Suche:was a be

Strut Records presents a fresh look at Oblivion Express, the 1971 album that marked Brian Auger’s shift into a new musical frontier. After years spent shaping the sound of British jazz-soul with the Trinity, Auger stepped into the new decade with a leaner, electrified ensemble and a renewed sense of purpose. This record captures the moment that transformation took shape.

Oblivion Express introduced a sound that was distinctly Auger’s own. Rather than echoing the fusion emerging in the United States, Auger developed a language rooted in the UK’s jazz underground, culminating in a spaced out jazz- rock / prog-fusion album awash with larger than life drum fills and Auger’s virtuosic organ playing. Between bassist Barry Dean and drummer Robbie McIntosh the album moves effortlessly between tight, articulated phrases and broader, improvisational passages. The trio’s interplay forms the backbone of the album and sets the tone for the sound that would define the early years of the Express.

Album opener “Dragon Song” launches with a restless drive that immediately signals Auger’s new direction. Auger chose to record this version of John McLaughlin’s piece (his friend and former bandmate in 'The Niddy Griddys') after hearing McLaughlin’s album Devotion during its mix at New York’s Record Plant Studios. Auger was blown away, recalling, “Oh my god, this is amazing. I wanted to record that myself - and I did!”. Pieces like “Total Eclipse” demonstrate the Oblivion Express’ command of dynamic contrast, and title track “Oblivion Express” explores the cinematic and compositional prowess of the group through stripped back, building moments vs. explosive melodic breakdowns. Riff-heavy “The Sword” later became known through Madlib’s usage in 2014 tracks “Yeti Movie” and “Parodies”.

In retrospect, Oblivion Express stands as a jazz leaning, prog-rock masterpiece and foundational moment in Auger’s catalogue. It captures the starting point of a new sound that is more focused, more urgent, and fully committed to the possibilities of jazz-rock at the dawn of the seventies. The album remains a vivid document of a band discovering its identity and setting the stage for the further array of influential releases that would follow.

I Made It All Up For You is the new record by Hugo Race Fatalists, their 6th studio album, set for release March 20, 2026 thru Gusstaff Records / Helixed on LP/CD and digital.
"In his 40-year career, Hugo Race has lived a thousand lives and played the role of songwriter, producer, musician, performer, head of a record label (Helixed). His music went from folk to lounge, from "trance industrial blues" to psychedelia, from world music to electronics. Starting from post-punk Melbourne in the 1980s, he took fascinating paths that led him from Africa to Turkey, from Berlin to Romagna…"
Hugo Race returns after highly successful collaborative albums with Michelangelo Russo (100 Years), The Church frontman Steve Kilbey (Speed of the Stars) and Gianni Maraccolo (The Vigil, winner of the prestigious Premio Ciampi) with I Made It All Up For You, an epic album with his Italian band Fatalists - existential songwriting framed by the band's signature fusion of roots music, electronica, Italian soundtracks and desert rock.
"I wanted to create something melodic and beautiful in defiance of our current reality. The songs started as bare acoustic sketches written in a remote mountain cabin in Italy where I had two weeks off during a solo tour. The weather turned into a raging blizzard, the days a struggle to keep the wood fire lit and the smoke out of the house. I wrote about twelve songs, threw them all away, started again with an unplugged electric guitar in front of that
damp fire, searching for the album's theme. When the smoke cleared, I was at the crossroads of a long term relationship unraveling under a blazing antipodean sun.
Fatalists recorded the basic tracks at the floating studio on the Puccini lake an hour out of Florence - Giovanni Ferrario (Scisma, PJ Harvey) on guitars and synth, Francesco Giampaoli (Brutture Moderne) on bass and Diego Sapignoli (Sacri Cuori) on percussion.
Violinist Massimiliano Gallo met me in Sicily for a short tour to learn the new songs, adding layers of his Calabrian magic to the mix. Jennifer Charles (singer of New York band Elysian Fields) and I had been talking for a long time about making new music and this was the occasion when we made it happen. Jennifer's distinctive voice graces this
album on the songs I Collide and Broken Love, the lyrics of which were written by author and designer Alannah Hill. My longtime road brother Michelangelo Russo also dusts the tracks with his otherworldly electric harmonica on Against The World, Born To Fly and Open Field. A lot of joy and pain and reflection went into the making of this album and I hope that comes across; this is about the darkness yes, but also the light. Everything changes and every ending is a new beginning but it's how we experience transformation that really matters. I hope you love this album. I made it all up for you."
Hugo Race, Naples, 2025

