Suche:10 years

The Reverend Horton Heat ain’t
just a person, or a band—it’s a
state of mind. Drawing on such
crazed rockabilly ancestors as
Charlie Feathers, Hasil Adkins,
and The Killer himself, James
(Reverend Horton) Heath and his
long-time bassist Jimbo Wallace
have, over the course of the
last 30-plus years, helped bring
rockabilly kicking and screaming
into the modern age, marrying
punk with rockabilly to create the psychobilly genre.
And, on their 2000 album Spend the Night in the Box—which,
to burnish the “psycho” credentials, was produced by fellow
Texan Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers fame—The Reverend
Horton Heat struck gold (hence our gold vinyl edition!), going
to #2 on the CMJ charts on the strength of such numbers as
“Sue Jack Daniels,” “The Girl in Blue,” and other misbegotten
tales of babes and booze. This is actually a bit of a return to
a classic rockabilly/swing sound, powered by the Rev’s 1954
Gibson ES-175 and the rhythm section of Wallace and drummer
Scott Churilla, but it’s no less (ahem) heated. Vinyl debut
boasting inner sleeve with lyrics!

Oscillate / verb – to move or swing back and forth in a regular rhythm. Alexander Flood has developed and refined a strong, progressive voice and style on his kit through his 17 years performing and studying. Previously graduating top of his year, he has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including Australia's Best Up-andComing Drummer in both 2012 and 2016, The John ‘Slick’ Osborne Scholarship in 2017 and the Helpmann Academy Jazz Award for Top Overall Graduate in 2018. In 2020 he signed with 6x Grammy nominee Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to release Alex’s debut LP “HEARTBEAT” and “The Space Between” in 2022. 2023 finds Alexander aligning w/ Berlin’s Jakarta Records to release LP “Oscillate” - a blistering, hard-hitting meld of infectious rhythms, pulsing keys, and a swingin’ groove that melds into a genre-defying conglomeration of creative compositions and collaboration. In mid 2022 Alex travelled from Australia to Berlin, where he assembled a dream team crew of creative innovators featuring Hungarian keyboard player Àbáse, Australian bass guru Horatio Luna, and Brazilian flautista Paulo Cedraz. Together the group cut six unique dance tracks at Berlin’s iconic Jazzanova Studios, engineered by Grammy nominated Axel Reinemer. From the shuffling broken beats and dancing flute melodies in title track “Oscillate” to the experimental uptempo “Deja Vu”, the momentum of the music ceases to stop. “U R THA 1” features a driving jungle sound of repitched drums, vocal chops and 808 bass, and “Berlin” captures a classic funky 90s house feel powered by 4-on-the-floor kick and melodic basslines from Horatio Luna. Paulo Cedraz shines on flute in the Caribbean influenced “Ginealach”, and the LP finishes with the head-bopping “Hüpf” giving the listener a taste of some down-tempo beat music atop a bed of Àbáse’s lush rhodes. From top to bottom, the unique voices and powerful musicianship of each band member is obvious. Australian influence is at the core of the sound not only through the bass and drum chair, but through the punchy characteristic mix by Melbourne’s Lewis Moody and master by Gareth Thomson. The final piece of the puzzle was bringing in Alex’s childhood drum and percussion teacher Joel Prime, where they overdubbed additional percussion parts together in London. Artwork was stunningly put together by Robert Winter (Suff Daddy, Bluestaeb, K, Le Maestro) with visualizers put together by the stalwart KARL-F. Jakarta is ecstatic to share such a high-water mark of an album, out everywhere physically / digitally May 12th. Check the accompanying Press Sheet for Campaign Schedule and more. Besides online promotion from the label and artist profiles, the album will further be promoted by external agencies within the US and UK.

Jean-Luc Mocard met Jean Ronde in September of 2009, while working at the CASIO Palaiseau factory, near Paris. Before, they were both active musicians with a particular taste for synthesized music, touring extensively through European and Asian underground venues and clubs. Eventually, their furious passion for collecting 80’s keyboards brought them together to become the fabulous duo Vive Les Cônes.

Presently based in Porto, Portugal, by a matter of pure chance, Vive Les Cônes is a CASIO explosion, the fuel of a dancing machine that never stops and cherry picks moments from dance and pop music culture along the way. Their live concerts are non-stop hit parades featuring their very own local cult classics, such as “Bonaparty” or “Brocoli-Rave”, and medleys of pop-culture classics ranging from video-game soundtracks, to dance hits, to classical music.

“De France”, their debut album, is the product of years of playing live, training and mastering the perfect CASIO technique. Every track in this album is played live using only pure unmodded Casio PT-380 and Yamaha PSR-37 keyboards, thrift store fx pedals, bringing to the recorded form the meticulously crafted tracks that set dancefloors on fire all throughout the world.

The album is an eclectic journey through electronic and dance music on cheap keyboards, from traces of House Music in “Maillon” and the instant hit “Je Ne Sais Pas”, fumes of vaporwave in “Machine à Vapeur”, and, of course, baguettes of French electro in “Brocoli-Rave”, the track that usually andeuphorically ends Vive Les Cônes’ set.

The Quietus has referred to the duo as a “weird John Shuttleworth take on house music”, but them being French, a better comparison would be something like “Daft Punk lost all their gear on tour and had to play a gig using some old keyboards”. But could they even do it? Maybe a “Pascal Comelade on molly live set for Boiler Room” could make thembetter Justice. We’re not really sure what to compare them to though, and probably there’s no need to compare them to anything, as the best thing you can do is to give them a go and check them out for yourself.

Jean-Luc Mocard met Jean Ronde in September of 2009, while working at the CASIO Palaiseau factory, near Paris. Before, they were both active musicians with a particular taste for synthesized music, touring extensively through European and Asian underground venues and clubs. Eventually, their furious passion for collecting 80’s keyboards brought them together to become the fabulous duo Vive Les Cônes.

Presently based in Porto, Portugal, by a matter of pure chance, Vive Les Cônes is a CASIO explosion, the fuel of a dancing machine that never stops and cherry picks moments from dance and pop music culture along the way. Their live concerts are non-stop hit parades featuring their very own local cult classics, such as “Bonaparty” or “Brocoli-Rave”, and medleys of pop-culture classics ranging from video-game soundtracks, to dance hits, to classical music.

