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Fabio Lione has become a household name in the Metal scene over the last 25 years.

When ATHENA XIX first appeared, they released 3 critically accliamed and beloved albums before Lione had to focus his talent completely on Rhapsody and Angra. Now ATHENA XIX are back with "Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity" and beckon you to follow them on a travel through the human subconcious. The album includes high ranking guests like ex-Kamelot and current Conception vocalist Roy Khan.

Grammy-nominated debut from the defining blues voice of his generation. Packed with piercing guitar, husky, impassioned singing and potent songwriting. Kingfish reinvigorates the blues with Ingram’s infectious, youthful fire. Buddy Guy, Keb' Mo' and Billy Branch guest. "One of the most exciting young guitarists in years, with a sound that encompasses B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince."

Vor vierzig Jahren reiste Roman Bunka mit der legendären Gruppe Embryo nach Kolkata und überquerte die eindrucksvolle HowrahBrücke, die Jahrzehnte später den Hintergrund für ein unvergessliches JISR-Konzert am 24. März 2022 bildete. Die Aufführung am Ganges, eines von Roman Bunkas letzten Konzerten, ruft wertvolle Erinnerungen an sein Leben und seine friedvolle Botschaft des Miteinanders durch Musik wach. "JISR – Live in Kolkata" ist nicht nur ein musikalisches Denkmal für Roman Bunka, sondern ein starkes Manifest für die universelle Sprache der Musik – eine
Einladung, über die eigenen kulturellen Grenzen hinauszublicken und die fesselnden Klänge der Welt in sich aufzunehmen.

“Isis was one of the first bands we signed on our label, even before longtime Suburban
signing Peter Pan Speedrock! The band were really on the rise when we signed them,
touring with bands like Motorpsycho and The Gathering. Edgar's Hair received great
reviews, but due to circumstances things went down after that, with the tragic death of
drummer Mike van Oijen as the all time low.
Now, after almost 25 years the album will finally be released on vinyl. 2LP in gatefold sleeve
with printed innersleeves and inlay and several bonustracks! If there is an album which
deserves a vinyl release, it's Edgar's Hair!” -Ronald Drayer, Suburban Records

Limited Edition Pressing of 200 Copies on Neon Yellow Vinyl. 2022's "Land of Kali" album was the first under the Essential Logic moniker for over 40 years and was released alongside a career-spanning boxset "Logically Yours".

Now Essential Logic head honcho and former X-Ray Spex member Lora Logic has compiled an eclectic and ambitious remixed version of "Land of Kali" entitled "Rekalibrated" featuring reinterpretations from noted artists across a multitude of genres and styles including Grammy award winners, living legends and UK Singles Chart toppers. Lora's work with Essential Logic and X-Ray Spex while Punk in DNA and spirit has always pushed at boundaries. Rule-breaking from the start by bringing the sax into Punk while the jerky, irresistible post-Punk Funk of Essential Logic's "Beat Rhythm News" and Lora's solo album "Pedigree Charm" sit comfortably alongside more contemporary records with one ear on the cerebral and the other on the dancefloor. "Rekalibrated" highlights the many strands that intertwine to make Essential Logic and how they may be unfurled. The lead single will be "Alien Boys" remixed by Dave Audé. Dave is a Grammy Award winning remixer and producer, famed for having more number ones than any other producer on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. He is responsible for a staggering 132 No.1 remixes on this chart and has worked with artists as varied as U2, Beyonce, Yoko Ono, Faith No More and Madonna among many others. He won his Grammy for his remix of "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Youth, legendary bassist of Killing Joke and producer of The Verve, Pink Floyd and The Orb lends his vastly experienced ears to "Mother Earth" while there are further interpretations from Rave-pop legend Adamski, Scottish Kandy-poppers bis and New Order/Duran Duran collaborators Daybreakers who put their own stamp on the Poly Styrene-penned "Prayer For Peace". Lora has recently been in the spotlight thanks to the recent re-release of X-Ray Spex's lost second album "Conscious Consumer" which features her trademark saxophone lines alongside typically acerbic lyricism from the dear departed Poly Styrene.

The first pressing reaches the Official Record Store Chart No.1 position over Christmas 2023 and quickly sold out. Favourable reviews in Uncut, Mojo and Record Collector alongside a Vive le Rock cover feature helped raise public awareness as well as radio features on Woman's Hour and Craig Charles' 6 Music show. Fans who missed out on the first pressing patiently wait the arrival of a repress.

Trapped Animal records is proud to announce the release of Despite Yourself Deluxe from 90’s legends Headswim, which has never been available on vinyl before.

For the first time, Headswim’s iconic second album is available on double gatefold vinyl, featuring 7 bonus tracks, including an unreleased version of their hit 'Tourniquet'! Lovingly released on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, this deluxe re-issue features seven bonus tracks including previously un-released tracks, including a previously unheard version of their biggest hit, Tourniquet featuring a string orchestra recorded at Abbey Road Studios!

The bonus material was collated by scouring through Sony's DAT tape archives, in this process the band and label found some wonderful lost recordings. The record will be available on either limited edition blue or back 180 gram vinyl. Despite Yourself, featuring the singles "Tourniquet" and "Better Made”, was Headswim’s sophomore album and documents the development of the band maturing as songwriters. “We were aiming for longevity and believed we had written a collection of songs honestly expressing who we were, where we’d been and where we wanted to go. The album was a declaration of intent, an expression of our lived experience, a light in the dark.” Originally released on 2nd September 1997 Despite Yourself reached 24 in the UK charts and would see the band tour the USA and Europe, make “several TV appearances (including Top of The Pops), film a couple of glossy music videos and get some mainstream media attention. We’d been given a chance and we’d grasped it with both hands.

Prairiewolf make easy listening music for an age of fracture. They almost do it in spite of themselves. No one can seriously question the head music bona fides of the members of this Colorado-based trio.

Guitarist Stefan Beck has already assembled a formidable discography of jewel-toned guitar zone-outs under his Golden Brown moniker. And keyboardist and guitarist Jeremy Erwin and bassist Tyler Wilcox have both made their reputations as chroniclers of the vast world of out-music. Erwin helms the indispensable Heat Warps blog, a performance-by-performance archive of Miles Davis’s labyrinthine electric period. And Wilcox has been covering the ragged edges of psychedelia and experimental rock at Aquarium Drunkard and other publications, not to mention his own virtual basement for heads, the great bootleg blog Doom and Gloom from the Tomb.

These guys come by it honestly. And yet, given their backgrounds, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut last spring was remarkably free of face-melters, brown acid blowouts, and ascendant spiritual jazz odysseys. Instead, they dropped a record of beautiful, elegant, low-key cosmic groovers that sounded like the piped-in background music to a resort hotel on Jupiter. It was an unlikely psychedelia, brocaded with mid-twentieth century sonic threading from the hi-fi era: vintage synthesizers, smears of spaghetti western, luxe tropical details, the faint schmaltz of space age pop. Imagine something like a Harmonia residency in the airport lounge. And yet somehow it all worked brilliantly. Prairiewolf became last summer’s cool-down standard. After a year woodshedding around Colorado’s Front Range region, the Prairiewolf boys have fired up their trusty Korg SR-120 drum machine for another outstanding collection of suborbital exotica. The appropriately titled Deep Time operates in its own chronology, unspooling at its unhurried pace. All its incongruous period and stylistic references—the new age pulses, Hawaiian steel, shaggy hippie rambles, lysergic guitar spirals, and orchestral synthesizer flourishes—float atop the album’s own singular temporality. Deep Time makes its own time.

