Cerca:touche

Just as one can smell a storm swelling on the horizon, the cataclysmic tremor that is IMMOLATION approaches to unleash its latest, immense creation: ACTS OF GOD. Due to be released in winter of 2022, this 11th studio album serves as the next chapter of IMMOLATION’S Death Metal epic. With 5 long years passed since the most recent studio album, ATONEMENT, ACTS OF GOD vigorously showcases IMMOLATION’s ability to consistently create fascinating sounds, while still keeping their feet firmly rooted in the old school, New York Death Metal for which they are renowned.

Emblazoned with a haunting new masterpiece by artist Eliran Kantor, ACTS OF GOD displays a trifecta of angelic beings desperately trying to prevent one another’s flesh from melting in a blackened light from above. The muted colors and ethereal images will ring familiar to fans of IMMOLATION’s previous album covers. “We wanted this cover to feel much darker; more melancholy and hopeless. The music has always been very dark, and a lot of Kantor’s work had the feeling that we were going for; the semi-surreal colliding with a classic, almost renaissance feel,” explains founder and vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan. “It’s unnerving. It really reflects the music perfectly,” agrees founder and guitarist Robert Vigna.

The album’s third track “The Age Of No Light” is a powerful, hard hitting song with an extreme yet catchy melody. “It’s quick, hits hard, and gets straight to the point” explians Vigna. Consistently changing speeds and patterns throughout, the song is short but remains both dynamic and memorable.

“Blooded” has all the usual IMMOLATION elements: the slow, the fast, the explosive, the big overlaid sections of groovy harmony eventually dropping into evil, ripping guitar work. “It’s a little powerhouse,” describes Vigna, “it’s straightforward, and it has all the elements you would expect from us in a nice, neat package.”

A song like “Immoral Stain” is a slightly mid-paced track with an intense, creepy atmosphere. Equipped with plenty of unusual moments, the beat is catchy, dark, and echoing. Searing guitar starts to recite a story and then quickly begins a conversation with thunderous vocals and a vociferous beat. “That whole section of build up just needed to be done exactly as it is. That’s what makes it sound different and interesting,” describes Vigna. Much like the rest of the album, while the lyrics cover the usual, general topics of genuine evil and the great deception of religion, the specifics are most certainly left to the listener’s interpretation. Fortunately for IMMOLATION fans, there is no shortage of corruption and catastrophe in this world.

Fittingly, the concluding track “Apostle” was the last song written for the album. “Some of those chorus sections have a weird almost dream-like quality,” describes Dolan. Its steadily growing momentum discharges rounds of guitar solos and relentless vocals which eventually lead way to an explosive finale to the album.

The creative journey for ACTS OF GOD began with years of notes, and an abundance of inspiration. With Vigna at the helm of the structural writing as usual, further composing and concepts were tossed back and forth amongst all 4 members. Eventually, they began to skeletonize the beginning of what would become a full length, studio album. While the recording process and entering the studio can be a very sterile experience for some musicians, the ferocity of the demos combined with the expertise of long time friend and recording counterpart Paul Orofino of Millbrook Studios (BLUE OYSTER CULT, BAD CO, GOLDEN EARRING), assured that this would not be an issue for IMMOLATION. “Having such a level of comfort is key,” remarks Dolan. Final touches were brought about on the mixing and mastering by Zack Ohren of Castle Ultimate Studios.

Firmly aligned with Nuclear Blast Records, the often coveted sound of IMMOLATION has reemerged from the depths of a cursed and cruel world to illuminate our minds and ears with exquisite, sonic destruction.

Active from the late 1980s through to the present day Contrastate have released several critically acclaimed albums. Their early experiments in music were heavily influenced by the industrial and experimental music and art scene of the 70’s and 80’s. Contrastate’s idiosyncratic take on challenging, industrial tinged music has certainly changed and evolved through the years. Their current sound insinuates itself inside the dark ritual ambience of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and stentorian vocals that are strewn amongst touches of industrial surrealism and sonic soundtracks. “Contrastate achieve an amazing equilibrium between organic sound and brooding electronics.” – Heathen Harvest “Contrastate covers a bit of everything in their sound, and that black humor component…makes for a project that I can never predict what they will sound like next, but I know it will be fascinating no matter what” – Brainwashed

LNDFK (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, "Kuni" on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, LNDFK has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's "Pollen" and "Fresh Finds."

"Kuni" is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album.

"Kuni" opens with "Hana-bi," an ambient instrumental piece that sets the tone for the album. Inspired by the Takeshi Kitano 1997 film of the same name – particularly Joe Hisaishi's stunning soundtrack, as well as Kitano's paintings which appear in the film. "Hana-bi" expresses the dialoguing opposites of flowers and fire, the first of many dichotomous representations throughout the album. "Takeshi" acts as an extension and to "Hana-bi," albeit one of opposing sound, with its driving, highly syncopated drums (which reappear throughout "Kuni") – à la Karriem Riggins, Questlove, or Yussef Dayes – frenetic bass line, and jazz chords. Linda's sultry voice is interspersed, initially jumping around in scat fashion, being triggered as if a sample, before her lyrics come in; her vocals are used like an additional instrument, adding to the song's rich texture. "Kuni" truly hits its stride with the next song, "Smoke – a moon or a button" (its title lifted from the 1959 book by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip), which is structured like a jazz standard yet flows into neo-soul territory sonically with those prodigious drums a highlight once again.

LNDFK touches on experimental hip hop in two songs on the record (both of which were released as singles in 2021): "Don't Know I'm Dead or Not (feat. Chester Watson)" – track #4 – and "How Do We Know We're Alive (feat. Pink Siifu)" – track #9. Although they embrace a more hip hop-leaning sound, these songs by no means shy away from the exploratory theme, and feature two of the alt-rap scenes rising stars with Chester Watson and Pink Siifu who offer provocatively impressing verses, combining dense word play with unconventional flows. While these tracks may first appear to be outliers on the album, they are undeniably in tune with "Kuni's" message and sonic palette, acting as testaments to LNDFK's willingness to explore and experiment.

Meanwhile, "Ku" – the third and last single before the album release – furthers the pre-established future soul sound while meandering through nu jazz and left-field electronic. Inspired by the graphic novel and film, "Sin City," and its female assassin protagonist Miho, "Ku" is a musical interpretation of Miho's story, incorporating both her beauty – the first half of the song – and murderous tendencies – the second half – to create a stunning juxtaposition, culminating in an ambient finale that suggests the character's vulnerability and inner peace. The song gracefully bridges the gap between Hiatus Kaiyote-esque songwriting, Dilla's rhythmic syncopation, and Thundercat's instrumental prowess (LNDFK has shared a stage Brainfeeder labelmate Kamasi Washington).

Mixed in throughout "Kuni" are a series of instrumental pieces that function as something akin to an interlude. The aforementioned intro, "Hana-bi," and the album closer "se mi stacco da te, mi strappo tutto:" act as bookends, while "Om" indicates the half-way mark, and "Ktm" sees Jason Lindner add his sound the album. These tracks are the ambient foundation of "Kuni," representing the thematic duality of the work. Clocking in at only 24 minutes, "Kuni" packs an astonishingly diverse array of sounds, styles, and themes, all while showcasing virtuosic musicianship and instrumental prowess.

Appearing on "Hana-bi" and "Ktm," renowned international artists Asa-Chang and Jason Lindner add an additional perspective to "Kuni": Asa-Chang on "Hana-bi," and Jason Lindner on "Ktm." Asa-Chang - famously of the Japanese avant-garde group Asa-Chang & Junray - provides vocals and percussion to an alternate version of the instrumental opener, while the acclaimed keyboardist Jason Lindner offers his synth expertise on "Ktm." These features highlight the spirit of collaboration found in LNDFK's music, always willing to try out new ways of working.

LNDFK is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures – an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover – through art – an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility.

Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (BBC, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona.

"Kuni," is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.

Repressed on red vinyl!

Belgium, not the first place you'd think of when it comes to Latin or Afro funk. Yet one of the greatest records to blend both styles came from the small northern European country, masterminded by Nico Gomez and his Afro Percussion Inc.

Ritual was originally released in 1971 on the Dutch label Omega International (Gomez was born in Holland before moving to Belgium in the late 40s) and is being reissued by Mr Bongo in 2013, bringing its blazing funk grooves to both new ears and those already tuned in to this masterpiece's legacy.

Across its 11 tracks Ritual delivers the kind of production, arrangement and musicianship that rightfully belong in a dictionary next to the definition of professional. Gomez' band was tight and they knew it, showing it off on their covers of Perez Prado's 'Caballo Negro' and 'Lupita' by injecting the originals with a deep funk that blends both Afro and Latin influences. On 'Samba De Una Nota So' and 'El Condor Pasa', another pair of covers, they switch to soulful downtempo with mesmerising ease. The title cut remains one of the album's highlights, a devastating dancefloor groove with horns to match that has aged beautifully and was heavily sampled by Liquid People for 'The Dragon'. 'Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!' adds touches of rock with fuzzy guitars for one of the album's headier experiences.

Retro Active was the band’s first compilation, it was released in 1993 and features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band’s recording sessions from 1984 to 1993.

New album from South London producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Wu-Lu.

Leader of the punk-rap awakening, Wu-Lu pulls inspiration from personal hardship and the underrepresented on his latest for Warp entitled 'LOGGERHEAD'. Miles Romans-Hopcraft based his artistic moniker on the Amharic word for water, “wu-ha”. True to his fluid sound and nature, he decided to change it to something that felt more liquid. He ended up with Wu-Lu, a name he has been using since 2015. His first record GINGA opened the floodgates to a career that would take him to various places, people, and genres. From breaking bones at skateparks as a teenager, to DJing as one of the original members of Touching Bass, and eventually getting signed to Warp in 2021.

As an artist, Wu-Lu seems concerned with feeling and communicating the full spectrum of human emotion. Throughout his varied discography, he touches on disparate themes and sounds, straddling a divide between blissed-out beats and grungy guitar dirges, and often mixing both into one amorphous, unclassifiable sound of his own.

On ‘'LOGGERHEAD'’, Wu-Lu hones his unique sound. On ‘Take Stage’, a despondent spoken word intro opens with sombre strings and underlying bows dragged delicately across them. Then the lights flicker to life on ‘Night Pill’, and the mosh pit with them - the bassline approaches like a hungry shark and the guitars snarl with a homemade 90s grunge energy. This grunge drawl and punk spirit is peppered with dry old-school drum sounds of classic hip-hop, with laid-back beat-oriented tracks are spread amongst those with intermittent growls, scratches, and shrieks. Sonic elements are constantly rearranged and juxtaposed throughout the album, like on ‘South’ where the fluctuating pitch of squealing guitars and screaming vocals is contrasted with the steady flow of Lex Amor.

Listening through the album you are constantly greeted with about-turns, and through the element of surprise and deft use of contrast 'LOGGERHEAD' sits at an exciting point in Wu-Lu’s genre-defying artistry.

While Bobby Oroza puts the finishing touches on his next album, he treats us to this killer two-sider to end out 2021 and hold us over until the new record is finished. Bobby's debut album "This Love" made big waves around the world and amassed him a cult following from the US to Japan and everywhere in between. He found big love in the sweet soul scene early, but has since made fans in a myriad of circles and subcultures globally. It has by now become clear that his music is not just one thing, analog soul textured for sure, but also with an array of influences that span far beyond the soul ballad world. It is that inability to really nail down his sound that has become the biggest charm, an esoteric and profound passion permeate the lyrics and vibe of everything about Mr. Oroza. This new 7" shows off two sides of Bobby's song writing, an upbeat number on the "plug" side and a heavy duty ballad on the flip. The A side "The Otherside" is an optimistic tune that Bobby humbly shares his story about the troubles we can create for ourselves and the possibility of having a change of mind that frees us from them. The track is equally encouraging with its sunny energy that carries an important message from Bobby to anyone who is struggling and can't see a way out. The B side "Make Me Believe" is another instant classic for the slowie enthusiasts. A moody, soul bearing, cry for help that comes off with a sweet- ness.

Working with producer Paul Butler (The Bees, Micheal Kiwanuka, Caroline Rose, Hurray for the Riff Raff), Seratones have taken the invitation to knock at the door of the cosmos. A.J. Haynes's voice dances with soul-stirring devotion at the altar of Black Feminisms: weaving the words Toni Cade Bambara, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis multiverse, echoes of bell hooks, and Audre Lorde's Power of the Erotic. With drummer Jesse Gabriel's machine- like precision and the
transcendental touches from guitarist Travis Stewart, the album oscillates between Alice Coltrane-inspired bliss & Giorgio Moroder's ecstatic release. Each song hovers and pulsates in the wide, dark matter'constellations guiding a journey through the subtle body, the vast fullness of the human experience and the irresistible potential of liberation.Packaging: CD Digipack

Swiss musician Delia Meshlir didn’t realize what her voice could do when she started out playing music. Through such groups as the drudge-rock Cheyenne and experimental Primitive Trails, Meshlir let the music lead her singing along. It wasn’t until she began writing the songs for Calling The Unknown that she started allowing her vocals to preside. Unbounded by structure, Delia Meshlir’s first full-length under her name brings layers of beauty, intensity and strength, all coming to a head with her striking vocal delivery.

Having acquired a stocking job at Irascible, a label based in Lausanne, Switzerland, dedicated to promoting local talent, Meshlir had the ideal launching point for her music. Now, in coordination with Irascible, Ba Da Bing will be releasing Calling The Unknown in North America.

Meshlir lost her grandmother while preparing the album, and many of the tracks reflect seeking a path through grief with love. On “A River”, she explores where feelings can exist when they are for someone who has passed. She sings: “I’m calling the unknown / but no one remains.” As the first song on the album, it serves as a perfect introduction, with refined drumming, reverb-wrapped guitars and tasteful saxophone lines. At command of a full band, Meshlir never abuses the opportunity, often having members hold back in restraint and add mere touches of color to her songs. However, when more urgency is required, she adapts beautifully, as on the raw and driven track “Dirty Colors”. Ultimately, the album is an invitation to peace after suffering.

Delia Meshlir is a trained visual artist who is creating her own videos and doing her own artwork for Calling The Unknown. It is a singular artistic work with stunning breadth.

Repress

France's I Hate Models has had a phenomenal rise since his first releases in 2016, now he arrives on Perc Trax to serve up the label's last release of year.

