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Howdy punkè rocke fans, welcome to FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE - the wonderful and frightening world of ALIEN NOSEJOB’s EP’s & singles. Anti Fade and Agitated Records are teaming together to bring you a paint stripping, mind altering, rare collection of EP and compilation tracks recorded in various Australian bedrooms and garages between 2017 and 2022. The sound of goofy obnoxiousness will soon be permeating your bedroom airwaves and perforating your eardrums. Kicking off this long player is an EP that was recorded by Billy from Anti Fade in his childhood bedroom in July 2017. The songs came to fruition while AUSMUTEANTS were on tour in Japan 2016.

There was a lot of ‘WALLABY BEAT’ / ‘MURDER PUNK’ being played in the background while seeing the sites of Mount Fuji and ‘Bar Fuck Yeah’. In between shows Jake was organising the release of DANNY GRAHAM and PLASTIC AND THE EP’S records on the label he co-ran XEROX MUSIC. Both artists played parts in the sound and ethos of the PANEL BEAT EP. The goal was to make the songs sound unapologetically Australian without pretending to be something they’re not. There’s no fake accents or songs about VB and mullets. Instead, there’s songs about every day struggles, like dealing with fickle fashion followers, having too many fucking records, playing PlayStation, resentment and manipulation.

500 copies were pressed and self released, with a photo slipped inside each copy at random. Next is THE DEATH OF THE VINYL BOOM which was self recorded in a shed in November 2017. This is the only Alien Nosejob release (besides this comp, smartarse) to feature a cover - Flyblown by Adelaidean arty weirdo band JACKSON ZUMDISH. The idea behind this EP was to incorporate the simplicity and scrappiness of the late 70’s DIY Australian sound, but give them the complicated structures of prog songs. Scum stats - 500 copies, self released. Several copies were smeared with Jake’s blood and had smashed pieces of vinyl glued to the front cover.

Now we have a cover of the DEAD KENNEDYS. The conspiracy theorist wet dream Government Flu. Recorded September 2020 during lockdown in one-man-band with a tape recorder fashion for a 20 minute unedited ‘live set’ video where all instruments were played one by one, sung and mixed in the space of a couple of hours. The HC45 7” was recorded at the same time as a disco 12” maxi, which I hear were originally meant to come out on the same day. Shit happens I guess? This EP came out in Feb 2020 and sounds somewhere between early GANG GREEN, DIE KREUZEN and the BEASTIE BOYS old bullshit. Self recorded on a 4 track with a broken pinch roller. Lyrically this thing is cynical and choc-a-bloc full of satire and hate. A year later a sequel was recorded the same way, on the same machine.

No fucking disco this time though. Cold Bare Facts is the most recent recording on this comp. Self recorded in Jake‘s bedroom 2022 It has the same mid paced tempo as DYS or SSD when they’re at their slowest (pre-Boston Curse, of course!). Both songs take a stinky shit on the Australian state police. 300 copies. Finishing the record is a cover by THE AINTS. Originally written by ED KUEPPER for THE SAINTS Eternally Yours album, but it sounded too similar to Lost and Found. Originally released on ‘ALTA’ cassette compilation during the lockdown. FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE binds this mouthful of releases into one neat package from June 6th, 2025. Catch the ALIEN NOSEJOB band on tour in Europe & UK from June 13 - July 2nd, 2025.

Howdy punkè rocke fans, welcome to FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE - the wonderful and frightening world of ALIEN NOSEJOB’s EP’s & singles. Anti Fade and Agitated Records are teaming together to bring you a paint stripping, mind altering, rare collection of EP and compilation tracks recorded in various Australian bedrooms and garages between 2017 and 2022. The sound of goofy obnoxiousness will soon be permeating your bedroom airwaves and perforating your eardrums. Kicking off this long player is an EP that was recorded by Billy from Anti Fade in his childhood bedroom in July 2017. The songs came to fruition while AUSMUTEANTS were on tour in Japan 2016.

There was a lot of ‘WALLABY BEAT’ / ‘MURDER PUNK’ being played in the background while seeing the sites of Mount Fuji and ‘Bar Fuck Yeah’. In between shows Jake was organising the release of DANNY GRAHAM and PLASTIC AND THE EP’S records on the label he co-ran XEROX MUSIC. Both artists played parts in the sound and ethos of the PANEL BEAT EP. The goal was to make the songs sound unapologetically Australian without pretending to be something they’re not. There’s no fake accents or songs about VB and mullets. Instead, there’s songs about every day struggles, like dealing with fickle fashion followers, having too many fucking records, playing PlayStation, resentment and manipulation.

500 copies were pressed and self released, with a photo slipped inside each copy at random. Next is THE DEATH OF THE VINYL BOOM which was self recorded in a shed in November 2017. This is the only Alien Nosejob release (besides this comp, smartarse) to feature a cover - Flyblown by Adelaidean arty weirdo band JACKSON ZUMDISH. The idea behind this EP was to incorporate the simplicity and scrappiness of the late 70’s DIY Australian sound, but give them the complicated structures of prog songs. Scum stats - 500 copies, self released. Several copies were smeared with Jake’s blood and had smashed pieces of vinyl glued to the front cover.

