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Auf ihrem neuen Album verwandelt Sylvan Esso das gemeinsame Musizieren mit anderen Menschen in Kunst, die man einfach liebt - einen greifbaren und einhüllenden freien Fall. Das Album ,Ow " (ausgesprochen ,Ow Infinity"), das über einen Zeitraum von vier Jahren in den Wäldern von Chapel Hill entstanden ist - die längste Zeit, die die Band jemals mit dem Schreiben eines Albums verbracht hat -, erscheint mit einer intensiven Unmittelbarkeit. Bei den meisten Titeln handelt es sich um Meaths erste Gesangsaufnahmen, und die Klarheit sowie die Menschlichkeit ihrer einzigartigen Stimme verankern das Album in der Realität. Es entstand in einer Zeit des Experimentierens und der Zusammenarbeit und mündete in ein kraftvolles, druckvolles, explosives Werk, aus dem sich die Songs geradezu herauskämpfen wollen. Ein farbenprächtiges Totem persönlicher Zerstörung, das Gefühl, zu Knetmasse zermalmt und wieder zu etwas aufgebaut zu werden, das sich fast menschlich anfühlt, fast vertraut, aber zugleich freakig und neu - ein karikaturhaftes, slapstickartiges Grinsen, das sich über eine Ruine legt. Ein großer Teil des Albums entstand aus Improvisation - stundenlang verbrachte Zeit in ihrem Studio in North Carolina, um gemeinsam mit Gastmusikern wie Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes), Joe Westerlund (Megafaun), Jake Luppen (Hippo Campus, Samia), Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, Dijon) und dem Schlagzeuger TJ Maiani (Weyes Blood, Neneh Cherry). ,Ow " markiert den ersten Moment, in dem Sylvan Esso sich damit angefreundet hat , dass sie genau das tun - in dem sie herausgefunden haben, auf welchen Wegen sie die Kontrolle übernehmen und Dinge so veröffentlichen können , wie sie es wollen, mit den Menschen, die sie selbst auswählen, in ihrem eigenen Studio und über ihr eigenes Label. Für ein Album, das sich so intensiv mit der Unberechenbarkeit des Lebens auseinandersetzt, trifft es das Duo zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem es endlich die vollständige Kontrolle darüber hat, was Sylvan Esso sein kann.

Nach 17 Jahren Band-Bestehen veröffentlichen Suralin ihre erste 7-Inch. Zeitgemäß, möchte man zynisch anmerken, aber darum hat sich die Chemnitzer Band generell nie geschert. Every Day Slices Me enthält vier neue Songs, getragen vom Motorik-Beat im Spannungsfeld von krautig-stringentem Postpunk-Pop-Etc. Ein kompaktes, stimmiges Release, das den Facetten- Reichtum der Band zeigt. Das sanft treibende "The Sentiment's a Lie", gehüllt in eine warme, süßliche Decke aus Melancholie, begleitet von Zeilen zwischenmenschlicher Entfremdung, steht Songs wie dem fordernden "Driving Home" gegenüber, dass auf dem Weg nach Hause den Tod findet. Es sind die gegensätzlichen Emotionen und Stilmittel, die Suralin in den vier Songs verbindet und daraus eine ganz eigene Spannung und Intensität entstehen lässt.

Das 2017 veröffentlichte Album *Under Cöver* vereint Motörhead-Aufnahmen von Songs, die die Band
geprägt haben, darunter Versionen von Titeln von Künstlern wie David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Sex
Pistols und Judas Priest. Die Sammlung umfasst Aufnahmen aus verschiedenen Phasen der Bandgeschichte
und bietet eine neue Perspektive auf die musikalischen Einflüsse von Motörhead, ohne dabei den unverwechselbaren Sound von Lemmy, Phil Campbell und Mikkey Dee zu verlieren.

Die Shubert Alley ist eine Straße im Theaterviertel von Manhattan in New York City und gilt als Zentrum
der Broadway-Theater. Für sein Album “Swings Shubert Alley” griff der Sänger Mel Tormé 1960 natürlich auf das Repertoire der vielen bekannten Kompositionen zurück, die Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim,
Leonard Bernstein, Harold Arlen und andere Koryphäen des Genres für Broadway-Aufführungen geschrieben
hatten. Obwohl er dabei auch einige etwas balladeskere Nummern interpretiert, ist die allgemeine Stimmung von ungezügelter Begeisterung geprägt. Dazu trägt nicht zuletzt das fulminant swingende, elfköpfige
Orchester des Pianisten und Spitzen-Arrangeurs Marty Paich bei, mit dem Tormé hier so meisterhaft um
die Wette eifert. Die agile Band, in der hochkarätige Solisten wie der Altsaxofonist Art Pepper und der
Posaunist Frank Rosolino spielen, wird von dem Bassisten Joe Mondragon und dem Schlagzeuger Mel Lewis
angetrieben.

First time on 45 for the other early Don Carlos killer from the Wackie's/Joe Morgan/Soul Syndicate connection. Previously only released on the "Reckless Roots Rockers" compilation LP. Rhythm laid & tune voiced in JA, mixed and overdubbed at Wackie's in NYC.

Strut presents Nigeria 80, the next essential chapter in the legendary Nigeria 70 series, diving deep into the explosive sound world of 1980s Nigeria.

Following the global impact of 2001's Nigeria 70, which helped introduce rare Nigerian recordings to international audiences, Nigeria 80 continues the journey, unearthing a rich, restless, and wildly creative decade of music from Lagos to Enugu. Despite economic instability and restrictive political conditions in the 1980's, Nigeria’s music industry flourished, driven by a growing network of independent labels such as Tabansi and Phonodisk, which championed local artists and expanded creative freedom. The 1980s also marked a significant rise in visibility for female artists, with trailblazers like Onyeka Onwenu helping to reshape the landscape and open doors for a new generation of performers, writers, and producers.

