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The Innocence Mission's best selling album in nearly two decades will
now be available for the first time on vinyl - Jazz-tinged and dreamy, this offering from the Innocence Mission collects standards and traditional songs that singer Karen Peris has sung to her children as lullabies since they were born - The album features new album art (created by Karen Peris) and a new version of the song "Edelweiss" that is available only on this LP

Already in the early stages of the label, Stijn Hüwels joined Dauw after a string of self-released albums. It was very much at the beginning of his artistic career but his Dauw debut – centered around melancholic narratives - was exactly what we wanted to bring with the label. During the years, Hüwels gradually found his place into the field of ambient with numerous releases and collaborations (Chihei Hatakeyama, Michel Banabila, Ian Hawgood...). While his sound definitely changed over the years - coming from a direct or transparent sound to his current more abstract sound design - his work still evokes the same familiar sentiments. For a label, this is one of the most interesting movements you can see in the artistic practice of the people you’re working with and ‘Décalages’ perfectly illustrates this. To coincidence this release, we made a second edition of his Dauw-debut 'If you remember me then I don't care if everyone else forgets', released 9 years ago.

A note from Lawrence English:

Occasionally ideas present themselves in ways that no one can expect. This recording from Australia’s Eugene Carchesio and the UK’s Adam Betts is one such unexpected presentation.

A couple of years ago, Eugene passed me a collection of recordings that he explained were in the orbit of his now legendary Circle Music series. The recordings, in Eugene’s particular manner, maintained an intensely rhythmic quality rooted in a deep and unwavering sense of minimalism. Eugene has a way of making a tiny cosmos from just the barest of materials. He wondered though, about mixing it up and adding something unexpected to the pieces, and asked about some drums being added.

At almost exactly the same moment, I had been reminded of the amazing work of Adam Betts, who I have been fortunate to be in the orbit of for more than a decade now. We’d first met at Bad Bonne, sharing a bill, and then crossed paths most recently in Tbilisi where he was performing with Squarepusher.

The reason Adam was on my radar though was entirely unrelated to music and it was down to the fact that he had just participated in a welsh toss competition and done quite brilliantly. Somehow, watching Adam lug those weights made me think he’d be the perfect candidate to work with Eugene on this project. To my delight, he agreed.

What results here is a melding of two incredible musical spirits, each of whom have an unerring sense of restrained energy and rhythmic ferocity. It is a parallel reading of how minimal motion can create giant affective waves of energy. It’s also a record of careful listening and generous exploration.

It’s not everyday music can emerge from such curious orbits of thought, but when it does it is a cause for celebration. With that in heart I am so pleased to share this incredible edition with you.

The first album release on Sprechen is a trip across the astral planes of electronica and through the neon soaked streets of South Manchester, where genres cross & styles meet on the creative peripherals away from the dance floor.

A life lived through clubs, comic books, cult movies, cosmic adventures & electronic musical endeavours have all played a role in the creation of 'Where Do I Belong?', the debut long player by The Thief Of Time, a new studio project from Sprechen founder Chris Massey.

What started as just very loose ideas and half started projects during lockdown resulted in a semi autobiographical collection of songs that draw on a lifetime love of electronic artists & synth heavy movie scores.
Nods are given, toes are dipped & caps are doffed in various sonic directions whilst still treading a truly unique path of its own making.

As Chris says: "it started really with me being in a headspace I've never really had in the studio. There was no pre-conceived ideas or agenda of what I wanted to achieve other than just going with what felt right and pursuing sounds & style I favour away from a smokey basement of ravers. Being a child of the 80's gave me a wealth of ever-evolving influences of sounds, styles, imagery, fashion, literature & art which all somehow seemed to direct this project.
It's the first time I've ever created something that contains personal reflections of my own life. Good & bad alongside the high & low points have all driven this creative process which reflects my own headspace will hopefully speak to everyone on some sort of level".

The album also features a host of Manchester artists including A Certain Ratio, Bay Bryan, Psychederek, NIIX & Love Letters From Space as well as Allison Rae from Causeway (Italians Do It Better) who were all instrumental in realising Chris' vision and bringing this exciting project into existence.

With Scream If You Don’t Exist, Richie Culver metamorphoses from outsider musician to underground fixture, feeling his way from the fringes towards a growing community of musicians that have gravitated towards his singular sound world. Building upon the stark catharsis of his previous dispatches, on his sophomore album the artist draws from grimdark drone, industrial noise, experimental hip-hop and UK rave to map out a space for himself, caught between genre and discipline. While on his debut, I Was Born By The Sea, Culver took a last glimpse back at his grey, salt-flecked past while struggling towards somewhere brighter, here, he documents the process of finding fresh waters, parsing through the complexity of inhabiting a more open and optimistic place while contending with the weight of his resolve, staring hard won self-acceptance in the face. The album’s title speaks to this creative and emotional work, serving both as the foundational paradox from which the artist’s new discordant sound emerges and as a call to action, a defiant cry in the face of existential angst.

Part of this process involves visiting familiar territory with renewed focus. Macabre opener ‘Hottest Day Of The Year’ signals an unpleasant memory with crow caw, queasy, gas leak ambience and dental drill whir as Culver recalls a life lived in nihilism: “Everything is just something that happened / Reductionism, muscles spasms, a mother’s first contraction.” Yet, on Scream If You Don’t Exist, Culver’s irresistible formula for ragged machine poetry is shot through with palpable urgency. No longer listless and despairing, he finds new intricacies for these compositions, tracing a stark interplay between crushing bass excavations and penetrating vocal clarity, a contrast picked out in the delicate threads of rhythmic pulse suggesting themselves in the blunt pressure and skittering creep of ‘Weakness’, on which Culver offers up vulnerability as a tentative solution to self-described emotional constipation: “Please do / Do take my kindness for weakness / For I am weak / And that is ok.” The amniotic soundscape of ‘YOLO (then u die)’ gives way to depth charge drone and unnerving machinic improvisations, like a noise show heard from deep in the Mariana trench, while on ‘Underground Flower’ the low-end fog lifts to reveal a brighter, colder scene. “Love me for who I could be / Not who I am,” he pleads, tending gently to his own tenacious bud.

Scream If You Don’t Exist gives us a glimpse of this flower in bloom. On the album’s cursed self-help tape title track stuttering loops of off-kilter keys and childlike repetition make light of the very real risk of disappearing all-together, a nervous breakdown rendered as a malfunctioning nursery rhyme. Paranoiac anthem ‘Say 4 Sure’ introduces bit-crushed boom-bap stomp, as though hammered out on a water-logged Game Boy, swarms of loose-wire noise sparking up against guttural grunts and ragged exhalations, while ‘On The Top’ enacts a seance for the hardcore spirit, with loops of rave piano and hiccuping vocal chops pirouetting through knackered samples, air raid sirens and the ghostly crash of breakbeat cymbals. As though in response to the solitary nature of much of his musical exploration, this time, the artist invites other voices into the world of Scream If You Don’t Exist. On ‘Swollen’, the unflinching, brimstone prophecy of Billy Woods sounds clear through an expanse of spirallic bass, preaching the same frayed gospel as Culver when he issues the quietly devastating contemporary diagnosis: “Computer broke but it still works for now / That’s the best you can say for most of us anyhow,” while another fearless correspondent from the fringes, Moor Mother, brings earthbound heft to the ambient drift and obliterating barrage of ‘Restaurants,’ teasing out meaning with elongated intonation and pitch-shifted intensity.

It’s during the album’s most meditative moments that we might recognise this space Culver has found for himself for what it really is. ‘OMG They’re Gone’ follows a chopped and slowed monologue from Culver’s wife, who works as a death doula, reflecting on her own experiences with grief and the reality of living within a culture both terrified and ignorant of the process. Floating over glistening ebb, etherised croons and luminous chimes, her words stand as a prescient reminder of the power of ephemerality. Just as Culver flourishes in imperfection, here we can find enormous strength in transcience. But it’s with ‘Just Jump In,’ which unfurls like a buoyant counterpart to the sparkling oil rigs of ‘I was born by the sea’, that Culver illuminates the hopeful waters we realise we’ve been making our steady way towards. “I know now / That you loved me,” he admits, a revelation a lifetime in the making. Through the rawest reflection Culver has found a way forward, driven by an optimism drawn from a resolve to be better, to love and be loved, an admission to weakness and the discovery of a new kind of strength. “Don’t test the water,” he reassures us and himself, “just jump in.”

Scream If You Don’t Exist will be released in November 2023 by Participant, on limited edition vinyl, and digital download . The release will be accompanied by a series of films directed by Mau Morgo, Josiane M.H Pozi, William Markarian-Martin, Simon Bus, and Bruxism.

“The Hype” is an expansive pop anthem that shows us everything we have come to love about the pop sensation, with gritty lyricism and melodies that don’t have an endpoint and keep rising.

Asking the question: did I live up to the hype? Sigrid finds a universal feeling encapsulating revelations on career and relationship successes.

This quick-witted power anthem is both tongue-in-cheek and blunt, a full circle moment from Don’t Kill My Vibe, which was the beginning of Sigrid's Hype. , Sigrid remains one of the most understated pop stars, wearing T-shirt and jeans to play live on stage, picking practicality over what is expected of young female artists in the music industry.

Staying true to herself, the visuals for “The Hype” are reminiscent of Sigrid’s debut EP; with no props to lean on and no grandiose concepts, just Sigrid, honest and raw.

With two top 5 critically acclaimed albums under her belt, 2019’s Sucker Punch and 2022’s How To Let Go, arena shows in both London and Ireland, global world tours from Japan to LA and festival performances from Glastonbury to her first UK festival headline at Belladrum in Scotland, Sigrid has become one of the leading live pop acts of her generation

There’s a big clue to the pacific wisdom of The Orchestra in the Sky in the artist name – Hochzeitskapelle + Japanese Friends. For this is, indeed, music based in, and resonating with, friendship, camaraderie, collaboration, and creative exchange. Across two albums – one documenting recordings from Tokyo, the other an expansive double album of sessions from Kobe – Hochzeitskapelle gather around them some of the finest voices in Japanese independent and underground pop music, like Tenniscoats, Eddie Marcon, Yuko Ikema, and Kama Aina, and explore an open field of music, full of creative encounters.

