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The follow up to 2021's "Already Made", Elder Jack Ward is back with a new offering of original sacred soul compositions. Backed by the all-star memphis session crew The Sacred Soul Sound Section and accompanied by his son and daughters for backing vocals.

Deprived of sanity, Paul Régimbeau aka Mondkopf found new territories of expression with »Spring Stories«, a collection of post-rapture moods full of glorious chaos, ready to absorb and re-ignite all that is worn.

As a phoenix raising from the ashes, »Spring Stories« captures the earth in full bloom. Darkness & Insanity looses it´s grips as the roots and fresh leaves creates a slow dance towards the sun. Similarly sine-wave drones move around exploding electric guitar improvisations as new light beams on shadow cast corners. The album feels like a 60ies jam set in the post-world psychedelic underground. Heavy, absurd, beautiful and ready to sooth burnt out, depleted minds. Paul has citied that he´s affected as much by folk improvisors such as Master Wilburn Burchette & Robbie Basho as well as the doom drone of giants Earth & Sunn O))). Spring Stories invokes on these, while feeling like a personal blow-out, coming right from the core. Touching and grand, like spring itself.

The album also features Frederic D. Oberland on two tracks playing variously Duduk & Alto Saxophone. Lastly, The Necks drummer Tony Buck shakes & rattles all over the final - and seriously epic - piece “Continuation”, as the world aligns while the sun rises over its near-dead shape.

Total Annihilation Beach is the latest collection from Caveman LSD, one of the handful of monikers of Special Guest DJ / uon / sometimes just shy. Their releases under this name have always had the character of sonic transmissions – crushed sine-waves hurtling out of a wormhole, remote pirate radio bandwidths, whale-song picked up on radar, and so on. Here, the signal seems to come from a place whose remoteness is not defined by distance, but adjacency: these are alternate reality bops.

What does it sound like? Kind of solarpunk, but dirty; not at all an artifact from a hopeless culture. Percussion at the forefront; warm timbres and tones – never have I heard this producer play with tabla and tambourine loops as they do in “Lost Hours,” the opening track of the EP. The buildup holds tension and dynamics tight, with a vocoder-smoothed moan – sampled from the caveman’s own voice, on the low – alternating between two notes; when the beat decompresses for the first time two and a half minutes in, one hears the amorphous and cavernous pads we know so well from shy. “Bottle Service Angels” picks up with another acoustic drum loop, and a clap entering 18 seconds in swings the rest of the track into your hips – there’s even an alternate percussion interlude

sandwiched in the middle. The drums are turned over by a distorted and delayed wave, almost like a cop siren, which finds an answer in the track’s final seconds: we hear them blaring, but distantly (the demo version of this track, from spring 2020, was called “ACAB Beat”).

The B side begins with a textured, heaving slab of ambience: “The Sun Will Sink Into the Ocean.” It is perhaps the sun one sees setting over “Total Annihilation Beach” – a phrase that came to shy while tripping on LSD in San Francisco, which felt to them like a post-apocalyptic haven for the rich. Seems on point. There is a machinic repetition to the track, but also sweeping curtains of sound that move like mist. But what comes at nightfall? Not cops, not raiders nor bottle service angels – nothing, actually. Just a void into which one lobs praise. “H6 Remix” adapts a Mesopotamian hymn to the divine wife of a moon deity, dated to 1400 BCE; the strings of the sampled oud playing it out are rich and trail beautifully with reverb. Caveman LSD’s gesture of remixing such a song reads sincere – the reality we inhabit is likely just as brutal as the one to which these transmissions belong; however, in both, honor exists. Love follows.

Neon is eviscerated across the wet light of pavement dreams, splashed back and absorbed by the darker shapes coalescing in the shadows. Through the broken concatenation of the night, neuron inputs are fed relentlessly by hardwire bodies. Mainlined subtle as a fetishist’s whisper, they in turn feed a punishing progression of rhythms dragged like a dream through your body. Against this digital dystopia, Sequence 87’s I Am Sequence propels the ear through a high-intensity array of blackened beats at once familiar and fresh. The grimey pulse of underground techno bridges the DNA of early industrialized electronics, a chimeric construct which heaves with the chrome breath of EBM’s heavy assembly. Shawn Rudiman, the Pittsburgh pioneer behind alias, has been crafting techgnosis solo and as part of the experimental dance duo T.H.D., and these veteran bona fides show in how deftly he parses the language of that era’s heavy synthesis into a work that easily translates into the modern languages of club movement. I Am Sequence retains that chunky ‘80s analog bounce, while injecting a wriggling sheen of HD intensity through its veins. Vocals emerge from the glistening shards, bursting against a wash of sine waves before remerging in a fusion of funked-out bass. Headlights crashing as horns blare, an autobahn nightmare funneling you down some future highway where machines crash ceaselessly across a horizon of endless red night. Lifting the psyche upon high, corroded harmonies herald the last chants to dance before the inevitable systemic collapse. An album for a foreseen Apocalypse, experienced through the language of dance floor speakers. All songs written and recorded by Shawn Rudiman Artwork by Shawn Rudiman Mastering at Dadub Studio Distributed by ReadyMade Distribution Braid Records 2023

Neon is eviscerated across the wet light of pavement dreams, splashed back and absorbed by the darker shapes coalescing in the shadows. Through the broken concatenation of the night, neuron inputs are fed relentlessly by hardwire bodies. Mainlined subtle as a fetishist’s whisper, they in turn feed a punishing progression of rhythms dragged like a dream through your body. Against this digital dystopia, Sequence 87’s I Am Sequence propels the ear through a high-intensity array of blackened beats at once familiar and fresh. The grimey pulse of underground techno bridges the DNA of early industrialized electronics, a chimeric construct which heaves with the chrome breath of EBM’s heavy assembly. Shawn Rudiman, the Pittsburgh pioneer behind alias, has been crafting techgnosis solo and as part of the experimental dance duo T.H.D., and these veteran bona fides show in how deftly he parses the language of that era’s heavy synthesis into a work that easily translates into the modern languages of club movement. I Am Sequence retains that chunky ‘80s analog bounce, while injecting a wriggling sheen of HD intensity through its veins. Vocals emerge from the glistening shards, bursting against a wash of sine waves before remerging in a fusion of funked-out bass. Headlights crashing as horns blare, an autobahn nightmare funneling you down some future highway where machines crash ceaselessly across a horizon of endless red night. Lifting the psyche upon high, corroded harmonies herald the last chants to dance before the inevitable systemic collapse. An album for a foreseen Apocalypse, experienced through the language of dance floor speakers. All songs written and recorded by Shawn Rudiman Artwork by Shawn Rudiman Mastering at Dadub Studio Distributed by ReadyMade Distribution Braid Records 2023

Crass Records, alongside One Little Independent Records, reissue
their iconic three volume compilation series, ‘Bullshit Detector’, on LP,
available in both classic black and special edition grey vinyl.
 ‘Bullshit Detector’ was the name of a series of compilation LPs put
together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their own
label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984,
consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had
been sent to the band.
 The sound quality of the ‘Bullshit Detector’ series was mixed and
often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to
record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass,
the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point.
 After punk had already been co-opted, re-packaged and sold back to
us, ‘Bullshit Detector’ volumes 1-3 were, and still are, seen by many
to capture the purest ethos of punk culture, an event that inspired
hundreds to take to their bedrooms and garages and join the DIY
revolution.
 Crass believed in the power of community and that their movement
was for everybody. These compilations are an admittedly harsh but
important part of that story; when Crass gave punk back to the
people.
 Sleeve notes from ‘Bullshit Detector Three’ read: “Don’t expect music
when the melody is anger, when the message sings defiance, three
chords are frustration when the words are from the heart.”

