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Jamaican reggae duo Dave and Ansel Collins recorded and released their reggae debut album Double Barrel in 1971. The single “Double Barrel” topped the UK and Jamaican charts and the follow-up “Monkey Spanner” also enjoyed international success. “Double Barrel” was sampled by hip hop artist Special Ed and two of Dave Barker’s introductory exclamations (“Don’t watch that, watch this!” from “Funky Funky Reggae” and “This is the heavy, heavy monster sound!” from “Monkey Spanner”) were quoted by vocalist Chas Smash, in the introduction to the Madness single, “One Step Beyond”. All of the songs on the album were written and produced by Jamaican heavyweight Winston Riley and it was the first record that legendary drummer and percussionist Sly Dunbar played on. Shortly after the Double Barrel release Dave and Ansel split-up.

The 50th anniversary edition of Double Barrel is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List.
Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next ‘Strain Crack & Break’ edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen years old.
From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe
(namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt.
Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner, whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting them whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who
was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a stuff about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots.
Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed secondhand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1
newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm handshakes for the camera.
‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume Two’ is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle.
Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of our kind of music back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous erds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick).
After ‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume One’ merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, this second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl wantlist in the early 1970s, comprised of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats.

In 2018, way before we established our quirky little label & our ears were still young and unspent, in the deep sound forrest that is soundcloud we discovered an unpolished gem of a track, courtesy of Rebecca B, upcoming scottish born and berlin based banger producer.

Some years and life changing times later we are holding in our hand Rebecca’s first vinyl, dubbed „Murphy’s Law“, in accordance with the previously mentioned times.

Step right in with the A1 „Militant Margaret“ which rolls you off straight into Rebecca’s world, followed by A2 „Bionic Butterfly“, that certain gem we talked about earlier. On the B side you can follow Rebecca on a journey back to her roots. B1 „Odd World“ is a downtempo anthem with an infamous influence and B2 „Old Rapper“ its upbeat twin sibling. Welcome, Rebecca

Nonesuch Records releases an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. The musicians, who have known each other since their student days, were presented with three days of gratis studio time and decided to experiment with ideas they had begun putting to tape during the sessions for their January 2021 Nonesuch release Narrow Sea. With Shaw on vocals and Sō – Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting – filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymn book, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible’s Book of Ruth, the American roots tune ‘I’ll Fly Away’, and the pop perfection of ABBA, among others. The album is co-produced by Shaw, Sō Percussion, and the Grammy Award–winning engineer Jonathan Low (The National, Taylor Swift).

Shaw, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her vocal composition Partita for 8 Voices, written for and performed with Roomful of Teeth, makes her solo vocal debut with Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. The album’s first track, ‘To the Sky’, from the Sacred Harp, takes its lyrics from Anne Steele. “I love the songs about death, and going home, and looking toward a time that is better or brighter, which, if there’s one thing to think about in the world, maybe that’s the thing,” Shaw says. “This one I love in particular. There’s a line, ‘Frail solace of an hour / So soon our transient comforts fly / And pleasure blooms to die.’ It’s meditation on the ephemeral, and I love it.”

“I hadn’t written very many songs, but I have certainly loved many in my life. I’ve been thinking of making a solo album for seven or eight years, but it takes having the right friends and community in the room,” Shaw says. “The prompt for all of us was: What would we make in the room together with no one person in charge, like a band writes in the studio?”

Cha-Beach recalls of the early test run during the Narrow Sea session: “It had that capturing-lightning-in-a bottle feeling.” When the opportunity to have three days in their friends’ studio, Guilford Sound, came up, the five musicians decamped for Vermont with engineer/co-producer Jonathan Low. “Jon is an amazing editor,” Cha-Beach says. “He is so helpful in thinking about: ‘We have these ideas: how do we shrink those and make them come across on an album?’”

One such idea was for Shaw to do a duet with each member of Sō. She sings with Josh Quillen on steel drums on the title track, which she wrote in under an hour in a “free-writing zone, very inspired by James Joyce, taking on that brain space,” she says. Lyrically, the song is “related to some math bits that I love, but also memory, and love songs of somebody who’s gone or passed away, or that you’re no longer with: what is the sound of that kind of devastation or confusion or love?” They recorded the song only twice, and the first take is on the album. “It’s very spare. The playing is very Josh; it’s so sensitive,” Shaw says.

Adam Sliwinski’s marimba duet with Shaw is an interpretation of the ABBA song ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’. She explains, “It’s really a Bach chorale. Also, the idea of someone singing ‘Don’t go wasting your emotion / Lay all your love on me / Don’t go sharing your devotion / Lay all your love on me,’ over and over again very slowly, there’s a certain tragedy in it. And then Adam did some absolutely exquisite layering that built this stunning world from the marimba.”

Jason Treuting on the drum kit joined Shaw for ‘Long Ago We Counted’. She suggested, “Why don’t we start with the voice and the kit having a weird conversation, sort of like two babies talking to each other? And then we built this loop, and we go from this place that’s totally uncomfortable and nonsensical to something that’s rich and rolling and satisfying.” For ‘Some Bright Morning’, the duet with Cha-Beach – who here plays electronics, piano, and Hammond organ – Shaw drew upon a twelfth century liturgical hymn she had sung regularly in church during her college years: ‘Salve Regina’.

“Some songs on Let the Soil… were very specifically composed by Caroline,” Cha-Beach says. “But others were this assemblage of ideas: finding words, an idea for how a melody could work, a harmony, and then tossing it in a blender and trusting each other.” Shaw adds, “What I love about Sō is the curiosity about how objects make sounds and how they speak to each other. There was an underlying thread of thinking about what goes into soil, how we take care of it, how we allow it to be itself, how we contain it, and what can come out of it if you cultivate the right environment, which for me is always this wonderful metaphor for creativity and collaboration: let people be themselves and see what happens,” she concludes.

Caroline Shaw is a New York–based musician – vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer – who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy–winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Shaw’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. Hailed for ‘astonishing both the pop and classical music worlds’ (Guardian), she has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National and by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Shaw currently teaches at NYU and is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. Her 2019 Nonesuch/New Amsterdam album Orange won a Grammy Award.

Through its interpretations of modern classics, innovative multi-genre original productions, and ‘exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam’ (New Yorker), Sō Percussion has redefined the scope and role of the modern percussion ensemble. Sō’s repertoire ranges from twentieth century works by John Cage, Steve Reich, and Iannis Xenakis, to commissioning and advocating works by contemporary composers such as David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Steven Mackey, to collaborations with artists who work outside the classical concert hall, including Shara Nova, choreographer Susan Marshall, The National, Bryce Dessner, and many others. Sō has recorded more than twenty albums, including a performance of Reich’s Mallet Quartet on the Nonesuch record WTC 9/11; appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Hall, the Barbican, the Eaux Claires Festival, MassMoCA, and TED 2016; and performed with Jad Abumrad, JACK Quartet, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel, among others.

City Slang is thrilled to welcome Pom Pom Squad into the City Slang family. The way Mia can nod to her influences, be they of the iconic 60’s girl group, characters from a John Waters film, or cutting edge fashion from today, while simultaneously spinning a beautiful and original story in her songs, is absolutely thrilling. This is the kind of record that makes you not only excited to see what you can do with an artist in a post-pandemic future, but also how you can build their career in the present circumstances. We cannot wait for you to hear this record in its entirety!

Produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and co-produced by Berrin herself, it’s a record that plays out like an exorcism in front of your bathroom mirror -- confronting the dark we’ve had planted within us and then ripping it out, all while watching every second of it. It’s vulnerable yet triumphant, deliciously irreverent & inviting yet sneering in the faces of those that had once tried to define her. First single “Lux” was unanimously praised by press including Stereogum who called it “a serrated blast of noise in which Berrin takes someone to task with glee” and The Fader who said “come for the scrappy punk reimagining of The Virgin Suicides, stay for Pom Pom Squad's galvanizing treatise on feminine awakening in a world that would rather keep your eyes shut.”

Mia Berrin spent her childhood trying to find where she fit right in the world, looking to the pop culture icons on TV in hopes of finding an image she connected to. She connected with the films of John Waters and David Lynch, loved the dark campiness found in Heathers, was in awe of the power of women like Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna. Growing up as a female of color who would later in her life unearth and embrace her queerness, discussing and reconciling

Kojaque follows his critically acclaimed cult concept record, ‘Deli Daydreams’, with an
expansive, urgent debut album. In this landmark debut, Kojaque mines both his
emotional interior as an artist, and the external forces of a love triangle barrelling
towards chaos. ‘Town’s Dead’ is a mind-bending, explosive and expansive trip,
documenting a tumultuous love triangle that unfolds across New Year’s Eve in a
place where gentrification poses as much a threat as the violence of street dealers.
Sonically, the record smashes any previous expectations, stretching an aural palate
that leaps from rage to solace, from clattering musical combustions to tender
ruminations. The tremendous scope and scale of ‘Town’s Dead’ demonstrates an
artist utterly untethered to assumptions about what a particular voice or genre should
be, and instead explores radical musical territory. Dark corners of parks, bedrooms,
clubs, streets and psyches are excavated and pouring over the rubble is an artist
who refuses to conform, unafraid of the vulnerabilities that are exposed when the
voice rings true, because there’s just no point in being anything else.
Kojaque is part of a new wave of Irish artists flooding the world with blistering and
sophisticated literature, film and music - ideas and work that emerged from a social
revolution stonewalled by late-stage capitalism. Welcome to that state of mind, where
the path less travelled is the only one worth taking.
On the announcement of his debut album Kojaque has said: “‘Town’s Dead’ comes
from the potential that I see in Dublin and in the people I’m surrounded by day in and
day out. There’s nothing but talent and ambition among young people, I’m constantly
reminded of that through the art and music that I see being made but I think so often
the city grinds you down, it takes your hope and your ambition. I know that it can
change because so many of my friends express the exact same wants, desires and
frustrations with living in Ireland. If so many of us are on the same page then I know
that things can change, there just needs to be some sort of catalyst to kick start that
change and for me that’s always been art and music. Time and time again, amazing
art continues to be made in spite of the struggles and setbacks that are presented
when living here. The title track and the album is a fight against what can sometimes
feel inevitable, it’s a rejection of what people tell you is your destiny as a young
person in the city, Town’s NOT dead it’s just Dormant.”
CD housed in digisleeve containing 12-page lyric and photo booklet.
Black double vinyl housed in 5mm wide spine single sleeve with 12-page lyric and
photo booklet.
“Hints of Odd Future and its offspring... Kojaque is not your average rapper” - i-D
“Dublin’s hip-hop community are making waves right now... an intimate introduction
to the world this bold artist inhabits” - Clash
“Social realist rhymes set to silky hip-hop” - NME
“Likeable and funny” - Trench
“The Dublin MC forcing us to face real life; both the gory and the glory” - Wonderland
“Ireland’s freshest hip-hop hope, Kojaque, serves ‘soft hip hop’ with a side order of
poetry and performance art” - Notion

Classic black LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÅRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Årabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum. FOR FANS OF Lustmord, Årabrot, Dead Can Dance, Hans Zimmer, Sunn O))), Fever Ray, Chelsea Wolfe, Boards of Canada, Heilung, Zola Jesus, Swans.

Tape

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

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

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

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

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

Motörhead in 1981 was a band of extremes; a flammable mix of non-stop celebration over their rising success and punishing graft, underscored by an inter-band powder-keg dynamic. After recording Ace Of Spades, it had shot to number four in the UK; the killer breakthrough after Overkill and Bomber had done essential groundwork, late 1980’s Ace Up Your Sleeve UK tour was a triumphant lap of honour that spilled into the recording of No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith. The album took its title from an inscription painted on one of the trucks, referencing the 32 gigs they were playing with only two days off. The track listing ended up featuring three tracks from Ace Of Spades, five from Overkill, Bomber’s title track and two from their self-titled debut. Originally released on 27th June 1981, Lemmy is quoted as saying of it “I knew it’d be the live one that went best, because we’re really a live band. You can’t listen to a record and find out what we’re about. You’ve got to see us.” Upon release No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith went straight to number one, their first and only in the UK and is still the most necessary live album of all time.

The No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith album; brand new remaster created from the original tapes. Pressed on vinyl as a triple album in a 20 page bookpack and deluxe 24 page, 2CD mediabook. Includes a full live show from Newcastle released in its entirety for the first time. Recorded on the Short Sharp Pain In The Neck tour where the album was originally taken from.

Limited coloured LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÅRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Årabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum.

Cinema – which features tracks in English and Spanish – draws inspiration from the classic films and directors that María and Josh grew up watching, including Pedro Almodóvar and Wes Anderson. The title also pays homage to how the band first began creating music in the first place.

The Marías have fast proven among the most visionary and entrancing new bands in recent memory. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Atlanta, María Zardoya moved to Los Angeles in 2016 where she met drummer Josh Conway after a performance at the famed Kibitz Room Bar at Canter’s Deli. The two began writing together, crafting a remarkable collection of mesmerizing original songs fusing kaleidoscopic soul, gentle jazz, and imagistic, bilingual lyricism.

Last year saw The Marías unleash a series of new songs affirming their continued creative evolution. “Hold It Together” and “Jupiter” were released in the top half of 2020, accompanied by official music videos. The former received praise from The FADER, which wrote, “The pop-leaning and low-key love song features guitar and key lines that interlock hand in hand. Right in the pocket is the cotton candy-textured voice of vocalist María that coolly asks you to slow down with her. ”Meanwhile, “Jupiter” was hailed as “a soothing dream from retro outer-space,” by Melted.

In October of last year, the group released two new songs written and recorded during lockdown – “Care For You” and “bop it up!” – both joined by official videos co-directed by María with longtime visual collaborator Bethany Vargas. “Care For You” received acclaim from V Magazine, which praised it as “a slow, jazzy jam, both sensual and soothing,” while Órale enthused, “‘bop it up!’ is unlike any project The Marías have put out before... Although their signature tenderness is still recognizable, listeners will discover a newfound sense of invigoration. ”International art and fashion magazine Teeth added: “Both tracks are quarantine jams to dance and cry to, the kind of music we need during this endlessly trying time... The Marías have this incredible ability to transport you.”

Bring Me The Head of Kyle Bobby Dunn is a full length triple vinyl reissue of the original 2012 double compact disc album from Canadian composer Kyle Bobby Dunn. It was recorded at Bunce Cake studios in Brooklyn and remote parts of Ontario. The compositions are mostly long, slowly evolving minimal ambient and drone based works created from electric guitar processing. Perhaps more cinematic than previous albums, some pieces have since appeared in BBC documentaries and independent films over the years since its release. The original recordings on this Diggers Factory vinyl edition, however, have been remastered and practically rebuilt from the fog of their initial masters which have often been considered the composer's most quiet and even translucent works. Iranian composers and engineers, Milad Bagheri and Maryam Sirvan have brought out a certain clarity and freshness to the music and Dunn has considered it an almost completely different listening experience from the originals.
The album was critically praised and became a favourite of most fans and even after several subsequent albums later it remains a favourite and of the composer's as well.

