Cerca:ultima c

Multinational industrial black metal rising force Decoherence join Sentient Ruin again to bring you "System I", a 12" vinyl, digital and cassette tape full-length album/compilation of all the band's recent digital only singles and EPs, remastered to their final and ultimate form along with a glorious and previously unreleased cover rendition of Killing Joke's classic cut "The Wait". While these tracks were previously already digitally (self)released, don't be fooled or misled to think you're hearing any "b-sides" or otherwise "left over" material, rather, consider "System I" not only the righteous third official full-length album from the band, but also by far Decoherence's most visionary, cohesive, and imposing songs to date. Awe-inducing and ghastly in its enveloping immensity, the tracks on "System I" see the enigmatic multinational black metal band morph into their most defiant and commanding form yet, as they construct an impenetrable mechanized swarm of liquefying industrial hallucinations and swirling dissonance that eradicates the listener from their corporeal and terrestrial self to cast them at the edge of a light-devouring void. Stylistically "System I" sees Decoherence's sound still thrive and evolve within the familiar synthetic black metal deconstructionist framework of progenitors like Blut Aus Nord and Darkspace, but as the Killing Joke cover included unmistakably hints at, these tracks also reveal a marked shift for the band toward a more unintelligible, unpredictable, and ominous immateriality, as elements incorporated from post-punk and experimental industrial assume stronger delineations adding ulterior dimensions and identities to the band's already alien and otherworldly sound.

This 2LP set encompasses some of Ray Charles' most popular, influential and seminal recordings. Listen to these recordings by one of music's true greats, from his formative, pre-Atlantic days to his later genre-defying work, and discover why he was known simply as 'the Genius'.

The 10th anniversary of a milestone in the history of LCD Soundsystem will arrive August 6, when DFA Records partners with Parlophone / Warner Music to celebrate The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden; a 5-LP vinyl unabridged recording of LCD Soundsystem’s near four-hour April 2, 2011 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and released on 3CD for the very first time.

Produced and mixed by LCD founder and frontman James Murphy, The Long Goodbye is the ultimate audio document of LCD Soundsystem’s legendary — if not quite final — sold-out Madison Square Garden performance.

The Long Goodbye show was the lengthiest, most career-spanning LCD Soundsystem has played to date. The album finds the LCD core live band of Murphy, Pat Mahoney, Nancy Whang, Al Doyle, Gavilán Rayna Russom and Tyler Pope joined by a choir, string and horn sections — plus special guest performances including Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, Reggie Watts, the Juan MacLean, Shit Robot, Planningtorock, and Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum.

Lift-top box including the first 10 numbered records and objects, with a 60-page exhibition style book, plus a bonus 12” single and 2CDs of unheard Joy Division interviews. Strictly limited and numbered to 4000 units WW.

Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979 contains facsimile editions of the first 10 numbered Factory items: 4 vinyl records, 3 posters, a short film, Factory stationery and an egg-timer design. The early history of the label is traced in a 60 page book with text by James Nice, photos by Kevin Cummins and archival interviews with Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Joy Division and more.

All 3 original Factory posters are contained in the box as well as the first 4 records: The Factory Sample EP (Fac 2), including the Fac2 stickers, All Night Party by A Certain Ratio (Fac 5), Electricity by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Fac 6) and classic album Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division (Fact 10).

Bonus items include a white label 12” single by The Tiller Boys (originally intended as FAC3 but ultimately not released), and a lengthy audio interview with Joy Division, Tony Wilson and Rob Gretton, conducted in August 1979 by journalist Mary Harron, never before heard and now restored across two CDs. Also newly restored, and seldom seen since 1979, is evocative 8mm short No City Fun (Fac 9), featuring music by Joy Division.

Arriving at a time of considerable uncertainty in the world, Son Lux's multi-album 'Tomorrows' is ambitious in scope and intent. Born of an active, intentional approach to shaping sound, the music reminds us of the necessity of questioning assumptions, and of sitting with the tension.

Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, and Ian Chang train their sights on volatile principles: imbalance, disruption, collision, redefinition. But for all of its instability, Tomorrows’ exploration of breaking points and sustained frictional places is ultimately in service of something rewarding and necessary: the act of questioning, challenging, tearing down and actively rebuilding one’s own identity.

The band remains audibly indebted to iconoclastic artists in soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation who themselves carved new paths forward. Distilling these varied influences, Son Lux searches for equilibrium of raw emotional intimacy and meticulous electronic constructions.

- Tomorrows I-III, triple physical album, released previously digitally only
- Featuring the singles “Plans We Made”, Only, Prophecy, Live Another Life and A Different Kind Of Love
- More than 90 minutes music on 3CD and 3LP

8 years after DJ Sotofett’s last visit to our label(FPST1) we received some tracks perfectly timed AND perfectly primed for that elusive number 75 release. This time teaming up with Rex Ronny, we’re stoked to have him back and even more stoked about the music engraved in these grooves. DJ Sotofett and Rex Ronny embodies a solid 7 track EP for Full Pupp with a strong Sci-Fi pallet of Cosmic-Italo racers. “Epidermis” is not another conjectural Nu-Disco record but a strong Disco-Dub infused travel in rhythm and melody. The entirety of the EP is bound together by four Galactic synth tracks and three driving Disco cuts, all with an individual approach. It’s a solid nod to the excellence producers of Italian Disco and UK left-of-center dance music has taught us since the late 70’s. Rex Ronny (aka Ronny Nyheim from PsyPal fame) was challenged by DJ Sotofett to play all synth parts live in the studio, for Sotofett to mix the material in his new studio set up for ultimate Cosmic, Dance & Dub sonics. To perfect the rhythm suction, congas by Stiletti-Ana (from Jesse) was added in the mix, and LNS contributed with a harmony-bridge for maximum pathos. Full Pupp HQ May 2021

Laidback summer vibes over a brazilian rhythm and a little brokenbeat anyone?
The London based artist Toma got you covered with his debut NothingCanEverBe.
RawMTs Interpretation of it is a 10 minute subaquatic trip taking you deeper and deeper for ultimate relaxation.
Now for the dancers: JKs Oldschool Remix is a LoFi workout with an irresistible groove in classic LOVEiT House tradition whereas Jo Pariotas Remix preserves the brazilian vibes and the vocals from the original but spices everything up with a phat housey beat, warm chords and some funky piano sprinkles on top. - morri313

Minimal Force records presents Robert S' final release under this alias. With this 5 track record titled '2009/2021', we celebrate his work over the past 13 years and signify the end of a chapter. His energetic sounds have featured on well established techno labels and we are honoured to be the label he trusted to release his ultimate record.

“They were one of those bands that were a prequel to what the future was becoming. Feminism, human rights, animal rights, environmental
protection, gender issues... Spitboy was singing about these issues
30 fucking years ago.
I’m so grateful to have witnessed it.” - Billie Joe Armstrong “Spitboy are one of the most
important punk bands to have ever existed. To me, an angry 20-year-old in London, discovering them felt like the first time I truly identified with a band’s politics and agenda.
One of my all-time favourite albums (then and now) was Penis Envy by Crass. No lyrics
had ever touched me the way this album had--until Spitboy entered my life. My people. My radical feminists. My punk scene. Where I have lived and belonged for over 30
years.” -Vique Simba

Akhnaten is the third in the composer Philip Glass’ trilogy of operas about men who changed the world in which they lived through the power of their ideas. Akhnaten‘s subject is religion. Its title was derived from the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten, who was the first monotheist in recorded story. His substitution of a one-god religion for the multi-god worship when he came to power ultimately resulted in his exclusion from lists of rulers compiled by later pharaohs, and his legacy became all but lost to history until the late 19th century. The opera describes the rise, reign, and fall of Akhnaten in a series of tableaus.

‘Ruminations feels like a direct line into the spirit of Right Now. Oberst reckons with having the fabric of his life ripped apart by a disease of the flesh he couldn’t control or understand. Perhaps that sounds familiar? He paints a startling picture of how surreal life becomes when backlit by illness… these songs are heartrendingly beautiful, filled with the beauty of day-drunkenness and Proustian flights into memory and waking up in the afternoon and realizing that, however imperfect the day is, it’s a day.’
– GQ (2020)

Conor Oberst’s critically acclaimed 2016 solo album, Ruminations, will be released in a double-LP expanded edition – featuring five bonus tracks, four previously unreleased, as well as an etching on side D – on Record Store Day, June 12; it will be made available widely in all formats on July 23. The five bonus tracks were recorded during the Ruminations sessions; while full band versions of them were released on the 2017 companion album Salutations, these solo acoustic recordings are now included for the first time on Ruminations.

Ruminations was recorded in the winter of 2016, when Oberst found himself hibernating in his hometown of Omaha after living in New York City for more than a decade. He emerged with the unexpectedly raw, unadorned album, which NPR called one of his ‘most personal records… a collection of brave, dark songs… unmistakably moving and contain[ing] some of Oberst's best lyrics and imagery.’ The Sunday Times further said it was his ‘rawest album yet. Political and very, very personal’, calling Oberst ‘one of the best songwriters around’, and including the album in its list of best of the year.

“I wasn't expecting to write a record,” said Oberst in 2016. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to do much of anything. Winter in Omaha can have a paralyzing effect on a person but in this case it worked in my favour. I was just staying up late every night playing piano and watching the snow pile up outside the window. Next thing I knew I had burned through all the firewood in the garage and had more than enough songs for a record. I recorded them quick to get them down but then it just felt right to leave them alone.”

In the Nebraska studio he built with his Bright Eyes bandmate and longtime friend Mike Mogis, Oberst recorded all the songs in the span of forty-eight hours. The results are almost sketch-like in their sparseness, and they ultimately became the songs that comprise Ruminations. These tracks do not have the multi-layered instrumentation of the most recent Bright Eyes and solo albums: This is Oberst alone with his guitar, piano, and harmonica; the songs connect with some of the rough magic and anxious poetry that first brought him to the attention of the world.

The classic 1991 album remastered and expanded with rare and previously
unreleased tracks. Extensive liner notes by band biographer Keith Cameron.
A landmark of the grunge era.
By going back to basics with ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’, Mudhoney
flipped conventional wisdom. Not for the first time - or the last - they would be
vindicated. A month after release in July 1991, the album entered the UK
album chart at Number 34 (five weeks later, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ entered
at 36) and went on to sell 75,000 copies worldwide. A more meaningful
measure of success, however, lay in its revitalisation of the band, casting a
touchstone for the future. The record is a major chapter in Mudhoney’s
ongoing story, the moral of which has to be: when in doubt, fudge it.
The album began at Music Source Studio, a large space equipped with a 24-
track mixing board - downright futuristic, compared to the 8-track setup that
birthed the band’s catalytic 1988 debut, ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’. The Music
Source session quickly turned into a false start when the results, in guitarist
Steve Turner’s words, “sounded a little too fancy, too clean.” Lesson learned,
the band went primitive and got to work at Conrad Uno’s 8-track setup at Egg
Studio. Named after the cartons pasted on the walls in an optimistic attempt
at sound-proofing, Egg boasted a 1960s vintage 8-track Spectra Sonics
recording console, originally built for Stax in Memphis.
So it was that, in the spring of 1991, Mudhoney made ‘Every Good Boy
Deserves Fudge’. The resulting album is a whirlwind of the band’s influences
at the time: the fierce ‘60s garage rock of their Pacific Northwest
predecessors The Sonics and The Lollipop Shoppe, the gnashing posthardcore of Drunks With Guns, the heavy guitar moods of Neil Young, the
lysergic workouts of Spacemen 3 and Hawkwind, the gloomy existentialism
of Zounds and the satirical ferocity of ‘80s hardcore punk. The quartet’s
special alchemy meant these fond homages never slid into pastiche.
Ultimately, ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ epitomised the best of
Mudhoney: here was a band reconnecting with its purest instincts and, in the
process, reinventing itself.
This 30th Anniversary edition, remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago
Mastering Service, stands as testimony to the creative surge that drove them
in this period. The album sessions yielded a clutch of material that would
subsequently appear on B-sides, compilations, and split-singles. This edition
includes all those tracks and a slew of previously unreleased songs,
including the entire five-track Music Source session.

Since making her debut with the 2011 album Weightless, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Becca Stevens has tested the limits of musical identity, mining everything from jazz to Irish folk to indie-rock in her striving for complete and authentic expression. In her latest musical endeavor—the five-track EP WONDERBLOOM and a soon-to-follow full-length of the same name—the North Carolina-bred, Brooklyn-based artist again defies all expectation, this time dreaming up a groove-heavy, dance-ready sound infused with elements of pop and funk and R&B. But despite its brighter textures and uptempo rhythms, WONDERBLOOM finds Stevens achieving a profound complexity in her lyrics, ultimately redefining what’s possible in creating music that elevates and edifies. Centered on the captivating vocal presence she’s showcased as a member of David Crosby’s Lighthouse Band, WONDERBLOOM telegraphs an unabashed joy that Stevens partly attributes to the project’s production. In a bold new turn for her musical career, Stevens co-produced and co-engineered WONDERBLOOM alongside Nic Hard (Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note, The Church), overseeing every aspect of the recording and claiming a sense of agency that had long eluded her in the studio. “Nic and I were truly working as equals and trusting each other to get the job done, and it was an incredibly empowering experience for me,” she says. In another major departure, Stevens purposely brought a communal sensibility to the making of WONDERBLOOM —an undertaking that resulted in more than 40 musicians contributing to the album, including Vulfpeck guitarist Cory Wong, Jacob Collier, and all of her Lighthouse bandmates (i.e., keyboardist Michelle Willis, Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League, and David Crosby himself).