Nigeria 80 showcases the extraordinary breadth of this era, with all tracks reissued here for the first time. The compilation brings together essential recordings from across Nigeria’s musical spectrum: highlife greats Victor Uwaifo and Nico Mbarga appear alongside Paulson Kalu, whose personal favourite “Akugbue Nwa Ewu” stands out as a prime example of the style. Prince David Bull’s “Soko Soko” (later reinterpreted in Starboy’s Afrobeats hit “Soco”) features as a key touchpoint between eras. Segun Adewale delivers a driving juju workout, while Lekan Animashaun, longtime bandleader of Africa 70, contributes a late-era Afrobeat classic produced in collaboration with Fela Kuti.

The compilation also highlights more experimental and hybrid sounds, from I.C. Rock’s proto–hip hop gem “Advice” to Evi-Edna Ogholi’s self-produced reggae statement “The World”. The set closes with “Apama” by Ibealaoke Chukwukeziri, the “Apama Boy” from Achi in eastern Nigeria, featuring hypnotic vocals and percussion from his Anaedeonu band.

Nigeria 80 is available as a black vinyl 2LP housed in a gatefold sleeve or CD digipak, which includes a 16-page booklet with artist photos and liner notes by Francis Gooding. Compiled by Duncan Brooker. Audio restoration by See Why Audio. Mastered by The Carvery.

Of course everyone knows Kurt Hauenstein aka Supermax. He was one of the few Austrians to shape the sound of late 1970s disco, performing and selling records around the world. Not many know his daughters Judy and Nicola, however, and the fact that they in 1987 wrote a song that they recorded together with their father. Well, here it is: Cracy Coconuts, “Rubberdub Dance” a true Hauenstein family affair. We are proud to re release this super rare 7” that proves, once and for all, that Austrians can excel at digi dub. Timelessly tropical and beautifully bouncy, its vibe is quite different from the iconic Supermax productions. Here, Judy and Nicola’s sweet yet confident vocals replace the moustache driven sotto voce singing that we love Supermax for. The result is oh so catchy and bound to be a hit.

2024 Restock

BaianaSystem are from Bahia, the state with the strongest African cultural heritage in the country and a motherlode for Brazilian music. BaianaSystem manifest and champion the sound of the Black Atlantic, deep and future connections between Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, from the roots of samba to global bass culture.

Dj Ultramars hasn't released many tracks altogether, and since 2024 he is again too busy to release everybody else's music on his label to find the time to compose more music, but many of his previous tracks are still relevant today, still pleasing party audiences in as much as when first released, and it's been too many years that those tunes have been proposed new on vinyl, so time for a recut & repress.
Here we have:

A1: Cab Carlco, the biggest hit of Dj Utramars, originally released on Mars Picture 1 (1999) as well as Toolbox Killerz 25 (2015), so 11 years since its last (limited) release !
Very uplifiting / very "in your face" kind of track, always & eversince so efficient on the dancefloor.
A2: Ennui (voicemix), originally released on Mars Picture 2 (2003), 23 years ago! (what a round number...). A track that will hypnotize you with its female vocals playing with the echo, yet runnin steady on a heavy deep bass & enough arrangements to not get bored of it: every Mars Assault is designed as a record to DJ as much as a record to listen to.
This track is cut in 45rpm to keep optimal quality until the end of the side.

We had to put some of the best two tracks of Dj Ultramars on the music side since the flip side is a laser etched side ! After we had released the two first picture discs, our current pressing partner was giving the possibility for a laser etched record, so here is the Mars Picture 3 ! See the picture of B-side above.


200 copies limited in this laser etched pressing.
Cut with Hervé @ dK mastering

*Glow In The Dark Coloured Vinyl*

Four years after its original release, Mochakk's breakout anthem 'Da Fonk' featuring Joni continues to define a generation of house music. Originally released via Nervous Records in 2022, the record has surpassed 60 million Spotify streams alone, becoming Mochakk's signature track and one of the most recognizable records in modern dance music.

Fronted by fellow Brazilian artist Joni's soulful vocals, "Da Fonk" bridges classic house and contemporary club energy. Its stripped-back bassline and timeless groove have made it a fixture on stages and dancefloors around the world, while also marking a turning point for Mochakk, who has since become one of electronic music's defining artists, widely praised for his vibrant live sets in which "Da Fonk" has remained a staple. To celebrate the track's continued success, Nervous Records releases the 'Da Fonk' Remix Pack today across all streaming platforms, alongside a limited edition three-vinyl release available during Mochakk's long-awaited New York City takeover from August 28, 29 and 30.

Spanning three parts, the remix pack brings together a wide range of artists, each offering a different take on one of house music's most enduring records of recent years.

The first vinyl features Mochakk’s Original Mix and OG Dub of “Da Fonk”, in addition to a new Bass Mix from Marco Carola, whose signature rolling grooves and understated approach bring fresh weight to the original without losing its unmistakable feel. The second vinyl moves across a broad spectrum of club sounds. Australian duo Confidence Man inject their playful, high-energy style into the track, while Berlin's DJ Gigola delivers a sleek, club-focused interpretation. Cinthie, known for her deep-rooted house sound and analogue production style, offers a warm and driving remix, with Brazil’s Bronka rounding out the record on a fresh, contemporary rework. The third vinyl shines a light on Brazil's electronic music scene with an all-Brazilian lineup. Solarce Brothers contribute a soulful reinterpretation that nods to the original's house roots, alongside remixes from DJ Fuzil, Classmatic, and Deekapz & kLap, each bringing their own perspective to one of Brazil's all-time most influential electronic releases on global stages.

After years of steadily building momentum within the deeper side of drum & bass, Monika now delivers his long-awaited debut album, How We Saw Forever, landing this August on Spearhead Records.

UK-born and now based in New Zealand, Monika has developed a sound that blends deep rolling grooves, soulful textures, delicate musicality and moments of genuine emotional weight. Across the album he moves effortlessly between late-night introspection, euphoric warmth and darker, more experimental territory, showcasing an artist fully confident in his own sonic identity.

