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"Little Women explores the lives of the March sisters in 1860s New England in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The prolific composer Alexandre Desplat, who has an incredible number of high-profile projects under his belt, composed the music for the movie. Overall, Desplat currently has ten Oscar nominations in his career, with two wins (The Shape Of Water and The Grand Budapest Hotel). As some has stated his musical score for Little Women was undoubtedly one of the best compositions of the year. According to one of its producers, the new adaptation of Little Women focuses more on the sisters' young adult lives, particularly after Meg, Jo, and Amy leave their family home. The film jumps back and forth in time and focuses more on themes rather than narrative. Little Women stars Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Meryl Streep amongst others.
Little Women is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on lavender coloured vinyl. This 2LP is housed in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve and includes a 32-page booklet with exclusive pictures, liner notes, and sheet music."

Little Women by Alexandre Desplat, released 16 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "The Beach ", "Dance On The Porch ", "The Book ", "Christmas Breakfast " and more.

This version of Little Women comes as a 2xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve

Freedom is deeply rooted in the working-class rock of the 70's and 80's, giving us a sound like no other. With meaningful lyrics, power chords and mighty choruses, they're inevitably creating a soundtrack to the journey of life itself. Nicke Andersson once described Freedom as a "bargain basement Springsteen" - a band making music meant to follow you through thick and thin, far into those never-ending summer nights.
Since Freedom first started in 2019, they've established themselves as an amazing live act, filling clubs throughout Sweden with both energy and audience. In 2022 they were honorably chosen to play at the official release party of The Helicopters at the notorious Hamburger Börs in Stockholm.

The band recently added two new members to the crew: Ola Göransson (Heavy Feather, Stacie Collins) and Matte Gustafsson (In Solitude, Siena Root, Heavy Feather). Their combined experience of heavy roots-rock and sense of stage presence, makes Freedom one of Swedens strongest live bands - guaranteed.
Their self-titled debut album from 2021 became a great topic of conversation, leaving a permanent mark in the rock-world of Sweden. Finally, it's time for the awaited second album to be released - once again produced by Martin "Konie" Ehrencrona (Viagra Boys, Håkan Hellström and Les Big Byrd).

Fucked Up are one of the most prolific hardcore punk bands of our generation. Since their 2001 inception, they’ve challenged listeners with thoughtful artful chaos and a seemingly limitless drive for musical experimentation. Because of this, they’ve also become a record collectors worst nightmare; releasing over 80 recordings and collaborations on countless labels that include Arts & Crafts, Matador, Jade Tree, and more. Fucked Up “Year of the Hare” is the latest installment of their Zodiac themed releases. Over a two year period, it was recorded and constructed at Electrical Audio, Key Club Studios, and Candle Studios. Title track “Year of the Hare” is a 21 minute epic that frantically mixes traditional instrumentation, piano/synths, flutes and sax, experimental editing/soundscapes, and guest vocals from great Isla Craig into one dizzying experience. While B-Side “California Cold” slowly builds and deconstructs over an 8 and a half minute stretch. Organically shifting from jangly melodic-punk anthem into a fuzzed out psychedelic jam session. Eclectically blending musical styles and voices in the most, well, Fucked Up way possible.

Re-issue coming soon! Gatefold w/ printed sleeves and etching on Side D + download card.
Hiss Spun is Chelsea Wolfe’s sixth album. Recorded by Kurt Ballou (Converge).
“When musicians have this intensity in them, they often get to it sooner and stay put. Ms.
Wolfe sounds like she’s using it by choice, not disposition; she can use different kinds of
darkness as colour or tincture." - NY Times
“The reigning dark priestess of goth-scarred art rock.” Rolling Stone

Der legendäre Slayer-Gitarrist Kerry King präsentiert mit "From Hell I Rise" sein erstes Soloalbum, das mit Spannung erwartetet wird.
Laut KING besteht die neue Musik aus "verschiedenen religiösen Themen, einigen Kriegsthemen, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, und spooky stuff, mit herkulischen Geschwindigkeiten erreicht. Wenn du jemals SLAYER in irgendeinem Teil unserer Geschichte gemocht hast", fügt er hinzu, "gibt es etwas auf dieser Platte, auf das du abfahren wirst, sei es klassischer Punk, schneller Punk, Thrash oder einfach nur Heavy Metal!"

Der legendäre Slayer-Gitarrist Kerry King präsentiert mit "From Hell I Rise" sein erstes Soloalbum, das mit Spannung erwartetet wird.
Laut KING besteht die neue Musik aus "verschiedenen religiösen Themen, einigen Kriegsthemen, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, und spooky stuff, mit herkulischen Geschwindigkeiten erreicht. Wenn du jemals SLAYER in irgendeinem Teil unserer Geschichte gemocht hast", fügt er hinzu, "gibt es etwas auf dieser Platte, auf das du abfahren wirst, sei es klassischer Punk, schneller Punk, Thrash oder einfach nur Heavy Metal!"

Der legendäre Slayer-Gitarrist Kerry King präsentiert mit "From Hell I Rise" sein erstes Soloalbum, das mit Spannung erwartetet wird.
Laut KING besteht die neue Musik aus "verschiedenen religiösen Themen, einigen Kriegsthemen, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, und spooky stuff, mit herkulischen Geschwindigkeiten erreicht. Wenn du jemals SLAYER in irgendeinem Teil unserer Geschichte gemocht hast", fügt er hinzu, "gibt es etwas auf dieser Platte, auf das du abfahren wirst, sei es klassischer Punk, schneller Punk, Thrash oder einfach nur Heavy Metal!"

Der legendäre Slayer-Gitarrist Kerry King präsentiert mit "From Hell I Rise" sein erstes Soloalbum, das mit Spannung erwartetet wird.
Laut KING besteht die neue Musik aus "verschiedenen religiösen Themen, einigen Kriegsthemen, heavy stuff, punky stuff, doomy stuff, und spooky stuff, mit herkulischen Geschwindigkeiten erreicht. Wenn du jemals SLAYER in irgendeinem Teil unserer Geschichte gemocht hast", fügt er hinzu, "gibt es etwas auf dieser Platte, auf das du abfahren wirst, sei es klassischer Punk, schneller Punk, Thrash oder einfach nur Heavy Metal!"

Next up on BPitch sublabel UFO Inc. is an essential linkup from two rising Berlin-based talents, Linn Elisabet and Stina Francina. Bringing with them two distinct approaches to music production but a shared vision of techno's weirder corners, Linn and Stina go all in on their first joint release together, fusing sonic abstractions into a release that never loses sight of the club. With a classically trained musical background, Linn explores reverberant soundscapes and complex arrangements with a learned ear, but a firm rejection of the rigid forms that often taint formal musicality. Promoting a sense of non-compliance in their sonic palettes, they offer a contemporary and transgressive interpretation of techno that strives to reimagine reality and desire. Having fostered her passion for electronic music in intimate, underground spaces, Stina's approach to production is rooted firmly in affect; carefully weaving fragile emotional narratives with a generous sensitivity. With a particular penchant for old school trance, her sound is often coloured by a feeling of melancholy and hope.

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Maceió, the capital of Brazil’s Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections” and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango Elétrico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further.

Bruno Berle’s music lives between two worlds – a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that’s genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The album follows Bruno’s relocation to São Paulo, and the songs are a reflection of his past and present. A rebuke of former categorizations of his work in Brazilian music scenes, and an idea of where his music can move, unfettered.

Berle’s music is purposeful in being a true portrait of himself, and a reflection of the music, art, and fashion scenes he personally moves through. Berle aims to provide an entrypoint for Black queer joy in his music, in his storytelling, in his presence and vision as a creative. For him, it feels subversive to be playing MPB laced with dubstep and lo-fi, a sort of intentional sacrilege, capturing a dialogue of modernity in traditional music.

Berle wrote most of the arrangements and co-produced his new album, Reino Dos Afetos 2 with longtime friend and musical partner Batata Boy, who is also from Maceió; the album was recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Maceió, and São Paulo, his new home, and picks up the conversation begun in 2022 on Berle’s debut album No Reino dos Afetos. Both records are the result of a nonlinear but coherent seven-year music creation process culminating in these albums, holding hands across space and time.

