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Die mit Platin ausgezeichneten Band Pierce The Veil - Gitarrist/Sänger Vic Fuentes, Gitarrist Tony Perry und Bassist Jaime Preciado veröffentlichen ihr neues Album ”The Jaws of Life” am 10. Februar 2023 über ihr langjähriges Label Fearless Records/Concord.
Pierce The Veil sind in ihrem Genre zu einer Legende geworden - und das zu Recht. Ihre Rückkehr wurde mit Begeisterung aufgenommen und die erste Single ”Pass the Nirvana” wurde seit ihrer Veröffentlichung im September über 13 Millionen Mal gestreamt.
Sie haben in den USA zweimal die Spitze der Billboard Top Rock Albums, Alternative Albums und Hard Rock Albums Charts erreicht - zuerst mit Collide With the Sky (2012) und dem Nachfolger Misadventures (2016). Ein Jahrzehnt nach seiner Veröffentlichung schoss das bereits mit Platin ausgezeichnete ”King for a Day” auf Platz 1 der Billboard Hard Rock Streaming Charts, angetrieben durch den viralen Hashtag #KingForADay auf TikTok.

Was The Jaws of Life als Ganzes angeht, sagt Fuentes: ”Dieses Album hat uns wirklich näher zusammengebracht, als wir es je waren. Es war extrem schwierig für uns, so lange von der Straße weg und getrennt zu sein. ... In The Jaws of Life geht es darum, wie das Leben seine Zähne in dich schlagen und versuchen kann, dich zu verschlingen. Die ganze Negativität in der Welt und in deinem Kopf kann eine bösartige Sache sein. Wir sind extrem dankbar für diese Platte, unsere Fans und die Möglichkeit, wieder live Musik zu machen.”

Since 2006, Pierce The Veil have unassumingly yet consistently climbed their way into the hearts of millions worldwide via an unshakable devotion to making honest and hypnotic hard rock. The San Diego band — Vic Fuentes (vocals, guitar), Tony Perry (guitar), and Jaime Preciado (bass) — released A Flair for the Dramatic 2007 and Selfish Machines 2010, the latter of which camped out at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. They have steadily built a dedicated and diehard fanbase through touring and by nurturing an honest connection. PTV truly established themselves with 2012's Collide With the Sky, which spawned their first RIAA Platinum-certified single with "King for a Day." They followed with Misadventures in 2016, which charted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 and notched No. 1s on multiple charts, including Top Alternative Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Independent Albums, and Top Rock Albums. In between sold-out tours all over the globe and a headlining stint on 2015's Warped Tour Main Stage, the musicians garnered five Alternative Press Music Awards (including "Album of the Year" for Misadventures), two Kerrang! Awards, and a Revolver Golden Gods Award. They've graced the covers of Alternative Press, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, and more — multiple times. Elsewhere, their digital and streaming footprint is nothing short of staggering. They've tallied over 1.5 billion global streams and almost 370 million YouTube views — proving that growth is a constant for them. Ultimately, Pierce The Veil, who've earned multiple gold and platinum certifications, remain one of the most beloved bands of their generation and they show absolutely no signs of slowing down as they march into a new decade ready to share the most important music of their career.

Finally the two main protagonists of the current live electronic movement and founders of our fair label Carl Cox and Christopher Coe have stepped up to the plate with this truly innovative and uncompromisingly live collection of techno tunes that defy categorization and are certain to land us fair and square on the dancefloors of the underground clubs of the world!

What can we say.. This EP just bangs! Improvised, recorded live and straight to 2 track in one day, this 4 tracker comes straight from the machines of Carl and Christopher’s collaborative studio in Australia and onto wax!

It is with great delight that we can present this collaboration straight after the release of Carl’s first solo album in 10 years.

This is a statement of definition from the boys, they have planted their feet firmly in the live scene with this edgy, experimental and jackin’ collection of beats!

The mindset is real.

After a year and a half writing and recording rock music, I needed to clear my head. I listened to and made music where things generally happen gradually rather than suddenly. I would set up patches on a Monomachine or Analog Four and listen to them, hearing one sound morph into others, making changes to a patch only after having listened for quite a while, gradually adding elements, and finally manipulating the sounds on the fly. All tracks were recorded live to CD burner, with no overdubs, and executed on one or two machines.

While I was almost exclusively listening to artists such as Chris Watson, Peter Rehberg, Bernard Parmegiani, CM Von Hausswolff, Jana Winderen, Oren Ambarchi, Hazard, Bruce Gilbert, Klara Lewis, Ryoji Ikeda, and so on, I was also inspired by my mental image of John Lennon's tape and mellotron experiments he made at home during his time in the Beatles, as well as events like the first minute of Bowie's Station To Station, ...And The Gods Made Love by Jimi Hendrix, the synths in the song Mass Production by Iggy Pop, and the general idea of Eno's initial concept of Ambient music.

Music being a solitary sculpture in sonic space was the main motivating thought. I was looking at pictures of sculptures and trying to make music that simultaneously conveyed both movement and stillness. I refrained from sudden musical changes, especially avoiding sequences of notes and rhythms. In fact, this music was made from sequences which never exceed a single note, many of these pieces being made on a single pattern. The movement which a good sculptor conveys when the shape of his medium meets the eyes of the viewer who walks around the piece, or the sun changes its position, are the kinds of movement which it was the role of the synth patches to communicate.

I've been listening to music like this since I was 13 or so, but I felt that making it was out of my reach because of the amount of restraint I imagined it required. Once I found myself making this music, it did not feel like a matter of restraint at all. I wanted to build a certain type of building, and hear certain types of movement, and I knew when it was complete. There was no place for sequences of notes and rhythms in my plans.

I also cannot overstate the role that being in my band played. I had previously spent 12 years programming and engineering my own music, and then spent a year and a half making music where my role was basically to write songs and play guitar. When the band's recording phase was completed, I needed to go back to my adopted language. I had done enough with chords, rhythms, notes, defined sections, sharp transitions, etc.. What I needed was to create music from the ground up with nothing but sound, and have that music reflect "being" rather than "doing". It was a therapeutic way of re-balancing myself, before and during my band's mixing process.

This music seeks to just exist, and is not attempting to manipulate or grab the listener in any way. I believe it works well if one listens loud and focuses on it, but also works well at soft volumes and in the background. It can compete with silence on silence's own terms, and it can also happily wipe silence out.

There are two versions of this album. The CD version is pronounced "two" and called : I I . This is the longer version. The vinyl version is pronounced "one", and called . I : This version is shorter, but contains one vinyl-only track. The reason the vinyl is shorter is that some of the tracks have sounds that can not be pressed on vinyl.

John Frusciante

THE CULT DEBUT ALBUM OF INDUSTRIAL BLACK METAL FROM THE
NORWEGIAN PIONEERS, PRESENTED ON VINYL FORMAT WITH
ORIGINAL COVER ART
One of the pioneering industrial black metal forces to emerge in the early 90's,
Mysticum brought to the world a completely unique brand of extreme &
psychedelic discordant black metal with insane drum machine patterns & synths.
They were originally signed to Euronymous' Deathlike Silence Productions label;
such was his belief in the band (Mysticum even featured Hellhammer from
Mayhem in their line-up for a brief period). However, this venture proved to be cut
short following his death, forcing Mysticum to look elsewhere for the release of
their eventual debut album, 'In The Streams Of Inferno', finally surfacing in 1996.
A perfect concoction of cold, primitive black metal & forward-thinking ideas from
an act unafraid to push boundaries, the hell of 'In The Streams Of Inferno' has had
a lasting & profound impact on many since 1996. For this release, the album has
had some extensive remastering work courtesy of Tom Kvålsvoll at Strype
Studios in Oslo to give a better representation of the sound the band initially
intended & includes 2 bonus songs in the form of 'Eriaminell' & 'Black Magic
Mushrooms'.
This vinyl edition of 'In the Streams Of Inferno' includes the original's cover art,
plus printed inner sleeve.

