Search:the x man

Only Up is the second Breeze album by producer and artist Josh Korody
(Nailbiter, Beliefs).
Enlisting a whirlwind of performances from Tess Parks, Cadence Weapon and
an array of the Toronto music scene, including members of Orville Peck, Tallies,
Vallens, Zoon, Sauna, Fake Palms, Rapport, Praises, Civic TV, Moon King, Blonde
Elvis, For Jane, Ducks Ltd, TOPS and Broken Social Scene. Only Up sees Korody
digging through and channelling three decades of anthemic British bands.
From the angular guitars of late 70”s post-punk (Gang Of Four, Wire), to the
lush gloom of 80’s electro-pop (Tears for Fears, OMD), with the dance floor
psychedelia of the Manchester sound (Primal Scream, Happy Mondays), and
through the late ‘90s and early 2000s post-punk / new wave revivalists.
When originally tasked with making this album, Korody and his long time music collaborator Kyle Connolly (Orville Peck, The Seams) quickly threw down
ideas in a session, however with Connolly embarking on a world tour, and with
Korody’s demanding schedule at his Candle Recording Studio, the project sat
unattended.
Somehow, by the time of the album’s delivery deadline, Korody not only orchestrated a creative ensemble of friends and collaborators, he wrote, recorded and mixed the entirety of the album in two weeks without a single regret
or compromise.
“It was the best way I could have done it. A strict deadline to make decisions,
move on and focus on things that matter the most. Every decision was made in
that headspace. The ease of technology to endlessly tweak with, it sometimes
can end up destroying records until there is no soul in it, no happy accidents
and it’s completely sterile. You can have a well produced record without going
down that dark rabbit hole.” Only Up is out via Hand Drawn Dracula.

Interlacing black metal and high-energy rock n’ roll with gothic melodic and harmonic flourishes, Wolf Hex, the 3rd LP from Canada’s Wormwitch, is filled with monumental moments continuing the band’s upward trajectory in the global metal scene. "Shortly after 2019’s release of Heaven That Dwells Within, we went on an indefinite hiatus. Just before the beginning of the virus and the first quarantine, we made the decision to come back to Wormwitch with rejuvenated spirits and write a new record. The result is 10 songs that we recorded between 3 studios over the course of this past Autumn. The writing and recording process has been the smoothest, most natural, and most fulfilling we’ve experienced thus far and we’ve never been so confident in a record throughout its creation. As always, endless thanks to those who have been with us since the beginning as well as those who have discovered us through HTDW. Your individual support is absolutely noticed and appreciated. We think about you and remember your names." - WORMWITCH

Through their relentless hard work, non-stop touring and critically acclaimed/chart-topping releases gaining them over 250 million cross-platform streams/views – JINJER are inarguably one of modern metal's hottest and most exciting bands active today. The band has become synonymous with doing things their own way and breaking every rule in the heavy metal handbook, which is keenly evident on their highly anticipated fourth studio album and follow up to the groundbreaking Macro album, Wallflowers. The new album not only presents a methodical and premeditated next step in the band's already imposing career, but moreover, it mirrors the personal adversities they’ve faced due to the worldwide events over the last year. Wallflowers is not only an upgrade to the progressive groove metal sound that all JINJER fans crave, but also a sonic pressure cooker of technical musicianship, emotional fury and an intense soundtrack befitting the harrowing state of the world today. Hailing from the conflict-ridden Ukrainian region of Donetsk but now calling Kiev their home base, JINJER truly do not mince words – or riffs – on Wallflowers. Their exceptional precision of modern metal paired with tough as nails attitude has earned them a fiercely loyal, rabid fanbase and massive critical acclaim, making JINJER one of the most talked about bands today and garnering them many sold out performances across the globe. With nearly all of JINJER’s releases composed between vans, backstage rooms and constant touring, Wallflowers continues where its predecessor Macro left off, only this time with less distraction and more time to focus on songwriting.

JACKIE WILSON – aka “Mister Hitmaker” – scored Brunswick Records 50 chart singles during his 20 year solo career. “I Get The Sweetest Feeling” is both one of his best known and most loved recordings, originally taken from his 1968 album of the same name. Coupled with “Nothing But Blue Skies” it only managed to reach #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of release and a more respectable #9 in the UK some four years later in 1972. Ironically it was your very own Passion Music who achieved the most success with the song just missing the top spot, stalling at #3, in 1987. It was also Passion Music that gave Jackie, posthumously, his only #1 pop hit with a reissue of “Reet Petite” in 1986.
“IT ONLY HAPPENS WHEN I LOOK AT YOU” is the perfect feel-good floorfiller from the perfect soul vocalist. The song was originally recorded by Aretha Franklin in 1975 for her Atlantic album ‘You’, but it is Jackie’s more upbeat version that captured the Northern Soul hearts. It was released on UK Brunswick in 1977 and was to be Jackie’s final 45. It eluded a US release and appears here – for the very first time – on the official American Brunswiuck label design.