Romantic Images, Molly Burch’s third album, marks a distinct evolution for Burch, both emotionally and sonically. Recorded in Denver with Ten - nis’ Alaina Moore and Pat Riley producing, the collection celebrates the timeless delights of a well-crafted pop song, flirting with Blondie, Madonna, and even Mariah Carey as it forges a joyful soundtrack to liberation and self-discovery.

Burch deliberately worked with more women collaborators than ever before on the album, and the results are transcendent, reveling in the passion and the power of the divine feminine. The collection prioritizes ecstasy and escape, and Burch’s commitment to collective catharsis in her lifted, airy delivery manages to exude both thoughtful introspection and carefree abandon all at once. The shadow still lurks on the album, to be sure, but the light ultimately wins, and the result is an intoxicating collection all about coming into our truest selves.

Following their last release, The Day Before Halloween_an imaginative, distorted-synth-driven concept album_Atmosphere returns with a refreshing new project, simply titled WORD? Steering back toward their signature sound, the album further highlights producer Ant's undeniable talents as the project leans into the classic boom-bap aesthetic, bringing a unique energy out of Slug's wisdom, wit and delivery. From onset, WORD? proves to be every bit an exercise in refining and advancing their craft as it is a harkening to earlier work. That is, while their releases have grown more broodingly cinematic, and increasingly concerned with the human condition and mortality, WORD? manages to reintroduce moments of levity and lightheartedness throughout, an approach seldom heard on their albums of late. From album opener "Fleetwood," with its razor-sharp snares and warm fleshy bassline, to the resonant melody of "Clocked", there are strong hints of Atmosphere's nascent years within the sound. Meanwhile, songs like "Woes", "Strung" and "Vanish" cheerfully make light of daily hardships, but they're more likely to be remembered for making listeners want to bob their heads and sing along. With Slug and Ant directing the course, the album plays like a joyride through a range of experiences and emotions, with an extensive cast of special guests hopping in and out along the way, including Evidence, Muja Messiah, Musab, Nino Bless, Nikki Jean, Anwar HighSign, BlackLiq, Sa-Roc, Haphduzn, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Aesop Rock, and the late MF DOOM (RIP). The result is a project that feels like it came from the era or, perhaps more fittingly, the mindset that created albums like God Loves Ugly, Seven's Travels, or the popular Sad Clown series, while sounding as polished and perfected as more recent albums like Mi Vida Local or Whenever. Ultimately, WORD? pairs the breadth of Atmosphere's talents with the beauty of their growth, all while showing they still have a lot of fun in the process and don't mind letting the listener in on the fun as well.

Reissue for John Joseph’s own all-star group 2017 debut album

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it."

The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs."

Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit.

For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

Director David Lynch once said "I long for a kind of quiet where I can just drift and dream. I always say getting inspiration is like fishing. If you're quiet and sitting there and you have the right bait, you're going to catch a fish eventually. Ideas are sort of like that. You never know when they're going to hit you." Inspired by this quote in both name and spirit, Hollie Kenniff's The Quiet Drift is an ambient gallery of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, echoing guitars, and other celestial textures guided to cohesion by Hollie's own wordless singing. Though the album certainly creates (and originates from) the kind of space where Lynch's proverbial "fish" can be caught, The Quiet Drift is a fitting title for Hollie's own history, both recent and distant. During the course of the album's creation, Hollie and her family moved cross-country from an island in Washington state, to an island in Maine before ultimately relocating to Canada. "As a child I visited Ontario year-round," she explains in her own words. She continues "More than any other landscape, I think the lake, rivers, and woods there left the most enduring impression on me. The landscape and pace of life of these places will always stay with me." But the reverberant spaces Hollie crafts need no physical headquarters. Instead of conjuring views of nature at the ground level, her sound more readily evokes a top-down perspective, with the distinct features of the land shrinking underfoot as the listener becomes untethered from geography altogether. The Quiet Drift belongs more to the liminal spaces between life and afterlife, memory and fantasy, landscape and dreamscape, than any mappable locale. Describing her formative years, Hollie says "As a dual US/Canadian citizen who spent my childhood in a rural town-- one that I haven't returned to in many years - I have a sense of not entirely belonging anywhere. When I was a teenager my close friends were male musicians, so I was also an outsider to the degree that they were wild and anarchic in a way that I wasn't. I was a quiet book reader and avid music listener who enjoyed being around a creative group. I was also a radio DJ for alternative and punk music throughout high school." In this light, The Quiet Drift attests that creativity is placeless, and calls into question the stereotype of artists as scene-centric city dwellers. Having come of age in the absence of metropolitan sensory overload, Hollie learned to spot the muse in nature, and within herself, instead of the echo chamber of a frenzied peer group. On The Quiet Drift Hollie Kenniff wholly escapes from such pop-culture feedback loops into transcendent, shimmering realms, and she brings the listener along with her. In this age in which we have all been called to reevaluate our relationship to indoor spaces, and seek refuge in the great outdoors, The Quiet Drift provides an apt soundtrack for such rebalancing.

Pink Sweat$ has finally arrived with the unveiling of his highly anticipated debut album, PINK PLANET via Atlantic Records. PINK PLANET is a 16-track testament (plus 2 bonus tracks) to the Philadelphia rising superstar’s sonic abilities, luring in fans with ballads about his highs and lows, many successes and a heart-warming number from Pink along with family members. For his heartwarming debut, production credits include D Mile (Lucky Daye, H.E.R.), John Hill (Khalid), Rogét Chahayed (Drake, Miguel) and Michael Keenan.




PINK PLANET CD and vinyl will be available on 9th July. “Pink Planet is about love, it’s about inclusivity, and it’s about creative freedom. “As an artist you should have the ability to make whatever music feels good to you, and that’s what I tried to do with this album. Top to bottom, I’m giving a glimpse into my creative world; and I hope there’s a little something for everybody in it.” – Pink Sweat$




The new album includes eight brand new songs alongside six stellar tracks released in 2020 as THE PRELUDE EP, a token to fans adjusting to a new landscape surrounding the pandemic. His debut embodies a world that we aren’t living right now, with a purpose to heal and gift fans with a stellar project that speaks to listeners’ daily experiences. PINK PLANET further includes such captivating tracks as “Icy,” “17,” and the powerful “Not Alright,” all joined by official music videos streaming now at YouTube.




In 2021, Pink Sweat$ welcomes the year with a brand new remix to “At My Worst” featuring Kehlani, along with today’s release of his debut album, Pink Planet. Ultimately, Pink Sweat$ makes a statement by unapologetically bringing love to the forefront.

The new RUB is going to stay true to the home of Hip Hop NYC. DJ Goce brings you his new ap-proach to Status as he comes with a sureshot remix of the ultimate money joint of the late 90s. The flipside ‘Lovin’ The Game’ is a remake of Jigga’s statement that the status mentioned above never changed him, mixed to perfection.

Not Waving renders his pop soul on a definitive album opus ‘How To Leave Your Body’, starcrossed with guest appearances by Jim O’Rourke, Jonnine Standish, Marie Davidson, Spivak and Mark
Lanegan
An escapist parable for the times, Alessio Natalizia marks a career high with his most sensitive production and songwriting illuminated by a coterie of notable collaborators. Its 11 songs deal with the necessity of friendship, the fragility of loss and spiritual transcendence via a spectrum of strategies that ultimately arrive at a mutual conclusion: love is the message. It packs sample amounts of nostalgia into a fantasy sequence of elegiac pop, skewed rave and midnight lullabies that fine-tune over 20 years of devotion to his craft, perfectly matching experimental restlessness with enduring pop appeal.
Perhaps unavoidably, circumstances had a hand in the creation of ‘How To Leave Your Body’, forcing Natalizia to work with collaborators remotely. Yet the strength of his bonds bleeds through in the album’s handful of poignant vocal pieces, none more so than the hushed intimacy of Marie Davidson on the bewitching downbeat trance hymn ‘Hold On’, but also in the bruised blush of ‘My Sway’ featuring Jonnine’s spine-tracing lilt over hovering organ and dembow bumps, while the hook-up with Mark Lanegan once again yields bittersweet fruit on ‘Last Time Leaving Home Part 2’, with gravelly blues vox diffused into detuned, miasmic cello that really tugs.
Effortless and made for rinsing, the whole album is testament to the humility and pathos of Natalizia’s oeuvre, which has gotten better with age. It plays out like a lovingly crafted mixtape, decanting all original material with a classic cadence and fleeting play of styles, from aerial jazz notes in ‘You Are Always Younger Than The Future’, to the gnawing club grind of ‘Define Normal’, a noisily gurning ‘Self-Portrait’, and the lushly resolved admittance of ‘My Best Is Good Enough.’
Comparisons don’t really work with this one, it’s just Not Waving.

It is a privilege to present to you, our esteemed Daptone Family, a selection of fan-favorites by thee legendary Sharon Jones and her Dap-Kings available for the first time on 45!
Over the years Daptone H.Q. has been flooded with suggestions and requests for certain album tracks to be available on 45, so we've pressed up a few that are consistently at the top of the heap.
After itsʼ original release on the Soul of a Woman album, "Come and be a Winner"'s mellow mid-tempo groove and positive message swiftly grabbed the attention of fans and critics - ultimately placing the song squarely at the top of year-end playlists across the globe.
And for those of you want to keep the groove going and dig the instrumental on the flip!

DYNAMITE CUTS and its series of amazing 45s have unleashed another Gem for RSD. This Rare groove club classic has now been shrunk down to a stunning 7”, for the first time. The LP was first released in 1981 along with a single.- which is now a mega-rare collector’s items; selling for £200 plus.
Steve Parks’ big song on this LP is the epitome of Rare groove music in the 90s. almost every club and radio would play this every night – it would be banging out of The Mud Club, Astoria, The Wag and all the other hot, sweaty, but very brilliant, clubs of the 80’s and 90’s. This is definitely on the ultimate soundtrack to that funky era.
This one-off LP and it iconic cover by Steve Parks has been reissued before but never as a 7” and never with a full colour sleeve, Dynamite Cuts’ mini version does both, delivering op-point artwork and finely tuned mastering. Steve Parks is a very private man; this iconic cover only happened because his friend Rico, who coerce him into wearing the shirt as Steve didn’t like it at all. The only way to do it was to take him to Leon’s BBQ by the beach and buy them both a bucket of tips and corn bread.
Don’t miss out!!! - Must have vinyl release – record store day release!

Tape

Tekanan is the full-length debut of Melbourne-based Indonesian-Australian drummer and sound artist, Rama Parwata. A thorough exploration of rhythmic capabilities and percussive improvisation under ever-shifting timbral and stylistic environments, Tekanan is Parwata’s examination and documentation of his vast musical influences in electro-acoustic improvisation, Indonesian gamelan music, free jazz, electronic music, R&B, and noise music, whilst still maintaining an entirely unique non-idiomatic musical voice. Tekanan sees Parwata experimenting with not only the drum kit, but additionally implementing no-input mixing boards, musique-concréte sampling techniques, junk percussion, electric guitar, and computer music production to create a relentlessly metamorphosing soundscape that abruptly, yet seamlessly oscillates between ethereal ambiances to turbulent barrages of rhythm and noise through five unique movements.



Aptly named after the Indonesian word for pressure and stress, Tekanan was composed by Parwata with the intent of it being a listening experience which would pressure the listener to have no clear indication of the direction of the music and where it will ultimately settle, leading the listener on a sinuous, yet intriguing aural journey. This title additionally applies to the pressure of the challenging nature of the music, in a performative sense, which pushed Parwata to his physical and mental limits to perform and compose.



“As cliche or banal this might sound, I tried to make a record that was purposely made to be hard to put into a box. I didn’t want to make a “drumming” record or a noise record or anything of the type, but a record that just contained "good” music (or what I constitute as being good). Many aspects of my musical life were injected into this release: gamelan music (the first music I was exposed to), noise, hip-hop, free-improvisation, Xenakis, jazz, electronic music. Ultimately this record is a homage to those musical influences.” - Rama Parwata

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An active figure in Australia’s experimental music and art scenes, Parwata has worked with the likes of Marco Fusinato, Robin Fox, and Robbie Avenaim, and choreographers Stephanie Lake, Juliet Burnett, and Melanie Lane. He is also a member of seminal long-running Melbourne Doom Metal band, Whitehorse.


As of 2019, Parwata has been a co-curator and committee member of Melbourne’s legendary concert series, Make It Up Club, which has been presenting weekly avant-garde improvised performances since 1998.

