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Nach Kollaborationen mit den DIRTY PROJECTORS in der Vergangenheit oder zuletzt als DECISIVE PINK für ihr gefeiertes Gemeinschaftsalbum mit KATE NV im letzten Jahr, stehen die Zeichen für DERADOORIAN jetzt wieder auf solo. Es ist bemerkenswert, dass "Ready For Heaven" von einer einzigen Person gemacht wurde. Das wiederholte Überarbeiten der Songs bis zu ihrer Fertigstellung ist ein mühsamer Prozess, der eine Energie und einen Raum geschaffen hat, in dem DERADOORIAN voll eintauchen konnte. "I love the production more than the songwriting. ... In fact, I don't even feel like a songwriter at times, I feel like someone who is just inspired by so much music. And I want to try it all out! Like Lizzy MercierDescloux, Mingus, or ESG and Silver Apples, or making weird krautrock and industrial music. I love dub, and Sly and Robbie. I love the productions of those records and the collective energies released by their creators in the studio. It's just a weird thing to do it by yourself!" "Ready For Heaven" handelt von der Gegenwart und beschäftigt sich mit der schrecklichen Natur der Welt um uns herum. DERADOORIAN dazu: "This album is partly about watching humanity erode. It's about mental struggle, and it's avowedly anti-capitalist. I mean; would we have all these identity labels we have to live by, if we didn't live in a capitalist world?" "Ready For Heaven" ist DERADOORIANs kühne und offenherzige Antwort auf die Welt, in der wir uns befinden, und die Musikerin nutzt jedes Quäntchen ihrer Reserven an Witz und Wissen, um eine Quelle des Trostes und der Erleichterung für den Hörer zu schaffen. Verpackt wird dies in wissbegierige Popsongs, die mit einer Leichtigkeit und einem scharfen Fokus gesegnet sind, und den Zuhörer in ihren Bann ziehen.

En pakt med naturen is Tusmorke's first ever live album, recorded live at Oslo's biggest independent record store Big Dipper, as part of their 25th anniversary celebration last October. "We knew we had to do something special with Tusmorke. Benediktator and Krizla have since the early 2000s been building their record collections and releasing their own music simultaneously. We like to think the records we sold them in our store somewhat influenced their musical output, at least we know that the albums they released had a huge impact on us!" (Andreas Leine Jakobsen, Gerenal Manager, Big Dipper Musikk & Hi-Fi "Is this Folk Horror? Silly question, perhaps, but we need you to mutter certain phrases while listening: Bucoloc, acoustic, ancient, uncanny; acid, pagan, peasant, occult; wildness, wilderness, wildestness, Wicker Man. Ever since the start of Tusmorke, we've wanted to make an acoustic album. In Skien, Telemark in the 90s, we wanted to record in an ancient loghouse with an open hearth (årestue) in the local folk museum Brekkeparken. Years passed and line-ups changed. Then, when we supported Ved Buens Ende at Blå in the Autumn of 2021, we were joined by Åsa and Dauinghorn. They played some of the arrangements that we finally managed to record here, after several attempts to find a suitable time and place to make it happen. Again, time had passed and line-ups had changed, but the spirit of Folk Horror remained. We ask you to close your eyes and picture yourself in a windowless low dwelling, open to the sky through a hole in the roof. Acrid smoke curls upward and occasional sparks fly from the smoldering fire. Music wafts through the gloom in this serene scene of timeless primitivism. There is no electricity. There are no synthesizers. I won't even mention digital things, because they don't exist. There is only Folk Horror and you are in League with Nature." (Benediktator)

I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore is the best, sharpest, briefest, and fourth record from Paper Castles, the band fronted by Jericho, Vermont’s Paddy Reagan. In one way, it’s a simple and modest collection of nine fuzzy guitar-led pop songs. The title, a play on the iconic scene from Network (written by Paddy Chayefsky), can be clocked as nothing more than that at first glance, playful. But like the music behind it, Reagan thinks you can sit with the title if you want.

I'm Sad as Hell... was tracked by Benny Yurco (Michael Nau, Lily Seabird, Robber Robber) in a little over eight hours across two days, a testament to the quartet’s perfection of these songs on stage, and to Yurco’s comfortable Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington.

Tompkins and Mangan lock into a wonderful foundation for Kitz’s lolling guitar lines on “Clean + Organized,” while on “Avalon,” the band sings harmony for the most ironic line in the waltz (“We don’t really want company”) before their instruments explode into technicolor. “Lying Here” showcases PC deftly navigating washed out verses and tight knit, twangy choruses, all in a tidy, under-three minute package.

Lyrically, Reagan is at his finest: playful and savage, biting and beautiful. Double entendres and clever wordplay abound—a line like “it's not the ideals but the high heels that’ll make you a man” from “Modern Myth” will make you wish John Prine was still around to hear it. On “Name Changer,” when Reagan sings “I’ll never change my name again / Got a real good handle and I don’t want to give it in,” what kind of “handle” is he referring to? I’d like to think Elvis Costello would smile at most lines in the Attractions rave-up “Content Creator.”

Lac Noir - La Serpente is part of Emmanuel Raquin-Lorenzi's Lac Noir, a composite work inspired by a serpentine female creature or 'snake-woman' that he saw in Transylvania in 1976, with a total of 33 pieces using various media, 24 by himself and 9 by other artists. All the materials used in Lac Noir were gathered on the land of the snake-woman between 1990 and 1992. The first coordinated broadcast ran from June to October 2019, like a theatrical display of media. Parmegiani has been cited as a major influence by younger experimentalists like Aphex Twin, Autechre and Sonic Youth. Works of his were performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties festivals

Berlin-based French-Irish multimedia artist Zoe Mc Pherson levels up on their third full-length "Pitch Blender", mangling years of experience DJing and performing live into a tight set of cybernetic soundsystem experiments that flicker between the rave and the art space.

Cast your mind back to February 2020 for a moment, when Mc Pherson released their last album "States of Fugue". The world seemed less tangled somehow, and yet Mc Pherson's precision-engineered fusion of exploratory sound design and visceral club pressure seemed to hint at a cataclysmic event none of us were really expecting. Only a few weeks after its release the world changed forever, and the majority of us were grounded - forced to consider our lives and the movement (or lack thereof) surrounding us. The philosophy of this extended time period is welded into the bones of "Pitch Blender", Mc Pherson's supple third album. They have learned plenty in the last two years, and infuse all of that anxiety and spiky emotionality into a spread of tracks that sound as powerful in headphones as they do over a well-tweaked soundsystem, soldering vocals, environmental recordings and instrumental flourishes to unpredictably pneumatic, cybernetic beats.

Anyone that's caught one of Mc Pherson's energetic live performances over the last few months will have an idea of what "Pitch Blender" is made of. They're an artist who's somehow able to match the raw energy of post-punk and no-wave music with the brain-altering potential of the best experimental club tracks, vocalizing an incongruous post-lockdown reality over beats that sound as if they're in a permanent state of flux. 'On Fire' splutters to life in a frenetic patter of drums that blur into oddly soothing hoover sounds, snaking lysergically towards a drop that's teased constantly, and never comes. We're forced to wait until 'The Spark' for that, fighting through choppy, pitch-mangled guitar and rolling beats until a gruesome kick drum forces its way through the psilocybin mists and heaving Bristol-inspired bass clonks. Backed up with just the inverted traces of recognizable breaks, this vigorous pulse lies at the heart of "Pitch Blender", the driving force that powers Mc Pherson's sound even when it's only hinted at.

'Blender' is the moment where Mc Pherson show their full hand, using crackling sound effects, ghost vocals and uneven rhythms to build a textural landscape that's so evocative you can almost taste it. Squealing modular synth effects sound like gameshow buzzers being triggered in another dimension and propel the track forward - it's club music, just about, but Mc Pherson's motivation is world-building, and their world is colorful, abstract, and dizzyingly surreal. "Obsolete user," their voice echoes over driving airlock kicks. But they take a swift left turn with 'Lamella', reducing the kinetic club rhythms to a longing simmer and letting loose with powerful vocals, intoning with robotic, gender-fluxed intensity. On 'Wait', New York City's clacking crosswalk signal - already an effective club track on its own - is transformed into a reminder to slow down, juxtaposed with booming sub-heavy kicks, acidic synths and effervescent percussion that rattles in time with the vibrations. It's foley rave, built for pure psychedelic intensity to blur the line between real life and sonic fiction.