Having already made a strong impression through previous releases on Spearhead and appearances across the label’s 20-year anniversary campaign, How We Saw Forever feels like a major step forward creatively. From the haunting beauty of “What Turns Your World” featuring Oktae, through to the nostalgic rave energy of “Mango Pop” and the weightier pressure of “Syndicate”, the album captures Monika’s ability to balance emotion, atmosphere and dancefloor impact without ever feeling formulaic.

At its core, How We Saw Forever is an album about atmosphere, memory and emotion, music designed equally for solitary headphone moments and packed dancefloors at sunrise. There’s a cinematic thread running throughout the project, but also a raw honesty that gives the album its real depth.

Speaking about the album, Monika says:
“This project became a reflection of so many different seasons of life over the last few years. Some tracks came from really emotional places, others were written purely from joy and escapism, but together they tell the story of where I’ve been creatively and personally. I wanted the album to feel immersive, something people could disappear into.”

Released via BCee’s Spearhead Records — a label long celebrated for championing soulful and emotionally rich drum & bass. How We Saw Forever marks another exciting chapter for both Monika and the wider Spearhead family.

Once again russian and english junglists brings a superb soulfull release using amen breaks to bring you elsewhere, out of the ragga stuff... A pure musical moment, really strong for anyone wishing to surprise a jungle dancefloor ! Must have !

It’s been one hell of a wild ride for Wine Lips. Originally formed in Toronto back in 2015 as a part-time project between Cam Hilborn (vox, songwriter, guitar) and drummer extraordinaire Aurora Evans, Wine Lips quickly escalated into a full-blown, full-time, full-on international phenomenon. Their debut album took them across North America followed immediately by an intensive and unexpected tour of Hong Kong and China in 2018. They released their massive “Stressor” album the very next year (2019) to rave reviews and massive critical acclaim. Multiple tracks from Stressor charted across North American and European radio, while several songs ended up being featured in broadcast and Netflix series. Endless touring ensued. Then 2020 happened. The band used their mandatory downtime to fully dedicate themselves to crafting their groundbreaking third full-length “Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party” (recorded by Simon Larochette at The Sugar Shack). The record was released in October 2021 and then shit really hit the fan. The international music press lost their collective minds, penning over 250 glowing features and super positive reviews spanning 35+ countries. At the time of writing, the album blew past 40 Million spins on Spotify alone.

The vinyl release of MDSBP is currently in its 7th pressing with 9 different colour variants. The lead track “Eyes” has been licensed to a metric ton of films, series and video games including ABC’s The Rookie, Hockey Night In Canada and Population 11. Even more endless touring ensued, except this time the venues were huge and mostly sold-out. The 2024 follow-up album “Super Mega Ultra” was an absolute beast. Recorded by Simon Larochette at The Sugar Shack in Ontario, the album packed 12 ramped-up supersonic ear-scorching auditory delicacies and racked up millions of plays.

Just featured on BBC6 Music in the CRAIG CHARLES FUNK & SOUL as part of the ODDBALL CREATIVES “Trunk of Funk Mix “ on Saturday 1st August - and already gaining great DJ feedback from the likes of Greg Caz, Laurent Garnier, Chris Bangs, Rocky, Chico Malo, Starla Recordings and many more ….

Another new collaboration on the Echo Labs label - the subsidiary of Echo Chamber Recordings set up to release tracks and remixes from other artists.

This one is a very special hook-up with Daniel Walls & Joseph Malik in Edinburgh with their new project under their “Oddball Creatives” production monicker. It was truly an honour that they reached out to Echo Chamber Recordings to bring this out on a vinyl 45 , fitting in perfectly with the foundation sounds of the label - combining classic timeless funk, jazz , Latin and soul with 21st Century production techniques

They have recruited the vocal talents of Philadelphia’s Kameela Waheed and the instrumental skills of Scottish jazz legend Colin Steele , to bring us the sound of the summer with a huge soul-jazz-funk cut. It combines elements of a classic early 70s groove with a subtle, up-to-date style, built around Joseph’s vocals and Kameela’s spoken rap.

On the flip you get the purely instrumental take - meaning you could extend the hypnotic groove even longer with two copies !

As ever, on Echo Labs there will be just 300 vinyl copies pressed for worldwide distribution

His music is characterized by a mix of electronic, deep and tropical house, and techno music produced in a minimalist manner with jazz and soul influences. "Vandaag", containing a sample of the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. became a major charting hit in 2014. Six years later, in 2020, Bakermat released his first studio album The Ringmaster - a ten- track project showcasing his lengths and versatility, including the chart- topping release "Baiana\u0301", awarded Gold and Platinum status, surpassing 100 million total streams, and stamped as the official feature track for EA's FIFA 2021. The Ringmaster also includes the singles "Partystarter", "Trouble", "Learn To Lose", "Baiana\u0301", and "Under The Sun (ft. Kidda)". The full album features collabs with Alex Clare, Gossip Girl's Emily Lind, BRAVES, and 7Chariot amongst others. The Ringmaster is available as a limited edition of 500 copies on yellow, black and red marbled vinyl

A Project dealing with the relative length of time at a record label and the effect of adding another zero. To explore this passage of time and all those memories, we’ve commissioned remixes of key tracks from the LEX catalog by artists we love and admire. The album features contributions from Danger Mouse & Jemini, Fly Anakin & Pink Siifu, Eyedress, Golden Rules featuring Yasiin Bey and Freddie Gibbs, Neon Neon feat. Cate Le Bon, alongside Kaleida, Belief, Nevermen, Prince Po and MF DOOM. With remixes that reinterpret the tracks by Boards of Canada, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, DJ Premier, Prefuse 73, Madlib, Stereolab, Warpaint, King Krule, Chad Hugo and Thom Yorke. The limited edition physical release is presented in a rigid slipcase, with the vinyl housed in a triple sleeve gatefold, and accompanied by a large format board book, with both featuring artwork by Commission Studios. The records are pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl, with the D-Side finished with a bespoke etched design.

