Search:the go set

AEGEAN is the first offering by Argentine producer and Leipzig resident Accanto. His approach to mid tempo electronica is very rich in organic textures and deep atmospherics. The opening track Sentimental Sediments sounds deep, raw and dubby, a great opener for any set. Bokanovsky picks up the pace and brings in the sunshine uplifting vibes, while the title track Aegean completes the package with an exquisite progressive anthem that makes good use of a bass arpeggio to create a driving groove that will surely lift dancefloors to Cosmic dimentions. A must for Balearic lovers and adult ravers.
ACCANTO is Jorge Bonadeo Miguens, a young Argentine producer residing in Leipzig. Born in 1990 in the city of Buenos Aires, his relationship with music started at an early age while digging the cassettes of his older brothers. At the age of 13 he started playing bass guitar in a rock band with friends, with which he played
in several halls and bars, as well as recorded a studio album.
Around 2012 Jorge got into the electronic music scene of Buenos Aires. After years of traveling and getting immersed in the scenes of his city, Sydney and Europe, he settled in Barcelona and started producing, while also performing as DJ. Nowadays based in Germany, and after years of self knowledge and learning, he felt ready to share his music with the world.

Sandy Grooves Vol.1 is the debut compilation release from Boogie Bodega, a newly formed label based in Bali set up by Mexican Disco wizard Sould Out. Comprising of some of the most sought-after producers within the Disco & Edits scene of the last years, Sandy Grooves vol.1 tickles all the Disco senses with something for everyone. From laid back Balearic inspired incarnation to a more uptempo dance floor heaters, this comp focuses on the full spectrum of the Disco & Funk arena.

Opening things up, “Easy Way To Groove'' could not have a better title for the music to match, it's a definite “does what it says on the tin” kind of vibe. Hotmood works his magic once again with this bass led stomper, tidy guitar licks and cinematic string section that’s sure to get butts off seats and wiggling

Stepping up next, New York’s Razor N Tape boss JKriv fires off with his atmospheric builder “Sunshine”; a slice of filtered, loopy Disco House goodness with progressive percussive elements.

On the B side, Disco Deviance Pete Herbert & Dicky Trisco compliment the more downtempo offering of this selection with a dubbed-out guitar laden trance inducing gem that is sure to spin a few heads. Following that, Igor Gonya’s “Habibidisco” holds its place as a romantic vocal Disco funk journey through Arabia with plenty of energy - another one for the dancefloor crew.

Finally, “Keep You Burning” by Clean Is Good is a mid-tempo swinger that’s sure to heat up the listeners ears. Sleek, smooth vocals, classic disco beat and undeniable funky guitar - I dare you not to groove to this one!

A symbol for quality techno music going back 15 years, Jay Lumen makes his solo EP debut on Drumcode.

A dance music journeyman with over 70 releases and a quality imprint Footwork Audio to his name, Jay Lumen’s solo debut EP on Adam Beyer’s label is richly deserved. The artist has been in standout form recently, most notably contributing ‘Galactic Rainbow’ to A-Sides Vol.10, one of the highlights of the compilation. We got our first taste of Lumen on Drumcode way back in 2012 when he teamed with Gary Beck for the rhythmic gem ‘Lotus’. Nine years on, his next EP offering doesn’t disappoint.

‘Returning’ is marked by crushing drumlines and shuffling beats, before gradually building into an emotional chord driven cut that looks hopefully towards the future. ‘Mind’ contrasts this perfectly, a loopy monster that rolls for days, evoking a distinct old skool spirit.

Speaking about the title track, Lumen explains: “I wrote ‘Returning’ when I was in a period of really missing techno and the party community. The physical contact with people at events, as well as on the streets and at venues before the shows. Hugs and interactions. I can already imagine playing this at the first open air after lockdown as the sun sets. This track is about the reunion and happiness we’re all going to share.”

Originally released in 2008 on Mr C’s and going for over £80 a throw, the band’s excellent funky debut 45, remastered for maximum dancefloor appeal. The stellar stand-out cut from the band’s 2010 album ‘The Outsiders Are Back’ was released on Luaka Bop. Think Curtis Mayfield with Fela’s horns and a percussion backing set to self-destruct; a spine tingling anthem, no less.

Cut with Willie Tee’s Gatur Records’ flipside that goes for £250 minimum. An organ-led, brass-powered groove from the New Orleans’ soul legend, originally released in 1972 A deep, soulful croon with an enveloping rhythm and a euphoric lift, remastered from the original sound files for added soul.

Pure Donzin is the debut solo offering by Amsterdam - based Donald “Donny” Madjid - also known for his involvement in The Mauskovic Dance Band. On a pandemic - induced break from his usually busy tour ing schedule, Donny, armed with a 60’s drum machine and a few synths, made the most of his time off by experimenting with, and home - recording new sounds - resulting in a fully - fledged 9 - track album under the artist monicker Don Melody Club.

Whilst many of his local peers tend to turn to sounds further from home for inspiration, Madjid felt drawn to honour the literary and musical tradition of The Netherlands, following in the footsteps of classic and lesser known Dutch troubadours such as Ramses Shaffy (a cover of ‘Laat Me’ features on the album) and Ronald Langestraat. Don drew inspiration from bard - like storytelling and for the first time started writing in his native tongue, craftily forging lyrics that his rich tenor voice delivers with a sincerity that translates regardless of whether or not you understand Dutch. This intimacy is balanced evenly with synth and drum machine grooves, recalling Dutch New Wave legends Doe Maar - merging ear worm pop hooks and infectious danceable beats to these otherwise pe nsive ballads.

An ode to being immersed in the magic of the night in good company, an experience so lacking during the year in which the album was recorded, is the danceable Psychonauten. The track is a fine example of the glittering synthesis of infectio us musical atmosphere and lyrically rich straightforwardness Donny has mastered on the album.

The influence of The Mauskovic Dance Band, especially the bass driven, hypnotic groove - a signature sound Don guides in new directions - can be detected on Ver anderd. Somewhat of an anthem, it is laced with tones of 70’s West - African sounds, like fast percussive key arrangements and energetic backing vocals. An example of a more laid back tune on the record is Isabel, a cool nostalgic love song, a soother for a sentimental occasion.

Opening number Geen Nood (No Panic), lyrically nothing short of a ‘sign of the times’ track, paints a mindful setting of cycling past the Amsterdam canals, seeing the leaves in the water, and feeling your blood flow peacefully throu gh your veins - letting go of the need to be anywhere other than where you are. Be it through meditative observances, or hypnotic dance grooves, Pure Donzin is a record that tempts the listener to become just that: immersed in the moment.

Adiel slowly emerged from the Rome underground onto international dancefloors, from local residencies to renowned festival stages. Following a steady slew of quality releases for her own label, the Italian producer now signs with Figure to show just how far she’s gotten. Right out the gate, Adiel proves her versatility. Method is an intricate, moody stepper, harking back to early Burial with its grimey atmosphere and skeletal breakbeats, complete with ghostly vocals and a cascading synth line, which ties it all together. Showing Adiel’s love for analog drum machines, Mad builds on a dry but lively pattern, with swelling acid arps slowly creeping in until it all breaks down in a sea of squelches, only to emerge again with full force. The B-side goes deep and fast, panning percussion setting the bleak scene for a vividly arp-driven ride beneath a starry sky. Slowing things down to a half-time measure, the final composition leaves lots of room for the finely measured details such as bubbling acid, raw drums, and trippy voices to merge in one last soothing swirl of sound. With such a strong repertoire at her fingertips, Figure X27 shows Adiel as a promising producer who has found her unique voice and is sure to make her way in the years to come.