Already fitting in with the label's no nonsense aesthetic after appearances at a number of label showcases this year, this EP shows a hardening of his sound, without losing any of the melodic touches that have made his releases so memorable.

The original mix of "Spreading Plague" fills the A-side of the record with a near 10 minute journey though classic Perc Trax metallic percussion, quivering acid and soaring analogue lead lines. Epic is a word not often used in relation to Perc Trax, but
here it is perfectly applicable.

On the flip side, Perc remixes the lead track, honing in on the acid and adding swarms of claps and hihats for his first new production on Perc Trax in 2018. "Martial Order" closes the EP moving the percussion to the front of the mix once again, as metallic hits rain down on the listener, delivering a fresh take on one of Perc Trax's signature sounds.

Introducing Josh Caffe’s second single on Phantasy, ‘Do You Wanna Take Me Home?’ is a sensual yet gritty return, a keen document of just one of the many stories of desire always occurring in the shadows, just beyond the strobes. Produced in collaboration with Quinn Whalley, one half of Paranoid London, ‘Do You Wanna Take Me Home?’ also features a headsy interpretation from Steffi & Virginia, marking their first ever collaborative remix.

Inspired by the rawest shades of early Chicago house music, ‘Do You Wanna Take Me Home?’ finds Caffe in thirsty pursuit of pleasure and recognition, eyes locked on an unidentified but all-too enticing individual in the club. Whereas previous single ‘According To Jacqueline’ turned the heads of dancers with it’s outrageous sexuality, Caffe’s follow-up finds him switched by a different strain of lust, head down in a blend of analogue jack and vocal vulnerability.

Steffi & Virginia have long since established themselves as distinct individual forces in contemporary dance music. Here, reunited in the studio together in the first instance since 2019’s ‘Work A Change’ EP on Ostgut Ton, the duo transplant Caffe’s yearning invitation into a sensuous reverie that touches on the deeper, tripper ends of their house and techno heritage. Driven by creeping organ chords and a powerful shuffling bassline, the result is a sophisticated reimagining primed for the heat of the function.

Hailing from downtown Los Angeles, Nuklear Prophet, aka Erik Villalpando, is heavily influenced by West Coast Hip Hop and Electro. Winning multiple DJ awards, including 3x World Records DJ Competition under his DJ Dope-E alias, Villalpando cites his inspiration as coming from some of the most influential Los Angeles DJs of his childhood, including Tony G, DJ Joe Cooley, Julio G, and DJ Aladdin.

With releases on Urban Connections, Abseits Recordings, Diffuse Reality and Bass Agenda Recordings as Nuklear Prophet, the LA-based DJ/producer readies his full-length album 'Prophecies 11:21' for Utrecht-based U-Trax. Formed of an eclectic and energetic collection of gems mined from his overwhelming archive, the album takes in genres such as Electro, Hip Hop, Footwork, Juke, and beyond.
Leading the release is the 808 luminary Egyptian Lover's remix of 'L.A. Rockz', featured on the recently released 'L.A. Rockz' EP, kicking off the LP with his trademark 808-infused sound. A nod to Detroit-flavoured Electro is presented via the dark and brooding tracks 'Nuklear Prophet' and 'Compton', with the lighter atmospherics of the genre covered on 'Solar Winds'. The pounding electro killer '808 Plague' sounds like it came straight from the sewers of The Hague.
'Everlastin' Bass', 'Back Up Off My Tip', and 'The Train Ride To Coconino' offer Footwork inspired bangers, with the latter previously featured on the Legowelt curated U-Trax compilation 'U R Here!' earlier this year.
Moving across a spectrum of tempos, styles, and moods across the album, exemplified on the sluggish trip-hop of 'The Mars Goblin', Nuklear Prophet expertly touches on a range of bass-driven genres, displaying his widespread influences and knack for hard-hitting production throughout.

a 01: L.A. Rockz (Egyptian Lover Remix) feat. Krazy Dee & Nasim

Tape

Next up on VEYL is a new face on the label but no stranger to the music world. NEVER is the project of Stefano Santi, a multi-instrumentalist and electronic music producer who has been active since the early 2000’s. After several years of working as an audio engineer and touring the globe with bands, he has
always had a parallel life as a producer with a club affinity. NEVER began in his own SPVN studio during the pandemic amidst the isolation of lockdown. His inspiration reborn after abandoning all boundaries and giving little care to traditional songwriting structures.
The result is 'JXDY', the new album which showcases the project’s diverse voice and technical prowess. Not confined to a particular genre, the release masterfully touches on everything from post-punk and shoe gaze to hints of death rock and electronica. From the opening strings of 'RXBT', we’re taken to a
relentless world of shadows and bleeding emotion, which conjures nostalgia of days long gone while maintaining an ominous sense of future. From the euphoric, pulse pounding action of 'HVRXLD' to the utter heartbreak of 'CXLE', NEVER weaves in and out of agitation, rage and regret, fueling a fire that that
continues to burn from beginning to end.
Navigating to the crushing 'HXRNE' through the menacing tones of 'BLVCKBXRN'until finishing things up with the heartbreaking, cinematic feel of the title track, 'JXDY' is nine offerings of uncompromising passion and pain, leaving a lasting imprint on both the mind and body.

REMASTERED EDITION OF PORCUPINE TREE'S 1995 RELEASE 'THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS - 2LP GATEFOLD SLEEVE'."A dreamy, tranquil and heavily atmospheric effort" - Record Collector 'The Sky Moves Sideways' is the third studio album by Porcupine Tree, first released in February 1995

It's the first Porcupine Tree album to be released in the US (albeit with an altered track list), & the first on which Porcupine Tree was a band rather than simply a pseudonym for Steven Wilson.

Regarded by many fans as one of Porcupine Tree's finest releases & a
cornerstone of any Porcupine Tree collection, the album was recorded partly as a Steven Wilson solo project & partly as a full band album, 'The Sky Moves Sideways' is a diverse experimental rock release spanning space rock & progressive rock styles with long guitar led, instrumental sections.

The album is now being re-printed in a gatefold sleeve & presented with Steven Wilson's sonically superb 2017 remasters first heard in the 'Delerium Years' box set. Disc 1 is the original album as conceived for vinyl. Disc 2 includes an alternative version of the title track containing music that was eventually cut from the original album version, as well as different lyrics. It also contains EP tracks
'Stars Die' & 'Moonloop' (the edit presented here is a hybrid which contains all the music from all the previous versions & runs to 22 minutes).

Porcupine Tree are currently gearing up for the release of their new album 'Closure / Continuation', marking another step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy nominated act & one of the world's most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the globe & wowing fans with their incredible
performances. TRANSMISSION PRESENTS 'THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS' ON GATEFOLD DOUBLE LP

Nothing is explained in the mysteries around us, but some art touches their soul: last year, Justin Tripp, one half of the US-American impro electronic duo Georgia and London-based electronic artist Zaheer Gulamhusein man behind projects like Waswaas and XVARR -joined forces as STRING. Together they went on a virtual vacation and never came back. As the virtual is fully real due to its virtuality, they created a truly authentic aural hardware journey, hauntingly adventurous, calm, and surprising.

Without defining the scope, STRING tumbled through a dark musical zone that stretched to the horizon, letting the sound shape itself while falling discreet into an appealing abstract space. Hovering clockwise shortly above the ground, they formed impossible geometric musical figures - weightless, fluid clouds, made up of relations between asymmetrical elements. Like in nature, their collaborative work avoids identical characteristics. In an expression of respectful admiration, they softly celebrate the irregularities between their specific genetic musical fingerprints, creating eight light binding clouds of dawn. A meditative musical voyage that transports cosmic particles of idealistic Berlin school ambient right into the heart of their electronic machines. All tunes swing calm but constitutive, dancing around synthesized surfaces that form obsessed flaming orbs of fear and hope, of matter and antimatter.

A shared love for hardware and the ethos of improvisation guided STRING into an experimentation, in which each party aligns closely to the core ideas of co-operative, in-the-moment electronic music, tied across the eight tracks in a sequence.

Finding a home with the highly esteemed Hamburg based label V I S, STRING’s debut “Last Index Of...“ will enter the earth in double vinyl and cassette format, plus tripping on at the digital platforms.

Edition Akasha launches with 'Forest Beams' by Eira Haul, proudly presenting a sonic crosscut of the Berlin artist's captivating take on UK textures and tempos, fused by a visceral feel for bright melodic touches.

Dark is the forest and deep, and overhead
Hang stars like seeds of light
In vain, though not since they were sown was bred
Anything more bright.

Edition Akasha launches with 'Forest Beams' by Eira Haul, proudly presenting a sonic crosscut of the Berlin artist's captivating take on UK textures and tempos, fused by a visceral feel for bright melodic touches.

As the rude bass stepper 'Forest Beams' rubs shoulders with the jovial, off-kilter techno of 'Oak', and the trance trip 'Cosmic Body' takes flight towards the introspective halftimer 'Kilim', euphoria and melancholy waltz in harmony atop soaring beats throughout this nod to Akasha Festival's Forest floor. At midpoint, Tornado Wallace compliments the tour de force that is EDAK001 with his 'Lights Off Mix' of 'Oak' - a cheeky balearic breakbeat rendition bringing summer firmly into focus.

Growing up in the Californian sprawl and the vast suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, Caleb Dailey largely dismissed the country and western music that surrounded him. Instead, he was drawn to independent rock, experimental zones, and other genre-defying forms, which led him to create skewed rock music with Bear State and establish the “minimal art label” Moone Records with his brother Micah Dailey in 2013. But in the early half of the 2010s, Dailey began to hear things differently. Drawn into the left-of-center works of artists like Gram Parsons and Blaze Foley, a more idiosyncratic take on country, folk, and roots music began to swirl in his imagination.

Wandering into the form’s cowboy chords and lonesome scenes, Dailey found himself wondering what his own country album might sound like. The result is his debut solo album, a collection of covers called Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings; Beside You Then. Produced by John Dieterich of Deerhoof, Keiko Beers, and Dailey himself, it’s a melancholy charmer, rooted in traditional ideas but free roaming in its scope. Laced with synths, pedal steel, acoustic guitars, and commanded by Dailey’s full and woozy voice, it owes as much to the busted waltzes of Lambchop and the homespun lo-fi folk of Little Wings (whose Kyle Field appears on the album via a spoken intermission) as it does to the songwriters and performers who provide its source material, which include Parsons, Foley, Elvis Presley associate Chips Moman, steel guitarist Buddy Emmons, and others.

“The subversive nature of country music isn’t as much at the surface as some other genres,” Dailey says. “But the deeper down the ‘country hole’ I went, the more I wanted to be part of it. It is truly a strange world.”

The hands of Dailey and his collaborators, which includes a wide roster of DIY experimentalists like James Fella of art punks Soft Shoulder, Jay Hufman (Gene Tripp), Lonna Kelley of Giant Sand, Japanese DIY hero’s Koji Shibuya and Tori Kudo, Nicholas Krgovich, Markus Acher of The Notwist, and more, that strangeness is accentuated. Dailey doesn't aspire to retro Nashville fetishism or sanctioned notions of “realness” so much as a genuine outsider authenticity. Take his version of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” for example: a highlight of the record, it pairs familiar genre signifiers like pedal steel and guitar strums with warbled synths. Then there’s his read of “Dreaming My Dreams,” originally made famous by Waylon Jennings (who also did time in the Arizona desert), which morphs from a mournful ballad into a wash of far-off sonic noise.

The attention here is on the songcraft itself, with Dailey inhabiting these songs and turning them inside out to reveal unexpected tenderness and playfulness.

Recorded at home with an acoustic guitar and 4-track, Dailey began open correspondences with his collaborators, who fleshed out ideas and added touches, often working with skeletal frames before Dieterich and Dailey shaped it into a cohesive whole. “John is the reason this album exists,” Dailey says. “He sculpted all these parts together in such an otherworldly way. He is truly a magician.” Deeply allergic to insincerity, Dailey avoids any trace of irony. He’s created a cohesive gem out of disparate parts, uniting Americana songcraft with experimental disassemblage. From this bric-à-brac, he’s made something touching and beautifully strange.

Ltd. Pink Vinyl initial pressing. Lucius returns with their highly-anticipated new album Second Nature. Produced by Dave Cobb and Brandi Carlile, the album features ten new songs, with writing contributions from BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominated Jenn Decilveo, amongst others. The new album is a portrait of singer and songwriters Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe's shared reflection, chronicling each other's seismic life shifts_motherhood, divorce, unplanned career pauses. On Second Nature, Wolfe explains, "It is a record that begs you not to sit in the difficult moments, but to dance through them. It touches upon all these stages of grief_and some of that is breakthrough, by the way. Being able to have the full spectrum of the experience that we have had, or that I've had in my divorce, or that we had in lockdown, having our careers come to a halt, so to speak. I think you can really hear and feel the spectrum of emotion and hopefully find the joy in the darkness. It does exist. That's why we made Second Nature and why we wanted it to sound the way it did: our focus was on dancing our way through the darkness." Recorded primarily at Nashville's historic RCA Studio A, the 10-song album was written by Laessig and Wolfe and features their longtime band members Peter Lalish, Dan Molad alongside Solomon Dorsey with additional contributions from Drew Erickson, Rob Moose and Gabriel Cabezas with mixing by Rob Kinelski and Molad as well as Carlile and Sheryl Crow on backing vocals. Second Nature is Lucius' third full-length album and first since 2016's Good Grief. Widely acclaimed since their debut album, The New York Times declares, "Luscious, luminous, lilting lullabies," while NPR Music asserts, "gorgeous, joyful songs" and Pitchfork praises, "powerful voices and a keen sense of melody." In addition to their work in the band, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe have recorded with Sheryl Crow, Harry Styles, The War on Drugs, Ozzy Osborne and John Legend and toured extensively alongside Roger Waters.

