Search:the take

'The 12 Moons of Ikutaro', originally slated for release in 1993 tells the story of Shioi, a young girl who embarks on an intergalactic journey to avenge the death of her father. Her journey takes her to the solar system of Ikutaro, where she must visit each moon to defeat the 'Moon Boss', and ultimately destroy the 'System Controller'. Aided by her 'Liquid Sound Device' she undertakes the task journeying between the moons on her 'Model JP8080' and meets various friends and foes on the way.

Phonogramme presents Sascha Dive’s inaugural EP, “My Definition of House.” This 4-track gem features the legendary Mr. V and arrives in a limited-edition marbled vinyl format. Dive’s deep understanding of house music merges seamlessly with Mr. V’s soulful touch, resulting in a captivating blend of classic grooves and modern flair. From infectious rhythms to rich, soul-stirring soundscapes, each track takes listeners on a unique journey through the essence of house.

DJ Beeno and Paul Bradley have been mainstays of the Kniteforce roster for some time now, and it was only a matter of time before they appeared on the same EP, and this seemed like the perfect time.

DJ Beeno makes a rare traditional piano breakbeat track in the style of early Remix Records, circa 1994. Then, Paul Bradley takes the track and makes it more 1995 in style with big kicks, bigger breaks, and stabs for days.

Paul Bradley then goes back, once again, to the 1994 sound with his track, with all the energy of a freight train only stopping for the euphoric breakdowns. DJ Beeno then takes the track and flips it upside down with his signature sound, a sound that cannot be described easily but will put a fat smile on your face none the less!

3 years in the making and dynamic young ELECTRO SWING producer, New Zealand's ODD CHAP, finally presents his COLLABORATIONS album, available for the first time on Limited Edition green vinyl!

A 10 track album featuring an incredible selection of special guest vocalists including Little Violet, Elle & The Pocket Belles and Loredana Grimaudo (as well as one bonus track with Glenn Miller). What could have become an omni-shambles in less skilled hands has instead become a showcase for the distinctive and immediately recognisable production style of ODD CHAP.

The second installment of the HouseHeadz00 Series, The Black Edition, is a masterful exploration of house music’s rich and varied landscape. This EP comprises four tracks that seamlessly blend different subgenres into a cohesive listening experience. It begins with ‘Recuerdo’, a track that captures the essence of classic house with its vibrant grooves and uplifting melodies, setting the tone for the journey ahead. As the EP unfolds, ‘Desire’ takes you deeper with its hypnotic beats and lush textures, creating an immersive soundscape. The deep vibes continue with ‘Dream’, a track that envelops you in a dreamlike state with its intricate layers and ethereal sounds. Finally, ‘Ever’ introduces a soulful dimension with smooth vocals and emotive harmonies, concluding the EP on a heartfelt note.

Strange Sensations is a new EP from Paul Renegade.
In between Lazerdrome / Phonomena releases (news on that soon) and with a folder full of spare tunes, this 4 track EP comes on white vinyl on sister label DragonDrop Records
This release features a mix of happy pianos, dark synths, ruff beats and Jungle Tekno vibes, all at various BPMs so there’s a bit of something for everybody.
On the A-side, Zer0 Gravity Fire is fast-paced ’94-style stompy hardcore (160BPM) with rushy pianos, while the synths and piano lines of Mind Over Mind slow the pace down a bit at 140BPM in an early ‘92 style.
On the flip side, Weird Dreams (160BPM) takes you between the worlds of happy and the darkside and Danger: Battledroid is an experimental dark hardcore track at 165BPM, mixing well in either a hardcore or jungle set.

This is the debut hardcore breakbeat album from Z-NEO. It has shown worldwide following and been super popular with the rave fans of old and new. These works showcase Z-NEO’s first vinyl release for Rave Radio Records.

The EP features 4 brand new breakbeat hardcore tracks. Each track is beautifully produced to great precision that doesn’t lose it’s authentic rave sound. Z-NEO has captured the early 90’s feeling fusing both light and dark riffs and patterns that both take you on a journey and make you stand still to full attention.

If you love The Prodigy, Altern 8, Slipmatt and underground breakbeat hardcore then you will 100% love this EP.

After many years, Piano Progression is finally remastered from the original DAT source, previously thought lost, meaning this is the full length version that was originally released back in late1993. This track has become legendary with its epic rolling and ever evolving piano line and deep jungle breaks and bass.


Remastered by Beau at TenEightSeven mastering, it sounds better than it ever has before!

On the flip side is a "part two" that has taken 30 years to arrive. A new continuation of the original piano line, which was played by Mad Mind Jox (from Smart Es / Bang! fame), part two reunites these legendary artists for the first time, and makes for another absolute classic piano anthem.

The follow up to the largely instrumental (and apparently sold out) "FUSION TO ILLUSION" LP takes us back to the deep house + boogie RNB zone this duo does so well. Side A sees a previous 7" only tune "PURPLE" get a 12" treatment alongside instrumental "EAR DREAMIN". The flip has instrumentals.

Here comes JIN09: a four track solo EP from Seoul’s Cosmo. Cosmo began her DJ career in 2017 and has since become one of the most active and consistent artists in the Seoul club scene, having residency at BBCB: Beton Brut + Concrete Bar.

JIN09 sees Cosmo's productions take on an ethereal and cosmic atmosphere drawing from the traditions of house and balearic music. While A side is lush, and dreamingly chugs along, B side sees Cosmo venture into techier and grittier sounds.

We are excited to present our first solo EP from such a talented producer, and can't wait to see what will come next from one of the region's rising stars.

** Limited to 300 copies. "Red Point" is a 7"-only track **

Tramp Records is extremely proud to collaborate with a true German jazz legend.

FRÉDÉRIC RABOLD will celebrate his 80th birthday this year. To honor his musical legacy we will release a double-gatefold LP with compositions by him spanning more than 40 years.

Additionally a 7" single will be released with a bonus track ("Red Point") which is available on vinyl for the first time.

"Spring Feelings" is taken from the album "FREDERIC RABOLD - TIME MACHINE" (TRLP-9123).

Heavy support by Radio Slave, Sam Divine, Acid Pauli, Green Velvet and Maceo Plex to name a few, while also being played on radio stations world wide. The album marks the beginning of a new chapter for The Glitz as they embark on a journey beyond the world of electronic music. After a wide range of beautiful, inspiring, provoking and uplifting The Glitz-singles, we are now approaching the full album in all its might. The singles have shown us the diverse soundscapes you can find in Andreas and Daniels musical multiverse, with the genres ranging from the classic House and Techno genres, to also introducing their take on Trip Hop, Neo RnB, Hip Hop, Ballad and Electronica. This journey into their musical realm has resonated with fans and colleagues alike the last months, putting the first single on position 1 in the German Club Charts for four weeks straight (it is still in the Beatport top100 after 7 months). Born out of a desire to create a space to explore and expand their unique sound, their new album is a bold extension of The Glitz vision and purpose. It has been a long time coming and is the result of four intense years in the studio together with the unique and talented singer and songwriter Mulay. And now it is time to present the full album to the world. is the mesmerising product of one of their many jam sessions in the studio. It carries the unique The Glitz fingerprints all over it while also letting them shine in a new context. The slow flowing Hip Hop beat paired with Mulays raw vocals and incredibly poetical and personal lyrics is a must hear for old and new The Glitz-fans alike.



Placed between some of the beautiful singles we have heard before, "Ergh" hits us with full force. The track takes us on a breaky, synth loaded trip. As an energetic and driving fresh breath of air, the track combines a frisky attitude with a tension building arrangement, showing that while Andreas and Daniel embrace new genres and styles, they still have good ears for club oriented, heavier hits as well. "Flummi" is put to work in a similar setting, but with a completely different world of sounds. Bright synths slowly build up, paralleled with the pulsating low end and guiding the listener towards an explosive breakdown. The track is followed by the wild and intoxicating "Rabbit Underground" that swoops you off your feet like a rocket launch. A skilfully crafted yet raw drum work with an exquisite snare creates a foundation for tantalising synths and captivating vocals that radiates with power. After this rollercoaster of a track, the wilderness is countered with the soft and playful "Mother". The Glitz bring together various layers of soft synths and smooth percussions, creating a beautiful sphere where the captivating vocals by Mulay shine in a new way. Ending this incredible journey of sound exploration is the stunning ballad "Seven Rivers". No noise, no distractions, just a beautifully stripped down ballad that carries an ocean of emotions. A perfect completion of "Axen". In their own way, each song carries the unique sound characteristics that Andreas and Daniel are so known and loved for, while giving them space to experiment and show themselves in new ways. The mix of emotionally charged, dance floor oriented and vibrant songs are bound to give the listeners an entrancing, unforgettable experience.

Rick Holmes’ breath-taking track, ‘Remember To Remember’ gets its first ever officially licensed, remastered reissue on Gold Mink Records. With prices of the original topping £60 this one will be a welcome sight for many.

Title track, ‘Remember To Remember’ is a celestial, emboldening downtempo cut. Beginning with the timeless line, ‘Pass the information, extend the knowledge…’ Rick dives into a spoken word stream of inspirational black artists and key figures whose most memorable words and song titles are framed into snippets of wisdom that get ever more significant the greater in number they become. A powerful monologue, in Rick’s warm reassuring tones, shining a light on those men and women who have made ‘strong contributions to mankind because of their compassion and humanitarianism’, laid over instrumentation you lose yourself in just as easily.

‘Remember to remember, to never forget.
How Long… how long… how long will it take man?
For us to come together.
It will take us as long as you make it…’

Words that ring just as true today, as they did 40 years ago, yet with a new sense hope in the air and prospect of progress approaching.

The B side houses another of Rick’s mesmerising monologues – ‘To The Unknowledgeable One’ motivational, moving and smooth as you like.

Licensed from Uno Melodic Records, Inc, courtesy of Expansion Records.

Layton Giordani continues his rich vein of outstanding form with ‘Freaks at Night’.

‘Freaks at Night’ continues his adventures in sound. Unmistakably a peak-time record, the track still manages to traverse a rich ethereal energy, highlighted by an otherworldly synth line and striking vocal that sets it apart from so many. Teased in sets by Giordani and Beyer going back to last summer, this one’s hugely anticipated.


Four years on from Layton Giordani’s critically acclaimed ‘New Generation’ album, Space 92 – one of techno’s most impressive new artists – steps up for a fitting remix. A masterclass of techno futurism, the 2020 album was a defining release of that year and was an impressive marker of Giordani’s ever-evolving talents in the studio. The title track was a memorable highlight, mixing ambient textures with head scrambling synth effects make it an enduring dancefloor classic. One of techno’s future stars Space 92 has added his touch to ‘New Generation’. With very special results. The Frenchman has super-charged the original, adding in plenty of laser-kissed energy as a barrage of powerful chords and silky pads take the cut into steamrolling territory.

French house legend DJ DEEP takes control of get-traum s twelfth installment, incl. a rework from label head Traumer.

French house legend DJ DEEP takes control of get-traum s twelfth installment, incl. a rework from label head Traumer.

The fertility of the Cuban music scene in the 1970s was rich and blooming. FA-5’s self-titled album from 1976 is a perfect example of the energy and vitality emanating from the country’s musicians and marks the next release in Mr Bongo’s Cuban Classics series. A unique musical fusion that encompasses Latin rock, funk, soul, disco and Afro-Cuban rhythms to form a diverse and alluring album.

The exquisite, funk-fuelled opener, 'Muevete Con Las Fuerzas Del Corazon', is maybe the most-known song on the album. It is a super catchy cut powered by a dynamite bassline, joy-filled horn playing and splashes of drum breaks that will ignite any dancefloor.

The record surfs through genres as it progresses. 'Di Tu Que Haras Sin Mi’ and 'Paso Sin Mas' lean back with a West Latin rock / AOR flavour to their grooves. Elsewhere, the dreamy, cosmic, Balearic-tinged 'El Blue' and fuzzy funk-rock breaks of 'Pero Lo Cierto Es Que No Quise Mas' further show the breadth of styles at play on the LP. Another big highlight on the album is the Latin, disco-funk sounds of 'Casa De Ladrillo', which morphs into a cover version of the Commodores 'Brick House'. The result is a superb alternative take on a much-loved classic.

Released on the state-owned Areito Records, the album was directed by Nestor Caballero, who arranged the songs alongside Aneiro Taño and Osvaldo Caraballoso. The prolific Tony Taño produced the album with the recording courtesy of Tony Lopez who worked with Juan Pablo Torres, Los Reyes 73, Grupo Los Yoyi, Raúl Gómez and many other Cuban greats that we have featured in the Cuban Series.

