Cerca:to

Disco Mind founder and Italian mainstay Paul Older and Melbourne's Brother Julian are back with a second volume of the AMBO series after the first one did so well to launch this label last year. Older's 'Keep Dancing' is an electric and peak-time disco cut with string stabs and hard-hitting drums that sweep you off your feet in an instant. It's a real disco inferno then Julia's 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' reworks an old gem into another fast-paced, melody-packed disco stomper. Two very useful disco bombs indeed.

KZN005 sees Silas & Snare return to the Kaizen fold with the three-track 'Pressure' EP. Lead track 'Pressure' is a continuation of Kaizen's recognisably weighty bass-inspired sound, carried by hefty kicks and screwed synths after a lengthy cosmic build-up. A downtempo influence runs through 'Dreamscape', the floaty synths countered with skittering drums, while EP closer 'Whistle Blower' is packed with industrial percussion and creepy bleeps made for those heads-down, screw-face moments on the dancefloor. This EP comes three years after Silas & Snare's Kaizen debut, 'Biometric'. Gear up and get ready for some 'Pressure'!

Communique Records USA is going to re-issue SO26 - S. Malm - Walkman from 1998 on the sublabel SOUNDS. !!!
Re-recorded from original DAT, re-mastered.
Highly recommended!

Venice-based DJ and collector Zaffa is next up on the ever-superb Scruniversal label with a couple more delightful disco dancers. 'Trip Through The Galaxy' is a slow-motion cosmic trip that is vast in scale and high on soul thanks to the warm vocal that floats amidst funky riffs and glowing keys. Things stay just as sensuous and steamy on the flip with 'Supernova Child', another fluid and funky jam with oodles of synth magic and gentle grooves all soothing mind, body and soul. The real kicker is the vocal samples that add extra spaced-out funkiness.

Biz is one of a number of Australian artists who are having a big impact on the sound of contemporary techno, and he has been playing a key role in the scene since the late 1980s. His sound mixes deep basslines with uplifting melodies and he has collaborated with a number of legends as well as releasing music on labels like Transmat and COD3QR. Now on Acquit, he explores the outer edges of our galaxy with celestial synth lines, sci-fi melodies and deep, Detroit-inspired techno grooves that are brilliantly cinematic and evocative. 'Soul Within' is our favourite with its widescreen synths and floating pads.

Tommaso is an exciting young talent who has brought plenty of freshness to the underground scenes of both Florence and Chicago. Now he debuts on Rocksteady Disco with more of his signature organic and soulful sounds. This one kicks off with 'G Class' which is a peak-time house pumper with lovely liquid bass and sunny strings. 'Fierro Viejo' is more twisted with rumbling bass and a peppering of percussion that will twist dancers inside out. 'Giente Que' is an arp-fuelled Italo-inflected banger and last of all is the more slow, seductive and absorbing sound of Snake Pit' for late-night lovers. Another fine EP from Tommaso.

36 and Past Inside The Present label head Zake return to their Stasis Sounds For Long Distance Space Travel project which is music designed not for the distracted world we inhabit, but for the still moments we so often neglect. Crafted with intention and restraint, it is a universe that suspends the listener in time across glacial soundscapes in which the duo conjures a sense of cosmic awe. Soft, slow-moving drones and textural washes drift like solar winds through the vacuum, suggesting the boundless calm of deep space. The production is rich, gentle with tonal shifts and barely-there harmonics that evoke both distance and intimacy, wonder and melancholy. It feels like music beamed in from the edges of the known universe. If you fancy a contemplative journey from the edge of Earth's thermosphere into the unknowable beyond, tune into Stasis Sounds on your best headphones.

Melbourne's Sgt Slick returns with another killer 4 tracks EP.

The Sarge knows what works on the dancefloor and these edits showcase that to a T. Featuring some of the biggest names around mixed for the floor, as always Buy or Cry.

Am 24.06. erscheint das achte Studioalbum „Meet The Moonlight“ von Jack Johnson. Zeitgleich startet
seine Sommertour quer durch die USA.
Das Album ist zum größten Teil in persönlicher Zusammenarbeit mit Produzent Blake Mills entstanden;
aufgenommen wurde es in Los Angeles und Hawaii. Es behandelt Themen wie die Zerbrechlichkeit menschlicher Beziehungen und die Unbeständigkeit des Lebens

Jazz Side Of The Moon is reissued on 180gram One Step Pressing LP and SACD Hybrid Stereo.

A homage to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, Jazz Side Of The Moon is one of the brightest jewels in the catalog of noted audiophile label Chesky Records.

It was recorded in 2007 in St. Peter's Church, New York, by a jazz supergroup consisting of organist Sam Yahel, drummer Ari Hoenig, guitarist Mike Moreno, and tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake. The quartet put a fresh spin on an old classic, giving it a transformative makeover that honored the spirit of the original 1973 LP while adding something new and refreshingly different. The record's highlights include sensational renditions of the Floyd favorites "Time," "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Money."

"At Newport" (Chess LP-1449) is one of Muddy Waters’ most celebrated albums. The blues portion of the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival took place on Sunday afternoon, July 3, at the end of the long weekend of jazz performances (and teenage riots too). The program included standout shows by John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Rushing, Sammy Price, Otis Spann, and Butch Cage & Willie Thomas, as well as Muddy Waters and his band, who were billed as “Muddy Waters and His Orchestra”.

Etta James’ second album leans more toward pop than the fiery soul she’s known for, with lush orchestration by Riley Hampton and a repertoire of ’40s standards. Yet, her powerhouse vocals shine, proving she could master any style. R&B still makes its mark, with the Berry Gordy-penned Seven Day Fool stealing the show, alongside Don’t Cry Baby and Fool That I Am, both charting crossover hits.

Released in 1959, The Amazing Nina Simone marked her debut with Colpix Records, blending jazz, gospel, and folk with a striking orchestral touch. Unlike her piano-driven debut, this album leans on lush string arrangements led by renowned conductor Bob Mersey. A bold departure that highlighted her vocal depth, it showcased Simone’s ability to transcend genres with effortless grace.

Already supported by Don Letts on BBC Radio 6, NTS, KEXP, Radio 3 and featured on Mixmag and Les Yeux Orange. Celebrate marks the beginning of a new chapter in PIEK’s artistic evolution.

Eight years after his debut LP "Despertar" , he returns with a radiant, emotional, and dancefloor-ready album that explores the uplifting power of electronic music. Celebrate is liberating. It’s also spicy, at times irreverent, emotional, and brutally honest. Above all, it’s a celebration and a beautiful journey through decades of dance music, drawing inspiration from 70s Latin and tropical sounds, 80s Disco, 90s Dance and even 2000s R&B and Hip Hop

Nach seinen Megaerfolgen der letzten Jahre mit der erfolgreichsten Radiosingle 2021 „Save Your Tears“ (Platin) und dem erfolgreichsten Song 2020 „Blinding Lights“ (3x Platin) beginnt The Weeknd nun sein
nächstes Kapitel.
Dieses kündigte der Superstar bereits im Herbst 2021 mit “The Dawn Is Coming” auf seinen Social-MediaKanälen an und bestätigte die Gerüchte für ein neues Album dann an Neujahr. Der erste Vorgeschmack auf sein neues Album erfolgte mit der Single „Take My Breath“. Diese stieg direkt in die Top 20 der deutschen Charts ein und erreichte Platz 2 der Airplay Charts.

Sein letztes Studioalbum „After Hours“, welches u.a. die Erfolgshits „Blinding Lights“, „Save Your Tears“ und „After Hours“ enthält belegte Platz 5 der Albumcharts. Seine anderen Alben „Beauty Behind The Madness” (2015) und “Starboy” (2016) sind in Deutschland beide mit Gold ausgezeichnet. Sein neues Album „Dawn FM“ erscheint nun am 07.01.2022 digital und enthält Feature-Artists wie Jim Carrey, Tyler The Creator und Lil Wayne.

Am 28.01.2022 erscheint es auch auf CD und wird ab dem 29.04.2022 auch als Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Top level new reggae music from the amazingly talented Kiko Bun.
All instruments, mixing, vocals and lyrics by Kiko himself. Recorded at his then North West London home studio. A truly incredible sound to achieve! Inspiration from the golden era of early 80s rub a dub but with a firm foot in the 2020s lyrically and sonically.

Max Schreiber is the more introspective guise of Mule Driver, reserved for drifting into fragile and haunted sonic territories. Variations on Memory Vol.2 deepens Schreiber’s exploration of collective sound and personal distortion.

This time, fragments of lullabies and children’s songs resurface along side memorial songs—distorted by time, memory, and a quiet sense of unease. Schreiber treats these melodies not as sacred relics, but as raw material: vulnerable to noise, decay, and reinterpretation.

Recorded in intuitive, often single-take sessions, the album challenges the listener’s sense of nostalgia. Sentimentality collapses into abstraction, and familiar tunes unravel into drifting soundscapes—like half-remembered scenes from a film that never existed.

Variations on Memory Vol. 2 is less about what these songs once meant, and more about what they might conceal.

Superb new EP from Bas Punkt.
A crazy travel into acid machines... with a brutal cave ambiance.
Back to the roots !

A1 - 1NC1N - No Man’s Land (System Check Interlude) : It’s a vinyl exclusive part of the release.


After 14 years since the founding of Zinloos Geluid Soundsystem, the very first release on vinyl is finally here. Expect various styles, each with its own story, just like the raves of Zinloos Geluid.

In addition, you will receive an EXCLUSIVE sound system check, only available on vinyl, to make your speakers sound great at your own rave or free tekno!

James Mac has had a breakthrough year with recent single’s, ‘Try Again’ & 'The Boy Is Mine', topping the charts and receiving support from the likes of Keinemusik, Cloonee, and Armin van Buuren. His new single, 'Breathe', continues to highlight his gift for creating immersive House Music with powerful vocals. The package also features his collab with Lazarusman – ‘Manifest’ and on the flip we have the 2 previous single’s as an added bonus.

Act Fast!

Official vinyl reissue of 1978 classic hard rock album featuring the fantastic power trio of Burke Shelley, Tony Bourge, and Steve Williams.

Seb returns to Mindgames with 3 new deep jungle mind massages.

Mindgames 7 strikes a perfect balance between euphoria and introspective emotive power, a talent Seb has mastered.