Jorja Smith returns to announce a new 8-track project. ‘Be Right Back’ is due May 14th and is the first body of work from Jorja since her 2019 critically-acclaimed, Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Lost & Found’, for which she won her second BRIT Award for ‘Best
Female’ and earned herself a nomination for ‘New Artist’ at the GRAMMY Awards.
The project finds Jorja delivering some of the most emotive and imaginative songs of her career. Over string-heavy production, she unveils a collection of songs that are diverse in their range but still extremely cohesive as a body of work - “It’s called be right back because it’s just something I want my fans to have right now, this isn’t an album and these songs wouldn’t have made it. If I needed to make these songs, then someone needs to hear them too.” - Jorja says of the project.
To coincide with the announcement, Jorja is sharing new single ‘Gone.’ Highly anticipated,
Smith states that “There’s something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others. I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening.
This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us.”
‘Gone’ follows in the footsteps of Jorja’s stunning March release ‘Addicted’, which also appears on ‘Be Right Back’, alongside 6 additional unheard tracks including a feature from
rising South London rapper, Shaybo on track 3, ‘Bussdown’.
Over the past three years, Smith has been celebrated unanimously across the world for her evocative song-writing, powerful delivery, pure emotion and unbridled talent as a young woman navigating her way through the world. Smith has graced multiple magazine covers,
performed at awards ceremonies and on late night TV, and sold out shows across the globe, now surpassing over one billion global streams. Her 2019 hit single ‘Be Honest’ featuring Burna Boy has become her biggest song to date at almost 250M streams worldwide. Smith continues to hone her craft and ‘Gone’ serves as a much-anticipated prelude for the release of ‘Be Right Back’ on May 14th.

Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection Madi Diaz cycles
through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling,
her debut on ANTI-.
It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a
craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an
artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.
Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings she is as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey
and directness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based
songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship.
By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t
hate herself for being so heartbroken.
The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs
Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in
front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels
acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take
root years ago.
It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in
some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her.
“I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house
and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning
because you needed to talk about what just happened.”

Boy Golden has a purpose: enjoy each day and make good music. Founder and minister of The Church of Better Daze, he wants to help people seeking to improve on yesterday’s themes. His songs, like hymns, are hopeful, fresh and upbeat. KD & Lunch Meat is fluorescent and fun, like its namesake, and easily ingested. Something to Work Towards searches for the meaning in life, while Smoke on the Breeze and Any Way It Works are warm, tender and linger like perfume. Church of Better Daze is the inspirational, musical manifesto. The harmonies are the collective idea of working together, the mellow melodies keep our hopes alive and the lyrics are golden rules to live by: Follow your heart / Make good art / Call your momma / Work real hard. Redefining jam band and stoner cultures by turning dead heads into lively brains, Boy Golden wants to unite us all in a hazy dream under one roof. “We’re all the same at the Church of Better Daze,” he sings. Find unity in the congregation of these 11 tracks, which redefine the precedent for collaboration, common goals and cannabis. If you’re open to learn, and can speak your truth, you can blaze and still get paid in Boy Golden’s Church of Better Daze.

Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter and former frontman of The Ugly Americans and The Scabs, Bob Schneider has become one of the most celebrated musicians in the live music capital. Combined with his scruffy good looks and diverse musicals styles, Schneider's talent has defied genres. Combing elements of funk, country, rock, and folk with the more traditional singer/songwriter aesthetic, Schneider draws inspiration from the '70s with a modern twist reminiscent of Beck. His powerful lyrics tackle tough subjects about alienation, drug addiction, and lost romance. Schneider has won more than 59 Austin Music Awards including Best Album, Best Songwriter, Best Musician, and Best Male Vocals making him the most decorated artist in Austin music history. Schneider's fan base reaches far beyond the city limits of Austin. He started gaining national recognition when released 2001's Lonelyland, his major-label debut for Universal Records, followed by 2004's I'm Good Now. Since leaving Universal, Schneider went on to release more award-winning albums under Vanguard and began releasing "side projects" on his label, Shockorama Records. He has released more than a dozen albums and doesn't plan on slowing down anytime soon. Schneider and his team will be releasing a new record 'In A Roomful Of Blood with A Sleeping Tiger' dropping in August 2021 as well numbers live shows all throughout Texas.

Mondo is proud to continue its on-going celebration of the DC film universe, with an all-new limited edition pressing of one of the most iconic film soundtracks of all time: John Williams' legendary score for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE.

The marketing for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE cleverly described itself as a film that would make you "believe a man could fly," but no one involved in the film could be prepared for how that newfound belief would change the world forever. Now, nearly 43 years later, the superhero film industry shows no signs of slowing, but very few have achieved the visual and sonic miracle that the late Richard Donner and the inimitable John Williams were able to do with their epic origin story.

Featuring all new artwork by DKNG, Produced by, and featuring extensive liner notes by Michael Matessino, and pressed on 2x 180 gram black vinyl.

This very one Lost Boy from Brazil washed ashore the Lowlands' 'Finis Terrae', a produce of first-generation 'Shock Doctrine' and a real 'carioca' borne on the New World's 'Bossa Nova' and 'Esplendor Geometrico' of old 'Ancien Regime' para-military junta hat delivers quite some maximally dark and manic minimal wave of late, at times even slightly reminiscent of Siouxsie and the Banshees and of Joy Division, and all sung through old and charming, slightly dissonant 'Samba' melody lines vaguely hailing from certain sinister up-hill 'Cicade de Deus' margins of a distinctly distant 'Vagamundo' Purgatory past in either the Portuguese, the English or the Spanish tongues, rendering the paranoia 'facsimile in Limbo' of the coming Futurist Global Orderly State, this deep-state 'Novo Estado Novo' within the current 'Nova Bossa Nova', this 'Guerra Nova Prometheida por uma Terra Nova Prometida', the World's Electronic New Wave 'Fado' of Digital Panopticon and similar forms of purely A.I.-bot-generated (nothing personal!) Totalitarian Torture 'Technique du coup d'Etat' in genuine random numbers as already foreseen and shown to all some long time before in the Magic Green on that 'Funky Dollar Bill', 'Novus Ordo Seclorum'... Mastered by Guy Tavares

A vibrant electronic fusion of lounge, jazz, and disco is maybe not the first (or fifth) thing you would expect to hear from one of the world’s most renowned modern composers and ambient tape loop pioneers, but upon first listen, it makes so much sense that one wonders why it didn’t happen sooner.