“De France”, their debut album, is the product of years of playing live, training and mastering the perfect CASIO technique. Every track in this album is played live using only pure unmodded Casio PT-380 and Yamaha PSR-37 keyboards, thrift store fx pedals, bringing to the recorded form the meticulously crafted tracks that set dancefloors on fire all throughout the world.

The album is an eclectic journey through electronic and dance music on cheap keyboards, from traces of House Music in “Maillon” and the instant hit “Je Ne Sais Pas”, fumes of vaporwave in “Machine à Vapeur”, and, of course, baguettes of French electro in “Brocoli-Rave”, the track that usually andeuphorically ends Vive Les Cônes’ set.

The Quietus has referred to the duo as a “weird John Shuttleworth take on house music”, but them being French, a better comparison would be something like “Daft Punk lost all their gear on tour and had to play a gig using some old keyboards”. But could they even do it? Maybe a “Pascal Comelade on molly live set for Boiler Room” could make thembetter Justice. We’re not really sure what to compare them to though, and probably there’s no need to compare them to anything, as the best thing you can do is to give them a go and check them out for yourself.

Purple/Black smoke vinyl. Limited 300 copies. Morning Again formed in the 90's and helped create the metalcore sound that is so popular today. The band become well known by combining different aspects of metal and hardcore with Politically charged lyrics and messages. Over the years the band has released Multiple 7", Ep's as well as a full length on Revelation Records. This new Ep contains the same energy, passion and aggression that the band has always had. Sonically this is their best recording to date and let's us hear what Morning Again sounds like with the most modern recording technology and an amazing producer/engineer once again. "Borrowed Time" was recorded by Beau Burchell from Saosin in Orange County, CA. He has also worked with The Bronx, Trash Talk, Underoath and Senses Fail. This new record has a song called "Resignation" which features guest vocals by Trevor Strnad from The Black Dahlia Murder.

The Croatian production powerhouse and disco boogie impresario steps up to International Feel, and takes a left turn into deep space with a new six track LP Pulsar Diaries.

Ilija’s discography stretches back to 2003, and over those 20 years he’s packed it full with albums, versions, remixes and singles. His releases are often perfectly-penned love letters to ‘80s boogie, electro and disco, and like postcards from an old flame, they’ve landed in an array of record label catalogs, from Bear Funk, Rong, and Electric Minds, to Is It Balearic? as well as his own Red Music and Imogen Recordings. He’s long-been an active voice on the underground club scene, and if you’ve been out dancing in Zagreb, Berlin or even Tisno beach, chances are you’ve gotten down to one of his beautifully blended sets of cosmic-tinged electro funk and disco dubs.

On Pulsar Diaries, Ilija delivers a panoramic collection of spaced-out synths and drum machine grooves, dedicated to the planet and our place in the universe. The A side opens up with the blissful, weightless pads of the title track, before it breaks out into filtered stabs over a minimal b-boy bounce. Delphic Expanse ebbs and flows like a lunar eclipse, sounding like a futuristic version of Key-Matic’s Breaking In Space, all uprock rhythms and syrupy synth horns as it spins off beyond the asteroid belt. Side A closes out with Blackburn Tales, a suspenseful and spacious electro rhythm packed with strings and 303 squelch, which you might call anti-gravity acid, if you were so inclined.

Side B picks up the tempo with Fourth Amendment, perfect for the space station discotheque with its sweeping bass filters and ice-cold synth melodies hovering in orbit. Farewell Theme takes an introspective moment, slowing the pace to a cosmic 90 bpm and inviting a certain cinematic feel to proceedings. This feeling applies not just to the vivid landscapes we travel through, but also wider thoughts about humankind: as we pause for a breath and look around, we find ourselves in Ilija’s space, considering human motivations, like the pursuit of happiness, or the eternal struggle with the self.

Every journey begins with a goodbye, and so the last track of the album feels like the arrival at a new destination: Ursa Major is ablaze with cascading drum fills, bubble-wrapped bass riffs and bright synth chords that sparkle like city lights underneath a re-orbiting satellite.

With Pulsar Diaries, Ilija Rudman has created a rare artifact: an album that straddles several worlds at once. Part soundtrack to space travel, part meditation on the human condition, part deep-burning dancefloor dynamo - whether in the club surrounded by friends or at home by yourself, this is a record that expands the mind and lets the imagination soar.

Sonor Music Editions presents a previously unknown Italian Library session from the golden era - »Rhythm, and Sound» by the mysterious Mandrassi & Zollinger, backed by I Beati studio band. Mandrassi, alias for Anna Maria Assunta Andreassi, is one of the very first female composers of Library Music in Italy while Zollinger is linked to Sergio Pagano, brother of the famed Italian author, composer and singer Mario Pagano. Originally released in 1973 for the private studio label Ludo Rekord, this album remained in the obscurity for almost 50 years. it’s so rare that only very few hardcore record collectors know it, we even doubt about its existence at all.. so we're now glad to bring it back to life!

A countless breaks galore, filled with outstanding funk grooves and chasing beats. The jam sounds like a missing link between The Fine Machine's »Habitat« and the legendary Arawak »Accadde a..« recordings, with its uptempo rhythms allover and the coolest funky instrumentation played by a mysterious studio group.

Atlanta bass player Khari Cabral has joined up with Jiva for a first new album in some 13 years. The pair has a great musical chemistry as evidenced by this welcome return as they harness their creativity and draw on the acid jazz roots of the 90s to cook up something fresh. Jiva's reputation for a soul-boss nova funk sound also adds to the mix as these smooth, vibrant and lush sounds pair with real emotional weight from the vocal performances to make for an album of real delight for fans both old and new.

Bored with Prozac and the Internet? is an experimental/electronic-based album originally released in 2013 by TV Mania. The album was recorded from 1995 to 1996 by TV Mania members Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo as a side project of their full-time band, Duran Duran. The recordings remained unreleased for some 17 years after having been presumed lost. The chance discovery of the album master tapes by Rhodes led to the set's 2013 release.

