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Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem Records have teamed up once more to release the final volume of gay porn soundtracks by San Francisco-based musician and producer, Patrick Cowley. One of the most revolutionary and influential figures in the canon of disco, Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music, The San Francisco Sound.' Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco in 1971 to study at the City College of San Francisco. He founded the Electronic Music Lab at the school, where he would make experimental soundtracks by blending various types of music and adapting them to the synthesizer.

By the mid-70's, Patrick's synthesis techniques landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco superstar Sylvester, including hits like You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)', Dance Disco Heat' and Stars.' This helped Patrick obtain more work as a remixer and producer. His 18-minute long remix of Donna Summer's I Feel Love' and his production work with edgy New Wave band Indoor Life were both of particular note. By 1981, Patrick had released a string of dance 12 singles, like Menergy' and Megatron Man'. He also had founded Megatone Records, the label upon which he released his debut album, Menergy'. Around this time Patrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with an unknown illness: that which would later be called AIDS. Throughout 1982, he recorded two more Hi-NRG hits, Do You Wanna Funk' for Sylvester, and Right On Target' for Paul Parker, as well as a second solo album Mind Warp'. On November 12, 1982, he passed away.

In 1979 Patrick was contacted by John Coletti, owner of famed gay porn company Fox Studio in Los Angeles. Patrick jumped on this offer and sent reels of his college compositions from the 70s to John in LA. Coletti then used a variable speed oscillator to adjust the pitch and speed of Patrick's songs in-sync with the film scenes. The result was the VHS collections Muscle Up' and School Daze' released in 1979 and 1980. Afternooners' is the third collection of Cowley's instrumental songs, recorded in May 1982. These recordings were culled from two 23-minute reels in the Fox Studio vaults. All songs were originally untitled, so we've used the titles from Fox Studio's 8mm film loops. This compilation also includes three bonus tracks found in the archives of fellow Megatone Records recording artist Paul Parker and the attic of teenage friend Lily Bartels. Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos, and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick crafted a singular sound from his collection of synthesizers, percussion, modified guitars, and hand-built equipment. The listener enters a world of forbidden vices, evocative of Patrick's time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco. The songs on Afternooners' reflect the advances of the equipment available at the onset of the 1980s. Cowley's unadulterated electronic forms are stripped down and dubbed up. Lush electronic percussion, soaring synthesizer riffs and low slung funk grooves comingle on these magnificent soundscapes.

Featuring 70 minutes of music never before released on vinyl. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. The vinyl is housed in a gatefold jacket designed by Berlin-based artist Gwenael Rattke, featuring black and white photos of Patrick in his studio that opens to a full color array of x-rated scenes from the Fox Studio vaults. Included is a fold-out poster featuring a handmade collage using photography and xeroxed graphics of classic gay porn imagery and an essay from Drew Daniel of Matmos. For Patrick's 67th birthday, Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem Records present a glimpse into the futuristic world of a young genius. These recordings shed a new light on the experimental side of a disco legend who was taken too soon.

The collection spans the decade-plus career of this remarkable band, whose goth-tinged, theatrical punk-pop sound earned them legions of devoted fans. It features their most beloved songs, including the hits 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)', 'Helena' and 'The Ghost Of You' from 2004's 'Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge'; 'Welcome To The Black Parade', 'Famous Last Words' and 'Teenagers' from 2006's 'The Black Parade'; and 'Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)' and 'Sing' from 2010's 'Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys', plus many others.

It also includes a previously unreleased song, 'Fake Your Death', one of the last songs the band worked on in the studio together, three songs from the infamous 'Attic Demos', as well as a long-form DVD with two hours of never-before-seen outtakes from MCR's official music videos.

'The title is fitting, because as sad as it was to say goodbye to the band, we look at this collection as a celebration of our best songs, and hope the memory of them continues to bring joy to you all as they have for us,' said band members Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero and Ray Toro in a statement. 'We hope you take the journey with us into MCR's past, and enjoy the small taste of what might have been.'
Vinyl:
1. Fake Your Death 
2. Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us 
3. Vampires Will Never Hurt You
4. Helena 
5. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
6. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
7. The Ghost Of You 
8. Welcome To The Black Parade
9. Cancer 
10. Mama
11. Teenagers
12. Famous Last Words
13. Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
14. SING
15. Planetary (GO!)
16. The Kids From Yesterday
17. Skylines And Turnstiles (Demo)
18. Knives/Sorrow (Demo) 
19. Cubicles (Demo)
 
DVD:
20. I'm Not OK (I Promise) Version 1
21. I'm Not OK (I Promise) Version 2
22. Helena
23. The Ghost Of You
24. Welcome To The Black Parade
25. Famous Last Words
26. I Don't Love You
27. Teenagers
28, Blood (previously unreleased)
29. Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) and Art

