Search:the war

Songs of the Highland, Songs of the Sea besteht ausschließlich aus berühmten traditionellen Seemannsliedern,
die grob zwischen Land und Meer aufgeteilt sind. Selbst
wenn man noch nie in Schottland war, selbst wenn man kein
Seefahrertyp ist, kennt man sie. Das liegt daran, dass die
zwölf Hymnen - und es sind wahrlich Hymnen -, die The
Real McKenzies für ihr neues Album ausgewählt haben,
schon seit Jahrzehnten, wenn nicht Jahrhunderten, von
anderen gesungen werden.

PANDA BEAR & SONIC BOOM veröffentlichen ihr erstes gemeinsames Album RESET. 9 überschwängliche Songs als Beweis für die Kraft von Gemeinschaft und Zusammenarbeit.

"Reset" ist die überschwängliche und erste gemeinsame Veröffentlichung der langjährigen Freunde und Kollaborateure Panda Bear und Sonic Boom. Inspiriert von Sonic Booms Sammlung amerikanischer Doo-Wop- und Rock'n'Roll-LPs aus den 50er und 60er Jahren, sind die Songs auf "Reset" so eingängig und fröhlich wie alles, was Panda Bear oder Sonic Boom in ihrer eigenen Karriere gemacht haben, und sind ein Beweis für die Kraft von Gemeinschaft und Zusammenarbeit. "Reset" ist die überschwängliche und erste gemeinsame Veröffentlichung der langjährigen Freunde und Kollaborateure Panda Bear und Sonic Boom. Inspiriert von Sonic Booms Sammlung amerikanischer Doo-Wop- und Rock'n'Roll-LPs aus den 50er und 60er Jahren, sind die Songs auf "Reset" so eingängig und fröhlich wie alles, was Panda Bear oder Sonic Boom in ihrer eigenen Karriere gemacht haben, und sind ein Beweis für die Kraft von Gemeinschaft und Zusammenarbeit. Der Kern von "Reset" entstand nicht lange nach dem Beginn der internationalen Lockdowns, so dass die Chance, gemeinsam an diesen Songs zu arbeiten nicht nur einen Weg aus der Isolation bot, sondern auch einen Weg, den Blues der Gegenwart zu kanalisieren und ihn in etwas anderes für die Zukunft zu transformieren. "Reset" ist ein 40-minütiges, seltsames Licht, das aus einer besonders dunklen Zeit heraus leuchtet. Das ist vielleicht das Hauptversprechen des Albums - mit den nicht seltenen Härten der Realität zu rechnen und einen Weg auf eine andere Seite zu bieten. Wenn "Reset" für Panda Bear und Sonic Boom eine vorübergehende Medizin war, so ist es jetzt für den Rest von uns eine dauerhafte Medizin, eine Erinnerung daran, dass es manchmal ausreicht, mit Freunden alte Lieblingslieder zu spielen und mitzusingen, damit sich die Welt ein bisschen besser anfühlt.

Tiny Blue Ghost are a band possessed. Haunt- ing, melodic vocals soar over a dreamy landscape of floating guitars, washy drums, and meandering bass that can pull suddenly into focus at a mo- ments notice. Moving seamlessly across genre to genre, Tiny Blue Ghost can’t simply be defined by any single label- unless you want to come up with a new term for a band that blends the best parts of bedroom pop, shoegaze, twee, indie, post-rock, and college rock.

Canadian rock band Nickelback are the 11th best-selling musical act of all time with over 50M records sold. This summer the internet has been a-chatter with Nickelback posts, some even suggesting that what the world needs now is a new NICKELBACK ALBUM. And that album is here!
Nickelback will be releasing their new album Get Rollin’ on 18 November.

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 300 copies! Recorded in 1961 and released on Blue Note in 1964, “It May As Well Be Spring” is often considered as an ideal companion to Quebec’s famous “Heavy Soul” . Here the saxophone player displays a relaxed set of standards, including classic songs from the American repertoire such as “Willow weep for me”, “Lover Man” and “Ol Man River”. Perfect material to express his warm, lyrical tenor sax voice while Freddie Roach on organ, Milt Hinton on bass, and Al Harewood on drums perform with their usual high sense of interaction .

EERIE WANDA ist das Projekt der niederländisch-kroatischen Musikerin Marina Tadic, die mit ,Internal Radio" ihr drittes Album veröffentlicht. Die bildende Künstlerin und Musikerin wird auf dem neuen Album von ihrem Partner Adam Harding (DUMB NUMBERS, KIDBUG) und der Produzenten-Legende Kramer (GALAXIE 500, UNREST, WEEN, DANIEL JOHNSTON) unterstützt. Auf diesen elf Songs wird deutlich, dass Tadic zu der Künstlerin wird, die sie gerne sein möchte und nebenbei noch einige Dämonen austreibt: ,This album is different than anything else I've made. I think I have entered a new chapter. Hope you enjoy." Während ihre früheren Alben eher auf beschwingten, gitarrenbetonten Indie-Pop ausgerichtet waren, klingt ,Internal Radio" wie eine experimentellere, jenseitige, ernsthafte, erwachsene Angelegenheit, die sich in sensibles, emotionales Terrain wagt. Die intimen, persönlichen Songs spiegeln die Einsamkeit wider, die viele von uns in den letzten Jahren empfunden haben, und erinnern an Künstler wie LIDA HUSIK und EDITH FROST.

"WARKINGS Warriors beware, the mighty warriors are back with an unexpected ally – none other than the legendary Sorceress Morgana le Fay! The sister of Arthur and mistress of the lost souls has joined the four kings on the fourth chapter of the WARKINGS saga, Morgana, to be unleashed on November 11, 2022 via Napalm Records! Forging their musical steel in the tradition of Powerwolf, Sabaton, HammerFall and Running Wild, the WARKINGS burst onto the battlefields in 2018. They gathered their Warriors around the world and entered the Official German Album Charts 2021 at #13 with Revolution. Gathered in the golden halls of Valhalla, the four ancient kings – a roman Tribune, a wild Viking, a noble Crusader and a martial Spartan – are now back with Morgana, having already escaped from the underworld, fought the Monarchs of the dusk and called for Revolution. Back in the realms of the dead, they were captivated by the eerie and extraordinary chanting voice of “evil” sorceress Morgana La Fey. Obsessed with the idea of telling humanity her own version of her story, the witch inspired the WARKINGS to include Morgana in their circle as they fought their next battles – a covenant made for eternity! In their trademark manner, the WARKINGS – armed with weapons made of pure Heavy Metal – tell their stories in songs forged of pure steel. Morgana's haunting voice rises to tell her story in four acts: The first chapter ""Hellfire"", tells of her love-hate relationship with King Arthur, ""Monsters"" of the dark side in each of us, and ""Heart of Rage"" of her desire to grant forgiveness to all who have hurt her, before revealing in ""Immortal"" how she and Arthur's immortal souls are reborn again and again. In the last two chapters of the battle, Arthur himself speaks out and implores Morgana not to give up, before he himself narrates the Arthurian saga in the crowning finale! Of course, the WARKINGS themselves raise their voices to tell their stories – recounting their battles with Hereward the Wake, the naval battle of Salamis and a man unjustly enslaved. As a special gift, the WARKINGS offer “To The King” – a hymn in honor of the most loyal of the faithful WARKINGS Warriors, who stand side by side with the mighty kings in all battles! Raise your swords and join the next fight in the WARKINGS saga with Morgana!"

