhagen), TodaysArt Festival (The Hague), Bozar (Brussels), Ultima Festival (Oslo), Donaufestival (Krems), Donaueschinger Musiktage, Mira (Barcelona), Terraforma (Milan), and many more.

Aaron Mader, known professionally as Lazerbeak, is a Minneapolis-based artist and producer. Over the past decade he has collaborated with everyone from reigning pop queen Lizzo (producing her entire debut album), Doja Cat, Dessa, bluegrass heavyweights Trampled By Turtles, indie supergroup GAYNGS, and the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra, all while continuing to build and create with life-long comrades from his own Doomtree artist collective and notching production credits on everything from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton Mixtape to the dark electro-pop of Banks’ critically acclaimed III album. Aside from being a founding member of the Doomtree collective, he is also the CEO and General Manager of Doomtree Records, handling the day-to-day operations, management, and inner workings of the crew and label. His latest solo album Lava Bangers II, the second in an on-going instrumental beat tape series, is being released in two-song monthly installments throughout all of 2022, culminating in a 20 song limited edition 2xLP physical release in January 2023.

Side By Side - Volume 2 is the latest in a series of exciting releases from
the much-respected Leeds label Come Play With Me and is the second
edition of Side to Side', a callout to support women, marginalised genders
and LGBTQ+ artists
. The album features a collection of 10 new and eclectic tracks from an
exceptionally talented group of artists including Pleasure Centre, Kindelan and
Naali Collective. With the lead track coming from South Korea native Heju and
further two singles from dreampop soloist Boshe and neo-soul Sunday.
Tracks: Edited People - Understand / Elle Bennett - Good Morning Midnight / Heju
- Sometimes i miss that hotel room / Boshe - Take It / Sunday - With Ease /
Eleanor Cully Boehringer - XIII Bells / NAALI Collective - Satori / Bizarrefae - You /
Kindelan - Know You / Pleasure Centre - Above The Neck (Live at The Nave)

In Western thought and culture, voice without speech is viewed as irrational and dangerous. Across myth and history, these voices must be contained or prohibited due to the threat they pose on social order. Female, animal, artificial and inanimate, lamenting, screaming, dreaming, mumbling. Fugitive voices, entangled in a parallel ‘nonhuman history’ coming together to create a chorus. Future Chorus is based on a collection of readings, spoken word, nonlinguistic sound, poetry, MCing, and animal sound, combined with machine learning processes to generate a genderless voice speaking a nonhuman language. The vocal database and AI voice became the raw material for five remixes by AGF, Chino Amobi, Harrga, Savvas Metaxas, Trustfall and Lafawndah. The project was conceived and curated by writer, theorist and practitioner Eleni Ikoniadou, a Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art and member of the art collective AUDINT. The album is released by Hypermedium in collaboration with MAENADS — Anne Duffau, Eleni Ikoniadou, Aphroditi Psarra — a platform for collaborative art projects, musical, visual, performative or text based, releasing work that seeks to inhabit polyvocal narratives, group joy, alternative worlds or subjectivities, spontaneous collective ruptures.

Soul Jazz Records are releasing Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation’s seminal 1975 album Tales of Mozambique in an expanded double album/single CD/digital format, fully remastered and with the inclusion of two bonus rare single-only tracks, full sleevenotes, exclusive photographs and interview.

Count Ossie is the central character in the development of Rastafarian roots music, nowadays an almost mythical and iconic figure. His importance in bringing Rastafarian music to a populist audience is matched only by Bob Marley’s promotion of the faith internationally in the 1970s.

Count Ossie’s drummers performed on the first commercially released single to integrate Rastafarian traditional music with popular music: the vocal group The Folkes Brothers’ groundbreaking song ‘Oh Carolina’, recorded for producer Prince Buster in 1959. In 1966 his drummers greeted the momentous arrival of Haile Selassie at Kingston airport.

