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Marco Vella and Anth Wendt step up to International Feel with a five-track EP of Balearic-tinged bliss for their first collaborative release as Other Mother.

There’s definitely something in the air round the Adelaide Hills. Longtime friends Marco (aka Body Corp) and Anth (aka Oisima) finally got together in Anth’s studio after the pandemic and the result is Numero Uno an EP of laidback synth guitar and drum machine workouts mixing 303 riffs and sunsets for a supremely low-slung vibe.

After cruising around the Hills in the day the pair worked on tracks by night and their carefree days soaking up the sun shines through. Opening track About Time sets a steady pace with its lush delayed guitars slow-rising acid melody and hefty sub perfect for Sunday pub garden appreciation. A side closer Zwang! drops the tempo but brings the percussion into focus for another masterclass in tension and release with interwoven 303s and dub feedback.

Side B keeps the beach-side atmos flowing with guitar licks working around sumptuous synth chords for Anyway Music - a song that’s the ultimate soundtrack understated parts fitting together seamlessly in service to the feeling and belying the technique required. Lost In The Forest makes use of expansive ambient pads synth riffs and shakers to evoke a sense of wonder sunlight coming through the trees.

The EP concludes with Where’s The Fifty a dreamy piece of drum synth phrases and 303 interplay that perfectly characterizes Marco and Anth’s collaboration - two musicians and producers playing to serve the song. They write elements that combine for a harmonious whole greater than the sum of its parts. This is the underlying feel of Other Mother and Numero Uno - we’re all in this together - and by working collaboratively a brighter future might just be around the corner.

Avishag Cohen Rodrigues is an artist and musician based in New York. She broke out to the Tel-Aviv underground scene at age 18 with the guitar drum duo Laila. Since then she has been playing electric guitar with Ryskinder, Sloppy Jane, Cumgirl8. She has a forthcoming solo project where she plays too many of the instruments. She is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University in the Sound Art Department.

In 2019 she released her first EP “One Winter One Hunter” with Baby Satan Records (Berlin). She has opened for major acts such as Dirty Beaches, Better Oblivion Community Center, Mac DeMarco, Psychic Ills, Deerhoof, Cloud Nothing, Night Beats, Wire, The Shivers.

Black + White Haze Vinyl. With a sound that was swampy, primal and modern-urban all at once_as much in the tradition of rock n' roll and punk rock as it was a rejection of those things, the Scientists' formula was as universal as it was specific to their own experience. The themes of getting wasted, driving around in hotted-up cars, being trapped in crap jobs, and paranoia were their subject matter. Machine throb bass and drums with jagged car-wreck guitars were their modus operandi. Fitting into no place or time they spurned all but the most rudimentary and elemental of rock structures to create a sound all their own. Quadruple CD includes their complete studio recordings, live recordings, and a previously unissued set from Adelaide UniBar, plus dozens of previously unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree. Double LP version boils the box down to 22 essentials, plus unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree.




















t 20 THIS IS MY HAPPY HOUR LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR
u 21 FIRE ESCAPE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[v] 22 WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[w] 23 RAVER [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[x] 24 THE SPIN [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[y] 25 CLEAR SPOT [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[z] 26 REV HEAD [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xa] 27 SET IT ON FIRE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xb] 28 BURN OUT [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xc] 29 THIS LIFE OF YOURS [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xd] 30 SOLID GOLD HELL [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xe] 31 BLOOD RED RIVER [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xf] 32 DON'T LIE TO ME [LIVE AT THE LOFT]

[xh] 34 MELODRAMATIC TOUCH [LIVE AT STOREY HALL]
[xi] 35 SLOW DEATH [LIVE AT STOREY HALL]
[xj] 36 STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT [LIVE AT THE SYDNEY UNI]
[xk] 37 I'VE HAD IT [LIVE AT LE TOTE]
[xl] 38 GONNA MAKE YOU [LIVE AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL]
[xm] 39 WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE [LIVE AT SYDNEY TRADE UNION CLUB]
[xn] 40 GHOST TRAIN [LIVE AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL]
[xo] 41 THE OTHER PLACE [1985 FLEXI DISC]
[xp] 42 SHE CRACKED [1985 FLEXI DISC]

Teenage melancholy from the original Miami Sound Machine. Backed by the infamous FAMU Marching 100 Band and Frank Williams' crack shot players The Rocketeers, I Am Controlled By Your Love compiles sides from Helene Smith's '60s tenure with the Deep City, Lloyd, Reid, and Blue Star labels. A sweltering album of 12 deeply soulful, alternate universe hits from the First Lady of Miami Soul!

Thrills and Chills Transparent Vinyl! Teenage melancholy from the original Miami Sound Machine. Backed by the infamous FAMU Marching 100 Band and Frank Williams' crack shot players The Rocketeers, I Am Controlled By Your Love compiles sides from Helene Smith's '60s tenure with the Deep City, Lloyd, Reid, and Blue Star labels. A sweltering album of 12 deeply soulful, alternate universe hits from the First Lady of Miami Soul!

Deerhoof's fan-favorite breakthrough album, Apple O', gets a 20th-anniversary edition after years of being out of print in the physical realm. They say the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge was actually a pomegranate. But Pomegranate O' did not sound as catchy. Of course, knowledge of what, exactly? Could be the serene and orderly discipline of music, it could be the ability to instantaneously destroy the entire species in an apocalyptic fireball. This album is a love story. It is about Satomi's mom being a Japanese girl when Truman got that ecstatic glint in his eye and blew up chunks of her country in a mushroom cloud, and next thing you know Satomi has moved to San Francisco and taken over an American noise-rock band. It is also about a different US president with an ecstatic glint in his eye, selling a criminal invasion with lies about weapons of mass destruction. This edition of Apple O' is on vinyl the color of cotton candy accompanied by a bonus 7" of previously unreleased live recordings.

"As long as you come to my garden", the sixth release in the cherished Die Schachtel’s series “Decay Music” as well as the debut of the duo Damāvand (Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro CIccarelli) on the prestigious Italian label, is a tribute to the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, through his lyrics and freely inspired by the cult movie about his life The Color of the Pomegranates (Nřan guynə, 1968, USSR) directed by Sergei Parajanov. The feature film tells the life of the poet, who lived in the 17th Century, from childhood in the royal court, to retirement until his death in the monastery of Haghpat, through a series of episodes, static like paintings that do not tell but show, evoke, they suggest through metaphors, analogies, surrealist flair, dreamlike landscapes, liturgical pauses.