Through Twelve is an electronic-dyed combo powered by 80’s synthpop and shiny post-production by Italoconnection. Their Mini LP “Inner bridges” is full of layered basslines, pulsating rhythms, catchy vocals and retro synth warmth. Tracks such as the richly melodic “Silent Radio’ and the New Order-ish sweeps of “New Town” are irresistible invitations to stand-up and move your hips.

T12 have a tendency for emotive analogue leads, expressive pads and inimitable synth sequences, in duet with electric bass phrases.

Through12 signature sound becomes immediately recognizable in the dancefloor-ready song “This Love”, starring Italo disco icon Fred Ventura. “Silent Radio” receives an exuberant electro-remix treatment from Italoconnection and “This Love” goes hand-in-hand with Mono Han version.

REISSUE

Spanky Wilson has a famously powerful voice but that is matched by just as potent a horn section, with some added staccato guitar chords and a super groovy rhythm section here on this much warranted reissue. She is a conduit for "The Funk' here with a mega fine vocal performance time after time on this well curated selection of classic covers. The likes of The Doors' 'Light my Fire', Cream's 'Sunshine of your Love' and 'Loveland' are all included and stand right out. Each one shows a different but equally essential side to the voice of Spanky Wilson. All tunes have been newly remastered for this release by P-Vine.

Twisted and irreverent, The Rabbits combined ear-splitting guitar shrapnel with one of punk’s greatest-ever snot-nosed vocalists. With hints of PIL or Chrome, but beamed in from a parallel dimension and filtered through the warped lens of visionary loner Syoichi Miyazawa. First-ever vinyl release, fully remastered from the band’s original early ’80s cassette releases, and housed in a sturdy tip-on sleeve. Includes a double-sided, printed insert. Edition of 500

Singer-songwriter Syoichi Miyazawa’s tale is a confounding one.

He grew up in a small town in Yamagata Prefecture (in northern Japan), loved Dylan and The Beatles, and had very little exposure to, or interest in, underground music. And yet, shortly after 24-year-old Miyazawa arrived in Tokyo in 1978, he began performing solo shows at tiny clubs in the city, singing and playing guitar. His performances quicky devolved from brisk acoustic jaunts to lengthy, heavy dirges sung in a snot-nosed wail over a blown-out electric guitar detuned to produce a kind of sonic sludge.

At one of his earliest gigs, a mutual friend introduced him to Endo Michiro, who would soon become the legendary front man of Japanese punk icons The Stalin. It turned out Miyazawa and Endo had attended Yamagata University at the same time just a few years earlier, but hadn’t known each other at school. In Tokyo, they became fast friends, moved into the same apartment building, and for years were inseparable. Endo played guitar and drums on Miyazawa’s debut release, the “Christ Was Born in a Stable” flexi disc. But while Endo was social and outgoing, Miyazawa preferred to be alone, avoiding concerts unless he was performing.

Despite these antisocial tendencies, Miyazawa came to despise playing solo. In 1982, an eccentric high school student named Chika introduced herself at one of Miyazawa’s gigs, and Miyazawa asked if she’d play bass. She agreed and drafted two of her friends to play second guitar and drums. The Rabbits were born.

Miyazawa wrote the tunes, and had a clear vision for the group, but struggled to get the sound he wanted from the other members. His second guitarist was more of a fusion player, and Miyazawa took great pains to get him to tone down the shredding. The group quickly went through multiple line-up changes. Frustrated with the sound of their first proper recording (self-released as the “X1(x)” cassette), Miyazawa spent a full year mixing their second cassette, “Winter Songs,” on his own.

The hard work paid off — the sound of “Winter Songs” is striking, and unlike anything the band’s peers produced. There’s liberal use of delay on the vocals, giving the music a psychedelic feel, but the guitars are caustic, cutting through the mix like metal shrapnel. The rhythm section seems on the verge of teetering out of control throughout, an overdriven and pummeling current below abrasive slabs of guitar and vocals. Even at their most aggressive, though, The Rabbits had strong pop sensibilities, complete with cooing backing vocals and the occasional harmonica solo. Miyazawa delivers his borderline nonsensical lyrics with equal amounts of menace and gaiety, consistently riding that fine line as only a natural oddball can. At times, the band sounds like a distant cousin of PiL, Chrome or The Homosexuals, but beamed in from a parallel dimension and filtered through Miyazawa’s warped lens.

Although The Rabbits briskly sold all 500 copies of the "Winter Songs" tape, live audiences at the time seemed dumbfounded by the group, and would stare at them in silence. After two years together, The Rabbits called it quits in 1984.

When asked if any of the many legendary groups (Les Rallizes Desnudes, G.I.S.M., etc.) he shared stages with left an impression, Miyazawa recently revealed that he always left the venue as soon as he finished performing, so he never caught any of the other bands…

All of which is to say —

The Rabbits are one of the great punk bands of the early ’80s, but their leader had no interest in the punk scene and always thought he was making “normal” music. They rubbed shoulders with a slew of notable groups of the era, and their singer was best friends with arguably the most famous Japanese punk of all time, but Miyazawa shunned fraternization and purposefully distanced himself from his peers.

Could this be why so few underground music fans are familiar with the group, even in Japan? Why they seem to have been written out of the official history of Japanese punk? One can never know for sure, but Mesh-Key hopes to remedy this travesty by offering this compilation, the first-ever official LP by The Rabbits, to a new generation of punk and psychedelic music connoisseurs.
credits

What is this?

This delight of flicker and bent landing so delicately upon the ear?

It’s “peeled”, JJ+JS’ first outing on Daisart. It’s their second album, following their 2020 debut release as a duo, “1”, which saw JJ – John Jones (AV Moves, Geo Rip, among others) – and JS – Jesse Sappell (of Motion Ward) – flex their collaborative energies across an album of deep, textured meanderings in rhythm and sound on the perennial Lillerne Tapes. “peeled” sees the two pick up where they left off and veer into a ~ place ~ of sound, of sorts.

This place is likely familiar to those following the duo's output and goings-on, as one together and as themselves apart, but with a tweak to the framing of projects past, naturally. Where we find ourselves with “peeled” is reflective of the two’s interest in jamming without a specific destination in mind, a distillation of the two’s interests in a range of sounds and styles.

And though there is some arcane resemblance to all manner of ethereal music of the past, on this vaporous dream of a record, the haze shimmers somehow; the shake’s shudder is dissimilar.

There’s a pair of key interventions on this collection: one a wistful vocal guesting from Izella on the not-quite-folk mood ‘Lily Pad’, the other on ‘Syntropy’, where Daisart’s J pitches layers of texture and chord in polyrhythmic impression. Both bring something refined to the table on which JJ+JS work air into mirage, color into scene, folding the mundane into the magical.

For those of you versed in the catalogs of picnic, Motion Ward, West Mineral, and Experiences Ltd, a wander akin awaits on “peeled” – but this is not a much of a muchness likeness; more so a refreshing, important addition to the expanding catalog these two artists are crafting.

– Nico Callaghan

Toronto’s Dan Lee steps out of the spotlight and into the producer’s chair on the new collaborative Lee Paradise LP, Lee Paradise & Co., due October 28 2022 on Telephone Explosion. Lee Paradise & Co. follows 2020’s critically acclaimed The Fink LP, and finds Lee flipping the shadowy nihilism of the project’s previous releases upward into a sort of cybernetic universality. This is Dan Lee in producer mode, veering away from the pursuit of a singular musical direction rooted in personal vision, towards of a process rich in collaboration, emotional expansion and tonal exploration.