The way you're saying it, "prolific" isn't the right word for The Bug Club. You've got to say it with the trademark Welsh lilt and pay due homage to this inimitable band's origins in the renowned hit factory of Caldicot, South Wales. Do that, and you're about right with how to summarize a group who've released ten singles, two albums, two EPs, three things nobody knew how to describe, and an album under a different band's name, all since 2021, and while playing 200+ gigs a year. Initially comprising the songwriting core of Sam Willmett (vocals/guitar) and Tilly Harris (vocals/bass) with Dan Matthew (drums), The Bug Club started plying their trade in 2016. They were signed by UK label Bingo Records in Autumn of 2020. BBC 6 Music's Marc Riley was an early champion, hammering the single, booking the band in for a session as soon as it was allowed, and rightfully praising songwriters capable of singing the whole alphabet in a two-minute song and making it work. Third LP On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System - their first for Sub Pop - sees the band serve up a beefy slab of their speciality Modern-Lovers-meets-Nuggets garage rock. There's B-52's call-and-response fun mixed with AC/DC power chord grunt. Leaning towards fast-paced punk, opening double salvo "War Movies" and "Quality Pints" sets out the stall: duel vocal piss-taking, surreal takes on everyday topics that go full circle and become profound, riffs all day long and then all the next day too. "Quality Pints" deals with the pressing concerns of any conscientious touring outfit, taking to heart the rule of the three R's as penned by renowned fellow pints fan Mark E. Smith of The Fall. Repetition, repetition, repetition. If it's that important, which it is, it's worth saying again. "War Movies" dresses distorted chugging with a comprehensive 'best of' list for the genre, with Sam Willmett offering a solo casually chucked out in a way that will make your dad promptly give up any resurgent guitar playing ambitions. And "A Bit Like James Bond" tackles the UK's sleaziest undercover export at the same time as the embarrassing ego problem that besets much of its population - but it's only heavy(ish) in the fun, loads-of-riffs sense. So, that's what they've been finishing up during their massive month-long break from gigs. In a bid to avoid being branded layabouts, The Bug Club will support their upcoming Sub Pop release with a springtime tour of the UK and Europe beginning May 10, before heading out to the US in September.

A formidable power trio, hailing in parts from the icy Swedish northlands and the glacial expanse of the Swiss Alps, named after the three Norse goddesses of fate who wove the very tapestry of fate underneath the mythical World Tree, Norna aren't messing around. Their debut album, 2021's `Star is way way is Eye' was saturated filth; uncompromising, unrelenting ugliness. This though, their eponymous sophomore offering, digs its claws deeper into the dirt. Sharpened, hungry and desperate, born of the moment and yet years in the making; `Norna' liberates a primal rage that has been suppressed for far too long. Rather than defining their music around needlessly complex riffs or trapping themselves in established song structures, the band instead built colossal walls of crushing guitar noise before carving away at the chaos to form the bones of each piece. The results are hypnotic, looping dirges; apocalyptic mantras that take on their own shapes and stories, coming to life with each excruciating reprise_ Sculpted the same way as their debut album, with ideas and hooks hewn from a mass of noise held quite literally in the clouds (Dropbox being the band's platform of choice), Norna this time entered the process with a vision; a final, horrific form in mind. As such, the eponymous record pushes their boundaries even further beyond the extreme, with even the briefest moments of calm quickly curdled by the band's use of insidious ambient synthesisers, manipulated samples and even more distortion. Despite only forming in 2020, the three pillars of Norna bring decades of heaviness with them. Consisting of Swedish post-hardcore pioneer Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind) and Swiss stalwarts Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat (both of instrumental juggernaut Olten), Norna came together as a perfect storm of abrasive influences, harnessed by friend and producer Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), to create something new, limitless and terrifying.

A formidable power trio, hailing in parts from the icy Swedish northlands and the glacial expanse of the Swiss Alps, named after the three Norse goddesses of fate who wove the very tapestry of fate underneath the mythical World Tree, Norna aren't messing around. Their debut album, 2021's `Star is way way is Eye' was saturated filth; uncompromising, unrelenting ugliness. This though, their eponymous sophomore offering, digs its claws deeper into the dirt. Sharpened, hungry and desperate, born of the moment and yet years in the making; `Norna' liberates a primal rage that has been suppressed for far too long. Rather than defining their music around needlessly complex riffs or trapping themselves in established song structures, the band instead built colossal walls of crushing guitar noise before carving away at the chaos to form the bones of each piece. The results are hypnotic, looping dirges; apocalyptic mantras that take on their own shapes and stories, coming to life with each excruciating reprise_ Sculpted the same way as their debut album, with ideas and hooks hewn from a mass of noise held quite literally in the clouds (Dropbox being the band's platform of choice), Norna this time entered the process with a vision; a final, horrific form in mind. As such, the eponymous record pushes their boundaries even further beyond the extreme, with even the briefest moments of calm quickly curdled by the band's use of insidious ambient synthesisers, manipulated samples and even more distortion. Despite only forming in 2020, the three pillars of Norna bring decades of heaviness with them. Consisting of Swedish post-hardcore pioneer Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind) and Swiss stalwarts Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat (both of instrumental juggernaut Olten), Norna came together as a perfect storm of abrasive influences, harnessed by friend and producer Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), to create something new, limitless and terrifying.

Evening Air is the result Loren Connors and David Grubbs’s first trip to the recording studio in the two decades since their first duo album, Arborvitae (Häpna). Arborvitae stood out for its spellbinding, utterly unhurried meshing of electric guitar (Connors) and piano (Grubbs).

With this long-awaited return, Connors and Grubbs take turns trading off on piano and guitar, with Grubbs at the keyboard for the two gently expansive pieces on the first side and Connors taking over the instrument for three gorgeous miniatures on the flip, including an album-closing and perfectly heart-stopping version of Connors’s and Suzanne Langille’s “Child.” The album’s wildcard is “It’s Snowing Onstage,” which finds the two locking horns with two electric guitars before Loren blew the minds of all present in the studio by unexpectedly switching to drums.

Loren Connors is one-of-a-kind, one of a handful of deservedly storied musical greats gracing us with their presence, and with Evening Air David Grubbs again demonstrates that he’s a stellar musician who also ranks among the most simpatico of collaborators.

A cover painting by Connors — another wordless signalling — sets the tone for this most beguiling of seances.

