"AntiDEEPressant records, where Fusion Deep Space House meets NuDisco, Deep Techno and creates the eclectique spiritual grooves for your mind, body & soul. There are a 4 tracks EP that emphasise on the musical side, the instrumental parts, the atmosphere ... a gem! Most of you would say this is ""Deep"", but we say it's freakin' great deep influenced house. "
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Though he only released a handful of records in the early to mid-nineties Chicago house legend Vincent Floyd aka Floyd Walker has gained a cult following amongst the Chitown trainspotters and hardcore house fraternity. His majestic productions have attained mythical status with serene synths and crystalline keys on new 'Time Machine EP' and the harder-edged deep anxiety of Kazarian remix, while Lola Allen deliver a magical ambience experience on her Outro mix. Studio don Vincent Inc always bring unforgettable impressions & inspiration for mind, body & soul. 4 tracks came together to tell music stories about hypnotic deepest stuff, depression, happiness, loneliness, love, miracles and magical experiences. And now we're asking other's to join the sound conversation
The long-overdue revival of Bim Sherman’s catalog begins here. These essential recordings will become widely available again for the first time in decades, opening a new chapter in the appreciation of one of Jamaica’s most distinctive voices and representing a major moment for reggae and dub aficionados around the world. This reissue series will not only preserve his legacy but will also offer listeners the chance to experience the depth and timeless resonance of Sherman’s work in its full glory.
Bim Sherman—born Jarret Lloyd Vincent, in Westmoreland, Jamaica—holds a unique place in reggae history. Emerging in the mid 70s, his ethereal, haunting vocal style quickly set him apart from his contemporaries. He was soon collaborating with the top producers and musicians of the era, including Adrian Sherwood and the On-U Sound collective, bridging the gap between roots reggae and experimental dub and laying the groundwork for the fusion of Jamaican sounds with the vibrant underground scene in the UK. His career, from Kingston to London to Mumbai, was marked by an artistic daring and spiritual intensity that has earned him enduring respect across generations.
The centerpiece of this reissue campaign is Ghetto Dub from 1988, a record that distills Sherman’s artistry into its most potent form. Originally released in a limited number, the album embodies the stark yet soulful beauty of dub production. With its reverb-drenched drums, cavernous basslines, and echo-laden atmospherics, Ghetto Dub transforms Sherman’s various tracks into spectral presences that drift in and out of the mix. The arrangement and production—minimal yet profoundly textured—captures both the raw urgency of Jamaican street culture and the forward-looking experimentation of the UK dub scene. Each track unfolds like a meditation, balancing grit with grace, density with space. Ghetto Dub is more than an album; it is an immersive soundscape that reaffirms Bim Sherman as one of reggae’s most otherworldly and visionary figures.
- A1: Les Masques - Il Faut Tenir (1969)
- A2: Isabelle Aubret - Casa Forte (1971)
- A3: Christianne Legrand - Hlm Et Ciné Roman (1972)
- A4: Jean Constantin - Pas Tant D'chichi Ponpon (1972)
- A5: Billy Nencioli & Baden Powell - Si Rien Ne Va (1969)
- B1-: Marpessa Dawn - Le Petit Cuica (1963)
- B2: Jean-Pierre Sabar - Vai Vai (1974)
- B3: Sophia Loren - De Jour En Jour (1963)
- B4: Isabelle - Jusqu’à La Tombée Du Jour (1969)
- B5: Sylvia Fels - Corto Maltesse (1974)
- C1: Frank Gérard - Comme Une Samba (1972)
- C2: Ann Sorel - La Poupée Des Favellas (1971)
- C3: Charles Level - Un Enfant Café Au Lait (1971)
- C4: Andrea Parisy - Les Mains Qui Font Du Bien (1970)
- C5: Audrey Arno - Quand Jean-Paul Rentrera (1969)
- C6: Aldo Frank - T’as Vu Ce Printemps (1970)
- D1: Christianne Legrand - Cent Mille Poissons Dans Ton Filet (1972)
- D2: Clarinha - Lemenja (1970)
- D3: Hit Parade Des Enfants - Aquarela (1976)
- D4: Jean-Pierre Lang - Tendresse (1965)
- D5: Magalie Noël - Une Énorme Samba (1970)
- D6: Françoise Legrand - La Lune
Ever since the late 1950s bossa-nova revolution, Brazil’s influence on French music has been undeniable. Pierre Barouh, Georges Moustaki and a vast array of lesser known artists, all made the Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) an axis of promotion at the service of a cool and metaphysical, modern and mixed Brazilian lifestyle. Some were seduced by the poetic languors of the bossa, some were looking for fun, and others just loved the American hybridization of jazz-bossa, jazz-samba.
What is bossa nova? One of its creators, Joao Gilberto said: "Its style, cadence, everything is samba. At the very start, we didn't call it bossa nova, we sang a little samba made up of a single note - Samba de uma nota so .... The discussion around the origins of bossa nova is therefore useless”. It is nevertheless useful to remember that these magnificent Brazilian songs, which the guitarist describes as samba, were shifted and balanced around improbable chords. "I like things that lean, the in-betweens that limp with grace," said Pierre Barrouh, quoting Jean Cocteau.
With emotion, arrangements for violin and supple guitar licks, bossa nova rapidly changed. A transformation that can be heard in the Tchic, tchic, French Bossa Nova 1963-1974 compilation, the result of a cultural reappropriation, which traveled through the United States and supplemented itself in France.
A musical revolution that has remained significant, bossa nova was born in Rio. From 1956 to 1961, Brazil lived through its golden years. In five years, the country had invented its modernist style. Elected president in 1956, Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, an elegant man with a broad forehead, brandished a promising slogan: "Fifty years of progress in five years". He quickly got to work. Not worried about increasing debt, he launched the project for a new federal capital, Brasilia, designed by the communist architect Oscar Niemeyer. Volkswagen opened state-of-the-art factories and created the “fusquinha”, the Beetle. In Rio, the Vespa made its first appearance. The Arpoador Surf Club crew run into the “girl” from Ipanema, Helô Pinheiro - the tanned garota ("chick"), between a flower and mermaid, who at 17 walked by the Veloso bar, where the fiery author and composer, Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, were getting drunk on whiskey. From then on, bossa symbolized cool.
In 1958, Joao Gilberto recorded Chega de Saudade, which the directors of Philips denied, calling it "music for fagots". The marketing director, who believed in it, secretly pressed 3000 78-inch vinyls and distributed them at schools around Rio, creating a tidal wave.
American jazzmen then took over. In particular, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and guitarist Charlie Byrd. In November 1962, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a "Bossa-Nova" concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, inviting the genre’s pioneers. Unprepared, the show soon turned to disaster. But the troupe was invited to the White House by Jackie Kennedy. The first lady loved "the new beat" and in particular Maria Ninguem, a song by Carlos Lyra, later covered by Brigitte Bardot.
In Brazil, the 1964 military coup quickly ended this euphoria. The destructive atmosphere that ensued pushed many Brazilian musicians to leave, if not to exile. Thus, Tom Jobim, Sergio Mendes and Joao Gilberto arrived to the United States. In New York, Joao Gilberto met saxophonist Stan Getz. At the time, he was married to the Bahianese Astrud Weinert Gilberto, who had a German father. She had never sung before, but she knew how to speak English. Getz therefore asked her to replace her husband on The Girl From Ipanema. The Getz/Gilberto record with Tom Jobim on piano, was released in March 1964. Phil Ramone, the "pope of pop" was in charge of sound.
Bossa nova arrived in Paris through the classic “guitar-voice” channel (Pierre Barouh, Baden Powell, Moustaki…) But France loved jazz and Paris had already welcomed its American contributors. All these good people were to pass through Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The cabaret l'Escale became the Mecca of Latin American sound where one could find Pierre Barrouh and his friends, such as the Camara Trio, samba-jazz aces, whose only record was published by the Saravah label. With a band strangely called Les Masques (a band that included Nicole Croisille and Pierre Vassiliu, among others), the Camara Trio recorded an interesting Brazilian Sound, including the track Il faut tenir which is present on this tasty compilation of rarities.
Other enlightened musicians can also be found on the compilation, such as Jean-Pierre Sabar (songwriter for Hardy, Auffray, Leforestier ...) and the French pop rock organist Balthazar. In 1975, Sabar recorded Aurinkoinen Musiikkimatka on a Finnish label, which featured the crazy Vai, Vai, included on this record. We are now following the footsteps of Brazilian electronic musicians such as Sergio Mendes, Eumir Deodato or Marcos Valle who created funk and disco sounds on their keyboards and synthesizers. A style that influenced Véronique Sanson when she wrote Jusqu’à la Tombée de la nuit in 1969 for Isabelle de Funès, the niece of Louis and a great friend of Michel Berger - Sanson did end up singing this track on her 1992 Sans Regret record.
The pinnacle of exoticism and travel, Sylvia Fels’ Corto Maltese includes bongos, sea mist and ocean sounds. The title was taken from Jacky Chalard’s concept album written in 1974, Je suis vivant, mais j’ai peur (I am alive, but I am scared), based on Gilbert Deflez’s science fiction novel.
However, bossa nova extended the scope of popularity. "In the 1970s, I was a fan of Sergio Mendes, Getz / Gilberto. I fell in love with this music that I knew because I had been an orchestral singer, " explained Isabelle Aubret, who in 1971 delivered a composite record of covers by the very funky Jorge Ben, Orfeu Negro, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Morais and Jean Ferrat. "I recorded this album for Meys Records in Paris, far from Brazil, with wonderful musicians, François Raubert, Roland Vincent, Alain Goraguer...". The latter wrote the arrangements for Casa Forte, a very percussive title borrowed from Edu Lobo, one of the initiators of the bossa who spent time in California. "Jazz and bossa came together and produced very rhythmic music. I love singing, it allows me to dream, to have fun, to feel a high on stage, and these songs brought me joy, made me swing, my singing felt like a dance.”
The world tours of French singers and their desire for the tropics, often brought them to Rio with its hills, forests, caipirinhas and tanned bodies. There are surprises though, like this Iemenja (Iemenja is the goddess of the sea in the Afro-Brazilian candomblé religion). Not unlike the composer and musician Jean-Pierre Lang, based in Sao Paulo, Claire Chevalier taught Brazil to Brazil. In 1970, the singer and painter published a 45-inch vinyl, Mon mari et mes amants (My husband and my lovers), under the improbable pseudonym of Clarinha (little Claire). She was then living in Rio, with her husband, Joël Leibovitz, who founded a band called Azimuth, and who owned a record label specialized in "sambas enredos" songs for samba school parades.
For its B side, she asked Pierre Perret to come up with lyrics for a song composed by Carlos Imperial: "Oh goddess of the sea, o goddess Iemenja, I bring a white rose to adorn your long hair ..." . "Perret came to see us, and we had fun, remembers Joël Leibovitz. We wrote Lemenja for fun, we recorded it at the Havaí studio, behind the Central do Brasil the central station. Erlon Chaves, the arranger who worked with Elis Regina, joined us" adding his share of Afro-Brazilian percussions and funky brass to the mix.
There is a common misunderstanding in Franco-Brazilian history: that bossa, admittedly hedonistic, is perceived as funny, even though the poets who wrote the texts are often philosophizing on the human condition. Its French interpreters pull it towards a carnival inspired universe, far removed from its fundamental essence. Thus, Jean Constantin covered the famous Samba da minha terra, an ode to the art of samba written by the classic Bahian composer Dorival Caymmi, renaming it with the enticing title of Pas tant de tchi tchi pompon: "On your pier there is no tchi tchi / when you arch your back, you know everything is alright ”(lyrics by Gérard Calvi). This expedited bossa aims for the absurd, but retains a certain elegance.
Indeed, Jean Constantin was not an idiot, the rather large man had a huge mustache and liked fantasy, (Les pantoufles à papa, Le pacha, inspired by cha-cha-cha-cha, salsa and jazz) but he was also the lyricist of Mon manège à moi interpreted by Edith Piaf, the composer of Mon Truc en plume by Zizi Jeanmaire and the soundtrack of François Truffaut’s 400 Blows. Le Poulpe, published in 1970, from which this bossa is extract, was arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, an accomplice of Serge Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson. In short: "There is enough of samba / By looking at the parasol / Because my poor cabeza / Is going to die in the sun".
Even the American actress Marpessa Down, who was at the heart of the bossa nova revolution with her role as Euridyce in Marcel Camus’ film Orfeu Negro, winner of the 1959 Cannes Palme d'or, fed the clichée with Je voudrais parler au petit cuica - "Tell me how you manage to always make people want to dance / It's true, I must admit that I cannot resist your magic" - in consequence, once can hear the cuica, a little drum inherited from the Bantu.
But bossa nova had many angles. Societal, of course, pushing actresses who were symbols of women's liberation like Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, or Sophia Loren to engage in the exercise of accelerated bossa. In February of 1963, Sophia Loren made a record in French in Rome, Je ne t'aime plus, featuring the song De jour en jour, a bossa written by two Italians, Armando Trovajoli and Tino Fornai, which was released a little later by Barclay. Bossa accompanied the 1960s, a decade of moral liberation. Ann Sorel, who interpreted La Poupée des favellas, caused a sensation with L’amour à plusieurs, a provocative song written by Frédéric Bottom and Jean-Claude Vannier. As for the actress Andrea Parisy, she displayed her bourgeois cheekiness in Marcel Carné's Les Tricheurs before interpreting Les mains qui font du bien. And Magalie Noël, the friend of Boris Vian, who sung Johnny fais-moi mal, was hired to sing Une énorme Samba, composed by Alain Goraguer (arranger to Gainsbourg, Bobby Lapointe and Jean Ferrat) with lyrics by Frédéric Botton.
