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Miles Davis Kind of Blue meets Analogue Productions' UHQR, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl!
Best-selling album in jazz history; mastered from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings using Clarity Vinyl® on a manual Finebilt press
Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!
Dream team of Davis, Adderley, Coltrane, Evans, Kelly, Chambers, Cobb make history.

Legends have a way of sticking around. If there was ever an album awaiting a high-fidelity, custom-pressed vinyl treatment of the level you now hold in your hands, it is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. The top-selling jazz album of all time, it has been lauded, entered into "Best Of" lists and Halls of Fame, and universally acknowledged as a landmark recording — a five-track masterpiece of melancholy mood and melody.

It continues to be one of the most listened-to and studied recordings of all time, a required primer for many young musicians, and one of the most transcendent pieces of music ever recorded. Davis played trumpet sublime with his ensemble sextet featuring pianist Bill Evans, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley with Wyton Kelly playing piano on "Freddy the Freeloader."

Now Analogue Productions, together with Quality Record Pressings, is putting Kind of Blue where it belongs: the Ultra High Quality Record (UHQR) pressed on Clarity Vinyl on a manual Finebilt press with attention paid to every single detail of every single record.

The 200-gram records will feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable. From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer's stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center. Clarity Vinyl allows for the purest possible pressing and the most visually stunning presentation. Every UHQR will be hand inspected upon pressing completion, and only the truly flawless will be allowed to go to market. Each UHQR will be packaged in a deluxe box and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection. This will be a truly deluxe, collectible product.

Kind of Blue is more than Miles Davis's most enduring recording, it's a testament to Miles' experimental approach, drastically simplifying modern jazz by returning to melody unlike the chord complexity more often heard at the time. "The music has gotten thick," Davis complained in a 1958 interview for The Jazz Review. "... There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them." Kind of Blue is, in a sense, all melody — and atmosphere.

None of the musicians had played any of the tunes before heading into the first of two recording sessions in early spring of 1959. In fact Miles had written out the settings for most of them only a few hours before the session. Miles also stuck to his old recording procedure of having virtually no rehearsal and only one take for each tune.

Miles remained proud of the album, performing at least two of its tracks — "So What" and "All Blues" — for years after, until his musical path took him in a different direction.

History was on the side of Kind of Blue; it was born in 1959, at the peak of the golden age of high-fidelity, featuring innovations in studio equipment (magnetic tape, high-quality condenser microphones), matched by advancements in home audio reproduction (long-player records — LPs; high-end turntables, and other stereo components). Kind of Blue also benefited from Miles' being signed to the leading major record company of the day — Columbia Records, a part of the CBS media conglomerate. Columbia had the means and wisdom to invest in cutting edge recording technology, and their own professional recording studio.

A minor audio complication with Kind of Blue has been addressed with this UHQR edition. The motor on the studio's 3-track master recorder was running slowly the day of the album's first session. This speed issue affected the album's first three tracks, "So What," "Freddie Freeloader" and "Blue in Green," making them a barely perceptible quarter-tone sharp. Before now, it was only addressed in 1995 for the Classic Records edition and by Columbia Records — or their latter-day parent, Sony Music — on a CD reissue in the late '90s.

Sixty years have passed; this LP bridges that time span in the best way possible, struck from the master reel of Kind of Blue, free of speed issues and replete with all the instrumental detail, sonic environment and minimal noise. As we set out to make our UHQR series the world's best-sounding vinyl records, we have also used Clarity Vinyl, which is free of any carbon black pigment which might introduce surface noise. All-in-all this edition of Kind of Blue meets the highest audiophile standards and offers the truest sound for the most enjoyment.

Auf seinem neuen Album „INTROSPECTIO“ vermischt der Schweizer Solo-Akkordeonspieler Mario Batkovic klassische Elemente mit zeitgenössischer Musik, räumt mit Klischees und Vorurteilen auf und nimmt den Hörer mit auf eine Reise durch unendliche Klangwelten.

An den Aufnahmen mitgewirkt haben neben „electronic Wizard“ James Holden auch ex-BEAK>-Mitglied Matthew Williams aka MXLX, Schlagzeuger Clive Deamer (Radiohead/Portishead/Robert Plant/Roni Size), Saxophonist Colin Stetson sowie der Konzertchor Cantus Domus.

When Roberto Carlos Lange, the musician known
as Helado Negro, began writing ‘Far In’
immediately following the release of his acclaimed
2019 ‘This is How You Smile’, he could not have
predicted that we would soon need to learn how to
stay at home and be the stars of our domestic
dancefloors with intimate and online communities.
The titular pair in ‘Gemini and Leo’ stay indoors to
discover each other anew with music recalling
Lange’s youth growing up in South Florida
listening to 80s club songs, and their return
sampled in 90s hip-hop.
Visions past and future meet in a euphoria of
uptempo drums, Jen Wasner’s (Flock of Dimes)
funky bassline, and Opal Hoyt’s (Zenizen) galactic
swirl of warm and steely synths and bright backing
vocals.
What was a prophesying rehearsal for the
musician will, we can hope, soon be our fresh
start, a choice to bring that energy home, or go out
to meet it.

After the international success of Thunderbirds, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson turned their attention to a deadly threat from Mars. Seeking revenge for an attack on their home planet,

the Mysterons plot to use their powers to bring Earth to its knees.

Across 32 episodes broadcast during 1967 – 1968, the series is remarkable for moving away from the more caricatured puppets of previous shows –

they have more realistic body proportions and the storylines are much more violent and darker in tone. Something reflected in the music which has a

more militaristic feel to it although, as always, composer Gray offers up occasional lighter tracks to break up the mood.

The opening narration of each episode sums it up –

"The Mysterons: sworn enemies of Earth. Possessing the ability to recreate an exact likeness of an object or person. But first, they must destroy...

