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“Reconnect”, a collaborative project between Italy’s Francesco Mami and France’s Julien Chaptal, is a musical exploration that originated during a unique period of global confinement, where creativity flourished in unexpected ways.

The genesis of "Reconnect" traces back to a time when the world was asked to pause and stay indoors. During the first 50 days of this period, Julien Chaptal found joy and inspiration in reconnecting with his instruments and the myriad of musical ideas that constantly filled his mind. Embracing the freedom to create without boundaries, he produced a track a day, amassing around 50 tracks, many of which remained unfinished.

A year later, a serendipitous meeting in Geneva with Francesco Mami over sake, good food, and music sparked the idea of collaboration. Julien sent some of his initial tracks to Francesco, who reworked them, adding his unique touch and bringing them to life. Their online exchange and collaborative efforts resulted in the tracks that now form the EP. Francesco, a true studio craftsman, expanded on Julien's original vision, creating a synergy that neither could have achieved alone.

The record encapsulates a theme of "Confined Freedom," a reflection of the period of its creation and draws from three decades of electronic music influences, a melting pot of inspiration that shaped its sound. The warmth of the gear used in the studio sessions provided a comforting contrast to the external circumstances. Various drum machines and synthesizers were employed, contributing to the unique sound of the EP, though no specific piece of equipment was highlighted as central to its creation. "Reconnect" is not just a collection of tracks; it is a testament to the resilience of creativity and the power of collaboration, even from a distance.

With remixes by masterminds Reboot and Johnny D, the vinyl dropping on the shelves December 6th, 2024, is set to catch the ears of many!

Bicoastal disco aficionado, Super Elevation label/shop owner, and all-around legend of the scene, Tom Noble brings forth a sprawling project 15 years in the making with his House of Spirits full length LP on Razor-N-Tape.

Slow-cooked over more than a decade, the eight tracks that stretch across this double 12 inch pack are the realization of Tom’s unique vision of modern dancefloor soul, with lush live instrumentation and deviously catchy hooks. Boasting a near encyclopedic knowledge of decades of club music, Tom draws on influences like Patrick Adams & the Mizell Brothers to build a sound that’s both reverent to the past, but feels extremely fresh and immediately timeless.

The lead off singles ‘Times Are Changing’ and ‘Please Take Me There’ and respective remixes by Harvey Sutherland, Makez and Sizmo have already garnered huge support, and ‘Holding On’ the beloved original House Of Spirits single from 2020 appears with a shiny new mix. The album opens with ‘Love Trip,’ an uptempo invitation to the sonic world to follow, and moves through various moods, like the Brit-funk vibe of ‘Time Is Running Out,’ the mid-tempo groover ‘I Get Lifted’ and the downtempo R&B smoothness of ‘Diamond Eyes’ featuring dreamcastmoe on vocals.

The cheeky dollar bin artwork rounds out this package perfectly, and with the tracks mixed to perfection and cut tough for the floor, this is an essential record that will surely find a permanent home in the bag.

Robin Carolan's latest soundtrack for Robert Eggers' highly anticipated Nosferatu is a haunting, gothic-infused and meticulously crafted work that draws from a vast palette of sounds, instruments, and inspirations. Following their successful collaboration on The Northman, Carolan reunites with Eggers to bring the legendary tale of Nosferatu to life, infusing the film with a score that is as complex and nuanced as the story itself. With Daniel Pioro, one of Britain's most exciting young classical musicians, at the helm as the orchestra leader and first chair for a vast majority of the recording, the soundtrack features a vast orchestration, including 60 string players, a full choir, various horns and woodwinds, a harpist, and two percussionists. Despite the grandeur of the orchestration, one of the most challenging pieces was the music box used at the film's beginning. Carolan and Eggers struggled to perfect its sound, a process marked by their meticulous attention to detail, which Carolan describes as almost telepathic. Set in the 1800s, Nosferatu allowed Carolan to incorporate contemporary instrumentation, though he made a deliberate effort to ensure the score didn't sound overly modern. Letty Stott, who also worked on The Northman, contributed ancient horns and pipes, enhancing the soundtrack's eerie atmosphere. Additionally, percussionist Paul Clarvis custom-built a toaca-like instrument for added authenticity. Carolan's inspirations for the soundtrack were as eclectic as they were profound. He frequently drew upon the works of Bartok and Coil, while films like The Innocents, Angels and Insects, and Eyes Wide Shut provided cinematic inspiration. Additionally, he explored the more obscure side of Hammer Horror soundtracks and found a deep connection to the music of the Ukrainian film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which helped shape the score's otherworldly tone. Carolan intentionally moved beyond the typical horror score, focusing on capturing the tale's melancholy and tragic elements while weaving in a sense of warped romanticism. The result is a soundtrack that not only complements the film but also stands on its own as a testament to Carolan's artistry and the enduring power of collaboration.

Robin Carolan's latest soundtrack for Robert Eggers' highly anticipated Nosferatu is a haunting, gothic-infused and meticulously crafted work that draws from a vast palette of sounds, instruments, and inspirations. Following their successful collaboration on The Northman, Carolan reunites with Eggers to bring the legendary tale of Nosferatu to life, infusing the film with a score that is as complex and nuanced as the story itself. With Daniel Pioro, one of Britain's most exciting young classical musicians, at the helm as the orchestra leader and first chair for a vast majority of the recording, the soundtrack features a vast orchestration, including 60 string players, a full choir, various horns and woodwinds, a harpist, and two percussionists. Despite the grandeur of the orchestration, one of the most challenging pieces was the music box used at the film's beginning. Carolan and Eggers struggled to perfect its sound, a process marked by their meticulous attention to detail, which Carolan describes as almost telepathic. Set in the 1800s, Nosferatu allowed Carolan to incorporate contemporary instrumentation, though he made a deliberate effort to ensure the score didn't sound overly modern. Letty Stott, who also worked on The Northman, contributed ancient horns and pipes, enhancing the soundtrack's eerie atmosphere. Additionally, percussionist Paul Clarvis custom-built a toaca-like instrument for added authenticity. Carolan's inspirations for the soundtrack were as eclectic as they were profound. He frequently drew upon the works of Bartok and Coil, while films like The Innocents, Angels and Insects, and Eyes Wide Shut provided cinematic inspiration. Additionally, he explored the more obscure side of Hammer Horror soundtracks and found a deep connection to the music of the Ukrainian film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which helped shape the score's otherworldly tone. Carolan intentionally moved beyond the typical horror score, focusing on capturing the tale's melancholy and tragic elements while weaving in a sense of warped romanticism. The result is a soundtrack that not only complements the film but also stands on its own as a testament to Carolan's artistry and the enduring power of collaboration.

»Nuts of Ay«, the thirteenth album by the Berlin-based electronic pop duo Tarwater (Ronald Lippok and Bernd Jestram), is their first in a decade, since 2014’s »Adrift«. Beautifully poised and smartly dressed, it's an album that draws Tarwater’s various pasts into a high-definition present, while bringing the duo, yet again, into productive dialogue with all kinds of fellow travellers.

Tarwater’s music has always been marked by a hypnotic pop-ness, but that’s particularly evident on »Nuts of Ay«, where a song like »Hideous Kiss« weaves together jangling guitar, pastoral flute, and flittering electronics into a gem-like construction. While the lyrics of »Hideous Kiss« are written by the duo, »Nuts of Ay« also continues a longstanding Tarwater tradition of recasting the words of others in their own mould. This time, their remit is broad: poetry from Derek Jarman (»All Nuns«) and Millner Place (»Trapdoor Spider«); lyrics from Jean Kenbrovin (»I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles«), the late Shane MacGowan (»USA«) and, again, John Lennon (»Everybody Had a Hard Year«).

