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For Rhye’s Michael Milosh, the home is the center of creativity and community. It transcends conventional understandings of walls, stairs and hardwood floors. A culmination of a wayfarer’s journey, the home is a balm for a restless spirit — a place to simply be.

For much of his life, the Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has wandered, decamping in Toronto, Montreal, Thailand, the Netherlands, Germany and Los Angeles at varying times. Since the meteoric rise of Rhye’s 2013 debut Woman, he’s mostly lived on the road—playing between 50 and one hundred shows a year. But over the last couple of years something changed. On the heels of some major life changes, including a new relationship, Milosh yearned for a more permanent space. “It's this idea of creating a safe place that's not just conducive to creativity, but one that’s truly an anchor point from which to make art and be creative,” he says.

That longing was fulfilled in August of 2019 when Milosh and his partner Genevieve happened upon the perfect place in Topanga. It had been on and off the market for two years as the owner sought the perfect buyer, one who would carry on its creative tradition. “She did this ceremony somewhere on the property where she was trying to call in the right people, and apparently we came the next day,” Milosh explained. “The right kind of home presented itself to us, and we presented ourselves to it. It was like a union between us and the home.”

Written throughout 2019 and early 2020, recorded at Milosh’s home studio, United Recording Studios and Revival at The Complex, and mixed by Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Interpol, My Bloody Valentine, U2, The Killers), Home is familiar in its synthesis of propulsive beats, orchestral flourishes, piano ruminations and sultry, gender-nonconforming vocals, but never have they sounded more cohesive or alive.

“I'm always trying to always accomplish musical goals that are connected to the way I listened to and interact with music as a child,” Milosh says. The sentiment also underscores a broader, less obvious, but no less important theme echoed through his new record: No matter where life takes us, we can always go home.

English thrash metal outfit Xentrix is commonly referred to as one of the “big four” of English thrash metal, given their popularity in the underground metal scene of the 1980s to mid-1990s. The band released their second studio album For Whose Advantage? in 1990. It gave them even more interest than their debut, and it marked the first time the band got to shoot a music video – for the title track. It also gave Xentrix the opportunity to tour with Skyclad and play shows with world famous metal bands such as Slayer and Sepultura. And rightfully so, as this album belongs in any headbanger’s collection.

For Whose Advantage? is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl.

We’ll get to the vocal content in a second, but first it’s time to acknowledge what a patchwork tapestry of genius ‘Peace is not the word to play’ is in terms of production. Large Professor being a prodigy on the SP-1200 is well established, but the way he flips parts of MFSB’s ‘TLC’ and Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ with a sprinkling of Lyn Collins here establishes his credentials in the top tier.

Lyrically, it’s a tour de force, with Main Source taking exception with the misuse of the word ‘peace’ by the hip-hop fraternity. With even the most homicidal of gangster rappers dropping it at the end of tracks at the time, time was overdue for some regulation.

The album version makes its point pithily in a single verse, while the remix, included on the flip of this first ever 7” release, expands on the topic with new verses and some new samples too. It’s a welcome reminder of the time when remixes were remixes – not just the identical track with the latest hot rappers joining in.
Most of all, Main Source once again walk the fine line between lyrical lecture and head-nodding banger – the rare example of a track with a point to make that can still fill a dancefloor and get necks snapping.

• Samples MFSB’s ‘TLC’; Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ and Lyn Collins

• First ever 7” release of the Remix

After a decade gap, northern soul legend Dean Parrish has once more hooked up with Acid Jazz Records to release a new single. ‘It’s Time - Purple Mountain Majesty’ is a towering slice of psychedelic soul, that references the work of Norman Whitfield and like those records, comes with a powerful message.

Known predominately in the UK as ‘the Northern Soul star that sold over one million records’, Dean is an esoteric musician who has worked with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Herbie Mann and Bob Marley. All whilst following a career as an actor too, appearing in hit US TV series The Sopranos

The iconic status of his hit records such as I’m On My Way, Tell Her & Bricks, Broken Bottles and Sticks has meant that Dean has always been welcome in the UK. In the noughties, he released records with Acid Jazz and was the subject of a Radio 2 documentary by the late and much missed Pete Mitchell. Now 79, Dean has not stopped writing & recording. This latest single presents us with a stunning return to form.

33 1/3 years after its first release Piranha Records reissues the groundbreaking Stella Chiweshe international debut Ambuya! on quality 180g vinyl, remastered from analog tapes, together with a bonus John Peel session from 1988. Stella Chiweshe stands as one of the most enduring and successful women activists in African music. She started playing the Mbira and performing in her motherland Zimbabwe despite all kinds of racial and male dominant mentalities of that time, setting a spectacular example of how music can cross all kinds of borders, a message that is perfectly aligned with our core values as a record label. With her album Ambuya? the Mbira finally went electric and combined the spiritual with the popular in a creative exchange with British world indie legend 3 Mustaphas 3. Thrilled to have, and still be, teamed up with such a pioneering artist, we feel like time spins like an album: our mbira-meetstapha kick-off of 1987 still lives and rotates with Piranha Records in 2021. Ambuya? Ambuya!