Leading the fight, one man fate has made indestructible. His name: Captain Scarlet."

The Captain Scarlet LP will be sixth album in the series which includes UFO, Supercar, Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5 and Space: 1999.

Habibi Funk presents a selection of works by Algerian-born, Amazigh artist Majid Soula. Majid’s music blends the best of Arab-disco, highlife and groovy funk into something wholly unique.

Born in Kabylie, Algeria - a place that remains fundamental to his career - Majid Soula is a self-made musician, artist and producer. With no formal music education, Majid’s tenacity has led to a career that is still blossoming. His synths, driving drums, guitar & strong lyrics make a unique sound. A strong proponent for the rights of the Amazigh, he has a band that to this day plays shows, most linked to cultural events of the Amazigh diaspora in France, as well as in Belgium, Russia the UK and Sweden. He was part of a new wave of widely popular and successful Kabyle artists in the 1980s, such as Ait Menguellet, Lounès Matoub, Takfarinas, Idir and many more.

Habibi Funk as a label is dedicated to re-releasing music from “The Arab World”, but this release shows how reductive this term can be, as the countries from North Africa and West Asia being summarized under this term include a vast number of languages and identities. Obviously, headlines sometimes come with limited space, and one can’t avoid using terms that paint a half-finished picture. That being the case, however, we are even more happy that Majid Soula liked our idea to work on a release of a selection of his music with us. The tracks here are incredible and need to be introduced to a new generation of listeners.

For Majid Soula music is more than just entertainment. He considers himself an activist through music, and foremost a “chanteur engagé”, as he says of himself: „I take my inspiration from the daily life of my people and I share all their aspirations, mainly the official recognition of Tamazight as a language, culture and identity.”

He still works on new music in his small home studio in Belleville and occasionally plays concerts for the Amazigh community of the city.
We sincerely hope that for you reading this and listening to Majid’s album, his music will have the same revelatory feeling it had on us, and that this will be part of a momentum that will allow Majid to keep on working, playing, and sharing his message for many years to come.

A Wide ranging, eclectic and progressive musical outlook has always been the Lack of Afro approach. His latest material follows suit as he harnesses disparate musical styles ranging from funk, soul and hip-hop to create a contemporary yet vintage musical escapade of superb songs.


In 2014 Lack Of Afro comes back super-strong with this brand new single, Recipe For Love (taken from the forthcoming long player Music For Adverts) - his fourth studio album for Freestyle Records.


Featuring Jack Tyson-Charles on vocals, the crisp, foot stomping beat echoes the thrill of all night Northern Soul sessions back in the day, but couples that with an upbeat, hand clapping, feel good melody that is guaranteed to stay playing in your head long after.


The flip side is an instrumental version of Recipe For Love which is 100% exclusive to this single.


Soon the Lack Of Afro 5-piece live band will be touring throughout the UK & Europe. Comprised entirely of multi-instrumentalists, expect a fully interchangeable line-up with the band swapping instruments, sometimes mid-song... a spectacle not to be missed!

The Artists Formerly Known As The Connection Machine (Utrecht, Netherlands) go raw and mean on this one! If the underground The Hague-style from the 90s is your thing, this 12" is your cup of tea. 4 hectic 808/303 trax, all mixed in a dirty way, with loadsa fx on the 303.

The Connection Machine/Cray Emoticon is the multi-talented duo of Natasja Hagemeier and Jeroen Brandjes, who debuted on U-TRAX in 1993 with their instant classic and much sought after 'The Dreamtec Album' (catalogue no: 3 UTR UMM 1). They went on to create another epic release called 'The Black Hole EP' on U-TRAX (catalogue no: 5 UTR UMM 2), but not after they presented 'Bitflower', a true work of art on Planet E from Detroit. Later they released the CD album 'Painless' on Down Low Music and in more recent years two 12"s (shared with The Lost Trax) and an album on Tabernacle Records from the UK.

The title track is originally meant as a replacement for the original game music of level 9 of the 2nd episode (E2L9) of the computer game Doom. The artists thought the original score wasn't doing right to the intensity of the game and made their own apocalyptic soundtrack. 'Gnawing The Heart' already proved its usefulness on many a dancefloor, whilst 'Choice Chip' will satisfy the ultimate speed freaks amongst you. If you're not into drugs or mushrooms, 'I Wish My Zapper Was A Gun' can deliver you the same effects: it's a psychedelic space-acid trip, built around a sample of the sitcom 'Neighbours'.

You can't get wrong with this vintage and merciless dance floor material from the mid-nineties.

Original release date: October 1995.

The second release in January to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Frank de Groodts career as a recording artist is a re-press of his legendary Sonar Bases 4 10 double 12 . Exactly 21 years ago, in January 1997, Frank elevated to electro stardom with this astonishing combination of dark electronica and electro beats.

Frank at the time lived just outside the city of Amersfoort, which is where he was born and lives again these days, some 30 minutes northwest of Utrecht. His first ever release in January 1994 was a techno EP on U-TRAX, as Pieces of a Pensive State of Mind. Later that year, he released his first 12"-es on Djax records as The Optic Crux, and he continued to keep making up artists names in the following 25 years, like Fastgraph and The Operator. He is also one half of the live outfit Random XS (together with DJ Zero One), collaborated with Arno Peeters (a.k.a. Spasms) as Urban Electro and with Detroit's Dennis Richardson as Ultradyne. And that s not even all of his alter egos.

The sound of these eight unique tracks called for a new moniker back in the nineties: Sonar Base (ironically misspelled on the original release as Sonar Bass). All track on this re-press have been remastered for maximum impact. The double vinyl goodness kicks off with Earth Probe, that very subtly creeps towards us, before it kicks in with a rather obese bassdrum. As if Frank wanted to ease his listeners into his then new sound, this track basically is in techno/acid style, but has the slower tempo that characterizes the rest of the electro tracks of this release.