His legendary jam sessions up in his Rastafarian compound in the hills of Wareika, Kingston, are famous for the many Jamaican musicians who attended including The Skatalites players – Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Lloyd Knibbs – and many others.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari formed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970, a union of Count Ossie’s Rastafarian drummers – variously known as his African Drums, Wareikas or his Afro-Combo – and the saxophonist Cedric Im Brooks’ horns group, The Mystics.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are the defining group in bringing authentic Rastafarian rhythms into the collective consciousness of popular music, their unique music is at once rooted in the deep traditions and rituals of traditional drumming and chanting alongside a forward-thinking, even avant-garde, artistry influenced by the likes of John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders and other pioneering African-American jazz artists radicalised and charged by the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Tales of Mozambique is a truly unique and fascinating ground-breaking album.

Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are the central group featured on Soul Jazz Records recent "Rastafari - The Dreads Enter Babylon” a collection showing the influence of Rastafari in Reggae and Jamaican popular culture.

Soul Jazz Records will also be releasing Count Ossie and The Rasta Family 'Man From Higher Heights’ in the near future.

* Bonus tracks

REVIEWS

" All roads in Rastafarian roots music lead to Count Ossie.He’s the lead character in this compelling subplot, the musician who was one of the first to put Rasta tenets into the heart of popular music.

He did so from his camp in the hills above Kingston, Count Ossie and his drummers casting a spell on the musicians who gathered to check him out and then went on to spread the word about the powerful nyabinghi rhythms and mesmerising percussion.

This is a reissue of the 1975 album Count Ossie made with his Rastafarian drummers and saxaphonist Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks’s group The Mystics.

It’s a groundbreaking, majestic work, by turns righteous in tone and joyous in execution. It’s the sound of Ossie and his ensemble narrating a history lesson and you’d be daft not to want to find out more." IRISH TIMES

Formed in Louisville, KY in 1991, Falling Forward was a band made up of childhood friends Benjamin Clark, Gary Bell, Jonathan Mobley, Ben Lord, and Chris Higdon. Started in their early teens, the band released a handful of recordings on a few different labels (Noble Recordings, Initial Records, and Doghouse Records) before disbanding in 1995. Higdon, Mobley, and Lord would immediately regroup as the renowned atmospheric post-hardcore band, Elliott. Falling Forward's first 7" was originally released as the first (and only) title on local Louisville imprint, Noble Recordings, in a scarcely limited edition of 500. Shortly thereafter, they signed to rising Detroit-turned-Louisville label, Initial Records, for their lone full-length album, Hand Me Down. Founding member Benjamin Clark then left, replaced by Endpoint's Pat McClimans. In 1995, as their popularity and influence were peaking across the United States, Falling Forward released two final singles: an acoustic split 7" with fellow Louisvillians, Metroschifter; and a self-titled 7" EP on the prolific Midwestern indie label, Doghouse Records. All of those releases are long out-of-print, and Falling Forward's entire catalog has remained unavailable in any format for over 20 years. Let These Days Pass: The Complete Anthology 1991-1995 documents the entire recorded history of a young band who met in their pre-teens, wore their hearts on their collective sleeves, and incidentally inspired and influenced thousands of kids and dozens of bands (most notably Thursday) across the world with their unique union of chunky, metallic riffs, pop-punk-inspired hooks, and startlingly infectious, Sunny Day Real Estate-inspired melodicism. Restored and remastered from the original master tapes by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (The Promise Ring, Converge), Let These Days Pass is packaged in all-new artwork culled from elements of the band's history, and includes a 20-page full-color booklet of rare and unpublished photos, fliers, and lyrics.

The debut album from post-folk travellers Immaterial Possession, a quartet, half of whom came from an artist commune and half who were card-carrying Elephant6 alumni. ‘Immaterial Possession’ is a rich tapestry of a record, a gorgeous, melodious return to a time when influences co-habited freely and whatever was close at hand made the music of the day. All set to Syd Barrett-era Floyd and Nico with haunting lines, it’s perfectly tinged with gamelan harmonies, evocative Spanish guitars and xylophone. Exuding mystical symbolism; they wear luscious threads, they’re part of something/anything; perhaps a neo-modern-folk commune of artists in search of a canvas to stretch out over their juxtaposed influences. Immaterial Possession was conceived by Atlanta natives, Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, who met while living together at an Atlanta artist commune that was integrated into the DIY music, theatre, and arts scene. Some years later the duo moved to the neighbouring musical town of Athens, GA. They were soon joined by seasoned drummer, John Spiegel, and eventually fulfilled with multi-instrumentalist Kiran Fernandes (keyboards, clarinets, flutes) - descendant of the Elephant 6 Collective scene. It’s eastern, it’s eerie dream pop, it’s spacious and ethereal… A perfectly wild trip, and where it ends is immaterial.

