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Mit seiner nunmehr 10. Platte für Exile On Mainstream (die 'Suiciety' Single und das Trialogos-Album "Stroh zu Gold" einfach mal mitgezählt) braucht Conny wohl weder eine Einführung, noch eine oberflächliche Bejubelung. "Troubadour" würde das auch nicht gerecht, denn selten hat man den in Deutschland und Italien lebenden Künstler so reduziert, deep und nahbar erlebt. Die Platte ist eine Hinwendung zu seinen Wurzeln als Solokünstler, der mit spärlicher Instrumentierung und bedingungsloser Ehrlichkeit ganze Kathedralen mit Emotionen füllen kann. Nach eher experimentellen Ausflügen auf "Wahn und Sinn", seinem vielbeachteten deutschsprachigen Album aus 2023 und dem eher opulent instrumentierten "Doom Folk" von 2019 ist "Troubadour" nun wieder ein reines Singer/Songwriter-Album geworden. Eine Gitarre, eine Stimme - mehr braucht es nicht. Conny beschreibt es selbst wie folgt: "Meine Idee war, ein Album zu machen, das den minimalistischen Ansatz von Raw Love Songs und Black Happy aufgreift, aber zugleich das widerspiegelt, was ich heute erlebe. Konzerte sind für mich immer das Herz meiner Musik, deshalb wollte ich Stücke schreiben, die ich jederzeit und überall spielen kann - in Clubs, auf Festivals oder unterwegs, unter den geringsten Anforderungen. Ich hatte eine Platte im Kopf, die Raum zum Atmen und Zuhören bietet, damit man die Details der erzählten Bilder erkennen kann." Für Fans von Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Doja Cat’s critically acclaimed album, “Scarlet 2 CLAUDE” deluxe vinyl is available now!

The album features 24 tracks including smash hits such as “Attention”, “Paint The Town Red”, “Agora Hills”, “OKLOSER” and more. Her hit single, “Paint The Town Red” spent three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at No. 1; that marked the first rap song to hit No.1 on the Hot 100 Chart last year. In addition, the song was No. 1 for a total of four consecutive weeks on the Billboard Global 200 Chart. Furthermore, Doja Cat’s fan favorite track “Agora Hills” went No. 1 at Top 40 Radio in February 2024 making it her eighth No. 1 at the format. “Agora Hills” also peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Doja Cat’s critically acclaimed album, “Scarlet 2 CLAUDE” deluxe vinyl is available now!

The album features 24 tracks including smash hits such as “Attention”, “Paint The Town Red”, “Agora Hills”, “OKLOSER” and more. Her hit single, “Paint The Town Red” spent three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at No. 1; that marked the first rap song to hit No.1 on the Hot 100 Chart last year. In addition, the song was No. 1 for a total of four consecutive weeks on the Billboard Global 200 Chart. Furthermore, Doja Cat’s fan favorite track “Agora Hills” went No. 1 at Top 40 Radio in February 2024 making it her eighth No. 1 at the format. “Agora Hills” also peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Das 1989 erschienene Musical The Iron Man: The Musical von Pete Townshend, ist eine Adaption der
Geschichte The Iron Man von Ted Hughes, produziert und größtenteils komponiert und aufgeführt von
Pete Townshend von The Who.
Außerdem spielen Roger Daltrey, Deborah Conway, John Lee Hooker und Nina Simone mit.
Die drei damals überlebenden Originalmitglieder von The Who traten bei zwei Liedern, „Dig“ und „Fire“,
als Gruppe auf.
„A Friend Is a Friend“ und ‚I Won’t Run Anymore‘ wurden als Singles kommerziell veröffentlicht.
Diese schwarze Vinyl-Version wurde von Miles Showell in den Abbey Road Studios mit einem HalbgeschwindigkeitsMastering-Verfahren hergestellt, das einen hervorragenden Vinylschnitt ergibt.

The most iconic holiday record in Verve Records’ repertoire and one of the most successful jazz holiday albums of all time like you’ve never heard it before! This expanded edition of Ella Fitzgerald’s classic 1960 album Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas features a second LP with six tracks making their vinyl debut - for the first time, all of Ella’s holiday recordings for Verve Records and Decca Records are together on one collection. Housed in a beautiful gatefold jacket featuring a “deluxe” take on Gene Grant’s classic 1960 album artwork, the package also includes a beautiful 8-page booklet with detailed session notes and essay from journalist Will Friedwald, plus a sheet of cut-out holiday ornaments – the perfect gift for any music fan. Nearly 65 years after its original release, Ella’s beloved holiday classic is now twice as long as it was in 1960. As Ella herself once said, “the only thing better than singing is more singing,” and the only thing better than the original Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas is the new, expanded edition!

Garder la Flamme by Daytona, released 18 October 2024, includes the following tracks: "Through the storm 4:10", "Time won’t wait 4:50", "Town of many faces 4:19", "Garder la Flamme 6:38" and more.

This version of Garder la Flamme comes as a 1xLP.

The vinyl is pressed as a blue disc.

Psychoderelict wurde von Pete Townshend geschrieben und produziert. Einige Charaktere und Themen,
die in diesem Werk vorgestellt werden, wurden in Townshends späterem Werk The Boy Who Heard Music
weitergeführt, das erstmals auf dem elften Studioalbum Endless Wire (2006) der Who vorgestellt und dann
als Rockmusical adaptiert wurde.
Diese Version ist ohne Dialog und wurde zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl veröffentlicht.
Psychoderelict ist Townshends sechstes und bisher letztes Solo-Studioalbum.
Diese schwarze Vinylversion wurde von Miles Showell in den Abbey Road Studios mit einer Half-SpeedMastering-Technik erstellt, die einen hervorragenden Vinylschnitt erzeugt.

The Well is the second album by the duo So Sner, composed of Susanna Gartmayer (bass clarinet) and Stefan Schneider (electronics). Recorded over nearly two years in various studios and spaces, the album reflects So Sner's extensive touring across Europe. The final mixing took place in Vienna at the studio of Martin Siewert, who served as both co-producer and mastering engineer. Known for his meticulous attention to sonic detail, Siewert brings his unique techniques and distinctive sound enhancements to the album, resulting in a work that is both stylistically cohesive and daringly uncompromising.

So Sner’s critically acclaimed debut album REIME (TAL26, 2021) was celebrated for its innovative fusion of bass clarinet and electronic sounds in unexpected and surprising ways. With The Well, the duo explores both fluid and dissonant sonic landscapes, embracing different structural and sonic challenges. The result is a quieter, more introspective set of compositions than many might have anticipated. The album is a statement of two confident collaborators crafting complex, spatial musical moments in their own distinct manner.

The music on The Well generates a multiplicity of effects that transcend conventional oppositions such as hand-played versus programmed, composition versus improvisation, or analog versus digital. The album suggests a re-articulation of these categories, allowing the ten tracks to gradually blend one musical idea into another, and one musician into another, in a circular and complementary fashion. The polymetric permutations and exploratory reed components create a soundscape where all elements coexist harmoniously, without compromising or diminishing each other’s presence.

