Suche:the flood

Ever since the release of his first solo album more than 20 years ago, German musician and producer Christian Kleine has experimented with blending and contrasting the varying textures and approaches of post-rave IDM, breakbeats, shoegaze and punk. His latest album offering, Touch & Fuse, shows he's continued to refine and perfect that combination, which is less a conscious concoction and more of a natural outcome of the music he likes. From the edgy Aphex-isms of 'Val 2' and the heavily filtered breaks of 'Reverse Angle' to the slowed down grunge meets pure electronics of 'Return of the Underground', this is unique, accomplished stuff.

Denver-based Seafoam (Brian Cavender) is by far the most prolific of the talented Cavender brothers, but he has remained elusive for his 2+ decades-long career in deep funk. After releasing a one-off 12-inch in 1999 on a small Denver label, Seafoam quickly found his way to the Guidance family by way of gatherings at Miami's Winter Music Conference. A string of three twelves on Guidance from 2000 to 2003 cemented his legacy early in his career, however, having never quite reached the same heights as some of the Guidance greats, Seafoam's output mysteriously declined around the time of the label's demise. New releases dried up until the formative reissue campaign of Paris-based Rue De Plaisance in 2017, which culminated in the essential Collected Works 1999-2005 double LP. The flood gates opened, and a whole new generation of diggers and labels turned to his sound. And Seafoam, seemingly untouched by the passage of time, hunkered down in the studio with a steady release schedule-a new lease on life for the occult deep house assassin.

The Smile veröffentlichen ihr mit großer Spannung erwartetes Debütalbum "A Light For Attracting Attention" am 13. Mai 2022 digital auf XL Recordings. Die Vinyl- und CD-Veröffentlichung folgt am 17.06. Die 13 Tracks des Albums wurden von Nigel Godrich produziert sowie gemischt und von Bob Ludwig abschließend gemastert. Die Songs werden von Streichern des London Contemporary Orchestra und einer kompletten Bläsersektion zeitgenössischer britischer Jazzmusiker wie Byron Wallen, Theon und Nathaniel Cross, Chelsea Carmichael, Robert Stillman und Jason Yarde begleitet. Die Band, bestehend aus Thom Yorke und Jonny Greenwood von Radiohead und Tom Skinner von Sons of Kemet, hat bereits die Singles "You Will Never Work in Television Again", "The Smoke" und "Skrting On The Surface" veröffentlicht. "The Smoke" wurde außerdem als Dub-Remix des legendären Reggae-Produzenten Dennis Bovell veröffentlicht. Die letzte Single "Pana-vision" von The Smile wurde bereits am 3. April veröffentlicht und lief im Finale der BBC-Serie "Peaky Blinders". Das animierte Video zu Pana-vision zeigt Artworks des Radiohead-Künstlers Stanley Donwood sowie Thom Yorke. Die brandneue Single "Free In The Knowledge" erscheint heute parallel zur Albumankündigung. Das Video zum Song entstand unter Regie von Leo Leigh. Der Song wurde erstmals im Dezember 2021 von Thom Yorke im Rahmen der "Letters Live"-Veranstaltung in der Londoner Royal Albert Hall aufgeführt - dem ersten Auftritt von Thom Yorke seit Beginn der Pandemie. Bei der Vorstellung des Songs widmete er ihn allen britischen Musikerkollegen. Im Januar spielten The Smile drei aufeinanderfolgende ausverkaufte Liveshows innerhalb von 24 Stunden in London. Diese Shows wurden gleichzeitig per Livestream an ein weltweites Publikum übertragen. Die Band beginnt ihre Europatournee Mitte Mai 2022 und wird am 20.05 in Berlin im Tempodrom spielen.

This compilation is a euphoric mix of Korean electro-pop beats, with a side of dizzy Seoul vibes. It consists of music by 9 Korean independent music artists. These artists are mostly well-known within Korea, but some of them are globally renowned. A number of artists in this record were awarded or nominated the Korean Music Awards (KMA), while some of them have worked collaboratively with the movie industry and the fashion industry. IDIOTAPE has become a globally renowned electronic band in the last decade. Starting from their early global exposure at 2014 SXSW, USA, IDIOTAPE has actively performed every year on big stages worldwide and has collaborated with various brands such as Adidas Originals, Fred Perry, and EA Sports. KIRARA is known for her music being “strong and pretty” since her debut in 2014. She has been actively producing music and performing on stage. She was invited to a number of international music festivals including 2017 Trans Musicales, France and 2019 SXSW, USA. Featuring the amazing artwork by Coen Pohl

Black Vinyl, DL card. CD Capacity wallet. A reawakening for the Swedish visionaries, Sincere solidifies their impressive trajectory in a fuzzed out haze of dark and arresting shoegaze pop. An expansive trip through noisier, bittersweet pop realms that recalls My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Deerhunter. Underpinning everything there’s a continuing sense of drama throughout; richly textured crescendos, chiming guitars and delicate melodies are guided by Caroline Landahl’s tender yet sharpened vocals. Sincere is joyously effervescent, but with a dark underbelly where fury manifests in a swirl of entrancing and propulsive percussion. A gorgeous and dazzling piece of aching romanticism, destined to feature on a thousand mixtapes. Recorded last year in Malmö, Hater welcomed two new band members and those early day sparks saw them quickly turning demos into fully-formed new songs that appear on the record. Sincere was produced by long-time collaborator Joakim Lindberg and was mixed and mastered by John Cornfield, whose credits include Ride, The Stone Roses and Robert Plant. // “One of the best bands in the world” Gorilla vs Bear // “Your next Scandinavian indie pop obsession.” Flood // “Stunning” Stereogum

'You & Me', 'The Ballad of John Henry' and 'Live from the Royal Albert Hall'.
The 2009 fan favourite and iconic 'The Ballad of John Henry' will be also available
on coloured vinyl for the first time, has been remastered on 180g heavyweight
2LP brown vinyl and includes a bonus track – B.B. King's "Chains and Things."
Bonamassa's seventh studio album saw him steamroll into another US Billboard
Blues #1 as well as it making waves across the charts around Europe. Well on his
way to becoming a superstar, several Bonamassa originals adorn the album as
well as covers of Tom Waits, Sam Brown and Ike & Tina Turner, highlighting the
sheer scope of his palette.
With 25 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises,
he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a
toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can
experience them for the first time. It's Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock.