One of the album's most galvanic tracks, 'Power Dynamics' curves a double-time rhythm around breathless HQ sound design squiggles until it hits a polyrhythmic crescendo, striking a queasy balance between rave hedonism and ritualistic hand drum energy. It all builds towards eerie closing track 'Outside' that acts as an important wind down, spotlighting Mc Pherson's ability to operate outside of the rhythmic spectrum, using cinematic scrapes and flickering neon synths to create music that's tense but never terrifying. The track feels like the end credits of a particularly bewildering movie - something between the cyberpunk dystopia of "Ghost in the Shell" and the vivid, sky-scraping beauty of "Koyaanisqatsi". Mc Pherson has managed something special with "Pitch Blender": mashing together genres with rare focus, and sharpening their engineering skills to a fine point, they've concocted an antidote to contemporary malaise - a wakeup call that's begging us to loosen our limbs and move.

Hey, hard rock and metal fans—ready for another classic, early ‘90s album that never before made it to vinyl here in the States? Did we hear you say “Yeah!?” Then may we present Tyketto: Don’t Come Easy! This is another great, rockin’ record that got lost in the grunge craze that swept the music industry, and, just like our recent reissue of Wildside’s Under the Influence, it’s the debut release from a band that should have blown up much bigger than they did. You no doubt remember their single “Forever Young;” but the rest of the album offers melodic hard rock of the highest order, especially on tracks like “Burning Down Inside” and the power ballad “Standing Alone.” Excellent vocal work from former Waysted frontman Danny Vaughn, too. Remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision…teal with white swirl vinyl, complete with printed inner sleeve!

Legendary shoegaze band Chapterhouse will share their first ever recordings on a new EP, White House Demos, released via Sonic Cathedral on May 9.The four tracks were laid down at The White House studio in Weston-super-Mare on January 15, 1989, when the band were only four gigs old. "They were the first songs we wrote as a band," says the band's singer and guitarist Stephen Patman. "At the time our live set consisted of Stooges and '60s garage-psych cover versions which we mixed with these original songs." The tracks weren't included on 2023's career-spanning Chronology boxset because they had been forgotten about - until the intervention of Slowdive guitarist Christian Savill. He and Patman worked together in an office in Reading as their respective bands were starting out and he says the demo remains "their best record"."When the boxset was released, Christian got in touch and reminded me of these demos and how much he loved them," says Stephen. "He was probably the first person I gave a cassette copy to. He still rehearses and records at The White House and was going in for a session the following week, so I asked if he could ask the owner/engineer Martin Nichols to check if he still had them in his archive. Thankfully he did." Of the four tracks that make up the EP, `Ecstasy' has appeared in various versions and permutations on Chapterhouse compilations over the years, but never in its full eight-minute glory; a much later version of `Guilt' was included on the band's 1991 debut album and shoegaze classic Whirlpool; a version of `Die Die Die' was also included with that album on a bonus 12", and remained part of the band's live set for a while. The stunning `See That Girl', however, has never been released before. With 36 years of distance, it sounds like something of a lost classic, and the White House Demos as a whole feel like a brief moment in time captured forever.

On ‘Animal’, Ash Fure appeals to “animal intelligence” by using sounds that are inherently physical and driven by perception, athleticism and interaction. Placing polycarbonate sheeting over an inverted subwoofer she built alongside her partner Xavi Aguirre and brother Adam, Fure isolates the physical impact of sound by focusing on psychoacoustic sub-bass pulses, semi-perceptible micro-rhythms and discomfiting white noise bursts, linking the process to her experiences in Berlin and Detroit’s techno dungeons where the sound has to adapt to the space it’s performed in. When she performed ‘Animal’ for the first time, Fure fabricated a “listening gym”, allowing the audience to interact in real-time by circuit training in response to the sound. The sweat is almost audible across the record, a run-on selection of rhythms, resonances and abstractions that sound like interlocking heartbeats on a series of treadmills. Her fascination with techno’s cavernous cathedrals is clear from the beginning, but Fure doesn’t worship at the altar: we’re hit with the feeling, not the aesthetic. The beats themselves, made from unstable vibrations and waterlogged, reverberating clicks, echo the brain’s unconscious reaction to repetition in a vast concrete box, the feeling you get when each percussive snag ricochets from every surface in the building. Coddling these whirring, criss-crossing polyrhythms with harsh, distorted low-end retches, Fure accurately recreates the energy and fatigue of the endless weekend sesh. We never once encounter techno in its expected shell, just its residue - the outline of humans figuring out their relationship with technology, architecture and each other. Fure’s use of dynamics is also deviously smart, marking out an overall rhythm that’s not tied to the strength of the sounds themselves, but just volume and physical impact. Often her most brutal sounds - ear-splitting squeals and overdriven mechanical whirrs - are reduced to an almost inaudible level, a bit like the bandy legged trip to the bathroom, or the escape to some dimly lit nook, the part of the night where you can still detect the sound on your skin without being battered by it. When the undulating rhythm returns in earnest, Fure masks acidic sequences in jet engine expulsions, still refusing to objectify anything that an AI model might be able to pick up on.

Ground-breaking afro-rock and jazz with Memphis soul roots on this lost 1972 gem. Lovingly restored and reissued by Matsuli Music


'Black Soul' from 1972 is the third and last known album by The Anchors, a soul group originally formed in Johannesburg's Alexandra township in 1968. Their first two albums, 'Soul Upstairs' from 1969 and 'Everything' from 1971, were issued on Teal's City Special label alongside other prominent South African soul groups of the era like The Beaters, The Movers and The Flaming Souls.

On 'Black Soul', The Anchors undergo a notable shift, moving away from their early Memphis soul influences towards a pioneering African-driven sound. These changes laid the foundations for an emerging afro-fusion scene in the years to come from groups like Batsumi, The Drive and Harari.

'Black Soul' features a who's who of intergenerational musicians from great South African bands over the decades. In addition to Zacks Nkosi, the renowned bandleader of the Jazz Maniacs and long-time member of the African Swingsters in the 1940s and 50s, this album includes kwela star Little Kid Lex Hendricks, known for his Columbia recordings of the late 1950s; as well as Zack's son Jabu Nkosi who would go on to play with The Drive, Roots and Sakhile; and Banza Kgasoane later a member of The Beaters, Harari and then Mango Groove.

Now remastered for its first release since the original 1972 pressing, this lost gem offers a revealing glimpse into the evolution of South African music during a transformative era.

Zacks Nkosi (Sax), Patrick Jabu Nkosi (Organ and Flute), Anderson Nkosi (Lead Guitar), Given Sabela (Bass Guitar), Kid Lex Hendrix (Sax), Banza Kgasoane (Trumpet), Peter Morake (Drums), Hamilton Nzimande (Musical Director).
Original LP issued in South Africa on GRC’s CBS label (LAB 4037) in 1972.
Produced for reissue by Chris Albertyn and Matt Temple at Matsuli Music, and Siemon Allen at Flatinternational.
Original vinyl sourced from the Flatinternational Archive.
Artwork restoration and design by Siemon Allen.
Audio restoration, mastering and lacquers by Frank Merritt at The Carvery.
Manufactured at Pallas, Germany.