Pink Rhythm was one of John Rocca"s mid-80"s solo side projects and a somewhat evolution of his pioneering early-80s band, Freeez. After Freeez ended, John still had some ideas left over which he explored with Andy Stennett of Freeez. John also re-worked one of the final jazz funk songs written (but unused) by Freeez called "India". He named the project Pink Rhythm after his self-funded, entrepreneurial record label that he used to launch Freeez. Pink Rhythm lasted a brief year or two, between 1984 and 1985. In 1985, three singles were released, including "Melodies Of Love, which has become a cult favorite. It has been described as "timeless drum-machine soul music" and a "cult funk slow jam". Over the years, John Rocca"s music has been sampled by many, including Jamie xx, Empress Of, Brandy, Burial, Todd Terry, Coolio, Cut Chemist and more. Often credited as one of the pioneers of brit-funk, John"s music is iconic and has been used in TV/Movies like; Better Call Saul, Midsommar, Irma Vep plus the fashion world for brands including Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton and more. "Melodies of Love" - though never a pop hit - was recently been used the Joaquin Phoenix film Beau is Afraid as well as in the acclaimed British Film Blue Jean. It was also recently featured in a high-end ad campaign for Piaget. It is pure, smooth 80s drum machines, it is synth sounds, saxophones and keyboards.... it"s retro, but it could also be current. Either way, it"s as refreshing now as it was then.

Previously Unreleased Recording. Limited to 1200 copies on transparent cherry vinyl. Tip-on jacket, Download code. Insert featuring LP sized original art by Grungie O'Muck. Includes the original recording of Richard Tucker's "Are You Leaving For The Country", later covered by Karen Dalton, and the only song co-written by Karen & Richard, "Sleeping In The Garden". "Richard, Cam & Bert seem to have grasped The Great Harmony. That is, ensemble singing that is at once sweet, precise, funky and a bit sardonic..." -Mike Jahn / New York Times (1970) "For a few years in the late sixties and early seventies Richard Cam & Bert ruled MacDougal St. walking a fine line between the increasingly commercialized demands created by groups like Crosby Stills and Nash and the fierce integrity of earlier folk performers, the generation to which Richard belonged. They managed this with great aplomb, producing original tunes of great integrity and obvious folkloric origins, as well as those which expressed the anarchic omnipresent psychedelia of the moment. They also never abandoned the idea of including some traditional material in their performances. But for the usual random application of luck they could have been very big." - Grungie O'Muck / Artist, Bluesman, Cover artist for their first album and contributor to this one. Richard Tucker, Campbell Bruce, and Bert Lee coalesced as a trio in the spring of 1968, and by the end of that year had become regular performers at fabled Greenwich Village nightspots - The Gaslight, The Bag I'm In, Cafe Feenjon, among others. But mostly they were street singers, busking regularly in Central Park. Their only LP, Limited Edition, was released in 1970, and sold mainly at gigs and on the street. Somewhere in The Stars compiles earlier, previously unreleased recordings, when all three members were signed with Peer-Southern Music publishers as writers and began using their studio to make demos and experiment musically. Beautifully recorded by house engineer Charlie Mack (supervised by Jimmy Ienner), the demos capture a back room casualness and rustic, homespun quality. For me, listening to their songs and harmonies is like entering a world you always hoped existed but had never experienced. Some of the songs were re-recorded the following year for Limited Edition, but many are heard here for the first time. Among them is the original demo for Richard Tucker's song, "Are You Leaving For The Country", which Karen Dalton covered on her seminal 1971 release, In My Own Time. Richard and Karen were husband and wife for much of the 1960s, performing as a duo (initially as a trio with Tim Hardin), and navigating their time on the Village scene while alternating living in a small mining town outside Boulder, Co. before splitting up in 1967. Also making its debut, is the only song Richard and Karen ever wrote together, the haunting "Sleeping In The Garden". Also contains two epic songs by Cam "One Of These First Nights", and "Stockholm") not on their LP, but staples of their live performances, and noted in a gig review by The New York Times, and in a column by future A&R hero, Karin Berg, who was an early champion. Another rarity is the only cover of "Sweet Mama" by Fred Neil we've ever heard. Campell Bruce came to New York in 1967 as lead singer with a band from Washington, DC, The Natty Bumpo. They'd recently signed a record deal with Phillips, but were falling apart. Cam landed in the Village with an acoustic guitar and first started playing and singing in the basket houses, and shortly thereafter at The Gaslight, as the "Cam Bruce Trio" (which included Collin Walcott). After opening for Mose Allison, Cam's hero, the trio went their separate ways, and Cam returned to regular solo gigs at The Flamenco, and the basket houses on Bleecker. Richard and Cam met up on that scene and quickly found a musical kinship as well as becoming best pals. Bert Lee arrived in New York as a runaway the following winter, and began playing and sleeping wherever he could. His sometime accompanist, Ron Price, introduced Bert to Richard and Cam just as Bert's own songs were garnering attention from publishers. According to Bert, "I arrived on the New York scene during a time of great change, and it was the notion of change that influenced me. All around me I saw there were two sorts of songwriters, on the one hand dedicated to the traditions that had inspired them, folk, jazz, the American songbook. On the other hand were songwriters influenced by the wave of experimentation that The Beatles were the perfect example of. Mixing genres, writing lyrics that weren't just about ordinary love and loss. Richard Tucker was a country blues player, with a relaxed and melodic approach to the craft. Cam wrote something more akin to soul songs, with a hint of jazz in the changes. I was writing tunes that sometimes drew on classical structures with a tendency toward what I suppose would be known as prog-rock. But I was rather adamant about not being pinned down stylistically, and so I would write, for example, a song based on some complex classical chord structure, and then go right ahead and write a simple folk song, like Evelyn. Our band was popular locally, and it was this variety that made it distinct." Delmore is excited to present this unearthed treasure, fifteen years in the making. In the words of Richard Tucker, "Tap on your knee, roll on the floor; if you aint free, what's it all for?" "The trio's singing, playing, and writing have all withstood the test of time. Believe me, because I was there. In 1969 R,C&B, myself, Charles John Quarto, David Bromberg, Ron Price, and Keith Sykes were just a few of that year's crop of song-slingers. We were young turks back then, out on the prowl in New York's Greenwich Village for record deals, gigs, and beautiful young women to sleep with and maybe even write a song about. I've lost the names and numbers of those lovelies and I'm not sure what happened to Ron Price, but Richard, Cam, and Bert are back! - Loudon Wainwright lll