There is no single way that London trio Urne describe their sound, it all comes back to one thing: heavy. There are shades of Metallica, Mastodon, Alice In Chains in there, hopping between sludge, tech-metal, doom, hardcore and anything else with a weighty heart.  On their debut full-length, ‘Serpent & Spirit’, this is writ large as the work of one of the finest new bands in the British metal underground.  Featured on Metal Hammer’s ‘ones to watch 2021’ and ex-members of Hang The Bastard. Available on CD Mintpack & 140g 2LP Transparent orange vinyl.

Purple Vinyl

Even if you're well-acquainted with composer and multi-instrumentalist Colin Fisher's richly varied output, his gentle fifth solo album, Refections of the Invisible World may come as a surprise. Psychedelic lyricism has always been a fundamental aspect of his sonic signature, but his second collaboration with producer Jeremy Greenspan (Junior Boys, Jessy Lanza, Morgan Geist) finds the Toronto native luxuriating in expansive atmospherics for its full duration.
That's not to downplay the eclecticism he finds within this ethereal landscape. Each track tills its own discrete sonic acreage, and while every one emanates from a clear focal point, the spontaneous impulse that drives Fisher's more audibly improvisational music always remains close at hand. Some pieces unfold rippling aquatic vistas or delight in prismatic guitar arpeggiation, elsewhere his plaintive, blues- infected tenor saxophone wafts like some strange jazz apparition, or becomes a chorus of cosmic murmurs. The presence of electronics is undeniable, but equally irrefutable is the organic instrumental sources of these disparate hues. In fact he's discovered a rare balance: no matter how effects-saturated, every gesture on the record feels palpably sculpted by Fisher's hands and breath. As such, Refections of the Invisible World carries a sense of intimacy at the heart of its diffuse, dream-like sonics.
Fisher has a been a major presence in Canada's music community for more than twenty years—particularly in more experimental and improvisational circles. Nothing short of a guitar virtuoso, he also wields saxophone, drums, and various other instruments with similarly refined musicality, vivid textural imagination, and sometimes feral abandon. His one-man-band tape Garden of Unknowning for Manchester's Tombed Visions, showcase all of this as he spars with different iterations of himself. The Quietus' cassette critic Tristan Bath extolled it as "miraculous," adding that "it’s a visceral experience soaking up this record, and it’s all down to Fisher’s utterly innate sense of musicality." He subsequently cited it in his 2018 contributor's year-end chart for the Wire.
In 2014 his partnership with Nick Millevoi's trio Many Arms on Suspended Defnition (Tzadik) prompted Spin's Brad Cohan to remark "Many Arms have dug even deeper into math-metal wizardry, bolstering their already imposing lineup with gale-force blowing guest saxophonist Colin Fisher, thus blasting their outré sonic blitz into a fire-breathing free jazz otherworld." Fisher later engaged the band's bassist, Johnny DeBlase, to team up with him and Kid Millions (Oneida, Man Forever) as Monas. As an ongoing collaborator to introspective dance music auteur Caribou, Fisher frst appeared in offshoot project Caribou Vibration Ensemble, and subsequently on acclaimed albums Swim and Suddenly. He's also made two duo albums with celebrated Nova Scotian jaw harp innovator chik white for Dylan and Lisa Nyoukis' Chocolate Monk label. In addition to performing alongside the likes of Jaime Branch, Joe McPhee, William Parker, Laraaji, Gerry Hemmingway, and Fred Frith, he has contributed to recordings by the Constantines (Sub Pop), Bernice (Arts & Crafts), Rhys Chatham (Table of the Elements), Born Ruffans (Warp), Anthony Braxton and AIMToronto Orchestra (Spool), and many more.

Transmeridian is the first album from Departure Lounge (ex-Bella Union) in 19 years. It features all four original members plus a guest appearance from legendary REM guitarist, Peter Buck, one of many long-standing admirers of a band that embodied a lost age of reflective, experimental pop music coming to the fore at the turn of the Millennium alongside The Beta Band, Tunng, Boards Of Canada and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.

The surprise new album, named after the defunct ‘golden age of aviation’ cargo airline for which singer/guitarist Tim Keegan’s dad was chief pilot, is released on Violette Records (formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett ) on digital and vinyl formats on Fri 26 March 2021.
Originally scooped up by Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label (labelmates with John Grant’s Czars) following the self-funded release of their debut album Out Of Here (1999), Departure Lounge’s sophomore outing, Too Late To Die Young (2002) was equally acclaimed and was honoured as the first ever Album Of The Week on the emergent BBC 6 Music. The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe and the US, including outings with The Go-Betweens, Morcheeba, Paul Heaton and Robyn Hitchcock, peers whose stylistic contrasts reflect the eclectic nature of Departure Lounge themselves.

Calling a halt in late 2002, citing family and geographical reasons (drummer Lindsay lives in Nashville, where their second album Jetlag Dreams (2001) was recorded), the four members remained firm friends and occasional collaborators, before reuniting in late 2019 for shows at The Green Door Store, Brighton and The Lexington, London, ostensibly to support the digital reissues of their first three cult-classic albums. With no plans other than to make some new music, the next day they set off for Middle Farm Studios, Devon.
Tim Keegan (vocals/guitar), Chris Anderson (lead guitars/keyboards/bass), Lindsay Jamieson(drums/keyboards) and Jake Kyle (bass/guitar/drums) channelled their evident joy at being back together into a complete 13-track album, largely conceived and recorded in just one 24-hour session in the company of studio owner and co-producer, Peter Miles. Ranging from soulful Americana to piano and mellotron-fuelled melancholia via pastoral musings on the nature of post-youth and eerie Spaghetti Western-tinged instrumentals, the next leg on the Departure Lounge journey is a multi-mood expression of pure artistic freedom.
The ‘leak’ of instrumental track Al Aire Libre (remixed by Parisian groovemeister Kid Loco) in October 2020 gave little away as to what fans could expect from a new Departure Lounge record, the track going gracefully everywhere and nowhere on a whistled Latino breeze. First single proper, Mercury In Retrograde, covered in the twinkling lights of a music box Casio CZ101 melody, turned the clock back - this was an old live favourite that never got past the studio door. Unfinished business brought to a happy conclusion, the single returned Keegan’s honest and distinctive lyrical voice back to British music at just the time listeners needed it.
It was an emotional thread, rather than one musical style, which gave the first three Departure Lounge albums their coherence. The songs told the story of the band. Transmeridian has the same sense of deeply connected musical energy. The purring, campfire acoustica of Timber and So Long bear no obvious resemblance to the ethereal, end-of-the-evening, piano-led interlude Paging Marco Polo, whilst the quasi-glam stomp of Mr Friendly would normally have no business sharing space with the strange, spacey Gurnard Pines (named after an abandoned holiday camp on the Isle Of Wight). Yet the journey’s ebb and flow, accelerations and pauses make for compelling, grown-up listening. Australia, showcasing the chiming Rickenbacker 12-string of Athens, GA’s finest guitar slinger, leaves no doubt that Departure Lounge’s pop sensibilities also remain solidly intact.
These four friends from different musical backgrounds came together originally with the stated aim of ‘creating music to soothe the troubled soul’. Citing their love of (and placing on record their debt to) influences including Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Talk Talk, Lou Reed, Arvo Pärt and Cocteau Twins, the band’s diversity of taste is reflected in the music they create.
Transmeridian is only the second full-length LP released by Violette Records, formed by Michael Head (Shack, The Pale Fountains) and Matt Lockett as a platform for Head’s work and developing into a respected independent label as well as multi-disciplinary event organiser, drawing in outsiders working in music, literature, art and design. The label continues to host live events whenever possible and recently initiated an ELP (halfway between and EP and an LP) vinyl series, putting out acclaimed releases by The Pistachio Kid and Studio Electrophonique.