A fabulous, under-the-radar classic, that will enrich any collection.

By it's very nature "Radio Chevére", the new album by Rio 18 and their host of guests cannot be categorized simply: at once both a Latin mixtape and a radio show, it's also an internationalist love letter, an offering to the goddess of Tropical Music and all that it encompasses. Ambitious, yes. Foolhardy, possibly. But sincere, committed and FUNKY? Definitely.

With the voice of guest DJ Coco Maria as our guide, "Radio Chévere" takes us on a journey through myriad musical styles and stories. Stopping off at Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, California, New York and countless other sonic destinations via Samba, Salsa, Funk, Cumbia, Joropo, Disco, Psychedelic and Electronic stylings, "Radio Chévere" is also a musical metaphor for migration - a journey from one continent, one life to another.

This album features songs in no less than four languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Welsh and English) and includes collaborations with Brazilian legends the +2's (Moreno Veloso, Kassin and Domenico Lancellotti) on the tender samba ballad, "Oh Minha Querida", transatlantic Yacht Rock gods Young Gun Silver Fox ("She's In LA"), "Sao Paulo's finest" Silvia Machete on the sweaty funk "Maybe Man" and Venezuelan Llanera and Joropo queen Luzmira Zerpa sings "Padre Tiempo", set to an incessant Afro-Venezuelan pulse. Why this torrent of eclectica now? Having recorded three albums in Welsh, predominantly inspired by Brazilian music, Rio 18 founder, Carwyn Ellis had a hard time following 2021's "Yn Rio": "We'd made a concept album with an orchestra. How do you follow that?" he says. "So I retreated to my laboratory, learned as much new music as I could, started learning Spanish too, and ended up writing tunes in a bunch of languages and styles, all of which reflected things I've learned or experienced over the last couple of years."

Since the group's inception in 2018, on the suggestion of Chrissie Hynde when he toured South America as a member of the Pretenders, Carwyn has been on a voyage of musical discovery through the styles of that continent. And in those five years he learnt a lot! But in a radical new move, Carwyn has stepped back from the mic, preferring to focus on writing and producing, handing over the vocal duties to band members Baldo Verdu (Venezuela) and Elan Rhys (Wales) plus a host of collaborators. "They can sing and express what I'm feeling so much better than I can, and both Elan and Baldo bring an authenticity and strength to our songs that surprise and elevate me. Collaborating with so many other inspiring artists on this album has helped us to grow and assimilate more styles - we're halfway through our next album already."

Rio 18 is an internationalist collective with Celtic and Latin roots and love at their core. With eye popping carnivalesque cover art by the brilliant Colombian graphic artist, Yoda, "Radio Chévere" is both timely and timeless.

Oh yes! First ever official reissue of the positively sublime and very rare Butterfly LP, recorded in Tokyo in 1979 by Japanese songstress Kimiko Kasai and jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

Due to it's super-rare status as a Japan-only release, this exquisite collection of covers never got the recognition it deserved at the time, despite incredibly inspired performances from Kimiko, Herbie and the supremely talented musicians assembled for the project. From heavenly drummer Alphonse Mouzon and renowned organist Webster Lewis to bassist Paul Jackson, reedman Bennie Maupin and the master percussionist Bill Summers, the legendary performers crafted amazingly good vocal versions of Herbie / Headhunters jazz-funk. Unsurprisingly, it has been heavily in demand for many years.

The LP opens with Kimiko's highly desirable version of "I Thought It Was You", an elegant take on Herbie's own anthem. Other superb re-workings include the delicately soulful "Butterfly", jazzy groover "Sunlight", the smooth and sexy "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" and the beautiful ballads "Maiden Voyage" and "Harvest Time". A wonderful example of perfectly understated and masterful jazz-funk soul fusion that shouldn't be missed, the set closes with a jaw-dropping version of Stevie Wonder's "As".

This lovingly curated reissue enables a long overdue reappraisal of this hitherto unavailable masterpiece. The stunning artwork which adorned the original jacket - complete with OBI strip and sumptuous
4 page folded insert - has been faithfully restored. Simon Francis' sensitive mastering elevates the sound throughout and, as ever, it has been pressed at a reassuringly weighty 180g. Essential.

"Bitteschön, Philophon!" presents a "best of" selection taken from the so far fifteen 7" releases by the Berlin-based label Philophon. Greats as Jimi Tenor, Alemayehu Eshete and Hailu Mergia as well as new discoveries such as Guy One, Alogte Oho and Y-Bayani echo on "Bitteschön" the wide spectrum of the Philophon catalogue.

Philophon puts its emphasis on authentic local styles - from heavy grooving Ethio-Jazz coming out of Addis Abeba to cheerful Frafra-Gospel, as it is celebrated in Bolgatanga/Northern Ghana. Most recordings took place where the music is located - and that's the recipe for Philophon's productions: go to the source and dive into the real.

We are delighted to offer a very limited hand-stamped repress of Black Loops’ debut EP, 7 Hills on Freerange

The Italian producer who splits his time between Berlin and his native country has had a solid few years rising through the house music ranks through releases on respected labels such as Shall Not Fade, Pets, Toytonics, Aterral, Gruuv & Neovinyl.

His broad-ranging influences taking in funk, soul, disco and 90’s NY house inform a depth, warmth and musicality to his productions which has seen him in demand DJing around the world and makes him an obvious fit for us here on Freerange.

This EP, produced almost exclusively during an extended tour in Australia opens with title track 7Hills, the area where he stayed and worked on this release. The trademark Black Loops swinging groove, smooth Rhodes stabs/ keys licks courtesy of Nikos Haropoulos and a deep, rolling bassline all come together to form the perfect warm up track - uplifting, understate and with a subtle sense of anticipation.

Next up we have Parisian producer Mad Rey getting stuck into 7Hills for a raw, bumping interpretation which jacks things up a notch taking it into heavier peak-time territory. Mad Rey has been responsible for some brilliant releases on French label D.Ko, Rekids and most recently Mamie’s Records and alongside label mates Flabaire and Paul Cut he has helped reestablish Paris as a hotbed of fresh, musical talent.

Flipping over we have two more Black Loops originals. King Paul takes an old soul vocal sample and works it to great effect over crisp 909 beats and sun-soaked keys whilst a vinyl-only bonus track Linda38 treads a similar path but with a punchier groove and warm pads rounding off this EP in fine style.

Secrets Of Sound sold out their first release in quick fashion and now they return with a second instalment in the Exotic Origins series, designed to take you a million light years away from your current reality and deep into the far depths of space with eight superbly cosmic explorations of ambient and downtempo magic. Italians Do It Better man Johnny Jewel kicks off with some sultry sax-laced sounds, David Lynch's musical partner Dean Hurley crushes on shimmering pads and Pye Corner Audio bring a little intergalactic tension. Elsewhere there are sugary synths from Legowelt, suspensory pads from TM Solver and plenty more to help you escape to another dimension. Add to that the fact it arrives on a random variety of different vinyl colours and comes with a download code, and you've got rather a nice package.

Introducing the new record by Hendriks Toth on Sofa Movements Records.

Hendriks summed it up in his own words:

"I am glad that my first LP on vinyl is being released on a Slovak label.

Part of this LP was recorded on the streets of Kolkata, India, and also in Tbilisi, Georgia. Travel is closely connected to my music, and this EP is no exception, which is probably audible. Interestingly, in the track 'Low Histamine,' I sing for the first time (though perhaps I wouldn't call it singing).

Since I don't usually release music in Slovakia, I am very pleased that such alternative music can be released on vinyl on a Slovak label, and I take my hat off to the label manager.

I hope you will enjoy it, or at least find it an unusual experience, whether positive or negative."

"They are the Finnish / Dutch / British troupe NIGHTWISH – one of the most fascinating rock bands of the last decades, whose enigmatic paths have proceeded from acoustic passages to symphonic heavy metal and from catchy folk to progressive majesty. If there is one trait the band has year after year, it might be this: expect something familiar but also expect the unexpected. NIGHTWISH has indeed broken all kinds of boundaries – never deliberately, but perfectly naturally.
Now guess what? NIGHTWISH's new studio album ""Yesterwynde"" – the band's tenth overall – is no exception to the rule. But it is more...

“""Yesterwynde"" took more time to make than any previous NIGHTWISH album”, nods keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, who once again envisioned most of the material. ""The new album was intensively worked on for 3,5 years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn't let go of the creative process – and didn't want to. Along the way, ""Yesterwynde"" became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making – compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing and so on – were given more attention than ever before.""
The result? There's a fascinating, but inexplicable feeling that NIGHTWISH has once again been able to find unprecedented nuances, spices and perspectives in their new works – exactly: after a career of nine classic albums. """"Yesterwynde"" is an experience that takes time to digest. The gravid ingredients of the songs are easily recognizable, but beneath the surface lies a large number of intriguing details and features"", Holopainen describes.

""It's interesting – but not surprising – that ""Yesterwynde"" has attracted quite a variety of opinions. Some have stated that it is the most 'band' record to date. For some it appears to be the heaviest and most ominous NIGHTWISH release. It has also been called our most progressive album. And the list goes on.""
And what does Tuomas think of it himself?
""To me, ""Yesterwynde"" sounds, tastes and feels strongly like the true essence of NIGHTWISH – enriched with new moods and flavors.""

The lyrics of ""Yesterwynde"" deal with large-sized universal themes: memories, mortality, humanism, time and much more. ""The new album is the conclusion of the trilogy – textually it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors ""Endless Forms Most Beautiful"" and ""Human. :II: Nature."""", Holopainen says. ""At the same time, ""Yesterwynde"" is the band's most lyrically driven album: our music has never been so 'married' to the lyrics. So here's a tip: if something in the composition puzzles you, the words might clear it up.""
""For me, one of the key lines is 'we are because of a million loves' – taken from the song ""Perfume of the Timeless"". Each of us is part of an unbroken chain that stretches back billions of years. If even one of your ancestors had died too young – mauled by a cave bear, for example – during this incredibly long period of time, you would never have been born. In other words: our existence is such an unfathomable privilege!”

What does the term 'yesterwynde' mean?
""It describes a feeling that cannot be found in any human language. That's why we had to invent a whole new word. The album is supposed to open that feeling to the listener.""
Without taking anything away from the solid delivery of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Kai Hahto, bassist Jukka Koskinen and multi-instrumentalist/singer Troy Donockley, it might be worth highlighting one fact: the performance of the eloquent storyteller Floor Jansen is once again unparalleled. It is simply breathtaking how the singer is able to make songs fly with her performance. ""Floor's second child was born just over a month ago, and we hadn't rehearsed together at all... So it was a little nerve-wracking to go to Floor's home studio for vocal recordings. Well, what happened? We had booked twelve working days and after six days everything was completed in style. Floor's preparedness for the sessions was something extreme!""

After the recordings and mixing process, there was one more working phase. Mastering. Could you possibly guess that no shortcuts were taken at this point either?
""The album was mastered seven times until we reached the finish line – one hundred percent satisfied!"", states Tuomas. ""When the record was eventually finished, a three-year, extremely inspiring adventure had come to an end. I felt very, very happy.""
NIGHTWISH's next steps are clear. And they are not the most common ones.
""NIGHTWISH will not go on a world tour this time. This was a decision made for personal reasons. But don't worry... Our contract with Nuclear Blast Records includes several albums, and there's plenty of motivation to create new music!""
May the dream continue...
"

"They are the Finnish / Dutch / British troupe NIGHTWISH – one of the most fascinating rock bands of the last decades, whose enigmatic paths have proceeded from acoustic passages to symphonic heavy metal and from catchy folk to progressive majesty. If there is one trait the band has year after year, it might be this: expect something familiar but also expect the unexpected. NIGHTWISH has indeed broken all kinds of boundaries – never deliberately, but perfectly naturally.
Now guess what? NIGHTWISH's new studio album ""Yesterwynde"" – the band's tenth overall – is no exception to the rule. But it is more...

“""Yesterwynde"" took more time to make than any previous NIGHTWISH album”, nods keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, who once again envisioned most of the material. ""The new album was intensively worked on for 3,5 years. My ambition and piety really skyrocketed, and I just couldn't let go of the creative process – and didn't want to. Along the way, ""Yesterwynde"" became both an exhilarating obsession and a comforting haven for me. All aspects of the making – compositions, lyrics, arrangements, cover art, videos, mixing and so on – were given more attention than ever before.""
The result? There's a fascinating, but inexplicable feeling that NIGHTWISH has once again been able to find unprecedented nuances, spices and perspectives in their new works – exactly: after a career of nine classic albums. """"Yesterwynde"" is an experience that takes time to digest. The gravid ingredients of the songs are easily recognizable, but beneath the surface lies a large number of intriguing details and features"", Holopainen describes.

""It's interesting – but not surprising – that ""Yesterwynde"" has attracted quite a variety of opinions. Some have stated that it is the most 'band' record to date. For some it appears to be the heaviest and most ominous NIGHTWISH release. It has also been called our most progressive album. And the list goes on.""
And what does Tuomas think of it himself?
""To me, ""Yesterwynde"" sounds, tastes and feels strongly like the true essence of NIGHTWISH – enriched with new moods and flavors.""

The lyrics of ""Yesterwynde"" deal with large-sized universal themes: memories, mortality, humanism, time and much more. ""The new album is the conclusion of the trilogy – textually it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors ""Endless Forms Most Beautiful"" and ""Human. :II: Nature."""", Holopainen says. ""At the same time, ""Yesterwynde"" is the band's most lyrically driven album: our music has never been so 'married' to the lyrics. So here's a tip: if something in the composition puzzles you, the words might clear it up.""
""For me, one of the key lines is 'we are because of a million loves' – taken from the song ""Perfume of the Timeless"". Each of us is part of an unbroken chain that stretches back billions of years. If even one of your ancestors had died too young – mauled by a cave bear, for example – during this incredibly long period of time, you would never have been born. In other words: our existence is such an unfathomable privilege!”

What does the term 'yesterwynde' mean?
""It describes a feeling that cannot be found in any human language. That's why we had to invent a whole new word. The album is supposed to open that feeling to the listener.""
Without taking anything away from the solid delivery of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Kai Hahto, bassist Jukka Koskinen and multi-instrumentalist/singer Troy Donockley, it might be worth highlighting one fact: the performance of the eloquent storyteller Floor Jansen is once again unparalleled. It is simply breathtaking how the singer is able to make songs fly with her performance. ""Floor's second child was born just over a month ago, and we hadn't rehearsed together at all... So it was a little nerve-wracking to go to Floor's home studio for vocal recordings. Well, what happened? We had booked twelve working days and after six days everything was completed in style. Floor's preparedness for the sessions was something extreme!""

After the recordings and mixing process, there was one more working phase. Mastering. Could you possibly guess that no shortcuts were taken at this point either?
""The album was mastered seven times until we reached the finish line – one hundred percent satisfied!"", states Tuomas. ""When the record was eventually finished, a three-year, extremely inspiring adventure had come to an end. I felt very, very happy.""
NIGHTWISH's next steps are clear. And they are not the most common ones.
""NIGHTWISH will not go on a world tour this time. This was a decision made for personal reasons. But don't worry... Our contract with Nuclear Blast Records includes several albums, and there's plenty of motivation to create new music!""
May the dream continue...
"

'In `All This and So Much More' Tasha is an artist flung open. For Tasha, the last few years have been propulsive, dynamic, bursting at the seams. They've included painful encounters with grief; a sudden break up; new flirtation; new hair; the glitter of world travel and not least, a role in Tony-nominated Broadway musical `Illinoise' which adapts Sufjan Steven's `Illinois' for the stage. If `Tell Me What You Miss The Most' was an introspective meditation on love with a few moments of glancing toward what's next, `All this and So Much More' is Tasha turned outward, flourishing, telling us what it's like to take life by the chin and look it in the eye. Take, for example "Eric Song." This was the first song to be written on the album, penned while Tasha grappled with the sudden, tragic death of Eric Littman, the co-producer of her last album. Though the instrumentation is a familiar 3/4 guitar strum, lulling us into a comforting waltz, Tasha's voice is breathy with grief, adding depth and dimension to the hushed sound. "No, I'm not alone after all / You must be near / Facing this soaring sprawl," she sings, transforming the experience of loss into a talisman of love and courage meant to help usher in a new self. Said a different way, `All This and So Much More' is a full-throated ode to all of the ups and downs of becoming. In the opening track, "Pretend," when Tasha sings about "feelings outgrowing this little life," we get the sense, both lyrically and sonically, of someone in the throes of growth. This is an album crafted with a big, ambitious sound (in part, thanks to the production of Gregory Uhlmann)_cinematic droning, orchestral woodwinds, dazzling arrays of jangling guitar, all lining up to capture a sweeping moment in Tasha's life. Written over the course of 2022 and 2023, right on the cusp of Tasha being cast in Illinoise, the songs in this album invoke friendship, heart ache, flirtation, doubt. From the social anxiety of "Party" ("Do they think I'm funny? / Did they like my jokes last night?") to the questing for meaning in "So Much More," Tasha brings us along on a journey of finding out that the person you wanted to be was inside of yourself, just waiting to bloom all along. She sums it up neatly in her final track, "Love's Changing," charging us with a brilliant, sweeping vision of the future, singing: "Suddenly the world is bigger than it ever felt before / Feel the weight of my future sinking in / See the joy I'm running toward." In `All This and So Much More,' Tasha asks us to consider abundance in its truest form. Our lives, a deluge of possible experience if only we will surrender to it, all the way from the citric ache of heartbreak to the chest bloom of new adventure.

'In `All This and So Much More' Tasha is an artist flung open. For Tasha, the last few years have been propulsive, dynamic, bursting at the seams. They've included painful encounters with grief; a sudden break up; new flirtation; new hair; the glitter of world travel and not least, a role in Tony-nominated Broadway musical `Illinoise' which adapts Sufjan Steven's `Illinois' for the stage. If `Tell Me What You Miss The Most' was an introspective meditation on love with a few moments of glancing toward what's next, `All this and So Much More' is Tasha turned outward, flourishing, telling us what it's like to take life by the chin and look it in the eye. Take, for example "Eric Song." This was the first song to be written on the album, penned while Tasha grappled with the sudden, tragic death of Eric Littman, the co-producer of her last album. Though the instrumentation is a familiar 3/4 guitar strum, lulling us into a comforting waltz, Tasha's voice is breathy with grief, adding depth and dimension to the hushed sound. "No, I'm not alone after all / You must be near / Facing this soaring sprawl," she sings, transforming the experience of loss into a talisman of love and courage meant to help usher in a new self. Said a different way, `All This and So Much More' is a full-throated ode to all of the ups and downs of becoming. In the opening track, "Pretend," when Tasha sings about "feelings outgrowing this little life," we get the sense, both lyrically and sonically, of someone in the throes of growth. This is an album crafted with a big, ambitious sound (in part, thanks to the production of Gregory Uhlmann)_cinematic droning, orchestral woodwinds, dazzling arrays of jangling guitar, all lining up to capture a sweeping moment in Tasha's life. Written over the course of 2022 and 2023, right on the cusp of Tasha being cast in Illinoise, the songs in this album invoke friendship, heart ache, flirtation, doubt. From the social anxiety of "Party" ("Do they think I'm funny? / Did they like my jokes last night?") to the questing for meaning in "So Much More," Tasha brings us along on a journey of finding out that the person you wanted to be was inside of yourself, just waiting to bloom all along. She sums it up neatly in her final track, "Love's Changing," charging us with a brilliant, sweeping vision of the future, singing: "Suddenly the world is bigger than it ever felt before / Feel the weight of my future sinking in / See the joy I'm running toward." In `All This and So Much More,' Tasha asks us to consider abundance in its truest form. Our lives, a deluge of possible experience if only we will surrender to it, all the way from the citric ache of heartbreak to the chest bloom of new adventure.

Born in Aldershot on 11 September 1947, Catley's family moved to the Tile Cross area of Birmingham when he was young. He went on to attend the nearby Central Grammar School for Boys (Birmingham) and left to start an apprenticeship at the GPO before deciding on a musical career shortly after meeting similarly minded individuals at college. Whilst at college he joined several bands, such as The Smokestacks (Jeff Clark-guitar, Ron Savage-guitar, Derek Danks-bass & Brian Worrell-drums, Life and Clearwater). His first professional band was when he joined local outfit The Capitol Systems. The initial line-up was Bob Catley (vocals) Paul Sargent (guitar) Paul Whitehouse (bass), Dave Bailey (keyboards) and Bob Moore (drums). Shortly afterward they changed their name to Paradox, inspired by a science-fiction novel. A one-off deal was arranged with Mercury after Paradox had come to the attention of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. The tracks were "Ever Since I Can Remember", backed with "Goodbye Mary". In addition, they recorded "Mary Colinto" and "Somebody Save Me". All of these songs were written by Dave Morgan. Paradox played festivals in the Netherlands and Italy before splitting up upon their return to the UK in 1970. Formed in 1972, Magnum throughout the next 16 years consisted mainly of Bob Catley on vocals and Tony Clarkin on guitar. Magnum began as the house band at Birmingham's famous Rum Runner night club (later the home of Duran Duran). They began to develop their own style by playing Clarkin's songs at a residency at The Railway Inn, in Birmingham's Curzon Street, in 1976. Joining Clarkin and Catley were drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Dave Morgan (later a member of ELO). Their most notable success during these early years was the Jeff Glixman produced Chase The Dragon (1982) which reached No. 17 in the UK, and included several songs that would be mainstays of the band's live set, notably ‘Soldier of the Line’, ‘Sacred Hour’ and ‘The Spirit’. Their breakthrough album came in 1985 with On a Storyteller's Night which featured the single ‘Just Like an Arrow’. This success continued in the following years with the Roger Taylor (Queen) produced Vigilante in 1986, the top 5 album Wings of Heaven in 1988, and the Keith Olsen produced Goodnight L.A. reaching No. 9 in the UK album charts in 1990. Subsequently, Clarkin decided to maintain a tighter control, and after their initial mainstream success, the band lost their major label backing and returned to a more personal level of production. This finally found the band splitting and the formation of Hard Rain in 1995, which saw Clarkin pursue a more Pop orientated direction with a band that included Sue McCloskey on lead vocals. This new direction didn’t sit well with Catley, and after a headline performance at The Gods in the late 90s, a conversation with Bruce Mee of Now & Then Records saw Catley agree with a decision which eventually led to his debut solo album, ‘The Tower’. This release was completely written by Gary Hughes of Ten, with the writing completely decided to be in the vein of classic Magnum. The album itself was recorded by various members of Ten, including the amazing Vinny Burns (Dare) on guitar. On release, the many positive reviews concluded that the release of ‘The Tower’ had succeeded beyond its wildest imagination…..and Bob Catley’s solo career had been launched with amazing success!! With a lyrical intricacy and majestic pomp, songs like ‘Far Away, ‘Fear of the Dark, ‘Madrigal’ and ‘Deep Winter’ take you back to that glorious period of Magnum between ‘Chase The Dragon’ and ‘Wings Of Heaven’ whilst hard melodic rockers such as ‘Scream’, ‘Dreams’ and title track ‘The Tower’ show just what Magnum would have sounded like if they’d gone a little bit harder. Another absolutely brilliant album that totally deserves to be filed alongside those mid-period Magnum classics.

Permanent Parts is the second album released by visual artist Katharina Grosse (synthesizer) and musician Stefan Schneider (synthesizer; So Sner, To Rococo Rot). Grosse and Schneider were joined at Galerie Max Hetzler on 29 April 2023, performing as part of the Spectrum without Traces exhibition, by three artists who all generally work within improvised music – Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Tintin Patrone (trombone and electronics), and Billy Roisz (noise generator, piezo and mini cymbal). Permanent Parts is an extraordinary set of recordings that inhabits multiple zones at once: within its thirty-five minutes, we can hear the interactions of non-idiomatic collective music making, and the electronic glimmers of electro-acoustics, while, at the same time, the music remains untethered to genre.

This capacity to work within liminal zones makes perfect sense when thinking about both Grosse’s and Schneider’s prior work, whether the energetic diffusions and spatial explorations of Grosse’s artistic practice, or the slippery texturology of Schneider’s recent work with electronics. Khorkhordina, Patrone and Roisz all find their own ways into this dynamic, too, and Permanent Parts feels like an equal exchange of presence and contribution; there are no hierarchies here. This might explain the music’s curious sense of development, where several elements are allowed to exist alongside each other, not in direct contact but in a mode that’s somewhere between carefree layering and unconscious juxtaposition. The musicians are listening, but not just with their ears – their skin, their bodies are hearing, too.

When talking about Permanent Parts, Schneider is careful to place it within contexts that are specific, to some degree, but which allow for difference to blossom. “Although it was recorded live, it somehow was not meant to be a documentation of a live event in the first place. The five piece line up that appears on the record had met for the first time only a few hours before the concert took place.” While it might take a leap of faith for all parties to walk together, and so willingly, into a place of such freedom, of such risk, there is clear sympathy here between the musicians, and a shared appreciation of the immediacies of the situation.

It also throws some of our preconceptions about this music out of the window. “The record does not feel like a document of a performance as the music was not pre-composed and there was no reference,” Schneider continues. “Perhaps it was not even an improvisation?” For Grosse, her musical relationship with Schneider similarly shakes free from expectation: “My sound does not exist without Stefan’s. It is neither written down nor is it improvised. It is instantaneous.” When thinking about the five-piece exploration on Permanent Parts and asked to expand on what each musician brings to the table, she continues, “We all love the thrill of an unknown encounter and we seem to have a need for building connections through the thicket of our voices.”

There’s a curious phrase on the back cover of the album, before the artists are listed: “Wir sind eine Batterie / We are a battery.” This sums up the spirit of Permanent Parts. Schneider recalls that Grosse said this phrase to the musicians at the start of the performance. Grosse explains further, “The figure of the battery referred to our placement in the space building out a small circle facing one another from where the sound could spill into the impressive volume of the gallery.” The battery as an arrangement of similar devices; but I also think of charge, and the conversion of chemical energy, and of fortification. It’s a poetic metaphor that sums up much of the febrile pleasure of the music contained on these Permanent Parts.

– Jon Dale, Melbourne

We can't hide the fact that we're a Manchester label with some very strong feelings for the Red side of the city. Regardless of your tribal affiliation - whether you have one or not - Edric Connor's "Manchester United Calypso" is an undisputedly joyous, soulful classic. Like the bunch of bouncing Busby Babes the song sought to raise up, it's remarkable, stylish and profoundly memorable; and its magical legacy has only grown in the 70 years since it first surfaced.




A testament to its enduring brilliance, "Manchester United Calypso" is heard to this day on the terraces of Old Trafford and beyond. However, it's impossible to find a copy of the original 78rpm shellac release or, indeed, the 45rpm vinyl. So, we're delighted to reissue this unforgettable anthem - with Lord Kitchener's equally dazzling "Manchester Football Double" on the B-Side - and make it available on 7" vinyl to United fans of any vintage; as well as fans of vintage calypso fire! Featuring typically striking, specially commissioned artwork from the legendary Stan Chow, this record is a collectors item for the ages.


"Manchester,
Manchester United
A bunch of bouncing "Busby Babes",

They deserve to be knighted

If ever they're playing in your town,

You must get to that football ground

Take a lesson come to see,

Football taught by Matt Busby

Manchester,

Manchester United"



Whether you have United in your heart or not, "Manchester United Calypso" is a record that, like the best football teams in Old Trafford's history, swaggers with an addictive beauty that's impossible to ignore.
It's impossible to discuss the significance of the calypso without remembering what ultimately ripped through the heart of this most beloved youthful side.
Eight of the Babes who were celebrated in the Calypso tragically lost their lives on 6th February 1958 in the Munich air disaster.
Like the players and the club itself, the United calypso radiates a special type of magic and speaks to the spirit of United:
the demand to be fearless, unrelenting, creative and obliged to entertain the viewing public.



The Calypso was written by Eric Watterson and Ken Jones and sung by Edric Connor, who moved to England from Trinidad in 1944.
Connor is considered a pioneer, popularising calypso music, becoming the first black actor to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company, setting up the Afro-Asian Caribbean Agency to represent Black and minority artists with his wife, Pearl and establishing a theatre workshop.
“I would think coming to this country right after the war, as Edric did, and getting into BBC radio, and moving among the people, he did a great deal of good for our own community,” Pearl once revealed.
He saw himself as a self-appointed ambassador for his country, Trinidad. We were very nationalistic back then. We believed we had a country worthy of recognition”.



The B-Side is another doozy.
Swoon along to Lord Kitchener's fantastically woozy "Manchester Football Double" - a fitting ode to the city where you'll "find football's headquarters".


Then and, after the 2024 FA Cup Final, now.

Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 7" well and truly soars.

The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this sought-after gem finds a home in many more collections, from Manchester to Malta, Mumbai to Malaysia.

Nina Ryser's music has always inhabited its own world; a singular and cohesive collection of Keyboard-centric home recordings that marry her undeniable pop sensibilities with a truly bizarre dreamlike aesthetic. With a solo career spanning 7 releases as well as her work in the highly influential art-punk trio Palberta, Nina's artistic voice has been a staple in the American underground for over a decade, her distinctive and consistent sound earning a cult following. Her latest effort Water Giants signifies a departure in both sound and artistic practice - her first solo release recorded outside of her home studio, with a myriad of first time collaborators, it's Nina's most lavish and expansive offering to date, honing in on the heartfelt songwriting at the core of her work. After completing her usual process of demoing the songs for Water Giants, Nina felt that she wanted to try something new, escaping the confines of her minimal studio setup and the limitations of working alone. At the recommendation of several friends, she began working with Lucas Knapp, a Philly based producer who has contributed work to many Dear Life releases (including Florry's The Holey Bible, Hour's Ease the Work, and Joey Nebulous's Joey Spumoni Creamy Dreamy Party All the Time ). Lucas and Nina's recording sensibilities aligned quite seamlessly, breathing new energy into the songs in what she describes as an "effortless collaboration". The result is some of her most pristine experimental pop offerings to date, centering Nina as a dynamic performer and lyricist without foregoing the surreal qualities of her previous work. The album features contributions from many of her peers in the Philly music community, including Jill Ryan (Great Time), Victoria Rose and Nino Soberon (@, Brittle Brian), Eli Kleinsmith (The Knee Jerk Reaction), and her husband Gabe Adels, whom she frequently collaborates with in the synth-pop duo Data. Even the cover art is a departure for Nina, who has previously crafted it herself or with longtime friend/visual artist Izzy Kross, this time assembling a collage of photographs taken by Eve Alpert (Palm) fit for the album's newfound dimensionality. Lyrically, Water Giants stands as Nina's most personal work to date. Taking a cue from her previous release, I Miss My Dog, which was written as Nina was processing the imminent loss of her and Gabe's dog Billy, Nina approached the writing process with unbridled honesty and chose not to edit or overthink her words as she had in the past. The result is a number of candid, heartfelt reflections on love, illness, addiction, anxiety, and the beautiful absurdity of a trash pile on the street. Interspersed throughout the album are Nina's signature woozy instrumentals, which add some escapism to the grounded nature of the material. By putting faith in a newfound collaboration without straying from her natural instincts, Nina has crafted the most dynamic album in her discography, an exciting testament to her songwriting prowess and what can be accomplished by stepping out of your comfort zone as an artist.

The unconscious and unknown must be really nice places. In any case, if you take the second album of Menelaos Tomasides under his given name as travelogue. A trip into dreamlike territory, yet concrete enough, a journey without target yet looking forward and looking back into familiar places, „dreamhike“ both continues and departs from the style Menelaos has found earlier, in “When the Moon Comes Through”, or his more conceptual-intentional “31 Minuten” works. As the album title - which roughly translates to “dream hiking” but also hints on “walkabout” and “songlines” – suggests, we are rambling between the real and the imaginary. From the bucolic border triangle of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands to the buzzing streets of the capital of Cyprus, where Menelaos has lived for many years, the tracks are about real places, about real experiences and emotions yet interwoven with a dreamlike fabric. Something that is just not tangible, yet substantial and palpable. Something concrete that manifests in the genuine and special sound design of this records - basically all of Menelaos’ works - his really special treatment of dynamics and loudness. It is one of the very few records where the established language of music making, specifically Techno, House, Dub, and early 2000’ Electronica, the clicks, thumps and plops from an earlier age of electronic music, transmogrify into slow movements of something new. Something that is gentle and truly personal, looking inwards. There are four-to-the-floor beats, there is wobbly bass, and dubby chords, even sublimated clarion calls. There is an immense energy in these tracks, the sheer materiality of low frequencies of a massive sound system manifested in a tiny room. Yet it is without any aggression, stripped bare of sonic pressure. It is quiet music no matter how high you turn up the volume. A rare treat, that requires exceptional skills and exceptional restraint and control on the technical side of music making. Probably it is a result of Menelaos specific combination of instinctual, intuitive approach to making music, which meets a genuine love for sound in seemingly endless loops of refinement that can lead to such a result as „dreamhike“. The elegant floating balance of control and playful experimentation manifests for example in a track that continues the ongoing collaboration with seasoned Cologne improviser Achim Fink on bass trumpet. Not only in this respect, the album can be described as a product of openness. It comes from a lot of taking in the world, of travel, of places and people met, of friendship and conversation (not necessarily with words). The deep trip of “dreamhike” further manifests Menelaos as one of the truly independent voices of electronic Cologne and beyond. Somewhat alike in character and attitude probably to what late Pete Namlook has established for Frankfurt with his label Fax +49-69/450464 (though ultimately warmer and much less uncanny) Menelaos has found his very own sound and vision. Music that answers to no one but speaks to everyone. Uncompromising yet gentle to the core: kind sounds from a kind spirit, arguably the most extraordinary and valuable quality music can have these days.

The principles of pleasure radiate a knowing, carnal heat throughout the genre-fluid sound of LSDXOXO. His decade of dedication to the sensibility of underground club culture has brought forth club classics interwoven with pop music hooks and subversive, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

After four years of what LSDXOXO, real name RJ Glasgow, calls a period of “healing and self-discovery,” he is consolidating his multiplicitous sound with one compelling masterstroke: the debut album DOGMA, to be released on his own imprint F.A.G. DOGMA marks a complete paradigmatic shift: it is a poetic and fantastical performance, a route for deep escapism through an expanded musical palette including piano and guitar, and a deeply personal confessional through a fresh approach to songcrafting.

Within DOGMA, RJ meditates on the interlinked qualities of fame, infamy, lust and submission, as he rediscovers a pure, unadulterated approach to music-making, all the while adopting a futurist approach to pop music appreciation. RJ’s unmistakable signatures—the smutty dancefloor caller, the maker of irresistible bangers, the latter-day electroclash and DnB nostalgist—take on even more shades and intricacies. Despite his widespread acclaim as a collaborator with and songwriter for other artists, RJ strips DOGMA down almost exclusively to himself, carving out intentional space as a chameleonic vocalist and performer. He breathes life into the album with private thoughts, external fears and a red thread through personal themes that crystallise the album’s narrative from front to back.

The album’s promo single “Bloodlust” offers angsty, intimate indie-tronica, and musings on the intoxicating nature of love and infatuation. The lead single “Ghost” reaches beyond RJ’s Philadelphia origins to find itself in the deep south, in a sultry fever dream of coquettish R&B featuring backing vocals from close collaborator Kelela. Elsewhere on the album futuristic love, pensive pop earworms, evocative vintage dance styles and sleazy club tracks intermingle. While the DOGMA era will eventually explore remixes and reworks, the album is RJ’s purest embrace of himself and his artistry.

RJ first garnered attention as LSDXOXO in New York City with his on-the-pulse Soundcloud edits and then as part of the cult GHE20GOTH1K collective. His DJ sets and productions quickly earned him acclaim across globally-linked underground scenes. His decision to shift from sampled vocals to picking up the pen and microphone pushed his reach out to the stratosphere; his association with XL Recordings via the Dedicated 2 Disrespect EP in 2021 was a turning point for the burgeoning superstar.

This multiplicity of the LSDXOXO sound has led to enviable co-signs. These include being selected as the opening DJ for Beyoncé’s German Renaissance tour dates, remixing Lady Gaga, Pink Pantheress and Shygirl and producing five tracks for Kelela's highly acclaimed 2023 album for Warp Records, Raven. His fully-realised live show has also taken to the stage, serving fierce charisma to huge audiences at festivals including Primavera, Nuits Sonores and Rewire.

Limited Edition of 1000 Opaque Light Blue 180 Gram Vinyl LP. Ghost on Ghost is Iron & Wine's fifth full length record and was originally released in 2013. The album found Sam Beam the bands principle member working once again with longtime associate Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Califone). The record marks the last time the two would work together on a journey that began with the bands second record, Endless Numbered Days. It also marked a shift for the two from working in Chicago to setting up in New York City. The idea behind the move was to tap into the creative musical community New York had to offer. The line-up that helped bring Beam's vision for Ghost on Ghost to life included a who's who from the jazz community as well as the deep wells of outside art including Steve Bernstein (Sex Mob/Levon Helm Band), Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio), Brian Blade, Curtis Fowlkes (The Jazz Passengers), Tony Garnier (Bob Dylan Band), Marika Hughes, Briggan Kraus, Maxim Moston, Tony Scherr (The Lounge Lizards), Doug Wieselman, Kenny Wolleson (Tom Watis/John Zorn) and Anja Wood. The level of talent on Ghost on Ghost far surpassed anything Beam ever imagined when he first began writing songs as Iron and Wine on his four-track. Upon completing the Ghost on Ghost Beam jokingly referred to the recording process as "a reward to myself" after years of chasing sounds by himself. Being able have the finest in musicians in New York City perform on the record, elevating these songs into places he never imagined Beam stated, "it was an honor -- really inspiring." Beam stated at the time that Ghost on Ghost takes it's inspiration from records like Nilsson Schmilsson, Ram, Mingus Moves and What's Going On. The record they all crafted is warm and inviting and was like anything up to that point in the Iron & Wine catalog.

Rhetoric & Terror is Berlin-based Hemphill’s second album since leaving Liars back in 2016.

No stranger to reinventing his approach towards composition, Rhetoric & Terror feels like we are – perhaps for the first time – opening a doorway into Hemphill’s personal life, to his disparate sonic influences, his wide-ranging journeys through philosophy, and his own reflections on his role as an artist.

Like different thoughts and feelings emerging in a state of meditation, Hemphill invites you to pause on one ‘scene’ for a moment before moving onto the next. There’s space to get lost here – both emotionally and in the colour of the album’s wide-ranging textures.

With his wife Angelika Kaswalder on vocals throughout the album and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Henderson – a longtime friend of Hemphill’s since Henderson’s time in the post- hardcore band The Blood Brothers - adding woodwind, Nonpareils is no longer simply a solo project – and it’s apparent in this openness.

The name of the album – Rhetoric & Terror – describes this split that Hemphill is making from the conceptual nature of his first solo album (2018’s Scented Pictures), and the new direction that he – perhaps – hopes to continue taking. The title comes from a chapter in Giorgio Agamben’s book, “The Man Without Content”, where he describes the concepts of rhetoric and terror to describe two different types of writers: the rhetorician and the terrorist. The terrorist is a misologist who is only into the feeling; the rhetorician is committed to logic and form.

“With Rhetoric & Terror, I wanted to start with emotions and feeling. I was playing with my kids, listening to Cocteau Twins, I have a wonderful partner, and it seemed very contrary to any sort of growth to sequester myself from this life in order to get into character as a musician. Instead, I tried to remove the boundaries between my creative life and my. responsibilities and have it all be one fluid thing. All things at all times, and trust that this will guide my music rather than more intellectual concepts or limitations.”

Despite its catalysts being in philosophy and conceptual art, Hemphill has created an album that’s deeply “emotionally available”. It’s also helped him take a new stance on life that combines his life as a partner and parent in a kind of unity with his role as the artist. It’s plain to hear as a listener – Rhetoric & Terror, despite its intimidating name, is welcoming
and playful, even during its most intense moments.

Aboriginal Australian blues, country, and gospel by the great Kankawa Nagarra, Queen of the Bandaral Ngadu Delta. These intimate recordings introduce the world outside Australia to Kankawa Nagarra, a beloved Walmatjarri Elder, teacher, human rights advocate, and environmental activist. Born in the traditional lands of the Gooniyandi and Walmatjarri peoples of North Western Australia, Kankawa grew up with the tribal songs at cultural ceremonies. When she was taken from her family to the mission, she was taught hymns and Gospel songs with the choir. On the pastoral lease where she was sent to work, Country music was everywhere. She first heard rock and roll on the station gramophone. But it wasn't until many years later her musical journey truly began, when she stopped to listen to a busker outside a shop in Derby, Western Australia. It was the first time she'd heard the blues, and it awakened something in her. Through it, she found a medium to express all her thoughts and feelings, and it inspired her to turn these into songs. The empathy of her message extends from those she sees struggling around her to the entire planet being ravaged for profit. These twelve tracks, recorded live near her home of Wangkatjungka, WA, offer a cross-section of Kankawa's entire musical experience - shifting gracefully between musical styles, languages, and moods, backed by the buzz of night bugs and call of daytime birds. In turns humorous, warm, and real about the hardships of life and the pillage of the land she holds dear, the record is the closest thing you can get to spending time with the great Kankawa herself. We are extremely grateful to release this record alongside Flippin Yeah Records and in collaboration with Kankawa Nagarra. High-quality vinyl comes with a four-page booklet featuring translations, stories, and track notes by the artist.

Aboriginal Australian blues, country, and gospel by the great Kankawa Nagarra, Queen of the Bandaral Ngadu Delta. These intimate recordings introduce the world outside Australia to Kankawa Nagarra, a beloved Walmatjarri Elder, teacher, human rights advocate, and environmental activist. Born in the traditional lands of the Gooniyandi and Walmatjarri peoples of North Western Australia, Kankawa grew up with the tribal songs at cultural ceremonies. When she was taken from her family to the mission, she was taught hymns and Gospel songs with the choir. On the pastoral lease where she was sent to work, Country music was everywhere. She first heard rock and roll on the station gramophone. But it wasn't until many years later her musical journey truly began, when she stopped to listen to a busker outside a shop in Derby, Western Australia. It was the first time she'd heard the blues, and it awakened something in her. Through it, she found a medium to express all her thoughts and feelings, and it inspired her to turn these into songs. The empathy of her message extends from those she sees struggling around her to the entire planet being ravaged for profit. These twelve tracks, recorded live near her home of Wangkatjungka, WA, offer a cross-section of Kankawa's entire musical experience - shifting gracefully between musical styles, languages, and moods, backed by the buzz of night bugs and call of daytime birds. In turns humorous, warm, and real about the hardships of life and the pillage of the land she holds dear, the record is the closest thing you can get to spending time with the great Kankawa herself. We are extremely grateful to release this record alongside Flippin Yeah Records and in collaboration with Kankawa Nagarra. High-quality vinyl comes with a four-page booklet featuring translations, stories, and track notes by the artist.

Cheersquad Records and Tapes are exhilarated to announce the forthcoming new album by Oz-punk tearaways the Hard-Ons, “I Like You A Lot Getting Older” I Like You A Lot Getting Older will be the third album by the band's current line-up of Blackie, Murray, Ray and Tim, and follows 2021's Australian top 5 debuting I'm Sorry Sir, That Riff's Been Taken and last year's the Australian Top 30 debuting Ripper '23. An exclusive limited edition green vinyl pressing (250 only, with different colour on the cover) will be available via the album's UK distributor Forte. The new album's release will precede the band's recently announced 40th Anniversary Australian tour (and coincide with their 40th Anniversary European tour), and the premiere of the feature length documentary on the band, The Most Australia Band Ever. Today's announcement follows the release of the new single and video "Buzz Buzz Buzz". It's the first single from the Punchbowl band's forthcoming long-player, their third album since co-opting You Am I's Tim Rogers in 2021. Guitarist Peter 'Blackie' Black describes the song as "Our best collaboration so far. When Tim said 'I wanna get a little left of centre with the melody on this,' I was BLOWN away (but not surprised :-))" The video was shot live last month as Hard-Ons opened for Radio Birdman by Jonathan J Sequeira, director of the Birdman documentary Descent Into The Maelstrom.

Nigerian electronic musician and violist Ibukun Sunday debuts on Phantom Limb with Harmony / Balance, a brooding, introspective take on Afro-ambient music that follows two acclaimed digital-only albums for Phantom Limb imprint Spirituals.


Based in Lagos, Ibukun Sunday has expertly positioned himself between the rarely-married cultures of ambient and West African musics. He entwines his compositions with field recordings from his native Nigeria and deeply considered philosophies of existence, humanity, and society. The themes of Harmony / Balance derive from Swami and Hare Krishna founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta and his work Bhagavad-Gita Eng: “As It Is”, a script on the duality of human nature. In Bhaktivedanta’s text, two cousins - warriors from the sacred Hindu text the Mahābhārata - and their armies are pitted against each other. The humility, self control, and devotion of one cousin against the arrogance, envy, and pursuit of power of the other. Bhaktivedanta writes that from this battle we see the necessity to cultivate and nurture our love and faith, but to simultaneously understand our selfishness and hubris. Appropriately, in Ibukun Sunday’s music, a heavy, apocalyptic dread contrasts fascinatingly with passages of light. The static-spiked, corrosive sound design of Harmony / Balance conjures darkness, but its skipping rhythmic patterns and melodic contours are made of beautifully vibrant colours.



Though Sunday excels in the kind of drawn-out elegance also found in the work of Kali Malone, William Basinski or Fennesz, and also in a magisterial repetition akin to Terry Riley or Manuel Göttsching, his unique practice, classical training, and core culture shine through in a pure and singular way. Scattered throughout Harmony / Balance are unexpected melodic antiphonies closely aligned with African music, interspersed between huge, spacious drones and field recordings.



Lead track “Arrayed On The Battlefield” evokes mythical and deific wars with hissing, buzzing synthesis that could be dystopian if not for a levitational, sunlit harmonic structure. It rolls and shimmers, transcendent frequencies alive with rhythm. Later, “Enemy Of My Enemy” employs shimmering, meditative chord pads and blissful negative space, while towards the end of the record, “To Fight With” could have been taken from a Denis Villeneuve sci-fi - the fizzing, fiery distortion at its peak gradually, carefully yields a rumbling, distant thunder as it closes. Throughout the record, Sunday’s education as a classical viola player is also evident. A honed musicality and developed ear for harmonic resonances lend the work a measured eloquence, even amidst deep, spiritual intuitiveness. This intensely personal and powerfully expressive creativity is key to the grace with which he crosses divides.


Ibukun Sunday is a solo electronic musician and violist based in Lagos, Nigeria. He has released two albums with Phantom Limb’s digital-only imprint Spirituals, which enjoyed rightful acclaim as unique and powerful works of experimental ambient music. He also performed at Phantom Limb’s 5th anniversary celebrations in 2023, playing alongside Richard Skelton at St. John’s on Bethnal Green in London, UK.

Limited Edition of 1000 Opaque Pink 180 Gram Vinyl LP. Kiss Each Other Clean, Iron & Wine's fourth full length record was originally released in 2011 and came three years after his biggest selling record up to that point, The Shepherd's Dog. The bands two earlier albums had been sparse, intimate solo affairs that offered no hint of the direction he would take with records three and four. Like The Shepherd's Dog, Kiss Each Other Clean is layered with textures, poly-rhythmic sounds and a more is more approach. His lyrics sprung to life in ways initially unimaginable to early fans and critics helping each song tell its story and build to climaxes thru various sounds and editing techniques. However what remained at the core of KEOC, and what fans of the band had come to love, was the song writing and singing of principle songwriter Sam Beam. Beam's ability to invite you in with his hushed singing tone and knack for a melody remained front and center even in his drive to replicate something in the vein of Waits' Swordfishtormbones Principle recording for KEOC was at home in Dripping Springs, Texas where Beam resided at the time. After laying down the bulk of the record Beam moved recording to Chicago to work with Brian Deck. A cast of musicians helped Beam find his sound and see his vision for KEOC including Joe Adamik (Califone), Jim Becker (Califone), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Stuart Bogie (Antibalas), Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio), Benny Massarella (Red Red Meat/Califone), Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo) and Matt Lux (Isotope 217). With KEOC Beam and company brought in soft rock smoothness, dub reggae textures, and instruments that hadn't been featured on previous records. The vintage synths on 'Monkeys Uptown', the Stevie Wonder funk on 'Big Burned Hand,', the strum and drang of 'Walking Far From Home' all give the otherwise very organic-sounding arrangements a welcome cheesy kick. The record also produced the biggest radio single of the bands career with the vintage AM friendly vibes of 'Tree by the River.' It was an adventurous period in the career in Iron & Wine and one in which Beam was defying categorization.

Île Flottante is Mr. Beatnick´s 5th album, following 2023’s Joy In Variation (including the notorious cover of Love on a Real Train) and his well-received off-beat collaboration with London-based avant-garde agitator Richard Greenan – Coasty – this is his first contribution to the International Feel trademark. Probably best known for some big deep house revivalist tunes circa 2013 on the now dormant Don’t Be Afraid record label, Beatnick now converts that aural quality and dimensionality into the Balearic system.
Île Flottante takes its name from the tastiest French pudding of Mr. Beatnick’s childhood holidays. The name, also a jeux de mots - floating island - hinting at the album’s inspirations and sense of identity, as a danceable soundtrack to a fictional island. Explored with high intensity and over a yearlong process, the sounds of the well-worn, but never failing Balearic universes were a mind expanding influence. Think of genre staples like Software, Manuel Goettsching, Mark Barrott, Len Leise, Don Carlos, Gaussian Curve, Joan Bibiloni or Yasuaki Shimuzu.
„I spent a year listening to a lot of synthesized island music, and marveling at the many twinkling wonders of the Balearic musical universe. Struck by a sense of belonging that had often eluded me on my musical journey thus far, as the weirdo at the back of the club who had orbited many scenes for 20 years, but never felt like I fitted in, I found music that made me feel like I had come home. The songs that came out of this process are presented in the order that they were written - an open book of ocean hymns, honest and spoken from the heart.“
Île Flottante tries its very hardest to avoid being any one thing in particular. At one point, it is a gentle beach walk accompanied by polyrhythmic drum plod and flourishes of Guzheng. At another, the infamous James Yancey septuplet swing is repurposed against a marimba melody that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Link’s forest adventures.
Elsewhere, there are the bellows of distant whales, touches of Italian dream house and a splash of vintage madchester, all working to create a space that feels both familiar and loaded with well worn tropes, but with its own quirky sense of personality, facets which are often attributed to Mr. Beatnick’s holistic b-boy approach. This is his understanding of a Balearic (b-boy) stance. Just with a float instead of a freeze.

Limited Gatefold LP version on 180g transparent vinyl, with 4-page lyrics booklet (777x) Tusmorke, arguably the most atavistically trollish, acid-drenched musical act ever to come out of the kingdom of Norway makes yet another eternal return, this time to take the fellow traveller on a subterranean expedition to the kingdom of the Fair Folk! Dawn of Oberon is the band's 12th album, released 12 years after their debut "Underjordisk Tusmorke" (2012). 12-12-12 - That makes this album twice as occult as 666. The band says: "This record is a testament of a tumultuous time. We had a new drummer, Kusken, and keyboard player, Herjekongen, in 2022 and immediately started working on the epic Dawn of Oberon. This behemoth had been wallowing about since the start of the millenium, never quite finding its shape and form. We thought of this as a trial by fire to galvanize the new members. During jams at rehearsals and concerts, new themes emerged, resulting in a sort of sequel in the form of Dusk of Tawblerawn part 1-5. Kusken decided to quit after just 8 months but agreed to document the time we had spent together. All the music was recorded in our rehearsal space and studio in 2022-2023. The record is a manifestation of our Peter Pan syndrome; our aesthetics and ideals remain unchanged for the last 25 years. Never grow up, just grow old. This time we go away with the fairies all together, to the far-away land of the far-out mind.

Swiss intergalactic 3 piece experimentalists lean on a Dadaist theme for their late-night, jam-inspired, and smokey beat laden trip to the cosmos.

Distilling surf rock, jazz and ambience, energised and patched together with spoken word samples, wind instruments and, blunted hip hop beats, ali dada’s album SUM is their invitation to dadaversum’ - their eccentric universe of sound and emotion.

Featuring Orlando Ludens (guitar & ambient soundscapes), Rulla (beats & field recordings) and Max Licht (brass & trombone), experimentation is the trio’s constant and SUM is the result of jams and associative distillation’ always with a fluid sense of genre.

Whilst SUM clearly takes new and furtive steps, ali dada’s sound is wholly their own. Nothing feels rigid here and rules don’t apply. Improvisation lingers in the air, even after the last note fades. A series of sound sketches, dense in detail, stylistically rich, SUM gives licence to couch-melt, sungaze or for those used to wintry climes, add another log on the fire.

“The songs often emerge from imperfect elements or mistakes, like from a loop or glitch. or something I played that wasn’t quite clean and building on that becomes the challenge ” recalls Orlando. Rulla adds “I play a lot of instruments, very, very badly and in music production, I’m trained to craft something awesome out of wonky sounds. That’s how songs emerge from unusual sounds”.

As for who played the double bass, no one remembers. Who belongs to the band and who doesn’t is open to interpretation. Though a core group exists the spotlight remains on experimentation through jam sessions. ali dada is a construct, a dadaverse.

Highlights include the album’s opener 'abolish the police', a mix of guitars, weirded-out wind instruments and Häuserfrau’s ever chilled vocal presence. 'tone print' is the band’s first single from the album, which combines sliding guitar, the infamous psychedelic Tim as a narrator, some early CPU game sound-splats and a meteoric dope beat, providing the head nodding groove. 'ohnedi'’s ambient charm features some gorgeous manipulated choir moments and some fidgety electronic synths.

"Here is what 2014 felt like: The cold, rushed walk from the Montrose Avenue L to the downstairs entrance of 20 Meadow Street, an address you could never quite remember. The careful steep climb to the top of the nondescript building, where Titus Andronicus’s Patrick Stickles was waiting to take your balled-up cash and stamp the inside of your wrist. Standing beneath that jagged cardboard punk bunting, draped with tangled twinkle lights, while Joe Galarraga, frontman of Big Ups, slowly, menacingly, wound a microphone cable around his fist. Then a barbed F-sharp sprang forward from Amar Lal’s guitar, shaking the entirety of Shea Stadium to life.

For much of that time period, ten years now behind us, it would be easy to say, man, you just had to be there. You had to be there when Death By Audio closed. You had to be there when the Apple store opened on Bedford Ave. If you weren’t there when a small, specific subculture of New York City took over its abandoned lofts and grimy basements and squatted itself into community, that’s okay — it might be too clunky and myopic to explain now. Released in January 2014 to Dead Labour in the US and Tough Love Records in the UK, Eighteen Hours of Static stands even now as a triumphant representation of what Big Ups did so well over the course of their nine-year run as a band. Now, with the re-release of Big Ups’ killer debut full-length, those who didn’t get to experience all this the first time around will get a shot at living as if it’s the glory days again."

Tanukichan, the musical project of Oakland, CA’s Hannah van Loon, has been a prominent figure in modern shoegaze music since 2016, when she first collaborated with Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi. Together, they released an EP and two full-length albums under Bear's Company Records, culminating in 2023's GIZMO. With her new EP Circles, out September 20th, 2024, via Carpark Records, van Loon ventures into new territory by teaming up with a new producer for the first time – Franco Reid.

The genesis of their partnership dates back to the GIZMO campaign, when Reid noticed van Loon wearing an Incubus shirt in a press photo on Instagram. Intrigued by whether or not van Loon was a genuine fan, he sent her a DM. Their shared musical interest sparked a dialogue that eventually led to the creation of the single "NPC" in 2023.

Lead single “City Bus,” offers a reflection on van Loon's childhood bus rides in San Francisco, evoking the stop-and-go rhythm of commuter life through hard-hitting drums and heavy guitar feedback phasing in and out of the mix. Themes of self-reflection and societal belonging permeate the track, echoing van Loon's ongoing personal journey.

While much of Circles delves into internal struggles, “It Gets Easier” takes on a more celebratory tone as van Loon realizes she’s developed a heightened sense of maturity when dealing with hardship. “It feels easier to let go of situations or people that don’t serve me,” reflects van Loon, “Or if they can’t be avoided, at least I don’t have to dwell on the sadness or discomfort I feel when letting someone down.” Introduced by Reid, nu-gaze sensation Wisp, contributes a verse in her similarly ethereal vocal style.

There is a notable shift on Circles when you consider the first three Tanukichan releases were produced by a pioneer of the chillwave genre. With van Loon’s consistently dreamy songwriting and Reid at the helm, Tanukichan enters new sonic territory that feels larger, arena-ready, and more like a highspeed night drive than the hazy summer dream of its predecessors.

2024 Repress

Pitch Black’s “Electronomicon”, a landmark album in New Zealand’s electronica scene, finally gets pressed on vinyl.First released in 2000, “Electronomicon” shows Pitch Black developing their deep dubby sound further by creating long and involved song structures that traverse a range of sonic experiences. The resultant album journeys from organic ambience and layered soundscapes to skanking keyboards, cutting acid riffs and thumping rhythmic grooves, with dub being the glue that holds it all together.

“Electronomicon” reached 28 in the New Zealand album charts and led to a sell-out 30-date tour of New Zealand and Australia. It has since gone on to become one of the duo’s most popular albums, regularly finding new fans around the world.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release, the band dug out the original audio files and Angus McNaughton has remastered them for this vinyl release. Hamish Macaulay has also adapted the original artwork, creating a brand new collage for the centerfold out of pictures taken at the time.

Blending death growls with ethereal soundscapes and elements of progressive rock, Crimson Veil have been stunning audiences with their unique take on metal. The group of multi-instrumentalists emerge as a new project from their previous band, Birdeatsbaby, who worked with the likes of Paul Reeve (Muse fame) and John Fryer (Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails…). Their music was featured in ‘Close to Me’ (Channel 4 thriller starring Connie Nielson and Christopher Eccleston) and was reviewed by magazines such as Orkus and Prog. Stepping further into the heavy world of alternative metal, these accomplished musicians now embark upon a new chapter with a suitably esoteric name, Crimson Veil. Their debut album promises to engulf the senses with a dark visual aesthetic and a musical style that will challenge your preconceptions of metal. Lead singer, Mishkin Fitzgerald, having had most of her musical training at church, was strongly influenced by hymns, classical music and later on, all things rock and metal. Mishkin met guitarist and bassist, Garry Mitchell, when the two were studying music at University in Brighton. A thriving musical partnership was formed, with a mutual love for dark and progressive music. Later joined by infamous Hana Piranha on violin, cello and harp and renowned drummer Anna Mylee, the band have forged a musical path that’s a unique combination of their past and current passions. For their world debut, the four-piece from the UK joined Lordi as part of their Unliving Pictour Show. Dressed as deities of light and darkness, the band transform the stage into a sinister scene of flowers, thorns and animal skulls. Described as “ritualistic, even shamanic” their live performances are a blend of fragile beauty and fierce energy that pulls the audience into an unearthly world of their design, the world of Crimson Veil.

'Good Time' is the debut album from Austin, TX noise-pop band DAIISTAR, due out September 8th via Fuzz Club. Creating a narcotic blend of noise and melody, the band takes their inspiration from the neo-psychedelic era of the 80s and 90s and pull it into the future with modulating synthesisers, heavy guitars, bouncing bass lines, and spiralling hooks. 'Good Time' was produced by The Black Angels' Alex Maas and engineered by James Petralli of White Denim. Made up of Alex Capistran (guitar/vocals), Nick Cornetti (drums), Misti Hamrick (bass) and Derek Strahan (keys), DAIISTAR formed in the spring of 2020, just weeks before the pandemic started. "To us, these songs were a glimmer of light", Capistran says: "Starting a band at the peak of the pandemic to some might seem ill-timed, but to us it was a way to escape for a moment. There was something to look forward to and we kept our heads in the future. These songs guided us through some dark times and hopefully they can do the same for you. GOOD TIME is here." Pressing info for LP: 180g neon orange vinyl, printed inner-sleeve, download card included

Let Me Comfort You: The Hush Rarities collects the bonus tracks from High Moon Records’ critically lauded CD Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings. Appearing on vinyl for the first time, these 11 alternate takes, demos and previously unissued songs hail from the sessions for Laurie Styvers’ two unjustifiably obscure LPs Spilt Milk and The Colorado Kid, recorded in early 1970s London, and recently tagged by Pitchfork as “a sharp and idiosyncratic snapshot of how it feels to try growing up.” Akin to a “lost” third album, this remarkably well-rounded package is a further showcase for the honey-voiced intimacy of this youthful Texas singer-songwriter, with a program of lovelorn gems doused in splendid orchestration. RIYL Carole King, Judee Sill, Weyes Blood. Packaged with a four page lyric insert.

For the past 20 years, NO FORMAT! has been cultivating the idea of an artisanal and homemade label, supporting artists who stand out with unexpected projects. Its motto, "You never know in advance what you"ll fall in love with", has guided its direction from the outset. Its high standards on the quality of the sound has become its trademark, while one of the mainstays of its work is the development of collaborations between artists from diverse backgrounds. For its 20th anniversary, a new guard of electronically-inspired artists takes over the NO FORMAT catalog for an original remix album, specially created for the occasion. 10 iconic tracks from the label are reimagined by 10 young, talented, emerging and/or established producers, carefully chosen on each track. While Pan-African trio Toto Bona Lokua"s music is reworked by British-Ghanaian afro-bass pioneer Hagan, South African vocal duo Msaki x Tubatsi is reimagined through a remix by amapiano heavy-weight Vigro Deep. Blick Bassy"s delicate Cameroon folk turns into an afro-club anthem produced by Moonshine collective leading figure Vanyfox ; Haitian-American neo-jazz artist Melanie Charles electrifies "Kouzen" by Haitian Canadian singer-songwriter Mélissa Laveaux ; renowned sound artist Sofie Birch transforms Koki Nakano"s delicate piano into an ambient soundscape. Japanese house pioneer Shinichiro Yokota gives a new spin on electro-jazz collective Asynchrone, which was inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto"s work. "NO FORMAT! Remixed (2004-2024)" is both a celebration of 20 years of music and creation, bringing this beautiful and curated catalog into a vibrant and festive compilation, and a step towards the label"s next 20 years.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album 'Viva Tu', a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances.
The lead song 'Viva Tu', a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, 'São Paulo Motoboy', is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day.
The album, to be released September 20th, also features some memorable collaborations, including 'Heaven's Bad Day' with country legend Willie Nelson and 'Tu Te Vas' with rising French rapper Laeti.

Jaz Karis is getting ready to take off. The South London singer and songwriter has been making waves with her silky voice and lyrical, candid pen since her first EP back in 2017, building herself up steadily over the years. 2024 will see the long-awaited arrival of Jaz Karis' debut album, Safe Flight, . It's a record that spans a breadth of sonics: slinky Afrobeats, gleaming R&B, warm gospel, shimmering flecks of pop, hiphop, jazz and amapiano, all woven through with the glowing thread of Jaz's signature soulful feeling. "Soul to me is a feeling," she explains, "All I want to do with my music is evoke feelings."

The imagery for this album all pertains to identity and travel - IDs, lanyards, nostalgia-tinged film footage - and in turn, it all alludes to the path that Jaz Karis is on. Safe Flight finds an accomplished, assured artist reflecting on where she's been and ready to step up to the next level: a star on the rise but still deeply down to earth. At once soulful, vibey and poignant, this is an album about embracing possibility, admitting mistakes, and trusting the process. "It's about getting free," Jaz says with a smile, "And it's not that I have it all figured out now or anything, but I'm on this learning curve. There's something exciting about being on the journey."

"A Music from the Netflix Film THE DIRT A 14 Classics + 4 New Songs recorded for the Soundtrack A Including “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” Featuring Machine Gun Kelly

2LP Gatefold Jacket on Black Vinyl"

In celebration of Mule Variations" and ANTI- Records" 25th Anniversary, the GRAMMY Award winning album is being re-issued on 180g Silver vinyl. The 1999 release of his thirteenth studio album Mule Variations offers the most complete picture of his artistry while also marking the beginning of the indie label ANTI- Records. On this album, edgy stomps, humor and experimentation are interspersed with some of the most beautiful and personal songs he"s ever written.

Individually, JD Simo and Luther Dickinson are building their own legacies as solo artists, sidemen, songwriters, and guitar heroes. Together, they're a creative force to be reckoned with, making their own version of amplified American roots music. On the pair's first collaborative album, Do The Rump!, the musicians trade blistering guitar solos, take turns at the microphone, and turn their classic influences -- including hill country blues, spirituals, swamp rock, and Afrobeat -- into something contemporary, reinterpreting a number of their old-school favorites into eclectic, electrifying anthems. The partnership began onstage, where Simo and Dickinson first shared the spotlight as touring members of Phil Lesh and Friends. Dickinson had already established himself as co-founder of the Grammy-winning duo North Mississippi Allstars, as well as a celebrated guitarist for acts like Black Crowes and John Hiatt. Similarly, JD Simo had built an audience not only with his solo project, but also as a session musician for Jack White, Beyonce, Chris Isaak, and Baz Luhrmann's Elvis movie.

Black, Gold & Green was the first of three albums Ken Boothe would record together with producer Lloyd Charmers and takes his Memphis-via-Kingston aesthetic to the next level. Some of the best soul singing of his career can be heard here on numbers such as ""Out of Love,"" ""Missing You,"" and the gritty ballad ""Second Chance."" His singing as being in the same kind of soul groove as the late and great Otis Redding. Ken’s tradition, though, is based in the powerful religious messages reflected in the native Jamaican religion. Black, Gold & Green includes some serious social-political material, and these heavy tones permeate every note of this album. It also includes his great cover version of Bill Withers' ""Ain't No Sunshine."" Black, Gold & Green is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

"There was a bird Matthew Ehler had seen in his backyard before, but he’d never really stopped to look at it.

A red-headed woodpecker, a strange-looking bird. After years of more self-destructive escapes from everyone’s respective demons and traumas, Ehler started to embrace the stillness of birdwatching. “It was something to occupy my mind,” he explains. His new hobby wouldn’t just lend Cliffdiver’s sophomore album its title, but signal a spiritual overhaul rippling through the band.

The origins of Cliffdiver go all the way back to 2017. By 2021, the line-up had settled into Ehler on guitar, Joey Duffy and Briana Wright on vocals, Gilbert Erickson on guitar, Tyler Rogers on bass, Eliot Cooper on drums, and Dony Nickels on sax. All of them veterans of Tulsa’s vibrant and interconnected music scene, they kicked up steam fast — over a host of EPs, singles, and their debut album, Exercise Your Demons , they went from DIY shows to selling out Tulsa’s famed Cain’s Ballroom.

Still, Birdwatching feels like the work of a whole different band: an album specifically grappling with abandoning cyclical behaviors and addictions that no longer serve you. It’s pop-punk maturing into grown-ass adult travails. Birdwatching is a very real take on life: Things get better, but they also get worse again, and better again, and worse again, and nobody will ever have it all figured out. In each snapshot, Cliffdiver offers a companion for those ups and downs.

Produced by Brett Romnes (Hot Mulligan, Mom Jeans, Dogleg)

“Cliffdiver is a set of splayed ribs, a whole lot of heart, and someone you can turn to when the lights refuse to turn on” —NPR Music"

Cher's FOREVER mit 21 neu gemasterten Songs ihrer großen Hits wie „Believe“, „If I Could Turn Back Time“, „The Shoop Shoop Song“, „Strong Enough“ die von Cher persönlich kuratiert wurden.

Caruso return to Ten Lovers Music with guest vocalists CJ and Chrissi Roper on this 7” single.
On the A side we have Thank You featuring CJ over some tough Broken Beats. One for the dancefloor for sure. Onto the AA side and Breathe For Me features Chrissi Roper on vocals. The vocals were totally improvised and recorded in one take giving it that live feel.
Both tracks were produced, mixed and arranged by Steve Conry and Stefano De Santis in the Summer this year and definitley have that timeless vibe.

This LP is a compilation of songs from five different digital-only demo collections I released on Bandcamp between 2021 and 2023. I relied on the ears and judgment of my old friend Dom at Feral Child to curate this comp, allowing him to choose his favorites from over 60 songs. While I might have chosen an entirely different batch of tunes, I was happy to defer to Dom, as I’ve never had much perspective when it comes to assessing my own material. All of the songs on this album were recorded at home, mostly on the same day they were written. Most of them are first takes, intended to provide a template for a theoretical band to follow if and when the songs were to be re-recorded “properly” at a later date. A few have since been re-recorded for studio records, and a few others remain in contention for future studio records.

Night Prayer is the 2018 studio album by Belgian Flemish artist Jasper Steverlinck, who is also known as the guitarist of rock band Arid. After releasing his debut solo album Songs Of Innocence in 2004, Steverlinck got where he needed to be with Night Prayer. At the essence. No sumptuously packed arrangements. No technological gadgets or needless fuss. Not a single fashionable beat left or right. On Night Prayer, it’s all about songwriting in its purest form. No poetic metaphors, but straightforward lyrics and unapologetic emotions.

Together with producer Jean Blaute he recorded 14 stripped down songs, which he all sang in one take.

Night Prayer is available as a limited edition of 500 numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics

Defined by a riveting array of Caribbean rhythms, Etienne Charles's first album featuring his big band arrangements is a personal triumph, but Creole Orchestra is also part of a much larger Story. Drawing on material from several different commissions and projects, the album encompasses the key players from Charles's band Creole Soul and features special guest vocalists Rene Marie and Brandon Rose, plus DJ Logic (turntables).

MENSCHENFRESSER" heißt das aktuelle Album von RAWSIDE, mit dem die Band es sogar auf die #81 in den deutschen Albumcharts geschafft hat. Deshalb muss nun auch eine Nachpressung sein. Ink Spot Vinyl bedeuted knallroter Kern und außenrum schwarz-rot gemischt. Fünf Jahre nach dem wahrscheinlich persönlichsten Album "Your Life Gets Crushed" gibt es neue Songs der Hardcore-Punks aus Coburg. Songs, die wieder politischer, wütender und angriffslustiger sind. Menschefresser meint hier emotionalen Kannibalismus, psychischer Druck, der ausgeübt wird, wie Menschen sich verhalten, Ellbogen auspacken wenn sie nur versuchen, sich ihren eigenen Vorteil zu verschaffen. Oder Menschen, die denken, sie wären der Mittelpunkt der Welt. RAWSIDE werden nicht müde, den Finger in die Wunde zu legen und sich mit korrupten Wirtschaftsbossen, selbsternannten Verschwörungstheoretikern, rechten Politikern oder stumpfen Wutbürgern anzulegen. Die 13 neuen Songs von RAWSIDE sind eine volle Breitseite, musikalisch kommt es laut und fordernd zwischen Hardcore, Metal und Punk daher. Die Wucht der Songs hat seit dem letzten Album ein neues Level erreicht. Das liegt vielleicht auch an der Frischzellenkur in der Besetzung. Sänger/Shouter Henne ist das einzig verbliebene Gründungsmitglied nach mehr als 30 Jahren Bandgeschichte. Seit Sohn Justin am Schlagzeug ist gerade mal 23 Jahre alt. "RAWSIDE ist zum Glück keine One-Man-Show", sagt Henne. "Das waren wir nie und wollen wir auch nicht sein. 2024 hat die Band beim LOIKAEMIE-Label Fettfleck angeheuert. "Für uns war es ein Schritt in Richtung Selbstverantwortung", erklärt Henne. Bei Fettfleck sind wir in alle Prozesse eingebunden. Und das ist doch die Idee, die hinter dem ganzen Punk- und Hardcore- Gedanken steckt. So bleiben RAWSIDE auch nach über 30 Jahren Bandgeschichte ein Grundpfeiler der deutschen HC/Punkszene. "Menschenfresser" ist ein Biest von einem Album, dass die Vorfreude auf die Open Air-Saison nochmal steigert. Wir lassen schon mal das Dosenbier zischen. - Wolfram Hanke (Ox, Zündfunk, Der kosmische Penis)

Merkwürdig is thrilled to present you our second VA EP, featuring a lineup of talented artists who are pushing the boundaries of electronic music. Nate.SU, Bodj, OBG Felix Bergleiter & Thomas Grün and Fabiano José come together to deliver a diverse and captivating collection of tracks.

First up, Nate.SU takes us on a cosmic adventure with „Neutrino". This mesmerizing track combines atmospheric textures with pulsating beats, creating a sense of weightlessness and exploration.

Next, Bodj invites us to explore „Inside Reflux" with his intricate production. The track blends deep grooves with obscure melodies, creating a hypnotic and immersive experience.

OBG takes us on an travel „with the wave" with their atmospheric composition. Ethereal pads and mesmerizing rhythms.

Closing the EP, Fabiano Jose brings the vibes with "Discotale". This infectious track is filled with funky basslines, and catchy vocal samples, guaranteed to get the dancefloor moving.

Merkwürdig MW 002 is a testament to the label's commitment to showcasing innovative and forward-thinking music. Stay tuned for this Vinyl-only release, as it promises to be a journey through diverse sonic landscapes.

Volume Two in the Electro Sampler Series of Nijmegen's finest Shipwrec. Another compelling electro V/A with tracks by Konerytmi and Ian Martin, amongst others. SES1 set out what quality electro means for Shipwrec. The first in the series brought together six musicians from far and wide, musicians who journey through the colder edge of their analogue instruments with a clear ear for the floor. SES2 starts where its predecessor left off. The genre bending Ian Martin opens with the frigid funk of "Metaphysical Travellers." Stripped back, the track is bare in terms of its elements. Despite such meagre ingredients, Martin concocts an engaging and rich work of darkened grooves and sinister undercurrents. o-0._.0-o is the playful pseudonym of acid freetekno enthusiast Owen. His contribution, "Acidrobotik", releases a free and wandering 303 lines that forges a bubbling path through crisp percussion. The flip brings an artist better known for his work in techno. Cliche Morph delves into the clinical side of his palette and emerges with the stunning "Placebo." Balancing alienated and arctic blasts with a thawing warmth, the outcome is pure classic electro. A rising star of machine music follows, Fleck E.S.C. A dirty bassline is further sullied by layers of gritty distortion and glitched vocals in this re-wired work of ghetto. A legend of electronics closes, Kirill Junolainen. Under his lauded Konerytmi moniker, this synthesiser shapeshifter delivers "Kuva Alkio." Stuttering bass and tight drums are the foundation from which sci-fi inspirations take hold, sailing strings tethered by a terse snare as SES2 is brought to a triumphal close.

With the perfect fusion of Animalia's wide realm of styles and foundations, comes up & coming Australian producer al dente, with a minimal, modern take on peak-time bangers. Clean cut and futuristic, with a hint of early 2000's minimal influence, the al dente sound represents a fresh new wave of club-rollers whilst encompassing Animalia's signature deep sound.

The Lost third album from Venice, CA skate-thrash/punk crossover heroes.
Out of print since 1995. Guest vocals from HR of Bad Brains.

New artwork from cult Japanese artist USUGROW. Remastered from the original tapes by Nick Townsend / Townsend Mastering.

Beloved Spanish indie rockers Hinds are back with their utterly triumphant fourth album, VIVA HINDS. Written by the band’s co-founders, co-vocalists, co-guitarists and co-songwriters Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, it features their first-ever fully Spanish language songs, as well as first collaborations with the likes of Beck and Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten. Recorded in rural France, the album was produced by Pete Robertson (Beabadoobee), engineered by the GRAMMY-nominated Tom Roach, and mixed by GRAMMY-winning engineer Caesar Edmunds (The Killers, Wet Leg).

Shortly after the band made their debut ten years ago, they hit what felt like an insurmountable obstacle – they had to change their name from Deers to Hinds for legal reasons. But, as their fans began to greet them at shows by cheering “¡VIVA HINDS!”, the band soon realized that what initially felt like an ending was actually just the beginning. Fast forward to 2023, and VIVA HINDS was written by Cosials and Perrote after a series of endings. They hit a creative rut after releasing their 2020 album The Prettiest Curse, and their bassist and drummer devastatingly decided to leave the band. They also split with their management team, lost touring revenue due to lockdowns, and were without a label for the first time. But when Perrote and Cosials got together to write again it became clear that their connection, one so special that they call themselves “millionaires in friendship,” would be all they needed to get them through. VIVA HINDS – the most accomplished, sonically adventurous, honest and celebratory record of Hinds’ career – is only the beginning.

PRESS/ONLINE: “The track, though signaling a new era for Hinds, arrives rapturous and catchy, as Perrote and Cosials trade verses and riffs. ...'Coffee' is a sweeping first chapter of where the duo aims to
“‘Coffee’ is a a gorgeous punk-indie cross contamination, instantly memorable, grungy” - Wonderland


“They bring the energy of a thousand rock bands, entrancing the crowd with their searing indie riffs, the constant interlocking of guitars and smiles, and deeply charming banter” - Rolling Stone

“The Prettiest Curse is an evolution. It is striking, complex, uncompromising indie-pop. More than that, it makes a bold statement: it canonises Spanish indie-rock” – Loud and Quiet 9/10
“They’ve taken their sound and unashamedly experimented with it. They’re all the better for it” – NME 4/5

“The Spanish group’s second album displays the superior songcraft of the band, as vocalists Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials wade through love’s messy feelings with confidence and exuberance” - Pitchfork

ERIN Collective is an ensemble of musicians from the Bologna scene born in March 2022 from an idea/project by Gionata Lazzari
shared over time by Valentino Pirino, Filippo Cassani, Andrea Lazzari, Marcello Pala, Federico Magazzeni, Giuseppe Sardina and
Francesco Antico. Their repertoire, inspired by the Afrobeat of the 70s, is composed of original songs written by Pirino/Lazzari and
arranged together with the other members of the group. The style looks to Afrobeat and some of its artists such as Fela Kuti, and
Ebo Taylor, but also focuses on contemporaneity and other artists such as Antibalas, Budos Band, Tony Allen and other sounds from
other areas of Africa. “Alternative Positive”, anticipated by the singles “Kalam Layl” and “Alafia” is their first LP, which follows the
release of the Ep “Same Blood” in 2023 and which marks the meeting between the band and the label Irma Records. The album,
strongly influenced by Afrobeat sounds with funk nuances, contains 8 original songs written by Pirino / Lazzari and arranged together with the other members of the group, three of which are instrumental, 4 sung by the Nigerian artist Devon Miles and one by the
Moroccan artist Reda Zine. The songs on “Alternative Positive” all have a social value: for ERIN Collective, music takes a stand
against inequalities and tries to break down borders and barriers, calling on everyone to commit themselves to rights for peace for
resistance to racism and inequalities of all kinds. All this requires commitment and a choice. Music makes you dance, makes you
smile, raises your spirits, creates bonds. ÈRÍN means smile, laughter in Yoruba language and it is through this attitude that one can
meet the other and that one can defeat fears, borders, cultural differences, hatred and wars. The titles and the meaning of the lyrics
of this debut album recall this horizon.

Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called 'Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance. The tracks on 'Grush' are all road-tested live favorites developed with feedback from Mike's touring partner and visuals guy Mora (Jan Moravec). It's a detailed and energetic journey which replicates the flow of a live gig. A lot of the tracks have been made in hotel rooms in response to shows, 'Imperial Crescent' is named after a Japanese Hotel, as is 'Belvedere' in Prague, while some tracks such as 'Hyper Daddy' were created specifically to play live. Drums are confidently at the fore here and the album feels like it traces Mike's musical history and interests neatly around his sweetly nostalgic melodies, with atmospheres and structures which twist and turn with a charming softness which contrasts with the tension in the drums. Take 'Hyper Daddy's' spiralling notes and twinkling piano which remind one of early Black Dog or Omni Trio rushing alongside splashy jungle drums, or the aquatic acid footwork of the title track with its drums softly bubbling and kicking. Elsewhere there's territory which harks back to his Tusken Raiders pseudonym, like the heads down Drexciyan funk of 'Windsor Safari Park,' which transforms from moody electro into a sunny hardcore track midway. The album is interspersed with Reticulum A, B and C at the start middle and end of the album which suggest a theme which carries across the music in an effortless and joyful way. 'Grush' is a strong album that works both for listening and DJing and a great snapshot of where Mike Paradinas musical head is at in 2024.Tracklist Vinyl A: 1/Reticulum A 2/Hyper Daddy 3/Fogou B: 1/Magic Pony Ride (Pt.4) 2/Imperial Crescent 3/Reticulum B 4/Grush C: 1/Belvedere 2/Raver 3/Windsor Safari Park 4/Hastings D: 1/Manscape 2/Metaphonk 3/Reticulum C

A thrilling double-sider, a delight for DJs because of the funky dancefloor cuts that have never been available on a 45 before.
Two outstanding funky gems from Piper Pimienta and Columna de Fuego, among the most innovative Colombian artists of the ‘70s.

DESCRIPTION
Early Fruko collaborator and member of Discos Fuentes’ supergroup The Latin Brothers, Piper Pimienta was a renowned salsa singer and composer (and talented dancer!). Following his Fuentes period, he released several records on Venezuela’s Discomoda label. ‘Pensamiento’ is a killer Latin funk cut that was included on the 1979 album “La Fuente” by Piper Pimienta y su Orquesta and has never been available on a 45 before.

The flipside features one of the most innovative groups on the Colombian musical circuit in 1973: Columna de Fuego. They forged its sound by creatively and organically mixing elements of heavy rock with rhythms rooted in the music of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts and also funk and soul, keeping a fast pace from start to finish. ‘Iñot’ is an outstanding funky gem for the dancefloor taken from their only LP.

It’s 2024 and Egyptian-born artist of South Sudanese origin Sam Alfred has had a monstrous 12 months. A new year means stepping in a new zone with new tunes. This is Forward Step.

First is the title track “Forward Step (Journey Mix)”, an epic cow-bell-laden house hammer that blooms into a euphoric flower. Running with a 90’s club flavour, Sam lays airy synths over punchy piano and rave stabs while an all-powerful speech plays out, celebrating the idea that we’re all in control of writing our futures. There’s a bubbling over of excitement on this one as it builds and builds and builds!

Up next is “Care 4 U” – a crunchy drum club roller paired with fuzzy bass tones and a super hooky vocal loop. A section that’s been lodged in our brains from the moment we heard it. Toss in airy pads and a key melody that’s also impossible to forget and this track’s got you hook, line and sinker. In true Sam Alfred style, “Care 4 U” is yet more proof that this lad is a wizard at writing jacked-up club cuts, each full of fizz.

Third in line comes “Keep It” a relentless hypnotic piece of techno. Outer space synths drone while shuddering percussion rumbles beneath. It’s here where the EP takes a darker turn. The curtain closer and focus track for the EP drop is “Distance” – an acidic house track to seriously lock and load to. Characterised by sharp hi-hats and lively keys, as its name suggests this one goes and goes and goes.

Third physical release brings forward EL RITMO FATAL ! Where it all began for the boys…

Fantastic Man elaborates his intricate hypnotic feelings to deliver a mind bending dancefloor stomper. Baldo and his efficient touch take the track to the 303 peak time business and last but not least Matisa’s bright bubbly production pushes her emotional energy upfront.

Alice Taylor was a popular session singer who sang background vocals for several local Philly groups including The Delfonics during the height of the Philly Soul boom of the early to mid-1970’s.

In 1974 Alice under the auspice of producer Emanuel ‘Manny’ Campbell Jr and fellow Philadelphian musician/composer Charles R. Bowen entered the famed Sound Room Studios in Upper Dardy PA, to record a session of her own. This session yielded two songs. The more commercial pop soul orientated “(I’m In Love With A) Rock ‘n’ Roll Singin’ Superstar”. A song which took influences from other popular songs of the time that mentioned one’s love for Rock ‘n’ Roll singers and taking road trips to L.A (Los Angeles) in an attempt to cash in. Although the elongated song title may at first be a tad off-putting the recording showcases Alice’s vocal talents to the full and in itself is a very good record. The second song “Sounds Ridiculous” is based around the theme of a girl falling in love with a guy who spends most of his time daydreaming rather than getting a regular 9-5 job. An excellent record that should find favour with 70’s/crossover soul fans alike.



Manny Campbell Jr used some of Philadelphia’s finest musicians on Alice’s session, notably session drummer Earl Young, reputedly the first exponent of the hi-hat cymbal a style of drumming used extensively throughout the disco period. Young had honed his skills during the 1960’s with his band The Volcanos, recording sessions for the Arctic and Harthon Record Labels. The Volcanos later became The Moods before morphing into The Trammps who Young recorded on his Golden Fleece Label with the group recording several further disco hits for Buddah Records prior to their worldwide hit “Disco Inferno” for Atlantic Records. Young’s strumming can be found on many other Philadelphia International, Sal Soul and MFSB recordings. The string and horn arrangements on the session were provided by another MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother) pool of musician’s member, Don Renaldo.



“I’m In Love With A) Rock ’n’ Roll Superstar/Sounds Ridiculous” came out in November of 1975 as an initial pressing run of 500 copies for promotional use which sadly were not of the best quality with some background noise being present in the introduction on both sides of the single, a possible detrimental factor in the release gaining any significant airplay. It’s was the second and final release on Emandolynn Music’s short lived, Stage-Art label. The first release being another of Manny Campbell’s acts The Nu-Rons & Co “Disco Hustle/Can’t Do Enough Girl” (Stage-Art 1001). Sadly, Alice Taylor passed away sometime during the 1980’s. Soul Junction through its ongoing relationship with Emandolynn Music have taken the opportunity to license these now very sort after Alice Taylor songs, which have been remastered to remove the aforementioned sound problems present on the original release. Which are now presented to you as a 3 track EP which also includes a previously unissued alternative mix of “(I’m In Love With A) Rock ’n’ Roll Singin’ Superstar, a recent master tape discovery.

Legendary electro explorer Emile Facey aka Plant 43 is back on his Plant43 Recordings imprint. Despite being hugely prolific, the artist always managed to find fresh new creative ground with each new outing and Concrete Echo is no different. The title cut is a high-speed opener with shimmering lines, fizzing static electricity and drama in the chords that make you take note. 'Emerald Shift' is a broken beat kicker with raw claps and scintillating liquid metal leads while 'Raw Vectors' layers up acid wobbliness and textbook electro rhythms. 'Mist Memory' closes down with a melancholic vibe and heady synths that take you into the cosmos.