Cerca:voices of black

Satisfaction comes in many forms. When the magical word Motown is uttered, most people are hard-wired to The Four Tops, the Temptations and The Supremes. But to reduce Motown to the effervescent sixties is only part of the label’s remarkable legacy.
By the 1970s, a different sound was gathering. America was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The Vietnam War had been a disaster, urban street crime was epidemic and the nation’s college campuses were alive with political resistance. The joyful hope that had inspired “Baby Love” now felt anachronistic and out of time.

The music industry was changing too. The vinyl pop single on 45rpm which had been the staple of Motown’s success was being challenged by concept albums.   This was the era of Edwin Starr’s anti-war album War and Peace (1970), The Temptations mind-bending Psychedelic Shack (1970) and Marvin Gaye’s state-of-the-nation classic What’s Going On (1971).
By the early 1970s Motown had a stable of male vocalists that was arguably the best in the world, among them former lead singers from The Temptations - David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards and Eddie Kendricks. Alongside them singer-producers like Leon Ware and Frank Wilson were asserting their presence.

David Ruffin’s “Crime in the Street” captured the epidemic of violence in Detroit allowing his exquisite voice to quietly rage against gun crime. Recorded a few years before his underground classic “Rode by the Place”, both sound more modern today than when they were recorded.
If there is a common thread here, it’s the mid-tempo shifting soul soon to be christened as “quiet storm” including groups on the margins of Motown such as The Originals and The Fantastic Four led by the impassioned “Sweet” James Epps.
Just to keep you satisfied, immerse yourself in the overlooked creativity of Detroit’s male voices in the early 1970s.

Limited 180g black vinyl (500 copies worldwide)
“Marcel Wave combine sharp-eyed Northern lyricism with DIY guitar-janglers rooted in a retro C86 aesthetic. Epic finale ‘Linoleum Floor’...is a gloriously bleak rumination on the horrors of enforced late-night hedonism worthy of prime Pulp” UNCUT
Marcel Wave write eulogies for tragic actresses, ancient riverbeds and concrete obscenity. Their inaugural sonic instalment ‘Something Looming’ is part trades club symphony, part itchy serenade, and part wistful lament. As their heady concoction of ‘Meades meets Pat-E-Smith meets Kirklees Borough Council’ gets prepped to be formally baptised on a dank stage near you, Upset the Rhythm and Feel It Records have dutifully stepped in to deliver its songbook to the masses on both sides of the pond.
Formed when Lindsay Corstorphine and Christopher Murphy of Sauna Youth and brethren Oliver and Patrick Fisher of Cold Pumas were summoned by northern ink-slinger Maike Hale-Jones, Marcel Wave’s debut offering is a walk through a smoke-filled pub with yellowing wallpaper and all eyes on you. It’s a chronicle of the death of the docklands, the decline of industry, of the high street, of civic pride, of civilisations, of hopes and dreams. As Hale-Jones delivers the bad news in her low, West Yorkshire brogue, Corstorphine adds the bells and whistles via the frantic pulsations of a wheezing Hohner organ in tandem with Fisher O’s rasping guitar. MW are completed by the throbbing basslines of Murphy and Fisher P’s fervent rhythms.
The title itself sets the tone for the listener. There’s a sense of foreboding in Hale-Jones’ lyrics which sit at the quintet’s core—elegiac, sardonic and piquant in equal measure. A mixture of narrative epilogues and inward paeans, her words weave tales across a broad thematic church. Crooked tales of urban renewal and the voices left behind are probed in ‘Barrow Boys’ and ‘Stop/Continue’ and are at the fore in ‘Where There’s Muck There’s Brass’ with its refrain lamenting ‘Concrete and slate shine in the rain, cities destroyed, nothing to gain’. In these lyrics, tower blocks loom over terraced houses with the same shadows that the Hollywood sign casts over Peg Entwistle before she takes her tragic leap. ‘Peg’ and ‘Elsie’ are both meditations on two different actresses with different fates crushed by the cut-throat trappings of showbusiness: ‘The mad hopes break, fragile as glass. She traded it all, for the cutting room floor.’ A snaking, existential dread also runs through the album, stated more obliquely in the otherwise poppier interludes of the title track ‘Something Looming’ and album opener ‘Bent Out of Shape’, and present too on the comparatively ramshackle ‘Discount Centre’, where Hale-Jones reports ‘On a mini bus on the outskirts of Enfield, I’m losing all of my spark’. On the album closing weeper ‘Linoleum Floor’, it is laid barer still—a keyboard-led reflection on the deflating nights out of our early-twenties.
Marcel Wave invites the listener to dance to society’s decline, and then to later weep into its lukewarm pint.