On the highly acclaimed “Old New Ballads Blues”, originally released in 2006, the blues-rock legend Gary Moore is stepping back in time, mixing self-penned songs with blues classics such as Willie Dixon’s ‘You Know My Love’ and ‘All Your Love’ by Otis Rush.
An exciting album, which is now available on vinyl again. The re-release comes on black heavyweight double vinyl in a gatefold packaging and is a definite gem in every vinyl lover’s collection.

There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it anecdote tucked into one of the many fine documentaries about seminal 20th Century artist Jean-Michel Basquiat regarding the habits of his studio practice. As we watch inspiring footage of Basquiat darting from one piece to the next with rapid-fire brush strokes, a friend or gallerist in a voice over says that it was not unusual for Basquiat to be working on several paintings in the same moment as several radio stations and televisions played in the background. Not much more time is spent on the anecdote, but it feels like a skeleton key into Basquiat's endlessly alluring, neoexpressionist work. And while Bryan Devendorf's solo curio `Royal Green' doesn't possess the only-in-New York vibe of Basquiat's work, there is something shared in its many-channels-open style of creation. Satellite signals, strange voices from lost television documentaries and radio operas are all woven into its fabric _ like it's using these endless tides of media and information to unlock the subconscious. Even its covers _ Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, The National (with a nice big wink), The Beatles _ are like stunning, albeit satanic takes on hymns, or like American standards almost dragged into the underworld. Like the best of Spacemen 3, Sparklehorse or massively underrated San Fran band Skygreen Leopards _ the music makes you queasy in one movement and lulls you into blissmode in the next. It's the very edge of outsider pop songwriting. For all the amphitheaters and festival fields Devendorf has played to over his career, `Royal Green' almost feels like an un-learning and a newfound love of homemade/found/fractured sounds _ and how, if collaged just so, detritus can become stunningly gorgeous and surreal. And not without hooks. Look no further than "Frosty" which could be Little Billy Corgan's decayed demo tape from just before the Smashing Pumpkins appeared on the scene. And the unspooling, slightly unglued dream-pop of "Breaking the River" is as rapturous as it is sinister. And that's probably where Devendorf wants it.

Plump is fat positive, sex positive, queer positive, feminist and anti racist with a focus on centering underrepresented and marginalized voices. Think feminist Ghetto Tech, uplifting while militant, raw and empowering. A place of refuge for everyone who has ever felt unseen or excluded no matter gender, colour or creed.

Plump is about an attitude and ethos, more than it is attached to a genre specific sound. Plump is about radical acceptance. Plump is a return to the origins of dance music as a space for people from all walks of life to be able to come together, embrace joy, pleasure and be free to truly be themselves.

Plump is a creative partnership and collaboration between Kevin Knapp and Jessica “Hutch” Hutcheson, AKA Hutchtastic. Hutch is a visual artist, vocalist, Detroit native, burgeoning producer and overall performer and art personality. Kevin Knapp is music producer, DJ and vocalist, with a slew of releases on formidable labels in the dance music industry.

Kevin also has a new streaming show on Dirtybird Live called Plump’d. The Plump’d livestream show originates from Berlin and is created by Kevin & Hutch.

Kevin says
"Plump'd is an opportunity I've been gifted in the wake of the world shutting down due to the pandemic. Life is funny that way when life closes some doors it opens others. I've been given the opportunity to host a show every Saturday night during the prime time slot, on Dirtybird's Twitch channel for Dirtybird Live. Each week my hope is to have artists I respect, revere, and consider a friend to come on and play some music with me, just for the love of the music. The show is named after our new record label and carries with it the label's ethos of going back to the roots of dance music as a place of radical acceptance."

Morrissey and David Bowie’s duet of T-Rex’s ‘Cosmic Dancer’, that was recorded live at the Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles on 6th February 1991, is to be released officially for the first time.

The 7-inch double A-side single featuring ‘Cosmic Dancer’ alongside Morrissey’s 2020 cover of The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment’ is to be released on 19th February. The sleeve front and back features photographs of David Bowie with Morrissey and were taken in New York City by Linder Sterling.

As a point to note, this version of 'That's Entertainment' is different to the commonly circulated version from 1993.

Produced by Oscillian, Richard X and Sunglasses Kid, 'Sleepwalking' creates the illusion of timelessness over eleven tracks as it rejuvenates an 80’s synthwave musical aesthetic while simultaneously presenting a modern pop vibe. NINA’s lyrical depth paired with instrumentals that are both dynamic and delicate create a quality sonic experience.

In the 2000’s Chee Shimizu helmed an untouchable Tokyo DJ collective called Discossession alongside Dr Nishimura (House music buyer for Cisco Records at the time). Balancing out this unit were a young Scotsman-abroad named Jonny Nash (who’d later form Sombrero Galaxy ESP001 and Gaussian Curve as well as the Melody As Truth imprint), and the late guitar virtuoso and tattoo artist Zecky. Formidable DJs and multi-talents on the Tokyo scene, Discossession released two EPs on Kenji Takimi’s Crue-L imprint and various mixes individually on lovefingers, all holding well-deserved eternal cult status. Chee’s Denshi Meisou 2006 and Follow My Dream 2007 for Lovefingers as well as his legendary “listening sessions” at HiFi lounge SHeLTeR in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, laid foundation for what would become known to his followers as “Organic Music” or “Obscure Sound”, the former extending as the name of his record shop and the latter as the title of his 2013 book.