On his debut 12" EP, Chicago producer and bike messenger DJ HANK captures the feeling of racing against traffic and, as he puts it, "trying to make it out alive with the chaos of the city going around you."

DJ Hank grew up in North Carolina, Eastern USA. As a teenager, he began making rap beats on pirated music software while also DJing and playing keyboards in experimental punk band Whatever Brains. In 2011, at age 18, Hank moved to Chicago to pursue a career as a bike messenger. In a city dominated by 21+ clubs and venues, Hank gravitated to the famous footwork hub Battlegroundz due to it's all-ages inclusivity and raw energy. DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn and other luminary figures of the footwork community spun weekly, while dancers spanning multiple generations and crews battled it out on the dance floor every Sunday.

Through the underground network of Chicago footwork events, Hank became a close and frequent collaborator with international footwork collective Teklife. He has released music on Teklife's record label but isn't a member of the group itself. In similar fashion, he's loosely affiliated with dance group Take Ova Gang (TOG) founded by DJ Manny. Hank maintains a fluid relationship with the footwork culture from which his sound draws. Beyond collaborating with his friends, Hank has collaborated with Chilean rapper Catana, Berlin-based DJ Paypal, and Floridian DJ Orange Julius.

On "Traffic Control," however, Hank explores a wide range of sounds, from melodic to experimental, influenced by everything from UK Garage and Grime to Ghetto House and Snap music (or Southern Hip hop production in general). Artists like Kode9, MachineDrum, and Sherelle have been supporters of Hank's music, playing his tracks throughout multiple recorded sets. In a live setting, Hank has shared the stage with such influential acts as Loefah, DJ Deeon, Sporting Life, DJ Spinn, Traxman, and pioneering footwork artist Jana Rush, who has been both a friend and mentor to Hank during his formative years in Chicago.

The timeless music and expert arrangements are about the only things smoother than the powder-blue suits sported by the Spinners on the cover of their resplendent self-titled 1972 record. The band's first album for Atlantic after departing Motown, Spinners ranks as an all-time soul classic – a filler-free set boasting immaculate harmonies, sweet melodies, and impeccably matched vocals. Thom Bell's flawless production puts it all over the top. Yielding an ideal balance of lushness and grit, the collaboration between the Detroit-based group and studio veteran yielded a record that birthed the celebrated Philadelphia Sound. Now, you can finally experience it in audiophile-grade sonics.

While the career-defining performances within the grooves cannot be overlooked, Spinners remains equally notable for its historical importance. At the dawn of the 70s, Motown still held sway as the dominant soul style. Yet the Spinners' decision to move to Atlantic – prompted by a suggestion by Aretha Franklin – and refashion their approach with Bell signalled a sea change that ushered in a smoother, sweeter variety of R&B punctuated with sweeping strings, jazzy flourishes, brassy replies, and funk rhythms. Few, if any, vocal groups mesh these traits more convincingly, pleasingly, and naturally than the Spinners on this watershed effort.

Anchored by Top 5 smashes like "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love," Spinners signalled the beginning of a partnership with Bell that lasted seven years and elevated the band to stardom. Indeed, even in spite of the four hit singles, the record remains defined by an artistic consistency, watertight focus, and collective unity that make everything here deserving of close attention. Flush with catchy hooks and pop accents, each song is treated as a potential anthem. Laden with depth and richness, Bell's savvy, wide-open arrangements frame the Spinners' satiny singing with sensual class and refined delicacy.