If Black Sabbath had been born and bred in an Ohio mobile home and raised on a steady diet of smoke and acid - the result would sound exactly like Mistreater
In 1981 the group independently recorded and released the “Hell’s Fire” album. Today the album is considered a US metal classic and is considered one of the strongest metal albums ever made by metal aficionados - original copies are hard to find and there’s a hefty price tag if you’re lucky enough to find a copy for sale. Mistreater are from Creston (population 2000) and were far outside everything and everybody associated with the “hip” music scene in Ohio. Mistreater either didn’t know or care about the scene in nearby Cleveland where bands like proto-punk rockers Electric Eels, Rocket From The Tombs and Styrenes made waves. Pere Ubu and Dead Boys sprang from these roots. The Pagans ruled the Cleveland area during the punk days. Earlier, The Choir, Raspberries and The James Gang were pivotal Cleveland bands. As local audiences were receptive, the city was a major stop-off for touring bands. Similarly, radio station WMMS also had open ears. Nowadays, The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is located in Cleveland. It goes on – Cleveland and its surroundings were happening. Mistreater was into none of this… Their music was by outsiders for outsiders. More brutal, raw and louder than everyone else. Rough-edged and without gloss, the Mistreater of Hell’s Fire was not aiming for the mainstream. The riffs are stoner hard knock-outs and the guitar leads are psyched out punches rooted in heavy psychedelia. Sweden’s On The Dole Records are proud to present the first ever reissue of “Hell’s Fire”. And in true OTD fashion no expenses were saved. The band was interviewed for the extensive liner notes, rare photos were found, the sound is remastered and carefully restored, and the non album single b-side “Baby Blue” is added as a bonus. This is a US metal / D.I.Y masterpiece that should be heard by everyone into hard, loud music and massive guitar riffs. It’s like Greg Sage of The Wipers had gone metal. It would have been the ultimate soundtrack to Tim Hunter’s “River’s Edge” movie with Dennis Hopper. Mistreater were young and had no contacts or knew ways to reach out with their music back then… Now the time has come for the resurrection of Mistreater. Mistreater is not in the nearby Rock’n’roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. But they should be. This OTD reissue goes to prove it.

I Be Trying might be the title of the new record from two-time GRAMMY nominee Cedric Burnside, but it's also a mission statement in an era when plenty of us have discovered what "the blues" really means. Recorded over three days at Royal Studios in Memphis (the home studio of Al Green and Hi Records in the 60s and 70s), this album is the ultimate statement of purpose for a critically acclaimed artist who has proudly carried the mantle of Mississippi Hill Country blues around the world. Over thirteen tracks, Burnside delivers his bruised but unfettered truth over blistering guitar and deep pocket drums-a sound birthed in his soul but developed and perfected on the road. But no matter how far he travels, the righteous sound he makes could only come from one place. I Be Trying is the sound of modern Mississippi. Produced by second-generation Memphis soul trailblazer Boo Mitchell ("Uptown Funk") and featuring guest appearances from Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) and Zac Cockrell (Brittany Howard), I Be Trying takes the sound that Burnside learned from his grandfather, blues legend R.L. Burnside, and reinterprets it into a modern, bold Black American sound that expands the sonic landscape while respecting and honoring its roots.

I Be Trying might be the title of the new record from two-time GRAMMY nominee Cedric Burnside, but it's also a mission statement in an era when plenty of us have discovered what "the blues" really means. Recorded over three days at Royal Studios in Memphis (the home studio of Al Green and Hi Records in the 60s and 70s), this album is the ultimate statement of purpose for a critically acclaimed artist who has proudly carried the mantle of Mississippi Hill Country blues around the world. Over thirteen tracks, Burnside delivers his bruised but unfettered truth over blistering guitar and deep pocket drums-a sound birthed in his soul but developed and perfected on the road. But no matter how far he travels, the righteous sound he makes could only come from one place. I Be Trying is the sound of modern Mississippi. Produced by second-generation Memphis soul trailblazer Boo Mitchell ("Uptown Funk") and featuring guest appearances from Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) and Zac Cockrell (Brittany Howard), I Be Trying takes the sound that Burnside learned from his grandfather, blues legend R.L. Burnside, and reinterprets it into a modern, bold Black American sound that expands the sonic landscape while respecting and honoring its roots.

Tape

It might be easy to assume that the distinctly focused compositional voice unveiled on Rose Bolton's The Lost Clock is the product of its creator's rigorous, almost hermetic dedication to her own particular aesthetic universe. A quick survey of Bolton's artistic career, however, reveals that her carefully sculpted approach to abstract electronica has been forged through a longstanding engagement with a wide range of intertwining creative activities.

This album—coming out on Important Records' cassette imprint, Cassauna—demonstrates both the Toronto-based composer's unique mastery of colour and her gift for breathing a tactile, organic quality into synthetic landscapes. Bolton's distinctive sensibility is akin to that of a painter—every hue has been carefully mixed so as to imbue its accompanying gesture with its own life and personality. This tangible dimensionality her electronic work assumes, however, can be traced back to the work Bolton has been doing since the 1990's. She has produced a large and varied catalogue of work that includes pieces for solo performers, chamber ensembles, orchestra, electronics, voice, and to accompany installations and films. A number of her works reside in several of these zones simultaneously, such as Song of Extinction, an ambitious collaboration between herself, filmmaker Marc de Guerre, poet Don McKay, and multiple live ensembles, that was mounted in an abandoned power station for Toronto's Luminato Festival.

This quasi-instrumental vitality isn't the only feature of The Lost Clock that reflects Bolton's diverse artistic practice. It can also be heard within the structural realm. Each of the collection's four tracks trace a patient unfolding and favour a certain roundness of timbre, even as finer details begin to fidget along the perimeter of the music. As with her writing for the concert hall, Bolton doesn't shy away from the evocative here, yet she doesn't pursue this poignancy through conventional, direct or quasi-narrative means. Her compositions lead the listener gradually through their impressionistic sonic scenery, but neither the path they take nor their ultimate destination are at all predictable. The ostensible gentleness each piece exudes dissolves as dissonances slowly insinuate themselves, obscure textures writhe just out of earshot, percussive lattice work materializes, or as the overall blend begins to exert a heavier weight. Her lucid-dream vision of form functions in tandem with her acute micro-level attentiveness to engender a vivid and elusive soundworld that resists classification.

Over more than two decades Rose Bolton has been garnering acclaim and enthusiasm from audiences and major collaborators alike. Last year, her brooding string quartet The Coming Of Sobs was nominated for Classical Composition of the Year at the JUNO Awards, following earlier accolades such as SOCAN Awards for Young Composers, and the Canadian Music Centre's Norman Burgess Fund. Her music has been commissioned by the likes of the CBC, stalwart experimental music festival the Sound Symposium, as well as key interpreters and ensembles such as percussionist David Schotzko, accordionist Joseph Petric the Esprit Orchestra, Continuum, Arraymusic, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and guitar quartet Instruments of Happiness (led by Tim Brady). Together with Marc de Guerre, she produced an 8-speaker sound and video installation for Toronto's Nuit Blanche Festival. She's also been featured by the likes of revered pianist Eve Egoyan, The Vancouver Symphony, L'ensemble contemporain de Montréal, The Music Gallery, and AKOUSMA, while appearing in concert alongside the likes of Jerusalem in My Heart (Constellation Records), Tanya Tagaq, and Francis Dhomont. Bolton is also a respected film composer, notably contributing music to the highly regarded documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (co-directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky).

As a performer, she variously employs electronics, violin, and viola. Parallel to her engagement with exploratory approaches, she's invested in the fiddle traditions of the British Isles, and various Canadian regions. She teaches this repertoire at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Bolton has also performed with Rhys Chatham, Owen Pallett, opened for Charlemagne Palestine, and appears on recordings by the likes of Chatham and Aidan Baker. In 1999 she joined the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, whose fifty-years together make them the world's longest-running live-electronic music group. In February 2020, the CEE held a residency and provided guest lectures at Carnegie Mellon University's music department. Bolton has also led workshops at the Banff Centre, also founded the SOCAN/ Moog Audio-sponsored program EQ: Women in Electronic Music, which worked to foster community and mentorship among (trans/cis) women and non-binary individuals.

DYNAMITE CUTS and its series of amazing 45s have unleashed another Gem for RSD. This Rare groove club classic has now been shrunk down to a stunning 7”, for the first time. The LP was first released in 1981 along with a single.- which is now a mega-rare collector’s items; selling for £200 plus.
Steve Parks’ big song on this LP is the epitome of Rare groove music in the 90s. almost every club and radio would play this every night – it would be banging out of The Mud Club, Astoria, The Wag and all the other hot, sweaty, but very brilliant, clubs of the 80’s and 90’s. This is definitely on the ultimate soundtrack to that funky era.
This one-off LP and it iconic cover by Steve Parks has been reissued before but never as a 7” and never with a full colour sleeve, Dynamite Cuts’ mini version does both, delivering op-point artwork and finely tuned mastering. Steve Parks is a very private man; this iconic cover only happened because his friend Rico, who coerce him into wearing the shirt as Steve didn’t like it at all. The only way to do it was to take him to Leon’s BBQ by the beach and buy them both a bucket of tips and corn bread.
Don’t miss out!!! - Must have vinyl release – record store day release!

Produced by long-time friend Cate Le Bon, ‘Boy from Michigan’ is Grant’s most
autobiographical and melodic work to date. Grant stopped being a boy in Michigan aged
twelve, when his family moved to Denver, Colorado, shifting rust to bible belt, a further
vantage point to watch collective dreams unravel. Across 12 tracks, Grant lays out his
past for careful cross-examination.
In a decade of making records by himself, he has playfully experimented with mood,
texture and sound, all the better for actualizing the seriousness of his thoughts. At one
end of his musical rainbow he is the battle-scarred piano-man, at the other a robust
electronic auteur. ‘Boy from Michigan’ seamlessly marries both.
With Le Bon at the helm, Grant pared back his zingers, maximizing the emotional impact
of the melodies. A clarinet forms the bedrock of a song. One pre-chorus feels lifted from
vintage Human League. There is a saxophone solo.
‘Boy from Michigan’ ultimately swings between ambient and progressive, calm and livid.
The album’s narrative journey opens with Grant at his artistic prettiest, three songs drawn
from his pre-Denver life (the Michigan Trilogy, as Grant calls them): the title track, ‘The
Rusty Bull’ and ‘County Fair’. Each draws the listener in to a specific sense of place,
before untangling its significance with a rich cast-list of local characters, often symbolizing
the uncultivated faith of childhood.
Elsewhere, tracks like ‘Mike and Julie’ and ‘The Cruise Room’ offer an affecting plunge
deep into Grant’s late teenage years in Denver, while the midpoint of the album is
highlighted by ‘Best In Me’ and ‘Rhetorical Figure’, a pair of skittish, scholarly dance tunes
that build on the lineage of Grant’s electropop heroes, Devo.
Childhood as a horror narrative is the theme of ‘Dandy Star’, which observes a tiny Grant
watching the Mia Farrow horror movie ‘See No Evil’ on an old family TV set and finally, on
‘The Only Baby’, Grant removes his razor blade from a pocket to cleanly slit the throat of
Trump’s America, authoring a scathing epitaph to an era of acute national exposition.
Though he has lived in Iceland since 2011 - the same year he was also diagnosed HIVpositive - Grant spent his childhood and formative years in the US and maintains US
citizenship. Growing up, Grant was subjected to a deeply ingrained hatred of anyone
perceived as homosexual at school. Following the demise of his first band The Czars,
Grant left music entirely for over five years, only to achieve greater success as a solo
artist (his acclaimed 2015 solo LP ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ went Top Five in the
UK). Grant has sold out Royal Albert Hall, performed at Glastonbury, Latitude and more
and his song ‘Snug Snacks’ was featured on Pitchfork’s Songs That Define LGBTQ Pride.
BBC Radio 6 host Mary Anne Hobbs described Grant’s music: “Most songwriting, even if
it’s based on a true story ... is embellished in some way. But John's lyrics - they’re so true
they might as well be written in blood.”

Deluxe 2LP pressed on 140g black vinyl in inner sleeves with paintings by Gil Corral, 2
unique prints, 36-page photo booklet, pull out lyric sheet and digital download card, all
housed in a beautiful black velvet O-Card gatefold sleeve with Glitter Spark Eye.

Produced by long-time friend Cate Le Bon, ‘Boy from Michigan’ is Grant’s most
autobiographical and melodic work to date. Grant stopped being a boy in Michigan aged
twelve, when his family moved to Denver, Colorado, shifting rust to bible belt, a further
vantage point to watch collective dreams unravel. Across 12 tracks, Grant lays out his
past for careful cross-examination.
In a decade of making records by himself, he has playfully experimented with mood,
texture and sound, all the better for actualizing the seriousness of his thoughts. At one
end of his musical rainbow he is the battle-scarred piano-man, at the other a robust
electronic auteur. ‘Boy from Michigan’ seamlessly marries both.
With Le Bon at the helm, Grant pared back his zingers, maximizing the emotional impact
of the melodies. A clarinet forms the bedrock of a song. One pre-chorus feels lifted from
vintage Human League. There is a saxophone solo.
‘Boy from Michigan’ ultimately swings between ambient and progressive, calm and livid.
The album’s narrative journey opens with Grant at his artistic prettiest, three songs drawn
from his pre-Denver life (the Michigan Trilogy, as Grant calls them): the title track, ‘The
Rusty Bull’ and ‘County Fair’. Each draws the listener in to a specific sense of place,
before untangling its significance with a rich cast-list of local characters, often symbolizing
the uncultivated faith of childhood.
Elsewhere, tracks like ‘Mike and Julie’ and ‘The Cruise Room’ offer an affecting plunge
deep into Grant’s late teenage years in Denver, while the midpoint of the album is
highlighted by ‘Best In Me’ and ‘Rhetorical Figure’, a pair of skittish, scholarly dance tunes
that build on the lineage of Grant’s electropop heroes, Devo.
Childhood as a horror narrative is the theme of ‘Dandy Star’, which observes a tiny Grant
watching the Mia Farrow horror movie ‘See No Evil’ on an old family TV set and finally, on
‘The Only Baby’, Grant removes his razor blade from a pocket to cleanly slit the throat of
Trump’s America, authoring a scathing epitaph to an era of acute national exposition.
Though he has lived in Iceland since 2011 - the same year he was also diagnosed HIVpositive - Grant spent his childhood and formative years in the US and maintains US
citizenship. Growing up, Grant was subjected to a deeply ingrained hatred of anyone
perceived as homosexual at school. Following the demise of his first band The Czars,
Grant left music entirely for over five years, only to achieve greater success as a solo
artist (his acclaimed 2015 solo LP ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ went Top Five in the
UK). Grant has sold out Royal Albert Hall, performed at Glastonbury, Latitude and more
and his song ‘Snug Snacks’ was featured on Pitchfork’s Songs That Define LGBTQ Pride.
BBC Radio 6 host Mary Anne Hobbs described Grant’s music: “Most songwriting, even if
it’s based on a true story ... is embellished in some way. But John's lyrics - they’re so true
they might as well be written in blood.”