Storming into 2022 with a flurry of high-octane remixed from a stellar array of artists, Anfisa Letyago continues to solidify her position as one of techno's most talked about names. An intrepid selector with a positive attitude regarding all things art and dancefloor related, she's been making seismic waves within the industry for a few years. Letyago launched her own imprint - N:S:DA last year, originally a celebration of her own dark-brooding style of techno, the label has entered a metamorphosis of sorts, welcoming in a host of established producers to remix the labels first two remix EP's.

Kompakt head-honcho and German techno extraordinaire Michael Mayer opens up the floodgates of this remix project with an alluring interpretation of "Nisida". Decades of industry experience have finely tuned Mayer's taste making to an impeccable standard, his extensive knowledge of dancefloors and deep cuts serves as an excellent explanation for his undeniable ability in the studio. Ethereal vocal snapshots from the original mix are weaved intricately amongst the machine-orchestra of arpeggiated synths and stalwart drum loops. "My aim for this remix was to crystallize this yearning sentiment in Anfisa's whispers by adding more warmth and drama to the track" adds Michael.

The Italian-born, multi-faceted DJ Tennis steps into the arena with his unique take on the original mix of "Nisida". Elegant pads flourish through the mix, carrying listeners weightlessly into warping basslines and razor-sharp drum work. The droning synths seem to induce hypnosis, circling and swaying around the driving kick and scattered hi-hats. A production powerhouse since the early nineties, DJ Tennis continues to juggle event promotion, running a label and booking agency. A hugely talented all-rounder.

1979 draws the EP to a close with a swirling techno edit of "Orizzonte", tastefully minimal and precisely crafted with compelling sound design from the analog synth wizard. Classically trained with a deep penchant for attending illegal raves in his youth, 1979 has been making waves with a flurry of breakout hits in recent years. The arrangement climbs through cycles of high-pitched tones and rolling mid-range bass, taking listeners on a sonic journey steeped in warmth with classic drum machine hits. "'Orizzonte' caught me in many ways, and I decided to use the beautiful space-arpeggios and the shoegaze pads made by Anfisa to create my own version of the track" he adds. The perfect track for highway driving and rocking dancefloors.

New album from South London producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Wu-Lu.

Leader of the punk-rap awakening, Wu-Lu pulls inspiration from personal hardship and the underrepresented on his latest for Warp entitled 'LOGGERHEAD'. Miles Romans-Hopcraft based his artistic moniker on the Amharic word for water, “wu-ha”. True to his fluid sound and nature, he decided to change it to something that felt more liquid. He ended up with Wu-Lu, a name he has been using since 2015. His first record GINGA opened the floodgates to a career that would take him to various places, people, and genres. From breaking bones at skateparks as a teenager, to DJing as one of the original members of Touching Bass, and eventually getting signed to Warp in 2021.

As an artist, Wu-Lu seems concerned with feeling and communicating the full spectrum of human emotion. Throughout his varied discography, he touches on disparate themes and sounds, straddling a divide between blissed-out beats and grungy guitar dirges, and often mixing both into one amorphous, unclassifiable sound of his own.

On ‘'LOGGERHEAD'’, Wu-Lu hones his unique sound. On ‘Take Stage’, a despondent spoken word intro opens with sombre strings and underlying bows dragged delicately across them. Then the lights flicker to life on ‘Night Pill’, and the mosh pit with them - the bassline approaches like a hungry shark and the guitars snarl with a homemade 90s grunge energy. This grunge drawl and punk spirit is peppered with dry old-school drum sounds of classic hip-hop, with laid-back beat-oriented tracks are spread amongst those with intermittent growls, scratches, and shrieks. Sonic elements are constantly rearranged and juxtaposed throughout the album, like on ‘South’ where the fluctuating pitch of squealing guitars and screaming vocals is contrasted with the steady flow of Lex Amor.

Listening through the album you are constantly greeted with about-turns, and through the element of surprise and deft use of contrast 'LOGGERHEAD' sits at an exciting point in Wu-Lu’s genre-defying artistry.

Bristol techno, noise and hardcore supremos SCALPING are
releasing their highly anticipated debut album ‘Void’.
‘Void’ comes on the heels of an extremely exciting 2021 for the
band, which saw them play to sold-out crowds at the Roundhouse
twice in two weeks - both on tour with Squarepusher and at
Pitchfork Festival London - as well as releasing two widely
acclaimed EPs titled ‘FLOOD’ and ‘FLOOD Remixed’, the latter of
which featured treatments from producers Hodge, Azu Tiwaline,
object blue, AQXDM and Laurel Halo and Scottish instrumental
rock legends Mogwai.

SCALPING are heavy metal in 4D; the sound is moody, distorted
and rhythmic, but the use of electronic techniques gives the finer
details room to breathe, making more space for experimentation.
Tracks such as ‘Tether’, featuring Oakland rapper DÆMON, puts
a modern, metal twist on Bristolian trip-hop, whereas album closer
‘Remain in Statis’ features fast-rising artist Grove, a Bristol-based
rapper and self-professed metalhead whose commanding
presence sets the track alight.

In the heat and darkness, it’s a swarm of low-end frequencies and
ripping guitars, somewhere between Black Sabbath-esque
psychedelica and The Bug’s sub-bass headfuckery. Live, the
effect is immense. SCALPING play continuously for the duration of
their sets, generating a storm of metal-and-techno through a rising
beats-per-minute count.

‘Void’ will be put to the test, as the band kicks off an eight-date UK
headline tour, culminating in a live performance at fabric on May
5th. As live shows return in 2022, SCALPING will continue to
prove themselves as one of the UK’s most impressive, ambitious,
and original new live bands.

