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EIGHTEEN AND I LIKE IT… (MISC. COLOURED VINYL))if you survived trips 1-17 with one tiny speck of psychedelic sunshine intact, Brown Acid The 18th Trip will be your coming of age nightmare. Vintage underground '70s hard rock, coming at you from bizarre angles, local scene wasteland America when everybody was out for themselves and the drugs went bleak. The guitars kill, the attitude is twisted, even the sex is headed down the wrong road. Real people, no compromise, pure and potent. Get stoked, take the 18th Trip and know that the artists will get paid for pulverizing your soul! "People… are you ready?, 'cause the music now is getting so heavy"… Back Jack out of St. Louis, Missouri in 1974 launch our trip with "Bridge Waters Dynamite". It's an invocation to rock flashing on Mark Farner whooping up a Grand Funk crowd, then getting to the point quickly with berserk guitar assaults. Heavy riff with power chord stalks beneath as you take their advice… get loose and blow up the past. Smokin' Buku Band dropped my jaw with the audacious track "Hot Love" coming on like some fractured fever dream burlesque of Led Zep moves out of Hollywood in 1980. Swooping elongated vocals above, a total Zep chord move at the end of each verse. Writer/producer Steve Shauger aka Shag Stevens gets a brilliantly messed up sound quality here, the ideal polar opposite of slick. The extended guitar break is an epitome of serendipitously crude virtuosity, simply outrageous! Coming at you from way outta left field is "Moby Shark" by Atlantis, a hilarious and strange Baltimore pre-punk vibed dose of D.I.Y. meets hard rock. Lon Talbot is the mastermind, the flip side of this impossibly rare Mekon Records label single was featured in an obscure 1978 B-movie titled "The Alien Factor". Follow the lyrics closely, when the ominous jaws jaws jaws start coming after you you you… the song's big hook is so preposterously catchy the shark attack feels like good news. Inquiring minds should know that the band formerly known as Atlantis can now be found by searching for the Lon Talbot Group! Tommy Stuart and the Rubberband's "Peeking Through Your Window" from 1970 opens with a spooky organ riff, slips into a gushy fuzz/organ groove akin to "Mustache In Your Face” by Pretty. The singer creates downright creepy vibes, a stalker peeking through the girl's mind like a peeping Tom at the window up to no good. The lyrics evoke a disturbing scenario. Tommy Stuart also made a strange LP titled Hound Dog Man in 1977 and some terrific rare garage singles under the names Magnificent Seven and The Omen & Their Love in the mid '60s. Nothing better than an angry two chord guitar attack with cowbell to set the stage for this rant about getting "Ripped Off" by love. Taken from their rare 1977 LP on Dynamite Records, Chicago Triangle was Marvey Esparza, Dave Guereca, Jose 'Tarr' Perez and Robert Aguilera. They unleash such strong brain-scrubbing wah wah frenzy in the guitar break here that it seems to perversely mock it's own intensity! Like I said, Brown Acid the 18th Trip comes at you from all kinds of uncanny angles. Damnation of Adam Blessing out of Cleveland, Ohio unleashed a stone killer psychedelic hard rock classic "Cookbook" in the late '60s, this track "Nightmare" from 1973 has them cooking again at full power. A different singer, name change to Damnation and then Glory, unleashing a deadly dose of dark progressive heavy rock drama peaking when spooky 'oooo-wa-oooo' background vocals emerge during a bizarre spoken bit. It unfolds like a mini-epic and includes some remarkably brutal guitar and turbulent organ, too. "Swing your sword, all aboard… bid farewell to the dreamer" Dalquist exclaims. Cynical view of human nature, idealism is over, war is coming, it always does. Opens with a cold menacing riff and atmosphere reminiscent of "Synthezoid Heartbreak" by Maya. Mournful despondent vocals ride an insistent churning groove, gnarly guitar break moves into free noise territory. This rare track is from a local various artists benefit album titled Kangaroo Jam issued for the Waco Family Abuse Center in Texas circa 1980. The Pawnbrokers "Realize" is prime proto heavy rock emerging out of psychedelic garage roots in 1968 Fargo, North Dakota. Unusual arrangement, terrific sustain guitar tones like on the first Blue Cheer LP, even a rip on Hendrix "Manic Depression" with unison voice and guitar ascent near the end. They made three 45s and were active from '65 to '69. Hats off to Blake English, Kent Richey, Paul Rogne and Steve Harrison, you nailed it in just a hair over two minutes! As pure and creative as the original psychedelic garage hard rock gets. Parchment Farm from Union, Missouri gigged with the likes of ZZ Top and Foghat back in the day and unleashed the amazing "Songs Of The Dead" in 1971. Primitive riff/chord pattern dosed with some funky prog moves, sky turning black, 'is this heaven or hell' type disoriented confusion… may as well grab your guitar and sing songs to the dead. Robert 'Ace' Williams on bass, Paul Cockrum on guitar, Gary Reed on keys and Micky Waterman on drums, replacing Mike Dulany (R.I.P.) Cool that they use the Blue Cheer misspelling from Vincebus Eruptum for the band name! Ominous organ, thick minimalist fuzz riff, funky psychedelic wah wah flashes and freaky sex combine in one twisted dance titled "Rockin' Chair" by Brothers Of The Ghetto. Out of Chicago in 1975 with some Santana atmospherics and a delicious fuzz wah screamin' guitar break, the groove is highlighted by an off the wall vocal which sounds eerily detached in a subtly sleazy way. Rene Maxwell is the writer of this hard-rock boogie-down hybrid straight out of the twilight zone. It was issued on Ghetto, a subsidiary of the peculiar Kiderian label that released the Creme Soda LP. Now that your head is totally skewered, go Back Jack and play side one again! (Words by Paul Major)

DERRYs Debut-EP, Horrorpunk/Punkrock, 6 Songs auf einseitig bespieltem transparent-orangefarbenden 12"-Vinyl über Loikaemies Fettfleck Records-Label! Eine Mischung aus düsteren Klängen, treibenden Beats, einer verspielten Bassline und eingängigen Melodien ohne viel Schnickschnack, gespickt mit Ami-Skate-Punk der 90er Jahre - das lässt den Soundtrack ihrer Jugend schon erahnen. Thematisch hat sich die Band den Werken von Stephen King zugewandt. Remember The Curfew befasst sich dabei exklusiv mit der Stephen-King-Novelle ,IT" (zu Deutsch ,ES") und dem darin personalisierten Horror durch den Clown Pennywise und dessen zahlreicher Fassetten, aber auch wichtigen Themen wie der ersten Liebe, Freundschaft und Verlust. Mit Remember The Curfew geben die fünf Hessen der Horrorpunk-Band DERRY ihr Debüt auf Fettfleck Records. Nach dem im Sommer 2023 erschienenen ersten Demo-Song "The Kids Of Derry" kommt nun die Debut-EP. Inklusive rerecorded "The Kids Of Derry" sowie der Single "His Voice" und Fokustrack "Remember The Curfew" plus drei weiteren Songs, Erhältlich als 12" Vinyl-Auflage (einseitig bespielt) in limitiertem Trasparent Orange, CD sowie EP Digital!

As a professional sound engineer by day, Colin Dunkerley aka Lapsed Pacifist, spends much of his time traveling and rarely gets to focus on producing his own music. Despite high praise from those who have become familiar with his work over the years, Colin’s previous productions have mainly consisted of shares with friends and DJs in smaller circles through his ‘Negative Neutron’ alias.

Colin envisaged a more pronounced and darker ambient style to emerge one day, but struggled to dedicate the time. ‘Hypatia’ came to life over an extended and fragmented period, with field recordings and loops of audio created on the go, later processed through his modular setup. In the autumn of 2022, Colin spent time collating and listening to these many fragments and field recordings, making notes in a book as he wandered around cold, unfamiliar places with headphones on, trying to shape disparate starting points into something thematically connected.

The title of Lapsed Pacifist’s debut album, ‘Hypatia’ is a reference to one of the many fantastical descriptions of imaginary places by Marco Polo in the book, Invisible Cities. Written as a dialogue between Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, the book became the inspiration and a clear parallel for how Hypatia came to be and what it means to Colin today.

Attaching music to a place and time can become a very powerful and long-lasting memory. Across its eight tracks, Hypatia depicts fragmented glimpses of color and textures –a scrapbook of senses– traversing the optimistic first steps; the first smell of cold air; cityscapes burnt into your head; and the many emotions from exploring new places that stick with you longer than any photograph ever could.

“The experience of moving between places so frequently can be fascinating but also dislocating and often quite lonely. I have so many small stories about places I’ve been, but I often think they aren’t necessarily real reflections of anywhere, no more real than anything Invisible Cities author Calvino dreamt up”. - Lapsed Pacifist.

Hypatia is available on Transparent Copper smoke 12” + digital, mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri and featuring artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding.

FUJI||||||||||TA returns to Hallow Ground with his second full-length for the label after we had released his international breakthrough album »iki« in early 2020. Active since 2006, the Japanese composer and sound artist has become prolific since the release of »iki,« releasing a slew of records while also touring the world. His new album »MMM« is Yosuke Fujita’s most complex so far. Changing the set-up of his pipe organ by switching to an electric air pump allowed him to activate new sonic and compositional potentials of the instrument, while he also expanded upon his experiments with his own voice. »MMM« is a masterpiece of conceptual and formal rigour—a testament to how multi-layered and versatile the music of FUJI||||||||||TA can be.