Immediately following, is the unrivaled beauty of Welcome To Sonar Base #4, a track that slowly builds up before it takes us on a deep space journey at two thirds. The 11 minute Sonar Base #5 has been a DJ favorite for 21 years, reaching out to both electro and techno lovers, while Sonar Base #6 is the type of ultra-pure electro that really puts your woofers to the test.

Arrival At Dwell Probe is another one of our favorites, with superfine beats, desolate voice samples and deep and moody synths. Very musical, truly a top piece that will leave you totally unprepared for Blunted. This track has the rolling type of hiphop-style beats that mix well with LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out, but of course has the space-station atmosphere that makes it unmistakably a Sonar Base track.

The fast pace and merciless beats of Intergalactic Anecdote rush us to the finale: Sonar Base #10, a worthy closing track, with deep bassdrum patterns and melancholic strings that also please fans of broken beats. It stops and goes and keeps demanding your attention, making you wanting to go back again to the first track disc and start your Sonar Base trip all over again.

The third release on U-TRAX in 1993 was also a third debut, this time by Natasja Hagemeier and Jeroen Brandjes. Early in their career, they used several artist names, but became most commonly known as The Connection Machine. With their debut mini-album The Dream Tec Album they more or less described their style: dreamy techno. It became an instant Dutch techno classic and U-TRAX is proud and delighted to offer a fully remastered re-release, including three never before released bonus tracks (one of which is digital-only).

Natasja and Jeroen resided in Utrecht back in the 90s. In 1991 they assembled all their ideas and recorded the track "24 Hours" with DJ Paradize. Soon after this experience, they started to buy their own gear, all strictly MIDI (which wasn't too obvious in those days). In their early recording years, they had three producer-names (Syndrome, The Connection Machine and Bitch&Bites), that were all collected under the The Utroid Machine Missions umbrella, which was used for their debut on U-TRAX.

All tracks on The Dream Tec Album are The Connection Machine's earliest works, from the 1991/1992 years.

"An Overflow of the Mind" is a beautiful, dreamy track with almost divine sounds and strange voice-samples that serves perfectly as an introduction to their entire repertoire.

Their first production was "24 Hours", and what a brilliant one it is! A well-known jazz-musician talks about a "24 hour party going on", on top of a sinister and trancey rug, woven of sampled sounds from pioneers in electronic music and nailed down to the floor with a deep pounding bassdrum. At the time they made this track, 141 bpm was unbelievably fast...

"Evilish Cosmos" is all about a very sad and personal emotion, so everything we say about it will be absolutely wrong. Just listen to the meandering piano line, distorted voice samples - and feel it.

The first bonus track on this release is "Recognized Pain", which was intended to be part of the original The Dream Tec Album. It had appeared on the Phuture Classical Section C cassette in 1993, on the famous Drome Tapes label that formed the roots of U-TRAX. It truly is an amazing track: pure sonic terror with haunting rhythms, psychedelic synth lines and shards of voice samples that make the listener feel slightly uncomfortable.

"X_Manray" is many electronic music lover's favorite track. It is sooo deep that it is hard not to get hypnotized by it. Warm strings are coupled with deep beats that show up and disappear every now and then. Could serve perfectly to start off any DJ's set, as long as she or he has the guts.

Though "Braindrain" is probably the most danceable track on this album, it is carefully designed to tease the listener. Everything in this track drops in too late and every tone, melody or loop last exactly a few bars too long. Designed as a DJ-teaser and so it is.

The second bonus track, "Cafe d'Anvers", is another previously unreleased work, of which unfortunately no master recording was saved. All that is left, as far as we know, was an old VHS Hifi tape from the U-TRAX Archives. And that is where this bonus track was taken from. Mastering engineer Thee J Johanz managed to restore the quality of the recording somewhat, while at the same time maintaining its dark, clubby sound, a tribute to the famous club of the track's name in Antwerp, Belgium.

"Dream Affected Dream" is one of the most recent productions on this album. It was recorded with CNN playing live on top of it. At this exact moment, CNN was having an interview with David Koresh, the leader of the infamous Branch Davidians sect from Waco, Texas, while they were under siege by an armed police force. Natasja and Jeroen were just ready to record Dream Affected Dream, and spontaneously decided to mix in the audio from CNN. Not very long after that, the cult members set fire to themselves. A very strange and oddly funky track, that also serves as a time-document.

The final track is another bonus track. Like Cafe d'Anvers, "Voight-Kampff" is taken from on old U-TRAX VHS Hifi tape and masterfully mastered into a lovely relaxed dreamtech piece. Very suitable to start the Sunday after a long night of clubbing. This track is available for free to buyers of the complete digital album only.

Original release date: July 1993.

Domino are immensely proud to announce the signing of my bloody
valentine, with new physical editions of the band’s seminal catalogue
being made available. ‘Isn’t Anything’ and ‘loveless’ have been
mastered fully analogue for deluxe LPs and also mastered from new
hi-res uncompressed digital sources for standard LPs, with each
being made available widely for the first time ever. Fully analogue
cuts of ‘m b v’ will also be available on deluxe and standard LPs
globally for the first time.
my bloody valentine, the quartet of Bilinda Butcher, Kevin Shields,
Deb Googe and Colm Ó Cíosóig, are widely revered as one of the
most ground-breaking and influential groups of the past forty years.
During an era in which guitar bands denoted, at best, a retroclassicism, not only did my bloody valentine sound unlike any of their
contemporaries, the band achieved the rare feat of sounding like the
future.
Re-emerging in 2013, after two full decades in relative hiding, my
bloody valentine’s third album, ‘m b v’, is by turns their most
experimental record but also their most melodic and immediate; proof
real of their unerring desire for re-invention. Continuing to push
boundaries of both music and genre, ‘m b v’ is an album of
astonishing music, some of which could lay claim to being of a type
never been made before. Otherworldly, intimate and a visceral listen,
‘m b v’ is a startling and beautiful metamorphosis of what was known
of the my bloody valentine sound, pushing the boundaries of genre
unlike any other band. The album’s closer, ‘wonder 2’, is an example
of this, seeing Shields meld hypnotic guitar with drum & bass to
astonishing result.