With his honeyed falsetto, Horace Andy has long been considered one of roots reggae's most inimitable voices. His signature tune, "Skylarking," is one of a handful of songs that can be instantly recognized by even the most casual of reggae fans. Making his debut with producer and mentor Phil Pratt at the age of sixteen, Andy's expressive vocal style is immediately distinctive, bearing the soulful influence of American artists Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson as well as fellow countryman Alton Ellis.

1975's Get Wise collects a series of singles produced by Pratt including versions of hits "Money, Money" ("Root Of All Evil") and "Zion Gate" ("I Don't Want To Be Outside"). Recorded between 1972 and 1974, these sides were captured at legendary studios Channel One, Black Ark, Dynamic Sound and Randy's Studio 17 with house engineers Ernest Hoo Kim, Lee Perry, Carlton Lee and Errol Thompson at the helm.

Originally released on Pratt's Sunshot label, the album doubles as a showcase for The Soul Syndicate Band, a typically ad-hoc session group which featured Sly & Robbie, Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Earl "Chinna" Smith, among others.

Get Wise delivers ten tracks of Andy's finest material and should be in the collection of any aficionado of the classic '70s Kingston sound. Liner notes by JR Gonne.

DJ Support: Black Coffee, Ame x Dixon, Solomun, Osunlade, &ME, Rampa and Pete Tong

MoBlack return with another killer 4 track sampler featuring some of their biggest recent releases.

Limited release act fast!

Emerging from the shadows with a sound both haunting and hypnotic, the mysterious one-man French act Closed Mouth (Yannick Rault) unveils You Don’t Need a God—an unrepeatable EP that stands as the spiritual heir to the legacy of compatriots Trisomie 21, Little Nemo, and Babel 17. With icy synths, ghostlike vocals, and melancholic guitar lines veiled in mist, this record conjures the same cinematic introspection that defined the golden era of European coldwave and post-punk. Each track plays like a transmission from a forgotten dream—enigmatic, emotional, and unmistakably timeless. This is not mere revivalism; this is the continuation of a mood, a vision, and a sound that still resonates with profound intensity. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially remastered and mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

Car Button Cloth' is an extraordinary affair of musical and emotional extremes, a soundscape spanning “the most beautiful piano-led mourning in the history of the broken heart” that switches into perky jangle-pop for fleeting moments and contains the ultimate self-deprecating classic ‘The Outdoor Type’, penned by Smudge cohort Tom Morgan, as well as a cover of the bluegrass standard ‘Knoxville Girl’ and ‘If I Could Talk I’d Tell You’ co-written with The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly. All bases are covered. “One of the most distinctive voices of the ‘90s” The New York Times. To further unravel where Evan’s head was at during the period of its creation, this deluxe double album comes with a record of exquisite and typically eclectic scene setting covers that occupied B-sides and alternative format versions, plus other super rare offcuts, live takes and remixes. A diet of Volcano Suns, Glen Campbell, The Jacobites, The Sir Douglas Quintet and Whitney Houston influenced Evan’s thinking and added further colour to an album that remains something of a Dorian Gray-style masterpiece. The first side of extras is rounded off with the never before released ‘Arise’, originally set for the remake of Great Expectations and later realised as Rancho Santa Fe on solo album ‘Baby I’m Bored’.

