quête:what ever

Once upon a time, two operators stared at their screens. They sat silently for hours, their whole being dedicated to the task they had been assigned to. Days and nights passed in the same monotonous manner. Suddenly signals showed up on their monitors. Alarms started to ring. Both reacted at the same speed and did what they were supposed to do. Controls and commands were entered, as was protocol. After observing these waves for 61:01 minutes, everything became quiet again. What they had just witnessed made them wonder. For the first time they addressed each other. "The data is transferring through our system," announced the first. “Let us both check how this can be interpreted.” The second validated the response. Together, they looked at what had been recorded. Ideas raced through their complicated minds until they realized simultaneously: sounds! They listened. “Is this an unknown language?” one asked. “This is the first time this has been heard throughout our history,” the other answered. They listened again and again. “This electricity has been arranged to form a cohesive entity,” the first said. “Why would machines be used to create that?” the second mused. Something had awakened inside of them, an obsessive curiosity they had never experienced before. They did not understand and were blown away by the beauty of it. “Do you think it could have been left by humans before us?” one whispered. “If it was, these would be Major Signals,” the other concluded. As they processed these thoughts, the two artificial intelligences sat still.

It’s nearly a decade since William Doyle handed a CD-R demo to the Quietus co-founder John Doran at a gig, who loved it so much he set up a label to release Doyle’s debut EP (as East India Youth). Doyle’s debut album, Total Strife Forever, followed in 2014, as did a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. A year later, he was signed to XL, touring the world and about to release his second album – all by the age of 25.

After self-releasing four ambient and instrumental albums, Doyle’s third full-length record – and the first under his own name – Your Wilderness Revisited arrived to ecstatic reviews in 2019: Line of Best Fit described it as “a dazzlingly beautiful triumph of intention” and Metro declared it an album not only of the year, but “of the century”. Just over a year later, as he turns 30, Doyle is back with Great Spans of Muddy Time.

Born from accident but driven forward by instinct, Great Spans was built from the remnants of a catastrophic hard-drive failure. With his work saved only to cassette tape, Doyle was forced to accept the recordings as they were – a sharp departure from his process on Your Wilderness Revisited, which took four long years to craft toward perfection. “Instead of feeling a loss that I could no longer craft these pieces into flawless ‘Works of Art’, I felt intensely liberated that they had been set free from my ceaseless tinkering,” Doyle says.

“The album this turned out to be – and that I’ve wanted to make for ages – is a kind of Englishman-gone-mad, scrambling around the verdancy of the country’s pastures looking for some sense,” says Doyle. “It has its seeds in Robert Wyatt, early Eno, Robyn Hitchcock, and Syd Barrett.” Doyle credits Bowie’s ever-influential Berlin trilogy, but also highlights a much less expected muse: Monty Don, presenter of the BBC programme Gardener’s World, Doyle’s lockdown addiction.

“I became obsessed with Monty Don. I like his manner and there's something about him I relate to. He once described periods of depression in his life as consisting of ‘nothing but great spans of muddy time’. When I read that quote I knew it would be the title of this record,” Doyle says. “Something about the sludgy mulch of the album’s darker moments, and its feel of perpetual autumnal evening, seemed to fit so well with those words. I would also be lying if I said it didn’t chime with my mental health experiences as well.”

Lead single “And Everything Changed (But I Feel Alright)” is representative of the album as a whole: eclectic and unpredictable, but also playful and properly danceable. On top of the gently pulsing electronics, soothing harmonies and glowing melodies, there’s a ripping guitar solo that ricochets around the song like a pinball. “I wanted to get back into the craft of writing individual songs rather than being concerned with overarching concepts,” Doyle says. Elsewhere there’s the synth pop strut of “Nothing At All”, pulsating static on “Semi-Bionic”, incandescent synths and enveloping soundscapes in “Who Cares”, and the ambient glitch groove of “New Uncertainties”.

