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Previous album released on Dead Oceans. Previous album was a collaboration with Brian Eno. Past press coverage from Pitchfork, SPIN, The Guardian, Drowned in Sound, Dusted, The Quietus, and many more. Since the release of his last album 2017’s Finding Shore, a collaboration with Brian Eno pianist and singer-songwriter Tom Rogerson’s life has undergone a number of dramatic transformations. While writing his new album Retreat to Bliss, Rogerson had a child, lost a parent, and received his own diagnosis of a rare form of blood cancer. The new decade brought him from Berlin to the Suffolk of his childhood, composing profound pieces of minimal songwriting in the church next to his parents’ home. Rogerson studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music under mentors like Harrison Birtwistle, and he made his live debut as an improvising pianist in 2002, before releasing an improvised record with Reid Anderson (Bad Plus) and Mike Lewis (Happy Apple, Bon Iver) in 2004. He formed the band Three Trapped Tigers in 2007, expertly blending elements of electronic, jazz and noise rock into a cohesive whole. The band earned a reputation for innovative live shows and went on to perform and collaborate with artists like Brian Eno, Deftones, and the Dillinger Escape Plan. It was working with Eno, another Suffolk native, that eventually led Rogerson back to his roots and back to a place where he could write Retreat to Bliss, his solo debut album. “All my life, the piano has been my constant companion, my confessor, my best friend, and my worst enemy,” Rogerson explains. “I’ve always written music on and for the piano, but it felt too personal, too private to release.” Indeed, listening to Retreat to Bliss feels almost like eavesdropping, as though you’re crouched in the belfry of a Suffolk church, bearing witness to a form of musical bloodletting. For the first time in his noteworthy career, Rogerson has combined masterful piano playing and subtle electronics with the texture of his own voice, an attempt to express deeply private emotions that were difficult to articulate using instrumental music alone. “The last few years have brought some struggle, some joy, and a lot of change. My response has been to retreat to what I trust the most: the piano, my voice, and the landscape I grew up in. That’s how the album got its title, and how I came to be ready finally to release a solo record.” The eleven tracks that make up Retreat to Bliss were recorded by Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, David Byrne, Grace Jones) over the course of just a few days, a process that emphasized spontaneity and the artist’s own commitment to improvisation. Secular yet devotional, intensely personal yet profound, the experience of listening to Retreat to Bliss seems to evade characterization. It’s physical and emotional, a glimpse into the mind of an artist who has chosen exposure over withdrawal, who uses his command of the piano to chart an unflinching path forward, never looking back. UK press campaign by Someone Great. Press Quotes "A meeting of minds that is full of rewarding surprises, challenging and surprising one another, and their listeners, with music that feels alive and wondrous…” Pitchfork // "Both mournful and dazzlingly optimistic, a taste of the conflict found so ofen in nature and reflected so elegantly across the course of the record.” The Line of Best Fit // "Many avant-garde instrumental albums exist to craf a mood; Rogerson and Eno merge these moods, sounds and themes together efortlessly and radiantly on Finding Shore” Exclaim // Track List 01 Descent 02 Oath 03 Buried Deep 04 Toumani 05 Drone Finder part 2 06 Chant 07 Rapture 1 08 Open Out Span Wide View 09 A Clearing 10 Retreat To 11 Coda

First vinyl pressing is Limited to 1500 copies in 2 Colour variants. Transparent Aquamarine and green twisted stripe and transparent blue and cherry twisted stripe vinyl (Indies Only). Gatefold sleeve. Full download included as well. CD package is a 4 panel digipack, with a 4 page booklet. New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as MWWB. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, MWWB are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album ‘The Harvest’. ‘The Harvest’ is the band’s fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy MWWB sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. To some extent, it shares similarities with Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Not only by having the mix of experimentation and melodicism as that seminal record, but also in the way that it has been engineered and constructed as a seamless piece. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With ‘The Harvest’ MWWB have refined and honed their sound, it’s a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). MWWB have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. MWWB provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. ‘Oblok Magellana’ and its spooky atmospherics set the scene. before things really kick in with the riffs of title track ‘The Harvest’. A grooving Sabbathian chug intro’s Jessica Ball, who at the top of her game throughout. Her voice simultaneously sweet yet dark; almost neofolk; which when put against those riffs, is always a startling juxtaposition, nevertheless it perfectly crystallises MWWB’s distinctive dynamic. ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is a succinctly crafted nugget of John Carpenter-esque drama, you can imagine the thundering mothership forging its way through the universe on some nameless quest before encountering ‘Logic Bomb’ and its fat fuzzed-up ride through light and shade guitar/vocal interplay. Ball’s voice soaring and shimmering throughout. ‘Betrayal’ gives a nod to Pink Floyd’s ‘On The Run’ but with its freaky spoken word and four on the floor kick it’s almost a dance track, yet there’s no incongruity here. ‘Altamira’ is epic MWWB, adding large doses of psych into a melodic concoction of dreampop and metal. Ball’s vocals here are many layered and textured effortlessly gliding through the weight of the backing. ‘Let’s Send The Bastards Whence They Came’ is another little gem. A plaintive repeating synth figure that builds with bass, drums, mellotrons and synths into ‘Strontium’ which rounds off the album’s ‘heavy’ numbers, a blend of monster grooves, and Ball’s swooning vocals. Finally, and outstandingly, Jessica strips things back to a distorted guitar and voice on ‘Moonrise’. Shorn of the layers of fuzz, it is a simple, beautiful and fitting catharsis to an epic voyage. MWWB are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre. MWWB are Jessica Ball, vocals and synths. Paul Michael Davies, guitar and synths. Stuart Sinclair, bass and Dom McCready, drums.