Deluxe 2LP pressed on 140g black vinyl in inner sleeves with paintings by Gil Corral, 2
unique prints, 36-page photo booklet, pull out lyric sheet and digital download card, all
housed in a beautiful black velvet O-Card gatefold sleeve with Glitter Spark Eye.

JANA IRMERT – THE SOFT BIT

"The compositions for this album were shaped over the course of one year, at first without a concept or storyline as a starting point. Yet what I became increasingly interested in was a kind of sensory aspect of sounds. I felt I wanted to get closer so the sounds, feel their structure and surface and how they contrast each other."

stick your hands into the sand and feel the grains against your skin.

"Throughout the musical process, I used materials like metal, water, sand and air in a very direct and maybe more raw way to create and record sounds than I did in previous works, where I had often manipulated field recordings that had a more ambient character and thus strongly carried the location of origin in them.So in a sense, for the compositions of this album, I used sounds without a place, or just an expression of the sound of the particular material itself."

submerge yourself in water and listen to the sounds you hear.

"It turned out the processed sounds resulting from hard materials would often have soft and tonal qualities whereas those made from "soft" materials like water or air would ultimately be of percussive or harsh and noisy character. Finishing the compositions was like feeling along the surfaces of the single pieces with closed eyes, making out their shape and outline inch by inch. Maybe this is why to me, some of the compositions feel solidified like pieces of rock, while others seem to be ready to evaporate into air."

stand as still as you can and feel the air moving against your face.

This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR - and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled HELLOWEEN, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance.

Dani Löble: ”This record is the coronation of the PUMPKINS UNITED journey! Still today I am fascinated by the different character traits and facets of the HELLOWEEN history. As an example I’d like to point out the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience”. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-release single SKYFALL, a 12 minute epos written by Kai Hansen, has the long yearned “Keeper-vibe” - even if the long player can by no means be limited to it. SKYFALL implies the musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era. This first album of a new age is taking the fans from unforgettable memories of the fifteen studio records and four live CD’s to new adventures. SKYFALL begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high-end experience.

”FEAR OF THE FALLEN” – the second single is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only Deris can do it. ”I had so much fun not only writing a song for my voice but also for one of the greatest singers out there. I always have an extremely broad smile on my face when I hear Michi singing my melodies“, says Deris and Kiske adds: ”The whole process, including the spirit, was just ideal. If I had the feeling that one of the parts would not be really fitting, I asked Andi if he would sing it and vice versa. There was no competition whatsoever – what counted was what is best for the respective song. I am thankful to be (again) a part of this crazy family. I love them all”. Along with massive album tracks such as HELLOWEEN classic and album opener “OUT FOR THE GLORY“, the epic “DOWN IN THE DUMPS”, both written by Weikath, the power metal shouter “MASS POLLUTION“ by Deris and Grosskopf’s scuff proof rocker “INDESTRUCTIBLE“ (which could be an analogy towards the unbreakable career of the band), the album release is flanked by the ‘party-track‘ of the record, “BEST TIME“. Lyrically the song by Sascha Gerstner reminds of the good old days, musically it´s convincing with confident HELLOWEEN style guitar harmonies and a chorus that stays in your long-term memory after hearing it for the first time.

“HELLOWEEN“ offers a complete metal universe within 12 songs. The base of this milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original drum kit of Ingo Schwichtenberg, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then ”Master Of The Rings“, ”The Time Of The Oath“ and ”Better Than Raw“ were recorded. Completely analog and under the eyes of long term producer Charlie Bauerfeind and co-producer Dennis Ward, the UNITED impact travelled to New York and got the final mix in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein).

Returnee Kai Hansen reflects: ”Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years was very emotional for me. But at the same time it was a completely different experience with the ‘new‘ boys. The collaboration of different songwriters and strong characters made the album very special: a unique mix with reminiscences from all chapters of the band’s history. HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans“! From another perspective Markus Grosskopf agrees: ”For me, being one of the last “survivors” who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it“. When it came to capturing the larger-than-life emotions in the artwork, it quickly became clear that it was only possible as a handmade painting on which the important topics of the band's history are processed. The work of Berlin based artist Eliran Kantor has achieved this and visually underscores the fact that the band cherishes all parts of their history. With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing the essence of the band was never more solid. This is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN!

This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR - and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled HELLOWEEN, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance.

Dani Löble: ”This record is the coronation of the PUMPKINS UNITED journey! Still today I am fascinated by the different character traits and facets of the HELLOWEEN history. As an example I’d like to point out the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience”. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-release single SKYFALL, a 12 minute epos written by Kai Hansen, has the long yearned “Keeper-vibe” - even if the long player can by no means be limited to it. SKYFALL implies the musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era. This first album of a new age is taking the fans from unforgettable memories of the fifteen studio records and four live CD’s to new adventures. SKYFALL begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high-end experience.

”FEAR OF THE FALLEN” – the second single is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only Deris can do it. ”I had so much fun not only writing a song for my voice but also for one of the greatest singers out there. I always have an extremely broad smile on my face when I hear Michi singing my melodies“, says Deris and Kiske adds: ”The whole process, including the spirit, was just ideal. If I had the feeling that one of the parts would not be really fitting, I asked Andi if he would sing it and vice versa. There was no competition whatsoever – what counted was what is best for the respective song. I am thankful to be (again) a part of this crazy family. I love them all”. Along with massive album tracks such as HELLOWEEN classic and album opener “OUT FOR THE GLORY“, the epic “DOWN IN THE DUMPS”, both written by Weikath, the power metal shouter “MASS POLLUTION“ by Deris and Grosskopf’s scuff proof rocker “INDESTRUCTIBLE“ (which could be an analogy towards the unbreakable career of the band), the album release is flanked by the ‘party-track‘ of the record, “BEST TIME“. Lyrically the song by Sascha Gerstner reminds of the good old days, musically it´s convincing with confident HELLOWEEN style guitar harmonies and a chorus that stays in your long-term memory after hearing it for the first time.

“HELLOWEEN“ offers a complete metal universe within 12 songs. The base of this milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original drum kit of Ingo Schwichtenberg, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then ”Master Of The Rings“, ”The Time Of The Oath“ and ”Better Than Raw“ were recorded. Completely analog and under the eyes of long term producer Charlie Bauerfeind and co-producer Dennis Ward, the UNITED impact travelled to New York and got the final mix in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein).

Returnee Kai Hansen reflects: ”Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years was very emotional for me. But at the same time it was a completely different experience with the ‘new‘ boys. The collaboration of different songwriters and strong characters made the album very special: a unique mix with reminiscences from all chapters of the band’s history. HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans“! From another perspective Markus Grosskopf agrees: ”For me, being one of the last “survivors” who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it“. When it came to capturing the larger-than-life emotions in the artwork, it quickly became clear that it was only possible as a handmade painting on which the important topics of the band's history are processed. The work of Berlin based artist Eliran Kantor has achieved this and visually underscores the fact that the band cherishes all parts of their history. With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing the essence of the band was never more solid. This is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN!

Demon Records is proud to present the ultimate reissue of the Yardbirds’ 1966 album Yardbirds, (often known as ‘Roger
the Engineer’.) Recorded by the classic line up of Jeff Beck, Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja and Paul Samwell-Smith,
the band began exploring new sonic territories, pushing their blues-rock sound into the realms of the avant-garde,
psychedelia and Indian music. Using original tapes, this super deluxe edition features new and definitive remastering by
Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR, overseen by original album producer Paul Samwell-Smith.
"Remastering this album has been a joy. To hear the tracks sounding just as we heard them all those years ago while we were
recording them - energetic, edgy, and in your face - is an unexpected treat. In 1966, it was a rare and exciting opportunity to be
given a recording studio for 5 days and allowed to experiment. That excitement still shows." – Paul Samwell-Smith
“This is what rock ‘n’ roll beauty is - the true freedom of creative impulse.” – Thurston Moore
“The Yardbirds produced some of the most compelling musical art of the 20th century.” – Wayne Kramer

Question everything. Consider your sources. Be wary of ulterior motives, insidious media narratives and even your own unconscious bias. Trust sparingly and try to make smart, informed choices. As the world slides further into ruin, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and fight back. Luckily, Hacktivist are back to help cut through the noise and bullshit, tooled-up and ready to attack with renewed vigour and reinforced ranks. With Jot Maxi and J. Hurley now sharing the vocal and lyrical load, drummer Rich Hawking and bassist Josh Gurner bringing the beats and rhythms, and guitarist and production don James Hewitt fleshing out the group’s genre-fluid muscle, new album Hyperdialect arrives less like a mission statement and more as a flaming musical Molotov, declaring all-out war. “Hyperdialect isn’t an album for people to just casually listen to,” J insists, “we’ve taken things to the next level, which I didn’t even think was possible. We spit the truth. *We are the truth.*” In 2016, when Hacktivist initially set sights on their enemies with debut album Outside The Box, the world wasn’t fully equipped to heed their warnings and pay attention to its timely rallying cries. They return into a very different one, however – a world that’s sadly now all-too-finely-attuned to the horrors they first forecasted four years ago. “It’s becoming clear that we are on the brink of some type of revolution,” says Jot, with no small dose of conviction or optimism. “Hacktivist are here to bring truth and positivity – the silver lining of a society clouded in poisonous fear. Hacktivist also represents a voice that isn’t afraid of saying what needs to be said. We’re already living in the future. We have the choice to either be shaped by it or to stand up and shape it ourselves. Which path will you take?” It was with those battle lines clearly drawn and ambitions duly set that Hacktivist entered into the creation of Hyperdialect. Starting almost two years ago and developing on the acerbic sonic filth introduced by 2019 singles Reprogram and Dogs Of War, the five-piece felt fired up by their new working dynamic and the collective process involved, with each member actively encouraged to contribute ideas until the best outcome was reached. Unusually, for such a group of bloody-minded insurrectionists, this democratic approach worked wonders – a testament to how much they were all on the same page on these 12 tracks.

"Amythyst Kiah is redefining the limits of roots music. Today, the mold-shattering singer/songwriter who Rolling Stone calls “one of Americana’s great up-and-coming secrets,” makes her Rounder Records debut with the release of a radically reimagined version of her song “Black Myself.”
With an unforgettable voice that’s both unfettered and exquisitely controlled, Amythyst’s ability to cross boundaries is born from struggle. Growing up a Black and LGBTQ+ woman in the Bible Belt, she experienced severe social anxiety, grief, alienation - and ultimately, the hard-won triumph of total self-acceptance."

- Schwarze heavyweight LP inklusive 16-seitigem 12" x 12" Booklet und MP3 Downloadkarte

50th anniversary of the legendary Philadelphia International Records label founded in 1971 by innovative and prolific songwriters/producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. This superb compilation showcases the sophisticated sound associated with the label also known as 'The Sound of Philadelphia'. Featuring the legendary roster of music stars who helped bring these chart topping disco, R&B, soul and funk sounds to life including The O’Jays Patti LaBelle, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, McFadden Whitehead, The Three Degrees, Phyllis Hyman, The Intruders and the ultimate 'house band' MFSB. A 12 song album pressed on a standrad single black vinyl. Marketing.

Ever effervescent producer Kangding Ray continues to connect experimentalism and dancefloor, hitting home hard on his newest EP on Figure.
Storming out of the gate, Doppler Shift packs the momentum to take off, its dry-thumping arp-ride raising the levels from zero to hero. Meditating on murky sounds, Branches displays the producer’s extraordinary skills at splicing together seemingly disparate DNA of sounds to create otherworldly but compelling tapestries of rhythm.
Turning things for the flip, from colourful dub chords emerges Terra, a driving tune reminiscent of the 90’s spacey chill-out-rooms of. Taking it a notch deeper, Robust builds its lively groove around modular experimentations, the machines ultimately becoming an extension of the artist himself.
A special bonus for the digital version, final track Deeper begins unassumingly beatless, only to pick up the pace for a blissfully trancey journey.

VEYL is pleased to welcome Harlem to the label for a new seven track album titled ‘Bait’. The Stockholm-based duo of Martin Thomasson and Johan Skugge bring a vast history of production behind them, operating since the early aughts and known for their work in dub and minimal techno. ‚Bait’ ventures into new territory for the project, delivering infectious strains of body music, new beat, industrial and beyond coupled with soul-stirring vocals which quickly dig beneath the skin. The release is about everyday manipulation, soft power and persuasion. We exist in a world in which corporate management techniques are deployed in our everyday lives, nudging each other for short-term gain, slowly hallowing out any lasting trust while ultimately all being crushed by a hyper-capitalist system. From the opening synths of the title track to the ominous ending notes of ‘Night Vision’, we also uncover funky grooves and diabolical floor shakers which remind us of something from the past but exist perfectly in this corrupted new world. As is customary, the striking cover art was photographed by Tomaso Lisca, and it’s a fitting piece for the record, depicting a tantalizing well-oiled machine, all while something menacing lurks under the hood.