“Tirolirole,” the first single from the record, was released at the end of 2023; sun-soaked rhythms and soft voice coat the song, the lilting refrain of “Tirolirole” throughout – hushed, gentle, but somehow almost tactile, a golden-hour moment unlocked in the mind. “Tirolirole” is a triumphant future classic about the temporality of a blossoming love, with Bruno’s stunning vocal soaring over melodies which ebb and flow like the waters on the Atlantic shore. Of the track, Berle explains: “Despite ‘Tirolirole’ being an expression that evokes my childhood, just like the light words about nature, the harmony, and the poetry are epic, carrying a great hope for love.”

In fact, the guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. The album happens at the genesis of meeting someone and falling for them, before the relationship is thrown into overdrive – set in a big city, against a backdrop of major life changes, rising energy, the sound of São Paulo.

Something transcendental emerges in “Dizer Adeus,” with an arrangement that echoes a gospel atmosphere (evangelical and Catholic environments were pivotal to Berle’s upbringing). On “É Só Você Chegar,” piano and flute gracefully intertwine, a dance, while “Quando Penso” skews sparser, the voice-and-guitar minimalism somehow cultivating an entirely different shape – somehow both cozy and melancholy, with the background sound of a rainy day. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album’s personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle’s sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental “Sonho,” which feels like floating. “It’s the apex. It’s when lovers are sleeping together,” Berle explains of the feeling he wanted to encapsulate in the song.

On “Love Comes Back” Berle interprets Arthur Russell, the late Iowa musician who only reached greater visibility after he died in 1992. “His way of making music is similar to mine,” Berle explains. “He sings in a more fragile way, has more of an experimental way of recording, letting ‘chance’ appear in the final work.”

Even so, Berle doesn’t want his music to be buried in sentimentality – and the purposefulness of his craft serves as a sort of north star. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works – drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. But even then No Reino Dos Afetos 2 floats separately, a romanticism driven by a simplicity and intimacy, an open-ended possibility, Berle’s singularity as an artist at the helm of the ship.

Ollie Spalding and Jack Watts were friends first, and songwriting partners second, and this quality sets them apart. They're marked by that peculiar alchemy when two voices become one, a special sense of human connection wrought through harmony and emboldened with experience.

New album 'Redsetter' is their coming- of- age moment - gilded indie- folk with an optimistic sense of maturity, it dares to look towards the light. "We had literally no idea what was gonna happen!" Ollie gasps when looking back on the pair's self-titled debut album. Sculpted over the pandemic and released on Real Kind Records - the boutique Communion imprint chaired by Lucy Rose - the record displayed their core values. "The emotion has to be right," says Oliver.

"When we record songs, we want to stay true to the emotion - as though those songs had just been written seconds before they were recorded." The success of their debut brought fresh experiences - writing with Flyte, collaborating with everyone from Matthew & The Atlas and Victoria Canal to Talos and Olafur Arnalds - but also new challenges.

New LP 'Redsetter' takes them from their base in Brighton to a remote part of Texas (and back again); it's a record that's driven by a special kind of determination, dealing with intimate bonds, familial connections, and a quiet sense of renewal. Looking for perfect moments within our imperfect lives, Memorial have displayed extraordinary sense of character to drive themselves forwards. "We've let go of trying to make everything sound perfect," says Jack. "Being vulnerable in that way means that the end product is truer to you than it ever could be. There's a realness to it." Memorial have taken true ownership of their lives, pushing through enormous challenges to unlock new aspects of their artistry, and actualise their dreams.

Some albums are game-changers in a genre. Take OutKast's Speakerboxxx / The Love Below or Primal Scream's Screamadelica, they observe, study, and then flip what an album can mean to a genre or moment in time.

From the very first listen of Rubel’s Latin Grammy-nominated third album As Palavras, Vol. 1 & 2, you can feel its transformative force for the MPB genre. Here we see one of Rio’s brightest stars, fusing the contemporary with the classic, soaking up the richness of Brazil’s musical heritage. The result is a marauding 20-track epic, incorporating traditional styles such as forró, MPB, pagode and samba with modern baile funk, rasteirinha and hip-hop.

The album exudes a sense of freedom and creativity, playfully and provocatively juggling the familiar with the forward-thinking. The tracks are divided across two records, navigating feelings of love, heartbreak and discovery, whilst balancing themes of violence, passion, irony and affection. Collaborating with some of the country’s most esteemed artists such as Gabriel do Borel, Liniker, Luedji Luna, Tim Bernardes and Ana Caetano, Rubel takes this fusion of styles, subjects and flavours to the global stage.

The grand, forró-blending, choral opener, ‘Forró Violento (Instrumental)’ sets the tone for the album, with references and links between tradition and modernity everywhere to be seen. From the Ana Frango Elétrico produced, funk flexing, samba-soul brilliance of ‘Não Vou Reclamar de Deus’, to the album’s title cut ‘As Palavras’, in collaboration with Tim Bernardes, that melds MPB influences with electronic elements and hip-hop touches.

Across both sides of the album, Rubel’s story-telling gift is given space to shine. ‘Torto Arado’ featuring Liniker and Luedji Luna, beautifully references the racial injustice, tragedy, hope and ambition found in one the most celebrated Brazilian novels of recent times by Itamar Vieira Júnior. Elsewhere, ‘Na Mão do Palhaço’ manifests a satirical march about a suicidal conservative middle-aged man, who is rescued by the miracle of the carnival.

At times the album is gentle and intimate with tracks like ‘Toda Beleza’ featuring Bala Desejo, or the ode to friendship ‘Lua de Garrafa’, composed with the legendary Milton Nascimento. At others, the grooves hit harder, with sounds from the favelas laced within. ‘Put@ria!’, explores the universe of baile funk, with BK’ and MC Carol trading off on the mic, as ‘Rubelía’ moves between reggaeton, funk, and hip hop. The latter is a tribute to a key influence of the album, Spanish star Rosalía and her parallel mix of current with classic.

Ultimately though the beauty of this album lies in its concept. In the midst of a country divided, ‘As Palavras Vol. 1 & 2’ sets out to bring together genres and generations, grounded in rhythms and words that have helped define Brazil through the ages.

Recording technology was completely revolutionized in the 80s by the multitrack recorder, with the popularity of 24-channel SSL consoles sweeping the world. Japanese pop music created during this wave of digital improvement is now recognized worldwide as ""City Pop."" Techno Pop was another offshoot born of the same revolution. Precise, computer-controlled beats produced by groups like Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) introduced a different type of sound to the masses. By now, these works have been brought into the international limelight and continue to be a major influence on today's music.

At the center of Tokyo’s Techno Pop scene was ALFA/YEN Records. The label left behind an impressive body of work, but much of it wasn't made widely available... until now! This new, definitive compilation focuses on the music archives of the YEN Records catalog, available for the first time exclusively at Light in the Attic. This is a true celebration of Japan's Techno Pop scene of the 80s, reissued with the intent that future generations, internationally, will be able to discover, enjoy, and appreciate ALFA/YEN and its significant contributions to the sonic landscape of the 80s and beyond.

The immediate successor to ska, the soulful, melodic sound of rock steady first developed during the long hot Jamaican summer of 1966 and reigned supreme thereafter for two glorious years before finally being superseded by the more energetic style of reggae.

Despite its relatively brief period as the island’s national sound, the rhythms of many of its biggest hits have continued to influence and inspire music-makers to the present day, resulting in renewed interest in the sub-genre among record buyers in recent years.

This superb 2xLP vinyl collection features 24 of the most popular recordings of the rock steady era, including the UK hits, ‘007’, ‘Train To Skaville’ and ‘It Miek’ and The Maytals’ anthemic dance-filler, ’54 46 That’s My Number’.

Pressed on high quality 140gm vinyl and presented in a stylishly designed sleeve, the album not only provides the ideal introduction to this hugely popular and influential sound, but is also a must for established fans of the Jamaican sub-genre, with many of the tracks appearing on vinyl for the first time in decades.