Great Spans of Muddy Time is a beautiful ode to the power of accident, instinct and intuition. The result, however, is far from an anomaly: this celebration of the imperfect album is one that required years of honed craft and dedicated focus to achieve, “For the first time in my career, the distance between what I hear and what the listener hears is paper-thin,” Doyle says. “Perhaps therein reveals a deeper truth that the perfectionist brain can often dissolve.”













m 13. [a sea of thoughts behind it]

Veronica Swift flips the script on This Bitter Earth, the captivating follow-up to her 2019 Mack Avenue Records debut, Confessions. Whereas Confessions played out like pages from her personal diary, on the new album, the 27-year-old singer and master song interpreter looks outward while addressing social ills that plague the world today.
This Bitter Earth takes on the song-cycle characteristics of such classic LPs as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, and Mary J. Blige’s My Life. For her album, Swift tackles sexism “How Lovely to Be a Woman”, domestic abuse [“He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)”], racism/ xenophobia [“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”] and the dangers of fake news [“The Sports Page”].
Accompanied by a team of kindred spirts that includes pianist Emmet Cohen, guitarist Armand Hirsch and flutist Aaron Johnson, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Bryan Carter, Swift curates material that covers multiple genres, including jazz, American musicals, vintage R&B and contemporary rock.

Consolidated, the political dance/industrial music band from the early 90ties joined again for a studio session in San Francisco last summer, resulting in a new album. 'We're Already There'. The first release on Consolidated's own label 'The End Of Records'. What else to expect, the new recordings are an innovating mix of industrial, to hip-hop, to rock and funk with mixtures of live instruments and electronics. Topped with left political activism and politically radical lyrics address issues such as America, Covid and ecocide with song The Flood, demand *'Free Music, Stop America'* with Musica Sin Frontieras & welcome guest vocalist GRETA THUNBERG on the track The 'ol Mass Extinction Blues. The album starts in 'traditional Consolidatedgroove' with the song 'Capitalism A.F.', a mix of beats, industrial sounds and hiphop. Followed by funkypop songs, danceable industrial jams, techno beats, reggae and blues influences plus a remarkable noise track. Main musicians are Adam Sherburne (guitar/vocals) and Mark Pistel (synths/beats) backed by Lynn Farmer (Meat Beat Manifesto) on drums, who replaces the original drummer Phil Steir. The complete album is recorded, mixed and mastered by Mark Pistel at 'Room 5' in San Francisco. The cover shows art paintings from Ayelet Hay (front) and William Kendall (back). On 'We're Already There' Consolidated plays more music than ever. "I have zero interest in being in a band, especially my own_" "I had to develop a different way to be involved with music for aesthetic and mental health reasons_" "FREE MUSIC! is not to the detriment of artists, it's literally the end of artists-as anyone perceives them in the last 500 years" -Adam Sherburne - Consolidated are known for their live performances, in which a microphone is passed among audience members to discuss, rebut, argue or elaborate on song topics. Consolidated: Adam Sherburne & Mark Pistel.

Number nine of the serie LANOIRE sarted in 2014, "Greyhound" is a step back into 50's rhythm N Blues, with some obscure sides and never re pressed singles or 78's. The gatefold sleeve is fully documented with picture and liner notes, for a complete immertion into the best of the genre...

“Nothing ever really disappears,” Cassandra Jenkins says. “It just changes shape.” Over the past few years, she’s seen relationships altered, travelled three continents, wandered through museums and parks, and recorded free-associative guided tours of her New York haunts. Her observations capture the humanity and nature around her, as well as thought patterns, memories, and attempts to be present while dealing with pain and loss. With a singular voice, Jenkins siphons these ideas into the ambient folk of her new album.
An Overview on Phenomenal Nature honors flux, detail, and moments of intimacy. Jenkins arrived at engineer Josh Kaufman’s studio with ideas rather than full songs — nevertheless, they finished the album in a week. Jenkins’ voice floats amid sensuous chamber pop arrangements and raw-edged drums, ferrying us through impressionistic portraits of friends and strangers. Her lyrics unfold magical worlds, introducing you to a cast of characters like a local fisherman, a psychic at a birthday party, and driving instructor of a spiritual bent.