Introducing ''Sleek Vibra,'' the debut vinyl EP from Alessandro Gramaccioni (AFM), a compelling young Italian artist whose unique sonic vision has been forged through his involvement with the Amen Rave collective and a previous digital EP on Lapsus Records' CEE imprint. This powerful six-track offering for Adepta Editions sees AFM expertly fuse and reimagine a spectrum of genres, weaving together IDM, rave-oriented sounds, bass music, techno, and Afro-Arab rhythms. The result is an immersive sonic tapestry, where memory and tangible form converge into a cohesive audio-tactile experience. ''Sleek Vibra'' invites listeners on a futuristic journey through shadowy sonic landscapes, where the mechanical relentlessly intertwines with the organic. This intense sonic declaration holds nothing back, painting a vivid and uncompromising picture of sonic annihilation in its wake.

In the summer of 1968, Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger And The Trinity were at the height of their popularity having had chart success across Europe. This performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released for the very first time, captures legendary vocalist Julie Driscoll, Brian and group at their very best. It features a long forgotten Brian Auger original, ‘Along Came Zizzi’ plus previously unheard, live versions of Eddie Jeffersons 'Soft & Furry' and tracks from their Open and Definitely What! albums.
The booklet includes a brand new interview with Brian Auger recalling his memories of playing the festival, as well as photos of the band on stage from the actual
concert.

Der für den BRIT und den Ivor Novello Award nominierte Singer-Songwriter Tom Grennan wird sein mit Spannung erwartetes drittes Album "What Ifs & Maybes" am 16. Juni 2023 veröffentlichen. "What Ifs & Maybes" zeigt Tom Grennan auf dem Höhepunkt seiner Kreativität. Es ist zweifellos das größte, mutigste und beste Album seiner erfolgreichen Karriere. Vor kurzem beendete Tom seine erste Headliner-Tour mit einem außergewöhnlichen Konzert in der Londoner O2-Arena, bei dem er über 180.000 Zuschauer in ganz Großbritannien
und Europa hatte.

REPRESS

New Delhi-based Peter Cat Recording Co. will release their debut album, ‘Bismillah’ on June 14, 2019 via French independent label Panache Records. Debut UK live shows are soon also to be announced by the band.


Peter Cat Recording Co. could almost have a question mark on the end of its name. Not least as founder & frontman Suryakant Sawhney refuses to explain where that name really comes from or what it means (perhaps a reference to the Tokyo jazz club owned by Haruki Murakami), but also since the very existence of the band itself raises a raft of questions. When was the last time we fell for an indie rock band for the right reasons? Not because the band in question nostalgically imitate a perceived ‘golden age’ but because they innately embody the fundamentals of such music: fantasy, sincerity and the freedom to make music without rules or career aspi- rations. And when was the last time this kind of band sounded like Sinatra, Barry White, the sweetest doo-wop, humid fanfares and a psychedelic wedding band, all at once? And all of this coming from India?
In truth, the story of Peter Cat Recording Co. was written within the triangle of San Francisco, Delhi and Paris.
In the first of these cities, Sawhney (a native of Delhi) pitched up to study film-making. More distracted by the city’s peaking live scene of the early noughties, this is where he started to make music and to sketch out an idea for the band.“
The people I lived with supported my idea of writing music, they introduced me to great mu-
sic. There used to be a great garage scene in San Francisco, like The Oh Sees also Ty Seagall, Mikal Conin, all those bands. This is a world I had never seen in my entire life. A big inspiration from San Francisco was that you could record yourself. You don’t need to be in a studio and spend a lot of money to make an album. You can do it”.


At the end of the 2000s, Suryakant returned home to New Delhi, and started his band for real, more or less the same band that plays today. “I wasn’t so concerned about will we be performing, will we be the greatest band, will we be trendy. I just wanted to make something that was consequential and important for us, I think. Something which would last, something people could listen to and be like « this is life changing ». It was for the sake of beauty”.


For the first few years and in India alone, this is exactly what Peter Cat Recording Co. did, in total indifference to the rest of the world. This was until young Parisian label Panache stumbled across the band online via Vice’s THUMP subsidiary, stupefied by the band’s cosmic video for seven-minutes-and-counting track, ‘Love De- mons’. And so in spring of 2018, ‘Portrait Of A Time: 2010-2016’ was released on Panache - making the first international release from Peter Cat Recording Co., bizarrely enough, an anthology of re-mastered, hidden gems from the band’s ramshackle back catalogue, previously recorded in Suryakant’s own living room. With Peter Cat’s off-kilter charm hitherto unheard of beyond the fringes of India, the release provided a gateway op-
Whilst the title track found its way onto Tracks Of The Year lists at the Guardian & NME, it was tricky for new PCRC enthusiasts to get a firm grip on the startling push/pull between the immediate, uncanny music this release gathered, and the cultural backdrop of New Delhi at which it was so startlingly at odds.


Opportunity for a wider fanbase to fall in love with their cloud-like, drunken songs for the first time.
If discovering your favourite new band via a ‘Best Of’ feels a curious premise, then ‘Bismillah’ does more than hint towards the promise of Peter Cat Recording Co’s future. Blending gypsy jazz, psychedelic cabaret, space disco, bossa supernova, Bollywood and uneasy listening with kaleidoscopic ease, in many senses, the band’s knack hasn’t altered. Always different, paradoxical, unpredictable yet somehow familiar. The new album opens to the strains of bird chatter, the whisper of a city’s soundscape and the first few notes from an instrument which seem to be calling us to the departure lounge, a fore-shadow of the flight ‘Bismillah’ launches its listener
on. Suryakant sings with the detached, rueful elegance of Sinatra marooned on a desert island, whilst his band create small space-time capsules which navigate their way through genres and eras – including the future – and between nostalgia and eccentricity.


Peter Cat recently trailed ‘Bismillah’ with the release of ‘Floated By’, an appositely titled musing on failure & missed opportunities, punctuated by the fulsome brass section which weaves through so much of the album.


The languid, blue quality to the track is offset by the attendant music video, created with footage shot, implau- sibly enough, at Suryakant’s own marriage ceremony (needless to say, the wedding band hired for the day was of course, Peter Cat Recording Co.) Sawhney dryly notes; “Hopefully it’s not a many-a-times-in-a-lifetime event. You can’t fake that set, those people actually having a good time, being really emotional and intense.” ‘Bismillah’’s colour-drenched album cover also captures Suryakant’s father-in-law making his wedding toast on that same day - a nod back towards the cover of ‘Portrait Of A Time’, itself a black & white image taken at the wedding ceremony of Suryakant’s own father.


A stumbling but gracious collection of songs rooted in a kind of drunken soul music, the melancholy nature of some of the songs on ‘Bismillah’ renders them almost liquid, before they develop into more dance-like shapes. Suryakant’s rangy voice swoops from the falsetto glide of ‘I’m This’ to the beat-up baritone blown along by the warm breeze of ‘Soulless Friends’. The elliptical structure of album opener ‘Where The Money Flows’ also al-
lows for the use of brief bursts of autotune effect on his vocal without feeling incongruous, whilst the desultory lyrics of ‘Heera’ (a Hindi word for diamond) - sharing something with the Morricone school of grand storytelling - have an emotional weight that would impress even coming from a native English speaker. Perhaps the most gleefully unpredictable moment on ‘Bismillah’ comes with the illusory, vocal loops on the intro to ‘Memory Box’, errupting into 8 exhilarating minutes worth of unbridled, string-backed disco joy. A cat might have nine lives, but on ‘Bismillah’ and beyond, Peter Cat Recording Co. are hinting towards an un- knowable multitude of dimensions. Throw them all together, and it equates less to a listening experience and more to an out-of-body experience.


Peter Cat Recording Co. are: Suryakant Sawhney (vocals/guitar/organ), Dhruv Bhola (bass), Kartik S Pillai (organ/guitar/electronics), Rohit Gupta (horns), Karan Singh (drums)

Santana Bridges the Divide Between Live and Studio Material on Moonflower: 1977 Double Album Features Extraordinary Performances, Soulful Vibes, and Dynamic Mix of Latin, Rock, Funk, and Blues
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes and Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies: Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP Set Plays with Audiophile-Quality Detail, Balance, and Imaging
1/4” / 15 IPS original analogue non-Dolby master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe



Though it may seem strange now, Moonflower stood for nearly 15 years as Santana’s first and only live record released in the United States. This despite the fact that roughly half of the double album consists of new studio songs, including a zesty cover of the Zombies classic “She’s Not There” that reached the Top 30 of the singles charts.

However unconventional, the “split” strategy went over like gangbusters. Moonflower reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 and achieved double-platinum status — feats the group would not again replicate for 22 years. These, and the beautiful quality of the program itself, are among the reasons why the 1977 effort remains viewed by critics and fans alike as must-have Santana.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP set of Moonflower presents the record in audiophile sound for the first time on a domestic reissue. Part of the MoFi’s Santana catalog restoration series, this collectible version features quiet surfaces and black backgrounds that expose the critical details, liquid tones, and dynamic interplay central to Santana’s music.

The enhanced sonics extend not only to Carlos Santana’s six-string wizardry, but to the rhythmic, melodic, and vocal elements that course throughout both the studio and live cuts on Moonflower. The grip and depth of the bass lines; the wash of the organ; the scope and carry of the vocals; the extension and weight of the low-end frequencies; the rich textures of the guitars, percussive devices, and keyboards: all appear amid wide, balanced soundstages and image with right-sized dimensionality.

Significantly rooted in the styles and approaches that inform the group’s first three records, Moonflower captures the final appearances of iconic percussionist Jose “Chepito” Areas and go-to keyboardist Tom Coster on a Santana album. As he did during the preceding five-year stretch, Coster inhabits a large role here, sharing songwriting credits on a majority of the new cuts and helping steer the arrangements toward spiritually minded albeit concise directions that encompass vibrant Latin, rock, and blues themes that began to escape the ensemble shortly after his departure.

Close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sun on the R&B-kissed “I’ll Be Waiting,” anchored by Carlos Santana’s gliding fretwork and Greg Walker’s creamy vocals. Enter the cosmic universe of “Zulu,” on which Coster’s nimble phrasing opens the gate to polyrhythmic beats, knotty grooves, and interlocking funk. Grab the album cover and drift off to paradise amid the equally evocative “Flor d’Luna (Moonflower),” a romantic slow dance that Carlos Santana ensures tiptoes en route to its blissful destination. Channeling a different spirit animal, the guitarist later lets loose on the hard-hitting “El Morocco,” on which he seemingly engages in a shootout with himself and wades into the rippling psychedelia that elevated the band’s early material.