You may already know Hochzeitskapelle as the German instrumental quintet formed by members of The Notwist, Alien Ensemble, and friends from the jazz scene. Across three albums, one a collaboration with Kama Aina (2018’s Wayfaring Suite), they’ve developed a way of playing together that’s intimate and playful, rich and human; it’s a music that’s deliberately rough around the edges, and that nestles cosily into the everyday. Their relationship with Japanese indie has developed over the years, doubtless encouraged by Saya´s „Minna Miteru“, compilations series of Japanese indie pop for Morr Music. A peripatetic gang, Hochzeitskapelle also recently backed Japanese singer-songwriter Makoto Kawamoto on her new album, Hikari.

In many ways, The Orchestra in the Sky feels like the culmination of a set of ongoing cross-cultural exchanges: the Minna Miteru compilations; tours of Japan by Hochzeitskapelle and The Notwist; and indeed, Markus Acher’s Spirit Fest group with Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats. The latter are present throughout much of The Orchestra in the Sky, and Saya’s voice is particularly winning on songs like “Tsuki no oto”, where the two outfits are joined by brass ensemble Zayaendo. There are several lovely turns from singer-songwriter Yuko Ikema, and Eddie Marcon appear twice; their songs are still beautiful, spectral acid folk, but with Hochzeitskapelle filling the details with lush, sad brass and strings.

But it’s also the potentially lesser-known names that shine through The Orchestra in the Sky, like the frail folk of Gratin Carnival; the delightful, gentle pop songs by sekifu and Zayaendo member, Kanako Numata; a trio of beautiful, stumble-drunk melodies played in swaying consort with popo. That group, along with the presence of Zayaendo, Fuigo, and Mitamurakandadan?, make strong connections with the Japanese underground’s love of brass bands, partly informed by the tradition of chindon’ya, marching bands that walk the streets of Japanese cities. They also all appeared on the recent Alien Parade Japan compilation of such groups, assembled by Acher and Saya.

All things converge, then, on The Orchestra in the Sky, a smart, spirited collection of heavenly pop songs, intimate folk melodies, lungfuls of joyous brass, deep weeping strings, and swooning sighs. The last words go to Acher himself: “Many things we did in the last years come together here and it feels like something special was captured.” We hope you like what you hear.

There’s a big clue to the pacific wisdom of The Orchestra in the Sky in the artist name – Hochzeitskapelle + Japanese Friends. For this is, indeed, music based in, and resonating with, friendship, camaraderie, collaboration, and creative exchange. Across two albums – one documenting recordings from Tokyo, the other an expansive double album of sessions from Kobe – Hochzeitskapelle gather around them some of the finest voices in Japanese independent and underground pop music, like Tenniscoats, Eddie Marcon, Yuko Ikema, and Kama Aina, and explore an open field of music, full of creative encounters.

You may already know Hochzeitskapelle as the German instrumental quintet formed by members of The Notwist, Alien Ensemble, and friends from the jazz scene. Across three albums, one a collaboration with Kama Aina (2018’s Wayfaring Suite), they’ve developed a way of playing together that’s intimate and playful, rich and human; it’s a music that’s deliberately rough around the edges, and that nestles cosily into the everyday. Their relationship with Japanese indie has developed over the years, doubtless encouraged by Saya´s „Minna Miteru“, compilations series of Japanese indie pop for Morr Music. A peripatetic gang, Hochzeitskapelle also recently backed Japanese singer-songwriter Makoto Kawamoto on her new album, Hikari.

In many ways, The Orchestra in the Sky feels like the culmination of a set of ongoing cross-cultural exchanges: the Minna Miteru compilations; tours of Japan by Hochzeitskapelle and The Notwist; and indeed, Markus Acher’s Spirit Fest group with Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats. The latter are present throughout much of The Orchestra in the Sky, and Saya’s voice is particularly winning on songs like “Tsuki no oto”, where the two outfits are joined by brass ensemble Zayaendo. There are several lovely turns from singer-songwriter Yuko Ikema, and Eddie Marcon appear twice; their songs are still beautiful, spectral acid folk, but with Hochzeitskapelle filling the details with lush, sad brass and strings.

But it’s also the potentially lesser-known names that shine through The Orchestra in the Sky, like the frail folk of Gratin Carnival; the delightful, gentle pop songs by sekifu and Zayaendo member, Kanako Numata; a trio of beautiful, stumble-drunk melodies played in swaying consort with popo. That group, along with the presence of Zayaendo, Fuigo, and Mitamurakandadan?, make strong connections with the Japanese underground’s love of brass bands, partly informed by the tradition of chindon’ya, marching bands that walk the streets of Japanese cities. They also all appeared on the recent Alien Parade Japan compilation of such groups, assembled by Acher and Saya.

All things converge, then, on The Orchestra in the Sky, a smart, spirited collection of heavenly pop songs, intimate folk melodies, lungfuls of joyous brass, deep weeping strings, and swooning sighs. The last words go to Acher himself: “Many things we did in the last years come together here and it feels like something special was captured.” We hope you like what you hear.

The new the Land Of The Snow album “As Within, So Without” is about what's inside us, how we interact with the outside, and vice versa. Everything we do and experience through our thoughts, our skin, and our actions, constantly influence our inner selves and our surroundings. It’s a constant exchange and confrontation that drives our lives and pushes us to widen our horizons with each step we take.

Good Time​ is Teenanger boiled down to its very essence. A lean and muscular eight-song album that is the sound of a band who simultaneously has everything and nothing to prove. It’s what happens when seasoned songwriters flex their chops in an environment that fosters boundless creativity. It is also Teenanger’s most fun album. Choruses soar to previously unattained heights, descending to a rhythmically fertile ground to pull earworms that will stick inside listeners’ heads for days. If its songs were citizens, they would reside in a diplomatically neutral city-state, melting pots of art rock, pop, dub, post-punk and new wave.

The music of ​Good Time​ certainly elicits pleasure, but lyrically things are more weighty. The band does not shy away from its commentary on contemporary issues. There are calls to reject societal norms, ruminations on humanity’s obsession with technology and warnings about our impact on the environment. Teenanger never gets too earnest, delivering everything with an irreverence that has been there since day one.

Recorded at: Studio Z. Mixed by: Sandro Perri. Mastered by: Noah Mintz. Cover Photo: Colin Medley. Graphic Design: Thomas van Ryzwyek & Jonathon Yule.

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

This album was created with the generous support of the Ontario Creates.

EVERIS'S NEW ALBUM FOR THIS CHRISTMAS 2023

Everis has returned this Christmas with yet another Sell Out vinyl that will make your collection the envy of the Soul Music World!

This new offering by the soul legend Everis entitled, Everis - “Songs in The Key of E”. This limited-edition vinyl album is scheduled for a Christmas 2023 release and features some enormous brand-new tracks. This album comprises of two magnificent award-winning singers, two international rappers, from the US & UK, plus one of the UK’s Biggest Sound System Dance MC’s performing on it. This solid Holiday vinyl smash, see’s Everis deliver exciting vocal performances, with a real feel-good factor, over these tough rehashed and fresh sounding beats that are bound to make you wanna get up and dance, there are 8 solid tracks in all.

Grammy Award winning US singing sensation, Shirley Jones of The Jones Girls, best known for her numerous No:1 hit both here and, in the US, has finally jumped on a record with Everis. She last worked with him on her smash solo album entitled “Shirley” many moons ago, and of late as part of the “Soul Syndicate” crew that remixed her ‘Soul Steppin’ track. Now they have come together on a monster track entitled “This I Know - Filly B Mix (featuring Cam Jones)” which is an absolute club banger for sure, an instant underground hit!

The rest of side A called “This Side” has even more really banging tracks, a Club / House Party smasher entitled, “Come Home Tonight” and the coolest sexiest Neo Soul Vibe titled, “Just Say the Word” with Everis giving a spine-tingling vocal performance that would leave the toughest of you feeling weak. The album also features Everis’s last UK Soul Charts No.1 Christmas hit “What You Doing to Me” which totally sold out in just one day, and had Everis’s name and music heard / played everywhere in the UK, and also earned him yet another award. The album is littered with great music from Mr Smooth from start to finish, with Fresh Cuts too, just take a look.

NOW Music is proud to present the second in our ongoing series of vinyl compilations, NOW That’s What I Call 80s Dancefloor. Each edition features an essential collection of tracks representing key genres from the incredible diversity that were all part of 1980’s Dance music.

This volume, featuring 29 tracks across 2-LPs, pressed on 1 Purple and 1 Pink vinyl, presents the best in DISCO and ELECTRO.

Following the height of its’ popularity in the late 1970s, Disco in the early 1980s retained the irresistible melodies and beat but became primarily synth driven. The era saw some of the genres’ biggest hits including this collections’ opener ‘Flashdance…What A Feeling’ from Irene Cara – this theme from the film ‘Flashdance’ was not only a massive selling single, but the song also won multiple awards including an Academy Award. Lipps Inc. produced a timeless hit with ‘Funkytown’, and Shalamar with ‘A Night To Remember’, Odyssey with ‘Use It Up And Wear It Out’ and Indeep’s ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ were all huge commercial Disco hits.

Disco royalty Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic feature here in their roles as producers and writers with Diana Ross’s massive hit ‘Upside Down’, ‘Why’ from Carly Simon, and the peerless ‘Spacer’ from Sheila & B. Devotion and in 1984 remixed Sister Sledge’s ‘Lost In Music’ which became a massive hit again and is included here in its full 12” version.



Amii Stewart’s classic version of ‘Knock On Wood’ was remixed and a hit again, Donna Summer enjoyed huge success with ‘She Works Hard For The Money’, and other established Disco superstars celebrated returns to the charts with an 80’s Disco sound including, and featured on this collection, KC & The Sunshine Band, Patrick Cowley feat. Sylvester and Evelyn “Champagne” King.



The prevalence of the synth in the 1980s gave rise to new and exciting sounds and to tracks that were created with fusions of genres. On this collection we are celebrating ‘ELECTRO’ – a sub-genre of Electronic Dance music that combined elements of Disco, Funk and Hip-Hop and featuring a heavy synth backing, and the commercial Electro-Pop hits it produced. In 1984, Chaka Khan who had achieved huge success with the Disco classic ‘I’m Every Woman’, had a worldwide smash with a cover of Prince’s ‘I Feel For You’ which combined Disco, Funk, R&B, Synth-Pop and Hip-Hop – to stunning effect. Also a hit in 1984, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced a classic fusion of Disco, R&B, Funk and Synth-Pop for the S.O.S Band with ‘Just Be Good To Me’ and also included here are hugely influential Electro-Pop gems from Freeez, Rockers Revenge feat. Donnie Calvin, Malcolm McLaren, Break Machine, and Rock Steady Crew.