Now we have a cover of the DEAD KENNEDYS. The conspiracy theorist wet dream Government Flu. Recorded September 2020 during lockdown in one-man-band with a tape recorder fashion for a 20 minute unedited ‘live set’ video where all instruments were played one by one, sung and mixed in the space of a couple of hours. The HC45 7” was recorded at the same time as a disco 12” maxi, which I hear were originally meant to come out on the same day. Shit happens I guess? This EP came out in Feb 2020 and sounds somewhere between early GANG GREEN, DIE KREUZEN and the BEASTIE BOYS old bullshit. Self recorded on a 4 track with a broken pinch roller. Lyrically this thing is cynical and choc-a-bloc full of satire and hate. A year later a sequel was recorded the same way, on the same machine.

No fucking disco this time though. Cold Bare Facts is the most recent recording on this comp. Self recorded in Jake‘s bedroom 2022 It has the same mid paced tempo as DYS or SSD when they’re at their slowest (pre-Boston Curse, of course!). Both songs take a stinky shit on the Australian state police. 300 copies. Finishing the record is a cover by THE AINTS. Originally written by ED KUEPPER for THE SAINTS Eternally Yours album, but it sounded too similar to Lost and Found. Originally released on ‘ALTA’ cassette compilation during the lockdown. FORCED COMMUNAL EXISTENCE binds this mouthful of releases into one neat package from June 6th, 2025. Catch the ALIEN NOSEJOB band on tour in Europe & UK from June 13 - July 2nd, 2025.

''Stop'' is the emblem of Italo-Disco par excellence even if in 1983 it was inserted by Carlo Favilli and Stefano Zito on the B-side of the 12''of the nascent label House of Music. However, the song, although recorded in a hurry and with evident sound defects, is the perfect example of the musical genre that was developing in Italy in those very early 80s. ''Stop 4 Remixes'' is long-awaited answer that followers have been waiting for over 4 decades and now it lives with its own light with 4 new versions that testify how the piece was a driving force for the entire Italo-Disco movement."Pushed Up'' is the remix by Woody Bianchi, who according to Claudio Casalini (who does not allow any discussion on this matter) is the best Italian disc-jockey for the technical quality of the mixes and the artistic choice of the pieces to play. It would take a book to retrace the stages of his prestigious career. So here just a bravo' to Gino (Woody Bianchi). Ditto with potatoes for Danilo Braca who works assiduously in the clubs of the Big Apple, spinning only tracks by Italian composers and arrangers. Once again this Italian DJ-producer (Danyb is his old nickname), author of two very pregnant extensive versions: ''The Remix'' and ''Re-Visited'', shows his ability as a 'remixer', known everywhere, but especially in Ibiza especially where the DJs ((DJ Harvey included) often use his ''edits' existing only on pen drive. Among those who have madly loved ''Stop'' near Florence there are certainly Luca Pardini (Dirtyelements), Guido Sonato and Edoardo Guccione (Drunkdrivers) who when they are together form the renowned they Tuscan trio of DJ-producers Dirtyelements & Drunkdrivers with very interesting and successful experiences on Pusic Records, Masterworks Music, Samosa Records and Lego Funk. The approach to sounds in their ''Acid Re-Solution Remix'' is absolutely decisive. Here too, skill and passion seasoned with a pinch of art and... why not?... madness !!!

Combines Northern Soul, Psychedelia, 90s Indie Rock and an orchestral soundtrack feel into a homogenous, convincing work that looks promising and feels damn good in a not so rosy time.

The fourth album by the Frank Popp Ensemble, will be released on Unique Records. Written. recorded and produced in Spain in 2024. As with the predecessor ,Shifting", various guest singers can be heard on the lI brand new tracks.

Gerry Love, once the lead singer of the legendary Teenage Fanclub, who, according to Popp, wrote and sang almost al of the Glasgow cult band's favorite songs. lends his captivating voice to an orchestral, soulful version of "Save", a rather unknown but brilliant piece that Love wrote for the Scots in 2004. Gerard Love already contributed a cover of Frank Popp's "The World Is Waiting" to the "Under Covers" compilation and has now done another wonderful job on Waves.
Another hero from Popp's record collection is Nicke Andersson. Formerly a drummer with the death &rollers Entombed. then singer of the incomparable Hellacopters and mastermind behind other top bands such as The Solution, Imperial State Electric, Lucifer, etc., can be heard on "Caught In AWeb". A Northern Soul stomper in classic "Magic Touch" mania.
Emma Noble, an up-and-coming soul singer from London sings on the girl-groupish soul anthem "Unstoppable". The second single from the album has what it takes to be the next UK floor filler and was already played and praised on Craig Charles' Soul Show on BBC a t the end of 2024.
An absolutely exceptional artist is J Mahon, who can be heard on 5 tracks on the album and contributed significantly to the album. His sweet voice works on his songs as well as on "Going Going Gone", which is the first single release and is reminiscent of certain young Motown artists in the early 70s with its catchy brass hooks and j's androgynous soul vocals.
Audrey Ollesen from Cologne, an old buddy from the Rhineland mod scene, joined by chance after Popp became aware of her singing skills through private recordings. On "Common Stranger" Audrey can be heard on a recording for the first time.
On "Waves" Frank Popp combines Northern Soul, Psychedelia, 90s Indie Rock and an orchestral soundtrack feel into a homogenous, convincing work that looks promising and feels damn good in a not so rosy time. We are all excited...