After a year of sadness comes an album fit to resist it. Detritus, the third solo LP by violinist/composer Sarah Neufeld, confronts anguish with beauty, turmoil with grace, gliding through the present like a dancer mid-motion, reaching through space 'til she's caught. Detritus originated with a collaboration: in 2015, Neufeld was invited to appear on stage with the legendary dancer/choreographer Peggy Baker. Baker had prepared a solo piece based on work from Neufeld's second album, The Ridge, to which Neufeld added an original lyrical prelude. The live result was an incendiary duet, almost a sort of face-off, which left each artist unsated. They agreed to reunite for a more extended collaboration - a full-length show with Baker's company, where Neufeld would write to (and perform music alongside) Baker's choreography. It was a fertile partnership, uniting the two women's intense, curious, ferocious sensibilities across an age difference of 29 years. Baker had conceived the show around the title of Neufeld's prelude, "Who We Are In The Dark," exploring themes of loss, betrayal and the emptiness of space; Neufeld was herself in crisis mode, reacting to a specific, earthbound kind of grief (including the end of a relationship). Making work together, they drew on these raw feelings - insistent, urgent darkness but also something that was, for Neufeld at least, much more unexpected: a romantic, tender-hearted love, inspired by the movements of the dancers before her. The work premiered in February 2019. Even before Neufeld and Peggy Baker Dance Projects set off on tour, she had the intuition that this music might take another form: as a distilled set of songs, refined and developed beyond the versions performed on stage. Starting that summer, she began arranging this lush and soloistic material - work that eventually became Detritus - and performed some of these experiments at her own solo gigs. Neufeld worked throughout the process with her Arcade Fire bandmate Jeremy Gara, whose drums, synths and ambient electronics co-anchored the Peggy Baker shows and helped shape the reimagined album versions. She would go on to add foot-pedal bass synth, wordless vocals and swells of French horn courtesy of Bell Orchestre compatriot Pietro, bringing in woodwind wizard Stuart Bogie as a one-man flute ensemble, layering clusters of chords atop Neufeld's luminous compositions.

John Carpenter, the Legendary Director and Composer behind Halloween, Escape From New York, They Live, Assault on Precinct 13 and many more announces his debut solo album ‘Lost Themes’ out February 3rd on Sacred Bones Records. In anticipation of his debut release, Carpenter shares a new track “Vortex,” a custom-designed video for “Vortex” set to clips from different Carpenter films and the full album artwork and track list.

John Carpenter has been responsible for much of the horror genre’s most striking soundtrack work in the fifteen movies he’s both directed and scored. The themes that drive them can be stripped to a few coldly repeating notes, take on the electrifying thunder of a rock concert, or submerge themselves into exotic, unholy miasmas. It’s work that instantly floods his fans’ musical memory with imagery of a menacing shape stalking a babysitter, a relentless wall of ghost-filled fog, lightning-fisted kung fufighters, or a mirror holding the gateway to hell. Lost Themes asks Carpenter’s acolytes to visualize their own nightmares.

“Lost Themes was all about having fun,” Carpenter says. “It can be both great and bad to score over images, which is what I’m used to. Here there were no pressures. No actors asking me what they’re supposed to do. No crew waiting. No cutting room to go to. No

release pending. It’s just fun. And I couldn’t have a better set-up at my house, where I depended on (collaborators) Cody (Carpenter, of the band Ludrium) and Daniel (Davies, who scored I, Frankenstein) to bring me ideas as we began improvising. The plan was to make my music more complete and fuller, because we had unlimited tracks. I wasn’t dealing with just analogue anymore. It’s a brand new world. And there was nothing in any of our heads when we started other than to make it moody.”

Repress

Chris Liberator and Darc Marc with some classic Acid Techno over 3 trax, with "Acid Music Has Come To Set You Free" already causing mayhem in the acid community with it's subversive anti-system mantra. "Heart Of The Underground" is pill-popping fizzy Acid Techno, whilst "Something Dark This Way Comes" goes for a more atmospheric and menacing vibe.

“My vision was big,” says Brighton-based singer Macve of the road to her second album. “I knew I wanted to do something more expansive than my first record.” With reach, feeling, storytelling power and a stop-you-dead voice, Macve sizes up to that mission boldly on Not The Girl. Following on from the rootsy saloon-noir conviction of her 2017 debut, Golden Eagle, Holly sets out for

deeper, often darker territory with a firm, unhurried sense of direction on her second record: on all fronts, it’s an album that looks its upscaled ambitions in the eye fearlessly.

For Macve, the combination of influences such as Nancy & Lee with time spent touring helped widen her horizons. “I wasn’t afraid of trying new things, and I wanted to explore sounds and develop my skills in production, composing and engineering. When I wrote the songs on Golden Eagle I had never toured, it was just me in my bedroom playing acoustic guitar. I then got the chance to tour the world with a band and sing with a symphony orchestra with Mercury Rev in 2017. My little world grew and I realised there was so much for me to learn about how I can use my skills as a singer and writer. I didn’t want to limit myself – I wanted to push my boundaries.”

At every turn, Macve’s powers of evocation are matched by the depth and strength in her voice. Witness the meeting of a plangent pedal-steel with her elastic vocal on the atmospheric “Be My Friend”, or the sultry verses and soaring chorus of “You Can Do Better”, which bring to mind a prairie-sized Mazzy Star. Guest guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones’ spacious contributions help enhance its sense of space. “Bill was an important part of the story of this record,” says Holly. “I love his playing – it helped create that kind of heavy, lazy, dreamy sound I’m such a fan of.”

Elsewhere, rich seams of contrast and counterpoint emerge. The Velvet Underground-ish “Sweet Marie” is epic drone-country, “Little, Lonely Heart” a symphonic waltz around the rootsy stuff of bad love, jealousy, and guilt. “Who Am I” merges a Phil Spector-ish wall of sound with a grunge-y melodic insouciance, while “Daddy’s Gone” finds Macve reflecting on the death of her father over Memphis soul-style backing, rendering complex emotions with controlled reserves of detail and drama before a roistering climax.

“My vision was big,” says Brighton-based singer Macve of the road to her second album. “I knew I wanted to do something more expansive than my first record.” With reach, feeling, storytelling power and a stop-you-dead voice, Macve sizes up to that mission boldly on Not The Girl. Following on from the rootsy saloon-noir conviction of her 2017 debut, Golden Eagle, Holly sets out for

deeper, often darker territory with a firm, unhurried sense of direction on her second record: on all fronts, it’s an album that looks its upscaled ambitions in the eye fearlessly.

For Macve, the combination of influences such as Nancy & Lee with time spent touring helped widen her horizons. “I wasn’t afraid of trying new things, and I wanted to explore sounds and develop my skills in production, composing and engineering. When I wrote the songs on Golden Eagle I had never toured, it was just me in my bedroom playing acoustic guitar. I then got the chance to tour the world with a band and sing with a symphony orchestra with Mercury Rev in 2017. My little world grew and I realised there was so much for me to learn about how I can use my skills as a singer and writer. I didn’t want to limit myself – I wanted to push my boundaries.”

At every turn, Macve’s powers of evocation are matched by the depth and strength in her voice. Witness the meeting of a plangent pedal-steel with her elastic vocal on the atmospheric “Be My Friend”, or the sultry verses and soaring chorus of “You Can Do Better”, which bring to mind a prairie-sized Mazzy Star. Guest guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones’ spacious contributions help enhance its sense of space. “Bill was an important part of the story of this record,” says Holly. “I love his playing – it helped create that kind of heavy, lazy, dreamy sound I’m such a fan of.”

Elsewhere, rich seams of contrast and counterpoint emerge. The Velvet Underground-ish “Sweet Marie” is epic drone-country, “Little, Lonely Heart” a symphonic waltz around the rootsy stuff of bad love, jealousy, and guilt. “Who Am I” merges a Phil Spector-ish wall of sound with a grunge-y melodic insouciance, while “Daddy’s Gone” finds Macve reflecting on the death of her father over Memphis soul-style backing, rendering complex emotions with controlled reserves of detail and drama before a roistering climax.

Certain Sound Records and Montener the Menace are proud to finally release the first single from his highly anticipated second album "Anyone Home?"

Montener has recruited Wounded Buffalo Beats on production duties who’s looped a fantastically pitched vocal-sample over some hard, head nodding drums to set the scene for the wonderfully enlisted, all-star line-up to go berserk over.

The world-renowned guests include - Wordsworth, Rah Digga, Masta Ace & Fatlip as "High Noon" sees the gang of notorious outlaws trading smoking hot verses, swaggering into your local saloon, oozing with finesse as six-shooters still smolder in their holsters and their Stetsons pulled low.