The six tracks are inspired by the dreamlike imagery contained in the movie, weaving sound textures ranging from ambient to noise, to references to the musical tradition of the Middle East.

Gianluca Ceccarini and Alessandro Ciccarelli alternate, without fixed roles, with analog synths, drones, amplified common objects, generative music, audio samples from the film and acoustic instruments such as the tar - a stringed instrument of Persian origin, the trombone and the cornet. In addition, two of the songs on the album contain Sayat Nova’s poems recited in Persian by Nahid Rezashateri.

The sound materials are revealed gradually like episodes, evoking the visual suggestions staged by Parajanov in the movie. As long as you come to my garden is intended as an imaginative journey to distant spaces and indefinite archaic times.

DAMĀVAND is a musical project by Gianluca Ceccarini (electronics, electroacoustic objects, tar) and Alessandro Ciccarelli (electronics, electroacoustic objects, trombone, cornet)

Gianluca Ceccarini, guitarist, electroacoustic experimenter, luthier specialized in the restoration and construction of plucked musical instruments for early music. In 2021 his first album Starving Night was released for the netlabel Laverna and in 2022 the Sarab Label published a CD version. He also works in photographic research, video-art, graphics and independent publishing with the Sarab collective.

Alessandro Ciccarelli is an author who ranges between different languages: photography, video, sound. He is involved in several collective research projects in the musical and theatrical fields. His solo records are released under the nom de plume Elnath Project. The latest work, after six years of silence, from Italian berlin-based composer, performer and publisher (Black Letter Press) Claudio Rocchetti, and a welcomed return on the Die Schachtel imprint after the brilliant Another Piece of teenage wildlife (2008), Labirinto verticale (Vertical Maze) takes its origin from the four years long collaboration of Rocchetti with the Parma-based Fondazione Lenz, a contemporary theatre research collective/organization.

Originally released as a limited edition three-CD set in 1997, Enya’s ‘A Box of Dreams’ has become a must-have collector’s item among fans. 25 years later, ‘A Box of Dreams’ will receive a long-awaited reissue when it is released on vinyl for the very first time, within a beautifully designed six-disc eco-friendly box set which has been manufactured using 100% recycled board and vinyl. The set compiles highlights from the first half of Enya’s storied career, spanning selections from her self-titled debut album (later reissued and expanded as ‘The Celts’) through to the single ‘Only If…’ which had just been released and featured on her first ‘best of’ ‘Paint The Sky With Stars’.

Vladislav Delay presents the third EP in his "Hide Behind The Silence" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton".

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Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me.
Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness.
Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’
The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in.
A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size.
It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.

x2 Gatefold Black LP Vinyl - Recorded during Pearl Jam’s Melbourne Park show on March 5, 1998 during the Australian tour in support of their 3rd studio album Yield, the highly sought after Give Way will be released on vinyl for the first time. The 17-track album will be a 2LP gatefold on black vinyl including live versions of “Given To Fly,” “Faithfull,” and “Do The Evolution”. The title Give Way is a nod to the Australian counterpart to the United States Yield sign.

"prog stalwarts deliver the goods" KKKK Kerrang!
"an album of Muse-like, slow burning guitar anthems" Rock Sound
"TPT take the baton of Pink Floyd & run with it, with the same dream- like atmosphere on the cusp of a nightmare." TERRORIZER
"the sound of a band reaching the height of their powers" Classic Rock "a high- class, mature, up to date & consistently melancholic album in between Porcupine Tree & Muse...warm, popular, contrived" Metal Hammer (DE).

The Pineapple Thief are one of the leading lights of Europe's experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord, the band have built an incredibly loyal fanbase over the past 23- years through extensive touring & consistently lauded recordings. Founder Bruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief as an outlet for his music back in 1999 & has since released over 15 studio albums.

'All The Wars' saw frontman Bruce Soord mature as a songwriter & grow in confidence, allowing him the use of a 22- piece string section & a choir. Soord explains, "no expense has been spared regarding the production of this record but at its heart it's still a rock record. It's very heavy in parts & very delicate & beautiful in others." Following Storm Thorgerson's cover for 'Someone Here Is Missing', the
artwork for this album features images created by the award- winning
photographer Mark Mawson as part of his 'Aqueous' series, which was projected onto Buckingham Palace as the background to Paul McCartney's performance of 'Magical Mystery Tour' during the diamond jubilee celebrations.

Kscope are now proud to present a newly remastered LP edition of 'All The Wars'

Von den Produzenten von Notting Hill und Bridget Jones’s Diary kommt eine kulturübergreifende romantische Komödie über die Suche nach der Liebe in der modernen Welt. Die unterschiedlichen Kulturen und Traditionen Londons und Lahores prallen in ”What’s Love Got To Do With It?” aufeinander - ein lustiges und bewegendes Fest der Liebe und Familie in all ihren Formen.

Zusätzlich zur Filmmusik hat Sawhney mit dem britisch-pakistanischen Grammy-Preisträger, Plattenproduzenten, DJ, Songwriter und Musiker Naughty Boy zusammengearbeitet, um drei Originalsongs für den Film zu schreiben. Nachho Gaao” und ”Apni Suno”, mit Musik und Text von Sawhney, sowie die Leadsingle des Soundtracks ”Mahi Sona” (auch bekannt als ”The Wedding Song”) mit dem legendären pakistanischen Sänger Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, der indischen Superstar-Sängerin Kanika Kapoor und der Emmy-nominierten Schauspielerin und Sängerin Lily James.

Drop a needle on Psyché's debut album and you'll see visions, or rather Mediterranean visions, be they of waves of heat shimmering above dunes of sand, or of women dancing around a bonfire on a rocky plain, or of bushy cliffs overlooking emerald-green and turquoise sea. The name Psyché is of course ancient Greek for 'soul' or 'mind', signifying the band's love of psychedelic funk, but also the wide range of Mediterranean influences – from Southern Europe to the Balkan Peninsula, and from Anatolia to the Maghreb – that provide an endless source of inspiration for their hypnotic sound and minimalist style.