Lucius returns with their highly-anticipated new album Second Nature. Produced by Dave Cobb and Brandi Carlile, the album features ten new songs, with writing contributions from BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominated Jenn Decilveo, amongst others. The new album is a portrait of singer and songwriters Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe's shared reflection, chronicling each other's seismic life shifts_motherhood, divorce, unplanned career pauses. On Second Nature, Wolfe explains, "It is a record that begs you not to sit in the difficult moments, but to dance through them. It touches upon all these stages of grief_and some of that is breakthrough, by the way. Being able to have the full spectrum of the experience that we have had, or that I've had in my divorce, or that we had in lockdown, having our careers come to a halt, so to speak. I think you can really hear and feel the spectrum of emotion and hopefully find the joy in the darkness. It does exist. That's why we made Second Nature and why we wanted it to sound the way it did: our focus was on dancing our way through the darkness." Recorded primarily at Nashville's historic RCA Studio A, the 10-song album was written by Laessig and Wolfe and features their longtime band members Peter Lalish, Dan Molad alongside Solomon Dorsey with additional contributions from Drew Erickson, Rob Moose and Gabriel Cabezas with mixing by Rob Kinelski and Molad as well as Carlile and Sheryl Crow on backing vocals. Second Nature is Lucius' third full-length album and first since 2016's Good Grief. Widely acclaimed since their debut album, The New York Times declares, "Luscious, luminous, lilting lullabies," while NPR Music asserts, "gorgeous, joyful songs" and Pitchfork praises, "powerful voices and a keen sense of melody." In addition to their work in the band, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe have recorded with Sheryl Crow, Harry Styles, The War on Drugs, Ozzy Osborne and John Legend and toured extensively alongside Roger Waters.

Gondwana Records sign LA bassist and composer Seth Ford-Young's Phi-Psonics project and announce a remastered deluxe-edition of The Cradle featuring bonus material

Phi-Psonics is a meditative, immersive instrumental group from Los Angeles, led by bassist Seth Ford-Young and featuring Sylvain Carton on woodwinds, Mitchell Yoshida on electric piano, and Josh Collazo on drums. Their deeply soulfulmusic draws on jazz and classical influences together with Ford-Young's own musical experiences, relationships, and his introduction to spirituality, yoga and philosophy at a young age, to create something uniquely its own. Phi-Psonics' name and ultimate aim is to find 'Phi' – the golden mean – in art, nature and self. Ford-Young explains:

"It's a bit of a cliché, but music saved my life many times and instilled in me a belief in the great power of healing through art. It is my hope and intention that this music provides healing to someone somewhere."

Originally from Washington DC area, Ford-Young moved to California in the early 90s and fell in love with the deep sounds of the upright bass and the music of Charles Mingus, John and Alice Coltrane, and Duke Ellington along with Bach, Chopin, Pärt, and Satie. He immersed himself deeply in music and keen to learn combinedintense personal study with collaborations, tours, and recordings with artists such as Tom Waits, Beats Antique, and John Vanderslice. In 2010 he moved from the San-Francisco Bay area to the Los Angeles hills and continued his explorations. But great music is rarely just about music and Ford-Young's meditative, soulful music draws on more than just the twin wellsprings of jazz and classical music:

"My mother was a yoga teacher from the early 70's until recently and taught me yoga and meditation at an early age, my stepfather is an Aikido instructor and student of the teachings of Gurdjieff. Those were all early areas of study that I came back to many times throughout my life. Phi-Psonics has been a project that unapologetically synthesizes some of these ideas into our music".

It's this mixture of influences, musical and extramusical, that gives the music of Phi-Psonics it's immersive quality and quiet power. Revealingly the music that would becomeThe Cradle, wasn't written specifically for an album, originally Ford-Young was just writing down what was coming through. As time went by and the album began to take shape, the world situation seemed to be getting darker and his compositions aim to offer hope as a response to the negative influences that abound today. Remarkably for such a beautiful sounding record, it was recorded at the composer's home, rather than in a studio, but the relaxed nature of this process gives the music an airy lightness that propels the music to some magical spaces.

Originally self-released on vinyl in a limited run just as the world went into lockdown, The Cradle reached Matthew Halsall (founder of Gondwana Records) when he aws looking for music for his Worldwide FM show and he was blown away, hearing a kindred spirit at work. Halsall explains:

"Phi-Psonics make beautiful, humble and honest music, it's not showy, but it has a deep vibe that will elevate your mind and soul if you let it. When we heard The Cradle we reached out and are really super delighted to welcome Seth and his band to our label". Whereas for Ford Young: "Connecting with Matthew and the Gondwana records family has been a light in the darkness of the last years - to have my music make connections even as we are more isolated."

Ford-Young is currently putting the finishing touches to the second Phi-Psonics record, but aware that only a select few had heard The Cradle, let alone had the chance to buy a copy, and entranced by its deceptive simplicity and elevating energy, Halsall suggested that Gondwana present the album as a remastered 'deluxe edition' with an extended running time featuring extra tracks and new artwork from Daniel Halsall.

The Cradle starts with First Step, perfectly setting the tone for the whole album, it is a beautiful, soulful slice of musical calm gently propelled by Ford-Young's resonant bass and elevated by sublime flute and Wurlitzer electric piano solos. The seductive title track The Cradle was written way back in 2011 during a time of great personal change that led the composer to a feeling of newness and nurture. The magical, winsome Desert Ride is inspired by many rides through the grandly cinematic Mojave Desert. You can experience how incredibly full of life it's harsh landscape is if you slow down to its tempo. The gentle, sublime Mama is a tribute to mothers of all kinds, beautiful and heroic. Drum Talk was largely improvised, Ford-Young and the band agreed on a topic and recorded their conversation. Choosing their notes based on how Josh's drums were tuned. Like Glass is named for the special properties of Glass. Like some music, glass is delicate, yet has structure. The first of the two bonus tracks Still Dancing was written during the early days of 2020 in response to the challenges we all were facing then. It's a reminder that the figurative dance continues and that real dancing is essential. And the second, The Searcher, also written as a response to 2020, is a gently hypnotic song about the introspection and growth that can spring from a difficult situation.

This then is The Cradle, a quiet self-contained masterpiece, life-affirming and elevating in equal measure and the first offering from a wonderful new voice in spiritual jazz and the latest members of the global Gondwana Records family.

Belgian Metal frontrunners EVIL INVADERS are ready to unleash their third album, Shattering Reflection, on April 1, 2022 via Napalm Records! It took the band almost five years to craft a new record and it has been undoubtably worth the wait. EVIL INVADERS have found the perfect balance between fast, mid and slow tempo songs focusing on strong choruses, touching lyrics and even some progressive touches that will grab every Heavy Metal fan by the throat and screaming for more! EVIL INVADERS’s Shattering Reflection is promising to be a game-changer for the Belgian 4-piece as the band seems to have found their own formula to turn Heavy Metal into another extreme direction. Shattering Reflection takes off with a fast Heavy Metal banger “Hissing in Crescendo”, followed by the epic anthem “Die For Me”, already destined to become an EVIL INVADERS’s all-time classic. A calmer side is explored on tracks like mid-tempo opus ”Forgotten Memories“, creating a dense, heavy wall of sound with piercing vocals and ditto lyrics underlined by guitar solo virtuosity. That thrilling epos stands in line with “In Deepest Black”, which showcases even more how the band has managed to craft a pure classic Heavy Metal anthem with melodic guitar lines and catchy choruses, creeping relentlessly into the listener’s head. It also proves how Joe has matured as his vocals have entered a whole new dimension, both in the high and the low ranges. On the contrary, ”Sledgehammer Justice“ is a furious outburst of classic Thrash/Speed Metal in which the Belgian quartet goes full throttle with hammering rhythms and guitar solo madness! Another album highlight is the dark opus ”The Circle“, creating a horrifying atmosphere with stomping drums and excellent guitar lines. Fans of King Diamond will definitely dig this one! Throughout the album the band manages to keep the balance between fast Extreme Heavy Metal with sharp shredding and mosh-worthy tracks, as well as very melodic, more intense and chorus-oriented midtempo anthems. Shattering Reflection has turned out to be a monster of an album that will prove that in a new generation of Metal bands, EVIL INVADERS have been able to develop and mature record after record, just like the great classics did in the good old days. You will want to hear this record and also find out how EVIL INVADERS will deliver this masterpiece live on stage! credits

Genuine, warm, almost primal house music to celebrate the first release of Time To Play Records, a label founded by Filippo Tazzer on the wave of the ten-year Vicenza party dedicated mainly to black music. The debut of the label bears the signature of Reekee, Emilian producer founder of Wrong Notes Records and globally recognized for the releases on Uzuri Rec. And the prestigious collaborations with artists such as Kai Alcé, Erik Rico, Patrice Scott and Alex Attias .Side A opens with “Don’t look back”, which will then also be the title of the ep, in which you breathe the air of Detroit for the construction of a powerful and hypnotic rhythm, embellished with refined piano turns. Then follows Butterfly, who blends the intense bond between Reekee’s exquisitely house background and his passion for jazz, which is touched with light keyboard virtuosity.On the B-side, Reekee “completes his work with Wanna be Away” by flirting with his Drum machine to reach the territories of the broken beat. The ep is completed by a remix of Don’t look back signed by Colosimo (it will be his second release of Time to Play records), capable of essentially working on the drums of the song and giving it an acid touch perfect for the most energetic tracks.

Rock Steady Cool is another fine collection of Rocksteady hits. The ‘Cool’ subtitle could not be more relevant to an album, as around 1966, an extreme heatwave hit the Jamaican island. This would not stop the all night dances from going ahead but the jerky Ska Rhythms proved too strenuous of an activity to partake in, so a new slower beat to suit this extreme weather had to be found and the ever resourceful music entrepreneurs came up with the slower paced beat and Rocksteady was born.

This two-year Rocksteady period ran until 1968 and would see some of the power escape from the big three producers, Clement ‘Coxone’ Dodd, Prince Buster and Duke Reid. It was time to make room for a new wave of up-and-coming producers that also had something to offer the people. Such names as Joel Gibson (Joe Gibbs), Sonia Pottinger, Derrick Harriott and most prolific of them all, Mr Bunny Lee would step forward and add some new musical touches to the island.

Rocksteady was an inspirational and somewhat overlooked sound that provided us with some outstanding music. So, sit back and enjoy some Rocksteady straight from the dances of Jamaica.

Hope You enjoy the set….

Gondwana Records sign LA bassist and composer Seth Ford-Young's Phi-Psonics project and announce a remastered deluxe-edition of The Cradle featuring bonus material

Phi-Psonics is a meditative, immersive instrumental group from Los Angeles, led by bassist Seth Ford-Young and featuring Sylvain Carton on woodwinds, Mitchell Yoshida on electric piano, and Josh Collazo on drums. Their deeply soulfulmusic draws on jazz and classical influences together with Ford-Young's own musical experiences, relationships, and his introduction to spirituality, yoga and philosophy at a young age, to create something uniquely its own. Phi-Psonics' name and ultimate aim is to find 'Phi' – the golden mean – in art, nature and self. Ford-Young explains:

"It's a bit of a cliché, but music saved my life many times and instilled in me a belief in the great power of healing through art. It is my hope and intention that this music provides healing to someone somewhere."

Originally from Washington DC area, Ford-Young moved to California in the early 90s and fell in love with the deep sounds of the upright bass and the music of Charles Mingus, John and Alice Coltrane, and Duke Ellington along with Bach, Chopin, Pärt, and Satie. He immersed himself deeply in music and keen to learn combinedintense personal study with collaborations, tours, and recordings with artists such as Tom Waits, Beats Antique, and John Vanderslice. In 2010 he moved from the San-Francisco Bay area to the Los Angeles hills and continued his explorations. But great music is rarely just about music and Ford-Young's meditative, soulful music draws on more than just the twin wellsprings of jazz and classical music:

"My mother was a yoga teacher from the early 70's until recently and taught me yoga and meditation at an early age, my stepfather is an Aikido instructor and student of the teachings of Gurdjieff. Those were all early areas of study that I came back to many times throughout my life. Phi-Psonics has been a project that unapologetically synthesizes some of these ideas into our music".

It's this mixture of influences, musical and extramusical, that gives the music of Phi-Psonics it's immersive quality and quiet power. Revealingly the music that would becomeThe Cradle, wasn't written specifically for an album, originally Ford-Young was just writing down what was coming through. As time went by and the album began to take shape, the world situation seemed to be getting darker and his compositions aim to offer hope as a response to the negative influences that abound today. Remarkably for such a beautiful sounding record, it was recorded at the composer's home, rather than in a studio, but the relaxed nature of this process gives the music an airy lightness that propels the music to some magical spaces.

Originally self-released on vinyl in a limited run just as the world went into lockdown, The Cradle reached Matthew Halsall (founder of Gondwana Records) when he aws looking for music for his Worldwide FM show and he was blown away, hearing a kindred spirit at work. Halsall explains:

"Phi-Psonics make beautiful, humble and honest music, it's not showy, but it has a deep vibe that will elevate your mind and soul if you let it. When we heard The Cradle we reached out and are really super delighted to welcome Seth and his band to our label". Whereas for Ford Young: "Connecting with Matthew and the Gondwana records family has been a light in the darkness of the last years - to have my music make connections even as we are more isolated."

Ford-Young is currently putting the finishing touches to the second Phi-Psonics record, but aware that only a select few had heard The Cradle, let alone had the chance to buy a copy, and entranced by its deceptive simplicity and elevating energy, Halsall suggested that Gondwana present the album as a remastered 'deluxe edition' with an extended running time featuring extra tracks and new artwork from Daniel Halsall.

The Cradle starts with First Step, perfectly setting the tone for the whole album, it is a beautiful, soulful slice of musical calm gently propelled by Ford-Young's resonant bass and elevated by sublime flute and Wurlitzer electric piano solos. The seductive title track The Cradle was written way back in 2011 during a time of great personal change that led the composer to a feeling of newness and nurture. The magical, winsome Desert Ride is inspired by many rides through the grandly cinematic Mojave Desert. You can experience how incredibly full of life it's harsh landscape is if you slow down to its tempo. The gentle, sublime Mama is a tribute to mothers of all kinds, beautiful and heroic. Drum Talk was largely improvised, Ford-Young and the band agreed on a topic and recorded their conversation. Choosing their notes based on how Josh's drums were tuned. Like Glass is named for the special properties of Glass. Like some music, glass is delicate, yet has structure. The first of the two bonus tracks Still Dancing was written during the early days of 2020 in response to the challenges we all were facing then. It's a reminder that the figurative dance continues and that real dancing is essential. And the second, The Searcher, also written as a response to 2020, is a gently hypnotic song about the introspection and growth that can spring from a difficult situation.