Growing up is painful, brutal, and sometimes beautiful _ something Brooklyn-based indie-rock band Bedridden knows all too well. The band's name is even a nod to that ineffable period between childhood and the jagged edges of the real world. "When I was 21, I kind of lost my home," says frontman/guitarist Jack Riley. "I was couch-surfing. I was having a hard time.The next iteration in the band's maturation, then, is their debut, LP Moths Strapped To Eachother's Backs, 10 fuzzed-out (and sometimes gnarly) ruminations on dating, drugs, and survival out April 11 on Julia's War. The title came from a mysterious missive Riley received on astrology app Co-Star. "Last year I was way too reliant on other people _ my partner at the time, my friends," he says. "I was strapped to them in a weird way _ and flying in circles. This album is about that time."The current incarnation of Bedridden encompasses a patchwork of styles, influences, and friends Riley accumulated over the years. A Chicago native who first started making music at age five on a thrift-store guitar emblazoned with Kurt Cobain's name, Riley moved to New Orleans for college where he dabbled in punk before falling in love with shoegaze. There, he launched the first version of Bedridden. Sebastian Duzian (bass) _ a jazz musician and Pasadena native _ linked up with Riley in NOLA along with his bandmate, drummer Nick Pedroza. Pedroza, from Claremont, grew up on rock, metal, and jazz, honing his style after joining the band. Wesley Wolffe _ a guitarist fed on a steady diet of New Wave and `90s alt _ rounded out the crew just a few months back. Bedridden's previous lineup released their first EP, Amateur Heartthrob, in 2023 _ a noise-washed blend of shoegaze, DIY, and indie that Riley says is a "coming-of-age EP _ these formative stories about not having a bed, dating, being kind of a jackass. I was making fun of myself a lot." That release caught the attention of Douglas Dulgarian from Philly Label Julia's War (and TAGABOW), who signed them for Moths."Some of these songs have been around for years," says Riley, adding that they were recorded last February at Studio G Brooklyn; the album was produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma). "As opposed to Amateur Heartthrob, we attempted to blend more clean guitars into a driving sound to capture more clarity _ one that also sounds live_ and raw," Riley says. That rawness thrums through the record, which kicks off with the thrashed "Gummy," about an incident when Riley had to gently fend off a co-worker's unwanted advances while both drunk and high on an MDMA gummy. And then there's mournful rager "Etch," which sees Riley daydreaming about beating up a meddler in his personal life _ in the minor key.The annihilating "Chainsaw" revs in next, a lightning-fast Lemonheads-inspired track that recalls Riley moving in with new roommates who were unnaturally obsessed with purchasing a lamp. "For some reason that pissed me off," he laughs; that rage is evident in the album cover, which shows said power tool demolishing a lampshade. Heavy-shredding "Heaven's Leg" showcases the band's affinity for `90s mainstays like Smashing Pumpkins while telling the tale of a gig at a local church. "The lyrics are about a pastor I had met that had lost his leg," Riley says. "The church had signs about not cussing and I had a feeling that neither of us had anything to talk about without potentially offending the other."The band's not afraid to get confrontational, though, on the anger-fueled, drum-heavy "Philadelphia, Get Me Through," which deals with a dead-end relationship and the mistaken assumption that getting drunk in the titular city would be a balm against the pain. And the nasty, brutist, and short hardcore-adjacent "MainStage"? "It's about being disrespected at a show on New Year's and how I lashed out," Riley says. "I then began to take it out on other people, which was a quality that I despise."Things get contemplative and mournful from here on out _ the emo-edged "Snare" is about bringing flowers to a hospital room where you're not welcome, while the Smiths-inspired "Uno" wrestles with self-loathing. "I guess the big finale of that song was my response to dealing with this recurring experience of feeling like I wasn't good enough by getting really into whippets," Riley says. Nu-metal bop "Bonehead," then, recalls an embarrassing dinner that turned into an argument _ the name applies both to that incident and the delicious simplicity of the guitar parts.After all that turmoil and pain, the band caps everything off with their eyes to the future on the jangle-pop "Ring Size." "All my friends are getting married _ do I follow in their footsteps? Or is it all a waste of time?" Riley says of the song. "At the end, through it all, I guess that's what I've been trying to figure out _ how to grow up, how to move on. I'm trying to navigate things as an adult and I'm not very good at it. But this is just the first record. This is just the beginning."And, hey, at least now he has a bed.

Detroit’s Apollo Brown and Rochester’s Hassaan Mackey operate in a world where every drum slap lands like a timeworn truth and every bar drips with lived-in wisdom. Brown’s production is rich with that signature crackle—soul loops stretched and repurposed into something both hauntingly nostalgic and unmistakably fresh. Mackey’s delivery is sharp yet unhurried, weaving Northern NY grit with effortless poise. It’s the kind of record that doesn’t beg for attention but demands respect. Now available on Black & Yellow Starburst Vinyl. Sounds Beautiful Like The Truth.

In nearly a decade, songwriter Sonia Weber’s ability to pen precise lyrics and memorable riffs has become laser-focused. As a result, the songs feel like they’ve been assembled with all the intention and care of a mixtape to a high-stakes crush. Caleb Misclevitz, A.P. Fiedler, and Derek McNeil round out the band, bringing the giant loud guitar rock feeling these songs require. The Portland outfit crafts songs big enough to fill an arena while simultaneously conjuring the emotional intimacy of making out in the bathroom of your favorite karaoke bar. Alien Boy does this by harnessing the raw power of PDX’s Wipers’ but not being afraid to embrace the pop catchiness of rock titans like Oasis or Third Eye Blind, all while crafting a tone and power distinctly their own. Whether listened to in your headphones in bed or witnessed live in person, Alien Boy leaves an emotional crater that’ll keep you coming back for more (Gem Fair)

Marty Willson-Piper is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known as a longtime member of the Australian band The Church (1980–2013). With a career spanning over 45 years, he has contributed to a wide range of musical projects, including his solo work, collaborations with All About Eve and The Saints, and his own band, Noctorum.

In 2025, Willson-Piper launched Archaeological Dig - Volume 1, the first in a planned trilogy of releases where he re-records over 30 songs from his extensive catalog. This re-imagined collection features ten songs from different time periods, played with strings, acoustics, piano, and keyboards while still incorporating bass, drums, and multi-layered vocals. The album revisits material from his solo career—including selections from In Reflection (1987), which also received a Record Store Day 2025 reissue, and Art Attack (1988)—as well as songs from his tenure with The Church, drawing from landmark albums like Heyday (1985) and Starfish (1988).

Included in Volume 1 are fan favorites like "Tristesse," originally featured on Heyday (1985), and "Spark," from the platinum-selling Starfish (1988). These songs highlight the diversity of Willson-Piper’s catalog and showcase his evocative songwriting and signature guitar work.

Adding to the album’s distinctive presentation, the cover art for Archaeological Dig features a themed sci-fi illustration, with each of the three volumes depicting Willson-Piper in a different setting alongside UFOs. The release is available across all planets and throughout the galaxy via the In Deep boutique label in conjunction with Schoolkids Records.

Blending psychedelic rock, folk, and alternative influences, Willson-Piper’s music remains deeply atmospheric and introspective. Beyond his recording career, he is also an avid vinyl collector, music historian, and passionate champion of independent artistry.

Comes on Black & White Marbled Vinyl, complete with a printed inner sleeve featuring insightful liner notes. CHARLY RECORDS present the first ever reissue of the sought-after cult New York, gospel street opera, Free The Black Man’s Chains. The most intriguing, and certainly the most ambitious project on the city’s GSF label (see more stunning titles on GSF exclusively from Charly). The project had its roots in a trio of singles released by the mysterious Broad Street Gang in 1971. The first, on the Cougar label called “Fair Skin Man” and its two follow-ups “L-o-v-e Love” and the title track from the album “Free The Black Man's Chains”. Celebrated musicians on the sessions were Mitchell Rowe, Bobby Eli, Len Pakula, Daryl Hall, Ron Baker, Norman Harris, The Raelettes and strings arranged by Richie Rome. A project like Free The Black Man's Chains should have been perfect for the multi-media nature of GSF. The album could have led to a film in the way that it had for Jesus Christ Superstar, but instead like so many of the label's releases, the album failed to make its mark due to a lack of promotion. GSF would barely reach its second birthday before it – and its parent company – shut down. A Black Opera…