Drummer/producer Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen shares two unreleased cuts by his alias The Stance Brothers on We Jazz Records. The 7" color vinyl single goes by the title "Commercial Music", as both tracks are originally commissioned for promotional purposess. The tough-as-nails A-sider "Hard Deal" is an old-school Stance groover made for the Finnish clothing brand Samuji's men's Spring/Summer collection 2015. Stance fans will recognice the signature Teddy Rok groove which cooks and rocks, and displays nice depth as well. The drum break is pure fire like only Teppo can deliver. "Dwayne's Shuffle", known to local Finnish jazz aficionadoes as the opening theme of the popular Yle Radio 1 "Jazzklubi" show is slightly more mellow offering, yet the full swing and intensity is right there in the pocket. The crunchy guitar and minimalist vibraphone melodies carry the tune way beyond your average radio show jingle into a full existence of its own.

"Commercial Music" by The Stance Brothers is released by We Jazz Records on color 7" vinyl single, delivered with heat-pressed old school labels and a stylish plain brown sleeve.

Sheila was reborn in Detroit as one of George Clinton's fiercely funky Brides of Funkenstein. More than simple sex appeal and sass, Sheila sang on the seminalNever Buy Texas from a Cowboyas well as P-Funk hits like "Atomic Dog," making a name for herself alongside P-Funk collective greats. After this mothership connection, Sheila toured with Rick James in 1981 as an original Mary Jane Girl, wrote for Clinton's solo records in the mid '80s and even made a soul connection with Bruce Willis -- who inspired the singer to do her own thing. She then departed the P-Funk stratosphere for another planetary dimension, recording with Aurra, Civil Attack and Public Enemy.

"Attitude" and "Keep On Doing" presents Sheila doing what she does best raw funk and soul

Sheila in featured article: Wax Poetics issue #2 (due out in September)

Member of Brides Of Funkenstein, Parliament/Funkadelic, George Clinton, Aurra, Civil Attack

Limited pressing of 300 copies

45rpm 7" record in Silk-Screened Jacket

60 million streams after their 2nd opus Running To The Moon, the duo's 3rd album, War Is Over, is a dive into 70's funk and soul with the same will to get the essential: the beauty of the melodies and the implacable groove. The Hip-Hop instrumentals on which singers and MCs seem to have more fun than ever, serve as a link to the whole.

Recorded mainly in Bordeaux, this new opus marks a turning point in the group's production method. The brass section present on the Running To The Moon tour was involved in the composition and thus brings a more organic touch to the sound of the album.

As usual, the duo has surrounded themselves with a horde of cult singers and MCs: R.A The Rugged Man, Pav4n & Illaman, Yoshi Di Original, Blake Worrell, MysDiggi or the young hopeful Yudimah (Fair 2020 winner) and the Englishman C.W Jones.

War is Over sounds like a declaration of love to black American music, from Early Jazz to Hip Hop, via Soul and Funk.

Dear listeners, here's the next episode of the Hamburg Spinners story: "Der Magische Kraken" ("The Magic Octopus")

This time Hamburg Spinners left their home port for an underwater expedition to the open ocean diving for unheard tunes, finger snappers and floaters. Always in danger of encountering the Magic Octopus, a voracious entity who feeds on harmonies, rhythms and breaks -in a word the whole arsenal any musician is lost without and damned to drown in a sea of deadly silence and endless darkness... Listen yourself, enter a different world and witness how the Hamburg Spinners are getting carried away and drawn into the depths. A 20.000-mile plunge into the sea. Honestly! Had you ever thought that one can sink this low?

"Der Magische Kraken" is the sophomore album of the Hamburg Spinners, a contemporary soul, mod-jazz and R&B outfit based in Hamburg. Their sound blends floating Hammond organ lines, kinetic, driving grooves, funky breaks, and slicing, economic improvisation. The quartet features Carsten Meyer on Hammond B-3, Dennis Rux on guitar, David Nesselhauf on bass, and Lucas Kochbeck on drums. It was cut live on two weekends in April 2021 in Hamburg's Yeah!-Yeah!-Yeah!-Studios. The chemistry was right and in a truly democratic process ideas were fleshed out, arrangements were done on the spot. A will to collective playing whilst always sticking to the rudimentary basics was in the air. Thus the music could spread out like the arms of an octopus. And though there are limits on the sound of the Hammond organ quartet creativity can burst out & find its way to overcome the limits. Reminiscences of down-to-the-bone songs by Timmy Thomas or Phoenix might come to one's mind when listening to the new Hamburg Spinners album.

Never change a winning team: Meyer's soulful organ sound is buoyed by Rux's warm and gripping guitar sound, Nesselhauf's dynamic bass lines and Kochbeck's tight in-the-pocket drumming.

Nicfit are a four-piece punk band from Nagoya, Japan. Comprising Hiromi on vocals, Charley on guitar, KenKen on bass and Kuwayama on drums the group are by turns melodic and menacing. Nicfit are a nervous itch, incessant and impossible to predict. They flip between head-down tumbles of hardcore bounce and freaked feedback clamber with glee, sounding as casual as a slap in the face.
Formed in 2009 after Charley relocated from San Diego to explore the Japanese punk underbelly, Nicfit bonded through a mutual appreciation of Essential Logic, Magazine, Black Flag and Wire. They quickly recorded a demo and started opening for groups like DMBQ, Thee Oh Sees, Total Control and Wimps. To date the band have released a debut 7” EP, a split cassette with Pinprick Punishment and most recently shared a 7” with their comrades M.A.Z.E. too. Now they’ve gathered a spiky new batch of hyperactive songs together into their enthralling debut LP entitled ‘Fuse’, which Upset The Rhythm will release this December.