ESCAPE-ISM — the found-sound dreamdrama— are back in action & out in front. And this time, they’re leading a “Charge of the Love Brigade. ”This “charge” isn’t the traditional scramble across a muddy, bloody field though, like in the days of yore. This one is a furtive insinuation into the senses of the tuned-in listener.
Their fifth record, and fourth “sound” record — (the third one was “A Protest Against Sound”- an entirely silent LP) — “Charge of the Love Brigade” is revolutionary in its own right. Besides being packed with tunes — super-hits such as “Black Gold,” “Last Of The Sellouts,” “The Rebel Outlaw,” & “Fire in Malibu,” for exam- ple, Charge of the Love Brigade proposes a reformation of the traditional notes and scales; an entire new sound alphabet!
That’s right, ESCAPE-ISM —the “act of musical vandalism”— famous for their development of new prototypes for stomping & smashing, are reforming the scales, chords, & notes (e.g. A, B, F#, etc) that comprise musical literacy to achieve the group’s primary aim: the repurposing of music as we know it. Though many musicians of note have operated their instruments with "alternative tunings," up until now no one has obliterated tuning absolutely or abolished letter-notes for the destruction of bourgeois society.
According to ESCAPE-ISM, this will have a very profound effect: “Music will no longer be cordoned off from the rest of experience as a commodified, specialty freak show, but instead be a pastime which can be prac- ticed and enjoyed –not only by non-musicians and amateurs– but also by plant life, wild animals, and even inanimate objects such as rocks.
“The violent overthrow of musical conventions will lead to the reintegration of humanity into the natural order, the reordering of life itself into a cosmic congruity. This means the convention of time itself will be ended.” Like so-called nature itself, the ESCAPE-ISM group is also on a “loop.”
Play “Charge of the Love Brigade” and listen as ESCAPE-ISM go “over the top” against the note-letters of accepted musicality in a world premiere of a new upside-down antiscale.

Released in 1967, Open marked a bold debut for Brian Auger & The Trinity, featuring the dynamic vocals of Julie Driscoll. Music and its makers were rapidly evolving in ‘67, the UK's Jazz and R&B scenes were being influenced by pop and psychedelia and socially, musicians of many styles found common ground in London’s clubs like The Cromwellian and The Scotch Of St James where the The Beatles, US legends Wilson Pickett and Jimi Hendrix mingled with the capitals jazzers and pop stars, often loudly jamming together in even louder 'Lord Byron' shirts. 'Open' fully embraced this spirit by fusing together those genres and attitudes of the era. From the outset Auger displays his jazz rooted approach on the A side with 'In and Out' and 'Isola Natale' (later covered by one of his American jazz heroes Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes). Both showcase the Trinity's musicianship and Brian's improvisational flair. Auger himself takes on vocal duties on the raucous ‘Black Cat’, a track that became a club hit. Open is marked by its eclecticism; 'Lament for Miss Baker' is a tender, piano ballad influenced by Duke Ellington, reflecting Auger’s jazz and classical influences whilst 'Goodbye Jungle Telegraph' is a wild and crazy percussive freak out. Brian displayed not only his virtuosity but also his surrealist sense of humour with bizarre sound effects, inspired by Spike Milligan's The Goons' radio show interspersed between the tracks.

Julie Driscoll’s arrival on the album’s B side brings a sharp shift in tone. Her smoky, emotive vocals inject a soulful depth, notably on covers of Otis Redding & Carla Thomas hit 'Tramp', Aretha's 'Save Me' and The Staples Singers ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad". With original numbers 'Break It Up' and 'A Kind Of Love In' we hear the Auger / Driscoll pop infused R&B at its very best, whilst the version of Donovan’s 'Season of the Witch' stretches out into a slow-burning epic. In 2025, Open is viewed as a cult classic and testament to a unique period when genre boundaries were fluid and artistic risk-taking was the norm. Brian Auger & The Trinity’s debut captures the adventurous energy of the late 1960s. 58 years later, its importance in the development of British jazz fusion and progressive bands that followed is undeniable, with The Charlatans Tim Burgess recently commenting on Auger's Instagram that The Trinity were a 'huge influence'.

