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We are happy to presend you some of the labels best releases back on vinyl! Starting with one of the most wanted produced by Roland Casper and Rob Acid from 1995! Re-mastered and highly recommended!

Still only 29 years old when composing and recording this album, Kjetil Mulelid is one of the brightest talents in Norwegian jazz, and these days that really says something. In Kjetil's childhood home they had a subscription for a "Classical Masterpieces" CD collection. One that especially caught his attention, and would be played repeatedly, included the most melodic piano music of Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. At the same time his elder brother introduced him to "old" rock like Led Zeppelin and Queen, winning him over and getting him interested in the guitar rather than the piano. When he later applied to music education in high school with electric guitar as his main instrument, the teachers asked if he played other instruments. He duly played a song on the piano, and heard nothing more of it. Months later, thinking he was enrolled as a guitarist, he was (to his horror) introduced to the class as a pianist. While he loved listening to classical piano music, playing it he felt tied up in the "rules" and the sheet music. It was simply more fun to play rock music on electric guitar_ surely a familiar story! Later a classically trained piano teacher played him some gospel and boogie woogie and introduced him to some simple pentatonic hooks on a C major blues. He hadn't really touched the piano in a very long time, but the same night he started experimenting and improvising around what she had shown him, and from that moment he was all into the piano and would dig further into improvisation and jazz. And the rest is history, as they say. Kjetil was sceptical when we first suggested a solo piano record back in early 2018, but the idéa slowly grew on him and when the pandemic exploded and other plans had to be scrapped, he suddenly had the time as well as the means to do it. So the bulk of the album was written in a hectic lockdown period and recorded on a steaming hot June day in the legendary Athletic Sound studio on their unique and characteristic Bösendorfer grand piano from 1919. Of the piano Kjetil says the sound is one of a kind, very clear and not typically "perfect" like most new ones. We can only wholeheartedly agree, it sounds great and is also very well recorded and mixed, giving the impression that you sit next to him, and not in a concert hall. In turn joyful, playful and elegant, the album fully shows Kjetil's harmonic and melodic mastery and the influence from those early introductions to the classical masters. Whether staying with the tune or taking off on improvised flights, there is an ease and assurance in his playing that betrays his young age.Kjetil has a bachelor degree in jazz performance from NTNU in Trondheim, has played in most European countries, Japan and USA, released two acclaimed albums with his trio on Rune Grammofon, and is also a member of Wako.

Calgary songwriter Chad VanGaalen’s new album, ‘World’s Most Stressed Out
Gardener’, is a psychedelic bumper crop. A collection of tunes that does away with
obsessiveness, the anxiety of perfectionism, in favour of freshness and immediacy -
capturing the world as it was met while recording alone at home over a period of
years. “Don’t overthink it,” VanGaalen told himself again and again, despite the
push/pull love/hate of his relationship with songwriting. “I’m always trying to get
outside of the song - but then I realize I love the song.”
This is a record that gleams with VanGaalen’s musical signatures: found sound,
reverb, polychromatic folk music that is by turns cartoonish and hyperphysical - like
ultra-magnified footage of a virus or a leaf. Apparently, the album began life as a
“pretty minimal” flute record. (There’s only a vestige now, on ‘Flute Peace’, one of
three instrumentals.) Later it became an electronic record “for a while” and finally,
“right at the last second,” it “turned into a pile of garbage.” The good kind of
garbage: glinting, useful, free. Music as compost - leaves and branches ready to be
re-ingested by the earth, turned into a flower.
Throughout these 40 minutes, VanGaalen floats from mania to solace to oblivion,
searching for zen in all the wrong places. “Turn up the radio / I think we’re dead,”
he sings on ‘Nothing Is Strange’; or, on the inside-out rocker ‘Nightmare Scenario’:
“You’re stressed out when you should be feeling very well.” The singer’s mental
landscape is rotting and redemptive, beautiful in spite of itself - and his soundscapes
reflect this fertile decay.
He has been influenced by his instrumental work on TV scores (Dream Corp’s third
season began this fall) but still “nothing can really replace the human voice,” he
admits. Like Arthur Russell or Syd Barrett, it’s VanGaalen’s vocals that shine a path
through the swampland - from the cello-lashed ‘Water Brother’ to ‘Starlight’’s
krautrock pipe-dream.
These days, VanGaalen cherishes the privacy of the studio, the capacity to wander
around, get distracted, and “move at the speed of life.” Whereas once he would
obsess over mic techniques, now he puts the microphone in the same place every
time - trying to capture a song quickly, the idea at its heart. He’ll act on his
infatuations - for the flute, a squeaky clarinet, his basement’s copper plumbing
(remade into xylophones for ‘Samurai Sword’) - and then he’ll try to get out, “veering
away from responsibility,” before he overdoes his stay.
In the end, it’s like gardening. You have to live with your horrible decision-making;
the weather’s going to mess with you if it wants to; and if you plant a hundred
heads of broccoli, “now you gotta eat a hundred heads of broccoli - or watch them
go to seed.” But mostly VanGaalen just tries to be a deer: “I remember seeing some
deer come out in the Okanagan Valley once,” he says, “watching them wait for a
sunbeam to hit a perfect bunch of grapes - and then eating them right out of the
sunbeam. I’d recommend that.”
Initial LP copies pressed on clear with gold, red and blue high melt coloured vinyl.

Back in 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC broadcast of Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange’s “Inventions For Radio: The Dreams”, The Eccentronic Research Council released their own super-limited edition cassette soundtracking the recalled dreams (and nightmares) of friends, artists, actors, musicians, scientists, poets and filmmakers. The release was called “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volume 1”. Five years on, and with a large part of the planet under lockdown and with nowhere to go but within their imagination, the ERC put a call out once again to music collaborators, nurses, teachers, truck drivers, writers, journalists and shop workers to upon waking, record their dreams straight into their phones and to then send them to the ERC to soundtrack. And thus, Volume 2 of The Dreamcatcher Tapes was born!

How did you make the album during lockdown?
“We got around 26 dreams sent to us via email over the space of a couple of weeks then Dean Honer my partner in The ERC and I revved up the old analogue equipment and would record music and collage sounds to the dreams (remotely) from our home recording studios and bounce them back and forth to each other till they were done. It was a really good way to work actually, sometimes I didn’t even have to put on any trousers!” says ERC/ Moonlandingz founder Adrian Flanagan. Why a second volume of The Dreamcatcher Tapes? “I was really interested to see how the enforced lockdown and the removal of people’s basic needs such as human contact and hanging out in close proximity to friends was affecting the dreams of my friends, peers and those at the very front line of this horrible pandemic”, Adrian continues. “The Important shared experiences for people’s mental health such as going out to gigs, the pub, the cinema etc. ”It was an interesting experiment. Nurses dreaming of inadequate PPE and having to use blow up Elvis costumes to protect themselves. Teachers dreaming of zombies and lots of people dreaming about sex - where the hair of Greek sorceress’s Circe meets bouncy castle breasts and where other dreamers dream of serial killers or seeing dead family members, or taking baby elephants for a walk, or having discos for one in the middle of the ocean and so much more. I’m really proud of this record. It’s psychedelic in its truest most cerebral form”

Who’s on “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2”? Who are the dreamers?
“Although our long time collaborator Maxine Peake wasn’t on the very first tape (her dream ended up on LTD edition split 7” ERC single we did with Pye Corner Audio) - she was the first dream that we soundtracked when I came up with the idea of doing the concept record. However, on the new vinyl and tape box set - she opens volume 1. Across the 2 volumes there’s film maker Carol Morley, Andy Votel from Finders Keepers records, John Doran from The Quietus (who also wrote the albums brilliant sleeve notes), acclaimed writers Benjamin Myers & Adelle Stripe, musicians such as Evangeline Ling from the group Audiobooks, Lias Saoudi from my ‘semi fictional band’, The Moonlandingz and fat white family, Sidonie from The Orielles, journalists /writers Wyndham Wallace (he wrote lee Hazelwood’s brilliant biography) and Daniel Dylan Wray amongst a whole array of musician friends, eccentrics and people with actual proper jobs!”

Why did you chose Castles in Space for this release?
“Jim Jupp at Ghost Box records suggested them to me so I looked into them and saw they were doing loads of really great strange little bespoke electronic record releases. I think that because this is a very niche limited run release, it required a label that was willing to treat it like a piece of art and not a throwaway mass produced commodity. So making sure the packaging was special, the artwork was bang on point and the sleeve notes were written by a writer we like all were very important to us. “It was also important that we could turn it around from the finished recording to being in people’s hands really quickly as Dean and I have another ten projects between us on the boil - and so far, Castles in Space have been true to their word. It’s an artists label done with love and there’s not many of them about anymore - believe it or not.“

“The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2” is an immense collaborative achievement which makes for a thoroughly compelling, and gloriously disorientating listening experience.

It is released as a double coloured vinyl LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve w/insert and a highly limited deluxe double cassette box set. The album is released on March 19th, 2021.

Repress

UK Hardcore Techno badman Dolphin back on PRSPCT XTRM with a killer 4 track audio violent onslaught.

Nature is dying, Trump is in office, The whole Brexit charade, Hong Kong is screwed and this is just a tip of that insanely high iceberg of bullsh** that keeps building up in this world.

Simple fact: C**ts Rule Everything Around us so the title of this EP is not just meant funny as an ode to one of the most legendary hip hop groups to ever live. We are dead serious here. Just look around you. C**nts everywhere for as far as the eye can see.

So blast these protest bangers hard and give those c**nts a super sonic hard as nails punch in the face.

Soft Cell’s 2002 reunion album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ is set for reissue in new expanded and remastered 2CD format, as well as being released on vinyl for the very first time.

Long regarded by many fans as an overlooked masterpiece, the album features a lyrical outlook that was as true to Soft Cell’s maturity and perspective back in 2002 as it is relevant and accurate to the world situation in 2020. Harshly honest, fatalistic and bleakly humorous, Cruelty Without Beauty also preserves the band’s highly distinctive and edgy sound, and stands alongside their greatest work.

The new 2020 version includes tracks originally destined for the album, but for various reasons not on the final cut. It also includes brand new 2020 versions of album highlights Monoculture, Together Alone, Darker Times and Last Chance, updated this year by Dave Ball. Also included are a number of unreleased live versions of album tracks, plus rare remixes.

Cruelty WithoutBeauty, Soft Cell’s fourth studio album, and the first since their original split in 1984, happened after Marc Almond and Dave Ball reunited in the studio after Dave’s ‘other’ band The Grid (with Richard Norris). They worked with Marc on some tracks from his 1991 Tenement Symphony album, which eventually opened the door for some live Soft Cell dates and areunion in 2001. As well as this album release in 2002, the band toured thealbum extensively in the UK, and across Europe and the US, including many festival appearances throughout 2002 and 2003.

The album includes the singles Monoculture and a cover of Frankie Valli & The Four Season’s classic The Night, which became the band’s first Top 40 hit since since 1984.

Most recently in 2018, Soft Cell sold out London’s O2 Arena and were the subject of a career retrospective BBC documentary. They have recently signed to BMG and are currently recording a brand-new album, set for release in 2021. Before then, all of their classic Phonogram-era albums will be reissued in new expanded editions via Universal Music.

Marc Almond commented at the time of the album release ‘I always felt it was an unfinished story, and I’m glad we’re able to write another chapter’.

Dave Ball also commented ‘As soon as we work together, we become Soft Cell, you know’. I don’t know what the magic element is, but it just seems to be there’.

They Say: “Exploring the wide range of moods and sounds produced by percussion”.

We say: MPCs at the ready because this does exactly what it says on the tin, to devastating effect. Oh, and the sleeve is stunning.

Originally released in 1979, Percussion Spectrum was produced by the legendary percussionists Barry Morgan and Ray Cooper. With dope beats taking in diverse styles, from funk and soul and jazz through to Latin, Brazilian, samba and Afro-Cuban, this is an amazing sample source filled with killer drum-breaks and percussion flares. Unsurprisingly it’s one of the most sought-after records from the Themes catalogue.

This library LP is a library in itself, with its mix of short themes of single beats, short breaks and some longer, more fully-formed DJ-friendly tracks. Trust us when we say that this is a box full of percussion firework ready to be thrown onto the dancefloor at the just right moment. We don’t have anywhere near enough space to describe all 34 tracks (there isn’t even enough room on the labels to list them all!) so we’ll pick out some favourites.

Favourites like opener “Impulsion”, a percussive masterclass with drum upon drum upon drum making it feel like a neat prototype to the percussive underscores of Peter Lüdemann and Pit Troja’s eternal The Now Generation LP. And the dramatic “Fast Action” is exactly that, racing along on a rapid roll of congas, cymbal crashes and throbbing kicks. “The Chaser” is classic library cop-funk with dilapidated drum figures, and the outrageously funky “Heat On” is the perfect accompaniment to your wild action sequences.

A real highlight is “Runaway”, and not just because it sounds like nothing else on the record. Here are drums and percussion in that tight funk style that just cries out to be sampled. “Percussion Power” is an extended, near-three minute suite of funky drum solo after funky drum solo that just aches to be looped: open drums to die for people! “Shivers” is a tense, apprehensive underscore with shock stabs that builds to a climax whilst “Drums On Parade” is a showcase of head-nod drums and cymbals in march time. Did someone say “funky”?

Side B starts with a stroll down “Samba Street”. With the noise of the crowd in the background, this is riotous, authentically drawn samba that sounds like it’s been beamed straight in from Rio in full flow. Drop this at midnight and watch the cobwebs fly off any dancefloor. Prefer it without the fake crowd? “Samba Street (b)” has you covered.

The simple, innocent “Child’s Themes” (all five of them) provide a nice, sweet respite from all the funk. Nursery sounds tinged with only a touch of melancholy. The gentle marimba solo of “Tropical Peace” only adds to the sense of serenity we get from the relatively calm second side. The album closes out with a veritable toolkit of tom toms, snare drum rolls, timpani, vibraphones and chiming bells.

Percussion Spectrum is a joyous collection of sounds, as bright, beaming and downright funky as the vibrant cover. The Themes series is known for each record having its own particularly striking sleeve, which was unusual for library records at the time, and Percussion Spectrums’s multi-coloured drumsticks make for one of the most eye-catching.

As with all of our other Themes re-issues, the audio for Percussion Spectrum comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. As usual Richard Robinson has taken the same care with restoring the original sleeve from archive scans. This is another one ticked off the list of library records that should be out there for anyone who wants a copy.

They Say: “Contemporary scores for visual effect”.

We say: Synth-heavy, low-slung space-funk masterpiece.

The creator of the romping tunes that became the iconic themes to the BBC’s Grandstand programme and their televised Wimbledon Tennis Championship coverage, Keith Mansfield was perhaps KPM’s most prolific artist from the mid 1960s right the way through the 1980s. As well as the sort of pop orchestral sound that is all over these classic library records, he could also turn his hand to raw, edgy rock and funk. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, going as far as including some of Keith’s work on the soundtracks to Kill Bill and Grindhouse.

This is it. This is THE ONE for us: Keith “The Man” Mansfield’s Vivid Underscores from 1977. A sample freak’s wet dream and one of Be With Rob’s favourite ever KPM records. A must for fans of Brian Bennett’s Voyage (yes, THAT good). And no, we’ve no idea either why it took us this long to get round to tackling this monster of a record. But then again some things are worth waiting for.

Attention! Calling all crate diggers, DJs, beat heads, Hip Hop junkies, MF DOOM fans! Behold! Vivid Underscores makes sampling easy. Prepare to be up all night, every night, chopping, looping and splicing these endless grooves and spacey synths. The highlights are too many and too mind-blowing so we’ll pull out a few particular highlights. Trust us, this library LP is just jaw-dropping.

“High Velocity” sets the tone with its aggressive horns, wah-wah guitars, funky baseline and wobbly synth refrain. So good and so hypnotic that Memphis Bleek just had to swipe the ominous, frazzled intro for “What You Think of That” featuring Jay-Z. Also, for real drama, the 1985 Lakers retrospective “Return to Glory” used it to soundtrack the footage from the legendary game five of the NBA finals at the Forum. Heady days. “Crash Course” - Stetsasonic horn refrain? Beautiful - jazzy chase-funk, amazing warm keys, percussion and funky horns - all action.

The more restrained “Matter Of Urgency” is an utterly amazing, brass-heavy underscore. The grandiose, uplifting “Dawn Of Aquarius” still sounds like the future with its tense, thundering drums, killer bassline and swirling synths. Version II loses the drums and percussion but is no less startling. “Staying Power” closes the first side with a relentless, pounding groove which *will* snap your neck. Be warned.

“Trucking Company” is a pacey, synth-and-string masterpiece and its accompanying parts (a–c) mess with the formula to great effect. Part (a) adds echo delay to really dazzle and part (c) plays the breezy, beautiful middle section without the tension. “Hot Cargo” and “Espionage” are both tense spy-funk themes par excellence. “Interplay” is a quiet killer, with flutes over a glistening piano refrain just waiting to be looped. The intro to the menacing “Omen” might’ve been sampled by 7L & Esoteric for their classic “So Glorious” but the entire 5 minute track is a mini-drama masterpiece, one only Mansfield could create.