Jenkins’ last record, 2017’s Play Till You Win, confirmed the veteran artist’s talent. Evident of Jenkins’ experience growing up in a family band in New York City, the album showcased her meticulous songwriting and musicianship, earning her comparisons to George Harrison and Emmylou Harris. Jenkins has since played in the bands of Eleanor Friedberger, Craig Finn, and Lola Kirke, and rehearsed to tour with Purple Mountains last August before the tour’s cancellation. Her new record departs from her previous work in its openness and flexibility, following her peripatetic lifestyle. “The goal is to be more fluid, to be more like the clouds shifting constantly,” she says. The approach allowed Jenkins to express herself like she never has.

On album opener “Michaelangelo,” before the heavy drum beat and fuzz guitars enter, Jenkins sings quietly “I’m a three-legged dog, working with what I’ve got / and part of me will always be looking for what I lost // there’s a fly around my head, waiting for the day I drop dead.” Phenomenal Nature thrives in this dichotomy between ornate sonics and verbal frankness, a calming guided tour to the edge. Later, on “Crosshairs,” amid lush strings, she sings conversationally: “Empty space is my escape / it runs through me like a river / while time spits in my face.”

“Hard Drive,” the third track and album centerpiece, opens with a voice memo Jenkins recorded at The Met Breuer: a guard muses about Mrinalini Mukherjee’s hybrid textile and sculpture works, which were then on display in a retrospective titled Phenomenal Nature. “When we lose our connection to nature, we lose our spirit, our humanity,” she explains. Stuart Bogie's saxophone & Josh Kaufman's glittering guitar make way for Jenkins' spoken word which constellates scenes from her life, gradually building and blossoming as she recreates a meditation guided by a friend who incants, “One, two, three.”

Sounds of footsteps and bird calls run through the album’s glittering conclusion, “The Ramble.” Meditative and bright, it recalls how Jenkins felt while writing and recording her new material: “Everything else is falling apart, so let’s just enjoy this time,” she said. If Phenomenal Nature has a unifying theme, it’s the power of presence, the joy of walking in a world in constant flux and opening oneself to change.

Nils Petter Molvær and Mino Cinelu had both come a long way in their careers before they met. Cinelu gained international renown on Miles Davis’ albums We Want Miles and Amandla, also noted for his playing with the likes of Weather Report, Gong, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Sting, Santana, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, to name just a few. He has also released 3 solo records and collaborated with Dave Holland and Kevin Eubanks on the World Trio album. Nils Petter Molvær, meanwhile, is one of the most outstanding figures in European jazz. In 1997, he made his debut on ECM Records with the album Khmer, combining the Nordic feeling of nature with the Southeast Asian philosophy of sound. His journey into the uncharted areas of music spans almost a dozen records, on which he explores various combinations of acoustic and electrical sounds. He collaborated with Berlin’s electronic producer Moritz von Oswald in 2013, with the reggae philosophers Sly & Robbie in 2018 and with Bill Laswell on several occasions.

Cinelu and Molvær in some senses represent two worlds, which – at first glance – could hardly be more different. Their musical home is the entire planet, but while Molvær's hoarse and cloudy trumpet sound evokes boreal cold, Cinelu stands for the rhythmic fire of Latin America and Africa. On ‘SulaMadiana’, they’ve found their common playground - the album’s title itself a tribute to the two musicians’ heritage. Sula is the Norwegian island from where Molvær grew up, and Madiana is a synonym for Martinique, from where Cinelu's father hails.

SulaMadiana is a cornucopia, spilling out reverberations of Miles Davis, Gong, and previous works of Molvær, and yet Molvær and Cinelu open up doors to entirely new worlds. Cinelu becomes a singer on his percussion, while Molvær's electronically distorted sounds create a driving pulse. Cinelu plays acoustic guitar, Molvær conjures up drones on the electric guitar. The interplay between the two musicians is key, Molvær observing; “We are different, but what we have in common is that we like to give some space to things. I create space for him, he creates space for me, and we both create space for music.” Cinelu adds: “It doesn't matter who has what share in music. We both know each other’s cultures, we find bridges and crossings, and often we walk these paths that lead in the same direction. We wrote everything together and followed our feelings. There are no limits or barriers.”

