Search:the ultimate

Steve Reich remains one of the most important figures in 20th century music. As part of the so-called "Big Four" of New York minimalists (along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Philip Glass), Reich influenced both the classical world and contemporary pop music.





Back in print ! Steve Reich remains one of the most important figures in 20th century music. Though he studied at the prestigious arts institutions Julliard and Mills College, by the mid-1960s Reich set about dismantling the very orthodoxy that he had been trained in. Forming a new musical language based on repetitive processes, Reich became established as part of the so-called "Big Four" of New York minimalists (along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Philip Glass). Reich's influence can easily be seen today in both the classical world and contemporary pop music."Four Organs" is the ultimate minimalist composition. Performed by Reich, Glass, Art Murphy and Steve Chambers, four identical Farfisa organs strike a single chord and gradually lengthen each note to produce polyrhythms between the players. Anchored by Jon Gibson's stoically-steady pulse on maracas, the piece deconstructs its opening burst to a sustained mass of sound – stretching the tones to create (in Reich's words) "slow-motion music."

Inspired by Reich's early training on drums, "Phase Patterns" treats the keyboards like tuned percussion instruments: a basic rhythm pattern is played in unison and almost imperceptibly increases tempo to move out-of-sync. Each progressive cycle emphasizes unique figures that are not generated by an individual alone, but rather emerge from the communal expression of the group. Originally released on Shandar in 1971, Four Organs / Phase Patterns is one of the most highly regarded avant-garde recordings of the past 50 years. This first-time vinyl reissue features cover photography by artist Michael Snow and is recommended for fans of Neu!, Glenn Branca and Tim Hecker.

Una Magnum Special Per Tony Saitta (aka. Blazing Magnum: Strange Shadows In An Empty Room)> is a cop movie directed in year 1976 by Alberto De Martino and starring Stuart Whitman, Martin Landau, Tisa Farrow, and Gayle Hunnicutt. It was co-produced by Italy and Canada. An Ottawa police captain searches for the person who poisoned his sister, who was attending the university in Montreal. Later on, he desperately starts to use his own brutal methods to find the killer, but the truth turns out to be something different than what he had expected.

Trovajoli has composed and conducted a score that elegantly occupies a place of all respect in the Cops/Giallo movies’ scoring. The score alternates between action-driven funky music to nostalgic/romantic music in a reflection of the two dimensions of the protagonist: his cop job full of tasks and his private life full of sadness, but he becomes the superhero of the story by taking vengeance against those who hurt him by killing his beloved sister, and ultimately discovering the unexpected truth. For this vinyl album the original record master in stereo sound was used, restored and remastered to the highest quality. More or less the music in the movie is featured on this album, prepared for release by the composer himself for a very fine listening experience. Enjoy a half-hour with Armando Trovajoli and his cool sound!

In the spring of 1954 Jazz-great Dave Brubeck did a tour of North American college campuses. Paul Desmond (alto sax), Bob Bates (bass), and Joe Dodge (drums) joined him and their support of Brubeck’s uniformly flawless, ultimately producing what many consider as the most memorable music in the artist’s cannon. Indeed, the genre gets schooled as the quartet leans in with striking energy and finesse. Enjoyed among college students in the 1950s and early 1960s both the tour and album brought Jazz to a whole new generation. Jazz Goes To College is available on black vinyl.

Formed by Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland, the Clarke-Boland Sextett, with the participation of numerous musicians from both Europe and the United States, made significant contributions to the development of jazz in Europe. At the core of this ensemble, the powerhouse sextet consisting of Kenny Clarke, Francy Boland, Sahib Shihab, Jimmy Woode, Joe Harris, and Sadi came together to record the album "Music For The Small Hours" in 1967, and it is now set to be reissued with an obi.

This album spans a wide range of styles, from standards like Burt Bacharach's "Wives & Lovers" to Brazilian and Afro-Cuban influences such as Luiz Bonfá's "Ebony Samba" and Dizzy Gillespie's "Tin Tin Deo." Additionally, it features original compositions like Shihab's "Please, Don't Leave," where he takes on vocal duties. The entire recording exudes a sophisticated and relaxed mood, showcasing the utmost skill of this formidable sextet. "Music For The Small Hours" is a masterpiece that deserves a place in the history of European jazz, boasting the ultimate level of refinement.

The daughter of a Brazilian mother and German father, Astrud Gilberto achieved international prominence with “The Girl From Ipanema,” an inauspicious debut

recorded for the landmark album her husband, Joao Gilberto, created with Stan Getz in 1963. Moving to the USA, where she was subsequently based,

she continued her solo career and also toured with Getz, with whom she later began a relationship. Over-the-top classic That Girl From Ipanema allowed

her to revisit the hit in the sweeping high-fidelity full-spectrum setting of a disco big-band,

the album overseen by MFSB and Salsoul mainstay, Vince Montana.

Along with individual takes of Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale” and Harry Nilsson’s “The Puppy Song,”

original “Far Away” benefits from the understated trumpet of Chet Baker, but the album ultimately revels in all things disco,

the Brazilian element coming courtesy of percussionist

Dom Um Romao on select tracks. Crank up the volume and tune in to the brass, piano and percussion that percolates under Astrud’s characteristically soft

and sultry vocals to fully experience this underrated gem.

In 1967, the English poet George Duffell, alias Jorgy Porgy, decided to set his verses to music, birthing J.P. Sunshine with guitarist/vocalist Rod Goodway of pop act the Pack (later with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown), the line-up expanding with a bassist and bongo player, Duffell’s girlfriend on percussion, and former Pack guitarist Andy Rickell on electric lead. These resultant recordings, cut on basic gear in Duffell’s flat, evidence an individual psychedelic sound, marked by the incestuous claustrophobia of the group’s romantic rivalries, the meandering lyrics and disjointed melodies pointing to the pervasive drug use that ultimately squashed the project. This is psych with a difference: rare, rough, and freaky!