After years of producing and mentoring slews of young artists in 1990s Williamsburg, Brooklyn, William Basinski moved to Los Angeles. There he hired a young studio assistant, Preston Wendel, who eventually introduced his own works to the curious composer. That spawned a creative partnership that inspired Wendel to persuade Basinski to haul out his saxophone. Five years later, SPARKLE DIVISION has arrived with their enchanting debut album, To Feel Embraced.

Produced by SPARKLE DIVISION at Basinski’s Musex International in Los Angeles, the duo were joined by a few notable friends: Mrs. Leonora Russo (who Basinski affectionately calls “the true Sicilian Sparkle Division, my Brooklyn Mom, the Queen of Williamsburg”) offers her sparkling voice to “Queenie Got Her Blues”; fabled free-jazz icon and genuine bodhisattva, the late Henry Grimes, contributed upright bass and violin to the aptly-named “Oh Henry!” (“Lotta babies gonna be born from this one,” Henry and Margaret Davis Grimes playfully declared); and London vocalist Xeli Grana offers her ethereal voice to the album’s meditative title track.

NIGHTMARE VACATION vinyl will be released on 27th August via Atlantic Records/Sugar Trap. The genre-defying album features 16 captivating tracks, each showcasing Rico’s out-of-this-world energy and rockstar delivery, complimented by production from the likes of CashMoneyAP, Buddah Bless, Dylan Brady (100 Gecs) and more.

“I feel like this album proved to me that no matter what I’m going through, I can still make powerful music. All of these songs that I ever made were always about power, always about making you feel powerful. Sometimes you give so much power you feel powerless…I just tried to put all the emotions, and the happiness, and the crazy feelings y’all make me feel in this music and give it right back to you to consume and get your power up. So this is a soundtrack to getting back on your shit!” – Rico Nasty

NIGHTMARE VACATION has already drawn early acclaim via a number of international and domestic press looks, ranging from NME, WAVE and CRACK to Rolling Stone, The New York Times, W Mag and more. The album – which includes features from such luminaries as Trippie Redd and Aminé and production also by Take A Daytrip (Lil Nas X, Sheck Wes, Kid Cudi), Avedon (Roddy Ricch, Chloe x Halle), GRAMMY® Award-nominee Tay Keith (Travis Scott, BlocBoy JB, Drake) and longtime collaborator Kenny Beats – is highlighted by the singles, “IPHONE,” “Own It,” “Don’t Like Me (Feat. Don Toliver & Gucci Mane),” and “OHFR?,”.

NIGHMARE VACTION further follows the release of ANGER MANAGEMENT, a collaborative project with longtime producer Kenny Beats which followed the duo’s work together on Rico’s breakthrough 2018 Atlantic Records/Sugar Trap label debut, NASTY.















[o] 15. Smack A Bitch (feat. ppcocaine, Sukihana & Rubi Rose) [Remix]

TONY DRAKE – was a Philladelphia-born singer/songwriter who wrote and performed the Philly classic “Living In The Footsteps Of Another Man”, a favourite of Brunswick writer/producer Eugene Record who scored a hit with the song as lead vocalist with the Chi-Lites. Record had earlier co-written and produced “Suddenly” for Drake in 1970 which, although it stalled at the time, has become an anthem on the UK modern soul scene with demand and prices continuing to rise.
UNISSUED BRUNSWICK – This 1968 recording by Gene Chandler is a million miles away from the contemporaneous “There Was A Time” featured on our previous disc. It is, however, a fabulous slice of Windy City Soul in a Curtis Mayfield style. Chandler delivers a smooth and impassioned vocal over a finger-clicking crossover arrangement making this vinyl debut the perfect-partner to Drake’s awesome beater.

2021 newly re-pressed color vinyl of LIZZY BORDEN's 1987 third album, featuring the hit track "Me Against the World". "Me Against the World" was also featured in the heavy-metal horror film Black Roses, which remains a cult classic. The album was produced by Max Norman, who produced Ozzy's debut "Blizzard of Oz", Y&T's "Black Tiger" and many other famous metal albums. Lizzy Borden has spent over 30 years creating some of the most theatrical metal in existence and in the process has become nothing short of a metal icon. Releasing classics such as Love You to Pieces (1985) and Master of Disguise (1989) and obliterating audiences worldwide with a stage show that rivals that of Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper.

‘Kerber’, the new album from Yann Tiersen, is a
beautifully textured, highly immersive and
thoughtfully constructed piano-based album fused
with electronic music.
Piercing piano keys merge with swirling
soundscapes, as Tiersen explores the possibilities
of infinite smallness.
The album was created and recorded at The
Eskal, the studio he built on Ushant (the island
where he lives), and ‘Kerber’ is named after a
chapel in a small village on the island while each
track sonically maps the landscape that surrounds
Tiersen’s home.
An extensive European tour is scheduled for 2022.
CD in eco card pack with poster illustrated by Katy
Ann Gilmore.
Black vinyl LP includes digital download code.

Welcome aboard to the newly minted 'Sunfunk' label, and the beautiful debut album from Sunjunkie. A project which combines a blend of influences and musical styles into the 12 track LP "Two Decades"
Named and inspired by witnessing the art of soundtracking sunsets in Ibiza over the last 20 years, the album provides a range of tracks which effortlessly cross genres from Ambient to Jazz to Trip Hop while managing to keep the whole thing a full & rewarding listening experience.

Sure to be drifting out of beach-bars for many summers to come...

