Search:z records

Spivak & Prins Emanuel - Imogen’s Lament

Three poems, three hymns, a lament…

Imogen’s Lament is the amalgamation of a slow-burning musical correspondence between Cypriot musician and lyricist Maria Spivak and Swedish composer and producer Emanuel Sundin, recorded over two years between Malmö and Limassol.

Imbued with a rectified balearic pop sentiment, these songs drift between myrrh-washed church pop and restrained machine dub—piercing through a veil of gothic haze as they trace the dimmer edges of an imagined Balto-Mediterranean continuum.

While brothers Simon and Robin Lee have kept themselves busy, both with EPs as Faze Action and numerous offshoot and solo projects, it's been almost 12 years since we last heard a fresh, full-length excursion from the long-serving duo - at least under their most famous moniker. Predictably, Distant Dreams was worth the wait, with the Lee siblings continuing their richly organic approach - think live bass, guitars, strings, keys, flute and percussion alongside synth sounds and drum machine beats. Musically, it draws on their now well-known influences - warming disco, jazz-funk and Balearica with nods to other musical cultures - and delivers eight impeccable tracks that undoubtedly sit amongst their classiest work to date. It's good to have them back.

Legofunk Records has returned with “Super Disco Edits”, continuing its signatureapproach of breathing new life into vintage grooves. This release fits right into the label’s niche: carefully crafted edits of classic disco and funk tracks, often extending breaks, enhancing rhythm sections, and making them more DJ-friendly while preserving the soul of the originals. Legofunk has built a reputation among collectors and selectors for digging deep and delivering versions that feel both nostalgic and fresh.

Slow Leaves ist das Soloprojekt des in Winnipeg ansässigen Songwriters und Produzenten Grant Davidson, dessen Werke Folk und Psych-Rock mit einer zurückhaltenden emotionalen Präzision verbinden und ihm eine treue internationale Fangemeinde eingebracht haben. Mit Veröffentlichungen bei Birthday Cake Records hat Slow Leaves über 3,5 Millionen Streams gesammelt, wird regelmäßig im Radio in Kanada, Deutschland und den Niederlanden gespielt und tourt durch Kanada, Großbritannien und Europa. The Ruins of Things Unfinished ist Davidsons sechstes Album mit neuem Material und seine bisher unmittelbarste Aufnahme. Das Album wurde größtenteils live mit dem Produzenten Kris Ulrich aufgenommen und fängt die Intimität und emotionale Tiefe der Songs von Slow Leaves mit einem neuen Gefühl von Präsenz und Wärme ein. Das Album beschäftigt sich mit vererbten Traumata, Ambitionen, Elternschaft und der stillen Arbeit der Selbstreflexion und bezieht seinen Titel aus Fernando Pessoas Zeile ,Ich bestehe aus den Ruinen unvollendeter Dinge".

Brooklyn-based techno experimentalist and filmmaker Michelle Roginsky (aka mother) joins Delusional Records with her first-ever musical offering, a cinematic concept EP that weaves medical anxieties into a thematic tapestry of arresting club sonics.

In A Simple Procedure, Roginsky evokes the bleak and euphoric duality of femme embodiment; the soundtrack to an unreleased body horror film narrated by ethereal ambience and driving dancefloor grooves. The title track begins with sweeping, densely-textured synths disintegrating into a foreboding bassline, humming steadily alongside tidal waves of ominous arpeggios and plodding drums reminiscent of 90s trip-hop. In Sublingual, body-shaking club drums become a vessel for distorted vocals and granulated textures as they pass through thick membranes of saliva-drenched bass. Metamorpher follows with a hypnotic 4x4 trip that metabolizes deep anxious grooves into a rave-ready wiggler, while Angel Gossip keeps the blood flowing with a pounding peak-time techno roller guaranteed to keep the floor locked. Finally, There Are Two Rooms sends us off with a pensive meditation of wailing synths and dark, Lynchian atmosphere... the final scene of a dream half-remembered upon waking from anaesthesia.

NYC's Laenz delivers the epilogue with a shaking, subterranean remix of A Simple Procedure, injecting the opening track's textures into the fissures of deep and trembling grooves.

With its darkly seductive moods and high-concept execution, A Simple Procedure is a perfect addition to Delusional's genre-ambiguous catalog of queer and femme-forward sonic offerings.