German Army is a duo from the San Gabriel Valley. Born between Sydney Possuelo and Paulo Freire, this project is as prolific and productive as it is shrouded in mystery.

Characterised by a certain amount of experimentation aimed at sound collage, the most industrial plunderphonics and the darkest noises, the enigmatic Californian collective has accustomed us to a certain variability of musical genres, but also, without a doubt, to an unquestionably high level of quality and a perennial dark emotional component, which reveals itself in an exquisitely overbearing manner in their work.

Joe Bonamassa - 'The Ballad of John Henry' 2022 Remaster erstmals als farbiges Doppel-Vinyl

Provogue / Mascot Label Group veröffentlichen am 22.04.2022 drei spezielle Vinyl-Neuauflagen des Blues-Titans Joe Bonamassa. You & Me", "The Ballad of John Henry" und "Live from the Royal Albert Hall" erscheinen erstmals remastered.
Das Bonamassa Kult-Album "The Ballad of John Henry" aus dem Jahr 2009 wird erstmals auch auf farbigem Vinyl erhältlich sein. Das Album wurde für die 2 LP-Version neu gemastert und auf 180g braunem Vinyl gepresst. Als besonderes Bonbon gibt es mit der B.B. King Coverversion von 'Chains and Things' einen Bonustrack.
Bonamassas siebtes Studioalbum brachte ihn erneut auf Platz 1 der US Billboard Blues Charts und brachte ihm den Durchbruch in Europa. Mehrere Bonamassa-Originale zieren das Album ebenso wie Coverversionen von Tom Waits, Sam Brown und Ike & Tina Turner, die die ganze Bandbreite seiner Palette aufzeigen.
Mit mittlerweile 25 Nummer 1 Alben in den Billboard Blues-Charts, ausverkauften Tourneen und seiner Keeping The Blues Alive Cruise in Amerika und Europa, ist Joe Bonamassa allgegenwärtig. Diese Re-issues sind für seine langjährigen Fans und für Musikliebhaber, die JB neu für sich entdeckt haben. Diese drei Alben sind Joe Bonamassa vom Feinsten!

Belgian techno don Marco Bailey lands on Watergate with a debut that’s guaranteed to intrigue as he leans into electro territory, grabbing rerubs from Extrawelt & Biesmans while he’s at it. DJ, producer and label chief, his is a storied career that spans three decades, and it’s long been evident that Marco’s enthusiasm and passion remains resolute. He closed 2021 with the release of his sixth studio album Surreal Stage, an ambitious, introspective body of work that dropped via his booming imprint Materia. His own label aside, his discography is stacked with cuts across eminent labels Second State,
ARTS, Bedrock Records, as well as being one of the first artists to debut on Carl Cox’s seminal INTEC.
While it’s techno that he’s become firmly associated with, his adeptness in the studio isn’t limited to the nuances of one genre and this is a rare opportunity to showcase a different side to his musicality.
‘The Spirit’ floods in first, almost immediately engaging listeners as it ebbs and flows with complete abandon. If the promise of electro grabbed your attention, it’s ‘From My Mind’ that delivers and sticks in your mind - from the heavy synth bassline to the soaring ascendant melody, and distorted, robotic vocals.
‘Pulse’ slaps and packs plenty of punch power as it snakes its way through with dominating, ascendant chords.
German duo Extrawelt and Belgian export Biesmans step in with rerubs of ‘From My Mind’, and firmly grip some of the elements which make this electro excursion so memorable.

In 2022, Soom T is back with her new studio album "Good" entirely self-produced through her own label Renegade Masters.

In this new reggae-dub album, the result of ten years of writing, composition and production, the Scottish MC blends the studio recordings of her musicians, The Stone Monks, with digital productions from various composers. From this multitude of musicians and producers, an original sound is born at the crossroads of reggae, dub and jazz, even sometimes pop.

The tracks "Big Bad World", "Yes My People", "Born Free", "My Struggle", "Your Time" and "My Shelter" composed by the French producer Kiko, bring a distinctive digital sound to an important part of the album. While "Don't Stand for Dis" and "Steps" are signed by London dub legend Gaudi and pay homage to the early hours of dub music with great echoes and reverberations in the purest tradition of the style . "One Real Friend" composed by Alex Dupuis of Flash Hit Records brings a welcome swing and jazz touch.

“World We Live In”, “Our Day”, “I Wanna Live”, “Get the Fruit” and “One More Tune” were composed and recorded in Paris over several years with The Stone Monks, under the supervision of Xavier Waks. He also mixed the entire album in his 31DB studio before passing it on to Simon Capony for mastering at Basalte Studio.

As usual, Soom T continues to denounce nowadays political and social issues, all with a spiritual approach, an inimitable style and an incisive flow of her own. If she deplores the dark sides of our time in songs like "Big Bad World", she also tries to find a ray of hope with tracks carrying positive messages, sometimes very melodic, such as "Don't Stand for Dis ”, or catchy, like“ Yes My People ”. "I Wanna Live" and its heady guitar riff, "Our Day" with its bright major chords or even "Amazing Graces" pour a flood of optimism amidst much heavier themes.

On the cover of "Good" we find a portrait of Soom T, a microphone in her hand, designed by the French street artist specialized in 3D, Nikita.

Get ready for a unique musical journey in search of all that is good in this world with "Good", the long awaited new album from Soom T aka the “The Raggamuffin Queen”!