Obscure Sound chronicled his tastes in detail and has since become a sort of diggers bible for peers and younger generations. At the ESP Institute’s inception in 2009, Shimizu contributed two tracks to Lovefingers’ Concentration Vol 1 compilation as apéritifs to a later release. “Later” eventually became “forever” and the mythical piano track (appearing only as a demo on Golden Age and Dekmantel 061) is still, to this day, not ready for formal release. Skip a dozen years, musical interests and major life changes, and Chee has now unveiled something quite special in accordance with his Obscure Sound—rather than making new out of old rope, he presents a collaboration with Tokyo guitarist miku-mari a.k.a. Takahiro Matsumura. The artists frequently collaborate at the experimental audio/visual event, Sacrifice, held irregularly at Tokyo’s ForestLimit, and in 2018 when Chee was invited to DJ at Japan’s only Ambient festival Camp Off-Tone, he and miku-mari endeavored to expand these works into a 2-hour improvised performance. Chee collaged various percussion samples and personal field recordings utilizing four CDJs, supplementing with live windchimes and Andean chajchas, while miku-mari coupled a guitar-controlled synthesizer, Sound Tube software (developed by Japanese Ambient composer Hiroshi Yoshimura) and more live elements such as Tibetan bells and pyramid crystals. Rehearsals for this performance were held prior to the festival at ForestLimit, recorded as multi-tracks and edited into these two cerebral Reconstructions.

Clear Vinyl

Pre curser to the infamous Sandwell District First release on Birmingham's HOUSEWERKS. Classic Stringy Techno. 2021 will see the re-release of all 6 releases on this classic timeless label. First 300 copies will be pressed on coloured or Clear Vinyl. Artwork by Silent Servant. Music Karl O’Connor and Peter Sutton.

Mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus was signed to Columbia Records for the briefest of time during 1959. His Columbia recordings, however, remain some of the most inspired, mood-jumping jazz in history. The flowing sadness of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" rings like a funeral chorus that pitches headlong into a celebration of Lester Young's life and improvising flexibility, rather than his death. And there's the funky furnace blast of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" , which reaches its glory with Booker Ervin's Texas tenor sax, wrapped tight in bluesy tone. With the index of emotions captured, these songs nail why Mingus is possibly the most relevant jazzer for the '90s generation. He swings and shouts and hollers and somersaults. His tunes either induce foot-stomping with their intensity or reach for poignant yearning with their lyrical tapestry of orchestral colors. --Andrew Bartlett

The prolific German duo are back with a new 7' release, following up their last EP "Sofea", which included a remix by Dj Spinna. The A Side features the banger "You Got It Baby", a revamped & boosted interpretation of the original version, previously released only on CD in 2009, and available for the 1st time on vinyl. This song really established the "Modern Funk" sound, and solidified First Touch as pioneers of the movement. The B Side "Crampjuice" oscillates between Funk & Electro vibes, with thumping drums and the classic First Touch aesthetics; refined and sophisticated grooves. A 7" that will never leave the bag.

Main Source’s paean to the simple pleasures of relaxing with friends is built over two tried-and-tested samples. The dreamy, swoony sounds of Vanessa Kendrick’s timeless ‘90% of Me is You’ is ever-present during this stone-cold classic, while Sister Nancy’s unmistakeable ‘Bam Bam’ lends several elements to the mix. Throw in some Skull Snaps and Sweet Charles and you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for a roll call of Large Professor’s nearest and dearest.

There are plenty of reasons why so many regard ‘Breaking Atoms’ as an all-time classic album, and the sheer variety of singles lifted from it is chief among them. Large Professor was happy to roam over varied topics at a time when many rappers had a manic focus on one thing.

And where better to hang out with friends than at a barbecue? ‘Live at the Barbecue’ is rightly regarded as one of the best posse cuts of all time, and famous for showcasing the debut of one Nasty Nas. While he delivers a dope verse full of quotables over drums from Bob James’ oft-plundered ‘Nautilus’, credit is also due to the other guests. Fatal and Akinyele aren’t disgraced in this company, and Large Professor tops it off with a rare verse of pure brag-rap.

An undisputed entry in the pantheon of head-nod hip-hop, this is its first official UK release, and another debut on 7”.

• Samples Sister Nancy’s unmistakeable ‘Bam Bam’

• Taken from the all-time classic album ‘Breaking Atoms’

• Features the debut of Nas

• Limited Edition Purple vinyl

We’ll get to the vocal content in a second, but first it’s time to acknowledge what a patchwork tapestry of genius ‘Peace is not the word to play’ is in terms of production. Large Professor being a prodigy on the SP-1200 is well established, but the way he flips parts of MFSB’s ‘TLC’ and Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ with a sprinkling of Lyn Collins here establishes his credentials in the top tier.

Lyrically, it’s a tour de force, with Main Source taking exception with the misuse of the word ‘peace’ by the hip-hop fraternity. With even the most homicidal of gangster rappers dropping it at the end of tracks at the time, time was overdue for some regulation.

The album version makes its point pithily in a single verse, while the remix, included on the flip of this first ever 7” release, expands on the topic with new verses and some new samples too. It’s a welcome reminder of the time when remixes were remixes – not just the identical track with the latest hot rappers joining in.
Most of all, Main Source once again walk the fine line between lyrical lecture and head-nodding banger – the rare example of a track with a point to make that can still fill a dancefloor and get necks snapping.