Even though its a mix of short themes in-and-amongst longer, full-length tracks, Vivid Underscores is still thoroughly listenable from start to finish. That’s not something that can be said of all library records and it still manages to serve as rich resource to keep even the keenest samplers busy for a while.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Vivid Underscores comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand ident

They Say: “New directions in contemporary scoring”.

We say: Contempo is one of the best full album listens in the KPM 1000 library. Succinct smoking soul, super tight breaks and string-drenched sleaze composed by the library master, Keith Mansfield.

The creator of the romping tunes that became the iconic themes to the BBC’s Grandstand programme and their televised Wimbledon Tennis Championship coverage, Keith Mansfield was perhaps KPM’s most prolific artist from the mid 1960s right the way through the 1980s. As well as the sort of pop orchestral sound that is all over these classic library records, he could also turn his hand to raw, edgy rock and funk. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, going as far as including some of Keith’s work on the soundtracks to Kill Bill and Grindhouse.

Many library records are a game of two halves and Contempo is certainly one of those. The first side cooks on a high funk breaks flame whilst the flip is something altogether more tranquil, yet no less groovy. It lays back with dreamier, post-coital grooves.

Rugged funk opener “The Fix” confidently displays its low slung languid grooves with heavy drums, horns and bass. Smokin’ in slow motion. The punchy “What’s Cooking” follows and has a lighter, more whimsical touch. But the drums still roll and the clavs wiggle in fascinating opposition to those horns. The dark and moody intro to “Cut To Music” gives way to a more inclusive, relaxed funk that’s all irresistible bass and stabbing horns. The mid-tempo “Man Alive” signals the time to really get down. A percussive monster jam. If you can’t strut to this then we really can’t help you! Closing out the A side, fresh guitar licks drip all over the slick drums of “Funky Footage”, with a New Orleans piano vibe coming on to really light a fire.

Whilst the dramatic crime funk of the A side is enough on its own to have earned this record its place in the great library record canon, it’s undoubtedly the more smoothed out B side for which Contempo is rightfully adored and celebrated. It’s so chilled and mellow, with beautifully arranged, sweeping strings, sax solos aplenty and a real 70s soundtrack feel. Think Love Boat, CTI label, Bob James, Grover Washington Jr.-type jams.

The super sleek and sexy jazz funk of “Breezin’” is as light and magical as you’d hope. An open-air masterpiece, its indulgent sound is just a taster of the sophisticated funk to follow. The elegant, romantic feels of “Good Vibrations” (used brilliantly by Odd Future’s Mike G for “Swiss Army”) is a string-drenched, wah-wah fuelled ode to living your best life. Nonchalantly. Whilst it keeps a very West Coast feel, the blaxploitation strut is certainly more Blackbyrds than Brian Wilson. “Sun Goddess” will blow your mind with the sensuous sound of glorious horns and beautiful keys. The luxurious “Love De Luxe” and its horizontal grooves have been much sampled, but here it proves that it doesn’t need any help to get you in an intimate mood. Closer “Snake Hips” is a cool mid-pace slouch. Just divine.

Originally released in 1976 but, like the very best KPM records, wonderfully timeless, Contempo is also no mere LP-length collection of loosely related tracks. This is a rare example of a library record that is a genuinely great listen from start to finish.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Contempo comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.
: Contempo (KPM) (LP)

Mwandishi: one of the most influential combos in the history of electric Jazz. This is Herbie Hancock's creature caught live at the Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival in France on July 21st, 1971. H. Hancock - piano and Fender Rhodes, Bennie Maupin - saxes, bass cl. and flute, Eddie Henderson - trumpet, Julian Priester - trombone, Buster Williams - bass and Billy Hart - drums. A highly progressive form of modern Jazz based on the mix of different elements. Some sort of Afro-Electric-Funk sound journey where waves of multiple pulsating sounds develop in a continuous alternation between tension and release. A marvelous band for which live performances often show more than studio recordings.

Overview:
British hard-rock heroes, Thunder, release their 13th studio album ‘All The Right Noises’ on 12th March 2020. The album is a return to the full-throttle sound of Thunder that has seen them create a hugely successful 30+ year career at the forefront of British rock, all built around the lifelong friendship of vocalist extraordinaire Danny Bowes and songwriting genius and guitarist Luke Morley. ‘All The Right Noises’ is an intense confection of illicit charms that reasserts their authority as the number one band in the land. Recorded in the months leading up to the first Covid-19 lockdown, it was originally due for release in September 2020. Strange to reflect then on how much of the new material appears to address the challenging new world we now inhabit. On the album, Luke says “ All the songs were written and recorded pre-Covid. But it is interesting how if you look at some of the tracks through the prism of Covid they still make a
lot of sense.” The volcanic lead single from the album, ‘Last One Out Turn Off The Lights’ could easily be mistaken for world-ending lockdown rage. But, says Luke, “That was directly about Brexit, but you could apply it to everything else.” The track is indicative of both the ferocity and message of the album as a whole, with subjects tackled including depression, mental health, and diversity

‘All The Right Noises’ follows on from 2019’s stripped back and reimagined album, ‘Please Remain Seated’ which continued their consecutive Top 10 UK Album Chart run since their ecstatically received comeback six years ago. It is another chapter in the band’s incredibly successful history that has seen them create a succession of some of the most highly-regarded rock albums of the past 30 years. The key to their renown: brilliantly conceived top-drawer material. Thunder is the last of the true British rock giants.

Overview:
British hard-rock heroes, Thunder, release their 13th studio album ‘All The Right Noises’ on 12th March 2020. The album is a return to the full-throttle sound of Thunder that has seen them create a hugely successful 30+ year career at the forefront of British rock, all built around the lifelong friendship of vocalist extraordinaire Danny Bowes and songwriting genius and guitarist Luke Morley. ‘All The Right Noises’ is an intense confection of illicit charms that reasserts their authority as the number one band in the land. Recorded in the months leading up to the first Covid-19 lockdown, it was originally due for release in September 2020. Strange to reflect then on how much of the new material appears to address the challenging new world we now inhabit. On the album, Luke says “ All the songs were written and recorded pre-Covid. But it is interesting how if you look at some of the tracks through the prism of Covid they still make a
lot of sense.” The volcanic lead single from the album, ‘Last One Out Turn Off The Lights’ could easily be mistaken for world-ending lockdown rage. But, says Luke, “That was directly about Brexit, but you could apply it to everything else.” The track is indicative of both the ferocity and message of the album as a whole, with subjects tackled including depression, mental health, and diversity

‘All The Right Noises’ follows on from 2019’s stripped back and reimagined album, ‘Please Remain Seated’ which continued their consecutive Top 10 UK Album Chart run since their ecstatically received comeback six years ago. It is another chapter in the band’s incredibly successful history that has seen them create a succession of some of the most highly-regarded rock albums of the past 30 years. The key to their renown: brilliantly conceived top-drawer material. Thunder is the last of the true British rock giants.

Lingering at the remains of a campfire before dawn, with the politics of the personal burnt into ash, running his stick through what’s left, Wand singer/guitarist Cory Hanson is reflecting on a series of moments in which he steps farther into himself, finding the ultimate big sky country on the inside of his skull. It’s a combination of songs and sounds that journey
through bleak and broken territory and places of sweet, lush remove and it adds up to the best record he’s been involved in yet: his second solo album, ‘Pale Horse Rider’.

 Cory’s first solo, ‘The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo’, was an intense affair, a grand experiment that produced inspiring,
nconventional music - but this time around, he wanted to breathe a bit easier, to feel that breath in the music as well. So he and his band drove out to the desert to record in a lowstress environment: Brian Harris’ Cactopia, a house surrounded by 6ft tall sculptural psychotropic cacti. They built a studio inside and then they made music and lived off pots of coffee and chili and cases of Miller High Life as they played guitars, bass, keyboards and drums in what seemed increasingly like a living biomech, their tech made out of fungal networks and cacti needles.

 It was loose and flowed onto tape well. Recorded by Robbie Cody and Zac Hernandez (who assisted on Wand’s ‘Laughing Matter’), the sounds were great from the get-go. First takes were mostly best takes. Fuelled with DNA lifted from country-rock cut with native psych and prog strands, Cory guided his craft toward the cosmic side of the highway, a benevolent alien in ambient fields hazy with heat and synths, early morning fog and space echo spreading the harmonies wide.

 ‘Pale Horse Rider’’s got a lot to get out of its mind, looking around and seeing that, on the surface, things don’t always look like much. A lifelong Californian, Cory’s naturally found himself standing to the left of most of the
country. The west may be only what you make it; these days, the roadside view looks exceptionally sunbleached and left behind. ‘Pale Horse Rider’ eyes the city, the country and the fragile environment that holds them both in its hands - a record as much about Los Angeles as it can be with its back to the town and the sun in its eyes; as much about
ostalgia as new music can be with the apocalypse over the next rise.

 On ‘Pale Horse Rider’, Cory Hanson moves ceaselessly forward. The old myths weave and waft, the shadows of tombstones flickering in the mirages and the light that lies dead ahead.

Lingering at the remains of a campfire before dawn, with the politics of the personal burnt into ash, running his stick through what’s left, Wand singer/guitarist Cory Hanson is reflecting on a series of moments in which he steps farther into himself, finding the ultimate big sky country on the inside of his skull. It’s a combination of songs and sounds that journey
through bleak and broken territory and places of sweet, lush remove and it adds up to the best record he’s been involved in yet: his second solo album, ‘Pale Horse Rider’.

 Cory’s first solo, ‘The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo’, was an intense affair, a grand experiment that produced inspiring,
nconventional music - but this time around, he wanted to breathe a bit easier, to feel that breath in the music as well. So he and his band drove out to the desert to record in a lowstress environment: Brian Harris’ Cactopia, a house surrounded by 6ft tall sculptural psychotropic cacti. They built a studio inside and then they made music and lived off pots of coffee and chili and cases of Miller High Life as they played guitars, bass, keyboards and drums in what seemed increasingly like a living biomech, their tech made out of fungal networks and cacti needles.

 It was loose and flowed onto tape well. Recorded by Robbie Cody and Zac Hernandez (who assisted on Wand’s ‘Laughing Matter’), the sounds were great from the get-go. First takes were mostly best takes. Fuelled with DNA lifted from country-rock cut with native psych and prog strands, Cory guided his craft toward the cosmic side of the highway, a benevolent alien in ambient fields hazy with heat and synths, early morning fog and space echo spreading the harmonies wide.

 ‘Pale Horse Rider’’s got a lot to get out of its mind, looking around and seeing that, on the surface, things don’t always look like much. A lifelong Californian, Cory’s naturally found himself standing to the left of most of the
country. The west may be only what you make it; these days, the roadside view looks exceptionally sunbleached and left behind. ‘Pale Horse Rider’ eyes the city, the country and the fragile environment that holds them both in its hands - a record as much about Los Angeles as it can be with its back to the town and the sun in its eyes; as much about
ostalgia as new music can be with the apocalypse over the next rise.

 On ‘Pale Horse Rider’, Cory Hanson moves ceaselessly forward. The old myths weave and waft, the shadows of tombstones flickering in the mirages and the light that lies dead ahead.

With XXI Century remastering: "La Ventana" (1973) by Los Jaivas is released now on vinyl format for the very first time. Los Jaivas has often been considered one of the most important rock bands in Chile and South America. This influential Chilean band formed in 1963 mixes psychedelic rock and progressive rock with Latin American folk instruments and rhythms. In this album Los Jaivas shows many different artistic facets from improvisation and song writing to the first steps of symphonic creation. "La Ventana" version 2020, is the first work of a series to rescue the musical heritage of the band, which includes the search for archival material saved for years and the reissue of other historical titles of Los Jaivas. More info: Finally available on vinyl, 47 years after its original release on the Chilean label IRT, here it is Los Jaivas' "La Ventana", the iconic album that includes the anthems 'Todos juntos' and 'Mira niñita'. Original master tapes have been used for this reissue, following the reels find at the IRT vaults after years unavailable. State of the art technology has also been used to guarantee a top-quality remastered sound that shows music details barely noticeable in the original pressing. The artwork restoration process has been undertaken by Martín Uribe, a member of the band's team, with great attention to detail, by using several copies of the original issue. According to Felipe Domínguez (Al Albordaje Muchachos SPA), supervisor of this reissue project, "we aimed to publish a top-quality release, improving on previous rather average reissue editions. So, when we opened the box containing the tapes of "la Ventana" and found the reels with all the annotations made at the time, we knew we would be able to make a difference." This is the first in a series of various projects that will make the musical heritage of Los Jaivas available again, including recordings that have remained archived for years and the reissue of other historical titles of the band. This is the aim of the Los Jaivas Cultural Foundation: "to pass on its experience to new generations, along with encouraging a love for music without distinction of race, faith, political color or gender", highlights Mario Mutis, bassist and vocalist of the band. This 2020 reissue is presented in its original artwork and complete tracklist.

Hot on the heels of last year’s drone masterpiece, The Free Territory (FTR 457), comes this hot bowl of noodles from Manchester’s most elegantly wasted quintet. And while there might be apt comparisons to be made to some of the best current psych purveyors, the central thrill provided by these sounds makes me think of naught but prime Bay Area ballroom scene acid spew.

The guitar lines unspool like electrical cables filled with acid punch, and remain crackling in the air for moments longer than you imagine they can remain afloat. The keys have a bit of a German overtone, but it’s the same sort of one that led to the flash of Popol Vuh’s United Artist albums (which are themselves, at heart, paeans to the Bay.) The sound here is the sort of thing true believers recall as the highest moments of Man in live concert flight. Raging, raving guitars to soak your soul once and for all.

Don’t fear the downpour. Revel in it.
-Byron Coley, 2020

As darkness falls, once familiar territory is rendered alien and foreboding; full of weird and terrifying possibilities. These are Night Lands.
Recorded live in the rehearsal room last December, the newly expanded 4 piece Dead Sea Apes lock into spooky nocturnal grooves, augmented by Nik Rayne (The Myrrors) who was over in the UK for the recording of 'Night Lands'

Night Lands is comprised of 3 off-the-cuff improvised pieces, where Dead Sea Apes effortlessly mind meld with Rayne. Taking for a deep knowledge and love which you can hear seep through - At times Amon Duul (both!) at others times Earth with touches of what you imagine the Velvet Underground sounded like in the DOM - all touched with the presence of Bo Anders Persson

Cathal Coughlan is the co-founder and singer of acclaimed 80s/90s pop-rock groups Microdisney and Fatima Mansions, and widely considered to be one of Ireland's most revered singer/songwriters, beloved by fans of caustic literate music in the vein of Wilco, Robert Forster and Mark Eitzel. He's released four acclaimed solo albums and this will be his first new music in 10 years. Features and reviews already set for Mojo and The Wire and expect plentiful support from BBC6 Music. Enclosed in a stunning sleeve by award-winning Bruce Brand (The Darkness and White Stripes) with a focus image portrait by outsider artist Cristabel Christo. The new record not only has his usual backing musicians, The Necropolitan String Quartet, but also Luke Haines (Auteurs/Black Box Recorder), Sean O'Hagan (Microdisney/High Llamas), Rhodri Marsden (Scritti Politti) , Aindrías O Gruama (Fatima Mansions), Cory Gray (The Delines) and Dublin singer-songwriter Eileen Gogan.. Loosely conceptual, and based around the persona of Co-Aklan, the LP is melodic and inventive. Twelve fabulous new songs; three will have videos from Marry Waterson and Andy Golding of the Wolfhounds. "Coughlan's intelligence and passion are a rebuke to a vapid music industry, his chronicles of disaffection and disgust an inspiration." - David Peschek, The Guardian

The American rock/metal band Alter Bridge released their third album AB III in 2009. It was a new venture in which they combined progressive metal and hard rock. The album received acclaim from many music critics. Rob Laing from MusicRadar called it “one of the guitar albums of the year” and Rick Florino from Artistdirect gave the record a perfect 5 out of 5 score and said “it’s a sprawling masterpiece that illuminates just how brilliant this band truly is”. “Isolation”, the band’s most successful single to date, is one of the many highlights the band recorded for this album. It doesn’t matter if you like to call it a metal or a hard rock album, because it’s the music that speaks for itself.

Alter Bridge was formed by Creed bandmembers Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall. They recruited vocalist Myles Kennedy, and have since released five albums, all of which charted in both the UK as well as the US charts.

One of the most highly regarded modern Brazilian jazz trios, Caixa Cubo announce ‘Angela’, their latest album and first to be licensed for European release by Heavenly Recordings.