In the latter half of the 80s, Disco and Electro-Pop continued to evolve and fill dance-floors. Taking influences from both genres, Expose and Company B enjoyed ‘freestyle’ hits and DJ, remixer and producer Jellybean had a string of hits including ‘Just A Mirage’, and Whitney Houston became a global superstar. One of her signature tracks ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ serves as a stellar example of how Dance music had evolved through the decade and remained as vital and uplifting as ever.

ME LOST ME led by Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent announces a new album RPG via Upset The Rhythm on 7th July, and is touring across the UK including support dates with Pigs x7. RPG (recorded in Blank Studios with Sam Grant of Pigs x7) is ME LOST ME’s fourth outing as a collective, having transitioned from an ambitious solo project in 2017, Jayne now regularly collaborating with acclaimed North-East jazz musicians Faye MacCalman and John Pope.
ME LOST ME delights in experimenting with songwriting and storytelling, creating a beguiling mix of soaring vocals and atmospheric electronics that playfully weave together disparate genres, drawing influence from folk, art pop, noise, ambient and improvised music. Hauntological in part, RPG is concerned with tales and with time - are we running out of it? Does insomnia cause a time loop? Do the pressures of masculinity prevent progress? Jayne Dent asks these questions and more on RPG, her homage to worldbuilding and the story as an artform, calling back to those oral traditions around a campfire, as well as modern day video games - bringing folk music into the present day as she does so.
ME LOST ME presents sound reaching in opposite directions, straddling time towards the archaic and timeless traditions of folktales, and towards the possible and potential futures of pastoral Britain and the world at large. Part speculation, part reminiscence, what results on the new album RPG is music that sounds ultimately displaced and yet omnipresent, adjacent to a hapless Vonnegut hero whose life is scattered throughout time and history, but full of wonder and curiosity rather than fear.
On track “The Oldest Trees Hold The Earth”, we see time stretched out between the branches of impossibly old beings in the woods. This track was co-written in Aarhus, Denmark with fellow Newcastle folk musician (with Danish heritage) Ditte Elly. The pair wordlessly passed a sheet of paper between each other to write the lyrics, inspired by Højbjerg and Mosegård, the woods they were sitting in. “How long should I wait/Before the moss grows?/On my skin, on my outstretched arms,” the lyrics are sung in a round, the close harmonies delicate and detailed.

A central thesis of this album is the joy of creation, something which is paid homage to in the album’s final track, “Science And Art” (Not because we need it to last/just because we needed to make it - so we invented the words/this language). It is also reflected in the definition that Jayne gives for “folk” itself. She comments, “To me, folk is quite an expansive idea. I think of it as creative work that's often made ad-hoc, with things that are at hand and more often than not it's born of a DIY ethos. It is songs and stories of the people, as in the traditional sense, but also creative coding, game design etc. Whatever outlet someone has for their creative expression could be described as folk. It's the things we make because humans need to make things, and the stories we tell about ourselves and the world around us.”
Crucially, on latest album RPG, Dent expands her songwriting and looks towards the unreal locations of worldbuilding in video games for inspiration. She comments, “I think the main similarity is the importance of a song's setting/environment to inform its narrative and textures, I'm often most inspired when out walking in the natural landscape, in cities and travelling to places I've never been before - the environment I'm in really impacts the work I make. While writing this album, however, I found myself inspired by imaginary landscapes, those in video games, paintings, etc. I was writing stories into these unreal locations instead. Even the songs inspired by real places, like The Oldest Trees Hold the Earth, have a very surreal quality to them in the songs, like they're being warped and turned into something not of this world. I think that's the main difference for me in terms of the thematic content and inspiration behind this album - I've been getting more and more interested in balancing surreal and fantastical environmental elements with ordinary and everyday settings.”
RPG upends the concept of the eternal return - we may be in the midst of inevitable repetition, but we tell stories whilst awaiting the passage of time.
"Being familiar with, and a fan of Jayne's earlier work, it was great to get the opportunity to work with her on the production of her new record. I had in mind a sense of what the record might be, but what came of the sessions, led by the vision Jayne had for the record, totally exceeded my expectations. As far as albums go, it has a breadth of writing and a sonic depth that made it a truly brilliant record. Having Jayne join us on a leg of the Pigs x7 tour in April is going to be ace. The creative nature, the sincerity and bold strokes of ME LOST ME put it in that space outside of any genre pigeonholes, and between our two sets I imagine the audience is going to have a proper sonic bath..."
Sam Grant, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, 2023
“The music of Me Lost Me is beguiling, idiosyncratic and cinematic - or should that be video-game-omatic? This suite of songscapes often hits the sweet spot between ancient and modern with its masterful blend of stark folk, neon electronic burbling and unusual arrangements. Jayne's singing is refreshingly straightforward and nuanced - it's exquisite! - and perfectly punctures the nebulae of synths and brass which billow around the old wooden frames of the songs. Whilst listening I had images in my mind of what Northumberland might look like through the eyes of Simon Stalenhag - foggy moors, a robot looking across the sea to Lindisfarne, twinkling lights on metal towers.... that sort of thing. It's a really great album.”
Richard Dawson, 2023

Repress!
It's always great to have access to quality masters from some of the world's greatest-ever artists and Gladys Knight hits that spot, especially via the original 12 inch version of Love Is Always On My Mind is another one of those impossible rare Buddah 12 inch from the mid-70s.

This is really a 10 minute plus tour-de-force of relentless Disco with Gladys's impassioned vocals doing their usual superlative job. Mint 12 inch copies are reputedly worth £200 but the fact is that there's no mint original ones left anymore. Until now. Additionally we've cheated slightly by including one of Gladys Knight & The Pips in-demand Columbia recordings on the flip - the Ashford & Simpson penned classic Bourgie Bourgie on which Gladys laid down the definitive vocal to this club classic on the full 4.37 original 12 inch mix.

Two definitive dance-floor gems on one 180 gram 12 inch pressing mastered from the original tapes. What more could you want

Two years after his debut album under the moniker Aboukir, Ralph Maruani returns with a new record titled “Change”. Fitting title for a record that was written and recorded during a period of great turmoil in his life. The intimacy of these songs are reflected in the music itself.

Whereas “Digital Introversion” was floating in a sea of psychedelic infused echoes and reverb, “Change” is much more stripped down, sporting a singer-songwriter ethos. The album was recorded between December 2022 and March 2023 in Paris, France almost entirely by Maruani except for the drums which were recorded by Louis McGuire in Berlin, Germany and pedal steel by Reggie Duncan in Mississippi, USA.

The album opener “Alright” is an upbeat number with guitars reminiscent of John Fogerty’s Creedence Clearwater Revival, Strawberry Fields inspired Mellotron and Stereolab aesthetic on the outro, assuring that whatever may come next, everything will be alright. Then followed by “Release” the track that makes a direct link with “Digital introversion”, an 8 minutes Floydesque hazy jam. “Rolling on” shows a different side to Aboukir’s music as it opens up to folk/country accents in a 1970s singer-songwriter vibe. “Croz” is Maruani’s immediate reaction to David Crosby’s passing. A tribute to one of his lifelong influence and inspiration.

The album then unveils itself going back and forth between more stripped down tunes and psychedelic ones, eventually reaching its climax with “Changes”.

Celebrating 30 years of success, Candlebox has revealed their final studio album, titled 'The Long Goodbye,' will be released on Friday, August 25th via Round Hill Records. Emerging from Seattle’s burgeoning mid-90s grunge scene, Candlebox quickly found mainstream success with their deep, lyrically-driven melodies and big radio hooks, as evidenced by their massive hits “Far Behind,” “You” and “Cover Me” that propelled their self-titled debut album to sell more than 4 million copies worldwide. Their follow-up album, 'Lucy,' earned a platinum certification and solidified Candlebox as a tour de force in the thriving alt-rock scene. While the commercial success of the first album played a pivotal role in the band’s trajectory to the top, it was their raw and unapologetically honest live performances that ultimately solidified their place among Seattle’s elite. In 1998, Candlebox released 'Happy Pills,' which would be their last album before going on hiatus from 2000 to 2006. In 2008, the band reformed and released their fourth album, 'Into The Sun,' and hit the road for the first time in 10 years, touring extensively and releasing 'Alive In Seattle,' a live album that included tracks from every era of their career. 2016 marked the triumphant return of Candlebox with the release of 'Disappearing In Airports,' a more classic rock-tinged album hailed by many critics and fans as their best work in years. Singles “Vexatious” and “Supernova” drove the album to debut at #9 on the Billboard Charts and spurred multiple U.S. and international tours including major festival appearances at Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville, and Lollapalooza Chile. While these iconic rockers have been blazing full-steam since, releasing their latest album, Wolves, in 2021, Candlebox is now wrapping up their long and illustrious 30-year career with The Long Goodbye.