• Samples MFSB’s ‘TLC’; Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ and Lyn Collins

• First ever 7” release of the Remix

The album was intended as an experiment using musical styles Brubeck discovered abroad while on a United States Department of State sponsored tour of Eurasia, such as when he observed in Turkey a group of street musicians performing a traditional Turkish folk song that was played in 9/8 time, a rare meter for Western music. Columbia president Goddard Lieberson took a chance to underwrite and release Time Out. It received negative reviews by critics upon its release, but despite this, it became one of the best-known and biggest-selling jazz albums, charting highly on the popular albums chart when 50,000 units sold for a jazz album was impressive. It consequently produced a Top 40 hit single in "Take Five", composed by Paul Desmond, and the one track not written by Dave Brubeck. The cover art is just as important as the LP itself featuring specific artwork created by S. Neil Fujita best known for his covers for CBS Records, which introduced abstract art to jazz LP packaging.

IZIPHO SOUL Limited edition picture sleeve 7"
KISS OF FREEDOM: The All Star Indie Soul & Jazz collaboration, fronted by writer/producer J.D's Time Machine, features some of the most currently talked about, new and celebrated artists, including Cleveland P Jones, AgapeSoul, & U-Nam. Within this live arrangement are singers and musicians on loan from amongst the biggest Grammy Award Winners & Nominees today, including Lalah Hathaway, Snarky Puppy, and Ledisi. The song is an inspiring love baptism - the perfect vehicle to free us to enter the hopeful new journeys we dream will begin in 2021.
On the B Side we present the ‘long version’, showcasing Cleveland P. Jone’s supreme vocals and incorporating his incredible jazz scat, exclusive to this 45!

It was a solid bet that Skratchorama Records would release a 7” DJ tool specifically crafted for the international portable turntable scene. DJ Chmielix is known as a perfectionist when it comes to music production, turntable music, DJ battles and a rubix cube… he’s as hard on the cut as they come and the Mighty Wicked 7” embodies these vibrations.

The A & B side of this record both include 6 original skipless acapella scratch loops with a variety of laser samples, aaaahhhs and fressshhhhes. Side A has 4 tracks arranged in 100BPM and 2 tracks in 133.33BPM. Side B is all arranged at 83.33 BPM for use at regular speed on a turntable. This offers the ideal track size for a 7” battle record. The tracks are large enough to easily cue the needed loop on the fly, and small enough that the maximum amount of samples can be put on the record… needle dropping made easy! Each side’s tracks are separated by hidden samples which inject creativity into performances using this record. At the end of each side a single rotation of each skipless loop has been arranged twice back to back giving DJ’s two full sample banks to get dirty on the cut with.

The record has a secret theme, but we’ll leave it to you to figure it out!

Pressed on blue vinyl, artwork by Maciej Kwietnicki, and mastered by the legendary D. Perez, you are in for one of 2020’s finest scratch records… it’s time to take it to the next level!!

Soul/Disco/Funk single here for the first time ever on vinyl!
The independent label Six Nine Records Ltd. UK, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, proudly presents Winfree and the king of remixing - Yuki “TGroove” Takahashi.
David Winfree is an American singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and talkbox artist. Born in Toledo, Ohio, Winfree has collaborated with
artists from all around the globe including those from France, Japan,
Ireland, Chile, and the Philippines. In 2002, "One On One", written by
Winfree, was recorded by the R&B icon Keith Sweat. "One On One" was also featured on the soundtrack to the 2002 movie, "The Transporter."
We are proud to now release his latest collaboration with Japanese mixer and producer Yuki "T-Groove" Takahashi, "The Best (T-Groove Remix)" B/W "I Love The Way", which is taken from the previously CD/digital only album "Gotham City". "The Best (T-Groove Remix)" is a succulent slice of vocoder dancefloor kingship, T-Groove's remix lifts it into boogie-funk / disco heaven!
Definitely not to be missed as it is a limited UK press with small hole
and full colour printed picture cover!

RAWAX proudly present Gregor Tresher aka Sniper Mode!
It’s Gregor‘s first release under his Sniper Mode moniker after 17 years!
A timeless future classic - highly recommended!

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

Every now and then an artist comes along who makes you remember why you started listening to albums in the first place: Aaron Lee Tasjan is that artist. With his wrecked cool, off-centre charm and restless creative dazzle, he makes music with conviction that has its roots in rock’s murky past, armed with an arsenal of songs that spill over with humour, intelligence, irony and, at times, prophecy.
An obsessive creative, Aaron Lee Tasjan writes pop songs with a twist, a little overdriven and far too honest at times. He updates the idea of androgyny but dispels the emotional and social ambiguity with lyrics that reflect his own geographic and artistic wanderings.
Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’ is 11 songs. The man who began the album is not the same man who completed it, transformed both by the experiences that inspired the songs and by crafting them. This is not anxious music for anxious times but rather music as an antidote for anxious times. It is the sound of the future arriving.
Gatefold vinyl

A western film noir mixed with softcore sex scenes and a Reefer Madness-style warning about the perils of marijuana…it’s all there in Cherry…& Harry & Raquel, one of Russ Meyer’s wackiest romps. And composer Bill Loose is up to the task of bridging some yawning gaps in style and plot, with a little help from fellow soundtrack composer Stu Phillips, whose fantastic garage pop tune “Toys of Our Time” (performed by “The Jacks & Balls”) appears twice, once in mono, once in stereo.