From the moment Beck folds his slide guitar, origami-like, into a sound resembling the call of gulls on the tranquil album opener, “Peach Blossom Paradise,” there is a sense of departure from everyday life. The shimmering “Lighthouse” has a similar sunbaked nonchalance, like an afternoon passed day-drinking in a seaside bar. That they named their lush, kaleidoscopic downtempo track “The Meander” pretty much says it all. The ranging, propulsive “Saying Yes to Everything” seems like a nod in the direction of Rose City Band’s brand of wookie krautrock. And the motorik noir of “Demon Cicadas in the Night” also goes hard. Beck and Erwin’s intertwined guitar jam on the eerie album standout “The Cold Curve” evolves into something that sounds like primitive computer music. A genteel bassline from Wilcox on another album highlight, “Revisionist Mystery,” sets the stage for a loopy space jazz turn from guest clarinettist Matt Loewen of Rayonism. The title of post-rock cowboy tune “Another Tomorrow” might refer to the alternative future that so many critics heard in the music of Prairiewolf’s first album. Or it might simply refer to the persistence of time, however deep. Either way,

I’m thankful for the way Prairiewolf make each of their tunes a little oasis or sanctuary, each subsisting according to its own crystalline little logic for a few minutes. It is no simple task to filter out the omnipresent anger and anxiety of everyday life these days. But Prairiewolf are out here making it seem easy.

Brent S. Sirota

Kumio Kurachi is a Japanese singer-songwriter who has been active since the 1980's.

This is his 11th solo album and only the second to be released outside of Japan following ‘Sound of Turning Earth’ (2018) on bison. Though his songs are written and performed primarily on guitar, “Open Today” is a return to Kurachi’s full, multi-instrumental recording style - featuring drums, bass, strings, keys and Kurachi’s rich, distinctive vocals in multiple voicings. Incredibly, all instrumental performances and arrangements were performed and recorded by Kurachi himself - marking a brilliant return to the fully fleshed out visionary world we fell in love with on Supermarket Chitose (Enban, 2006). The super fine detail and dense landscapes of ‘Open Today’ should come as no surprise really - Kurachi is an illustrator by trade and it bleeds right through to his music. Even to the non-native speaker Kurachi’s vocals hold centre stage - at times enormous and thundering over urgent guitar and toms, then switching to softly spoken words amongst keys. Frequently Kurachi multiplies, whether multitracking himself or summoning voices for the characters he writes from sightings on train platforms or supermarkets. His lyrics - translated to English for both formats - are more like poetry, and though written about the mundane they quickly become surreal, bringing the quality of dreams into the everyday. The hours spent on buses, trains or walking home towards a cheap flat - familiar to us all - are catalysts for microcosms of detail.

Again, we shouldn’t be surprised - Kurachi is well known in Japan for winning the national championship of NHK's "Poetry Boxing" in 2002, which also might explain his amazing Discogs photo. Poet, illustrator, multi-instrumentalist - Kurachi is thought of by many as a genius. He’s worked with Jim O’Rourke, Tori Kudo, Eiko Ishibashi and Taku Unami (who did the mastering on this LP). There are lines to be drawn between Kurachi and Kazuki Tomokawa or Kan Mikami, but also Francis Plagne and Fairport Convention.

Ultimately though there is nothing else like it - it’s a brand of strange songcraft that’s totally captivating.

En Esch's corrosive new album decimates both standards and dance floors alike.

Anyone familiar with industrial luminary En Esch and his essential work in groups like KMFDM and PIG knows he is no stranger to political statements through his art. Now, on his first LP in eight years, Dance Hall Putsch, Esch decimates your standards and dance floors with vitriol. With carefully-sown and complimenting features from fellow KMFDM alumnus Raymond Watts, Guenter Schulz and Mark Durante, plus Vas Kallas (Hanzel und Gretyl), Mea Fisher and Erica Dilanjian (Lords of Acid), Hope Nicholls (Pigface) and more, Dance Hall Putsch delivers everything an industrial fan could want. From opener "Get Lost," with its categorically punishing industrial-metal riffs to the slicing EBM electronics of "Yum Yum Beauty & The Nasty Thief," it's all here and in no less than four languages throughout. En Esch's signature rasp is often contrasted by the sparkling vocals of his female counterparts, and the album is lush with brutal honesty, humor, and even a bonus En Esch-lullaby.

"I began work on Dance Hall Putsch in the early days of Covid-19. I was trying to create an upbeat, rather positive and very danceable album to leave the pandemic days behind us. Then it happened that a war began near where I live with tens of thousands of civilians killed and wounded so far. Everyone was caught by surprise and it influenced me, especially lyrically. "This current conflict is just 500 miles away from Berlin, and while that does not make it more horrific than other wars, it is very close to home. From living with this 'war next door,' the album turned out much more sinister than originally planned. It became a rather political album that reflects on the senselessness and nastiness of all the current wars around us. It's always the innocent and those who hold no power that suffer the most. Their fate isn't always death, but many times indescribable and long-term suffering. We must not forget them or turn a blind eye. "I’m very pleased that I had the opportunity to collaborate with different and interesting colleagues here. Thanx everybody for your interest in my musical works and for your love and support."

Allt II: Cuimhne is a collection of newly composed settings of Irish and Scottish Gaelic poems and tunes - This recording forms the highly anticipated second release from the quartet featuring Julie Fowlis, Eamon Doorley, John McIntyre and Zoe Conway.

Cuimhne, the Gaelic word meaning a memory, a record, a memorial or a recollection, is a fitting title for this work, as the quartet are taking inspiration from the memories of Gaelic tradition and reworking and reframing them into a contemporary setting.

Poetry has been the dominant medium of art in Gaelic culture for hundreds of years and aligned with it is a tradition of setting music to poetry. Inspired by this, the quartet have created melodies which add an extra dimension to the lyrics that allows us to experience the emotional power of language.

With the addition of newly composed instrumental music, this album truly takes us on a journey of the shared heritage of Ireland and Scotland, Eire is Alba, and showcases the immense beauty of our traditions.

Includes 2 posters, digital download code and artwork sticker.

With chapter 29 of Violent Cases comes to you with a full EP by Pneumatix. Based in Romania, Pneumatix has been highly regarded across the scene for years for his storytelling live acts and as a gem in the creation of musical works of what Tribe means. With his new EP “The Cry Of Mankind” VC029 Pneumatix shows once again what it can mean when everything tonal becomes a smooth flow. Nevertheless, in his creations he succeeds in musically questioning the sickness of the world in which we live. Pure pleasure!