This cast of found and borrowed lyricists also finds collaborative echo in the guest musicians dotted throughout »Nuts of Ay«. Schneider TM turns up on the lovely, Felt-like »Spirit of Flux«, where guitars channel the tangled reveries of Vini Reilly and Maurice Deebank into lush pop. Carsten Nicolai joins, as Alva Noto, dappling »On Waves and Years« with intimate glitching textures; he also provides the album cover art. Elsewhere, Masha Qrella appears on »Down Comes the Goose«, and actor Lars Rudolph pitches in for »USA«.

It may have been ten years since the album's predecessor, but Lippok and Jestram have kept active with other projects. They’ve collaborated with Masha Qrella, Immersion, and Iggy Pop; worked on radio plays with Kai Grehn, some based on the writing of Nick Cave (»The Sick Bag Song«, featuring Tilda Swinton, Paula Beer and Alexander Fehling) and William S. Burroughs (»The Cat Inside«); and made music for several radio-tatorts (radio plays based on »Tatort«, a long-running German police TV series) by playwright Tom Peuckert.

Both voracious and committed in their creative energies, Jestram and Lippok report back from these experiments with »Nuts of Ay«, one of their most compelling, deeply lustrous, dreamlike albums yet. They say there was no concept for the album, which is surprising, perhaps, given its holistic mood, explaining it »grew together like a coral reef in the studio over a period of several years«. There’s something to be said for letting an album gather and mutate naturally, without an overarching framework in place, and »Nuts of Ay« certainly feels like an unforced collection of material that nonetheless inhabits a similar space, one where guitars twist like driftwood next to amorphous, aqueous electronics, Lippok’s droll yet completely convincing vocal delivery riding songs that pulse and plume with curious, unpredictable rhythms.

But you can also hear elements – submerged but still present – of other music that’s inspired the duo: they’ve drawn some connections for us with psychedelic folk, Bowie in Berlin, Burial, and the film music of Popol Vuh and Krzysztof Komeda. This music shares a strong sense of place – whether in the world, or the mind – and the twelve songs on »Nuts of Ay« have such similar presence; a shared mood, a shared world, a shared sense of the possibilities of what electronic pop music could, and should, be. A bold and brave pop experiment.

Artwork by Carsten Nicolai
Mastering by Bo Kondren, Calyx Berlin

»Trapdoor Spider«, »On Waves and Years« & »Breaking Day«: lyrics by Milner Place
»All Nuns«: lyrics by Derek Jarman
»USA«: lyrics by Shane MacGowan
»Down Comes the Goose«: lyrics from a traditional song
»Forever Blowing Bubbles«: lyrics by Jaan Kenbrovin
»Everybody Had a Hard Year«: lyrics by John Lennon

Woven together from home studio recordings that span two decades, and with some notable guest appearances including; The Bug, Douglas Leal of Deafkids, Wayne Adams of Petbrick, Dave French of Yob and Sanford Parker, this final part of the Harvestman Triptych seeks once again for a lost world, with the voice of poet Ezra Pound extolling the virtues of "gathering from the air a live tradition".
Cloudy Clear plus Black Galaxy effect vinyl in dub style jacket. Limited and Non-Returnable.
At its heart, music has always been a questioning of inheritance – a dialogue with predecessors and forebears, the forging of one’s own perspective in relation to what has come before, and for some, a plunge into the boundless realms between. For Steve Von Till, that process has always taken on an added dimension to become the most sacred of tasks. Whether through the apocalyptic uprising of Neurosis, the sonic deconstructions of their sister project, Tribes of Neurot, the invocatory intimacy of his eponymous solo albums or his instrumental psychedelic reveries in the guise of Harvestman, that dialogue has never just been with musical influences, but with what underpins them: the primordial, elemental forces now banished to the peripheries of our contemporary consciousness, yet still broadcasting a signal for all who will listen.

Drawn to the megaliths, ruins and ancient sites mapped out along the British and European mainland’s geographical and psychic landscapes, the folklore and apocrypha forever resurfacing as portals from a rational world, Triptych is a meditation forged from traces and residues, and an hallucinatory recollection of artists who have tapped into that enduring otherworldliness embedded within us all. It’s a dream diary narrating a passage through Summer Isle where Flying Saucer Attack are wafting out of a window, a distant Fairport Convention are being remixed by dub master Adrian Sherwood, celestial scanners Tangerine Dream are trying to drown out Bert Jansch and Hawkwind are playing Steeleye Span covers, all prised out of time yet bound to its singularity.

"Herne's Oak" provides seismic bass waves that physically halt the track in its steps - giant footfalls as Herne's antlers themselves are dragged along a corridor. Another curious and mysterious piece of British folklore brought to life by Harvestman.

If Triptych is a multi- and extra-sensory experience, it extends to the remarkable glyph-style artwork of Henry Hablak, a map of correspondences from a long-forgotten ancient and advanced civilization. As with Triptych itself, it’s an echo from another time, an act of binding, a guide to be endlessly reinterpreted, and a signpost to the sacred that might not indicate where to look, but how.

Cover art is by Henry Hablak, who also designed the art for Part One and Part Two.

Ghostly 25 Year Anniversary Edition. Thus far, Zach Saginaw's releases as Shigeto have been fragments, albeit singularly satisfying fragments -- EP-length glimpses into the Detroit producer's creative psyche. After filling two EPs on Ghostly International, Shigeto's lush, sumptuous take on instrumental hip-hop has fully materialized. Full Circle, the artist's first full-length album, completes the journey begun with Shigeto's Semi-Circle EP, synthesizing the drummer/producer's signature themes of family, continuity, and musical boundary-pushing into a vibrant, fully unified artistic statement.The sounds on Full Circle come from four years of obsessive field recording and collaboration. Saginaw brought his Tascam mini-recorder with him everywhere, capturing the "glasses, chains, breathing, children, family meals, monks singing in cathedrals, walks in the south of France, and good friends offering their musical skill" that would all find homes in the record's compositional nooks and crannies. As a result of Saginaw's constant documentation, the songs on Full Circle play like chapters in an ongoing story--as in "Escape from the Incubator", whose initial rhythmic claustrophobia opens up into a boom-clap nocturnal chase, or "French Kiss Power Up", whose romantic digital strut gives way to discord and fragmentation as the waves of synthesizer give way to a shaky, neurotic coda. Full Circle is framed by the "Ann Arbor" diptych, a pair of beat suites named after Saginaw's hometown (one featuring a sample of Detroit MC SelfSays), all double-thick synths and triple-strength kick drums. Saginaw plays the majority of his rhythms by hand, and Full Circle's consistently deep pocket is the record's secret weapon, thumping and breathing like a living being.Having set the stage with Semi-Circle and What We Held On To EPs--twin treatises on Saginaw's Japanese grandmother's escape from a US internment camp--Shigeto is clearly ready to draw the tale to a close and take center stage. "This release represents the end of the beginning--or perhaps that there is no end and no beginning at all," says Saginaw. Regardless, Full Circle is the start of something great.