With its sparse sound architecture, The Well invites listeners into a space of effective emptiness, offering room for the mind and body to explore—a sonic island where one can develop sensuality through patient movement.

For So Sner, live performance is a passion of the mind, and since they began working together in 2020, their music has taken them to many different places. The live experience has deeply influenced the recorded music on this album, with the interplay between live performance and studio work informing their creative process. The Well captures the genuine act of exploring new territories, serving as a storage place for the time and space shared by the duo, re-filtering their experiences of performing and traveling together.

The Well is a lucidly playful and ambitious album by two contemporary musicians who are continually learning to create and respond to the subtle and significant changes in their music, maintaining momentum throughout the entire work.

In addition to her work with So Sner, Susanna Gartmayer has recently collaborated with artists such as Joe McPhee and Maria Portugal, and remains a member of her long-running band, the Vegetable Orchestra. Stefan Schneider, founder of the label TAL, has recently performed with Garth Erasmus from Cape Town and fine art luminary Katharina Grosse.

Phoebe Rings is a dream-pop band offering a unique blend of introspective yearning with celestial danceable grooves. Their self-titled debut EP, a hopeful collection of musings, out on Carpark Records, is a testament to the distinctive musical style of Auckland jazz-school-trained pianist and songwriter Crystal Choi. Across six tracks, the EP is a love letter to some of the band’s influences: Studio Ghibli films, Zelda and Stardew soundtracks, Bossa Nova, Stereolab, and 90’s Korean ballads.

In 2020, the band played their first gig in a ‘funny side room’ during a festival at Auckland Town Hall. Choi’s songwriting was brought to life with Alex Freer on drums, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent on guitar and synths, and Benjamin Locke on bass. Choi says she knew the tracks had to be recorded after the band played the songs better than she could ever imagine. And so, remotely through the COVID-19 lockdowns, the band started recording the EP.

“Daisy” is the vibrant leading single, with the shimmery refrain “Ooh-wee-a-waa” and the uplifting mantra: “When you’re next to me, the world’s full of daisies.” The swirling synths fizz on the skin like warm sun, promising growth and new starts. “Cheshire” is an Alice in Wonderland-inspired trip through the rabbit hole, pacing in anticipation. “Like a Cheshire cat, it grins and disappears in moments when you accept yourself,” explains Choi. Locke and Choi finished the lyrics one evening, huddled in the corner of a local underground music venue, with references to Murakami’s book Dance Dance Dance.

Choi grew up in Seoul, developing a palette for K-pop and retro sounds. The city-pop influence of “January Blues” shines through, with Choi crediting one of her favourite songs from the ’80s: “연극이 끝난 후 After Play”. The track explores her disconnect with the summer break. “In the Northern Hemisphere, January is winter,” says Choi. “I missed that a lot, and I don’t vibe with the beach.”

“Spissky,” chimes in with Choi’s lilting vocals reminiscent of childhood lullabies, inspired by a lonely-looking castle she saw on tour with Princess Chelsea in Slovakia. While “Ocean” leans into its mumble-core roots, taking a leaf from the Cocteau Twins. There’s an external shift in the EP, with “Lazy Universe” being the most energetic track, evolving with the band’s chaotic sci-fi experimentation. Asking, “Are you still waiting for a kiss?” Choi is self-critical and urgently speaks up from being passive.

The members of Phoebe Rings are cemented in the musical ecosystem, balancing other projects and full-time work. Yet Sundays will always be carved out for Phoebe Rings to dream up imaginative, world-building tunes — often with a Nintendo game soundtrack in the background as inspiration.

Limited to 500 copies on gold vinyl, contains download also. A hugely influential album cited as the embryo for punk, grunge and beyond. Featuring epic 1970 concepts from this far reaching trio much praised by Underworld’s Karl Hyde, Captain Sensible, Stephen Malkmus and a host of others. ‘Thank Christ For The Bomb’ is a visionary tale of cold war fear, alienation and everyday drama. “This is a masterpiece!” NME // A thinking man’s rumination on alienation, the album is a game of two halves; side one tackling the thermo nuclear threat while side two traces riches to rags alienation in everyday London. First of a trio of ground-breaking albums that steered the band from the Blues into a heavier, more prog-based sound and a true reflection of their much-praised live sound

“Pinhead Gunpowder started writing songs in 1990 and made our first 7-inch the following spring. Nearly every year since, we’ve met up to play. Some years we recorded—five albums and eleven EPs— and some years we played shows. “But since 2010, we’ve been playing just for ourselves, something bands forget to do. Rather than ‘writing for the new album’ or rehearsing to get ready for tour, we went back to the basement every year. We lived in the house we’d built, remembering how we’d made the music for each other in the first place.We played all over the world—well, at least Oakland, Singapore and New York—but only for each other. We worked on the reissues of our back catalog, too and found ourselves fonder of each other and more family-like than ever. “A new record and tour was only a matter of time, but between the members’ other bands projects, and families, that was hard to find. When we finally did, we were all surprised. We think it’s our best yet—our catchiest, most collaborative, and most poignant.” — Aaron Cometbus Pinhead Gunpowder is Billie Joe Armstrong, Aaron Cometbus, Jason White and Bill Schneider. Unt is fourteen brand new songs recorded in 2023 by Chris Dugan (Green Day, Weezer, Iggy Pop, Samiam, Swingin’ Utters etc) and mastered for all formats by Nick Townsend (Cheap Trick, Bad Religion, Iron Maiden etc) at Infrasonic Sound.

Freestyle Records drop a killer UK soul/early street soul reissue LP from 1988, in the form of Rick Clarke's hard to come by 'Time Keeps Moving On' album.

Originally appearing on the Raven label in 1988, Time Keeps Moving On constituted Rick Clarke's first LP following his work in the earlier eighties as part of brit-funk groups Potion and Side On, and solo output including Love with a Stranger (released on The Specials' Ghost Town's producer John Collins' Local Records imprint) and a few singles for RCA. Largely co-written and co-produced with Peter Hinds (Take Three, Atmosfear, Light of the World) and a guest turn from Master T aka Toyin Agbetu - this is foundational street soul that appeared at a time when the likes of Loose Ends were starting to break through to the US, and Soul II Soul just emerging.

Long time PPU contributor, video producer, and designer, SOFTgrid steps into the fold with their EP “Knock”. Includes “FEELU” as featured in the 2024 summer blockbuster Bad Boys IV : Ride Or Die starring Martin Lawrence & Will Smith.

Demoscene and Cracktro enthusiast, SOFTgrid started life navigating the dark waters of text user interfaces, with early memories of Bulletin Board Systems, and as time and technology progressed, they eventually obtained the various bits of software needed for their creation, this was by means of WAREZ servers in private chat rooms far from town hall.

SOFTgrid is most at home organizing their existence to a grid, be it pixels or the linear movement of sound on a timeline. ASCII and ANSI are their preferred means of expression, SID and PAULA chips their preferred means of communication.