"I wish I could turn or turn back" "Sometimes it’s hard to resist the feeling that there was a crucial turn in life out of which everything else flowed. Maybe in our more reasonable frames of mind we can dismiss that thought and take our plans and intentions very seriously. But, there’s often a lurking conviction that, like the oak from the acorn or the movie from its opening scene, it is already all there. In the first moment of Relics of Our Life, anything could happen, anything could come next. But as the suspense is broken with the first notes, the world of the record springs up as both an internal experience and a landscape of which we will learn something, but definitely not everything. The songs induce a swimming sense of cycling repetition and variation where shifting details tilt the ground under us. The round and round doesn’t make us dizzy; like breathing the right way, it makes us both heavier and higher. "Pawliczek’s songs can be located in the company of the greats of Flying Nun Records – maybe the delicacy of The Great Unwashed with the heavy heart of The Verlaines and smartness of The Chills. But, ultimately, his interests are elsewhere – a heart-break song over an earthly lover feels like only the tipping point for longing and devotion that outstrips the personal. In this sense, Popul Vuh for their hymnal geometry and switched-on Palestrina, and Terry Riley for cosmic elation come to mind. The songs have sweeping and cinematic proportions and depths of field constrained by a pop economy love of leanness. "But who’s supplicating whom here? The songs’ devotional quality is not upward to the sacred or even outward to the profane. It’s more like a magnetism between its elements – sounds, voices and rhythms. The track No Talk intones “why don’t you talk to me?” over a driving guitar and one feels visited by some kind of archaic god on whom the tables have been turned, finding himself jealous of our thousand little thoughts. The record finishes with his distorted lilting dance, trying to seduce us with some red red wine that is no one’s blood, but everyone’s favorite drug." -- Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) 2024

The new album from Lebanese-American musician Solpara, Melancholy Sabotage, marks his full length debut and return to Nicolas Jaar's Other People label. While it was recorded over Covid lockdowns, Jaar had been talking about wanting to back a Solpara full-length since he put out Swing. The album came to life while Solpara was living alone in a Brooklyn loft, collecting unemployment checks and viewing ample free time as the artist residency he'd dreamed of; he'd previously been forced to make music in odd windows between numerous jobs and the unmerciful pace of city life. Free from obligations, he would wake up early to take Arabic lessons online, read Tracey Thorn's autobiography, and skateboard the deserted streets, then come home and design sounds until he had a track that felt like it needed to be released. While this easy going lifestyle was peaceful in many ways, Solpara found more complex inspiration in the emotion that stemmed from participation in Black Lives Matter protests and the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, which rocked all of his extended family members in Lebanon.

Melancholy Sabotage explores the theme of sabotaging melancholy. Echoing sounds from the post-punk, trip-hop, and ambient genres, it is about sabotaging the cycle of melancholy and looking at this process without ignoring the sources that put it into motion. It may be compared to a rattling breaking free from retention, reaching states of dreamy euphoria while simultaneously acknowledging the sources of retention, viewed from above. The sources can be personal, political, or socio-economic. They are to be apprehended post-melancholy, after the sabotaging of the initial cycle of melancholy. In other words, it is about transcending melancholy and understanding where it came from with some distance. It may be beautiful and healthy to feel for a while, but how may one sabotage this cycle when it becomes paralyzing? Ultimately, this album is about feeling melancholy but also resisting it and naming the sources that initiated it.

"Time To Hold Better" points to neglect on both personal and group levels. "This Time Last Year" is a personal time capsule. "We Keep Us Safe" is about solidarity, autonomy, and care witnessed within protest groups. "Melancholy Sabotage" is a sonic exploration of the album concept illustrating anger and sadness, but finally, resistance and liberation from these feelings. "Measures" is a more fluid exploration of the latter after the initial storm has passed. "We Don't Owe" points to bigger bodies inflicting harm on populations that we owe nothing to. "Breaking Points" harkens the times that we may lose focus while pushing to transcend melancholy. "Eviction" is about being pushed out of a space unwillingly while simultaneously being forced to move forward.

Melancholy Sabotage pulls from a range of genres, uniting electronic sounds under the same post-punky glow. It pulls from complex, heavy themes including damage and injustice, presenting Solpara's most moving body of work to date. It highlights the poignance that has always been at the heart of his fluid sound, which caters to dancefloors and avant-garde spaces in equal measure. Working with a mix of dissonant guitars, distorted drum machines, and distant, reverb-washed vocals, Melancholy Sabotage is Solpara's uneasiest outing to date. The record pinpoints the duality at the heart of Solpara's sound, which is as plaintive as it is searing.