Jan Anderzén - living in Tampere, Finland - is a collage artist making music, quilts, drawings, mosaics, videos and other things. From him, among a few others, sprang the The River of Finland. A stream that shook the European underground for infinity, back from the years 2005 and up. Jan is/was involved in acts like Kemialliset Ystävät, Avarus, Tomutonttu and The Anaksimandros. When in the past some of that River of Finland tasted like a fermented ocean of mycelia - today it tastes different, like sparkling water.

Halki pilvien - transl. Trough the clouds - brings exactly what one expects from the clouds. It is a collection of soft and gentle movements, as playful as a ‘Jan Anderzén type of music’ is always. A collection of patterns that solidify for just a brief moment in time, before sublimating in the back of the mind. This album is in constant motion.

Push play. A warped piano and cartoonish SFX’s might foretell a hyperreal approach to music. Yet while the champion of hyperrealism, Noah Creshevsky, describes his music as being written in a language we already understand (realism) yet in an exaggerated manner (hyper) - I have to add that things on this album do not sound exaggerated at all. Moreover, i have the feeling that somehow on this work, Jan is trying to underwhelm us. In the best possible way. Because clouds float trough and dissolve. Thus instead of hyperrealism, is Jan maybe speaking to us in a certain Serenerealism? Or Mildrealism?

What Jan’s music does have in common with Creshevsky’s is the no rush part. Listening to Halki pilvien makes time non-directional. The music seems to be designed to be played over and over again. This music has no direct impact like one can experience at a punk show, or at a classical music concert. This music is not that one gigantic raincloud covering the world dark. Quite the opposite, it is a pattern of clouds and clearings, floating over the lands. Trough this music a shadow play appears. This music is durable.

And it is when the sounds are at its faintest, that Jan touches the core: in the smallest detail, we find the fullest musical information.

J. Written has been preparing for this moment almost his entire life. From early on he has been writing. You might even say he was obsessed with writing. It did not matter what he was writing, he just felt compelled to write. Hence the name Written.
Born on January 18, 1994 (yes, he will gladly accept birthday greetings!) in the Payne Land neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica, J. Written entered this world as Jason Rasheed Wright. Due to certain financial instability in his family they had moved around a bit to various locations within the Kingston area. His parents, wanting him to be safe, encouraged him to be at home with his two sisters and to occupy his time at home he began to write. And write and write. And write some more.
He would write daily journals and even create newspaper articles written on the walls of their home. This creative outlet gave way to writing poems, speeches and essays while a student in high school. At 16 he started a dance trope known as the ACEZ dancers who were quite popular around Kingston.
He was then drawn to music around age 18 and began to create beats at a studio in Trench Town. He became part of the Trench Town community and is still very connected with the people there. His drive to write songs became his new medium for expressing himself. And this has led to him being recorded for various producers and included in the song “Fear To Understand” with Albarosie. Other songs and music videos followed and J. Written was brought to the attention of reggae producer Doctor Dread.
“When I first saw a video with J. Written and began to listen to more of his songs I knew this was a unique artist with a special vibe and a knack for writing interesting songs” says Doctor Dread. So he came to Jamaica and produced a first album “Kaleidoscope” for J. Written which is due for release in late 2024.

“My mission is to be active and positive. Not to confirm with the norm. To sometimes make people feel uncomfortable with issues impacting our community and society at large. To give thought to what is happening in the world and presently around us”. J. Written has made his intentions clear and it is revealed through his music.
And of special note is that J. Written has a role in the Bob Marley movie “One Love” as Junior Braithwaite, a member of the early Wailers in the scene when the young Wailers first come to audition for Coxsone Dodd of Studio One.
The future is bright for J. Written. He is creating music and lyrics as a constant in his life. And now the world will be able to share in his vision of creative expression.

Oase is the sophomore album from Berlin-based progressive rock collective Weite, and the follow-up to the band’s 2023 debut LP Assemblage. Clocking in at almost an hour, Oase—German for "Oasis"— takes listeners on an intricate and textured journey that draws inspiration from the pioneering spirit of 70s psychedelic rock, blending influences from “Canterbury scene” prog, Krautrock, early electronica, post rock, and Americana. The new album show cases Weite's ability to merge the old with the new, creating an immersive, exploratory sound that moves from contemplative and pastoral to riffy and doomy without ever sacrificing melody. Oase is characterized by longer expansive, atmospheric compositions yet is undoubtedly more composed than the band’s debut, with more of a focus on songs, albeit in the broader sense of the word. With the focus on melody, texture and mood—although not necessarily always in that order—Weite create a sound that’s intricate and meditative, inviting the listener to embark on a journey through shifting soundscapes and evolving musical narratives. Weite was formed in Berlin in winter 2022 by bassist Ingwer Boysen (delving) recruiting drummer Nick DiSalvo (Elder, delving) and guitarists Michael Risberg (Elder, delving) and Ben Lubin (Lawns). Initially intended as a one-of recording session, the four recognized an obvious musical chemistry and common ground and decided to turn the project into a proper band. Keyboardist Fabien de Menou (Perilymph) joined in 2024.

Five Five is the second studio album from the Miami-born underground rap pioneer, Pouya. Marking a slight transition into a more mature sound, Five Five showcases Pouya’s evolution as an artist while maintaining the raw authenticity that has endeared him to his fans. With tracks like "Suicidal Thoughts in the Back of the Cadillac Pt. 2" and "Handshakes," Pouya delves into themes of struggle, resilience, and personal growth, offering listeners a glimpse into his journey. In what became truly a solo effort, Five Five is limited to one feature in Night Lovell, with production primarily handled by Mikey The Magician (Track 4 produced by Chevali). The album draws from elements of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, yet remains uniquely rooted in Pouya’s own style. Over the years, Pouya has developed a long lasting core fanbase, first bubbling up in Miami alongside artists such as Denzel Curry, and then becoming a nationally celebrated artist. Back in print for the first time since originally released in 2018. Pressed on Wire Wheel Picture Disc Vinyl and cut at 45 RPM.

The Hippo Sound System is a collective formed in 2018 by Bristol UK’s notorious ‘samba junglist’ DJ Hiphoppapotamus. "Origins" is their long-awaited debut album!

Touring the festival scene across the UK and Europe their explosive live performances have earned them a well trusted reputation for blowing up dancefloors, moving feet and uplifting souls! Their tracks have been featured on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6 by Jeremiah Asiamiah, Don Letts and Craig Charles. Don Letts also included their track “Into The Jungle” on his “Best of 2020” round up. Fusing their favourite elements of world music and sound system culture, they explore new possibilities between musical cultures, fusing ancestral rhythms with modern dance music.

Percussive rhythms and heavy bass drive this vibe train as this Hippo and his percussionist/production partner, Munki, draw influence from all over, Including Afro/Latin/world music, Jazz, Hip Hop, House, Breaks, Dub, Drum and Bass & Jungle for their productions. The result? A uniquely high energy and psychedelic global bass sound – complete with the flair of live musicians and the exciting builds and drops of bass music! Passionate about collaboration with both their recordings and performances, they often call upon guest features from artists such as K.O.G, Franz Von, Simo Lagnawi (Electric Jalaba), MC Spyda, Dr Syntax and many more.

With almost no tempo untouched from 70-180BPM, they’re an extremely eclectic and versatile band that can customise sets for most stages and occasions.

"We're happy to announce the repress one of El Búho's more emblematic album and a key release on downtempo scene.