Kompakt is proud to announce, finally, a reissue of the first, self-titled GAS album. Originally released on electronica imprint Mille Plateaux back in 1996, it’s been unavailable in its original form ever since – the version of GAS included in 2008’s Nah Und Fern box featured several different tracks. Here, however, GAS is restored in all its glory, the debut full-length from Wolfgang Voigt’s most enigmatic, quixotic project.

There had, of course, been signs of what was to come. Back in 1995, Voigt essayed the first GAS release, a slender, yet remarkable four-track EP, Modern. Its centre label featured a reduced symbol – an overhead or lamp light, switched on, its glow radiating outwards in four bold black lines – a perfect representation of the tight, stylised ambient electronic pop contained on that 12”. A few curious compilation tracks were floating around, too, for Mille Plateaux’s Modulation & Transformation and Electric Ladyland series. If you were attentive enough, you could tell something was up.

But nothing quite prepared us for the languorous, effervescing loops and regular-like-clockwork beats that Voigt folded together on GAS. Its six long tracks, all untitled, neither begin nor end but hazily fade into earshot, vibrate majestically in your cochlea for fifteen-or-so minutes – some a bit shorter, some longer – and then meander away, reading the mise-en-scène for the next example of Voigt’s drift and dream logic to unfold. The material is referential in the most distant way, and you can sense only the most evanescent of ghostly presences, haunting these six compositions.

GAS feels, also, like a more pliable hint at what’s to come, as the GAS concept really solidified on its successor, 1997’s Zauberberg, and reach its apotheosis on Königsforst and Pop. Those three albums share a very similar palette – blurred, hazy samples, often of classical music, stacked and cross-thatched across a muted 4/4 thud. GAS, then, is an outlier of sorts: it’s more expansive in its remit, lighter in its mood, perhaps more fleet of foot. This, of course, is part of its charm.

In clearing space for Voigt, by preparing the terrain, GAS sits both at the edge of the forest, and at the verge of an expansive, wide-eyed future; one where GAS would become truly eternal.

Text by Jonathan Dale

Kompakt ist stolz, endlich eine Neuauflage des ersten, selbstbetitelten GAS-Albums ankündigen zu können. Ursprünglich im Jahr 1996 auf dem Electronica-Label Mille Plateaux veröffentlicht, ist es seitdem nicht mehr in seiner ursprünglichen Form erhältlich – die gleichnamige Version von GAS, die 2008 in der Nah Und Fern Box enthalten war, enthielt verschiedene andere Titel. Nun liegt das 3er Album in seinem naturbelassenen Originalzustand wieder vor.

Bereits 1995 zeichnete sich mit der Maxi GAS - Modern auf Profan, sowie einigen Kompilation-Beiträgen auf Modulation & Transformation und Electric Ladyland auf Mille Plateaux dieser frühe, weltentrückte, rätselhafte GAS Sound ab, der sich erst in den sechs scheinbar endlosen, majestätisch-sprudelnden Tracks des Albums voll entfaltete. Die Musik ist von ätherischer Leichtigkeit, in der wie aus einer anderen Sphäre abstrakte Referenzen aus weiter Ferne nur andeutungsweise herüberzuwehen scheinen.

Dieser frühe, eher sphärisch-leichte, gleich einer sonnendurchfluteten (Wald-)Lichtung anmutende GAS Sound, stellt gewissermaßen den Ausgangspunkt der audiovisuellen „Welt“-Reise in den düster-romantischen Acid-Wald dar, in den sich GAS ab 1997 mit den Alben Zauberberg, Königsforst, Oktember und ab 2000 mit Pop an anderer Stelle wieder hinaus und in seine ganz eigene Ewigkeit begeben hat.

Renowned New Zealand musician Nathan Haines announces his eleventh studio album and first solo album since 2014. Nathan’s vibrant career has solidified his status as a leading figure in contemporary jazz and electronic music, and throughout his career he has distinguished himself as a masterful saxophonist, flautist, and composer, celebrated for his innovative fusion of jazz with elements of soul, funk, and dance music. Notes maintains the jazz sound he is famed for, whilst also seeing the artist embrace the electronic/house and disco scene.

A labour of love, work on the album started several years ago alongside the now deceased UK producer Phil Asher who had produced Nathan’s two most successful albums Sound Travels and Squire For Hire. Regarded as one of the finest DJ’s and producers to emerge from the UK, playing a pivotal role in bridging the gap between 4/4 and broken beat, this was the first time Nathan and Phil had worked together in over eighteen years. Phil passed away during the recording of the album, but he appears on a number of tracks, and his spirit and influence can be felt throughout the entire release.

The album features a number of guest vocalists, including UK soul-diva Vanessa Freeman (Bugz In The Attic, 4 Hero, Kaidi Tatham, Kyoto Jazz Massive), and exciting young talent Ajuna Oakes, Ruby Cesan, La Coco and EO (NZ). Alongside Nathan’s own musicianship, the album also features bass from Razor-N-Tape label founder Jkriv and electronic jazz pioneer Mark de Clive-Lowe, with both bringing a wealth of collaboration and musicality to the project. Long time collaborator and much respected UK based producer Marc Mac (one half the highly influential and respected duo 4Hero) provides beats for a number alongside Nathan’s father Kevin on acoustic bass.