Previous releases had already showcased Fujita's interest in working with the rhythmic potentials of the organ he built himself in 2009. Replacing its hand-operated air pump with an electric one allowed him to work with it more freely and simultaneously record its sounds. This marked the starting point for the opener »M-1,« for which he recorded the pipes by waving a gun microphone close to it, thus creating shifting rhythmic patterns. The piece engages in a perpetual play of repetition and difference, balancing sonic intensity with compositional dramaturgy. For »M-2,« the artist uses his voice and works with a singing technique he has developed over more than a decade: constantly exhaling and inhaling, he puts a strain on his internal organs in order to create what he calls a »third voice.« The resulting piece is built on a throbbing rhythmic foundation topped by wordless melodies.

»M-3« closes the album as a synthesis of these two pieces, but is far more than the mere sum of its parts. The subtle tonal shifts of the organ take on a more subdued role this time, and Fujita’s scat growling and singing reappears in processed form. »M-3« combines the rhythms and melodies of the previous pieces to let something entirely new emerge out of them, much like the album is based on perpetual changes and recombinatory strategies. In fact, Fujita explains, the acronymic title can be read in many ways: this album is minimalistic, but freely mixes and mingles different materials in magical and even metaphorical ways while also paying its dues to his wife and daughter—M. and M. Just like its title can mean a lot of different things, »MMM« itself is ever-evolving, traversing different moods and opening itself up to a plethora of interpretations at each of its many turns.

Memories are, to say the least, complex. They can weigh us down like stones or be treasured in their unresolved ambivalence. In Ciro Vitiello’s debut album, they take on a dynamic and elusive nature, both bouncy and tricky, moving away when approached and dipping into the haze of the subconscious. Dreams, in turn, find their shape through memory itself. The Island Of Bouncy Memories is, for Vitiello, a place populated by reveries and hypnagogic impressions, interwoven with the imprints of childhood experiences—a threshold between the comforting embrace of nostalgia and the acceptance of adulthood.

The album's inception traces back to a collection of toy recordings initially amassed by Vitiello as a backdrop for his wide-weave synthetic fabric. Evolving these initial sketches, the Naples-born artist intended the 13 tracks to form a continuous flux of undeciphered impressions. Repeating motifs phase in and out of the cloudy ambience, punctuating the inevitable waves of melancholy with delicate melodic structures.

Crucial to the album's development were contributions from vocalist Zimmy, vocalist/guitarist CRÆBABE and guitarist Attilio Novellino. Their input not only expanded the sonic palette but also cultivated themes and poetic scenarios through intense and sincere exchanges of personal experiences, recurring dreams, and childhood remembrances. CRÆBABE’s lyrics, in particular, provide an adult counterpoint to the album's more childlike elements—a map of murmured relics and epiphanies as she sits in conversation with herself.

The music's emotional depth envelops Vitiello's Island in an ocean of pure sensitivity, its tides drifting through apparitions of talking animals, reminiscent of those in his recurring dreams. At other times, it reflects the tragic echoes of Nisida—an island off the coast of Naples, infamous for hosting a youth detention center.

The Island of Bouncy Memories is a meditative reconnection with the past, a puzzling journey through pain and acceptance. Notably it marks the first-ever co-production between Hundebiss and Haunter Records, uniting two main players in the Italian electronic and experimental scene in an unprecedented collaboration.

"Three albums in three years indicates a serious work ethic, for their new album Name Your Sorrow they stuck to a strict schedule. They showed up every day from 9-5, in a windowless Dublin room to just play, swap instruments and experiment. From there, they decamped to a rural retreat in County Clare along the Atlantic coastline of Ireland, to immerse themselves further.“ The palpable shift in sound and tone is possibly the result of working with a new producer, Collin Pastore from Nashville, who has produced boygenius, Lucy Dacus and Illuminati Hotties. UK tour in June. ""Pillow Queens make the kind of noise that tends to flourish live, roared back by the faithful: burnished heartland euphoria, defiant lyricism bolstered by ragged harmonies, lashings of pride, and an unabashed love of crescendos."" - Ptichfork
""A joyful, raucous celebration of queer love""’ – The Guardian"

This tune has a long history. We recorded some tracks with Prince Jamo back in 2010, of which this was one of them. A couple of years back Andreas picked up this track again with the idea of making a new riddim for it with live musicians and a more organic feel. Linking it up with Earth Works studio & musicians at the studio aka Signal One Band.
The riddim was then sent to Aba Ariginal for horns overdubs.

Andreas did make this all happen, so this is a retrospect release, in the loving memory of our brother, a true rootsman soldier, Andreas Weslien.

BALANCE OF POWER are back with new band members and a brand-new album! Founding members Tony Ritchie (bass) and Lionel Hicks (drums) are joined the band's new lead vocalist Hazel Jade as well
as guitarists Chris Young and Adam Wardle, who have since taken over the reins from guitarists Chris Masimore and Stoney Wagner, with whom the band worked on and recorded the upcoming album
"Fresh From The Abyss"
BALANCE OF POWER melden sich mit neuen Bandmitgliedern und einem brandneuen Album zurück!
Zu den Gründungsmitgliedern Tony Ritchie (Bass) und Lionel Hicks (Schlagzeug) gesellen sich die neue Leadsängerin Hazel Jade sowie die Gitarristen Chris Young und Adam Wardle, die inzwischen in die Fußstapfen der Gitarristen Chris Masimore und Stoney Wagner getreten sind, mit denen die Band am kommenden Album "Fresh From The Abyss" gearbeitet und es gemeinsam aufgenommen haben.
"Fresh From The Abyss" ist eine Kollektion von Songs, die entweder die Uhr anhält und auf einen bestimmten Moment in der Zeit verweist oder zurückblickt und die Unendlichkeit von Zeit und Raum, des Lebens und des Sterbens thematisiert.

Alles fließt, nichts bleibt wie es ist. Diese philosophische Erkenntnis gilt auch für das dritte Studioalbum der aufstrebenden niederländischen Rockband DOOL. Der treffende Titel "The Shape of Fluidity" zielt keineswegs nur auf die musikalische Innovation. Sondern das Album dreht sich um Themen wie persönlicher Wandel, physische Veränderung, psychologische Weiterentwicklung und die sich erneuernde Welt um uns herum. DOOL und insbesondere Sänger/in und Gitarrist/in Raven van Dorst stellen Fragen: Wie wirkt sich der Wandel auf uns aus? Wie bleiben wir uns selbst in einer Welt treu, die so unglaublich herausfordernd und aggressiv gegenüber dem Individuum ist? Wir müssen so fließend wie Wasser sein, um in diesem Ozean von Möglichkeiten und Ungewissheiten erfolgreich zu navigieren - und Frieden mit Chaos und Unbeständigkeit zu schließen. Musikalisch setzen DOOL den auf den beiden vorangegangenen Studioalben eingeschlagenen Weg fort, der emotionale Rockmusik mit Elementen aus dem Metal kombiniert. Dabei demonstrieren die Niederländer eine auffällige Reife und Kontrolle im Songwriting, die aus Jahren der Erfahrung gewachsen sind. "The Shape of Fluidity" zeigt eine eklektische, aber nahtlose Verschmelzung von Progressive und Post-Rock sowie Doom und Heavy Metal, die mit einer stets präsenten Eingängigkeit und hintergründigen Dynamik kombiniert sind. Es ist offenkundig, dass sich das Album thematisch mit dem Konzept der Identität vor dem Hintergrund einer sich ständig verändernden Welt befasst. Die Texte des Albums sind eng mit der Biografie von Leadsänger/in Raven verknüpft. Von Geburt an intersexuell, entschieden die Ärzte chirurgisch, dass der Säugling als Mädchen durchs Leben gehen solle. Dies führte zu einer Existenz auf der Suche nach der eigenen Seele, dem Kampf gegen Tabus und die Überschreitung von Grenzen, bis Raven vor kurzem beschloss, das zurückzufordern, was andere versuchten hatten, ihnen wegzunehmen - und ihre hermaphroditische Natur zu akzeptieren. Der Bandname DOOL leitet sich vom niederländischen Wort für "Wandern" ab. Bereits das im Jahr 2017 erschienene Debütalbum "Here Now, There Then" landete einen sofortigen Volltreffer. Der frisch-wilde Rock- und Metalsound aus den Niederlanden wurde von den renommierten deutschen Magazinen Metal Hammer und Rock Hard zum "Album des Monats" gekürt. Auch Vice (US), Aardschok (NL) und De Volkskrant (NL) überschütteten die junge Band mit Lob. Mit ihrem zweiten Album "Summerland", das 2020 erschien, übertrafen DOOL die ohnehin schon hochgesteckten Erwartungen. Es gab weitere "Album des Monats"-Auszeichnungen in den deutschen Magazinen Rock Hard (10/10) und Sonic Seducer sowie eine #2 Soundcheck-Position in Metal Hammer (DE) und Metal.de, und eine weitere #1 im polnischen Metal Hammer - mit einem Berg herausragender Kritiken auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks. Mit "The Shape of Fluidity" bieten DOOL sehr viel mehr als nur verdammt coole Musik. Die zusätzlichen Dimensionen von Tiefe und Bedeutung sind Teil ihres einzigartigen Reizes und kommen auf dem neuen Album deutlich zum Vorschein. Mögen sich alle, die wandern, unter der fluiden Flagge von DOOL versammeln!