Out of My Province is Nadia Reids third album, following 2017s critically acclaimed Preservation. This album is Reids first with Spacebomb Records, produced by Matthew E. White and the Spacebomb House Band. Out of My Province is the sound of a young artist growing in profile and dexterity before international audiences and whose world has changed before her eyes. // "Each of the album's 10 songs manage to elegantly teeter without toppling into the overly referential or experimental sides of the sonic canyon. They recall the greats while also plotting a map of the future. The New Zealand songwriter makes her best album yet" UNCUT.

Critically-acclaimed German pianist Pablo Held announces TRIO PLAYS STANDARDS, the seminal new trio album which captures Held and his comrades Robert Landfermann & Jonas Burgwinkel paying tribute to the rich legacy of Jazz.

Reflecting on the album’s theme, Held shares:
"On our previous 14 recordings, Robert, Jonas, and I have explored a wide range of musical realms: my original compositions, classical pieces, works by my father Peter Held, and occasional tunes by some of my favorite artists. Delving deeply into each of these musical environments has played a pivotal role in shaping the trio's sound over these years. Now, we've finally fulfilled a dream: recording an album of standards."

The album showcases Pablo Held’s unique arrangements of broadway classics as I’LL NEVER BE THE SAME, YOU WON’T FORGET ME and LAST NIGHT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG, reworkings of Charlie Parker’s BARBADOS and Bill Evans’ VERY EARLY, alongside Held’s own JUST IN CRAME - a contrafact on the old standard JUST IN TIME - each imbued with the trio's signature improvisational spirit and collective synergy.

Pablo Held, who’s not only known as a revered pianist and composer, but also a musical researcher, knows the value of deep study and cherishes its effect on his work: "The more I study this music, the more it propels me forward," says Held, echoing the sentiment of his personal hero Wayne Shorter about the past being “the flashlight that guides the way into the future”.

The trio recorded the album at Jazz Campus Basel’s pristine studio facilities on October 29th 2023 in front of a live audience of attentive students who witnessed the trio’s explorations first handedly in this intimate setting.

TRIO PLAYS STANDARDS was recorded and mixed by recording engineer Daniel Dettwiler and mastered by Christoph Stickel, who mastered the majority of Pablo Held’s expansive discography as a leader.
Legendary vocalist Norma Winstone penned the liner notes, and its timeless cover design is by Christian Schäfer, featuring captivating photos by Linghuan Zhang.

TRIO PLAYS STANDARDS marks the 6th release on Held’s own label HOPALIT RECORDS.
After the success of the previous trio album WHO WE ARE, Held favors a double-release method for his records going forwards: a 6 month pre-release period, where the album is exclusively available via Bandcamp and on live shows, leading into the official release in stores and streaming platforms.

As an additional incentive every (physical & digital) copy includes the bonus album TRIO PLAYS STANDARDS - LIVE, recorded during Held’s own curated festival STANDARDS WEEK at the LOFT Köln in 2022.

Paul Carrack is known for his role in the bands Ace, Squeeze (replacing Jools Holland on piano), and Mike & The Mechanics (a side project by Mike Rutherford of Genesis). Next to this collaborations, Carrack has forged a successful solo career in the process. All the songs from his impressive career are now bundled under the Collected series.

Dubbed by the BBC as the "The Man with the Golden Voice" Carrack sang some of the most important songs from bands like Ace (“How Long”), Squeeze (“Tempted”), Mike + The Mechanics ("The Living Years" and "Over My Shoulder") . As a solo musician he recorded hits such as "Don't Shed a Tear", "When You Walk in the Room" and "Don't Dream It's Over". He has served as a session and/or touring musician for the likes of music greats like Elton John, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and The Smiths.

Collected by Paul Carrack, released 8 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Don't Shed A Tear ", "Love Will Keep Us Alive", "Over My Shoulder ", "Satisfy My Soul " and more.

This version of Collected comes as a 2xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The album is Frost* at its most ambitious, offering nearly 90 minutes of music over 14 exquisite tracks. The album is the brainchild of Godfrey who was inspired to create the conceptual world for the album based on the group’s previous release Day and Age (2021).

Fans of the band’s masterful debut album Milliontown (2006) will enjoy the band revisiting the style that made that debut album one of the most successful prog rock albums of the last 20 years, a fact that was not lost on Godfrey as he was writing this new record. “With Day and Age, we made it a very specific point: we're not doing any solos, we'll do clever arrangements. And we enjoyed that discipline, but this time I thought it might be good to row back on that position a bit. Plus I wanted to have a little bit of a nod to Milliontown with this album, because it's been nearly 20 years since Milliontown came out and I’m still proud of it. The 15-minute title track has a few of those Milliontown moments in it which were great fun to do again.”
Mitwirkende
wird veröffentlicht am 18. Oktober 2024

Line-Up:
Jem Godfrey – Keyboards, guitar, vocals
Nathan King – Bass, vocals
John Mitchell – Guitars, vocals
Craig Blundell - drums
"Jede Prog-Band, die etwas auf sich hält, sollte eigentlich ein Doppelalbum machen, oder?", fragt Frost*-Frontmann Jem Godfrey. Das war eine der ersten Ideen, als der Songwriter/Keyboarder/Sänger der Band die Arbeit an Frost*s 5. Studioalbum "Life in the Wires" in Angriff nahm. Das Album ist Frost*s ehrgeizigstes Werk und bietet fast 90 Minuten Musik auf 14 exquisiten Tracks. Das Album ist das Geistesprodukt von Godfrey, der von der vorherigen Veröffentlichung "Day and Age" (2021) der Gruppe inspiriert wurde, die konzeptionelle Welt für das Album zu erschaffen. Fans des meisterhaften Debütalbums "Milliontown" (2006) werden sich freuen, dass die Band den Stil wieder aufgreift, der das Debütalbum zu einem der erfolgreichsten Prog-Rock-Alben der letzten 20 Jahre gemacht hat - eine Tatsache, die Godfrey nicht entgangen ist, als er das neue Album schrieb. "Bei Day and Age haben wir es sehr genau genommen: Wir machen keine Soli, wir machen clevere Arrangements. Und wir haben diese Disziplin genossen, aber dieses Mal dachte ich, es wäre gut, in dieser Position ein wenig zurückzurudern. Außerdem wollte ich mit diesem Album eine kleine Anspielung auf Milliontown machen, denn es ist schon fast 20 Jahre her, dass Milliontown herauskam, und ich bin immer noch stolz darauf. Der 15-minütige Titeltrack enthält ein paar dieser Milliontown-Momente, die zu wiederholen mir großen Spaß gemacht hat." "Life in the Wires" wird als limitierte 2CD Edition, als Gatefold 2LP und als Digitales Album erhältlich sein, mit atemberaubendem Artwork von Carl Glover (Steven Wilson).

Berlin-based truthspeaker returns with a full-length Album with 9 new tracks. With forcefully driven rhythms and mystifying atmospheres, they have made previous appearances on labels such as PUPPY, Post Hoc, Ectopic, and Massive Gain while also playing worldwide, from Berlin’s Berghain to touring the North American underground, making appearances throughout New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Providence, Portland, Richmond, Baltimore, and Nashville. The artist has built a reputation for delivering a transcending, occasionally unpredictable, yet intensely immediate listening experience for the dance floor. Citing previous experience in noise and experimental music, truthspeaker is establishing a functional yet disruptive sound, opening up obscure spaces within the confines of the harder edges of dance music.