But in the end, of what wood is bossa nova made of? The answer is given by Christianne Legrand, daughter of Raymond the conductor, and sister to Michel the composer: "With me, with jà" - jà means "immediately" in Portuguese. In 1972, the singer, an expert in vocal jazz and a member of the Double Six, published Le Brésil de Christianne Legrand. Two songs included on the Tchic Tchic compilation that demonstrate how bossa, jazz, funk, rock, etc. work like a swiss army knife: the music is used to denounce broken systems, or miracles, HLM et ciné roman, Cent mille poissons dans ton filet, two songs from the O Cafona soundtrack, a successful telenovela broadcast, at the time in black and white, on TV Globo. The first was adapted in French by the fighter and friend of the Legrand tribe, Agnès Varda. The second is content with a play on words, jostling them into a summer fun.
Véronique Mortaigne
- A1: Hurts And Noises
- A2: Wake Up
- A3: I Don't Wanna Be A Rich
- A4: Terrorist Bad Heart
- A5: Provocate
- A6: Lucifer Sam (Pink Floyd)
- B1: Happy!?
- B2: So Lazy
- B3: I Feel Down
- B4: Stupido
- B5: Guilty
- B6: Caroline Says (Loo Reed)
UILTY RAZORS, BONA FIDE PUNKS.
Writings on the topic that go off in all directions, mind-numbing lectures given by academics, and testimonies, most of them heavily doctored, from those who “lived through that era”: so many people today fantasize about the early days of punk in our country… This blessed moment when no one had yet thought of flaunting a ridiculous green mohawk, taking Sid Vicious as a hero, or – even worse – making the so-called alternative scene both festive and boorish. There was no such thing in 1976 or 1977, when it wasn’t easy to get hold of the first 45s by the Pistols or the Clash. Few people were aware of what was happening on the fringes of the fringes at the time. Malcolm McLaren was virtually unknown, and having short hair made you seem strange. Who knew then that rock music, which had taken a very bad turn since the early 1970s, would once again become an essential element of liberation? That, thanks to short and fast songs, it would once again rediscover that primitive, social side that was so hated by older generations? Who knew that, besides a few loners who read the music press (it was even better if they read it in English) and frequented the right record stores? Many of these formed bands, because it was impossible to do otherwise. We quickly went from listening to the Velvet Underground to trying to play the Stooges’ intros. It’s a somewhat collective story, even though there weren’t many people to start it.
The Guilty Razors were among those who took part in this initial upheaval in Paris. They were far from being the worst. They had something special and even released a single that was well above the national average. They also had enough songs to fill an album, the one you’re holding. In everyone’s opinion, they were definitely not among the punk impostors that followed in their wake. They were, at least, genuine and credible.
Guilty Razors, Parisian punk band (1975-1978). To understand something about their somewhat linear but very energetic sound, we might need to talk about the context in which it was born and, more broadly, recall the boredom (a theme that would become capital in punk songs) coupled with the desire to blow everything off, which were the basis for the formation of bands playing a rejuvenated rock music ; about the passion for a few records by the Kinks or the early Who, by the Stooges, by the Velvet mostly, which set you apart from the crowd.
And of course, we should remember this new wave, which was promoted by a few articles in the specialized press and some cutting-edge record stores, coming from New York or London, whose small but powerful influence could be felt in Paris and in a handful of isolated places in the provinces, lulled to sleep by so many appalling things, from Tangerine Dream to President Giscard d’Estaing...
In 1975-76, French music was, as almost always, in a sorry state ; it was still dominated by Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan. Local rock music was also rather bleak, apart from Bijou and Little Bob who tried to revive this small scene with poorly sound-engineered gigs played to almost no one.
In the working class suburbs at the time, it was mainly hard rock music played to 11 that helped people forget about their gruelling shifts at the factory. Here and there, on the outskirts of major cities, you still could find a few rockers with sideburns wearing black armbands since the death of Gene Vincent, but it wasn’t a proper mass movement, just a source of real danger to anyone they came across who wasn't like them. In August 1976, a festival unlike any other took place in Mont-de-Marsan – the First European Punk Festival as the poster said – with almost as many people on stage as in the audience. Yet, on that day, a quasi historical event happened, when, under the blazing afternoon sun, a band of unknowns called The Damned made an unprecedented noise in the arena, reminiscent of the chaotic Stooges in their early adolescence. They were the first genuine punk band to perform in our country: from then on, anything was possible, almost anything seemed permissible.
It makes sense that the four+1 members of Guilty Razors, who initially amplified acoustic guitars with crappy tape recorder microphones, would adopt punk music (pronounced paink in French) naturally and instinctively, since it combines liberating noise with speed of execution and – crucially – a very healthy sense of rebellion (the protesters of May 1968 proclaimed, and it was even a slogan, that they weren’t against old people, but against what had made them grow old. In the mid-1970s, it seemed normal and obvious that old people should now ALSO be targeted!!!).
At the time, the desire to fight back, and break down authority and apathy, was either red or black, often taking the form of leafleting, tumultuous general assemblies in the schoolyard, and massive or shabby demonstrations, most of the time overflowing with an exciting vitality that sometimes turned into fights with the riot police. Indeed, soon after the end of the Vietnam War and following Pinochet’s coup in Chile, all over France, Trotskyist and anarcho-libertarian fervour was firmly entrenched among parts of the educated youth population, who were equally rebellious and troublemakers whenever they had the chance. It should also be noted that when the single "Anarchy in the UK" was first heard, even though not many of us had access to it, both the title and its explosive sound immediately resonated with some of those troublemakers crying out for ANARCHY!!! Meanwhile, the left-wing majority still equated punks with reckless young neo-Nazis. Of course, the widely circulated photos in the mainstream press of Siouxsie Sioux with her swastikas didn’t necessarily help to win over the theorists of the Great Revolution. It took Joe Strummer to introduce The Clash as an anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-ignorance band for the rejection of old-school revolutionaries to fade a little.
The Lycée Jean-Baptiste Say at Porte d’Auteuil, despite being located in the very posh and very exclusive 16th arrondissement of Paris, didn’t escape these "committed" upheavals, which doubled as the perfect outlet for the less timid members of this generation.
“Back then, politics were fun,” says Tristam Nada, who studied there and went on to become Guilty Razors’ frontman. “Jean-Baptiste was the leftist high-school in the neighbourhood. When the far right guys from the GUD came down there, the Communist League guys from elsewhere helped us fight them off.”
Anything that could challenge authority was fair game and of course, strikes for just about any reason would lead to increasingly frequent truancy (with a definitive farewell to education that would soon follow). Tristam Nada spent his 10th and 11th unfinished grades with José Perez, who had come from Spain, where his father, a janitor, had been sentenced to death by Franco. “José steered my tastes towards solid acts such as The Who. Like most teenagers, I had previously absorbed just about everything that came my way, from Yes to Led Zeppelin to Genesis. I was exploring… And then one day, he told me that he and his brother Carlos wanted to start a rock band.” The Perez brothers already played guitar. “Of course, they were Spanish!”, jokes their singer. “Then, somewhat reluctantly, José took up the bass and we were soon joined by Jano – who called himself Jano Homicid – who took up the rhythm guitar.” Several drummers would later join this core of not easily intimidated young guys who didn’t let adversity get the better of them.
The first rehearsals of the newly named Guilty Razors took place in the bedroom of a Perez aunt. There, the three rookies tried to cover a few standards, songs that often were an integral part of their lives. During a first, short gig, in front of a bewildered audience of tough old-school rockers, they launched into a clunky version of the Velvet Underground's “Heroin”. Challenge or recklessness? A bit of both, probably… And then, step by step, their limited repertoire expanded as they decided to write their own songs, sung in a not always very accurate or academic English, but who cared about proper grammar or the right vocabulary, since what truly mattered was to make the words sound as good as possible while playing very, very fast music? And spitting out those words in a language that left no doubt as to what it conveyed mattered as well.
Trying their hand a the kind of rock music disliked by most of the neighbourhood, making noise, being fiercely provocative: they still belonged to a tiny clique who, at this very moment, had chosen to impose this difference. And there were very few places in France or elsewhere, where one could witness the first stirrings of something that wasn’t a trend yet, let alone a movement.
In the provinces, in late 1976 or early 1977, there couldn’t be more than thirty record stores that were a bit more discerning than average, where you could hear this new kind of short-haired rock music called “punk”. The old clientele, who previously had no problem coming in to buy the latest McCartney or Aerosmith LP, now felt a little less comfortable there…
In Paris, these enlightened places were quite rare and often located nex to what would become the Forum des Halles, a big shopping mall. Between three aging sex workers, a couple of second-hand clothes shops, sellers of hippie paraphernalia and small fashion designers, the good word was loudly spread in two pioneering places – propagators of what was still only a new underground movement. Historically, the first one was the Open Market, a kind of poorly, but tastefully stocked cave. Speakers blasted out the sound of sixties garage bands from the Nuggets compilation (a crucial reference for José Perez) or the badly dressed English kids of Eddie and the Hot Rods. This black-painted den was opened a few years earlier by Marc Zermati, a character who wasn’t always in a sunny disposition, but always quite radical in his (good) choices and his opinions. He founded the independent label Skydog and was one of the promoters of the Mont-de-Marsan punk festivals. Not far from there was Harry Cover, another store more in tune with the new New York scene, which was amply covered in the house fanzine, Rock News (even though it was in it that the photos of the Sex Pistols were first published in France).
It was a favorite hang-out of the Perez brothers and Tristam Nada, as the latter explained. “It’s at Harry Cover’s that we first heard the Pistols and Clash’s 45s, and after that, we decided to start writing our first songs. If they could do it, so could we!”
The sonic shocks that were “Anarchy in the UK”, “White Riot” or the Buzzcocks’s EP, “Spiral Scratch” – which Guilty Razors' sound is reminiscent of – were soon to be amplified by an unparalleled visual shock. In April 1977, right after the release of their first LP, The Clash performed at the Palais des Glaces in Paris, during a punk night organised by Marc Zermati. For many who were there, it was the gig of a lifetime…
Of course, Guilty Razors and Tristam were in the audience: “That concert was fabulous… We Parisian punks were almost all dressed in black and white, with white shirts, skinny leather ties, bikers jackets or light jackets, etc. The Clash, on the other hand, wore colourful clothes. Well, the next day, at the Gibus, you’d spot everyone who had been at this concert, but they weren’t wearing anything black, they were all wearing colours.”
It makes sense to mention the Gibus club, as Guilty Razors often played there (sometimes in front of a hostile audience). It was also the only place in Paris that regularly scheduled new Parisian or Anglo-Saxon acts, such as Generation X, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Slits, and Johnny Thunders who would become a kind of messed-up mascot for the venue. A little later, in 1978, the Rose Bonbon – formerly the Nashville – also attracted nightly owls in search of electric thrills… In 1977, the iconic but not necessarily excellent Asphalt Jungle often played at the Gibus, sometimes sharing the bill with Metal Urbain, the only band whose aura would later transcend the French borders (“I saw them as the French Sex Pistols,” said Geoff Travis, head of their British label Rough Trade). Already established in this small scene, Metal Urbain helped the young and restless Guilty Razors who had just arrived. Guitarist for Metal Urbain Hermann Schwartz remembers it: “They were younger than us, we were a bit like their mentors even if it’s too strong a word… At least they were credible. We thought they were good, and they had good songs which reminded of the Buzzcocks that I liked a lot. But at some point, they started hanging out with the Hells Angels. That’s when we stopped following them.”
The break-up was mutual, since, Guilty Razors, for their part, were shocked when they saw a fringe element of the audience at Metal Urbain concerts who repeatedly shouted “Sieg Heil” and gave Nazi salutes. These provocations, even still minor (the bulk of the skinhead crowd would later make their presence felt during concerts), weren’t really to the liking of the Perez brothers, whose anti-fascist convictions were firmly rooted. Some things are non-negotiable.
A few months earlier (in July 1978), Guilty Razors had nevertheless opened very successfully for Metal Urbain at the Bus Palladium, a more traditonally old-school rock night-club. But, as was sometimes the case back then, the night turned into a mass brawl when suburban rockers came to “beat up punks”.
Back then, Parisian nights weren’t always sweet and serene.
So, after opening as best as they could for The Jam (their sound having been ruined by the PA system), our local heroes were – once again – met outside by a horde of greasers out to get them. “Thankfully,” says Tristam, “we were with our roadies, motorless bikers who acted as a protective barrier. We were chased in the neighbouring streets and the whole thing ended in front of a bar, with the owner coming out with a rifle…”
Although Tristam and the Perez brothers narrowly escaped various, potentially bloody, incidents, they weren’t completely innocent of wrongdoing either. They still find amusing their mugging of two strangers in the street for example (“We were broke and we simply wanted to buy tickets for the Heartbreakers concert that night,” says Tristam). It so happened that their victims were two key figures in the rock business at the time: radio presenter Alain Manneval and music publisher Philippe Constantin. They filed a complaint and sought monetary compensation, but somehow the band’s manager, the skilful but very controversial Alexis, managed to get the complaint withdrawn and Guilty Razors ended up signing with Constantin with a substantial advance.
