Search:the work

Announcing Dion Lunadon's (of A Place To Bury Strangers / The D4) debut solo album, on Agitated Records. The album was recorded over a three-month period in Brooklyn, NY and features Robi Gonzalez (APTBS) on drums and Blaze Bateh from Bambara on select tracks including 'Fire'. "With 'Fire' I wanted wild and heavy guitars with heavy sentiment in the first vocal line to match. Something that grabs you and demands attention. Not background music," Lunadon explains of the track. The album also features mixing by Chris Woodhouse (Mayyors, Ty Segall, The Intelligence, Thee Oh Sees) on select tracks including 'Com/Broke'. From cutting his teeth back home in New Zealand as a member of The D4 to his current role as bassist of Brooklyn-based A Place to Bury Strangers, Dion Lunadon has played in some form of a rock & roll band his entire life. During a short break in touring with APTBS, Lunadon had a rush of inspiration in the form of a Dion Lunadon creative spasm — a neurotic impulse to make a batch of songs and do it right then and right there. What resulted is quite a jump away from his work in APTBS and draws more influence from bands like Toy Love and The Gun Club, as well as New Zealand unknowns such as Gestalt and Supercar. 500 only pressed / black vinyl theres 200 for UK/EU only

Formed in 1968, Nazareth rose from the pubs and clubs of their native Scotland to become one of the most successful rock bands in the world, notching up a string of hit records along the way. Hard-working, honest, sincere, and unaffected by the vagaries of fashion, this band of the people have influenced many great artists. Half a century later, and having sold in excess of 20 million albums around the globe, the legendary Nazareth are still rocking hard!
2XS, originally released in 1982, is Nazareth’s 13th studio album, which will be reissued on aqua coloured vinyl, as well as on CD.

Formed in 1968, Nazareth rose from the pubs and clubs of their native Scotland to become one of the most successful rock bands in the world, notching up a string of hit records along the way. Hard-working, honest, sincere, and unaffected by the vagaries of fashion, this band of the people have influenced many great artists. Half a century later, and having sold in excess of 20 million albums around the globe, the legendary Nazareth are still rocking hard!
No Mean City, originally released in 1978, is Nazareth’s 10th studio album, which will be reissued on green coloured vinyl, as well as on CD with bonus tracks.

Formed in 1968, Nazareth rose from the pubs and clubs of their native Scotland to become one of the most successful rock bands in the world, notching up a string of hit records along the way. Hard-working, honest, sincere, and unaffected by the vagaries of fashion, this band of the people have influenced many great artists. Half a century later, and having sold in excess of 20 million albums around the globe, the legendary Nazareth are still rocking hard!

Snaz, originally released in 1981, is Nazareth’s infamous live album, which will be reissued on orange and green double coloured vinyl, as well as on double CD.

Formed in 1968, Nazareth rose from the pubs and clubs of their native Scotland to become one of the most successful rock bands in the world, notching up a string of hit records along the way. Hard-working, honest, sincere, and unaffected by the vagaries of fashion, this band of the people have influenced many great artists. Half a century later, and having sold in excess of 20 million albums around the globe, the legendary Nazareth are still rocking hard!
Sound Elixir, originally released in 1983, is Nazareth’s 14th studio album, which will be reissued on peach coloured vinyl, as well as on CD.

Following the release of Bartees Strange’s stunning debut Live Forever, Bartees and his band took a trip to Conshohocken PA to record an electric set of album tracks and other songs from his catalog with Producer Will Yip (Title Fight, Tigers Jaw). The performance has been pressed on limited color vinyl and offers a new look at one of the most exciting songwriters in the game today.

The performance covers most of Bartees Strange’s 2020 LP, an album of the year for that year from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, Stereogum and more. Tracked only months after that record’s release, this live set perfectly encapsulates what those outlets found so intriguing about Strange - tying a “dizzying blend of genre work” together as Stereogum said into an album that celebrates it’s myriad influences.

The Maltese machine funk specialist himself Keith Farrugia is back once more with yet more of his impeccable electro business as Sound Synthesis. This time the prolific producer is shoring up on Burnski's Infiltrate label with four cool and deadly cuts which build on his previous drops for 20:20 Vision, Furthur Electronix, Orbital Mechanics and more besides. From the nervy sci-fi flex of 'Motor Space Maps' to the playful fun n' games of 'Back In Time', Farrugia knows exactly what he's doing within the electro blueprint, and his tracks are reliably punchy warm - a true master at work.

We finally announce PLSUK008, signed by Samantha Togni, a strong figure in the Techno scene.

This release perfectly matches the transition PLSUK is going through. Techno meets Grime and Trap, a blending of classic rave sound with contemporary Electronic vibes accompanied by a rumbling feature from Karnage. Samantha represents the perfect match between classic rave and today's sound revolution within the Electronic Music and Queer scene.

The journey has begun.

BJÖRNHORN is the first solo album by Swedish, renowned bass player
Johan Berthling (known for his work with ensembles such as Tape, Time
is a Mountain, Fire!, Goran Kajfeš Suptropic Arkestra)
Meticulously recorded by Daniel Bengston at Studio Rymden, and produced by
Berthling together with Alex Zethson, it is a startling solo album of raw and warmsounding double bass. It contains the original suite 'BJÖRNHORN', as well as a
stunning rendition of Charlie Haden's 'For Turiya'.

Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem
Pour Un Twister in 2020
Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of
unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal (2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa (2015) - a
collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant
bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of
pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and
synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.For fans of
Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur
Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen,
Dungen.

Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem Pour Un Twister in 2020 Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal

(2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa

(2015) - a collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.

For fans of Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen, Dungen.

Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem
Pour Un Twister in 2020
Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of
unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal (2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa (2015) - a
collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant
bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of
pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and
synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.For fans of
Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur
Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen,
Dungen.

Billed as 'controversial' in its press materials for its open spiritual message, this jazz inspired record was Prince’s first fully independent release, issued without any major label backing. One of its songs 'The Work, Pt. 1' was released by Prince as a free download on the file sharing service Napster - this move, along with direct to consumer stream and download options on the NPG Music Club, made Prince a digital music pioneer. This record is a favourite among Prince’s most fervent admirers due to its complex musical narrative, its use of live drums/full horn section and the striking album art by artist Cbabi Bayoc, which still hangs in the hallowed halls of Paisley Park today. The CD has long been out of print and the original vinyl pressing was incredibly limited.