Crass Records, alongside One Little Independent Records, reissue
their iconic three volume compilation series, ‘Bullshit Detector’, on LP,
available in both classic black and special edition grey vinyl.
 ‘Bullshit Detector’ was the name of a series of compilation LPs put
together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their own
label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984,
consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had
been sent to the band.
 The sound quality of the ‘Bullshit Detector’ series was mixed and
often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to
record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass,
the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point.
 After punk had already been co-opted, re-packaged and sold back to
us, ‘Bullshit Detector’ volumes 1-3 were, and still are, seen by many
to capture the purest ethos of punk culture, an event that inspired
hundreds to take to their bedrooms and garages and join the DIY
revolution.
 Crass believed in the power of community and that their movement
was for everybody. These compilations are an admittedly harsh but
important part of that story; when Crass gave punk back to the
people.
 Sleeve notes from ‘Bullshit Detector Three’ read: “Don’t expect music
when the melody is anger, when the message sings defiance, three
chords are frustration when the words are from the heart.”

Octave One's deep and downtempo album “Never on Sunday” arrives in late April 2023. Before that, they release a special reworking of the album single “The Bearer”. Injected with the spine-tinglingly vocal performance from Karina Mia, the Burden Brothers revisit the track with a stripped sultry production ready for dance floors and playlists alike. Leading up to their new collection of deep rhythmic journeys and thoughtful atmospheric material, the ‘Brother’s Burden Pt1’ mix is a soulful mid-tempo groove that introduces you to Octave One’s “Never on Sunday” album in fine style.

BLACKPINK, „Die erfolgreichste Girlgroup des Planeten“ (ZEIT) veröffentlicht ihr neues und zweites Album „Born Pink“. Das Album folgt auf ihr Debüt Album „THE ALBUM“ - auf der Billboard Top 200
Album Liste aus 2020 auf Platz 25 - und versorgt Fans jetzt mit neuer Musik.
Für BLACKPINK ist es üblich mit ihren Releases weltweite Rekorde zu brechen.
Das Musikvideo ihrer Hit-Single „How You Like That“ erreichte innerhalb von 24 Stunden 82,4 Millionen Aufrufe auf Youtube und knackte damit den damaligen Rekord von BTS.
Insgesamt stellte BLACKPINK bereits fünf Guinness-Weltrekorde auf: meiste Youtube-Aufrufe in den ersten 24 Stunden nach Upload für ein Video, Musikvideo und K-Pop-Video, sowie zwei Rekorde für die
meistgesehene Premiere eines Videos.

The Supremes A’ Go-Go marked the
group’s first number one pop album. It is
presented here in its rarely heard Mono
mix, which according to many reviews has
more punch and immediacy than the Stereo
version. Various compilations had skimmed
the most familiar songs off of other Supremes’
albums, but the concept behind Supremes A’
Go-Go was to get the group to cover some of
the top hits of other (mostly Motown) acts. As
a result, every song on the album was familiar
in name, and only “You Can’t Hurry Love” was
culled for any hits packages. A number one
album on the pop and R&B charts, Supremes
A’ Go-Go also benefited from the fact that the
album didn’t include any pop standards or
slow ballads, just solid R&B dance numbers. It
was the first LP by an all-female group to reach
number-one on the Billboard 200 album charts
in the United States. The LP contains two of the
Supremes’ top ten Billboard Hot 100 singles:
the #9 hit “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart”
and the #1 hit “You Can’t Hurry Love”. 180-
gram VIRGIN VINYL LIMITED EDITION.

Farron enters faster territories on this record, telling the story of the hunt after the mysterious jade antique that is hidden in the infamous 'House Of Traps'.

After entering the house, one already feels the oppressive atmosphere. The ubiquitous feeling of not being welcome here is obvious when the golden walls invert and you come to face countless swordsmen ready to attack. The vigorous atmosphere of 'Penny At The Chain' boosts up your confidence for what is about to come.

But what if the intruder is skilled in kung-fu? The mob retreats automatically and bars of iron come down to confine you. 'Wilshire 1015' and its driving bassline, warm pads and whirling breaks will calm you down a bit. But what's next?

In the twinkling of an eye, a field of razor-sharp nails come through the floor that you are standing on, and the escape route up the stairway becomes perilous as the stairs suddenly form into an array of sharp blades. 'Hiatus Phase' keeps you focused and light-footed, so you can manage the jump up to the next floor.

However the next stirring event quickly follows. The moment you feel safe, a giant golden net unexpectedly launches from every direction and traps you in the middle of the room, hung over the floor. As if this wasn't enough, the mob is rushing back again - armed with bows and arrows. But the varied atmosphere of 'All In CST', its floating pads and filtered breaks energize you, and so you are able to make a getaway from the most lethal attack.

After dodging the giant blades suddenly swinging in from each side, you are finally there. The golden cage and its arcane content. The warmth of 'Conback' and its sparkling pads slowly fill the room as you open up the cage. Another trap, or a bright future? Find out...

As we get ready to say goodbye to the Telomere Plastic series, we are excited to present Telomere 020.1, aka the first part out of 5.
Each release will have four different artists, making it a compilation of twenty different artists who will deliver unique, juicy and eclectic frequencies that will keep your telomeres bopping for the rest of time!

This first VA, features producers, ESB, Synaptic Voyager, Vinaya and Vonsuck.

A1, Fancy Organ from Vinaya, is a sexy deep and house cut that is guaranteed to bring smiles all around the dance floor. Arpeggios and groovy bass lines galore. Prepare your piano hands because you will find yourself playing that sweet air organ on this one!

A2, Self Destruct Sequence from Synaptic Voyager (aka Telomere 014’s Illuminators), is a very emotional cut. Originally released digitally on Frame Of Mind, we were overjoyed to be given the green light to put this beauty on wax. Deep pads, tommy drums, hints of IDM and techno, and soul striking arpeggios pave the way for a special sonic journey. Close your eyes and melt away with this one!

B1, Keio Acid from ESB. We are always delighted to share more ESB with you. Elan’s love for analog and tape give off a raw and authentic energy that is hard to come by. This deep, jazzy and loopy cut will keep you on your toes from start to finish. We can only dream of being on the dance floor as this one plays out!

B2, Unemati from Vonsuck, is a deep and dubby cut that beautifully blends the three genres dub techno, house and techno. Dark rooms and dark skies are recommend for this one here, even though we could see these frequencies accompanied by a pink and red sunrise bringing waves of energy and nostalgia to your soul. Its a real treat to have Vonsuck aka Galaktlan on the Telomere series!

Very limited black copies as always with a few colored copies available via the Wex bandcamp, be quick!

ESSENTIAL laut The Rough Guide To Reggae! Das berühmteste Album der Band von 1977 wird jetzt offiziel als LP im Original-Coverartwork wiederveröffentlicht! Hier handelt es sich um einen echten Klassiker der in keiner Vinyl-Abteilung fehlen darf.