This is one of the best cross-Atlantic collaborations Hip Hop has seen to date and is a fantastic choice for the initial lead single from the upcoming album.

"High Noon" is out April 2nd via Certain Sound Records and is accompanied by a fantastic Western influenced, animated video by the super-talented animator - Taylor Bowen which can be found below:


The Struggle - the 2nd single taken from his highly anticipated album -
Anyone Home?

Once again Montener enlists a heavy ensemble of guests featuring
Stones Throw alumni, Guilty Simpson, UKHH veteran, Micall Parknsun
& Artifacts emcee, El Da Sensei.

The Struggle sees the four emcees
perform their vocal acrobatics in unrivalled style as their rhymes
reverberate over a smooth, neck-snapping slab of vintage Boom Bap -
eerily reminiscent of the rich, classic sound of the Mid-90’s. JL Beats has
created a timeless beat here with DJ JabbaThaKut providing the world-
class cuts to round the track off in superb style.

“Its gonna make a great impact on the scene, just what we need, when we need it most” - Skinnyman

Clear / Orange Vinyl
Factory Benelux presents a remastered 2xLP coloured vinyl edition of Circuses and Bread, the seventh studio album by Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column. Originally released by Factory Benelux and Factory in 1986, the original 9 tracks have now been expanded with 6 bonus pieces.

The cover art retains the original design by 8vo. The remastered limited edition CLEAR+ORANGE vinyl set is housed in gatefold sleeve, with liner notes and rare band images. A CD version is also available (FBN 154 CD).

Self-produced by Vini Reilly at Strawberry and Revolution studios, the album saw Durutti playing as a quartet, with Reilly on guitar, vocals and keyboards, Bruce Mitchell in drums and percussion, John Metcalfe (viola) and Tim Kellett (trumpet).

‘The music ends up being very simple,’ Vini told NME. ‘People can dismiss it as being very simplistic, easy listening or whatever. It’s very honest, it’s very personal. People say it’s ambient, and it’s like Eno. I don’t like that, because the music’s made to be listened to, it’s not wallpaper.’

Of extended piece Blind Elevator Girl – Osaka, Vini adds: ‘The music really writes itself. For example, we’re in Osaka, in Japan, getting in this elevator. It’s very crowded with all these Japanese businessmen talking about distribution deals, and going on and on. On this lift was a beautiful Japanese girl, in an immaculate uniform. Each floor we arrived at, she’s starting talking Japanese, obviously saying what was on each floor. We went higher and higher, and finally we get to the top. And then, sort of walking out of the elevator, I suddenly realised she was blind... It got to me, this girl. It was incredible. So maybe a day later, I was thinking about that, and the whole tune came out. And every single piece of music is like that.’

Bonus tracks include Italian-only EP Greetings Three, scarce compilation track The Aftermath, and a previously unreleased working version of 1987 single Our Lady of the Angels produced by the late Stuart ‘Jammer’ James.

Norwegian duo Lost Girls, artist and writer Jenny Hval and multi-instrumentalist Håvard Volden, release their first album after collaborating for more than ten years. Volden has been playing regularly in Hval's live band for more than a decade, and their duo project goes back to an acoustic collaborative album from 2012, using the moniker Nude on Sand. Instead of resurrecting the previous band, Hval and Volden opted for a fresh start for their 2018 EP Feeling, taking nomenclatural inspiration from the 2006 graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and comics artist Melinda Gebbie. For their first LP, Hval and Volden booked an actual studio (Ora studios, Trondheim, Norway), which they had never done before. Recording sessions took place in March 2020, even if they felt like the material wasn't really ready for recording. This left a lot to improvisation, and so Menneskekollektivet was created in-between set structures and the energy of collective exploration. Perhaps this is what makes Menneskekollektivet unique: The quality of trying something, to see if the structures fit. In a way this is a more physical version of what Hval has been exploring lyrically over the past decade in her solo work. The title is Norwegian and translates to human collective, which adds to the feeling of a recording made as part of a strange, improvised performance project. The music flickers; between club beats and improvised guitar textures; between spoken word and melodic vocal textures; between abstract and harmonic synth lines. Throughout the piece, Volden's guitar and Hval's voice come across as equals, wandering, wondering, meandering. Sharing the space. The writing process began with short, more concise forms, but then Volden brought in experiments with seasick synth loops and drum machines, and the work went off on a longer durational tangent, inspired by chance and intuition. This allowed for an unfinished, raw feel, and the song structures and words were expanded and improvised in the studio. Hval says: "There are lots of late night ideas at work, begun as half-asleep, slack vocal takes on top of something really strange Håvard has sent me. We both record before we know what we're actually doing."

Mother Freedom Band’s Cutting The Chord is a funky modern soul classic. It’s both a criminally under-appreciated album and a hard-to-find record so we’re delighted to be giving this sweet disco-funk groover the reissue treatment it deserves.

Produced by the great Al Goodman from The Moments and originally released in 1977, Cutting The Chord seems to be one of the lesser known releases on the curious, and often great “All Platinum” label. Other than a 7" of a couple of these tracks, the only thing that the band seem to have released is this album, and what an album it is. Unbeatable soul-funk of the highest quality.

The album bursts open with “Love Will Stay In Your Corner”. It’s a soulful dancer that reliably slays any funk set you care to drop it in. It’s followed by the lithe disco funk “Flick Of The Wrist” that’s all bubbling baselines and elegant horns. The groovy, horn-enhanced sweet soul of “Gotta Get It Back” is equal parts heartbreaker/hip-shaker and the acidic organs on “Mr Brother” are an experiment in synth soul.

Perhaps the group’s best known track, “Beautiful Summer’s Day” might well be worth the price of an original copy alone. It’s pure piano-driven paradise soul. A tropical birdsong intro sets the scene of a warm, perfect sunshine day and the lead vocal soars over the lush, clean production. The tempo oscillates between contemplative and stomping. Essential.

The brilliantly-named “(Assistants Rag) When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” opens side two. Another huge highlight, its title refrain repeated over this laid-back, power-funk workout. It still sounds incredibly modern, like something off the last D’Angelo record, and if Public Enemy and Diamond D both sampled it you know it knocks hard.

The horn-heavy, clav-stabbing-stomper “We Like To Boogie” keeps things fast and funky before the airy, heavenly harmony soul of “Come On Home” mellows us all out. Things pick up again with “Touch Me”, and you might recognise its addictive elements sampled in Jay-Z’s Kanye West-produced “A Star Was Born”. The magical, reggae-tinged, gospel-influenced “Sweet Love” closes out this assured, classy set.

We dare to say that Cutting The Chord is a rare example of a funk-soul LP which is killer from start-to-finish. Sure, there are the stand-out bombs, but the whole thing is a complete and varied album of feel-good vibes held together by its fluid horns, tight, tight rhythm section and beautiful vocals.

Mastered for vinyl from the original analogue tapes by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and artwork restored at Be With HQ, this new edition should hopefully stop this album slipping any further into obscurity. It’s just too good to be forgotten.

10Questions is a record label by Dam Swindle's Lars Dales and graphic designer Bas Koopmans. After an amazing first release, 10Questions ventures deeper into Italo territory with signing one of the scene's longest running duo's: 'PBR Streetgang'. PBR has been known for big dancefloor tracks, whether it's house or disco, they always deliver. This EP will surely add to this legacy.

The title track 'Dayskipper' sets the mood with it's 707 drum programming and rolling Italo bassline. The track slowly progresses to show it's dancefloor pedigree. A catchy synth hook combined with synth choir stabs drives the theme home. What makes this a standout track is that the hook is not an obvious one. The ominous chords are very well crafted and will cut through you like a knife through butter.

'Dayskipper' shares the A side with 'Knockout'; a track that is both a tribute to the early history of house and a contemporary piece of music in one. The 'Moog' style bassline sets the mood for a playful approach but it's the addition of the vocal hits and the piano hook that drives that theme home. Add a pinch of hip-house and you have the recipe for a good time.