3x12" 2023 Repress

To celebrate its landmark 20th release, Monnom Black invites you to enter The World of Monnom Black II - a return trip to techno's most uncompromising landscape. The triple vinyl release features 14 hand-picked contributions from the label's trusted collaborators alongside cutting-edge artists new to the roster; making this compilation one of the label's most varied and innovative collections yet.

On The World of Monnom Black II, new artists including VTSS, DIMI (AnD), Vladimir Dubyshkin, Hadone, Fractions, LDS, Aahan and Buried Secrets all throw down tracks which fuse tight machine rhythms with intricate detail. There's also a return for many established label favourites such as UVB, Dax J, Zanias and Thomas P. Heckmann as Knarz.

To round out the compilation there's a re-release of the timeless 1998 hip hop cut, "Devious Methods", from legendary drum and bass producer, Hive, and Tellurian's hardcore classic, "Big Bad City", gets a new mix from Dax J.

This release further confirms Monnom Black's reputation for representing raw analogue music and cements the label's place as the home of some of the roughest and classiest contemporary sounds in techno.

Welcome to the world of Monnom Black.

Sharing the spotlight along with the label owner Umwelt on this brand new split EP, Zeta Reticula the Slovenian born artist delivers two tracks of high intensity with distinct energy! Melodic "The Fate Of The Ship Unknown" opens A side with a pure robotic mayhem based upon synthetic strings, rushing leads and frantic arpeggiator flights over seductive vocals. Hostile and heading at the same. Progressive "Documented Contact", coming next, signs an intricate yet groovy electro sci-fi masterpiece made of rolling bassline, moody atmosphere and pounding beats. This is Zeta Reticula at its finest!

The Lord of Darkness treats the flipside with a more aggressive sound. As its title suggests, "Hyperspace" propels the listener at light speed through the depths of the universe thanks to a dystopian machinefunk atmosphere where hammering drums fuse with cold layers in Umwelt's typical trademark. Classical electro shaker "Earth To Unknown" concludes this uncompromising 12" with a luminous structure enhanced with a deeper and soulful approach.

Sharp, underground and always dancefloor oriented, this limited release comes packed in a colorful urban picture disc designed by the great CN6 aka Nexus 6!

Time to Play Records strikes back with a new 4 tracks ep, late night club-ready, with heavy bass-kicks tracks straight to your chest.

Filippo Tazzer, label manager and executive producer, continues in his search, musical sensitivity and evident production skills. After having entrusted the baptism of the label to Reekee and Colosimo, the moment is propitious to introduce another Italian Producer:
Phonorem, fresh with a new album called “Algorythm”.

Phonorem production skills in those 4 tracks embrace different styles forged by his 90’s hip-hop and drum and bass roots, by mixing synthetizers and drum machines with samples.

SEAMLESS, the track that gives the EP its title, is a deep-house track with double bass – bassline and atmospheric scenarios by manipulating old Italian movie soundtracks samples.

PREE, is a downbeat track which made homage to DJ Premier beats, with some melodies created with a Chinese hammered dulcimer.

FLIP DOWN gives a high contrast experience: fusing a raw drum machine rhytm with dreamy pads and a mysterious vocal.

LOW FAT is a heavy bass kick track with some sythetizers-melodies with a story to tell. With a happy end :)

The sum to infinity of a sequence is the sum of an infinite number of terms in the sequence. It is only possible to compute this sum if the terms of a sequence converge to zero. "sum to infinity" is also the second release from gamut inc, the retro-futuristic ensemble around composers and curators Marion Wörle and Maciej Sledziecki.

This second album by gamut inc combines custom-build autonomous music-machines with haunting classical synthesizer sounds to a dense musical kaleidoscope.
The core of the album is formed by Risset rhythms - cyclic accelerations and decelerations, in which rhythmic layers are repeatedly faded in and out, setting in motion a seemingly endless process of rhythmic movement. The motifs are taken from geometric and arithmetic series that create an urgency and restlessness. The rigor of the construction is obscured by an orchestrion whose timbres are reminiscent of a retro-futuristic indigenous ensemble. gamut inc translate strategies of electronic music like pulse-width modulation to music machines such as automated accordion, automated percussion or glockenspiels and create an intense atmosphere that is idiosyncratic, original and modern at the same time.

Gamut inc. build their own music machines, play electronic music festivals internationally, curate the AGGREGATE festival for automated pipe organs, and compose for film, radio drama, and theater. Their first opera, ROSSUMS UNIVERSAL ROBOTS, premiered in 2022. Since 2011, at the intersection of electronic club culture and experimental music, they have been producing live music, music theater, film and theater scores (including for the Junge Staatstheater Berlin) with their specially developed musical robots. They composed for ensembles like the RIAS chamber choir or the robot orchestra Logos Foundation and received invitations and commissions from international festivals and venues such as Sónar, CTM, Berghain, Sonic Acts, Technosphärenklänge or Numusic (NO).
Their first release EX MACHINA was produced exclusively with music robots, and released in 2014 in cooperation with Bôłt Records.
"Percussion tracks bring to mind the music of Einstürzende Neubauten in their industrial mechanics, until finally the music warms to an expression reminiscent of Johnny Cash's late work."
Süddeutsche Zeitung

Especial presents a 2 EP live concept collaboration with Berlin's Giraffi Dog. With live tours cancelled due the on-going changing world, the idea of bringing their live set to vinyl - an opera for your innerspace, while constrained from outerspace - was born.

Setting up Doom Chakra Tapes with DJ Deflektorschild in 2016, Max Webber's project first released the L'Existence Du Reve cassette album as a blueprint for the Giraffi Dog sound, with some tracks appearing on the acclaimed vinyl debut for Aiwo Recs, before a split 7" for the WARNING label series followed.

Teaming up with friend Max Heesen (Dessous, Poker Flat) to take the project live, their backgrounds in punk and hip-hop shine in their take on breakbeat driven club culture.

Recording live in the studio, as a different state of meditation, MCPs trigger drum machines, the duality of live synth and vocoder, while tape machines, reverb and FX looped, twisted and filtered for an inter-mind festival

Cut as a continuous mix, tracks like Concorida, Jam X and Multiverse, are a manifestation of their sets dropped from small basements in Berlin to fields in the outskirts of Paris, this first EP acts as a hypothesis for the parallel, the other, the alternate, the infinite.

Arkada records is excited to announce our 4th release - forthcoming split vinyl EP featuring the sounds of ADJ & Adrien d’Elzius.

We are very happy to present the first part of the EP with the unique sounds of one of the pioneering artists in the UK underground Electro scene, the label owner of Pyramid Transmissions - ADJ

ADJ originates from and is based in London. He has been playing Underground Electronic Music for over 35 years as a DJ, starting in the days of Early Electro and Hip Hop. He has also been producing and releasing music for 25 years, releasing over 200 tracks in this time on a plethora of labels including Touchin Bass,For Those That Knoe, Another Perspective, Ai, Outside, Cultivated Electronics,Yellow Machines, Crobot Muzik, Diffuse Reality, Netlabel ,Digital Distortions and more...has done remixes for Flint Kids, Scanone, LASynthesis, Carl Finlow, Fleck Esc, Arsonist Recorder , Paul Hierophant to name a few.

He has run the Pyramid Transmissions Record label with label partner Pathic for 20 years and also ran the Analogique record label for 5 years from 1995-2000 releasing Techno, Electro and Electronica as 3 Elements.
ADJ also performed his first LIVE set in a few years in March 2020 MUTABOR in Moscow.

As a DJ, he has played at many festivals including a BLOC residency, Glastonbury For BLOC, Bestival, Shambala, Infiltrate at WMC Miami. 2019 saw another tour of the US with Silicon Scally,Ben Milstein, EVAC, Ion Driver and 214. He also runs the Dodo Club and Frequency Resonate(with Errorbeauty) nights in London and Berlin aswell as playing in Lille, Kiev, Moscow, St Petersburg Berlin,Zagreb,Athens, Napoli, Brussels, Budapest, Vienna, Valencia, Sofia, Paris and many more..