This then is The Cradle, a quiet self-contained masterpiece, life-affirming and elevating in equal measure and the first offering from a wonderful new voice in spiritual jazz and the latest members of the global Gondwana Records family.

Clear Vinyl Repress!!!

The landmark hundredth single on Phantasy, Erol Alkan’s ‘Automatic’ accompanied with two remixes that further take the London DJ and producer’s psychedelic club vision in distinct directions. The original 12" pressing, limited to 100 and hand-numbered, sold out in less than an hour.

Palms Trax builds on the sensual reverie of Alkan’s production with an electrifying rework full of touches both French and personal. Throwing out a gloriously chic bassline, the Berlin-based producer sprinkles carefully considered sweeps, stabs and filters on a trip to timeless house euphoria.

Mirroring the first ever artist to release on Phantasy in 2007 where Alkan remixed 'Engine', LA Priest proves a perfect candidate to reconstruct the label’s centenary single, a task he approaches with typically esoteric nous. Coaxing a heavenly aura from the original’s glorious loops, Sam Eastgate’s collection of reengineered and self-made analogue equipment soon progresses to melt Automatic’s rhythm into sticky cosmic bliss.

Studio Electrophonique is James Leesley: a young songwriter and musician from Sheffield.

Since the critical acclaim accompanying his sought-after debut 10" album "Buxton Palace Hotel" in 2019, James has captivated audiences performing at his own curated events in Sheffield, Liverpool, London and Paris as well as at The Green Man and End Of The Road festivals.

In 2020 Studio Electrophonique performed at L'Olympia in Paris at the personal invite of the legendary Étienne Daho as well as across the UK and Ireland with Richard Hawley - both are long-time supporters and admirers of James's work.

James is currently putting the finishing touches to a film featuring Jarvis Cocker and Sean Bean which retraces the fascinating history of Ken Patton's original Studio Electrophonique home recording studio in Sheffield.

Songs come to James Leesley in airless attics, dinner time chippies and late afternoon bookies shops; on long walks through town with a sandwich in each pocket, on morning runs through the park in lost-property trainers or on the top deck of the 52A with rain-laced windows and wet toe-ends.

He records on an old four-track machine using deadstock Metal Maxima cassettes sourced from an unnamed charity shop close to Bramall Lane. This machine kills flashiness. There is no room for garnish. Choice is minimised to serve the song, intimacy is maximised to serve the ache.

Studio Electrophonique is a semi-fictional collective of analogue romantics sent to reassure us that art is not some far off place, that sadness can be enjoyed like happiness and that glamour can descend like a minor key melody on the shoulders of anyone willing to pay their subs and the price of a day-return to Ballifield shops.


Studio Electrophonique's latest 5- song record is a plaintive symphony of love and hope, yearning and hopelessness.

Hailing from downtown Los Angeles, Nuklear Prophet, aka Erik Villalpando, is heavily influenced by West Coast Hip Hop and Electro. Winning multiple DJ awards, including 3x World Records DJ Competition under his DJ Dope-E alias, Villalpando cites his inspiration as coming from some of the most influential Los Angeles DJs of his childhood, including Tony G, DJ Joe Cooley, Julio G, and DJ Aladdin.

With releases on Urban Connections, Abseits Recordings, Diffuse Reality and Bass Agenda Recordings as Nuklear Prophet, the LA-based DJ/producer readies his full-length album 'Prophecies 11:21' for Utrecht-based U-Trax. Formed of an eclectic and energetic collection of gems mined from his overwhelming archive, the album takes in genres such as Electro, Hip Hop, Footwork, Juke, and beyond.
Leading the release is the 808 luminary Egyptian Lover's remix of 'L.A. Rockz', featured on the recently released 'L.A. Rockz' EP, kicking off the LP with his trademark 808-infused sound. A nod to Detroit-flavoured Electro is presented via the dark and brooding tracks 'Nuklear Prophet' and 'Compton', with the lighter atmospherics of the genre covered on 'Solar Winds'. The pounding electro killer '808 Plague' sounds like it came straight from the sewers of The Hague.
'Everlastin' Bass', 'Back Up Off My Tip', and 'The Train Ride To Coconino' offer Footwork inspired bangers, with the latter previously featured on the Legowelt curated U-Trax compilation 'U R Here!' earlier this year.
Moving across a spectrum of tempos, styles, and moods across the album, exemplified on the sluggish trip-hop of 'The Mars Goblin', Nuklear Prophet expertly touches on a range of bass-driven genres, displaying his widespread influences and knack for hard-hitting production throughout.

Voltaje Raizal is the first album of the tropical futurist music project Rizomagic, an electronic music duo, that consists of Diego Manrique, director of the avant-garde cumbia orchestra Niño Pueblo, and Edgar Marun, director of the ethno-afrobeat ensemble Dorado Kandua; Two outstanding projects from Bogota's new thriving alternative psychedelic scene.

The sounds of the album are rooted in the Afro-Caribbean musical tradition, in the mixed ancestry that defines Colombian culture, and IDM. The melodic construction of the album takes inspiration from variouscultures, including Indigenous chants from Colombia’s Embera people, the traditional scales from Mali’s Bambara ethnic group, and the Ghanian palm wine guitar interpreted by a Caribbean millo flute. The mix and mastering carried out by Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers, Pirañas, Chupame el Dedo) and Camilo Manchego offered the final touches that make Voltaje Raizal a fresh proposal to Colombia’s futurist tropical scene. "Rizomagic set out to recontextualize their sources. It’s no coincidence that their name comes from rhizomatic, the botanically derived term for a subterranean, horizontal network of roots".

Emerging from Lower Franconia's hidden reverse, Johannes schebler, known as ambient-poltergeist "Baldruin" and surreal folklorists Christian Schoppik & Katie Rich of "Brannten Schnüre"-fame have puzzled and amazed outernational audiences from the stranger end of the avant/lo-fi spectrum in recent years. The trio is now collectively dreaming as "Freundliche Kreisel",reaching for terra incognita rather than common ground on their most bewildering and accessible outing to date. Arch-pontifices of the electro-acoustic and outsider-art realm, they fill in gaps and invent missing links on the go with somnambulistic ease, confusing the hypersensitive and hyaline timbres of contempo-electronic aesthetics with the naïve charm of Germany's obscure Kassettentäter and mutant-NDW.

Think Daniele Mana and Lorenzo Senni digitally rewiring the 4-track recordings of Gareth Williams' Flaming Tunes or sometimes, much scarier, it feels as if it's the other way round. There certainly is an air of whimsical yet post-ironic romanticism to the songs contained here, a madcap, tongue-in-cheek ghost story as filtered through the transcendental senses of a childhood perspective. This attitude is best personified in the disarming innocence of Katie's vocals whose intonation touches on nursery rhymes as much as on dirges and bizarre 'schlager' kitsch.

Heirs to the tradition of magic realism, examining fragments of an arcane sacred mundanity like a crack in the concrete of everyday life, Freundliche Kreisel dwell on this often neglected microcosmic topography, yielding an adventurous and visionary piece of a decidedly Franconian next-level post-modern folklore.

Quindi Records returns once more to the swooning romanticism of Cabaret du Ciel, the long-running project from Andrea Desidera and Gian Luigi Morosin. After the contemporary material which made up long-player The Breath Of Infinity, Raintears heads back into the group's archives and focuses on a limited cassette release from 1991.

Originally released on Morosin's own Ionisation Tapes, Raintears is described as heralding a new phase for Cabaret du Ciel following their earlier Solarisation and Weather Colours cassettes. This revised, expanded version of the release opens with 'Raintears (Piano Version)', which originally came out on an Ionisation compilation entitled Imago Sonora 1. Truly evoking the spirit of the track and its meaning, it was recorded on a rainy Sunday afternoon when Desidera's friend and trained pianist Francesco Martignon heard the original melody for 'Raintears' and proceeded to improvise on the theme, with Desidera and Morosin embellishinbg Martignon's exquisite playing with subtle touches of synth and sampling. In its fragile, tape-worn repose, the piece is loaded with the delicate ambience a rainy Sunday afternoon implies - calm, melancholic and wistful.

'A New Day' is a piece cast in light and shade, contrasting two core melodic phrases expressed through synth and guitar, with a light touch of speech sampling adding to the cinematic poise of the track. 'Time Of The Twins' originally appeared as a single track on the cassette release, but here it's framed as two distinct parts which meet in the middle. The first half is patient, gliding ambience rich in the harmonic interplay and winding narratives which typifies Cabaret du Ciel overall. The second half opens up like a flower looking for the sun, all pronounced keys pirouetting across the fundamental chord progression established in the first chapter.

'A Delvaux Postcard', previously titled 'East Roads', takes on a spectral, spacious form as it passes by slow, rhythmic pulses and freewheeling synths, momentarily joined by scattered shards of sampled voice layered and filtered in a manner which reminded Morosin of Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. The EP closes with the original version of 'Raintears' (billed here as 'Raintears II'), a plaintive and disarmingly beautiful ambient piece centered on Desidera's light and poignant playing. As Morosin himself describes, "Andrea is in a full state of grace, touching the listener through his fingers with the notes into their deepest emotions. The first time I listened to the basic version, I was just speechless."

"So Happy It Hurts" is the brand new album from platinum selling, award-winning artist Bryan Adams.
Bryan Adams is one of the most exciting live musicians in the world and his energetic performance, effortless stage presence and incredible vocals are guaranteed to thrill and entertain. Adams’ influence extends 4 decades, over which time he has released 14 studio albums. His song writing has garnered him numerous awards and accolades including three Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy Award.
Of the new album Bryan says: “The pandemic and lockdown really brought home the truth that spontaneity can be taken away. Suddenly all touring stopped, no one could jump in the car and go,” says Adams. “The title song ‘So Happy It Hurts’ is about freedom, autonomy, spontaneity and the thrill of the open road. The album of the same name, touches on many of the ephemeral things in life are really the secret to happiness, most importantly, human connection.”

The album So Happy it Hurts, scheduled for release March 11, 2022, marks Bryan Adams’ 15th release and features 12 new songs co-written by him

"So Happy It Hurts" is the brand new album from platinum selling, award-winning artist Bryan Adams.
Bryan Adams is one of the most exciting live musicians in the world and his energetic performance, effortless stage presence and incredible vocals are guaranteed to thrill and entertain. Adams’ influence extends 4 decades, over which time he has released 14 studio albums. His song writing has garnered him numerous awards and accolades including three Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy Award.
Of the new album Bryan says: “The pandemic and lockdown really brought home the truth that spontaneity can be taken away. Suddenly all touring stopped, no one could jump in the car and go,” says Adams. “The title song ‘So Happy It Hurts’ is about freedom, autonomy, spontaneity and the thrill of the open road. The album of the same name, touches on many of the ephemeral things in life are really the secret to happiness, most importantly, human connection.”

The album So Happy it Hurts, scheduled for release March 11, 2022, marks Bryan Adams’ 15th release and features 12 new songs co-written by him

In the 1990s, Malka Family landed from the planet Kif to convert France to their vibrant and crazy madness made of euphoric riffs and glittering suits. Direct heirs of George Clinton and his cosmic P-Funk, they quickly burned stages around the world with this communicative energy which only large ensembles have the secret to. France, Europe, Japan, Africa, Canada… They will be forced to stop in the early 2000s replaced by DJs and computers.

2021. June 5th. Three years after the reformation of the band, Ground Control received a message from "Major Thom" - the astronaut Thomas Pesquet himself. The post is clear! Le Retour du Kif produced in 2018 is played in space… @Thom_astro and all the crew members of the ISS are totally fans of the Malka Family’s Music!

A new era begins, the Jedi of Funk have swept away the machines and their logarithmic music, groove and heavyweight Funk reign in the galaxy once again. The Malka Family is releasing a new 14 track album, SuperLune, a crazy and heavenly funk combo!

This time, back to Malka Family’s old recipes. They spend hours, nights in the studio, writing songs, arranging horns, recording vocals, slapping the bass guitar… "SuperLune is a more introspective album, we did everything without any restrictions, and our funk is more accomplished than ever…" says Jo Mannix fresh out from mixing the album. French Radio Nova tells: "In their spaceship, the bass is definitely queen. From your head to your feet and (especially) through your buttocks, “Blue Funk” will awaken your senses. Without even realizing it, you've already been swept up in the crazy storm of the Malka Family. All the ingredients are there: the dance, the music and an atmosphere that only they have the secret to…" Last but not least, to accompany the interplanetary release of SuperLune, Malka re-embark in their spaceship for the next cosmic tour. Let’s go to the Moon! The SuperLune!

After a string of diverse EPs on Swiss labels Light of Other Days & Subject To Restrictions Ethimm returns in winter 21/22 with his debut album. The record delivers snapshots of a hopeless romantic’s life packed into an eccentric mix of genres, all in the spirit of balearic. Fever dreams of Disco, New Wave, Dub and Leftfield Pop echo throughout the 32 minutes. Tales from the jet set, delusions of grandeur and the hangover that comes after, long gone love affairs and one’s raison d’être are among the many subjects Ethimm touches. Distinctly nodding towards the 80ies without falling into cliché references, the album feels familiar yet uniquely contemporary.

The cover art features a bust of producer Elisabeth Thimm’s head, as interpreted by artist Paa Joe. The 12 inch comes complete with a 180g, heavyweight white vinyl with a beautifully printed inner sleeve revealing the albums lyrics.

A hidden gem from the notorious Nurse With Wound list ! Limited to 500 copies, this double LP features Heratius' studio album Les Boniments (1979) - never before released on vinyl - and the first ever vinyl reissue of Gwendolyne (1978). Heratius could be described as like a mix of Etron Fou Leloublan and Faust (in acoustic mode that is), with hints of Albert Marcoeur, Red Noise, in a music that is full of invention with typically French eccentric touches. The Heratius album Gwendolyne was also much touted by Chris Cutler (of Henry Cow fame) at the time as the French Faust.

Barbara & Ernie’s only release is a complex combination of soul, folk rock, and late 60’s psychedelia. The constant use of electric sitars, funk leaning bass e multi-layered vocals offers a different take on contemporary pop music, approaching several jazz and world influence. oul singer Barbara Massey and jazz guitarist Ernie Calabria paired up for this rare 1971 album. With Calabria having worked with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte, among others, and Massey having sung backup for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Herbie Hancock, the pairing was an inspired one and resulted in this superb soul-jazz outing. Massey has a dry yet passionate and evocative vocal quality that often brings to mind Grace Slick. Fittingly, the duo takes on Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," turning the Summer of Love anthem into a steamy and hypnotic soul-funk jam. Elsewhere, the duo touches upon such varying styles as folk, Latin, and psychedelic rock with cuts like "For You" and "Do You Know?," bringing to mind such similarly inclined acts as the Free Design and Bill Withers.