While the sterile “professionalism” of some heavy bands can be like a clinical drone strike, Texas-based Judiciary feels personal. Like close combat with a knife. And it’s all in their chemistry. Judiciary is an amalgamation of four guys raised in the intersection of metal and hardcore—all devoted to pushing their craft further. Across two esteemed LPs, the band has proven their worth as a crucial entity in the crowded heavy music scene by evolving their sound further and further with each release. And now with the band’s latest Stalagmite Angels, due on September 4th via the venerable Closed Casket Activities, Judiciary can further showcase their status as a crucial, one-of-a-kind part of the evolution of hardcore in 2026. Life changes can bring about chaos and seismic shifts, but if Stalagmite Angels is any indication, then it’s all for the better. In the wake of the release of Judiciary’s second LP Flesh + Blood, the band called upon Juan Vazquez to pick up guitar duties, thereby changing the internal framework of the band for good, and unknowingly for the better. It’s this pivot in personnel that resulted in the band’s latest EP. “The goal with this EP was a hard reset, but we also wanted to chill the f— out a bit, have fun, and do something that felt true to the four of us,” recalls drummer Austin Looney. “We wanted time to reconfigure things and let the music come naturally–temper this new mindset that we've adopted post-Flesh + Blood.” Judiciary’s greatest strength lies in their musical singularity. Though Stalagmite Angels represents the collision of influences from across well-worn territories like metallic hardcore, death metal, black metal, d-beat and more, it’s the Lubbock-born band’s approach that makes it distinctly their own. Stalagmite Angels is a wholly new document that resembles a horde of bands ranging from Hatebreed to Carcass to Slayer to Iron Age, yet never aping any single band nor even revealing any single influence. It’s all familiar but none of it is specific. “90s hardcore and hardcore in general is always gonna be our natural inclination, but it manifests with different elements not only from song to song but within each song,” says vocalist Jake Collinson emphatically, who learned guitar specifically to help with writing new material. “Whether that’s Dying Breed or Cannibal Corpse or Crowbar or Machine Head or any number of other influences that any one of us may have, it all manifests in our work, and through our individual and collective lenses. With this EP, we transformed those ideas into the Judiciary approach.” Stalagmite Angels is an EP about anger at the world, belief in yourself, and how harnessing both in the pursuit of growth is necessary to achieve. But furthermore, it’s a concept record that envisions a subterranean world in both a literal and metaphorical sense—where hidden beauty lurks in the shadows (and in the eye of the beholder) and where triumph manifests in the ability to rise from the depths and into the world above.

The second volume of this (already) cult series of British proto-metal compilation albums. Every artist on here was a regional band in their local underground scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s. The main thing that differentiates this series to any other, is the fact that none of the artists included had any kind of commercial release during their existence (apart from Fusion Farm, who self-released an extremely rare private press LP titled 'Rush Job' in 1971). All the artists were discovered after extremely lengthy searches of old music magazines, local newspapers, concert posters, government agencies.... By any means possible! It was a lot of work, but the results speak for themselves. The one thing that joins all these bands together (apart from being exclusively British), was their desire to play as loud and heavy as possible. This was a magical era in rock music, where Black Sabbath were the undisputed kings, but the industry simply didn't want to recognise the countless other band that existed in their gloomy wake. All of the recordings on Yeah Man, It's Bloody Heavy! are taken from demos, whether originating from crusty old 1/4 inch tapes, dusty acetate discs or third generation cassette tapes. Basically, whatever format was available. As a result, sound quality varies, though we did our utmost to get these precious artefacts sounding as killer as possible. For instance, Bonehead were close friends of Led Zeppelin. Their guitarist/vocalist Paul Lockey had previously played with Robert Plant and John Bonham in the Band Of Joy. Their track, 'Free To Escape', was actually an audition tape for Atlantic Records, which had been instigated by Robert himself. Unfortunately, the band broke up not long after the recording. So, their recording is top notch, whereas others were taken from rehearsal tapes (such as Fusion Farms' - Keys To Hell). But the main thing is, there's a spirit that unites them all. Sit back, roll up a fat one and let your mind be blown by the obnoxious sounds and sheer weight of vintage gravity that is: 'Yeah Man, It's Bloody Heavy! Vol 2'.

Defining the moment in sound and vision, Immersion are a snapshot of ‘the now’. Through constant reinvention, they have honed their sound into a startling present that references their past but refuses to live in it.

This perfect synthesis of their styles boldly creates a brave new world for core couple Colin Newman and Malka Spigel, along with satellite musicians Matt Schulz (Holy F*ck), whose drumming strongly features on many tracks, and Ed Chivers (AK/DK), who makes a guest appearance drumming on ‘Breaking Free, Diversity, Evolution’.

What Is Lost Will Return is the second ‘pure’ Immersion release in as many years and heralds their third UK tour since 2024. It follows 2025’s acclaimed WTF??, with the title reflecting the fact you can only say “What The F*ck??” so many times before looking beyond to see what endures.

With What Is Lost Will Return, the ever-productive ‘life and art partner’ duo present a reflective album of modular moods and stripped-down electronic psychedelia, leavened by a clipped guitar that you can nonetheless dance to, defying these chaotic times. It perfectly captures the yin and yang of the moment – or as Colin and Malka explain, “The emotion we feel the album invokes is a poignant mixture of joy and melancholy.”