Second part of our EP presents the futuristic glitched-out sounds of the one of a kind Belgium producer Adrien d’Elzius also known under his allies HosmOz.

Adrien d’Elzius was born in the gloomy south of Belgium spending his youth hanging around in a camping and listening to Hip Hop, he started his life in a mess of paradox. At 10, he learned to play drums under his punk’s brother regard, and experimented different kind of rock until 18. That’s where someone showed him a track of Aphex Twin, who blew his mind and made him believe he had finally found the music that suited him. From there, he compulsively spend hours playing around with his computer and slowly made himself a place in the very small community of underground music lover of Brussels under the nickname hosmOz after winning a contest. From his melodic and acidic drill’n’bass beginning, his sound slowed down and got darker, challenging himself to try to create something he couldn’t before. He recently re-released his Lp on Diffuse Reality that make it available on physical form and also his debut album on Burial Soil with remixes by Umwelt and Lloyd Stellar.

The masters of the release are kindly made by Thomas Dunstan. Artwork made by our amazing designer Lawrence Cli

Rhythm Nation is back on vinyl, with a master of the deeper side of UK house and Detroit-inflected techno, Jayson Wynters.

Following up his 'Exit Wound' digital-only release of last year, which also featured remixes from Phantasy Sound's James Welsh, Jayson drops two brand new tracks as well as a physical pressing of those two originals from the previous release.

'War Heads' is a true late-night wormhole of a track, embarking on a journey of percussion and atmosphere, leading inexorably to the emergence of the warmest pads and the deepest bass.

'Bandwidth' flips the switch to a fresh take on classic electro, maintaining the signature Hayson Wynters sound of drum machines and classic synths that seem to hit just slightly left of where the listener expects.

Orginally released digitally in 2022, 'Exit Wound' and 'Lost City' offer a similar contrast - the former is a bassline-driven peak-time stomper, while the latter takes things deep into real electro with an infectious groove and evergreen textures.

Rhythm Nation is part of the Hotflush Recordings label group, curated by Paul Rose aka Scuba, celebrating 20 years in 2023.

zake's fruitful contributions as an artist to his own Past Inside The Present label continues on this new album Deep Into The Unknown We Shall Endlessly Roam. It is an assemblage of arrangements made using archaic tape machines such as a Sony M-570V microcassette voice recorder and obsolete VSC Soundpacer, all on analogue tape. Of course that lends the music a misty, grainy quality that defines much of zake's ambient. Here his loops and found sounds meld and melt to create vast open spaces that are pregnant with emotion and tension. It's another magical work of ambient art that, says the artist, "is dedicated to those who continue to yearn for greater understanding."

Remixes by Moodymann, Potatohead People, Moodorama.

Kenny Dixon Jr. acuminates it deep and groovy, well, it’s his holy trademark sound. Potatohead People from Vancouver have been championed by Soulection, Nightmares on Wax, Questlove, Big Boi a.o. and have releases on Jellyfish Recordings, or NY label Bastard Jazz. The duo has worked with artists such as Moka Only, Kaytranada, Pomo, Phife Dawg a.o.

On top Moodorama’s remixes are trippy dubby jams. Moodorama have a long recording history, starting in the 90s on Stereo Deluxe, but even before that Martin Sennebogen was the DJ and co-producer of Knowtoryus, the legendary first hip hop outfit on Compost.

Inkswel & Colonel Red started out writing together more than decade ago & over the time have developed quite a unique sound when recording together,..a chemistry that blends music melody & lyric into every verse chorus & hook. So when Inkswel approached Colonel Red to create the 'Holders of the Sun' album, Redz response was to move his hectic schedule around & start immediately. Inkswel dropped the beats Colonel Red dropped the vocals & some fine musical tuning & 'Holders Of The Sun' Vol1 was born….while they promise a Vol. 2.
The fantastic artwork comes from Our Machine, Netherlands, who designed a lot of sleeves for Kindred Spirit, Tom Trago, Versatile, Build An Arc and m.o.

Colonel Red is a groundbreaking soul singer, musician, producer and performer, often referred to as one of the most powerful voices in the UK soul music community, a champion in equal parts of the original Broken Beat scene, as well as the UK soul scene. Working with and writing for the likes of Teddy Pendergrass, Amp Fiddler, Maurice White, Bugz In The Attic, Tony Allen and countless others. His track 'Belive In Me' was awarded the WORLDWIDE award from Gilles Peterson in 2014.
Colonel Red’s foray into the music industry began when Epic Record company giant Sylvia Rhone signed the then lead singer, Nikki Romillie, of Pride n’ Politix, to Atlantic Records. An accompanying publishing deal with Warner Bros. established the artiste, now known as Colonel Red, as one of the UK’s top cutting edge singer/songwriters.

Inkswel has been heralded as one of the busiest and most prolific beat based producers from Australia, a true master of his craft he has worked with the likes of Talib Kweli, Lee Scratch Perry, Andrew Ashong, Dwight Trible, Amp Fiddler and countless others as well as putting out timeless musical projects on labels such as BBE, Sonar Kollekiv, Rush Hour, Warner Music, Boogie Angst and others. He hovers evenly between Hip Hop and Club sensibilities, blending new age approaches with nostalgic leans. 'Holders of The Sun' is the audio melting pot of two musical aliens, future directive soul music drenched in the nostalgia of what once was.

An EP whose purpose denounces our society’s thirst for technological progress, essentially fed with analogical instruments and sounds evoking the beginnings of techno in the late 80s and early 90s. However, if the timeless sounds of the EP evoke the past, the music of Cuften alchemizes a contemporary, inventive sound and an anti-commercial approach. A nostalgic music that deconstructs the rave heritage towards futuristic sounds, with the help of his old analogical synthesizers. A rather raw and rave first approach where the groove is however omnipresent, making Cuften's music a resolutely accessible and federative whole with its combination of D.I.Y aesthetics and vocals, mixed with an ingenious and inventive technique on the machines.

The EP opens with Animal Suicide, a melancholic and analogical melody, dark and luminous, progressively settling towards a rave rhythmic with a powerful kick. A vaporous and vintage electro with a futuristic look with its vocoded voice and its cinematographic touches.

No More Sunday Regrets is more experimental and brutal at first before giving way to a synthetic and psychedelic melody with singular rhythms and organic synths.

Unibios captivates with its luminous melody before a bewitching acid line which snakes gradually settles, accompanied by a heavy bassline.

Heart Particles calls out with a sharp contrast, with its soft voice and melody, as if the shuffle mode had landed us on an ambient record. The tempo increases progressively with an acid line and a slow and powerful rhythms, between the psychedelia of The Orb and Warp’s reveries of the 90's.

Final track is a remix by Dutch pioneer Legowelt, master of synthesizers and underground electro who has always been a great source of inspiration for Cuften.

After supporting Pearl Jam across their UK & European tour this summer, including a prestigious slot at PJ’s Hyde Park Show, White Reaper return with their brand new album Asking For A Ride in January.
Recorded and largely self-produced in Nashville with the help of close friend and engineer Jeremy Ferguson, Asking For A Ride finds the Louisville, Kentucky band taking a more direct and in-your-face approach, prioritizing the collection’s raw energy and its ability to translate live through ripping and nervy compositions. It’s White Reaper at their most exciting - dialling up the chrome-plated riffs and monster hooks – a welcome reminder of just how much fun rock music can be.
“We ask ourselves: ‘Does it sound good when we play it in the room together?’ And if it does, those are the songs we want to pursue,” Esposito noted.

Credit 00 is back on track with four monsters in his bag that are almost too dangerous to get unleashed. The Uncanny Valley regular from Leipzig sends us down into the electronic vortex while taking some detours to places that haven't been visited in a long time. Thanks to his DIY attitude and an open mindedness for all kinds of music, you can find traces of jungle, garage, trance or even 90s pop and gabber in this hard rocking machine funk. He's juggling with sounds and genres like no one else. It's just so much fun to listen and dance to these tunes. Indeed, there is no other...