 ‘Angela’, their Seventh since forming in 2007, was named as one of 6 Music’s Recommends Albums Of 2020 (Presenter Picks), chosen by DJ Huey Morgan. The single ‘Palavras’ is currently on the 6 Music playlist. Heavenly Recordings picked up on the record when DJ Giles Peterson played ‘Palavras’ on his show.

 Recorded in December 2018, the album features the singer Zé Leônidas on ‘Palavras’ and includes arrangements of songs like ‘Baião Malandro’ by Egberto Gismonti and ‘Dark Prince’ by Geri Allen, in addition to the group’s original compositions.

 Made up of Henrique Gomide (keys), João Fideles (drums) and Noa Stroeter (bass), the trio have split their time between Brazil and Europe in recent years, having been awarded scholarships to study at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Netherlands.

 They have performed at many respected European venues and festivals including Jazz à Vienne Festival (France), Anton Philip Hall (The Hague), A-Trane (Berlin), Riverboat Festival (Denmark) and others in Paris, Brussels, London, Birmingham, Lisbon and Rotterdam. They also performed in Maputo, Mozambique, as well as renowned venues in Brazil, mainly in Sao Paulo (Auditório Ibirapuera and SESC Consolação, Museu da Casa Brasileira).

Ståle Storlokken - Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, grand piano, Eminent 310, Mellotron, Continuum Nikolai Hængsle - Electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars Torstein Lofthus - Drums, percussion. After a solid run of five studio albums and 2019's two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect Arrival Of The New Elders comes as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, don't let the self-ironic (?) title mislead you, they are as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, with the longest track clocking in around the seven minute mark. Rather short, by their standards.Having built a solid live reputation even before their brilliant 2008 debut Dodovoodoo, the trio boasts what is probably the strongest rhythm section in Norway, complemented with keyboard magician extraordinaire, the one and only Ståle Storlokken. And boy, does he excel himself on this album, notably with more focus on the Rhodes than before. That said, this is nothing if not another strong group effort from what has been a very tight unit straight from the outset. Seven brand new compositions from Storlokken and one from Hængsle make way for what we consider to be their finest and most cohesive album to date. Arrival Of The New Elders was recorded by trusted stalwart Christian Engfelt, with early Dungen producer Mattias Glavå handling the mixing duties.Ståle started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the 90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He's also a member of Moster! and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint and Band Of Gold and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby.

LP Ltd edition GOLD vinyl, DL card (First pressing 500 copies only). New album from brothers John and Michael Gibbons, the guitarists from psychedelic drone legends, Bardo Pond. A "heavy ambient" instrumental masterpiece that explores the symbiotic relationship of the duo as they build and dismantle sounds on a unique ethereal trip. A full-length follow up to 'Joint Chiefs' from 2006, 'Celestial Scuzz' is a monumental sound piece created from hours of jam sessions and crafted into a cohesive mind-blowing trip. The result has a heavy ambience, like Eno locked in a dark room with Sunn-O))))) rehearsing next door. While Bardo Pond's trajectory takes them deep into rock music's ever-imploding sound, the brothers Gibbons surf a more ethereal and eclectic plain; from a heady and consuming space, a "sanctuary; balm for the soul." Describing the writing process, Michael Gibbons explains it as "a kind of spiritual experience. Most of the time it leaves us stunned; the more stunned we are the better the jam." // Bardo Pond: "One of underground rock's most extraordinary enigmas." The Quietus // "An exquisite and enjoyable side trip into harmonious interstellar regions with stripped down instrumentation, they drift into shimmering passages of temporal displacement." Brainwashed

Andrew Kötting is one of the UK’s most highly regarded film makers, having worked on films such as ‘Gallivant’ (1996), ‘Swansdown’ (2012), ‘Edith Walks’ (2017) and many more. His new film, ‘The Whalebone Box’, was released in 2019. The soundtrack is composed by Andrew Kötting, Riz Maslen (Grand Theft Auto, Neotropic, Small Fish With Spine) and Oliver Cherer (Gilroy Mere, Dollboy).
For the soundtrack to ‘The Whalebone Box’, Kötting used various pieces of music by Dollboy,
The Assistant and musician Riz Maslen among others. Kötting chopped, processed and repurposed the songs for the film’s soundtrack, described as “a gentle, savage, unnerving warm bath of noise, music and references that is an integral part of the film and as much Andrew as it is the original tracks.”
The tracks were then remixed again by Cherer and Maslen for this 2LP release on Invada Records.
Pressed on ‘One Disc Green, One Disc Blue’ coloured vinyl and housed in a deluxe spinedsleeve with printed insert included.

Bobby Would LP#2. Wistful waltztime psychobeat for warding off / wallowing in the 2020-21 Weltschmerz. Swelling and smearing the vision of 2018’s skeletal rock’n’roll heartbreaker Baby, most of the songs here are ballads – minimalist, ultra-hypnotic but lavishly melodic space-punk lullabies and bright, bruised expressions of jingle-jangle mourning. Highs, lows and heavenly blows. BW’s guitar is, more than ever, a thing of fearsome and filigree beauty, moving effortlessly from misty, mellifluous DIY pop-dreams to wailing vertiginous whiplash leads and dazed, epiphanic, angels-wept metha-drone, ringing in infinity - and tethered to this earth only by his beloved monotone, numbed-out, serial-killer croon. Spinning in its own orbit, but with recognisable dabs - perhaps - of Phantom Payn / JG39, Les Rallizes Denudes, Gary War, Peter Gutteridge’s Pure...and of course Bobby’s own work in Heavy Metal and Itchy Bugger.

* The Menahan Street Band includes members of The Roots, Budos Band, Lee Fields and The Expressions and The Dap-Kings...an all star Brooklyn line up!

* First album in 9 years.

*LPs are In gatefold sleeve and contain download code.

* MSB tracks have been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats; their music has been sampled by the likes of Eminem, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Curren$y, to name a few.

Menahan Street Band, a veritable supergroup of some of today's most prolific songwriters, arrangers, and producers return with this beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece.

Their unique brand of instrumental soul has not only been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats, it has also become the perennial soundtrack and veritable vibe-generator for countless parties, art shows, and restaurants throughout NYC and abroad.

While this album carries the aesthetic torch that MSB has skillfully woven into the tapestry of their DNA, it also delves deeper into the experimental, exotic sounds that fill many of the coveted Sound Library and Soundtrack LPs of the late sixties and early seventies - an amalgamation of moog synths, electric pianos, drum machines, and a bevy of analog instrumentation, that ebb and flow in lush swells of Morriconian grandeur.

The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries - ‘Suns Out Guns Out’ Over the course of two prior releases — 2010’s ‘In The Pond’ (Sickroom) and 2013’s ‘Mass Grave’ (Kiam) — The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries quietly carved out a high-IQ corner of the U.S. rock underground reserved for taut, deathly catchy songs that showcased deft (if get-to-the-point) instrumentation. That the band have been kinda/sorta under the collective radar has more to do with their being otherwise occupied (more on that in a minute) than a lack of artistic ambition; they’ve slayed before and after a long break, they’re back to slay again. So you’re wondering, what could possibly take precedence in real life terms over playing in a band this awesome? Much as I hate to compare and contrast, part of the dilemma is that the principals of The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries — commonly referred to by their fans as “the Fuckin’ Ferries”, “The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries” by everyone else --- are in too many awesome bands already. Guitarist/vocalist Elisha Wiesner has previously set the world on fire with the Massachusetts sextet Kahoots and earlier this year released a 63 song (!) digital masterclass in songwriting under the John Pancake nom de plume. Drummer/vocalist Chris Brokaw has previously pounded on things for heavyweights including but not limited to Codeine, The New Year and Obnox, though there’s a fair chance you’ve also heard his guitar/vocal performances, both solo and with Come (as well as an impossibly long list of contributions to the likes of The Lemonheads, Dirtmusic, Thurston Moore, Consonant and more). Bassist/vocalist Bob Weston is internationally renowned for his sternum-crushing work on behalf of Shellac, Volcano Suns and sound manipulation tactics for Mission Of Burma (I’ve not heard any of the above, but I’m told they’re all “ok, if you’re into that sort of thing”) Add to this workload the tiny matter of the 3 players having spent most of the last 7 years living in 3 different time zones, it’s nothing short of a miracle the 3rd and finest Martha’s Vineyard Ferries album could pass for the sustained effort of 3 men who’ve been locked up together all this time, writing and recording a powerful statement to rival anything in their collective catalogs (I’m thinking of a scenario kind of like “The Lighthouse”, except there’s 3 men instead of two and there’s more guitars than birds, but maybe the occasional bird, as you tend to get a few of them near the water).

With North Star, Viking Metal pioneers EINHERJER release their eighth studio album on February 26, 2021, proving their status as the pioneers of blending Nordic Black Metal and Folk Metal genres once again. The album marks the band’s return to Napalm Records after 25 years, and their release of the legendary Dragons Of The North album (1996). The Norwegian metal outfit remains musically true to themselves and reinforces their exceptional position. North Star was recorded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic at the in-house Studio Borealis, owned by founding member and mastermind Frode Glesnes. The raw production ties in seamlessly with its predecessor Norrøne Spor and makes North Star probably the most powerful EINHERJER album to date! North Star is EINHERJER's musical mission towards something bigger - the search for guidance by the North Star in a constantly changing world that is searching for stability. The album’s opener, "The Blood And The Iron", peppered with uncompromising double-bass thunderstorms, pulls the listener in from the very first second, while "Stars" stomps through atmospheric soundscapes with dark chords. "West Coast Groove" underlines EINHERJER's technical songwriting sophistication with finest guitar solos. North Star will be available in black, blue/white inkspot and limited gold vinyl editions (gold limited to 300 copies). Founded in Norway in 1993, the band has significantly influenced the way of Viking Metal in the following years with Dragons Of The North - 25 years later, EINHERJER are stronger than ever and are bursting with energy on North Star! 1. SINGLE - EN Stomping drums and gloomy guitar chords, paired with ice-cold vocals by singer and guitarist Frode Glesnes - "Stars" draws the listener into the icy, dark world of EINHERJER! 2. SINGLE - EN With powerful double bass grooves, a catchy chorus and technically skilled guitar solos, EINHERJER are more uncompromising and harder than ever on "The Blood And The Iron"! 3. SINGLE - EN Old school vibes meet dark Viking Metal atmosphere in "West Coast Groove" - EINHERJER are in top form and still prove their status as genre pioneers after more than 25 years!

Raleigh Ritchie releases his highly anticipated second album, ANDY. A twelve track project, Andy sees Bristol born and London-hailing Raleigh holding a colossal magnifying glass to himself. Over the production, for the most part, from long-term collaborator Chris Loco but also, the incredibly talented GRADES on “Time In A Tree” and “27 Club”, Raleigh leaves no stone unturned. The album is a creation of heartbreakingly honest songs that seamlessly fuses sweeping soul and mellow R&B with forward-thinking electronica and gutsy orchestral moments. (Raleigh has become well known for working with the sensational Rosie Danvers and Wired Strings.) This is a truly powerful record, a long-awaited return that packs a poignant punch.

It has been four years since Raleigh aka Jacob Anderson, released his inaugural debut album You’re A Man Now Boy but fans have not been left wanting. When he wasn’t releasing music, performing at his sold out show at Shepherds Bush Empire, or alongside Stormzy in his iconic Glastonbury headline, featuring on Gang Signs & Prayer, Stormzy’s critically acclaimed debut, or acting as Grey Worm in the hit HBO series Game Of Thrones, he was and is “Andy”.

Move D has seen a massive career over the years, starting with his early days as a German pioneer of House Music. In 1993 this was one of his first 12“ records on TIME UNLIMITED which was mostly known for Trance and Hard Trance. This surely is a cult record and has become highly sought after over the last ten years. Its unique style of sampling comined with an uplifting, basement style production is still mindbending and timeless. This reissue was remastered by David's long-term friend LOPAZZ for a full range sound experience.

It is the simple thing that is so hard to do. This is the paradox that musician Lael
Neale has lived within throughout her development as an artist. It is the reason she
became enthralled with poetry. Poems are a distillation. Lael says, “this challenge to
winnow away what is unessential is the most maddening and, ultimately, rewarding
part of writing a song.”
Lael’s new album ‘Acquainted With Night’ is a testament to this poetic devotion.
Stripped of any extraneous word or sound, the songs are lit by Lael’s crystalline
voice which lays on a lush bed of Omnichord. The collection touches on themes that
have been thread into her work for years: isolation, mortality, yearning and reaching
ever toward the transcendent experience.
Lael grew up on a farm in rural Virginia but for nearly 10 years called Los Angeles
home. Those years were spent developing her songwriting and performing in venues
across the city but the right way to record the songs proved more elusive. She says,
“Every time I reached the end of recording, I felt the songs had been stripped of
their vitality in the process of layering drums, bass, guitar, violin, and organ over
them. They felt weighed down.”
In a moment of illumination, the solution presented itself: do the simple thing. In
early 2019, in the midst of major transition, she acquired a new instrument - the
Omnichord - and began recording a deluge of songs. Guy Blakeslee, who had been
an advocate for years, set up a cassette recorder in her bedroom and provided
empathic guidance, subtle yet affecting accompaniment and engineering prowess.
Limited to only 4-tracks and first takes, Lael had to surrender some of her
perfectionism to deliver the songs in their essence.
The first song she recorded was ‘For No One For Now’, which calls to mind the
agitated beat of driving fast on the freeway against the backdrop of the San
Fernando Valley’s bent palms. The song contrasts romantic idealizations with the
banality of folding sheets and toasting bread. It highlights her oft-thwarted attempts
to enjoy the day to day while her mind wanders off toward the dream, the ideal.
While Lael returned to her family farm in April 2020, Los Angeles is a player on this
album and ‘Every Star Shivers in the Dark’ is an ode to the sprawling city, the
outskirts of Eden. One can envision her walking from Dodgers Stadium to downtown,
observing strangers and her own strangeness but determined to find communion
with others. ‘Blue Vein’ is her personal anthem, a Paul Revere piece that gallops
through the town as a strident declamation. It is an amalgam of thoughts, concerns
and lessons as she nearly speaks the words, unmasked by flourishes, ensuring the
meaning cuts through.
Normally a morning person, Lael recorded most of these songs in the darkening of
the early evening, and so became ‘Acquainted With Night’.
CD in gatefold altpack.
LP first pressing on white vinyl.
Cassette with three-panel J-card in clear case.

It is the simple thing that is so hard to do. This is the paradox that musician Lael
Neale has lived within throughout her development as an artist. It is the reason she
became enthralled with poetry. Poems are a distillation. Lael says, “this challenge to
winnow away what is unessential is the most maddening and, ultimately, rewarding
part of writing a song.”
Lael’s new album ‘Acquainted With Night’ is a testament to this poetic devotion.
Stripped of any extraneous word or sound, the songs are lit by Lael’s crystalline
voice which lays on a lush bed of Omnichord. The collection touches on themes that
have been thread into her work for years: isolation, mortality, yearning and reaching
ever toward the transcendent experience.
Lael grew up on a farm in rural Virginia but for nearly 10 years called Los Angeles
home. Those years were spent developing her songwriting and performing in venues
across the city but the right way to record the songs proved more elusive. She says,
“Every time I reached the end of recording, I felt the songs had been stripped of
their vitality in the process of layering drums, bass, guitar, violin, and organ over
them. They felt weighed down.”
In a moment of illumination, the solution presented itself: do the simple thing. In
early 2019, in the midst of major transition, she acquired a new instrument - the
Omnichord - and began recording a deluge of songs. Guy Blakeslee, who had been
an advocate for years, set up a cassette recorder in her bedroom and provided
empathic guidance, subtle yet affecting accompaniment and engineering prowess.
Limited to only 4-tracks and first takes, Lael had to surrender some of her
perfectionism to deliver the songs in their essence.
The first song she recorded was ‘For No One For Now’, which calls to mind the
agitated beat of driving fast on the freeway against the backdrop of the San
Fernando Valley’s bent palms. The song contrasts romantic idealizations with the
banality of folding sheets and toasting bread. It highlights her oft-thwarted attempts
to enjoy the day to day while her mind wanders off toward the dream, the ideal.
While Lael returned to her family farm in April 2020, Los Angeles is a player on this
album and ‘Every Star Shivers in the Dark’ is an ode to the sprawling city, the
outskirts of Eden. One can envision her walking from Dodgers Stadium to downtown,
observing strangers and her own strangeness but determined to find communion
with others. ‘Blue Vein’ is her personal anthem, a Paul Revere piece that gallops
through the town as a strident declamation. It is an amalgam of thoughts, concerns
and lessons as she nearly speaks the words, unmasked by flourishes, ensuring the
meaning cuts through.
Normally a morning person, Lael recorded most of these songs in the darkening of
the early evening, and so became ‘Acquainted With Night’.
CD in gatefold altpack.
LP first pressing on white vinyl.
Cassette with three-panel J-card in clear case.