Fangen wir ganz von vorne an. Der Bandname: Er taucht auf im Werk der Beatles, von Cockney Rebel, Townes Van Zandt, Monty Python. Womit er auch einen ersten Hinweis auf die Musik liefert. Die Band: Vier Freunde, davon drei Musiker, 13 Alben im CV. Die Idee: Old school is the new modern. Pfeif auf Innovation. Pfeif auf Kunst. Konzentrier dich auf das, was du selbst am liebsten hörst. "Echte" Songs, mit Strophe, Refrain, zuweilen Mittelteil und wenn's passt auch mal Tonartwechsel. Melodiös, ohne seicht zu werden. Mitreißend, ohne aus der Kurve getragen zu werden. Deep, ohne kitschig zu werden. Oder, gottbewahre, esoterisch. Das Album: Alles wie immer, nur anders. Gitarren, Bass, Schlagzeug, plus hörbar mehr Keyboards/Synthesizers/Soundscapes. 12 Songs, die sich praktisch allen Facetten dieses Lebens widmen. Liebe, Körper, Kätzchen, Clubs, Theater, Astronomie, Wohnkonzepte, Mode, Müdigkeit, Müllentsorgung. Und, nicht zu vergessen, the way to the bathroom. Aufgenommen in Stuttgart, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Paks/Ungarn und Uppsala/Schweden. Between Planets eben. And there you are.

Die New-England-Extrem-Metal-Band Escuela Grind wird am 18. Oktober ihre neue LP „Dreams on Algorithms“ über MNRK Heavy veröffentlichen.
Aufgenommen im GodCity-Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, mit Produzent Kurt Ballou und gemastert von Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Betty Davis), ist die
Platte der mit Spannung erwartete Nachfolger von Escuela Grinds gefeiertem Debütalbum „Memory Theater“ aus dem Jahr 2022, das von der New
York Times als „ein Opus der Extremität“ gefeiert wurde.Escuela Grinds Reise durch die strafende Klanglandschaft des Grindcore war alles andere als
status quo. Ihr Mantra der Förderung von Inklusivität und Akzeptanz innerhalb extremer Musikgemeinschaften steht als Pfeiler des Fortschritts in
einer oft abgeschotteten und verschlossenen Subkultur. Sängerin Katerina Economou verbreitet den Geist und die Grundüberzeugungen der Band auf
jeder Bühne, auf der sie auftritt - sie verstärkt die Stimmen der Unterrepräsentierten und verbindet die Menschen auf einer Ebene, die tiefer geht als
die Musik.Dreams on Algorithms ist ein klanglicher Beweis für die Ideologien der Band - eine knüppelharte Darbietung von progressivem
Extrem-Metal, der die Genregrenzen überschreitet.

In Cornish slang it is said that things get done ‘dreckly’; that is, not now, not necessarily tomorrow, but, at some indefinite point...in the future...soon...

Fitting then that when Bristol’s Langkamer decamped to their de facto home-from-home in the picturesque south-west seaside town of Falmouth to record their third album in as many years (with an EP thrown in there too) - there was no particular need to rush things: “The process was much slower and more considered for Langzamer.”, drummer/vocalist Josh Jarman explains: “The first two albums felt pretty urgent, and each was finished in about 6 months, but this one feels a lot more deliberate. It’s taken us two years to get this done.”

Equally fitting too that Langzamer kicks off proceedings with ‘Heart of Tin’: the first bars are languidly lugubrious, so deliciously plucked-out and scuzzed-up that they linger in the air like passing smoke, magically, slowing time down to their own assured and steady will. And in so much time, that also feels like no time at all, comes an opening line of such stark, disarming confessionalism as might be found in the David Berman/Silver Jews songbook: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first? // They’re both bad news, but the bad is worse” It’s Langkamer in a nutshell: embattled, heart-on-sleeve Slacker Rock slaked with twinges of fret-sliding Americana, yet deeply embedded in the folk mythologies, colloquialisms and experiences of the band’s West Country roots.

Throughout Langzamer, confronting the listener again and again is this conflict between the band’s breezy, melodic charm, and the threat of something more sinister lurking in the undergrowth. While those more familiar with Langkamer’s oeuvre to date will have already come to know and love their often self-deprecating yet witty lyricism, the songs on Langzamer take this trademark ebullient gloominess to more challenging plains: “Principally this is an album about grief, and everything that entails...” explains Jarman. “in a sense death brought these songs to life.”

This thread is felt no more so than on ‘Salvation XL’. Inspired by a “particularly bad batch of food poisoning I had in Morocco”, Jarman explains, and beginning with the memorable opening line, “Jesus came to me a Burger King in Marrakech”, the band wind their way through the ‘big topics’: death and God.

“This trip was shortly after a few of my friends had passed away, and I think a lot of my thoughts and actions at that time were being influenced by my grief without me realising it.”, he explains, “Whenever I dwell on grief, and how death has given my life a new context, I come back to that. The ongoing battle between agnosticism and atheism. I wasn’t raised in a very strict religious home, but I come from a long line of methodists, and it’s interesting to think about the way theism and religion have shaped my life without me knowing it. I think that’s being channelled on this album a lot. The uncertainty that comes with disbelief.”

Our collective mortal frailties are also felt on lead single ‘Richard E Grant’. With a trademark bittersweetness, a track that begins as an appreciation of the actor’s humorous social media presence unfolds as a study on “finding healthy coping strategies to deal with loss.”. Elsewhere, ‘At The Lake’ - to the tune of mournful, folk-like balladry - explores binge-drinking culture and the troubled association between unhealthy behaviour and creativity. The listener is left in no mind as to the meaning behind the references to James Joyce and Janis Jopin as “souvenirs stolen from the dark”.

With themes as weighty as these strewn across the album’s 10 tracks, It seemed like a particularly astute move then for the band to personally approach Ben Woods, founder of the Golden Dregs, to assist on production duties. Not only would the delicate intimacies of Woods’ main project - see 2023’s On Grace & Dignity for reference - add an appropriate moodiness, but Woods was also born and raised in Cornwall, where the album was recorded; amidst “eating pasties” and breaks by the sea, Woods and the band transformed the vaults underneath iconic Falmouth venue The Cornish Bank into a makeshift studio for a weeks’ worth of recording. Occasionally friends would drop by to lighten the load; Zander Sharp tracking violin on ’Double Island’ and ‘Flight’; Josh Law and Ben Sadler of Breakfast Records labelmates Getdown Services, both of whom contribute to the soul-stirring ‘mountain’ chorus on ‘Aberfan’.

When compared to the brightness of 2023’s The Noon and Midnight Manual, Woods’ influence on the record seems indisputable. On the aforementioned ‘At The Lake’, for instance, which features backing vocals from Woods. Or, most acutely, on the piano strains of harrowing closer ‘Bluff’, a track with such chilling, spectral severity as to effect the band’s most heartbreaking effort to date. While it’s particularly sombre note on which end proceedings, it's also an appropriate one: Langzamer bravely stands tall as their most restrained, matured, and sincere collection to date. And almost by virtue of its impeccable honesty, those moments of sunshine-joy that creep through the cracks feel that much more golden.