First vinyl pressing is Limited to 1500 copies in 2 Colour variants. Transparent Aquamarine and green twisted stripe and transparent blue and cherry twisted stripe vinyl (Indies Only). Gatefold sleeve. Full download included as well. CD package is a 4 panel digipack, with a 4 page booklet. New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as MWWB. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, MWWB are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album ‘The Harvest’. ‘The Harvest’ is the band’s fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy MWWB sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. To some extent, it shares similarities with Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Not only by having the mix of experimentation and melodicism as that seminal record, but also in the way that it has been engineered and constructed as a seamless piece. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With ‘The Harvest’ MWWB have refined and honed their sound, it’s a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). MWWB have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. MWWB provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. ‘Oblok Magellana’ and its spooky atmospherics set the scene. before things really kick in with the riffs of title track ‘The Harvest’. A grooving Sabbathian chug intro’s Jessica Ball, who at the top of her game throughout. Her voice simultaneously sweet yet dark; almost neofolk; which when put against those riffs, is always a startling juxtaposition, nevertheless it perfectly crystallises MWWB’s distinctive dynamic. ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is a succinctly crafted nugget of John Carpenter-esque drama, you can imagine the thundering mothership forging its way through the universe on some nameless quest before encountering ‘Logic Bomb’ and its fat fuzzed-up ride through light and shade guitar/vocal interplay. Ball’s voice soaring and shimmering throughout. ‘Betrayal’ gives a nod to Pink Floyd’s ‘On The Run’ but with its freaky spoken word and four on the floor kick it’s almost a dance track, yet there’s no incongruity here. ‘Altamira’ is epic MWWB, adding large doses of psych into a melodic concoction of dreampop and metal. Ball’s vocals here are many layered and textured effortlessly gliding through the weight of the backing. ‘Let’s Send The Bastards Whence They Came’ is another little gem. A plaintive repeating synth figure that builds with bass, drums, mellotrons and synths into ‘Strontium’ which rounds off the album’s ‘heavy’ numbers, a blend of monster grooves, and Ball’s swooning vocals. Finally, and outstandingly, Jessica strips things back to a distorted guitar and voice on ‘Moonrise’. Shorn of the layers of fuzz, it is a simple, beautiful and fitting catharsis to an epic voyage. MWWB are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre. MWWB are Jessica Ball, vocals and synths. Paul Michael Davies, guitar and synths. Stuart Sinclair, bass and Dom McCready, drums.

Reissue of 2018 debut on 2 colour vinyl, black & milky clear. Note includes members of Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. More than anything else, Oh Boy is a celebration of teenage fandom and friendship. Each song is “about” something else, of course: a betrayal, a breakup, new love, parenthood. The usual stuff. And we’re hardly teenagers. Yet somehow Massage feels like the kind of band you were in back in high school. We were friends first. We all had other lives. We started playing music almost by accident. (Michael wanted to learn drums; Alex wanted to relearn guitar after playing bass in the Pains of Being Pure at Heart; Andrew and David invited themselves to their second practice.) We made a playlist of songs we loved hundreds of them long before we recorded anything: the Feelies, the Go-Betweens, East River Pipe, the Lemonheads, the Breeders, Flying Nun, Sarah Records. Alex and Andrew started writing songs the way kids do to sound like their heroes. No matter how we tried, though, the songs half Alex’s, half Andrew’s came out sounding like “Massage”: scrappy, catchy, minimalist, and sincere, with Gabi’s harmonies elevating each track. Every Monday after practice, we went to Jay’s Bar for beers and poutine. There was no point to any of this. We were just having fun. Then one day we realized we were a band. Oh Boy is our attempt to capture this easy alchemy on tape the strange magic of a bunch of amateurs coming together, finding their own wavelength, and making something out of nothing. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime than our pal Jason Quever of Papercuts, who recorded us on random weekends over the course of two years. We hope the result sounds as loose, low-key, idiosyncratic, and ultimately indelible as the bands that inspired us — the ones you already know, and the ones that are still just teenagers goofing off in some suburban garage.

Purple with Black Smoke vinyl / New EP from Exeter's Soot Sprite! 6 songs on a one sided 12", purple smoke vinyl limited to 500 copies. The rising trio have seen Soot Sprite grow from a one-woman lo-fi bedroom pop project to a fully-fledged touring alt-indie shoegaze outfit, championed by BBC6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe and more. After signing with Specialist Subject for their previous EP Sharp Tongue just before the pandemic, they’re set to continue where they left off, with tour dates in the works and a collection of heartfelt songs that see lead singer Elise Cook learn how to find self-acceptance and belief. She says; “I wrote these songs up until and during lockdown, about turbulent relationships with others, how they affected my relationship with myself, and eventually when they broke down; just being able to accept myself, move on, and celebrate the accomplishments I’d made in my life regardless of others.” A vein of hopefulness runs right through the middle of Poltergeists, though encased within an ocean of murky thoughts, fears and doubts; the lack of a sense of self that many of us experience in relationships is balanced thoughtfully by an epiphany that led Elise Cook to find self-love and a newfound joy for life. Within her beautifully personal lyrics, Cook perfectly exemplifies the confusion and anxiety that often accompanies growing into adulthood. Throughout the tracks, Cook consistently calls herself into question, yet thankfully resolves her insecurities with a profound maturity. Soot Sprite may only be at the start of their exciting journey, but their achingly poignant music is already winning them new audiences far and wide, and their relatability clearly resonates with new listeners and fans alike.

Acid Jazz subsidiary Countdown Records presents a new release from Graham Day: ‘Master of None’.

The former Prisoners front man emerged in the Bill Childish / Medway scene. While not enjoying the recognition and commercial success of some of his contemporaries at the time, he has emerged as one of the most enduring and prolific songwriters of the era.

‘Master of None’ is a unique addition to the Graham Day canon, featuring 12 new songs, with all instruments recorded entirely by the man himself - a measure of the depth of talent on display and his continuing creative vision.

The Prisoners were regarded as one of the best live bands of their time, and they maintain a loyal fanbase, for whom this release can be considered vital.

Iiro Rantala plays the piano with “emotional magnetism and musical intelligence.”

He has a “virtuosic prowess as an improviser capable of enormous idiomatic and emotional range.” This praise from the American magazine Downbeat’s review of the Finnish pianist’s third studio-recorded solo album for ACT, ‘My Finnish Calendar’ (2019), sums up the astonishing variety which people who know his playing well might almost start to take for granted.

The citation for the 2016 JTI Jazz Prize in Trier also does well to define the way audiences take him to their heart: “Rantala can sweep listeners off their feet, he can be clown and magician, charmer and virtuoso, maverick and humorist.”

This is the emotional and stylistic versatility which Ranta-la brings to the live solo recital. It is a form he is drawn to strongly; there can be very few pianists who have explored the art of solo playing quite as intensively and consistently as Rantala. A typical recital will contain, among other things, pieces from his previous solo albums for ACT - ‘Lost Heroes’, ‘My Working Class Hero’ and ‘My Finnish Calendar’. As he explains, “I like the form of the solo recital because of the freedom and responsibility I have. Freedom comes from the fact of being alone on stage and responsibility from the fact that I can’t really rely on anything, except myself.”