Psyché members Marcello Giannini (Guru, Nu Genea, Slivovitz), Andrea De Fazio (Parbleu, Nu Genea, Funkin Machine) and Paolo Petrella (Nu Genea) have been active in the Naples music scene for almost two decades, most notably during the first wave of the new Neapolitan Power movement (Slivovitz, Revenaz Quartet). Over the years they have often crossed paths and collaborated on side projects in various genres (math-rock duo Arduo and, more recently, synth-pop duo Fratelli Malibu), before working together as the rhythm section of Nu Genea's live band. Following their first tour with Nu Genea in 2018, they started Psyché with the intent of exploring more minimalist styles and making music with just a few elements.

A unique combination of psychedelia, groove and improvisation, the music of Psyché goes back to the roots of our future; it evokes visions of a mythical past, blending centuries-old music traditions and mixing them with modern genres. Like a warm Mediterranean breeze, it travels across lands, seas and eras, distilling essential rhythms and cosmic pulsations.

The album's opener "Kuma" (titled after the first ancient Greek colony on the Italian mainland, now an archeological site near Naples) is like a vibrant, magical wave. With its deliberately simple harmony and sharp guitar riffs, it travels across the Mediterranean from Italy to North Africa, first lapping gently on Greek and Turkish shores – with some compositional elements reminiscent of Italian pop legend Lucio Battisti – and then speeding up and landing on the driving, syncopated rhythms of afrobeat. While listening to it your eyes fill with images of small white houses shining in the sun, of fig trees heavy with fruit, of spice bazaars and colourful medinas, and you can almost feel the desert wind blowing in your hair.

The journey continues with two examples of Psyché's bold and elegant approach to contemporary afrobeat and cumbia fusion: "Cumbia Mahàre" and "Amma". The former combines minimal synths and exhilarating rhythmic patterns of drums, percussion, guitar and bass, drawing us into the movements of an imaginary ritual dance (the term mahàre was used in Southern Italian dialects to indicate witches). Next is the cinematic and mysterious ambiance of "Angizia" (a snake goddess worshipped by the Marsi in ancient Italy), another fascinating mixture of different sonic traditions and cultures where hip-hop/funk drums are blended with Maghreb influences, Balkan echoes, and hypnotic, Theremin-like synths that have sort of a sci-fi movie quality to them.

The title track "Psyché", with its uptempo afro-rhythms, ethereal vocalizations and refined percussion, is almost a manifesto of the band's style and confirms the freshness of their minimalism, which is not afraid of taking in the sun of lands confined between the sea and the desert. The following "Manea" (named after the Roman-Etruscan goddess of the dead) is an afro-funk number with smooth and introspective dreamy jazz touches, and with an arrangement dominated by a guitar that, dripping notes like drops of water, creates a delicate, cinematic sound. Next, we come to "Hekate" (the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft and crossroads), a track that fuses psychedelia, spacious Latin guitars and a fast, tight groove. The album comes to a close with the exquisite melodic ballad "Kelebek", which seamlessly combines hip-hop drums and dreamy guitars, and whose warm, flowing sonorities and evocative atmospheres conjure the image of a butterfly (which is what kelebek means, in Turkish) floating over the Mediterranean and, from there, the world.

Death Is Not The End sub-label 333 returns again with... 333.

Originally released on his seminal Ujama label in 1988, Prince Jazzbo's 333 (aka Mango Tree) features the foundation deejay riding a killer update on the MPLA rhythm. One of the best 45s to come out of this late 80s digital era, no doubt.

Former In the Woods... members deliver epic Norwegian Black Metal to takes you into the night sky!

It’s the moment just after the tree-root thick tangle of guitars come in and the luminous clean vocals light up the sky while the keyboards suddenly shine from below: when the singing enters on ‘Astrologer’, the first track of Nattehimmel’s first album “Mourningstar”, that one might actually hear a continuation from In The Woods...’s legendary “Omnio” album from 1997. None of the 5 members are strangers to one another, having met before in bands such as In The Woods... and Strange New Dawn.
We guarantee that the members regard “Omnio” pretty highly.
Enough to revere it though? The similarity is not likely to be incidental, and anyway proves fleeting in the context of the 8 songs on “Mournigstar”, this new union turning out
very creative in shaping their Black Metal with a variety of elements. Primarily, the vocals set Nattehimmel apart from many other acts of this nature by including a variety of tropes from harsh growls to monkish groans to undead rasps, plus other backing parts that overlay the slightly echoey production with a ton of reson.

180 Gram Vinyl Following the success of the 2021 reissue of Ambient Warrior’s cult classic Dub Journey's (1995), Isle of Jura is pleased to present their unreleased second album, II. Born from the same oceanside fusion of instrumental dub, reggae, bossa nova and tango music that made Dub Journey's so distinctive and memorable, II is an equally sublime collection of eleven unheard tracks from the brilliant minds of Ronnie Lion and Andrea Terrano.

Evoking the delights of white sands, palm trees and sunsets, all set against clear waters and endless blue skies, Dub Journey’s and II document the golden moment when Ambient Warrior came together during the mid-90s to create some of the most Balearic Dub ever made. “Music is the greatest traveler, isn’t it?” says Ronnie. “It gets to places the actual artists can’t even get to really.”

The son of an orphaned Jamaican jazz trumpet player and professional boxer who enlisted in the military after stowing away on a boat to London, Ronnie grew up between Germany, Singapore and the UK before becoming a working musician in his mid-teens. A bass player by trade, he honed his skills playing in a series of soul, jazz-funk, blues, rock and reggae bands that performed throughout the UK.

By the time Ambient Warrior released Dub Journey’s, Ronnie and his business partner Ras Joseph were running the Lion Inc. recording studio and record label in Brixton, London. Having set up distribution arrangements with Roots Records (UK) and Semaphore (DEU/NL), they recorded and released a series of singles, compilations and solo albums from a who’s who of roots reggae artists, including Twinkle Brothers, Delroy Washington, Michael Prophet, Alton Ellis, Little Roy, and Ronnie’s own band The Amharic. “Lion was a regular port of call for visiting Jamaican artists,” reflects Ronnie. “When you were in London, it was on the route.”