They also signed with Polydor and the label released in 1978 their only three-track 45, featuring “I Don't Wanna be A Rich”, “Hurts and Noises” and “Provocate” (songs that exuded perpetual rebellion and an unquenchable desire for “class” confrontation). It was a very good record, but due to a lack of promotion (radio stations didn’t play French artists singing in English), it didn’t sell very well. Only 800 copies were allegedly sold and the rest of the stock was pulped… Initially, the three tracks were to be included on a LP that never came to be, since they were dropped by Polydor (“Let’s say we sometimes caused a ruckus in their offices!” laughs Tristam.) In order to perfect the long-awaited LP, the band recorded demos of other tracks. There was a cover of Pink Floyd's “Lucifer Sam” from the Syd Barrett era – proof of an enduring love for the sixties’ greats –, “Wake Up” a hangover tale and “Bad Heart” about the Baader-Meinhof gang, whose actions had a profound impact on the era and on a generation seeking extreme dissent... On the album you’re now discovering, you can also hear five previously unreleased tracks recorded a bit later during an extended and freezing stay in Madrid, in a makeshift studio with the invaluable help of a drummer also acting as sound engineer. He was both an enthusiastic old hippie and a proper whizz at sound engineering. Here too, certain influences from the fifties and sixties (Link Wray, the Troggs) are more than obvious in the band’s music.
Shortly after a final stormy and rather barbaric (on the audience’s side) “Punk night” at the Olympia in June 1978, Tristam left the band ; his bandmates continued without him for a short while.
But like most pioneering punk bands of the era, Guilty Razors eventually split up for good after three years (besides once in Spain, they’d only played in Paris). The reason for ceasing business activities were more or less the same for everyone: there were no venues outside one’s small circuit to play this kind of rock music, which was still frightening, unknown, or of little interest to most people. The chances of recording an LP were virtually null, since major labels were only signing unoriginal but reassuring sub-Téléphone clones, and the smaller ones were only interested in progressive rock or French chanson for youth clubs. And what about self-production? No one in our small safety-pinned world had thought about it yet. There wasn’t enough money to embark on that sort of venture anyway.
So yes, the early days of punk in France were truly No Future!
(12” black vinyl) The legendary 1999 trance classic “Symmetry C” by Brainchild is back on vinyl! This special reissue includes the original mix and three iconic remixes, featuring the highly sought-after extended Lange Remix - a true gem for trance DJs and collectors. Don't forget that the original track is the much sought after trance classic, which was released already in 1995 on the iconic compilation "Fact" from Carl Cox. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of trance history, limited stock available.
Primediv.space presents Hypnosis, the latest statement from New York producer Vincent Fiore. A stripped two-tracker built for late-night floors, the EP dives into hypnotic techno pressure with precision and force. Waves of repetition and drive unfold across the title track, while the included locked groove distills Fiore’s vision into a raw, endless loop. Pure, functional, and deeply entrancing - this is techno at its most focused.
A Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim is the new album by Australian atmospheric pop trio Hydroplane, the storied 'offshoot' formed by three quarters of independent pop group, The Cat's Miaow. On this, their first music after two decades plus of radio silence, Andrew Withycombe, Kerrie Bolton and Bart Cummings return to the gentle, close-quarters musical world they shared around the turn of the century.
Recorded during 2024 in Melbourne and Ballarat, A Place In My Memory… picks up the thread Hydroplane set down with its precursor, 2001's The Sound Of Changing Places, though you can hear echoes of their other releases, too, with Withycombe noting a through-line from the group's 1998 "Failed Adventure" single. There's little quite like A Place In My Memory…, then or now, though. Maybe you can draw some connections between Hydroplane and their sister group, The Cat's Miaow, while fellow travellers might include Empress, The Ah Club, and further back, Young Marble Giants, Veronique Vincent (the muffled, ticking drum machine also makes me think of Robin Gibb's Robin's Reign).
There's also an umbilical to the bedroom-crafted electronica doing the rounds in the late nineties and early noughties. Hydroplane hint at this through their approach to songwriting, which often builds creatively around loops as structural devices. Through all this, the trio achieve an effortless, organic weightlessness across these nine lovely songs. Many feature Bolton's clear singing voice, drifting along, while guitars, keyboards, drum machines and loops tickertape away. The constituent parts fit together, but they also have a curiously detached quality - think of abstract cloud formations sharing the same sky.
Hydroplane and The Cat's Miaow often dealt in emotional ambiguity and uncertainty, and the uncertainty of the nostalgic. This was always one of the most appealing facets of their music, and A Place In My Memory… is thus named perfectly. I couldn't dream up a better title for the album and its reflections on history, lived experience, and the inevitable tangle between these two phenomena. These reflections variously address such concerns as human cruelty, flight, space travel, adventurism and spiritualism. There's also "To the Lighthouse", not a direct reference to the Virginia Woolf book, but a great title, nonetheless. (They've always had excellent titles, often borrowed, for songs and albums.)
A beautiful collection of drowsy, sleepy pop, humble and quiet, but resolute in its craft, A Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim is dream work in practice; a lovely reintroduction. Welcome back, then.
We Release JAZZ is honored to announce the release Shoals, a magnificent full-length album from Earth and Bones, the duo consisting of Liran Donin and Idris Rahman of acclaimed jazz outfit Ill Considered. Their majestic offering is available in an ultra limited edition 180g vinyl LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve with an original artwork by Dutch artist Vincent de Boer.
Carried by Liran Donin on double bass and shakers, and Idris Rahman on bass clarinet, tenor sax, shell, and Tibetan singing bowl, the 5-track album is a deeply entrancing meditative-shamanistic-ambient-jazz journey. The members of Earth and Bones poured their heart and beliefs into the project:
"From shamanic cultures and forgotten traditions, we delved deeper searching our ancient healers, exploring who they heal, what they heal, and how they do it. We wanted to focus on the poisonous human attributes that affect our animal kingdom, as well as how we can heal ourselves by balancing darkness and light. We express our forever gratitude to our community, tribe and animal kingdom.
Despite how governments and multinational corporations try to isolate us from one another, we can't make it alone without our shoal. To truly have a shoal, we need to accept each other for what we are."
Their friend, Vincent de Boer, delivers the visual side of Shoals:
"The living world and all its particular (eco)systems s increasingly a source of inspiration for my art process. When Idris and Liran showed me the new recording and the thoughts behind it, it immediately fell onto good grounds. A school of fish is eminently a metaphor for collective improvisation, something we are all engaged in on an artistic level. The group decisions go beyond causality, the energies provide a simultaneous awareness for choices of direction. The space between the entities thus form a new entity. Non-matter becomes matter and vice versa: an area where music and visual art meet.
I drew a school of fish and tried to make it look like a fixed entity, so that multiple lives become one collective. As a bird and perhaps as a rock or cave: outside becomes inside becomes outside: so that all domains of the living world are linked: the swimming, the crawling, the flying and the playing. The spiritual connection with the music of Idris and Liran is grand, the places it takes me are at once very distant and extremely close. From otherworldly to within the body: the opposites as well as the harmonies are of shamanistic proportions."
Points of interests
For fans of ambient-jazz, meditative music, shamanistic rituals, improvisational process, deep vibes, Ill Considered, Vincent de Boer, heartful connections, healers and healing, the body, the otherworld, life within and outside.
.Super limited edition vinyl of Earth and Bones' debut !
Sono Unica taps local producers Vincent Casanova and Ajaks for the ”Northern Lights EP”, a mystical outing incorporating deep grooves and airy breezes to set the stage for summer festivals and open air delights. Rolling basslines bask in vibrant keys, and Ajaks turns toward darker hours with a slick rework.
Getting You Back to the Game of Life Records’ opening release, ‘Comme des mots’ LP is a journey through diverse sonic textures and energies from label-founder Lil Ronin.
Getting you back to the game of life is the headline of a physical and mental health therapy center. Casually popped in your conscience from an advertising board and let you in a strange place. But what is the game of life?
This label could be that space to get you back, to forget and perhaps find a form of youthful innocence again.
As a first solo project Lil Ronin freely experimented between different influences and genres that present his intimate universes, juggling with abstract, ballad and more dancefloor music, mostly recorded in Parisian suburb Alfortville between 2022 and 2024.
‘Comme des mots’ means ‘like words’ and evokes the ambiguous presence of his voice in the album, hidden in different characters, sometimes raving other times being conscious. Finally becoming a schizophrenic presence guiding you for the trip.
The cover follows the same ambivalence showing a typography with a distinct message that loses its readability in abstraction. The record also includes an insert with a childhood photo of Lil Ronin.
The LP was mastered in Paris by artist and engineer Krikor KOUCHIAN,
(past works for Simo Cell, Maoupa Mazzocchetti, Tolouse Low Trax…);
The design was created by sculptor artist and designer Marie-Mam-Sai BELLIER,
(past works for Erwan Sene’s JUnQ LP - PAN record, Zulu’s Hear The Sound Of My Feet - Association fatale etc.); The handmade drawings are by Vincent BENTOLILA (associated with the ‘Isengard’ label and parties in Brussels) ; The cover was handmade through silk-screen printing by the Lyon-based printer Olivier BRAL (whose past projects include Brigade Cynophile, Ateliers Dénudés, and Megabasse).
- A1: Anetha & Vive La Fête - Nuit Blanche (Anetha Rave Edit)
- A2: Jardinage - Erase
- A3: Luke Hovey - Guilty Pleasure
- B1: Oton - Supersaw
- B2: Olympe4000 - I Was Born Mommying
- B3: Exos - Cybercity
- C1: Pureblast - No End
- C2: Valav - What's Your Lollipop Flavor
- C3: Spiderwrap- Foresight
- D1: 666Uba Vs Mamaflex - Kobra
- D2: Dr Breinnerr - Sunquake
- E1: Vbk - Savage Puppies
- E2: Trillosta - Eternal Echoes
- F1: Sole Dosi - Cookie Face
- F2: Vincent Cambier - Killjoy
- G1: Spekki Webu - Open Sky Gateway
- G2: Alpha Tracks - Bless
- H1: Cunt Remember - Unconditional
- H2: Christian Coiffure - Molten Core
FIRE UP: Fifteen successful releases later, Anetha continues to fan the flames with MTY-FEU, an incandescent new compilation. Titled «Ils s’embrasèrent, réduits ensemble», the release stands for fusion and oneness.
Bursting from the depths of the earth, magma is devouring: melting hot techno, deep techno, fast techno, firestorms of trance, eruptions of hard groove, break, mental, smoldering experimental… MTY-FEU is a lava flow of boiling, vital energy, unstoppable and full of blistering textures.
During the Nuit Blanche (A1), we surrender. We, the offer. Our fire is combusting. Our feet, stomping.
Berserk, in a fury, there’s No End (C1) to this party. In a trance, Eternal Echoes (E2) beguiles us all, until we become one into the Molten Core (H2) of Inferno. Ils s’embrasèrent, réduits ensemble.
The incredibly talented visual artist FEMUR crafted the artwork by creating an AI-generated meta-crackle of fire. Diplomatie Studio handled the design while mastering was entrusted to Sixbitdeep, except for Anetha’s edit, where mix and mastering credits go to Le Dom. We’ve opted for bio-vinyls for this release, knowing that one day these records will return to ashes, only to rise again, like the phoenix.
- A1: Lazar Cezar - Nkv2
- B1: Vincentiulian - Owowo
- C1: Elia Nafzger - Say Something
- C2: Lumieux - Manhattan Tape
- D1: Sit - Internal Network
- D2: Prichindel - Close To Me
- E1: Zya - Ding Thing
- E2: Larry & Iankiddo - 1602 Landed
- F1: Alci - Man Studer
- F2: Aamir - Dirty Talk
- G1: Gojnea76 - Boards And Swords
- G2: Christopher Ledger - Time Machine
- H1: Alex Font - Soy Griselda
- H2: Pascal Benjamin - Finder’s Fee
- I1: Sublee - In The Jungle
- I2: Dragoș Ilici - Let Me Dance
- J1: Ohm Hourani & Cristobal Urbina - Me Invite
- K1: Ben Neville - Good Techno Stops Time
- L1: Denis Korablev - Nochi
- L2: Cristi Klebleev - Until The End (Featuring The Choir Of Milagros Acapella)
We are thrilled to announce the Playedby020 vinyl compilation, a special edition celebrating Playedby's 10th anniversary. This exclusive collection features 20 notable tracks from renowned international producers. As we mark a decade of musical innovation and passion, the Playedby020 compilation showcases the diverse and cutting-edge sounds that have defined our journey. Join us in celebrating ten years of incredible music with this limited edition vinyl box, a must-have for any electronic music aficionado or committed collector. Thank you for being part of our journey—here's to many more years of musical excellence!
- A1: Summer Overture
- A2: Party
- A3: Coney Island Dreaming
- A4: Party
- A5: Chocolate Charms
- A6: Ghosts Of Things To Come
- A7: Dreams
- A8: Tense
- A9: Dr. Pill
- A10: High On Life
- A11: Ghosts
- A12: Crimin' & Dealin
- A13: Hope Overture
- A14: Tense
- A15: Bialy & Lox Conga
- B1: Cleaning Apartment
- B2: Ghosts-Falling
- B3: Dreams
- B4: Arnold
- B5: Marion Barfs
- B6: Supermarket Sweep
- B7: Dreams
- B8: Sara Goldfarb Has Left The Building
- B9: Bugs Got A Devilish Grin Conga
- C5: The Beginning Of The End
- C6: Ghosts Of A Future Lost
- C7: Meltdown
- C8: Lux Aeterna
- C9: Coney Island Low
- D1: Purple In The Morning, Blue In The Afternoon, Orange In The Evening, Green At Night
- D2: 30 Days To Revolutionize Your Life!!! 1-900-976-Juice
- C1: Winter Overture
- C2: Southern Hospitality
- C3: Fear
- C4: Full Tense
To coincide with its 20th anniversary, Clint Mansell's haunting score to Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film, Requiem for a Dream, performed by Kronos Quartet, returns to vinyl. This was Mansell’s second of several collaborations with Aronofsky, following 1997’s π, and features arrangements by David Lang of Bang on a Can. The film stars Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans, and was adapted from the 1978 novel by Hubert Selby, Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn), who also wrote the screenplay with Aronofsky. Set on the rusted mean streets of Coney Island, Brooklyn, Requiem for a Dream tells the parallel stories of four people pursuing their dreams of better lives. The reissue features the original soundtrack, plus two bonus tracks.
