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The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

Swiss vocal acrobat Andreas Schaerer and Finnish
guitarist Kalle Kalima have some things in common. As
artists, each is essentially in a category completely of his
own. Both are musicians who can always conjure
something special from their chosen instruments. Both are
known on the international jazz scene for the completely
distinctive and original ways their music constantly crosses
genres.
 Both have played together for several years in the quartet,
A Novel Of Anomaly. And now they have recorded a first
album together in which the focus is on the two of them.
However, for this ‘evolution’ (as the album title has it), they
have also involved - and drawn inspiration from - a
musician whom they both admire, Tim Lefebvre. The
American bassist has worked with many pop and jazz
stars, notably Sting, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Mark
Guiliana, Wayne Krantz... Lefebvre’s involvement in the
Michael Wollny Trio’s breakthrough was, incidentally,
anything but tangential. In other words, his playing is at
home in practically every context.
 Listeners familiar with Schaerer’s and Kalima’s previous
work may find ‘Evolution’ somewhat surprising. “An album
is such a different platform from playing live on stage,”
explains Schaerer. “Over the course of our many
recordings, we have become increasingly aware quite how
differently one has to play.” That awareness has also
resulted in a particularly careful focus on the postproduction phase of ‘Evolution’.
 With ‘Evolution’, Schaerer, Kalima and Lefebvre have redrawn the roadmap for the production of a jazz album.
New avenues are constantly opening up in these complex
but also catchy songs which are just made for repeated
listening... and, of course, listening to the album is also a
reminder that it will all sound completely different again
when heard live.

2023 Repress

Reiko Kudo first debuted on the Tokyo underground music scene in 1980 with NOISE, a duo which apart from herself under her then maiden name Reiko Omura on voice, guitar and trumpet featured Tori Kudo on organ. Their only album TENNO (1980 on Engel) is probably one of the most outstanding and uncompromising records of all time.

Like other pioneering female producers from Japan such as NON (of NON BAND), PHEW and HACO, who had all begun their startling careers in the early days of the japanese Punk era, Reiko Kudo can surely be regarded as one of the most unique, uncategorisable and daring voices in the entire field of electronic and experimental music ever.

RICE FIELD SLOWLY RIPING IN THE NIGHT was REIKO KUDO's second album under her own name. It features TORI KUDO (MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ) and SAYA and TAKASHI UENO (TENNISCOATS) on various instruments. The recordings took place in 2000 at Reiko' s and Tori's house in the rural surroundings of Shikoku island.

All recorded music on this album sounds like it originates in a parallel dimension where time and key signatures simply don't exist, Some might describe this as outsider music, but this doesn't really begin to do justice to the quality of the tracks, there is nothing accidental or forced here, this is simply music created in a very different way. Yet again REIKO KUDO had conceived of something utterly beautiful.

"After producing the album "Souvenir de mauve" with Maher Shalal Hash Baz which we released on our label Majikick, the idea came to us, to release Reiko Kudo's work. For Reiko's work, we brought our recording equipment from Tokyo to Shikoku and recorded the entire album at her house.

The piano was positioned in a room with a high ceiling. We would set up our small recording equipment in the room and started to record. The basic tracks were recorded without any rehearsal and just a few overdubs were added on top of it. To have a distant sound on the recording, Tori played trumpet in the next room. The choir was standing outside the house, singing "Enya-totto, enya-totto" through the open window. It was early spring, I remember that it was still a bit cold and the members of the choir were freezing outside.

Reiko plays only at certain times of the day, so that we were able to complete only two or three recordings a day. Therefore we had plenty of free time. We went to a hot spring, to a cafe, or we tried pottery on a spinning wheel at Tori's workshop. It was a very rewarding time.

When this album was finished, we brought it to her to listen to. She said happily "I think this is the best work I have ever done." We felt that all our efforts were richly rewarded. Secretly, we thought the same, so we are delighted that this album will be re-issued." - Saya and Ueno (Tenniscoats), Tokyo 2018

Originally released on Majikick Records, Japan, 2000 Restauration and mastering by Detlef Funder at Paraschall Mastering, Düsseldorf. Vinylcut at Calyx, Berlin Translation by Miki Yui and Claus Laufenburg. Many thanks to Reiko Kudo, Tori Kudo, Saya and Takashi Ueno, Satoru Higashiseto.

2023 Repress!

Les Disques du Crepuscule presents a new 180 gm vinyl edition of Fidelity, the 1996 studio album by cult Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column.
Limited to just 500 copies, this special double disc edition is pressed on heavyweight 180 gm vinyl and features cover artwork by Crepuscule design director Benoit Hennebert, based on a portrait by Vini Reilly of filmmaker Carol Morley.
Originally released by Crepuscule on CD only in April 1996, Fidelity featured 10 tracks written and performed by Vini Reilly, with occasional guest vocals by Eley Rudge. In addition to Vini’s trademark guitar stylings, the album showcased sleek electronic textures and programmed beats.
This 2019 vinyl re-master features two bonus tracks: My Only Love was originally released in 1995 on a covermount CD with a specialist guitar magazine, while experimental piece The New Fidelity was issued on a Portuguese compilation album from 1992 called Hare, Hunter, Field.

Musik ist im Grunde eine Waffe, um die Mauern zu zerstören, die wir um uns herum errichtet haben - und die finnischen Metal-Melancholiker INSOMNIUM gehören zu den stärksten dieser Waffen. Ihr neuntes Meisterwerk "Anno 1696", das Anfang 2023 veröffentlicht wurde, führt uns tief in die dunkle und unruhige Vergangenheit Nordeuropas, eine Zeit der Hexen, des Aberglaubens, der Blutlust und des Wahnsinns. Und von Werwölfen. Nun setzen INSOMNIUM die epische Geschichte von "Anno 1696" auf ihrer addendumartigen EP "Songs of the Dusk" fort, die 22 Minuten Musik und drei weitere Reisen in eine dunkle und neblige Vergangenheit enthält. "Wir hatten einfach elf großartige Songs, und wir dachten, dass dieses Material zu gut ist, um 'nur' Bonustracks zu sein", erklärt Niilo Sevänen (Bass, Gesang). "Sie sind Teil der großen Geschichte, man kann sie also als Director's-Cut-Material betrachten, das ein wenig mehr erzählt. Für diejenigen, die mehr haben wollen."Abgemischt von Jaime Gomez Arellano (Orgone Studios) und gemastert von Tony Lindgren (Fascination Street Studios), sind "Anno 1696" und das dazugehörige "Songs of the Dusk" ihre bei weitem vollendetsten, emotional aufrüttelndsten, hochfliegenden Leistungen.Ursprünglich war "Songs of the Dusk" ein Teil des Ltd. Deluxe 2CD Artbook von "Anno 1696", ist aber nun separat erhältlich als: Ltd. CD Digipak, schwarze 180g LP mit Motiv-Ätzung auf Seite B sowie als Digital EP.