‘Fuse’ is a flexing treat of a debut album, packed with browbeaten stomp, taut breakouts, guitars that sound more akin to warning sirens and an astute railing vocal delivery. ‘Fuse’ was recorded, mixed and mastered at the Geru Studio in Toyota City with the help of Shigeru Matsui at the board. These ten original blasts of song, and one cover of the Urinals (‘Ack, ack, ack’) are as pummelsome as they are keen to race against the clock. Total life-affirming trample, with pointed metallic moments and glammy undercurrents that forever soar out of the sprawl.

The independent label Six Nine Records Ltd. UK, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, proudly presents their first ever 12” release which contains the stunning Christopher Williams tune “Fine As Gold”!
This release is definitely worth its weight in gold, the Bronx (New
York) native Christopher Williams delivers an amazing tune and most
certainly lives up to the nickname “The modern Teddy Pendergrass”. The track is penned and produced by Stone Paxton and on the flip we are spoiled with an exquisite remix by genius Yuki “T-Groove” Takahashi.

Definitely not to be missed as it is a very limited UK press with full
colour printed picture cover!

30 years after its initial release, at the initiative of the artist himself, the classic “Paradisiaque” by MC Solaar will finally appear and will be available again on vinyl (180g) .Reviews in London Macadam, R2, Mojo,Uncut Sunday Times, Pitchfork. Ads - R2 and London Macadam

Previously unreleased on vinyl, Devil in the Flesh fuses jazz, funk, exotic and the kind of lounge music you’d
expect to hear in an adult film. Breaks, guitars and sitars back our second exploitation soundtrack. The
translucent purple will be the retain edition at a run of 400 copies or less.

Marshall McLuhan’s famous edict ‘the medium is the message’ has never been more apt than with regard to modern remix culture. Although the idea of the remix goes way back to the Jamaican dub pioneers and New York disco remixers of the 1970s, the form didn’t truly come into its own until the acid house explosion of the 1980s, when remixers’ credentials often subsumed — and sometimes surpassed — the original source material. Some, among them our lost friend Andrew Weatherall, used remixing as a springboard into multiple other directions, and became auteurs in their own right.

Forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song (as on Al Breadwinner’s dubwise reworking of Mattiel’s ’Guns of Brixton’— the pairing more a game of chess than a best-of-three arm wrestle).

Although Heavenly was founded in the wake of huge upheavals in electronic music, it was still imbued with its own curious parallel life. I’ve always thought of Heavenly as one of the UK’s alt-pop labels; a place where brilliant pop bands live and record, if the general public would only realise. Some of them have ended up in the real, actual charts (Saint Etienne, Doves), but that’s missing the point about Heavenly, who are, like Factory and Fast Product before them, pop music’s conscience.

There is no sense of order to this compilation and we make no apologies. It’s the Heavenly way. Think of it as a present from Loki, the Norse god of mischief. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, ’90s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an all-funked-up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings here too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock — WMC’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant and producer Ross Orton — cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electro-convulsive psychedelic tunnel (thankfully no-one was harmed during the making of this remix); Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.


There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer — but does one really need anything more than that for an album to make sense? I’d suggest not.

H- side is etched
The American cable-television industry exploded in the 1980s, pushing broadcasts of diverse programming and emissions of low-laying cultures into homes. Community stations piggybacked on the digital developments of the time, extending their existence through telephony and broadcast a iliates. For those growing up in this time, in locations such as New York City, the localized communications beamed into their homes exposed them to an impressionable array of disparate sounds and visions.
Move into the 1990s and New York was filled to the brim of emergent cultures drawing from this ebullition of communication. From Rammellzee’s shapeshifting to the late Judy Russell and Frank and Karen Mendez’s Nu Groove imprint fusing reggae, poetry and house, nascent ideas emanated from the city walls, from within stores such as Sonic Groove store and on VHS releases such as Stakker’s The Evil Acid Baron Show, a legendary technicolor psychedelic trip along the wildest frontiers of acid house. As scenes expanded and identities developed, such individuals weather the events of the visceral now, expressing themselves right into an unpredictable future.
Function’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the 90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills.
For his new album Existenz, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past. Formed from a collection of recordings made in a period from late 2016 to mid 2019, Existenz takes the form of a creative outburst in reaction to a number of traumas - recent, childhood and throughout Function’s life. Life partner Stefanie Parnow assisted the production process in its entirety, providing inspiration, spiritual healing and featuring vocal contributions.
Cosmic synths soar and swoop in ‘Pleasure Discipline’ through towering stacks of rhythm that stutter and creak to a halt before rebooting, a firm robotic response to human intervention. ‘Zahlensender’ reflects a spatial tetris of urban life, as digitalization set within an XYZ matrix confronts the sprawling city. Constant arpeggiated meditations echo synaptic transmissions, e ecting a dissolution of boundaries. ’The Approach’ recalls the unification of the self, a state of delirium non-subjective and smooth, as all connections and functions give way to simple intensities of feeling, crossing the threshold into spirituality. ’Golden Dawn’, featuring Stefanie Parnow, marks a further elevation of dubbed-out euphoria, as once more positive rays emerge. His ode to the effortless short-trip urban navigation 'Kurzstrecke' finds Function in motion, upfront and bold, snapshots of conversation and flickers of light. 'Ertrinken' finds metallic bass jabs swamping snipped synthetic voices, with hidden stores of emotion set as a nod to the history of vocoders as a tool for encrypted military communication. House icon Robert Owens features on 'Growth Cycle' and 'Be', entrenching a celebratory atmosphere over Function's clubwise leanings. Closing track 'Downtown 161' reflects the unmistakeable filtered and squashed interjections of television, and sampled dance vocals - a sound for the curious, dreamers and dancers.
With Existenz, Function reveals an essential body of work, spread over 4LP - thought experiments on the role of identity and spirituality after a lifetime of upheaval and trauma. Leading up until the release date, Function will undertake an album promo tour with select dates - A/V shows at Berlin Atonal and Rural festival in Japan, and three dates as part of his Bassiani residency.