‘Potsdam’, recorded live in concert at Nikolaisaal in Potsdam on 27 November 2021 is, however, the first time that one of Rantala’s many live solo recitals has been released as an album by ACT. It is a very fine exposition indeed of the contrast and the continuity of which he is capable, not just in the shape of the recital as a whole, but also within individual tunes. After a beautiful and welcoming ‘Twentytwentyone’, Rantala launches into ‘Time for Rag’, which sounds like the accompaniment for a madcap Buster Keaton film. The central section of John Lennon’s ‘Woman’ is quite clearly inspired by the driving R&B style of Richard Tee, a pianist whom Rantala particularly admires, but this leads masterfully into an ending which is at first wistful and calm, but then troubled by the Finn leaning into the piano and creating a dark and discomforting mood by plucking a low string.

There is a beautiful inevitability about the final two tunes on the album. The exuberance and brashness which inflect Bernstein’s ‘Candide’ overture right from the first fanfare are irresistible. Rantala follows this, by way of complete contrast, with ‘Somewhere’ from ‘West Side Story’. Potsdam was recorded the day after the passing of Stephen Sondheim. Rantala explains how deeply this affected
him: “Sondheim was magical. As a writer and composer. ‘West Side Story’ is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. And he was so young, when he wrote all those lines: ‘Say it loud and there’s music playing. Say it soft and it’s almost like praying, Maria’.

‘The Radio Tisdas Sessions’: The 20th Anniversary edition of Tinariwen’s first studio album has been remastered and repackaged with a bonus unreleased bonus track, exclusive photos and brand-new liner notes. The first vinyl pressing is on white vinyl, with digital download card. ‘The Radio Tisdas Sessions’ feature songs from Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Kedou Ag Ossad, Mohamed Ag Itlal aka ‘Japonais’, who passed away on February 14th 2021, and Foy Foy. White vinyl 2LP.

Tinariwen are Tuaregs, children of a nomadic Berber tribe who have roamed the Saharan desert for thousands of years. Over recent centuries, colonialism has seen the Tuareg’s ancestral territory partitioned into distinct countries - Mali, Algeria, Libya, Niger. This drawing of borders has turned the Tuareg into ishumar, a displaced people in search of a homeland lost to them. Tinariwen’s music - a blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock ‘n’roll - speaks directly to this feeling of longing: a sound that critics have called ‘desert blues’.

2022 Catalog Vinyl Re-Pressings, mastered for VINYL by DAVE OTERO (Khemmis, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, Allegaeon and more). K.B.K. sees Cattle Decapitation out doing themselves with more diversity, rage and antagonism than prior releases. Definitely a turning point for the band musically and logical first progression to what the band is now; Unabashed, unique grind.

They say the best thing for a new band to really find out who they are is to go out and play as much as possible. They see what works and what doesn’t with the crowd as well as watch their peers perform and can learn from the best. For the past 2 years, WORMWITCH, has done just that. Having toured North America with The Black Dahlia Murder, Numenorean and appeared at last year’s prestigious Psycho Las Vegas Festival with Danzig, Dimmu Borgir and many more, the Vancouver 3-piece took it all in and regrouped in the Fall of 2018 to start writing their new album. Heaven That Dwells Within is the follow up to 2016’s Decibel Magazine Year End charting, Strike Mortal Soil. The riffs are stronger, the overall feel the album darker and their love of black metal dimly shines through much more on their past release. The album was mixed and mastered by V. Santura (Triptykon, Schammasch), giving it that much of a gloomier touch. With a tour right out of the gate with Cloak and Uada followed by a European run, the future, though dark in music, can only be bright.

Following the release of Collision and Coalescence, Slovakian label mappa commits to the duo Grykë Pyje, releasing their third LP "Squirlich Stroll". Maintaining the fabled tone of their debut on the label, Jani Hirvonen (Uton) and Johannes Schebler (Baldruin) dig deeper into the sonic vein of myth and fabric of yonder. The music in "Squirlich Stroll" unravels as a yarn brought back from a wild voyage.

On uncharted areas of medieval maps where potential dangers were thought to exist, the inscription "Here be dragons" was used to warn as much as to tempt explorers willing to cross limits. Myth awaited them as a blank page of dormant territory, yet also to be proved unlike and reinvented. In such pliable borders, wonder had the favorable conditions to blend experience and imagination, crafting creatures with an eye instead of a bellybutton, arms instead of ears and ears instead of fingers, hypnotizing spirals where a mouth should have been. These chimeras, though fictitious, allowed explorers to express their delusions along with their fears. "Here be dreams", we hear nightmares. Here be mushrooms the size of pyramids that sing lullabies for mountains. Here be talking roads that lead to volcanoes throats and spit you back to flight. Here be art of bending trees into braided bridges like in Meghalaya, and the time gap between seed and living ruins.

Let that be the compass, the astrolabe. Yet, the music in Squirlich Stroll comes with these journeys already embraced, unraveling as a story told by wanderers visiting town, nourishing fantasy. The sonic language and diction employed here are crystal clear. Sounds are sharp and pure. Growls, howls, shrieks, tingles, rattles, moans, excretions and even hymns sung by landscape and creatures alike do not run over each other. There is no chaos, but ambience, cohabitation. The duo masters dramaturgy, providing every voice with focused turns and character, guarding their parley with caution and care, convoking them mainly through soothing synth melodies that enable an analgesic, sedative mood. Clusters of sounds gathered are articulated through the album with the inherent luminosity and required stability to accomplish what peaks in, as the title of the final track reads, a new dawn.

Like the creeks that run and tributaries that trickle throughout singer-songwriter Ian Noe’s homelands in Eastern Kentucky, water flows throughout his new LP. Thoughtfully and intentionally named, River Fools & Mountain Saints highlights Noe’s storytelling prowess through 12 country rockers and Appalachian ballads, depicting contemporary and historical life in the region. Broader in scope and brighter in tone than his lauded debut, 2019’s Between the Country, River Fools & Mountain Saints boasts a fuller sound with more diverse instrumentation. Produced by Andrija Tokic (Phosphorescent, Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Benjamin Booker, AHI), and featuring "Little" Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) on bass and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit) on keys, this album explores the themes of Nature, Appalachia, Division, Death, and Redemption. They recorded on reel-to-reel tapes in short spurts over the course of two years, without the pressure of time, which enabled a wider range of experimentations, collaborations, and sounds.