Highly respected DJ and producer Frank Booker (Razor and Tape) drops his signature beats on three tracks which fits nicely alongside Asher’s drum work. The album’s one cover see’s Nathan teaming up with vocalist Rachel Clarke on their version of Storm by US 80’s vocal group Rare Silk - this track is entirely acoustic and is one of the album’s special moments both artistically and musically.

The past years have seen Haines continuing to establish himself as one of NZ's best DJs and live performers, working on releases and remixes with the likes of Chaos in the CBD, Frank Booker, JKriv, Ray Mang and many others. He has also just released a solo album on Goldie's Metalheadz label under his Sci-clone alias co-produced with DJ A-Sides to excellent reviews and featuring a wealth of talent and musicianship.

Kannon is an album which was composed in the aftershadow of SUNN O)))’s most recent successes in immersive collaboration (the group worked with Scott Walker on Soused, Ulver on Terrestrials in 2013 and 2014) and also from the broad and influential wake of their epitimous Monolith’s & Dimensions . Kannon emerged both independently as a conceptual entity and with roots in the legacies of those projects, yet was fully realised years later, in 2015. The album is 36 minutes in length and consists of three pieces of a triadic whole : Kannon 1, 2 and 3.

The album celebrates many SUNN O))) traditions ; Kannon was recorded and mixed with SUNN O)))’s close colleague and coproducer Randall Dunn in Seattle, in Studio Litho, Aleph and Avast! ; and the LP includes performances by long term allies and collaborators Attila Csihar, Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, Steve Moore and others. And at the core the composition centers around the dynamic and intense guitar and bass interplay of SUNN O)))’s founders : Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson.

It’s possibly the most figurative album SUNN O))) has created, which is unusual as they usually dwell in layers of abstraction and subjectivity. On the other hand the album is the most outright “metal” in years, drawing personal associations and memories of cherished albums like Panzerfaust and Twilight of the Gods again to the forefront of consciousness. At the third time it is very close to the cyclical character of mantra which the band has evolved into as a living creature, the enormity of intense sensate detail and manifestation of the live in concert face of SUNN O))), the organism that has flourished, metamorphosed and transcended tremendously over the past ten years.

The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha : specifically “goddess of mercy” or “Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes commonly known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese: 觀音菩薩) amongst a plurality of other forms. There is a rich lineage behind this idea tracing back through many asian belief systems, with as many names and cultural personifications of the idea .

SUNN O))) commissioned critical theorist Aliza Shvartz to write a text / liner notes around these ideas and topics. She also explores the relations and perceptions to their approach to these ideas via the metonym of music and SUNN O)))’s place/approach within the framework of music and metal overall.

SUNN O))) also commissioned Swiss designer/artist Angela LaFont Bollinger to create the cover artwork, an abstracted sculpture of vision of Kannon, and the French photographer Estelle Hanania to capture portraits of the core trio (Csihar, Anderson, O’Malley) in the impressive and obscurant Emanuel Vingeland mausoleum in Oslo.

The LP is packaged in immaculate tip on gatefold sleeve by our long time comrades Stoughton Printing, and pressed at Cascade in Portland, Oregon. CD, download and coloured vinyl versions are also available

Legendary Canadian EDM / Freestyle artists In-Dex return after their huge success with their sold out 2021 Brazilian only 12" vinyl "No Science for Love" with a very limited white vinyl 12", a brand new track "I'll Never Walk Away"

4 tracks, 3 exclusive to this record, including a special dub mix of "No Science for Love" and a special mix of their 1988 hit "Give Me a Sign".

Produced by Brazil's Decho Wanlu, fans of early Depeche Mode will love this. In-Dex were formed in 1987 & had three hits between '89 & '91 and reformed in 2021. Lead vocalist & songwriter Rupert Gayle is a 1994 Juno award winner for best R&B album recorded in Canada. By 2008 he had written four #1 songs in Canada for other artists. In 1993 he founded Beat Factory Productions & signed Dream Warriors to Island Records in the UK.

This limited edition, collectable 12" is much sought- after in Germany, Finland, Canada, USA & Brazil where the radio version has had many streams on the internet. The other 3 tracks will not be available to stream or download.

Tracks: I'll Never Walk Away (Radio Version) / I'll Never Walk Away (Dub Mix) / Give Me a Sign (Special Mix) / No Science for Love (Dub Mix)

Since its founding back in 2014, Blume has carved a unique place in cultural landscape, issuing free-standing works, spanning the historical and contemporary, that represent singular gestures of creativity within the field of experimental sound. Joining their broad efforts in building networks of context and understanding that already includes the works by Werner Durand, Sarah Hennies, Bruce Nauman, John Butcher, Jocy de Oliveira, Mary Jane Leach, Valentina Magaletti, Alvin Curran, Julius Eastman, Alvin Lucier, and shortly after returning with the first ever vinyl release to attend to James Tenney’s legendary “Postal Pieces”, the label is now offering a brand new, ambitious work by the American composer Ben Vida, entitled “Vocal Trio”, conceived, performed, and recorded in Bremen, Germany, during the Spring of 2022. A truly stunning work of compositional conceptualism, combining the ideas of systems based synthesis with real-time vocal collaboration - issued in a highly limited vinyl edition of 200 copies mastered by Stephan Mathieu, featuring specially commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey and a leporello insert offering the piece visual score - it’s a landmark in contemporary experimental practice and arguably the most forward-thinking and exciting piece by one of the most exciting American artists working today.