f Heartbreak (In A Really Good Way) [feat. J Mahon]






[f] Heartbreak (In A Really Good Way) [feat. J Mahon]

Das vierte Album des Frank Popp Ensemble auf Unique Records. Geschrieben. aufgenommen und produziert 2024 in Spanien. Wie beim Vorgänger sind diverse Gastsänger auf den il brandneuen Stücken zu hören.
Gerry Love, einst Leadsänger der legendären Teenage Fanclub, der laut Popp fast alle Lieblingsstücke der Glasgower Kult-Band geschrieben und gesungen hat. verleiht hier seine hinreißende Stimme einer orchestralisch-souligen Version von „Save", ein eher unbekanntes aber geniales Stück, welches Love 2004 für die Schotten schrieb. Gerard Love trug bereits mit einem Cover von Frank Popp's "The World Is Waiting" zur Under Covers' Compilation bei und hat nun auf Waves ein weiteres Mal wundervolle Arbeit geleistet.
Ein weiterer Held aus Popp's Plattensammlung ist Nicke Andersson. Früher Schlagzeuger bei den Death&Rollern Entombed, dann bis heute Sänger der unvergleichlichen Hellacopters und Mastermind hinter weiteren top Bands wie The Solution, Imperial State Electric, Lucifer, etc., ist auf „Caught In AWeb" zu hören. Ein Northern Soul Stomper in klassischer Magic Touch* Manie.
Emma Noble, eine aufstrebende Soul-Sängerin aus London singt auf dem girl-groupigen Soul-Anthem Unstoppable*. Die zweite Single-Auskopplung vom Album hat das Zeug zum nächsten UK-Floorfiller und wurde bereits Ende 2024 in Craig Charles Soul Show auf BBC gespielt und angepriesen.
Ein absoluter Ausnahme-Künstler ist J Mahon, der auf 5 Stücken des Albums zu hören ist und erheblich zum Album beigetragen hat. Seine zuckersüße Stimme funktioniert sowohl auf seinen Stücken, als auch bei _Going Going Gone". welches die erste Single-Auskopplung ist und durch die eingängigen Bläser-Hooks und J's androgyne Soul-Vocals an gewisse junge Motown-Künstler in den frühen 70s erinnern.
Audrey Ollesen aus Köln, eine alte Bekannte aus der rheinischen Mod-Szene. kam durch Zufall hinzu. nachdem Popp durch private Aufnahmen auf ihre Gesangs-Skills aufmerksam wurde. Auf .Co|mm|on Stranger* ist Audrey zum ersten Mal auf einem Tonträger zu hören.
Auf "Waves" vereint Frank Popp Northern Soul. Psychedelia, 90s Indierock und orchestralischen Soundtrack-Feel zu einem homogenen, überzeugenden Werk, was vielversprechend wirkt und sich verdammt gut anfühlt in einer nicht so rosigen Zeit. Wir sind alle gespannt...

Limited vinyl release for aya's 2021 Hyperdub-debut album, a one-time pressing on Ecomix random colour-mix recycled vinyl. Originally released in 2021 as a book and digital album, im hole is now presented on ecomix splatter-effect vinyl. A welcome reminder ahead of new aya music in 2025. On im hole, aya distilled the incisive sonic experimentation of her early run of releases, the tongue-in-cheek giggles of her DJ sets and edits, and the identity-fluxing lyricism of her live shows. The album was immediately championed from all corners, 'Best New Music' in Pitchfork to DJ Mary Anne Hobbs Album of the Year, followed by incredible live shows which drew new listeners further into the net. Contorting language, dialect, gender and sexuality between intermittently controlled bursts of rhythm, noise and aural goop, aya sculpted a set of autobiographical vignettes that challenge established norms, question supposed truths, and affirm a spectrum of interlocking experiences. But while it's wide open and personal, im hole also challenges queer art's tendency to veer towards repetitive solipsism. Even the title itself references the unwieldy mix of self-actualization and sexualization that bogs down cultural perceptions of the trans experience. It's neither one thing nor t'other, just as much a sly nod to dissociative afterparty sloppiness as it is any self-congratulatory pinkwashed grandstanding. The music follows suit, fragmenting familiar sounds, twinned with familiar words, assembled in unfamiliar ways, full of sharp humour, even in the middle of despair. Stories are muddled with phonetics just as dubstep is macrodosed with microtonal drone.