LP, 150 copies with screen printed artwork Behind Teahouse Radio is Pär Boström… a Swedish ambient musician, visual artist, label/publishing house owner. Together with his sister (also musical partner in crime) he runs the label/publishing house Hypnagoga Press. Most of his music projects are released on this label. But his work has also already found its way to well known labels such as Cyclic Law and Cryo Chamber. Teahouse Radio is one of the many projects by Pär Boström and most lo-fi and to my ears the most melancholy… and thus fitting Vrystaete very well… In 2018 the debut album (and only album so far) “Her Quiet Garden” was released on CD in an edition of 100 copies on Hypnagoga Press. Here (and below) you have a really nice video on the process of the music and artwork being created… The songs themselves were composed from 2004 onwards with intervals and recorded in a few days during late summer 2016. This 2LP vinyl edition of “Her Quiet Garden” captures the delicate, fragile and minimalist soundscapes very well… and features three additional pieces from the same sessions which were never released before… Expect acoustic instruments that are blended with electronic equipment, forming a sombre ambient music of tinkling tape loops and humming pedal drones… like Gurdjieff meets Eno in some sort of way… And… it is also a very personal album and any listener who sits back and pays true attention will witness and experience this. This is what the musician himself says about the album: An album about summer houses and winter towers, about the changing of weather. How one feeling changes to another. The loss of a loved cat. A real garden becoming an imaginary garden. Depression as a pond. Years of therapy and music as the main counterpoint. About escapism. Psychoses. A giant who walked in and out of the world, decorating it nicely. An aural tale. Half in water, another half in the northern woods. Childhood through nostalgic binoculars. A wardrobe to another place, a gentle knock on the door in the oak tree.

Danish singer-songwriter Soren Munk releases his debut solo album Purr Show on 15 April 2022 via Navarino Records.Soren also travels the world as a cameraman for Channel 4 News, and the album was written and recorded in between trips to cover some of the major global events of recent times, from the war in Mali to the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan

Soren also co- wrote the much- loved theme tune to the hit animated TV series Charlie and Lola – which is currently trending on TikTok with millions of views.Despite the nature of his news work, the songwriting on Purr Show has a more private focus, dealing in intimate but ambiguous moments of love and loss.

Melodic and intense, the album has elements of Dream Pop, Slowcore and classic songwriting, while the blend of electric guitars, analogue synths and vocals draws on the work of artists that combine restraint and power, such as Neil Young, Low, Big Star and Elliot Smith. Soren worked with Andy Ramsay from Stereolab to record the album, and Jimmie Robertson (Depeche Mode, Arctic Monkeys) during the mixing Soren explains, “I wanted to create slow pop songs. Romantic and melodic but with an edge of strangeness that makes them harder to pin down. That's the music I respond to – things that are assertive but fragile at the same time. Where every element counts.”Soren drew together a strong lineup of musicians and collaborators, including guitarists Garo Nahoulakian (Emiliana Torrini, Gaz Coombes, Piney Gir) and Nick 'Growler' Fowler (Gaz Coombes, Luke Haines); a Danish rhythm section of drummer Nikolaj Bjerre (Lamb) and bassist Andreas Jensen (Dub Pistols); and
pianist Tom Dyson (co-writer of the Charlie and Lola theme). Soren's vocals are often combined on the songs with the soft alto of backing singer Emma Faulkner, creating a sense of something confidential, like snatches of pillow talk.

Mit dieser Veröffentlichung wird "Revenge of the
Goldfish" zum ersten Mal seit seiner ursprünglichen
Veröffentlichung auf Vinyl wiederveröffentlicht und
erscheint auf orangefarbenem Vinyl in limitierter Auflage
von 140g. Ursprünglich am 5. Oktober 1992
veröffentlicht, war "Revenge of the Goldfish" das dritte
Studioalbum der Inspiral Carpets und erreichte Platz 17 in
den britischen Albumcharts, mit den Singles "Dragging Me
Down", "Bitches Brew", "Generations" und "Two Worlds
Collide". Die Inspirals, die als einer der Hauptbestandteile
der Madchester-Bewegung in den frühen 90er Jahren
gelten, veröffentlichten drei weitere Alben auf Cow
Records (via Mute Records), bevor sie sich 1995
auflösten.

Dear is Pauwel's big step forward. His debut album on Unday (due April 2020) is a mature collection of songs about loss in all its different facets. Pauwel openly confronts his demons, without ever losing sight of the essence: rock-solid and captivating folk songs between hope and despair, comforting and disquieting at the same time. Dear turns out a record to cherish and completely disappear into.

Shortly after Pauwel finished his previous EP, his mother passed away. A few weeks later, Europe went into lockdown for a second time. Pauwel wanted to cope with this turbulent episode on his debut on Unday Records, but the isolation during the pandemic only cast more doubts. During the darkest winter months, the 31-year-old songwriter realized that loss comes in many guises: lovers come to leave, suddenly leave or turn out to have become strangers. "Dear" is the account of this dark period in Pauwel's life. A reckoning with all the bad that happened to him and his peers. It is also a bridge to whatever comes next, a hopeful glance at the future.

On 'Dear', Pauwel expands his musical universe considerably, without losing his characteristic melancholy and distinctive voice. With the help of musicians Sander Smeets, Koen De Gendt and David Broeders - his new backing band - the rough folk diamonds were polished into mature songs. The stunning voice of Catherine Smet (aka Bluai) serves as a comforting echo on a handful of songs.
"Dear" was recorded at three different locations by producer Bert Vliegen (Whispering Sons, Sophia). The opening track "Murderer" and the haunting "Bones" were created in a hut in Walcourt. The bulk of the record was recorded during an intense week at the GAM Studio in Waimes. While the TV news showed apocalyptic images of the floods in the province of Liège around the clock, Pauwel and his band finished the songs. Rich, spacy arrangements ("Lazy"), rambling country-rockers ("Deer" & "Sister") or a tearful one-taker on Fender Rhodes ("Mother"): during this session "Dear" finally came together.