An accomplished guitarist, producer and recording engineer from Trieste, Italy, Andrea grew up listening to Russian folk, Klezmer and the Italian harmony tradition in a Sicilian-Ukrainian family. After completing compulsory Italian military service, he moved to London to continue studying music. One night, he turned up at Lion Inc. and approached them about running audio engineering classes from the studio.

In Andrea, Ronnie found a collaborator who shared his desire to create borderless music that reflected the diversity of their backgrounds. “I wanted to do something that had no boundaries,” Ronnie explains. “If you’re working on a roots album, it has to sound a certain way, but with Ambient, especially in the nineties, it was just a license to let off. You could do whatever you wanted to do.” “It was a melting pot of influences like London itself,” adds Andrea.

Although they wrote most of II at the same time as they were recording Dub Journey’s, it took them several years to finish off the album. “Things never got done quickly,” Ronnie remembers. By the time it was complete, Roots Records had gone out of business, leaving Lion Inc. without UK distribution. Not long after, their Brixton studio flooded, bringing the label to a close.

These days, Andrea continues to work as a session guitarist, recording engineer and producer in London. Over the last two decades, he has collaborated regularly with Basement Jaxx and released several solo albums. Ronnie, on the other hand, lives on a boat equipped with an onboard studio, where he has recorded a series of oceanic dub albums off the British coast. Twenty-eight years after the release of Dub Journey’s, he recently started working on demos for a third Ambient Warrior album he hopes to record with Andrea in the not-so-distant future.

Artwork By Bradley Pinkerton.

On The Fly tells about the small moments of the big journey that is the path of jPattersson as a musician: Barefooted gratitude in the shade of a palm tree, a hike through the dreamlike colours of the highlands, a balcony scene with a glass of wine and the view of another galaxy... It's these small moments that fuel his contagious enthusiasm and hope that form the backbone for his signature 'jPatterssong-writing'. On The Fly is a very personal album that invites us to join the flight ourselves: Six of the eight tracks come with the highly stimulating catchiness of a four-to-the-floor beat. Sometimes it’s jPattersson's voice that sets the mood, sometimes it’s his trumpet, and then again it's the frequencies of electronically processed harmony which stretch like elastic rubber bands between delicate introspection and buzzing euphoria. A track generously marinated in sunlight and Dub as well as a piece of oceanic downbeat relaxation round off this forth jPattersson album just perfectly.

On The Fly erzählt von den kleinen Momenten jener großen Reise, auf der sich jPattersson als Musiker befindet: Barfüßige Dankbarkeit im Schatten von Palmen, eine Wanderung durch die traumartige Landschaft des Hochlands, eine Balkonszene mit Weinglas und Ausblick in eine andere Galaxie... In diesen kleinen Momenten findet er die ansteckende Begeisterung und Hoffnung, denen er in seiner unverwechselbaren 'jPatterssong'-struktur Ausdruck verleiht. On The Fly ist ein sehr persönliches Album, das uns ausdrücklich zum Abheben einlädt: Sechs der acht Titel kommen mit Vierviertel-Beats und entsprechendem Bewegungsdrang daher. Manchmal prägt jPattersson's Stimme die Atmosphäre, manchmal seine Trompete, und manchmal sind es elektronisch generierte Frequenzen, die er wie bunte Gummibänder zwischen Augenblicken der Introspektion und flächig aufgetragener Euphorie spannt. Ein in sonnigem Dub marinierter Track sowie eine ozeanische Downbeat-Entspannung runden dieses vierte jPattersson Album perfekt ab.

Aus der Frühphase des Lloyd James aka Prince Jammy (aka King Jammy) kommt ein sehr interessantes Dub Album mit sechs Versionen zu Originalstücken des Black Uhuru Debütalbum "Love Crisis" von 1977 und drei weitere Tracks.

Die Black Uhuru Titel wurden im Harry J Studio aufgenommen und in King Tubbys Studio von Prince Jammy abgemischt. Zu den beteiligten Musikern gehören Drums: Sly Dunbar, Carlton "Santa" Davis, Bass: Robbie Shakespeare, Guitar: Earl "Chinna" Smith, Organ, Clavinet, Harpsichord: Winston Wright, Piano: Keith Sterling und eine ungenannte Horn Section!

”Gemeinsam in die Abenteuer weltbekannter Heldenfiguren eintauchen und unbekannte Welten entdecken – genau das machen sich THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON zu ihrer Aufgabe! Mit dem Debütalbum Metamorphosis (12. Mai 2023 via Napalm Records) entführt das Quartett, bestehend aus Mitgliedern von Feuerschwanz, Amaranthe und Ad Infinitum, die Hörer auf eine abenteuerliche Reise in die Welt sagenhafter Filmgeschichten, Gaming-Klassiker und überzeugt mit eigenem Songwriting.
Die 2021 gegründete Truppe um Ad Infinitum-Sängerin Melissa Bonny und Feuerschwanz-Gitarrist Hans Platz interpretiert berühmte
Soundtrack-Themen neu, widmet diese ihren Lieblingscharakteren und besticht durch eine einzigartige klangliche Handschrift.

Wie alles begann?
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON entstanden aus einer Wette zwischen AD INFINITUMSängerin Melissa Bonny und Hans Platz, dem Gitarristen von FEUERSCHWANZ. Der Verlierer schuldete dem anderen einen „Gefallen””. Hans gewann und forderte Melissa heraus, den Song „Jenny Of Oldstones”” in einem düsteren Metal-Gewand aufzunehmen und die Reise begann. Auf ihrem Debütalbum Metamorphosis gehen THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON den Abenteuern ihrer Helden auf den Grund und verwandeln Soundtracks weltbekannter Filme, Fernsehsendungen und Videospiele in kraftvolle Metalversionen.

Der millionenfach gestreamte League of Legends-Titelsong „Legends Never Die”” wird dank der unglaublichen Gesangseinlagen von Melissa Bonny in einem atemberaubenden Gewand zu neuem Leben
erweckt.