Jimpster’s lockdown LP was made throughout 2020 and finally sees the light of day at the end of February 2022 having been delayed around 6 months due to the ongoing vinyl pressing hold ups. Birdhouse is the revered producers seventh full length LP and can be considered a full circle as he takes a step away from the dance floor to revisit his early inspirations of jazz, 70’s fusion, library music, ambient and sample-based downtempo electronica. With its soulful touches, vocal and live musician features and trademark warm Jimpster production, we also think it could be his most accomplished and accessible yet.

The opening title track sets the tone for what’s to come with rustling percussion, widescreen choral samples, dub FX and drifting pads all coming together to create a sense of optimism. The first of six vocal features comes next. Ascension with UK vocalist Oliver Night (featured on IG Culture’s recent Earthbound LP) is a simple soul jam with live bass from Nick Cohen and Jimpster’s beloved Fender Rhodes joining the lo-fi drum groove.

Next up we’re treated to Voodoo featuring brilliant young NYC MC/poet/producer who first grabbed Jimpster’s attention with his mind-melting track Signs, released in 2020 on Youngbloods. Yoh’s sung (not sung) vocal flow adds a new dimension to the Jimpster sound and is hopefully the first of many more collaborations to come with this perfect pairing. Still Believe takes us on a tripped-out journey into slo-mo, lopsided MPC beats punctuated with otherworldly vocal samples, live bass and Rhodes making for an immersive late night mood.

The first of two tracks on the LP featuring London vocalist and songwriter Cairo drops next entitled Beautiful Day. Another incredibly talented young artist introduced to Jimpster through a mutual friend, Cairo adds a deep and uplifting vibe making for a track you’ll come back to time and time again. A slow-burning nu-soul groove which will draw you in with its warm glow. Lazarusman is a Johannesburg-native poet and vocalist known for his collaborations with Stimming, Joris Voorn and Booka Shade. Here he delivers a poem called Heavy, perfectly punctuating the haunting reverb-drenched horn, Detroit-esque chord stabs and filtered drums.

Future Paradise drops the BPM's further still for a slow-stepping synth ride mixing up rising arpeggios, dubby flugel horn FX and the lushest of strings. It’s been 15 years since Jimpster and Capitol A last joined forces on Left n Right from Jimpster’s Amour LP. Known for his work with Jazzanova, King Britt, Mark De Clive-Lowe and 2008 club anthem Serve It Up on Mantis, the San Francisco native MC delivers his inimitable flow to a blunted jazzy hip hop groove making for one of the LP highlights.

Up next, Rain is an intimate and understated slice of contemporary soul music which pushes another spellbinding Cairo vocal front and centre, underpinned by loose, crunchy beats, dusty keys and moogy flourishes. Picking up the pace, Doors Of Your Heart sees Jimpster get busy chopping up a funk groove whilst Nick Cohen lays down another killer live bass line. Lush keys, modular synths and some crazy FX processing take this into the stratosphere and call to mind some of his earliest productions in the late 90’s on his seminal LP Messages From The Hub.

Winding things down, Jimpster continues to revisit some of the sounds and flavours of his earliest work on Tell You, which goes seriously deep with touches of cinematic big band horns and a looped up vocal sample. Closing out the LP we have the aptly titled Full Circle complete with sublime Metheny/Mays-style pads, muted synth arps and subtle FX to drift away to.

Paul Wise aka Placid is the driving force behind ‘We’re Going Deep’ – a thriving online community and record label that’s showing no signs of slowing down as we start the new year. Born out of a lifelong affair with the many shades of electronic rhythm and an obsession for collecting records that first started in 1988.

As a label owner, his mission couldn’t be clearer: releasing new music for heads - old and new. Fresh cuts aimed squarely at the dance floor, your front room or even just the headphones! Rather than staying too hung up on the past, he’s very much focused on serving up the best in new Acid, Electro, Techno, Deep House along with the odd slice of Downtempo goodness.

Sticking to the trusted format of 4 different producers, all serving up high grade electronic explorations, WGD 006 launches with another stellar line up. Headed up by the foreboding sounds of Versalife with “Omikron” on A1, spacious atmospherics and half-step beat usher in a gnarled bassline that simply won’t let go. As delicately placed melodic touches light up an otherwise pitch black soundscape and open up the spaces in between, it’s a superb reminder of the Dutchman’s majestic talent. Accompanied with an outing from Belgium’s rising talent Mariska Neerman, snappy percussion and machine pulses greet you from the off on A2 “Twin”, evolving into a fully emotive and uplifting ride. Leading with layered synths, Neerman demonstrates her sparkling knowhow for drenching you in heart warming pads and strings that harmoniously sing.

Written under his Analogue-1 alias, head to B1 for the legendary sounds of James Zeiter shimmering through on “Counterpoint”. A subtle and stripped back 4/4 trip into the lighter side of acid inspired grooves that shuffles out into the unknown: tweaking all the way as the intensity build. Powerful stuff at the right moment, do not underestimate the alchemy at work here. Last but not least, newcomer Morthen Kiang leaves us on a punchy 909 driven martian inspired work out, that fully summons the vibe of our Red Planet friends. A perfect ending note packed full of machine oscillations and cosmic waves.

Magic spells, time-traveling futurists, sword-bearing horse riders, mountain-residing sorcerers, possessed journeyman,

ominous warnings: Demons and Wizards lives up to its title as a collection of fantasy-based narratives rooted in dreamy,

gothic-minded arrangements. Universally recognized as the finest effort of Uriah Heep's four-decade-plus career, the 1972

LP also perseveres as a prog-rock landmark that influenced countless of bands ranging from Metallica to Styx. And now, it

sounds better than ever on this extremely cool green-vinyl gatefold pressing from Wax Cathedral.

The first album on which founding members Mick Box, Ken Hensley, and David Byron are joined by staple drummer Lee

Kerslake, Demons and Wizards captivates by way of taut songwriting and instrumental execution. Rather than function

as the primary attraction, make-believe lyrical themes augment a formidable assembly of folk-derived melodies, sharp

medleys, and powerful hooks. Acoustic guitars weave webs of finite textures through which crackling, church-like organ

passages and space-conscious bass lines maneuver. Songs come across with an ethereal, powerful feel.

Glowing with old-fashioned tube-amp warmth, concise and punchy fare like 'The Wizard,' 'Traveler In Time,' and the hit

'Easy Livin'' touch upon garage-rock basics. Epics such as 'Circle of Hands' and 'Paradise/The Spell'—a multi-part sonic

excursion whose choral grace and spiritual glide evoke distant lands, misty cloud forests, and peaceful eternities—cling to

a sensitivity underscored by deft piano touches. No wonder Uriah Heep spent the remainder of its lifespan trying to again

capture such a balance.

His last LP has barely touched record store shelves and Ivan ave is back with a EP for Mutual Intentions. Mid Season finds Ivan Ave in bloom as he evokes the sounds of
spring on his latest offering. The EP title also refers to a mid-album-recording process, which Ave currently finds himself in. Mid Season gives the listener insight into a
forthcoming full length album, entitled All Season Gear.
The prolific Norwegian rapper continues to charm with a seductive baritone that blows like a cool breeze through the production’s warm accompaniment. Dusty drum
machines under glacial keys and guitars offer a platform from which Ivan waxes lyrical about everything that touches him. He has crafted a unique voice in Hip Hop echelons, finding quirky analogies in the mundane. While in the past, he could find a parable for love in a bicycle lock or existential questions in an worn out sock, he turns his
attention increasingly to social realities.
He regularly takes aim at the ridiculous aspects of our contemporary society throughout Mid Season, with lyrics that poke fun as much they ask what the fuck?
“Spotify owner 'bout to buy a whole ball team… That mean I own a corner flag or some seats at least?,” he sings on «What a Day!!!». The record is peppered with these
types of anecdotal metaphors that come together like a social media story through a bionic AI. Ivan Ave is the product of this generation and it’s only right he should reflect
that. He does it in a unique way that requires the listener to untangle these preternatural allegories.
Playing with a dichotomy of words, he doesn’t labour on a thought before he’s lazily propelled onto the next at the turn of each bar. His laissez faire approach is only
emboldened by the slow moving percussion and keys that have come to define his sound. Picking up on early nineties influences from the likes of Native Tongues or Dilla,
the music on Mid Season continues to reassess and revolutionise these archetypes. It’s in the keyboard sounds of this latest EP, that Ivan Ave and producers have found
yet another new evolution in his sound.
Synthesisers that sound like they belong to a Maynard Ferguson record rather than a Hip Hop EP make the record come alive over a chugging and forceful rhythm section. It provides an airy and playful contrast to the more serious elements on the track, and much like Ivan Ave’s lyrical prowess offers an extra layer of depth that often
eludes Hip Hop’s most successful stars. The more you listen to Ivan Ave the more you get entrenched in his work and Mid Season continues to send the artist on an
exciting trajectory.

Sticking to the galactic theme of his ‘Apollo’ series, ‘Neptune’ sees Shadow Child deliver a Techno-touched cut steeped in nostalgia. With classic-sounding synths wreaking havoc over a rumbling bassline, this track is a peak-time floor-thriller of planetary proportions.

Reimagining the 1997 offering of Belgian pair Hand’s Burn, Shadow Child turns ‘Good Shot’ into a track that resonates with his theme of worlds beyond. Helmed by an authentic bassline that synergizes perfectly with the perpetual arpeggios and cosmic chords, ‘Good Shot (Mercury)’ has fans throwing their hands to the stars from start to finish.

2023 Repress

Life At Robert Johnson is a natural home for Superpitcher, and this two tracker shows his sense of belonging.

Lush Life featuring vocals by Fantastic Twins was inspired by Corsican polyphony, an epiphany after a church concert though as ever with Superpitcher, simplicity is multi-layered: the track itself could be a trip back to the golden (rave) days of deep electronic US house à la François K, dubby yet peacefully driving the ecstasy home. No religious gospel euphoria though, the lyrics are a pagan hymn to Eventide presets. You can’t take the geek out of the schatzi.

Diario stretches its 10 minutes in a misleading laidback groove: Sueno Latino languid clichés are blown away by a smoothly unforgiving acid line. This is a trip, not a journey, a trip dedicated to the young raver in all of us and to a friend too soon departed. As Pasolini said in the poem of the same name: “That’s why I've never abandoned happiness, that’s why in the anxiety of my sins I’ve never been touched by real remorse. Equal, always equal, to the inexpressible at the very source of what I am”

In other words, kids, keep faith out there.

The Nonesuch debut of Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra), LIFE ON EARTH, is a departure for the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter. Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others. International tour dates will be announced shortly.

For her eighth full-length album, Segarra (they/she) drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

Life on Earth’s first single, ‘RHODODENDRON’, is about “finding rebellion in plant life. Being called by the natural world and seeing the life that surrounds you in a way you never have. A mind expansion. A psychedelic trip. A spiritual breakthrough. Learning to adapt, and being open to the wisdom of your landscape. Being called to fix things in your own backyard, your own community,” says Segarra.

Of the ‘Rhododendron’ video, which was directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey, Segarra says: “It is really far out and fun. I got this bodysuit that just looks like the inside of the human body. It looks like you’re skinless. It’s in a scene where I’m playing to an audience of plants. Just really absurd, but I put that suit on and I was like man, this feels really good. It feels like, ‘This is who I am. Let’s just take the skin off.’

“It reminds me a little bit of Kids in the Hall,” they continue. “With this ‘Rhododendron’ shoot, something clicked in me where I was like, ‘All I have to do is be myself.’ I had been thinking that I had to be something bigger than myself. I felt like I was just never quite making the mark and then something clicked where I was like, ‘I just gotta be me. I could do that. I could show up and be me. And if people don’t like it, then I don’t know what to fucking tell them.’ It was like a brain shift of, ‘Oh, this can be fun. It doesn’t have to be suffering.’ With so many videos and photo shoots before, it really felt like suffering. I felt so uncomfortable being perceived. I didn’t know who I was.”

Honey adds: “We wanted to create something surreal, playful, and saturated that indulged heavily in the aesthetic of the early ‘90s. Alynda and I had many overlapping visual and philosophical references which sparked the initial collaboration. We wanted to make this video an homage to Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse trilogy but as a nature documentary crossover. I came across Araki’s work as a queer teenager, and he’s always been a big inspiration. Sex, blood, punk rock, camp, etc.

“We live in a moment where the future is bleaker and more unknown than ever, so there becomes a deep comfort in nostalgia and reliving the past. Through our talks, I realised Alynda’s new album touches on many of these same subjects, but perhaps in reverse; running from a past that is always haunting you. Shifting into a more refined self/identity through confronting one’s trauma and baggage. It was easy to reach collaborative synergy for this video project because we’re both interested in tackling similar issues.”

Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at the age of seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make her most recent album, 2016’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

With one foot in the real world and the other in a charmed dimension of his own making, Amos Lee creates the rare kind of music that's
emotionally raw yet touched with a certain magical quality.

On his eighth album 'Dreamland', the Philadelphia- born singer/ songwriter intimately documents his real- world struggles (alienation, anxiety, loneliness, despair), an outpouring born from deliberate and often painful self-examination.
"For most of my life I've walked into rooms thinking, 'I don't belong here,'" says Lee. "I've come to the realization that I'm too comfortable as an isolated person, and I want to reach out more. This record came from questioning my connections to other people, to myself, to my past and to the future."

Multi-instrumentalist UMUT ÇAĞLAR (KONSTRUKT, KARKHANA), former BABA ZULA-drummer FAHRETTIN AYKUT and the Finnish saxophone player / shakuhachi specialist JONE TAKAMAKI join forces in a stunning improvised live set that blends Free Jazz with East-Asian ZEN-sounds.