In the beginning, there was just a box of tapes and “Fate’s Gentle Hand.”

It was the autumn of 2010, and an anonymous figure known only as the Head Technician, an employee of Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services (“Magnetically aligning ferrous particles since 1970”), found himself at an auction in the village of Coldred, pop. 110. He was on the hunt for tobacco pipes when he chanced across a trio of boxes listed in the auction catalog, which described their contents only as “archived magnetic recordings.” The sole bidder, he won the lot, and upon receipt of his purchase took possession of an unspecified number of mouldering cassettes and ¼" reel-to-reel tapes. The collection contained no identifying information save for a single phrase scrawled on each box: “Black Mill Sessions.” And so, armed with razors, eyedroppers, and a bevy of solid-state circuitry, the Head Technician sat down at his machines and got to work.

Whether anyone believed it or not, this was the framing device surrounding Pye Corner Audio’s Black Mill Tapes Volume I: Avant Shards, which took the mysterious tactics of artists like Boards of Canada and Burial and raised them exponentially. Much like the narrator of a 19th century novel, the anonymous Head Technician purported merely to be the messenger of secondhand sounds. These were not compositions, we were told; they were tape transfers—“transcriptions” of an unknown author, slathered

Perila (Aleksandra Zakharenko) left her native Russia six years ago, landing in Berlin. Finding her place almost immediately - first at Berlin Community Radio and through that amongst a group of like-minded creative individuals (including her current flatmates Special Guest DJ and exael) - she started a regular practice of working on an expressionistic "sonic diary" of field recordings and electronic sound research for her own pleasure. When the opportunity arose to create her own podcast series, WET (or Weird Erotic Tension) was born. Upon hearing her evocative and atmospheric music layered with friends Nat Marcus and Inger Wold Lund's erotic spoken word poetry, Sferic Records asked to release it, and Perila - a project name originally used for her BCR show - truly came to be. Aleksandra, who was raised in St. Petersburg, has been involved in music since childhood thanks to her melomaniac father. She's been both drummer and singer in local bands in Russia, and is also the co-founder of radio.syg.ma - one of the first online stations in Russian focusing on experimental sounds - but Perila is something else entirely. You could loosely describe it as ambient, but her soundworld is so specific and transportative, filled with detail and movement, it's more akin to hauntological musique concrète, touched by song. Her fascination with voice and language - she studied English literature at university - is still evident, although that's now her voice, her texts, her crooning you can hear on the Everything Is Already There cassette (Boomkat Editions, 2020), her processed breaths on the Meta Door L cassette (Paralaxe Editions, 2020). The Wire Magazine got it right when they said about Irer Dent that, "Sensuality is presented as a secret pass to a higher consciousness." For her debut album, How Much Time it is Between You and Me?, released via Smalltown Supersound on June 11th, Aleksandra takes inspiration from the concept of time, which she felt keenly during the pandemic. Recorded primarily in September 2020 in a rural village in France - her only travel during the first year of the pandemic period - surrounded by mountains but otherwise alone with no internet, her perception of time there differed immensely. She describes the trip as, "an immersive experience into self," viewed through a "silence prism" where everyday sounds usually ignored felt amplified. While her work has always dealt in intimacy - be it the private thrills of WET or the audible closeness of our surroundings - the organic response and consistent feedback she gets for Perila made Aleksandra recognize a longing, a need for it in today's world. Intent on creating work based in honesty and tenderness, Perila's practice also explores how we feel music and emotion throughout the body and how sound can help to release it. How does the sound enter a body and travel through it? Where does movement start? How do you reach and unblock emotional clusters with the help of sound and deep listening of the body responses? Aleksandra likes to describe her music and performances as trips - thick narratives drifting along sound to get closer to self. Let Perila guide you through this journey.

Lisa Milberg and Jon Bergström started their band Miljon over a pitcher of margarita in Mexico City and have since kept busy writing gorgeous little pop-songs in makeshift studios in and around their hometown of Stockholm, Sweden – mostly in their bedrooms and various cabins in various woods surrounding the city, never staying too far from the pine trees.
Having assembled a collection of 13 pieces of proper flaskpost-disko, these demos were passed on to Studio Barnhus’ in-house mixmaster Matt Karmil, who worked his studio magic on the recordings, turning them into a seductively warm and spacious debut album. “Until then, our only expenditures for the album were wine bottles and taxis”, says the band.
This isn’t the first time Miljon has teamed up with Studio Barnhus, the ever-explorative Stockholm dance label. The band collaborated with Barnhus co-founder Axel Boman on the wistful piano-house ballad “Forgot About You” in 2018 (“a summer anthem … a marvel of simplicity” - Pitchfork) and the label’s core personnel are all regulars at Arranging Things, the design store (“Stockholm’s coolest” - Vogue) that Lisa runs with another friend.
Going further back, Miljon isn’t the first musical project of neither Lisa’s nor Jon’s – the former enjoyed her fair share of 00's indie rock success as drummer and eventually lead singer of The Concretes, while Jon has earned a reputation as the hardest working man in several Swedish music scenes, bringing energy and expertise to punk stages around the country as well as Stockholm’s electronic underground.
With Miljon, the two friends make sure to keep it short and sweet, happily celebrating imperfections. “We believe in ‘first thought, best thought’ and try to work on the songs as little as possible, instead trusting a good melody and a nice vibe, not overthinking it. We dare you to find a bridge on this album!”
With “Don’t They Know”, the duo presents not only 13 beautiful songs (perfect for shower-humming, living roomshuffling and warm summer night boombox-blasting alike) but also an album that turns into something grander than the sum of its parts.
“We made it because it’s the kind of album we’ve been wanting to hear ourselves. It’s all quite song-centric these days and it feels rare to find a whole album to step into and stay inside, you know? We hear great songs all the time, but we wanted an album that was its own little universe, with its own mayor, own happy hour, its own yard sales and extramarital affairs.”
“Don’t They Know” is released through Studio Barnhus as a vinyl LP June 18.

Released in 2000, this debut and only album from Lucy Pearl an R&B super-group put together by former Tony! Toni! Tone! member Raphael Saadiq, boasting Dawn Robinson from En Vogue and Hip Hop innovator Ali Shaheed Muhammed from A tribe called Quest as additional members, set the tone for neo-soul’s evolution in the new decade. With additional collaborators Snoop Dogg and Q tip also featuring on the album, it is no surprise that Lucy Pearl went on to sell over 1 million copies worldwide and is still revered today, 21 years later as one of the greatest R&B albums from the early 00’s.

Released for the first time on pearl white vinyl, this edition allows a new generation to discover this classic album from RnB’s golden age.

It’s testament to the man they call Medlar, that you never quite know what you might get with one of his releases. WOLF Music family since the early days, his latest mini-LP on the label is no exception. Seven cuts that prove this man can do anything, taking you on an otherworldly, island tour.

First stop, ‘Aerial’, channelling that inner Wally Badarou for a cosmic, sand-stomping chuggathon, heavy on the juiced-up basslines, tripped out synth wizardry and space delay goodness. Your pace quickens, ‘Iguanadon’ rattles the world around you, shamanic echoes swirling through your skull as that acidic stab hypnotises you into a stupor.

Out the other side, you stumble across an ‘Elephant Bingo’. Cup of tea, track three. Slap bass, bongos and synth stabs lifting the spirits.