William Tyler is a Nashville guitarist and composer. He spent years woodshedding and touring with Nashville groups like Lambchop and Silver Jews before breaking away to focus on his own version of instrumental guitar music. In the summer of 2022 he was fortunate to have an artist residency at Epicenter in Green River, Utah, a tiny high desert town three hours from anything, One of the other non-profit friends of Epicenter was The Tank is Rangely, Colorado. The Tank itself is a giant and tall disused water tower from the high days of train travel and used to store water to cool train engines and such. Empty for decades, it is now an internationally recognized destination for sound art and almost unparalleled echo/acoustics. William Tyler decided to book recording time there and chose to re-interpret all of the songs of hie 2019 album "Goes West" in a sparse yet cavernous solo acoustic setting: "Something about the frailty and space I wanted the songs to imply was lost in the over-production of the studio record, This felt like a reclamation of the songs and also a symbolic tribute to the stunning, haunted and vast possibilities of the American West, especially at the twilight of American Empire.’

Dublin based label Awareness Systems returns with their Combination 2 EP which is a split EP between label boss Pineal Navigation and the prolific Stanislav Tolkachev. After great support for Combination 1 EP from Marcel Dettman, Dave Clarke, Kaiser and Charlton to name a few, the second release continues it’s progress with four analogue live cuts furthering the label’s aim to heighten the energetic state through cerebral techno music.
With a track a piece on each side the record moves from the hypnotic machine rhythms of Stanislav Tolkachev’s A1 track "Battleground" which paints an apocalyptic landscape
with relentless bass heavy drum programming, into two tracks by Pineal Navigation which are both trippy and moody with heavy mo-town vibes. Lover's of Rob Hood and early Underground Resistance take note. The EP is rounded out by Tolkachev on B2 who delivers a relentless driving track of acidic machine funk.

US House Music legend Teddy Douglas of Basement Boys and Jasper St. Co. fame gets set to unleash his first solo artist album, ‘I’m Here’, on the iconic label, Nervous Records. Teddy has gone all out to deliver one of his most creative and musically diverse albums to date. ‘I’m Here’ is a colourful pallet of meaningful songs and grooves that reach far beyond Teddy’s signature soulful Baltimore House sound, with added infusions of Funk, Rock and Jazz, yet still loaded with plenty of Teddy’s trademark House and Disco sounds that we all know and love.

Across the album he’s pulled together an array of heavyweight international vocal talent including; UK vocal diva Pauline Taylor; Danish award winning Folk and Blues artist, Richard Farrell; Chi Town Hip House legend, Fast Eddie; dance music’s legendary No.1 vocal queen, Ultra Naté; up and coming Brit Soul talent, Sipho; and Buckshot from Blackmoon appearing as BDI Thug. From the shimmering cover of The Frontline Orchestra’s ‘Don’t Turn Your Back On Me’ with Pauline Taylor on the vocals, to the downtempo rocky vibes of ‘Help!’ with Sipho delivering a spine-tingling gravelly vocal, ‘I’m Here’ is testament to Teddy’s finely tuned expert musicianship and impeccable knack for penning great songs and delivering vibrant covers.

Baltimore’s Teddy Douglas has produced everyone from Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, Crystal Waters, Erykah Badu, Martha Wash and Ultra Nate’ and was an important figure in the development of the Baltimore “House” Sound. Teddy has held down a long and successful DJ career since 1983 staring out in Baltimore and spreading his wings globally gracing the decks at clubs such as Yellow in Japan to London’s Ministry of Sound and beyond. In 1985 he met Jay Steinhour and Thommy Davis, who later formed The Basement Boys production company. The Basement Boys have produced countless dance classics like Crystal Waters’ 1991 Gold single, ‘Gypsy Woman’. In the mid 90’s Teddy Douglas and Jay Steinhour opened Basement Boys Records and released club anthems from Teddy Douglas, Jasper St. Co., Ann Nesby, Those Guys, DJ Spen, Byron Stingly, Karizma, Kenny Bobien, Taja Seville and more

DJ Support from: Dave Lee, Purple Disco Machine, Michael Gray, Birdee, Dr Packer, John Morales, David Harness, Lenny Fontana

Sean’s debut album, ‘Down To The Disco’, comes as a 2 part vinyl series is a tight blend of soulful, disco, '80s boogie, and house music, featuring collaborations with artists such as Brian Lucas, Alexis Victoria Hall, Toni Sea, Nell Shakespeare, Elysha West, Octavia Lambertis, and Pav plus extensive production duties from Midnight Riot’s Yam Who? & Jaegerossa.

Sean Scanlan’s A highly respected UK DJ (Hed Kandi, Fierce Angel, Discopolis, Hat Club, and Ministry of Sound), As a producer his releases have made a significant impact on Traxsource, earning DJ support from industry legends like Joey Negro, DJ Meme, John Morales, Michael Gray, Dr. Packer, and Purple Disco Machine, among others. Inspired by labels such as Salsoul & Z Records, Sean is known for his dedication to producing authentic, high-quality Disco and House music, with a passion for creating vibrant sounds through real musicians, live strings, brass, bass, and percussion, ‘Down To The Disco’ is a must-listen for fans of classic disco house music.

Forgetting You Is Like Breathing Water, the self-titled debut from the duo of trumpeter Will Evans and guitarist, synthesist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Theo Trump, arrives like a vault revelation. It feels like a decades-old yet newly unearthed masterwork of gorgeous ambient improvisation, the sort of thing scholars live to research and shepherd into deluxe reissue.

The patient, crystalline chords that swell and resonate like a series of confessions; the textured brass murmurs that suggest a ’60s or ’70s Fire Music master at their most poignant. Provocative found-sound experiments threading arcane religious recordings through dystopian soundscapes. Ear-shattering free-noise tumult. Where and when did this music come from? Who are these voices?

As it turns out, Forgetting You Is Like Breathing Water springs from an engrossing human story, though it isn’t necessarily the one you’d expect. This work of stunning maturity is in fact an entrance by two little-known explorers in their early 20s, who grew up together in Virginia, in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It documents one of those perfect, sparkling moments in post-adolescence when big decisions and responsibilities are right around the corner, but for a spell, two young artists are able to create among the comforts and nostalgia of their shared past.

It also represents a reunion of sorts, as Evans and Trump connected as toddlers, became inseparable as boys, then pursued independent lives and creative paths as young adults. “Theo is my oldest friend,” Evans says, “and I feel like that’s what this band is — us meeting right in the middle of our interests.”

Now, having conjured this magic, they’ve detached once again: Evans, whose other works include the indie/avant-jazz unit Angelica X, is currently based in New York City. Trump recently moved to England, where he’d participated in his family’s theatre company, to go to school and further his solo ambient project. “This album didn’t start out as something super ambitious,” Evans explains. “It was more just an excuse to spend time together again and make music.”

***

In conversation, Evans and Trump are a delight, especially for cynics who might think that Gen-Z is only capable of doomscrolling. They come across as kindly young intellectuals who grew up using the internet as it was intended, for exposure to ideas and art across genres and generations. Trump points to indie-folk and the oracular post-rock of late Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and Gastr del Sol. Pressed for his guitar heroes, he cites Bill Orcutt, Mary Halvorson and Marc Ribot, and mentions his devotion to alt-country. Heyday electro-industrial stuff like Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails also meant a lot to him.