“A corollary is a statement that follows naturally from another statement”

Presenting Corollary1, the first release in a new remix series flipping cuts from O.M.Theorem’s Lemma projects.

For this one we invited good friends DJ Sotofett and Ossia. Regular conspirators in bacalao and dosa dinners, monthly hangouts at Globus-Tresor and sound system parties in Milano & Bristol. Through appreciation of similar frequencies and shared experiences, friendships grow. It felt natural to invite the two to do remixes for us. One evening we bumped into them on the dancefloor during a live concert by Senegalese percussion outfit Ndagga Rhythm. This was a sign. BAM! The EP came alive.

On the A-side, we hear two fresh takes on Lemma1-B2. DJ Sotofett with his dub heavy output on Honest Jon's and Sex Tags Amfibia invites Ghanese Afro-Dub drummer Ekowmania for vocals and usual collaborator LNS for keyboard work on his sub-deep club-stepping colourful remix. We bet the infectious vocals will linger in your mind for a long time. Play it LOUD for full sub bass effect! The second interpretation of the same track is from O.M.Theorem. A techy dubstep banger, this one!

On the B side, Bristol and Peng! Sound's Ossia picked his favorite Lemma1-B1 and drove the mixing desk in true Dub-style fashion with a classic riddim that meets an avant garde melody going in and out of the mix. This is a remix that deserves attention, with every listen revealing new layers and details. Even the premasters sounded phat as a greasy hamburger on the German capital’s legendary Super Power Soundsystem! The second interpretation is from O.M.Theorem, rebuilding percussion and bass from Lemma1-A1. Liberating himself from all restrictions the result is a footwork-reminiscent 160 cut, ready for the dance floor.

Both Tymon Dogg and Richard Dudanski had musical roots playing in The 101'ers with future Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer. All three shared a deep love for southern Spain, due perhaps to the influence of the Romero sisters, Paloma (later "Palmolive" of The Slits) and the artist Esperanza, who were among the first Spanish punk refugees in London. Tymon's career began with beguiling interactions with Apple Records, The Moody Blues and future Led Zeppelin members John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page before he discovered his true musical self as a punk / folk experimentalist, opening shows for the likes of The Slits, Raincoats and Pop Group and becoming the longest-running musical foil in Strummer's career, continuing into The Clash and Mescaleros. Similarly, Richard played in Basement 5, Public Image Ltd, The Raincoats and others before following Esperanza back to Granada...which subsequently became second home to Tymon and Joe. Spain is not without its own punk heroes, and chief among them was Granada's Antonio Arias, another pal of Joe's and leader of Spain's musical heroes, Lagartija Nick, which also included Dacoits members Juan Codorniu and JJ Machuca. Antonio sings the albums two Spanish-language songs. while Tymon sings the other nine...and there's an instrumental, "Mongols", which the band considered too epic as a stand-alone instrumental to mess with! Tymon sings three songs from his past: "The Wheel Of Life And Death" has been heard before as a live bonus track on the expanded reissue of "Battle Of Wills", "Conscience Money" was heard in a very different version on the impossible-to-find "Made Of Light" album, and an embryonic take of "Something To Prove" turned up the even rarer 1989 solo album, "Relentless". If you imagine the playful elasticity of "Sandinista!" recast into a more straightforward record, with Tymon taking the lead on something more than that album's "Lose This Skin", you're halfway there. Guests include Killing Joke bassist / famed producer Youth and Dr Robert from The Blow Monkeys

repress !

Following acclaimed singles from Powell, Blood Music, Shit & Shine and Prostitutes, the next release from Diagonal is a landmark. It marks both the London label's first full-length album release, and the return of abrasive and furiously funky hip-hop deconstructionists Death Comet Crew, one of the most quietly influential underground acts to emerge from the creative melting pot of 1980s New York.

Ghost Among The Crew documents the group's return to studio operations for the first time since the 80s, as well as their first ever full-length studio album. It's a remarkable trip: a consolidation of their early feral disassemblies of hip-hop and electro, but also broader in scope, chewing up and spitting out fragments of soul, jazz fusion, punk and industrial music.
Death Comet Crew were founded in New York City in 1983 by Stuart Argabright, a founder member of post-punk/industrial mavericks Ike Yard and the mind behind Dominatrix and later Black Rain. Their sound, then as now, was a singular proposition: urban in mood, exploratory, often compellingly danceable, yet confrontational. It emerged from the interweaving talents of the group's varied members: guitarist Michael Diekmann (of Ike Yard), bassist Shinichi Shimokawa (later of Black Rain) and Nick Taylor aka DJ High Priest, frequently joined by the late, great hip hop artist and graffiti writer Rammellzee. Having recorded two studio EPs - 1985's At The Marble Bar (featuring Rammellzee) and its follow-up Mystic Eyes - the group disbanded barely a year after forming. They left behind a reputation for their incendiary live performances, several recordings from which were gathered on crucial 2004 compilation This Is Riphop.
The musical climate that first birthed Death Comet Crew was one of fertile cross-pollination of styles. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the seeds of modern day urban musics - hip hop, punk and post-punk, no wave - were taking root in the streets of recession-struck New York City. Argabright recalls dancing at the downtown Mudd Club around 1980 to a bold mixture of styles, with DJs cutting from synth-pop and post-punk to funk, soul and early hip-hop: Bowie and James Brown next to Run DMC, Ultravox and Gary Numan. Indeed, the names of his New York contemporaries operating around the same time - the likes of Liquid Liquid, Run DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Russell, ESG, Swans, Sonic Youth, Bill Laswell and more - have since been inscribed in modern music history.
With previous projects Dominatrix and Ike Yard having recently become inactive, in 1984 Argabright formed Death Comet Crew as a means of exploring new sonic avenues. He'd been experimenting with tape, recording and procesing the sounds of his surrounding environment and dialogue from films and TV. Joined by Shimokawa, Diekmann and Taylor, and using drum machines, turntables, spidery guitar and bass, the group assembled a scrambled collage of rhythms and sampled voices. Their live performances were, in Argabright's words, "aurally violent, sharp-edged, downright lacerating", hacking gleefully away at hip hop and electro's rhythmic frameworks. Rammellzee joined the group to vocal 1985 debut EP At The Marble Bar; his MC turn on highlight 'Exterior Street' is all the more remarkable for having been entirely freestyled in the studio. When Death Comet Crew reformed in 2003 for a string of live shows, he continued as an active member of the group, touring and working with them during the recording of Ghost Among The Crew, until he sadly passed away in 2010.
After reforming, Death Comet Crew began writing and recording new material. Now, following on from their just-released Galacticoast 12" through Citinite, Ghost Among The Crew - its title a homage to Rammellzee - hones the group's abrasive early experimentations while tripping into bold and astrally minded new territory. Alongside the core quartet of Argabright, Diekmann, Shimokawa and Taylor are new voices, including Rapscallion (a friend of Rammellzee's), Jessica 6/Hercules & Love Affair singer Nomi Ruiz, and Carolyn 'Honeychild' Coleman. Its eight tracks are steeped in the impulsive spirit of electric Miles and the deep space romances of Sun Ra, and possessed of an enigmatic yet undeniable pop edge. But equally they're pricked with urban paranoia and dread, traits that have long been hallmarks of Argabright's musical projects.
'Me Czar Of The Magyars' opens the album in a twist of tension like the turning of a ratchet. Its taut electroid shudder is paired with machine gunned cymbal hits and a voice telling of "wormwood and opium dens" - the sound of being teleported from everyday city streets into the astral plane, where every sensory input is heightened and the promise of danger or pleasure lurks unseen around every corner. Later, Coleman's lyrics pay tribute to Rammellzee on the sci-fi funk of 'Deep Space Woman'. 'Let The Clubs Ring' melts lounge bar organs and frazzled guitar into freakishly unstable shapes, while 'Drag Racing' matches its title, rocketing along frantically atop clattering drums. 'Moons On Titan's Seas' is halfway interlude pause for rest, like an exotic cocktail in a bar orbiting some as-yet-undiscovered new world. These varied strands are somehow all summarised in album closer 'Ignition Spark', which sets Ruiz's vocals alongside Taylor's and Argabright's. The zone the trio inhabit in this final track exists in perpetual push-pull between contemplation, memory, intrigue and violence, a decisive opening of a new chapter in Death Comet Crew's history.