"Over the years, I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting countless wonderful people in every corner of this beautiful planet, and a lot of times these music enthusiasts have expressed a very similar-sounding story. That our presence – whether it be via a studio recording or our ferocious show – is capable of transporting them to a better place and washing away all earthly worries. Doesn't this sound amazing – especially during these challenging times?"
This gentle voice belongs to the vocalist-guitarist Jonne Järvelä, who happens to be the creative force behind the unique Finnish ensemble KORPIKLAANI. Having experienced multiple triumphant years within the inner circle of folk-influenced heavy metal, Jonne now acknowledges his position as one of the most recognisable artists ever coming from the land of a hundred thousand lakes.

KORPIKLAANI – preceded by Jonne's own project SHAMAANI DUO (1993-1997) and the band SHAMAN (1997-2003) – was founded somewhere deep in the primeval northern forests in 2003. Ten celebrated studio albums, numerous world tours and hundreds of millions of digital streams alongside multiple other releases, have established KORPIKLAANI’s status as one of the leaders of innovative heavy music. For their diehard legion of fans, they are known as Folk Metal Superstars.

"I have always been fascinated by ancient Lappish/Samish culture and the infectious melodies of aged folk songs. However, that's only one side of the coin as I have loved rip-roaring metal since I was a frantic kid looking for some rebellious sounds. My butt was kicked by the likes of MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST", says Jonne.
"Since the early 2000s, KORPIKLAANI has combined these elements as we have tirelessly attempted to pump new life into the ancient tales of joy and heartbreak, and added the enormous energy of current heavy metal into that folk metal melting pot.We have always been on a mission to create something new and unprecedented."

Here and now, KORPIKLAANI’s fearless journey continues on – and this time, the journey is powered by rather serious subject matter. Their eleventh full-length studio record "Jylhä" (which has no direct translation but can be described as majestic, or wild and rugged in a beautiful way) brings all the well-known and essential ingredients to the table: heavy-duty guitar riffing, rhythmic folk melodies and more.

What about the tales of the wilderness then? The fascinating and miscellaneous tales have always been a crucial part of KORPIKLAANI’s journey within the realms of unspoiled Finnish nature, ancient Scandinavian myths, shamanistic voyages and beyond. "Did I already mention that "Jylhä" offers some new angles?", the singer/guitarist laughs. "Well, lyrically, there are definitely some previously unknown passages – such as fables connected to the infamous Lake Bodom murders in Southern Finland in early 1960s."

KORPIKLAANI’s long-time lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki – the renowned Finnish poet and author, comments: "When I am coming up with narratives, interesting wordplays and other ideas for KORPIKLAANI, I often feel like I am diving into some absorbing fantasy world. I would describe this state of mind as some kind of a deep trance", says Keskimäki.
"As a whole textual piece, "Jylhä" is rather widespread. For example, there are stories about the fragility of life, revealed by using nature metaphors. ‘Miero’ is one of these tales: after all, it's a fact that the lifetime of a human being is just one blink of an eye compared to the eternal aeons of the cosmos."
"On the darker side, there are several murder songs - I wasn't really planning these rather untraditional lyrics, they just happened... One of these is ‘Kiuru’, and that story is inspired by a famous Finnish double homicide case, which took place in the small village of Tulilahti in 1959. In these lyrics, the character called Kiuru – Skylark in English – acts as eyewitness and a prophet, but at the same time, this creature also functions as an allegory of many things... All in all, I am really happy with the lyrics and all these new themes!"

When asked about his current sentiment regarding the new KORPIKLAANI opus "Jylhä", the commander of the forest clan sighs and smiles. "Using "Jylhä" as our solid steppingstone, we are able to reach completely new heights. For me, it's crystal clear that KORPIKLANI has never been better."
It is a fitting album for our dark times, summed up well by the song ‘Huolettomat’ (The Careless). It talks about living in the present moment, alongside a story of joy and celebration. Today is today, tomorrow is uncertain.

For the Perth group, creativity and production hasn’t stopped in 2020. Despite
much of this year’s tour plans being put on pause, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have used their time off road to continue preparing themselves for the release of their fourth studio release, and an eventual blistering return to stages
around the world with a heavy-hitter of an album primed for the live space.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have already given fans an early taste of the forthcoming SHYGA! era, with ‘Mr. Prism’ in August. The creation of SHYGA! The
Sunlight Mound, especially off the back of 2019’s huge LP And Now For The
Whatchamacallit, came together in a different environment for McEwan and
the results speak to the band’s evolution and McEwan’s evolution as a songwriter.
“For the first time in a long time I was home without any tours booked, no
work, no deadlines and I felt free to create. My writing process became ritualistic; every morning starting with a small walk to the local bottle shop at 11am
and writing whatever flowed, allowing myself to design in all styles without
boundaries, and not trying to theme the album early on. I haven’t had the luxury of writing this way since the first record, which I spent almost a year working
on. It felt like I was myself again, creating without opinion or constraints. I was
gliding through weeks with a day seeming to pass.