PRESSED ON FRUIT PUNCH COLORED VINYL WITH HAND NUMBERED OBILIMITED TO 2000 COPIES

The contemporary realm of hip hop music can be seen as polarized between two sides; mainstream versus underground, industry versus independent, at a base level boiled down to catchy sounds & infective hooks over higher quality lyrical content. These elements don’t need to be mutually exclusive, but these days it’s rare to find an act that can please all sides of the discussion. Clipse are one of the few groups that successfully and consistently caters to both sides of rap’s splintered psyche, simultaneously serving the scene with upbeat bangers that get the club poppin’ & subwoofers rattlin’ while crafting clever quotable compositions deserving of repeated headphone submersions. Though their preceding official albums Lord Willin’ (2002) & Hell Hath No Fury (2006) made bigger splashes commercially, 2009’s Til The Casket Drops is surely no slouch, a gem which deserves to be revisited with fresh ears – good thing Get On Down has given it the proper treatment it deserves with its first-ever vinyl pressing!
Til The Casket Drops was a departure from the duo of Malice & Pusha T’s previous works in that it was their first LP not completely produced by The Neptunes. However, the celebrated team who brought us ‘Grinding’ & ‘Mr. Me Too’ still helmed 8 of the album’s 13 tracks, thus dominating the soundscapes and aesthetic of the album anyway. With the remaining beats handled by Hitmen Sean C & LV (Jay-Z, Big Pun, Ghostface) and Aftermath’s DJ Khalil (Kendrick Lamar, Aloe Blacc, Eminem) clearly Clipse stock hadn’t lowered in the game. While boasting notable vocal features from Kanye West, Pharrell, Cam’ron, Keri Hilson, Yo Gotti & their Re-Up Gang affiliate Ab-Liva, Casket Drops leaves ample space for the core emcee duo of Pusha & Malice to shine in the spotlight, with verses revolving around each other succinctly in-synch and bonded by an exceptional creative rhythm only biological brothers could share.
Clipse have always delighted in dualities, juxtapositions and contradictions, unabashedly celebrating the capitalistic lifestyle and the grind as the kings of ‘coke-rap’, while taking hard looks at society’s mores and those of their own individual journeys. We hear Malice’s eventual transition to No Malice taking form on this album as he found religion, warning others who might follow in his path on ‘Footsteps’: “don’t let my wrongs give you the right of way/ to emulate my past escaping the law’s grasp” while refusing to be pinned down in one lane: “it weights on my conscience and I hate conscious rap”. Meanwhile Pusha T continues his lyrical ascent into the King Push persona with bars like “pompous motherfucker, look what them jewels made me/ I’m only finding comfort in knowing you can’t replace me/ What a thing to say, but what am I to do/ I’m role-playing a conscious nigga and true is true/ Cocaine aside, all of the bloggers behooved/ My critics finally have a verse of mine to jerk off to” decisively on album opener “Freedom”.
Since it dropped, the Clipse have stated that Casket… is their final album together while subsequently alluding to the possibility of an eventual reunion. Only time will tell, but until then it’s time to re-celebrate one of hip hop’s most dynamic duos by hearing Til The Casket Drops in a whole new light with its long-overdue, first time on vinyl pressing via Get On Down featuring all 13 original tracks on wax and cover art by the legendary KAWS! It’s kinda like a big deal…

40 years after their last album ‘Secret’ was released in 1983, Classix Nouveaux are back with a brand new album entitled ‘Battle Cry’. Containing nine tracks including seven brand new compositions plus ‘Never Never Comes’ and ‘Interlude/Inside Outside’ which have been re-imagined for the 21st century. Featuring a very guitar-rock sound and also contains a couple of instrumentals which is something that the band used to do on their early albums. In the words of lead singer Sal Solo, this is how the album came about: “The reason this project came about after 40 years is really because of the fans. About 10 years ago, some of the Classix fans were making Facebook pages but it didn’t really come to our attention until a couple of years back. We realised these people are really dedicated and decided to give them a kind of birthday present. I said to the guys ‘Why don't we do a recording together and surprise the fans?’ Everybody said yes and so we did a quick remake of one of our old songs “Inside Outside” and to our surprise everyone's immediately talking about new material! We’d never thought about doing new Classix material - we thought it was over years ago. After a few weeks of agonising, we suddenly realised we could be as we are now. In the light of our increased experience and the fact that our fans are mature as well, we decided we would just make the music that we like today. It didn’t take a lot of persuasion to get everyone on board. It's the original line-up from the first two albums - what people consider the ‘classic’ line-up. We've all been in other bands, but somehow, we've all just seemed to gravitate back to Classix Nouveaux. It feels like a natural home. We hadn’t been in touch for many, many years and so this album is really what’s brought us back together.”

This new FRANKIE-45 is more raw, primitive, philosophical, fuzzy and dissonant than you'd expect! The theme of this 45 (and most of the upcoming album) is fear.. Perfect for Halloween. However, this record is a not a record about spooky skeletons and ghouls but rather a record about deep and day-to-day fears. The first song "Panick Attack" depicts the inner emotions and experience of a panic attack. The next track "Agnost" is more philosophical, wandering into the most abstract of thoughts. In this land of ambiguity you easily spook yourself and try to seek comfort in the thought that existential questions about infinity and reality are just too big for a tiny human brain and that's what that song is all about. The last track is "Time", the devourer of everything is both relative and an unstoppable force that will turn everything to nothing. Filled with paradoxes that'll bend reality itself. This song is about the fear of being late, but humorously instead of blaming oneself, the blame is put on the boss for expecting to control such an uncontrollable power of the universe. So, after FRANKIE's first release, which was more folky and upbeat, this 45 is primitive, fuzzy and straight from the raw emotion that is fear! If you like: The MUSIC MACHINE, BOHEMIAN VENDETTA, THE SEEDS, SYD BARRETT and are into TRITONES... this is the 45 for your youACHINE, BOHEMIAN VENDETTA, THE SEEDS, SYD BARRETT and are into TRITONES... this is the 45 for you

For Fans Of... El Michels Affair, Adrian Younge, Roy Ayers, Karriem Riggins, The Roots, Khruangbin. Producer "Grimez" has been making music for 20 years deep Grimez has ghost produced tracks for 50 cent, Hi-Tek, Kool Keith, Stick man (DEAD PREZ), Killah Priest, Sadat X, MOOD & Talib Kweli, and Mighty Diamonds to name a few. Gritty & raw analog instrumentals. Jason Grimes is all about making timeless music. The Cincinnati-based DJ and producer has a long history of record collecting, sampling, and creating new sounds with analog gear. Grimes works with some of Cincinnati’s finest studio musicians to create raw, soulful, instrumental hip-hop under the moniker Doctor Bionic. As a teenager in the 90s, Grimes fell in love with hip-hop at an early age. He became comfortable scratching on a pair of 1200s and sampling records with an NPC in high school. After years of collecting records and working on his sound behind the scenes, he had compiled a huge discography of original songs – but he wasn’t sure how to share them. “I got pretty burnt out and I had to take a hiatus for a few years,” he explained. “There wasn’t much going on in the Cincinnati music scene, and it always felt like an uphill battle.” Then, on a casual bike ride with his wife through Loveland in 2015, Grimes came across a new record shop. “I heard some music playing and I saw a sign that read ‘funk/soul’ – I had to go in and see what these guys were all about.” He spoke with Terry Cole, co-owner of Colemine & Plaid Room Records. “It was a breath of fresh air to meet Terry. The interaction inspired me to start making records again.” A short time later, Grimes started his independent label Chiefdom Records. His studio persona Doctor Bionic was one of the first to see a release on the new imprint. “Doctor Bionic is a studio band of session musicians,” he shared. “The personnel changes on every record. It depends on the sound I’m going for.” For every record, the goal is to make timeless music. Grimes is responsible for writing, recording, producing, mixing, and releasing the records. Spiritual Conquest features several heavy hitters from the Cincinnati music scene. Brad Myers and Brandon Scott played guitar on a few tracks each. Marvin Hawkins laid down some live drums. The album offers a dynamic mix of instrumental hip-hop sounds. From punchy, head-bobbing beats to ethereal, floating piano lines, the mix offers a little something for everyone

The live reunion of Bob Dylan and The Band during 1973-74 yielded one of the decade's most celebrated, dynamic, and astonishing tours. Captured on Before the Flood, the results portray the two artists' shared chemistry as well as Dylan's instinctive ability to challenge audiences, his group, and himself via inventive rearrangements of classics that simultaneously ward off nostalgia and renew with meaning. Said by noted critic Robert Christgau to be "at its best, the craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded," Before the Flood crackles with intensity, relevance, and unhinged performances.

Arriving at a crucial time for both Dylan and The Band, Before the Flood is the furthest thing possible from a nostalgia trip. It's where Dylan begins his now-trademark feat of turning songs upside-down, taking risks, challenging expectations, and leaving audiences riveted to the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might come next. He sings with unabated passion, the moods spanning bitterness to jubilation. And his willingness to play fast and loose with the music gives way to compelling shifts, under-the-surface textures, complementary intricacies, and a sense of newness and discovery on par with that of an adventurer embracing total freedom.

Before the Flood buries any notion of limits, safeguards, or borders. It is an open map, each song a route begging for exploration without need or concern for exactness or an appointed leader. Collaborative in every sense, it's a portrait of six inimitable musicians feeding off one another, trusting in their past history as they hurdle towards uncharted territory, using soulfulness as a compass and opportunity as their vehicle.

Wholly different than the live episodes heard on Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, Before the Flood is equally seminal and, from the perspective of witnessing an artist dare not only his audience but himself to break through to a new plane, even better. Utterly astounding.

Problem Patterns have got something to say and they're going to say it fucking loudly Unfiltered, raw and absolutely vital, queercore quartet Problem Patterns are angry. When Problem Patterns reconnected during a break in the pandemic, they realised that the mission was more important and the rage was extra- critical. This, surely, was punk rock time. Problem Patterns are not limited by age or ability or binary identities. They don't have a front person, they swap instruments and roles to ensure that each member of the group has a voice. They espouse queer punk and they have shared touring schedules with Queen Zee, JOHN, Pink Suits & soon to be Bob Vylan. They are part of a supportive musical community in Belfast that includes Gender Chores and Strange New Places. Live shows are celebratory and uplifting. Outbreaks of fun and positive havoc are part of the experience. The band's admiration for Bikini Kill and the riot grrrl movement led to an online conversation with the artist Kathleen Hanna, who they later went on to support (Bikini Kill) in Manchester and Glasgow. "She's been part of relighting the fire," says Ciara, "and the trust and confidence we have in ourselves as a band. We've for more of a 'fuck it' than we've ever had. And we already had that. Punk provides protest songs and it provides a release for feelings." Beverley agrees: "We're talking about what's currently happening right now. Always.

-Limited to only 150 copies on black vinyl.
-The last recordings of former Roots member Malik B before he passed away.
-Clever 1 of the popular hardcore rap duo 'Da Buze Bruvaz' is a full member of the group.
-Maylay Sparks FKA Rahsheed founded this group.
-Produced by K Sluggah who has done production for Conway, Westside Gunn, Tha God Fahim etc.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MALIK B (NOVEMBER 14TH, 1972 – JULY 29TH, 2020)
Frozen Mugs started out back in 2020 as a soon-to-be classic hip-hop collaboration between "Maylay Sparks", Swedish producer “K Sluggah” and “Clever 1” (one half of “Da Buze Bruvaz”). You will experience an uncanny chemistry between these 2 high caliber emcees who are providing you with the traditional sharp, tenacious, aggressive & grimey wordplay over K Sluggah's cinematic, soulful, and psychedelic beats giving the listeners a vivid picture of what goes on in these dangerous times. The hard delivery and complex word patterns are descriptive gestures of loose women, action in the streets, cocktails & cold beer guzzling. Sonically this album is honed to be a masterpiece, with owner of the newly formed label “Blacbird Recs”, and revered studio engineer Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo (Ruffhouse Recs. CEO) behind the mixing board. This is hip-hop with an attitude, authentic, and with no compromises!
In the midst of recording this project, we experienced a severe tragedy as we lost the incomparable Malik B formerly from the Roots. The last days before his passing he recorded the verses for the album and he was supposed to record a few more as there were talks of him becoming a full fledged "Frozen Mugs" member. Sadly the talks of doing an album with Malik B on HHE never came to fruition. This project is dedicated to one of the most legendary emcees Philly ever bred and he will always be remembered as a lyrical giant. R.I.P.
All versions come with hype stickers and an insert that will include a bio on Frozen Mugs and a dedication to Malik B on the reverse side.