j B4. If [redacted] Thinks He's Having This As A Remix He Can Frankly Do One

Linea Aspera is the London duo of Ryan Ambridge (Synths/Programming) and Alison Lewis (Vocals/Synths). They began the project in November 2011, technically drawing inspiration from electronic music from the early 1980s. Within the duo, Alison writes and performs all vocal elements, while Ryan is responsible for the writing and performing of the electronics, as well as recording and mixing of the final recordings. For their debut album they utilized small, simple analog synthesizer set up: Roland SH-09, Roland Juno 6, Vermona DRM MKiii, Korg Poly 800 and Analogue Solutions Semblance. Linea Aspera's sound includes clear influences from early electronic body music, classic synth-pop and, in some instances, industrial and noise. Lyrically the band incorporates the sciences of osteology, neuroscience, and anthropology weaving a new medical language around themes of desire, despair and renewal. Linea Aspera serve up an icebox of dark doom riding on Alison's powerful vocals with a soft but sharp touch.

Two records came out in 1988 that forever changed the perception of "experimental" or "serious" music produced in Portugal. These were "Plux Quba" by Nuno Canavarro and "Música de Baixa Fidelidade" by Tózé (António) Ferreira. Both were released by the same label - Ama Romanta -, an influential independent imprint closely linked to avantgarde pop band Pop Dell'Arte. Because those records appeared in what could be perceived as an "alternative pop" framework, they rescued this difficult music from Academia. It helps that Canavarro played in a successful new wave pop band (Street Kids) during the period 1980-83. By association, being a friend since 1976, António was in close contact with many of the musicians and bands that were part of the equally celebrated and detested Portuguese Rock Boom (roughly 79-82).

He was not a musician then but through his friendship with Canavarro, who had the means to acquire electronic equipment, António became involved with that equipment and shared Canavarro's passion for experimentation and curiosity for knowledge. They tried to get hold of as many technical magazines as possible and learn while testing ideas. In 1983, Street Kids were about to break up, young lives drafted into the Army and maybe, in Canavarro's case, a whole new passion for challenging music similar to his bandmate Nuno Rebelo, by then in the process of discovering a wide range of "other" music mainly through Jorge Lima Barreto. Barreto, who had started Telectu with Vítor Rua, possessed a huge book and record collection and, like Rua before them, Canavarro, Rebelo and Ferreira became fascinated by the pool of knowledge they now had access to by frequenting Barreto's house in Lisbon. He was roughly a decade older, had published several books and other writings throughout the 1970s, cultivated an anarchic stance and a penchant for cultural indoctrination. Rebelo was the first to be introduced via his contact with Rua (who had invited him to play in his other band GNR).

Overwhelmed, he felt the need to share his enthusiasm with friends and eventually took a few to the house in true pilgrimage fashion. To see the Light. Among the few he led there was even João Peste, founder of Ama Romanta. Canavarro and Ferreira preceded him.

Ferreira recalls an exciting learning process added to his experiments with Canavarro's array of synths such as the Korg Ms 20, Korg polysix, ARP Axxe, Roland SH-01, the Ensoniq Mirage sampler... He read in a magazine article about someone who had studied at the Institute of Sonology (then in Utrecht, Netherlands) and went there during a vacation trip in the Summer of 1983. He became excited by the prospect of studying at the Institute but money was a problem. Canavarro, on the other hand, was admitted there in the following year. Back in Portugal, Ferreira eventually abandoned his Chemical Engineering studies in Lisbon's Technical Institute in favour of a more focused music practice. He collaborated with Telectu during 1984 and 85 as a sort of technical engineer, implementing some recording solutions and background tapes and went to work at a thermoelectric power plant in Sines, hoping to make enough money to fund his musical studies. He did and proceeded with the paperwork for admission at the Institute of Sonology, now based in The Hague. António studied there in 1986-87 and the present album includes two compositions developed at the Institute: "More Adult Music" and "This Is Music, As It Was Expected", both featuring the voice of Rodney Waschka II. Among other activities and talents, Rodney is an expert in computer music and to António his voice sounded similar to Robert Ashley's, whose work he admired.

What happened at the Institute was a systematization of António's self-taught practice. Computer software, Musique Concrète, noise and silence, organisation of abstract ideas and sounds. The original notes on the back sleeve of the LP give some indication of process and thinking, but a more detailed account was given by António in the liner notes of the CD reissue in 2002, which are also included in this 2025 LP reissue.

The music sounds deep and detailed, despite the fact of António calling it low-fi ("Baixa Fidelidade"). It flows like an improvised performance where several musicians might be responding to each other, respectful of their mutual space. Drama occurs, as a natural emotional connection is sought by the listener. Piano, bells, drone, processed voices, even the clear narrative of Rodney Waschka II, contribute to create a sort of alternative perceptual reality. The sounds are almost tangible, more a part of the physical world than ethereal manifestations and thus it would not be correct to invoke "ambient music" as a selling point. But although "physical" and distinct, this music is still alien, more so in Portugal's 1988 environment. In March, helped by Canavarro, António set up a home studio and there he recorded the remaining material for this album: "Algumas Pessoas Olharam O Sul E Viram Deserto", "Um Som, Seguido De Uma Cena Negra E Malva" and "O Verão Nasceu Da Paixão De 1921".