First in a series of reissues from Pierre Jaubert’s Parisound studio archive on Strut Record IS Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Malik,' originally released in 1974. Transparent blue colored LP

In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Under the new moniker Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's music transitioned to predominantly instrumental compositions, featuring a denser Afro-funk sound. Their inaugural recording with the new name, 'Soul Makossa,' included a compelling rendition of Dibango's classic and the impactful break in 'Hihache.' The subsequent release a year later, 'Malik,' refined their sound with the percussive Afro party jam 'Conga,' the atmospheric vocoder and piano-led piece 'Djungi,' and the robust funk of 'Darkest Light.' Despite a limited impact upon its initial release, 'Malik' found appreciation as hip-hop culture flourished in the '80s, establishing itself as a rich source of samples and riffs. 'Conga' was featured in the 'Ultimate Breaks And Beats' series, while the opening horn line from 'Darkest Light' became a pivotal hip-hop motif, employed by Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Wreckx 'N' Effect, and many others

Cleveland death metal legends-in-waiting 200 Stab Wounds have returned with Manual Manic Procedures, a superlative sophomore effort that follows 2021’s Slave to the Scalpel, their tour de force debut. The new album is a brutal slab of old school death metal with a contemporary edge. Not for the faint-hearted, Manual Manic Procedures may well be the album that puts classic gore-themed ferocity back into the metal community’s collective consciousness. The band's debut, "Slave to the Scalpel" saw 200 Stab Wounds insinuate themselves into the minds of extreme metal fans, leading to praise from Pitchfork for their “unpretentious brilliance, pitch-black sense of humor” and an “aesthetic that’s built around a chugging, groovy riff that stomps down a path of destruction.” Manual Manic Procedures sees the band upping the ante both musically and lyrically. Ultimately, for 200 Stab Wounds, it’s all about creating art that they enjoy. “I know that if we like it, our fans will like it,” says Buhl. “That's really all that matters to us. And if we keep touring, it's just gonna get bigger and bigger. Then everyone's happy, far as I'm concerned.” The songs on Manual Manic Procedures are not safe for work – perhaps unsafe most anywhere. But that’s its dark charm in a world where even heavy music can play it too safely. 200 Stab Wounds have crafted Manual Manic Procedures for themselves and like-minded brethren: thrill-seekers, carnage cravers, horror fans, and aficionados of the most extreme metal. Above all, 200SW created a future death metal classic.

Cleveland death metal legends-in-waiting 200 Stab Wounds have returned with Manual Manic Procedures, a superlative sophomore effort that follows 2021’s Slave to the Scalpel, their tour de force debut. The new album is a brutal slab of old school death metal with a contemporary edge. Not for the faint-hearted, Manual Manic Procedures may well be the album that puts classic gore-themed ferocity back into the metal community’s collective consciousness. The band's debut, "Slave to the Scalpel" saw 200 Stab Wounds insinuate themselves into the minds of extreme metal fans, leading to praise from Pitchfork for their “unpretentious brilliance, pitch-black sense of humor” and an “aesthetic that’s built around a chugging, groovy riff that stomps down a path of destruction.” Manual Manic Procedures sees the band upping the ante both musically and lyrically. Ultimately, for 200 Stab Wounds, it’s all about creating art that they enjoy. “I know that if we like it, our fans will like it,” says Buhl. “That's really all that matters to us. And if we keep touring, it's just gonna get bigger and bigger. Then everyone's happy, far as I'm concerned.” The songs on Manual Manic Procedures are not safe for work – perhaps unsafe most anywhere. But that’s its dark charm in a world where even heavy music can play it too safely. 200 Stab Wounds have crafted Manual Manic Procedures for themselves and like-minded brethren: thrill-seekers, carnage cravers, horror fans, and aficionados of the most extreme metal. Above all, 200SW created a future death metal classic.

When a story sees its own ending. ATOMS shows the Hamburg grown friends and instrumentalists taking a steep descent into the unmarked. Crushed arpeggios, hand layered drums and the afterthought of a nightly piano allude to an early dawn still at midnight. All six tracks are ultimately cast towards loss, since Charly Schöppner, the trio's rhythmic enigma, passed before the record was finished in 2023. But they do this unwillingly, each alone, and they materialise the persistence of beauty in different shapes and thoughts left behind. All happened through an uplift of time in a simple space, as the record was made in Schöppner's garrage, being the trio's artistic refuge at that time. A friend taking you close. – Konstantin Bessonov

The five-track EP features three original productions by SALOME and two remixes by Manni Dee and Umwelt, ready to short-circuit your system.SALOME masterfully blends delicate melodies with thunderous breakbeats, mirroring the tumultuous nature of love. «Hacker» (A1) pulsates with the mantra «You hacked my mind,» a stark reminder that falling head over heels often means surrendering control. «Romance Malfunction» (A2) paints a vivid picture of the exhilarating highs and crashing lows of a rollercoaster relationship, ultimately leading to the introspective «Love Leaked» (A3).Seeking diverse interpretations, SALOME enlisted two of her most admired artists, Manni Dee (B1) and Umwelt (B2), to deliver their unique takes on «Hacker,» further enriching the emotional landscape of the eponymous EP.

Days of Shaking continues M G's exploration into the kitchen sink dramas of modern suburbia but behind these songs of frustrated opportunities and the mundane realities of day to day modern living is a world of rumour and mystery, urban myths and the magical thinking we all use to bring shape to our lives, expectations and hopes Like a modern day book of wonders, the songs of Days of Shaking hint at UFO sightings, potential cave gods and visitations of the dead in dreams, all adding to the rich texture of people's wants and needs but ultimately our belief in hope. This balance is seen in the title track and album opener where the protagonist wonders whether he has witnessed a UFO but ends more prosaically with, "Where is the party tonight?/To stand by a tiki bar with Christmas lights/I want something I can't find/ we drive around dark tenements searching". Similarly the heroic fishing photos of 'City Map' poke at deeper yearnings: "is it true you can wake up somewhere new/ just shrug it off and transform?". Often referred to as the artist's artist M G has been a much sought after collaborator in the folk and Americana scenes, having significant tenures in the Simone Felice Group, The Duke and the King, Emily Portman's Coracle Band, Blue Rose Code, The Owl Service & Jon Boden's Remnant Kings.