More than 40 years after its original release, this limited and numbered facsimile edition of Keith Jarrett’s legendary 10-LP box set “Sun Bear
Concerts” is recreated from original analog sources.
Sun Bear Concerts - documenting five complete solo performances by Keith Jarrett in Japan - counts as a milestone achievement in the history of jazz recording. As Down Beat wrote, on the occasion of the original release, Jarrett’s improvisations are “the inventions of a giant, overpoweringly intimate in the way they can draw a listener in and hold him captive. Jarrett has once more stepped into the cave of his creative consciousness and brought to light music of startling power, majesty and warmth.”
Rich in incident and detail, the music in this beautifully produced, illustrated and presented ten-LP set, first issued in 1978 revealed Jarrett as a player of limitless creativity, unique in his ability to find new forms in the moment, night after night. “These marathons showed Jarrett to be one of the greatest improvisers in jazz,” Ian Carr wrote in his biography of the pianist, “with an apparently inexhaustible flow of rhythmic and melodic ideas, one of the most brilliant pianistic techniques of all, and the ability to project complex and profound feeling.” The present edition is a facsimile of the original LP set, described by the late Haus der Kunst curator Okwui Enwezor as “part of ECM’s declaration of independence from standard packaging of jazz records. Setting itself apart in this way, ECM treated its recordings as works of art by musicians of the highest artistic and conceptual order.”
A work of art by any standards, Sun Bear Concerts brings together solo concerts in November 1976 in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo and Sapporo, in recordings made by Japanese engineer Okihiro Sugano and producer Manfred Eicher, who travelled through Japan with Keith Jarrett. The set’s book-form packaging, with design by Barbara Wojirsch, includes photographs by Klaus Knaup, Tadayuki Naitoh and Akira Aimi.

Born in Croydon, UK in 1960 and working in Switzerland for decades, Michal Turtle has led a storied career as a composer, arranger, technician and producer, consistently aligned with some
of the most exciting bands and projects within the realms of pop and experimental music. A figure as masterful in the realm of expansive ambient recordings as advertising jingles, it’s only in recent
years that Michal’s solo productions have gained acclaim and a cult following that continues to grow ever wider.
Turtle made a long-awaited return earlier in 2020 with the extended ‘On a Canvas Lived a Baby’, a one-sided twelve of new material released on Planisphere Editorial. Now, the Basel based label
invites a diverse and international cross-section of electronic musicians to reinterpret the artist’s back-catalogue, each delivering a thoughtful remix driven by the same sense of curiosity,
exploration and genre-blurring that Turtle himself helped pioneer. Each track on the remixes collection was originally recorded between 1980 and 1985, in between Turtle’s regular tours with established bands. Opening the collection, Laurel Halo adopts her LH alias for a textural and tripping revisit to ‘Phantoms of Dreamland’, transporting the haunting original to a hyper-detailed alternate dimension. Zoning back in, Neue Grafik finds typically eclectic form with ‘Men in Green’, turning the dials and blending ideas as if tuning between the emerging musical scenes that defined Turtle’s early-eighties life in Camden, London. In stark contrast, avant-garde polymath Felicia
Atkinson designs a ‘Fennel and Moon’ version, weaving between earthy field recordings and an aching piano line, conjuring an almost ritualistic atmosphere, far from the city. Radical musical turns continue to define the collection as son of Detroit, Jimmy Edgar takes
‘Rainwater Fijit’ down a dark, damp tunnel, expanding on the pitter patter of Turtle’s more outlandish studio experiments, blending vocal experiments with fresh funk. Colombian experimentalist Lucrecia Dalt pulls further bizarre shapes from a patchwork of samples, a heaving,
gasping industrial shuffle, before French producer D.K. returns a stronger rhythm, both building on Turtle’s lovingly naive tributes to the legacy of sample culture and his trusty ARP2600.

Ostgut Ton mainstay and Panorama Bar resident Nick Höppner proceeds to sensitively rewire ‘Maid Of The Mist’ into a blossoming, introspective celebration of melody and ambience, an
almost weightless experience that lends itself well as a breather before Luca Duran’s analogue, acid-tinged take on Spookie Boogie takes Turtle’s esoteric touches back into the direction of the
funk and italo records at the heart of his initial inspiration.
The Remixes final chapter continues to expand in distinct and wide-reaching sonic directions. London’s Object Blue seems to slow time itself across her sublime interpretation of ‘Ball Of Fire’.
Initially Turtle’s tribute to Howard Hawks 1941 film classic and the legacy of old Hollywood, worlds further collide into rolling, weightless bliss.

Fellow Swiss citizen Mehmet Aslan stirs an enchanting, percussive mystery that unfolds with great
pleasure on El Teb, while Parco Palaz conjures not one but two radically different remixes of ‘Are
You Psychic?’, demonstrating both their imaginative nous, as well as the depth of Turtle’s legacy.
Finally, an irresistible vocal contribution from Oso Leone adds even further colour and joy to ‘Maid
of The Mist’, sending off this ambitious collection on a transformative, dream-pop high.
With further details set to be revealed, there is an ongoing development focused around the
accompanying art and visuals. The Peruvian born and now Amsterdam based graphic designer
Jonathan Castro leads the art direction, along with visual artist Chris Harnan. Both artists look to
explore the intersection between sound, imagery and its reorientation, exhibited through the
musical contributors and visual translation.

“I am happy and honoured to have been the spark for this remarkable compilation.
The magnificent work done by this collection of very special people speaks for itself, so listen and
be transported. It has been half a lifetime since my original tracks were written, and I am gratified
to know that they are somehow still relevant enough to be reworked and reinvented.”

Most listeners only became aware of Billy Preston as a solo artist after he signed to Apple Records in the late 1960s. But he'd been recording for a long time prior to that, dating back to when he was a teenager. This instrumental album for Sam Cooke's SAR label (issued on its sister Derby imprint) was cut in March 1963, when Preston was still going to high school in Los Angeles. The very fact that it's wholly instrumental indicates that it's pretty early in Preston's evolution, and though he does play some piano, it's really on the more uptempo, organ-dominated tunes where he hits the best groove. In truth, these aren't any great shakes even when it comes to soul organ instrumentals, but they have a nice swinging bounce that places them a cut above period background music, though they fall a good ways short of being spellbinding. The slower numbers (including covers of hits by Sam Cooke and Ray Charles) verge on easy listening; in contrast, the more urgent cuts are cookin', with bop, jazz, and gospel influences spicing up the soul/R&B recipe. (allmusic)

Vangarde's 11 songs represent the culmination of not only what this year has wrought, but also the talents of Lif and Bangas, an emcee-producer duo built for this. And you can hear that for yourself as soon as the second track, "Shelter in Place," blasts its way into your speakers. From the driving production to Lif and Blacastan's bars, the single embodies the raw, visceral feel of the entire LP. It carries through to the previously leaked "Basquiat," the stirring and gripping posse cut "8 Minutes 46 Seconds," and the highly personal "Now is Only Now," in which Lif explains how he wrote most of his lyrics secluded from his wife and young son due to the pandemic.

What makes Vangarde so impactful, however, is that it doesn't beat you over the head with the same sound or approach. Lif and his guests may tackle subjects related to oppression and corruption throughout the record, but it's done through nuance. The same goes for Bangas' stellar production, which maintains the momentum of his vocal counterparts. It's no surprise then that the two speak so highly of each other, with Bangas referring to Lif as a "storyteller and a reporter," and Lif noting that he was saving the name "Vangarde" for a project with an "elite producer."

Gatefold Double LP Pressing of The Sound of Madness on White Colored Vinyl.

Multi-platinum, record-breaking band Shinedown - Brent Smith vocals, Zach Myers [guitar], Eric Bass [bass, production], and Barry Kerch [drums] - have sold more than 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, earned 14 platinum and gold singles, five platinum and gold albums, and amassed more than 2.7 billion total streams. Recent hits "Atlas Falls," "ATTENTION ATTENTION," "GET UP," "MONSTERS" and "DEVIL" bring their total to 17 No. 1s on the Mediabase Active Rock Chart and 16 No. 1s on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, breaking the record for the most No. 1s ever in the history of the Billboard chart. Additionally, all of Shinedown's 27 consecutive career singles have reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, another unparalleled achievement.

As part of their “Atlas Falls” COVID-19 relief effort, Shinedown has raised more than $300,000 for Direct Relief, one of the largest providers of humanitarian medical resources in the world whose mission is to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care.

Hailed for their high-octane live shows, Shinedown continues to engender diehard love from millions of global fans and has racked up countless sold-out tours and headlining festival sets.

Gatefold Double LP Pressing of Leave a Whisper on Clear Blue Colored Vinyl.

Multi-platinum, record-breaking band Shinedown - Brent Smith vocals, Zach Myers [guitar], Eric Bass [bass, production], and Barry Kerch [drums] - have sold more than 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, earned 14 platinum and gold singles, five platinum and gold albums, and amassed more than 2.7 billion total streams. Recent hits "Atlas Falls," "ATTENTION ATTENTION," "GET UP," "MONSTERS" and "DEVIL" bring their total to 17 No. 1s on the Mediabase Active Rock Chart and 16 No. 1s on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, breaking the record for the most No. 1s ever in the history of the Billboard chart. Additionally, all of Shinedown's 27 consecutive career singles have reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, another unparalleled achievement.

As part of their “Atlas Falls” COVID-19 relief effort, Shinedown has raised more than $300,000 for Direct Relief, one of the largest providers of humanitarian medical resources in the world whose mission is to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care.

Hailed for their high-octane live shows, Shinedown continues to engender diehard love from millions of global fans and has racked up countless sold-out tours and headlining festival sets.

Gatefold Double LP Pressing of ATTENTION ATTENTION on Clear Yellow Colored Vinyl.

Multi-platinum, record-breaking band Shinedown - Brent Smith vocals, Zach Myers [guitar], Eric Bass [bass, production], and Barry Kerch [drums] - have sold more than 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, earned 14 platinum and gold singles, five platinum and gold albums, and amassed more than 2.7 billion total streams. Recent hits "Atlas Falls," "ATTENTION ATTENTION," "GET UP," "MONSTERS" and "DEVIL" bring their total to 17 No. 1s on the Mediabase Active Rock Chart and 16 No. 1s on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, breaking the record for the most No. 1s ever in the history of the Billboard chart. Additionally, all of Shinedown's 27 consecutive career singles have reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, another unparalleled achievement.

As part of their “Atlas Falls” COVID-19 relief effort, Shinedown has raised more than $300,000 for Direct Relief, one of the largest providers of humanitarian medical resources in the world whose mission is to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care.

Hailed for their high-octane live shows, Shinedown continues to engender diehard love from millions of global fans and has racked up countless sold-out tours and headlining festival sets.

Gatefold Double LP Pressing of Amaryllis on Rustic Green Colored Vinyl.

Multi-platinum, record-breaking band Shinedown - Brent Smith vocals, Zach Myers [guitar], Eric Bass [bass, production], and Barry Kerch [drums] - have sold more than 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, earned 14 platinum and gold singles, five platinum and gold albums, and amassed more than 2.7 billion total streams. Recent hits "Atlas Falls," "ATTENTION ATTENTION," "GET UP," "MONSTERS" and "DEVIL" bring their total to 17 No. 1s on the Mediabase Active Rock Chart and 16 No. 1s on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, breaking the record for the most No. 1s ever in the history of the Billboard chart. Additionally, all of Shinedown's 27 consecutive career singles have reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs Chart, another unparalleled achievement.

As part of their “Atlas Falls” COVID-19 relief effort, Shinedown has raised more than $300,000 for Direct Relief, one of the largest providers of humanitarian medical resources in the world whose mission is to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care.

Hailed for their high-octane live shows, Shinedown continues to engender diehard love from millions of global fans and has racked up countless sold-out tours and headlining festival sets.

Repress

Arnaud le Texier (Cocoon Records): "Top quality! Really nice.." 10/10
Cio D'Or (Telrae): "An amazing double Vinyl of different interpretations from some music friends in techno for Hypnus! Thank you!" 9/10
David Att (ATT Series): "SUPER VARIOS ARTIST. THANKS: D" 10/10
Deepbass (Informa Records): "Great remix package here! Will be using most of them, a true showcase of the love for Hypnus" 10/10
Etapp Kyle (Klockworks): "Edit Select and Mike Parker are winners!" 8/10
Exium (PoleGroup): "Great stuff, thanks!" 8/10
Francois X (Dement3d): "Perfect Package of Remix!" 10/10
I/Y: "wow.. really good.. too many of them to choose one favourite" 10/10
Kwartz (Shapeless Records): "Congratulations for this great work, I love every song of the release" 10/10
Mattias Fridell (Gynoid): "This is a very solid compilation congrats." 8/10
MTD (Sonntag Morgen): "AMAZING release! hard to choose a favorite..." 10/10
Mod21 (Prologue): "No words for this release.. Hypnus is flying high!!" 10/10
Nima Khak (H-Productions): "Great bits! The Ness mix is outstanding, but a lot of great stuff in this package! Will play for sure!" 9/10
Nobody Home (Home Records): "Very nice release with many of my favorite musicians! Thank you very much :-)" 8/10
Reggy van Oers (Affin): "Some crazy stuff in here! love it!" 9/10
Samuli Kemppi (M_REC Ltd.): "Fan boy likes. Brilliant release. Full support." 10/10
Svreca (Semantica Records): "Excellent release. Full support." 8/10
Takaaki Itoh (Phobiq): "what a great trks. im sure to play all of them. full support!" 10/10
Terence Fixmer (CLR): "Top release, difficult to choose a favourite here...all are nice." 10/10
The Noisemaker (Par Recordings): "Hypnus is going to be one of the best label on earth! full support! all tracks have his own personality and are well designed.. top for opening a djset" 10/10
Tommy Four Seven (Stroboscopic Artefacts): "Big!" 8/10

Also supported by:
Dimi Angelis, Unam Zetineb, Antonio de Angelis, Artefakt, DARS, Gianluca Meloni, Jonas Kopp, Hector Oaks, Juho Kahilainen, Vilix, Eric Cloutier, Brendon Moeller (Echologist), Iori, Jose Pouj, VSK, AnD, Rasmus Hedlund, Victor Martinez, Antonio Vazquez, BLNDR, Luigi Tozzi and many more.

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

Hot on the heels of our tentacular project "The Most Famous Unknown", Planet Phuture is proud to welcome rising French talent Cuften to the fold. A most fitting match for PP's phuture-facing vision, Damien Peltier has been pushing some of the finest techno around over the last couple of years, landing a handful memorable cuts via the likes of Parisian label Tripalium and his own imprint, Purusu. Cloaked in dim-lit atmospheres and open-ended post-apocalyptic narratives, his debut solo 12" blends in all of the elements that made his sound stand out from the crowd of releases coming up these days - traversed by dogged primitive rhythms and reassessed 303-infused Detroit'isms, but also stamped with his signature no-frills rave elegance.

Speeding up the cosmic highway like Deckard roams San Fran's neon-splattered alleys on the hunt for replicants, Cuften takes us on a full-immersion journey into dystopian electronic soundscapes. Full-beam on, "Solar Ashes" has us drifting amidst ruins of a devastated city - its lysergic bass languidly threading its way across brutalist concrete facades and cold ember set for reignition. A more martial affair, "The Black Rain Order" pulls out the rattling drums, slo-boiling arpeggios and moebius-strips of wistful acid to score a supremely tense crescendo, both optimally tasted on and off the dance floor.

Moving up closer to the free-spirited vibe of the '90s open-air raves, "Rise Of The Neo-Humans" unleashes a baroque firestorm of sucker-punchy toms and hyperventilating shuffle, woven against an endlessly expanding corolla of hallucinogenic shapes and fluttering harmonics. Sinking further deep into all-dark dubby grounds, "Lasttt Batttle" extrudes its obsessive melody out a thick gangue of squelchy chords and bleepin' engineering to form the kind of brain-washing hybrid pumper that'll roast your last remaining neurones. Trouble-brewing isn't over though and the droney "Kjhfskjoize" shall take you to places unknown through eleven minutes of envelope-shifting shamanism, thinking noise bake-off and gravity-defying arrangements. Bend your mind.

Talking about the foundation of Jamaican music, the Alpha Boys School in Kingston can be considered as one of the places where it all began! Back in the day, under the direction of Sister Mary Ignatius, the school was the place where young boys from the poor neighborhoods in Kingston could embrace an instrument (mostly brass and drums). Then history tells us that some of these kids became among the most influential musicians in the history of Jamaican Jazz, Ska, and Reggae. Joe Harriott, Dizzy Reece, Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Cedric Brooks, Rico Rodriguez, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Smart and Yellowman are just some of the fruits of such a great community art project. Now this compilation contains some rare gems produced between 1959 and 1962 by Jamaican Jazz heavyweights such as Tommy Mc Cook, Don Drummond, Ernest Rangling, Lennie Hiibert, Cecil Lloyd and others. This is highly swinging music inspired by the Black American tradition with a unique and inevitable Caribbean flavour. Don't miss it!!!

Mondo, in partnership with Sony Masterworks, is proud to present the premiere physical release of Gustavo Santaolalla and Mac Quayle’s soundtrack to the highly anticipated 2020 sequel, THE LAST OF US PART II.

The music for THE LAST OF US is striking and emotionally powerful. In the original, the plucky guitar performance by Gustavo Santaolalla almost singlehandedly took the post-apocalyptic horror narrative of the game and grounded it firmly in the western genre. For PART II, with dual revenge narratives and opposing perspectives, the games team brought on an additional composer to bring another sonic soundscape into the mix: Mac Quayle. His synth contributions to the soundtrack to PART II might be the most terrifying, underlining the true physical and psychological horror that players face.

This vinyl release features stunning new artwork and double-sided cover by Tula Lotay, liner notes by Co-Writer / Director Neil Druckmann.

Music by Gustavo Santaolalla. Additional Music by Mac Quayle

Malian music is arguably deeper, more sophisticated and lyrical than any other form of African music. Those of us deeply entranced by Malian culture, and, in particular, the immense hypnotic beauty of Malian music, have put together a selection of songs from across the country.

Compiled by Vik Sohonie & Dave 'Mr Bongo’ Buttle, the story of this release began in 2015 when Dave happened upon the Soul Bonanza blog. A treasure chest of rare finds from around the world! One mix in particular stood out and totally enthralled Dave - le monde à change: a tribute to mali 1970 - 1991. He already knew of Malian legends such as the Rail Band, Salif Keita, & Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, but this mix was something else! Deep & culled from the collections of some of the heaviest African music collectors in the world; legends like Vik Sohonie, Hidehito Morimoto, Philippe Noel, Gregoire Villanova, and Rickard Masip. Dave immediately contacted Vik and a journey of discovery tracking down the rights-holders began. He also turned to the font of Malian music knowledge; Florent Mazzoleni. Florent has written the definitive book about Malian music – 'Musiques modernes et traditionnelles du Mali’. He proposed some incredible tracks to include and provided the back bone of the sleeve notes and photos that are used in the album. No Malian album would be complete without a striking front cover photo, and ours is sourced from the late great Malian photographer Malick Sidibé.

On this album you will find well-known artists sitting next to rarer discoveries. The Rail Band, who are one of the best known of all the big bands in Mali, gave us the stars Mory Kanté and Salif Keita. Les Amabassedeurs du Motel de Bamako were another big act that had Idrissa Soumaoro, Kanté Manfila, and for a while Salif Keita in their ranks. Sometimes Salif would play in both bands in one night, quite a feat considering the bands were fierce rivals. As an albino Salif has had to face considerable prejudice from society, focusing on his musical career to help overcome this.

A major discovery on the album has been Idrissa Soumaoro et L'Eclipse de L’Ija. L'Eclipse de l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles was a Blind teenagers institute and their record was produced by the German association that took care of blind Malian teenagers in Bamako. It was never properly released commercially and was the first recordings by the legends of Malian music Idrissa Soumaoro, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia. Amadou & Mariam later got married and became household stars, including making an album with Manu Chao.

This album is a concerted global effort to showcase the most vital cornerstone of Malian culture in an attempt to preserve its reputation in the face of its current, grim reality. We hope our highlights of Mali's rich history of musical innovation will serve as a starting point for reclaiming an image tainted by unnecessary conflict. May peace and music return to Mali soon.

Parlophone Records are pleased to announce the release of IRON MAIDEN’s new double live album Nights Of The Dead - Legacy Of The Beast, Live in Mexico City on November 20th. Containing over 100 minutes of classic Maiden music and available in multiple formats, Nights Of The Dead - Legacy Of The Beast, Live in Mexico City was recorded during the band’s three sold out arena shows there in September 2019 and is a celebration of their Legacy Of The Beast World Tour which began in 2018 and will finish next Summer in Europe.

Iron Maiden founder and bass player Steve Harris comments,

“When the final leg of our 2020 Legacy tour this summer had to be cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, the whole band was very disappointed and deflated and we know our fans felt the same. We’d been really looking forward to bringing the show to even more countries and although we’ve been able to reschedule most of our European own-shows for 2021, we thought we’d take a listen to the recordings from the tour so far and see if we could create a definitive live album souvenir that everyone, everywhere could enjoy. I’m very pleased with the results, especially as this set list includes songs which have never made it to a live CD before, such as For The Greater Good Of God, and other older songs like Where Eagles Dare, Flight Of Icarus, The Clansman and Sign Of The Cross which haven’t been included in our live set releases for many years.

We’ve never released a live album from Mexico before and I think this recording does justice to the passion and joy of our Mexican fans who always give us such a fantastic welcome whenever we play there.”

The 1975 will release their highly-anticipated second album 'I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it' The follow-up to the quartet's million-selling self-titled debut. It is a bold and brilliant record made up of infectious pop hooks and sprawling electro sonics, an ambitious stride forward for one of the UK's most exciting young bands. The album will be released on standard CD and double, heavyweight LP in gatefold sleeve. Both contain 28pg, full colour booklets and the LP comes with a download card. The CD is packaged in a standard jewel case. 4* Q album review and Q cover confirmed. The ban will emabark on a SOLD OUT UK tour in March.There will be outdoor advertisng and the band will be performing on Saturday Night Live and also in the Radio1 Live Lounge

FULL OF HELL make their Relapse debut with their most explosive album to date, Weeping Choir. Dynamic, pissed, and wholly urgent, the highly-anticipated Weeping Choir is a definitive statement of intent by one of the underground’s most dynamic and virulent entities. FULL OF HELL have once again culled the extreme elements from hardcore, metal, and power electronics to redefine darkness and sheer brutality. Distorted guitars and ominous, disparate electronics grind and gnash against rapid-fire drumming as FULL OF HELL take themes of religion, loss, hatred, and set them ablaze. Recorded by the critically acclaimed Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio, Weeping Choir sees FULL OF HELL fully unleashed. Abrasive, confrontational, none equal!

The Sea and Cake's fifth album Oui is back on vinyl. Pressed on color vinyl for the first time (yellow with white!) and packaged in a high gloss jacket with a free download card. Oui marks the triumphant return of The Sea and Cake after a three-year absence which saw the members of the band pursue a variety of interests; musical, professional and personal. The line up of the band remains Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, Eric Claridge and John McEntire. The Sea and Cake formed in 1994 out of the ashes of Shrimp Boat (Sam and Eric), and The Cocktails (Archer). John was a friend of the three and had just begun playing with Mosquito, which would later rename itself Tortoise. In fall of that year the band released their self- titled debut record and followed it with three more for a total of four in four years, each gaining in popularity and critical acclaim. In 1997 after months of touring in support of their most successful record The Fawn, the band decided to take some time off to focus their energy in other places. Eric went to work on his paintings with a series of shows in Chicago and a bi-monthly insert in the Chicago Reader. Archer recorded his second solo record, toured and continued to concentrate on his Sof' Boy merchandise and comics (published by Fantagraphics). John played with Tortoise, built a studio (SOMA) and engineered the Stereolab record among many others. Sam painted for his debut solo show in Chicago and a July 2000 show at Clementine in Chelsea, released his debut solo record and toured extensively. When things began to quiet down in late 1999, the four began setting aside the time to record what would become their finest record yet, Oui. "Surprisingly the long lay off didn't seem to pose any ill effects, somehow the distant perspective supplied a new necessary focus", says Prekop. There were no impediments as far as reconvening and songwriting were concerned. Sam added that "I think (the fact that) Archer and I continued to work together during The Sea and Cake's down time was crucial. So when we started writing it wasn't like we were starting over, we were just working in a new context."

CLEAR VINYL W. PINK STREAKS

2xLP pressed on virgin vinyl, packaged in a wide spine jacket printed on uncoated stock with custom high gloss slipcase and free download card. Love is what makes us human. It guides our decisions, shapes our worldview, and defines our experiences. Its absence equates to tragedy while its presence gives our lives meaning. "Love has been well worn theme throughout a lot of rock music, but most commonly in terms of love-lost, overly romanticized versions of new love, or as a veil for sexual conquest," says SUMAC guitarist and vocalist Aaron Turner (Old Man Gloom, Mamiffer, ISIS). "It is rarely addressed in its more spiritual and vulnerable aspects." Those less-traversed territories of humankind's connective bond became the central theme SUMAC's third full-length album, Love In Shadow, though their explorations of that motif are a far cry from traditional manifestations of love in the realm of art. Across four protracted songs, Turner and his cohorts-Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Erosion) on drums and Brian Cook (Russian Circles) on bass-interlace and mangle sounds from their instruments in a sonic homage to both the innate warmth of human magnetism and the cold realities of corrupted love-jealousy, obsession, perversion, addiction.

Ever since his early teenager days Kareem El Morr has been working on tracks in the studio. Techno was and has always been the basis. Dirty, raw and in a positive way escalating are his sets, which he has been playing since the mid of the noughties. Not being limited when playing in the clubs or producing in the studio makes him undisputedly one of the most versatile artists in Munich. How multi-faceted he is, is now being shown on his latest RFR release.

“Supersonic” throws the gate open wide to electroid sceneries. Not a few will be reminded of I-F’s “Playstation” by the first sounds of the decently wobbeling bassline. Sick bassline variations, breaky drum parts and a pinch of Neo-Goa – any questions? „Quake“ portrays Morr’s infinite and unconditional love to Techno. Reminiscences of Detroit’s High Tech Jazz are floating relentlessly through widely varied rooms, which we absolutely adore since the Basic Channel era.
On the flip Morr expands his driving functionality by a melodic component. “Blaze” kicks in with a lot of delay, distorted bells and Highspeed drums. This ain’t no dance, this is a ceremony! „Trance with Benefits“ marks the ending of the “Supersonic EP”. Pictures of wafts of mist, whose intensity is being ruptured by the first rays of sunlight penetrating the club on an early Sunday morning. Happy people lying in each other’s arms, unified by the principle that Techno would be nothing without Trance.

Houston’s reputation for developing first-class jazz acts is well-established, as a stream of young players have been distinguishing themselves for decades…among those musicians and mentors who stood tallest, Bubbha Thomas was no exception (and a major key-player) in this long tradition of talent.

Before becoming an artist and educator, Bubbha Thomas (born 1937) was a Fourth Ward kid who grew up in a music-filled household. In High School he divided his time between music & basketball (he excelled at both) and studied with jazz legend Conrad “Prof” Johnson. “Prof” would later bring jazz glory to Texas with the Kashmere Stage Band, the group of teenagers who would win the “Best High School Stage Band In The Nation” prize in Mobile, Alabama in 1972 and who were anthologized in 2006 on Now-Again’s ‘Thunder Soul’ (which led to the 2010 Jamie Foxx documentary of the same name).

After finishing college, Bubbha got drafted in the service (he was a Korean War veteran) and would return to Houston in the early 1960s where he found work as a session drummer for the Duke and Peacock labels. Thomas drummed on recordings by O.V. Wright, Buddy Ace and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. He was playing his own stuff and backing luminaries such as R&B singer Chuck Jackson and homegrown legends like Lightnin’ Hopkins. Bubbha Thomas also teamed up with some of his equally legendary peers (like guitarist Melvin Sparks & organist Leon Spencer) and eventually established his own group, the Jazz Merchants.
Bubbha learned every style that was thrown at him and he played straight-ahead jazz with renowned artists before the political and social upheaval of the late 1960s led him to a path first charted by Coltrane and Sun Ra…the result of these new found influences was the incredible spiritual jazz ensemble ‘The Lightmen’, who released four incredible recordings in the 1970s. Their first album ‘Free As You wanna be’ predates the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East and is a harbinger of some of the best in the 1970s jazz underground. The Lightmen albums eventually fell out of print until 2017 when the Now-Again record label brought them back into circulation and generated new interest in Bubbha Thomas’ work.
Thomas had a storied career as a drummer and bandleader, but perhaps his most enduring work is that as founder of Houston’s Summer Jazz Workshop, a remarkable program that nurtured upcoming talent for generations...we can’t begin to count the number of young people who benefitted from the exposure to music-arts because of Bubbha Thomas and what he meant to the Houston music community. In his career he earned five Grammy nominations and authored a pair of books. Next to this he was also a writer/editor for several local newspapers, ran one of the first Houston African American Television shows and he hosted a radio program on KYOK. Impressive to say the least!

Bubbha Thomas passed away in March 2020 at the age of 82. It was obvious he was a principled, fiery & wise person…and any anger he felt at America’s (and the world’s) injustices he met with music, intellect, activism and unity!

Next to his work with ‘’The Lightmen’’, Bubbha also released the fantastic (solo) album ‘Life & Times’ in 1985. ‘Life & Times’ (which we are proudly presenting you today) is particularly interesting to boogie-enthusiasts because of its high doses of funky twerks, solid grooves, crazy synth work, soulful vocals and excellent drum-beats courtesy of Mr. Thomas himself. You’ll quickly find yourself shaking hips the moment the needle hits the first track! The whole album is backed by a fantastic cast of all-star players and includes Howard Harris (Ruth Copeland), Dwight Sills (Bobby Lyle - TLC), Jerry McPherson (Donna Summer), Leo Polk (Kashmere Stage Band), John Gordon (Strata East) and Jackie Simley (Queen Latifah - Lionel Richie). All of the above makes this LP an essential purchase for any self-respecting fan and collector.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the FIRST ever vinyl reissue of this fantastic album (originally released in 1985 on Lightin’ Records). This rare record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

NEP was a loose multimedia collective formed in 1982 Zagreb, ex-Yugoslavia. The founder Dejan Krsic collaborated with various artists in a quest of re-thinking the stale concepts of art history, position of the author and the barriers between pop and elitist high culture. Heavily influenced by Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol in theory and Brian Eno and Kraftwerk in music, Krsic created NEP as an umbrella term (meaning Nova Evropa or New Europe) of diverse rule-breaking activities, covering graphic design, music, photography, video, news-media and theoretical work. Musically NEP focused on experiments in ambient and tape-music, self-released and hard to find compilation tapes like "The Cassette Played Poptones" (1988). Deeply immersed in pop-culture, politics and art theory Krsic's search for perfect pop music with cutting critical edge peaked in 1989, the year 'Decadance' track was conceived in studio. Fox & His Friends published the single in 2017 with Snuffo Remix on B-side. It received rave reviews in music press like MixMag and DJ Mag and it is still played on dance-floors around the world. But the story around the NEP is musically (as well as artistically) much wider: for the first time Fox & His Friends team compiles best cuts from unreleased and rare NEP tapes, covering the period from 1985 to 1989 on POP NOT POP abum. Dejan Krsic is now famous graphic designer and art historian in Croatia. Other collaborators include Laibach and Borghesia photographer Jane Stravs, artist and TV director Gordana Brzovic, Jovan Culibrk, now Bishop at The Serbian Orthodox Church and Anja Rupel, singer of cult Yugoslavian synth-pop group Videosex as well as the other members of Videosex, Iztok Turk and Janez Krizaj who produced some of the tracks. Other collaborators were talented producers Robert Logozar and Davor Daga Devcic, singers Linda Cooper, Natalija, Alexx Kovacs... The list of collaborations is long. Some of the memorable moments on POP NOT POP album are early demo version of Decadance 'How Do I Dance To This Music?' with blue movies samples and drum machine experiments like early Cabaret Voltaire, then Krsic's reinterpretation of legendary Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express anthem as 'Transcendance', or 'Radical Chic', where Dejan himself and Anja Rupel from Videosex make lovely couple of dandy-esque fashionistas, singing chart-friendly radio synthpop tune that contrasts the A-side (The 'NOT POP' side) - full of experiments, dark wave and industrial nods to Test Department and Cabs. B-side is 'THE POP' side that will surprise most of the NEP followers from their early experimental cassette days. Sunny, danceable, joyfull pop that reveals the many faces of NEP. As Kraftwerk today is more of a concept than a band, NEP does the same by re-writing its products (musical, graphical, theoretical, activist) and constantly puts them in permanent state of change or re-mix. In the future, only NEP logo will be enough to consider something an art piece, and NEP will be everybody who wants to, as their Art Manifest claims. Until that day comes, 'POP NOT POP' is a document of how the vivid and creative were art-scenes in socialist Yugoslavia. Some of the graphic work, cut-ups from theory and Manifesto are also included on this LP, designed by Dejan Krsic aka NEP himself. This release is made from the original master tapes and published for the first time on vinyl.

James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra release ‘The Wide, Wide River’. The album came to be after the blossoming of a long-term friendship between James Yorkston and Karl-Jonas Winqvist, the Swedish music producer, leader and conductor of The Second Hand Orchestra.
That communal feeling is apparent across the entire album. Recorded and mixed in Sweden over the course of three days, with a selection of musicians Winqvist had brought together, including Peter Morén (Peter, Bjorn & John), Cecilia Österholm (one of Sweden’s best-known nyckelharpa players), Emma Nordenstam (piano & cello) and Ulrika Gyllenberg (violin).
The studio approach with The Second Hand Orchestra was entirely improvised around Yorkston’s songs and the only song they heard in advance was ‘Ella Mary Leather’; Yorkston didn’t want to direct anyone too much but instead allowed for a welcoming, instinctive, free-spirited and joyful atmosphere.
‘The Wide, Wide River’ is a soothing, warm and sublime listen whilst also highlighting Yorkston’s skills for songwriting, collaboration and as a musical conductor. The record takes in past loves, advancing age and friends now gone, whilst also containing some of the most sanguine songs Yorkston has ever made.

This album from the late 60's features Eddie Boyd backed by some of the best British blues musicians of the time. Player on this album include John Mayall, Tony McPhee, Peter Green, John McVie (Peter and John later known for their involvement with Fleetwood Mac) and Aynsley Dunbar - one of rock's most definitive drummers having played with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Jeff Beck Group, Frank Zappa, and Journey before joining Jefferson Starship for three albums. The album was produced by the legendary Mike Vernon.

68 SOFT ROCK MASTERPIECE - UBER RARE MONO MIX!
Take A Picture blends Margo’s infectious and highly intelligent songcraft with her absolutely unique voice - equal parts girl group innocence and seductive torch. One of the most endearing and delicious soft rock records from its era, this unique mono mix was previously only available as a radio station promo!

Early summer 2019, João Lobo started recording his compositions at les Ateliers Claus in Brussels, with guitarist Norberto Lobo, bassist Soet Kempeneer and recording engineer Christophe Albertijn. The recording sessions were planned over the course of one week, however the job was mostly done in just a few takes. With the addition of some overdubs, the whole process was finalised in a spontaneous wave. It is too simplistic to define Joao Lobo’s compositions with one term, and the association of the album “Simorgh” with this ingenious partnership’s new creations, is inevitable.

While the mix of genres and styles may be easy to distinguish, the focus centres on the result of the mixing: a highly grooving and an occasionally paused and introspective music that seems out of time and out of space. It is difficult to grasp or define a specific period in time or a geographic origin in this fusion of references, as what you listen to is a bold creation of original and surprising elements. Drummers – such as João Lobo – employ a multi-layered concept in their music, weaving the different tracks into a linear wash of sound. He plays the song with the drum set while the other members fly in and out of the compositions, always gathering around their phoenix in order to attain enlightenment.

What João Lobo and many of his contemporaries are up to, can be explained through simple terms as a future exploration of the emotionally expressive possibilities of sound. It breaks away from the conventional order providing space for the discovery of a new order. Simultaneously it allows a more profound and broader expression of what the current reality of music is and represents. It was instantly clear for me that we had to share his music with our audience and create this medium for happiness.

This release is the trio’s debut record, which is the impetus for their personal development in the realisation that features João as a mentor in the creation process. The featured compositions highlight the musicians’ unique physical aspect to control their instruments and their hidden techniques that underlying these tracks. The result is an ongoing aural interplay. It was love at first sound.

This album is a co-release between Les Albums Claus and Shhpuma.

Legendary Turkish psych innovators Moğollar grace the Artone Studios in Haarlem for a masterclass in the original Anadolu psych roots, cutting a compendium of their rawest hits and most-wanted psychedelic rock classics – including the J.Dilla-sampled ‘Haliç’te Güneşin Batışı’ – for the latest edition of Night Dreamer’s essential Direct-to-Disc series.

In the beginning, there was Moğollar.

Formed at the end of 1967 with five young musicians, Moğollar were the original Anadolu psych originators. They were the first Turkish pop band who tried to blend the microtonal folklore and traditional instruments of rural Anatolia with Western pop and rock; they were the first Turkish psychedelic band to achieve overseas recognition, winning the prestigious French Grand Prix Du Disque in 1971 after a period in Paris; and they coined the very phrase ‘Anadolu Pop’ with their first album release. They were radical, innovative, and hugely popular, and when the great artists of the Turkish rock revolution appeared on the scene, Moğollar were already there – stars including Barış Manço, Selda, Cem Karaca and Ersen all recorded with them or briefly joined the line-up. Moğollar were and are the undisputed pioneers of the style.

More than fifty years after first forming, Moğollar materialised in the Artone Studios to give a masterclass in fuzzed-out folklore and Turkish psychedelic roots for Night Dreamer’s Direct-to-Disc series – a fitting follow-up to Night Dreamer’s BaBa ZuLa set, coming straight from the group who laid the foundations of the genre.

In 1971, having already released numerous singles, they secured an album deal with French label Guild International du Disques. Travelling to Paris that year, they recorded their first major statement, Danses Et Rythmes de la Turquie d’Hier à Aujourd’hui, a set later released in Turkey as Anadolu Pop. The album won a prestigious French award – the Grand Prix du Disque from the L’Académie Charles Cros, an honour that had been won in the past by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. Moğollar, and Anadolu psychedelic pop, had arrived on the international scene.

In 1976, after many more releases and line-up changes, and pressured by an increasingly difficult political situation in Turkey, the group dissolved for seventeen years, and various members dispersing to exile in Paris and Berlin. However, after a petition from their fanbase asked them to reform, they agreed to play a comeback concert in 1993. It was a huge success, and reunited, they went on to record some of their greatest work. Led today by original member Cahit Berkay alongside original bass player Taner Öngür, and joined by Cem Karaca’s son Emrah, Moğollar continue to push their uniquely original brand of fuzz-scorched folk-rock and crackling Anadolu psychedelia forward into a new millennium.

For this Night Dreamer session, Moğollar spent two days in the Artone studios, recording sides A and B on the first day, and C and D on day two. With BaBa ZuLa’s Murat Ertel adding contemporary sonic punch behind the boards, the band revisited their most renowned hits to lay down energised new versions, and dusted off some of the most sought-after cuts from their enormous catalogue. The result is a showcase set by a band that are one of true pioneers in global psychedelic rock, and a masterclass in the true roots of the Anadolu psych sound: fuzzed-out, committed, and straight from the source.

Highlights of the set include:
-‘Haliç’te Güneşin Batışı’, an Anadolu psych classic which was first issued as the b-side to the ‘Ternek’ single in 1970, before being recorded again for the Danses Et Rythmes de la Turquie d’Hier à Aujourd’hui LP in 1971. A tense slab of roughneck psychedelia, the final breakdown of the original recording was sampled by none other than J. Dilla for the ‘Intro’ cut on Welcome To Detroit.
-‘Gel Gel’, a 1974 song with head-nodding tempo change, originally featuring Cem Karaca. It is here voiced by his son Emrah Karaca, now a permanent member of Moğollar.
-‘Çığrık’, a 1972 cut which originally appeared on one of Moğollar’s most coveted singles, is a funky psych-rock workout with an unforgettably riff, a ringing guitar motif, and twist of Led Zeppelin.
-‘Düm Tek’, the title track of the bands second full LP (Düm Tek, 1975), a raw psych screamer, laced with hardcore davul drum patterns.
-‘Bi’Sey Yapmali’, first recorded for the 1996 Dört Renk album, became the anthem of huge street protests that took place in Turkey that year after an investigation uncovered a huge network of state, police and mafia corruption.
-‘Dinleyiverin Gari’, a hit from the 1994 come-back album Moğollar 94, addresses a notorious corruption scandal of the era.

La Locura de Machuca is the story of one man’s bizarre odyssey into Colombia’s coastal music underground, and the wild, hypnotic sounds he helped bring up to the surface.

One night in 1975, a successful tax lawyer named Rafael Machuca had his mind blown in Barranquilla’s ‘Plaza de los Musicos’. Overnight he went from a high ranking position in the Columbian revenue authority to visionary production guru of the newly formed record label that bore his name, Discos Machuca, and for the next six years he devoted his life to releasing some of the strangest, most experimental Afro Psychedelia Cumbias ever produced. La Locura de Machuca is the story of one man’s bizarre odyssey into Colombia’s coastal music underground, and the wild, hypnotic sounds he helped bring up to the surface.

The Colombian music industry was thriving in the mid-seventies, but while homegrown bolero and vallenato tunes were doing well on the charts, it was imported African records that were setting crowds on fire at the picos – the sound-systems that fuelled neighbourhood parties – and wherever those records were played there were always a handful of groups who were inspired to plug traditional Cumbia directly into the electric currents coming from across the Atlantic.

It was these obscure bands, who fused Colombian and African rhythms with the swirling organs and psychedelic guitars of underground rock, that fired Machuca’s imagination. While the label made its money releasing popular hits by legends such as Alejandro Durán and Aníbal Velásquez, that money was poured back into a unique run of experimental releases by fringe artists such as La Banda Africana, King Somalie, Conjunto Barbacoa, and Abelardo Carbono, one of the godfathers of Champeta Criolla.

When Machuca couldn’t find groups to realise his particular vision, he simply created them himself. Drawing on a fearsome roster of musicians associated with the label, he assembled bands that lasted only as long as it took to record an album ,and unleashed the results – complete with arrestingly unusual album covers – under a series of different names such as Samba Negra or El Grupo Folclórico. This unorthodox approach led his longtime recording engineer, Eduardo Dávila, to describes Machuca’s productions as the “B-Movies of Colombian music.”

The story of Doctor Machuca and his eccentric exploits tells of one of Colombia’s most atypical and peculiar record companies; a defining pillar of Afro-Caribbean psychedelia. His productions have come to represent the roots of Champeta and set the pedigree standards for Afro and Costeño avant-garde. The seventeen tracks on La Locura de Machuca, harvested from the darkest, strangest corners of the Discos Machuca catalogue, sound like little else recorded before or since.

ACCEPT ARE BACK! The German kingpins of heavy metal will release their new, eagerly-awaited studio album via Nu- clear Blast on January 15th 2021. The ingenious title of the masterpiece is “Too Mean To Die”.
Speaking of heavy metal kingpins, when ACCEPT first launched at the end of the 70s, the metal genre didn’t even exist - at first the band could only be labelled with the (quality) seal “crazy loud and crazy wild”. Today we know that this was (and is) metal par excellence. And we also know that ACCEPT opened the door to thrash metal, inspiring giants such as Metallica. Guitarist Kirk Hammett recently stated in the German magazine “Gitarre & Bass”: “Wolf Hoffmann has a huge influence on me.“
ACCEPT, who once had their origins in the city of Solingen, a city of sound, have been a worldwide music phenomenon for more than 40 years. They still impress with razor-sharp guitar licks and a steel-hard sound. The band created all-time metal classics like “Balls To The Wall”, “Metal Heart” and many more.
Countless world tours and headline slots at the biggest, cutting-edge festivals cemented the band’s reputation as one of the best, hottest and loudest live acts ever. In addition, the band has sold millions of records, has achieved gold status in the USA, top 10 chart positions worldwide and a number 1 album (Germany, Finland) for “Blind Rage” (2014).
Now with “Too Mean To Die” their 16th studio album is in the starting blocks - it is the fifth album that US vocalist and front man Mark Tornillo has put his incomparable vocal stamp on.Recorded in the world music capital of Nashville (USA), ACCEPT’s music was once again produced by British master producer Andy Sneap, who is responsible for the mix. Sneap, who works for Judas Priest and Megadeth among others, has also been responsible for all ACCEPT productions since 2010.
Special circumstances often lead to very special albums. This is certainly true for “Too Mean To Die”, which of course alludes to the Corona period, although in a different way than one might assume. Hoffmann says: “Its to be expected that many musicians will address the Corona situation in their songs. There will certainly be slogans for cohesion, through which positive vibes should be spread, which is also good. But we have decided to not let ourselves be influenced by it. The fans will get a hard, direct and uncompromising metal album, but of course accompanied with a wink: We are too mean to die! Weeds do not go away! ACCEPT do not let themselves get down!”
Wolf isn’t wrong - the title track is a classic Accept cracker: dynamic and unwavering, turned up to eleven!
Zombie Apocalypse’, also relentless and hard, strikes the same note in the band’s signature style.
The first single - which will be released on October 2nd 2020 together with a remarkable video - is different. Titled ‘The Undertaker’, its a terrific midtempo number with great vocals and a built-in character that chugs along – certain to deliver some mermorable live moments! According to Wolf Hoffmann its one of the most catchy, pleasing pieces of the album.
New to the band, and thus to be heard for the first time on an ACCEPT album, is Philip Shouse (Gene Simmons Band, among others). The US guitarist fights hot duels with Hoffmann, while Uwe Lulis makes the guitar trio perfect and pro- vides the right rhythm. “Phil was part of our orchestra project and was also completely convincing live. We recognised his great talent immediately and simply didn’t let him go,” explains Hoffmann.
Just how varied the ACCEPT guitar trio performs on the new album is proven by one of the secret highlights: ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ – a beguiling ballad in which Mark Tornillo is at his best. The metal world knows that Mark can scream like no other, but here it shows once again that the frontman can also sing magnificently. “Mark sang this, for us rather unusual song stunningly well. The fantastic thing about Mark is that he not only masters the typical metal screams, but can also sing melodically and beautifully. He proves this impressively in this song”, chief guitarist Hoffmann raves.
In addition, ACCEPT have strengthened their team even further with newcomers Martin Motnik (bass) and Philip Shouse (guitar), thus forming an unbeatable team together with “Drum God” Christopher Williams and “Rhythm Mas- ter” Uwe Lulis.
There’s no doubt that with “Too Mean To Die” Accept are once again playing at the top of the Champions League of the genre. Wolf Hoffmann & Co. present the (music) world eleven masterpieces at the beginning of 2021 - eleven songs for eternity!

As Midnight Sister, multi-disciplinary LA artists Juliana Giraffe and Ari Balouzian make motion pictures. Yes, sometimes with moving images _ but most often only with the music they create together. Balouzian's serpentine, string compositions are movie scenes that allow Giraffe, a brilliant character actor, to cloak herself in a new roles and voices. A bit of Jon Brion's score work; some old Hollywood strings; a solid dose of glam and outsider disco from 70s independent cinema. Any perceived artifice is always matched by an indelible human fingerprint, something perfectly off. Giraffe and Balouzian's respective work in fashion, visual art, video and film scoring _ along with the gang of virtuosos with which they surround themselves _ all wonderfully coalesce as Midnight Sister. And if 2017's `Saturn Over Sunset' was their collection of short films about outcast life in The San Fernando Valley, then their new album `Paining the Roses' is the inventive, meta motion picture that cements them as auteurs. `Painting the Roses' is in many ways a fairy tale -- not so much the sweet-and-happyending kind as something richer, packed with imagination and rooted in the complex human messiness beneath a story's artifice. Frontwoman Giraffe describes it as "this tightrope of being real yet synthetic, organic yet staged, light yet dark, logical yet irrational, beautiful yet dilapidated. Joyful nonsense." Here, disguises like masks and paint are not meant to hide but to liberate, to "set a part of us free", and Midnight Sister often embody this themselves, appearing highly stylized, curious, warm and inviting but a little askew. `Painting the Roses' is a story told through the looking glass, one where we examine ourselves in a funhouse mirror but find clarity in its twists. Giraffe traveled to visit family in Argentina during the making of the album and reconnected greatly with that part of her family history, art and culture. Balouzian created the core album opener "Doctor Says" during a session in the desert outside of LA. The guitar, which reminded Giraffe of South America, has a slow, sweltering surf-tango to it, like Dick Dale doing Carlos Gardel. And even though the song was inspired by Giraffe's reconnection with Argentina, the song is about the fading of some close friendships during the making of the album. "Man, you have changed," Giraffe sings, unclear if tis directed to a friend or to herself. Later on the album, "Wednesday Baby" _ named after Giraffe's rescue dog _ is patient, subtly baroque pop. It follows Giraffe through one of those gloomy days spent in tunnelvision doldrums from which only a sunbathing turtle or your canine companion can pull you out. By the time collaborator Max Whipple's saw comes beaming down from heaven in the song's 3rd part, we're hypnotized by the song's charming ennui. The song lands someplace both familiar and aloof, a little slice of timelessness taken straight from The Cake of Perfect Songcraft.

It seems that every major jazz artist has a one-off sort of record in their discography, be it with strings, voices, spoken word or - as in this case - a foray into the funkier side of jazz. Charlie Rouse (going here as Charles Rouse) gets his chance on Two Is One, a funky soul jazz excursion on Strata-East, the artist-run label where creativity and pushing boundaries was at the forefront. Playing mostly with a group of session musicians, Rouse put together an album that may stray a bit from his hard bop roots, but is nonetheless an enjoyable and at times inventive record. The style of music played here - sophisticated soul jazz with some post bop and spiritual jazz thrown in for good measure - is very much a product of it's time. 1974 saw a whole slew of artists stretching the boundaries of what jazz music could be, combining elements from the past two decades into electric jazz adventures. The piano-less group that Rouse put together is a funky one, with lots of rhythmic playing behind either the searching solos of Rouse on the tenor or some inventive electric guitar work from either George Davis or Paul Metzke who appear together on all but a couple of tracks. Cal Scott gets plenty of time to shine throughout on what sounds like an electrified cello, an unusual instrument for modern jazz to be sure, but one that manages to fit in just fine here.

The first side of the album is all slow burning soul jazz, highlighted by the opening track "Bitchin'" where Rouse shows off that he is more than capable of setting down soulful lines over a funky backbeat. The second side is where the group gets a whole lot more inventive, particularly on the title track where they mix some post bop madness with the soul jazz sound. "Two Is One" features different tempos throughout: in the "first section" the bass plays in 9/8 time, the drums in 6/8 time and the cello and tenor are in 3/4 time. For the "second section" the rhythm section switches to 7/8 time while cello and tenor move to 4/4 time. Stanley Clarke is on bass here and his deep and twisty electric bass line is placed prominently up front.

"Two Is One" is certainly the highlight of the album from a pure jazz standpoint, and it lives up to it's title, which according to Gene Lewis' liner notes is taken from a Thelonious Monk phrase meaning two people so in tune with one another that they become one. The album finishes off with "In His Presence Searching," a spiritually informed jazz number that is reminiscent of the work being done during this period by the likes of Pharoah Sanders and Gary Bartz, (while not being quite as out there as their best work). The tune is all rhythmic glory, with Rouse and Scott playing introspective and penetrating solos throughout. It's a nice album closer, and a good reminder that while Two Is One may be best known for it's funkier excursions, Rouse had a few tricks up his sleeve and the album, when taken as a whole, is a complete statement from a legendary jazz musician.

Elzhi, the “Syllable Sensei,” is back again with a highly anticipated release titled “Seven Times Down Eight Times Up,” This 12-track LP is a collage of memories and metaphors layered atop beats crafted by up-and-coming producer JR Swiftz. With collabs from Detroit artists, Monica Blaire and Fes Rock on two of the album's stand-out tracks, Elzhi’s new masterpiece showcases his ability to create meaningful concepts while Detroit’s own comedian and “Real Hip Hop Advocate” Foolish provides commentary throughout the album.
As one of Elzhi’s most cohesive releases to date, his wordsmithing abilities paint images of royalty, excellence, and zombies wearing Gucci, all with an underlying message of resilience. “Seven times Down Eight Times Up” is the mantra for a year that has seen lots of “downs,” and reminds us that no matter what we're faced with, we will remain undefeated, and get back up after being knocked down by this machete-wielding maniac we call “life.”

Back in 1977, the LP Point Of Know Return marked the commercial peak of Kansas. The Progressive Rock band had experienced tremendous success with their previous release (1976’s Leftoverture) and were no longer starving for a hit, yet the sessions for their fifth album were tense. Steve Walsh briefly left the group in the middle of these sessions. Nevertheless, the LP turned out an even bigger success for the band than its predecessor. It would be their highest charting record and with four million copies sold, it was certified Quadruple Platinum by the RIAA. The tour to support the album brought them to huge venues such as New York’s Madison Square Garden and the LA Forum, with the tour book including an essay written by Rolling Stone contributor Cameron Crowe. The band became a staple on FM radio at this point, and during this period was one of the most popular rock acts in the country. “Dust In The Wind” became the hit single of the album.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• INSERT
• MULTI-PLATINUM 1977 ALBUM FEATURING THE SINGLES “DUST IN THE WIND” & “PORTRAIT (HE KNEW)”
• LIMITED EDITION OF 1500 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON FLAMING COLOURED VINYL

This album could easily have turned top-heavy. After all, here’s a record which, in just under 40 minutes, covers anything from Arabic scales to Japanese sounds, from free jazz references to concepts by Finnish pianist Kari Ikonen’s favourite painter Vasiliy Kandinsky.
To realise his vision, Ikonen even personally developed a device allowing him to play micro-intervals on his piano. And yet, things turned out differently: If anything, the results sound dream-like and mesmerising rather than stodgy and severe.
The album’s genesis may serve to explain this paradox. In August of 2019, Ikonen suddenly found himself with a month of free time. Without thinking twice and as if in a premonition of the Covid-lock-down, he recorded ‘Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions’ at his own home. His only companion was his beloved Steinway, captured by a personal selection of high-end microphones. Just a few days after the final session, the pieces landed on the desk of ECM- and Blue-Note-engineer Johannes Lundberg who mixed the album at his Gothenburg Epideminstudios. Clearly then, the music is spontaneous. But it’s also refined and deep. The influence of Kandinsky inspired
Ikonen to write some of his most complex and monumental pieces.

After producing two albums celebrated by a thirsty underground network of fans, Galaxie 500 released what turned out to be their unexpected swansong, This Is Our Music. The title is an intentionally declarative statement. After being labeled masters of the disengaged and forlorn, Damon Krukowsi, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang delivered a full-length comprised of their most stately material. Here, one can hear potential realized, as well as changes afoot. "Fourth of July" is a surprisingly up-front song for the band, with rolling drums and a bass-heavy refrain, and it proved to be their most popular single. The track sets the stage for the dynamism of This Is Our Music. When Galaxie 500 sounds wistful ("Summertime"), it sounds like years of yearning actualized; when the band sounds regretful ("Sorry"), it comes pleading on its knees. The trio found a beautiful balance between increased production values and knob-twiddler Mark Kramer's oddhanded approach. For the first time since its original pressing, This Is Our Music is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.

Alfredo "El Inca" Linares is one of the best and most beloved musicians in the history of salsa. Fans love his piano playing because of his authentic Cuban feel and 'swing' combined with progressive arrangements and uncompromising phrasing. "Lo Que Tengo" is full of rock solid dance floor killers and no filler, recorded in 1980 with some of the cream of the crop of contemporary Venezuelan salsa musicians (members of Mango, Madera, El Trabuco Venezolano, Los Dementes, Los Melódicos, Dimensión Latina, Guaco, and La Salsa Mayor) and launched there on the indie label A.L.G. Records as ¡Con Todo!, and then a year later on the much larger Velvet Records with a different cover. This a classic Alfredo Linares album, but with the updated studio sound of 1980s Caracas. With five perfectly paced salsas, one funky cha cha chá, a steamy bolero and a dance-friendly Latin jazz number to top it off, there is something for everybody on this record. Thankfully today's generation can now enjoy this rarity at a fraction of the cost of an original copy. Presented in its original artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl. Good to know: Alfredo "El Inca" Linares is one of the best and most beloved musicians in the history of salsa. Fans love his piano playing because of his authentic Cuban feel and 'swing' combined with progressive arrangements and uncompromising phrasing that puts one in mind of Eddie Palmieri. As a composer, arranger and band-leader Linares is highly respected as well. Ever since the 1960s in Lima Peru when his career began, his records have always been on point, being super tight, sharp, and hard as hell, what salseros call salsa brava con afinque. It's no surprise that Lo Que Tengo is exactly that: full of rock solid dance floor killers and no filler, played with verve and flair. Unlike some of his other records that were patched together from various sessions made in different studios (sometimes even in several countries!), this album has the advantage of being produced, recorded and mixed by Alfredo Linares all in one studio and block of time, and backed by hand-picked seasoned professionals who Linares had already played with, both in the studio and on stage, lending it a consistency and sonic integrity that is excitingly manifest in every groove. The album was recorded in 1980 in Caracas with some of the cream of the crop of contemporary Venezuelan salsa musicians (members of Mango, Madera, El Trabuco Venezolano, Los Dementes, Los Melódicos, Dimensión Latina, Guaco, and La Salsa Mayor) and launched there on the indie label A.L.G. Records as ¡Con Todo!, and then a year later on the much larger Velvet Records with a different cover. The LP was also released in Colombia (INS, 1982) and the US (Gallo, 1984), both editions utilizing the Velvet Records cover. During this time Linares had been in Venezuela for some five years and was under contract with a nightclub in Caracas. Through being on the salsa scene there he became friends with the band Mango and even guested on an album with them in 1976. After the contract was up Linares was a free agent again and he was able to draw on his friendship with Mango and assemble a band to back him, first for the Colombian/Venezuelan production Salsa de Verdad (Fonodisco, 1976) and then again with ¡Con Todo! / Lo Que Tengo. One of the distinctive aspects of Alfredo Linares tunes is the 'break' (la cierre)-there are always plenty of dramatic hand-clapping breakdowns followed by an infectious tumbao (sustained vamp) section that sends shivers up the spine and makes the dancers go crazy. In addition, Linares always lets his musicians stretch out, especially in the percussion section. Again, Lo Que Tengo is no exception: there are so many examples of typical arrangements here that one could call this a classic Alfredo Linares album, but with the updated studio sound of 1980s Caracas, which was awash in petro-dollars at the time and so had the latest equipment and a strong consumer base for the salsa market. The album's title tune (originally credited on the Venezuelan edition as 'Lo que tengo que crear'-'What I Have To Create') is by Mango's timbalero José "Cheo" Navarro and sums up Linares' central career philosophy: the musician lives every day to create music, to spread joy and create a party, without complications, wherever he goes. With five perfectly paced salsas, one funky cha cha chá, a steamy bolero and a dance-friendly Latin jazz number to top it off (note the bluesy piano solo from Linares and the sublime vibes of Mango's Freddy Roldán), there is something for everybody on this record. Thankfully today's generation can now enjoy this rarity at a fraction of the cost of an original copy.

Type “Was Joan of Arc” into Google and the suggested endings for this statement give you an accurate gauge of her place in pop culture: “Catholic” / “a nun” / “canonised” / “a prophet” / “French” / “a witch” and so on. Related questions to “What were Joan of Arc’s last words” on the info-sharing site Quora include “Was Joan of Arc bisexual” and “Was Joan of Arc simply crazy?” Everyone seems to agree this person was burned at the stake in 1431, but beyond that, Joan’s narrative is an enigma. It is this lack of definition that the production duo Pillow Queen harnessed for their second release, Burn Me Up. Inverting the image of the devout Christian girl, the Joan who stands as this record’s heroine was a heretic, a transvestite, most definitely a dyke and a hot femme-top at that.

Opening up the A-side, the title track is a call— a battle cry, but also a summoning. In a time of need one calls upon their patrons and elders from history; a DJ beckons and gathers dancers to the floor; prayer and sweat go hand and hand. A traditional Irish bodhrán drum beats out the first rhythms, joined by a steamy vocal sample that gets caught, chopped, and soon “Burns Me Up” is pumping along with organ chords and distorted keys. Pivoting away from the 4/4 format, “Submission” is a textured, downtempo slow-burner, with close-mic’d vocals from Vani-T and the D. Tiffany’s deft drum programming. When the choral pads come in, there’s an echo of the 1990s German worldbeat project Enigma, with its Gregorian chants and flutes laid on top of lounge beats—here, though, the chorus is stripped of kitsch, only driving the track deeper into a mood.

If Burn Me Up’s sequence of tracks is read as a kind of narrative, they seem to tell the story of Joan’s last moments. “Burn Me Up” is, frankly, heat—aggressive, the high-end crackles and the bass puts a pyre under one’s feet. “Submission” is like an exhale, a giving-in to death’s grip; there is, along with the sensuous tread, a melancholy. It only makes sense that one flips the record to “Resurrection”, which rolls in a tremolo’d wail of pitched vocals for 30 seconds before a kick drum begins the 141-BPM march. The percussion is central here, as the track shifts between polyrhythms like a range of resuscitations, varied heartbeats. “Salvation” closes the record, again dialling back the tempo to the deep nod of dub. To no surprise, the scene of redemption here is not one of sunlit cherubs—the church bell sample tolls one strike every few measures of bass-throb and shadow, while Vani-T intones, “Then he lay down and died”. Death can be salvation to some; living as many selves, living in contradiction, is a saving grace to many more.

In March of 2020 bassist Dezron Douglas & harpist Brandee Younger were nestled in their apartment in Harlem, New York, not long after every live concert in the world was cancelled and most folks in the United States were forced to shelter in place for the covid lockdown. With all their gigs cancelled and their incomes strapped.. the two came up with an idea. They would host a live-stream performance from their living room, where they would perform classic tunes for friends and family to watch online, and folks could send them donations. They called it “Force Majeure: Brunch in the Crib with Brandee & Dezron,” the first part in homage to the ubiquitous contract clause that never seems to have any use (except all of sudden, c/o a covid-induced live music industry collapse). The immense popularity of their first performance roped them into doing it again, and again, until it eventually became a weekly ritual for Douglas, Younger, and their many friends and family who tuned in every Friday morning (ourselves included). Knowing the beautiful, natural sound they made in their living room would be as enjoyable (or more) as a record as it was through a social media stream… we mailed them a microphone to record themselves. What’s heard on this album, Force Majeure, is a collection of highlights from Douglas & Younger’s legendary lockdown livestream brunch sessions. It includes gorgeous interpretations of songs by Alice & John Coltrane, The Stylistics, The Jackson 5, Pharoah Sanders, Kate Bush, Sting, and The Carpenters… plus some solid gold nuggets of their banter between tunes. It’s an uplifting suite of real, soulful comfort music – a spiritual salve, emanating warmth from the hearth of a Harlem sanctuary.

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger are long time companions in life and in music. The two East Coast natives met early in life and have accompanied each other, personally and professionally, through their equally prolific careers. Douglas, a bassist who has established himself as a musician’s musician, is known to many for his work with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, David Murray, and Keyon Harold. Younger, a harpist who has distinguished herself as one of the premiere voices in her field, is known for her work with Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, and Moses Sumney. To the day Douglas and Younger often accompany each other in many of the ensembles they lead, respectively. The two played together in sessions for Makaya McCraven’s 2018 release Universal Beings, on which they are both featured artists. Of Force Majeure, McCraven says: “It’s a testament to the power of music to uplift us through the most challenging times.

"It is time for man to set a goal for himself. It is time for man to plant the seed of his highest hope. His soil is still rich enough for it. But that soil will one day be poor and exhausted, and no lofty tree will any longer be able to grow on it. Alas. There will come a time when man will no longer launch the arrow of his longing beyond man - and the string of his bow will have unlearned to whir! I say to you: one must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star. I say to you: you still have chaos in yourself. Alas. There will come a time when man can no longer give birth to any star. Alas. There will come the time of the most despicable man, who can no longer despise himself."

This excerpt of Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" sets the mood for the latest album of Sardinian sound researcher Eugenio Caria. "In Origine: The Field of Repentance" is a concept album dealing with the origin of man and its impact on the cycle of creation and destruction which drives the evolution of the universe. This time Caria invited one of the world's major trumpeters, prolific Sardinian jazz artist Paolo Fresu to collaborate on the album. Fresu's unique trumpet sound is recognized as one of the most distinctive in the contemporary jazz scene and on this album Caria and Fresu succeed in perfectly merging their contributions into a coherent entity. Fresu is not accompanying Caria and Caria is not accompanying Fresu. Instead they both drive each others plays, building and rebuilding, forming and reforming meticulous pieces of analogue-electronic music that invoke the feeling of a pure timelessness.

Ending the season on a breezy note, our new VA 'Boogie Angst, Edition Three' delivers the ideal wares for a buoyant last stretch to an otherwise trying year. Spanning a brightly hued kaleidoscope of pop-infused house and mellifluous boogie, Edition Three pushes forth a selection of our choicest grooves from the past year as well as a batch of unheard and exclusive gems to keep you in the warmest, most positive mindset for the winter to come. Through fifteen cuts covering a wide but cohesive spectrum of balmy sonics, the compilation once again offers a much spitting image of what the label's been up to in recent times.

HIGH HØØPS playful revamp of Secret Rendezvous' fresher-than-fresh RnB joint 'Back In The Day' sets the tone right away, followed closely by Moods & Two Another's lush coastal disco number 'Control' and Snacks & Eric Biddines neo-big band style house treat 'All Night' - a singular chunk of ballroom bop tinged with soulful blues tropes and Caribbean melodic accents, sure to have the dancers jiving without further ado.

Here comes Inkswel's synth-splattered mix of 8-bit pixelation and Run DMC-esque hip-hop 'Too Late' (ft. Stan Smith) and Saux's dream folk excursion 'You're Not Wrong'. A highlight of the package and mesmerizing piece of wistful, kosmische-laced disco, Kraak & Smaak 'Centro De Placer' ushers us in a realm of velveteen ingenuousness and sun-streaked utopianism, steering us away from the tar-scented gloom of soulless metropolises into an all engulfing prism of hope, love and grace.

Utrecht-based vibist Feiertag punches the clock with 'Encino Boogie' - a four minute-odd slab of buoyant funk sprinkled with laid-back house tropes and brass-heavy, loungey dub tonalities, perfect for drawing out the pleasure of dreamlike summer boogie sessions. Clear your mind and shuffle your feet to that solar-powered mix of fevered drums, slap bass and sensually aqueous groove.

Next, Kraak & Smaak's add their easily identifiable, almost Beck-ian spin to Jean Tonique's lysergic pop hit-en-puissance 'Too Bad' whilst Bondax lo-slung remix of Moods' sense-awakening soul tune 'Slow Down' (ft. Damon Trueitt) eases you into a place of inviting suavity.