"Música de Baixa Fidelidade" stands not only as a proof of great resilience but as one of those magnificent works of art coming from someone who balanced technical inclination and emotional sensibility. Because of that, Tózé Ferreira is able to decode the phantom world of sound for anyone who cares to experience the sensation of inhabiting a version of the Future. First ever vinyl reissue, reproduction of the original artwork with an additional insert. Made in collaboration with the artist and the support of Paulo Menezes (Plancton Music), who provided valuable assistance. Remastered by Taylor Deupree.

All money generated by this project goes to HEAL Palestine

In November 2024, Ocean Moon Group along with friends Ricky Romain and Paul Chivers (Ramjac Corporation) convened at Shearwater Studios in the South West of England to create a collective message of peace. The resulting project is the next instalment of Lo Recordings' ongoing SPACIOUSNESS series of lovingly produced limited cassettes.

'CALL FOR PEACE' is a clarion call to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict in Gaza - and to all conflicts around the globe.
The album was recorded by the group over a single exploratory studio performance, one that was shared with friends and family of the bandmates, who attended the live session to share in this peaceful expression. Jon Tye (Lo Recordings, MLO, Seahawks) had shared with the group a suite of music with differing textures and movements of drones, samples and bell-like tongue drums which served as the foundation of the piece, to which master sitarist Ricky Romain added melodic inflection and counterpoint.

Further percussion was deftly handled by Paul Chivers, who used a wide array of drums from around the world to add his own unique rhythmic inflections. Jack Harman provided harmonic chordal work by incorporating the beautiful Shearwater piano, as well as the differing tonality of both electric and acoustic guitars. Weaving between these mixed motifs was the ambient percussion techniques of Graham Guy Robinson who used rain sticks and chimes to decorate the piece with contrasting punctuations.

'CALL FOR PEACE' was created with the deepest intention that, through music, we can travel beyond borders, beyond words and beyond politics and instead reach out with our humanity and put an end to suffering.

"What we do really affects the world. Most of us think we can’t do anything, but it really isn’t true." - Yoko Ono

Peter Saville says of Sub-Culture "LABEL ONLY was specified in 1985 due to time pressure around the original release and as a consequence, a sleeve design for the re-release has no actual precedent. However, exploring the principle 'the solution is in the problem’ has led to the subliminal evocation of a sleeve that is still LABEL ONLY”.

After an extensive tour of the UK at the end of 2022, the band decided to head into the studio to record their first long form offering. Following a passion for storytelling, they pulled together influences from Pulp Fiction to Fleabag, from Zadie Smith to Edward Hopper. They wrote relentlessly during 2022, diligently crafting what was to become this debut album. Released independently on their own Life and Times Recordings, Exit Strategy is a 13-track labour of love, recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Love Electric, enlisting the production smarts of Bernard Butler. The album is in two halves (divided literally by the two sides of the vinyl edition) entitled Galway and London and presents a multifaceted band, pushing themselves and exploring the limits of their philosophy.

Exit Strategy centres around a protagonist who moves from Galway to London in search of meaning, certain that, as the main character in the film of his own life, the solution lies in changing his surroundings and acting as someone he’s not. Both a mirror and a portal, the album promises encounters with manipulative bosses, evil ad agencies, a broken pact to flee to Australia, run-ins with the law, cheating boyfriends, drug fuelled youths, heartache, paranoia, social media anxiety and a drunk singer dressed as Jesus. Thematically the album races between emotions, between irony and sincerity, between soul searching and tongue-in-cheek finger pointing and ends where it all started, both musically and in terms of single rollout, with the nostalgic/euphoric first single Westway.

Explaining the album’s genesis and cinematic influence, James McGregor says: “We were always sure we wanted the album to be greater than the sum of its parts, so decided to create the world of a film, entitled Exit Strategy. We envisaged the record as a series of snapshots, telling the story of a group of characters trying to navigate through life.”

Hallmarked more by a philosophy than a sound, The Clockworks weave pop sensibilities with noisy, post-punk, rock-influenced stylings. The songs seem swaggering and dark yet often have an epic, nostalgic quality. They sit poetic introspection beside witty, kitchen sink drama to create something intense but playful.

With the release of Exit Strategy, The Clockworks have created a world to be explored, to be analysed and to be deciphered, but most importantly to be felt.

Roman Flügel returns to Phantasy with his second release of 2024 on Erol Alkan’s beloved London label, ‘No Solutions EP’. Following on from ‘Hotel Kathargo / Energies’, which garnered a summer of support from a typically diverse array of DJs including Gerd Janson, Jamie Jones and Saoirse, ‘No Solutions’ expands Flügel’s contributions to Phantasy into a triple track delight, another generous expression of his lifelong immersion in electronic music culture.