Red/Black marbled vinyl. With ,We Do It Out of Love," acclaimed harmonica player Alex Rossi delivers a heartfelt and masterfully crafted tribute to jazz legend Toots Thielemans - one of the most influential voices ever to grace the chromatic harmonica. This album features a carefully curated selection of pieces that reflect the full emotional and musical range of Thielemans' legacy - lyrical, virtuosic, and deeply moving. Highlights include the evocative ,Waltz for Sonny," the tender ,I Do It for Your Love," and Pat Metheny's rhythmically vibrant ,Better Days Ahead" - all reimagined with fresh arrangements that honor the original spirit. Alex Rossi captures the essence of Toots' sound while adding his own voice, bridging past and present with stylistic sensitivity and precision. He is joined by a stellar lineup of internationally acclaimed harmonica players: Antonio Serrano, Gabriel Grossi, Grégoire Maret, Franco Luciani and Olivier Ker Ourio - each bringing their unique sound and deep respect for Toots' musical heritage. ,We Do It Out of Love" is more than just a tribute - it's a global celebration of the instrument Toots Thielemans elevated to poetic heights. A soulful, resonant homage filled with admiration, artistry, and, above all, love.

Hip-hop legend Ice Cube finally returns with his latest studio album “Man Down” – a hard-hitting statement that once again proves why he remains one of the most vital voices in rap today. With “Man Down”, Ice Cube delivers a powerful project that dives deep into today’s social realities, both musically and lyrically. Fans can expect raw lyrics, strong production, and real stories from one of the most inflfluential MCs of all time.

Exclusively for collectors and true fans: “Man Down” is available in several formats: Black Double Vinyl, Limited Marbled Double Vinyl, Music Cassette

Hip-hop legend Ice Cube finally returns with his latest studio album “Man Down” – a hard-hitting statement that once again proves why he remains one of the most vital voices in rap today. With “Man Down”, Ice Cube delivers a powerful project that dives deep into today’s social realities, both musically and lyrically. Fans can expect raw lyrics, strong production, and real stories from one of the most inflfluential MCs of all time.

Exclusively for collectors and true fans: “Man Down” is available in several formats: Black Double Vinyl, Limited Marbled Double Vinyl, Music Cassette

Black Vinyl LP. The world has changed, we shouldn't try and pretend otherwise. While we were shut away in isolation our routines shifted, social patterns evolved, and our hopes and dreams were twisted into cobwebs we're still trying to wipe from our fingers. Ziúr tentatively approached this on her last album Antifate, an ambitious and complex hybrid pop fever dream that looked back to a Medieval escapist fantasy as the scent of revolution seemed to hum in the air. But when restrictions were eased, she found herself staring down a discombobulated society that had trapped itself in a spiral of microwaved nostalgia and detached, narcotic repetition. Eyeroll then is Ziúr's musical panacea, a tincture to wake us from our creative slumber and prompt external connection and reflection. It's a polyphonous hex that demands human interaction, and Ziúr's hand-picked alliance of collaborators - Elvin Brandhi, Abdullah Miniawy, Iceboy Violet, Juliana Huxtable, Ledef, and James Ginzburg - each provide distinct voices that together herald a bewildering sonic epoch. Ziúr's palette had to evolve to match the scope of the project, but it was pure necessity that informed the album's defining tone. Recording mostly at night, Ziúr was conscious of the noise she was making so developed a unique way to record organic percussion. Using a set of rototoms - low profile tunable drums - she scratched, scraped and gently tapped the skins to build up the undulating and unstable rhythmic backdrop for each track. It's the first sound we hear on the opener 'Eyeroll', rattling like lost marbles against Elvin Brandhi's primal croaks and screams. And when Brandhi's twisted articulations form words, Ziúr matches the energy with chaotic thuds and serrated blasts of saturated electronics. "I roll the shittiest cigarette," she squeals like she's about to start a mosh pit at Paris's GRM Studios. Without pause, Abdullah Miniawy takes over on 'Malikan', building on the promise of material with Simo Cell, Carl Gari and HVAD with corrosive trumpet blasts and charged, politically incendiary Arabic vocals. Inspired by pre-Islamic poetry and the Qu'ranic chanters he heard growing up in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, he spins labyrinthine stories that cross between the worlds, breaking down physical and spiritual borders simultaneously. Miniawy's scope is expanded even further on his second collaboration, 'If The City Burns I Will Not Run'. "If it rains and the city drowns," he utters over gaseous electronics, "I will not run away, but I will be anxious for the heart of one close to me." After a supple vocal turn from Manchester's Iceboy Violet on 'Move On' and a surreal interlude from poet- DJ-artist-theorist Juliana Huxtable on '99 Favor Taste', Brandhi returns with two more hyperactive collaborations: ,'Nontrivial Differential' and 'Cut Cut Quote'. On the former she slices into Ziúr's skeletal jazz eruptions, screaming and crooning interchangeably, fluxing between the rap battle and the cabaret. The latter is completely different meanwhile, with Brandhi settling into her role as front-woman and groaning dizzying improvised passages that sound like grunge crossed with psychedelic no-wave. Brandhi's spiky musical history has prepared her well for this collaboration; she's a prolific producer and has been using her voice spontaneously since debuting with father-daughter improv duo Yeah You in the mid 2020s. She's found an ideal foil in Ziúr, a producer who matches her restless energy and willingness to bend formality, and leaves an indelible mark on Eyeroll. But the album's most tender moments are from Ziúr herself, who winds the album down on 'Hasty Revisionism', growling over collapsible beats and cascading strings, and comes to an unexpected conclusion with country coda 'Lacrymaturity'. Its feverish amalgamation of country music and euphoric, experimental electronics might seem incongruous at first, but in context with the rest of the album is the only possible conclusion. With Eyeroll Ziúr is making a firm statement about togetherness, humanity, and the renewal of hope when all seems lost. By bringing together such a wide but philosophically harmonic team of collaborators, she's conducted a body of work that speaks to the creative fringe in no uncertain terms. Now's the time to throw away what you think you know, and build bridges you didn't think you need. Now's the time for action. She may have spent her entire career avoiding the solipsistic trappings of "queer art", but by assembling a communal statement that questions so many normative assumptions about music, politics, and beyond, Ziúr has chanced upon her queerest album yet. Cringe? Eyeroll.

Black Josh continues to carve out his own lane with YSL Bootleg, a project that encapsulates his unique presence in underground rap while setting its sights far beyond any imposed labels. This is a release built on the foundations of collaboration and a genuine community of music makers—his years spent with Levelz, the legendary Manchester-based collective that blurred the lines between rap, grime, and rave culture, shaping a generation of artists, and Cult of The Damned, a crew of rappers who raised him, cultivating an audience that has seen him regularly pack venues and tour the UK, AUS and NZ.

The project captures Josh’s signature blend of sharp wit, undeniable Mancunian cadence, and layered references that land harder for those from the North West. It’s the next step for an independent artist who has never signed a record deal yet has amassed millions of streams across tracks like Paul Scholes, Own Ting (featuring Eliza and Jesse James Solomon), and the Skepta-produced, Cigaweed.

This is the first full-length project Josh has released since supporting Danny Brown on tour, an opportunity that saw him sharpen his already unruly stage presence under the mentorship of one of rap’s most unpredictable voices. Their pairing made perfect sense—two outspoken, off-kilter artists with a mutual disregard for convention. That energy is embedded in YSL Bootleg.

The project includes Council Pop featuring Sly Moon, a track that has been doing the rounds since its release last year. A lead single, Aw, Here it Goes, drops Friday February 28th ahead of the full release.

Garfield (track 8), incorporates a genuine jazz breakdown—an unexpected but fitting evolution from the days of sweaty, beer-stained basement shows that were a rite of passage for a young Black Josh. The production across the tape reflects Josh’s versatility, with tracks produced by Blah mastermind Lee Scott and longtime collaborator Sumgii.

With YSL Bootleg, Black Josh once again proves that his music is on his own terms—crafted with his peers, rooted in Manchester but designed to travel far beyond.

Far above the skylark sings And beats the air with joyful wings Till all the sky with music rings At high noon of the day With 2022's critically acclaimed album Ghosts, enigmatic Shropshire group HARESS markedout their own place in a growing landscape of artists navigating the world of the traditional and the rural in new ways. Ghosts led to the normally reclusive Haress venturing out from their base in the Shropshire Hills for live performances with the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Shovel Dance Collective, Big Brave, Steve Von Till and appearances at Supersonic and Krankenhaus Festivals - not to mention making fans of everyone from Kevin Martin to James Holden in the process. Skylarks is perhaps the natural conclusion of these past few years for the group. Whereas previous Haress recordings have embraced something of the unknown in the process of their making, Skylarks sees a well-travelled group of musicians carefully craft long and expressive pieces of music in a powerful and instinctual way. The music here might be long, but it never sprawls out of control. The telepathy present in live performance has been harnessed and used to carefully compose and arrange these four pieces, narrating a journey through landscape and time that is as powerful as it is beautiful. Inspired by found folk songs, the power of nature and the power of community and Ben Myers' brutal tale of resistance The Gallows Pole, Haress have created a genuinely epic soundtrack to a world both past and future, real and imagined. The ambience and atmosphere of the recording (expertly captured by Phil Booth of JT Soar Studio on location in the group's hometown of Bishop's Castle) is entirely natural, the sound of an ensemble playing live in the room around you. The only vocal interjection this time comes from a choir of voices, replicating the communal singing that has been the centrepiece of Haress live performances. When the voices emerge, it feels truly euphoric and heavy. Not heavy as in metal, but heavy as in the Earth itself - a primal, joyful gut punch to the system. "This blissed-out psychedelia is not quite pastoral – there’s nothing twee about these unwinding grooves – yet evokes water and wood, light and shadow, a place of forgotten labour and the absent human form with a beguiling grace" - Luke Turner on Ghosts, The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2022 "That timelessness of the old sounds but with an added tripped out modernity and dissonance hooked into the past by the power of drone is magical and exhilarating stuff – they are truly spellbinding – ancient and modern like British ragas or a damp searching for the soul of England take on the desert blues of a Tinariwen" - Jon Robb reviews Krankenhaus Festival 2023, Louder Than War

Mit ihrem vierten Album "Confessing Darkness" erweitern IMHA TARIKAT erneut alle Grenzen des Black Metal, ohne dabei die enge Verbindung zu dem harschen Stil zu verlieren. Das Genre war von Anfang an deutlich weniger eng definiert, als es eifersüchtige Gatekeeper und juvenile Sittenwächter oftmals unterstellt haben. Die deutschen Black Metal Erneuerer haben von Anfang an zahlreiche der Möglichkeiten genutzt, die das Genre zu bieten hat, und sich doch hörbar ihre eigenen Klangräume erschlossen. Ihr tonales Königreich ruht im Wesentlichen auf zwei Säulen: Musikalisch prägen ein unerbittlicher Vorwärtsdrang und eine unbändige Leidenschaft ihren Sound. "Confessing Darkness" entfesselt sogar noch mehr von dieser rohen Energie als jemals zuvor. Das andere tragende Element besteht aus einer tiefen emotionalen Intelligenz, die das Potential des Black Metal voll ausschöpft, jedes erdenkliche Gefühl auszudrücken - von der reinen Liebe bis zum finstersten Hass, von schweren Depressionen bis zu unbändiger Freude. Auch auf "Confessing Darkness" beruhen diese persönlichen Bekenntnisse auf nichts als der Wahrheit. Dabei hat IMHA TARIKATs lyrischer und musikalischer Kopf, Kerem Yilmaz alias Ruhsuz Cellât, das gesamte Album erstmals komplett im Studio aufgenommen, was dem Sound zugute kommt. Yilmaz hat sich zudem für kürzere, schärfere Attacken entschieden. Die Stücke auf "Confessing Darkness" kommen direkt und zügig auf den Punkt, und lassen sofort wieder los, sobald sich ihre zerstörerische Kraft voll entfaltet hat. IMHA TARIKAT präsentieren sich auf "Confessing Darkness" hörbar gereift. Obwohl ihrer Klanggewalt aufgrund von Erfahrung und hart errungenem musikalischen Wissen etwas von ihrem jugendlichen Ungestüm abgegeben hat, gewinnen die deutschen Black Metal Aufsteiger dadurch erheblich an Durchschlagskraft und Überzeugung. "Confessing Darkness" markiert zweifellos einen musikalischen Meilenstein für IMHA TARIKAT.

Aus dem kalten Mark der geheimnisvollen und verehrten norwegischen Black-Metal-Szene geschnitzt, beschwören Gaahls Wyrd eine fesselnde Verschmelzung von Chaos und Schönheit. Unter der beherrschenden Präsenz von Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal erschafft die Band eine weitreichende Saga des Sounds - sowohl ursprünglich als auch transzendiert.

Mit Braiding the Stories begeben sich Gaahls Wyrd auf eine alchemistische Reise durch die Reiche des Bewusstseins und der Träume und erschaffen eine klangliche Erzählung, die den nahtlosen Tanz zwischen dem Gesehenen und dem Ungesehenen erforscht. Jeder Track ist eine tiefgründige Erforschung der Schleier der Realität und kristallisiert das Ephemere durch die kraftvolle Verbindung von philosophischer Introspektion und kühner musikalischer Komposition. Von den eindringlichen Echos von "The Dream Master" bis zur ätherischen Resonanz von "Flowing Starlight" lädt das Album den Hörer ein, seine labyrinthischen Klanglandschaften zu durchqueren - ein Ort, an dem sich nachdenkliche Melodien mit intuitiver Kraft kreuzen. In diesem Bereich kanalisiert Gaahls Wyrd rohe lyrische Introspektion und starke klangliche Fähigkeiten, geführt von den geschickten Händen von Ole "Lust Kilman" Walaunet, Andreas "Nekroman" Salbu und Kevin "Spektre" Kvåle.

Im Herzen des Albums liegt eine Reise der Selbstfindung, die von der zeitlosen Stimme Gaahls durchdrungen ist und den Hörer dazu einlädt, nicht nur zu hören, sondern zu erleben, zu reflektieren und zu transzendieren.

- Die mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten norwegischen Metal-Maestros Gaahls Wyrd präsentieren ihr faszinierendes zweites Album "Braiding the Stories". Dieses introspektive und ätherische Projekt überbrückt die Reiche des Bewusstseins und der Träume durch eine starke Mischung aus philosophischer Introspektion und kühner musikalischer Komposition.

- Angeführt von der beeindruckenden Präsenz des legendären Sängers Gaahl (Kristian Espedal) und unterstützt von Gitarrist Lust Kilman (Ole Walaunet), Bassist Nekroman (Andreas Salbu) und Schlagzeuger Spektre (Kevin Kvåle) verschmilzt die Band kunstvoll Chaos und Schönheit und findet im esoterischen Extreme/Black Metal-Genre großen Anklang.

- Braiding the Stories wurde im Solslottet Studio produziert und ist mit einem anspruchsvollen Cover von Øivind Myksvoll versehen.

FFO: Mayhem, Wardruna, Gorgoroth, Enslaved

Aus dem kalten Mark der geheimnisvollen und verehrten norwegischen Black-Metal-Szene geschnitzt, beschwören Gaahls Wyrd eine fesselnde Verschmelzung von Chaos und Schönheit. Unter der beherrschenden Präsenz von Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal erschafft die Band eine weitreichende Saga des Sounds - sowohl ursprünglich als auch transzendiert.

Mit Braiding the Stories begeben sich Gaahls Wyrd auf eine alchemistische Reise durch die Reiche des Bewusstseins und der Träume und erschaffen eine klangliche Erzählung, die den nahtlosen Tanz zwischen dem Gesehenen und dem Ungesehenen erforscht. Jeder Track ist eine tiefgründige Erforschung der Schleier der Realität und kristallisiert das Ephemere durch die kraftvolle Verbindung von philosophischer Introspektion und kühner musikalischer Komposition. Von den eindringlichen Echos von "The Dream Master" bis zur ätherischen Resonanz von "Flowing Starlight" lädt das Album den Hörer ein, seine labyrinthischen Klanglandschaften zu durchqueren - ein Ort, an dem sich nachdenkliche Melodien mit intuitiver Kraft kreuzen. In diesem Bereich kanalisiert Gaahls Wyrd rohe lyrische Introspektion und starke klangliche Fähigkeiten, geführt von den geschickten Händen von Ole "Lust Kilman" Walaunet, Andreas "Nekroman" Salbu und Kevin "Spektre" Kvåle.

Im Herzen des Albums liegt eine Reise der Selbstfindung, die von der zeitlosen Stimme Gaahls durchdrungen ist und den Hörer dazu einlädt, nicht nur zu hören, sondern zu erleben, zu reflektieren und zu transzendieren.

- Die mit einem Grammy ausgezeichneten norwegischen Metal-Maestros Gaahls Wyrd präsentieren ihr faszinierendes zweites Album "Braiding the Stories". Dieses introspektive und ätherische Projekt überbrückt die Reiche des Bewusstseins und der Träume durch eine starke Mischung aus philosophischer Introspektion und kühner musikalischer Komposition.

- Angeführt von der beeindruckenden Präsenz des legendären Sängers Gaahl (Kristian Espedal) und unterstützt von Gitarrist Lust Kilman (Ole Walaunet), Bassist Nekroman (Andreas Salbu) und Schlagzeuger Spektre (Kevin Kvåle) verschmilzt die Band kunstvoll Chaos und Schönheit und findet im esoterischen Extreme/Black Metal-Genre großen Anklang.

- Braiding the Stories wurde im Solslottet Studio produziert und ist mit einem anspruchsvollen Cover von Øivind Myksvoll versehen.

FFO: Mayhem, Wardruna, Gorgoroth, Enslaved

Picture Disc, limited to 500 copies. THE ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM debut album 10th anniversary limited edition reissue! Brace yourselves for an unrelenting sonic assault as Antichrist Imperium featuring members of AKERCOCKE, THE BERZERKER, WEREWOLVES & VOICES unleashes their explosive debut album, a thunderous entry into the world of extreme metal. From the first blistering note to the last, this album crushes with an intensity and fervor that's almost apocalyptic. Known for their ferocious blend of thrash, black, and death metal, the band wastes no time in establishing their dominance, offering a sonic journey that is both raw and refined. With lightning-fast riffs, pounding drums, and ferocious vocals that sound like they've been dragged straight from the abyss, Antichrist Imperium delivers a relentless barrage of aggression and passion. The album's production is crisp yet full of grime, creating the perfect balance between clarity and chaos, allowing every intricacy of the band's ferocity to shine through. Lyrically, the album explores themes of apocalyptic destruction, existential rage, and the obliteration of morality told through the lens of a dystopian, anti-religious perspective. These themes resonate with a sense of inevitable doom, driving each track forward like a relentless storm that refuses to let up. The standout tracks are full of both technical mastery and ferocious energy. With riffs that will have you headbanging and beats that will rattle your very core, Antichrist Imperium sets a new benchmark for thrash metal in the modern age. It's a fusion of old-school thrash influences and cutting-edge extreme metal, creating an album that feels both nostalgic and forward-thinking. Antichrist Imperium's debut is a thrilling, no-holds-barred rollercoaster of destruction that cements their place in the pantheon of modern metal. A must-listen for fans of thrash, black, and death metal, it is an uncompromising and absolutely fiery introduction to a band that's ready to reign terror across the metal scene.

Tarja Turunen is a Finnish singer-songwriter and one of the most iconic voices in symphonic metal. She blends her classically trained soprano with metal and rock influences, creating a unique style. Since launching her solo career, Tarja has released critically acclaimed albums spanning genres from symphonic metal to classical and Christmas music. Her powerful live performances, theatrical stage presence, and global fanbase solidify her as a pioneering artist in modern music.
THE PRODUCT
The “Circus Life” concert was an unforgettable live experience, recorded with 16 musicians in a unique “In the Round” format at the circus in Bucharest. Tarja was joined by talented vocalists, including her brother Toni, and a mix of musicians from various stages of her career.
The concert captured the joy and camaraderie among the performers, with Tarja opting for a minimalistic approach to her wardrobe to prioritize the music. The whole experience, marked by togetherness and spontaneity, became a cherished memory before the world shut down in 2020. The setlist spans her career, featuring greatest hits such as “I Walk Alone”, “Until My Last Breath” and “Innocence”, as well as fan favorites like “Victim Of Ritual” and “Demons In You”, showcasing her evolution as an artist.
The show was originally included as bonus content in the strictly limited and sold-out Mediabook and Box Set of Tarja’s 2022 “Best Of: Living The Dream” release. It is now made available stand-alone as “Ltd. 2CD+Blu-ray Digipak”, featuring the 2-hour live show as audio and video, “Ltd. Black 3LP Gatefold”, including a LP-sized booklet and Blu-ray softcase.

Donny Hathaway's first studio album Everything is Everything is a significant work in the realm of soul and R&B music, released in 1970. It marked an important point in Hathaway's career and showcased his exceptional talent as a singer, songwriter, and pianist.

The album was Hathaway's first release after being signed to Atlantic in 1969. Hathaway had already built a reputation early in his life, first as a gospel singer as a child under the name Donny Pitts. Raised in St. Louis, with religious influences, his grandmother Martha Crumwell was herself an accomplished gospel singer and guitarist. After dropping out of Howard University in 1967, Hathaway moved to Chicago, his birthplace, and started working on music for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records label where he was a songwriter, producer, arranger, composer, conductor and session player.

Everything Is Everything was produced by Hathaway and Ric Powell, who plays drums and percussion on the album; Hathaway wrote or co-wrote five of the album's nine songs. Hathaway had met Powell while at Howard University, as well as the future Impressions lead singer, Leroy Hutson, who jointly wrote the hit song that would eventually make it on the album, "The Ghetto."

The track was mostly an instrumental, except for Hathaway's vocal ad-libs and his singing of the chorus. Hathaway and Hutson composed another socially conscious song for the album, titled "Tryin' Times." Other songs were split between covers (Ray Charles's "I Believe to My Soul" and Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black"), spiritual affairs ("Thank You Master for My Soul") and love songs ("Je Vous Aime (I Love You)").

Released in July 1970, the album peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.

This timeless classic is now reissued in the definitive deluxe 180-gram 45 RPM 2LP Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) format.

Samurai Music returns to the evocative sound world of Ancestral Voices for an album that splits the difference between cinematic sound design and deadly restraint at 170 BPM. Nemeton continues Liam Blackburn's exploration of ancient Celtic mysticism through snaking rhythms and snarling sound design, conjuring a high-definition sonic image of sacred groves and the druids practicing amongst them.

Blackburn's Ancestral Voices project tracks back to 2015, when he debuted on Samurai Horo with the Night Of Visions album. In stark contrast to his celebrated 140 work as Indigo, this project leaned on the inspiration of pagan spirituality to charge his vivid, advanced production style with a rich and mysterious atmosphere. While he's channelled this approach into a variety of tempos and styles, on his 2016 EP Old Earth Voodoo on Samurai Music he applied the concept to a drum & bass framework, which he returns to on Nemeton with rigorous focus.

Far from a straightforward collection of breakbeat tracks, Blackburn uses negative space and pointillist production to carve out an immersive, tense sound world around the 170 grid. He takes a widescreen approach to percussion, running from pin-prick synthesised one-shots to tumbling, organic drums you'd more readily associate with a Hans Zimmer score. Scene-building is the foremost mission across Nemeton, casting otherworldly forces in sweeps of low-end friction and dramatic melodic blooms amidst tangible real-world field recordings of flora and fauna.

Casting the mind back some 2000 years is an exercise in imagination as much as research, and Blackburn ably summons dark fantasy as he delves ever deeper into Welsh mythology with a studious zeal and avid fascination. It's that drive that makes Nemeton burst forth and take shape so powerfully, bristling with kinetic energy and a barely-concealed, strangely seductive menace that leaves a lasting impression long after the last snatch of bass has bared its teeth.

The work of each of these powerfully creative & exceptionally perceptive individuals - poet and scholar Fred Moten and jazz bassist Brandon Lopez - concerns itself with how one might navigate the ascending reign of longinstitutionalised madness while simultaneously keeping humanity and sanity intact The synergistic mesh of these two voices in Duo is here presented on record for the frst time, following two acclaimed works on the Reading Group label in trio with Gerald Cleaver. Inimitable poet, cultural theorist, author, 2020 MacArthur Fellow, Fred Moten creates new conceptual spaces that accommodate emergent forms of Black cultural production, aesthetics, and social life. Moten is a professor of performance studies and comparative literature at New York University concerned with social movement, aesthetic experiment, and Black study. He is also a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Puerto Rican- American bassist Brandon Lopez is the son of a gravedigger who himself put time in doing the same, developing muscles that serve him well in his thorough command of the upright bass. On moving to NYC, Lopez made himself indispensable within numerous realms of creative music. As the Cleveland Review of Books noted, "This is virtuosity as vocabulary, a total command of texture, subtlety, and a depth that can be reached into."

On their previous work in trio with Gerald Cleaver:

"Best Jazz Albums of 2022: Moten is after nothing less than a full interrogation of the ways Black systems of knowledge have been strip-mined and cast aside, and yet have regrown." - New York Times

"8.0 - A conceptually rich, politically weighty album that asks timeless questions without over-explaining...breathlessly complex" - Pitchfork

Fred Moten: texts, voice
Brandon Lopez: bass