Heaven-sent voices do the rest. Making his first appearance on record as a member, Philippe Wynne treats the carefully honed material as a breakout session for his dulcet tenor on tracks such as "One of a Kind (Love Affair)." Not to be outdone, the equally measured Bobbie Smith mesmerizes with his deft phrasing, reedy timbre, and sparkling clarity, never finer than on the million-selling "I'll Be Around." Solo or paired together, Wynne and Smith's glorious leads run the gamut from upbeat and optimistic to sad and forlorn, forming the backbone of a masterwork that addresses romance ("Just You and Me Baby"), regret ("How Could I Let You Get Away"), and social ills ("Ghetto Child") with consummate passion.

Eclectic Italian quartet Eugenia Post Meridiem are ready to reveal their sophomore full-length record, a rather magnificent musical masterpiece. The gloriously kaleidoscopic, dazzling celebration of sound ‘like i need tension’ is available everywhere now. Demonstrated over eight tracks, the all encompassing, musical odyssey, ‘like i need tension’ features initial single ‘willpower’; which burst across our radar with lashings of personality, and became the introduction to the now familiar Indie outfit. Next up was the punchy and fearless ‘around my neck’ and last but by no means least came the intriguing, alluring ‘whisper’, the calm before the sophomore album storm. Gifted with a further five previously unheard gems, listeners certainly have plenty to sink their teeth into. With focus track ‘crucial spring’ traversing the spectrums of shadow, the progressive and percussive ‘unchained will’, the slow voluminous ballad ‘ocean flows’ and the infectious, chaotic energy of ‘tiny perspectives’ and ‘mazes of gazes’. Oozing with iridescence, flavour and texture, there’s something to suit all manners of music fans. Completed over a span of two years plus a two week post-lockdown writing and recording stint, it was then that like i need tension truly came to life in a small converted barn near the village of Montaldo Bormida, in northern Italy. “It was a totally collaborative process... All the composing was done together, right there in the room.” and thus, like i need tension was born. “Tension is a powerful force. It drives things forwards, its friction producing interesting and unexpected results. Above all, it fuels creativity, inspiring and focusing in equal measure.” Such togetherness and chemistry as a band truly shines through across the eight track project. There’s a bold, fearless tenacity to experiment and to go against the tide as each track is filled with quality, curiosity and ingenuity. With purpose and intention studded throughout, like i need tension is as poetic and reflective as it is meditative and utterly transcendent. Placing its roots somewhere in the mystical universe of Hiatus Kaiyote, Christine and the Queens, PYJÆN and Tame Impala. Eugenia Post Meridiem’s sound holds an intrinsic synergy, refreshingly intangible, allowing space for the listener’s own interpretation and understanding. The depth they venture as a collective rewards those who journey beyond the initial passive listening. With technical structures, composition and developed time signatures just waiting to be unearthed, depicted and understood, Eugenia Post Meridiem offer a treasure trove for the adventurous and devoted musical palate yet still remain accessible and incredibly generous to all those who decide to listen. “And so it is that all eight tracks hang together beautifully, linked not by some overarching concept or narrative, but simply a band exploring their talent and the vast space afforded by an open-minded approach.”

Whether intentional or not, Philadelphia’s Circa Survive have become experts on that critical second word of their band name. With six full-length records and three EPs behind them, the beloved alt-prog/post-hardcore giants are entering their 17th year together amid global upheaval and personal renaissance, creating together while navigating through one of the most unstable chapters in American history. It’s a necessarily existential period, where that one imperative rises to the top: survive.
In early 2020, the band was forced to reschedule the tenth anniversary tour for their ground-breaking 2010 LP Blue Sky Noise. Pushing off the tour—now slated for 2022—and delaying plans for a new record has ushered in a new chapter for Circa Survive.

Two Dreams, the forthcoming seventh full-length record from Philadelphia’s Circa Survive, is a project of dual realities in both theory and practice. The 12-track record comprises two individual six-song EPs, titled A Dream About Love and A Dream About Death. The dreams in question aren’t the idyllic material of sleep, but a much more tangible, dark surrealism. They’re the twin experiences of vocalist Anthony Green after relapsing and overdosing on heroin during the writing of the album.

With Two Dreams, Circa Survive aims higher in both collective spirit and individual practice. After nearly two decades of international tours and festival mainstages, the band has regrouped to protect one another and their work. They’re playing the long-game. “I want to make 100 more records,” laughs Green. But now, the goal isn't to simply survive. It’s to thrive.