Transporting the zeitgeist of future-facing, eighties pop production onto modern dance floors, the title track ‘No Solutions’ is a fizzy, escalating ode to some of Flügel’s very earliest musical influences. Playfully channeling the wide-eyed electronics pioneered by The Human League or Soft Cell, it accelerates into a contemporary funhouse of wild oscillations and dreamy melodies.

‘Sapphire’ shifts this sound palette forward, a steady acid-not-acid bubbler that maintains maximum intrigue and pressure, occasionally breaking through its hazy clouds with pillowy breakdowns and a sense of space-age whimsy. Flügel takes the same palette in a different, more exacting direction on ‘Dragged’, spinning a creeping, Krautrock-esque groove that pays homage to the steady, lifting pulse of German kosmische traditions. Lift off!

2024 Repress

Micron Audio embodies a hub for a modern and futuristic electro sound, led by its master DJ Stingray 313. The imprint beckons intense electronic sounds, roughened textures and geometries that speak to a guiding principle of making technological advancement accessible to the people. These technoid adventures of sci-fi sound design and arrays of unabating rhythm, draw its listeners through warped microworlds and wicked contortions. Behind the sounds, it exists as a display of artistic responsibility, making statements and providing solutions from socio-political commentaries.? The first Micron Audio physical release emerged in 2011, with DJ Stingray 313's Electronic Countermeasures EP, following a digital-only compilation that is no longer available. Tracks from the Micron Audio hemisphere have featured in several compilation records released by the likes of Rush Hour and Creme Organization, including Stringray's Urban Tribe project. It represents a crisply defiant and firmly electronic approach, drawing in the infective indicators of video games. Relaunching afresh in 2021, Micron Audio is working with new artists and is stepping not only further into the future but into the foreground, where its clear scientific intention and political attitude is entrenched through top-shelf sound design and pumping rhythms.

Here we have the third LP by the excellent Guy Hamper Trio, featuring James Taylor on Hamond organ, and Guy Hamper on guitar (sometimes called Childish) and what a first-class LP this is! 'Instrument of Evil' in particular has a very eerie vibe. We asked the man himself what was the inspiration for it? G.H. The track is the sequel to '7% Solution', which featured on the last Guy Hamper Trio LP (with Thee Headcoats standing in as rhythm section). A 7% Solution being the amount of morphine Dr Watson administered to Sherlock Holmes. For 'Instrument of Evil' I took Sherlock Holmes' later designation of his syringe as "an Instrument of Evil". This is originally a quote from the bible- "Wicked men do at times reject God's purpose for the state, transforming the good of civil government into an instrument of evil." Point of interest: Morphine addiction happens to tie in with another aspect of the song. In the section that nods to Elmer Bernstein's main title theme to the film of the book The Man With the Golden Arm, in which the main character is also a morphine addict. Another ingredient - we added six-string bass to that section in tribute to Jet Harris - he formerly of top group The Shadows, who recorded a great version of Bernstein's classic. To top it all off the record sleeve references the fine graphics of the great Saul Bass. The track also features contributions from Tom Morley (trumpet) and Anna Jordanous (sax) . Both Were a pleasure to work with. My job at the wheel is to basically make a playground and let Jamie, Anna and Tom loose in it with very little direction, apart from pointing out the swings and location of the roundabout. I told Tom "you're a Spanish trumpeter stood on a hill in Spain." For Anna, I think we said "go low and nasty." Other titles are taken from early poetry chapbooks I made in my youth. 'The First Creature is Jealousy' and 'Dog Jaw Woman' being examples. The title 'Incense Rising From a Censer' comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, a book I really recommend. Prayer rises to God on the smoke of the incense burning in the censer. I imagine this track being some kind of antidote to 'Instrument of Evil'. They are all excellent tracks. I imagine film companies will be queuing up to use many of them.

In the beginning, THERE WAS DOOM. The five piece gathers its forces together with the clear intention of celebrating in music one of the first raw appearances of metal: Doom! After a year or so of songwriting and the usual lineup setups, the 5-piece throws in what will become their first studio effort in 2005: a Heavy, Drunken, Doom, Metal demo (with their 700 sold-out copies, now fully downloadable due to popular demand), where the title "Heavy Drunken Doom" clearly and quickly reveals the attitude of the band. Cold Grave Marble, the 6th Doomraiser full doom length, is a frozen view in the darker side of life: Death, the Omega of our earthly dimension. The album is made up of raw riffing seasoned up in heavy, dark and gloomy dreaming atmospheres, and explores a plethora of styles with different sounds and solutions. The songwriting approach is rougher than before, experimental, suggestive, still preserving the classic Doomraiser characteristic sound.