Nonesuch releases a remastered, special edition of the 2005 record Our New Orleans for the first time on vinyl. The two-LP set, also available digitally, includes five previously unreleased tracks: ‘Do You Know What It Means’, by Davell Crawford; ‘Let's Work Together’, by Buckwheat Zydeco and Ry Cooder; ‘Crescent City Serenade’, by Dr. Michael White; ‘Walking By the River’, by Dr. John; and ‘Do You Know What It Means’, by The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra featuring Donald Harrison.

The $1.5 million raised from the 2005 release went toward providing housing in partnership with low-income musicians and others through the New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village, a concept that was developed by New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. Habitat–built homes in the village now provide musicians and others of modest means the opportunity to buy decent, affordable housing. The centerpiece of the village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to celebrating the music and musicians of New Orleans and to the education and development of homeowners and others who live nearby.

For Our New Orleans, many of the Crescent City’s best-known musicians recorded songs that are integral to their lives and that express their feelings about the city and the trauma of Katrina. The album was made swiftly and simply, over the course of a month, in one-day sessions across the country. Nick Spitzer, host of public radio’s New Orleans–based American Routes, contributed liner notes to the record, as did Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Ford, also a Crescent City resident. Other producers who made enormous contributions include Mark Bingham, Ry Cooder, Joel and Adam Dorn, Steve Epstein, Joe Henry, Doug Petty, Matt Sakakeeny, and Hal Willner.

Nonesuch’s parent company – Warner Records, part of the Warner Music Group – donated all production costs for Our New Orleans as part of the Group’s larger efforts on behalf of hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast. Many others involved in creating the album also generously donated their time and services.

Nonesuch President David Bither recalls, “What was most remarkable to me was the immediate response of the musicians. Many were in New Orleans when Katrina struck. Many lost everything they owned including even the musical instruments that are their livelihood. Yet they responded within days to the question of whether they might participate in this project. The emotion and the power of Our New Orleans come both from their anguish and from their incredible generosity.”

And the label’s Chairman Emeritus Bob Hurwitz said, “When we pick up a CD booklet, we usually skip over the page that says, ‘Special thanks to…’, but in the case of Our New Orleans, it is, after the listing of the musician’s names, the most important part of this package. Everyone wanted to help – studios that insisted on contributing free time, caterers, photographers and videographers, instrument rentals, producers, engineers – every step down the line, people gave, not only their profits, but absorbed all of their costs. It was an incredible outpouring of generosity.”

“Our New Orleans is a testament to the power of music to heal and provide a sense of community,” said Marguerite Oestreicher, Executive Director of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. “Musicians helped the city heal after Hurricane Katrina, and Musicians’ Village helped them come home. We’re grateful to Nonesuch and everyone who worked on this album. This year has brought new challenges to everyone, but especially to our culture-bearers. This re-release could not be more timely.”

You could think of the collection of tracks here as a library record of sorts, and each track inhabits its own universe. Tropical fits various moods and situations, and it could soundtrack any number of activities at home or on a dancefloor - whether real, imaginary, or hallucinated. Strangely enough, it sounds like it could have been constructed from obscure Italian library breaks, when instead every instrument has been played and panned, several times over, across magnetic tape.

The genesis of many of these tracks began when CV Vision moved to Berlin in 2014. His flat had a small chamber where he could fit a drum set, so he treated the walls with foam, and in true DIY style, dived headfirst into recording these tracks. It was the natural next step on an audio adventure that first began when CV Vision picked up the guitar in his teens, and a couple years later started recording with friends in his home town of Bayreuth. Fast forward ten years and here is his debut - a culmination of practising chops and learning instruments, mastering recording techniques and fine-tuning the CV Vision sound.

It’s a sound that condenses elements of acid rock, psych soul, library funk and new wave oddities into a movie soundtrack for your mind. It’s a journey from ‘60s west coast LSD-drenched excursions to ‘80s synth and post-punk mutations. Tropical is a plunge into another time, another music you can simply swim around in and explore.

Side A opens up with Tropical Tune In, which rides in on a clave and a warm wind, blowing a distinctly herbal aroma and recalling exotica dons like Les Baxter and Martin Denny. Following on with the aural equivalent of a sea breeze through your mind, Spaziergang am Meer blows away the cobwebs and conjures some nice library moments like Stringtronics or F eelings . Next, Ba_c_k(Lava) bounces out of a cold wave post-punk melting pot and crashes through the speakers like a blazed Zebedee, with some sweet eastern synths for added flavour, before the rolling bass licks of Der Böse Schamane take us into another dimension, landing somewhere between a psych rock freak out and a Black Ark dub session. Mr Maze channels the arpeggiators of synth outsiders like Mort Garson and Bruce Haack, creating a glorious interlock of robotic electronics and freakbeat vocals. The side comes to a close with the guitars of Der Strand (außer Rand und Band) letting loose like syrupy springs, and setting a languid mood like the bedroom scene in Bedazzled (1967 version). Side B kicks off with Parallel Universum, which comes through like a woozy krautrock workout, all ducking synths with big chord shifts to create an epic deranged beehive of a soundtrack. Im Land der Ameisen evokes the spirit if not the sound of White Rabbit, when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead, before waking up and wandering through the side alleys of Marrakech with the West Coast Pop Art Ensemble and the Electric Prunes, as Ritual (No. 4) blares out the speakers of passing tuk tuks. Ein Wasserfall plumbs the deep synth depths, like Raymond Scott in scuba gear, modular rack strapped to his back delivering oxygen as he swims between connector cables and seaweed forests through a watery underworld. Banana King sounds like a lost soundtrack to Donkey Kong or Mario Cart, if the cart radio was tuned into a synth