Leatherette’s 2022 debut album Fiesta offered an intense, inspired and individualist take on post-punk, their caustic riffs, fevered saxophone blasts and impassioned vocals revealing the five-piece skilled purveyors of the form.

The group's second album Small Talk, however, is clearly the work of a group ready to take flight in a new direction all their own. As they toured Fiesta across Italy and Europe, Leatherette grew tired of the genre's constrictions and yearned to spread their wings. Small Talk transcends all the group have done before and coins a voice uniquely their own, driven by the same furies that propelled Fiesta, but finding fresh new forms for expression.

The album boasts some of Leatherette's most unabashed pop-songs to date – albeit pop that's deftly twisted, pointedly perverse and ready to explode when you least expect it.

It also contains some of the group's most challenging and uncompromising noise yet, the violent swinging back-and-forth between ugly din and nagging tunefulness a (molotov) cocktail that grows only more addictive with each listen. Where Fiesta saw the group enter the studio with a batch of anthems they'd honed on the road, their approach for Small Talk was very different, leaving the sessions open to moments of on-the-fly invention and sparks of mad genius. The interplay between the five musicians is so much stronger this time around, the group say, a result of the months of touring the band put in following the release of Fiesta.

Living out of rucksacks and spending hours on the motorway in a tour van might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but that's what Leatherette credit with sharpening their intra-group bond, their almost telepathic feel for the sounds that will complement what their bandmates are playing. “We were more free to play and to rearrange, because we knew each other better now,” says guitarist Andrea Gerardi, “and the interplay is more focused on this album as a result.” The sessions for Fiesta were frustrating, Andrea says, because “we were playing the same songs over and over”.

Their approach was radically different for Small Talk, however, which saw the group file into Bronson, a local club where they've often played before, and record the album on the premises. After the sessions, the album was mixed in Bristol by Chris Fullard (Idles) and mastered in Portland at the legendary Telegraph Audio Mastering by Adam Gonsalves. "We recorded live, all playing together at the same time, rather than overdubbing the instruments," says Michele. The process, he says, "made us more coherent, and the songs more spontaneous." "Our strength is live performance," adds Andrea, "so we tried to capture that interplay. Sometimes we made errors, but we didn't care, because it sounded great. This music is our lives - it doesn't need correction. We were free for the two weeks we recorded the album, and the ideas soared in the most amazing way." Indeed they did. The album's see-saw between angular noise and pop coherence is very much its strength, and very much the sonic identity of this singular group

On Side A, smile your way through two songs by The Teacher Haters — in fact, we challenge you to get through these tracks without smiling. Even the name of the band invokes a chuckle as it suggests what these guys are about — and that’s the P-A-R-T-Y. Straight out of the 60s comes a group that could have been played with Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs back in the day. These whimsical works are deceptively deep as they take us to a time when garage punk fused with R&B.

Big Pig Alley is uncomplicated, and that’s what makes it great — it sounds like a bunch of college guys having a good time, writing lyrics on the spot: “If you’re lookin’ for romance, take a train, take a plane...or a raft to France.” The guys have something other than romance on their minds as they chug along on acoustic guitar and trash can drums (and possibly other things). What really makes the track, though, is the witchy background voice — the performance is loose enough, while the witch is doing his own thing entirely.

The witch returns on the second track on Side 1 in the up-tempo, dance-ready Cut Loose. No obscure artistry here — these guys tell you exactly what the song is for in the title. In fact, just in case you missed it, they state their thesis in the opening lines: “I wanna shake all night, I wanna do it right, I wanna dance, dance, dance with you…” All of their collegiate effort is put toward getting you to move your hips in this groovy, rockabilly-flavored mix.

Let's talk about Side B...

We Got A Thing is up first — a crossover soul dancer that invites you to sing along with an infectious, call-and-response chorus. It pairs nicely with The Teacher Haters as fun, simple party music from the 60s — though this time from a female perspective.

Things go deeper with Guys Today. As the name suggests, the content is about the enduring tension between the sexes and the heartbreak it can lead to. It’s a deep soul beat ballad in the vein of Betty Wright or Helene Smith. A grand opening is followed by a clear, crisp female vocal that brings the singer’s lament into focus. The band is tight, and it all comes together to portray a woman who has made up her mind and is offering a warning about guys today: I know you love your man, but I know they will hurt you in every way they can.

At first glance, these artists seem to share only a few things in common — party-themed music conceived in the 60s with an R&B flavor. But between sides A and B, it feels like these groups are talking to each other — perhaps different perspectives of the same party. Perhaps the party itself and then the fallout. The result is a balanced EP release that feels whole and satisfying. We hope you feel the same as we proudly present these found recordings as an exclusive 12” on 180 gram vinyl. Please enjoy.

FROM RAY CHARLES TO SELAH SUE, FROM NINA SIMONE TO IBEYI, FROM BARRY WHITE TO ALOE BLACC, DISCOVER THE BEST OF THE GREATEST VOICES OF SOUL MUSIC OF ALL TIME IN A 5 VINYLS BOXSET

4LP is four black vinyl discs in two gatefold jackets + two 18 x 24 folded posters in a side-load slipcase + a printed insert for full album download. This is strictly for Indies only. 2CD is two discs in a six panel wallet + a 28 page booklet + printed insert. Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023 is Superchunk’s fourth singles compilation, a massive, 4-LP (or 2-CD) collection covering their triumphant return from hiatus. The amount of ground covered within its gorgeous packaging is staggering: 50 songs, 16 of which are on physical media for the first time, sourced from out-of-print releases, digital singles, compilations, and more, a vital piece of the Superchunk canon. Featuring extensive liner notes by Mac McCaughan (with additional notes from Laura Ballance), Misfits & Mistakes tells the story of each release, from why they chose to cover songs by The Misfits, The Cure, Destiny’s Child, and Bananarama, to working with collaborators like Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s), Eleanor Friedberger, Damian Abraham (Fucked Up), Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), and more! Mac writes: Who knew it would take a cartoon hamburger to kick off a new period of activity for Superchunk? When we recorded “Misfits and Mistakes” for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force soundtrack at Overdub Lane in Durham, we also recorded the first version of “Learned to Surf” which gave us an on-ramp for making new music after 8 years of playing sporadic gigs. It also reminded us what we liked about playing Superchunk songs, whether they’re our own or written by our musical heroes. This collection covers a lot of ground, from heavy touring years to a pandemic where we made singles and an album at home. One difference between this comp and our first three is that this time span completely falls in the digital age; the distance from a final mix to everyone hearing it is shorter than ever. I’ve always liked artists that were prolific—throwing out singles in between albums when you least expect it. A surprise release from your favorite band is one of the few things that can still bring a little excitement to what can seem like an endless deluge of “content” (puke). Hopefully the wild swings between lo & hi fi and originals and covers on this comp still allow for some coherence and, more
importantly, convey what’s FUN about this punk rock thing.

Die-cut sleeve. In the fall of 2013 Bry Webb was putting the finishing touches on his second album Free Will. Released on May 20th 2014, Bry, with his newly assembled band The Providers, spent the following few years traversing North America playing clubs, festivals and storied stages such as Toronto’s Massey Hall. Nothing new for an artist who had spent the aughts in a constant state of motion with Constantines, a band who on average had performed one of every three nights on a stage somewhere in the world. In fact, running in parallel to Bry’s solo touring schedule was a reunion with his former Constantines’ bandmates to once again present their incendiary live show and celebrate the 11th anniversary reissue of the band’s Shine A Light. It is what happened as the decade wound down that seemed out of character for an artist who had spent close to 20 years immersed in the studio and on the stage: the music stopped altogether. Bry explains his feelings at that time, “I lost the musical plot about 5 years ago and stopped playing music entirely, sold instruments and recording equipment, and committed myself to the idea that I was absolutely done”. Webb dedicated himself to his ongoing work in community radio, months turned to years and musical life seemed to be all but gone from view. Now in an unexpected turnaround 10 years on from the recording of his last studio album, there is not only a return to the stage for Bry but also a new record. Primarily composed in a season of upheaval, Run With Me contains some of Bry’s rawest sentiments. Fresh and painfully present there is an immediacy one can hear as emotional walls collapse in real time. Bry explains the context of the album’s creation: “In early 2023 my personal life exploded. In the process of dealing with that, I started writing music again and started recording at home. Advised that I needed to figure out how to ask for, and accept, help from other people, I sent early recordings of songs to friends from twenty-five years of music making - many folks I hadn’t connected with in years - and asked if they’d contribute anything to the songs. People came through in ways that overwhelmed me to the point that I cried when I wrote out the list of players for the liner notes. I felt incredibly cared for. From Andy Magoffin, who recorded the first Constantines album in 1999, to members of the Cons, to my nieces Addy and Ella playing drums, and a doppler recording of my daughter’s heartbeat, the record is a document of my creative life, and the people who made it possible to make music again.” If the cover of Run With Me looks familiar, it is with full intent. The album’s technicolor marbling and die cut text serve to signal the inclusion of the album in a trilogy started with Bry’s first record Provider. Just as that album starts with the track Asa, this new one introduces itself with the instrumental Webb. The trilogy is now completed with his daughter's first, middle and last names represented as the first tracks on each of the three albums. While the LP’s package signals its place in the collection, and tracks such as Older Than The Dirt and What I Do revisit their predecessor’s familiar sonic starkness, Run With Me is the outlier of the trio. A number of new tracks forego the quietude of Provider and Free Will, clearly recalling the rallying rhythms of Constantines’ anthems. Thunder Bay (instrumental backing courtesy of The Harbourcoats circa 2009), with its insistent kick drum and wall of electrics, support one of Webb’s most indelible melodies, and the not so subtly psychedelic Modern Mind reveal an expansion of Webb’s palette. Perhaps the furthest afield is the contextual centerpiece of the album, Goodbye, where we not only hear a joyful voice that lay dormant for years, but hear it reclaim its power. Backed by Constantines’ Will Kidman, Doug MacGregor and Dallas Wehrle, Bry belts out “I’m through with all the rage, now watch the light pour out of me.” As with all of Bry’s work, Run With Me’s lyrics take their time to settle in. Songs of self-examination, reconfigured love ballads, and songs for those who work to help others. Songs of singing abound. It’s there in Older Than The Dirt’s second verse: "Logic to the last intention, logic in the way we kept holding on forever, singing as the floor- was swept”, ten thousand birds sing a warning song in Thunder Bay and again in Goodbye’s telling of a cathartic return to one’s true self with its celebration of those “Who sing - sing all joy - all joy of language, in a single word”. Joining Bry in singing Run With Me’s songs of “death, transition and hope,” are kindred spirits Jennifer Castle, Julie Doiron, Daniel Romano and Steph Yates. All of these singers elevate the album’s healing sentiments and help express the album’s central plea; a prayer of sorts wrapped in the traditional Scottish Gaelic melody of She Is Here’s second verse: “Let the sun rise in the morning and any witness bring. Let all the blooming cosmos teach us to sing”.