Electric Jalaba comprises six accomplished musicians with an empathy thatfeels telepathic and a groove that immerses. In Arabic, the mother tongue ofMoroccan-born singer and guimbri player Simo Lagnawi, a leading practitionerof Gnawa music in Britain, they call this indefinable quality, "El Hal" - "Thefeeling". "It's the feeling that comes when we're playing and totally forgetting where weare," says producer and bassist Olly Keen. "The feeling of being grabbed by themusic and lost in the groove." 'El Hal / The Feeling' is the new third album fromElectric Jalaba and their first release in five years. It's a multi-faceted work thatfinds the band tighter than ever, deploying a vast cache of influences across ninetracks improvised and developed in their south London studio then deftlyproduced by Keen. Some tracks pay homage to the origins of Gnawa music,whose repertoire of Arabic-language praise songs contains remnants of WestAfrican dialects - Bambara from Mali, Fulani and Hausa from the Sahel region -that point to a centuries-old migration. "The trance-inducing effect of Gnawa was what hit us first. It was visceral, heartstopping," continues Olly, whose siblings - producer / keys player Henry Keen,guitarist / multi-instrumentalist Nathaniel Keen and singer / multi-instrumentalistBarnaby Keen - make up Electric Jalaba alongside revered Anglo-Italian kitdrummer Dave De Rose and Simo on vocals, krakeb and guimbri. "Simoselected the chant from the traditional song suites and, as a band, we extendedthese short pieces of ceremonial music and experimented with sound andstructure," explains Olly. Tracks include the Juno-led dancefloor single 'CubailiBa', 'Agia Hausa', a multi-layered wig-out that partly takes its inspiration fromSenegal's fiercely percussive mbalax rhythms and 'Daimla', a gloriously dubbyode to Allah and iconic maalems including the late Mahmoud Guinea. "There's avery strong rhythmic element within the band but because of our differentperspectives but the melodic components are really unique as well," says Henry.That feeling of being outside of yourself but totally within yourself at the sametime... That's what all of us, collectively, are striving for."

CLEAR VINYL

DAS LEGENDÄRE MINI-ORCHESTER AUS MONTREAL MELDET SICH NACH ÜBER 10 JAHREN MIT NEUER MUSIK ZURÜCK. House Music unfolds as one long piece, a recorded-then-sculpted improvisation that vastly expands their work, coalescing classical and electronic instrumentation in the creation of genre-defying musical worlds. With help from engineer Hans Bernhard, the band wired every corner of Sarah Neufeld's (Violin, vocals) multi-story rural Vermont house. She and the mini orchestra's other five members - Pietro Amato: French horn, keyboards, electronics; Michael Feuerstack: Pedal steel guitar, keyboards, vocals; Kaveh Nabatian: Trumpet, gongoma, keyboards, vocals; Richard Reed Parry: Bass, vocals; and Stefan Schneider: Drums - assigned themselves to different rooms. They spent two weeks together in camaraderie, creation, and focused isolation to record their improvised sessions every day, but ultimately structured a 45-minute album out of a one hour-and-a-half long improvisation.

Record Kicks presents "The Black Stone Affair" the lost Italian Cinematic Masterpiece by Whatitdo Archive Group on limited edition 45.

For the first time ever, Record Kicks is pleased to announce the release of the long lost soundtrack by Whatitdo Archive Group to the Italian Cinematic Masterpiece "The Black Stone Affair''. The Soundtrack will be released on April 09 on Gatefold LP, CD and Digital Download. The first extract from the movie soundtrack is a limited edition 45 vinyl featuring "The Return of Beaumont Jenkins" on side A and the non-album bonus track "La Pietra" on side B. The 45 will be released in limited edition to 500 copies worldwide next March 05.

Long thought to be lost alongside the movie itself by the production studio, the soundtrack's master reels were recently recovered and its audio meticulously restored and remastered by J.J. Golden in Ventura, CA. The movie itself was understood to be unusual for its time: a globetrotting adventure/western-noir written and directed by aspiring visionary, Stefano Paradisi. Unfortunately for Paradisi, the tragic loss of his masterpiece also meant the end of his short lived career in movies. People who worked on the film have been cited as saying this film was going to be a turning point in Italian cinema and henceforth put Paradisi on the map alongside the likes of Fellini and Antonioni.