Australian 9-piece Spiritual Jazz group Menagerie announce their highly anticipated third album 'Many Worlds', released 15th January 2021 on esteemed U.K label Freestyle Records.

Menagerie is the Melbourne-based Jazz ensemble founded by producer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ and recording artist Lance Ferguson, also the driving force behind The Bamboos, Lanu, Rare Groove Spectrum and Machines Always Win.

Recorded at Union Street Studio by award-winning engineer John Castle, 'Many Worlds' features some of Australia's finest musicians, including pianist Mark Fitzgibbon (a regular performer at Gilles Peterson and Patrick Forge's original Dingwalls sessions), drummer Daniel Farrugia and renowned saxophonist Phil Noy (The Bamboos).

Inspired by both the post-Coltrane generation of the 70's, labels like Strata-East, Impulse! and Tribe, along with the current 'New Wave Of Jazz', Menagerie aligns with the world of Kamasi Washington, Shabaka Hutchings and Nubya Garcia, whilst also bringing their own unique twist.

Lead single 'Free Thing' leans heavily into the spiritual side of the band's sound. The hypnotic spoken word-poem is evocative of The Last Poets, an earthy yet futuristic meditation on the universal theme of freedom itself, set to a backdrop of insistent percussion, double bass and brooding piano voicings.

'Hope' carries forward the sound of spiritual jazz into the 21st century, with its epic vocal harmonies and melodic fanfare, it is an uplifting anthem for this period of global worldwide upheaval and uncertainty.

The title track 'Many Worlds' is a perfect example of how Menagerie incorporates their myriad influences, but manage to create a sound that feels uncannily fresh and contemporary. Book-ended by ambient, ethereal sections, the slow-burning groove builds over its 11-minute duration to create a standout crossover track.

Menagerie have received airplay and radio support from Gilles Peterson (BBC6/Worldwide FM), Don Letts (BBC6), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), Simon Harrison, Paul Miller and Ennio Styles (3RRR).

'Many Worlds' will be released on legendary U.K imprint Freestyle Records - home to jazz contemporaries Courtney Pine, Jessica Lauren, and keyboard legend Brian Auger.

Red Vinyl

Adrian Borland and Graham Bailey might be better known as members of legendary post-punk group The Sound, but the two were childhood friends and had been playing together even earlier in The Outsiders, and continued their deep musical rapport as a duo, creating these intense and engaging songs as Second Layer at the same time as their higher profile band output.

Combining their early recordings, including the 1979 Flesh As Property EP and 1980 State Of Emergency EP, Courts Or Wars takes its title from the first song that served as the pair’s introduction to listeners. Right from the beginning you are enveloped in what The Quietus described as, “a monochrome worldview morbidly obsessed with the dehumanizing effect of war, nuclear weapon annihilation, and the fracturing and negation of the self within an increasingly distorted and technologically mediated society.” Where The Sound fit snugly next to Echo And The Bunnymen, Second Layer had far more in common with the pulsing menace of Suicide.

Borland’s familiar vocals and sense of melody hold a connection to his other songwriting, but within these songs he takes far more risks in his guitar work to suit the subject matter. What really drives everything is Bailey’s propulsive bedrock, formed by his homemade pre-drum machine rhythm generators, creating an innovative mechanical approach that somehow inserts a jittery neurotic touch that merges perfectly with his electronic layers driven by the wasp synth, various unique effects boxes or tape loops. Adding in Bailey’s own distinctive bass playing, the results feel personal and experimental, pointed and harsh, while also bracingly accessible and covered in dark manic energy.

Over forty years later, these recordings feel shockingly appropriate. In painting a bleak reality and frightening future, there is real desperate beauty here.

In Western thought and culture, voice without speech is viewed as irrational and dangerous. Across myth and history, these voices must be contained or prohibited due to the threat they pose on social order. Female, animal, artificial and inanimate, lamenting, screaming, dreaming, mumbling. Fugitive voices, entangled in a parallel ‘nonhuman history’ coming together to create a chorus. Future Chorus is based on a collection of readings, spoken word, nonlinguistic sound, poetry, MCing, and animal sound, combined with machine learning processes to generate a genderless voice speaking a nonhuman language. The vocal database and AI voice became the raw material for five remixes by AGF, Chino Amobi, Harrga, Savvas Metaxas, Trustfall and Lafawndah. The project was conceived and curated by writer, theorist and practitioner Eleni Ikoniadou, a Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art and member of the art collective AUDINT. The album is released by Hypermedium in collaboration with MAENADS — Anne Duffau, Eleni Ikoniadou, Aphroditi Psarra — a platform for collaborative art projects, musical, visual, performative or text based, releasing work that seeks to inhabit polyvocal narratives, group joy, alternative worlds or subjectivities, spontaneous collective ruptures.

After spending his debut album exploring techno and mechanical sounds in the depths of the Pas-de-Calais mines, Toh Imago looks up to the sky, with an open breeze on his face, as tree branches and canopy filter out the sun’s rays on Refuge. All the machines used during the album recording are tuned at 432hz, carrying the mystical benefits of Earth’s resonance. Spending just seconds with the opening track, the listener is drawn into the safety that Refuge was intended to provide, and each subsequent piece pulls you deeper and deeper into the album’s forest.

Textextext - (add your write up)

‘Refuge’ was recorded on the edge of the Mormal forest, in the North of France. With nature as a setting and studio accomplice, the album features synthesizers, field-recordings, as well as the acoustic qualities of reverbs from the nearby forest. As the artist’s inner world and nature converge in moments of self-reflection, so the album’s 11 recordings harmoniously unfold in a cavalcade of machines and organic sonorities.

While the first LP 'Nord Noir’ explored his family’s mining past, ‘Refuge' is about being present and the desire to re-contextualize the relationship between nature and humans. It is a record of uplifting tones that is filled with optimism, imbued with the lightness of those who finally reconnect with nature, their roots, and the feeling of groundedness.

Like the steps taken on a walk in the woods, the 11 tracks sonically tell the story of an inner journey divided in three chapters. "Asile sauvage", "Sylve barbare" and “Avril Mormal" take the listener into a fast-paced progression of rhythms. When the heart of the forest is reached, the journey becomes intimate, revealing a sacred space where breathing becomes the leading tempo ("Locus Neminis") and the traveller becomes a spirit lost in space ("Cosmos Intra”). The journey's climax is reached with "Monde intérieur". The album closes with "Chiff Chaff" which accompanies the listener back to a reality, hopefully a more reassuring one.

Across the album, Toh Imago finds inventive ways of opening a dialogue between nature and machine, both literally and metaphorically, creating a soundscape that both feels like and was created by the natural world that surrounds him.

The album offers a shelter from a predetermined world. It’s a story told through ambience, racy and subtle electronics, and the memories of lichens clinging to shoes.

Formed in 2014 in Chicago by partners Joshua Condon
and Eliza Weber, Glyders have kept busy, lighting up
shows around town and country ever since then with their
mystery sound, on the road when and where they could
from here to Europe, taking time also to self-release a
couple of EPs (‘DIM’ and ‘Lend a Hand’).
 Fuelled by Josh’s spectral vocals and the liquidity created
by his guitar and Eliza’s bass, Glyders’ mazy spacecraft
takes to the air from the empty parking lot out back of the
roadhouse and finds in its arc an anodyne of the trippy and
the wiggy / ghostly places lost and found. Glyders have it
both ways, rocking the white line with fervour but also
stopping to soak up the fragrance of the purple sage and
the queen of the night by the side of the road.
 They’ve cut their records at home, with Josh delving deep
in the pleasures of analogue recording, finding the
embodiment of their subterranean fascinations with twists
and turns of the dial in a space they’ve dubbed the Juicy
Lagoon. Steeped in the pop and psychedelic enigmas of
rock and roll yore, the buzzing of tubes and transients and
uncontainable rumble, Glyders make it shake and live in
front of the tape machine and real audiences alike with a
flexible, expansive palette of sounds and a tight bunch of
songs.
 For their first vinyl full-length, the watchword, as ever, is
‘maximal minimal’. These kids are up around the bend and
in it for the long haul. After a few line-up shifts over the
years, they’re settled down with drummer Joe Seger and
are fixing their sights on the far horizons. If you see
Glyders choogling down the track, pull up and get set for
‘Maria’s Hunt’.

