quête:three n one

2000 pressed. First time on vinyl for the gorgeous 'Late December', with a second LP featuring rare recordings from her Live Acoustic LA tour in 2006, the package includes new liner notes and a download of the studio album and live show. An album that's broader than Broadway, a panoramic view of life, love and loss filled with drama and theatricality. Plus a live set that's heart-on-sleeve time, bringing together songs from Lone Justice, plus covers of the traditional country anthem 'The World Is Not My Home', Richard Thompson's 'Has He Got A Friend For Me' and three songs that show the bittersweet beauty of her brother Bryan MacLean's song writing. In total, it's Kurt Weill, Springsteen, it's the million-selling global hit 'A Good Heart' delivered by the songwriter herself in all its Phil Spector-like baroque beauty.

With two solo efforts under his belt and sold out headline tours in the rearview, iconic frontman, instrumentalist, and “one of rock’s finest vocalists” (KERRANG!), MYLES KENNEDY (Alter Bridge, Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators), is guided by a sense of keenly honed intuition on his third full-length album, The Art of Letting Go, out October 11, 2024 via Napalm Records. The album follows 2021’s acclaimed The Ides of March, which notched a total of four #1 debuts across three countries, topping the US Top Current Hard Music Chart, the UK Official Rock & Metal Chart and Official Independent Album Chart, and Canada’s Hard Music Albums Chart. Beyond generating 10 million-plus streams, it incited unanimous critical applause. RIFF hailed it as “a fantastic and must-listen record,” while Classic Rock Magazine attested, “The Ides of March confirms Myles Kennedy as a musical powerhouse

"SUNSHINE is my Appalachian trail album. It’s the collection of songs I wrote after walking 1500 miles in 123 days, and all that unraveled as a result. The biggest change in my life, after living outside for 4 months, is that I haven’t lived anywhere since. I’ve been nomadic for three years now and this album is the result of that.

Single #1 Orbit
There are many things that have changed about my life since I wrote my last album, and one of those has been falling in love. I wrote Orbit after falling in love with my partner Milla. I was awe-struck, dumb founded, blinded by the light, however you want to call it. I could not believe my luck, and I wanted to write a song about it. I wanted the song to race fast like a heartbeat, and to get up in your face like feelings. The music video is about finding harmony with all the different parts of yourself.
For fans of Johnathon Richmond, Daywave, Paul Cherry, Beach Fossils

Born from of a relentless global tour schedule, Samara Joy took her touring band, made up of other rising young jazz musicians, into the legendary Van Gelder Studios (the venerable studio from which A Love Supreme and so many of the great catalog records from Impulse and Blue Note were recorded) in February of 2024. Recorded across three days, Samara and her musicians were able to capture an incredible snapshot of who she is today and the promise of tomorrow. It’s a collection of standards, as well as one original and some of her first forays into lyric writing and features her singular voice, alongside arrangements and playing from this tight knit young group. The recording is this story of the community she’s created with a new generation of young players and serves as a studio rendering that delivers on the promise of the live show so many fans have seen them perform over the last year.

This is the very first reissue of the much in demand double sided killer single released in 1970 on the Upsetter label. Both tracks were produced by Lee Perry.

The A side is a beautiful yet wicked cover of LET IT BE by the Beatles, produced by Lee Perry and performed by the Soulettes.
The B side is BIG DOG BLOXIE, an even whackier version of the A side by Lee Perry.

ABOUT THE SOULETTES:
The Soulettes initially comprised Alpharita Anderson, born in Cuba, her male cousin Constantine Walker and her school friend Marlene Gifford and started recording as backing vocalists at Studio One from 1964 including the first Wailing Wailers’ hit “Simmer Down”. They also backed Lee Perry on a series of dirty songs such as ‘Rub & Squeeze’ and ‘Doctor Dick’. Under their own name The Soulettes were moderately successful have a string of minor hits such as ‘Opportunity Knocks’ and the lovely ‘Friends And Lovers’. Alpharita married Marley in in 1966 and the Soulettes disbanded. In 1969, Rita Marley re-formed the Soulettes with Nora Dean (later replaced by Hortense Lewis) and Cecile Campbell, Cornel’s sister.
The new line-up with Nora Dean and Cecile Cornell started working Lee Scratch Perry for a couple of songs including the outstanding cover of the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ which became their main hit in 1970. Following the group’s demise around 1973, Rita joined Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt to form the I-Threes whom became the de facto female backing trio for Bob Marley…