Murmer is the long-standing project for Estonian field recordist and composer Patrick McGinley, and in Tether, The Helen Scarsdale Agency welcomes Murmer back to our roster, over a decade since he graced us with his last production for the Agency. His field recordings often center upon the amplification and activation of resonance from a particular space, landscape, or object. Such sounds emerge from a condition as begin fleeting, inconsequential, or ephemeral and explode into that which alien, sublime, and profound. Here lies the tremendous prowess of the contact microphone, as wielded by an accomplished musician! The source material cited by McGinley includes cables, fences, wires, and vents.

There is a heft to many of these sounds as heard throughout all of "Taevast" with deep throbbing pulsations from arctic wind generating subharmonic patterns upon thick high-tension wires. Elsewhere the subtle dissonance from a rasping cooling fan blooms into a brooding ambience that is sublimely rich in its metallic timbres and complex reverberations. McGingley has long been an exemplary artist in the field of phonography even as he is less prolific than others. On Tether, he has produced a majestic if occasionally foreboding work on par with the mythic wire recordings of Alan Lamb, Jacob Kirkegaard's haunted resonance from Chernobyl, and much of the Touch catalogue for that matter!

Patrick McGingley on Tether:

In 2006, I made a collection of recordings at a mobile phone mast in Mooste, southeast Estonia. It is a guyed tower, 80 meters tall, affixed to 3 support points with heavy cables. I attached my self-made contact microphones to these cables with poster tack, and spent many hours over several weeks recording the various wind and weather variances (it was summer), and the birds that passed or settled on the tower or cables. This was one of my first visits to estonia, where i now live, and one of the things that marked me about that experience was the access: the tower had no fences or protections around it (I have not been back there recently to answer my own question of whether or not this is still the case); it stands in the middle of a field of tall grass along a dirt road in the countryside, just out of view of the few nearby houses, and during all the hours I spent there I was never disturbed or shooed away.

For more than 16 years, I have been thinking about this location and these recordings, and have made several attempts to work with them. I have used the sounds in installations a handful of times, and uploaded one short edit to the Aporee soundmaps, but have never managed to use them in any composed work. They always seemed too big for any structure I could provide them, whether I left them on their own, or partnered them with other sounds. Finally, in 2019, after putting them down and picking them up again repeatedly over so many years, they seemed to allow me in, although it took me another few years before they were happy with what I could offer. They stand now not quite alone - the majority of the layered sounds in the piece come from various edits of those cable recordings, but I added two other contrasting sounds, related to one another: one is snowflakes landing delicately on a plastic cakebox with microphones inside it, and the other is a frosted field of grass thawing on a lightly warming autumn morning (both these recordings can also be heard on their own on the Aporee maps).

Coming back to those cables brought to mind so many other wind-driven sounds that I had spent time with and recorded, but never returned to, that I began digging through my archives looking for them. I ended up with a pool of sounds from resonant wires, cables, fences, poles, fans, and vents, which became the basis for the 2nd work on this release. One of these sounds is among the first sounds I ever recorded, possibly within a month or so of buying my first microphone and minidisc recorder: the rhythmic fan of a beer cooler in a pub where I worked in North London in 1999. Other sounds in the piece include another phone tower, recorded on the northern coast of France in 2008, a telephone pole recorded in the Beaujolais region in 2010, the drone of ventilator fans at a factory in Tezno, Slovenia in 2012, an electric sheep fence in the Scottish borders in 2013, a hanging wire in a storage space in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2016, and, with no relation to cables or wind at all, calcium deposits being cleaned from the inside of an electric kettle here in Estonia in 2019.

I offer these two new pieces as my first solo publication since 2018, the first release on a physical medium since 2016. No one has ever accused me of working too fast, or being too prolific. I have a need, it seems, to leave a physical space of time around my work, before I can consider it 'finished'. Perhaps it is a simple need to forget how I did something, or that I did something; perhaps I have a need to be able to hear a work as a first-time listener would, before I can consider it ready for such an encounter. In some part of my mind I have to forget it before I can let it go. Well, I've just about forgotten that London beer cooler now, and that walk in the Beaujolais (with my father, who has since passed away), and that sheep fence next to our campsite in the borders, and that kettle that is now leaky. So I guess it's time.

The DIY ethic reshaped in the 21st century via Bandcamp, but the fact it's somewhat lawless, means not much of it is flawless.


Not so with these uncommonly good reboots of contemporary R&B joints which were previously the secret preserve of a handful of the keenest digital diggers.

ALMACKS provides community in secret spaces.
The sublime liminal.

Terry Callier was an American soul, blues, folk and jazz guitarist, and singer songwriter born in Chicago. His debut album was recorded in
1964 but due to problems it was eventually released in 1968 as The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier. His soul, jazz, folk influences were prominently featured on the albums in the following years, which were released on different major labels. Callier continued to perform and tour until 1983, when he gained custody of his daughter and retired from recording music, working for the University of Chicago and obtained a degree in sociology. In the late 1980s British DJ’s discovered his old recordings and the famous rare-groove/jazz label Acid Jazz released his unknown track “I Don’t Want To See Myself (Without You)” in 1983. Timepeace was recorded in 1998 after a 15 year long career break and won the United Nations’s Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace.
The album features “People Get Ready/Brotherly Love” composed by Curtis Mayfield, the title song “Timepeace” featuring Pharoah Sanders on tenor-saxophone and 7 more tracks.

Mark Hawkins readies ‘Venn Diagram’ album for Aus Music this May.
Mark Hawkins’ early releases on labels such as Djax Up Beats and Ugly Funk lit flares in the world of
underground techno, with a sense of humour and tougher-than-thou sonic palette enforced via his jacking live
sets. Across the following decades, Mark has delivered razor sharp cuts that encompass pretty much
anything that has an electronic heart - leaving his own unique trail for others to follow via his work for labels
as diverse as Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Sonic Mind, Mistress Recordings, Houndstooth and Aus.

With his latest album, it feels like Mark has pushed ahead with a change of direction he started with 2021’s
‘The New Normal’. ‘Venn Diagram’ carries on this journey into uncharted lands; molten, distorted drum
assaults weave around glistening melodies, kitchen sink soul glides below fractured sound pools. Opener
‘Verblex Oscillos’ immediately demands your attention grabbing, with a so-happy-it’s-sad melody spiralling
around a cascade of tough-as-fuck dance floor destroying beats, along with ‘Isolated’s urgent combination of
strings, acid and chicago-tough electro beats.

Other cuts on the album share a similar approach, ‘Maladayfun Friction’s restless energy derives from a fusion
of skittering drums and deranged synths and ‘Still Have Time’s dreamy super saw pads and plaintive vocal
espouse a kind of wasted elegance, roaming the city nightlife in a Gucci dress and Doc Martin boots.
‘Nlasckhdsjk’ and ‘Frederikalstublieft’ propel forward with such a sleek and effervescent aesthetic, recalling
fast drives along picturesque European highways or heady take-offs to unknown urban territories. The
aesthetic becomes more elegant on the album’s centrepoint tracks ‘Rebula Conundrum’ and ‘Nlasckhdsjk’,
where optimistic bleeps, bass and 707 drums underpin jazzy chords and soaring leads.