Formed in 2014 in Chicago by partners Joshua Condon
and Eliza Weber, Glyders have kept busy, lighting up
shows around town and country ever since then with their
mystery sound, on the road when and where they could
from here to Europe, taking time also to self-release a
couple of EPs (‘DIM’ and ‘Lend a Hand’).
 Fuelled by Josh’s spectral vocals and the liquidity created
by his guitar and Eliza’s bass, Glyders’ mazy spacecraft
takes to the air from the empty parking lot out back of the
roadhouse and finds in its arc an anodyne of the trippy and
the wiggy / ghostly places lost and found. Glyders have it
both ways, rocking the white line with fervour but also
stopping to soak up the fragrance of the purple sage and
the queen of the night by the side of the road.
 They’ve cut their records at home, with Josh delving deep
in the pleasures of analogue recording, finding the
embodiment of their subterranean fascinations with twists
and turns of the dial in a space they’ve dubbed the Juicy
Lagoon. Steeped in the pop and psychedelic enigmas of
rock and roll yore, the buzzing of tubes and transients and
uncontainable rumble, Glyders make it shake and live in
front of the tape machine and real audiences alike with a
flexible, expansive palette of sounds and a tight bunch of
songs.
 For their first vinyl full-length, the watchword, as ever, is
‘maximal minimal’. These kids are up around the bend and
in it for the long haul. After a few line-up shifts over the
years, they’re settled down with drummer Joe Seger and
are fixing their sights on the far horizons. If you see
Glyders choogling down the track, pull up and get set for
‘Maria’s Hunt’.

Having toured the world and delivered one of the pandemic’s most legendary live streams – including bodybuilders and furniture smashing at the old American embassy in Oslo, Aiming for Enrike started working on new music in 2020. Now ready with their fifth album Empty Airports, the tunes flourish further through atmospheric expressions, into floating, minimalistic, electronic, and ambient soundscapes. Empty Airports was composed and recorded in reflection of the quiet Covid19 life during the patience testing lockdown months of 2020 and 2021. Not only is this the duo's longest album ever, but it's also their first double album. The songs are inspired by and belong somewhere between Thom Yorke, Ashra, Nils Frahm, King Crimson in the 80s, Jon Hopkins and Steve Reich. The cover art for Empty Airports is the finishing touch that elevates the album to a complete piece of art. Thor Merlin's unique artwork is a generatively designed collage consisting of clippings from 19 digital paintings and 10 images created with shader programming in Sakuhin: an open-source program that Merlin also uses for live coding of visuals for Aiming for Enrike. The album cover's individual images will be available NFTs. Guitarist Simen Følstad Nilsen says: "Minimalism, which has always been an important part of our expression, is now cultivated to a much greater extent. When the rush to fulfill musical expectations is abounded, it gives the music more space to become more hypnotic and mesmerizing than before." Empty Airports is another fantastic release from the forward-leaning duo, which justifies that Aiming for Enrike lives entirely in their own universe.

On his debut 12" EP, Chicago producer and bike messenger DJ HANK captures the feeling of racing against traffic and, as he puts it, "trying to make it out alive with the chaos of the city going around you."

DJ Hank grew up in North Carolina, Eastern USA. As a teenager, he began making rap beats on pirated music software while also DJing and playing keyboards in experimental punk band Whatever Brains. In 2011, at age 18, Hank moved to Chicago to pursue a career as a bike messenger. In a city dominated by 21+ clubs and venues, Hank gravitated to the famous footwork hub Battlegroundz due to it's all-ages inclusivity and raw energy. DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn and other luminary figures of the footwork community spun weekly, while dancers spanning multiple generations and crews battled it out on the dance floor every Sunday.

Through the underground network of Chicago footwork events, Hank became a close and frequent collaborator with international footwork collective Teklife. He has released music on Teklife's record label but isn't a member of the group itself. In similar fashion, he's loosely affiliated with dance group Take Ova Gang (TOG) founded by DJ Manny. Hank maintains a fluid relationship with the footwork culture from which his sound draws. Beyond collaborating with his friends, Hank has collaborated with Chilean rapper Catana, Berlin-based DJ Paypal, and Floridian DJ Orange Julius.

On "Traffic Control," however, Hank explores a wide range of sounds, from melodic to experimental, influenced by everything from UK Garage and Grime to Ghetto House and Snap music (or Southern Hip hop production in general). Artists like Kode9, MachineDrum, and Sherelle have been supporters of Hank's music, playing his tracks throughout multiple recorded sets. In a live setting, Hank has shared the stage with such influential acts as Loefah, DJ Deeon, Sporting Life, DJ Spinn, Traxman, and pioneering footwork artist Jana Rush, who has been both a friend and mentor to Hank during his formative years in Chicago.

After 9 full length studio albums and playing their asses off at over 800 shows, the Finnish disco metal machine Turmion Kätilöt is ready for the next level in their world dominance. Their 10th full length studio album “Omen X” will be released in 36 countries on 13th January 2023 via Nuclear Blast. The touring cycle starts in Finland immediately after the release of Omen X. Band will play its biggest show ever in Helsinki Ice hall on 14th January 2023. After couple of shows in the home country “Omen X” will be served all over Europe with 20 gigs inFebruary 2023 – see the full show schedule below.
”In the Omen X production, we encountered only positive problems. Due to the closures caused by Covid 19, there were so many songs available this time that it was even painful to choose only one album of songs from them. The amount of material and the difficulty of selection seemed to take up an unnecessary amount of valuable studio time at times. Otherwise, making the album went smoothly as always. From the artist's point of view, the album got a hell of a new sounds and atmosphere. A very cleansing experience. The tenth prophecy has been given. You're welcome!” - MC Raaka Pee
Turmion Kätilöt was formed in 2003 in Finland by MC Raaka Pee and Dj Vastapallo. Soon they were joined by the other members of what would become Turmion Kätilöt: Master Bates, Run-Q, DQ and Spellgoth as a second vocalist. With a couple of line-up changes as Dj Vastapallo left the band in 2009 replaced by Bobby Undertaker on guitars (ex-Deathchain) and Spellgoth leaving in 2017 replaced by Shag-U (Fear Of Domination) on vocals, Turmion Kätilöt has become the mean disco metal machine they are today.
From the very beginning Turmion Kätilöt has had a reputation of being a great live band. Disco beats from the 90’s, metal to the pedal, melodies, sing-a-longs, you name it – there are no rules. Yet still if you peek under the skin you can find the darkness pointing its finger to you. Their live shows have been praised to be the fiercest and craziest mayhem to be witnessed creating the twisted world of Turmion Kätilöt.