Ellen Allien and the We Are Not Alone collective are back with a second edition of the We Are Not Alone series. A 36-track compilation split into 3 parts, each consisting of 12 cuts, dedicated to the infamous We Are Not Alone event series and the best of Berlin’s underground techno talent.

Ellen Allien's innovative party series We Are Not Alone was launched in 2016 and remains committed to inviting an exciting crew of artists to perform at the 36 hour events, now in a new home at RSO.BERLIN, where they returned with bang over 36 hours and 3 floors in May.

The We Are Not Alone compilation features artists that have played at the parties, as well as those who will join the line-up for future events. The 4th, 5th and 6th parts include music by Ellen and established names names such as Thomas P. Heckmann, Dollkraut & DJ Europarking, Francois X, Phase Fatale and Etapp Kyle. Rising stars Nene H, Nur Jaber, Stephanie Sykes, Wallis and Métaraph. BPitch signings including Rosa Anschütz, Shaleen, Matasism and Uncrat.
For this installment of the series, Ellen Allien collaborates with esteemed director and photographer Stini Roehrs for the multidisciplinary project ‘’AFTER DARK – Emotional States of Techno’’, consisting of a virtual rave film, book and exhibition produced by AKKURAT Studios, and the We Are Not Alone VA, which is to be released physically and digitally via BPitch.

The next We Are Not Alone parties take place at RSO, Berlin in July, August and October of this year. 22nd July, CSD weekend, is set to be a single night event on two floors. 20th August a We Are Not Alone floor during the RSO Club Festival and then we’ll be back for over 30 hours on 15th & 16th October. Watch this space.

With this new solar album, Brazilian singer-songwriter Lucas Santtana wishes to re-enchant our life on earth. For his ninth album "O Paraíso" (Paradise), the free heir of the Brazilian tropicália intends to redefine our idea of Paradise. "It is in front of us, we must open our eyes and learn to contemplate it in depth," he explains. The Earth is a living organism also called "biosphere", a unique planet in the solar system where all the conditions are gathered to welcome life. Lucas places life at the heart of his songs and celebrates the collective forces that resist to preserve it. His guitar-vocal songs with bossa nova sounds are mixed with organic sounding percussions, enriched with electronic orchestrations and textures. The Brazilian composer gets closer to his French audience by collaborating with Flavia Coelho, Flore Benguigui (from the band L"Impératrice) or the saxophonist Laurent Bardaine, and by even trying his hand at French on one of his tracks. It"s a festive new album, which helps us better understand where we live and with whom we share this heavenly home.

Triathalon's new album Spin is cavernous, warm to the touch — aglow in
Rhodes pianos, Wurlitzers, and fuzzed out guitars.
The New York based trio recorded Spin live, with mixing by Gabe Wax
(Adrianne Lenker, Fleet Foxes) and mastering by Zeroh (Pink Siifu,
Eyedress)
It was written, produced and recorded by the band themselves. The album is an
inherently transformative record — the product of years of work, both on the self
and as a collective, a band. Spin is cavernous, warm to the touch, aglow in
Rhodes pianos, Wurlitzers, and fuzzed out guitars.
Triathalon will hit the road on a month- long North American tour at the end of
August with stops in 27 cities including Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Chicago,
Philadelphia and more.
Forming in Savannah, the band—which began as the solo project of Adam Intrator
before Chad Chilton and Hunter Jayne joined in 2011—relocated to New York City
after performing together for nearly a decade in Georgia. Their new music is a
snapshot of Triathalon's evolution and growth — tracing a journey of sonic selfreflection, of being lost in your thoughts and watching the world around you
change.
"brooding, romantic, lush — and deeply sensual" Billboard

Triathalon's new album Spin is cavernous, warm to the touch — aglow in
Rhodes pianos, Wurlitzers, and fuzzed out guitars.
The New York based trio recorded Spin live, with mixing by Gabe Wax
(Adrianne Lenker, Fleet Foxes) and mastering by Zeroh (Pink Siifu,
Eyedress)
It was written, produced and recorded by the band themselves. The album is an
inherently transformative record — the product of years of work, both on the self
and as a collective, a band. Spin is cavernous, warm to the touch, aglow in
Rhodes pianos, Wurlitzers, and fuzzed out guitars.
Triathalon will hit the road on a month- long North American tour at the end of
August with stops in 27 cities including Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Chicago,
Philadelphia and more.
Forming in Savannah, the band—which began as the solo project of Adam Intrator
before Chad Chilton and Hunter Jayne joined in 2011—relocated to New York City
after performing together for nearly a decade in Georgia. Their new music is a
snapshot of Triathalon's evolution and growth — tracing a journey of sonic selfreflection, of being lost in your thoughts and watching the world around you
change.
"brooding, romantic, lush — and deeply sensual" Billboard

Ellen Allien and the We Are Not Alone collective are back with a second edition of the We Are Not Alone series. A 36-track compilation split into 3 parts, each consisting of 12 cuts, dedicated to the infamous We Are Not Alone event series and the best of Berlin’s underground techno talent.

Ellen Allien's innovative party series We Are Not Alone was launched in 2016 and remains committed to inviting an exciting crew of artists to perform at the 36 hour events, now in a new home at RSO.BERLIN, where they returned with bang over 36 hours and 3 floors in May.

7" Black Vinyl in Fold-out Concertina Sleeve, 500 copies only. An anachronism in current times where individualism reigns supreme, Teeth Machine are a rare band knitted together through close camaraderie: a collective in the truest sense of the word, whose intricate, improvisational style resolutely resists being reduced to one single contributor. Teeth Machine found its beginnings in the close friendship and musical collaborations of Arthur Bently (saxophonist/lead guitarist) and Gray Rimmer (lead vocals/guitar). Having played together in various other projects since the age of 17 and disaffected with the music industry, the pair’s first furtive experimentations with the music that would later become Teeth Machine took place at a deliberate distance from the Outside world. This early incubation period, and the music made through endless bedroom sessions and demos recorded on laptops and tapes, became the spine of the project, fostering a sound that still retains both a precious intimacy and a large, expansive sonic scope. The band’s lineup as it stands today features long term friends and collaborators Anthony Boatright (Bass), Jamie Staples (Drums), and Ciara Reddy (Vocals/Synth). On their first self-assured, recorded offering to the wider world, Teeth Machine still bear the imprint of their origins, the band’s sound firmly grounded in the ethos of mutually weighted contribution, as well as the closeness cultivated in their early experiences, always retaining an air of uninhibited creativity and adolescent intimacy. ‘Gumball’, their first release on RaRaRok (Wulu, The Goa Express) was self-produced, mixed by Dilip Harris (King Krule, Mount Kimbie). It’s a song that conveys the tension and impossibility of communication and language, even when attempting to connect with those closest to us. Despite this, and however much the track itself bristles with an unmistakable air of friction, the listener gets the strong sense that there has not been a love lost, but rather one renegotiated, even expanded. Speaking about ‘Gumball’, Teeth Machine said: “‘Gumball’ is about the impossibility of talking. It was written during quite a chaotic period, and the lyrics came about after we had a big argument in the kitchen while trying to record a demo at the time - it tracks the madness and intensity of trying to make sense to someone you care about, or to yourself in your head. There’s a kind of antagonistic self help mantra that resonates throughout; it’s about internal and external conflict. It’s angry, but it’s also full of love too

Finally available on vinyl for the first time, with extra tracks - Limited edition numbered red vinyl. 500 copies worldwide A supergroup with twenty lead singers from twenty different bands, featuring members of: Killing Joke, Carcass, Funeral For a Friend, Therapy, Hundred Reasons, Napalm Death, Sikth, Pitchshifter, Fightstar, Earthtone 9, Amen, New Model Army, Send More Paramedics, Hiding Place, Romeo Must Die, Murder One, Hondo Maclean. Architect and founding This is Menace member MD Clayden (Pitchshifter) has curated ‘Ism’ adding previously unreleased material. Reviews: “A living, breathing, subversive collective.” Kerrang Magazine / “Furious. Like a juggernaut. F*ck yeah!” Metal Hammer Magazine / “Brash...and brilliant to break stuff to.” NME

The trashed hotel room and communal living depicted on the cover of the J. Geils Band's sophomore album tell you all you need know about the music, spirit, and energy spilling from within The Morning After. Shot through with raw, lean rock n' roll sparked by juke-joint blues and loose rhythms, the 1971 set comes on like the most fun, party-still-raging hangover any group in the 70s enjoyed. And now it rolls with an abandon that takes you inside the sweaty, smoky roadhouses and wall-to-wall-packed clubs the group dominated in its heyday.