While the movie never saw the light of day, the soundtrack by obscure band Whatitdo Archive Group has thankfully been recovered. The music itself is staggering to hear and this limited edition ultra groovy 45 is just a little appetizer of what you'll be hearing on the LP. Rare groove and soundtrack fans don't sleep on it.

Lydmor's new album 'Capacity' is a musical maze full of alluring mysteries. At the same time, it is part of a process of liberation, which is about opening oneself up and discovering one's capacity. For her previous album, Lydmor travelled to Shanghai. But on her new album, Lydmor has mostly travelled deep into herself. 'Capacity' is a contrasting musical work where fiction and reality merge into a multifaceted sound universe. It is the electronic pop artist's most personal, complex and conceptual album to date. There is almost a David Lynch'ish cut about 'Capacity'. The album is like a winding maze where it is difficult to decipher what is real and what is an illusion. Like a book with countless narratives. Without conclusions. Ambiguous. Full of alluring mysteries, dreams, reflections and messages about gender, identity, love, guilt and liberation. Rich in contrasts: Black/white. Silence/noise. Weakness/strength. Fiction/reality. Labyrinth/compass.
Multiple media has compared the quirky voice to the likes of Grimes, Kate Bush or Björk but inevitably the comparisons fall short. (Kaltblut Magazine) - With brutal honesty, unbelievable vulnerability and yet dreamy, she sings the soul out in her pulsating electronic pop songs. The soft, bright voice is deceptive. Denmark's "hidden gem" is a must-listen. (Flux FM) - She is every bit as innovative as Madonna ever was when she started out. Lydmor ticks all the boxes; the girl has everything. For my money she’s the most ground-breaking, inventive artist in Europe right now, possibly in the world. (God Is In The TV, UK) - A unique artist who somehow manages to combine sophisticated and subtle balladry with strident electronic pop, I’ve declared previously that I believe she is only one step away from becoming a big name. Perhaps the feelings are supposed to be mutually inclusive, as the song swings musically from simply cold to complexly hot. It is one that does try to combine both sides of her song writing persona, the introverted balladry and the more elaborate, extrovert electro-pop. (Nordic Music Review) - Revolting pop pathos, primed with pumped up beats. (Negative White, Switzerland)

They Say: “Contemporary scores for visual effect”.

We say: Synth-heavy, low-slung space-funk masterpiece.

The creator of the romping tunes that became the iconic themes to the BBC’s Grandstand programme and their televised Wimbledon Tennis Championship coverage, Keith Mansfield was perhaps KPM’s most prolific artist from the mid 1960s right the way through the 1980s. As well as the sort of pop orchestral sound that is all over these classic library records, he could also turn his hand to raw, edgy rock and funk. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, going as far as including some of Keith’s work on the soundtracks to Kill Bill and Grindhouse.

This is it. This is THE ONE for us: Keith “The Man” Mansfield’s Vivid Underscores from 1977. A sample freak’s wet dream and one of Be With Rob’s favourite ever KPM records. A must for fans of Brian Bennett’s Voyage (yes, THAT good). And no, we’ve no idea either why it took us this long to get round to tackling this monster of a record. But then again some things are worth waiting for.

Attention! Calling all crate diggers, DJs, beat heads, Hip Hop junkies, MF DOOM fans! Behold! Vivid Underscores makes sampling easy. Prepare to be up all night, every night, chopping, looping and splicing these endless grooves and spacey synths. The highlights are too many and too mind-blowing so we’ll pull out a few particular highlights. Trust us, this library LP is just jaw-dropping.

“High Velocity” sets the tone with its aggressive horns, wah-wah guitars, funky baseline and wobbly synth refrain. So good and so hypnotic that Memphis Bleek just had to swipe the ominous, frazzled intro for “What You Think of That” featuring Jay-Z. Also, for real drama, the 1985 Lakers retrospective “Return to Glory” used it to soundtrack the footage from the legendary game five of the NBA finals at the Forum. Heady days. “Crash Course” - Stetsasonic horn refrain? Beautiful - jazzy chase-funk, amazing warm keys, percussion and funky horns - all action.