Starting off as a set of mood-focusedinstrumental sketches drafted by Dan on his own, the compositions began coloringthemselves in after he started sending the tracks out to collaborators, asking them to contribute without much in the way of direction or intention. With help from an ensemble cast of artists including Carlyn Bezic (Jane Inc.), Jonathan Pappo (Scott Hardware, No Frills, Ducks Ltd), Scott Hardware, Isla Craig, Victoria Cheong (New Chance), Jay Anderson, Charise Aragoza & Lukas Cheung (Mother Tongues) and Daniel Woodhead (Moon King), nearly every aspect of this album’s creation eventually became open to collaboration, from musical performances, lyric writing, and vocals all the way through to mixing and mastering.

Sonically, the record is still unmistakably Lee Paradise: a widescreen polyrhythmic psychedelia that melts, bubbles, whirrs and klanks; the sound of the human and the machine grooving in accordance towards new futures. The album’s sonic palette is at once synthetic, warm and extraterrestrial. Arpeggiated square wave melodies dance in lockstep with crunching hi-hats, digital bells and chimes fall like crystal rain in stereo above plush pads and gurgling bass figures. Used to finishing the records on his own, Lee mixed this album with Montreal’s Asher Gould-Murtagh and the results are spacious, dusty and dubbed out. “Carnival” sets the scene with it’s stuttering, busted funk groove and ribbons of aqueous vocal harmony from New Chance’s Victoria Cheong. “Raffles”(featuring one of Daniel’s two vocal performances on the record) radiates a mellow optimism in its solar-warped balearic bliss. The album’s final track, “Youngish” is a gliding, melancholic downtempo instrumental thumper saturated in a kaleidoscopic array of lysergic tones. As always, the record anchors itself to the dancefloor with the screwed-down electro of “Cement”, the swinging midnight afterglow of “Leaving” and “CS2X”’s fluttering rave arpeggios.

Lee Paradise & Co. is the sound of an expert producer and sound sculptor conceding to the elusive flows of inspiration, knocking genre conventions askew and hopscotching between a variety of styles, musical identities and sound worlds with absolute panache.

*Ltd Coloured Vinyl on Transparent Blue Vinyl* London-based musician and producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, creates driving, experimental electronic music that makes synthesisers sound human. His consistent desire to create a more organic, living sound, sees him forming pieces that capture a sense of songwriting behind the machines.

‘Now Is’ marks a new chapter in an ongoing quest for refinement and evolution. More playful and melodic, the album draws from much experimentation in minimalist songwriting and seamlessly blends synthesisers and acoustic instruments. “There are some pieces that are influenced quite strongly by the isolation and anxiety of these times. There are also pieces which are more optimistic and vibrant, which I think is a consistent attitude of my records, as I want art to express many aspects of life.”

From the elevating arrangements of ‘Beginnings’ and motorik beats of ‘World Turns’, to the isolation of ‘Frontiers’, influenced by the barren landscapes of Iceland, Rival Consoles’ eighth studio album subtly morphs and evolves. “The title of the record ‘Now Is’ interests me because it is the beginning of a statement, but it is incomplete. I like art that is open and suggestive of ideas even if they are inspired by very specific things. With my previous record ‘Overflow’ being very dark, heavy and almost dystopian, I wanted to escape into a different world with this music and ended up creating a record which is a lot more colourful and euphoric.”

For the sonic ‘Vision of Self’, West looked to create the kind of movement and colour a string section in an orchestra would construct, but with synthesisers. “I think there’s a lot of synergy between the two worlds. I wanted to create a hypnotic journey, where the synths and sounds weave in and out of each other, so you get lost in the music and don’t know where one sound starts or another ends.” This “journey” West refers to is symbiotic of the way he has approached music throughout a progressive career – an ongoing project that is never static and always moving forward.

A sense of euphoria is reached with the pulsating title track which bursts into colour like the appearance of the summer sun, while ‘Echoes’ is a vivid exploration of rhythm and sound for summer nights. The track starts with a dense collage of modular synths, fragmented metallic tones, broken sounding drums and a downcast melodic synth line. “This is a piece where the main melody has been in my head for a long time and was just waiting to come out. I kind of think of it as the sonic equivalent to an impressionist painting in that I wanted to explore the sensation of lots of small layers of different colours and textures that are constantly moving around each other.”

Rival Consoles is set to appear at festivals across Europe this summer, with headline shows expected to follow in the autumn.

Italian The Villains Inc. moves up a gear with its fourth release to date and already the second in less than a year!

Conscious “Time To Go Back EP” introduces the exclusive collaboration between label owner Gab.Gato (Dominance Electricity, Drivecom, SolarOne) and his partner in crime Jack Bags (La Sabbia) from Milan.
Together, they drop an untouchable dancefloor oriented five tracker based upon a terrific concept.
Coming from the year 2106 with a preventive message to save Earth from manhandled destruction, scientist Dr Boomer understands how much it’s too late to prevent the planet from Armageddon.

A side opens with insane “Man Of The Future”: a pure analogical time machine merging whispers a la Egyptian Lover to heading vocoder sequences over a sharp 808 programming.
Luminous and hypnotizing at the same, this oldschool anthem is instantly followed by enthusiastic “No Permission”.

A groovy bassline melt with acidic loops turns the song into a masterpiece enhanced by funny vocal scanding “You Have No Permission To Get Into My Head”.
Top notch! With its fierce rhythm and relentless beats, title track “Time To Go Back” coming next signs an ode to the glorious days of West Coast electro sound.
Vintage sonorities fuse into cutting-edge drums while a funky atmosphere will propel you through time and space. Ace!

The flipside goes deeper into the realm serving up what appears as the climax of the EP. Combining gloomy strings to progressive swirls and ethereal chords, well named “Darkness” delivers a scary yet prophetic message from the future that will spread guilty feelings to any listener: “There Will Be No Light, No Hope…”. You have been warned! Last cut “The Bad Place” concludes the 12” on a soulful note regarding the state of our world controlled by government and technology.
Completed by a fantastic comic style artwork, awaken and despair “Time To Go Back EP” offers an outstanding retrofuturist release from which no one will come out unscathed.

One of the best outings in The Villains Inc. so far, rush on it!

Zopelar arrives on Tartelet with Charme - an album of effervescent machine funk harking back to a golden era of Brazilian party music, releasing October 21st.

The era of interest for Sao Paulo’s Pedro Zopelar begins in the 1980s in Rio de Janeiro, when a particular phenomenon caught on at suburban parties which became known as Charme. “Charme was like a mix of slow boogie, RnB and new jack swing,” explains Zopelar. “DJ Corello started calling ‘charme’ the moment of the party when he played slow grooves and felt that the people started dancing differently, with sexier synchronized moves. Some years later, charme evolved from an awaited moment of a night to a whole movement of parties just playing that kind of music. On this record I tried to make something that brings this emotional feeling to my music in a modern way.”

Much like the original genre-not-genre he drew inspiration from, Zopelar’s approach across his latest LP spans different moods and tempos. There’s blissful, sultry mystery lingering around ‘Clara’ and ‘Do You Feel?’ while OSAGIE lends some chops to the exquisite, Rompler-powered synth funk of ‘Chain Net’. The lead singles ‘Shibuya’, ‘Charme’ and ‘Passado’ all tap into varying shades of deep house, from slinky City Pop-tinted loungers to peak-time dance pop and Larry Heard-influenced flavours, with the constant being Zopelar’s immaculate production and the unbridled warmth of his compositions.