Having emerged as a luminary of the Los Angeles Beat Scene, MatthewDavid immersed himself for several years in the rich, neglected, and all-too-often-derided archive of New Age sound/culture, stewarding a kind of New New Age sensibility into being. Mycelium Music constitutes a synthesis of these aesthetics, an alchemical marriage of sorts, in which the digital and the organic, the earthen and the aethereal, the bloom and the rot all collide and coexist. How might the Mycelium sing? Where other sound artists might be tempted to capture the phenomena, reaching for a field recorder, MatthewDavid responds with a succinct, impressionistic, and diaristic suite of “songs” (although, as with the mycelium itself, one cannot easily distinguish where one song/organism ends and another begins). Leaving Records founder Matthewdavid announces his new album Mycelium Music, his first proper full-length since 2018. The first single to be taken from the album 'Liquidity', was created as a direct response to ambient pioneer Laraaji encouraging Matthewdavid to innovate zither music. Beautifully textural, Mycelium Music constitutes an alchemical marriage in which the digital and the organic, the earthen and the aethereal, the bloom and the rot all collide and coexist. The record is a product of serious contemplation on the meaning, the problems, and the promises of interdependence.

Offering a three track EP on Token, emblematic UK producer James Ruskin proves his capability and linear focus once again through 'From the Ashes'. Looking past trends to create a lasting record rich in texture and thick with impact, the project affirms what the scene has already known to be true about his work for the past 25 years.

Setting his intentions from the A1, Ruskin wastes no time by creating an intimidating introduction. Saturated percussion and stuttering keys whip through a 4 minute masterclass of sound system focused production. Adventurous in structure, Ruskin remains unquestionably in control of a bursting, almost chaotic track. 'From the Ashes 2' picks up what was left off, containing a hard-set groove with hi hats slithering in progressively from the stereo image to slightly destabilize an impressive club-heavy tool. With intricate work being done in the ambience, the EP's hard hitting second track booms through a cavernous acoustic, giving the record not only body, but dimension. Switching up the rhythm and focusing on more mental synth work for the third act, Ruskin quickly and mercilessly rips through his work with a shrill pad, creating overwhelming tension to be released in the first third of the recording. He brings a dosed dissonance between his elements, reflective of the qualities of vintage techno with today's capabilities and arrangement. Pushing intensity through waves, Ruskin leaves us in anticipation of a fourth track that is never given.

Irish-born, Manchester-based Kerrie is a multi-disciplinary artist, incorporating live sets, DJing, producing and running her label Dark Machine Funk across her repertoire of work. Now, Kerrie follows up last year's 'Raw Regimen' (BP063) with a second EP for James Ruskin's seminal Blueprint Records.

Having garnered a rich musical education through working at and holding a DJ residency for one of the UK's most respected record shops Eastern Bloc, Kerrie's in-depth knowledge and unwavering dedication to music shines through her notable back catalogue and bolshy, unforgiving DJ and Live sets. Honing her craft for over a decade, Kerrie has played worldwide in celebrated venues such as Tresor, Berghain, fabric, FOLD, Elsewhere NYC and festivals including Freedom Medellin, Freerotation, Drift and Basilar.

First learning to mix via her brother's turntables in the early 2000s, it wasn't until 2009 that Kerrie invested in her own set-up and built an extensive record collection, covering everything from ambient, electronic, house, EBM, acid, electro, and her go-to genre, techno. Kerrie delivers tough moods from the turntables, as conveyed in her mixes for Reclaim Your City, Bassiani, SLAM and Crack, where she carefully blended high-energy styles of UK, Detroit, and European techno, many of which stem from the 90s and the 00s. It's frequent to hear Kerrie weave broken elements into her mixes too, chopping up the 4/4 groove at just the right moment to keep things propulsive. Kerrie's Live sets are fast becoming renowned for their trippy motifs and high impact on the dancefloor, applauded by Berlin's long-running club Tresor, where she made several appearances with her Elektron machines. Kerrie's Live set at Freerotation in 2019 was one of the festival's most talked-about debuts, and this year, Kerrie will return to and debut at multiple festivals and clubs across Europe and the Americas.

Following well-received releases on labels such as Don't Be Afraid, Cultivated Electronics, I Love Acid and Symbolism, Kerrie launched her imprint Dark Machine Funk DMF in 2020. The label homes her distinctly raw aesthetic and honours her love for dark, gritty, metallic and industrial sounds melded with elements of funk, heavily influenced by second-wave Detroit artists, UK techno and music by some of her favourite artists; James Ruskin, Blawan and Surgeon. Kerrie's first release on DMF, 'Inner Space PT1', was praised by Resident Advisor, who credited her ability to make "lean, fierce techno that knows how to groove."

2022 was a watershed year for Kerrie's productions. She debuted on the monumental UK techno label Blueprint with her EP 'Raw Regimen', which landed acclaimed reviews. Truly welcomed to the Blueprint family, Kerrie shares her second EP on the label in May and joins the crew at Blueprint showcases around the globe. This year marks the release of Kerrie's 10th EP on vinyl, and considering her consistent output on DMF, Blueprint and many more labels, the producer shows no sign of slowing down.

Coming to international prominence in more recent years, regardless of her decade-long tenure in Manchester's vibrant scene, Kerrie is deeply invested in the culture of electronic music, starting from her teenage era as a raver in Ireland up to her innovative projects today. In 2017, she founded Eastern Bloc's in-house event space to nurture local talent, which remains at the heart of Manchester's music community. Having ended her 11-year stint at the shop in 2023 to fully commit to the studio and accommodate her increasingly busy tour schedule, Kerrie is forging a long-lasting path fuelled by drive, passion, authenticity and a community-first way of thinking.

Ancient A&O is a selection of unreleased tracks and dubs we like from our old DAT tapes all created during our early years between 1989 and 1993. It includes Here For A Reason, a rare unreleased track featuring Nishka. We're very pleased the great Lantern Rec are releasing the vinyl and we hope you like it, many thanks... A&O"

Tom Trago returns to Rush Hour after 10 years with a wonderfully accomplished mini-album, tip!