Suzanne Santo has never been afraid to blur the lines. A tireless creator, she's built her sound in the grey area between Americana, Southern-gothic soul, and forward-thinking rock & roll. It's a sound that nods to her past — a childhood spent in the Rust Belt; a decade logged as a member of the L.A.-based duo HoneyHoney; the acclaimed solo album, Ruby Red, that launched a new phase of her career in 2017; and the world tour that took her from Greece to Glastonbury as a member of Hozier's band — while still exploring new territory. With Yard Sale, Santo boldly moves forward, staking her claim once again as an Americana innovator. It's an album inspired by the past, written by an artist who's only interested in the here-and-now. And for Suzanne Santo, the here-and-now sounds pretty good. Yard Sale, her second release as a solo artist, finds Santo in transition. She began writing the album while touring the globe with Hozier — a gig that utilized her strengths not only as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, but as a road warrior, too. "We never stopped," she says of the year-long trek, which often found her pulling double-duty as Hozier's opening act and bandmate. "Looking back, I can recognize how much of a game-changer it was. It raised my musicianship to a new level. It truly reshaped my career." “Defiant” - American Songwriter “a bluesy ripper that gets its sizzle not just from her dynamic vocals but from a dirty, undulating guitar line from Gary Clark Jr” - Buzzbands “On “Fall For That,” she digs deep to sing about the push and pull between needing human connection and solitude, chaos and calm” - Buzzbands “bold storytelling and introspective reflection” - CMT “Catchy-as-hell” - Glide “she digs deep” - KCRW “Suzanne Santo is one of those musicians that come along every once in a blue moon.” - National Rock Review “Santo takes ownership and power back with crass and candor, introducing shameless, self aware dialogue that opens the door for conversation that leads to real healing.” - Paste "spunky" - Premier Guitar “Southern-gothic soul” - Rolling Stone Country “vivid musical portraits” - San Diego Union-Tribune

Prins Thomas veröffentlicht seine Alben 8 und 9 in zwei Stufen, jeweils als LP sowie am Ende gemeinsam auf einer CD. Er beendet damit eine Phase, in der er hauptsächlich Mixe und Remixe für andere Musiker erstellte, während er seine eigene Produktionsarbeit hinten anstellte. Davon befreit, bestreitet er seinen neuen Doppelschlag fast in Eigenregie, einzige Ausnahmen sind die fähigen Hände von Bugge Wesseltoft ('8') und John Carroll Kirby ('8' und '9').

RED ASTAIRE & ANTHONY MILLS aka WILDCOOKIE offers a special 7" release of the classic "HEROINE" & "SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE DAYS". Both are super funky downtempo head nodding jams with floating vocal sonics. Get it today! Big hole 45.

Amassakoul’: Tinariwen’s breakthrough album originally released in 2004, now remastered and repackaged with a bonus unreleased track, exclusive photos and brand-new liner notes. The first vinyl pressing is on indigo vinyl, with digital download card. ‘Amassakoul’ features songs from Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Touhami Ag Alhassane. Indigo vinyl 2LP.

Tinariwen are Tuaregs, children of a nomadic Berber tribe who have roamed the Saharan desert for thousands of years. Over recent centuries, colonialism has seen the Tuareg’s ancestral territory partitioned into distinct countries - Mali, Algeria, Libya, Niger. This drawing of borders has turned the Tuareg into ishumar, a displaced people in search of a homeland lost to them. Tinariwen’s music - a blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock ‘n’roll - speaks directly to this feeling of longing: a sound that critics have called ‘desert blues’.

With thirty years of active, nefarious service under their bulletbelts, NECROPHOBIC are undisputed legends of the death and black metal underground. Formed in 1989 by drummer Joakim Sterner, the Stockholm blackhearts propagated a singular and fearless vision from the very start, confirming their prowess with now legendary debut album The Nocturnal Silence in 1993. Eschewing the self-conscious amateurism and primitive sonics that many of their peers held dear, NECROPHOBIC established a bold and vivid identity of their own, conjuring a densely melodic but endlessly wicked take on macabre extreme metal that countless lesser bands have since emulated. With “Hrimthursum”, the 5th full-length album, NECROPHOBIC already injected its blasphemous attack metal with melody and atmospherics, not to mention a great attention to instrumental detail, in the first place when the album was released in 2006. The Swedish black death metal legends are re-releasing this full-length record as first out of nine upcoming re-issues in total. The album will be available as Ltd. CD Jewelcase in slipcase, Gatefold LP & Poster and Digital album. A must have for every black and death metal maniac out there!

“THE BEAUTIFUL NIGHT”, for many UK Northern Soul fans, epitomises the sound of the Seventies All-Night clubs. Originally spun at The Torch in Stoke and then in every club and soul night in the land. It was written and independently produced by Jimmy Thomas and released on EMI’s ‘Parlophone’ label in 1969. It has remained a rare and collectable 45 on the green promo and even more so on the scarce black stock copy.

In more recent times the original B-side, “Above A Whisper”, has found favour on the crossover scene with it’s more subdued modern soul flavour. Both sides have been remastered for this prestiguous 2022 release.

Night Songs is the latest record from awakened souls, the Los Angeles based husband and wife duo- James and Cynthia Bernard (marine eyes). In the Spring of 2021, they found a good night's rest was more important than ever to help them through pandemic days of schooling kids from home and balancing work and life. After going on an evening walk, James and Cynthia would write in their bedroom studio and test the evening's songs out for sleep. Even prior to being together, they both loved searching for just the right album to calm their minds at the end of the day. Night Songs is their combined version of a sleepy evening record, exploring slowly evolving loop-based ambient primarily using bass guitar and vocal textures. The tracks which ultimately made it on the album helped them relax enough to go to a place where thoughts fade.

Night Songs is the latest record from awakened souls, the Los Angeles based husband and wife duo- James and Cynthia Bernard (marine eyes). In the Spring of 2021, they found a good night's rest was more important than ever to help them through pandemic days of schooling kids from home and balancing work and life. After going on an evening walk, James and Cynthia would write in their bedroom studio and test the evening's songs out for sleep. Even prior to being together, they both loved searching for just the right album to calm their minds at the end of the day. Night Songs is their combined version of a sleepy evening record, exploring slowly evolving loop-based ambient primarily using bass guitar and vocal textures. The tracks which ultimately made it on the album helped them relax enough to go to a place where thoughts fade.

Techno pop dance music incoming! Pretty much 10 years after its debut with the „She Knows EP“, Jet Hammer – the collaborative project of seasoned producer Nacho Marco and trusted vocalist Garen Moreno – finally expand its horizon with new songs. The Last Night EP sees the valued tradition of the extended dance mix gets rejuvenated, readjusted and reprised. Recorded between Warm Studio in Valecia and Chief’s Peak Studio in California, with influences ranging from the avant-garde fusion of Tuxedomoon to the groove of the Pet Shop Boys and the subsequent fashion that became Acid House (the UK definition, of course), the EP is home to four tracks that are cut from the same cloth.
Last Night sounds modern on the main mix and like a lost The Cure demo on the 1981 version, it’s hard to resist in either version. How We Started develops the thought into something of a power ballad and last, but not least, the instrumental version of On Your Side delivers the sugarless dessert for allergic subjects. Halcyon dance hall days ahead!