Head of the Lo-Fi movement with the SP-404
-In 2006 he dropped the first SP404 kung fu inspired beat tape under the alias 5 ELEMENT NINJA Beatjitzu vol 1. Since then he has garnered a cult following of SP404 kung fu inspired producers and sparked a genre. He is the forefather of said style and has numerous beat tapes under various aliases such as 5 Element Ninja, Lords of da LO FI, GODZ of WuTang, MAZINGA Z, JIM KELLY and of course Bruce Li. -He has worked with Killarmy featuring Cappadonna of the WU TANG CLAN and others. He has complete production credit on albums with LONE NINJA, Recognize Ali and Verbal Kent(Dueling Experts) and lastly CLEVER 1 of DA BUZE BRUVAZ. -Also he has appeared on albums with credits alongside Hop hop royalty RZA, True Master, 4th Disciple and legendary PETE ROCK. Lord Beatjitzu presents 420, a densely packed album that captures the same sense of euphoria and paranoia one can gain from an extensive and smoky 4/20 celebration. He has crafted a soundtrack with loops upon loops of smoked-out loops. Sort of like the smoke rings that used to emanate from Cheech and Chong having one of their notorious sessions. Adding on to his varied discography, this fits more in line with the varied sample chops of his celebrated Mazinga moniker. Intricately woven to provide the perfect soundtrack for 4/20 and any other day or night that you have a moment to kick back and enter another zone. Lord Beatjitzu is a beatmaker originally from Mexico City D.F. who stays studying and constantly honing his craft. Extremely reclusive and low key, he is known strictly through sparse collaborations and various beat tapes which he has put out starting in 2006. He has put out over 100 beat tapes and collaborations under an innumerable amount of known and unknown aliases.

Arovane's acclaimed 2004 album »Lilies« has been out of print on vinyl for nearly 2 decades now. It finally gets a well-deserved reissue through the Berlin based Keplar label. The new version has been remastered by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering and comes with a brand new cover artwork.

»Lilies« was a follow-up to »Tides« in every sense, exploring a trip to Japan and drawing on shimmering textures and the sort of melodies that you might need some time to recover from. There's a hugely evocative sense to these tracks, emotionally driven, free of complexity or conceit, piano melodies providing the central focus for a twilight cascade of light that seems perfect for the Tokyo skyline - just as the sun sets. It's an album that radiates warmth and vulnerability, fusing the technological might at the heart of each track (and at the heart of the city) with an age-old understanding that certain echoes of sound, small melodic changes and cushioned lullabies can imprint sounds on your mind like childhood memories - remembered forever. Like a dreamlike score, or maybe even an alternate soundtrack to »Lost in Translation« - the sort of music that intertwines with images and stays in your mind indefinately.

After coming back from Tokyo and completing the production of »Lilies«, Uwe Zahn disassembled his studio in the big flat in an old building in Berlin's Prenzlauerberg district and stored it away in boxes. He needed a break from making music. »Lilies« was the last album prior to a nine-year hiatus for Arovane, ending in 2013 with the release of »Ve Palor«.

"Inner Eye" and "That Voodoo You Do" originally released in digital as "Every Dog Has Its Day vol.12" (2020)
"Nocturnal Moves" originally released in digital as "Every Dog Has Its Day vol.9" (2020)

Axis Expressionist Series:
A collection of vinyl and limited digital releases, curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project as well as new unreleased works.

Vernacular creations that fall off from the "other side" of the Electronic Music tree, this project is designed for the experienced Techno music listener, and its goal is to reflect upon the pure artistry of the craft of storytelling. A realization between music and life.

Whereas "dancing" is the goal of Dance Music, the goal of this music is about "reflecting on the complexity and simplification of life". Soundtracks for people in their evolutionary process.

About the album TEKHENU: Holistic, soundscape storyteller The Allegorist takes inspiration from the ancient world for her fifth studio album, set for release on her label Awaken Chronicles.

A sonic fable titled TEKHENU, it continues the trajectory that the Berlin-based electronic producer and sound-designer has been following since the beginning – conceptualising narrative-heavy LPs centered around mythical lands. Her new works depict a lost protagonist and her spiritual, inward search across ten enrapturing chapters.

The title of the LP is a nod to the towering monoliths by the ancient Egyptians. Known to most by their Greek-given name “obelisk”, they stand tall around the world and it’s their global dispersion that inspired The Allegorist for the title of the album, seeing it as an allegory of a common bond, a point of connection. The Tale of TEKHENU, for the seekers Written by The Allegorist TEKHENU For the seekers

Another beautiful & booming release from Piezo on his rock solid Ansia imprint, conjuring up 5 tracks of frenetic & kinetic mind/body music that are distinctly his own with a reverent nod to such genres as UKG, grime, techno, gqom & footwork.
Evolving beyond the manufactured nostalgia that populates today's current dance milieu, Piezo takes bass science into the realm of the metaphysical.

“jRj” & “Big Room Technow” emanate metric tons of somatic energy for the club crowd, the former building up momentum on a gqom-infused grime pattern, while the latter is like a tin robot whistling an odd melody inside a peak-time 4/4 banger.
“Sensory Overdraw” is an outstanding UKG curveball with a distinctive metallic bassline and intricate head swimming programming for the headphone listener.
A similar approach is applied to “Cutest Kitty Content”, which teems with bizarre ear-candies, but moves with a different and faster framework. Footwork with outsider insight.
Finally you have the digital exclusive “Zing Zang”, which slows things down but still keep the same balance between mind and body requirements.

The genre references aren't blanketing the tracks as much as they are being manifested through pure passion and love: these tunes are all encompassing bin shakers that knock and sway the lucky participants that are awakened enough to be open to the journey.
This is a rare release where you can see the forest from the trees and yet both can simultaneously be experienced and enjoyed.