Uncrat has a healthy preoccupation with machines that make music, which fed into the development of the Xilo EP. The title cut blends stirring pad work with a taut kick drum and a menagerie of bleeps and chirps, concluding with a beautifully enchanting melody. ‘Efien’ utilises the familiar squelch of an acid line, along with unusual percussive elements and haunting progression.‘Gemini Leaks’ places rugged beats with emotionallycharged strings and an earworm melody that appears after a short breakdown. Finally ‘SIT’ loosely pays homage to DJ Rolando’s ‘Knights of the Jaguar’, with spinetingling strings sparking an overall feeling of euphoria. Bellissimo!

Pye Corner Audio releases a new album, Let’s Emerge!, for Sonic Cathedral. It’s his first studio outing for the label following the acclaimed live recording Social Dissonance, which came out earlier this year, and it features Ride guitarist Andy Bell playing on five of its ten tracks. From the first glimpse of the artwork to the first note of the music it’s a marked deviation from Pye Corner Audio’s more traditional shadowy sounds. Whereas his last outing for Ghost Box (2021’s Entangled Routes) was inspired by the underground fungal pathways through which plants communicate, this one is very much above ground, bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia.

“This is a departure to sunnier climes, but a departure nonetheless,” says Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins. “It’s something that I’d been thinking about for a while. I try to tailor my work slightly differently for the various labels that I work with, and this seems to fit nicely with Sonic Cathedral’s ethos.” Designer Marc Jones’ bold and ultra vivid artwork consciously references the likes of LFO, Spacemen 3 and the early output of Stereolab. “I think it mixes together many of my earliest influences,” explains Martin. “I’ve been a long-time fan of Spacemen 3 and Stereolab.

Their moments of repetition and drone have always seeped into what I’ve tried to create.

“I was living in a small apartment and I’d stripped down my studio set-up when I was recording this album. This enabled me to focus on a few key pieces of equipment and explore them fully.” The recordings were fleshed out by Andy Bell, who Martin first met at the Sonic Cathedral 15th birthday party at The Social in London back in 2019 – the same show that became the live album Social Dissonance.

“New alliances were formed and friendships made in that basement in Little Portland Street,” recalls Martin. “When I met Andy, we agreed that we needed to work together in some way. After I’d remixed a few tracks from his album The View From Halfway Down, he kindly repaid the favour.” The end results – mastered in New York by acclaimed engineer Heba Kadry – are incredible, from the first stirrings of opener ‘De-Hibernate’, via the glorious ‘Haze Loops’ and ‘Saturation Point’, the album slowly but surely awakens, blinking and feeling its way into the light. It all culminates in the epic closing track ‘Warmth Of The Sun’ which, with its vocal harmonies and acid breakdown, is seven and a half minutes of pure release.

“That one’s about life’s simple pleasures,” concludes Martin. “The Beach Boys, tremolo guitars, infinite drones, Spacemen 3. Let’s emerge from this darkened era and feel the ‘Warmth Of The Sun’. “The last few years have seen huge changes, both personally and in a wider perspective. The album title is a reaction to this, a collective (tentative) sigh of relief. Here’s to new beginnings and a sense of hope.”

 Matmos are one of the most prominent experimental electronic artists working today, crafting work by creating new conceptual frameworks and immediately testing those frameworks’ absolute limits. For ‘Regards/Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer’ they’ve focused on another artist known, in large part, for doing the same.

 Bogusław Schaeffer was one of the first Polish artists creating electronic music. In step with American contemporaries like John Cage and Morton Feldman, he worked across the boundaries of classical composition, electronic experimentation and radical theatre, in playfully form-breaking ways.

 Matmos are not the first ones to recognize the power of his catalogue, from ‘Solo’ (a 2008 documentary that garnered numerous international awards), to the annual Shaeffer’s Era Festival (most recently celebrated simultaneously in Warsaw and Los Angeles), Bogusław Schaeffer’s work continues to inspire.

 ‘Regards/Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer’, however, was not just inspired by his work. Matmos were given access to the entirety of Schaeffer’s recorded works to use as they saw fit, commissioned by the prestigious Instytutu Adama Mickiewicza. They re-assembled and re-combined these recorded works with modern instrumentations in a way that only Matmos could, and what emerged is a composite portrait of the utopian 1960s Polish avant-garde and the contemporary dystopian cultural moment regarding each other across a distance.

 Vinyl packaged with digital download card.

Legendary American musician Brian Jackson announces his first solo album in over 20 years,
‘This Is Brian Jackson’, produced by Phenomenal Handclap Band founder Daniel Collás and
released on BBE Music.
Brian Jackson earned mythic status among music fans thanks to his pioneering work with Gil
Scott-Heron in the 70’s, where his flute and electric piano performances on ‘Pieces of a Man’
and ‘Winter In America’ virtually defined the sound of an era. From the 80s onwards he went
on to record with Kool & The Gang, Will Downing (whose debut album he produced), Roy
Ayers and Gwen Guthrie among many others, and while many veteran musicians tend to
stick with the sounds they know best at some point in their careers, Jackson remains an
unusually adventurous, vital and broad-minded artist to this day.
When the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s Daniel Collás first met Brian Jackson at a
performance in New York, right off the bat he said “I think I could produce you”. “I wasn’t
sure why he thought that,” says Jackson “but I considered it a challenge to find out. Turns
out that he was right.”
Early on in their friendship, Brian mentioned that he’d embarked on a solo project right
around the time he recorded ‘Bridges’ with Gil Scott-Heron in 1976. There were even some
unfinished demos, but the album had never materialised. Daniel leapt on the idea, asking
“what would a Brian Jackson album sound like if the 21st century Brian were to complete
that 1976 album today?” Completed in a series of twice weekly sessions over 11 months in
Daniel’s Williamsburg studio, ‘This Is Brian Jackson’ provides the answer.
“We sketched out musical ideas, drank way too much coffee, consumed way too many
tacos and sampled perhaps a few too many exotic whiskeys while talking about things that
were important to both of us personally. The lyrics for the songs are a result of those
conversations” says Jackson.
Contributors to the album range from Jackson’s guitarist, bassist and longtime friend Binky
Brice (Billy Ocean, Evelyn Champagne King, Roy Ayers), Collás’s occasional writing partner
Morgan Phalen, Latin Grammy-winning flautist Domenica Fossati, drummers Moussa Fadera
and Caito Sanchez, and Phenomenal Handclap Bandmates Juliet Swango and Monika
Heidemann.
And the music? Vintage, soul-stirring Brian Jackson, with the great man’s warm vocals,
distinctive flute and lyrical keys taking centre stage. The songwriting feels timeless, the
arrangement effortless, the production human and analogue. From golden-era soul-funk
opener ‘All Talk’, through soaring Afrobeat-inspired dreamscape ‘Mami Wata’ to compact
groover ‘Little Orphan Boy’ which closes the album, ‘This Is Brian Jackson’ is simply some of
the veteran artist’s best work yet, subtly and lovingly framed by Daniel Collás.

THE HITMAN aka MARVELLOUS CAIN delivers his most sought after tracks on vinyl!

RETURN OF THE HITMAN collects together 16 of the most exclusive cuts from Marvellous Cain’s extensive back catalogue, all remastered and presented as a collectable vinyl box set package.

This album has been a long time coming, much of that time spent by Marvellous Cain digging through his studio to find original DAT recordings of his most in demand hits, in the process unearthing some exclusive, never before released gems!

This album kicks off with 2 versions of arguably his most notorious track Hitman, a certified jungle classic from 1994! For this compilation, Marvellous Cain has selected the version of Hitman previously only available on his debut Gun Talk LP back in 1995 (released on Suburban Base). He’s also treated us to the very long overdue, unreleased, DJ Stretch Dubplate VIP, originally produced in ’94, but never pressed to vinyl!

On the flip are two cuts from the infamous Lucky Spin imprint... Life Is Rollin & Miss Out. Both tracks were originally available as a very limited white label press, but never got a full release. This has been selling for £90 on reseller sites due to its scarcity.

Record 2 is again packed with rare music, with 3 of the 4 cuts being unreleased to date. The first track Will I See You? has traded hands for an incredible £500 on Discogs, we can see many buying Return Of The Hitman for this track alone!

Our 3rd slice of vinyl see’s Marvellous Cain teaming up for studio collaborations with original jungle don Bizzy B on Everyday Junglist, also with Libra for an unreleased alternative version of Nu Music discovered on the original session DAT from 1996.

The 4th and final slice of wax in this package introduces new remixes of a couple of classic tracks. CB4 has been reworked for 2022 by Marvellous Cain himself. Dubplate Style has a fresh ‘22 lick by D&B’s hardest working DJ Nicky Blackmarket alongside production partner FreezeUK who’s recently released on Ram Records sister label Prog:Ram!

We close out with two dubplate exclusives from 95 & 96 respectively, taken from Marvellous Cain’s personal arsenal of DJ ammunition, and now available for the first time to the record buying public.

The four tracks that comprise Giving Water to the Dead were composed using sound materials originally recorded for the sound installation Histories of the Present, a public artwork commissioned by the City of Berkeley in 2019. But where the installation was about a melding of practices and sounds into a single gesture, Crouch and Novak wanted to take the opportunity of a split release to exploring divergent paths starting from common ground. For Giving Water to the Dead, each artist started with the same source material and plotted their own direction without direct influence from the other. As artists in a relationship and sharing a studio this was no easy feat. Despite the planned divergence the resulting tracks compliment each other, as the artists do.

Yann Novak and Robert Takahashi Crouch are a creative and romantic couple living and working in Los Angeles. Their collaborative practice incorporates field recordings, photography, and video as tools to investigate the relationship between site and subject. Their performances and installations have been presented at the AxS Festival, Pasadena; California Museum of Photography, Riverside; Desert Daze Festival, Southern California; Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza, Berkeley; Gays Hate Techno, Northern California; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; LACMA, Los Angeles; PØST, Los Angeles; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and others. Their compositions have been published by The Tapeworm, Murmur Records, Estuary Ltd., IO Sound, and Untitled & After.

Joining the dots between Brazilian musical culture and the sonic melting pot that is New York City, Saidera are a trio on the rise. They’ve already released a pair of critically acclaimed, carnival-ready singles on Brooklyn’s Let’s Play House label and are now ready to make their debut on Leng Records.

The band’s roots can be traced back to a trip that Lemonade band member Alex Pasternak made to Brazil in 2014. While DJing at a house party in the bohemian Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Sta Teresa, Pasternak was left gobsmacked when a mysterious local singer/sambista Vadinho Freire, grabbed the mic and started freestyling lyrics and melodies over his set. Realising their instinctive musical connection, Pasternak and Freire decided to work together on some music, with New Yorker Le Chev joining them to complete the Saidera trio.

Now based in Rio and California, the group’s sun-soaked sound – which they describe as “samba disco-Afro melody” – is a cross-cultural stew in which infectious Brazilian percussion, colourful synth sounds, glistening guitars and celebratory vocals combine to create magical, life-affirming musical moments.

‘Luzes Da Cidade’, their first outing on Leng, encapsulates all that’s good about the Saidera sound and the trio’s approach to music. The song is about identity and connection and in its original form is languid, loved-up and joyous, with acoustic and electric guitars, Portuguese vocals and Korey Riker’s gently breezy flute solos rising above a squelchy synth bassline and energetic, sweat-soaked samba drums.

The song’s main mix comes accompanied by a wonderful instrumental pass featuring more extensive solos by Riker, and Saidera’s own remix of ‘Luzes Da Cidade’ – an extra-percussive, breakbeat-tinged fusion of hazy deep house, energetic samba and sunset-ready synth-disco that will delight DJs and dancers alike.

To round off the EP, Saidera has delivered a brand new “Uprockin Dub” of debut single ‘Deixa Tudo Fluir’, this time with female vocals from Irina Bertolucci taking the lead. Brilliantly kaleidoscopic sonically, with dub delay-laden vocals, guitars and flutes, it’s a superb, life-affirming Balearic reggae interpretation of a now familiar favourite. If you’re not singing along with the chorus after your first listen, we’d be very surprised.

In a natural departure from their intoxicating signature new-wave-jazz-funk sound, STR4TA present the double side 12” vinyl - “When You Call Me/Night Flight” available 8th July 2022.

‘When You Call Me’ is already available digitally and has received early support from Rampage (BBC 1Xtra) and Deb Grant (Jazz FM) plus NTS, MiSoul, Solar Radio, KCRW (US), KEXP (US), Concrete Islands, CRACK Magazine, Nu-Funk (Spotify) also achieved Jazz FM playlist since release in early April. In this latest offering, STR4TA unveil a refreshing neoteric layer reverberating with the essence of electro-street-soul in the UK.

STR4TA is the new wave jazz-funk project pioneered by Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Long-time friends and collaborators, STR4TA sees them mine new musical possibilities inspired by a shared formative era. Their debut album ‘Aspects’ was released in March 2021 to a rapturous reception, in the first material that Maunick and Peterson have released together in over a decade. With standout tracks ‘We Like It’ achieving over 1 million streams on Spotify, ‘Rhythm In Your Mind’ exceeding 12 weeks on Jazz FM’s playlist, and a remix EP featuring Melé, Dave Lee, Greg Wilson, Dave Aju& more released at the end of 2021. Heavily supported by BBC 6Music, The Guardian, Wax Poetics, The Vinyl Factory, CLASH, Télérama (FR), Radio Nova (FR), Rolling Stones Italy & Japan.



STR4TA are in the studio working on their latest body of work tipped for release later in 2022, with selected live dates scheduled over the summer.

Bristol-based singer, songwriter and bandleader, who has powered her
way to the-forefront of the British blues and roots scene in recent years,
unveils her eagerly-awaited third album 'Shining in the Half Light'
Crammed with vibrant originals brought to life with her A-list touring band, it's yet
another significant step forward in a career already feted with awards and
acclaim.'Shining in the Half Light' is Bailey's first full length album recorded in the
UK & feature's Joe Wilkins on Guitar, Jonny Henderson on Ivories, Matthew Waer
on Bass duties and Matthew Jones on drums. It was recorded in deepest Devon
in December 2020 at Middle Farm Studios and produced by Dan Weller, best
known for his long working relationship with Enter Shikari. Elles wanted this
record to feature 'gospel style vocals' so in steps Izo Fitzroy, an incredible artist in
her own right, who arranged the stunning background vocals on 'Shining In The
Half Light', and performed them alongside Jade Elliot and Andrusilla Mosley.
An exciting team of co-writers feature with three credits for Ashton Tucker & Will
Edmunds, who both wrote with Elles for 'Road I Call Home', plus she teamed up
with longtime guitarist Joe Wilkins to write the slow-flowing, philosophical 'Riding
Out The Storm'. Other kindred spirits include guitar maestro Martin Harley, for the
gentle and romantic 'Different Kind Of Love' and Matt Owens, co-founder of the
hugely successful indie- folk outfit Noah and the Whale, on the aforementioned
'Sunshine City'. The album comes to a striking conclusion with its title track, cowritten with Nashville's Craig Lackey, written over Zoom in May 2020.
Front cover features in Blues in Britain (Jan) and MNPR (May) Features in Record
Collector, Rock and Reel, Blues Matters, HRH Magazine, Fireworks Mag,
Powerplay, and Maverick
Reviews in Record Collector, Maverick, Powerplay,Fireworks,Blues Matters,HRH
Mag
Online press in Music News, Maximum Volume, Rush On Rock, All About The
Rock, Vents, Bluesdoodles, Rock and Blues Muse,Blues Rock Review, Blazing
Minds, Decibal Report, Maverick Country
Radio- BBC Radio 2 Cerys Matthews and Johnnie Walker, Planet Rock A playlist.

Bristol-based singer, songwriter and bandleader, who has powered her
way to the-forefront of the British blues and roots scene in recent years,
unveils her eagerly-awaited third album 'Shining in the Half Light'
Crammed with vibrant originals brought to life with her A-list touring band, it's yet
another significant step forward in a career already feted with awards and
acclaim.'Shining in the Half Light' is Bailey's first full length album recorded in the
UK & feature's Joe Wilkins on Guitar, Jonny Henderson on Ivories, Matthew Waer
on Bass duties and Matthew Jones on drums. It was recorded in deepest Devon
in December 2020 at Middle Farm Studios and produced by Dan Weller, best
known for his long working relationship with Enter Shikari. Elles wanted this
record to feature 'gospel style vocals' so in steps Izo Fitzroy, an incredible artist in
her own right, who arranged the stunning background vocals on 'Shining In The
Half Light', and performed them alongside Jade Elliot and Andrusilla Mosley.
An exciting team of co-writers feature with three credits for Ashton Tucker & Will
Edmunds, who both wrote with Elles for 'Road I Call Home', plus she teamed up
with longtime guitarist Joe Wilkins to write the slow-flowing, philosophical 'Riding
Out The Storm'. Other kindred spirits include guitar maestro Martin Harley, for the
gentle and romantic 'Different Kind Of Love' and Matt Owens, co-founder of the
hugely successful indie- folk outfit Noah and the Whale, on the aforementioned
'Sunshine City'. The album comes to a striking conclusion with its title track, cowritten with Nashville's Craig Lackey, written over Zoom in May 2020.
Front cover features in Blues in Britain (Jan) and MNPR (May) Features in Record
Collector, Rock and Reel, Blues Matters, HRH Magazine, Fireworks Mag,
Powerplay, and Maverick
Reviews in Record Collector, Maverick, Powerplay,Fireworks,Blues Matters,HRH
Mag
Online press in Music News, Maximum Volume, Rush On Rock, All About The
Rock, Vents, Bluesdoodles, Rock and Blues Muse,Blues Rock Review, Blazing
Minds, Decibal Report, Maverick Country
Radio- BBC Radio 2 Cerys Matthews and Johnnie Walker, Planet Rock A playlist.

The exemplary and well-travelled cornetist Kirk Knuffke presents a bold
new trio, with bassist Michael Bisio and pianist Matthew Shipp, on an
intimate and expansive double album
'Gravity Without Airs features' the three world- class musicians on Knuffke
compositions and in open form, creating a tour-de-force of poetry and verve. It's
available as a 2CD in deluxe 8-panel digipak and a 2LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve
with download card, the liner notes are by Francis Davis.
This is Knuffke's debut as a leader for TAO Forms. Accolades for the cornetist's
recent work as leader include NPR's Jazz Album of the Year laurel for 2017's
Cherryco, his homage to Don Cherry, a prime influence. DownBeat praised the
way that album showcased Knuffke's "nonchalant versatility and ebullient
melodic gifts," while esteemed critic Francis Davis called it "nothing short of
spectacular." Davis also wrote the liner notes for Gravity...noting the allure of
Knuffke's instrumental aplomb: "Kirk plays as if his cornet is a part of him - he
plays with it, not just on it."
On his guiding artistic impulse, Kirk Knuffke says: "I'm concerned with making
beautiful music. Beauty is always first, though not in a precious way. It can be in a
rough way, too." A prolific, lauded record- maker, 'Gravity Without Airs' fulfils his
poetic aims as well as any recording he has made. This work finds Knuffke in the
rare, even unique, trio format of cornet, piano and double-bass. His partners are
two ever- estimable pillars of creative music, and the work they've created
together here brims with melody and mystery, intimacy and dynamism.
"Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke's music is
a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz
philosopher, a self-taught musician with wide interests, endless curiosity and an
abundance of good humour." - DownBeat

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

lynyn sounds like if Aphex Twin or Autechre could compose for symphony and shred jazz. Though lynyn is a new Artist, his debut LP lexicon is essential listening for anyone interested in the compositional heights of electronic, synth, and modular music. So, who is lynyn? lynyn is the moniker of Chicago artist Conor Mackey, a working symphonic composer who has scored for institutions including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and Brain.fm (the neuroscience driven musical platform where he is currently lead composer on staff). He is also a guitarist / composer in the Chicago jazz fusion quintet Monobody. After years of quietly mastering the creation of electronic music in his home, Mackey first introduced his electronic alias lynyn as producer of NNAMDI's Are You Happy EP in the Fall of 2021 (Pitchfork described his production on that project as "a novel intersection of IDM" and contemporary pop). lynyn now offers up his debut electronic oevure lexicon via Chicago label Sooper Records. lexicon displays a mastery of both musical composition and sound design, as well as a deep appreciation of the vocabulary and history of the electronic genre_ with particular emphasis on the 90s IDM movement. Throughout lexicon we are propelled through the sounds of musique concrete, footwork, hip-hop, ambience, glitch-core, IDM, drum and bass, dub, break beats, and so much more. These influences work in tandem to produce a linear experience that can be spellbinding, euphoric, and sometimes destabilizing, but without ever feeling listless or wandering. The dense arrangements of lexicon are intentionally constructed with a painstaking attention to the most minute detail, and also with a masterful awareness of the macroscopic sound design profile of the entire work. Synth sequences and modular tones merge with sounds that seem wholly organic to create a series of purposeful movements from start to finish. Mackey is particularly adept at taking disparate, often difficult to control elements and introducing them harmoniously. He is a fastidious architect and designer of sound tinkering away in his modular laboratory. lexicon is an innovative entrant into the history of IDM and electronica with all the makings of an essential contribution. What Mackey accomplishes with lexicon is a progression; he's taking the sum articulation of a genre and attempting to carry it forward by imbuing it with his own unique language as a symphonic composer. His melting together of genres and techniques is a gateway into a more wide-ranging expression of the artform, particularly with respect to the sophistication of melodic composition. The result is arguably a landmark. While rightfully positioning the lynyn moniker as an electronic alias, lexicon leaves no doubt that Mackey is a composer above all else.

In the spring of 2020, Ben Cook _ a.k.a. Young Governor, Young Guv, or just Guv _ was holed up in the New Mexico high desert, his U.S. tour having been abruptly covid-cancelled during a southwest swing. He and his bandmates were living moment to moment in something called an Earthship, a solar-rigged adobe structure sustainably constructed with, among other things, recycled bottles and tires. And out there in the serene vastness, as a short ride-it-out stint turned into a nine-month sojourn, Ben was writing music, slowly, little by little, mostly at night while the others slept. By the New Year, almost in spite of himself, he had created a new album, two new albums actually, and through the ordeal he was forever changed. In a place he never expected to be, under circumstances no one could have predicted, and in the face of physical isolation, emotional desolation, and existential dread, Ben created GUV III & IV, a collection of songs dedicated and testifying to the eternal healing power of love _ how to find it in the world, in others, and most importantly, in himself. Written in the New Mexico wilderness and produced in Los Angeles, the double album will finally be available in it's entirety this summer via Run For Cover. Young Guv's talent as a songwriter has been with us for a long time. From forming iconic hardcore act No Warning in 1998 to joining Toronto legends Fucked Up, Ben Cook started writing songs as Guv in 2008 between a slew of other projects that were ambitiously working to define the genres they operated in. When he first started working with Run For Cover in 2019, the plan was to release a single record - but with too many songs to turn away, the project expanded into his first double album, GUV I & II. GUV III & IV finds the same ambition and expertise in hit-making, but this time the individual records hone into specific parts of Guv's sonic palette. GUV III is full of iconic hooks, power-pop guitar riffs and dancable-rock songs, while GUV IV takes notes from psych rock, electro pop and Laurel Canyon jangle to make something that as a whole, can only be defined as definitively GUV

Debut full-length collaboration from Jack Burton and Rory Glacken (Tourist Kid)
Follows Jack Burton's solo LP on Analogue Attic and Tourist Kid's solo LP on Melody As Truth
Early support from Ben Fester, Best Effort/DJ Earl Grey, Biscuit (Good Morning Tapes), Brian Not Brian, Ewan Jansen, Kato, Merve, Sleep D & Wax'o Paradiso
Dentistry is the dual energies of Rory Glacken and Jack Burton, Boorloo originals now living in Naarm. The pair have previously released an EP, "Ribbons," on their own Deep Water label, and a track on its local showcase comp "Greenhouse Vol. I" at the end of 2021. This transmission is their debut full length offering, channeled through hometown beacon Good Company Records.

"LP1" was created in unusual conditions between September and December of 2020, when the duo's shared Northcote studio became a site of remote collaboration. One person would start working on a track and leave the session open for the other, with no overlap of physical space shared. Responding to an invitation from GCR to make a record, the initial impulse was to write dance music. But what dance floor were these incorporeal partners writing for?

The album takes a spectral approach to the dance space, wrapping up air in a strata of textural tech, pulsing dub house and fractal illbience. Drawing on dub production techniques, "LP1" combines the structure of an ambient record with intricate percussive elements. Results are both atmospheric and material, abstract and palpable: a synthesis which expresses sonic relations of surface and depth, with the correlating mirage of light and shadow.

At times tinkering methodically and others in mercurial lurch, there is an immediacy to this album that stems from the way it was produced, using a mixing desk and outboard gear to rich and living effect. When we listen, we commune with the artists in the heat of working out of an otherworldly space, and feel every tweak and and turn. "LP1" is a current which carries the substance of process in communicable form. Intuitive and moving, breathing, dancing.

The seductive first full-length from electronic composer and multi-disciplinary visual artist Amosphère. Born in China, partly educated in Japan and now residing in Paris, her work came to the attention of a wider circle of listeners when she was invited by Laurel Halo to perform as part of a 10-hour durational ambient concert at London's Mode Exchange in 2019. Amosphère uses a careful selection of vintage electronics, sophisticated harmonic sense, and keen compositional intelligence to invite listeners into a meditative sonic space. Time expands and contracts, simplicity reveals complexity, and repetition becomes patient transformation. Spreading out over six expansive yet self-contained tracks, more die of heartbreak serves as a perfect introduction to Amosphère's warmly enveloping approach to analogue sound. Developed from scores (contained in the accompanying booklet) using techniques from concrete poetry and graphic notation as well as fragments of traditionally notated material, these six pieces take in a broad sweep of moods and approaches, from the gently burbling layered monophonic patterns of the opening 'circuit of unconsciousness', reminiscent of the sun-drenched synth figures of 70s Alvin Curran, to the haunted gliding tones and reverberating pops of the closing 'melting a piece of cadmium'. At times starkly minimal and making bold use of the stereo field, Amosphère's production approach keeps the grit and grain of her analogue gear intact, at times calling to mind the work of pioneers like Delia Derbyshire and Eliane Radigue.

Tape

Mexican sound artist Concepción Huerta is also a skilled photographer and video artist, and all of these aptitudes come together in the kinematic elements of her musical thesis. Her narrative seems to be an uninterrupted communication with movement as an axis: it pauses and falls with cadence at some moments; it agitates in disturbance at some others. But one movement perpetually crosses the other, even if sometimes imperceptibly.

Her sound work evokes displacements similar to what we could understand as a force of zero gravity. Taking this criterion as a backbone of her most recent work, the idea behind Harmonies from Betelgeuse focuses on the transmission of electricity between body and machine, between the organic and the inorganic. ––Strong loads of sound pulses move away from Earth's gravity through tape-manipulation. Betelgeuse is a star that belongs to the Orion constellation, but, since it has been expelled from its stellar association, it is considered a fugitive ––An exile. Harmonies from Betelgeuse is composed of eight pieces built as a whole, accompanying and destroying each other like theatrical parts of a cosmic tragedy. A beautiful analogy about impending extinction and exile.

Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri
Photos by Mateo Barbuzzi, design by Daniel Castrejón

Finally available on vinyl - the band's most ambitious and masterful work to date, GGGOLDDD's new album pressed on beautiful color vinyl. The band's most ambitious and masterful work to date, This Shame Should Not Be Mine was conceived in the silence of 2020's pandemic lockdown, partly as a way for GGGOLDDD lead singer Milena Eva to confront parts of her past and partly in response to the Roadburn Festival's invitation to propose a commissioned piece for its 2021 online edition.

Finally available on vinyl - the band's most ambitious and masterful work to date, GGGOLDDD's new album pressed on beautiful color vinyl. The band's most ambitious and masterful work to date, This Shame Should Not Be Mine was conceived in the silence of 2020's pandemic lockdown, partly as a way for GGGOLDDD lead singer Milena Eva to confront parts of her past and partly in response to the Roadburn Festival's invitation to propose a commissioned piece for its 2021 online edition.

High Focus Records are excited to share a new full length offering from prolific Brighton based producer Mr Slipz, this time with a fresh label signing, Australian rapper Nelson Dialect. A landmark release and signing for High Focus with Nelson being the first international signing on the label. UK listeners might have first heard Nelson collaborating with Verbz & Mr Slipz on the song ‘Hope’ from their acclaimed LP ‘Radio Waves’ released on High Focus in 2020. Nelson has a cult following in his own right in Australia, and previously released music on the legendary U.S label Fat Beats to great acclaim. Now teaming up with one of the most exciting and respected UK producers, Nelson & Mr Slipz deliver ‘Ever Since’. A statement piece by two artists with well over a decade spent on their craft which sounds as urgent and refreshing as if it were their first time releasing music. The album’s title is a reference to the endless quest for a timeless sound, reflecting the creative partnerships which spark from a seemingly forever existing thread of music. The two artists crossed paths whilst Nelson was on tour in Brighton, and a chance introduction to Slipz made this album a reality. As fate would have it, due to a cancellation of plans and changing of schedules during Nelson’s tour, the pair ended up in the studio for 8 days straight together which is when the bulk of the album was created. They each saw this as a cosmic alignment and thus played into the albums astrological artwork themes and overarching concept. Striving to capture the lightning in a bottle moment, what resulted musically on this album was an inspired surge of energy and intense creative output that is felt across the entire LP. Equal parts personal and lyrically dextrous, Nelson explores a multitude of concepts over the hard hitting drums and jazzy samples producer Mr Slipz is renowned for through his previous work with artists including Verbz, Kofi Stone, Vitamin G & Datkid among many more. The album features a slew of impressive guest verses including label mates Vitamin G & Verbz on the emphatic ‘Oxford Scholars’. Two legends Jehst & Confucius MC combine on ‘Smooth Ride’. Bronx pioneer & D.I.T.C legend A.G delivers a show stopping verse on ‘Trembling the Marrow’. There are hypnotic singing performances by Indira May on ‘First Date’ & ‘Open Book’ as well as Hiatus Kaiyote back up vocalist Jace XL on the soul stirring anthem “Figure Out What’s Right”. U.S rappers SickInTheHead & Cazeaux O.S.L.O round out the impressive guest list on the album with their inspired verses. Listeners caught their first glimpse of the duo with their debut single ‘Only Just Begun’. A whirlwind 3 verse tune showcasing the relentless wordplay and imagery Nelson is regarded for over a moody, hard hitting Slipz production. With a buzz already around what Nelson Dialect & Mr Slipz are brewing, the duo have just released their second single ‘Oxford Scholars’ featuring label mates Vitamin G & Verbz

* Comes with the original 1985 artworks & obi strip. * All-star line-up featuring Herbie Hancock, Mory Kante & Bernie Worrell. * 180g blue Vinyl repress. Manu Dibango needs little introduction, born in Cameroon in 1933, Manu developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. He's definitely among the best known African artists outside of Africa. Collaborations were numerous and include top acts like Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Sly & Robbie, Don Cherry and Bernie Worrell. In addition to selling hundreds of thousands of copies of the albums he recorded, he played such huge venues as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden. In 1972, at 40 years of age, Manu Dibango did something almost unheard of for an African artist - he had a pop hit. His song "Soul Makossa" became an enormous hit which influenced popular music for decades to follow. First picked up by David Mancuso (The Loft), "Soul Makossa" took New York dance floors by storm & in July 1973 it became the first disco record to enter the Billboard Top 40_an early instance of Western pop experiencing a paradigm shift thanks to Africa. The song's chant of "ma-mako ma-ma-sa mako-mako sa" echoes through the greatest-selling pop album of all-time, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and it's in the DNA of the music of Kanye West, Rihanna, A Tribe Called Quest, Akon and The Fugees. By 1985, Dibango was back in Paris, one of the most successful African artists in the world, to start on the recordings for the Electric Africa album. This album hooked Manu and the Soul Makossa Gang up with New York avant garde producer Bill Laswell, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, Parliament-Funkadelic keyboard player Bernie Worrell, Pan African synthesist Wally Badarou, New York guitarist Nicky Scopelitis, African drummer Aiyb Dieng and Malian kora virtuoso Mory Kante. This means of working gave Manu and Laswell license to fuse synthesizers and kora, talking drums and samples, ngoni and electric guitar. What it all boils down to is world beat in its truest sense. Electric Africa remains one of Manu's strongest albums. His deep growl of a honey and sandpaper voice and the energetic honk of his saxophone merge with the seamless samples and the myriad hand percussion and overt funkiness of his band. Herbie Hancock plays on three tracks, contributing an amazing electric piano solo on the title track and interacting with Manu's sax while weaving to the warp of Mory Kante's kora during "L'arbre a Palabres." Similarly but more subtly, Laswell, Badarou and Worrell play dueling synthesizers in and around the band throughout "Pata Piya." All of this makes the album an hypnotic & upbeat Afro-Funk classic that will rock every part your body (and mind). Now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition (Blue vinyl, limited to 500 copies) for the first time since 1985.

In the late 90’s and early aughts, internet video capabilities like Real Video and Quicktime were expanding, proving the early prophecy that ‘anyone would be able to have their own television channel on the internet’ was indeed coming true. After the critical success of Mulholland Drive, director David Lynch doubled down on the medium, funneling virtually all of his time into personally animating, filming, and scoring content for his own internet destination: davidlynch.cm. It was fertile and limitless ground for a creative like Lynch, allowing him to return to the days of his experimental film roots, where it was actually possible for him to have his hands on every element of the process.

It was out of this newfound digital freedom that the early seeds of Inland Empire were born, evolving and fissuring from an internet-bound experiment itself, into something much more expansive. The film collated a variety of ideas and working methods that the recent web paradigm had nurtured in Lynch, one of which was an increased frequency of his own solo music productions. Having finished constructing his own personal recording studio in 1998, he was no longer tethered to the scheduling and high premiums of rented studio time and was free to accelerate his musical experimentation without constraint. As a direct result of this was a unique shift in Lynch’s musical trajectory; a shift that would eventually bear multiple albums and a short film featuring a lounge-crooning monkey. In the first weeks of 2005, Lynch would record a blues instrumental and instead of getting someone else to sing on the song, he would sing, via a formant and pitch-altering piece of equipment known as the Boss VT-1. It was because of the davidlynch animated series “Dumbland” that the director had discovered the device that would enable him to be ‘any character he needed.’ With “Ghost of Love,” Lynch was experimenting with bringing those ‘characters’ into his own musical compositions. Intrue Lynch fashion, it’s difficult to know which inspired which: did “Ghost of Love” birth a scene in Inland Empire, or did the film’s ideas birth the song? Just as “In Heaven” had served to encapsulate Eraserhead, “Ghost of Love” managed to encapsulate Inland Empire allowing its listener to close their eyes and immediately channel the film’s images and mood onto the screen of the mind.

“Ghost of Love” is backed with “Imaginary Girl,” originally released via CD single in 2006 are now finally seeing their vinyl and digital release for the first time in celebration of Inland Empire’s 2022 theatrical re-release. Both are signature cinematic Lynchian classics that feature Lynch on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his long-time collaborator and Sacred Bones staple Dean Hurley on bass.

• From critically acclaimed composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Krlic comes the Ivor Novello-nominated Original Soundtrack to Returnal™. Returnal is a roguelike psychological third-person shooter developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game launched last April on PlayStation 5 and won several end-year accolades, including Best Game at the 18th British Academy Games Awards.

• Best known for his work as the Haxan Cloak, Bobby Krlic brings his experience as an award-winning to Returnal, imbuing the score with a gritty and experimental quality that matches the tone of the third-person shooter game. Punctuated by atmospheric strings and intensely foreboding synths, the music captures the high stakes energy of the futuristic world.

• Published by Milan Records the score to Returnal is now available on vinyl and is pressed on a transparent yellow vinyl housed in a dress jacket.

• The album marks Krlic’s first-ever video game title as lead composer and follows his critically acclaimed, award-winning scores for director Ari Aster’s Midsommar, Hulu’s Reprisal, TNT’s Snowpiercer and The Alienist, and more. With each project, Krlic adds new elements or experiments with techniques that he has never used before. Returnal was no exception. His creative process began in a similar way, as usual, tinkering away with melodies and themes on his acoustic instruments. But much like the ever-shifting environment in the game, the acoustic roots of Returnal’s sound shifted, allowing Krlic to venture further into the world of modular synthesis.

• “With Returnal, it felt to me that they wanted to do something with that genre that I hadn’t really seen before. In the game, when you die, you never die. You wake up back at this crash where your spaceship landed. The landscape is ever so subtly changing every time you wake up, so you have this constant feeling of disorientation that grows bigger and bigger. I thought that concept was so cool. There were so many ideas that I could build into the music from that.”- Bob Krlic

• Ghost of Tsushima: Music from Iki Island and Legends builds on the groundbreaking soundtrack to Ghost of Tsushima, the third-person adventure game by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Featuring music by Chad Cannon and Bill Hemstapat, it includes selections from Ghost of Tsushima’s popular Iki Island and Legends expansions.

• The 2020 award-winning open-world video game, Ghost of Tsushima, follows the samurai Jin Sakai, who must protect Tsushima Island from invasion, defeat the ruthless Mongol invaders and protect what’s left of his home and people. As he embarks on an epic adventure for the freedom of Tsushima, he is forced to set aside samurai traditions and become a new kind of warrior.


• This vinyl release from composers Chad Cannon and Bill Hemstapat features 45 minutes of all new music written for the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut. It contains 15 tracks, of which 10 are from Iki Island and 5 are from Legends.

• This release includes a black LP housed in a beautiful gatefold jacket with a folded insert.

• Chad Cannon has worked with several of the world’s best-loved film composers as arranger and orchestrator. As chief arranger for Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi since 2017, Chad has created large symphonic suites for Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away. His score to the Academy Award- winning Netflix documentary American Factory has been called “stirring” (NY Times) and “graceful” (Washington Post) and was nominated for a Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Original Score. The film is the first release by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.
• Originally from Thailand, Bill Piyatut Hemstapat is a composer and record producer based in LA whose works have been featured in Video Games, TV and cinemas all over the world. Bill’s passion for video games music has led him to working at Sony PlayStation’s music department. Along with his most recent work re-imagining Shunsuke Kida’s iconic music of Demon’s Souls for the PS5 remake, he also contributed additional music and arrangements for Ghost of Tsushima as well as music editing for God of War, Days Gone and Hideo Kojima’s critically acclaimed Death Stranding.

Jon K & Elle Andrews' MAL imprint returns with its second release - a long rumoured excursion from Equiknoxx skippers Gavin “Gavsborg” Blair and Jordan “Time Cow” Chung operating under the Gav & Jord masthead for the first time. It’s their most probing x tight set of productions thus far - showcasing that naturally wild rhythmic mutability that’s earned them followers in every corner of the experimental paradigm over the last few years.

‘Writings Ov Tomato’ ties off a loop between Equiknoxx and their early supporter Jon K, who was pivotal in bringing their productions to the attention of Sean Canty at DDS, who went on to release their by-now seminal ‘Bird Sound Power’ album a good half-decade ago. This new set of tracks came about after MAL urged to the duo to explore any under-excavated musical territory they’d been thinking about since they began to tour the world, and the result is this incredible, purely instrumental LP that romps between Autechrian mutations, avant R&B swangers, Jersey-style sluggers and proper, wig-flipping club missiles.

Who else would boot off a new LP with a track titled ‘Childish House Mafia’? The fact it sounds like Actress formulating an industrial noise tape using ritual chants just makes it all the more screwy. The title track returns the duo to more familiar ground, with prickly “Bird Sound Power” drums notched up a few BPM and spliced with whirring trap hats and disorienting synths. ‘A Yow Jon K’ is a Kingston-fried take on sun-bleached Miami electro, with a rolling beat filled out by Gav & Jord’s hard boiled soundboard x foley crunches, before ‘Pig Pilot’, the record’s most substantial cut, loops JBC Radiophonic Workshop convulsions around a booming 4/4 that wouldn’t sound completely out of place at Berghain’s Klubnacht. Saturating the hook and allowing ferric hats to fill in the gaps, the pair manage to fabricate a sound closer to 1970s library music than Villalobos, and we’d wager you ain’t ever heard owt like it.

Combine all this with lower-key slithering industrial-ambient moments like the plughole-wonked outro ‘Brent Bird’ (named after Gav’s producer brother), the tuned tinkle of ‘No Sweat in my Sweatpants’ and the airborne elegance of ‘Appinness’, and you’ve got another Equiknoxx joint that draws from the syncretic mosaic of Afro-Latin-Sino-US influences and re-contextualises them into remarkably odd and effective structures that dance in the integers of a myriad styles.

Members of Island of Love, Imposter, Lawful Killing, Antag-onizm, Powerplant. For Fans of Sheer Terror, Crumbsuckers, Cro-Mags, Slayer. Quality Control HQ proudly releases The Masters' Orders, the new LP from South London UK hardcore band Mastermind, the jewel in the crown of UKHC. This is the band's third release after 2019's Bad Reaction EP and comes on the heels of recently released single "Price You Pay". The new release, which was recorded at East London's most vibrant independent music hub, Fuzzbrain Studios, finds Mastermind continue to walk a well crafted line between almost jazz like song writing wrapped in the meat and potatoes sound of 80s NYHC, but this time amping up the rabid dog energy to another level. Having played with a range of punk and hardcore bands from Judge to Chubby and the Gang on their home turf, this summer sees Mastermind, with members of Island of Love, touring with NYHC upstarts Combust across Europe and playing Fluff Fest, equally comfortable playing to punks, metalheads and everyone in between. If one proposes that the classic late eighties NYHC sound owed a chunk of its identity to blue collar meat heads from Queens, then the same can be said for London hardcore’s meatiest riffs coming from Croydon cousins who work construction, built their own instruments and met their lead guitarist on the tram. This band reminds me of Rest in Pieces, Breakdown, Sick of it All, Sheer Terror, Inside Out NYC, and a touch of Cleveland’s Die Hard with a healthy dose of crossover picking and a heap of sick guitar solos. Something all of the above bands had in common was the ability to blur the fine line between great genius and great stupidity. It's a delicate natural balance reached only by bands that don’t take themselves too seriously but would kick your ass if you called them a joke. There is a clearly defined love of hardcore, in its many forms, behind the songwriting in Mastermind – a band of young heads and scene mainstays who intend to have fun playing hardcore the way they like it. After a four year run with a solid demo and a crushing EP, Mastermind are ready to present you with their masterpiece – The Masters’ Orders