The idea for "Myth Of The Drum. Urban Transformation" dates from an art exhibition in Istanbul 2017 where FAHRETTIN AYKUT exhibited an installation called "Urvban Transformation" that combined painting and music, dealing with the relation of humankind and earth which is symbolized through a tree put upside-down.. AYKUT, former drummer in the Turkish group BABA ZULA and these days a well-known architect in Turkey, asked his longtime friend UMUT CAGLAR, multi-instrumentalist in KONSTRUKT and KARKHANA, to join for an actual performance … CAGLAR on his side was in touch with JONE TAKAMAKI who has been a central figure of the Finnish Free Jazz / Avantgarde scene since the 1970s. His album "Universal Mind" (1982) is a sought-after collector's item of European Spiritual Jazz, he was a member of the group ROOMMUSHKLAHN (with RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM a.o.) and in 1991 he joined the ECM signed Finnish jazz/rock/improv collective KRAKATAU, founded and run by RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM, and last but not least TAKAMAKI received the first ever Pekka Pöyry Award. Besides being deeply rooted in jazz, he is also a specialist in Japanese shakuhachi and hocchiku flute playing which makes this adhoc-trio so extraordinary: repetitive drumming, shamanistic throat sounds and plenty of string and reed instruments, a constant ebb and flow of sounds and energy … neither pure jazz nor world music but a blend of both, forming a fascinating third! Meditative in its continuously pulsating rhythm, cathartic in the moments of sonic outbursts …

A few months after the Istanbul art fair performance, the trio (augmented to a quartet by ALAN WILKINSON) played 2 showsatLondon's Cafe OTO and gossip has it saying that THURSTON MOORE who attended the show confessed afterwards that he was very touched emotionally.

Credits:

All Music by Fahrettin Aykut/Umut Çağlar/Jone Takamäki.

A Konstrukt Joint.

Jone Takamäki: tenor saxophone, ney, shakuhachi, clarinet.

Umut Çağlar: guimbri, kalimba, gralla, zurna, mey, flutes.

Fahrettin Aykut: electronic percussion; drums, cymbals.

Recorded live at BantMag. Havuz/Bina in Istanbul (October 3rd, 2017) through a Tascam portable recorder.

Produced by Umut Çağlar.

Mastered & cut by Anne Traegert at D&M, Berlin

Joseph Carvell returns to Karaoke Kalk with his sophomore album under the Pink Shabab moniker. »Never Stopped Loving You« was for the most part written between Spring and late Summer 2020 in his Camberwell home and like his 2019 debut »Ema by the Sea« recorded in the South of France together with Emmanuel Mario, better known as Astrobal. It’s a record informed by feelings of nostalgia, love, longing, romance and loss and, much like his previous album, displays Carvell's knack for making introversion sound extroverted. As a bassist, his approach to songwriting is both rhythmic and melodic, making the resulting music just as visceral as it is emotive. Much like the record’s title can be understood as both a lament or an expression of joyful dedication, the music on »Never Stopped Loving You« is profoundly ambiguous.

»I was lucky with the timing for this record,« says Carvell and at first that may sound counterintuitive: managing to play only one show in Zurich in early 2020, he had to cancel his planned European tour and go back to the United Kingdom, which soon went into lockdown. He made the best out of the situation, recording electric and upright bass for Nick Krgovich, Daniel O’Sullivan and Zooey’s new records while also working on tracks and demos by himself. »The world seemed to have stopped and I had more time to think about the past and find the best grooves, the suitable keyboard touches and the right words,« says Carvell. Everything came together slowly before he boarded a train to France with his keyboard: »The pace of life completely dropped and between takes Ema and I were going swimming and taking walks,« he says of the sessions.

»Never Stopped Loving You« is notably more electronic than its predecessor, but also full of the small melodic and harmonic details that made »Ema by the Sea« such an outstanding record. »I was listening to more 1990s dance and house music and 1980s pop and also a healthy amount of ambient music,« explains Carvell. These influences are clearly audible on songs like the Chicago House-esque beats of »Show Your Love« or »Why Did I Leave You that Morning«, the skittish rhythms on »Let Go« and the near-Balearic »San Junipero«. Especially the latter makes it clear that Carvell spent much time devoting himself to movies and TV shows, but also incorporated more piano sounds in his songs—he learnt the instrument by playing along to classic Beatles and Beach Boys songs.

Despite being more upbeat on a rhythmic level than before, Carvell’s use of texture and his peculiar voice add another note to the music. Even an anthemic song like »Run Away«, his first composition to follow a classic verse/chorus structure, is profoundly ambivalent, both overjoyed and deeply melancholic. By the same token however, even a torch song like »You Stepped Out of My Life« is enormously consoling. This, after all, has always been Carvell’s strength: creating music that will cheer you up when you’re down while also injecting a sense of futility into every moment of euphoria. It never shone more brightly than on »Never Stopped Loving You.«

South London genre-blending story tellers Alabama 3 are set to further add to their rich musical heritage with a new single ‘Whacked’, available April 30th via Submarine Cat Records, with an album to follow later inAugust.

‘Whacked’ is the first taste of fresh Alabama 3 material since the tragic passing of their beloved and unconventional frontman and songwriter Jake Black, aka The Very Reverend D. Wayne Love, in May of 2019. Jake had Addison’s disease and passed away several days after falling ill during a show at the HighestPoint Festival in Lancashire at only 59 years old.

Then, with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown upon the world, the band got creative and submerged themselves in their music, teaming up with producer Cam Blackwood(George Ezra, Jack Savoretti, Tom Walker, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes…) to focus their minds on something vital, new and fresh. This can clearly be heard in ‘Whacked’, a song which pays respect to the late co-writer of the song, Pete Dunne.

"A product of old skool Brixton, the legendary Seven Kevin’s Pete Dunne threatened us with this song prior to his untimely death,” explains founding member Larry Love. “Despite the heavy manners we are proud to declare we rose to the challenge."

“Whacked was made in the early weeks of the first UK lockdown in March 2020,” remembers producer Cam Blackwood. “I think the hedonistic spirit of the song was amplified a million times by the fact we were making the record remotely - with the musicians in the band recording their parts at home, sending them all to me to collate and arrange - then I would send the instrumental track to Larry to record vocals on. The energy was pretty insane - we were like caged animals desperate to get out.

“We managed to find time three months later (when the first lockdown ended in July 2020) to get together and put the finishing touches to the song,” continues Cam. “Being in the studio with a few beers seemed like a fitting way to finalise the tune and put the last 1% of energy into the recording. This song feels like classic Alabama 3 to me. It’s a banger!”

Indeed it is. A low-slung groove propelled by frontman Larry Love’s infamous throat rattle, with the addictive chorus refrain ‘everybody’s getting whacked on something, something that makes them feel good,’ ‘Whacked’ will loop around your brain like a recurring dream you can’t wake from. These are hedonistic conscious unconscious times.

“You can praise the Lord, you can pass the ammunition, you can be woke you can be wicked you can have the wisdom of Solomon but unless you are ready to get whacked with Alabama 3 there’s no point in dreaming,” states Larry. “Rearrange the rubble, paint your bomb shelters and make sure everybody in the neighbourhood feels good cos we feel like getting stooped and you need to get whacked.”

Alabama 3 are very much back. Time to get whacked.

New school techno pioneer Avision will release his debut album ‘In My Mind’ on Ellum Audio this winter.

Avision grew up around the rich club culture of New York City and is now part of a new wave of artists defining the contemporary techno landscape. In just a couple of years, the American has become an absolute mainstay on labels like Drumcode, Machine, and We Are The Brave. His hard-hitting productions have found their way into the record bags of tastemakers like Adam Beyer, Maceo Plex and Chris Liebing. At the same time, he has been featured everywhere, from The Brooklyn Mirage and Time Warp in New York to festivals like Elrow, The BPM Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival and Dockyards. Now he offers up ‘In My Mind’, a widescreen artistic statement across 13 immersive tracks.

Says the artist, “I’m truly proud to share ‘In My Mind’ with the world, as I feel like this is another side of music that people haven’t heard from me. This album touches on a little bit of everything, and I wanted it to represent where I’m from. 90% of the album was written during the time we couldn’t be ourselves and do what we love, but I turned that frustration and disbelief into an album with emotion and meaning. I couldn’t be happier with the final outcome, and I hope everyone enjoys it.”

The LP kicks off with ‘Real Talk’, wasting no time getting going on a lush wave of Detroit-style techno full of hi-tek soul. 'Cut The Rope' features Robert Owens, the legendary house vocalist who lights up the deep, driving house drums with a typically impassioned vocal. The energy levels stay high on 'No Disco' with its oversized hi-hats, nimble bassline and chattery claps, while 'Baby' traps you in metallic techno loops with a playful vocal sample. After the bright lights of lead single 'Contrast,' and grinding peak time weapon 'In My Mind' is ‘Ground Rule’, an atmospheric spoken word interlude about NYC.

The album’s second half kicks off with the far-sighted cosmic pads of 'I'll Take You' with Xander and has you lost in another world. There is angst in the tense synth loops of interplanetary techno cut 'Your Soul' and hands-in-the-air trance energy on 'Where I Want To Be.' The monstrous 'All Night' is another wall of rich synth sound over big drums, and 'Lost Symmetry' then releases the pressure with a more dreamy melodic vibe built on tumbling breakbeats. 'In Your World' closes in an uplifting fashion across eight minutes of cantering techno and epic synth work.

‘In My Mind’ is an accomplished and adventurous album that takes melodic techno in bold new directions.

In my parents' living room stands an elaborately hand-forged copper kettle - my grandfather's masterpiece, hammered out of a single piece of copper. Growing up in a family of craftsmen, I have been familiar since early childhood with the attitude of perfecting a thing for its own sake.

The deepening concentration and slow maturing of execution, the craft shares with spiritual rituals, with arts, sports and the sciences. I am touched by the sight of almost ideal expressions of human activity, be it a forged piece, a perfectly build sentence or an athletic performance. I dedicate my album SKILLS to this fascination.

A branched succession of changing skills has brought mankind to the present day. The skills that were originally life-supporting grew into handy crafts and art. This development through the times reflects the enormous changes in ethics, aesthetics and morals. People describe this process in many shades, from culturally pessimistic dystopias to posthumanist utopias.

The music of SKILLS lives in this field - between hymn and melancholy.

Karsten PflumReal Name:Jacob Helverskov MadsenIDM legend hailing from Denmark now living in Berlin germany
been making music since 2002 been on many labels such as Hymen Records, Mindwaves Music, Touched Music, Touched Revolutions

Pinegrove’s new album, ‘11:11’, is an unqualified triumph, an
album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing
feelings of warmth, urgency and poetic beauty, even as it
asks some of life’s big and difficult questions.
 On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam
Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out,
noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member
Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album
‘Marigold’’s production “crisp and contained,” Hall, who coproduced ‘11:11’ with Sam, sought more of a “messier” feel
for these new songs. Most of the recording took place at two
Hudson Valley facilities (Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock
and The Building in Marlboro) with the final touches done
side by side with Walla in Seattle.
 ‘11:11’ features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan
Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh
Marre’s signature guitar work and a special guest - Doug
Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record
sounds intimate, yet expansive.
 “It spends equal time on optimism, community, reaffirming
what we are and how it’s our duty to look out for one
another,” says singer Evan Stephens Hall. “There’s anger,
love, hope and grief. The record has all of that.”
 The opening mini epic track, ‘Habitat’, is a two-part
masterpiece of texturalism, brimming with robust, percussive
guitars and driven by unsettling shifts. Another key track is
‘Alaska’, a happy-go-lucky romp of dense, bracing guitar
rock, lurching out of the gate with tectonic force and boasting
hooks at every turn. Later, the breezy, pastoral folk-tinged
‘Iodine’ glistens with exquisite vocal harmonies, and ‘Flora’ is
a beautifully appointed apology to nature, its luxurious
country rock feels connected to past masters like the Flying
Burrito Brothers or early Wilco.

The latest addition to Chick Corea's remarkable discography is Chick
Corea Akoustic Band 'LIVE', the long-anticipated reunion of his beloved
Akoustic Band with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl,
together as a trio for the frst time in more than two decades
Under any circumstances, these thrilling live recordings would be a welcome
addition to Corea's prodigious discography. With the news of his passing still so
fresh in listeners' minds, its release comes as an opportunity for fans to bid
farewell while cherishing the communal energy and playful vigor that made the
pianist a favourite of jazz lovers around the world for nearly 60 years. 'LIVE', the 2-
CD/3-LP set was recorded January 13, 2018 at SPC Music Hall in St. Petersburg,
Florida. The trio's intricate interplay and highwire jousting refects more than 30
years of collaboration between Corea's Akoustic and Elektric Bands and serves as
a celebratory reminder of Corea's singular genius, with more than two hours of
inspired playing and spirited camaraderie.
Chick Corea attained iconic status in music. The late keyboardist, composer and
bandleader was a DownBeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, as well as one
of the most nominated artists in GRAMMY Awards history with 68 nods - and 24
wins, in addition to 4 Latin GRAMMYS. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop
to jazz- rock fusion, children's songs to chamber and symphonic works, Chick
touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career after playing with
the genre-shattering bands of Miles Davis in the late '60s and early '70s

»Neon City« is the debut release by Erik K Skodvin & Otto A Totland's Deaf Center project, finally re-issued 18 years since its first appearance.

Listening to »Neon City« in 2022 is like taking a melancholy journey down rainy city streets of the early naughts, made by the then two young Norwegians in their mid 20s after spending time together in a basement full of vintage items. Armed with young optimism and a sense of musical experimentation, they started sampling everything around them, be it an old television broadcaster, tape recorders, a game of table tennis or conversations on film and merging it with pianos, plucked guitar, strings and anything in-between. The record turned out as something unique in the fields bordering post classical and ambient music, though without landing on any set genre. The record was filling a place in music that was barely touched upon and made them further experiment with samples and classical music which landed them on the 2005's classic »Pale Ravine«.

Although Erik and Otto both had been making music solo before, »Neon City« was the start of their more focused future paths as purveyors of both light and darkness in music that seeps through your soul to battle the anxieties of the world. We're glad to see this important start again be available to new ears. The record comes with a remix of the opener track “Dial” by Helios aka Keith Keniff, taken from the same original.

The acclaimed Kito Jempere joins Cherrystones and DJN4 on the label for 2020, with an album full of international minds. Working with array of collaborators across a cast of friends including Jimi Tenor, Wolfram, Hard Ton, Lipelis, Rich Thair (Red Snapper), Ruf Dug, Cedric Gasaida (Azari & III) and many more, presenting this, his third long play.