During the years he spent living in Amsterdam, when his DJ career seemed to become an unstoppable juggernaut, Tom Trago was a regular visitor to Deco Sauna, a local institution that helped him “decompress” and de-toxify his body. Eventually, a more extended period of “decompression” was needed, with Trago moving to the coast to reassess his priorities and spend more time with his young family.

‘Deco’, his sixth album and first for Rush Hour in a decade, was recorded following an extended absence from club dancefloors, as Trago cut back on DJ commitments to prioritise family life. When he returned to the studio, often with his daughter by his side, Trago initially struggled to get back into the groove. The desire to make dancefloor-focused music had – temporarily, at least – deserted him; instead, he found himself drawn towards a desire to create “electronic lullabies” and music that reflected his more pastoral environment (his home backs on to a patch of woodland in which he would walk every day).

Returning to his most familiar synthesisers – and specifically the first synthesiser he bought, on credit, as a young DJ and wannabe producer – Trago set about navigating different musical routes without the straight-jacket of club-focused dancefloors. Occasionally, old friends from Amsterdam would join him in the studio – Tracey and Maxi Mill, both of whom are part of his Voyage Direct label roster, contributed to tracks on the album – but for the most part the production process was a solo endeavour: musical therapy for an artist determined to do things differently after years spent making club hits and sweat-soaked peak-time workouts.

The results are rarely less than spellbinding. Trago sets his stall out with opener ‘Dark Oak’, a gorgeous, colourful, sun-bright scene-setter co-produced by Tracey that layers tumbling lead lines, chiming melodic motifs and kaleidoscopic chords atop the gentlest of bubbly beat patterns. Maxi Mill lends a hand on ‘Central Park’, a deep and hypnotic excursion marked out by rhythmic bleeps, minimalistic beats and layered melodies, and the summer sun-down rush of ‘Never Peace a Puzzle’, where kaleidoscopic synth sounds, meandering solos and looped electronic stabs rush towards a dancefloor of the mind.

Trago’s desire to create “electronic lullabies” for his young daughter comes to the fore on ‘To Be Left Unlocked’, a hypnotising fusion of spacey electronic motifs, Steve Reich style (synth) marimba melodies and slowly building musical intensity, while the echoing Fender Rhodes riffs, squelchy synth-bass, glistening guitar notes and sparse, snappy post hip-hop beats of ‘When The Sky Is Watching Us’ doff a cap to the producer’s roots as a bedroom beat-maker.

Given the project’s genesis, it’s perhaps fitting that Trago chose to conclude proceedings with ‘It Might Be Forever’ and the digital only ‘Blue Dope’, the album’s most rejuvenating, immersive, and vibrant moments. Both feature sustained chords painted with vivid aural brush strokes and come blessed with the merest hint of a rhythmic pulse – a thread that subtly runs throughout Trago’s most mature and musically rich album to date.

Matt Anniss

This Armour Gomez is something. From Vietnam to work 5 years in a coal mine to going underground in Las Vegas to found his own band The Accent, then up to New York to play his wildcard in the main business (to no success, as many other great artists like him), then back to Vegas and hit the road for many years as a musician. Now well in his seventies, threee marriages later (and two divorces, remembers me of someone I know very well), the man's still playing everywhere day in day out.

3 years on from his debut album Second Language, Minor Science returns in a giddy rush of beats, bass and pitched-up samples.
064 is a cheap thrill ride through a world consumed by work. Inspired by several years of hard hustle, "Workahol" and "Casheine" mash up hardcore, bassline, electro and booty bass to offer (over)stimulation for crisis-era dancefloors. "If you want my lovin' you've gotta work harder..."

Since relocating to Brazil some years back, Needs Music co-founder Lars Bartkuhn has returned to his long-held love of musical improvisation. Although it’s a product of his jazz roots and classical training, the German producer has constantly found new ways to apply it to his work in the sphere of electronic music.

‘Dystopia’, his first solo album for almost nine years, was born out of two interlinked ideas: a desire to create improvised music without the aid of computer sequencers or an electronic drum set, and a deeply held love of storytelling through sound. Bartkuhn set to work improvising with modular synthesizers, acoustic instruments and hand percussion, later adding light-touch overdubs to a handful of pieces. When he listened back to the recordings, an aural narrative emerged, and you’ll hear it if you listen to the album from start to finish, as is intended.

As you’d expect from a musician and composer of Bartkuhn’s undoubted ability, ‘Dystopia’ is a stunning album – an undulating, expansive ambient journey packed with emotional resonance. While Bartkuhn naturally sees it as a logical progression of his previous ambient-leaning work with Kabuki as The First Minute of a New Day (and particularly their self-titled 2020 album Séance Centre), ‘Dystopia’ also features subtle nods to many of his long-held musical loves, including John Hassell’s ‘fourth world’ recordings, the impossible-to-pigeonhole 1970s catalogue of deep jazz imprint ECM, and the far-sighted American minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

The album’s emotional depth is evident early on, with the slow-burn title track – all bubbling electronics, billowing chords, clarinet-style notes and gently strummed guitars offering the most melancholic and bittersweet of openings. The becalmed ‘A Drop Of Water In The Ocean’ follows, with discordant aural textures and hand percussion mimicking the rolling ocean, before ‘Largo (Calm Before The Storm)’ hints at unsettling times ahead.

‘Water and Warm Air’, the only track on the album whose starting point was not Bartkuhn’s cherished modular set-up, bleeps and bubbles across the sound space, adding a starry and otherworldly slant to proceedings, while ‘Disembodied Journey (Parts 1, 2 and 3)’ is a sublime, slowly unfurling journey in three movements – all Tangerine Dream style synthesizer motifs, Pat Metheny-esque guitars and jazz-fusion instrumentation.

So the album continues, with the poignant warmth and looped motifs of ‘Still Existing’ and the sparse, dubbed-out minimalism of ‘Do You Know How To Get Out?’ – a kind of 21st century jazz-fusionist’s take on sparse electronic hypnotism – giving wat to closing cut ‘Into The Waves’, a gentle combination of undulating electronic arpeggios and echoing instrumentation that offers a hopeful and undeniably picturesque conclusion.