Mighty Vertebrate is the International Anthem debut from Anna Butterss. The Adelaide born bassist / composer has been a first call for LA tour and studio work since relocating there in 2014 – racking up credits with notables across the experimental, jazz, and pop worlds alike – but their most notable contributions to the burgeoning LA scene have been as a member of both Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet and rising proto-trance supergroup SML, who Pitchfork says “represents the thrilling next phase of a vibrant L.A. community.”

“I had just gotten off of a bunch of touring at the end of 2022 and just wanted to write music,” says Butterss. “The best way for me to do that, I’ve found, is to set myself a discreet and focused task."

I’m going to make a song where the bass doesn’t function in the role of a bass.
I’m going to work on this for an hour and then I’m going to stop.
I’m going to make a song that uses groups of three-bar phrasing.
I want to sample something and make it into a song.
I’m going to start with a drum machine.

The music itself reflects that structure beautifully, with the material being tightly
composed and melodically realized by Butterss well in advance of production concerns. Here they reconvene a group of trusted longtime collaborators to bring their compositions to fruition: Ben Lumsdaine (drums, guitar, production), Josh Johnson (sax), and Gregory Uhlmann (guitar), plus a smoking guest appearance from Jeff Parker. The breadth and scope of the results might have been difficult to achieve otherwise. From the Robbie-Shakespeare-in-groove-mode intro to the album opener “Bishop” to the spacious cinematic doom of “Seeing You”, there is a lot to wrangle into one cohesive concept. On Mighty Vertebrate, Butterss and crew do just that.

To mark the 10th anniversary of Gidge's landmark album Autumn Bells on Atomnation, the label has assembled a brand new box-
set reissue. This deluxe and expanded edition features a 58-page photo book, poster, the original double album plus a nine-track bonus vinyl with alternative edits and demo tracks from the time, all on transparent wax. The exclusive, limited edition boxset comes first on September 27, then all tracks come digitally in mid-November.

Gidge is the Swedish duo of Jonatan Nilsson and Ludvig Stolterman, who has also taken all of the photos in the booklet. As
friends since high school, they have a deep connection, a great understanding of one another and a shared love of Nordic
woodlands. The spirit of the northeastern forests they grew up around has always coloured their music and lent it an organic,
ethereally, otherworldly edge that conveys feelings of inner peace.

Their brilliant debut album Autumn Bells captured all that in nine accomplished tracks that picked up critical praise from the music
media and millions of online streams. More importantly, it also won them a dedicated fan base who appreciate the art of Gidge's
craft and the sensitivity of their sound. Despite the early success of the album and the three more that have followed since, this
humble pair have chosen to remain low-key. They play only a few shows a year and consciously haven't chased wider commercial
acclaim.

'a masterclass in hardcore dancefloor and bittersweet feeling...Alex Crossan is both acclaimed and not feted enough' **** The Observer

Available on his own Pond Recordings, Curve 1 is a love-letter to club spaces, and the music and people who fill them.

Mura Masa’s forth album is a full-circle moment. Departing from the pop-leaning narrative and who’s-who guestlist of his most recent records, Curve 1 heads back down the rabbit-hole of club music that’s alternately euphoric, introspective, nostalgic and future-facing. Full of tension and release, ambiguity and playfulness, the significance of Curve 1 is left up to the individual: whether enjoyed solo or in the sweat of a packed room, here is music as enigmatic and layered as its author.

Mura Masa himself introduces Curve 1 as 'a manifestation of an attitude I’ve been cultivating in my personal life; ignore everything. All the content, all of the attention economy, all of it. In doing that, the really meaningful and vital parts of what’s around you make themselves known and unignorable, demanding your energy. It’s my first offering as an independent artist through my own record label, and as such I wanted it to be as free and anti-narrative as possible. Impressionistic. Music as entertainment has in many cases, to me, become very advertorial and excessively sentimental in terms of creating narrative around albums and artists. I wanted to strip this away as much as possible to leave room for the music to create its own meaning in the lives of people who form connections with it. It's hard for me not to explain away the intricacies and ideas contained within these records after having theorised and tolled and executed them over the course of nearly three years, but I think it’s far more fitting of the album’s intent to say simply: listen to it in the dark.'