Speaking of the past, Moonflower triumphs on that level as well. In more ways than one, the live selections — and the caliber of the performances — chosen for inclusion represent an abbreviated greatest-hits survey of the band up to that point. And, at the very least, a convincing argument about why Santana had progressed into one of the most formidable bands you could hope to see on a stage in the mid ‘70s.

Simultaneously representative and illustrative of the group’s breadth, tracks stem from the collective’s eponymous debut, Abraxas, and Santana III as well as the then-more recent Amigos and Festival. Whether you fall for the sidewinding spell of a spicy rendition of “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen,” lose your head to the positively epic momentum of “Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet,” or keep dropping the needle on the savory grace of the brilliant reading of “Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile),” this pressing of Moonflower puts you — and Santana’s first-chapter legacy — in good hands.

2023 Repress

It's the quiet ones we should watch, they always say. Which is particularly astute advice right now, when loud, constant self-declaration and saturated 'brand' visibility have become the norm. But above the babble and brightness, some voices will always speak quiet volumes ­- with calm eloquence and the kind of certitude that comes from valuing the playing out, not just the prize.

Sweden's José González is just such a voice. He first charmed his way into the UK's earshot via the murmurous and elegant, classically finger-picked folk pop of his 2005 album, Veneer, which has since sold over a staggering 430, 000 copies in UK alone. Two years later came In Our Nature, a further exploration of José's influences (Argentinian Folklore, the '60s US folk tradition and the British pastoral folk-pop style of the same era), on which he resisted the temptation to beef up his alluringly introvert aesthetic. The albums made the UK Top 10 and Top 20 respectively.

Conceived as the natural third part in an acoustic trilogy, Vestiges & Claws is a(nother) hushed and delicate solo set that forefronts the artist and guitarist's compellingly intimate vocal style and intricate playing technique, but it's often strikingly rhythmic in nature and cohere's perfectly, with hand claps and taps on the body of his instrument underlining the songs' mantric rise-and-fall pattern, while elsewhere, over-dubbed guitar parts and multi-tracked vocal harmonies entwine to sweetly immersive effect.

The title refers to both cultural practices and biological features that survive despite having lost their original function, and to currently useful tools, ie the 'claws' of modern life.

Vestiges & Claws was recorded almost entirely by José and self-produced, mostly in his Gothenburg home, using computer plug-ins to achieve a warm, analogue sound. He prefers working alone, mainly for artistic reasons. 'There were a couple of things that enabled me to complete this record: one was curiosity, to be able to play percussion and do a lot of harmonies and also to produce and mix the album; the other was aesthetics. I love to listen to Arthur Russell and Shuggie Otis, to music that has been done mostly by one person in their solitary state.'

As José sees it, the record is his personal, 'zoomed-out eye on humanity on a small, pale blue dot in a cold, sparse and unfriendly space. The amazing fact that we are all here, an attempt at encouraging us to understand ourselves and to make the best of the one life we know we have - after birth and before death.

"The restorations of The Lost Recordings are worthy of those devoted to master paintings." — Le Journal du Dimanche

"We discovered these previously unpublished tapes in the archives of the RBB — the Berlin radio. This discovery is absolutely major because these two incredible musicians had recorded too little together and because this recording offers us the possibility to listen to them in works that were unpublished so far in their discography — notably an extraordinary sonata by Prokofiev! And what can we say about this Bach sonata, with an Andante that brought tears to the eyes of everyone present in the studio at the time." — Frédéric D'ORIA-NICOLAS, Musical treasure seeker

János Starker, cellist, and György Sebok, pianist, were both born in Hungary early in the 20th century. They were welcomed into the formidable Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and emigrated to the USA, where they both held the title of Distinguished Professor at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington. Both heavy smokers and sometimes reputed — unjustly — to be harsh, austere and insensitive to trends, they were drawn to music in all its varieties and fascinated by its many colours. They had one aim only, one noble objective: to showcase the works all composers, as evidenced by this recording made in the legendary Studio 3 of Berlin Radio on 24 October 1963.

Starker and Sebok were fully imbued with the aesthetics that Prokofiev proclaimed: "I cultivate melody and strive to introduce feeling and emotion into my works. No matter that some call me a cubist, adding that I systematically avoid any emotional or romantic elements in my quest to reach only objectivity."

Next, and at the opposite end of the spectrum, is the Spanish passion of the two pieces by Granados and De Falla, pieces that nevertheless also convey melancholy. Starker and Sebok launch into the works with enthusiasm and intensity.

The last piece, Bach's Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027 for Viola da Gamba and Keyboard, is one of three he composed, probably in Köthen. Because they may have originally been written for other instruments, they can easily be transcribed for the cello and piano. They reveal the rich influences that pervaded the German region during the first half of the 18th century. The two musicians give us a sublime interpretation of the beauty of the counterpoint in this Sonata.

These recordings attest to the importance that the two superb musicians attached to working in the service of the composers. We wonder if, in that enchanted studio in Berlin in 1963, they knew how much further they went to bewitch us and touch us so profoundly.

The Spanish Queen (of the Piano)

She had small, square hands. She was 1.52 m tall. As a child, she banged her head on the floor to be allowed to play the piano. She was Catalan. She was a pianist—one of the greatest. Her mission? To spread the Spanish repertoire. Her name was Alicia de Larrocha.

When she passed away in 2009 at age 89, Nelson Freire wrote, "I truly loved her; she was a modest woman, and her playing shone like the sun." Acclaimed worldwide, she stood alongside Victoria de Los Angeles as one of Spain’s finest artists.

Larrocha’s journey began at three, seated at a piano. At four, she studied under Frank Marshall, a student of Granados. By six, she was performing publicly; by eleven, she played Mozart’s Coronation Concerto with Madrid’s Symphony Orchestra, astonishing audiences. Despite her small hands, she developed an airy, precise touch, even daring to record Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto. But beyond technical mastery, her playing held a profound sense of life and imagination.

Though trained in Bach, Mozart, and Chopin, Larrocha fought to bring Spanish composers to global audiences. Albéniz and Granados owe much of their fame to her. Her international breakthrough came in the 1950s when an American impresario heard her Spanish recordings and invited her to the U.S., where she triumphed.

Her performances honored Spain’s musical heritage. From Soler’s sonatas to Granados' Goyescas, she infused each note with nuance. She brought Goya’s paintings to life in El Pelele and mastered the dark contrasts of Surinach’s Canción y Danza. Albéniz’s Iberia demanded both power and delicacy—qualities she commanded effortlessly.

Her final tribute was to her friend Francis Poulenc, performing his Toccata—a soaring farewell.

As one admirer put it in 1982, "She walked toward a piano too big for her, sat, placed her hands on the keys… and became the queen."

Alicia De Larrocha, Piano

The blues, born in the cotton fields of the American South, emerged from makeshift instruments and simple harmonies rooted in African heritage. It captured the struggles, hopes, and fleeting joys of laborers enduring harsh conditions, with its hallmark "blue note" adding a unique dissonance to this evocative musical style.

As industrialization progressed, the blues migrated to urban centers like Chicago and New Orleans, evolving with modern instruments and expanding themes to reflect urban struggles, sensual nights, and existential despair. This period birthed many of the musicians who later formed the American Folk and Blues Festival (AFBF), an initiative started in 1950s Germany to introduce Europe to the genre and counter its reductive reputation as a precursor to jazz.

The Lost Recordings celebrates these legendary artists through restored performances from the 1962 Olympia in Paris and the 1963 Stadttheater in Bremen. Featured artists include John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, T-Bone Walker, Helen Humes, and others, showcasing the depth and evolution of the blues.

From intimate duos like Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry’s harmonica-guitar interplay to T-Bone Walker’s electrifying group performances, each act demonstrates the genre's versatility and influence. John Lee Hooker’s solo mastery mesmerized audiences, while T-Bone Walker pioneered the electric guitar's place in blues, inspiring legends like B.B. King.

The album also highlights Sonny Boy Williamson, whose charismatic harmonica and profound sensitivity defined his performances. These concerts take listeners on a journey through the authentic sound of the blues, traversing America’s history and foreshadowing its transformative impact on global music.

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO MOXIE AND THE LOVE INTERNATIONAL X TEST PRESSING TEAM FOR WINNING THE BEST COMPILATION IN THE DJ MAG BEST OF BRITISH AWARDS 2025


“I feel really chuffed as a lot of work went into building this compilation,” beams Moxie, when we congratulate her on the award. “I also worked alongside a great team, including Dave Harvey, Ellie Stokes, Chez de Milo and everyone at Prime Distribution. I’d been manifesting working on a project like this for years, so when it all came together I was so happy with it. But to have recognition from the DJ Mag public vote is the cherry on the cake.”


Few artists have shaped their local scene quite like Alice Moxom under her celebrated Moxie alias. A born-and-bred Londoner, Moxie is a dance music powerhouse whose influence runs deep—from the grassroots to global stages. Her trajectory spans early teenage years digging for garage records, to dubstep sets at legendary club nights, to running her long-standing and beloved NTS Radio residency. For over a decade, she’s been a midweek staple on NTS, championing deep house, Detroit techno, and all things dubby, groovy, and percussive, while regularly platforming artists through guest mixes and interviews with icons like Jeff Mills, Four Tet, and Or:la.

Her latest endeavor, the Love International compilation, brings that wealth of experience to life. 'I’d secretly been manifesting this for a while,' Moxie admits. 'Love International has such a specific energy, and I wanted the compilation to reflect that—dubby, fun, euphoric, deep. It’s all the styles of music I love, pulled together in harmony. Being at Love International always feels like coming home. Whether it’s dancing in Barbarellas or sharing a smile with a stranger on the dancefloor, there’s this sense of unity that’s hard to describe. That’s why I chose ‘U Skladu’ for the sleeve—because that’s what it feels like: in harmony.'

There are imagined landscapes we all carry within us—dreamed,
half-remembered, or just beyond reach. Lofoten, the new album by
Cate Francesca Brooks on Clay Pipe Music, is a musical reflection on one such place.
Located above the Arctic Circle, Norway's Lofoten Islands are known for their dramatic peaks, open seascapes, and distinctive red fishing cabins dotting the shoreline. Though Brooks has never visited this remote northern region, it became an unexpected source of inspiration.
The project began when Cate listened to a narrated "sleep story" set in the islands. Intrigued, she researched the region and found herself drawn to its stark beauty."I fell in love with creating an impression of somewhere I would probably never visit, but felt a real affinity with," she explains.
This ambitious album translates that connection into sound. Through carefully crafted electronics, melodic themes, richly layered textures and big production, Brooks captures the essence of Lofoten—its icy light, vast horizons, and profound quiet."The other thing that happened around the same time was the first lockdown here in the UK. I had taken the opportunity of having some extra time to learn a new (to me) method of synthesis; that of the Synclavier, which uses one aluminium wheel and an array of buttons to control every parameter of the sound.
"I took to it with intrigue and before I knew it, I had built up hundreds of original sounds, many of which were perfect for the textures I could hear in my head for Lofoten. So that (along with a Prophet synth and a TR-808) became the sound world." Lofoten stands as an evocative testament to how music can transport us to distant places, transforming geographical limitations into imagined creative possibilities.