Back on the beach you drift off into a slice of sleazed up Balearic business, turning the funk dial all the way up to 11 via ‘ELV’. Suddenly things take a trippier turn. Are you dreaming? ‘CR78-108’ booms in the background, pure jungle-tinged, digi dubwise movements.

A few stiff drinks and you’re on your feet again. ‘Phoenix Lights’ New York house stylings pump you with life, even if your hazy brain is still hearing wild echoes all over the place.

How did you end up here, 10 hours later? One too many ‘Sin Prisa’ homebrews no doubt, yet you’re still stompin through, granted it’s of the slow-mo, acid-laced variety though.

What was in that welcome drink Medlar handed you at the start? Who knows, who cares when you get that kinda bang for your buck.

Includes Download Code and Special Insert Drawing !
Quindi Records continues to yield intriguing prospects as we reach the third edition, moving from Woo's astral ruminations via Cabaret Du Ciel's sonorous meditations on to the dusty, dusky mantras of Dead Bandit. Maintaining the ambiguous creative practices of the label's previous releases, From The Basement r eaches to the earth for the malleable grit of post-rock while making the most of the broader sonic outlooks afforded by kosmische and electronic effects processes.
Dead Bandit are Chicagoan songwriter Ellis Swan and Canadian multi-instrumentalist James Schimpl. Swan has previously released solo works including the stunning, inward-looking album I'll Be Around, a lo-fi Southern gothic dragging the husk of country ballads through battered signal chains. In Dead Bandit, Swan and Schimpl's artistic vision casts its gaze outwards on a vast expanse, where the distortion has space to stretch its legs and the drums pound out into open space. There's a common tonality at work here, the duos guitars telling a thousand hard-bitten tales where Swan's voice falls silent. It's no surprise to learn Swan and Schimpl's reference points include Neil Young's Dead Man soundtrack, SF noise rockers Chrome and the imperial work of the late, great Mark Sandman of Morphine.
You can sense Jim Jarmusch's America just lingering behind the road-weary thrum of 'These Clouds' and detect the shadow of Tom Waits lurking in the raunchy lurch of 'FF M'. The pointedly titled 'Sedated' calls to mind the slowcore movement and its rejection of rock n' roll's fixation on speed. Instead, tonality and atmosphere are key across From The Basement , although the ambient lull of 'I See Her There' is the exception rather than the rule. Dead Bandit's desert sound has vibrancy and immediacy to match its moodiness, from the sultry swagger of opening track 'Mud' to the bold and borderline bombastic 'When I Looked Around'.
Like the previous Quindi releases, this record is inherently experimental in nature, but not at the expense of its warmth and instant appeal. From the basement, an inquisitive pair with primitive tools look out and imagine a colossal plain as the canvas on which to paint their picture

Papiro’s approach to music is never technical, but always personal. Since the mid-Nineties, he has released a handful of noteworthy albums, each carefully put together and seemingly self- contained, yet all sharing an unmistakable musical language and a certain escapist aura.

La finestra dentata (The Toothed Window), is no exception. It includes both studio and concert recordings from 2016–2020. The sounds on this album appear infinite and full of marvels, ingenious in portraying imaginary creatures and environments.

The title track and Anelli take up most of the first side and include live outtakes. Papiro likes to describe his performances as therapeutic. These swirly symphonies are specifically intended as immersive deep-listening experiences for concert venues, and have been edited for this album to meet the physical demands of vinyl and domestic use. Imagine the younger cousins of Laurie Spiegel’s Concerto Generator performance, or Terry Riley’s Shri Camel.

However, those who know Papiro only from the stage might be unaware of a different side to his oeuvre; starry-eyed miniatures that may appear frivolous in comparison to the more heady stuff, but are nonetheless well worth discovering. Each piece adds a chapter to a phantasmagoric world populated by such characters as "Giant Duckling", "King Hard-Beard", or the "Bodulator". Tracks like the opener Odilon or Il triciclo nascosto, meanwhile, emanate a candor rarely found in the domain of serious music, and revisit Papiro’s early days of instrumental storytelling.

About Papiro:

Marco Papiro is a Swiss-Italian musician, composer and graphic designer. He teaches at the Schule für Gestaltung in Basel and is known for the posters and album covers that he's created for a number of prolific artists (Sun Araw, Sonic Boom, Panda Bear, Oren Ambarchi)

"Guts finest selection from his DJ sets. Some dancefloor classics and some discoveries"

Any DJ set tells you, unconsciously or not, about its author.

Through the record choices and the way they are organized, one can feel the DJ’s state of mind and find out a bit more about the musical deposit discovered that is being shared and dug through by him or her at the moment.
The appetite for diggin’, the quest for a novelty or a forgotten rarity is what makes a DJ set a true organic living matter constantly fueled although not always, unfortunately, respected.
Time stretching. Too many DJ’s made a pact with this diabolical creature. A true digital steamroller that runs over the rhythm to fix the tempo while leaving behind an agonizing drummer whose sole crime was to have been carried away by his energy and having moved forward the BPM. At the end, everything that gave charm and life to the track, its imperfections and the peculiar fact that it makes you dance faster towards its end… all these along with all the lively movements contained within the track are reduced to nothing.

My conception of music and DJ sets is the exact opposite. Since the first volume of Straight From The Decks, my DJ sets have been redesigned, refreshed and improved. However, there was no preexisting plan, they evolved naturally following my new desires.

The famous core of my indispensable musical choices started to morph little by little into something different without losing sight of its center of gravity which remains undoubtedly afro-tropical.
No matter which track, its style and its origin, the quality of the music that is brought to my ears is always my sole and primary concern.
In this selection, you’ll find 7” vinyl records available to everyone sitting proudly next to some rarities found online and acquired through nerve-raking auctions battles. There are indeed exclusive remixes along with titles that until now were only available in their digital formats. Now for the first time they are available here in vinyl format. Obviously, if you have chosen the CD format, that precision doesn’t really matter…
Sixteen titles which have become the heart of my sets throughout this past year.
A heart which in a year will beat to a certainly different drum…
Pura Vida
Gutsto attend the next one..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Miracle’ is the new album from Manchester singer songwriter Francis Lung,
released on Memphis Industries.
“For me, ‘Miracle’ is about the struggle between my self-destructive side and my
problem-solving, constructive side,” says Francis. “I suppose through a lot of
these songs I’m dealing with these emotional problems, acknowledging the
negative aspects of my behaviour instead of burying them, and providing an
alternative point of view for myself.”
Despite its serious subject matter, ‘Miracle’ is far from austere in sound, marrying
the cinematic, dreamlike quality of Francis’s earlier music with the pared-back
charm of great singer-songwriters like Judee Sill, Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith.
The album opens with ‘Bad Hair Day’, a relentlessly catchy - and deceptively
upbeat - ode to hangovers and missed connections. “I’ve been calling on you all
night / But I never get through, I just get in the way” Francis laments; “I am a
cloud in the sun’s light / Whatever I do, whatever I say.”
Elsewhere, the title track finds him pondering the fickle nature of the music
industry: “I think of [‘Miracle’] as acknowledging and even encouraging the
feelings we’re not supposed to succumb to - giving up, giving in - just because it
can be comforting to hear it from someone else. ‘Why am I climbing these social
ladders and jumping through the hoops of this creative industry? Does this make
me happy?’”
These themes of longing and lacking, missing and being missed, reoccur
throughout ‘Miracle. “When I die / Will I be missed / Or am I missing the point?”
asks ‘Say So’; while ‘Lonesome No More’, inspired by the Kurt Vonnegut book of
the same name, begs the question: if loneliness was eradicated, would we miss
it?
By confronting these feelings, Francis is able to move forward, as triumphant
album closer ‘The Let Down’ proves. Its lyrics serve as a call to action, as
Francis wills himself (and the listener) to “Get up / Get something going / Do
something, do it / Do it now.”
‘Miracle’ was produced by Francis in collaboration with Brendan Williams (Dutch
Uncles, Matthew Halsall, Kiran Leonard) and Robin Koob (who co-arranged and
performed strings). The opportunity to take creative control was one Francis
relished. “I’m quite bad at delegating,” he admits, noting that he played every
instrument except strings on ‘Miracle’. The result is a cohesive, deeply personal
record, which is as vital as it is vulnerable. “I don’t want to be defined by my
anxiety, my depression or any history of substance abuse,” Francis says, “but I
do want to reach out to other people who have had similar experiences,
especially if it’s in a way that helps them feel a little better. To me, this music is
celebrating healing as much as it focuses on the darker sides of the human
psyche.”

In the past years, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music enthusiast Jeff Özdemir had been focusing on organising the Live-Mixtape series in Berlin, inviting numerous artists to join him on stage for every single event. However, the year 2020 put an end to this for all the painfully obvious and obviously painful reasons. Undeterred, he instead put together the third instalment of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, working with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track … Now, is this a compilation or an artist album? Well, why just either this or that when it can just be both at once? This is »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« after all, emphasis on »&«.

Released on Karaoke Kalk like its two predecessors from the years 2015 and 2017, respectively, »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician. He put together a collection of groovy tunes picking up on funk and afrobeat rhythms, introspective ballads, a musically channeled punk attitude, shoegaze sentiments, spoken word passages, drones, glockenspiel sounds, seriously fun experimentation and much more. Just like on the cover artwork - courtesy of Marion Eichmann, Özdemir’s favourite visual artist - everything here seems to discreetly exist for itself while being tightly connected to everything else at same time.

While artists like Ertan Doğancı, Désolé Léo, eng°n, F.S. Blumm and Zap have been long-term collaborators of Özdemir and were featured on previous instalments of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, new faces and forces also enter the mix. The melancholic »Love Letters« for example marks the first (though hopefully not last) collaboration with singer Joanna Gemm Auguri, while Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex’s appearance has been dreamt of collectively but hasn’t been fully realised until now.

Whether it’s Désolé Léo’s French crooner soul, the lo-fi synth pop song »Bored« featuring former Commercial Breakup singer Elke Brauweiler or the many different sounds and styles presented under the name Jeff Özdemir: no decision is ever made between either that or this musical direction, but all are being joyfully enjoyed together. Thus, throughout its 70 minutes, the stylistic diversity of »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« does not once border on randomness. Instead, these sometimes very different songs are marked by a shared atmosphere - a direct result of these very different musicians approaching their studio time together less as a chance to make music but more of a chance to carefully listen to and interact with each other.

Just like you’d expect it from someone deeply connected with the local music community who also happens to run a record store, Özdemir is also the kind of person who’ll hand you the worn copy of a record he has just fished out from the bargain bin because he knows about its potential to change your life. The contributions by Vackrow (»Kleistpark«), Gebrüder Teichmann’s old band BeigeGT (»Disco«), and Otto von Bismarck (»Zu viele Erinnerungen«, produced by The Whitest Boy Alive’s Daniel Nentwig) do not even feature Özdemir, but are simply musical pearls that were (almost) lost in the shuffle of music history and unearthed for this very special occasion. That’s just what friends do, don’t they?

The Monkees, one of the most recognizable names in the annals of pop music history, are an American rock and pop band originally active between 1966 and 1971, with reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. The original line up was Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones. The group was conceived in 1965 by TV producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider specifically for the sitcom series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The music was originally supervised by record producer Don Kirschner, backed by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.

The Monkees self-titled debut and second albums were meant to be a soundtrack to the first season of the TV show, to cash in on the audience.Their first single, “Last Train To Clarksville” b/w “Take A Giant Step,” was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut. In conjunction with the first broadcast of the TV show on September 12, 1966, NBC and Columbia had a major hit. The first long-playing album, The Monkees, was released a month later; it spent 13 weeks at #1 and stayed on the Billboard charts for 78 weeks.

The Monkees have sold more than 75 million records worldwide making them one of the biggest selling groups of all time with international hits, including “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Daydream Believer,” and “I’m A Believer.” ROG is reissuing their iconic debut album as a deluxe 2LP set with bonus tracks (several of which are unreleased mixes) and are having lacquers cut from the analog tapes for the first time since 1966—creating THE DEFINITIVE version of this album since original release!















[n] c3. This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day (TV Version) [Mono]

[p] c5. I Wanna Be Free (Fast Version) [Mono TV Mix]
[q] c6. You Just May Be The One [Mono TV Version]






[x] d6. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love [2020 Remix]

Zapp & Roger’s ‘All the Greatest Hits’ is the band's first Greatest Hits compilation, a collection covering their first four albums performed as a band. The album was originally released on Reprise in 1993 and is now available to pre-order on two-colour per LP Violet and Magenta / Orange and Pink 140g coloured vinyl.

‘All the Greatest Hits’ includes signature hits ‘More Bounce To The Ounce’ sampled by The Notorious BIG, and ‘Computer Love’ sampled by ‘2Pac’ as well as ‘Doo Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing),’ ‘So Ruff, so Tuff’ and ‘Be Alright.’







[f] b2. Zapp - Dance Floor (Pt. I) [Single Version]




[k] c2. Roger - Midnight Hour (Pt. I) [Single Version]

Weird.ltd presents its second reference in the hands of the AREA 51 duo made up of Camilo Gil & Rodrigo Valdivia.

Four fresh house cuts in their deep nuances, and hypnotic cuts of minimalism with a South American flavor.

Plus two remixes, like ASTRAL, by UK legend TOMMY VICARI JNR.
And the Venezuelan based in Berlin, ARGENIS BRITO.

Undoubtedly a must for lovers of dance worship.

Here I leave you the support, and the feedback from the djs, so you can listen, and hopefully these days contact Jordan, to make that possible.
support of Djs such as:

Rick Wade - Dj Aakmael - Dorian Paic - Maher Daniel - Sascha Dive - Jef K - Norm Talley - XDB - Delano Smith - Politics of Dancing - Djebali among others ..

Feedback:
Jorge Caiado: Remix for Argenis its for me.
Dorian Paic: Remix for Vicari Jnr Killer!
Gari Romalis: All the stuff its for me, thanks
Amir Javasoul: A2 and B1 for me, strong stuff.
Mariano: All tracks for me !!!
XDB: argenis brito did a killer remix --- from first listen seems to be a dancefloor weapon,
Norm Talley: World of deep, yeah!
Peter Grummich: Solid Ep, Remix Argenis Brito its for me
Djebali: "Love the Ep, great music with superb remixes! Will play"

African, funky, sarcastic, bewitching, green, ecstatic: these words collide to describe Vaudou Game and all of them are true.

Noussin is the fourth album of the french Afro Funk band. Forced into lockdown, like much of the planet, Peter Solo and his Vaudou Game had no choice but to retreat into the studio. A reunion to once again invoke the spiritual forces of the Voodoo Deities. A reunion that was Initially imagined for an EP…yet these spiritual forces behind that imagination yearned for something more, and as we all know, these forces are impossible to push away once they have decided to stay.

Under the strain enforced by the current socioeconomic climate, as much as by the environmental peril that faces us all today - they diverted the course of the groove towards daring new vibrations. Without extinguishing or diminishing its highly communicative power, they released Vaudou Game from its origins of pure Afro-Funk to gradually engage into compositions which crystallized themselves into tones resembling more rock than funk.

On this fourth album, with an entirely revisited line-up, Peter Solo separates for the first time in his career from his brassy guard, leaving saxophone, trumpet and trombone outside to invite an arsenal of keyboards to define, with him, this new voodoo sound. A sound, as usual, built on vintage and precise analogical material - grime even on the white side of the tape, a blunt instrument used to blanket anything that strived to shine too much in the mix.

Graced with tapered guitars stringing out rhythmic bumps or withdrawing a few beats to indulge in infectious solos, this album is boisterously alive with vintage 70's Funk, infused with a few digressions into other ethers of the funk timeline, nicking different sounds and frequencies to render the black and white keys of an inspired keyboard to reach new euphoric levels of melodic acidity.

Tearing off the enigmatic mask to reveal his true face: on a few titles, Peter Solo ventures outside of his sacred voodoo range to reconnect with his London years, these titles feature small nods to the time he spent in “The Smoke” where the incantations of British music culture were written within him.

Noussin which means “Stay strong” in Mina, a dialect spoken in the south-west of Togo. Noussin, a message of hope as much as a call to come together to weather the turmoil and to come out better on the other side. Don’t let them grind you down…Noussin!

These DJ DSK edit instrumentals were pressed up after many requests from DJs who wanted them, they can be used with the vocal versions, create new mash ups or just played as a track in their own right. It is also a great bonus that some of the original tracks do not even have instrumentals available.

Mind Maintenance is the new duo consisting of Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society) and Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo, Chad Taylor Trio). This is where the music begins, but Mind Maintenance can't be described simply as a summation of its parts and players. When you put on the sound, you'll know what we're saying - you'll notice how immediate and meditative it is; how simple, how "in the room," and how the natural buzz of each instrument sits remarkably well against the other. The percussive qualities of the guimbri and the mbira, so raw and unadorned individually, form with their shared resonance a soothing, sonorous whole. It's not about world music, it's not about jazz. It's about mind maintenance. The songs of Mind Maintenance exist in a zone somewhere between composition and improv. Based in melodies that unspool over time, they benefit from Chad and Joshua's intimately enmeshed sensibility and the intensity with which they listen to each other. Chad and Joshua have been playing together forever - or, if you need to think of it more tangibly, since around 1994. Based on our research, the pairing of guimbri and mbira is more than unusual - it appears to be without precedent! This is incredible if it's true, but more important to the music of Mind Maintenance is the shared ground of inspiration that both instruments occupy. Mind Maintenance pursue their inspirations on these instruments down similarly transformative paths. If some part of the 21st century isn't focused on destruction, but instead, locating a place where our traditions can work together in new ways to entertain and even ensure well-being, then that's just one more incentive for all of us to consider Mind Maintenance.

Melbourne-via-Tasmanian four-piece Quivers first released
their 2018 debut We’ll Go Riding On The Hearses as hand-made
cassettes. The album dealt with singer Sam Nicholson’s loss
of his brother in a freediving accident, and “trying to not think
about that, and often coming back to ghosts, benders, water,
and pissing in the snow.” When demand for the album grew,
it received a vinyl release and led Quivers to tour the US, film
a KEXP session, and be selected by NPR Music for both the
Austin 100 SXSW preview and as a “Slingshot” artist to watch.
Their life-damaged but hopeful jangle pop has only sharpened
since then, and while 2021 follow-up Golden Doubt conjures
up REM or The Clean, there is a lyrical directness that sets this
record apart as always its own.
Golden Doubt is carried by shimmering guitars and the
harmonizing vocals of members Holly Thomas and Bella
Quinlan. Elevated by the production of Matthew Redlich
(Holy Holy, Husky, Ainslie Wills), the record explores what
comes after grief, and how one throws oneself back into love. As
Nicholson explains, the album tries to bottle “the rush of feelings
and fears when you give in to falling for someone. It’s also an
album in love with other albums, and the other bands around
us.” Before each take at Woodstock and The Aviary studios in
Melbourne, Australia, the band would imagine a scene together
(a waterhole for “Laughing Waters”, an overgrown carpark for
“Videostores”) and then dive in to capture live group takes.
Quivers need to get words on the page and sounds out to keep
moving on. Both Nicholson and Thomas lost their brothers in the
same year, and through that shared vulnerability they all have
together that runs deep. Golden Doubt is also a love letter to
playing music as a band and processing it all together rather than
just carrying it as a weight. The cancellation of a 21-date US
tour they had slated for 2020 has left them undeterred; Quivers
plans to continue being a band and get back out into the world
as soon as it’s possible.

Repress

Punctual like a Swiss watch, Driftmachine presents a new album that once again astounds and delights. We know their trademark: solid mechanical percussions, forceful bass and melodies systematically built around circular patterns. "Spume & Recollection" is the sixth Umor Rex album by the Berlin duo, and what better way to celebrate the label's 15th anniversary than with a new record from the masters of labyrinthine cables and patches. Regarding "Nocturnes" (UR 2014), their debut album, we described their sound as precise and symmetrical, identical concrete blocks mounted and articulated in a random order. Their already obsessive style continued to evolve with their third record, "Colliding Contours" (UR 2016), now pushing further into abstract dub, ultra-tense grooves, and even more kinetic loops, moving further away from conventional musical structures. Between these two albums they released the remarkable "Eis Heauton" (UR 2015), a kind of hypnotic experiment informed by shadowy atmospheres, chance, and an intuitive dialogue with their musical machines, a unique situation in which they acted as bemused observers in hunt for epiphanies, resulting in an exquisite amalgamation of lucid dream-logic and mechanical precision. A one-of-a-kind soundtrack for minute and wordless scenes unfolding in pitch-black back alleys and hidden, alchemical basements. A similar map was explored with "Shunter" (UR 2018), a superb secret meeting between avant-garde phantasmagoria and concrete experimentation. "Radiations" (UR 2017) offered B-sides and bonus tracks, in addition to collaborations with Shackleton and The Sight Below, a kind of preamble that united Driftmachine’s different expressions and leanings.

When Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer come up with new material, one listens with high expectation. Looking back on their discography, one could safely anticipate a high quality album densely layered with their familiar leitmotifs. And yet, "Spume & Recollection" takes us by surprise and finds a new way to transfix. Fresh methods and ideas are introduced to their dynamics and formula. Yes, of course, you can still expect a healthy dose of kosmische, which is one of the dominant features in Driftmachine’s DNA; but this is now entwined with novel materials, semi-material patterns of alien code stretching over exhilaratingly tense and detailed grooves, clouds of gas shifting on top of deep dub architecture and blocking out the sun for prismatic effect. Even more of a surprise is the immediate, streamlined nature of these tracks, making "Spume & Recollection" their most accessible record and, perhaps, the most addictive (and this without sacrificing the essential mystery and strangeness at the core of Driftmachine’s sound).

We have previously described their work as post-industrial-dub; right now, we might just call it hypno-music for man and machine to dance and dream together. "Spume & Recollection" takes this concept as far as it can go without breaking, and finds some strange new feelings, and weirdly danceable grooves, to shed some light on this dark and dazzling ride.

All songs written & produced by Andreas Gerth & Florian Zimmer in Berlin Mastered by John Tejada Artwork & Photos by Daniel Castrejón

Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Black Ark Studio opened its doors in 1974. Situated in his backyard at 5 Washington Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica. Using only basic
equipment, a Teac Four-Track Recorder, a Sound craft mixing desk, an Echoplex delay unit and later adding a Phaser effects unit that he used in conjunction with his Roland RE201 Space Echo. He managed mixing down the tracks from Four track to Two track to make his distinctive whirling sound that sets apart the Black Ark Sound from the other Jamaican Studios.