Sounds Good ist ein Album, das, vereinfacht ausgedrückt, seinem Namen alle Ehre macht. Die aktuelle Single Hanging On folgt auf den Bombast-Track Nobody But You und Gift of Life mit Kevins Delfonics-artigem Gesang, der die Bandbreite der menschlichen Erfahrung thematisiert. Kevin und Tony Martin sind Brüder, Eric ist ihr Bruderund langjähriger Freund durch die Musik. Während die anfängliche Verbindung der Band auf der berauschenden Mischung aus Jazz-Performance-fokussierter Musikschule und der Plackerei lokaler Auftritte gründet, wurde ihre Bindung durch unzählige Stunden auf Tour und die Produktion von zwei Studioalben gestärkt – 2019 das Debütalbum Buck und 2021 die EP Ripe. "Being on the road, doing our own tours, and backing incredible people like Lady Wray, has sharpened our skills and really revved us up for this record", sagt Kevin."It's been four years since our last full length record, and with everything that's happened since, it's like we've been catching up to ourselves." Das ist eine Möglichkeit, Veränderungen zu beschreiben: sich selbst einzuholen. Jedes Mitglied von Brainstory hat Veränderungen durchgemacht, sowohl persönlich als auch musikalisch, und all das zieht sich durch diese Platte. Der Weg zur Weiterentwicklung ihrer Musik ist klarer denn je zuvor. Wenn es eine Sache gibt, die auf diesem Album überdeutlich wird, dann ist es, dass Brainstory sich entwickelt haben. Ein Teil ihrer Entwicklung ist zweifellos darauf zurückzuführen, dass sie ihr eigenes Studio in Long Beach haben und dort ständig arbeiten. Ein weiterer wichtiger Faktor ist, dass sich ihre Gemeinschaft erweitert hat. "I've been playing music with my brother all my life and now with Eric for a long time", erzählt uns Tony. "Leon, though, is like another brother I've just met." Aus der Freundschaft ist die Band entstanden, und jetzt trägt die erweiterte Gemeinschaft dazu bei, sie weiter voranzutreiben. Die Sterne stehen günstig, dass sie mit diesem neuen Album einen großen und wohlverdienten Schritt machen, und das hört man ihrer Musik an – music that just Sounds Good.

Death Songbook is an exquisite and unique collaboration between Suede’s Brett Anderson, Charles Hazlewood and Paraorchestra featuring special guests Nadine Shah and Gwenno. The album features delicate new interpretations of iconic songs by the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen, Suede, Depeche Mode, Mercury Rev and Japan tackling themes of death, the death of love, anxiety, loss and transcendence. Paraorchestra is the world's first large-scale virtuoso ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians. The CD and LP packages feature beautiful photography from the original recordings at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

The latest by UK rave reanimator Low End Activist is a nine-track suite of skeletal hardcore, pointillist drum n bass, and deprivation chamber dub, chopped and brewed in homage to the countryside sites of golden age dance gatherings: Airdrop. From Waterstock to Yarnton Road to White Horse Hill, England’s early 90’s dance summits loomed large in LEA's familial and artistic landscape as a youth, trading tapes and pumping tunes across long weekend afternoons: “Fast music to soundtrack slow days.”

An atomized stew of stabby samples, bubbling bass, airhorns, echo, and blitzed BPMs, the cuts take cues from key heroes of the “where were you in ‘92” set – Tango & DJ Ratty, Top Buzz, DJ SS, DJ Seduction, Dr. S Gachet – then fling them to the four corners. Skittery, stripped, and elevated, this is mad scientist music of voltage, vision, and rewired brains, scraped to its raw genetic essence and deployed for peak kinetic liberation.

Brian d’Souza (fka Auntie Flo) teams up with in-demand DJ Or:la, harpist Róisín Berkeley and celebrated artist Jana Nicole for a release celebrating the humble mushroom. Originally commissioned for the Hayes Mycelium Pavilion at Glastonbury Festival 2023, these two pieces represent the artist homage to the unique power of connection within nature - the mychorrizal network that humans could do well from learning from. d’Souza’s piece uses a process of biosonification, picking up electrical impulses from four different mushroom species (Oyster, Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Shiitake) and turning them into musical notes. The 18 min piece is a literal ecological sound walk into the mind of the mushroom. Irish techno artist/DJ Orlagh Dooley aka Or:la debuts with her piece created in collaboration with harpist Róisín Berkeley.

Glacial textures and delicious harp glissandos form a mushroom habitat that exists in peace and harmony. The bespoke art work was created by multi-award winning artist Jana Nicole, who used a combination of collage, digital photography and manipulation to put together an art piece that resembles the depth and beauty of the mushroom and its mycelium. The limited edition vinyl will include a scratch and sniff smell component and incorporate UV paint that will only show up in dark light, revealing a different perspective as mushrooms do in the wilds.

A State of Flo supports Earth Percent. 10% of the revenue generated from this release will be paid to environmental charities.

It’s been a minute, but Sneaker Social Club is gassed to facilitate the return of the mighty House Of Black Lanterns, locking in for the dankest 2-step flex in a sincere ode to pirate radio culture. Dylan Richards has always displayed an affinity for low-end pressure threaded through his versatile HOBL output on Houndstooth and his prior work as King Cannibal, but he’s never dialled in to UKG with this much focus before.

The A side comes on strong with ‘Back To Back Special’, a dark garage creeper with negative space so vast it becomes all consuming — all the better for the ample MC toasting and spring reverb FX splashes to ping out around the skeletal, hard-knocking swing and snarling bass. ‘Out To The Private Number’ maintains the theme, flipping soulful UKG tropes into an ice-cold update for these malevolent times.

On the flip, Richards pushes the formula further out with ‘Slew’, which deploys hardcore-minded bass hooks in a devilishly dissected rhythmic framework and amps up the yard intensity on the MC source material to create a deadly intersection of garage, rave and dancehall. ‘Summon Like’ dials up the eeriness and lets the growl of the bass take centre stage in a potent, unnervingly minimalist dance wrecker that simply confirms the crystal clear vision Richards is pursuing on this record.

It’s a devout love letter to the edgiest of garage’s golden era without being limited to a simple genre study. Instead, a broad church of soundsystem exaltation gets expressed through the Richards’ elevated production vocabulary, capturing the shockout, mind-blowing spirit of the most trailblazing plates when they first got dropped on an unsuspecting crowd.

On "The Best EP", Chengdu-based artist B.AI shows she can not only write memorable hooks but can do so while covering a broad array of registers. One of her most enticing feats is her ability to make the minimal, electro and tech house genres she navigates her own by injecting them with a unique sense of melody. "Nightdreaming" is a moody builder: although new, sturdily patched layers keep being introduced and the pace never slows down, a sense of restraint remains. This atmosphere quickly changes on "Satisfy", which, with its tapestry of indeterminate arpeggios and EBM-evoking vocals, takes a nervous turn. "The Best" on the B-side is a slab of vigor tailored for the peak time. Set to an effective bass groove, modulated chords, white noise sweeps, delicately mixed moans and bright pads nearly trip one over another. On "Crash Landing On Nimas" B.AI , together with Diego Santana, unleashes a batch of detuned and portamento heavy square wave patterns. The EP, diverse yet balanced, ends on a note so ominous...

Law follows up his 2022 debut solo EP on Repertoire with a continuation of the Holographic Principle series.

Volume 2 expands on the ideas of the original, with an overriding theme of emotive, cosmic synths and keys, conjuring up visions of retrofuturist ideals of the mid 20th century.

Whilst Dead Man’s Chest makes his third outing for Repertoire with a stripped-back, junglistic re-working of Holographic, in his own imitable style.

Recorded in the past 25 years in different parts of the world, Encyclopedia Sónica Vol. 1 compiles the music and sounds of Leo Heiblum. Comes with insert.

Since Leo Heiblum was a little boy, he always found music everywhere. Listening to the engine of his mother's car and hearing incredible rhythms. He always thought every sound we hear can be made into music, every sound that we hear can be heard as music and it can be felt and understood as music. Every sound has an attack, a decay; some have a pitch. What is more beautiful, the sound of a flute, a bird, a trumpet, a car horn, a violin or a mosquito buzzing? They can all be used to make music.

Leo Heiblum believes that If we learn to hear all sounds as “musical” or at least to have the potential to be used to make music, we might look at the world and listen to the world more lovingly. That car passing by had a beautiful crescendo. That dog barking in the distance created a fantastic melody with an impossible-to- transcribe rhythm. Is there no creative intention behind those sounds? Can the listener give them an intention, can the listener transform them into art? Leo Heiblum is trying to organise them and use them in a way that will be musical for us. He hopes that the next time we hear an ocean wave breaking a bond, fire crackling, or a fly flying, we can enjoy the notes and the rhythms they are making. They are being created by something; who knows what the intention is, but some of the most unique beats he's heard come from rocks falling in cenotes or ice breaking down in a glacier. And the melodies he's heard from bats, dogs fighting, or a newborn dog are both haunting and beautiful. The timber from sounds such as the thorn of a cactus, the voice of a homeless person in the street or a mosquito buzzing can be used to create instruments as beautiful as any instrument. And they have a new sound or a familiar old sound used differently. A way that invites us to hear the music created by this planet.