The Isle Of Lewis is the largest such of the Outer Hebrides archipelago, and a place where myth and folklore are abundant, The Callanish Stones, a cruciform circle reckoned by tradition to be the forms of petrified giants who would not convert to Christianity, once prompted notable chronicler of the ancient Julian Cope to pronounce himself “Lashed by wind and rain but surrounded by vibe”.

This was where Holy Scum decided to take a pilgrimage for the recording of their second album proper for Rocket Recordings, All We Have Is Never. Frustrated by the physical and logistical challenges keeping the band members from collaborating, they decided the best way forward was at the residential Black Bay Studios on Great Bernera, a two hour plus ferry ride from anywhere. “The isolation of Black Bay was our salvation, a much-needed cleanse after a year of relentless misfortune” reckons the band’s Peter Taylor. Taylor describes the Holy Scum approach jokingly as ‘No riffs’ yet this belies an ability to carve abstraction and minimalism into monolithic and ominous shapes. Whilst the band are as handy as ever with excoriating and ear-splitting experimentation - as on the feverish guitar scree that underpins the taut‘Thieves’ - they also excel in a grittily vital charge as analogous to the ballsy kinetics of Fugazi and The Ex (the primal ‘I Am The Land’) as the overcast catharsis of Killing Joke and Voivod (the infectious ‘Witches’). “The title is a nod to the fact that everything ends - good, bad, ugly, beautiful “ reflects vocalist Mike Mare (Dälek) of their most focused work to date. “That is not a bad thing - it is a rebirth every time. We can spend a lifetime 24/7 together having shared experiences but living separate realities”. “I don’t think it is nihilistic,” he adds. “The despair turns into hope for sure”.

Novoa/Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio Delivers Electrifying Second Volume
A Bold, Experimental Fusion of Density and Dialogue

"The wait is over. If you’ve been holding your breath since hearing Novoa/Kamaguchi/Cleaver Trio, Vol. 1, it is time to let it out. Vol. 2 is almost here! The group has returned to 577 Records once more, serving a heaping second helping of addictive musical brilliance that comes out in May.

Even The Wire magazine celebrated the trio's first album, calling it “a deep and thoughtful release” – and Vol. 2 is no different. Eva Novoa is the Barcelona-born pianist/composer taking the world by storm with her creativity and talent. And she is back to wow us again on the piano, Fender Rhodes, Chinese gongs, and a little whistling.

To complete the trio, she chose her longtime comrade and collaborator of some fifteen years, bassist Masa Kamaguchi, and Detroit drum wizard Gerald Cleaver. The group has performed live in NYC since 2017. They made their first record (Vol. 1) with 577 Records in 2024. Their highly anticipated Vol. 2 marks Eva's fourth album with the label.

In their upcoming release, Novoa steers the trio through elegant experimentation of its full potential, confidently grasping golden threads from great masters of music to shape her own melodic universe. The multi-instrumentalist says it’s where melodic density meets contrapuntal dialogue, a free interplay of rich textures and riveting, masterly improvisation. This smooth complexity is what gives rise to the group’s uniqueness.

Like Vol. 1, the album cover art features the work of Novoa’s friend and collaborator, popular street photographer Richard Sandler."

Eva Novoa - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Chinese Gongs & Whistling.
Masa Kamaguchi - Bass.
Gerald Cleaver - Drums.

Recorded on January 19, 2020 at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY by Jeremy Loucas.
Mixed and mastered by Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound, New York City.
Photography by Richard Sandler.
Graphic design by Sergio Vezzali.
Graphic support by Mark Smith.

In December 2024, The Lost Recordings released the first volume of this legendary concert, recorded on October 11, 1960, at the Olympia by Miles Davis and his quartet, joined by saxophonist Sonny Stitt. Alongside pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, they formed an ensemble of exceptional musicality.

Now comes the second part of this remarkable concert.

In 1960, Miles returned to Paris for the fourth time in 12 years. Just months earlier, he had performed there with John Coltrane in a turbulent concert, marking the end of their collaboration. In October, at the Olympia, he rediscovered a stage he loved in a city he had fallen for back in 1949. "I loved being in Paris, I loved the way I was treated there," he would later say.

Since 1949, his music had evolved. From his immersion in Parkerian bebop to his collaboration with Gil Evans, he refined his style, developing a more spacious jazz inspired by Ahmad Jamal and enriched by his classical training. The soundtrack of Elevator to the Gallows in 1957 was a turning point, foreshadowing the pinnacle of Kind of Blue in 1959.

From the opening notes of Stardust, a previously unreleased piece, Miles sets the tone—seduction and lyricism. With a track attributed to Sonny Stitt, the swing settles in. The atmosphere intensifies with ‘Round Midnight, followed by Walking, where Stitt and Davis engage in a masterful exchange. If I Were a Bell and Fran Dance offer a more introspective moment before Two Bass Hit reignites the energy. The concert reaches its peak with So What and All of You, as Miles captivates the audience until the final notes of The Theme.

Our quest to recover the full concert began in 2022 when a friend sent us a photo of magnetic tapes in Brittany. A label reading "Miles Davis – Olympia 1960" caught our attention. After two years of research spanning France, the United States, and Stockholm, we are proud to present, for the first time, the complete version of this legendary concert.

If there is one quality that best sums up the personality and music of Michel Petrucciani, it is generosity.
It was on stage, in the moment, in close proximity to the audience, in the warm intimacy of a club setting, that he most truthfully expressed his passion for sharing.
Many musicians, he confessed, play too selfishly. They play only for themselves and a few happy few. I play to please and to communicate. I’d like to think I’m a very happy person.

That’s why it’s essential for me to transmit and give others the generosity that is vital in art, music, and life.”
This is proven by these magnificent moments captured live in 1997 in Tokyo.
Accompanied by Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd - two close friends with whom he shared an almost telepathic musical relationship - Michel Petrucciani delivers an intense hour of pianoforte, performing both standards and original compositions to unleash his boundless generosity and sensual lyrical expression live on stage.

Once again, one is struck by the solar clarity of his phrasing, the vigour and percussive precision of his touch (this master of tempo played ‘deep in the note’), and the breadth of his long lines where each note remains distinct and articulate. Michel infused everything he played with great emphasis and nuance - but above all, with sincerity. His heart sang immediately through the piano. This record is the most brilliant demonstration of that.
· Until now, this album had never been released on vinyl. Now available as a 180g double vinyl edition, mastered specifically for vinyl, housed in a 350g leather-textured sleeve with Struktura finish, offering an elegant texture and refined feel.

BerettaMusic has long been a cornerstone of Detroit’s underground dance scene, launching the careers of renowned artists like Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Luke Hess, and many more. With its latest release, the label continues to cement its legacy—this time with a standout record from label boss Ryan Sadorus.

Sadorus has been on a production streak, making waves not only in Detroit but across the globe. His recent work includes the deep and driving “Down Below” on Norm Talley’s esteemed Upstairs Asylum label. Now, he teams up with the incredibly talented vocalist Simon Black to deliver a fresh slice of Detroit house music.

Their track “Hot in the D” captures the raw, moody, and hypnotic essence of the city’s signature house sound. While Detroit is often synonymous with techno, its deep and soulful house scene has also made an undeniable global impact. The track has already been turning heads at underground parties in Detroit, with dancers and DJs alike asking, “What is this?!” and “When can I get it?!”

On remix duties, Delano Smith—a true pioneer of the Detroit sound and someone that needs no introduction—delivers his signature deep, rolling, and hypnotic style to “Hot in the D”, making this release a must-have for house music lovers globally. Stay tuned—this one is destined to move dance floors everywhere… Already getting heavy rotation from Jimpster, Gilles Peterson and DJ Harvey to name a few.

With a clutch of EPs under his belt spanning a wealth of pallets, Henzo narrows the focus on his debut studio album “The Poems We Write For Ourselves” - a culmination of persistent iterations over several years, distilling his sonic milieu into something that feels decidedly his own. The album proper is coupled with a debut live performance which reinterprets the tracks and splices them with omitted material from the time of writing - recorded in full in the intimate confines of Manchester’s growingly infamous Stage and Radio basement. Honing his craft in the shadows of Lancashire, Poems is an expansive reflection of the producer’s time spent away committing to the scope of an LP.

A thread of stratified sound design weaves throughout the record, but with a discerning dancefloor proclivity mostly prevalent. Cold opener “Noggin” riffs on noughties Raster-Noton a la Byetone rebuilt with fractal tear out DnB, with closer “Indulgence” following suit on a puckered plod of Dub Techno ambience. More club-focussed moments come in the form of “Rustica Slump” and “Blue Will...”, the former’s sickly sweet vocals resolved by the latter’s stoic UKG/Techno rudeness. “A Bouquet of Clumsy Words” channels mechanical shuffle with a stripped back 2/4 pulse whilst maintaining a firmly FWD>>energy alongside “Plant Your Roots In Me” on a similar vector - swapping out a straight kick pattern for a bludgeoning 808 assault on an early Hessle-indebted tip.

“Take Stock, Touch Grass” harks to golden era ClekClekBoom and Night Slugs with a bare bones kick and vocal motif, updating the formula with a tweaking lead line that places it firmly in the contemporary space. “Swell:Shrink” sings from the same sheet with a shrieking, space age wobble doing the heavy lifting, knocking the pace back to a shoulder-lean swagger on a slow fast conundrum Henzo has shown his flair for on previous releases.

The outliers to Henzo’s more known approach, “Worm Grunting” with Belfast’s Emby, an amalgamation of halfest time DnB and illest mannered Road Rap, plus “The Rest Is The Mess You Leave”, a starkly anti-retro Ghettotek endeavour, give grounds to the LP. Clearly rooted in the comfortable universe of the dancefloor, these tracks expand the producer’s realm into loftier heights as he graduates into long play land.