Ambient instrumental version of Steve Von Till’s previous release No Wilderness Deep Enough.
Limited Violet Colour Vinyl.
For fans of Neurosis, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ólafur Arnalds, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Brian Eno.

“Von Till has delved into prolonged and hypnotic expressions of darkness and decay...achingly slow post-classical hues (glissandro strings, mournful horns, reverb piano) fusing intimacy to grandeur. But the most stentorian, weariest voice imaginable - graver even than Mark Lanegan - and the existential dread of his words equally chills to the bones.” 4/5 MOJO (No Wilderness Deep Enough)
Steve Von Till has made a life’s work out of seeking the elemental. With a solo discography that stretches back more than two decades, he has toiled in a shadow realm, peeling back layers of reality in a never-ending search for true meaning and raw emotion. A Deep Voiceless Wilderness strips back the veil even further. An achingly beautiful ambient work with neo-classical leanings, the album is a hallucinatory and elegant rumination on our disconnect from the natural world, each other, and ultimately ourselves.
For some listeners, the album may recall the work of modern composers like Jóhann Jóhannsson, Brian Eno or Gavin Bryars. For Von Till, it’s about surrendering to the spirit of place—and to the original intent behind his 2020 solo album, No Wilderness Deep Enough. That album marked a significant first for Von Till: It was his first solo record without a guitar in hand. Instead, Von Till intoned powerful and thought-provoking lyrics over piano, cello, mellotron and analog synthesizers. A Deep Voiceless Wilderness is that same album without Von Till’s words.
“This is how I originally heard this piece of music,” he says. “Without the voice as an anchor or earthbound narrative, these pieces have a broader wingspan. They become something else entirely and unfold in a more expansive way. The depth of the synths, juxtaposed with the strings and French horn, have space to develop and allow the listener to imagine their own story.”

American/Danish glam metal band White Lion released their third studio album Big Game in 1989 through Atlantic records. The album was recorded while the band were still thriving on the success of its predecessor Pride. The result is an eclectic album that addresses political and social issues, something that was rare among other bands in this genre. The album contains the single “Little Fighter”, which is about the famous Greenpeace boat The Rainbow Warrior. The album also contains a cover version of Golden Earring’s “Radar Love”, which was released as the second single. Other well-known songs from this album are “Cry for Freedom”, “Goin’ Home Tonight” and more. A critical and commercial success, the album went gold in the US and also charted well in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Canada and the UK – ultimately performing even better than Pride did.

This imited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white coloured vinyl includes an insert.

In 2018 one of metal’s most defining and revolutionary vocalists, WARREL DANE, celebrated his highly anticipated inaugural solo effort, “Praises To The War Machine”, which saw him further honing his craft to perfection. Dane, who first shattered the boundaries of conventionality with the legendary Sanctuary and Nevermore, proved that he is one of metal’s most diverse frontmen with this solo effort as he unleashes a barrage of introspective and personal lyrics that are heartfelt and extremely powerful. All of this emotion backed with his soaring angelic and dynamic vocals provides all of the necessary elements for a savagely captivating, melodic assault that quickly hooks you in. Before beginning this new venture Dane went out and surrounded himself with some of the best musicians that he could find. This search ultimately resulted in landing the renowned Peter Wichers (ex-Soilwork) on guitars and bass, Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork) on drums and Matt Wicklund (ex-Himsa) on guitars. The effort was also recorded and mixed by Wichers (coproducer Soilwork) and features guest musicians Jeff Loomis (Nevermore) and James Murphy (Obituary, Testament, etc.). Additionally this 2021 extended version reissues contains four live tracks from the album on side C featuring singer/songwriter Jonny Smokes which also will be available on all digital platforms. “Praises To The War Machine” is an absolute must for all Nevermore fans. Prepare yourself for the sheer beauty and elegance that awaits.

I tend to exist in the darker parts of the psyche, Jim Ward admits. “That’s where I’ve always been.” And yet what makes the musician so unique and downright compelling is how exactly at the moment when the world joins him in the darkness — take, for example, the ultra-challenging year that was 2020— it’s then Ward is able to claw his way back into the light. “All I was doing was basically meditating with a guitar,” Ward says of how every night during the pandemic,armed with a guitar as well as a bit of time and purpose, this prolific musician was able to churn out several riotous riffs that ultimately transformed into one of his most personal and profound albums to date. “I’ve always used music as an outlet for anxiety and frustration,” notes Ward, who has played in a slew of monumental bands, from the iconic post-hardcore band At The Drive-In to Sparta, aswell his alt-country project, Sleepercar. In fact, it’s this healing power of music, Ward offers, that led him to Daggers, the lauded musician’s new solo record set for release in 2021 via Dine Alone. “When my world has upheaval, it becomes about doing the work in front of me,” he adds. “And this record was pure joy: talking to my friends on the phone, swapping ideas with them, going into my head for a while, coming out with something.” So while Daggers is officially credited as a solo work, and Ward never entered the room with any of his collaborators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s effusive in his praise for them: notably the twin team of Incubus bassist Ben Kenney and Thursday drummer Tucker Rule, both of whom took Ward’s guitar riffs and helped propel them into fully fleshed-out songs. For Fans of: Sparta, At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta, Thursday, Incubus, Frank Eiro, Bear vs Shark, Glassjaw, ...Trail of Dead, Deftones, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Queens of the Stone Age, Thrice, The Smashing Pumpkins Key marketing highlights: - Jim Ward is the lead singer and guitarist of Sparta and co-founder of post-hardcore band At The Drive-In. - Ward has toured with the likes of My Chemical Romance, Deftones, mewithoutyou and many more - Ward has received acclaim from Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, Brooklyn Vegan, Alternative Press, Guitar World, Billboard and more. - Ward has performed on the late night TV programs of Conan and David Letterman. - Ben Kinney From Incubus playing bass on record and Tucker Rule from Thursday playing drums on record

Incredible Bongo Band was formed by MGM A&R Michael Viner in 1972 to record the soundtrack to a now virtually anonymous B-Movie entitled 'The Thing With Two Heads'. "The IBB" transformed from a loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their inimitable percussive fashion. Viner recorded them at MGM studios during downtime, assembling line-ups from whichever musicians were available at the time, leading to a unique blend of multi-talented musicians that included Jim Gordon, King Errisson, Jerry Scheff, and Perry Botkin Jr. The full bands' line-up is shrouded in mystery, but their legacy is undeniable. They spawned cult-classic records that would become a goldmine for hip hop breaks and attain sampling immortality.

'Apache', which was written and made famous by the British band The Shadows, is legendary in the worlds of dance music and hip hop. It was a staple for DJs such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as they invented their world-shaking take on the art of DJing at the Bronx block parties of the ‘70s. Over the years it has become a hip hop and breakers anthem and is revered as 'the break' of all time (at least in the top three) with the rhythms of this LP even helping to coin the term 'breakbeat'.

“Bongo Rock” is significant, for being one of the musical cornerstones of rap ... it is certainly one of the most sampled LP’s in history, if not the most sampled. Almost every history-minded hip-hop DJ has a copy, and the first few bars of “Apache,” can send crowds into overdrive.” According to Kool Herc, the stylistic pioneer many people consider to be the father of hip-hop music, the Bongo’s “Apache” is “the national anthem of hip-hop.” NY Times.

Sampled over 600 times, including... Nas, Beastie Boys, Moby, Mick Jagger, Kanye West, Sugarhill Gang, Jay-Z, Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Unkle, LL Cool J, 2 Live Crew, 4 Hero, Fatboy Slim, to name a few…

The real story of “The IBB” is far greater than the recordings themselves and ultimately shows how a distinctly powerful musical performance can get the recognition it deserves, no matter how anonymous its origins.

In 2013, Anouk was the Netherlands’ representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. The day before competing in the first semi-final, she released Sad Singalong Songs, her eighth album. The album marked a change in sound for Anouk, containing more introspective, symphonic oriented rock ballads. Lead single “Birds” was the song she performed at Eurovision, ultimately placing
9th in the final; the best result for the Netherlands since 1999. The album showcases Anouk’s versatility as an artist. The album reached the number 1 position in the Dutch album charts and already went platinum on its release day. The album also charted in Belgium and Germany.

Now Sad Singalong Songs is released on coloured vinyl for the first time. It is a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on clear vinyl. It is housed in a sleeve containing a printed innersleeve with song lyrics.

The Black Keys release their tenth studio album, Delta Kream, via Nonesuch Records. The record celebrates the band’s roots, featuring eleven Mississippi hill country blues standards that they have loved since they were teenagers, before they were a band, including songs by R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, among others. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded Delta Kream at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville; they were joined by musicians Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton, long-time members of the bands of blues legends including R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. The album takes its name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph that is on its cover.

Auerbach says of the album, “We made this record to honor the Mississippi hill country blues tradition that influenced us starting out. These songs are still as important to us today as they were the first day Pat and I started playing together and picked up our instruments. It was a very inspiring session with Pat and me along with Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton in a circle, playing these songs. It felt so natural.”

Carney concurs, “The session was planned only days in advance and nothing was rehearsed. We recorded the entire album in about ten hours, over two afternoons, at the end of the “Let’s Rock” tour.”

Auerbach says of Delta Kream’s first single ‘Crawling Kingsnake’: “I first heard John Lee Hooker’s version in high school. My uncle Tim would have given me that record. But our version is definitely Junior Kimbrough’s take on it. It’s almost a disco riff!” Carney adds, "We fell into this drum intro; it's kind of accidental. The ultimate goal was to highlight the interplay between the guitars. My role with Eric was to create a deeper groove."

The music from northern Mississippi, which came to life in juke joints, has long left an imprint on the band’s music, from their cover of R.L. Burnide’s ‘Busted’ and Junior Kimbrough’s ‘Do The Romp’ on their debut album, The Big Come Up; to their subsequent signing to Fat Possum Records, home to many of their musical heroes; and to their EP of Junior Kimbrough covers, Chulahoma.

Formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001, The Black Keys, who have been called ‘rock royalty’ by the Associated Press and ‘one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet’ by Uncut, are guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. Cutting their teeth playing small clubs, the band have gone on to sell out arena tours and have released nine previous studio albums: their debut The Big Come Up (2002), followed by Thickfreakness (2003) and Rubber Factory (2004), along with their releases on Nonesuch Records, Magic Potion (2006), Attack & Release (2008), Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011), Turn Blue (2014) and, most recently, “Let’s Rock” (2019), plus and a tenth anniversary edition of Brothers (2020). The band has won six Grammy Awards and a BRIT and headlined festivals in North America, South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

Jess Cornelius first began writing the songs that would comprise Distance after moving from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles. At the time, she was excited to start fresh after several years as the primary songwriter in the band Teeth and Tonuge. But the distance she addresses over the album is hardly a geographical one. Instrad, Distance finds a deft songwriter analyzing the space between society’s expectations for her and her own dreams, the illusion of the love and reality of disappointment, and a past she is ready to let go of and a future she could have hardly imagined.

Distance documents a songwriter in the pursuit of living life on her own terms. As Cornelius puts it, “A lot of the rEcord was about me deciding to continue this nomadic lifestyle of being a musician. People would ask ne if I was going to have a family and lot of the songs are about me being ok with no pursuing that path. It was about coming to terms with the choice I had made.. And then two years later, I’m knocked up and married! I couldn’t have imagined that”

Cornelius gave a first taste of Distance with “No Difference,” released last year, which was featured by NPR’s All Songs Considered as well as Paste Magazine, Brooklyn Vegan, Hype Machine and Uproxx, who called it “a striking stateside introduction.”

On new single “Kitchen Floor,” Cornelius maps the space between the bedroom and the front door over a Roy Orbison tinged rave-up, lamenting the coming pain: “This is gonna be a hard one.” Its accompanying video, the first in a series in which she plays a familiar female character trope, was filmed by Cornelius and her partner on an iPhone at 5am in Los Angeles so they wouldn’t encounter any people. “I have a weird fascination with Hollywood Blvd — it’s such a grotesque place most of the time,” says Cornelius. “But I knew we’d have the chance to experience it deserted and empty, and it was like a different place. I’d been watching a lot of ‘last human on earth’ apocalypse-type films. Mostly, the concept behind the clip was to have this character just owning it. There are so many things pregnant women are not ‘supposed' be doing, like having casual sex with strangers. There’s a loneliness, too, that I wanted to get across in the clip, but ultimately she’s in a state of friendliness with herself and the world.”

"Louie Louie" by Belgian schlager legend Joske Harry's (aka Joe Harris) blows The Kingsmen's original version away. Absolute dancefloor-filler.
There must be about 11,283 versions of "Tabou." This ultra-rare gem by Burt Blanca just might be the ultimate version... or maybe not. Anyway, this is a must-have for your collection.

Reprint of Radio Martiko’s 2nd single from 2015. As online prices of the first pressing went up to 60 euros, a reprint was much needed.

A full collection of crazy remixes from Ganez. Superb tunes ; Must have !

Liverpool’s legendary Death Metal pioneers Carcass (who still tour
extensively to this day) are often credited with shaping the entire
death metal genre.

Pushing boundaries with their shocking imagery whilst evolving and innovating with each new album. Heartwork is widely renowned as the best Carcass album with its melodic intricacies.