Ben Vida first emerged during the mid 1990s within a loose constellation of experimental musicians, centred around a performance series of improvised workshops at the Myopic Bookstore in Chicago, alongside Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Chad Taylor, and the other future members of Town and Country - Jim Dorling, Joshua Abrams, and Liz Payne - the band within which he would gain widespread recognition over the following years. Like many other members of that scene, Vida remains a restless product of a fleeting context - Chicago during the 1990s and early 2000s - continuously undermining concrete notions of idiom and signifier within a practice that witnessed him rendering bristling abstractions within Pillow, glacial melodies with Town and Country, the art-rock mayhem of Bird Show Band, and the angular, driving indie rock of Joan of Arc, before becoming immersed in a practice of systems based synthesis, beginning in the 2010s, that guided much of his first decade of output as a solo performer and composer.

As early as 2013, he began to incorporate acoustic sound sources - specifically the human voice - into his work. It was this shift, evolving and refining itself over the last decade, that underscores radically the leap in his practice represented by “Vocal Trio”, a work that encounters Vida composing for the human voice with the ideas that allow for synthesis - transferring the underlying concepts and structures of both subtractive and additive synthesis to the acoustic realm - without using a synthesiser.

During the Spring of 2022 Vida was in Bremen, Germany, collaborating on a dance piece with the choreographer Fay Driscoll, when the production fell into delays. Finding himself with time on his hands, a space at his disposal, and the company of two dancers - Amy Gernux and Lotte Rudhart - who were also singers, the idea for the piece - to utilising the larynx as audio paths (multi-harmonic or harmonically pure) while conceptualising each person’s mouth as a filter to sculpt the timbre and resonance of a given tone - began to take shape in his mind. Considering how typographical scores might be developed into a non-linguistic social framework, Vida drafted a single page of text - what became the score for “Vocal Trio” - accompanied by a set of harmonic suggestion and loose parameters, seeking a core meaning from each word's phonic make-up by each of the three singers (Vida, Gernux and Rudhart) singing as slowly as possible.

At the core of the pulsing vocal drones - intoxicating, harmonically rich long-tones - that make up the duration abstraction of “Vocal Trio”, is Vida’s regard for music as a social space. It is an experiment that seeks liberation through the act of collective music making, by challenging the terms through which the act of composing is perceived and then relinquishing control. The piece’s rehearsals were simply the three performers hanging out, allowing their knowing each other and natural dynamics to contribute to its form as the score, before recording during a single afternoon at the end of a number of days sharing company and space.

Creatively visionary and groundbreaking on numerous terms, as well as being intoxicatingly beautiful and remarkably listenable, Ben Vida’s “Vocal Trio” represents a striking step forward for one of the most ambitious and outstanding sonic artists working in the United States today. Issued by Blume in a highly limited vinyl edition of 200 copies mastered by Stephan Mathieu, featuring specially commissioned liner notes by Bradford Bailey and a leporello insert offering the piece visual score, this is hands down one of the most important contemporary records we’re likely to encounter in 2024.

Completing Kranky's chronologically reverse reissue program of the earlier loscil albums on vinyl, the 2001 debut album is issued on the format for the first time with the addition of three bonus tracks from the same sessions that produced the original release.

‘’Triple Point was my first full length album under the loscil name, and it was my first with kranky - a relationship now 25 years old. This reissue is as much about celebrating that relationship as it is about the music. I am extremely grateful for this journey. Arguably, none of it would have happened without this release.’’

“Pay no mind to the label and pay no mind to the producer's locale (Vancouver isn't Cologne or Detroit); Triple Point is one of the finest—and most varied—ambient techno releases of 2001.”— AllMusic

"Finding itself nestled halfway between the endlessly spacious mechanoid constructions of Berlin's Basic Channel and the drifting expanses of Labradford, Scott Morgan's work as Loscil never ceases to impress with its deft use of technology and percussion.”—Boomkat