Days of Shaking continues M G's exploration into the kitchen sink dramas of modern suburbia but behind these songs of frustrated opportunities and the mundane realities of day to day modern living is a world of rumour and mystery, urban myths and the magical thinking we all use to bring shape to our lives, expectations and hopes Like a modern day book of wonders, the songs of Days of Shaking hint at UFO sightings, potential cave gods and visitations of the dead in dreams, all adding to the rich texture of people's wants and needs but ultimately our belief in hope. This balance is seen in the title track and album opener where the protagonist wonders whether he has witnessed a UFO but ends more prosaically with, "Where is the party tonight?/To stand by a tiki bar with Christmas lights/I want something I can't find/ we drive around dark tenements searching". Similarly the heroic fishing photos of 'City Map' poke at deeper yearnings: "is it true you can wake up somewhere new/ just shrug it off and transform?". Often referred to as the artist's artist M G has been a much sought after collaborator in the folk and Americana scenes, having significant tenures in the Simone Felice Group, The Duke and the King, Emily Portman's Coracle Band, Blue Rose Code, The Owl Service & Jon Boden's Remnant Kings.

Originally released in 2006, ‘The Black Swan’ was Jansch’s last studio album bookending his tremendous contribution to music. Available on limited edition Jade Green vinyl as part of ‘Bert Jansch 80’, celebrating the enduring legacy of Bert Jansch’s peerless guitar playing and songwriting. An important release that sees Jansch’s revered style boosted by musical admirers Beth Orton, Devendra Banhart, Otto Hauser, Helena Espvall and Noah Georgeson. Featuring sentimental ode ‘High Days’, beautiful title track, instrumental ‘Hey Pretty Girl’ and the country spirited ‘Texas Cowboy Blues’. Beth Orton accompanies with her mesmeric vocals on ‘When The Sun Comes Up’, traditional folk song of withered glory ‘Katie Cruel’ that has been brilliantly rearranged and features Devendra Banhart. Jansch’s extraordinary perceptive lyricism and exceptional songwriting makes ‘The Black Swan’ a vital record in his canon. “A terrific success.. beautiful, elegant” ★★★★ Pitchfork // “An impressive album” ★★★★ The Guardian // “Profound, funny, topical, worldly, and ultimately, necessary.” ★★★★ AllMusic

After touring the globe showcasing their A/V moshpit-inducing live show, they are revealing their new musical creations to an unsuspecting public. Never Sleep are proud to present a landmark moment in the Japanese hardcore new rave scene. The blinding lights of DEATH RAVE point to an untraveled journey, a sci-fi fusion of black metal, gabber, cyberpunk, performance art and techno. It’s their first for the Berlin label (founded by Gabber Eleganza) following 2021’s EP Principle of Light Speed Variance. Full description VMO aka Violent Magic Orchestra break through the darkness and herald a spectacular mould-melting sound on their forthcoming album DEATH RAVE. After touring the globe showcasing their A/V moshpit-inducing live show, they are revealing their new musical creations to an unsuspecting public. Never Sleep are proud to present a landmark moment in the Japanese hardcore new rave scene. The blinding lights of DEATH RAVE point to an untraveled journey, a sci-fi fusion of black metal, gabber, cyberpunk, performance art and techno. It’s their first for the Berlin label (founded by Gabber Eleganza) following 2021’s EP Principle of Light Speed Variance. Ahead of the release VMO have brought their digital harcore to festivals around the globe, including Roadburn Festival, BANG FACE Weekender, Brutal Assault extreme music festival, Le Guess Who?, CTM Berlin and Dark Mofo. Their performance is the ultimate extreme visual music project in which techno, black metal, and industrial unite to create a ritual from the near future, 2099. All visual art and stage setting is provided by non-touring member, artist and programmer Kezzardrix (who has been visual director for millennium parade and BABYMETAL previously).The power consumption of a VMO show is equivalent to 56 guitar amplifiers, 5000W, a mind-expanding supreme noise and light experience. The band members all go by the names of classic black metal bands rendered in the Japanese katakana script; “ダークスローン”; “メイヘム”, and “エンペラー”. Their new LP is the first to feature lead vocalist ザスター. The record features guest vocals from extreme metal icon Attila Csihar, known for singing with Mayhem and Sunn O))). Other featured artists include Dylan Walker, singer of Full of Hell, punk-techno artist Infinity Division (aka Ash Luk), Icelandic darkwavers Kælan Mikla and Ican Harem of Gabber Modus Operandi. The result is a leap forward from their 2016 debut, where they have found a singularity where death metal meets Kraftwerk, or Rephlex goes black. Dressed in corpse paint and other hell-raising looks, onstage they are like “Shinigami (death gods) from the Death Note manga”. Singles Venom, Supergaze and Martello Mosh Pit featuring Gabber Eleganza have been released in the lead up to the record and have been shocking techno dance floors too with their hi-NRG-symphonic doom-gaze. They have shared their video for Planet Helvetech (here), created by Berlin-based Patrick Defasten. Helvetech combines the Norwegian word for hell (hevlete) with techno and is a reference to the infamous black metal shop founded by Mayhem’s Euronymous. It’s a song that imagines time travel from 2099 on the planet Helvetech (where VMO comes from) to 1990s Oslo. In 2023, they performed at the CTM festival in Berlin, as well as at Berghain, receiving rave reviews. At Sydney’s leading multi-sensory SOFT CENTER festival they drove the crowd into a frenzy on the 17 metre X 30 metre jumbo screen. They have also collaborated with artists, performing at the two day installation by the trailblazing Tianzhuo Chen - The Shepherd - at the Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival in 2021 here. At Sónar 2023, VMO provided the music for Taiwanese visual artist Yuen Hsieh’s work about virtual life after death DIGITAL AFTERLIFE AGENCY here. VMO will tour the world again for the new record, with appearances at ROSKILDE and media art and music fest Sónar 2024 announced so far and the DEATH RAVE experience getting bigger and bigger.