Singing actors and actresses do not always cut a good figure on the silver screen; play-acting singers, however, are all the better when they draw attention to themselves with great vocals. As did Lena Horne in the days of the black-and-white film, who, with her sultry, versatile voice, was constantly employed by Hollywood. Although she occasionally ventured into the world of jazz, and made music with Teddy Wilson and Benny Carter, she never forayed into the wide world of improvisation. Her musical home was in the American Songbook, which she approached with a natural and entertaining manner. A good example of this is the first number here – the Cole Porter classic "I Concentrate On You", which swings along to the perfectly recorded big-band sound of the Marty Paich Orchestra. A surprise element is the extensive palette of vocal sound-colouring with which the diva enhances her voice to achieve the drama of a Shirley Bassey or the dusky depths of a Dinah Washington. Each and every number on this Grammy-worthy album has been thought out in great detail and guarantees sophisticated entertainment, and a hint of West Coast jazz is perceptible when Jack Sheldon treats us to the sound of his warm and dark trumpet solos.

Born in Birmingham, Thomas Atlas began his impressive musical journey studying the greats thanks to his Father’s record collection.
From then, his fondness for Funk and Soul has grown stronger, taking him touring the UK and USA with some of the finest outfits. But Thomas always knew his destiny was to follow his own path and he has done just that! Now collaborating with British boutique record label Hillside Global on these exclusiverecordings.

The self-titled ten-track debut album leaks zest like a freshly pressed fruit.

This multifaceted artist takes influence from Maceo Parker and George Duke, while keeping true to his vision. It gets the foot-tapping instantly with an infectious cadence. Also, vocally, Thomas boasts a charming timbre which smashes through the mix with conviction.
The slick guitar riffs, bluesy rhythms and fist-pumping beats rip through with might, leaving the thirst for feel-good fully quenched! Hillside Global’s aim is to deliver an experience not just a product. These recordings are pressed under the Hillside Global Exclusive Black Label. The limited edition, first pressing consists of a spot-varnished gatefold sleeve housing a 180g marbled coloured vinyl.
This deluxe release also includes a complimentary download card, alongside a hand numbered certificate of authenticity signed by the label director and recording artist. Designed and pressed in Great Britain

When we first heard from recent Kompakt signing Emma Kollmorgen, with 2021’s “You Are The”, she was hymning the complexity of romance: “Love is scary as fuck!”, she said. On her debut EP, “1243”, she’s built on that intensity and offered up a five-track suite of night-vision electronic pop, bristling with a stealthy sensuality. It’s a cinematic collection, building from the brooding “Escape”, through the drifting, tactile pulses of “Taciturn”, the gritty, bustling noises that run underneath the smoke-signal torch-song of “All The Wild Animals”, and the closing, tear-stained melancholy of “Home”. “You Are The” reappears here as well, settling in perfectly amongst new friends.

It’s a completely assured first EP from an artist who’s been slowly and steadily building her own sonic world. From her early days, when she busied herself by learning guitar and joining bands, Kollmorgen always had a vision of doing something “more independent”, to allow her to find her own sound and write her own songs. A brief creative alliance with the Berlin DJ duo Dole & Kom led to some recordings and live performances. All the while, Kollmorgen was carefully shaping her production and sound designing skills with Ableton Live, and exploring distinctive musical terrain in collaboration with co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Seidel (The Ocean Collective, Fern, Nightmarer). She joined the Kompakt family after a recommendation by Patrice Baumel, who also remixed her debut single with typical flair.

On “1243”, though, Kollmorgen fully inhabits her songs, gifting each of them with a sweet, subtle sway, her vocal and lyrical openheartedness balancing the bluer hues of her production. Each song is confident and poised, Kollmorgen relying on cross-thatched patterns of texture as a web to support her melodies: “I like patterns,” she says, “they give me something to hold onto, something stable in an unstable world.” The songs feel as though they’re grappling with moments of revelation and experience in Kollmorgen’s world, which makes sense, given her approach to music: “I never had a diary,” she reflects, “so writing songs is my way of expressing and dealing with life.” On 1243, you’ll catch some glimpses of life lived, made sonorous through songs beautifully sung.

Als wir das erste Mal von Emma Kollmorgen hörten, nachdem sie sich KOMPAKT angeschlossen hatte, besang sie mit "You Are The" (2021) die Komplexität von Romantik: "Liebe ist verdammt beängstigend!". Auf ihrer Debüt-EP "1243" baut sie auf dieser Intensität auf und präsentiert uns eine fünf Tracks umfassende Suite von elektronischem Pop mit ausgeprägtem Nachtsicht-Faktor, die vor verborgener Sinnlichkeit nur so strotzt. Ein geradezu cineastischer Spannungsbogen, der sich vom grüblerischen "Escape" über die treibenden, taktilen Impulse von "Taciturn", die düsteren, umtriebigen Geräusche, die den Rauchzeichen sendenden torch song "All The Wild Animals" untermalen, und die abschließende, tränenreiche Melancholie von "Home" aufbaut. Auch "You Are The" taucht hier wieder auf und fügt sich perfekt in die neue Gesellschaft ein.

Eine überzeugende erste EP von einer Künstlerin, die sich langsam und stetig ihre eigene Klangwelt aufgebaut hat. Seit ihren Anfängen, als sie Gitarre lernte und in Bands spielte, hatte Kollmorgen immer die Vision, etwas "Unabhängiges" zu machen, um ihren eigenen Sound zu finden und ihre eigenen Songs zu schreiben. Eine kurze kreative Allianz mit dem Berliner DJ-Duo Dole & Kom führte zu einigen Aufnahmen und Live-Auftritten. Währenddessen feilte Kollmorgen an ihren Produktions- und Sounddesign-Skills und erkundete gemeinsam mit dem Co-Produzenten und Multi-Instrumentalisten Paul Seidel (The Ocean Collective, Fern, Nightmarer) ihr eigenes musikalisches Terrain. Zur KOMPAKT Label-Familie kam sie auf Empfehlung von Patrice Baumel, der auch ihre Debütsingle remixte.

Auf "1243" lebt Kollmorgen ihre Songs voll und ganz aus und verleiht jedem von ihnen einen süßen, subtilen Twist, der ihre stimmliche und textliche Offenheit mit den melancholischen Tönen der Musik in Balance hält. Voller Selbstbewusstsein und Ausgeglichenheit verlässt sie sich auf durcheinander laufende Texturen und Pattern, die ihre Melodik unterstützen: "Ich mag Pattern", sagt sie, "sie geben mir etwas, woran ich mich festhalten kann, etwas Stabiles in einer instabilen Welt."