On the third track (and a full side on the record) 'Chi-Lite' you can hear that PBR still knows how to get the most out of a house beat. The theme however is more a dreamy proto house track than anything else. The syncopated synth stabs set the perfect mood for the DX7 style bells that are played on top. PBR masterfully shift from floating moments to dancefloor energy within a matter of minutes.


10Questions is a label build on the concept that the record and record sleeve are an integral part of the full experience of an EP. The artist is given a questionnaire and depending on his/her answers the artwork is made. This way the music and art co-exist in the same creative universe, that of the artist and the label alike.

Previously unissued 1999 live set from Alex Chilton (The Box Tops/Big Star) and Hi Rhythm Section Hi Rhythm Section has performed on seminal recordings from Ann Peebles, Ike & Tina Turner, O. V. Wright, Otis Clay, and Al Green Packaging contains liner notes from Memphis Mayhem author and Producer David Less “I never saw him have so much fun on stage. Without rehearsal, Alex called songs and the band locked in. The horn section consists of top Memphis session guys who huddled together when each song was called creating parts on the fly. The pure joy of playing this music so freely with such legendary musicians comes across in every groove of the record.” —David Less, from his liner notes Memphis is a city with music in its blood. When Fred Ford, co-founder of the Beale Street Music Festival, was diagnosed with cancer, David Less organized Fredstock, a fund raiser to help with his medical bills. Less contacted Memphis legend Alex Chilton (The Box Tops, Big Star), who was living in New Orleans, to ask him to participate. Alex said he didn’t have any musicians to play with in Memphis, so Less suggested the Hi Rhythm Section (the band behind classics from artists including Ann Peebles, Ike & Tina Turner, O. V. Wright, Otis Clay, and Al Green). Alex replied, “That will work.” This previously unissued live set contains versions of soul classics from The Supremes and Otis Clay, rock numbers from Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and even a cover of the KC & The Sunshine Band title track. Available on CD, Digital, and LP

‘This Is Telex’ is a brand-new compilation collecting 14
tracks from the innovative Belgium trio, covering their
career from formation in 1978 up to the final album in
2006.

This compilation includes the hit single ‘Moskow
Diskow’ as well as their Eurovision Song Contest
entry, aptly called ‘Euro-vision’.
There are also two wonderful and previously
unreleased tracks unearthed from the Telex archive, a
cover of The Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ and a
reinterpretation of a Sonny & Cher track called ‘The
Beat Goes On/Off’.

All the tracks were newly mixed and remastered from
the original tapes by band members Dan Lacksman
and Michel Moers, keeping all the tracks in the spirit of
the originals but adding a freshness to them.
This compilation sets the way for a comprehensive
reissue campaign of the entire Telex catalogue.
CD in card pack with 12-page booklet.

Coloured vinyl 2LP (side A/B is shrimp pink vinyl, side
C/D fern green vinyl) housed in a gatefold cover with
printed inner sleeves with notes by David Stubbs, plus
digital download code.

Tape packaged in pink case with a green shell, plus
digital download code.

A decade on from their first record, Iceage continue to harness their lives together through music. This journey, in music and life, has never progressed in a linear fashion. Seek Shelter — Iceage’s fifth LP and first for Mexican Summer — is proof that their lives are still happening through their music, and that they remain determined to harness it. Enrolling Sonic Boom (Pete Kember of Spacemen 3) to produce, Seek Shelter sees Iceage’s propulsive momentum pushing them in new, expansive, ecstatic directions. The sound of an emotional core unwound, Seek Shelter radiates warmth and a profound desire for salvation in a world that’s spinning further and further out of control. In an extraordinary and unexpected run following the release of their debut LP, Iceage went from the fertile hyperlocal Copenhagen scene to stages all over the world. Their recordings reflect their journey: 2012’s You’re Nothing was hard, fast and raw, a bold doubling-down on the aggression of youth in the first record as well as the weight of expectation. Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) and Beyondless (2018) saw a softening of the band’s hardest edges and the arrival of a certain world-weary vaudeville in the Iceage sound. The band’s past two records — all filtered twangy guitar riffs, sparse piano arrangements, and slinky, slow-moving rhythms — ventured into an intoxicated but knowing swirl, surveying the party at the end of the night. They’d seen it all, at least once, and their music rode the crest of that chaos. Seek Shelter, the band’s first record made with an outside producer, is the place they have been called to next. The LP was recorded at Namouche, a dilapidated wood-paneled Lisbon radio studio of 1960s vintage where the band set up for 12 days. It is the longest time they have spent recording a record. Steady rain dripped through the ceiling; they had to arrange their equipment around puddles and slowly-filling buckets covered in cloth so that the sound of droplets wouldn’t reach the mics. Sonic Boom arranged garden lamps from a nearby party store for mood lighting in the high-ceiling space. A choir, the Lisboa Gospel Collective, joined the band for two tracks on the final day in the studio providing a new scale to Rønnenfelt’s incantations. Singer and primary songwriter Elias Rønnenfelt casts their new producer as a sparring partner, another wayward mind to bounce ideas off of. “We wanted a partner that had some noise that we didn’t have, more a wizard than a producer. “When we started, I think we were just lashing out, completely blindfolded with no idea as to why and how we were doing anything. For Seek Shelter, we had a definite vision of how we wanted the album to be carved out, yet still the end result came as a surprise in terms of where we sonically were able to push our boundaries.” He’s speaking of the new record and also of their entire existence as a band, a travelogue that has catapulted these four friends far past the horizons of punk. “Some of that we wanted to remain intact. We try to keep the mystery. If there's no sense of mystery in it for us, then it's not fun.” Seek Shelter is a record that now exists at a moment of a collective unknown, when every beating heart wonders what will happens next.

Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) - the latest offering of Tom Petty music, curated with help from his loving family, bandmates and collaborators - will be released on April 16 via Warner Records. The tracks, which were previously released on the limited-edition Super Deluxe version of 2020’s Wildflowers & All The Rest, will now be available on standalone CD & vinyl and digitally for the first time.



The first track to be released is “You Saw Me Comin’,” a previously unreleased song and recording from 1992 and the final track on the collection, which will be premiering alongside a video directed by Joel Kazuo Knoernschild and Katie Malia. Reflecting upon recording “You Saw Me Comin’” for Wildflowers, Heartbreaker Benmont Tench notes, “There’s this kind of longing in the song, in the way that he wrote the chord structure, the melody and the lyrics. It’s wistful, and it would have been the perfect way to end the disc.”



Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) follows Wildflowers & All The Rest which was hailed by Rolling Stone as “the definitive artistic statement that newly illuminates one of the most fruitful, inspired periods of the American legend’s career,” and by Variety, who called it “the best and most justified boxed set of this kind since the Beatles’ White Album compendium.” In fact, the songs on Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) first initiated the estate’s discovery and curation process for the larger project.



Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) features 16 studio recordings of alternate takes, long cuts and jam versions of Wildflowers songs as Tom, band members and co-producer Rick Rubin worked to finalize the album in 1994. The release offers fans further deep access into the writing and recording of Wildflowers, as well as realizing the full vision of the project as Tom had always intended.



The collection was produced by Tom’s longtime engineer and co-producer Ryan Ulyate who listened to 245 reels of 24-track tape, revealing Tom and his collaborators’ evolutionary process and finding the group willing to do whatever it took to discover the essence and magic in the material.

As if the ever evolving style and sprawling narratives of Creeper didn’t already keep him busy enough, Will Gould reacted to last year’s initial lockdown by delving into the archives to complete the debut EP from his side project SALEM. Working alongside his friend and collaborator Matt Reynolds, SALEM quickly sold-out the first vinyl pressing of their self-titled debut EP while also earning fresh acclaim and streaming an In The K! Pit show for Kerrang!.

Now the second chapter in the SALEM story emerges from the underworld with the news that they’ll release their new EP ‘SALEM II’ on May 7TH and now share the first taste of the EP in the shape of the new single ‘DRACULADS’.

‘DRACULADS’ opens with the kind of larger-than-life b-movie horror love letter that can only come from Gould’s poison pen: “Maybe the blood of Jesus Christ is laced upon your lips / I get a little closer to God and too drunk each time we kiss.” It sets the tone for a blitzkrieg rush of melodic punk and raucous rock ‘n’ roll that only stops for breath for the song’s cabaret croon breakdown.