2024 repress

WRWTFWW Records is very honored to announce the official reissue of Grauzone's essential 1981 maxi single with timeless classic "Eisbär", proto-techno beast "FILM 2", and romantic synth ballad "Ich Lieb Sie", just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Swiss band's formation. The three-track vinyl is sourced from the original reels, cut at 45rpm, and comes with its iconic artwork on a 350gsm sleeve.

Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein...Written by Martin Eicher after a nightmare in which he saw talking polar bears on the walls, and with music by the Grauzone crew consisting of Martin and his brother Stephan Eicher, Marco Repetto, Christian "GT" Trüssel, and Claudine Chirac (on saxophone), "Eisbär" is the most recognizable title from the band, a sublime mix of ingredients reflecting the transitional era it comes from - the raw energy of punk music still palpable, combined with the audacity of early electronics, the warm groove of a disco gem, beautifully fragile lyrics, and one of the best basslines ever. It became a mega hit, totally unplanned, but how could you resist such a track

"FILM 2" is the ultimate b-side monster, a menacing all-instrumental pre-techno masterpiece, slowly building to a magnetizing frenzy. An instant underground favorite, it was famously heard played at both speeds depending on the scenes and DJs you were frequenting, 45rpm as it was first intended, and 33rpm for the cosmic experience (search Daniele Baldelli's Cosmic C75 1982 mixtape online for a great example of this).

The maxi single ends with "Ich Lieb Sie", a synth-pop meets doo-wop ballad, a true love song oozing with innocence. Simple, stylish, and just right.

At the crossroads of post-punk, new wave, pop, and electronic experimentation, the Eisbär maxi offers three songs that are technically different but hold the same spirit, the perfect embodiment of Grauzone's music - wild, unpredictable, and youthful, yet sophisticated, catchy, and ingenious. The magic recipe for the good stuff.

Stephan Eicher went on to be, arguably, the most successful Swiss musician ever, with an international career extending from pop chanson to experimental escapades and collaborations with Moondog, artists Sophie Calle and John Armleder, and author Martin Suter among many other luminaries. Marco Repetto flourished as a techno and ambient producer, releasing multiple projects including releases on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label.

Grauzone and WRWTFWW will continue to collaborate on the band's 40th anniversary reissue campaign, with numerous projects planned for the year, including a vast selection of music, visuals, and literature never available before.

The new album ”ICON” by Sweden’s Liar Thief Bandit is something else. After 200 shows and numerous landmark anthems, everything has led up to the fourth full-length album that truly lives up to its name. ”ICON” is a staple and instant classic on the rock scene, blending everything you would ever wish for in a melodic rock record. The raw and pure elements are caught on tape in a live setting to capture the true essence of the band, the melodies are added with clinical precision. The heartfelt lyrics set the tone to deliver a melancholic and insightful message. From the first intense second to the last, you’ll be overwhelmed with a dynamic soundscape rarely witnessed in this genre. Every element serves its purpose musically as well as lyrically. The listener should be prepared for an 11 track long journey through exceptional audible environments, dark passages and hopeful awakenings. ”ICON” is recorded, produced and mixed at Studio Sickan in Malmö by the multiple award-winning Joakim Lindberg who has worked with The Dahmers, Terrible Feelings, Nightmen, Black River Delta, Solen, Arre! Arre! among many others. ICON is released by The Sign Records on May 24, 2024. The album is released on black vinyl, transparent orange vinyl, and digitally. For fans of: The Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Kiss, Danko Jones, Foo Fighters, Thin Lizzy

The new album ”ICON” by Sweden’s Liar Thief Bandit is something else. After 200 shows and numerous landmark anthems, everything has led up to the fourth full-length album that truly lives up to its name. ”ICON” is a staple and instant classic on the rock scene, blending everything you would ever wish for in a melodic rock record. The raw and pure elements are caught on tape in a live setting to capture the true essence of the band, the melodies are added with clinical precision. The heartfelt lyrics set the tone to deliver a melancholic and insightful message. From the first intense second to the last, you’ll be overwhelmed with a dynamic soundscape rarely witnessed in this genre. Every element serves its purpose musically as well as lyrically. The listener should be prepared for an 11 track long journey through exceptional audible environments, dark passages and hopeful awakenings. ”ICON” is recorded, produced and mixed at Studio Sickan in Malmö by the multiple award-winning Joakim Lindberg who has worked with The Dahmers, Terrible Feelings, Nightmen, Black River Delta, Solen, Arre! Arre! among many others. ICON is released by The Sign Records on May 24, 2024. The album is released on black vinyl, transparent orange vinyl, and digitally. For fans of: The Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Kiss, Danko Jones, Foo Fighters, Thin Lizzy

"NY Psychedelic Art Rock!

Touted as the “new Doors,” Ars Nova’s second release shows the band genre-bending jazz and heavy psychedelia in a style that’s their own. Shifting from a largely classical centric sound, this was the group’s last album before going their separate ways. Pressed on pink vinyl!

Sunshine & Shadows takes the baroque-meets-psych sound of the debut and turns a bit more to the psych side. The stately brass interludes are gone, but horns still figure prominently in the mix. There’s some jazzy New Orleans flavor to a couple of the tunes, albeit twisted into a 7/4 vamp on “You Had Better Listen.”