Fittingly, the album cover features a painting by the late Dutch artist Franz Deckwitz (1934-94), whose images of alien landscapes were used by Phillips on a series of music concrete compilations. The image featured on the cover of ‘Dystopia’, depicting a deep blue ocean and shoreline, was painted by Deckwitz in Amsterdam in the late 1970s and inspired by a trip to the island of Ponza, Italy.

Matt Anniss

Introducing ‘Duality’, the new double album from Andrew Bayer. Two musical threads weave through the collected works of Andrew Bayer. One thread gave us the downtempo masterclass of 2013’s ‘If It Were You We’d Never Leave’ and the brilliant 'In My Last Life' LP. The other thread produced arena-sized anthems like 2014’s ‘Once Lydian’, his epic 'Super Human' with Asbjørn and the club remix project 'In My Next Life'. From the introspective to the explosive, these records are our community’s shared soundtrack: we’ve all got a favourite Andrew Bayer record. But they have come in so many forms and styles. It leaves us asking the question, who exactly is Andrew Bayer? It’s a question he’s asked himself. “Since day one, I have always struggled with how to present myself. I love making these experimental home listening albums of electronica and indie sounds, but I also love DJing and making trance bangers. On my last album I had to remix the album in full after it was released to make the worlds fit. This time around I wanted to capture all the breadth, depth and tension within that duality under one single project” - Andrew Bayer ‘Duality’ brings these two creative threads together under one album for the first time since his debut album 'It's Artificial'. Crafted over three years, Bayer is joined by an eclectic cast of collaborators old and new. ‘Duality’ pt. 1 explores Bayer’s passion for downtempo and indie-pop, while ‘Duality’ pt. 2 takes on his forward-thinking trance and progressive sond. Both are tied by Bayer's unique vision, a shared sensibility and same group of collaborators. Today, you can hear a sample from each side: ‘Equal’ (with Asbjørn), and ‘Midnight’ (with Alison May). ‘Duality’ is the true follow up to my first album ‘It’s Artificial’. It is by far my most raw and honest work, and I can’t wait to celebrate the album around the world with you all on tour” - Andrew Bayer

Correcciones Calypso returns from a generous hiatus with the fourth edition of its acclaimed edit series, replete with four re-edits that veer from the subtle to the downright brazen. Thomass Jackson and INigo Vontier invite the French duo Youkounkoun to open proceedings with an insane early 80s edit full of big drums and exotic touches that's been blowing dancefloors all around the world for the past years - and definitely resides in the brazen category, despite a lot of work having gone into it. Olta Karawame make their debut on the series with a powerful, compact edit full of ballsy keyboard riffing and a military-sized kick drum that is guaranteed to have heads banging . To complete the release label bosses Thomass and INigo deliver edits of their own with their characteristic sound, giving this EP maximum a value for money factor and entertainment from start to finish.

LA-based event series and DIY music collective New Palm began back in 2017 and in the six years since has turned plenty of heads. It is now a core part of that local underground scene and so here it makes the natural next step of starting its own label. The imprint kicks off with a fresh EP by resident and label co-boss Charles Edward. He shows off his love for dubbed-out rollers with music that captures the essence of the New Palm parties - heady pads, smooth grooves and classy moods. Here's looking forward to many more.

hand-numbered 12" limited to 300 copies

Fittingly, Control Freak's first full length LP comes from the artist who launched our imprint near-on 4 years ago. Keplrr’s ‘Petra’ is a remarkable entry into the canon of contemporary ‘non-functional’ techno.

After a string of acclaimed EPs and singles, the South London-based DJ/producer brings his unique ear for sound design to the forefront across his debut album, a continuous piece with many recurring musical themes and motifs. Drifting between dream states and the psychedelic, ‘Petra’ sees Keplrr set aside the rigid constraints of club music and delve deep into the wells of the subconscious.

The album moves deftly through styles: meandering ambient/downtempo pieces, including a collaboration with classically trained Jazz singer Livi Graham, to the deep & techno-influenced ‘Two Prophets Lay Here’, reaching its crescendo in the IDM-inflected ‘Celestial Body’.

For fans of: Call Super, Leif, Koreless, Perila, Lorraine James.

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

The trio Amiira of Klaus Gesing, Björn Meyer and Samuel Rohrer has returned after a layoff of six years since their debut LP. It would be unwise to expect for them to pick up exactly where they left off, given all the turbulent change that the world has encountered since this time, and indeed the new Album Curious Objects reflects a clear expansion of the players’ abilities. The fundamentals that guided the
debut album – spatiality, refined coolness, the non-verbal “narrative” quality - are still very much present, but are this time reinforced with an even more pronounced feeling of communicating across wide
physical and conceptual spaces. Altogether, Curious Objects is a potent antidote for spiritual and musical fatigue; especially
recommended for those who have already left behind the limitations posed by genres. It is more than the sum of its parts, and its crossing of numerous different boundaries never feels like the goal in and of
itself: instead, all this activity feels like a tool for unlocking and decoding even more supposedly irreconcilable qualities and ideas.

We are very happy to announce a new release on Mr. Bongo scheduled to be released on the 9th of June 2023. This is a repress of Rio de Janeiro's very own Bala Desejo's debut album "Sim Sim Sim". The album was previously only available on very limited runs in Japan and Brazil and it is now presented and available for worldwide distribution for the very first time.

Bala Desejo could be described as a supergroup, uniting some of the most talented musicians taking part in the current renaissance of the Rio de Janeiro sound. As solo musicians they have worked and collaborated with legends such as Gal Costa or Milton Nascimento. Together they decided to explore new routes and ways, channeling influences from the best of MPB into a fresh and innovative recipe.

Sim Sim Sim went on to win a Latin Grammy in 2022 for the Best Contemporary Pop album in Portuguese language and is the first testimony from one of the most fascinating outlets to come out of Brazil in recent years.

London based label Natural Selection present their 4th release in the form of a 4-track physical and digital Techno EP courtesy of Rommek, entitled "Devil's Playground EP". Cut by Simon at The Exchange Vinyl and mastered by Dadub Studios, Berlin.

Based in London, Rommek has seen his music released by the heaviest of renowned labels such as MORD, ARTS & James Ruskin's Blueprint Records. Rommek returns to Natural Selection after releasing with the label via their widely acclaimed VA compilation fundraiser "In Aid Of Ukraine" in 2022, with his track "All Blood Is Red", which has gained support by some of the most respected DJ's worldwide.

Since his debut release in 2014, Rommek has creatively expanded his own sound and has firmly established himself within the global techno and experimental scene. His extensive interest in sound design is crafted within the dense atmospheres, heavy broken drums and dynamic tones found within his productions. After various releases that grounded him within the Blueprint family, Rommek then completed his most established work to date, the 'Set In Stone Trilogy' in 2018. The three part release compromises of 12 tracks, original and remixes from key members of the Blueprint team; James Ruskin, O/V/R (James Ruskin & Regis), Broken English Club and Makaton.

After releasing over 15 solo EP's, Rommek has gained a wide range of noteworthy support, from being played on BBC Radio 1, to features and reviews in Mixmag, The Wire and The Quietus magazines. In 2018 he was featured within the top 100 globally charted artists on Resident Advisor. From this, it is clear that Rommek is driven to continue expanding his capabilities and keep excelling forward. After forming a close connection to Natural Selection in recent years, he has now cemented himself as one of the main front-line artists and residents within the London based imprint.

Natural Selection are well known for bridging the heavier spectrum of Techno, Electro, IDM, Acid, etc. with new, experimental style and form. One can always expect cutting-edge, hard-hitting, underground electronics from Natural Selection, with extreme diversity in sound.

Six years, more than fifty releases, countless artists and multiple subsidiaries; the Oyster Cult’s reach extends far beyond what sceptics once thought possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we gather some of our finest under the Kalahari banner in celebration.

The anniversary release is upon us. Six whole years since Jacy helped inaugurate the label with a spin on Midwestern house, OYSTER40 signals a landmark occasion. 18 tracks, quadruple vinyl boxset action, and in true Oyster Cult tradition, it comes bearing pearls.

Dancefloor squarely in focus, the Cult assembles on a compilation spanning alumni and new inductees alike. It’s an assemblage of the fractal, explorative and ritual-ready; at once a focused distillation of the Kalahari sound and celebration of its many acolytes. Big on atmosphere, heavy on groove, we delve deeply into the musical DNA shared by all who grace the label.

Tough, direct cuts (Sansibar, Roza Terenzi, Big Zen, Maara & Priori) to the pristine and widescreen (S.O.N.S., Volodymyr Gnatenko, Adam Pits), this is all quintessentially Kalahari. Elsewhere though, the likes of D. Tiffany and SW. journey further into realms of abstraction: the former opting for hi-tech, dreamstate IDM, while the SUED co-founder dissolves a house template into dubby introspection.

Calling upon contemporary talents for the most part, there are also exceptions. Raymond Castoldi - the one-time house producer best known as Madison Square Garden’s music director - returns with an unreleased nugget from ’91, while an ‘Aliens’-sampling track from Detroit-indebted techno outfit Syzygy gets the reissue treatment.

Ltd Edition! 15 Years Drumpoet!

Die Compilation besteht aus 100% exklusiven Tracks von Künstlern wie Jimi Jules, Matthew Herbert, Roman Flügel & Frank Wiedemann, Kalabrese, Lauer, Fred Everything, Manuel Tur u.v.m.

Alles begann mit einer Gruppe von DJs und Beatmakern, allesamt inspiriert von den Techno- und House-Platten aus Detroit und Chicago und verbunden durch eine tiefe Leidenschaft - sowohl für UK Bass-Musik als auch US-Hiphop und 70’s Soul-Jazz. Diese Crew aus Zürich bündelte all diese Inspirationen und Einflüße zu einem Sound, den sie als B-Boy-House und Teknowsoul bezeichneten. Bereits die ersten Releases auf Drumpoet brachten den internationalen Durchbruch und Künstler wie Soultourist, Quarion, Cavalier, Dplay & Manuel Tur oder auch John Daly weckten weltweit großes Interesse in der Szene für elektronische Musik und hinterließen einen bleibenden Eindruck. Drumpoet ist sehr stolz darauf mit dieser Compilation das 15-jährige Labelbestehen zu feiern. Hier werden die über die Jahre entstandenen Freundschaften und die Geschichte des Labels genauso reflektiert wie eine tiefe und ehrliche Liebe zur Dance Musik. Das spiegelt sich natürlich auch in den exklusiven Tunes von Ikonen wie Herbert, Roman Flügel und Frank Wiedemann, Manuel Tur, Lauer, John Daly, Kalabrese, Manuel Fischer, Nicola Kazimir, Ripperton und Jimi Jules wieder.

Format: Streng limitierte schwarze 3LP im Inside Out Cover + Drumpoet Bandana in japanischer Cello Hülle (die ist bestickert).

Diorama is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair. The album won an ARIA Music Award for Best Rock Album in 2002. With the release of Diorama they were growing more into their own sound, with a fine mix of orchestral pop and rock. Their alternative rock sound has changed to a more melodic one. With the sounds of the harpsichord, organ and orchestra they created their own rock opera. Leadsinger Daniel Johns is bringing the best of rock and opera together in his high and impressive vocal parts. But there's still a tough of their alternative rock sound in songs like 'Without You' and 'Too Much Is Not Enough'. All in all, Silverchair released an ambitious and gorgeously produced album.

Silverchair were an Australian rock band formed in 1992 and have sold over 9 millions albums worldwide. Their sounds evolved during the years from the grunge and alternative rock to pop and art rock. In 2011 they announced their 'indefinite hibernation' and it is still unknown to date if they ever going to return on stage.

Diorama is available as a limited edition of 2.000 individually numbered copies on solid yellow & transparent green mixed vinyl.