The more restrained “Matter Of Urgency” is an utterly amazing, brass-heavy underscore. The grandiose, uplifting “Dawn Of Aquarius” still sounds like the future with its tense, thundering drums, killer bassline and swirling synths. Version II loses the drums and percussion but is no less startling. “Staying Power” closes the first side with a relentless, pounding groove which *will* snap your neck. Be warned.

“Trucking Company” is a pacey, synth-and-string masterpiece and its accompanying parts (a–c) mess with the formula to great effect. Part (a) adds echo delay to really dazzle and part (c) plays the breezy, beautiful middle section without the tension. “Hot Cargo” and “Espionage” are both tense spy-funk themes par excellence. “Interplay” is a quiet killer, with flutes over a glistening piano refrain just waiting to be looped. The intro to the menacing “Omen” might’ve been sampled by 7L & Esoteric for their classic “So Glorious” but the entire 5 minute track is a mini-drama masterpiece, one only Mansfield could create.

Even though its a mix of short themes in-and-amongst longer, full-length tracks, Vivid Underscores is still thoroughly listenable from start to finish. That’s not something that can be said of all library records and it still manages to serve as rich resource to keep even the keenest samplers busy for a while.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Vivid Underscores comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand ident

Special Request continues his impeccable run of form with a typically fervent entry into the DJ-Kicks mix series. His adventurous 25 track mix takes in personal favourites, new school classics and of course a selection of his own brand new and exclusive edits, dubs and reworks next to some overlooked gems. Leeds based Paul Woolford dares to go where few others do. He can do face-melting underground bangers, peak time piano anthems, ambient cinematics or chart climbing crossover hits. What unites his work as Special Request across labels like Houndstooth and R&S, though, is precision engineering, but never at the expense of real, raw emotion and visceral impact. He is an artist who very much pours his heart into everything he does, and has been on such a prolific run in recent years that it has been impossible to keep abreast of all his many projects. Even in this mix, he hints at yet more new sides and sounds. As always with Special Request, this is an emotional, full spirited ride through the musical mind of one of the most accomplished artists of the day.

Cool Ghouls - a band fledged in San Francisco on house shows, minimum wage jobs, BBQ's in Golden Gate Park and the romance of a city’s psychedelic history turns 10 this year. What better a decennial celebration than the release of their fourth album, At George's Zoo!

How did San Francisco's fab four arrive at George's Zoo? The teenage friendship of complimentary spirits Pat McDonald (Guitar/Vox) and Pat Thomas (Bass/Vox) serves as square one. The Patricks were munching on Eggo-waffle-sandwiches and downing warm vokda in suburban Benicia (San Francisco bay) years before McDonald would hear George Clinton address his fans as "Cool Ghouls". The boys played their debut gig as Cool Ghouls at San Francisco's legendary The Stud in 2011, but there's no doubt the musical moment cementing the band's trajectory was much earlier at the 18th birthday party for boy-wonder Ryan Wong (Guitar/Vox) - at the Wong household.

You might remember the Ghouls' earliest days... McDonald’s hair hung luxuriously past his waist, Thomas dreamt of no longer having to crash on friends' couches to call SF home and Wong looked forward to turning 21. Cool Ghouls' Pete Best, Cody Voorhees, thrashed wildly – but briefly - on the drums and Alex Fleshman (Drums), who still claims he's not really "a drummer", turned out to be a really good drummer. Thomas would sleep pee on tour. Those were golden days!

Flash forward to today and everything is up in flames. No shows, parties or bars. Cool people are streaming out of SF. It's been 2 years since the last time Cool Ghouls have even played. The STUD is gone, The Eagle Tavern is for sale and The Hemlock has been demolished for condos. Your boss is an app. Fascism is no-knocking down the door. There's a pandemic.