Indignation Meeting are punky rail fans from Leeds. 15-year-old Peter is the driver - he's the drummer and lead singer, writes most of the songs, and also plays bass and trumpet on the album. The rest of the crew is his dad Michael on guitar, Hugo on bass, and with Keith, Heather and Sally often along for the ride when they play out. Here at DGHQ we've been listening to their self-released debut album Trouble In The Shed since last year and finally spoke with the band and agreed to release it on vinyl for the first time. It was very good timing as they've just been in the studio to finish recording their second album, so we'll be releasing that later in 2024. Welcome on-board! We caught up with Peter to ask as few questions about the band_ Q: "In a week when the Labour Party promised to return the rail network to public ownership, we ask how did your fascination with trains begin?" A: "Honestly, I don't really know - I've just loved them ever since I can remember. It's not like with some people who had a family connection or watched Thomas the Tank Engine; I've just always loved them. I guess it's just a childhood obsession that never went away!" Q: "'Trouble In The Shed' is quickly becoming a firm office favourite here at DG. There's a touch of punk, indie and new wave about it. What would you say are the key influences that make up your musical DNA?" A: "My main influence when this album was released was Blyth Power. They'd been my favourite band for years when this was recorded, so everything on it was influenced by them in some way. They've had so many different musical styles over the years that they kind of conglomerated into this album, to create yet another eclectic mix of songs. The only real exception to that on this album is Electrification - no prizes for guessing the influence there! If you see us live, however, you may notice another influence pervading through our songs. That influence is the anarcho-hippy band 'The Astronauts,' whom I discovered midway through the recording process, and have quickly become one of my all-time favourite bands!" Q: "What's the story behind your song 'Hornby Horrors'?" A: "Hornby Horrors is an interesting one. People who haven't heard it may assume it's about some ill-fated model railway endeavour, but it's actually a tale of corruption in, of all places, the model train company Hornby! This song was the result of several minor scandals at Hornby HQ making their way to the modelling masses, the main ones of which were an ill-fated tier list, which placed retailers in three categories as to whether or not they received Hornby's products, with tier 3 retailers barely getting anything at all. Interestingly, the UK's former biggest retailer, Hatton's Model Railways, was a tier 3 retailer due to their 'competing products' (made by their own small brand Hatton's Originals') and has recently announced closure due to financial hardship. Now as we all know, correlation does not equal causation, but I wonder_" Q: "The album is being released on a specific shade of green vinyl. What's the significance?" A: "The shade of green on the vinyl is very similar to the shade worn by the locomotives from the Great Western Railway in the 1870s - 1940s. Due to this connection, we thought it was only proper we picked this colour, which we have dubbed 'Great Western Green!'" Q: "The album release coincides with an appearance at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool this August. Can you give the readers three reasons why they should come and see your performance?" A: "1 - We like to think we provide something different with our music - it is very obviously punk, but it's a bit more light-hearted than a lot of the political stuff, with nearly all the songs being about some sort of obscure steam loco engine. If you just want something light-hearted to enjoy, we might just be the band for you! 2 - We've got a rather interesting line up - instead of the usual line-ups you see, we've got a 15 year-old singing drummer with his dad on guitar, a newly-turned adult with a massive ginger afro playing the bass, the guitarist from the old anarcho band 'Dog On A Rope' playing some gnarly lead parts, and all topped off with some beautiful backing vocals from the drummer's sister and mother. As Attila the Stockbroker described us, Blyth Power meets the Partridge Family - not to be missed! 3 - Here's something you won't forget in a hurry - as well as his vocals, our 15-year-old frontman Peter plays drums and trumpet at the same time! If that's something you want to see, make sure you get down to see us!"

Special exclusive 7" from Il Sogno Del Marinaio, the avant-rock trio formed by legendary bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Stooges), cult Italian experimentalist Stefano Pilia (Massimo Volume, In Zaire, Afterhours, Rokia Traore) and drummer Paolo Mongardi (Zeus, Fuzz Orchestra, Fulkanelli). Directly from fratello Mike Watt's words: "the "wing and a prayer" seven inch on _improved sequence_ was a product of the covid19 sitch around xmas of 2020. it was put together remotely, w/me here in san pedro, california, usa while from Italy stefano pilia (in bologna) and paolo mongardi (in imola) brought what they had from italy ... yes, the internet can be used for more than spreading hate and lies - it can also be used to collaborate in the spirit of artistic expression! cazzo, imagine that? il sogno del marinaio had finished work w/their "terzo" album and I thought a good way to rally the band would be to focus on a smaller release that reflected the current sitch we were in - see, the basic tracks of "terzo" were recorded in eleven months earlier here in my pedro town at _casa hanzo_ (stefano pilia and paolo mongardi traveling here by plane) so we had no idea what was ahead of us concerning the challenges of that fucking virus sitch. now the "terzo" album was not finished w/those basic tracks getting recorded, we had spiel (vocals) to add plus other stuff and of course it had to be mixed (tim in wales did a great job w/this - much respect to him!) so those experiences of those early covid19 times got "superimposed" on the music that was created right before it was on us, very trippy. that was a big reason I brought the three tunes of this "wing and a prayer" seven inch to stefano pilia and paolo mongardi - all they had was my bass but I believed they could "take the ball and run w/it" cuz that's how powerful I believe music to be: it can be able to overcome 'pert-near any hell trying to stomp it down. stefano pilia chose "wing and a prayer" to mix, paolo mongardi chose "tantrum" and I got what was left: "hail mary pass" - oh, I got my buddies stephen perkins to help w/percussion and petra haden to help w/singing, violin and mandolin. so one reality reality is w/these three tunes is that no one is actually playing w/each other in real time on this little record! it's all done by trading files via the internet...the starting for all three tunes being was my bass - ain't that a trip? shows how bass can be that springboard or launch pad I've always known it could be when not aiding and abetting a tune after the fact – both these "roles" for bass have been very interesting to me, going back to my early days as a minutemen and writing tunes for d boon and George hurley and by also bringing bass to their stuff

Waxwork Records is proud to release TAROT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Joseph Bishara. TAROT is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg. The story follows a group of college students who, after using a strange Tarot card deck, begin to gruesomely die one by one and must uncover the deck's mystery.

The soundtrack to TAROT was composed and conducted by Joseph Bishara (Malignant, The Conjuring, Insidious, Annabelle). The soundtrack features Bishara's signature dark and haunting composition style that expertly blends heavy usage of synthesizers and electronics with evocative orchestral cues.

Waxwork Records is proud to release TAROT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Joseph Bishara as a deluxe double LP featuring three-color hand poured vinyl, new artwork by illustrator and TAROT creature designer Trevor Henderson, heavyweight gatefold packaging with matte satin coating, an 11"x11" insert, and one of five collectable character Tarot cards.

Strut present the first definitive retrospective of an icon of 1970s and ‘80s soul, jazz and disco, Patrice Rushen, covering her peerless 6-year career with Elektra / Asylum from 1978 to 1984. Joining Elektra after three albums with jazz label Prestige, Patrice had shown prodigious talent at an early age and had first broken through after winning a competition to perform at the Monterrey Jazz Festival of 1972. By the time of the recordings on this collection, she had become a prolific and in-demand session musician and arranger on the West coast, appearing on over 80 recordings for other artists. She joined the Elektra / Asylum roster in 1978 as they launched a pop / jazz division alongside visionaries like Donald Byrd and Grover Washington, Jr. “The idea was to create music that was good for commercial radio / R&B,” Patrice explains. “We were all making sophisticated dance music, essentially.”