These albums have been specially recreated using ‘FDR’ - full dynamic range mastering - pressed from the original master tapes, allowing the music’s nuance to shine through and giving these classic albums a more ferocious and dynamic sound, enabling the listener to immerse themselves in the full audio heaviness

American rock band The Flamin’ Groovies were established in 1965, and are still active today: that marks an impressive career spanning over six decades. Jumpin’ In The Night is their sixth studio album, released in 1979. Although it initially didn’t fare well commercially and eventually led to a change in personnel, the album was a critical success and still is received well among music critics and fans. Mark Deming of AllMusic called the album tighter and tougher than its predecessor. The production by Roger Bechirian and vocalist/guitarist Cyril Jordan flatters the guitars and emphasises the band’s “wall of guitars”, ultimately making it an excellent pop rock effort.

The album is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent green coloured vinyl, and contains an insert.

It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic ‘Estrelar’ and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

The album was produced by the legendary Lincoln Olivetti and Marcos' brother Paulo Sérgio Valle. It showcases a real who's who of Brazilian music at the time, with stellar performances from vocalists and musicians such as Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhães to name but a few. This was Marcos’ second album, after having moved back to Brazil from his time living in Los Angeles, and that US influence is evident through its prominent boogie, soul and funk sounds. It also features collaborations with the US singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, and record producer, Leon Ware, who co-penned three tracks including 'Estrelar'. To complete the album there are tracks such as 'Fogo Do Sol', which is pure AOR / Balaeric vibes, and tracks that are more MPB and pop-inspired, making a well-balanced track list for both home-listening pleasure and dancefloor business.

What could we do to give one of Marcos' most celebrated albums the treatment it deserved and produce the most definitive re-issue possible? The answer was to enlist the services of Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios Mastering and lacquer-cutting engineer and all-around audio-magician, to cut a special half-speed master edition. Miles had previously worked his half-speed magic on our Arthur Verocai album re-issue, and once again we are totally blown away by the richness which Miles has brought out in his mastering technique. He has enhanced the listening experience and taken this wonderful album to another level.

To celebrate the release we have pressed up several vinyl versions; both standard master, and Miles' half-speed mastering editions on Black vinyl, alongside special limited edition Rose and Mint-Green coloured vinyl variants that were inspired by the audacious-looking cocktails on the cover - sheer 80s excess!

It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic ‘Estrelar’ and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

The album was produced by the legendary Lincoln Olivetti and Marcos' brother Paulo Sérgio Valle. It showcases a real who's who of Brazilian music at the time, with stellar performances from vocalists and musicians such as Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhães to name but a few. This was Marcos’ second album, after having moved back to Brazil from his time living in Los Angeles, and that US influence is evident through its prominent boogie, soul and funk sounds. It also features collaborations with the US singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, and record producer, Leon Ware, who co-penned three tracks including 'Estrelar'. To complete the album there are tracks such as 'Fogo Do Sol', which is pure AOR / Balaeric vibes, and tracks that are more MPB and pop-inspired, making a well-balanced track list for both home-listening pleasure and dancefloor business.

What could we do to give one of Marcos' most celebrated albums the treatment it deserved and produce the most definitive re-issue possible? The answer was to enlist the services of Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios Mastering and lacquer-cutting engineer and all-around audio-magician, to cut a special half-speed master edition. Miles had previously worked his half-speed magic on our Arthur Verocai album re-issue, and once again we are totally blown away by the richness which Miles has brought out in his mastering technique. He has enhanced the listening experience and taken this wonderful album to another level.

To celebrate the release we have pressed up several vinyl versions; both standard master, and Miles' half-speed mastering editions on Black vinyl, alongside special limited edition Rose and Mint-Green coloured vinyl variants that were inspired by the audacious-looking cocktails on the cover - sheer 80s excess!

Dynamite Cuts are proud to have the opportunity of presenting this amazing Dj dance floor diamond, by the legendary funk n soul band S.O.U.L. “Burning Spear” is an upbeat Drum and Bass groove with a super funky flute and all time classic sample. Sampled by hip greats like Pete rock & C.L Smooth & Organized Konfusion to name a few, a pure rare-groove club anthem, I remember those nights, funky-ing down to this awesome rhythm.
Dynamite Cuts’ issue of this monster, is a double-sider of the ultimate versions of “Burning Spear”. The A side cut is taken from the superb “What it is?” LP. On the B-side is the rare and more collectable version; slightly different, more percussive recording which was released on 7” in 1971 on the Musicor record label, but sadly on the hissing, breakable styrene, and not on the lovely VINYL. You’d be lucky to find a copy that doesn’t hiss, pop and crackle. But with thanks to; Mr Simon Watson, who had a mint stock copy almost un-played; and to the A-Lister Dynamite Cuts’ mastering magicians - Andy Pearce (de-noises) and Stuart Hawkes (remastering to get that full-on funk effect). Now what are the chances of that!!!
The name S.O.U.L means Sounds Of Unity and Love, consists of four men from Cleveland, Ohio USA, the band was formed around 1970.
Lee Lovett, a Libra - Lead singer, Bass and Baritone;
Gus Hawkins, a Scorpio - Vocals, Saxophone, Flute
Paul Stubblefield, an Aquarius - Vocals, Drums
Walter Winston, a Pisces - Guitar.

We started First Word Records in late 2003. The core team is based in London, but our roster is comprised of artists from all over the globe. As we look ahead to our 20th anniversary, and hit our 200th release, this EP is a collaborative effort from some of our current artists.

As a label, we've often championed musicians that create sounds that fall within the cracks of more defined-genres. Our aim has always been to highlight unique talent where we find it, and ultimately find things we deem worthy of inclusion in the great mixtape of life! Quite often the links may not seem apparent, but we feel blessed to have been able to slowly build a family of artists that not only have great respect for each other, but will quite often collaborate together without any prompts from us. This collection of music is a series of examples of that. 'A Family Affair'.

For this vinyl EP, there is a heavy dancefloor vibe, with four tracks that nestle within the realms of broken beat.

Following her debut EP 'Light It Again' for us in late 2020, Allysha Joy's track 'Better' is re-visited by the don Kaidi Tatham, who reworks the track in his own inimitable way; starting on a half-tempo neo-soul vein, before switching to his trademark fusion of bruk, boogie and jazz mid-way.

After a lengthy absence we're delighted to welcome back Quiet Dawn and Sarah Williams White, with a collaborative piece between the two entitled 'One By One'. You can expect longer projects from them both later in the year, but here's a little vibe to wet your whistle. This, the 'Bruk It' version doing exactly what it says on the tin.

On the flipside, we have a delicious rub of Takuya Kuroda's 'Fade' featuring the vocals of Corey King and taken from Takuya's highly-acclaimed LP 'Fly Moon Die Soon'. The remix work on this one courtesy of a killer combo in their own rights, KEARL aka Earl Jeffers (Darkhouse Family) and K15 (Profusion).

Speaking of K15, this EP closes out with his interpretation of Teotima's 'But I Can't' originally from their 2019 album 'Weightless'. Taking elements of the original vocal from Ellie Rose Rusbridge, K15 transforms this one into a dreamy boogie-tinged groove - previously supported by Mary Anne Hobbs and the like.

Two of these tracks have never been available on vinyl before, whilst the other two are brand new tracks being released for the first time on any format.

Despite the troubles globally faced in 2020, it's safe to say that The Allergies bucked the trend and came back by ultimately having a rather glorious year. Releasing their fourth stu-dio album, achieving the 'A List' on BBC Radio 6 Music and Radio Eins in Berlin, climbing high in the NACC US college charts, and generally receiving critical acclaim from a world that had an understandable appetite for some joyful and fun music in their lives.

2021 shows no signs of things slowing down. The heat continues for their 2020 album Say The Word with Pioneer, Liptons and IAMS all taking Allergies tracks for their global advertis-ing campaigns. Rather than rest on their laurels, though, the guys went full lockdown crea-tive and have their fifth album due for release in September, 2021.

"Jumping Off" was the first new track from the album to be debuted at the end of 2020 – A self-sampling version of their 2018 track "Main Event". As with all Allergies tracks of late, the limited 7" release caused a Discogs feeding frenzy.

Now, The Allergies power forward with the first single of the 2021 album campaign – An absolute dancefloor destroyer featuring legend of the mic, Dynamite MC, entitled "Lean On You".

The Allergies first hooked up with Dyna on previous album Say The Word for the fan favour-ite "Hot Sensation". But, scheduling clashes with Dynamite's own album release meant that a single outing for that track was not possible.

No such issues this time round means The Allergies kick off their 2021 album with a serious club and radio contender to move things to the next level.

It's a stylistic new lane for the Bristol-based beatmakers. Their trademark heavy drum chops now flowing on half time tempos, with blues guitars riffs front and centre. The perfect back-ing, then, for the UK rap legend to find his theme and raise the roof.

The 7" is backed by "Working On Me" – A classic Allergies-style screamer with a taste of funky swamp rock, updated for your favourite dancefloor/kitchen/outside space, with five other people…

The 'Abroad EP' catalogues a period of time spent travelling Japan in the spring of 2019. Throughout the course of the month-long trip, Rudy carried around a portable recorder, capturing various sounds that caught his ear. That collection of found sounds would eventually become the foundation for the EP, each track utilizing a handful of different recordings ranging from bird calls in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, to windchimes in the coastal town of Kawazu. The EP took a full year of patient, daily work to complete, during which time Rudy invited a diverse group of collaborators in to help finish the songs. Throughout the recording process, harp, saxophone, and violin parts were added to create a unique blend of organic and electronic sounds.

POSY is the recording name of Rudy Klobas, Portland-based producer and multi-instrumentalist with a unique sound that intersects jazz, R&B, and electronic music. Originally trained on classical guitar, POSY gradually taught himself piano, bass, and drums and began writing and recording his first songs on a four-track cassette recorder. POSY's music is lush and densely layered, but maintains an element of simplicity that ultimately leaves one feeling relaxed, nostalgic, and hopeful all at the same time.

‘Any Other City’ by Life Without Buildings, the only
album recorded in their brief existence, is
repressed and available again. Originally released
on Tugboat Records (a Rough Trade affiliated
label) in February 2001, ‘Any Other City’ has slowly
become a widely admired cult album.
Life Without Buildings formed in Glasgow in 1999,
they existed for three years and then split in 2002,
having released just one album and three double A
side singles, yet they’ve continued to build a
strong underground following in the years since,
which has culminated in copies of the original
album on vinyl changing hands for exorbitant
figures and numerous musicians citing it as a
major influence and inspiration.
Frontwoman Sue Tomkins’ unique vocal delivery
which is somewhere between talking and singing,
a kind of narrative, combined with the often spiky,
course backing that the rest of the band provide,
tends to prove magnetic after a few listens.
Life Without Buildings managed to be utterly
unique in the sound they made and ultimately
that’s what has made this album’s reputation grow
over time to be deemed absorbing, timeless and
utterly essential listening.

Sometimes a work of art comes unintentionally from a place from deep within the soul. It meanders and flops onto a table and sits and waits for its birth.
The album begins with "Wait Till The Stars Burn", a planetary ode to the Sun. The second track "Tribute to the Pharoahs Den", is a requiem for Danny Ray Thompson (R.I.P.) of the Sun Ra Arkestra, his music and legacy now floating above us in the infinity of space. Both tracks and featuring Marshall Allen and Knoel Scott (of the Sun Ra Arkestra).
The album ends with a requiem for Hal Willner (R.I.P.) whose devotion to celebrating the weird and insane was like an insatiable thirst leading to deep introspection and joy in harmony and sonic dissidence.
These compositions have all come from this place inside my bipolar, seroquil ridden mind. It is as much a tribute to the great composers who have inspired me; Alice Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Philip Kelan Cohran, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, John Carpenter, Quincy Jones, Old Bollywood, Film Noir, to name just a few. In my 23 years of being a composer of music I have had the great opportunity to score several films all of which never got any commercial fame. These films were made from the blood and sweat of film directors and their crews who tirelessly made incredible documents that were ultimately ignored by humanity. But that never stopped them nor will it stop me. These tracks are from the infinite celluloid that runs deep in my mind, body and soul. In my lifetime i never thought i would see the deaths of "Celluloid" or "analog recording". I refuse to accept the coroner reports on said fatalities, so here is my offering to the canon of cinematic overtures and analog self-preservation, for the films in our heads yet to be made.

In 2019, Parisian cinema composer Jean-Gabriel Becker and Japanese composer and multi- instrumentalist Susumu Mukai embarked on the making of an album that was ultimately going to become ‘Time Very Near’.
The album was finally released to great acclaim in April 2020 through the strangest time in history for its singularity and originality. Prompted by a few unsolicited offers for remixes, Becker & Mukai saw an occasion to invite their community of musician and producer friends to re-invent, deconstruct and rebuild the songs on ‘Time Very Near’.
Joe Goddard (Hot Chip), who, from his studio next door, had witnessed the birth of the project from day one, was kind enough to unleash his killer beats on Spice War. Old friend Jas Shaw (Simian Mobile Disco) transformed the tropical sounds of Dark Fields Of The Republic into a dance-floor ready techno workout.
Long-time collaborator and friend Sasa Crnobrnja (In Flagranti, Mytron & Ofofo, Auf Togo) took Time Very Near on a trip to Jamaica. Label mate AMA//MIZU stripped Tout Azimuth down to its core to rebuild it with his unique production skills. Dreems delivered a sweltering 19 minute version of Dark Fields Of The Republic and a shorter version more suited for a vinyl listen. And finally Becker & Mukai chose to don their alternative monikers (Zongamin and Lux Prima) to re-interpret the duo’s own compositions.
Like the original album, this remix project gathers sounds and inspiration from an ever-expanding palette of influences, assembled into something amorphously intangible that’s simultaneously refreshing and sharp, meandering and cosmic, futuristic but timelessly vintage and manages to expand where the original album left off.