On Camino de Flores, his second full-length album, El Búho reimagines electronic music through the lense of the natural world and its rich soundscapes.

Drawing on the inspiration of traditional rhythms and sounds, notably from Latin America, Camino de Flores is an album that transports you to another place. Following the success of his first LP, titled Balance, El Búho is back and takes us on a journey from high mountains to cascading waterfalls, from a dusky rainforest to a crackling fire beneath a clear, star-filled sky. The album charts a pathway between traditional rhythms, the sound of the natural world, IDM electronica and a deep, enveloping dancefloor sound."

Ocean Grove is an electrifying force in the world of heavy music, blending elements of nu-metal, hardcore and alternative rock to craft a sound that is uniquely their own i.e. Oddworld Music. An eclectic trio of misfits spawning from Melbourne, Australia, OG has rapidly risen to prominence with their dynamic and genre-defying approach to music. Comprised of vocalist Dale Tanner, bassist/vocalist Twiggy Hunter, and drummer/producer Sam Bassal, OG have a ‘collective’ mentality in their approach to creativity, drawing upon their unique talents with a shared passion for inventive thinking that goes against uninspired standards and challenges musical norms. Since their inception, OG has captivated audiences with their high-energy performances and infectious melodies, earning them a devoted following around the globe. Their debut album, "The Rhapsody Tapes," released in 2017, garnered widespread acclaim for its ground-breaking sound and fearless experimentation. With influences ranging from Korn, N.E.R.D and Faith No More, OG create a sonic experience that is both visceral and thought-provoking. Their music transcends traditional genre labels, appealing to fans of metal, rock, and alternative alike. In addition to their musical prowess, OG is known for their visually striking aesthetics and imaginative artistic direction, further cementing their status as one of the most exciting bands to emerge in recent years. As they continue to push the boundaries of their craft, OG remains at the forefront of the alternative music scene, inspiring audiences with their fearless creativity and unwavering commitment to artistic integrity. With each new release, they defy expectations and solidify their position as one of the most innovative and compelling bands of their generation.

Ocean Grove is an electrifying force in the world of heavy music, blending elements of nu-metal, hardcore and alternative rock to craft a sound that is uniquely their own i.e. Oddworld Music. An eclectic trio of misfits spawning from Melbourne, Australia, OG has rapidly risen to prominence with their dynamic and genre-defying approach to music. Comprised of vocalist Dale Tanner, bassist/vocalist Twiggy Hunter, and drummer/producer Sam Bassal, OG have a ‘collective’ mentality in their approach to creativity, drawing upon their unique talents with a shared passion for inventive thinking that goes against uninspired standards and challenges musical norms. Since their inception, OG has captivated audiences with their high-energy performances and infectious melodies, earning them a devoted following around the globe. Their debut album, "The Rhapsody Tapes," released in 2017, garnered widespread acclaim for its ground-breaking sound and fearless experimentation. With influences ranging from Korn, N.E.R.D and Faith No More, OG create a sonic experience that is both visceral and thought-provoking. Their music transcends traditional genre labels, appealing to fans of metal, rock, and alternative alike. In addition to their musical prowess, OG is known for their visually striking aesthetics and imaginative artistic direction, further cementing their status as one of the most exciting bands to emerge in recent years. As they continue to push the boundaries of their craft, OG remains at the forefront of the alternative music scene, inspiring audiences with their fearless creativity and unwavering commitment to artistic integrity. With each new release, they defy expectations and solidify their position as one of the most innovative and compelling bands of their generation.

"Hevn III emerges from the shadows of Norway’s underground with a debut album that is nothing short of a sonic assault. This relentless black metal offering is a testament to the trio's pitch-black sovereign hatred, channeled through raw, primal aggression. Drawing on themes of hatred, magick, misanthropy, and the philosophical musings of Blake, Nietzsche, and Crowley, Hevn III crafts a soundscape that is both chaotic and deeply unsettling. For those who have encountered Hevn III live, the sheer intensity of their performance is unforgettable. Their sound harks back to an era when black metal was raw, dissonant, and unfiltered, characterized by a tight, sulphurous noise that gnaws at the soul. This debut album plunges listeners into a world where dissonance is king, and every riff resonates with venomous intent. Hevn III isn’t just an album; it’s a ritual of misanthropic fury, destined to leave a lasting scar on the black metal landscape."

"Hevn III emerges from the shadows of Norway’s underground with a debut album that is nothing short of a sonic assault. This relentless black metal offering is a testament to the trio's pitch-black sovereign hatred, channeled through raw, primal aggression. Drawing on themes of hatred, magick, misanthropy, and the philosophical musings of Blake, Nietzsche, and Crowley, Hevn III crafts a soundscape that is both chaotic and deeply unsettling. For those who have encountered Hevn III live, the sheer intensity of their performance is unforgettable. Their sound harks back to an era when black metal was raw, dissonant, and unfiltered, characterized by a tight, sulphurous noise that gnaws at the soul. This debut album plunges listeners into a world where dissonance is king, and every riff resonates with venomous intent. Hevn III isn’t just an album; it’s a ritual of misanthropic fury, destined to leave a lasting scar on the black metal landscape."

"Hevn III emerges from the shadows of Norway’s underground with a debut album that is nothing short of a sonic assault. This relentless black metal offering is a testament to the trio's pitch-black sovereign hatred, channeled through raw, primal aggression. Drawing on themes of hatred, magick, misanthropy, and the philosophical musings of Blake, Nietzsche, and Crowley, Hevn III crafts a soundscape that is both chaotic and deeply unsettling. For those who have encountered Hevn III live, the sheer intensity of their performance is unforgettable. Their sound harks back to an era when black metal was raw, dissonant, and unfiltered, characterized by a tight, sulphurous noise that gnaws at the soul. This debut album plunges listeners into a world where dissonance is king, and every riff resonates with venomous intent. Hevn III isn’t just an album; it’s a ritual of misanthropic fury, destined to leave a lasting scar on the black metal landscape."

Dutch-Surinamese multi-instrumentalist Ronald Snijders announces the release of new album Penta via Night Dreamer. A jazz heavyweight who draws Latin, Brazilian and Surinamese influences into dialogue with the electric sound of Weather Report, Snijders released four albums between 1977 and 1983 that have become holy grails of deep, forward-thinking fusion.

Mariano Melo, also known as Marian Sarine, is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist based in Sao Paulo, specialising in percussion and drums. His latest album, Asas Terenas, is his first under this name and started with organ recordings made with Felipe Pato in late 2019 and was completed with additional instruments added in the years that followed. Asas Terenas features a mix of rhythmic improvisations built on modal scales, combining dynamic interplay between notes and percussion. Drawing inspiration from artists like Charanjit Singh, who merged traditional North-Indian ragas with electronic music, and African organists like Hailu Mergia, it combines old and new sounds, merging spiritual elements with energetic rhythms. As Sarine himself says, Asas Terenas is a sonic mixture that moves the feet and lifts the soul, creating an experience that is both pristine in sound and transcendental on the dancefloor.

Hybrid is a word used indiscriminately in our daily lives. This record isn't a hybrid; it's beyond hybrid, post-hybrid, so to speak. Does this phrase sound complicated to you, and are you never overly convinced by music theory and its caricatural aspect? Then forget what you’ve just read and listen to both sides of this record. You'll soon realise that these tracks are deliciously deft, drawing their essence from dub while leaving room for some skillful jazz writing. For those of you intrigued by melodies, the art of musique concrète or the exploration of dub music’s deviant angles, this record will easily find its place on your turntable.