“What Is Lost Will Return is an album of grooves, observational snapshots, hypnotic repetition, joyful creation, intoxicating melody and mystery, all threaded together by a fascination with new sounds and textures. It's both an underground gem and an album that bends pop into new shapes.”
John Robb, June 2026, MCR

Felix Walworth wurde in der Broome Street geboren. Bevor sie zu einer festen Größe in der New Yorker DIY-Szene der 2010er Jahre wurden, bevor sie ihr Markenzeichen - das auf einem Keyboardständer montierte BMSS-Schlagzeug - einführten, bevor sie eindringliche Reflexionen über Identität schrieben, die ihnen eine Kult-Anhängerschaft unter den Kids auf Tumblr einbrachten, waren sie ein Kind, das in den verschiedenen Stadtbezirken aufwuchs und eine Stadt liebgewann, die schließlich bis zur Unkenntlichkeit veränderte. ,What's Up" ist Walworths viertes Album als Told Slant, unter diesem Namen haben sie seit 2012 eindringliche Alben mit weitläufigem, nervenblanken Indie-Rock veröffentlicht. Das ist ihr New-York-Album: eine Sammlung von Songs darüber, wie man zusehen muss, wie sich die Heimatstadt verändert, und wie man spürt, wie sie einen im Gegenzug selbst verändert hat. Es ist ein Album über die Hingabe an ein prekäres Musikleben und all die Schönheit und Demütigungen, die damit einhergehen. Während es auf den ersten drei Told-Slant-Alben um Selbstreflexion und den Versuch ging, als Künstler zu überleben, handelt ,What's Up" davon, was passiert, wenn man sich ,fast schon manisch dem Projekt des Selbstausdrucks und der Subkultur in einer der feindseligsten Umgebungen der Welt" verschrieben hat und sich mit all den Menschen, Orten und Träumen auseinandersetzen muss, die auf diesem Weg verloren gegangen sind. In Songs wie ,Manhattan", ,Draw Blood", ,Three Anchovies" und dem Titeltrack fängt Walworth Trauer, Wut, Hingabe und flüchtige Momente der Verbundenheit ein und zeichnet das Verschwinden geliebter Stadtviertel, DIY-Räume, Freundschaften und Lebensweisen mit gleichermaßen schwerer und humorvoller Hand nach.,What's Up" ist zudem das bisher kollaborativste und abenteuerlichste Album von Told Slant. Es entstand über einen Monat hinweg in einem provisorischen Studio im Upstate New York und wurde größtenteils auf einem Acht-Spur-Spulenband aufgenommen - damit ist es die erste überwiegend analoge Veröffentlichung des Projekts, an der Hannah Pruzinsky, Jonny Baker, Ceci Sturman, Hellen Ballentine, Emily Sprague, Mari Maurice und Elijah Wolf mitgewirkt haben. Die Songs entstanden zum Teil aus Walworths Arbeit als Porträt- und Straßenfotograf während der Pandemie, als er die Straßen, Parks, Veranstaltungsorte und Ladenfronten, die sein Leben geprägt hatten, erneut besuchte - nur um festzustellen, dass viele davon verschwunden waren. Dieses Gefühl des Verlusts zieht sich durch das gesamte Werk, das mit ,Still Water" (2012) begann, sich über ,Going By" (2016) und ,Point the Flashlight and Walk" (2020) fortsetzte und seit langem von schmerzlich ehrlichen Songs über Selbstfindung, Freundschaft, Sterblichkeit und den langsamen Verlust der Verbundenheit mit der Gemeinschaft geprägt ist. Auf ,What's Up" richtet Walworth diesen Blick nach außen und dokumentiert nicht nur ihre eigene Beziehung zu New York, sondern auch die Kosten des Bleibens, des Schaffens und des Glaubens an eine Stadt und eine Musikkultur, die sie mitgeprägt haben.

Nintendo and Laced Records are linking up to bring the sweeping music of The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild to vinyl records with this 8LP box set featuring nearly four hours of music.

This collaboration marks the first time a Nintendo soundtrack has been commercially released on vinyl outside of Japan. This box set features heavyweight LPs that come in printed disc inners and spined inner sleeves, all housed in a rigid board dual slipcase. All packaging is adorned with archival artwork by the team behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Each disc side is sequenced around a theme, reflecting players’ adventures in the game, whether exploring Hyrule, battling enemies, freeing the Divine Beasts from Calamity Ganon’s hold, or unlocking the mysteries of the Shrines. The unforgettable music of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild introduced bold new musical textures to the series, while embracing classic themes. From the first spine-tingling piano notes of “Main Theme” to the final choral-orchestral stirrings of “Epilogue”, the soundtrack follows the ups and downs of Link’s epic adventure. Each element of the game enjoys a distinct musical palette, including the iconic minimalist piano of the open world, the alien sounds of Sheikah technology, the tension-filled rhythms of enemy encounters, and the orchestral grandeur of the Divine Beast battles. The pieces were composed by Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, Hajime Wakai, and Soshi Abe. Along with this wonderful soundtrack on vinyl, fans can experience the full digital soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by downloading the Nintendo Music app.*

The acclaimed compilation series returns with volume 4! Fourteen tracks showcasing the most exciting emerging voices in Belgian jazz, ready to claim a permanent spot on your turntable.

The latest instalment in the celebrated compilation series once again shines a spotlight on the most adventurous and forward-thinking artists emerging from Belgium's jazz scene. Curated by Belgian tastemaker, DJ and broadcaster Lefto Early Bird, the collection continues a tradition of uncovering hidden gems and introducing them to a wider audience of dedicated diggers.

Over the years, the Jazz Cats series has become a trusted barometer of Belgium's ever-evolving jazz landscape. Long before many artists gained international recognition, they first appeared on these compilations, making the series both a discovery platform and a snapshot of one of Europe's most exciting musical ecosystems.

Jazz Cats Volume 4 captures a scene bursting with creativity, diversity and ambition. Across fourteen carefully selected tracks, the compilation explores the many directions contemporary Belgian jazz is taking today. Jazz, hip-hop, electronic music, afrobeat, spiritual jazz and experimental sounds coexist effortlessly throughout the collection.

The opening stretch of the compilation, led by Brussels-based Irreversible Entanglements band member Aquiles Navarro, Ola Tunji and HelenaCasella, offers an early glimpse into a scene that rarely stands still. Their music moves freely between traditions and contemporary influences, reflecting less concern with preserving genres than expanding them. Artists such as Lupo Spaccaro and Kunde, joined here by the raw soul voice of Fred Gata, draw inspiration from hip-hop and contemporary beat culture, yet neither approaches these influences in a conventional way. Instead, they reveal how naturally these sounds have become part of the vocabulary of a new generation of jazz musicians.