Curve 1 pulls Mura Masa into focus as one of this generation’s most influential figures. Aptly reflecting his rare standing at the heart of youth culture, Mura Masa recently co-wrote long standing collaborator PinkPantheress’ single ‘Turn It Up’, as well as creating a series of remixes for Troye Sivan’s ‘Honey’. From producing global hits like ‘Boy’s a liar Pt.2’ to seminal records like Shygirl’s Mercury-nominated Nymph, it’s a juncture that has also seen Mura Masa embark on a new chapter of his own. He has set up his label and a creative hub and arts space - The Pond - in Peckham as a base for emerging artists and likeminded creatives, which will launch officially next year. Across his three critically-acclaimed solo albums, Mura Masa has built an audience who will follow wherever his genre-defying work goes next; with 2 billion streams, headline festival sets around the world, and live shows ranging from Alexandra Palace to Warehouse Project.

Curve 1 marks a back-to-your-roots approach whilst also highlighting the trailblazing young star’s recurring theme: to capture ‘that’ curvature in pop culture, to make it Mura Masa’s own, and to push things forward.

'Curve 1 has a club focus, no f—ks attitude and production that’s mature, lush — simply put, it’s just cool.' billboard

'a scintillating love letter to club culture and sounds' Wonderland

'the Grammy-winning producer throws a total curveball. Ditching his usual dreamy pop, Mura goes full hardcore dance. From techno to vintage rave' **** The Mirror

'Get sweaty as Mura makes it messy' **** The Sunday Express

'a total curveball...intense but full of hooks' **** The Daily Star

'Mura Masa has always been ahead of the creative curve, but with his new album, the tenured producer is consciously forging a path inspired by his newfound independence.'

'a grab-bag of sounds from a brilliantly restless mind' Rolling Stone

It's a pleasure, a labour of love and a yearly highlight to present a new volume of the Mr Bongo Record Club series. In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres. We have chosen a diverse array of artists, including Os Panteras from Brazil, stomping underground disco by Claude Jay, the Danish soul sounds of Gitte & Inger and the gospel excellence of Truth & Devotion, to name a few.

Most of the selections in this volume are older vintage productions, however, there is one very special contemporary production, recorded exclusively for Mr Bongo Record Club 7. For ‘Spring Has Sprung’, we linked three of our cherished musical family together; the legendary cult artist Asha Puthli, the wonderous band SOYUZ and Swedish maestro Sven Wunder. The result, as you’d expect, is completely breathtaking.

Reflecting on Volume 7, it now feels like a record comprised of two themes. Firstly, we have gone quite heavy on the Brazilian selections. This saw us searching further afield and digging into other areas of the endlessly rich Brazilian musical tapestry. The reflection of a more folk / Afro-Brazilian sound than presented in previous volumes in the series, can be heard in the songs of As Sublimes, Romeu Fernandes and Conjunto de Percussão Dora Pinto. The second theme is a representation of the tracks that we have been playing in our club DJ sets and are aimed more at the dancefloor. Disco tracks such as 'Come Inside' by The Shades of Love and The Duncans' 'Too Damn Hot' have been firmly tested favourites in recent years.

We hope these songs, by the sensational artists on display, inspire you as much as they do us. Music is the gift that keeps giving and there is so much more to learn, find, and share.

SUNANDBASS ambassador FD returns for his latest EP to guide you back to the familiar shores of our annual celebration in Sardinia. Rich and expressive music that works on the dancefloor can be hard to find but FD brings the goodness once again, with this diverse three-tracker.

“All Yours” hits the sweet spot straight away, with dusky vocals and tight beats. Deft guitar licks keep the funk fluid, wrapping around an essential groove, whilst crystal keys shimmer in the heat haze. An ace opener to any set, this track strikes a rare balance between rhythm and elegance.