Mit „Rockstar“ veröffentlicht Dolly Parton, die am meisten geehrte und verehrte Country-Sängerin aller Zeiten, ihr erstes Rock Album. Sie wurde bereits für ihre musikalische Arbeit in die „Rock n‘ Roll Hall of
Fame” aufgenommen. Mit Alben in mehr als vier verschiedenen Genres, darunter Country, Folk, Bluegrass und jetzt Rock, überzeugt die international erfolgreiche Künstlerin bereits seit mehr als 5 Jahrzehnten.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his recorded music career, Cherry Red is both proud and delighted to release a brand new ‘Very Best Of’ compilation to mark this momentous occasion.

For his 40th anniversary, Howard wanted to create a truly unique collection. ‘Celebrate It Together The Very Best Of Howard Jones 1983-2023’ is the first anthology that looks at his entire catalogue, from the original version of “New Song,” all the way to a 2023 Elephant Talk remix of it that recasts it within a modern electronica context. It includes songs from his classic Warner-era catalogue, as well as work from his independent Dtox label. For ‘Celebrate It Together’, Howard has personally chosen to group the songs into four categories: “Popular Hits,” “Electro,” “Chill,” and “Curiosities.”

He wanted to elevate this selection of songs beyond the typical chronological approach and create themes that mix and match different pieces from different eras, with the overall listening experience top of mind. Released on three different formats, this deluxe 2CD digipack contains 35 remastered tracks. Featuring a comprehensive collection of hit singles, remixes, key album tracks, alternative and live versions. Packaged in a deluxe digipack featuring brand new photos of Howard. Includes a previously unreleased track and a further 3 tracks previously unreleased on CD.

12 page fully illustrated booklet containing brand new photos plus a brand new sleevenote where Howard in conversation with Anil Prasad reflects upon the 40 years of his recorded music career.

‘Demos/sketches/interludes from the hinterland between records. Drum machines and single take vocal sketches tied together with downtime synth experiments and recordings of local disappearing areas.’ True as it is, Jabu’s strap-line is a somewhat understated take on what also proved to be a transformative experience for them. The follow-up record to their 2020 sophomore LP ‘Sweet Company’ (and the ensuing ‘Versions’), ‘Boiling Wells’ weaves a smudged, group -mind spell. Originally released earlier this year without fanfare as a digital-only release, it now receives the proper release attention it deserves, issued in a neatly packaged vinyl edition of 300 copies. Dreamlike, woozy, raw and in dub, the album documents a blossoming process, and encapsulates a fragment in time - holed up in the country, soaking up the atmosphere in collective isolation, creatively embracing the limitations of a small recording set-up, and finding a new way to work as a band. “My mum had gone away so we’d decided to take the mixing desk and a couple of drum machines out to her house and set it up in the front room. We did it a couple of times to get the bulk of the tunes on 'Boiling Wells' done, one in summer and one boozy one around Christmas. I think we all immediately enjoyed working that way, sat around all together, more of an immediate thing. Jas started to play a lot more guitar, her and Al would write lyrics on the fly or be programming a drum beat in or something. We were all switching around and getting ideas down really quickly, not worrying too much if they were good or not. The music was limited by the stuff we had there, I didn’t bring a big desk so we only had six channels or so, and everything was basically just recorded in as a stereo take so we were more or less stuck with it after we’d laid it down - which was nice too. I don’t think we would’ve changed them anyway; it was the sound of the room and of us doing it together in the moment that was really important.” There has always been a collaborative heart to Jabu, though its nature has shifted and morphed over time. In their earliest incarnation, in after-school jams, Alex Rendall would rap over Amos Childs’ beats, but by the time they began releasing music in 2012, Al had found his singing voice – a sweet, soulful counterpoint to Amos’ increasingly dub-wise, experimental backing. Both are founder members of Bristol’s Young Echo, a collective of friends and musicians first operating loosely together on radio shows, artistic collaborations and events, and later on, running a record label. As expansive as their original remit was, Young Echo has steadily evolved since featuring in The Wire’s 2013 cover feature on Bristol’s new school of post-dubstep bass music. Of late, Seb (aka Vessel) has been working with violinist Rakhi Singh on string arrangements for Jabu, and the upcoming residency at Bermondsey’s MOT will showcase relative newcomers Birthmark and Intel Mercenary alongside the regular crew. Jabu’s debut album proper, ‘Sleep Heavy’, arrived in 2017 courtesy of Blackest Ever Black. A sublime, focused meditation on grief and loss written largely by Amos and Al, it marked the debut of Jasmine Butt (aka Guest), adding a further layer of vocal texture to their palette. ‘Sweet Company’, their first album written as a trio (released via their own do you have peace? label), drifted into lighter, more ethereal introspection. Featuring guest appearances by Sunun and Daniela Dyson, remixes by Equiknoxx’s Time Cow and Young Echo ‘s Ossia teased out the inherent pop and dub sensibilities respectively. Recent times have also seen remixes by kindred spirits Seekers International and Jay Glass Dubs, and a collaboration with the renowned T.S. Eliot Prize-winning dub Poet and musician Roger Robinson on a pair of plaintive, aching 7” singles. Jabu’s broad raft of inspirations can be experienced first -hand on their monthly NTS Radio show ‘Music 4 Lovers’, co -hosted by long-time friend and soul afficionado Andy Payback. A celebration of the endless tapestry of interrelated musical connections, it runs parallel to Jabu’s own reinterpretation of their influences. For ‘Boiling Wells’, Amos remembers a diet of “A.R. Kane, Cocteau Twins, DJ Screw, Southern/Memphis rap mixtapes, early 90’s jungle, Karen Dalton, Sybille Baier, Vashti Bunyan, Svitlana Nianio, a lot of soul, Armand Hammer & Alchemist, Grouper, Bobby Caldwell. Jazz was a constant, Japanese, Polish, Latin, American…”. And from those diverse strands, something new and singular has formed, to line up alongside them. ‘Boiling Wells (Demos ‘19-’22)’ is released by UK newcomer Six of Swords in a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, pressed on black vinyl housed in full colour 270 gsm matt varnish sleeve and black paper inner, with full download coupon

The Land of the Snow is a project and a state of mind of Joel Gilardini (baritone guitars, electronics, and drums programming), backed up on drums by Jacopo Pierazzuoli (Obake, Morkobot, and Deneb) TLOTS is devoted to massive, metal-oriented soundscapes: a constantly evolving sludgy mix of doom and post metal (often seasoned with noise and dub elements), which often takes its inspiration from alpine landscapes and Tibetan traditions The new album "As Within, So Without" (2023, Subsound Records) is about what's inside us, how we interact with the outside, and vice versa. Everything we do and experience through our thoughts, our skin, and our actions, constantly infuence our inner selves and our surroundings. It's a constant exchange and confrontation that drives our lives and pushes us to widen our horizons with each step we take. "As Within, So Without" was conceived together with Jacopo Pierazzuoli (drums), Eraldo Bernocchi (mix and additional guitars), and Petulia Mattioli (artwork). Joel is an experimental guitarist and sound designer, based in Zurich (Switzerland). Beside TLOTS, he is also known for his ambient- drone works (released on labels like ZeroK, Unexplained Sounds Group and Endtitles) and is a member of the noise-industrial combos Mulo Muto (with Attila Folklor, CH) and Psychic Drones (with Kazuyuki Kishino, JP)

The Land of the Snow is a project and a state of mind of Joel Gilardini (baritone guitars, electronics, and drums programming), backed up on drums by Jacopo Pierazzuoli (Obake, Morkobot, and Deneb) TLOTS is devoted to massive, metal-oriented soundscapes: a constantly evolving sludgy mix of doom and post metal (often seasoned with noise and dub elements), which often takes its inspiration from alpine landscapes and Tibetan traditions The new album "As Within, So Without" (2023, Subsound Records) is about what's inside us, how we interact with the outside, and vice versa. Everything we do and experience through our thoughts, our skin, and our actions, constantly infuence our inner selves and our surroundings. It's a constant exchange and confrontation that drives our lives and pushes us to widen our horizons with each step we take. "As Within, So Without" was conceived together with Jacopo Pierazzuoli (drums), Eraldo Bernocchi (mix and additional guitars), and Petulia Mattioli (artwork). Joel is an experimental guitarist and sound designer, based in Zurich (Switzerland). Beside TLOTS, he is also known for his ambient- drone works (released on labels like ZeroK, Unexplained Sounds Group and Endtitles) and is a member of the noise-industrial combos Mulo Muto (with Attila Folklor, CH) and Psychic Drones (with Kazuyuki Kishino, JP)

28. September 2023 – Als Tina Turner im Mai dieses Jahres verstarb, hinterließ sie das Erbe eines gewaltigen Lebenswerkes. Eine neue Anthologie blickt zurück auf ihre legendäre Solokarriere, die vor fast 50 Jahren ihren Anfang nahm. „Queen of Rock ‘n‘ Roll“ ist eine Zusammenstellung von 55 Tracks, die uns anhand ihrer Singles durch ihre einzigartige Solokarriere führt, angefangen bei ihrer Coverversion von „Whole Lotta Love“ (1975) bis hin zum Kygo-Remix von „What's Love Got to Do With It“ aus dem Jahr 2020. Es ist das erste Mal, dass ihre gesamte Single-Sammlung in einem Set veröffentlicht wird.