Repress of the 2019 reissued special marbled 180g vinyl version! "Odyshape" the second album by The Raincoats was originally released on Rough Trade Records in 1981. Remastered from original masters. "It was The Raincoats I related to most. They seemed like ordinary people playing extraordinary music. Music that was natural that made room for cohesion of personalities. They had enough confidence to be vulnerable and to be themselves without having to take on the mantle of male rock/punk rock aggression_or the typical female as sex symbol avec irony or sensationalism". (Kim Gordon, Sonic Youth,1993). "We just really loved what The Raincoats were doing - they were a really exciting band. I think the thing that was good about The Raincoats simply was that the tradition that they were playing in was their own and so they had an original voice. You couldn't ignore them - they were undeniably fascinating - the interplay between the two voices and the sound of the group was something original and that was what was exciting about them". (Geoff Travis, Rough Trade Records, February 2009)

11th album by the one-of-a-kind collective: psychedelia and free form jazz (not jazz) trigger a sophisticated excursion into weird textures with drastic turns. Dislocated dense music full of secret connections!

Kammerflimmer Kollektief – "Schemen"

Before reason prevails, invoked by those who want everything to remain as it is, Kammerflimmer Kollektief disrupts the established supply chains of sound. It seeks more interesting ways to assemble them. Trusting in this, because of the fact that every sound that still comes out of a guitar, a bass, a harmonium, drums and electronic devices has already been taken into the common mangle of meaning anyway. Enough of all that. Here, nothing is explained. Here we speak in schemes. Polished and jerky.

The images that Kammerflimmer Kollektief conjures up therefore happen not in the focus of consciousness, but rather in its outer realms. In those to which one does not give one's full attention at the moment, but which are nevertheless perceived. For example, when a leaf falls from the ground back up to the tree in the corner of your eye, and for an instant you think this is possible, before you realize it was a small bird flying into the tree; it is in just such irritating moments between perception and realization that the art of the Kollektief also unfolds. On "Schemen", familiar fragments float gently around their core – a Fender Rhodes tone, a bass figure, a guitar motif, a masterful drum shuffle, a moment of icy stasis borrowed from the harmonium playing of Christa 'Nico' Päffgen. Triggering brief associations, they slowly rush off in other directions through free jazz-informed editing work, whereupon such zones can also arise in which perception has a few tricks ready and earlier experience suddenly breaks into the now in a completely different way. Half suspected, half seen.

Half-music like Can from Cologne – also masters of improvised editing – sometimes produced a few decades ago in their in-between moments. The first minutes of "Future Days" for example, which fade in gently, sketch a barely graspable figure emerging from all directions of the room. Kammerflimmer Kollektief also engages in similarly open moments of development. Loosely, it eludes the first formative impressions, keeping itself ready for moments that do not follow any logic of appointment. This looseness in handling makes Kammerflimmer Kollektief so fluidly audible, even when dissonant peaks and free playing arise. What Karlheinz Stockhausen is to Can's understanding of composition, the recordings of The Cocoon are to Kammerflimmer Kollektief. The Cocoon, a meeting of garage psychedelics from the Hannover area with free jazzers from the Galaxie Dream Band, whose album "While The Recording Engineer Sleeps", recorded in 1985 in unguarded moments, operates in a very similar way with decentralized perceptual ambivalences and only appeared more or less secretly four years later on Wilhelm Reich Schallspeicher. Other traces of "Schemen" lead to the debut album of Quicksilver Messenger Service. The guitars of Gary Duncan and John Cipollina, which refer to themselves in an unforced manner, are instructions to let go. They don't want to be traced in every note as a solo, but they give their music a sense that the essential takes place off center, in the mutual and intuitive gift of loving attentions. Consciousness-free.

Loving turns like the little guitar phrase that, like a kind of leitmotif, is repeatedly ghosting more or less unchanged through all of the Kammerflimmer Kollektief albums. A Coricidin induced, very catchy slide idea filtered out of ancient Æther, which – who knows – maybe even centuries ago found its way from somewhere to America – the old, the eerie – and from there wafted on through the ages to southern Germany, to a smoky studio in the Upper Rhine lowlands. A memory of which even the memory no longer knows what it once reminded. Unsaid, then forgotten.

In Kammerflimmer Kollektief you will also find a friend of slowly building, unhurried music, which probably would have been appreciated by the old Franz Mesmer, who 200 years ago, after tranquilizing treatments, sometimes used to play for his patients ambient melodies on the enormous glass harmonica. However, in order not to surrender completely to the flow of one's own life energy, as Mesmer had in mind with his therapies, Kammerflimmer Kollektief occasionally adds hectic tensions, gently embraced by the droning of a sine wave generator, as if a trance could briefly refesh. This old analog sine wave generator is new in the Kammerflimmer assortment of sounds. So, the art of the Kollektief likes to dock occasionally in modern times, yet with the past in mind. Mental states begin to flicker between imagination and certainty, between culture-bound art expression and coincidences: A cawing and scraping can always just be a cawing and scraping with Kammerflimmer Kollektief, the way Andy Warhol's mushroom eater just eats a mushroom.

Heike Aumüller's cover works, which illustrate all the Kammerflimmer Kollektief albums, additionally act as amplifiers of unexplained refractions. Her style consists of eye-corner art that remains so, even when looked at directly. Her shots remain disquieting because they do not jolt themselves into a reassuring order, even in retrospect. Rather than evading the fear that arises when looking at them by trying to impose some irrational rhyme or reason, that fear must simply be endured. This strategy of endurance is equally applicable to the music. The trick is to let parts be parts without compulsively seeking delusional patterns that lull us into a false sense of security and in doing so, possibly delude ourselves. In this context, freedom means not having to anxiously attach a fantasized superior meaning to everything. "Schemen" has an conspiracy disintegrating effect.


b A2 Zweites Kapitel (ruckartig) [feat. Heike Aumüller]

Lunar Chamber, eine bisher unbekannte Präsenz von mysteriösem Bewusstsein, manifestiert sich nun zum ersten Mal in der physischen Welt - mit dem Debüt 'Shambhallic Vibrations' get es auf eine Reise nach Osten auf der Suche nach Erleuchtung und dem, was dahinter liegt.

Versunken in Mystik, schreitet die fast 30-minütige 5-Track-Pilgerreise unbeirrt durch irrsinnig zermalmende Riffs, verwirrende Soli, täuschend ruhige Akustik und erleuchtete, aufsteigende Melodien voran. "Spirit Body and the Seeing Self" beschreibt den Beginn der Reise, die Selbstanalyse und die Versuche, sich in besagtes "Jenseits" zu stürzen, während "The Bodhi Tree" die Geschichte von Gautama Buddha selbst widerspiegelt, der vor etwa 2500 Jahren in Bodh Gaya unter dem Baum meditierte und Erleuchtung erlangte.