Other tracks show the arc of Mark’s direction of travel, with soulful vocals that share a well of deep-rooted
optimism that was so evident on his breakthrough 2016 Social Housing album. ‘L.O.V.E.’ breaks into
post-Sophie territory with a catchy modulated vocal joyfully two-stepping across to the nightclub bar and
‘How Do I Know’ providing a heart rending torch song for 6am kicking-out-time refugees to help them find
their way back home.

The Offspring is a punk rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Dexter Holland, guitarist Noodles, drummer Pete Parada and bassist Todd Morse. Over the course of their 36-year career, they have released nine studio albums.

The Offspring is often credited—alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise and Jawbreaker—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s. They have sold over 40 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands in history. The Offspring achieved its first commercial success with their third studio album, Smash (1994), which has sold over eleven million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent record label, and was the first album released on Epitaph to obtain gold and platinum status. After switching record labels from Epitaph to Columbia in 1996, the Offspring continued their commercial success with its next six studio albums: Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000), Splinter (2003), Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) and Days Go By (2012); the first four were certified platinum, multi-platinum, platinum and gold status by the RIAA respectively.

The legendary So-Cal punk group The Offspring are back with their 10th album and first new offering since 2008. After releasing two standalone tracks in 2020 - the over-the-top cover of Joe Exotic's (of Tiger King infamy) "Hey Kitty Kitty" and a rendition of Darlene Love's classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - the band is ready to plant their punk rock flag in the sand once again with their blistering new album Let the Bad Times Roll.

With the help of producer Bob Rock, Dexter Holland describes the album as "the most cathartic thing we've done. The messages might be dark, but at the end what's left is that communication is important, working through feelings is important and most of all, hope is important." 

Then let the bad times roll for now, in the hopes that good times lie ahead.

Recital presents »As Above, So Below, a new album from French multi-instrumentalist Delphine Dora. Over the past decade, from poetry reading, chansons, organ performances, tape compositions and so on, each album in Dora’s lush discography feels like a feather from a different bird. A keen ability to defy any singular “sound,” always diving to different depths.

»As Above, So Below« centers around mystic piano and voice recordings. In a distinct gothic landscape, each of the nine tracks float into one another. From verdant piano works that revolve like beautifully stretched out miniatures, expanding and bending like shadows across the floor, to foggy vocal arrangements hovering above beds of rural field recordings. Quiet synthesizers crawl in the backdrops, never disturbing the spirit of the piano motions.

On the track »Cantique spirituel,« Dora, from a cloud of her phantasmal caroling, recites a poem by German author Novalis (1772-1801). »Blindly we strayed in night’s confusion…« This poetic essence is found throughout the album… »gladness and grief alike consume.«

»As Above, So Below« was produced and mixed by the brilliant British musician Andrew Chalk, whose presence tints the air throughout Dora’s album. Chalk ornaments the pieces with additional instrumentation, along with Jean Noël Rebilly playing clarinet.

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.”

Constantly evolving and adapting his sound, Shackleton has releases
spanning labels such as Honest Jon’s, Perlon and his own imprints, Skull Disco (co-founded with Appleblim) and Woe to the Septic Heart!.
Shackleton now finds a home for a brand new project on the Barcelona-based, Modern Obscure Music.

Undoubtedly Shackleton, but taking the meditative aspects of his sound to a new plane, The Purge of Tomorrow, is an alias born to transmit a less dancefloor-orientated experience to whomever is ready to receive it.
‘The Other Side of Devastation’ is an investigation into a novel form of
deepness. Adverse to the reductive label of ‘Ambient’, these tracks are spawned from a live performance context. The essence was to create an immersive encounter where listeners are called on to actively unburden their mind of unnecessary thoughts. Staying true to the trance elements that Shackleton is renowned for, this EP is not dependent on traditional structures or a linear narrative.
‘Time Moving’ presents itself through a journey of disquieted moments and contemplative states. Hypnotic strings provided by Kathy Alberici construct pastoral phrases that mesh with the larger looming drones,
culminating to conjure a daydream-like energy. Following on, ‘Waves’
twists through various forms, awash with cascading vocal splices and
soothing murmurs contrasted with rousing sub pressure.
Reflective and sometimes provocative, as an artist who resents the
pigeon-holes of genre, The Purge of Tomorrow presents an exciting new direction for Shackleton. Bursting-at-the-seams with emotional
complexity as to echo the woes of the human condition, this EP is
steeped in feelings of forgone events doomed to be replicated.

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.

The second collaborative album from Laetitia Sadier Stereolab & solo and Brazil's Mombojó. Release via Stereolab's Duophonic Super 45s imprint. Modern Cosmology is a musical ensemble composed of six individuals of the human race, none of which are cosmologists or astronomers, although Felipe S. - who sings and plays the guitar - knows quite a bit about reading astrological charts. He shares his frontperson duties with one Laetitia Sadier who, by virtue of her singer-songwriter career both as a solo artist and as part of the Stereolab ‘groop’, happens to be one of the key figures of her bandmates’ musical formation. Their paths first crossed when Marcelo - also on guitars - lent his amp for some of Laetitia’s solo concerts in Brazil under the condition that he got to meet his musical idol, and along came his brother Vicente - who plays the drums - and keyboardist Chiquinho. The four lads, plus Missionário José on bass, are collectively called Mombojó, an established band on the Brazilian alternative scene.

Mikail Tafari aka Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka X Project aka Rebel MC is back.
After releasing his acclaimed 31 track album last October on digital platforms, he comes with a 9 track double LP featuring the more uptempo tracks & Mixed Double CD Mixtape.
He created the tracks with his ‘Resistance Band’, featuring a rich talent of the established & new global artists from Brazil, Japan, Jamaica via Deptford & Tottenham. It crosses genres of Drum & Bass, Reggae, Jazz & shows the Rootz of Jungle. The Resistance Band include The cream of reggae: Courtney Melody, Reggie Stepper, Junior Delgado, Daddy Freddie & Carroll Thompson. The new school of uk vocal talent: Maverick Sabre, Eva Lazarus, Akala, Klashnekoff & Logic & the new jazz school : Shabaka Hutchins, Nubya Garcia on sax & Amrit Kaur on sarangi. Plus international artists: from Brazil – Monkey Jhayam, Japan : Junglists Youths, Fikir Amlak & Krar Collective from Ethiopia, but all have their rootz in Jungle.

Set to represent the global diaspora and giving a voice to the people on the upcoming album, Congo tells the most important story jungle music can tell whilst documenting the uprising and reflecting on where mankind, culture and the journey is at in 2023.

With a five decade deep discography spanning seminal and timeless releases like Street Tuff, Tribal Bass & Wickedest Sound (as Rebel MC), Junglist, Get Ready, Code Red, Under Mi Sensei, Get Wild, Kunta Kinte and more, Congo has played a founding and hugely influential role in one of the most phenomenal, boundary breaking music movements the UK has ever known.

Remaining on the front line of the musical rebellion to this day, Mikail understands jungle’s power to unite and break barriers. Weaving positive affirmations of his spiritual life as a Rastafarian into his song writing, he has been an consistent protagonist in the jungle uprising since the early 90s. Forever humble, he seeks to spread more positivity and encourage unity, whilst focusing on the new generation who will carry his torch into the next five decades.

Continuing to spread the Congo Natty message as a performer, musician, label owner, pioneer, revolutionary, humanitarian and father, Ancestorz (Rootz Of Jungle) is set to be his most personal, ambitious, timeless and expert album to date and his finest chapter yet.