Acony Records präsentiert stolz das Debütalbum von Old Crow Medicine Show, das erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich ist. O.C.M.S. wurde ursprünglich auf analogem Tonband in den Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, aufgenommen und enthält einige der zeitlosesten Songs von Old Crow, wie „Take ‘Em Away“, „CC Rider“ und den mit Platin ausgezeichneten Titel „Wagon Wheel“. Das Album, ursprünglich produziert von David Rawlings, wurde liebevoll für Vinyl auf Rawlings’ maßgefertigten Ortofon-Verstärkern mit einem Neumann VMS-80-Schneidesystem gemastert, bei der brandneuen Paramount Plating and Pressing in Denver, Colorado, plattiert und gepresst und wird in einer luxuriösen Gatefold-Hülle von Stoughton Printing präsentiert.

When five-time Grammy award winner Taj Mahal intersects with The Phantom Blues Band, it’s one of those rare joints that hits you before you even know you’ve been hit. They walk in, plug in, and the whole room shifts. Studio assassins, road lifers, groove keepers and somehow still hungry. They are an internationally renowned Two-Time Grammy Award winning group. Taj Mahal’s fearless, open-hearted spirit still shadows the whole thing with that genre-hopping joy. He leads you down the road with a history lesson and the Phantoms carry it with honor to the Griot.

Mahal sings and plays harp as he fronts an all-star lineup of legendary musicians with the three ringleaders for the Phantoms--Johnny Lee Schell, the soulful gunslinger with tone for days, Tony Braunagel keeps the whole ship steered straight and on time, every time, and Larry Fulcher, the anchor, the heartbeat, the quiet storm on bass. Additionally, Jon Cleary, with that unmistakable New Orleans piano swagger, Mick Weaver, a session master who’s playing slides in with an undeniable velvet magic, and in the horn section, Joe Sublett on sax and Les Lovitt on trumpet bring the orchestration into the full view of this genre. This band doesn’t ‘back” anybody. They lift you up, carry you, and dare you to rise higher. On this record they slide through blues, soul, R&B, and island color with the ease of men who’ve lived every bit of it. This is deep-groove, grown-folks music from a band that still plays like the night is young. ‘Time’ is their new release on Resonatin’ Records / Thirty Tigers and celebrates over thirty years of making this uplifting inspiring and aspiring music together.

Iconic Atlanta quintet SEVENDUST is back with its 15th studio album, ONE, set for release on May 1, 2026 via Napalm Records. The upcoming full-length LP forges ten simultaneously lean and gut-punching tracks out of gargantuan riffs, seismic grooves, and signature soul-stirring hooks, once again produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Alter Bridge, Falling In Reverse, Mammoth). The group, comprised of Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Clint Lowery (lead guitar, backing vocals), John Connolly (lead guitar, backing vocals), Vince Hornsby (bass), and Morgan Rose (drums), busts down the door with the first single “Is This The Real You”. Its swaggering fretwork alternately wallops and gallops in lockstep with a pummeling rhythm anchored by thunderous drums. The riff rolls and seethes, and the vocals swing from guttural growls into the embrace of a jazz-y chantable chorus.

A hummable lead ties the bridge together. Echoes of a tensely picked single-note set the tone for “Threshold.” Lajon’s delicate delivery gives way to a contentious distortion-boosted refrain. Then, there’s “Unbreakable,” which has all the makings of a clarion call for the collective and a future live staple. Strains of soft piano slip into the undertow of a towering hook punctuated by a promise, “We were meant to be unbreakable… even when we’re at our lowest lows. And if it gets too cold, I’ll never let you go.” The title track succinctly sums up the record as a whole. Bellowing out of a maelstrom of roaring distortion, Lajon’s voice reaches heavenly heights. For over three decades, SEVENDUST have made countless fans feel a part of something special. The group’s community isn’t passive. Members of the “7D Army” make a very active commitment to being part of this family – as evinced by sold-out shows worldwide and innumerable tattoos of the band’s logo and lyrics. Since 1994, the band has quietly built a legacy without parallel, encompassing sales of nearly eight million albums, a GRAMMY® Award nomination for “Best Metal Performance,” three Top 15 entries on the Billboard 200, hundreds of millions of streams, and the fierce loyalty of millions of listeners in every corner of the globe.