Tommy Boy reissues exclusive limited edition pressing of Afrika Bambatta & Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock” Considered one of founding fathers of rap, Afrika Bambaataa has long been considered a revolutionary, both within the music business and beyond. Raised in the South Bronx, Afrika Bambaataa made his name as a DJ, rapper and songwriter, eventually becoming the foremost DJ, event organizer and promoter of the large block parties that rocked the neighbourhood during the mid-to-late 70's. Leading into the 80's, Bambaataa had found acclaim for releasing countless genre-defining tracks, infusing Hip Hop and Electronic elements into a sound that would influence other artists for years to come. With the groundbreaking release of Soulsonic Force assisted, "Planet Rock," in 1982, Afrika Bambaataa forever cemented his place in the history books as one of the most revered and innovative artists of his time. Since its release, "Planet Rock" has gone on to be recognized as one of the earliest Hip Hop hits and remains one of the genres most pioneering recordings. A long-time favourite amongst break-dancers, DJ's and music lovers alike, "Planet Rock" was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #240 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has received Gold certification by the RIAA. Originally released in 1986 as a collection of previous singles, this highly sought after record has long since been out of production, until now. Ranked at #84 by Slant Magazine on their "Best Albums of the 1980s" list and was also included in the book, "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

‘Leon’ is the highly anticipated fourth album from Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, and producer Leon Bridges. With 13 tracks featuring Leon’s signature storytelling and a unique blend of organic genre alchemy, ‘Leon’ is his most poignant, powerful, and personal work to date. He takes fans on a trip through the heart of Ft. Worth he knows best, the things he holds dear, and the people and places that shaped him. Featuring production by Ian Fitchuk (Beyonce, Noah Kahan), Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves), and Tyler Johnson (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), Leon describes the album as “somewhat of a self-portrait… I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”



Quote from Leon:
“‘Leon’ has been a long-time coming. I started writing pieces of it as far back as ‘Gold-Diggers Sound.’ They didn’t fit what I was trying to do with that album and I tried moving on. But I couldn’t shake them because they’re part of me. And, if I’m honest, also because I think this is some of my most excellent work yet.In many ways, Leon has been in the works since my childhood. This record is about simpler days. It’s about time spent in my beloved Fort Worth and the experiences that made me the man I am today. It’s soulful music in the truest sense - it’s imbued with my soul.I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”

Label and collaborative musical collective, +33JOY announce their debut release, this first one from Bopperson & Bikbaye.

Born out of a meeting at New York’s annual Winter Jazz Festival, back in 2020, this 4 track EP entitled ‘The Wellness Project’ is a very personal project.

Neil Bopperson is a DJ, musician and producer originally from Yorkshire. Having travelled the world working as a DJ and chef, he landed in London for a while where he remixed afrobeat legend Dele Sosimi for Wah Wah 45s. Now residing in Paris, France, a sharer and carer of music in every aspect, he chooses not to follow trends but instead follow his heart, with variety being an essential part of his musical DNA.

Based in Los Angeles, Bikbaye Inejnema works as a cultural activist, writer, teacher, counselor and spoken word artist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology boasting over ten years experience in social work. He works as a A.T.O.D. (alcohol, tobacco & other drugs) prevention specialist for Homeless Healthcare in L.A. He is also the Executive Director of The Conscious Youth Global Network (CYGN)

Bikbaye strives to utilize art to equip the youth with the skills to become positive, productive citizens. Focusing on diverse topics ranging from leadership development to financial literacy to health and nutrition, Bikbaye gives youth the tools they need to create empowered and enlightened content.
As Bikbaye says, “The goal is to flood the airwaves, the media, everywhere with enlightened art.”

This first release on +33JOY comes in the form of a collaborative project, with music coming predominantly from Neil, with a little help from some additional players - Sam Crowe; keys (Lianne La Havas, Little Simz & Native Dancer) and the saxophone of Nick Briggs; (Joel Culpepper, Poté & The Last Skeptik). All words and vocals are from Bikbaye.

After a chance meeting in NYC, where Bikbaye was hosting talks at The Winter Jazz Festival, speaking mainly about mental health and wellness in the music industry. His words really resonated with Neil, they connected and this EP is the outcome.

Sitting somewhere in the alternative hip hop world, music is used as a vessel for Bikbaye’s words to ring out. Upon being presented with Bikbaye’s recordings, Neil composed music and collected sound design accordingly.

Starting out the set is the stripped back ‘Wellness Is A Practice’, as the opener to proceedings the vocals take forefront and the message is clear. Found sound, an old crunchy keyboard and some guitar pulses keep the poem afloat.

‘Who Are You?’ raises important questions, directed at other artists and music industry professionals. Flute, choirs and spacy drums come together for an eerie and dubbed out moment.

Third track ‘Consumption’ conveys perhaps the most important memo on the release. Sam Crowe’s grand piano floats beautifully over the reading, really highlighting Bikbaye’s statements.

Finally, and with a more hopeful feel, ‘Changes’ was the last addition to the recording sessions. A sketch Neil had been sitting on for a while, DJ Bobafatt added some cuts and Nick Brigg’s sax solo opens this track out to a goosebumps inducing ending. The most upbeat of the four tracks serves as a perfect prelude to the club-ready remixes that will follow this release.

Eevo Lute originator Wladimir M. shares another chapter of his precious techno poetry. "When I was nine years old, I heard 'Funkytown' on the radio of the pool attendant over and over again. I still go to that pool. In the mid-eighties, everyone at my high school knew 'Don't Go'. And I turned sixteen, or seventeen. And was blown away by the bass line of Los 'Ninos Del Parque'. I heard it for the first time in the dark, one of the first times in that discotheque. The bass line was so atypical that I kept losing it, there in that stuffy classroom where a teacher was telling us about 'economics'. And where Peter, who was sitting next to me, was talking about 'Computer World'. And further away there was Chicago House, little did we know. I was born for it." Wladimir M. (1968), 2024

These tracks are responsible for a huge impression on Dream Software and the sound of the label, so it is with great honour we reissue these tracks and release them back into the outersphere. The soundtrack to a retrofuturist world gleaming with optimism. A world where humanity, technology and nature exist in a peaceful symbiosis. A real utopia. We thank you Alex for your inspirational music.

Written and produced by Alex Silvi (Alien Signal) throughout the years of 1993-1994. ‘North Polar Stars’, ‘Brilliant Evening Planets’ and ‘Violent Volcanoes of Io’ originally released on album ‘Celestial Sights of the Future’ from Upland Recordings in 1993. ‘Quantum Limit’ was originally released on album ‘The Search Begins’ also on Upland Recordings in 1993, whereas ‘Atomic (Esoteric Mix)’ was a self-release from 1994.

Lovingly remastered by Lopazz@mixmastering.de and carefully distributed by One Eye Witness.

© Dream Software, Corp (2024)

We end the year with the second in our series of The Coin EP featuring a different artist on each side. In case you missed Volume 1 - TLM033 it featured Cumulative Collective and Re:Fill in September 2023. This time on side A we have Italian brothers The Robinson who have previously released their track Song 1 on TLM034. They are back once again with two superb jazz infused house tracks, Passion Is The Key and A Satisfying Day. Both ideal for the dancefloor.