Swim Inside The Moon is a delicate, confident, quiet singer songwriter record by 24 year old Angelo De Augustine. Angelo’s setup was simple: a Shure SM57 microphone next to the wall of the shower and a cable back to an analogue reel-to-reel in his nearby bathroom. For some songs, he played his mother’s 100-year old piano in the living room and on others he added synth and electric guitar. Listeners might hear Nick Drake’s intricate arpeggiated guitar parts, Elliott Smith’s pure vocals or, at times, a likeness to the soulfulness of artists such as Robert Johnson, Vashti Bunyan and Judee Sill.

The Solid Gold Playaz (and global house music scene) experienced an immeasurable loss in 2021 with the sudden passing of Kenny Gino. Known for pushing the boundaries of deep house and house with funk, Solid Gold Playaz carved a legacy on dance floors worldwide, bringing infectious grooves and undeniable energy to the community.

Years following this heartbreaking loss, the surviving member remains committed to honoring Kenny’s memory and the groups musical efforts. “This music was our heartbeat, and that heartbeat will never stop,” says Mike Theus. “We started this journey together, and I will continue to celebrate the sound we built, ensuring Kenny's spirit lives on in every track, every set, and every dance floor. ” Fans can expect future releases of new and unreleased material on Moods & Grooves as Solid Gold Playaz keeps the music alive.

The Black Gold EP blends the hypnotic depth of deep house, the infectious bounce of house with funk, and the driving energy of tech-house; this EP is a sonic experience designed for dance floors and late-night sessions alike. Let the beats move you. Let the grooves consume you. The Black Gold EP is coming. Are you ready to dance?

Random Coloured Vinyl
Nu-Tone presents Combo Tezeta's debut 7" vinyl record! The A-side, "La Danza Del Camaleón" is an instrumental cumbia-salsera that takes you on a tropical trip with a touch of psychedelia. On the flip side, a dark mid-tempo bolero called, "La Reina Nocturna". Remastered from the original verion, released by Discos Más in 2020. Based out of the Bay Area, Combo Tezeta plays a highly danceable blend of instrumental Cumbias, Chichas, and Musica Tropical inspired by the late 60's and early 70's era of psychedelic Peru. Layering the reverb-fueled sounds of surf rock onto the foundations of Cumbia, the band's focus is to highlight the rich melodies and hypnotic rhythms birthed from the Afro-Latin diaspora. Along with its appreciation of world music and its diverse cultures, Combo Tezeta's mission is to deliver the sounds and musical echoes of the past to the present through a combination of traditional and original music. Combo Tezeta was featured in Noise Pop 2023 and has played Pacific Northwest tours with Satan’s Pilgrim and Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini 2023. The band has played famed Bay Area Venues the Chapel, Eli’s Mile High Club and the Ivy Room.  In Summer of 2024 they toured the Pacific Northwest and Southern California, including an appearance at The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The band was chosen by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts to be one of 20 finalists (out of 7000), and featured them in the Northern California showcase of finalists at Lagunitas Brewery in 2024. “Oakland seven-piece Combo Tezeta kicked off the baile with a garage-band take on ’60s and ’70s classics and originals, with distorted guitars and jangly synths layering psychedelic ooze onto timbales and güiras. The musician’s solos revealed hard-won skills, but the band members looked remarkably chill as they played together fluidly.” – KQED

Steve Harley's iconic album The Best Years Of Our Lives celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025 and to mark the event, Chrysalis Records is proud to present an expanded 3-Disc edition featuring a 2025 Stereo Mix by Alan Parsons.

Following the split of the original Cockney Rebel line up, Harley endeavored to form a new line up while renaming the group as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. The result of this newfound group was electric, with the band producing their biggest hit; the number one, million-selling anthem 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)'.

The lead track has gone on to have a life of its own, produced by Alan Parsons, just two years after he engineered Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, this album stands tall as an assured collection of top tier prog-glam-pop.

Disc One features a new 2025 Alan Parsons Stereo Mix, Disc two has never-before-heard outtakes and rarities, offering fans a unique insight into the creative process. The DVD features the Between The Lines documentary and Star Rider live video, unaired since the time, giving a wonderful glimpse into Steve performing at his victory lap show at Hammersmith Odeon alongside some fantastic fan interviews, Make Me Smile promo video and TOTP performance and the full audio recording of the Hammersmith Odeon concert. At the centre of this DVD style hardback book, are liner notes by renowned author Peter Doggett with interviews from band members Jim Cregan, Stewart Elliott, Duncan Mackay and producer Alan Parsons plus previously unseen photographs from Mick Rock and Michael Putland

Mr Bongo proudly presents Ritmo Italiano ‘Unspoken Sounds of Italian Tamburo’ a captivating compilation of percussive-driven, Italian gems curated by Sardinian multi-instrumentalist, percussionist and producer, Gabriele Poso. A journey into the heart of Italian musical history, it celebrates Italy’s rich rhythmic traditions, showcasing a selection of genre-traversing, Italian treasures from the ‘60s to the early ‘90s. Honouring the timeless rhythms of Italian percussion masters, alongside a brand-new exclusive composition by Gabriele, ‘Ritmo Italiano’ shines a light on the universal, primal language of the drum.

A connection sparked from an early age; percussion has always deeply resonated with Gabriele. It led to years of studying percussion traditions across Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, crafting his own songwriting skills in the process. An acclaimed producer and compiler, his releases on Yoruba Records, BBE and Soundway Records have garnered global support. Yet a growing need to rediscover the essence of his country’s cultural heritage laid the foundations for this new compilation.

In Gabriele’s own words, “Italy has always been a crossroads of civilizations, with influences from the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe converging over centuries. Ports like Naples, Genoa, and Venice played a crucial role as gateways for musical exchange, a melting pot of sounds and cultures brought by sailors, merchants and travellers. These influences blended with Italy’s own folk and religious traditions, creating Italy’s unique and emotionally resonant rhythms.”

Across the 12 absorbing tracks, there’s jazz influences, Italian library music aesthetics and experimental beats mixing with Afro-Cuban and Mediterranean rhythms. It’s a broad selection anchored by the drums. The synth-heavy, ‘80s jazz funk flavours of Gegè Munari's ‘Police Man’, sit side-by-side with the samba-infused ‘Napulitano D' 'O Brasil’ by Don Marino Barreto Jr. Tribal, earthly energy radiates from Naco’s ‘Volando Con Milton’, with Tullio De Piscopo serving up cosmic disco brilliance, and blistering jazz funk mastery coming courtesy of Agostino Marangolo. Taking the name of the compilation, a new original track by Gabriele, ‘Ritmo Italiano’, blends traditional rhythms with contemporary energy, Afro-Latin influences with Italian jazz essence. Recorded live in one take, it captures a raw, unfiltered vibe.

“Each track tells a story, connecting the past with the present, and highlighting the deep-rooted traditions that shape Italy’s rhythms. The collection also offers a glimpse into the diversity of Italian music with a variety of styles from the organic, earthy beats to the more experimental and modern takes on traditional rhythms. It’s a reflection of how these rhythms have not only shaped Italian culture but also influenced global music.”

"Polymath artist, musician and iconoclast Raed Yassin releases Eternal Ghost, two long-form pieces of modular minimalism via Fourth Sounds. Drawing on influences of Terry Riley, Suicide, no wave and synth pop, the double A-side 12” reverberates with urgent, high-octane loops, repeating patterns and distorted vocal frequencies, each track unfurling over 15 frantic Minutes of maximalist electronics.

Born in Lebanon and based in Berlin, with a musical practice that spans free improvisation, Arabic pop and sample-based cultural archaeology, Yassin is an artist who refuses to be contained, working across disciplines to interrogate ideas of personal identity, collective memory and consumer culture.

Eternal Ghost is the latest addition to a shape-shifting body of work, released to accompany Yassin’s debut London exhibition of the same name at Cedric Bardawil in June 2025."

The Owl label kicks on with another party-starting nix of edits and remixes that blend funk, disco and soul into pure heat. 'Gimme Your Thang' is a low-slung opener with a filthy bassline and James Brown samples bringing it to life. 'Freaky To You' reworks a g-funk classic into a lavish and bumping slow-motion seducer and 'Rock Me Again' brings chunky, rolling funk with more classic vocal samples. 'Future Shock' shuts down with a lovely falsetto vocal and some psyched-out guitars.

Kai Alce's NDATL Muzik is one of our favourites for deep house so imagine our delight to learn that it now branches out with a new sub-label, Nutria Sounds. Its debut release is a gem from Shaka with Eve's soulful vocals capturing the essence of Paris through organic textures and sultry melodies. The main vocal mix has jazzy chords and a carefree vibe, while 'Unbleached' is a more driving deep house cut with dancing keys and low end heft. The ever-on form Chicagoan Vick Lavender also steps up with a signature jazz-infused remix that is refined yet ready to work the 'floor. This is a fine debut for Nutria Sounds, which seems like it is going to be another vital outlet for heartfelt and classy house.

Kicking off SSR's first ever 4 tracker are Label debutants 'Duburban & Peeb' these boys are really making their mark on the scene right now & when you hear 'Shadows Cast' you will certainly know why! Fans of Source Direct take note.. tearing!

Another new artist to the label is Bristol's LOMA with 'The Open Book' a beautifully minimal, tense & cinematic piece of music! exactly what we like here! Expect more from Loma on SSR in the future.

ETCH returns to the label this time on remix duties for Rawtrachs 'Inter Dimensional' (ETCH Hieroglyphics Remix) ETCH has stripped this one right back & added some his self coined 'breakbeat acrobatics' An amazing remix we can't get enough of here.

Last but most certainly not least we welcome Wolverhampton's RAWTRACHS to the imprint. He delivers a 140 breaks track in his own unique way. Always experimenting with crunching up & twisting sounds he cites influences that span from No Turn Records & even Star Trek for this piece! Rawtrachs is certainly putting Wolves back on the map! Long may it last.

The 1985 B Side Classic!! ‘The Creator’ Made famous from Mad Professor’s ‘Ffwd to Dub’ where he looped hook phrases of Aisha vocals. Then sampled by ‘The Orb’ in the 90’s & introduced to a new psychedelic audience. This is one of the first Roots songs made with a Drum machine! Coupled with lovers rock gem - ‘Dancing Time’

The brilliant My Point of View was Herbie Hancock’s second album for Blue Note, a 1963 session featuring an all-star lineup: Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Grachan Moncur III, Grant Green, Chuck Israels, and a young Tony Williams. Each track radiates a deeply engaging musicality, showcasing Hancock’s masterful arranging skills. With standout compositions like King Cobra and A Tribute to Someone, this is a timeless classic—an essential reissue not to be missed.