As with all Diagonal releases, the initial vinyl pressing will be packaged in unique, specially designed artwork.

“I wanted to try and showcase as many people as I knew on this mix. My idea of Late Night Tales was to distil a series of relaxing moments; the whole conceptual sonic of relax- ation. So, I was trying to think of all the collaborators and friends that I knew, who’d recorded stuff with this horizontal vibe. Plus, I was also trying to help my friends' stuff get into the world. I know the story of Khruangbin blowing up after appearing on the series (in fact, I think that's how I discovered them). So, the main idea was to create a certain atmosphere, but also to help some of my favourite collaborators and bud- dies to give their songs a little push out into the world. Hope you like it” Jordan Rakei



Due for release on 9th April, Late Night Tales celebrate their 20th anniversary with the release of multi-instru- mentalist, vocalist and producer Jordan Rakei’s majestic compilation. The 28-year-old modern soul icon effortlessly stamps his own jazz and hip-hop driven sound all over this gorgeous array of handpicked tracks. A beautifully layered blend that is mirrored in the music he’s made, itcomes as no surprise that such a supremely gifted songwriter should deliver a mix that is all about the song.



Rakei, born in New Zealand, but raised in Australia, moved to the UK in 2015; he released his debut album, Cloak, with Oz label Soul Has No Tempo, but his two subsequentLPs, Wallflower and Origin, came out on Ninja Tune, the former#2 in Album Of The Year for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide poll, while Origin was nominated for Best Album at the AIM Awards. Jordan had this to say on his upcoming mix:



As Jordan says,there’s so much more to the song selection on Late Night Tales’latest outing than a random collection of artists. Many have some sort of personal connection, so just as Bonobo provided a platform for the breakout of Khruangbin on a previous LNT, this may have the same ef- fect for Rakei’s friends. After a soothing opener from Fink, good friend and big influence Alfa Mist (part of the Are We Live collective) delivers ‘Mulago.’ “I want to champion their sound and show the world how good he is, and I thought it’d be fitting to start the mix with family,” says Jordan.



Next up is Charlotte Day Wilson with ‘Mountains,’ followed by ‘Count A Heart’ from Moreton, an exclusive collab- oration with Jordan, who grew up on the same street in Brisbane, Australia. “She was the first artist I ever collabo- rated with, and one of the first artists to be involved in mycareer,” he explains. Elsewhere we hear Scottish producer and multi-instrumentalist C Duncan’s haunting ‘He Came from the Sun,’ Barcelona collective Oso Leone deliver a dreamy ‘Virtual U’ and Bill Lauren’s ‘Singularity,’ which evokes a striking sense of time and place.



Snowpoet’s ethereal ‘Evitenity’ is a “long mediative nar- rative over a beautiful soundscape,” which at times seems chaotic, nicely juxtaposed with undeniable beauty, and Maro’s kooky songwriting shines on ‘Always And Forever.’ Long-time buddy Armon-Jones contributes ‘Idiom,’ and Jordan’s exclusive cover version is a two-for-one, Radio- head’s ‘Codex’ merging with ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Home’ by Jeff Buckley and another exclusive,original com- position by Jordan, ‘Imagination.’ The latter works as a piece with the spoken (Spanish) word voiced by movie director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman, and The Reve- nant,) who is a big fan of Jordan’s. “He messaged me when I went to L.A and asked to come to my show. I was in such shock and we hung out after. I thought it would be nice to get him to do this in his native tongue, because I don’t think that’s been done yet on the series.” It certainly is a familyaffair. Not theblood is thicker than water kind, but certainly musical kindred spirits.

UK jazz ensemble The Jazz Defenders release their third album "Memory In Motion" in April on Haggis Records (home of The Haggis Horns and Malcolm Strachan). The Bristol jazz boppers deliver another quality release of original material that takes in their usual diverse mix of influences and genres, from timeless acoustic jazz referencing the classic sounds of Blue Note Records, to a more contemporary fusion where jazz meets soul, funk and hip-hop.

Although they love to mix things up, their roots are in the classic acoustic jazz quintet sound of the late 1950s/early 1960s, back when hard bop and modal jazz ruled. They have already explored this musical path well on their previous albums but they still deliver a couple of classic inspired jazz cuts here. "Chasing Fantasies" and "Fuffle Kerfuffle" both give the band some space to cut loose on solos over swing jazz beats that will keep their original jazz audience happy. The latter bubbles away with a jazz shuffle beat that would make drum legend Art Blakey smile.

"Meanderthal" and "Snakebite Playfight" bring soul to this jazz party. Exactly like jazz legends Lee Morgan/Herbie Hancock/Freddie Hubbard etc did back in the early-mid 1960s. The first is a feel-good, toe-tapping gem that's heavy on the backbeat and short and snappy on the solos, the exact reasons that made it the perfect opening single from the album. "Snakebite Playfight" comes with a jaunty New Orleans shuffle before transforming into a heavy psychedelic soul jazz burner, flipping back with ease to the NOLA shuffle for the Mardi Gras meets bebop piano solo by band leader George Cooper.

"Rolling On A High" is a hip-hop/jazz banger that sees the band continue their collaborations with UK rapper Doc Brown, a perfect combination that began on their second album "King Phoenix''. This time, the Doc spits some old-school block party-style bars over a bouncy uptempo funky beat with the band cooking up some soul stew behind him. Definitely dancefloor material.

Another uptempo jam is the heavy jazz fusion jam "Net Zero". It kicks off with some live broken beat kit playing and piano/bass staccato vamping before taking off into Headhunters territory on the solos, sounding both contemporary and classic at the same time. This is The Jazz Defenders at their fiercest and toughest and delivering a track that will have jazz dancers worldwide in an utter frenzy.

It's not all uptempo numbers or dancefloor-oriented compositions on this album. Two tracks take the musical dynamics right down to give a temporary break from the high-energy numbers. "Take A Minute" has a rolling double bass line locked into the groove while the horns play a lazy and laid-back theme with vibes embellishment, sounding like some trippy independent film soundtrack. Another recurring musical reference point for this band over the years.

The album finishes on a poignant and introspective note with a beautiful piano and double bass feature for George Cooper and bassist Will Harris. It's called "Enigma", it was recorded live in Paris and it closes the album on a peaceful note evoking the music and playing of Bill Evans. The perfect way to close this brilliant third album from The Jazz Defenders.

With Memory In Motion, pianist George Cooper and his band undoubtedly pay great homage to a golden era of jazz music that they love, but also elaborate on this influence with a wealth of modern musical experience, to create their own raw and vibrant compositions. The result is an enthrallingly unique sound that is as danceable as it is listenable.

The Hammond organ was first manufactured in 1935. In 1954, the now famous Hammond B3 model was introduced with additional harmonic percussion feature. When the company went out of business in 1985, around two million of various models of the Hammond organ have been produced.

The Hammond B3 was originally marketed to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ. It quickly became popular with professional jazz musicians in organ trios. Jimmy Smith's use of the Hammond B3 inspired a generation of organ players, and its use became more widespread in the 1960s and 1970s in rhythm and blues, rock, reggae, and progressive rock.

This collection is centered on the exciting and dynamic sounds of the Hammond B3 organ!

Runar Magnusson is an Icelandic/Danish sound artist and musician, currently based in Austria. With a masters degree in Electronic Music Composition from The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, he is inspired by the sounds of nature, noise, and meditation. Magnusson specialises in atmospheric disturbances through minimalist compositions. A sly humour cuts through the dark hues of his works.

Magnusson writes: "The two works which make up "Inside Out of Chaos" are somewhat related. They were made at the same time and share the same source materials somewhat – a pool of sounds I had been experimenting with for a couple of years. Two separate projects created the opportunities for me to realise them in these finished forms.