Strut Records highlights a landmark in British jazz-rock with Second Wind, the 1972 album from keyboard visionary Brian Auger and his powerhouse group Oblivion Express. Capturing a fully matured lineup, the record finds Auger expanding his fusion language - bridging jazz sophistication, funk-driven rhythm, and soul-infused songwriting with the clarity and fire that defined his early ’70s work.

Though Auger’s roots lie in the lineage of hard-swinging jazz organ and the improvisational fire of the ’60s British scene, he has never been an artist content with tradition. With Second Wind, he moves further into a hybrid language that fuses rhythm with harmonic depth and groove, without sacrificing sophistication. His playing is expansive yet precise, translating the electricity of live performance into a studio work that breathes with immediacy.

At the heart of this era of Oblivion Express is the telepathic rapport among its members. Vocalist Alex Ligertwood (in one of his earliest major recordings before Santana fame) brings a soulful intensity that feels both grounded and forward- looking. Second Wind contains tracks that have become deeply significant in Auger’s discography - original compositions Second Wind, and Truth to name a few - but it was Auger's high octane revisioning of Eddie Harris' Freedom Jazz Dance, (adding new lyrics to the original instrumental) that genuinely broke barriers. The track became a DJ friendly classic and highlighted the groups deeply original approach.

The rhythm section of Barry Dean and Robbie McIntosh balances weight and fluidity, giving Auger the space to stretch across Hammond organ, Rhodes, and keys with characteristic boldness. Their collective sound is one of seamless motion: jazz-inflected lines swelling into rock-driven crescendos, funk-leaning grooves locking with vocal hooks, moments of quiet clarity emerging between bursts of improvisation.

Second Wind stands as a pivotal moment in Auger’s discography: a record that bridges the exploratory spirit of his earlier projects with the more groove-oriented approach that would soon bring international attention. More than five decades later, it remains a vivid document of a band carving out its own language. Music born of instinct, collaboration, and a restless desire to push beyond the expected.

Often cited as the strongest Tribe 69db live recording, this cassette emerged from a tense and pivotal moment in the early 90s free party scene.
At the time, Techno Import was the largest electronic music shop in Paris, and arguably in France. The shop planned to release a CD compilation titled Sound Of Teknival, featuring Spiral Tribe. As the project progressed, disagreements over money, copyrights and control led Spiral Tribe to withdraw their approval.
Despite this, Shark Records, the label linked to Techno Import for the project, proceeded with the CD release without full artist consent. In response, 69db released a tape titled "Fuck Techno Import". This cassette stands as raw testimony to the clash between underground culture and commercial structures, capturing both the sound and spirit of an era when autonomy mattered more than compromise. Originally released in 1997, specially remastered for tape.

Chalybeate documents a month long stay by Tokyo based producer aus in Ikaho, one of Japan's most established Onsen (hot spring) towns, during autumn 2024.

Working from field-recordings captured inside multiple ryokan baths, aus synthesized the subterranean movement of the onsen's with local details: the bubbling of source water, the hoozuki lantern plants and wind chimes placed at each inn, and the surrounding insects and birds. Rather than portraying Ikaho as a landscape, the recordings trace the town's respiration.

The material was first presented on site as an installation unfolding across eight different baths, where visitors listened while soaking in roten-buro (open air hot baths). The project drew wide attention for proposing listening as a bodily act, inseparable from heat, moisture, and duration.

Chalybeate re constructs that installation as an album. The recordings were left to sit for a year within Ikaho's air and humidity, allowing the sound itself to slowly change. The title refers to Ikaho's iron rich mineral water, known as "Golden Water," which oxidizes upon contact with air and leaves rust colored traces in its baths. Following this process, the album's sound was repeatedly re submerged and re worked, gradually absorbing a corroded texture.

Tape hiss, gentle distortion, and subtle fluctuations rise quietly, like steam.
What remains is not documentation but residue.

Mixing was handed over to Manchester based producer The Humble Bee by Craig Tattersall, known for his work with The Boats and The Remote Viewer, after aus exhausted himself traversing Ikaho's steep stone steps. The exchange mirrors the work itself: from bathtub to hot spring, from sound to something that surrounds the body.