Yes! Tommy Guerrero’s revered Return Of The Bastard gets its first ever vinyl reissue. Endearingly simple but beautifully beguiling, it's lo-fi dusty break business with the most elegant guitars this side of Vini Reilly and Gabor Szabo. Tommy's breezy drum-machine guitar-soul should be prescribed to soothe an aching world. By rights, he should also be a Balearic god. Here's 14 tracks of drop-dead laconic beauty, all of them combining to create this unheralded masterpiece. Working with Tommy directly, the LP has been fully remastered and sounds as dazzlingly, heartbreakingly beautiful as it did back in 2007.

Coolly opening the album, "And The Folklore Continues" can be said to be both a titular and actual nod to his past work. As ever, there's heavenly Latin guitar stylings that make you swoon and the melancholic vibe is accentuated by the addition of some melodic wordless vocals from Tommy. Just divine. The sparkling "La Califas Perdido" follows, all dreamy melodic guitars and twinkling vibes over dusty drums and a fine bassline. The shuffling, conga-assisted "I Would Go With You" is a gentle, romantic gem whilst the brief but beautiful "No Time For Time" feels in a hurry to let us know that Tommy can work with more propulsive rhythms. In this case, they underpin Tommy's gorgeous, shimmering guitars wonderfully well.

The head-nod funk of "Calling For Ya!" (get it?) features Curumin delivering the clever title as a hypnotic vocal refrain peppered throughout, all hung around some buried spoken word vocals and gorgeous cello work from Lenny Gonzalez. "Bloodinthemud" is a low-down gritty funk workout whilst "Zapata's Boots" is a total low-key groover, all Latin percussion and Morricone muscle aided by a whistled Spaghetti Western melody. The startling instrumental "Mosaic Man" closes out the side with a lean slice of mellifluous, virtuoso guitar bliss.

The reflective "What Have I Been Doing Since I Was Gone?" opens the B-side in glorious fashion, the type of melancholic melodic head music that should soundtrack a bright walk on a cold winter's day. The hypnotic groover "Paper Switchblade" is a razor-sharp fuzz-funk whilst the beautifully downbeat "Never Forget To Remember" is a kaleidoscopic kalimba-koolout. Galloping cop-funk breaks workout "Run With The Hunted" is a rollicking ride and it's followed by the fresh chiming guitar funk of "New Terrain".

The upbeat and bright "40 Summers", featuring congas from Alfredo Ortiz, is as clean and poppy as Tommy gets and it really is a look he wears incredibly well. Just straight up guitar pop. "The Simple Man" a gorgeous, melancholic ballad, closes out the record with deeply yearning vocals from Tommy, a rarity and a treasured one at that.

Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland. The original and iconic sleeve, designed by Natas Kaupas, has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

In Season 5, the long-awaited fifth full-length by beach-pop project The Tyde, frontman Darren Rademaker unveils his vision of an ’80s-inspired Suave Nouveau, with a clutch of sweet, melancholic love songs evoking lush mustaches, mellow macho, the ghost of Jimmy Buffett, white sand beaches, flamingos swooping across a cerulean sky, speedboats cutting through the bay and pastel linen suits billowing in the breeze as the sun dips beneath the horizon. “Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León ‘discovered’ Florida in 1513, naming the peninsula La Florida, the flowering land. In Season 5, Rademaker reflects on his own return to the flowering land, and the artistic diaspora that caused him to quit California in 2020 in search of a New World of his own. ‘I lived in Florida from the ages of ten to twenty-five, but never really got to explore it,’ he says. ‘When I came back, I decided to really embrace the whole Florida aesthetic. I moved into an art deco home in Sarasota with pink seashell lamps. I visited Key West, like seven times. I also quit smoking weed and cigarettes, and stopped saying shit like LOL and amazeballs. It felt different. It felt good.’ “The record features the talents of many good friends, including Dan Horne, Colby Buddelmeyer, Matt Correia (Allah-Las), Clay Finch (Mapache), Albert Hickman, Derek James (The Entrance Band), Alex Knost (Tomorrow’s Tulips) and Adam MacDougall (Circles Around The Sun / Black Crowes), with artist / musician Matt Fishbeck (Holy Shit) designing the deco-inspired album artwork. “And as much as they are inspired by the past, these songs are keenly aware of an uncertain future—because there is no such thing as a time machine, and there is no going back. Ultimately, Season 5 asks the question—where do we go after the sun sets on our dreams? Where the fuck is the New New World? In Rademaker’s eyes, it no longer exists in any specific American geography—rather, all hope remains in the timeless, unending power of music, and its power to take us to the places we wish we could be. Even if they don’t exist anymore.” — Caroline Ryder

After a successful career in the corporate world, marketing guru and full-time mom Cristina has taken a bold step into the music scene, inspired by the minimal grooves emanating from Romania.

Her Satya debut EP, titled "Plan B," showcases a unique and tasteful fusion of drum-based dance floor beats and hypnotic melodies.

Growing up composing on the piano and studying harmony, Cristina's musical roots strongly influence her creative process, resulting in tracks that offer a perfect balance between rhythm and musicality. With a focus on key themes such as family, music, and life philosophy, "Plan B" is a strong musical package filled with intention.

Her collaboration with friend and fellow artist Francesco Mami - "Les Filles” - a peak-time jam dedicated to their respective daughters - adds spice to the already flavorsome solo concoctions.

Sepp’s remix of the title track, infused with his Romanian and Macedonian folk roots, rounds the EP in a wonderfully playful manner.

Scheduled for release on May 17, 2024, "Plan B" is poised to make waves and gain attention from house music connoisseurs! Cristina's transition from the corporate world to the dance floor promises a refreshing and dynamic addition to the ever-evolving music landscape.

"Fargo Year Five is the fifth season of the hit series Fargo, which premiered on November 21, 2023, and consisted of ten episodes. This season is set in Minnesota and North Dakota and follows the typical Midwestern housewife Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Juno Temple), whose mysterious past comes back to haunt her after she lands in hot water with the authorities. The season has been met with positive critical reviews, receiving three nominations for Golden Globe Awards. Just like the first four seasons of Fargo, the music of the fifth season was created by Jeff Russo. For his work on Fargo, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special in 2017. Russo is also known as one of the founding members of the band Tonic. Fargo Year Five is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white coloured vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet. "

FARGO YEAR 5 by Jeff Russo, released 12 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Run", "Horror", "S5 Murder Theme", "Dot (Moving)" and more.

This version of FARGO YEAR 5 comes as a 2xLP. This release comes with (a) Booklet.

The vinyl is pressed as a white disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a white disc.

BENIGHTED, deren Wurzeln tief in den makabren Gefilden des extremen Metal verwurzelt sind, haben sich von einem Nebenprojekt zu einer bösartigen Kraft entwickelt, die Fans auf der ganzen Welt mit ihrem schädelzerschmetternden Sound und ihren thematisch fordernden Stücken in ihren Bann zieht.Tauche mit "Ekbom" in den Abgrund ein - dem neuesten Werk von BENIGHTED, das von der seltenen neurologischen Störung "Ekbom-Syndrom" inspiriert wurde. Mach dich auf eine groteske Reise gefasst, auf der wilde Musik die beunruhigenden Empfindungen von delusionaler Parasitose widerspiegelt. "Ekbom" ist ein albtraumhaftes Album, das mit unerbittlicher Brutalität pulsiert und eine Geschichte des psychologischen Horrors webt, die den Hörer in die dunkelsten Abgründe der menschlichen Psyche zieht. BENIGHTEDs meisterhafte Beherrschung viszeraler Klanglandschaften und thematisch reichhaltige Kompositionen gipfeln in einer schaurigen Klanglandschaft, die noch lange nach der letzten brutalen Note im Bewusstsein verweilen wird.

- Hervorgegangen aus den französischen Death- und Black-Metal-Bands DISHUMANIZED, DARKNESS FIRE und OSGILIATH, gründeten sich BENIGHTED 1998 mit dem Ziel, eine brutalere, härtere und modernere Form des musikalischen Ausdrucks zu finden.
- Die Wirkung ihres ersten selbst produzierten und unter ??tled veröffentlichten Albums im Jahr 2000 machte BENIGHTED von einem Nebenprojekt zu einem Hauptact, der sich schnell eine treue Fangemeinde erspielte.
- BENIGHTED feierten ihr 20-jähriges Jubiläum, indem sie 2018 den Live-Wahnsinn mit Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master einfingen.
- Der auditive Angriff spiegelt die abstoßenden Empfindungen des Syndroms (Ekbom) wider, eine viszerale und beunruhigende Reise in die Abgründe des menschlichen Geistes.