The two sides of the record are cut with play, improvisation and effects, while leaving room for themes and ideas. If this record’s first chapter was born from a request to remix and pay homage to Jackie Mittoo, its themes tell another story. They have been declined and even reduced to an explosion point. The tracks are also driven by subtle details of musique concrète, giving the record the effect of an intimate musical production – but, above all, one of uncategorisable beauty.

In Androo’s case, this is hardly surprising. He is a craftsman who is unassailable in every respect, a poetic dynamiter and, for this reason, one of the most unpredictable musicians in Geneva (and beyond). His appetite for dynamite is perhaps an indication of his conception of music as, first and foremost, an experience. His highly personal and inventive tribute to figures from free jazz and contemporary music proves the point. But perhaps it is also an indication of his attachment to Jean-Luc Godard. You'd have to imagine Androo at his mixing desk without a pre-written script. The idea of editing infuses the record. The two sides are very much in this style and spirit: (un-)shot, meticulous, (ir-)reverent. In this respect, this record is a formidable proposition, and perhaps difficult to understand, but not striving to be understood.

Its combination of improvisation and composition is underpinned by a razor-sharp precision and dexterity that's hard to ignore, especially if you're curious about the art of sound mixing and the romantic accidents. It has a dexterity that transforms musical grids into romantic essays and sketches. A romanticism in which Androo takes us on a liberating musical experience that makes us forget the inertia of the ramping formatting of the record industry. In any case, this record is an invitation to (un-)think the category, and will delight any ear curious to wander into territories of intuition where the word hybrid no longer makes sense.

Text by Carl Åhnebrink

Featherstone returns to Ernest's Way with the “Pivot” EP, offering up six tracks that effortlessly blur the lines between various electronic music genres.

The A-side kicks off with “Pivot” where a driving breakbeat rhythm propels the track forward, enhanced by ethereal vocal cuts and rhythmic bass sequences. “Underneath It All” lightens the mood with swung drums, call and response vocals, and emotive string pads that draw the listener in, before “Moving Towards You” rounds out the first side with weighty basslines and acidic leads.

On the B-side, “After the Rain” locks into a repetitive rhythm while dreamy synths evolve and lift the energy as the track builds. “Eclipsed” deepens the experience, exploring a moodier and more intense sonic landscape. “Cipher” the final track, leaves the repetitive rhythm behind and delivers leftfield sound design scattered over a spatial broken beat.

"In 1971, Dr Tree emerged as a highly innovative jazz-fusion ensemble from Auckland, formed by two of New Zealand's most seasoned session musicians, Frank Gibson Jr. and Murray McNabb - the pair had jammed together since grammar school. Drawing sizable crowds while working the Auckland circuit, the band caught the attention of EMI scout, Alan Galbraith, who wasted no time signing them up for an album. Galbraith, a trained musician and adventurous producer, brought in additional support from Julian Lee, an internationally acclaimed arranger and producer (who had recently returned to New Zealand after a decade Stateside on Frank Sinatra's insistence).

The album's an all-instrumental excursion into territory mapped out by the likes of Return To Forever, Weather Report and Tony Williams Lifetime - all acolytes of Miles Davis's late- 60s explorations. The session combines experimental studio techniques with blazing artistry, juxtapositioning trippy electronic textures and improvised jazz, creating a hypnotic kaleidoscope of sound."

Double LP featuring previously unreleased recordings and outtakes.
Restored and remastered at�Abbey Road Studios by Grammy award-winning engineer Sean Mage.
Heavyweight tip-on gatefold sleeve featuring archival band photography.
Restored and newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.
Limited edition of 600 copies (300 in New Zealand, remaining 300 worldwide).

Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series, blurring the boundaries between text, music and voice, returns with their fifth instalment, an expanded version of Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, across its two sides the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist taps an almost dada sensibility, delivering a suite of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life.

Roughly a year ago, we had the pleasure of exploring the first two releases from Dischi Fantom’s emerging Sussurra Luce series, Ginevra Bompiani, Caterina Barbieri, and Tomoko Sauvage’s “Il Calore Animale” and Francesco Cavaliere’s “Zoomachia Disc 1”. An extension of the Milan based cultural platform Fantom’s broad and diverse activities (exhibitions, installations, performances, etc.) across numerous artistic disciplines, the series, curated by Francesco Cavaliere and Massimo Torrigiani, delves into the “science of imagination”, working with contemporary authors to explore and blur the boundaries between text, music and voice. Now the brilliant series returns with its latest entry, the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Released in a limited edition of 200 copies and coming with an LP-sized booklet, it combines orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, and it’s a stunning gesture of performative poetics that plums a startling range of subjects through its sonorous forms.

Working across the fields of text, vocal performance, sound installation, printed objects and sculpture, for more than a decade Hanne Lippard has deployed language as the raw material for her work. Working within a practice that rests at the juncture of the spoken and written word, drawing upon content appropriated from the public sphere (found text) intertwined with her own words, Lippard’s work investigates how the rise in digital communication and mediation reprograms our relationship to language, presenting the subsequent fragility of language - its flaws, oddities, and potential for misinterpretation - and its attempts to convey meaning and sense.

“Talk Shop”, the fifth instalment of Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series and Lippard’s third recorded release - building upon the ground of 2020's “Work”, issued by Collapsing Market, and 2021's “PigeonPostParis”, released by Boomkat Editions - began as a live performance. Combining orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, its relationship with the world of work today, and its personification through the experience of the human body - anonymity as the spearhead of the digital economy - the conceptual underpinnings of the piece depart from the notion that the human voice has become commodified by the ubiquitous nature of contemporary productivity, and intertwined with the mechanics of capital - the voices of satnavs, smart speakers and voicemail systems - while the written word has become increasingly anonymous online.

Addressing vocal anonymity as a spearhead of the digital economy, Lippard’s “Talk Shop” - regarded by the artist as “a compilation of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life” - taps an almost dada sensibility through its unexpected layers of meanings drawn from a maximalized approach to the potential of the human voice, creating an engrossing and challenging listen from the first sounding to the last, that continues to reveal itself and unfold with every return.

Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, it culminates as one of the most strikingly singular creative gestures we’re likely to encounter this year. Highly recommended and not to be missed.

Hanne Lippard (Milton Keynes, 1984) explores the social forms that govern discourse. Her artistic practice, which mainly takes the form of reading and sound installations, investigates the voice as an instrument of emancipation and alienation in times of hyper-connectivity. By mixing personal thoughts and appropriating texts from advertising, slogans and newspaper articles, the text becomes a mix of private and public that regains inventiveness and authorship through the use of the voice, becoming a body of its own. Her recent artistic research has focused on the use of the female body as a container of sounds, on the conscious and unconscious automation of speech and language.

Lili Holland-Fricke and Sean Rogan’s debut album “dear alien” is a constellation of radiant improvised impulses, imagined in lucent fragments of cello, guitar and voice. Spacious, tender and glistening with rich electronic distortion, the record melds a spectrum of processed and natural sound as the artists invite listeners into their dreamlike world of synergetic introspections.