Born Rainford Hugh Perry, 28 March 1936, Hanover, Jamaica. He began his career at the grand age of 16, working for Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s sound
system, rising quickly to the position of record scout and organising recording sessions during his 3-year period 1963-1966. Restlessness and unsatisfied with credit he felt due to him he moved on to work with Producers J.J. Johnson and Clancy Eccles, the latter of which would help him set up his ‘Upsetter’ label in 1968, which would see his first of many recordings telling the injustices done to him by previous employers. ‘The Upsetter’ track itself pointed at Mr Dodd but reflected to Perry when he inherited it as a nick name alongside many others during the course of his career, including ‘Scratch’, again taken from one of his recordings ‘Chicken Scratch’ recorded in 1965/1966. Perrys work in 1968 with producer Joe Gibbs was fruitful and resulted in many successful releases, but again feeling a lack of credit and itchy feet, it was time to move on. Still not having a studio of his own, Perry recorded at the various Kingston establishments at the time, Randy’s Studio 17 on North Parade, Dynamics on Bell Road and Harry J’s on Roosevelt Avenue where the bulk of the aforementioned recordings with The Wailers were carried out. His dream was always to build his own studio and not to have to work to the constraints of the other studios and producers.

On opening the Black Ark studios, the hits seemed to come immediately. Firstly with Junior Byles' 'Curly Locks' and in 1975 the massive crossover hit Susan Cadogans' 'Hurt So Good' that reached No 4 in the UK charts.1976 saw Island Records releasing Perrys vast output, timeless material like the Heptones 'Party Time', Max Romeo's 'War Inna Babylon' Bob Marley and the Wailers 'Jah Live', 'Punky Reggae Party' and Junior Murvins 'Police and Thieves' to name but a few.But sometimes missing out on a few classics like Perrys own 'Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread' and possibly one of the best reggae albums of all time The Congos 'Heart of the Congos'. Dub releases like 'Revolution Dub' (1975) showed a way forward for his production skills in this formidable arena. Having his own studio allowed him to build up a vast catalogue of tracks to work on. We have culled together some lost productions that Lee Perry carried out with singer Mike Brookes, a fine singer, arranger from that special time in the Black Arks history. Sounding like Junior Marvin in parts and Max Romeo in others but still carrying a distinctive Falsetto voice. Some classic tracks as you can see recorded with the cream of musicians at Lee Perrys disposal. Mr Perry works his magic that gives these songs that distinctive feel that his output.
carried around the mid 1970's.

So we hope you enjoy some more lost treasures from the Black Ark that we feel should be added to that mighty cannon of material that still sound so fresh and strong today.

Very limited LP on Cream / Blue twist vinyl. Emma Houton is a timeless, celestial voice from New York City. We felt an urgency to share this incredibly calming product of Lockdown with the wider world, Trapped Animal Records. // "her ambient soundscapes brim with escapism _and enchantment" Highclouds Magazine // "a truly bewitching, gorgeous sonic tapestry." Beats Per Minute // Composed after ethnographic study into her Irish folk song roots, and recorded as part of her senior thesis in experimental electronic music, Emma originally wrote The Bath as a piece for eight voices to be performed live. Due to the COVID pandemic, she ended up recording all eight parts alone in her childhood bedroom, mixing and producing it herself. On recording the piece, Emma says: "When composing the album I had an interest in recreating the feelings I had hearing folk tales as a kid. We had a giant book of Irish folk tales my grandmother gave me, and I was both fascinated and scared shitless by them! I intended this to be a live performance initially and so the whole album is scored. I write most of my music by constructing layered loops of my voice using a loop pedal and then singing a melody line over them, and I was trying to translate that practice into a live performance in which each "loop" is sung and repeated, creating the effect of looping without actually recording loops. I was hoping to create something where voice is used as an instrument, rather than standing apart from instruments as it often does I took source material from hymns and traditional folk songs, with the lyrics centering on water-related themes like drowning, baptism, and purification, which I tried to reflect in the sonic environment of the piece through enveloping delays, cavernous reverb, and a general sense of being completely immersed in sound. The concept for the piece in its live form is much more of a production than the album itself, which became more of a "how do I record something written for an ensemble alone with an SM58?" project, and I've figured out how to perform these pieces solo with the loop pedal, in a very coming-full-circle turn." Emma found her way to Trapped Animal Records after a quirk in the Bandcamp algorithm led her to listen to - her now label mate - Maija Sofia's similarly named debut "Bath Time". Signed within a fortnight of making contact with the label at the end of 2020, during a bleak winter, the label quickly ploughed ahead to schedule release of "The Bath". Label partner Kerry Devine says "there was a feeling of urgency to share this incredibly calming product of Lockdown with the wider world, we felt compelled".

This album was recorded in 1977 and produced by Status Quo’s FRANCIS ROSSI. Shockingly, this album has never been released on vinyl until now. It originally came out on CD in 1992 and is now long out of print and even that goes for good coin.

Du Cann’s stellar career included freakbeat heroes THE ATTACK (“Magic In The Air”), psych/prog legends ANDROMEDA, and the group he’s best known for, ATOMIC ROOSTER. Du Cann wrote their their #4 hit single “Devil’s Answer”. A couple of years later he was in DAEMON, later renamed BULLET, then HARD STUFF. In 1974 he was even a temporary guitarist for a THIN LIZZY German tour.

In 1977, he was signed to the same management company as STATUS QUO, who paired him with Quo leader, Francis Rossi. The resulting album, “The World’s Not Big Enough” included Rossi on guitar, Andy Bown (The Herd, Judas Jump, Status Quo) on keyboards, Pete Kircher (Honeybus, Status Quo, Liverpool Express) on drums, and John McCoy (Ian Gillian, Tyla Gang, U.K. Subs) on bass. Basically, this is Du Cann backed by Status Quo at their Belt Buckle Boogie peak.

A few songs from this album appeared on killer late 70s Punxploitation singles “Throw Him Jail”, “Don’t Be A Dummy” (a UK Top 40 hit!), and “Where’s The Show”. This album has been described as “Quo mixed with the Sex Pistols”, and we can’t disagree with that assessment.

ith canceled shows, closed venues and lost incomes, the pandemic was bad news for many music artists. But it wasn't only bad news in 2020, as many artists used their struggle to do what they do best during difficult times: create great music. This is why N.E.W.S. Records, a record company based in Ghent releases 'Bad News. Good News.'. A limited edition vinyl record with great songs that couldn't be played live because of the pandemic. The record itself is made from the ashes of newspapers and magazines containing the bad news that hit the music industry in 2020 (and prevented artists from performing live). As proof that great music always survives bad news, no matter how desperate things can get. To create the records, N.E.W.S. Records worked with And Vinyly, a UK-based company specialized in pressing vinyl records with ashes.

Many artists collaborated on the project and shared their insight on how the bad news happening in the music world influenced their music, like Johannes Genard, lead singer of School is Cool: "The one good thing about bad times is that they open new perspectives on things you've grown accustomed to, and that is exactly our core business as artists: comforting during challenging times; challenging during comfortable times and finding new ways to look at old things."

The compilation contains some exclusives like the Brihang & Compact Disk Dummies 'Steentje / I Remember' mash up, recorded live for 'Week van de Belgische Muziek' and Sam De Nef's cover of the belpop classic 'Satelliet Suzy' recorded for StuBru.