FFO: Cryptopsy, Aborted, Wormed, Dying Fetus

Crystal Clear Vinyl

BENIGHTED, deren Wurzeln tief in den makabren Gefilden des extremen Metal verwurzelt sind, haben sich von einem Nebenprojekt zu einer bösartigen Kraft entwickelt, die Fans auf der ganzen Welt mit ihrem schädelzerschmetternden Sound und ihren thematisch fordernden Stücken in ihren Bann zieht.Tauche mit "Ekbom" in den Abgrund ein - dem neuesten Werk von BENIGHTED, das von der seltenen neurologischen Störung "Ekbom-Syndrom" inspiriert wurde. Mach dich auf eine groteske Reise gefasst, auf der wilde Musik die beunruhigenden Empfindungen von delusionaler Parasitose widerspiegelt. "Ekbom" ist ein albtraumhaftes Album, das mit unerbittlicher Brutalität pulsiert und eine Geschichte des psychologischen Horrors webt, die den Hörer in die dunkelsten Abgründe der menschlichen Psyche zieht. BENIGHTEDs meisterhafte Beherrschung viszeraler Klanglandschaften und thematisch reichhaltige Kompositionen gipfeln in einer schaurigen Klanglandschaft, die noch lange nach der letzten brutalen Note im Bewusstsein verweilen wird.

- Hervorgegangen aus den französischen Death- und Black-Metal-Bands DISHUMANIZED, DARKNESS FIRE und OSGILIATH, gründeten sich BENIGHTED 1998 mit dem Ziel, eine brutalere, härtere und modernere Form des musikalischen Ausdrucks zu finden.
- Die Wirkung ihres ersten selbst produzierten und unter ??tled veröffentlichten Albums im Jahr 2000 machte BENIGHTED von einem Nebenprojekt zu einem Hauptact, der sich schnell eine treue Fangemeinde erspielte.
- BENIGHTED feierten ihr 20-jähriges Jubiläum, indem sie 2018 den Live-Wahnsinn mit Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master einfingen.
- Der auditive Angriff spiegelt die abstoßenden Empfindungen des Syndroms (Ekbom) wider, eine viszerale und beunruhigende Reise in die Abgründe des menschlichen Geistes.

FFO: Cryptopsy, Aborted, Wormed, Dying Fetus

THE VISION BLEAK kehren in der Luxusklasse zurück: Mit ihrem siebten Album "Weird Tales" zollt das deutsche Metal-Duo dem gleichnamigen amerikanischen Pulp-Magazin sowie anderen Geschichten voller Mystik und dunkler Phantasie einen monumentalen Tribut. Das Album besteht aus einem einzigen Track, der in interne Kapitel unterteilt ist. Diese erzählen schaurig-schöne Geschichten, vertonen Gedichte und sind von der klassischen Literatur des Horror sowie des Makabren inspiriert. Unter anderen beziehen sich THE VISION BLEAK auf bedeutende Autoren des legendären Weird Tales Magazins wie H. P. Lovecraft und Clark Ashton Smith. Sie spielen aber auch auf andere Großmeister der Phantastischen Literatur an wie zum Beispiel Edgar Allen Poe und Lafcadio Hearn, dessen "Fantastics and Other Fancies" einen starken Einfluss auf dieses Album ausgeübt hat. Für diese Hommage ziehen THE VISION BLEAK alle Register ihres enormen musikalischen Könnens. Die Kapitel decken die gesamte stilistische Bandbreite von extravagantem Gothic Rock über düsteren Doom bis hin zu harschen Black und Death Metal Parts - sowie so ziemlich alles dazwischen - ab. All die spannenden Elemente, welche die Anhängerschar des Duos lieben und schätzen gelernt hat, sind auf diesem Album vertreten: das Dramatische und Theatralische, das Raue und Schwere, das Melancholische und Unheimliche, aber auch eingängige und symphonische Momente. All diese Stränge sind zu einem dichten Klangteppich verwoben, der von einem wiederkehrendem Auf- und Abschwellen zusammengehalten wird, das an klassische Kompositionen erinnert. THE VISION BLEAK sind aus der Freundschaft zwischen Gitarrist, Bassist und Sänger Markus Stock alias Ulf Theodor Schwadorf und Schlagzeuger und Sänger Tobias Schönemann alias Allen B. Konstanz entstanden. Nach anfänglichen Experimenten in Richtung Gothic Rock fanden THE VISION BLEAK ihre eigentliche Berufung, als das Duo begann, ihre gemeinsame Liebe zum Horror-Genre mit einzubeziehen. Bereits das Debütalbum "The Deathship Has a New Captain" (2004) erzielte sowohl in Gothic- als auch Metal-Kreisen auf Anhieb einen Volltreffer und gilt mittlerweile als Klassiker. Da das Debütalbum thematisch an bedeutende Horrorfilme angelehnt war, nannten die Deutschen ihren Stil treffend: Horror Metal. Mit den folgenden Alben kultivierten THE VISION BLEAK einen Ruf als Garanten für stilvolle und hochwertige Musik. Thematisch drehen sich alle Werke um das Horror-Genre: Auf "Carpathia" (2005) folgten "The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey" (2007) und "Set Sail to Mystery" (2010), "Witching Hour" (2013) und "The Unknown" (2016). THE VISION BLEAK, die Meister des Horror Metal, schenken der Welt ihr bisher ambitioniertestes Werk: "Weird Tales". Diese ausnehmend schöne und von Herzen kommende Hommage an das goldene Zeitalter der Phantastischen Literatur ist musikalische Poesie. Der Hörer möge mit Bedacht lauschen, sollte dabei aber immer auf der Hut sein. In diesem Song lauern unheimliche und verbotene Klänge aus anderen dunklen Welten!

"When I moved to Minnesota from Pittsburgh in 1994 all I brought with me was a big duffle bag and an acoustic guitar. I was 19. In that bag was a Radio Shack cassette recorder. I spent that time writing and filling up a tape with new songs. A few years later I earned enough money from my restaurant jobs to buy an old reel-to-reel 4-track recorder and some other instruments which allowed me to slightly expand my production ideas. More songs kept flowing and I made my self-titled album adding drums and bass. Over the next few years, as things grew, those sparse cassette songs fell on the back burner until 2002 when I decided to re-record a bunch of them at a higher quality. To keep with their original vision, I asked engineer Tom Garneau if he could record me playing them live in his living room. We left the production minimal and rough which I think serves these particular songs well. No overdubs. Just solo acoustic guitar and vocals. I called the album Simple Life. It was originally just a limited release. Until now. I hope you enjoy it."

As part of Subtext's 20th anniversary, Subtext presents the debut album from bela as a co-release with Unsound.

bela was based in Seoul when they began to develop the framework for 'Noise and Cries (굉음과울음)'.Chewed up by a society that's slow to embrace those who exist on the margins, they and their close friends became fixated on the concept of death. "I wanted to cry, I Wanted to die," they recall. "The precariousness of living in South Korea hits different. I thought, let's share what is killing us." bela refused to lose hope, so they inventoried the sounds, experiences and emotions that had formulated their identity and wondered how this might form a different sort of South Korean musical expression. They considered the guttural death metal growls and industrial music they heard when they began to interface with Western culture as a teenager, the idiosyncratic folk rhythms that rattled away in the background of state events, the evocative, euphoric drones that had offered them solace, and the heady, cybernetic maximalism that's come to define contemporary queer club music.If this was going to be an album about death, bela knew wouldn't it be preoccupied with loss, but rooted in a deep desire to regain the will to live.

'Noise and Cries (굉음과울음)' is the first time bela has recorded their voice, and they metamorphose it from moment to moment, embracing a precarious vulnerability. Opener 'The Sage' references Jungtaryeong, two well-known arias from the Korean Pansori tradition - a folk form that is usually performed by a drummer and a singer. Screaming, whispering and rasping, bela twists borrowed words from the original arias, repurposing them to highlight the hypocrisy and brutality of patriarchal wisdom.

These bellowed phrases contrast with an abrasive rhythm that bela based on the eatmore jangdan, an irregular, traditional beat that's been remoulded into a jerky, electro-acoustic call to action. Even if the gargled Korean wordplay can't be fully understood, the mood translate flawlessly. On 'Death Will I', they reassemble the damaged relationship between a queer child and their

2024 Repress

Rotterdam based artist ''Ben Buitendijk'' has been around for quite a while now. With a string of releases of labels such as ''Ogun Records'', ''Eshu Records'' and appearances on the mighty ''Field Records'', the time has come for Ben to launch his own imprint. Inspired by the city of Rotterdam and his love for anything architectural, Oblique was founded. A label that is designed to cater to Ben's vision on the overall electronic landscape and to display his love for well thought out drum patterns with dense long-stretched builds and strained atmospheres.

''Venomous EP'' comes in a package of three extended techno cuts with a certain corresponding theme. As the title might suggest, all cuts have a certain
touch of hazardousness to them.

''Black Mamba'' is best explained as the experience of poison slowly creeping through one's veins and leaving an irreversible trail of destruction.

''King Cobra'' feels more boisterous than it's predecessor. Again, a long repetitive build keeps on changing into a slightly psychotic state of being while razor-sharp bits of synthesis tickle the listeners brain like when undergoing acupuncture.

''Stingray'' is the final cut of this first ''Oblique'' effort. Whilst maintaining the corresponding ''Venomous'' theme, the last endeavour is a thumping outcry of muscular drums, a ponderous bass shot, and haunting pad sounds that together create a dystopian character. As an extra, Ben has thrown in an ominous locked groove that should be useful in adventurous club settings.