Clint Mansell, a musician, composer, and founding member of the band Pop Will Eat Itself, first worked with Darren Aronofsky on the score for his 1998 film π. Also released by Nonesuch are Mansell’s scores for Aronofsky's The Fountain (2006), nominated for a Golden Globe, and Noah (2014). His other scores include The Wrestler (2008), Moon (2009), Black Swan (2010), Filth (2013), Stoker (2013), High Rise (2016), for which he received an Ivor Novello nomination, and Loving Vincent (2017).
For more than 40 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet – David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello) – has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagining the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world’s most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than 50 recordings, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning over 850 works and arrangements for string quartet. A Grammy winner, Kronos is also the only recipient of both the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize. Most recently, in 2019, Nonesuch released Kronos’s ground-breaking collaboration with composer Terry Riley, Sun Rings, and, in 2017, Folk Songs, featuring Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens and Natalie Merchant.
- A1: Age Of Love - Age Of Love (Jam & Spoon Watch Out For Stella Remix)
- A2: Tillmann Uhrmacher - On The Run (Ocean To Shore Club Extended)
- A3: Vincent De Moor - Fly Away (Cosmic Gate Remix)
- B1: Ram (38) - Ramsterdam (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix)
- B2: Lustral - Everytime (Nalin & Kane Mix)
- B3: Ratty - Sunrise
- C1: Dito - Sky (Talla 2Xlc Remix)
- C2: Binary Finary - 1998 (Ronsky Speed Remix)
- C3: Quench - Dreams
- D1: Talla 2Xlc - Follow The Meteor
- D2: Talla 2Xlc Feat Junk Project - Pull (Xijaro & Pitch Extended Mix)
- D3: Zyrus 7 - Lost In Space
Vol. 2[18,91 €]
The most famous and highly successful trance compilation worldwide is Talla 2XLC’s Techo Club series that always topped the charts and download shops. After 67 magical episodes in February 2023 Techno Club has celebrated its 25 years anniversary with the ultra large Best of 25 Years 4 CD edition. After 25 magnificent years of DJ battles and exceptional DJ mixes between DJ Talla 2XLC and his brilliant globally known guests including Taucher, Kai Tracid, Tom Wax, Scot Project, Cosmic Gate, Aly & Fila, Jerome Isma-Ae, Alex M.o.r.p.h., Woody van Eyden, Markus Schulz, Allen Watts, Ralphie B, Metta & Glyde amongst many others, trance fans can experience the mouthwatering and highly satisfying recap with the Best of 25 Years shinning edition. Two Mixed CDs perfectly arranged by the trusted hands of Talla 2XLC and the resident Techno Club DJs LXD and Bluefire to keep you dancing 24 hrs and 2 Unmixed CD’s with eternal trance classics for club and radio DJs who wish to educate their audience and incorporate these timeless jewels in their digital collection and DJ sets.
After thousands of requests via Talla 2XLC social media ZYX proudly presents the vinyl edition of Technoclub 25 Years vol.1. In two brilliant vinyls, trance aficionados will enjoy 12 of the most highly requested trance classics from the vaults of the iconic Technoclub compilations.
The 1st vinyl includes the legendary Jam & Spoon Watch Out For Stella Remix of the most significant trance track of all times Age Of Love, then the balearic Ocean To Shore Club mix of the melancholic On The Run by the late legend DJ and producer Tillmann Uhrmacher. Final track in A side the highly energetic Fly Away by Vincent De Moor in the most powerful remix by the German duo Cosmic Gate. On the flip side Jorn van Deynhoven Remixes RAM’s eternal beauty RAMsterdam. The legendary team of Nalin & Kane represented by their remix on Lustral aka Space Brothers blissful and oceanic Everytime. Lastly the well known Sunrise by Ratty aka Scooter side project with the rough tribal main section and the sunkissed feel good breakdown. The 2nd vinyl will bring tears of joy with Talla 2XLC remix on the highly euphoric Sky by Dito. The epic Ronski Speed remix of the countless times remixed trance classic 1998 by Binary Finary and finally the still crowd pleasing Dreams by the Australian Quench. The D side is all about Talla 2XLC productions including his brilliant remake of the fantastic The Meteor, followed by the highly uplifting Xijaro & Pitch remix on Pull, the epic Talla’s co-production with Junk Project. The final track is dedicated to psy-trance community with Zyrus 7 aka Talla 2XLC psy-trance project with the fast moving anthem Lost in Space. The growing fanbase of trance vinyls will adore this great collection of the finest trance anthems from the past, present and future carefully selected by Talla 2XLC and his Technoclub team mates.
We have a subtly edit of “Soul Town” by The Motherhood, the psychedelic 1969 LP “I Feel So Free. Motherhood was the unlikely name of Klaus Doldinger's psychedelic fusion band, who eventually transmuted into the bands Passport (Klaus Doldinger, Lothar Meid & Udo Lindenberg) & Hallelujah (Paul Vincent & Keith Forsey). “Soul Town” appears as the B-side to the first single “Back In The Grass”, which fetches ~$275. It was produced by Siegfried E. Loch, & written/arranged by Paul Nero. Many will recognize it as the closing track on the Ocean’s 13 soundtrack. It’s a psychedelic, jazz-funk bomb that punches hard.
Pinball Number Count (Edit) by The Pointer Sisters b/w Soul Town (Edit) by The Motherhood | Galaxy Sound Company — GSC45-043, test pressing | You know the drill. It’s Galaxy Sound Co. It is cop-on-site. It is yet another GSC45 edit you need in your crates. & number 43 doesn’t disappoint. I have been wanting both of these jazz-funk nuggets on 7-inch for a minute now, so much love to the GSC crew!
Any of us who grew up on Sesame Street in the 1970s will know this A-side righ away. “The Pinball Number Count” (or Pinball Countdown) is a collective title referring to the 11 one-minute animated segments on the TV series Sesame Street that teach children to count to 12 by following the journey of a pinball through a fanciful pinball machine. These segments are notable for the colorful, imaginative animation as well as the funkysoundtrack with vocals by The Pointer Sisters. It was produced in 1976 by Imagination, Inc. in San Francisco, California for the Children's Television Workshop & debuted on Sesame Street during Season 8 .
DJ Support: Homero Espinosa, Demarkus Lewis, Kevin Yost, Micky More & Andy Tee, Milk & Sugar, Hatiras, Ross Couch, Random Soul, Husky, Colette, Vincent Caira, Richard Earnshaw, T.Markakis, Mike Millrain, Dirtytwo, 4Peace, and many more.
After a few years of silence, the label FVR Street is back, 10 years since its inception, and thrilled to introduce the VINYLITUDES series: A selection of the best tracks carefully curated from the catalogues of La Vie D'Artiste Music and FVR Street.
The first opus is a fusion of Deep House and Disco House sprinkled with nostalgic French Touch vibes from the late 90s.
- A1: Bakeren (Feat Faye Houston)
- A2: O Mar E A Lua (Feat Olav Wöllo)
- A3: Bergen Sunrays (Feat Selim Mutic)
- A4: Belle Époque
- A5: Den Franske Gitaren (Feat Aich)
- B1: Don`t Fall Asleep (Feat Faye Houston)
- B2: Rory`s Sunrays
- B3: Nada Pode Me Calar (Feat Olav Wöllo)
- B4: La Psychosomnie
- B5: Den Franske Gitaren (Feat Martin Halla)
2023 sees the return of multi-talented Norwegian producer Espen Horne to Wah Wah 45s, after a 24 year hiatus. The man behind the label's very first release, the now seminal Magnetica, never lost his connection with the imprint and has remained very much part of the Wah Wah family, making a comeback this year with his first solo material under his own name since that club classic from 1999.
Back in the spring, the first single from the project, the gorgeous soul-jazz beauty Bakeren, featuring the stunning vocals of Resonators' Faye Houston, quickly found a home on Gilles Peterson's internationally renowned BBC Radio 6 show as well as that of Jazz FM legend Robbie Vincent, Bandcamp Weekly and the Fresh Finds Jazz Spotify playlist.
Following that, Bergen Sunrays, became a weekly fixture on the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC 6 Music, with the limited 7-inch of both singles selling out within hours of release.
Next up was the wistful Den Franske Gitaren, a lugubrious soul-jazz piece with drum & bass leanings featuring Bergen based MC and vocalist Aich, which found favour with legends Laurent Garnier and Jazzanova as well as hot Japanese production outfit Dazzle Drums.
This was closely followed by the final single to be taken from the album, the stunning and outspoken vocal jazz waltzer Nada Pode Me Calar (which roughly translates to Nothing Can Shut Me Up!) featuring the sublime talent of Olav Wöllo on vocals and Juno - anotherr big one with Gilles Peterson on Worldwide FM and Deb Grant on BBC 6 Music.
And now the full album, entitled The Anatomy Of Serene Eloquence is available for your aural delectation. Recorded largely during lockdown, the LP is a sophisticated and composed piece of work that sees the Norwegian producer make connections with musicians from across Europe, and some closer to home, to collaborate on this sedate and peaceful collection of songs.
The aforementioned Faye Houston also appears on the soulful, dub flavoured Don't Fall Asleep, a piece of music that explores the feeling of being isolated whilst sharing a mutual love and drive to explore new sonic possibilities.
Elsewhere, Olav Wöllo pops up again too, this time on O Mar E A Lua and once again singing in Portuguese to give this track a certain Tropicalia feel, as Espen explains:
"Olav Wöllo is a close friend, an excellent musician and vocalist, and a capoeira professor here in Bergen. He has spent much of his life living in Brazil and speaks Portuguese fluently. He wrote the lyrics for this tune years ago and had just been waiting for the right collaboration to come along.
We went to his lovely studio out on this remote island, made a massive gyoza meal, had some serious good wine and stayed the whole night to record his vocal harmonies and outspoken lyrics."
The single Bergen Sunrays also appears on the album in instrumental form with featured keys courtesy of London based player Rory More - here entitled Rory's Sunrays. His Lowrey organ adds a more melancholic feel to the track, as it does on the stunning Belle Époque, alongside the ivory work of Eirik Blåsternes - an emotional, contemplative and atmospheric track that was tested and shaped in the eclipse of Covid.
As with Belle Époque, La Psychosomnie is a playful yet explorative cut that examines insomnia, paralysis and hypnosis courtesy of some enigmatic French spoken word spinning around a framework of drums, bass and swirling keys.
And finally, the album offers up an alternative version of the single Den Franske Gitaren, this time featuring Martin Halla, a vocalist out of the Bergen Grieg Jazz Academy and winner of the Norwegian version of The Voice back in 2012! The perfect flip to Aich's more mournful interpretation of this bass and drum future classic.
Get ready to hit the dance floor with the Tech-House Remix by DFRST of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, presented by Deacon Frost Music. This song infuses the classic with fresh and electrifying rhythms, perfect for any party. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of ‘Thriller’ with a remix as fresh as it is nostalgic. Keep the legend alive and your feet moving with more remixes from Deacon Frost Music.
This is the Tech-House Remix by DFRST… First and foremost, this album is a tribute to the pop legend, the incomparable Michael Jackson, on the 40th anniversary of his best-selling album of all time, Thriller. Additionally, I want to express my gratitude to my loved ones for their unwavering support since my return to music production.
Undoubtedly, this is one of my most anticipated projects since I started producing music, although back in 1983, I used to cower in fear to cover up when those Jupiter 8 tracks came on the radio… I would like to express my gratitude to Lenny Jay for believing in my project and delivering an impeccable performance that showcases his talent and devotion to the artist.
Furthermore, I appreciate my engineer and vocal arranger, Austin, from Austin Music Spain, for his exceptional contribution to this track, always inspiring me with his friendship and motivation. It’s impossible not to mention my musical father, mentor, cricket player, and great friend, Mike Platinas.
He not only provided valuable guidance but also recorded the vocals, portraying Vincent Price in earnest. His work is unsurpassed
The incipient incarnation of Atomic Rooster with Vincent Crane (organ/vocals), Nick Graham (vocals/bass), and Carl Palmer (drums) was together just long enough to document its 1970 debut. Prior to the last-minute addition of Graham-- the only bassist Atomic Rooster ever had -- the band emerged from the remnants of the then recently defunct Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
The material was primarily courtesy of Crane and consisted of heavy and versatile sides. The versatility is evident throughout the impressive array of styles ranging from the folk-inspired pastoral songs via bluesy horn arrangement and contrasting driving rockers and jazzy spells. Lyrically, Crane reveals his penchant for dark imagery. Support at the time was bolstered by strong live appearances, positive word-of-mouth, and significant BBC Radio sessions.