Fortunately for us, the Ghouls got an album in before it all went to shit, and they made it count. At George's Zoo includes 15 of the 27 tunes they managed to eke out while simultaneously working through major life moves. It was a 5-month, all out, final sprint down the homestretch (to Ryan's moving day) with affable engineer Robby Joseph, at his makeshift garage studio in the Outer Sunset (pictured on the cover). Instead of recording the entire album over a few consecutive days - like they'd done with Tim Cohen, Sonny Smith and Kelley Stoltz for the first three LPs - the band took it slow by working through a few songs each weekend after rehearsing them the week before. Robby would cue up the tape, McDonald would throw some steaks on the grill and they'd get to work - much to the neighbor, George's, chagrin.

These guys have a real commitment to elevating as songwriters, musicians and ensemble players. It's always been for the music with Cool Ghouls and this long-awaited self-produced outing is a track by track display of the ground they've covered and heights they can achieve. Their vocals and trademark harmonies are front and center and out-of-control-good. Ryan's guitar solos are incredible. The horns by Danny Brown (sax) and Andrew Stephens (trumpet) hit in all the right places. Maestro, Henry Baker (Pat Thomas Band / Tino Drima), plays keys throughout. There's even a mesmerizing string section ("Land Song") by sonic polyglot, Dylan Edrich.

None of this growth is to the detriment of the fun, natural, feeling that fans have come to expect from the band. This is a fully realized Cool Ghouls album. It paints a remarkable portrait of SF's homegrown heroes and the many corners they've explored over the last decade. The songwriting, harmony and playing are nothing if not solid. The lyrics are keen. Robby's recording and mixing sound great start to finish and even better after mastering by Mikey Young. It's a triumphant addition to their catalogue. Recommended for Stooges and Beach Boys fans alike. Listen and see!

Yes, many things have changed since 2011. Who knows what the 20's will have in store for life on Earth, let alone the Cool Ghouls? We at least know that 2021 has At George's Zoo for us, a beautiful keepsake from the Before Times when we used to stand in living rooms together while bands played.

Los Saicos created a raw, wild and visceral sound, the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the garage rock that was coming out of the US and their anthem 'Demolición' is one of the most insane '60s punk songs of all time. Unavailable on a 45 for over a decade, here it is again! The archaeology of rock'n'roll is much like any other form of digging. Significant finds demand the re-addressing of previously considered certainty. You can hear direct links to both The Stooges and The Cramps here and several more equally enthralling combos. The latter spawned several generations of individuals who would dig deep to previously (mostly) unheard seams of music and other forms of culture that have since become part of the mainstream fabric. When Los Saicos' front man Erwin Flores was asked how aware he and his friends were of what was happening in Britain and the US at the time, here's what he had to say: "We knew the Beatles, they were our idols. We heard the Rolling Stones after recording 'Demolición' and also Bob Dylan and others. The primitive nature of our songs is something that came spontaneously out of my head. The band had no problem with assimilating and arranging it. We thought of ourselves as bad boys and that must have been a driving force." "Primitive to the point of primordial, Los Saicos are an important benchmark. Not were. Who ever thought there could be a combo out there in Peru that would make The Sonics sound like Simon and bloody Garfunkel? There is quite possibly some other music out there, someplace, that could well make us re-address this consideration, but until then, cherish this short course of Saicotherapy."