Experimentation emerges as another defining thread. KVR and BREAD FOR PIGEONS embrace unpredictability through unexpected textures, shifting atmospheres and confident compositional choices, creating music that constantly challenges expectations. Elsewhere, artists like Gaiko and VLIEGWERK favor immersive soundscapes that reward repeated listening. Whether there's a connection between musical adventurousness and a preference for capital letters remains a question for future research.

At the heart of the compilation lies a strong sense of movement and groove. Ragini Trio and Foutloos approach that rhythm from different angles, yet both build their music around powerful, pulsating foundations. Their tracks need close attention, revealing layers of detail and low-end richness that practically demand to be experienced on a proper sound system.

By the time it reaches its closing chapter, Lucid Lucia, SLAGADER and Kuna Maze bring the focus back to forward motion. Jazz and funk-infused grooves provide a fitting finale, reminding us that however far these artists push the jazz genre, they never lose sight of its ability to connect, uplift and move people.

The result is a body of work that feels remarkably cohesive despite its diversity: a portrait of a scene that continues to evolve through curiosity, collaborationand constant reinvention.

Classic Johnny Clarke album from 1980 restored and re-mastered for best ever sound. Features the hit singles "Every Knee Shall Bow" , "Can't Keep A Good Man Down" along with the Jah Shaka sound system anthem "Bad Days Are Going".
Produced by mixed at Channel One, King Tubby's and NYC by Bunny Lee, Brad Osbourne & Johnny Clarke
'Originally Mr Clarke' delivers in full on every track making it one of THE essential reggae album releases.
Jamaican artist of the year in both '75 & '76 Johnny signed to Virgin Records and released two highly acclaimed albums for Virgin's Front Line label. Still performing and recording today, Johnny also tasted crossover success when his 'Everyday Wondering' hit made number 2 in the UK charts with it's Rupie Edwards 'Irie Feelings' dub deconstruction while Johnathan Richman turned Johnny's Earl Zero penned 'None Shall Escape The Judgement' hit into the international chart topper 'Egyptian Reggae' in 1977.

Super limited (1000 Global) Silver Die-Cut vinyl first pressing, shrinkwrapped with hand stamped 'cafe' napkin obscuring the cover. Please preorder asap.

On Cafe Paradiso, Mykki Blanco is completely reborn, trading the persona - driven theatrics of his previous releases for something more interior and exacting. The record draws from the diverse, banal and yet idiosyncratic contexts of the artist's life in transit.

"Chameleonic" is one way to describe the artist known as Mykki Blanco, who has played many roles through his storied career: a rapper, a poet, a magazine editor, an advocate. Perhaps "fearless" better describes him; with high profile collaborations from the likes of Charli XCX, Teyana Taylor, Basement Jaxx, Blood Orange, Big Freedia, Kelsey Lu, Michael Stipe, Arca and Anhoni, Mykki has been recognised as a pioneer of queer-centric hip-hop who resonates across musicians of many genres and generations.

This album is Mykki at their most direct - a coherent statement with collaborator FaltyDL and a massively listenable album for fans of LCD Soundsystem and New York Punk, packaged in striking 'Napkin covered' deluxe vinyl for a super-exclusive first run

A Collision of Worlds. A Convergence of Sound.

Czarface opens another portal. On Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, the boundary between comic book canon and hip-hop reality dissolves. Frankie Pulitzer, also known in certain dimensions as FacePuller, is no ordinary collaborator, character, or catalyst. He is a hybrid entity: part human, part alien force, fully embedded in the expanding Czarface universe.

Following landmark team-ups with MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah, Czarface continues its “Meets” saga with a full-scale crossover event that pushes deeper into story and sound. Frankie’s presence is both lyrical and mythological, bringing a chaotic, shape-shifting energy that challenges and complements Czarface’s razor-sharp precision. Dusty drums, cinematic soundscapes, and razor-edged bars bring the classic Czarface sound, yet mutated.

The universe widens with appearances from Busta Rhymes, Method Man, and El-P (of Run the Jewels), each adding their own gravitational pull to the project, thus grounding it in hip-hop legacy while amplifying its larger-than-life scope.

Die australischen Rockband Airbourne war noch nie dafür bekannt, klein zu denken. Auf ihrem
sechsten Studioalbum, der nach der Band selbst benannt ist, hat sie sich allerdings noch mal selbst übertroffen. Airbourne – ein Name, der zum Synonym für bombastischen, biergetränkten, gefährlichen und sexy Rock’n’Roll geworden ist. „Dieses Album vereint alles, wofür wir stehen, in einem einzigen Werk“, erklärt Ryan den Titel. „Es ist das beste Album, das wir überhaupt machen konnten.“

Zusammen mit dem starken Produktionsteam aus Brian Howes (der 2013 "Black Dog Barking" produziert hat) und dem Toningenieur Mike Fraser (der an „Breakin’ Outta Hell“ von 2016 und „No Guts. No Glory.“ von 2010 mitgearbeitet hat), machte sich die Band im Music Farm Studio im „Dschungel“ außerhalb von Byron Bay an die Arbeit. Der Komplex verfügt über das originale Neve-Mischpult aus den Alberts Studios, auf dem Bands wie AC/DC, Rose Tattoo und The Angels ihre wegweisenden frühen Alben aufgenommen haben.

Das Ganze präsentiert sich in einem sorgfältig gestalteten Paket, gemischt von Zakk Cervini (BMTH, Architects), das die Leidenschaft, das Feuer und die schweißgetränkte Gefahr einer Band auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Kräfte einfängt, komplett mit Schlagzeug, das wie Kanonen knallt, und Gitarren, die wie Kreissägen schneiden.

