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Collecting oders for Repress

Kaiser puts the pedal straight to the metal on the title track. Then he delves into deeper vibes on "Bloodline", only to open up the throttle again on B1. He rounds up this versatile EP with a mental trippy banger.

Second Album of Gaznevada originnally released in 1980...Disordine re-issue , 2019 official license from Italian Records.

unperson has quickly defined his own unique lane of deeply atmospheric and percussive bass-laden electronics. His 'The Ghosts That Gave' EP was released to critical acclaim in March 2020 with support from Mixmag, DJ Mag (9/10 Review) & Resident Advisor and plays across BBC 6Music ('Recommends Spotlight Artist' feature for Tom Ravenscroft), Saoirse's BBC R1 Residency, NTS, Rinse FM + more. With tastemaker DJ support from Call Super, upsammy, Errorsmith, Machine Woman, Minor Science, India Jordan, AYA, Bruce etc., unperson is becoming a formidable new face in the electronic scene having recently contributed to Crack Magazine's esteemed mix series.

The 'Struggles In Conjuring' EP sees unperson step further out of the "corners of the club" than he has in his output to date; with an alluringly warm introduction, 3 tracks primed for peak dancefloor dismantling and a remix from man-of-the-moment DJ Python – who had a career defining 2020 after releasing his 'Mas Amable' album (#1 in Resident Advisor Album of The Year 2020, #3 on Crack Magazine's Best Albums Of 2020, #87 in Pitchfork's 100 Best Songs of 2020 etc).

If Shelter swam through the serene side of the Library experience on GBR016, CV Vision blasts off in the opposite direction, riding an explosion of funk breaks and frazzled synths into the event horizon on his retro-futurist opus ‘Insolita’.

As contemporary life accelerates way past peak-weird, CV Vision leans into uncertainty and leaves Earth in the rear-view. Strung out on Simulacron-3, World On A Wire and Omaggio Ad Einstein, the Berlin-based musician imagines his own Brave New World, an alternate eXistenZ in a secret simulation.

Using the space age obsession of the Italian libraries as a launch pad, Dennis Schulze slathers a sonic storyboard with ferocious percussion, psychedelic fuzz and the pastoral electronics of Germany’s Kosmische movement. But this is less Can, more uncanny - and Schulze perfectly renders the cognitive estrangement of a simulated reality through his adventurous production. The monolithic live drums, recorded in a Neukölln garage on a battered Soviet kit are smeared with tape hiss, compressed to death and fired through LFOs, re-materialising on record in impossible scale. Time slips out of joint under the wow and flutter of the reel to reel, drum computers add digital interference to organic rhythms and the unfaltering slew of the 303 lends the hallucinatory thrill of the club sound system to an already psychedelic affair.

As Schulze’s imagination runs free, we’re taken through epic space battles and narrow escapes, moments of reflection and affection and a final resolution, all expressed through a dexterous control of movement and mood. For every explosion of break-fuelled adrenaline, there’s a cruise into cryo-chamber music and holodeck exotica. For each neck-snapping blast of acid funk, there’s a zero gravity lullaby waiting just around the corner.

So put isolation on ice and surrender to the strange, this is a trip you don’t want to end.

Robert Hood returns to Rekids with ‘The Blueprint EP’ this July.

Following 2020’s ‘Mirror Man’ LP on Radio Slave’s Rekids, Detroit pioneer Robert Hood returns to the label with a four-track EP of his trailblazing minimal techno. Leading the release, ‘Chroma Light’ opens with cinematic pads and pounding 4/4 patterns as twisted synthesis modulates throughout for a striking start. Followed by ‘The Majestic (Deeper Edit)’, with rattling percussion and fiercely relentless stabs, Hood shows his intent in creating propulsive, dancefloor focussed cuts across the EP.

On the flip, ‘The Majestic’ takes the B1 spot, expanding on the previous track with wild synths and his signature machine-like drums before ‘Ultrasonic Room’ closes out the release with eerie atmospherics and an underlying hypnotic pulse taking centre stage.