Morgan Harper-Jones surft gerade auf einer kleinen Erfolgswelle. Erst Ende September erschien der Netflix #1 Hit “Love At First Sight”, bei dem Morgans Musik eine gewichtige Rolle spielt und sie sogleich in die Top10 der globalen Shazam Charts katapultierte. Nun kündigt die Singer-Songwriterin aus Rochdale (England) ihr Debütalbum über Play It Again Sam an: “Up To The Glass” erscheint am 12. April als Coloured Eco Vinyl. Ihr Debütalbum ist eine zarte Erkundung der Selbstfindung in den Zwanzigern vor dem Hintergrund von Liebe, Selbstakzeptanz und Verlust. Es dokumentiert diese allgemein prägenden Momente des jungen Erwachsenseins durch das Prisma von Morgans eigener Perspektive und erforscht zutiefst persönliche Themen wie das Ableben ihrer Großeltern, das ängstliche Nachdenken über jeden kleinen Fehler und die Sehnsucht nach einer Liebe, die unerwidert bleiben wird.

Sometimes you have to move backwards to move forwards. Just ask punk cultural commentators BODEGA, whose new album sees them carve a new future from fuzz-soaked, consumerism-skewering shards of their past. "Our Brand Could Be YR Life" is BODEGA's first album release through Chrysalis Records. "It's something we've been wanting to do for years," guitarist and vocalist Ben Hozie explains of Our Brand Could Be YR Life - a collection of catchy indie-rock ruminations on the slow-creep of corporate-think into youth culture, first written eight years ago. The 15 tracks on "Our Brand Could Be YR Life" explore indie-rock subgenres, self-critique and everything in between. "I think it's our best- sounding record to date," says Hozie, "It's got dance-punk. There's some shoegaze on there. There's slacker rock on there. There's psychedelic rock on there. R.E.M, too. We wanted to be another band in a long stream of missionaries, proselytising a certain type of rock subculture."

The Lunar Effect lift up cosmic spirits with "Sounds of Green & Blue" album, out in April via Svart Records The Lunar Effect, sonic architects known for their gravitational pull of fuzzy, snarling riffs and psychedelic visions, proudly announce the release of their latest album, "Sounds of Green & Blue," available to pre-order now through Svart Records. “Sounds of Green & Blue” is a galactic journey through sound that showcases The Lunar Effect’s evolution and marks a pivotal chapter in their musical odyssey. Formed in 2016, The Lunar Effect burst onto the scene with a distinct blend of grunge and retro hard rock. With a flair for hair and a penchant for barbed and growling riff work, the London-based quartet quickly garnered attention for their dynamic sound and Blues rock reverence. In 2019, they crash-landed onto the Stoner Rock scene with their debut album, "Calm Before the Calm,” firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. "Sounds of Green & Blue" sees The Lunar Effect expanding their sonic scope and bending all the elements and eras of Classic Rock into their own unique mold. The album is a testament to their musical growth and willingness to explore new territories while maintaining the brooding vintage sound that defines them. Each track is propelled into orbit by the low-end buzz of distorted chords, powerful enough to blow the moon-dust off your amp. The first single from the album, "Pulling Daisies," is a bristling sojourn that encapsulates the band's celestial rock influences. The track combines classic Blues tones, fuzzy guitars, swirling ethereal vocals, and a dusty, hypnotic rhythm that transports listeners from the past into a screaming, paisley, future wonderland. "Pulling Daisies" sets the controls for the heart of the moon, showcasing The Lunar Effect's ability to craft immersive and soul side musical experiences. From the heyday of The Beatles, Floyd, Zeppelin and Sabbath to newer artists like Graveyard, Radio Moscow and Red Fang, The Lunar Effect have created a masterclass in Psychedelic Rock that takes you firmly by the collar. With a palette that also includes shades of the 90s Grunge scene like Nirvana and Soundgarden into their heady mix, The Lunar Effect paint their own trippy world, where genres blur into their unique brew of heart-felt space rock. "Sounds of Green & Blue" by The Lunar Effect is proudly released by Svart Records, a label known for its commitment to uncovering high-quality, diverse, and boundary-pushing music. Svart Records continues to be a platform for artists who defy conventions, push the boundaries of their respective genres, and break out of the underground.

The Lunar Effect lift up cosmic spirits with "Sounds of Green & Blue" album, out in April via Svart Records The Lunar Effect, sonic architects known for their gravitational pull of fuzzy, snarling riffs and psychedelic visions, proudly announce the release of their latest album, "Sounds of Green & Blue," available to pre-order now through Svart Records. “Sounds of Green & Blue” is a galactic journey through sound that showcases The Lunar Effect’s evolution and marks a pivotal chapter in their musical odyssey. Formed in 2016, The Lunar Effect burst onto the scene with a distinct blend of grunge and retro hard rock. With a flair for hair and a penchant for barbed and growling riff work, the London-based quartet quickly garnered attention for their dynamic sound and Blues rock reverence. In 2019, they crash-landed onto the Stoner Rock scene with their debut album, "Calm Before the Calm,” firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. "Sounds of Green & Blue" sees The Lunar Effect expanding their sonic scope and bending all the elements and eras of Classic Rock into their own unique mold. The album is a testament to their musical growth and willingness to explore new territories while maintaining the brooding vintage sound that defines them. Each track is propelled into orbit by the low-end buzz of distorted chords, powerful enough to blow the moon-dust off your amp. The first single from the album, "Pulling Daisies," is a bristling sojourn that encapsulates the band's celestial rock influences. The track combines classic Blues tones, fuzzy guitars, swirling ethereal vocals, and a dusty, hypnotic rhythm that transports listeners from the past into a screaming, paisley, future wonderland. "Pulling Daisies" sets the controls for the heart of the moon, showcasing The Lunar Effect's ability to craft immersive and soul side musical experiences. From the heyday of The Beatles, Floyd, Zeppelin and Sabbath to newer artists like Graveyard, Radio Moscow and Red Fang, The Lunar Effect have created a masterclass in Psychedelic Rock that takes you firmly by the collar. With a palette that also includes shades of the 90s Grunge scene like Nirvana and Soundgarden into their heady mix, The Lunar Effect paint their own trippy world, where genres blur into their unique brew of heart-felt space rock. "Sounds of Green & Blue" by The Lunar Effect is proudly released by Svart Records, a label known for its commitment to uncovering high-quality, diverse, and boundary-pushing music. Svart Records continues to be a platform for artists who defy conventions, push the boundaries of their respective genres, and break out of the underground.

Welcome back to Demon’s ‘Disco Discharge’ series, originally issued in a series of 2CD collections between 2009 and 2012. The themed compilations of full-length, extended Disco originals, lovingly curated by the mysterious “MrPinks” and with detailed sleeve notes by author and Disco aficionado Alan Jones, have remained in-demand among collectors and the club cognoscenti. This time around, the series kicks off with ‘Classic Disco’ and ‘Disco Fever USA’. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, ‘Classic Disco’ mixes 12 undeniable dancefloor landmarks on 140g orange vinyl, from recognizable names like Change, Manhattan Transfer and Cheryl Lynn, with deeper cuts from exotic names like Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band (an early incarnation of Kid Creole!), The Peter Jacques Band and Double Discovery. And as if to prove a cool Disco track could come from anywhere or anybody, ‘Classic Disco’ also features an essential re-edit by The Glitter Band!

Necrot continue their ascent to the forefront of American aural extremity, pushing the boundaries of style and continuing to recast metal in their image. Founded by bassist, vocalist and principal songwriter Luca Indrio and drummer Chad Gailey in 2011 – guitarist Sonny Reinhardt joined the next year – the Oakland, California, trio offer Lifeless Birth (in continued collaboration with Tankcrimes) as a culmination of their to-date efforts to encapsulate and push forward the deathly stylings of 2020’s Mortal and their 2017 debut, Blood Offerings. It’s not about giving up a ferocity that’s helped make them a household name among the converted. Instead, Necrot use that same, by-now-characteristic intensity as the backdrop for an expanded songwriting palette. They’ve always been a band who stood out. The maturity they show on Lifeless Birth confirms that’s been the plan all along. It is a vision of what metal can be and do in 2024, tearing down old barriers and keeping those traditional elements that make it stronger. Recorded with Grammy-winning producer Greg Wilkinson (who has helmed all three Necrot albums) and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Lifeless Birth pivots fluidly between technical intricacy, progressive poise and all-out brutality. Scouring lead work will have thrash heads nodding knowingly, and an overarching groove reaches out across the metal microgenres with a righteous call to worship. Its songs are memorable and varied, unpretentious but able to rear up with statelier violence. At the same time, “Drill the Skull,” “Cut the Cord,” “The Curse” and others prove that just because a song is beating you into the ground doesn’t mean it can’t also be forward-thinking. Or catchy. After having their Mortal tour plans scuttled owing to the covid pandemic, family health issues that led Luca, who became a US citizen in 2016 and currently lives in Mexico, to return to Italy for a time canceled what would have been their first tour post-plague. Still, despite this and Chad suffering a broken back, requiring multiple surgeries and intense physical therapy to be able to drum again, period, Luca being struck with Bell’s Palsy the night before he was originally due to fly to the studio to record, and Sonny requiring multiple surgeries on his hands in the months since they finished, Necrot charge forward with material distinguished in its real-world point of view and willingness to look beyond extreme metal tropes in lyrics, the melodies of its guitar solos, and unbridled audience engagement. For a collection of songs that feel so much written for the stage, it should be no surprise tours early in 2024 and summer festivals are to be announced. Mortal (2020, Tankcrimes) was #2 on Billboard's Top New Artist chart, #30 on the Top Current Albums chart, #4 on the Current Hard Music, and #10 on the Heatseeker Albums chart for week of release. Necrot have toured in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan, and shared the stage with Cannibal Corpse, Immolation, The Black Dahlia Murder, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, and hundreds of others. Expect no letup as Lifeless Birth brings Necrot all the more to their own place among metal’s superlatively aggressive proliferators. – JJ Koczan