Flipping the script with an ice-cold intro, “Second Villain” creeps up close and personal before dropping a murderous bassline on your chest. Produced alongside one of Switzerland’s most respected DJs, Ryck, the ‘Villain’ encompasses and embraces influences from Jungle and Drum & Bass alike.

Finalising the ninth release on SUNANDBASS Recordings is “Wah Wah Track”, which puts the music first to prove that the medium really is the message here. Melodic layers rise and fall like waves on this classy and uplifting piece of future soul music.

Carla Boregas is a Brazilian musician, composer and sound artist. By merging synthetic and acoustic instrumentation and techniques, Boregas builds up sonic scenarios driven by an invisible force, where the sensation of presence and discovery lies between density and delicacy. Her work spans composition, improvisation, performance, sound installation and radio art, and aims to transport the listener to different subjective perspectives of time and space, to invoke memories and to reflect about the nature-human relationship.

Carla Boregas writes: "Using a Tascam Portastudio 4-track cassette recorder, I invited three musicians to improvise alone with the sound recording of the sea that I did in Massaguaçu, the place where I used to live in Brasil. The recorder that I used had a defect in one of its tracks, therefore I could only invite two musicians – Vinicius Cajado (double bass) and Réka Csiszér (cello), plus the sea in another track. While listening to the tracks together, I felt a deep sense of absence ("ausência" in Portuguese). Perhaps due to their sonorous answers surrounded by the tape hiss? Because that's one of the symbolic meanings of the ocean? Maybe "saudades do mar, de estar ao seu outro lado"? Who knows – listening can be something very mysterious. Afterwards I played with and interweaved them all: the sonorous sea, Vinicius Cajado, Réka Csiszér and the absence - "Absência Tape" is the final result." – Carla Boregas, Berlin, 8 August 2024.

Features Unreleased Studio Sessions, Alternate Versions, Live Recordings, Rarities, And 36-Page Book With New Photos & An Extensive Conversation Between Joni & Cameron Crowe

Sourced From Original Stereo Reels, Nagra Film Recordings, Multi-track Tapes, Radio Airchecks & Cassette Tapes

Throughout the latter half of the seventies, Joni continued to creatively break ground with her fearless and fluid exploration of jazz. Rather than tread the same path, she challenged and reinvented her style with a folk fusion like no other. Ascending to an unrivaled sonic peak, this innovative sound took shape across the gold-certified HEJIRA 1976, the gold-certified double-LP DON JUAN’S RECKLESS DAUGHTER [1977], her collaboration with Charles Mingus entitled MINGUS [1979], and live album SHADOWS AND LIGHT [1980]. Channeling the thrill and excitement of these records, she delves even further into this season on JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES, VOL. 4: THE ASYLUM YEARS (1976-1980), due October 4th.

Available as a 6CD, 4LP (featuring Joni's personal favorites from the 6CD set), and digitally, this comprehensive and essential set spans one of the most prolific periods of her storied career. It boasts powerful live tracks from her time in Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue during 1975 and 1976 Tour of the United States. It pulls back the curtain on the music by showcasing early recordings and alternate takes from the respective sessions for HEJIRA, DON JUAN’S RECKLESS DAUGHTER, and MINGUS. It covers the Bread & Roses Festival as well as the Anti-Nuclear Rally. Finally, VOL. 4 chronicles her 1979 tour, even showcasing two tracks from that year’s Tour Rehearsals. Not to mention, it showcases her versatility and adaptability, housing collaborations with everyone from Herbie Hancock and Jaco Pastorious to Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny.

Vol. 4 culls the previously-unissued material from original stereo reels, cassette tapes, CD-Rs, and even a radio broadcast. Newly mixed tracks came from multi-track tapes, while a handful of hi-res digital tracks have been sourced from the Bob Dylan Archives.

Each version includes a book with never-before-seen photos and liner notes comprising a deep dive discussion between Mitchell and longtime friend Cameron Crowe. As part of their candid conversation, she shares intimate anecdotes, memories, and stories from that five-year creative run.