180g LP + 10" im Gatefold mit Thermographie, bedruckten Innenhüllen und Download Coupon. GY!BE kehrt mit einem weiteren Soundtrack für unsere Zeit zurück, wie ihn nur dieses unnachahmliche und ehrwürdige Ensemble schmieden kann. Das neue Album besteht aus zwei fesselnden, 20-minütigen, LP-Seiten füllenden Epen aus lärmgetränktem Breitwand-Post-Rock, während die beiden begleitenden 6-minütigen Stücke der 10" die Band aus Kanada in ihrer verheerendsten, eindringlichsten und elegischsten Form zeigen. Unerbittliches Tuckern blüht auf, während einige der hochfliegenden, brennenden Melodien der Band inmitten von Geigen- und Basskontrapunkt abprallen und zusammenlaufen. Field Recordings und aufgewühlte, halb-improvisierte Passagen umrahmen diese inbrünstigen Epen. Ergreifende Atmosphären, geräuschhafte Orchestrierung, Drone, hypnotische Swingtime-Crescendos, unaufhaltsam geschichtete Türme aus verzerrtem Klargesang: STATE'S END verkörpert jede geliebte Facette der Band. Fünfundzwanzig Jahre später ist dieses neue Album so vital, mitreißend, zeitgemäß und unerbittlich wie jedes andere in der geschichtsträchtigen Diskographie von Godspeed You! Black Emperor. So wie STATE'S END die ganze Bandbreite der klanglichen Trademarks von Godspeed vereint, so umspannt auch das Album-Artwork die gesamte visuelle Geschichte der Band: die körnige, monochromatische Fotografie der letzten Veröffentlichungen findet ihren Weg auf die Innenhüllen, während das Klappcover auf die ikonischen Grafiken früherer Klassiker wie Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada und Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven zurückgreift. STATE'S END ist mit Illustrationen von William Schmiechen versehen, wobei die Taijitu-Blumen auf der Vorderseite und die Tränengaskanister auf der Rückseite des Covers in erhabener, thermografischer, schwarzer Tinte auf dem Doppelvinyl-Albumcover abgebildet sind. Das leuchtende Kreuz von Godspeeds Debütalbum F#A#INFINITY taucht auch auf der Innenseite des Klappdeckels wieder auf, als wiederkehrende Hommage an das elektrifizierte Hügelkreuz in der Heimatstadt der Band in Montreal. STATE'S END wurde im Oktober 2020 in Montreal im Homebase-Studio der Gruppe, Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango, von Jace Lasek aufgenommen und abgemischt, dem altgedienten und preisgekrönten Indie-Produzenten (und Mitbegründer von The Besnard Lakes), der mit Godspeed bei dieser Aufnahme zum ersten Mal zusammenarbeitet. Danke fürs Zuhören. UNSERE SEITE MUSS GEWINNEN. (R.I.P. D.H.) ENG audiophile 180gLP + 10" in gatefold jacket with thermography, colour flood interior, artworked inners, DL card. GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times, like only this inimitable and venerable ensemble can forge. As the heretical impudence of the anarcho-punk title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band's most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac. Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band. Twenty-five years on, this new album is as vital, stirring, timely and implacable as any in Godspeed You! Black Emperor's storied discography. Just as STATE'S END summons the gamut of Godspeed's constituent sonic trademarks, so the album artwork spans the entirety of the band's visual history: the grainy monochromatic photography of recent releases finds its way onto the inner sleeves, while the gatefold cover art harkens back to the iconic graphics of earlier classic records like Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. STATE'S END features illustrations by William Schmiechen, with the front cover taijitu flowers and back cover tear gas canisters rendered in raised thermographic black ink on the double-vinyl album jacket. The illuminated cross from Godspeed's debut F#A#8 also makes a reappearance on the inside gatefold drawing, in recurrent homage to the electrified hilltop landmark crucifix of the band's Montreal hometown. STATE'S END was recorded and mixed in Montreal in October 2020 at the group's homebase studio Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango by Jace Lasek, the veteran awardwinning indie producer (and co-founder of The Besnard Lakes) who works with Godspeed for the first time on this recording. Thanks for listening. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN. (R.I.P. D.H.)

For their seventh release in partnership with SEGA of Japan, Data Discs is delighted to bring together the complete music from the classic Mega Drive games, Golden Axe (1989) and Golden Axe II (1991), in one special package. This release features the unforgettable artwork from both games, supplied on two thick lithographic prints, with the record itself pressed on heavyweight translucent gold vinyl. The outer sleeve features rare artwork from the 1989 Japanese edition, sourced from the SEGA archives and presented on 425gsm cardstock with gold flood printing. As always, the audio has been carefully restored and mastered using the original console as the source, ensuring these memorable soundtracks are preserved for many quests to come!

After half a decade of not releasing new music Orange Countys most notorious melodic hardcore force IGNITE are ready to get back to work with their new vocalist Eli Santana up front and a new album in hand. “It’s a new chapter for IGNITE,” reaffirms Brett. “But there’s a lot of looking back to some of our earliest records like Call on My Brothers and having the same feeling writing these songs with a new singer.” In these Southern California stalwarts’ minds, the more things change, the more they stay the same. “This is what we love doing – as it was in 1993 and as it is now.”

Like the creeks that run and tributaries that trickle throughout singer-songwriter Ian Noe’s homelands in Eastern Kentucky, water flows throughout his new LP. Thoughtfully and intentionally named, River Fools & Mountain Saints highlights Noe’s storytelling prowess through 12 country rockers and Appalachian ballads, depicting contemporary and historical life in the region. Broader in scope and brighter in tone than his lauded debut, 2019’s Between the Country, River Fools & Mountain Saints boasts a fuller sound with more diverse instrumentation. Produced by Andrija Tokic (Phosphorescent, Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Benjamin Booker, AHI), and featuring "Little" Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) on bass and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit) on keys, this album explores the themes of Nature, Appalachia, Division, Death, and Redemption. They recorded on reel-to-reel tapes in short spurts over the course of two years, without the pressure of time, which enabled a wider range of experimentations, collaborations, and sounds.