Mastered from the original master tapes, pressed at RTI, and limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's 180g vinyl LP achieves a sonic acumen that brings you face-to-face with the sextet's white-hot instrumental prowess and magnetic personalities. It's always been difficult to single out just one member of the band given the cohesive bluster the ensemble achieves as a whole, but this collectible audiophile edition allows you to do just that if you so choose, by way of superb imaging and separation. As for the band's trademark dynamics? Here, they feel like they're on the verge of exploding.

So go ahead. Twist the volume knob to the right as much as you want. You'll lose none of the focus, detail, placement, or presence no matter how high the decibels climb. The Morning After spills forth with previously unheard tonalities, ranging from the distinctive swells of Seth Justman's slow-burn organ to the live-wire spark of Geils' own downed-power-line-jumpy guitar work to the mooring hi-hat/cymbal/snare combinations of arrangement-steadying drummer Steven Bladd. Friends, this is raw rhythm n' blues, this is how it should feel, and, man, this is how it should sound.

Not for nothing did the Massachusetts-based collective name the album The Morning After. The music within doesn't abide by rules, ignores speed limits, flips the bird at curfews, and digs deep down into America's blues roots to yield organic material at once fresh, exciting, traditional, and original. The back-porch punch provided by the combination of "Magic Dick" Salwitz's searing, melodic, snake-like harmonica and vocalist Peter Wolf's animated, barely controlled deliveries is alone enough to make anyone with a faint pulse to stomp their feet, climb atop a kitchen table, and kick their boot heels until the neighbors call the cops.

Just witness the deceptive smoothness of the snake-like "So Sharp" or Maxwell Street zest of the aptly titled Magic Dick showcase "Whammer Jammer," which will leave you gasping for breath before it even ends. J. Geils Band also knew its way around deep-cut soul. The ensemble's Top 40, howling, adrenaline-to-the-heart rendition of the Valentinos' "Looking for a Love" and swirling, romantic take on Don Covay's "The Usual Place" seamlessly balance drive and emotion. Coupled with rafter-shaking originals such as "Floyd's Hotel" and the riff-propelled "I Don't Need You No More," sent up with typical Wolf vocal flair, and the record parks the band's all-night festivities and go-for-broke attitudes right on your front lawn.

One last word of warning to the uninitiated: The Morning After is not the slick-pop J. Geils Band of "Centerfold." And that is a very good thing.

Dead Dreams Don’t Die vol 1 marks the inception of Half Grand Records, a label focused on no-frills, raw talent electronic music. This artefact contains new output from several members of legendary Borft Records. Nimam (Spregleda) gives us a riotous and exuberant Drum and Bass banger that will have your teeth jingling. Jon Doppler’s signals transform from searing blasts of psychedelia to soaring synths that will make you pine for days of yore. A Stantz drops some body music that's equal parts acid and mosh pit. The closing track is by a group specific to the label; Cracktros. Cracktros is a collaborative group project that will continue to grow as more artists join the HG fold. With this number, the collective explores fantastic textures in this riveting deep house ditty. Keep your eyes peeled on this label.

Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods . A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind. Born into a musical family, Ernest Hood began a promising career as a jazz guitarist during the 1940s, touring internationally with his brother Bill Hood and the saxophonist Charlie Barnet , before contracting polio in his late twenties. The disease left Ernest unable to play the guitar and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to adapt and innovate around his musical practices in the face of adversity; Hood's value of sound matured with a remarkably democratic and nonhierarchical approach and application. Taking up the zither, a less physically-demanding stringed instrument to the guitar, embarking upon the unprecedented process of incorporating field recordings into his work as early as 1956, and eventually discovering the synthesizer, Hood's music became imbued with optimism and subtle cultural critique. This ethos and technique - refined over the coming decades - would lay the groundwork for a sprawling body of radio work, mail order recordings for homebound listeners, and Neighborhoods , self- issued as a small vinyl edition in 1975. Where Neighborhoods , a nostalgic opus, drawing from a well of collective memory of the 1950s, is defined by traces of human activity, Back to the Woodlands leaves the modern world behind, delving into Hood's love for nature. Only recently discovered in his archives, the album dramatically expands his concept of "musical cinematography," imagistically triggering states of sensory memory from within its zither and synthesizer melodies, intertwined with field recordings made during Hood's extensive travels throughout Oregon. If Neighborhoods is a retreat into the gauzy joys of a romanticized past, Back to the Woodlands is an immersion in the timeless sanctuary of the natural world. A fascinating counterpoint to its predecessor, Back to the Woodlands brings us even closer to Hood's belief in the transportive qualities of sound; that field recordings could serve as a vehicle for the imagination and liberation, particularly for those with similar mobile disabilities as his own. Across the album's twelve compositions, the rippling instrumental harmonics - shifting between abstraction and playful melody - fold so seamlessly into the birdsong, bubbling brooks, and other environmental ambiences, that they often give the impression of having been recording within the landscapes toward which they whisper. Falling somewhere between the immersive calm of healing music and New Age, the creative field recording practices of sound ecologists world building for Folkways, and the jazz infected ambiences during Obscure / Editions EG's highest heights, Back to the Woodlands sculpts an singular proximity of music for its moment; a form of ambient sonic realism that draws the consciousness toward its surroundings as much as within. Working closely with his estate to maintain his original vision, Freedom to Spend has restored and remastered this never before released, lost masterpiece by Ernest Hood from the original tapes. Ernest Hood's Back to the Woodlands will be issued on vinyl, as well as on CD in combination with its contemporary Where the Woods Begin , with new liner notes by Michael Klausman . On behalf of Ernest Hood and Freedom To Spend, a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Oregon Wild, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon's wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Waxwork Records in partnership with Back Lot Music is honored to release NOPE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Michael Abels. Oscarr winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. The film reunites Peele with Oscarr winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer and Oscarr nominee Steven Yeun as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. NOPE marks Abels' third feature film score with director Jordan Peele, having previously scored Peele's GET OUT and US. The album also features songs from the film, including a new version of Corey Hart's classic "Sunglasses at Night (Jean Jacket Mix)", Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By", The Lost Generation's "This is the Lost Generation", Exuma's "Exuma, the Obeah Man", and a never-before-released gem by a young Jodie Foster, "La Vie C'est Chouette" from the 1977 film MOI, FLEUR BLEUE. "NOPE is my most ambitious score to date," says Abels. "There are elements from the genres of sci-fi, action, horror, and westerns, but always through the tonal palette of Jordan Peele's unique vision. The lines between source music and score are blurred, as a good part of the score seems to be playing at the theme park, which is a key location in the story. The score is at times terrifying, yet also invokes the sense of awe and wonder that the characters feel as they realize what they are seeing. The film eventually becomes a grand adventure, and so the music expands into the larger-than-life scale we expect of a summer blockbuster." He goes on to say, "it was a joy to compose a score that encompassed such a broad range of genres and emotions, and I'm thrilled to have audiences experience all of them through this album." "Michael is one the most exciting composers working today - he has this amazing ability to create new sounds which was important for this film," Jordan Peele says. "He's able to play in the familiar and in the unfamiliar at the same time, so that helps give every film its own character, and he has an incredible mastery of so many different music genres." Abels is known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films GET OUT and US, for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and multiple critics' awards. The hip-hop influenced score for US was short-listed for an Academy Awardr and was named "Score of the Decade" by The Wrap. Abels is also co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming and streaming media. Waxwork Records is thrilled to present the official NOPE deluxe double LP soundtrack album. The package comes complete with 180-gram colored vinyl, quality packaging, original artwork by Ethan Mesa, heavyweight gatefold jacket with matte coating, a multi-page 12" x 12" booklet, liner notes, & more!