- A1: Here Lies Love Feat. Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine)
- A2: Every Drop Of Rain Feat. Candie Payne & St. Vincent
- A3: You'll Be Taken Care Of Feat. Tori Amos
- A4: The Rose Of Tacloban Eat. Martha Wainwright
- A5: A Perfect Hand Feat. Steve Earle
- B1: Eleven Days Feat Cyndi Lauper
- B2: When She Passed By Feat. Allison Moorer
- B3: Walk Like A Woman Feat. Charmaine Clamor
- B4: Don't You Agree? Feat. Róisín Murphy
- B5: Pretty Face Feat. Camille
- B6: Ladies In Blue Feat. Theresa Andersson
- C1: Dancing Together Feat Sharon Jones
- C2: How Are You? Feat. Nellie Mckay
- C3: Men Will Do Anything Feat. Alice Russell
- C4: The Whole Man Feat. Kate Pierson
- C5: Never So Big Feat. Sia
- C6: Please Don't Feat. Santi White
- D1: American Troglodyte
- D2: Solano Avenue Feat. Nicole Atkins
- D3: Order 1081 Feat. Natalie Merchant
- D4: Seven Years Feat. Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond)
- D5: Why Don't You Love Me? Feat. Tori Amos & Cyndi Lauper
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim’s acclaimed 2010 album Here Lies Love receives its first-ever vinyl release to coincide with a new production opening on Broadway this summer. Here Lies Love is a double-disc song cycle – improbably poignant, decidedly surreal, surprisingly thought provoking – about the rise and fall of the Philippines' notorious Imelda Marcos. It was conceived by David Byrne; composed by Byrne and DJ/recording artist Fatboy Slim, AKA Norman Cook; and performed by a dream cast drawn from the worlds of indie rock, alt country, R&B and pop. Byrne's taste in collaborators is as imaginative as it is impeccable, including Cyndi Lauper (who recounts, to lighthearted disco beats, Imelda's courtship with Ferdinand Marcos), Steve Earle (as the power-hungry Ferdinand), Dap-Kings vocalist Sharon Jones (recalling Imelda's introduction into New York society) and Natalie Merchant (as spurned Imelda confidante Estrella, anticipating the onset of martial law). Along with vocals turns from such stars as Tori Amos and the B-52's Kate Pierson, Byrne works with rising indie rockers St. Vincent and My Brightest Diamond; New York chanteuses Nellie McKay and Martha Wainwright; and dance-music divas Róisín Murphy and Santigold. Byrne himself appears as the voice of imperialistic America on ‘American Troglodyte’, a send-up that wouldn't have seemed out of places in Talking Heads' True Stories.
Byrne originally envisioned this as a musical theatre piece, to be mounted in disco and nightclub settings, reflecting the globe-trotting Marcos' taste for such velvet-roped spots as Studio 54 and Regine's. In 2006, he performed work-in-progress versions to enthusiastic audiences at New York City's Carnegie Hall and the Adelaide Festival in Australia. While plans for a US theatrical production continued to evolve, he delivered this unique recording. The award-winning theatrical production eventually premiered at The Public Theater in New York in 2013, travelled to London’s National Theater for a sold-out run (2014–15), and was remounted at the Seattle Repertory Theater (2017).
Here Lies Love has an effervescent disco feel, redolent of Fatboy Slim's own dance-floor anthems, with warm undercurrents of the Latin rhythms that have percolated through Byrne's recent solo work. The sunny arrangements act in counterpoint to the reality of the Marcos' increasingly repressive regime, reflecting the imagined inner life of the glamour-obsessed Imelda. Explains Byrne, "For me, the darker side of the excesses are, for the most part, a matter of record. A lot of the audience is going to come with that knowledge already. What's more of a challenge is to get inside the head of the person who was behind all of that, and understand what made them tick." Byrne offers no judgment and avoids the obvious – there is no mention of Imelda's infamous shoe collection.
Many of Byrne's lyrics are, astonishingly enough, constructed from actual Imelda quotes, including the project's title, the words that Imelda, now returned to the Philippines from US-assisted exile in Hawaii, would like to have inscribed on her gravestone. In addition to his new liner note, Byrne illustrates the story with archival photos. In a detailed preface, he reveals what drew him to this subject and the bumpy route he took to launch the project and, ultimately, record this album. The booklet is indeed a page-turner, just as Here Lies Love is a wonderfully old-school album that rewards start-to-finish listening. Once again, Byrne – beloved as musician, thinker and bicyclist-about-town – reveals the breadth and singularity of his vision.
The new production of Here Lies Love will premiere at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. Performances begin June 17, ahead of an official opening night on July 20. Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (direction) and Olivier Award nominee Annie-B Parson (choreography) reunite with Byrne (concept, music, and lyrics) and Fatboy Slim (music) to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway, continuing a ten-plus year collaboration on the project. Tom Gandey and J Pardo contribute additional music. Here Lies Love is produced on Broadway by Hal Luftig, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna for Plate Spinner Productions, Clint Ramos, and Jose Antonio Vargas. The staging at the Broadway Theatre will transform the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space into a dance club environment, where audiences will stand and move with the actors. A wide variety of standing and seating options will be available throughout the theatre’s reconstructed space. The producers of Here Lies Love said, “As a team of binational American producers – Filipinos among us – we are thrilled to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway! We welcome everyone to experience this singularly exuberant piece of theatre. The history of the Philippines is inseparable from the history of the United States, and as both evolve, we cannot think of a more appropriate time to stage this show. See you on the dance floor!”
David Byrne’s recent works include the launch of Reasons to be Cheerful, an online magazine focused on solutions-oriented stories about problems being solved all over the world (2019); Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, a theatrical exploration of the historical heroine that premiered at the Public Theater in New York (2017); The Institute Presents: NEUROSOCIETY, a series of interactive environments created in conjunction with PACE Arts + Technology that question human perception and bias (2016); Contemporary Color, an event inspired by the American folk tradition of color guard and performed at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre (2015); Here Lies Love; Love This Giant, a studio album and worldwide tour created with St. Vincent (2012); and How Music Works, a book about the history, experience, and social aspects of music (2012).
Byrne curated Southbank Centre’s annual Meltdown festival in London in 2015. A co-founder of the group Talking Heads (1976–88), he has released eight studio albums as a solo artist and worked on multiple other projects, including collaborations with Brian Eno, Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, and Jonathan Demme, among others. He also founded the highly respected record label Luaka Bop. Recognition of Byrne’s various works include Obies, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Evening Standard awards for Here Lies Love; an Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor; and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Talking Heads. Byrne’s work as a visual artist has been published and exhibited since his college days, including photography, filmmaking, and writing. He lives in New York City. In addition to 2019’s cast album for American Utopia on Broadway, Nonesuch has released eight other David Byrne records since 2003, including 2018’s American Utopia studio album and two versions of his musical Here Lies Love.
q C6. Please Don't feat. Santi White Santigold
A new artist on the Citizen Records / Clivage Music roster, Vhinz is a musician based in Brussels. After taking his time to break onto the electronic scene, he’s now ready to share Belvédère, his debut, dreamlike album, confidently intense, sweeping between cinematic songs and soaring, epic electronic sounds.
Vincent Honca is Belgian, with Armenian roots and a love of keyboards: the mini synth he used to play as a child, the classical piano of his years of training at the Académie de Musique, the Yamaha synth of his teenage years... During the noughties of his adolescence, electronic music was omnipresent in his life as he listened to and admired Daft Punk, Moby, Vitalic, Air and The Chemical Brothers. He also went out dancing, a lot, in the nightclubs and parties of Brussels and the vicinity, and soon his love of computers, technology and synthesisers led to him producing his own music. “I wanted to create beautiful textures with synths,” he says. “I wanted to have fun and discover the possibilities. As part of the internet generation, I taught myself everything I know through reading magazines and checking the forums.”
Vincent went on to become a computer programmer and decided to make music in as much of his spare time as possible. His first productions came out in 2015, including “Drastical”, one of three deep house dancefloor-orientated tracks recorded with none other than Kris Menace. “At the time I was really searching for my musical identity,” explains Vincent, and progressively his music started to lean towards another of his passions – films and film music. “I’ve listened to soundtracks a lot since I was a teenager, and they’ve been a big influence, in particular the music for Heat by Elliot Goldenthal, Gladiator (Hans Zimmer), Saving Private Ryan (John Williams), The Last Temptation of Christ (Peter Gabriel), The Virgin Suicides (Air) and Leon (Eric Serra).” Coincidentally, Vincent has already worked on two independent Belgian films by director Christophe Karabache, UltravoKal and Vortex, both collaborations with Michel Duprez.
Now Vincent has chosen the name Vhinz, bringing together his expertise with machines and computers, his passion and enthusiasm for the electronic sounds of his adolescence and his adoration of cinema’s powerful, impactful soundtracks. Vhinz’s first track is thus called “Aether”, a track brimming with character and confidence, with sung-spoken vocals that sweeps the listener up in bewitching synthetic themes and drums like an off- kilter heartbeat. The track perfectly encapsulates the Vhinz sound, and Citizen Records – the only label he sent it to – immediately loved it and were ready to release a 12” with more. “Then Covid and the lockdown happened, and everything came to a complete halt,” remembers Vhinz. During those long two years without anything being released, the project continued its gestation and has now grown in a mini-album of eight coherent, fascinating tracks. “I really wanted a strong concept for everything, and so was born this album that I’ve called Belvédère. I imagined myself on a belvedere with a panoramic view of the world, channelling all the emotions it elicited in me into music.”
Belvédère is a dreamlike debut album, confidently intense, sweeping between cinematic songs and soaring, epic electronic sounds. It’s a place for Vhinz to showcase his dreams, talk, sing and invite others too: Margot Ferro sings on “Le Passage” and “Envole-moi”, and Michael Meers lends his vocals to “Evolution”. “My album tells a story, with the tracks in chronological order. There are both times of hope and darker periods of my life, with sadness and love,” meaning that listeners are invited to experience a suite of different emotions and be swept along by the author’s musical daydreams. Musically, the album falls somewhere between Moby, Vitalic, Air and Serge Gainsbourg, with a density and atmosphere that are completely Vhinz. “With Belvédère I was looking for beauty, but also something darker, dirtier, more organic. The album is the culmination of that.”
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. Usually described as a psychological thriller, Black Swan can also be interpreted as a metaphor for achieving artistic perfection, with all the psychological and physical challenges one might encounter.
The original score for the film was composed by Clint Mansell, an English musician, composer, and former lead singer of the band Pop Will Eat Itself. Mansell was introduced to film scoring when director Darren Aronofsky hired him to score his debut film, Pi. Ever since Mansell wrote the score for many of Aronofsky’s films. Notable additional film scores include The Fountain, Moon, Smokin’ Aces, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Doom, and High-Rise.
- A1: Robert Pico - Le Chien Fidèle
- A2: Annie Girardot - La Femme Faux Cils
- A3: Spauv Georges - Je Suis L'état
- A4: Zoé - Zoé
- A5: Jacques Da Sylva - Fou
- A6: Valentin - Je Suis Un Vagabond
- A7: Jacques Malia - Histoire De Gitan
- A8: Bernard Jamet - Raison Legale
- B1: Jean-Pierre Lebort - Barbara Au Chapeau Rose
- B2: Les Concentrés - Fils De Dégénérés
- B3: Les Missiles - Publicité
- B4: Hegessipe - Le Credi D'hegessipe
- B5: Marechalement Votre - Ethero Disco
- B6: Mamlouk - Decollez Les
- B7: Mozaique - L'amour Nu
- B8: Jean-Marc Garrigues - Je Dis Non
- B9: Penuel - Astronef 328
The journey through French-speaking pop archives continues with this fifth volume, packed with fuzz, gimmicks, and dissent. Far from the charts, the selected tracks display a great creative freedom, often backed by corrosive humor. Welcome to the surprising, kaleidoscopic, and colorful world of the late sixties and early seventies, Wizzz!
Born in Montauban, Robert Pico stumbled into music by chance when he met René Vaneste, then artistic director at Pathé-Marconi. René brought him to Paris to record his first 45 RPM EP in 1964. A year later, Pierre Perret introduced him to Vogue, where he recorded his second album with Claude Nougaro’s orchestra. Sylvie Vartan then introduced him to RCA, where he recorded four singles, including the astonishing "Chien Fidèle," a track backed by a hair-rising fuzz guitar. Alongside his solo career, he also composed for other artists like Alain Delon (the song was recorded but remains unreleased), Magali Noël, Bourvil, and Georges Guétary. In the Paris of the sixties, he mingled with Mireille Darc, Elsa Martinelli, Marie Laforêt, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, Petula Clark, Régine, Dani, Serge Gainsbourg, Joe Dassin, Franck Fernandel, Charles Level, and Roland Vincent. Despite his efforts and winning a Grand Prix Sacem for his final record, Robert Pico didn’t achieve the expected success in show business and decided to leave Paris and return to the Southwest, where he devoted himself to writing. He is the author of 23 books (including Delon et Compagnie, Jean-Marc Savary Editions 2025, a memoir about his youth and his many encounters). Today, he is relieved to never have become a celebrity and devotes himself to his work with passion.
In 1969, the Franco-Italian movie Erotissimo was released, directed by Gérard Pirès (who later directed Taxi in 1998, written and produced by Luc Besson). This pop comedy features Annie Girardot, Jean Yanne, Francis Blanche, Serge Gainsbourg, Nicole Croisille, Jacques Martin, and Patrick Topaloff. The soundtrack was written by Michel Polnareff and William Sheller, with lyrics by Jean-Lou Dabadie. "La Femme Faux-cils," performed by Annie Girardot. It recounts the feelings of a rich CEO's wife who seeks to develop her sex appeal under the influence of advertisement and magazines. Groovy, sparkling and light, this track, with ITS lush arrangements humorously critiques consumer society and feminine beauty standards.
“Je suis l’Etat” (1967) is the flagship track of the first EP by singer-songwriter Spauv Georges, aka Georges Larriaga, better known as Jim Larriaga (1941-2022). Born into a family of bakers, the young man was initially planning to become a hairdresser when he discovered English-speaking music through Elvis Presley and the Beatles. After this revelation, he decided he would become a songwriter and gave himself five years to succeed. He recorded his first two EP’s independently for RCA under the pseudonym Spauv Georges; meaning “that poor George”, a nickname given to him by the mother of her friend Jean-Pierre Prévotat (future drummer of the Players, Triangle, or Johnny Hallyday). Portraying a depressed and eccentric young man, Spauv Georges created corrosive and amusing songs that didn’t reach a wide audience, despite a TV appearance with Jean-Christophe Averty.