The instrumentalists in the band, featuring trumpet and trombone, really give the music a unique flavor, setting them apart from the multitudes of other American psych bands. Ars Nova might be likened to Ultimate Spinach (but without the overly serious, pretentious lyrics) or later Zombies (though with less emphasis on the keyboards).

It’s all very well written and nicely played, and when they do a tender ballad like “Temporary Serenade,” the acoustic guitar is very lute-like, much more along the lines of classical than folk (like the later work of Jan Akkerman with Focus), and the trumpet descant adds a lovely spice.

“Well, Well, Well” is the heaviest rock tune in their repertoire, with a great electric guitar riff and hot organ playing, again set apart by trombone and trumpet. This one is definitely worth seeking out for baroque pop fans."

"NY Psychedelic Art Rock!

Touted as the “new Doors,” Ars Nova’s second release shows the band genre-bending jazz and heavy psychedelia in a style that’s their own. Shifting from a largely classical centric sound, this was the group’s last album before going their separate ways. Pressed on pink vinyl!

Sunshine & Shadows takes the baroque-meets-psych sound of the debut and turns a bit more to the psych side. The stately brass interludes are gone, but horns still figure prominently in the mix. There’s some jazzy New Orleans flavor to a couple of the tunes, albeit twisted into a 7/4 vamp on “You Had Better Listen.”

The instrumentalists in the band, featuring trumpet and trombone, really give the music a unique flavor, setting them apart from the multitudes of other American psych bands. Ars Nova might be likened to Ultimate Spinach (but without the overly serious, pretentious lyrics) or later Zombies (though with less emphasis on the keyboards).

It’s all very well written and nicely played, and when they do a tender ballad like “Temporary Serenade,” the acoustic guitar is very lute-like, much more along the lines of classical than folk (like the later work of Jan Akkerman with Focus), and the trumpet descant adds a lovely spice.

“Well, Well, Well” is the heaviest rock tune in their repertoire, with a great electric guitar riff and hot organ playing, again set apart by trombone and trumpet. This one is definitely worth seeking out for baroque pop fans."

Unio Mystica: Absorbed from my room onto a triangle ship, by an alien wearing blue scaled bio-armour, to travel instantaneously across vast folds of time & space. The alien occupied the pinnacle of the triangle, the other two points by myself and an unknown human female, respectively. The ship, at least for this type of journey, was powered by harnessing the coalescent, universal force of LOVE. This truly hierogamic union acted as a sort of inter-dimensional transcendence driver, which allowed us the defeat of all material boundary and therefore, time itself. It was a keen insight into the ultimate conciliation: that love permeates and binds together an otherwise cold and hostile universe. And perhaps it was not an "alien" but an angel. Angels are traditionally understood to be preternaturally photonic (of a type), lacking physical densification, and which manifest themselves as various imaginal forms in the human psyche... What is known: the starship is ours; a portal of two souls combined. - personal log, entry #3073, 07/14/2017

U.S. Cinematic outfit Whatitdo Archive Group returns to explore the worlds of Mid-Century Exotica and Library Music with "Palace Of A Thousand Sounds," out on May 5th.

From the instrumental cinematic-soul outfit behind 2021's critically acclaimed The Black Stone Affair comes Whatitdo Archive Group's most recent foray into the realms of the esoteric and arcane, and their most adventurous album to date: Palace Of A Thousand Sounds, available May 5th, 2023 on Record Kicks on limited edition LP, CD and digital platforms.

After The Black Stone Affair enthralled record collectors by traversing the cinematic landscape of an imagined 1970s Spaghetti Western, Palace Of A Thousand Sounds finds Whatitdo Archive Group entrenched deeper in the worlds of mid-century exotica and library music—from the Tropicalia-steeped Amazon to the minor key tonalities of the far-out Near East.

When the dust finally settled from their debut album, composer and tireless sound scientist Alexander Korostinsky set out to discover the band's new direction, with the ultimate goal to breathe new life into the mid-century era sound with the compass of modernity as his guide.

From its conception in 2021, Palace has sought to carry on a legacy set in motion by the likes of Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Juan García Esquivel. Korostinsky, guitarist Mark Sexton, and drummer Aaron Chiazza recorded the album in marathon sessions from Korostinsky's Studio "A," in Reno, Nevada—a mysterious sonic laboratory where the year 1970 has yet to happen, and vintage analog equipment interfaces with modern musical perspectives and experimental recording techniques to produce era-defining sounds.

Not content to appeal to the sensibilities of armchair anthropologists, Palace Of A Thousand Sounds finds the band interrogating the genre itself while making studious tributes to the real places and times it draws from. It's in this tension between here and there, fantasy and reality, that Whatitdo Archive Group find their groove.

Drawing from a century of pop and folk sounds from around the world the way only 21st-century crate-diggers can, Palace is rooted in an undercurrent of heavy funk that is decidedly here and now. Whatitdo Archive Group showcase the breadth of their influences with disarming confidence, equally at home behind sweeping harp, loungey vibraphone or Turkish bağlama saz. A lush seventeen-piece orchestra commanded by award-winning composer Louis King (Janelle Monáe, Monophonics) completes the instrumental mélange, enticing listeners to imagine a borderless planet unified by melody and rhythm.

The album is unafraid to explore the strange and uncomfortable in pursuit of an authentic musical identity, subverting expectations in pursuit of forwarding the genre while paying homage to its past. Fans will appreciate the architectural complexity of the record accessible only through multiple listens—each visit to the palace yielding new details to marvel at, curiosities to ponder, grand mysteries to explore.

Once the needle drops, W.A.G carefully guides you from room to room, sound to sound within the walls of the album's sonic palace. Listening becomes an aural journey providing glimpses into different worlds both real and imagined; you are everywhere and nowhere all at once—a guest in the grand halls and hanging gardens of time and sound.