A hail of freedom of thoughts and voices before these changed times, recorded and shared across continents. Kito - following releases with DFA, Lo Recordings, Bordello A Parigi, Hell Yeah and Duca Bianco - acts as curator rather than conductor, the idea not to transform the contributions but allow them absolute.

Sending music and receiving back, nothing was touched to keep the truth and honour. From Tokyo to London, Berlin to his base in St Petersburg, trusting the chosen artists led to a broad palette, as his 4/4 driven funk expands with Jazz horns to Motorik percussion, Avant-Reich vocals to White Isle melodies, J Pop Balearics to Chanson stories wrapped around Club memories.

A true world meeting, crossing borders and genres. An eye on the dance floor and week long chill outs. With remixes from the likes of Samo DJ, Lipelis, Cable Toy and more to follow, this is more than Yet Another Kito Jempere Album.

Just a few months after releasing their acclaimed second album Still Life, Los Angeles indie-pop band Massage returns with Lane Lines a six-track EP out in early 2022 on Mt. St. Mtn. (Cindy, Flowertown, Blues Lawyer) that finds the quintet expanding on their Sarah-meets-Creation Records sound with new touches of soft psychedelia, Feelies-ish frenzy and Haçienda-era escapism. The band didn’t plan to follow Still Lines so quickly. But after the pandemic further delayed that multi-year project, Alex Naidus (guitar, vocals, former Pains of Being Pure at Heart), Andrew Romano (guitar, vocals), Gabrielle Ferrer (keyboards, percussion, vocals), David Rager (bass) and Natalie de Almeida (drums) leapt at the chance to make music together again in real life and started gathering on random summer evenings in the tiny rehearsal-space studio of producer-composer Andrew Brassell (Susanna Hoffs) with no clear goal in mind. Lane Lines is the surprise product of those informal sessions — a flash of pent-up creative energy that serves as both a companion piece to Still Life and an exploration of textures and influences that didn’t quite fit the full-length but have always been deeply embedded in the band’s DNA, with new echoes of 1980s artists that sought to refract the 1960s through their own skewed prisms: Flying Nun, the Paisley Underground, The Feelies covering The Beatles, “Second Summer of Love” New Order. “The songs on Still Life and Lane Lines seem to straddle the line between indie and pop without exactly being ‘indie pop,’” Romano says. “To me they feel more like descendents of ‘college rock’ a moment that lasted from about 1986 to 1991, right before the underground and the mainstream converged, when it seemed like any scrappy indie band might stumble across a hit.” The EP begins with the new single version of Still Life standout “In Gray & Blue,” which along with previous singles “Half a Feeling” and “Made of Moods” is part of a trio of songs written during the first days of lockdown and later added to the album. But while brief lulls in the pandemic allowed Massage to record the other lockdown tracks in the studio, the LP version of “In Gray & Blue” was entirely DIY a GarageBand demo emailed around for overdubs and ultimately “mixed” by Romano himself.

REPRESS!

Marcos Valle - Mentira

Valle is a Brazilian singer, instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer of the highest order. His roots lie in Bossa Nova and he was one of the youngest talents in the scene, extensively touring the USA and residing there for many years. Valle's music crosses touches many styles including samba, rock, soul, jazz, boogie and disco.

Signed by Odeon in 1963, he recorded ten studio albums for them between 1964 and 1974. He also recorded for Verve, Warner and Som Livre among others.

Mentira is a re-record of his own song 'Mentira Carioca' - released four years earlier by Odeon - and appears on his 1973 LP 'Previsão Do Tempo' on Odeon.


Toni Tornado - Me Libertei

This is the second track that we have re-issued by the one and only Toni Tornado, master of Brazilian Funk.

His career began as 'Tony Checker', lip syncing to rock 'n' roll hits and touring extensively outside of Brazil. Whilst in New York he met Tim Maia and became involved in the 'Black Rio' movement. Toni also worked with Ed Lincoln and Antonio Adolfo amongst many others. He had a successful acting career and starred in many soap opera's.

It appears alongside 'O Jornaleiro' on his sought after BR-3 LP from 1971 on Odeon. 'Me Libertei' has never been released on a 7.

'There is a sense of mirth rising within me as I riddle these notes down. I'm here at the Cube Cinema in Bristol with John Stevens from Qu Junktions in the garden talking music, while Rhodri Karim whizzes through setting up gear for Matana Roberts and Kelly Jayne Jones. They are in situ for three days for another playthecube.

All the while I lounge back and time-travel back to Dec '17, picturing the times we all shared with the musicians you hear in these
recordings. To slow things down a wee touch is such a powerful gesture, it feels. Ali and Jamie Lindsay (from the Cube) where so gentle in setting up the framework for Tartine de Clous and Neil to
join in and and spend five epic days and nights with us. Showing old and new films, talking, singing tight together around a table and then en masse with the Bristol Sacred Harp group, everything weaved around the Microplexian complex. The ad hoc series playthecube is inspired by olden-day folks stopping by settlements to sing, jest and make love for a hazy period, as well as urban fairytale jazz residencies and the desire to jig up the connections that frizzle between The Cube's curious volunteer workforce, visiting artists and our audiences when you have a little more time on your hands.

Over the two nights, Tartine de Clous, Alasdair Roberts and Neil McDermott entertained plenty. The computer capturing the music at the back of the auditorium and the exquisitely placed hanging mics, like flowers at a fête, all added to the recording angel ritual. On the first evening every breath, every track and each chair inch mattered; they shuffled things round and, on the second evening, the suite of song swept the crowd and the musicians together into a fine fettle.

To have this album and to hear these songs is to taste the stews we ate, the stories we swapped, the technology we manipulated and the people we touched. The cubic circles rippled and we all loosed a little, and the way I figure it, you can hear it.'

Scuba begins a new project with London vocalist and producer DOMiNii, who makes his debut with ‘Diivorce’.

Paul Rose (aka Scuba) has long since explored cross-genre sounds, blending disparate elements and mining nostalgia to create cool moods and moments of pure escapism. Over four critically acclaimed albums and mix CDs for DJ Kicks, fabric, and Ostgut Ton, he’s established himself as one of the industry’s most respected artists and tastemakers. He’s continued to evade musical pigeonholing over the course of his career, never hesitating to challenge himself with new creative endeavours. The fresh sonic direction expressed on ‘Diivorce’ is one he’s been developing since 2018, when he took an indefinite break from the full-time DJ circuit.

‘Diivorce’ is a collaboration with debut artist DOMiNii, a vocalist and producer who takes influence from the likes of Wang Chung, David Newman, Arthur Russell, and The Blue Nile. Although he appeared uncredited with backing vocals on Scuba’s ‘Forgive Me’, which initially came out last summer, ‘Diivorce’ marks his first official release.

Covering areas as varied as power pop, indietronica, exuberant house, and classic rock, the project seemingly touches as many points as it can think of, something Rose acknowledged in a recent interview where he stated that “we made so many tracks, with no real set direction, so with this record I just wanted to pick a limited number that kind of showed where we’d been. We are working on something now that I’d call a ‘proper album’, which I think will come out in 2022, Diivorce is something I see as a documentation of a period of time.”

The project includes illustrations by French artist Virginie Kypriotis who tells the story of ‘Diivorce’ through the eyes of DOMiNii, detailing a world of abandonment and separation against a backdrop of a faded paradise. Rose was first acquainted with Kypriotis’ work through her iconic illustration ‘A Night at Berghain’, which was later used by the club as their official flyer artwork in December 2017.

The vinyl edition of ‘Diivorce’ includes previously unreleased (and vinyl-exclusive) track ‘Tricks’, and is packaged in a limited edition, numbered, screen-printed sleeve.

Having already impressed via a slew of releases for Correspondant, Live At Robert Johnson and his own Biologic Records, DC Salas tees up an impressive release for Futureboogie. ‘The Weight Of Uncertainty’ EP illustrates the suave sounds that the Brussels born producer has become noted for, and comes backed with a remix from the supremely talented and always on-point I:Cube.

In its original mix, ‘The Weight Of Uncertainty’ dips into a smorgasbord of sound, as touches of Belgian New Beat slide on up against balearic disco tropes for a spectacular body & soul workout. The legendary French disco architect and Versatile Records mainstay, I:Cube, floats in on a little fluffy cloud for a terrific ambient dance version, fuelled by the kind of IDM brain scrambling sounds once present in the DNA of producers like Carl Craig, B12, Black Dog and Autechre.

On his two other originals, DC Salas gets raw and grungy on ‘Gliding Sound’, its distorted edge adding to the drama composed by the heavy hitting synth lines and the gnarly percussive pattern, whilst ‘They Don’t See It’ introduces some dark acid elements to the chugging rhythm and steely hi-hats anchoring the tracks off-kilter melodies.

"Emotional Response celebrates its 50th release with a special limited-edition from label stalwart Roy Of The Ravers. Following 2019’s magnum opus White Sunrise II is the accompanying “Soliel”, where our nom dee plume delves further into his archives of recently rediscovered disks to present an 8-track double pack, cut loud for DJ play.

The music too is more expansive, with the ambient and techno signatures matched with touches of jazz keys, Balearic sampledelica and even acoustic outtakes, all with that Ravers humour included.

The opening cinematic symphonies of The Smell Of Orange Peel and Kliszewicz Klopcic Klim highlight again a side not seen on his more acid / club cuts found on various labels. However, it’s the B side that compounds expectations with the deep house meets techno melodics of City Limits, before the ever-expanding feel-good vibrations of center piece Feathers hooks all. Sometimes a simple groove and catchy vocal sample is all you need to create a classic.

The second half then glides with 14 minutes of house dramatics via Versace 101624, a master of arrangement and beats, preempting the interlude of Clock House’s return. To close, EL-9400’s intense scatter percussion melds with anthemic acid undertones before its 2nd half melts to a choral ambience, leading to the closing acoustic jam dub curiosity My Brother And His Mate and the curtain for another stage in the Roy sagas. "

Digital Afrika return to the fray with this incredible EP for ASW. Featuring the original Gnawa plus it’s acoustic source recording as performed by Radouan Naim in Morocco PLUS two truly excellent remixes from the legendary Jose Marquez and Melbourne’s own TEYMORI (Amin Payne).

The original source recording for this track was laid down in Planet Essaouira and recorded by Zhonu “Nui” Moon (Digital Afrika ) on one of his many cultural trips to his ancestral home land. The studio is situated on the Moroccan coastal town of Essaouira , a cultural hub for the Berber (indigenous Moroccan) traditions.

This enigmatic town , popularised by the beatniks and bohemians of the 60ʼs, most famously by Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones , has a mystique all its own as well as a long musical history.

“Gnawa” in Berber language literally translates as “Trance“ music , and is traditionally performed in “Lilas” musical ceremonies accompanied by dance that can go on for days .. where the purpose is to produce trance-like states of being where different types of healing or catharsis can occur ..

The recording was then brought back to Melbourne, Australia. Where the Digital Africa team applied its electronic Afro-house touches , while keeping true to its original North African aesthetic.

**LIMITED BLACK VINYL** Rival Consoles returns with a resonant
and explorative soundscape of original
music, composed for renowned
choreographer Alexander Whitley’s
contemporary dance production
Overflow.

Exploring themes of the human and emotional
consequences of life surrounded by data, the piece
echoes the concept of social media, advertising,
marketing companies and political factions
exploiting our data to gain wealth, political
advantage and sow division. Key reading for the
project was based around the contemporary
philosophical work Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism
and New Technologies of Power by Byung-Chul
Han.
“The piece opens with Monster which has a kind of
drunken madness to it, highly repetitive to mirror the
repetitive nature of how we as humans engage with
technology such as social media. It’s sometimes
edging towards chaos but yet always returning back
to the same starting point, but eventually giving way
to exhaustion. I wanted to create a bold opening
piece for Overflow,” states West.

I Like features the mapping of data from dancer Tia
Hockey’s personal monologue, which allows chords
to be heard - but only based on the activity of her
voice, drawing attention to things happening behind
the curtain, invisible systems, algorithms.
The album also features the previously released
standalone slice of euphoria, Pulses of Information
— described by UK mag Clash as “typically
entrancing, Pulses of Information seems to
encourage a form of internal dialogue, between our
inner and outer selves.”

Overflow was premiered by the Alexander Whitley
Dance Company in May 2021 at the Sadler’s Wells
in London and is scheduled to tour through theatres
in Europe in spring 2022. The score will be released
by Erased Tapes on limited edition vinyl and CD as
well as digital formats on December 3.

The Blind Date Party hosted by Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
and featuring AZITA, Matt Sweeney, Alasdair Roberts, Matt Kinsey,
Sean O’Hagan, Bill MacKay, George Xylouris, Dead Rider, David Pajo,
Mick Turner, Meg Baird, Ty Segall, Emmett Kelly, Cory Hanson, Six
Organs of Admittance, David Grubbs, Cassie Berman, Cooper Crain and
Sir Richard Bishop happened online in the autumn and winter of 2020 -
2021 but the party planning dated back to the spring of 2020.
 Stuck at home, with no gigs in the foreseeable future, Bill, Bonnie and
Drag City needed an outreach program to keep themselves busy, not to
mention sane. In the absence of any company or anything on the
calendar, playing songs they loved was an idea; playing with people they
loved, the desire. And making it fun - so pairing someone with someone
else having no say in the matter, the essence of the blind date, was the
plan. Favourite songs were chosen; players from around the Drag City
galaxy were messaged. Pretty soon, songs were flying back and forth -
music in the air.
 By autumn, the songs started to appear online: Bill and Bonnie singing a
song by someone they loved and admired; each song cut by another
artist they loved and admired, then sent to Bill and Bonnie to provide the
finishing touches. The spotlight pointed in every direction each week:
toward the singers and writers who’d originally played the songs (Yusuf
Islam, Hank Williams Jr., Dave Rich, The Other Years, Billie Eilish,
Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Bill Callahan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Wyatt,
Lowell George, Johnnie Frierson, Air Supply, Will Oldham, Leonard
Cohen, David Berman, Iggy Pop and John Prine), toward their featured
collaborators, the artists whose artwork adorned each digital single and
videos made by still more collaborators.
 Like the best parties, it turned out to be everything and more than they’d
even hoped for. So many more people were involved in the process that
would on the page here. Suffice to say, making records over the years
has required a broad sense of community and an always-surprising mix
of independence and unity, inspiration and utility. Some of the best
memories are those where as many of our folks as possible were
together in one place at one time. The Blind Date Party was one of
these, maybe the most improbable one yet. It’s for everyone who’s here
and it’s in the name of everyone who’s gone but will never go and will
always live with us here. This album will too.