Supported by his loyal friend and fellow songwriter Jean-Max Rivière, Georges Larriaga met the future singer Carlos in the early '70s, then Sylvie Vartan’s assistant. He wrote songs for Carlos, including the popular "La vie est belle," "Y’a des indiens partout," and "La cantine", which went onto become a huge hit in 1972. He also composed for Claude François (“Anne-Marie”, 1971), Charlotte Julian (“Fleur de province”, 1972), helped launch child singer Roméo (who sold 4 million records), and later wrote the hit "Pas besoin d’éducation sexuelle" (1975) for the young Julie Bataille. In 1971, Jim recorded an album for Disc'Az: “L’univers étrange et fou de Jim Larriaga”, which featured pop gems like “La maison de mon père”.
The story of the song "Zoé" began when Pierre Dorsay, artistic director at Vogue Records, asked Swiss singer and musician Pierre Alain to write a song for a new female singer. The inspiration came when he realized that Zoé (the artist's name) was also the name of France's first atomic battery, created in 1948, which consisted of uranium oxide immersed in heavy water! The lyrics reflect a bubbling energy that must be handled with caution, while the instrumentation echoes this atomic theme, notably with the use of a theremin.
Zoé’s career lasted only as long as a single 45 RPM, but it seems Christine Fontane was the vocalist behind this pseudonym, who is known for several EPs, a good "popcorn" album in 1964, and a handful of children’s singles in the '70s. Regardless, the photograph on the cover is of a different girl entirely.
Later, Pierre Alain continued his career, writing songs for himself, Marie Laforêt, Danièle Licari, Alice Dona, Arlette Zola (3rd place in Eurovision 1982), and achieving multiple gold and platinum records in Canada. Also an inventor with several patents, president of the Romande Academy, and head of the French Alliance in Geneva, he now composes atonal music, books, and poetry. Moreover, he is also the host of "Les Mardis de Pierre Alain" at "Le P'tit Music'Hohl" in Geneva.
Filled with oriental choruses and fuzz guitar, "Fou" is from Jacques Da Sylva's only EP released by Vogue in 1967. Despite the quality of this recording, all traces of this singer disappear after this first effort.
Valentin is a baroque pop singer born in Belgium. He is the songwriter and composer of most of the tracks on his three singles released in the late 60s in Canada. A legend says that he reincarnated himself as Jacky Valentin during the 1970s for a rock'n'roll revival career in Belgium, but his older brother sadly debunked this story. Valentin's first two singles were arranged by Claude Rogen, a Parisian session pianist who had come to Canada to promote the song “Mister A Gogo”, a cover of David Bowie’s “Laughing Gnome”, adapted by singer Delphine, his wife at the time. Far from his usual network, Claude Rogen arranged music for Polydor, including the arrangements for “Je suis un vagabond” in 1969, a jerk tune with string arrangements and a furious optimism.
Jacques Malia wrote, composed, and recorded his only 45 EP for Festival in 1966. “Histoire de gitan” is an incredible beat track with bohemian scat that tells the story of a gypsy musician who came to Paris to make it in the Music-Hall, to no avail. The hero of the song and its author probably shared a similar fate, as Jacques Malia faded into anonymity after this remarkable attempt.
Bernard Jamet recorded two EPs for Barclay in the late sixties and co-wrote several songs with Christine Pilzer, Pascal Danel, and prolific songwriters Michel Delancray and Mya Simile. The track “Raison Légale” (1968), his masterpiece, immerses the listener in a courtroom right when a murderer is being judged, with jerk rhythm and free arrangements. A unique, paranoid, judicial, and psychedelic oddity.
Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers started his career in show business in 1967 as a singer and songwriter for the Philips label. After three singles, he wrote several songs of a new kind with his friend Pierre Halioche, in the midst of the sexual liberation movement and the democratization of drugs. With provocative lyrics, “Les filles du hasard” and “Barbara au Chapeau Rose” were released on a Philips singles in 1968. The character of Barbara was inspired by a queen of Parisian nightlife during the psychedelic years: model Charlotte Martin, who dated Eric Clapton from 1965 to 1968, then Jimmy Page from 1970 to 1983. Jean-Claude Petit’s arrangements, with a table-filled intro, soul brass, and Hendrixian guitar, emphasize the flamboyance of a hedonistic and sexy character, whose dog is named Junkie because “Junkie est un nom exquis”! The track was recorded live in three takes with a full orchestra.
Upon its release, the record was censored by Europe 1 and RTL due to its references to drug use. Jean-Pierre Lebrot was then banned from the airwaves and later dismissed by his record label. He changed his artist name to Jean-Pierre Millers, while his companion Pierre Halioche became D. Dolby for a new dreamy composition, “Chilla”, which Jean-Pierre produced himself with arrangements by Jean Musy. Once again, the song was immediately censored everywhere. After this setback, he decided to stop singing and started taking on odd jobs to support his Swedish wife and their son until the day he met Jean-Pierre Martin, then production manager at Decca, who had worked with Manu Dibango. Martin offered Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers, then employed at Rank Xerox, the position of artistic director at Decca. He accepted and became, a year later, promotion director (radio, press, TV). He worked on Julio Iglesias’s first album for Decca, which became a massive hit and allowed him to meet Claude Carrère. The latter asked him to write new songs and find their performers, much like a “talent scout.” It’s through him that Jean-Pierre discovered Julie Pietri and Corinne Hermès. He composed “Ma Pompadour” for Ringo, Sheila’s husband, and took the microphone again for the syncope hit “Rendez-Vous” in 1982.
That same year, Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers tried to release a track for which he had heavily gone into debt: “Si la vie est un cadeau”. Having recorded it in London, he presented it to numerous professionals, all of whom refused to get involved. The same thing happened with Antenne 2 and the Sacem when he proposed the song as France’s entry for Eurovision. He then met Haïm Saban, who was producing cartoon soundtracks and had just launched the Goldorak theme song. Saban, having listened to the song, declared it had the potential to become a hit. He sent Jean-Pierre and Corinne Hermès to meet the CEO of the Luxembourg radio and television network. The latter received them, asked to hear a verse and chorus a cappella in his office, and immediately hired them to represent Luxembourg at Eurovision 1983. They reworked the arrangements and recorded a new version with Haïm Saban as co-producer. The song ended up winning Eurovision 1983, a great comeback for our hero. He continued producing and hung out with the band Nacash in Belgium when a couple came to introduce their daughter for an impromptu audition in a hotel room. The girl sang “Les démons de minuit” while dancing to a radio cassette. Impressed, he had her take singing lessons for a year and composed a song for her (for which he had the melody and title, but no lyrics). This required him to go on the hunt for a lyricist, who ended up being Guy Carlier. They recorded the song, which was initially a ballad, at Bernard Estardy’s CBE studio, and gave the singer a new name: Melody. They showed the song around their industry network without success. Later, Estardy called Jean-Pierre to suggest changing the rhythm and making it pop-rock. Orlando, Dalida’s brother, liked the result and decided to co-produce the track. “Y’a pas que les grands qui rêvent » became a classic hit. The song has since been covered by Juliette Armanet (as a ballad, like the original) and Valentina.
Born into an aristocratic Breton family, Hervé Mettais-Cartier worked as a DJ at Queen Kiss, a nightclub in Poitiers, where he formed the band Les Concentrés with Michel (an actor) and Christian (a radio technician). Together, they created a repertoire of whimsical songs (“Ma bique est morte”, “J’suis un salaud”, “Fils de dégénéré”...) that they performed on stage dressed in white (in homage to “concentrated milk”). They performed at Bliboquet and Olympia in 1968 for the 10th edition of the “Relais de la chanson Française” organized by L’Humanité-Dimanche and Nous les Garçons et les Filles, sponsored by Pepsi Cola. Winners in the author-composer category, alongside Danish singer Dorte, their visibility allowed them to record a 45, and appear on television in Jean-Christophe Averty’s show. The A-side of the disc features Bruno le ravageur, a casatchok dedicated to Bruno Caquatrix, the director of Olympia, nicknamed in the song “Coq Atroce” or “croque-actrices”. The B-side is dedicated to “Fils de dégénéré”, a quirky tribute to Hervé's aristocratic roots, mixing absurdity with sophisticated vocal harmonies.
After Les Concentrés, Hervé Mettais-Cartier formed the duo La Paire et sa Bêtise with his friend Olivier Robert. They performed in Parisian cabarets and toured with Pierre Vassiliu. In the late 1970s, Hervé began a solo career. He recorded two albums for the Motors label in 1978 and 1979, which did not achieve their anticipated success due to lack of promotion. In 1980, he met Bernadette, with whom he started a family and created a “Chansons à voir” (songs to see) show that he performed until his death at the end of 2024.
Publicité comes from the final EP by the Missiles (Ducretet Thomson, 1966), a disc that also includes “La (nouvelle) guerre de cent ans”, featured on Volume 4 of our Wizzz! series. Please refer to the booklet for the story of the band.
“He’s 1.82 meters tall, 28 years old, weighs 135 kg, is black and Belgian”: this is the description of singer Hegesippe on the back of his sole single (Decca, 1967). He appears on the album cover wearing a Greek toga, like a hippie gag – we are at the end of the year 1967. In “Le crédo d’Hegesippe”, this former bodyguard of Antoine and the Charlots plays the delightful card of the thick brute converted to Flower-Power and non-violence, with arrangements by Jean-Daniel Mercier, aka Paul Mille.
“Ethéro-disco” was released on a promotional record for clients of the Maréchal company (Liège, Belgium) for the New Year 1979. Over a funky rhythm, celebrity impersonations (Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Dutronc, Fernandel…) deliver an enigmatic text about pharmaceutical products like ether, bismuth, and aspartate. The track was composed by Dan Sarravah (responsible for Joanna's “Hold-up inusité” featured on Wizzz! Volume 3) and Tony Talado, who was also a singer (one 45 in 1967), songwriter (with over a dozen credits between 1964 and 1985 in various styles from surf music to disco), author (Devenez Végétarien, Dricot Editions, 1985), ad designer, and psychologist.
Décollez-les is on the A-side of Mamlouk's only single, a pseudonym for Marsel Hurten, who is known for his work on several EPs in the late sixties, as well as composing music for Hervé Vilard’s “Capri, c’est fini”, Claude Channes' “La Haine”, Annie Philippe’s “On m’a toujours dit”, and Nancy Holloway’s “Panne de Cœur”.
This strange song, with Afrobeat horns and absurd dialogues between a chef and his kitchen staff, is the result of a collaboration between Marsel Hurten and one of his neighbors, a photographer from Pavillon-sous-Bois (93), where the musician settled after returning from the Algerian War. A music video was shot to promote the record.
Marsel Hurten was born in Tourcoing (59) into a musical family. At a young age, he joined the brass band founded by his grandfather, playing the piston before studying trumpet at the conservatory, as well as teaching himself how to play the guitar. As an orchestra musician, he toured in France, Belgium, Germany, and England. He released a series of solo 45’s between 1965 and 1968 for the DMF and Az labels before stopping recording to focus on working for other artists (Gilles Olivier, Noëlle Cordier…).
“L’amour nu” (Vogue, 1971) is the work of the short-lived Belgian band Mozaïque. The track, written by singer Jacques Albin, closely resembles another of his compositions, “Carré Blanc”, which he recorded in 1969 for Disc’AZ.
Represented by the Lumi Son micro-label based in Marignane (Côte d'Azur), Jean-Marc Garrigues released two 45 RPMs in the late sixties, defending the French jerk sound. The song “Je dis Non” is a short, joyful ode to youth, pop music, and rebellion.
Songwriter and performer Jacques Penuel released three singles. The first one, “Astronef 328” (Fontana, 1969), features a dizzying series of chords punctuated by sound effects, a sci-fi story, and arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier.
We would like to sincerely thank Pierre Alain, Moon Blaha, Marsel Hurten, Bastien Larriaga, Jean-Pierre Lebrot-Millers, Bernadette Mettais-Cartier, Robert Pico, Olivier Robert, Claude Rogen, Micky Segura.
'The World in Air Quotes' is a genre-shifting style-melting kaleidoscope of art-rock, jazz, techno, folk & industrial. The God In Hackney sound like very little else from the early 2020's and whilst 'The World In Air Quotes' innovative progenitors are manifold - Eno, Coil, The Durutti Column, 1980s ECM jazz to name a few - it sounds beholden to none of them.
The God In Hackney's first album 'Cave Moderne' was Andrew Weatherall's album of the year for NTS Radio.
The God In Hackney's second LP, 'Small Country Eclipse', was album of 2020 for critic Sukhdev Sandhu of The Colloquium for Unpopular Culture: "Mordant music: stuttering, dread, black humour. A record that felt truly independent, beholden to no genre, out of step with all centres and signposted nodes."
'The World In Air Quotes' is The God In Hackney's 3rd album and their most musically emotive and lyrically inventive to date. It's an album that resonates with feelings about climate change, isolation, extinction, the social impact of technology, the flattening of history—and illuminates the darkness with imaginative rhythm, melody, noise & poetry. Songs range from widescreen, anthemic rock, to strange intricately arranged jazz-influenced songs, to abstract, textural electronic pieces. There's a strain of dark and surreal comedy too that runs through the lyrics and some of the choices the band makes in their sounds and arrangements.
The core God in Hackney quartet of Andy Cooke, Dan Fox, Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors has expanded to include American multi-instrumentalists and composers Eve Essex (Eve Essex & The Fabulous Truth, Das Audit, Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra, Peter Zummo, Liturgy) and Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, David Byrne/St Vincent, Beirut, and Lonnie Holley among many others), signalling a new and ambitious direction for the band.