At the beginning of 2020 I was invited to participate in an acousmatic concert series at the Traktorfabrikken in Vienna. Curated by Austrian composer Christian Tschinkel and performed on his Akusmonautikum sound system this particular event, titled Kill & Kaoss, was the last in the series. I named my piece after the event and dedicated it to Tschinkel´s Akusmonautikum system. Without my knowing, I had witnessed this system in action half a year earlier at a concert at the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, with Hermann Nitch playing the organ and Tschinkel operating the sound system – a profoundly enjoyable performance. I was very happy when I connected the dots soon after the invitation to participate. I intended my work for Kill & Kaoss to be a way to greet the new lunar year of the rat – a year which held many surprises… The event took place on 22nd of February 2020 at Traktorfabrikken, Vienna.

"Inside Out (for Trattner)" was composed for Austrian artist Josef Trattner. It was the soundtrack for a film that was a part of his exhibition "Inside Out" at the Kiesler Foundation in Vienna, 2020. I assisted with the installation of the exhibition, itself a filmed action that evolved into the movie of which this is the score. The installation was a very hard physical process that left me bloody and blistered. It was also a fascinating, trance-inducing experience. Mining with ones bare hands, digging out this huge structure and creating a womblike cave, a tunnel system, a playground, a hideaway while experiencing ever-increasing pain in the fingers and hands. The exhibition ran from 27 February 2020 until 23 December 2020.

I consider this release as the final part of a trilogy I refer to as "the three sisters of sorrow". These three releases are an insight into my state of mind at the time – a mental collapse, somewhat triggered by a move to a new country, the death of my friend Jóhann Jóhannsson and the loss of my father a year later. Between 2018 and 2021 I had the trilogy almost ready but had not been able to finish them. I sought professional help to lift me up from the deep and was diagnosed with ADHD, which explained many things in my life. Only after the darkness had lifted could I see that these three releases were connected. They depicted both the mental state I had been in – an incapacitating downward spiral, a crushing chaos – and also my search for the light, a way out of the maze and my path up to the surface."

Runar Magnusson, Vienna, 13 November 2023

Aerials live, dials tuned, Transmission Towers broadcasting. On either side of the river Mersey, transcendental communications are traded back and forth. Two late-night revellers, one firing messages filled with music, the other returning them laced with lyrics. The result, a dopamine hit of oddball machine soul, melded with a highlife, Afrofuturist touch. Wonky and murky yet deeply emotional, Transmission One, is a debut album that also marks the first release on Luke Una’s É Soul Cultura label, encompassing expertly the off-kilter atmosphere the label sets to orbit.

A synthesised landscape with a Northern charm, Transmission Towers marry the musical worlds of two artists that last collaborated over a decade ago. 10 years have passed, lives have been led, but a gravitational pull has placed Mark Kyriacou and Eleanor Mante back in each other’s spheres on opposite sides of the city of Liverpool. Energised with a newfound desire to strip it all back to the sounds that influenced their formative years in the late ‘80s and ‘90s - astral travelling, intoxicated on Motor City techno, Black Dog IDM and mystical Sun Ra.

Mark half Irish, half Greek Cypriot, Eleanor half Nigerian, half Ghanian, the music contained within is an alchemy of those roots and the pivotal acts that buried deep into their minds. A cosmic contrast, part machine-made, part distinctly human. Take the opener ‘UP’, an ESG-channelling, sci-fi punk beatdown or the polychromatic hyperspace anthem ‘Roller Skater 23’.

Transportive throughout, you ride the solar waves, pace and emotion ebbing and flowing. Tracks like ‘Go Slow Heart’ and ‘Cosmic Trigger’ step to a slower beat but hit with a punch. The former, a slo-mo blast of celestial tenderness, the latter an otherworldly, chugged-out lunar excursion, micro-dosing on whacked-out Wah Wah and Eleanor’s ethereal vocals. Beaming love letters to space and back, ‘Sparse’ marries the organic with the artificial, pianos and percussion circling around synth pads and broadcasting bleeps.

Elsewhere, vibrations move faster. ‘Mega’ strikes, fusing sonic tribalism with psychedelic swirls, as ‘Everything’ sweeps you up in its extra-terrestrial new wave grip. Synth stabs and basslines fizzing from every angle.

Demos of Transmission Towers music surfaced on Luke Una’s radar, making him stop in his tracks. Something magical was emerging, perfectly aligned with the E Soul guardian’s tastes. Guidance followed, quickly turning into conversations about Transmission One becoming the first release on Luke’s own label.

Escapist and futurist yet grounded and relatable. Transmission One is synthesis meets sentiment with a deep, spine-tingling soul at its core.

Drawing from her compositions for Helena Wittmann's film DRIFT (2017), Nika Son creates a sonic journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Following a weekend at the North Sea, one of Wittmann's two protagonists embarks on a journey across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, during which unpredictable waves and deep sleep foster a transformative experience. Capturing the essence of this cinematic encounter through sound, Nika Son's compositions allow the water itself to become a storyteller, immersing listeners in the resonating body of the boat and plunging them into the profound depth of the ever-shifting ocean. Whether illuminated by daylight or veiled by night, the nature of this material world emerges through an exploration of the ocean as a distinct and tangible space, inviting contemplation of its transformative power. The line between reality and imagination blurs, and the waves echo the emotions of the voyage.

From multiple Emmy Award-winning creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (Game of Thrones), and Emmy-nominated Alexander Woo (The Terror: Infamy, True Blood) comes 3 Body Problem, a thrilling story that redefines sci-fi drama with its layered mysteries and genre-bending high stakes. Based on the acclaimed, international bestselling book trilogy, The Three-Body Problem. A young woman's fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity's history.

The anticipated series features a score by the multiple award-winning composer Ramin Djawadi, who is best known for scoring memorable themes and dynamic pieces for films and series including Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, and Westworld. The acclaimed composer has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, was nominated for five more, and received three nominations for a Grammy Award.

3 Body Problem is available as a limited edition on translucent blue coloured vinyl, includes an insert and sticker sheet.

"Named for the band’s third lease on life, Third Wind finds Gulfer at a unique moment in their ten-plus year career. When they started in 2011, Gulfer played scrappy, complex math rock influenced by the emo revival. But in 2024 they’ve emerged almost unrecognizable, while still retaining the spirit of what made them all fall in love with Gulfer in the first place.

Third Wind’s stylistic turns are emphasized by deeper texture and simpler songwriting, influenced by the reemergence of 90s alternative and shoegaze. With a new emphasis on atmosphere and more straightforward composition, Gulfer give themselves space to explore audaciously.

Album opener “Clean” gets as close to pop as the band has ever been, where “No Brainer” dabbles deftly in downer rock that asks “what even is my fucking place in the world? "Bold juxtapositions feature elsewhere on Third Wind: pop-punk bruiser “Too Slow” stops on a dime before evolving into a slow burning drum n bass passage, all within two minutes. And then there’s “Heartshape”, a downright love song shrouded in virtuosic performance and electric-acoustic counterpoint. Although these contrasts could be construed as aimless fiddling, their seamlessness is the true essence of Third Wind, indicative of a sage band with a renewed love for what they do."

Originally released on tape by SicSic in 2014, Aprilnacht commemorates a decade of music from Brannten Schnüre and marked the spring in a tetralogy of albums about the four seasons when it came out. Back then the Würzburg-based project consisted solely of Christian Schoppik, who later welcomed Katie Rich to take over the vocals. He used to perform as Agnes Beil, but dropped the name when, while making this album realized his music was becoming "much gentler and more fragile". Aprilnacht already captured the particular musical ideas that Schoppik would thoroughly keep exploring, delving deeper and deeper into the use and manipulation of samplers from sources so diverging as to wander between the five continents to post-war German family television and cult cinema. Heir of the ritualistic intensity of Coil, of the intricate sampler assemblies of Ghédalia Tazartès', and of the dusty, dismal old ballads from around the world, Brannten Schnüre manages to make these paths cross in a territory that is as inherent as it is uncanny; sieged by the past and intimate as a hearth. An organic approach to folk, ambient, and sound collage, where ethereal yet thoroughly textured pieces coalesce in enthralling, delicate, and innermost musical rituals.