It’s time to deck the halls and put up the Christmas tree as the
yuletide season is upon us. Christmas Collected is the brand-new
compilation with both traditional and modern songs celebrating
the festive season. Artist and groups including Queen, Bruce
Springsteen, Band Aid, Paul McCartney, U2, The Teskey
Brothers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Amy Winehouse, Ariana
Grande, Mud and many more are featured on the 2LP.
Christmas Collected is available as a limited edition on translucent
green (LP1) and translucent red (LP2) coloured vinyl and includes
an insert.

Christmas Spirit ist ein Weihnachtsalbum von Richard Marx, das im Oktober 2012 veröffentlicht wurde. Fünf Titel des Albums waren bereits auf seiner 2011 erschienenen The Christmas EP enthalten.

Christmas Spirit erreichte Platz 181 in den Billboard 200 Album Charts und Platz 21 in den Billboard Top Christmas Albums Charts. Zwei der neuen Titel erreichten die Top 20 der Adult Contemporary Charts.

"I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" basiert auf Casting Crowns Arrangement des Songs aus ihrem Album Peace On Earth. Christmas Spirit brachte fünf Singles hervor, darunter "Christmas Spirit", "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "The Little Drummer Boy", "Christmas Mornings" und "O Holy Night".

Hard-hitting, outspoken West Coast metalcore trio MUGSHOT has announced plans to release a new EP, "Cold Will," on November 3rd with their new label Pure Noise Records. The furious 5-track, neck-snapping record is an uninhibited commentary on sociopolitical travesties infecting the country, set to the tone of merciless rage and crushing riffs. Commenting on the EP, the band says: "'Cold Will' is crafted by the pains of life: Abuse, depression, manipulation, trauma, and other existential themes that present themselves as the rudder that directionally steers this record’s “ship.” Lyrical themes are met by and married with the crushing weight of dissonant riffs and frenetic drum patterns that further push the listener into this mental space of this record’s daunting thoughts and overall aggression. The hardcore inspired metal record consists of a frenzy of chaotically heavy riffs, abrupt tempo changes, and pure unbridled anger that all coalesce into one definitive statement. This record serves as the callout to any abusive person that has manipulatively used their power or title to take advantage of another. And to the people who we’ve lost because of these types of actions – this record is dedicated to them. When one’s voice is lost due to the distortions of life – our responsibility should be to amplify their voice and bring awareness to it."

OLAYA SOUND SYSTEM, Peruvian band founded 15 years ago and with a discography of 6 CDs, present their first vinyl release, comprising some of their most outstanding productions recorded between 2015 and 2022. Their songs explore the sounds of Andean cumbia and chicha, with elements of psychedelia, reggae and Afro-Latin rhythms of global relevance, projecting with its music an innovative new chapter in the development of Peruvian tropical music of the 21st century.
Just like Chico Trujillo, Frente Cumbiero or Son Rompe Pera are also doing, OLAYA SOUND SYSTEM are reaching a global impact modernizing tropical music.
This album is released on the recently revamped Peruvian label Rey Record, one of the essential and most iconic record labels during the golden days of cumbia and chicha, decades ago. Olaya Sound System was founded in Chorrillos, Lima (Peru), in 2009 and since then they have developed a very particular exploration of the sounds of Andean cumbia and chicha, with elements of psychedelia, reggae and Afro-Latin rhythms of global relevance, projecting with its music an innovative new chapter in the development of Peruvian tropical music of the 21st century. Both on the dance floor and in meditative listening, Olaya Sound System take us with this LP on a journey through bucolic landscapes of the Andes, the Amazon and the infinite Pacific Ocean, essential locations that constitute their native Peru and that have inspired very perceptibly their sound. This album, the band's first release on vinyl, comprising some of their most outstanding productions recorded between 2015 and 2022. Cultivators of a very particular tropical musical style, they collect and adapt the Peruvian traditions of the cumbia, chicha and huayno genres, and then blend them with a melting pot of contemporary Latin and global influences such as reggae, salsa, rock, among others.
Emerging from the Peruvian independent scene, Olaya Sound System reflect relevant social topics in its lyrics, such as the search for individual and collective consciousness, with a strong content of social issues. The band has become, from their native Peru, in one of the most interesting projects that modernize tropical music today, just like groups like Chico Trujillo, Frente Cumbiero or Son Rompe Pera, are also doing from different Latinamerican territories, reaching a global impact

A Dream Team of folclóricas covering the wide spectrum of African-American influenced 1970s dance music spiced with flamenco. The hits of Isaac Hayes, Billy Preston or The Temptations in the charts showed the way to go. An almanac for 20th Century Rosalías headed by Lola Flores, Isabel Pantoja, Rocío Jurado and a bunch of female singers, copleras, cantaoras and rumberas. A black and white lysergic dream amidst post-Franco’s Spain. Stick your ears to the speakers. Here comes an emotional rollercoaster!



Antes de presentarte esta novedad, hay que entender que en la segunda mitad de los años setenta, algo estaba cambiando en la escena musical. Los grupos musicales estaban en su auge hasta que llegó la llamada al servicio militar obligatorio. Entonces, todo el mundo volvía de él sin sus largas melenas y sin dinero. Los baladistas sin personalidad tomaban el control de la música, según lo dictado por las discográficas. Es entonces cuando las copleras, cantaoras y rumberas se convierten en la respuesta necesaria para combatir la insípida melosidad. A pesar de un contexto sociocultural desfavorable, arreglistas y productores invertían horas de sueño para revivir un sonido que estaba al borde de la extinción. A pesar de los cambios que haya podido haber desde entonces, el más significativo es que ahora la inmediatez digital dicta el rumbo.



Es por toda esta importancia que finalmente ha llegado un álbum que reúne a un elenco de folclóricas en una combinación única, fusionando el concepto del groovy funk; con canciones que abarcan todo el espectro afroamericano de la música de baile de los setenta, con toques de gritos y susurros aflamencados que le dan un giro impresionante. Podríamos considerarlo el álbum destacado de las Rosalias del siglo XX, una especie de viaje lisérgico en blanco y negro a la España de la posfranquista. Con su hiperrealismo revolucionario, este disco nos ofrece a una una estirpe de artistas sin igual.