Evans is equally intrepid, though his background has a greater jazz focus. Ambrose Akinmusire, among today’s most thoughtfully commanding trumpeters, is a favorite. As for the soulful murmur he offers throughout Forgetting You, Pharoah Sanders’ wistful and lyrical contributions to Floating Points’ work is a touchstone.

The two grew up down the street from each other in the northern Piedmont town of Batesville, Virginia. Their families were friends, holidays were celebrated together and they became the most loyal of pals. As children they had a pretend band.

Then life unfolded, they attended different schools and their paths diverged. Evans discovered John Coltrane and became a jazz obsessive, as Trump found punk and hardcore and later began making ambient music. As a dedicated jazz trumpeter, Evans studied formally and widely; Trump was an autodidact, teaching himself guitar and absorbing synthesis and production techniques. The late teens and very early 20s brought moves away from home and back to home, as well as plenty of listening and learning. The Covid pandemic meant an opportunity to reconnect on long walks. Through it all, together and apart, they remained reverent of each other.

By early 2023, they found themselves living again among the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the evening, after giving trumpet lessons in Charlottesville, Evans would make the eerily beautiful trek “over the mountain” to Trump’s home in Staunton, Virginia. They’d talk and eat and begin to improvise, deep into the night. Evans played trumpet and sometimes drums. (Given the wee-hours recording schedule, the neighbors didn’t appreciate the latter.) Trump plugged a rickety, junk-store Telecaster-style guitar into a cheap solid-state amp and explored open tunings; he also layered on lap steel, electric bass, synths and electronics.

They locked in and relished each other’s gifts. In Trump, those include patience and intentionality and sonic decision-making; for Evans, a distinctive trumpet sound that both musicians think of as a singer’s voice. “Will’s playing is so thoughtful and well placed,” Trump says. “My goal from a producer’s mindset is that the trumpet will occupy the space that vocals would take.”

Often, they got lost in the best way. “The thing I look for most when I’m playing is that feeling of disappearing into what you’re doing,” Evans says. “Usually when that happens, the music is good.”

By the same token, they didn’t pursue free improvisation as an ethic, or as a pure process. Their goal was something closer to spontaneous composition. “We were trying to make good songs,” Evans says simply. Later, Trump did brilliant post-production work, expanding a modest setup into an enthralling soundworld. Under his judicious editorship, music that was wholly improvised sounds at times like a carefully composed new-music commission.

The results speak for themselves. “A Happy Death” summons up a swath of American desolation through the viewfinder of Wim Wenders. “Flesh of Lost Summers” and “Partings” are highlights from an essential ECM LP that never was. “A Collapse of Horses” infuses those seminal post-rock influences with the plod of doom metal or slowcore. The album’s final track, “The Mountains Are a Dream That Calls to Me,” was in fact the first thing the duo recorded, as an evocation of those twilit drives across the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Looking back at what we chose to name the songs,” Evans says, “and some of the sounds and how they make me feel, there is an air of impermanence and loss to this album.”

“I’m excited for everything that’s to come,” he adds, “but I recently thought, ‘Damn — that’s not going to happen again.’ It was a privilege for us to have that time together.”

SITW’s fourth studio album is a satirical celebration of mistakes. A joyous lambasting of everyone and everything that’s wrong in the world, against the real-time backdrop of global uncertainty, corruption and political unrest.

A London Charivari. Rough Music. A gleeful old-fashioned cancelling. A Chaunter’s delight. 14th Century recording demons collecting mistakes in a sack. Women mugging rich merchants. Nettles being pissed on. Shit food at Lent. A terrible plan. An undoing. The aftermath of a car crash. Catching people doing something they shouldn’t. Nursery rhymes reimagined as death threats. Behind the sarcastic acerbic delivery, Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter convey thoughtful, essential interpretations encouraging us all to check ourselves, through the multi-layered music of cities through time.

This is about as far away from pastoral folk music as you can get.

In their typical wry city-weary style, a beady eye is cast over those committing wrongs in plain sight, with Kearey narrating a series of tales of people fucking up, or being fucked up, with some brief respite in Lavender - one of London’s oldest street melodies - the album being named after the 14th Century story of Tittivilus, the recording demon, who collects scribes’ mistakes (pokes) and the idle chatter of the “liars with their hairy tongues” congregation.

Despite this seriousness, the album’s working-class dry gallows humour carries a stoic “if you don’t laugh you’ll cry” feeling amongst the corruption, scandals and barefaced lies we all observe on a daily basis, with a warning that “only you can fix your deficits” and “it’s your words and deeds that matter…and let me tell you, they speak volumes”.

The core of the record imagines a sound of traditional London music, where the musical continuum is unbroken by the population decimated by the world wars, or by gentrification and social cleansing that has forced communities apart, and yet absorbs all the influences of all the communities that call London their home.

Carter and Kearey attempted sessions at The George Tavern, Whitechapel, and in Spitalfields, at Denis Severs’ House, and a restored weaver’s townhouse, carrying the aesthetic of the record in their heads as they moved from location to location, before settling into an old factory building and their own workshop. The resulting sparse and economical sound is harsher, more present, more essentially them. It is a mighty haranguing that demands your attention.

The Last Dinner Party have announced a new album of covers and acoustic versions. The collection, which includes a soaring rendition of Sparks‘ ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’, will arrive on October 11. CD Description: Prelude to Ecstasy: Covers and Acoustics’ on 1 disc CD, housed in a beautiful gatefold CD sleeve featuring new artwork. This edition features the critically acclaimed studio album plus curated acoustic versions and covers. LP Descirption: ‘Prelude to Ecstasy: Covers and Acoustics’ on a 2-disc limited edition Amber vinyl, housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve featuring new artwork. This edition features the critically acclaimed studio album plus curated acoustic versions and covers.

The Pogues - The Best Of The Pogues pressed on Orange Vinyl including the classic tracks Fairytale Of New-York, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, A Rainy Night In Soho and more. Fourteen songs that encapsulate the lyrical genius of Shane MacGowan and the musical mayhem of The Pogues.