Still just 19-years-old, Toby Lee is already a three-time winner of Young Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards - yet the virtuoso guitarist is only getting started. Praised as a remarkable talent by the likes of Jools Holland and Joe Bonamassa, 2024 represents a big breakthrough year as Toby releases his first album of all-original material ‘House On Fire’ on October 4th via 100% Records. As you’d expect from someone that The Times hailed as, “One of the best guitarists in Britain,” his six-string talents dazzle throughout with a rich tapestry of scorching leads, evocative melodies and swaggering grooves. Yet his vocals have come on leaps-and-bounds, his maturity and emotional expression providing a voice strong enough to front a band regardless of his guitar skills. His songs and stylistic scope have expanded too, with a set that moves seemingly effortlessly between classic blues jams, punchy hard rock, intimate acoustic moments and a modernist approach to classic soul and Stax-style R&B. It’s all played with a winning combination of youthful abandon and undeniable accomplishment. Toby Lee’s talents have been recognised by an array of legends. When he was 10, a get well soon video that he made for BB King went viral, leading to an invitation from the blues legend’s family to play at his club in Memphis, while the late Bernie Marsden was an early mentor and champion. He subsequently shared the stage with the likes of Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Slash, Billy Gibbons and Peter Frampton, while enjoying other high profile moments, such as starring in a West End production of ‘School of Rock’, performing with McFly on ‘Tonight at the London Palladium’ and featuring in ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’. Toby has now exceeded 500 million views on social media. His ability has been recognised with numerous endorsements. He has been a Gibson artist since the age of 10, and a recent highlight came when he helped launch Gibson’s custom Jeff Beck ‘YardBurst’ 1959 Les Paul Standard alongside fellow guests including Jimmy Page, Johnny Depp and Graham Coxon. Blackstar Amplification issued his own signature amp, the St James Toby Lee 50 6L6 head and cab, and he is also endorsed by D’Addario Strings.

Still just 19-years-old, Toby Lee is already a three-time winner of Young Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards - yet the virtuoso guitarist is only getting started. Praised as a remarkable talent by the likes of Jools Holland and Joe Bonamassa, 2024 represents a big breakthrough year as Toby releases his first album of all-original material ‘House On Fire’ on October 4th via 100% Records. As you’d expect from someone that The Times hailed as, “One of the best guitarists in Britain,” his six-string talents dazzle throughout with a rich tapestry of scorching leads, evocative melodies and swaggering grooves. Yet his vocals have come on leaps-and-bounds, his maturity and emotional expression providing a voice strong enough to front a band regardless of his guitar skills. His songs and stylistic scope have expanded too, with a set that moves seemingly effortlessly between classic blues jams, punchy hard rock, intimate acoustic moments and a modernist approach to classic soul and Stax-style R&B. It’s all played with a winning combination of youthful abandon and undeniable accomplishment. Toby Lee’s talents have been recognised by an array of legends. When he was 10, a get well soon video that he made for BB King went viral, leading to an invitation from the blues legend’s family to play at his club in Memphis, while the late Bernie Marsden was an early mentor and champion. He subsequently shared the stage with the likes of Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Slash, Billy Gibbons and Peter Frampton, while enjoying other high profile moments, such as starring in a West End production of ‘School of Rock’, performing with McFly on ‘Tonight at the London Palladium’ and featuring in ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’. Toby has now exceeded 500 million views on social media. His ability has been recognised with numerous endorsements. He has been a Gibson artist since the age of 10, and a recent highlight came when he helped launch Gibson’s custom Jeff Beck ‘YardBurst’ 1959 Les Paul Standard alongside fellow guests including Jimmy Page, Johnny Depp and Graham Coxon. Blackstar Amplification issued his own signature amp, the St James Toby Lee 50 6L6 head and cab, and he is also endorsed by D’Addario Strings.