Ltd. Marbled Vinyl. In the beginning, THERE WAS DOOM. The five piece gathers its forces together with the clear intention of celebrating in music one of the first raw appearances of metal: Doom! After a year or so of songwriting and the usual lineup setups, the 5-piece throws in what will become their first studio effort in 2005: a Heavy, Drunken, Doom, Metal demo (with their 700 sold-out copies, now fully downloadable due to popular demand), where the title "Heavy Drunken Doom" clearly and quickly reveals the attitude of the band. Cold Grave Marble, the 6th Doomraiser full doom length, is a frozen view in the darker side of life: Death, the Omega of our earthly dimension. The album is made up of raw riffing seasoned up in heavy, dark and gloomy dreaming atmospheres, and explores a plethora of styles with different sounds and solutions. The songwriting approach is rougher than before, experimental, suggestive, still preserving the classic Doomraiser characteristic sound.

lack Sabbath is, along with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, the most important british hard rock band of all time.

With its dark, mystical, obsessive atmosphere, Black Sabbath built an unique sound that has influenced countless bands since its emergence in the late ‘60s to these days. As usual in our series The Many Faces, we will enter the fantastic secret world of Black Sabbath, and we will enjoy their collaborations, side projects and their greatest hits. The Many Faces of Black Sabbath is a fantastic album, especially for those of you who considers yourself fans of hard rock.

Now, it’s part of our Many Faces collection on vinyl format.

Michael Mayer albums don’t come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. It’s been eight years since his last one, the collaborative & released on !K7; its predecessors, Mantasy (2012) and Touch (2004), took their sweet time, too. It’s no real surprise, given the many hats Mayer wears – globetrotting DJ, revered remixer, inveterate collaborator, and boss of both Kompakt and Imara – that his solo productions are relatively sparing. But this also speaks to their quality: Mayer’s name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that’s both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that’s as exploratory as it is functional.

On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ides of the industry he works within. There’s that iconic album title, for a start. “The album’s mindset,” he says, reflecting on those four words together. For Mayer, it’s partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing: “Being a free minded spirit that transcends genres has become an uphill battle.” A battle worth fighting, though, and with The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that’s varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable.

Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs: “It’s a DJ album by a DJ that’s easily bored.” Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. It opens with “The Problem”, which looks back to look forward, embracing the rickety way early house productions threw samples together with gleeful abandon. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout.

It’s followed by “Vagus”, a slinky, sensual minimal house number that Mayer describes as his “musical catnip”. The flow of these two opening cuts defines the dynamic of The Floor Is Lava, defining the dialectical drive at its core: thesis and antithesis leads to synthesis, but with a welcome prickliness that means you’re always excited, always engaged. It’s also productive in the way it derives energy from rubbing genres and sounds against each other, in unexpected ways, for maximum musical frisson. There’s psychedelic techno on “Feuerstuhl”, more minimal techno with “Ardor” (Mayer mentions ‘Immer 1’ era 90s minimal as inspiration), slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through “Sycophant”, a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy “The Solution”.

The album closes with the melancholy “Süßer Schlaf”, where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in abstract tribute to a lost friend. It’s one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There’s also an update on 2020’s wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of “Brainwave 2.0” (check out those handclaps!),where Mayer’s thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now: “I’m reading with great interest about this whole complex of how humanity is about to cross so many lines and the implications that the resulting financial and educational inequality will bring.”

That’s The Floor Is Lava: then and now, brainwaves and nerve structures, problems and solutions, genres on fire; the real, the unreal, and the surreal. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album’s spirit: “Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music.”

Michael Mayer veröffentlicht nicht oft Alben, was einer von vielen Gründen ist, warum ‘The Floor Is Lava’ ein echtes Ereignis ist. Es sind acht Jahre vergangen seit seinem letzten Werk, dem Kollaborationsalbum &, das auf !K7 erschien; seine Vorgänger, Mantasy (2012) und Touch (2004), ließen ebenfalls auf sich warten. Es überrascht nicht wirklich, da Mayer viele Rollen gleichzeitig erfüllt – weltreisender DJ, vielbeschäftigter Remixer, unermüdlicher Kollaborateur und Chef von sowohl Kompakt als auch Imara – weshalb seine Solo-Produktionen eher sparsam ausfallen. Doch das spricht auch für deren Qualität: Ein Album mit Mayers Namen auf dem Cover steht für Qualität, für Musik, die sowohl in die Zukunft blickt als auch auf die Vergangenheit verweist, die das Gleichgewicht zwischen den Anforderungen des Dancefloors und des Wohnzimmers hält, die genauso erforschend wie funktional ist.

Auf The Floor Is Lava scheint Mayer sowohl die Musik um ihn herum (vergangen und gegenwärtig) als auch die Strömungen der Branche, in der er arbeitet, zu reflektieren. Da wäre zunächst der ikonische Albumtitel. „Die Grundhaltung des Albums“, sagt er, drückt sich in diesen vier Worte aus. Für Mayer ist es teilweise eine Kritik daran, wie die Industrie sowohl Produzenten als auch Hörer in Schubladen steckt, sie auf Genres, auf den Markt und auf das nächste große Ding fokussiert: „Ein freier Geist zu sein, der Genres überschreitet, ist zu einem steinigen Weg geworden.“ Ein Kampf, der sich jedoch lohnt, und mit The Floor Is Lava ist das Ergebnis ein Album, das vielfältig, eigenwillig, charmant und tiefsinnig, aber auch süchtig machend ist.