The Scream, Siouxsie & the Banshees' first album, was released late enough in the punk era to bear some claim as the first post-punk album, with only a minor traces of 'punk' (one lingering early song, "Carcass" comes to mind) and enough hints of what had come even earlier, Andy MacKay-like saxophone flourishes - to feel utterly new. Not to mention the effort producer Steve Lillywhite must have put into the album, his first fully-credited major label production. Siouxsie was clearly the focus of the band, with her unique vocal style and lyrics, but the real star, we've always known, was John McKay, who wrote most of the album's music (as well as singles like "Hong Kong Garden"), creating a wholly new guitar sound - harsh and brittle, yet melodically intoxicating . . . best articulated by a somewhat confounded Steve Albini years later ". . . only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". McKay's influence lives on; many of the most influential guitarists of the past four decades credit him as a major influence - Geordie from Killing Joke, Jim Reid of The Jesus And Mary Chain, U2's The Edge, Thurston Moore, Johnny Marr and even the two guitarists - The Cure's Robert Smith and Magazine's John McGeoch - who followed him in The Banshees. McKay's burgeoning status as the anti-guitar hero was halted when he and Banshees drummer Kenny Morris - at odds with Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin - fled the band just after the start of a tour supporting the group's second album, Join Hands. It was a weekly music paper scandal, later the subject of a BBC documentary, and Siouxsie's vitriol working its way into the lyrics of a later Banshees b-side, "Drop Dead / Celebration". Aside from a solitary single on Marc Riley's In Tape label nearly a decade later, no music was heard from McKay again. So it comes as a major surprise to learn of a pile of excellent recordings made in the years just after he left The Banshees, unheard by all but a very few, some of which feature drummer Kenny Morris, plus Mick Allen from Rema Rema, Matthew Seligman of the Soft Boys and longer-term collaborator Graham Dowdall and John's wife Linda . . . the latter three of whom now all sadly deceased. Sixes And Sevens is an historic lost album. Brazenly genius and bearing fair claim as the lost treasure of the post-punk era, the album collects eleven studio tracks, carefully mastered from original tapes. It's a masterpiece which best speaks for itself.

The Scream, Siouxsie & the Banshees' first album, was released late enough in the punk era to bear some claim as the first post-punk album, with only a minor traces of 'punk' (one lingering early song, "Carcass" comes to mind) and enough hints of what had come even earlier, Andy MacKay-like saxophone flourishes - to feel utterly new. Not to mention the effort producer Steve Lillywhite must have put into the album, his first fully-credited major label production.
Siouxsie was clearly the focus of the band, with her unique vocal style and lyrics, but the real star, we've always known, was John McKay, who wrote most of the album's music (as well as singles like "Hong Kong Garden"), creating a wholly new guitar sound - harsh and brittle, yet melodically intoxicating . . . best articulated by a somewhat confounded Steve Albini years later ". . . only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". McKay's influence lives on; many of the most influential guitarists of the past four decades credit him as a major influence - Geordie from Killing Joke, Jim Reid of The Jesus And Mary Chain, U2's The Edge, Thurston Moore, Johnny Marr and even the two guitarists - The Cure's Robert Smith and Magazine's John McGeoch - who followed him in The Banshees.
McKay's burgeoning status as the anti-guitar hero was halted when he and Banshees drummer Kenny Morris - at odds with Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin - fled the band just after the start of a tour supporting the group's second album, Join Hands. It was a weekly music paper scandal, later the subject of a BBC documentary, and Siouxsie's vitriol working its way into the lyrics of a later Banshees b-side, "Drop Dead / Celebration". Aside from a solitary single on Marc Riley's In Tape label nearly a decade later, no music was heard from McKay again. So it comes as a major surprise to learn of a pile of excellent recordings made in the years just after he left The Banshees, unheard by all but a very few, some of which feature drummer Kenny Morris, plus Mick Allen from Rema Rema, Matthew Seligman of the Soft Boys and longer-term collaborator Graham Dowdall and John's wife Linda . . . the latter three of whom now all sadly deceased.
Sixes And Sevens is an historic lost album. Brazenly genius and bearing fair claim as the lost treasure of the post-punk era, the album collects eleven studio tracks, carefully mastered from original tapes. It's a masterpiece which best speaks for itself. John McKay will be made available for a limited number of interviews . . . and yes, there are surprises in store.

Following a trio of quick sell out, limited lathe cut 45 to kick off 2025, Feral Child now embark on a stash of more widely available full lengths (from the likes of Lake Ruth, The Jonny Halifax Invocation and Polypores amongst others). First up is a wonderful follow up to 2023’s “Refrains” 10” EP from Swedish band TAPE. “Refrains” figured in 2 or 3 notable UK stores’ end of year polls, noticeably Monorail in Glasgow where Stephen Pastel gave it a top 3 for 2023 nomination. “Preludes” is -if anything- even more majestic and acts as a superb follow up. The record is released 11th April on Feral Child as one time pressing 10” vinyl only release, featuring beautiful artwork once more from Peter Liversidge and the calligraphic hand of Klas Augustsson. The return of Swedish trio Tape has been reassuringly slow motion. They’ve always moved at their own pace, these three peripatetic musicians – brothers Andreas and Johan Berthling, and companion Tomas Hallonsten – though it’s been over a decade since their last full-length, 2014’s Casino. Not a disappearing act, rather a break for consideration, time to explore other avenues of creativity, perhaps… But their reappearance, with the Refrains 10”, was one of 2023’s most encouraging moments; doubly so, as it was proof they’d not lost their way, at all, in the intervening nine years. The Tape modus operandi is one of deceptive simplicity and artful innocence. On Preludes, a typically right, one-word Tape title, this means five wordless songs that move between fully fleshed out, lovingly tended folk threnodies – the beautiful opener, “Lights Out”, that spins webs via simple, hypnotically repeating guitar – and textural conceits that hover, appealingly, in a kind of no-place. “Naukluft Plateau” is lovingly dappled, with ruminative piano adrift on a cascading tonal waterfall. Then, feather-fall strums of guitar meet huffing harmonium and electronic scrum on the brief “Golden Gain”. Is there a more perfect song title for Tape than “Tangential Thoughts”? It sums up the way their music, nimble and dainty but also carefully tended, lends itself to the reverie, the meander, the anfractuous. The madeleine-like power of this song’s two-chord figure allows the music to take flight: rustling organ, oscillating cymbal, droplets of percussion, a spinney of sound. And Preludes slips away “On The Accordeon Bus”: there’s something lovely about the way that title collapses transit, articulation and bellows, reflected in the see-sawing sway and glitch-like rivulets of sound that course through the song. So, Preludes, then – alive to the moment, both gentle and sturdy. A copse of tone, and a most gorgeous wool-gathering.

"My Last Star" began as a dream that Greg Lee of Hepcat had the week before his death in March of 2024. Greg dreamed of a Slackers song. The Slackers have completed this song, and now the world can hear this truly one of a kind collaboration. In Greg's dream, an old neighbor picked him up in a classic car, turned on the stereo, and played a Slackers song that - at the time - did not exist on our plane of reality. It sounds like the stuff of myth, but the song was so crystal clear in the dream that when he awoke around 2 or 3 in the morning, he immediately wrote down the lyrics he had heard, still humming the tune. "I hadn't seen Greg so excited about a new song in a very long time," says Lee's longtime partner, Mandie Becker. "I found the lyrics when I was organizing his things. I knew he had a voice recording on his phone, too. I decided the best situation was to offer it to The Slackers so we could all hear the song on the stereo from Greg's dream." "I was floored when I received Greg's vocal demo with the lyrics and I vowed to finish the song and make the dream a reality," says Slackers saxophonist Dave Hillyard. "I took the vocal demo to The Slackers, Vic Ruggiero harmonized it, and we wrote music around the words. With this song we came full circle. Greg had given us a gift and we needed to give it back to his family, friends, and musical community. We are the medium for his message." The longer history behind this collaboration is a story of decades of friendship, collaboration, artistry, and mutual respect between LA's Hepcat and NYC's The Slackers, who although from opposite coasts, have both been leading lights and creative forces in the underground ska scene since the early 1990s. Both Hepcat and The Slackers concerned themselves with timeless songwriting that paid homage to the longstanding roots of the music. It is an extraordinary final work envisioned by a beloved and thoughtful musician of the highest caliber and completed by longtime friends and collaborators he knew from the moment of inspiration were the ones that would play it. It is literally a dream come true. "My Last Star" is available as a 12" UV Printed Vinyl Single from Pirates Press Records, with art by The Slackers' in-house artist Catt Gould. The 12" also includes instrumental and dub versions of the song. As a matter of fact, snippets of Greg's original vocal demo from his phone are subtly mixed in toward the end of the instrumental version, underscoring his posthumous presence on the record. Greg's songwriting royalties, as well as a portion of the proceeds from the sales of "My Last Star," will be passed on to his four daughters.