Moving onto the AA side and someone who has become a TLM regular, namely Japanese artist Takahiro Fuchigami who supplies us with three amazing tracks; Jazzing Bird, How’s That Sound? and In Motion. Fantastic broken beat from one of Japan’s rising stars. If you missed his two tracks that we previously released on TLM034 - Strange Acquaintance and TLM035 - Outer Heaven, you need to check them out.

D3 Classic Edition proudly presents its debut release, shining a light on an unsung hero of Detroit's electronic music scene: Nathaniel Killins IV. Active from the mid to late 1990s, Killins was an underrated talent who operated under the radar during a pivotal era of Detroit's musical history.

Under the alias Naquil, he released his debut EP in 1996 on Perception Records, a short-lived yet significant Detroit House/Techno
label. Krem de la Krem is a deep melancholia and obscure Detroit deep house EP, beyond qualification, like only a few Detroit records can attain.

Kinda Busy 04 Fourth release for Kinda Busy featuring Blumet with Sin23 and Protokick in a super Tekno Tribe mission.
Side A starts with Pain is Gain a fresh new banger from Blumet at 167bpm smashing samples from an old Dead Prez tune and another Hip Hop classic!! Spot the samples! Banging pumping tribe with chopped samples properly mashed up and a solid synth reef on the second part of the track, to make you trip along with the rythm ! Funny surprise on the outro, Fuck Meloni !
A2 features The Amulet, a massive track from the infamous Protokick at 163bpm. Classic smashing kick in his style with very hypnotic synths and effects with a crispy and trancy voice to the end, can't miss this papa !!
The flip belongs to the new scene talent by now resident on the label since Kinda Busy 03, Sin23.
B1 with Engine Overload is a trippy and stompy pumping Tribe at 165bpm, brillant to mix with Aku Sound from Kinda Busy 03 ! Crunchy and clean sounds delivered here with a pro sound design that will exceed expectations !
B2 is the place for Tek in Trance at 163bpm. This is a more dated track from Sin23, yet well acclaimed and validated by his fans ! He likes to blend different styles and sounds, bringing that trance feeling on the percussions of the pumping Tribe. Top tune !!
Do not miss this release !!

I have a thing for distant galaxies or places in the universe where there are very few stars or star clusters. In meditations, I imagine myself in an empty space in the universe where it is pitch-black. My way of dissociating.

I played shows in Tbilisi and (1.) Yerevan. Afterwards, I was taken to the airport. We were in the car, the weather was good. There is a big mountain near Yerevan, which was (2.) the view. And Alice Coltrane’s World Galaxy was playing on the radio. I resonate with this song.

A few weeks later, my wife’s mother arrived (3.) from Canada. We had dinner together that day in (4.) Antwerp. As we drove out of the underground parking, I wanted to play that Alice Coltrane song again. But the internet reception wasn’t great, so the song cut out. We then wanted to switch to the local pirate station Radio Centraal. It was playing the exact same Alice Coltrane song, from exactly the same moment. We didn’t realize it at first. A very strange continuum.

Now I’m thinking whether my thing with the universe is because of this track and this situation. The track is about (6.) Olodumare, who is the African God of everything. That is very close to the voids in the universe. The place where I like to be.

When dub and dope beats entered into an open relationship in the mid-nineties and created a casual hybrid with trip hop, Jean-Yves Prieur aka Kid Loco was one of the first French people to be there. With singles like "She"s My Lover" and "Love Me Sweet" and the album A Grand Love Story, the producer proved himself to be a loverman indeed, with a knack for bedroom moods, charming little melodies and a comforting balance between minimalism and lush arrangements . As a keyboard all-rounder, Guillaume Méténier aka Soul Sugar has been featured on numerous Kid Loco productions for more than twenty years. From the synthesizer to the clavinet, from the Fender Rhodes to the Leslie organ, the "Funky Frenchman" is no stranger to any keyboard instrument. The Hamburg label Echo Beach, which has already issued dub commissions for a number of pop and new wave classics, thought it was time to change that. Dub masters such as Rob Smith, Noiseshaper, Dubmatix, Paolo Baldini and many others remixed for the label. Songs by Martha & The Muffins, The Police, David Bowie, Grace Jones and Robert Palmer, among others. In order to honor the music of Florian Schneider, Ralf Hütter and their respective fellow Kraftwerkers with a dub set, they turned to Kid Loco, who has now established himself as a musical all-rounder, and who immediately invited his long-time accomplice Soul Sugar brought on board. The calculation really worked out.

Ben Lukas Boysen’s new album, Alta Ripa, signifies a seismic shift in his artistic journey. It revisits the foundational impulses of his youth, shaped amidst the serene beauty of rural Germany—a bucolic backdrop where his creative palette flourished. However, it was his move to Berlin in the early 2000s that electrified his sound, infusing it with the city’s pulsating energy and diverse cultural influences. Alta Ripa captures this transformative experience, blending the introspective melodies of his rural beginnings with the bold, experimental tones born from Berlin’s vibrant electronic music scene. This album is a testament to Boysen’s evolution, showcasing how geographical shifts can profoundly shape artistic expression.

Boysen’s fourth studio album under his own name, Alta Ripa is a nod to his beginnings as much as a hint to his future, and as a work, it’s almost contradictory in its boldness and humility. He invites the listener on a journey of self-discovery; both for himself and for them, describing the music as “something the 15-year-old in me would have liked to hear but only the grown-up version of myself can write.”

His last two albums involved working closely with other musicians, including cellist Anne Müller, flugelhorn player Steffen Zimmer, and drummer Achim Färber. However, inspired in part by a recent return to live performance, Alta Ripa sees Boysen circling back to his passion for pure computer music.

For Boysen, the return to his youthful musical language marks a major turning point in his career. It represents a departure from his roots in classical music – his mother was an opera singer and his father an actor with an appreciation for Wagner, Arvo Pärt, Keith Jarrett, and Stockhausen. Although these are still important influences, Alta Ripa encapsulates a new, exploratory interplay between Boysen’s careful craft and his ability to let go of some of the process.

The album’s title comes from the original Roman name of the town that Boysen grew up in, Altrip, where he lived until his early twenties. This formative period is central to the ideas behind this album, from Boysen’s parental ‘schooling’ in classical music through to his sonic journeys through drum and bass, Aphex Twin, and Autechre — all of which changed his idea of what music could be. The extreme energy of tracks like ‘Acperience 1’ by Hardfloor, ‘Tracks & Fragment’ by Cari Lekebusch, ‘Focus2 Implan’ by Jiri.Ceiver, and ‘Low On Ice’ by Alec Empire are also pivotal influences.

For Boysen, this time of his musical development also involved knocking down the pillars that he previously thought had carried his world. A key moment for Boysen was being given a precious (pre-internet) club cassette at school that featured artists like Source Direct, Photek and Goldie. Excited by this new discovery, he introduced his father to the song ‘Dred Bass’ by Dead Dred. After the song finished, Boysen Sr. turned off the tape and proclaimed it was “the end of all music”. This heated exchange sparked a new, and more mature dialogue between the two that involved them sharing and discussing music on a regular basis.

Boysen’s classical and jazz music upbringing might not be easily noticeable from the electronic palette that he uses. But it can be found in its bones; the structure of the tracks and their dynamic shifts. On Alta Ripa, he intentionally embraces a spirit of controlled chaos, churning out sonic ideas to see what sticks.

One of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategy cards contains the phrase “gardening, not architecture”, and the trajectory of Boysen’s creative path reflects this metaphor. In much of his previous work he followed a sort of Brutalist architect’s approach; here, he was fully responsible for the tracks’ austere structures and planned them with deliberate care. But by sacrificing some of that control on Alta Ripa, he sets the right conditions for a dark and unpredictable, organic growth. It’s a push forward into a new world.

Welcome to the second in the Knite Force Crew series. This is a series of limited edition triple albums from the very best and dedicated of the Kniteforce artists.

This triple pack vinyl album contains 10 superb tracks from Sunny & Deck Hussy, plus two remixes from rave legends Luna-C, and from Jimmy J. The beautiful old skool rave styled artwork was hand drawn by the original Kniteforce Records artist, Rebecca Try.

It will never be repressed and is limited in number!

The Future of Latin / The Gun is a seminal EP from Nino was originally a slow burn upon its release on Production House back in the early 90's, but over the years it has become a much sought after classic.

This repress is lovingly remastered from DAT and available again for the first time since the original run

Two undisputed early jungle classics feature on this vinyl, plus the very sought after VIP mix...

The Dark Crystl was a music defining track when it was released in the early 90's. It single handedly changed the game, bringing to the fore what would soon become the very essence of jungle music - heavy amens with clever edits, huge bass lines, gorgeous pads and deep atmospherics. It started a run of anthems from the legendary Dj Crystl, that continued through to Inn Year 3000 and beyond. This is an unmissable repress of a timeless classic.

Lara Sarkissian’s long-awaited debut full-length, ‘Remnants’ is an ornate patchwork of ancient and modern sonic shapes that uses the vernacular of electronic music to reformulate Armenian traditions and memories. Taking digitally modeled instruments (such as the kanun, a large zither, and the duduk, an ancient double reed woodwind instrument), vocals, davul and dhol drums, tenor saxophone (from acclaimed Paris-based player Adrien Soleiman) and myriad electronic elements and techniques, Sarkissian tangles the old and the new, creating an immersive, narrative-driven experience that’s powered by history, mythology and her own familial connection to the West Asian landscape. It’s an album that’s best absorbed like a film; only multiple encounters can reveal its layered themes and references to industrial music, noise, various club styles, ambient and traditional folk.

Born and raised in San Francisco and currently based in Los Angeles, Sarkissian has developed her unique approach to composition over years of relentless experimentation across various disciplines. Her interest in music production initially stemmed from her filmmaking and video editing work, when she began to sculpt her own sound collages and scores to accompany the visuals. Since then, she’s constantly blurred the boundary between dance and experimental music, DJing around the world, producing AV installations and scoring film and video projects that have been exhibited in Berlin’s Gropius Bau, Montréal’s Musée d’art contemporain, the Music Center Los Angeles and other prestigious institutions, and releasing music with labels such as Tresor, Knekelhuis, All Centre, Silva Electronics and CLUB CHAI, the label and event series she co-founded. In recent years, she’s also been able to advance the theory behind her art, publishing a conversation with ethnomusicologist Sylvia Alajaji in the Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies in 2021, and unveiling her methodology in Norient’s ‘This Track Contains Politics – The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica’ a year later.

‘Remnants’ is a new stage in Sarkissian’s evolution as an artist; not only is it her first proper album, but it’s the inaugural release on her new platform btwn Earth+Sky. She sees the label as a place to encourage collaborations between musicians and producers and prioritize sound in visual arts realms, and ‘Remnants’ is the ideal proof of concept. It opens with ‘Heaven, or Paradise; and Hell’, a track that’s inspired by the layout of the Armenian sharakan (or hymn) ‘Aravot Luso’. Sarkissian imagines the original piece’s harmonies and melodies as parts of a dreamy electronic opera, using digital kanun sounds to punctuate her woozy, evocative synths. Soleimen joins on tenor sax in the third act, while Sarkissian repeats the chant and Jace Akira adds ghostly traces of electric guitar and bass. And on the rousing ‘Our Dead Can’t Rest (Old Jugha Flute Dance)’, Sarkissian chops urgent davul and dhol drum rhythms with spine-chilling shvi woodwind sounds lifted from a documentary about Old Jugha. The title is a reference to the moving of graves by Armenian families; the area initially housed over 10,000 elaborately carved khachkars (cross stones), one of which is pictured on the album’s cover, provided by historian Argam Aivazian’s archive.

On ‘Miracle’, Sarkissian samples atmospheres from the post-Soviet Armenian comedy film ‘Կիսանդրի’ (Kisandri). She takes this opportunity to lighten the mood a little, powdering her smudged samples with tightly edited breaks and bass thumps. It’s not until the album’s middle section that the duduk, perhaps Armenia’s best-known instrument, makes its appearance. Its familiar reedy tones, popularized by Djivan Gasparyan on his many Hollywood soundtrack appearances, emerge on ‘Unraveling (Interlude)’, weaving through the acidic ‘Zephyr’ and ‘Far from the eye far from the Heart’, a post-punk inspired stomper. Sarkissian mutates the instrument almost beyond recognition, pitching and layering it into a voice-like wail that creeps between her woody, dancefloor-primed percussion on the former, and turning it into a gentle, ghostly moan on the latter. And she brings ‘Remnants’ to a close with two of her most cryptic tracks, marrying digital kanun strings with Soleiman’s resonant tenor hums on ‘What Solace Can I Give’, and looping the same saxophone sounds until they dissolve into the air on the beatless closer ‘…nothing matters more than touching you although i haven’t touched you yet’.

It’s an album that ties up Sarkissian’s various interests and experiences, finding a romantic, poetic glimmer of light in history’s darkness. But most of all, ‘Remnants’ is about the optimism of starting anew, and rebuilding a life from the pieces of everything that’s been left behind.

ON SAND COLOUR VINYL FOR FIRST TIME

Post-Punk? Indie-Rock? Post-Hardcore? The Van Pelt walked between all these worlds. Spoken/sung vocals, anthemic pop hooks, fiery guitars and a tightly wound rhythm section made them stand outs of the DIY basement scene they emerged from.
RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels.

ABOUT “STEALING FROM OUR FAVORITE THIEVES”:
90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart? Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the “best emo bands” lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow? Maybe it’s worth having a listen to see what I mean.
Barcelona’s La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous “Speeding Train”. Now we’ll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn’t a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You’ll need them both.

BRAND NEW VINYL PRESSING ON GREEN VINYL FOR FIRST TIME

Recorded in 1996, the second album from this NYC quartet featured a new line up & sound. Clean, warm, spacious guitars paired with repetitive, hypnotic songs showcased the band reaching a new peak. Beloved by those initiated, it continues to find new devotees.
RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels

90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart?
Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the “best emo bands” lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow? Maybe it’s worth having a listen to see what I mean.
Barcelona’s La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous “Speeding Train”. Now we’ll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn’t a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You’ll need them both.

Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign‘s 2024 album VULTURES 1 (as the supergroup, ¥$) is Ye‘s first collaborative album since his 2018 album with Kid Cudi, KIDS SEE GHOSTS, and as such, delivers celebratory, reunion-like energy. Bridging R&B, classic soul-sample rap, and the lo-fifi electro stylings of late-era Ye, VULTURES 1 manages to fuse Ye‘s go-to productions methods with Ty Dolla‘s efortlessly smooth vocals. This results in an unpredictable and dynamic listening experience.

The last couple of years have seen a renaissance for West Coast singer-songwriters. LA-based youngsters such as Drugdealer and Sylvie have attracted considerable attention releasing warm and mellow records tonally reminiscent of the early 70s. Most fans of this new/old sound are unaware of Bart Davenport's early explorations in the same sonic territory. His now 20-year-old "Game Preserve"album should gain an appreciative new audience with its first ever vinyl release.

In the year 2000, Bay Area troubadour Bart Davenport and several other musicians were recruited by a major tech corporation in Seattle to work on an algorithm-based music matching/search engine. It was what looked like the beginning of a promising career. After a year, however, the project was shelved. Bart and his colleagues were laid off with a healthy severance package... on the 12th of September, 2001. Not only had the musician's life changed, so had the world. Rather than blow the money on a holiday or new car, Bart knew he had to make a record. A proper album that meant something.

Back in Oakland, he entered Wally Sound Studios with former Kinetics bandmate Jon Erickson at the controls, and a swathe of talented local musicians. "With Game Preserve," Bart explains, "Jon and I really wanted to knock it out of the park. I wanted to utilize people from my old bands like Loved Ones drummer John Kent. I also invited my newer indie-pop friends from Call & Response, and a young Nedelle Torrisi. Harmony singing by The Moore Brothers was an essential ingredient on Game Preserve as well."

Both Erickson and Davenport fondly recall growing up in households where the music of The Carpenters, Joni Mitchell and The Eagles soundtracked their young lives. By the early 00s they were ready to reconnect with what is often referred to as the "Laurel Canyon" sound. "I'd buy used tapes at garage sales and play them in the car. "Ladies Of The Canyon" by Joni and Jackson Browne's first album were both in heavy rotation. Jon Erickson was getting deeper into the Steely-Mac-Doobie yacht-rock sound in earnest. A certain amount of childhood nostalgia led a lot of us back to that part of the 70s. I'd flirted with classic soft-rock on my first album, but that record was pretty scattered esthetically. I wanted my next one to be more focused. Jon and I made some ground rules: no electric guitars (except on 'Bar-Code Trees'). No synths. Most importantly, all the songs have an air-tight, super dead, close mic'd drum sound. Putting these sorts of limitations on the sessions will give your record a specific quality. In the case of "Game Preserve"it's mostly about tight drums, acoustic instruments and analog production. We used a 24-track, two-inch tape machine for tracking, then ran the mixes through an analog board straight to a 1/4 inch master tape."

While the album's sonic palette may be firmly planted in 1970, Davenport's songwriting covers a sizable landscape of moods and reflections. From the quasi-flamenco intro of 'Sweetest Game' to the somber Wurlitzer of 'Nowhere Left To Go', to the 12-string shimmer of 'Intertwine', "Game Preserve" tells a story of young love, lost innocence and redemption, crossing borders and oceans along the way.

Released in 2003 on family-run Oakland label Antenna Farm, the ultra-analog sounding "Game Preserve" was only made available on digital formats, including CD. Copies were later pressed by labels in Germany and Spain; the latter being one country the album actually did well in, establishing Bart Davenport with a small but loyal fanbase he still enjoys today. Two European tours as support for Kings of Convenience also helped gain a foothold on the continent. Back in the US, however, Davenport and his sophomore album remained quite obscure.

Limited promotion meant it did little, but for the music lovers that heard it, the album undoubtedly remains a classic of the era, deserving far more. Twenty years on, it now finally receives its vinyl debut. "I personally think it holds up well," says Bart of the album two decades later. "The idea was to make something that could be an homage to late 60s/early 70s West Coast pop but hopefully timeless as well. Years on, I hear it as just that. It was a colorful and brief period of my life that felt at times like it could last forever. I discovered the joy of working in a proper studio with a perfect cast of characters. I'm still very close with all these people and still play music with many of them."

Naoki Zushi. Perhaps best known for his stellar guitar contributions to psych folk group, Nagisa Ni Te, Zushi has had a parallel career, for several decades, slowly releasing solo albums that spotlight his exultant guitar playing. Originally released to CD only by Shinji Shibayama of Nagisa Ni Te’s Org imprint in 2018, IV has Zushi playing and writing at a peak, its six songs slowly unfurling with a kind of paradoxical understated grandeur. This is psychedelic guitar music at its most paced and considered, yet given to flights of inspiration, and in this respect, Zushi sits within a lineage of guitarists who’ve used their instrument both as textural anchor and improvisatory tool – think of figures like Phil Manzanera and Robert Fripp, but also Roy Montgomery, Liz Harris of Grouper, even Tom Verlaine on his instrumental solo albums. Like those artists, Zushi locates moments of deep emotional resonance amidst luxuriant textural and melodic exploration. Zushi’s history stretches back to the mid 1970s. While for many, he first appeared on the scene as a founding member of noise legends Hijokaidan, alongside Jojo Hiroshige, his musical contributions predate that encounter. He started out playing progressive rock and improvised music, making home recordings of when he was in high school. He was a member of Rasenkaidan (Spiral Staircase) alongside Hiroshige and Idiot (Kenichi Takayama), the group that soon mutated into Hijokaidan (Emergency Staircase). Zushi and Takayama would soon form Idiot O’Clock, in 1982; Zushi also led his own Naoki Zushi Unit, starting in 1983. But for many, Zushi’s first significant appearance on record was as a member of Shinji Shibayama’s mid-eighties psych-pop group, Hallelujahs, whose sole album was recently reissued on vinyl. That group mutated into Nagisa Ni Te, and Zushi has played a significant role as their lead guitarist for several decades. His own solo music has appeared sporadically – Paradise (1987), Phenomenal Luciferin (1998), III (2005) and IV, with a few recent, meditative offerings, For My Friends’ Sleep (2021) and Nocturnes (2022). With IV, though, Zushi achieved something remarkable, a kind of extended exploration of the time-altering properties of echoplexed, hypnotically spiralling guitar interplay. The opening ‘Mirror’, “a song about the mirror inside me,” Zushi explains, starts out as a lush psych-folk song, slow and gentle, but soon takes to the skies with a cat’s cradle of Fripp-esque guitars, before thick, droning chords sweep the song to a drowsy coda. ‘Nocturne’ weaves silver skeins of guitar melody around a cyclical chord pattern; it gathers energy and quiet intensity through insistent repetition. The rest of the album explores the nuance Zushi can draw out of simple elements, building on what ‘Mirror’ and ‘Nocturne’ offer – the profundity of a chord change; the melancholy of a few quietly sighed words; the exhilaration of a guitar solo bursting out of the speakers; the subtle shifts in emotional register offered by tone and touch. Throughout, there’s something quiet, yet ineffable, shading the contours of the songs, such that it makes perfect sense when Zushi says, “What I want to express through music may be ‘sense of mystery’.” A few of the songs had their basic parts recorded at LM Studio and Studio Nemu with Shibayama and Masako Takeda joining on bass and drums, respectively; much of the album, however, was tracked at Zushi’s home studio. That seems appropriate for a collection of songs that are expansive in their intimacy. Asked what drove the sessions, Zushi answers, “I thought I’d make IV an album that particularly focuses on the guitar play.” And focus it does, as Zushi’s sky-scraping, soaring, elemental tone is front and centre throughout. But these are no guitar heroics; rather, Zushi uses the guitar as conduit and diviner, a tool for spirit location, and IV is his most eloquent expression yet of such singular magic.