Im gesamten Album findet Mayer Freude an der Erforschung und Gegenüberstellung von Stilen, lässt unerwartete Dinge erblühen und gibt ihnen Raum, überrascht den Hörer mit spannenden Wendungen: „Es ist ein DJ-Album von einem DJ, der sich schnell langweilt.“ Entweder langweilt er sich schnell oder er ist unendlich neugierig – The Floor Is Lava ist reich an Ideen. Es beginnt mit „The Problem“, das in die Vergangenheit blickt, um nach vorne zu schauen, und die wilde Art, wie frühe House-Produktionen Samples mit fröhlicher Unbekümmertheit zusammenwarfen, aufgreift. Mayer nennt Pal Joey und die Szene um Rockers Hi-Fi und ihr Label Different Drummer als Referenzpunkte, und dieser freie Geist zieht sich durch das gesamte Album.

Es folgt „Vagus“, eine sinnliche Minimal-House-Nummer, die Mayer als seine „musikalische Katzenminze“ beschreibt. Der Fluss dieser beiden Eröffnungstracks definiert die Dynamik von The Floor Is Lava und den dialektischen Antrieb im Kern: These und Antithese führen zu einer Synthese, jedoch mit einer willkommenen Schärfe, die dafür sorgt, dass man immer aufgeregt und engagiert bleibt. Zudem gewinnt das Album Energie, indem es Genres und Klänge auf unerwartete Weise aneinanderreibt, um maximalen musikalischen Nervenkitzel zu erzeugen. Es gibt psychedelischen Techno in „Feuerstuhl“, mehr Minimal Techno mit „Ardor“ (Mayer erwähnt ‘Immer’ Ära Minimal als Bezugspunkt), gleitenden Shepard-Ton-Breakbeat in „Sycophant“ und einen lieblichen, üppigen Vocal-Auftritt im poppigen „The Solution“.

Das Album schließt mit dem melancholischen „Süßer Schlaf“, in dem Mayer ein Gedicht von Goethe vertont und eine seiner bisher eindringlichsten und bewegendsten musikalischen Kompositionen schafft, als abstrakten Tribut an eine verschiedene Freundin. Es ist einer der ergreifendsten Momente auf The Floor Is Lava. Ebenfalls gibt es ein Update der wilden Brainwave Technology-EP von 2020, mit dem surrealistischen Glitzer-Stampfer „Brainwave 2.0“ (hör dir diese Handclaps an!), in dem Mayer über den sozio-politischen Abgrund der Gegenwart nachdenkt: „Ich lese mit großem Interesse über diesen ganzen Komplex, wie die Menschheit dabei ist, so viele Grenzen zu überschreiten und welche Auswirkungen die daraus resultierende finanzielle und bildungstechnische Ungleichheit haben wird.“

Das ist The Floor Is Lava: Damals und heute, Gehirnwellen und Nervengeflechte, Probleme und Lösungen, brennende Genres; das Reale, das Unreale und das Surreale. Ein Album für die schnell Gelangweilten und die unendlich Neugierigen. Mayer hat das letzte Wort und sagt uns alles, was wir über den Geist des Albums wissen müssen: „Brennen für die Sache, leidenschaftlich sein, süchtig nach der Hitze der Nacht, den überschwänglichen Kräften der Musik.“

Transparent Blue Vinyl. After years of preparation, Marcus Drake emerges from the basement networks of the resistance underground to claim the first save point along his quest ahead. Welcome to Save Point 1, a universe where popular forms of the past collide at warp speed with Marcus's mutant inspirations to produce sounds and genres hitherto unknown. Save Point 1 is a visionary and singular Debut work of Avant Rock & Pop Alchemy, blown apart and reassembled under the laws of Quantum Musical Mechanics. Written, Produced & Performed by Marcus Drake, the album eludes classification, but sounds like a sci-fi fusion of musical DNA from Nine Inch Nails, Prefab Sprout, Nobuo Uematsu (the Final Fantasy video game composer), Animal Collective, Prince, Mr. Bungle, Liars, The Mars Volta, and Lil Ugly Mane. The album marks the first release under Drake's own name, and the latest since his 2017 release as Anthony Fremont's Garden Solutions_his idiosyncratic side-project with Water From Your Eyes' Nate Amos, Options' Seth Engel, and NNAMDI. He has also since scored for film and video, including the Adult Swim short Thoron the Conqueror. Save Point 1 isn't just a new beginning, but a reintroduction to Marcus Drake the artist and composer. Drake experimented with new techniques and approaches for many years while recording Save Point 1, a process that transformed his sound, voice, and artistic identity. The resulting oeuvre is giddy and dreamy, an Olympic-height diving board from which to descend through indie rock and videogame soundtracks, thrilling math-rock riffs that turn experimental, and synths that glow in rainbow hues. Just turn to the glitchpop of "Heaven's in the Rot" or the slow-motion acoustic glitter that is "Dragon It Out" to hear it in motion. And note the two-part "Haunted" suite that funnels his unpredictable experimentation into darker, weirder directions.