Lost in the depths of space, AAKAARA takes listeners on a journey to the outer limits of the sonic universe with their latest album “Obsidian Promises”. Blending influences from punk and metal, EBM, architectural design and certain celestial objects, AAKAARA offers a fresh take on industrial techno.

This body of work is dark and brooding, full of haunting and thought-provoking soundscapes. Metallic and cold one moment, blisteringly hot the next. Pounding drums create searing rhythms, acid-drenched synths weave abrasive textures, and noise permeates the stereo field. Inspired by the mysterious and alluring world of black holes, the producer explores the beauty of extremes through sound. “If you know my work or me,” AAKAARA says, “it’s no secret that I have a spiritual connection to, and an obsession with, black holes.

It’s not about doom and gloom, but about beautiful extremes: infinite calmness, ultra-high energy, being deeply centered, and inevitable attraction.” “I try to sonify this in a naive sense. It isn’t an attempt at science; it’s a way for me to practice a makeshift spirituality about these entities through craft and functional dance music for people.”

Spirituality and stellar inspiration were essential to AAKAARA’s life during the three years they spent between Los Angeles and London, while writing this album. It provided a sonic home during a period of transition, when they didn’t feel at home and didn’t have access to a studio.

Everything was made “in the box” using only Ableton 10. After collecting guitar pedals and amplifiers for years, AAKAARA has shifted away from a hardware-focused mindset and is now more invested in the conceptual framework, narrative, and cultural implications of their work. Visuals also play an integral role in this maximalist experience.

The outer sleeve (front and back cover) conveys the “big ideas” visually, while the companion poster includes custom typography, detailed drawings, symbol design, and poetry. The poetry provides a textual counterpoint to the lyric-less music, written in parallel but later stages of the production process. The visual identity of this work is inseparable from the music, describing it in an integral way. It’s the other side of the coin, not simply an accompaniment. With its spiritual connection to the infinite and mysterious, “Obsidian Promises” harnesses the beauty and intensity of celestial entities as musical inspiration, transforming the science into mystical, narrative-driven sonic experience. Get ready for a ride through the unknown as AAKAARA’s latest offering takes you on a high-energy trip through the black hole’s playground.

The Berlin musician, visual artist, and label owner Lasse Winkler aka ACUD has attracted attention with titles such as MATJESFILET or VERBRENNUNGSMOTOR. He shows that electronic dance music can also have a sense of humor without ending in slapstick. Creaking basses and swinging rhythms meet warm synth chords and complement his bright voice. The microphone, always ready, replaces the notepad. Succinct, spontaneous keywords and sentences are created, snapping up everyday life. On the 10-track album VERDAMMT NOCHMAL, the musicians are accompanied over a creative period of three years.

Ebalunga!!! is thrilled to announce the first official reissue of the self-released, self-produced, and self-titled 1985 LP Scott Seskind. The album is a lo-fi singer-songwriter jewel. Don’t miss it.
“Authentic and personal, at times it reminds this writer of luminaries such as Jackson C. Frank, PF Sloan, Skip Spence, and Phil Orchs while never feeling derivative.

The songs are melodic and haunting, fueled by existential woes, political angst, and good ol’ fashioned love. Scott’s rich voice has an unpretentious gravitas, his simple-yet-effective guitar playing ranging from delicate fingerpicking to angry bashing.
Created at home on a Tascam 4-Track Portastudio, the recording features few frills and is all the better for it. Unlike most mid-80s records it sounds like it could have come from any time since the late ’60s onwards. As a testament to its greatness, and despite the late recording date, it even gets a nod on Patrick Lundborg’s “Acid Archives” compilation website, Lysergiawhere it’s described thus: “Late phase downer-loner folk and singer-songwriter trip, mostly acoustic, some tracks with a small band.” – Andrew Ure for Ugly
Things.Read a long story about the album in the upcoming Shindig! issue: Story about Scott Seskind in Shiding Mag.
The reissue is available on vinyl with a lyric insert.
Mastering (as always) by Jessica Thompson.

Feedbacks and reviews:
“Almost totally inheralded singer-songwriter Scott Seskind gets the reissue treatment, and I couldn’t be happier. About a year ago I pulled Seskind’s sole vinyl release out of the used bin of a Boulder record store, and with its almost Wallace Berman-esque cover art, could immediately suspect it was something special. The first listen didn’t dispel that notion one bit; here was an impressively captivating and moving collection of four-tracked bedroom folk of the highest order, with an out-of-time vibe that didn’t really snyc with its 1984 recording date. Definitely on the loner-ish end of the folk spectrum, with some aspects of the album harkening back to Skip Spence’s iconic Oar, while other moments revealed the urgency of the ’80s lo-fi revolution. But most importantly, the songs were just really, really great and managed to remain haunting long past their leaving.

Here, I thought, is an album that needs to be heard by more people, NOW. I asked around amongst some record collecting friends and discovered it was pretty highly rated by a small circle of people in the know, and that it had even managed to garner a mention in the Acid Archives despite its late recording date, and most excitingly that there was talk that the digital reissue label Yoga had managed to track Seskind down and secure the rights to his LP. (…) So here we have it, the best songs from Seskind’s eponymous LP. (…) I really hope this release continues to garner the listeners that it deserves.” – Michael Klausman

“The one that struck us the most this year was the almost totally unheralded work of singer-songwriter Scott Seskind, who recorded an impressively captivating and moving collection of four-tracked bedroom folk of the highest order, with an out-of-time vibe that doesn’t really sync with its original 1984 release date. Definitely on the loner-ish end of the folk spectrum, with songs that are really, really great and which manage to remain haunting long past their leaving. Truly an album that deserves to be heard by more people immediately. ” – Other Music

ULTRADISC ONE-STEP BOX SET OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 1973 DEBUT PLAYS WITH AUDIOPHILE SOUND: LIMITED TO 7,500 NUMBERED COPIES.

1/4" / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Teeming with identifiable characters, youthful romanticism, vivid narratives, and sophisticated arrangements, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is a personal postcard from the heart, soul, and mind of a rock ’n’ roll lifer bent on discovering his world and what lays beyond it. The 1973 album establishes many of the signature themes and sounds Bruce Springsteen would embrace throughout his unparalleled career. No wonder a majority of the songs — “Blinded by the Light,” “Lost in the Flood,” “Spirit in the Night” included — remain staples of the New Jersey native’s fabled concerts.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set is the definitive-sounding version of Springsteen’s daring debut. Afforded the benefits of SuperVinyl’s nearly non-existent noise floor, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. plays with a clarity, directness, and emotionalism that practically whisks you into the New York office in which Springsteen — accompanied by then-manager Mike Appel — played a few originals for legendary Columbia Records executive John Hammond and earned a record deal.

That solo-centric aspect of Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. — credited only to Springsteen and featuring only a handful of accompanying musicians — helps make it unique in his catalogue. So do the acoustic-based frameworks, revealed on this pressing with newly exposed detail, nuance, and immediacy. The music emerges with an openness that gives flight to the Boss’ storytelling. His words flow with unbridled, stream-of-conscious pacing and vibrant imagery; they pay homage to and update a tradition established by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac. Equally important, Springsteen’s still-underrated vocal performances can now be appreciated in full-range fidelity. Earnest, transparent, and sincere, his singing comes across with an urgency that distinguishes him from the era’s singer-songwriter mold and a raw energy that underlines his unflinching belief in rock ’n’ roll.