Die Songs fühlen sich an, als würden sie sich mit realen Momenten der Offenbarung und mit Erfahrungen aus Kollmorgens Lebenswelt auseinandersetzen, was angesichts ihrer Herangehensweise an Musik durchaus Sinn ergibt: "Ich hatte nie ein Tagebuch", erzählt sie, "also ist das Schreiben von Songs meine Art, mich auszudrücken und mit dem Leben umzugehen." Auf "1243" gibt sie uns einige Einblicke in dieses gelebte Leben, das durch wunderschön gesungene Lieder zum Klingen gebracht wird.

Nearly 24 years ago, on 7th July 1998, the first Hefner LP was released, it garnered some great reviews, ensured the band were to become one of Peel’s favourites (they had 5 entries in 1999’s festive 50!), and cemented their reputation as Britain's largest small band. NME - “truly independent, unassuming and painfully honest: the sound of thin, white indie dukes in spectacles.” Melody Maker - “heart-skeweringly astute” combination of “grimly sweet lyrics and delicate, tentative tunes.” Time Out - “awe-inspiring in their naked honesty” More recently, the album was number 25 in Pitchfork’s 50 greatest Britpop albums, above A Northern Soul (Verve), Fuzzy Logic (Super Furry Animals), Vauxhall and I (Morrissey) and Tellin’ Stories (the Charlatans) Breaking God’s Heart now gets the essential 20th anniversary vinyl re-issue, accompanied by some shows where Hefner frontman, Darren Hayman, will play the album in full Here’s what Darren has to say about the record now: Breaking God's Heart is an awkward, over confident start to my career. I have yet to get to grips with it again properly in preparation for these anniversary shows. It's so far away in my past that I have some difficulty in relating to the person who made it. Mostly when I hear it I'm just amazed at the confidence, and possibly arrogance, I had then. I insisted on mostly first takes being used, vocals being recorded live in the room with the instruments, a ban on any reverbs or ambience being used. It was like I was trying to sabotage my career at the first hurdle. Many of those decisions were based on half understood, interviews with my idols from the American Lo-Fi scene but I really didn't know what I was doing. It does make a bizarre and caustic record though, and I know there are plenty of people who think this is my best work and I never got back to the blunt energy of these recordings. I do see their point. Quotes - Hefner's is a bedsit world of spindly guitar and towering passions; of skewwhiff ideals and surprisingly smooth melodic surges; of awkward outbursts and slow-burning lo-fi for lovers… 'Breaking God's Heart' is all about sparkling melodies, twinkly-eyed poetry, intimate confessions, a thrillion knowing references to sex, soul and sadness and the sort of chipper attitude that says: 'This is a record you will relish for years to come'. So save yourself time, start treasuring it now. 8/10 NME // Hefner are running on the same rock-not-rock fuel as early Violent Femmes or The Modern Lovers, and like those groups are expert at building emotionally charged arrangements by adding or subtracting at precisely the right time. 8/10 Drowned In Sound

A guitarist, a composer, a sought-after musical enabler and sideman? Of course, he's all of those things and more, but none of those descriptions really do the seven-time Juno Award-winning musician justice.

Like all of Steve's albums, 'Gone, Long Gone' features brilliant instrumental performances from some of the finest players in roots music. Jeremy Holmes holds everything together on bass with drumming split between Gary Craig and Jay Bellerose (both drummers play together on 'Six Skeletons'), while Kevin McKendree and Chris Gestrin laid down the piano, organ and other keyboards.
Keri Latimer joins in on vocals on two songs, and Steve's old 'Birds of Chicago' band- mate, Allison Russell joined in to sing on a few as did Steve's daughter Casey Dawson. John Prine alumnus Fats Kaplin also dropped in to add some sweet fiddle and mandolin.
'Gone, Long Gone' is just the first of three new albums that Steve created during the lockdown. The next two will come to light over three month intervals throughout 2022. Be on the lookout for a moody, psychedelic pedal steel excursion coming up next!

It hasn't been long since The Wedding Present released their latest LP Going, Going... but there's already another LP in the pipeline, albeit a collection of old sessions. The Marc Riley Sessions Volume 1 collection comes out on 2nd December via Hatch Records and contains tracks from three memorable studio sessions with DJ Marc Riley from 2007, 2008 and 2010. The sessions feature songs that span the entirety of the cult indie band's career and the consistency of David Gedge's songwriting.
Marc Riley himself commented on the release of the new album: The release of The Wedding Present sessions done for our 6
Music programme over the years is something of an honour. In the great tradition of the Peel/Selwood releases on the Strange Fruit label this record proves that even without John the BBC can still be a place where great bands can continue to grow and be creative... amongst friends.' Riley also commented on John Peel's love of the cult band: There were many other bands who benefitted from the 'Peel Effect'. T oo numerous to mention. But one of those was — as if you can't see this coming — The Wedding Present. The constant support. Plays. Sessions. Encouragement. Friendship. John's love of the George Best LP (which was a heroic support considering John's affiliation to Liverpool — Manchester United's most hated rival) was well known... and until John passed away he remained a firm fan of all things 'Gedge'.'

Born out of an impromptu post-pub jam session in Margate, the 5-piece group Pigeon swoops onto the scene with their blistering debut EP Yagana.

As the tracks cross effortlessly between Afro-disco, grunge, no wave and jazz, the cohesive symbiotic relationship of the band members is obvious from the start. The powerful vocals of Guinean singer Falle Nioke are complemented by a wealth of talent from Graham Godfrey on drums, Steve Pringle on keys, Tom Dream on guitar and Josh Ludlow on bass.

Having moved to the UK from West Africa in 2018, Falle Nioke has recently been in the spotlight following recent collaborations with Ghost Culture which were supported by indie radio and BBC 6 Music playlisters. On Yagana, he continues to sing in a multitude of languages, but this time shifts towards a more organic musical direction, showcasing his incredible versatility as a vocalist.
This new path can be attributed to the pedigree of the rest of the group – including veteran musicians Steve Pringle and Graham Godfrey who are key members of Michael Kiwanuka’s band, Godfrey also performing with Little Simz, Cleo Sol and SAULT, among others.
The Yagana EP is an emotionally-charged offering, exploring themes of ust, saudade, homesickness, and hope for peace. The title track ‘Yagana’ translates to “it’s been a while”, and though its up-tempo disco rhythm and wild synth solos lend a cheerful disposition, the lyrics describe a melancholic yearning for Africa.

Recorded in a single weekend, Pigeon’s Yagana EP is a clear testament to each member’s skilfulness and varied experiences, creating a fullyfledged being that is greater than the sum of its parts. With an opening hand like this, we await with bated breath to see what more the humble Pigeon can bring to the world.