‘Falling From Fame’ is Takida’s follow album to the hugely successful ‘Sju’, which has become a milestone album in Takida’s over two decades long career, as ‘Sju’ broke the band outside of Sweden, and specifically in Germany, with tracks like ‘Master’ and ‘What About Me’. ‘Falling From Fame’ could be Takida’s most solid album, 11 newly composed tracks with a range of strong singles such as the introducing track- ‘Goodbye’.

This is music by four strong individual players with room for eruptive solo-parts, but always held together by intense communication and beautiful interwoven melodies. The quartet's second album A History of Nothing (Trost records/TR170) got a huge number of excited reviews: A superb quartet outing. The music is all improvised, but it's firmly rooted in jazz, with superb interaction between all of the players, both on ripping, high-velocity blowouts and more delicate forays. (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader) Freedom is clearly a responsibility as well as a joy, and it's emphasized here by the group's shared commitment: each musician is constantly working in two directions, stretching further and creating cohesion. The music is improvised with such an ear to complementary detail that it's literally being collectively composed. (Stuart Broomer, Free Jazz Collective) Together, this quartet is dynamite. It's exciting to hear a European musician along with three Americans, and notice that they communicate so well. (Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts) Recorded by Klaus Hedegaard Nielsen at Jazzhouse, Copenhagen, March 2nd, 2017 Mixed by Joaquim Monte and Rodrigo Amado, CD Master by Simon Wadsworth / LP Master by Martin Siewert

This is music by four strong individual players with room for eruptive solo-parts, but always held together by intense communication and beautiful interwoven melodies. The quartet's second album A History of Nothing (Trost records/TR170) got a huge number of excited reviews: A superb quartet outing. The music is all improvised, but it's firmly rooted in jazz, with superb interaction between all of the players, both on ripping, high-velocity blowouts and more delicate forays. (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader) Freedom is clearly a responsibility as well as a joy, and it's emphasized here by the group's shared commitment: each musician is constantly working in two directions, stretching further and creating cohesion. The music is improvised with such an ear to complementary detail that it's literally being collectively composed. (Stuart Broomer, Free Jazz Collective) Together, this quartet is dynamite. It's exciting to hear a European musician along with three Americans, and notice that they communicate so well. (Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts) Recorded by Klaus Hedegaard Nielsen at Jazzhouse, Copenhagen, March 2nd, 2017 Mixed by Joaquim Monte and Rodrigo Amado, CD Master by Simon Wadsworth / LP Master by Martin Siewert

Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier. Following his debut solo solo release ('Wood', with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, 'The Locomotive Suite', a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona-based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigrée Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass.

LIMITED EDITION WHITE VINYL LP Jesca Hoop has a tradition of reimagining and rerecording her own albums and having previously created beautifully stark versions of her albums "Kismet" and "Hunting my Dress" it is the turn of "The House That Jack Built". Recorded in her Manchester based home-built studio in December 2020, these intimate and immediate reworkings shine the spotlight on Hoops intricate, complex song writing with her astonishing vocals front and centre "The Deconstruction of Jack's House" comes on limited edition white vinyl.

Chuck E. Weiss is an American singer-songwriter known for mixing blues, beat poetry and rock and roll. Extremely Cool is his first full-length album, released In 1999. It features a collaboration with Tony Gilkyson and Tom Waits, who co-produced the album. As a result, the style is also similar to that of Waits, both musically and vocally. Johnny Depp also served as producer, for the track “Devil With Blue Suede Shoes”. This song features Toby Dammit on drums, whom had previously worked with Iggy Pop, The Residents and many more.

Newly re-pressed colored vinyl of Lizzy Borden's 1984 debut EP "Give 'Em the Axe. Lizzy Borden has spent over 30 years creating some of the most theatrical metal in existence and in the process has become nothing short of a metal icon. Releasing classics such as Love You to Pieces (1985) and Master of Disguise (1989) and obliterating audiences worldwide with a stage show that rivals that of Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper.

An ecletic musical representation of infamous Rotterdam Jazzclub BIRD with well-known and lesser-known Dutch artists from the black music spectrum, varying from Jazz, soul, hip-hop to electronic music. Compiled by BIRD musical curators Philip Powel and Guido van Dieren.

'Deutsche Krimi passionnel' oder 'Ostalgie fuer begeisterte Kranken'? Well, this album may very well have been the perfect soundtrack of some very obscured 5-year-planned and very mentally disturbing, for truly some very fucked-up alienating D.D.R. / East German Democratic People's Republic remake of Tarkovski's old sci-fi classic 'Stalker' and that somehow, thank God, never made it to the Elevated Socialist Working Masses, for otherwise that 'Berliner Mauer' would have collapsed much earlier and certainly with a hell lot of more drastic damage! I mean, ''Mein Selbstmord! Im Monschein hinter dem Baum!'', now, what psychotic poetry of Goethean-Nietzschean 'Faustian' 'Sturm und Drang Tragoedie' and Romantic Mass-Industrial 'Todestrieb' Mantra is that? 'Das Ewig Weibliche (oder gibt's vielleicht auch Das Ewig Maennliche?) des alten Werthers Leiden in Teutobuerger Schwarz-und-buchenwaldklinik?' For this dark synth-guided croonin' could have turned into the ultimate 'Alan Vega Suicide' Project of the Soviet Bloc, its bloody very last Collective Act! Mastered by Guy Tavares.