"III. Crystalline Blessed Light Flows… from Violet Mountains into Lunar Chambers" ist der ultimative Höhepunkt der Erzählung. Angekommen auf der spirituelle Ebene pulsieren Licht und Dunkelheit; das Gewebe der Raumzeit selbst wird aufgewühlt. Wissen ist hier im Überfluss vorhanden. Schließlich schließt sich der Kreis und man kehrt genau dorthin zurück, wo alles im normalen Leben begann, wenn auch mit einem neuen Sinn für alles. Aber es gibt so viel mehr zu lernen... ein unstillbarer Durst.

Mit einer Flut von erschütternd brutalem Metal, überwältigender progressiver Körperlichkeit und instinktiv vollendeter Einprägsamkeit, inspiriert von Buddhismus, dem Osten und Esoterik, haben Lunar Chamber ihre Suche nach Aufstieg und erleuchtetem Wissen gerade erst begonnen.

Lunar Chamber, eine bisher unbekannte Präsenz von mysteriösem Bewusstsein, manifestiert sich nun zum ersten Mal in der physischen Welt - mit dem Debüt 'Shambhallic Vibrations' get es auf eine Reise nach Osten auf der Suche nach Erleuchtung und dem, was dahinter liegt.

Versunken in Mystik, schreitet die fast 30-minütige 5-Track-Pilgerreise unbeirrt durch irrsinnig zermalmende Riffs, verwirrende Soli, täuschend ruhige Akustik und erleuchtete, aufsteigende Melodien voran. "Spirit Body and the Seeing Self" beschreibt den Beginn der Reise, die Selbstanalyse und die Versuche, sich in besagtes "Jenseits" zu stürzen, während "The Bodhi Tree" die Geschichte von Gautama Buddha selbst widerspiegelt, der vor etwa 2500 Jahren in Bodh Gaya unter dem Baum meditierte und Erleuchtung erlangte.

"III. Crystalline Blessed Light Flows… from Violet Mountains into Lunar Chambers" ist der ultimative Höhepunkt der Erzählung. Angekommen auf der spirituelle Ebene pulsieren Licht und Dunkelheit; das Gewebe der Raumzeit selbst wird aufgewühlt. Wissen ist hier im Überfluss vorhanden. Schließlich schließt sich der Kreis und man kehrt genau dorthin zurück, wo alles im normalen Leben begann, wenn auch mit einem neuen Sinn für alles. Aber es gibt so viel mehr zu lernen... ein unstillbarer Durst.

Mit einer Flut von erschütternd brutalem Metal, überwältigender progressiver Körperlichkeit und instinktiv vollendeter Einprägsamkeit, inspiriert von Buddhismus, dem Osten und Esoterik, haben Lunar Chamber ihre Suche nach Aufstieg und erleuchtetem Wissen gerade erst begonnen.

White Vinyl

Bereits zwanzig Jahre geben ELVENKING den Ton an, wenn es um Folk Power Metal geht. Mit dem elften Album "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" wird die italienische Band ab dem 28.04.23 die beliebte "Reader Of The Runes"-Reihe fortführen und ihren berechtigten Kultstatus verteidigen. Ein weiteres Fundament für mystischen, verzauberten und brachialen Power Metal.

Nach drei Jahren Wartezeit folgt nun der zweite Teil der Reader Of The Runes Trilogie und gleichzeitig elfte Album der italienischen Folk Power Metal Legenden ELVENKING! Mit "Reader Of The Runes - Divination" wurde 2019 diese mystische Reise begonnen, welche auf "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" einen weiteren fabelhaften Höhepunkt findet. Seit zwanzig Jahren stellt die Band schon unter Beweis, dass sie nicht umsonst Kultstatus in der Szene haben und nicht nur durch herausragende Liveshows ihre Fanschar immer mehr erweitern können. Mit "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" zeigen ELVENKING, dass sie nicht auf der Stelle treten und ihren Sound weiterentwickeln, ohne ihr Trademark zu verlieren. Ein weiteres starkes Fundament in einer gewohnt fehlerfreien Diskografie. Über 70 Mio. Streams allein auf Spotify lügen nicht. Diese Band wächst nach wie vor und wird mit "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" über sich hinaus wachsen.

Demon Records presents a new collection of 23 classic alternative anthems, brought
together on vinyl for the first time, exploring a golden era for American guitar music

Across the two 140g vinyl, highlights include tracks such as - Sonic Youth ‘Teen Age Riot’, R.E.M. ‘The One I Love’, Soundgarden ‘Black Hole Sun’, Pixies ‘Debaser’, The Flaming Lips ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’, and many more huge tracks.

Pressed on two 140g vinyl, housed in printed inner sleeves.

An essential collection for any alternative music fan!

Silberfarbenes 2LP-Vinyl zur Feier des 100-jährigen Jubiläums von Disney mit Favoriten von Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs bis Coco, Encanto und mehr!

Tori Amos spielt live, seit sie dreizehn Jahre alt ist. Sie verbringt ihr Leben zwischen Cornwall, Florida, und unterwegs. Ihre Songs schreibt sie auf Reisen und beim Beobachten. Mit dem Lockdown brach all dies weg.

Ohne Live-Musik, Reisen und überhaupt, ohne viel zu beobachten, glitt Amos während der Pandemie in eine schwere Krise.

Doch die US-amerikanische Sängerin besann sich auf ihre Musik und schrieb und schrieb. Das Ergebnis ist „Ocean to Ocean“, Amos’ persönlichstes Werk seit Jahren - ein Album voller Wärme und Verbundenheit, mit tiefen Wurzeln in ihrem frühesten Songwriting.

“La pluie d'été” by Kaltès is the first EP on Ætna Records.

Field recordings and sound design are at the center of this release that includes an epic Lakker Remix.
It is “something about summer, something about rain and kisses under the trees”.

Aetna Records is Kaltès newly formed label. Aetna, in Ancient Greek: Αἴτνη, Aítnē. The word Etna(aithō), meaning "I burn".

Aetna was in Greek and Roman mythology a Sicilian nymph. She acted as arbitrator between Hephaestus and Demeter respecting the possession of Sicily. Mount Etna in Sicily was believed to have derived its name from her. The mountain itself was believed to be the place in which Hephaestus and the Cyclopes made the thunderbolts for Zeus. Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes.

The choice of this name for her label is a tribute to burning hearts, and the love Kaltès has for Sicily, where she originates.

Kaltès is a musician and dj. She has a background in jazz music and studied improvisation in Brussels, before giving in to Berlin’s darkest shade of techno.

She is a Tresor Club resident and released music on prominent labels such as Eotrax and MORD.

Mammal Hands announce spell-binding new album 'Gift from the Trees', their fifth studio album, pointing to subtle shifts and exciting new departures for the unique trio
"We're at a point now where playing and writing together can sometimes feel almost telepathic, that as individuals we can tune in to a collective resonance..."
Mammal Hands fifth album 'Gift from the Trees' offers a fresh perspective on the unique trio's singular music. The first to be recorded in a residential studio, the band enjoyed the opportunity to go late into the night searching for a deeper, more organic experience, closer to both their writing process but also their trance-like live performances. While some of the music was pre-composed and had even been performed live, the band also enjoyed the opportunity to improvise ideas in the studio. Drummer Jesse Barrett explains:
We wanted to have a more immersive experience that felt closer to our writing process. One thing that was really important to us was feeling free to jam out ideas as they came to us. We're at a point now where playing and writing together can sometimes feel almost telepathic, that as individuals we can tune in to a collective resonance and just follow that thread where it wants to go. Sometimes it's something as simple as a rhythmic, textural flow, like in Sleeping Bear.
There was also a conscious decision to move away from the sound and ambiance of the recording studio, with the band opting to engineer the record with their go-to live engineer Benjamin Capp before mixing the sessions with Greg Freeman in Berlin. The idea was to try and capture more of the energy of the band's captivating shows, saxophonist Jordan Smart explains:
Considering the group of tracks we had, it made sense to try and capture this process as organically and honestly as possible, and so a change in studio environment felt like the right move to us. Some of the tracks have a raw joy and energy that came with being able to play together again after a long period of time of having been apart, and capture that feeling of just being happy to be in a room with our instruments altogether again.
Whereas for pianist Nick Smart there was also the chance to really go deep into the band's music:
The new studio environment really opened us up to different ways of working and thinking because we could record at any hour of the day or night. I think this allowed us much more freedom to try unusual ideas and push elements of the music to extremes because we had the time to really focus in on the detail and work on things without time pressure. With some tracks, we were trying to find the boundaries of our playing ability and push beyond that point. With others, it was just getting into the right mindset and putting as much energy and emotion into the take as possible.'
The Welsh environment outside the studio doors seeped into the music presented on Gift from the Trees, with two recording sessions (one in winter and one in the spring) bringing different moods: one bleak and wintery, the other more hopeful and bright – an energy that permeates through tracks such as Kernel and Dimu.
Gift from the Trees opens with wonderfully elevating The Spinner which grew from one of Nick's piano parts and was developed and arranged into a complete tune without losing the feeling of constant flow and motion. It is almost like a dance, with the interaction of different melody parts and the doubling of certain parts melding together and fitting into the overall energetic flow, while Jesse's drums are both floating and deeply melodic. Riser aims to capture the band's raw energy and intriguingly is influenced by both breaks and modern drum production but also minimalist classical composition. Nightingale features the band at their most delicate and lyrical – a band favourite it draws heavily on modern folk with a beautifully realised melody that came unforced to pianist Nick Smart before being jammed out together. It was recorded early one morning, bringing an extra light and brightness to this beautiful performance.
Another album highlight is Dimu which utilises one of drummer Jesse Barret's favourite rhythmic devices from the Tabla repertoire and draws inspiration from Indian, Greek and Arabic music as well as modern folk arrangements. Dimu starts with saxophone over a bed of drones and percussion and moves through many different sections that frame and present the melodies in unique ways. The beguiling, intimate Deep within Mountains aims to place you in the room with the band as they play; it was recorded late at night to capture a dreamlike, liminal ambiance. The piano solo really reflects this mood and energy while the tenor is some of the softest and closest on the recording. Elsewhere, the remarkable Labyrinth started with what Nick describes as "some weird recording on my phone from a soundcheck, where Jordan was playing some crazy sounding bass clarinet part and I quickly recorded him", giving birth to a captivating, complex slice of propulsive 'almost' contemporary classical that like so much of the music on Gift from the Trees really couldn't be any other band than Mammal Hands.
Finally, the album draws to a close with the glorious Sleeping Bear, a tune that was wholly improvised in the studio. Nick and Jesse entered a simple but 'weird' locked groove and Jordan improvises melodies over the top. The track came about without any planning or thought; it was one of those special things that came by surprise and the band felt offered the perfect ending to their latest gift to us all: a deeply enthralling album that captures so much of what makes Mammal Hands a special band while mapping out new routes and paths for their beautiful, beguiling music.

As some of you may know, Alice Coltrane was a legendary pianist, composer, spiritual leader, and the wife of John Coltrane, the most venerated and influential saxophonist in the history of jazz. In 1967, four years after meeting John, he died of liver cancer, leaving Alice a widow with four small children. Bereft of her soul mate, Alice suffered sleepless nights and severe weight loss. At her worst, she weighed only 95 pounds. She had hallucinations in which trees spoke, various beings existed on astral planes, and the sounds of “a planetary ether” spun through her brain, knocking her into a frightening unconsciousness.

The critical event of this period was not that Alice fell into the nadir of her existence, but rather that she experienced tapas, a vital period of trial. These tapas (a Sanskrit term she used to describe her suffering) helped prepare Alice for the spiritual ally she found in Swami Satchidananda, an Indian guru, with whom Alice made her first trip to India. On her second trip there, Alice had a revelation instructing her to abandon the secular life and become a spiritual teacher in the Hindu tradition – so she moved out West – eventually opening the Shanti Anantam Ashram on 47 acres she’d bought in Agoura Hills, California.