The album cover features original artwork by Iranian-American artist Tala Madani, recently the subject of a career survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Advertising:
The Wire, Maggot Brain
Reviews & features:
Maggot Brain - forthcoming feature
Hi-Fi+ Magazine - album review in April 2023 issue
Dereck Higgins (You Tube review)
Sonosphere - interview / feature
Weirdo Shrine - interview
It's Psychedelic Baby - interview
Spettacolo (Italy) - feature.
Ghettoblaster Magtazine (USA) - feature
Airplay:
Gilles Peterson - BBC Radio 6 Music
Steve Lamacq - BBC Radio 6 Music
Dublab - playlisted & featured in Dublab Recommends (Los Angeles)
Cian Ó Cíobháin - RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta (Ireland)
WFMU - playlisted
Resonance FM - The Wire presents Adventures In Sound & Music
Human Pleasure Radio (New Zealand)
Pete Wiggs & James Papademetie - The Seance (Repeater Radio, Sine FM & others)
Peter Hollo's Utility Fog - FBI Radio (Australia)
Jonathan Lethem & Sam Sousa on Radio Free Aftermath (KSP Claremont 88.7)
Life Elsewhere
WRPB Princeton
In Memory of John Peel
Mike Watt's Watt from Pedro Show
- A1: Luke Abbott - More Room
- A2: Patrice Baumel - Sub
- A3: Ripperton - Echocity
- B1: Cosmin Trg - Tower Block
- B2: Pantha Du Prince - Welt Am Draht
- B3: Born Ruffians - I Need A Life (Four Tet Rmx)
- C1: Vincent Markowski - The Madness Of Moths
- C2: Ramadanman - Tempest
- C3: Phon.o - Intervall
- D1: Spherix - Lesser People
- D2: Joy Orbison - The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow
- D3: Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill
Sascha Ring aka Apparat’s work as a producer, artist, musician, live act and DJ has always been in a constant state of metamorphosis, while simultaneoulsy always managing to stay true to his trademark musical sound.
There is a unique spirit that lives within his projects and productions or rather they all have this special vision of music which becomes more distinctive with every release and spans his ‘Multifunktionsebene’ and ‘Walls’ albums on Shitkatapult, his ‘Moderat’ album made together with the boys from Modeselektor on Bpitch Control and his DJ-Kicks mix for !K7.
Following on from Kode9 and his friend James Holden, Apparat offers a wonderful mix and insight into the tracks that have influenced and roused his passion for club productions over the years as well as his current favourites in his box.
The mix includes an exclusive track ‘Sayulita’. Together with this mix, it also symbolises a nice reference point in an important chapter in Apparat’s own history – club music. This is a chapter that is by no means finished, for the more he succeeds in re-writing the narrow parameters of techno music, the more important it remains as the driving force in his life.
Anathema has spent the vast majority of their career making music that defies
description. As part of the Peaceville 3, along with Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride,
Anathema have carved a strong legacy since their inception at the turn of the 1990s,
to become a widely revered & respected band within both the metal world & beyond,
as their sound & compositions progressed from doom/death metal into more rock &
progressive territory with each subsequent release, becoming one of the UK's most
cherished & critically acclaimed rock bands.
'The Silent Enigma', Anathema's second studio album, was originally released in the
summer of '95 & was the first release on which guitarist Vincent Cavanagh took over
the vocal duties of the departed Darren White. Where Darren's vocals were guttural,
Vincent's style pushed the possibilities for Anathema onwards & upwards, with a
scope & breadth beyond his years, complimenting an ethereal roller- coaster of
thoughtful atmospherics & crushing Celtic Frost style riffs - the Swiss legends being a
notable inspiration. What emerged was a fine example of highly-atmospheric & often
emotional gothic doom, spawning classic Anathema songs such as "Restless
Oblivion", "Sunset Of Age", "The Silent Enigma" & "A Dying Wish". Lauded by the metal
press & fans alike as a doom metal classic, the album's popularity has remained a
favourite within the metal scene.
This special 30th anniversary edition of 'The Silent Enigma' is presented on limited
marble vinyl, with the vinyl mastering work carried out by Abbey Road Studios,
London.
- 1: If I Had A Boat
- 2: Hear The Noise That Moves So Soft And Low
- 3: Sparrow And The Wolf
- 4: Breaking Hearts
- 5: We Don't Eat
- 6: This Old Dark Machine
- 7: Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree
- 8: Down The Burning Ropes
- 9: From The Woods!!
- 10: And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop
- 11: Early In The Morning, I'll Come Calling
Impressed is partnering with Burning Rope Records & Faction Records to bring you an exclusive Australian pressing of James Vincent McMorrow's debut album - Early in the Morning, celebrating it’s 15th anniversary and his forthcoming tour.
Originally released in 2010, and recorded in isolation at a house on the Irish coast, James Vincent McMorrow produced every sound on the album himself, including piano, guitar, and drums - resulted in an album that captivated the world.
The album quickly garnered critical acclaim for its warmth and intimacy. Critics highlighted McMorrow's soft falsetto and the Americana/Folk influences present in the tracks. The opening song, If I Had a Boat, begins with a cappella harmonies before developing into a reflective ballad, illustrating the album’s understated style.
Rise Against melden sich mit ihrer bisher kraftvollsten und belebendsten Musik zurück. Ricochet, das am
15. August bei Loma Vista Recordings erscheint, ist das erste Album der Rockband seit vier Jahren –
und es kommt in einer Welt voller Reizüberflutung, in der Algorithmen uns wütend machen wollen: wie
ein Haufen Murmeln, der hart getroffen wird und unkontrolliert auseinanderfliegt, immer weiter, immer
schneller.
Doch über die zwölf Songs hinweg, produziert von GRAMMY®-Gewinnerin Catherine Marks (Boygenius,
Foals, Manchester Orchestra, St. Vincent) und gemixt von Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Paramore,
Queens of the Stone Age, The Killers), stellen Rise Against die Frage: Wer profitiert eigentlich von dieser
kollektiven Spaltung und Unzufriedenheit? Sie fordern dazu auf, nicht blind zu handeln, sondern die Konsequenzen unseres Handelns füreinander zu bedenken – während die Machtstrukturen, die uns lenken,
unangetastet bleiben.
Ricochet wurzelt in der Idee von Zusammenhalt – ein Album mit wuchtigem Sound, das sich auf die
kleinen Bewegungen im Inneren konzentriert, die den größten Wandel auslösen können. Alles beginnt bei
einem selbst. Und mit der explosiven ersten Single „I Want It All“ zünden Rise Against den Motor und
starten eine Mission der Selbstbestimmung – leidenschaftlich, ambitioniert und kompromisslos.
- 1: Nina’s Dream
- 2: Mother Me
- 3: The New Season
- 4: A Room Of Her Own
- 5: A New Swan Queen
- 6: Lose Yourself
- 7: Cruel Mistress
- 8: Power, Seduction, Cries
- 9: The Double
- 10: Opposites Attract
- 1: Night Of Terror
- 2: Stumbled Beginnings…
- 3: It’s My Time
- 4: A Swan Is Born
- 5: Perfection
- 6: A Swan Song (For Nina)
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet
by a prestigious New York City company. Usually described as a psychological thriller, Black Swan can also be interpreted as a metaphor
for achieving artistic perfection, with all the psychological and physical challenges one might encounter.
The original score for the film was composed by Clint Mansell, an English musician, composer, and former lead singer of the band Pop Will Eat
Itself. Mansell was introduced to film scoring when director Darren Aronofsky hired him to score his debut film, Pi. Ever since Mansell wrote the score for many of Aronofsky’s films. Notable additional film scores include The Fountain, Moon, Smokin’ Aces, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Doom, and High-Rise.
- 1: Chontaré
- 2: Entangled | Unbinding
- 3: Phenex
- 4: Dues Auditor Gemituum
- 5: The Expansive Intelligence
- 6: Ptothing | Soktū Öbū
- 7: At The Edge Of Endings
- 8: The Last Echo
Itchy-O is an experiential performance ensemble that has mesmerized audiences across the U.S. and beyond since 2009. The beating heart of this fifty-plus-strong performance troupe is a batterie of percussionists accompanied by an orchestral arsenal of avant-instrumentation. Weaving a synergistic spell, the ensemble dismantles assumptions of traditional performance models to break down the barriers between audience and performer, administering a bombast of ceremonial chaos; baptizing the audience—body, mind, and collective spirit—in an elaborate, pan-sensorial ocean of music, mystery, and transcendental spectacle.
Itchy-O has shared the stage with legends such as David Byrne & St. Vincent, while luminaries like JG Thirwell and Dan Deacon have opened for the humbled brigade. Over the years, they have energized crowds as the opening act for a slew of iconic artists including DEVO, Beats Antique, and Wooden Wisdom (Elijah Wood). Their unforgettable private engagements include a legendary performance at Maynard Keenan’s Merkin Vineyards while delighting festival audiences at Riot Fest, Biennial of the Americas, the Underground Music Showcase, and Tasmania’s world-renowned Dark MOFO with enveloping processionals, pop-up performances, and staged spectacles.
In 2024, itchy-O debuted Söm Sâptâlahn, a sold-out collaboration with the Fiske Planetarium. Named for an epic set of custom-crafted gongs cast from six hundred pounds of reclaimed brass at the School of Mines and tuned to a bespoke seven-tone scale, this project birthed this latest double album. Accessible, mysterious, and meditative, it is a bold addition to the itchy-O catalogue, sure to appeal to connoisseurs of the experimental, the contemplative, and the avant-garde.
- Beyond Compare
- Step On Up
- Meant To Be
- Possibilities
- Things
- That's Fate
- Adventure
- The Summer Of Love
- Stars Don't Lie
- Lemonade Sunset
- Magnificent
- Blame It On Your Smile
Legendary indie travellers Half Japanese return with their new album Adventure. The prolific outsider combo, helmed by the ever-optimistic Jad Fair, delivers a heartwarming set of upbeat sonnets celebrating the power of love, affection, and maturity. More than 50 years since Jad and his brother David emerged from their lo-fi bedroom in Uniontown, Maryland, USA, Adventure takes the latest incarnation of the band down new and more refined avenues. Recorded in London at Vacant TV and produced by Jason Willett and Jad, Adventure presents a more pristine and polished canvas for Jad to expand upon. The addition of Euan Hinshelwood to the sonic palette, with saxophone, harmonica, and piano, creates a smoother backdrop for the band's less lubricated sound. Lemonade Sunset is an ode to the world of wonder, a spacious overture built with melancholy in mind but relishing the positivity of life. By contrast, Step On Up revolves around a glorious rising piano motif that hints at Steely Dan if they were high on energy drinks and spinach rather than their usual tipple. It's a light-hearted evocation of the good times. Magnificent is a homage to living in the present tense, powered by the bittersweet saxophone, with a glorious piano-led sub-melody offsetting Jad's positivity: "magnificently magnificent," no less. Elsewhere, ringing percussion and sharp arrangements provide Jad with a sturdy and far reaching soundtrack to lament over. Adventure sees Half Japanese covering new ground, with Jad's considered soliloquies set in a sumptuous setting. The lineup for Half Japanese on Adventure includes Jason Willett (bass, keyboards), Gilles-Vincent Rieder (drums, percussion), John Sluggett (guitar, piano, bass), Mick Hobbs (guitar), Euan Hinshelwood (guitar, saxophone, piano, harmonica), and Jad Fair (vocals, percussion). Sadly, longstanding member Mick Hobbs passed away last year. "Absurdly underrated art-rockers" - Record Collector. * "Fair's ability to bang out music behind him is matched perhaps only by Mark E Smith" - The Wire.
- A1: Aseurai
- A2: Not A Necessity
- A3: Mandarin Tree
- A4: Get Up
- A5: Playground Song Side
- B1: Fading Star
- B2: Static
- B3: Drifting
- B4: Blue Butterfly
- B5: Goodnight
o encapsulate the themes. “Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,” Choi says. “It’s a poetic expression. You wouldn’t say it in normal conversation, but I like that.”
Following the four-piece band’s 2024 self-titled EP, Aseurai adds disco and city-pop influences while staying true to dream-pop roots. While Phoebe Rings was originally a solo project of Choi’s, Aseurai marks a shift with contributing songwriting credits from the whole band. The four musicians cut their teeth working on other notable NZ projects such as Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze, Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy,, Sea Views and Lucky Boy.
With a more ambitious collection of instruments, Choi says this album heralds the start of true collaboration: “I feel more precious about this LP because it includes everyone’s gems.” Guitar/synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent spearheads unexpected arrangements, with bold fuzzy guitar textures, to spice up the mix. Benjamin Locke adds maturity to the lyrics, paired with perfectionist bass lines. And drummer Alex Freer’s slick production soars Aseurai to diverse and synergetic heights. The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound.
If the EP was spacey, then Aseurai settles on earth, rooted in tangible moments. “Without getting too gloomy, it’s a weird world out there. A lot has changed in the world since the EP came out,” says Kavanagh-Vincent on this transformation. The album delves into hope and longing across all possibilities, and this exploration of holding on and letting go is organically threaded throughout. Across ten songs, Phoebe Ring’s storytelling ranges from tongue-in-cheek musings on gentrification to tender autobiographical memories.