Woodwind like tape noise and the movement of water dissolve into one another.
The music does not arrive all at once. It settles slowly, as if lowering into warm water.

2026 Repress!

LIMITED EDITION SPLATTER VINYL

More Strictly Rhythm GOLD right here. An all-time, hands down, unstoppable CLASSIC record from way back - 1995 to be precise. If you don't know this record it's possible you've been in a coma, living in a cave with no electricity or have literally just arrived here on planet earth. Either way, once you hear 'Higher State Of Consciousness' you certainly won't forget it. Produced by Philly's legendary Josh Wink and released by the forward thinking A&R team at Strictly. At the time there was very little to nothing that even came close to this release. The 'Tweekin Acid Funk' mix being the highlight and the version that caught everyone's ears and captured minds worldwide across radio-waves with endless rewinds on MTV and in the clubs. Foreseeing the impending 'Breaks' boom that came around in the mid to late 90's 'Higher State...' was one of those rare moments where a record truly transcends genre boundaries and found it's way into DJ's boxes and bags on every scene. A mighty, evergreen slab of wigged out, acidic, breakbeat chaos. Essential. This one's a tasty 2017 reissue and remaster, featuring all 3 mixes, unedited, as per the original release way back when. Do not sleep.

This is another big moment for us, and if you have read the story on how the Psychology EP came to be, you will know that we spent a long time trying to track Dimension with the Fozbee & Cooz brothers.

This is my era of music, these are the tunes that I was raving to once I first got my driving license in 90/91. Its a style of music that has influenced pretty much my whole musical career. I find it fascinating that this music was basically by hip hop heads who only a year or two before would of discovered rave. A truly unique musical style and culture that could of only come out of the UK.

Check the soundfiles below and take yourself back to an illegal rave in a secret woodland in Wiltshire in 1991 where ravers, b-boys, hippies and new age travellers all partied together.

For the first time in more than a decade, Paul St. Hilaire (AKA Tikiman) presents a solo album – 100% Tiki.

Over his 30-plus year career, St. Hilaire has become one of dance music’s quietly legendary figures. Born and raised in Dominica, he moved to Berlin in 1994 and has lent both his voice and his musicianship to some of the most iconic electronic music from the German capital – and beyond. Renowned for his collaborations with Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus (AKA Rhythm & Sound), he has also appeared on records with Deadbeat, Rhauder, Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers and Stereotyp (G-Stone Recordings), amongst others.

However, few know the extent of St. Hilaire’s compositional and technical mastery. From his home studio in Kreuzberg, which includes an extensive collection of vintage hardware, self-built instruments and notebooks scribbled with endless lyrics, he has created a vast archive of material spanning ambient dub, avant-jazz, lush techno and lovers rock.

Tikiman Vol. 1 is a heady, downtempo tour de force of patois metaphors on education, displacement and personal vs. global histories, as is evident on slippy album opener “Bedroom in My Bag”: Mister, mister / Where are you going? / I’m heading for a faraway land / What are you having in the bag in your hand? / Help us to understand / He said, I’ve got my bedroom in my bag.

Overall, the album’s lyrics reflect on life between Berlin and Dominica, specifically St. Hilaire’s hometown of Grand Bay, where he has worked with various musicians famous for the island’s different genres of carnival music. St. Hilaire himself always favoured the island’s more “discrete” music, developing a sonic synergy between two different geographical strains of groove and minimalism, and combining them with foundational Caribbean mixing techniques, which provide the basis for his songwriting and distinct
baritone.

Tikiman Vol.1 offers a rare insight into St. Hilaire’s complex artistry, from the eyes-down grooves of “Little Way” and the guitar-heavy digi dancehall experiment “Keep Safe,” to the subtle hypnosis of “Ten to One” and the softly crashing synth waves of closer “Three And A Half”, evoking not only beaches but also coasts and borders. It’s a fitting expression of both the breadth of St. Hilaire’s work, as well as his history as one of the few black, Berlin-based artists who, despite remaining largely overlooked, has influenced the city’s electronic music culture since its beginnings.


Credits
Written & Produced by Paul St. Hilaire
Mastered by Stefan Betke
Artwork by Grant Gibson

Kynant Records was founded in 2015 by Richard Akingbehin, a British-Nigerian radio programmer (Refuge Worldwide), music writer and DJ. Originally specialising in deep techno and featuring artists such as Cio D’Or, Terrence Dixon and Donato Dozzy, Kynant has since launched a sub-label Kynant EX which focuses on ambient, dub and experimental electronics.