Elsewhere, the EP builds upon the style that SALEM established with their debut. From the tongue-in-cheek reference to The Smiths on the opening track ‘William, It Was Really Something’ to the closing ‘Heaven Help Me’, SALEM play it fast, frenetic and fun. As with the best old school punk EPs, ‘SALEM II’ is an escapist rush of attention that commands your attention for 15 minutes before it’s time to drop the needle back to the start.

Dead Can Dance members Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell have teamed up under a new guise with James Chapman (MAPS) to create a studio album, titled ‘Burn’.
The record began its journey more than seven years ago, when Lisa met Irish theatre composer Jules Maxwell before working together for the first time. ‘Burn’ is set for release on 7th May 2021 via Atlantic Curve. Speaking about the origins of the album, Lisa Gerrard explains, “It is with great pleasure that I share this collaboration with Jules Maxwell. Jules and I began our creative journey with Dead Can Dance. We realised that we could connect through improvisation and that musical exploration continues to evolve with this present work.” Although this record is a new release, its beginnings go all the way back to 2012 during that year’s Dead Can Dance world tour. Originally brought in as a live keyboard player, Jules Maxwell helped create a new song with Lisa Gerrard called ‘Rising Of The Moon’, which was performed as the final encore of each show. By the time the tour finished in Chile in 2013, a strong affinity had begun to develop between the two of them and further opportunities to collaborate with each other resulted over subsequent years. In 2015, when Maxwell was asked to submit songs for the Bulgarian choir The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices (Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares), he approached Gerrard to co-write material and travelled to Australia to work with her in her home studio. The pair came away with four new songs for that release, as well as the building blocks for this new venture together.

Aged only 15, Lulu burst onto the pop scene in May 1964 with “Shout”, her unforgettable cover of the Isley Brothers’ timeless favourite. On EMI’s Columbia label she enjoyed a string of hits produced by Mickie Most, including US # 1 “To Sir With Love”, “The Boat That I Row”, “Me, The Peaceful Heart”, “I’m A Tiger”, and the joint winner of 1969’s Eurovision Song Contest, “Boom Bang-A-Bang”.
After Lulu recorded the title song for James Bond film “The Man With the Golden Gun”, David Bowie produced her versions of his songs “Watch That Man” and “The Man Who Sold The World”, the latter a UK # 3 hit. And in 1993 collaboration with Take That on “Relight My Fire” reached # 1.
Pressed on 140g vinyl, this 13-track set contains her best-loved hits.

a a1. SHOUT Lulu and The Luvers











[radio version]

It Bites fourth studio album ‘The Tall Ships’, originally released in 2008, will be getting a remastered reissue, with the album available on a new CD format, as well as for the first time ever on vinyl. Featuring a new remaster from John Mitchell, the CD edition also includes 2 bonus tracks as well as an additional booklet of liner notes written by the band. The vinyl will arrive as a Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD set including an LP-booklet and the bonus tracks on the CD. ‘The Tall Ships’ was the first It Bites album to feature singer & guitarist John Mitchell, and the bands first new music in nineteen years.

"What's The Rush?" is the second full-length album from Cold Moon - the Bay Area based band consisting of members of The Story So Far and Set Your Goals. "What's The Rush?" is the follow up to their 2019 debut "Rising". Cold Moon's sound has been described as raw and artistic as Stiched Sound describes, "...there is a rawness felt in the music. Jack Sullivan’s voice adds a dynamic aspect, instead of vocals being a driving force behind the tracks, the lyrics accent each individual track giving us a complete and balanced sound that rises and falls with each individual track".

Based in Bristol, LTO first made waves as part of mysterious electronic collective Old Apparatus. As a solo producer, LTO has since attracted attention with three albums.

LTO's ambition to create ever more ambiguous and far-reaching sonic environments, whilst retaining something of the familiar and physical, have led him to take inspiration from imagined landscapes of the folklore of his Welsh ancestry and of the planet Mars. Both images of enchanted forests battling enraged giants from the underworld and unimaginably hostile planetary events guide this work of great magnitude.

In 'Daear', LTO explores an expansive sound pallet of swelling synths and noise, ambiguous string instruments, thunderous percussion, unearthly voices and his signature sound the piano, mostly processed beyond recognition. The result is a mysterious and deeply textured journey that could be set in both the distant past and uncertain future, on this planet or beyond.

The always-innovative John Beltran surprises us with his first release on a Romanian label. The circularity of Energy Circle, the beauty of The Cycles EP, sets a typically Beltran soundscape, a melodic mood for this three-pieced beauty. The Sun Also Rises on the flip side, making it the rather bright beast of the release, while the marching B2 – Going Uphill Fast (hope on the horizon) — is a granular techno classic, closing Eufonic Records' first release on a very Detroit note.

Gordon Koang, South Sudan’s enigmatic superstar and ceaseless fountain of infectious, upbeat pop music, kick starts 2021 by revealing a series of remixes from his recent Unity album, this time partnering with two of the undisputed leaders of electronic music in his adopted home city of Melbourne, Australia - Sleep D and Andras.

Stranded overseas after civil war tore apart their country over six years ago, Gordon and his cousin Paul Biel Kueth, who were on tour performing to expatriate communities in Australia, were forced to apply for humanitarian protection and made the heartbreaking decision to leave their families stranded at home, on the chance that citizenship would be granted and reunification made possible.

After languishing on the outskirts of Melbourne’s suburbs for many years, Gordon met the Music in Exile label, a not-for-profit run by members of Melbourne’s flourishing music scene in order to create more opportunity for the city's numerous refugee and migrant musicians. He immediately assembled a band and tracked his eleventh full-length album, Unity (his first recorded album featuring performances in English and made widely available).

In the midst of a successful run of singles and festival performances around Australia, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, derailing Gordon’s newfound success and growing status as the darling of Melbourne’s vibrant music scene. Forced to find alternatives, Gordon reached out to some of his newfound friends in that city’s community. The result - this set of startling remixes by some of the finest voices in electronic music today.

Gordon, who was born blind in a small village in South Sudan’s Upper Nile Valley, began composing on the thom, a five-stringed instrument sometimes referred to as a Sudanese banjo, He started busking on the streets of Juba, accompanied by his cousin Paul Biel, who would sell homemade cassettes and CD’s. His anthems of peace, love and unity struck a chord, and before long Gordon found himself as something of a folk hero and a voice for peace in a country torn by ongoing conflict.

Now resettled in Australia, Gordon records and releases music in order to support his family back home in East Africa. He still awaits Australian citizenship, and forges on in the hope that this may one day be granted, allowing him to reunite with his wife and family in his newfound home.

Unity is Gordon’s eleventh full-length album and first to be recorded in Australia. It was produced by Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons of Melbourne lo-fi legends Good Morning, and features an ensemble cast of Australian performers. South Sudan and Y Dah are taken from the album, reimagined here by Andras and Sleep D. The remixes were a gift to Gordon and his family, with no fees paid or royalties due - all proceeds go directly to Gordon to help him reunite with his family.

KNTXT kicks off 2021 by welcoming exciting new talent ONYVAA to its ranks. The much vaunted DJ and producer debuts with her Lost Angeles EP, a superbly powerful four tracker that is perfectly at home on this agenda setting label.

ONYVAA is an LA based artist who has been on a swift rise up through the global techno ranks in the last couple of years. She brings classy Detroit, melodic and dub influences to her music, and her raw analog aesthetic always helps ensure her stylish tracks bring plenty of atmosphere to go alongside her strong modular live-sets. Now, she steps up with a much anticipated debut on Charlotte de Witte's KNTXT label having struck up a personal friendship with the influential artist.

Says ONYVAA, "Lost Angeles was inspired by my time back home in LA and things feeling a bit foreign to my everyday life pre-covid. I’m super grateful for all of Charlotte’s support and really proud to be a part of the KNTXT family. Hoping to play these tracks out on the dance floor soon!"