New Yorker Singer-Songwriter entdeckt den Westcoast-Sound. Das 2019 erschienene Album "The Unseen In Between" etablierte den amerikanischen Musiker Steve Gunn als einen Großmeister des US-Songwritings - mit seinem neuen Album "Other You" unterstreicht er nun diesen Anspruch. Gunn, der ursprünglich aus Pennsylvania stammt und mittlerweile in Brooklyn lebt, ist für die Aufnahmen zu seinem neuen Album an die Westküste gereist. Das passt perfekt, denn seine Musik ist der ideale Soundtrack für Roadtrips von der Ostküste an die Westküste des Landes. Sein fein destillierter Sound lässt sich dabei zwischen Roots Rock, Americana, Folk und Jazz treiben. Steve Gunn ist Traditionalist und Suchender zugleich. Zumeist geht er nur mit losen Ideen ins Studio, bei denen er am Anfang nie so genau weiß, wo sie ihn am Ende hinführen werden. Ähnlich gestaltete sich das auch dieses Mal. Sein sechstes Studioalbum "Other You" nahm Steve Gunn zusammen mit Produzentenlegende Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile) in dessen Mant Studios in Los Angeles Ende 2020 und Anfang 2021 auf. Schnapf hat großen Anteil an der Entstehung dieses Albums. Er schüttelte nicht nur das Soundbett auf, sondern mischte auch Steve Gunns Stimme in den Vordergrund, um den poetischen Lyrics des Songwriters die richtige Bühne zu bieten. Mit Hilfe von befreundeten Musikern wie Juliana Barwick, Mary Lattimore, Bridget St. John, Jeff Parker, Bill MacKay, Ben Bertrand und dem Schlagzeuger Ryan Sawyer (TV On The Radio, Thurston Moore, Gang Gang Dance) entstand mit "Other You" ein Album, mit dem Steve Gunn nicht nur die Grenzen von Genres auslotet, sondern auch seine eigenen.

Kevin Martins erstes Solo-Album unter dem Namen The Bug seit sieben Jahren könnte zeitlich nicht besser passen: „Fire“ - der dritte, berauschende Teil eines urbanen Triptychons, das mit dem explosiven „London Zoo“ von 2008 begann und mit dem bewusstseinsverändernden „Angels & Devils“ von 2014 fortgesetzt wurde - besteht aus vierzehn Tracks, die die Synapsen zum Schmelzen bringen, die den Körper durcheinanderwirbeln und die Hörerinnen und Hörer auf cineastische Weise von der Beschwörung einer düsteren, abgeriegelten Stadtlandschaft bis hin zu schwindelerregenden, tiefenscharfen Nahaufnahmen der Psyche von Martin, die ihn und seine Kollaborateur*innen an die Belastungsgrenze führen.

Die Aggression, die Attitüde, der beeindruckende Umfang und die destabilisierende, beunruhigende Raserei des Bug-Sounds ist durchweg perfekt umgesetzt, aber „Fire“ ist keine bloße Wiederbelebung der Vergangenheit - für Martin ist das Album sowohl eine Antwort auf die einzigartigen Umstände des vergangenen Jahres als auch eine Chance, seine eigene Reise vom zurückgezogenen Sound-Besessenen zum Familienvater zu reflektieren, und seinen Durst zu stillen - in einer Zeit erzwungener hermetischer Isolation - nach Kontakt, nach dem Chaos, das nur zwischen Menschen, Lärm und Bässen stattfinden kann, die Irritation der Sinne, die stets Bugs Methode und Weg waren, seit er in den späten 90ern aus den tiefsten Ecken Londons herauskroch.

Es ist das bisher beste Album von The Bug, möglicherweise die wildeste und bewegendste Musik, die Martin je gemacht hat, und es berührt immer noch die anfänglichen Sehnsüchte und Impulse, die „London Zoo“ wie eine Rohrbombe durch den Briefkasten in Ihre Welt katapultiert haben. Es ist eine hungrige Platte, in jeder Hinsicht.

Die MCs, die auf dem Album zu hören sind - einerseits langjährige Weggefährt*innen wie Flowdan, Roger Robinson, Moor Mother, Manga Saint Hilare, Irah & Daddy Freddy, andererseits relativ neue Namen im Bug-Stall wie Logan, Nazamba und FFSYTHO - reflektieren unweigerlich den äußeren Wahnsinn einer auf den Kopf gestellten Welt, graben aber auch tief in sich selbst, um nachdenkliche, erbarmungslos ehrliche Darstellungen der Wut, des Widerstands und der Resignation zu schaffen, die das letzte Jahr in uns allen hervorgerufen hat.

Formed in Dublin in 1968 few would dispute that Thin Lizzy helped define the genre Hard Rock.

The band scored 8 top 20 hits over 8 years and place no less than 8 albums in the UK top 20, 3 of which would make the top 10 and 4 the top 5.

From the mid-70s onwards, they championed the use of two lead guitars, it gave them a unique sound which evolved down the years and influenced the likes of Def Leppard, Metallica and Iron Maiden

After numerous line-up changes, Thin Lizzy called time in 1983

With 1986 just 4 days young lead singer and main songwriter Phil Lynott died aged 36. All music’s John Dougan wrote, “As the band’s creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition.”

This 2-LP set contains all that is great about the band – the tracklisting overseen by Lizzy Expert Nick Sharp covers what is the best of the band’s output throughout the years.