Die schottisch-dänische Komponistin Clarissa Connelly präsentiert ihr erstes Warp-Album. Im Laufe der Jahre hat Clarissa heilige Stätten und Mythologie erforscht und sich dabei von der keltischen und nordischen Kultur inspirieren lassen. Für ihr jüngstes Werk 'The Voyager' (2021) wanderte sie durch die skandinavische Landschaft und kanalisierte Melodien aus alten vorchristlichen Stätten. Das Album erhielt weltweite Anerkennung und wurde mit dem renommierten Nordic Music Prize ausgezeichnet. In 'World Of Work' erkundet Clarissa Themen wie Akzeptanz und Wachstum, indem sie eine traumhafte Synthese aus Nordic Folk, mittelalterlichen Gesängen und modernem Pop schafft, das einem kraftvollen Zeugnis ihrer Produktions- und Kompositionsfähigkeiten gleichkommt.

„Eterno“: AMPEX schaffen ein Album für die Ewigkeit!
Mit ihrem neuen Studioalbum „Eterno“ haben sich AMPEX neu definiert und erklimmen den bisherigen Gipfel ihrer musikalischen Kreativität. Über 2 Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres letzten Albums „Alles was du brauchst“, kehren AMPEX mit neuem, frischen und modernen Sound zurück.
Für das mit Spannung erwartete Album hat sich AMPEX ein neues Produzententeam ins Boot geholt, das einen Sound kreiert hat, der die Brücke zwischen Metal und Punk schlägt wie noch nie zuvor.
Lyrisch sprechen AMPEX mit ordentlicher Punk-Attitüde Themen aus dem Leben an und setzen auch damit ihre musikalische Entwicklung der letzten Jahre weiter und gehen über die Grenzen des Gewohnten hinaus.
„Eterno“ ist vollgepackt mit hymnischen Tracks, die sofort im Ohr bleiben und mitreißenden Pogo-Nummern, die die Erde unter euren Füßen beben lässt.
Das neue Album erscheint am 12.04.24 via Drakkar Entertainment als limitierte Vinyl, Digipak und digital!

HEAVY TEMPLE sind zurück - von einer ausgiebigen Tournee durch die USA und zum ersten Mal auch durch Europa. Sie sind aber auch zurück aus dem Proberaum, wo das Schmieden neuer Songs viel mehr aus der ganzen Gruppe kam, als es auf dem Debütalbum der Fall war. Und schließlich sind sie zurück aus dem Animal Farm Studio, wo John Forrestal dem neuen Album "Garden of Heathens" einen reichen und warmen, organischen Sound verpasst hat, der gleichzeitig aber auch knackig frisch und kristallklar rüberkommt. Während das Debütalbum "Lupi Amoris" noch wie ein wildes Mastodon heran stürmte, wirkt "Garden of Heathens" abwechslungsreicher und deutlich ausgefeilter - jedoch ohne an Wucht oder Härte zu verlieren. Obwohl die kraftvolle Stimme von Frontfrau High Priestess Nighthawk weiterhin für eine starke Anziehungskraft sorgt, stehen bei HEAVY TEMPLE immer die Gitarrenriffs im Vordergrund. Dabei hat das Trio aus Philadelphia, Pennsylvania seinen Fahrplan nochmals erweitert und fährt eine große Zahl von Rock- und Metal-Stationen an, die von BARONESS über THE BEATLES und von BLACK SABBATH bis FU MANCHU reichen - mit allerlei Weichen dazwischen. Inhaltlich ist "Garden of Heathens" sehr persönlich ausgefallen. Sängerin Nighthawk schrieb ihre bisher persönlichsten Zeilen, die sich thematisch um Dinge drehen, die nicht real sind - vom amerikanischen Traum bis hin zu Beziehungen. Egal wie glänzend eine Sache auch aussehen mag, lauern unter der Oberfläche oft genug Ängste, Verrat und Zweifel. HEAVY TEMPLE entstand zur Wintersonnenwende 2012 in einer Nacht der puren Freude am Erschaffen und Spielen harter Musik. Kaum war die Band gegründet, ging es auch schon auf die Bühne: erst lokal und bald auch auf Tour mit so bekannten Szenegrößen wie RUBY THE HATCHET, ROYAL THUNDER und CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. Auch auf namhaften Festivals wie dem Maryland Doom Fest und dem Psycho Las Vegas und vielen anderen war das Trio bald zu finden. Nach den beiden EPs "Heavy Temple" (2014) und "Chassit" (2016) und einer Reihe von Singles nahmen sich HEAVY TEMPLE eine Auszeit vom ausgiebigen Touren, um endlich ihren ersten Langspieler aufzunehmen. "Lupi Amoris" ("Wölfe der Liebe"), wurde im Jahr 2021 unter großem Beifall sowohl von Anhängern als auch Kritikern veröffentlicht. Das Album öffnete den Amerikanern neue Türen: weitere Festivalauftritte, eine US-Tour mit THE OBSESSED und die erste Europatournee mit ihren Freunden und Label-Kameraden HOWLING GIANT. HEAVY TEMPLE sind nicht nur zurück, sondern gekommen, um zu bleiben. "Garden of Heathens" legt ein starkes Zeugnis für den hart arbeitenden Dreier ab, der sein Spektrum stetig erweitert und alle Hindernisse aus dem Weg räumt. "Garden of Heathens" wirft ein neues Licht auf Heavy und Desert Rock, Psychedelia und Doom Metal. Hört es euch an!

HEAVY TEMPLE sind zurück - von einer ausgiebigen Tournee durch die USA und zum ersten Mal auch durch Europa. Sie sind aber auch zurück aus dem Proberaum, wo das Schmieden neuer Songs viel mehr aus der ganzen Gruppe kam, als es auf dem Debütalbum der Fall war. Und schließlich sind sie zurück aus dem Animal Farm Studio, wo John Forrestal dem neuen Album "Garden of Heathens" einen reichen und warmen, organischen Sound verpasst hat, der gleichzeitig aber auch knackig frisch und kristallklar rüberkommt. Während das Debütalbum "Lupi Amoris" noch wie ein wildes Mastodon heran stürmte, wirkt "Garden of Heathens" abwechslungsreicher und deutlich ausgefeilter - jedoch ohne an Wucht oder Härte zu verlieren. Obwohl die kraftvolle Stimme von Frontfrau High Priestess Nighthawk weiterhin für eine starke Anziehungskraft sorgt, stehen bei HEAVY TEMPLE immer die Gitarrenriffs im Vordergrund. Dabei hat das Trio aus Philadelphia, Pennsylvania seinen Fahrplan nochmals erweitert und fährt eine große Zahl von Rock- und Metal-Stationen an, die von BARONESS über THE BEATLES und von BLACK SABBATH bis FU MANCHU reichen - mit allerlei Weichen dazwischen. Inhaltlich ist "Garden of Heathens" sehr persönlich ausgefallen. Sängerin Nighthawk schrieb ihre bisher persönlichsten Zeilen, die sich thematisch um Dinge drehen, die nicht real sind - vom amerikanischen Traum bis hin zu Beziehungen. Egal wie glänzend eine Sache auch aussehen mag, lauern unter der Oberfläche oft genug Ängste, Verrat und Zweifel. HEAVY TEMPLE entstand zur Wintersonnenwende 2012 in einer Nacht der puren Freude am Erschaffen und Spielen harter Musik. Kaum war die Band gegründet, ging es auch schon auf die Bühne: erst lokal und bald auch auf Tour mit so bekannten Szenegrößen wie RUBY THE HATCHET, ROYAL THUNDER und CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. Auch auf namhaften Festivals wie dem Maryland Doom Fest und dem Psycho Las Vegas und vielen anderen war das Trio bald zu finden. Nach den beiden EPs "Heavy Temple" (2014) und "Chassit" (2016) und einer Reihe von Singles nahmen sich HEAVY TEMPLE eine Auszeit vom ausgiebigen Touren, um endlich ihren ersten Langspieler aufzunehmen. "Lupi Amoris" ("Wölfe der Liebe"), wurde im Jahr 2021 unter großem Beifall sowohl von Anhängern als auch Kritikern veröffentlicht. Das Album öffnete den Amerikanern neue Türen: weitere Festivalauftritte, eine US-Tour mit THE OBSESSED und die erste Europatournee mit ihren Freunden und Label-Kameraden HOWLING GIANT. HEAVY TEMPLE sind nicht nur zurück, sondern gekommen, um zu bleiben. "Garden of Heathens" legt ein starkes Zeugnis für den hart arbeitenden Dreier ab, der sein Spektrum stetig erweitert und alle Hindernisse aus dem Weg räumt. "Garden of Heathens" wirft ein neues Licht auf Heavy und Desert Rock, Psychedelia und Doom Metal. Hört es euch an!