‘What makes Sex Swing so powerful is that they transcend the limitations of rock music. Their sound is so full of possibilities, violence, sexuality, sacrifice, even religion. If there was a future to look forward to for heavy guitar music, this is it’ The Quietus The locals call it Sop Ruak – eighty thousand square miles of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine. “It really is an endless seam of activity,” Sex Swing frontman Dan Chandler explains of Golden Triangle – both the title of their new album and the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos that inspired it. To know this contradictory corner of the world is to understand fully why the cult-beloved noise-rock artisans turned to it when writing their hotly-anticipated third full-length. The real-life Golden Triangle is a groundswell of both natural wonder and drug production, and who combines beauty and narcotic brutality better than Sex Swing? For a decade now, this
collective of revered UK underground musicians, comprising members of Earth, Mugstar, The Keep and Jaaw, have been pulling audiences into drug- like slipstreams with their alchemy of pummelling rhythms, towering guitars, and unrelenting saxophone through which glimmers of light occasionally pierce through. No wonder their Golden Triangle is an album telling distortion-shrouded tales from one of the most storied, enigmatic places on the planet, with enough invention within to fill eighty thousand miles and more.
Where does this violent, hypnotic aural travelogue take you within the Sop Ruak? The seven tracks that make up The Golden Triangle see the band – completed by bassist Jason Stoll, drummer Stuart Bell, guitarist Jodie Cox, synthesist/guitarist Oli Knowles and saxophonist Colin Webster – adventure first to ‘The Confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers,’ full of shimmering orchestration and feather-light ambience. Then come stops in ‘Myawaddy’, named after a small town embroiled in bloodshed on the border of Myanmar
and Thailand, and ‘Boten, Route 13’ – sparked by stories of a seemingly endless stretch of road from Laos into China. Before long, listeners are plunged into ‘Hpakant’, one of the album’s most invigorating and singular moments, lyrically inspired by a jade mine in Myanmar, where the spoils of forced labour are exchanged for prostitution and methanphetamine. The result is a mesmerising slow-burn of sax, snaking rhythms and sinister spoken word courtesy of the Scottish-born Bruce McClure, who “took the theme and turned it into a sci-fi story of exploitation and vice,” explains the frontman. It’s a track that, like the rest of Golden Triangle, underlines the evolution Sex Swing have undertaken since forming in 2014. From the raw and primitive sounds of the self-titled debut full-length, followed up by the coruscatingType II in 2020. Sex Swing’s third effort retains those early primitive elements and adds layers of structure and complexity. Golden Triangle initial formation was that of programmed beats and bedroom recordings shared electronically in the height of the pandemic. Those ideas were then completed during intensive writing sessions at a secluded farm in Oxfordshire.
Album credits consist of recording by Stanley Gravett at Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, mixing by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, mastering from James Plotkin, and the continued aesthetic collaboration with artist Alex Bunn. Golden Triangle bristles with a rawness familiar to fans of the British sonic punishers, but adds new elements indicative of a group never resting on their laurels or sitting in one place. Why would they, after all? There’s an entire world of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine out there to be explored. The Golden Triangle, it seems, is just the beginning.

‘What makes Sex Swing so powerful is that they transcend the limitations of rock music. Their sound is so full of possibilities, violence, sexuality, sacrifice, even religion. If there was a future to look forward to for heavy guitar music, this is it’ The Quietus The locals call it Sop Ruak – eighty thousand square miles of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine. “It really is an endless seam of activity,” Sex Swing frontman Dan Chandler explains of Golden Triangle – both the title of their new album and the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos that inspired it. To know this contradictory corner of the world is to understand fully why the cult-beloved noise-rock artisans turned to it when writing their hotly-anticipated third full-length. The real-life Golden Triangle is a groundswell of both natural wonder and drug production, and who combines beauty and narcotic brutality better than Sex Swing? For a decade now, this
collective of revered UK underground musicians, comprising members of Earth, Mugstar, The Keep and Jaaw, have been pulling audiences into drug- like slipstreams with their alchemy of pummelling rhythms, towering guitars, and unrelenting saxophone through which glimmers of light occasionally pierce through. No wonder their Golden Triangle is an album telling distortion-shrouded tales from one of the most storied, enigmatic places on the planet, with enough invention within to fill eighty thousand miles and more.
Where does this violent, hypnotic aural travelogue take you within the Sop Ruak? The seven tracks that make up The Golden Triangle see the band – completed by bassist Jason Stoll, drummer Stuart Bell, guitarist Jodie Cox, synthesist/guitarist Oli Knowles and saxophonist Colin Webster – adventure first to ‘The Confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers,’ full of shimmering orchestration and feather-light ambience. Then come stops in ‘Myawaddy’, named after a small town embroiled in bloodshed on the border of Myanmar
and Thailand, and ‘Boten, Route 13’ – sparked by stories of a seemingly endless stretch of road from Laos into China. Before long, listeners are plunged into ‘Hpakant’, one of the album’s most invigorating and singular moments, lyrically inspired by a jade mine in Myanmar, where the spoils of forced labour are exchanged for prostitution and methanphetamine. The result is a mesmerising slow-burn of sax, snaking rhythms and sinister spoken word courtesy of the Scottish-born Bruce McClure, who “took the theme and turned it into a sci-fi story of exploitation and vice,” explains the frontman. It’s a track that, like the rest of Golden Triangle, underlines the evolution Sex Swing have undertaken since forming in 2014. From the raw and primitive sounds of the self-titled debut full-length, followed up by the coruscatingType II in 2020. Sex Swing’s third effort retains those early primitive elements and adds layers of structure and complexity. Golden Triangle initial formation was that of programmed beats and bedroom recordings shared electronically in the height of the pandemic. Those ideas were then completed during intensive writing sessions at a secluded farm in Oxfordshire.
Album credits consist of recording by Stanley Gravett at Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, mixing by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, mastering from James Plotkin, and the continued aesthetic collaboration with artist Alex Bunn. Golden Triangle bristles with a rawness familiar to fans of the British sonic punishers, but adds new elements indicative of a group never resting on their laurels or sitting in one place. Why would they, after all? There’s an entire world of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine out there to be explored. The Golden Triangle, it seems, is just the beginning.

A joint collaboration between long standing L.A garage label In The Red, Universal Music Australia and spearheaded by Feel Presents and Saints founder Ed Kuepper, the deluxe edition of (I’m) Stranded will feature 4 x vinyl long players covering all the band’s studio and live recordings from 1976 thru 1977 and includes; • The iconic debut album remastered for vinyl for the first time in over 40 years • A five-song live performance from Paddington Town Hall Sydney 3.4.1977 appearing on vinyl for the first time. • A full live performance from the Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival, London November 1977 appearing on vinyl for the first time • All three tracks from the 1977 This Perfect Day 12” single and all four tracks from the 1977 1-2-3-4 double 7” single • The previously unreleased 1976 demo mix of the full (I’m) Stranded album. In addition to all that vinyl (I’m) Stranded deluxe edition will also features a 28 page 12” x 12” photo essay of the band covering their origins from 1973 through the end of of ’77, authorised band history, an 8” x 10” 1976 promo photo and a (I’m) Stranded sticker.

From Cape Town to Cairo, and now to fans, stages and screens around the world, PJ Morton shares his newest album, fully made in the motherland. Cape Town to Cairo is a collection of songs that he created in 30 days throughout 4 countries in Africa — South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. Described as the best trip of his life, this transformative journey began as just the seed of an idea last fall, but instantly grew into his most sonically-sprawling and immediately-inspired record to date. With no music, lyrics or preconceptions, he stepped foot onto the continent with two thoughts: a wild dream to write and record his next LP in less than a month, and a mission to immerse himself in as many different cultures, stories and communities as he could.