Manchester UK's Space Afrika make music of what they term "overlapping moments" - oblique mosaics of dialogue, rhythm, texture, and shadow, half-heard through a bus window on a rainy night. Honest Labour, the group's first full-length since 2020's landmark hybtwibt? (have you been through what i've been through?) mixtape, expands the project's palette with classical strings, shimmering guitar, and visionary vocal cameos, leaning further into their enigmatic fusion of ambient unrest and cosmic downtempo. It's a sound both fogged and fragmented, at the axis of song craft and sound design, born from and for the yearning solitudes of life under lockdown. The album title is tiered, alluding to a legendary patriarch from co-founder Joshua Inyang's Nigerian family tree (who was lovingly called "Honest Labour" for his loyalty and resilience) as well as the nature of self-designated work, such as Space Afrika's music - a "labor of love" in its truest sense. With fellow co-founder Joshua Reid recently relocated to Berlin, the pair began sharing files last fall, piecing together poetic vignettes of looping haze and found sound, inspired by the notion of "records that leave an impression, and help the listener deal with their life." As the isolation of Covid compounded with the worsening winter, the songs skewed increasingly introspective and emotive, reflecting a mood of dissipating futures and the infinite nocturnal unknown. The artists cite two core motivations for Honest Labour: to transcend the sum of their influences, and "to show what we're capable of." Both ambitions are entirely realized. The collection's 19 tracks flow with a synergy and sophistication as rare as they are radical, untethered to the dusty dub-techno templates of Space Afrika's early years. These are interstitial anthems, expressionistic and open-ended, delirious but deliberate, attuned to the drift and dreamstate of the present moment: "Ultimately this is an homage to U.K. energy, and an album about love and loss."

Horse Meat Disco deliver the latest single from their acclaimed debut album ‘Love & Dancing’, this time made in collaboration with NYC group The Phenomenal Handclap Band. ‘Sanctuary’ sees the quartet at their disco dancefloor-ready best, as The Phenomenal Handclap Band provide a dose of deliciously cool nonchalance. Fuelled by hefty analogue muscle, funky guitar riffs, 70s synthesizers and glowy vocals ‘Sanctuary’ makes for an irresistible modern disco number. Ray Mang makes an appropriate remixer for the package, his amalgamative style of boogie, disco, dub and house a perfect fit for Horse Meat Disco and The Phenomenal Handclap Band’s collaboration, providing both a remix and Dubstrumental for the package. ‘Sanctuary’ is an unmissable release for any modern day, discerning disco listener that you’ll want to hear again and again.

Following “La Contra Ola” (BJR015), Bongo Joe presents 'La Ola Interior', a compilation exploring the ambient side of the Spanish electronic music produced in the 80’s, bringing together 19 little-known and innovative pieces from the golden age of Spanish electronic music !

It gathers musicians from various horizons and of many generations, who shared the desire to create an immersive soundscape and to combine electronic music with non-Western musical traditions. As a general rule, the Anglo-Saxon tropism did relate the spanish peninsula’s ambient music to the Balearic Sound, that is to say to the relaxing music played in Ibiza’s nightclubs. But this music takes place in the productive territory of experimental musics, and particularly in its two main breeding grounds: the tape recording underground and the independent musicians-producers scene.

Inseparable from the processes of self-publishing, distribution and exchange of music that were then taking place in Spain in an artisanal way, the vast underground movement of cassettes was divided between an "ethno-trance" combining industrial beats and oriental sounds on the one hand (Esplendor Geométrico, Miguel A. Ruiz / Orfeón Gagarin) and unclassifiable low-fi tinkerers on the other hand (Camino al desván, Eli Gras, Mataparda, Victor Nubla). Hyperactive, this scene is radical and strongly dominated by the hardest musical styles, but the ambient, influenced by the German Kosmische Musik and "krautrock", also develops here.

The second vein of Spanish ambient comes from some of the independent labels of the peninsula (DRO, GASA, El Cometa de Madrid, EGK) whose activity will mark the return of some of the most adventurous musicians-producers of the 70s. Some were influenced by American minimalism (Luis Delgado / Mecánica Popular, Suso Saiz, Javier Segura), others by Fourth-World Music conceived by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno (Finis Africae, Jabir). Having passed through folk, ancient, traditional or contemporary music, and being familiar with improvisation and studio techniques, these artists come from a mutant hippie culture, capable of phagocyting many musical styles from electronic ambient to ethnic improvisation and modal jazz.

These two scenes and generations that make up LA OLA INTERIOR intersect around a common interest in non-Western musical traditions. Their exploration may be that of the tribal origins of electronic rhythms or the Arab heritage of Spain. Above all, it is a dreamy exoticism, an immobile journey as the sounds, rhythms or instruments of these traditions are scrutinized by Western practices (avant-garde music, electronic technology). The result is a hybrid music, filtered and reinvented, neither Western nor extra-Western, with a pronounced taste for the fusion of opposites, which we have called "Acid Exoticism" because of its permanent search for trance or contemplation. Atmospheric, contemplative and serial, these musics still plunge us today into a sensorial journey, at the same time interior and distant, organic and technological, between exotic reminiscences and interior visions.

Francesco Cavaliere and Tomoko Sauvage embody a tactile audio visual display, radiating the color green into sounds and painting meditative music. By transforming collected objects into invented instruments and scenography, each motif becomes a dedication to a specific situation, an anecdote or a symbol, sometimes real and other times absurd, that the artists have encountered through their travels and conversations: the Chinese myth about a man wearing a green hat, naming convention of Japanese traffic lights, or even the imaginary chants of frolicking twin dolphins. This inspired the duo’s personal research on experimenting with raw and synthesized idiophones, stage landscape design, spontaneous field recording and organized improvisation.