documentary hosted by James Pants, while Das Kloster am Berg takes the baton from Brenda Ray and her Naffi cohorts, all dubbed-out niceness and post punk swagger. The LP closes out with Tropical Drop Out, a dreamscape rather than a wake up call, coaxing you deeper into the trek across the desert of your mind.

And that’s Tropical in its essence: capsules from another time, snapshots of another sound, messages from another mind - all in the service of inducing the visions in your head.

written by Max Cole

It’s a decade since The Staves self-released their first EP and a lot has happened since then. Their third album Good Woman was written and recorded amid major upheaval, heartbreak and bereavement. The new-found boldness, loudness and lyrical directness on this record are indicative of lives forced to become a serious concern.

In early 2020 the band resumed touring, unveiling their expansive and exhilaratingly powerful new sound, and previewing these emotionally affecting songs in intimate venues across the country; with tickets selling out in seconds. They ended the tour with a triumphant homecoming appearance at the 6 Music Festival.

The Staves’ first album in five years is an accumulation of everything that life has thrown at them in that time.

Emily: “You find strength in the vulnerability and you find beauty in the sadness and magic in the despair. We lost so much, but we found so much. And while the album is not all about mum, something shifted in us when she died that made us make the record in the way that we made it. We became more fearless.”
Camilla: “It feels more about trying to take ownership of these events and not letting sadness or trauma rule you.”
Jessica: “It’s a record about sisterhood, motherhood and daughterhood; love, loss, change and trying to be a good person, a good woman.”

• Released in March 1993, “Suede” was the fastest-selling debut album ever in the UK.
• Available on vinyl for the first time in the US, the album contains what Rolling Stone called “its triptych of instantly classic singles” - “The Drowners”, “Metal Mickey” and “Animal Nitrate”.
• At the time, the album’s release in the US was hampered by an injunction from an existing US act called Suede. As a result, the band’s subsequent album releases in the US were ‘branded’ as being by “The London Suede”, but the first album was never re-branded.

• After their huge success throughout the 90s, Suede called it a day (for the first time) in 2003. The Suede Information Service (SIS) compiled and issued this special collection of demos, acoustic versions and other curios in 2004. Only 2000 CDs were manufactured, and these were distributed free to the members of the SIS.
• Whilst some of the tracks have appeared on the Edsel reissues, several tracks, including “Elaine Paige”, the Mick Jones remix of the band’s last single “Attitude” and the live French version of “The Power” have not been reissued since 2004.
• This release also marks the first time this collection has been issued on vinyl.

Another great collection, this time focused on Marvin Gaye's early Tamla productions. A breathtaking sequence of soulful hits released as singles between 1961 and 1963. The "Prince of Motown's lush vocals shines through on every single track of this unmissable album. This is pure Sweet Soul Music at its best.

Limited edition 12” LP - 180 gram silver marble vinyl. In response to a
world struggling with disruption and discord, Tony Tixier has instinctively turned towards his music as a way to re-establish the sundered
connections of everyday existence.
‘I Am Human’, a series of remotely records duets - available only on limitededition vinyl - was created when he returned from a sell-out US tour to find himself locked down in his Paris apartment.
An escape route appeared out of a happy combination of chances: a loan of a new piano from Yamaha and an encounter with a neighbour, David Freiss, who turned out to be an expert sound engineer. Tixier conceived a plan to spontaneously record a series of pieces, all in one take, and then send them out across the world to a chosen band of his closest musical accomplices - Scott Tixier, Hermon Mehari, Ben Leifer, Logan Richardson and Adrien Soleiman - musicians with whom he felt so closely in tune that the enforced separation of time and space could be overcome - and invited them to overdub a response to create a series of virtual duet recordings “Each track is dedicated to a friend, someone I feel close to - I sent them the track in the morning, and by the afternoon I had the track back with their parts.”
Each side of the vinyl release is opened with a performance of an original solo piece by Tixier, both recorded back to back. ‘Leaking Life’ is a meditation on the passing of time and a call to action to make the most of every day. ‘Humain’ is an expression of his own identity “A presentation of myself - I don’t see myself as mixed race - I am 100% black, 100% white, 100% human.”
Tixier has travelled the world with the likes of Christian Scott and Keyon Harrold and performed for audiences across four continents, but this is his most personal, direct work to date. Reaching out across the world, sustained by a network of friends, he has delivered a statement for our times that transcends the limitations of remote recording with the sheer force of its emotional connection. Personnel: Tony Tixier (piano), Scott Tixier (violin), Hermon Mehari
(trumpet), Ben Leifer (double bass), Logan Richardson (alto saxophone), Adrien
Soleiman (tenor saxophone)

Recorded in Chicago, Manhattan and Toronto, After Dark by Forest
Management is a collection of re-contextualized turntable audio sourced from an old vinyl copy of Claude Debussy’s La Mer.
The album shows composer John Daniel continuing to explore the territory he gestured at in 2018’s 21st Century Man, and is his biggest statement yet, clocking in at over an hour. Endlessly remixed in a software environment, the music of La Mer is transformed into new color. After Dark was inspired by events twenty years ago near the time Daniel first encountered Debussy

'IDMEMO' would not pretend to be a representative compendium of 90’s-00’s Intelligent Dance Music. It was not Vladimir Ivkovic & Ivan Smagghe’s point when they decided on the project. It is a very personal snapshot of a moment in time, when both of them were working in record shops, when they were listening to indie and electronic music. One can not stress enough the importance of this crossing of roads, pop kids getting through to the dancefloor via Aphex Twin and nerdy house heads dissolving their four to the floor into the futuristic world of Warp compilations.

The compilation unfolds in the loosest, the best way to make some kind of sense. There are some classics (Black Dog’s lysergic 'Psyl-Cosin'), there are some rarities (that Zugzwang track), some tested late night floor melters (Reload remixing Slowdive) and some personal outlandish choices that strangely take their place (Spiritualized’s 'Anyway That You want Me-remix 3').

All in all, This is an anti-archive, a choice of tracks primarily lead by emotion, more pads than glitches,”intelligent” music depraved by that last half-pill at 6am rather than high-brow destructurations, Ivkovic & Smagghe hitting, as ever, at their own margins.

'IDMEMO' is a collaborative project between Above Board Projects, Offen Music and Les Disques De La Mort. Selected and sequenced by Vladimir Ivkovic and Ivan Smagghe. Art and design by Atelier Superplus. Mastering courtesy of Keith Tenniswood @ Curved. Manufacture and worldwide distribution by Above Board, 2020.

“You’re trouble” is an avant-garde electronic pop album about questioning and locating a sense of self in a disorienting, breaking environment of dissolving certainity which grows increasingly chaotic, about dysmorphic dissatisfaction, becoming disillusioned and alienated. It seeks to juxtapose beauty, serenity and vigour with instability, ugliness, chaos and crisis, expressing itself fluidly without genre or otherwise boundaries. A kind of sinister, anxious but still forward-pushing and at times positive and hot-blooded empowering energy can be felt that wants to urge the listener not to give up but to try and take courage and take control of the troubles and fears in their life. The tone is sometimes reflective, sometimes confronting. The album navigates fairly abstract musical territory, cathartic abrasiveness, heavy and unrelenting sounds of post-club music and noise fused with stretches of pop music, never settling down or resting for long, constantly breaking up and re-assembling itself. Between chaos and form, it’s finding relief in imperfection and the in-between. As such the music is ambivalent and is equal parts some kind of crisis club music as well as introspective reflection.
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Trans World Railways creates a new line between Casablanca and Tbilisi by welcoming Cobert - one of Georgia finest producers - for a special limited 7inch edition. The two tracks are eagerly awaited since they've been featured on Casa Voyager label of the month mix on Resident Advisor. Kiev Stollen Story is an energetic peak time track while Office Junk is a more playful electro party starting track. Tested and approved. Vinyl Only.

It's tempting to think that you have all the answers, screaming your gospel every day with certainty and anger. Life isn't quite like that though, and the debut album from London four-piece TV Priest instead embraces the beautiful and terrifying unknowns that exist personally, politically, and culturally. Posing as many questions as it answers, Uppers is a thunderous opening statement that continues the UK's recent resurgence of grubby, furious post-punk music. It says something very different though - something completely its own. Four childhood friends who made music together as teenagers before drifting apart and then, somewhat inevitably, back together late in 2019, TV Priest was borne out of a need to create together once again, and brings with it a wealth of experience and exhaustion picked up in the band's years of pursuing 'real life' and 'real jobs', something those teenagers never had. Last November, the band - vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, bass and keys player Nic Smith and drummer Ed Kelland - played their first show, to a smattering of friends in what they describe as an "industrial freezer" in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. "It was like the pub in Peep Show with a washing machine just in the middle_" Charlie laughs, remembering how they dodged Star Wars memorabilia and deep fat fryers while making their first statement as a band. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a precedent for launching a band during a global pandemic, but among the general sense of anxiety and unease pervading everything at the moment, TV Priest's entrance in April with the release of debut single "House Of York" - a searing examination of the Monarchy set over wiry post-punk and fronted by a Mark E. Smith-like mouthpiece - served as a breath of fresh air among the chaos, its anger and confusion making some kind of twisted sense to the nation's fried brains. It's the same continued global sense of anxiety that will greet the release of Uppers, and it's an album that has a lot to say right now. Taking musical cues from post-punk stalwarts The Fall and Protomartyr as well as the mechanical, pulsating grooves of krautrock, it's a record that moves with an untamed energy. Over the top of this rumbling musical machine is vocalist Charlie, a cuttingly funny, angry, confused, real frontman. Uppers sees TV Priest explicitly and outwardly trying to avoid narrowmindedness. Uppers sees TV Priest taking musical and personal risks, reaching outside of themselves and trying to make sense of this increasingly messy world. It's a band and a record that couldn't arrive at a more perfect time.