A founding member of Underground Resistance alongside Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, Robert Hood is one of techno’s originators, with his decorated career spanning three decades across labels like Tresor, Peacefrog, Music Man Records, and of course, his own M-Plant.

Devin The Dude is back with another classic. At 14 tracks, Soulful Distance plays on the current global scenario and oozes the familiar smooth sounds and cruising music that Devin is best known for. Keeping things local, the album features several notable Houston natives, including Scarface, Slim Thug, Big Pokey, & Lil Keke.

oracle and audioMER. are honoured to announce the release of a new LP; Reading the City with music by oracle, Laszlo Umbreit & Mira Sanders.

In 2019 oracle invited artist Mira Sanders to interact with their practice through her writing. Due to the corona crisis, their shared working time couldn’t happen in the planned way:

“The writing project was originally planned as an exchange while travelling together one week on the Buratinas boat, navigating on the canals and rivers starting from Brussels. Due to the sanitary conditions with the Covid19, the trip together could not be realised or at least was complicated.

Instead of seeing the situation as an obstacle, I saw it as an opportunity to travel with them from afar. Me, living outside the city and them, inside. My question was ‘how, through their voices echoing with the urban spaces, will I imagine the city’s everyday life?’. Because one of the things that oracle’s practice does is to offer ways to perceive and encounter the city and its inhabitants.

For the texts I was inspired by the recordings oracle sent me every day during one week. Besides that, the book Invisible Cities written by Italo Calvino gave me a way of structuring my imagination.” – Mira Sanders

Following this artistic exchange and during a collaboration with sound artist Laszlo Umbreit, the idea of the record Reading the City was born. The existing recordings and the written sci-fi episodes by Mira Sanders functioned as a source of inspiration for the electronic sound composition Places, infiltrated by the original voices and city soundscapes. The recordings of the texts From Afar reflect oracle’s playful and spontaneous way of interacting with their given environment. From Afar is an invitation for the reader to immerse in the city while being in movement. Each track on this side has its own identity or colour, often in relation to what Mira’s text evoked, but this also happened in an empirical way, by trial and error.

Places is a composition in movement, following the idea of interaction with imaginary cities but regularly coming back to a presence of the workshop’s raw documentary sound. While being a carefully edited piece, it tries to keep a certain sense of immediacy and improvisation through semi-random dropping of heterogeneous sound materials in the timeline. Accidents are welcome. The arc drawn by the journey through different “places” is an interpretation of what can happen inside (and outside) when experiencing the oracle practice: being around them, imagining what was felt at different moments in the street, from a distance, preparing the itinerary in the city beforehand, talking about what oracle could be as a record and if it can exist outside the moment it happens.

Anne-Marie’s second studio album, ‘Therapy’, is the official follow-up to her multi-platinum and four million-selling 2018 debut, ‘Speak Your Mind’ the UK’s biggest-selling debut release of that year. An artist whose everywoman candour and knock-you-down vocal range has reverberated across the globe, ‘Therapy’ is a collection of songs that embody Anne-Marie’s characterful artistry, self-effacing attitude and beautiful honesty; attributes that have not only catapulted Essex-born Anne-Marie to platinum status in the UK to the USA and everywhere in-between, but ones that have seen her reign supreme a fearless Gen Z role model.



With the full tracklisting yet to be announced, Mind Charity ambassador Anne-Marie is delighted to confirm that ‘Therapy’ will feature her already-released UK Top 3 and Gold-selling ‘Don’t Play’ with KSI and Digital Farm Animals; recent feel-good Nathan Dawe and MoStack collaboration ‘Way Too Long’; as well as Niall Horan collaboration, ‘Our Song’, which the pair wrote with Phil Plested and TMS (Lewis Capaldi), with the latter also on production.



An album of candour and vivacity in equal measure, Anne-Marie wrote ‘Therapy’ with Max Martin (Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift), Kamille (Little Mix, Headie One), MNEK, Raye, TMS, Blake Slatkin (The Kid Laroi, 24kGoldn), Ed Sheeran, Nathan Dawe and Plested (Lewis Capaldi) – production comes from Mojam (Aitch, Fredo), Fred Ball (Rihanna), TMS and Blake Slatkin.



Anne-Marie has become one of the globe’s most successful pop stars since hear breakthrough in 2016. An artist with over five billion streams to her name, in her home market, she has secured 1 x platinum album alongside five Top 10 singles to date. And 2021 has seen her continue her winning streak, too – her January release ‘Don’t Play’ spent twelve weeks inside the Top 10 in the UK’s Official Singles Chart and has subsequently become the biggest song of 2021 so far by a British female artist (OCC). Not to mention her prime time debut as the new, and winning, judge on talent show, The Voice, earlier this year.



Rewind to 2020 and alongside charitable work and recording, Anne-Marie released her first-ever documentary titled ‘How To Be Anne-Marie’, exclusively with YouTube. Shot in her home county of Essex at a time when her years’ plans were turned upside down due to the pandemic, Anne-Marie took us back to where it all began. In the hour-long film, we saw her recounting her difficult school years, the close bonds she shares with her family, fans and friends, as well as the plights of stardom that she candidly spoke about with her peers, Little Mix.

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Dan Friel is unrivaled in his capacity to inject blistering noise and energy into ferocious pop songs. A champion and mainstay of the NYC underground, Friel the has played alongside the likes of Lightning Bolt and Black Dice as well collaborated with acclaimed string quartet ETHEL. Upper Wilds channels Friel's unbreakably ebullient spirit into mountainous rock music dripping with molten fuzz. The trio's exploration of the interstellar expands in parallel to their increasing levels of bombast and precision. Venus synthesizes the experimentation of debut Guitar Module 2017 and the thunder of 2018's Mars into ten lean chunks of cosmic rock laden with scorching hooks. On Venus, Upper Wilds rocket lovestruck anthems centered around the planet named for the Roman goddess of love at full tilt from the moment "Love Song #1" makes liftoff. The album's incendiary opening trilogy crashes with a relentless vigor and addictive melodies. The rhythm section of bassist Jason Binnick (who also mixed the album) and drummer Jeff Ottenbacher tear through off-kilter riffs that pound with meteoric impact. Friel's guitar sputters and froths beneath his voice before soaring into frenetic leads that pack every moment with powerful melody. Alien croons and glitching spasms spill out of Friel's wild, filtered humming, amplified into oblivion. Venus' few moments of respite lay bare the raw efficiency and beauty of Friel's songwriting, like transmissions home to loved ones thousands of miles away slipping through the crackle and chaos of space. Venus traverses the havoc, mystery, and joy of humanity's countless follies in both space and love. Both cosmic and human, Venus is a deeply affecting celebration of the wonders of what is beyond comprehension internally and externally. Upper Wilds' Venus is an exhilarating odyssey of tremendous exuberance and a testament to human resilience in the face of the unknown.

Acid Jazz Records are proud to announce an
exclusive licensing agreement with Albarika Store,
the legendary record label that defined the sound
of Benin and influenced the entire region of West
Africa and beyond.
 This is the first exhaustive trawl of the archive and
will see the label presented in a way that ensures
its historical importance is recognized.
 ‘Ipa Boogie’ is a super rare LP from 1978 that
almost never surfaces in good shape. Today even
average condition copies can command £500 to
£1,000 on the collector's market and for good
reason. These are the only known recordings by
this obscure band and they present the listener
with some of the finest afro-boogie and afro funk
that the extensive Albarika Store catalogue has to
offer.
 Transferred from the original tapes and
remastered by Grammy award-winning engineer
Frank Merritt at The Carvery, the album is
presented with beautiful artwork and packaging to
match the sonics. This is the music as it should be
heard.
 Over the next few years a comprehensive reissue
campaign is planned, overseen by Florent
Mazzoleni and David Hill for Albarika Store, with
Dean Rudland as executive producer for Acid Jazz..

Acid Jazz Records are proud to announce an
exclusive licensing agreement with Albarika Store,
the legendary record label that defined the sound
of Benin and influenced the entire region of West
Africa and beyond.
 This is the first exhaustive trawl of the archive and
will see the label presented in a way that ensures
its historical importance is recognized.
 ‘Segla’ is a hens’ teeth-rare Poly Rythmo album
from 1978 that was originally released without a
sleeve as ALS059. Recorded at EMI Lagos, Nigeria,
as per most of the Poly Rythmo recordings for
Albarika, the sound quality is from the tapes is
dynamic and fresh.
 Transferred from the original tapes and
remastered by Grammy award-winning engineer
Frank Merritt at The Carvery, the album is
presented with beautiful artwork and packaging to
match the sonics. This is the music as it should be
heard.
 Over the next few years a comprehensive reissue
campaign is planned, overseen by Florent
Mazzoleni and David Hill for Albarika Store, with
Dean Rudland as executive producer for Acid Jazz.

Albarika Store is home to many rare recordings, from more traditional folkloric and Sato styles, to the funk, blues and psych inspired workouts of the All Mighty Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, as they referred to themselves. Many of the original records are sought after by DJs and collectors as prime examples of Afro-funk, Afro-Latin and Afropsych sounds.
The next in the series of reissues by Acid Jazz presents a straight reproduction of the incredibly hard to find Poly-Rythmo ‘Vol. 4’ album, originally from 1978.
For DJs and dancers this album has long been about the killer track ‘Aiha Ni Kpe We’, an incendiary Afrobeat recording which will activate any dancefloor anywhere. “Every time I listen to the Orchestre Poly Rythmo… Wow, I just discover something new in the music” - Gilles Peterson
This is the first exhaustive trawl of the archive and will see the label presented in a way that ensures its historical importance is recognized. Trips to West Africa have secured original master tapes and the process of transferring is ongoing. Over the next few years a comprehensive reissue campaign is planned.

Forged in the cavernous labs of Indianapolis, the XK3 EP by producer D.Strange, dives into the metallic underworld of alienated shadows to create brutal, icy electro. The submerged acid-tinged opener, "Sonic Recoil" ascends with a snarling pathos of trap hats that pierce through the looming fog of the club. "Negative Center" haunts in cunning dexterity and grooves with a jacking pace of brooding momentum. Somewhere in the maze of resonance droplets, cascading hats, and the ominous synth pads, the track "A Black Liquid Filled My Lungs" hypnotizes in its atmospheric acid electro hybrid. Right out of the gate, the self-titled track "XK3" punishes with off-beat synth shards and glitchy, mechanical snares that snap in anthemic propulsion. While "Ghost of Kashif" weaves itself in esoteric, yet evocative, soundscapes with an absolutely grooving, club menacing fashion. Rounding out the release, fellow Indianapolis producer Noncompliant contributes a cruel electro sub-heating take of "XK3" to help warm the boreal landscapes of the EP.

Token celebrates its 100th release with Luke Slater, a legend of the genre, releasing under one of his most iconic aliases: Planetary Assault Systems. For over 25 years, Slater has delivered unparalleled quality in his music - a formative figure in Techno and instrumental in defining the sound globally, few can touch the Brit for depth, urgency and hit rate.

Exhibiting near enough perfect renditions of classic dance-floor moods, the four track EP is a wrought iron rollercoaster through some of the artist's most exacting work. Booming opener Bang Wap chugs unrelentingly while a lithe FX line does the bulk of the movement in the high mid range - building tension before a satisfying release in the last quarter. A2 Bolt is classic Planetary Assault Systems - hypnotic and driving with a single sequence dipping in and out of view. On the flip, Say It Loud could be an idiosyncratic hit waiting to happen - dry and tight in the drum department for maximum effect, and featuring a recurring vocal sample chopped and skewed for tension. Closer Shine takes a deeper, more psychedelic route with shades of the classic, jacking Detroit sound in the pitch bent lead line, but maintains the energy throughout with stylish delay sends upping the ante where required, all in all delivering a neat finish to the EP.

Reissue for John Joseph’s own all-star group 2017 debut album

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it."

The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs."

Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit.

For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

Makèz have come a long way since they first sneaked into Amsterdam’s studio 80 at the age of 17 to hand over their demos to Dam Swindle. Those demos led to their debut EP ‘Different planets’ on Heist in 2019 which gained major support from artists like Seth Troxler and Chez Damier. Quickly after, they signed two records on New York based label Let’s Play House. Fast forward two years, and here we are: the release of their debut album “City of all”.

"City of all” shows an admirable level of sophistication and matureness and effortlessly bridges genres across its 13 tracks. You can feel the amount of thought that has been put into this record, with songs happily blending into each other as Makèz submerge themselves in their concept of accidental encounters, inclusiveness and what it means to live in a city like Amsterdam.

On “City of all”, Makèz bring together all the musical influences they’ve picked up in their life as music fans, clubbers and art students. The jazz-funk of opening track “The entrance” feels breezy, casual almost, like the freeform rhythms that are played in a jazz club during soundcheck. That energy also oozes from “Not so different”, which features the smooth vocals of LYMA. There’s a hint of the house-meets-R’n B vibe that made Anderson .Paak the star that he is now. The song is brilliantly funky and shows the songwriting and arrangement talent of Makèz, who cleverly use pop & soul cues to create one of the album’s highlights.

What follows is 4 cuts ranging from the syncopated Balearic funk of “Orbit”, the strings of album title track “City of all”, the organ-led jam “Gonna getya" and the downbeat “Sonder”. Allysha Joy -best known for performing in Melbourne Hip Hop collective 30/70 - is featured on the deep and jazzy cut “Looking up”. If Makèz and Allysha are all looking up, it’s clear they’re seeing the same thing. These kindred spirits perfectly complement each other on this track, where the deep bass, warm harmonies and jazzy percussion prove to be a perfect foundation for Allysha’s rhymes.

Is it an album all about jazz and soulful tracks to listen to at home? Far from that. There’s a nice bit of dance floor-oriented tracks, where the distorted filter funk of “Roselane” featuring Fouk proves to be a highlight along with what is arguably the heaviest cut of the album: “Bent with funk”.

In an EP context, these house tracks would surely do their work, but they really come to life in this album format. No compromise has been made to storytelling and the house tracks all play their part while still standing their ground as powerful club tracks. It’s the expert production and smart arrangement that gives this album its casually funky feel. On “City of all”, Makèz showcase their remarkable talent for writing an album that goes to so many different places, but most of all, just really feels like home.

Enjoy the music,
Maarten & Lars

"These Exit Times" is the name of a newsletter sent by an environmental organisation advocating the extinction of the human race as a solution to save the planet. When Victor Ramirez first came across the group on the internet a couple of years ago, it brought a smile to his face. But after some pondering on the subject, he decided that "Exit Times" would be the name of his sensational third album as Ramirez Exposure.

The record started to take shape in early 2020, after a musical hiatus that had lasted a year. It had been somewhat of a dark period, and Victor felt it was time to go back to recording songs. It would be the first time he would be doing so at home. He had managed to set up a small studio that would allow him to make some proper recordings, and without having to use a computer. He'd also started a new job, as an orderly in a hospital, which gave him time to record and cash to pay the rent.

Victor was ready to take on the task of making the album with the help—albeit from a distance, this time—of Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star) and Brian Young (Jesus & Mary Chain, Ivy, Fountains of Wayne), both regular accomplices of the Valencian in production and instrumentation. Working with the two of them feels very natural for him, even though they are in three different countries.

Looking back, it seemed as if he'd prepared himself for what was coming.

And so, the pandemic happened, and Victor found himself turning the ideas he had outlined on his phone into the songs for Exit Times. He was in a good place, personally and, despite the situation, he was happy to be able to contribute to society through his job at the hospital and, after coming home, to concentrate on his music and isolate himself from everything else.

Gradually, the sketches turned into luminous songs, with bright harmonies and lyrics that exude a fine irony. Victor admits that he strives to be a good pessimist every day, and the songs reveal a way of understanding life that relativises almost everything in order to stick with what's really important. This subtle sense of humour in the lyrics, like the luminosity of his music, is vintage Ramirez, and is present throughout the album, and even on the cover. The artwork is a painting by German painter Angela Dalinger, depicting Victor himself, their dog, Colombo, and some meaningful objects. The vinyl record featured is George Harrison's Brainwashed.

Exit Times is a shiny collection of songs with a universal vocation, bathed in sunshine pop with touches of new psychedelia. All simmered under the Mediterranean sun—the same sun that illuminates the entire planet.

“We’re proud to announce the release of our debut EP ‘Reporting
Live From The Living Room Floor’ via Nice Swan Records. A
prologue chapter within the world we call Hallan, ‘Reporting Live
From The Living Room Floor’ introduces the 21st Century to the
Gumshoe Boy. The boy is always the man for the job. He’s the man
on the inside. He’s the Agency’s number one frontman and he’s
armed with a tape provided by an anonymous source. An undercover
operative in a satirical, Orwellian world, ‘Reporting Live From The
Living Room Floor’ paints a semi-abstract but tangible image of the
new decade, holding a mirror up to not only our modern society but
our individual selves. The time is now right. From the corner of his
bleak bedroom the boy plans his plan, and from the corner of ours we
do the same.” - Hallan
The EP draws influence from everyday observation, mainstream pop
culture and laughable tabloid fiction. ‘Reporting Live From The Living
Room Floor’ paints an semi-abstract but tangible image of the new
decade, holding a mirror up to not only modern society but
individuals.
Frontman Conor speaks on the track: “Our sound changes depending
on our agenda at any time, finding a different stride with every step.
With ‘Hands Up’ we found ourselves dropped into a Western rerun
armed with a fiercely cowboyish twang on our six string shooter. We
wanted to forth a thematic, semi abstract prose, attacking
businessmen and penny pinchers in a flurry of suitably delirious
criticisms.”
While struggling to find a studio which didn’t just place Hallan in the
cogs of a much larger machine, the band found Rob Quickenden of
Ford Lane studios for their last single, ‘Modern England’. Returning to
the rural depths of Yapton, Hallan once again join forces with
Quickenden on their debut EP. In a studio setting where no ideas
were out of the question and experimentation and exploration were
the words of the day, expect ‘Reporting Live From The Living Room
Floor’ to be a no-holds-barred exploration into the minds of Hallan.
Back in the far forgotten world of live events, Hallan supported the
likes of Sports Team and Porridge Radio. Yet 2021 sees the band
carve their own path all together. Backed by Nice Swan Records
(Sports Team, Courting, Sprints) Hallan are finally ready to release
their latest imaginings to the world.

Tonnon produced the album with longtime collaborator, and The Beths’ guitarist and producer, Jonathan Pearce. Tonnon wrote the bulk of the songs during an extensive period of touring after the release of Successor - a period where Tonnon performed with Nadia Reid in Europe, The Veils in the USA, and The Chills, The Phoenix Foundation and Don McGlashan in New Zealand. The pair workshopped songs between tours, often recording new parts as the live versions developed.

Tonnon and Pearce recorded between 2017 and 2020, and in that time, Tonnon’s practise evolved heavily. He incorporated new technology into his set, including the Wellington-designed Synthstrom Deluge, which allowed him to adapt his set for new performance environments;Art Galleries, Museums, even New Zealand Fashion Week. He took that technology further when he collaborated with the Otago Museum on the immersive show for Planetariums, A Synthesized Universe, which travelled to Arts Festivals around New Zealand in 2019.

Creating a music video for ‘Old Images,’ which explored a lost passenger train network, Tonnon came to the idea for a new experience-based show called Rail Land. It took audiences on railways to reach distant community halls around Aotearoa. The show saw Tonnon combine historical research and spoken word narrative, with the immersive lighting and musical technology he developed for A Synthesized Universe. In March, Rail Land finished a three-night run at Auckland Arts Festival, cementing Tonnon’s move to the concept show.

Over time, Tonnon and Pearce’s production moved further from the traditional rhythm sections that powered songs like Successor’s ‘Water Underground.’ In their place came off kilter electronic rhythms, like the beat in ‘Two Free Hands,’ and textures that blur lines between organic and synthesized sound. Guitars are set against synthesizers, and drums against drum machines in ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Peacetime Orders,’ which Tonnon also used in his soundtrack for RNZ’s 80s spy-themed podcast The Service. In ‘Leave Love Out Of This,’ a ballad starts with a piano and a string quartet, but ends in a wall of electronic sound.

The constant has been Tonnon’s lyrics. Whether singing about evolution and the future of work in ‘Two Free Hands,’ the television industry in ‘Entertainment,’ or environmental disaster and regulatory failure in ‘Mataura Paper Mill,’ Tonnon has followed a distinct approach to subject matter, description and phrasing that have seen him longlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll three times.

Tonnon’s explorations of local government and civic infrastructure in his work - an unusual preoccupation for a songwriter, have taken new meaning in his adopted home of Whanganui, where last year, he was elected by councillors as Whanganui District Council’s representative for public transport.

After Tonnon moved to Whanganui, and Pearce toured almost constantly after the success of The Beths’ first album, the pair conducted their collaboration over distance, but with key sessions at Pearce’s Karangahape Road studio, including drums and bass with long time band members Stuart Harwood and David Flyger, a string quartet led by Charmian Keay and arranged by Matthew Bodman, and additional drums with The Beths’ Tristan Deck.

As Leave Love Out Of This is released, Tonnon and Pearce find themselves in very different places to where they started, working on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, close to the venues like Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar where they regularly performed. Back in New Zealand since Covid, Pearce has had to adjust to being in one of Aotearoa’s best-known bands, while Tonnon, when not working on conceptual shows, wrestles with how to restore civic infrastructure to a post industrial city in the regions.

Created over a life-altering period of, Leave Love Out Of This is the culmination of years of experimentation and development - with new technology, new sounds, and new ways of creating, and performing music.

TROJAN JAMAICA / BMG is proud to announce the release of U-ROY’s final full-length, SOLID GOLD U-ROY. The album was originally set to come out in 2020 with plans for a worldwide tour in support, but unfortunately, the pandemic delayed the release. Now, with the heartbreaking loss of U-ROY on February 17, the album has become a celebration of one of the most profoundly influential reggae stars of his generation. An originator of the chatty rhythmic vocal style known as toasting — a key foundational element in the development of rap in its nascent stages in the 1970s — U-ROY left behind an unmatched legacy which is clearly on display on SOLID GOLD U-ROY, with its guest appearances including ZIGGY MARLEY, SHAGGY, MICK JONES of THE CLASH, SANTIGOLD, SLY & ROBBIE, DAVID HINDS of STEEL PULSE, and more. The album arrives on
July 16, 2021.

SOLID GOLD U-ROY is being heralded today by the release of “MAN NEXT DOOR” (Feat. SANTIGOLD). One of the great reggae songs of all time, the track features an indelible guest appearance by the incomparable Santigold. “Man Next Door” is a beloved reggae standard written by John Holt and released in 1968 by his group The Paragons. U-ROY sampled the song in 1982 for “Peace and Love in the Ghetto” on his Original DJ album. Pre-orders of SOLID GOLD U-ROY will come with an instant grat download of “MAN NEXT DOOR”