Since 2013 Jail Job Eve has become an indispensable part of the German
rockstages - Whether festival stage, live club or rustic rockmusic venue -
for more than eight years now the five musicians from Osnabrueck,
Germany, have been playing their way across the country
After their first release "Bird of Passage" in 2015, the band signed a contract with
MiG - music in 2018, the label that, among other things, distributes the legendary
"Rockpalast" recordings of the German TV- and radio-station WDR and with bands
such as Siena Root, Br selmaschine and Wucan, the label has signed in the field
of retro rock under contract.Jail Job Eve's album "The Misson" received
recommended reviews in the music press throughout Europe, and the band thus
earned the reputation: "the hope of the national blues rock scene" (eclipsed
Magazine, Germany).With their upcoming release "Wildfire", Jail Job Eve is once
again setting new standards. The album, recorded entirely live, confirms the band
as a finely balanced rock machinery. The music is much harder, more
experimental and coarser, while the lyrics deal offensively and aggressively with
the most important ideological issues of our time, such as climate change,
sexism, LGBTQ + rights or the responsibility of art and culture as a mirror of
society and an instrument of peaceful protest. For example, the first single "Lost"
is a song about female empowerment and therefore an energetic, feminist
statement to sing along to.The band's audible role models include Rival Sons,
Blues Pills, Greta Van Fleet, but also the classic rockers of Deep Purple or the
omnipresent ubiquitous instance Led Zeppelin. The clearest fist in the face of the
listeners still is Victoria Semel, who virtuously puts her heart and soul into her
singing. Benedikt Schlereth, who plays his way through the album with his
distinctive guitar sound coined by the grand repertoire of rock history, Jens
Niemann, who lets his Hammond wobble sonorously and suffer shriekingly, as
well as Tim Beckers on bass and Josef R hner on drums, who create fulminant,
cast-iron floors under their bandmates

There is an endless abundance of variations that the clarinet can use in changing the colour of a single note. As a privileged listener - and - experiencer, Ben Bertrand through his favourite instrument shared the musical blueprints with me, which resulted in this album. His music has become a vivid part of my almost daily thoughts - allowing what I hear to clash and sing with the patterns and rhythms already established in my mind. A voluntary trip, an absorbing experience in our Brussels vibrant cultural life. With his instrument and countless machines, Ben creates a web of sounds that are hard to pin down but easy to absorb as a whole. Ben Bertrand happened to me. His music, full of beauty, is good to listen to and pleasant to follow. A sense and perception of continued growth too illuminated and overwhelming to resist. While I sense when a new composition is coming, Ben was able in our daily conversations, to progressively untangle a musical mystery and layout the puzzle of a new creation. Listening to his music is like sitting at the sea, watching a slow motion of our crazy life sailing by. You, as a listener, with this record stepped in an early stage of his career, with hardly any involvement of other people, composition wise. Besides composing alone, there have been countless hours when Ben Bertrand worked and interacted with Christophe Albertijn for the recordings. There is also the essence of our regular exchanges and the visions we knit. These are in my opinion just the starting points of plural interactions and musical endeavours to be. It is a matter of his artistic trust and let go, while Ben creates his own language, package and macrocosm. The excellence of Ben Bertrand's music lays in its involving and easily accessible nature, regardless of your personal or musical past experience. Ben Bertrand is all before you for you to dig, and nobody is asking you to file him away under any category. - Tommy Denys

Dutch record label and shop Deeptrax has been tirelessly pushing the boundaries between rigid funk, electro, ambient & techno since 2016 and for release number 033, Singaporean Tserg delves in to the realms of science fiction. First up 'Dreadfully Distinct' conjures up themes of consciousness and the connections between man and machine in this Blade Runner=inspired soundscape, punctured with breakbeats and star-twinkling percussion, while 'Stardust' warps an electronic bassline among more day-dreaming voyages into the universe. On the flip the ambient stylings of 'Decisions; Derisions' wash over the listener as heartbeat bass kicks punctuate airy tapestries of space and sound, while 'Ready State of Mind' ramps up the tempo with light percussion and syncopated beats, all tightly wound around spaced-out samples.

7" Black Vinyl in Fold-out Concertina Sleeve, 500 copies only. An anachronism in current times where individualism reigns supreme, Teeth Machine are a rare band knitted together through close camaraderie: a collective in the truest sense of the word, whose intricate, improvisational style resolutely resists being reduced to one single contributor. Teeth Machine found its beginnings in the close friendship and musical collaborations of Arthur Bently (saxophonist/lead guitarist) and Gray Rimmer (lead vocals/guitar). Having played together in various other projects since the age of 17 and disaffected with the music industry, the pair’s first furtive experimentations with the music that would later become Teeth Machine took place at a deliberate distance from the Outside world. This early incubation period, and the music made through endless bedroom sessions and demos recorded on laptops and tapes, became the spine of the project, fostering a sound that still retains both a precious intimacy and a large, expansive sonic scope. The band’s lineup as it stands today features long term friends and collaborators Anthony Boatright (Bass), Jamie Staples (Drums), and Ciara Reddy (Vocals/Synth). On their first self-assured, recorded offering to the wider world, Teeth Machine still bear the imprint of their origins, the band’s sound firmly grounded in the ethos of mutually weighted contribution, as well as the closeness cultivated in their early experiences, always retaining an air of uninhibited creativity and adolescent intimacy. ‘Gumball’, their first release on RaRaRok (Wulu, The Goa Express) was self-produced, mixed by Dilip Harris (King Krule, Mount Kimbie). It’s a song that conveys the tension and impossibility of communication and language, even when attempting to connect with those closest to us. Despite this, and however much the track itself bristles with an unmistakable air of friction, the listener gets the strong sense that there has not been a love lost, but rather one renegotiated, even expanded. Speaking about ‘Gumball’, Teeth Machine said: “‘Gumball’ is about the impossibility of talking. It was written during quite a chaotic period, and the lyrics came about after we had a big argument in the kitchen while trying to record a demo at the time - it tracks the madness and intensity of trying to make sense to someone you care about, or to yourself in your head. There’s a kind of antagonistic self help mantra that resonates throughout; it’s about internal and external conflict. It’s angry, but it’s also full of love too

The debut from new splinter alias of Manchester producer, sequencer designer, and Cong Burn label boss John Howes was made entirely on a Nord Modular G2, Elektron Machinedrum, and Monomachine – a rig he characterizes as “an authentic 2006 studio, best listened to on Windows XP Media Player or Winamp.” Paperclip Minimiser’s self-titled full-length collects eight elusively multi-dimensional constructs of stereo panned synthetics and slithering ambient techno, born of a web of generative patches subjected to improvisational alterations. Taking things further, Howes’ process involves “planting ghosts in the machines,” instilling each element with “some self-correcting behavior in a cybernetic / lo-fi AI / semi-autonomous agent kinda way.” The result is an ambiguous and dynamic hybrid of accident and intention, chaos and control, shuffling through an innerspace wilderness of psychic circuitry.

The title alludes to a 2003 thought experiment about the existential risk of artificial intelligence; how even a mundane objective, algorithmically extrapolated, could culminate in catastrophe. Here the notion is inverted, demonstrating the sonic infinities to be mined by “pushing and pulling at the strings” of musical systems. Howes aptly samples a vintage interview with electronic music pioneer Bebe Barron – co-composer of the Forbidden Planet soundtrack – discussing the anthropomorphic potential of randomized audio generation: “We thought of our circuits as actors in a script.” Paperclip Minimiser descends from a similar family tree, coaxed as much as crafted, flickering rhythmic synchronicities glimpsed in a mirage of wires and glass.

Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.


Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.

Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.

The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.

Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.

The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."

Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

Producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc, who's emerged as a key figure of London's cutting edge jazz scene, has just announced his debut full length, a follow up to last September's widely acclaimed Breathe Suite EP (heralded by NPR, Pitchfork, The Wire, The Guardian, and more)

Glass Effect is an assured and accomplished 13-track realization of a singular vision that unifies a multitudinous profusion of influences (free-jazz, broken beat, hip-hop, electronica and beyond) into a sublime whole, underscoring the evolution of his quest for a distinctive sound: lambent, low-key, and yet dizzyingly intricate.


It's a rare talent that can link Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, Afrofuturists Sun Ra Arkestra, and grime legend Dizzee Rascal, but Marc has long blurred musical worlds and criss-crossed boundaries. One of the reasons that he started writing Glass Effect, says Marc, was going to nightclubs in Ibiza and experiencing the heady sun- dappled euphoria of a summery dancefloor, as well as the beat-driven production of artists like Four Tet, Bonobo, Machinedrum, DJ Shadow, and Madlib.