„Alive After Death“ und „Send Me To Rock’N’Roll Heaven“ sind eine Hommage an die verstorbenen Idole der Band; letzterer Titel bezieht sich auf Lemmy, Doc Neeson von The Angels, John Bonham, Bon Scott, Little Richard und weitere. Joel schrieb den Text zum mitreißenden „Alive After Death“ eines Abends im Tourbus, als er darüber nachdachte, wie die Musik dieser Legenden sie unsterblich macht. An anderer Stelle gibt es Geschichten von unterwegs („Bogota“), Songs über Trotz und Nicht-Aufgeben („Last Man Standing“, „Hell’s Got No Vacancy“, „Gutsy“) und noch mehr Sex („Sky High“). Jetzt müssen Airbourne nur noch auf die Bühne zurückkehren, in der Gewissheit, dass sie ihr bestes Album aller Zeiten mitbringen.

01. My Life In England Pt. 1,
02. You've Got The Love,
03. Once A Man and Twice A Child.
04. You're Alright.
05. I Want To Be Holding You Next Christmas.
06. I'll Always Love You,
07. Strange Feelin,
08. It's Over Now,
09. Old Love,
10. My Life In England Pt. 2

Die Schweizer One-Woman-Elektro-Punk-Sensation TARANJA WU ist sowas wie das Bindeglied zwischen Suicide, Ian Svenonius, Sedlmeir und Voodoo Rhythm"s Beat-Man - und doch ganz anders und ganz eigen. In der einen Hand die Gitarre, in der anderen ein gut geladenes Mass an Haltung, mit der sie ihren Tarif durchgibt. Ihre Abrechnung feiert sie mit punkig-scheppernden Gitarren, sägenden Synthesizern und unerbittlichem Gehämmer. Dazwischen ertönen Signale, als hätte jemand das Weltall angezapft und beschlossen, es tanzbar zu machen. Ihr zweites Album ALL MESSED UP ist ein Trip durch kontrollierte Abstürze, ein Album wie ein schöner Fehler: süß genug, um näherzukommen, scharf genug, um zu bleiben, serviert mit einem Lachen, das man nicht ganz einordnen kann. Ein Tanz in surrealen Bildern und ein Cocktail aus musikalischem Wahnsinn, der ebenso süchtig macht wie beunruhigend ist. Und das alles garniert "With a Dash of Trash". Klingt ungemütlich? Ist es auch, aber höllisch tanzbar.

This is a concept record that reflects on events that have had a calculable effect on a generation:
‘’By 83 and 84, it felt that nuclear war was going to happen. Not could happen but was going to.’’
Stephen Brotherstone
"What would you do in the event of a Nuclear war?"
I remember having discussions about what we would do when we heard the four minute warning siren. We would raid the sweet shop. I was 8 or 9 years old. The absurdity of this vivid memory encapsulates the concept of the record. It would take at least four minutes to get to the shop!
The record starts with an early memory of circling a church on a Raleigh Budgie (the smaller lesser known iconic Chopper bicycle) in 1981 and ends with staring up at a clear sky on Oldham Lows in 1990.
The record identifies and plays with the effects of an underlying fear of oblivion on a generation of children, but also society as a whole: The pieces take in media and government propaganda. Machinery (nuclear submarines) and buildings (nuclear bunkers) but also everyday activities of the civilian population, activities such as shopping, clubbing and staring at the sky. Thematically, the record is made up of personal memories mixed with historical events.
Instruments are mainly from 1980s. DX7 and 808 feature predominantly. The pieces feature numerous melodic motifs that develop and intertwine underlying ideas of espionage and layers of secret messaging. It also mirrors the ways in which governments and civilians interact. Decisions being made in the name of defence whilst people go about their daily lives. I am exploring the everyday experiences of the masses whilst major political decisions are taking place. For example, shopping on a Saturday afternoon versus heated Cold War tensions in 1983.
Although taking place conceptually in the years 1979-1991, this record mirrors current events. History repeating. It also mirrors the helplessness or maybe some oblivious everyday normality state that we adopt as a community whilst major political decisions are being made.
The idea that life goes on oblivious to larger scale politics, or on the other hand, the idea that we are all very aware but in a state of unreal normality. Adam Curtis goes into great detail about such things in his film 'Hyper Normalisation'.

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

On her debut album Switchbacks, Nashville-based artist Hannah Cole finds inspiration in the image of the switchbacks – sinuous twists in the road that obscure what's ahead. For a young artist making her way in the music industry, it's a powerful image: we can't really know what's ahead for us but – as Cole has learned – you should honk your horn to tell the world you're coming, and otherwise just enjoy the ride. Melding shoegaze and alternative rock with infectious pop melodies and strains of 90s nostalgia, Switchbacks is a commentary on the pursuit of success and how to protect the pure joy and love that lives at our core.

Across the ten tracks of Switchbacks, Cole swings her gaze at many unsettling aspects of the scramble toward success. Lead single "MMA" explores the ugly side of the music industry through the image of Las Vegas. On the brightly off-kilter "Give," she sings, "I feel like I've become an actor, / A TV pastor / climbing up a topless ladder," explaining that "the pursuit of success can feel like buying lottery tickets all the time for money that you'll never see." "Mechanical Bull" seethes with rage as Cole grapples with being seen as just the "girlfriend" in music settings and not being perceived as an equal to her partner, while on "Pitcher," she's paralysed in the face of wanting to achieve perfection. Later, she shrugs off the need to impress on "100 Bucks," reminding herself that she's enough for the people she loves.

Switchbacks is not only a finely-crafted debut album but also a deeply human artifact, tracing an arc that blazes like a comet to the height of ambition and then leaves you in the shimmer of self-acceptance and contentment. "Success is a moment that comes and goes," Cole concludes, "but I think the joy and experience that comes with making music is something I can take with me forever."