“Tako” means “octopus”, “kite”, and even “bunion” in Japanese. Bald men or men with shaven heads, as well as red-faced, staggering drunks, are also referred to as “tako”. It’s a word that appears in a lot of slang and sayings. Taco is also the name of an 80s music and performance collective whose performances were like nothing before or since. The Japanese band Taco, formed at the beginning of the 80s, is a loose group/collective of varying members that belongs to the post-punk alternative music movement. The network of members were all friends and acquaintances of Harumi Yamazaki, ex-member of Gaseneta and Taco’s central member.

Taco can be described as a band of guerrillas who, over the years, continued to connect, collect, interrupt, and scatter while sending out into the world music and sounds that can best be described as transient. Taco also performed without Harumi, and so it is as though the band is an anonymous group of mercenaries. Taco’s first album was released in 1983 and had a huge impact on Japan’s underground music scene as an anomalous and collaborative album involving various participating artists (the stars of Japan’s underground music scene!) and Harumi, who provided the lyrics. Although each track represents a reverberating conglomeration of sounds created by this transient local network, common to all the tracks are Harumi’s expressive lyrics. This has the effect of transforming all the tracks into a single powerful force which, in turn, spawns an “incident” which spreads like a giant ripple. However, because of another incident in which the records were recalled due to the scandal caused by some of the lyrics, only a limited number of people actually own a copy of the album. Taco’s second album (a 12” EP), released in 1984, features a live recording of a performance that was held at the end of 1982. Taco is a band of indeterminate members which only ever played one-off performances, but this is an album that reveals a unit whose performance was unusually musically coherent. This is an album which effectively conveys the power of Taco’s astounding and legendary live performances, as well as Harumi’s inflammatory, sensational, and masochistic presence on stage. Her mutterings and screams, which practically ignore the detached beat, confront the audience like an overwhelming groundswell.

The following is a description of Taco by one of its members following one of its live performances: “Taco’s like a project where the indeterminate participants fan each other’s heightened emotions of wanting to wreak personal revenge and retribution. It’s an ecosystem of tangible and intangible mouldy slime which accumulates in order for emotions to be acted out, both indoors in the studio, or outdoors on stage. That’s why the avenger can often end up being the victim.”

Nameless, March 1985

More than 25 years after its original release, Beatsqueeze Records brings back a classic of French rap: “Le Piège” by TRIPTIK.


Originally released in 2000 featuring D’Oz and Cutee B, this cult track is being reissued for the first time on 45 RPM vinyl.


A must-have for French rap fans and vinyl collectors alike.
The year 2000 was a turning point in TRIPTIK’s career.
The Parisian trio, then close to Cut Killer, released the maxi “Dat Shit” with the New York group Blahzay Blahzay, on the label of the famous French DJ.
At the same time, a 2-track maxi from Blahzay hit the shelves. It included the same track… but without the French MCs and without crediting the group’s beatmaker, Drixxxé.
Side B featured another of his productions, again without any credits.
In response, TRIPTIK decided to reclaim the appropriated beat. This reaction gave birth to the legendary “Le Piège”, featuring D’Oz and Cutee B.

The brand- new album from Hiss Golden Messenger and the first release with Chrysalis Records. I'm People is a vivid, deeply human album born from a period of rupture, renewal, and vast American wandering. Written across Bolinas, the North Carolina Piedmont, and a Santa Fe motel room, the record traces the artist's search for clarity through landscapes both external and internal. These songs move through heartbreak, aging, fatherhood, desire, disillusionment, and the hard- won hope that remains after the spirit has been scraped bare.

Produced with Josh Kaufman at Dreamland, a decommissioned church outside Woodstock, the album carries the warmth of musicians playing live in a circle, stained- glass light filtering across guitars, drums, and upright bass. Contributions from Bruce Hornsby, Sam Beam, Marcus King, Sara Watkins, Amy Helm, Eric D. Johnson, and members of Dawes enrich a sound world that feels immediate, vulnerable, and fully alive. "I'm People is an intensely human record, and so one that needed to feel immediate, vulnerable, and fully dancing; something you could touch, sing along to, know about, recognize, relate with. I know what the record is to me and I bet it's not so dissimilar from what it's about to you, at least in the broad strokes: The heartbreak and exhilaration, the absolute black comedy of being a person on this razor's edge that is America circa 2025. What other choice do we have than to be hopeful?" - MC Taylor on I'm People. Hiss Golden Messenger is a Grammy nominated artist based in North Carolina, with multiple Album Of The Year and Best Americana Album awards, reaching #2 in the Americana Charts and performances and tours across the world, including the UK and Europe + performances on US TV; Late Night With Seth Myers.