Produced by Lenny Kravitz (Executive) and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (Artistic). Worldwide tour in 2024 / 2025 (North America, Europe, Australia). New album from 2018 Grammy nominated album “Black Times”. Seun Kuti set to release highly anticipated album ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ featuring guests Damian Marley and Sampa The Great on October 4th. Afrobeat virtuoso Seun Kuti is gearing up to unleash his latest musical masterpiece upon the world with the upcoming release of his album that will be set to make waves globally via Milan independent label Record Kicks. Coming 6 years after the Grammy nominated album ‘Black times’, this album marks a pivotal moment in Seun Kuti's illustrious career, showcasing his evolution as an artist and activist. Executive produced by legendary musician Lenny Kravitz and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer), ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ promises to deliver a sonic experience like no other. With both Kravitz's and Sodi’s expertise together with Seun Kuti's unmatched talent, the album is poised to redefine the boundaries of contemporary music while staying true to the roots of afrobeat. Featuring a tracklist of six electrifying songs, each track on ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ embodies the spirit of resistance, resilience, and revolution. Each song talks about standing up against challenges and fighting for change. Like the standalone singles ‘Dey’ feat reggae icon Damian Marley, described as “a song about embracing and championing who we are, regardless” and ‘Emi Aluta’, “a song about struggle (Aluta means struggle) that pays homage to all the great revolutionaries”, that features Zambian singer, rapper and songwriter, Sampa The Great, one of best and most innovative lyricists of our time. The song ‘T.O.P.’ is about “how society values money and success more than people”. Seun Kuti wants to change this by promoting empathy and reconnecting with nature. In another song, ‘Love & Revolution,’ he expresses his love for his wife and believes that true love can inspire people to make the world a better place. “This project has been very special to me from the moment I conceived it, speaking to Lenny Kravitz, who has shown me such a brotherly love and respect” Seun says. “He has brought me to his home. I met his daughter Zoe and he has guided us with fierceness. Since we spoke about the album, three years ago, as the executive producer of this project, he has always been by our side and very supportive”. “I want to thank Craig Ross and Sodi, the producer of this project. We had a great time. It was the first time for me in the studio with Sodi and I was really impressed by his work and his fatherly advice and dedication”. Each song on the album is a testament to Seun Kuti's unwavering commitment to using music as a tool for social change and empowerment. Through his powerful lyrics and infectious grooves, he continues to carry on the legacy of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti, while carving out his own path in the world of music. As a musician and pan-African activist, Seun has been involved in a number of campaigns in recent years, including #EndSARS – a social movement against police brutality in Nigeria. Significantly, he’s revived the Movement of the People (M.O.P.), the political party his father set up in 1979, which was quashed by the military government not long after Fela’s failed presidential bid. Fans can expect an album that not only entertains but also inspires and ignites a spirit of activism and liberation. Seun Kuti is a Nigerian musician, singer, and songwriter renowned for his captivating performances and socially conscious music. He is the youngest son of Afro beat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father's political and musical legacy as the leader of his father's former band Egypt 80. As a developing saxophonist and percussionist, he entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12. In 1997 when Fela passed, in fulfilment of his father's wishes, Seun assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80 and he has run it ever since. During his career, Seun Kuti released 4 albums with Egypt 80: ‘Many Things’ (2008), ‘From Africa with Fury: Rise for Knitting Factory Records’ (2011), coproduced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds, ‘A Long Way Beginning’ (2014) and the Grammy nominated ‘Black Times’ (2018) that included a feature from Carlos Santana. They also released numerous EPs. Seun has played for enthusiastically receptive audiences globally and collaborated with many great artists. In 2022, he joined forces with Roots frontman and MC extraordinaire Black Thought in the EP ‘African Dreams’. In 2023, Seun collaborated on Janelle Monae's ‘The Age of Pleasure’ (Grammy nominee for Album Of The Year) with the two singles 'Float' and 'Knows Better', teamed up with Talib Kweli and MadLib for their album ‘Liberation 2’ on the song ‘Nat Turner’ featuring Cassper Nyovest and released a new version of the single ‘Bad Man Lighter’ with Black Thought, featuring Vic Mensa

Dame Area's highly anticipated fourth studio album, "Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area" ("The Whole Truth about Dame Area"), a collaboration with the renowned labels Mannequin Records and Humo Records.

Formed in 2017 within the vibrant underground scene of Barcelona's Màgia Roja club, Dame Area comprises the Italian-Catalan duo Silvia Konstance and Viktor Lux Crux. They fuse industrial-tribal polyrhythms with minimalist synth basslines, drawing profound inspiration from avant-garde masters such as Esplendor Geometrico, Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Einstürzende Neubauten, Can, Coil, Swans, Big Black, and Wolf Eyes.