Inkswel's funky robot chugger 'The People' (ft. Dave Aju) picks up the torch next, followed by Flevans, your go-to man for proper electroid floor traction. The UK-based producer has you covered with 'Everything I See' - a surefire, bass-driven roller inbound for severe club impact with its infectious mix of fiery riffs, mangled female vox slivers and racing groove. Next, Secret Rendezvous' sun-beamy ballad 'Your Love' takes us on a gently bouncy, romantic ride.

Last but not least, Vhyce's smooth hybrid of synth-strewn RnB and lo-velocity funk 'Lose Our Minds' (ft. Yves Paquet), David Harks' metronomic disco-pop anthem 'Twice' and Saux's sleek-textured synthpop exponent 'Night Is All There Is' round off the package on a typically smooth and vibrant sentimental touch.

For the wax heads out there, a limited 9-track vinyl sampler will be issued alongside the digital compilation, featuring some of the tracks on the album + a few alternative versions, and furthermore a vinyl exclusive of Kraak & Smaak's remix of Izo FitzRoy's 'When The Wires are Down', initially released only digitally via Jalapeño Records.








h 08 | Inkswel The People (Cody Currie Remix) feat Dave Aju
feat Wolfgang Valbrun

Favorite Recordings presents an exclusive reissue of the first private press eponymous LP by Sacbé, a Mexican Jazz Fusion masterpiece from 1977. Unique and beautifully recorded, with a breezy feel brought by the synthesizers, Sacbé could be likened to what Azymuth was doing at the same time in Brazil. Available as a vinyl-only limited pressing Deluxe Tip-On LP, coming with its original printed innersleeve, remastered by The Carvery.

Sacbé was composed of Eugenio (keyboards), Enrique (electric bass) & Fernando Toussaint (drums), three brothers hailing from the huge Mexico city, and their friend and sax player Alejandro Campos. Growing up in a family of musicians, they quickly became familiar with jazz music. However they were mostly self-taught, most of them choosing at first to work and study outside the music industry, but somehow, Eugenio had the opportunity to start studies at the Berklee Music University. Before leaving, he deeply wanted to play jazz with his brothers. That’s how Sacbé was created on a hot day of October 1976.

The band then built step by step a challenging repertoire including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Milton Nascimento, Focus, Passport, and many more… Gradually, Eugenio started to compose more tracks, and through a cooperative work of arrangement, Sacbé ended up playing only their own compositions. That was not an easy choice for the band, resulting in a lot fewer opportunities to play in bars and clubs at night, while they were cumulating small jobs during the daytime. But their dedication, tightness, and integrity started to attract a wider audience thanks to their sessions at the Musicafé and helped Sacbé to assert its imprint within Mexico’s creative artistic circles. A group of artists with similar attitudes was created and they began working almost as a team, holding live shows, exhibitions, and dance performances, all with a very unique and creative proposal. It’s at this period that the band met Luis Gil, a young designer and recording engineer, who had access to one of the best studios of the city called LAGAB. Recording at nights and weekends for free, the Toussaint brothers had, therefore, the chance to really put their band quite literally under the microscope.

With tenacity, they explored all the possibilities of interpretations, structures and improvisations, collaborating with great musicians and finding themselves in the position of being their own producers, despite being only around 20 years old! This album is the result of this perfectionism ethics, shared by everyone involved. “Sacbé” means white road in the Mayan culture, it was the name for the roads connecting the main ceremonial centres with the jungle, made of roughly three feet of coral limestone. They were sacred roads used by high priests and warriors, which echoed the musical path of the three brothers. Putting the pieces together, they managed to create their own label and pressed 1000 copies of their reunited recordings in 1977. The artwork was painted by Enrique, inspired by the work of Le Douanier Rousseau and the Mayan jungle. Hopefully, the LP met some success in Mexico and California, opening many radio and TV doors for them. It was the starting point for a whole career of recordings, with a total of seven albums including various guests.

The sixth vinyl release of the Valencian label HC Records is signed by the legendary

brothers John & Paul Healy aka "Somatic Responses" in "Interlinked Ep". To talk about

them is to talk about real heroes of the history of the most personal, raw and abstract

electronic music born in Wales. Active since 1994, to this day they continue experimenting

with all their analogical stuff to compose with tremendous regularity.


The neural connection of wet cable with the Somatic Responses universe begins with "Satin

Armour", a stunning and beautiful electro melodic track surrounded by rough rhythms and

strange atmospheres like a rose protected by steel thorns. Raw, primitive and rough rhythms

are the presentation card of "Snake"; a track with a marked industrial influence where an

avalanche of beams and Martian LFOs, with a marked acid taste, develop along this

primitive discharge of high electric voltage. The mechanical and industrial force hits our

prefrontal cortex in "Interlinked (Cell Mix)", a sonic aggression that combines all the

violence of the Intelligent Hardcore Techno with an avalanche of mysterious and fatalistic

auras coming from a future Cyberpunk.

"Aria" inaugurates the B side of the vinyl in a demonstration of harmonic virtuosity and

synthesizer juggling, seasoned with a whirlwind of accelerated broken rhythms totally

saturated with emotion, passion and hope.


The album's farewell track is "Heading South", a strange emotional trip, with velvety

cadences and dreamy pads seen through a stereogram, a potential anthem.

Four digital bonus tracks complete the journey through the dark future designed by the


Healy brothers:

"Dolaucothiacid v2" is an advanced and sharp experiment in several layers of pressure and

distortion around the amalgam of possibilities of the stacking of corrosive sequences and

abstract structures.


"Automaton Reign" reinvents all the concepts of the most acidic and vengeful Techno

Industrial, a merciless brain-roller. Persistent Illusion infiltrates us in the middle of an epic

and decadent combat of space cruisers where nobody survives, rhythmic rage and metallic

histrionics. We don't abandon the forcefulness or the post-apocalyptic hysteria in "Cell

(Loquelic Mix)" a demolishing closure that connects us fully in the already tangible manmachine

connection.



For this special release, we have collaborated with the Valencian artist Manuel Monzonís,

who has been in charge of creating the cover illustration. A stunning work that perfectly

captures the spirit of this Interlinked EP.

Conjunto Papa Upa returns with “Todo Parao” (“Total Shutdown”), another boundary pushing tropical smasher. Bringing you the ultimate (humourous) hymn to the pandemic over an exquisite blend of highly danceable Caribbean rhythms (zouk, cadence, kompás, guaracha) and classic synths. Backed by a deep sea dub on the flip, complete with resplendent cowbell(!), timbales and Wurlitzer solos. Another stepping stone that showcases yet another angle of the unique and radical production style of Alex Figueira. Drop this 45 at your next virtual party and watch everybody leave their computers in a desperate search of a dancing partner.

Conjunto Papa Upa is the Afro Caribbean centered solo project of Figueira, backed live bysome of the best musicians from Amsterdam’s Latin and free jazz scenes. Their debut LP was recently released on legendary American indie label Names You Can Trust. Figueira is also known for his percussive work on tropical psych power trio Fumaça Preta or his regular live incursions with Amsterdam’s turkish psych folk powerhouse, Altin Gun.

Having spent the whole night working on the melodic structure of the song, Figueira took a break to take advantage of the different time zones and check on his dad in Venezuela, and ask how the pandemic was unfolding there. His answer: “Todo Parao” (“Total Shutdown”). The same two words he had used multiple times before, this time pronounced in a hilarious Rum-infused way, giving Alex an unexpected flush of inspiration in the form of an instant infectious chorus. He excused himself and immediately got locked back in the studio. The result is this incredibly catchy tune, displaying the optimistic approach of a boyfriend to the chaos, uncertainty and worrying of his girlfriend about the pandemic, presenting her with his own lascivious lockdown plan for the two, declaring at a certain moment: “while everyone is lamenting, you and I are going to enjoy”.

In the musical side, rhythms from Haiti, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico and Cuba are unscrupulously mixed with the most diverse and strikking elements: strident cowbells that evoke the toughest salsa of 70's New York, harmonized guitars evidencing the inconfesable influence of 80’s heavy metal, a delicate Wurlitzer piano reminiscent of Black America’s greatest Soul ballads, Casio keyboards rescued from a child’s toy cabinet and a whole plethora of half-broken classic Synths, to create an equally irresistible and unclassifiable hybrid.

On the flip side, Part 2 opens with a prominent dose of the lead guitar that appeared briefly on the A side, working as a preamble to an instrumentalist frenzy that is not concerned about displaying technique. Its mere intention is to tell you the rest of the story without using words. A few bars into the song, the first gear shifts with a monumental solo given by the least probable of all “soloist” instruments: the cowbell (!). After it, a crispy Timbal crashes the party, making a statement out of its only appearance in the entire recording. Finally, the longed-for turn of the melodious Wurlitzer, who left everybody craving for more on the other side of the record, giving the modest keyboard skills of Figueira an imposing pentatonic virtue.

Unbegrenzt is the third in an ongoing series of archival records of the unheard music of Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix, co-released by Blank Forms Editions and Empty Editions. It follows Selected Early Keyboard Works and Selections from 100 Models of Hegikan Roku (named the #1 archival release of 2019 by The Wire), in addition to a two-volume collection of Hennix’s writing titled Poësy Matters and Other Matters.

Recorded in February of 1974 and featuring Catherine Christer Hennix (recitation, percussion, and electronics) and Hans Isgren (bowed gong), Hennix’s realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Unbegrenzt” (German for “unlimited”) from Aus den Sieben Tagen is an elaboration both rigorous and radically different from the canonical 1969 recording issued by Shandar. The collection of 15 text pieces written in Paris during May of 1968, Aus den Sieben Tagen, denies its performers notated direction and instead provides poetic cues that hinge upon Stockhausen’s conception of “intuitive music,” a Eurocentric perspective on improvisation antithetical to the vernacular forms Hennix had engaged with as a young drummer performing in Stockholm jazz clubs with musicians like Bill Barron, Cam Brown, Hans Isgren, Lalle Svenson, Allan Vajda, Bo Wärmell, and many others. While both Hennix and Isgren saw the formal prospect of Aus den Sieben Tagen as a productive development of and beyond La Monte Young’s event scores, she here steadfastly counters his rationalization of intuition with the Principle of Sufficient Reason. (Cf. Brouwer’s Lattice.) Eschewing the busy, conservatory-addled lapses into idiomatic citation of Stockhausen’s 1969 recording, Hennix’s alternative realization of the “Unbegrenzt” score’s instructions to “play a sound with the certainty that you have an infinite amount of time and space” is based on her concept of Infinitary Compositions, the trademark of her ensemble The Deontic Miracle which, at one time, considered adding Stockhausen, La Monte Young and Terry Jennings scores to its repertoire. Taking a mature, minimal iteration of Stockhausen’s compositional method of “moment-forming” to heart, her version’s dark, controlled feedback and amplified bowed gong subtly shift through an immanent sequence of formative moments, step by step. Its bubbling computer noise, percussion, and repeated ominous transient sounds of temple blocks over the bowed gong terminate with the integrated recitation of exotic text fragments from Hevajra Tantra which faithfully take Stockhausen’s score into deeper vistas of the unconscious and a more devastating opening to the unlimited time and space of a dreaming mind.

Audio restoration and mastering by Stephan Mathieu, with an essay by Bill Dietz.

Catherine Christer Hennix (b. 1948) started her creative life playing drums with her older brother Peter, growing up in Sweden where she heard jazz luminaries, such as John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor perform from 1960 to 1967. Directly after high school, Hennix went to work at Stockholm’s pioneering Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she developed early tape music, incorporating computer generated speech done at the Royal Technological University (KTH), where she was an undergraduate student. After traveling to New York In 1968, she met artists Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles who invited her to stay at the Something Else Press Town House where she had the opportunity to meet, among others, composers John Cage, James Tenney, and Phil Corner. During the following years she developed fruitful collaborative relationships with many composers in the burgeoning American avant-garde, including, most significantly, Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. Young introduced Hennix to Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath and she would later study intensively under him as his first European disciple. While Hennix continued to make music performing alongside Arthur Russell, Marc Johnson, Henry Flynt, and Arthur Rhames, she also served as a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz and as a visiting Professor of Logic (at Marvin Minsky’s invitation) at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In recent years Hennix has led the just-intonation ensemble the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, which has featured musicians Amelia Cuni, Amirtha Kidambi, Chiyoku Szlavnics, Hilary Jeffrey, Amir El-Saffar, Benjamin Duboc and Rozemarie Heggen. She currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey pursuing studies in classical Arabic and Turkish makam.

After a long delay due to his previous powerhouse 'Hypnotised' blowing up the worldwide spot, German maestro Purple Disco Machine finally lets loose the next step in his world dance domination. Every superlative under the sun has been used for this man's talents and he does not disappoint with a return to his updated Italo disco stylings on new single 'Exotica'.

Purple Disco Machine remains at the forefront of world dance music, following a series of remixes for A-list icons Diplo, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, Foals, Calvin Harris, Fatboy Slim, Sir Elton John, whilst more recently delivering his stellar cuts of Duke Dumont’s ‘Ocean Drive’, and Lady Gaga and Adriana Grande’s international hit single ‘Rain On Me’.

He now unveils yet another side of his impressive production prowess with new single ‘Exotica’ featuring the Italian electro funk producer Mind Enterprises on vocals, creating an electric club record exploring and playing homage to '80s German and Italian euro disco records that he grew up with.

Based around a replayed sample of 80’s Italo disco classic ‘Void Vision’ by Cyber People, Purple Disco Machine creates a high energy dance-floor heater with a lively modulated vocal. ‘Exotica’ shares its name with the forthcoming studio album, which the artist confirms will feature his playful interpretation of the music of the decade that birthed the Purple Disco Machine sound; Synth Pop, Italo Disco, Electro Funk, Soul, R&B and Boogie.

Certified as one of the most prolific electronic artists of our generation, the Dresden born producer ranks #2 on Beatport’s all-time Top Artists, with his 2013 breakthrough hit ‘My House’ remaining as one of the platform’s best-sellers through to today. With an undeniable midas touch, Purple Disco Machine landed himself in the record books once again in 2018, whilst amassing a stunning 100 million streams across his original ‘Dished (Male Stripper)’, and remixes of Weiss’ ‘Feel My Needs’, and most notably his remix of the seminal ‘Praise You’ by industry icon Fatboy Slim. With a slew of varied releases including hit singles ‘In My Arms’, ‘Body Funk’ and ‘Devil In Me’, the producer’s status was propelled by his debut LP ‘Soulmatic’, earning him critical acclaim across the globe.

Record Kicks reissues mythical Calibro 35's third album "Any Resemblance To Real Persons Or Actual Facts Is Purely Coincidental" sampled by Dr Dre in "Compton".

Completing the trilogy of Calibro 35's reissues, Record Kicks proudly presents "Any Resemblance To Real Persons Or Actual Facts Is Purely Coincidental", the third album by Italian cinematic funk heroes CALIBRO 35, whose title track was sampled by Dr.Dre in "One Shot One Kill" featuring Snoop Dog in his 2015 "Compton" album. After the reprint of the previous two records "Calibro 35" and "Ritornano Quelli Di (The Return Of)", this third and last reissue will be available on December 4th on a limited edition LP and digitally in a Deluxe Edition version. The digital Deluxe Edition includes 3 bonus tracks: the band's original compositions "Ballando In Balera" and "Appuntamento al Contessa" and a cover of Herbie Hancock's "Deathwish".

Recorded in Brooklyn in just five days, with "Any Resemblance" the Milan cult combo, while cultivating its damn-near-perfected cinematic vibes, experiments a more improvisational approach to writing. "Massacre at Dawn" comes straight from afro-funk territory, an homage to Brooklyn heroes Budos Band and Menahan Street Band. "Rain On Concrete" instead sounds like a French soundtrack composed some decades ago by Francis Lai or Jean Claude Vannier. There is also a more globally-inspired flavour to several tracks on the album: from the Indian vibe of the sitar-injected "New Dehli Deli," to the streets of San Francisco with the heavy weight of the clavinet on "Thank You and Good Bye," to the high impact horn riffs of Detroit's Motown Studio sound on "The BBQ Band" and "The Package", and then back again to Italy for retro-scat vocals on "Uh Ah Brrr", reminiscent of the best of Ennio Morrione's and Piero Umiliani's compositions from the 60s. Just like the previously reprinted "Calibro 35" and "The Return Of", 2012 "Any Remblance" LP is highly sought-after by collectors and soundtrack aficionados worldwide and by popular demand a reissue sees the light of day on a limited edition Gatefold LP that includes digital download of the bonus tracks.

Active since 2008, CALIBRO 35 enjoy a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. During their ten-year career, they were sampled by Dr. Dre on his "Compton" album as well as by Jay-Z and The Child of Lov & Damon Albarn, they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat and Headhunters and as unique musicians they collaborated with, among others, PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 can now count on a number of aficionados worldwide, including VIP fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.