Stick To Your Guns hold a mirror up to society’s ills without blurring its ugliness. In an attempt to unapologetically trumpet real change, the Southern California quintet—Jesse Barnett vocals,Andrew Rose bass,Adam Galindo[drums], Chris Rawson [guitar], and Josh James [guitar]—never shy away from speaking or screaming unpopular truths from the purest place. Founded in2003, Stick To Your Guns have always written and performed with a sense of urgency, their socially conscious message hitting as hard as their signature hybrid of hardcore, punk, and metal. Over the course of their career, they’ve amassed over 50 million total streams, performed on four continents, and shared stages with the likes of Parkway Drive, Architects, and Every Time I Die. Most recently, Alternative Press praised 2017’s True View as “the result of a long time spent on self-reflection and realization.” The band’s latest release ‘Invisible Rain’ incorporates two new songs that remain quintessentially Stick To Your Guns while incorporating fresh elements. The band’s relentless pursuit of a better world and their critique of societal injustices continues to drive their music and message. In 2024, Stick To Your Guns signed with SharpTone Records, marking a new chapter in their storied career. This partnership promises to bring their potent blend of activism and music to an even broader audience, amplifying their call for change and social justice.

WRWTFWW Records is very excited to announce the first release from its new City Pop Series with Japanese singer, actress, entertainer, scholar and all-around legend Momoko Kikuchi’s sun-drenched classic Ocean Side album, available now as a limited-edition transparent vinyl LP in a heavyweight sleeve with obi.

A cult classic among Japanese music collectors, Ocean Side was originally released in 1984 by mythical label VAP and features lush compositions and arrangements by J-Pop icon Tetsuji Hayashi (Mariya Takeuchi, Miki Matsubara, Omega Tribe, Junichi Inagaki, Urusei Yatsura anime, soundtrack…). Momoko Kikuchi’s city pop gem is a flawless mix of heartwarming beachside funk, breezy grooves, and silky-smooth vocals - the feel-good music we all need in our life right now.

The 9-track summer-is-forever adventure notably includes the ultra-funky megahit “Blind Curve”, the fan-favorite title song, and the insanely romantic ballad “Futari No Night Drive”. A vibrant reflection of summer in 1980s Japan, Ocean Side masterfully balances nostalgia and elegance, and provides part of the origin story for revered modern music genres such as chillwave, and future funk, and vaporwave.

The official reissue licensed from VAP, Inc. is sourced from the original masters with an audiophile-cut by Sidney Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios.

WRWTFWW’s City Pop Series and its Lopetz/Büro Destruct-designed logo also includes jazz-fusion-AOR-mellow-funk treasure Safari (1984), a limited capsule collection of merch, and much more to come in the near future.

On the day of Eid al-Fitr (Sugar Feast), Sonhouse Records released Grond, a brand new record, produced by Faisal Chatar and 'Yong' Yello Staelens.

Grond (soil) tells the tragicomic story of a Moroccan brother and sister who take over their father's funeral business and want to modernise it. Instead of repatriating Belgian Muslims to their country of origin and burying them there according to Muslim traditions, they decide to import the holy soil.

Western and Arabic sounds, combined with hip-hop beats are mixed in a refined way. Faisal and Yello produced twenty songs that immediately make you long for summer. In Brussels, Tangier or simply elsewhere.

Faisal Chatar and Yello Staelens:
"Grond is about the clash between traditional Moroccan values and Brussels city culture. We tried to translate that by combining Moroccan instruments like Krakebs and Qanuns with thick hip-hop beats. It sounds as if Timbaland is eating a merguez sandwich in a Molenbeek snack bar while Aznavour sounds through a distorted FM radio."