Surrounded by featured collaborators like Fireboy DML, Mádé Kuti, Asa, Ndabo Zulu, and Soweto Spiritual Singers, as well as additional producers including P.Priime and The Cavemen., his own live band and local musicians, PJ Morton used music as his common language. Always his greatest way of communicating, he expressed his feelings and experiences of Africa through songs he and others were forming together on the spot, side-by-side in different studios, cities and towns for the very first time. None of the tracks were written before he arrived or after he left, and the arrangements showcase both the countries’ native genres as well as the innate, stylistic instincts that have made Morton a 5x GRAMMY-winner and 20x GRAMMY-nominee, whether it be his soul, R&B and gospel roots, or the pop prowess he has further honed as a member of Maroon 5.

“When you’ve been in music as long as I have, you’re constantly looking for inspiration,” says PJ Morton. “And you’re looking for the things that made you want to do it in the first place. I’ve made albums every type of way you can think, so I wanted to try something I hadn’t done before. As a Black American who had never been to South or West Africa, I knew there was something there waiting for me. So I put a little pressure on myself to make a full record in a month, but I also said, ‘If I’m gonna go to Africa, I want to see Africa.’ We made music, but we also formed connections. We made new friends, and this is just the start.”

ESSENCE adds, "This trip is not just a physical move, it's a spiritual return…The soul of Africa pulses through every note he plays and every word he sings,” and VIBE adds that “the multi-faceted artist is fully embracing a new phase in his life.” Cape Town to Cairo marks PJ Morton’s first album since 2022’s Watch The Sun, which featured collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Nas, JoJo, Wale, Jill Scott, Alex Isley and more. Since then, Morton has become the first Black composer to write an original song for a Disney attraction, having just finished making the music for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, opening on June 28th, 2024 at Disney World and Fall 2024 at Disneyland. He also won his latest GRAMMY earlier this year, worked with Samara Joy on “Why I’m Here” for Regina King’s Netflix film Shirley, and landed a cover of his song “Don’t Let Go” as the soundtrack to Apple’s iPhone 15 commercial.

PJ Morton recently returned from headlining his debut shows in Asia, New Zealand and Australia, and announced an extensive Cape Town to Cairo Tour for North America summer and fall 2024. Following iconic performances at New Orleans Jazz Fest, The Kennedy Center, Roots Picnic and Newport Jazz Fest, Morton will embark on a run of more than 25 dates across the country, including New York City’s Beacon Theatre, Chicago’s Chicago Theatre, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Los Angeles’ The Wiltern, and dozens of others.

On the heels of his headline tour and Maroon 5’s Las Vegas residency, PJ Morton will publish a life-spanning new book titled Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. The memoir sees him recounting and reflecting upon a trailblazing path that continues to defy expectations and straddle the tensions of music and faith, race and culture, expression and identity. As the son of two pastors and gospel artists, Morton grew up grounded by the sound of the Church, but soon found himself drawn to R&B, pop and soul, writing songs that the industry, his family and community struggled to understand. In the face of mounting pressure, rejection and constant miscategorization, he committed himself to a steadfast path of independence: making music on his own terms, launching his own record label, joining one of the biggest bands in the world while staying true to his New Orleans roots. The risks he took paid off, and through his transformation from preacher's kid to the busiest man in showbiz – performing everywhere from his local congregation to the Super Bowl, collaborating with everyone from his father to Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Jon Batiste and Lil Wayne – he hopes to encourage readers and listeners to overcome obstacles as they seek their dreams.

"Justin Townes Earle released Kids In The Street, his first record on New West Records, in May of 2017. The album received critical acclaim and further cemented Justin’s legacy as one of the best active songwriters in music. Songs like, “Champagne Corolla” showcased his wry sense of humor as well as his deft ability to build upon the music that came before him while at the same time creating something unique and new. Familiar, inventive, creative, and clever.

Justin would release his second album with New West Records in May of 2019. The Saint of Lost Causes was hailed as one of the best albums of 2019 by Rolling Stone Magazine with “half a dozen or so career classics.” “I was trying to look through the eyes of America,” Earle says. “Because I believe in the idea of America - that everybody’s welcome here and has a right to be here.” Earle tells these American stories in detail and without judgement. While some songs cite historic events like “Flint City Shake It,” and “Don’t Drink The Water,"" other tracks present fictionalized narratives that are no less harrowing, or true-to-life , as heard in ""Appalachian Nightmare,” “The Saint Of Lost Causes,” and “Over Alameda.""

Justin Townes Earle was always a champion of the underdog and All In features in depth looks at the hopeful, and the hopeless. Fueled by empathy, baked in the blues, Justin was never without something poignant or humorous to say. Sadly, Justin passed away in 2020 at the age of 38. ALL IN: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years) is a fitting tribute to Justin’s legacy. The collection features many never heard before songs, demos, and cover tunes, spanning his time as a New West Records recording artist."

It took four years for The Lumineers to follow up their platinum-plus, multi-Grammy-nominated, self-titled debut. Cleopatra proves Schultz and Fraites - along with cellist/vocalist Neyla Pekarek- are neither taking their good fortune for granted, nor sitting back on their laurels. With the help of producer Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers, The Avett Brothers), the man Wesley calls "our shaman," the band ensconced themselves in Clubhouse, a recording studio high atop a hill in rural Rhinebeck, N.Y., not far from Woodstock. The Lumineers then set about trying to make musical sense of their three-year-plus roller coaster ride. Their skill at setting a visual story to music comes through amidst the delicate, deceptively simple acoustic soundscapes. This time, though, bassist Byron Isaac provides a firm, low-end on the apocalyptic opener "Sleep on the Floor," a ghostly tune about getting out of town before the "subways flood and the bridges break." It's a densely packed, cinematic song that echoes Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" and John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Cleopatra also deals with what Wesley terms "the elephant in the room," the band's success and the way it can sometimes put a target on your back. The syncopated piano rolls in "Ophelia" , the organic sound of fingers squeaking on guitar strings in "Angela" and the Faustian bargain described in "My Eyes" consider the perils of getting what you wish for, with everyone knowing your name, and your songs. The band had total artistic freedom in writing and recording the album, so Wesley and Jer pushed the envelope. "We continue to make the kind of records we want to," says Wesley. "We believe in this music. It's a true labor of love. We just want to keep reaching more people with our songs." Given the evidence on The Lumineers' sophomore album Cleopatra, that shouldn't be a problem.

Two seminal 12" mixes of a pair of enormous tracks from Surface. Housed in the super-rare and - until now - French-only picture sleeve of the eternal "Falling In Love", we've backed that classic with Be With's favourite deconstructed mix of the swirling electronic soul / synth-driven slow jam "Happy". These sought-after versions have never been paired on the same record before. This fresh Be With edition ensures these legendary tracks now sound, looks and feel as sensational as they deserve to. You know what to do...

American post-disco/R&B trio Surface were a New Jersey vocal group made up of Bernard Jackson, David Townsend and David Conley. The majesty of boogie ballad "Falling In Love" was their first single, released in 1983 on Salsoul Records. The mellow magic of this track is loved the world over; it's a feel-good smooth boogie jam that's forever coveted. The slick, crystal clear beat, the legendary minimoog bassline, the melody, Karen Copeland's superb vocal, the great flute solo (referenced on the cover) all of it is literally perfect and beautifully encapsulates that mid 80s international club vibe. This here is the original Shep Pettibone mix in its entirety - it's the only one you really need.