Originally released on Ben Chasny's own Pavilion imprint in 2011.

"I was invited by the Incubate Festival and the city of Tilburg to participate in an artist residency where I would explore the region’s unique chapels built for the Virgin Mary. After writing the music for about six months by drawing on memories of the encounters with the chapels and using techniques inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s Poetics Of Reverie, I flew back to Tilburg to perform the music at the Incubate Festival. We recorded the evening and I released the result on my Pavilion label. Each cover was hand painted white on white in the old Pavilion style. I created a stencil and used graphite powder to make the design that is inspired by the sun imagery in Athanasius Kircher diagrams."

Roadside chapels express the identity of the inhabitants of North Brabant, a Dutch province, bordering on Belgium. Roman Catholicism has been the dominant religion in this southern part of the Netherlands since the eighth century. For about a century and a half this religion was strongly suppressed. Only when the French revolutionaries preached freedom of belief around 1800 could the people of North Brabant exercise their faith again. This was the start of a very strong emancipatory development from which a special form of the Roman Catholic faith arose that fully determined everyday life of the people here. This faith was the determining factor in life and the measure of all things. After the second Vatican Council (1962-1965) the reins of the catholic faith in Brabant were loosened as well. This was the start of a revolutionary process of secularisation. Within a decade hardly anything was left of the almighty influence of the Roman Catholic Church and this situation has lasted up to the present day.

In spite of the almightiness of the official, Vatican ruled, Roman Catholic faith, North Brabant has always and perhaps notoriously fostered an undercurrent of popular belief as well. This is a kind of belief in which elements of the official faith and age-old pre-Christian traditions are combined. Worshipping relics, holding pilgrimages and processions, the use of water from holy wells, popular art, recitations and songs, festivals, rituals, folk traditions, superstition and the like are all examples of popular devotion. These matters have strongly influenced and formed the identity of the present-day population of North Brabant. It is part of their immaterial heritage.

An obvious and still very much visible form of popular devotion are the roadside chapels. In Brabant some 400 can be found, most of which have been devoted to Mary. Chapels are small buildings in which Mary or other saints are worshipped. They can be found within villages or towns or in natural surroundings. Always at the finest spots! The beauty of the environment adds a primary religious or mystical feeling to the visitor. Local people attach great value to their chapels. In spite of the overall secularisation in society they are still at the centre of cultural and social life. Where people in North Brabant can hardly be found in the churches nowadays, this doesn’t mean at all they are no longer religious. On the contrary, religious feelings are perhaps stronger than ever, but now people have to find their own expression of them. That’s why they fall back on the age-old popular belief in which chapels play an important role. We can even witness new forms of popular belief with chapels as their focal point. An example of this is the scattering of ashes of people who have been cremated. Chapels clearly also play a role in the lives of young people. On an average five new chapels are added every year.

I have studied the popular culture and belief and the identity of the inhabitants of North Brabant for over thirty years. I have published over forty books on these subjects. In 2010 I was approached by the organisation of the Incubate Festival in the North Brabant town of Tilburg. Their request was for me to lead the American composer and guitarist Ben Chasny around a number of chapels in the province devoted to Mary. He had been invited to North Brabant to write some new compositions. Ben Chasny then chose to be inspired by these chapels and that’s how we met. I was especially curious how an American would react to something as specific and small as a roadside chapel in North Brabant, since we tend to think here of (people in) America in terms of ‘big-bigger-biggest’. Would an inhabitant of this enormous country with this prevailing culture be able to grasp and respect the identity of some 2.5 million people in North Brabant with their chapels? The answer to this question lies hidden in the compositions he made and that can be listened to on this album. Yes, Ben Chasny has been able to convert the phenomenon of a simple chapel devoted to Mary into music. The physical and the spiritual have found each other. What a beautiful world…just listen! - Paul Spapens

The Bottle Rockets’ 1994 record The Brooklyn Side ranks right up there with Uncle Tupelo’s Anodyne in the pantheon of alt country albums…yet it has NEVER seen a widespread release on vinyl. We hooked up with original producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and mastering engineer Scott Hull to score the original tapes and create an all-analog release of this legendary record…but we didn’t stop there. We’ve also added six bonus tracks to flesh out this 2-LP Expanded Edition, winding up with the track that started it all, Brian Henneman’s “Indianapolis.” Reissued with the full consent and cooperation of the band!

CADAVER, one of Norway's first and most influential death metal bands, has carved a distinctive path through the annals of extreme music. Formed in 1988 in Fredrikstad by Anders Odden (guitar/vocals) and Ole Bjerkebakke (drums/vocals), the band emerged from the ashes of their earlier black metal project, Baphomet. Their vision blended thrash and death metal with progressive influences from bands like Voivod and the chaotic insanity of Napalm Death, forging a sound that defied conventions. In 2024, Anders Odden delved deep into CADAVER 's history, unearthing unreleased material that offers a fascinating glimpse into the band's formative years. Before signing with Earache Records in 1992, CADAVER had worked on what would eventually become their second album, ...In Pains. During this period, they recorded raw and unpolished versions of many tracks in the same studio where Hallucinating Anxiety was born. These early recordings featured working titles that were later changed, and among them was a song titled "Maltreated Mind Makes Man Manic," which was never completed at the time. Anders revisited these hidden gems at Studio Tomb, located in Råde, Norway—the very place where CADAVER was first formed. With the old lineup reunited for this session, they finished the additional recordings necessary to bring their original vision to life. The result is Hymns of Misanthropy, a newly completed album from 1991 that will finally see the light of day through Listenable Records in April 2025. This release showcases CADAVER's unique approach to extreme music and highlights their previously underappreciated influence on the early Norwegian black metal scene. With Hymns of Misanthropy, listeners can experience a raw and powerful chapter of CADAVER's history, demonstrating once again that they were never just a typical death metal band. Instead, they remain an ever-evolving force that consistently pushes the envelope of what extreme music can achieve.

"In a world where there are no more heroes, the Fleshtones walk the earth like Roman gods. Since their inception in 1976 in Queens, New York, and their sweaty, boozy gestation at legendary venues such as CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, and the storied Club 57— recently feted at the Museum of Modern Art, where their proto-video underground film “Soul City” was unspooled for art stars, glitterati, and a raft of punk rockers who managed to get past the front gate — they have perpetrated their proprietary brand of SUPER ROCK, a frenetic amalgam of garage punk and soul, punctuated by the big beat and unleashed with the spectacular show business majesty which has kept them on the road for over forty years, adored by audiences whose love for them borders on religious fervor.

It’s Getting Late (…and More Songs About Werewolves) is a smash that could have dropped at any point in their epic career — it is an outburst, and a celebration of the SUPER ROCK sound. Unlike their contemporaries, they have not dialed down the tempos to compensate for osteoporosis, they have not lost anything on their fastball, and continue to throw it for strikes. The hardest working band in garage rock has never sounded better, and now you see why they've been your favorite band's favorite band for decades."

“Underground” is a relative term. One could argue that all the ‘60s San Francisco psychedelic bands were underground, because the music they made was so far removed from the pop and rock sounds that came before them. But of all the bands in the scene, Lamb was perhaps the most underground of them all. It wasn’t just that their blend of rock, folk, classical, country, blues, and gospel was as hard to classify as any of the era. It was also their vibe. Along with classically trained guitarist and songwriting partner Bob Swanson, Barbara Mauritz’s versatile vocals paced material often imbued with a haunting, mystical aura. Yet they could also be earthy and rootsy, occasionally drifting into spacey psychedelia with hints of raga-rock. Released in the early ‘70s, Lamb’s first two albums, A Sign of Change and Cross Between, did indeed offer some of the most intriguing and eclectic music of any San Francisco rock band on the psychedelic scene. But Lamb’s history predated the release of those records by a good couple of years or so. So prolific were Mauritz and Swanson that quite a few of their original compositions didn’t make it onto their albums, though these were often on par with the songs that did find official release. Unlike many bands of the time who had a bounty of surplus quality tunes, Lamb often taped these in studios and studio-like rehearsal conditions, as well as making some professional tapes of their live performances. Fortunately, many of those tapes survive, including a good number of songs that didn’t find a place on their LPs, as well as substantially different versions of some that did. The best of these from the late 1960s find release for the first time on An Extension of Now: Unreleased Recordings 1968-1969. This collection not only rounds out our picture of one of San Francisco rock’s finest underappreciated acts, but also serves as a first-class document of Lamb as they made their transition from a more standard rock outfit to a group not easily comparable to any other in the region, or indeed any other anywhere. Our black vinyl and CD (with extra tracks, limited to 500) releases feature liner notes by Richie Unterberger drawn from an interview with Bob Swanson, who has also contributed photos and memorabilia from his private archive. Produced by noted Bay Area archivist Alec Palao…if you’re a fan of late-‘60s S.F. psych, you have to hear this!