The original Wild Style soundtrack is such a landmark that it has spread its DNA throughout hip-hop ever since. So many artists found inspiration in it, so many producers fished for samples among its choppy waves. If you haven’t played it for a while, it still has the power to surprise – hook after hook that fed into hip-hop history. That countdown from Public Enemy’s ‘Louder than a Bomb’? The chorus from Cypress Hill’s ‘A to the K’, vocal samples that underpin MF Doom classics and A Tribe Called Quest gems? All here.

Phat Kev – aka Kev Luckhurst – teases out some of those notable moments in his superb cut-up from the 2007 reissue. The Brighton-born DJ subjects the Wild Style OST to a classic ‘Lesson-style’ cut and paste, teasing out some of the most classic moments, taking you on a whirlwind tour of the finest beats and most indelible rhymes. Here you’ll find ‘Stoop Rap’ interwoven with ‘Basketball Throwdown’ and ‘Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie’.

The temptation to overcomplicate matters is wisely resisted – Phat Kev lets the guitar of Chris Stein, the drums of Lenny Ferrari and the lyrics of legends such as Grand Master Caz, Busy Bee and Rammellzee shine in their own right.

Available for the first time on 7”, this is an outstanding tribute to one of the key records in hip-hop history.

*** ULTRA-RARE Spiritual SOUL-JAZZ FROM 1965 AS FEATURED ON PEACE CHANT 4***

Los Angeles, not unlike other great cities such as Detroit, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, has given birth to and nurtured many great musicians. One of those young, versatile musicians Los Angeles has produced was Wayne Powell. In High School he played percussion & tuba in the concert band, later he switched to baritone horn. Shortly after Wayne heard Lionel Hampton play vibraphone at the Paramount Theater in downtown Los Angeles, he purchased his own set of vibes. In 1965, Wayne decided to organize his own group which he called The Wayne Powell Octet. That same year he recorded his debut 33rpm record titled "Plays Hallucination".

"Plays Hallucination" is the one and only album by the Wayne Powell Octet. This is spiritual soul-jazz at its very best! A stunning treasure rarely to be found - unless it's on Mo-Jazz!

“Whether it is traditional or contemporary, we need to be authentic,” says Gözen Atila who performs as Anadol. “I don't claim that I am authentic, but this is what I want to achieve.”

A sense of authentic exploration, introspection and celebration coats every inch of Anadol’s latest album. After 2019’s Uzun Havalar, the Turkish artist returns with an album that continues to explore a variety of deeply embedded musical traditions while also hurtling into new terrain.

The music and influences - as well as the history, culture and geography behind them - that make up Atila as an artist all coalesce to create something entirely new. The result is something that is simultaneously exploring history and tradition, while harnessing innovative modern sounds and techniques. “If there is any tradition I am somehow connected to, or influenced by, then it’s multi- genres,” she says. “Such as Turkish Pop and Arabesk music from this country where I grew up. There is a connection to Folk and also French pop or Flamenco, Middle Eastern melodies and orchestration, Greek adaptations, Kenny G. solos, American guitars.”

This can be heard on Felicita, not in as much as you can link up the influences directly but in the way it glides across genres, eschewing convention and predictability along the way, to result in a kaleidoscopic experience. For the album, Atila found a talented roster of Jazz musicians in Istanbul who she recorded on top of her synth productions and field recordings. Soon enough saxophone, drums and strings began to stack up against preset drum loops from vintage organs. It’s a record where woozy psychedelic excursions bleed into dreamy synth lines, immersive ambience and the occasionally disconcerting yet incredibly tactile use of field recordings.

If it’s an album that feels like it travels through a variety of feelings, then it’s because the concept is loosely rooted in such a journey. Felicita translates as “happiness” and this album is something that explores the complexities of such an emotion. “I did not name the album like this because I just wanted to call it happiness,” Atila says. “A song like ‘Felicita Lale’ is a sad and confused song about a female character who can't get out of bed. It’s a funny rumination, in her thoughts, saying to get up and lie down repeatedly. At some point the lyrics say: "hep agla, felicita", meaning: "Cry all the time, Felicita". Like she is talking to happiness itself and telling it to cry. So it is not about happiness, it is more about the concept of happiness which can be very sad.”

This is the debut album by Funeral Parade Of Roses. It takes the form of a suite of four ominous, cinematic soundscapes suffused with foreboding and unease. In each track, dread-laden industrial atmospherics are punctuated by scorching bursts of rhythm, pantomiming an ongoing struggle between loss and liberation.

The presentation of this body of sound work is also conceived as a collaboration between the artist and designer / illustrator Priscilla Genet, whose artwork is featured both on the full color printed insert sleeve and the accompanying zine.

The zine itself is a booklet of stream of consciousness verse that explores a highly personal meditation on negation, the anarchic, and utopian eschatology.

Soft piano notes kiss trippy electronic tones: “Kossaiko”, the only collaborative record that japanese piano player Saiko Tsukamoto and globally known electronic producer Kuniyuki Takahashi ever produced, is an unmissable profound soft classic music burner.

Together they composed and produced an eight-chapter strong deeply absorbing narrative, whose enthralling story arc dives profound into authentic drama zones, that sound like they jumped right out of a Claude Sautet movie.

Originally released in 2007 as cd only, the perfectly put together longplayer now enters the world for the first time in a vinyl edition that is tragically hip. deeply starry-eyed composi-tions full of minimalistic piano melodies that creep, twist, and dance around unobtrusive electronic notes who never call the tune, but always elevate the spectacle into higher elec-tronic spheres.

In the center of each between five- and nine-minutes long composition is the piano play of Saiko, gently hitting the keys, giving space to each note to vibrate in an endless “Pauline Oli-Veros” way, drifting until the very last sound vanish. around them, Kuniyuki plays his charming electronic tricks, opening the space for tones that sometimes pulsate, sometimes flow the ambient way.

Furthermore, occasionally a guitar notes pop up or accordion melodies cover the sorcery with a severely romantic veil.

Modern classical music, that has no fear of electronic meltdowns, that embraces digital tones while staying organic in its very inner circle.

A wise man once said: when words leave off, music begins. Those who fall for the eight poems of Saikoss will lose their speech and in return get pleased all agitations of their soul.