Flip for the legendary "Love Mix" of 1987 hit single “Happy". You all know the original. At least, you *should* all know it. But the "Love Mix" is a deconstructed, boldly produced mix which is the one the heads have turned to for so long. Yet, in our opinion, its hypnotic groove has flown under the radar for too many years. This killer remix begins with Jackson's spine-tingling isolated vocal, cleverly subverting expectations by actually delivering the first words of the original's second verse "You must be Heaven sent...Sent into my life...And I compliment you baby...Baby" before a heavy 808 drum kicks hard with echoey handclaps. It's super sparse and a dubbed out slow-mo boogie banger like no other. The synth bass, atmospheric synth pads and synthesized flute glide in and out with effortless style and the whole thing is a wonder to behold.

It's a slow jam, for sure, but crafted in the straight up funk tradition, using the digital tools of the day and this sparser than sparse version almost sounds like a precursor to UK Street Soul. A unique combination of undeniable funk, electro beats and an earnest, youthful tenor; it should be slamming out of every jeep forevermore.

Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 12" well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year. Simply flawless.

It took four years for The Lumineers to follow up their platinum-plus, multi-Grammy-nominated, self-titled debut. Cleopatra proves Schultz and Fraites - along with cellist/vocalist Neyla Pekarek- are neither taking their good fortune for granted, nor sitting back on their laurels. With the help of producer Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers, The Avett Brothers), the man Wesley calls "our shaman," the band ensconced themselves in Clubhouse, a recording studio high atop a hill in rural Rhinebeck, N.Y., not far from Woodstock. The Lumineers then set about trying to make musical sense of their three-year-plus roller coaster ride. Their skill at setting a visual story to music comes through amidst the delicate, deceptively simple acoustic soundscapes. This time, though, bassist Byron Isaac provides a firm, low-end on the apocalyptic opener "Sleep on the Floor," a ghostly tune about getting out of town before the "subways flood and the bridges break." It's a densely packed, cinematic song that echoes Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" and John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Cleopatra also deals with what Wesley terms "the elephant in the room," the band's success and the way it can sometimes put a target on your back. The syncopated piano rolls in "Ophelia" , the organic sound of fingers squeaking on guitar strings in "Angela" and the Faustian bargain described in "My Eyes" consider the perils of getting what you wish for, with everyone knowing your name, and your songs. The band had total artistic freedom in writing and recording the album, so Wesley and Jer pushed the envelope. "We continue to make the kind of records we want to," says Wesley. "We believe in this music. It's a true labor of love. We just want to keep reaching more people with our songs." Given the evidence on The Lumineers' sophomore album Cleopatra, that shouldn't be a problem.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Therapy?'s Troublegum album , this 2LP set contains the original album pressed on 180g silver vinyl plus a further 14 tracks rounding up B-sides and bonus tracks of the era pressed on 180g lavender vinyl. By the time Therapy? released Troublegum in 1994 they were already well established, but it was the first time many had encountered the group's intensely melodic blend of hard rock and indie, an arresting combination of old and new, striking in its immediacy. Formed by schoolfriends in Larne, Northern Ireland, Therapy? consistently pushed the rock trio to its limits, often saying that their use of feedback was their fourth instrument. Singer, guitarist and writer Andy Cairns, bassist Michael McKeegan and drummer Fyfe Ewing had been playing together since 1989, and were signed to indie label Wiiija the following year on the strength of their live reputation. After two albums with Wiiija, they were signed to A&M Records, and their 1992 album, Nurse, reached the UK Top 40. The group paired with Mission producer Chris Sheldon and went to Chipping Norton Studios to record a follow-up. The results were stunning. Lead single "Screamager" (on the Shortsharpshock EP) reached the UK Top 10 in March 1993; follow-up "Turn" made the Top 20. By the time Troublegum was released in February 1994, it contained both singles, plus "Nowhere" and "Trigger Inside", further hits from the album. Troublegum is warm and powerful, showing that grunge was not just the preserve of bands from the western seaboard of the US. Mixed without any discernible gaps between tracks, the album offers 45 minutes of attack. Amid the originals, the band's post punk roots are shown by their storming cover of Isolation by Joy Division. Widely acclaimed, Troublegum reached No 5 in the UK charts, went Gold and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. It sounds as fresh today as it did in 1994.

JD McPherson has created something unique and amazing with his latest album, Nite Owls. His first album release since 2018’s critically acclaimed Christmas classic, SOCKS. Over the past 5+ years, McPherson has stayed consistently busy writing new songs while at the same time touring with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Being a touring musician offers the chance to see the sights, tour the town and pick up some inspiration from the local record shop. With Nite Owls, JD wanted to try something new and different. He wanted to take the inspiration from multiple decades and styles and incorporate them into his own sound. “The initial idea for the record was: It’s like if The late-60s Ventures were the session band on the first New Order record.” Says, McPherson. Idea achieved. Nite Owls delivers the signature sounds of vintage garage-rock while also seamlessly bridging the sounds of Bowie and Alan Vega. Songs such as “Sunshine Getaway”, “The Rock and Roll Girls” and “I Can’t Go Anywhere with You” sound like Chuck Berry is jamming with Buddy Holly. While song’s like, “Nite Owls” and “Don’t Travel Through the Night Alone” give a nod to the Factory sound from the UK. The throwback sound of the lone instrumental track “The Phantom Lover of New Rochelle” would make Dick Dale ride and Link Wray rumble. With Nite Owls, McPherson takes inspiration from multiple genres of the past and combines them together to evolve a sound that is all his own.

“Big City Blues” is the title of the new – fifth – album by the Antwerp band Handkerchief , which will be released on September 27. As the title suggests, the big city now plays a more central role in the band's world. This results in a harder rocking sound, more guitars, but
still the bluesy feeling with a steamy horn section and the rough voice of Christof Annaert, which also sounds like he has single-handedly cleared every dark alley in the big city of every possible scum.

Their latest albums “Mutiny Ballads & Fishguarding Songs” and “Ghosts of this Town” were particularly well received by the press and fans. Singles such as “They Drive by Night”, “Human Sense” and “Lucky Day” were regularly heard on national radio: including Willy,
Radio 1… and the band played dozens of shows in Belgium and the Netherlands. This fall the band will go on tour to present the new album.

The inspiration for "Album l" and "Album Il" began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne"s Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film "Drive My Car" was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/ experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album "Under Pressure"

The inspiration for "Album l" and "Album Il" began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne"s Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film "Drive My Car" was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/ experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album "Under Pressure"

Take a trip to Paradise Pop. 10 with beloved singer-songwriter and producer, Christian Lee Hutson. Following his 2022 release Quitters - produced by longtime collaborators Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst - he enlisted the help of Bridgers once again to produce. The album title is based on a real-life small town where Hutson spent a portion of his childhood. He takes listeners on a journey of autobiographical fiction with his signature wit and sharp storytelling. There are retable themes of love and the limbo of life in his narration across an elevated indie rock sound. In addition to Bridgers assist, Hutson"s partner Maya Hawke contributed vocals and co-wrote several songs.