Opener 'The Way It Is' wastes no time in laying down a heavyweight techno groove that is run through with edgy, laser-like synth riffs. It's an all consuming wall rattler that will blow clubs away. 'Lucid' is a darkened techno roller again lit up with expertly designed synths that are bright yet menacing as distant vocal sounds add another layer of tension. It's an all out acid attack on 'LXD' which places you at the heart of a rave, strobe lights flashing, smoke in the air, darkness enveloping you. The title track closes out at hyper speed, with turbocharged drum programming, interwoven bass and clanking industrial motifs all getting you thoroughly in the zone.

Says Charlotte, "I met Shelby for the first time after a show in Athens. We visited the city the day after and instantly became friends. Whenever the opportunity would arise, we’d spend time together. I love being around the ball of energy that is Shelby and I’m beyond excited to have her and her music on my label. Expecting big things from her!”

This is a fantastic new signing for KNTXT and surely the start of even bigger things for ONYVAA.

Punk Dancehall fusion .. A Collision between African Headcharge and CRASS.. Born from the ashes of an early 1980’s Northampton based anarcho collective of musicians & artists – with a shared love of reggae and a punk neo industrial ethos – came REDUCER – We had to do things with an edge – to cut through the shit – that post punk new wave safe pop with a renewed knife of Joy & Righteous Anger – love & hate – life & death – banged out in a massive industrial reggae punk soundscape – our gigs were audio visual shock & awe – total commitment to the moment and the creativity – video projection,, incence & pyrotechnics, covering the venue walls with backdrops – it was a fully immersive experience. We never sought music business recognition- we weren’t in the music business! We were in the experience business! We recorded about 30 odd tracks in all, in order to try & catch the passion, energy & raw power of when we played live, the tracks were recorded over a period of 7 years. Each one unique, unrehearsed, spontaneous & improvised – one take, one mix onto cassette and a vershun if wanted & were done – capturing the raw passion & life energy that was pouring through us. About 5 years ago years we decided to set up a website & release what felt at that point may have been our 1st, last & only chance to get something on vinyl, & set up a website in order to tell the remarkable story of what happened in that little town in the Midlands 40 years ago and after we decided to digitize our archive of recordings and put them on the site and other platforms just as a “We were here & We did this” statement of public record – incredibly a Reducer Renaissance was born – the website mushroomed & we got US Radio airplay, we suddenly sold out our 1st vinyl release – Product & 35 years on a new audience got to hear & see what the myths & legends are about and they want more so, here it is, 5 tracks 5 videos. 35 Years old – Sounds like it was Recorded Yesterday. Think you’ve heard everything? You haven’t heard Reducer.

The Mental Traveller - A Soundtrack by Noa Erni

If music can take our mind to any imaginable place, on endless individual journeys, Noa Erni's "The Mental Traveller" is the infinite soundtrack. A soundtrack for mental wandering and soul searching, a blend of rap, jazz and hip-hop beats. "The Mental Traveller", an album assembled like a literary anthology, offers musical arrangements and unique narratives where epilogue and prologue of each track merge seamlessly. Far beyond the horizon of compiling single tracks, "The Mental Traveller" is a journey of sound and unity. Inspired by David Axelrod and William Blake, Ahmad Jamal and Flying Lotus - just to name a few - this work aims to be a tribute to these legends' legacies of past, present and future, detached from trends, norms and classical narrative structure.

Swiss-born producer and computer conductor Noa Erni has been crafting obscure jazz and hip-hop behind closed curtains (a.k.a. his flat in Berlin, Germany) for years - free from external pressure and as an adjunct to his day jobs as sommelier and co-owner of local fine wine store "Friedenauer Weinhandlung". On April 30th, 2021, Kommerz Records will release Noa Erni's debut album "The Mental Traveller" on 12" vinyl as well as on all digital platforms. The project features internationally renowned artists such as Count Bass D (alternative rap pioneer, who worked with Snoop Dogg, MF Doom (R.I.P.) and Retrogott), Miles Bonny (New Mexico-based singer and trumpeter), S. Fidelity (hip-hop producer signed to German tastemaker label Jakarta Records) and more. Erni's guests meld seamingly with this unapologetic and experimental album showcasing stand out performances on vocals, instruments and production.

While the album sounds like it was played by a jazz outfit with years of stage experience, the truth surprises and is even more exciting: Noa crafted the songs in countless hours of experimenting with a midi keyboard, various instrument plugins and perfected reverb settings. It was not one and the same band but one and the same person. Just a few tracks include actual live instruments: drums by Max von der Goltz on "The Mental Traveller Theme" and "Uncertainty", bass by Roman Klobe on "Longitude" and flugelhorn by Miles Bonny on "Train Ride".

It’s time for the label founders to take control over our spaceship. Clusterhead offers four slices of proper abstract techno for those who know.
Release starts with Alteración del orden: a broken kick spiced with elastic synth washes and microdrones sets the pace while the rest of the percussive elements appear softly in the arrangement. The main sequence grows and mutates as minutes go by, reverb and stereo treatment goes heavier until repetition makes the desired effect on the virtual dancefloor.
Second cut Resiliencia Incesante again relies on broken kicks and processed synth lines. The BPM rate is higher here and the percussive elements are snapper and tighter. Sounds twist and change over time as the frequency range grows. An industrial ode to obscurity.
On the flip side, Automutilación creativa brings us again into oblivion, shuffled grooves obsessive sequences continuously moving and high pitched synthetic drums running through the stereo field.
Closing the release we have Notzing on board, still recovering from his amazing experimental work on our label, we give him again the commands of our spaceship to translate his mental obsessions in this superb rework of Automutilación creativa.
One more time we push the sound boundaries on behalf of timeless futuristic music in touchable format.
ESPAÑOL
Es hora de que los fundadores del sello tomen el control de nuestra nave
espacial. Clusterhead ofrece cuatro rebanadas de techno abstracto para aquellos que saben de lo que hablamos.
El disco comienza con Alteración del orden: ritmos rotos condimentados con sonidos elásticos de sintetizador y microdrones marcando el ritmo, mientras que el resto de los elementos percusivos aparecen suavemente en el arreglo. La secuencia principal crece y muta a medida que pasan los minutos, la reverberación y el tratamiento estéreo se vuelven más presentes hasta que la repetición produce el efecto deseado en la pista de baile virtual.
Como segundo corte Resiliencia Incesante nuevamente se basa en bombos rotos y líneas de sintetizador procesadas. La tasa de BPM es más alta aquí y los elementos de percusión son más rápidos y ajustados.
Los sonidos se retuercen y cambian con el tiempo a medida que aumenta el rango de frecuencia. Una oda industrial a la oscuridad.
En la cara B, Automutilación creativa nos trae de nuevo al lado oscuro, grooves mezclados, secuencias obsesivas en continuo movimiento y percusiones sintéticas de alto rango recorriendo el campo estéreo.
Cerrando el lanzamiento tenemos a Notzing a bordo, todavía recuperándonos de su asombroso trabajo experimental en nuestro sello, le damos de nuevo los comandos de nuestra nave espacial para plasmar sus obsesiones mentales en esta soberbia reelaboración de Automutilación creativa.
Una vez más empujamos los límites del sonido en nombre de la música futurista atemporal en formato táctil.

Womack updates his material for the 80s, creating grown-up sensual soul.

The passion for earthy R&B seemed to have dimmed as the 80s began.

Synthesised confections abounded and veteran Bobby Womack, the Midnight Mover, was at a crossroads. His peers were either in the wilderness (Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Isaac Hayes) or otherwise indisposed (Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Sly Stone), so it was left to Womack to fly the flag for down-to-earth, quality soul.

Womack had been a recording artist for best part of two decades when he made The Poet. After making his name with The Valentinos in the 60s, he cut a string of heartfelt, emotional albums for Minit, United Artists and Columbia throughout the 70s. The Poet was written with great optimism; Womack was out of contract and was approached by agent Otis Smith to set up on his new label, Beverly Glen.

Working with Patrick Moten, Womack crafted eight songs that sounded breathlessly contemporary. If this material had been put in the hands of a soul crooner, it could have sounded perfunctory. The Poet works because of the juxtaposition of Womack’s feral growl with the album’s sweet, smooth, urbane soundtrack. This is grown-up, sensual music; from So Many Sides of You to its epic closer Where Do We Go From Here, this is a luscious collision of Womack’s soul mastery and slick musicianship. It rises and falls, with Womack sidestepping cliché thanks to his preaching, heartfelt delivery. For example, when he cries “I wanna dedicate this song to all the lovers tonight / And I expect that might be the whole world,” on If You Think You’re Lonely, it sounds honest, simple and sincere.

The Poet put Womack back on the map, and gave him his first US R&B chart-topper and first mainstream top 30 album. It was adored in the UK, and sent many back to investigate his grittier 70s heyday as an albums artist. The album became the best-selling record of Womack’s career

Womack cut the equally sublime follow-up The Poet II, released in 1984.

Daryl Easlea – BBC

Womack updates his material for the 80s, creating grown-up sensual soul.

The passion for earthy R&B seemed to have dimmed as the 80s began.

Synthesised confections abounded and veteran Bobby Womack, the Midnight Mover, was at a crossroads. His peers were either in the wilderness (Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Isaac Hayes) or otherwise indisposed (Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Sly Stone), so it was left to Womack to fly the flag for down-to-earth, quality soul.

Womack had been a recording artist for best part of two decades when he made The Poet. After making his name with The Valentinos in the 60s, he cut a string of heartfelt, emotional albums for Minit, United Artists and Columbia throughout the 70s. The Poet was written with great optimism; Womack was out of contract and was approached by agent Otis Smith to set up on his new label, Beverly Glen.

Working with Patrick Moten, Womack crafted eight songs that sounded breathlessly contemporary. If this material had been put in the hands of a soul crooner, it could have sounded perfunctory. The Poet works because of the juxtaposition of Womack’s feral growl with the album’s sweet, smooth, urbane soundtrack. This is grown-up, sensual music; from So Many Sides of You to its epic closer Where Do We Go From Here, this is a luscious collision of Womack’s soul mastery and slick musicianship. It rises and falls, with Womack sidestepping cliché thanks to his preaching, heartfelt delivery. For example, when he cries “I wanna dedicate this song to all the lovers tonight / And I expect that might be the whole world,” on If You Think You’re Lonely, it sounds honest, simple and sincere.

The Poet put Womack back on the map, and gave him his first US R&B chart-topper and first mainstream top 30 album. It was adored in the UK, and sent many back to investigate his grittier 70s heyday as an albums artist. The album became the best-selling record of Womack’s career

Womack cut the equally sublime follow-up The Poet II, released in 1984.

Daryl Easlea – BBC

Wah Wah 45s make a welcome return to the world of re-issues. Having started out over two decades ago releasing dance floor funk from Benny Poole, Cheyenne Fowler and The Googie Rene Combo, and later re-releasing obscure Kompa-funk from Haitian pianist Henri Pierre Noel, they now turn their attention to an overlooked early 90s acoustic soul gem.

About thirty years ago, music teacher and budding producer Alex Boyesen found himself working as part of the Haringey Music Workshop - a community programme and outreach project funded by the local council in Haringey, North London (coincidentally the area in which the Wah Wah head office is now based!).

"Anyone could come and get lessons for free - ranging from piano, sax, guitar, drums, bass, singing and workshops including choral, jazz band and more." Alex Boyesen

It was during that time that Alex came across a young Sam Edwards.

"One day I went into one of the rehearsal rooms and there, by herself, was this girl playing a piano and singing. It was the most incredible voice I had ever heard."

Before long, the pair were playing all over London as a duo with Alex on guitar and Sam on vocals.

"Sam had never had professional training, she was simply an utter natural."

The Haringey Music workshop was connected with other projects in the borough, in particular a community project called the Selby Centre. Here they ran training programs for young people and one of these was a music business course. The idea was that they found an artist, recorded them and then promoted them. One way or the other they ended up picking Alex and Sam to be on their roster.

"My good friend Nixon Rosembert was brought in to oversee the recordings and they hired the Islington Music Workshop to do the recording. We got musicians from the Haringey Music Workshop to play on the sessions and spent a day recording two songs -American CarsandLife. The training workshop had created a label called Progression Music and out the record went."

Three decades later and out of the blue Alex started to get interest again in the record he'd almost forgotten about all those years ago. It had become something of a sought after gem on Discogs, and there seemed to be an interest in that 'acoustic soul' sound once again.

"I got three people asking if they could re-release it and finally here we are with Wah Wah 45s doing the business after all these years."

It was Hospital Records and Wah Wah 45s founder, Chris Goss, who first brought the idea of releasing this record to the table.

"This is a really special record for me, picked up 30 years ago, from a young James Lavelle at Honest Jon's in Ladbroke Grove. Sam Edwards would go on to perform and write songs with North London's Izit, the acid jazz collective fronted by Tony Colman - with whom I have built a music company, these past 25 years. Alex Boyeson worked with Tony at the Haringey Arts Project, who produced a one-off vinyl release of Alex's two compositions back in 1991. Thanks to Alex and Tony, we have been able to clean-up the original audio, uncover photos and lyric sheets to present, with real love and affection, these two lost gems from a bygone era." Chris Goss, Feb 2021.

The project was then expanded by Dom Servini, who got heavy disco legend Ashley Beedle and co-label owner and erstwhile producer Adam Scrimshire in to take on remix duties.

"When approached by Dom Servini to reworkAmerican CarsI had no idea about the history of the original song. After a good listen myself and studio partner Darren Morris set to work and all I can say that it was a lovely experience keeping the vibe of the original but giving it a spaced out feel in true Afrikanz On Marz fashion." Ashley Beedle, Feb 2021.

"Remixing without multi-tracks always brings a bunch of challenges, getting the balance between the bass and drums in the original and what you want to do with your own version. The song really dictates certain things to you.

But it was such a pleasure to explore that with this beautiful song and vocal performance. So many ways to approach it. I just wanted to draw out more of the melancholy in the original and make it an absorbing experience." Adam Scrimshire, Feb 2021.

Perhaps the last word should be given to Alex himself, who's very much enjoying the new lease of life that his music with Sam is getting.

"As I write this we are trying to locate her, she's somewhere singing something, that's all she ever did. Thanks for being part of my life Sam and I am so glad that this small bit of that time is being remembered." Alex Boyesen, Feb 2021.

Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriter’s fi@h solo effort,
draws from the deep well of that city’s ferCle 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground,
mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond.
Walker spent his formaCve years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folkrock
troubadour mode, it makes sense that he’s arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences disClling into something
original and unusual. To put it simply: Course In Fable is Walker’s best record yet, full of acCve imaginaCon and endless possibiliCes.
Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEn:re, Course In Fable’s producer/engineer/
mixer, can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O’Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now
spans more than three decades. Seeing his name in an album’s liners is preVy much a trademark of quality.
Another Windy City exile, McEnCre is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he’s dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs
here, he delivers the signature shimmering and prisCne sonics he’s become known for over the years. But McEnCre was also inCmately involved with Course
In Fable’s overall creaCve process. “I told him to take the mixes and have at it,” Walker says.
The result is a rich, immersive affair — a headphones record if ever there was one. Course In Fable’s songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas
(Walker half-jokingly calls it his “prog record”). But no maVer how complex it gets, the album is never overwhelmingly busy. Wiry guitars melt into gorgeous
string secCons (arranged by Douglas Jenkins of the Portland Cello Project). Tricky Cme signatures abound but feel as natural as can be. Melodies o@en dri@ in
unexpected direcCons but remain downright hummable. Like Walker’s beloved Genesis, the pop element is never too far from the surface even when shit
gets weird. (And speaking of weird, Ryley says that in addiCon to Genesis, much of the album’s inspiraCon comes from “Australian extreme scooter riders on
YouTube and balding gear heads on Craigslist.” Go figure.)
To help put together these various puzzle pieces, Ryley assembled a band made up of several longCme collaborators. Bill MacKay (another Chicago mainstay)
and Walker have made two excellent instrumental duo records of interlocking guitars and warm give-and-take — a rapport very much in evidence
throughout Course In Fable. The freakishly talented drummer Ryan Jewell has performed with Walker for years now in a variety of seangs, from
straighborward song-centric sets to blown-out improv extravaganzas. Bassist Andrew ScoJ Young (Tiger Hatchery, Health&Beauty) has logged many miles on
tour with Walker; he and Jewell are frequently astonishing, a buoyant-but-always-locked-in rhythm secCon, able to navigate someCmes dizzying turnarounds
with apparent ease. Listening to the interplay between Walker and these musicians and you might be fooled into thinking they’d spent a year roadtesCng
Course In Fable’s songs. But it all came together relaCvely fast, thanks to demos, rehearsals and the kind of musical empathy that comes from years of
playing together.
Beneath the wondrous interplay, you’ll find some of Walker’s most personal – if sCll typically crypCc — lyrics, hinCng at some of the trials the songwriter has
been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humor and oddball poetry, Course In Fable feels most of all like a life-affirming
record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. “Fuck me, I’m alive,” Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy.
Walker has released his albums on a who’s-who of independent labels over the past decade — Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City
among them. This Cme around, he’s doing it DIY-style, puang Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You’re in good hands. This is an album that
sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you’ve
been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you’re in for a treat.