En este encontrarás las joyas ocultas de artistas como Flores, Pantoja, Jurado, Polaca, entre otras. Aunque se mantuvieron fieles a sus estilos, todas ellas fueron famosas por otras facetas de sus extensas discografías, y muchas incluso aparecieron en la portada de Interviú en más del cincuenta por ciento de los casos, como las feministas de los años setenta según Francisco Umbral.

There’s a connection between the musical history of the Mediterranean that can’t be explained through academia alone. It’s an expression of simultaneous grief and celebration that trespasses cultures and generations; and demands to be felt, or even better, danced, to be understood. The same spirit weaves Rebetiko from the ashes of the Ottoman empire to the heavy Hafla soundtracks on the Koliphone label in ‘70s Jaffa, or rebellious Turkish psychedelic music to the first generation of surf guitarist migrants in America. It's an infectious feeling that travelled and evolved wherever it was called, and that passion is embodied in “Back to the Taverna”, the new album by Berlin based bouzouki quintet, Cherry Bandora.

On the milestone of their third release, original members Liad Vanounou (Bouzouki) and Lorena Atrakci (Vocals) have bolstered their sound with longtime friends and collaborators Moshe ‘Moosh’ Lahav on Keyboards and flute, Tamir ‘Hassan’ Chen on Bass and Nimrod Lieberman on Drums to create an album celebrating the ecstasy of being able to drink and perform together again, freed from the anathema of the last years. The band has evolved considerably since their beginnings ten years ago as an Agean-influenced part of the local Balkan Swing scene; the most significant addition being the deployment of “The Hardest Working Man in Tropical Music” Alex Figueira as musical director for this album. His scorched fingerprints are unmissable throughout the extended psychedelic breakdowns and percussive overdubs that make “Back to the Taverna” such a dynamic offering.

Cherry Bandora have always been a very personal band; collecting songs from nearby cultures and history and blending them into their own experience by developing new arrangements or lyrics, just as musicians from those times would have. Lorena delights in expressing herself away from her mother tongue or providing modern lyrics for an updated feeling, as she does to the beloved Turkish standard, “Rampi Rampi”. In this interpretation she uses her native Hebrew in a saucy lockdown-delivery-guy romance... This track also features Baris Öner from local Turkish rock band Kara Delik on his signature flanging Saz.

Singing in Greek, English, Turkish and Hebrew was also a natural choice on the album, representing the “multikulti” area of Berlin that the band lives and records in. These languages would all be heard on the street as they walked to record in the analog Studio Wong in Kreuzberg.

“As descendants of Mizrahi Jews (Jewish migrants from non-European countries), growing up listening both to Beatles and Umm Kulthum, playing in jazz music departments in high school, and now living in Kruezkölln, we basically pay tribute and revive this shared heritage in the context of the global music scene of today” says Lorena.

The opening track, The Sound Of Baglama, is an interpretation of the anthemic Tsitsanis homage to the tavernas and sweethearts of Thessaloniki. It lays the ground for what to expect from Cherry Bandora’s exceptional live performances, featuring effortless switch-ups between surf rock choruses and laid-back verses dipping into Persian disco funk. This song will be accompanied by a tour-collage “found footage” style film clip in production at this
time.

Cherry Bandoras show their dedication to the bit with a rousing English version of the canonical rembetiko tune Dimitroula Mou. This amour song, popular with generations of female singers, is accompanied by real studio plate smashing, a ritual which sealed their final session for the album. 2 bonus tracks are included on the digital release, both a little more raw from the band’s home studio: the reeling dervish Rubi Rubi (which will be released as a second single with a video clip) and the emotionally dense and hypnotic slow burner Esý.

The album will be released digitally and on vinyl as a collaboration between Rebel Up Records (Belgium) and Rumi Sounds (Berlin) on Friday 3 november 2023 and is a prime example of what a raunchy, open minded and tireless bouzouki band can do as they hit their prime.

An extensive highlighted review will appear in Songlines magazine #135 December issue and the track ‘Benimde Canim Var’ will be featured on their free compilation. Also radioplay on Radio Campus France playlist (allover) during November and December.

When it comes to breathing new life into classic cuts Joseph Caserta is as good as it gets, proven many times on his imprint BridgeBoots.

Making punchy and jackin' house, sounding like it's been dipped in some secret sauce is another trick of his.

The first track on his Local Talk debut, Hip Hop, comes in two flavours with the special sauce added on top.
Both the Rap Mix and the Haus Dub got swinging drums and a meaty, stabby chord that keeps the energy tight.

On the flip, 'g'Head' is a punchy and bumpy house jacker that takes a hold of you and doesn't let go.

For fans of Brian May, Slash, Zack Wylde, Classic Rock and Guitar Heroes! The Guitar Zeus 25th Anniversary 4LP/3CD set is a massive collection featuring the greatest guitar players ever including Slash, Brian May, Ted Nugent, Yngwie Malmsteem, Neal Schon, Richie Sambora, Zakk Wylde and many, many more. With 2 never released tracks featuring Tommy Thayer of KISS and Derek Sherinian (ex Dream Theater). This is the ultimate collection for any guitar enthusiast, there is nowhere else you can find this many guitar greats on one release! Curated by drum legend Carmine Appice who set the grooves for the groundbreaking psychedelic debut by Vanilla Fudge in 1967. Post-Fudge, Bogert and Appice formed Cactus (seen as an influence on King‘s X and Van Halen). Post-Cactus, the rhythm section found Grammy winning Guitar Hero Jeff Beck to form the first supergroup: Beck, Bogert & Appice (BBA). One of the premier showmen in rock, Appice became known worldwide for his astonishing live performances, in addition to becoming a highly sought-after session drummer, recording with countless artists throughout his career. In ‘76, he joined the Rod Stewart Band, touring, recording and writing two of Stewart‘s biggest hits, “Do Ya Think I‘m Sexy” and “Young Turks”. He would go on to form King Kobra, tour with Ozzy Osbourne and Blue Murder with John Sykes (Whitesnake) and Tony Franklin (The Firm)

Repress!

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the books shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon. Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.

Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson.

Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. When one writer rhetorically asked: “How was Garson’s music so ubiquitous while the man remained so under the radar?” the answer was simple. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytumcomosum. Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Garson wrote lounge hits, scored plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” He could render the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel alike into easy listening and also dreamed up his own ditties. “An idear” as Garson himself would drawl it out. “I live with it, I walk it, I sing it.”