Melvin Ukachi needs little introduction, the Lagos (Nigeria) based vocalist and bandleader is a living legend. Melvin is known for his fantastic solo albums, his vocals for the afrobeat star-groups M.F.B. and Ozzobia_but his biggest legacy is without a doubt him being the singer and bandleader of Ofege. Melvin formed Ofege in the early 1970s (when he and the other band members were all still a bunch of teenagers). Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom to follow. At the turn of the century (and because of tracks appearing on various compilations) Ofege would receive international acknowledgment for being the first of their kind and THE ultimate West-African psychedelic funk band! Melvin Ukachi recorded four milestone albums with Ofege: 'Try and Love' (1973) 'The Last of The Origins' (1976), 'Higher Plane Breeze' (1977) and 'How Do You Feel' (1978). When the Ofege story came to an end, Melvin recorded two astonishing solo albums: 'Evolution-Bring Back The Ofege Beat' (1981) and 'I am Ok' (1985). Both of his solo recordings have now become much sought-after holy grails for collectors and fans alike. On the album, we are presenting you today (Evolution-Bring Back The Ofege Beat) the listener is treated to the trademark Ofege sound (as the title of the record obviously suggests). Next to the rootsy and raw Ofege sound, we're shown a perfect glimpse of the late '70s afrobeat works combining soul, jazzy rhythms, William Onyeabor style synths & fluid boogie-danceability Expect some serious 'all-star' guest musicians as well_featured on the album are Chyke Madu (The Funkees) on drums, Berkley Jones (Ofege) on guitar_and many other local legends. To top things off the tracks were recorded and mixed at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London_all slickly engineered by Rafiu Ayoade (The Apostles) and produced by the president of sound himself Odion Iruoje (known for his work with Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti_and many others). 'Evolution-Bring Back The Ofege Beat' was released on EMI Nigeria in 1981 and is a total Afro-psych-funk classic that begs for a special place in your record collection. It's tight, funky and Melvin's soulful vocals are to die for. This record is a monster! Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first-ever reissue (supervised by Melvin Ukachi himself) of this amazing Nigerian Afrobeat album. This RARE classic (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork made at Grafikad (who were responsible for designing landmark sleeves for renowned artists such as Fela Kuti).

Limited editon LP format with extra heavy textured jackets and metallic silver ink. LP includes 12" square insert with lyrics and images of the artist, and download. The raw inspiration for Vague Tidings came from a 2006 DIY tour of the 49th state. It was a trip that went off the beaten path-sometimes a bit too far for comfort. Now, over a decade later, listeners find Joe O'Connell aka Elephant Micah stationed at a creaky spinet piano, singing about the Alaskan sky. Throughout, his lyrics take a new angle on a pet theme: human encounters with the natural world. Vague Tidings places these encounters in the American West and, at times, in its sci-fi corollary, outer space. Its imagery draws from the allure of Alaska, the idea of Western prosperity, and the human relationship to wilderness more broadly. Often, O'Connell sings about the goal of capturing and commodifying nature. In poetic sketches of resource extraction industries and dark sky tourism, frontier lust runs amok. Pipelines catch fire and stars disappear, all to the tune of a stark, uncanny Americana. Vague Tidings is a sustained, hallucinatory rendering of this theme. In style, its eight songs follow a switchback path between foggy incantations and mountain anthems. Made with a small cohort of acoustic instrumentalists, the record is rough hewn, but easy on the ears. To put Vague Tidings down on tape, O'Connell assembled some of his favorite musicians in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area, where he's lived since 2015: Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) bows and plucks a detuned fiddle, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) breathes life into various woodwinds, and Matt O'Connell (Lean Year) sets the pace on a two-piece drum set. Their loose, imaginative playing pushes Vague Tidings beyond the singer-songwriter genre into something richer in texture. Ultimately, this is foreboding but spacious music, with plenty of room for reconsidering life on earth. R.I.Y.L. Jason Molina, Bonnie Prince Billy, Bill Callahan, Damien Jurado.

For Fans Of: The Burning Hell; Belle & Sebastian; Iron & Wine.

Following swiftly on from last year’s Tiny Men Parts EP, Quiet Marauder re-enter the sonic fray with their latest Bubblewrap Collective long-player, The Gift, on 9th April 2021. Taking a strong divergence from the bombastic pop-punk of its predecessor, The Gift sees backing vocalist Kadesha Drija step to the foreground for the majority of the album, standing afront a richly crafted, multi-instrumental acoustic-folk backdrop.

Recorded pre-pandemic, January 2020, in The Burning Hell’s (Canada) pop-up Snowbird Studios, aka an art deco villa in Riofreddo, near Rome (Italy), this release marks another chapter in the ongoing international collaboration between the bands. For this album, Quiet Marauder’s (Wales) contributions of acoustic guitar, bass, trumpet and layered lead and backing vocals are granted further textural depth from their Canadian counterparts. These include minimalist harmonic splashes of flute, piano, organ (Jake Nicoll), electric guitar, bouzouki (Darren Browne) and bass clarinet (Ariel Sharratt).

Returning to the conceptual songwriting approach of previous releases MEN and The Crack And What It Meant, The Gift charts the narrative of a troubled teenage girl (Willow) haunted by visions of a mysterious house fire. Willow’s path is traced through well-meaning foster parents, teenage love interests, time-bending superpowers, distrust of domestic appliances and, ultimately, her own memories; covering themes of self-identity and the fallibility of human recall. Though the album marks a more overtly serious tone for the band, the sensitive subject matter is delicately handled through their trademark low-key, observational and, sometimes, darkly humorous lyrics.

Ed Cosens is stepping out of the shadows to take centre stage. The bewitching ‘If', his debut single, marks both the start of an overdue solo career and the latest chapter in the life of a longtime lynchpin of the Sheffield music scene. Best known as the guitarist/bassist and co-songwriter in Reverend & The Makers, Ed has spent 15 years conquering the charts and touring the world, yet leaving the limelight to others. With ‘If', the first song written for his forthcoming solo album, Fortunes Favour (due early 2021), he’s finally ready to reveal his true self. “It’s only taken 10 years or so for me to find the confidence!” says the self-depreciating singer, who shared stages with Arctic Monkeys members Matt Helders and Alex Turner before the Makers took off. “I subscribe to the fine wine way of thinking - allow things to mature fully before enjoying. Nobody wants to be Lambrusco!” ‘If' distils a lifetime of longing and loss, of dreams Vs. desires, into three mesmerising minutes of tremolo-rich, strings-soaked melody. Plangent chord progressions and mournful tones pair with poetic reflections on life’s twists and turns. Shades of The Beatles, Echo & The Bunnymen and Richard Hawley snake in and out. Emotions take over as Ed opens up fully for the first time. Drawing on Ed’s personal experience, he says of ‘If' "Its a love-lorn tale of the struggle between true love’s path and the path which you think you're destined to follow. It’s about the conflict between what you think you want, where you unwittingly lead yourself and ultimately where you should really be." “After several attempts, it became the song that sent me in the right direction. With a lot of albums, it takes one song to kick things off and this was that moment for me. It set out the stall for who I wanted to be as an artist with its strong sense of emotion and the journey that runs through it.” ‘If' was produced by Dave Sanderson, recorded at Giant Wafer studios in Wales at the tail end of 2018 and finally the man from Sheffield’s musical shadows can relish the start his solo career. “People ask why I waited so long, but there was no masterplan,” says Ed. “The time had to feel right. I found my voice along with an inner confidence and suddenly the itch was too much not to scratch. Once I'd started, I scratched like there was no tomorrow.”

The Young Gods’s classic debut album to be reissued on vinyl including a previously unreleased John Peel Session.

On 9th April 2021, Two Gentlemen will release a first vinyl reissue of The Young Gods’s 1987 studio album ‘The Young Gods’. Released in April 1987 on Organik and Wax Trax! Records, this sample-based record produced by Roli Mosimann is much more than


an album, it is a phenomenon - a musical revolution which appears as a milestone in the alternative music scene. Hailed by international critics, The Young Gods received a unique attention from the British music press:

‘A firestorm, a total, catastrophic sweep across the scattered fragments of rock history and rock dilapidation, “The Young Gods” used sampling not out of some nostalgic sense of mischief but to whip up everything into a hurricane of charcoal. The ultimate in technology to release the most determindely savage sound of the year. We repeat this is the future.’ — Melody Maker, Best Album of 1987

The Young Gods 1987 reissue album was remastered from the original recordings and is being released on 140 gram heavyweight vinyl.

Luca Yupanqui was not yet born when she recorded her debut album. The music on the aptly titled Sounds of the Unborn is the expression of life in its cosmic state _ pre-mind, pre-speculation, pre-influence, and pre-human. It is the first album created by a person while they were still inside the womb, the expression of a soul that hasn't yet seen the light of day nor taken a single breath of air. It is a message that comes from a different realm, a sublayer of our existence. Sounds of the Unborn was made with biosonic MIDI technology, which translated Luca's in utero movements into sound. With the help of her parents, Psychic Ills bassist Elizabeth Hart and Lee Scratch Perry collaborator Iván Diaz Mathé, Luca's prenatal essence was captured in audio. They designed a ritual, a kind of joint meditation for the three of them, with the MIDI devices hooked to Elizabeth's stomach, transcribing its vibrations into Iván's synthesizers. They let the free-form meditations flow without much interference, just falling deeper into trance and feeling the unity. After five hour-long sessions, the shape of an album began to emerge. Elizabeth and Iván then edited and mixed the results of the sessions, respecting the sounds as they were produced, trying to intervene as little as possible, allowing Luca's message to exist in its raw form. This cosmic soul summoning created new sounds, striking into uncharted territory for Elizabeth and Iván as musicians. A new language was being created, a new form of communication. It was a music without intellect or intentionality behind it, with no preconception or attempt to create any specific sound or melody. Every note on Sounds of the Unborn occurred naturally. It is human nature to wonder what life is like inside another human being's consciousness. How does it feel? What does it sound like? All these questions became stronger and more important to Elizabeth and Iván while they were waiting for Luca to come into the world. At a certain point the questions turned into, What would she say if she could speak? How would she react to the outer world? And ultimately, What kind of music would she play if she was able to? This album is an attempt to answer those questions. RIYL: Brian Eno, Mort Garson, Kaitlyn Aurelia-Smith

The sensation was perfect – Helloween, who have sold more than 10 million records worldwide, being one of the most respected German metal bands since 1984, announced their PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR in 2016. The media was raving about the TOUR OF THE YEAR, playing 69 shows in 32 countries all over the world. More than one million fans on three continents were ecstatic because it was not only a reunion of the original band, it was the summit of seven ultimate HELLOWEEN heroes: Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner & Dani Löble. Or to put it simple: it was a dream come true for fans around the world, the band received five times more spectators and all of them had only one wish: »Please stay together!«

Following the excitement, one of the biggest magazines in this genre ‘BURRN!’ (Japan) honored the band with four unbelievable cover stories, this was followed by the thunderstorm of the century within the social media universe, a celebrated PUMPKINS UNITED single and the quenchless hunger for more – much more! And yes, the musicians tasted blood and it was clear: there is no way back – the future of HELLOWEEN will be written in unity. It marked the beginning of a new era and the re-birth of a metal legend with exceptional artists.
Their first new album will be released in summer 2021. Flatten the runway with a loud drumbeat: in April 2021 the spectacular single SKYFALL will be released. The 12 minute epic, written by Kai Hansen has the long yearned ‘Keeper-Vibe’ but it isn’t telling the story of the whole album. SKYFALL has a musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era: from unforgettable times to glorious adventures all the way to the upcoming first album of the HELLOWEEN new age. The epic track tells about an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Hansen, Kiske and Deris duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a broadband adventure - with a lyric sheet with colored blocks identifying the singers as well as a video that is formidable. Produced by Martin Häusler, it will be the most elaborate clip in the history of the band, the story to be shown with 3-D animation and looking cinematic – in these times almost a dinosaur in implementation.
The base of the upcoming milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original Ingo Schwichtenberg drum kit, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then ‘Master of The Rings’, ‘Time of the Oath’ and ‘Better than Raw’ was recorded. Back to the roots and completely analog is the UNITED impact - another great work by well-known producer Charlie Bauerfeind and Co-producer Dennis Ward before the album traveled to New York and got the final mastering polish in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Depeche Mode, Rammstein).
With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing that the essence of the band was never more solid.

The artwork of Eliran Kantor (Berlin) is clear: SKYFALL is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN.