Steeped in obscurity, a cult following of crate-diggers and musical oddity collectors has been brewing over the mysterious releases of the Whatitdo Archive Group. Surfacing in 2009 from the high deserts of Reno, NV USA, this three-piece recording collective(Alexander Korostinsky, Mark Sexton and Aaron Chiazza) focuses solely on curating, performing and preserving esoteric soundtrack, library and deep-groove collections. As an onlooker, it's hard to tell whether the music they are procuring is actually archival, music of their own creation, or both. Their debut LP The Black Stone Affair, the formerly lost soundtrack music of a once-shelved Italian cinematic masterpiece, was released in 2021 and received praise from the likes of Wall Street Journal, Mojo Magazine, Uncut, Shindig, Blues & Soul Magazine, BBC 6, FIP Radio (FR), KCRW (US), JazzFM (UK) and more. Two years later, the Whatitdo Archive Group is back. Get ready for an exotic adventure with their sophomore full-length effort: Palace of a Thousand Sounds.

This collaboration between Spanish producer Nueen and Manc vocalist / rapper Iceboy Violet - who has previously sprinkled their magic dust across Hyperdub releases from aya and Loraine James - traces the arc of a four year relationship, memorialising its highs and documenting its lows, processing, reflecting, and then ending with the ecstatic spark of new love. It’s a magical, intimate and heartfelt album, sometimes anguished but often enchanting. Nueen's music responds with foggy, but richly detailed, production. Smudgy drill-laced beats contrast with curdled, spiralling chords, at times drawing out a malevolent ambience. ‘You Said You'd Hold My Hand Through The Fire’ is an immensely affecting and lucid album, powerfully wrought, ultimately hopeful.

When Man Man released its last album, "Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In Between," frontman Honus Honus (née Ryan Kattner) was in a state of unrest, oscillating between hope and cynicism. Perhaps fittingly, the album dropped during the pandemic, a time at which we could all relate. But, much like that bizarre turn of events, the ennui now seems so distant to Man Man. A revived sense of purpose washes through Man Man's new album, Carrot on Strings, radiating a mix of calm and confidence. Kattner always embodied a wild-man pied-piper vibe: his melodic, unhinged art-rock was at once intriguing and angsty. He was so alluringly creative that you went along with it, even if you were never sure where Man Man would take you. Carrot on Strings is no less inventive, but its ethos is radical in context of the band's two-decade career. "When I was younger, I would feed off of chaos. I would, you know, be upset and get drunk and smash chairs," Kattner explains. "Now those chairs are in my head: It's less of an outward projection, more of an interior monologue." The name "Carrot on Strings" came to Kattner while experimenting with the sound of someone munching on the vegetable, which you can hear in the cacophonous, similarly named song. It alludes to how success always seemed to dangle uncertainly before him, often just out of reach. But listen intently and you'll hear a more content Kattner finding an uneasy peace: "Life, as far as I've known it, has always been side hustles. Would it be great if I could go into a studio and record for a year without figuring out how to finance it? Yeah, it would be," he says. "But ultimately, I need to keep making music because art is an extension of my psyche. It's how I have learned to translate the palpitations of my heart. Simply put, I'd go insane without it." Growing up as a multiracial Hapa kid (half Filipino, half white) with a father in the U.S. Air Force, Kattner lived an itinerant childhood that included a few pivotal years in Germany, where he honed in on an appreciation for out there German cinema and art. His film obsessions and screenwriting background were crucial to Carrot on Strings. The album nods to the films of Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder as much as Italo-disco, Randy Newman, goth rock, and avant pop. (Kattner continues to work in the film industry with an acting role in the upcoming horror-comedy movie Destroy All Neighbors, for which he also served as composer; music supervising season 1 & 2 of the Interview With The Vampire AMC TV series; and shopping around, with director Matthew Goodhue, a script he wrote that he describes as a Wim Wenders road movie on acid.) In a bid to not overthink anything - his last album took seven years to make - he recorded the bulk of Carrot On Strings in five days in Mant Sounds studio in Glassell Park, Los Angeles with "very chill" producer Matt Schuessler, who had worked on Man Man's cover of Neu!'s "Super" for the seminal Krautrock band's box set. The resulting album represents a newfound sense of self for Kattner, who finds himself inspired and at peace both personally and artistically in ways that eluded him for most of his first 15 years playing music. When, on Carrot On Strings, you hear Kattner croon humbly, or sing of the tension between his outsize stage persona and the thoughtful, soulful guy he actually is, you're hearing Kattner liberate himself. "I first got into music to escape from myself," he says. "And now, it sounds so corny, but I have zero doubt that music ended up saving my life."

A home, a house, has countless frequencies. Each room, each corner feels different. Swings differently. And as you grow older, you realize which corner is yours. But yeah, it takes time…

It certainly marks the end of an era when the house one called home as a kid no longer exists. This home, it was the starting point of so many journeys. Of one big, ongoing journey. And so it feels good, soothing, reassuring to at least return to a spot nearby – to that (proverbial) hill from where you can see it. Feel the vibe that made you.

Andi Haberl’s debut solo album as Sun is sort of dedicated to that house. It’s a journey leading to that hill overlooking everything that made him. It’s not about nostalgia, not about actually returning to a specific place. Instead, it’s about finding a personal frequency, an overlapping of sounds and samples, an open space that mirrors and extends whatever frequencies felt right at different points in time.

“To me, the results feel like Gold Panda/Four Tet meets Steve Reich meets Krautrock meets film scores. I just really wanted to create moods that touch me – and ideally others, too.”