Drawing on some of the leading musicians in L.A. like saxophonist Gerald Albright, drummer “Ndugu” Chancler and bassman Freddie Washington and keeping an open minded approach from her training in classical, jazz and soundtrack scores, Patrice’s music was a different, more intricate proposition to many of the soul artists of the time. “L.A. musicians were not so locked into tradition,” she continues. “None of us were accustomed to limitation and the record label left us to take our own direction.”

Early classics like ‘Music Of The Earth’ and ‘Let’s Sing A Song Of Love’ were among Patrice’s first as a lead vocalist before her ‘Pizzazz’ album landed in 1979, featuring the unique disco of ‘Haven’t You Heard’ and one of her greatest ballads, ‘Settle For My Love’. “Although ballads make you feel more vulnerable as an artist because they are often personal, I think listeners relate to that sincerity,” she reflects. By now, Patrice’s records were supremely arranged and produced as her confidence as an all-round writer, producer, arranger and performer grew. Slick dancefloor anthem ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and the ‘Posh’ album in 1980 led to her landmark album ‘Straight From The Heart’ two years later. Receiving little support from her label, Patrice and her production team personally funded a promo campaign for the first single from it, ‘Forget Me Nots’. It went on to peak at no. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album was later Grammy-nominated, while the track became a timeless anthem and popular sample, inspiring Will Smith’s theme for the film ‘Men In Black’ and George Michael’s ‘Fastlove’.

Patrice’s final album for Elektra, ‘Now’ kept the bar high with sparse, synth-led songs including ‘Feel So Real’ and ‘To Each His Own’. It concluded a golden era creatively for Patrice which remains revered by soul and disco aficionados the world over.

‘Remind Me’ features all of Patrice Rushen’s chart singles, 12” versions and popular sample sources on one album for the first time. Formats included a 3LP set and 1CD fully remastered by The Carvery from the original tapes. Both formats include an exclusive new interview with Patrice Rushen and rare photos.

• First definitive Patrice Rushen compilation released on vinyl since the ‘80s
• Includes all of her chart hits, DJ favourites and sample sources
• Official release featuring full interview with Patrice Rushen about her career and music • Features rare photos from her personal collection + some of the photographers she has worked with during her career
• Fully remastered by The Carvery from the original ¼” tapes
• Start of full Patrice Rushen reissue programme from her Elektra era

Asmaa Hamzaoui stands out as a pioneering female figure in the traditionally male-dominated realm of Gnawa music. With her group, Bnat Timbouktou, she brings a dynamic and spiritual dimension to the genre, infusing it with the vibrant energy of desert blues. Despite the essential role women have played in Gnawa rituals, female musicians have historically been underrepresented. Hamzaoui, however, is at the forefront of changing this trend. Born into a family deeply entrenched in Gnawa traditions in Casablanca, Hamzaoui was immersed in this musical heritage from a young age. Her father, a master musician, and her mother, a dancer, provided a rich environment for her early education in music. She learned to play the guembri, a three-stringed lute central to Gnawa music, and began performing with her father's band on the qraqeb, metal castanets used in Gnawa music, and in the choir. Encouraged by her father, she eventually formed her own group, Bnat Timbouktou. The group's debut album, "Oulad Lghaba," recorded in collaboration with the Swedish label ajabu! Records, was critically acclaimed and nominated for a Songlines Music Award. This album, along with their upcoming release "L'bnat," showcases Hamzaoui's commitment to preserving and revitalizing Gnawa music. "L'bnat," will emphasize the female traditions and spiritual aspects of Gnawa culture. Hamzaoui's performances are characterized by her powerful voice and the rhythmic, percussive playing of the guembri. Her music not only pays homage to the spiritual and healing qualities of Gnawa but also aims to keep the tradition alive by introducing it to new audiences worldwide.

40 Years ago, Hunting Lodge was nearing the peak of its fertile 'tribal' period. In celebration of this anniversary we are releasing a book-style 3LP set including Nomad Souls, 'Tribal Warning Shot' (expanded) and The Harvest (live/expanded). All of the included tracks have been lovingly remastered from the original reels and cassettes, restored by Grant Richardson and mastered for vinyl by Sion Orgon. The Nomad Souls LP was originally released in the autumn of 1984 on S/M Operations in the USA, and in the following spring on Side Effekts Records, UK. The 'Tribal Warning Shot' 12” 4-track EP was released early 1985 on S/M Operations (USA). The title track was remixed with drums added for a 12” 45 release on Normal Records (Germany) soon thereafter. This version, along with the other three EP tracks appear on the second record in the set. A new remix of the 1983 7” 'Night From Night' b/w 'Untitled' is also included, along with 2 tracks that appeared on compilation albums and one previously unreleased track. To round off this LP we launch into a track from original The Harvest live cassette, to ease you into the album to come. The Harvest cassette was a collection of live Hunting Lodge tracks circa 1984 which has never appeared on LP until now. To make for a more cohesive theme we have separated the two LP sides by shows: Side A from Chicago, where the original 'Tribal Warning Shot (live)' was recorded, while the other side features a Detroit show which bears the distinction of being the only time Roselle Williams (The Wolf Hour) sang live with the band. Each side features one song that was NOT included on the original The Harvest release This set features a replica of the original S/M Operations' Nomad Souls cover, and of the original Normal Records 12” art on the second LP. The third sleeve features a newly designed back cover by Rolaid Alpo Cola, and an inner panel including the original promo poster artwork along with an essay from Graeme Revell.