Cultivated through a shared spirit of resourcefulness and play, “dear alien” emerges as an organic meeting place in the compositional output of British-German experimental cellist Lili Holland-Fricke and Manchester-born guitarist and producer Sean Rogan. Having studied their respective instruments at the Royal Northern College of Music, both artists have flourished in eclectic solo and collaborative projects, creating intricate and intimate spheres of sound with a deep appreciation for songwriting and improvisation.

Holland-Fricke’s transition from the classical world to writing her own material, and later vastly expanding her palette with electronics, first converged with Rogan’s distinctive flair for production in 2022 on her EP “birdsong for breakfast” and single ‘draw on the walls’. Now, the duo present an album envisioned through true ‘50/50’ collaboration during the summer of 2023, written across two intensive weeks of improvising and experimenting at Rogan’s Greenwich home studio. A convergence of the artists’ sounds and influences, the music was fostered by the idea of making an album with ‘no plan’ and their shared recent discovery of Arthur Russell, to whom the final track is dedicated.

“dear alien” assembles eight compositions that emerged naturally as the duo created sketches with cello and pedals, guitar, tape loops and poetic vocal musings, forming songs that explore themes of waiting, circling back around, and glitchy communication. Moments of drifting through pillowy layers of sound contrast with saturated visions of electronic modification, where the record’s glowing instrumental contours are pushed to the extremes.

The plaintive shades of ‘half blue’ and meandering deliberations of ‘slow thing’ are teased by the friction of static signals and a sense of ever-mutating sonic mass – a sensibility most acutely realised in ‘dawning’, where cello-vocoder eruptions grow in magnitude, the absence of sound between them burdened with something sinister and unspoken. As the artists expand on this piece, ‘It’s the sound equivalent of squeezing your eyes shut to shield against the brightness of something you don’t want to see, only to find that each time you open them again the world is not softening but getting more relentlessly overwhelming, to the point of being totally blinding.’

Three tracks with lyrics – ‘at first’, ‘dear alien’ and ‘seem asleep’ – refract the album’s wistful and melancholic colours into poetic imagery and metaphors, ushering in reflections on relationship tensions and someone close feeling unknown, with hints towards wider unsettled feelings about climate change. In the spirit of lyrical improv, ‘seem asleep’ compiles lone lines from Holland-Fricke’s journals into a cut-and-paste collage around hopeful patience or futile lingering – either way conjuring a softness that welcomes the hazy ambience of ‘for a. r.’, the final composition which soundscapes the summer days spent making the album. As the artists describe of this track, ‘The music kind of leads somewhere, but then kind of leads nowhere, and just meanders around where it is, content to just be walking in a circle back to where it started.’

Ava Mendoza has never made an album quite as personal as her second solo full-length, The Circular Train. Through her decades of collaborations with Nels Cline, Carla Bozulich, William Parker, Fred Frith, Matana Roberts, and Mick Barr—plus years leading her power trio Unnatural Ways and playing in Bill Orcutt’s quartet—the guitarist’s name has become synonymous with virtuoso technique, raw passion, and visceral resonance, a player pushing the edges of the guitar’s possibilities. Along the way, from 2007 to 2023, Mendoza was writing these slow-burning, incandescent songs. The Circular Train is comprised solely of her single-tracked guitar playing and, on two songs, her corporeal singing. Her first solo LP of original material since relocating from California to New York City a decade ago, much of The Circular Train was honed amid pandemic years that clarified the virtues of slowing down. This expressive avant-rock is a definitive introduction to one of the most uncompromising and inquisitive visions in creative music. Mendoza’s thrilling melange of free jazz, blues, noise, classical training, and blazing experimental rock’n’roll all coheres with ecstatic feedback, with picking and solos that crest with shimmer. Sometimes she sounds like a one-woman Sonic Youth with guttural and poised vocals that equally evoke Patti Smith and blues greats like Jessie Mae Hemphill. Conceptually, The Circular Train is presented as a psychogeographical train ride through certain of Mendoza’s musical homelands. The songs draw on ancestral and recent familial memories, notably of her parents’ roots in mining towns—in her father’s home country of Bolivia and mother’s hometown of Butte, Montana, each country with its own history of colonialism, racism, forced labor, the eradication of culture and the subsequent excavation of it. These adventurous songs were composed in cars and planes, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, in Los Angeles and upstate New York—which is to say in motion. “Ride to Cerro Rico,” named for the mountain and silver mine at the center of Potosi, Bolivia, was inspired by Mendoza’s great grandmother’s life there in a Quechua mining family. “Dust From the Mines” drew from that history as well as Mendoza’s familial lineage of miners in Montana, building up to stunning swaths of shredded iridescence. “Pink River Dolphins” was inspired by a visit to the Amazon rainforest, swimming with dolphins alongside her father—the pink bufeos that inhabit both Bolivia and Columbia—and the song is dedicated to the memory of Mendoza’s late friend, the Colombian-American trumpeter jaimie branch. They shared a fascination with those intelligent and agile creatures who often communicate by echolocation. “Make a sound, it comes back around,” Mendoza sings, and later, “Echo, echo/The answer in a sound,” evoking what branch knew well: through music we navigate life. The Circular Train contains one cover, “Irene, Goodnight,” composed by Gussie Lord Davis and popularized by Leadbelly; Mendoza has been performing it for over 20 years. Almost as deeply embedded in her repertoire is the penultimate track, “The Shadow Song.” “Treat your shadow kind and it might treat you good,” Mendoza sings on this song that she’s been reworking for over a decade, an emblem of devotion. “Treat your shadow kind and it might treat you right,” she repeats, becoming a blues mantra. What is a shadow self if not one’s secret world, which, once laid bare, awaits an echo, a return?

From Sweden with Italo to Dresden with love. Stockholm's DJ City drops his first release on Dresden's Uncanny Valley with the COSMICOMICS EP, a 100% fun record for all the senses, deeply inspired by Italo Calvino's iconic short story collection.

The stories have inspired DJ City to a record that aesthetically draws from 80s Italo Disco and 70s science fiction films. In the book, each story is based on a scientific fact about the world and the cosmos whilst using fiction to ask how we understand it. Where Calvino's stories are comical and absurd, DJ City surrenders to the sublime and romantic and moves further into the metaphysical world that Calvino created to come up with three energetic and melodic tracks bursting heavily with fantasy and drama. Deeply rooted in dance music's history, they shine with Hi-NRG-vibes, strict dancefloor commitment and little easter eggs like that Drexciya-reference in COSMICOMICS.

The cover of the record is a painting from 2020 by Swedish artist Jens Faenge called THE INN. The picture seems to have been broken up into several dimensions, and abstract details make it difficult for the viewer to know exactly what and when the scene is taking place. When shown in Shanghai, the painting was censored by government agents and had to be taken down. A testament to the power of the image. Perhaps it shows our main character, perhaps it shows us the author or the artist. Depending on who listens, who reads and who looks, a multitude of universes open.

‘Dyp Tid’, the fifth album from Norwegian psych-rock group Electric Eye, is a contemplation of the unknown and the ineffable. Crafted in a landscape where time and space collapse, the record is Electric Eye's most ambitious and experimental project to date. Originally commissioned by Sildajazz – the Haugesund International Jazz Festival – and premiering there in 2022, ‘Dyp Tid’ (Norwegian for ‘Deep Time’) is both a meditative journey and an exploration of what it means to exist in a universe where time stretches far beyond humanity’s grasp. First performed live in Skåre Kirke, an octagonal wooden church in Haugesund, Norway that was built in 1858, these six atmospheric compositions centre church organs, synths and choral vocals over any traditional ‘rock’ instrumentation. Gradually winding through ambient minimalism, kosmische improvisations and experimental psych-jazz, ‘Dyp Tid’ isn’t just an album but a space; a mental landscape where sound and time intersect. Talking about the album, Electric Eye’s Øystein Braut says: “We have always been drawn to the cinematic, to the sense that something feels larger than life, and in Dyp Tid we wove these elements together into something both deeply personal and utterly elusive.” Setting up in Bergen´s Duper Studio, the recording space became a laboratory to further develop these new ideas and transform the ‘Dyp Tid’ piece into a fully-fledged studio album: “We delved into analogue technology, explored vintage machines, and experimented with what lay at the edge of our control. We sought the sound of time’s depths, something that felt infinite and uncontrollable. In an age where everything seems algorithmic and predictable, we aimed to create something that refused to be boxed in – something that lives and breathes by its own rules. The album intricately weaves together live recordings from the wooden church and studio sessions, often oscillating between the two in the course of a single track.”

VSION 02 is the soundtrack to when the club's heartbeat matches yours; the first sip of water while cavernous drums engulf you. Kasra V's latest offering appeals to the glory days of the tribal side of 90s electronic music: sacred rhythms that echo influences from NYC clubs of past times and the freaky side of abstract dance music, while still retaining a unique flavor from his creative V-sion. Drawing a direct line from the shadowy corners of late 90s club culture to the avant garde, Kasra's world building is on full display, calling to mind both the full-bodied spirit of Victor Calderone's primal grooves and the voodoo beats of Exquisite Corpse. His most dancefloor oriented work to date, Kasra infused the energy of spontaneous jams into refined and layered sonic alchemy, utilizing vintage gear and pedals to evoke spiritually timeless flavors. The record is artistically represented by a Pierrot-esque visual, a perfect symbol for the playful psychedelia that is still entrenched in a hedonistic flair. There's more time in our ritual dance, take another sip.

Thousand Yard Stare is re:ni's 3rd 12" and her first on re:lax, the label and club-night she runs with Laksa. Following on from records from Harba, Jurango and Laksa, the ep stays true to the imprint's exploration of emotive high-tempo club records which marry the character and energy of the hardcore continuum with technical precision and slick sound design. With her distinguished alien vocal chops it’s proper ‘GET IN UR HED’ business.

The title is a nod to the dissociative state we can find ourselves in as a result of trauma, and how creativity/music is able to illustrate emotions that words cannot.

Sonically the ep is continuation of the bass-driven, vocal-led 140-150bpm territory explored on her Timedance and Ilian Tape records, this time more explicitly drawing on inspiration from electro, drill and jungle in the dynamic drum programming, growling 808 bass and icy snares that feature across the 3 tracks.

Emerging from the UK’s vibrant electronic music scene of the early 1990’s, DEFSET has gained recognition for his unique ability to merge elements of dub, ambient, techno, and experimental music, whilst drawing on the acid house, hardcore and jungle of his early career, crafting immersive soundscapes that resonate with listeners on both an emotional and intellectual level.
Following on from his debut album in 2021, DEFSET has spent time developing his sound and on sophomore album ‘Ok, Accept, Continue’ there is more of an organic tone. Blending trip-hop, Gambian kora music and sound system culture through collaborations from MC Spyda and Jally Kebba Susso, DEFSET adds a layer of humanity to the album and attempts to embody the human experience of loss and recovery and it’s accompanying feelings of sadness, anger, and self-medication, as a form of creative expression from grief’s intensity.
DEFSET is the musical moniker of Leo Neelands, a multi-talented artist known for his work in both electronic music and the visual effects industry. With a background in creating stunning visual effects for major Blockbuster films, Neelands brings a cinematic flair to his music, crafting immersive soundscapes that blend atmospheric electronic and techno influences. In addition to his work in music, DEFSET’S background as a VFX Supervisor has allowed him to infuse his music with a distinctive, visual storytelling quality, making him a compelling force in the electronic music landscape.

SLOW860 is the latest chapter in Charlie Fieber, aka Fracture’s, celebration of pirate radio culture, merging it with his Chopped & Screwed-inspired Slow Astro world. This third "Slow" adventure pushes the concept further, adding another album to his critically acclaimed 0860 project. The result is a 60-minute, unbroken collage of 14 new compositions and 6 'slow ambient' 0860 remixes, interwoven with pirate radio skits and fuzz. Drawing inspiration from The KLF’s Chill Out and his teenage experiences falling asleep to stations like Kool FM and Weekend Rush, familiar elements from Fracture’s work emerge, yet remain hauntingly just out of reach as he deconstructs and extends 0860.

2024 Repress

DVS1 returns to his own imprint HUSH with his unique sonic palette of beats and rhythms, delivering stripped-down and slow-building tracks with remarkable clarity, easily imagined to be played on massive sound systems. HUSH 06 features DVS1's trademark sound with his interplay of elements rising and falling, fluid percussions seamlessly weaving in and out of the arrangements, highlighting an ever-shifting emphasis that draws its energy from minimalistic features.

Recital presents a newly unearthed recording of an interview between Sun Ra and composer Charlie Morrow recorded at his New York studio in 1989. This voice-only recording develops more like a kaleidoscopic sermon than any standard interview.

Charlie Morrow recalls:
My 1989 Summer Solstice Celebration featured Sun Ra and his Arkestra. On March 29, 1989, ahead of this historical performance, Sun Ra came to New York to plan the performance and do an interview with me in the Charles Morrow Associates studio. There were members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, some of my team, and a photographer present. Once in the sound studio, Sun Ra wanted to record the discussion. What he says is so much more than anyone expected. I pushed record on the tape recorder, which quietly took it all in.

What Sun Ra recorded is a breathtaking expression of his feelings and strong convictions, illustrated with personal memories and stories. My few questions to him about the upcoming Solstice and about the sun and his thoughts about a dawn event triggered his mind. He launched into a nonstop journey of ricocheting stories and concepts, climaxing when I started jamming with Sun Ra on conch horn. Our duo drives to a climactic peak with explosive conch breath sounds giving line-by-line affirmations to Sun Ra’s points.

The 1989 Summer Solstice event brought together Sun Ra and his constellation of musicians and fans with my large-scale gatherings and work with the New Wilderness Foundation. Here in 2023 and beyond, the events live again. Sean McCann of Recital was drawn to Sun Ra’s words, which inspired the production of this edition. Sun Ra’s words seem to have an even greater resonance in present time. Ra is calling out the turbulence of the bad actions of the righteous and the good actions that an evil man, as he dubs himself, can perform, all the time believing that music has the possibility to bring all humans to a better place.

Charlie Morrow, 2023 / Helsinki, Finland

One-time pressing of 425 copies, includes 12-page booklet with rare photos and full transcription of interview, 24”x18” poster of Sun Ra 1989 Solstice performance photograph

~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~ Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros, a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko. Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime. Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs. Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing. These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice. Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s. Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels circulate to this day. Greek researchers Stavros Kourousis and Konstantinos Kopanitsanos, who also compiled these tracks, contribute groundbreaking new historical research on Katsaros' life. Lyrics, poetically translated by Tony Klein, further fill in the picture. Clean and rare 78s were remastered by Stereophonic. Katsaros has never sounded better than on this LP, pressed on heavy black vinyl, with extensive notes and lyrics.

Joel Sarakula's new album "Soft Focus" is a mid-career album spanning his many influences and genres including Soft-Rock, Funk and Indie Pop, all brought under the umbrella of his gentle gaze and a 'soft' aesthetic. "Soft Focus" is also the name of a photographic technique born out of a spherical abberation of the lens where the image is a bit blurry and undefined: it's both flattering and forgiving on the subject. It's an apt title. As a lifetime wearer of (vintage) glasses, Sarakula knows a lot about spherical abberations. Perhaps he produced these songs with his glasses off as these are abstract and warm vignettes, never overstaying their welcome and for this reason Sarakula manages to feature twelve new tracks on "Soft Focus".

Highlights include one of the two Shawn Lee produced tracks "I'll Get By Without You", the rockier, iberic beat of "King Of Spain", the soulful affirmation of "Back For Your Love" and the psychedelic-tinged "Bird Of Paradise" and "Microdosing". This is a lovingly crafted album, well polished and it feels like the culmination of Sarakula's adventures in soulful soft-rock and his defining statement in the genre. While comparisons will be made with contemporary projects like Shawn Lee's Young Gun Silver Fox, Drugdealer, Benny Sings and Prep, echoes of soft-rock icons Ned Doheny, Boz Scaggs, Todd Rundgren and Michael Franks also ripple gently through the album.

Imagine if Ray Manzarek was the frontman for the Bee Gees... It's a neat visual introduction to Joel Sarakula, a UK-based Australian artist who writes, produces and sings Soulful Pop, gazing out at a contemporary world through vintage glasses, vintage threads and long blond hair. His music is informed by a rich, 1970s-inspired palette, drawing on soft-rock, funk and disco influences: sunny, uptempo jams for darker times. Self-aware that he looks and occasionally sounds like the love child of Ray Manzarek and the Gibb brothers, his self-deprecating sense of humour is always there just below the fringe.

Born in Sydney, based in UK and international in outlook Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway before finally establishing his career in the UK and Europe. Since then he has released albums such as "Island Time" (2023), "Companionship" (2020), "Love Club" (2018) and "The Imposter" (2015) that have racked up plays on rotation across national UK and European radio and got him noticed in The New York Times, The Independent (UK), The Irish Times, Rolling Stone Germany, El Pais (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald. It's- been a long road finding his current cult status starting out at the piano from a young age in suburban Sydney, writing and singing songs by the time he was a teenager and onstage by fifteen years old playing jazz standards in his local golf club. "I came from humble beginnings, it's best not to mention" as he sings in his 70s boogie influenced song "I'm Still Winning". Joel Sarakula is a fixture on the festival and club circuit having previously performed at SXSW, Primavera Sound and Glastonbury festivals. Ever the internationalist, he tours with pickup bands sourced from each territory he plays in: a Barcelona band for Spain, a Berlin band for Germany and so forth. This cross-cultural exchange is another echo of the 1970s when world travelling soul and pop artists from the US did the same and guarantees that his live shows remain fresh, exciting and absolutely contemporary.

Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls is the debut studio album by American horror punk supergroup Murderdolls. It was released in 2002. The album reached number 40 on the UK Albums Chart, and sold over 100,000 copies in the U.S.

Murderdolls are a side project for Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison and Static-X guitarist Tripp Eisen.

The music on the album is fast and macabre, stuck in a time warp that hurtles them backwards to the decayed sounds of the '80s. Call it gutter-punk, glam rock, or hair metal, every style is displayed here in its despondent glory, bearing close comparisons to shock-punkers the Misfits. The Murderdolls draw inspiration from movies such as Friday the 13th, Night of the Living Dead, and Phantasm. The 15 tracks found here are full of tongue-in-cheek horror clichés.

Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls is now available on black vinyl and contains a 6 panel insert.

Mysterious, multifaceted collective i Häxa have unveiled their epic self-titled, full length debut; a ground-breaking conceptual double album shaped by a collision of ancient gods and bleeding-edge technology_ Released as four distinct Parts over the course of the year, `i Häxa' now comes together as a singular vision that weaves together genre-defiant soundscapes, abstract cinema and ancient meteorological mythologies from singer-songwriter and visual artist Rebecca Need-Menear (also of electronic alt-rock duo Anavae) and forward-thinking producer Peter Miles (Architects, Dodie, Fizz). i Häxa is a ritualistic dissection of the world as we know it, a forceful separation of the monotony of modernity from the rites and rituals that for centuries formed the foundations for who we are, how we came to be and where we claim to belong. Disjointed fragments of time collide. Two sides, one of logic and one of chaos, seeking unity and balance through an expression of freedom. This is i Häxa. Whilst the album is composed of four distinct movements, each consisting of four distinct tracks themselves; pulling them apart into easily digestible, standalone singles isn't an easy feat and, as is now clear from the project's sprawling cyclic nature, was never the intention. In an age of fast fun and instant gratification, the ties that bind these works together are intended to transcend tracklisting. With aural, visual and lyrical themes freely intertwining, i Häxa is something to be consumed whole; just as it will, in time, consume you. Charting an existential journey to the very depths of what makes us who we are, with every dark corner illuminated in glitched out, discordant glory; i Häxa is a project years in the making that draws simultaneously from rituals for old gods and the modern day deification of data. i Häxa is both heartwarming and horrifying; i Häxa is ancient history and hyper-real; i Häxa is everybody and no one at all. Check out if you like Radiohead, Julie Christmas, Agnes Obel, Bjork, Fever Ray, Massive Attack, Dead Can Dance, Emma Ruth Rundle, Jenny Hval, Cult of Luna, Eivor, Zola Jesus, Marissa Nadler, Soft Moon

Led by pianist/composer Barbara Fiig, the ensemble is made up of three creative communicators self described as blue sheep " of the jazz world. First stumbling into each other at the music education program at Classical Music Conservatory DKDM, their sound is rooted in collaboration and community, drawing on elements of musical poetry, jazz, folk, Nordic and Classical traditions. Regarding the name Blåly , the trio explains that it is a made up word open to interpretation. Derived from the wordly "", meaning shelter " in Danish, it is reflective of the shared feelings of safety and introspection the trio find in their music making and that they hope to impart onto their audience. Exploring themes of motherhood, new beginnings, mental health, identity, and the cathartic potential of music, the record is built around Fiigs personal approach to the piano. Combining gentle lyrical melodies and colorful melancholic harmony, Blåly perform and interpret each piece with a mature, spacious and textural sound palette, ebbing and flowing between the composed and the improvised in a collective exchange of ideas and energy. Driving drum grooves, hypnotic piano patterns and ethereal timbres from bowed double bass craft a stripped back sound world that is simple, immersive, honest,

The Zeros is a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. The first singles recorded by the band instantly catapulted The Zeros into a top draw on the local scene and have become legendary. Unfortunately, the band never cut an album during these days. Their debut single was released in 1977 on Greg Shaw's very own Bomp! Records. It included 'Don't Push Me Around' and 'Wimp', two of the greatest punk rock songs of all time, both written by Javier Escovedo. It was followed by another single in 1978, "Wild Weekend" and a third one in 1980, "They Say That (Everything's Alright)". This release compiles all their early singles, some rare tracks (including the previously unreleased 'Left to Right') and songs taken from a 1978 live show. Munste is thrilled to reissue this essential '80s power pop gem as part of a series of releases celebrating Bomp! 50th anniversary.