„Queen of Rock ‘n‘ Roll“ ist ab dem 24. November erhältlich und kann ab jetzt vorbestellt werden. Die Anthologie erscheint als 3-CD und 5LP-Set sowie als abgespeckte Vinyl-Version mit 12 Tracks. Alle physischen Varianten enthalten ein Vorwort von Bryan Adams, langjähriger Freund und Kreativpartner Turners.

Tinas erste Veröffentlichung als Solokünstlerin erfolgte zu einer Zeit, als sie mit dem Duo Ike & Tina Turner Revue tourte und Alben herausbrachte. „Tina Turns The Country On!“ – so der Titel des 1974 veröffentlichten Solo-Debüts – brachte keine Singles hervor, weshalb diese Anthologie erst 1975 einsetzt. Da nämlich wurde ihre Coverversion von Led Zeppelins „Whole Lotta Love“ vom zweiten Album „Acid Queen“ offiziell als Single veröffentlicht. Im weiteren Verlauf hält die Sammlung Duette mit anderen legendären Künstlern wie David Bowie, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton und Rod Stewart sowie einige der unvergesslichsten und berühmtesten Pop- und Rock-Singles aller Zeiten bereit, darunter „What's Love Got To Do With It“, „Private Dancer“, „We Don't Need Another Hero“, „The Best“, „Steamy Windows“, „I Don't Wanna Lose You“ und „Disco Inferno“, um nur einige zu nennen.

Um das Vermächtnis der Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll zu feiern, enthält die Sammlung auch eine neue Version von „Something Beautiful Remains“, nunmehr schlicht betitelt „Something Beautiful“. Der ursprünglich 1996 veröffentlichte Track wurde von Turners legendärem Produzenten und langjährigen Mitstreiter Terry Britten überarbeitet und ist ein gefühlvoller und angemessener letzter Tribut an das kraftvolle Vermächtnis, das sie hinterlässt. Britten, der das Rework nicht lange nach ihrem Tod anfertigte, kommentiert: „Liebe Tina, die Zusammenarbeit mit dir war eine Erfahrung, die sich niemals wiederholen wird. Und doch bleibt in meinem Herzen ‚Something Beautiful‘ zurück.“

Tina wird auf der ganzen Welt verehrt. Mit ihrer persönlichen Geschichte, ihrem Gesang und ihrer Art des Tanzens war und ist sie eine Inspiration für Millionen von Menschen rund um den Globus. Und nicht zuletzt hat sie ein musikalisches Vermächtnis hinterlassen, das einige der bekanntesten Songs aller Zeiten umfasst.

Tina Turner ist zweifellos eine der bedeutendsten Künstlerinnen der modernen Musikgeschichte. Um es mit den Worten Beyoncés bei der Verleihung Kennedy Center Honours 2005 an Tina Turner zu sagen: „Ich werde nie den Moment vergessen, als ich den ersten Auftritt von dir Tina Turner sah. Ich hatte noch nie in meinem Leben eine Frau gesehen, die so kraftvoll, so furchtlos und so fantastisch war." (Hier kann man Beyoncés Laudatio samt darauffolgender Live-Performance ansehen.) 2008 traten die beiden dann gemeinsam bei den Grammy Awards auf und performten „Proud Mary“, ein Song von Ike & Tina Turner aus dem Jahr 1971. Diese Performance – anzusehen hier – gilt heute als einer der ikonischsten Momente in der Geschichte des weltweit wichtigsten Musikpreises.

Tina Turner hat über 200 Millionen Tonträger verkauft und hatte in Deutschland acht Top-10-Singles und ebenso viele Top-10-Alben (bzw. fünf, wenn man die Compilations/Livealben nicht dazuzählt), darunter die #1-Single „We Don’t Need Another Hero“ und die #1-Alben „Break Every Rule“ und „Foreign Affair“. Im UK war sie die erste weibliche Künstlerin, die in sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Jahrzehnten einen Top-40-Hit im Vereinigten Königreich hatte. Dort sind ihre Alben heute mit 20-fachem Platin dekoriert, in den USA mit 9-fachem Platin und in Deutschland mit 11-fachem Platin. Auch im Rest der Welt erzielte Turner gewaltige Verkaufszahlen. Bei den Grammy Awards wurde sie achtmal ausgezeichnet und insgesamt 25-mal nominiert. 1991 wurde Turner in die Rock & Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen, außerdem hat sie Sterne auf dem Hollywood Walk of Fame und dem St. Louis Walk of Fame. Das Konzert im Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro im Rahmen ihrer „Break Every Rule“-Tournee 1988 stellte mit 184.000 Zuschauer:innen im Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro einen neuen Weltrekord für das größte zahlende Publikum bei einem Solokonzert auf. Das Rolling Stone Magazine führt Tina Turner auf #17 der 100 größten Sänger:innen aller Zeiten und auf #63 der 100 größten Künstler:innen aller Zeiten.

Trotz all dieser Erfolge und ihres gewaltigen Ruhms verschwand die Person Tina Turner nie hinter der Persona Tina Turner. Sie blieb ihre gesamte Karriere über nahbar und authentisch – ein weiterer Grund, wieso sie bis heute weltweit so geliebt wird. Bryan Adams dürfte in seinem wunderschönen und persönlichen Vorwort vielen Menschen aus dem Herzen sprechen, wenn er über die Wirkung schreibt, die Tina auf ihn hatte:

„Tina hat den Lauf meines Lebens verändert, denn ihr schreibe ich zu, dass ich es aus der Bedeutungslosigkeit auf die Bühnen des Vereinigten Königreiches und Europas gebracht habe. Ich bin so dankbar, dass sie etwas von ihrer kostbaren Zeit mit mir teilte. Sie war eine Naturgewalt, niemand hatte ihre Energie oder ihre Stimme“, so Adams, der dann mit Bezug auf seinen 1985er-Song mit Tina Turner anfügt: „It’s only love, and that's all.“

28. September 2023 – Als Tina Turner im Mai dieses Jahres verstarb, hinterließ sie das Erbe eines gewaltigen Lebenswerkes. Eine neue Anthologie blickt zurück auf ihre legendäre Solokarriere, die vor fast 50 Jahren ihren Anfang nahm. „Queen of Rock ‘n‘ Roll“ ist eine Zusammenstellung von 55 Tracks, die uns anhand ihrer Singles durch ihre einzigartige Solokarriere führt, angefangen bei ihrer Coverversion von „Whole Lotta Love“ (1975) bis hin zum Kygo-Remix von „What's Love Got to Do With It“ aus dem Jahr 2020. Es ist das erste Mal, dass ihre gesamte Single-Sammlung in einem Set veröffentlicht wird.

„Queen of Rock ‘n‘ Roll“ ist ab dem 24. November erhältlich und kann ab jetzt vorbestellt werden. Die Anthologie erscheint als 3-CD und 5LP-Set sowie als abgespeckte Vinyl-Version mit 12 Tracks. Alle physischen Varianten enthalten ein Vorwort von Bryan Adams, langjähriger Freund und Kreativpartner Turners.

Tinas erste Veröffentlichung als Solokünstlerin erfolgte zu einer Zeit, als sie mit dem Duo Ike & Tina Turner Revue tourte und Alben herausbrachte. „Tina Turns The Country On!“ – so der Titel des 1974 veröffentlichten Solo-Debüts – brachte keine Singles hervor, weshalb diese Anthologie erst 1975 einsetzt. Da nämlich wurde ihre Coverversion von Led Zeppelins „Whole Lotta Love“ vom zweiten Album „Acid Queen“ offiziell als Single veröffentlicht. Im weiteren Verlauf hält die Sammlung Duette mit anderen legendären Künstlern wie David Bowie, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton und Rod Stewart sowie einige der unvergesslichsten und berühmtesten Pop- und Rock-Singles aller Zeiten bereit, darunter „What's Love Got To Do With It“, „Private Dancer“, „We Don't Need Another Hero“, „The Best“, „Steamy Windows“, „I Don't Wanna Lose You“ und „Disco Inferno“, um nur einige zu nennen.

Um das Vermächtnis der Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll zu feiern, enthält die Sammlung auch eine neue Version von „Something Beautiful Remains“, nunmehr schlicht betitelt „Something Beautiful“. Der ursprünglich 1996 veröffentlichte Track wurde von Turners legendärem Produzenten und langjährigen Mitstreiter Terry Britten überarbeitet und ist ein gefühlvoller und angemessener letzter Tribut an das kraftvolle Vermächtnis, das sie hinterlässt. Britten, der das Rework nicht lange nach ihrem Tod anfertigte, kommentiert: „Liebe Tina, die Zusammenarbeit mit dir war eine Erfahrung, die sich niemals wiederholen wird. Und doch bleibt in meinem Herzen ‚Something Beautiful‘ zurück.“

Tina wird auf der ganzen Welt verehrt. Mit ihrer persönlichen Geschichte, ihrem Gesang und ihrer Art des Tanzens war und ist sie eine Inspiration für Millionen von Menschen rund um den Globus. Und nicht zuletzt hat sie ein musikalisches Vermächtnis hinterlassen, das einige der bekanntesten Songs aller Zeiten umfasst.

Tina Turner ist zweifellos eine der bedeutendsten Künstlerinnen der modernen Musikgeschichte. Um es mit den Worten Beyoncés bei der Verleihung Kennedy Center Honours 2005 an Tina Turner zu sagen: „Ich werde nie den Moment vergessen, als ich den ersten Auftritt von dir Tina Turner sah. Ich hatte noch nie in meinem Leben eine Frau gesehen, die so kraftvoll, so furchtlos und so fantastisch war." (Hier kann man Beyoncés Laudatio samt darauffolgender Live-Performance ansehen.) 2008 traten die beiden dann gemeinsam bei den Grammy Awards auf und performten „Proud Mary“, ein Song von Ike & Tina Turner aus dem Jahr 1971. Diese Performance – anzusehen hier – gilt heute als einer der ikonischsten Momente in der Geschichte des weltweit wichtigsten Musikpreises.