The Charmer, Toadies first full-length studio album in nearly a decade, also happens to be one of the last records recorded by famed engineer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey) before his death in 2024. The raw, guitar-driven collection places the platinum-selling band firmly back in the Alternative Rock pantheon that sparked their early success, while sounding right at home with the dozens of younger contemporary rock bands they've influenced.

a 1.1 KAKUMEI DOUCHUU - ON THE WAY FROM "DANDADAN"
b 1.2 DAIJOUBU FROM "MOONRISE"
c 1.3 HANA MUSOU - PEERLESS FLOWERS FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"
[d] 1.4 KATSUBOU [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[e] 1.5 LOVE SICK [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[f] 1.6 AIKOTOBA - THE SPELL [FROM "THE APOTHECARY DIARIES"]
[g] 1.7 RED:BIRTHMARK [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]
[h] 1.8 HOUSEKI NO HIBI [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]

[a] 1.1 KAKUMEI DOUCHUU - ON THE WAY [FROM "DANDADAN"]
[b] 1.2 DAIJOUBU [FROM "MOONRISE"]
[c] 1.3 HANA MUSOU - PEERLESS FLOWERS [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[d] 1.4 KATSUBOU [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[e] 1.5 LOVE SICK [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[f] 1.6 AIKOTOBA - THE SPELL [FROM "THE APOTHECARY DIARIES"]
[g] 1.7 RED:BIRTHMARK [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]
[h] 1.8 HOUSEKI NO HIBI [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]

[a] a1 KAKUMEI DOUCHUU - ON THE WAY [FROM "DANDADAN"]
[b] a2 DAIJOUBU [FROM "MOONRISE"]
[c] a3 HANA MUSOU - PEERLESS FLOWERS [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[d] a4 KATSUBOU [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[e] b1 LOVE SICK [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[f] b2 AIKOTOBA - THE SPELL [FROM "THE APOTHECARY DIARIES"]
[g] b3 RED:BIRTHMARK [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]
[h] b4 HOUSEKI NO HIBI [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]

[a] a1 | KAKUMEI DOUCHUU - ON THE WAY [FROM "DANDADAN"]
[b] a2 | DAIJOUBU [FROM "MOONRISE"]
[c] a3 | HANA MUSOU - PEERLESS FLOWERS [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[d] a4 | KATSUBOU [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[e] b1 | LOVE SICK [FROM "MONONOKE THE MOVIE THE ASHES OF RAGE"]
[f] b2 | AIKOTOBA - THE SPELL [FROM "THE APOTHECARY DIARIES"]
[g] b3 | RED BIRTHMARK [FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]
[FROM "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE WITCH FROM MERCURY"]

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

The year was 1985. The reformation of Sweet was under way. I had been hanging out with Mick Tucker and we’d talked about putting together a “new” Rock line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band. I had recruited Phil Lanzon on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass, now we needed the Voice! Paul Mario Day walked in and we looked no further. Paul was the original singer with Iron Maiden and had a stint with the band More before he joined Sweet. Our first dates were in Australia, total sell-outs which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit and 3 sold out nights at the original Marquee Club in London produced a live album, video and DVD. “Live at the Marquee” did well in various charts around the world and Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time. There were also tracks recorded at Pacific Studios in London which feature Paul’s incredible vocals. These recordings were meant to be the start of a new phase for Sweet but due to a management dispute only 4 tracks were released. Sadly Paul is no longer with us but the legacy is right here for everyone to appreciate.

The year was 1985. The reformation of Sweet was under way. I had been hanging out with Mick Tucker and we’d talked about putting together a “new” Rock line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band. I had recruited Phil Lanzon on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass, now we needed the Voice! Paul Mario Day walked in and we looked no further. Paul was the original singer with Iron Maiden and had a stint with the band More before he joined Sweet. Our first dates were in Australia, total sell-outs which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit and 3 sold out nights at the original Marquee Club in London produced a live album, video and DVD. “Live at the Marquee” did well in various charts around the world and Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time. There were also tracks recorded at Pacific Studios in London which feature Paul’s incredible vocals. These recordings were meant to be the start of a new phase for Sweet but due to a management dispute only 4 tracks were released. Sadly Paul is no longer with us but the legacy is right here for everyone to appreciate.

The year was 1985. The reformation of Sweet was under way. I had been hanging out with Mick Tucker and we’d talked about putting together a “new” Rock line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band. I had recruited Phil Lanzon on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass, now we needed the Voice! Paul Mario Day walked in and we looked no further. Paul was the original singer with Iron Maiden and had a stint with the band More before he joined Sweet. Our first dates were in Australia, total sell-outs which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit and 3 sold out nights at the original Marquee Club in London produced a live album, video and DVD. “Live at the Marquee” did well in various charts around the world and Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time. There were also tracks recorded at Pacific Studios in London which feature Paul’s incredible vocals. These recordings were meant to be the start of a new phase for Sweet but due to a management dispute only 4 tracks were released. Sadly Paul is no longer with us but the legacy is right here for everyone to appreciate.