UK label Wisdom Teeth closes out 2021 with a synchronised double drop from label heads Facta and K-LONE.

K-LONE’s Zissou follows on from where his 2019 EP Sine Language left off, bringing together the four corners of his broad yet coherent style. The title track is a ruthlessly efficient Baltimore club tool driven by duelling vocal chops and rolling sub-heavy kicks. Next up, Airtight is bustling and bright, with a winding bossa melody rolling out on top of a wildly syncopated percussive groove. On the flip, K-LONE continues his exploration of UK garage and proto-dubstep styles with Deluxe - a warping, hi-tek 2-step banger that reimagines the early Tempa sound with a newly refurbed hi- spec gloss. To close, Softie contrasts vast dubtechno chords with a bone-dry woodblock beat and nimble microhouse edits.

Romantic proto-acid written and composed by a young Ukrainian student Maxim Shubski in 2010 on a cold winter day in East Germany and subsequently released later same year as a limited run of 100 vinyl copies under “Andreuccio Torelli” moniker. This release was accompanied by a fake story about the lost & found master tapes by an unknown Italian producer from the 80’s. The story is still available as a PDF on the label’s website. Since the original vinyl stampers are long lost, Baran Records has made a new limited 7″ vinyl reissue featuring artwork by Pavel Golubovski from the “Elektroherd” band and careful mastering by Dunkeltier aka DJ Sneaker from Dresden/Berlin at Tail Out Mastering studio.

Comprised of the legendary former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing and vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, KK’s Priest took the planet by storm with their first album "Sermons Of The Sinner".

Highly praised by Priest fans, Heavy Metal enthusiasts and the Metal press alike (Loudwire, Metal Sucks, Spin, Metal Injection and many more) while charting all around the world, “Sermons Of The Sinner” is incontestably our hard rock highlight of the year.

The debut album from the iconic American tattoo artist, TV Star, beauty entrepreneur, author, fashion designer, Kat Von D is a pastiche of shapeshifting analog synths, post-punk dreamscapes, gothic hues, and shy pop magnetism !

Enlisting prestigious guests such as Bauhaus legend Peter Murphy, Kat Von D’s brilliant debut encompasses classic gothic influences from Depeche Mode to the Sisters Of Mercy executed with a modern sound that echoes the likes of Cold Cave or I Love You But I’ve Chosen The Darkness.

A digital only companion piece to the album has just surfaced and enlists remixes from Scratch Massive, Cold Cave or Gunship, and Kat Von D will embark on a headline tour all over Europe in May 2022.

Proximity is a 12-track album of richly textured and 100% analog electronic music that will appeal to fans of Daniel Avery, Telefon Tel Aviv, Jon Hopkins or Rival Consoles.

Whilst this is the debut release from DEFSET - the producer has spent many years experimenting with electronic music & equipment and the album demonstrates a mastery in using modular synthesizers and outboard gear to create a pallet of evolving melodies over syncopated, glitched out rhythms - resulting in a deeply accomplished sonic blend of immersive techno and atmospheric electronic music.

A mind-melting remix from Panorama Bar and Ostgut Ton royalty Steffi is due to surface very soon, and the equally entrancing debut album is still available on double clear vinyl !

'Yet today is all we have In silence she speaks The rivers below Valleys and peaks As a pale shelter once cherished The shadows we mourn Have all but perished '

'A Pale Shelter' is a trio collaboration between zake, City of Dawn, and Ossa. Two tracks feature close friend Benoît Pioulard. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri.

Tough Love have partnered with West Coast imprint Mt St Mtn for the release of Free Advice, the instant slowcore/dreampop classic by San Fran four piece, Cindy. The full album is available to stream/download now, while a highly limited transparent vinyl pressing will be released on 20th November. Limited to just 250 copies, this pressing follows the long sold-out edition of 100 released earlier in the year and which was previously only available in the US. Free Advice offers a somber-yet-uplifting take on sobered dream pop. Imagine if Galaxie 500’s On Fire didn’t have a guitar solo or if The Trinity Session was stripped of its folk & blues roots; it’s just pure mood. Like sitting in a half-empty movie theater that’s playing Alphaville or Wild Strawberries and watching patron’s heads briefly illuminated from the screen; Free Advice (and all of the Cindy output) transfers you to these momentary worlds. Cindy is Karina Gill on guitar/vocals, Aaron Diko on synth/keys, Simon Phillips on Drums/Percussion, and Jesse Jackson on Bass/Keys + Simon and Jesse on backing vocals. The songs on Free Advice are these moments in mood: Phillips & Jackson’s rhythms create the foundation, while Diko’s keys rise and fall. Gill’s guitar rattles, vocals brood, and lyrics create these narratives that depict observers, not necessarily wronged rather, cautious and investigative of the world around them

Joanne Shaw Taylor is a British blues rock singer/guitarist who was
discovered by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics at the age of 16
She has released 7 albums. Her new album, The Blues Album, was recorded by
Joe Bonamassa & Josh Smith for Keeping The Blues Alive Records.
Born in the Black Country Joanne has spent a decade releasing increasingly
successful albums and touring the world. Along the way, she has won over fans
from Joe Bonamassa to Stevie Wonder to Annie Lennox. A decade ago, Joanne
moved to Detroit as her career in the States was developing. Joanne has
recorded for RUF, Sony and Silvertone with Reckless Heart and Wild both charting
in the top 20 in the UK.