Continuing the Latin-rooted theme of the album, the artworkconception of Charme was realized by multidisciplinary artist and curator Ode, showcasing a popular style of street paintings made by anonymous artists throughout Latin America. It’s not about graffiti-culture but a popular solution utilized by small restaurants, bars and other establishments to use their own walls for commercial purposes, hiring artists to paint food and drink menus or other information about their products.

With an emotional sincerity stemming from his move to reconnect with the Brazilian dimension of his creative background, Charme arrives as Zopelar’s heartfelt celebration of life and music, of sentimental moments shared and good times enjoyed.

The East Coast of England is a land living on borrowed time. Time we borrowed from the North Sea, reclaimed a thousand years ago. But now it seems that sea has come to claim it all back. Michael C Coldwell spent three years travelling up and down this rapidly disappearing shoreline, collecting ghost stories, photographing the roads to nowhere, the monumental sound mirrors and pillboxes teetering on the edges of cliffs, making field recordings of the waves and fog signals, and writing mournful electronic music from static caravans. This hauntological project finally culminated in a short essay film entitled Views from Sunk Island - and this new Conflux Coldwell album. More than just a film score, The Phantomatic Coast stretches beyond the original aims of the documentary, to evoke something deeper about our troubled relationship with the sea – the many towns and ships lost beneath the waves, and ancient forgotten lands lying out beyond the windfarms like some Yorkshire Atlantis. Memory and mythology became obvious themes in the work, as did the ruins and remains of the world wars, now slipping beneath shifting sands forever. The Phantomatic Coast will be released via digital platforms and limited edition pressed vinyl in a deluxe gatefold sleeve.

After almost two years from the LP "Morphé", Pellegrino returns with a single of his Zodyaco ensemble project and its distinctive musical identity between Mediterranean mysticism and Latin splendour.

Quimere, title of the single, are a metaphor for an inexpressible desire, an impossible dream, two interpretations of a song in the shadow of the sun that warms up Naples at the sunset of its summer, that invisible wall that divides souls, or perhaps an impossible love suspended between the stars and their reflections on the sea.

Hate Propaganda's far too overlooked 2019 debut EP "World War 666" sees a much needed reissue on vinyl, remastered and enhanced by brand new artwork commissioned for the purpose by Xerox master P. Van Trigt. When it was first released on cassette tape back in 2019 by War Arts Productions, this war-torn debut offering of primeval warnoise by the mysterious Portuguese war criminals stood out immediately as a crown jewel debut for the genre and as one of the year's most definitive and underrated manifestations of extreme metal's most hateful and berserk fringe. Packing in nineteen minutes of absolute hatred, the annihilating MLP manifests as a nightmare hallucination of complete violence and negativity, evoking eons of perennial apocalyptic global planetary war and terror on the wings of its nefarious design of achieving maximum annihilation in the shortest amount of time possible. To harness this bleak pantheon of ruin, the Portuguese conquerors have assembled a weaponized and uncontrolled sonic chain reaction where grindcore, black metal, death metal and hardcore punk are all accelerated and instigated into an inescapable payload of death aimed straight at the vital sinews of humanity. A sonic maelstrom churned into shape by an onslaught of obscure violent riffs, psychotic leads and ominous laughter which, parallel to a pulverizing drum performance, emanates from oblivion with an antediluvian, negative aura. Comparisons to bands like Diocletian, Heresiarch, Tetragrammacide and Nuclearhammer will run abound, yet these would be only easy superficial conjectures as this is a manifestation of sonic extremism which dwells on a plain of excellence entirely its own. Its uniqueness transpires particularly in the maniacal drumming which underlines the band's hardcore and punk influences, and is exalted further by an unusually crystalline production and by a masterful onslaught of uber-audible riffs hiding behind nothing and seemingly going in the opposite direction of the homogenous and indiscernible sensorial smothering the genre usually opts to go in. Tracklisting: 1. World War 666 2. Neverending Mass Graves 3. Violent Nature of Human Annihilation 4. Welcoming the Nuclear War With Open Arms 5. Let the Sirens Signal the End of Times

WARKINGS Warriors macht euch bereit! Die mächtigen Krieger kehren mit einer sagenumwobenen Verbündeten zurück! Keine Geringere als die legendäre Zauberin Morgana le Fay, Schwester von Artus und Herrin
der verlorenen Seelen, hat sich den vier Königen für den vierten Teil der WARKINGS-Saga angeschlossen.
Das neue Studioalbum, Morgana, erscheint am 11. November 2022 über Napalm Records. Vier mächtige
Könige – ein römischer Tribun, ein wilder Wikinger, ein edler Kreuzritter und ein kriegerischer Spartaner
– versammelten sich in den goldenen Hallen von Walhalla, entkamen aus der Unterwelt, bekämpften die
Herrscher der Finsternis und haben zur Revolution gerufen. Zurück im Totenreich wurden sie von der
unheimlichen und außergewöhnlichen Stimme der „bösen“ Zauberin Morgana La Fey in ihren Bann gezogen. Besessen von der Idee, der Menschheit ihre eigene Version der Geschichte zu erzählen, überzeugte
die Hexe die WARKINGS, den nächsten Schlachten gemeinsam entgegen zu treten und Morgana in ihren
Kreis aufzunehmen – ein Bund gemacht für die Ewigkeit!
In der Tradition von POWERWOLF, HAMMERFALL und Running Wild schmieden die WARKINGS ihre
Musik hart wie Stahl und erobern seit 2018 die Schlachtfelder der Welt. Sie versammelten ihre Warriors
ltweit und stiegen 2021 mit Revolution auf Platz 13 in die offiziellen deutschen Albumcharts ei

The Mansion were initially a prison group formed by Charles Lorenzo Blakely in 1970 while serving time in the Green Bay Reformatory at Allouez, Wisconsin. The Mansion’s line up included at different times Michael Locke, Stanley Newburn, Carl Anderson, John Crawford, Michael Smith, Larry Moses, Ronald Hardin, Jerome Wagner, Larry Lister, Maurice Payne and Charles himself. One day while rehearsing in the prison chapel, the Mansion attracted the attention of the warden’s wife who happened to be showing some local dignitaries around. Impressed by what she heard the warden’s wife was instrumental in the Mansion being invited to perform for the city’s television station WBAY, where they recording two holiday programs. The warden later gave them permission to perform outside the prison which brought them to the attention of a Milwaukee neighbourhood program adviser by the name of Al Dunlap of the Commando Project One. It was through Dunlap that the Mansion recorded their solitary 45 release in 1974 “The Girl Next Door /Stop! Let Your Heart Be Your Guide” for a local Milwaukee label Gibbs (406). The label’s owner Bill Gibbs held the release back until some of the members of the Mansion were granted their release papers as at that time prisoners were unable to sign any contract agreements while still incarcerated. Although Charles Blakely remained incarcerated, he was later moved to a medium security prison in Fox Lake County, Wisconsin. While there he formed a gospel group, called the ‘Bell Tones’ who’s line up included Charles, Mayweather Lee, Joe Hayes, and Levell Rudd. The formation of this group was seen as major factor in Charles’s rehabilitation which led to his eventual parole in 1976. Once on the outside Charles with former ‘Bell Tone” member Mayweather Lee were joined by Charles (Sonny) Bryant and Jimmy Taylor to form a new ensemble by the name of The “Final Chapter”. As the final Chapter they recorded a solitary release for Marvel Love’s New World Label “Now I Know/Get Down For Your Action” (NW800) during 1980, a brief association that for several reasons was to eventually brake down. Although Jimmy Taylor left to pursue a career as a blues musician the remaining three members of the ‘Final Chapter’ continued to perform until they finally disbanded in 1987. Three previously unissued Final Chapter songs can be found on Soul Junction Various Artists CD compilation “We Got A Sweet Thing going On” Volume II. The Mansion’s Gibbs 45 is now is a highly prized and sort after item amongst Sweet and Group Soul collectors.