Talking about his first solo album, Haberl recalls many stages: early compositions that ended up on Alien Ensemble’s albums, early DIY/home studio/multi-instrumentalist inspirations (Le Millipede), new technologies that came and went, even a set of wildly convincing arrangements (done with Cico Beck’s crucial input) that ultimately became stepping stones for yet another round of DIY takes. “It was a long, recurring process, and the songs went through so many different versions,” he says, talking about phases of growth (“I added more and more equipment over time”) and pruning, “cleaning up my music a bit.” Tending towards instruments that open up space, and slowly falling in love with sampling, he certainly didn’t rush things once it was time for interior design decisions ;)

“During this whole process I got to learn so much about my own taste, how I prefer to listen to the pieces, which musical elements really matter to me… and what my own voice is. For example, that acoustic elements are most important to me: the banjo, piano, drums, my voice, glockenspiel, trumpet, melodica. Anything that opens up some space.”

Every journey begins with a search: “Missing” with its plucked chords opens like a sunrise over pastoral plains, gently leading the way towards the intricate, playful explosion that occurs once a certain amount of energy (“Sun”) hits dirt and other surfaces: things grow, clot and curdle into new shapes, like new buds; layers of sound move forward, drenched in Spring’s new light. Relying on samples to ask for precipitation (“Rain On Me”), robotic “Low” goes from barren to bass-heavy after its midway shift in pace, full of loops plucked from the shade.

Towards the album’s midpoint, things are suddenly reversed: “Cluster” has that backwards pull, you can’t tell what’s what, yet everything is perfectly locked in, as the pace increases once again. And before the title song shimmers with densified cheering (to eventually stand tall like early Lymbyc Systym), “Beside Me” swipes you off your feet with its booming bass drum. The beat returns once again (“Daydream”), full of searching voices underneath, and at “Dawnday,” we can finally catch a melancholy view of the house. Voices hum. It’s the score moment of the album. Everything makes sense now. A happy end of sorts?

“I want to take people on a journey. A personal journey, too, because when my parents split up and sold the house I grew up in, I felt a bit like the ground had fallen out from under my feet. But I have dedicated the album title and the accompanying piece to this house… so I can keep it in good memory.”

“I Can See Our House From Here” has been a long time coming. It’s been a long journey. Homeward-bound. Leading to a place that’s really Haberl’s – his sound. His frequencies.

Known as a long-time member of The Notwist and various other bands/projects (Alien Ensemble, AMEO, jersey, Ditty etc.), Berlin-based drummer/composer Andi Haberl has also worked with My Brightest Diamond, Till Brönner, Owen Pallet, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to name a few. “I Can See Our House From Here” is his first solo offering.

"The debut longplayer from Washington, DC-based Ekko Astral is a complex mesh of bubblegum noise punk and no-wave art rock that holds an elastic space for the knotty, tangled horrors of living in the imperial core. Their songs thrash with intense, necessary defiance against codified gender-based violence, their distortion and sibilance a direct response to the dangers outside our front doors.

pink balloons opener “head empty blues” specifically bites back against the terrors of the normative male gaze that dominates so much of American culture. Over a post-punk passage that plays call and response with a wall of harsh noise, frontwoman Jael Holzman belts playfully morbid details of the head-exploding anxieties that haunt her daily: “is it bon eye-ver or bon iver? / i don’t care / i’ve got stalkers outside / not going out tonight / gonna sit and take pics / in my underwear.”

Holzman formed the band in 2021 with best friend Liam Hughes (guitar), and eventually rounded out the band’s lineup with Miri Tyler (drums), Guinevere Tully (bass), and Sam Elmore (guitar). Ekko Astral’s local scene quickly welcomed the band for their wildly fierce live presence, emboldened by the community-building message behind the band’s mascara mosh pit brand.

Ultimately, Ekko Astral are here to uplift, a mission exemplified by the frenetic and bewitching pre-release singles “baethoven” and “devorah,” cornerstones of pink balloons in both style and theme. The former serves as a reminder to keep your larger than life personality in a world that wants to downsize you, where the latter proclaims urgent solidarity with missing and murdered people. Such crucial messages of upliftment are the foundation of pink balloons, and, by extension Ekko Astral, whose thrashing debut leaves no stone of solidarity unturned."

On Pedro The Lion’s new album Santa Cruz, critically acclaimed musician David Bazan returns with a new chapter in his ambitious and ongoing recording project - 5 albums devoted to places he lived in throughout his life. Santa Cruz is Bazan’s third album in the series and follows up where 2022’s Havasu and 2019’s Phoenix left off. Tracks like "Modesto" and "Little Help" foreshadow Bazan's exposure and ultimate love of classic rock n' roll records, while songs like "It'll All Work Out" showcase his unique approach to synthesizers, something he introduced with the 2005 self-titled Headphones album. The stories on Santa Cruz highlight Bazan’s teenage years and solidifies what he sees as an exposition in a traditional three-act structure. After 25 years refining and building what he calls his “garden of songs,” David Bazan has sold hundreds of thousands of albums, performed in sold-out venues and living rooms around the globe, and played high-profile live sessions with the likes of NPR’s Tiny Desk, KEXP, WNYC’s Soundcheck, WXPN’s World Cafe and many others. His music has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Vox, Paste, Aquarium Drunkard and others.

1997 saw the release of The Aquabats! second studio album, an ultimately legendary addition to their
catalogue. The lineup produced an eclectic ska classic - most notably the mega-single "Super Rad!" A fan
favorite over the past 25 years, it's hard not to find unbridled joy in tracks like, "Red Sweater!," "Magic
Chicken!," "Martian Girl!," "My Skateboard!" and many more!