Luca Yupanqui was not yet born when she recorded her debut album. The music on the aptly titled Sounds of the Unborn is the expression of life in its cosmic state _ pre-mind, pre-speculation, pre-influence, and pre-human. It is the first album created by a person while they were still inside the womb, the expression of a soul that hasn't yet seen the light of day nor taken a single breath of air. It is a message that comes from a different realm, a sublayer of our existence. Sounds of the Unborn was made with biosonic MIDI technology, which translated Luca's in utero movements into sound. With the help of her parents, Psychic Ills bassist Elizabeth Hart and Lee Scratch Perry collaborator Iván Diaz Mathé, Luca's prenatal essence was captured in audio. They designed a ritual, a kind of joint meditation for the three of them, with the MIDI devices hooked to Elizabeth's stomach, transcribing its vibrations into Iván's synthesizers. They let the free-form meditations flow without much interference, just falling deeper into trance and feeling the unity. After five hour-long sessions, the shape of an album began to emerge. Elizabeth and Iván then edited and mixed the results of the sessions, respecting the sounds as they were produced, trying to intervene as little as possible, allowing Luca's message to exist in its raw form. This cosmic soul summoning created new sounds, striking into uncharted territory for Elizabeth and Iván as musicians. A new language was being created, a new form of communication. It was a music without intellect or intentionality behind it, with no preconception or attempt to create any specific sound or melody. Every note on Sounds of the Unborn occurred naturally. It is human nature to wonder what life is like inside another human being's consciousness. How does it feel? What does it sound like? All these questions became stronger and more important to Elizabeth and Iván while they were waiting for Luca to come into the world. At a certain point the questions turned into, What would she say if she could speak? How would she react to the outer world? And ultimately, What kind of music would she play if she was able to? This album is an attempt to answer those questions. RIYL: Brian Eno, Mort Garson, Kaitlyn Aurelia-Smith

Acid Jazz present ‘Circles: The Ultimate Fleur De Lys’, the
definitive compilation centred around one of the greatest 60s
bands.
Atlantic Records, Andrew Loog Oldham, Shel Talmy, Cream,
Isaac Hayes and Tony Blackburn - all these and so many more
turn up in the story of Southampton band the Fleur De Lys. You
may not have heard of them and if you have it may be just
because of their glorious cover of the Who’s ‘Circles’, an
ultimate freakbeat anthem that this compilation is named after,
but the singles they released in the second half of the 1960s
are one of the greatest collections of singles by any band,
ranging from R&B through freakbeat and psych and back into
club soul.
Emerging from the English South Coast’s competitive club
scene they signed to Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog
Oldham’s pioneering indie label Immediate where they
recorded two singles before being taken under the wing of
Frank Fenter, who worked out of the UK Polydor office running
the UK arm of Atlantic. The group went through numerous line
up changes as they recorded a series of singles which are now
some of the most collectible of the era.
Acid Jazz and Countdown Records have been the custodians of
the Fleur De Lys catalogue for the last decade and this
compilation is the culmination of that work, containing all the
singles that they released for Immediate, Polydor and Atlantic
(where they pipped Led Zeppelin to become the first UK signed
band to that legendary label).
Issued on CD and gatefold coloured double vinyl, the album
has been produced with the full co-operation of the group’s
Keith Guster, allowing us access to previously unseen photos
and illustrations. Compiled by Eddie Piller and Dean Rudland
and the band’s official biographer Paul ‘Smiler’ Anderson, who
has contributed an extended note that tells the band’s story in
compelling detail.

“The Obvious I would sound unutterably pretty even as an instrumental album. But once you factor in a voice whose purity has elicited comparisons to Robert Wyatt, Mark Hollis and Dean Wareham, the effect is something akin to hearing a ghost transmitting from a machine of its own making” - Pete Paphides ‘The Obvious I’ is the second album from Ed Dowie and is the second new master release from Needle Mythology. In 2017, Ed released his feted debut album ‘The Uncle Sold’, leading The Quietus to hail him as a “bold and starry-eyed visionary”, The Skinny to praise his “beautiful… stolen snapshots of glimpsed futures and lost pasts.” and BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction made the record one of their albums of the year. Now, four years on, Ed is to return with an album that will surely find him new followers alongside longtime fans such as Lauren Laverne, who described its predecessor as an “absolutely extraordinary” achievement. Adhering to Kraftwerk’s maxim about achieving the maximum emotional impact by the most minimal means 'The Obvious I' marks a pronounced evolution from Dowie’s earlier music. Co-produced by pioneering British experimental musician and sometime member of Polar Bear “Leafcutter John” Burton what ultimately emerged from these efforts – and what reveals itself with successive plays – is a beguiling process of alchemy. Each song from The Obvious I is the culmination of a beautiful process of distillation. A crystal extracted from chaos. Tumult distilled into lullaby. “My biggest battle,” says Ed Dowie, “was to ask myself how I can make something that reflects the turbulence of this period without adding to it.” By that metric, and several more, The Obvious I is no small triumph.

The latest from Mr. K and Most Excellent Unlimited pairs lowdown and stomping disco from an unlikely source with a funked-out floorfiller from some very familiar voices.

Minnie Riperton’s 1977 single “Stick Together” was an outlier in her catalog of smooth modern soul, an intentional nod in the direction of the prevailing disco sound. Co-written with Stevie Wonder, “Stick Together” in its original single release was divided into two parts, the first a fairly conventional uptempo cut with all the catchy qualities you’d expect from Stevie and the husband and wife team of Richard Rudolph and Minnie. It was the second half of the song that caught the ears of DJs who played for funkier dancefloors, however. Freddie Perren, a former member of Motown’s legendary Corporation collective of songwriters and producers, and a man then red-hot off his success with Tavares’ “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel” and the Sylvers’ “Boogie Fever,” was on production duties, and the song clearly benefits from his disco-friendly touch. In Mr. K’s epic edit we are treated to a lengthy exploration of the second part of “Stick Together,” featuring keyboardist Sonny Burke (veteran of Marvin Gaye’s band and fresh from playing on Candi Staton’s disco smash “Young Hearts Run Free”) working out an irresistible Jingo-esque piano part, Riperton’s sensual ad-libs, and, as if that wasn’t enough, a cameo appearance by Pam Grier on finger snaps! Krivit’s 8-minute-plus edit passes way too quickly to get enough of the hypnotic groove — rewinds are called for!

Our flip side, “Body Language,” originated as an album cut on the Jackson Five’s last album of original material for Motown, Moving Violation, recorded before Jermaine left to go solo and the remaining brothers joined Epic Records in a new incarnation as the Jacksons. For such an obvious heater it’s puzzling why the label never released it as a single; but regardless of that apparent misstep, “Body Language” has long been a sure shot in many DJs’ bags. With his new edit, Mr. K presents the track in its ultimate form, loud, remastered, stretched out and rippling with energy over a full six minutes. With an iconic bass line that just doesn’t quit, and Michael and the boys in fine form, it’s impossible to imagine a situation where this wouldn’t set the room on fire.

Dream Violence, Michael Beach’s fourth full-length, is an epic album that explores the duality of the human condition. Or, as Beach himself puts it, the album is about “human futility, passion, desire, anger, frustration, and the struggle to maintain hope in a somewhat hopeless time.” Dream Violence, then, addresses the existential crisis of being an artist in 2020.

Known for his work touring with the Australian guitar pop band Thigh Master and the late, brilliantly eccentric Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira, currently the focus of a number of reissues by the Numero Group, Beach is the architect of a sound that is both well-built and ramshackle, straightforward and indeterminably complex, out of the norm yet familiar in all the best ways.

Dream Violence unfolds like a revelation, filled with sonic tumbleweeds that reference Neil Young’s On the Beach, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, the Velvet Underground’s Loaded, and the Go Betweens’ Before Hollywood. Influences ranging from the enigmatic outlier Megira to Glenn Branca to the Oblivians are combined to create a new, exhilarating sound, part of the path that Beach has been on since 2008’s Blood Courses. A veteran of year-end indie rock round ups beginning with Golden Theft in 2013 and continuing with Gravity/Repulsion, released in 2017, Beach distills the best of those early albums and adds sharpened intent.

Dream Violence works beautifully as a start-to-finish album. There are magnificent stand-alone moments: “Spring,” a raggedly building ballad that perfectly captures the ennui attached to new beginnings; “De Facto Blues,” a born-to-lose anthem that, says Beach, “is the sound of people totally at their wits end;” “Curtain of Night,” a simultaneously derelict and bright tribute to the late Megira, which sounds like it could’ve been cut at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio after the Rolling Stones wrapped up sessions for Sticky Fingers; and the delicately vulnerable “You Found Me Out,” which evokes equal parts Lou Reed and Joni Mitchell. On the latter, the lyrics “You found me out, on a ship at sea, you pulled me in, made a wreck of me,” encapsulate “the aimless of a modern world view in a future without hope and the draw/dependence of love in those times,” Beach explains.

Through music, Beach strives to convey both passion and compassion, energy and action. “My hope is that something gets communicated that makes people think outside of themselves or their surroundings,” he says. “To ask questions, and consider the effects of their decisions. To communicate some essential part of the human spirit that understands intuitively how to feel connected to each other rather than divide, exploit, separate, ignore, and all the other heinous shit we have the ability to do with each other.”

Recorded on two continents, Dream Violence documents Beach’s move from Oakland, California to Melbourne, Australia as he navigated a new music scene, plenty of bureaucratic red tape, and, ultimately, citizenship. Parts of the album were recorded and mixed at Tiny Telephone Recording in Oakland, at the end of a 2019 tour with Kelley Stoltz producing. Other tracks were recorded at Beach’s new home in Melbourne, where he could be “relaxed and sloppy in all the right ways,” and partially remixed at Phaedra Studios.

At the Memphis-based Goner label, Beach joins an increasingly unique roster of international musicians that reaches far beyond garage or indie rock to encompass artists like gospel singer Rev. John Wilkins, Kentucky rockers Archaeas, New Orleans iconoclasts Quintron and Miss Pussycat, and no-wavers Optic Sink.

“I made this record for young women to feel invincible.” - Izzy B. Phillips, Black Honey Having last week been pre-empted by the landing of their colossal new single ‘Run For Cover’, today Black Honey have announced their brand-new album – ‘Written & Directed’. ‘Written & Directed’ will be released on the 29 th of January 2021 on Foxfive Records. ‘Written & Directed’ is Black Honey’s second album. It follows their outstanding self-titled debut released back in 2018 when the world that surrounded the Brighton four piece looked and felt like a very different place. Black Honey however are still the bad-ass, truly original band they have always been, they’ve just graduated from the intriguingly anomalous newcomers to becoming one of UK indie’s most singular outfits. They've travelled the world and released a Top 40 album; graced the cover of the NME and become the faces and soundtrack of Roberto Cavalli's Milan Fashion Week show; smashed Glastonbury and supported Queens of the Stone Age, all without compromising a shred of the wild, wicked vision they first set out with. It's now time for the next instalment of their story – ‘Written & Directed” – which see’s Black Honey deliver one, very singular, message – a 10 track mission statement that aims to unashamedly plant a flag in the ground for strong, world-conquering women. For fierce frontwoman and album protagonist Izzy B. Phillips – it’s the most important message she could send to inspire her cult-like fanbase and fill the female-shaped gap that she felt so acutely when she was growing up and discovering rock music for the first time. Written throughout 2019 and recorded in fits and spurts between touring, ‘Written & Directed’ is drenched with a hedonistic, anything-goes attitude. It’s also the most full-throttle collection of music that Black Honey have ever-written – egged-on by their run of shows supporting long-term friends and collaborators Royal Blood. Exploring everything from womanhood, to identity and power, it’s an album that revels in the rich history of pop culture, throws a wink to its rock- and-roll heroes, but ultimately (and in true Black Honey fashion) it stands on its own two feet. With a typically hyper-visual world referencing grindhouse cinema, kitschy pulp films and a flip-reverse of female cinematic representation all primed to unfurl and explode around them, 'Written & Directed' is the sound of Black Honey strapping in and saddling up, of harnessing their quirks, and, as the Phillips has always hoped, riding them joyously into the sunset.

Devin Townsend brings to you the Devolution Series: a grouping of oddities and interesting material that he would like people to hear, but that aren’t necessarily a ‘major release’. The series will include all the quarantine songs and concerts, as well as various live shows from the past few years. The first release, “Devolution Series #1 - Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds”, is a remixed and remastered version of the ‘Live in Leeds’ show that was originally included on the Empath Ultimate Edition as video asset. A cool acoustic show that deserves to be heard, now availble as audio version.

PHILLIP BALLOU Pittsburgh-born Phillip Ballou’s earliest years were spent in the gospel field; after he moved to New York City in the ‘70s, he teamed up with Bennie Diggs and Arthur Freeman, founding members of The New York Community Choir and singer Arnold McCuller to form the group Revelation. The quartet recorded for RSO Records, scoring some R&B success in the US with tracks like “Get Ready For This” and “You To Me Are Everything,” touring the Bee Gees among others. Phillip also sang on albums by NYCC recorded for RCA Records and continued with Revelation until 1982. Frequently hired for sessions in and around New York, Phillip teamed up with UK soul music journalist David Nathan (who he’d met in 1974 during Nathan’s first US visit) and John Simmons, formerly a member of The Reflections, another New York vocal group to write a series of songs for his own proposed solo record deal. Although a contract did not materialize, one of the songs – “Ain’t Nothing Like The Love” – got some interest from famed Philadelphia producer Thom Bell who presented it to The O’Jays. Ultimately, the tune was turned down by Kenny Gamble and John Simmons, by then musical director for Stephanie Mills, recorded his own version for a small independent label in 1981. Phillip continued his own musical journey, touring and recording with James Taylor and Todd Rundgren. In addition, Phillip’s name graced recordings by George Benson, Billy Ocean, Kashif, Nona Hendryx, Jonathan Butler, Teddy Pendergrass and Melba Moore; in 1981, he began recording with Luther Vandross and became a part of Luther’s touring band for many years, as well as singing on productions by Luther on Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and others, continuing his association with him until Luther’s 2003 stroke. Phillip returned to his gospel roots in 2004 as Minister of Music at a Brooklyn church and passed away in March 2005, aged 55 .We are proud to bring you Phillips second single on Super Disco Edits, and perhaps his best! "We'll be together" is an uplifting song with an almost gospel tinged melody. But the songs lyrics portray a love thats just about to blossom.