For their installation and performance, Cavaliere and Sauvage assemble a green cabinet of curiosities - instrumentarium combining water, glass, clay, bamboo xylophones, metallophones and synthesizers. Tomoko describes in an interview: “When you are actually surrounded by green musical instruments, it has a calming effect as if you were looking at a forest or mountain.” Surrounding themselves with amulets and fluorescent fluids, the duo transcend into a musical imagination that connects scores, choreography and sculpture. Motions like crisscrossing the stage, feeling the presence of a perfectly plump leaf as it strikes a glass bowl, minerals slipping through fingers, all resonate to the soothing sounds of splashing water. There’s an intuitive yet methodical nature to this conceptual approach to composition reminiscent of the fluxus art movement. The pair’s initial motif was to play Henning Christiansen’s Green Music, whose score turned to be nonexistent. By then, their green dream was already flourishing in their mind, retracing the path of so-called environmental music from Walter Tilgner, Knud Viktor, to the likes of Kankyo-Ongaku and Hiroshi Yoshimura.

Since there is a strong visual element to their work, witnessing this captivating site specific performance may be imperative in understanding the range and influence of the color green and the impact on the sounds they create together. On ‘Viridescens’, the first release by Cavaliere and Sauvage, we are invited to experience these recordings in a more musical context. Acting like an intermediary, the duo transport us to their special planet, enlivened by animal voices, wind, and aquatic creatures dancing across a luminous aurora.

The redoubtable renaissance man Barrie K Sharpe is back with a scorching vinyl 45 showing he’s lost none of his edge or ingenuity in producing a potent fusion of funk, soul jazz and beyond. This effusive cut sounds utterly unlike anybody else and is testament to his flamboyant superfly style cementing why he is considered to being one of the burgeoning spearheads in the Acid Jazz movement of yesteryear.

It’s interesting to note he hasn’t stood still either and has been extremely prolific releasing three exceptional albums under the banner of Rhythm Rhyme Revolution and this slow burning dance floor groove is the perfect distillation of his recent body of work.

‘BaDThingz’ falls between the sensual and the spiritual like all good dance music and the direct ‘come on’ lyrics becomes an injunction to move on the facts not just suppositions!

The groove is the epitome of seduction itself with a funkified blessedness as clear as a bell. A fantastic homily signalling the virtues of sexual chemistry whilst highlighting the modern era of cutting edge studio production to sonic perfection. The groove is simply total atomic explosiveness and DJ Tabu is someone you’d definitely want cooing in your ear!

Aided and abetted by multi instrumentalist Gareth Tasker and trumpeter Kenny Wellington it seems your man is riding his groove to glory - with a bit of added polish from Fritz Catlin. This is going to have untold longevity in any DJ’s trunk of funk. Grab it now for a shock of pure pleasure. (Emrys Baird – Blues & Soul)

After his first adventure in the endless universe of instrumental music where he made known “Man With a Plan” in 2018, Minus & MRDolly now presents the new EP Broken Hearts Make Broken Beats. This new work is the result of a recording session at the Groove-Wood studios promoted by João André - who mixes two of the three originals of the EP - to which Hugo Danin joined on drums and Sérgio Alves on keyboards and electric piano. In trio, Minus, Hugo and Sérgio rearranged and explored the original sketches, previously composed by Minus & MRDolly.

Floating, or as if to say, with one “foot inside and the other outside” of his so familiar home that is Hip Hop, “BHMBB” is the reflection of some musical references previous to that house, where “Britfunk” or “Broken Beat” serves as an example. This EP intends to marry the acoustic character of the interpretation with the aesthetic and electronic universe of dance music.

“Salame”, “The Break” and “A Thousand Miles”, the three originals that make up the EP Broken Hearts Make Broken Beats, also count on the participation of percussionists Manu Idhra and Rui Ferreira, the voice of Mary Raisekings, and the Pardal saxophone. The theme "The Break" has remixes by Pedro and Max Graef.

The new school meets the old school. Riding those crystal-clear waves off the back of their standout EP for WOLF Music, New Zealand duo Manuel Darquart double down with this 10-inch remix package containing a classic reworking from the master of dream house, Don Carlos and a sleazed up street soul workout from themselves.

No introduction is needed when you see Don Carlos’ name in the mix. A legend of the Italian dream house movement that has influenced so much of what we’ve heard since, not least the productions of the Manuel Darquart guys. A dream (house) matchup some might say.

Step one, Carlos sprinkles his magic on ‘Keep It DXy’ switching up the drum programming and adding those Balearic flurries that add a considered dose of dreaminess to whatever he touches, think summery sweeping strings and echoing synth stabs.

On the flip the Manuel D guys go full sleaze, weak at the knees for their ‘Sleazy Sunday Mix’. Imagine a street soul, Balearic lovechild and you’re on the right track. Start suppin’ a margarita and you’re getting closer. Sun-lounger on the sand, Adriatic in front of you, last night’s euphoria still a buzz in the brain and you’ve hit the spot.

The man with the funky plan is back! Known for his groovy disco edits, Todh Teri is back with Deep In India Vol. 9. This all new record features another fellow sampler and old time record digger - Kone Kone.

The album starts off with Sampadan 30 where Kone Kone works his magic to bring out delicious crossover disco beats that characterise the charming 80s flowing into the alluring 90s of the Indian cinescape, with the old school glam of electric guitars and synths. This thumping track is followed by Sampadan 31 which is reminiscent of Chicago house but with Todh Teri’s classic Indian touch. Next up is Sampadan 32, with a simple yet funky bassline and juicy vocals that make you travel back in time to a golden era, making it quite an enticing vibe. Find solace with Sampadan 33, the final track on the record, a quintessential dub version of another classic that will make your head bob and drift you off to a safe & happy place.All in all, this record is wholesome as it has something for each and every listener with a brilliant illustration by Costanza Chandra in collaboration with Masala
Movement

Featuring Joep’s first three releases + bonus material, as a special Super Deluxe Vinyl Box Set of 7 LPs.