On the cusp of their 30th year with British indie Warp Records, Plaid return with a joyous new studio album, Feorm Falorx. From their playful early releases in the late 80's until now, they have explored diverse musical styles and embraced new methods of synthesis whilst maintaining a musical thread that spins back through the early Hip Hop scene of their youth and beyond to the sounds of the late 60s and 70s that inspired it.

Plaid have toured extensively and collaborated widely over the years, writing for and performing with sonic researchers, percussion groups, solo artists and orchestras, most recently for the BBC Concert Orchestra. They have written for computer games and scored several feature films, one of which, Tekkon Kinkreet, was awarded the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

This eleventh studio album finds our duo, Ed Handley and Andy Turner, recreating a recent performance at the Feorm Festival, an intergalactic festival held on the planet Falorx. In order to survive the Falorxian atmosphere they were converted into light so the traditional recording devices they'd taken on 'The Campbell' were not functional. Fortunately, having consulted Earth's Space Agency, it was deemed safe to recreate the performance back in their London studio. Extensive testing of the resulting recordings have established a level of thought contamination deemed, “perfectly acceptable.”

Feorm Falorx will be released Universally on 11-11-22

12 of the heaviest early tracks by the master of rebetika music. Markos Vamvakaris sings from the hash dens of the Greek ports of the 1930s - mournful, poetic, bitter music of love and long nights. Rebetika is the sound of Greece and Asia Minor clashing amid civil war, mass population exchange, and the anarchy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Poetic, mournful, and bitter, rebetika music was born in the hash dens (tekes) of Mediterranean ports, its verses whispered in Greek prisons before spilling out to the greater population in the 1930s, propelled in no small part by a series of remarkable recordings by Markos Vamvakaris. Markos, as he’s known to this day, sang heady, drugged out songs of love, pain and yearning at brothels, bars and hash dens in the port of Piraeus. He arrived as a youth in 1917, working as a skinner in a tannery. By the time he picked up the bouzouki around 1924, he was fully taken by the life of the manges, the lowest rungs of the Greek social ladder. They lived by their own code and in total opposition to the rest of the population, and rebetika was their music. On these twelve early tracks, recorded in Athens between 1932 and 1936, Markos was already a master of the bouzouki. His forceful, clean playing compliments his hoarse voice and his stunning rhythmic sensibility, the result of his years as a champion zebekiko dancer. Tracks build and spiral outward, his open-note drones and melodic lines drawing calls of ecstasy and encouragement from his fellow musicians. Translations of songs like “Hash-Smoking Mortissa” and “In The Dark Last Night” provide a glimpse into the life and language of the manges - Ottoman cafe music, the calls of displaced Greeks of Smyrna, the chaos and suffering of port life, it all comes through Markos’ songs. These recordings, incredibly rare and expertly remastered, mark the height of rebetika, the brief period between the music’s emergence on the recording scene in the early 1930s and government censorship of all lyrics starting in 1936. During the Axis occupation there was no rebetika recording, and though Markos had some hits in the years after the war, he never again attained this level. These are the dizzying, entrancing, and heaviest works of one of the great artists of the 20th century. Pressed on 160gm vinyl, includes full size 8 page booklet with historical notes, rare photos, and lyric translations.

Mit „Bullet For My Valentine – Deluxe“ knüpfen Bullet For My Valentine an den Erfolg ihres letzten Albums „Bullet For My Valentine“ an, mit dem die Metal-Veteranen ihren Platz in den Top 10 Album Charts sicherten. Ein Album voller kreischender Soli und monströser Riffs, das neue und alte Fans gleichermaßen begeistert. Schon beim ersten Hören erkennen die Fans, dass Bullet sich in der Form ihres Lebens befinden.

Der bösartige Opener „Parasite“ und die furiose erste Single des Albums, „Knives“, sind pures metallisches Adrenalin: galoppierende Drums, brodelnder Gesang und rasende Soli, die einen dunklen Sound erzeugen, der die schwierige Zeit widerspiegelt, in der das Album aufgenommen wurde. Jetzt dreht die Band weiter
auf. Das selbstbetitelte Deluxe-Album enthält 4 neue Tracks und „Stitches“, der bisher nur als japanischer Deluxe-Track erhältlich war. Die Deluxe Version erscheint als CD und in limitierter Vinylfarben.

‘Dead End Kings‘, eines der ehrgeizigsten Werke der Band,
wurde in den Ghost Ward Studios und in The City Of Glass
aufgenommen. Anders Nyström und Jonas Renkse kümmerten sich um die Produktion des Albums, während David
Castillo, der für seine früheren Kooperationen mit Katatonia
sowie Opeth und Bloodbath bekannt ist, für den Mix des
Albums verantwortlich war. ‘Dead End Kings‘ war das
Aufnahmedebüt von Gitarrist Per Eriksson für die Band,
zusammen mit dem neuen Bassisten Niklas Sandin.

Als ein Drittel des New Yorker HipHop-Trios Flatbush Zombies arbeitete Meechy Darko bereits mit u.a.
James Blake, A$AP Rocky und Danny Brown zusammen. Mit ”Kill Us All” stellte er jetzt die erste
packende Videosingle aus seinem Debütalbum ”Gothic Luxury” vor, das am 26. August über Loma Vista
Recordings / Concord erschien.
Es ist die Komik der Tragik, die Meechy Darko zu seinem ersten Soloalbum geführt hat. Ausgehend von
dem entsetzlichen Tod seines Vaters, der im Januar 2020 von einem Polizisten in Miami niedergeschossen
wurde, ist sein Debütalbum kein Schritt aus der Komfortzone, sondern ein Stoß in die Realität: ”Ich hatte
keine andere Wahl, als es zum Persönlichsten zu machen, was ich je getan habe, denn glücklicherweise oder
unglücklicherweise befinde ich mich gerade in einer sehr aufrüttelnden Phase meines Lebens”, sagt der 32-
jährige Rapper über die Entstehung von ”Gothic Luxury” und die Bedeutung dessen als Momentaufnahme.
”Der, der ich gestern war, ist vielleicht schon nicht mehr der, der ich morgen bin. Ich bin nicht der,
der ich letzte Woche war. Man kann nicht sagen, wer ich nächstes oder übernächstes Jahr sein werde.”
Zusammen mit Dot Da Genius, dem langjährigen Partner von Kid Cudi und Produzenten für u.a. Jhené
Aiko, Lil Nas X und Denzel Curry sowie Grammy-Preisträger Neal Pogue (u.a. TLC, Outkast, Tyler The
Creator) hat Meechy ein vielschichtiges Debütalbum erarbeitet, auf dem sich der Flatbush Zombie so öffnet
wie nie zuvor.

Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods . A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind. Born into a musical family, Ernest Hood began a promising career as a jazz guitarist during the 1940s, touring internationally with his brother Bill Hood and the saxophonist Charlie Barnet , before contracting polio in his late twenties. The disease left Ernest unable to play the guitar and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to adapt and innovate around his musical practices in the face of adversity; Hood's value of sound matured with a remarkably democratic and nonhierarchical approach and application. Taking up the zither, a less physically-demanding stringed instrument to the guitar, embarking upon the unprecedented process of incorporating field recordings into his work as early as 1956, and eventually discovering the synthesizer, Hood's music became imbued with optimism and subtle cultural critique. This ethos and technique - refined over the coming decades - would lay the groundwork for a sprawling body of radio work, mail order recordings for homebound listeners, and Neighborhoods , self- issued as a small vinyl edition in 1975. Where Neighborhoods , a nostalgic opus, drawing from a well of collective memory of the 1950s, is defined by traces of human activity, Back to the Woodlands leaves the modern world behind, delving into Hood's love for nature. Only recently discovered in his archives, the album dramatically expands his concept of "musical cinematography," imagistically triggering states of sensory memory from within its zither and synthesizer melodies, intertwined with field recordings made during Hood's extensive travels throughout Oregon. If Neighborhoods is a retreat into the gauzy joys of a romanticized past, Back to the Woodlands is an immersion in the timeless sanctuary of the natural world. A fascinating counterpoint to its predecessor, Back to the Woodlands brings us even closer to Hood's belief in the transportive qualities of sound; that field recordings could serve as a vehicle for the imagination and liberation, particularly for those with similar mobile disabilities as his own. Across the album's twelve compositions, the rippling instrumental harmonics - shifting between abstraction and playful melody - fold so seamlessly into the birdsong, bubbling brooks, and other environmental ambiences, that they often give the impression of having been recording within the landscapes toward which they whisper. Falling somewhere between the immersive calm of healing music and New Age, the creative field recording practices of sound ecologists world building for Folkways, and the jazz infected ambiences during Obscure / Editions EG's highest heights, Back to the Woodlands sculpts an singular proximity of music for its moment; a form of ambient sonic realism that draws the consciousness toward its surroundings as much as within. Working closely with his estate to maintain his original vision, Freedom to Spend has restored and remastered this never before released, lost masterpiece by Ernest Hood from the original tapes. Ernest Hood's Back to the Woodlands will be issued on vinyl, as well as on CD in combination with its contemporary Where the Woods Begin , with new liner notes by Michael Klausman . On behalf of Ernest Hood and Freedom To Spend, a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Oregon Wild, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon's wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Unholy Black Metal from the Holy Land, drenched in Middle-Eastern tones and mystique! An invocation of thousands of years of Darkness! Hailing from the urban Israeli settlement called Ma’ale Adummim in Israel, Arallu is a five-piece Black/Death Metal act that has been around the metal underground for twenty-five years. The band got the name Arallu from the Mesopotamian mythology, as it is the name of the underworld kingdom ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and the god Nergal, where the dead are judged. Arallu’s music revolves around the traditional ancient Middle Eastern melodies of fellow countrymen Melechesh, the high speed savagery of bands like Angelcorpse and Absu, and the atmospheric feel of legendary acts like before mentioned Melechesh and Absu. In 2019 the band had released the record called “En Olam”, and that opus has solidified Arralu’s already known talent to the underground extreme metal community. “Death Covenant” is the band’s seventh full-length studio offering and the album offers the listeners a very stunning infusion of occult Black Metal music with the ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern sound. The riffs found in here will satisfy the listeners with its frenzy of melodic tremolo picked riffs that is intertwined with some eerie folk instrumentation. The elements in the guitar department, thrown in with a few folk instruments such as a saz and a darbuka, reveals how the band had successfully stripped metal down to its core and added a personal touch of their own special flair. them and it provides that extra punch and low-end heaviness to the overall outcome of Arallu’s music. It basically lies steadily beneath the guitars as it backs them up with some thick lines that give a more deep feel to the strings and dispenses an ominous atmosphere to the tracks. The drum section also catches the audience’s attention with a variety of destructive pummeling double bass blasting to some Middle Eastern tribal drumming that helps a lot in terms of keeping the atmosphere intact. The record is filled with high-pitched piercing shrieks and screams which create a dark and raw soundscape. These vicious shrieks are sometimes jacked up with some uncanny backing vocals that tie together the brutality of extreme death and Black Metal music to the ancient Middle Eastern scales of the material. “Death Covenant” also parades the band’s strongest production to date in their twenty-five years of existence. Arallu had created a menacing and atmospheric beast in this style of metal with their release of “Death Covenant”. These Israelis had put out a savage album that is hardly comparable to its predecessors.

Jozef Van Wissem- Lute, Electronics, Beats, Electric Guitar, Found Bird Sounds. In 2013 van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive “. In December 2017 Jozef van Wissem was invited to perform the madrigal depicted in Caravaggio’s painting The Lute Player (1596) at the Hermitage museum of Saint Petersburg. In 2022 three of his works were used for in the soundtrack and trailer of Irma Vep (HBO). His completely unique musical world can be easily verified by his collaborations, especially that these relationships are also strengthening his own musical character. He worked together with Zola Jesus, Tilda Swinton, Jarboe as well as with his long-time collaborative partner, also his friend, Jim Jarmusch. “La Cinémathèque Française in Paris commissioned me to write and perform the score at the presentation of the restored version of Nosferatu. I was a bit overwhelmed by its success. It was sold out. I wasn’t going to repeat it. But people kept asking. In the beginning the soundtrack was more improvised and reactive to the images but after a few times the audience kind of showed me the way. To start with a few notes and building the score slowly to a dense slow metal ending. I found an old 7-inch single with recordings of extinct birds on a market, I electronically processed and added them to the score . “ Manipulating the sounds of electric guitar in alternate tuning he manages to create the feeling of fear, equal to the experience of the victims of Count Orlok. “To me Nosferatu personifies this Death Bird of the Plague. The Black Death depicted in the film offers a timeless parallel with contemporary society. The vampire Count Orlok infests the city with rats and people are infected with the plague. They must quarantaine. This provokes hysteria. Much like nowadays”. With a melodic almost medieval magic and mystery Jozef van Wissem has reignited the light through the filters of dark energy post punk and even black metal into a wondrous new melodramatic cinematic space…- John Robb (Louder Than War) Beginning with a solo played on the lute, his performance will incorporate electric guitar and distorted recordings of extinct birds, graduating from subtlety to gothic horror. – New York Times Delightfully macabre, intense and electrifying – MXDWN

First Time On Black vinyl. A lot has happened to the Magic Castles since this was released in April 2021 this release took over a year to be manufactured, the band have toured with the Brian Jonestown Massacre & the Warlocks in the USA in 2022 & the the track “Lost Dimension” was used in the HBO series “Succession” so not a bad 2022 for the band. Sun Reign is the band’s fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label ‘A’ Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. In November of 2019, tragedy struck and Edmonds was seriously injured in a car accident that required hospitalization and surgery. Friends started a Go Fund Me that raised over $20k USD for the uninsured musician’s hospital bills, showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for him and his family. Fortunately, Edmonds has made a complete recovery from his injuries and has bounced back remarkably well. In early 2020, Edmonds managed to finish the remaining work on the album “Sun Reign”, including a previously unreleased song, “Surmise'' penned by guitarist Jermiah Doering, and a rare cover of a moody 1966 garage rock song “Ode to the Wind” by Danny and the Counts. Edmonds also began working with a booking agency, planning a return tour to Europe with the band to support the new album. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Due to the global pandemic crisis of Covid-19, the album was delayed until 2021, and the promising tour was cancelled. In May of 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd two blocks from Edmonds’ home, which incited riots across the country. The protests led to the burning of Minneapolis, where a long time music venue and many other buildings were lost. Edmonds’ studio was not destroyed although many nearby buildings were. Edmonds is a known supporter of Black Lives Matter Tracklisting:- 1) Sunburst , 2) Lost Dimension , 3) Ode to the Wind , 4) Asuras , 5) World of Time , 6) Valley of Nysa , 7) Magna Mater , 8) Surmise , 9) Gates of the Sun , 10 ) Relax Your Mind