Mammoth WVH is the debut, self-titled album of Mammoth WVH – the band created by Wolfgang Van Halen. This collection includes the chart topping and now Grammy nominated "Distance” as well as “Don’t Back Down,” “Epiphany,” “Mammoth” and more.

This stunning debut is one of hands down one of our highlights of the year and is still available on a lovely Black Ice Transluscent vinyl.

Wolf began to embrace his voice, inspired by everyone from his father, to bands like AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, TOOL, and Jimmy Eat World. In addition to writing and singing every song on the self-title debut album, remarkably Wolfgang plays every instrument.

Mammoth WVH will be touring Europe extensively in 2022 supporting Scorpions in Germany and headlining shows in Paris, London or Zurich.

The debut album from the iconic American tattoo artist, TV Star, beauty entrepreneur, author, fashion designer, Kat Von D is a pastiche of shapeshifting analog synths, post-punk dreamscapes, gothic hues, and shy pop magnetism !

Enlisting prestigious guests such as Bauhaus legend Peter Murphy, Kat Von D’s brilliant debut encompasses classic gothic influences from Depeche Mode to the Sisters Of Mercy executed with a modern sound that echoes the likes of Cold Cave or I Love You But I’ve Chosen The Darkness.

A digital only companion piece to the album has just surfaced and enlists remixes from Scratch Massive, Cold Cave or Gunship, and Kat Von D will embark on a headline tour all over Europe in May 2022.

Joanne Shaw Taylor is a British blues rock singer/guitarist who was
discovered by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics at the age of 16
She has released 7 albums. Her new album, The Blues Album, was recorded by
Joe Bonamassa & Josh Smith for Keeping The Blues Alive Records.
Born in the Black Country Joanne has spent a decade releasing increasingly
successful albums and touring the world. Along the way, she has won over fans
from Joe Bonamassa to Stevie Wonder to Annie Lennox. A decade ago, Joanne
moved to Detroit as her career in the States was developing. Joanne has
recorded for RUF, Sony and Silvertone with Reckless Heart and Wild both charting
in the top 20 in the UK.

Fueled By Ramen will be reissuing one seminal album from our 25- year history each month throughout the calendar year of 2021, again this will be on Silver Vinyl as part of the FBR 25th Anniversary.

FBR 25 Podcast

We are currently working on a 16 part podcast that will delve into the history of FBR, it’s cultural relevance and Global impact over the past 25 years. Each episode will look at the careers of some of our most important artists, and deep dive into the making of albums told by the artists themselves in their own words.

25th Anniversary Merchandise

We announced the 25th Anniversary around Thanksgiving last year with our first 25th Anniversary limited merch drop, and then will be working throughout 2021 on new and exclusive designs to drop throughout the year.














m 13. Good Girls Go Bad (Frank E Remix) [feat. Flo Rida]

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

"Released in October 1971, Frank Zappa’s “200 Motels” was a miraculous feat, a cinematic collision of the venerated musician and composer’s kaleidoscopic musical and visual worlds that brought together Zappa and his band, The Mothers, Ringo Starr as Zappa – as “a large dwarf” – Keith Moon as a perverted nun, Pamela Des Barres in her acting debut, noted thespian Theodore Bikel, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and an incredible assortment of characters (both on screen and off) for a “surrealistic documentary” about the bizarre life of a touring musician. The 2LP set : We are pleased to present the original soundtrack, a double-album set featuring all original packaging including the booklet & poster and a brand new remaster by legend Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Pressed on 180g black vinyl by Optimal Media in Germany.
In celebration of “200 Motels” golden anniversary, Zappa Records, UMC and MGM have assembled a definitive Super Deluxe six-disc box set of the beloved, yet hard to find, soundtrack. Fully authorized by the Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the monstrous 200 Motels 50th Anniversary Edition brings together the original soundtrack, newly remastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, along with a staggering amount of unreleased and rare material unearthed from FZ’s Vault, including original demos, studio outtakes, work mixes, interviews and movie ads, along with newly discovered dialog reels, revealing an early audio edit of the film. Also included is a wealth of never-before-heard audio documentary material surrounding the project.
The six-disc set will be housed in a 64-page hardcover book in a handsome 12” x 12” slipcase. The packaging replicates the original booklet updated with revealing new liner notes from Pamela Des Barres, Ruth Underwood and Joe Travers, as well as Patrick Pending’s essay from the 1997 reissue, and is chock full of motion picture artwork, stills and images, from the film and its making, many which have never been seen before. This must-have collector’s release will also include a custom “200 Motels” keychain and Do-No-Disturb motel door hanger and a full-size replica of the original movie poster. Years in the making, all the audio was meticulously identified and transferred over several years as Travers dug through the Vault to create a new high resolution 96K/24B digital patchwork stereo master from the original analog tapes. The Vault material was mastered by John Polito in 2021. We are pleased to present the original soundtrack on 2 compact discs featuring all original packaging including the booklet & poster and a brand-new remaster by legend Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. *Existing orders still stand."

‘Marathon’ continued SAGA’s long musical tradition and highlighted that more than 25 years into their career, the classic line-up consisting of Gilmour, Negus, vocalist Michael Sadler and the Crichton brothers Jim and Ian sounded as vibrant and exciting as ever. It’s in SAGA’s DNA that the new album nevertheless featured several surprises and exciting digressions. On the one hand, ‘Marathon’ included another three ‘chapters’ with more information about the story that was so popular with the fans and yet remained open to interpretation. At the same time, ‘Marathon’ sees SAGA celebrate once again the noble art of atmospheric songs, for example on ‘Rise And Shine’ or ‘Blind Side Of Your Heart’, which combine delicate melodies with an emotive instrumentation. Never been released on vinyl before, ‘Marathon’ will finally become available as 2LP Gatefold edition on heavyweight vinyl. The album is reissued with enhanced artwork and personal liner notes by Ian Crichton and will also been released as a CD Deluxe Edition.