The album cover paintings reveal the temper: dreary old towns where shadows come to dim the slow passage of crepuscular colors, a soft area of reanimation where wind and light come close and foresee the night of spring. Aprilnacht was inspired by the stories of German philosopher and writer Friedrich Alfred Schmid Noerr, whose work exhaustively examines the conflict between paganism and Christianity, safeguarding myth in a way that Schoppik describes as boldly modern, humorous and unpredictable in its variations of the Germanic folklore motifs. "I wanted to do the same with the music," he states, and the music here could as well be suitable for a night when household deities welcome wandering will-o'-the-wisps, water nymphs, and gyrovagues to discuss Perchta's leadership of The Wild Hunt, but this album is not a folk tale, it's not an elegy to worlds already gone, hidden in years; it's an intersection of routes that open mysteriously before our ears like a congregation of vapors. Aprilnacht is a gathering of voices; "There are too many children, and none of them keeps quiet," reads the last verse of «Requiem für eine Ringelnatter.»

Sensuality drips over the music to celebrate both the voluptuousness and tragic quality of nature; "It's raining on me, urine from your flowers," Schoppik sings in «Urin deiner Blüten» and later on, faced with a snake's erotic features, as if he wanted to be embraced by it: "Your quick, sharp tongue and your warm venom; that's what the pond is missing." Orality is where this profusion of contents thrives. When the voices get closer and condense, the words reveal the saliva employed to pronounce them; we feel the mouth and the tongue, but when breath envelops them in sorrow and softens their edges, they sound distant, diffused in the atmosphere, letting go of the body that held them. These two vocal facets oscillate permanently and interact naturally with the fertile assembly of samplers and instruments that develop throughout the album, which condense and disperse impersonating each other, interweaving to search for a specific syntax. Tangled whisperings of enigmatic phrases, timid voices that stick out to check the scene but hide away quickly, shivering trance chants and monastic ambiances, distant screams and clamors in between chaos and warfare swirl until bursting into subtle songs where even Mother Mary comes forth softly. Soothed by foggy atmospheres and crackling punctuations, these voices shape a vulnerable crowd, an occasion of fragility. Along this swarm of songs thrown into thin air, accordions sound like heavy-breathing lungs; clarinets sigh like curtains shaking; violin solos wander around like bees; Gjallarhorns cries distend like fleeing cattle; glockenspiels evoke remote music boxes and inherited toys; backward emanations emerge like slender waves retreating. On the banks of stretching loops and ember textures is where the songs slowly nest, collecting the words to find their tone.

A poem by Jorge Teillier says, "To talk with the dead you have to choose words that they recognize as easily as their hands recognized the fur of their dogs in the dark. To talk with the dead you have to know how to wait: they are fearful like the first steps of a child. But if we are patient one day they will answer us with a flame that suddenly revives in the fireplace." This may be Brannten Schnüre's main purpose: To find the voice to speak to those of whom we were a vision. Not in mourning, but acknowledging the obscure and volatile nature of spring's regenerative force, searching for the treasure of balance, as evidenced in the lyrics of «Requiem für ein Schwalbennest,» "Its nest was destroyed so many times before it was finished, and despite that, the shallow builds as if it is infatuated." The same idea is here in the words of Schmid Noerr, who made poetry an act of resistance to the horror of Nazism; "Since having seen the ability of a brilliant spirit to die, with a calm mouth that everyone saw, health is true again and we affirm it, even if rivers of blood flow." And as we call for the dusk's kindness, waiting to return home and eat with our kin by the stove, our ears become used to the games of the night. We feel like we're rowing on wetlands, while the "moon musick" keeps us vigilant against the slightest movement of water or sweet moan because eeriness here is imperative for survival. Do not succumb to the insipid howl of death, for nothing may last but mutability. You see, the rock has moved a little during the night; the rest is just wind fleeing from the void.

The third studio album by acclaimed R&B singer Tank, Sex, Love & Pain offers fans even more smooth, deep, seductive grooves. Originally released in 2007 by Blackground Records, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best R&B Album. At just under one hour, the album features production from TImbaland, The Underdogs, St. Nick, and Tank himself. Hit singles include "Please Don't Go," and "Heartbreaker."

Some albums are game-changers in a genre. Take OutKast's Speakerboxxx / The Love Below or Primal Scream's Screamadelica, they observe, study, and then flip what an album can mean to a genre or moment in time.

From the very first listen of Rubel’s Latin Grammy-nominated third album As Palavras, Vol. 1 & 2, you can feel its transformative force for the MPB genre. Here we see one of Rio’s brightest stars, fusing the contemporary with the classic, soaking up the richness of Brazil’s musical heritage. The result is a marauding 20-track epic, incorporating traditional styles such as forró, MPB, pagode and samba with modern baile funk, rasteirinha and hip-hop.

The album exudes a sense of freedom and creativity, playfully and provocatively juggling the familiar with the forward-thinking. The tracks are divided across two records, navigating feelings of love, heartbreak and discovery, whilst balancing themes of violence, passion, irony and affection. Collaborating with some of the country’s most esteemed artists such as Gabriel do Borel, Liniker, Luedji Luna, Tim Bernardes and Ana Caetano, Rubel takes this fusion of styles, subjects and flavours to the global stage.

The grand, forró-blending, choral opener, ‘Forró Violento (Instrumental)’ sets the tone for the album, with references and links between tradition and modernity everywhere to be seen. From the Ana Frango Elétrico produced, funk flexing, samba-soul brilliance of ‘Não Vou Reclamar de Deus’, to the album’s title cut ‘As Palavras’, in collaboration with Tim Bernardes, that melds MPB influences with electronic elements and hip-hop touches.

Across both sides of the album, Rubel’s story-telling gift is given space to shine. ‘Torto Arado’ featuring Liniker and Luedji Luna, beautifully references the racial injustice, tragedy, hope and ambition found in one the most celebrated Brazilian novels of recent times by Itamar Vieira Júnior. Elsewhere, ‘Na Mão do Palhaço’ manifests a satirical march about a suicidal conservative middle-aged man, who is rescued by the miracle of the carnival.

At times the album is gentle and intimate with tracks like ‘Toda Beleza’ featuring Bala Desejo, or the ode to friendship ‘Lua de Garrafa’, composed with the legendary Milton Nascimento. At others, the grooves hit harder, with sounds from the favelas laced within. ‘Put@ria!’, explores the universe of baile funk, with BK’ and MC Carol trading off on the mic, as ‘Rubelía’ moves between reggaeton, funk, and hip hop. The latter is a tribute to a key influence of the album, Spanish star Rosalía and her parallel mix of current with classic.

Ultimately though the beauty of this album lies in its concept. In the midst of a country divided, ‘As Palavras Vol. 1 & 2’ sets out to bring together genres and generations, grounded in rhythms and words that have helped define Brazil through the ages.

HYPERWIDE LUSTRE is Orchestroll’s debut record, a mini-LP released on Montreal’s GARMO – a highly curious and deeply devolved collection of music produced and performed for a run of live club sets by the duo.

Jester-like, this is music that laughs at you: because it’s funny, because it’s not; because you did too much, because you did too little. Because you’re too loud; too quiet. Wrapped in the exquisite production chops of Richard-Robitaille and Osborne-Lanthier, Hyperwide Lustre is quasi-sarcastic and fully irreverent, a shimmering hybrid of spectral dance music and avant classical; psychedelic, cinematic, fluid, and yet bejeweled with a crushing opulence. Lovelorn synths and haunted, clattering, percussion rolls through these halls. Will you follow them to their source? Or turn away?

Like a slow labyrinthine descent into ever-less-familiar passages, Orchestroll have crafted an album that feels genuinely puzzling and new. A warm welcome into a strange world. Two puppetmasters who lost control of their puppets long ago. The keyboard whispers, but the mouse decides the tale.