Tina Turner hat über 200 Millionen Tonträger verkauft und hatte in Deutschland acht Top-10-Singles und ebenso viele Top-10-Alben (bzw. fünf, wenn man die Compilations/Livealben nicht dazuzählt), darunter die #1-Single „We Don’t Need Another Hero“ und die #1-Alben „Break Every Rule“ und „Foreign Affair“. Im UK war sie die erste weibliche Künstlerin, die in sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Jahrzehnten einen Top-40-Hit im Vereinigten Königreich hatte. Dort sind ihre Alben heute mit 20-fachem Platin dekoriert, in den USA mit 9-fachem Platin und in Deutschland mit 11-fachem Platin. Auch im Rest der Welt erzielte Turner gewaltige Verkaufszahlen. Bei den Grammy Awards wurde sie achtmal ausgezeichnet und insgesamt 25-mal nominiert. 1991 wurde Turner in die Rock & Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen, außerdem hat sie Sterne auf dem Hollywood Walk of Fame und dem St. Louis Walk of Fame. Das Konzert im Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro im Rahmen ihrer „Break Every Rule“-Tournee 1988 stellte mit 184.000 Zuschauer:innen im Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro einen neuen Weltrekord für das größte zahlende Publikum bei einem Solokonzert auf. Das Rolling Stone Magazine führt Tina Turner auf #17 der 100 größten Sänger:innen aller Zeiten und auf #63 der 100 größten Künstler:innen aller Zeiten.

Trotz all dieser Erfolge und ihres gewaltigen Ruhms verschwand die Person Tina Turner nie hinter der Persona Tina Turner. Sie blieb ihre gesamte Karriere über nahbar und authentisch – ein weiterer Grund, wieso sie bis heute weltweit so geliebt wird. Bryan Adams dürfte in seinem wunderschönen und persönlichen Vorwort vielen Menschen aus dem Herzen sprechen, wenn er über die Wirkung schreibt, die Tina auf ihn hatte:

„Tina hat den Lauf meines Lebens verändert, denn ihr schreibe ich zu, dass ich es aus der Bedeutungslosigkeit auf die Bühnen des Vereinigten Königreiches und Europas gebracht habe. Ich bin so dankbar, dass sie etwas von ihrer kostbaren Zeit mit mir teilte. Sie war eine Naturgewalt, niemand hatte ihre Energie oder ihre Stimme“, so Adams, der dann mit Bezug auf seinen 1985er-Song mit Tina Turner anfügt: „It’s only love, and that's all.“

This is a presentation of Xexa's different sensibilities as a composer, musician and sound designer, mapping what are in effect her initial explorations with voice, rhythms, synths, ambience, ever searching for an organic final result. As a student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) between 2019 and a still fresh 2023, she presented in her third year a portfolio that included what we can now listen as "Clarinet Mood", the final track on "Vibrações De Prata". Her intention was to «study the feeling of listening to music as an environment one inhabits and not as a sound that follows you throughout the day. Walk into, instead of listening to, an ambience». With no previous clarinet training, Xexa explores its palpable sound as a physical doorway to this realm.

Four other tracks ("Assim", "Nha Dêdê", "Fragmented Breath" and "Prendes Nh'Alma") formed part of what she named the 2021 Sound Calendar. Out of a (natural) total of 12 compositions, these four connect with other intimate moments to tell a broader story, one of fragility, «like a flower about to bloom, we can detect first glimpses of colour and form but can't yet divine its final form».

This sort of imaginative sonic micro-management can also be found on "Libelula", where the synth attempts to recreate the beating of a dragonfly's wings. Minute details are a major feature in jewelry, an art Xexa studied in her native Lisbon's António Arroio school. Free spirited as she is, Lisbon is merely a geographical location where she was born, no particular feeling of being Portuguese attached to her position in the world. So far, Xexa's origins in São Tomé and Príncipe and a prolonged stint in London (it feels prolonged, at such a young age) are the two other major environments that form her experience as a human being but also as an artist. We are extremely proud to have been able to access truly special creative, intimate moments and help bring out into the world this physical manifestation of beautiful contemporary music.

The Roger Webb Sound's Moonshade is one of the coolest records ever. Originally appearing via the legendary De Wolfe library in 1971, it's a sumptuous jazz-soul-funk instrumental set. Full of melodic, melancholic yet sun-drenched songs, rich with colour and contrast, it was composed by self-taught jazz pianist Roger Webb and features vocal performances by Barbara Moore. That's right; *the* powerhouse library music duo! It makes Moonshade the perfect precursor and accompaniment to Barbara Moore's eternal classic Vocal Shades And Tones. It will come as no surprise that original copies, if you can ever find them, will set you back north of 200 notes.

Moonshade is a phenomenal showcase of Brit maestro Webb's own roots in jazz. Those roots are served up here with a plethora of fast-stepping rhythms that truly give flight to the vocals of Barbara Moore, as they soar in wonderful ways. Moore sings wordlessly throughout, allowing her voice to act like another instrument in concert with the horns and keyboards elevating the fine arrangements. This is a deeply beautiful record.

The album opens with the ornate Baroque pop splendour of the sun-dappled melancholia of "Sunshine". Strings, piano and wordless female vocals combine to create this brief beauty of unimaginable grace. The cool "Gentle Eyes" features haunting and beautiful vocals, smooth jazz piano and horns and a general easy vibe without being easy listening, if you know what we mean. You do. Just listen. The pounding "Heavy Lace" is one for the beat-heads, funky open drums (!) with muted organ, bassy piano chords and ace horns. Sampled by Quakers for their great debut album on Stones Throw. The nostalgic "Yesterday" is wistful and beautifully melodic instrumental soul music with gorgeous acoustic guitar and flutes. It's followed by the light, lilting "Petal Soft" which features more Baroque styles, overflowing with flutes and harps. The bright, bouncing "Coaster" is an easy-going piano-led, guitar-driven swinger whilst "Grey Sigh" is another classic. A real highlight, with more fantastic propulsive drums and percussion and plaintive wordless vocals courtesy of Barbara. Speaking of which, the soft, sweet Rhodes jazz of the lilting "Sweet Thing" is another staggering showcase of the brilliance of Barbara. Just astounding.

Head straight past the honky-tonk-by-numbers piano jaunt "Cough Drop" and luxuriate in the soft, delicate beauty of the album's melodic, cyclical title track, "Moon Shade". Fragile flutes and acoustic guitar float across judicious bass notes before giving way to slightly ominous piano and, again, those beguiling wordless vocals. And then round again to the flute refrain of the intro. This time with the vocals to see us out. Majestic drama jazz at its finest. The cello-and-flute adorned "Sapphire" is a fluid orchestral beauty whilst "Interweave" rides with more urgency in its string and bass stabs. When the warm keys enter, it's a bonafide mellifluous wonder. The softer "Musette" begins in beautifully gentle fashion before pivoting for a driving yet elegant piano middle section. It reverts back to the mellow intro, for its outro. Understood? The melodic organ and prominent rhythm section running through "Reminiscence" makes for a delightfully understated folk-funk instrumental whilst the cool, rolling piano feels of "7.30 For 8.00" seem to perfectly suit the phrase "dinner jazz". It's no bad thing, c'mon. This classy, memorable set is rounded out by the half-minute mince of the Barbara-blessed "Sparky". It's just over too soon!

The audio for Moonshade has been brilliantly remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

"Galt MacDermot (1928-2018) was an award-winning Canadian-American composer, pianist, writer of classical music and theatrical pieces. MacDermot also composed music for several film soundtracks (like the 1970 blaxploitation film `Cotton Comes To Harlem') and released several exceptional jazz and funk albums on his own label Kilmarnock Records. He is best known for his work on the Grammy winning 1967 musical Hair (which also produced several number-one singles like "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In") and Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971) for which he won a Tony Award. In 2009 Galt MacDermot was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and in 2010 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1979, MacDermot formed the New Pulse Jazz Band, which performed and recorded his original music. Galt MacDermot's music is extremely popular with collectors of jazz and funk. Working with jazz and soul musicians such as Bernard Purdie and Idris Muhammad, MacDermot created pieces that used African rhythms (he made the study of African music his speciality). In recent decades, his work has become popular with hip-hop musicians including Busta Rhymes, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Gang Starr, Action Bronson, Public Enemy, MF Doom, Madlib, J Dilla, Obie Trice, Naughty By Nature, Run DMC and Digable Planets_the list is endless. The album "Ghetto Suite" was written in 1970 and released in 1972 and is considered one of the most ground-breaking records ever issued on Galt MacDermot's Killmarnock label and consists out of a selection of songs and poems by Harlem/Bronx school children, set to Galt's music, and sung by vocalist Angela Ortega. Given That Galt's handling the music, you can bet that there's plenty of nicely executed funky touches - supported by rolling bass-work, snapping drums, and organ virtuosity. But the real charm of these groovy tunes comes from the lyrics, which have a simple and to the point way of dealing with issues of racism, poverty and other issues of the time. The story telling is surprisingly gripping even after all these years. The whole album creates an extremely personal direct sensitivity to the environment of Ghetto kids_telling us with defiantly honest intensity what it was like to be young and black, the drugs and the deaths, the topic of incarceration_or simply the fact of being battered by the frustration of Ghetto existence. Ghetto Suite is way more than an entertainment record, it has been used by teachers and counsellors to inspire and motivate the muted voices of the black inner cities_ documenting both their anguish and their triumphs. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the FIRST EVER vinyl reissue of this exceptional conceptual album (originally released in 1972 and a highly sought-after pricey collectable ever since) This unique record now comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 1000 copies) with obi strip and features the original artwork and extensive sleeve notes.

I can say that the album It's not too late has been created by chance.
Few years ago together with Lisa Gerrard we visited synagogue in a small town hundred kilometres from Cracow, Bobowa. When we entered the synagogue Lisa started to sing. It appeared that the place had spine-tingling acoustics. I said then to Lisa: " let's try to record something here".
The rule was simple: I prepared themes and we recorded live performance. Lisa heard what I was playing for the first time during the recording and she improvised. We recorded nine compositions in 45 minutes. It supposed to be a holiday joy.

Six years later I returned to the material we recorded and decided to finish it. What is left from the original recording is the voice of Lisa. I composed and recorded everything else in my studio. Dominik Wania played piano, Magdalena Pluta - cello and Jerzy G?owczewski- saxophone.
That's the way the album It's not too late came in to being.

We live in the most dangerous time since the Second World War.
Lisa Gerrard and I want to tell you about the world we share. Our weapon is music. It doesn't kill, it resurrects, and it brings hope to life.
It's not too late.

Zbigniew Preisner

Tower Of Power is an album by Tower Of Power, released in 2023. Tower Of Power includes a.o. the following tracks: “What Is Hip?”, “This Time It's Real”, “Clean Slate”, “Just Another Day” and more. The album is a Coloured Vinyl funk LP.