London-based sonic champion Shy One releases her long-awaited second album Mali on Errol and Alex Rita"s Touching Bass. So-called after her given name, Mali is a confident, future-facing ode to Black British electronic music and diasporic lineage. Informed by the full spectrum of London sound that she was raised on - with a vital cast of Black British collaborators including George Riley, Steve Spacek, James Massiah and Private Joy.

PAF stands for Pogo Amongst Flokati, Paranoia After Friday, Performative Awkward Feelings, Pop Against Formality, Pleasure And Fear, Post-Authentic Fantasy, People Acting Feral, Punk Agains Faschism, or whatever else you like.

PAF are a trio who overgrow punk, office disco, tiredness, fear, lethargy, tears, Baltic Sea beaches, mix-ups, crossroads, house-sitting, and Prosecco into electronic thickets that sometimes grow into danceable tracks, sometimes into intricate structures of electric bass, vocals, and synthesizers.

PAF are from Hamburg and consist of Anna G. on vocals and electronic percussion, Pia A. on the MS-20 synthesizer, and Felix R. on bass and vocals. Punk by other means—where the means break the form itself. Here now is the debut LP, following the legendary tape released on Happy Tapes from Leipzig. The cover was drawn by Raoul Dóre and printed in color. A printed inner sleeve offers the chance to read along with the lyrics. The whole thing will be available in spring 2026 on 200 well-pressed vinyl records.

Nachauflage auf schwarzem Vinyl. 22 Jahre nach ihrer ersten Veröffentlichung und 10 Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album sind Nebula wieder da. Wenn du jetzt "Holy Shit!" denkst hast du es ziemlich genau getroffen. "Holy Shit" ist Nebulas erste LP seit "Heavy Psych" (2009), und beantwortet schnell die Frage die sich stellte, seitdem Gitarrist/Sänger Eddie Glass, Bassist Tom Davies und Schlagzeuger Michael Amster 2017 die Reformierung der Band angekündigt haben: Nebula sind immer noch Nebula. Seit den Tagen der 1998er Let it Burn EP und dem mittlerweile klassischen To the Center Debütalbum waren Nebula immer nur ein wenig gefährlicher. Nur etwas mehr aus den Angeln gehoben. Holy Shit zeigt diesen von vorne nach hinten für den wesentlichen Teil ihres Charakters, der er ist, und doch versucht er nicht, etwas zu sein, was sie schon einmal getan haben, sei es bei diesen frühen Ausflügen oder Heavy Psych or Charged (2001), Apollo (2003) oder Atomic Ritual (2005). Es ist ein sechstes Nebula-Album - etwas, worauf selbst die leidenschaftlichsten Fans kaum gehofft hätten. Die Grundtracks wurden in zwei Tagen aufgenommen, aufgenommen in den Mysterious Mammal Studios in L.A. mit Matt Lynch (ebenfalls von Snail) am Steuer. Leads und Loops und Feedback-Effekte wurden von Glass and Davies live aufgenommen, als sie die Basic-Tracks aufnahmen, genau so, wie sie es auf der Bühne tun würden, und Overdubs folgten bei Bedarf. Eine Fülle von Material wurde produziert und auf den Kern dessen, was man hier hört, reduziert. Ein sechstes Nebelalbum. Und wenn du es hörst, wirst du feststellen, dass du diesen Titel immer wieder sagst. Cover Art von ROBIN GNISTA