Arguably one of the best punk albums of the 70s, The Boys self-titled debut (produced by Dangerfield & Steel) is a cult UK classic. The album is filled with the pop punk gems, the kind of immediate salvos that would elevate Buzzcocks into the charts. In the intervening years, the history of punk rock has been written and re-written and a whole heap of bands have been sidelined. The Boys’ debut album, re-mastered here still sounds as fresh and immediate as it did back then and it also includes two classic punk rock singles in ‘I Don’t Care’ and ‘First Time’ (the latter, along with The Undertones "Teenage Kicks", the ultimate punk anthem of teenage romance and adolescent angst). Along with the Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned, The Boys were part of the first wave of the mid-1970’s UK punk explosion. Armed with an arsenal of killer Steel/Dangerfield songs The Boys became the first UK punk band to sign an album deal in January 1977 and subsequently released two albums, their self-titled debut and the follow-up “Alternative Chartbusters” in quick succession. Highly regarded by the music press and their contemporaries, yet somehow criminally ignored by a wider punk audience, unable to grasp their heritage of vintage rock ‘n’ roll that went back to Chuck Berry courtesy of The Beatles. Their well-crafted songs, together with Steel and Dangerfield’s layered harmonies, even led to them being described as ‘The Beatles of Punk’.

Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk—and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements—guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months—a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. — jj skolnik.

A punk classic, gloriously anthemic power pop from the cult UK outfit. On 17 March 1978, a mere six months after the release of their self-titled debut, The Boys second album “Alternative Chartbusters” was released (once again, produced by Dangerfield & Steel). As AllMusic recognises, “Alternative Chartbusters” was way ahead of its time, a buried treasure that only got dusted off much later: “Condemned at the time for offering up little more than a straight carbon copy of its predecessor, the second Boys’ album has since ascended to the pantheon of power pop greats, a combination of the band's own inestimable position at the forefront of what, by early 1978, was already a burgeoning movement, and their seemingly effortless grasp of the rudiments of, indeed, a great pop song.” Along with the Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned, The Boys were part of the first wave of the mid-1970’s UK punk explosion. Armed with an arsenal of killer Steel/Dangerfield songs The Boys became the first UK punk band to sign an album deal in January 1977 and subsequently released two albums, their self-titled debut and the follow-up “Alternative Chartbusters” in quick succession. Highly regarded by the music press and their contemporaries, yet somehow criminally ignored by a wider punk audience, unable to grasp their heritage of vintage rock ‘n’ roll that went back to Chuck Berry courtesy of The Beatles. Their well-crafted songs, together with Steel and Dangerfield’s layered harmonies, even led to them being described as ‘The Beatles of Punk’

“Suddenly it’s ok to be a square” - Twelve Cubic Feet, a clear case of a band which should have been bigger than The Beatles but, for some malignant reason, became a blurry footnote in the history of underground music. Formed from the ashes of Exhibit A in the Spring of 1981, the band disappeared leaving no trace shortly after 1983. During their brief existence they released a series of stickers, a monthly newsletter, two cassette tapes and their incomparable ‘Straight Out Of The Fridge 10”, which was at the very top of our dream records to release since we started Sealed Records. Twelve Cubic Feet released this perfect 22 minute 7 track album in 1982 on Namedrop Records (home to Doof, Philip Johnson and Cold War and ran by Philip Johnson and 12CF guitarist Paul Platypus). It is a glorious scratchy DIY indie pop gem with a post punk spirit. The sound is naive and fragile yet very addictive. Based around jangly clean guitars, drums that are on the edge of falling apart, haunting keyboards and a female vocalist that has a knack for a golden pop hook. Hard not to fall in love with. It’s beautiful with a ragged charm that deserves to be heard by the masses. Anarcho Indie pop anyone?? The band played a lot of the anarcho punk haunts of the early 80’s - Autonomy Centre in Wapping, Centro Iberico and London Music Collective and were equally heralded by punks (Andy Martin from The Apostles released one of their tapes) and the DIY music crowd. The line up changed after the 10” and they recorded a Joe Foster produced demo and fell in with Alan McGee's Communication Club crowd. Twelve Cubic Feet burned bright for just a handful of years and now it’s time to burn bright again. Hopefully this reissue will help them reverse one of their sticker statements “today we’re nobodies but tomorrow you’ll know who we are”. This reissue comes with the 16 page booklet that came with the original 10". Twelve Cubic Feet feature members who did time in bands such as Khmer Rouge, The Reflections, Solid Space, Doof and What Is Oil? Amongst others. For fans of the Marine Girls, Girls at our Best, Hornsey At War, Swell Maps and Postcard Records

The Baby Seals debut album, "Chaos," is a sonic exploration that blends heavy guitars, a pop edge, and a punk rock garage spirit with a heavy attack. The band, comprised of Amy "Amos" Devine on drums and backing vocals, Kate Shore on bass and backing vocals, and Kerry Devine on guitar and lead vocals, delivers a raw and energetic collection that captures the essence of their live performances. Recorded in March 2023 in Thaxted, just outside of Essex, "Chaos" embodies the DIY ethos that has defined The Baby Seals' approach to music. Working with engineer Joe in a secluded outhouse surrounded by fields, the band laid down the tracks live over a day, capturing the unfiltered essence of their sound. Joe's extensive collection of homemade pedals added a unique touch to the recording, while Benny T's mixing expertise brought the album to its final form. The decision to minimise post-production sets "Chaos" apart from previous recordings, reflecting the band's commitment to authenticity and a desire to showcase their growth and maturity. On Chaos Kerry says: “Chaos is the next phase in life for us lasses in the band - babies and mid-life responsibilities. The album definitely is about how we feel and experience the world around us in our 30s and 40s. Someone who heard the album recently said it's like the The Baby Seals have grown up and I liked that because that's what I feel likes happened to me in the last two years… The album definitely has Themes: inclusivity, gender inequality, the mental load, the motherload, power, body positivity, challenging taboos, liberation. The importance of what to take seriously and what not to take seriously. Title track, Chaos is one of the songs on the album which I'd written after a series of events including watching an interview with the late writer Benjamin Zephaniah who said the only way to liberation for all was to tear big governments down and to believe in your community. The cover photo by Jeff Pitcher sums us up and hopefully gives you a feeling of what the album sounds like. Album design was created by Igor Prato Luna, he just seemed to understand what we are about. He referenced loads of wonderful album cover, poster and flyer artwork from the 60s - 90s, and even some fabulous sci-fi artwork from the 1920s and those incredible 1950s sci-fi pulp book covers. Nothing was referenced too heavily, though, and Igor definitely made it his own

Repress of the 2017 album on green & cloudy clear vinyl. Within the songs of Laetitia Tamko there are infinite worlds: emotional spaces that grow wider with time, songs within songs that reveal themselves on each listen. Tamko is a multi-instrumentalist and a producer, recording since 2014 as Vagabon. Her forthcoming debut, Infinite Worlds, builds upon Tamko’s stripped-down demos that have been circulating online and throughout the independent music community for the past two years. Tamko’s songs are embedded with her own story and personal history: growing up in Cameroon, her family’s move to New York and adjusting to culture shock. She grew up around music and loved it, but finishing engineering school was a priority before music could start to feel like a real possibility. To date, Tamko mostly listens to East and West African music nostalgic of her childhood, styles of music that influence her own in subtle ways.

The VA theme on the LP series under the name Untitled || continues to explore the subject of 8 different minds from different corner of the globe connected by the principle and love for the audio frequencies in line with Exarde. Featuring two artists which already dear to label due to the fact of past releases on it and six new ones who have become instant people of love and admiration for me.

From the more deep and mellow to the higher pressure for the brain this double disc shall meet your demands. The art theme of this one is blobs & globs from space, whether they are emerging, fighting with their own shadow, or just simply floating and co-existing. This shall conclude my rambling for this body of work as I go and put these eight essences through my ear canals once again. Great deal of thanks for the hard work and dedication of these talented conductors.