My Boy Lollipop is the debut album by Jamaican singer Millie Small, capturing the infectious energy of the early ska movement. Driven by the global success of the title track, a genre-defining hit, the album delivers a lively mix of upbeat rhythms, playful melodies, and Millie’s unmistakable high-pitched vocals. With a blend of ska, pop, and R&B influences, it's a vibrant showcase of the sound that helped bring Jamaican music to international audiences. A must-have for fans of classic ska and timeless feel-good tunes.

DJ Support - Luke Una, Nikki Nair, Make A Dance, Boris Dlugosch, Gallegos

THIS YEARS BANGER IS HERE! After last years crossover smasher ‘Italo Disco Banger’, which picked up love from DJ Harvey, Gerd Janson and Fatboy Slim, Red Rack’em has been back in the lab, cooking up this years contribution to his ever growing, genre hopping series of ‘Bangers’. He’s hit discotheque paydirt once more with the euphoric tropical disco house burner vibes of ‘Secret Banger’. The feedback has been insane with early support from a wide range of tastemakers including Make A Dance, Nikki Nair, Luke Una, Boris Dlugosch and Gallegos, it’s a crossover, summer magic jam, perfect for those Adriatic or Balearic mornings. Secret Banger is an instant classic. Perfectly pitched for festival sunshine and late night heads down parties. It’s a ‘moment’ track, combining the biggest vocal hook this side of Daft Punk, ecstasy pads, tropical boogie strut and the trademark Rack’em club shaking sub bass. Secret Banger is a sureshot, guaranteed to give eyes closed moments to even the most frosty dancefloors. Monday is ostensibly ‘the deeper B Side cut’ but it’s also a certy club wrecker. Samples are being mad flipped people. A wacked out street soul snippet is sliced and diced before the track mutates into a huge pitched down late night jaw bothering incantation. The OG sample is hard cut into the track like a more clever than most DJ on the decks. You need this.

Shortly after Jay Dee’s younger brother Illa J’s solo debut was issued on Delicious Vinyl, the label and the artist knew the next step in honouring Jay Dee’s legacy was to issue the complete instrumentals from Yancey Boys as a stand-alone release. This mother lode of previously untouched (at the time) beats dates as far back as Jay Dee’s time working on the Pharcyde’s sophomore album, 1995’s Labcabincalifornia. As Delicious Vinyl owner Michael Ross explains, “From ‘95 through ’98 Jay Dee was my go-to guy for hot beats and remixes. He was always making beats, always. So there was a select amount of tracks that he composed for me during that time, tracks as good as anything he’d done, only they never got used.” Once these beats were used for Illa J’s Yancey Boys they were presented to the public on Yancey Boys Instrumentals.

DESCRIPTION
The O-est of Gs, Schoolly D, originally released his second full length, Saturday Night!. The Album on his own imprint in 1986. Schoolly - and this release - are considered by many to be the genesis of gangster rap and were highly influential to all who followed. Schoolly was picked up by Jive Records in 1987, and an expanded version of Saturday Night!. The Album was released. This album contains 10 tracks of all killer no filler! All beats made by Schoolly D and his legendary TR-909 drum machine. This album is a perfect blend of raw and funky from the King of Philly.

“Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House and partially aired on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction, the first studio encounter between London-based duo Exotic Sin and Swiss percussionist Julian Sartorius is now published in full on this album from Sagome.

Winding through six distinct and interconnected paths, the trio effortlessly create a shared language in this expansive improvised session.

Listening back two years later — the session was recorded on March 24, 2023 — it’s evident how they build at a relaxed pace, offering space for the listener to enter into their evolving sound. Anchored by piano, delicate wood, metal, and air instruments, a fluid system of interactions develops: repeating, deepening, but not fixating. The direction of travel is not cyclical or linear and the pace insists on forward confidently, avoiding the trap or comfort of recurring motifs.

Percussion is not a timekeeper, but a key element, introducing new textures that even on the final track Path 6, trace out a horizon that feels more like a blurred beginning than a definitive end.

In Session, Exotic Sin moves into a lighter, perhaps more playful language for improvisation than on their debut album Customer’s Copy. This could be influenced by Sartorius’ tactile approach to sonic materials or the more stripped-back nature of the improvised session, with less emphasis on synthesised and electric sounds. While the emotional imprint from their debut album—murkier and insistent—remains, it has been aired out to dry. In Session, their sound-world is broad and moves with levity.”

Andrea Zarza Canova – April 2025


Music by
Kenichi Iwasa (electric and acoustic percussion, trumpet, horns, thumb piano, effects).
Naima Nefertari (piano, Yamaha keyboard, flute, bells, percussion).
Julian Sartorius (drums, percussion).

Recorded and mixed live for Late Junction at BBC Broadcasting House, London, on the 24th of March 2023 by Joe Yon and John Boland.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Produced by Silvia Malnati at Reduced Listening for BBC Radio 3.
Extracts from the session were played on Late Junction on the 14th of April 2023.
Artwork by Josef William Back.
Graphic design by Nicola Tirabasso.

*Repress*

"Yage" first appeared on the The Future Sound of London's Top 40 1996 album "Dead Cities". Now, 23 years later it has been rebuilt and reconstructed into 11 new interpretations, woven together into a 42 minute dreamscape journey.

Repress !

Oscar-Gewinner Steven Spielberg führt Regie in der Neuverfilmung von Bernsteins “West Side Story” – der klassischen Geschichte von junger Liebe vor dem Hintergrund von Gang-Rivalitäten in New York 1957. Basierend auf einem Drehbuch von Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-Gewinner Tony Kushner imaginiert Spielberg das legendäre Musical neu und bleibt doch auch wieder nah am Original. Ein durch und durch gelungener, mitreißender Film mit einem aufregenden Soundtrack, der jetzt auch auf einer Doppel-Vinyl erhältlich ist.

Voller Hits wie ”Maria”, ”Tonight”, ”America” und ”I feel pretty”.
Die Schauspieler singen dabei selbst - ein Ereignis. Mit Ansel Elgort (Tony), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo) und erstmalig Rachel Zegler, die in der Rolle der Maria brilliert. Oscarpreisträgerin Rita Moreno schließlich, die bereits im originalen Film dabei war, singt ”Somewhere” - ganz bei sich, brüchig, berührend: Gänsehaut pur!
GRAMMY-Gewinner Gustavo Dudamel ist der Dirigent dieses packenden Soundtracks und dirigiert dabei unter anderem the New York Philharmonic. Das Booklet enthält liner notes vom “West Side Story” Music Consultant, dem Oscar®-Preisträger John
Williams.

The Battle of the Year Poland 2025 Official Soundtrack is a powerful compilation created especially for b-boys and b-girls, capturing the energy and raw essence of the Polish breaking scene. Curated to accompany the prestigious Battle of the Year Poland event, this release features exclusive tracks from some of the most respected and influential producers in the country.

The tracklist showcases an all-Polish lineup, including talents such as Oer Beatz (IBE Beat Battle Winner), DJ Plash (Official DJ – Olympic Games 2024 Paris), the legendary DJ 600V, DJ Pablo, and many more. Each beat is crafted to elevate the dancefloor and pay tribute to the roots and future of hip-hop culture in Poland.

This soundtrack is not just a musical release—it's a celebration of movement, rhythm, and community, reflecting the strength of the Polish breaking scene on the global stage.

"Chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams..."

December 25th, 2023 - an Instagram post. Stimulator Jones shared half a dozen FIRE tracks from his beat tape archive. We were immediately drawn to the rough hewn boom bap.

"I'd release that", Rob commented.

Hours of material was shared and the result is this: Cool Green Trees (1999-2005). A collection of beats and loops Stimulator Jones created between the ages of 14-20 at home in his basement, bedroom and computer room in Roanoke, Virginia.

You will not believe the profound soulful genius contained within these naive schoolboy melodies.

December 25th, 1998 - 25 years ago to the day and his much-coveted Yamaha SU10 sampler was finally bestowed upon young Stimmy AKA Sam Lunsford: "I immediately hooked up a CD Walkman to the input jack and looped the beginning two bars of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mercy Mercy Me". I don't know what exactly was so thrilling about hearing two measures of music repeating over and over but it was so infectious and hypnotizing and enthralling to me. I'll never forget that ecstatic rush of making my first loop - an uncontrollable, gleeful smile plastered all over my face." When you hear the pocket breakbeat symphonies featured here on Cool Green Trees, you'll feel the same sense of frisson.

In the wake of his Stones Throw breakthrough - Exotic Worlds & Master Treasures - Stimulator Jones was pegged by many as a 90s throwback artist. However, he literally IS a 90s artist. He's been recording music most of his life and he's now 40. He created the bulk of Cool Green Trees as a teenager. Everything before 2004 was recorded when Sam was still in school. He was in 8th grade when he made the 1999 tracks - he didn't even have his learner's permit. This album is a snapshot of a young man in a simpler time. Things were still mysterious back then and he was flying blind, relying on his ears and having to figure things out for himself: "I had no road map for becoming a beatmaker. I have been collecting music since I was a kid, I am a lifelong digger and seeker of cool and interesting sounds. I was there in the golden age of Hip Hop, and while I may have been a suburban white kid in Roanoke, Virginia, I was tuned in and I bought so many classic albums when they came out. I was attracted to Hip Hop because of the musical and poetic quality. I was hypnotized by the rhythms, partially because I was a drummer. I didn't brag about collecting my breakbeat records or making beats - it was something I did in isolation. It wasn't something I generally wanted to bring attention to and it didn't really score me any cool points. I certainly wasn't flexing on social media about it."

Hell, he can do that now!

Opener "Pharoah Jones" was inspired by Yesterday's New Quintet and Madlib's ability to capture that classic 70s sound whilst playing all the instruments. Sam created this one stoned afternoon by laying down a 2 bar loop and a shaker loop on his Yamaha SU700 sampler. He hung a microphone from the ceiling and played his Yamaha Stage Custom drum kit over the top before adding ender Rhodes and playing his dad's Selmer tenor sax through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. Yes! Up next, "Ghost Gospel" utilises a dope loop from a gospel record and adds some soul-funk drums overtop, whilst working that filter knob. Says Sam: "The loop reminded me of something Ghostface would rap over. The sample was in 3/4 waltz time but I flipped it for a 4/4 groove, a technique I picked up from RZA. "Ill Feeling" uses sped-up pieces from a dusty old funk record and putting them over a classic NOLA drum loop; gain chopping up a slow, bluesy 3/4 time signature and bending it to a 4/4 groove. Classy shit. "Capital Punishment" features drums tapped in live, inspired by MF Doom's Special Herbs series. "Do Not Adjust" consists loops found on a compilation of 70s French music at Happy's Flea Market, a classic Roanoke digging spot.