With time, we come to understand the way the joy of connection is mirrored by the void of loss, how the constancy of love is matched only by the impermanence of life, the simple idea that we could not create light if we did not risk the dark - we'd never need to. So it is with METZ, a band once known for blowing out eardrums with songs of joyous rage who have, over their past few records, begun exploring ways to turn abrasiveness into atmospherics, the evolution of their sound not only a reflection of the maturing of the band themselves but also of a changed world that demands nuance and compassion to comprehend and to survive. It was a journey already underway on 2020's Atlas Vending, but one that reaches new heights on Up On Gravity Hill, where the Canadian trio creates a kaleidoscopic sonic world as tender as it is dark, aided once again by engineer Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar, Lingua Ignota, Battles, The Body). Deep, detailed, and unyieldingly personal, it is not only METZ's most powerful record to date but also their most beautiful. Still three punks from Ontario at heart, guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins, drummer Hayden Menzies, and bassist Chris Slorach waste no time as opener "No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing" sweeps in like a wave, sonically and thematically setting the scene for the record to come. A dynamic song about feeling suspended in stasis, layers of dissonance melt into a restlessly heady outro marked by escalating crescendos of shimmering noise that reach for the stars - and is that a violin quivering brightly beneath those elegant swells of guitar, those charging drum fills, those intricate bass lines? It is indeed, courtesy of composer Owen Pallett; his presence an immediate indicator that METZ are thinking more cinematically than ever before. The change is partially inspired by Edkins' work as a scorer for film and television and his pop-leaning solo project, Weird Nightmare, where, he says, he learned to write more intuitively, letting his emotions lead the way. But make no mistake: Up On Gravity Hill is a total band effort, the work of three musicians who have been playing together for over a decade, with all the trust that entails. For those who believe in the power of the rock band to exemplify the highest resonance of human connection, there is much on Up On Gravity Hill to lift the spirit, a puzzle worth repeated listening to unlock or just to get lost in again and again. Rather than the music being flattened into a single plane, the band explores "the space above the cymbals," resulting in some of the most spacious, sympathetic, and accessible songs - could we call them pop? - of their career. If this seems contradictory, well, METZ has always been something of a contradiction. "We've never been heavy enough for metal or hardcore purists, but we're way too heavy for indie rock. We just don't have a lane - and that's okay. We exist outside the lines of delineation. I think this record is even more like that," says Edkins.

Nia Archives is the star at the forefront of the latest era of jungle. Since her emergence in 2020, her collagist soundscapes have helped bring the sound to a new generation of clubgoers (though fair warning: don’t call her a “revivalist” – she’s the first to point out that the scene never went away). So when it comes to talk of the 24-year-old producer, DJ, singer and songwriter’s much-anticipated debut album, the odds are you’re thinking of a full-length record of weightless jungle tracks with basslines so intense they’ll leave your ears ringing.

But the reality of the Bradford-born, Leeds-raised artist’s first ever album – while very much replete with that exquisite jungle sound she does so well – is also doing something a little different. On the thrilling and freeing Silence Is Loud, Nia Archives is looking to make music for beyond the rave. As she explains: “I think music can be experienced in different ways, and there’s different kinds of music for different scenarios. Say you’re at a festival listening to music with thousands of other people, that can feel really uniting. But then you might listen to an album on your own in the bus, or in a taxi; and this project is definitely more a record to sit and listen to than a collection of club tracks.” Nia is intent that Silence Is Loud is taken in as a full body of work of something “more song-focussed, putting interesting sounds on jungle.” It means that this is a record which finds gloomy Britpop, warm Motown, soaring indie, a love for Kings of Leon’s Aha Shake Heartbreak, skittering IDM, Madchester, classic rock, old skool hardcore and more, woven and fused into her ragga and junglist tapestry, all layered with feeling, imbued with her songwriterly lyricism about loneliness, relationships, family, navigating her 20s, and the intense potential power of silence.

The vast sonic palette on Silence Is Loud comes down to Nia’s broad array of influences through her life. With her Jamaican heritage, Nia remembers hearing jungle as a child via her nana, as well as at Bradford Carnival, where she was drawn to the soundsystem culture, dancing carefree on the floats in the parade. The first album she ever bought was Rihanna’s debut, Music of the Sun, and she also went to Pentecostal church back then, and was obsessed with gospel. Aged 16, she moved to Manchester, where she didn’t really know anybody: and so, her solution to meeting people was going out. “Partying was a huge part of my life,” she says, “They used to do little freestyle cyphers at the house parties and I would join in – that’s kind of how I got into singing.” She had found music boring at school, but in meeting all these new people she became interested in making her own music as a hobby. “I was making boom-bap kind of stuff which I didn’t really like in the end,” she laughs, “My lyrics are quite deep, so on a hip-hop beat it all sounds really depressing. I wanted people to dance to my music.” And so she began experimenting with faster tempos alongside that melancholy songwriting, teaching herself how to make beats on Logic: “It’s all been a lot of trial and error, really.”

Nia went to study music in London, and was also interested in visual art, making collages and VHS: “Before the music, I was trying to make a visual archive of my life and the people around me,” she explains, “And then my music was like my diary, and a sonic archive, as well.” Hence, she paired the word “archives” with her middle name, Nia. To this day, in her spare time she’s working on pulling together a documentary on the global nature of the jungle scene.

Back on those first two EPs, Headz Gone West (2021) and Forbidden Feelingz (2022), she honed that junglist sound, painting it with new flecks of colour and vibrance. It was only after she started releasing work that she realised pursuing music could be a viable life path for her. The decision has been paying off ever since. Nia Archives placed third in the prestigious BBC Sound Poll for 2023, alongside garnering a nomination for the Brit Awards’ Rising Star prize, plus wins at the DJ Mag, NME, the MOBOs and Artist and Manager Awards. She has also toured the world – be it North America, Europe or Asia – and even opened a show in London as part of a little something called Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. She’s renowned as a party-starter in her own right, too, with takeovers at Glastonbury, Warehouse Project and her own Bad Gyalz day event. She’s done official remixes for the likes of Jorja Smith, had a huge summer hit with her Yeah Yeah Yeahs rework ‘Off Wiv Ya Headz’, and worked with brands like Corteiz, Nike, Flannels, Burberry, FIFA and Apple. In just three years, it’s fair to say that Nia Archives has become a need-to-know name in dance music.

But Nia is not interested in being one fixed thing. Building on the terrain from her third EP, Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall, the universe of Silence Is Loud is not totally unfamiliar territory; but it’s still emblematic of a bolder scope than we’ve heard from the artist before. Working with Ethan P. Flynn (the songwriter and producer known for his work with FKA twigs and David Byrne), the resulting record is an impressive feat of deftly-sculpted textures; sometimes big and euphoric, like the wobbly, lusty bass of ‘Forbidden Feelingz’, or elsewhere notably gentle and quiet – see: the gorgeous, surprisingly drumless ‘Silence Is Loud (Reprise)’, a heartfelt number that sits somewhere in the school of Adele. “I really sharpened my songwriting skill on this project,” Nia says, “I was really intentional about what I was writing about, and I really loved co-producing with Ethan. His process is so different to anyone I’ve worked with before, and he’s got a kind of DIY set-up like me.” Flynn’s flat overlooks the Barbican, adding that unquantifiable futurist urban quality that the area holds to the music. The pair enjoyed the collaborative process so much that the album was done within three and a half months.

Perhaps this is why Silence Is Loud maintains an exuberant immediacy while still being sleek and spacious, interspersed with flourishes of metallic beats, lush melody and topped with her sugary but powerful vocal, floating over it all. There is an intimacy to the record, perhaps in part due to Nia writing most of her lyrics while sitting in bed in her flat in Bow (once a bedroom producer, always a bedroom producer). You can hear it on the refrain for lead single ‘Crowded Roomz’, which finds rippling guitar lines cutting taut through the beats as Nia refrains: “I feel so lonely crowded rooms.” The song is an examination of life on tour, constantly surrounded by people, but not necessarily those she can be herself around; more than that, the track is exemplary in the category of sad bangers.

Silence Is Loud often finds itself in that push and pull between melancholy and euphoria. There’s a celebration of her unconditional love for her younger brother (the title track), a rumination of an evening with an Irish boy she met by Temple Bar (‘Cards On The Table), or a letter to herself on the light and airy ‘Unfinished Business’, even coming to terms with a lover having a past they haven’t quite processed yet (“nobody comes with a clean slate”). The latter was recorded the week after a music festival, and accordingly captures Nia’s vocal in its not quite healed, husky state.

Nia’s work is always a snapshot of where she’s at when she’s making it. This might not be the debut album you were expecting, but that’s what makes Silence Is Loud so special. Nia Archives has learned the rules of her sound, and is unafraid to break them, pushing jungle and herself into new, unchartered territories that, in turn, go some way to map the history of the greats of British dance music. More than that, it plants her firmly in that lineage.