Mattiel, the Atlanta based group made up of Mattiel Brown and Jonah Swilley, announce
the release of their third album, ‘Georgia Gothic’, on Heavenly Recordings. ‘Georgia
Gothic’, a magic third in Mattiel’s run of full-length albums, was shaped in the quiet
seclusion of a woodland cabin in the north of the Atlanta duo’s mother-state; “Some
faraway place that just Jonah and I could go where there would be no distractions,
nothing else going on, and we could turn everything off and only focus on writing songs,”
reflects Brown.
 Where 2017’s self-titled debut and its 2019 follow-up Satis Factory were written with what
Swilley refers to as a “hands-off” approach - he arranging the music and Brown the lyrics
and vocals, the two working largely separately - the making of ‘Georgia Gothic’ was, for
the first time, a truly collaborative undertaking. “This was the first time we made a point to
just be together and work out ideas in the same room. That was the initial intention... it
was about learning what each other wanted to accomplish on a sonic level, and then just
trying different things out,” Swilley continues. “Everything happened backwards. Normally,
you’d have friends that make a band... with us, we started making music from the jump,
and then became homies.”
 Cultivated by time spent together on the road touring the first two albums, it is this
newfound sense of intimacy between Mattiel’s members that enabled the writing of
‘Georgia Gothic’ not as two separate musicians, but rather as one creative entity. The
album remained within the four walls of Brown and Swilley’s private world for much of its
evolution - with recording taking place in a simple studio set up by the pair in the
borrowed room of a dialysis centre, Swilley in the producer’s seat - until, nearing
completion, it was transferred into the trusted hands of the Grammy award-winning John
Congleton (whose extensive list of credits includes artists as diverse as Angel Olsen, Earl
Sweatshirt, Erykah Badu and Sleater Kinney) for mixing.
 Not only does the affinity between its creators translate into an electric synergy between
‘Georgia Gothic’s words and music - the brine-shock of Brown’s taut lyricism cut against
the bourbon-smoothness of Swilley’s instrumentation - but here too are the palpable
spoils of experimentation, each party trustful enough of the other to trial and error their
practices into new geometries. Swilley puts this wide palate, in part, down to the place
they call home. “I definitely feel like being from Georgia allows us to have a certain way of
approaching music.” Brown chimes in: “We haven’t really highlighted where we’re from in
the past two records, even though those were also written in Georgia. There’s so much
great art and great music that’s come from Georgia, from all different types of genres and
all over the state - but take R.E.M. and OutKast: there’s this weirdness that I can’t really
put my finger on.” Swilley concurs: “It’s the same with the B-52s, the Black Lips... it
doesn’t feel like L.A., it doesn’t feel like New York, it feels like another planet. We’re not
really in a ‘scene’ here in the same way. You have to make your own sound, create your
own identity.”
 And it is precisely the forging of Mattiel’s distinct musical identity that ‘Georgia Gothic’
signals; its members guiding each other ever-homewards not just in a geographical or
sonic sense, but spiritually, too.
 Initial LP pressing on Red Hot coloured 140g vinyl with digital download code. (Once this
format has sold out, a black 140g vinyl edition with digital download - HVNLP202 - will be
made available.)

Loss and hope, isolation and communion, the cessation and renewal of purpose. Timeless and
salient, these themes echo throughout the fifth album from Midlake, their first since ‘Antiphon’
in 2013.
 From the cover to the title and beyond, a longing to reconnect with that which seems lost and
seek purpose in its passing sits at the record’s core. The cover star is keyboardist/flautist Jesse
Chandler’s father, who, tragically, passed away in 2018. As singer Eric Pulido explains, “He
was a lovely human, and it was really heavy and sad, and he came to Jesse in a dream. I
reference it in a song. He said, ‘Hey, Jesse, you need to get the band back together.’ I didn’t
take that lightly.”
 A desire to commune with the past and connect with present, lived experience asserts itself
from the opening of the album. ‘Bethel Woods’ sustains and develops that reconnection,
evoking the steadfast and contemplative urgency of ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ to back a
lyric steeped in yearning for a paradisal time and place of hope and optimism. Soaring guitars
and atmospheric noise effects extend a sonic scope further developed by ‘Glistening,’ where
arpeggios dance like light glancing off a lake. In just three songs, Midlake reintroduce
themselves and reach out into fresh territory with a richly intuitive dynamism, honouring their
past as a seedbed of possibility.
 Elsewhere, the prog-enhanced funk-rock of ‘Gone’ seeks to find hope in relationships that
seem fragile. The ELO-esque ‘Meanwhile…’ draws inspiration from what happened when
Midlake paused after ‘Antiphon’, developing universal resonance as a song about the beautiful
growths that can emerge from the cracks and gaps between things. ‘Dawning’ draws on 1970s
soft-rock stylings for another song searching for hope, its keyboard line reaching out towards
an uncertain future while everything seems to collapse around it; ‘The End’ reflects on the
difficulties of partings.
 On-hand was new collaborator John Congleton, who produced, engineered and mixed the
album, marking Midlake’s first record with an outside producer. “I can’t say enough just how
much his influence brought our music to another sonic place than we would have,” says Pulido.
“I don’t want to record without a producer again. Part of that is the health of the band, because
as you get older you get more opinionated and you kind of need that person who says, ‘No, it’s
going to be this way!’ It’s hard to do that with your friends.”
 The result is a powerful, warming expression of resolve and renewal for Midlake, opening up
new futures for the band and honouring their storied history. Formed in the small town of
Denton, with roots in the University of North Texas College of Music, Midlake delivered an
auspicious debut with 2004’s ‘Bamnan and Slivercork’. For the follow-up, they looked further
afield and deeper within to deliver 2006’s wondrous ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’, a modern
classic pitched between 1871, 1971 and somewhere out of time: between Henry David
Thoreau and Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush’, between 1970s Laurel Canyon thinking and a
longing for something more mysterious.
 Confidence bolstered by a growing fanbase and a developed sense of their own far-reaching
abilities, Midlake - a band acutely attuned to seasonal shifts - then embraced change. In 2010,
they visited darker psych-folk thickets for ‘The Courage of Others’ and backed John Grant on
his lustrously spiky breakthrough album, ‘Queen of Denmark’. When singer Tim Smith departed
Midlake in 2012, Pulido stepped up to the lead vocal role for 2013’s freshly exploratory
‘Antiphon’, teasing out singular routes through vintage electric-folk pastures.
 In reuniting, the bandmates were adamant that Midlake needed their absolute focus. The result
is an album of tremendously engaged thematic and sonic reach with a warm, wise sense of
intimacy at its heart: an album to break bread and commune with, honour the past and travel
onwards with. In ‘Bethel Woods’, Pulido sings of gathering seeds. On ‘For the Sake of Bethel
Woods’, those seeds are lovingly nurtured, taking rich and spectacular bloom.
 LP pressed on 180g vinyl in a gatefold sleeve printed on matt card and printed inner sleeve
with lyrics and digital download card.