Earlier this year, Subwax Bcn made an important contribution to the electronic music community by having the timeless dub techno compilation Vibrant Forms II by Fluxion remastered and reissued. First released in the year 2000 on Chain Reaction, Earlier this year, Subwax Bcn made an important contribution to the electronic music community by having the timeless dub techno compilation Vibrant Forms II by Fluxion remastered and reissued. First released in the year 2000 on Chain Reaction, Vibrant Forms II is widely considered to be one of the greatest achievements in the genre. As it turned out, Vibrant Forms II became one of the last records to be released on Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald's classic label - a suitable swan song if there ever was one. And that's it, right

Well not quite.

If one would search for Fluxion - Vibrant Forms III, Discogs would come up empty and Google would treat it as a misspelling. Until now.
Konstantinos Soublis, aka Fluxion, and Subwax Bcn have decided to pick up the banner and release Vibrant Forms III as a CD as well as four individual 12" records under 2016. It contains everything you could hope for and more: The massive, booming basses, the clicks and hisses, the atmospheric thunderstorms, the opium smoke-scented streaks of reverb and dub echoes. The warmth. Yes, above all else the warmth: Sometimes moist and dripping as in Safe Harbour, sometimes blisteringly dry as in Variant. It's no easy task, giving cold, dead machines warm breaths. And no-one quite does it like Fluxion.

The Reissue of Vibrant Forms II was an act of cultural preservation. It reminded us about the legacy of the Basic Channel label family, in which Chain Reaction played an important part. Without this legacy, the contemporary body of electronic music would look different and make very different sounds. With the Release of Vibrant Forms III, Subwax Bcn takes it one step further. Fluxion's Vibrant Forms III album remind us of the timelessness of truly great music, never mind the genre.

Limited vinyl pressing in collaboration with Rico Toto. Artwork by Floating Bstrd.

Invisible City Editions continues our 10 year anniversary in adventurous sounds. We are thrilled to announce the re-release of Rico Toto’s 1993 CD recording Fwa Épi Sajès. Mind melting synthesizers and drum machines fuse with ancient Guadeloupe Gwo-ka rhythms in this musical endeavour Rico Toto describes as “Electro-ka.” The improvised live instruments of the Moundjahka ensemble meld with electronic abstraction to create a psychedelic, immersive digital diaspora dream state. With nods to Jon Hassell’s’ atmospheric soundscapes, YMO and Baldelli / TBC Cosmic mixtapes, this selection of songs encompasses an entire spectrum of moods and sounds. The A side begins with fourth-world tropical percussions, opening with sounds of nature in “Jungle Meditation” and leading into the downtempo summer synthpop jam “Yadadé.” The B side takes a darker turn, starting off with the deep chugging rhythms of “Rawal Pindi” and continuing even deeper with synth sounds and haunting vocals that culminates into the dreamy meditative final track, “Golgotha.”

"Für "Earth Rocker", den Nachfolger des 2009er Werks "Strange Cousins From The West", mussten knapp vier Jahre ins Land ziehen. Ob sich die Wartezeit gelohnt hat? Wer CLUTCH kennt, der weiß: Ja! Das neue Album strotzt nur so vor Energie, beinhaltet aber auch die klassischen ruhigeren Songs, bei denen Sänger Neil Fallon natürlich mit seinen interessanten und gut durchdachten Texten voller Poesie überzeugen kann.

Doch bevor es an ruhigere Nummern geht, die auf dem Album in der Minderheit sind, geht es mit dem Titeltrack "Earth Rocker" erst mal gnadenlos rockig ab. Die schnelle Nummer ist schon mal ein guter Einstand, und Neil's "Muhahahas" in dem Song lassen einem ein breites Grinsen ins Gesicht treiben. Ein weiteres Highlight und garantierte Live-Granate ist den Mannen mit "Crucial Velocity" gelungen. Wer schon "Mob Goes Wild" oder "Electric Worry" mochte, wird diesen Song vergöttern. Tim Sult lässt seine Klampfe gnadenlos im Stoner-Dickicht die Rock-Welt regieren. Hammer!

"Mr. Freedom" groovt ganz gewaltig, Obacht: auch hier unbedingt auf die Textpassagen achten. Bei "D.C. Sound Attack" wird die bewährte Mundharmonika aus der Tasche gezogen und im Sinne von ZZ TOP abgerockt. Weiter über "Unto The Breach", "The Face" (MOTORJESUS lassen grüßen), "Cyborg Bette" oder "Book, Saddle & Go", CLUTCH zeigen sich abgezockt und saucool, wie eh und je. Warum cool? Weil diese Band einfach das macht, was ihnen gefällt, sei es Mucke, Attitüde oder Acting. Wer es mal bluesig mag, dem ist "Gone Cold" ans Herz zu legen. Relaxte Nummer, genau richtig zum chillen mit nem Glas Whisky.

Veredelt wurde "Earth Rocker" durch die Hand von Machine, der schon auf "Blast Tyrant" oder "Pure Rock Fury" für CLUTCH tätig war. Der räudige Sound, wie man ihn von der Gruppe gewohnt ist, wurde beibehalten und noch einmal auf eine höhere Stufe gewuchtet. Da bleiben keine Wünsche offen.

"Earth Rocker" reiht sich nahtlos in die Gassenhauer-Alben der Band hinein. "Blast Tyrant" oder "From Beale Street To Oblivion" gehören zwar noch immer zu den absoluten Highlights, "Earth Rocker" übernimmt ab jetzt jedoch den Vorsitz." (9von10/metal.de)

The Belgian minimal synth band's three releases – a cassette and two vinyl EPs – were all titled »Against The Dark Trees Beyond«. This compilation collects the songs from these records.

"They were interesting times, the early eighties. Against a backdrop of cold war and economic crises, the DIY attitude of the earlier punk movement had spawned near countless new genres where artists and bands broke the three-chord guitar mould and experimented with new content matter, singular song structures and – in many cases – new instruments. Synthesizers became affordable and were no longer the sole privilege of rock millionaires. All around the globe, musical creativity boomed as never before, and Belgium was no exception: Digital Dance, Snowy Red, The Names, Pseudocode, Marine, 1000 Ohm, De Kommeniste, M.Bryo & D.M.T., De Brassers, Struggler, Siglo XX are but a few legendary names of bands and artists who started making a name for themselves.

In Leuven, things were happening as well. Until then, the music scene in this rather provincial town had been dominated by straightforward rock and blues acts. Not for much longer, though: in places like Arno'z and (later) The Gladhouse, where young budding artists met with kindred spirits, bands were often formed on the spot and, more importantly, started to make ripples.

Ludo Camberlin and Karel 'Bam' Saelemaekers already had a certain track record in Leuven's burgeoning music microcosm. But what they shared would become the cornerstone of A Blaze Colour (Against The Dark Trees Beyond): a fascination for new forms and instruments, a penchant for sonic adventure and a profound love for gripping songs. The full band name, by the way, was inspired by a phrase from the Irish-American novelist J.P. Donleavy, a writer who belongs in the definitely-worth-checking-out section.

After appearing on the first No Big Business LP (1981) with the instrumental 'Fisk', A Blaze Colour's first proper release, as was so often the case in those days, was a self-produced cassette. The music – which would later be dubbed 'minimal' – was characterized by the use of basic rhythm machines (Boss Dr. 55, mainly) and analog synthesizers (for the synth geeks: Korg Delta and MS20, Roland SH-2 and Jupiter IV, and the infamous Casio VL-1). Camberlin’s vocals, meanwhile, displayed an aloofness totally in sync with the zeitgeist. Equally important, though: all five tracks on this cassette were bona fide songs with a clear sense of structure, aided by a sonic mastery that demonstrated a high level of experience: 'Means To An End' started out as a proto-industrial track before bursting out into a moroderesque finale. The remix of 'Fisk' was as sprightly as the next river salmon, while 'Or Lie Again' proved the perfect soundtrack to a nightly walk through wet deserted streets. On the other hand, 'Through With Life', rife with disturbing sound effects countered by a slow portamento, could have been a prize track on a post punk 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. And in true dramatic fashion, 'Follow The Signs' was the perfect ending of this five-song cycle: a driving sequencer and gripping chord progression coupled with a simple but powerful vocal line. Considering the limited technical means the duo was working with, this was no less than a triumph.