But as his daughter Day Darmet recalls: “When my dad found the synthesizer, he realized he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.” Garson encountered Robert Moog and his new device at the Audio Engineering Society’s West Coast convention in 1967 and immediately began tinkering with the device. With the Moog, those idears could be transformed. “He constantly had a song he was humming,” Darmet says. “At the table he was constantly tapping.” Which is to say that Mort pulled his melodies out of thin air, just like any household plant would.

The Plantae kingdom grew to its height by 1976, from DC Comics’ mossy superhero Swamp Thing to Stevie Wonder’s own herbal meditation, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Nefarious manifestations of human-plant interaction also abounded, be it the grotesque pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the pothead paranoia of the US Government spraying Mexican marijuana fields with the herbicide paraquat (which led to the rise in homegrown pot by the 1980s). And then there’s the warm, leafy embrace of Plantasia itself.

“My mom had a lot of plants,” Darmet says. “She didn’t believe in organized religion, she believed the earth was the best thing in the whole world. Whatever created us was incredible.” And she also knew when her husband had a good song, shouting from another room when she heard him humming a good idear. Novel as it might seem, Plantasia is simply full of good tunes.

Garson may have given the album away to new plant and bed owners, but a decade later a new generation could hear his music in another surreptitious way. Millions of kids bought The Legend of Zelda for their Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and one distinct 8-bit tune bears more than a passing resemblance to album highlight “Concerto for Philodendron and Pothos.” Garson was never properly credited for it, but he nevertheless subliminally slipped into a new generations’ head, helping kids and plants alike grow.

Hearing Plantasia in the 21st century, it seems less an ode to our photosynthesizing friends by Garson and more an homage to his wife, the one with the green thumb that made everything flower around him. “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time,” Darmet says of Plantasia’snew renaissance. “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.” Garson seems to be everywhere again, even if he’s not really noticed, just like a houseplant.

In the 1950s and 60s, the blues was the dominant form of Black vernacular music throughout Texas and the surrounding areas In segregated neighborhoods, community members gathered in saloons, dancehalls, and each other's homes to hear their neighbors sing their stories of sorrow, heartbreak, jubilation, and triumph. Robert "Mack" McCormick, an academically untrained but fanatical devotee of the blues, stepped into this world and became one of its most devout advocates and documentarians. By photographing Black and Latino Texans and their neighborhoods, as well as recording and interviewing musicians, many of whom never stepped foot into a proper recording studio, McCormick endeared and eventually embedded himself into these communities. By the time he died in 2015, McCormick had amassed a collection of 590 reels of sound recordings and 165 boxes of manuscripts, original interviews and research notes, thousands of photographs and negatives, playbills, and posters. Because McCormick never published or released most of these materials, his collection became a thing of legend and intense speculation among scholars, blues aficionados, and musicians alike. 'Playing for the Man at the Door..' is the first compilation of music drawn from this fabled collection, which indelibly documents a pivotal moment in African American history. It features never- before- heard performances not only from musicians who became icons in their own right, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb, but also, crucially, performers whose names may be unfamiliar to even the most devoted blues fans and scholars. Newly mastered recordings and accompanying photographs bring to life many of these forgotten figures: offering insight into their lives and illuminating in new, enlightening ways their joys and anguish, deep social connections, distinctive voices, and cultural networks. The collection spans gospel, ragtime, country blues dirges, the unclassifiable music of George "Bongo Joe" Coleman, and more, showing that no community, no matter how tight knit, is monolithic. Accompanying the music is a 128- page book, which contains breathtaking photographs by McCormick and his associates, as well as contextual essays by producers Jeff Place and John Troutman on McCormick's life, and by musicians Mark Puryear and Dom Flemons on some of the marginalized communities throughout "Greater Texas" to which McCormick devoted his life's work.

Repress!

First ever reissue of "A la memoria del muerto" (1972), Fruko y sus Tesos' second album, featuring the soaring and soulful vocals of Cali native Edulfamid Molina Díaz, aka "Píper Pimienta". Produced by Fruko's uncle Mario "Pachanga" Rincón, the LP has an uncompromisingly stark, hard sound that is appealing to today's collectors of 'salsa brava' just as it was impactful on the Colombian scene when it was made. Unlike the first Tesos album, with a two-trumpet line-up and fairly simple arrangements, this more mature recording added another trumpet and two trombones for a more robust brass attack. Additionally, instead of basic salsa, there are many different rhythms - guaguancó, bomba, plena, oriza, bolero, cha-cha-chá, descarga and Latin soul. Includes the bonus track 'Tihuanaco' (a cover of Peruvian pianist Alfredito Linares), which appeared on the US edition of the LP. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl.

Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer looks to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on debut release, Preludes.

Ensconced in his family home in rural Leicestershire in the early months of 2020, painter and musician Realf Heygate (b. 1994) picked up his childhood cello for the first time in several years and began to play. Setting himself parameters to only record onto 4-track tape with acoustic instruments – cello, piano and acoustic guitar – he assembled a suite of instrumental compositions that form the basis of Preludes, his debut album as Flaer and the inaugural release on Odda Recordings.

Channelling the tension and unease between the pastoral idyll of the English countryside and the darkness which lurks beneath the surface, the mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, weaving field recordings of birdsong, church bells and the natural environment into chimerical melodies that reflect on Heygate’s childhood experiences of rural England.

“It was really important not to isolate the sound from its environment,” he explains, describing the compositional and recording process as “site-specific”. Developed over a series of intuitive musical enquiries, the mini-album’s uncanny quality emerges from combining raw demo takes with overdubs of almost orchestral grandeur.

Heygate points to the final track as indicative of the work as a whole: “‘Follow’ really is the mantra for the release and embodies the practical approach I was taking to music making: not to force the music but see where it takes you.”

As a painter, Heygate’s practice takes artefacts through sequences of reproduction that embrace the fluctuating materiality of the copy. Since obtaining a degree in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has exhibited solo at Peter von Kant and Springseason galleries in London, and has participated in group shows at Saatchi Gallery, Cob Gallery and Senesi Contemporanea.

Describing his artistic practice as one of self-erasure, music instead provides Heygate with a more personal and autobiographical outlet. Where the two worlds combine is on Preludes’ striking artwork, which features paintings of 13th century stone carvings from the font of the church in the town where he grew up.

Speaking to a time where people were connected to the land in a more profound way, each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, which Heygate likens to giving them a title.

“To add that one juxtaposition might open a whole new interpretation or language that might be hard to find otherwise,” he explains.“Over time it might reveal itself to you, which is why I'm excited about it being released. To throw them out there and see what comes of it.”

Vladislav Delay presents the fourth EP in his "Hide Behind The Silence" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton".

Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me.

Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness.
Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’
The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in.
A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size.
It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.