The sublime, evocative title track, "Cool Green Trees" was created when Sam was still living at home. He dumped samples off his SU10 into the family desktop and arranged them in a demo version of Pro Tools: "This track was sort of my ode to the DJ Shadow style of sample based production. Super spacey, slow, and moody. The heavily filtered drums were inspired by Alec Empire's 'Low on Ice' album. I later added some scratches and sounds from a Spider Man storybook record." "Chill Scratch" snags the final bit of a bossanova record and pairs it with a drum loop before adding experimental scratching run through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. "Poisonous Fumes" was made using a sampler, mixer and a turntable; a kind of mixtape beat collage with added scratches and sounds from various records. Using dialogue from superhero records was a nod to Madlib. "Welcome Aboard The Starship" is dark, downtempo trip-hop with a spooky bent. Sam paired a slow, hard drum loop with a guitar sample grabbed off a psychedelic rock record. To finish, he added various backwards sounds and weird atmospheric effects and a little scratching. Swoon.

Side B opens with "Keep On Runnin", made on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler. Having always loved the sound of the Lo-Fi filter on those machines, reminiscent of the Emu SP1200, Sam always imagined Del or another of the Hieroglyphics crew rapping over this beat. You can certainly hear why. "Sounds Impossible" sees Sam experimenting with layering multiple kick samples at different volumes to create patterns similar to those heard by Showbiz and Lord Finesse during their God-level 1995 period. "Painted Faces" was made by chopping up a REDACTED record which he had gotten from Happy's Flea Market and paired it with a REDACTED drum loop. By the time Sam recorded "The Knew Style", he had acquired a shitty old 1960s portable turntable off eBay. It didn't function properly when he bought it but his brother opened it up, cleaned it out and got it working: "I remember he told me that there was a bunch of sand inside of it when he opened it up, as if its previous owner had taken it to the beach. I would take that turntable on my Happy's Flea Market digs so I could preview records...that's how I found this loop."

"Chicken Wing Blues Sauce" loops up a classic blues joint and pairs it with some REDACTED drums. A bit of filtering and arranging et voilà! "Kool Breeze", from 1999, is one of Sam's oldest surviving beats, as is "Sexx Bullets". The Roots sampled the same record, leaving Sam frustrated yet vindicated. "Soul Child" was an early SU10 creation, looping a dusty old Soul Children 45 and pairing it with 70s rock drum loops to great effect. "Take Off Runnin" was another loop found digging with a portable turntable. Paired with some boom bap drums it makes for a hypnotic head-nod groove. "Centurian" was intended to be a little beat interlude a la Pete Rock. The sample is from a sun-dappled soft-psych record and it's paired with a Robin Trower drum loop that just happens to fit perfectly. Sometimes you slap things together kind of haphazardly and magic happens. "Bozack" was the first beat Sam made using Pro Tools, his first foray into using chopped sounds instead of loops, an exciting new world. "Church" is beat interlude using a Phil Upchurch loop with the "Long Red" drums - a favourite break of Dilla et al. Sam was really on a tear in late 2004, probably because he was unemployed and phoneless and able to just make beats all day. He made "Splash One" on a borrowed Yamaha SU700 and again was experimenting with tapping the drums in live with his fingers, instead of using a loop or sequenced pattern. Channeling 9th Wonder, Sam used a water splash sound effect from a Batman record as a percussive element, hence the title (also a 13th Floor Elevators reference). The main loop is a backwards portion of one of his favourite Roy Ayers songs.

"Hank" is another fun little beat interlude thing, created on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler with the fantastic Lo-Fi effect that resembled the Emu SP1200 at a fraction of the price. "73 goatee", from 99, is another of his oldest surviving beats, created in his bedroom with his Yamaha SU10 and his brother's Vestax MR-300 4-track recorder: "This one will always feel special. I can remember having a feeling all the way back then on the night that I created it that this was a solid beat with a catchy loop. There was something in the Fender Rhodes melody that resonated with me emotionally, and I had never heard a producer sample that portion before. I felt like I had found my own unique sound, my own unique loop. It came from an Ahmad Jamal '73. I actually even recorded myself rapping and scratching over this beat way back then, I still have that version in all its imperfect sloppy glory."

Sam explains just how much these tracks mean to him: "They all have immense historical and sentimental value and I'm proud of them. These beats come from an innocent, simple time when I was just figuring out how to craft these sounds. They're something very personal to me. They are the initial part of a journey that I really was taking *alone*. There was no YouTube. I couldn't Google shit. I didn't even know any other beatmakers, producers or DJs in my town that could teach me anything. It was always just me, alone, in a room with some equipment - chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams. What I was doing wasn't cool. Most of my peers thought I was a weirdo and couldn't care less. Creating these sounds was an anti-social endeavour. In a sense, I felt like it was me against the world, and all I had to instruct and assist me were the recordings produced by my heroes - RZA, DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, Beatminerz, Showbiz, Diamond D, Beatnuts, Prince Paul, The Bomb Squad, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, E-Swift, Mista Lawnge, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Peanut Butter Wolf, El-P and so many more...I dedicate this collection to them, and to my older brother Joe who has always been a musical and technical guiding light for me.

This was a time before every kid was a self-described producer and beatmaker, before everyone had a DAW, before Kanye and "chipmunk soul", before Red Bull beat battles, before there was any social media beyond chat rooms and AOL Instant Messenger, before Soundcloud, before SP-404 mania, before lo-fi beats to study to, before Splice, before targeted ads for MIDI chord packs, etc. In 99 when I told people that I had a sampler and made beats I was mostly met with bewildered confusion and indifference. Kids and adults alike would wonder why I got this weird machine for Christmas instead of something worthwhile like a Playstation or a mountain bike or even a guitar for that matter because at least that could be used to make "real music". Back then, sampling was still not widely respected as an art form - it was seen as lazy, talentless and unoriginal at best and outright criminal theft at worst. I had gotten respect for playing drums and guitar and things of that nature but this was a step in the wrong direction in the eyes of many."

The cover photo is a picture of Sam standing on his back porch in the latter part of 1998, just before he got his first sampler. He was 13 years old, in 8th grade. His dad took the picture with his 35mm film camera: "I actually wanted to be pointing my dad's .22 pistol at the camera lens but he wouldn't let me. He gave me an old walking cane to use instead. The Tommy Hilfiger puffer jacket came from the lost and found at William Fleming High School where my mom worked as a secretary. I was thrilled when she brought it home because we never spent money on expensive name brand clothing like that - we were for the most part strictly a sale rack, bargain bin, thrift store, yard sale, flea market kind of family when it came to clothes. My watch is some cheap off-brand fake gold department store watch." Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry.

VERY LIMITED 2025 REPRESS ON BEAM OF LIGHT VINYL .

Everything changed for The Beths when they released their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. The indie rock band had long been nurtured within Auckland, New Zealand’s tight-knit music scene, working full-time during the day and playing music with friends after hours. Full of uptempo pop rock songs with bright, indelible hooks, the LP garnered them critical acclaim from outlets like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, and they set out for their first string of shows overseas. They quit their jobs, said goodbye to their home town, and devoted themselves entirely to performing across North America and Europe. They found themselves playing to crowds of devoted fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie. Almost instantly, The Beths turned from a passion project into a full-time career in music.

Songwriter and lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like the group’s earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home.

"If you're at a certain age, all your friends scatter to the four winds,” Stokes says. “We did the same thing. When you're home, you miss everybody, and when you're away, you miss everybody. We were just missing people all the time.”

With songs like the rambunctious “Dying To Believe” and the tender, shoegazey “Out of Sight,” The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time. People who love each other inevitably fail each other. “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations/They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings on “Dying to Believe.” The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. On “Out of Sight,” she pledges devotion to a dearly missed friend: “If your world collapses/I’ll be down in the rubble/I’d build you another,” she sings.

“It was a rough year in general, and I found myself saying the words, 'wish you were here, wish I was there,’ over and over again,” she says of the time period in which the album was written. Touring far from home, The Beths committed themselves to taking care of each other as they were trying at the same time to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. They encouraged each other to communicate whenever things got hard, and to pay forward acts of kindness whenever they could. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it -- a sentiment we need now more than ever.

Wytch Hazel's stellar 2016 debut Prelude confirmed these Lancastrian apprentice wizards to be Britain's most promising new hard rock band. Two years on, that promise comes to abundant fruition on II: Sojourn, an album that moves Wytch Hazel on from the innocence and exuberance of the debut to a darker, more profound and complex place, carefully wrought into optimum shape by the band's singer, guitarist, songwriter and mastermind Colin Hendra. "I'm really into the idea of an album," notes Colin. "I don't do mix-tapes, I don't listen to singles, I'm interested in albums. I want to make a good, listenable, cohesive work, that is the whole thing." Asked what inspirations were brought to bear this time, Colin has good news, and even better taste: "I was listening to plenty of Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash last year," remarks the frontman. "This seems to be more of a hard rock album, where the last one was more rock-folk. It's definitely more rock than folk!" The most crucial influence fully expresses itself via Les Paul guitars in sweet twin harmony through cranked Super Lead Marshalls - "Exactly the same type of amp that Thin Lizzy would have used," beams Colin - a benefit of working in James Atkinson's Hand Of Law Studio, a converted gaolhouse in Leeds. "We knew there would be a lot more great gear, more amps, more options," enthuses Colin of this productive new work environment. "We were more prepared, we planned better. I had a lot more vocals to record on this album, pretty much every song has at least three harmonies, but James is a really chilled out guy, he made it easy for us. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted each song to sound, I thought about every single aspect. I probably over-prepared for this album, and it paid off!" Wytch Hazel's proud, avowed Protestant Christianity continues to set them apart from the occult hocus-pocus of their peers, and the very title Sojourn has a Biblical inspiration: "It's used a lot in the Old Testament, people would travel somewhere to stay for a short period of time," explains Colin, comparing the idea to Wytch Hazel's development since Prelude. "We're going to reside here with this sound for a while, and the next album might not sound the same. Come and have a listen to this aspect of Wytch Hazel - it's a temporary stay. We'll be here for a while, then there will be something else. I'm always writing, it's a constant stream, but I'm always trying to raise the bar, because I don't want the next album to be not as good as the other ones!"