Over the course of more than four decades, Andrew Chalk has created one of ambient and experimental music's most distinctive, influential, and enduring bodies of work. Though his recordings have taken many forms—from the raw, post-Industrial sounds of Ferial Confine in the 1980s to the fragile guitar meditations, blurred keyboard studies, and richly textured collages that populate the Faraway Press catalogue—they remain united by a singular sensibility: an uncommon attentiveness to atmosphere, nostalgia, and the power of restraint.

Mystical Obscurant offers a rare opportunity to encounter the expansive character of that oeuvre in miniature. Rather than documenting a single period or methodology, it functions almost like a survey of Chalk's musical language—a collection of new music that illuminates the breadth of his practice while distilling the singular vision that unites it.

“The Sea of Sorrow” and “Peacemaker” feel cut from the same cloth as the sacred guitar minimalism of The River That Flows Into the Sands, while “Against the Tide” would sit naturally alongside the smudged and distant keys of Blue Eyes of the March. Other pieces draw upon environmental sound and loop-based constructions, hallmarks of Chalk's more recent, vignette-like compositions. Though these recordings emerge from different moments in his long creative journey, each inhabits a recognizable world: one where melodies drift in diffuse, unhurried forms and sound gathers with painterly grace.

What is most striking when these pieces are heard together is not their difference but their coherence. Across changing instruments, collaborators, and approaches, Chalk has consistently pursued a subjunctive music of suggestion rather than declaration, creating spaces where memory and imagination are allowed to unfold at their own pace.

The Go’s Free Electricity, the group’s storied, long-lost album, finally gets a proper release! The Go appeared in Detroit in 1996, led by Bobby Harlow and featuring Dave Buick on bass and Jack White on guitar. Following the release of their 1999 debut, Whatcha Doin’, and a few lineup changes, the band hit the studio with Dion Fischer on lead guitar, John Olson (of Wolf Eyes) on saxophone, and Cary Loren (of Destroy All Monsters) to record their sophomore effort. The session found the band and their producer, Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry), exploring the outer edges of rock and roll, with blaring lead guitars, copious amounts of reverb, and a heavy jazz influence thanks to a heavy diet of ‘60s free jazz. The results erupt from the speakers with a cavernous sound, like some haunted frequency beamed across the time barrier from the Grande Ballroom circa 1968, often sounding more like records by Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra than the records being made by The Go’s peers in the ‘00s rock and roll scene.

Free Electricity was written, composed, and arranged by Bobby Harlow (except track one, which was written by Harlow and Dion Fischer; and track five, written by Harlow and Cary Loren). Free Electricity was mixed and produced by Matthew Smith, engineered by Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders, and mastered by Jim Kissling at Jim Kissling Mastering in Detroit, Michigan. Guest appearances by folks from Destroy All Monsters and Wolf Eyes only reinforced the album's musical direction. Weird or not, this was an inspired recording made by an inspired group of musicians. There was a feeling of excitement and adventure happening at these sessions, it shines through mightily on this album.

“The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn’t have an audience when we were making them,” Oberst says. “But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash.” Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles – “Take It Easy (Love Nothing),” from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and “Lua,” from the warm, folky Wide Awake – debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. “First Day of My Life,” also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music’s reader’s poll. Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band’s careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, “When The President Talks To God.” These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era’s releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of “harmonica and mandolins – folky vibes,” Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

Across two song cycles separated by nearly four decades – Richard Wagner’s »Fünf Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme« (the »Wesendonck Lieder«) and Johannes Brahms’ late »Vier ernste Gesänge« (»Four Serious Songs«) – Wagner’s songs, written under the spell of his relationship with Mathilde Wesendonck and already pointing towards »Tristan und Isolde«, and Brahms’ final composition, which gives the album its name and was shaped by grief, illness, and meditations on biblical texts, circle the same existential questions.

Desire and mortality, ecstasy and resignation appear less as opposites than as mirrored states. The voices of Wesendonck’s poetry seem to answer the solemn reflections of Ecclesiastes and Corinthians, revealing an unexpected dialogue across time.

Without seeking historical authenticity or revisionist spectacle, »Serious Songs« listens for what still resonates beneath these works: the suspended moment where love, loss, and transcendence become indistinguishable. The harp assumes the role of the piano as the foundation, pulse, and emotional compass. The vocal line, liberated from classical convention, inhabits a contemporary expressive space without severing its bond to the original scores. It is Romantic music viewed through the acoustics of the present. The project emerged from a moment of professional disillusionment familiar to many classically trained musicians. This led to a confrontation with some of classical music’s traditional flaws that became an invitation to reimagine it.

Sissi Rada approaches the spinal properties of the Romantic Lieder, fragile enough to transform and resilient enough to survive. Intimate, lucid, and quietly radical.

Recorded in 1997, upon The Shadow Ring’s return from their final US tour, Lighthouse captures the group at their most stripped-down and visionary. Graham Lambkin’s fractured texts conjure Folkestone’s haunted coastline—Vikings, the Morgawr, a fading Britain, the pull of the sea—under the sway of Alternative TV’s Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One), the mechanical vernaculars of Robert Ashley and Mark Perry, and the deflated humor of Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Originally issued in 1999 on Scott Foust’s Swill Radio, this lost masterpiece—a stark, lo-fi world of home recording and concrète capture—is once again available on vinyl. For fans of Alan Titchmarsh, David Croft, Harry Pussy, and Idea Fire Company.

In Thin Air, forms a musical companion piece to Robert and Jackie's book The Book of Birds - a book that is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. The music was created within the contemplative green oak roundhouse of Ty Sanctaidd (Sacred House) in the grounds of Ty Trefacwn in South West Wales, and recorded at Castle Sound Studio in Pencaitland, East Lothian. As with our other albums In Thin Airhas been recorded and produced by Andy Bell of Hudson Records. Throughout The Book of Birds there runs a gentle mantra - " Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight, Migration -- these are the Seven Wonders that together conjure the miracle of Bird ". Intrigued by this concept, the seven musicians have created an intricate new album that has an overarching narrative, capturing the remarkable world of birds from birth to flight.