The Blind Date Party hosted by Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
and featuring AZITA, Matt Sweeney, Alasdair Roberts, Matt Kinsey,
Sean O’Hagan, Bill MacKay, George Xylouris, Dead Rider, David Pajo,
Mick Turner, Meg Baird, Ty Segall, Emmett Kelly, Cory Hanson, Six
Organs of Admittance, David Grubbs, Cassie Berman, Cooper Crain and
Sir Richard Bishop happened online in the autumn and winter of 2020 -
2021 but the party planning dated back to the spring of 2020.
 Stuck at home, with no gigs in the foreseeable future, Bill, Bonnie and
Drag City needed an outreach program to keep themselves busy, not to
mention sane. In the absence of any company or anything on the
calendar, playing songs they loved was an idea; playing with people they
loved, the desire. And making it fun - so pairing someone with someone
else having no say in the matter, the essence of the blind date, was the
plan. Favourite songs were chosen; players from around the Drag City
galaxy were messaged. Pretty soon, songs were flying back and forth -
music in the air.
 By autumn, the songs started to appear online: Bill and Bonnie singing a
song by someone they loved and admired; each song cut by another
artist they loved and admired, then sent to Bill and Bonnie to provide the
finishing touches. The spotlight pointed in every direction each week:
toward the singers and writers who’d originally played the songs (Yusuf
Islam, Hank Williams Jr., Dave Rich, The Other Years, Billie Eilish,
Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Bill Callahan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Wyatt,
Lowell George, Johnnie Frierson, Air Supply, Will Oldham, Leonard
Cohen, David Berman, Iggy Pop and John Prine), toward their featured
collaborators, the artists whose artwork adorned each digital single and
videos made by still more collaborators.
 Like the best parties, it turned out to be everything and more than they’d
even hoped for. So many more people were involved in the process that
would on the page here. Suffice to say, making records over the years
has required a broad sense of community and an always-surprising mix
of independence and unity, inspiration and utility. Some of the best
memories are those where as many of our folks as possible were
together in one place at one time. The Blind Date Party was one of
these, maybe the most improbable one yet. It’s for everyone who’s here
and it’s in the name of everyone who’s gone but will never go and will
always live with us here. This album will too.

‘Expressions of Interest’ is the debut album from Melbourne/Naarm post-punk group screensaver.

Sonically, the 10 track album is rich and detailed, and pays homage to its era of inspiration (late 70s-mid 80s post-punk and new wave) with gripping vocals, dissonant guitar, melodic basslines, washes of synths and motorik drumming. Engineered by Julian Cue alongside band member Chris Stephenson and recorded over multiple studio sessions between 2020-2021

The album opens with the ominously titled ‘Body Parts’, an immediately arresting song that showcases the bands penchant for blending classic post-punk elements, leaning into a sound somewhere between the Banshees and Protomartyr.

Maynard doubles down on these themes in the frenetic second track, ‘No Movement’. Guttural organ tones swim under overdriven guitar, jagged and intense. Additional textures and sound effects are used percussively to embellish the dynamics, creating a feverish atmosphere with some Martin Hannett like flourishes.

The album takes a surprising turn into electronic driven krautrock on track three with 'Buy, Sell, Trade' - a rollicking piece of danceable ephemera, dominated by swirling synth sounds and punctuated with electronics reminiscent of Sparks/Moroder collaborations. Chris Stephenson's masterful guitar work begins with Greg Sage-esque determination before a crescendo into a lush Frippertronics outro.

'MEDS' transports us back to the foundation established on 'Body Parts', a gothy piece, full of tribal toms and dirge-y synths. Industrial punk rock nearly swallowed whole by the keys in the middle and slowly building back to complimentary guitar and vocal hooks.

It's from this point in the album that the band let's their other influences rise to the surface, as they explore touches of EDM on 'Static State' - a brutal, death-disco style track, Krystal Maynard's lead synth and gloomy vocal complimenting the pounding drums and dub-esque bass line culminating in a track worthy of the dancefloor.


Opening side two we have 'Skin', beginning with a solid and simple backbeat, James Beck’s post-punk percussion provides a steady and minimal framework for the rest of the band to colour in with great depth and detail. Giles Fielke’s bass guitar wobbles brilliantly leading the verse melody, whilst Chris Stephenson’s guitar drives the chorus that folds neatly in on itself.

In ‘Attention Economy’, Krystal Maynard is flexible with her lyrical style, and knows how and when to lend her voice to the greater backdrop of the composition. ‘Attention Economy’ has an almost Kraftwerkian structure - repetitious, but engaging with its constant tom driven beat, lush synth lines and minimal bass tones.

Just when you thought things had slowed down, screensaver ramp things right back up again with ‘Overnight Low’ - a no holds barred thumper. Giles Fielke underpins the hard-edged sound with his bassline, keeping things smooth and tight. It brings to mind a hybrid of PiL’s ‘Annalisa’ and Wire’s ‘Two People In a Room.’

Before you can catch your breath, we have ‘Regular Hours’ - another industrial track, and perhaps the sister song to ‘Static State’ heard earlier on side one. Seething electronic drum samples cut through an abyss of growling synths, Giles Fielke hanging up the bass temporarily to accompany Krystal Maynard on synth duties.

The album closes with the fittingly titled ‘Soft Landing’, literally bringing the listener back down...softly. The song is heavy on atmos, and resembles the aesthetics previously encountered on ‘Attention Economy’ a few tracks earlier.

‘Expressions of Interest” was recorded at various locations across Melbourne, with a handful of songs being captured before the start of the Covid pandemic in January 2020. With the recording timeline being drastically altered, the band shifted focus to work on what would become their first single ‘Strange Anxiety’, throughout the first months of the Melbourne 2020 lockdown.

Maenad Veyl returns to his namesake label along with The Sarcasm Ensemble for the new album, 'Comfort in Misery'. Made up of ten compositions exploring sparse beats, cinematic textures and mind altering experimentations, this is an offering of thought provoking pieces which perhaps make the perfect accompaniment to the modern world. As the name implies, 'Comfort in Misery' seeks to find ways of dealing with perpetual shifts and agonizing circumstances.
The opener, 'Weak & Weary', acts an almost rude awakening, while simultaneously cleansing the palette for the forthcoming journey. 'Harsh Whispers' quickly takes hold and feels like a fragmented dream you may or may not remember while then moving to the more minous, 'Life Expectancy'. From the sparkling tones of 'Deep Ruby' to the uncomfortable bliss of 'Always Worse', the project touches on the most known yet unknown of moods, emotions and states of being.
Winding down with 'Irreconcilable Differences' before concluding with the satisfying chaos of 'Shred', 'Comfort in Misery' cannot be pinpointed or married to any one sound or status. While tackling a seeming insurmountable subject, Veyl & The Sarcasm Ensemble provide a perfect solution for the everlasting pain.
Or do they?

Bill Evans catapulted to the top of the jazz world in June 1961 after reeling off three straight masterpiece sessions at New York's Village Vanguard with his trio. Yet the emotional highs came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident. Devastated, Evans refrained from playing for nearly a year. If not for an inspirational collaboration of tremendous creative outpouring, one wonders what fate may have befallen Evans. Undercurrent, the outcome of two studio sessions with guitarist Jim Hall, is that project.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this Silver Label LP edition bursts forth with brilliant textures, you-are-there realism, and extraordinary tonalities. No other version outside of this analogue copy brings you face-to-face with these two jazz giants' sonic communion, a kind of spiritual musical summit on which Evans' deft keyboard touches and Hall's reliably subtle phrasings seamlessly mesh and wonderfully dance, the compositions streaked with natural instrumental decay, full-frequency extensions, and poignant emotionalism that, on this LP, you can feel.

While Evans managed to sit down for a few one-off takes between LaFaro's passing and these April-May 1962 dates, he largely remained on hiatus and abstained from recording. Whether it owes to the intimate pairing, he and Hall's brotherly chemistry, or the exquisite selection of program material, the results consistently come across as the equivalent of a private meditation - such is the level of introspective depth and quietly shaded interplay throughout. For Evans, the duet clearly functions as therapy, a healing episode in which his partner patiently lays back, shadowing moves and suggesting others, neither musician interested in the spotlight but each striving for (and achieving) transcendent beauty.

In tackling standards such as Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" and the Broadway classic "Darn That Dream," as well as the Hall original "Romain," the pair traverses complex harmonies with the astute elegance of a figure skater. At times, Evans and Hall go for broke on a hard-swinging romps, yet it's their implied melancholy and drifting, softly struck melodic refrains on waltzes and ballads that bestows Undercurrent with a nuanced romanticism and whispered atmosphere befitting the record's title.

Indeed, even the album's cover - an iconic photograph by Toni Frissell - exhibits the surreal, almost-hallucinogenic properties of the fare contained within.

Sometimes, the best place to begin is at the end. If you really want to dig deep into Illusory Walls, the fourth album by THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE, it definitely helps to do that. That's because epic closer "Fewer Afraid" -all 19 minutes, 44 seconds of it-doesn't just revisit the themes and ideas on the ten songs that precede it, but also offers a self-aware summary of the Connecticut band's entire history. It's the conclusion of all the stories within the record as well as a nod to all the lives that helped make them-little glimpses of everything that's come before, on both a micro, immediate level, and a more universal one. "That song is a higher level look at my whole life and the whole world," explains vocalist/guitarist David F. Bello, "as well as the album, our band and our discography. It places the band in the context of the rest of the world, as if we're listening to everything that came before. It touches on all the themes of the previous songs, but there are also callbacks to songs from earlier in our career. But in this song, they're the object, not the subject-I'm talking about a world in which these things happen, not talking about these things happening." Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the band-completed by Steven K. Buttery (drums and percussion), Joshua Cyr (bass/vocals) and Katie Dvorak (vocals/synth)-had nothing but time to realize the full extent of their musical and thematic aspirations. And so, four years on from lauded third album Always Foreign, they were able to make what is undoubtedly the band's most ambitious and epic record to date. Written and recorded remotely-a first for the band-Illusory Walls takes on the weight of human existence while it's buckling under the pressure of today's near-dystopian society. Personal anxieties and political struggles collide with a series of portentous, apocalyptic and dramatic tunes, resulting in some of the darkest music the band has made since forming in 2009.

Geese are a band that begins and ends in Brooklyn, as a
project between friends to build a home studio out of a
basement.
 Their debut album, ‘Projector’ (from which this single is
taken), is born from the same ambition: make music by
any means necessary. The songs were recorded with
sneakers as mic stands and blankets draped over the
amps, all within the afternoon following a school day, up
until they ran the risk of noise complaints.
 As a result, ‘Projector’ is as much a moment in time as it is
an album. It represents five teenagers whose love of
music touches every part of their lives: their restless
anxiety about their futures, and their pent-up frustration
with their present - a perspective all too familiar in today’s
uncertain world. Perhaps then it only makes sense that the
figure on the album cover was born from a dream:
curiously alien, yet strangely familiar.
 Creative direction by Matt De Jong and Jamie JamesMedina (Fontaines D.C., Arlo Parks, Mura Masa, FKA
Twigs).
 Two sold out London shows at The Windmill and The
Sebright Arms. First time ever playing in the UK.
 7” features ‘Low Era’ on the A side and a never before
heard bonus track called ‘Smoke In Japan’ on the B side.

Geese are a band that begins and ends in Brooklyn, as a
project between friends to build a home studio out of a
basement.
 Their debut album, ‘Projector’ is born from the same
ambition: make music by any means necessary. The
songs were recorded with sneakers as mic stands and
blankets draped over the amps, all within the afternoon
following a school day, up until they ran the risk of noise
complaints.
 As a result, ‘Projector’ is as much a moment in time as it is
an album. It represents five teenagers whose love of
music touches every part of their lives: their restless
anxiety about their futures, and their pent-up frustration
with their present - a perspective all too familiar in today’s
uncertain world. Perhaps then it only makes sense that the
figure on the album cover was born from a dream:
curiously alien, yet strangely familiar.
 Creative direction by Matt De Jong and Jamie JamesMedina (Fontaines D.C., Arlo Parks, Mura Masa, FKA
Twigs).
 Two sold out London shows at The Windmill and The
Sebright Arms. First time ever playing in the UK

Geese are a band that begins and ends in Brooklyn, as a
project between friends to build a home studio out of a
basement.
 Their debut album, ‘Projector’ is born from the same
ambition: make music by any means necessary. The
songs were recorded with sneakers as mic stands and
blankets draped over the amps, all within the afternoon
following a school day, up until they ran the risk of noise
complaints.
 As a result, ‘Projector’ is as much a moment in time as it is
an album. It represents five teenagers whose love of
music touches every part of their lives: their restless
anxiety about their futures, and their pent-up frustration
with their present - a perspective all too familiar in today’s
uncertain world. Perhaps then it only makes sense that the
figure on the album cover was born from a dream:
curiously alien, yet strangely familiar.
 Creative direction by Matt De Jong and Jamie JamesMedina (Fontaines D.C., Arlo Parks, Mura Masa, FKA
Twigs).
 Two sold out London shows at The Windmill and The
Sebright Arms. First time ever playing in the UK

2x12"s of the finest IDM and electronica from Dutch producer EXM. Descent takes you on a mind altering journey over 9 impressive tracks.

Originally hailing from Scotland, now based in Copenhagen, Numbers present 23-year old producer and deejay Perko with his debut release NV Auto.

The six tracks on this EP hear Perko mining the grooves between his favourite genres for building blocks of inspiration. Drawing from UK soundsystem culture and modern experimental music, half of the record explores deeper atmospheric passages and meditative repetition, characterised by layers of subtly shifting chords, field recordings and delicate polyrhythms.

Three dancefloor cuts, spread throughout the rest of the record, retain this detail and interplay with added energy. Perko's sense of rhythm & space is clear with 'Rounded's glacial synths, blown out drum machines and sculpted sub sine waves. 'What Otters' forges playful UKG touches within a paperclip framework of space-echoes and sparks, whilst 'Songbirds' flips into 4/4 drive with percolated alarms and shimmering pads.

'Density, Noise, Dust, Distortion, Space...' says Perko, if you want it simple.