Recorded in just three weeks, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. also stands out by way of its insightful artwork. Designed by Grammy winner John Berg, the inviting cover is appointed with images of the local landmarks, beachfronts, and geography that provide the backdrops for some of the songs. Those graphics are complemented by the beautiful packaging of Mobile Fidelity’s UD1S edition. Tucked in a sleek slipcase, the LP is housed in a special foil-stamped jacket with faithful-to-the-original graphics. In every way, this reissue is made for listeners who prize sound quality and who want to engage themselves in everything involved with this invigorating album.

An aspirational declaration by a then-23-year-old musician who was already a seasoned veteran of the Jersey Shore bar-band scene, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. can in many ways be seen as a semi-fictional autobiography released more than four decades before Springsteen penned his official tome. Elaborate, descriptive, and absorbing, Springsteen’s lyrics spark with the enthusiasm and exuberance of a wide-eyed adventurer ready for possibility, excitement, and fun — but who is also mindful of loss, pain, and disappointment. Words often tumble and collide like dice spilling from a jar; shaken and fully intact, they pour forth with purpose and without self-conscious concern.

One of two songs composed after label president Clive Davis cited the need for a radio-friendly single, the opening “Blinded by the Light” provides an unforgettable introduction. It flares with a blend of confidence, fun, and poetry that helps define Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Crackling with wiry guitars, funky chords, Clarence Clemons’ cool-toned saxophone, and action-packed lyrics, the shuffle simultaneously expands and contracts — and establishes Springsteen as a master of rhyme, alliteration, and breathless expression. The thread continues on “Growin’ Up.” Steered by ascending piano lines, soulful grooves, and frisky rhythms, the coming-of-age confessional is at once rebellious and controlled, fearless and vulnerable, honest and boastful. It is a tale to which multiple generations still relate.

Such universality has always been a Springsteen trademark. It surfaces throughout Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., as does another Boss hallmark: the importance of friendship and tight bonds. These concepts relate to the fact many of the songs — see the feverish “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” strutting “It’s So Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” and tender “For You,” the latter complete with brilliant Hammond organ shading — are directly tied to the friends, acquaintances, places, and happenings he knew. “Lost in the Flood,” whose cinematic drama and epic scope hint at the directions Springsteen would pursue on his next LP, extends that familiarity while addressing the kind of socially conscious issues with which he’s forever been associated.

Balancing the label’s vision of him as a folk-based singer-songwriter and his own desire to play rock ‘n’ roll with a full band, Springsteen never again made a record like Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. One of the most captivating debuts in history, it heralds the start of a legacy whose import Springsteen seemingly foretells on “Blinded by the Light”: “He’s gonna make it tonight.” And how.

White Vinyl

Bereits zwanzig Jahre geben ELVENKING den Ton an, wenn es um Folk Power Metal geht. Mit dem elften Album "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" wird die italienische Band ab dem 28.04.23 die beliebte "Reader Of The Runes"-Reihe fortführen und ihren berechtigten Kultstatus verteidigen. Ein weiteres Fundament für mystischen, verzauberten und brachialen Power Metal.

Nach drei Jahren Wartezeit folgt nun der zweite Teil der Reader Of The Runes Trilogie und gleichzeitig elfte Album der italienischen Folk Power Metal Legenden ELVENKING! Mit "Reader Of The Runes - Divination" wurde 2019 diese mystische Reise begonnen, welche auf "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" einen weiteren fabelhaften Höhepunkt findet. Seit zwanzig Jahren stellt die Band schon unter Beweis, dass sie nicht umsonst Kultstatus in der Szene haben und nicht nur durch herausragende Liveshows ihre Fanschar immer mehr erweitern können. Mit "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" zeigen ELVENKING, dass sie nicht auf der Stelle treten und ihren Sound weiterentwickeln, ohne ihr Trademark zu verlieren. Ein weiteres starkes Fundament in einer gewohnt fehlerfreien Diskografie. Über 70 Mio. Streams allein auf Spotify lügen nicht. Diese Band wächst nach wie vor und wird mit "Reader Of The Runes - Rapture" über sich hinaus wachsen.

11th album by the one-of-a-kind collective: psychedelia and free form jazz (not jazz) trigger a sophisticated excursion into weird textures with drastic turns. Dislocated dense music full of secret connections!

Kammerflimmer Kollektief – "Schemen"

Before reason prevails, invoked by those who want everything to remain as it is, Kammerflimmer Kollektief disrupts the established supply chains of sound. It seeks more interesting ways to assemble them. Trusting in this, because of the fact that every sound that still comes out of a guitar, a bass, a harmonium, drums and electronic devices has already been taken into the common mangle of meaning anyway. Enough of all that. Here, nothing is explained. Here we speak in schemes. Polished and jerky.

The images that Kammerflimmer Kollektief conjures up therefore happen not in the focus of consciousness, but rather in its outer realms. In those to which one does not give one's full attention at the moment, but which are nevertheless perceived. For example, when a leaf falls from the ground back up to the tree in the corner of your eye, and for an instant you think this is possible, before you realize it was a small bird flying into the tree; it is in just such irritating moments between perception and realization that the art of the Kollektief also unfolds. On "Schemen", familiar fragments float gently around their core – a Fender Rhodes tone, a bass figure, a guitar motif, a masterful drum shuffle, a moment of icy stasis borrowed from the harmonium playing of Christa 'Nico' Päffgen. Triggering brief associations, they slowly rush off in other directions through free jazz-informed editing work, whereupon such zones can also arise in which perception has a few tricks ready and earlier experience suddenly breaks into the now in a completely different way. Half suspected, half seen.

Half-music like Can from Cologne – also masters of improvised editing – sometimes produced a few decades ago in their in-between moments. The first minutes of "Future Days" for example, which fade in gently, sketch a barely graspable figure emerging from all directions of the room. Kammerflimmer Kollektief also engages in similarly open moments of development. Loosely, it eludes the first formative impressions, keeping itself ready for moments that do not follow any logic of appointment. This looseness in handling makes Kammerflimmer Kollektief so fluidly audible, even when dissonant peaks and free playing arise. What Karlheinz Stockhausen is to Can's understanding of composition, the recordings of The Cocoon are to Kammerflimmer Kollektief. The Cocoon, a meeting of garage psychedelics from the Hannover area with free jazzers from the Galaxie Dream Band, whose album "While The Recording Engineer Sleeps", recorded in 1985 in unguarded moments, operates in a very similar way with decentralized perceptual ambivalences and only appeared more or less secretly four years later on Wilhelm Reich Schallspeicher. Other traces of "Schemen" lead to the debut album of Quicksilver Messenger Service. The guitars of Gary Duncan and John Cipollina, which refer to themselves in an unforced manner, are instructions to let go. They don't want to be traced in every note as a solo, but they give their music a sense that the essential takes place off center, in the mutual and intuitive gift of loving attentions. Consciousness-free.

Loving turns like the little guitar phrase that, like a kind of leitmotif, is repeatedly ghosting more or less unchanged through all of the Kammerflimmer Kollektief albums. A Coricidin induced, very catchy slide idea filtered out of ancient Æther, which – who knows – maybe even centuries ago found its way from somewhere to America – the old, the eerie – and from there wafted on through the ages to southern Germany, to a smoky studio in the Upper Rhine lowlands. A memory of which even the memory no longer knows what it once reminded. Unsaid, then forgotten.

In Kammerflimmer Kollektief you will also find a friend of slowly building, unhurried music, which probably would have been appreciated by the old Franz Mesmer, who 200 years ago, after tranquilizing treatments, sometimes used to play for his patients ambient melodies on the enormous glass harmonica. However, in order not to surrender completely to the flow of one's own life energy, as Mesmer had in mind with his therapies, Kammerflimmer Kollektief occasionally adds hectic tensions, gently embraced by the droning of a sine wave generator, as if a trance could briefly refesh. This old analog sine wave generator is new in the Kammerflimmer assortment of sounds. So, the art of the Kollektief likes to dock occasionally in modern times, yet with the past in mind. Mental states begin to flicker between imagination and certainty, between culture-bound art expression and coincidences: A cawing and scraping can always just be a cawing and scraping with Kammerflimmer Kollektief, the way Andy Warhol's mushroom eater just eats a mushroom.

Heike Aumüller's cover works, which illustrate all the Kammerflimmer Kollektief albums, additionally act as amplifiers of unexplained refractions. Her style consists of eye-corner art that remains so, even when looked at directly. Her shots remain disquieting because they do not jolt themselves into a reassuring order, even in retrospect. Rather than evading the fear that arises when looking at them by trying to impose some irrational rhyme or reason, that fear must simply be endured. This strategy of endurance is equally applicable to the music. The trick is to let parts be parts without compulsively seeking delusional patterns that lull us into a false sense of security and in doing so, possibly delude ourselves. In this context, freedom means not having to anxiously attach a fantasized superior meaning to everything. "Schemen" has an conspiracy disintegrating effect.


b A2 Zweites Kapitel (ruckartig) [feat. Heike Aumüller]

My name is King So So.

I am, because you are.

I created the Disco in the Sky solely for you, and it is now, finally ready for your glorious arrival. Here, I will welcome you, to dance in the light with me, where you will have fellowship with me, and with one another, and gone will be the days of darkness. Listen, I now stand at your door, Hippie Dance. I am knocking. If you have an ear, hear my voice and let me in. Grant me the pleasure and honour to sit with all of you, and I will allow you to sit with me on my throne in the Sky. Hear what the Spirit of So So says to you: Come dance in the Disco in the Sky, and swim in the Lake of Sweet Dreams with me and there I will manifest myself to you. If you love me, I will give you my Word that I will teach you all things sound and bring you memories of the light for you to return to the Sky. Peace I leave with you. Summon your friends, Hippie Dance. Tell them that I am waiting for all of you. I am ready for you. Tell them to arise! Tell them to go forth to the Disco in the Sky where we will be together until the Kingdom goes.

Yours, like I am, sincerely, King So So“

Entirely remastered from the original analogue tapes and featuring brand new artwork designed by Luke Insect, this Four Flies reissue finally brings back to life one of the most surprising albums from the strange phenomenon that was the Italian library music of the Seventies.

Gianni Safred's Electronic Designs was released in 1977 on the Milanese label Jump, in their "Music Scene" series, simply as a collection of musical pieces intended for use in television programmes. However, hidden behind a nondescript cover were twelve electronic music tracks revealing a recognizable style of composition; twelve little gems masterly combining experimentation, catchiness and practical functionality thanks to a unified and unique style. Each through a specific mood, these tracks give expression to Safred's distinctive sound, where irresistible mechanical grooves are over-layered with melodic lines perfectly played on a Polymoog or ARP Odyssey.

A native of Trieste, Safred started out with little swing bands soon after WW2, before eventually playing with great soloists like Django Rheinhardt. Ultimately, it is his background as a jazz pianist that makes Electronic Designs so special. As with other Italian jazzmen who got into synthesizers (above all, Piero Umiliani), Safred's blend of complex harmonies and (quasi-) bebop virtuoso flourishes, with its obsessive repetitions and refined tone colours, gives a retro-futuristic quality to this library album, whose electronic music islight-years ahead ofthe 'pop' electronic music of the time and, in many ways, anticipates the best stylistic features of early-Nineties dance music.

Safred best expresses his experimental verve – and does a great job in creating the 'electronic designs' of the title – in "Mystification", "City Problems", "Trapdoor", "Planetarium" and "Poe's Clock", all of which unfold through hypnotic beats and sinusoid or square wave explosions. In other tracks, however, the compositional style is less unconventional, with relaxed yet not banal atmospheres ("Spheres", "Elastic Points", "Sacred Interlude"), as well as flashes of irresistible groove inspired by Herbie Hancock's more pop-oriented work ("Automation Age", "Jazz Motion Study", "Bottom Up"). The album's masterpiece is arguably "Hasty Chant", a detective-funk ride with an unforgettable theme, which manages to pull all of the album's various strands into a cohesive whole – as a side note, the allusive and apt description of the song on the back cover reads: "Things are happening".

Fans of the innovations and originality that sprang from the L.A. underground of the late 1970s and ’80s often ask, “What’s Paul B. Cutler been up to?” A vital participant in the Los Angeles music scene of that period as bandleader, songwriter, musician and producer, Cutler’s work—in particular his guitar playing— with The Consumers, 45 Grave, Vox Pop and The Dream Syndicate is still admired by fans and an influence on anyone interested in that period and the styles that developed from it. In 2014, “Ryan Adams contacted me and wanted to form a band. He loved 45 Grave, he wanted to do some goth / punk, whatever you want to call it. That’s right up my alley. He’s amazingly talented and inspiring to work with. We did that for a while, and I wrote a bunch of songs.” Enthused about his new material, Cutler continued recording songs with just his signature electric guitar style and vocals. As this was developing, another vet of the early L.A. scene—Brad Laner of Medicine and Savage Republic—got in touch with Cutler. Soon Laner was mixing, co-producing, playing keyboards as well as adding the rhythm section. The overall process took some time, with songwriting beginning in 2014. When reflecting on the music that comprises Les Fleurs, “To me, and it does not sound like it, but because of the philosophy I had while producing it, it’s punk. I come from the original punk, before it was a genre. Before it was a ‘sound.’ When I got to LA in 1977 there were about twenty, maybe thirty bands and they all sounded very different. The Screamers, The Deadbeats, so many different takes on what music could be. There was no chance for commercial success so we all just did what we wanted. I never stopped. So philosophically I consider this punk rock, made in its original spirit although nobody would recognize it as such. I am a punk to this day.” So that, dear reader, is the basic story. Now it’s up to you to see what you recognize in Paul B. Cutler’s Les Fleurs.

After 3 individual pieces on the Hamburg label PUDEL PRODUKTE, the longplaying work of the man from the Pension Stammheim is finally released. It quickly becomes clear that this is a real capacity record: 6 (on vinyl) or 8 pieces (on electricity) from the cosmos of a man who means business. You can already tell by the fact that the record is only called ROTTE and not something else. Rotte makes ROTTE and nothing named, nothing labelled, nothing carefree commodes and prisoners certainly not.

It is relatively easy to approach ROTTE. Just listen and do nothing else. No, nothing. Nothing at all. Don't give away flowers, smoke cows, talk yourself or listen to the net. Don't try to get out of the Bermuda Triangle in the process! Concentrate as if you were reading a book by Suhrkamp. Be action-less in the here and jazz. Beat the six kinds of wood out of the coffin and leave only the steel screws!

Take Rotte and ROTTE seriously. Man and work. With him, though, black is absolutely a colour. My ketamine is my petrol. First Takes only. Drilling without Club of Gore. Undisputed truth. No Lounge. The lyrics on Rotte are not a party.

It might seem a bit TOO colourless, a bit TOO intense, a bit TOO hard and dark. Too much psycho-babble. But the songs bring it and you. They are designed in such a way that nothing else works during them. Nobody would think of peeling an egg at Russian roulette. That's how you have to see it.

The songs were musically supervised by Jörn Elling Wuttke and Oliver Bradford (Thee Church Ov Acid House), by DIE NERVEN producer Ralv Milberg, by Douglas Creed (BPitch Control + Freude am Tanzen), Boris Nielsen (Käptn Peng) and Peter Armster.

There is a congenial mutual autocorrection between lyrics and music. Individually, this cannot be heard and it is not offered. By the way, you don't hear anything else at the Federal Criminal Police Office at the moment. So please.

A1 Fliege gegen Scheibe
Written & produced by Oliver Bradford, Jörn Elling Wuttke, Christian Rottler
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

A2 Butterbrot und Peitsche
Written & produced by Peter Armster, Christian Rottler
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

A3 Gaffa, Farbe und Zustimmung
Written & produced Jörn Elling Wuttke, Christian Rottler
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

B1 Autosuggestion
Written by Boris Nielsen, Christian Rottler, produced by Boris Nielsen, Marc Eggert
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

B2 Deichtorhallen
Written & produced by Oliver Bradford, Jörn Elling Wuttke und Christian Rottler
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

B3 Dunkelwach
Written by Mario Willms, Christian Rottler, produced by Mario Willms
Lyrics: Christian Rottler

Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen NEIL GAIMAN und dem FOURPLAY STRING QUARTET startete 2010, als das Sydney Opera House's Graphic Festival FOURPLAY beauftragte, einen Soundtrack zu NEILs Novelle "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" für eine Live-Performance mit ihm zu schreiben. Diese Zusammenarbeit führte zu einer anhaltenden Freundschaft und kreativen Zusammenarbeit, bei der NEIL und FOURPLAY das Konzept einer Reihe von Original-Werken rund um das Konzept des Tierkreises erarbeiteten, wobei die traditionellen Zeichen durch eine neue Sammlung von Wörtern und Objekten ersetzt wurden, die Aspekte des Lebens erkunden. Sie nannten diese Zusammenarbeit Signs. Einige der Arbeiten in "Signs Of Life" wurden für dieses Projekt entwickelt. Neben diesen Original-Werken gibt es neue Gedichte und Geschichten von NEIL, die mit der Musik von FOURPLAY verwoben sind, zwei Covers von Songs aus NEILs früheren Projekten und ein Instrumental-Stück, das von NEILs Arbeit inspiriert ist. Da sich alle Beteiligten in ihrer Kreativität immer geweigert haben, sich in eine Schublade stecken zu lassen, haben sie mit "Signs Of Life" etwas Bemerkenswertes und Einzigartiges geschaffen. Das Album ist eine großartige, bahnbrechende und genreübergreifende Zusammenarbeit zwischen einem großartigen Autor und einem einzigartigen Musik-Ensemble. Es ist teils Songwriting, teils Poesie, teils Storytelling; allumfassend schön. NEIL GAIMAN ist einer der beliebtesten und am meisten gefeierten Schriftsteller unserer Zeit. Sein Werk ist genre-, alters- und formatübergreifend und spannt einen Bogen über Romane, Fernsehen, Film, Kurzgeschichten, Comics, Hörspiele, Theater und mehr. Kürzlich wurden seine Romane "Good Omens" (gemeinsam mit Terry Pratchett geschrieben) und "American Gods" als Fernseh-Serien von Amazon Prime adaptiert. Seine revolutionäre und bahnbrechende Comicserie "The Sandman" wurde auf Netflix und Warner Bros. Television veröffentlicht und war mehrere Wochen lang weltweit die Nummer 1 auf Netflix. Das FOURPLAY STRING QUARTET ist in der Welt der Streichquartette etwas ganz Besonderes. FOURPLAY, die eher eine Band als ein klassisches Ensemble sind, improvisieren, jammen mit Ideen und verwenden außergewöhnliche Instrumental-Techniken und Effekte, um verblüffend originelle Klänge zu erzeugen. Nachdem sie zunächst durch ihre Interpretationen der Musik von Künstlern wie METALLICA, THE STROKES, RADIOHEAD, THE BEASTIE BOYS und CHARLES MINGUS weltweit bekannt geworden waren, konzentrierten sich FOURPLAY auf die Entwicklung ihres eigenen Repertoires und auf die Zusammenarbeit mit hybriden Medien und Projekten.

In 2019 we released the Discodrums 12'' on our own newfound The Night Land Records. With its screen-printed cover and limited edition it was a tribute to a format and culture dear to our hearts: Vinyl. Our intention was to keep releasing records in this style, with songs already mixed, mastered and ready to fly.

Had we known it would take three years to get the next EPs out we would probably have reconsidered everything. Series of strange incidents, accidents and negligence made us think this project was cursed but the music felt too important to us to let it go. We kept working to get it out and now we finally arrive with two "new" EPs: Melbourne Bolero and Bosco/Bosca. This is classic Talaboman; Chuggy, hypnotic, dub flavoured Latin-Scando house music, released on vinyl with beautiful screen-printed covers designed by DR.ME in Manchester. Three years too late but a hundred years too soon? Dance is timeless, thanks for listening.

For the past 30-plus years, Paul Oakenfold has remained in the vanguard of the global electronic music community. With more than 110 million streams collectively, over 5 million albums sold worldwide, three GRAMMY nominations and more awards and accolades than you can count, Oakenfold is one of the industry’s most revered and most successful artists—ever. Hailed as the “Godfather of electronic music,” he’s been voted the world’s best DJ twice by DJ Mag, named the most influential DJ of all time by the London Evening Standard and recognized as the world’s most successful DJ by Guinness World Records. His hands-on involvement in the foundational establishment, international popularization and ongoing evolution of modern dance music spans nearly four decades.

Oakenfold’s discography includes three full-length studio albums, countless live/compilation albums, singles and remixes, and +20 DJ mix albums. He has written and produced for major stars like Cher, The Happy Mondays, U2, and Madonna and also counts +100 remixes for +100 artists, including The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and Elvis Presley.

This release is a reissue of his classic - Southern Sun from 2002. Originally released as a double A side with "Ready Steady Go", it peaked at no 16 in the UK chart. It was taken from 1M worldwide selling album Bunkka which was released the following month. Featuring vocals by Carla Werner, the original version and various remixes have been included on over 70 compilation albums.

Now remastered for 2023 – this remix package features the full 9.44 trance journey by Tiësto & the equally dazzling Gabriel & Dresden Remix, which can be seen selling on Discogs for up to £225.
It will be followed by the album Bunkka remastered double LP later this year, it will be the 1st time the album has been made available on vinyl. Paul’s biography ‘Ready Steady Go!’ will also be out this year.