After "RUINER", "CLEAN" and "GOLD", Atlanta's noise juggernauts WHORES. return with fierce new album ,WAR". American Muscle to drown out the American Dream as it careens into the ditch_ "WAR" is a an album full of brazen rhythms, serpentine riffs, walls of feedback, and howls of contempt. It is an album that is as rowdy and boisterous as it is anxious and savage. "Helmet comparisons are understandable but Helmet wishes they sounded this authentic and convincing in 2024", Heavy Mag wrote in their rave review, and Rolling Stone included "WAR." in their 20 best metal records of 2024. "It pisses me off when people talk shit about us. They don't know the lengths I go through to keep this band going" says guitarist/vocalist Christian Lembach in an interview with New Noise Magazine on why it's taken eight years between albums. Personal issues, accidents and then the pandemic presented obstacles for the band. Lembach injured both of his knees and tore the meniscus in his right one, and he broke both elbows and his ribs in an accident at his day job. WHORES. have dealt with setbacks that would have killed other bands, but instead it's made them stronger. And Lembach's high standards haven't exactly accelerated the making of "WAR": "It takes a while because I need to make a record I can stand behind. I just don't want to put anything out to just do it. I never think the one I'm working on is a masterpiece. To me the masterpiece is the next one", he says. "Lyrics are the most important part to me. Not the riffs not the song structures but the actual words" Lembach elaborates. "I always have the title before I write the lyrics. All the lyrics and song titles fit thematically into the album title. In this case I did a lot of soul searching. I was trying to figure out what it takes to be happy. I had to confront the ugly parts of myself. The title isn't political, it's about conquering the ugly parts of yourself." "WAR" is a battering ram of a live band, slugging like a doomsday clock towards midnight. Originally self-relased in 2024, we are happy to finally release in Europe what we're sure will become a noise rock genre-classic. PRESS "time is just a construct and Whores. are forever" - Everything Is Noise " ein weiterer musikalischer Schlag in die Magengrube" - Visions 10/12 " Frontman Christian Lembach is not so much a singer as a verbal assailant a spitting cobra of a human who leaves you drenched in his venomous wordplay." - Heavy Mag FOR FANS OF CHAT PILE, HELMET, HIGH ON FIRE, KEN MODE, INTERCOURSE, UNSANE, NAILS

After "RUINER", "CLEAN" and "GOLD", Atlanta's noise juggernauts WHORES. return with fierce new album ,WAR". American Muscle to drown out the American Dream as it careens into the ditch_ "WAR" is a an album full of brazen rhythms, serpentine riffs, walls of feedback, and howls of contempt. It is an album that is as rowdy and boisterous as it is anxious and savage. "Helmet comparisons are understandable but Helmet wishes they sounded this authentic and convincing in 2024", Heavy Mag wrote in their rave review, and Rolling Stone included "WAR." in their 20 best metal records of 2024. "It pisses me off when people talk shit about us. They don't know the lengths I go through to keep this band going" says guitarist/vocalist Christian Lembach in an interview with New Noise Magazine on why it's taken eight years between albums. Personal issues, accidents and then the pandemic presented obstacles for the band. Lembach injured both of his knees and tore the meniscus in his right one, and he broke both elbows and his ribs in an accident at his day job. WHORES. have dealt with setbacks that would have killed other bands, but instead it's made them stronger. And Lembach's high standards haven't exactly accelerated the making of "WAR": "It takes a while because I need to make a record I can stand behind. I just don't want to put anything out to just do it. I never think the one I'm working on is a masterpiece. To me the masterpiece is the next one", he says. "Lyrics are the most important part to me. Not the riffs not the song structures but the actual words" Lembach elaborates. "I always have the title before I write the lyrics. All the lyrics and song titles fit thematically into the album title. In this case I did a lot of soul searching. I was trying to figure out what it takes to be happy. I had to confront the ugly parts of myself. The title isn't political, it's about conquering the ugly parts of yourself." "WAR" is a battering ram of a live band, slugging like a doomsday clock towards midnight. Originally self-relased in 2024, we are happy to finally release in Europe what we're sure will become a noise rock genre-classic. PRESS "time is just a construct and Whores. are forever" - Everything Is Noise " ein weiterer musikalischer Schlag in die Magengrube" - Visions 10/12 " Frontman Christian Lembach is not so much a singer as a verbal assailant a spitting cobra of a human who leaves you drenched in his venomous wordplay." - Heavy Mag FOR FANS OF CHAT PILE, HELMET, HIGH ON FIRE, KEN MODE, INTERCOURSE, UNSANE, NAILS

Liebe existiert nicht isoliert - sie verweilt, verändert sich und taucht auf eine Weise auf, die wir nicht immer erwarten. So auch der 27-jährige Sänger, Songwriter und Multiinstrumentalist Brandon, der all das und mehr auf seinem Debütalbum „Before You Go“ erforscht, das am 9. Mai bei Secretly Canadian erscheint. „Before You Go“ ist eine grenzenlose Sammlung von Soul- und R&B-beeinflussten Alternative-Pop-Gitarrensongs. Heute stellt Brandon auch die Leadsingle „Right Back“ vor, ein gitarrengetriebener Alt-R&B-Song mit warmem Gesang und synkopierten Beats.

Brandon Joseph - einfach Brandon genannt - ist aus der reichhaltigen kreativen Landschaft Südkaliforniens mit einem Sound hervorgegangen, der eine Mischung aus unaufdringlicher Verletzlichkeit und genreübergreifendem Ehrgeiz darstellt. Brandon hat seine Stimme durch Ausprobieren, Beharrlichkeit und Visionen gefunden, und seine Songs tragen die Spuren seines Einfallsreichtums: Brandon hat sich das Gitarrenspiel selbst beigebracht, er spielt jedes Instrument auf praktisch jedem Track, und er hat sein Debüt nicht nur selbst produziert, sondern auch jeden Song selbst gemischt und die Harmonie in ihren unzähligen Schichten gefunden. Nach dem Erfolg der zwei EPs „Coming Clean“ und „Blush“ ist Brandons Debütalbum bei Secretly Canadian sowohl sehr persönlich als auch klanglich anspruchsvoll. Einige der Songs auf „Before You Go“, die er komplett in seinem Heimstudio geschrieben und aufgenommen hat, brüteten jahrelang vor sich hin, während Brandons Talent und Ressourcen den Visionen in seinem Kopf entsprachen. Eine erste Reise in die Heimat seiner Familie in Trinidad erwies sich ebenfalls als prägend. Dort wurde Brandons Weltanschauung entspannter und friedlicher, und seine Musik folgte ihm. „Ich habe gelernt, mir Zeit zu nehmen“, erklärt er, „das Leben anders zu betrachten und die Menschen nicht mehr nur aus dem Blickwinkel der Transaktion zu sehen“. Das Ergebnis ist eine Sammlung von Songs, die sich nicht davor scheuen, selbstbewusst und zurückhaltend zu sein. Die Leadsingle „Right Back“ verkörpert dies mit einer hellen, minimalen Akustikgitarre unter Brandons warmem, romantischem Gesang. Der Song beginnt als Kreuzung aus Folk und R&B (man denke an den frühen Frank Ocean oder Steve Lacy), aber er öffnet sich zu etwas Größerem - ein nach unten gerichteter, in Dur-Tonarten gehaltener Floater mit wehmütigem Text, einem federleichten, synkopierten Beat und einem unwiderstehlichen, hymnischen Gefühl. Brandon ist bekannt für seine magnetischen Auftritte an der Seite von Omar Apollo und Mac Ayres und seine gefühlvolle Stimme zementiert seinen Platz als einer der fesselndsten neuen Singer-Songwriter, die in den letzten Jahren aufgetaucht sind.