Nachauflage auf senfgelbem Vinyl. Limitiert auf 300 Exemplare. 22 Jahre nach ihrer ersten Veröffentlichung und 10 Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album sind Nebula wieder da. Wenn du jetzt "Holy Shit!" denkst hast du es ziemlich genau getroffen. "Holy Shit" ist Nebulas erste LP seit "Heavy Psych" (2009), und beantwortet schnell die Frage die sich stellte, seitdem Gitarrist/Sänger Eddie Glass, Bassist Tom Davies und Schlagzeuger Michael Amster 2017 die Reformierung der Band angekündigt haben: Nebula sind immer noch Nebula. Seit den Tagen der 1998er Let it Burn EP und dem mittlerweile klassischen To the Center Debütalbum waren Nebula immer nur ein wenig gefährlicher. Nur etwas mehr aus den Angeln gehoben. Holy Shit zeigt diesen von vorne nach hinten für den wesentlichen Teil ihres Charakters, der er ist, und doch versucht er nicht, etwas zu sein, was sie schon einmal getan haben, sei es bei diesen frühen Ausflügen oder Heavy Psych or Charged (2001), Apollo (2003) oder Atomic Ritual (2005). Es ist ein sechstes Nebula-Album - etwas, worauf selbst die leidenschaftlichsten Fans kaum gehofft hätten. Die Grundtracks wurden in zwei Tagen aufgenommen, aufgenommen in den Mysterious Mammal Studios in L.A. mit Matt Lynch (ebenfalls von Snail) am Steuer. Leads und Loops und Feedback-Effekte wurden von Glass and Davies live aufgenommen, als sie die Basic-Tracks aufnahmen, genau so, wie sie es auf der Bühne tun würden, und Overdubs folgten bei Bedarf. Eine Fülle von Material wurde produziert und auf den Kern dessen, was man hier hört, reduziert. Ein sechstes Nebelalbum. Und wenn du es hörst, wirst du feststellen, dass du diesen Titel immer wieder sagst. Cover Art von ROBIN GNISTA

Das Überraschungs-Mixtape "Trip Tape II" des deutschen Alternative-Superstar-Duos Milky Chance aus dem Jahr 2022 ist jetzt auf Vinyl als limitierte Green Splatter LP erhältlich. Ein Mixtape-Standout ist die Single "Troubled Man", welche mit eingängigen Melodien und einem klassischen Milky Chance-Instrumentalgroove daherkommt. Weitere Highlights sind das Cover "As It Was" (Milky Chance's Spin auf den Harry Styles-Smash), der neue Song "Glass of Wine" und RAC's grungy Flip auf den Alternative-Hit "Synchronize" der Band aus 2022.

If you could go back in time ten years, what would you want to tell yourself? This was a question Khruangbin posed to themselves when approaching the ten-year anniversary of their debut album, the once cult classic, now genre-defining work The Universe Smiles Upon You. “If we could go back and tell ourselves how much was going to happen to us after that record, what would we want to
celebrate?” asked Laura Lee, bassist, vocalist, and founding member of the band. Instead, they thought: “Let’s do it again.”
The Universe Smiles Upon You ii was recorded on January 4-6, 2025, in the same family barn of guitarist Mark Speer, across the
same dates where TUSUY was first conceived ten years earlier. Though the conditions were the same–dirt floor, brutally cold,
minimal sound isolation, all takes live–the songs aren’t. They’re re-approached, some changed more than others, harnessing the lightning-in-a-bottle energy of TUSUY while discovering what would be unique this time around, in this stage of the band’s life.
The result moves like ripples on the water across ten hypnotizing tracks, the barn creating a sense of spaciousness, serenity and creative freedom, nearby wildlife (listen out for the birds on “August Twelve ii”), rattles and creaks of the barn and all. It’s a tapestry of small movements in nuanced arrangements, slowly revealing the new life, stories and character of someone you’ve met again for the first time in ten years.

Abdou El Omari was born in 1945 in Tafraout, south of Agadir -- a village suspended between the pink granite peaks of the Anti-Atlas and the waves of the Atlantic. A landscape already musical in itself. He grew up in the dry mountain light, surrounded by the rhythms of nature and Berber's culture. Very little is known about the man -- a veil of mystery still surrounds his life, only deepening the fascination. In the 1970s, as Morocco was transforming, Abdou El Omari shaped a sound of his own -- a visionary blend of spiritual jazz, psychedelic funk, Moroccan traditions, and early electronic experimentation. Today, his work is resurfacing, rediscovered by a new generation of listeners in search of lost horizons. This record stands among its rarest and most precious fragments. At twenty-two, he founded his first group, Les Fugitifs, which gained him local fame. Soon after, he released records and cassettes on labels such as Cléopâtre, Hassania, Boussiphone, Hilali, and his own, Al Awtar, while performing on RTM (national radio and television). He also composed for artists like Naima Samih, Laila Ghofran, and Aicha El Waad. In 1976, through the label Gam, he released his only vinyl album, Nuits d'été -- a record that would become cult decades later, reissued in 2017 by Radio Martiko. In the 1980s, his music grew quieter, more secret. He tried to recover his old tapes from the studios he had recorded in, but gradually withdrew from the scene and returned to hairdressing. A pioneer of musical fusion, he opened paths that would remain unexplored for years. He passed away in 2010, never witnessing the rediscovery of his music by diggers, bloggers, and collectors online. One day, his close friend and poet Aziz Essamadi, rescued a cardboard box from the trash -- a box containing Abdou El Omari's personal archives. It was later entrusted to Casablanca based collector Ahmed Khalil, founder of the label Dikraphone. Inside were treasures preserved by chance: demos, rehearsals, private recordings, unseen photographs -- and a stunning, almost forgotten cassette. Here, El Omari sounds bolder than ever, exploring territories where pop, cosmic disco, electric blues, and Moroccan tradition merge without boundaries. Armed with his ARP Odyssey synthesizer, hypnotic grooves, and the celestial layers of his Farfisa, he expanded the dialogue between deep roots and electronic exploration. This album is the continuation of a vision -- a music of the Moroccan future: rooted, but reaching for the unknown. Colorful, magnetic and timeless, here is music for dancing as much as for dreaming.

A journey into the raw and visceral origins: from the demo sessions mixed by Steve Albini to the night of the very first secret show on December 20th, 1988. In the heart of Chicago, Geordie and Martin Atkins turned frustration and distance into pure creative energy, recording the now-legendary "Black Cassette" demos at Albini"s house. Distorted, menacing bass lines, unruly oscillators, and Albini running endlessly up and down the stairs between the basement drum room and the pantry control room defined a sound that was brutally direct and uncompromising. The first interactions with the Yamaha drum machine foreshadowed elements that would later shape parts of the album. Those sessions sparked essential ideas, while the future studio - purchased from Steve and moved to Wabash Ave - would soon become the core of Invisible Records and Killing Joke"s operations. On the other side, a truly rare document: excerpts from Atkins"s very first show with the band, at Burberries in Birmingham on December 20th, 1988. In a small, mirror-lined club filled with tension, adrenaline, and inevitable collisions with the walls, Extremities, The Fanatic, Intravenous, and The Beautiful Dead were performed publicly for the first time. It was the night when everything ignited: the blast beat still in its embryonic stage, the controlled fury Geordie demanded - "can you go a bit more Moonie on it?" - and above all Jaz"s theatrical yet strikingly genuine laughter. Not just joy, but a declaration: a giant "fuck off" to the doubters and a prelude of what was about to come. A raw, essential, indispensable testimony: the birth of an era.

A journey into the raw and visceral origins: from the demo sessions mixed by Steve Albini to the night of the very first secret show on December 20th, 1988. In the heart of Chicago, Geordie and Martin Atkins turned frustration and distance into pure creative energy, recording the now-legendary "Black Cassette" demos at Albini"s house. Distorted, menacing bass lines, unruly oscillators, and Albini running endlessly up and down the stairs between the basement drum room and the pantry control room defined a sound that was brutally direct and uncompromising. The first interactions with the Yamaha drum machine foreshadowed elements that would later shape parts of the album. Those sessions sparked essential ideas, while the future studio - purchased from Steve and moved to Wabash Ave - would soon become the core of Invisible Records and Killing Joke"s operations. On the other side, a truly rare document: excerpts from Atkins"s very first show with the band, at Burberries in Birmingham on December 20th, 1988. In a small, mirror-lined club filled with tension, adrenaline, and inevitable collisions with the walls, Extremities, The Fanatic, Intravenous, and The Beautiful Dead were performed publicly for the first time. It was the night when everything ignited: the blast beat still in its embryonic stage, the controlled fury Geordie demanded - "can you go a bit more Moonie on it?" - and above all Jaz"s theatrical yet strikingly genuine laughter. Not just joy, but a declaration: a giant "fuck off" to the doubters and a prelude of what was about to come. A raw, essential, indispensable testimony: the birth of an era.

When it comes to vocal jazz, the ladies win. "Body and Soul" features great jazz standards sung by some of the best- known and most influential female jazz vocalists in history. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington & Sarah Vaughan. This album presents signature recordings by these legendary ladies during concerts between 1956 and 1960, from Berlin, Paris to New York.