Strut present the first ever compilation of Balka Sound, bringing together their influential 1980s recordings, Hailing from Congo-Brazzaville and led by revered vocalist and ngonfi player, Nkibi “Lusialala” Albert, Balka Sound created their own unique musical world, re-imagining traditional Congolese Balka rhythms with electric guitars, electric bass and drums, alongside the traditional 5-string ngonfi.

Nkibi Albert had risen to fame in 1972 with his solo hit ‘Ah Lusialala’ and Balka Sound was created to bring the sound of Balka, a folk style from the Beembe people, to modern life and an international audience. With its roots in slavery and colonialism rumba was dominating the music scene in Congo while the philosophy of Balka Sound was to find its inspiration directly in local country life, to associate the modern and the traditional and to revive folk traditions that were dying. Founder member Henri Nsika Nkaya explains, “it was intended to be an update, a unification and an internationalisation of Congolese cultures.”

In 1979, during a festival organised by the Centre Culturel Français, the band won a recording deal to release their first album: Le 1er son du Balka, Lusialala et ses amis, recorded in just one take. Their success led to a second LP, Tu Kine Balka, recorded in Kinshasa in 1982. A third album in 1984, Afro Musik Creation, featured a more modern studio production sound. Their songs drew from traditional folk tales and parables, life lessons and the damage caused by rural exodus to the cities. By 1985, Balka Sound were working full-time with residencies at Chez Tantine Clara in Brazzaville, a well-known tourist venue, and the Frantel Cosmos Hotel.

In 1991, political tensions were rising in the country; civil disobedience and threats of a military coup were followed by a civil war from 1993 to 1994. The band eventually regrouped and were invited to perform in 1996 at the Palais des Congrès for the Fête National. Unfortunately, on the first day of new fighting in 1997, Balka Sound’s studio was looted and the band were forced to finally disperse.

This first compilation of the band’s music is curated and annotated by Makila Nsika Nkaya in conjunction with Balka Sound and has been fully remastered by The Carvery.

Renowned fiddle player and tireless musical adventurer Sam Sweeney
returns with the passionate, raw and expressive new album 'Escape That'
The record ties together the threads and footpaths of all of Sam's musical loves;
an honest and fearless expression of himself, combining pop hooks and
aesthetics with his pioneering work in the world of traditional dance tunes.
'Escape That' simultaneously presses the reset button on what a folk record
should sound like while marking a major stride forward for Sam into the world of
composition. Written without ever touching the violin, Sam retreated to his attic
during the lockdowns of 2020-21 and created over twenty pieces of
music. Composed almost entirely on synths and guitars, with snapshots of loved
ones and memories as inspiration in a time of isolation, he devised a way of
writing where he'd lay down a chord sequence and then record an improvisation
over the top. On listening back, anything that could be considered a hook would
be kept, everything else was deleted and tracks developed by linking the hooks
together to create dance tunes. Sam then translated the melodies back to the
fiddle, an instrument of which he is considered a modern master. Nominated four
times, and winner in 2015, of Musician Of The Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards, Sam has been at the forefront of the revival in English music for the last
fifteen years.
He is a veteran of the mighty Bellowhead, former and inaugural Artistic Director of
the National Youth Folk Ensemble, a founder member of ground- breaking trio
Leveret as well as a passionate and experienced educator. He has collaborated,
recorded and performed with The Full English, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Jon
Boden, Fay Hield and Emily Portman as well as creating his own theatre
production Made In The Great War.

Renowned fiddle player and tireless musical adventurer Sam Sweeney
returns with the passionate, raw and expressive new album 'Escape That'
The record ties together the threads and footpaths of all of Sam's musical loves;
an honest and fearless expression of himself, combining pop hooks and
aesthetics with his pioneering work in the world of traditional dance tunes.
'Escape That' simultaneously presses the reset button on what a folk record
should sound like while marking a major stride forward for Sam into the world of
composition. Written without ever touching the violin, Sam retreated to his attic
during the lockdowns of 2020-21 and created over twenty pieces of
music. Composed almost entirely on synths and guitars, with snapshots of loved
ones and memories as inspiration in a time of isolation, he devised a way of
writing where he'd lay down a chord sequence and then record an improvisation
over the top. On listening back, anything that could be considered a hook would
be kept, everything else was deleted and tracks developed by linking the hooks
together to create dance tunes. Sam then translated the melodies back to the
fiddle, an instrument of which he is considered a modern master. Nominated four
times, and winner in 2015, of Musician Of The Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards, Sam has been at the forefront of the revival in English music for the last
fifteen years.
He is a veteran of the mighty Bellowhead, former and inaugural Artistic Director of
the National Youth Folk Ensemble, a founder member of ground- breaking trio
Leveret as well as a passionate and experienced educator. He has collaborated,
recorded and performed with The Full English, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Jon
Boden, Fay Hield and Emily Portman as well as creating his own theatre
production Made In The Great War.

Nearly 30 years into an already impressive career – which includes 8 studio albums, tours with Descendents, blink-182, Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, Snoop Dogg, Bad Religion, and more, and over 365 shows on the Vans Warped Tour – Less Than Jake has never been a band to rest on its laurels. Today the ska punk veterans have shown the best is yet to come with the release of their first new song in 3 years, “Lie To Me,” and announcement of their new album Silver Linings, out December 11 th via Pure Noise Records. Fans can watch the music video for “Lie To Me” and pre-order the album now at https://smarturl.it/LTJ . “We made a new record! Our first full length with our new drummer, Matt Yonker, and it sounds amazing,” shares vocalist/guitarist Chris Demakes. “More vocal hooks than a tackle box, horns galore and that bombastic and upbeat energy that we’re known for. We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel with this one, it’s still undeniably Less Than Jake. Just a bit punchier and in your face. We can’t wait for our fans to hear it!” On how it feels to still be writing music together after so many years, vocalist/bassist Roger Lima shares: “It's still so freaking exciting!! After decades of working on songs together, we still love it, and with our new drummer Matt Yonker, we feel reignited and refueled. Personally, I feel that this is the first step of a new era for the band. While the music feels undeniably Less Than Jake, the flow of the tracks and the attitude of the horns and lyrics have a freshness to them and I look forward to sharing these songs with our amazing fans.” Less Than Jake has no plans of slowing down any time soon as they prepare for the release of their 9 th studio album, Silver Linings, out December 11 th via Pure Noise Records.