This record represents a new phase in Dame Area's discography. It's a big step up in terms of sound, composition and ideas. This record it's the perfect representation of what they have been playing live the last three years and what most people know them for. Also it serves as a companion piece to 2022’s Toda la mentira sobre Dame Area ("All The Lies About Dame Area"), which had a stronger focus on melody, while this latest record is more aggressive and industrial-influenced, with a greater emphasis on percussion.

Tracks like the Suicide-influenced "Si no es hoy cuando es" and "Sempre Cambiare" are an onslaught of industrialism and experimentalism—formidable, volatile, and unpredictable avant-garde subversion. Silvia explains, "One of our biggest influences is doing what our influences wouldn't do. We're more into dynamics and structures atypical of electronic music, with changes in time signatures, starts and stops, and dynamics more typical of rock music. We use any musical idea from any genre. Some songs on the album are based on flamenco rhythms, others influenced by '60s experimental pop, heavy metal, or contemporary electronic music."

The confrontational "Vengo dall'aldilà" accelerates with heavy percussion, while "Tu me hiciste creer" builds into a rhythmic, transcendent noise of yelled vocals and hypnotic beats. Viktor adds, "This song took us more time to complete than any other we have recorded. It was a very organic process, evolving slowly from some instrumental percussive stuff we were doing live. Then we started using feedback as a rhythmic element (through a metallic sheet), and this was the first song where we incorporated this element, typical of noise-rock and experimental rock."

Elsewhere, "Esto Es Nuestro Ruido" represents a manic, eclectic form of contemporary industrial music, post-punk, and EBM. Silvia notes, "It's the first album we recorded outside a studio. Although we've been playing live with metallic percussion and floor tom from the very start, in the studio, with some exceptions, it was mostly sample-based until now. On Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area, all drums and almost all metallic percussion have been recorded live."

With a growing reputation as one of the best live bands around since their inception, Dame Area has toured extensively across Europe, performing at renowned festivals like Atonal, CTM, Nuits Sonores, Dour, and Fusion, as well as legendary clubs such as Berghain, Tresor, Apolo, and Spook Factory.

Recorded at Sol de Sants Studios and Estudio Hermetic between August and November 2023

Silvia Konstance: vocals, synths, percussions, electronics, production
Viktor L. Crux: synths, drums, percussions, electronics, production
Mixing and additional production by Guillermo Sánchez Rojo
Mastering by Paul Mac at Hardgroove Mastering
Designed by Leo Sousa
Photography by Fabio Calabretta
Photo concept by Dame Area

Repress

Admittedly, being able to embrace someone back into your life, when they seem to have never left might be a little strange - but that’s exactly how it feels with Âme, one of clubland’s mainstays, consisting of Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann. Case in point: they’re certainly not getting tired of gracing stages big and small with their DJ sets and live performances around the globe, yet “Asa“ actually presents their first original material since three years. Particular track sees the duo on top of their game, as it offers another example of peak time dance floor that is still so much more than just the sum of its components. “Asa“ is big, joyful, euphoric, and sonically adventurous. It relies on repetition, but no single part is allowed to stagnate before everything finally culminates in a symphony of daring synths, driving beats and dueling melodies. It’s a spectacle that might or might not be the musical notification of something way bigger heading our way.

A joint collaboration between long standing L.A garage label In The Red, Universal Music Australia and spearheaded by Feel Presents and Saints founder Ed Kuepper, the deluxe edition of (I’m) Stranded will feature 4 x vinyl long players covering all the band’s studio and live recordings from 1976 thru 1977 and includes; • The iconic debut album remastered for vinyl for the first time in over 40 years • A five-song live performance from Paddington Town Hall Sydney 3.4.1977 appearing on vinyl for the first time. • A full live performance from the Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival, London November 1977 appearing on vinyl for the first time • All three tracks from the 1977 This Perfect Day 12” single and all four tracks from the 1977 1-2-3-4 double 7” single • The previously unreleased 1976 demo mix of the full (I’m) Stranded album. In addition to all that vinyl (I’m) Stranded deluxe edition will also features a 28 page 12” x 12” photo essay of the band covering their origins from 1973 through the end of of ’77, authorised band history, an 8” x 10” 1976 promo photo and a (I’m) Stranded sticker.