Toronto’s infamous psychedelic multimedia collective, Intersystems, make a surprise return with a new full-length LP, #IV. Coming via Waveshaper Media, #IV is Intersystems’ first new material since 1968! Intersystems’ pioneering avant/electronic music sounded positively alien in the 1960s, and more than 50 years later, this latest body of work sounds just as otherworldly.

When they arrived on the scene in the late 1960s, Intersystems stood out from their peers. Comprised of architect Dik Zander, light sculptor Michael Hayden, poet Blake Parker, and musician John Mills-Cockell (of Syrinx, Kensington Market and more), the group mounted groundbreaking pan-sensory events and released a trilogy of defiantly disorienting records.

Where more conventional purveyors of sonic psychedelia were content with fuzztone guitar and orientalist tropes, Intersystems managed to approximate the full psychedelic experience in all its euphoric wonder and terror. Initially wrangling homespun gadgetry, feverishly spliced-together tapes, and mutant beat poetry, Intersystems were also among the very first to deploy a Moog Synthesizer; their Moog modular system was the first to be imported into Canada. Intersystems’ three vinyl LP recordings, meanwhile, justifiably became coveted collector's items given their scarce quantity and singular unsettling vision.

The reissue of Intersystems’ full discography in 2015 prompted acclaim from a number of major outlets. Among them, PopMatters hailed the set as "one of those great lost recordings (three of 'em actually) that comes from the lysergic era..." Mills-Cockell’s work in Syrinx has also been reissued to great acclaim in recent years.

Fifty-plus years after their 1968 album Free Psychedelic Poster Inside, Hayden and Mills-Cockell decided to revive the long-dormant project with a series of sessions at Hamilton's storied Grant Avenue Studio. The resultant music remains remarkably congruent with the project's original vision while clearly emerging from the present moment. With original poet/lyricist Blake Parker now deceased, Hayden and Mills-Cockell made the counterintuitive (yet strangely apt) decision to render Parker's words electronically. As the computer-synthesized voice alternates between an eerily life-like delivery and slurred cybernetic faltering, it brings a new dystopian tint to the group's anxious surrealism. Taking cues from its predecessor, Free Psychedelic Poster Inside, a modular Moog Synthesizer system is the primary instrument, yet here it offers a dynamic blend of different sonorities: barbed wire basslines, Subotnickesque chirping, gestural plumes of colour and percussive filigree.

While the group cut their teeth in the 1960s, make no mistake these new Intersystems recordings aren't a “comeback" or an attempt to rehash the "good old days". What one hears instead is the sound of Mills-Cockell and Hayden re-energizing the project, bringing with them the myriad experience they’ve accumulated in the intervening 50 years. These aural concoctions—no less perplexing than their 1960s predecessors—build upon the Intersystems foundation but very decidedly reside in the present moment, reminding listeners of just how forward-looking this group was in the first place.

Over the past several years, the recorded output of Carl Stone has been turned on its head. In previous decades, Stone perennially toured new work but kept a harboring gulf of time between the live performances and their recorded release. This not only reflected the careful consideration of the pieces and technical innovations that went into the music but also the largely academic-minded audience that was themselves invested in the history and context of the work.



The time span of Stone's recorded output in both sheer musical duration and year range was generously expansive. Following multiple historical overviews of Stone's work on Unseen Worlds and a re-connection with a wider audience, the time between Stone's new work in concert and on record has grown shorter and shorter until there is now almost no distance at all. Stone's work has often at its core explored new potential within popular cultural musics, simultaneously unspooling and satisfying a pop craving.

On Stolen Car, the forms of Carl Stone's pieces have also become more compact, making for a progressive new stage in Stone's career where he is not only creating out of pop forms but challenging them. Stolen Car is the gleeful, heart racing sound of hijack, hotwire, and escape. Stone carries the easy smirk and confidence of a car thief just out of the can, a magician in a new town setting up a game of balls and cups. With each track he reaches under the steering wheel and yanks a fistful of wires. Boom, the engine roars to life, the car speeds off into the sunset, the cups are tipped over, the balls, like the car, are gone.

“At times it feels like Stone’s music is a secret decoder ring unlocking the in¬nite possibilities hidden within other recordings... deft manipulation and recreation of pop music’s emotional impact out of apparent chaos is a substantial part of what makes much of the music on Stolen Car the most fully realized of Stone’s career." - Jonathan Williger, Pitchfork, 7.8 Scored Review

"'Stolen Car,' by the sample-driven American composer Carl Stone — presents up-tempo found-melodies, pristinely rendered into fresh guises." - Seth Colter Walls, The New York Times

Over the past several years, the recorded output of Carl Stone has been turned on its head. In previous decades, Stone perennially toured new work but kept a harboring gulf of time between the live performances and their recorded release. This not only reflected the careful consideration of the pieces and technical innovations that went into the music but also the largely academic-minded audience that was themselves invested in the history and context of the work. The time span of Stone's recorded output in both sheer musical duration and year range was generously expansive. Following multiple historical overviews of Stone's work on Unseen Worlds and a re-connection with a wider audience, the time between Stone's new work in concert and on record has grown shorter and shorter until there is now almost no distance at all. Stone's work has often at its core explored new potential within popular cultural musics, simultaneously unspooling and satisfying a pop craving. On Stol en Car, the forms of Carl Stone's pieces have also become more compact, making for a progressive new stage in Stone's career where he is not only creating out of pop forms but challenging them. Stolen Car is the gleeful, heart racing sound of hijack, hotwire, and escape. Stone carries the easy smirk and confidence of a car thief just out of the can, a magician in a new town setting up a game of balls and cups. With each track he reaches under the steering wheel and yanks a fistful of wires. Boom, the engine roars to life, the car speeds off into the sunset, the cups are tipped over, the balls, like the car, are gone. "These tracks were all made in late 2019 and 2020, much of when I was in pandemic isolation about 5000 miles from my home base of Tokyo. All are made using my favorite programming language MAX. However distinct these two groupings might be they share some common and long-held musical concerns. I seek to explore the inner workings of the music we listen to using techniques of magnification, dissection, granulation,, anagramization, and others. I like to hijack the surface values of commercial music and re-purpose them offer a newer, different meaning, via irony and subversion." - Carl Stone, Los Angeles, September 2020

Possibly one of the weirdest experiment in the post-punk realm, Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One) is the second studio album by English anti-heroes Alternative TV, released in March 1979 on small indie label Deptford Fun City. Forget about the influential 1978 debut - The Image Has Cracked – frontman Mark Perry is literally leaving the planet in this effort. ‘There are free jazz influences; I'd got into the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra ..) I'd moved into this house with an amazing music room – pianos, clarinets, you name it – and we'd always be picking up stuff from junk shops.’ The description set the pace for a unique performance, not only the afro-american heritage , traces of the Canterbury school are almost evident as the early experiment of the BBC Radiophonic workshop. Is it safe to consider Vibing up The Senile Man on the same time-line as Robert Wyatt ‘The End Of An Ear’ and Throbbing Gristle ’20 Jazz Funk Greats’ (Genesis P-Orridge is on board on two tracks, playing assorted percussion) ? Judge by yourself and don’t be scared.