Sarathy Korwar returns with new album KALAK. The follow up to the politically charged, award-winning More Arriving is an Indo-futurist manifesto - in rhythmic step with the past and the present, it sets out to describe a route forward. It celebrates a rich South Asian culture of music and literature, which resonates with spirituality and community, while envisaging a better future from those building blocks. Recorded at Real World studios with meticulous production by New York electronic musician, DJ and producer Photay, who translates these communal rhythms and practices into a timeless and groundbreaking electronic record. There"s a spirituality and warmth at play in the polyrhythms, group vocals and melodic flourishes. The KALAK rhythm is the fulcrum upon which the 11-track project balances. After an intense lockdown induced period of reflection and meticulous note-making, Korwar boiled this down to the circular KALAK symbol which he then presented to his band before recording began. With the symbol projected on the walls in order to de-code and improvise around, Korwar had utter faith in the musicians he"d assembled and conviction in the concept.

After his latest ‘Youth EP’ that experimented with spacious vocal chops and whimsical soundscapes, Nocow returns with a relentless flurry of blows on the heavily computerized ‘Magnit EP’ released on npm. Featuring gloriously broken melodies and hard-hitting rhythm, Nocow explores the darker, more formulaic side to his sound. Brooding acid-infused synths shimmer across the four tracks, morphing between moods as the EP progresses. ‘Magnit S’ kicks off the EP with scattered bass hits, driving dark techno arpeggios, and a hint of footwork-esque percussion. The intense atmosphere is a relatively new direction for Nocow, straying from his more meticulous, introverted beats prior. ‘Kali’ incorporates warbled synth with a more subdued rhythm, playing with a modular sound and distant echoes of robotic vocals. This fragmented track is more akin to his 2018 sound of the Voda/Vozduh/Zemlya trilogy as the kinetics of sound play a strongly defined role in the overall sonics. ‘Sputnik’ commences with a blistering arpeggio of bit-crushed synth and chimes. The rocket-propelled pacing creates a frantic, yet ultimately controlled piece, worthy of a place in a club 300 years from now. Yet, after the frenzy comes the calm. The closing track ‘Extasy’ grinds the EP to a kaleidoscopic halt. Vocoder passages drift across the dense soundscape as Nocow transports you to an other-world, filled with spacey percussion. This closer is a well-deserved return to solid ground, following the perpetual trio of dark, yet utterly compelling techno pieces. Once again, Nocow exhibits his multi-faceted approach to electronic music that truly sets him apart.

Certain to become a staple of countless Christmas and Holiday music
collections for many years to come, More The Merrier, the 8-song holiday
EP from pop artist and songwriter Sarah Reeves featuring the song,
"Winter Wonderland (feat
Clark Beckham)" will fit perfectly alongside Bing and Nat and the Vince Guaraldi
Trio. Listeners are sure to experience all of the sounds and feelings the holidays
have to offer or remind us of, from the lighthearted, jazzy fireside moments to the
sacred. More The Merrier was produced and arranged by Ben Schofield and Mark
Campbell. Sarah signed her first record deal at age 18. For more than a decade, in
addition to pursuing her own artistry, she has dedicated a vast portion of her
career to writing songs for other artists and TV and film. Her music has appeared
in Disney Plus and National Geographic's six- part original series " Welcome To
Earth," starring Will Smith; Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon international trailer;
promos for "American Idol " and UFC; and on television series across major
networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and Netflix, among others. " Winter
Wonderland is one of the first songs I play every year at the beginning of the
Christmas season, "shares Reeves. " It is simple, classic and I was so excited to
record my own version. I asked my friend who is an incredible artist named Clark
Beckham to join me on this song. He was the perfect addition. I hope this song
brings a magical feeling of warmth and nostalgia this Christmas."
Reeves has also been featured on tracks by high-profile DJs, including Gatt so,
Laidback Luke, Justice Skolnik, R3HAB, and Armin Van Buuren. Having amassed
more than 65 million career on-demand streams, the Curb | Word Entertainment
artist has garnered 26 million Pandora lifetime streams and over 37.5 million
YouTube views to date.

"Playing The Angel | The 12" Singles" enthält in dieser als Deluxe-Box Set aufgelegten Sammler-Edition insgesamt zehn 12" Vinyl-Schallplatten, die die Single-Auskopplungen aus dem im Oktober 2005 veröffentlichten elften Depeche Mode-Studioalbum "Playing The Angel" repräsentieren, und die neben den eigentlichen Titeln "Precious", "A Pain That I'm Used To", "Suffer Well" und "John The Revelator/Lilian" auch umfangreich mit B-Seiten, Remixen, Instrumental- und Dub-Versionen sowie anderen Aufnahmen aus dem Album-Umfeld ausgestattet sind. Die zehnte und letzte Platte, speziell für diese Kollektion zusammengestellt, offeriert B-Seiten und Remixe, die seinerzeit verstreut auf CDs und Maxi-Singles erschienen waren.Jedes Box Set innerhalb dieser Reihe enthält die Singles jedes einzelnen Depeche Mode-Albums auf hochwertigem Vinyl, wobei die remasterten Tonspuren direkt von den ursprünglichen Mastertapes stammen. Die spezielle Box Set-Grafik wurde von den jeweiligen Original-Alben inspiriert, während für die 12" Singles selbst die damaligen Cover-Artworks herangezogen wurden.

What does it mean to be a traveler in a fixed place? An adventurer in
domestic space? A troubadour in a confined microcosm, or a
constellation of microcosms—that is, a microcosmos? These are the
questions Nashville musician, songwriter, and published poet Lou Turner
(aka Lauren Turner, Styrofoam Winos) was reflecting on as she wrote her
luminous third solo album, Microcosmos
She says of the cosmic country record, "Musically, these songs are mostly in the
country/folk vein of the 70s songwriter but lyrically they're challenging some of
those tropes or totally subverting them altogether, talking about commitment and
love—the small microcosmic things that make up the fabric of everything."
With her warm and welcoming voice and nylon- stringed acoustic guitar
foregrounded over sparse yet playful arrangements, Microcosmos is a meditation
on what it means to privilege cultivation over consumption and to ponder larger
realities from within the shell of the fixed reality of a home. The reward is the
adventure to be found in stillness and observation, the discovery of the
otherworldly in earthly matter, the revelations of groundedness. Turner generously
offers up these wonders to the listener, sharing hers, and inviting us to find our
own.

Saft's X series signs up accomplished French house artist Pablo Valentino for a new EP that features Patchworks and includes a remix from Seb Wildblood. Valentino hails from East France but his work has made a global impact. He runs FACES Records and is A&R for the cult MCDE Recordings. Next to that he DJs around Europe and has produced both solo and as part of collectives such as Creative Swing Alliance and Hipster Wonkaz for labels like MCDE, Eureka and Room With A View.

Atmospheric opener "Look Deeper" is a rough and steamy deep house cut for cosy basements. The drums are raw and alive, the lead synth is haunting, and the keys bring a jazz feel while vocal coos add some serious soul. French jazz, soul and deep house artist Patchworks guests on "X Rousse", a freewheeling jam with loose-limbed drums and funky chords. It channels the spirit of Moodymann and is sure to bring heat to any party. The final original is "Bagaco"; a bubbly and percussive number underpinned by warm bass stabs. The dynamic groove never rests and raw claps amp up the energy throughout.

Seb Wildblood is a driving force in the South London scene thanks to running Church, All My Thoughts and Coastal Haze. From house to downtempo, leftfield to techno, he has a broad stylistic range that always looks forwards. His remix is a celebratory broken beat workout. It's all about big stabs, soulful smeared chords and cutting loose on the dance floor without a care in the world. Once again, The Saft X