Five Five is the second studio album from the Miami-born underground rap pioneer, Pouya. Marking a slight transition into a more mature sound, Five Five showcases Pouya’s evolution as an artist while maintaining the raw authenticity that has endeared him to his fans. With tracks like "Suicidal Thoughts in the Back of the Cadillac Pt. 2" and "Handshakes," Pouya delves into themes of struggle, resilience, and personal growth, offering listeners a glimpse into his journey. In what became truly a solo effort, Five Five is limited to one feature in Night Lovell, with production primarily handled by Mikey The Magician (Track 4 produced by Chevali). The album draws from elements of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, yet remains uniquely rooted in Pouya’s own style. Over the years, Pouya has developed a long lasting core fanbase, first bubbling up in Miami alongside artists such as Denzel Curry, and then becoming a nationally celebrated artist. Back in print for the first time since originally released in 2018. Pressed on Wire Wheel Picture Disc Vinyl and cut at 45 RPM.

Unter Präsidentschaftskandidaten und zukünftigen Astronauten, war die North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Universität in Greensboro eine Brutstätte für schwarze Spitzenleistungen, Aktivismus und Talent. Unter einem halben Dutzend Labels versammelte der lokale Tölpel Walter Grady eine wechselnde Besetzung von Städtern, Homecoming-Queens und großen Männern auf dem Campus um einen schillernden Sound zu manifestieren, der sowohl einheimisch und revolutionär war. "Eccentric Soul: The Linco-Label" versammelt melodische Meilensteine aus dem Geburtsort der Bürgerrechtsbewegung.

Unter Präsidentschaftskandidaten und zukünftigen Astronauten, war die North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Universität in Greensboro eine Brutstätte für schwarze Spitzenleistungen, Aktivismus und Talent. Unter einem halben Dutzend Labels versammelte der lokale Tölpel Walter Grady eine wechselnde Besetzung von Städtern, Homecoming-Queens und großen Männern auf dem Campus um einen schillernden Sound zu manifestieren, der sowohl einheimisch und revolutionär war. "Eccentric Soul: The Linco-Label" versammelt melodische Meilensteine aus dem Geburtsort der Bürgerrechtsbewegung.

Chiminyo is a UK-based jazz/electronic artist and the founder of the new label NRG Discs (having previously released on Brownswood, Nightdreamer, Gearbox, and Astigmatic, with artists such as Gary Bartz, Shabaka Hutchings, Maisha, Nubya Garcia, Cykada, Uniri, as well as solo). Chiminyo is a versatile musician who blends the raw energy of live drums and percussion with cutting-edge electronic production.

His early solo releases showcased his knack for unique approaches to making music, using self-coded software to trigger synths and samples from every cymbal crash and drum hit, eliminating loops and click-tracks. This DIY, tech-driven methodology allowed Chiminyo complete, spontaneous control over his music—all from the stool behind his drum kit—creating a sound that is both daring and innovative.

Chiminyo's latest project, NRG, continues this trend of innovative thinking. Born from discussions around the UK jazz scene, Chiminyo concluded that this musical expression is less about "jazz" and more about the energy (NRG) that fuels it. As a result, NRG has evolved into a semi-regular event where Chiminyo brings together some of London's finest musicians for live, improvised performances that encapsulate the spirit of the scene. These live recordings are then given the magic production treatment by Chiminyo and co-producer Aviv Cohen, transforming them into the masterpieces we get to hear on wax.

The first three NRG LPs were a massive success, generating over 600,000 streams, selling over 800 copies (without distribution support), and receiving airplay on BBC Radio, Jazz FM, NTS, Soho Radio, and many more. High-profile DJs like Gilles Peterson and Jamz Supernova championed the albums, which were also covered in print by The Guardian, Jazzwise, Echoes Magazine, and various online channels. This success led to an invitation to record a live album at Ronnie Scott's, one of London's most iconic jazz venues—an incredible opportunity for any artist.

NRG 4 brings together some of the best jazz and electronic musicians in London. The album features Marisia Osu (harp), James Akers (tenor saxophone), Daniel Casimir (double bass), Lyle Barton (synthesizers), and Tilé Gichigi-Liperé (live electronics)—an all-star lineup whose members have released multiple records on Concord, Brownswood, Jazz Re:freshed, Astigmatic and more, and have collaborated with artists such as Laura Misch, Nubya Garcia, Blue Lab Beats and Emma-Jean Thackray. Three tracks are graced with features from Jorja Smith's backing vocalist BAELY and Cuban saxophone maestro Regis Molina.

Limited to 400 12" LPs (350 standard, 50 screen-printed limited edition).

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

HISINGEN TAXI RIDER is TOMMA INTET’s fourth album, but the first to be written entirely in Swedish. It tells the story of moving to Gothenburg and the transformative experience of new impressions and people. A tribute to adventure, the thrill in your stomach, and all those late nights. Taxi rides to raves and after-parties. Taxi rides home to loneliness. Taxi rides to love and taxi rides to anxiety.

With HISINGEN TAXI RIDER, TOMMA INTET continues on their distinctive path, refining their signature sound. Layered harmonies run like a red thread through an ever-evolving musical landscape—blending grit with angel dust.

Written and produced by Magnus Petersson at Rum 101. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Johan Holm at Studio Påtår.

How many albums virtually upend a genre? And how many erstwhile bluegrass bands top a contemporary jazz chart?! The answer to these questions, is, one, very few, and two, only Béla Fleck & the Flecktones! Their second album, 1991’s fancifully entitled Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, did indeed top Billboard’s contemporary jazz albums chart and scored a couple of Grammy noms. But more importantly, this record really made explicit the Flecktones’ bebop leanings, as they devised the term “Blu-Bop” to describe their unique fusion of bluegrass and jazz. Stylistic whiplash has never felt so good or sounded so sweet; check out their warm, instrumental wizardry on chestnuts like “Michelle” and “The Star Spangled Banner”…and don’t miss Béla’s banjo power chords on “Turtle Rock!” We had Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision remaster this classic for vinyl for maximum fidelity, and gave it a repress in cobalt blue vinyl limited to just 900 copies. Essential!

Bob Moog’s invention of the analog Moog synthesizer ignited an explosion of creativity across the music spectrum. On the classical side, there was Isao Tomita and Wendy Carlos; on the more avant-garde side, such artists as Mort Garson and Craig Leon used the new technology to explore the limits of sound production while rockers like Keith Emerson incorporated the technology into their music. And, of course, there was also a silly pop side to the synth mania, or “moogsploitation” as some wags put it; albums by The Moog Machine, The Happy Moog, and other similarly-entitled acts provide good examples of that. But the one man straddling all these camps was Gershon Kingsley. Kingsley studied with John Cage before making a pair of groundbreaking albums with fellow electronic music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perry (their “Baroque Hoedown” was the theme for the Main Street Electrical Parade attractions in Walt Disney theme parks). Kingsley then embarked on a solo career and scored an instant hit with this album, 1968’s Music to Moog By, and its signature track, “Pop Corn.” “Popcorn” (one word) became an international smash for Hot Butter four years later, but Music to Moog By also caught consumer ears with its blend of originals, classical, and especially versions of Beatles tunes (though you will have to excuse the egregious misspelling of “Paperback Writer” as “Paperback Rider”)! Ever in pursuit of pop music’s most eccentric manifestations, we at Real Gone are proud to reissue Music to Moog By for the first time in the U.S., complete with the 8-page “The Book of Moog” that was inside some original copies. Strawberry with black swirl pressing limited to 900 copies!

In 2005, the Grand Rapids band Still Remains dropped their first studio album Of Love and Lunacy, and since that time its reputation has only grown as one of the great lost classics of the metalcore genre. Now, with full support of the band, we at Real Gone are releasing Of Love and Lunacy on vinyl for the first time to celebrate its 20th anniversary. It’s not just the musicianship that sets this record apart, though this band’s ability to punctuate pummeling passages with fantastically progressive melodic interludes is definitely one of its calling cards. It’s also the impassioned poetry of the lyrics, which often employ startling, spiritually-tinged imagery to express extreme states of emotion. Too sensitive for some? Maybe. But it also rocks like all get-out, especially in this remastered-for-vinyl (by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision) edition. Jungle swirl pressing at Gotta Groove Records, limited to 750 copies, complete with a color printed inner sleeve with lyrics.