Spaceship is Mark S. Williamson, a musician, sound artist and educator based in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. His work is often made in response to his environment, working on location, combining field recordings with electronic and acoustic instrumentation, usually recorded outside, amid the landscape and weather. Mark has recorded for wiaiwya, Apollolaan, the Dark Outside and his own Forged River Recordings. His work has been reviewed by The Wire, Electronic Sound, Shindig and The Quietus and he was recently one of the fourteen artists featured in Electronic Sound Magazine’s ‘field recording special’. His collaboration with Luke Turner on series of readings from Luke’s book ‘Out of the Woods’ has seen performances at Cecil Sharp House, Port Eliot Festival, The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, Krankenhaus Festival and the Horse Hospital and he recently collaborated with the artist Michael Powell on his Calderfolk project. A direct sequel to 2019’s Outcrops (also on wiaiwya), Ravines moves its focus from the uplands above Todmorden to the narrow, steep sided ravines, known as cloughs, that contain the streams that flow down the valley sides to feed the River Calder. These valleys, formed over hundreds, if not thousands of years can be peaceful sanctuaries, their stepped pools and waterfalls a shelter from the windswept moors. In time of heavy rainfall though, they become the conduits for the rapidly descending overland flows which reach the Calder and, in extreme circumstances, cause the floods which remain a part of valley life. These cloughs also saw the beginnings of industry in the area. Colden Clough and Jumble Hole Clough contain the ruin of small water fed mills which would evolve into the much larger steam powered facilities in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. Mostly recorded in the field using portable equipment, these pieces are intended to reflect all three of these aspects; the peace, the violence and the beginnings of humankind’s ultimate separation from the landscape brought on by the industrial revolution. The sleeve is by Maxim Peter Griffin, an artist, illustrator and writer based in Lincolnshire. A fine art graduate and former stonemason, over the past few years he has been building a body of work that echo his experiences on foot between the North Sea and the hills. "...a luminous soundtrack to the passage of geological time." Shindig // "Williamson is building desire tunnels, churning through the layers of rock and soil to find his conclusions." The Wire // "These rumbling synth drifts and ominous drones transport you to entirely different places-like being cast adrift in a cosmic void" Electronic Sound // "...the droning synthesizer waves conjure up something spectral and eerie, stretching out like the wide horizon..." The Quietus // "Beautiful." Hannah Peel

Highly recommended. About the album Blind Emperor Through wetland, winters, rubble and fallout come horizons new; civilisation shattered under a vengeful cataclysm, eventually led to dawn from the light of a blighted leader. Every action has a reaction, and those who wish to prosper must first be willing to offer something of intrinsic value. As one empire crumbles, another takes its place. The struggle for a fleeting utopia comes at a cost, and those who strive towards golden gates must trek along a solemn valley. The Allegorist Berlin-based artist, The Allegorist, has been meandering through stories with her purposeful and introspective take on electronic music. Each release explores themes that require joint participation from the listener as they look to flood your mind with images of fabled characters and places through her artistic soundscapes. Her carefully build worlds that straddle sci-fi and fantasy, feeding off of the light and dark dualism are the perfect blend of reflective contemplation and storytelling. As a holistic artist, Anna Jordan (The Allegorist) encapsulates a myriad of her talents within her work. Her previous albums, Hybrid Dimensions I. and Hybrid Dimensions II., established her aesthetic and detailed fictitious stories, along with the language ‘Mondoneoh’, a language to unite all nations. Her latest endeavour, and 4th album, The Blind Emperor, portrays the essence of a mythical land that tells of struggle that will lead to prosperity. The protagonist, Blind Emperor, leads the charge into a brighter tomorrow. Like chapters from a novel, each track allows the listener to be carried by the story. It is an epic, cinematic, choral, ambient techno album. The album combines her depictive, written and musical storytelling with a concept portrayed visually, orally and audibly to deliver another saga in her ever-evolving figments of fantasy. It comes as an entire artistic project, as The Allegorist created the album art, wrote the included story and composed a poem that all combine to tell the tale of Blind Emperor.

Lake Havasu is a community of winding hillside roads, launched in the 1960s alongside a brick-for-brick rebuild of the original London Bridge. “It’s this very synthetic, gimmicky place set in this soulful, desolate landscape,” laughs Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan, who moved to the Arizona city for one year in seventh grade. Bazan collected his earliest childhood experiences for 2019’s Phoenix, the prolific artist’s celebrated return to the Pedro moniker and the first in a planned series of five records chronicling his past homes. To write its sequel, Bazan traveled to Havasu four times over several years, driving past his junior high campus, a magical skating rink, and other nostalgic locations that evoked feelings long suppressed. “An intersection I hadn’t remembered for 30 years would trigger a flood of hidden memories,” he says. “I was there to soak in it as much as possible.” Driving the inscrutable loops of Havasu’s lakeside, Bazan listened through an audiobook of Tom Petty’s biography, eventually dialoguing with Petty’s voice in his mind. A revelation from the book—that Petty subconsciously wrote the song “Wildflowers” as an act of kindness toward himself—inspired Bazan to approach his own work with radical generosity toward his young self. “I wanted to be there for that kid,” he offers. “That twelve year old still needs parenting, and still needs to process.” To revisit his past with openness, Bazan modified harmful work habits he’d accepted as necessary. That meant doing away with deadlines, and accumulating moments of play as he felt moved to—“Rather than squeezing stones every single time. I’m on a slow journey away from that,” he clarifies. As he worked through the music that became Havasu, flexibility and curiosity informed the arrangements. Bazan began writing on a simple synthesizer and drum machine setup. He detoured to a more elaborate assortment of analog electronic equipment, then woodshed his original two-handed keyboard arrangements on fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Concurrently relearning his catalog for a weekly series of livestream concerts also renewed his gratitude toward songwriting. “I was trying to evaluate what I have to show for 20 years of kicking my own ass,” Bazan quips about the strenuousness of full-time touring. “But the garden of my songs is what I’ve been building. It doesn’t have to be an ego test.”

Released in 2007, ‘Enjoy Eternal Bliss’ was the inaugural release from Kentish post-rock outfit Yndi Halda (whose name is Old Norse for the album’s title). Formally referred to as an EP despite its running length of over an hour with all four tracks clocking in between ten and twenty minutes, the group's vertiginous, widescreen post-rock sound drew favourable comparisons with Sigur Rós and Explosions In The Sky.

Compiled by Katie, the Ultimate Collection LP features 26 tracks from her studio albums as well as her cover of ‘Fields of Gold’ and two brand new recordings of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and Shirley Bassey’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’.
Singles on the album include her worldwide hit ‘Nine Million Bicycles’, ‘The Closest Thing to Crazy’, ‘If You Were A Sailboat’ amongst others
The double LP also include liner notes written by Katie.

Die Wiederveröffentlichung des achten PJ Harvey Studioalbums „Let England Shake“, sowie die Sammlung
unveröffentlichter Demos „Let England Shake (Demos)“ erscheinen am 28.01.2022.
„Let England Shake“ wurde von PJ Harvey, Flood und John Parish produziert und ursprünglich im Februar
2011 veröffentlicht. Das Album enthält die Singles „The Words That Maketh Murder“ und „The Glorious
Land“ und war das zweite Album der Künstlerin, welches den britischen Mercury Music Prize gewann.
„Let England Shake (Demos)“ enthält eine Sammlung unveröffentlichter Demos von Stücken, die für das
achte PJ Harvey-Studioalbum „Let England Shake“ geschrieben wurden, darunter Demos von „The Words
That Maketh Murder”, „The Glorious Land” und „The Last Living Rose”. Das Album enthält unter anderem ein brandneues Artwork und bisher unveröffentlichte Fotos von Seamus Murphy. Beide Alben wurden
dabei von Jason Mitchell unter der Leitung des ursprünglichen Co-Produzenten John Parish geschnitten.
„Let England Shake (Demos)“ und „Let England Shake“ erscheinen beide als 1LP und „Let England
Shake (Demos“ zusätzlich noch als 1CD.

"Reissue on vinyl of the eighth PJ Harvey studio album Let England Shake. The album was produced by PJ Harvey, Flood and John Parish and originally released in Feburary 2011. Let England Shake features the singles ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ and 'The Glorious Land' and was the second album in the catalogue to win the UK’s Mercury Music Prize. Reissue is faithful to the original recording and package, cutting by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of original co-producer John Parish.
LP Info
• 1LP, 180gsm black vinyl
• Full colour outer sleeve, with printed inner sleeve
• Download card"

Six months on from the release of their critically-acclaimed fourth album, ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, Philadelphia trio SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE closeout 2021 with brand new 7” THE DOOR, comprising two previously-heard but never physically released songs in “THE DOOR IS OPEN” and “THE DOOR IS CLOSING”.

A special and limited release, 500 copies of the single have been pressed on cloudy teal vinyl. The 7” is led by “THE DOOR IS OPEN”, a 2020 single that marked a new chapter for the band ahead of the release of ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH. The song “continues to defy definition”, Stereogum said upon its initial release, before adding: “It’s amazing that they made such a short track feel like such a dreamy journey.”

It’s backed by “THE DOOR IS CLOSING”, a bright and skewed gem of a track that was originally released earlier this year via Through The Soil, a charity compilation that benefited the NAMI COVID-19 Mental Health Support Fund.

Whether opened or closed, THE DOOR is a bold reminder of SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE’S many layered and colourful ideas. It also ribbon-ties a brilliant 2021 for the band, one which saw ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH labelled as “an intensely beautiful, intensely difficult record” by Pitchfork, a “sprawling odyssey of haunting dissonance and blissful euphoria” by Flood Magazine, and a "storm of sound with a deep humanity coming through” by Fader.

SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE is Zack Schwartz, Rivka Ravede and Corey Wichlin.

The latest thrilling incarnation of master rock'n'roll storyteller Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, Tex Deadly and the Dum Dums, Tex, Don et Charlie.) and the Fat Rubber Band began with a rare vinyl copy of Link Wray's Beans and Fatback album, recorded in 1971. Perkins and his respected musician, songwriter, producer and bandmate Matt Walker share a mutual admiration of the American electric guitar innovator, whose iconic power chords in his signature 50s rock'n'roll instrumentals, had a profound influence on the evolution of rock guitar. The Fat Rubber Band is borned with this rare vinyl, the pair have enjoyed countless musical conversations over the decade while hanging out backstage and on the road. Walker offered the debut album's opening track, the wide-screen drama of "Pay The Devil's Due". Perkins responded with the plaintive blues of "My Philosophy". Walker replied with the album's fuzz driven debut single "Danger Has Been Kind" and Perkins countered with the glacially-paced, intimate "Poor Simple Minded Fool". The pair road-tested their works in progress as a duo before enlisting bassist Steve Hadley, drummer Roger Bergodaz and Evan Richards on percussion to complete the Fat Rubber Band line-up to record the album's ten tracks at Walker's Stovepipe Studios in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. "At Matt's studio - you open the door to the studio and nature floods in," Perkins says. "We wanted it to sound rural, to feel the dirt and the grass and the leaves." Even after all these decades, when you think you know that gravelly baritone inside out, Perkins finds new emotional tones in the service of the Fat Rubber Band's songs vivid narratives, with their characters wrestling, but sometimes dancing, with the tougher, darker qualities of the human condition. This is truly existential blues. Bubbling underneath those upfront vocals and raw harmonies are intricately entwined guitar conversations and unexpected percussive flourishes. "Another aspect that we wanted was for the sound to be sometimes a collision and sometimes a marriage of acoustic and electric instruments. We wanted that tension between mandolins and bouzoukis meeting fuzz guitars." "We also considered percussion to be a vital element of the sound we were going for; we noticed in the recordings we loved from the 50s and 60s that often the tambourine hit, or the maracas, or whatever percussion, was right up there in the mix, right next to the vocal," Perkins says.

Killswitch Engage first shook the structure of heavy music upon climbing out of snowy industrialized Western Massachusetts in 2000. A musical outlier, the band pioneered a union of thrashed-out European guitar pyrotechnics, East Coast hardcore spirit, on-stage hijinks, and enlightened lyricism that set the pace for what the turn-of-the-century deemed heavy. 2002’s Alive Or Just Breathing became avowed as a definitive album, being named among “The Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade” by Decibel and celebrated by everyone from Metal Hammer to Revolver. Not only did they bust open the floodgates for dozens to follow, but they also garnered two GRAMMY® Award nominations in the category of “Best Metal Performance” in 2005 and 2014, respectively, and gold certifications for The End of Heartache (2004) and As Daylight Days (2006). The group landed three consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with Killswitch Engage (2009), Disarm The Descent (2013), and their career high best bow at #6 with Incarnate (2016). The latter two releases would also both capture #1 on the Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums charts. Their total streams have exceeded half-a-billion to date. Along the way, the boys have shared stages with some of the biggest acts in the world and have sold out countless headline gigs in six continents across the globe.
In 2019 the quintet—Adam Dutkiewicz (lead guitar), Joel Stroetzel (rhythm guitar), Mike D’Antonio (bass), Justin Foley (drums), and Jesse Leach (vocals)—sharpened every side of this signature sound on their eighth full-length and first for Metal Blade, Atonement. The vision they shared two decades ago crystallizes like never before as evidenced by the first single “Unleashed,” “The Signal Fire” (feat. Howard Jones), “Crownless King” (feat. Chuck Billy), and “I Am Broken Too.”

Black vinyl pressing of the now sold out RSD 2020 reissue.

Cascade was originally released oct 1993 the first single from the now highly regarded LIFEFORMS album. Cascade went on to chart in the UK top 40 at No.27 and has continued to be regarded as an early piece of classic Electronica. Twenty-seven years later FSOL rebuild and create ten new compositions inspired by the original. The familiar electronic swamp of FSOL and engineer Yage can be heard as the tracks journey through fragmented melodies of the original composition.

Bleach Lab have shared details of their second EP, ‘Nothing Feels Real’. The South London band made their return in July with single ‘Real Thing’, hinting that more music was to come. Receiving similar acclaim as the band’s debut EP, which saw them rise to prominence, ‘Real Thing’ received support from 6Music as well as the likes of Line of Best Fit (Song of the Day), DIY, Gigwise and many more.

Bleach Lab have shared details of their second EP, ‘Nothing Feels Real’. The South London band made their return in July with single ‘Real Thing’, hinting that more music was to come. Receiving similar acclaim as the band’s debut EP, which saw them rise to prominence, ‘Real Thing’ received support from 6Music as well as the likes of Line of Best Fit (Song of the Day), DIY, Gigwise and many more.

Ethan Gold's new double a-side 7'' single from the film The Song Of Sway Lake is a limited edition talisman from a film about characters fixated with the past, and searching for old records in a grand lake house in the Adirondack Park.

The inimitable John Grant sings the haunting, quiet moonlight Lost Record Version, arranged to sound like a small group of musicians in 1939 playing after midnight in a barn. His range as a vocalist brings a pathos and gravity that is timeless, utterly convincing as a 30s performance, filled with emotion and longing.

English sisters trio The Staves sing the brassy daylight Big Band version, arranged as if it were a pop hit of 1947, all brash tight three-part harmonies, reflecting the razzle dazzle arrogance and exhuberance of post-War America. Swing your honey around the dance floor!

Composed & Produced by Ethan Gold. Arrangements by Gina Leishman. Mixed by Flood.

"‘Arise, Dan Sartain, Arise’, the latest studio album by America’s infamous rock ‘n’ roll troubadour Dan Sartain, will be released by One Little Independent Records. Made up of thirteen wickedly wisecracking, vintage surf-rock bangers, this concise and classic record incorporates everything that’s made Dan Sartain the genres favourite underdog over the last two decades.
Seeped in obsidian black humour with tracks like ‘Glasses Houses’, ‘Rooster In The Henhouse’ and ‘I Heard Laughing’ ruthlessly calling out those who would slight him while also riding the hard line of self-awareness, the biting witticism of these tracks pair wonderfully with the playful tone of Sartain’s slick-back dark doo-wop. Elsewhere on the likes of ‘True Love’ and ‘Fires and Floods’ the crooner gets a chance to flex his punk muscles, pushing the guitars further into distorted territory taking the late 50s garage-rock influence via the late 70s in much the same way The Ramones and The Damned did. But we’re transported right back again when Sartain slows down for ballad standouts such as ‘Kisses In The Morning’ and ‘Personal Injury Law’. Throughout ‘Arise, Dan Sartain, Arise’ searing surf guitars intertwine with beautifully haunted organ jabs, with rhythms pulled straight from saloon bars way out west, and cheeky wink-to-the-camera lyrical whimsy."

In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days.

Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there. Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.

Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.

Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).

The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974.
“I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.” (Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau)

In pairing words with art, the ESP Institute often does everything journalists hate. We drown the reader in hyperbole, abstractions as opposed to didactic or literal depictions, and paint the press release with superlatives that construct an existential struggle around the art and its conditions. To articulate our reasoning behind collaborating with the artist, or the synergy between their work and our catalogue, is sometimes so challenging that crossing that finish line is achingly delayed. Patrick Conway’s 2xLP 'Cellular Housekeeping', his fourth release with the label, is one of these works so monumentally exciting for us that we’ve strained over how to deliver with honor his art unto the masses. After the initial hurdle of visual representation (in this case handled with gusto by artist Hassan Rahim), how do we directly and intentionally talk about the art we deeply love, when in reality we’re largely guided by instinct? We explore many angles, often failing along the way, until finding a final click in the combination that unlocks the floodgates. With Patrick’s album, that elusive impetus revealed itself in a literary gem that both symbolized his aggressive, melancholic, romantic, and bleak overtones, as well as synchronized his work and our task with a metaphor so grand it justified putting these words to paper. In the deeply British poem of despair and hope, 'Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle', John Milton immortalized the classic idiom of the “silver lining”, and we find comfort in this transaction between struggle and what the poet considered divine intervention. Our bout of procrastination that brewed a cloud over the art may too tout a silver lining, the time that’s elapsed clearing a path for the album to exist in its rightful place, as opposed to fighting for a voice at an overcrowded table. In hindsight, this final hurdle might have only existed because without it, there is no glory, no resolution, but as all the pieces click and we collectively cross the finish line, Patrick Conway’s once captive 'Cellular Housekeeping' is now truly released.