아스라이 흩어지는 하늘의 별이 (May the falling light of faraway stars) / 그대의 손 끝에 닿아 숨이 돼주길 (Reach your fingertips and let you breathe),” Choi sings in the title track “Aseurai.” Imagined as a breezy track inspired by a 90’s Korean pop band, Choi discovered, when fleshing out the lyrics, that it was about yearning for people she couldn’t see anymore. In the old-school disco track, “Get Up,” Locke addresses struggles with mental health in a Matrix-inspired driven mantra: ‘Just get up / Just get up.’ The groove persists with ‘Fading Star,” a quirky ballad filled with steely jazz/rock guitar solos dedicated to a suburban aging musician. Kavanagh-Vincent’s lead single ‘Drifting’ is an unrequited celestial love song with bouncing bass and playful synths.
The band wrote, produced, and engineered the album across studios and band members’ homes in 2023/2024 in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). It features mixing/mix production by local legend Jeremy Toy (Bic Runga, Aaradnha, Princess Chelsea) and mastering by Kelly Hibbert. With Aseurai, Phoebe Rings mark out a brilliant new constellation in their sky, bringing their individual compositions to the fore whilst seamlessly threading them into one celestial body - launching skyward on Carpark Records in June 2025.
- 1: American Pie
- 2: Heaven It Cries
- 3: Tongue N' Groove
- 4: Can We Find A Way
- 5: Stuck On You
- 6: Hard To Say Goodbye
- 7: Revolution
- 8: Guck
- 9: Heat Of The Moment
- 10: Rocky Mountain Way
- 11: You're My Everything
- 12: I'm Gone
- 13: Ad-Majorem-Dei-Gloriam
Slaughter was formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988. The group was founded by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter
and bassist Dana Strum, who previously played together in the band Vinnie Vincent Invasion. The addition of guitarist Tim Kelly
and drummer Blas Elias allowed Slaughter to quickly gain attention for their lively performances, catchy hooks, and melodic guitar solos. Slaughter's debut album Stick It to Ya had three singles released that hit the Billboard Hot 100: the hit "Fly to the Angels" (US#19), and the moderate hits "Up All Night" (US#27) and "Spend My Life" (US#39). In 1992, the band released their second album, titled The Wild Life. It reached number eight on the
US Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and was certified gold, but did not produce any Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100. The only single to reach the Hot 100 was the first single "Real Love" (US#69). The band would go on to release Fear No Evil in 1995, followed up by Revolution in 1997 and their last studio album Back To Reality in 1999. Now Revolution is getting a makeover, being released in updated packaging by original artist Ioannis (Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, BOC), including a 6-Panel Digipak CD
*180g virgin leaded vinyl in a deluxe textured heavy gatefold cover, with paste-on artwork and special anti-static innersleeve.* Note: The pressing is absolute on point!!!!
Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon with a beautifully recorded suite of songs and instrumentals.
" More than two decades since he blew minds with a suite of brilliant releases on Warp, Vincent Gallo returns to the world of music at long last in Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon, with the project’s full-length debut, “The Music of Butterfly”. A gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, while interweaving fascinating flirtations with minimalism and experimentalism, it’s a truly captivating piece of work that’s hard to get off the turntable after the first needle drop.
In the arts, the lines between genius and madness, as well as fact and fiction, often blur. Such, it seems, has always been the life of the artist, filmmaker, actor, musician, and composer Vincent Gallo. A cult figure and a member of various creative undergrounds for the better part of half a century, Gallo has courted controversy, ruffled feathers, and made some of the most singular statements to flirt at the outer edges of popular culture that can be called to mind. Arguably most well known for his work in film, during the late '90s and early 2000s - notably with his soundtrack for “Buffalo 66” and a suite of releases on Warp - Gallo became something of a sensation in the world of independent music for a visionary, incredibly unique and sensitive approach to sonority. For a time, the world was abuzz, waiting on bated breath for more, and yet time passed. Bar a few fragments, appearing here and there, almost nothing has been heard from Gallo, within the world of music, for more than 20 years. That is, until now, with the release of “The Music of Butterfly”, the debut full-length of Butterfly, his duo with Harper Simon: beautifully produced and issued by Family Friend Records - Gallo’s own label, founded in 1981 - in a deluxe edition that simply left us speechless: 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve. More or less picking up from where we last encountered him, spinning captivating melodies and gentle song-craft within the quieter temperaments of DIY, left-field pop, once again, and at long last, Vincent Gallo, encountered in an incredibly successful collaboration with Harper Simon as Butterfly, reminds us that he’s as much a force within the realm of music as he is within film. Not to be missed. This one isn’t going to sit around for long.
Vincent Gallo’s biography reads like the stuff of blaring beauty: a figure of moderate fame in his own right, who has remained at the centre of cultural ferment as the decades have rolled by. Born in 1961, in Buffalo, New York, as the story goes he ran away to New York City at the age of 16 and fell into the brewing counterculture of the Downtown scene, William Burroughs and John Giorno, in addition to the cream of his own peers, and began making paintings, music, and experimenting with film. In addition to being a member of the now legendary band Gray, with the artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the filmmaker, Michael Holman, Gallo appeared in the cult 1981 film “Downtown 81”, before slowly beginning a career as an actor and catching the eye of Claire Denis, who brought his talents into the broader cultural gaze. Catapulted into the public by his own subsequent career as a filmmaker with “Buffalo '66” (1998) and “The Brown Bunny” (2003), both of which were marked by controversy and praise, Gallo further captivated the public with a partially brilliant, if not relatively brief, flurry of activity in the realms of music.
While Gallo had already been making music for roughly two decades at the time of his release of the “Brown Bunny” soundtrack, and the four release issued by Warp in rapid succession between 2001 and 2002 - “When”, “Honey Bunny”, “So Sad”, and “Recordings of Music for Film” - the almost fanatical fandom reached a fever pitch at the moment, allowing him, for some, to be regarded as much, if not more, as a musical artist than an actor and filmmaker. Anyway you cut it, in a few short years, he proved himself to be a polymath of rare talent. Somewhere along the way, while both were working as members of Yoko Ono's Plastic One Band, Gallo met the New York based, highly regarded singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer, Harper Simon, who also happens to be the son of Paul Simon. The pair fell into an incredibly fruitful duo collaboration, which came to be called Butterfly, and “The Music of Butterfly” being their debut full-length release.
Written, performed, and recorded by Vincent Gallo and Harper Simon in New York City between the winter of 2018 and the spring of 2019, the ten tracks comprising “The Music of Butterfly” are cumulatively a gesture of gentle, DIY / bedroom left-field pop, falling within the rough territory for which Gallo became renowned during the late '90s and early 2000s, making one feel like barely a moment had passed since we’d encountered his graceful hand at song-craft. Stripped back and raw, while retaining a sense of warmth and intimacy, across the length of “The Music of Butterfly” the duo of Gallo and Simon weave something completely captivating at the juncture of minimalism, experimentalism, and pop: meandering moments of texture and tone, slowly forming toward flirtations of melody that flower into song and back again. Somehow playful and light, while also remarkably emotive and personal, it’s almost as though each of these tracks crystallised out the air, unlabored and exactly as they should be without a note or beat more.
An engrossing immersion into both Gallo and Simon’s remarkably accomplished minds, having followed the path toward one another after radically different experiences and careers, “The Music of Butterfly” is one of those records that’ll be hard to get off the turntable after that first needle drop, and rarely leave the listening pile for some time to come. Issued by Family Friend Records in a beautiful deluxe edition that is unmatched even among the most stunning recent productions we can call to mind - 180g vinyl in textured heavy gatefold cover with paste-on artwork and thick anti-static innersleeve - it’s lovely to have Gallo back in the musical mix after so many years. "
Deafheaven have shared details of their new album Lonely People With Power - set for release March 28th via their new label home, Roadrunner Records alongside releasing the first single from the record ‘Magnolia’.
Recorded with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen St. Vincent, M83, Lonely People With Power follows Deafheaven’s 2021 studio album, Infinite Granite, which saw the GRAMMY-nominated band charting new ground and expanding stylistic boundaries. On Lonely People With Power, Deafheaven again confound expectations, piling element on element, and towering towards the sky with their most ambitious release yet. Tracked at EastWest Studios, Lonely People With Power includes additional vocal contributions from Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher and Paul Banks of Interpol.
The band return to the UK in June to play Manchester’s acclaimed Outbreak Fest.
- Prologue Amateur
- Sax Addict
- Otre Soleil Est Mort
- Tinder Surprise
- Igor Stravestit
- Amoureuse
- 5: Th
- Ok Boomer
- Ouais
- Je Cours
- Conversation
- Laura Palmer
- Yaourt A L'italienne
- T'es Ou?
Back in the day, when he was the drummer for Poni Hoax, Vincent Taeger would sing in French whatever came to his mind backstage after concerts, just for fun, to amuse his friend the late Nicolas Ker. Since then, time has flown by, undoubtedly bringing its share of ups and downs. Nonetheless, today, this artist with a long career is finally releasing his debut album as a singer, OK Crooner. It's indeed an album for a singer, but also one for a musician. For this part, Taeger doesn't come alone; he brings along the Jazz Kamasutra, a sexy sextet that knows how to play everything and will later accompany him on stage. To get to this point, Vincent Taeger had to stop playing around with big names like Air, Damon Albarn, Justice, Lenny Kravitz, Skepta, Tony Allen, Oumou Sangaré, Jeff Mills, Archie Shepp, Sampa the Great, Andrea Laszlo de Simone... More than half of the major artists with whom he once collaborated, contributing to their albums or simply laying down a drum, bass, or any other heavy instrument line. Before OK Crooner, he also transformed into Tiger Tigre. This roaring alias was used for a first solo album, instrumental and so deep that one might have thought the ghost of François de Roubaix had taken shape. But that was before, before this exceptional musician decided to dive into the vast ocean of French variety to give a sequel, a culmination to this project. During COVID, Vincent Taeger started frantically listening to Souchon, Chamfort, Gotainer, and Christophe. Inspired by his elders, while not renouncing his attachment to the meticulous arrangements reminiscent of Alain Goraguer's soundtracks, he picked up a pen to jot down snippets of songs to accompany his increasingly sophisticated compositions. And the worst part is that he enjoyed it! Coming from rap, he has a knack for punchlines. Throughout the album, he delivers just as many harsh or soft words as good ones, alternating between risqué humor, Gaulish wit, and poetry. Partially recorded at Studio Ferber, but mainly at home with his partner, known by the alias La Plongée, who co-produced the album for the occasion, OK Crooner is a key album in Vincent Taeger's discography. Besides being the one where he finally unveils his voice to the public, without pretense as it is prominently featured and minimally, if at all, retouched, Taeger also offers music that suits him perfectly. Sharp yet accessible, jazz, pop, baroque, classical, modern, and resolutely marked by Tony Allen's legacy, which he daringly mixes with Beethoven in the Fifth Symphony. His alter ego, Vincent Taurelle, with whom he has produced many albums, took care of mixing this one.
- One Half Of A Dream
- I Wanted To Belong
- If Nothing Is Real
- Mournful Moon
- Ninna Nanna
- Borne On The Wind
- Go Where Your Eyes
- Shadows Are
- North And South
- By Your Hand
The New Duo Album by Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko: Our Calling Two decades after their very first collaboration, British-Italian folk songwriter Piers Faccini and Malian kora virtuoso, Ballaké Sissoko return with a mesmerizing album: Our Calling. Set for release in February 2025, this fascinating dialogue between a virtuoso instrumentalist at the peak of his powers and an inspired songwriter and wordsmith, succeeds in creating new song forms with a lightness of touch that bridges continents and plays with tradition.Through ten exquisitely crafted tracks, Our Calling is a sonic and narrative praise song for migration in all its forms. The two friends"s entirely acoustic dialogue was recorded in Paris side by side and live in the studio over five days. The album"s originality is that it feels deeply Malian at i s musical core, all the while being seamlessly infused with an essence of folk songwriting, sung in the English language. Recorded by Frédéric Soulard (Shapes of the Fall), the album unites an extraordinary cast of musicians, including Vincent Segal, Badjé Tounkara, and Malik Ziad.
- A1: Où Mène La Nuit
- A2: Adorer Feat Thomas De Pourquery
- A3: Aïeul Inconnu
- A4: Jeune Versant Feat. Malik Djoudi
- A5: Le Fil
- B1: Fleuve Des Âges
- B2: Pas Lents Dans La Neige
- B3: Elle S’envole
- B4: Party
- B5: Rappelle-Toi Feat. Rozi Plain
Fragility, modesty, delicacy... Frànçois’ voice evokes illustrious contemporaries, from Devendra Banhart to Vincent Gallo, whose vocal inflections sometimes echo behind the uniquely French timbre.
Artists like Malik Djoudi with his captivating pop, in-demand jazzman Thomas de Pourquery, and British folk artist Rozi Plain all lend their talents to Âge Fleuve. These three delightful collaborations blend seamlessly into the album’s 10 tracks. But the album’s fluidity is also felt in the flavor of certain compositions, like the upbeat “Où mène la nuit,” a kind of mystical inquiry into the whirlwinds of youth. Then there’s “Aïeul inconnu”, whose apparent melancholy pairs perfectly with its elegant groove. “Adorer”, the duet with Thomas de Pourquery, is an uplifting track that jumps wholeheartedly into the joy of living in the “present moment”.
Âge Fleuve—or rather, a “liquid inspiration”— is built on a heritage of memory. And when one delves into the mystery of this heritage, the answer becomes clear: “We’re here, under this part of the river, further downstream. Everything communicates, everything is in motion.” In other words, an album flowing through the river of our sensory, intimate, and universal heritage.
“Empathogen is the sixth studio album from WILLOW. This release sees WILLOW moving in a new alternative & jazz tinged direction following her widely praised 2022 release COPING MECHANISM. The album includes features from Jon Batiste and St. Vincent.”








