Way back in 2008 Soul Junction released a 45 on Duane Williams “Yes My Love Is Real” with Duane being one half of the Detroit husband and wife singing duo Beverley and Duane. The duo under the guidance of their lifelong friend Will Hatcher recorded six songs of which two “ We Got To Stick Together” and “Glad I Got You Baby” were picked up by local Detroit label president Woodrow ‘Woody Wilson for release as a 45 single on his Fee label. The popularity of the 45 was to attract attention from the major Ariola label, who picked it up for national distribution during 1978 leading to the subsequent Ariola album ‘Beverley & Duane”. As the 1980’s dawned Beverley and Duane recorded a solitary 45 single for the independent Detroit Brown Bomber label “Love/You Belong To Me”. The label was owned by John L. Barrow a nephew of former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, (Brown Bomber being Louis’s nickname). Beverley and Duane later moved to the west coast until their amicable divorce which led to Duane returning to his native Detroit to reacquaint himself with his former mentor Will Hatcher. This meeting of old friends led to the creation of Duane’s first solo project which Will brought to Soul Junction in late 2007. Hot on the heels of Duane’s hugely popular Soul Junction 45 came his subsequent CD album “These Songs Are For You” (SJ5001) released in 2009. Contained within this album was the very pertinent gospel/social commentary song “Father We’re Having Trouble” a song which two very close and knowledgeable friends of mine the late John Anderson and Bill Randle claimed had all the right ingredients for a potential hit record. Over the ensuing years this song has always remained in my thoughts until a few years ago I broached the idea with my good friend Jesse James recording a cover version of it, Jesse upon hearing the song was very receptive to the idea. Another period of time elapsed before we again reignited the idea. A decade or so on from Duane’s original version and the lyric’s of this particular song still remain as pertinent as ever, if not more so! During early 2020 Jesse entered, Con Funk Shun multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Felton Pilate’s Felstar Studio in Atlanta to lay down the basic tracks with Felton acting as co-producer on this project. Everything was progressing nicely until a worldwide pandemic intervened. With Jesse locked down in his new home on the West Coast and Felton in Atlanta the project unfortunately came to a holt. During this enforced period of inactivity further racial and political upheaval occurred which only added more poignance to the project. Eventually with the lifting of lockdown restrictions Jesse finally made it back to Atlanta to finish the project, the fruits of which you have before you now.

This band, and this album, function as critical missing links that takes one from The Fall to Yard Act, from Television and The Minutemen to Parquet Courts and Sleaford Mods, from punk as a sound to punk purely as an ethos. While any Van Pelt album is a stand alone album, the unique approach they take begs one to enter their world and dig deep in.

RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, American Football, Texas is the Reason.

‘The lines between post-hardcore, indie rock, and emo blurred on the two mid-’90s full-lengths from the Van Pelt.’ Pitchfork

‘New York City’s The Van Pelt are an influential, but too often overlooked indie rock band -- cult favorites for many an emo-inclined crate digger.’ Consequence of Sound

‘...should be mentioned a lot more than they are when you talk about the history of emo.’
Washed Up Emo

Back in the day there was this thing called an A&R guy. They would hang out at small venues looking to throw money at the next big thing. In the early 90s, everyone was looking for the next Nirvana of course. NYC's The Van Pelt had just released an album of anthems called "Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves" that seemed to be just that. The only thing is, they didn't want to sign. Legend has it $2 million was turned down over pierogies and coffee one Monday morning because The Van Pelt didn't want to risk crashing and burning. Instead, they were gunning for a long and stable stride even if that meant they would largely remain out of the public's eye forever.

Lack of willingness to play the game didn't mean people weren't waiting with baited breath for their follow up album though. In 1997 The Van Pelt released "Sultans of Sentiment", an album nearly devoid of the anthems and licks people were expecting. In fact, it's a complete bummer of an album that subjects the listener to the point on life's curve where the hubris of youth gives way to a cresting crashing defeat no kid with heart could ever have seen coming. Seeing as humanity are sick fuckers who revel in the misery of both themselves and others, the popularity of Sultans grew and grew and continues to win new loyal fans even today. It's for this classic album The Van Pelt has never fallen off the radar.

That being said, their swan song "The Speeding Train" was recorded while they were working on their third album. In any other age, in any other way, this song would have been a hit. The Van Pelt broke up mid-recording, released Speeding Train as a single, and the rest of the songs from that session didn't see the light of day until they were released in 2014 as the "Imaginary Third" lp.

Why are we here talking about them today in 2023? Because in preparation for the release of "Imaginary Third" The Van Pelt started playing some reunion shows. Soundchecks revealed to them that this band has a voice that was prematurely muted by their inability to see clearly in the thick of it. Returning to explore just what that is 25 years later has led to this first collection of 9 songs, "Artisans & Merchants". This is not a reunion album. This is vindication for that decision made over pierogies and coffee decades ago. The Van Pelt is a band in it for the long haul, free from whatever trappings the mayflies of trends and markets may bring.

For lovers of The Van Pelt, listening to "Artisans & Merchants" is like hearing the voice of a dear friend you haven't seen in years, a friend you used to share countless beers with over banter that went nowhere other than delivering a solid night. Your friend is older, they've changed. In some ways you're worried for them, looks like they might be teetering on the brink of something. In other ways it's the same old them, a nugget of a soul too unique to ever be altered. It's for those unfamiliar with The Van Pelt though for whom we should be truly jealous. This is a stand alone album, incredible vital song writing in and of itself regardless of the long history this band has. The climax of the single "Image of Health" perhaps describes the beautiful desperation best: "And you never felt more alive / Than when the priest came to read you your rites!"

Housed together in a stunning 380gsm board slipcase with a matt laminate soft touch finish and a UV spot varnish on the beloved Be With logo, we proudly present the Be With 10 Years record and book package.

Record contains 10 exclusive never-before-on-vinyl tracks from 10 Be With family members. 310mm square softcover book printed on a 350gsm woodfree uncoated board. Book block printed on 120gsm Dadong Lucky Bird woodfree uncoated paper. 140gram vinyl with a 380gsm jacket. 1000 copies only for the world, no repress!