A few months later, the band released a seven-inch single on its own ABLACO label. 'Dark Trees Beyond', a quirky pop song, was coupled with 'Addict Of Time', a dark and brooding spoken word piece. Not the kind of single to storm hit parades, but it didn't go unnoticed. The Minny Pops' Wally van Middendorp, who had founded the Plurex label in 1978, invited A Blaze Colour to his studio in the Netherlands, to record an EP. It would prove to be a massive step forward: recording in a semi-professional studio offered great possibilities, the recently acquired TR-808 drum machine allowed for a broader rhythm palette, and the three new tracks (next to the re-recording of 'Through With Life') showed a band on the top of their game: 'The New Ones' was a wry and haunting song built around a live drum loop and an ominous bass pattern, while 'Nowhere Else' was a near-pop track with very un-minimal vocal harmonies. And it's a mystery why 'Altitude' – another instrumental – was never used in a stylized, high-profile detective soundtrack.

Another song from these sessions, the revved-up 'Cold As Ever' turned up on the high-profile Plurex "Hours" compilation, where it shone brightly, next to songs of a.o. X-Mal Deutschland, Nasmak, Minny Pops and Section XXV.

Meanwhile, Camberlin had already carved out a bit of a reputation for himself as a producer, while Saelemaekers was a respected graphic designer. It remains uncertain if this played a big part in the end of A Blaze Colour, but the fact remains: as studio recordings go, 'The Ultimate Fight' on the "No Big Business 2" compilation, was to be their swan song. What a way to go, though: maybe their best song ever, this was a synthetic bastard funk groove, complete with shout-out chorus and punch-drunk middle-eight. It shut a door, for sure, but it did so with a resounding bang.

So there it is and there it was. Short, sweet, visionary, pioneering and highly influential. And as anybody listening to this first ever compilation will be able to assess probably one of the most colourful electronic acts of its time.

On a more a personal note, A Blaze Colour proved to be instrumental in my own coming of age as a lyric writer, when Ludo and Bam graciously adopted some of my earlier writings, warts and all. To hear them translated into songs was no less than magic, and it certainly gave me the confidence to start our own band a bit later. And the magic continued when Ludo became our producer and Bam designed our record sleeves. But that’s another story, obviously. Because this is the place and the time to dive back into the wondrous world of A Blaze Colour!"

Bart Azijn (Aimless Device)

Hailing from Queens, NY, the original members of Onyx were discovered by the legendary Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C Onyx released their ninth studio album, Onyx Versus Everybody. Almost 30 years since their debut, Onyx still have raw energy, undeniable boldness and their pulse on the culture. The 10-track LP is a cohesive body of work that is full of street tales featuring appearances by Big Twin, Ricky Bats, Harrd Luck and Termanology. If you're a diehard fan of Onyx, this is one of the group's best projects in their legendary career. According to Sticky Fingaz, the album was completed in just two weeks thanks, in part, to the group's new songwriting process. "We didn't really write anything," he recalls. "We wrote a little bit but you know, we got a new technique where we just vibe and get on it. We recorded everything in the Batcave. That's Fredro's studio." Fredro says their classic "Last Dayz" from their sophomore album, was the inspiration behind the production on their new album. "'Last Dayz' is a Hip Hop classic beat you know? It was in 8 Mile and that made it even more legendary so I wanted to get the vibe on the album," he says. "I know what I know when it comes to making beats and my style never changed. That's why it sounds like 1996 because I didn't change the way I make my beats. When it comes to producing, Fredro claims to have the hardest tracks in the game and he brought that same energy to the new album. "I don't get nothing from a beat machine," he added. "I don't even use a hi-hat. I got my own drums. I play my own drums. My shit is dirty. I need it to be dirty. My shit is filthy. I got the nastiest, grimest, beats in Hip Hop." With their signature hardcore lyricism and gritty production, Onyx Vs Everybody makes a strong case for being named among the best albums of 2022 so far, but that isn't the recognition they seek. "Onyx Vs Everybody is the hottest, grimmest, dirtiest album of the year," Sticky Fingaz boasts. "I don't want the best album of the year. They can have that. This is the grimmest album of the year." Coming off a Versuz beating Cypress Hill at the forum in LA and now on a international tour, for fans of Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, Run DMC

Rich-poor divide widens. Unemployment soars. The East and West eyeball each other on the brink. 2022 isn't too far off the 1980s. Contort Yourself know this.

Following the huge success of the prophetic 80s Underground Cassette Culture Vol 1, Vol 2 is set to hit shelves and screens with the same brand of distortion soaked didactics.

Twenty one tracks from across the globe make up this second installment with nothing being constant. Instead, the overarching message is one of wanton abandonment; burnt-out artists peddling an electronic punk profanity, marginalised musicians spitting on the establishment and industry.

Rusted guitar strings, cobbled drum machines and fire in the belly; this is the recipe.

A soundtrack of despondent despair, a lament of languid lechery, an anthem of what was then and still is now.

After a summer of touring and working on remixes, Big Miz readies this new self-released 5 track EP. The first outing on Miz Records since February, three solo cuts and two collaborations
bring us yet another versatile spin on the modern house sound.

With aquatic sound design and tight kicks introducing ‘Causal Loop’, an opener that quickly morphs into a Legowelt / Alden Tyrell type synth-led jacking house jam, the EP wastes no time in getting going. There’s a sharp vocal sample of the narcotic persuasion that brings to mind Paul Johnson’s classic ‘Give Me Ecstasy’, whilst the clubbier vibe of those early LIES 12”s is also present. The title track is a drum machine workout that gradually ends up in a loopy 90s style minimal techno groove, whereas ‘An Facile’ pushes and pulls at the dancefloor with a mean acid line and makes reference to a gig that may or may not have taken place at a now shut-down Glasgow club many moons ago. You’ll need to ask Miz.

Over to Side B and ‘Sleep Well’ brings in production help from fellow Scottish stalwart Ewan McVicar, the pair working on the tune in a hotel room after a show. Evidently no sleep was had as the swirling acid lines, modulated rimshots and tempo trickery combine to make one of the trippiest jams on the record. Things draw to an end with an Underground Resistance sampling colab with Good Thing resident DD Watermelon.

10 year anniversary edition on orange & red marble vinyl. While his formative years were spent listening to everything from Yes to Photek, Scott Hansen didn't get his hands on an actual guitar or drum machine until he left his native Sacramento for San Francisco in 1995. "Encountering this whole new world at 20 years old was a profound experience," says Hansen, better known by his musical pseudonym Tycho and as the graphic artist ISO50. "At the time, I was just learning the processes of design and music; both felt very similar, and have flowed back and forth for me ever since."As seamless as his two creative outlets have been, nearly a decade passed before the release of Hansen's first proper Tycho LP, Sunrise Projector (later expanded and reissued under the title Past Is Prologue). And while three striking singles have emerged since then, the sum of all those sepia-toned parts is nowhere near the double-exposed soundscapes of Dive. The product of a prolonged break from IS050's design work and blog, it pays tribute to Tycho's prismatic past (the dense, guitar-guided turning points of "Daydream" and "Adrift") but spends most of its time pointing to the project's not-so-distant future.That can mean any number of things, really, from the halcyon hooks and hopeful horizons of "A Walk" to the expansive, wildly expressive tone poetry of the title track, an eight-minute epic that unfolds like a compressed concept album. Or at the very least, a restless vision of prog-rock - one that's been coated in neon colors and filtered through a thick piece of blotter paper. And then there's "Elegy," a spare curtain closer that pairs a vulnerable crescendo with a fitting bridge to future works.And with that, Dive establishes its position as the most diverse musical statement of Hansen's multi-medium career; the point where his skills as a performer finally catch up with his vaporized vision of a world that doesn't belong to any particular time or place."Nostalgia is a common thread in my work," says Hansen, "but this album wasn't driven by that idea. I see these songs as artifacts from a future which might have more in common with our past than our present."