Heady power pop trio Portable Radio announce the release of their debut eponymous LP on March 12th 2021 on Crimson Crow Records. Lead track and first single Hot Toddy, out in February, introduces the album with its ethereal brooding pop arrangement.
Some years ago, the world started to go weird – and that’s when the then duo, Portable Radio, decided it was as good a time as any, to start making first steps.
Phil … and Mof … shared some messages and a love of melodies, and as a gift to friends and those feeling the weight of everything, recorded a version of Brian Wilson’s gorgeous opus, ‘Love & Mercy’. The result was enough for them to start writing songs, and the blueprint for Portable Radio was born – hope, empathy, fun, love, and mercy.
Phil had cut his teeth in the Beep Seals and Mof was a DJ and student of pop, and in each other they both wanted to make music that was a tonic for the times; what transpired was a clutch of songs that were filled with uplifting, rich harmonies – stirring power pop inspired by Todd Rundgren, Wings, Carole King, Electric Light Orchestra, NRBQ, Emitt Rhodes, ‘70s West Coast AOR, The Zombies, and of course, The Beach Boys.
The duo released their Baroque Pop debut single with You Are The Cosmos recordings – the double A-Side of ‘Seven Hills’ and ‘Parades’. A cult following started and some shows and radio sessions ensued, joined by extended family – tap room-Mozart Jim Noir, shed-pop wizard Aidan Smith, and Phil’s previous bandmate, the supremely talented Ian Smith (Beep Seals/Alfie).
Soon, Robyn Gibson (The Junipers/Bob Of The Pops) joined the ranks for their star turn and appearance on the ‘12 String High’ compilation. The two becoming a trio, the output cranked up, seeing the release of the debut Portable Radio EP (produced by Jim Noir) and the Christmas Selection Box, all loaded with killer hooks, washes of dreamy harmonies, and just a sprinkling of cynicism because no-one is impervious to the all-encompassing weirdness of the last couple of years.
All of these things were the groundwork for the imminent full-length, self-titled debut, out in March 2021. The LP (vinyl/download/streaming) is full to bursting with big choruses, reflective popsike, FM ready pop, melancholic ballads, with each song is treated like it’s going to be a single.

What a Serve! First release, straight ace. While the longline
passing shot on A will for sure burn down every dance§oor
with its funky disco groove, B returns a glossy afro disco
topspin backhand. Game, set, match

Turning into a label and putting out our first record was an exhilarating process. Shoutouts again to everyone who's bought Aroent's "Eleese" EP, gave it airplay or left positive feedback. All of this certainly left us hungry for more, which is why we couldn't be happier to announce our next EP, AWK002 - "Nines" by Lårry.

After solid recent releases on Super Hexagon and Fusion Diagnostics, our dear Lårry goes from strength to strength with this versatile and atmospheric four tracker. From idiosyncratic techno swirls to emotive peak time bangers, every track has its own story and character, all served with immaculate sound design and the inimitable Lårry touch. Without further ado, we'll stop our excited rambles and let the music do the talking.

Thanks for the continued support and we hope you enjoy!

Mesmeric and kaleidoscopic, shimmering with electrified unease, Show Me How You Disappear is both an exercise in self-forgiveness and an eventual understanding of unresolved trauma. Jilian Medford’s third record as IAN SWEET unfolds at an acute juncture in her life, charting from a mental health crisis to an intensive healing process and what comes after. How do you control the thoughts that control you? What does it mean to get better? What does it mean to have a relationship with yourself?

Recorded with Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Empress Of) and Andy Seltzer (Maggie Rogers), among others, Medford approached this album as a curator. She handpicked the producers that fit each song, which explains the range and experimentation showcased. Medford then recruited Chris Coady to mix and tie everything together into one cohesive piece.

Dizzying and enthralling, Show Me How You Disappear is the sound of someone coming apart and putting themselves back together — the moment an old mantra, repeated into the mirror time and time again, finally clicks. To look at your reflection, and finally feel seen.

Ståle Storlokken - Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, grand piano, Eminent 310, Mellotron, Continuum Nikolai Hængsle - Electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars Torstein Lofthus - Drums, percussion. After a solid run of five studio albums and 2019's two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect Arrival Of The New Elders comes as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, don't let the self-ironic (?) title mislead you, they are as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, with the longest track clocking in around the seven minute mark. Rather short, by their standards.Having built a solid live reputation even before their brilliant 2008 debut Dodovoodoo, the trio boasts what is probably the strongest rhythm section in Norway, complemented with keyboard magician extraordinaire, the one and only Ståle Storlokken. And boy, does he excel himself on this album, notably with more focus on the Rhodes than before. That said, this is nothing if not another strong group effort from what has been a very tight unit straight from the outset. Seven brand new compositions from Storlokken and one from Hængsle make way for what we consider to be their finest and most cohesive album to date. Arrival Of The New Elders was recorded by trusted stalwart Christian Engfelt, with early Dungen producer Mattias Glavå handling the mixing duties.Ståle started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the 90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He's also a member of Moster! and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint and Band Of Gold and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby.