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The legend of Twilight Force began to form in the year 2007 of the Human Era. It was the result of a yearning to bring back the golden age of Epic Symphonic Power Metal. But Twilight Force soon became an entity of its own, evolving and elevating the genre to new heights and sounds. By fusing triumphant melodies with rich orchestral arrangements and swift performances, Twilight Force creates an intense and immersive experience. Transporting the listener to a magic realm filled with wonder, heroic tales and mesmerising tales from the mythical world known as The Twilight Kingdoms.

Using their vast experience from previous musical endeavours, their classical training, and technical proficiency, Twilight Force spawned the first ever Adventure Metal album in 2014 H.E. - Tales of Ancient Prophecies. Two more critically acclaimed albums followed in its wake, Heroes of Mighty Magic (2016), and Dawn of the Dragonstar (2019), with the fourth opus At the Heart of Wintervale set for release on January 20th, 2023 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Once again, the cover artwork has been created by the brilliantly skilled Kerem Beyit, and is directly connected to the album’s title track as the band explains: “It depicts the tale told in ‘At the Heart of Wintervale’ where an evil curse is broken, and the ancient dragon may finally roam the realms again, free and unfettered!"

At the Heart of Wintervale will be released on CD, Digibook, and Vinyl. The limited Digibook edition will also include three bonus tracks. The first one is a song, many of the band's loyal knights may somewhat recognize; it is an acoustic blend of some of the older works, featuring an entrancing vocal performance and guitar work by Twilight Force's very own wood elf Aerendir. The second and third bonus tracks are orchestral versions of two songs from the album, where fans will have the opportunity to experience a different soundscape, and perhaps discover new exciting elements and intricacies never discerned before.

With the band embarking on a headlining tour through Europe and UK on time with the album’s release, Twilight Force look immensely forward to continue their epic tale.
“So, sharpen your swords, dust off your magic tomes, and brew your strongest potions. It is time to join Twilight Force on their quest for the eternal glory of the Twilight Kingdoms, once again.
May the Power of the Dragon guide you!”

The Howling is a collaborative project started by writer Ken Hollings and sound artist Howlround devoted exclusively to their shared love of text, audiotape and trash aesthetics. An intense collision of spoken word and analogue tape effects, the Howling's first performance took place at the Iklectik in September 2019 as part of a special programme to celebrate The Tapeworm's 10th anniversary.

Despite the pandemic, they have managed to continue working and conferring together since then, sharing sound files, texts and mixes online, which has resulted in All Hail Mega Force, their first full-length release for The Tapeworm. The two extended tracks contained on this audiocassette reflect their shared interest in Fluxus and how informal rules and permutations can be set up to work themselves out through loops and repetitions. A straight line connects Terry Riley's tape experiments in Paris from the early 60s with their experimental recordings in the Wimpy Bar on Streatham High Road, one of their favourite meeting places. 'The idea of instant, disposable one-off creations appealed to us a lot at the time,' The Howling explain, 'particularly as both pieces were conceived and developed during different phases of Covid lockdown in the UK.'

The title and source material are derived from the kid's adventure movie MegaForce, starring Barry Bostwik and Michael Beck. Designed to sell a range of Mattel hi-tech action toys, MegaForce tanked at the box office but lives on in the collective consciousness of those who share with The Howling a special love for Trash and Trash Aesthetics.

The two tracks also share similarities in approach and realization.

'All Hail Mega Force' was created by reading combinations of the words 'All Hail Mega Force' into a voice memo recorder, transferring it to tape, cutting the whole thing as a single long loop and then stretching it across three reel-to-reel machines simultaneously, using two pencils and a pint glass full of loose change to try and maintain sufficient playback tension. Over time the loop started to degrade, which accounts for the increasingly slurry and unpredictable playback, plus frequent ruptures caused by the tape becoming jammed and having to be tugged through the machine workings by hand. Twenty-four minutes later and the result was a completed new work and a slight backache.

The text for 'Are You Man Enough For Mega Force?' was recorded live in the Wimpy Bar on Streatham High Road, 28 November 2021. It was cut to tape and looped on 3 December 2021 at Warrior Studios, Loughborough Junction. Dragged by motor and then by hand across two tape machines with copious amounts of closed input feedback provided by a third rushing in to fill the gaps. One take with no effects or overdubs, but one tiny edit in the middle when something fell over.

Back in the late 80s label owner Olivier Ducret entered 11 Wardour Street in London, home of the mighty Brain Club, a gallery · club · bar owned by Sean McLusky and Mark Wigan, where many (acid) house and techno visionaries played their early live on Thursday night to less than 50 people, that was quite intimate: Orbital, Simon Lovejoy, Mr Monday, If?, Doi-Oing, Nexus 21, Funtopia, Hi-Ryze, Adamski, 808 State, Ultramarine and of course, Mixmaster Morris's Irresistible Force and Irdial's RAMJAC Corporation. The energy and the creativity was incredible, at its peak, everything was fresh, innocent, naïve, new and oh so exciting. Boundaries in genre did not exist, and everyone was welcome aboard, no superstar, no business, just pure great fun. The crowd was eclectic, you could bump into Mark Moore or Neneh Cherry while the oung guns Andrew Weatherall or Steve Bicknell were spinning. This is most possibly where it all started for me & the label and this unique recording captures it all like no other, like a time capsule, impressively, and amazingly, a classic slice of British rave history unearthed via Switzerland. Just close your eyes and go back to the phuture.

Introducing a brand new label of mutant, fusioneering styles from the pulsating brain that rules from the centre of the Firecracker constellation.

The maiden voyage by Healing Force Project traverses further and deeper into the wormhole that was first explored in his Gravitational Lensing EP on Firecracker.

A full panoply of bubbling, semi-submerged, electro-acoustic abstraction, lysergic drones and oblique, polymetric time signatures recalling the work of Italian avant-jazz outfit Gruppo d’Improvvisazione while simultaneously picking up distant echoes from 'Pangaea' era Miles Davis, 23 Skidoo, Source Direct, Squarepusher, The Heliocentrics, This Heat and Mosquitoes.

'Fizz-cracking drum machines and sparring breakbeats knitted with eyes-shut chord progressions and a seemingly mystic sampler that spits pure magick vibes'.

This is electrified, psychozoic jazz fusion for tomorrow's unlocked vortices!

A beautiful, deep and personal techno document by Mr. G who is talking the international language of musical expression (spoken and understood by everyone). Expressing his feelings and emotions via his sonic frequency philosophy on probably his most versatile release to date, a 12 track album on Childhood records This is the first time we hear Mr. G diving deep into the soundscapes and deeper dancefloor cuts on this album recorded during the global pandemic.

It's marking a change in his musical vocabulary without losing his rough and raw energetic expressions. It's telling a story of forgotten places and dreams of the future. Dreams that pay tribute to the past, critical of the present, and still give hope for what's to come. Always rough and raw, the outstanding sonic frequency design on THE FORCED FORCE IS NOT THE TRUE FORCE will let you dive deeply into a more articulate and sophisticated musical language of Mr. G, while the man still keeps what we all love him for: his genuine distinct rhythms and seductive grooves that he has been sharing with the world for so many years!. --- The album is pressed DJ friendly on 3 x 180g 12'' vinyl and includes a download code. ---

Red VINYL

This was Belgium. 1989. First wave EBM duo, but also so much more.

Optimo Music Archiv is a new offshoot label for revisiting music JD Twitch has been a big fan of for a very long time. This first release takes 5 Force Dimension favourites and reconfigures them as an extended EP / mini album.

The songs are untouched but have been remastered for 21st Century ears.

“Tension” comes in two versions, one from each version of their debut album. Oddly they put out an original version (Blue), they decided they didn’t like it and re-recorded it. Both versions of Tension rule.

200 FA is an end of the night anthem. A perfect piece of E Music that crossed over into the early 90s Rave era and still much sough after to this day.

Aqua 2000 and All Systems Out are too Belgian bombs that still slay dancefloors today.

Released in full picture sleeve on marbled vinyl.

FEEL THE TENSION!

“The Hunt for the Gingerbread Man 2: Get the Dough” embraces the juxtaposition between a fantastical world made of candy and pastries, and the dark and unforgiving lifestyle of the veteran emcee. Sonically immersive, and nostalgic of an era in hip hop that celebrates pain and hardship through whimsical storytelling, this album reaches deep into the life of the protagonist “Mr. Ginjy Breadman” aka “The Gingerbread Man” - and doesn’t let go until you’ve become fully invested in his tumultuous life journey in the “United Cakes of America.”

Thirteen years after the studio release of “The Hunt for the Gingerbread Man,” this sequel album is a testament to MF Grimm’s vivid imagination and innate ability to create stories that transport you beyond our earthly realm. Anthropomorphic cookies, pastries, and gingerbread men are the primary characters in MF Grimm’s tales of violence, crime, drugs, and love, in the ghetto known as “Candyland.”

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the twenty-one-track album is its unrelenting dedication to both the authenticity of MF Grimm’s infamous life story, and the innocent and irreverent nature of the characters themselves.

The album is produced, mixed, and mastered by Darko the Super.

Acidcore crazy stuff... Banging non stop soun

Standing tall above his peers, multi instrumentalist Guy Bartell AKA Bronnt Industries Kapital has left an impressive mark on cinematic electronica, having spent the last decade being commissioned to soundtrack everything from legendary silent film Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages to 1930s Soviet documentary Turksib, Bronnt has been there long before the 3rd wave of Italian Library Fetishists and long before this thing called Horror Disco even had a name. Force The Line sees a group soaked in the soundtracks of a thousand low-budget-straight-to-video action-slashers, the sound of heavily dubbed Martial Art imports where vampires jump and acid-laced revenge thrillers invented on demoscene message boards. Bronnt’s first studio album since the 2009 Get Physical LP ‘Hard For Justice’ is all that we might ever want from this underground legend, dance floor heavy, krautrock zombie epics for the past present and future. Miss this at your peril.

Featruing G-Force this Delta Kwadrant is probably a bit under the first one... But it brings something more personal, from Akranoid. Check this out !

!!! repressed !!!

2024 Reissue

"Ballyturk" is the new album by Teho Teardo, and his first release after "Still Smiling" (SPECULA004), the succesful collaboration with Blixa Bargeld. Includes contributions by some great musicians like Joe Lally (bass player in Fugazi), Lori Goldston (played with Nirvana) and Nick Holland from the Balanescu Quartet!

Repress!

Ltd. 25th Anniversary- Edition: Heavyweight, Silver Coloured Vinyl- Gatefold Sleeve! Includes Download-Code for Album, rare- and unreleased Tracks, also Mustique-Demos! Printed Inner-Sleeves,
4-Pages Booklet!

The now legendary collaboration between producer Terence Fixmer and vocalist Douglas McCarthy continues with a new 4 track E.P. of blistering electronics and intense performance. Long time fans will immediately recognise the strong tradition of EBM that Fixmer/McCarthy have held as their own for 15 years. 'Let It Begin' and 'The Crush' assault the listener with bruising bass lines, heavy insistent drums and mesmorising sound effects. With a Phase Fatale remix bringing a brooding and menacing darkness to any dance floor. The Force Mix of 'The Crush', harks back to the original power, energy and simplicity of how FM fans were first introduced to Terence and Douglas on their 2004 debut album 'Between The Devil'. The brutal love story continues!

European music culture has never been closed, on the contrary - it has always integrated influences from all other parts of the world. Two Tribes makes an effort to give insight in how musicians living in Europe today incorporate and transfer musical traditions particularly from the African continent into their own oeuvre.

Featured on Two Tribes are a broad range of constellations, ranging from musicians with roots in African countries who reside in Europe to collaborations between European and African artists. Musically our compilation tries to capture at least a part of the enormous diversity that contemporary music from Europe of this kind has to offer. The spectrum ranges from classical - songs' using traditional instruments from both continents to electronic productions that combine musical heritage with current club culture. Our selection can only be a musical snapshot since there is so much movement in this genre at the moment.

As you can hopefully see and hear, the leitmotif while compiling Two Tribes was to keep an eye on the ease of handling different cultural influences amongst the featured artists. It was important to us that the included music doesn´t just copy African music styles one to one but has an own handwriting and builds a bridge between the musical legacy of both continents. With all the track included, we have found a number of great examples and decided to showcase twelve of them on this first volume. The music included refers to the musical traditions of Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Morocco, Zimbabwe and South Africa amongst others. The involved musicians are spread all over Europe, from Finland to Great Britain, Italy, England, France and Portugal to Germany.

Be it organic or electronic music, we think that all of the tracks really deserve your ear! Tobi Kirsch & Ubbo Gronewold, June 2018

'Fifteen' celebrates the work of Ben Lamdin, the musical maverick behind the Nostalgia 77 guise, with an eclectic compilation of tracks spanning fifteen years of jazz, hip hop, blues, funk, downtempo, soul and psychedelia.
Handpicked by Nostalgia 77 and Tru Thoughts, this retrospective showcases the best recordings and remixes from the respected producer, composer, songwriter and guitarist, spanning a range of projects. Featured on this fantastic anniversary release, are classics like Prince Fatty's "Medicine Chest Dub" and the second to none take of "Seven Nation Army" featuring the phenomenal vocals from the ever-soulful Alice Russell. Also included on the retrospective, the beautiful tripped out hip hop take on "Sleepwalker" from fellow Brightonian producer Ambassadeurs, and a track from Lamdin's country soul project with acclaimed songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols.

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is the eighth and final studio album by the American hip hopband Beastie Boys, released on April 27, 2011. The album received critical acclaim upon its release and was also a moderate commercial success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. The release was supported by four singles - "Lee Majors Come Again", "Too Many Rappers" featuring Nas, "Make Some Noise", and "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" featuring Santigold. Pressed on 180G vinyl.

The first release of Blind Allies is a four track musical journey from scientific electro by DVS NME and acidic trip by Lectromagnetique on one side, explosive cut from Gosub and mysterious experiment of Cosmic Force on the other side will take you away to the dark side of electro world.

COMPILED BY PETE PASQUAL, ERICA OLSON & DJ KINETIC

Following on from acclaimed compilations like 'Down Under Nuggets' and 'Heavy Soul' (and two other new titles 'Running The Voodoo Down' and 'Dodgy Bossa (& Silly Sambas)' - details below), Festival Records presents another deep dig into the archives, this time shining a light on rare Australian soul-jazz, jazz-funk, and freaked-out groove rock from the late '60s and '70s.

BACK ON THE STREET AGAIN - AUSTRALIAN FUNK, SOUL & PSYCH (MOSTLY) FROM THE FESTIVAL VAULTS is a stunning 20 track CD and 2LP release that highlights a point when the previously disparate styles of rock, jazz and soul all started influencing each other, and exciting new genres were created. To quote the liner notes (by DJ Kinetic):

Australia produced some amazing music during the 60s and 70s that sat outside of the normal rock mould. Avant guard artists like John Sangster pushed boundaries and experimented with the fusion of local and overseas influences, artists like Dalvanius recorded soaring disco music that was lost amongst the popular music of the time, only to be rediscovered by DJs overseas who were searching for unknown sounds, composers like Brute Force and His Drum took risks and recorded left-field funky sounds hidden within their more mainstream compositions, and popular artists like Billy Thorpe occasionally strayed from their A&R directions and took leaves from the books of American artists who were largely unknown in Australia at the time. Beneath the veneer of bland rock and roll lay an unknown multitude of funky sounds hidden from mainstream view.

In addition to the artists that Kinetic mentions (and the compilation features two John Sangster tracks - stunning versions of 'Hair' and the Beatles' 'A Day In The Life'), the collection includes iconic names of the era like the Daly-Wilson Big Band (featuring Kerrie Biddell), Renee Geyer and the Johnny Rocco Band. '60s sides from Ross D Wyllie and The ID (featuring Jeff St John) reveal the various styles' roots in American rhythm & blues, and the unexpected inclusion of some legendary Australian rock outfits like Tamam Shud and Blackfeather reveals the psychedelic and progressive rock influences at play. The full range of the music is highlighted by the inclusion of both cabaret/daytime TV performer Al Styne and outrageous Kings Cross club act Count Copernicus & The Cosmic Fire as well as the in-house studio 'pops' orchestra, Festival Studio 24 Orchestra.

Co-compilers Pete Pasqual, Erica Olson and DJ Kentic to undertake interviews with specialist media around release. Facebook ad's around release.