Townes Van Zandt’s eighth studio album, released in 1978, from one of the most influential figures in country, folk, and Americana music, returns with a new analogue mastering on a limited edition blue vinyl — complete with a color insert featuring sleeve notes, a rare Townes Van Zandt interview, and the full lyrics.

This reissue celebrates the album’s enduring legacy and its importance as Townes’ debut release on Tomato Records – the label run by his long-time manager Kevin Eggers. Originally recorded at Nashville’s famed American Studios and produced by Chips Moman, Flyin’ Shoes features some of Van Zandt’s finest work, including standout tracks like the heartfelt ‘Loretta’, the haunting ‘No Place to Fall’ the mystical title track, and the standout ‘Rex’s Blues’. The album also introduces ‘Pueblo Waltz’, a song that, alongside others, solidified Van Zandt’s reputation as a master of blending poetic lyricism and melancholic storytelling. In addition to its timeless tracks, Flyin’ Shoes has a unique history. Indeed, the album includes material from a previously abandoned 1973 project, 7 Come 11, that would be released years later under the title The Nashville Sessions in 1993, also available on Charly Records. Many of the songs from that unfinished album were re-recorded for Flyin’ Shoes, and these fresh takes represent Van Zandt’s growth as an artist while staying true to the raw authenticity that fans have come to cherish

FABRICLIVE’s new incarnation as an artist-focussed label continues, with a stunning two-track 12” by the Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-based rising star Kiana Li, aka gyrofield.

Rooted in drum & bass but distinctly the sound of now, this single sparkles with freshness, and stands-out with an exquisite verve for detail and craft. Balmy and comforting, atmospheric and melodic, the cloudsurfing breakbeats and celestial propulsion of ‘Akin’ is pure friendly pressure, whilst on ‘Mother’ big vocals, low-end precision and techno swathes soar even higher.

“'Akin' and 'Mother' remind me of my earliest days writing dance music. These are two free-spirited, transportive pieces that feel like spreading my wings and letting the air take me. Brought skyward in the hand of fate, nurturing yet weathered by my very own ideals. We all wish for better days. And toil to heal.” gyrofield

gyrofield has released music on prominent labels including Critical, Overview and Noisia's Vision. Last year she released the album A Faint Glow of Bravery on Metalheadz, and the EP These Heavens for XL’s prestigious house bag series, which has previously showcased music by Blawan, Joy Orbison and Overmono.

gyrofield is a regular on NTS and an in-demand DJ, whilst radio/club support has come from Mary Anne Hobbs, Objekt, Special Request and DJ Flight. Press fans include Rolling Stone, Crack, The Quietus, The Fader, DJ Mag and Resident Advisor.

“Scintillating - a sonic portrait of heaven that takes drum & bass and imbues it with the divine” Resident Advisor

“An artist whose journey and sound are quite unlike those of anyone else” The FADER

“Her vivid productions are a breath of fresh air in the scene” DJ Mag

“Merging the atmospheric and experimental with the melodic and emotional” Crack

“Packed with shapeshifting sounds that examine the universe and beauty of nature. Fusing atmospheric and spaced-out sounds with danceable sonics” Dummy

"She will never sit comfortably in any one genre or play to expectations or rely on any standard production formulae” UKF

Back with a bang for 2025, FABRICLIVE re-enters the fabric Records fold, which also incorporates Houndstooth and fabric Originals.

Illusive Bristolian producer Claude Cooper returns with ‘Friendly Sounds Vol 1’; part psychedelic trip, part romping beat tape, part party. The album was inspired by the vinyl discoveries made from Cooper’s months of digging and cataloguing the bulging inventory of Bedminster’s Friendly Records record shop. Cooper fed these myriad captured sounds through the studio and then, blurring the lines between sampling and performance, arranged and embellished them with keyboards, drum machines, bass guitar and more, also co-opting BEAK> bassist Billy Fuller and esteemed composer Ben Salisbury to contribute.

With most of the tracks in and out within 90 seconds, the album is best enjoyed as a continuous course. Play side A, play the B, then flip it back and listen all over again. Stand out moments include tremulous cut ‘n’ paste jam ‘Jackie’, the moody string-laden ‘Rainbow Eternity’, funky sitar workout ‘Nerd Nork’, and atmospheric closer ‘Take Flight’. Sharing a similarly broad and experimental sound palette as the likes The Avalanches, Madlib, The Go Team, and Edan; ‘Friendly Sounds Vol 1’ is the soundtrack to a wild joyride down South Bristol’s North Street, foot on the gas, hand on the horn, LPs spilling from the boot.

Cooper’s irrepressible debut album ‘Myriad Sounds' (Jan ‘22) caught the attention of the UK's press and radio alike. Mojo's four star review described it as “Bristol’s beat scene backdrops late night jams”, Uncut enjoyed the "rugged psych-funk romp" and Louder than War declared "it’s vital and vibrant and exactly what we need to kick start the year”. Bonus round 'More Myriad Sounds' (Apr ‘23) added Brooklyn vocalist Brain Fog to the melange with a bounty of pyretic vocal performances. DJ Mag called it “A fierce, kaleidoscopic trip” while Bandcamp Daily said “This album of cross-genre influences is as likely to get it included in any number of best-of columns, with the theme of serious fun as their common element”. Called a "mysterious Bristol breaks scientist" by Lauren Laverne, BBC radio DJs including Cerys Matthews, Gideon Coe, Huw Stephens, Jamie Cullum, Stuart Maconie, and Tom Ravenscroft have rinsed Cooper’s tracks, with Huey Morgan inviting Cooper to contribute a Block Party Mix for his show.



‘Stay A While’, the first showing of Cooper’s new shop sampling stunners, was released on 7” in January ‘24. Lush string flourishes sliced with 6Ts girl-group vocals and rollicking piano chords resulted in a dreamy, end of night, lights up anthem in-the-making that The Arts Desk called “A horn-fired, beatsy, chop-around that recalls The Avalanches”. Releasing the album is Friendly Records, the best little record shop in Bristol and now a burgeoning record label. Opened by Tom Friend on North Street in 2016, it’s gone on to become a hub of the local musical community. As well as Claude Cooper, the label has released LPs by Alison Cotton, Floating World Pictures, Christian Madden & The Enemy Chorus, Nick Craft, as well as handling the War Child series of 7”s with BEAK>, Idles, J Dilla, PJ Harvey, Portishead, and Sleaford Mods + Hot Chip.



Claude Cooper will DJ at the one-day Friendly Festival on 10th May in aid of War Child, which will feature Sleaford Mods, Katy J Pearson, The 45s, Zalizo and DJ sets by Ishmael Ensemble, Heavenly Jukebox and Friendly Records DJs.

The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button. Their critically acclaimed third album ‘Birling Gap’ was released in 2021. Since then, they have been focusing on their other bands, playing around the world with Heavenly (stars of the 90s indiepop scene) and Swansea Sound.
A couple of years ago, word reached Rob and Amelia that Brian had been spotted wearing a Heavenly t-shirt at one of his shows, and was a big fan of their music. Given that they, in turn, were fans of Brian’s poetry, introductions were made, friendships were formed, and ‘Sounds Made By Humans’ took shape.
The album isn’t a set of readings with musical backdrops: it’s a collection of songs, where words and music have become completely intertwined. There are verses, and there are choruses. There is no ‘riffing’, no improvisation. In many ways, Brian’s poems are already like pop songs: brief, direct, and witty; sometimes poignant, sometimes biting and political; but always economical, and always accessible.
Rob took thirteen of Brian’s poems and created melodies and arrangements, which are then played by a full band, with Ian Button on drums and Fay Hallam on keyboard. Sometimes the words of the poems are sung by Amelia or Rob. Sometimes they are spoken by Brian. Sometimes both these things happen at once. This is a pop record where the poetry and the music are equal partners: sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.
Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires will be performing at selected UK venues in November 2025.