Ursprünglich 1989 veröffentlicht, war dies das dritte Studioalbum der Band bei Atlantic Records. Das Album erreichte Platz 155 der U.S. Billboard 200 und hielt sich acht Wochen lang in dieser Hitparade. Enthält den klassischen Track "Elimination". Limitierte Auflage in
rot-schwarzem marmoriertem Vinyl.

At only 19 years old, Dar Es Salaam's DJ Travella represents a new wave of singeli producers who are driving Tanzania's breakneck dance sound into fresh, innovative spaces. Unaffiliated with any of the well-known studios like Sisso and Pamoja, Hamadi Hassani's music points singeli's fusion of taraab and techno towards the stars, locating a cyber-singeli style that's dense, kinetic and unashamedly sexy. Hassani started producing at 15, and a few years later his debut is a jagged set of hi-nrg dance music that pulls influence from across the globe, folding together elements of dembow, rave, R&B, and trap. But nothing's straightforward: opening track 'Crazy Beat Music Umeme 2' juxtaposes grinding 200bpm rhythmic intensity with urgent plucked strings, sounding like Timbaland conjuring a Thunderdome soundtrack for a Tanzanian street party. 'Crazy Beat Music Umeme 4' is even more barbed, with neon rave synths and hand-jammed percussion that's one part 808 Mafia and one part DJ Diaki. On 'London Bandcamp', Travella meshes hi-speed singeli backbeats with downtempo dembow kicks, squeezing out unexpected sleaze in the process, while on 'London Uwoteeee' there's an almost romantic sparkle, with ethereal vocals draped across woodblock cracks and whistles. But Travella sounds most nimble when giving the nod to Atlanta, and his merging of earworm synth hooks and neck-snapping East African rhythms on tracks like 'London Jomon Beat' will leave no doubt that the young producer is capable of bending singeli completely to his will.

Chalke aka Life On Mars aka Forces Of Nature is a bit of a mystical legend in the drum & bass circles. An old school friend of LTJ Bukem, the two of them grew up together in North London and it is down to him that Bukem started to DJ, with Chalke as his original MC!

This is the second release Chalke has done with Vinyl Fanatiks – his first was VFS002 which has long since sold out and already a collectable repress on Discogs.
Chalke was so far ahead of the curve in his production and ability to create tracks that surprisingly these two tunes were written in 1993 and 1994 and pre-date the whole ‘intelligent’ drum and bass movement that took over the globe in the mid-90s!

Both tracks were never released and have sat on DAT for 30 years… until now. ‘Moonbase Alpha’ is a cult track in the drum and bass world as it was played by Bukem during the mid-90s, both in his sets and on his Kiss show. Deep, rolling and beautifully progressive for the era. ‘Quosh Up’ is equally as stunning, musical and rolling… like one of Bukem’s DJ sets during the Good Looking era.

Limited pressing on 180g heavyweight black vinyl, presented in a black inner sleeve with a Vinyl Fanatiks 3mm spined housebag.

X-Plode is a master of the 1992 rave sound. Listening to any one of his tracks, you could easily imagine them being part of a Top Buzz set back in the early 90’s. Hailing from Bolton, Lee aka X-Plode self-released his debut EP on white label in ’92, which would go on to be a highly collectable item and in turn would prompt Vinyl Fanatiks to track him down, which was not easy I can tell you, in order to repress it in 2020.

A friendship was born and in turn Lee was inspired by the interest in his old EP when reissued that he decided it was time to start making music again, 27 years after he downed tools. And we are very luck he has, because he is a rare talent, with an ability to capture an era in music so genuine and respectful that you would struggle to even tell it was made in the 21st century.

This is X-PLode’s second EP on Amen Brother and another EP has been made for a new label run out of the Vinyl Fanatiks stable called Acid Boom, where Lee showcases his unique ability to perfectly capture another era of British dance music… Adddiieeeeddd!

DRAIN – the Santa Cruz, CA based hardcore band, whose energetic live shows have propelled them to peak underground popularity (during a global pandemic) and they are ready to break wide open in 2023.

Living Proof is the band’s Epitaph Records debut and follow up to their 2020 breakout release, California Cursed.
The new album is a testament to the hard work and heartfelt ethos that’s at the center of DRAIN’s good-time psyche. There are a couple surprises on the album. Rapper Shakewell appears on the track, “Intermission”.
There’s also a cover of “Good, Good Things,” a nearly four-decade old melodic punk carol by the Descendents: slam-pit forebearers to DRAIN if there ever were any. “It’s crazy because the song’s been out like forty years, but lyrically it’s a DRAIN song!” exclaims vocalist
Sam Ciaramitaro.
“It just hits on everything that I love, that I’m about.”
What Sammy’s about is plenty wholesome. “I hope with this record that when someone hears it, it gives them hope,” beams. “If we were able to get through the tough times, anyone can. I can’t wait to play these songs and hear a room full of people singing back to us. We’re what the title says, the Living Proof.”

Produced by longtime friend and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Young (God’s Hate, Suicide Silence), then mixed by John Markson (Drug Church, Koyo), this is hardcore for everybody.
“As the band gets bigger, I try and keep that feeling alive,” says the smiling singer. “Every night I set up the merch and run it until it’s time to play. I want to be the guy that everyone says hello to. I want to thank every single kid that comes out for being there.”

On Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York's The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. Everything Harmony successfully blends the brothers' distinct personalities while giving voice to their eclectic influences. Opening the album with the unassuming acoustic folk of plaintive "When Winter Comes Around," which echoes the sophisticated grandeur of classic Simon & Garfunkel recordings, they immediately switch things up to the sunny classic pop motif of "In MyHead." "Corner of My Eye" channels an Art Garfunkel-like vocal melody over a moody, vibraphone-tinged backing track suggesting the chamber pop of Brian Wilson. While they had no grand concept for Everything Harmony, both the D'Addarios felt a "palpable mood of defeat" prevailed while writing and recording it. "New To Me" was inspired by their shared experience with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's, "What You Were Doing" is dressed in the tortured jangle of vintage Big Star, while "Born To Be Lonely," written after watching John Cassavetes' Opening Night, deals with what Brian calls "the fragility that often comes with age." Everything Harmony is a unified song cycle born of shared blood andcommon purpose. With two musical heads being better than one, there's no shortage of ideas to draw on. Their only impediments are time and the challenge of keeping up with their own prolific musical inspiration. "We share an intuition and tend to be influenced by one another," says Brian, "so the lyrical ideas on this record tend to complement each other. Writing has never been the issue for us. It's completing, editing and compiling that takes the time. We're trapped in a web of songs!"