Q&A with Sasu Ripatti:

1) Tell us something about the EP series ”Hide Behind the Silence”, what’s the idea and what can we expect?

Exploration of inaction. Of many kinds. In arts and in personal life, or at bigger and more serious levels. Questioning myself as a human being as well as an artist. Acknowledging the growing activism all around, and the very clear need for it, and how it reflects my own inaction.
Musically speaking, after Rakka, Isoviha and Speed Demon, I finally found some relief, but more importantly lost the need to go musically ever more outward and intensive. I felt quite strongly certain periods/moods from the past and they made me revisit some musical ideas or states of mind I was exploring early on.
It’s about live moments being captured, not much premeditation or editing. More intuitive and raw, even though the end result (to me) feels and sounds quite introspective and calm. It’s not very ambitious. Momentary and reflective.

2) Your music doesn’t sound very silent. Does it come from somewhere behind the silence?

Oh, this time to me it sounds quite quiet and playing with space if not silence. I don’t know what’s actually behind silence, but I think silence is the source of everything. We just don’t understand it yet.

3) What kind of thoughts or experiences gave inspiration to this series?

Writing this in Nov ’22, it’s not a stretch to say the world has been really unwell. Sometimes, like Mika Vainio put it, the world eats you up. I feel a bit like that. And I try to hide in my studio and stay away from it all, but it’s getting harder by the day. I’ve been questioning myself and thinking if what us artists are doing is worth anything, and whether it’s just a selfish thing I’ve been doing for the past 25 years, running away from everything. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet.

4) Is it easy for you to be in silence, or around silence?

Absolutely. I not only hide behind silence but I also love silence. It’s only since I started going back to nature as a grown-up person that I sensed and was enveloped by silence, true silence. I have begun to appreciate it a lot. I think all the people should spend more time in silence.

All tracks composed and produced by Sasu Ripatti.
Artwork by Marc Hohmann, photography by Shinnosuke Yoshimori.
Mastering by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering.
Vinyl cut by SST Brueggemann.
Publishing by WARP Music Ltd.

Symphonic metal powerhouse SERENITY unleash their new studio album, Nemesis AD! The successor to their previous full length, The Last Knight (2020), which landed #25 on the German album charts, is out on October 27, 2023 via Napalm Records and is the first record with Marco Pastorino (Temperance) as additional guitarist and backing vocalist. Known for their thematic albums inspired by historic characters and stories of the past, on Nemesis AD, SERENITY draw inspiration from the life and highly influential art of painter Albrecht Dürer of the German renaissance. Grandiose intro track “Memoriae Alberti Dureri” sets the scene for the album, before legendary singer Roy Khan (Conception, ex-Kamelot) lends his impressive vocals on the mighty “The Fall of Man”. ""Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)” (named after Dürer’s famous artwork) features lyrics sung partially in German, for the first time in the band’s history spanning over more than two decades. The powerful track showcases SERENITY’s signature blend of orchestral arrangements, heavy guitar riffs, and soaring vocals. Heart-wrenchingly emotional yet empowering “Reflections (of AD)” mesmerizes the listener with its awe-inspiring instrumentation, multifaceted vocals and brilliant changes throughout the gripping eight-minute track. Theatrical “Sun of Justice” leads the listener to a faraway fantasy world while the vocal performance of skilled singer Georg Neuhauser ultimately unlocks the track's hit potential. “The End of Babylon” represents one of the darker, heavier tracks on Nemesis AD - climactic arrangements carry the dramatic storyline. Monumental orchestral version of “The Fall of Man” closes the album on a thrilling note that is sure to send a chill up your spine. With Nemesis AD, SERENITY add yet another bombastic symphonic metal masterpiece to their notable discography - there is no doubt that the talented unit’s standing in the scene is well deserved. BLURB "The Fall of Man" - Single No 2 Symphonic metal unit SERENITY unleash “The Fall of Man”, a mighty single off of the band’s new album Nemesis AD! With vocal support from legendary singer Roy Khan (Conception, ex-Kamelot), the song is a sure future hit with fans old and new. SERENITY’s previous studio album, The Last Knight (2020), hit #25 on the German album charts, and the band has gained millions of Spotify streams and YouTube views with their earlier efforts.

History has shown that the greatest bands–bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power–neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records–their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

History has shown that the greatest bands–bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power–neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records–their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

The sixth full-length release for the Scottish indie pop band was produced by Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis. Since the band started in 1987, the Trash Can Sinatras have always been reliable. Every record has delivered exactly what people needed from them: lovely guitar pop songs done with a light touch, deep emotional feelings, and melodies as rich and warm as a late-autumn heat wave. Since their original run ended in the '90s, they've come back regularly to remind people that they are just about the best guitar pop band still going, with a new album roughly every five years or so. Wild Pendulum finds the band in fine form, expectedly. It also finds them doing a bit of sonic experimentation, unexpectedly. With former Adventures in Stereo mastermind Simon Dine on board providing the kind of ""sonic scenery"" he added to many recent Paul Weller albums and producer Mike Mogis capturing fuller arrangements than usually heard on TCS albums, it's the most sonically interesting album of their long career.

Adam Gibbons meldet sich mit Volldampf mit seinem achten Lack Of Afro-Studioalbum zurück. Es ist ein Album voller Hoffnung, Optimismus und guter Zeiten, inspiriert von seiner US-Reise zu den legendären FAME Aufnahmestudios in Muscle Shoals. In einer über 17-jährigen Karriere, in der seine Musik in Filmen und TV-Shows auf der ganzen Welt zu sehen/hören war und millionenfach gestreamt wurde, musste Adam viele Herausforderungen überwinden und kehrt nun auf SQUARE ONE, den Anfangspunkt, zurück. Dabei liefert er seine bisher beste Arbeit ab und geht auf seine erste US-Tour. Mit einem erneuerten Sinn für Inspiration und Energie ist Adam entschlossen, den Funk am Leben zu erhalten.

180g milchig-klares Vinyl, Gatefold-Jacket, bedruckte Innenhülle, inkl. Download-Karte Das amerikanische Instrumental-Trio Verstärker hat sich von den Klängen von Krautrock, Post-Punk, No Wave und Drone inspirieren lassen und vereint Sound und Visionen im Streben nach motorischer Weltraumforschung. Nach ihrem ausverkauften Debütalbum "Aktivität" aus dem Jahr 2015, mit dem sich die Band einen schnell wachsenden Ruf im Psych-Underground erspielte, erscheint Verstärkers zweites Album "Jenseits" am 27. Oktober 2023 bei Fuzz Club. Mit fünf Tracks, die sich über 45 Minuten erstrecken, ist "Jenseits" die Antwort der Band auf die moderne dystopische Welt, in der wir heute leben - mit einem schwereren und noch dunkleren Ton als bei den Vorgängern. "Überall fühlt sich alles am Rande des Zusammenbruchs an. Wir finden unsere Hoffnung in der Musik und der Kunst. Das ist die Zukunft, nach der wir streben." Auf "Jenseits" treffen dicht gewickelte Motorik-Bässe, harte Percussion und effektgeladene Gitarren auf düstere atmosphärische Drones in den seltenen Momenten, in denen das rasante Tempo der Platte nachlässt. Gitarrist J. Vitatoe erklärt über das Album: "Jenseits als Präposition bedeutet 'jenseits' oder 'auf der anderen Seite von', und als Substantiv bedeutet es 'das Jenseits' oder 'die nächste Welt'. Diese doppelte Bedeutung ist das Konzept, das sich durch die Platte zieht. Beim Motorik-Beat ging es schon immer darum, auf den Horizont zuzusteuern, um das Gefühl des immerwährenden Vorwärtsdrangs. Aber irgendwann erreicht man die Sollbruchstelle und stößt auf die andere Seite vor - man geht über den Horizont hinaus. Das ist es, was wir mit dieser Platte klanglich erreichen wollten.

Bill Seaman is a musician, media artist and media researcher int the field of interactive and generative music (he calls this recombinant music). He has been working on a series of works that combine elements of ambient, noise, experimental, new classical and more. He describes these works as being alt.genre. He has recorded five solo albums (on Eilean Rec. and Fluid Audio) and a numerous of collaborative albums with some music artists such as Craig Tattersall, John Supko, Offthesky, Rutger Zuydervelt, Stephen Vitiello, between others. Seaman has also often created video works to accompany a number of his solo and collaborative pieces. Seaman is self-taught as a musician and composer, and is a Professor in the Music Department at Duke as well as Art, Arth History & Visual Studies.

Since releasing a track on the RND034873349921 compilation on the Pause_2 label in 2001, Tim Diagram has released over thirty-five albums as a solo artist or as part of collaboration projects. he has appeared on many well-respected labels, such as; False Industries, Static Caravan, Nomadic Kids Republic, Fluid Audio, Time Released Sound, Chemical Tapes – to name but a few. Tim runs the Handstitched* label in the UK which specialises in bespoke, handmade packaging for the more electro-acoustic and drone-like elements of his and other artists work, and he is involved in audio-visual commissions, including art gallery installations and music videos for a global clothing brand. As well as Maps and Diagrams, Tim also records music under the Atlantis name and works in collaboration with Genoveva Kachurkova as Bluhm, with Charles Sage as Hessien, alongside Rob Lyon as Somme & with Arbee under the name Emba.

Stephen Spera is a New York based artist working in sound, photography, and plastic arts. His works have been released on some labels such as Handstitched, Tesselate, and Editions Vaché. In 2020 he began a series of collaborations with Bill Seaman, as the two artists admired each other’s work and found much in common. Their work together was graced with an ease which kept them composing an album- “Architectures of Light” -which was released on Britain’s Handstitched label. The project was very well-received. The two stay in touch and kept working, joined now by Tim Martin whose work as Maps and Diagrams was long-admired by Stephen and Bill. They too found instant understanding of each other’s work, and “ The World was turning Before” is the result of their collaboration. The three artists possess an almost uncanny communication that enables them to work whilst still enjoying each other’s individual voice, and this trio has come together so well that, in Spera’s words, “We no longer know who played what…”

After 14 years and nearly 150 CD releases, Cherry Red's psychedelic imprint Grapefruit finally produces its first-ever vinyl issue.

A 90-minute, 30-track anthology, ‘When The Alarm Clock Rings’ is an all-encompassing overview of the late 60s British psychedelic scene.

The set features major underground names (Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Blossom Toes, Dantalian's Chariot, John's Children), cult 45s (The Voice, Paper Blitz Tissue, The Syn), future legends (Alex Harvey, Genesis, Greg Lake's early venture The Shame) and pop groups who occasionally turned dayglo (The Merseys, Plastic Penny, Picadilly Line).

Limited to 1000 copies and containing Grapefruit's trademark combination of photos and annotation on stylish 12” x 12” inserts, ‘When The Alarm Clock Rings’ is an essential purchase for vinyl aficionados and a tantalising taster of further plastic platters!

When punk arrived in late 1976, the scene acted as a catalyst for an explosion of independent labels which swiftly sprung up around the UK. Named after a classic track by Manchester’s The Drones, ‘Just Want To Be Myself’ boasts classic sevens on imprints such as Small Wonder, The Label, Rough Trade, Dining Out, Deptford Fun City and Cherry Red (all London), Zoom (Glasgow), Attrix (Brighton), Heartbeat (Bristol), Good Vibrations (Belfast) and Bent (Manchester).

Many of the individuals and bands featured would later enjoy success in various incarnations – for example, The Pack mutated into Theature Of Hate, The Outsiders’ Adrian Borland attracted acclaim with his band The Sound, ‘O’ Level’s Edward Ball made an impact with various acts including The Times and Leyton Buzzards evolved into pop combo Modern Romance!

Pure Hell and The Electric Chairs’ Wayne County were American but eligible here because the tracks were recorded in the UK

Die brandneue Zeichentrickversion von Sergej Prokofjews beliebter Sinfonie "Peter und der Wolf" wurde in ein bezauberndes und zeitgenössisches visuelles Meisterwerk verwandelt, das Themen wie Erwachsenwerden, Verlust, Mut, Verwandlung und unsere Beziehung zur Natur behandelt.

Der animierte Kurzfilm mit Musik und Erzählung von Gavin Friday und einem Artwork, das auf Originalillustrationen von Bono basiert, soll noch in diesem Jahr uraufgeführt werden und ist Teil einer laufenden Zusammenarbeit mit der Irish Hospice Foundation.

Das einzigartige kreative Projekt wird von dem Musiker und Komponisten Gavin Friday geleitet, der das neu interpretierte klassische Märchen erzählt, während das Friday Seezer Ensemble die von Maurice Seezer und Gavin Friday neu arrangierte Musik von Prokofjew spielt.

Parallel zu diesem bemerkenswerten neuen Film wird Peter & der Wolf als Buch und in Audioform mit brandneuem Hör- und Bildmaterial neu aufgelegt und in verschiedenen Formaten veröffentlicht.

Die 1CD-Version wird in einem Gatefold Digisleeve präsentiert und enthält neu gemastertes Audiomaterial sowie Bildmaterial aus dem Animationsfilm. Die Doppel-Vinyl Version kommt in schwarzem 180g-Vinyl im Gatefold Sleeve mit zwei Art Cards.

Rival Sons kündigen neues Album " LIGHTBRINGER " an Das Pendant zu " DARKFIGHTER " erscheint am 20. Oktober

Nach Regen kommt Sonne, auf Nacht folgt Tag - und wer erfolgreich die Dunkelheit bekämpft hat, bringt das Licht: Gut zwei Monate nach dem Album " DARKFIGHTER ", das in die deutschen Top 20 kam, haben Rival Sons mit " LIGTHBRINGER " ihre zweite LP des Jahres 2023 für den 20. Oktober angekündigt.

Wie der Titel schon suggeriert, handelt es sich dabei um ein Schwesteralbum des Vorgängers.

Über " LIGHTBRINGER " sagt Scott Holiday, Gitarrist der zweifach Grammy-nominierten Band aus Kalifornien: " Wenn man zwei Alben direkt hintereinander macht, gibt es viele Dinge zu bedenken. Die erste Platte muss genug Schlagkraft und haben und einen inhaltlich so abholen, dass man mit dem zweiten Teil einen noch größeren
Aufschlag machen kann."

" DARKFIGHTER " und " LIGHTBRINGER" entstanden als Teil derselben Sessions im Verlauf des Jahres 2021.

An ihrer Seite einmal mehr: Ihr angestammter Kreativpartner und langjährige Producer Dave Cobb. Als " DARKFIGHTER " Anfang Juni erschien, waren sich die Kritiker:innen in ihrem Lob einig: " DARKFIGHTER hat das Zeug zu Rival Sons? Meisterwerk", jubelte Classic Rock, und das GLIDE Magazine schwärmte: "

DARKFIGHTER ist ein sehniges Hardrock-Album, das alle Stärken von Rival Sons zu einem kurzen Angriff verdichtet."

"Giving the Game Away" ist das fünfte Studioalbum der britischen Hardrockband Thunder von 1999. Diese erweiterte Neuauflage enthält bisher unveröffentlichte Bonus-Live-Versionen von Hits des Albums und erscheint zum ersten Mal auf grünem und senfgelbem Doppel-Vinyl in limitierter Auflage.

Mit ihrem unverkennbaren Hardrock-Sound, kraftvollen Riffs und eingängigen Melodien wurde das Album von Fans und Kritikern gleichermaßen positiv aufgenommen.

Viele lobten die Fähigkeit der Band, ihren Wurzeln treu zu bleiben und gleichzeitig ihren Sound weiterzuentwickeln.

Mit den Schlüsseltracks "Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)", "All I Ever Wanted" und "Play That Funky Music" ist es ein Muss für Fans von legendärem Hard Rock und Heavy Metal.

Midwestern psychiatrist Suzanne Mathis' world is turned upside down when she decides to protect Mae, a fragile teenager on the run from a cult. As Suzanne’s daughter Jules begins to suspect there’s more to Mae’s story, a series of incidents – seemingly brought on by Mae’s presence - leave the family in chaos. Soon the Mathis family is fighting for survival against a strange cult while Suzanne and a local police detective try to unravel the clues of Mae’s past and sinister happenings in the town she escaped. Adapted from Daria Polatin’s best-selling book inspired by true events, DEVIL IN OHIO is a thrilling, shocking tale of demonic mayhem and mystery in the heart of small-town America.

British composer Will Bates incredible work on DEVIL IN OHIO began with a hymn for the cult, written before shooting. It expanded with songs for Bishop Briggs and Maiah Manser, with melodies for hurdy-gurdy and synth, until it became a haunting world of its own, blending score, soundtrack and diegesis. Now, together with Netflix Music, we’re excited to release DIO’s first-ever full-length soundtrack on vinyl.

History has shown that the greatest bands–bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power–neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records–their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

Orange vinyl, 100 only

Cardiff-based, DIY-folk-pop collective, Quiet Marauder, are set to release their 5th album at the end of October 2023. This follows on from their madcap 111-song debut album, MEN (2013), as well as the more recent Tiny Men Parts (2020) and The Gift (2021), and continues their long-established relationship both with their label, Bubblewrap Collective, and Canadian collaborators, The Burning Hell.
Recorded in a Snowbird Studios pop-up in Lourinha, Portugal, Introducing Malcolm Del Monte continues the band’s fascination with high concepts and musical, album-length storytelling. At its core, it is an album about self-identity, isolation, and our innate fluctuations as human beings. Set during the pandemic, the album's a very loosely autobiographical (read: almost entirely false) account of band leader Simon M. Read's day-to-day life during Covid lockdowns with partner, Kadesha Drija, and imaginary friend, Malcolm Del Monte.
Choosing to largely avoid the topic of the pandemic altogether, Introducing Malcolm Del Monte instead charts the highs and lows of these living arrangements. These range from outrageous daytime drinking (high) to disagreements on the nature of perversion (low), with the first half of the album covering Malcolm’s emergence and ultimate expulsion from the house. With his absence being sorely felt, the second half sheds light on the alternative voices looking to fill that Malcolm-shaped space: a murderous green giant; a despondent Milk Tray Man; and a broken-necked, hypersexual Jet from Gladiators.
As with their previous story-based albums, the foreground narratives act to enable background allusions to other core concerns: the power of nostalgia; advertising and cultural consumption; well-being and isolation; balancing acts of the self. Ultimately, the album’s message is of striking a balance between self-questioning and improvement, and most of all, not being too hard on yourself when things don’t feel quite right.
Sonically and seamlessly ranging from alt-folk to industrial synth to melodic indie-pop, Introducing Malcolm Del Monte covers a lot of ground. Injected with the musicality of Quiet Marauder themselves, as well as Canadian kindred spirits, The Burning Hell, instrumentation includes flute, piano, chunky bass, acoustic and electric guitar, programmed beats, synthscapes, bamboo clarinet, bongos, and a heap load of vocals. Indeed, alongside the main lead voices of Simon M. Read, Kadesha Drija and Malcolm Del Monte (Rowan Liggett) there are guest performances from My Name Is Ian and The Burning Hell’s Mathias Kom.
The album will be preceded by lead single and video Momma Mia! I Made You Some Sangria! on 22nd September,

(Almost) The start of it all! 35th anniversary special edition of classic Stone Roses single Sally Cinnamon on white 180gsm vinyl. DMM half speed mastering. Includes bonus live tracks. Sally Cinnamon is acknowledged as the first release in the style which would come to be recognized as the Stone Roses' trademark sound. This EP includes 7" and 12" single mix, all the B Sides and additional live tracks from 1987. This is the first time this new configuration has ever been released, complete with refreshed artwork. Exclusive white colour, heavy weight 180 gsm Vinyl. Half-speed mastered to the highest possible quality and DMM - Direct Metal Mastered with protective polypropylene inner bag.

Die einzigartigen Aufnahmen von Charles Mingus' Konzertreihe im weltberühmten Birdland, von 1961 bis 1962 - zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht!

Die originalen Tonbänder, die zur Aufnahme der Radiosendungen verwendet wurden, wurden speziell für diese Veröffentlichung aufgespürt, gereinigt und neu gemastert. Die beiliegenden Aufnahmen, die bisher nur in Form von Bootlegs veröffentlicht wurden, zeigen Mingus inmitten einer höchst kreativen Phase. Abwechselnd am Bass und am Klavier spielt er mit einer wechselnden Band, darunter Yusef Lateef, Roland Kirk, Jaki Byard, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams sowie die Mingus Charles McPherson, Dannie Richmond und andere.
Diese unglaublich seltenen Aufnahmen, die in einem Keller in der Bronx untergebracht sind, bekommen ihre beste klangliche Aufbereitung seit 1962. Das Herzstück dieses Paketes ist ein 44-seitiges Buch mit einem Vorwort von Christian McBride, einem höchst informativen 15.000 Wörter umfassenden Essay von Brian Priestley und einem neuen Interview mit Charles McPherson, das Kontext und Insider-Informationen zu den Daten und der Zeit liefert. All dies ist Design und mit seltenen Fotos und Ephemera illustriert durchgehend illustriert.

2023 will see Billy Bragg and Cooking Vinyl celebrating forty years of music from the singer, songwriter, activist and author, with a selection of releases to appeal to casual admirers and die hard fans alike. Each format has been compiled by Billy beginning with a 1LP 13-song "primer" on LTD Edition orange coloured vinyl, a 40-song LTD Edition Deluxe 3 LP collection on three shades of green vinyl, and a 40-song 2CD in card digisleeve with 16 page booklet. The vinyl formats contain a download card.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) return with their 14th studio album Bauhaus Staircase, over six years after the triumph of their Top 4-charting record The Punishment of Luxury. The album was born from the impetus to kickstart new explorations during lockdown when as Andy McCluskey admits: “I rediscovered the creative power of total boredom.”

The album’s first offering as a single is the title track which serves as a nod both to Andy McCluskey’s love of the Bauhaus era & the power of protest art. “I am a huge lover of visual arts especially mid 20th century movements” Andy comments. “The song is a metaphor for strength and artist passion in the face of criticism and adversity. When times are hard there is a tendency for Governments to look at cutting funding for creativity just at the moment when the arts are most needed to nourish our souls. It seems appropriate that the song and its eponymous album were created during Covid Lockdown.”

Ranging further from the beautiful film noir ballad of ‘Veruschka’ and the dance stylings of ‘Anthropocene’ - a term for the current epoch in Earth’s evolution to the sinister ‘Evolution Of Species’ and the hectic ‘Kleptocracy’ - OMD’s greatest straight-up protest song - the new album is a broad electronic sonic masterpiece that lyrically tackles the topics of the future. The record closes on ‘Healing’ - a moment of reflective calm.

By rights OMD should be in semi-retirement performing classics like Enola Gay and Maid Of Orleans on the nostalgia festival circuit like so many peers. Instead they’ve created a landmark album worthy of their finest work. Bauhaus Staircase remains unmistakably the work of a duo who are still perfectly in sync 45 years after their first gig at legendary Liverpool club Eric’s.


“I’m very happy with what we’ve done on this record" McCluskey summarises. “I’m comfortable if this is OMD’s last statement.”

Hier kommt das ultimative Rockerlebnis. Die Best Of 1LP von Nazareth ist eine Symphonie von Rockhymnen, die dich umhauen wird. Spür die Kraft der Liebe und des Schmerzes mit den eindringlichen Melodien von "Love Hurts". Lass deiner Fantasie freien Lauf mit dem epischen "Dream On", in dem Träume durch elektrisierende Gitarrenriffs Wirklichkeit werden.

Machen Dich bereit, deine wilde Seite zu entfesseln mit dem zeitlosen
Klassiker "Hair Of The Dog", einer headbangenden Reise durch die Jahrhunderte.

Die Best Of 1LP von Nazareth garantiert einen adrenalingeladenen Ritt in das Herz des Rock 'n' Roll.

Verpasse nicht deine Chance, diese legendäre Sammlung kultiger Tracks zu besitzen. Holen Dir jetzt jetzt dein Exemplar und lass Dich von der Musik auf eine wilde, unvergessliche Reise mitnehmen.

2CD DIGIFILE/2LP MIT RICHARD HAWLEYS BELIEBTESTEN TITELN.

Die erste Best-Of-Sammlung von Richard Hawley (Pulp, Longpigs), die seine über 20-jährige Solo-Karriere umspannt, enthält Titel der für den Mercury Prize nominierten Alben Coles Corner (2005) und Standing at
the Sky's Edge (2012).
Kuratiert von Richard Hawley und Colin Elliot. Enthält außerdem eine brandneue, exklusive Bearbeitung von Not The Only Road, die in der Fernsehserie The Full Monty zu hören war.

Im Vorfeld der Aufführung von Standing at the Sky's Edge im Londoner West End (23. Februar) und des brandneuen Albums im Jahr 2024 wird sich "Now Then" sowohl auf das alte als auch auf das neue Publikum von Richard Hawley konzentrieren.

"Now Then" erscheint als Doppel-CD im Digifile (32 Songs) und Deluxe-Doppelvinyl im Gatefold Sleeve (22 Songs) mit halb schwarzem/halb blauem sowie halb weissem/halb blauem Vinyl.

"Shooting At The Sun" ist das siebte Studioalbum der britischen Hardrock-Band Thunder von 2003. Diese erweiterte Neuauflage enthält bisher unveröffentlichte, Bonus-Live-Versionen der Hits des Albums und ist zum ersten Mal seit über 30 Jahren als limitierte Doppel-LP in
lila und orange erhältlich.

Es war ihr erstes Album, nachdem sie sich zwei Jahre zuvor kurzzeitig getrennt hatten, und wurde als "möglicherweise ihr bestes, vielseitigstes Set von Songs seit dem Triumph von "Laughing on Judgement Day" von 1992" beschrieben.

Es enthält die Hits "Loser" und "Blown Away".