Breeze into summer with a DJ set from the unchallenged master of blunted atmospherics: Terekke. Ripped from a riverside warehouse party in the dog days of summer 2019, Terekke dials up the soulful, expressive house moods that undergird through his ephemeral productions. Digital pianos? Check. Vocal A1's? Check. "Let No Man Put Asunder" samples? Check. No need to strap in, this one's a cruise.

It may be his fifth album, but Saturday Night, Sunday Morning marks the start of chapter two for Jake Bugg. Arguably his most complete and coherent record to date, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning manages to combine a love of ABBA, the Beach Boys, Supertramp and the Bee Gees, with a contemporary pop sound: one that’s already spawned his most ubiquitous song in years via euphoric lead single, All I Need. “I knew what I was looking for this time around,” the 27-year-old says, firmly. “And I feel like I accomplished it.” It’s almost 10 years since a two-fingered Bugg burst onto the scene with his eponymous debut, one that topped the UK album charts and saw the then 18-year-old from Nottingham fêted as the next Bob Dylan. A Rick Rubin-produced follow up, Shangri La, quickly followed. But progress stalled with Bugg’s third, largely self-produced, record, On My One, in 2016. “I was having a hard time on that third record,” Bugg admits, five years removed. “The support from the industry wasn’t what it was. All those people telling you how great you are weren’t there anymore. It does feel like the rug’s been swept from under your feet.” What that record provided, however – along with its comparatively stripped-back follow up, Hearts That Strain (2017) – was a much-needed course corrector: one that set Bugg on the upward trajectory he finds himself on today. “When I came to terms with that was when I left the ego at the door,” he says. “It didn’t work out. But it led here. And this is probably my strongest record." It’s testament to Bugg’s rediscovered confidence that Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – a nod to the debut novel by Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe – sees him working with some of his highest profile collaborators to date, most notably American songwriters Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi, best known for their work with pop heavyweights Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello. “I was looking for how I can incorporate my sound for a more modern era. And I kind of struck gold working with Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi,” Bugg says. Convening in LA, the first track the trio wrote together is the jealousy-inflected About Last Night, a song about the “insecurities you go through as a young person in a relationship with someone.” “It’s got such dark undertones, which I love,” Bugg says, of a song that showcases a newly discovered, Beach Boys-esque falsetto. “But it’s also very, very pop. That’s what I’ve always loved. With ABBA, with Supertramp. I love pop music. But when you can get it to be dark, I love it even more.” It’s a trick the trio repeated again on Scene, Bugg’s personal favourite from the album and a song that best encapsulates the combination of old and new: Watt’s George Harrison-esquire guitar brushing up against contemporary melodic choices by Tamposi. “I love writing with her,” Bugg says of the Havana hitmaker. “She brought that women’s perspective. And I knew that I’d got that balance of what I wanted. That old school chorus with contemporary verses. That to me was my favourite song when I wrote it, and it still is.” Perhaps the biggest example of Bugg’s newfound ego-less approach to writing, however, came in the shape of Downtown, a song that grew from an idea by Jamie Hartman (Celeste, Lewis Capaldi, Rag'n'Bone Man), and sees Bugg deploy the higher range of his voice to ethereal, ’60s Bee Gees effect. “Usually, the initial spark of an idea comes from me. And when it doesn't, it sometimes loses my attention,” Bugg admits. On Downtown, however, he relished his role as arranger: “Because there were a lot of moving parts and chords, it was almost like a puzzle,” he says. “I’d never approached a song like that before. “What I’ve been enjoying on this record is the collaborative process,” he continues. Working with people, writing with people. Because I’ve realised all I really want to achieve is to be the best writer I can possibly be. And I think by working with other people, it allows you to learn a lot as well.” It’s a theory Bugg has put to the test during lockdown, when he was approached by his manager about writing the soundtrack to an upcoming documentary, The Happiest Man In The World, about Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho. “It’s kind of a completely different experimental outlet,” Bugg explains of his first ever score. “I approach my own work quite professionally. But with this I can just switch off and go into a different world. And it’s been brilliant – I’ve had to learn different styles of guitar: bossa nova, samba. It’s a bit Vangelis, who’s probably my favourite artist – which may surprise people.” Possibly. But you get the impression that surprising is what Bugg likes to do. “I don’t like to be stuck doing the same thing,” he admits. “And that’s what this record Saturday Night, Sunday Morning was. I wanted to push myself. I’m always learning new influences. I’m careful not to get stuck on the same thing. “It’s not going to be right every time. It’s not going to be good every time,” he continues. “But if that’s the process it takes to get to this record, where people are loving the songs again, then that’s the journey we have to take.” For Jake Bugg, chapter two starts now. New album ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’ is out August 20th on RCA Records

Behind The Dykes is a 2LP compilation presenting the best bands and artists the Dutch had to offer in the period 1964-1972. The Netherlands were the first non-English speaking country to storm the Billboard Hot
100 with a string of hit singles from bands such as Shocking Blue,
Focus, George Baker Selection, Golden Earring and Tee-Set. This
2LP presents the bands that followed closely behind, with singles and albums that internationally have become highly sought-after records. Some bands with a rich discography, others with no more than one or two singles under their belt. Original singles of many of these tracks are currently offered and/or sold for hundreds of Euros on Discogs, and many original pressings were so limited at the original time of release that they are impossible to find.

The album is released under the Decca brand with the classic logos and labels. The full color printed inner sleeves contain liner notes about each individual band with the original single artwork, while the inside of the gatefold sleeve contains photos of the artists featured on this album.