King Tubby and Producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee are intertwined in the birth of Dub Music. After discovering a mistake that made a ‘serious joke’ they went on to release the first pressings of this new musical genre namely ‘Dub Music’. Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard...the Remix / Version cuts to an existing vocal tune. Sit back and enjoy this historic set of sounds. These releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.

Cementing his reputation as the star toaster with the small but popular El Paso sound system, based in the Waltham Park area, Dennis Alcapone was one of the first deejays to rise to prominence following U Roy’s breakthrough in the late 1960s. Born Dennis Smith in the rural district of Culloden, he became immersed in sound system culture after settling in western Kingston. Once El Paso became big on the sound system circuit, dental technician- turned-producer Keith Hudson brought him into the studio for his debut recordings, which led to a debut album for Studio One and hit material for Duke Reid, some cut in concert with his deejay sparring partner, Lizzy. Alcapone’s longstanding links with Bunny Lee yielded the excellent Guns Don’t Argue album, first issued in 1972, on which the toaster raps with style over some of Lee’s all-time greatest rhythms, including Delroy Wilson’s Better Must Come, John Holt’s Left With A Broken Heart and Slim Smith’s rendition of the Temptations’ soul classic Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.

The third release on U-TRAX in 1993 was also a third debut, this time by Natasja Hagemeier and Jeroen Brandjes. Early in their career, they used several artist names, but became most commonly known as The Connection Machine. With their debut mini-album The Dream Tec Album they more or less described their style: dreamy techno. It became an instant Dutch techno classic and U-TRAX is proud and delighted to offer a fully remastered re-release, including three never before released bonus tracks (one of which is digital-only).

Natasja and Jeroen resided in Utrecht back in the 90s. In 1991 they assembled all their ideas and recorded the track "24 Hours" with DJ Paradize. Soon after this experience, they started to buy their own gear, all strictly MIDI (which wasn't too obvious in those days). In their early recording years, they had three producer-names (Syndrome, The Connection Machine and Bitch&Bites), that were all collected under the The Utroid Machine Missions umbrella, which was used for their debut on U-TRAX.

All tracks on The Dream Tec Album are The Connection Machine's earliest works, from the 1991/1992 years.

"An Overflow of the Mind" is a beautiful, dreamy track with almost divine sounds and strange voice-samples that serves perfectly as an introduction to their entire repertoire.

Their first production was "24 Hours", and what a brilliant one it is! A well-known jazz-musician talks about a "24 hour party going on", on top of a sinister and trancey rug, woven of sampled sounds from pioneers in electronic music and nailed down to the floor with a deep pounding bassdrum. At the time they made this track, 141 bpm was unbelievably fast...

"Evilish Cosmos" is all about a very sad and personal emotion, so everything we say about it will be absolutely wrong. Just listen to the meandering piano line, distorted voice samples - and feel it.

The first bonus track on this release is "Recognized Pain", which was intended to be part of the original The Dream Tec Album. It had appeared on the Phuture Classical Section C cassette in 1993, on the famous Drome Tapes label that formed the roots of U-TRAX. It truly is an amazing track: pure sonic terror with haunting rhythms, psychedelic synth lines and shards of voice samples that make the listener feel slightly uncomfortable.

"X_Manray" is many electronic music lover's favorite track. It is sooo deep that it is hard not to get hypnotized by it. Warm strings are coupled with deep beats that show up and disappear every now and then. Could serve perfectly to start off any DJ's set, as long as she or he has the guts.

Though "Braindrain" is probably the most danceable track on this album, it is carefully designed to tease the listener. Everything in this track drops in too late and every tone, melody or loop last exactly a few bars too long. Designed as a DJ-teaser and so it is.

The second bonus track, "Cafe d'Anvers", is another previously unreleased work, of which unfortunately no master recording was saved. All that is left, as far as we know, was an old VHS Hifi tape from the U-TRAX Archives. And that is where this bonus track was taken from. Mastering engineer Thee J Johanz managed to restore the quality of the recording somewhat, while at the same time maintaining its dark, clubby sound, a tribute to the famous club of the track's name in Antwerp, Belgium.

"Dream Affected Dream" is one of the most recent productions on this album. It was recorded with CNN playing live on top of it. At this exact moment, CNN was having an interview with David Koresh, the leader of the infamous Branch Davidians sect from Waco, Texas, while they were under siege by an armed police force. Natasja and Jeroen were just ready to record Dream Affected Dream, and spontaneously decided to mix in the audio from CNN. Not very long after that, the cult members set fire to themselves. A very strange and oddly funky track, that also serves as a time-document.

The final track is another bonus track. Like Cafe d'Anvers, "Voight-Kampff" is taken from on old U-TRAX VHS Hifi tape and masterfully mastered into a lovely relaxed dreamtech piece. Very suitable to start the Sunday after a long night of clubbing. This track is available for free to buyers of the complete digital album only.

Original release date: July 1993.

- 2021 repress / white vinyl / comes in stickered sleeve / incl. dl code -

Ghost in the Machine returns to continue their adventures in the world of acidfueled industrial techno. This shiny white 12" sees them further exploring, stretching, establishing and reestablishing the boundaries of their own sound. Dirtier kicks, cleaner kicks, deeper kicks, techier techno and even more acidic acid. They actually managed to sneak a track on here that doesn't use a 303. A very bold move which will undoubtedly have farreaching consequences for the future of future dance music. Recommended if you like buying records.