Unreleased electronic / jazz / madness from two titans of jazz and experimentation: JOHN SURMAN and KARIN KROG.

I could now write a load of blown up puffery about how amazing this is, but everyone does that, and a lot of the time it’s all a load of bollocks. But basically this was sent to me by Karin / John when I asked if they had anything hanging about that had not been released. This came through and blew my tiny mind. Like something from prime Annette Peacock “Pony” period. Here is what John Surman said…

John Surman writes:

Back in 2012/13 there had been some talk about a big futuristic open air urban dance/theatre production for about 80/100 actors/dancers with lasers and all kinds of lighting effects on different stages. I was invited to get involved and, together with Ben and Karin, we eventually decided to get to work on some ideas. I think that the original plan was that in performance there would be a mixture of live music and electronica.

Not altogether surprisingly, bearing in mind the complexity of the project, it never moved forward and developed into anything more than an interesting idea. It was probably over ambitious & I guess the funding never came through.

The only information I that I can find relating to the production refers to two silent movies made in 1927/1928 by the filmmaker Eugene Deslaw, entitled `La Marche Des Machines´ and `Les Nuits Électriques.These were clearly intended to act as inspiration for the project.

After months turned into years it became obvious that the project was going nowhere, and so the recorded music laid around gathering dust until Johnny Trunk asked Karin if she had any interesting music that he might be interested in releasing. One thing led to another and so, finally, Electric Element found a home!

For anyone interested in the equipment used this will have to be an approximation since the memory might be playing tricks. Karin was probably using a Yamaha Rex50 f/x unit, a Roland VT-3 Voice Transformer and an Oberheim Ring Modulator. I was playing Bass Clarinet and Contrabass Clarinet through various f/x units together with a Yamaha WX5 wind synth. All the instruments and voice were also processed through Ben´s equipment. After writing this I asked Ben for his recollections and he came up with the following:

John, Karin and I created this music in 2 or 3 days in the winter of 2013 at their studio in Oslo, Norway. I followed up with another 2 or 3 days of mixing, editing and post-processing . We kept a collaborative, improvisational and free-form approach to the sessions. I grew up immersed in music such as Cloudline Blue, the 1979 duo album of Krog/Surman, and this felt like a similar approach. I have mixed sound for many of their live duo concerts and I would use effects and electronics as an

accompaniment and counterpoint to the performed music. The relation of organic and artificial sound sources in music has always fascinated. In this case, I used some contemporary digital signal processing to introduce my own aesthetic into the conversation, in particular using granular synthesis to recombine small 'clouds' of sound into alternate forms. Some of the software tools I used included Ableton Live, Max/MSP and Reaktor.

This is an album made during a crucial period in South Africa’s history during which there was a palpable feeling of a slow turning towards the collapse of the apartheid state side by side with an increasingly well-organised culture of resistance through the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and various affiliated bodies. However, as a result, there was increased pushback from the state security establishment, a turning to dirty tricks and the formation of hit squads whose members murdered and tortured many of our friends and created chaos throughout South Africa as well as neighbouring countries.

This album is situated in this political environment however it took advantage of the new do-it-yourself music technologies available at that time. Technologies that made it possible to make and release records without interference from traditional record company executives. Two musician friends of mine pooled their resources after their respective bands had broken up. Ivan Kadey (National Wake) and Lloyd Ross (Radio Rats) built an 8-track recording studio control room and fitted it out in a second hand caravan and called it Shifty. They parked it in a garage attached to the only house left in a demolished and derelict mining village near Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
All the work on this album was completed there, mainly after hours and mostly alone where I enjoyed an exhilarating freedom to develop a whole new set of musical skills and ideas, incorporating my love of a wide range of music I’d grown up with. Influences of 1970s progressive/kraut/and psychedelic rock combined with mbaqanga bass styles, early reggae/dub and Indian tabla rhythms. Stockhausen, early Zappa and Holgar Czukay were radio text and shredding influences, and Chris Cutler’s band Henry Cow & Art Bears helped me see a way to political expression. Mostly though was the exciting post-punk and no-wave music coming through to us from Europe and America: bands like This Heat, the Mekons, Raincoats, Sonic Youth and Pere Ubu were immensely important to me as was my reading from the period: J.M.Coetzee’s first 3 novels are strong influences on Free State Fence; the stark landscape, superstition, ritual, and sexual repression are in many of his settings. JG Ballard was a constant presence throughout that period, especially whilst living in such a surreal environment, surrounded by mine dumps, but mostly I think the whole French post-modern philosophical movement—Derrida, Foucault and of course, Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation—set out a new sense of possibilities, possible ways to express oneself, ways to think, and ways to try and analyse the political intersection of public and private life. Most important at that time was the influence of sound recordings I had made and experiences garnered from working as a sound recordist on documentary films. These financed my work and later the studio and were consistent employment throughout the 1980s. Film work also enabled me to experience much of South Africa that was hidden from most. The track Independence Day is a good example; drawn from some time spent in the rural homeland of Venda. This then was the first full length Kalahari Surfers album, completed in summer of 1984 it was taken to EMI pressing plant but rejected by the cutting engineer as being ""political, pornographic and anti religious"". Chris Cutler at Recommended Records took up the challenge and released the album through his label. He wrote the original liner note

"Wind, Again" is Sary Moussa’s fourth studio album and second album on Other People. Based between France and Lebanon, Moussa returns with a riveting electro-acoustic album informed by his ever-changing relationships to space, listening, and resonance as well as his growing interest in the study of harmonics in electronic and electro-acoustic music.

Years in the making, “Wind, Again” approaches distinct musical worlds and languages by bringing together improvisations by musicians performing on Western and West Asian instruments such as the Hammond organ, clarinet, saz, and buzuk with electronic arrangements and textures. Rather than force a rapprochement of these musical worlds through the instruments, and keenly aware of the weighty sonic histories they carry, Moussa proposes another way through which they can exist together in contemporary electronic composition.

Composed of six tracks, each of which demonstrate an array of recording and processing techniques, the album generates moments of tension produced by the synthesis of textural, tonal, and harmonic encounters that Moussa calls “shadows”, which outline an impressionistic musical language, existing at the edge of familiarity. Such moments permeate tracks like “Everywhere at once” and “Violence” that open with the Hammond organ and the saz respectively and slowly reveal an expansive field of sounds that showcases each of the musicians’ characteristic performances and Moussa’s densely layered textures. It is a latent yet unrelenting tension through which the composer invokes rather than represents a collective experiential state, especially familiar to those who know his environment. In “Wind, Again” these shadows are articulations of sounds steeped in traditions they are never quite tethered to. Such articulations are implied and alluded to, they play within a musical reference without the latter explicitly existing in the recording, always teetering, never completely here nor there.
Sonically and musically, the album is fueled by the cultural, social, and personal realities that Moussa was brought up and lives in.

Both personal and musical ties with the musicians who feature on the album is central to Moussa’s practice. In the title track “I will never write a song about you”, musician Julia Sabra opens with rolled piano chords, followed by Paed Conca on clarinet and Abed Kobeissy on buzuk, before Moussa’s electronic processing pieces together, lifts, and sustains the melodic direction of the track that emerged from the musicians’ separate improvisations. For Moussa: “The initial connection between the three performances was made on a track that no longer existed, the original recording was both an obstacle and necessary step for the track we hear on the record. It’s as if we were all telling different stories and I pulled on the thread that held them together”. The track, and more generally the record, is tinged with a melancholy of things lost, though it never fully succumbs to it.
“Everything inside a circle”, Moussa’s most personal track and for which he provides the only vocals on the record, harkens back to a childhood memory of listening to music with his mother in a car: “There was a sound I was looking for — a memory of a sound and how I first heard it. This track is a hybrid of that memory and what I wanted to make of it”. The track relies heavily on generativesystems and perhaps embodies most the ambiguous quality of the record’s music in its refusal to be pinned down by one musical tradition or another.
“Wind, Again” is both familiar and alien, cold and warm; it pays homage to the mechanics, materials, and tactility of the instruments and converges acoustic and synthetic spaces. What anchors the sound of the album are the elements of a whole that cannot find its own idiosyncrasy and that is precisely why Moussa’s album is a tour de force.

Haunting, discordant and deeply unsettling, `Les Maîtres Fous' (`The Mad Masters') was written by French post-metal collective Year of No Light in response to French filmmaker Jean Rouch's controversial 1950's docufiction of the same name. Commissioned by Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris for their 2012 `L'Invention Du Sauvage' exhibition, trance-metal pioneers Year of No Light approached the ritual practices of the Hauka movement as depicted in the film and responded with their uniquely hypnotic heaviness. Performed only twice, once at the exhibition on the 6th January, 2012 and again in Bordeaux on the 29th January, 2015; this release is a live recording of the second and final performance of `Les Maîtres Fous'. Whilst Year of No Light have a long history of collaboration with forward-thinking filmmakers and visual artists, the sensitivity of this documentary's problematic subject matter and the intensity of the band's performance made this performance both a physically and emotionally demanding experience; something that can be keenly felt upon listening. Founded in September 2001 by a collection of Bordeaux's heavy scene stalwarts as an ongoing side project encompassing elements of sludge metal and shoegaze, Year of No Light released their debut album, Nord, in 2006 to critical acclaim. The subsequent years however saw a significant lineup change with the band replacing their vocalist with a third guitarist to become a fully instrumental sextet incorporating aspects of black metal, drone electronica and dark ambient into their already formidable sound. 2010's four track epic Ausserwelt and the 2013 follow up Tocsin saw Year of No Light distilling their punishing sound even further; stalling the tempo to a glacial crawl and tuning guitars ever downwards to new uncharted depths. Consolamentum, the band's first full-length release in nine years and their first with Pelagic Records, brought the outfit's crushing double-drumming percussion to the fore as a masterclass in dynamic control saw Year of No Light embrace the highest highs and the lowest lows of the intervening years. Now approaching their 25th anniversary, `Les Maître Fous' is a pressing reminder that, despite the band's long and ongoing journey, Year of No Light have never been afraid to experiment, to take risks, to square up to life's ugliness and look it straight in the eye. FOR FANS OF Neurosis, Cult of Luna, SWANS, ISIS, Russian Circles, My Bloody Valentine, Chelsea Wolfe