Holland, Dozier and Holland are arguably the greatest songwriters ever. More prolific than Lennon and McCartney, they shaped “the Sound of Young America” and propelled the Motown sound in the mid-1960s into a creative stratosphere unmatched by any other independent music label. Their trademark catchy teenage love songs were delivered energetically by previously unknown Detroit groups like The Supremes, the Four Tops, Martha & the Vandellas & Marvin Gaye. Although synonymous with Berry Gordy’s Motown, it was their departure from Motown after a stand-off strike in 1967 and a brutal legal battle that led them to run their own group of labels, Invictus, Hot Wax and Music Merchant. This compilation is a definitive look at this period in history, exploring how H-D-H, under a new guise ‘The Creative Corporation’, drove the next generation of soul music in a myriad of different ways, towards funk, underground disco and jazz. Featuring 55 tracks, this collection documents HDH’s creativity and growth over this seminal 8 year period. During this time the trio developed new artists to rival Motown’s success such as Chairman Of The Board, Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Glass House, Flaming Ember, 8th Day, Laura Lee & Eloise Laws. The collection is complete with a detailed depiction of this period in history by award winning author Stuart Cosgrove who wrote the Soul Trilogy, a series of books on soul music and social change - Detroit 67: the Year That Changed Soul, Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul which won the Penderyn Prize, as Music Book of the Year in 2018, and Harlem 69: the Future of Soul. Stuart’s notes detail the relationship with Motown in the final days, the immediate fall out after the trio left Motown and the creation of the new labels Hot Wax, Invictus & Music Merchant

Pull the Rope, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine, casts the Eno Williams and Max Grunhard-led outfit in a new light. The hope, joy, and sexiness of their music remain, but, further honing the edge of their acclaimed 2022 album Electricity, the connection they aim to foster has shifted venues from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club. Williams and Grunhard attribute this shift to a matter of collaborators, recording Pull the Rope with Sheffield-based producer Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.) over the course of two weeks. The way the pair wrote songs changed significantly_rather than Eno penning lyrics to music generated by Max and company's jamming, Orton started with Eno and Max writing together before adding the band. With less time in the studio and a new way of considering how they built songs, the duo found making decisions about Pull the Rope's sound quicker and more instinctual than before. "Ross is from Sheffield, which has an edgier, more industrial vibe than London," Grunhard explains. "He hears things differently than us, is more grounded in rave and grungier sounds, and knew when to add drums or push the instrumentation more. It was very different for us, but it lends itself to where Ibibio Sound Machine is going." In melding their songwriting process, Grunhard and Williams have, impossibly, pulled the trick of making Ibibio Sound Machine a tighter band than ever before, building out from their core in a way that highlights the electrifying group of musicians they play with. Rather than recording with the full band in the room, Pull the Rope was sculpted, elements added and shaped by Grunhard, Williams, and Orton along the way. As a result, Pull the Rope is a nimble, sleek machine that's thrilling from the first note of the opening title track, Eno's otherworldly voice and PK Ambrose's throbbing bass driving through a kaleidoscopic array of house, post-punk, funk, Afrobeat and disco, bangers and ballads, making an argument for unity that begins on the dancefloor. "We are the places we grew up, the places we've been, and the people we've met along the way," Williams says. "Hopping around the globe, we've found that people are fundamentally the same_they're people. Opposing sides push and pull, but there is an alternative to war, violence, and suffering." Lead single "Got to Be Who U Are" literally globetrots, name checking locales across the world that would feel disparate were it not for how well-traveled they are. Eno growing up in the musical melting pot of the Ibibio region of Nigeria and Max being a conservatory-trained musician from Australia, one could call their meeting in London and formation of Ibibio Sound Machine predestined. "Mama Say" and "Let My Yes Be Yes" touch themes of female empowerment. They're indicative of the band's depth as they push further into the electronic; "Mama Say" hits notes of electropop while "Let My Yes Be Yes" fuses electro to Afrobeat. Ibibio Sound Machine have always imbued their music with political consciousness, and the light that shines through in Williams' vocals and voice has never felt more necessary. The sound of Pull the Rope, then, is hope in darkness, bliss in spite of bleakness. Once again, Ibibio Sound Machine are here to provide the soundtrack to the best night of your life, and the better world to come.

The opening line of Emily Dickinson’s short poem ‘‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers’ inspired the central image of Emily Barker’s new single ‘Feathered Thing’, written while she navigated cumulative grief.

When Barker was first introduced to producer Luke Potashnick (Gabrielle Aplin, Jack Savoretti, Katie Melua) in May 2022, she brought with her a full album’s worth of songs. But after visiting Potashnick’s storied studio, The Wool Hall and hearing his ambitious production ideas, she was inspired to write one more song.

“I also needed to process some heavy news” she comments. Barker and her husband Lukas Drinkwater had been trying to start a family. Following a couple of failed IVF cycles (and other “starts that we’d lost”), they investigated adoption and had decided to relocate to Australia to be closer to Barker’s family.

“It felt like we couldn’t work out what we wanted, but we finally reached a point where we both felt at peace with not having kids,” Barker recalls. “It had been an incredibly intense time, coinciding with a house move and the pandemic.”

And then Barker found she was pregnant. “We’d done all these things to try to make it happen, and then it happened naturally (and against all biological odds). Having previously navigated losses throughout our pregnancy journey, we now had to get our heads around what having this new person in our lives might look like - emotionally and practically.”

Soon after work began on the album, Barker had a miscarriage.

“Songwriting has always been a way of processing throughout my life.” Barker reveals how the new song came quickly as she sat at her piano at home. She shared an early version with Potashnick and remembers him politely asking, “Do you mind telling me what this is about?”

“I think I’d left it too abstract, initially,” she reflects. “It was difficult to open up about the miscarriage, but Luke was very supportive and encouraged me to dig a little deeper without necessarily being specific. I revisited the lyrics, and the result is much stronger.”

“I went to the burnt-out woods/ A tourist with some damaged goods/ Remembered how the trees withstood fires before…”

“The opening line is a metaphor for knowing that I’ll get through this,” Barker clarifies. “It’s about recovery and hope, allowing yourself both the space to grieve and permission to move on”. But Barker’s optimism is never misplaced – she knows the imprint of imagined futures and lost children are carried in hearts and minds forever:

“It’s so hard to let go, wanted to know wanted to know you …”

“I think that it's important to share and normalise these stories, which are all too common, yet not openly spoken about. People hide their pain and don’t want to burden friends and family. I think behind all this anguish, there’s a deep, often untold story.”

Now that Barker is settled back in Western Australia, she’s embracing being an auntie. “I’ve got three younger siblings over here who I’m close to, and they all have kids,” she enthuses. “I look after my brother's kids, aged two and five, one morning a week.”

Recorded - along with the entirety of the new album - at The Wool Hall, ‘Feathered Thing’ begins gently, with oscillating piano and distant drums, until the arrangement gradually transforms into an instrumental dervish of vibrant strings, bass drones and cymbal crashes. Throughout, Barker’s vocals float tantalisingly like a slipstreaming feather.

Watch the video, filmed at The Wool Hall here. The Wool Hall is a studio in Beckington, Somerset, set up by Tears for Fears in the 1980s and used by artists including The Smiths, Pretenders, Joni Mitchell and many more.

Emily Barker is an award-winning singer-songwriter, best known as the writer and performer of the theme to the hugely successful BBC crime drama ‘Wallander’ starring Kenneth Branagh.

Her last album, 2020's ‘A Dark Murmuration of Words’, was produced by Greg Freeman and recorded at StudiOwz, a converted chapel in the Welsh countryside. Lyrically probing, by turns both dark and optimistic, Barker searches for meaning through the deafening clamour of fake news and algorithmically filtered conversation, delivering a timely exploration of the grand themes of our age. It garnered widespread acclaim, with Uncut calling it “…a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake”.

Barker has released music and toured as a solo artist as well as with various bands and collaborations, most notably her long association with Frank Turner, and has written for TV and film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature ‘Hector’ starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.

‘Fragile as Humans’ is scheduled for release on May 3rd 2024 through Everyone Sang/Kartel Music Group. The album will also feature earlier singles: the vast, cinematic ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’ and the meditative, crestfallen ‘Loneliness’.