Clear Vinyl

On Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York's The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. Everything Harmony successfully blends the brothers' distinct personalities while giving voice to their eclectic influences. Opening the album with the unassuming acoustic folk of plaintive "When Winter Comes Around," which echoes the sophisticated grandeur of classic Simon & Garfunkel recordings, they immediately switch things up to the sunny classic pop motif of "In MyHead." "Corner of My Eye" channels an Art Garfunkel-like vocal melody over a moody, vibraphone-tinged backing track suggesting the chamber pop of Brian Wilson. While they had no grand concept for Everything Harmony, both the D'Addarios felt a "palpable mood of defeat" prevailed while writing and recording it. "New To Me" was inspired by their shared experience with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's, "What You Were Doing" is dressed in the tortured jangle of vintage Big Star, while "Born To Be Lonely," written after watching John Cassavetes' Opening Night, deals with what Brian calls "the fragility that often comes with age." Everything Harmony is a unified song cycle born of shared blood andcommon purpose. With two musical heads being better than one, there's no shortage of ideas to draw on. Their only impediments are time and the challenge of keeping up with their own prolific musical inspiration. "We share an intuition and tend to be influenced by one another," says Brian, "so the lyrical ideas on this record tend to complement each other. Writing has never been the issue for us. It's completing, editing and compiling that takes the time. We're trapped in a web of songs!"

Ed Sheeran is set to release his new album ‘-‘ (Subtract) - the last in his decade-spanning mathematical album era - on 5 May 2023 through Asylum/Atlantic on vinyl, cassette and CD. An album that revisits Ed’s singer/songwriter roots, and one that was written against a backdrop of personal grief and hope, ‘-’ (Subtract) presents one of the biggest stars on the planet at his most vulnerable and honest.
In Ed’s own words - “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.
Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.

Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety.
I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.

As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”
Since he first learnt ‘Layla’ by Eric Clapton on guitar at the age of 12-years-old, Sheeran’s love of the singer/songwriter began. Growing up with the likes of Damian Rice, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan playing on repeat in his parents’ house – artists that his dad, John, introduced him to – ‘-‘was always on Ed’s horizon. Yet as the songs and writing process took on a whole new meaning and direction after a series of hard-hitting events impacted Ed’s world in 2022, one thing that remained untouched was his strong desire to make a record anchored in his love of singer/songwriter compositions. And now, as he gears-up for the release of his most soul-baring work to date, ‘-‘ serves as a timely reminder for why Sheeran remains one of the most gifted lyricists of his generation; an artist who breaks down his own experiences for fans to seek comfort and belonging.
‘-‘ is the result of Sheeran pushing the boundaries of his songcraft, as he delivers the most profound songwriting of his career. Teaming-up with Aaron Dessner (The National) on writing and production after the pair joined forces following an introduction from mutual friend Taylor Swift, Ed and Aaron began crafting the album in February last year. Writing over 30 songs during their month-long studio stint, the album’s fourteen tracks are seamlessly tied together by exquisite production from paired back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements.
Ed Sheeran burst onto the UK music scene in 2011 with his debut album ‘+’. Rapidly establishing himself as a history-making artist, he followed with ‘x’, ‘÷’, ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ and ‘=’ - a catalogue that has seen Sheeran become one of the world’s biggest musical success stories of the 21st century.

Ed Sheeran is set to release his new album ‘-‘ (Subtract) - the last in his decade-spanning mathematical album era - on 5 May 2023 through Asylum/Atlantic on vinyl, cassette and CD. An album that revisits Ed’s singer/songwriter roots, and one that was written against a backdrop of personal grief and hope, ‘-’ (Subtract) presents one of the biggest stars on the planet at his most vulnerable and honest.
In Ed’s own words - “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.
Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.

Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety.
I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.

As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”
Since he first learnt ‘Layla’ by Eric Clapton on guitar at the age of 12-years-old, Sheeran’s love of the singer/songwriter began. Growing up with the likes of Damian Rice, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan playing on repeat in his parents’ house – artists that his dad, John, introduced him to – ‘-‘was always on Ed’s horizon. Yet as the songs and writing process took on a whole new meaning and direction after a series of hard-hitting events impacted Ed’s world in 2022, one thing that remained untouched was his strong desire to make a record anchored in his love of singer/songwriter compositions. And now, as he gears-up for the release of his most soul-baring work to date, ‘-‘ serves as a timely reminder for why Sheeran remains one of the most gifted lyricists of his generation; an artist who breaks down his own experiences for fans to seek comfort and belonging.
‘-‘ is the result of Sheeran pushing the boundaries of his songcraft, as he delivers the most profound songwriting of his career. Teaming-up with Aaron Dessner (The National) on writing and production after the pair joined forces following an introduction from mutual friend Taylor Swift, Ed and Aaron began crafting the album in February last year. Writing over 30 songs during their month-long studio stint, the album’s fourteen tracks are seamlessly tied together by exquisite production from paired back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements.
Ed Sheeran burst onto the UK music scene in 2011 with his debut album ‘+’. Rapidly establishing himself as a history-making artist, he followed with ‘x’, ‘÷’, ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ and ‘=’ - a catalogue that has seen Sheeran become one of the world’s biggest musical success stories of the 21st century.

Three years after the release of ARTEMIS’ critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, the ensemble returns with a marvelous follow-up that highlights the improvisational strength of its members as well as their respective gifts as composers. In Real Time showcases a new lineup of the collective with founding members pianist Renee Rosnes, drummer Allison Miller, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, and bassist Noriko Ueda joined by newcomers tenor saxophonist Nicole Grover and multi-reedist Alexa Tarantino. The 8-song set presents compelling new band member originals along with choice covers of pieces by Lyle Mays (“Slink”) and Wayne Shorter (“Penelope”).